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The Ayrshire hotelier is running scared – politicalbetting.com

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  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 51,091

    Foxy said:

    Single person turns up to protest in Doncaster.

    About a dozen of the nazi scum in Leicester, kettled by about 30 cops, over 100 counter demonstrators, but all quite peaceable at the moment. The usual shoppers (including me) drifting by. Sidewalk diners and folks dressed for weddings just 50 yards away unbothered.




    What on earth is a 'sidewalk diner'?
    Poshing up the practise of putting tables outside eateries.
  • kjhkjh Posts: 11,934
    Andy_JS said:

    Good afternoon / evening from tranquil Manhattan.

    Haven’t there always been sporadic outbursts from young white yobs in Britain? Or do we think this daily kick-off is something new, perhaps super-charged by social media?

    This is on a different scale.
    Is it? The National Front in the 70s were pretty awful. I vaguely recall someone dying in a NF riot in London. When I was at Uni I lived above the UMIST union, even though I was at Manchester. A hundred odd NF ran riot through the Union. They totally destroyed it. The police didn't turn up until it was all over. The story was they just couldn't respond being so outnumbered.

    The 70s was pretty horrible for street violence.
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 52,114

    Leon said:

    Tres said:

    Leon said:

    It appears there has been an incident at the protest in Stoke.

    Appears that two white youths have been stabbed and allegedly others attacked with axes and hammers.

    If you want to know more see Twix for a less cautious summary.
    wtf?

    Remember when I was derided for predicting civil disorder and maybe even race war?

    We are going to a very very very dark place. We are right on the abyss. I hope this news report is completely wrong
    So not surprised that the two of you are creaming yourselves over fake news on social media. Sad.
    Sadly, it’s not fake. Not the white thugs beating up the black guy and not the Muslim thugs stabbing the white guys

    it’s all too real
    It appears that the severe head injuries inflicted on the two gentlemen (of which there is primae facie video evidence) were inflicted with weapons other than insertion of knives.

    So not fake news other than in the technicality sense.

    Which is why was cautious and said that it *appears* that they had been stabbed rather than saying they had been as the twitter reports accompanying the videos.

    I also refrained from speculating as to who the perpetrators were.
    Perhaps both of you should just shut the fuck up until we know more of what is going on, instead of spreading rumours and tittle-tattle that may well be wrong, yet might have drastic effects if believed?
    "I love rumours! Facts can be so misleading, but rumours, true or false, are often revealing."
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 52,114
    Leon said:

    Andy_JS said:

    Good afternoon / evening from tranquil Manhattan.

    Haven’t there always been sporadic outbursts from young white yobs in Britain? Or do we think this daily kick-off is something new, perhaps super-charged by social media?

    This is on a different scale.
    So far it doesn't seem to have on 2010 riots level, for a couple of days that got really out of hand and authorities had totally lost control, although mainly in London, there were other major cities that were only just hanging on at times.

    We could do with some classic British summertime rain before it escalates further.
    But it’s much much worse than the plasma screen riots, in one way, because this is rioting BETWEEN two sides, with major racial/sectarian elements

    The plasma screen riots simply needed the coppers to get a grip - and they did, It was mindless stupidity and - belatedly - it was crushed, Sadly this is of a different level of seriousness as it has such potential for escalation, and now a Rubicon has been crossed

    The 2010 riots felt surreal; this feels darkly ominous
    2011 riots. Get your years right!
  • pigeonpigeon Posts: 4,840
    Foxy said:

    Single person turns up to protest in Doncaster.

    About a dozen of the nazi scum in Leicester, kettled by about 30 cops, over 100 counter demonstrators, but all quite peaceable at the moment. The usual shoppers (including me) drifting by. Sidewalk diners and folks dressed for weddings just 50 yards away unbothered.


    The best thing these "counter demonstrators" can do is stay at home and give the police less needless work to do. I dare say they find turning out to provoke the idiots to be fun and thrilling, but it isn't helping anyone.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 51,091

    The two stranded American astronauts make me think that NASA officials should read Heinlein's short story, "Delilah and the Space-Rigger", especially the very end.

    You want funny. Try this.

    In theory, all modern spacecraft implement the
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Docking_System_Standard

    So in theory, every capsule can dock to each other and the ISS.

    Awesome, right?

    Except that Starliner doesn’t implant both active and passive modes. To save about 20lg in weight.

    So if Starliner disconnects from the station, and the thrusters fail, a Dragon capsule can’t directly dock with them to rescue the occupants.

    They could die in sight of the station. Very fucking slowly.
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 43,444
    kjh said:

    Andy_JS said:

    Good afternoon / evening from tranquil Manhattan.

    Haven’t there always been sporadic outbursts from young white yobs in Britain? Or do we think this daily kick-off is something new, perhaps super-charged by social media?

    This is on a different scale.
    Is it? The National Front in the 70s were pretty awful. I vaguely recall someone dying in a NF riot in London. When I was at Uni I lived above the UMIST union, even though I was at Manchester. A hundred odd NF ran riot through the Union. They totally destroyed it. The police didn't turn up until it was all over. The story was they just couldn't respond being so outnumbered.

    The 70s was pretty horrible for street violence.
    Back in the early 1990s, Derek Beackon (sp?) got elected onto Tower Hamlets council for the BNP. The far-right held a protest on the Isle of Dogs, and I was caught on a D6 bus behind the protest's slow procession. There were loads of police about, and police vans and cars, and about six protestors walking along the road in front of us, surrounded by a curtain of coppers.

    As an aside, there were posters in the area that said: "Kill the Nazi scum!"; which I thought was rather taking Nazi ideas to heart - kill the enemy...
  • MattWMattW Posts: 23,890
    Nice to see terrorism promoters being dealt with.

    Man hosting website he knew was filled with far-right terrorism material sentenced to an 11 year extended sentence.

    Colin McNeil (31/08/1977) received an 11 year extended sentence, comprising of 7 years in custody and 4 years on extended licence. He will also be subject to a terrorist notification order for 30 years.

    McNeil of Beeston Road, Leeds, provided a service, in the form of an online website, that facilitated others to obtain terrorist publications and by doing so committed four dissemination offences contrary to Section 2(2)(d) Terrorism Act 2006.

    The website was deliberately, and very publicly, unmoderated with McNeil admitting in a police interview that he knew the site had been ‘swamped’ by material supporting extreme right-wing ideologies.

    When he became aware that terrorist publications were being distributed on the website, he continued to play an active role in its administration. McNeil was first arrested on the 23 March 2022 following an investigation by Counter Terrorism Policing North East.

    https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/leeds-man-sentenced-for-hosting-terrorist-website/
  • StereodogStereodog Posts: 726
    Leon said:

    kyf_100 said:

    DM_Andy said:

    https://www.staffordshire.police.uk/news/staffordshire/news/2024/august/update-on-stoke-on-trent-disorder/

    There is growing speculation that a stabbing has taken place as a result of the disorder today. We can confirm this information is false and no stabbings have been reported to police or emergency responders, despite videos fuelling speculation on social media.

    We can confirm a man was injured after being hit by a blunt object that was thrown. His injuries are not thought to be serious and he has been taken to hospital for treatment.
    https://youtu.be/Sh3h_3nrOQU?feature=shared&t=42

    An eyewitness report in the link above. A group of 'English lads' were on one side of the street throwing bricks, then a group of 'Muslim lads' appeared down the street. One person was hit on the head with a hammer, who you can see in the background of the video. He appears to be 'up' (i.e. not dead or unconscious) by the end of the video.

    So while it's entirely wrong to say there are Muslims going round stabbing 'English' on the streets, as some people are saying on Twitter, today hasn't exactly been a day of racial harmony, either.

    I fear things will escalate after nightfall.

    Turns out it was a bit premature to say “Starmer and Cooper have handled this really well”
    The police in Stoke issued a statement saying:

    “We can confirm this information is false and no stabbings have been reported to police or emergency responders, despite videos fuelling speculation on social media."

    We can confirm a man was injured after being hit by a blunt object that was thrown. His injuries are not thought to be serious and he has been taken to hospital for treatment,”

    So one of Leon's first acts after returning from his ban is to trot out false information from dodgy sources on twitter and use it to proclaim a race war.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 56,511

    Leon said:

    Andy_JS said:

    Good afternoon / evening from tranquil Manhattan.

    Haven’t there always been sporadic outbursts from young white yobs in Britain? Or do we think this daily kick-off is something new, perhaps super-charged by social media?

    This is on a different scale.
    So far it doesn't seem to have on 2010 riots level, for a couple of days that got really out of hand and authorities had totally lost control, although mainly in London, there were other major cities that were only just hanging on at times.

    We could do with some classic British summertime rain before it escalates further.
    But it’s much much worse than the plasma screen riots, in one way, because this is rioting BETWEEN two sides, with major racial/sectarian elements

    The plasma screen riots simply needed the coppers to get a grip - and they did, It was mindless stupidity and - belatedly - it was crushed, Sadly this is of a different level of seriousness as it has such potential for escalation, and now a Rubicon has been crossed

    The 2010 riots felt surreal; this feels darkly ominous
    2011 riots. Get your years right!
    Apols., I took my cue from the prior comment

    I’m sure you are right

    I may not remember the exact year but I remember the experience. Truly hallucinatory. I recall using social media to see how close the riots were getting to my flat on the wild Primrose Hill borders. At one point they came up Parkway and I thought, whoah. This is it, defend my home

    But I had no tools so I stood on my balcony armed with… a bottle of Gran Reserva Rioja. What was I gonna do with it? Calm the rioters down with its notes of elegant leather and dark chocolate?

    I actually saw a rioter - just one - like the crest of wave - he reached the top of Parkway, glanced up at me: this mad dude with a wine bottle on a balcony. He shrugged, and went back down the street. And that was it
  • LeonLeon Posts: 56,511
    Stereodog said:

    Leon said:

    kyf_100 said:

    DM_Andy said:

    https://www.staffordshire.police.uk/news/staffordshire/news/2024/august/update-on-stoke-on-trent-disorder/

    There is growing speculation that a stabbing has taken place as a result of the disorder today. We can confirm this information is false and no stabbings have been reported to police or emergency responders, despite videos fuelling speculation on social media.

    We can confirm a man was injured after being hit by a blunt object that was thrown. His injuries are not thought to be serious and he has been taken to hospital for treatment.
    https://youtu.be/Sh3h_3nrOQU?feature=shared&t=42

    An eyewitness report in the link above. A group of 'English lads' were on one side of the street throwing bricks, then a group of 'Muslim lads' appeared down the street. One person was hit on the head with a hammer, who you can see in the background of the video. He appears to be 'up' (i.e. not dead or unconscious) by the end of the video.

    So while it's entirely wrong to say there are Muslims going round stabbing 'English' on the streets, as some people are saying on Twitter, today hasn't exactly been a day of racial harmony, either.

    I fear things will escalate after nightfall.

    Turns out it was a bit premature to say “Starmer and Cooper have handled this really well”
    The police in Stoke issued a statement saying:

    “We can confirm this information is false and no stabbings have been reported to police or emergency responders, despite videos fuelling speculation on social media."

    We can confirm a man was injured after being hit by a blunt object that was thrown. His injuries are not thought to be serious and he has been taken to hospital for treatment,”

    So one of Leon's first acts after returning from his ban is to trot out false information from dodgy sources on twitter and use it to proclaim a race war.
    Turns out it was probably hammers or maybe axes, not knives. My apologies to the site
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 54,014

    Leon said:

    Tres said:

    Leon said:

    It appears there has been an incident at the protest in Stoke.

    Appears that two white youths have been stabbed and allegedly others attacked with axes and hammers.

    If you want to know more see Twix for a less cautious summary.
    wtf?

    Remember when I was derided for predicting civil disorder and maybe even race war?

    We are going to a very very very dark place. We are right on the abyss. I hope this news report is completely wrong
    So not surprised that the two of you are creaming yourselves over fake news on social media. Sad.
    Sadly, it’s not fake. Not the white thugs beating up the black guy and not the Muslim thugs stabbing the white guys

    it’s all too real
    It appears that the severe head injuries inflicted on the two gentlemen (of which there is primae facie video evidence) were inflicted with weapons other than insertion of knives.

    So not fake news other than in the technicality sense.

    Which is why was cautious and said that it *appears* that they had been stabbed rather than saying they had been as the twitter reports accompanying the videos.

    I also refrained from speculating as to who the perpetrators were.
    Perhaps both of you should just shut the fuck up until we know more of what is going on, instead of spreading rumours and tittle-tattle that may well be wrong, yet might have drastic effects if believed?
    "I love rumours! Facts can be so misleading, but rumours, true or false, are often revealing."
    Have a read of this Sunil: https://www.wsj.com/articles/polar-bears-dead-coral-and-other-climate-fictions-528b18ea?mod=opinion_lead_pos6

    Or even better pass a copy to the Judge sentencing the next group of JSOs.
  • BurgessianBurgessian Posts: 2,811

    Andy_JS said:

    Good afternoon / evening from tranquil Manhattan.

    Haven’t there always been sporadic outbursts from young white yobs in Britain? Or do we think this daily kick-off is something new, perhaps super-charged by social media?

    This is on a different scale.
    It’s very hard to tell from afar.
    You really do lose touch of things even if, when I lived in London, I wouldn’t have first hand experience of a race riot.

    Another example, I cannot understand at all why a Jenrick appears to be front-runner to take over the Conservatives. From this distance he appears to be electoral kryptonite.
    Yep. An all too obvious dud. In the dismal tradition of IDS and Truss.

    The Tory problem is that the right-wing factionalists in the parliamentary party usually have just enough numbers to slip their candidate - however unsuitable - into the final two on which the members' vote.

    The saving grace this time is that the process may be long enough for the inadequacies of Jenrick to become obvious. But who knows?

  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 54,014

    The two stranded American astronauts make me think that NASA officials should read Heinlein's short story, "Delilah and the Space-Rigger", especially the very end.

    You want funny. Try this.

    In theory, all modern spacecraft implement the
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Docking_System_Standard

    So in theory, every capsule can dock to each other and the ISS.

    Awesome, right?

    Except that Starliner doesn’t implant both active and passive modes. To save about 20lg in weight.

    So if Starliner disconnects from the station, and the thrusters fail, a Dragon capsule can’t directly dock with them to rescue the occupants.

    They could die in sight of the station. Very fucking slowly.
    Not entirely sure about your sense of humour.

    Apollo 13 is a great film but my favourite scene is when the engineers work out how to get the CO2 scrubbers to work using what is on board the spacecraft including a sock.
  • AlsoLeiAlsoLei Posts: 1,500
    Carnyx said:

    Leon said:

    Béziers, twinned with Wick



    One can see why, the poor French have no single malt distillery.

    No longer true - there's this, which I believe is a collaboration with a Cognac distillery: https://www.brennewhisky.com/our-story?t=distillery

    https://www.houseofmalt.co.uk/product/brenne-ten-10-year-old-french-single-malt-whisky-70cl/ is worth a try - the closest Scotch comparison might be something like one of the Aberlour A'bunadhs (or should that be A'bhunadh?), but with a notably cognac-y tang.
  • darkagedarkage Posts: 5,398
    DM_Andy said:


    darkage said:

    The probability is that these protests will just burn themselves out, for the same reason that all protests are futile: people get identified due to technology then end up with really serious consequences in their lives. Sympathisers will not join in, the way they may have done historically.

    What I predict will happen is the response from government will just be along the lines of 'far right terrorism is the greatest challenge of our generation, worse even than Islamist terrorism', and then far right activists will be jailed for decades and given 'control' orders etc, similar to what as happens to Islamic terrorists. But I would be surprised if this solves the problem, I would guess it makes things worse.

    It isn't an either/or, both Islamic and Far-Right terrorism is a danger to our democratic society and we need to defend ourselves against both. The only difference between the two ideologies is that some otherwise respectable people seek to excuse and minimise the far-right.

    There are also plenty of respectable Hamas supporters.

    But the point is that if the liberal elite perceive all this as 'far right terrorism', such that they need to be kicked in to line, and hate speech laws etc boosted to bring the population in to check, then it will probably fail this time around because people have got so fed up with immigration (as exemplified by support for deportations) also looking at global trends - the 'far right' is now mainstream in Europe, they would be attempting to ban ideas that are supported by the Italian government, and possibly also the next French and US president.

    The point is that you can deal with 'far right criminal thuggery', but you also need to isolate it by dealing with wider public concerns about immigration and integration. And the latter is what I suspect the Labour government will avoid doing.

  • LeonLeon Posts: 56,511
    French wasps are mad fuckers
  • ThomasNasheThomasNashe Posts: 5,331
    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Andy_JS said:

    Good afternoon / evening from tranquil Manhattan.

    Haven’t there always been sporadic outbursts from young white yobs in Britain? Or do we think this daily kick-off is something new, perhaps super-charged by social media?

    This is on a different scale.
    So far it doesn't seem to have on 2010 riots level, for a couple of days that got really out of hand and authorities had totally lost control, although mainly in London, there were other major cities that were only just hanging on at times.

    We could do with some classic British summertime rain before it escalates further.
    But it’s much much worse than the plasma screen riots, in one way, because this is rioting BETWEEN two sides, with major racial/sectarian elements

    The plasma screen riots simply needed the coppers to get a grip - and they did, It was mindless stupidity and - belatedly - it was crushed, Sadly this is of a different level of seriousness as it has such potential for escalation, and now a Rubicon has been crossed

    The 2010 riots felt surreal; this feels darkly ominous
    2011 riots. Get your years right!
    Apols., I took my cue from the prior comment

    I’m sure you are right

    I may not remember the exact year but I remember the experience. Truly hallucinatory. I recall using social media to see how close the riots were getting to my flat on the wild Primrose Hill borders. At one point they came up Parkway and I thought, whoah. This is it, defend my home

    But I had no tools so I stood on my balcony armed with… a bottle of Gran Reserva Rioja. What was I gonna do with it? Calm the rioters down with its notes of elegant leather and dark chocolate?

    I actually saw a rioter - just one - like the crest of wave - he reached the top of Parkway, glanced up at me: this mad dude with a wine bottle on a balcony. He shrugged, and went back down the street. And that was it
    I was living in Ealing at the time and managed to sleep through the night of the riot.

    It was only listening to Today the morning after that I realised anything had happened, so I went for a walk up the Broadway to assess the damage. I recall the local branch of Foxton's had been smashed to pieces, while the neighbouring charity shop was untouched. Evidence of some discrimination, I thought.
  • SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 22,161
    pigeon said:

    Foxy said:

    Single person turns up to protest in Doncaster.

    About a dozen of the nazi scum in Leicester, kettled by about 30 cops, over 100 counter demonstrators, but all quite peaceable at the moment. The usual shoppers (including me) drifting by. Sidewalk diners and folks dressed for weddings just 50 yards away unbothered.


    The best thing these "counter demonstrators" can do is stay at home and give the police less needless work to do. I dare say they find turning out to provoke the idiots to be fun and thrilling, but it isn't helping anyone.
    Or the police could put their feet up and let the two sides kick seven shades of shite out of each other.
  • MattWMattW Posts: 23,890
    Everyday for Essex?

    A strange one. This could be Freemen on the Land types.

    A cultish group believed they could appoint themselves as legal authorities, and kidnapped the staff of a Coroners Court when they were aiming to capture the Coroner and put him on trial.

    An "anti-establishment cult" attempted to kidnap a coroner and subject him to "corporal punishment", a court heard.

    Mark Christopher, 58, Matthew Martin, 47, Shiza Harper, 45, and Sean Harper, 38, wanted to "shut down" Essex Coroner's Court in April 2023, it was alleged.

    They stormed into the building in Chelmsford with handcuffs as they worked to "arrest, detain and take" senior coroner Lincoln Brookes, a prosecutor said.

    The defendants, from Essex and east London, deny a number of offences.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c16j8n8wd3ko

    Weird stuff. Found guilty. There'll be having time to read up on the law.
    https://www.essex.police.uk/news/essex/news/news/2024/july/coroner-kidnap-plot-conviction/
  • SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 22,161

    Foxy said:

    Single person turns up to protest in Doncaster.

    About a dozen of the nazi scum in Leicester, kettled by about 30 cops, over 100 counter demonstrators, but all quite peaceable at the moment. The usual shoppers (including me) drifting by. Sidewalk diners and folks dressed for weddings just 50 yards away unbothered.




    What on earth is a 'sidewalk diner'?
    It's what Americans call a pavement cafe.
  • kyf_100kyf_100 Posts: 4,951
    edited August 3
    pigeon said:

    "I know this definitely happened cos some random bloke/woman/bot posted a video on Twitter!!!" Soon we'll be reporting as fact the unsubstantiated claims of Sharon on the local Facebook group, who got the 'facts' from her sister's mate whose kids go to the same school as somebody whose cousin saw it happen. Really.

    The problem is, in this day and age

    a) nobody is going to wait until tomorrow's papers publish a well-researched account of all the facts with all sources checked and verified.

    b) people don't trust the mainstream media to not have an agenda now, either. Look at how they reported 'loud noises' heard at Trump's rally even when it was incredibly clear from multiple videos that it was an assassination attempt.

    This means we have to make do with what we have, which is often chaotic and unverified, with pieces of the story emerging from multiple places. For example today I've seen angry white hooligan types charging coppers with wheelie bins, I've also seen 'Muslim' types wandering the streets with weapons and supposedly attacking people with knives. I've seen video of the police telling Muslim men to go back and store their weapons in the mosque. And that awful video of a group of white men in Manchester appearing to surround that one black man until the police step in.

    Is everything I've seen today verified? Not really. But it's all viewable, now, with a couple of clicks.

    Which means you have to make up your own mind. Because you can't wait for the mainstream media to make it up for you. I take everything I see on social media with a pinch of salt, but it looks a lot like race riots, with bad actors on both sides. In all of this, nuance will be lost. For example, the Muslim men being asked to put their weapons back in the mosque may well be out today defending their religious centre from far right thugs who've travelled miles to torch it to the ground - with little to no faith in police protection. But others will be out spinning it on social media as armed Muslims on the streets looking for trouble.

    In a live-streamed, social media world where everyone has a camera, and pretty much everyone has an agenda, too, the idea that you can hope for 'truth' is for the birds. Look at the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse, a chaotic scene where you had far right militias on one side and BLM types rioting on the others. It took months to determine what happened there, and there was a lot of camera footage to help decide, eventually, that the kid had acted in self defence (whether he should have been out that night with a militia is another question).

    What's really depressing is that people aren't interested in trying to figure out what happened, factually speaking. They just want to use whatever media is out there to ramp up their agenda. The mainstream media is as guilty of that as anyone else these days.
  • StereodogStereodog Posts: 726
    Leon said:

    Stereodog said:

    Leon said:

    kyf_100 said:

    DM_Andy said:

    https://www.staffordshire.police.uk/news/staffordshire/news/2024/august/update-on-stoke-on-trent-disorder/

    There is growing speculation that a stabbing has taken place as a result of the disorder today. We can confirm this information is false and no stabbings have been reported to police or emergency responders, despite videos fuelling speculation on social media.

    We can confirm a man was injured after being hit by a blunt object that was thrown. His injuries are not thought to be serious and he has been taken to hospital for treatment.
    https://youtu.be/Sh3h_3nrOQU?feature=shared&t=42

    An eyewitness report in the link above. A group of 'English lads' were on one side of the street throwing bricks, then a group of 'Muslim lads' appeared down the street. One person was hit on the head with a hammer, who you can see in the background of the video. He appears to be 'up' (i.e. not dead or unconscious) by the end of the video.

    So while it's entirely wrong to say there are Muslims going round stabbing 'English' on the streets, as some people are saying on Twitter, today hasn't exactly been a day of racial harmony, either.

    I fear things will escalate after nightfall.

    Turns out it was a bit premature to say “Starmer and Cooper have handled this really well”
    The police in Stoke issued a statement saying:

    “We can confirm this information is false and no stabbings have been reported to police or emergency responders, despite videos fuelling speculation on social media."

    We can confirm a man was injured after being hit by a blunt object that was thrown. His injuries are not thought to be serious and he has been taken to hospital for treatment,”

    So one of Leon's first acts after returning from his ban is to trot out false information from dodgy sources on twitter and use it to proclaim a race war.
    Turns out it was probably hammers or maybe axes, not knives. My apologies to the site
    What you should be apologising for is doing what the far right wants and ramping these 'protests' up into some kind of race war with two different sides. The various far right groupings on the internet are encouraging hardcore supporters to bus around northern towns and cause violence. Just watch them and you can see that there are hardly any placards with demands and there's no evidence that large numbers outside of their hardcore group is joining in. This is criminal damage by a load of thugs not some kind of societal breakdown.
  • MisterBedfordshireMisterBedfordshire Posts: 2,252
    edited August 3

    Leon said:

    Tres said:

    Leon said:

    It appears there has been an incident at the protest in Stoke.

    Appears that two white youths have been stabbed and allegedly others attacked with axes and hammers.

    If you want to know more see Twix for a less cautious summary.
    wtf?

    Remember when I was derided for predicting civil disorder and maybe even race war?

    We are going to a very very very dark place. We are right on the abyss. I hope this news report is completely wrong
    So not surprised that the two of you are creaming yourselves over fake news on social media. Sad.
    Sadly, it’s not fake. Not the white thugs beating up the black guy and not the Muslim thugs stabbing the white guys

    it’s all too real
    It appears that the severe head injuries inflicted on the two gentlemen (of which there is primae facie video evidence) were inflicted with weapons other than insertion of knives.

    So not fake news other than in the technicality sense.

    Which is why was cautious and said that it *appears* that they had been stabbed rather than saying they had been as the twitter reports accompanying the videos.

    I also refrained from speculating as to who the perpetrators were.
    Perhaps both of you should just shut the fuck up until we know more of what is going on, instead of spreading rumours and tittle-tattle that may well be wrong, yet might have drastic effects if believed?
    Drastic Effects, on PB?

    This isn't Mumsnet or Twatter.

    However when I *responded* to a poster (not Leon), reporting an incident in Stoke, I exercised due caution and caveated my words eg "appears", omitted any details of the alleged perpetrators and omitted any link to any external sources e.g. tweets.

    If PB didn't discuss any current events until all the facts are known sometime later it would be rather tedious.
  • MattWMattW Posts: 23,890
    I think when these f*ckers get into Court in the morning, they'll all be crying that it was a moment of madness and they didn't mean it.

    If we are having prompt weekend trials the overtime for the prosecutors will be worth it.

    A few of your friends locked up for a few months or a couple of years should have an impact, just as I hope it does for Roger Hallam and his fellows.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 56,511
    kyf_100 said:

    pigeon said:

    "I know this definitely happened cos some random bloke/woman/bot posted a video on Twitter!!!" Soon we'll be reporting as fact the unsubstantiated claims of Sharon on the local Facebook group, who got the 'facts' from her sister's mate whose kids go to the same school as somebody whose cousin saw it happen. Really.

    The problem is, in this day and age

    a) nobody is going to wait until tomorrow's papers publish a well-researched account of all the facts with all sources checked and verified.

    b) people don't trust the mainstream media to not have an agenda now, either. Look at how they reported 'loud noises' heard at Trump's rally even when it was incredibly clear from multiple videos that it was an assassination attempt.

    This means we have to make do with what we have, which is often chaotic and unverified, with pieces of the story emerging from multiple places. For example today I've seen angry white hooligan types charging coppers with wheelie bins, I've also seen 'Muslim' types wandering the streets with weapons and supposedly attacking people with knives. I've seen video of the police telling Muslim men to go back and store their weapons in the mosque. And that awful video of a group of white men in Manchester appearing to surround that one black man until the police step in.

    Is everything I've seen today verified? Not really. But it's all viewable, now, with a couple of clicks.

    Which means you have to make up your own mind. Because you can't wait for the mainstream media to make it up for you. I take everything I see on social media with a pinch of salt, but it looks a lot like race riots, with bad actors on both sides. In all of this, nuance will be lost. For example, the Muslim men being asked to put their weapons back in the mosque may well be out today defending their religious centre from far right thugs who've travelled miles to torch it to the ground - with little to no faith in police protection. But others will be out spinning it on social media as armed Muslims on the streets looking for trouble.

    In a live-streamed, social media world where everyone has a camera, and pretty much everyone has an agenda, too, the idea that you can hope for 'truth' is for the birds. Look at the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse, a chaotic scene where you had far right militias on one side and BLM types rioting on the others. It took months to determine what happened there, and there was a lot of camera footage to help decide, eventually, that the kid had acted in self defence (whether he should have been out that night with a militia is another question).

    What's really depressing is that people aren't interested in trying to figure out what happened, factually speaking. They just want to use whatever media is out there to ramp up their agenda. The mainstream media is as guilty of that as anyone else these days.
    Yep. i saw this with my own eyes at the BLM riots in Trafalgar Square. I was there with my Press Card alongside other journalists

    We all witnessed the same thing, thugs from the crowd hunting down more gammony or EDL-y white people and beating the shit out of them. And nearly killing one or two

    I thought, Well my God this will be all over the papers and TV tomorrow. Racial attacks that come close to lynchings

    Not a peep. Nothing from the Beeb or ITV or Sky or any of the papers, and I know they were there because I chatted with them

    In late middle age I belatedly realised: the media will completely lie when it suits their agenda or when a story doesn’t fit the narrative. Weirdly, it gave me sympathy for left wingers who were - in my eyes - always whining about a biased media. I finally realised they had and have a very valid point

    For that and many other reasons I am now ten times more skeptical about MSM news. Which means you have to dig out the truth yourself, and it is hard, and getting harder
  • LeonLeon Posts: 56,511
    Stereodog said:

    Leon said:

    Stereodog said:

    Leon said:

    kyf_100 said:

    DM_Andy said:

    https://www.staffordshire.police.uk/news/staffordshire/news/2024/august/update-on-stoke-on-trent-disorder/

    There is growing speculation that a stabbing has taken place as a result of the disorder today. We can confirm this information is false and no stabbings have been reported to police or emergency responders, despite videos fuelling speculation on social media.

    We can confirm a man was injured after being hit by a blunt object that was thrown. His injuries are not thought to be serious and he has been taken to hospital for treatment.
    https://youtu.be/Sh3h_3nrOQU?feature=shared&t=42

    An eyewitness report in the link above. A group of 'English lads' were on one side of the street throwing bricks, then a group of 'Muslim lads' appeared down the street. One person was hit on the head with a hammer, who you can see in the background of the video. He appears to be 'up' (i.e. not dead or unconscious) by the end of the video.

    So while it's entirely wrong to say there are Muslims going round stabbing 'English' on the streets, as some people are saying on Twitter, today hasn't exactly been a day of racial harmony, either.

    I fear things will escalate after nightfall.

    Turns out it was a bit premature to say “Starmer and Cooper have handled this really well”
    The police in Stoke issued a statement saying:

    “We can confirm this information is false and no stabbings have been reported to police or emergency responders, despite videos fuelling speculation on social media."

    We can confirm a man was injured after being hit by a blunt object that was thrown. His injuries are not thought to be serious and he has been taken to hospital for treatment,”

    So one of Leon's first acts after returning from his ban is to trot out false information from dodgy sources on twitter and use it to proclaim a race war.
    Turns out it was probably hammers or maybe axes, not knives. My apologies to the site
    What you should be apologising for is doing what the far right wants and ramping these 'protests' up into some kind of race war with two different sides. The various far right groupings on the internet are encouraging hardcore supporters to bus around northern towns and cause violence. Just watch them and you can see that there are hardly any placards with demands and there's no evidence that large numbers outside of their hardcore group is joining in. This is criminal damage by a load of thugs not some kind of societal breakdown.
    You’ve not noticed the Muslim thugs tooled up with swords, machetes and staves? Just the white thugs?

    I mean, the white thugs are definitely there, I can see them. Fat ugly bastards who need six months of Ozempic and a detox. But this is two sides going at it, and both sides are highly aggressive and angry
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 72,175
    Leon said:

    French wasps are mad fuckers

    The Huguenots ?
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,472
    No Fraser-Pryce in this semi. DNS.
  • kjhkjh Posts: 11,934
    DavidL said:

    The two stranded American astronauts make me think that NASA officials should read Heinlein's short story, "Delilah and the Space-Rigger", especially the very end.

    You want funny. Try this.

    In theory, all modern spacecraft implement the
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Docking_System_Standard

    So in theory, every capsule can dock to each other and the ISS.

    Awesome, right?

    Except that Starliner doesn’t implant both active and passive modes. To save about 20lg in weight.

    So if Starliner disconnects from the station, and the thrusters fail, a Dragon capsule can’t directly dock with them to rescue the occupants.

    They could die in sight of the station. Very fucking slowly.
    Not entirely sure about your sense of humour.

    Apollo 13 is a great film but my favourite scene is when the engineers work out how to get the CO2 scrubbers to work using what is on board the spacecraft including a sock.
    Not one of Leon's socks I hope?
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 22,380
    +++ BETTING POST +++

    I started early and today I have bet £50 on Kamala Harris for POTUS at 11/10 from one of Ladbrokes and Coral. If she wins my returns will be £105, a profit of £55. If she loses my returns will be 0, a loss will be £50

    It's too early and I should have waited until the Veep pick. But it was a nice warm Saturday and I thought: "why not". We will find out in 94 days...

    #bigboypants
  • Leon said:

    Tres said:

    Leon said:

    It appears there has been an incident at the protest in Stoke.

    Appears that two white youths have been stabbed and allegedly others attacked with axes and hammers.

    If you want to know more see Twix for a less cautious summary.
    wtf?

    Remember when I was derided for predicting civil disorder and maybe even race war?

    We are going to a very very very dark place. We are right on the abyss. I hope this news report is completely wrong
    So not surprised that the two of you are creaming yourselves over fake news on social media. Sad.
    Sadly, it’s not fake. Not the white thugs beating up the black guy and not the Muslim thugs stabbing the white guys

    it’s all too real
    It appears that the severe head injuries inflicted on the two gentlemen (of which there is primae facie video evidence) were inflicted with weapons other than insertion of knives.

    So not fake news other than in the technicality sense.

    Which is why was cautious and said that it *appears* that they had been stabbed rather than saying they had been as the twitter reports accompanying the videos.

    I also refrained from speculating as to who the perpetrators were.
    Perhaps both of you should just shut the fuck up until we know more of what is going on, instead of spreading rumours and tittle-tattle that may well be wrong, yet might have drastic effects if believed?
    Drastic Effects, on PB?

    This isn't Mumsnet or Twatter.

    However when I *responded* to a poster (not Leon), reporting an incident in Stoke, I exercised due caution and caveated my words eg "appears", omitted any details of the alleged perpetrators and omitted any link to any external sources e.g. tweets.

    If PB didn't discuss any current events until all the facts are known sometime later it would be rather tedious.
    Oh and I also posted an eyewitness report from London Bridge station warning of a large police presence and large numbers of idiots chanting "we are millwall, no one likes us, we dont care" heading towards Borough and warning to avoid the area.
  • EabhalEabhal Posts: 8,945
    edited August 3
    MattW said:

    I think when these f*ckers get into Court in the morning, they'll all be crying that it was a moment of madness and they didn't mean it.

    If we are having prompt weekend trials the overtime for the prosecutors will be worth it.

    A few of your friends locked up for a few months or a couple of years should have an impact, just as I hope it does for Roger Hallam and his fellows.

    I don't think disruptive protests like JSO and Tractors round Westminster can really be compared to the kind of violence we are seeing now.

    The JSO conspirators were (imo) rightly sent to jail. But for entirely different reasons to why these people also belong there.
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,945
    MattW said:

    I think when these f*ckers get into Court in the morning, they'll all be crying that it was a moment of madness and they didn't mean it.

    If we are having prompt weekend trials the overtime for the prosecutors will be worth it.

    A few of your friends locked up for a few months or a couple of years should have an impact, just as I hope it does for Roger Hallam and his fellows.

    Have you forgotten that the government is trying to send fewer people to jail?
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 43,444

    Leon said:

    Tres said:

    Leon said:

    It appears there has been an incident at the protest in Stoke.

    Appears that two white youths have been stabbed and allegedly others attacked with axes and hammers.

    If you want to know more see Twix for a less cautious summary.
    wtf?

    Remember when I was derided for predicting civil disorder and maybe even race war?

    We are going to a very very very dark place. We are right on the abyss. I hope this news report is completely wrong
    So not surprised that the two of you are creaming yourselves over fake news on social media. Sad.
    Sadly, it’s not fake. Not the white thugs beating up the black guy and not the Muslim thugs stabbing the white guys

    it’s all too real
    It appears that the severe head injuries inflicted on the two gentlemen (of which there is primae facie video evidence) were inflicted with weapons other than insertion of knives.

    So not fake news other than in the technicality sense.

    Which is why was cautious and said that it *appears* that they had been stabbed rather than saying they had been as the twitter reports accompanying the videos.

    I also refrained from speculating as to who the perpetrators were.
    Perhaps both of you should just shut the fuck up until we know more of what is going on, instead of spreading rumours and tittle-tattle that may well be wrong, yet might have drastic effects if believed?
    Drastic Effects, on PB?

    This isn't Mumsnet or Twatter.

    However when I *responded* to a poster (not Leon), reporting an incident in Stoke, I exercised due caution and caveated my words eg "appears", omitted any details of the alleged perpetrators and omitted any link to any external sources e.g. tweets.

    If PB didn't discuss any current events until all the facts are known sometime later it would be rather tedious.
    I refer the honourable gentleman to my previous comment.
  • MisterBedfordshireMisterBedfordshire Posts: 2,252
    edited August 3
    Eabhal said:

    MattW said:

    I think when these f*ckers get into Court in the morning, they'll all be crying that it was a moment of madness and they didn't mean it.

    If we are having prompt weekend trials the overtime for the prosecutors will be worth it.

    A few of your friends locked up for a few months or a couple of years should have an impact, just as I hope it does for Roger Hallam and his fellows.

    I don't think disruptive protests like JSO and Tractors round Westminster can really be compared to the kind of violence we are seeing now.

    The JSO conspirators were (imo) rightly sent to jail. But for entirely different reasons to why these people also belong there.
    In some ways JSO gluing themselves to motorway gantries etc are worse. Ask someone stuck in an Ambulance or who missed their cancer appointment as a result.
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 28,890
    Andy_JS said:

    "Matt Goodwin
    @GoodwinMJ
    Anybody who breaks the law should be arrested. But what you are also witnessing in the UK right now is a concerted & most likely coordinated effort by the elite class to inflate "far right" to stigmatise & silence millions of ordinary people who object to mass immigration and its effects.
    4:22 PM · Aug 3, 2024
    55K Views"

    https://x.com/GoodwinMJ/status/1819755616186859748

    Why do you insist on posting this w@nker's old bollocks?
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 60,672
    Andy_JS said:

    "Matt Goodwin
    @GoodwinMJ
    Anybody who breaks the law should be arrested. But what you are also witnessing in the UK right now is a concerted & most likely coordinated effort by the elite class to inflate "far right" to stigmatise & silence millions of ordinary people who object to mass immigration and its effects.
    4:22 PM · Aug 3, 2024
    55K Views"

    https://x.com/GoodwinMJ/status/1819755616186859748

    If Starmer doesn't address it, on top of the Tories, eventually we will really will get a Hard-Right government. And, then, all bets really are off.
  • PhilPhil Posts: 2,335

    Nothing says mostly peaceful protest in name of some murdered kids like looting a phone shop for a new iPhone 15 Max...

    https://x.com/CrimeLdn/status/1819787450257997887?t=9trU1C9iIzd_y177l49bkw&s=19

    What this is really reminding me of is the wave of street riots / violence that swept the UK in the 80s. Just groups of lads realising that if they went out en masse they could do whatever they wanted for a night, feel powerful & rob whoever & whatever they wanted. The initial disturbance provided a Schelling point for everyone else to centre on.

    No real reason, no real justification needed. Just the desire to feel powerful for once in their lives.

    I remember the news listing off the places where there had been riots / violence the night before & the list including Knutsford. Knutsford! Wealthiest town in Cheshire probably.
  • TazTaz Posts: 14,997
    Interviewing a runner who came fifth in a heat on the BBC

    When will we get it through our heads. A gallant loser is a loser.
  • MisterBedfordshireMisterBedfordshire Posts: 2,252
    edited August 3
    Leon said:

    kyf_100 said:

    pigeon said:

    "I know this definitely happened cos some random bloke/woman/bot posted a video on Twitter!!!" Soon we'll be reporting as fact the unsubstantiated claims of Sharon on the local Facebook group, who got the 'facts' from her sister's mate whose kids go to the same school as somebody whose cousin saw it happen. Really.

    The problem is, in this day and age

    a) nobody is going to wait until tomorrow's papers publish a well-researched account of all the facts with all sources checked and verified.

    b) people don't trust the mainstream media to not have an agenda now, either. Look at how they reported 'loud noises' heard at Trump's rally even when it was incredibly clear from multiple videos that it was an assassination attempt.

    This means we have to make do with what we have, which is often chaotic and unverified, with pieces of the story emerging from multiple places. For example today I've seen angry white hooligan types charging coppers with wheelie bins, I've also seen 'Muslim' types wandering the streets with weapons and supposedly attacking people with knives. I've seen video of the police telling Muslim men to go back and store their weapons in the mosque. And that awful video of a group of white men in Manchester appearing to surround that one black man until the police step in.

    Is everything I've seen today verified? Not really. But it's all viewable, now, with a couple of clicks.

    Which means you have to make up your own mind. Because you can't wait for the mainstream media to make it up for you. I take everything I see on social media with a pinch of salt, but it looks a lot like race riots, with bad actors on both sides. In all of this, nuance will be lost. For example, the Muslim men being asked to put their weapons back in the mosque may well be out today defending their religious centre from far right thugs who've travelled miles to torch it to the ground - with little to no faith in police protection. But others will be out spinning it on social media as armed Muslims on the streets looking for trouble.

    In a live-streamed, social media world where everyone has a camera, and pretty much everyone has an agenda, too, the idea that you can hope for 'truth' is for the birds. Look at the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse, a chaotic scene where you had far right militias on one side and BLM types rioting on the others. It took months to determine what happened there, and there was a lot of camera footage to help decide, eventually, that the kid had acted in self defence (whether he should have been out that night with a militia is another question).

    What's really depressing is that people aren't interested in trying to figure out what happened, factually speaking. They just want to use whatever media is out there to ramp up their agenda. The mainstream media is as guilty of that as anyone else these days.
    Yep. i saw this with my own eyes at the BLM riots in Trafalgar Square. I was there with my Press Card alongside other journalists

    We all witnessed the same thing, thugs from the crowd hunting down more gammony or EDL-y white people and beating the shit out of them. And nearly killing one or two

    I thought, Well my God this will be all over the papers and TV tomorrow. Racial attacks that come close to lynchings

    Not a peep. Nothing from the Beeb or ITV or Sky or any of the papers, and I know they were there because I chatted with them

    In late middle age I belatedly realised: the media will completely lie when it suits their agenda or when a story doesn’t fit the narrative. Weirdly, it gave me sympathy for left wingers who were - in my eyes - always whining about a biased media. I finally realised they had and have a very valid point

    For that and many other reasons I am now ten times more skeptical about MSM news. Which means you have to dig out the truth yourself, and it is hard, and getting harder
    The UK media has rarely gone in for Pravda type lies, they are cleverer than that.

    What didn't suit the agenda would just not get published or get a 30 second slot at the end of the bulleitein showing them in an unfavourable light if a big enough event so they couldn't be accused of bias.

    In the days of a few licenced radio and tv stations and a handful of national media moguls this was extraordinarily effective.

    Social media and ubiquitous high resolution camera phones has blown this apart and they don't really know what to do, especially once outlets proliferated in response to Covid era censorship attempts.
  • TresTres Posts: 2,723

    Leon said:

    Tres said:

    Leon said:

    It appears there has been an incident at the protest in Stoke.

    Appears that two white youths have been stabbed and allegedly others attacked with axes and hammers.

    If you want to know more see Twix for a less cautious summary.
    wtf?

    Remember when I was derided for predicting civil disorder and maybe even race war?

    We are going to a very very very dark place. We are right on the abyss. I hope this news report is completely wrong
    So not surprised that the two of you are creaming yourselves over fake news on social media. Sad.
    Sadly, it’s not fake. Not the white thugs beating up the black guy and not the Muslim thugs stabbing the white guys

    it’s all too real
    It appears that the severe head injuries inflicted on the two gentlemen (of which there is primae facie video evidence) were inflicted with weapons other than insertion of knives.

    So not fake news other than in the technicality sense.

    Which is why was cautious and said that it *appears* that they had been stabbed rather than saying they had been as the twitter reports accompanying the videos.

    I also refrained from speculating as to who the perpetrators were.
    Perhaps both of you should just shut the fuck up until we know more of what is going on, instead of spreading rumours and tittle-tattle that may well be wrong, yet might have drastic effects if believed?
    Drastic Effects, on PB?

    This isn't Mumsnet or Twatter.

    However when I *responded* to a poster (not Leon), reporting an incident in Stoke, I exercised due caution and caveated my words eg "appears", omitted any details of the alleged perpetrators and omitted any link to any external sources e.g. tweets.

    If PB didn't discuss any current events until all the facts are known sometime later it would be rather tedious.
    Oh and I also posted an eyewitness report from London Bridge station warning of a large police presence and large numbers of idiots chanting "we are millwall, no one likes us, we dont care" heading towards Borough and warning to avoid the area.
    lmao every weekend you get thousands of football fans passing through london railway stations with barely any bother.
  • No_Offence_AlanNo_Offence_Alan Posts: 4,589
    Taz said:

    Interviewing a runner who came fifth in a heat on the BBC

    When will we get it through our heads. A gallant loser is a loser.

    Probably a contractual arrangement.
  • moonshinemoonshine Posts: 5,755
    I’ve been caught in a proper civil disturbance / pre-revolutionary riot before. Bolivia 2002. That was wild. Police on motor bikes charging at the crowd while firing semi automatic weapons into the air. Ripped my trousers clambering over a fence as the crowd pulsed. Got away quite lightly I suppose, not all protests in Bolivia in that era ended so cleanly.

    Anyway this isn’t that. There’s some angry people that feel left behind by our economy and democracy. And some av-eet boys livening up an otherwise boring summer. And some wronguns of various stripes. And a new government that hasn’t yet come to terms with the hard choices that power brings.

    That government would however be foolish to overlook the undercurrent among the wwc, who seem to me to be throughly and justifiably fed up. If they’re not careful, the eventual reverse take over by Reform won’t be of the Conservative Party but Labour.
  • TazTaz Posts: 14,997

    Eabhal said:

    MattW said:

    I think when these f*ckers get into Court in the morning, they'll all be crying that it was a moment of madness and they didn't mean it.

    If we are having prompt weekend trials the overtime for the prosecutors will be worth it.

    A few of your friends locked up for a few months or a couple of years should have an impact, just as I hope it does for Roger Hallam and his fellows.

    I don't think disruptive protests like JSO and Tractors round Westminster can really be compared to the kind of violence we are seeing now.

    The JSO conspirators were (imo) rightly sent to jail. But for entirely different reasons to why these people also belong there.
    In some ways JSO gluing themselves to motorway gantries etc are worse. Ask someone stuck in an Ambulance or who missed their cancer appointment as a result.
    But they’re middle class and centrist dads support them so they must be beyond criticism..
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 43,444
    Leon said:

    Stereodog said:

    Leon said:

    Stereodog said:

    Leon said:

    kyf_100 said:

    DM_Andy said:

    https://www.staffordshire.police.uk/news/staffordshire/news/2024/august/update-on-stoke-on-trent-disorder/

    There is growing speculation that a stabbing has taken place as a result of the disorder today. We can confirm this information is false and no stabbings have been reported to police or emergency responders, despite videos fuelling speculation on social media.

    We can confirm a man was injured after being hit by a blunt object that was thrown. His injuries are not thought to be serious and he has been taken to hospital for treatment.
    https://youtu.be/Sh3h_3nrOQU?feature=shared&t=42

    An eyewitness report in the link above. A group of 'English lads' were on one side of the street throwing bricks, then a group of 'Muslim lads' appeared down the street. One person was hit on the head with a hammer, who you can see in the background of the video. He appears to be 'up' (i.e. not dead or unconscious) by the end of the video.

    So while it's entirely wrong to say there are Muslims going round stabbing 'English' on the streets, as some people are saying on Twitter, today hasn't exactly been a day of racial harmony, either.

    I fear things will escalate after nightfall.

    Turns out it was a bit premature to say “Starmer and Cooper have handled this really well”
    The police in Stoke issued a statement saying:

    “We can confirm this information is false and no stabbings have been reported to police or emergency responders, despite videos fuelling speculation on social media."

    We can confirm a man was injured after being hit by a blunt object that was thrown. His injuries are not thought to be serious and he has been taken to hospital for treatment,”

    So one of Leon's first acts after returning from his ban is to trot out false information from dodgy sources on twitter and use it to proclaim a race war.
    Turns out it was probably hammers or maybe axes, not knives. My apologies to the site
    What you should be apologising for is doing what the far right wants and ramping these 'protests' up into some kind of race war with two different sides. The various far right groupings on the internet are encouraging hardcore supporters to bus around northern towns and cause violence. Just watch them and you can see that there are hardly any placards with demands and there's no evidence that large numbers outside of their hardcore group is joining in. This is criminal damage by a load of thugs not some kind of societal breakdown.
    You’ve not noticed the Muslim thugs tooled up with swords, machetes and staves? Just the white thugs?

    I mean, the white thugs are definitely there, I can see them. Fat ugly bastards who need six months of Ozempic and a detox. But this is two sides going at it, and both sides are highly aggressive and angry
    You must have very good eyesight to see them from France!
  • logical_songlogical_song Posts: 9,932

    Andy_JS said:

    "Matt Goodwin
    @GoodwinMJ
    Anybody who breaks the law should be arrested. But what you are also witnessing in the UK right now is a concerted & most likely coordinated effort by the elite class to inflate "far right" to stigmatise & silence millions of ordinary people who object to mass immigration and its effects.
    4:22 PM · Aug 3, 2024
    55K Views"

    https://x.com/GoodwinMJ/status/1819755616186859748

    The guy's just obsessed with this "elite" he claims to have discovered are running the country.
    Probably lizards.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 72,175
    Modest proposal - cancel ITER, and invest the cash saved among the five or ten most promising private sector fusion programs.

    The 35-nation Iter project has a groundbreaking aim to create clean and limitless energy but it is turning into the ‘most delayed and cost-inflated science project in history’
    https://www.theguardian.com/technology/article/2024/aug/03/is-the-dream-of-nuclear-fusion-dead-why-the-international-experimental-reactor-is-in-big-trouble
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 63,114
    MattW said:

    I think when these f*ckers get into Court in the morning, they'll all be crying that it was a moment of madness and they didn't mean it.

    If we are having prompt weekend trials the overtime for the prosecutors will be worth it.

    A few of your friends locked up for a few months or a couple of years should have an impact, just as I hope it does for Roger Hallam and his fellows.

    One of them has already been in tears in the court this morning iirc.

  • Tres said:

    Leon said:

    Tres said:

    Leon said:

    It appears there has been an incident at the protest in Stoke.

    Appears that two white youths have been stabbed and allegedly others attacked with axes and hammers.

    If you want to know more see Twix for a less cautious summary.
    wtf?

    Remember when I was derided for predicting civil disorder and maybe even race war?

    We are going to a very very very dark place. We are right on the abyss. I hope this news report is completely wrong
    So not surprised that the two of you are creaming yourselves over fake news on social media. Sad.
    Sadly, it’s not fake. Not the white thugs beating up the black guy and not the Muslim thugs stabbing the white guys

    it’s all too real
    It appears that the severe head injuries inflicted on the two gentlemen (of which there is primae facie video evidence) were inflicted with weapons other than insertion of knives.

    So not fake news other than in the technicality sense.

    Which is why was cautious and said that it *appears* that they had been stabbed rather than saying they had been as the twitter reports accompanying the videos.

    I also refrained from speculating as to who the perpetrators were.
    Perhaps both of you should just shut the fuck up until we know more of what is going on, instead of spreading rumours and tittle-tattle that may well be wrong, yet might have drastic effects if believed?
    Drastic Effects, on PB?

    This isn't Mumsnet or Twatter.

    However when I *responded* to a poster (not Leon), reporting an incident in Stoke, I exercised due caution and caveated my words eg "appears", omitted any details of the alleged perpetrators and omitted any link to any external sources e.g. tweets.

    If PB didn't discuss any current events until all the facts are known sometime later it would be rather tedious.
    Oh and I also posted an eyewitness report from London Bridge station warning of a large police presence and large numbers of idiots chanting "we are millwall, no one likes us, we dont care" heading towards Borough and warning to avoid the area.
    lmao every weekend you get thousands of football fans passing through london railway stations with barely any bother.
    Yes but there is no football this weekend outside Scotland other than FA Cup preliminary rounds and friendlies.

    I suspect the government and police dearly wish there was
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 63,114
    Some fighting breaking out in Nottingham.
  • FlatlanderFlatlander Posts: 4,721
    edited August 3
    Nigelb said:

    Modest proposal - cancel ITER, and invest the cash saved among the five or ten most promising private sector fusion programs.

    The 35-nation Iter project has a groundbreaking aim to create clean and limitless energy but it is turning into the ‘most delayed and cost-inflated science project in history’
    https://www.theguardian.com/technology/article/2024/aug/03/is-the-dream-of-nuclear-fusion-dead-why-the-international-experimental-reactor-is-in-big-trouble

    I thought we were planning to build our own fusion reactor next to the Trent anyway?
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 82,507
    edited August 3

    Some fighting breaking out in Nottingham.

    There is fighting in Blackpool between the punks and the protesters....
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 60,672

    Andy_JS said:

    "Matt Goodwin
    @GoodwinMJ
    Anybody who breaks the law should be arrested. But what you are also witnessing in the UK right now is a concerted & most likely coordinated effort by the elite class to inflate "far right" to stigmatise & silence millions of ordinary people who object to mass immigration and its effects.
    4:22 PM · Aug 3, 2024
    55K Views"

    https://x.com/GoodwinMJ/status/1819755616186859748

    Why do you insist on posting this w@nker's old bollocks?
    Well, he's only allowed two images a day.
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 52,270

    Some fighting breaking out in Nottingham.

    Saturday Notts alright for fighting.
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 82,507
    edited August 3

    Leon said:

    Stereodog said:

    Leon said:

    Stereodog said:

    Leon said:

    kyf_100 said:

    DM_Andy said:

    https://www.staffordshire.police.uk/news/staffordshire/news/2024/august/update-on-stoke-on-trent-disorder/

    There is growing speculation that a stabbing has taken place as a result of the disorder today. We can confirm this information is false and no stabbings have been reported to police or emergency responders, despite videos fuelling speculation on social media.

    We can confirm a man was injured after being hit by a blunt object that was thrown. His injuries are not thought to be serious and he has been taken to hospital for treatment.
    https://youtu.be/Sh3h_3nrOQU?feature=shared&t=42

    An eyewitness report in the link above. A group of 'English lads' were on one side of the street throwing bricks, then a group of 'Muslim lads' appeared down the street. One person was hit on the head with a hammer, who you can see in the background of the video. He appears to be 'up' (i.e. not dead or unconscious) by the end of the video.

    So while it's entirely wrong to say there are Muslims going round stabbing 'English' on the streets, as some people are saying on Twitter, today hasn't exactly been a day of racial harmony, either.

    I fear things will escalate after nightfall.

    Turns out it was a bit premature to say “Starmer and Cooper have handled this really well”
    The police in Stoke issued a statement saying:

    “We can confirm this information is false and no stabbings have been reported to police or emergency responders, despite videos fuelling speculation on social media."

    We can confirm a man was injured after being hit by a blunt object that was thrown. His injuries are not thought to be serious and he has been taken to hospital for treatment,”

    So one of Leon's first acts after returning from his ban is to trot out false information from dodgy sources on twitter and use it to proclaim a race war.
    Turns out it was probably hammers or maybe axes, not knives. My apologies to the site
    What you should be apologising for is doing what the far right wants and ramping these 'protests' up into some kind of race war with two different sides. The various far right groupings on the internet are encouraging hardcore supporters to bus around northern towns and cause violence. Just watch them and you can see that there are hardly any placards with demands and there's no evidence that large numbers outside of their hardcore group is joining in. This is criminal damage by a load of thugs not some kind of societal breakdown.
    You’ve not noticed the Muslim thugs tooled up with swords, machetes and staves? Just the white thugs?

    I mean, the white thugs are definitely there, I can see them. Fat ugly bastards who need six months of Ozempic and a detox. But this is two sides going at it, and both sides are highly aggressive and angry
    You must have very good eyesight to see them from France!
    There is loads of video footage that shows this to be true including the police asking them to put them away.
  • TresTres Posts: 2,723

    Tres said:

    Leon said:

    Tres said:

    Leon said:

    It appears there has been an incident at the protest in Stoke.

    Appears that two white youths have been stabbed and allegedly others attacked with axes and hammers.

    If you want to know more see Twix for a less cautious summary.
    wtf?

    Remember when I was derided for predicting civil disorder and maybe even race war?

    We are going to a very very very dark place. We are right on the abyss. I hope this news report is completely wrong
    So not surprised that the two of you are creaming yourselves over fake news on social media. Sad.
    Sadly, it’s not fake. Not the white thugs beating up the black guy and not the Muslim thugs stabbing the white guys

    it’s all too real
    It appears that the severe head injuries inflicted on the two gentlemen (of which there is primae facie video evidence) were inflicted with weapons other than insertion of knives.

    So not fake news other than in the technicality sense.

    Which is why was cautious and said that it *appears* that they had been stabbed rather than saying they had been as the twitter reports accompanying the videos.

    I also refrained from speculating as to who the perpetrators were.
    Perhaps both of you should just shut the fuck up until we know more of what is going on, instead of spreading rumours and tittle-tattle that may well be wrong, yet might have drastic effects if believed?
    Drastic Effects, on PB?

    This isn't Mumsnet or Twatter.

    However when I *responded* to a poster (not Leon), reporting an incident in Stoke, I exercised due caution and caveated my words eg "appears", omitted any details of the alleged perpetrators and omitted any link to any external sources e.g. tweets.

    If PB didn't discuss any current events until all the facts are known sometime later it would be rather tedious.
    Oh and I also posted an eyewitness report from London Bridge station warning of a large police presence and large numbers of idiots chanting "we are millwall, no one likes us, we dont care" heading towards Borough and warning to avoid the area.
    lmao every weekend you get thousands of football fans passing through london railway stations with barely any bother.
    Yes but there is no football this weekend outside Scotland other than FA Cup preliminary rounds and friendlies.

    I suspect the government and police dearly wish there was
    Millwall were playing a friendly ya numnut
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 60,672
    Taz said:

    Eabhal said:

    MattW said:

    I think when these f*ckers get into Court in the morning, they'll all be crying that it was a moment of madness and they didn't mean it.

    If we are having prompt weekend trials the overtime for the prosecutors will be worth it.

    A few of your friends locked up for a few months or a couple of years should have an impact, just as I hope it does for Roger Hallam and his fellows.

    I don't think disruptive protests like JSO and Tractors round Westminster can really be compared to the kind of violence we are seeing now.

    The JSO conspirators were (imo) rightly sent to jail. But for entirely different reasons to why these people also belong there.
    In some ways JSO gluing themselves to motorway gantries etc are worse. Ask someone stuck in an Ambulance or who missed their cancer appointment as a result.
    But they’re middle class and centrist dads support them so they must be beyond criticism..
    If I went on a 2nd referendum march or a BLM protest I'd be OK.

    If I marched (never rioted) against mass immigration there's a serious risk it could end my career.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 123,866
    From Trump's point of view having one the first debate, Harris has more need of a second debate than he does.

    So by proposing a Fox debate he knows Harris likely refuses he can avoid a second most likely
  • EPGEPG Posts: 6,653
    moonshine said:

    I’ve been caught in a proper civil disturbance / pre-revolutionary riot before. Bolivia 2002. That was wild. Police on motor bikes charging at the crowd while firing semi automatic weapons into the air. Ripped my trousers clambering over a fence as the crowd pulsed. Got away quite lightly I suppose, not all protests in Bolivia in that era ended so cleanly.

    Anyway this isn’t that. There’s some angry people that feel left behind by our economy and democracy. And some av-eet boys livening up an otherwise boring summer. And some wronguns of various stripes. And a new government that hasn’t yet come to terms with the hard choices that power brings.

    That government would however be foolish to overlook the undercurrent among the wwc, who seem to me to be throughly and justifiably fed up. If they’re not careful, the eventual reverse take over by Reform won’t be of the Conservative Party but Labour.

    What does this phenomenon have to do with Labour, exactly? The only thing they can change rapidly is the policing policy. The protesters won't be assuaged by policies to reject non-white people in the future. They want rid of the ones they see today.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 72,175

    Nigelb said:

    Modest proposal - cancel ITER, and invest the cash saved among the five or ten most promising private sector fusion programs.

    The 35-nation Iter project has a groundbreaking aim to create clean and limitless energy but it is turning into the ‘most delayed and cost-inflated science project in history’
    https://www.theguardian.com/technology/article/2024/aug/03/is-the-dream-of-nuclear-fusion-dead-why-the-international-experimental-reactor-is-in-big-trouble

    I thought we were planning to build our own fusion reactor next to the Trent anyway?
    First Light Fusion ?

    Sure, it’s promising. But there are a dozen private sector efforts which represent quicker and far cheaper experiments than does ITER.
    FLF is one of them.
  • MattWMattW Posts: 23,890
    edited August 3
    Eabhal said:

    MattW said:

    I think when these f*ckers get into Court in the morning, they'll all be crying that it was a moment of madness and they didn't mean it.

    If we are having prompt weekend trials the overtime for the prosecutors will be worth it.

    A few of your friends locked up for a few months or a couple of years should have an impact, just as I hope it does for Roger Hallam and his fellows.

    I don't think disruptive protests like JSO and Tractors round Westminster can really be compared to the kind of violence we are seeing now.

    The JSO conspirators were (imo) rightly sent to jail. But for entirely different reasons to why these people also belong there.
    I think the principle is the same tbh. Hallam and the JSO protestors knew they would cause significant harm, and carried on regardless, and they did cause significant harm.
    Andy_JS said:

    MattW said:

    I think when these f*ckers get into Court in the morning, they'll all be crying that it was a moment of madness and they didn't mean it.

    If we are having prompt weekend trials the overtime for the prosecutors will be worth it.

    A few of your friends locked up for a few months or a couple of years should have an impact, just as I hope it does for Roger Hallam and his fellows.

    Have you forgotten that the government is trying to send fewer people to jail?
    I don't think that applies to people involved in serious violence.

    One of the reasons that is an aim is because 1/6 of the prison population are on remand, a situation which has been developing since 2019 and about which the previous Government chose - for reasons of incompetence, stupidity or recklessness (take your pick) - to do nothing.

    They had 3 years since the end of COVID, and did nothing to deal with the gathering crisis.

    I'm hoping we may be surprised how quickly progress is made on this.

    I think we will have the numbers for Starmer's first two quarters early in 2025.
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 60,672
    kyf_100 said:

    pigeon said:

    "I know this definitely happened cos some random bloke/woman/bot posted a video on Twitter!!!" Soon we'll be reporting as fact the unsubstantiated claims of Sharon on the local Facebook group, who got the 'facts' from her sister's mate whose kids go to the same school as somebody whose cousin saw it happen. Really.

    The problem is, in this day and age

    a) nobody is going to wait until tomorrow's papers publish a well-researched account of all the facts with all sources checked and verified.

    b) people don't trust the mainstream media to not have an agenda now, either. Look at how they reported 'loud noises' heard at Trump's rally even when it was incredibly clear from multiple videos that it was an assassination attempt.

    This means we have to make do with what we have, which is often chaotic and unverified, with pieces of the story emerging from multiple places. For example today I've seen angry white hooligan types charging coppers with wheelie bins, I've also seen 'Muslim' types wandering the streets with weapons and supposedly attacking people with knives. I've seen video of the police telling Muslim men to go back and store their weapons in the mosque. And that awful video of a group of white men in Manchester appearing to surround that one black man until the police step in.

    Is everything I've seen today verified? Not really. But it's all viewable, now, with a couple of clicks.

    Which means you have to make up your own mind. Because you can't wait for the mainstream media to make it up for you. I take everything I see on social media with a pinch of salt, but it looks a lot like race riots, with bad actors on both sides. In all of this, nuance will be lost. For example, the Muslim men being asked to put their weapons back in the mosque may well be out today defending their religious centre from far right thugs who've travelled miles to torch it to the ground - with little to no faith in police protection. But others will be out spinning it on social media as armed Muslims on the streets looking for trouble.

    In a live-streamed, social media world where everyone has a camera, and pretty much everyone has an agenda, too, the idea that you can hope for 'truth' is for the birds. Look at the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse, a chaotic scene where you had far right militias on one side and BLM types rioting on the others. It took months to determine what happened there, and there was a lot of camera footage to help decide, eventually, that the kid had acted in self defence (whether he should have been out that night with a militia is another question).

    What's really depressing is that people aren't interested in trying to figure out what happened, factually speaking. They just want to use whatever media is out there to ramp up their agenda. The mainstream media is as guilty of that as anyone else these days.
    Insightful post.
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 54,997
    edited August 3
    Taz said:

    Interviewing a runner who came fifth in a heat on the BBC

    When will we get it through our heads. A gallant loser is a loser.

    Why is the headline “Dina Asher-Smith fails to quality for the final”, rather than “British athlete Daryll Neita makes the 100m final”?
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 82,507
    Sandpit said:

    Taz said:

    Interviewing a runner who came fifth in a heat on the BBC

    When will we get it through our heads. A gallant loser is a loser.

    Why is the headline “Dina Asher-Smith fails to quality for the final”, rather than “British athlete Daryll Neita makes the final”?
    BBC athletics have a really soft spot for her. It was the same last Olympics.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 49,122
    pigeon said:

    Foxy said:

    Single person turns up to protest in Doncaster.

    About a dozen of the nazi scum in Leicester, kettled by about 30 cops, over 100 counter demonstrators, but all quite peaceable at the moment. The usual shoppers (including me) drifting by. Sidewalk diners and folks dressed for weddings just 50 yards away unbothered.


    The best thing these "counter demonstrators" can do is stay at home and give the police less needless work to do. I dare say they find turning out to provoke the idiots to be fun and thrilling, but it isn't helping anyone.
    The counter demonstrators didn't need policing. I wandered through them completely un molested. They were just just chanting slogans like "Leicester united" and "racists off our streets".
  • No_Offence_AlanNo_Offence_Alan Posts: 4,589

    Leon said:

    Ratters said:

    Leon said:

    Nunu5 said:

    Andy_JS said:

    "Matt Goodwin
    @GoodwinMJ
    Anybody who breaks the law should be arrested. But what you are also witnessing in the UK right now is a concerted & most likely coordinated effort by the elite class to inflate "far right" to stigmatise & silence millions of ordinary people who object to mass immigration and its effects.
    4:22 PM · Aug 3, 2024
    55K Views"

    https://x.com/GoodwinMJ/status/1819755616186859748

    No, what we are seeing is calling people far right who attack mosques, Uber drivers, people with brown skin walking down the road, Black people on buses.

    The murder was not even an migrant. And on top of all this violent crime is down despite record immigration levels. Migrants committ fewer crimes than natives.

    So why protest mass migration now? Why conflate the issue of the grisly murders with the issue of mass migration? A lot of people are not dealing with the facts and it is brown and black people that will pay the price

    But thing I know if the far right wants fight we minorities will not take things lying down! Our parents have fought way to hard to go backwards now.
    Is violent crime down? I really want to believe this but I have a hard time reconciling the data with what I see with my own eyes in london
    DM_Andy said:


    darkage said:

    The probability is that these protests will just burn themselves out, for the same reason that all protests are futile: people get identified due to technology then end up with really serious consequences in their lives. Sympathisers will not join in, the way they may have done historically.

    What I predict will happen is the response from government will just be along the lines of 'far right terrorism is the greatest challenge of our generation, worse even than Islamist terrorism', and then far right activists will be jailed for decades and given 'control' orders etc, similar to what as happens to Islamic terrorists. But I would be surprised if this solves the problem, I would guess it makes things worse.

    It isn't an either/or, both Islamic and Far-Right terrorism is a danger to our democratic society and we need to defend ourselves against both. The only difference between the two ideologies is that some otherwise respectable people seek to excuse and minimise the far-right.

    But do you see it with your own eyes in person, or do you see it with your own eyes via social media?

    Comparing the availability of videos of incidents with any points in history beyond the last few years is utterly pointless. And having lived and worked in various areas in London myself, I certainly haven't seen a rise in crime in person.
    Shoplifting is off the dial, and it seems to go unreported, and I’ve seen it surge from nowhere, and I’ve seen it get violent several times

    Indeed London feels more violent now - to me - than it has for a decade or two; tho it felt a lot worse in the grotty early-mid 80s. Purely anecdotal (apart from the shoplifting, which I have witnessed)
    I cannot really comment, except that it’s hard to “hide” rising violent crime from official statistics.

    What I suspect has happened is that shoplifting and low-level crimes - vandalism, flytipping - and even general social nuisance like the habit of listening to iPhones on full volume on public transport - have all escalated.

    This all gives the sense of rising menace.
    Overall, the police recorded 2.1 million offences of violence against the person in the year ending March 2023. This was a 20% rise compared with the pre-coronavirus pandemic year ending March 2020 (1.8 million offences) and a slight increase (1%) compared with the year ending March 2022. Violence with injury was 6% higher (573,791 offences) than levels recorded in the year ending March 2020 (540,870 offences). In addition, violence without injury increased by 14% to 828,673 offences compared with the year ending March 2020 (728,265 offences).

    https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/bulletins/crimeinenglandandwales/yearendingmarch2023#:~:text=This was a 20% rise,March 2020 (540,870 offences).
    I was responding to the notion that violent crime is down. But - it would seems that it’s not down at all.
    Even if violent crime was decreasing, neither the MSM nor Twatter would tell us it was.
  • RogerRoger Posts: 19,970
    Taz said:

    Roger said:

    Andy_JS said:

    "Matt Goodwin
    @GoodwinMJ
    Anybody who breaks the law should be arrested. But what you are also witnessing in the UK right now is a concerted & most likely coordinated effort by the elite class to inflate "far right" to stigmatise & silence millions of ordinary people who object to mass immigration and its effects.
    4:22 PM · Aug 3, 2024
    55K Views"

    https://x.com/GoodwinMJ/status/1819755616186859748

    Is that Goodwin the pollster?
    How’s France Rogerdamus ?
    It was nice but I've been in the UK since the election.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 52,935
    Taz said:

    Interviewing a runner who came fifth in a heat on the BBC

    When will we get it through our heads. A gallant loser is a loser.

    Only losers talk to the BBC?
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 54,997

    Sandpit said:

    Taz said:

    Interviewing a runner who came fifth in a heat on the BBC

    When will we get it through our heads. A gallant loser is a loser.

    Why is the headline “Dina Asher-Smith fails to quality for the final”, rather than “British athlete Daryll Neita makes the final”?
    BBC athletics have a really soft spot for her. It was the same last Olympics.
    Annoys me. Let’s celebrate the successes, that’s the whole point of the Olympics.
  • ThomasNasheThomasNashe Posts: 5,331

    Leon said:

    Tres said:

    Leon said:

    It appears there has been an incident at the protest in Stoke.

    Appears that two white youths have been stabbed and allegedly others attacked with axes and hammers.

    If you want to know more see Twix for a less cautious summary.
    wtf?

    Remember when I was derided for predicting civil disorder and maybe even race war?

    We are going to a very very very dark place. We are right on the abyss. I hope this news report is completely wrong
    So not surprised that the two of you are creaming yourselves over fake news on social media. Sad.
    Sadly, it’s not fake. Not the white thugs beating up the black guy and not the Muslim thugs stabbing the white guys

    it’s all too real
    It appears that the severe head injuries inflicted on the two gentlemen (of which there is primae facie video evidence) were inflicted with weapons other than insertion of knives.

    So not fake news other than in the technicality sense.

    Which is why was cautious and said that it *appears* that they had been stabbed rather than saying they had been as the twitter reports accompanying the videos.

    I also refrained from speculating as to who the perpetrators were.
    Perhaps both of you should just shut the fuck up until we know more of what is going on, instead of spreading rumours and tittle-tattle that may well be wrong, yet might have drastic effects if believed?
    Drastic Effects, on PB?

    This isn't Mumsnet or Twatter.

    However when I *responded* to a poster (not Leon), reporting an incident in Stoke, I exercised due caution and caveated my words eg "appears", omitted any details of the alleged perpetrators and omitted any link to any external sources e.g. tweets.

    If PB didn't discuss any current events until all the facts are known sometime later it would be rather tedious.
    Oh and I also posted an eyewitness report from London Bridge station warning of a large police presence and large numbers of idiots chanting "we are millwall, no one likes us, we dont care" heading towards Borough and warning to avoid the area.
    Probably off to buy some cheese from the market. You can get some very nice French ones I believe.
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 36,099
    Sandpit said:

    Sandpit said:

    Taz said:

    Interviewing a runner who came fifth in a heat on the BBC

    When will we get it through our heads. A gallant loser is a loser.

    Why is the headline “Dina Asher-Smith fails to quality for the final”, rather than “British athlete Daryll Neita makes the final”?
    BBC athletics have a really soft spot for her. It was the same last Olympics.
    Annoys me. Let’s celebrate the successes, that’s the whole point of the Olympics.
    You think 5th in an Olympic semi-final isn't success?

    What was your best result?
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 49,122
    EPG said:

    moonshine said:

    I’ve been caught in a proper civil disturbance / pre-revolutionary riot before. Bolivia 2002. That was wild. Police on motor bikes charging at the crowd while firing semi automatic weapons into the air. Ripped my trousers clambering over a fence as the crowd pulsed. Got away quite lightly I suppose, not all protests in Bolivia in that era ended so cleanly.

    Anyway this isn’t that. There’s some angry people that feel left behind by our economy and democracy. And some av-eet boys livening up an otherwise boring summer. And some wronguns of various stripes. And a new government that hasn’t yet come to terms with the hard choices that power brings.

    That government would however be foolish to overlook the undercurrent among the wwc, who seem to me to be throughly and justifiably fed up. If they’re not careful, the eventual reverse take over by Reform won’t be of the Conservative Party but Labour.

    What does this phenomenon have to do with Labour, exactly? The only thing they can change rapidly is the policing policy. The protesters won't be assuaged by policies to reject non-white people in the future. They want rid of the ones they see today.
    Exactly. You can't negotiate with people who just want mass deportations of British citizens of the wrong colour or religion.

  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 54,997
    Scott_xP said:

    Sandpit said:

    Sandpit said:

    Taz said:

    Interviewing a runner who came fifth in a heat on the BBC

    When will we get it through our heads. A gallant loser is a loser.

    Why is the headline “Dina Asher-Smith fails to quality for the final”, rather than “British athlete Daryll Neita makes the final”?
    BBC athletics have a really soft spot for her. It was the same last Olympics.
    Annoys me. Let’s celebrate the successes, that’s the whole point of the Olympics.
    You think 5th in an Olympic semi-final isn't success?

    What was your best result?
    It’s not a success when compared to the other British girl who qualified for the final, no. The media focus should be on the success.

    Me, about 12 seconds. I wouldn’t have qualified for the women’s race.
  • SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 17,559
    AP (via Seattle Times) - Trump says he’ll skip an ABC debate with Harris in September and wants them to face off on Fox News

    Donald Trump says he is pulling out of a scheduled September debate with Vice President Kamala Harris on ABC and wants them to face off on Fox News, making it increasingly unlikely that the candidates will confront each other on stage before the November election.

    In a series of Truth Social posts late Friday, the Republican nominee and former president said his agreement to a Sept. 10 debate on ABC “has been terminated” because he will no longer face Democratic President Joe Biden, who ended his campaign last month after a disastrous performance in their first debate.

    Trump now says he will appear on Fox News on Sept. 4 in Pennsylvania with rules that he called “similar” to his debate with Biden, but with a full audience instead of a mostly empty studio. Trump said that if Harris, the likely Democratic nominee, does not agree to the new network and date, he will do a “major Town Hall” with Fox News.

    Michael Tyler, a Harris spokesperson, said Trump “is running scared and trying to back out of the debate he already agreed to and running straight to Fox News to bail him out.”

    It was not immediately clear whether ABC would turn its Sept. 10 event into a Harris town hall in Trump’s absence. Tyler said Harris is committed to the time slot and would appear “one way or the other to take the opportunity to speak to a prime time national audience.”

    SSI - See that self-proclaimed Hero of Butler is yet again burnishing his credentials as a bombastic bully coward.

    NOT a good look and NOT a smart strategy . . . surprise! surprise!
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 72,175
    Sandpit said:

    Sandpit said:

    Taz said:

    Interviewing a runner who came fifth in a heat on the BBC

    When will we get it through our heads. A gallant loser is a loser.

    Why is the headline “Dina Asher-Smith fails to quality for the final”, rather than “British athlete Daryll Neita makes the final”?
    BBC athletics have a really soft spot for her. It was the same last Olympics.
    Annoys me. Let’s celebrate the successes, that’s the whole point of the Olympics.
    You had no interest in Andy Murray's final game, then ?
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 60,672
    Scott_xP said:

    Sandpit said:

    Sandpit said:

    Taz said:

    Interviewing a runner who came fifth in a heat on the BBC

    When will we get it through our heads. A gallant loser is a loser.

    Why is the headline “Dina Asher-Smith fails to quality for the final”, rather than “British athlete Daryll Neita makes the final”?
    BBC athletics have a really soft spot for her. It was the same last Olympics.
    Annoys me. Let’s celebrate the successes, that’s the whole point of the Olympics.
    You think 5th in an Olympic semi-final isn't success?

    What was your best result?
    Well, qualified for a school semi and then came last

    (no sniggering at the back, please)
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 63,114
    The Rebellion punk music festival in Blackpool was disrupted by the far-right rioting earlier today. Punks have been photographed clearing up the mess in the aftermath.

    Guardian
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 54,997
    Nigelb said:

    Sandpit said:

    Sandpit said:

    Taz said:

    Interviewing a runner who came fifth in a heat on the BBC

    When will we get it through our heads. A gallant loser is a loser.

    Why is the headline “Dina Asher-Smith fails to quality for the final”, rather than “British athlete Daryll Neita makes the final”?
    BBC athletics have a really soft spot for her. It was the same last Olympics.
    Annoys me. Let’s celebrate the successes, that’s the whole point of the Olympics.
    You had no interest in Andy Murray's final game, then ?
    Nope.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 72,175
    edited August 3

    Scott_xP said:

    Sandpit said:

    Sandpit said:

    Taz said:

    Interviewing a runner who came fifth in a heat on the BBC

    When will we get it through our heads. A gallant loser is a loser.

    Why is the headline “Dina Asher-Smith fails to quality for the final”, rather than “British athlete Daryll Neita makes the final”?
    BBC athletics have a really soft spot for her. It was the same last Olympics.
    Annoys me. Let’s celebrate the successes, that’s the whole point of the Olympics.
    You think 5th in an Olympic semi-final isn't success?

    What was your best result?
    Well, qualified for a school semi and then came last
    Not everyone can claim the latter.
    Kudos.

    Keep it up. 🧐
  • TresTres Posts: 2,723

    Taz said:

    Interviewing a runner who came fifth in a heat on the BBC

    When will we get it through our heads. A gallant loser is a loser.

    Only losers talk to the BBC?
    all the british athletes get interviewed, not sure what all the fuss is about
  • moonshinemoonshine Posts: 5,755
    EPG said:

    moonshine said:

    I’ve been caught in a proper civil disturbance / pre-revolutionary riot before. Bolivia 2002. That was wild. Police on motor bikes charging at the crowd while firing semi automatic weapons into the air. Ripped my trousers clambering over a fence as the crowd pulsed. Got away quite lightly I suppose, not all protests in Bolivia in that era ended so cleanly.

    Anyway this isn’t that. There’s some angry people that feel left behind by our economy and democracy. And some av-eet boys livening up an otherwise boring summer. And some wronguns of various stripes. And a new government that hasn’t yet come to terms with the hard choices that power brings.

    That government would however be foolish to overlook the undercurrent among the wwc, who seem to me to be throughly and justifiably fed up. If they’re not careful, the eventual reverse take over by Reform won’t be of the Conservative Party but Labour.

    What does this phenomenon have to do with Labour, exactly? The only thing they can change rapidly is the policing policy. The protesters won't be assuaged by policies to reject non-white people in the future. They want rid of the ones they see today.
    Honestly this is the sort of attitude that has got sections of society so angry. We don’t have enough houses or infrastructure and our productivity (and hence wealth creation) is shit, in large part because successive govts do nothing but throw cheap imported labour at the problem. There is also an undeniable dilution of traditional British values that is harming social cohesion. You can choose to ignore it if you want but it’s an European wide phenomenon. All you seem to want to do is make it about race, that’s as bad as the thugs out tonight and punching anyone that doesn’t look like them.

    The phenomenon is as much to with Labour as the other three main Westminster parties, who have all adopted a similar policy stance since circa the millennium. It’s especially to do with Labour because they are now in the hot seat and the problems I describe are being felt by their voter base more than the average. Blair warned about this a few weeks ago, that if Starmer does not get a grip of the numbers then his flank is vulnerable to Reform. And his antenna is sharper than yours.
  • Tres said:

    Tres said:

    Leon said:

    Tres said:

    Leon said:

    It appears there has been an incident at the protest in Stoke.

    Appears that two white youths have been stabbed and allegedly others attacked with axes and hammers.

    If you want to know more see Twix for a less cautious summary.
    wtf?

    Remember when I was derided for predicting civil disorder and maybe even race war?

    We are going to a very very very dark place. We are right on the abyss. I hope this news report is completely wrong
    So not surprised that the two of you are creaming yourselves over fake news on social media. Sad.
    Sadly, it’s not fake. Not the white thugs beating up the black guy and not the Muslim thugs stabbing the white guys

    it’s all too real
    It appears that the severe head injuries inflicted on the two gentlemen (of which there is primae facie video evidence) were inflicted with weapons other than insertion of knives.

    So not fake news other than in the technicality sense.

    Which is why was cautious and said that it *appears* that they had been stabbed rather than saying they had been as the twitter reports accompanying the videos.

    I also refrained from speculating as to who the perpetrators were.
    Perhaps both of you should just shut the fuck up until we know more of what is going on, instead of spreading rumours and tittle-tattle that may well be wrong, yet might have drastic effects if believed?
    Drastic Effects, on PB?

    This isn't Mumsnet or Twatter.

    However when I *responded* to a poster (not Leon), reporting an incident in Stoke, I exercised due caution and caveated my words eg "appears", omitted any details of the alleged perpetrators and omitted any link to any external sources e.g. tweets.

    If PB didn't discuss any current events until all the facts are known sometime later it would be rather tedious.
    Oh and I also posted an eyewitness report from London Bridge station warning of a large police presence and large numbers of idiots chanting "we are millwall, no one likes us, we dont care" heading towards Borough and warning to avoid the area.
    lmao every weekend you get thousands of football fans passing through london railway stations with barely any bother.
    Yes but there is no football this weekend outside Scotland other than FA Cup preliminary rounds and friendlies.

    I suspect the government and police dearly wish there was
    Millwall were playing a friendly ya numnut
    Maybe they were but it was after the match and said fans appeared to be headed off towards the site of the site of where the London Bridge Terror attack ended not as the terrorists planned when said terrorists got into a fight with one of the Millwall fans in a nearby pub.

    Hopefully you are right though.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,718
    DavidL said:

    Starmer's not going to get his family holiday at the end of next week is he?

    He should bloody well go. This small collection of prats are not worthy of his attention.
    Sudden thought:

    Who’s in charge while he’s away?

    Is it actually Rayner, or is he nominating Cooper or Reeves?
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,718
    Eabhal said:

    Far right: "There will be a race war"

    Far right: *conducts race war*

    Far right: "Told you!"

    Gives a whole new meaning to the phrase ‘self-fulfilling prophecy.’
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 28,808

    kyf_100 said:

    pigeon said:

    "I know this definitely happened cos some random bloke/woman/bot posted a video on Twitter!!!" Soon we'll be reporting as fact the unsubstantiated claims of Sharon on the local Facebook group, who got the 'facts' from her sister's mate whose kids go to the same school as somebody whose cousin saw it happen. Really.

    The problem is, in this day and age

    a) nobody is going to wait until tomorrow's papers publish a well-researched account of all the facts with all sources checked and verified.

    b) people don't trust the mainstream media to not have an agenda now, either. Look at how they reported 'loud noises' heard at Trump's rally even when it was incredibly clear from multiple videos that it was an assassination attempt.

    This means we have to make do with what we have, which is often chaotic and unverified, with pieces of the story emerging from multiple places. For example today I've seen angry white hooligan types charging coppers with wheelie bins, I've also seen 'Muslim' types wandering the streets with weapons and supposedly attacking people with knives. I've seen video of the police telling Muslim men to go back and store their weapons in the mosque. And that awful video of a group of white men in Manchester appearing to surround that one black man until the police step in.

    Is everything I've seen today verified? Not really. But it's all viewable, now, with a couple of clicks.

    Which means you have to make up your own mind. Because you can't wait for the mainstream media to make it up for you. I take everything I see on social media with a pinch of salt, but it looks a lot like race riots, with bad actors on both sides. In all of this, nuance will be lost. For example, the Muslim men being asked to put their weapons back in the mosque may well be out today defending their religious centre from far right thugs who've travelled miles to torch it to the ground - with little to no faith in police protection. But others will be out spinning it on social media as armed Muslims on the streets looking for trouble.

    In a live-streamed, social media world where everyone has a camera, and pretty much everyone has an agenda, too, the idea that you can hope for 'truth' is for the birds. Look at the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse, a chaotic scene where you had far right militias on one side and BLM types rioting on the others. It took months to determine what happened there, and there was a lot of camera footage to help decide, eventually, that the kid had acted in self defence (whether he should have been out that night with a militia is another question).

    What's really depressing is that people aren't interested in trying to figure out what happened, factually speaking. They just want to use whatever media is out there to ramp up their agenda. The mainstream media is as guilty of that as anyone else these days.
    Insightful post.
    A very worthwhile post.

  • Some fighting breaking out in Nottingham.

    Saturday Evening - Check.
    Nottingham - Check.

    Sounds about right.
  • SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 17,559
    Strikes me, that tactics and strategy, by those current egging on racist rioters in England, is very similar to that employed by Trump & etc. in egging on neo-nazis killers in Charlottesville and elsewhere in USA.

    Curs dog-whistling to their fellow curs.
  • SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 17,559
    ydoethur said:

    Eabhal said:

    Far right: "There will be a race war"

    Far right: *conducts race war*

    Far right: "Told you!"

    Gives a whole new meaning to the phrase ‘self-fulfilling prophecy.’
    Right (!) out of the Putin-Trump playbook.
  • SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 17,559

    Some fighting breaking out in Nottingham.

    Saturday Evening - Check.
    Nottingham - Check.

    Sounds about right.
    With emphasis on "right" as in right-wing.
  • WhisperingOracleWhisperingOracle Posts: 9,259
    moonshine said:

    EPG said:

    moonshine said:

    I’ve been caught in a proper civil disturbance / pre-revolutionary riot before. Bolivia 2002. That was wild. Police on motor bikes charging at the crowd while firing semi automatic weapons into the air. Ripped my trousers clambering over a fence as the crowd pulsed. Got away quite lightly I suppose, not all protests in Bolivia in that era ended so cleanly.

    Anyway this isn’t that. There’s some angry people that feel left behind by our economy and democracy. And some av-eet boys livening up an otherwise boring summer. And some wronguns of various stripes. And a new government that hasn’t yet come to terms with the hard choices that power brings.

    That government would however be foolish to overlook the undercurrent among the wwc, who seem to me to be throughly and justifiably fed up. If they’re not careful, the eventual reverse take over by Reform won’t be of the Conservative Party but Labour.

    What does this phenomenon have to do with Labour, exactly? The only thing they can change rapidly is the policing policy. The protesters won't be assuaged by policies to reject non-white people in the future. They want rid of the ones they see today.
    Honestly this is the sort of attitude that has got sections of society so angry. We don’t have enough houses or infrastructure and our productivity (and hence wealth creation) is shit, in large part because successive govts do nothing but throw cheap imported labour at the problem. There is also an undeniable dilution of traditional British values that is harming social cohesion. You can choose to ignore it if you want but it’s an European wide phenomenon. All you seem to want to do is make it about race, that’s as bad as the thugs out tonight and punching anyone that doesn’t look like them.

    The phenomenon is as much to with Labour as the other three main Westminster parties, who have all adopted a similar policy stance since circa the millennium. It’s especially to do with Labour because they are now in the hot seat and the problems I describe are being felt by their voter base more than the average. Blair warned about this a few weeks ago, that if Starmer does not get a grip of the numbers then his flank is vulnerable to Reform. And his antenna is sharper than yours.
    As we discussed recently, Germany has had higher immigration over the last three years, and has better infrastructure, housing, and productivity.

    Some of these have been the results of the post-Thatcherite consensus that carried through to New Labour, and that Starmer will need to partially break with at some point to reverse. This isn't to say that there aren't issues to deal with from time to time, but together with the Netherlands we've still made a better success of a multiracial society than the the vast majority of Europe, thanks largely to that very long liberal tradition.
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 60,672
    Is there a single commercial out there that Sean Bean doesn't narrate, now?
  • EPGEPG Posts: 6,653
    edited August 3
    moonshine said:

    EPG said:

    moonshine said:

    I’ve been caught in a proper civil disturbance / pre-revolutionary riot before. Bolivia 2002. That was wild. Police on motor bikes charging at the crowd while firing semi automatic weapons into the air. Ripped my trousers clambering over a fence as the crowd pulsed. Got away quite lightly I suppose, not all protests in Bolivia in that era ended so cleanly.

    Anyway this isn’t that. There’s some angry people that feel left behind by our economy and democracy. And some av-eet boys livening up an otherwise boring summer. And some wronguns of various stripes. And a new government that hasn’t yet come to terms with the hard choices that power brings.

    That government would however be foolish to overlook the undercurrent among the wwc, who seem to me to be throughly and justifiably fed up. If they’re not careful, the eventual reverse take over by Reform won’t be of the Conservative Party but Labour.

    What does this phenomenon have to do with Labour, exactly? The only thing they can change rapidly is the policing policy. The protesters won't be assuaged by policies to reject non-white people in the future. They want rid of the ones they see today.
    Honestly this is the sort of attitude that has got sections of society so angry. We don’t have enough houses or infrastructure and our productivity (and hence wealth creation) is shit, in large part because successive govts do nothing but throw cheap imported labour at the problem. There is also an undeniable dilution of traditional British values that is harming social cohesion. You can choose to ignore it if you want but it’s an European wide phenomenon. All you seem to want to do is make it about race, that’s as bad as the thugs out tonight and punching anyone that doesn’t look like them.

    The phenomenon is as much to with Labour as the other three main Westminster parties, who have all adopted a similar policy stance since circa the millennium. It’s especially to do with Labour because they are now in the hot seat and the problems I describe are being felt by their voter base more than the average. Blair warned about this a few weeks ago, that if Starmer does not get a grip of the numbers then his flank is vulnerable to Reform. And his antenna is sharper than yours.
    The decline of traditional British values is hardly a European wide phenomenon. Maybe that confusion is why most people think you really mean race by that.

    Blair's political instinct is to be right-wing enough for Rupert Murdoch; elections have consequences, and at the most recent election, the government received the support of neither the right-wing media nor borrowed votes from Farage and the far right.
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 42,143
    kjh said:

    DavidL said:

    The two stranded American astronauts make me think that NASA officials should read Heinlein's short story, "Delilah and the Space-Rigger", especially the very end.

    You want funny. Try this.

    In theory, all modern spacecraft implement the
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Docking_System_Standard

    So in theory, every capsule can dock to each other and the ISS.

    Awesome, right?

    Except that Starliner doesn’t implant both active and passive modes. To save about 20lg in weight.

    So if Starliner disconnects from the station, and the thrusters fail, a Dragon capsule can’t directly dock with them to rescue the occupants.

    They could die in sight of the station. Very fucking slowly.
    Not entirely sure about your sense of humour.

    Apollo 13 is a great film but my favourite scene is when the engineers work out how to get the CO2 scrubbers to work using what is on board the spacecraft including a sock.
    Not one of Leon's socks I hope?
    'The lunar module is pregnant!'
  • moonshinemoonshine Posts: 5,755

    moonshine said:

    EPG said:

    moonshine said:

    I’ve been caught in a proper civil disturbance / pre-revolutionary riot before. Bolivia 2002. That was wild. Police on motor bikes charging at the crowd while firing semi automatic weapons into the air. Ripped my trousers clambering over a fence as the crowd pulsed. Got away quite lightly I suppose, not all protests in Bolivia in that era ended so cleanly.

    Anyway this isn’t that. There’s some angry people that feel left behind by our economy and democracy. And some av-eet boys livening up an otherwise boring summer. And some wronguns of various stripes. And a new government that hasn’t yet come to terms with the hard choices that power brings.

    That government would however be foolish to overlook the undercurrent among the wwc, who seem to me to be throughly and justifiably fed up. If they’re not careful, the eventual reverse take over by Reform won’t be of the Conservative Party but Labour.

    What does this phenomenon have to do with Labour, exactly? The only thing they can change rapidly is the policing policy. The protesters won't be assuaged by policies to reject non-white people in the future. They want rid of the ones they see today.
    Honestly this is the sort of attitude that has got sections of society so angry. We don’t have enough houses or infrastructure and our productivity (and hence wealth creation) is shit, in large part because successive govts do nothing but throw cheap imported labour at the problem. There is also an undeniable dilution of traditional British values that is harming social cohesion. You can choose to ignore it if you want but it’s an European wide phenomenon. All you seem to want to do is make it about race, that’s as bad as the thugs out tonight and punching anyone that doesn’t look like them.

    The phenomenon is as much to with Labour as the other three main Westminster parties, who have all adopted a similar policy stance since circa the millennium. It’s especially to do with Labour because they are now in the hot seat and the problems I describe are being felt by their voter base more than the average. Blair warned about this a few weeks ago, that if Starmer does not get a grip of the numbers then his flank is vulnerable to Reform. And his antenna is sharper than yours.
    As we discussed recently, Germany has had higher immigration over the last three years, and has better infrastructure, housing, and productivity.

    Some of these have been the results of the post-Thatcherite consensus that carried through to New Labour, and that Starmer will need to partially break with at some point to reverse. This isn't to say that there aren't issues to deal with from time to time, but together with the Netherlands we've still made a better success of a multiracial society than the the vast majority of Europe, thanks largely to that very long liberal tradition.
    For liberalism to work, it requires that the principles of liberalism are upheld across society. You can’t have a growing percentage of society with values completely counter to liberalism and expect the consensus to hold.
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 82,507

    Is there a single commercial out there that Sean Bean doesn't narrate, now?

    He is him or that bloke from the Office.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 52,935

    AP (via Seattle Times) - Trump says he’ll skip an ABC debate with Harris in September and wants them to face off on Fox News

    Donald Trump says he is pulling out of a scheduled September debate with Vice President Kamala Harris on ABC and wants them to face off on Fox News, making it increasingly unlikely that the candidates will confront each other on stage before the November election.

    In a series of Truth Social posts late Friday, the Republican nominee and former president said his agreement to a Sept. 10 debate on ABC “has been terminated” because he will no longer face Democratic President Joe Biden, who ended his campaign last month after a disastrous performance in their first debate.

    Trump now says he will appear on Fox News on Sept. 4 in Pennsylvania with rules that he called “similar” to his debate with Biden, but with a full audience instead of a mostly empty studio. Trump said that if Harris, the likely Democratic nominee, does not agree to the new network and date, he will do a “major Town Hall” with Fox News.

    Michael Tyler, a Harris spokesperson, said Trump “is running scared and trying to back out of the debate he already agreed to and running straight to Fox News to bail him out.”

    It was not immediately clear whether ABC would turn its Sept. 10 event into a Harris town hall in Trump’s absence. Tyler said Harris is committed to the time slot and would appear “one way or the other to take the opportunity to speak to a prime time national audience.”

    SSI - See that self-proclaimed Hero of Butler is yet again burnishing his credentials as a bombastic bully coward.

    NOT a good look and NOT a smart strategy . . . surprise! surprise!

    In the UK, the tradition is to have Trump represented at the ABC debate by a tub of lard.
  • moonshinemoonshine Posts: 5,755
    EPG said:

    moonshine said:

    EPG said:

    moonshine said:

    I’ve been caught in a proper civil disturbance / pre-revolutionary riot before. Bolivia 2002. That was wild. Police on motor bikes charging at the crowd while firing semi automatic weapons into the air. Ripped my trousers clambering over a fence as the crowd pulsed. Got away quite lightly I suppose, not all protests in Bolivia in that era ended so cleanly.

    Anyway this isn’t that. There’s some angry people that feel left behind by our economy and democracy. And some av-eet boys livening up an otherwise boring summer. And some wronguns of various stripes. And a new government that hasn’t yet come to terms with the hard choices that power brings.

    That government would however be foolish to overlook the undercurrent among the wwc, who seem to me to be throughly and justifiably fed up. If they’re not careful, the eventual reverse take over by Reform won’t be of the Conservative Party but Labour.

    What does this phenomenon have to do with Labour, exactly? The only thing they can change rapidly is the policing policy. The protesters won't be assuaged by policies to reject non-white people in the future. They want rid of the ones they see today.
    Honestly this is the sort of attitude that has got sections of society so angry. We don’t have enough houses or infrastructure and our productivity (and hence wealth creation) is shit, in large part because successive govts do nothing but throw cheap imported labour at the problem. There is also an undeniable dilution of traditional British values that is harming social cohesion. You can choose to ignore it if you want but it’s an European wide phenomenon. All you seem to want to do is make it about race, that’s as bad as the thugs out tonight and punching anyone that doesn’t look like them.

    The phenomenon is as much to with Labour as the other three main Westminster parties, who have all adopted a similar policy stance since circa the millennium. It’s especially to do with Labour because they are now in the hot seat and the problems I describe are being felt by their voter base more than the average. Blair warned about this a few weeks ago, that if Starmer does not get a grip of the numbers then his flank is vulnerable to Reform. And his antenna is sharper than yours.
    The decline of traditional British values is hardly a European wide phenomenon. Maybe that confusion is why most people think you really mean race by that.

    Blair's political instinct is to be right-wing enough for Rupert Murdoch; elections have consequences, and at the most recent election, the government received the support of neither the right-wing media nor borrowed votes from Farage and the far right.
    That’s a not particularly clever game of semantics and you know exactly what I mean. European liberalist values then.
This discussion has been closed.