Mel Stride is doing quite well for a complete non entity.
There are positives to being an unknown blank slate.
There's something so forgettable about him he could act like he had nothing to do with the last government, Starmer would point out he was a Cabinet Minister in it, and people would not believe it.
A depressingly accurate TwiX description of the Britain that awaits us
"They're going to have China style censorship without any of the perks like fast trains, shiny skyscrapers, and a safe society relatively free of violent crime lol."
No it isn't.
Get a bloody grip.
Feels EXACTLY like that, to me. That is where we are headed
Thank God you're not a person predisposed to any kind of wild overreaction.
The correct reaction to the last month in Britain is, unfortunately, deep gloom and bleak pessimism, verging on despair. If anything I is bein' a bit too cheery
Characteristic bollocks from you, as normal.
We have seen in the past month an horrific crime, to which the attacker was arrested and charged - and a once-a-decade riot that has seen rioters get arrested and go to jail. Just like in 2011.
Nothing pessimistic about that, just part and parcel of living in a free society that sometimes crime happens and the criminal justice system has to do its job.
Meanwhile for the rest of the population life goes on, the Olympics have been entertaining, Britain has won lots of medals - and oh yes, did I mention that life goes on?
Enjoy the last of the summer weather, because before long it will be autumn and then we'll be heading towards Christmas, with life still going on and these summer riots behind us once more.
A lot of people still don’t seem to have adjusted to the fact that we have a new government. They might think it’s crap, and ignoring the problems that they diagnose (which is an attitude not exactly alien to me too, on occasion), but they need to recognise their views are, for the time being, close to irrelevant.
That will change in time, but for now Starmer, with his Parliamentary majority, gets to try what he thinks he needs to do. And Leon’s take on that, along with mine, isn’t going to make any difference.
What is the point of this comment?
Do I expect my pungent critique of Starmer to topple the government? No. Do I think Labour are already showing signs of utter incompetence mixed with Wokeness plus a total inability to address issues of migration/asylum which will probably wreck them in the end? Yes
I’m stating that political opinion. That’s what we do on here
The public are more sensible than we give them credit for. Most people rightly accept that at the moment any problems with migration and asylum are bugger all to do with the new administration. That will and should change as time goes on though.
I reckon it’s changed already. Because, riots
I haven't seen any evidence to suggest that people blame the Labour government for those though. I agree that they've heated up the immigration debate which will eventually come back to bite the government. It won't be long but it's not here yet
A depressingly accurate TwiX description of the Britain that awaits us
"They're going to have China style censorship without any of the perks like fast trains, shiny skyscrapers, and a safe society relatively free of violent crime lol."
No it isn't.
Get a bloody grip.
Feels EXACTLY like that, to me. That is where we are headed
Thank God you're not a person predisposed to any kind of wild overreaction.
The correct reaction to the last month in Britain is, unfortunately, deep gloom and bleak pessimism, verging on despair. If anything I is bein' a bit too cheery
Characteristic bollocks from you, as normal.
We have seen in the past month an horrific crime, to which the attacker was arrested and charged - and a once-a-decade riot that has seen rioters get arrested and go to jail. Just like in 2011.
Nothing pessimistic about that, just part and parcel of living in a free society that sometimes crime happens and the criminal justice system has to do its job.
Meanwhile for the rest of the population life goes on, the Olympics have been entertaining, Britain has won lots of medals - and oh yes, did I mention that life goes on?
Enjoy the last of the summer weather, because before long it will be autumn and then we'll be heading towards Christmas, with life still going on and these summer riots behind us once more.
A lot of people still don’t seem to have adjusted to the fact that we have a new government. They might think it’s crap, and ignoring the problems that they diagnose (which is an attitude not exactly alien to me too, on occasion), but they need to recognise their views are, for the time being, close to irrelevant.
That will change in time, but for now Starmer, with his Parliamentary majority, gets to try what he thinks he needs to do. And Leon’s take on that, along with mine, isn’t going to make any difference.
What is the point of this comment?
Do I expect my pungent critique of Starmer to topple the government? No. Do I think Labour are already showing signs of utter incompetence mixed with Wokeness plus a total inability to address issues of migration/asylum which will probably wreck them in the end? Yes
I’m stating that political opinion. That’s what we do on here
The public are more sensible than we give them credit for. Most people rightly accept that at the moment any problems with migration and asylum are bugger all to do with the new administration. That will and should change as time goes on though.
I reckon it’s changed already. Because, riots
I haven't seen any evidence to suggest that people blame the Labour government for those though. I agree that they've heated up the immigration debate which will eventually come back to bite the government. It won't be long but it's not here yet
Starmer’s plunging popularity?
I dunno. We need more polls
You could be right and the British are in a forgiving and tolerant mood, willing to give Labour time. But it all feels more febrile than that
However - this may come as a shock - I am the excitable type and could be overdoing it
Mel Stride is doing quite well for a complete non entity.
Not the worst campaign slogan.
They laughed at Jim Hacker….
That drunk driver who used blackmail to force a career civil servant to lie for him and misused government funds for partisan politics? If only more had laughed at that rogue then supported his terrible leadership.
A depressingly accurate TwiX description of the Britain that awaits us
"They're going to have China style censorship without any of the perks like fast trains, shiny skyscrapers, and a safe society relatively free of violent crime lol."
No it isn't.
Get a bloody grip.
Feels EXACTLY like that, to me. That is where we are headed
Thank God you're not a person predisposed to any kind of wild overreaction.
The correct reaction to the last month in Britain is, unfortunately, deep gloom and bleak pessimism, verging on despair. If anything I is bein' a bit too cheery
Characteristic bollocks from you, as normal.
We have seen in the past month an horrific crime, to which the attacker was arrested and charged - and a once-a-decade riot that has seen rioters get arrested and go to jail. Just like in 2011.
Nothing pessimistic about that, just part and parcel of living in a free society that sometimes crime happens and the criminal justice system has to do its job.
Meanwhile for the rest of the population life goes on, the Olympics have been entertaining, Britain has won lots of medals - and oh yes, did I mention that life goes on?
Enjoy the last of the summer weather, because before long it will be autumn and then we'll be heading towards Christmas, with life still going on and these summer riots behind us once more.
A lot of people still don’t seem to have adjusted to the fact that we have a new government. They might think it’s crap, and ignoring the problems that they diagnose (which is an attitude not exactly alien to me too, on occasion), but they need to recognise their views are, for the time being, close to irrelevant.
That will change in time, but for now Starmer, with his Parliamentary majority, gets to try what he thinks he needs to do. And Leon’s take on that, along with mine, isn’t going to make any difference.
What is the point of this comment?
Do I expect my pungent critique of Starmer to topple the government? No. Do I think Labour are already showing signs of utter incompetence mixed with Wokeness plus a total inability to address issues of migration/asylum which will probably wreck them in the end? Yes
I’m stating that political opinion. That’s what we do on here
The public are more sensible than we give them credit for. Most people rightly accept that at the moment any problems with migration and asylum are bugger all to do with the new administration. That will and should change as time goes on though.
I reckon it’s changed already. Because, riots
I haven't seen any evidence to suggest that people blame the Labour government for those though. I agree that they've heated up the immigration debate which will eventually come back to bite the government. It won't be long but it's not here yet
Starmer’s plunging popularity?
I dunno. We need more polls
You could be right and the British are in a forgiving and tolerant mood, willing to give Labour time. But it all feels more febrile than that
However - this may come as a shock - I am the excitable type and could be overdoing it
You can be wonderfully disarming sometimes. I don't think the public are in a forgiving mood but they're not stupid and at the moment they're not turning their anger on the government as much as other groups and institutions. It's an ugly mood and bodes ill for the government in the long term unless they can miraculously get a grip on immigration and public services
A few nights ago I posted that Iran had managed to create a lot of uncertainty around the when, what and how of a direct attack on Israel. Reports out the US and more recently from Israel have talked of 'imminent' for a week or more. The latest from US sources to the media is any time up to Thursday.
And yet not a shot has flown across the air. The reason for the collective shrug is actually fairly simple. Iran has been prepping for a possible attack for months so its been doing little steps leaving less obvious signs. Its proven pretty successful.
SCOTUS has given Biden immunity in his actions he takes as President.
Will be interesting if that becomes relevant in November.
One thing I assume he will do is pardon Hunter on his last day in office. Sure, he said he wouldn't and he may have even meant it at the time, but that was when he was intending to continue as President.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/08/harris-trump/679444/ .. Something else, and something quite important, has changed. The whole landscape of the campaign has been transformed. The rise of Harris instantly cast Trump in a new light. He formerly seemed more ominous and threatening, which, whatever its political drawbacks, signaled strength; now he seems not just old but low-energy, stale, even pathetic. He has become the political version of Fat Elvis….
Mel Stride is doing quite well for a complete non entity.
There are positives to being an unknown blank slate.
There's something so forgettable about him he could act like he had nothing to do with the last government, Starmer would point out he was a Cabinet Minister in it, and people would not believe it.
I remember him from the loan charge controversy but yes you have a point. His stint at the Treasury Committee is probably the best point on his CV
A depressingly accurate TwiX description of the Britain that awaits us
"They're going to have China style censorship without any of the perks like fast trains, shiny skyscrapers, and a safe society relatively free of violent crime lol."
Although less concentration camps, so it's a bit swings and roundabouts
The upside of this fear for the Democrats is that it will prevent any complacency about ‘we have this won’. They’re going to want every last vote.
They need to win big. There are more people in place who might be willing to refuse to certify this time around, but if the results are not that close and lawsuits tossed out it will be tougher for some of those to hold firm to the plan (and that's not a conspiracy, there are elected people who have said they would not have certified results last time), than if it is on a knife edge and there are a few irregularities to hinge it on. Ignoring a 10 pt winning margin because maybe 10 votes went missing in a county in rural Pennsylvania would be hard to self justify.
A depressingly accurate TwiX description of the Britain that awaits us
"They're going to have China style censorship without any of the perks like fast trains, shiny skyscrapers, and a safe society relatively free of violent crime lol."
Although less concentration camps, so it's a bit swings and roundabouts
That would be one way of meeting housing targets I suppose.
A depressingly accurate TwiX description of the Britain that awaits us
"They're going to have China style censorship without any of the perks like fast trains, shiny skyscrapers, and a safe society relatively free of violent crime lol."
No it isn't.
Get a bloody grip.
Feels EXACTLY like that, to me. That is where we are headed
Thank God you're not a person predisposed to any kind of wild overreaction.
The correct reaction to the last month in Britain is, unfortunately, deep gloom and bleak pessimism, verging on despair. If anything I is bein' a bit too cheery
Characteristic bollocks from you, as normal.
We have seen in the past month an horrific crime, to which the attacker was arrested and charged - and a once-a-decade riot that has seen rioters get arrested and go to jail. Just like in 2011.
Nothing pessimistic about that, just part and parcel of living in a free society that sometimes crime happens and the criminal justice system has to do its job.
Meanwhile for the rest of the population life goes on, the Olympics have been entertaining, Britain has won lots of medals - and oh yes, did I mention that life goes on?
Enjoy the last of the summer weather, because before long it will be autumn and then we'll be heading towards Christmas, with life still going on and these summer riots behind us once more.
A lot of people still don’t seem to have adjusted to the fact that we have a new government. They might think it’s crap, and ignoring the problems that they diagnose (which is an attitude not exactly alien to me too, on occasion), but they need to recognise their views are, for the time being, close to irrelevant.
That will change in time, but for now Starmer, with his Parliamentary majority, gets to try what he thinks he needs to do. And Leon’s take on that, along with mine, isn’t going to make any difference.
What is the point of this comment?
Do I expect my pungent critique of Starmer to topple the government? No. Do I think Labour are already showing signs of utter incompetence mixed with Wokeness plus a total inability to address issues of migration/asylum which will probably wreck them in the end? Yes
I’m stating that political opinion. That’s what we do on here
The public are more sensible than we give them credit for. Most people rightly accept that at the moment any problems with migration and asylum are bugger all to do with the new administration. That will and should change as time goes on though.
I reckon it’s changed already. Because, riots
I haven't seen any evidence to suggest that people blame the Labour government for those though. I agree that they've heated up the immigration debate which will eventually come back to bite the government. It won't be long but it's not here yet
Disagree - most people know SKS abandoned the Rwanda scheme on July 5th saying it was "dead and buried" so I think it's only fair to say that most voters assume SKS is responsible for immigration since that date.
I don't see how anyone can find anything interesting to say about the American election. It's childlike in its simplicity: Goodies versus baddies, joy versus hate. It makes Star Wars look morally nuanced."
I don't see how anyone can find anything interesting to say about the American election. It's childlike in its simplicity: Goodies versus baddies, joy versus hate. It makes Star Wars look morally nuanced."
Won't work this time as the VP calls out the electoral college result and Harris is VP
I think the idea is to work it a step earlier - have some states not even send votes to the House in the first place. So the VP wouldn't have them to count.
Might have Democrats sending in their own 'electors' this time!
A depressingly accurate TwiX description of the Britain that awaits us
"They're going to have China style censorship without any of the perks like fast trains, shiny skyscrapers, and a safe society relatively free of violent crime lol."
No it isn't.
Get a bloody grip.
Feels EXACTLY like that, to me. That is where we are headed
Thank God you're not a person predisposed to any kind of wild overreaction.
The correct reaction to the last month in Britain is, unfortunately, deep gloom and bleak pessimism, verging on despair. If anything I is bein' a bit too cheery
Characteristic bollocks from you, as normal.
We have seen in the past month an horrific crime, to which the attacker was arrested and charged - and a once-a-decade riot that has seen rioters get arrested and go to jail. Just like in 2011.
Nothing pessimistic about that, just part and parcel of living in a free society that sometimes crime happens and the criminal justice system has to do its job.
Meanwhile for the rest of the population life goes on, the Olympics have been entertaining, Britain has won lots of medals - and oh yes, did I mention that life goes on?
Enjoy the last of the summer weather, because before long it will be autumn and then we'll be heading towards Christmas, with life still going on and these summer riots behind us once more.
A lot of people still don’t seem to have adjusted to the fact that we have a new government. They might think it’s crap, and ignoring the problems that they diagnose (which is an attitude not exactly alien to me too, on occasion), but they need to recognise their views are, for the time being, close to irrelevant.
That will change in time, but for now Starmer, with his Parliamentary majority, gets to try what he thinks he needs to do. And Leon’s take on that, along with mine, isn’t going to make any difference.
What is the point of this comment?
Do I expect my pungent critique of Starmer to topple the government? No. Do I think Labour are already showing signs of utter incompetence mixed with Wokeness plus a total inability to address issues of migration/asylum which will probably wreck them in the end? Yes
I’m stating that political opinion. That’s what we do on here
The public are more sensible than we give them credit for. Most people rightly accept that at the moment any problems with migration and asylum are bugger all to do with the new administration. That will and should change as time goes on though.
I reckon it’s changed already. Because, riots
I haven't seen any evidence to suggest that people blame the Labour government for those though. I agree that they've heated up the immigration debate which will eventually come back to bite the government. It won't be long but it's not here yet
Starmer’s plunging popularity?
I dunno. We need more polls
You could be right and the British are in a forgiving and tolerant mood, willing to give Labour time. But it all feels more febrile than that
However - this may come as a shock - I am the excitable type and could be overdoing it
You can be wonderfully disarming sometimes. I don't think the public are in a forgiving mood but they're not stupid and at the moment they're not turning their anger on the government as much as other groups and institutions. It's an ugly mood and bodes ill for the government in the long term unless they can miraculously get a grip on immigration and public services
Apparently - Telegraph - Starmer is refusing to give a speech on immigration. As that would “legitimise concerns”. This feels like a howling error - polls already show immigration has shot to the number 1 issue and it might all get worse - and the PM simply ignores it? Deeply, deeply foolish
He takes the knee for BLM riots but won’t legitimise concerns on the public’s number 1 issue with a speech
I’m sure he didn’t want to spend his first 6 months addressing migration and the boats but I don’t think he now has much choice
A depressingly accurate TwiX description of the Britain that awaits us
"They're going to have China style censorship without any of the perks like fast trains, shiny skyscrapers, and a safe society relatively free of violent crime lol."
No it isn't.
Get a bloody grip.
Feels EXACTLY like that, to me. That is where we are headed
Thank God you're not a person predisposed to any kind of wild overreaction.
The correct reaction to the last month in Britain is, unfortunately, deep gloom and bleak pessimism, verging on despair. If anything I is bein' a bit too cheery
Characteristic bollocks from you, as normal.
We have seen in the past month an horrific crime, to which the attacker was arrested and charged - and a once-a-decade riot that has seen rioters get arrested and go to jail. Just like in 2011.
Nothing pessimistic about that, just part and parcel of living in a free society that sometimes crime happens and the criminal justice system has to do its job.
Meanwhile for the rest of the population life goes on, the Olympics have been entertaining, Britain has won lots of medals - and oh yes, did I mention that life goes on?
Enjoy the last of the summer weather, because before long it will be autumn and then we'll be heading towards Christmas, with life still going on and these summer riots behind us once more.
A lot of people still don’t seem to have adjusted to the fact that we have a new government. They might think it’s crap, and ignoring the problems that they diagnose (which is an attitude not exactly alien to me too, on occasion), but they need to recognise their views are, for the time being, close to irrelevant.
That will change in time, but for now Starmer, with his Parliamentary majority, gets to try what he thinks he needs to do. And Leon’s take on that, along with mine, isn’t going to make any difference.
What is the point of this comment?
Do I expect my pungent critique of Starmer to topple the government? No. Do I think Labour are already showing signs of utter incompetence mixed with Wokeness plus a total inability to address issues of migration/asylum which will probably wreck them in the end? Yes
I’m stating that political opinion. That’s what we do on here
The public are more sensible than we give them credit for. Most people rightly accept that at the moment any problems with migration and asylum are bugger all to do with the new administration. That will and should change as time goes on though.
I reckon it’s changed already. Because, riots
I haven't seen any evidence to suggest that people blame the Labour government for those though. I agree that they've heated up the immigration debate which will eventually come back to bite the government. It won't be long but it's not here yet
Starmer’s plunging popularity?
I dunno. We need more polls
You could be right and the British are in a forgiving and tolerant mood, willing to give Labour time. But it all feels more febrile than that
However - this may come as a shock - I am the excitable type and could be overdoing it
You can be wonderfully disarming sometimes. I don't think the public are in a forgiving mood but they're not stupid and at the moment they're not turning their anger on the government as much as other groups and institutions. It's an ugly mood and bodes ill for the government in the long term unless they can miraculously get a grip on immigration and public services
Apparently - Telegraph - Starmer is refusing to give a speech on immigration. As that would “legitimise concerns”. This feels like a howling error - polls already show immigration has shot to the number 1 issue and it might all get worse - and the PM simply ignores it? Deeply, deeply foolish
He takes the knee for BLM riots but won’t legitimise concerns on the public’s number 1 issue with a speech
I’m sure he didn’t want to spend his first 6 months addressing migration and the boats but I don’t think he now has much choice
I think that line worked in the immediate aftermath of the riots but I agree it won't wash for long.
Won't work this time as the VP calls out the electoral college result and Harris is VP
I think the idea is to work it a step earlier - have some states not even send votes to the House in the first place. So the VP wouldn't have them to count.
Might have Democrats sending in their own 'electors' this time!
The VP would just count the votes that have come in and declare herself the winner
A depressingly accurate TwiX description of the Britain that awaits us
"They're going to have China style censorship without any of the perks like fast trains, shiny skyscrapers, and a safe society relatively free of violent crime lol."
No it isn't.
Get a bloody grip.
Feels EXACTLY like that, to me. That is where we are headed
Thank God you're not a person predisposed to any kind of wild overreaction.
The correct reaction to the last month in Britain is, unfortunately, deep gloom and bleak pessimism, verging on despair. If anything I is bein' a bit too cheery
Characteristic bollocks from you, as normal.
We have seen in the past month an horrific crime, to which the attacker was arrested and charged - and a once-a-decade riot that has seen rioters get arrested and go to jail. Just like in 2011.
Nothing pessimistic about that, just part and parcel of living in a free society that sometimes crime happens and the criminal justice system has to do its job.
Meanwhile for the rest of the population life goes on, the Olympics have been entertaining, Britain has won lots of medals - and oh yes, did I mention that life goes on?
Enjoy the last of the summer weather, because before long it will be autumn and then we'll be heading towards Christmas, with life still going on and these summer riots behind us once more.
A lot of people still don’t seem to have adjusted to the fact that we have a new government. They might think it’s crap, and ignoring the problems that they diagnose (which is an attitude not exactly alien to me too, on occasion), but they need to recognise their views are, for the time being, close to irrelevant.
That will change in time, but for now Starmer, with his Parliamentary majority, gets to try what he thinks he needs to do. And Leon’s take on that, along with mine, isn’t going to make any difference.
What is the point of this comment?
Do I expect my pungent critique of Starmer to topple the government? No. Do I think Labour are already showing signs of utter incompetence mixed with Wokeness plus a total inability to address issues of migration/asylum which will probably wreck them in the end? Yes
I’m stating that political opinion. That’s what we do on here
The public are more sensible than we give them credit for. Most people rightly accept that at the moment any problems with migration and asylum are bugger all to do with the new administration. That will and should change as time goes on though.
I reckon it’s changed already. Because, riots
I haven't seen any evidence to suggest that people blame the Labour government for those though. I agree that they've heated up the immigration debate which will eventually come back to bite the government. It won't be long but it's not here yet
Starmer’s plunging popularity?
I dunno. We need more polls
You could be right and the British are in a forgiving and tolerant mood, willing to give Labour time. But it all feels more febrile than that
However - this may come as a shock - I am the excitable type and could be overdoing it
You can be wonderfully disarming sometimes. I don't think the public are in a forgiving mood but they're not stupid and at the moment they're not turning their anger on the government as much as other groups and institutions. It's an ugly mood and bodes ill for the government in the long term unless they can miraculously get a grip on immigration and public services
Apparently - Telegraph - Starmer is refusing to give a speech on immigration. As that would “legitimise concerns”. This feels like a howling error - polls already show immigration has shot to the number 1 issue and it might all get worse - and the PM simply ignores it? Deeply, deeply foolish
He takes the knee for BLM riots but won’t legitimise concerns on the public’s number 1 issue with a speech
I’m sure he didn’t want to spend his first 6 months addressing migration and the boats but I don’t think he now has much choice
Of course he has a choice.
He can choose to let the criminal justice system do its job, jail the rioters, and then put this whole nonsense into the rear view mirror at which point it will blow away as fast as it blew up.
Just because you're obsessed with this doesn't mean everyone else shares your obsession.
A depressingly accurate TwiX description of the Britain that awaits us
"They're going to have China style censorship without any of the perks like fast trains, shiny skyscrapers, and a safe society relatively free of violent crime lol."
No it isn't.
Get a bloody grip.
Feels EXACTLY like that, to me. That is where we are headed
Thank God you're not a person predisposed to any kind of wild overreaction.
The correct reaction to the last month in Britain is, unfortunately, deep gloom and bleak pessimism, verging on despair. If anything I is bein' a bit too cheery
Characteristic bollocks from you, as normal.
We have seen in the past month an horrific crime, to which the attacker was arrested and charged - and a once-a-decade riot that has seen rioters get arrested and go to jail. Just like in 2011.
Nothing pessimistic about that, just part and parcel of living in a free society that sometimes crime happens and the criminal justice system has to do its job.
Meanwhile for the rest of the population life goes on, the Olympics have been entertaining, Britain has won lots of medals - and oh yes, did I mention that life goes on?
Enjoy the last of the summer weather, because before long it will be autumn and then we'll be heading towards Christmas, with life still going on and these summer riots behind us once more.
A lot of people still don’t seem to have adjusted to the fact that we have a new government. They might think it’s crap, and ignoring the problems that they diagnose (which is an attitude not exactly alien to me too, on occasion), but they need to recognise their views are, for the time being, close to irrelevant.
That will change in time, but for now Starmer, with his Parliamentary majority, gets to try what he thinks he needs to do. And Leon’s take on that, along with mine, isn’t going to make any difference.
What is the point of this comment?
Do I expect my pungent critique of Starmer to topple the government? No. Do I think Labour are already showing signs of utter incompetence mixed with Wokeness plus a total inability to address issues of migration/asylum which will probably wreck them in the end? Yes
I’m stating that political opinion. That’s what we do on here
The public are more sensible than we give them credit for. Most people rightly accept that at the moment any problems with migration and asylum are bugger all to do with the new administration. That will and should change as time goes on though.
I reckon it’s changed already. Because, riots
I haven't seen any evidence to suggest that people blame the Labour government for those though. I agree that they've heated up the immigration debate which will eventually come back to bite the government. It won't be long but it's not here yet
Starmer’s plunging popularity?
I dunno. We need more polls
You could be right and the British are in a forgiving and tolerant mood, willing to give Labour time. But it all feels more febrile than that
However - this may come as a shock - I am the excitable type and could be overdoing it
You can be wonderfully disarming sometimes. I don't think the public are in a forgiving mood but they're not stupid and at the moment they're not turning their anger on the government as much as other groups and institutions. It's an ugly mood and bodes ill for the government in the long term unless they can miraculously get a grip on immigration and public services
Apparently - Telegraph - Starmer is refusing to give a speech on immigration. As that would “legitimise concerns”. This feels like a howling error - polls already show immigration has shot to the number 1 issue and it might all get worse - and the PM simply ignores it? Deeply, deeply foolish
He takes the knee for BLM riots but won’t legitimise concerns on the public’s number 1 issue with a speech
I’m sure he didn’t want to spend his first 6 months addressing migration and the boats but I don’t think he now has much choice
Of course he has a choice.
He can choose to let the criminal justice system do its job, jail the rioters, and then put this whole nonsense into the rear view mirror at which point it will blow away as fast as it blew up.
Just because you're obsessed with this doesn't mean everyone else shares your obsession.
Well, they literally do because polls show immigration has surged to being the number 1 issue
“Immigration now tops the list of most important national issues for the first time since 2016”
"At Plymouth Crown Court, a man who grabbed a police officer's baton and ran off with it was jailed for three years. Guy Sullivan, 43, of New George Street, Plymouth, admitted a charge of violent disorder relating to the violence in the city on 5 August. The court heard a lone officer had been using his baton to push back protesters around him, when Sullivan came behind the officer and grabbed the baton out of his hands."
Not quite, Lord Copper. Another incomplete report without enough context on PB. I'm seeing this type of commentary again and again on PB, by people who are jumping to conclusions from wrong information. Please stop.
The officer was then pulled to the ground and beaten up by those he had been protecting himself against with his batten. The perp materially assisted in the mob violence by preventing the policeman defending himself. The riot situation makes it far worse as a crime, and is treated far more seriously.
He got 26 months for that, not 3 years, and I think it will be 50:50 prison:on license (my assumption).
Sullivan had also broken into a supermarket in the riot situation and stolen alcohol, for which he got 16 months for that last week, which has been reduced to 10 months consecutive.
Sullivan also had a record of 37 previous convictions for 108 offences. This is a local thug thinking he can take adavantage.
The judicial system is getting this about right. And it will stop it, which is what we all want.
But please can we stop the frothing based on leaning towers of BS. Obviously Leon won't but that's his version of breathing. But most of us are better than this.
Won't work this time as the VP calls out the electoral college result and Harris is VP
I think the idea is to work it a step earlier - have some states not even send votes to the House in the first place. So the VP wouldn't have them to count.
Might have Democrats sending in their own 'electors' this time!
The VP would just count the votes that have come in and declare herself the winner
There is no constitutional requirement to get 270 votes in the constitution, just a majority of the votes of those listed as having been voted for by Electors in each State and submitted to the VP as President of the Senate. 'The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by Ballot for two Persons, of whom one at least shall not be an Inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they shall make a List of all the Persons voted for, and of the Number of Votes for each; which List they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the Seat of the Government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the Presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the Certificates, and the Votes shall then be counted. The Person having the greatest Number of Votes shall be the President'
A depressingly accurate TwiX description of the Britain that awaits us
"They're going to have China style censorship without any of the perks like fast trains, shiny skyscrapers, and a safe society relatively free of violent crime lol."
No it isn't.
Get a bloody grip.
Feels EXACTLY like that, to me. That is where we are headed
Thank God you're not a person predisposed to any kind of wild overreaction.
The correct reaction to the last month in Britain is, unfortunately, deep gloom and bleak pessimism, verging on despair. If anything I is bein' a bit too cheery
Characteristic bollocks from you, as normal.
We have seen in the past month an horrific crime, to which the attacker was arrested and charged - and a once-a-decade riot that has seen rioters get arrested and go to jail. Just like in 2011.
Nothing pessimistic about that, just part and parcel of living in a free society that sometimes crime happens and the criminal justice system has to do its job.
Meanwhile for the rest of the population life goes on, the Olympics have been entertaining, Britain has won lots of medals - and oh yes, did I mention that life goes on?
Enjoy the last of the summer weather, because before long it will be autumn and then we'll be heading towards Christmas, with life still going on and these summer riots behind us once more.
A lot of people still don’t seem to have adjusted to the fact that we have a new government. They might think it’s crap, and ignoring the problems that they diagnose (which is an attitude not exactly alien to me too, on occasion), but they need to recognise their views are, for the time being, close to irrelevant.
That will change in time, but for now Starmer, with his Parliamentary majority, gets to try what he thinks he needs to do. And Leon’s take on that, along with mine, isn’t going to make any difference.
What is the point of this comment?
Do I expect my pungent critique of Starmer to topple the government? No. Do I think Labour are already showing signs of utter incompetence mixed with Wokeness plus a total inability to address issues of migration/asylum which will probably wreck them in the end? Yes
I’m stating that political opinion. That’s what we do on here
The public are more sensible than we give them credit for. Most people rightly accept that at the moment any problems with migration and asylum are bugger all to do with the new administration. That will and should change as time goes on though.
I reckon it’s changed already. Because, riots
I haven't seen any evidence to suggest that people blame the Labour government for those though. I agree that they've heated up the immigration debate which will eventually come back to bite the government. It won't be long but it's not here yet
Starmer’s plunging popularity?
I dunno. We need more polls
You could be right and the British are in a forgiving and tolerant mood, willing to give Labour time. But it all feels more febrile than that
However - this may come as a shock - I am the excitable type and could be overdoing it
You can be wonderfully disarming sometimes. I don't think the public are in a forgiving mood but they're not stupid and at the moment they're not turning their anger on the government as much as other groups and institutions. It's an ugly mood and bodes ill for the government in the long term unless they can miraculously get a grip on immigration and public services
Apparently - Telegraph - Starmer is refusing to give a speech on immigration. As that would “legitimise concerns”. This feels like a howling error - polls already show immigration has shot to the number 1 issue and it might all get worse - and the PM simply ignores it? Deeply, deeply foolish
He takes the knee for BLM riots but won’t legitimise concerns on the public’s number 1 issue with a speech
I’m sure he didn’t want to spend his first 6 months addressing migration and the boats but I don’t think he now has much choice
Of course he has a choice.
He can choose to let the criminal justice system do its job, jail the rioters, and then put this whole nonsense into the rear view mirror at which point it will blow away as fast as it blew up.
Just because you're obsessed with this doesn't mean everyone else shares your obsession.
Well, they literally do because polls show immigration has surged to being the number 1 issue
“Immigration now tops the list of most important national issues for the first time since 2016”
They literally do not, because no poll has ever registered 100% caring about one issue.
A slender majority (51%) may consider it the issue this month. Big deal. Last month the economy was the biggest issue and who knows what next month brings?
The PM has both the ability to react to the news and to set the agenda, moving the conversation back to the economy may be the rational thing to do.
I don't see how anyone can find anything interesting to say about the American election. It's childlike in its simplicity: Goodies versus baddies, joy versus hate. It makes Star Wars look morally nuanced."
A depressingly accurate TwiX description of the Britain that awaits us
"They're going to have China style censorship without any of the perks like fast trains, shiny skyscrapers, and a safe society relatively free of violent crime lol."
No it isn't.
Get a bloody grip.
Feels EXACTLY like that, to me. That is where we are headed
Thank God you're not a person predisposed to any kind of wild overreaction.
The correct reaction to the last month in Britain is, unfortunately, deep gloom and bleak pessimism, verging on despair. If anything I is bein' a bit too cheery
Characteristic bollocks from you, as normal.
We have seen in the past month an horrific crime, to which the attacker was arrested and charged - and a once-a-decade riot that has seen rioters get arrested and go to jail. Just like in 2011.
Nothing pessimistic about that, just part and parcel of living in a free society that sometimes crime happens and the criminal justice system has to do its job.
Meanwhile for the rest of the population life goes on, the Olympics have been entertaining, Britain has won lots of medals - and oh yes, did I mention that life goes on?
Enjoy the last of the summer weather, because before long it will be autumn and then we'll be heading towards Christmas, with life still going on and these summer riots behind us once more.
A lot of people still don’t seem to have adjusted to the fact that we have a new government. They might think it’s crap, and ignoring the problems that they diagnose (which is an attitude not exactly alien to me too, on occasion), but they need to recognise their views are, for the time being, close to irrelevant.
That will change in time, but for now Starmer, with his Parliamentary majority, gets to try what he thinks he needs to do. And Leon’s take on that, along with mine, isn’t going to make any difference.
What is the point of this comment?
Do I expect my pungent critique of Starmer to topple the government? No. Do I think Labour are already showing signs of utter incompetence mixed with Wokeness plus a total inability to address issues of migration/asylum which will probably wreck them in the end? Yes
I’m stating that political opinion. That’s what we do on here
The public are more sensible than we give them credit for. Most people rightly accept that at the moment any problems with migration and asylum are bugger all to do with the new administration. That will and should change as time goes on though.
I reckon it’s changed already. Because, riots
I haven't seen any evidence to suggest that people blame the Labour government for those though. I agree that they've heated up the immigration debate which will eventually come back to bite the government. It won't be long but it's not here yet
Starmer’s plunging popularity?
I dunno. We need more polls
You could be right and the British are in a forgiving and tolerant mood, willing to give Labour time. But it all feels more febrile than that
However - this may come as a shock - I am the excitable type and could be overdoing it
You can be wonderfully disarming sometimes. I don't think the public are in a forgiving mood but they're not stupid and at the moment they're not turning their anger on the government as much as other groups and institutions. It's an ugly mood and bodes ill for the government in the long term unless they can miraculously get a grip on immigration and public services
Apparently - Telegraph - Starmer is refusing to give a speech on immigration. As that would “legitimise concerns”. This feels like a howling error - polls already show immigration has shot to the number 1 issue and it might all get worse - and the PM simply ignores it? Deeply, deeply foolish
He takes the knee for BLM riots but won’t legitimise concerns on the public’s number 1 issue with a speech
I’m sure he didn’t want to spend his first 6 months addressing migration and the boats but I don’t think he now has much choice
It sounds TBH like the Telegrunt trying YET ANOTHER desperate attack line to excite blue rinse RefUKers in silly season, trying to pin yet another thing not of his creation on him before he gets a chance properly to address it.
"At Plymouth Crown Court, a man who grabbed a police officer's baton and ran off with it was jailed for three years. Guy Sullivan, 43, of New George Street, Plymouth, admitted a charge of violent disorder relating to the violence in the city on 5 August. The court heard a lone officer had been using his baton to push back protesters around him, when Sullivan came behind the officer and grabbed the baton out of his hands."
Not quite, Lord Copper. Another incomplete report without enough context on PB. I'm seeing this type of commentary again and again on PB, by people who are jumping to conclusions from wrong information. Please stop.
The officer was then pulled to the ground and beaten up by those he had been protecting himself against with his batten. The perp materially assisted in the mob violence by preventing the policeman defending himself. The riot situation makes it far worse as a crime, and is treated far more seriously.
He got 26 months for that, not 3 years, and I think it will be 50:50 prison:on license (my assumption).
Sullivan had also broken into a supermarket in the riot situation and stolen alcohol, for which he got 16 months for that last week, which has been reduced to 10 months consecutive.
Sullivan also had a record of 37 previous convictions for 108 offences. This is a local thug thinking he can take adavantage.
The judicial system is getting this about right. And it will stop it, which is what we all want.
But please can we stop the frothing based on leaning towers of BS. Obviously Leon won't but that's his version of breathing. But most of us are better than this.
Shock Headline - "Attacking a police officer during a riot gets you jail time" ?
Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
Perhaps I have led a sheltered life. But I find it extremely easy not to attack police officers during riots or set hotels on fire.
This is enough to make you want to ban social media completely.
"Why did the public turn against Chloe Ayling? Sexism and class prejudice, the kidnapped model suggests Her story will feature in new six-part BBC drama Kidnapped Athena Stavrou"
A friend visiting London has had their phone snatched. The phone is at a hotel six minutes walk from a police station, and the thief is using it to order delivery food, make trips on Uber, etc. He will absolutely be on CCTV.
The police have decided its not worth following up."
This is enough to make you want to ban social media completely.
"Why did the public turn against Chloe Ayling? Sexism and class prejudice, the kidnapped model suggests Her story will feature in new six-part BBC drama Kidnapped Athena Stavrou"
Too many people have turned - temporarily I hope - into "elephant of conclusions on a toadstool of evidence" merchants.
Too much noise, not enough signal. Enjoy the week, all.
Poll prognosticators with too few polls to prognosticate.
“…..Cartmell (had) no pianos to tune. And a piano-tuner suddenly deprived of pianos is like a tiger whose medical adviser has put it on a vegetarian diet. Cartmell used to talk to us of pianos he had tuned in the past, and sometimes he would speak easily and well of pianos he hoped to tune in the future, but it was not the same. You could see that what the man wanted was a piano now.”
Right finally started. Elon being as awkward as @Leon says so far. I will not be keeping up a running commentary, I just feel some obligation to say something since I made the last post (which was sarcastic btw - they screwed stuff up bad).
Right finally started. Elon being as awkward as @Leon says so far. I will not be keeping up a running commentary, I just feel some obligation to say something since I made the last post (which was sarcastic btw - they screwed stuff up bad).
Right, that's enough for me. I stand by assessment of Elon. But as Trump continues, I can see this working for him potentially (not a "suddenly win election" kind of work, but in a "better off with than without" kinda way). He said some stuff very early on that could definitely be construed as narcissistic about one of the families whose husband died (can't remember exact quote, but to do with what the wife said about a million dollars not being as good). But basically he is coming off mostly normal and reasonable.
They went live nearly an hour late but with a million listeners, which is a pretty good number, peak was around 1.3m.
There was clearly something seriously wrong at the scheduled start time, as the feed kept dropping out with only 100k or so connected, it took about half an hour to stabilise. Seeing the feeds of all the watchalong commentators talk about nothing for nearly an hour was good fun!
The more casual conversation style worked for both men, who can actually talk much better than they can write social media posts or do formal interviews. I don’t think Trump said anything massively controversial, but will watch again later when not half asleep.
They went live nearly an hour late but with a million listeners, which is a pretty good number, peak was around 1.3m.
There was clearly something seriously wrong at the scheduled start time, as the feed kept dropping out with only 100k or so connected, it took about half an hour to stabilise. Seeing the feeds of all the watchalong commentators talk about nothing for nearly an hour was good fun!
The more casual conversation style worked for both men, who can actually talk much better than they can write social media posts or do formal interviews. I don’t think Trump said anything massively controversial, but will watch again later when not half asleep.
He’s offered to host Kamala Harris too. Hope she takes him up.
They went live nearly an hour late but with a million listeners, which is a pretty good number, peak was around 1.3m.
There was clearly something seriously wrong at the scheduled start time, as the feed kept dropping out with only 100k or so connected, it took about half an hour to stabilise. Seeing the feeds of all the watchalong commentators talk about nothing for nearly an hour was good fun!
The more casual conversation style worked for both men, who can actually talk much better than they can write social media posts or do formal interviews. I don’t think Trump said anything massively controversial, but will watch again later when not half asleep.
I did not listen live or to a whole replay but there is a lot of reaction about Trump slurring his words, and scepticism about Musk's ddos claims.
They went live nearly an hour late but with a million listeners, which is a pretty good number, peak was around 1.3m.
There was clearly something seriously wrong at the scheduled start time, as the feed kept dropping out with only 100k or so connected, it took about half an hour to stabilise. Seeing the feeds of all the watchalong commentators talk about nothing for nearly an hour was good fun!
The more casual conversation style worked for both men, who can actually talk much better than they can write social media posts or do formal interviews. I don’t think Trump said anything massively controversial, but will watch again later when not half asleep.
He’s offered to host Kamala Harris too. Hope she takes him up.
I hope so too, but given that she’s had precisely zero sit-down interviews or conversations with anyone since Biden announced he was standing down…
Chrissie Wellington did her first super-sprint triathlon in 2004, aged 27, having done no professional sports. She won the Ironman World Championships at Kona in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2011.
There will be lots of people out there who could be worlds-best at a certain sport, who never get the chance for whatever reason - they don't have the finance; they never try that sport; they don't like the culture within the sport; whatever. ISTR that British sports/coaches talk closely to one another, and young people swap between (say) cycling and rowing, or swimming and running.
They went live nearly an hour late but with a million listeners, which is a pretty good number, peak was around 1.3m.
There was clearly something seriously wrong at the scheduled start time, as the feed kept dropping out with only 100k or so connected, it took about half an hour to stabilise. Seeing the feeds of all the watchalong commentators talk about nothing for nearly an hour was good fun!
The more casual conversation style worked for both men, who can actually talk much better than they can write social media posts or do formal interviews. I don’t think Trump said anything massively controversial, but will watch again later when not half asleep.
I did not listen live or to a whole replay but there is a lot of reaction about Trump slurring his words, and scepticism about Musk's ddos claims.
There were some audio compression issues early in the conversation. Even 1m audio streams doesn’t take a massive amount of bandwidth compared to video, so it’s difficult to understand what’s going on under the hood with Spaces. They say they tested with 8m listeners earlier in the day, so the DDOS story is plausible - or their infrastructure scaling didn’t work quickly enough for the real stream. I would have thought that, for something so high profile, there would have been half a dozen engineers looking at little else at the time.
They went live nearly an hour late but with a million listeners, which is a pretty good number, peak was around 1.3m.
There was clearly something seriously wrong at the scheduled start time, as the feed kept dropping out with only 100k or so connected, it took about half an hour to stabilise. Seeing the feeds of all the watchalong commentators talk about nothing for nearly an hour was good fun!
The more casual conversation style worked for both men, who can actually talk much better than they can write social media posts or do formal interviews. I don’t think Trump said anything massively controversial, but will watch again later when not half asleep.
He’s offered to host Kamala Harris too. Hope she takes him up.
I hope so too, but given that she’s had precisely zero sit-down interviews or conversations with anyone since Biden announced he was standing down…
If I was her, I'd stay as far away from Musky Baby as I possibly could. He's made it perfectly clear that he's on team Trump, and there would only be downsides to appearing.
As ana side, I don't for a minute believe Twix suffered a DDOS.
"At Plymouth Crown Court, a man who grabbed a police officer's baton and ran off with it was jailed for three years. Guy Sullivan, 43, of New George Street, Plymouth, admitted a charge of violent disorder relating to the violence in the city on 5 August. The court heard a lone officer had been using his baton to push back protesters around him, when Sullivan came behind the officer and grabbed the baton out of his hands."
Not quite, Lord Copper. Another incomplete report without enough context on PB. I'm seeing this type of commentary again and again on PB, by people who are jumping to conclusions from wrong information. Please stop.
The officer was then pulled to the ground and beaten up by those he had been protecting himself against with his batten. The perp materially assisted in the mob violence by preventing the policeman defending himself. The riot situation makes it far worse as a crime, and is treated far more seriously.
He got 26 months for that, not 3 years, and I think it will be 50:50 prison:on license (my assumption).
Sullivan had also broken into a supermarket in the riot situation and stolen alcohol, for which he got 16 months for that last week, which has been reduced to 10 months consecutive.
Sullivan also had a record of 37 previous convictions for 108 offences. This is a local thug thinking he can take adavantage.
The judicial system is getting this about right. And it will stop it, which is what we all want.
But please can we stop the frothing based on leaning towers of BS. Obviously Leon won't but that's his version of breathing. But most of us are better than this.
I did say in my earlier comment that if removing the baton had put the police officer at risk then the sentence may well be justified. It seems it was not even risk, it was the facilitation of an assault. Tough.
So Jenrick leads on nine, yet in order to be in the race, each candidate needed 10 backers. Surely all we see here is MPs being afraid to commit publicly until it is clear which way the wind is blowing.
Chrissie Wellington did her first super-sprint triathlon in 2004, aged 27, having done no professional sports. She won the Ironman World Championships at Kona in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2011.
There will be lots of people out there who could be worlds-best at a certain sport, who never get the chance for whatever reason - they don't have the finance; they never try that sport; they don't like the culture within the sport; whatever. ISTR that British sports/coaches talk closely to one another, and young people swap between (say) cycling and rowing, or swimming and running.
That’s a cool story too, hadn’t heard of Chrissie.
IIRC there is quite a bit of movement between sports within the Olympics, vaguely remember one lady won a medal in tobogganing at the winter games, having transferred from the 400m running team after falling narrowly short of selection.
Edit: I was close. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lizzy_Yarnold Won Skeleton gold having initially been a heptathlete. There was a programme called Girls4Gold that tried to identify potential medals in some of the more obscure sports.
"At Plymouth Crown Court, a man who grabbed a police officer's baton and ran off with it was jailed for three years. Guy Sullivan, 43, of New George Street, Plymouth, admitted a charge of violent disorder relating to the violence in the city on 5 August. The court heard a lone officer had been using his baton to push back protesters around him, when Sullivan came behind the officer and grabbed the baton out of his hands."
Not quite, Lord Copper. Another incomplete report without enough context on PB. I'm seeing this type of commentary again and again on PB, by people who are jumping to conclusions from wrong information. Please stop.
The officer was then pulled to the ground and beaten up by those he had been protecting himself against with his batten. The perp materially assisted in the mob violence by preventing the policeman defending himself. The riot situation makes it far worse as a crime, and is treated far more seriously.
He got 26 months for that, not 3 years, and I think it will be 50:50 prison:on license (my assumption).
Sullivan had also broken into a supermarket in the riot situation and stolen alcohol, for which he got 16 months for that last week, which has been reduced to 10 months consecutive.
Sullivan also had a record of 37 previous convictions for 108 offences. This is a local thug thinking he can take adavantage.
The judicial system is getting this about right. And it will stop it, which is what we all want.
But please can we stop the frothing based on leaning towers of BS. Obviously Leon won't but that's his version of breathing. But most of us are better than this.
I did say in my earlier comment that if removing the baton had put the police officer at risk then the sentence may well be justified. It seems it was not even risk, it was the facilitation of an assault. Tough.
Assaulting the policeman, and stealing the weapon that he was using to defend himself alone from a group of rioters, sounds pretty bad.
Many of these rioters appear to have records as long as their arm, the context of wider disturbances being the excuse the judge needs to finally throw the book at them.
Chrissie Wellington did her first super-sprint triathlon in 2004, aged 27, having done no professional sports. She won the Ironman World Championships at Kona in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2011.
There will be lots of people out there who could be worlds-best at a certain sport, who never get the chance for whatever reason - they don't have the finance; they never try that sport; they don't like the culture within the sport; whatever. ISTR that British sports/coaches talk closely to one another, and young people swap between (say) cycling and rowing, or swimming and running.
That’s a cool story too, hadn’t heard of Chrissie.
IIRC there is quite a bit of movement between sports within the Olympics, vaguely remember one lady won a medal in tobogganing at the winter games, having transferred from the 400m running team after falling narrowly short of selection.
Edit: I was close. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lizzy_Yarnold Won Skeleton gold having initially been a heptathlete. There was a programme called Girls4Gold that tried to identify potential medals in some of the more obscure sports.
Chrissie Wellington was a bit of a heroine of mine back then. Her backstory was interesting, and I liked the fact she popped up out of nowhere to dominate the sport, then retired happily back into relative obscurity. She also appeared very personable and down-to-earth compared to many athletes.
In 2008, she came second overall at the incredibly difficult Alpe d'Huez triathlon, only being beaten by one man, who finished a little over a minute ahead of her. She had a serious bike crash two weeks before Kona in 2011, and she still went on to win despite the injuries.
The Russians appear to be unable to defend the region at all, with reports of 1,000 sq km now captured, and 100,000 civilians evacuated. Presumably the latter have their phones confiscated and get sent on a long coach trip to Siberia, to stop them talking to anyone about what’s actually happening in Kursk Oblast.
Chrissie Wellington did her first super-sprint triathlon in 2004, aged 27, having done no professional sports. She won the Ironman World Championships at Kona in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2011.
There will be lots of people out there who could be worlds-best at a certain sport, who never get the chance for whatever reason - they don't have the finance; they never try that sport; they don't like the culture within the sport; whatever. ISTR that British sports/coaches talk closely to one another, and young people swap between (say) cycling and rowing, or swimming and running.
That’s a cool story too, hadn’t heard of Chrissie.
IIRC there is quite a bit of movement between sports within the Olympics, vaguely remember one lady won a medal in tobogganing at the winter games, having transferred from the 400m running team after falling narrowly short of selection.
Edit: I was close. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lizzy_Yarnold Won Skeleton gold having initially been a heptathlete. There was a programme called Girls4Gold that tried to identify potential medals in some of the more obscure sports.
That sounds rather familiar to the plot of Cool Runnings.
"At Plymouth Crown Court, a man who grabbed a police officer's baton and ran off with it was jailed for three years. Guy Sullivan, 43, of New George Street, Plymouth, admitted a charge of violent disorder relating to the violence in the city on 5 August. The court heard a lone officer had been using his baton to push back protesters around him, when Sullivan came behind the officer and grabbed the baton out of his hands."
Not quite, Lord Copper. Another incomplete report without enough context on PB. I'm seeing this type of commentary again and again on PB, by people who are jumping to conclusions from wrong information. Please stop.
The officer was then pulled to the ground and beaten up by those he had been protecting himself against with his batten. The perp materially assisted in the mob violence by preventing the policeman defending himself. The riot situation makes it far worse as a crime, and is treated far more seriously.
He got 26 months for that, not 3 years, and I think it will be 50:50 prison:on license (my assumption).
Sullivan had also broken into a supermarket in the riot situation and stolen alcohol, for which he got 16 months for that last week, which has been reduced to 10 months consecutive.
Sullivan also had a record of 37 previous convictions for 108 offences. This is a local thug thinking he can take adavantage.
The judicial system is getting this about right. And it will stop it, which is what we all want.
But please can we stop the frothing based on leaning towers of BS. Obviously Leon won't but that's his version of breathing. But most of us are better than this.
I did say in my earlier comment that if removing the baton had put the police officer at risk then the sentence may well be justified. It seems it was not even risk, it was the facilitation of an assault. Tough.
Assaulting the policeman, and stealing the weapon that he was using to defend himself alone from a group of rioters, sounds pretty bad.
Many of these rioters appear to have records as long as their arm, the context of wider disturbances being the excuse the judge needs to finally throw the book at them.
There's a certain consistency - if you are involved in rioting or looting you are likely to get a harsh sentence. I think we saw that in the last lot of riots. You might be able to find cases where that is tough on the individual, but there is some ugly misrepresentation going on here (no doubt far worse elsewhere) where the implication seems to be that people are being locked up just for being white or something. Or for being advocates of free speech.
"At Plymouth Crown Court, a man who grabbed a police officer's baton and ran off with it was jailed for three years. Guy Sullivan, 43, of New George Street, Plymouth, admitted a charge of violent disorder relating to the violence in the city on 5 August. The court heard a lone officer had been using his baton to push back protesters around him, when Sullivan came behind the officer and grabbed the baton out of his hands."
Not quite, Lord Copper. Another incomplete report without enough context on PB. I'm seeing this type of commentary again and again on PB, by people who are jumping to conclusions from wrong information. Please stop.
The officer was then pulled to the ground and beaten up by those he had been protecting himself against with his batten. The perp materially assisted in the mob violence by preventing the policeman defending himself. The riot situation makes it far worse as a crime, and is treated far more seriously.
He got 26 months for that, not 3 years, and I think it will be 50:50 prison:on license (my assumption).
Sullivan had also broken into a supermarket in the riot situation and stolen alcohol, for which he got 16 months for that last week, which has been reduced to 10 months consecutive.
Sullivan also had a record of 37 previous convictions for 108 offences. This is a local thug thinking he can take adavantage.
The judicial system is getting this about right. And it will stop it, which is what we all want.
But please can we stop the frothing based on leaning towers of BS. Obviously Leon won't but that's his version of breathing. But most of us are better than this.
I did say in my earlier comment that if removing the baton had put the police officer at risk then the sentence may well be justified. It seems it was not even risk, it was the facilitation of an assault. Tough.
Musk is awkward, he admits he's on the spectrum, he's socially unskilled, he's hesitant and a bit weird (personally, I also think he's a genius, but let's set that aside for now)
He'll be interviewing a raging narcissist with significant cognitive decline and a tendency to lose the plot, or lie absurdly
It might be compelling viewing, but not in the way they hope
Musk *claims* to be on the spectrum. He also frequently lies.
I dislike people saying "I'm on the spectrum!" as a way of self-excusing shitty behaviour. Plenty of people 'on the spectrum' manage to live normal, ordinary lives without being shitty. The chances are many such people would be shitty anyway.
He certainly evinces plenty of spectrummy behaviourisms, his oddly meek voice, his inability to look eye to eye, the stiff body language, the halting sentences and quite odd sense of humour, and the fact he offends people quite easily, often without meaning to
It doesn't matter anyway. I agree with your thesis. This interview has all the ingredients for a trainwreck
He is I agree on the spectrum. The thing is, there are plenty of people with Asperger's or something close to it who aren't supportive of neo-nazis. Also they don't tend to pontificate about freedom of speech whilst deleting any criticism of themselves or their company.
I think you should give such people the benefit of the doubt on things like social etiquette. It can actually be quite useful to have someone who can't lie to you convincingly and tells you the blunt horrible truth. But there's a limit to what you can give people a pass on.
Comments
There's something so forgettable about him he could act like he had nothing to do with the last government, Starmer would point out he was a Cabinet Minister in it, and people would not believe it.
I dunno. We need more polls
You could be right and the British are in a forgiving and tolerant mood, willing to give Labour time. But it all feels more febrile than that
However - this may come as a shock - I am the excitable type and could be overdoing it
https://x.com/cliffschecter/status/1823038405543907726
Trump's desperation strategy is clear: get enough states to fail to certify, throw the election to the House. Rs may have a majority of states even if Ds recapture the House.
https://nitter.poast.org/NormOrnstein/status/1823039747989594351#m
Will be interesting if that becomes relevant in November.
Not overhead like a couple of months ago though unless we get another increase in the particle stream.
Will probably need a long exposure to see the colours.
See https://aurorawatch.lancs.ac.uk/
And yet not a shot has flown across the air. The reason for the collective shrug is actually fairly simple. Iran has been prepping for a possible attack for months so its been doing little steps leaving less obvious signs. Its proven pretty successful.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/08/harris-trump/679444/
.. Something else, and something quite important, has changed. The whole landscape of the campaign has been transformed. The rise of Harris instantly cast Trump in a new light. He formerly seemed more ominous and threatening, which, whatever its political drawbacks, signaled strength; now he seems not just old but low-energy, stale, even pathetic. He has become the political version of Fat Elvis….
@IanDunt
I don't see how anyone can find anything interesting to say about the American election. It's childlike in its simplicity: Goodies versus baddies, joy versus hate. It makes Star Wars look morally nuanced."
https://x.com/IanDunt/status/1821913086921425213
Jenrick 9
Tugendhat 5
Stride 6
Badenoch 6
Cleverly 4
Patel 4
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endorsements_in_the_2024_Conservative_Party_leadership_election
Might have Democrats sending in their own 'electors' this time!
He takes the knee for BLM riots but won’t legitimise concerns on the public’s number 1 issue with a speech
I’m sure he didn’t want to spend his first 6 months addressing migration and the boats but I don’t think he now has much choice
·
2h
Exclusive
Keir Starmer and Italian PM Georgia Meloni are working together to make the EU’s police force focus on tackling illegal migration.
They privately discussed reforms to Europol - including an entire mandate change - at Blenheim Palace on July 18.
https://x.com/benrileysmith/status/1823103041505271941
@ydoethur would be ashamed of these.
https://www.theguardian.com/stage/article/2024/aug/12/10-funniest-jokes-edinburgh-fringe-2024
(Though very last one is OK.)
He can choose to let the criminal justice system do its job, jail the rioters, and then put this whole nonsense into the rear view mirror at which point it will blow away as fast as it blew up.
Just because you're obsessed with this doesn't mean everyone else shares your obsession.
BREAKING: Boy rushed to hospital after getting stabbed in Manchester city centre
https://x.com/gbnews/status/1823103911261069569?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw
The rest, not so much.
“Immigration now tops the list of most important national issues for the first time since 2016”
https://yougov.co.uk/politics/articles/50266-top-national-issues-crime-and-immigration-shoot-up-since-mid-july
The officer was then pulled to the ground and beaten up by those he had been protecting himself against with his batten. The perp materially assisted in the mob violence by preventing the policeman defending himself. The riot situation makes it far worse as a crime, and is treated far more seriously.
He got 26 months for that, not 3 years, and I think it will be 50:50 prison:on license (my assumption).
Sullivan had also broken into a supermarket in the riot situation and stolen alcohol, for which he got 16 months for that last week, which has been reduced to 10 months consecutive.
Sullivan also had a record of 37 previous convictions for 108 offences. This is a local thug thinking he can take adavantage.
The judicial system is getting this about right. And it will stop it, which is what we all want.
https://www.tiktok.com/@criminalmindsuncovered_/video/7402370809517460769
But please can we stop the frothing based on leaning towers of BS. Obviously Leon won't but that's his version of breathing. But most of us are better than this.
A slender majority (51%) may consider it the issue this month. Big deal. Last month the economy was the biggest issue and who knows what next month brings?
The PM has both the ability to react to the news and to set the agenda, moving the conversation back to the economy may be the rational thing to do.
Or possibly not
Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
Perhaps I have led a sheltered life. But I find it extremely easy not to attack police officers during riots or set hotels on fire.
That doesn't help for one thing.
"Why did the public turn against Chloe Ayling? Sexism and class prejudice, the kidnapped model suggests
Her story will feature in new six-part BBC drama Kidnapped
Athena Stavrou"
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/chloe-ayling-bbc-kidnapped-drama-model-b2594953.html
Too many people have turned - temporarily I hope - into "elephant of conclusions on a toadstool of evidence" merchants.
Too much noise, not enough signal. Enjoy the week, all.
“…..Cartmell (had) no pianos to tune. And a piano-tuner suddenly deprived of pianos is like a tiger whose medical adviser has put it on a vegetarian diet. Cartmell used to talk to us of pianos he had tuned in the past, and sometimes he would speak easily and well of pianos he hoped to tune in the future, but it was not the same. You could see that what the man wanted was a piano now.”
Was probably better earlier in the night.
Only one Perseid too.
Oh well, if you don't try...
@elonmusk
There appears to be a massive DDOS attack on 𝕏. Working on shutting it down.
Worst case, we will proceed with a smaller number of live listeners and post the conversation later.
1:18 AM · Aug 13, 2024
22M Views"
https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1823152153445404990
https://x.com/PlanMaestro/status/1822954773848486210
Although the story of Georgia Bell, who was a schools and university runner who took several years’ sabbatical from competition, started running again during the pandemic, and came back aged 30 to win Bronze with a British record in the 1,500m, is pretty inspiring.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/olympics/2024/08/11/georgia-bell-1500m-record-work-trevor-painter-jenny-meadows/
There was clearly something seriously wrong at the scheduled start time, as the feed kept dropping out with only 100k or so connected, it took about half an hour to stabilise. Seeing the feeds of all the watchalong commentators talk about nothing for nearly an hour was good fun!
The more casual conversation style worked for both men, who can actually talk much better than they can write social media posts or do formal interviews. I don’t think Trump said anything massively controversial, but will watch again later when not half asleep.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrissie_Wellington
There will be lots of people out there who could be worlds-best at a certain sport, who never get the chance for whatever reason - they don't have the finance; they never try that sport; they don't like the culture within the sport; whatever. ISTR that British sports/coaches talk closely to one another, and young people swap between (say) cycling and rowing, or swimming and running.
As ana side, I don't for a minute believe Twix suffered a DDOS.
IIRC there is quite a bit of movement between sports within the Olympics, vaguely remember one lady won a medal in tobogganing at the winter games, having transferred from the 400m running team after falling narrowly short of selection.
Edit: I was close. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lizzy_Yarnold Won Skeleton gold having initially been a heptathlete. There was a programme called Girls4Gold that tried to identify potential medals in some of the more obscure sports.
Many of these rioters appear to have records as long as their arm, the context of wider disturbances being the excuse the judge needs to finally throw the book at them.
In 2008, she came second overall at the incredibly difficult Alpe d'Huez triathlon, only being beaten by one man, who finished a little over a minute ahead of her. She had a serious bike crash two weeks before Kona in 2011, and she still went on to win despite the injuries.
NEW THREAD
https://x.com/thestudyofwar/status/1823168917550047675
Even one Ukranian MP has turned up, having taken leave of absence from Parliament
https://x.com/osinttechnical/status/1823128362480517580
The Russians appear to be unable to defend the region at all, with reports of 1,000 sq km now captured, and 100,000 civilians evacuated. Presumably the latter have their phones confiscated and get sent on a long coach trip to Siberia, to stop them talking to anyone about what’s actually happening in Kursk Oblast.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5y3e6dl6wgo
It's easy to forget how few Tory MPs there are. You ought to be able to tell something from a third of the total.
I think you should give such people the benefit of the doubt on things like social etiquette. It can actually be quite useful to have someone who can't lie to you convincingly and tells you the blunt horrible truth. But there's a limit to what you can give people a pass on.