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As conference season begins – politicalbetting.com

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  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,154
    Aaaaaand Gloucestershire's inventive way to throw away an unloseable match begins as Hammond does not so much lightly throw his wicket away as hurl it with great force.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 49,586
    ydoethur said:

    DavidL said:

    Andy_JS said:

    "Academy chain with 35,000 pupils to be first in England to go phone-free

    Exclusive: Ormiston academies trust says impact of phones on learning and mental health has been ‘catastrophic’"

    https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/sep/13/academy-chain-with-35000-pupils-to-be-first-in-england-to-go-phone-free

    We have not allowed phones out in school for years now: if I see a phone being used I confiscate it, they get it back at the end of the day and they get an automatic detention.
    On the other hand they are expected to have iPads, Chromebooks, or laptops (mostly in the sixth-form) and use them in most lessons, so I'm not sure how much it achieves.
    A good friend of mine has a friend who is a physics teacher. He asked his 3rd year class what units speed was measured in. "Grammes, sir" came the reply.
    That's where you've been weighting a long time.
    Then after that weight, it all went up in smoke.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,154

    ydoethur said:

    DavidL said:

    Andy_JS said:

    "Academy chain with 35,000 pupils to be first in England to go phone-free

    Exclusive: Ormiston academies trust says impact of phones on learning and mental health has been ‘catastrophic’"

    https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/sep/13/academy-chain-with-35000-pupils-to-be-first-in-england-to-go-phone-free

    We have not allowed phones out in school for years now: if I see a phone being used I confiscate it, they get it back at the end of the day and they get an automatic detention.
    On the other hand they are expected to have iPads, Chromebooks, or laptops (mostly in the sixth-form) and use them in most lessons, so I'm not sure how much it achieves.
    A good friend of mine has a friend who is a physics teacher. He asked his 3rd year class what units speed was measured in. "Grammes, sir" came the reply.
    That's where you've been weighting a long time.
    Then after that weight, it all went up in smoke.
    Sounds punitive. Surely a miled rebuke would meet the case?
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 49,586
    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    DavidL said:

    Andy_JS said:

    "Academy chain with 35,000 pupils to be first in England to go phone-free

    Exclusive: Ormiston academies trust says impact of phones on learning and mental health has been ‘catastrophic’"

    https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/sep/13/academy-chain-with-35000-pupils-to-be-first-in-england-to-go-phone-free

    We have not allowed phones out in school for years now: if I see a phone being used I confiscate it, they get it back at the end of the day and they get an automatic detention.
    On the other hand they are expected to have iPads, Chromebooks, or laptops (mostly in the sixth-form) and use them in most lessons, so I'm not sure how much it achieves.
    A good friend of mine has a friend who is a physics teacher. He asked his 3rd year class what units speed was measured in. "Grammes, sir" came the reply.
    That's where you've been weighting a long time.
    Then after that weight, it all went up in smoke.
    Sounds punitive. Surely a miled rebuke would meet the case?
    Perhaps a token toke?
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,154

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    DavidL said:

    Andy_JS said:

    "Academy chain with 35,000 pupils to be first in England to go phone-free

    Exclusive: Ormiston academies trust says impact of phones on learning and mental health has been ‘catastrophic’"

    https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/sep/13/academy-chain-with-35000-pupils-to-be-first-in-england-to-go-phone-free

    We have not allowed phones out in school for years now: if I see a phone being used I confiscate it, they get it back at the end of the day and they get an automatic detention.
    On the other hand they are expected to have iPads, Chromebooks, or laptops (mostly in the sixth-form) and use them in most lessons, so I'm not sure how much it achieves.
    A good friend of mine has a friend who is a physics teacher. He asked his 3rd year class what units speed was measured in. "Grammes, sir" came the reply.
    That's where you've been weighting a long time.
    Then after that weight, it all went up in smoke.
    Sounds punitive. Surely a miled rebuke would meet the case?
    Perhaps a token toke?
    Well, you seemed to want to more or less hang them at a yard arm.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 49,586
    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    DavidL said:

    Andy_JS said:

    "Academy chain with 35,000 pupils to be first in England to go phone-free

    Exclusive: Ormiston academies trust says impact of phones on learning and mental health has been ‘catastrophic’"

    https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/sep/13/academy-chain-with-35000-pupils-to-be-first-in-england-to-go-phone-free

    We have not allowed phones out in school for years now: if I see a phone being used I confiscate it, they get it back at the end of the day and they get an automatic detention.
    On the other hand they are expected to have iPads, Chromebooks, or laptops (mostly in the sixth-form) and use them in most lessons, so I'm not sure how much it achieves.
    A good friend of mine has a friend who is a physics teacher. He asked his 3rd year class what units speed was measured in. "Grammes, sir" came the reply.
    That's where you've been weighting a long time.
    Then after that weight, it all went up in smoke.
    Sounds punitive. Surely a miled rebuke would meet the case?
    Perhaps a token toke?
    Well, you seemed to want to more or less hang them at a yard arm.
    No. I'm modern. Hang 'em at the metre arm.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,154

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    DavidL said:

    Andy_JS said:

    "Academy chain with 35,000 pupils to be first in England to go phone-free

    Exclusive: Ormiston academies trust says impact of phones on learning and mental health has been ‘catastrophic’"

    https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/sep/13/academy-chain-with-35000-pupils-to-be-first-in-england-to-go-phone-free

    We have not allowed phones out in school for years now: if I see a phone being used I confiscate it, they get it back at the end of the day and they get an automatic detention.
    On the other hand they are expected to have iPads, Chromebooks, or laptops (mostly in the sixth-form) and use them in most lessons, so I'm not sure how much it achieves.
    A good friend of mine has a friend who is a physics teacher. He asked his 3rd year class what units speed was measured in. "Grammes, sir" came the reply.
    That's where you've been weighting a long time.
    Then after that weight, it all went up in smoke.
    Sounds punitive. Surely a miled rebuke would meet the case?
    Perhaps a token toke?
    Well, you seemed to want to more or less hang them at a yard arm.
    No. I'm modern. Hang 'em at the metre arm.
    Do they show more rhythm that way?
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 53,706
    ydoethur said:

    Aaaaaand Gloucestershire's inventive way to throw away an unloseable match begins as Hammond does not so much lightly throw his wicket away as hurl it with great force.

    That scoop was bizarre. With such a low total, less than run a ball, third man is extremely fine and the wicket keeper back and the batsman thinks, I know, I'll do a scoop. Very fortunate not to have thrown away another wicket.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,154
    edited September 14
    DavidL said:

    ydoethur said:

    Aaaaaand Gloucestershire's inventive way to throw away an unloseable match begins as Hammond does not so much lightly throw his wicket away as hurl it with great force.

    That scoop was bizarre. With such a low total, less than run a ball, third man is extremely fine and the wicket keeper back and the batsman thinks, I know, I'll do a scoop. Very fortunate not to have thrown away another wicket.
    Especially since RR is irrelevant.

    Edit - that was a gorgeous shot from the Sandpaperman though.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 49,586
    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    DavidL said:

    Andy_JS said:

    "Academy chain with 35,000 pupils to be first in England to go phone-free

    Exclusive: Ormiston academies trust says impact of phones on learning and mental health has been ‘catastrophic’"

    https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/sep/13/academy-chain-with-35000-pupils-to-be-first-in-england-to-go-phone-free

    We have not allowed phones out in school for years now: if I see a phone being used I confiscate it, they get it back at the end of the day and they get an automatic detention.
    On the other hand they are expected to have iPads, Chromebooks, or laptops (mostly in the sixth-form) and use them in most lessons, so I'm not sure how much it achieves.
    A good friend of mine has a friend who is a physics teacher. He asked his 3rd year class what units speed was measured in. "Grammes, sir" came the reply.
    That's where you've been weighting a long time.
    Then after that weight, it all went up in smoke.
    Sounds punitive. Surely a miled rebuke would meet the case?
    Perhaps a token toke?
    Well, you seemed to want to more or less hang them at a yard arm.
    No. I'm modern. Hang 'em at the metre arm.
    Do they show more rhythm that way?
    No. More blues, really.

    For some reason - https://youtu.be/bCiCFOEyrpc?feature=shared
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,342
    Forest!!
  • BarnesianBarnesian Posts: 8,551

    Barnesian said:

    I'm sitting in the auditorium at the Lib Dem conference in Brighton waiting for the next item on the agenda which is "Celebrating our
    election wins".
    This evening it is the Glee Club followed by Karaoke.

    Karaoke is tomorrow night, Glee Club Monday night
    Is there any shagging or drinking at the Lib Dems conference?

    Please tell me you have some life in you.
    The latter then the former?
    ;)
  • ydoethur said:

    DavidL said:

    ydoethur said:

    Aaaaaand Gloucestershire's inventive way to throw away an unloseable match begins as Hammond does not so much lightly throw his wicket away as hurl it with great force.

    That scoop was bizarre. With such a low total, less than run a ball, third man is extremely fine and the wicket keeper back and the batsman thinks, I know, I'll do a scoop. Very fortunate not to have thrown away another wicket.
    Especially since RR is irrelevant.

    Edit - that was a gorgeous shot from the Sandpaperman though.
    Where is this on?
  • TazTaz Posts: 14,162
    GIN1138 said:

    More warning shots from Vorders...


    Carol Vorderman
    @carolvorders
    😡
    Scrapping winter fuel allowance for all but those on Pension Credit is wrong wrong wrong

    They have to remember that millions of all ages loaned their vote to Labour to get rid of the corrupted Tory party

    Now look after those voters

    Why does anyone, aside from Northern Monkey who seems to adore her, care what Triggers Broom says ?
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,154

    ydoethur said:

    DavidL said:

    ydoethur said:

    Aaaaaand Gloucestershire's inventive way to throw away an unloseable match begins as Hammond does not so much lightly throw his wicket away as hurl it with great force.

    That scoop was bizarre. With such a low total, less than run a ball, third man is extremely fine and the wicket keeper back and the batsman thinks, I know, I'll do a scoop. Very fortunate not to have thrown away another wicket.
    Especially since RR is irrelevant.

    Edit - that was a gorgeous shot from the Sandpaperman though.
    Where is this on?
    Sky, I'm afraid.
  • ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    DavidL said:

    ydoethur said:

    Aaaaaand Gloucestershire's inventive way to throw away an unloseable match begins as Hammond does not so much lightly throw his wicket away as hurl it with great force.

    That scoop was bizarre. With such a low total, less than run a ball, third man is extremely fine and the wicket keeper back and the batsman thinks, I know, I'll do a scoop. Very fortunate not to have thrown away another wicket.
    Especially since RR is irrelevant.

    Edit - that was a gorgeous shot from the Sandpaperman though.
    Where is this on?
    Sky, I'm afraid.
    Ah well...
  • EabhalEabhal Posts: 8,424
    edited September 14
    Taz said:

    GIN1138 said:

    More warning shots from Vorders...


    Carol Vorderman
    @carolvorders
    😡
    Scrapping winter fuel allowance for all but those on Pension Credit is wrong wrong wrong

    They have to remember that millions of all ages loaned their vote to Labour to get rid of the corrupted Tory party

    Now look after those voters

    Why does anyone, aside from Northern Monkey who seems to adore her, care what Triggers Broom says ?
    To be fair, she seems to be admirably non-partisan.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 49,586
    Eabhal said:

    Taz said:

    GIN1138 said:

    More warning shots from Vorders...


    Carol Vorderman
    @carolvorders
    😡
    Scrapping winter fuel allowance for all but those on Pension Credit is wrong wrong wrong

    They have to remember that millions of all ages loaned their vote to Labour to get rid of the corrupted Tory party

    Now look after those voters

    Why does anyone, aside from Northern Monkey who seems to adore her, care what Triggers Broom says ?
    To be fair, she seems to be admirably non-partisan.
    Indeed. Unlike the Bad Law Project, for example.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,154
    Gorgeous day for finals though. Sunny, touch of wind, not too hot.
  • TazTaz Posts: 14,162
    Eabhal said:

    Taz said:

    GIN1138 said:

    More warning shots from Vorders...


    Carol Vorderman
    @carolvorders
    😡
    Scrapping winter fuel allowance for all but those on Pension Credit is wrong wrong wrong

    They have to remember that millions of all ages loaned their vote to Labour to get rid of the corrupted Tory party

    Now look after those voters

    Why does anyone, aside from Northern Monkey who seems to adore her, care what Triggers Broom says ?
    To be fair, she seems to be admirably non-partisan.
    Indeed. She is clearly apolitical 😂😂
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,154
    To misquote George V:

    Bugger Bancroft.
  • Taz said:

    GIN1138 said:

    More warning shots from Vorders...


    Carol Vorderman
    @carolvorders
    😡
    Scrapping winter fuel allowance for all but those on Pension Credit is wrong wrong wrong

    They have to remember that millions of all ages loaned their vote to Labour to get rid of the corrupted Tory party

    Now look after those voters

    Why does anyone, aside from Northern Monkey who seems to adore her, care what Triggers Broom says ?
    Trigger's Broom?
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 49,586

    Dura_Ace said:

    TimS said:

    I hadn’t realised that JENRICK had endorsed Trump. Dear me, what an absolute tool.

    Indeed. And should rule him out of high office in this country for the rest of his career.

    He is siding with this country's enemies.
    The Conservative base and voter bloc is anti-Trump at the moment, unlike Reform. It’s also strongly pro-Ukraine and hawkish on Russia. But a Trump-positive Jenrick as leader, and especially a new Trump presidency, could well shift that particular Overton side-window. I really don’t want to see the party dragged into MAGA land. It’ll have us pining for the good old days of honourable, honest leaders like Boris Johnson.
    It is quite possible to be a Ukrainian Ultra and want to fuck Trump's 'Neck Pussy' as bro living in the Ballardesque nightmare of the Trucial States vividly demonstrates on the reg.
    I feel like this is English, but I still can't decipher it.
    It's actually written in Ukrainian.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,154
    Even as a Glos supporter, you have to feel for Currie. What an effort at what would have been a sensational save.
  • kamskikamski Posts: 5,125
    Leon said:

    kamski said:

    Leon said:

    Nunu3 said:

    Well it seems the German government is relaxed about the gains made by AfD in recent elections.

    madness. just utter madness. None of these people will return home on reality.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gegkkg14ko

    That’s…. Bonkers

    The voters are electing Nazis to deal with mass immigration and Olaf Scholz’s reaction is to import, en masse, a quarter of a million Kenyans

    That’s not just pouring fuel on the fire, that’s buying the entire global reserves of Exxon and dropping it in the erupting volcano

    This surging crisis could easily lead to the end of the EU. The underlying illogic of the EU, the crucial flaw, is that each country purports to have its own migration policy but, perforce, you must accept the migration policy of your EU neighbour, because Free Movement

    Once those Kenyans get residency in Germany they are free to move anywhere in the EU, even though other EU countries might not want them. In the end that cannot be sustained
    "Once those Kenyans get residency in Germany they are free to move anywhere in the EU" well that is flat out wrong for a start. But congrats on maintaining your record of 100% of your posts that mention Germany containing ignorant bullshit.
    They are free to move because there are no internal borders in Schenghen. lol. Are you disputing this?!
    Obviously that is not what you meant. Because that would apply to anyone who happens to be in Germany whether they have German residency or not.

    "Once those Kenyans get residency" is what you wrote. Why do they need to wait until they get residency if you are just talking about the lack of border controls within Schengen?

    Also you wrote "anywhere in the EU". Why did you write the EU if you were talking about the lack of border controls in Schengen? Even you must know by now that Schengen and the EU aren't the same thing.

    Just be honest for once and admit that you thought that getting German residency meant getting residency rights in the rest of the EU.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,154
    Somerset v Gloucester NatWest Trophy final 1999.

    That's the last time they met in a final.

    And Mark Alleyne was of course the Captain.

    A repeat result would do nicely.

    But...I have a feeling Somerset will be looking for revenge...
  • algarkirkalgarkirk Posts: 12,360

    Cookie said:

    Cookie said:

    Cookie said:

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2024/09/14/asda-workers-revolt-mentally-draining-in-store-radio/

    Today's big issue - Asda workers up in arms at the shitness of the music they are forced to listen to while they work.

    I'm with them here. I like music as much as the next man - but I like the music which is to my taste. I'd rather have no music than music I don't like. I wouldn't expect other shoppers to be gleeful about having my playlists full of The Fall and Half Man Half Biscuit, and I don't understand the arrogance of people who think we all want to listen to their taste in terrible MOR in supermarkets.

    Other way round. Asda used to play proper songs but changed to unlicensed rubbish (similar to what we used to call muzak) and that is what has upset the workforce.
    Yes, but the point is no music at all is bettet than music not to your taste. And any music will be not to the taste of at least 70% of people.
    Granted unlicensed music is not to thr taste of slightly more people.
    The large shops don't like to be quiet, because if they're empty it gives off an air of being a deserted wasteland. People start to whisper to avoid breaking the silence, they feel silly and uncomfortable and they leave.
    Sainsbury's rounf here is still admirably quiet.
    Tesco went for music back in 2020 in order to have some sort of backdrop to hectoring you to disinfect surfaces/wear a mask/keep 2 metres apart/be appropriately frightened, and never did away with it.
    Sometimes they'll play a tune I like, admittedly. Mostly they force me to use an ipod.
    There must be a sales opportunity for a supermarket chain that advertises that they won’t play music.
    Can't remember hearing music in Lidl.

    But then, it has all the retail delight of it being run by Dementors, so maybe I haven't paid attention to that particular horror.
    Lidl is the supermarket not run by dementors. Not only no 'music' but (in my local one) no self service checkout, a sane scale of operation where I am not choosing between 83 different species of tinned tomato after hiking through acres of bananas. Though even Lidl is not as it was in its glory days when it offered one (if you were lucky) option for everything, all randomly set out in the boxes they came in.

    Their special displays still have the old magic, with Polish gherkin flavour chocolate next to cheap hoovers, children's socks and chunks of dead animal from Slovenia.
  • kamskikamski Posts: 5,125
    Nigelb said:

    kamski said:

    Defence Minister Pistorius (SPD) continues to be by some distance the most popular political leader in Germany (and AfD leader Weidel the most unpopular)

    https://presseportal.zdf.de/pressemitteilung/zdf-politbarometer-september-i-2024

    Translation:

    In the assessment of politicians according to likeability and performance (“What do you think of?”), Defense Minister Boris Pistorius remains unchallenged in first place. He is rated on a scale of +5 to -5 with an average score of 1.8 (August: 1.7). Markus Söder is a distant second with 0.2 (0.0). After that, the negative range begins: Friedrich Merz with minus 0.1 (minus 0.2), Karl Lauterbach with minus 0.8 (minus 0.5), Robert Habeck with minus 0.8 (minus 0.4), Annalena Baerbock with her personal negative record of minus 0.9 (minus 0.5), Olaf Scholz, also with minus 0.9 (minus 0.7), Christian Lindner with minus 1.1 (minus 0.9) and Sahra Wagenknecht with minus 1.1 (minus 1.1). Alice Weidel remains clearly in negative territory with minus 2.7 (minus 2.7).

    It would surely make sense for the SPD to have Pistorius as Chancellor-candidate at the next election rather than the useless Scholz.

    Didn't Pistorius only get the job because the box ticking predecessor was even weaker than Scholz ?
    Perhaps time to change the Chancellor, then ?

    ‘Germany will not send Taurus long-range missiles to Ukraine,’ said Scholz

    ‘We have made a clear decision about what we will and will not do. This decision will not change,’ he added.

    How much longer do we have to put up with this chancellor?

    https://x.com/jurgen_nauditt/status/1834844119971058145
    Pistorius certainly seems to be more clearcut in his support for Ukraine than Scholz.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 62,401
    sundersays.bsky.social
    @sundersays.bsky.social‬

    LibDems made 64 gains in 2024 - 47 of them in the south of England, where they hold 52 seats now. A new "Yellow Wall" in the politics of southern England.

    Am interested in hearing more about the LibDem/Conservative battle in those marginal seats - last time - and what it means in future


    ‪sundersays.bsky.social‬ ‪@sundersays.bsky.social‬
    ·
    1h
    Almost one in three seats across the south outside London will be LibDem/Conservative contests at the next General Election: whether the Yellow Wall holds will be a crucial part of the jigsaw of the next parliament

    https://bsky.app/profile/sundersays.bsky.social/post/3l44lewkkqb2f
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,154
    Scoreline in the Boast between Suss and Glos this year.

    Sussex - Won two

    Gloucestershire - won the one that mattered.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 54,677
    edited September 14

    Taz said:
    That is a big old put-down, but can I raise you 33 slam-dunk Trump fact check "booms" from the same event?
    How about the “eating cats” thing? Supposedly debunked?

    Looks like they may, in fact, be eating cats in Ohio

    https://x.com/realchrisrufo/status/1834926318883852543?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

    The whole story is weirdly reminiscent of the “asylum seekers eating swans” story. Fiercely debunked as right wing bollocks, later on it quietly turned out to be true
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 53,706
    ydoethur said:

    Somerset v Gloucester NatWest Trophy final 1999.

    That's the last time they met in a final.

    And Mark Alleyne was of course the Captain.

    A repeat result would do nicely.

    But...I have a feeling Somerset will be looking for revenge...

    Another 50-60 runs would not have made Sussex competitive there. Its a major flaw of T20s that there is so little time to come back when there is a collapse like we saw in the first innings.
  • kamskikamski Posts: 5,125
    Nunu5 said:

    kamski said:

    Leon said:

    Nunu3 said:

    Well it seems the German government is relaxed about the gains made by AfD in recent elections.

    madness. just utter madness. None of these people will return home on reality.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gegkkg14ko

    That’s…. Bonkers

    The voters are electing Nazis to deal with mass immigration and Olaf Scholz’s reaction is to import, en masse, a quarter of a million Kenyans

    That’s not just pouring fuel on the fire, that’s buying the entire global reserves of Exxon and dropping it in the erupting volcano

    This surging crisis could easily lead to the end of the EU. The underlying illogic of the EU, the crucial flaw, is that each country purports to have its own migration policy but, perforce, you must accept the migration policy of your EU neighbour, because Free Movement

    Once those Kenyans get residency in Germany they are free to move anywhere in the EU, even though other EU countries might not want them. In the end that cannot be sustained
    "Once those Kenyans get residency in Germany they are free to move anywhere in the EU" well that is flat out wrong for a start. But congrats on maintaining your record of 100% of your posts that mention Germany containing ignorant bullshit.
    How will they stop them in reality with the Shengen Area? Like practically speaking?
    It has nothing to do with getting German residency though does it? I guess if they want to leave their legal German job and residency to try to work illegally in Poland or Romania then maybe (depending) Schengen means they might not get stopped at the border. But
    a) how many will want to do that?
    b) you could say the same about any tourist/student etc in any Schengen country.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 54,677
    Cookie said:

    Eabhal said:

    Nigelb said:

    Leon said:

    Nigelb said:

    Leon said:

    TimS said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Absolutely stunning early autumn day in Devon. Mists first off, now bright blue skies.

    Why would anyone want to go anywhere else? (Remind me of this when I'm in the UAE in a fortnight...)

    Canada isn’t ALL bad



    Yebbut...I get this from the house every day....


    That is lovely. Indeed lovelier

    I continue to have mixed feelings about the Okanagan. Sometimes it can look strikingly beautiful, but my god the tourist tat, the kitsch resort architecture, the strip malls and the overdevelopment

    Yuk. North Americans really know how to fuck up a place, unless it is protected by National Park status

    The wine is excellent. I was talking to a winemaker today and I told her I presumed it was global warming that made wine growing ever easier in this northerly latitude. She scoffed and said the first wine was made in 1860 - a Catholic priest needing communion wine for his settler congregation

    They just needed to apply science. The terroir is amazingly fertile with all kinds of slopes and elevations and soils (volcanic, sandy, old lakebed)

    They can make almost any wine they want

    But is it beautiful? Not really. Not for a European. Especially a European who has just come from ravishingly pretty Montenegro. Or indeed south Devon
    With the possible exception of some bits of coastal California or New England, I’d say North America is beautiful only when it’s empty. The deserts, the more national parky mountains, the Canadian lakes and forests. They just don’t do pretty villages, that’s the problem.
    Quite so. Some of the ribbon development around here seems WILFULLY ugly. Not just accidentally tatty, but consciously striving to make the view worse. Garish colours and cheap materials and a total refusal to consider context

    The comparison with the sublime empty beauty of Manning Park that I visited en route - just pine forests and whispering lakes - is stark

    Weirdly, they can do beautiful cities that are entirely American. New York. Chicago

    There are beautiful small towns in the US. But most were developed before the automobile.

    The car, of course, is why the majority of development there is so hideous. It's not a mystery.
    Yep. The car

    Today I watched some people having a croissant in a European style pavement cafe in Osoyoos

    Only problem, it was right next to a four lane urban motorway. Like pretending you’re in cobbled Covent Garden right by the M4

    It was poignant and a little sad, from my Eurocentric perspective
    There’s something of a new urbanist thing going on in the US. Here and there.
    They know how to build beautiful towns and cities; it’s just that a lot of stuff militates against that.
    At least the Australians/Americans have an excuse - their square grids and car dependency came first in many places, so they are having to retrofit human living conditions. They have 60 years of "one more lane bro" to contend with.

    It was us who destroyed our alleys(closes), trams, squares. An inheritance discarded.
    I don't think that's right. The American city of 100 years ago was dense and gloriously walkable, often with plentiful public transport. Car dependency, when it came, had to be crowbarred in, often by knocking down huge swathes of perfectly good urban form.

    Absolutely right. The Americans knocked down more beautiful stuff than anyone else - even us

    Google “Cincinnati” if you want to cry
  • BarnesianBarnesian Posts: 8,551

    sundersays.bsky.social
    @sundersays.bsky.social‬

    LibDems made 64 gains in 2024 - 47 of them in the south of England, where they hold 52 seats now. A new "Yellow Wall" in the politics of southern England.

    Am interested in hearing more about the LibDem/Conservative battle in those marginal seats - last time - and what it means in future


    ‪sundersays.bsky.social‬ ‪@sundersays.bsky.social‬
    ·
    1h
    Almost one in three seats across the south outside London will be LibDem/Conservative contests at the next General Election: whether the Yellow Wall holds will be a crucial part of the jigsaw of the next parliament

    https://bsky.app/profile/sundersays.bsky.social/post/3l44lewkkqb2f

    Ready for battle, Ed Davey arrives this afternoon in Brighton.
    https://x.com/i/status/1834977490646781992
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 35,895
    ...
  • Jim_MillerJim_Miller Posts: 2,960
    edited September 14
    Somemay find this WaPo editorial of interest: "Researchers from UCLA and the University of Southern California published a paper this summer in which they examined credit scores, credit card balances, loan delinquency rates and other detailed financial data for roughly 7 million Americans. Using this information, they were able to contrast the experience of individuals in various states before and after they adopted legal sports gambling.

    The findings provide cause for concern: The average credit score in states that legalized sports betting decreased by 0.3 percent — and by one percent, three times the average, in states that allow online sports betting. These might seem like small shifts, but they represent averages for entire state populations. This implies that a relatively small group of intensive users — “problem gamblers” — are suffering major damage to their credit scores, dragging down the overall average. Financial institutions in those states responded to the reduced creditworthiness of their consumers by lowering available credit limits, they found. The results were larger for young men from lower-income counties in those states. Meanwhile, states that legalized sports betting saw significant increases in bankruptcy filing rates and debt collections. Debt consolidation loans went up 8 percent by dollar value, and auto loan delinquencies increased 9 percent."
    source$: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/09/14/nfl-sports-gambling-addiction-sportsbooks-credit-scores/

    Link to the paper: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4903302

    (For the record: I have only glanced through the paper, but the findings don't seem implausible -- assuming the WaPo editorial is a reasonable summary.)
  • LeonLeon Posts: 54,677
    kamski said:

    Leon said:

    kamski said:

    Leon said:

    Nunu3 said:

    Well it seems the German government is relaxed about the gains made by AfD in recent elections.

    madness. just utter madness. None of these people will return home on reality.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gegkkg14ko

    That’s…. Bonkers

    The voters are electing Nazis to deal with mass immigration and Olaf Scholz’s reaction is to import, en masse, a quarter of a million Kenyans

    That’s not just pouring fuel on the fire, that’s buying the entire global reserves of Exxon and dropping it in the erupting volcano

    This surging crisis could easily lead to the end of the EU. The underlying illogic of the EU, the crucial flaw, is that each country purports to have its own migration policy but, perforce, you must accept the migration policy of your EU neighbour, because Free Movement

    Once those Kenyans get residency in Germany they are free to move anywhere in the EU, even though other EU countries might not want them. In the end that cannot be sustained
    "Once those Kenyans get residency in Germany they are free to move anywhere in the EU" well that is flat out wrong for a start. But congrats on maintaining your record of 100% of your posts that mention Germany containing ignorant bullshit.
    They are free to move because there are no internal borders in Schenghen. lol. Are you disputing this?!
    Obviously that is not what you meant. Because that would apply to anyone who happens to be in Germany whether they have German residency or not.

    "Once those Kenyans get residency" is what you wrote. Why do they need to wait until they get residency if you are just talking about the lack of border controls within Schengen?

    Also you wrote "anywhere in the EU". Why did you write the EU if you were talking about the lack of border controls in Schengen? Even you must know by now that Schengen and the EU aren't the same thing.

    Just be honest for once and admit that you thought that getting German residency meant getting residency rights in the rest of the EU.
    I meant what I said dumbkopf

    Once they are residing in Germany they are immediately free to move around the EU, because Schenghen (are you really going to die on the hill that Schenghen =! EU?). Normal Kenyans have to get a Schenghen visa for this - not easy

    As the years go by they will accrue further rights to work and claim benefits all over the EU

    Moving on from your idiocy I don’t understand the political or economic logic of this move. I’ve nothing against Kenyans - often lovely people

    But why Kenya? Coz they’re Christian and integrate better? Is that an admission that 1m Syrians was a bad idea? Why not just recruit from around the EU?? Germany is rich but unhappy about non-EU migration

    Mad. Perhaps Scholz really is a Putin spy as has been alleged (like Merkel) and is trying to destroy Germany by boosting the AfD*

    *this is a joke, in case stupid people like @kamski don’t get it. But the whole thing is still weird
  • boulayboulay Posts: 5,412
    Leon said:

    kamski said:

    Leon said:

    kamski said:

    Leon said:

    Nunu3 said:

    Well it seems the German government is relaxed about the gains made by AfD in recent elections.

    madness. just utter madness. None of these people will return home on reality.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gegkkg14ko

    That’s…. Bonkers

    The voters are electing Nazis to deal with mass immigration and Olaf Scholz’s reaction is to import, en masse, a quarter of a million Kenyans

    That’s not just pouring fuel on the fire, that’s buying the entire global reserves of Exxon and dropping it in the erupting volcano

    This surging crisis could easily lead to the end of the EU. The underlying illogic of the EU, the crucial flaw, is that each country purports to have its own migration policy but, perforce, you must accept the migration policy of your EU neighbour, because Free Movement

    Once those Kenyans get residency in Germany they are free to move anywhere in the EU, even though other EU countries might not want them. In the end that cannot be sustained
    "Once those Kenyans get residency in Germany they are free to move anywhere in the EU" well that is flat out wrong for a start. But congrats on maintaining your record of 100% of your posts that mention Germany containing ignorant bullshit.
    They are free to move because there are no internal borders in Schenghen. lol. Are you disputing this?!
    Obviously that is not what you meant. Because that would apply to anyone who happens to be in Germany whether they have German residency or not.

    "Once those Kenyans get residency" is what you wrote. Why do they need to wait until they get residency if you are just talking about the lack of border controls within Schengen?

    Also you wrote "anywhere in the EU". Why did you write the EU if you were talking about the lack of border controls in Schengen? Even you must know by now that Schengen and the EU aren't the same thing.

    Just be honest for once and admit that you thought that getting German residency meant getting residency rights in the rest of the EU.
    I meant what I said dumbkopf

    Once they are residing in Germany they are immediately free to move around the EU, because Schenghen (are you really going to die on the hill that Schenghen =! EU?). Normal Kenyans have to get a Schenghen visa for this - not easy

    As the years go by they will accrue further rights to work and claim benefits all over the EU

    Moving on from your idiocy I don’t understand the political or economic logic of this move. I’ve nothing against Kenyans - often lovely people

    But why Kenya? Coz they’re Christian and integrate better? Is that an admission that 1m Syrians was a bad idea? Why not just recruit from around the EU?? Germany is rich but unhappy about non-EU migration

    Mad. Perhaps Scholz really is a Putin spy as has been alleged (like Merkel) and is trying to destroy Germany by boosting the AfD*

    *this is a joke, in case stupid people like @kamski don’t get it. But the whole thing is still weird
    On an unrelated matter I’ve just read a very good sub stack article about Elizabeth Bathory by Sean Thomas - if he was around here I would send my compliments.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 49,586

    Somemay find this WaPo editorial of interest: "Researchers from UCLA and the University of Southern California published a paper this summer in which they examined credit scores, credit card balances, loan delinquency rates and other detailed financial data for roughly 7 million Americans. Using this information, they were able to contrast the experience of individuals in various states before and after they adopted legal sports gambling.

    The findings provide cause for concern: The average credit score in states that legalized sports betting decreased by 0.3 percent — and by one percent, three times the average, in states that allow online sports betting. These might seem like small shifts, but they represent averages for entire state populations. This implies that a relatively small group of intensive users — “problem gamblers” — are suffering major damage to their credit scores, dragging down the overall average. Financial institutions in those states responded to the reduced creditworthiness of their consumers by lowering available credit limits, they found. The results were larger for young men from lower-income counties in those states. Meanwhile, states that legalized sports betting saw significant increases in bankruptcy filing rates and debt collections. Debt consolidation loans went up 8 percent by dollar value, and auto loan delinquencies increased 9 percent."
    source$: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/09/14/nfl-sports-gambling-addiction-sportsbooks-credit-scores/

    Link to the paper: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4903302

    (For the record: I have only glanced through the paper, but the findings don't seem implausible -- assuming the WaPo editorial is a reasonable summary.)

    For a while I worked for an alt-bank that specialised in the gambling sector - a lot of cards/banks will now cut you off for doing any betting. And in America - well, between "All betting is evil" and "Viva Las Vegas!".... Quite a few famous people used our card, because of this.

    It was notable how many people in the company managed not to know about the problem gamblers. always a small percentage of clients. But the amount of money was horrific.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 49,586
    boulay said:

    Leon said:

    kamski said:

    Leon said:

    kamski said:

    Leon said:

    Nunu3 said:

    Well it seems the German government is relaxed about the gains made by AfD in recent elections.

    madness. just utter madness. None of these people will return home on reality.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gegkkg14ko

    That’s…. Bonkers

    The voters are electing Nazis to deal with mass immigration and Olaf Scholz’s reaction is to import, en masse, a quarter of a million Kenyans

    That’s not just pouring fuel on the fire, that’s buying the entire global reserves of Exxon and dropping it in the erupting volcano

    This surging crisis could easily lead to the end of the EU. The underlying illogic of the EU, the crucial flaw, is that each country purports to have its own migration policy but, perforce, you must accept the migration policy of your EU neighbour, because Free Movement

    Once those Kenyans get residency in Germany they are free to move anywhere in the EU, even though other EU countries might not want them. In the end that cannot be sustained
    "Once those Kenyans get residency in Germany they are free to move anywhere in the EU" well that is flat out wrong for a start. But congrats on maintaining your record of 100% of your posts that mention Germany containing ignorant bullshit.
    They are free to move because there are no internal borders in Schenghen. lol. Are you disputing this?!
    Obviously that is not what you meant. Because that would apply to anyone who happens to be in Germany whether they have German residency or not.

    "Once those Kenyans get residency" is what you wrote. Why do they need to wait until they get residency if you are just talking about the lack of border controls within Schengen?

    Also you wrote "anywhere in the EU". Why did you write the EU if you were talking about the lack of border controls in Schengen? Even you must know by now that Schengen and the EU aren't the same thing.

    Just be honest for once and admit that you thought that getting German residency meant getting residency rights in the rest of the EU.
    I meant what I said dumbkopf

    Once they are residing in Germany they are immediately free to move around the EU, because Schenghen (are you really going to die on the hill that Schenghen =! EU?). Normal Kenyans have to get a Schenghen visa for this - not easy

    As the years go by they will accrue further rights to work and claim benefits all over the EU

    Moving on from your idiocy I don’t understand the political or economic logic of this move. I’ve nothing against Kenyans - often lovely people

    But why Kenya? Coz they’re Christian and integrate better? Is that an admission that 1m Syrians was a bad idea? Why not just recruit from around the EU?? Germany is rich but unhappy about non-EU migration

    Mad. Perhaps Scholz really is a Putin spy as has been alleged (like Merkel) and is trying to destroy Germany by boosting the AfD*

    *this is a joke, in case stupid people like @kamski don’t get it. But the whole thing is still weird
    On an unrelated matter I’ve just read a very good sub stack article about Elizabeth Bathory by Sean Thomas - if he was around here I would send my compliments.
    I read that for a moment as an article on Sean Thomas by Elizabeth Bathory.

    Which would certainly be an interesting read.
  • Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 62,749
    edited September 14
    Barnesian said:

    sundersays.bsky.social
    @sundersays.bsky.social‬

    LibDems made 64 gains in 2024 - 47 of them in the south of England, where they hold 52 seats now. A new "Yellow Wall" in the politics of southern England.

    Am interested in hearing more about the LibDem/Conservative battle in those marginal seats - last time - and what it means in future


    ‪sundersays.bsky.social‬ ‪@sundersays.bsky.social‬
    ·
    1h
    Almost one in three seats across the south outside London will be LibDem/Conservative contests at the next General Election: whether the Yellow Wall holds will be a crucial part of the jigsaw of the next parliament

    https://bsky.app/profile/sundersays.bsky.social/post/3l44lewkkqb2f

    Ready for battle, Ed Davey arrives this afternoon in Brighton.
    https://x.com/i/status/1834977490646781992
    Sky reporting from the conference highlighting the Unite Union objecting to the removal of the WFA and putting a motion to the floor of the labour conference next week demanding it is stopped, and Ed Davey pops up endorsing the motion saying lib dems also oppose the withdrawal of the WFA

    Then Sky show an elderly disabled women with her carer husband furious at labour and saying that labour are just cruel

    Then next story a prisoner released by the government allegedly commits a sexual act on the day of his release and is back behind bars

    Maybe governing is not as easy as some may have expected and seemingly no honeymoon
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 49,586
    carnforth said:

    sundersays.bsky.social
    @sundersays.bsky.social‬

    LibDems made 64 gains in 2024 - 47 of them in the south of England, where they hold 52 seats now. A new "Yellow Wall" in the politics of southern England.

    Am interested in hearing more about the LibDem/Conservative battle in those marginal seats - last time - and what it means in future


    ‪sundersays.bsky.social‬ ‪@sundersays.bsky.social‬
    ·
    1h
    Almost one in three seats across the south outside London will be LibDem/Conservative contests at the next General Election: whether the Yellow Wall holds will be a crucial part of the jigsaw of the next parliament

    https://bsky.app/profile/sundersays.bsky.social/post/3l44lewkkqb2f

    Christ, this wall stuff is now diluted to homeopathic levels.

    Wall is supposed to mean seats which have consistenly been for one party for decades, whose loss would be politically seizmic.
    I look forward to articles bemoaning the disgusting disloyalty of voters. Instead of sticking with a party, the Wandering Wall voters drop anyone who doesn't make their lives better and try someone else.

    What an insane way to go, eh?
  • nico679nico679 Posts: 6,200
    Gas prices in the USA continue to fall now down to a nationwide average of $3.22 a gallon .

    That’s about 20 cents cheaper than last month . There’s only one more inflation report before the November 5th election and unless something happens before the end of this month that’s likely to show a further fall .

    Next week the Fed are likely to cut rates by at least 0.25% . So we might see an increase in consumer confidence and views of the general economy . This would be helpful to the Harris campaign .
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 49,586
    edited September 14

    Barnesian said:

    sundersays.bsky.social
    @sundersays.bsky.social‬

    LibDems made 64 gains in 2024 - 47 of them in the south of England, where they hold 52 seats now. A new "Yellow Wall" in the politics of southern England.

    Am interested in hearing more about the LibDem/Conservative battle in those marginal seats - last time - and what it means in future


    ‪sundersays.bsky.social‬ ‪@sundersays.bsky.social‬
    ·
    1h
    Almost one in three seats across the south outside London will be LibDem/Conservative contests at the next General Election: whether the Yellow Wall holds will be a crucial part of the jigsaw of the next parliament

    https://bsky.app/profile/sundersays.bsky.social/post/3l44lewkkqb2f

    Ready for battle, Ed Davey arrives this afternoon in Brighton.
    https://x.com/i/status/1834977490646781992
    Sky reporting from the conference highlighting the Unite Union objecting to the removal of the WFA and putting a motion to the floor of the labour conference next week demanding it is stopped, and Ed Davey pops up endorsing the motion saying lib dems also oppose the withdrawal of the WFA

    Then Sky show an elderly disabled women with her carer husband furious at labour and saying that labour are just cruel

    Then next story a prisoner released by the government allegedly commits a serial act on the day of his release and is back behind bars

    Maybe governing is not as easy as some may have expected and seemingly no honeymoon
    The "released prisoner reoffending before x tiny amount of time has passed, after early release" was utterly, utterly inevitable.

    I hope it wasn't anything too bad.
  • Barnesian said:

    sundersays.bsky.social
    @sundersays.bsky.social‬

    LibDems made 64 gains in 2024 - 47 of them in the south of England, where they hold 52 seats now. A new "Yellow Wall" in the politics of southern England.

    Am interested in hearing more about the LibDem/Conservative battle in those marginal seats - last time - and what it means in future


    ‪sundersays.bsky.social‬ ‪@sundersays.bsky.social‬
    ·
    1h
    Almost one in three seats across the south outside London will be LibDem/Conservative contests at the next General Election: whether the Yellow Wall holds will be a crucial part of the jigsaw of the next parliament

    https://bsky.app/profile/sundersays.bsky.social/post/3l44lewkkqb2f

    Ready for battle, Ed Davey arrives this afternoon in Brighton.
    https://x.com/i/status/1834977490646781992
    Sky reporting from the conference highlighting the Unite Union objecting to the removal of the WFA and putting a motion to the floor of the labour conference next week demanding it is stopped, and Ed Davey pops up endorsing the motion saying lib dems also oppose the withdrawal of the WFA

    Then Sky show an elderly disabled women with her carer husband furious at labour and saying that labour are just cruel

    Then next story a prisoner released by the government allegedly commits a serial act on the day of his release and is back behind bars

    Maybe governing is not as easy as some may have expected and seemingly no honeymoon
    The "released prisoner reoffending before x tiny amount of time has passed, after early release" was utterly, utterly inevitable.

    I hope it wasn't anything too bad.
    Hours apparently - certainly the same day
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,480
    Leon said:

    Taz said:
    That is a big old put-down, but can I raise you 33 slam-dunk Trump fact check "booms" from the same event?
    How about the “eating cats” thing? Supposedly debunked?

    Looks like they may, in fact, be eating cats in Ohio

    https://x.com/realchrisrufo/status/1834926318883852543?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

    The whole story is weirdly reminiscent of the “asylum seekers eating swans” story. Fiercely debunked as right wing bollocks, later on it quietly turned out to be true
    1) that video claims to be from Dayton, not Springfield

    2) there are no people in the video, so no idea who did this

    3) the article claims that it is Congolese migrants, not Hatians

    4) the voice over is an American accent not one either from Haiti nor Congo.

    This is just crap.
  • kamskikamski Posts: 5,125
    Leon said:

    kamski said:

    Leon said:

    kamski said:

    Leon said:

    Nunu3 said:

    Well it seems the German government is relaxed about the gains made by AfD in recent elections.

    madness. just utter madness. None of these people will return home on reality.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gegkkg14ko

    That’s…. Bonkers

    The voters are electing Nazis to deal with mass immigration and Olaf Scholz’s reaction is to import, en masse, a quarter of a million Kenyans

    That’s not just pouring fuel on the fire, that’s buying the entire global reserves of Exxon and dropping it in the erupting volcano

    This surging crisis could easily lead to the end of the EU. The underlying illogic of the EU, the crucial flaw, is that each country purports to have its own migration policy but, perforce, you must accept the migration policy of your EU neighbour, because Free Movement

    Once those Kenyans get residency in Germany they are free to move anywhere in the EU, even though other EU countries might not want them. In the end that cannot be sustained
    "Once those Kenyans get residency in Germany they are free to move anywhere in the EU" well that is flat out wrong for a start. But congrats on maintaining your record of 100% of your posts that mention Germany containing ignorant bullshit.
    They are free to move because there are no internal borders in Schenghen. lol. Are you disputing this?!
    Obviously that is not what you meant. Because that would apply to anyone who happens to be in Germany whether they have German residency or not.

    "Once those Kenyans get residency" is what you wrote. Why do they need to wait until they get residency if you are just talking about the lack of border controls within Schengen?

    Also you wrote "anywhere in the EU". Why did you write the EU if you were talking about the lack of border controls in Schengen? Even you must know by now that Schengen and the EU aren't the same thing.

    Just be honest for once and admit that you thought that getting German residency meant getting residency rights in the rest of the EU.
    I meant what I said dumbkopf

    Once they are residing in Germany they are immediately free to move around the EU, because Schenghen (are you really going to die on the hill that Schenghen =! EU?). Normal Kenyans have to get a Schenghen visa for this - not easy

    As the years go by they will accrue further rights to work and claim benefits all over the EU

    Moving on from your idiocy I don’t understand the political or economic logic of this move. I’ve nothing against Kenyans - often lovely people

    But why Kenya? Coz they’re Christian and integrate better? Is that an admission that 1m Syrians was a bad idea? Why not just recruit from around the EU?? Germany is rich but unhappy about non-EU migration

    Mad. Perhaps Scholz really is a Putin spy as has been alleged (like Merkel) and is trying to destroy Germany by boosting the AfD*

    *this is a joke, in case stupid people like @kamski don’t get it. But the whole thing is still weird
    OK now I understand. You are saying that these Kenyans will be immediately able to visit Paris as tourists. So what?
  • BurgessianBurgessian Posts: 2,729

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Absolutely stunning early autumn day in Devon. Mists first off, now bright blue skies.

    Why would anyone want to go anywhere else? (Remind me of this when I'm in the UAE in a fortnight...)

    Canada isn’t ALL bad



    Yebbut...I get this from the house every day....


    That is lovely. Indeed lovelier

    I continue to have mixed feelings about the Okanagan. Sometimes it can look strikingly beautiful, but my god the tourist tat, the kitsch resort architecture, the strip malls and the overdevelopment

    Yuk. North Americans really know how to fuck up a place, unless it is protected by National Park status

    The wine is excellent. I was talking to a winemaker today and I told her I presumed it was global warming that made wine growing ever easier in this northerly latitude. She scoffed and said the first wine was made in 1860 - a Catholic priest needing communion wine for his settler congregation

    They just needed to apply science. The terroir is amazingly fertile with all kinds of slopes and elevations and soils (volcanic, sandy, old lakebed)

    They can make almost any wine they want

    But is it beautiful? Not really. Not for a European. Especially a European who has just come from ravishingly pretty Montenegro. Or indeed south Devon
    One of my favourite places in the world, Delphi, is also a mass of hotels, cafes, ice cream shops, souvenir shops etc, but that felt entirely appropriate because if you had visited two and a half millennia ago to consult the oracle it would have been just the same.
    Greek tat is helped by endless Greek sun. When the sun goes away it looks almost as dreadful as anywhere

    Cf Los Angeles. Essentially an ugly city but that is disguised by Socal sun
    Delphi is also perched half-way up a mountain and has what may be the most impressive collection of standing ancient Greek ruins in the whole country. If you haven't been I would whole-heartedly recommend it.
    Before you go, try reading William Golding's "The Double Tongue" - his last novel, found in draft form on his desk after he died. Set in Delphi during Roman times.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 49,586

    Barnesian said:

    sundersays.bsky.social
    @sundersays.bsky.social‬

    LibDems made 64 gains in 2024 - 47 of them in the south of England, where they hold 52 seats now. A new "Yellow Wall" in the politics of southern England.

    Am interested in hearing more about the LibDem/Conservative battle in those marginal seats - last time - and what it means in future


    ‪sundersays.bsky.social‬ ‪@sundersays.bsky.social‬
    ·
    1h
    Almost one in three seats across the south outside London will be LibDem/Conservative contests at the next General Election: whether the Yellow Wall holds will be a crucial part of the jigsaw of the next parliament

    https://bsky.app/profile/sundersays.bsky.social/post/3l44lewkkqb2f

    Ready for battle, Ed Davey arrives this afternoon in Brighton.
    https://x.com/i/status/1834977490646781992
    Sky reporting from the conference highlighting the Unite Union objecting to the removal of the WFA and putting a motion to the floor of the labour conference next week demanding it is stopped, and Ed Davey pops up endorsing the motion saying lib dems also oppose the withdrawal of the WFA

    Then Sky show an elderly disabled women with her carer husband furious at labour and saying that labour are just cruel

    Then next story a prisoner released by the government allegedly commits a serial act on the day of his release and is back behind bars

    Maybe governing is not as easy as some may have expected and seemingly no honeymoon
    The "released prisoner reoffending before x tiny amount of time has passed, after early release" was utterly, utterly inevitable.

    I hope it wasn't anything too bad.
    Hours apparently - certainly the same day
    Some people appear to be compulsive criminals. Almost addicted. And not just compelled by a drug habit, I mean.
  • Nunu5Nunu5 Posts: 962

    David Frum
    @davidfrum
    ·
    8m
    "Immigrants are abducting and eating cats" = Trump/Vance playing on their own 30 yard line

    "We admire Ronald Reagan for standing against dictators" = Harris/Walz playing on the other team's 30 yard line

    https://x.com/davidfrum

    I don't agree. Both are playing up to the electoral college- i.e. Trump is clearly trying to win back his 2016 winning coalition- an absolute record win with white working class voters. Whether we like it or not they are very receptive to zenophobic attacks (real or imagined in the cat eating case). AND unfortantly it has a good shot of working.

    The sad fact is when Trump moderated his attacks in 2020 he lost a few wwc voters to Biden losing him the electoral college, but in 2016 he won when he called for the Muslim ban and didn't moderate.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 49,586
    Foxy said:

    Leon said:

    Taz said:
    That is a big old put-down, but can I raise you 33 slam-dunk Trump fact check "booms" from the same event?
    How about the “eating cats” thing? Supposedly debunked?

    Looks like they may, in fact, be eating cats in Ohio

    https://x.com/realchrisrufo/status/1834926318883852543?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

    The whole story is weirdly reminiscent of the “asylum seekers eating swans” story. Fiercely debunked as right wing bollocks, later on it quietly turned out to be true
    1) that video claims to be from Dayton, not Springfield

    2) there are no people in the video, so no idea who did this

    3) the article claims that it is Congolese migrants, not Hatians

    4) the voice over is an American accent not one either from Haiti nor Congo.

    This is just crap.
    Carp, you say?
  • LeonLeon Posts: 54,677
    Foxy said:

    Leon said:

    Taz said:
    That is a big old put-down, but can I raise you 33 slam-dunk Trump fact check "booms" from the same event?
    How about the “eating cats” thing? Supposedly debunked?

    Looks like they may, in fact, be eating cats in Ohio

    https://x.com/realchrisrufo/status/1834926318883852543?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

    The whole story is weirdly reminiscent of the “asylum seekers eating swans” story. Fiercely debunked as right wing bollocks, later on it quietly turned out to be true
    1) that video claims to be from Dayton, not Springfield

    2) there are no people in the video, so no idea who did this

    3) the article claims that it is Congolese migrants, not Hatians

    4) the voice over is an American accent not one either from Haiti nor Congo.

    This is just crap.
    Well, the video is of people of colour apparently eating cats in Ohio

    As I said right after the debate, lefty Trump-haters should be very careful with this story. Because there is a reasonable chance it is true

    Migrants bring their cultural/culinary traditions with them, and often don’t understand the taboos of the host nation. This applies to all races, everywhere

    eg WHITE Eastern Europeans have a long tradition of fishing wild carp and eating them, as they are delicious. They don’t need permission. I’ve just enjoyed this tradition in Montenegro where I had lovely carp, fished that day from Lake Skardar

    Unsurprisingly some of them brought that tradition to the UK, genuinely unaware that we don’t do it, that in Britain it is hedged around with laws and licenses and taboos

    If stray cats are wandering the neighbourhood, you’re actually doing the local birdlife a favour if you chuck the cats on the BBQ
  • Barnesian said:

    sundersays.bsky.social
    @sundersays.bsky.social‬

    LibDems made 64 gains in 2024 - 47 of them in the south of England, where they hold 52 seats now. A new "Yellow Wall" in the politics of southern England.

    Am interested in hearing more about the LibDem/Conservative battle in those marginal seats - last time - and what it means in future


    ‪sundersays.bsky.social‬ ‪@sundersays.bsky.social‬
    ·
    1h
    Almost one in three seats across the south outside London will be LibDem/Conservative contests at the next General Election: whether the Yellow Wall holds will be a crucial part of the jigsaw of the next parliament

    https://bsky.app/profile/sundersays.bsky.social/post/3l44lewkkqb2f

    Ready for battle, Ed Davey arrives this afternoon in Brighton.
    https://x.com/i/status/1834977490646781992
    Sky reporting from the conference highlighting the Unite Union objecting to the removal of the WFA and putting a motion to the floor of the labour conference next week demanding it is stopped, and Ed Davey pops up endorsing the motion saying lib dems also oppose the withdrawal of the WFA

    Then Sky show an elderly disabled women with her carer husband furious at labour and saying that labour are just cruel

    Then next story a prisoner released by the government allegedly commits a serial act on the day of his release and is back behind bars

    Maybe governing is not as easy as some may have expected and seemingly no honeymoon
    The "released prisoner reoffending before x tiny amount of time has passed, after early release" was utterly, utterly inevitable.

    I hope it wasn't anything too bad.
    Sexual assault. What the reports don't say is what his previous conviction was for. As I understood it, sexual offences were excluded from the early release proposals so I think it is unlikely he has 'returned to his old ways'.

    As you say, if you look at any random group of 2000 people, some of them are probably going to commit some sort of offence very quickly.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 54,677

    Barnesian said:

    sundersays.bsky.social
    @sundersays.bsky.social‬

    LibDems made 64 gains in 2024 - 47 of them in the south of England, where they hold 52 seats now. A new "Yellow Wall" in the politics of southern England.

    Am interested in hearing more about the LibDem/Conservative battle in those marginal seats - last time - and what it means in future


    ‪sundersays.bsky.social‬ ‪@sundersays.bsky.social‬
    ·
    1h
    Almost one in three seats across the south outside London will be LibDem/Conservative contests at the next General Election: whether the Yellow Wall holds will be a crucial part of the jigsaw of the next parliament

    https://bsky.app/profile/sundersays.bsky.social/post/3l44lewkkqb2f

    Ready for battle, Ed Davey arrives this afternoon in Brighton.
    https://x.com/i/status/1834977490646781992
    Sky reporting from the conference highlighting the Unite Union objecting to the removal of the WFA and putting a motion to the floor of the labour conference next week demanding it is stopped, and Ed Davey pops up endorsing the motion saying lib dems also oppose the withdrawal of the WFA

    Then Sky show an elderly disabled women with her carer husband furious at labour and saying that labour are just cruel

    Then next story a prisoner released by the government allegedly commits a serial act on the day of his release and is back behind bars

    Maybe governing is not as easy as some may have expected and seemingly no honeymoon
    The "released prisoner reoffending before x tiny amount of time has passed, after early release" was utterly, utterly inevitable.

    I hope it wasn't anything too bad.
    Hours apparently - certainly the same day
    Some people appear to be compulsive criminals. Almost addicted. And not just compelled by a drug habit, I mean.
    A criminologist on TwiX predicted exactly this. He said HMG was insanely releasing people in criminal categories who are BOUND to reoffend - the recidivism rates are off the dial

    One of Starmer’s Freed Jailbirds will commit a horrible rape or murder, and that’s going to be awks

    I’m hesitant to beat up the government on this because they really did inherit a mess. But still. Eeek
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,480
    Leon said:

    Foxy said:

    Leon said:

    Taz said:
    That is a big old put-down, but can I raise you 33 slam-dunk Trump fact check "booms" from the same event?
    How about the “eating cats” thing? Supposedly debunked?

    Looks like they may, in fact, be eating cats in Ohio

    https://x.com/realchrisrufo/status/1834926318883852543?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

    The whole story is weirdly reminiscent of the “asylum seekers eating swans” story. Fiercely debunked as right wing bollocks, later on it quietly turned out to be true
    1) that video claims to be from Dayton, not Springfield

    2) there are no people in the video, so no idea who did this

    3) the article claims that it is Congolese migrants, not Hatians

    4) the voice over is an American accent not one either from Haiti nor Congo.

    This is just crap.
    Well, the video is of people of colour apparently eating cats in Ohio

    As I said right after the debate, lefty Trump-haters should be very careful with this story. Because there is a reasonable chance it is true

    Migrants bring their cultural/culinary traditions with them, and often don’t understand the taboos of the host nation. This applies to all races, everywhere

    eg WHITE Eastern Europeans have a long tradition of fishing wild carp and eating them, as they are delicious. They don’t need permission. I’ve just enjoyed this tradition in Montenegro where I had lovely carp, fished that day from Lake Skardar

    Unsurprisingly some of them brought that tradition to the UK, genuinely unaware that we don’t do it, that in Britain it is hedged around with laws and licenses and taboos

    If stray cats are wandering the neighbourhood, you’re actually doing the local birdlife a favour if you chuck the cats on the BBQ
    No, that video has no one in it, and no one is eating anything that might be a cat.

    I know that you are the most gullible person on the board, but even you should be able to see through this.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 54,677

    Barnesian said:

    sundersays.bsky.social
    @sundersays.bsky.social‬

    LibDems made 64 gains in 2024 - 47 of them in the south of England, where they hold 52 seats now. A new "Yellow Wall" in the politics of southern England.

    Am interested in hearing more about the LibDem/Conservative battle in those marginal seats - last time - and what it means in future


    ‪sundersays.bsky.social‬ ‪@sundersays.bsky.social‬
    ·
    1h
    Almost one in three seats across the south outside London will be LibDem/Conservative contests at the next General Election: whether the Yellow Wall holds will be a crucial part of the jigsaw of the next parliament

    https://bsky.app/profile/sundersays.bsky.social/post/3l44lewkkqb2f

    Ready for battle, Ed Davey arrives this afternoon in Brighton.
    https://x.com/i/status/1834977490646781992
    Sky reporting from the conference highlighting the Unite Union objecting to the removal of the WFA and putting a motion to the floor of the labour conference next week demanding it is stopped, and Ed Davey pops up endorsing the motion saying lib dems also oppose the withdrawal of the WFA

    Then Sky show an elderly disabled women with her carer husband furious at labour and saying that labour are just cruel

    Then next story a prisoner released by the government allegedly commits a serial act on the day of his release and is back behind bars

    Maybe governing is not as easy as some may have expected and seemingly no honeymoon
    The "released prisoner reoffending before x tiny amount of time has passed, after early release" was utterly, utterly inevitable.

    I hope it wasn't anything too bad.
    Sexual assault. What the reports don't say is what his previous conviction was for. As I understood it, sexual offences were excluded from the early release proposals so I think it is unlikely he has 'returned to his old ways'.

    As you say, if you look at any random group of 2000 people, some of them are probably going to commit some sort of offence very quickly.
    They have released criminals in categories that have some of the worst rates of re-offending; I’m
    also not sure they’ve excluded ALL sexual offences from the “amnesty”
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 49,586
    s
    Leon said:

    Foxy said:

    Leon said:

    Taz said:
    That is a big old put-down, but can I raise you 33 slam-dunk Trump fact check "booms" from the same event?
    How about the “eating cats” thing? Supposedly debunked?

    Looks like they may, in fact, be eating cats in Ohio

    https://x.com/realchrisrufo/status/1834926318883852543?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

    The whole story is weirdly reminiscent of the “asylum seekers eating swans” story. Fiercely debunked as right wing bollocks, later on it quietly turned out to be true
    1) that video claims to be from Dayton, not Springfield

    2) there are no people in the video, so no idea who did this

    3) the article claims that it is Congolese migrants, not Hatians

    4) the voice over is an American accent not one either from Haiti nor Congo.

    This is just crap.
    Well, the video is of people of colour apparently eating cats in Ohio

    As I said right after the debate, lefty Trump-haters should be very careful with this story. Because there is a reasonable chance it is true

    Migrants bring their cultural/culinary traditions with them, and often don’t understand the taboos of the host nation. This applies to all races, everywhere

    eg WHITE Eastern Europeans have a long tradition of fishing wild carp and eating them, as they are delicious. They don’t need permission. I’ve just enjoyed this tradition in Montenegro where I had lovely carp, fished that day from Lake Skardar

    Unsurprisingly some of them brought that tradition to the UK, genuinely unaware that we don’t do it, that in Britain it is hedged around with laws and licenses and taboos

    If stray cats are wandering the neighbourhood, you’re actually doing the local birdlife a favour if you chuck the cats on the BBQ
    And Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall famously cooked and ate road kill. Served hedgehog to Gordon Ramsey, when he first met him.

    In any community there is always one or two, of *anything*.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 54,677
    Foxy said:

    Leon said:

    Foxy said:

    Leon said:

    Taz said:
    That is a big old put-down, but can I raise you 33 slam-dunk Trump fact check "booms" from the same event?
    How about the “eating cats” thing? Supposedly debunked?

    Looks like they may, in fact, be eating cats in Ohio

    https://x.com/realchrisrufo/status/1834926318883852543?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

    The whole story is weirdly reminiscent of the “asylum seekers eating swans” story. Fiercely debunked as right wing bollocks, later on it quietly turned out to be true
    1) that video claims to be from Dayton, not Springfield

    2) there are no people in the video, so no idea who did this

    3) the article claims that it is Congolese migrants, not Hatians

    4) the voice over is an American accent not one either from Haiti nor Congo.

    This is just crap.
    Well, the video is of people of colour apparently eating cats in Ohio

    As I said right after the debate, lefty Trump-haters should be very careful with this story. Because there is a reasonable chance it is true

    Migrants bring their cultural/culinary traditions with them, and often don’t understand the taboos of the host nation. This applies to all races, everywhere

    eg WHITE Eastern Europeans have a long tradition of fishing wild carp and eating them, as they are delicious. They don’t need permission. I’ve just enjoyed this tradition in Montenegro where I had lovely carp, fished that day from Lake Skardar

    Unsurprisingly some of them brought that tradition to the UK, genuinely unaware that we don’t do it, that in Britain it is hedged around with laws and licenses and taboos

    If stray cats are wandering the neighbourhood, you’re actually doing the local birdlife a favour if you chuck the cats on the BBQ
    No, that video has no one in it, and no one is eating anything that might be a cat.

    I know that you are the most gullible person on the board, but even you should be able to see through this.
    Go the Haitians, I say. Save America’s avian fauna
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 41,947
    Foxy said:

    Leon said:

    Taz said:
    That is a big old put-down, but can I raise you 33 slam-dunk Trump fact check "booms" from the same event?
    How about the “eating cats” thing? Supposedly debunked?

    Looks like they may, in fact, be eating cats in Ohio

    https://x.com/realchrisrufo/status/1834926318883852543?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

    The whole story is weirdly reminiscent of the “asylum seekers eating swans” story. Fiercely debunked as right wing bollocks, later on it quietly turned out to be true
    1) that video claims to be from Dayton, not Springfield

    2) there are no people in the video, so no idea who did this

    3) the article claims that it is Congolese migrants, not Hatians

    4) the voice over is an American accent not one either from Haiti nor Congo.

    This is just crap.
    A person won't go far wrong if they assume all emissions from the MAGA drivelpipe are complete bollocks.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 49,586
    a
    kinabalu said:

    Foxy said:

    Leon said:

    Taz said:
    That is a big old put-down, but can I raise you 33 slam-dunk Trump fact check "booms" from the same event?
    How about the “eating cats” thing? Supposedly debunked?

    Looks like they may, in fact, be eating cats in Ohio

    https://x.com/realchrisrufo/status/1834926318883852543?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

    The whole story is weirdly reminiscent of the “asylum seekers eating swans” story. Fiercely debunked as right wing bollocks, later on it quietly turned out to be true
    1) that video claims to be from Dayton, not Springfield

    2) there are no people in the video, so no idea who did this

    3) the article claims that it is Congolese migrants, not Hatians

    4) the voice over is an American accent not one either from Haiti nor Congo.

    This is just crap.
    A person won't go far wrong if they assume all emissions from the MAGA drivelpipe are complete bollocks.
    The correct name for it is, and always has been, Twatter.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 54,677

    s

    Leon said:

    Foxy said:

    Leon said:

    Taz said:
    That is a big old put-down, but can I raise you 33 slam-dunk Trump fact check "booms" from the same event?
    How about the “eating cats” thing? Supposedly debunked?

    Looks like they may, in fact, be eating cats in Ohio

    https://x.com/realchrisrufo/status/1834926318883852543?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

    The whole story is weirdly reminiscent of the “asylum seekers eating swans” story. Fiercely debunked as right wing bollocks, later on it quietly turned out to be true
    1) that video claims to be from Dayton, not Springfield

    2) there are no people in the video, so no idea who did this

    3) the article claims that it is Congolese migrants, not Hatians

    4) the voice over is an American accent not one either from Haiti nor Congo.

    This is just crap.
    Well, the video is of people of colour apparently eating cats in Ohio

    As I said right after the debate, lefty Trump-haters should be very careful with this story. Because there is a reasonable chance it is true

    Migrants bring their cultural/culinary traditions with them, and often don’t understand the taboos of the host nation. This applies to all races, everywhere

    eg WHITE Eastern Europeans have a long tradition of fishing wild carp and eating them, as they are delicious. They don’t need permission. I’ve just enjoyed this tradition in Montenegro where I had lovely carp, fished that day from Lake Skardar

    Unsurprisingly some of them brought that tradition to the UK, genuinely unaware that we don’t do it, that in Britain it is hedged around with laws and licenses and taboos

    If stray cats are wandering the neighbourhood, you’re actually doing the local birdlife a favour if you chuck the cats on the BBQ
    And Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall famously cooked and ate road kill. Served hedgehog to Gordon Ramsey, when he first met him.

    In any community there is always one or two, of *anything*.
    The French eat horses, don’t they?
  • mercatormercator Posts: 815
    edited September 14
    Leon said:

    Taz said:
    That is a big old put-down, but can I raise you 33 slam-dunk Trump fact check "booms" from the same event?
    How about the “eating cats” thing? Supposedly debunked?

    Looks like they may, in fact, be eating cats in Ohio

    https://x.com/realchrisrufo/status/1834926318883852543?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

    The whole story is weirdly reminiscent of the “asylum seekers eating swans” story. Fiercely debunked as right wing bollocks, later on it quietly turned out to be true
    Been reading about Haitian vodou and I want to emigrate there and become a houngan.

    It's interesting: animal sacrifice is afaics as normal and necessary a part of vodou as communion is of Christianity. Here's a guardian piece saying so

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/07/vodou-haiti-endangered-faith-soul-of-haitian-people

    And vodou is as prevalent among Haitians as Christianity among Ohians. So that's one thing and it doesn't seem to matter too much what sort of animal it is. Separate point, it's entirely good sense to trap and eat standard food animals like geese and ducks (in this country swans and carp) and it's very credible that this has happened a non zero number of times. So trump is quite possibly conflating cat sacrifice and goose consumption.

    ETA just watched your link. Nsfw tag required.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 49,586
    Leon said:

    s

    Leon said:

    Foxy said:

    Leon said:

    Taz said:
    That is a big old put-down, but can I raise you 33 slam-dunk Trump fact check "booms" from the same event?
    How about the “eating cats” thing? Supposedly debunked?

    Looks like they may, in fact, be eating cats in Ohio

    https://x.com/realchrisrufo/status/1834926318883852543?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

    The whole story is weirdly reminiscent of the “asylum seekers eating swans” story. Fiercely debunked as right wing bollocks, later on it quietly turned out to be true
    1) that video claims to be from Dayton, not Springfield

    2) there are no people in the video, so no idea who did this

    3) the article claims that it is Congolese migrants, not Hatians

    4) the voice over is an American accent not one either from Haiti nor Congo.

    This is just crap.
    Well, the video is of people of colour apparently eating cats in Ohio

    As I said right after the debate, lefty Trump-haters should be very careful with this story. Because there is a reasonable chance it is true

    Migrants bring their cultural/culinary traditions with them, and often don’t understand the taboos of the host nation. This applies to all races, everywhere

    eg WHITE Eastern Europeans have a long tradition of fishing wild carp and eating them, as they are delicious. They don’t need permission. I’ve just enjoyed this tradition in Montenegro where I had lovely carp, fished that day from Lake Skardar

    Unsurprisingly some of them brought that tradition to the UK, genuinely unaware that we don’t do it, that in Britain it is hedged around with laws and licenses and taboos

    If stray cats are wandering the neighbourhood, you’re actually doing the local birdlife a favour if you chuck the cats on the BBQ
    And Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall famously cooked and ate road kill. Served hedgehog to Gordon Ramsey, when he first met him.

    In any community there is always one or two, of *anything*.
    The French eat horses, don’t they?
    The average horse is a good deal more stupid than the average cow. Bulgarian horse meatballs are awesome.
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,342
    Bloody hell!
    Everton two up at Villa Park.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,480
    edited September 14
    kinabalu said:

    Foxy said:

    Leon said:

    Taz said:
    That is a big old put-down, but can I raise you 33 slam-dunk Trump fact check "booms" from the same event?
    How about the “eating cats” thing? Supposedly debunked?

    Looks like they may, in fact, be eating cats in Ohio

    https://x.com/realchrisrufo/status/1834926318883852543?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

    The whole story is weirdly reminiscent of the “asylum seekers eating swans” story. Fiercely debunked as right wing bollocks, later on it quietly turned out to be true
    1) that video claims to be from Dayton, not Springfield

    2) there are no people in the video, so no idea who did this

    3) the article claims that it is Congolese migrants, not Hatians

    4) the voice over is an American accent not one either from Haiti nor Congo.

    This is just crap.
    A person won't go far wrong if they assume all emissions from the MAGA drivelpipe are complete bollocks.
    The MAGA drivelpipe known as Leon in particular.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 54,677
    mercator said:

    Leon said:

    Taz said:
    That is a big old put-down, but can I raise you 33 slam-dunk Trump fact check "booms" from the same event?
    How about the “eating cats” thing? Supposedly debunked?

    Looks like they may, in fact, be eating cats in Ohio

    https://x.com/realchrisrufo/status/1834926318883852543?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

    The whole story is weirdly reminiscent of the “asylum seekers eating swans” story. Fiercely debunked as right wing bollocks, later on it quietly turned out to be true
    Been reading about Haitian vodou and I want to emigrate there and become a houngan.

    It's interesting: animal sacrifice is afaics as normal and necessary a part of vodou as communion is of Christianity. Here's a guardian piece saying so

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/07/vodou-haiti-endangered-faith-soul-of-haitian-people

    And vodou is as prevalent among Haitians as Christianity among Ohians. So that's one thing and it doesn't seem to matter too much what sort of animal it is. Separate point, it's entirely good sense to trap and eat standard food animals like geese and ducks (in this country swans and carp) and it's very credible that this has happened a non zero number of times. So trump is quite possibly conflating cat sacrifice and goose consumption.
    Yes I’ve been reading about Haitian voodoo. They sacrifice animals and that definitely includes cats - cat bones and the like have special juju

    So it is entirely plausible this really is happening (less likely but not impossible that they are eating them)

    As I said at the start. This is a mad story for Dems to pursue because it could easily be true and even if not precisely true it’s not a great story for the pro-migration Left

    Trump said enough truly insane and stupid things to demolish him forensically, day after day. Avoid this one, as it may not be insane
  • Foxy said:

    Leon said:

    Taz said:
    That is a big old put-down, but can I raise you 33 slam-dunk Trump fact check "booms" from the same event?
    How about the “eating cats” thing? Supposedly debunked?

    Looks like they may, in fact, be eating cats in Ohio

    https://x.com/realchrisrufo/status/1834926318883852543?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

    The whole story is weirdly reminiscent of the “asylum seekers eating swans” story. Fiercely debunked as right wing bollocks, later on it quietly turned out to be true
    1) that video claims to be from Dayton, not Springfield

    2) there are no people in the video, so no idea who did this

    3) the article claims that it is Congolese migrants, not Hatians

    4) the voice over is an American accent not one either from Haiti nor Congo.

    This is just crap.
    Not crap but shitposting. Truth doesn't matter.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 54,677
    mercator said:

    Leon said:

    Taz said:
    That is a big old put-down, but can I raise you 33 slam-dunk Trump fact check "booms" from the same event?
    How about the “eating cats” thing? Supposedly debunked?

    Looks like they may, in fact, be eating cats in Ohio

    https://x.com/realchrisrufo/status/1834926318883852543?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

    The whole story is weirdly reminiscent of the “asylum seekers eating swans” story. Fiercely debunked as right wing bollocks, later on it quietly turned out to be true
    Been reading about Haitian vodou and I want to emigrate there and become a houngan.

    It's interesting: animal sacrifice is afaics as normal and necessary a part of vodou as communion is of Christianity. Here's a guardian piece saying so

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/07/vodou-haiti-endangered-faith-soul-of-haitian-people

    And vodou is as prevalent among Haitians as Christianity among Ohians. So that's one thing and it doesn't seem to matter too much what sort of animal it is. Separate point, it's entirely good sense to trap and eat standard food animals like geese and ducks (in this country swans and carp) and it's very credible that this has happened a non zero number of times. So trump is quite possibly conflating cat sacrifice and goose consumption.

    ETA just watched your link. Nsfw tag required.
    Somewhat effete. You can’t see anything horrible unless you’re a pathetically sentimental cat-lover

    Ah. I get it. Ok. NSFW
  • Crisis at Jewish Chronicle as stories based on ‘wild fabrications’ are withdrawn
    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/sep/14/crisis-at-jewish-chronicle-as-stories-are-withdrawn

    Suggestions that false stories were planted to support Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 41,947
    Nunu5 said:

    David Frum
    @davidfrum
    ·
    8m
    "Immigrants are abducting and eating cats" = Trump/Vance playing on their own 30 yard line

    "We admire Ronald Reagan for standing against dictators" = Harris/Walz playing on the other team's 30 yard line

    https://x.com/davidfrum

    I don't agree. Both are playing up to the electoral college- i.e. Trump is clearly trying to win back his 2016 winning coalition- an absolute record win with white working class voters. Whether we like it or not they are very receptive to zenophobic attacks (real or imagined in the cat eating case). AND unfortantly it has a good shot of working.

    The sad fact is when Trump moderated his attacks in 2020 he lost a few wwc voters to Biden losing him the electoral college, but in 2016 he won when he called for the Muslim ban and didn't moderate.
    He's hoping there's enough racism and misogyny in America to get him elected.

    He'd need to look up to see the gutter.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 54,677
    Cat sacrifice in Beninese Voodoo

    “Keeping Kitties Safe from Gris-gris

    “Once again, it’s Oro season. That time of year when I have to leave my village or stay inside while a cult of machete-wielding men run around with impunity. It’s both cooler and way, way less cool than it sounds.

    “Unfortunately, this year it comes right in the middle of my very last week in village, which means one less day for me to say my goodbyes.

    “But such is life in West Africa: nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing, goes according to plan.

    “In honor of the time when Vodun (Voodoo) is most visible in my community, I thought I’d share how we in Daagbé protect our furry friends from voodoo. First of all, most people don’t have dogs. Pets aren’t friends – they are food, or they eat pests. There’s no sense in sentimentalizing animals that you’re going to eat, or for whom there is a high percentage that they’ll die or disappear. That being said, cats are a relatively common household animal, since they eat mice and rats.

    “But cats (among many other animals) are used sometimes in gris-gris.

    “This is the form of voodoo that Americans might call “black magic” – it’s sorcery, used to hurt someone. Most voodoo priests will tell you that this goes against their religion, which is mostly true. But people use it against those suspected of theft or other bad behaviors.”

    Plenty more here

    https://katieinbenin.wordpress.com/tag/voodoo/
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 51,320
    Leon said:

    mercator said:

    Leon said:

    Taz said:
    That is a big old put-down, but can I raise you 33 slam-dunk Trump fact check "booms" from the same event?
    How about the “eating cats” thing? Supposedly debunked?

    Looks like they may, in fact, be eating cats in Ohio

    https://x.com/realchrisrufo/status/1834926318883852543?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

    The whole story is weirdly reminiscent of the “asylum seekers eating swans” story. Fiercely debunked as right wing bollocks, later on it quietly turned out to be true
    Been reading about Haitian vodou and I want to emigrate there and become a houngan.

    It's interesting: animal sacrifice is afaics as normal and necessary a part of vodou as communion is of Christianity. Here's a guardian piece saying so

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/07/vodou-haiti-endangered-faith-soul-of-haitian-people

    And vodou is as prevalent among Haitians as Christianity among Ohians. So that's one thing and it doesn't seem to matter too much what sort of animal it is. Separate point, it's entirely good sense to trap and eat standard food animals like geese and ducks (in this country swans and carp) and it's very credible that this has happened a non zero number of times. So trump is quite possibly conflating cat sacrifice and goose consumption.
    Yes I’ve been reading about Haitian voodoo. They sacrifice animals and that definitely includes cats - cat bones and the like have special juju

    So it is entirely plausible this really is happening (less likely but not impossible that they are eating them)

    As I said at the start. This is a mad story for Dems to pursue because it could easily be true and even if not precisely true it’s not a great story for the pro-migration Left

    Trump said enough truly insane and stupid things to demolish him forensically, day after day. Avoid this one, as it may not be insane
    It's not the only case where people opposed to Trump have made fools of themselves by 'fact checking' him.

    It was supposedly a lie that Kamala Harris supported state-funded gender surgery for detained migrants, but there's a video of her bragging about it. Some of it is outright gaslighting, like the Seattle Times trying to say that it was a lie that protesters took over part of Seattle in 2020.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,154
    Leon said:

    Cat sacrifice in Beninese Voodoo

    “Keeping Kitties Safe from Gris-gris

    “Once again, it’s Oro season. That time of year when I have to leave my village or stay inside while a cult of machete-wielding men run around with impunity. It’s both cooler and way, way less cool than it sounds.

    “Unfortunately, this year it comes right in the middle of my very last week in village, which means one less day for me to say my goodbyes.

    “But such is life in West Africa: nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing, goes according to plan.

    “In honor of the time when Vodun (Voodoo) is most visible in my community, I thought I’d share how we in Daagbé protect our furry friends from voodoo. First of all, most people don’t have dogs. Pets aren’t friends – they are food, or they eat pests. There’s no sense in sentimentalizing animals that you’re going to eat, or for whom there is a high percentage that they’ll die or disappear. That being said, cats are a relatively common household animal, since they eat mice and rats.

    “But cats (among many other animals) are used sometimes in gris-gris.

    “This is the form of voodoo that Americans might call “black magic” – it’s sorcery, used to hurt someone. Most voodoo priests will tell you that this goes against their religion, which is mostly true. But people use it against those suspected of theft or other bad behaviors.”

    Plenty more here

    https://katieinbenin.wordpress.com/tag/voodoo/

    I thought you wanted to kill all cats anyway?
  • Leon said:

    s

    Leon said:

    Foxy said:

    Leon said:

    Taz said:
    That is a big old put-down, but can I raise you 33 slam-dunk Trump fact check "booms" from the same event?
    How about the “eating cats” thing? Supposedly debunked?

    Looks like they may, in fact, be eating cats in Ohio

    https://x.com/realchrisrufo/status/1834926318883852543?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

    The whole story is weirdly reminiscent of the “asylum seekers eating swans” story. Fiercely debunked as right wing bollocks, later on it quietly turned out to be true
    1) that video claims to be from Dayton, not Springfield

    2) there are no people in the video, so no idea who did this

    3) the article claims that it is Congolese migrants, not Hatians

    4) the voice over is an American accent not one either from Haiti nor Congo.

    This is just crap.
    Well, the video is of people of colour apparently eating cats in Ohio

    As I said right after the debate, lefty Trump-haters should be very careful with this story. Because there is a reasonable chance it is true

    Migrants bring their cultural/culinary traditions with them, and often don’t understand the taboos of the host nation. This applies to all races, everywhere

    eg WHITE Eastern Europeans have a long tradition of fishing wild carp and eating them, as they are delicious. They don’t need permission. I’ve just enjoyed this tradition in Montenegro where I had lovely carp, fished that day from Lake Skardar

    Unsurprisingly some of them brought that tradition to the UK, genuinely unaware that we don’t do it, that in Britain it is hedged around with laws and licenses and taboos

    If stray cats are wandering the neighbourhood, you’re actually doing the local birdlife a favour if you chuck the cats on the BBQ
    And Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall famously cooked and ate road kill. Served hedgehog to Gordon Ramsey, when he first met him.

    In any community there is always one or two, of *anything*.
    The French eat horses, don’t they?
    As have I; knowingly in France, and probably unknowingly in the UK.
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 35,895
    @ArmandDoma

    BREAKING: Laura Loomer just got banned from Trump’s plane, per reports
  • FishingFishing Posts: 4,947
    carnforth said:

    sundersays.bsky.social
    @sundersays.bsky.social‬

    LibDems made 64 gains in 2024 - 47 of them in the south of England, where they hold 52 seats now. A new "Yellow Wall" in the politics of southern England.

    Am interested in hearing more about the LibDem/Conservative battle in those marginal seats - last time - and what it means in future


    ‪sundersays.bsky.social‬ ‪@sundersays.bsky.social‬
    ·
    1h
    Almost one in three seats across the south outside London will be LibDem/Conservative contests at the next General Election: whether the Yellow Wall holds will be a crucial part of the jigsaw of the next parliament

    https://bsky.app/profile/sundersays.bsky.social/post/3l44lewkkqb2f

    Christ, this wall stuff is now diluted to homeopathic levels.

    Wall is supposed to mean seats which have consistenly been for one party for decades, whose loss would be politically seizmic.
    Yes once the Conservatives get their mojo back (or, more likely, once Labour screw up enough), the Yellow Fungus spread across southern England will die off as quickly and decisively as it did in 2015.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 49,586
    kinabalu said:

    Nunu5 said:

    David Frum
    @davidfrum
    ·
    8m
    "Immigrants are abducting and eating cats" = Trump/Vance playing on their own 30 yard line

    "We admire Ronald Reagan for standing against dictators" = Harris/Walz playing on the other team's 30 yard line

    https://x.com/davidfrum

    I don't agree. Both are playing up to the electoral college- i.e. Trump is clearly trying to win back his 2016 winning coalition- an absolute record win with white working class voters. Whether we like it or not they are very receptive to zenophobic attacks (real or imagined in the cat eating case). AND unfortantly it has a good shot of working.

    The sad fact is when Trump moderated his attacks in 2020 he lost a few wwc voters to Biden losing him the electoral college, but in 2016 he won when he called for the Muslim ban and didn't moderate.
    He's hoping there's enough racism and misogyny in America to get him elected.

    He'd need to look up to see the gutter.
    Incidentally, Reagan on immigration

    https://youtu.be/Ednq_vKPdQE?si=QGLE8JRdf3xXyq9w
  • nico679nico679 Posts: 6,200
    Please tell me we’re not going to have days of Leon’s mission to educate us on voodoo cat sacrifice !
  • CatManCatMan Posts: 3,048
    edited September 14

    kinabalu said:

    Nunu5 said:

    David Frum
    @davidfrum
    ·
    8m
    "Immigrants are abducting and eating cats" = Trump/Vance playing on their own 30 yard line

    "We admire Ronald Reagan for standing against dictators" = Harris/Walz playing on the other team's 30 yard line

    https://x.com/davidfrum

    I don't agree. Both are playing up to the electoral college- i.e. Trump is clearly trying to win back his 2016 winning coalition- an absolute record win with white working class voters. Whether we like it or not they are very receptive to zenophobic attacks (real or imagined in the cat eating case). AND unfortantly it has a good shot of working.

    The sad fact is when Trump moderated his attacks in 2020 he lost a few wwc voters to Biden losing him the electoral college, but in 2016 he won when he called for the Muslim ban and didn't moderate.
    He's hoping there's enough racism and misogyny in America to get him elected.

    He'd need to look up to see the gutter.
    Incidentally, Reagan on immigration

    https://youtu.be/Ednq_vKPdQE?si=QGLE8JRdf3xXyq9w
    Reagan on gun control

    https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/reagan-loaded-guns-quote/

    "There is absolutely no reason why out on the street today a civilian should be carrying a loaded weapon."
  • mercatormercator Posts: 815

    Leon said:

    s

    Leon said:

    Foxy said:

    Leon said:

    Taz said:
    That is a big old put-down, but can I raise you 33 slam-dunk Trump fact check "booms" from the same event?
    How about the “eating cats” thing? Supposedly debunked?

    Looks like they may, in fact, be eating cats in Ohio

    https://x.com/realchrisrufo/status/1834926318883852543?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

    The whole story is weirdly reminiscent of the “asylum seekers eating swans” story. Fiercely debunked as right wing bollocks, later on it quietly turned out to be true
    1) that video claims to be from Dayton, not Springfield

    2) there are no people in the video, so no idea who did this

    3) the article claims that it is Congolese migrants, not Hatians

    4) the voice over is an American accent not one either from Haiti nor Congo.

    This is just crap.
    Well, the video is of people of colour apparently eating cats in Ohio

    As I said right after the debate, lefty Trump-haters should be very careful with this story. Because there is a reasonable chance it is true

    Migrants bring their cultural/culinary traditions with them, and often don’t understand the taboos of the host nation. This applies to all races, everywhere

    eg WHITE Eastern Europeans have a long tradition of fishing wild carp and eating them, as they are delicious. They don’t need permission. I’ve just enjoyed this tradition in Montenegro where I had lovely carp, fished that day from Lake Skardar

    Unsurprisingly some of them brought that tradition to the UK, genuinely unaware that we don’t do it, that in Britain it is hedged around with laws and licenses and taboos

    If stray cats are wandering the neighbourhood, you’re actually doing the local birdlife a favour if you chuck the cats on the BBQ
    And Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall famously cooked and ate road kill. Served hedgehog to Gordon Ramsey, when he first met him.

    In any community there is always one or two, of *anything*.
    The French eat horses, don’t they?
    As have I; knowingly in France, and probably unknowingly in the UK.
    Thin, delicious and suspiciously cheap steak frites in France is apparently standardly horse. Can't say it bothers me.
  • ‘Corbyn had flown too close to the sun’: how Labour insiders battled the left and plotted the party’s path back to power
    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/sep/14/corbyn-had-flown-too-close-to-the-sun-how-labour-insiders-battled-the-left-and-plotted-the-partys-path-back-to-power

    Would Labour have won in 2017 if they were all on the same side? Another book for your Christmas list.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 41,947

    Leon said:

    mercator said:

    Leon said:

    Taz said:
    That is a big old put-down, but can I raise you 33 slam-dunk Trump fact check "booms" from the same event?
    How about the “eating cats” thing? Supposedly debunked?

    Looks like they may, in fact, be eating cats in Ohio

    https://x.com/realchrisrufo/status/1834926318883852543?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

    The whole story is weirdly reminiscent of the “asylum seekers eating swans” story. Fiercely debunked as right wing bollocks, later on it quietly turned out to be true
    Been reading about Haitian vodou and I want to emigrate there and become a houngan.

    It's interesting: animal sacrifice is afaics as normal and necessary a part of vodou as communion is of Christianity. Here's a guardian piece saying so

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/07/vodou-haiti-endangered-faith-soul-of-haitian-people

    And vodou is as prevalent among Haitians as Christianity among Ohians. So that's one thing and it doesn't seem to matter too much what sort of animal it is. Separate point, it's entirely good sense to trap and eat standard food animals like geese and ducks (in this country swans and carp) and it's very credible that this has happened a non zero number of times. So trump is quite possibly conflating cat sacrifice and goose consumption.
    Yes I’ve been reading about Haitian voodoo. They sacrifice animals and that definitely includes cats - cat bones and the like have special juju

    So it is entirely plausible this really is happening (less likely but not impossible that they are eating them)

    As I said at the start. This is a mad story for Dems to pursue because it could easily be true and even if not precisely true it’s not a great story for the pro-migration Left

    Trump said enough truly insane and stupid things to demolish him forensically, day after day. Avoid this one, as it may not be insane
    It's not the only case where people opposed to Trump have made fools of themselves by 'fact checking' him.

    It was supposedly a lie that Kamala Harris supported state-funded gender surgery for detained migrants, but there's a video of her bragging about it. Some of it is outright gaslighting, like the Seattle Times trying to say that it was a lie that protesters took over part of Seattle in 2020.
    Fact checking Trump is indeed a fool's errand. You never get the time back. With an habitual liar it's best to just assume they're lying.
  • nico679nico679 Posts: 6,200
    Scott_xP said:

    @ArmandDoma

    BREAKING: Laura Loomer just got banned from Trump’s plane, per reports

    Too late . Trump invited a 9/11 conspiracy theorist to join him and now because of bad publicity Loomers been shown the door.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 62,401
    Leon said:

    s

    Leon said:

    Foxy said:

    Leon said:

    Taz said:
    That is a big old put-down, but can I raise you 33 slam-dunk Trump fact check "booms" from the same event?
    How about the “eating cats” thing? Supposedly debunked?

    Looks like they may, in fact, be eating cats in Ohio

    https://x.com/realchrisrufo/status/1834926318883852543?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

    The whole story is weirdly reminiscent of the “asylum seekers eating swans” story. Fiercely debunked as right wing bollocks, later on it quietly turned out to be true
    1) that video claims to be from Dayton, not Springfield

    2) there are no people in the video, so no idea who did this

    3) the article claims that it is Congolese migrants, not Hatians

    4) the voice over is an American accent not one either from Haiti nor Congo.

    This is just crap.
    Well, the video is of people of colour apparently eating cats in Ohio

    As I said right after the debate, lefty Trump-haters should be very careful with this story. Because there is a reasonable chance it is true

    Migrants bring their cultural/culinary traditions with them, and often don’t understand the taboos of the host nation. This applies to all races, everywhere

    eg WHITE Eastern Europeans have a long tradition of fishing wild carp and eating them, as they are delicious. They don’t need permission. I’ve just enjoyed this tradition in Montenegro where I had lovely carp, fished that day from Lake Skardar

    Unsurprisingly some of them brought that tradition to the UK, genuinely unaware that we don’t do it, that in Britain it is hedged around with laws and licenses and taboos

    If stray cats are wandering the neighbourhood, you’re actually doing the local birdlife a favour if you chuck the cats on the BBQ
    And Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall famously cooked and ate road kill. Served hedgehog to Gordon Ramsey, when he first met him.

    In any community there is always one or two, of *anything*.
    The French eat horses, don’t they?
    Spanish certainly do or did. I had horse twenty odd years ago in Barcelona.
  • Leon said:

    mercator said:

    Leon said:

    Taz said:
    That is a big old put-down, but can I raise you 33 slam-dunk Trump fact check "booms" from the same event?
    How about the “eating cats” thing? Supposedly debunked?

    Looks like they may, in fact, be eating cats in Ohio

    https://x.com/realchrisrufo/status/1834926318883852543?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

    The whole story is weirdly reminiscent of the “asylum seekers eating swans” story. Fiercely debunked as right wing bollocks, later on it quietly turned out to be true
    Been reading about Haitian vodou and I want to emigrate there and become a houngan.

    It's interesting: animal sacrifice is afaics as normal and necessary a part of vodou as communion is of Christianity. Here's a guardian piece saying so

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/07/vodou-haiti-endangered-faith-soul-of-haitian-people

    And vodou is as prevalent among Haitians as Christianity among Ohians. So that's one thing and it doesn't seem to matter too much what sort of animal it is. Separate point, it's entirely good sense to trap and eat standard food animals like geese and ducks (in this country swans and carp) and it's very credible that this has happened a non zero number of times. So trump is quite possibly conflating cat sacrifice and goose consumption.
    Yes I’ve been reading about Haitian voodoo. They sacrifice animals and that definitely includes cats - cat bones and the like have special juju

    So it is entirely plausible this really is happening (less likely but not impossible that they are eating them)

    As I said at the start. This is a mad story for Dems to pursue because it could easily be true and even if not precisely true it’s not a great story for the pro-migration Left

    Trump said enough truly insane and stupid things to demolish him forensically, day after day. Avoid this one, as it may not be insane
    It's not the only case where people opposed to Trump have made fools of themselves by 'fact checking' him.

    It was supposedly a lie that Kamala Harris supported state-funded gender surgery for detained migrants, but there's a video of her bragging about it. Some of it is outright gaslighting, like the Seattle Times trying to say that it was a lie that protesters took over part of Seattle in 2020.
    I seem to remember that Trump said "supports", not "supported", stating that it was a current position rather than one she had held.

    So still a lie?
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 122,278
    After a recent general election not surprising the party conferences are not of major interest to the public this year.

    Though yes the speeches of the 4 Tory leadership contenders will be of interest as will Starmer's first speech as PM
  • boulayboulay Posts: 5,412
    Leon said:

    Cat sacrifice in Beninese Voodoo

    “Keeping Kitties Safe from Gris-gris

    “Once again, it’s Oro season. That time of year when I have to leave my village or stay inside while a cult of machete-wielding men run around with impunity. It’s both cooler and way, way less cool than it sounds.

    “Unfortunately, this year it comes right in the middle of my very last week in village, which means one less day for me to say my goodbyes.

    “But such is life in West Africa: nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing, goes according to plan.

    “In honor of the time when Vodun (Voodoo) is most visible in my community, I thought I’d share how we in Daagbé protect our furry friends from voodoo. First of all, most people don’t have dogs. Pets aren’t friends – they are food, or they eat pests. There’s no sense in sentimentalizing animals that you’re going to eat, or for whom there is a high percentage that they’ll die or disappear. That being said, cats are a relatively common household animal, since they eat mice and rats.

    “But cats (among many other animals) are used sometimes in gris-gris.

    “This is the form of voodoo that Americans might call “black magic” – it’s sorcery, used to hurt someone. Most voodoo priests will tell you that this goes against their religion, which is mostly true. But people use it against those suspected of theft or other bad behaviors.”

    Plenty more here

    https://katieinbenin.wordpress.com/tag/voodoo/

    Cats have long been a favourite for lobster fishermen to leave in the pots as bait. No idea why - I suppose they just grab a cat as it’s free and the lobsters love it. Maybe lobsters are Haitian.
  • kamskikamski Posts: 5,125
    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    mercator said:

    Leon said:

    Taz said:
    That is a big old put-down, but can I raise you 33 slam-dunk Trump fact check "booms" from the same event?
    How about the “eating cats” thing? Supposedly debunked?

    Looks like they may, in fact, be eating cats in Ohio

    https://x.com/realchrisrufo/status/1834926318883852543?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

    The whole story is weirdly reminiscent of the “asylum seekers eating swans” story. Fiercely debunked as right wing bollocks, later on it quietly turned out to be true
    Been reading about Haitian vodou and I want to emigrate there and become a houngan.

    It's interesting: animal sacrifice is afaics as normal and necessary a part of vodou as communion is of Christianity. Here's a guardian piece saying so

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/07/vodou-haiti-endangered-faith-soul-of-haitian-people

    And vodou is as prevalent among Haitians as Christianity among Ohians. So that's one thing and it doesn't seem to matter too much what sort of animal it is. Separate point, it's entirely good sense to trap and eat standard food animals like geese and ducks (in this country swans and carp) and it's very credible that this has happened a non zero number of times. So trump is quite possibly conflating cat sacrifice and goose consumption.
    Yes I’ve been reading about Haitian voodoo. They sacrifice animals and that definitely includes cats - cat bones and the like have special juju

    So it is entirely plausible this really is happening (less likely but not impossible that they are eating them)

    As I said at the start. This is a mad story for Dems to pursue because it could easily be true and even if not precisely true it’s not a great story for the pro-migration Left

    Trump said enough truly insane and stupid things to demolish him forensically, day after day. Avoid this one, as it may not be insane
    It's not the only case where people opposed to Trump have made fools of themselves by 'fact checking' him.

    It was supposedly a lie that Kamala Harris supported state-funded gender surgery for detained migrants, but there's a video of her bragging about it. Some of it is outright gaslighting, like the Seattle Times trying to say that it was a lie that protesters took over part of Seattle in 2020.
    Fact checking Trump is indeed a fool's errand. You never get the time back. With an habitual liar it's best to just assume they're lying.
    Same with factchecking Williamglenn
  • mercatormercator Posts: 815
    nico679 said:

    Please tell me we’re not going to have days of Leon’s mission to educate us on voodoo cat sacrifice !

    Spelling convention is New Orleans voodoo, Haitian vodou, West African vodun. It's fascinating stuff, who doesn't love a religion which worships Blanc Dani, the Grand Zombi, and Papa Lébat?

    Animal sacrifice is apparently common to all three versions of voodoo.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 54,677
    nico679 said:

    Please tell me we’re not going to have days of Leon’s mission to educate us on voodoo cat sacrifice !

    There is a video circulating on TwiX which leaves the viewer in no doubt voodoo followers will “sacrifice” cats in quite unspeakable ways (I’ll spare you: this one really is NSFW). There are also learned Nat Geo and NYT articles discussing it with reference to the USA (from 20-30 years ago). Now it must be denied that it’s happening, because Trump?

    Silly and misguided and likely to backfire on Harris

    Mind you before the Scot Nats get all superior, as is their wont, cat sacrifice used to be popular north of Hadrian’s

    Behold: Taghairm nan Caht

    https://esoterx.com/2014/08/01/big-ears-and-the-taghairm-atrocious-celtic-ailuromancy/


  • LeonLeon Posts: 54,677
    edited September 14
    mercator said:

    nico679 said:

    Please tell me we’re not going to have days of Leon’s mission to educate us on voodoo cat sacrifice !

    Spelling convention is New Orleans voodoo, Haitian vodou, West African vodun. It's fascinating stuff, who doesn't love a religion which worships Blanc Dani, the Grand Zombi, and Papa Lébat?

    Animal sacrifice is apparently common to all three versions of voodoo.
    It is brilliant. I might actually join. Also it would help to save the British chaffinch

    I might do my first voodoo cat sacrifice in Hampstead. Just need a plump sluggish victim, that can’t get away.
  • kjhkjh Posts: 11,695
    Just left the Surrey Hills Brewery. So drunk.
  • boulay said:

    Leon said:

    kamski said:

    Leon said:

    kamski said:

    Leon said:

    Nunu3 said:

    Well it seems the German government is relaxed about the gains made by AfD in recent elections.

    madness. just utter madness. None of these people will return home on reality.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gegkkg14ko

    That’s…. Bonkers

    The voters are electing Nazis to deal with mass immigration and Olaf Scholz’s reaction is to import, en masse, a quarter of a million Kenyans

    That’s not just pouring fuel on the fire, that’s buying the entire global reserves of Exxon and dropping it in the erupting volcano

    This surging crisis could easily lead to the end of the EU. The underlying illogic of the EU, the crucial flaw, is that each country purports to have its own migration policy but, perforce, you must accept the migration policy of your EU neighbour, because Free Movement

    Once those Kenyans get residency in Germany they are free to move anywhere in the EU, even though other EU countries might not want them. In the end that cannot be sustained
    "Once those Kenyans get residency in Germany they are free to move anywhere in the EU" well that is flat out wrong for a start. But congrats on maintaining your record of 100% of your posts that mention Germany containing ignorant bullshit.
    They are free to move because there are no internal borders in Schenghen. lol. Are you disputing this?!
    Obviously that is not what you meant. Because that would apply to anyone who happens to be in Germany whether they have German residency or not.

    "Once those Kenyans get residency" is what you wrote. Why do they need to wait until they get residency if you are just talking about the lack of border controls within Schengen?

    Also you wrote "anywhere in the EU". Why did you write the EU if you were talking about the lack of border controls in Schengen? Even you must know by now that Schengen and the EU aren't the same thing.

    Just be honest for once and admit that you thought that getting German residency meant getting residency rights in the rest of the EU.
    I meant what I said dumbkopf

    Once they are residing in Germany they are immediately free to move around the EU, because Schenghen (are you really going to die on the hill that Schenghen =! EU?). Normal Kenyans have to get a Schenghen visa for this - not easy

    As the years go by they will accrue further rights to work and claim benefits all over the EU

    Moving on from your idiocy I don’t understand the political or economic logic of this move. I’ve nothing against Kenyans - often lovely people

    But why Kenya? Coz they’re Christian and integrate better? Is that an admission that 1m Syrians was a bad idea? Why not just recruit from around the EU?? Germany is rich but unhappy about non-EU migration

    Mad. Perhaps Scholz really is a Putin spy as has been alleged (like Merkel) and is trying to destroy Germany by boosting the AfD*

    *this is a joke, in case stupid people like @kamski don’t get it. But the whole thing is still weird
    On an unrelated matter I’ve just read a very good sub stack article about Elizabeth Bathory by Sean Thomas - if he was around here I would send my compliments.
    I read that for a moment as an article on Sean Thomas by Elizabeth Bathory.

    Which would certainly be an interesting read.
    Tasting notes: alky nose, blokey aged aftertaste, definitely not a virgin.
  • boulayboulay Posts: 5,412
    kjh said:

    Just left the Surrey Hills Brewery. So drunk.

    Do you mean you are drunk because your trip to brewery or do you mean you are “so drunk” like shitfaced?
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 21,794

    ‘Corbyn had flown too close to the sun’: how Labour insiders battled the left and plotted the party’s path back to power
    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/sep/14/corbyn-had-flown-too-close-to-the-sun-how-labour-insiders-battled-the-left-and-plotted-the-partys-path-back-to-power

    Would Labour have won in 2017 if they were all on the same side? Another book for your Christmas list.

    The book in question is " Taken as Red: How Labour Won Big and the Tories Crashed the Party" by Anushka Asthana, published by HarperCollins, see here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/taken-as-red/anushka-asthana/9780008697907
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 51,320
    Has everything else apart from the pet eating been memory-holed from the debate already?
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 51,320
    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    mercator said:

    Leon said:

    Taz said:
    That is a big old put-down, but can I raise you 33 slam-dunk Trump fact check "booms" from the same event?
    How about the “eating cats” thing? Supposedly debunked?

    Looks like they may, in fact, be eating cats in Ohio

    https://x.com/realchrisrufo/status/1834926318883852543?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

    The whole story is weirdly reminiscent of the “asylum seekers eating swans” story. Fiercely debunked as right wing bollocks, later on it quietly turned out to be true
    Been reading about Haitian vodou and I want to emigrate there and become a houngan.

    It's interesting: animal sacrifice is afaics as normal and necessary a part of vodou as communion is of Christianity. Here's a guardian piece saying so

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/07/vodou-haiti-endangered-faith-soul-of-haitian-people

    And vodou is as prevalent among Haitians as Christianity among Ohians. So that's one thing and it doesn't seem to matter too much what sort of animal it is. Separate point, it's entirely good sense to trap and eat standard food animals like geese and ducks (in this country swans and carp) and it's very credible that this has happened a non zero number of times. So trump is quite possibly conflating cat sacrifice and goose consumption.
    Yes I’ve been reading about Haitian voodoo. They sacrifice animals and that definitely includes cats - cat bones and the like have special juju

    So it is entirely plausible this really is happening (less likely but not impossible that they are eating them)

    As I said at the start. This is a mad story for Dems to pursue because it could easily be true and even if not precisely true it’s not a great story for the pro-migration Left

    Trump said enough truly insane and stupid things to demolish him forensically, day after day. Avoid this one, as it may not be insane
    It's not the only case where people opposed to Trump have made fools of themselves by 'fact checking' him.

    It was supposedly a lie that Kamala Harris supported state-funded gender surgery for detained migrants, but there's a video of her bragging about it. Some of it is outright gaslighting, like the Seattle Times trying to say that it was a lie that protesters took over part of Seattle in 2020.
    Fact checking Trump is indeed a fool's errand. You never get the time back. With an habitual liar it's best to just assume they're lying.
    That's a problem if you publicly accuse him of lying and it turns out that he wasn't wrong.
This discussion has been closed.