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The State of the Union, Week 3 – politicalbetting.com

SystemSystem Posts: 12,158
edited September 29 in General
imageThe State of the Union, Week 3 – politicalbetting.com

This really couldn’t be tighter: the models seem to be converging on a very narrow win for Harris, with the only difference at the moment being ev-com having Harris winning North Carolina but losing Michigan, whereas the others have those two flipped. Even with that narrow EC advantage, most of the states, with most of the models, are in one camp or the other by small margins, often just a fraction of 1 per cent.

Read the full story here

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Comments

  • algarkirkalgarkirk Posts: 12,496
    First?
  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 18,340
    Given the small margins and large uncertainties involved it's fascinating that the forecasts are so tightly clustered.

    This raises the question: if all the forecasts are missing something, what might they be missing?
  • eekeek Posts: 28,362
    Trumped.
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 119,594
    edited September 16
    Only a numpty would have criticised Sir Lewis Hamilton for joining Ferrari.

    How Ferrari became genuine rival to McLaren (just in time for Hamilton)

    Italian team may decide where drivers title ends up this season, and are very much in contention for constructors’ championship themselves, which bodes well with British driver joining in 2025


    Lando Norris said it so matter-of-factly, that it could almost have been missed. “From a constructor point of view, we’re probably more worried about Ferrari than we are about Red Bull.”

    For weeks, the title races in the drivers’ and constructors’ championships have been fought between McLaren and Red Bull; barbs exchanged between Zak Brown and Christian Horner, the respective team chiefs, and wheel-to-wheel racing from Norris and Max Verstappen.

    In the past four races, quietly and consistently — hardly the usual characteristics of the most famous team in Formula 1 — Ferrari have closed in. Their three victories this season may help to determine which of their rivals claims the drivers’ title, but they have a chance of silverware themselves, being only 51 points behind leaders McLaren and 31 behind Red Bull.


    https://www.thetimes.com/sport/formula-one/article/ferrari-formula-one-fred-vasseur-charles-leclerc-g986rr7ff
  • mwadamsmwadams Posts: 3,587
    It's always this close. The generations of gerrymandering mean it is a handful of precincts in a handful of states that determine the outcome. Polling is almost irrelevant.
  • Nunu5Nunu5 Posts: 964
    Huw Edwards given 6 months suspended sentence.

    Two teir justice based on class. The rich avoid jail.
  • algarkirkalgarkirk Posts: 12,496
    TOPPING said:

    This is all bollocks. PB has determined that anyone who supports Trump is a crank and a lunatic. It can't be that close so someone has blundered.

    Either that or PB is talking through its heart not its head.

    Trump is going to win.

    And to support him requires arguments so tortuous on subjects like sexual assault and truth telling and insurrection and being unwilling to accept defeat that 'crank and lunatic' could be regarded as convenient shorthand. And it is noteworthy how few of his supporters are prepared to make the difficult argument his case requires.

    But Trump is going to win.
  • Nunu5Nunu5 Posts: 964
    mwadams said:

    It's always this close. The generations of gerrymandering mean it is a handful of precincts in a handful of states that determine the outcome. Polling is almost irrelevant.

    No it hasn't always been this close. With Trump, yes. Due to his low ceiling but efficient vote spread in the electoral college.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 122,874
    mwadams said:

    It's always this close. The generations of gerrymandering mean it is a handful of precincts in a handful of states that determine the outcome. Polling is almost irrelevant.

    Obama’s win in 2008 wasn’t close nor were Reagan’s wins or Bush Snr’s in 1988
  • SelebianSelebian Posts: 8,714
    TOPPING said:

    This is all bollocks. PB has determined that anyone who supports Trump is a crank and a lunatic. It can't be that close so someone has blundered.

    Either that or PB is talking through its heart not its head.

    There's no contradiction if one believes that large subsets of electorates are cranks and lunatics :wink:
  • Given the small margins and large uncertainties involved it's fascinating that the forecasts are so tightly clustered.

    This raises the question: if all the forecasts are missing something, what might they be missing?

    Most obvious one is the assumptions you make in turning raw poll data into headline shares. If there's a demographic that votes a lot more or less this time than in the past, that blows the polls out of the water.

    (We saw some of that here in 2016 and 2019, when Jaywick man and woman turned out for Brexit and Boris, and in 2024 when quite a lot of normally loyal Labour voters decided to stay at home.)
  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 18,340
    edited September 16
    mwadams said:

    It's always this close. The generations of gerrymandering mean it is a handful of precincts in a handful of states that determine the outcome. Polling is almost irrelevant.

    The popular vote margin has been below 5% in 5 of the last 6 Presidential elections. Prior to that it was only below 5% in 1 out of 7 Presidential elections*.

    Close, polarised, elections are a feature of US politics after the Gingrich Republican revolution. It's not obvious when or how that will change in the future, but perhaps, if they make it there with a functioning democracy, the post-Trump era will see something different.

    * You can go all the way back to 1900, and in 25 Presidential elections the popular vote margin was below 5% in only five of those elections. American politics is different now.
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 17,390
    TOPPING said:

    This is all bollocks. PB has determined that anyone who supports Trump is a crank and a lunatic. It can't be that close so someone has blundered.

    Either that or PB is talking through its heart not its head.

    We saw similar with Brexit. At the Uni all my colleagues expressed surprise at the result - no-one they knew voted for Brexit. They failed to see the self-selected bubble that they lived in.

    Trump is the same. Almost all on PB see him as an extremely dangerous threat to democracy and potentially the free world. No-one can understand the mentality of someone in the US would is a supporter.
  • Nunu5Nunu5 Posts: 964
    algarkirk said:

    TOPPING said:

    This is all bollocks. PB has determined that anyone who supports Trump is a crank and a lunatic. It can't be that close so someone has blundered.

    Either that or PB is talking through its heart not its head.

    Trump is going to win.

    And to support him requires arguments so tortuous on subjects like sexual assault and truth telling and insurrection and being unwilling to accept defeat that 'crank and lunatic' could be regarded as convenient shorthand. And it is noteworthy how few of his supporters are prepared to make the difficult argument his case requires.

    But Trump is going to win.
    At this point I think Trump wins, depite the polling. The polls find it hard to detect low info voters and they are nearly all Trump voters.

    Also he has a much better approval rating than the last two runs, and Harris is doing worse than both Biden and Clinton at this point. He will win PA, AZ and perhaps MI and GA atleast.
  • numbertwelvenumbertwelve Posts: 6,808
    I am always amazed at the confidence of some of the predictions here one way or the other. I wish I had that forecasting confidence. It feels to me like this could easily go either way. If you forced me to predict, I’d say Harris has a narrow edge and I would make her the narrow favourite. I don’t have any more confidence than that.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,180
    https://www.270towin.com/2024-presidential-election-polls/

    They are neck and neck in something like 15 states.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 42,093
    I'm expecting an unexpectedly clear win for Harris.
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 17,390
    HYUFD said:

    Nunu5 said:

    Huw Edwards given 6 months suspended sentence.

    Two teir justice based on class. The rich avoid jail.

    I think it was fair given his guilty plea and no previous.

    However yes when white working class Farage voters and Tommy Robinson backers get immediate jail terms for dodgy social media posts Huw’s suspended sentence does look like one rule for upper middle class liberals and another for the rest at this time
    The state has done what it would always do when facing an existential threat (riots, rebellion etc). No mercy. Some of the punishments handed to down to the plebs and chavs who 'had a bit of fun' in our sink cities have been severe, while Huw Edwards gets a slap on the wrist and a retirement on his (no doubt huwge) BBC pension.
    The plebs are lucky we no longer do the old hang, draw and quarter.
  • Nunu5Nunu5 Posts: 964
    HYUFD said:

    Nunu5 said:

    Huw Edwards given 6 months suspended sentence.

    Two teir justice based on class. The rich avoid jail.

    I think it was fair given his guilty plea and no previous.Epstein, Weinstein, King, Clifford, the Duke of Marlborough, Harris, Elphicke, Aitken etc also rich men who have gone to jail.

    However yes when white working class Farage voters and Tommy Robinson backers get immediate jail terms for dodgy social media posts Huw’s suspended sentence does look like one rule for upper middle class liberals and another for the rest at this time
    That's a little different. People who committ crimes in groups should expect longer sentences due to the fact that they probably wouldn't have committed those crimes alone, and to deter futute riots. They have a big impact in terms of anxiety for those targetted.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,180
    kinabalu said:

    I'm expecting an unexpectedly clear win for Harris.

    What is the polling error, in your view?
  • CookieCookie Posts: 13,765
    FPT:

    Cookie said:

    Cookie said:

    Cookie said:

    GIN1138 said:

    Taz said:

    Unfortunate timing

    Victoria Starmer has been pictured at a London Fashion Week show wearing a custom-made designer dress amid a row over her receiving free clothes.

    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/lifestyle/style/lady-starmer-wears-custom-made-dress-at-london-fashion-week-amid-free-clothes-row/ar-AA1qEBCC?ocid=BingNewsSerp

    Interesting who this kind of reputational damage sticks to and who it doesnt. Both Tony and Cherie were well renowned 'grabbers'. Neither coming from proper money, solicited and gladly chomped through whatever they could, but it didnt hurt Tony in office.
    Starmer doesnt seem to have any kind of honeymoon protection at all.
    During Blair's time the economic situation was generally favourable and they were able spray money around so people didn't care very much about the Blairs "grabbing"

    Lord and Lady Starmer swanning around in the finest clothes someone else's money can buy while pensioners are going to freeze this winter is a rather harder "sell"
    Pensioners have been mollycoddled for far too long.

    We’re all in this together.

    We had a PM in Boris Johnson that dressed like a scruff, it’s good for the UK for a PM to wear the best.
    Can anyone looking really tell the difference between someone whose clothes cost £150 and someone whose clothes cost £1500? If they can, that says rather more about the observer than the observed.
    I can, but then I have a keen eye for this.
    See the second half of my comment above :wink:

    When I was young, putting a lot of effort (and certainly a lot of time and/or expense) into your appearance was a bit frowned upon. You were expected, if possible, to achieve a certain level of cleanliness and/or personal hygiene, but anything more than that was a bit suspect - a bit 'look at me'. Actually, I say 'when I was young', I suspect most of men of my generation still think that way.
    Maybe that is true, but it's hardly something to be proud of, is it?
    I kind of think it is. We used to consider vanity a vice rather than a virtue. We used to consider showing off something to be dissuaded. We used to mock peacockery. A certain parsimoniousness whn it comes to one's appearance seems to me to be something to be applauded.
    By which I don't necessarily mean turning up in a t-shirt riven with holes and ketchup stains. But I rather disdain the mindset which thinks it acceptable to spend £1000 a year or more on one's own appearance. It seems frivolous.
    Do you remember the book of sports lists? I remember a list in it of sportsmen who cared rather too much for their own appearance - it included, I think, Peter Shilton, who would drive to a city 30 miles away for his particular needs for a haircut, and, possibly, Kevin Keegan, who spent rather more than the then-quite-daring £5 a month on a haircut. And someone who spent a lot on clothes, no doubt. But the fact that ten such people could be picked out showed how comparatively rare that sort of vanity was in those days. If you made a list now of sportsmen who cared too much for their own appearance you'd be here until doomsday.

    Do you apply these hairshirt morals to women too, or just men?
    I can tell that you don't agree, Anabobz, but I'm guessing you're about my age? Do you not think values on this have shifted somewhat in our lifetimes?
    It's not a massive issue. I mean, of all the vices that there are, vanity/frivolousness/attention seeking is rather low on the list. But still - it strikes me as an odd change, and odd that it's so uncommented on.
    It's a reasonable question whether it applies in my mind to both men and women - not least because the instinctive reaction to someone who, for example, spends £30 or more on a haircut is that doing so is a bit unmanly. But on reflection, yes, I'd say I do apply these 'hairshirt morals' to women as well, or at least something similar. There is no need to spend thousands on clothes, and drawing attention to doing so, just looks a bit like conspicuous consumption.

    There's a quite low upper ceiling to how good anyone - male or female - can look, and expense and effort which goes beyond that is not only wasted but also looks a bit, well, crass.

    As I say above - these aren't strongly held feelings. But I feel kind of sure this is how everyone used to feel, and I don't understand how and why the dial has shifted.

    See also - tattoos.
  • algarkirkalgarkirk Posts: 12,496
    Nunu5 said:

    Huw Edwards given 6 months suspended sentence.

    Two teir justice based on class. The rich avoid jail.

    No it isn't. The sentence is easily in line for the offence and the circumstances. The idea that courts are dead keen to send everyone to immediate custody except the well heeled is untrue.

    (And its two tier, not two teir. Which makes 'Two Tier Keir' hard to spell)
  • kinabalu said:

    I'm expecting an unexpectedly clear win for Harris.

    What is the polling error, in your view?
    Best guess- bigger than normal turnout by younger women, voting against all the Gilead vibes. Some of which may not be accurate vibes... but in democracy, that doesn't particularly matter.
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 42,936

    TOPPING said:

    This is all bollocks. PB has determined that anyone who supports Trump is a crank and a lunatic. It can't be that close so someone has blundered.

    Either that or PB is talking through its heart not its head.

    We saw similar with Brexit. At the Uni all my colleagues expressed surprise at the result - no-one they knew voted for Brexit. They failed to see the self-selected bubble that they lived in.

    Trump is the same. Almost all on PB see him as an extremely dangerous threat to democracy and potentially the free world. No-one can understand the mentality of someone in the US would is a supporter.
    Yep absolutely. It is one of PB's more notable failings.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,180
    Nunu5 said:

    HYUFD said:

    Nunu5 said:

    Huw Edwards given 6 months suspended sentence.

    Two teir justice based on class. The rich avoid jail.

    I think it was fair given his guilty plea and no previous.Epstein, Weinstein, King, Clifford, the Duke of Marlborough, Harris, Elphicke, Aitken etc also rich men who have gone to jail.

    However yes when white working class Farage voters and Tommy Robinson backers get immediate jail terms for dodgy social media posts Huw’s suspended sentence does look like one rule for upper middle class liberals and another for the rest at this time
    That's a little different. People who committ crimes in groups should expect longer sentences due to the fact that they probably wouldn't have committed those crimes alone, and to deter futute riots. They have a big impact in terms of anxiety for those targetted.
    I think the best way of thinking of it is - context. Shop lifting in the ordinary context, for example, is very different to when it is part of a mass riot. In terms of the incitement to others, and the risk from the incitement.
  • mercatormercator Posts: 815
    algarkirk said:

    Nunu5 said:

    Huw Edwards given 6 months suspended sentence.

    Two teir justice based on class. The rich avoid jail.

    No it isn't. The sentence is easily in line for the offence and the circumstances. The idea that courts are dead keen to send everyone to immediate custody except the well heeled is untrue.

    (And its two tier, not two teir. Which makes 'Two Tier Keir' hard to spell)
    I am trying to promote the shorthand 2TK, which sidesteps that problem

  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 42,936
    Cookie said:

    FPT:

    Cookie said:

    Cookie said:

    Cookie said:

    GIN1138 said:

    Taz said:

    Unfortunate timing

    Victoria Starmer has been pictured at a London Fashion Week show wearing a custom-made designer dress amid a row over her receiving free clothes.

    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/lifestyle/style/lady-starmer-wears-custom-made-dress-at-london-fashion-week-amid-free-clothes-row/ar-AA1qEBCC?ocid=BingNewsSerp

    Interesting who this kind of reputational damage sticks to and who it doesnt. Both Tony and Cherie were well renowned 'grabbers'. Neither coming from proper money, solicited and gladly chomped through whatever they could, but it didnt hurt Tony in office.
    Starmer doesnt seem to have any kind of honeymoon protection at all.
    During Blair's time the economic situation was generally favourable and they were able spray money around so people didn't care very much about the Blairs "grabbing"

    Lord and Lady Starmer swanning around in the finest clothes someone else's money can buy while pensioners are going to freeze this winter is a rather harder "sell"
    Pensioners have been mollycoddled for far too long.

    We’re all in this together.

    We had a PM in Boris Johnson that dressed like a scruff, it’s good for the UK for a PM to wear the best.
    Can anyone looking really tell the difference between someone whose clothes cost £150 and someone whose clothes cost £1500? If they can, that says rather more about the observer than the observed.
    I can, but then I have a keen eye for this.
    See the second half of my comment above :wink:

    When I was young, putting a lot of effort (and certainly a lot of time and/or expense) into your appearance was a bit frowned upon. You were expected, if possible, to achieve a certain level of cleanliness and/or personal hygiene, but anything more than that was a bit suspect - a bit 'look at me'. Actually, I say 'when I was young', I suspect most of men of my generation still think that way.
    Maybe that is true, but it's hardly something to be proud of, is it?
    I kind of think it is. We used to consider vanity a vice rather than a virtue. We used to consider showing off something to be dissuaded. We used to mock peacockery. A certain parsimoniousness whn it comes to one's appearance seems to me to be something to be applauded.
    By which I don't necessarily mean turning up in a t-shirt riven with holes and ketchup stains. But I rather disdain the mindset which thinks it acceptable to spend £1000 a year or more on one's own appearance. It seems frivolous.
    Do you remember the book of sports lists? I remember a list in it of sportsmen who cared rather too much for their own appearance - it included, I think, Peter Shilton, who would drive to a city 30 miles away for his particular needs for a haircut, and, possibly, Kevin Keegan, who spent rather more than the then-quite-daring £5 a month on a haircut. And someone who spent a lot on clothes, no doubt. But the fact that ten such people could be picked out showed how comparatively rare that sort of vanity was in those days. If you made a list now of sportsmen who cared too much for their own appearance you'd be here until doomsday.

    Do you apply these hairshirt morals to women too, or just men?
    I can tell that you don't agree, Anabobz, but I'm guessing you're about my age? Do you not think values on this have shifted somewhat in our lifetimes?
    It's not a massive issue. I mean, of all the vices that there are, vanity/frivolousness/attention seeking is rather low on the list. But still - it strikes me as an odd change, and odd that it's so uncommented on.
    It's a reasonable question whether it applies in my mind to both men and women - not least because the instinctive reaction to someone who, for example, spends £30 or more on a haircut is that doing so is a bit unmanly. But on reflection, yes, I'd say I do apply these 'hairshirt morals' to women as well, or at least something similar. There is no need to spend thousands on clothes, and drawing attention to doing so, just looks a bit like conspicuous consumption.

    There's a quite low upper ceiling to how good anyone - male or female - can look, and expense and effort which goes beyond that is not only wasted but also looks a bit, well, crass.

    As I say above - these aren't strongly held feelings. But I feel kind of sure this is how everyone used to feel, and I don't understand how and why the dial has shifted.

    See also - tattoos.
    How much did your current shirt cost? I'm guessing around a month's income for around 650m people.

    Everything is relative. So what if people pay a lot for this or that? If they can afford it it doesn't make it extravagant or vain.
  • algarkirkalgarkirk Posts: 12,496

    TOPPING said:

    This is all bollocks. PB has determined that anyone who supports Trump is a crank and a lunatic. It can't be that close so someone has blundered.

    Either that or PB is talking through its heart not its head.

    We saw similar with Brexit. At the Uni all my colleagues expressed surprise at the result - no-one they knew voted for Brexit. They failed to see the self-selected bubble that they lived in.

    Trump is the same. Almost all on PB see him as an extremely dangerous threat to democracy and potentially the free world. No-one can understand the mentality of someone in the US would is a supporter.
    More or less true but two qualifications. With Brexit, lots of London professional types would say at first that everyone they knew was for Remain, but when examining carefully they knew perfectly well that the secretaries, cleaners, tea ladies, footmen, window cleaners and taxi drivers included a lot of Leavers. But actually (and this was truly significant to the result and why it happened) they didn't think they really counted.

    With Trump, he is dangerous and deranged. It is not at all difficult to see why people vote for him, and also that the same people are not all that good at giving a rational account of why.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,180
    algarkirk said:

    TOPPING said:

    This is all bollocks. PB has determined that anyone who supports Trump is a crank and a lunatic. It can't be that close so someone has blundered.

    Either that or PB is talking through its heart not its head.

    We saw similar with Brexit. At the Uni all my colleagues expressed surprise at the result - no-one they knew voted for Brexit. They failed to see the self-selected bubble that they lived in.

    Trump is the same. Almost all on PB see him as an extremely dangerous threat to democracy and potentially the free world. No-one can understand the mentality of someone in the US would is a supporter.
    More or less true but two qualifications. With Brexit, lots of London professional types would say at first that everyone they knew was for Remain, but when examining carefully they knew perfectly well that the secretaries, cleaners, tea ladies, footmen, window cleaners and taxi drivers included a lot of Leavers. But actually (and this was truly significant to the result and why it happened) they didn't think they really counted.

    With Trump, he is dangerous and deranged. It is not at all difficult to see why people vote for him, and also that the same people are not all that good at giving a rational account of why.
    They are voting for symbol. The actual Trump is just a placeholder, in many ways.

    Hence the contortions among his supporters to bridge the gap between the Symbolic Real Republican (TM) and the actuality of Trump.
  • UnpopularUnpopular Posts: 882
    TOPPING said:

    This is all bollocks. PB has determined that anyone who supports Trump is a crank and a lunatic. It can't be that close so someone has blundered.

    Either that or PB is talking through its heart not its head.

    Of course thinking that Trump and his supporters are cranks and lunatics doesn't mean that the race can't also be close. I think Rochdale might be notable in saying that it will be a blow out for Harris but most people seem to think it will be close.
  • edbedb Posts: 66
    Cookie said:


    As I say above - these aren't strongly held feelings. But I feel kind of sure this is how everyone used to feel, and I don't understand how and why the dial has shifted.

    I feel like i do know when, at least. 'selfie' came from nowhere to word of the year 2013. Related to marketing for high end smartphones with multiple cameras.
    I agree with you mostly, for the record. Wouldn't extend to women though.
  • kamskikamski Posts: 5,189
    mwadams said:

    It's always this close. The generations of gerrymandering mean it is a handful of precincts in a handful of states that determine the outcome. Polling is almost irrelevant.

    "precincts"
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 49,859
    algarkirk said:

    TOPPING said:

    This is all bollocks. PB has determined that anyone who supports Trump is a crank and a lunatic. It can't be that close so someone has blundered.

    Either that or PB is talking through its heart not its head.

    We saw similar with Brexit. At the Uni all my colleagues expressed surprise at the result - no-one they knew voted for Brexit. They failed to see the self-selected bubble that they lived in.

    Trump is the same. Almost all on PB see him as an extremely dangerous threat to democracy and potentially the free world. No-one can understand the mentality of someone in the US would is a supporter.
    More or less true but two qualifications. With Brexit, lots of London professional types would say at first that everyone they knew was for Remain, but when examining carefully they knew perfectly well that the secretaries, cleaners, tea ladies, footmen, window cleaners and taxi drivers included a lot of Leavers. But actually (and this was truly significant to the result and why it happened) they didn't think they really counted.

    With Trump, he is dangerous and deranged. It is not at all difficult to see why people vote for him, and also that the same people are not all that good at giving a rational account of why.
    My brother told me during the campaign that almost all of his restaurant customers were leave. And that’s in the Home Counties. Indeed, he voted leave himself, but only as a protest, never expecting they would win.
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 28,368
    Nunu5 said:

    algarkirk said:

    TOPPING said:

    This is all bollocks. PB has determined that anyone who supports Trump is a crank and a lunatic. It can't be that close so someone has blundered.

    Either that or PB is talking through its heart not its head.

    Trump is going to win.

    And to support him requires arguments so tortuous on subjects like sexual assault and truth telling and insurrection and being unwilling to accept defeat that 'crank and lunatic' could be regarded as convenient shorthand. And it is noteworthy how few of his supporters are prepared to make the difficult argument his case requires.

    But Trump is going to win.
    At this point I think Trump wins, depite the polling. The polls find it hard to detect low info voters and they are nearly all Trump voters.

    Also he has a much better approval rating than the last two runs, and Harris is doing worse than both Biden and Clinton at this point. He will win PA, AZ and perhaps MI and GA atleast.
    So you are looking at a very healthy EC win for Trump. You may well be right, although you may just be wish casting.
  • TazTaz Posts: 14,361
    TOPPING said:

    TOPPING said:

    This is all bollocks. PB has determined that anyone who supports Trump is a crank and a lunatic. It can't be that close so someone has blundered.

    Either that or PB is talking through its heart not its head.

    We saw similar with Brexit. At the Uni all my colleagues expressed surprise at the result - no-one they knew voted for Brexit. They failed to see the self-selected bubble that they lived in.

    Trump is the same. Almost all on PB see him as an extremely dangerous threat to democracy and potentially the free world. No-one can understand the mentality of someone in the US would is a supporter.
    Yep absolutely. It is one of PB's more notable failings.
    I would say it is also the same with Reform.
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 42,543
    TOPPING said:

    This is all bollocks. PB has determined that anyone who supports Trump is a crank and a lunatic. It can't be that close so someone has blundered.

    Either that or PB is talking through its heart not its head.

    That is bollocks.

    People can support Trump without sounding like a crank or a lunatic. Trump appeals to some moderate Americans for some good reasons; and the Democrats can repel some moderate Americans. There is no issue with discussing these.

    What amuses/annoys some on here are:
    *) people who claim to be anti-Trump and then do nothing but promote Trump.
    *) people who promote some of Trumps more (ahem) insane rhetoric as if it is real.
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 51,574
    Nunu5 said:

    Huw Edwards given 6 months suspended sentence.

    Two teir justice based on class. The rich avoid jail.

    On the contrary:

    https://x.com/courtnewsuk/status/1835646548593582340

    Mr Goldspring said there was evidence Edwards' father behaved 'monstrously' within his family. The chief magistrate said Edwards went to Cardiff university rather than Oxford or Cambridge. This contributed to him being perceived as an 'outsider' at the BBC.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 71,015
    edited September 16

    TOPPING said:

    This is all bollocks. PB has determined that anyone who supports Trump is a crank and a lunatic. It can't be that close so someone has blundered.

    Either that or PB is talking through its heart not its head.

    We saw similar with Brexit. At the Uni all my colleagues expressed surprise at the result - no-one they knew voted for Brexit. They failed to see the self-selected bubble that they lived in.

    Trump is the same. Almost all on PB see him as an extremely dangerous threat to democracy and potentially the free world. No-one can understand the mentality of someone in the US would is a supporter.
    Can't they ?

    The Brexit analogy, though imprecise, isn't an awful one.
    A large proportion go those who voted for it now regret their vote, as it didn't deliver what they confidently expected.

    The self selected bubble seems to have been right.
  • Nunu5 said:

    Huw Edwards given 6 months suspended sentence.

    Two teir justice based on class. The rich avoid jail.

    On the contrary:

    https://x.com/courtnewsuk/status/1835646548593582340

    Mr Goldspring said there was evidence Edwards' father behaved 'monstrously' within his family. The chief magistrate said Edwards went to Cardiff university rather than Oxford or Cambridge. This contributed to him being perceived as an 'outsider' at the BBC.
    Today I learned the father of Huw Edwards was a candidate for Plaid Cymru in the 1983 and 1987 general elections.
  • CookieCookie Posts: 13,765
    TOPPING said:

    Cookie said:

    FPT:

    Cookie said:

    Cookie said:

    Cookie said:

    GIN1138 said:

    Taz said:

    Unfortunate timing

    Victoria Starmer has been pictured at a London Fashion Week show wearing a custom-made designer dress amid a row over her receiving free clothes.

    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/lifestyle/style/lady-starmer-wears-custom-made-dress-at-london-fashion-week-amid-free-clothes-row/ar-AA1qEBCC?ocid=BingNewsSerp

    Interesting who this kind of reputational damage sticks to and who it doesnt. Both Tony and Cherie were well renowned 'grabbers'. Neither coming from proper money, solicited and gladly chomped through whatever they could, but it didnt hurt Tony in office.
    Starmer doesnt seem to have any kind of honeymoon protection at all.
    During Blair's time the economic situation was generally favourable and they were able spray money around so people didn't care very much about the Blairs "grabbing"

    Lord and Lady Starmer swanning around in the finest clothes someone else's money can buy while pensioners are going to freeze this winter is a rather harder "sell"
    Pensioners have been mollycoddled for far too long.

    We’re all in this together.

    We had a PM in Boris Johnson that dressed like a scruff, it’s good for the UK for a PM to wear the best.
    Can anyone looking really tell the difference between someone whose clothes cost £150 and someone whose clothes cost £1500? If they can, that says rather more about the observer than the observed.
    I can, but then I have a keen eye for this.
    See the second half of my comment above :wink:

    When I was young, putting a lot of effort (and certainly a lot of time and/or expense) into your appearance was a bit frowned upon. You were expected, if possible, to achieve a certain level of cleanliness and/or personal hygiene, but anything more than that was a bit suspect - a bit 'look at me'. Actually, I say 'when I was young', I suspect most of men of my generation still think that way.
    Maybe that is true, but it's hardly something to be proud of, is it?
    I kind of think it is. We used to consider vanity a vice rather than a virtue. We used to consider showing off something to be dissuaded. We used to mock peacockery. A certain parsimoniousness whn it comes to one's appearance seems to me to be something to be applauded.
    By which I don't necessarily mean turning up in a t-shirt riven with holes and ketchup stains. But I rather disdain the mindset which thinks it acceptable to spend £1000 a year or more on one's own appearance. It seems frivolous.
    Do you remember the book of sports lists? I remember a list in it of sportsmen who cared rather too much for their own appearance - it included, I think, Peter Shilton, who would drive to a city 30 miles away for his particular needs for a haircut, and, possibly, Kevin Keegan, who spent rather more than the then-quite-daring £5 a month on a haircut. And someone who spent a lot on clothes, no doubt. But the fact that ten such people could be picked out showed how comparatively rare that sort of vanity was in those days. If you made a list now of sportsmen who cared too much for their own appearance you'd be here until doomsday.

    Do you apply these hairshirt morals to women too, or just men?
    I can tell that you don't agree, Anabobz, but I'm guessing you're about my age? Do you not think values on this have shifted somewhat in our lifetimes?
    It's not a massive issue. I mean, of all the vices that there are, vanity/frivolousness/attention seeking is rather low on the list. But still - it strikes me as an odd change, and odd that it's so uncommented on.
    It's a reasonable question whether it applies in my mind to both men and women - not least because the instinctive reaction to someone who, for example, spends £30 or more on a haircut is that doing so is a bit unmanly. But on reflection, yes, I'd say I do apply these 'hairshirt morals' to women as well, or at least something similar. There is no need to spend thousands on clothes, and drawing attention to doing so, just looks a bit like conspicuous consumption.

    There's a quite low upper ceiling to how good anyone - male or female - can look, and expense and effort which goes beyond that is not only wasted but also looks a bit, well, crass.

    As I say above - these aren't strongly held feelings. But I feel kind of sure this is how everyone used to feel, and I don't understand how and why the dial has shifted.

    See also - tattoos.
    How much did your current shirt cost? I'm guessing around a month's income for around 650m people.

    Everything is relative. So what if people pay a lot for this or that? If they can afford it it doesn't make it extravagant or vain.
    Yebbut, 40 years ago it would have done. I'm not so much defending my own position as expressing bafflement that values of this have shifted so much in my lifetime without real comment.

    And in answer to your rhetorical question, about £25.

    I'm not necessarily against spending money. I've previously lamented my decision not to by a painting, which is clearly a frivolous purchase. Though if I spend money on clothing, I have to get a LOT of wear out of the item to justify it to myself. (And I don't think I've ever spent over £70 on a non-footwear clothing item; and the most I have ever spent on footwear was on a standard pair of Dr. Marten boots, which exemplify the sort of sartorial utilitarianism I favour.)

    I just instinctively disapprove slightly of excess effort with one's own appearance, and of men who dress to draw attention to themselves. This is just the values of the world I grew up in. It was so ingrained it was hardly worthy of comment. And now it isn't. Do you not find this interesting?
  • TazTaz Posts: 14,361
    TOPPING said:

    Cookie said:

    FPT:

    Cookie said:

    Cookie said:

    Cookie said:

    GIN1138 said:

    Taz said:

    Unfortunate timing

    Victoria Starmer has been pictured at a London Fashion Week show wearing a custom-made designer dress amid a row over her receiving free clothes.

    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/lifestyle/style/lady-starmer-wears-custom-made-dress-at-london-fashion-week-amid-free-clothes-row/ar-AA1qEBCC?ocid=BingNewsSerp

    Interesting who this kind of reputational damage sticks to and who it doesnt. Both Tony and Cherie were well renowned 'grabbers'. Neither coming from proper money, solicited and gladly chomped through whatever they could, but it didnt hurt Tony in office.
    Starmer doesnt seem to have any kind of honeymoon protection at all.
    During Blair's time the economic situation was generally favourable and they were able spray money around so people didn't care very much about the Blairs "grabbing"

    Lord and Lady Starmer swanning around in the finest clothes someone else's money can buy while pensioners are going to freeze this winter is a rather harder "sell"
    Pensioners have been mollycoddled for far too long.

    We’re all in this together.

    We had a PM in Boris Johnson that dressed like a scruff, it’s good for the UK for a PM to wear the best.
    Can anyone looking really tell the difference between someone whose clothes cost £150 and someone whose clothes cost £1500? If they can, that says rather more about the observer than the observed.
    I can, but then I have a keen eye for this.
    See the second half of my comment above :wink:

    When I was young, putting a lot of effort (and certainly a lot of time and/or expense) into your appearance was a bit frowned upon. You were expected, if possible, to achieve a certain level of cleanliness and/or personal hygiene, but anything more than that was a bit suspect - a bit 'look at me'. Actually, I say 'when I was young', I suspect most of men of my generation still think that way.
    Maybe that is true, but it's hardly something to be proud of, is it?
    I kind of think it is. We used to consider vanity a vice rather than a virtue. We used to consider showing off something to be dissuaded. We used to mock peacockery. A certain parsimoniousness whn it comes to one's appearance seems to me to be something to be applauded.
    By which I don't necessarily mean turning up in a t-shirt riven with holes and ketchup stains. But I rather disdain the mindset which thinks it acceptable to spend £1000 a year or more on one's own appearance. It seems frivolous.
    Do you remember the book of sports lists? I remember a list in it of sportsmen who cared rather too much for their own appearance - it included, I think, Peter Shilton, who would drive to a city 30 miles away for his particular needs for a haircut, and, possibly, Kevin Keegan, who spent rather more than the then-quite-daring £5 a month on a haircut. And someone who spent a lot on clothes, no doubt. But the fact that ten such people could be picked out showed how comparatively rare that sort of vanity was in those days. If you made a list now of sportsmen who cared too much for their own appearance you'd be here until doomsday.

    Do you apply these hairshirt morals to women too, or just men?
    I can tell that you don't agree, Anabobz, but I'm guessing you're about my age? Do you not think values on this have shifted somewhat in our lifetimes?
    It's not a massive issue. I mean, of all the vices that there are, vanity/frivolousness/attention seeking is rather low on the list. But still - it strikes me as an odd change, and odd that it's so uncommented on.
    It's a reasonable question whether it applies in my mind to both men and women - not least because the instinctive reaction to someone who, for example, spends £30 or more on a haircut is that doing so is a bit unmanly. But on reflection, yes, I'd say I do apply these 'hairshirt morals' to women as well, or at least something similar. There is no need to spend thousands on clothes, and drawing attention to doing so, just looks a bit like conspicuous consumption.

    There's a quite low upper ceiling to how good anyone - male or female - can look, and expense and effort which goes beyond that is not only wasted but also looks a bit, well, crass.

    As I say above - these aren't strongly held feelings. But I feel kind of sure this is how everyone used to feel, and I don't understand how and why the dial has shifted.

    See also - tattoos.
    How much did your current shirt cost? I'm guessing around a month's income for around 650m people.

    Everything is relative. So what if people pay a lot for this or that? If they can afford it it doesn't make it extravagant or vain.
    Indeed it is. I remember on a local takeaway and restaurant facebook group getting some abusive comments because we went to the restaurant Solstice, in Newcastle, and paid around £500 for the pleasure. Well worth every penny.

    However because people go to food banks and there is a cost of living crisis and some people can only afford a cheap meal at Spoons I am somehow a bad person for doing this.

    Seriously, GTF.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,180
    If a plane crashes on the Ukraine/Republic of China border, which side do you bury the survivors?
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 71,015
    Unpopular said:

    TOPPING said:

    This is all bollocks. PB has determined that anyone who supports Trump is a crank and a lunatic. It can't be that close so someone has blundered.

    Either that or PB is talking through its heart not its head.

    Of course thinking that Trump and his supporters are cranks and lunatics doesn't mean that the race can't also be close. I think Rochdale might be notable in saying that it will be a blow out for Harris but most people seem to think it will be close.
    History provides plenty of examples to show that you don't have to be either a crank or a lunatic to be persuaded to vote (sometimes vote enthusiastically) for one.
  • CookieCookie Posts: 13,765
    IanB2 said:

    algarkirk said:

    TOPPING said:

    This is all bollocks. PB has determined that anyone who supports Trump is a crank and a lunatic. It can't be that close so someone has blundered.

    Either that or PB is talking through its heart not its head.

    We saw similar with Brexit. At the Uni all my colleagues expressed surprise at the result - no-one they knew voted for Brexit. They failed to see the self-selected bubble that they lived in.

    Trump is the same. Almost all on PB see him as an extremely dangerous threat to democracy and potentially the free world. No-one can understand the mentality of someone in the US would is a supporter.
    More or less true but two qualifications. With Brexit, lots of London professional types would say at first that everyone they knew was for Remain, but when examining carefully they knew perfectly well that the secretaries, cleaners, tea ladies, footmen, window cleaners and taxi drivers included a lot of Leavers. But actually (and this was truly significant to the result and why it happened) they didn't think they really counted.

    With Trump, he is dangerous and deranged. It is not at all difficult to see why people vote for him, and also that the same people are not all that good at giving a rational account of why.
    My brother told me during the campaign that almost all of his restaurant customers were leave. And that’s in the Home Counties. Indeed, he voted leave himself, but only as a protest, never expecting they would win.
    He never expected they would win even though all his customers were voting Leave?
  • TOPPING said:

    TOPPING said:

    This is all bollocks. PB has determined that anyone who supports Trump is a crank and a lunatic. It can't be that close so someone has blundered.

    Either that or PB is talking through its heart not its head.

    We saw similar with Brexit. At the Uni all my colleagues expressed surprise at the result - no-one they knew voted for Brexit. They failed to see the self-selected bubble that they lived in.

    Trump is the same. Almost all on PB see him as an extremely dangerous threat to democracy and potentially the free world. No-one can understand the mentality of someone in the US would is a supporter.
    Yep absolutely. It is one of PB's more notable failings.
    I'm the opposite to @kinabalu, I think the turnout surprise will be from low-propensity voters who will break overwhelmingly for Trump. Young women have already been mobilised over the past two elections.
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 42,936

    TOPPING said:

    This is all bollocks. PB has determined that anyone who supports Trump is a crank and a lunatic. It can't be that close so someone has blundered.

    Either that or PB is talking through its heart not its head.

    That is bollocks.

    People can support Trump without sounding like a crank or a lunatic. Trump appeals to some moderate Americans for some good reasons; and the Democrats can repel some moderate Americans. There is no issue with discussing these.

    What amuses/annoys some on here are:
    *) people who claim to be anti-Trump and then do nothing but promote Trump.
    *) people who promote some of Trumps more (ahem) insane rhetoric as if it is real.
    Nah. Trump drives people mad on here. It's why I am such a passionate Trump supporter. It would genuinely be funny if he won for the PB lolz alone.

    Would he be "dangerous" in office? Not more or less than other POTUSs.
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,479
    Cookie said:

    TOPPING said:

    Cookie said:

    FPT:

    Cookie said:

    Cookie said:

    Cookie said:

    GIN1138 said:

    Taz said:

    Unfortunate timing

    Victoria Starmer has been pictured at a London Fashion Week show wearing a custom-made designer dress amid a row over her receiving free clothes.

    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/lifestyle/style/lady-starmer-wears-custom-made-dress-at-london-fashion-week-amid-free-clothes-row/ar-AA1qEBCC?ocid=BingNewsSerp

    Interesting who this kind of reputational damage sticks to and who it doesnt. Both Tony and Cherie were well renowned 'grabbers'. Neither coming from proper money, solicited and gladly chomped through whatever they could, but it didnt hurt Tony in office.
    Starmer doesnt seem to have any kind of honeymoon protection at all.
    During Blair's time the economic situation was generally favourable and they were able spray money around so people didn't care very much about the Blairs "grabbing"

    Lord and Lady Starmer swanning around in the finest clothes someone else's money can buy while pensioners are going to freeze this winter is a rather harder "sell"
    Pensioners have been mollycoddled for far too long.

    We’re all in this together.

    We had a PM in Boris Johnson that dressed like a scruff, it’s good for the UK for a PM to wear the best.
    Can anyone looking really tell the difference between someone whose clothes cost £150 and someone whose clothes cost £1500? If they can, that says rather more about the observer than the observed.
    I can, but then I have a keen eye for this.
    See the second half of my comment above :wink:

    When I was young, putting a lot of effort (and certainly a lot of time and/or expense) into your appearance was a bit frowned upon. You were expected, if possible, to achieve a certain level of cleanliness and/or personal hygiene, but anything more than that was a bit suspect - a bit 'look at me'. Actually, I say 'when I was young', I suspect most of men of my generation still think that way.
    Maybe that is true, but it's hardly something to be proud of, is it?
    I kind of think it is. We used to consider vanity a vice rather than a virtue. We used to consider showing off something to be dissuaded. We used to mock peacockery. A certain parsimoniousness whn it comes to one's appearance seems to me to be something to be applauded.
    By which I don't necessarily mean turning up in a t-shirt riven with holes and ketchup stains. But I rather disdain the mindset which thinks it acceptable to spend £1000 a year or more on one's own appearance. It seems frivolous.
    Do you remember the book of sports lists? I remember a list in it of sportsmen who cared rather too much for their own appearance - it included, I think, Peter Shilton, who would drive to a city 30 miles away for his particular needs for a haircut, and, possibly, Kevin Keegan, who spent rather more than the then-quite-daring £5 a month on a haircut. And someone who spent a lot on clothes, no doubt. But the fact that ten such people could be picked out showed how comparatively rare that sort of vanity was in those days. If you made a list now of sportsmen who cared too much for their own appearance you'd be here until doomsday.

    Do you apply these hairshirt morals to women too, or just men?
    I can tell that you don't agree, Anabobz, but I'm guessing you're about my age? Do you not think values on this have shifted somewhat in our lifetimes?
    It's not a massive issue. I mean, of all the vices that there are, vanity/frivolousness/attention seeking is rather low on the list. But still - it strikes me as an odd change, and odd that it's so uncommented on.
    It's a reasonable question whether it applies in my mind to both men and women - not least because the instinctive reaction to someone who, for example, spends £30 or more on a haircut is that doing so is a bit unmanly. But on reflection, yes, I'd say I do apply these 'hairshirt morals' to women as well, or at least something similar. There is no need to spend thousands on clothes, and drawing attention to doing so, just looks a bit like conspicuous consumption.

    There's a quite low upper ceiling to how good anyone - male or female - can look, and expense and effort which goes beyond that is not only wasted but also looks a bit, well, crass.

    As I say above - these aren't strongly held feelings. But I feel kind of sure this is how everyone used to feel, and I don't understand how and why the dial has shifted.

    See also - tattoos.
    How much did your current shirt cost? I'm guessing around a month's income for around 650m people.

    Everything is relative. So what if people pay a lot for this or that? If they can afford it it doesn't make it extravagant or vain.
    Yebbut, 40 years ago it would have done. I'm not so much defending my own position as expressing bafflement that values of this have shifted so much in my lifetime without real comment.

    And in answer to your rhetorical question, about £25.

    I'm not necessarily against spending money. I've previously lamented my decision not to by a painting, which is clearly a frivolous purchase. Though if I spend money on clothing, I have to get a LOT of wear out of the item to justify it to myself. (And I don't think I've ever spent over £70 on a non-footwear clothing item; and the most I have ever spent on footwear was on a standard pair of Dr. Marten boots, which exemplify the sort of sartorial utilitarianism I favour.)

    I just instinctively disapprove slightly of excess effort with one's own appearance, and of men who dress to draw attention to themselves. This is just the values of the world I grew up in. It was so ingrained it was hardly worthy of comment. And now it isn't. Do you not find this interesting?
    You have never spent more than £70 on a... suit?
  • Good to see we are back to the basket of deplorables again.

    From a BBC report in a swing county in Michigan

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy0nerwe8rro)

    "On the streets of Saginaw, Kathleen Skelcy was knocking on doors, busy canvassing for Harris.

    She told me she finds it a struggle to see any rationale behind the political motivations of her opponents.

    “That’s what’s scary, trying to understand these people and their thinking,” she said.

    “I just think they’re not educated, or they fell asleep in school or something.”""
  • CookieCookie Posts: 13,765
    algarkirk said:

    TOPPING said:

    This is all bollocks. PB has determined that anyone who supports Trump is a crank and a lunatic. It can't be that close so someone has blundered.

    Either that or PB is talking through its heart not its head.

    We saw similar with Brexit. At the Uni all my colleagues expressed surprise at the result - no-one they knew voted for Brexit. They failed to see the self-selected bubble that they lived in.

    Trump is the same. Almost all on PB see him as an extremely dangerous threat to democracy and potentially the free world. No-one can understand the mentality of someone in the US would is a supporter.
    More or less true but two qualifications. With Brexit, lots of London professional types would say at first that everyone they knew was for Remain, but when examining carefully they knew perfectly well that the secretaries, cleaners, tea ladies, footmen, window cleaners and taxi drivers included a lot of Leavers. But actually (and this was truly significant to the result and why it happened) they didn't think they really counted.

    With Trump, he is dangerous and deranged. It is not at all difficult to see why people vote for him, and also that the same people are not all that good at giving a rational account of why.
    A friend of mine who was a BBC presenter called the result pretty well - on exactly that basis. Most of the 'talent' were firmly Remain, but he also spoke to the other staff - make-up, canteen, cleaners etc. and was surprised and interested at the Leaviness of them. I was quite impressed at the extent to which he had got outside his bubble.
  • algarkirkalgarkirk Posts: 12,496
    Taz said:

    TOPPING said:

    TOPPING said:

    This is all bollocks. PB has determined that anyone who supports Trump is a crank and a lunatic. It can't be that close so someone has blundered.

    Either that or PB is talking through its heart not its head.

    We saw similar with Brexit. At the Uni all my colleagues expressed surprise at the result - no-one they knew voted for Brexit. They failed to see the self-selected bubble that they lived in.

    Trump is the same. Almost all on PB see him as an extremely dangerous threat to democracy and potentially the free world. No-one can understand the mentality of someone in the US would is a supporter.
    Yep absolutely. It is one of PB's more notable failings.
    I would say it is also the same with Reform.
    I very much doubt if that is quite true. Reform is an English branch of something that much of Europe is seeing, and the movers and shakers are seeking to grapple with, have not yet decided whether to manage it or become it, and where several lines of direction are clear but a policy totality is missing.

    The UK oddity is that the 'populist' vote is so small compared with some other countries, and its leadership so thin (ie exactly one flamboyant figure head on the back benches).

    Most PBers know a bit about Italy, France, Germany, Scandinavia, Hungary etc.
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 42,936
    Taz said:

    TOPPING said:

    TOPPING said:

    This is all bollocks. PB has determined that anyone who supports Trump is a crank and a lunatic. It can't be that close so someone has blundered.

    Either that or PB is talking through its heart not its head.

    We saw similar with Brexit. At the Uni all my colleagues expressed surprise at the result - no-one they knew voted for Brexit. They failed to see the self-selected bubble that they lived in.

    Trump is the same. Almost all on PB see him as an extremely dangerous threat to democracy and potentially the free world. No-one can understand the mentality of someone in the US would is a supporter.
    Yep absolutely. It is one of PB's more notable failings.
    I would say it is also the same with Reform.
    There is a brilliant book (I've mentioned it a zillion times before) called "Mad Mobs and Englishmen" about the 2011 UK riots. The book seeks to explain the behaviour of those involved within a socio-ecnomic context.

    I have asked them if they intend to do the same for the Stockport riots and while admitting it is "complicated" have so far unreservedly condemned the latter phenomenon.

    Reading the 2011 book, however, you could apply much of what was written then to the Stockport rioters more recently.
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,479
    Yes, Trump is a lunatic.

    Yes, the race is close.

    No, we don't know what the outcome is and anyone who thinks they "know" is either delusional or attention-seeking, possibly both.
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 42,543
    TOPPING said:

    TOPPING said:

    This is all bollocks. PB has determined that anyone who supports Trump is a crank and a lunatic. It can't be that close so someone has blundered.

    Either that or PB is talking through its heart not its head.

    That is bollocks.

    People can support Trump without sounding like a crank or a lunatic. Trump appeals to some moderate Americans for some good reasons; and the Democrats can repel some moderate Americans. There is no issue with discussing these.

    What amuses/annoys some on here are:
    *) people who claim to be anti-Trump and then do nothing but promote Trump.
    *) people who promote some of Trumps more (ahem) insane rhetoric as if it is real.
    Nah. Trump drives people mad on here. It's why I am such a passionate Trump supporter. It would genuinely be funny if he won for the PB lolz alone.

    Would he be "dangerous" in office? Not more or less than other POTUSs.
    I think your post is evidence he's driving *you* mad, not other PBers.... ;)
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,479
    kamski said:

    mwadams said:

    It's always this close. The generations of gerrymandering mean it is a handful of precincts in a handful of states that determine the outcome. Polling is almost irrelevant.

    "precincts"
    Yes, that is what wards (or the equivalent) are called in the States. What's your point?
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,180
    Cookie said:

    algarkirk said:

    TOPPING said:

    This is all bollocks. PB has determined that anyone who supports Trump is a crank and a lunatic. It can't be that close so someone has blundered.

    Either that or PB is talking through its heart not its head.

    We saw similar with Brexit. At the Uni all my colleagues expressed surprise at the result - no-one they knew voted for Brexit. They failed to see the self-selected bubble that they lived in.

    Trump is the same. Almost all on PB see him as an extremely dangerous threat to democracy and potentially the free world. No-one can understand the mentality of someone in the US would is a supporter.
    More or less true but two qualifications. With Brexit, lots of London professional types would say at first that everyone they knew was for Remain, but when examining carefully they knew perfectly well that the secretaries, cleaners, tea ladies, footmen, window cleaners and taxi drivers included a lot of Leavers. But actually (and this was truly significant to the result and why it happened) they didn't think they really counted.

    With Trump, he is dangerous and deranged. It is not at all difficult to see why people vote for him, and also that the same people are not all that good at giving a rational account of why.
    A friend of mine who was a BBC presenter called the result pretty well - on exactly that basis. Most of the 'talent' were firmly Remain, but he also spoke to the other staff - make-up, canteen, cleaners etc. and was surprised and interested at the Leaviness of them. I was quite impressed at the extent to which he had got outside his bubble.
    I asked people I knew back in Wilshire. The incomers, nice jobs, living in the nice houses, were 100% remain. The original locals, who live in the ugly houses the other side of the hill - solid Leave.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 71,015
    TOPPING said:

    TOPPING said:

    This is all bollocks. PB has determined that anyone who supports Trump is a crank and a lunatic. It can't be that close so someone has blundered.

    Either that or PB is talking through its heart not its head.

    That is bollocks.

    People can support Trump without sounding like a crank or a lunatic. Trump appeals to some moderate Americans for some good reasons; and the Democrats can repel some moderate Americans. There is no issue with discussing these.

    What amuses/annoys some on here are:
    *) people who claim to be anti-Trump and then do nothing but promote Trump.
    *) people who promote some of Trumps more (ahem) insane rhetoric as if it is real.
    Nah. Trump drives people mad on here. It's why I am such a passionate Trump supporter. It would genuinely be funny if he won for the PB lolz alone.

    Would he be "dangerous" in office? Not more or less than other POTUSs.
    Sure.

    I've remarked before on your "I'm above the fray/nothing really matters" stance.
    Classic example,
  • CookieCookie Posts: 13,765

    Cookie said:

    TOPPING said:

    Cookie said:

    FPT:

    Cookie said:

    Cookie said:

    Cookie said:

    GIN1138 said:

    Taz said:

    Unfortunate timing

    Victoria Starmer has been pictured at a London Fashion Week show wearing a custom-made designer dress amid a row over her receiving free clothes.

    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/lifestyle/style/lady-starmer-wears-custom-made-dress-at-london-fashion-week-amid-free-clothes-row/ar-AA1qEBCC?ocid=BingNewsSerp

    Interesting who this kind of reputational damage sticks to and who it doesnt. Both Tony and Cherie were well renowned 'grabbers'. Neither coming from proper money, solicited and gladly chomped through whatever they could, but it didnt hurt Tony in office.
    Starmer doesnt seem to have any kind of honeymoon protection at all.
    During Blair's time the economic situation was generally favourable and they were able spray money around so people didn't care very much about the Blairs "grabbing"

    Lord and Lady Starmer swanning around in the finest clothes someone else's money can buy while pensioners are going to freeze this winter is a rather harder "sell"
    Pensioners have been mollycoddled for far too long.

    We’re all in this together.

    We had a PM in Boris Johnson that dressed like a scruff, it’s good for the UK for a PM to wear the best.
    Can anyone looking really tell the difference between someone whose clothes cost £150 and someone whose clothes cost £1500? If they can, that says rather more about the observer than the observed.
    I can, but then I have a keen eye for this.
    See the second half of my comment above :wink:

    When I was young, putting a lot of effort (and certainly a lot of time and/or expense) into your appearance was a bit frowned upon. You were expected, if possible, to achieve a certain level of cleanliness and/or personal hygiene, but anything more than that was a bit suspect - a bit 'look at me'. Actually, I say 'when I was young', I suspect most of men of my generation still think that way.
    Maybe that is true, but it's hardly something to be proud of, is it?
    I kind of think it is. We used to consider vanity a vice rather than a virtue. We used to consider showing off something to be dissuaded. We used to mock peacockery. A certain parsimoniousness whn it comes to one's appearance seems to me to be something to be applauded.
    By which I don't necessarily mean turning up in a t-shirt riven with holes and ketchup stains. But I rather disdain the mindset which thinks it acceptable to spend £1000 a year or more on one's own appearance. It seems frivolous.
    Do you remember the book of sports lists? I remember a list in it of sportsmen who cared rather too much for their own appearance - it included, I think, Peter Shilton, who would drive to a city 30 miles away for his particular needs for a haircut, and, possibly, Kevin Keegan, who spent rather more than the then-quite-daring £5 a month on a haircut. And someone who spent a lot on clothes, no doubt. But the fact that ten such people could be picked out showed how comparatively rare that sort of vanity was in those days. If you made a list now of sportsmen who cared too much for their own appearance you'd be here until doomsday.

    Do you apply these hairshirt morals to women too, or just men?
    I can tell that you don't agree, Anabobz, but I'm guessing you're about my age? Do you not think values on this have shifted somewhat in our lifetimes?
    It's not a massive issue. I mean, of all the vices that there are, vanity/frivolousness/attention seeking is rather low on the list. But still - it strikes me as an odd change, and odd that it's so uncommented on.
    It's a reasonable question whether it applies in my mind to both men and women - not least because the instinctive reaction to someone who, for example, spends £30 or more on a haircut is that doing so is a bit unmanly. But on reflection, yes, I'd say I do apply these 'hairshirt morals' to women as well, or at least something similar. There is no need to spend thousands on clothes, and drawing attention to doing so, just looks a bit like conspicuous consumption.

    There's a quite low upper ceiling to how good anyone - male or female - can look, and expense and effort which goes beyond that is not only wasted but also looks a bit, well, crass.

    As I say above - these aren't strongly held feelings. But I feel kind of sure this is how everyone used to feel, and I don't understand how and why the dial has shifted.

    See also - tattoos.
    How much did your current shirt cost? I'm guessing around a month's income for around 650m people.

    Everything is relative. So what if people pay a lot for this or that? If they can afford it it doesn't make it extravagant or vain.
    Yebbut, 40 years ago it would have done. I'm not so much defending my own position as expressing bafflement that values of this have shifted so much in my lifetime without real comment.

    And in answer to your rhetorical question, about £25.

    I'm not necessarily against spending money. I've previously lamented my decision not to by a painting, which is clearly a frivolous purchase. Though if I spend money on clothing, I have to get a LOT of wear out of the item to justify it to myself. (And I don't think I've ever spent over £70 on a non-footwear clothing item; and the most I have ever spent on footwear was on a standard pair of Dr. Marten boots, which exemplify the sort of sartorial utilitarianism I favour.)

    I just instinctively disapprove slightly of excess effort with one's own appearance, and of men who dress to draw attention to themselves. This is just the values of the world I grew up in. It was so ingrained it was hardly worthy of comment. And now it isn't. Do you not find this interesting?
    You have never spent more than £70 on a... suit?
    Well I consider a suit at least two separate items of clothing! So, yeah, probably, never spent more than £70 or a jacket or a pair of suit trousers. But cumulatively, yes, over £100 on a suit. I have little call nowadays for suits. I wear them, what, once a month or so now? Only wearing one today because my normal moderately-smart trousers for the office are in the wash.
    I've half-heartedly tried on more expensive suits but they don't look any better on me than cheap ones from Slaters or M&S.

    (I am also, remarkably, wearing a tie, because the collar on my shirt goes annoyingly wide without one. Quite enjoying it, as it happens.)
  • algarkirk said:

    TOPPING said:

    This is all bollocks. PB has determined that anyone who supports Trump is a crank and a lunatic. It can't be that close so someone has blundered.

    Either that or PB is talking through its heart not its head.

    We saw similar with Brexit. At the Uni all my colleagues expressed surprise at the result - no-one they knew voted for Brexit. They failed to see the self-selected bubble that they lived in.

    Trump is the same. Almost all on PB see him as an extremely dangerous threat to democracy and potentially the free world. No-one can understand the mentality of someone in the US would is a supporter.
    More or less true but two qualifications. With Brexit, lots of London professional types would say at first that everyone they knew was for Remain, but when examining carefully they knew perfectly well that the secretaries, cleaners, tea ladies, footmen, window cleaners and taxi drivers included a lot of Leavers. But actually (and this was truly significant to the result and why it happened) they didn't think they really counted.

    With Trump, he is dangerous and deranged. It is not at all difficult to see why people vote for him, and also that the same people are not all that good at giving a rational account of why.
    My rule of thumb is that, given the past polling has tended to underestimate Trump's vote rather than overestimate Clinton / Biden's, any state where Harris is polling <50% has to be considered at risk. Looking at what was posted here (https://www.270towin.com/2024-presidential-election-polls/), that puts the following at risk and / or Trump the favourite:

    NV
    AZ
    MI
    MN (just)
    NC
    FL
    GA
    PA
    OH
    NE-2

    VA and OR would fall into that category under that criteria but I can't see Trump winning them. But it is not hard to imagine a scenario where Trump could do better than 2016 in the EC vote on fairly small gains.

  • Taz said:

    TOPPING said:

    Cookie said:

    FPT:

    Cookie said:

    Cookie said:

    Cookie said:

    GIN1138 said:

    Taz said:

    Unfortunate timing

    Victoria Starmer has been pictured at a London Fashion Week show wearing a custom-made designer dress amid a row over her receiving free clothes.

    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/lifestyle/style/lady-starmer-wears-custom-made-dress-at-london-fashion-week-amid-free-clothes-row/ar-AA1qEBCC?ocid=BingNewsSerp

    Interesting who this kind of reputational damage sticks to and who it doesnt. Both Tony and Cherie were well renowned 'grabbers'. Neither coming from proper money, solicited and gladly chomped through whatever they could, but it didnt hurt Tony in office.
    Starmer doesnt seem to have any kind of honeymoon protection at all.
    During Blair's time the economic situation was generally favourable and they were able spray money around so people didn't care very much about the Blairs "grabbing"

    Lord and Lady Starmer swanning around in the finest clothes someone else's money can buy while pensioners are going to freeze this winter is a rather harder "sell"
    Pensioners have been mollycoddled for far too long.

    We’re all in this together.

    We had a PM in Boris Johnson that dressed like a scruff, it’s good for the UK for a PM to wear the best.
    Can anyone looking really tell the difference between someone whose clothes cost £150 and someone whose clothes cost £1500? If they can, that says rather more about the observer than the observed.
    I can, but then I have a keen eye for this.
    See the second half of my comment above :wink:

    When I was young, putting a lot of effort (and certainly a lot of time and/or expense) into your appearance was a bit frowned upon. You were expected, if possible, to achieve a certain level of cleanliness and/or personal hygiene, but anything more than that was a bit suspect - a bit 'look at me'. Actually, I say 'when I was young', I suspect most of men of my generation still think that way.
    Maybe that is true, but it's hardly something to be proud of, is it?
    I kind of think it is. We used to consider vanity a vice rather than a virtue. We used to consider showing off something to be dissuaded. We used to mock peacockery. A certain parsimoniousness whn it comes to one's appearance seems to me to be something to be applauded.
    By which I don't necessarily mean turning up in a t-shirt riven with holes and ketchup stains. But I rather disdain the mindset which thinks it acceptable to spend £1000 a year or more on one's own appearance. It seems frivolous.
    Do you remember the book of sports lists? I remember a list in it of sportsmen who cared rather too much for their own appearance - it included, I think, Peter Shilton, who would drive to a city 30 miles away for his particular needs for a haircut, and, possibly, Kevin Keegan, who spent rather more than the then-quite-daring £5 a month on a haircut. And someone who spent a lot on clothes, no doubt. But the fact that ten such people could be picked out showed how comparatively rare that sort of vanity was in those days. If you made a list now of sportsmen who cared too much for their own appearance you'd be here until doomsday.

    Do you apply these hairshirt morals to women too, or just men?
    I can tell that you don't agree, Anabobz, but I'm guessing you're about my age? Do you not think values on this have shifted somewhat in our lifetimes?
    It's not a massive issue. I mean, of all the vices that there are, vanity/frivolousness/attention seeking is rather low on the list. But still - it strikes me as an odd change, and odd that it's so uncommented on.
    It's a reasonable question whether it applies in my mind to both men and women - not least because the instinctive reaction to someone who, for example, spends £30 or more on a haircut is that doing so is a bit unmanly. But on reflection, yes, I'd say I do apply these 'hairshirt morals' to women as well, or at least something similar. There is no need to spend thousands on clothes, and drawing attention to doing so, just looks a bit like conspicuous consumption.

    There's a quite low upper ceiling to how good anyone - male or female - can look, and expense and effort which goes beyond that is not only wasted but also looks a bit, well, crass.

    As I say above - these aren't strongly held feelings. But I feel kind of sure this is how everyone used to feel, and I don't understand how and why the dial has shifted.

    See also - tattoos.
    How much did your current shirt cost? I'm guessing around a month's income for around 650m people.

    Everything is relative. So what if people pay a lot for this or that? If they can afford it it doesn't make it extravagant or vain.
    Indeed it is. I remember on a local takeaway and restaurant facebook group getting some abusive comments because we went to the restaurant Solstice, in Newcastle, and paid around £500 for the pleasure. Well worth every penny.

    However because people go to food banks and there is a cost of living crisis and some people can only afford a cheap meal at Spoons I am somehow a bad person for doing this.

    Seriously, GTF.
    Facebook is the worst for that kind of thing. You scratch through a local facebook page and you would swear nobody earned more than £20k a year.
    I remember a friend who was an elected official bought himself a new BMW, and someone ranting on the facebook page that somehow it was his taxes that had paid for the car and it was disgusting.
    Some people are reasonably comfortable and think nothing about spending a few hundred pounds on clothing.
    My wife 'popped in' to Rigby and Peller whilst on a mini holiday to Harrogate. Apple pay has no upper limit, it seems.
  • CookieCookie Posts: 13,765
    algarkirk said:

    Taz said:

    TOPPING said:

    TOPPING said:

    This is all bollocks. PB has determined that anyone who supports Trump is a crank and a lunatic. It can't be that close so someone has blundered.

    Either that or PB is talking through its heart not its head.

    We saw similar with Brexit. At the Uni all my colleagues expressed surprise at the result - no-one they knew voted for Brexit. They failed to see the self-selected bubble that they lived in.

    Trump is the same. Almost all on PB see him as an extremely dangerous threat to democracy and potentially the free world. No-one can understand the mentality of someone in the US would is a supporter.
    Yep absolutely. It is one of PB's more notable failings.
    I would say it is also the same with Reform.
    I very much doubt if that is quite true. Reform is an English branch of something that much of Europe is seeing, and the movers and shakers are seeking to grapple with, have not yet decided whether to manage it or become it, and where several lines of direction are clear but a policy totality is missing.

    The UK oddity is that the 'populist' vote is so small compared with some other countries, and its leadership so thin (ie exactly one flamboyant figure head on the back benches).

    Most PBers know a bit about Italy, France, Germany, Scandinavia, Hungary etc.
    I don't think that's exactly right. Reform is (and I oversimplify massively) a party of the grumpy boomer yearning for the Conservative Party of the 1980s. The economics are Thatcherite, and the enthusiasm from the youth for it is as yet small. Whereas much of the populist right on the continent is much more redistributive and gets a lot more support from the youth. (I don't know about AfD - they may be more Reformy?)
    In European terms, Reform is a bit sui generis.
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 42,936
    Cookie said:

    TOPPING said:

    Cookie said:

    FPT:

    Cookie said:

    Cookie said:

    Cookie said:

    GIN1138 said:

    Taz said:

    Unfortunate timing

    Victoria Starmer has been pictured at a London Fashion Week show wearing a custom-made designer dress amid a row over her receiving free clothes.

    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/lifestyle/style/lady-starmer-wears-custom-made-dress-at-london-fashion-week-amid-free-clothes-row/ar-AA1qEBCC?ocid=BingNewsSerp

    Interesting who this kind of reputational damage sticks to and who it doesnt. Both Tony and Cherie were well renowned 'grabbers'. Neither coming from proper money, solicited and gladly chomped through whatever they could, but it didnt hurt Tony in office.
    Starmer doesnt seem to have any kind of honeymoon protection at all.
    During Blair's time the economic situation was generally favourable and they were able spray money around so people didn't care very much about the Blairs "grabbing"

    Lord and Lady Starmer swanning around in the finest clothes someone else's money can buy while pensioners are going to freeze this winter is a rather harder "sell"
    Pensioners have been mollycoddled for far too long.

    We’re all in this together.

    We had a PM in Boris Johnson that dressed like a scruff, it’s good for the UK for a PM to wear the best.
    Can anyone looking really tell the difference between someone whose clothes cost £150 and someone whose clothes cost £1500? If they can, that says rather more about the observer than the observed.
    I can, but then I have a keen eye for this.
    See the second half of my comment above :wink:

    When I was young, putting a lot of effort (and certainly a lot of time and/or expense) into your appearance was a bit frowned upon. You were expected, if possible, to achieve a certain level of cleanliness and/or personal hygiene, but anything more than that was a bit suspect - a bit 'look at me'. Actually, I say 'when I was young', I suspect most of men of my generation still think that way.
    Maybe that is true, but it's hardly something to be proud of, is it?
    I kind of think it is. We used to consider vanity a vice rather than a virtue. We used to consider showing off something to be dissuaded. We used to mock peacockery. A certain parsimoniousness whn it comes to one's appearance seems to me to be something to be applauded.
    By which I don't necessarily mean turning up in a t-shirt riven with holes and ketchup stains. But I rather disdain the mindset which thinks it acceptable to spend £1000 a year or more on one's own appearance. It seems frivolous.
    Do you remember the book of sports lists? I remember a list in it of sportsmen who cared rather too much for their own appearance - it included, I think, Peter Shilton, who would drive to a city 30 miles away for his particular needs for a haircut, and, possibly, Kevin Keegan, who spent rather more than the then-quite-daring £5 a month on a haircut. And someone who spent a lot on clothes, no doubt. But the fact that ten such people could be picked out showed how comparatively rare that sort of vanity was in those days. If you made a list now of sportsmen who cared too much for their own appearance you'd be here until doomsday.

    Do you apply these hairshirt morals to women too, or just men?
    I can tell that you don't agree, Anabobz, but I'm guessing you're about my age? Do you not think values on this have shifted somewhat in our lifetimes?
    It's not a massive issue. I mean, of all the vices that there are, vanity/frivolousness/attention seeking is rather low on the list. But still - it strikes me as an odd change, and odd that it's so uncommented on.
    It's a reasonable question whether it applies in my mind to both men and women - not least because the instinctive reaction to someone who, for example, spends £30 or more on a haircut is that doing so is a bit unmanly. But on reflection, yes, I'd say I do apply these 'hairshirt morals' to women as well, or at least something similar. There is no need to spend thousands on clothes, and drawing attention to doing so, just looks a bit like conspicuous consumption.

    There's a quite low upper ceiling to how good anyone - male or female - can look, and expense and effort which goes beyond that is not only wasted but also looks a bit, well, crass.

    As I say above - these aren't strongly held feelings. But I feel kind of sure this is how everyone used to feel, and I don't understand how and why the dial has shifted.

    See also - tattoos.
    How much did your current shirt cost? I'm guessing around a month's income for around 650m people.

    Everything is relative. So what if people pay a lot for this or that? If they can afford it it doesn't make it extravagant or vain.
    Yebbut, 40 years ago it would have done. I'm not so much defending my own position as expressing bafflement that values of this have shifted so much in my lifetime without real comment.

    And in answer to your rhetorical question, about £25.

    I'm not necessarily against spending money. I've previously lamented my decision not to by a painting, which is clearly a frivolous purchase. Though if I spend money on clothing, I have to get a LOT of wear out of the item to justify it to myself. (And I don't think I've ever spent over £70 on a non-footwear clothing item; and the most I have ever spent on footwear was on a standard pair of Dr. Marten boots, which exemplify the sort of sartorial utilitarianism I favour.)

    I just instinctively disapprove slightly of excess effort with one's own appearance, and of men who dress to draw attention to themselves. This is just the values of the world I grew up in. It was so ingrained it was hardly worthy of comment. And now it isn't. Do you not find this interesting?
    The world you grew up in. As opposed to the world hundreds of years ago where dandyism and foppishness were celebrated.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 71,015

    TOPPING said:

    TOPPING said:

    This is all bollocks. PB has determined that anyone who supports Trump is a crank and a lunatic. It can't be that close so someone has blundered.

    Either that or PB is talking through its heart not its head.

    We saw similar with Brexit. At the Uni all my colleagues expressed surprise at the result - no-one they knew voted for Brexit. They failed to see the self-selected bubble that they lived in.

    Trump is the same. Almost all on PB see him as an extremely dangerous threat to democracy and potentially the free world. No-one can understand the mentality of someone in the US would is a supporter.
    Yep absolutely. It is one of PB's more notable failings.
    I'm the opposite to @kinabalu, I think the turnout surprise will be from low-propensity voters who will break overwhelmingly for Trump. Young women have already been mobilised over the past two elections.
    There is a gender differential in turnout, and the numbers voting increased substantially at the last election.
    But the gap has stayed pretty consistent:
    https://cawp.rutgers.edu/facts/voters/gender-differences-voter-turnout#GGN

    At some point it would have, by simple arithmetic, to narrow if turnout keeps going up. But there's no good evidence that it's likely to do so this year.
  • mercatormercator Posts: 815
    TOPPING said:

    TOPPING said:

    This is all bollocks. PB has determined that anyone who supports Trump is a crank and a lunatic. It can't be that close so someone has blundered.

    Either that or PB is talking through its heart not its head.

    That is bollocks.

    People can support Trump without sounding like a crank or a lunatic. Trump appeals to some moderate Americans for some good reasons; and the Democrats can repel some moderate Americans. There is no issue with discussing these.

    What amuses/annoys some on here are:
    *) people who claim to be anti-Trump and then do nothing but promote Trump.
    *) people who promote some of Trumps more (ahem) insane rhetoric as if it is real.
    Nah. Trump drives people mad on here. It's why I am such a passionate Trump supporter. It would genuinely be funny if he won for the PB lolz alone.

    Would he be "dangerous" in office? Not more or less than other POTUSs.
    I think the lols factor is definitely there, and that he is safer than he looks because he cannot be arsed to go to war, has no moral or ideological motivation to do so, and would rather play golf and be an arse on twitter. I might think different if I lived in the US, but I don't. I don't see the point in endlessly asserting the countless ways in which he fails to conform to UK centrist dadthink as to what a POTUS should be. It's true but not interesting and not predictive of outcomes.
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 42,936
    Nigelb said:

    TOPPING said:

    TOPPING said:

    This is all bollocks. PB has determined that anyone who supports Trump is a crank and a lunatic. It can't be that close so someone has blundered.

    Either that or PB is talking through its heart not its head.

    That is bollocks.

    People can support Trump without sounding like a crank or a lunatic. Trump appeals to some moderate Americans for some good reasons; and the Democrats can repel some moderate Americans. There is no issue with discussing these.

    What amuses/annoys some on here are:
    *) people who claim to be anti-Trump and then do nothing but promote Trump.
    *) people who promote some of Trumps more (ahem) insane rhetoric as if it is real.
    Nah. Trump drives people mad on here. It's why I am such a passionate Trump supporter. It would genuinely be funny if he won for the PB lolz alone.

    Would he be "dangerous" in office? Not more or less than other POTUSs.
    Sure.

    I've remarked before on your "I'm above the fray/nothing really matters" stance.
    Classic example,
    And I've remarked before that much as it is a stretch for you to understand, I am not positioning myself as above the fray. I'm in it to win it. For Trump. I want him to win for genuine political reasons, namely that it doesn't matter too much who is POTUS, and also, and critically, that if he wins it will drive his opponents (eg 97% of PB contributors) insane.
  • WildernessPt2WildernessPt2 Posts: 715
    edited September 16
    TOPPING said:

    Taz said:

    TOPPING said:

    TOPPING said:

    This is all bollocks. PB has determined that anyone who supports Trump is a crank and a lunatic. It can't be that close so someone has blundered.

    Either that or PB is talking through its heart not its head.

    We saw similar with Brexit. At the Uni all my colleagues expressed surprise at the result - no-one they knew voted for Brexit. They failed to see the self-selected bubble that they lived in.

    Trump is the same. Almost all on PB see him as an extremely dangerous threat to democracy and potentially the free world. No-one can understand the mentality of someone in the US would is a supporter.
    Yep absolutely. It is one of PB's more notable failings.
    I would say it is also the same with Reform.
    There is a brilliant book (I've mentioned it a zillion times before) called "Mad Mobs and Englishmen" about the 2011 UK riots. The book seeks to explain the behaviour of those involved within a socio-ecnomic context.

    I have asked them if they intend to do the same for the Stockport riots and while admitting it is "complicated" have so far unreservedly condemned the latter phenomenon.

    Reading the 2011 book, however, you could apply much of what was written then to the Stockport rioters more recently.
    So much throat clearing, more than Bob Flemming:
    https://youtu.be/SKHJFHivO9g?si=0JtbWUXXDujUfTaD
  • CookieCookie Posts: 13,765
    TOPPING said:

    Taz said:

    TOPPING said:

    TOPPING said:

    This is all bollocks. PB has determined that anyone who supports Trump is a crank and a lunatic. It can't be that close so someone has blundered.

    Either that or PB is talking through its heart not its head.

    We saw similar with Brexit. At the Uni all my colleagues expressed surprise at the result - no-one they knew voted for Brexit. They failed to see the self-selected bubble that they lived in.

    Trump is the same. Almost all on PB see him as an extremely dangerous threat to democracy and potentially the free world. No-one can understand the mentality of someone in the US would is a supporter.
    Yep absolutely. It is one of PB's more notable failings.
    I would say it is also the same with Reform.
    There is a brilliant book (I've mentioned it a zillion times before) called "Mad Mobs and Englishmen" about the 2011 UK riots. The book seeks to explain the behaviour of those involved within a socio-ecnomic context.

    I have asked them if they intend to do the same for the Stockport riots and while admitting it is "complicated" have so far unreservedly condemned the latter phenomenon.

    Reading the 2011 book, however, you could apply much of what was written then to the Stockport rioters more recently.
    SOUTHport.

    Nothing bad ever happens in Stockport. It's like heaven, with a viaduct.

    On the 2011 riots - it was a bit of a mixed picture, as I recall? In London it started out with an ostensibly political (i.e. racial) angle - in Manchester, it was largely scallies from Salford who were inspired by the opportunity for free stuff. (Admittedly in London there was a lot of the free stuff angle about it.)
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 71,015
    TOPPING said:

    Nigelb said:

    TOPPING said:

    TOPPING said:

    This is all bollocks. PB has determined that anyone who supports Trump is a crank and a lunatic. It can't be that close so someone has blundered.

    Either that or PB is talking through its heart not its head.

    That is bollocks.

    People can support Trump without sounding like a crank or a lunatic. Trump appeals to some moderate Americans for some good reasons; and the Democrats can repel some moderate Americans. There is no issue with discussing these.

    What amuses/annoys some on here are:
    *) people who claim to be anti-Trump and then do nothing but promote Trump.
    *) people who promote some of Trumps more (ahem) insane rhetoric as if it is real.
    Nah. Trump drives people mad on here. It's why I am such a passionate Trump supporter. It would genuinely be funny if he won for the PB lolz alone.

    Would he be "dangerous" in office? Not more or less than other POTUSs.
    Sure.

    I've remarked before on your "I'm above the fray/nothing really matters" stance.
    Classic example,
    And I've remarked before that much as it is a stretch for you to understand, I am not positioning myself as above the fray. I'm in it to win it. For Trump. I want him to win for genuine political reasons, namely that it doesn't matter too much who is POTUS, and also, and critically, that if he wins it will drive his opponents (eg 97% of PB contributors) insane.
    And your gentle trolling still amuses.
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 42,936

    TOPPING said:

    TOPPING said:

    This is all bollocks. PB has determined that anyone who supports Trump is a crank and a lunatic. It can't be that close so someone has blundered.

    Either that or PB is talking through its heart not its head.

    That is bollocks.

    People can support Trump without sounding like a crank or a lunatic. Trump appeals to some moderate Americans for some good reasons; and the Democrats can repel some moderate Americans. There is no issue with discussing these.

    What amuses/annoys some on here are:
    *) people who claim to be anti-Trump and then do nothing but promote Trump.
    *) people who promote some of Trumps more (ahem) insane rhetoric as if it is real.
    Nah. Trump drives people mad on here. It's why I am such a passionate Trump supporter. It would genuinely be funny if he won for the PB lolz alone.

    Would he be "dangerous" in office? Not more or less than other POTUSs.
    I think your post is evidence he's driving *you* mad, not other PBers.... ;)
    Not for a moment. I have never really taken an interest in US politics because it doesn't affect me and decisions made by POTUS are much of a muchness whoever the person happens to be. As for Trump I think he's brilliant as I have said before in a laugh at not with kind of way. I hope everyone has seen the clip of his speech set to music.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BrCvZmSnKA
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 57,110
    TOPPING said:

    This is all bollocks. PB has determined that anyone who supports Trump is a crank and a lunatic. It can't be that close so someone has blundered.

    Either that or PB is talking through its heart not its head.

    It's bollocks that it's very close?

    I personally am not keen for Trump to win again, but the header is spot on: it is incredibly tight.
  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 18,340
    Cookie said:

    Cookie said:

    TOPPING said:

    Cookie said:

    FPT:

    Cookie said:

    Cookie said:

    Cookie said:

    GIN1138 said:

    Taz said:

    Unfortunate timing

    Victoria Starmer has been pictured at a London Fashion Week show wearing a custom-made designer dress amid a row over her receiving free clothes.

    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/lifestyle/style/lady-starmer-wears-custom-made-dress-at-london-fashion-week-amid-free-clothes-row/ar-AA1qEBCC?ocid=BingNewsSerp

    Interesting who this kind of reputational damage sticks to and who it doesnt. Both Tony and Cherie were well renowned 'grabbers'. Neither coming from proper money, solicited and gladly chomped through whatever they could, but it didnt hurt Tony in office.
    Starmer doesnt seem to have any kind of honeymoon protection at all.
    During Blair's time the economic situation was generally favourable and they were able spray money around so people didn't care very much about the Blairs "grabbing"

    Lord and Lady Starmer swanning around in the finest clothes someone else's money can buy while pensioners are going to freeze this winter is a rather harder "sell"
    Pensioners have been mollycoddled for far too long.

    We’re all in this together.

    We had a PM in Boris Johnson that dressed like a scruff, it’s good for the UK for a PM to wear the best.
    Can anyone looking really tell the difference between someone whose clothes cost £150 and someone whose clothes cost £1500? If they can, that says rather more about the observer than the observed.
    I can, but then I have a keen eye for this.
    See the second half of my comment above :wink:

    When I was young, putting a lot of effort (and certainly a lot of time and/or expense) into your appearance was a bit frowned upon. You were expected, if possible, to achieve a certain level of cleanliness and/or personal hygiene, but anything more than that was a bit suspect - a bit 'look at me'. Actually, I say 'when I was young', I suspect most of men of my generation still think that way.
    Maybe that is true, but it's hardly something to be proud of, is it?
    I kind of think it is. We used to consider vanity a vice rather than a virtue. We used to consider showing off something to be dissuaded. We used to mock peacockery. A certain parsimoniousness whn it comes to one's appearance seems to me to be something to be applauded.
    By which I don't necessarily mean turning up in a t-shirt riven with holes and ketchup stains. But I rather disdain the mindset which thinks it acceptable to spend £1000 a year or more on one's own appearance. It seems frivolous.
    Do you remember the book of sports lists? I remember a list in it of sportsmen who cared rather too much for their own appearance - it included, I think, Peter Shilton, who would drive to a city 30 miles away for his particular needs for a haircut, and, possibly, Kevin Keegan, who spent rather more than the then-quite-daring £5 a month on a haircut. And someone who spent a lot on clothes, no doubt. But the fact that ten such people could be picked out showed how comparatively rare that sort of vanity was in those days. If you made a list now of sportsmen who cared too much for their own appearance you'd be here until doomsday.

    Do you apply these hairshirt morals to women too, or just men?
    I can tell that you don't agree, Anabobz, but I'm guessing you're about my age? Do you not think values on this have shifted somewhat in our lifetimes?
    It's not a massive issue. I mean, of all the vices that there are, vanity/frivolousness/attention seeking is rather low on the list. But still - it strikes me as an odd change, and odd that it's so uncommented on.
    It's a reasonable question whether it applies in my mind to both men and women - not least because the instinctive reaction to someone who, for example, spends £30 or more on a haircut is that doing so is a bit unmanly. But on reflection, yes, I'd say I do apply these 'hairshirt morals' to women as well, or at least something similar. There is no need to spend thousands on clothes, and drawing attention to doing so, just looks a bit like conspicuous consumption.

    There's a quite low upper ceiling to how good anyone - male or female - can look, and expense and effort which goes beyond that is not only wasted but also looks a bit, well, crass.

    As I say above - these aren't strongly held feelings. But I feel kind of sure this is how everyone used to feel, and I don't understand how and why the dial has shifted.

    See also - tattoos.
    How much did your current shirt cost? I'm guessing around a month's income for around 650m people.

    Everything is relative. So what if people pay a lot for this or that? If they can afford it it doesn't make it extravagant or vain.
    Yebbut, 40 years ago it would have done. I'm not so much defending my own position as expressing bafflement that values of this have shifted so much in my lifetime without real comment.

    And in answer to your rhetorical question, about £25.

    I'm not necessarily against spending money. I've previously lamented my decision not to by a painting, which is clearly a frivolous purchase. Though if I spend money on clothing, I have to get a LOT of wear out of the item to justify it to myself. (And I don't think I've ever spent over £70 on a non-footwear clothing item; and the most I have ever spent on footwear was on a standard pair of Dr. Marten boots, which exemplify the sort of sartorial utilitarianism I favour.)

    I just instinctively disapprove slightly of excess effort with one's own appearance, and of men who dress to draw attention to themselves. This is just the values of the world I grew up in. It was so ingrained it was hardly worthy of comment. And now it isn't. Do you not find this interesting?
    You have never spent more than £70 on a... suit?
    Well I consider a suit at least two separate items of clothing! So, yeah, probably, never spent more than £70 or a jacket or a pair of suit trousers. But cumulatively, yes, over £100 on a suit. I have little call nowadays for suits. I wear them, what, once a month or so now? Only wearing one today because my normal moderately-smart trousers for the office are in the wash.
    I've half-heartedly tried on more expensive suits but they don't look any better on me than cheap ones from Slaters or M&S.

    (I am also, remarkably, wearing a tie, because the collar on my shirt goes annoyingly wide without one. Quite enjoying it, as it happens.)
    I've worn a suit twice since the start of the pandemic. Both times at weddings. I've used cash more often.
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 42,936
    rcs1000 said:

    TOPPING said:

    This is all bollocks. PB has determined that anyone who supports Trump is a crank and a lunatic. It can't be that close so someone has blundered.

    Either that or PB is talking through its heart not its head.

    It's bollocks that it's very close?

    I personally am not keen for Trump to win again, but the header is spot on: it is incredibly tight.
    Yes true. Good header. The bollocks bit is the denial of PB-ers that this is in fact the case. Or incomprehension that it could ever be.
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 42,936
    Nigelb said:

    TOPPING said:

    Nigelb said:

    TOPPING said:

    TOPPING said:

    This is all bollocks. PB has determined that anyone who supports Trump is a crank and a lunatic. It can't be that close so someone has blundered.

    Either that or PB is talking through its heart not its head.

    That is bollocks.

    People can support Trump without sounding like a crank or a lunatic. Trump appeals to some moderate Americans for some good reasons; and the Democrats can repel some moderate Americans. There is no issue with discussing these.

    What amuses/annoys some on here are:
    *) people who claim to be anti-Trump and then do nothing but promote Trump.
    *) people who promote some of Trumps more (ahem) insane rhetoric as if it is real.
    Nah. Trump drives people mad on here. It's why I am such a passionate Trump supporter. It would genuinely be funny if he won for the PB lolz alone.

    Would he be "dangerous" in office? Not more or less than other POTUSs.
    Sure.

    I've remarked before on your "I'm above the fray/nothing really matters" stance.
    Classic example,
    And I've remarked before that much as it is a stretch for you to understand, I am not positioning myself as above the fray. I'm in it to win it. For Trump. I want him to win for genuine political reasons, namely that it doesn't matter too much who is POTUS, and also, and critically, that if he wins it will drive his opponents (eg 97% of PB contributors) insane.
    And your gentle trolling still amuses.
    Go The Trump.
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 42,936
    Cookie said:

    TOPPING said:

    Taz said:

    TOPPING said:

    TOPPING said:

    This is all bollocks. PB has determined that anyone who supports Trump is a crank and a lunatic. It can't be that close so someone has blundered.

    Either that or PB is talking through its heart not its head.

    We saw similar with Brexit. At the Uni all my colleagues expressed surprise at the result - no-one they knew voted for Brexit. They failed to see the self-selected bubble that they lived in.

    Trump is the same. Almost all on PB see him as an extremely dangerous threat to democracy and potentially the free world. No-one can understand the mentality of someone in the US would is a supporter.
    Yep absolutely. It is one of PB's more notable failings.
    I would say it is also the same with Reform.
    There is a brilliant book (I've mentioned it a zillion times before) called "Mad Mobs and Englishmen" about the 2011 UK riots. The book seeks to explain the behaviour of those involved within a socio-ecnomic context.

    I have asked them if they intend to do the same for the Stockport riots and while admitting it is "complicated" have so far unreservedly condemned the latter phenomenon.

    Reading the 2011 book, however, you could apply much of what was written then to the Stockport rioters more recently.
    SOUTHport.

    Nothing bad ever happens in Stockport. It's like heaven, with a viaduct.

    On the 2011 riots - it was a bit of a mixed picture, as I recall? In London it started out with an ostensibly political (i.e. racial) angle - in Manchester, it was largely scallies from Salford who were inspired by the opportunity for free stuff. (Admittedly in London there was a lot of the free stuff angle about it.)
    Pretty facile interpretation of the motivation and reasons for the riots. And yes, it was amazingly Stockport.
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 42,936

    Cookie said:

    Cookie said:

    TOPPING said:

    Cookie said:

    FPT:

    Cookie said:

    Cookie said:

    Cookie said:

    GIN1138 said:

    Taz said:

    Unfortunate timing

    Victoria Starmer has been pictured at a London Fashion Week show wearing a custom-made designer dress amid a row over her receiving free clothes.

    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/lifestyle/style/lady-starmer-wears-custom-made-dress-at-london-fashion-week-amid-free-clothes-row/ar-AA1qEBCC?ocid=BingNewsSerp

    Interesting who this kind of reputational damage sticks to and who it doesnt. Both Tony and Cherie were well renowned 'grabbers'. Neither coming from proper money, solicited and gladly chomped through whatever they could, but it didnt hurt Tony in office.
    Starmer doesnt seem to have any kind of honeymoon protection at all.
    During Blair's time the economic situation was generally favourable and they were able spray money around so people didn't care very much about the Blairs "grabbing"

    Lord and Lady Starmer swanning around in the finest clothes someone else's money can buy while pensioners are going to freeze this winter is a rather harder "sell"
    Pensioners have been mollycoddled for far too long.

    We’re all in this together.

    We had a PM in Boris Johnson that dressed like a scruff, it’s good for the UK for a PM to wear the best.
    Can anyone looking really tell the difference between someone whose clothes cost £150 and someone whose clothes cost £1500? If they can, that says rather more about the observer than the observed.
    I can, but then I have a keen eye for this.
    See the second half of my comment above :wink:

    When I was young, putting a lot of effort (and certainly a lot of time and/or expense) into your appearance was a bit frowned upon. You were expected, if possible, to achieve a certain level of cleanliness and/or personal hygiene, but anything more than that was a bit suspect - a bit 'look at me'. Actually, I say 'when I was young', I suspect most of men of my generation still think that way.
    Maybe that is true, but it's hardly something to be proud of, is it?
    I kind of think it is. We used to consider vanity a vice rather than a virtue. We used to consider showing off something to be dissuaded. We used to mock peacockery. A certain parsimoniousness whn it comes to one's appearance seems to me to be something to be applauded.
    By which I don't necessarily mean turning up in a t-shirt riven with holes and ketchup stains. But I rather disdain the mindset which thinks it acceptable to spend £1000 a year or more on one's own appearance. It seems frivolous.
    Do you remember the book of sports lists? I remember a list in it of sportsmen who cared rather too much for their own appearance - it included, I think, Peter Shilton, who would drive to a city 30 miles away for his particular needs for a haircut, and, possibly, Kevin Keegan, who spent rather more than the then-quite-daring £5 a month on a haircut. And someone who spent a lot on clothes, no doubt. But the fact that ten such people could be picked out showed how comparatively rare that sort of vanity was in those days. If you made a list now of sportsmen who cared too much for their own appearance you'd be here until doomsday.

    Do you apply these hairshirt morals to women too, or just men?
    I can tell that you don't agree, Anabobz, but I'm guessing you're about my age? Do you not think values on this have shifted somewhat in our lifetimes?
    It's not a massive issue. I mean, of all the vices that there are, vanity/frivolousness/attention seeking is rather low on the list. But still - it strikes me as an odd change, and odd that it's so uncommented on.
    It's a reasonable question whether it applies in my mind to both men and women - not least because the instinctive reaction to someone who, for example, spends £30 or more on a haircut is that doing so is a bit unmanly. But on reflection, yes, I'd say I do apply these 'hairshirt morals' to women as well, or at least something similar. There is no need to spend thousands on clothes, and drawing attention to doing so, just looks a bit like conspicuous consumption.

    There's a quite low upper ceiling to how good anyone - male or female - can look, and expense and effort which goes beyond that is not only wasted but also looks a bit, well, crass.

    As I say above - these aren't strongly held feelings. But I feel kind of sure this is how everyone used to feel, and I don't understand how and why the dial has shifted.

    See also - tattoos.
    How much did your current shirt cost? I'm guessing around a month's income for around 650m people.

    Everything is relative. So what if people pay a lot for this or that? If they can afford it it doesn't make it extravagant or vain.
    Yebbut, 40 years ago it would have done. I'm not so much defending my own position as expressing bafflement that values of this have shifted so much in my lifetime without real comment.

    And in answer to your rhetorical question, about £25.

    I'm not necessarily against spending money. I've previously lamented my decision not to by a painting, which is clearly a frivolous purchase. Though if I spend money on clothing, I have to get a LOT of wear out of the item to justify it to myself. (And I don't think I've ever spent over £70 on a non-footwear clothing item; and the most I have ever spent on footwear was on a standard pair of Dr. Marten boots, which exemplify the sort of sartorial utilitarianism I favour.)

    I just instinctively disapprove slightly of excess effort with one's own appearance, and of men who dress to draw attention to themselves. This is just the values of the world I grew up in. It was so ingrained it was hardly worthy of comment. And now it isn't. Do you not find this interesting?
    You have never spent more than £70 on a... suit?
    Well I consider a suit at least two separate items of clothing! So, yeah, probably, never spent more than £70 or a jacket or a pair of suit trousers. But cumulatively, yes, over £100 on a suit. I have little call nowadays for suits. I wear them, what, once a month or so now? Only wearing one today because my normal moderately-smart trousers for the office are in the wash.
    I've half-heartedly tried on more expensive suits but they don't look any better on me than cheap ones from Slaters or M&S.

    (I am also, remarkably, wearing a tie, because the collar on my shirt goes annoyingly wide without one. Quite enjoying it, as it happens.)
    I've worn a suit twice since the start of the pandemic. Both times at weddings. I've used cash more often.
    OH NO.
  • CookieCookie Posts: 13,765
    TOPPING said:

    Cookie said:

    TOPPING said:

    Cookie said:

    FPT:

    Cookie said:

    Cookie said:

    Cookie said:

    GIN1138 said:

    Taz said:

    Unfortunate timing

    Victoria Starmer has been pictured at a London Fashion Week show wearing a custom-made designer dress amid a row over her receiving free clothes.

    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/lifestyle/style/lady-starmer-wears-custom-made-dress-at-london-fashion-week-amid-free-clothes-row/ar-AA1qEBCC?ocid=BingNewsSerp

    Interesting who this kind of reputational damage sticks to and who it doesnt. Both Tony and Cherie were well renowned 'grabbers'. Neither coming from proper money, solicited and gladly chomped through whatever they could, but it didnt hurt Tony in office.
    Starmer doesnt seem to have any kind of honeymoon protection at all.
    During Blair's time the economic situation was generally favourable and they were able spray money around so people didn't care very much about the Blairs "grabbing"

    Lord and Lady Starmer swanning around in the finest clothes someone else's money can buy while pensioners are going to freeze this winter is a rather harder "sell"
    Pensioners have been mollycoddled for far too long.

    We’re all in this together.

    We had a PM in Boris Johnson that dressed like a scruff, it’s good for the UK for a PM to wear the best.
    Can anyone looking really tell the difference between someone whose clothes cost £150 and someone whose clothes cost £1500? If they can, that says rather more about the observer than the observed.
    I can, but then I have a keen eye for this.
    See the second half of my comment above :wink:

    When I was young, putting a lot of effort (and certainly a lot of time and/or expense) into your appearance was a bit frowned upon. You were expected, if possible, to achieve a certain level of cleanliness and/or personal hygiene, but anything more than that was a bit suspect - a bit 'look at me'. Actually, I say 'when I was young', I suspect most of men of my generation still think that way.
    Maybe that is true, but it's hardly something to be proud of, is it?
    I kind of think it is. We used to consider vanity a vice rather than a virtue. We used to consider showing off something to be dissuaded. We used to mock peacockery. A certain parsimoniousness whn it comes to one's appearance seems to me to be something to be applauded.
    By which I don't necessarily mean turning up in a t-shirt riven with holes and ketchup stains. But I rather disdain the mindset which thinks it acceptable to spend £1000 a year or more on one's own appearance. It seems frivolous.
    Do you remember the book of sports lists? I remember a list in it of sportsmen who cared rather too much for their own appearance - it included, I think, Peter Shilton, who would drive to a city 30 miles away for his particular needs for a haircut, and, possibly, Kevin Keegan, who spent rather more than the then-quite-daring £5 a month on a haircut. And someone who spent a lot on clothes, no doubt. But the fact that ten such people could be picked out showed how comparatively rare that sort of vanity was in those days. If you made a list now of sportsmen who cared too much for their own appearance you'd be here until doomsday.

    Do you apply these hairshirt morals to women too, or just men?
    I can tell that you don't agree, Anabobz, but I'm guessing you're about my age? Do you not think values on this have shifted somewhat in our lifetimes?
    It's not a massive issue. I mean, of all the vices that there are, vanity/frivolousness/attention seeking is rather low on the list. But still - it strikes me as an odd change, and odd that it's so uncommented on.
    It's a reasonable question whether it applies in my mind to both men and women - not least because the instinctive reaction to someone who, for example, spends £30 or more on a haircut is that doing so is a bit unmanly. But on reflection, yes, I'd say I do apply these 'hairshirt morals' to women as well, or at least something similar. There is no need to spend thousands on clothes, and drawing attention to doing so, just looks a bit like conspicuous consumption.

    There's a quite low upper ceiling to how good anyone - male or female - can look, and expense and effort which goes beyond that is not only wasted but also looks a bit, well, crass.

    As I say above - these aren't strongly held feelings. But I feel kind of sure this is how everyone used to feel, and I don't understand how and why the dial has shifted.

    See also - tattoos.
    How much did your current shirt cost? I'm guessing around a month's income for around 650m people.

    Everything is relative. So what if people pay a lot for this or that? If they can afford it it doesn't make it extravagant or vain.
    Yebbut, 40 years ago it would have done. I'm not so much defending my own position as expressing bafflement that values of this have shifted so much in my lifetime without real comment.

    And in answer to your rhetorical question, about £25.

    I'm not necessarily against spending money. I've previously lamented my decision not to by a painting, which is clearly a frivolous purchase. Though if I spend money on clothing, I have to get a LOT of wear out of the item to justify it to myself. (And I don't think I've ever spent over £70 on a non-footwear clothing item; and the most I have ever spent on footwear was on a standard pair of Dr. Marten boots, which exemplify the sort of sartorial utilitarianism I favour.)

    I just instinctively disapprove slightly of excess effort with one's own appearance, and of men who dress to draw attention to themselves. This is just the values of the world I grew up in. It was so ingrained it was hardly worthy of comment. And now it isn't. Do you not find this interesting?
    The world you grew up in. As opposed to the world hundreds of years ago where dandyism and foppishness were celebrated.
    Indeed - interesting. If only we had some 250 year olds on the board, they could tell us when this changed. My guess: WW1.
    It may actually be that the late 70s/80s/early 90s were the nadir for male sartorial exuberance. I remember my friend's father - who was of a slightly older generation than my own - recollecting his youth of the early 60s, when the key to attracting girls was dressing to the nines and young men would happily wear expensively tailored suits for a night out.
    Whereas when I was young: yes, secretly, you wanted to look good to advance your chances of meeting girls. But you very much didn't want to look like you were trying to look good.
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,479
    edited September 16
    Cookie said:

    Cookie said:

    TOPPING said:

    Cookie said:

    FPT:

    Cookie said:

    Cookie said:

    Cookie said:

    GIN1138 said:

    Taz said:

    Unfortunate timing

    Victoria Starmer has been pictured at a London Fashion Week show wearing a custom-made designer dress amid a row over her receiving free clothes.

    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/lifestyle/style/lady-starmer-wears-custom-made-dress-at-london-fashion-week-amid-free-clothes-row/ar-AA1qEBCC?ocid=BingNewsSerp

    Interesting who this kind of reputational damage sticks to and who it doesnt. Both Tony and Cherie were well renowned 'grabbers'. Neither coming from proper money, solicited and gladly chomped through whatever they could, but it didnt hurt Tony in office.
    Starmer doesnt seem to have any kind of honeymoon protection at all.
    During Blair's time the economic situation was generally favourable and they were able spray money around so people didn't care very much about the Blairs "grabbing"

    Lord and Lady Starmer swanning around in the finest clothes someone else's money can buy while pensioners are going to freeze this winter is a rather harder "sell"
    Pensioners have been mollycoddled for far too long.

    We’re all in this together.

    We had a PM in Boris Johnson that dressed like a scruff, it’s good for the UK for a PM to wear the best.
    Can anyone looking really tell the difference between someone whose clothes cost £150 and someone whose clothes cost £1500? If they can, that says rather more about the observer than the observed.
    I can, but then I have a keen eye for this.
    See the second half of my comment above :wink:

    When I was young, putting a lot of effort (and certainly a lot of time and/or expense) into your appearance was a bit frowned upon. You were expected, if possible, to achieve a certain level of cleanliness and/or personal hygiene, but anything more than that was a bit suspect - a bit 'look at me'. Actually, I say 'when I was young', I suspect most of men of my generation still think that way.
    Maybe that is true, but it's hardly something to be proud of, is it?
    I kind of think it is. We used to consider vanity a vice rather than a virtue. We used to consider showing off something to be dissuaded. We used to mock peacockery. A certain parsimoniousness whn it comes to one's appearance seems to me to be something to be applauded.
    By which I don't necessarily mean turning up in a t-shirt riven with holes and ketchup stains. But I rather disdain the mindset which thinks it acceptable to spend £1000 a year or more on one's own appearance. It seems frivolous.
    Do you remember the book of sports lists? I remember a list in it of sportsmen who cared rather too much for their own appearance - it included, I think, Peter Shilton, who would drive to a city 30 miles away for his particular needs for a haircut, and, possibly, Kevin Keegan, who spent rather more than the then-quite-daring £5 a month on a haircut. And someone who spent a lot on clothes, no doubt. But the fact that ten such people could be picked out showed how comparatively rare that sort of vanity was in those days. If you made a list now of sportsmen who cared too much for their own appearance you'd be here until doomsday.

    Do you apply these hairshirt morals to women too, or just men?
    I can tell that you don't agree, Anabobz, but I'm guessing you're about my age? Do you not think values on this have shifted somewhat in our lifetimes?
    It's not a massive issue. I mean, of all the vices that there are, vanity/frivolousness/attention seeking is rather low on the list. But still - it strikes me as an odd change, and odd that it's so uncommented on.
    It's a reasonable question whether it applies in my mind to both men and women - not least because the instinctive reaction to someone who, for example, spends £30 or more on a haircut is that doing so is a bit unmanly. But on reflection, yes, I'd say I do apply these 'hairshirt morals' to women as well, or at least something similar. There is no need to spend thousands on clothes, and drawing attention to doing so, just looks a bit like conspicuous consumption.

    There's a quite low upper ceiling to how good anyone - male or female - can look, and expense and effort which goes beyond that is not only wasted but also looks a bit, well, crass.

    As I say above - these aren't strongly held feelings. But I feel kind of sure this is how everyone used to feel, and I don't understand how and why the dial has shifted.

    See also - tattoos.
    How much did your current shirt cost? I'm guessing around a month's income for around 650m people.

    Everything is relative. So what if people pay a lot for this or that? If they can afford it it doesn't make it extravagant or vain.
    Yebbut, 40 years ago it would have done. I'm not so much defending my own position as expressing bafflement that values of this have shifted so much in my lifetime without real comment.

    And in answer to your rhetorical question, about £25.

    I'm not necessarily against spending money. I've previously lamented my decision not to by a painting, which is clearly a frivolous purchase. Though if I spend money on clothing, I have to get a LOT of wear out of the item to justify it to myself. (And I don't think I've ever spent over £70 on a non-footwear clothing item; and the most I have ever spent on footwear was on a standard pair of Dr. Marten boots, which exemplify the sort of sartorial utilitarianism I favour.)

    I just instinctively disapprove slightly of excess effort with one's own appearance, and of men who dress to draw attention to themselves. This is just the values of the world I grew up in. It was so ingrained it was hardly worthy of comment. And now it isn't. Do you not find this interesting?
    You have never spent more than £70 on a... suit?
    Well I consider a suit at least two separate items of clothing! So, yeah, probably, never spent more than £70 or a jacket or a pair of suit trousers. But cumulatively, yes, over £100 on a suit. I have little call nowadays for suits. I wear them, what, once a month or so now? Only wearing one today because my normal moderately-smart trousers for the office are in the wash.
    I've half-heartedly tried on more expensive suits but they don't look any better on me than cheap ones from Slaters or M&S.

    (I am also, remarkably, wearing a tie, because the collar on my shirt goes annoyingly wide without one. Quite enjoying it, as it happens.)
    The strange thing is I’m instinctively more like you. I don’t like shopping. I think nice clothes are too expensive. I was brought up not to be ‘vain’. This all upsets my wife who says pride in one’s appearance is a virtue and is more of a Lady Starmer type. She also hates me teasing my son for spending a lot of his time on his hair, because she thinks that men taking more care about themselves is a welcome trend rather than a step towards some spurious notion of ‘vanity’.
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 42,936

    TOPPING said:

    Taz said:

    TOPPING said:

    TOPPING said:

    This is all bollocks. PB has determined that anyone who supports Trump is a crank and a lunatic. It can't be that close so someone has blundered.

    Either that or PB is talking through its heart not its head.

    We saw similar with Brexit. At the Uni all my colleagues expressed surprise at the result - no-one they knew voted for Brexit. They failed to see the self-selected bubble that they lived in.

    Trump is the same. Almost all on PB see him as an extremely dangerous threat to democracy and potentially the free world. No-one can understand the mentality of someone in the US would is a supporter.
    Yep absolutely. It is one of PB's more notable failings.
    I would say it is also the same with Reform.
    There is a brilliant book (I've mentioned it a zillion times before) called "Mad Mobs and Englishmen" about the 2011 UK riots. The book seeks to explain the behaviour of those involved within a socio-ecnomic context.

    I have asked them if they intend to do the same for the Stockport riots and while admitting it is "complicated" have so far unreservedly condemned the latter phenomenon.

    Reading the 2011 book, however, you could apply much of what was written then to the Stockport rioters more recently.
    So much throat clearing, more than Bob Flemming:
    https://youtu.be/SKHJFHivO9g?si=0JtbWUXXDujUfTaD
    What tf are you going on about.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 57,110
    Nunu5 said:

    algarkirk said:

    TOPPING said:

    This is all bollocks. PB has determined that anyone who supports Trump is a crank and a lunatic. It can't be that close so someone has blundered.

    Either that or PB is talking through its heart not its head.

    Trump is going to win.

    And to support him requires arguments so tortuous on subjects like sexual assault and truth telling and insurrection and being unwilling to accept defeat that 'crank and lunatic' could be regarded as convenient shorthand. And it is noteworthy how few of his supporters are prepared to make the difficult argument his case requires.

    But Trump is going to win.
    At this point I think Trump wins, depite the polling. The polls find it hard to detect low info voters and they are nearly all Trump voters.

    Also he has a much better approval rating than the last two runs, and Harris is doing worse than both Biden and Clinton at this point. He will win PA, AZ and perhaps MI and GA atleast.
    Pollsters make adjustments between elections, because they don't like being wrong. If they failed to pick up on a type of voter last time, they will adjust their weightings of them in future.

    That said, the weightings are never perfect. The pollsters will underweight some group this time around, it's just that we won't know for sure which groups are underweighted until after the election. It could be, for example, that young women are underweighted this time, because of Roe v Wade. Or it might be that it is rural voters who come out in much greater numbers.

    If you bet - whether in the UK or in the US - on pollasters simply being wrong in the same direction as the last election, then you will lose a lot of money.
  • algarkirkalgarkirk Posts: 12,496
    Cookie said:

    algarkirk said:

    Taz said:

    TOPPING said:

    TOPPING said:

    This is all bollocks. PB has determined that anyone who supports Trump is a crank and a lunatic. It can't be that close so someone has blundered.

    Either that or PB is talking through its heart not its head.

    We saw similar with Brexit. At the Uni all my colleagues expressed surprise at the result - no-one they knew voted for Brexit. They failed to see the self-selected bubble that they lived in.

    Trump is the same. Almost all on PB see him as an extremely dangerous threat to democracy and potentially the free world. No-one can understand the mentality of someone in the US would is a supporter.
    Yep absolutely. It is one of PB's more notable failings.
    I would say it is also the same with Reform.
    I very much doubt if that is quite true. Reform is an English branch of something that much of Europe is seeing, and the movers and shakers are seeking to grapple with, have not yet decided whether to manage it or become it, and where several lines of direction are clear but a policy totality is missing.

    The UK oddity is that the 'populist' vote is so small compared with some other countries, and its leadership so thin (ie exactly one flamboyant figure head on the back benches).

    Most PBers know a bit about Italy, France, Germany, Scandinavia, Hungary etc.
    I don't think that's exactly right. Reform is (and I oversimplify massively) a party of the grumpy boomer yearning for the Conservative Party of the 1980s. The economics are Thatcherite, and the enthusiasm from the youth for it is as yet small. Whereas much of the populist right on the continent is much more redistributive and gets a lot more support from the youth. (I don't know about AfD - they may be more Reformy?)
    In European terms, Reform is a bit sui generis.
    I am sure you are right, and that as a consequence there could be plenty more to come from the populist tendency in the UK, especially if, as is quite possible, the mainstream voter decides in due course that the Tories, as they stand, are incoherent and that Labour has no better answers to hard questions. A vast amount of the future rests on the expensively borrowed broadcloth sitting on Starmer's shoulders.

    It is one of a number of trends and strands which means that the next few years in politics will not be dull; something we can say with certainty already about the next elections.
  • CookieCookie Posts: 13,765
    TOPPING said:

    Cookie said:

    TOPPING said:

    Taz said:

    TOPPING said:

    TOPPING said:

    This is all bollocks. PB has determined that anyone who supports Trump is a crank and a lunatic. It can't be that close so someone has blundered.

    Either that or PB is talking through its heart not its head.

    We saw similar with Brexit. At the Uni all my colleagues expressed surprise at the result - no-one they knew voted for Brexit. They failed to see the self-selected bubble that they lived in.

    Trump is the same. Almost all on PB see him as an extremely dangerous threat to democracy and potentially the free world. No-one can understand the mentality of someone in the US would is a supporter.
    Yep absolutely. It is one of PB's more notable failings.
    I would say it is also the same with Reform.
    There is a brilliant book (I've mentioned it a zillion times before) called "Mad Mobs and Englishmen" about the 2011 UK riots. The book seeks to explain the behaviour of those involved within a socio-ecnomic context.

    I have asked them if they intend to do the same for the Stockport riots and while admitting it is "complicated" have so far unreservedly condemned the latter phenomenon.

    Reading the 2011 book, however, you could apply much of what was written then to the Stockport rioters more recently.
    SOUTHport.

    Nothing bad ever happens in Stockport. It's like heaven, with a viaduct.

    On the 2011 riots - it was a bit of a mixed picture, as I recall? In London it started out with an ostensibly political (i.e. racial) angle - in Manchester, it was largely scallies from Salford who were inspired by the opportunity for free stuff. (Admittedly in London there was a lot of the free stuff angle about it.)
    Pretty facile interpretation of the motivation and reasons for the riots. And yes, it was amazingly Stockport.
    I may be misremembering what went on in London, but I stand entirely by my interpretation of the riots in Manchester. It was an opportunity for looting.
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,479
    TOPPING said:

    rcs1000 said:

    TOPPING said:

    This is all bollocks. PB has determined that anyone who supports Trump is a crank and a lunatic. It can't be that close so someone has blundered.

    Either that or PB is talking through its heart not its head.

    It's bollocks that it's very close?

    I personally am not keen for Trump to win again, but the header is spot on: it is incredibly tight.
    Yes true. Good header. The bollocks bit is the denial of PB-ers that this is in fact the case. Or incomprehension that it could ever be.
    There are only three or four PBers who claim to “know” the result. Pretty everyone else accepts it’s close. So I’m not sure of your point!
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 42,936
    Cookie said:

    TOPPING said:

    Cookie said:

    TOPPING said:

    Cookie said:

    FPT:

    Cookie said:

    Cookie said:

    Cookie said:

    GIN1138 said:

    Taz said:

    Unfortunate timing

    Victoria Starmer has been pictured at a London Fashion Week show wearing a custom-made designer dress amid a row over her receiving free clothes.

    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/lifestyle/style/lady-starmer-wears-custom-made-dress-at-london-fashion-week-amid-free-clothes-row/ar-AA1qEBCC?ocid=BingNewsSerp

    Interesting who this kind of reputational damage sticks to and who it doesnt. Both Tony and Cherie were well renowned 'grabbers'. Neither coming from proper money, solicited and gladly chomped through whatever they could, but it didnt hurt Tony in office.
    Starmer doesnt seem to have any kind of honeymoon protection at all.
    During Blair's time the economic situation was generally favourable and they were able spray money around so people didn't care very much about the Blairs "grabbing"

    Lord and Lady Starmer swanning around in the finest clothes someone else's money can buy while pensioners are going to freeze this winter is a rather harder "sell"
    Pensioners have been mollycoddled for far too long.

    We’re all in this together.

    We had a PM in Boris Johnson that dressed like a scruff, it’s good for the UK for a PM to wear the best.
    Can anyone looking really tell the difference between someone whose clothes cost £150 and someone whose clothes cost £1500? If they can, that says rather more about the observer than the observed.
    I can, but then I have a keen eye for this.
    See the second half of my comment above :wink:

    When I was young, putting a lot of effort (and certainly a lot of time and/or expense) into your appearance was a bit frowned upon. You were expected, if possible, to achieve a certain level of cleanliness and/or personal hygiene, but anything more than that was a bit suspect - a bit 'look at me'. Actually, I say 'when I was young', I suspect most of men of my generation still think that way.
    Maybe that is true, but it's hardly something to be proud of, is it?
    I kind of think it is. We used to consider vanity a vice rather than a virtue. We used to consider showing off something to be dissuaded. We used to mock peacockery. A certain parsimoniousness whn it comes to one's appearance seems to me to be something to be applauded.
    By which I don't necessarily mean turning up in a t-shirt riven with holes and ketchup stains. But I rather disdain the mindset which thinks it acceptable to spend £1000 a year or more on one's own appearance. It seems frivolous.
    Do you remember the book of sports lists? I remember a list in it of sportsmen who cared rather too much for their own appearance - it included, I think, Peter Shilton, who would drive to a city 30 miles away for his particular needs for a haircut, and, possibly, Kevin Keegan, who spent rather more than the then-quite-daring £5 a month on a haircut. And someone who spent a lot on clothes, no doubt. But the fact that ten such people could be picked out showed how comparatively rare that sort of vanity was in those days. If you made a list now of sportsmen who cared too much for their own appearance you'd be here until doomsday.

    Do you apply these hairshirt morals to women too, or just men?
    I can tell that you don't agree, Anabobz, but I'm guessing you're about my age? Do you not think values on this have shifted somewhat in our lifetimes?
    It's not a massive issue. I mean, of all the vices that there are, vanity/frivolousness/attention seeking is rather low on the list. But still - it strikes me as an odd change, and odd that it's so uncommented on.
    It's a reasonable question whether it applies in my mind to both men and women - not least because the instinctive reaction to someone who, for example, spends £30 or more on a haircut is that doing so is a bit unmanly. But on reflection, yes, I'd say I do apply these 'hairshirt morals' to women as well, or at least something similar. There is no need to spend thousands on clothes, and drawing attention to doing so, just looks a bit like conspicuous consumption.

    There's a quite low upper ceiling to how good anyone - male or female - can look, and expense and effort which goes beyond that is not only wasted but also looks a bit, well, crass.

    As I say above - these aren't strongly held feelings. But I feel kind of sure this is how everyone used to feel, and I don't understand how and why the dial has shifted.

    See also - tattoos.
    How much did your current shirt cost? I'm guessing around a month's income for around 650m people.

    Everything is relative. So what if people pay a lot for this or that? If they can afford it it doesn't make it extravagant or vain.
    Yebbut, 40 years ago it would have done. I'm not so much defending my own position as expressing bafflement that values of this have shifted so much in my lifetime without real comment.

    And in answer to your rhetorical question, about £25.

    I'm not necessarily against spending money. I've previously lamented my decision not to by a painting, which is clearly a frivolous purchase. Though if I spend money on clothing, I have to get a LOT of wear out of the item to justify it to myself. (And I don't think I've ever spent over £70 on a non-footwear clothing item; and the most I have ever spent on footwear was on a standard pair of Dr. Marten boots, which exemplify the sort of sartorial utilitarianism I favour.)

    I just instinctively disapprove slightly of excess effort with one's own appearance, and of men who dress to draw attention to themselves. This is just the values of the world I grew up in. It was so ingrained it was hardly worthy of comment. And now it isn't. Do you not find this interesting?
    The world you grew up in. As opposed to the world hundreds of years ago where dandyism and foppishness were celebrated.
    Indeed - interesting. If only we had some 250 year olds on the board, they could tell us when this changed. My guess: WW1.
    It may actually be that the late 70s/80s/early 90s were the nadir for male sartorial exuberance. I remember my friend's father - who was of a slightly older generation than my own - recollecting his youth of the early 60s, when the key to attracting girls was dressing to the nines and young men would happily wear expensively tailored suits for a night out.
    Whereas when I was young: yes, secretly, you wanted to look good to advance your chances of meeting girls. But you very much didn't want to look like you were trying to look good.
    Every era has had its code whether it was mods and rockers or burberry raincoats or stone island or adidas spezials. And most people have wanted to appear as more affluent than they are (eg the burberry and gucci keyring crazes). Ofc it is generally the gentry that cut about in moth-eaten sweaters and ancient clothes held together by baler twine.
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 42,936

    TOPPING said:

    rcs1000 said:

    TOPPING said:

    This is all bollocks. PB has determined that anyone who supports Trump is a crank and a lunatic. It can't be that close so someone has blundered.

    Either that or PB is talking through its heart not its head.

    It's bollocks that it's very close?

    I personally am not keen for Trump to win again, but the header is spot on: it is incredibly tight.
    Yes true. Good header. The bollocks bit is the denial of PB-ers that this is in fact the case. Or incomprehension that it could ever be.
    There are only three or four PBers who claim to “know” the result. Pretty everyone else accepts it’s close. So I’m not sure of your point!
    My point is that the majority of bien pensant, Guardian-adjacent PB-ers can't fathom how on earth such a transparent idiot as Trump could be anywhere close to being about to be the next POTUS.
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,479

    Cookie said:

    Cookie said:

    TOPPING said:

    Cookie said:

    FPT:

    Cookie said:

    Cookie said:

    Cookie said:

    GIN1138 said:

    Taz said:

    Unfortunate timing

    Victoria Starmer has been pictured at a London Fashion Week show wearing a custom-made designer dress amid a row over her receiving free clothes.

    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/lifestyle/style/lady-starmer-wears-custom-made-dress-at-london-fashion-week-amid-free-clothes-row/ar-AA1qEBCC?ocid=BingNewsSerp

    Interesting who this kind of reputational damage sticks to and who it doesnt. Both Tony and Cherie were well renowned 'grabbers'. Neither coming from proper money, solicited and gladly chomped through whatever they could, but it didnt hurt Tony in office.
    Starmer doesnt seem to have any kind of honeymoon protection at all.
    During Blair's time the economic situation was generally favourable and they were able spray money around so people didn't care very much about the Blairs "grabbing"

    Lord and Lady Starmer swanning around in the finest clothes someone else's money can buy while pensioners are going to freeze this winter is a rather harder "sell"
    Pensioners have been mollycoddled for far too long.

    We’re all in this together.

    We had a PM in Boris Johnson that dressed like a scruff, it’s good for the UK for a PM to wear the best.
    Can anyone looking really tell the difference between someone whose clothes cost £150 and someone whose clothes cost £1500? If they can, that says rather more about the observer than the observed.
    I can, but then I have a keen eye for this.
    See the second half of my comment above :wink:

    When I was young, putting a lot of effort (and certainly a lot of time and/or expense) into your appearance was a bit frowned upon. You were expected, if possible, to achieve a certain level of cleanliness and/or personal hygiene, but anything more than that was a bit suspect - a bit 'look at me'. Actually, I say 'when I was young', I suspect most of men of my generation still think that way.
    Maybe that is true, but it's hardly something to be proud of, is it?
    I kind of think it is. We used to consider vanity a vice rather than a virtue. We used to consider showing off something to be dissuaded. We used to mock peacockery. A certain parsimoniousness whn it comes to one's appearance seems to me to be something to be applauded.
    By which I don't necessarily mean turning up in a t-shirt riven with holes and ketchup stains. But I rather disdain the mindset which thinks it acceptable to spend £1000 a year or more on one's own appearance. It seems frivolous.
    Do you remember the book of sports lists? I remember a list in it of sportsmen who cared rather too much for their own appearance - it included, I think, Peter Shilton, who would drive to a city 30 miles away for his particular needs for a haircut, and, possibly, Kevin Keegan, who spent rather more than the then-quite-daring £5 a month on a haircut. And someone who spent a lot on clothes, no doubt. But the fact that ten such people could be picked out showed how comparatively rare that sort of vanity was in those days. If you made a list now of sportsmen who cared too much for their own appearance you'd be here until doomsday.

    Do you apply these hairshirt morals to women too, or just men?
    I can tell that you don't agree, Anabobz, but I'm guessing you're about my age? Do you not think values on this have shifted somewhat in our lifetimes?
    It's not a massive issue. I mean, of all the vices that there are, vanity/frivolousness/attention seeking is rather low on the list. But still - it strikes me as an odd change, and odd that it's so uncommented on.
    It's a reasonable question whether it applies in my mind to both men and women - not least because the instinctive reaction to someone who, for example, spends £30 or more on a haircut is that doing so is a bit unmanly. But on reflection, yes, I'd say I do apply these 'hairshirt morals' to women as well, or at least something similar. There is no need to spend thousands on clothes, and drawing attention to doing so, just looks a bit like conspicuous consumption.

    There's a quite low upper ceiling to how good anyone - male or female - can look, and expense and effort which goes beyond that is not only wasted but also looks a bit, well, crass.

    As I say above - these aren't strongly held feelings. But I feel kind of sure this is how everyone used to feel, and I don't understand how and why the dial has shifted.

    See also - tattoos.
    How much did your current shirt cost? I'm guessing around a month's income for around 650m people.

    Everything is relative. So what if people pay a lot for this or that? If they can afford it it doesn't make it extravagant or vain.
    Yebbut, 40 years ago it would have done. I'm not so much defending my own position as expressing bafflement that values of this have shifted so much in my lifetime without real comment.

    And in answer to your rhetorical question, about £25.

    I'm not necessarily against spending money. I've previously lamented my decision not to by a painting, which is clearly a frivolous purchase. Though if I spend money on clothing, I have to get a LOT of wear out of the item to justify it to myself. (And I don't think I've ever spent over £70 on a non-footwear clothing item; and the most I have ever spent on footwear was on a standard pair of Dr. Marten boots, which exemplify the sort of sartorial utilitarianism I favour.)

    I just instinctively disapprove slightly of excess effort with one's own appearance, and of men who dress to draw attention to themselves. This is just the values of the world I grew up in. It was so ingrained it was hardly worthy of comment. And now it isn't. Do you not find this interesting?
    You have never spent more than £70 on a... suit?
    Well I consider a suit at least two separate items of clothing! So, yeah, probably, never spent more than £70 or a jacket or a pair of suit trousers. But cumulatively, yes, over £100 on a suit. I have little call nowadays for suits. I wear them, what, once a month or so now? Only wearing one today because my normal moderately-smart trousers for the office are in the wash.
    I've half-heartedly tried on more expensive suits but they don't look any better on me than cheap ones from Slaters or M&S.

    (I am also, remarkably, wearing a tie, because the collar on my shirt goes annoyingly wide without one. Quite enjoying it, as it happens.)
    I've worn a suit twice since the start of the pandemic. Both times at weddings. I've used cash more often.
    Pull the other one!!
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,479
    TOPPING said:

    TOPPING said:

    rcs1000 said:

    TOPPING said:

    This is all bollocks. PB has determined that anyone who supports Trump is a crank and a lunatic. It can't be that close so someone has blundered.

    Either that or PB is talking through its heart not its head.

    It's bollocks that it's very close?

    I personally am not keen for Trump to win again, but the header is spot on: it is incredibly tight.
    Yes true. Good header. The bollocks bit is the denial of PB-ers that this is in fact the case. Or incomprehension that it could ever be.
    There are only three or four PBers who claim to “know” the result. Pretty everyone else accepts it’s close. So I’m not sure of your point!
    My point is that the majority of bien pensant, Guardian-adjacent PB-ers can't fathom how on earth such a transparent idiot as Trump could be anywhere close to being about to be the next POTUS.
    Who are these people? I think pretty much everyone says it’s on a knife edge with about three or four self-appointed Nostradami on both sides of the bet who are seemingly in possession of a functioning crystal ball.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 42,806
    Taz said:

    TOPPING said:

    Cookie said:

    FPT:

    Cookie said:

    Cookie said:

    Cookie said:

    GIN1138 said:

    Taz said:

    Unfortunate timing

    Victoria Starmer has been pictured at a London Fashion Week show wearing a custom-made designer dress amid a row over her receiving free clothes.

    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/lifestyle/style/lady-starmer-wears-custom-made-dress-at-london-fashion-week-amid-free-clothes-row/ar-AA1qEBCC?ocid=BingNewsSerp

    Interesting who this kind of reputational damage sticks to and who it doesnt. Both Tony and Cherie were well renowned 'grabbers'. Neither coming from proper money, solicited and gladly chomped through whatever they could, but it didnt hurt Tony in office.
    Starmer doesnt seem to have any kind of honeymoon protection at all.
    During Blair's time the economic situation was generally favourable and they were able spray money around so people didn't care very much about the Blairs "grabbing"

    Lord and Lady Starmer swanning around in the finest clothes someone else's money can buy while pensioners are going to freeze this winter is a rather harder "sell"
    Pensioners have been mollycoddled for far too long.

    We’re all in this together.

    We had a PM in Boris Johnson that dressed like a scruff, it’s good for the UK for a PM to wear the best.
    Can anyone looking really tell the difference between someone whose clothes cost £150 and someone whose clothes cost £1500? If they can, that says rather more about the observer than the observed.
    I can, but then I have a keen eye for this.
    See the second half of my comment above :wink:

    When I was young, putting a lot of effort (and certainly a lot of time and/or expense) into your appearance was a bit frowned upon. You were expected, if possible, to achieve a certain level of cleanliness and/or personal hygiene, but anything more than that was a bit suspect - a bit 'look at me'. Actually, I say 'when I was young', I suspect most of men of my generation still think that way.
    Maybe that is true, but it's hardly something to be proud of, is it?
    I kind of think it is. We used to consider vanity a vice rather than a virtue. We used to consider showing off something to be dissuaded. We used to mock peacockery. A certain parsimoniousness whn it comes to one's appearance seems to me to be something to be applauded.
    By which I don't necessarily mean turning up in a t-shirt riven with holes and ketchup stains. But I rather disdain the mindset which thinks it acceptable to spend £1000 a year or more on one's own appearance. It seems frivolous.
    Do you remember the book of sports lists? I remember a list in it of sportsmen who cared rather too much for their own appearance - it included, I think, Peter Shilton, who would drive to a city 30 miles away for his particular needs for a haircut, and, possibly, Kevin Keegan, who spent rather more than the then-quite-daring £5 a month on a haircut. And someone who spent a lot on clothes, no doubt. But the fact that ten such people could be picked out showed how comparatively rare that sort of vanity was in those days. If you made a list now of sportsmen who cared too much for their own appearance you'd be here until doomsday.

    Do you apply these hairshirt morals to women too, or just men?
    I can tell that you don't agree, Anabobz, but I'm guessing you're about my age? Do you not think values on this have shifted somewhat in our lifetimes?
    It's not a massive issue. I mean, of all the vices that there are, vanity/frivolousness/attention seeking is rather low on the list. But still - it strikes me as an odd change, and odd that it's so uncommented on.
    It's a reasonable question whether it applies in my mind to both men and women - not least because the instinctive reaction to someone who, for example, spends £30 or more on a haircut is that doing so is a bit unmanly. But on reflection, yes, I'd say I do apply these 'hairshirt morals' to women as well, or at least something similar. There is no need to spend thousands on clothes, and drawing attention to doing so, just looks a bit like conspicuous consumption.

    There's a quite low upper ceiling to how good anyone - male or female - can look, and expense and effort which goes beyond that is not only wasted but also looks a bit, well, crass.

    As I say above - these aren't strongly held feelings. But I feel kind of sure this is how everyone used to feel, and I don't understand how and why the dial has shifted.

    See also - tattoos.
    How much did your current shirt cost? I'm guessing around a month's income for around 650m people.

    Everything is relative. So what if people pay a lot for this or that? If they can afford it it doesn't make it extravagant or vain.
    Indeed it is. I remember on a local takeaway and restaurant facebook group getting some abusive comments because we went to the restaurant Solstice, in Newcastle, and paid around £500 for the pleasure. Well worth every penny.

    However because people go to food banks and there is a cost of living crisis and some people can only afford a cheap meal at Spoons I am somehow a bad person for doing this.

    Seriously, GTF.
    Is that per head, please? JUst to clarify.

    Interesting discussion, more generally, though there may be a social class/geographical difference. A Mod had a rather different approach - and that was in the 1950s - to looking smart, even more so than most. And 1968 depended on whether you were in Carnaby Street or Grainger Street, all other things being equal.
  • CookieCookie Posts: 13,765
    TOPPING said:

    Cookie said:

    TOPPING said:

    Cookie said:

    TOPPING said:

    Cookie said:

    FPT:

    Cookie said:

    Cookie said:

    Cookie said:

    GIN1138 said:

    Taz said:

    Unfortunate timing

    Victoria Starmer has been pictured at a London Fashion Week show wearing a custom-made designer dress amid a row over her receiving free clothes.

    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/lifestyle/style/lady-starmer-wears-custom-made-dress-at-london-fashion-week-amid-free-clothes-row/ar-AA1qEBCC?ocid=BingNewsSerp

    Interesting who this kind of reputational damage sticks to and who it doesnt. Both Tony and Cherie were well renowned 'grabbers'. Neither coming from proper money, solicited and gladly chomped through whatever they could, but it didnt hurt Tony in office.
    Starmer doesnt seem to have any kind of honeymoon protection at all.
    During Blair's time the economic situation was generally favourable and they were able spray money around so people didn't care very much about the Blairs "grabbing"

    Lord and Lady Starmer swanning around in the finest clothes someone else's money can buy while pensioners are going to freeze this winter is a rather harder "sell"
    Pensioners have been mollycoddled for far too long.

    We’re all in this together.

    We had a PM in Boris Johnson that dressed like a scruff, it’s good for the UK for a PM to wear the best.
    Can anyone looking really tell the difference between someone whose clothes cost £150 and someone whose clothes cost £1500? If they can, that says rather more about the observer than the observed.
    I can, but then I have a keen eye for this.
    See the second half of my comment above :wink:

    When I was young, putting a lot of effort (and certainly a lot of time and/or expense) into your appearance was a bit frowned upon. You were expected, if possible, to achieve a certain level of cleanliness and/or personal hygiene, but anything more than that was a bit suspect - a bit 'look at me'. Actually, I say 'when I was young', I suspect most of men of my generation still think that way.
    Maybe that is true, but it's hardly something to be proud of, is it?
    I kind of think it is. We used to consider vanity a vice rather than a virtue. We used to consider showing off something to be dissuaded. We used to mock peacockery. A certain parsimoniousness whn it comes to one's appearance seems to me to be something to be applauded.
    By which I don't necessarily mean turning up in a t-shirt riven with holes and ketchup stains. But I rather disdain the mindset which thinks it acceptable to spend £1000 a year or more on one's own appearance. It seems frivolous.
    Do you remember the book of sports lists? I remember a list in it of sportsmen who cared rather too much for their own appearance - it included, I think, Peter Shilton, who would drive to a city 30 miles away for his particular needs for a haircut, and, possibly, Kevin Keegan, who spent rather more than the then-quite-daring £5 a month on a haircut. And someone who spent a lot on clothes, no doubt. But the fact that ten such people could be picked out showed how comparatively rare that sort of vanity was in those days. If you made a list now of sportsmen who cared too much for their own appearance you'd be here until doomsday.

    Do you apply these hairshirt morals to women too, or just men?
    I can tell that you don't agree, Anabobz, but I'm guessing you're about my age? Do you not think values on this have shifted somewhat in our lifetimes?
    It's not a massive issue. I mean, of all the vices that there are, vanity/frivolousness/attention seeking is rather low on the list. But still - it strikes me as an odd change, and odd that it's so uncommented on.
    It's a reasonable question whether it applies in my mind to both men and women - not least because the instinctive reaction to someone who, for example, spends £30 or more on a haircut is that doing so is a bit unmanly. But on reflection, yes, I'd say I do apply these 'hairshirt morals' to women as well, or at least something similar. There is no need to spend thousands on clothes, and drawing attention to doing so, just looks a bit like conspicuous consumption.

    There's a quite low upper ceiling to how good anyone - male or female - can look, and expense and effort which goes beyond that is not only wasted but also looks a bit, well, crass.

    As I say above - these aren't strongly held feelings. But I feel kind of sure this is how everyone used to feel, and I don't understand how and why the dial has shifted.

    See also - tattoos.
    How much did your current shirt cost? I'm guessing around a month's income for around 650m people.

    Everything is relative. So what if people pay a lot for this or that? If they can afford it it doesn't make it extravagant or vain.
    Yebbut, 40 years ago it would have done. I'm not so much defending my own position as expressing bafflement that values of this have shifted so much in my lifetime without real comment.

    And in answer to your rhetorical question, about £25.

    I'm not necessarily against spending money. I've previously lamented my decision not to by a painting, which is clearly a frivolous purchase. Though if I spend money on clothing, I have to get a LOT of wear out of the item to justify it to myself. (And I don't think I've ever spent over £70 on a non-footwear clothing item; and the most I have ever spent on footwear was on a standard pair of Dr. Marten boots, which exemplify the sort of sartorial utilitarianism I favour.)

    I just instinctively disapprove slightly of excess effort with one's own appearance, and of men who dress to draw attention to themselves. This is just the values of the world I grew up in. It was so ingrained it was hardly worthy of comment. And now it isn't. Do you not find this interesting?
    The world you grew up in. As opposed to the world hundreds of years ago where dandyism and foppishness were celebrated.
    Indeed - interesting. If only we had some 250 year olds on the board, they could tell us when this changed. My guess: WW1.
    It may actually be that the late 70s/80s/early 90s were the nadir for male sartorial exuberance. I remember my friend's father - who was of a slightly older generation than my own - recollecting his youth of the early 60s, when the key to attracting girls was dressing to the nines and young men would happily wear expensively tailored suits for a night out.
    Whereas when I was young: yes, secretly, you wanted to look good to advance your chances of meeting girls. But you very much didn't want to look like you were trying to look good.
    Every era has had its code whether it was mods and rockers or burberry raincoats or stone island or adidas spezials. And most people have wanted to appear as more affluent than they are (eg the burberry and gucci keyring crazes). Ofc it is generally the gentry that cut about in moth-eaten sweaters and ancient clothes held together by baler twine.
    TOPPING said:

    Cookie said:

    TOPPING said:

    Cookie said:

    TOPPING said:

    Cookie said:

    FPT:

    Cookie said:

    Cookie said:

    Cookie said:

    GIN1138 said:

    Taz said:

    Unfortunate timing

    Victoria Starmer has been pictured at a London Fashion Week show wearing a custom-made designer dress amid a row over her receiving free clothes.

    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/lifestyle/style/lady-starmer-wears-custom-made-dress-at-london-fashion-week-amid-free-clothes-row/ar-AA1qEBCC?ocid=BingNewsSerp

    Interesting who this kind of reputational damage sticks to and who it doesnt. Both Tony and Cherie were well renowned 'grabbers'. Neither coming from proper money, solicited and gladly chomped through whatever they could, but it didnt hurt Tony in office.
    Starmer doesnt seem to have any kind of honeymoon protection at all.
    During Blair's time the economic situation was generally favourable and they were able spray money around so people didn't care very much about the Blairs "grabbing"

    Lord and Lady Starmer swanning around in the finest clothes someone else's money can buy while pensioners are going to freeze this winter is a rather harder "sell"
    Pensioners have been mollycoddled for far too long.

    We’re all in this together.

    We had a PM in Boris Johnson that dressed like a scruff, it’s good for the UK for a PM to wear the best.
    Can anyone looking really tell the difference between someone whose clothes cost £150 and someone whose clothes cost £1500? If they can, that says rather more about the observer than the observed.
    I can, but then I have a keen eye for this.
    See the second half of my comment above :wink:

    When I was young, putting a lot of effort (and certainly a lot of time and/or expense) into your appearance was a bit frowned upon. You were expected, if possible, to achieve a certain level of cleanliness and/or personal hygiene, but anything more than that was a bit suspect - a bit 'look at me'. Actually, I say 'when I was young', I suspect most of men of my generation still think that way.
    Maybe that is true, but it's hardly something to be proud of, is it?
    I kind of think it is. We used to consider vanity a vice rather than a virtue. We used to consider showing off something to be dissuaded. We used to mock peacockery. A certain parsimoniousness whn it comes to one's appearance seems to me to be something to be applauded.
    By which I don't necessarily mean turning up in a t-shirt riven with holes and ketchup stains. But I rather disdain the mindset which thinks it acceptable to spend £1000 a year or more on one's own appearance. It seems frivolous.
    Do you remember the book of sports lists? I remember a list in it of sportsmen who cared rather too much for their own appearance - it included, I think, Peter Shilton, who would drive to a city 30 miles away for his particular needs for a haircut, and, possibly, Kevin Keegan, who spent rather more than the then-quite-daring £5 a month on a haircut. And someone who spent a lot on clothes, no doubt. But the fact that ten such people could be picked out showed how comparatively rare that sort of vanity was in those days. If you made a list now of sportsmen who cared too much for their own appearance you'd be here until doomsday.

    Do you apply these hairshirt morals to women too, or just men?
    I can tell that you don't agree, Anabobz, but I'm guessing you're about my age? Do you not think values on this have shifted somewhat in our lifetimes?
    It's not a massive issue. I mean, of all the vices that there are, vanity/frivolousness/attention seeking is rather low on the list. But still - it strikes me as an odd change, and odd that it's so uncommented on.
    It's a reasonable question whether it applies in my mind to both men and women - not least because the instinctive reaction to someone who, for example, spends £30 or more on a haircut is that doing so is a bit unmanly. But on reflection, yes, I'd say I do apply these 'hairshirt morals' to women as well, or at least something similar. There is no need to spend thousands on clothes, and drawing attention to doing so, just looks a bit like conspicuous consumption.

    There's a quite low upper ceiling to how good anyone - male or female - can look, and expense and effort which goes beyond that is not only wasted but also looks a bit, well, crass.

    As I say above - these aren't strongly held feelings. But I feel kind of sure this is how everyone used to feel, and I don't understand how and why the dial has shifted.

    See also - tattoos.
    How much did your current shirt cost? I'm guessing around a month's income for around 650m people.

    Everything is relative. So what if people pay a lot for this or that? If they can afford it it doesn't make it extravagant or vain.
    Yebbut, 40 years ago it would have done. I'm not so much defending my own position as expressing bafflement that values of this have shifted so much in my lifetime without real comment.

    And in answer to your rhetorical question, about £25.

    I'm not necessarily against spending money. I've previously lamented my decision not to by a painting, which is clearly a frivolous purchase. Though if I spend money on clothing, I have to get a LOT of wear out of the item to justify it to myself. (And I don't think I've ever spent over £70 on a non-footwear clothing item; and the most I have ever spent on footwear was on a standard pair of Dr. Marten boots, which exemplify the sort of sartorial utilitarianism I favour.)

    I just instinctively disapprove slightly of excess effort with one's own appearance, and of men who dress to draw attention to themselves. This is just the values of the world I grew up in. It was so ingrained it was hardly worthy of comment. And now it isn't. Do you not find this interesting?
    The world you grew up in. As opposed to the world hundreds of years ago where dandyism and foppishness were celebrated.
    Indeed - interesting. If only we had some 250 year olds on the board, they could tell us when this changed. My guess: WW1.
    It may actually be that the late 70s/80s/early 90s were the nadir for male sartorial exuberance. I remember my friend's father - who was of a slightly older generation than my own - recollecting his youth of the early 60s, when the key to attracting girls was dressing to the nines and young men would happily wear expensively tailored suits for a night out.
    Whereas when I was young: yes, secretly, you wanted to look good to advance your chances of meeting girls. But you very much didn't want to look like you were trying to look good.
    Every era has had its code whether it was mods and rockers or burberry raincoats or stone island or adidas spezials. And most people have wanted to appear as more affluent than they are (eg the burberry and gucci keyring crazes). Ofc it is generally the gentry that cut about in moth-eaten sweaters and ancient clothes held together by baler twine.
    But no, that's the point. The male youth of the 70s/80s/90s did not dress to look more affluent than they were. Baggy shirts and doc martens. Or heavy metal chic. Or punk. Or Mark E Smith out of the Fall. Or shell suits.
    The new romantics of the early 80s were a sort of exception to this, but even they didn't look affluent - they looked like they'd indiscriminately raided a charity shop to try to stage a pantomime.
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 42,936
    Cookie said:

    TOPPING said:

    Cookie said:

    TOPPING said:

    Taz said:

    TOPPING said:

    TOPPING said:

    This is all bollocks. PB has determined that anyone who supports Trump is a crank and a lunatic. It can't be that close so someone has blundered.

    Either that or PB is talking through its heart not its head.

    We saw similar with Brexit. At the Uni all my colleagues expressed surprise at the result - no-one they knew voted for Brexit. They failed to see the self-selected bubble that they lived in.

    Trump is the same. Almost all on PB see him as an extremely dangerous threat to democracy and potentially the free world. No-one can understand the mentality of someone in the US would is a supporter.
    Yep absolutely. It is one of PB's more notable failings.
    I would say it is also the same with Reform.
    There is a brilliant book (I've mentioned it a zillion times before) called "Mad Mobs and Englishmen" about the 2011 UK riots. The book seeks to explain the behaviour of those involved within a socio-ecnomic context.

    I have asked them if they intend to do the same for the Stockport riots and while admitting it is "complicated" have so far unreservedly condemned the latter phenomenon.

    Reading the 2011 book, however, you could apply much of what was written then to the Stockport rioters more recently.
    SOUTHport.

    Nothing bad ever happens in Stockport. It's like heaven, with a viaduct.

    On the 2011 riots - it was a bit of a mixed picture, as I recall? In London it started out with an ostensibly political (i.e. racial) angle - in Manchester, it was largely scallies from Salford who were inspired by the opportunity for free stuff. (Admittedly in London there was a lot of the free stuff angle about it.)
    Pretty facile interpretation of the motivation and reasons for the riots. And yes, it was amazingly Stockport.
    I may be misremembering what went on in London, but I stand entirely by my interpretation of the riots in Manchester. It was an opportunity for looting.
    Yeah well your interpretation is simplistic.

    "In Manchester and Birmingham, but also in Liverpool and Salford, many rioters delighted in playing "cat and mouse"with the police. They moved rapidly in small (often organised) groups drawn from local estates, not only looting but also smashing shops and destroying cars. Once again the motivation seemed to be the assertion of power. The looting was in part motivated by grievances against the police - and perhaps also in wanting to assert a national reputation by confronting the police as successfully as those rioters from other cities had".

    https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mad-Mobs-Englishmen-Myths-realities-ebook/dp/B006654U9U
  • agingjb2agingjb2 Posts: 114
    The significance and danger of a Trump win is not the effect on the USA, some chaos perhaps, but the extent to which it will enable Putin to achieve a choice of whatever dystopia he intends - "1984" or "On the Beach".
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 42,936

    TOPPING said:

    TOPPING said:

    rcs1000 said:

    TOPPING said:

    This is all bollocks. PB has determined that anyone who supports Trump is a crank and a lunatic. It can't be that close so someone has blundered.

    Either that or PB is talking through its heart not its head.

    It's bollocks that it's very close?

    I personally am not keen for Trump to win again, but the header is spot on: it is incredibly tight.
    Yes true. Good header. The bollocks bit is the denial of PB-ers that this is in fact the case. Or incomprehension that it could ever be.
    There are only three or four PBers who claim to “know” the result. Pretty everyone else accepts it’s close. So I’m not sure of your point!
    My point is that the majority of bien pensant, Guardian-adjacent PB-ers can't fathom how on earth such a transparent idiot as Trump could be anywhere close to being about to be the next POTUS.
    Who are these people? I think pretty much everyone says it’s on a knife edge with about three or four self-appointed Nostradami on both sides of the bet who are seemingly in possession of a functioning crystal ball.
    You are missing the point and there is a limit to how often I'm going to explain it.

    If you give me a five pound note I'll give it one more go.
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,538
    "Matt Goodwin
    @GoodwinMJ

    Welcome to the UK. Write something offensive on Facebook in your own home and you get 15 months in jail. Make hundreds of indecent images of children and you don't go to jail.
    2:32 pm · 16 Sep 2024"

    https://x.com/GoodwinMJ/status/1835673062345175159
  • Cookie said:

    TOPPING said:

    Cookie said:

    TOPPING said:

    Cookie said:

    FPT:

    Cookie said:

    Cookie said:

    Cookie said:

    GIN1138 said:

    Taz said:

    Unfortunate timing

    Victoria Starmer has been pictured at a London Fashion Week show wearing a custom-made designer dress amid a row over her receiving free clothes.

    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/lifestyle/style/lady-starmer-wears-custom-made-dress-at-london-fashion-week-amid-free-clothes-row/ar-AA1qEBCC?ocid=BingNewsSerp

    Interesting who this kind of reputational damage sticks to and who it doesnt. Both Tony and Cherie were well renowned 'grabbers'. Neither coming from proper money, solicited and gladly chomped through whatever they could, but it didnt hurt Tony in office.
    Starmer doesnt seem to have any kind of honeymoon protection at all.
    During Blair's time the economic situation was generally favourable and they were able spray money around so people didn't care very much about the Blairs "grabbing"

    Lord and Lady Starmer swanning around in the finest clothes someone else's money can buy while pensioners are going to freeze this winter is a rather harder "sell"
    Pensioners have been mollycoddled for far too long.

    We’re all in this together.

    We had a PM in Boris Johnson that dressed like a scruff, it’s good for the UK for a PM to wear the best.
    Can anyone looking really tell the difference between someone whose clothes cost £150 and someone whose clothes cost £1500? If they can, that says rather more about the observer than the observed.
    I can, but then I have a keen eye for this.
    See the second half of my comment above :wink:

    When I was young, putting a lot of effort (and certainly a lot of time and/or expense) into your appearance was a bit frowned upon. You were expected, if possible, to achieve a certain level of cleanliness and/or personal hygiene, but anything more than that was a bit suspect - a bit 'look at me'. Actually, I say 'when I was young', I suspect most of men of my generation still think that way.
    Maybe that is true, but it's hardly something to be proud of, is it?
    I kind of think it is. We used to consider vanity a vice rather than a virtue. We used to consider showing off something to be dissuaded. We used to mock peacockery. A certain parsimoniousness whn it comes to one's appearance seems to me to be something to be applauded.
    By which I don't necessarily mean turning up in a t-shirt riven with holes and ketchup stains. But I rather disdain the mindset which thinks it acceptable to spend £1000 a year or more on one's own appearance. It seems frivolous.
    Do you remember the book of sports lists? I remember a list in it of sportsmen who cared rather too much for their own appearance - it included, I think, Peter Shilton, who would drive to a city 30 miles away for his particular needs for a haircut, and, possibly, Kevin Keegan, who spent rather more than the then-quite-daring £5 a month on a haircut. And someone who spent a lot on clothes, no doubt. But the fact that ten such people could be picked out showed how comparatively rare that sort of vanity was in those days. If you made a list now of sportsmen who cared too much for their own appearance you'd be here until doomsday.

    Do you apply these hairshirt morals to women too, or just men?
    I can tell that you don't agree, Anabobz, but I'm guessing you're about my age? Do you not think values on this have shifted somewhat in our lifetimes?
    It's not a massive issue. I mean, of all the vices that there are, vanity/frivolousness/attention seeking is rather low on the list. But still - it strikes me as an odd change, and odd that it's so uncommented on.
    It's a reasonable question whether it applies in my mind to both men and women - not least because the instinctive reaction to someone who, for example, spends £30 or more on a haircut is that doing so is a bit unmanly. But on reflection, yes, I'd say I do apply these 'hairshirt morals' to women as well, or at least something similar. There is no need to spend thousands on clothes, and drawing attention to doing so, just looks a bit like conspicuous consumption.

    There's a quite low upper ceiling to how good anyone - male or female - can look, and expense and effort which goes beyond that is not only wasted but also looks a bit, well, crass.

    As I say above - these aren't strongly held feelings. But I feel kind of sure this is how everyone used to feel, and I don't understand how and why the dial has shifted.

    See also - tattoos.
    How much did your current shirt cost? I'm guessing around a month's income for around 650m people.

    Everything is relative. So what if people pay a lot for this or that? If they can afford it it doesn't make it extravagant or vain.
    Yebbut, 40 years ago it would have done. I'm not so much defending my own position as expressing bafflement that values of this have shifted so much in my lifetime without real comment.

    And in answer to your rhetorical question, about £25.

    I'm not necessarily against spending money. I've previously lamented my decision not to by a painting, which is clearly a frivolous purchase. Though if I spend money on clothing, I have to get a LOT of wear out of the item to justify it to myself. (And I don't think I've ever spent over £70 on a non-footwear clothing item; and the most I have ever spent on footwear was on a standard pair of Dr. Marten boots, which exemplify the sort of sartorial utilitarianism I favour.)

    I just instinctively disapprove slightly of excess effort with one's own appearance, and of men who dress to draw attention to themselves. This is just the values of the world I grew up in. It was so ingrained it was hardly worthy of comment. And now it isn't. Do you not find this interesting?
    The world you grew up in. As opposed to the world hundreds of years ago where dandyism and foppishness were celebrated.
    Indeed - interesting. If only we had some 250 year olds on the board, they could tell us when this changed. My guess: WW1.
    It may actually be that the late 70s/80s/early 90s were the nadir for male sartorial exuberance. I remember my friend's father - who was of a slightly older generation than my own - recollecting his youth of the early 60s, when the key to attracting girls was dressing to the nines and young men would happily wear expensively tailored suits for a night out.
    Whereas when I was young: yes, secretly, you wanted to look good to advance your chances of meeting girls. But you very much didn't want to look like you were trying to look good.
    I guess it depends on who you grew up with and who you hang out with socially. I was a council house New Romantic, and looking good was important. Spending money on clothes and 80s haircuts ( I wanted a David Sylvian style, but it occasionally strayed into a Princess Di!) once I started working was a way to disguise my poverty filled, working class up bringing. 😀
    Now I'm a retired 57 year old, my style has changed (middle class surfer/hippy, still with a great head of stylishly rock star hair!) but I still spend money on good quality clothes and footwear. And I've got tattoos......and a nose ring...couldn't look like this in the Fire Service!
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 57,110

    TOPPING said:

    TOPPING said:

    This is all bollocks. PB has determined that anyone who supports Trump is a crank and a lunatic. It can't be that close so someone has blundered.

    Either that or PB is talking through its heart not its head.

    We saw similar with Brexit. At the Uni all my colleagues expressed surprise at the result - no-one they knew voted for Brexit. They failed to see the self-selected bubble that they lived in.

    Trump is the same. Almost all on PB see him as an extremely dangerous threat to democracy and potentially the free world. No-one can understand the mentality of someone in the US would is a supporter.
    Yep absolutely. It is one of PB's more notable failings.
    I'm the opposite to @kinabalu, I think the turnout surprise will be from low-propensity voters who will break overwhelmingly for Trump. Young women have already been mobilised over the past two elections.
    We're both right.

    The highest turnout feature is being a graduate (80%).
    And the lowest turnout group was young women (55%).

    FWIW, turnout of young women in 2020 was not up more than turnout generally in 2020 or 2016, so I'm not sure where your contention that they were mobilized in the last two elections comes from.
  • Andy_JS said:

    "Matt Goodwin
    @GoodwinMJ

    Welcome to the UK. Write something offensive on Facebook in your own home and you get 15 months in jail. Make hundreds of indecent images of children and you don't go to jail.
    2:32 pm · 16 Sep 2024"

    https://x.com/GoodwinMJ/status/1835673062345175159

    I see Goodwin doesn’t understand legal terms.

    Literal death.
  • carnforthcarnforth Posts: 4,566
    Taz said:

    TOPPING said:

    Cookie said:

    FPT:

    Cookie said:

    Cookie said:

    Cookie said:

    GIN1138 said:

    Taz said:

    Unfortunate timing

    Victoria Starmer has been pictured at a London Fashion Week show wearing a custom-made designer dress amid a row over her receiving free clothes.

    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/lifestyle/style/lady-starmer-wears-custom-made-dress-at-london-fashion-week-amid-free-clothes-row/ar-AA1qEBCC?ocid=BingNewsSerp

    Interesting who this kind of reputational damage sticks to and who it doesnt. Both Tony and Cherie were well renowned 'grabbers'. Neither coming from proper money, solicited and gladly chomped through whatever they could, but it didnt hurt Tony in office.
    Starmer doesnt seem to have any kind of honeymoon protection at all.
    During Blair's time the economic situation was generally favourable and they were able spray money around so people didn't care very much about the Blairs "grabbing"

    Lord and Lady Starmer swanning around in the finest clothes someone else's money can buy while pensioners are going to freeze this winter is a rather harder "sell"
    Pensioners have been mollycoddled for far too long.

    We’re all in this together.

    We had a PM in Boris Johnson that dressed like a scruff, it’s good for the UK for a PM to wear the best.
    Can anyone looking really tell the difference between someone whose clothes cost £150 and someone whose clothes cost £1500? If they can, that says rather more about the observer than the observed.
    I can, but then I have a keen eye for this.
    See the second half of my comment above :wink:

    When I was young, putting a lot of effort (and certainly a lot of time and/or expense) into your appearance was a bit frowned upon. You were expected, if possible, to achieve a certain level of cleanliness and/or personal hygiene, but anything more than that was a bit suspect - a bit 'look at me'. Actually, I say 'when I was young', I suspect most of men of my generation still think that way.
    Maybe that is true, but it's hardly something to be proud of, is it?
    I kind of think it is. We used to consider vanity a vice rather than a virtue. We used to consider showing off something to be dissuaded. We used to mock peacockery. A certain parsimoniousness whn it comes to one's appearance seems to me to be something to be applauded.
    By which I don't necessarily mean turning up in a t-shirt riven with holes and ketchup stains. But I rather disdain the mindset which thinks it acceptable to spend £1000 a year or more on one's own appearance. It seems frivolous.
    Do you remember the book of sports lists? I remember a list in it of sportsmen who cared rather too much for their own appearance - it included, I think, Peter Shilton, who would drive to a city 30 miles away for his particular needs for a haircut, and, possibly, Kevin Keegan, who spent rather more than the then-quite-daring £5 a month on a haircut. And someone who spent a lot on clothes, no doubt. But the fact that ten such people could be picked out showed how comparatively rare that sort of vanity was in those days. If you made a list now of sportsmen who cared too much for their own appearance you'd be here until doomsday.

    Do you apply these hairshirt morals to women too, or just men?
    I can tell that you don't agree, Anabobz, but I'm guessing you're about my age? Do you not think values on this have shifted somewhat in our lifetimes?
    It's not a massive issue. I mean, of all the vices that there are, vanity/frivolousness/attention seeking is rather low on the list. But still - it strikes me as an odd change, and odd that it's so uncommented on.
    It's a reasonable question whether it applies in my mind to both men and women - not least because the instinctive reaction to someone who, for example, spends £30 or more on a haircut is that doing so is a bit unmanly. But on reflection, yes, I'd say I do apply these 'hairshirt morals' to women as well, or at least something similar. There is no need to spend thousands on clothes, and drawing attention to doing so, just looks a bit like conspicuous consumption.

    There's a quite low upper ceiling to how good anyone - male or female - can look, and expense and effort which goes beyond that is not only wasted but also looks a bit, well, crass.

    As I say above - these aren't strongly held feelings. But I feel kind of sure this is how everyone used to feel, and I don't understand how and why the dial has shifted.

    See also - tattoos.
    How much did your current shirt cost? I'm guessing around a month's income for around 650m people.

    Everything is relative. So what if people pay a lot for this or that? If they can afford it it doesn't make it extravagant or vain.
    Indeed it is. I remember on a local takeaway and restaurant facebook group getting some abusive comments because we went to the restaurant Solstice, in Newcastle, and paid around £500 for the pleasure. Well worth every penny.

    However because people go to food banks and there is a cost of living crisis and some people can only afford a cheap meal at Spoons I am somehow a bad person for doing this.

    Seriously, GTF.
    What people always miss is that some of the people in a fancy restaurant go to such a place once a year, and some once a week. A fifty times difference.

    (I write this sipping a half pint of Broadside in 'spoons, which cost £1. But I have spent £300 a head on dinner two or three times in my life.)
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 57,110

    algarkirk said:

    TOPPING said:

    This is all bollocks. PB has determined that anyone who supports Trump is a crank and a lunatic. It can't be that close so someone has blundered.

    Either that or PB is talking through its heart not its head.

    We saw similar with Brexit. At the Uni all my colleagues expressed surprise at the result - no-one they knew voted for Brexit. They failed to see the self-selected bubble that they lived in.

    Trump is the same. Almost all on PB see him as an extremely dangerous threat to democracy and potentially the free world. No-one can understand the mentality of someone in the US would is a supporter.
    More or less true but two qualifications. With Brexit, lots of London professional types would say at first that everyone they knew was for Remain, but when examining carefully they knew perfectly well that the secretaries, cleaners, tea ladies, footmen, window cleaners and taxi drivers included a lot of Leavers. But actually (and this was truly significant to the result and why it happened) they didn't think they really counted.

    With Trump, he is dangerous and deranged. It is not at all difficult to see why people vote for him, and also that the same people are not all that good at giving a rational account of why.
    My rule of thumb is that, given the past polling has tended to underestimate Trump's vote rather than overestimate Clinton / Biden's, any state where Harris is polling
    Betting on pollsters to not to change their models is a losing strategy: I would point you to Nate Silver, who currently rates Trump as slight favourite, for the best evidence of this.
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