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Alex Salmond has died – politicalbetting.com

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  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 82,505
    Leon said:

    geoffw said:

    Leon said:

    Tom Kerridge. There's a hero

    But not a politician
    Should be. I'd vote for the Tom Kerridge party. Keeping pubs open, really good Asian barbecues, and making PROPER pork crackling

    Who wouldn't vote for that?
    I think his politics might be a bit left wing for your liking.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 51,082
    Leon said:

    geoffw said:

    Leon said:

    Tom Kerridge. There's a hero

    But not a politician
    Should be. I'd vote for the Tom Kerridge party. Keeping pubs open, really good Asian barbecues, and making PROPER pork crackling

    Who wouldn't vote for that?
    What;'s the policy on vegan venison?
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 123,864

    HYUFD said:

    Robert Jenrick will make Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg chairman of the Conservative Party if he triumphs against Kemi Badenoch in the party leadership contest.

    Are we sure he isn't working as an undercover agent for Labour?

    Rees Mogg is very popular with Reform voters, a good move
    We saw what happened at the GE when the Tories tried to do Reform Light...
    They didn't, Sunak and Hunt were both unpopular with Reform voters unlike Boris and Mogg
  • geoffwgeoffw Posts: 8,767
    Leon said:

    geoffw said:

    Leon said:

    Tom Kerridge. There's a hero

    But not a politician
    Should be. I'd vote for the Tom Kerridge party. Keeping pubs open, really good Asian barbecues, and making PROPER pork crackling

    Who wouldn't vote for that?
    Stirring the pork barrel is quite normal for politicians

  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 43,437

    Black voters drifting to Trump reports NY Times.

    Turkeys and Christmas comes to mind.

    This is the problem. The immediate reaction is to patronise not seek to understand. Frank Luntz has said again and again that Trump's appeal is due to immigration and inflation.

    On the other hand, Trump is now regularly using fascist language and threatening to lock up and kill US citizens who he does not like. At some point, surely, we need to give people the agency to know that they are voting for a racist who does not believe in the rule of law and to not care.

    Look it's the PC culture that's been foisted upon us. I'm not particularly a fan but referring to a racial demographic as turkeys voting for Christmas is a little eyebrow raising.

    I agree on the Turkeys comment. People make informed choices. Those voting for Trump know exactly who he is. They don't care. My overriding thought is that if the US really were the greatest country on earth he would be absolutely nowhere near power rather than about to be re-elected President. What puzzles me is why so many on the UK right want him to win given the campaign he has fought and the policies he supports, which will clearly be very bad news for the UK.

    Are there that many on the UK right who want him to win? A few opportunistic politicians but not that many people so far as I can tell. Is there a single person on pb?
    You are unaware of PB's resident Sophist-in-Chief and leading Putin-pimper/Trump-fluffer?
    Yes, I want him to win, or more so I loath the alternative. He doesn't really stand for anything I stand for, as an economic liberal with mild social conservatism who believes free markets and free trade enriches all those who engage in it.
    But, I cannot abide anyone who does pronoun declarations, land acknowledgement and think its a good idea to affirm confused young children about their sexuality and what adults call gender identity.
    Yeah, because you care so much about women and girls that you support the side that will restrict abortion and other contraceptive rights.
    Surely such matters are left to the states.
    That's an important question: in a federal state, what powers should be centralised and common, and which should be up to the states? Isn't it a similar question to the one that started the American Civil War over slavery?

    But the 'leave it to the states' argument on this issue is one only said by people who want to remove reproductive rights from women - because that's exactly what will happen. And, indeed, is happening.
    I disagree

    I absolutely don’t want abortion rights to be restricted beyond reason (my personal view is around viability so in the 20-22 week region).


    But it should be a matter for the states and if the local voters and politicians want to restrict access to basic medical care for women then that is their decision no matter how much we might disapprove
    A major issue is that AIUI some of the ore regressive states on this topic are hindering abortions in other states; by restricting women from travelling for abortions, or threatening legal punishments on doctors in those states.

    So yeah, like slavery, it should be a federal thing IMV.
    IMV that is interfering with interstate commerce so would be a federal matter
    Yet apparently it is happening.
    Requires the federal government to take them to court - AIUI it would go straight to the Supreme Court (which is problematic but you can’t circumvent the system because you don’t like a decision) - to enforce its rights on interstate commerce

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commerce_Clause
    I am far from being an expert, but AIUI extraterritoriality is far from being a resolved topic. Perhaps because historic precedence shows that it is a very dangerous one to try to resolve, so best kick it into the long grass...

    I also STR (but might have this wrong...) that some of this is being done through private prosecutions rather than directly through the state.
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 28,808

    Robert Jenrick will make Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg chairman of the Conservative Party if he triumphs against Kemi Badenoch in the party leadership contest.

    Are we sure he isn't working as an undercover agent for Labour?

    Party Chairman is a fairly limited role in terms of political power, and Rees Mogg is an excellent communicator and cheerleader. I really don't see the issue - perhaps you could flesh out your analysis?
  • LeonLeon Posts: 56,496
    edited October 12

    Leon said:

    geoffw said:

    Leon said:

    Tom Kerridge. There's a hero

    But not a politician
    Should be. I'd vote for the Tom Kerridge party. Keeping pubs open, really good Asian barbecues, and making PROPER pork crackling

    Who wouldn't vote for that?
    I think his politics might be a bit left wing for your liking.
    Really? He always strikes me as a classic working class Tory, despite his avowals

    Self made man, really understands small businesses, pro enterprise, pleasure, booze, pubs and innovation, I am surprised he associates with Labour, who hate people like him, and who want to close every pub in the land
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 54,012
    carnforth said:

    FF43 said:

    carnforth said:

    "While he could be charming and entertaining, there was also a less pleasant side to his character.

    I would wince when sometimes he would show impatience and irritation towards his staff. He could be very demanding of them.

    I can also recall bringing a senior BBC editor from the newsroom in London to see him and was astonished when he asked my colleague if he was on a colonial visit."

    BBC Scotland Editor speaking ill of the dead.

    Couldn't he wait until tomorrow?

    I have a feeling the non-application of libel laws to the dead will have an effect on what gets said about Salmond.
    Well, we may get to hear about all the supressed evidence from the trial.
    Not unless more people want to end up in jail like Craig Murray. The right to anonymity on the part of the complainers did not die with Salmond.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 51,082

    Black voters drifting to Trump reports NY Times.

    Turkeys and Christmas comes to mind.

    This is the problem. The immediate reaction is to patronise not seek to understand. Frank Luntz has said again and again that Trump's appeal is due to immigration and inflation.

    On the other hand, Trump is now regularly using fascist language and threatening to lock up and kill US citizens who he does not like. At some point, surely, we need to give people the agency to know that they are voting for a racist who does not believe in the rule of law and to not care.

    Look it's the PC culture that's been foisted upon us. I'm not particularly a fan but referring to a racial demographic as turkeys voting for Christmas is a little eyebrow raising.

    I agree on the Turkeys comment. People make informed choices. Those voting for Trump know exactly who he is. They don't care. My overriding thought is that if the US really were the greatest country on earth he would be absolutely nowhere near power rather than about to be re-elected President. What puzzles me is why so many on the UK right want him to win given the campaign he has fought and the policies he supports, which will clearly be very bad news for the UK.

    Are there that many on the UK right who want him to win? A few opportunistic politicians but not that many people so far as I can tell. Is there a single person on pb?
    You are unaware of PB's resident Sophist-in-Chief and leading Putin-pimper/Trump-fluffer?
    Yes, I want him to win, or more so I loath the alternative. He doesn't really stand for anything I stand for, as an economic liberal with mild social conservatism who believes free markets and free trade enriches all those who engage in it.
    But, I cannot abide anyone who does pronoun declarations, land acknowledgement and think its a good idea to affirm confused young children about their sexuality and what adults call gender identity.
    Yeah, because you care so much about women and girls that you support the side that will restrict abortion and other contraceptive rights.
    Surely such matters are left to the states.
    That's an important question: in a federal state, what powers should be centralised and common, and which should be up to the states? Isn't it a similar question to the one that started the American Civil War over slavery?

    But the 'leave it to the states' argument on this issue is one only said by people who want to remove reproductive rights from women - because that's exactly what will happen. And, indeed, is happening.
    I disagree

    I absolutely don’t want abortion rights to be restricted beyond reason (my personal view is around viability so in the 20-22 week region).


    But it should be a matter for the states and if the local voters and politicians want to restrict access to basic medical care for women then that is their decision no matter how much we might disapprove
    A major issue is that AIUI some of the ore regressive states on this topic are hindering abortions in other states; by restricting women from travelling for abortions, or threatening legal punishments on doctors in those states.

    So yeah, like slavery, it should be a federal thing IMV.
    IMV that is interfering with interstate commerce so would be a federal matter
    Yet apparently it is happening.
    Requires the federal government to take them to court - AIUI it would go straight to the Supreme Court (which is problematic but you can’t circumvent the system because you don’t like a decision) - to enforce its rights on interstate commerce

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commerce_Clause
    I am far from being an expert, but AIUI extraterritoriality is far from being a resolved topic. Perhaps because historic precedence shows that it is a very dangerous one to try to resolve, so best kick it into the long grass...

    I also STR (but might have this wrong...) that some of this is being done through private prosecutions rather than directly through the state.
    Complete with some bullshit about "state assistance" and even "bounties" for private action not making it a state prosecution, IIRC.
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 34,805

    Incidentally, I watched a 2018 film yesterday, Cutterhead.

    A 90 minute horror-drama film set in a tunnel boring machine in Denmark. It is remarkably good, and uses darkness, claustrophobia and sound to immense effect. Essentially it is a film set in just two 'rooms'. And it is anything but boring.

    Available on Amazon Prime.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hCTvmopw30

    I wanted to go into tunnelling as a career; this film made me kinda glad I didn't.

    You might enjoy this.

    Ritom Pumped-Storage Plant Project – Tunneling under extreme conditions
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AV2NcyX7pk
    That's a truly brilliant video - what an amazing project.
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 36,099

    Rees Mogg is an excellent communicator and cheerleader

    Cheerleader, maybe. Communicator, not so much.

    He couldn't persuade the good people of Somerset to vote for him again
  • carnforthcarnforth Posts: 4,835

    Leon said:

    geoffw said:

    Leon said:

    Tom Kerridge. There's a hero

    But not a politician
    Should be. I'd vote for the Tom Kerridge party. Keeping pubs open, really good Asian barbecues, and making PROPER pork crackling

    Who wouldn't vote for that?
    I think his politics might be a bit left wing for your liking.
    I'll vote for him if he promises to never say "lush" again.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 54,012
    Scott_xP said:

    Rees Mogg is an excellent communicator and cheerleader

    Cheerleader, maybe. Communicator, not so much.

    He couldn't persuade the good people of Somerset to vote for him again
    Or even the not so good.
  • StillWatersStillWaters Posts: 8,443

    Black voters drifting to Trump reports NY Times.

    Turkeys and Christmas comes to mind.

    This is the problem. The immediate reaction is to patronise not seek to understand. Frank Luntz has said again and again that Trump's appeal is due to immigration and inflation.

    On the other hand, Trump is now regularly using fascist language and threatening to lock up and kill US citizens who he does not like. At some point, surely, we need to give people the agency to know that they are voting for a racist who does not believe in the rule of law and to not care.

    Look it's the PC culture that's been foisted upon us. I'm not particularly a fan but referring to a racial demographic as turkeys voting for Christmas is a little eyebrow raising.

    I agree on the Turkeys comment. People make informed choices. Those voting for Trump know exactly who he is. They don't care. My overriding thought is that if the US really were the greatest country on earth he would be absolutely nowhere near power rather than about to be re-elected President. What puzzles me is why so many on the UK right want him to win given the campaign he has fought and the policies he supports, which will clearly be very bad news for the UK.

    Are there that many on the UK right who want him to win? A few opportunistic politicians but not that many people so far as I can tell. Is there a single person on pb?
    You are unaware of PB's resident Sophist-in-Chief and leading Putin-pimper/Trump-fluffer?
    Yes, I want him to win, or more so I loath the alternative. He doesn't really stand for anything I stand for, as an economic liberal with mild social conservatism who believes free markets and free trade enriches all those who engage in it.
    But, I cannot abide anyone who does pronoun declarations, land acknowledgement and think its a good idea to affirm confused young children about their sexuality and what adults call gender identity.
    Yeah, because you care so much about women and girls that you support the side that will restrict abortion and other contraceptive rights.
    Surely such matters are left to the states.
    That's an important question: in a federal state, what powers should be centralised and common, and which should be up to the states? Isn't it a similar question to the one that started the American Civil War over slavery?

    But the 'leave it to the states' argument on this issue is one only said by people who want to remove reproductive rights from women - because that's exactly what will happen. And, indeed, is happening.
    I disagree

    I absolutely don’t want abortion rights to be restricted beyond reason (my personal view is around viability so in the 20-22 week region).


    But it should be a matter for the states and if the local voters and politicians want to restrict access to basic medical care for women then that is their decision no matter how much we might disapprove
    A major issue is that AIUI some of the ore regressive states on this topic are hindering abortions in other states; by restricting women from travelling for abortions, or threatening legal punishments on doctors in those states.

    So yeah, like slavery, it should be a federal thing IMV.
    IMV that is interfering with interstate commerce so would be a federal matter
    Yet apparently it is happening.

    Requires the federal government to take them to court - AIUI it would go straight to the Supreme Court (which is problematic but you can’t circumvent the system because you don’t like a decision) - to enforce its rights on interstate commerce

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commerce_Clause
    I am far from being an expert, but AIUI extraterritoriality is far from being a resolved topic. Perhaps because historic precedence shows that it is a very dangerous one to try to resolve, so best kick it into the long grass...

    I also STR (but might have this wrong...) that some of this is being done through private prosecutions rather than directly through the state.
    The private prosecution strategy has been adopted by one or two states to try and get around this clause.

    It’s not extraterritoriality - it’s the restriction of movement of people between states for the purpose of carrying on lawful business that trips the commerce clause
  • geoffwgeoffw Posts: 8,767
     
    carnforth said:

    Leon said:

    geoffw said:

    Leon said:

    Tom Kerridge. There's a hero

    But not a politician
    Should be. I'd vote for the Tom Kerridge party. Keeping pubs open, really good Asian barbecues, and making PROPER pork crackling

    Who wouldn't vote for that?
    I think his politics might be a bit left wing for your liking.
    I'll vote for him if he promises to never say "lush" again.
    carnforth said:

    Leon said:

    geoffw said:

    Leon said:

    Tom Kerridge. There's a hero

    But not a politician
    Should be. I'd vote for the Tom Kerridge party. Keeping pubs open, really good Asian barbecues, and making PROPER pork crackling

    Who wouldn't vote for that?
    I think his politics might be a bit left wing for your liking.
    I'll vote for him if he promises to never say "lush" again.
    Saying "lush" is better than being a lush (cf other tv cooks/chefs of note starting with Fanny and Johnny, the galloping gourmet etc etc)

  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 54,012

    Black voters drifting to Trump reports NY Times.

    Turkeys and Christmas comes to mind.

    This is the problem. The immediate reaction is to patronise not seek to understand. Frank Luntz has said again and again that Trump's appeal is due to immigration and inflation.

    On the other hand, Trump is now regularly using fascist language and threatening to lock up and kill US citizens who he does not like. At some point, surely, we need to give people the agency to know that they are voting for a racist who does not believe in the rule of law and to not care.

    Look it's the PC culture that's been foisted upon us. I'm not particularly a fan but referring to a racial demographic as turkeys voting for Christmas is a little eyebrow raising.

    I agree on the Turkeys comment. People make informed choices. Those voting for Trump know exactly who he is. They don't care. My overriding thought is that if the US really were the greatest country on earth he would be absolutely nowhere near power rather than about to be re-elected President. What puzzles me is why so many on the UK right want him to win given the campaign he has fought and the policies he supports, which will clearly be very bad news for the UK.

    Are there that many on the UK right who want him to win? A few opportunistic politicians but not that many people so far as I can tell. Is there a single person on pb?
    You are unaware of PB's resident Sophist-in-Chief and leading Putin-pimper/Trump-fluffer?
    Yes, I want him to win, or more so I loath the alternative. He doesn't really stand for anything I stand for, as an economic liberal with mild social conservatism who believes free markets and free trade enriches all those who engage in it.
    But, I cannot abide anyone who does pronoun declarations, land acknowledgement and think its a good idea to affirm confused young children about their sexuality and what adults call gender identity.
    Was NOT talking about you, bub.

    But you do prove my point, that the notion that there are no Trump-lovers on PB is flawed, to put it mildly.

    Though it IS hard to tell, which are (reasonably) genuine and which are (mainly) Putin-bots motivated by desire to stay OUT of the trenches.
    In fairness if I had a choice between running the gamut of the ban hammer from Robert and running at trenches filled with well armed Ukrainians it wouldn’t take me long to choose.
  • MJWMJW Posts: 1,733
    Scott_xP said:

    Rees Mogg is an excellent communicator and cheerleader

    Cheerleader, maybe. Communicator, not so much.

    He couldn't persuade the good people of Somerset to vote for him again
    It's the difference between being a 'personality' and a 'communicator'. Rees-Mogg is excellent copy. I'll bet he's batting away offers for Strictly/The Jungle/'Fish Out of Water' docs'. But he's absolutely terrible at political communication because the upper-class twit act distracts from what he's saying and when it doesn't it's invariably as has said something that gives a newsline for the wrong reasons - namely it presents his political stance in the worst, most callous, stereotypically 'heartless Tory' way possible.
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 52,268
    Tim Walz goes pheasant shooting but struggles to handle his gun:

    https://x.com/shawnamizelle/status/1845136534766239825
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 36,099
    MJW said:

    it's invariably as has said something that gives a newsline for the wrong reasons - namely it presents his political stance in the worst, most callous, stereotypically 'heartless Tory' way possible.

    TBF, his political stance is usually batshit crazy as well.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 123,864
    Scott_xP said:

    Rees Mogg is an excellent communicator and cheerleader

    Cheerleader, maybe. Communicator, not so much.

    He couldn't persuade the good people of Somerset to vote for him again
    His time may yet come, Mogg could be the Corbyn to Jenrick or Badenoch's Ed Miliband
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 36,099
    @marcuschown

    This is the table display of Boris Johnson’s memoir at the Cheltenham Literature Festival tonight. Waterstones staff keep cleaning it up. But then festival goers keep doing it again! ⁦
    @cheltfestivals

    https://x.com/marcuschown/status/1845180295403786335
  • Leon said:

    Good evening everyone, except that it isn’t a good evening. As an SNP member for 50 years, I first met Alex Salmond in 1979, at a meeting of the 79 Group, in a dusty back room of a union office in Glasgow in 1980. I last met him when campaigning for our MSP a few years ago. He was always larger than life, and a political giant.

    He was the greatest Scot of my generation and passed away without seeing the free independent Scotland we both longed for. He didn’t even live long enough to clear his name after the odious quisling Sturgeon and her henchpersons tried to put him in jail.😢. Many in the SNP hierarchy will be relieved tonight. Independence supporters less so.

    He got the closest to Scottish independence that anyone will in my lifetime, because he realised that the economic case for independence needed to be won, If he hadn’t been wishy washy on the currency issue (an independent Scotland should not be linked to sterling), Scotland would now be an independent nation.

    His successors think that social issues are more important; they’re not!

    I always thought he was a similar age to me. He’s several years younger.

    RIP Alex Salmond.

    His own lawyer called him a "sex pest". There is no doubt that his behaviour towards women was frequently poor, even if it didn't reach the level of assault. He is not a good choice of hero.
    Every hero, on examination, does pretty shitty things

    JFK was a borderline rapist. Martin Luther King probably WAS an actual rapist

    Who else?

    Gandhi? Outright racist

    Churchill we know was flawed

    Lincoln thought blacks were inferior and should be sent back to Africa

    To become a hero you almost always end up trampling over people, because that is how things are achieved; and most people will exploit others even if they don't mean to, it is near-impossible to succeed without doing so

    I am hardpushed to find a hero, let alone a political hero, who hasn't got serious issues
    Shock news that no one is perfect. Also those who make it to the top usually have a ruthless streak, that's how they get there
  • LeonLeon Posts: 56,496

    Leon said:

    Good evening everyone, except that it isn’t a good evening. As an SNP member for 50 years, I first met Alex Salmond in 1979, at a meeting of the 79 Group, in a dusty back room of a union office in Glasgow in 1980. I last met him when campaigning for our MSP a few years ago. He was always larger than life, and a political giant.

    He was the greatest Scot of my generation and passed away without seeing the free independent Scotland we both longed for. He didn’t even live long enough to clear his name after the odious quisling Sturgeon and her henchpersons tried to put him in jail.😢. Many in the SNP hierarchy will be relieved tonight. Independence supporters less so.

    He got the closest to Scottish independence that anyone will in my lifetime, because he realised that the economic case for independence needed to be won, If he hadn’t been wishy washy on the currency issue (an independent Scotland should not be linked to sterling), Scotland would now be an independent nation.

    His successors think that social issues are more important; they’re not!

    I always thought he was a similar age to me. He’s several years younger.

    RIP Alex Salmond.

    His own lawyer called him a "sex pest". There is no doubt that his behaviour towards women was frequently poor, even if it didn't reach the level of assault. He is not a good choice of hero.
    Every hero, on examination, does pretty shitty things

    JFK was a borderline rapist. Martin Luther King probably WAS an actual rapist

    Who else?

    Gandhi? Outright racist

    Churchill we know was flawed

    Lincoln thought blacks were inferior and should be sent back to Africa

    To become a hero you almost always end up trampling over people, because that is how things are achieved; and most people will exploit others even if they don't mean to, it is near-impossible to succeed without doing so

    I am hardpushed to find a hero, let alone a political hero, who hasn't got serious issues
    Shock news that no one is perfect. Also those who make it to the top usually have a ruthless streak, that's how they get there
    Well, indeed

    But it seems to be news to @bondegezou
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 36,099
    HYUFD said:



    Scott_xP said:

    Rees Mogg is an excellent communicator and cheerleader

    Cheerleader, maybe. Communicator, not so much.

    He couldn't persuade the good people of Somerset to vote for him again
    His time may yet come, Mogg could be the Corbyn to Jenrick or Badenoch's Ed Miliband
    He was already the Mogg to BoZo. He lied to the Queen. He's had his chips.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,495
    carnforth said:

    Cicero said:

    ohnotnow said:

    DavidL said:

    Salmond is a huge loss to Scottish politics. Deeply flawed but clever, witty and persuasive.

    Sturgeon will be relieved his action against the Scottish government is unlikely to go further. Those who gave evidence in his trial will be likewise.

    It will take a long time for this to shake down. Can Alva survive without him? I sincerely doubt it. What are those who support independence but are disgusted by the corruption, cynicism and weird obsessions of the current SNP leadership going to do now?

    So far Wings is silent. He and his ilk, which includes @malcolmg , must be devastated tonight. My condolences to them and his family.

    On the other hand - Alba might find new life outside of his shadow. It might finally become the new SNP that he clearly felt was needed.
    Genuinely I doubt it. I knew him a little and was at the same uni as his brother,l. He was a one-of-a-kind and it was truly a singular moment in Scottish politics. Independence is gone for this generation and maybe for ever.
    Sturgeon was pretty talented too, no?

    I thought the independence cause was very lucky to have them in sucession.
    she was shite and evil, hopefully jail beckons
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,495
    DavidL said:

    carnforth said:

    FF43 said:

    carnforth said:

    "While he could be charming and entertaining, there was also a less pleasant side to his character.

    I would wince when sometimes he would show impatience and irritation towards his staff. He could be very demanding of them.

    I can also recall bringing a senior BBC editor from the newsroom in London to see him and was astonished when he asked my colleague if he was on a colonial visit."

    BBC Scotland Editor speaking ill of the dead.

    Couldn't he wait until tomorrow?

    I have a feeling the non-application of libel laws to the dead will have an effect on what gets said about Salmond.
    Well, we may get to hear about all the supressed evidence from the trial.
    Not unless more people want to end up in jail like Craig Murray. The right to anonymity on the part of the complainers did not die with Salmond.
    amazed someone outside UK has not dobbed the arseholes in by now
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 63,114
    These AI apps show human-level intelligence and we are all going to be out of work latest:



    martin_casado

    @martin_casado
    ·
    Oct 11
    I don't recall another time in CS history where a result like this is obvious to the point of banality to one group. And heretical to another.

    https://x.com/martin_casado/status/1844854216596365678
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,495
    DavidL said:

    carnforth said:

    FF43 said:

    carnforth said:

    "While he could be charming and entertaining, there was also a less pleasant side to his character.

    I would wince when sometimes he would show impatience and irritation towards his staff. He could be very demanding of them.

    I can also recall bringing a senior BBC editor from the newsroom in London to see him and was astonished when he asked my colleague if he was on a colonial visit."

    BBC Scotland Editor speaking ill of the dead.

    Couldn't he wait until tomorrow?

    I have a feeling the non-application of libel laws to the dead will have an effect on what gets said about Salmond.
    Well, we may get to hear about all the supressed evidence from the trial.
    Not unless more people want to end up in jail like Craig Murray. The right to anonymity on the part of the complainers did not die with Salmond.
    unfortunately , criminal that criminals should be protected like that
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 36,099

    These AI apps show human-level intelligence and we are all going to be out of work latest:

    On the Microsoft website earlier today I followed their AI assisted process to help select a laptop

    The model it finally recommended had a price quoted of £77,770 which didn't look quite right...
  • FF43FF43 Posts: 17,236
    ydoethur said:

    An important politician, brought low by his own party.

    Be interesting to see what comes out now.

    I think it's fair to say he helped 'his own party' in bringing himself low...

    But undoubtedly an extraordinary political talent.

    @malcolmg will be sad.
    You were talking about prime ministers not being economists on a previous thread, @ydoethur. Alex Salmond was an economist by profession and I believe a well regarded one.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 54,012
    malcolmg said:

    DavidL said:

    carnforth said:

    FF43 said:

    carnforth said:

    "While he could be charming and entertaining, there was also a less pleasant side to his character.

    I would wince when sometimes he would show impatience and irritation towards his staff. He could be very demanding of them.

    I can also recall bringing a senior BBC editor from the newsroom in London to see him and was astonished when he asked my colleague if he was on a colonial visit."

    BBC Scotland Editor speaking ill of the dead.

    Couldn't he wait until tomorrow?

    I have a feeling the non-application of libel laws to the dead will have an effect on what gets said about Salmond.
    Well, we may get to hear about all the supressed evidence from the trial.
    Not unless more people want to end up in jail like Craig Murray. The right to anonymity on the part of the complainers did not die with Salmond.
    unfortunately , criminal that criminals should be protected like that
    You might say that Malcolm, I couldn’t possibly comment.
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 82,505
    Scott_xP said:

    These AI apps show human-level intelligence and we are all going to be out of work latest:

    On the Microsoft website earlier today I followed their AI assisted process to help select a laptop

    The model it finally recommended had a price quoted of £77,770 which didn't look quite right...
    Sounds about the right cost of a new Apple macbook pro..
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 36,099
    FF43 said:

    ydoethur said:

    An important politician, brought low by his own party.

    Be interesting to see what comes out now.

    I think it's fair to say he helped 'his own party' in bringing himself low...

    But undoubtedly an extraordinary political talent.

    @malcolmg will be sad.
    You were talking about prime ministers not being economists on a previous thread, @ydoethur. Alex Salmond was an economist by profession and I believe a well regarded one.
    Which is ironic given that his lifelong dream foundered on the economics, not the politics
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,945
    edited October 12
    "Our greatest strength – Cleverly’s broad appeal and lack of enemies – became our Achilles’ heel. Too many of our supporters, confident in James’s position, thought they could have their cake and eat it too. In the secret ballot, they each independently plotted to knock out their least favourite rival, assuming Cleverly was safe.

    Thinking they were acting alone; it was a miscalculation of epic proportions. In a twist worthy of a Greek tragedy, up to 20 MPs likely voted against their true preference, thinking they were playing a clever game of 4D chess. Instead, they checkmated their own candidate."

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/10/12/i-was-key-player-in-james-cleverly-campaign-what-went-wrong/
  • LeonLeon Posts: 56,496

    These AI apps show human-level intelligence and we are all going to be out of work latest:



    martin_casado

    @martin_casado
    ·
    Oct 11
    I don't recall another time in CS history where a result like this is obvious to the point of banality to one group. And heretical to another.

    https://x.com/martin_casado/status/1844854216596365678

    No one cares about this, because the real-world results are so astounding

    It's like asking if cars like cake, nah, but they go much faster than humans
  • MJWMJW Posts: 1,733
    Scott_xP said:

    MJW said:

    it's invariably as has said something that gives a newsline for the wrong reasons - namely it presents his political stance in the worst, most callous, stereotypically 'heartless Tory' way possible.

    TBF, his political stance is usually batshit crazy as well.
    Well perhaps. But there are good communicators who can make the batshit seem appealing or plausible. A longheld Remainer gripe is that several of J R-M's fellow Brexiteers were among them and convinced the country to vote for something incredibly damaging and daft.

    He isn't among them as can often do the opposite in terms of putting standard right-wing thinking in ways that make him sound like he's going to chuck several orphans into his Aga to heat up a puppy stew.
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 52,268
    From Vance's NYT interview:

    https://x.com/collinrugg/status/1845160619760288193

    Garcia-Navarro tried arguing that illegal immigrants can't be deported because America needs them for jobs.

    She pointed to the unemployment rate to back up her claim but was immediately shot down by Vance.

    "The unemployment rate does not count labor force participation dropouts.

    "This is one of the really deranged things that I think illegal immigration does to our society, is it gets us in a mindset of saying, 'we can only build houses with illegal immigrants.'

    "We have 7 million men, not even women, just men who have completely dropped out of the labor force.

    "Sometimes people who may be struggling with addiction or trauma, need to get reengaged in American society.

    "We cannot have an entire American business community that is giving up on American workers and then importing millions of illegal laborers. That is what we have thanks to Kamala Harris' border policies. I think it's one of the biggest drivers of inequality.

    "It's one of the biggest reasons why we have millions of people who've dropped out of the labor force. Why try to reengage an American citizen in a good job if you can just import somebody from Central America who's gonna work under the table for poverty wages?

    "It is a disgrace and it has led to the evisceration of the American Middle class."

  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 28,888

    Barnesian said:

    Black voters drifting to Trump reports NY Times.

    Turkeys and Christmas comes to mind.

    This is the problem. The immediate reaction is to patronise not seek to understand. Frank Luntz has said again and again that Trump's appeal is due to immigration and inflation.

    On the other hand, Trump is now regularly using fascist language and threatening to lock up and kill US citizens who he does not like. At some point, surely, we need to give people the agency to know that they are voting for a racist who does not believe in the rule of law and to not care.

    Look it's the PC culture that's been foisted upon us. I'm not particularly a fan but referring to a racial demographic as turkeys voting for Christmas is a little eyebrow raising.

    I agree on the Turkeys comment. People make informed choices. Those voting for Trump know exactly who he is. They don't care. My overriding thought is that if the US really were the greatest country on earth he would be absolutely nowhere near power rather than about to be re-elected President. What puzzles me is why so many on the UK right want him to win given the campaign he has fought and the policies he supports, which will clearly be very bad news for the UK.

    Are there that many on the UK right who want him to win? A few opportunistic politicians but not that many people so far as I can tell. Is there a single person on pb?
    You are unaware of PB's resident Sophist-in-Chief and leading Putin-pimper/Trump-fluffer?
    Yes, I want him to win, or more so I loath the alternative. He doesn't really stand for anything I stand for, as an economic liberal with mild social conservatism who believes free markets and free trade enriches all those who engage in it.
    But, I cannot abide anyone who does pronoun declarations, land acknowledgement and think its a good idea to affirm confused young children about their sexuality and what adults call gender identity.
    Sad
    Well there you go, its the filthy pervert who predates on grown women (include adult entertainment stars), or the ideology of filthy perverts who who predate on young children.

    Not that it really matters either way because I don't have a vote.
    Try this for size. See if it fits.

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Trump_sexual_misconduct_allegations
  • Good evening from El Campello. Unexpected news to hear that Alex Salmond has died - though in death it’s always sudden even when it isn’t. I wonder what now happens to the Alba party - surely a Salmond vehicle primarily as its support has dropped to tenths of a percent.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 51,082
    Scott_xP said:

    These AI apps show human-level intelligence and we are all going to be out of work latest:

    On the Microsoft website earlier today I followed their AI assisted process to help select a laptop

    The model it finally recommended had a price quoted of £77,770 which didn't look quite right...
    Why did it direct you to the customised Mac Pro that is half what @TheScreamingEagles spec’d?
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 63,114

    From Vance's NYT interview:

    https://x.com/collinrugg/status/1845160619760288193

    Garcia-Navarro tried arguing that illegal immigrants can't be deported because America needs them for jobs.

    She pointed to the unemployment rate to back up her claim but was immediately shot down by Vance.

    "The unemployment rate does not count labor force participation dropouts.

    "This is one of the really deranged things that I think illegal immigration does to our society, is it gets us in a mindset of saying, 'we can only build houses with illegal immigrants.'

    "We have 7 million men, not even women, just men who have completely dropped out of the labor force.

    "Sometimes people who may be struggling with addiction or trauma, need to get reengaged in American society.

    "We cannot have an entire American business community that is giving up on American workers and then importing millions of illegal laborers. That is what we have thanks to Kamala Harris' border policies. I think it's one of the biggest drivers of inequality.

    "It's one of the biggest reasons why we have millions of people who've dropped out of the labor force. Why try to reengage an American citizen in a good job if you can just import somebody from Central America who's gonna work under the table for poverty wages?

    "It is a disgrace and it has led to the evisceration of the American Middle class."

    Odd. Because there is someone called J D Vance who writes in his autobiog about how growing up in small city in Ohio he was surrounded by (non-migrant) people who couldn't be arsed to stick a job. They'd stick a few weeks at the tiling shop and then pack it in because they had to turn up everyday.

  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 36,099

    Scott_xP said:

    These AI apps show human-level intelligence and we are all going to be out of work latest:

    On the Microsoft website earlier today I followed their AI assisted process to help select a laptop

    The model it finally recommended had a price quoted of £77,770 which didn't look quite right...
    Why did it direct you to the customised Mac Pro that is half what @TheScreamingEagles spec’d?
    Like I said, AI...
  • CatManCatMan Posts: 3,066

    From Vance's NYT interview:

    https://x.com/collinrugg/status/1845160619760288193

    Garcia-Navarro tried arguing that illegal immigrants can't be deported because America needs them for jobs.

    She pointed to the unemployment rate to back up her claim but was immediately shot down by Vance.

    "The unemployment rate does not count labor force participation dropouts.

    "This is one of the really deranged things that I think illegal immigration does to our society, is it gets us in a mindset of saying, 'we can only build houses with illegal immigrants.'

    "We have 7 million men, not even women, just men who have completely dropped out of the labor force.

    "Sometimes people who may be struggling with addiction or trauma, need to get reengaged in American society.

    "We cannot have an entire American business community that is giving up on American workers and then importing millions of illegal laborers. That is what we have thanks to Kamala Harris' border policies. I think it's one of the biggest drivers of inequality.

    "It's one of the biggest reasons why we have millions of people who've dropped out of the labor force. Why try to reengage an American citizen in a good job if you can just import somebody from Central America who's gonna work under the table for poverty wages?

    "It is a disgrace and it has led to the evisceration of the American Middle class."

    Prediction: If Trump wins, four years from now he will have done precisely fuck all to help the American middle class
  • ohnotnowohnotnow Posts: 3,987

    These AI apps show human-level intelligence and we are all going to be out of work latest:



    martin_casado

    @martin_casado
    ·
    Oct 11
    I don't recall another time in CS history where a result like this is obvious to the point of banality to one group. And heretical to another.

    https://x.com/martin_casado/status/1844854216596365678

    On the other hand, bonus points for getting a paper out of asking a language model to do non-language tasks. If nothing else, the 'AI' boom has been a... boon for getting low-value papers published.
  • ohnotnowohnotnow Posts: 3,987
    CatMan said:

    From Vance's NYT interview:

    https://x.com/collinrugg/status/1845160619760288193

    Garcia-Navarro tried arguing that illegal immigrants can't be deported because America needs them for jobs.

    She pointed to the unemployment rate to back up her claim but was immediately shot down by Vance.

    "The unemployment rate does not count labor force participation dropouts.

    "This is one of the really deranged things that I think illegal immigration does to our society, is it gets us in a mindset of saying, 'we can only build houses with illegal immigrants.'

    "We have 7 million men, not even women, just men who have completely dropped out of the labor force.

    "Sometimes people who may be struggling with addiction or trauma, need to get reengaged in American society.

    "We cannot have an entire American business community that is giving up on American workers and then importing millions of illegal laborers. That is what we have thanks to Kamala Harris' border policies. I think it's one of the biggest drivers of inequality.

    "It's one of the biggest reasons why we have millions of people who've dropped out of the labor force. Why try to reengage an American citizen in a good job if you can just import somebody from Central America who's gonna work under the table for poverty wages?

    "It is a disgrace and it has led to the evisceration of the American Middle class."

    Prediction: If Trump wins, four years from now he will have done precisely fuck all to help the American middle class
    He'll 100% have finished building the wall and draining the swamp though, right? ...... right?
  • VerulamiusVerulamius Posts: 1,549
    edited October 12
    ohnotnow said:

    CatMan said:

    From Vance's NYT interview:

    https://x.com/collinrugg/status/1845160619760288193

    Garcia-Navarro tried arguing that illegal immigrants can't be deported because America needs them for jobs.

    She pointed to the unemployment rate to back up her claim but was immediately shot down by Vance.

    "The unemployment rate does not count labor force participation dropouts.

    "This is one of the really deranged things that I think illegal immigration does to our society, is it gets us in a mindset of saying, 'we can only build houses with illegal immigrants.'

    "We have 7 million men, not even women, just men who have completely dropped out of the labor force.

    "Sometimes people who may be struggling with addiction or trauma, need to get reengaged in American society.

    "We cannot have an entire American business community that is giving up on American workers and then importing millions of illegal laborers. That is what we have thanks to Kamala Harris' border policies. I think it's one of the biggest drivers of inequality.

    "It's one of the biggest reasons why we have millions of people who've dropped out of the labor force. Why try to reengage an American citizen in a good job if you can just import somebody from Central America who's gonna work under the table for poverty wages?

    "It is a disgrace and it has led to the evisceration of the American Middle class."

    Prediction: If Trump wins, four years from now he will have done precisely fuck all to help the American middle class
    He'll 100% have finished building the wall and draining the swamp though, right? ...... right?
    Will he lock her up?
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 50,144
    HYUFD said:



    Scott_xP said:

    Rees Mogg is an excellent communicator and cheerleader

    Cheerleader, maybe. Communicator, not so much.

    He couldn't persuade the good people of Somerset to vote for him again
    His time may yet come, Mogg could be the Corbyn to Jenrick or Badenoch's Ed Miliband
    Sounds like you are anticipating a longgggg stint in opposition. If that.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 63,114

    ohnotnow said:

    CatMan said:

    From Vance's NYT interview:

    https://x.com/collinrugg/status/1845160619760288193

    Garcia-Navarro tried arguing that illegal immigrants can't be deported because America needs them for jobs.

    She pointed to the unemployment rate to back up her claim but was immediately shot down by Vance.

    "The unemployment rate does not count labor force participation dropouts.

    "This is one of the really deranged things that I think illegal immigration does to our society, is it gets us in a mindset of saying, 'we can only build houses with illegal immigrants.'

    "We have 7 million men, not even women, just men who have completely dropped out of the labor force.

    "Sometimes people who may be struggling with addiction or trauma, need to get reengaged in American society.

    "We cannot have an entire American business community that is giving up on American workers and then importing millions of illegal laborers. That is what we have thanks to Kamala Harris' border policies. I think it's one of the biggest drivers of inequality.

    "It's one of the biggest reasons why we have millions of people who've dropped out of the labor force. Why try to reengage an American citizen in a good job if you can just import somebody from Central America who's gonna work under the table for poverty wages?

    "It is a disgrace and it has led to the evisceration of the American Middle class."

    Prediction: If Trump wins, four years from now he will have done precisely fuck all to help the American middle class
    He'll 100% have finished building the wall and draining the swamp though, right? ...... right?
    Will he lock her up?
    He'll lock a lot of people up.

  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 52,268
    Vance and Jenrick pushing the same policies:

    https://x.com/jdvance/status/1845136622515315122

    If you came into this country illegally, pack your bags.
  • nico679nico679 Posts: 6,277
    For all my fellow US election poll junkies !

    We should get 3 new national polls out tomorrow from NBC, ABC and CBS .
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 63,114
    nico679 said:

    For all my fellow US election poll junkies !

    We should get 3 new national polls out tomorrow from NBC, ABC and CBS .

    Harris leading in all three I expect and yet swing states remain showing totally impossible to decide.
  • edmundintokyoedmundintokyo Posts: 17,708
    Scott_xP said:

    These AI apps show human-level intelligence and we are all going to be out of work latest:

    On the Microsoft website earlier today I followed their AI assisted process to help select a laptop

    The model it finally recommended had a price quoted of £77,770 which didn't look quite right...
    Their AI is doing its job right, it's worth a shot just in case the buyer is also an AI bot.
  • nico679nico679 Posts: 6,277
    This is a good twitter site which people tweet on if they’ve been polled in recent days . So we have an idea of what polls to expect in the coming days . And it also has new polls due out shortly along with other poll updates . You need to search for the twitter handle “ poll tracker 2024 “.
  • WildernessPt2WildernessPt2 Posts: 715
    edited October 12

    Vance and Jenrick pushing the same policies:

    https://x.com/jdvance/status/1845136622515315122

    If you came into this country illegally, pack your bags.

    The policy of every government for the past fifty years, with the exception of the last five.
  • GIN1138GIN1138 Posts: 22,376
    Ooo.. Colleen's going into the jungle.

    Now, if ITV have the balls to drop Rebekah Vardy into the Jungle as well, even I might watch it for the first time ever! 😂
  • GIN1138GIN1138 Posts: 22,376
    Looks like we've had our first Deltapoll poll of the parliament (sorry if already discussed)

    Labour lead 4%! The last Deltapoll of the 2024 general election gave Labour a 21% lead so Labour are down 17% in three months lol! 😂

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_for_the_next_United_Kingdom_general_election
  • RobDRobD Posts: 60,030
    GIN1138 said:

    Looks like we've had our first Deltapoll poll of the parliament (sorry if already discussed)

    Labour lead 4%! The last Deltapoll of the 2024 general election gave Labour a 21% lead so Labour are down 17% in three months lol! 😂

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_for_the_next_United_Kingdom_general_election

    One hell of an adjustment of the weightings.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 123,864
    IanB2 said:

    HYUFD said:



    Scott_xP said:

    Rees Mogg is an excellent communicator and cheerleader

    Cheerleader, maybe. Communicator, not so much.

    He couldn't persuade the good people of Somerset to vote for him again
    His time may yet come, Mogg could be the Corbyn to Jenrick or Badenoch's Ed Miliband
    Sounds like you are anticipating a longgggg stint in opposition. If that.
    Mind you even Corbyn was just 30 more seats from becoming PM in 2017
  • GIN1138GIN1138 Posts: 22,376
    HYUFD said:

    IanB2 said:

    HYUFD said:



    Scott_xP said:

    Rees Mogg is an excellent communicator and cheerleader

    Cheerleader, maybe. Communicator, not so much.

    He couldn't persuade the good people of Somerset to vote for him again
    His time may yet come, Mogg could be the Corbyn to Jenrick or Badenoch's Ed Miliband
    Sounds like you are anticipating a longgggg stint in opposition. If that.
    Mind you even Corbyn was just 30 more seats from becoming PM in 2017
    Only because old grumpy knickers was absolutely bloody useless.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 57,608

    From Vance's NYT interview:

    https://x.com/collinrugg/status/1845160619760288193

    Garcia-Navarro tried arguing that illegal immigrants can't be deported because America needs them for jobs.

    She pointed to the unemployment rate to back up her claim but was immediately shot down by Vance.

    "The unemployment rate does not count labor force participation dropouts.

    "This is one of the really deranged things that I think illegal immigration does to our society, is it gets us in a mindset of saying, 'we can only build houses with illegal immigrants.'

    "We have 7 million men, not even women, just men who have completely dropped out of the labor force.

    "Sometimes people who may be struggling with addiction or trauma, need to get reengaged in American society.

    "We cannot have an entire American business community that is giving up on American workers and then importing millions of illegal laborers. That is what we have thanks to Kamala Harris' border policies. I think it's one of the biggest drivers of inequality.

    "It's one of the biggest reasons why we have millions of people who've dropped out of the labor force. Why try to reengage an American citizen in a good job if you can just import somebody from Central America who's gonna work under the table for poverty wages?

    "It is a disgrace and it has led to the evisceration of the American Middle class."

    The problem is that the illegal immigrants are not in the areas of country where labor rate participation levels have collapsed. They're not in the broken towns of the Rustbelt, they're in California and Texas and Arizona and Nevada.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 123,864
    GIN1138 said:

    HYUFD said:

    IanB2 said:

    HYUFD said:



    Scott_xP said:

    Rees Mogg is an excellent communicator and cheerleader

    Cheerleader, maybe. Communicator, not so much.

    He couldn't persuade the good people of Somerset to vote for him again
    His time may yet come, Mogg could be the Corbyn to Jenrick or Badenoch's Ed Miliband
    Sounds like you are anticipating a longgggg stint in opposition. If that.
    Mind you even Corbyn was just 30 more seats from becoming PM in 2017
    Only because old grumpy knickers was absolutely bloody useless.
    Bit like Starmer then...
  • GIN1138GIN1138 Posts: 22,376
    edited October 12
    HYUFD said:

    GIN1138 said:

    HYUFD said:

    IanB2 said:

    HYUFD said:



    Scott_xP said:

    Rees Mogg is an excellent communicator and cheerleader

    Cheerleader, maybe. Communicator, not so much.

    He couldn't persuade the good people of Somerset to vote for him again
    His time may yet come, Mogg could be the Corbyn to Jenrick or Badenoch's Ed Miliband
    Sounds like you are anticipating a longgggg stint in opposition. If that.
    Mind you even Corbyn was just 30 more seats from becoming PM in 2017
    Only because old grumpy knickers was absolutely bloody useless.
    Bit like Starmer then...
    Well, at least Starmer did successfully pull off a landslide in 2024, but yes.. Lets see him pull it off again in 2029..
  • SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 17,559
    Louisiana famously had it's Kingfish. But Scotland beat that with TWO Big Fish . . . but saddly has lost the biggest . . . with a political career of ups and downs that rivaled those of Huey Long.

    Note that Huey is buried in front of the Lousisana State Capitol in Baton Rouge, a buiding that he both built AND was assassintated within. With a few years the state political organization he masterminded (and Long WAS a genius) was overturned,and frequently incarcerated, but the Long faction of Louisiana Democrats has endured nearly a century.

    Not sure how much Scots (as opposed to Scotch) there was in Louisiana's Kingfish, but there was more than a little Huey Long - good and maybe less so - in Scotland's Bigget Fish, Alex Salmond
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 52,268
    rcs1000 said:

    From Vance's NYT interview:

    https://x.com/collinrugg/status/1845160619760288193

    Garcia-Navarro tried arguing that illegal immigrants can't be deported because America needs them for jobs.

    She pointed to the unemployment rate to back up her claim but was immediately shot down by Vance.

    "The unemployment rate does not count labor force participation dropouts.

    "This is one of the really deranged things that I think illegal immigration does to our society, is it gets us in a mindset of saying, 'we can only build houses with illegal immigrants.'

    "We have 7 million men, not even women, just men who have completely dropped out of the labor force.

    "Sometimes people who may be struggling with addiction or trauma, need to get reengaged in American society.

    "We cannot have an entire American business community that is giving up on American workers and then importing millions of illegal laborers. That is what we have thanks to Kamala Harris' border policies. I think it's one of the biggest drivers of inequality.

    "It's one of the biggest reasons why we have millions of people who've dropped out of the labor force. Why try to reengage an American citizen in a good job if you can just import somebody from Central America who's gonna work under the table for poverty wages?

    "It is a disgrace and it has led to the evisceration of the American Middle class."

    The problem is that the illegal immigrants are not in the areas of country where labor rate participation levels have collapsed. They're not in the broken towns of the Rustbelt, they're in California and Texas and Arizona and Nevada.
    According to the stats here, the labor participation rate is lower in California, Texas, Arizona and Nevada than in Illinois, Missouri, Iowa or Minnesota.

    https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/labor-force-participation-rate-by-state
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 52,268
    Trigger warning:

    https://x.com/ppollingnumbers/status/1845261682114953401

    @nytimes General election poll - Arizona

    🔴 Trump 51% (+5)
    🔵 Harris 46%

    Siena #A+ - 808 LV - 10/10
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,945
    edited October 13
    Still can't believe centrist Tory MPs fell for one of the simplest tricks in the book, in terms of being persuaded to vote tactically and thus knocking out their own candidate.
  • SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 17,559
    Tonight on US el-cheapo broadcast tv - a very special showing of "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken" on of the true classics of American cinema, staring Don Knotts.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ghost_and_Mr._Chicken
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Knotts

    "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken" 1966 Trailer
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pg4dR0d8CBg
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 72,173
    rcs1000 said:

    From Vance's NYT interview:

    https://x.com/collinrugg/status/1845160619760288193

    Garcia-Navarro tried arguing that illegal immigrants can't be deported because America needs them for jobs.

    She pointed to the unemployment rate to back up her claim but was immediately shot down by Vance.

    "The unemployment rate does not count labor force participation dropouts.

    "This is one of the really deranged things that I think illegal immigration does to our society, is it gets us in a mindset of saying, 'we can only build houses with illegal immigrants.'

    "We have 7 million men, not even women, just men who have completely dropped out of the labor force.

    "Sometimes people who may be struggling with addiction or trauma, need to get reengaged in American society.

    "We cannot have an entire American business community that is giving up on American workers and then importing millions of illegal laborers. That is what we have thanks to Kamala Harris' border policies. I think it's one of the biggest drivers of inequality.

    "It's one of the biggest reasons why we have millions of people who've dropped out of the labor force. Why try to reengage an American citizen in a good job if you can just import somebody from Central America who's gonna work under the table for poverty wages?

    "It is a disgrace and it has led to the evisceration of the American Middle class."

    The problem is that the illegal immigrants are not in the areas of country where labor rate participation levels have collapsed. They're not in the broken towns of the Rustbelt, they're in California and Texas and Arizona and Nevada.
    The problem is a little worse than that.

    We watched 20 Trump rallies. His racist, anti-immigrant messaging is getting darker.

    https://www.politico.com/news/2024/10/12/trump-racist-rhetoric-immigrants-00183537
    Donald Trump vowed to “rescue” the Denver suburb of Aurora, Colorado, from the rapists, “blood thirsty criminals,” and “most violent people on earth” he insists are ruining the “fabric” of the country and its culture: immigrants.

    Trump’s message in Aurora, a city that has become a central part of his campaign speeches in the final stretch to Election Day, marks another example of how the former president has escalated his xenophobic and racist rhetoric against migrants and minority groups he says are genetically predisposed to commit crimes. The supposed threat migrants pose is the core part of the former president’s closing argument, as he promises his base that he’s the one who can save the country from a group of people he calls “animals,” “stone cold killers,” the “worst people,” and the “enemy from within.”

    He is no longer just talking about keeping immigrants out of the country, building a wall and banning Muslims from entering the United States. Trump now warns that migrants have already invaded, destroying the country from inside its borders, which he uses as a means to justify a second-term policy agenda that includes building massive detention camps and conducting mass deportations.
    In his lengthy speech Friday, Trump delivered a broadside against the thousands of Venezuelan migrants in Aurora. And he declared that he would use the Alien Enemies Act, which allows a president to authorize rounding up or removing people who are from enemy countries in times of war, to pursue migrant gangs and criminal networks.

    “Kamala [Harris] has imported an army of illegal alien gang members and migrant criminals from the dungeons of the third world … from prisons and jails and insane asylums and mental institutions, and she has had them resettled beautifully into your community to prey upon innocent American citizens,” he said.

    His rhetoric has veered more than ever into conspiracy theories and rumors, like when he amplified false claims about Haitian immigrants in Ohio eating pets. And Trump has demonized minority groups and used increasingly dark, graphic imagery to talk about migrants in every one of his speeches since the Sept. 10 presidential debate, according to a POLITICO review of more than 20 campaign events. It’s a stark escalation over the last month of what some experts in political rhetoric, fascism, and immigration say is a strong echo of authoritarians and Nazi ideology...


  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 72,173
    edited October 13

    Trigger warning:

    https://x.com/ppollingnumbers/status/1845261682114953401

    @nytimes General election poll - Arizona

    🔴 Trump 51% (+5)
    🔵 Harris 46%

    Siena #A+ - 808 LV - 10/10

    For whom ?

    That's at least the third time that poll's been posted.
    Alongside the PA one, which seems also to have escaped your keen eye.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 72,173

    rcs1000 said:

    From Vance's NYT interview:

    https://x.com/collinrugg/status/1845160619760288193

    Garcia-Navarro tried arguing that illegal immigrants can't be deported because America needs them for jobs.

    She pointed to the unemployment rate to back up her claim but was immediately shot down by Vance.

    "The unemployment rate does not count labor force participation dropouts.

    "This is one of the really deranged things that I think illegal immigration does to our society, is it gets us in a mindset of saying, 'we can only build houses with illegal immigrants.'

    "We have 7 million men, not even women, just men who have completely dropped out of the labor force.

    "Sometimes people who may be struggling with addiction or trauma, need to get reengaged in American society.

    "We cannot have an entire American business community that is giving up on American workers and then importing millions of illegal laborers. That is what we have thanks to Kamala Harris' border policies. I think it's one of the biggest drivers of inequality.

    "It's one of the biggest reasons why we have millions of people who've dropped out of the labor force. Why try to reengage an American citizen in a good job if you can just import somebody from Central America who's gonna work under the table for poverty wages?

    "It is a disgrace and it has led to the evisceration of the American Middle class."

    The problem is that the illegal immigrants are not in the areas of country where labor rate participation levels have collapsed. They're not in the broken towns of the Rustbelt, they're in California and Texas and Arizona and Nevada.
    According to the stats here, the labor participation rate is lower in California, Texas, Arizona and Nevada than in Illinois, Missouri, Iowa or Minnesota.

    https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/labor-force-participation-rate-by-state
    Haven't you noticed that they're considerably lower in Appalachia ?

    The other reality as that they've increased during the Biden administration.

    You seem working backwards, as is Trump, from a choice to blame immigrants for America's social problems.
    It's dishonest - and in Trump's case, increasingly racist, as that Politico article describes.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 72,173
    The biggest difference between the US and the UK regarding the economic impact of asylum seekers is that they are much greater participants in the US labour market.

    So while we spends billions in housing them in enforced idleness, in the U.S. they make a net contribution.

    A comparison which hasn't occurred to Jenrick.

    https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2024/02/15/new-hhs-study-finds-nearly-124-billion-positive-fiscal-impact-refugees-and-asylees-on-american-economy-15-year-period.html
    ..Net Fiscal Impact: Refugees and asylees had a positive net fiscal impact on the U.S. government over the 15-year period, totaling $123.8 billion. The net fiscal benefit to the federal government was estimated at $31.5 billion and approximately $92.3 billion to state and local governments. When compared with the total U.S. population on a per capita basis, refugees and asylees had a comparable net fiscal impact.
    Government Revenue: Refugees and asylees contributed an estimated $581 billion in revenue to all levels of government. Through payroll, income, and excise taxes, they contributed an estimated $363 billion to the federal government, and through income, sales, and property taxes, they contributed $218 billion to state and local governments.
    Government Expenditures: Over the 15-year period, governmental expenditures on refugees and asylees totaled an estimated $457.2 billion. Expenditures by the federal government represented 72.5 percent of the total, at $331.5 billion, while state and local government expenditures were 27.5 percent of the total, at $125.7 billion...
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 72,173
    The headline should read Vance Refuses to Stop Lying.

    Vance refuses to back down from Springfield migrant claims
    https://www.politico.com/news/2024/10/12/vance-interview-springfield-migrant-00183547

    The article says as much in the first paragraph. But even so, can't quite say it directly.
    Vice presidential hopeful JD Vance refused to walk back on the falsehoods he and his running mate Donald Trump have peddled on the campaign trail about Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio..

    Who among us has not told uff our kids for "walking forward falsehoods" ?

  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 50,144
    edited October 13
    Two urgent medical evacuations this morning, one by helicopter off the ship, as we chugged slowly past Ryde Pier, after an urgent small hours call for blood donors, and another more personal one in the cabin bathroom. Both taking place simultaneously. Chicken curry for lunch was clearly a mistake.
  • MattWMattW Posts: 23,885
    edited October 13
    Heh. My photo today.

    Lee Anderson claims he can sue people for DEFORMATION. Great (I assume) typo or autocorrect. He knows all about Defamation actions, as he's won a couple usually out of court iirc.

    Keep it in shape at the back:


    https://x.com/LeeAndersonMP_/status/1844757853787263219
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 28,399
    edited October 13
    COLEEN Rooney has signed up for this year’s I’m A Celebrity — securing the biggest deal in the show’s history.

    The 38-year-old Wag’s fee is understood to be way beyond Nigel Farage’s £1.5million last year.

    https://www.thesun.co.uk/tv/31042023/coleen-rooney-signs-im-a-celebrity-deal/

    See, there is a political angle. Speaking of which, no ex-MPs so far, despite there being a record number to choose from, which suggests that Farage flopped last year.

    As an aside, I wonder if the Sun is using AI to write its intros as it seems quite repetitive, like AI output often is.
  • MattWMattW Posts: 23,885

    COLEEN Rooney has signed up for this year’s I’m A Celebrity — securing the biggest deal in the show’s history.

    The 38-year-old Wag’s fee is understood to be way beyond Nigel Farage’s £1.5million last year.

    https://www.thesun.co.uk/tv/31042023/coleen-rooney-signs-im-a-celebrity-deal/

    See, there is a political angle. Speaking of which, no ex-MPs so far, despite there being a record number to choose from, which suggests that Farage flopped last year.

    As an aside, I wonder if the Sun is using AI to write its intros as it seems quite repetitive, like AI output often is.

    We demand Fizzy Lizzy.
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 28,399
    Stop pushing heat pumps or face major backlash, green energy magnate tells Labour
    Party donor Dale Vince warns that urging homeowners to switch to clean-power technology risks political storm bigger than Ulez

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/oct/12/stop-pushing-heat-pumps-backlash-green-energy-magnate-labour-ulez

    Not new news, but more interesting is that Vince talks about building onshore wind farms and eventually (when?) handing them over to local authorities as a new income source.
  • TazTaz Posts: 14,979
    edited October 13

    Stop pushing heat pumps or face major backlash, green energy magnate tells Labour
    Party donor Dale Vince warns that urging homeowners to switch to clean-power technology risks political storm bigger than Ulez

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/oct/12/stop-pushing-heat-pumps-backlash-green-energy-magnate-labour-ulez

    Not new news, but more interesting is that Vince talks about building onshore wind farms and eventually (when?) handing them over to local authorities as a new income source.

    Dale Vince, a large donor to labour, regularly gets trotted out as a wise commenter on green issues.

    He’s first and foremost a businessman and the owner of a company that generates wind power. Rather a lot of it. So who exactly would be building and running these wind farms a.

    His company would seem a good fit. Is this really news or just a form of corporate lobbying ?

    https://www.ecotricity.co.uk/our-news/2024/ecotricity-explains-wind-energy
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,709
    MattW said:

    COLEEN Rooney has signed up for this year’s I’m A Celebrity — securing the biggest deal in the show’s history.

    The 38-year-old Wag’s fee is understood to be way beyond Nigel Farage’s £1.5million last year.

    https://www.thesun.co.uk/tv/31042023/coleen-rooney-signs-im-a-celebrity-deal/

    See, there is a political angle. Speaking of which, no ex-MPs so far, despite there being a record number to choose from, which suggests that Farage flopped last year.

    As an aside, I wonder if the Sun is using AI to write its intros as it seems quite repetitive, like AI output often is.

    We demand Fizzy Lizzy.
    The lettuce would be more popular.
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 28,399
    ydoethur said:

    MattW said:

    COLEEN Rooney has signed up for this year’s I’m A Celebrity — securing the biggest deal in the show’s history.

    The 38-year-old Wag’s fee is understood to be way beyond Nigel Farage’s £1.5million last year.

    https://www.thesun.co.uk/tv/31042023/coleen-rooney-signs-im-a-celebrity-deal/

    See, there is a political angle. Speaking of which, no ex-MPs so far, despite there being a record number to choose from, which suggests that Farage flopped last year.

    As an aside, I wonder if the Sun is using AI to write its intros as it seems quite repetitive, like AI output often is.

    We demand Fizzy Lizzy.
    The lettuce would be more popular.
    Any excuse to rewatch the clip of Liz Truss at the races.
    https://x.com/i/status/1819321750846394841
  • Stop pushing heat pumps or face major backlash, green energy magnate tells Labour
    Party donor Dale Vince warns that urging homeowners to switch to clean-power technology risks political storm bigger than Ulez

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/oct/12/stop-pushing-heat-pumps-backlash-green-energy-magnate-labour-ulez

    Not new news, but more interesting is that Vince talks about building onshore wind farms and eventually (when?) handing them over to local authorities as a new income source.

    “Income source” if the capital costs are written off and given a guaranteed strike price over the market rate. If renewables are cheaper than fossil fuels (outside of the few months in 2022) then all you should need to do is clear the regulatory stuff getting in the way of the market building them.
  • Nigelb said:

    The biggest difference between the US and the UK regarding the economic impact of asylum seekers is that they are much greater participants in the US labour market.

    So while we spends billions in housing them in enforced idleness, in the U.S. they make a net contribution.

    A comparison which hasn't occurred to Jenrick.

    https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2024/02/15/new-hhs-study-finds-nearly-124-billion-positive-fiscal-impact-refugees-and-asylees-on-american-economy-15-year-period.html
    ..Net Fiscal Impact: Refugees and asylees had a positive net fiscal impact on the U.S. government over the 15-year period, totaling $123.8 billion. The net fiscal benefit to the federal government was estimated at $31.5 billion and approximately $92.3 billion to state and local governments. When compared with the total U.S. population on a per capita basis, refugees and asylees had a comparable net fiscal impact.
    Government Revenue: Refugees and asylees contributed an estimated $581 billion in revenue to all levels of government. Through payroll, income, and excise taxes, they contributed an estimated $363 billion to the federal government, and through income, sales, and property taxes, they contributed $218 billion to state and local governments.
    Government Expenditures: Over the 15-year period, governmental expenditures on refugees and asylees totaled an estimated $457.2 billion. Expenditures by the federal government represented 72.5 percent of the total, at $331.5 billion, while state and local government expenditures were 27.5 percent of the total, at $125.7 billion...

    If you give them the right to work you act as an even greater pull factor for them jumping on boats.
  • GIN1138 said:

    Looks like we've had our first Deltapoll poll of the parliament (sorry if already discussed)

    Labour lead 4%! The last Deltapoll of the 2024 general election gave Labour a 21% lead so Labour are down 17% in three months lol! 😂

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_for_the_next_United_Kingdom_general_election

    I can’t see this anywhere.. do you have the numbers ?
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 28,399
    Ed Miliband to roll out pylons despite official report showing burying cables can be cheaper
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/10/12/ed-milliband-pylons-report-underground-cables-cheaper/ (£££)

    The issue seems to be that burying cables may be cheaper but is also slower.
  • algarkirkalgarkirk Posts: 12,858
    GIN1138 said:

    Looks like we've had our first Deltapoll poll of the parliament (sorry if already discussed)

    Labour lead 4%! The last Deltapoll of the 2024 general election gave Labour a 21% lead so Labour are down 17% in three months lol! 😂

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_for_the_next_United_Kingdom_general_election

    SPLORG 46%. If it went over 50, and Lab/Con obvs under 50, it would begin to get real attention. As a trend it is massive. Lab/Con was over 80% in the 2017 election, and now 54. Compared with that result Lab are down 11 points and Tories down 17.3.
  • edmundintokyoedmundintokyo Posts: 17,708

    Ed Miliband to roll out pylons despite official report showing burying cables can be cheaper
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/10/12/ed-milliband-pylons-report-underground-cables-cheaper/ (£££)

    The issue seems to be that burying cables may be cheaper but is also slower.

    "Ed Miliband’s reckless 2030 decarbonisation target", I love this government so much, it's just beautiful to watch it in action.
  • TimSTimS Posts: 13,213
    algarkirk said:

    GIN1138 said:

    Looks like we've had our first Deltapoll poll of the parliament (sorry if already discussed)

    Labour lead 4%! The last Deltapoll of the 2024 general election gave Labour a 21% lead so Labour are down 17% in three months lol! 😂

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_for_the_next_United_Kingdom_general_election

    SPLORG 46%. If it went over 50, and Lab/Con obvs under 50, it would begin to get real attention. As a trend it is massive. Lab/Con was over 80% in the 2017 election, and now 54. Compared with that result Lab are down 11 points and Tories down 17.3.
    I think that’s the highest SPLORG score so far, or at least joint highest.

    Getting to 50% will be a push though, because any sort of Tory bounce would immediately put it beyond reach.
  • TazTaz Posts: 14,979
    MattW said:

    Heh. My photo today.

    Lee Anderson claims he can sue people for DEFORMATION. Great (I assume) typo or autocorrect. He knows all about Defamation actions, as he's won a couple usually out of court iirc.

    Keep it in shape at the back:


    https://x.com/LeeAndersonMP_/status/1844757853787263219

    He knows what he’s doing. He seems to get twitter and it’s users.
  • Ed Miliband to roll out pylons despite official report showing burying cables can be cheaper
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/10/12/ed-milliband-pylons-report-underground-cables-cheaper/ (£££)

    The issue seems to be that burying cables may be cheaper but is also slower.

    "Ed Miliband’s reckless 2030 decarbonisation target", I love this government so much, it's just beautiful to watch it in action.
    I’m saying it again and again, but miliband will be the ruin of this government if he doesn’t end up changing his plans. Energy will be ruinously expansive for consumers and industry without huge public subsidy, and that assumes that he dkesnt take seriously to end natural gas usage by 2030. Add on top of price it will be unstable and liable to routine brownout.

    Of course a pragmatist will be “well we didn’t get there but a bit more renewables wont do any harm”, but he wants the energy revolution. He’s not interested in pragmatism.
  • algarkirkalgarkirk Posts: 12,858
    TimS said:

    algarkirk said:

    GIN1138 said:

    Looks like we've had our first Deltapoll poll of the parliament (sorry if already discussed)

    Labour lead 4%! The last Deltapoll of the 2024 general election gave Labour a 21% lead so Labour are down 17% in three months lol! 😂

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_for_the_next_United_Kingdom_general_election

    SPLORG 46%. If it went over 50, and Lab/Con obvs under 50, it would begin to get real attention. As a trend it is massive. Lab/Con was over 80% in the 2017 election, and now 54. Compared with that result Lab are down 11 points and Tories down 17.3.
    I think that’s the highest SPLORG score so far, or at least joint highest.

    Getting to 50% will be a push though, because any sort of Tory bounce would immediately put it beyond reach.
    Agree, but there is a small but not miniscule chance that Reform and the LDs will both continue to creep ahead at the expense of Lab and/or Con. Both Lab and Con are doing their best to bring this about, but it may not be enough.
  • StuartinromfordStuartinromford Posts: 17,445
    Taz said:

    Stop pushing heat pumps or face major backlash, green energy magnate tells Labour
    Party donor Dale Vince warns that urging homeowners to switch to clean-power technology risks political storm bigger than Ulez

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/oct/12/stop-pushing-heat-pumps-backlash-green-energy-magnate-labour-ulez

    Not new news, but more interesting is that Vince talks about building onshore wind farms and eventually (when?) handing them over to local authorities as a new income source.

    Dale Vince, a large donor to labour, regularly gets trotted out as a wise commenter on green issues.

    He’s first and foremost a businessman and the owner of a company that generates wind power. Rather a lot of it. So who exactly would be building and running these wind farms a.

    His company would seem a good fit. Is this really news or just a form of corporate lobbying ?

    https://www.ecotricity.co.uk/our-news/2024/ecotricity-explains-wind-energy
    From the same article:

    Vince claimed that he was speaking in the “national interest” in criticising heat pumps. He proposes an alternative – green gas, or biomethane, made from organic material, which his company Ecotricity develops.

    May well be informed corporate lobbying. I'd be more concerned about what was being said I er a jolly nice vegan lunch.
  • edmundintokyoedmundintokyo Posts: 17,708
    edited October 13

    Nigelb said:

    The biggest difference between the US and the UK regarding the economic impact of asylum seekers is that they are much greater participants in the US labour market.

    So while we spends billions in housing them in enforced idleness, in the U.S. they make a net contribution.

    A comparison which hasn't occurred to Jenrick.

    https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2024/02/15/new-hhs-study-finds-nearly-124-billion-positive-fiscal-impact-refugees-and-asylees-on-american-economy-15-year-period.html
    ..Net Fiscal Impact: Refugees and asylees had a positive net fiscal impact on the U.S. government over the 15-year period, totaling $123.8 billion. The net fiscal benefit to the federal government was estimated at $31.5 billion and approximately $92.3 billion to state and local governments. When compared with the total U.S. population on a per capita basis, refugees and asylees had a comparable net fiscal impact.
    Government Revenue: Refugees and asylees contributed an estimated $581 billion in revenue to all levels of government. Through payroll, income, and excise taxes, they contributed an estimated $363 billion to the federal government, and through income, sales, and property taxes, they contributed $218 billion to state and local governments.
    Government Expenditures: Over the 15-year period, governmental expenditures on refugees and asylees totaled an estimated $457.2 billion. Expenditures by the federal government represented 72.5 percent of the total, at $331.5 billion, while state and local government expenditures were 27.5 percent of the total, at $125.7 billion...

    If you give them the right to work you act as an even greater pull factor for them jumping on boats.
    Organize boats legally, undercutting the people smugglers by pricing them at whatever the current transportation service providers would charge minus 10%. Then once these people are working, charge them an extra levy deducted along with national insurance. They forfeit 100% of it if the claim is rejected, and if the claim is accepted give half of it back to them as a lump sum to help get properly settled and spend the other half mitigating whatever problem is supposedly being caused by removing the deterrents of maritime hunger games and needless unemployment.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 57,608

    rcs1000 said:

    From Vance's NYT interview:

    https://x.com/collinrugg/status/1845160619760288193

    Garcia-Navarro tried arguing that illegal immigrants can't be deported because America needs them for jobs.

    She pointed to the unemployment rate to back up her claim but was immediately shot down by Vance.

    "The unemployment rate does not count labor force participation dropouts.

    "This is one of the really deranged things that I think illegal immigration does to our society, is it gets us in a mindset of saying, 'we can only build houses with illegal immigrants.'

    "We have 7 million men, not even women, just men who have completely dropped out of the labor force.

    "Sometimes people who may be struggling with addiction or trauma, need to get reengaged in American society.

    "We cannot have an entire American business community that is giving up on American workers and then importing millions of illegal laborers. That is what we have thanks to Kamala Harris' border policies. I think it's one of the biggest drivers of inequality.

    "It's one of the biggest reasons why we have millions of people who've dropped out of the labor force. Why try to reengage an American citizen in a good job if you can just import somebody from Central America who's gonna work under the table for poverty wages?

    "It is a disgrace and it has led to the evisceration of the American Middle class."

    The problem is that the illegal immigrants are not in the areas of country where labor rate participation levels have collapsed. They're not in the broken towns of the Rustbelt, they're in California and Texas and Arizona and Nevada.
    According to the stats here, the labor participation rate is lower in California, Texas, Arizona and Nevada than in Illinois, Missouri, Iowa or Minnesota.

    https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/labor-force-participation-rate-by-state
    That data is taken from the St Louis Fed here: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/release?rid=446

    And is not measuring what you think it is: you would think it was measuring the percent of people in work. It is not; is measuring the percent of people aged 18 and older who report themselves as willing and able to work; i.e., that they are part of the workforce.

    It therefore is skewed in two ways:
    (1) because it's 18+, then places with lots of retirees will appear to have lower labour force participation because retirees are not reporting themselves as willing and able to work
    (2) by including the unemployed as part of the total, you can see rising employment and falling labour force particpation. (Or put it another way, you will see labour force partipation rise when unemployment rises, because when the husband loses his job, then the stay-at-home wife is now looking for work too.)

    See: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LBSNSA26
    That's the chart for Michigan - labour force participation is now at a higher level that at any time since the GFC.

    And that's not for good reasons.
  • NEW THREAD

  • Ed Miliband to roll out pylons despite official report showing burying cables can be cheaper
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/10/12/ed-milliband-pylons-report-underground-cables-cheaper/ (£££)

    The issue seems to be that burying cables may be cheaper but is also slower.

    "Ed Miliband’s reckless 2030 decarbonisation target", I love this government so much, it's just beautiful to watch it in action.
    I’m saying it again and again, but miliband will be the ruin of this government if he doesn’t end up changing his plans. Energy will be ruinously expansive for consumers and industry without huge public subsidy, and that assumes that he dkesnt take seriously to end natural gas usage by 2030. Add on top of price it will be unstable and liable to routine brownout.

    Of course a pragmatist will be “well we didn’t get there but a bit more renewables wont do any harm”, but he wants the energy revolution. He’s not interested in pragmatism.
    Brownouts? We’ve gone past peak risk for that already, surely? We have had a chronic lack of generating capacity thanks to post financial crash decisions. Now that so much more renewable capacity is coming on stream, with battery storage to back it up, we’ll be ok.

    I think I have got to a point now where if the Telegraph are running a story on something I largely ignore it. Their “journalism” increasingly consists of unhinged barely factual smears desperately trying to find any issue they can to persuade the Tory members that they are absolutely right to be ramping hard right candidates as their way back to government.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 54,012
    Nigelb said:

    rcs1000 said:

    From Vance's NYT interview:

    https://x.com/collinrugg/status/1845160619760288193

    Garcia-Navarro tried arguing that illegal immigrants can't be deported because America needs them for jobs.

    She pointed to the unemployment rate to back up her claim but was immediately shot down by Vance.

    "The unemployment rate does not count labor force participation dropouts.

    "This is one of the really deranged things that I think illegal immigration does to our society, is it gets us in a mindset of saying, 'we can only build houses with illegal immigrants.'

    "We have 7 million men, not even women, just men who have completely dropped out of the labor force.

    "Sometimes people who may be struggling with addiction or trauma, need to get reengaged in American society.

    "We cannot have an entire American business community that is giving up on American workers and then importing millions of illegal laborers. That is what we have thanks to Kamala Harris' border policies. I think it's one of the biggest drivers of inequality.

    "It's one of the biggest reasons why we have millions of people who've dropped out of the labor force. Why try to reengage an American citizen in a good job if you can just import somebody from Central America who's gonna work under the table for poverty wages?

    "It is a disgrace and it has led to the evisceration of the American Middle class."

    The problem is that the illegal immigrants are not in the areas of country where labor rate participation levels have collapsed. They're not in the broken towns of the Rustbelt, they're in California and Texas and Arizona and Nevada.
    The problem is a little worse than that.

    We watched 20 Trump rallies. His racist, anti-immigrant messaging is getting darker.

    https://www.politico.com/news/2024/10/12/trump-racist-rhetoric-immigrants-00183537
    Donald Trump vowed to “rescue” the Denver suburb of Aurora, Colorado, from the rapists, “blood thirsty criminals,” and “most violent people on earth” he insists are ruining the “fabric” of the country and its culture: immigrants.

    Trump’s message in Aurora, a city that has become a central part of his campaign speeches in the final stretch to Election Day, marks another example of how the former president has escalated his xenophobic and racist rhetoric against migrants and minority groups he says are genetically predisposed to commit crimes. The supposed threat migrants pose is the core part of the former president’s closing argument, as he promises his base that he’s the one who can save the country from a group of people he calls “animals,” “stone cold killers,” the “worst people,” and the “enemy from within.”

    He is no longer just talking about keeping immigrants out of the country, building a wall and banning Muslims from entering the United States. Trump now warns that migrants have already invaded, destroying the country from inside its borders, which he uses as a means to justify a second-term policy agenda that includes building massive detention camps and conducting mass deportations.
    In his lengthy speech Friday, Trump delivered a broadside against the thousands of Venezuelan migrants in Aurora. And he declared that he would use the Alien Enemies Act, which allows a president to authorize rounding up or removing people who are from enemy countries in times of war, to pursue migrant gangs and criminal networks.

    “Kamala [Harris] has imported an army of illegal alien gang members and migrant criminals from the dungeons of the third world … from prisons and jails and insane asylums and mental institutions, and she has had them resettled beautifully into your community to prey upon innocent American citizens,” he said.

    His rhetoric has veered more than ever into conspiracy theories and rumors, like when he amplified false claims about Haitian immigrants in Ohio eating pets. And Trump has demonized minority groups and used increasingly dark, graphic imagery to talk about migrants in every one of his speeches since the Sept. 10 presidential debate, according to a POLITICO review of more than 20 campaign events. It’s a stark escalation over the last month of what some experts in political rhetoric, fascism, and immigration say is a strong echo of authoritarians and Nazi ideology...


    And yet the violent crime statistics have fallen sharply and an analysis of those statistics shows that the indigenous population are more likely to commit such crimes than the immigrants.

    It is the most vile and dishonest campaign of my lifetime in any form of democracy.
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