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Nigel Farage is now the favourite to be the next Prime Minister – politicalbetting.com

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  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,985

    geoffw said:

     

    According to a report I have just read. If you marry your mother in.law you can dodge inheritance tax.
    The very idea is appalling to me.. there hss to be a better way.....

    If that doesn't float your boat these days you can also marry your father in law instead.
    Wouldn't that be bigamy?

    I added "instead" to avoid confusion.
    Either way it'd be bigamy surely to marry either your mother or father in law?
    Legally, it would be incest.

    Somewhere in the book of Leviticus it states 'A man may not marry his wife's mother.' A church hung this in its porch and a graffiti artist added, 'Lord, have mercy upon us and incline our hearts to keep this law.'
  • LeonLeon Posts: 56,689

    Leon said:

    lol. I have found the only way to avoid being hassled in Cartagena. Sit in the middle of large bunch of hookers all getting ready for an evening of business. I probably look like their aged pimp. But it’s working

    Also an outside chance that the lassies will offer the poor old soul a freebie.
    They are strikingly beautiful….. and friendly. I think they’ve adopted me. Like some old gringo pet
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 49,319

    So did the French spend 10 years doing planning work to get this thing done? No, they just built it.

    Same in Madrid with the metro expansion.

    It is ridiculous things take so long here. SKS needs to get a grip on this or his entire premiership will be pointless.

    It took 97 years to build, so not that speedy.
  • carnforthcarnforth Posts: 4,936

    So did the French spend 10 years doing planning work to get this thing done? No, they just built it.

    Same in Madrid with the metro expansion.

    It is ridiculous things take so long here. SKS needs to get a grip on this or his entire premiership will be pointless.

    The downside is that, if Macron had favoured one of the modernist re-designs of Notre Dame, he could also have imposed that in five years.
  • MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 39,165

    So did the French spend 10 years doing planning work to get this thing done? No, they just built it.

    Same in Madrid with the metro expansion.

    It is ridiculous things take so long here. SKS needs to get a grip on this or his entire premiership will be pointless.

    Completely agreed.

    I shan't be holding my breath that it won't be the latter though.
    Yup look at the push back he's getting over some milquetoast words around productivity in the public sector and Labour are already rolling over.
  • According to Flight Radar, and Big Jet TV (Youtube), Emirates flight 31 from Dubai to Heathrow tried landing there THREE times, now diverted to Frankfurt, just landing there in a few minutes!

    Flight Radar 24 showing EK31 about to take off from Frankfurt to finally head towards Heathrow again.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 56,689
    edited December 2024
    MaxPB said:

    So did the French spend 10 years doing planning work to get this thing done? No, they just built it.

    Same in Madrid with the metro expansion.

    It is ridiculous things take so long here. SKS needs to get a grip on this or his entire premiership will be pointless.

    Completely agreed.

    I shan't be holding my breath that it won't be the latter though.
    Yup look at the push back he's getting over some milquetoast words around productivity in the public sector and Labour are already rolling over.
    They are incapable. Also they agree with much of the red tape that slows everything down - net zero, DEI, woke nonsense, devolution - and starmer himself is a classic midwit public sector wonk - he loves process and complexity as an end in itself. See his insane relaunch with its five pillars of wisdom and sixteen must-dos and 4 foundational guardrails and 19 and a half roll out stakeholder equity-focussed mission statements

    This is not a man who will “cut through the crap”. He lives for the crap. He IS the crap
  • ydoethur said:

    geoffw said:

     

    According to a report I have just read. If you marry your mother in.law you can dodge inheritance tax.
    The very idea is appalling to me.. there hss to be a better way.....

    If that doesn't float your boat these days you can also marry your father in law instead.
    Wouldn't that be bigamy?

    I added "instead" to avoid confusion.
    Either way it'd be bigamy surely to marry either your mother or father in law?
    Legally, it would be incest.

    Somewhere in the book of Leviticus it states 'A man may not marry his wife's mother.' A church hung this in its porch and a graffiti artist added, 'Lord, have mercy upon us and incline our hearts to keep this law.'
    Legally it'd be bigamy surely?

    You can only have an in law if you are already married, and if you're already married then you can't get married.
  • BatteryCorrectHorseBatteryCorrectHorse Posts: 4,266
    edited December 2024
    I note Leon didn't comment on Badenoch getting offended at Starmer making a joke. It sounds like Kemi is the DEI, w-word nonsense person you hate, not Keir.
  • If Keir does not change planning I will not be voting Labour again.
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 42,218
    edited December 2024
    Bit more like it. Still think a bracing does of SLab in government would be useful, mind.


    https://x.com/marcuscarslaw1/status/1865482160553284000?s=61&t=LYVEHh2mqFy1oUJAdCfe-Q


  • LeonLeon Posts: 56,689
    edited December 2024

    MaxPB said:

    So did the French spend 10 years doing planning work to get this thing done? No, they just built it.

    Same in Madrid with the metro expansion.

    It is ridiculous things take so long here. SKS needs to get a grip on this or his entire premiership will be pointless.

    Completely agreed.

    I shan't be holding my breath that it won't be the latter though.
    Yup look at the push back he's getting over some milquetoast words around productivity in the public sector and Labour are already rolling over.
    They are incapable. Also they agree with much of the red tape that slows everything down - net zero, DEI, woke nonsense, devolution - and starmer himself is a classic midwit public sector wonk - he loves process and complexity as an end in itself. See his insane relaunch with its five pillars of wisdom and sixteen must-dos and 4 foundational guardrails and 19 and a half roll out stakeholder equity-focussed mission statements

    This is not a man who will “cut through the crap”. He lives for the crap
    I note you didn't comment on Badenoch getting offended at Starmer making a joke. It sounds like Kemi is the DEI, w-word nonsense person you hate, not Keir.

    *********

    Kemi worries me. I was always unsure about her - as I said on here - I’ve heard bad things, and she has always struck me as fairly lightweight and globalist despite her anti woke “agenda”

    Personally I’d have preferred Suella Braverman or Priti Patel, but that puts me in a minority of about one, and given the paucity of choice available to the Tories it was worth the bet on Kemi. If the bet doesn’t pay off - and so far the signs are not brilliant - they have time to replace her. She is lucky that starmer is equally dismal, and Davey is risible

    This is another reason Farage really could do it. He is head and shoulders better as a politician than any of his opponents
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 72,534
    This is where the refugees are going so far.
    Not our problem.

    Multiple Russian airlifters have arrived at Khmeimim airbase in Syria, including the massive An-124.

    Increasing signs that Russian forces are evacuating their key eastern Mediterranean holdings.

    https://x.com/Osinttechnical/status/1865495883074212247
  • carnforthcarnforth Posts: 4,936

    If Keir does not change planning I will not be voting Labour again.

    Which is the party of YIMBYS? Not the tories, not the Lib Dems, not the Greens...
  • carnforth said:

    If Keir does not change planning I will not be voting Labour again.

    Which is the party of YIMBYS? Not the tories, not the Lib Dems, not the Greens...
    At the moment it's still Labour as they are at least forcing through a few things.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 43,564

    ydoethur said:

    geoffw said:

     

    According to a report I have just read. If you marry your mother in.law you can dodge inheritance tax.
    The very idea is appalling to me.. there hss to be a better way.....

    If that doesn't float your boat these days you can also marry your father in law instead.
    Wouldn't that be bigamy?

    I added "instead" to avoid confusion.
    Either way it'd be bigamy surely to marry either your mother or father in law?
    Legally, it would be incest.

    Somewhere in the book of Leviticus it states 'A man may not marry his wife's mother.' A church hung this in its porch and a graffiti artist added, 'Lord, have mercy upon us and incline our hearts to keep this law.'
    Legally it'd be bigamy surely?

    You can only have an in law if you are already married, and if you're already married then you can't get married.
    Notd necessarily. The Victorians wouldn't (to begin with) let you marry your wife's sister even if aforesaid wife was deceased, and the HYUFDs of the time complained hugely when this was liberalised, moral pollution, decline of civ etc.

    (And lots of children got to stay with their familiar auntie and lived happily ever after in the long run). .

  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 36,115
    Nigelb said:

    This is where the refugees are going so far.
    Not our problem.

    Multiple Russian airlifters have arrived at Khmeimim airbase in Syria, including the massive An-124.

    Increasing signs that Russian forces are evacuating their key eastern Mediterranean holdings.

    https://x.com/Osinttechnical/status/1865495883074212247

    Are they evacuating them directly to Ukraine?
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 43,564

    Bit more like it. Still think a bracing does of SLab in government would be useful, mind.


    https://x.com/marcuscarslaw1/status/1865482160553284000?s=61&t=LYVEHh2mqFy1oUJAdCfe-Q


    If Slab manage to collapse the SG over the budget, does the 5 year clock reset, or do we stick with the original date for the next Holyrood election? I'm ashamed to say I don't know for sure. But that would give Mr Sarwar a short time as FM and the rest of us a taster.
  • British sausages are back on the menu in China.

    Ministers have done a deal to sell more pork exports to Beijing.

    Exerts say it is worth £80m a year.

    https://x.com/kateferguson4/status/1865459964585648425
  • When Reform says British jobs for British workers, we actually believe in it.

    https://x.com/Nigel_Farage/status/1865493624005202426
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 49,319

    ydoethur said:

    geoffw said:

     

    According to a report I have just read. If you marry your mother in.law you can dodge inheritance tax.
    The very idea is appalling to me.. there hss to be a better way.....

    If that doesn't float your boat these days you can also marry your father in law instead.
    Wouldn't that be bigamy?

    I added "instead" to avoid confusion.
    Either way it'd be bigamy surely to marry either your mother or father in law?
    Legally, it would be incest.

    Somewhere in the book of Leviticus it states 'A man may not marry his wife's mother.' A church hung this in its porch and a graffiti artist added, 'Lord, have mercy upon us and incline our hearts to keep this law.'
    Legally it'd be bigamy surely?

    You can only have an in law if you are already married, and if you're already married then you can't get married.
    Presumably a widower could marry his MiL if she was a widow too.

    Can anyone from Norfolk clarify the issue?

  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 57,722
    My wife is on a local neighborhood WhatsApp group.

    Yesterday, one of the women accidentally shared a video that was clearly meant for another WhatsApp group, and involved her and her husband in a sex act.

    I thought you should all know that.
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 29,035
    edited December 2024
    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    MaxPB said:

    So did the French spend 10 years doing planning work to get this thing done? No, they just built it.

    Same in Madrid with the metro expansion.

    It is ridiculous things take so long here. SKS needs to get a grip on this or his entire premiership will be pointless.

    Completely agreed.

    I shan't be holding my breath that it won't be the latter though.
    Yup look at the push back he's getting over some milquetoast words around productivity in the public sector and Labour are already rolling over.
    They are incapable. Also they agree with much of the red tape that slows everything down - net zero, DEI, woke nonsense, devolution - and starmer himself is a classic midwit public sector wonk - he loves process and complexity as an end in itself. See his insane relaunch with its five pillars of wisdom and sixteen must-dos and 4 foundational guardrails and 19 and a half roll out stakeholder equity-focussed mission statements

    This is not a man who will “cut through the crap”. He lives for the crap
    I note you didn't comment on Badenoch getting offended at Starmer making a joke. It sounds like Kemi is the DEI, w-word nonsense person you hate, not Keir.
    *********

    Kemi worries me. I was always unsure about her - as I said on here - I’ve heard bad things, and she has always struck me as fairly lightweight and globalist despite her anti woke “agenda”

    Personally I’d have preferred Suella Braverman or Priti Patel, but that puts me in a minority of about one, and given the paucity of choice available to the Tories it was worth the bet on Kemi. If the bet doesn’t pay off - and so far the signs are not brilliant - they have time to replace her. She is lucky that starmer is equally dismal, and Davey is risible

    This is another reason Farage really could do it. He is head and shoulders better as a politician than any of his opponents
    It's Casino Royale shooting himself in the foot by voting for her that gets me. MarqueeMark probably got the leader he wanted, someone vaguely more passable at dinner parties, but Casino is utterly straight-down-the-line right of centre Tory - how did he get fooled by Kemi sounding off a bit about the Civil Service but giving NO policies?

    It was extremely foolish of them not to elect Jenrick, but I guess Kemi took the left and managed to nick enough righties too.
  • carnforthcarnforth Posts: 4,936

    British sausages are back on the menu in China.

    Ministers have done a deal to sell more pork exports to Beijing.

    Exerts say it is worth £80m a year.

    https://x.com/kateferguson4/status/1865459964585648425

    They take a lot of our pig's ears, as I understand it - but only one ear gets top dollar, because the other has the tag through it. Apparently british farmers want to alter that inherited EU rule and put the tag through the tail instead.

    I've had Devon Crab in China - it's considered the best, because it's one of the few in the world which doesn't taste muddy.
  • solarflaresolarflare Posts: 3,757
    Carnyx said:

    Bit more like it. Still think a bracing does of SLab in government would be useful, mind.


    https://x.com/marcuscarslaw1/status/1865482160553284000?s=61&t=LYVEHh2mqFy1oUJAdCfe-Q


    If Slab manage to collapse the SG over the budget, does the 5 year clock reset, or do we stick with the original date for the next Holyrood election? I'm ashamed to say I don't know for sure. But that would give Mr Sarwar a short time as FM and the rest of us a taster.
    The latter I believe.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,985
    Foxy said:

    ydoethur said:

    geoffw said:

     

    According to a report I have just read. If you marry your mother in.law you can dodge inheritance tax.
    The very idea is appalling to me.. there hss to be a better way.....

    If that doesn't float your boat these days you can also marry your father in law instead.
    Wouldn't that be bigamy?

    I added "instead" to avoid confusion.
    Either way it'd be bigamy surely to marry either your mother or father in law?
    Legally, it would be incest.

    Somewhere in the book of Leviticus it states 'A man may not marry his wife's mother.' A church hung this in its porch and a graffiti artist added, 'Lord, have mercy upon us and incline our hearts to keep this law.'
    Legally it'd be bigamy surely?

    You can only have an in law if you are already married, and if you're already married then you can't get married.
    Presumably a widower could marry his MiL if she was a widow too.

    Can anyone from Norfolk clarify the issue?

    Nor folking way?
  • EabhalEabhal Posts: 8,999
    edited December 2024
    Leon said:

    MaxPB said:

    So did the French spend 10 years doing planning work to get this thing done? No, they just built it.

    Same in Madrid with the metro expansion.

    It is ridiculous things take so long here. SKS needs to get a grip on this or his entire premiership will be pointless.

    Completely agreed.

    I shan't be holding my breath that it won't be the latter though.
    Yup look at the push back he's getting over some milquetoast words around productivity in the public sector and Labour are already rolling over.
    They are incapable. Also they agree with much of the red tape that slows everything down - net zero, DEI, woke nonsense, devolution - and starmer himself is a classic midwit public sector wonk - he loves process and complexity as an end in itself. See his insane relaunch with its five pillars of wisdom and sixteen must-dos and 4 foundational guardrails and 19 and a half roll out stakeholder equity-focussed mission statements

    This is not a man who will “cut through the crap”. He lives for the crap. He IS the crap
    It's devolution that has meant that Scotland could circumvent all the NIMBY policies of England, and Net Zero targets has led to us now exporting energy to the rest of the UK. Looking at the planning pipeline, Scotland is going to end up generating 7x as much electricity per person as in England.

    If you're going to continue flirting with the Farages of the world, even unionists like me are going to run out of patience with propping up your luddite economy with Scottish energy.
  • rcs1000 said:

    My wife is on a local neighborhood WhatsApp group.

    Yesterday, one of the women accidentally shared a video that was clearly meant for another WhatsApp group, and involved her and her husband in a sex act.

    I thought you should all know that.

    At least it didn't involve a step-mother!
  • carnforthcarnforth Posts: 4,936
    Eabhal said:

    Leon said:

    MaxPB said:

    So did the French spend 10 years doing planning work to get this thing done? No, they just built it.

    Same in Madrid with the metro expansion.

    It is ridiculous things take so long here. SKS needs to get a grip on this or his entire premiership will be pointless.

    Completely agreed.

    I shan't be holding my breath that it won't be the latter though.
    Yup look at the push back he's getting over some milquetoast words around productivity in the public sector and Labour are already rolling over.
    They are incapable. Also they agree with much of the red tape that slows everything down - net zero, DEI, woke nonsense, devolution - and starmer himself is a classic midwit public sector wonk - he loves process and complexity as an end in itself. See his insane relaunch with its five pillars of wisdom and sixteen must-dos and 4 foundational guardrails and 19 and a half roll out stakeholder equity-focussed mission statements

    This is not a man who will “cut through the crap”. He lives for the crap. He IS the crap
    It's devolution that has meant that Scotland could circumvent all the NIMBY policies of England, and Net Zero targets has led to us now exporting energy to the rest of the UK. Looking at the planning pipeline, Scotland is going to end up generating 7x as much electricity per person as in England.

    If you're going to continue flirting with the Farages and Musks of the world, even unionists like me are going to run out of patience with propping up your luddite economy with Scottish energy.
    Now do per square mile.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 49,319

    British sausages are back on the menu in China.

    Ministers have done a deal to sell more pork exports to Beijing.

    Exerts say it is worth £80m a year.

    https://x.com/kateferguson4/status/1865459964585648425

    Starmer delivers where Truss did not...

    It's a banger of a trade deal.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 43,564
    Foxy said:

    ydoethur said:

    geoffw said:

     

    According to a report I have just read. If you marry your mother in.law you can dodge inheritance tax.
    The very idea is appalling to me.. there hss to be a better way.....

    If that doesn't float your boat these days you can also marry your father in law instead.
    Wouldn't that be bigamy?

    I added "instead" to avoid confusion.
    Either way it'd be bigamy surely to marry either your mother or father in law?
    Legally, it would be incest.

    Somewhere in the book of Leviticus it states 'A man may not marry his wife's mother.' A church hung this in its porch and a graffiti artist added, 'Lord, have mercy upon us and incline our hearts to keep this law.'
    Legally it'd be bigamy surely?

    You can only have an in law if you are already married, and if you're already married then you can't get married.
    Presumably a widower could marry his MiL if she was a widow too.

    Can anyone from Norfolk clarify the issue?

    Helpful hint: Scots Law varies. As soneone found when he married his in law thinking that the legal advice in the DM, based on English Law, was valid even in the Scottish edition of the DM. Not a happy ending to the story.
  • rcs1000 said:

    My wife is on a local neighborhood WhatsApp group.

    Yesterday, one of the women accidentally shared a video that was clearly meant for another WhatsApp group, and involved her and her husband in a sex act.

    I thought you should all know that.

    Sorry
  • ohnotnowohnotnow Posts: 4,119
    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    algarkirk said:

    HYUFD said:

    AlsoLei said:

    MaxPB said:

    BF reckons Jeremy Hunt has more chance of being next PM than Phillipson.

    LOL.

    I could see Hunt becoming Tory leader in the run up to the election if Kemi has made no impact and we're still below 30%.
    It would need the MPs to panic and arrange another coronation - the members would never stand for him.

    Hunt might actually be the best placed of the potential candidates to do a deal with Refuk - on the understanding that the Hunt-led Tories would concentrate on battling the Lib Dems in the Tory shires, whilst Refuk are given free reign in the red wall / left-behind areas.

    Not sure he'd find that a particularly appealing prospect, though!
    There are only 17 LibDem seats among the top 100 Conservative targets and likely a lot harder to gain.

    https://www.electionpolling.co.uk/battleground/targets/conservative

    The only viable strategy for the Conservatives is to reverse this year's losses to Labour.

    And then gain some more from Labour.

    We have a situation where the Conservatives could win Bolsover and still have fewer than 300 MPs.
    Indeed, though Reform are more likely to win Bolsover and the other redwall seats now.

    Badenoch has near zero chance of winning a Tory majority again next time, if she wins power it will mainly be via gaining soft Leave marginal seats held by Labour while Farage wins most hard Leave marginal seats held by Labour. Then the 2 doing a deal together to form a government in a hung parliament
    The Conservatives will certainly not win a majority if they adopt any attitude of 'giving up' to Reform seats they won in 2019.
    Predictions are very unstable at the moment, but I can't see any route to a Tory election outright win until and until it decides what the party is for. Is it Reformlite or is it the old One Nation Tory party, or is it a new thing yet to be revealed?

    In the olden days of a few years ago, the Tories could reliably win simply because Labour were worse. I think that is over for now. A real option is that the punters respond to a Labour epic fail (which it isn't yet) by decisively rejecting both Lab and Con. Just look at their collective polling score. Down from 80+% to about 53%.
    The Badenoch Tories are basically the party for middle class soft Leavers, Farage's Reform now the party for working class hard Leavers with Labour, the LDs and Greens and SNP and Plaid splitting Remainers between them
    HY. You can't make these sweeping statements without some empirical evidence to back them up. I suspect you are particularly wrong about the Badenoch Tories. It is so much more tiresome trying to ski in Cortina and Innsbruck now we have left the EU.
    Of course I can because that is what the latest polls show, the Tories and Reform and DUP/TUV combined effectively =close to 52% and Labour and LDs and Greens around 48% combined
    I had no idea you backed multi-party democracy and proportional representation. Live and learn.
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 29,035
    ...
    Eabhal said:

    Leon said:

    MaxPB said:

    So did the French spend 10 years doing planning work to get this thing done? No, they just built it.

    Same in Madrid with the metro expansion.

    It is ridiculous things take so long here. SKS needs to get a grip on this or his entire premiership will be pointless.

    Completely agreed.

    I shan't be holding my breath that it won't be the latter though.
    Yup look at the push back he's getting over some milquetoast words around productivity in the public sector and Labour are already rolling over.
    They are incapable. Also they agree with much of the red tape that slows everything down - net zero, DEI, woke nonsense, devolution - and starmer himself is a classic midwit public sector wonk - he loves process and complexity as an end in itself. See his insane relaunch with its five pillars of wisdom and sixteen must-dos and 4 foundational guardrails and 19 and a half roll out stakeholder equity-focussed mission statements

    This is not a man who will “cut through the crap”. He lives for the crap. He IS the crap
    It's devolution that has meant that Scotland could circumvent all the NIMBY policies of England, and Net Zero targets has led to us now exporting energy to the rest of the UK. Looking at the planning pipeline, Scotland is going to end up generating 7x as much electricity per person as in England.

    If you're going to continue flirting with the Farages of the world, even unionists like me are going to run out of patience with propping up your luddite economy with Scottish energy.
    I assume you've not looked at polls in Scotland recently.
  • ohnotnowohnotnow Posts: 4,119
    Carnyx said:

    Foxy said:

    ydoethur said:

    geoffw said:

     

    According to a report I have just read. If you marry your mother in.law you can dodge inheritance tax.
    The very idea is appalling to me.. there hss to be a better way.....

    If that doesn't float your boat these days you can also marry your father in law instead.
    Wouldn't that be bigamy?

    I added "instead" to avoid confusion.
    Either way it'd be bigamy surely to marry either your mother or father in law?
    Legally, it would be incest.

    Somewhere in the book of Leviticus it states 'A man may not marry his wife's mother.' A church hung this in its porch and a graffiti artist added, 'Lord, have mercy upon us and incline our hearts to keep this law.'
    Legally it'd be bigamy surely?

    You can only have an in law if you are already married, and if you're already married then you can't get married.
    Presumably a widower could marry his MiL if she was a widow too.

    Can anyone from Norfolk clarify the issue?

    Helpful hint: Scots Law varies. As soneone found when he married his in law thinking that the legal advice in the DM, based on English Law, was valid even in the Scottish edition of the DM. Not a happy ending to the story.
    I see what you did there...
  • solarflaresolarflare Posts: 3,757
    rcs1000 said:

    My wife is on a local neighborhood WhatsApp group.

    Yesterday, one of the women accidentally shared a video that was clearly meant for another WhatsApp group, and involved her and her husband in a sex act.

    I thought you should all know that.

    Accidentally or "accidentally"?
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 57,722

    Leon said:

    kle4 said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Nigelb said:

    Leon said:

    Nigelb said:

    Nice guy that PBers think we should have propped up.
    This is just one of his prisons, though one of the more notorious.

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sednaya_Prison
    Sednaya Prison (Arabic: سجن صيدنايا Sajn Ṣaydnāyā), nicknamed the "Human Slaughterhouse"[a] is a military prison near Damascus in Syria operated by the Syrian government. The prison has been used to hold thousands of prisoners, both civilian detainees and anti-government rebels.[1][2] The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) estimated in January 2021 that 30,000 detainees have perished in Sednaya from torture, ill-treatment and mass executions since the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War,[3] while Amnesty International estimated in February 2017 "that between 5,000 and 13,000 people were extrajudicially executed at Saydnaya between September 2011 and December 2015."

    A former inmate of the prison who was detained for participating in a peaceful non-violent protest told Amnesty International that at Sednaya prisoners were forced to choose between dying themselves or killing one of their own relatives or friends. The former inmate also stated that in the first prison he was at, prisoners were also forced into cannibalism, but that prison was "heaven" compared to Sednaya Prison. According to the inmate, the other prison (Branch 215) was "to interrogate" (including through torture), but when that was done, you were moved to Sednaya "to die"...

    Straw man. Not a single PBer is saying Assad is anything but an evil bastard. The question is: will his likely replacements be even worse?

    It’s the choice between Stalin or Hitler. We chose to support Stalin, who was personally responsible for the torture and death of MILLIONS
    Except it clearly isn't.
    He's a weak and useless leader, and any effort to prop him up is likely futile.
    All it would achieve is to extend a bloody conflict, and alienate whoever takes over.
    You misconstrue me. I’m talking about those who argued we should have supported the Assad regime way back. I’m saying it is ARGUABLE - and it is - but only because ISIS contrive, somehow, to be even nastier than Assad. Stalin v Hitler. We chose Stalin

    Right now Assad is finished so the idea we should support him is rendered nonsense by the facts
    Supporting Assad back then was impossible. See the docs I linked to earlier to see what his regime was - and is - like.

    There are good reasons why so many regions - and ethnic groupings - in Syria rose up in 2011.
    Supporting Stalin was morally impossible
    Stalin was able to offer practical benefits for the allies even though he was a morally horrible option. By contrast Assad does not appear to be offering many practical benefits for his allies in the long term. So if this is about cold pragmatism and national self interest, are Russia and Iran getting bang for their buck?
    The practical advantage of Assad is that he attacks the jihadists and keeps them from power in Damascus (or he did). He also used to run a fairly pluralist society - better for women, Christians etc - by the terrible standards of the region

    Be honest, who here wasn’t quietly cheering when Assad backed by Putin was bombing the shit out of ISIS and cleansing them from the face of the earth?

    I was. And I accept Assad is a brutal despot
    I repeat:

    ". But the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad took the strategic decision to enable and facilitate the continued survival
    of the Islamic State in Syria in an effort to paint all of the Syrian opposition as “terrorists.” The Syrian government’s support included both passive support, such as deciding not to target ISIS positions, and active support, such as releasing terrorists from Syrian prisons and helping to bankroll ISIS by purchasing oil from ISIS and wheat from ISIS-controlled areas that ISIS was able to tax. In fact, Syrian government support for the terrorist network that morphed into ISIS goes back many years, to include support for foreign fighters traveling through Syria to join al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI, later the Islamic State in Iraq, ISI), making it the group’s earliest and most significant state sponsor."

    https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/media/4698
    That's not that dissimilar to Israel's support of Hamas.
  • HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    AlsoLei said:

    MaxPB said:

    BF reckons Jeremy Hunt has more chance of being next PM than Phillipson.

    LOL.

    I could see Hunt becoming Tory leader in the run up to the election if Kemi has made no impact and we're still below 30%.
    It would need the MPs to panic and arrange another coronation - the members would never stand for him.

    Hunt might actually be the best placed of the potential candidates to do a deal with Refuk - on the understanding that the Hunt-led Tories would concentrate on battling the Lib Dems in the Tory shires, whilst Refuk are given free reign in the red wall / left-behind areas.

    Not sure he'd find that a particularly appealing prospect, though!
    There are only 17 LibDem seats among the top 100 Conservative targets and likely a lot harder to gain.

    https://www.electionpolling.co.uk/battleground/targets/conservative

    The only viable strategy for the Conservatives is to reverse this year's losses to Labour.

    And then gain some more from Labour.

    We have a situation where the Conservatives could win Bolsover and still have fewer than 300 MPs.
    Indeed, though Reform are more likely to win Bolsover and the other redwall seats now.

    Badenoch has near zero chance of winning a Tory majority again next time, if she wins power it will mainly be via gaining soft Leave marginal seats held by Labour while Farage wins most hard Leave marginal seats held by Labour. Then the 2 doing a deal together to form a government in a hung parliament
    The Conservatives will certainly not win a majority if they adopt any attitude of 'giving up' to Reform seats they won in 2019.
    It is just reality, once Boris went (the only Tory most redwallers would ever vote for) the Tories will likely never win former safe Labour but strong Leave seats like Bolsover, Stoke, West Bromwich, Grimsby, Workington etc again.

    Farage however might be able to take them
    Quite remarkable that you're so willing to give up on constituencies which the Conservatives won in 2019 and were second this year.

    Almost as remarkable as your faith in being able to form a stable, competent coalition with Farage's rabble of malcontents.
    No, the Tories gave up those seats when they removed Boris, not me, I backed keeping Boris remember.

    Those seats will never vote for a Tory other than Boris, that is reality, only Farage can win them for the right again now
    Tell me do you think that the Conservatives can win Rother Valley, Doncaster East and Scunthorpe ?

    How about Darlington, Redcar and Middlesbrough South ?

    Or are they also added to the list of constituencies you want the Conservatives to give up on ?
    No, even Cameron didn't win any of them, the Tories have also lost the bluewall seats Cameron won mainly to the LDs. So as I said only Reform gains in traditionally Labour redwall seats too will get the Tories back into power again
    So constituencies which the Conservatives won in 2019 and are in a clear second place you want to give up on.

    The Labour majorities in those six seats are respectively 998, 2311, 3542, 2298, 3323 and 214.

    Are there any constituencies in northern England where you want the Conservatives to try to win ?
  • EabhalEabhal Posts: 8,999
    carnforth said:

    Eabhal said:

    Leon said:

    MaxPB said:

    So did the French spend 10 years doing planning work to get this thing done? No, they just built it.

    Same in Madrid with the metro expansion.

    It is ridiculous things take so long here. SKS needs to get a grip on this or his entire premiership will be pointless.

    Completely agreed.

    I shan't be holding my breath that it won't be the latter though.
    Yup look at the push back he's getting over some milquetoast words around productivity in the public sector and Labour are already rolling over.
    They are incapable. Also they agree with much of the red tape that slows everything down - net zero, DEI, woke nonsense, devolution - and starmer himself is a classic midwit public sector wonk - he loves process and complexity as an end in itself. See his insane relaunch with its five pillars of wisdom and sixteen must-dos and 4 foundational guardrails and 19 and a half roll out stakeholder equity-focussed mission statements

    This is not a man who will “cut through the crap”. He lives for the crap. He IS the crap
    It's devolution that has meant that Scotland could circumvent all the NIMBY policies of England, and Net Zero targets has led to us now exporting energy to the rest of the UK. Looking at the planning pipeline, Scotland is going to end up generating 7x as much electricity per person as in England.

    If you're going to continue flirting with the Farages and Musks of the world, even unionists like me are going to run out of patience with propping up your luddite economy with Scottish energy.
    Now do per square mile.
    Still more in Scotland, remarkably.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 56,689
    rcs1000 said:

    My wife is on a local neighborhood WhatsApp group.

    Yesterday, one of the women accidentally shared a video that was clearly meant for another WhatsApp group, and involved her and her husband in a sex act.

    I thought you should all know that.

    Can we have some titillating detail? I’m slightly bored in Cartagena

    Was it group sex? Illlegal? Any animals or toys harmed in the process? Was she hot? Etc

    Thanks v much
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 57,722

    rcs1000 said:

    My wife is on a local neighborhood WhatsApp group.

    Yesterday, one of the women accidentally shared a video that was clearly meant for another WhatsApp group, and involved her and her husband in a sex act.

    I thought you should all know that.

    Accidentally or "accidentally"?
    Well, I presume this is not something she wants her kids to see.

    So I'm going with actually accidentally.
  • stodgestodge Posts: 14,016
    Morning all :)

    Endgame approaching in Damascus? We’ll see - at the very end most dictators are pragmatists. I can’t see Assad sitting alone with a revolver as the rebels breach the Presidential compound. He’ll be long gone leaving some inconsequential patsy to deal with the new order or a complete vacuum until the new elite takes over.

    On a wider level, strategic politics is a bit like backing horses. Sometimes your loyalty to a jockey or stable blinds you when they aren’t performing. Throughout history, the great powers (however you define that) have propped up appalling regimes primarily because the alternative was perceived to be worse. Russia props up Assad because of the Tartus naval base and the strategic advantage that offers in the Eastern Mediterranean - we don’t know how the rebels will play this.

    What about the American controlled enclave by the Iraq border - what about the Kurds and the pro-Turkey groups? In many ways, overthrowing Assad will be the easy part.
  • EabhalEabhal Posts: 8,999
    edited December 2024

    ...

    Eabhal said:

    Leon said:

    MaxPB said:

    So did the French spend 10 years doing planning work to get this thing done? No, they just built it.

    Same in Madrid with the metro expansion.

    It is ridiculous things take so long here. SKS needs to get a grip on this or his entire premiership will be pointless.

    Completely agreed.

    I shan't be holding my breath that it won't be the latter though.
    Yup look at the push back he's getting over some milquetoast words around productivity in the public sector and Labour are already rolling over.
    They are incapable. Also they agree with much of the red tape that slows everything down - net zero, DEI, woke nonsense, devolution - and starmer himself is a classic midwit public sector wonk - he loves process and complexity as an end in itself. See his insane relaunch with its five pillars of wisdom and sixteen must-dos and 4 foundational guardrails and 19 and a half roll out stakeholder equity-focussed mission statements

    This is not a man who will “cut through the crap”. He lives for the crap. He IS the crap
    It's devolution that has meant that Scotland could circumvent all the NIMBY policies of England, and Net Zero targets has led to us now exporting energy to the rest of the UK. Looking at the planning pipeline, Scotland is going to end up generating 7x as much electricity per person as in England.

    If you're going to continue flirting with the Farages of the world, even unionists like me are going to run out of patience with propping up your luddite economy with Scottish energy.
    I assume you've not looked at polls in Scotland recently.
    SNP on course for yet another Holyrood victory:

    SNP 59 (seats)
    Labour 20
    Conservative 19
    LD 11
    Reform 13
    Green 7

    https://x.com/paulhutcheon/status/1865480862319391044
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 57,722
    Leon said:

    rcs1000 said:

    My wife is on a local neighborhood WhatsApp group.

    Yesterday, one of the women accidentally shared a video that was clearly meant for another WhatsApp group, and involved her and her husband in a sex act.

    I thought you should all know that.

    Can we have some titillating detail? I’m slightly bored in Cartagena

    Was it group sex? Illlegal? Any animals or toys harmed in the process? Was she hot? Etc

    Thanks v much
    She is attractive, yes.

    And there was a specific sex act that was shared. One that is not *that* common. And one she would probably definitely not want her kids seeing.
  • solarflaresolarflare Posts: 3,757
    rcs1000 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    My wife is on a local neighborhood WhatsApp group.

    Yesterday, one of the women accidentally shared a video that was clearly meant for another WhatsApp group, and involved her and her husband in a sex act.

    I thought you should all know that.

    Accidentally or "accidentally"?
    Well, I presume this is not something she wants her kids to see.

    So I'm going with actually accidentally.
    Ah. Awkward, with a capital A.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 43,564
    Eabhal said:

    ...

    Eabhal said:

    Leon said:

    MaxPB said:

    So did the French spend 10 years doing planning work to get this thing done? No, they just built it.

    Same in Madrid with the metro expansion.

    It is ridiculous things take so long here. SKS needs to get a grip on this or his entire premiership will be pointless.

    Completely agreed.

    I shan't be holding my breath that it won't be the latter though.
    Yup look at the push back he's getting over some milquetoast words around productivity in the public sector and Labour are already rolling over.
    They are incapable. Also they agree with much of the red tape that slows everything down - net zero, DEI, woke nonsense, devolution - and starmer himself is a classic midwit public sector wonk - he loves process and complexity as an end in itself. See his insane relaunch with its five pillars of wisdom and sixteen must-dos and 4 foundational guardrails and 19 and a half roll out stakeholder equity-focussed mission statements

    This is not a man who will “cut through the crap”. He lives for the crap. He IS the crap
    It's devolution that has meant that Scotland could circumvent all the NIMBY policies of England, and Net Zero targets has led to us now exporting energy to the rest of the UK. Looking at the planning pipeline, Scotland is going to end up generating 7x as much electricity per person as in England.

    If you're going to continue flirting with the Farages of the world, even unionists like me are going to run out of patience with propping up your luddite economy with Scottish energy.
    I assume you've not looked at polls in Scotland recently.
    SNP on course for yet another Holyrood victory:

    SNP 59 (seats)
    Labour 20
    Conservative 19
    LD 11
    Reform 13
    Green 7

    https://x.com/paulhutcheon/status/1865480862319391044
    And, to keep HYUFD fired up, 54% Yes to indy.

    Night all.
  • Foxy said:

    ydoethur said:

    geoffw said:

     

    According to a report I have just read. If you marry your mother in.law you can dodge inheritance tax.
    The very idea is appalling to me.. there hss to be a better way.....

    If that doesn't float your boat these days you can also marry your father in law instead.
    Wouldn't that be bigamy?

    I added "instead" to avoid confusion.
    Either way it'd be bigamy surely to marry either your mother or father in law?
    Legally, it would be incest.

    Somewhere in the book of Leviticus it states 'A man may not marry his wife's mother.' A church hung this in its porch and a graffiti artist added, 'Lord, have mercy upon us and incline our hearts to keep this law.'
    Legally it'd be bigamy surely?

    You can only have an in law if you are already married, and if you're already married then you can't get married.
    Presumably a widower could marry his MiL if she was a widow too.

    Can anyone from Norfolk clarify the issue?

    No need to ask Norfolk folk, there will be plenty of people in Leicester who are well versed on which close relatives you are allowed to marry.
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 29,035
    Eabhal said:

    ...

    Eabhal said:

    Leon said:

    MaxPB said:

    So did the French spend 10 years doing planning work to get this thing done? No, they just built it.

    Same in Madrid with the metro expansion.

    It is ridiculous things take so long here. SKS needs to get a grip on this or his entire premiership will be pointless.

    Completely agreed.

    I shan't be holding my breath that it won't be the latter though.
    Yup look at the push back he's getting over some milquetoast words around productivity in the public sector and Labour are already rolling over.
    They are incapable. Also they agree with much of the red tape that slows everything down - net zero, DEI, woke nonsense, devolution - and starmer himself is a classic midwit public sector wonk - he loves process and complexity as an end in itself. See his insane relaunch with its five pillars of wisdom and sixteen must-dos and 4 foundational guardrails and 19 and a half roll out stakeholder equity-focussed mission statements

    This is not a man who will “cut through the crap”. He lives for the crap. He IS the crap
    It's devolution that has meant that Scotland could circumvent all the NIMBY policies of England, and Net Zero targets has led to us now exporting energy to the rest of the UK. Looking at the planning pipeline, Scotland is going to end up generating 7x as much electricity per person as in England.

    If you're going to continue flirting with the Farages of the world, even unionists like me are going to run out of patience with propping up your luddite economy with Scottish energy.
    I assume you've not looked at polls in Scotland recently.
    SNP on course for yet another Holyrood victory:

    SNP 59 (seats)
    Labour 20
    Conservative 19
    LD 11
    Reform 13
    Green 7

    https://x.com/paulhutcheon/status/1865480862319391044
    Reform at 13. What's that if it isn't a flirtation with Farage? Last time I checked he couldn't even make a speech in Edinburgh.
  • EabhalEabhal Posts: 8,999
    Carnyx said:

    Eabhal said:

    ...

    Eabhal said:

    Leon said:

    MaxPB said:

    So did the French spend 10 years doing planning work to get this thing done? No, they just built it.

    Same in Madrid with the metro expansion.

    It is ridiculous things take so long here. SKS needs to get a grip on this or his entire premiership will be pointless.

    Completely agreed.

    I shan't be holding my breath that it won't be the latter though.
    Yup look at the push back he's getting over some milquetoast words around productivity in the public sector and Labour are already rolling over.
    They are incapable. Also they agree with much of the red tape that slows everything down - net zero, DEI, woke nonsense, devolution - and starmer himself is a classic midwit public sector wonk - he loves process and complexity as an end in itself. See his insane relaunch with its five pillars of wisdom and sixteen must-dos and 4 foundational guardrails and 19 and a half roll out stakeholder equity-focussed mission statements

    This is not a man who will “cut through the crap”. He lives for the crap. He IS the crap
    It's devolution that has meant that Scotland could circumvent all the NIMBY policies of England, and Net Zero targets has led to us now exporting energy to the rest of the UK. Looking at the planning pipeline, Scotland is going to end up generating 7x as much electricity per person as in England.

    If you're going to continue flirting with the Farages of the world, even unionists like me are going to run out of patience with propping up your luddite economy with Scottish energy.
    I assume you've not looked at polls in Scotland recently.
    SNP on course for yet another Holyrood victory:

    SNP 59 (seats)
    Labour 20
    Conservative 19
    LD 11
    Reform 13
    Green 7

    https://x.com/paulhutcheon/status/1865480862319391044
    And, to keep HYUFD fired up, 54% Yes to indy.

    Night all.
    Eeesht. You know what I think about Indy but Labour have got to be exceedingly careful. If they don't deliver after 14 years of the Tories...

    I still don't understand why the SNP don't go in much harder on the renewable bonanza. They need a business-experienced MSP to take the reins and explain that all this cheap energy could power a new industrial era for Scotland, and it's the evil English Westminster who are denying us nodal/regional pricing. Seems so obvious to me.
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 29,035
    rcs1000 said:

    Leon said:

    kle4 said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Nigelb said:

    Leon said:

    Nigelb said:

    Nice guy that PBers think we should have propped up.
    This is just one of his prisons, though one of the more notorious.

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sednaya_Prison
    Sednaya Prison (Arabic: سجن صيدنايا Sajn Ṣaydnāyā), nicknamed the "Human Slaughterhouse"[a] is a military prison near Damascus in Syria operated by the Syrian government. The prison has been used to hold thousands of prisoners, both civilian detainees and anti-government rebels.[1][2] The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) estimated in January 2021 that 30,000 detainees have perished in Sednaya from torture, ill-treatment and mass executions since the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War,[3] while Amnesty International estimated in February 2017 "that between 5,000 and 13,000 people were extrajudicially executed at Saydnaya between September 2011 and December 2015."

    A former inmate of the prison who was detained for participating in a peaceful non-violent protest told Amnesty International that at Sednaya prisoners were forced to choose between dying themselves or killing one of their own relatives or friends. The former inmate also stated that in the first prison he was at, prisoners were also forced into cannibalism, but that prison was "heaven" compared to Sednaya Prison. According to the inmate, the other prison (Branch 215) was "to interrogate" (including through torture), but when that was done, you were moved to Sednaya "to die"...

    Straw man. Not a single PBer is saying Assad is anything but an evil bastard. The question is: will his likely replacements be even worse?

    It’s the choice between Stalin or Hitler. We chose to support Stalin, who was personally responsible for the torture and death of MILLIONS
    Except it clearly isn't.
    He's a weak and useless leader, and any effort to prop him up is likely futile.
    All it would achieve is to extend a bloody conflict, and alienate whoever takes over.
    You misconstrue me. I’m talking about those who argued we should have supported the Assad regime way back. I’m saying it is ARGUABLE - and it is - but only because ISIS contrive, somehow, to be even nastier than Assad. Stalin v Hitler. We chose Stalin

    Right now Assad is finished so the idea we should support him is rendered nonsense by the facts
    Supporting Assad back then was impossible. See the docs I linked to earlier to see what his regime was - and is - like.

    There are good reasons why so many regions - and ethnic groupings - in Syria rose up in 2011.
    Supporting Stalin was morally impossible
    Stalin was able to offer practical benefits for the allies even though he was a morally horrible option. By contrast Assad does not appear to be offering many practical benefits for his allies in the long term. So if this is about cold pragmatism and national self interest, are Russia and Iran getting bang for their buck?
    The practical advantage of Assad is that he attacks the jihadists and keeps them from power in Damascus (or he did). He also used to run a fairly pluralist society - better for women, Christians etc - by the terrible standards of the region

    Be honest, who here wasn’t quietly cheering when Assad backed by Putin was bombing the shit out of ISIS and cleansing them from the face of the earth?

    I was. And I accept Assad is a brutal despot
    I repeat:

    ". But the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad took the strategic decision to enable and facilitate the continued survival
    of the Islamic State in Syria in an effort to paint all of the Syrian opposition as “terrorists.” The Syrian government’s support included both passive support, such as deciding not to target ISIS positions, and active support, such as releasing terrorists from Syrian prisons and helping to bankroll ISIS by purchasing oil from ISIS and wheat from ISIS-controlled areas that ISIS was able to tax. In fact, Syrian government support for the terrorist network that morphed into ISIS goes back many years, to include support for foreign fighters traveling through Syria to join al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI, later the Islamic State in Iraq, ISI), making it the group’s earliest and most significant state sponsor."

    https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/media/4698
    That's not that dissimilar to Israel's support of Hamas.
    If the Syrians needed the oil for fuel and the grain not to starve, then it is pretty different I'd say. Not sure what they'd have been supposed to do in this instance - go on hunger strike?
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 52,494
    Foxy said:

    British sausages are back on the menu in China.

    Ministers have done a deal to sell more pork exports to Beijing.

    Exerts say it is worth £80m a year.

    https://x.com/kateferguson4/status/1865459964585648425

    Starmer delivers where Truss did not...

    It's a banger of a trade deal.
    Release the British sausages.
  • Carnyx said:

    Eabhal said:

    ...

    Eabhal said:

    Leon said:

    MaxPB said:

    So did the French spend 10 years doing planning work to get this thing done? No, they just built it.

    Same in Madrid with the metro expansion.

    It is ridiculous things take so long here. SKS needs to get a grip on this or his entire premiership will be pointless.

    Completely agreed.

    I shan't be holding my breath that it won't be the latter though.
    Yup look at the push back he's getting over some milquetoast words around productivity in the public sector and Labour are already rolling over.
    They are incapable. Also they agree with much of the red tape that slows everything down - net zero, DEI, woke nonsense, devolution - and starmer himself is a classic midwit public sector wonk - he loves process and complexity as an end in itself. See his insane relaunch with its five pillars of wisdom and sixteen must-dos and 4 foundational guardrails and 19 and a half roll out stakeholder equity-focussed mission statements

    This is not a man who will “cut through the crap”. He lives for the crap. He IS the crap
    It's devolution that has meant that Scotland could circumvent all the NIMBY policies of England, and Net Zero targets has led to us now exporting energy to the rest of the UK. Looking at the planning pipeline, Scotland is going to end up generating 7x as much electricity per person as in England.

    If you're going to continue flirting with the Farages of the world, even unionists like me are going to run out of patience with propping up your luddite economy with Scottish energy.
    I assume you've not looked at polls in Scotland recently.
    SNP on course for yet another Holyrood victory:

    SNP 59 (seats)
    Labour 20
    Conservative 19
    LD 11
    Reform 13
    Green 7

    https://x.com/paulhutcheon/status/1865480862319391044
    And, to keep HYUFD fired up, 54% Yes to indy.

    Night all.
    Shokking emission of DKs.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 49,319
    Carnyx said:

    Eabhal said:

    ...

    Eabhal said:

    Leon said:

    MaxPB said:

    So did the French spend 10 years doing planning work to get this thing done? No, they just built it.

    Same in Madrid with the metro expansion.

    It is ridiculous things take so long here. SKS needs to get a grip on this or his entire premiership will be pointless.

    Completely agreed.

    I shan't be holding my breath that it won't be the latter though.
    Yup look at the push back he's getting over some milquetoast words around productivity in the public sector and Labour are already rolling over.
    They are incapable. Also they agree with much of the red tape that slows everything down - net zero, DEI, woke nonsense, devolution - and starmer himself is a classic midwit public sector wonk - he loves process and complexity as an end in itself. See his insane relaunch with its five pillars of wisdom and sixteen must-dos and 4 foundational guardrails and 19 and a half roll out stakeholder equity-focussed mission statements

    This is not a man who will “cut through the crap”. He lives for the crap. He IS the crap
    It's devolution that has meant that Scotland could circumvent all the NIMBY policies of England, and Net Zero targets has led to us now exporting energy to the rest of the UK. Looking at the planning pipeline, Scotland is going to end up generating 7x as much electricity per person as in England.

    If you're going to continue flirting with the Farages of the world, even unionists like me are going to run out of patience with propping up your luddite economy with Scottish energy.
    I assume you've not looked at polls in Scotland recently.
    SNP on course for yet another Holyrood victory:

    SNP 59 (seats)
    Labour 20
    Conservative 19
    LD 11
    Reform 13
    Green 7

    https://x.com/paulhutcheon/status/1865480862319391044
    And, to keep HYUFD fired up, 54% Yes to indy.

    Night all.
    The way things are going South of the border, who wouldn't?
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 33,799

    rcs1000 said:

    My wife is on a local neighborhood WhatsApp group.

    Yesterday, one of the women accidentally shared a video that was clearly meant for another WhatsApp group, and involved her and her husband in a sex act.

    I thought you should all know that.

    At least it didn't involve a step-mother!
    We don’t know that.
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 29,035
    Foxy said:

    Carnyx said:

    Eabhal said:

    ...

    Eabhal said:

    Leon said:

    MaxPB said:

    So did the French spend 10 years doing planning work to get this thing done? No, they just built it.

    Same in Madrid with the metro expansion.

    It is ridiculous things take so long here. SKS needs to get a grip on this or his entire premiership will be pointless.

    Completely agreed.

    I shan't be holding my breath that it won't be the latter though.
    Yup look at the push back he's getting over some milquetoast words around productivity in the public sector and Labour are already rolling over.
    They are incapable. Also they agree with much of the red tape that slows everything down - net zero, DEI, woke nonsense, devolution - and starmer himself is a classic midwit public sector wonk - he loves process and complexity as an end in itself. See his insane relaunch with its five pillars of wisdom and sixteen must-dos and 4 foundational guardrails and 19 and a half roll out stakeholder equity-focussed mission statements

    This is not a man who will “cut through the crap”. He lives for the crap. He IS the crap
    It's devolution that has meant that Scotland could circumvent all the NIMBY policies of England, and Net Zero targets has led to us now exporting energy to the rest of the UK. Looking at the planning pipeline, Scotland is going to end up generating 7x as much electricity per person as in England.

    If you're going to continue flirting with the Farages of the world, even unionists like me are going to run out of patience with propping up your luddite economy with Scottish energy.
    I assume you've not looked at polls in Scotland recently.
    SNP on course for yet another Holyrood victory:

    SNP 59 (seats)
    Labour 20
    Conservative 19
    LD 11
    Reform 13
    Green 7

    https://x.com/paulhutcheon/status/1865480862319391044
    And, to keep HYUFD fired up, 54% Yes to indy.

    Night all.
    The way things are going South of the border, who wouldn't?
    Quite. The SNP are a beacon of competence compared to Sir Numpty.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,985

    Foxy said:

    British sausages are back on the menu in China.

    Ministers have done a deal to sell more pork exports to Beijing.

    Exerts say it is worth £80m a year.

    https://x.com/kateferguson4/status/1865459964585648425

    Starmer delivers where Truss did not...

    It's a banger of a trade deal.
    Release the British sausages.
    They'll be very popular with Chinese computer whizzes. Especially the Hackers.
  • Pro_RataPro_Rata Posts: 5,364
    Foxy said:

    ydoethur said:

    geoffw said:

     

    According to a report I have just read. If you marry your mother in.law you can dodge inheritance tax.
    The very idea is appalling to me.. there hss to be a better way.....

    If that doesn't float your boat these days you can also marry your father in law instead.
    Wouldn't that be bigamy?

    I added "instead" to avoid confusion.
    Either way it'd be bigamy surely to marry either your mother or father in law?
    Legally, it would be incest.

    Somewhere in the book of Leviticus it states 'A man may not marry his wife's mother.' A church hung this in its porch and a graffiti artist added, 'Lord, have mercy upon us and incline our hearts to keep this law.'
    Legally it'd be bigamy surely?

    You can only have an in law if you are already married, and if you're already married then you can't get married.
    Presumably a widower could marry his MiL if she was a widow too.

    Can anyone from Norfolk clarify the issue?

    Who knows what goes on in those mountains?

    BBC News - Netflix Senna drama's Norfolk 'Alps' mocked on social media - BBC News
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy7kd7g2lxyo

  • carnforthcarnforth Posts: 4,936
    rcs1000 said:

    Leon said:

    rcs1000 said:

    My wife is on a local neighborhood WhatsApp group.

    Yesterday, one of the women accidentally shared a video that was clearly meant for another WhatsApp group, and involved her and her husband in a sex act.

    I thought you should all know that.

    Can we have some titillating detail? I’m slightly bored in Cartagena

    Was it group sex? Illlegal? Any animals or toys harmed in the process? Was she hot? Etc

    Thanks v much
    She is attractive, yes.

    And there was a specific sex act that was shared. One that is not *that* common. And one she would probably definitely not want her kids seeing.
    Pro_Rata said:

    Foxy said:

    ydoethur said:

    geoffw said:

     

    According to a report I have just read. If you marry your mother in.law you can dodge inheritance tax.
    The very idea is appalling to me.. there hss to be a better way.....

    If that doesn't float your boat these days you can also marry your father in law instead.
    Wouldn't that be bigamy?

    I added "instead" to avoid confusion.
    Either way it'd be bigamy surely to marry either your mother or father in law?
    Legally, it would be incest.

    Somewhere in the book of Leviticus it states 'A man may not marry his wife's mother.' A church hung this in its porch and a graffiti artist added, 'Lord, have mercy upon us and incline our hearts to keep this law.'
    Legally it'd be bigamy surely?

    You can only have an in law if you are already married, and if you're already married then you can't get married.
    Presumably a widower could marry his MiL if she was a widow too.

    Can anyone from Norfolk clarify the issue?

    Who knows what goes on in those mountains?

    BBC News - Netflix Senna drama's Norfolk 'Alps' mocked on social media - BBC News
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy7kd7g2lxyo

    Presumably "Norfolk Broads" was the Facebook group she intended to post in.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 72,534
    Nice article on Harry Brook’s remarkable batting stats.
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/articles/cvgr5lgdk9po

    Which again emphasises what an utter freak Bradman was.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 72,534
    Top London academies face mass claims of emotional harm as Whitehall acts on crisis

    https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/dec/07/london-academies-emotional-harm-mossbourne-schools-observer-investigation
    The government has expressed alarm at “deeply distressing” allegations of emotional harm at one of the country’s leading academy trusts after an Observer investigation.

    Almost 140 parents, students and teachers have now spoken out about “systemic” and “lasting” emotional harm to children stretching back two decades at two schools in Hackney run by the Mossbourne Federation.

    In response to the Observer story a fortnight ago into the treatment of children at Mossbourne Victoria Park academy (MVPA) in Hackney – based on testimonials from 30 ­parents – a further 70 parents, more than 30 former students and eight former teachers have now come forward with new evidence.

    The testimonials centre on MVPA and the acclaimed Mossbourne com­munity academy (MCA), also in Hackney, originally run by Sir Michael Wilshaw, the former chief inspector of schools for England who led Ofsted from 2012 to 2016. Both academies have been rated outstanding by Ofsted and are known for high examination grades and rigid discipline…


    I confidently predict several PBers will defend this behaviour, and probably call the complaints ‘woke’.
  • FishingFishing Posts: 5,159
    edited December 2024

    Foxy said:

    Carnyx said:

    Eabhal said:

    ...

    Eabhal said:

    Leon said:

    MaxPB said:

    So did the French spend 10 years doing planning work to get this thing done? No, they just built it.

    Same in Madrid with the metro expansion.

    It is ridiculous things take so long here. SKS needs to get a grip on this or his entire premiership will be pointless.

    Completely agreed.

    I shan't be holding my breath that it won't be the latter though.
    Yup look at the push back he's getting over some milquetoast words around productivity in the public sector and Labour are already rolling over.
    They are incapable. Also they agree with much of the red tape that slows everything down - net zero, DEI, woke nonsense, devolution - and starmer himself is a classic midwit public sector wonk - he loves process and complexity as an end in itself. See his insane relaunch with its five pillars of wisdom and sixteen must-dos and 4 foundational guardrails and 19 and a half roll out stakeholder equity-focussed mission statements

    This is not a man who will “cut through the crap”. He lives for the crap. He IS the crap
    It's devolution that has meant that Scotland could circumvent all the NIMBY policies of England, and Net Zero targets has led to us now exporting energy to the rest of the UK. Looking at the planning pipeline, Scotland is going to end up generating 7x as much electricity per person as in England.

    If you're going to continue flirting with the Farages of the world, even unionists like me are going to run out of patience with propping up your luddite economy with Scottish energy.
    I assume you've not looked at polls in Scotland recently.
    SNP on course for yet another Holyrood victory:

    SNP 59 (seats)
    Labour 20
    Conservative 19
    LD 11
    Reform 13
    Green 7

    https://x.com/paulhutcheon/status/1865480862319391044
    And, to keep HYUFD fired up, 54% Yes to indy.

    Night all.
    The way things are going South of the border, who wouldn't?
    Quite. The SNP are a beacon of competence compared to Sir Numpty.
    The commentariat always said it would be Conservative arrogance or Brexit that ended the Union.

    It would be a strange twist of fate if it were Starmerite unpopularity incompetence instead.

    Oddly fitting, though, given that it was Blairite complacency and arrogance that set up the SNP's bullypulpit in the first place.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 72,534
    Fishing said:

    Foxy said:

    Carnyx said:

    Eabhal said:

    ...

    Eabhal said:

    Leon said:

    MaxPB said:

    So did the French spend 10 years doing planning work to get this thing done? No, they just built it.

    Same in Madrid with the metro expansion.

    It is ridiculous things take so long here. SKS needs to get a grip on this or his entire premiership will be pointless.

    Completely agreed.

    I shan't be holding my breath that it won't be the latter though.
    Yup look at the push back he's getting over some milquetoast words around productivity in the public sector and Labour are already rolling over.
    They are incapable. Also they agree with much of the red tape that slows everything down - net zero, DEI, woke nonsense, devolution - and starmer himself is a classic midwit public sector wonk - he loves process and complexity as an end in itself. See his insane relaunch with its five pillars of wisdom and sixteen must-dos and 4 foundational guardrails and 19 and a half roll out stakeholder equity-focussed mission statements

    This is not a man who will “cut through the crap”. He lives for the crap. He IS the crap
    It's devolution that has meant that Scotland could circumvent all the NIMBY policies of England, and Net Zero targets has led to us now exporting energy to the rest of the UK. Looking at the planning pipeline, Scotland is going to end up generating 7x as much electricity per person as in England.

    If you're going to continue flirting with the Farages of the world, even unionists like me are going to run out of patience with propping up your luddite economy with Scottish energy.
    I assume you've not looked at polls in Scotland recently.
    SNP on course for yet another Holyrood victory:

    SNP 59 (seats)
    Labour 20
    Conservative 19
    LD 11
    Reform 13
    Green 7

    https://x.com/paulhutcheon/status/1865480862319391044
    And, to keep HYUFD fired up, 54% Yes to indy.

    Night all.
    The way things are going South of the border, who wouldn't?
    Quite. The SNP are a beacon of competence compared to Sir Numpty.
    The commentariat always said it would be Conservative arrogance or Brexit that ended the Union.

    It would be a strange twist of fate if it were Starmerite unpopularity incompetence instead.

    Oddly fitting, though, given that it was Blairite complacency and arrogance that set up the SNP's bullypulpit in the first place.
    I think, were it to happen, we could regard it as a collaboration between 5he two parties.
  • StillWatersStillWaters Posts: 8,557

    I note Leon didn't comment on Badenoch getting offended at Starmer making a joke. It sounds like Kemi is the DEI, w-word nonsense person you hate, not Keir.

    She didn’t get offended. She called out double standards
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 33,011
    edited December 2024
    Is Iran a possible destination for Assad? Can't see any Sunni Muslim countries taking him in.
  • FairlieredFairliered Posts: 5,079
    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    lol. I have found the only way to avoid being hassled in Cartagena. Sit in the middle of large bunch of hookers all getting ready for an evening of business. I probably look like their aged pimp. But it’s working

    Also an outside chance that the lassies will offer the poor old soul a freebie.
    They are strikingly beautiful….. and friendly. I think they’ve adopted me. Like some old gringo pet
    Old gringo pet? Next time you’re banned and come back as a new poster, there’s your new username.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 49,319
    If the Russians have to bug out of Syria as seems to be happening, how much equipment will they have to abandon?
  • solarflaresolarflare Posts: 3,757

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    lol. I have found the only way to avoid being hassled in Cartagena. Sit in the middle of large bunch of hookers all getting ready for an evening of business. I probably look like their aged pimp. But it’s working

    Also an outside chance that the lassies will offer the poor old soul a freebie.
    They are strikingly beautiful….. and friendly. I think they’ve adopted me. Like some old gringo pet
    Old gringo pet? Next time you’re banned and come back as a new poster, there’s your new username.
    Could be a what 3 words too
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 17,719
    Leon said:

    rcs1000 said:

    My wife is on a local neighborhood WhatsApp group.

    Yesterday, one of the women accidentally shared a video that was clearly meant for another WhatsApp group, and involved her and her husband in a sex act.

    I thought you should all know that.

    Can we have some titillating detail? I’m slightly bored in Cartagena

    Was it group sex? Illlegal? Any animals or toys harmed in the process? Was she hot? Etc

    Thanks v much
    Hoping for something to stir the sock action?
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 49,319

    I note Leon didn't comment on Badenoch getting offended at Starmer making a joke. It sounds like Kemi is the DEI, w-word nonsense person you hate, not Keir.

    She didn’t get offended. She called out double standards
    She is very thin skinned.

    Hence complaining of structural racism, the very definition of Woke.
  • sarissasarissa Posts: 2,008
    carnforth said:

    Eabhal said:

    Leon said:

    MaxPB said:

    So did the French spend 10 years doing planning work to get this thing done? No, they just built it.

    Same in Madrid with the metro expansion.

    It is ridiculous things take so long here. SKS needs to get a grip on this or his entire premiership will be pointless.

    Completely agreed.

    I shan't be holding my breath that it won't be the latter though.
    Yup look at the push back he's getting over some milquetoast words around productivity in the public sector and Labour are already rolling over.
    They are incapable. Also they agree with much of the red tape that slows everything down - net zero, DEI, woke nonsense, devolution - and starmer himself is a classic midwit public sector wonk - he loves process and complexity as an end in itself. See his insane relaunch with its five pillars of wisdom and sixteen must-dos and 4 foundational guardrails and 19 and a half roll out stakeholder equity-focussed mission statements

    This is not a man who will “cut through the crap”. He lives for the crap. He IS the crap
    It's devolution that has meant that Scotland could circumvent all the NIMBY policies of England, and Net Zero targets has led to us now exporting energy to the rest of the UK. Looking at the planning pipeline, Scotland is going to end up generating 7x as much electricity per person as in England.

    If you're going to continue flirting with the Farages and Musks of the world, even unionists like me are going to run out of patience with propping up your luddite economy with Scottish energy.
    Now do per square mile.
    Electricity is consumed per person, not per square mile.
  • StillWatersStillWaters Posts: 8,557
    edited December 2024
    Foxy said:

    I note Leon didn't comment on Badenoch getting offended at Starmer making a joke. It sounds like Kemi is the DEI, w-word nonsense person you hate, not Keir.

    She didn’t get offended. She called out double standards
    She is very thin skinned.

    Hence complaining of structural racism, the very definition of Woke.
    Lots of people on here repeat that. What actual evidence is there?
  • carnforthcarnforth Posts: 4,936
    edited December 2024
    sarissa said:

    carnforth said:

    Eabhal said:

    Leon said:

    MaxPB said:

    So did the French spend 10 years doing planning work to get this thing done? No, they just built it.

    Same in Madrid with the metro expansion.

    It is ridiculous things take so long here. SKS needs to get a grip on this or his entire premiership will be pointless.

    Completely agreed.

    I shan't be holding my breath that it won't be the latter though.
    Yup look at the push back he's getting over some milquetoast words around productivity in the public sector and Labour are already rolling over.
    They are incapable. Also they agree with much of the red tape that slows everything down - net zero, DEI, woke nonsense, devolution - and starmer himself is a classic midwit public sector wonk - he loves process and complexity as an end in itself. See his insane relaunch with its five pillars of wisdom and sixteen must-dos and 4 foundational guardrails and 19 and a half roll out stakeholder equity-focussed mission statements

    This is not a man who will “cut through the crap”. He lives for the crap. He IS the crap
    It's devolution that has meant that Scotland could circumvent all the NIMBY policies of England, and Net Zero targets has led to us now exporting energy to the rest of the UK. Looking at the planning pipeline, Scotland is going to end up generating 7x as much electricity per person as in England.

    If you're going to continue flirting with the Farages and Musks of the world, even unionists like me are going to run out of patience with propping up your luddite economy with Scottish energy.
    Now do per square mile.
    Electricity is consumed per person, not per square mile.
    But generated by wind, amongst other factors, by area.
  • carnforthcarnforth Posts: 4,936
    Still no power. Have located the heavy pyjamas.
  • FairlieredFairliered Posts: 5,079

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    lol. I have found the only way to avoid being hassled in Cartagena. Sit in the middle of large bunch of hookers all getting ready for an evening of business. I probably look like their aged pimp. But it’s working

    Also an outside chance that the lassies will offer the poor old soul a freebie.
    They are strikingly beautiful….. and friendly. I think they’ve adopted me. Like some old gringo pet
    Old gringo pet? Next time you’re banned and come back as a new poster, there’s your new username.
    Could be a what 3 words too
    Seems to be the location of a crack den in Camden.
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 33,011
    edited December 2024
    "PETER HITCHENS: The police have grown too powerful and too scornful of the public they should serve. This is what happened when I dared to disagree with them..."

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14168429/PETER-HITCHENS-police-powerful-scornful-public.html
    https://archive.is/Gjdgz
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 72,534
    Foxy said:

    If the Russians have to bug out of Syria as seems to be happening, how much equipment will they have to abandon?

    Hard to say.
    But it doesn't seem to be ‘if’.

    Satellite imagery confirms the Russian Navy has abandoned Tartus
    https://x.com/TheKimulation/status/1865473993790136389
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 72,534
    One of the lucky ones.

    First recorded words a liberated political prisoner sent to his mom
    https://x.com/omarAlshogre/status/1865499174109577375
  • solarflaresolarflare Posts: 3,757
    carnforth said:

    Still no power. Have located the heavy pyjamas.

    I feel for you. My boiler is on the fritz today, so I'm pretty chilly, but at least have light now and an electric blanket for later.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 49,319
    Nigelb said:

    Foxy said:

    If the Russians have to bug out of Syria as seems to be happening, how much equipment will they have to abandon?

    Hard to say.
    But it doesn't seem to be ‘if’.

    Satellite imagery confirms the Russian Navy has abandoned Tartus
    https://x.com/TheKimulation/status/1865473993790136389
    Presumably without all the stores or shore workers.
  • MattWMattW Posts: 24,130
    edited December 2024

    So did the French spend 10 years doing planning work to get this thing done? No, they just built it.

    Same in Madrid with the metro expansion.

    It is ridiculous things take so long here. SKS needs to get a grip on this or his entire premiership will be pointless.

    They did not build it; they repaired it. Had they gone for some new idea or 21c fashionable concept, it would have taken far longer.

    In the UK repairs can generally just be done.

    The repairs to York Minster after the 1984 fire destroyed the roof of the South Transept took a little under 4 years.

  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 33,011
    Assad's family are in the UAE — BBC News.
  • MattWMattW Posts: 24,130
    rcs1000 said:

    My wife is on a local neighborhood WhatsApp group.

    Yesterday, one of the women accidentally shared a video that was clearly meant for another WhatsApp group, and involved her and her husband in a sex act.

    I thought you should all know that.

    Is she a celebrity?

    Was anyone called Greg involved?

    I thought I should ask.
  • CatManCatMan Posts: 3,074
    rcs1000 said:

    My wife is on a local neighborhood WhatsApp group.

    Yesterday, one of the women accidentally shared a video that was clearly meant for another WhatsApp group, and involved her and her husband in a sex act.

    I thought you should all know that.

    So what's the link to the video?
  • MattWMattW Posts: 24,130
    Nigelb said:

    Foxy said:

    If the Russians have to bug out of Syria as seems to be happening, how much equipment will they have to abandon?

    Hard to say.
    But it doesn't seem to be ‘if’.

    Satellite imagery confirms the Russian Navy has abandoned Tartus
    https://x.com/TheKimulation/status/1865473993790136389
    Not wanting to be squashing, but we have known this
    MattW said:

    So did the French spend 10 years doing planning work to get this thing done? No, they just built it.

    Same in Madrid with the metro expansion.

    It is ridiculous things take so long here. SKS needs to get a grip on this or his entire premiership will be pointless.

    They did not build it; they repaired it. Had they gone for some new idea or 21c fashionable concept, it would have taken far longer.

    In the UK repairs can generally just be done.

    The repairs to York Minster after the 1984 fire destroyed the roof of the South Transept took a little under 4 years.

    This may be partly because the Church of England, like other mainline denominations, has its own planning system. It is, however, circumscribed, and also subject to Conservation Officer type approval for listen building matters - though they are perhaps a bit less tick-boxy than sometimes.
  • SteveSSteveS Posts: 191
    MattW said:

    So did the French spend 10 years doing planning work to get this thing done? No, they just built it.

    Same in Madrid with the metro expansion.

    It is ridiculous things take so long here. SKS needs to get a grip on this or his entire premiership will be pointless.

    They did not build it; they repaired it. Had they gone for some new idea or 21c fashionable concept, it would have taken far longer.

    In the UK repairs can generally just be done.

    The repairs to York Minster after the 1984 fire destroyed the roof of the South Transept took a little under 4 years.

    Palace of Westminster is almost rebuilt and repaired and ready to reopen in six months I think?
  • CatMan said:

    rcs1000 said:

    My wife is on a local neighborhood WhatsApp group.

    Yesterday, one of the women accidentally shared a video that was clearly meant for another WhatsApp group, and involved her and her husband in a sex act.

    I thought you should all know that.

    So what's the link to the video?
    I think it starts p something
  • SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 22,307
    rcs1000 said:

    Leon said:

    rcs1000 said:

    My wife is on a local neighborhood WhatsApp group.

    Yesterday, one of the women accidentally shared a video that was clearly meant for another WhatsApp group, and involved her and her husband in a sex act.

    I thought you should all know that.

    Can we have some titillating detail? I’m slightly bored in Cartagena

    Was it group sex? Illlegal? Any animals or toys harmed in the process? Was she hot? Etc

    Thanks v much
    She is attractive, yes.

    And there was a specific sex act that was shared. One that is not *that* common. And one she would probably definitely not want her kids seeing.
    I'm guessing that feet were involved.

    And on that note, goodnight.
  • Evening again PBers.

    Now the local authorities in New York seem to be complaining about the drones. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14169009/New-York-UFO-New-Jersey-Staten-Island-mystery-FBI.html
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 51,466

    kinabalu said:

    Whatever one thinks of Starmer's 'joke' (McDonaldsgate/007gate), Badenoch's response to it is just utterly bizarre, particularly:
    "And if a Conservative prime minister had made those comments about a black party leader, they would have been called a racist and asked to resign."
    Woke as I am in my awareness of racial injustice etc., I just can't see where she's got the racial angle from. Bizarre.

    The implication is she expects preferential treatment on account of being black - having previously made a big deal of criticising that sort of attitude.
    Looking forward to Kemi being asked to comment next time there’s a gammony explosion at the suggestion that 007 should be black.
    My complaint on that was, that in the last film, they did that for 10 seconds, then she gave the number back! And became a sidekick in what appeared to be a badly designed advert for a first person shooter game.

    It came across as crass tokenism.
  • carnforthcarnforth Posts: 4,936

    carnforth said:

    Still no power. Have located the heavy pyjamas.

    I feel for you. My boiler is on the fritz today, so I'm pretty chilly, but at least have light now and an electric blanket for later.
    Have you tried repressurising? Can be done safely by a layman - check instructions online.
  • GallowgateGallowgate Posts: 19,532
    Looks like Homs has been taken by the rebels
  • kinabalu said:

    Whatever one thinks of Starmer's 'joke' (McDonaldsgate/007gate), Badenoch's response to it is just utterly bizarre, particularly:
    "And if a Conservative prime minister had made those comments about a black party leader, they would have been called a racist and asked to resign."
    Woke as I am in my awareness of racial injustice etc., I just can't see where she's got the racial angle from. Bizarre.

    The implication is she expects preferential treatment on account of being black - having previously made a big deal of criticising that sort of attitude.
    Looking forward to Kemi being asked to comment next time there’s a gammony explosion at the suggestion that 007 should be black.
    My complaint on that was, that in the last film, they did that for 10 seconds, then she gave the number back! And became a sidekick in what appeared to be a badly designed advert for a first person shooter game.

    It came across as crass tokenism.
    That film was terrible.
  • MattWMattW Posts: 24,130
    edited December 2024
    SteveS said:

    MattW said:

    So did the French spend 10 years doing planning work to get this thing done? No, they just built it.

    Same in Madrid with the metro expansion.

    It is ridiculous things take so long here. SKS needs to get a grip on this or his entire premiership will be pointless.

    They did not build it; they repaired it. Had they gone for some new idea or 21c fashionable concept, it would have taken far longer.

    In the UK repairs can generally just be done.

    The repairs to York Minster after the 1984 fire destroyed the roof of the South Transept took a little under 4 years.

    Palace of Westminster is almost rebuilt and repaired and ready to reopen in six months I think?
    A genuine comparison there is that after the Blitz and WW2, the Commons moved back into the restored Chamber in 1950.
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 33,011
    Latest polling average

    Lab 26%
    Con 26%
    RefUK 21%
  • FrankBoothFrankBooth Posts: 9,931
    edited December 2024
    Quite a good speech from Badenoch.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0ar0sAsq40

    Didn't say she was offended by Starmer's joke, just that the left would have called it racist were it the other way around. And this is part of a broader problem for the left. Although born in the UK, Badenoch is to all intents and purposes a first generation migrant. Many will recognise her story - starting at the bottom having come from quite prosperous sections of society in their home country. Despite the left's love of diversity, embrace of immigrants and ethnic minorities it's not an experience they empathise with. All they really understand are grievance narratives.
  • carnforthcarnforth Posts: 4,936

    Quite a good speech from Badenoch.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0ar0sAsq40

    Didn't say she was offended by Starmer's joke, just that the left would have called it racist were it the other way around. And this is part of a broader problem for the left. Although born in the UK, Badenoch is to all intents and purposes a first generation migrant. Many will recognise her story as someone starting at the bottom having come from quite prosperous sections of society in their home country. Despite the left's love of diversity, embrace of immigrants and ethnic minorities it's not an experience they empathise with. All they really understand are grievance narratives.

    It will be interesting to see the reaction of the Labour party if, in twenty years time, British muslims start voting Tory.
  • Dura_AceDura_Ace Posts: 13,837

    Leon said:

    Nigelb said:

    Leon said:

    Nigelb said:

    Nice guy that PBers think we should have propped up.
    This is just one of his prisons, though one of the more notorious.

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sednaya_Prison
    Sednaya Prison (Arabic: سجن صيدنايا Sajn Ṣaydnāyā), nicknamed the "Human Slaughterhouse"[a] is a military prison near Damascus in Syria operated by the Syrian government. The prison has been used to hold thousands of prisoners, both civilian detainees and anti-government rebels.[1][2] The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) estimated in January 2021 that 30,000 detainees have perished in Sednaya from torture, ill-treatment and mass executions since the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War,[3] while Amnesty International estimated in February 2017 "that between 5,000 and 13,000 people were extrajudicially executed at Saydnaya between September 2011 and December 2015."

    A former inmate of the prison who was detained for participating in a peaceful non-violent protest told Amnesty International that at Sednaya prisoners were forced to choose between dying themselves or killing one of their own relatives or friends. The former inmate also stated that in the first prison he was at, prisoners were also forced into cannibalism, but that prison was "heaven" compared to Sednaya Prison. According to the inmate, the other prison (Branch 215) was "to interrogate" (including through torture), but when that was done, you were moved to Sednaya "to die"...

    Straw man. Not a single PBer is saying Assad is anything but an evil bastard. The question is: will his likely replacements be even worse?

    It’s the choice between Stalin or Hitler. We chose to support Stalin, who was personally responsible for the torture and death of MILLIONS
    Except it clearly isn't.
    He's a weak and useless leader, and any effort to prop him up is likely futile.
    All it would achieve is to extend a bloody conflict, and alienate whoever takes over.
    You misconstrue me. I’m talking about those who argued we should have supported the Assad regime way back. I’m saying it is ARGUABLE - and it is - but only because ISIS contrive, somehow, to be even nastier than Assad. Stalin v Hitler. We chose Stalin

    Right now Assad is finished so the idea we should support him is rendered nonsense by the facts
    I really don't know what you're on about with this 'Hitler vs. Stalin' bollocks. Stalin was not a less bad option than Hitler - he killed more people for a start.

    Furthermore, there is absolutely no equivalence in the wickedness of a repressive dictator who does however support religious tolerance, the education of women, the ability of women to attend university, and a stable and livable society, with the wickedness of a bunch of headchopping islamist nutters, *let alone* ISIS.
    The Hitler vs Stalin comic book where they are both immensely powerful sorcerers is great.



    Stalin: I offered you friendship to you, Adolf. You chose to start a war. Now, I am here to do destroy you.

    Hitler: Caucasian Untermensch! Now I am at the height of my powers!

    There is then a flashback to a pastoral scene near SPb in 1917 where Father Lenin trains Stalin to fight. Very much like Luke/Yoda on Dagobah.

    Netflix adaptation when?
  • carnforthcarnforth Posts: 4,936
    Dura_Ace said:

    Leon said:

    Nigelb said:

    Leon said:

    Nigelb said:

    Nice guy that PBers think we should have propped up.
    This is just one of his prisons, though one of the more notorious.

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sednaya_Prison
    Sednaya Prison (Arabic: سجن صيدنايا Sajn Ṣaydnāyā), nicknamed the "Human Slaughterhouse"[a] is a military prison near Damascus in Syria operated by the Syrian government. The prison has been used to hold thousands of prisoners, both civilian detainees and anti-government rebels.[1][2] The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) estimated in January 2021 that 30,000 detainees have perished in Sednaya from torture, ill-treatment and mass executions since the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War,[3] while Amnesty International estimated in February 2017 "that between 5,000 and 13,000 people were extrajudicially executed at Saydnaya between September 2011 and December 2015."

    A former inmate of the prison who was detained for participating in a peaceful non-violent protest told Amnesty International that at Sednaya prisoners were forced to choose between dying themselves or killing one of their own relatives or friends. The former inmate also stated that in the first prison he was at, prisoners were also forced into cannibalism, but that prison was "heaven" compared to Sednaya Prison. According to the inmate, the other prison (Branch 215) was "to interrogate" (including through torture), but when that was done, you were moved to Sednaya "to die"...

    Straw man. Not a single PBer is saying Assad is anything but an evil bastard. The question is: will his likely replacements be even worse?

    It’s the choice between Stalin or Hitler. We chose to support Stalin, who was personally responsible for the torture and death of MILLIONS
    Except it clearly isn't.
    He's a weak and useless leader, and any effort to prop him up is likely futile.
    All it would achieve is to extend a bloody conflict, and alienate whoever takes over.
    You misconstrue me. I’m talking about those who argued we should have supported the Assad regime way back. I’m saying it is ARGUABLE - and it is - but only because ISIS contrive, somehow, to be even nastier than Assad. Stalin v Hitler. We chose Stalin

    Right now Assad is finished so the idea we should support him is rendered nonsense by the facts
    I really don't know what you're on about with this 'Hitler vs. Stalin' bollocks. Stalin was not a less bad option than Hitler - he killed more people for a start.

    Furthermore, there is absolutely no equivalence in the wickedness of a repressive dictator who does however support religious tolerance, the education of women, the ability of women to attend university, and a stable and livable society, with the wickedness of a bunch of headchopping islamist nutters, *let alone* ISIS.
    The Hitler vs Stalin comic book where they are both immensely powerful sorcerers is great.



    Stalin: I offered you friendship to you, Adolf. You chose to start a war. Now, I am here to do destroy you.

    Hitler: Caucasian Untermensch! Now I am at the height of my powers!

    There is then a flashback to a pastoral scene near SPb in 1917 where Father Lenin trains Stalin to fight. Very much like Luke/Yoda on Dagobah.

    Netflix adaptation when?
    Misread that as Scousers. That, I'd pay to see.
This discussion has been closed.