Do we get our fags back if it turns out smoking causes lung cancer but suppresses other cancers?
The only two good rules I follow: (1) exercise is good for you, so use your body and move about as much as you, and, (2) if you can't replicate it in your kitchen, don't eat it.
You don't eat fruit and veg? Or do you have an orchard in your kitchen?
Do we get our fags back if it turns out smoking causes lung cancer but suppresses other cancers?
The only two good rules I follow: (1) exercise is good for you, so use your body and move about as much as you, and, (2) if you can't replicate it in your kitchen, don't eat it.
You don't eat fruit and veg? Or do you have an orchard in your kitchen?
Do we get our fags back if it turns out smoking causes lung cancer but suppresses other cancers?
The only two good rules I follow: (1) exercise is good for you, so use your body and move about as much as you, and, (2) if you can't replicate it in your kitchen, don't eat it.
You don't eat fruit and veg? Or do you have an orchard in your kitchen?
What you can cook or make in your kitchen.
It is possible that lack of IRL social contact amongst the young is causing cancer?
Often seems their lives are dedicated to phones and social media and not just being with another human.
The German polling has been stable for weeks with hardly any movement .
Recent events don’t seem to have had much of an impact . Part of this might be due to the high postal vote which means many have already voted .
Putting aside the last election which had a postal vote of 47% and effected by Covid there has been a large increase in that over the previous cycles .
So on recent trends you’d expect at least 30% will have already voted by post .
On Bond, one minor detail: I really like the innovative score Éric Serra brought to Goldeneye with the Russian voices and "communist" percussive noises.
Sumed up the post-cold war world brilliantly, in Russia, and it wouldn't be the same film without it.
Honourable mention for Martin Campbell who actually managed to get Pierce Brosnan to act and not muck around.
I said the other day what a remarkable difference there is with Rashford now he's playing for a team with passion. He was part of the reason we only got a draw in midweek.
Same today, Villa well and truly deserved the winner against Chelsea and he may not have scored but set up both goals.
I wonder how United fans feel seeing him playing so well, but just not in their shirt?
Missed the Arsenal game, for some reason I had in my head that it was tomorrow, but LOL at the result. Will be happy with a draw against City tomorrow, any result should be good enough now I think.
Do we get our fags back if it turns out smoking causes lung cancer but suppresses other cancers?
The only two good rules I follow: (1) exercise is good for you, so use your body and move about as much as you, and, (2) if you can't replicate it in your kitchen, don't eat it.
You don't eat fruit and veg? Or do you have an orchard in your kitchen?
What you can cook or make in your kitchen.
It is possible that lack of IRL social contact amongst the young is causing cancer?
Often seems their lives are dedicated to phones and social media and not just being with another human.
Do we get our fags back if it turns out smoking causes lung cancer but suppresses other cancers?
The only two good rules I follow: (1) exercise is good for you, so use your body and move about as much as you, and, (2) if you can't replicate it in your kitchen, don't eat it.
You don't eat fruit and veg? Or do you have an orchard in your kitchen?
I am very glad we have Sir Keir Starmer as PM now and not Nigel Farage. I do believe he will come to be viewed as one of the great PMs.
For Keir Starmer to be known merely as "Sir" is an affront. He is more than a Sir. He is a veritable peace dukes' peace duke.[*] His saying the Israelis had the right to cut off the water supply to 2 million Palestinians was the greatest and most beautiful statement ever. He is the king, nay the God, of peace dukes.
Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week.
Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.
What the betting that Trump demands Starmer hand over the Falklands to his Argentinian pal?
Milei isn't demanding them. His position is that the wishes of the people living there should be respected.
My suggestion would be that once we get a decent Government, we jointly exploit the oil wealth that lies under the Falklands with Argentina. Given that to do that we will presumably need their help/assent in some form anyway. We should do that before someone else gets dollar signs and decides to stir up the Argentinians for another go.
It would be good finally to put to bed the troubles of the past, and for Argentina to relinquish its claims fully. Even if we need to build them another group of islands and call it Las Malvinas.
Joint development doesn't fly on the islands.
The oil and gas near the Falklands would be extremely expensive to get to. Deep water and some of the worst weather in the world.
There is a reason that very little has been done there.
None of it is in Argentine territorial waters. It’s all in the Falklands economic zone or international waters.
Nevertheless, they have an interest in the region, and as long as the sovereignty and way of life of the Falkland Islands is unaffected, I don't really see the issue with jointly exploiting these resources. I absolutely don't see that we can do this by ourselves without this raising its ugly head in Argentina again, and therefore attracting bigger sharks into the water to 'help' Argentina press its claim. Far better to do a joint project and avoid any issues from the start.
The bigger issue is the supply base to support the operations. They can't get one in Argentina. Uruguay would be antagonising Argentina if they agreed. Brazil are not inclined to piss off Argentina (although I have been told that at non-Governmental parties are prepared to offer it).
They have even looked at using a base in South Africa. Having been across those waters in a force 12, I wouldn't fancy that contract! (I have had two different house guests recently, both have been involved in the development of Falklands hydrocarbons; and a separate meeting with a third company too.
Fuck Uruguay. What are they going to do about it?
What's your beef with Uruguay?
I don't have a beef with Uruguay. Mark tells us that we could not build the supply base that we would need to support a joint UK- Argentinian oil project around the Falklands because Uruguay would antagonise Argentina if they agreed. I can't see how it would be any of their business or why we would care about their displeasure.
I think Mark was saying Uruguayan wouldn’t agree to host the supply base because it would annoy Argentina.
Do we get our fags back if it turns out smoking causes lung cancer but suppresses other cancers?
Avocado not so good for you after all.
Phones? We had avocados in the 80s
Poorer diet I should think.
Poorer diet and fatness. But cancer levels in young people are minuscule anyway. So it’s a rise on a tiny baseline.
I had a micro skin cancer scare after a medical check up this week. Doctor looked worried and referred me. Turns out it’s a patch of dry skin.
I'm never sure whether the storage of energy as fat can really be described as a cause. I think it's more of a symptom of poor diet really.
Yes, with the exception of cardiac conditions where fatty build up in the arteries does it, for youngsters it would presumably be things other than the fat itself - blood sugar, weakened immune system, fewer antioxidants etc.
Do we get our fags back if it turns out smoking causes lung cancer but suppresses other cancers?
The only two good rules I follow: (1) exercise is good for you, so use your body and move about as much as you, and, (2) if you can't replicate it in your kitchen, don't eat it.
You don't eat fruit and veg? Or do you have an orchard in your kitchen?
What you can cook or make in your kitchen.
It is possible that lack of IRL social contact amongst the young is causing cancer?
Often seems their lives are dedicated to phones and social media and not just being with another human.
As social animals that has to be very very bad.
If there is one thing I believe all right-thinking people who care about future generations should come together over, from the left, right, and centre, it's this. Jam antisocial media or, better still, ban mobile phones. Don't do it, and, as you suggest, the species will end up in a very bad place indeed.
Do we get our fags back if it turns out smoking causes lung cancer but suppresses other cancers?
Avocado not so good for you after all.
Phones? We had avocados in the 80s
Poorer diet I should think.
Poorer diet and fatness. But cancer levels in young people are minuscule anyway. So it’s a rise on a tiny baseline.
I had a micro skin cancer scare after a medical check up this week. Doctor looked worried and referred me. Turns out it’s a patch of dry skin.
I'm never sure whether the storage of energy as fat can really be described as a cause. I think it's more of a symptom of poor diet really.
probably just more improvements in detection than anything else
Not sure that can be the case with youngsters. They wouldn’t be ill otherwise so if they get cancer they’re going to know about it. Unless it’s a very very slow growing one. But in any case early detection rates have fallen (I think, I’ll check).
Minerals deal seemingly imminent. Not going down too well according to Ukraine Telegram reactions:
While it is, undoubtedly, blackmail, it is (I suspect) a price well worth paying from Ukraine's point of view.
That depends entirely on what they get from the US in return. Given the current administration, I’d say you’re considerably overestimating the likely quid for their quo.
This mix of arrogance and condescension suggests I’m right.
Sununu urges Zelensky to ‘be careful’ not to anger Trump
https://thehill.com/policy/international/5159120-chris-sununu-volodymyr-zelensky-donald-trump-russia-ukraine-war/ …Sununu also gave credit to the Trump administration for seemingly sidelining the prospects of Ukraine joining the NATO military alliance — an idea that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth poured cold water on after being confirmed to lead the Pentagon. “Let’s just stop with that nonsense,” the New Hampshire Republican said Friday. “That’s just, that’s what kind of led to a lot of this. And so I do give them credit for trying to be a bit blunt about it, but yeah, it’s not about conservatives or Democrats or Republicans supporting this or that.” “This is an international stage. This is what’s best in America’s interest,” he added. “Of course, that has to be taken first, but also in the western hemisphere.” Trump has previously said that Putin wants to make a deal to end the war in Eastern Europe and criticized the way former President Biden and his administration handled the conflict. “But I’m telling you, Biden said the wrong things. Zelensky said the wrong things. They got attacked by somebody that’s much bigger and much stronger,” Trump said earlier this week in an interview with host Brian Kilmeade on Fox News Radio. The criticism comes as the White House presses Zelensky to accept an offer related to Ukraine’s rare minerals. If accepted, the U.S. would ensure Ukraine has security guarantees in return for negotiating an end to the war. Zelensky did not greenlight the agreement, but some Trump officials are confident that he will come on board. He has also indicated in the past that he is open to it. The ex-New Hampshire governor, who led the state from 2017 to 2025, stated that he always thought “democracy” was “on the line” in the Russia-Ukraine war. “The Ukrainian people stood up and pushed back and pushed back on Putin appropriately. And now there’s going to be some capitulation to get peace,” he said. “They all want peace. There’s no question on that.”
Sure, but I'm reminded of the parable of the Sultan's advisor who was sentenced to death, and promised to teach the dog to sing.
Just getting the US out of Russia's orbit, in return for a promise of minerals that may or may not be valuable at some point in the future and which will no doubt be subject to the democratic decisions of future Ukrainian governments seems like a ugly trade, but probably one worth doing.
Given the lead time on development of mines I would imagine Ukraine would have the opportunity to repudiate the deal at some point in the future before the money starts to flow
What the betting that Trump demands Starmer hand over the Falklands to his Argentinian pal?
Milei isn't demanding them. His position is that the wishes of the people living there should be respected.
My suggestion would be that once we get a decent Government, we jointly exploit the oil wealth that lies under the Falklands with Argentina. Given that to do that we will presumably need their help/assent in some form anyway. We should do that before someone else gets dollar signs and decides to stir up the Argentinians for another go.
It would be good finally to put to bed the troubles of the past, and for Argentina to relinquish its claims fully. Even if we need to build them another group of islands and call it Las Malvinas.
Joint development doesn't fly on the islands.
The oil and gas near the Falklands would be extremely expensive to get to. Deep water and some of the worst weather in the world.
There is a reason that very little has been done there.
None of it is in Argentine territorial waters. It’s all in the Falklands economic zone or international waters.
Nevertheless, they have an interest in the region, and as long as the sovereignty and way of life of the Falkland Islands is unaffected, I don't really see the issue with jointly exploiting these resources. I absolutely don't see that we can do this by ourselves without this raising its ugly head in Argentina again, and therefore attracting bigger sharks into the water to 'help' Argentina press its claim. Far better to do a joint project and avoid any issues from the start.
The bigger issue is the supply base to support the operations. They can't get one in Argentina. Uruguay would be antagonising Argentina if they agreed. Brazil are not inclined to piss off Argentina (although I have been told that at non-Governmental parties are prepared to offer it).
They have even looked at using a base in South Africa. Having been across those waters in a force 12, I wouldn't fancy that contract! (I have had two different house guests recently, both have been involved in the development of Falklands hydrocarbons; and a separate meeting with a third company too.
Fuck Uruguay. What are they going to do about it?
What's your beef with Uruguay?
I don't have a beef with Uruguay. Mark tells us that we could not build the supply base that we would need to support a joint UK- Argentinian oil project around the Falklands because Uruguay would antagonise Argentina if they agreed. I can't see how it would be any of their business or why we would care about their displeasure.
I think Mark was saying Uruguayan wouldn’t agree to host the supply base because it would annoy Argentina.
We can’t exactly force them to host it…
The other product Uruguay is famous for, apart from retired Nazi war criminals, is Tannat. But I couldn’t find any decent puns on the Tannat theme.
(Minor Bordeaux / SW France grape gets its place in the sun in a new world country. An old story).
Minerals deal seemingly imminent. Not going down too well according to Ukraine Telegram reactions:
While it is, undoubtedly, blackmail, it is (I suspect) a price well worth paying from Ukraine's point of view.
That depends entirely on what they get from the US in return. Given the current administration, I’d say you’re considerably overestimating the likely quid for their quo.
This mix of arrogance and condescension suggests I’m right.
Sununu urges Zelensky to ‘be careful’ not to anger Trump
https://thehill.com/policy/international/5159120-chris-sununu-volodymyr-zelensky-donald-trump-russia-ukraine-war/ …Sununu also gave credit to the Trump administration for seemingly sidelining the prospects of Ukraine joining the NATO military alliance — an idea that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth poured cold water on after being confirmed to lead the Pentagon. “Let’s just stop with that nonsense,” the New Hampshire Republican said Friday. “That’s just, that’s what kind of led to a lot of this. And so I do give them credit for trying to be a bit blunt about it, but yeah, it’s not about conservatives or Democrats or Republicans supporting this or that.” “This is an international stage. This is what’s best in America’s interest,” he added. “Of course, that has to be taken first, but also in the western hemisphere.” Trump has previously said that Putin wants to make a deal to end the war in Eastern Europe and criticized the way former President Biden and his administration handled the conflict. “But I’m telling you, Biden said the wrong things. Zelensky said the wrong things. They got attacked by somebody that’s much bigger and much stronger,” Trump said earlier this week in an interview with host Brian Kilmeade on Fox News Radio. The criticism comes as the White House presses Zelensky to accept an offer related to Ukraine’s rare minerals. If accepted, the U.S. would ensure Ukraine has security guarantees in return for negotiating an end to the war. Zelensky did not greenlight the agreement, but some Trump officials are confident that he will come on board. He has also indicated in the past that he is open to it. The ex-New Hampshire governor, who led the state from 2017 to 2025, stated that he always thought “democracy” was “on the line” in the Russia-Ukraine war. “The Ukrainian people stood up and pushed back and pushed back on Putin appropriately. And now there’s going to be some capitulation to get peace,” he said. “They all want peace. There’s no question on that.”
Sure, but I'm reminded of the parable of the Sultan's advisor who was sentenced to death, and promised to teach the dog to sing.
Just getting the US out of Russia's orbit, in return for a promise of minerals that may or may not be valuable at some point in the future and which will no doubt be subject to the democratic decisions of future Ukrainian governments seems like a ugly trade, but probably one worth doing.
Given the lead time on development of mines I would imagine Ukraine would have the opportunity to repudiate the deal at some point in the future before the money starts to flow
Do we get our fags back if it turns out smoking causes lung cancer but suppresses other cancers?
The only two good rules I follow: (1) exercise is good for you, so use your body and move about as much as you, and, (2) if you can't replicate it in your kitchen, don't eat it.
You don't eat fruit and veg? Or do you have an orchard in your kitchen?
What you can cook or make in your kitchen.
It is possible that lack of IRL social contact amongst the young is causing cancer?
Often seems their lives are dedicated to phones and social media and not just being with another human.
As social animals that has to be very very bad.
So what's our excuse then?
I'm an anti-social b*****d - I'm not sure about the rest of you
Do we get our fags back if it turns out smoking causes lung cancer but suppresses other cancers?
Avocado not so good for you after all.
Phones? We had avocados in the 80s
Poorer diet I should think.
Poorer diet and fatness. But cancer levels in young people are minuscule anyway. So it’s a rise on a tiny baseline.
I had a micro skin cancer scare after a medical check up this week. Doctor looked worried and referred me. Turns out it’s a patch of dry skin.
I'm never sure whether the storage of energy as fat can really be described as a cause. I think it's more of a symptom of poor diet really.
Yes, with the exception of cardiac conditions where fatty build up in the arteries does it, for youngsters it would presumably be things other than the fat itself - blood sugar, weakened immune system, fewer antioxidants etc.
Do the arteries get conventional fat growth within them (though of course compromised arteries does correlate with being fat a lot)? I was under the impression arterial plaque was made up of mainly calcium.
What the betting that Trump demands Starmer hand over the Falklands to his Argentinian pal?
Milei isn't demanding them. His position is that the wishes of the people living there should be respected.
My suggestion would be that once we get a decent Government, we jointly exploit the oil wealth that lies under the Falklands with Argentina. Given that to do that we will presumably need their help/assent in some form anyway. We should do that before someone else gets dollar signs and decides to stir up the Argentinians for another go.
It would be good finally to put to bed the troubles of the past, and for Argentina to relinquish its claims fully. Even if we need to build them another group of islands and call it Las Malvinas.
Joint development doesn't fly on the islands.
The oil and gas near the Falklands would be extremely expensive to get to. Deep water and some of the worst weather in the world.
There is a reason that very little has been done there.
None of it is in Argentine territorial waters. It’s all in the Falklands economic zone or international waters.
Nevertheless, they have an interest in the region, and as long as the sovereignty and way of life of the Falkland Islands is unaffected, I don't really see the issue with jointly exploiting these resources. I absolutely don't see that we can do this by ourselves without this raising its ugly head in Argentina again, and therefore attracting bigger sharks into the water to 'help' Argentina press its claim. Far better to do a joint project and avoid any issues from the start.
The bigger issue is the supply base to support the operations. They can't get one in Argentina. Uruguay would be antagonising Argentina if they agreed. Brazil are not inclined to piss off Argentina (although I have been told that at non-Governmental parties are prepared to offer it).
They have even looked at using a base in South Africa. Having been across those waters in a force 12, I wouldn't fancy that contract! (I have had two different house guests recently, both have been involved in the development of Falklands hydrocarbons; and a separate meeting with a third company too.
Fuck Uruguay. What are they going to do about it?
What's your beef with Uruguay?
I don't have a beef with Uruguay. Mark tells us that we could not build the supply base that we would need to support a joint UK- Argentinian oil project around the Falklands because Uruguay would antagonise Argentina if they agreed. I can't see how it would be any of their business or why we would care about their displeasure.
I think Mark was saying Uruguayan wouldn’t agree to host the supply base because it would annoy Argentina.
We can’t exactly force them to host it…
The other product Uruguay is famous for, apart from retired Nazi war criminals, is Tannat. But I couldn’t find any decent puns on the Tannat theme.
(Minor Bordeaux / SW France grape gets its place in the sun in a new world country. An old story).
I’m glad this has been picked up on. Frankly I’m fed up with the amount of minority friends and women whose houses have burnt down whilst firemen just sat there watching it, wolf whistling or shouting racist abuse as houses turned to ash.
People might have noticed that the fire brigade brutally snubbed the Village People by refusing to send along a representative to band auditions too.
The only message they will understand is if we boycott them and refuse to use their services.
Personally, I’ve had enough of the blatant lack of dwarves in top flight basketball
It’s like: they don’t even try to hide it. Zero dwarves. Nil homunculi. And if you don’t believe me try and remember the last time you saw a deft skilful midget dribbling through the Lakers defence then jumping eight times his own height to execute a perfect slam dunk?
Fact is: you don’t remember this coz it’s never happened because basketball remains a bastion of anti-diddymen heightism
Do we get our fags back if it turns out smoking causes lung cancer but suppresses other cancers?
Avocado not so good for you after all.
Phones? We had avocados in the 80s
Poorer diet I should think.
Poorer diet and fatness. But cancer levels in young people are minuscule anyway. So it’s a rise on a tiny baseline.
I had a micro skin cancer scare after a medical check up this week. Doctor looked worried and referred me. Turns out it’s a patch of dry skin.
I'm never sure whether the storage of energy as fat can really be described as a cause. I think it's more of a symptom of poor diet really.
probably just more improvements in detection than anything else
Obesity is quite a major cause of cancer, but there unexplained rises in others too. Lymphoma is twice as common as it used to be, for no very obvious reason. For the benefit of our Saturday trolls long preceeding covid vaccinations.
Do we get our fags back if it turns out smoking causes lung cancer but suppresses other cancers?
Avocado not so good for you after all.
Phones? We had avocados in the 80s
Poorer diet I should think.
Poorer diet and fatness. But cancer levels in young people are minuscule anyway. So it’s a rise on a tiny baseline.
I had a micro skin cancer scare after a medical check up this week. Doctor looked worried and referred me. Turns out it’s a patch of dry skin.
I'm never sure whether the storage of energy as fat can really be described as a cause. I think it's more of a symptom of poor diet really.
Yes, with the exception of cardiac conditions where fatty build up in the arteries does it, for youngsters it would presumably be things other than the fat itself - blood sugar, weakened immune system, fewer antioxidants etc.
Do the arteries get conventional fat growth within them (though of course compromised arteries does correlate with being fat a lot)? I was under the impression arterial plaque was made up of mainly calcium.
Called plaque but made up of fats, cholesterol and proteins.
What the betting that Trump demands Starmer hand over the Falklands to his Argentinian pal?
Milei isn't demanding them. His position is that the wishes of the people living there should be respected.
My suggestion would be that once we get a decent Government, we jointly exploit the oil wealth that lies under the Falklands with Argentina. Given that to do that we will presumably need their help/assent in some form anyway. We should do that before someone else gets dollar signs and decides to stir up the Argentinians for another go.
It would be good finally to put to bed the troubles of the past, and for Argentina to relinquish its claims fully. Even if we need to build them another group of islands and call it Las Malvinas.
Joint development doesn't fly on the islands.
The oil and gas near the Falklands would be extremely expensive to get to. Deep water and some of the worst weather in the world.
There is a reason that very little has been done there.
None of it is in Argentine territorial waters. It’s all in the Falklands economic zone or international waters.
Nevertheless, they have an interest in the region, and as long as the sovereignty and way of life of the Falkland Islands is unaffected, I don't really see the issue with jointly exploiting these resources. I absolutely don't see that we can do this by ourselves without this raising its ugly head in Argentina again, and therefore attracting bigger sharks into the water to 'help' Argentina press its claim. Far better to do a joint project and avoid any issues from the start.
The bigger issue is the supply base to support the operations. They can't get one in Argentina. Uruguay would be antagonising Argentina if they agreed. Brazil are not inclined to piss off Argentina (although I have been told that at non-Governmental parties are prepared to offer it).
They have even looked at using a base in South Africa. Having been across those waters in a force 12, I wouldn't fancy that contract! (I have had two different house guests recently, both have been involved in the development of Falklands hydrocarbons; and a separate meeting with a third company too.
Fuck Uruguay. What are they going to do about it?
What's your beef with Uruguay?
I don't have a beef with Uruguay. Mark tells us that we could not build the supply base that we would need to support a joint UK- Argentinian oil project around the Falklands because Uruguay would antagonise Argentina if they agreed. I can't see how it would be any of their business or why we would care about their displeasure.
I think Mark was saying Uruguayan wouldn’t agree to host the supply base because it would annoy Argentina.
We can’t exactly force them to host it…
It that was his intended meaning, then all those problems go back to Argentina not wanting the UK to exploit the oil on territory it regards to be its own. So again, all those issues would be solved by a partnership with Argentina to exploit the resource. Then the supply base could be in Argentina. All the better to benefit the country with visible jobs.
Minerals deal seemingly imminent. Not going down too well according to Ukraine Telegram reactions:
While it is, undoubtedly, blackmail, it is (I suspect) a price well worth paying from Ukraine's point of view.
That depends entirely on what they get from the US in return. Given the current administration, I’d say you’re considerably overestimating the likely quid for their quo.
This mix of arrogance and condescension suggests I’m right.
Sununu urges Zelensky to ‘be careful’ not to anger Trump
https://thehill.com/policy/international/5159120-chris-sununu-volodymyr-zelensky-donald-trump-russia-ukraine-war/ …Sununu also gave credit to the Trump administration for seemingly sidelining the prospects of Ukraine joining the NATO military alliance — an idea that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth poured cold water on after being confirmed to lead the Pentagon. “Let’s just stop with that nonsense,” the New Hampshire Republican said Friday. “That’s just, that’s what kind of led to a lot of this. And so I do give them credit for trying to be a bit blunt about it, but yeah, it’s not about conservatives or Democrats or Republicans supporting this or that.” “This is an international stage. This is what’s best in America’s interest,” he added. “Of course, that has to be taken first, but also in the western hemisphere.” Trump has previously said that Putin wants to make a deal to end the war in Eastern Europe and criticized the way former President Biden and his administration handled the conflict. “But I’m telling you, Biden said the wrong things. Zelensky said the wrong things. They got attacked by somebody that’s much bigger and much stronger,” Trump said earlier this week in an interview with host Brian Kilmeade on Fox News Radio. The criticism comes as the White House presses Zelensky to accept an offer related to Ukraine’s rare minerals. If accepted, the U.S. would ensure Ukraine has security guarantees in return for negotiating an end to the war. Zelensky did not greenlight the agreement, but some Trump officials are confident that he will come on board. He has also indicated in the past that he is open to it. The ex-New Hampshire governor, who led the state from 2017 to 2025, stated that he always thought “democracy” was “on the line” in the Russia-Ukraine war. “The Ukrainian people stood up and pushed back and pushed back on Putin appropriately. And now there’s going to be some capitulation to get peace,” he said. “They all want peace. There’s no question on that.”
Sure, but I'm reminded of the parable of the Sultan's advisor who was sentenced to death, and promised to teach the dog to sing.
Just getting the US out of Russia's orbit, in return for a promise of minerals that may or may not be valuable at some point in the future and which will no doubt be subject to the democratic decisions of future Ukrainian governments seems like a ugly trade, but probably one worth doing.
Given the lead time on development of mines I would imagine Ukraine would have the opportunity to repudiate the deal at some point in the future before the money starts to flow
If the Democrats are in power, there might be a renegotiation.
If there really is an investment of tens of billions of US$ to unlock hundreds of billions of "rare earth metals", that will have a massive effect in the Ukrainian economy. As well as a worldwide effort to support reconstruction, it will be one of the most active economies anywhere. The multiplier used in large civil engineering projects is 2.2 - so every 10 billion spent feels like 22 billion in the local economy.
Of course, a shiny revitalised Ukraine is going to be an ever more attractive bauble for Putin.
Do we get our fags back if it turns out smoking causes lung cancer but suppresses other cancers?
The only two good rules I follow: (1) exercise is good for you, so use your body and move about as much as you, and, (2) if you can't replicate it in your kitchen, don't eat it.
You don't eat fruit and veg? Or do you have an orchard in your kitchen?
What you can cook or make in your kitchen.
It is possible that lack of IRL social contact amongst the young is causing cancer?
Often seems their lives are dedicated to phones and social media and not just being with another human.
As social animals that has to be very very bad.
So what's our excuse then?
I'm an anti-social b*****d - I'm not sure about the rest of you
Do we get our fags back if it turns out smoking causes lung cancer but suppresses other cancers?
Avocado not so good for you after all.
Phones? We had avocados in the 80s
Poorer diet I should think.
Poorer diet and fatness. But cancer levels in young people are minuscule anyway. So it’s a rise on a tiny baseline.
I had a micro skin cancer scare after a medical check up this week. Doctor looked worried and referred me. Turns out it’s a patch of dry skin.
I'm never sure whether the storage of energy as fat can really be described as a cause. I think it's more of a symptom of poor diet really.
probably just more improvements in detection than anything else
You think lots of young people have been just getting cancer and not noticing?
yes
Apart from that being an utterly ludicrous idea, can you point to a corresponding fall in cancer rates in the next age cohort as a result of all those early detections?
Lyon airport. I always liked it, but this evening they’ve failed on the capitalism front.
The “Alpage” bar and restaurant, where we were looking forward to an Alpine themed burger or melty cheese dish were closed when I came to enquire at 8pm. So I thought about going to “Exty” but it closed at 8.30. Ended up queuing at Burger King. For half an hour. And then they said « désolé, nous sommes fermé » after half an hour of waiting. So it was a bottle of wine from the duty free and a couple of pizza slices from “Mozzarella and co”..
I mean FFS don’t close when you have a queue of about 20 willing buyers. In an airport. Where flights depart up to midnight.
Minerals deal seemingly imminent. Not going down too well according to Ukraine Telegram reactions:
While it is, undoubtedly, blackmail, it is (I suspect) a price well worth paying from Ukraine's point of view.
That depends entirely on what they get from the US in return. Given the current administration, I’d say you’re considerably overestimating the likely quid for their quo.
This mix of arrogance and condescension suggests I’m right.
Sununu urges Zelensky to ‘be careful’ not to anger Trump
https://thehill.com/policy/international/5159120-chris-sununu-volodymyr-zelensky-donald-trump-russia-ukraine-war/ …Sununu also gave credit to the Trump administration for seemingly sidelining the prospects of Ukraine joining the NATO military alliance — an idea that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth poured cold water on after being confirmed to lead the Pentagon. “Let’s just stop with that nonsense,” the New Hampshire Republican said Friday. “That’s just, that’s what kind of led to a lot of this. And so I do give them credit for trying to be a bit blunt about it, but yeah, it’s not about conservatives or Democrats or Republicans supporting this or that.” “This is an international stage. This is what’s best in America’s interest,” he added. “Of course, that has to be taken first, but also in the western hemisphere.” Trump has previously said that Putin wants to make a deal to end the war in Eastern Europe and criticized the way former President Biden and his administration handled the conflict. “But I’m telling you, Biden said the wrong things. Zelensky said the wrong things. They got attacked by somebody that’s much bigger and much stronger,” Trump said earlier this week in an interview with host Brian Kilmeade on Fox News Radio. The criticism comes as the White House presses Zelensky to accept an offer related to Ukraine’s rare minerals. If accepted, the U.S. would ensure Ukraine has security guarantees in return for negotiating an end to the war. Zelensky did not greenlight the agreement, but some Trump officials are confident that he will come on board. He has also indicated in the past that he is open to it. The ex-New Hampshire governor, who led the state from 2017 to 2025, stated that he always thought “democracy” was “on the line” in the Russia-Ukraine war. “The Ukrainian people stood up and pushed back and pushed back on Putin appropriately. And now there’s going to be some capitulation to get peace,” he said. “They all want peace. There’s no question on that.”
Sure, but I'm reminded of the parable of the Sultan's advisor who was sentenced to death, and promised to teach the dog to sing.
Just getting the US out of Russia's orbit, in return for a promise of minerals that may or may not be valuable at some point in the future and which will no doubt be subject to the democratic decisions of future Ukrainian governments seems like a ugly trade, but probably one worth doing.
Given the lead time on development of mines I would imagine Ukraine would have the opportunity to repudiate the deal at some point in the future before the money starts to flow
If the Democrats are in power, there might be a renegotiation.
If there really is an investment of tens of billions of US$ to unlock hundreds of billions of "rare earth metals", that will have a massive effect in the Ukrainian economy. As well as a worldwide effort to support reconstruction, it will be one of the most active economies anywhere. The multiplier used in large civil engineering projects is 2.2 - so every 10 billion spent feels like 22 billion in the local economy.
Of course, a shiny revitalised Ukraine is going to be an ever more attractive bauble for Putin.
Just had this debate with my wife. She: Zelenskyy should tell them to fuck off. Me: Zelenskyy should string them along, drive a hard bargain that involves lots of shiny weapons, then as soon as there’s peace and decent security renege on the deal on the basis it was blackmail.
I am very glad we have Sir Keir Starmer as PM now and not Nigel Farage. I do believe he will come to be viewed as one of the great PMs.
Well maybe in fantasy lefty land, Starmer will be a great pm in the same way as genghis khan was seen as a pacifist who preached peace and love
I think Starmer will be remembered, post-power, in the same vein as Eden, Callaghan, Major, May and Sunak. And Carter, Hollande, Scholz. Decent enough person but couldn’t quite rise to the occasion.
Do we get our fags back if it turns out smoking causes lung cancer but suppresses other cancers?
Avocado not so good for you after all.
Phones? We had avocados in the 80s
Poorer diet I should think.
Poorer diet and fatness. But cancer levels in young people are minuscule anyway. So it’s a rise on a tiny baseline.
I had a micro skin cancer scare after a medical check up this week. Doctor looked worried and referred me. Turns out it’s a patch of dry skin.
I'm never sure whether the storage of energy as fat can really be described as a cause. I think it's more of a symptom of poor diet really.
Yes, with the exception of cardiac conditions where fatty build up in the arteries does it, for youngsters it would presumably be things other than the fat itself - blood sugar, weakened immune system, fewer antioxidants etc.
Do the arteries get conventional fat growth within them (though of course compromised arteries does correlate with being fat a lot)? I was under the impression arterial plaque was made up of mainly calcium.
Called plaque but made up of fats, cholesterol and proteins.
Lyon airport. I always liked it, but this evening they’ve failed on the capitalism front.
The “Alpage” bar and restaurant, where we were looking forward to an Alpine themed burger or melty cheese dish were closed when I came to enquire at 8pm. So I thought about going to “Exty” but it closed at 8.30. Ended up queuing at Burger King. For half an hour. And then they said « désolé, nous sommes fermé » after half an hour of waiting. So it was a bottle of wine from the duty free and a couple of pizza slices from “Mozzarella and co”..
I mean FFS don’t close when you have a queue of about 20 willing buyers. In an airport. Where flights depart up to midnight.
Had that at Southampton Airport (dump) the other week. Flight delayed and the whole place basically closed at 8.30 except the duty free so we went to buy bottles of wine with screw tops and the duty free ladies twigged and told us we couldn’t drink them or they would be confiscated.
Was a pretty dry and dull couple of hours wait after that.
I am very glad we have Sir Keir Starmer as PM now and not Nigel Farage. I do believe he will come to be viewed as one of the great PMs.
Well maybe in fantasy lefty land, Starmer will be a great pm in the same way as genghis khan was seen as a pacifist who preached peace and love
I think Starmer will be remembered, post-power, in the same vein as Eden, Callaghan, Major, May and Sunak. And Carter, Hollande, Scholz. Decent enough bloke but couldn’t quite rise to the occasion.
Poor old May and her leopard print shoes being remembered as a bloke.
Lyon airport. I always liked it, but this evening they’ve failed on the capitalism front.
The “Alpage” bar and restaurant, where we were looking forward to an Alpine themed burger or melty cheese dish were closed when I came to enquire at 8pm. So I thought about going to “Exty” but it closed at 8.30. Ended up queuing at Burger King. For half an hour. And then they said « désolé, nous sommes fermé » after half an hour of waiting. So it was a bottle of wine from the duty free and a couple of pizza slices from “Mozzarella and co”..
I mean FFS don’t close when you have a queue of about 20 willing buyers. In an airport. Where flights depart up to midnight.
Had that at Southampton Airport (dump) the other week. Flight delayed and the whole place basically closed at 8.30 except the duty free so we went to buy bottles of wine with screw tops and the duty free ladies twigged and told us we couldn’t drink them or they would be confiscated.
Was a pretty dry and dull couple of hours wait after that.
We saw that tendency during Covid lockdowns. People who think fun spreads germs.
I am very glad we have Sir Keir Starmer as PM now and not Nigel Farage. I do believe he will come to be viewed as one of the great PMs.
Well maybe in fantasy lefty land, Starmer will be a great pm in the same way as genghis khan was seen as a pacifist who preached peace and love
I think Starmer will be remembered, post-power, in the same vein as Eden, Callaghan, Major, May and Sunak. And Carter, Hollande, Scholz. Decent enough person but couldn’t quite rise to the occasion.
Sorry decent person doesn't cut it he wanted to be a leader but he cannot lead Being a nice guy doesn't cut it else we would have elected Ed Davey
What the betting that Trump demands Starmer hand over the Falklands to his Argentinian pal?
Milei isn't demanding them. His position is that the wishes of the people living there should be respected.
My suggestion would be that once we get a decent Government, we jointly exploit the oil wealth that lies under the Falklands with Argentina. Given that to do that we will presumably need their help/assent in some form anyway. We should do that before someone else gets dollar signs and decides to stir up the Argentinians for another go.
It would be good finally to put to bed the troubles of the past, and for Argentina to relinquish its claims fully. Even if we need to build them another group of islands and call it Las Malvinas.
Joint development doesn't fly on the islands.
The oil and gas near the Falklands would be extremely expensive to get to. Deep water and some of the worst weather in the world.
There is a reason that very little has been done there.
None of it is in Argentine territorial waters. It’s all in the Falklands economic zone or international waters.
Nevertheless, they have an interest in the region, and as long as the sovereignty and way of life of the Falkland Islands is unaffected, I don't really see the issue with jointly exploiting these resources. I absolutely don't see that we can do this by ourselves without this raising its ugly head in Argentina again, and therefore attracting bigger sharks into the water to 'help' Argentina press its claim. Far better to do a joint project and avoid any issues from the start.
The bigger issue is the supply base to support the operations. They can't get one in Argentina. Uruguay would be antagonising Argentina if they agreed. Brazil are not inclined to piss off Argentina (although I have been told that at non-Governmental parties are prepared to offer it).
They have even looked at using a base in South Africa. Having been across those waters in a force 12, I wouldn't fancy that contract! (I have had two different house guests recently, both have been involved in the development of Falklands hydrocarbons; and a separate meeting with a third company too.
Fuck Uruguay. What are they going to do about it?
What's your beef with Uruguay?
I don't have a beef with Uruguay. Mark tells us that we could not build the supply base that we would need to support a joint UK- Argentinian oil project around the Falklands because Uruguay would antagonise Argentina if they agreed. I can't see how it would be any of their business or why we would care about their displeasure.
I think Mark was saying Uruguayan wouldn’t agree to host the supply base because it would annoy Argentina.
We can’t exactly force them to host it…
Exactly so.
And security might be a bit of an issue if you tried.
"Nice supply base you've got there. Shame if it had a bit of a fire...".
Lyon airport. I always liked it, but this evening they’ve failed on the capitalism front.
The “Alpage” bar and restaurant, where we were looking forward to an Alpine themed burger or melty cheese dish were closed when I came to enquire at 8pm. So I thought about going to “Exty” but it closed at 8.30. Ended up queuing at Burger King. For half an hour. And then they said « désolé, nous sommes fermé » after half an hour of waiting. So it was a bottle of wine from the duty free and a couple of pizza slices from “Mozzarella and co”..
I mean FFS don’t close when you have a queue of about 20 willing buyers. In an airport. Where flights depart up to midnight.
Had that at Southampton Airport (dump) the other week. Flight delayed and the whole place basically closed at 8.30 except the duty free so we went to buy bottles of wine with screw tops and the duty free ladies twigged and told us we couldn’t drink them or they would be confiscated.
Was a pretty dry and dull couple of hours wait after that.
We saw that tendency during Covid lockdowns. People who think fun spreads germs.
It was an extra shame as there was a netball team who had started on the beers before the bar closed so could have been a fun airport session.
The only upside was that the only screw top reds were pretty dodge so probably saved me from a thumping headache on the Monday morning. Thanks Puritan ladies.
What the betting that Trump demands Starmer hand over the Falklands to his Argentinian pal?
Milei isn't demanding them. His position is that the wishes of the people living there should be respected.
My suggestion would be that once we get a decent Government, we jointly exploit the oil wealth that lies under the Falklands with Argentina. Given that to do that we will presumably need their help/assent in some form anyway. We should do that before someone else gets dollar signs and decides to stir up the Argentinians for another go.
It would be good finally to put to bed the troubles of the past, and for Argentina to relinquish its claims fully. Even if we need to build them another group of islands and call it Las Malvinas.
Joint development doesn't fly on the islands.
The oil and gas near the Falklands would be extremely expensive to get to. Deep water and some of the worst weather in the world.
There is a reason that very little has been done there.
None of it is in Argentine territorial waters. It’s all in the Falklands economic zone or international waters.
Nevertheless, they have an interest in the region, and as long as the sovereignty and way of life of the Falkland Islands is unaffected, I don't really see the issue with jointly exploiting these resources. I absolutely don't see that we can do this by ourselves without this raising its ugly head in Argentina again, and therefore attracting bigger sharks into the water to 'help' Argentina press its claim. Far better to do a joint project and avoid any issues from the start.
The bigger issue is the supply base to support the operations. They can't get one in Argentina. Uruguay would be antagonising Argentina if they agreed. Brazil are not inclined to piss off Argentina (although I have been told that at non-Governmental parties are prepared to offer it).
They have even looked at using a base in South Africa. Having been across those waters in a force 12, I wouldn't fancy that contract! (I have had two different house guests recently, both have been involved in the development of Falklands hydrocarbons; and a separate meeting with a third company too.
Fuck Uruguay. What are they going to do about it?
What's your beef with Uruguay?
I don't have a beef with Uruguay. Mark tells us that we could not build the supply base that we would need to support a joint UK- Argentinian oil project around the Falklands because Uruguay would antagonise Argentina if they agreed. I can't see how it would be any of their business or why we would care about their displeasure.
I think Mark was saying Uruguayan wouldn’t agree to host the supply base because it would annoy Argentina.
We can’t exactly force them to host it…
Exactly so.
And security might be a bit of an issue if you tried.
"Nice supply base you've got there. Shame if it had a bit of a fire...".
Sure, but this is all without a political agreement to exploit the resource jointly.
What the betting that Trump demands Starmer hand over the Falklands to his Argentinian pal?
Milei isn't demanding them. His position is that the wishes of the people living there should be respected.
My suggestion would be that once we get a decent Government, we jointly exploit the oil wealth that lies under the Falklands with Argentina. Given that to do that we will presumably need their help/assent in some form anyway. We should do that before someone else gets dollar signs and decides to stir up the Argentinians for another go.
It would be good finally to put to bed the troubles of the past, and for Argentina to relinquish its claims fully. Even if we need to build them another group of islands and call it Las Malvinas.
Joint development doesn't fly on the islands.
The oil and gas near the Falklands would be extremely expensive to get to. Deep water and some of the worst weather in the world.
There is a reason that very little has been done there.
None of it is in Argentine territorial waters. It’s all in the Falklands economic zone or international waters.
Nevertheless, they have an interest in the region, and as long as the sovereignty and way of life of the Falkland Islands is unaffected, I don't really see the issue with jointly exploiting these resources. I absolutely don't see that we can do this by ourselves without this raising its ugly head in Argentina again, and therefore attracting bigger sharks into the water to 'help' Argentina press its claim. Far better to do a joint project and avoid any issues from the start.
The bigger issue is the supply base to support the operations. They can't get one in Argentina. Uruguay would be antagonising Argentina if they agreed. Brazil are not inclined to piss off Argentina (although I have been told that at non-Governmental parties are prepared to offer it).
They have even looked at using a base in South Africa. Having been across those waters in a force 12, I wouldn't fancy that contract! (I have had two different house guests recently, both have been involved in the development of Falklands hydrocarbons; and a separate meeting with a third company too.
Fuck Uruguay. What are they going to do about it?
What's your beef with Uruguay?
I don't have a beef with Uruguay. Mark tells us that we could not build the supply base that we would need to support a joint UK- Argentinian oil project around the Falklands because Uruguay would antagonise Argentina if they agreed. I can't see how it would be any of their business or why we would care about their displeasure.
I think Mark was saying Uruguayan wouldn’t agree to host the supply base because it would annoy Argentina.
We can’t exactly force them to host it…
Exactly so.
And security might be a bit of an issue if you tried.
"Nice supply base you've got there. Shame if it had a bit of a fire...".
On a tangential note I’m reading the magisterial history of football “the ball is round” by David Goldblatt and he does an excellent job covering the role of Uruguay in early football history. Really punched (kicked) above its weight.
(Apols for AI stuff). But a video from The Economist :
"Google DeepMind and Anthropic founders, Demis Hassabis and Dario Amodei, are two of the world's foremost leaders in artificial intelligence. Our editor-in-chief, Zanny Minton Beddoes, sat down with them to discuss AI safety, timelines for artificial general intelligence and whether they fear becoming the Oppenheimers of our time, in a conversation for Visionaries Club."
Lyon airport. I always liked it, but this evening they’ve failed on the capitalism front.
The “Alpage” bar and restaurant, where we were looking forward to an Alpine themed burger or melty cheese dish were closed when I came to enquire at 8pm. So I thought about going to “Exty” but it closed at 8.30. Ended up queuing at Burger King. For half an hour. And then they said « désolé, nous sommes fermé » after half an hour of waiting. So it was a bottle of wine from the duty free and a couple of pizza slices from “Mozzarella and co”..
I mean FFS don’t close when you have a queue of about 20 willing buyers. In an airport. Where flights depart up to midnight.
Had that at Southampton Airport (dump) the other week. Flight delayed and the whole place basically closed at 8.30 except the duty free so we went to buy bottles of wine with screw tops and the duty free ladies twigged and told us we couldn’t drink them or they would be confiscated.
Was a pretty dry and dull couple of hours wait after that.
We saw that tendency during Covid lockdowns. People who think fun spreads germs.
It was an extra shame as there was a netball team who had started on the beers before the bar closed so could have been a fun airport session.
The only upside was that the only screw top reds were pretty dodge so probably saved me from a thumping headache on the Monday morning. Thanks Puritan ladies.
And an airport is the one place you expect to be able to have a drink n’importe quand. 7am? Pint? Fine.
I’m glad this has been picked up on. Frankly I’m fed up with the amount of minority friends and women whose houses have burnt down whilst firemen just sat there watching it, wolf whistling or shouting racist abuse as houses turned to ash.
People might have noticed that the fire brigade brutally snubbed the Village People by refusing to send along a representative to band auditions too.
The only message they will understand is if we boycott them and refuse to use their services.
Personally, I’ve had enough of the blatant lack of dwarves in top flight basketball
It’s like: they don’t even try to hide it. Zero dwarves. Nil homunculi. And if you don’t believe me try and remember the last time you saw a deft skilful midget dribbling through the Lakers defence then jumping eight times his own height to execute a perfect slam dunk?
Fact is: you don’t remember this coz it’s never happened because basketball remains a bastion of anti-diddymen heightism
I am very glad we have Sir Keir Starmer as PM now and not Nigel Farage. I do believe he will come to be viewed as one of the great PMs.
Well maybe in fantasy lefty land, Starmer will be a great pm in the same way as genghis khan was seen as a pacifist who preached peace and love
I think Starmer will be remembered, post-power, in the same vein as Eden, Callaghan, Major, May and Sunak. And Carter, Hollande, Scholz. Decent enough person but couldn’t quite rise to the occasion.
I think we shall have to wait and see about that and a number of other things. We are a month or so into the most extraordinary state coup of our lifetime - even more so than the collapse of communism - and in due course there is going to be a new cast of heroes and villains for those who support tolerance, freedom and liberty. Maybe Starmer will be one of the heroes.
What the betting that Trump demands Starmer hand over the Falklands to his Argentinian pal?
Milei isn't demanding them. His position is that the wishes of the people living there should be respected.
My suggestion would be that once we get a decent Government, we jointly exploit the oil wealth that lies under the Falklands with Argentina. Given that to do that we will presumably need their help/assent in some form anyway. We should do that before someone else gets dollar signs and decides to stir up the Argentinians for another go.
It would be good finally to put to bed the troubles of the past, and for Argentina to relinquish its claims fully. Even if we need to build them another group of islands and call it Las Malvinas.
Joint development doesn't fly on the islands.
The oil and gas near the Falklands would be extremely expensive to get to. Deep water and some of the worst weather in the world.
There is a reason that very little has been done there.
None of it is in Argentine territorial waters. It’s all in the Falklands economic zone or international waters.
Nevertheless, they have an interest in the region, and as long as the sovereignty and way of life of the Falkland Islands is unaffected, I don't really see the issue with jointly exploiting these resources. I absolutely don't see that we can do this by ourselves without this raising its ugly head in Argentina again, and therefore attracting bigger sharks into the water to 'help' Argentina press its claim. Far better to do a joint project and avoid any issues from the start.
The bigger issue is the supply base to support the operations. They can't get one in Argentina. Uruguay would be antagonising Argentina if they agreed. Brazil are not inclined to piss off Argentina (although I have been told that at non-Governmental parties are prepared to offer it).
They have even looked at using a base in South Africa. Having been across those waters in a force 12, I wouldn't fancy that contract! (I have had two different house guests recently, both have been involved in the development of Falklands hydrocarbons; and a separate meeting with a third company too.
Fuck Uruguay. What are they going to do about it?
What's your beef with Uruguay?
I don't have a beef with Uruguay. Mark tells us that we could not build the supply base that we would need to support a joint UK- Argentinian oil project around the Falklands because Uruguay would antagonise Argentina if they agreed. I can't see how it would be any of their business or why we would care about their displeasure.
I think Mark was saying Uruguayan wouldn’t agree to host the supply base because it would annoy Argentina.
We can’t exactly force them to host it…
Exactly so.
And security might be a bit of an issue if you tried.
"Nice supply base you've got there. Shame if it had a bit of a fire...".
On a tangential note I’m reading the magisterial history of football “the ball is round” by David Goldblatt and he does an excellent job covering the role of Uruguay in early football history. Really punched (kicked) above its weight.
My joyful Southampton Airport experience was due to being in the UK to watch one of the forerunners of football so a nice circular conversation.
I am very glad we have Sir Keir Starmer as PM now and not Nigel Farage. I do believe he will come to be viewed as one of the great PMs.
Well maybe in fantasy lefty land, Starmer will be a great pm in the same way as genghis khan was seen as a pacifist who preached peace and love
I think Starmer will be remembered, post-power, in the same vein as Eden, Callaghan, Major, May and Sunak. And Carter, Hollande, Scholz. Decent enough person but couldn’t quite rise to the occasion.
Major's reputation has risen massively since he left office. He left a growing economy, balanced budget, a nation in the EU but with an opt out from the Euro, he began the NI peace process and he won a war with Iraq with UN approval and a huge coalition of nations assembled with Bush Snr and founded the National Lottery which has generated funds for the arts and sports and increased our Olympic gold medal count
What the betting that Trump demands Starmer hand over the Falklands to his Argentinian pal?
Milei isn't demanding them. His position is that the wishes of the people living there should be respected.
My suggestion would be that once we get a decent Government, we jointly exploit the oil wealth that lies under the Falklands with Argentina. Given that to do that we will presumably need their help/assent in some form anyway. We should do that before someone else gets dollar signs and decides to stir up the Argentinians for another go.
It would be good finally to put to bed the troubles of the past, and for Argentina to relinquish its claims fully. Even if we need to build them another group of islands and call it Las Malvinas.
Joint development doesn't fly on the islands.
The oil and gas near the Falklands would be extremely expensive to get to. Deep water and some of the worst weather in the world.
There is a reason that very little has been done there.
None of it is in Argentine territorial waters. It’s all in the Falklands economic zone or international waters.
Nevertheless, they have an interest in the region, and as long as the sovereignty and way of life of the Falkland Islands is unaffected, I don't really see the issue with jointly exploiting these resources. I absolutely don't see that we can do this by ourselves without this raising its ugly head in Argentina again, and therefore attracting bigger sharks into the water to 'help' Argentina press its claim. Far better to do a joint project and avoid any issues from the start.
The bigger issue is the supply base to support the operations. They can't get one in Argentina. Uruguay would be antagonising Argentina if they agreed. Brazil are not inclined to piss off Argentina (although I have been told that at non-Governmental parties are prepared to offer it).
They have even looked at using a base in South Africa. Having been across those waters in a force 12, I wouldn't fancy that contract! (I have had two different house guests recently, both have been involved in the development of Falklands hydrocarbons; and a separate meeting with a third company too.
Fuck Uruguay. What are they going to do about it?
What's your beef with Uruguay?
I don't have a beef with Uruguay. Mark tells us that we could not build the supply base that we would need to support a joint UK- Argentinian oil project around the Falklands because Uruguay would antagonise Argentina if they agreed. I can't see how it would be any of their business or why we would care about their displeasure.
I think Mark was saying Uruguayan wouldn’t agree to host the supply base because it would annoy Argentina.
We can’t exactly force them to host it…
It that was his intended meaning, then all those problems go back to Argentina not wanting the UK to exploit the oil on territory it regards to be its own. So again, all those issues would be solved by a partnership with Argentina to exploit the resource. Then the supply base could be in Argentina. All the better to benefit the country with visible jobs.
The basic problem you have is the Falkland Islanders have no interest in any development where Argentina benefits at all.
The nineteen eighties are still raw to the occupants.
Lyon airport. I always liked it, but this evening they’ve failed on the capitalism front.
The “Alpage” bar and restaurant, where we were looking forward to an Alpine themed burger or melty cheese dish were closed when I came to enquire at 8pm. So I thought about going to “Exty” but it closed at 8.30. Ended up queuing at Burger King. For half an hour. And then they said « désolé, nous sommes fermé » after half an hour of waiting. So it was a bottle of wine from the duty free and a couple of pizza slices from “Mozzarella and co”..
I mean FFS don’t close when you have a queue of about 20 willing buyers. In an airport. Where flights depart up to midnight.
Had that at Southampton Airport (dump) the other week. Flight delayed and the whole place basically closed at 8.30 except the duty free so we went to buy bottles of wine with screw tops and the duty free ladies twigged and told us we couldn’t drink them or they would be confiscated.
Was a pretty dry and dull couple of hours wait after that.
I flew back to Southampton from Dublin after a journey on a tall ship. I was accompanied by the ship's cook, who was *exceptionally* drunk. So drunk, in fact, I kept away from him at Dublin airport as I was concerned he would not be allowed to fly. Mrs J was waiting for me when I arrived in Southampton, and the cook went up to her and gave her a massive hug. Mrs J says she nearly fainted from the stench of alcohol.
What the betting that Trump demands Starmer hand over the Falklands to his Argentinian pal?
Milei isn't demanding them. His position is that the wishes of the people living there should be respected.
My suggestion would be that once we get a decent Government, we jointly exploit the oil wealth that lies under the Falklands with Argentina. Given that to do that we will presumably need their help/assent in some form anyway. We should do that before someone else gets dollar signs and decides to stir up the Argentinians for another go.
It would be good finally to put to bed the troubles of the past, and for Argentina to relinquish its claims fully. Even if we need to build them another group of islands and call it Las Malvinas.
Joint development doesn't fly on the islands.
The oil and gas near the Falklands would be extremely expensive to get to. Deep water and some of the worst weather in the world.
There is a reason that very little has been done there.
None of it is in Argentine territorial waters. It’s all in the Falklands economic zone or international waters.
Nevertheless, they have an interest in the region, and as long as the sovereignty and way of life of the Falkland Islands is unaffected, I don't really see the issue with jointly exploiting these resources. I absolutely don't see that we can do this by ourselves without this raising its ugly head in Argentina again, and therefore attracting bigger sharks into the water to 'help' Argentina press its claim. Far better to do a joint project and avoid any issues from the start.
The bigger issue is the supply base to support the operations. They can't get one in Argentina. Uruguay would be antagonising Argentina if they agreed. Brazil are not inclined to piss off Argentina (although I have been told that at non-Governmental parties are prepared to offer it).
They have even looked at using a base in South Africa. Having been across those waters in a force 12, I wouldn't fancy that contract! (I have had two different house guests recently, both have been involved in the development of Falklands hydrocarbons; and a separate meeting with a third company too.
Fuck Uruguay. What are they going to do about it?
What's your beef with Uruguay?
I don't have a beef with Uruguay. Mark tells us that we could not build the supply base that we would need to support a joint UK- Argentinian oil project around the Falklands because Uruguay would antagonise Argentina if they agreed. I can't see how it would be any of their business or why we would care about their displeasure.
I think Mark was saying Uruguayan wouldn’t agree to host the supply base because it would annoy Argentina.
We can’t exactly force them to host it…
The other product Uruguay is famous for, apart from retired Nazi war criminals, is Tannat. But I couldn’t find any decent puns on the Tannat theme.
(Minor Bordeaux / SW France grape gets its place in the sun in a new world country. An old story).
How many other countries than Uruguay have a city named for a number? (Sevenoaks doesn't count. Seven would.)
Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week.
Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.
I assume that also applies to the Federal employee in the Oval office?
I am very glad we have Sir Keir Starmer as PM now and not Nigel Farage. I do believe he will come to be viewed as one of the great PMs.
Well maybe in fantasy lefty land, Starmer will be a great pm in the same way as genghis khan was seen as a pacifist who preached peace and love
I think Starmer will be remembered, post-power, in the same vein as Eden, Callaghan, Major, May and Sunak. And Carter, Hollande, Scholz. Decent enough person but couldn’t quite rise to the occasion.
Sorry decent person doesn't cut it he wanted to be a leader but he cannot lead Being a nice guy doesn't cut it else we would have elected Ed Davey
Given the events of the last month it is quite possible that within a year we shall have a government of national unity; and if I had the choice of the two to lead it right now I would go for Blair (for whom I never voted) and Cameron.
Lyon airport. I always liked it, but this evening they’ve failed on the capitalism front.
The “Alpage” bar and restaurant, where we were looking forward to an Alpine themed burger or melty cheese dish were closed when I came to enquire at 8pm. So I thought about going to “Exty” but it closed at 8.30. Ended up queuing at Burger King. For half an hour. And then they said « désolé, nous sommes fermé » after half an hour of waiting. So it was a bottle of wine from the duty free and a couple of pizza slices from “Mozzarella and co”..
I mean FFS don’t close when you have a queue of about 20 willing buyers. In an airport. Where flights depart up to midnight.
Had that at Southampton Airport (dump) the other week. Flight delayed and the whole place basically closed at 8.30 except the duty free so we went to buy bottles of wine with screw tops and the duty free ladies twigged and told us we couldn’t drink them or they would be confiscated.
Was a pretty dry and dull couple of hours wait after that.
We saw that tendency during Covid lockdowns. People who think fun spreads germs.
It was an extra shame as there was a netball team who had started on the beers before the bar closed so could have been a fun airport session.
The only upside was that the only screw top reds were pretty dodge so probably saved me from a thumping headache on the Monday morning. Thanks Puritan ladies.
Me, the 13th Duke of Wybourne, here, in an airport departure lounge, with a drunken netball team? What were they thinking!
What the betting that Trump demands Starmer hand over the Falklands to his Argentinian pal?
Milei isn't demanding them. His position is that the wishes of the people living there should be respected.
My suggestion would be that once we get a decent Government, we jointly exploit the oil wealth that lies under the Falklands with Argentina. Given that to do that we will presumably need their help/assent in some form anyway. We should do that before someone else gets dollar signs and decides to stir up the Argentinians for another go.
It would be good finally to put to bed the troubles of the past, and for Argentina to relinquish its claims fully. Even if we need to build them another group of islands and call it Las Malvinas.
Joint development doesn't fly on the islands.
The oil and gas near the Falklands would be extremely expensive to get to. Deep water and some of the worst weather in the world.
There is a reason that very little has been done there.
None of it is in Argentine territorial waters. It’s all in the Falklands economic zone or international waters.
Nevertheless, they have an interest in the region, and as long as the sovereignty and way of life of the Falkland Islands is unaffected, I don't really see the issue with jointly exploiting these resources. I absolutely don't see that we can do this by ourselves without this raising its ugly head in Argentina again, and therefore attracting bigger sharks into the water to 'help' Argentina press its claim. Far better to do a joint project and avoid any issues from the start.
The bigger issue is the supply base to support the operations. They can't get one in Argentina. Uruguay would be antagonising Argentina if they agreed. Brazil are not inclined to piss off Argentina (although I have been told that at non-Governmental parties are prepared to offer it).
They have even looked at using a base in South Africa. Having been across those waters in a force 12, I wouldn't fancy that contract! (I have had two different house guests recently, both have been involved in the development of Falklands hydrocarbons; and a separate meeting with a third company too.
Fuck Uruguay. What are they going to do about it?
What's your beef with Uruguay?
I don't have a beef with Uruguay. Mark tells us that we could not build the supply base that we would need to support a joint UK- Argentinian oil project around the Falklands because Uruguay would antagonise Argentina if they agreed. I can't see how it would be any of their business or why we would care about their displeasure.
I think Mark was saying Uruguayan wouldn’t agree to host the supply base because it would annoy Argentina.
We can’t exactly force them to host it…
The other product Uruguay is famous for, apart from retired Nazi war criminals, is Tannat. But I couldn’t find any decent puns on the Tannat theme.
(Minor Bordeaux / SW France grape gets its place in the sun in a new world country. An old story).
How many other countries than Uruguay have a city named for a number? (Sevenoaks doesn't count. Seven would.)
I am very glad we have Sir Keir Starmer as PM now and not Nigel Farage. I do believe he will come to be viewed as one of the great PMs.
Well maybe in fantasy lefty land, Starmer will be a great pm in the same way as genghis khan was seen as a pacifist who preached peace and love
I think Starmer will be remembered, post-power, in the same vein as Eden, Callaghan, Major, May and Sunak. And Carter, Hollande, Scholz. Decent enough person but couldn’t quite rise to the occasion.
Sorry decent person doesn't cut it he wanted to be a leader but he cannot lead Being a nice guy doesn't cut it else we would have elected Ed Davey
Given the events of the last month it is quite possible that within a year we shall have a government of national unity; and if I had the choice of the two to lead it right now I would go for Blair (for whom I never voted) and Cameron.
Davey, surely?
Personally I think it’s a shame we never had PM Farron representing us on the world stage.
Trump is evangelical and raised Presbyterian, he doesn't even get a say as he belongs to a heretic Protestant church.
Vance as a Roman Catholic may get to have a say but the Cardinals will decide, I would suggest an African or Filipino Pope is more likely though we wish Pope Francis a few more years
What the betting that Trump demands Starmer hand over the Falklands to his Argentinian pal?
Milei isn't demanding them. His position is that the wishes of the people living there should be respected.
My suggestion would be that once we get a decent Government, we jointly exploit the oil wealth that lies under the Falklands with Argentina. Given that to do that we will presumably need their help/assent in some form anyway. We should do that before someone else gets dollar signs and decides to stir up the Argentinians for another go.
It would be good finally to put to bed the troubles of the past, and for Argentina to relinquish its claims fully. Even if we need to build them another group of islands and call it Las Malvinas.
Joint development doesn't fly on the islands.
The oil and gas near the Falklands would be extremely expensive to get to. Deep water and some of the worst weather in the world.
There is a reason that very little has been done there.
None of it is in Argentine territorial waters. It’s all in the Falklands economic zone or international waters.
Nevertheless, they have an interest in the region, and as long as the sovereignty and way of life of the Falkland Islands is unaffected, I don't really see the issue with jointly exploiting these resources. I absolutely don't see that we can do this by ourselves without this raising its ugly head in Argentina again, and therefore attracting bigger sharks into the water to 'help' Argentina press its claim. Far better to do a joint project and avoid any issues from the start.
The bigger issue is the supply base to support the operations. They can't get one in Argentina. Uruguay would be antagonising Argentina if they agreed. Brazil are not inclined to piss off Argentina (although I have been told that at non-Governmental parties are prepared to offer it).
They have even looked at using a base in South Africa. Having been across those waters in a force 12, I wouldn't fancy that contract! (I have had two different house guests recently, both have been involved in the development of Falklands hydrocarbons; and a separate meeting with a third company too.
Fuck Uruguay. What are they going to do about it?
What's your beef with Uruguay?
I don't have a beef with Uruguay. Mark tells us that we could not build the supply base that we would need to support a joint UK- Argentinian oil project around the Falklands because Uruguay would antagonise Argentina if they agreed. I can't see how it would be any of their business or why we would care about their displeasure.
I think Mark was saying Uruguayan wouldn’t agree to host the supply base because it would annoy Argentina.
We can’t exactly force them to host it…
It that was his intended meaning, then all those problems go back to Argentina not wanting the UK to exploit the oil on territory it regards to be its own. So again, all those issues would be solved by a partnership with Argentina to exploit the resource. Then the supply base could be in Argentina. All the better to benefit the country with visible jobs.
The basic problem you have is the Falkland Islanders have no interest in any development where Argentina benefits at all.
The nineteen eighties are still raw to the occupants.
Sure. But whilst the islanders have every right to control what happens on their islands, I don't see that they have the right to control what happens under the sea. And if it made them wealthy and caused Argentina to drop its territorial ambitions as part of the settlement, I believe they would be persuaded in any case.
Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week.
Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.
I assume that also applies to the Federal employee in the Oval office?
Whatever else we can accuse Trump of, inactivity isn't it.
What the betting that Trump demands Starmer hand over the Falklands to his Argentinian pal?
Milei isn't demanding them. His position is that the wishes of the people living there should be respected.
My suggestion would be that once we get a decent Government, we jointly exploit the oil wealth that lies under the Falklands with Argentina. Given that to do that we will presumably need their help/assent in some form anyway. We should do that before someone else gets dollar signs and decides to stir up the Argentinians for another go.
It would be good finally to put to bed the troubles of the past, and for Argentina to relinquish its claims fully. Even if we need to build them another group of islands and call it Las Malvinas.
Joint development doesn't fly on the islands.
The oil and gas near the Falklands would be extremely expensive to get to. Deep water and some of the worst weather in the world.
There is a reason that very little has been done there.
None of it is in Argentine territorial waters. It’s all in the Falklands economic zone or international waters.
Nevertheless, they have an interest in the region, and as long as the sovereignty and way of life of the Falkland Islands is unaffected, I don't really see the issue with jointly exploiting these resources. I absolutely don't see that we can do this by ourselves without this raising its ugly head in Argentina again, and therefore attracting bigger sharks into the water to 'help' Argentina press its claim. Far better to do a joint project and avoid any issues from the start.
The bigger issue is the supply base to support the operations. They can't get one in Argentina. Uruguay would be antagonising Argentina if they agreed. Brazil are not inclined to piss off Argentina (although I have been told that at non-Governmental parties are prepared to offer it).
They have even looked at using a base in South Africa. Having been across those waters in a force 12, I wouldn't fancy that contract! (I have had two different house guests recently, both have been involved in the development of Falklands hydrocarbons; and a separate meeting with a third company too.
Fuck Uruguay. What are they going to do about it?
What's your beef with Uruguay?
I don't have a beef with Uruguay. Mark tells us that we could not build the supply base that we would need to support a joint UK- Argentinian oil project around the Falklands because Uruguay would antagonise Argentina if they agreed. I can't see how it would be any of their business or why we would care about their displeasure.
I think Mark was saying Uruguayan wouldn’t agree to host the supply base because it would annoy Argentina.
We can’t exactly force them to host it…
The other product Uruguay is famous for, apart from retired Nazi war criminals, is Tannat. But I couldn’t find any decent puns on the Tannat theme.
(Minor Bordeaux / SW France grape gets its place in the sun in a new world country. An old story).
How many other countries than Uruguay have a city named for a number? (Sevenoaks doesn't count. Seven would.)
Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week.
Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.
I assume that also applies to the Federal employee in the Oval office?
Lyon airport. I always liked it, but this evening they’ve failed on the capitalism front.
The “Alpage” bar and restaurant, where we were looking forward to an Alpine themed burger or melty cheese dish were closed when I came to enquire at 8pm. So I thought about going to “Exty” but it closed at 8.30. Ended up queuing at Burger King. For half an hour. And then they said « désolé, nous sommes fermé » after half an hour of waiting. So it was a bottle of wine from the duty free and a couple of pizza slices from “Mozzarella and co”..
I mean FFS don’t close when you have a queue of about 20 willing buyers. In an airport. Where flights depart up to midnight.
Had that at Southampton Airport (dump) the other week. Flight delayed and the whole place basically closed at 8.30 except the duty free so we went to buy bottles of wine with screw tops and the duty free ladies twigged and told us we couldn’t drink them or they would be confiscated.
Was a pretty dry and dull couple of hours wait after that.
I am very glad we have Sir Keir Starmer as PM now and not Nigel Farage. I do believe he will come to be viewed as one of the great PMs.
Well maybe in fantasy lefty land, Starmer will be a great pm in the same way as genghis khan was seen as a pacifist who preached peace and love
I think Starmer will be remembered, post-power, in the same vein as Eden, Callaghan, Major, May and Sunak. And Carter, Hollande, Scholz. Decent enough person but couldn’t quite rise to the occasion.
Sorry decent person doesn't cut it he wanted to be a leader but he cannot lead Being a nice guy doesn't cut it else we would have elected Ed Davey
Given the events of the last month it is quite possible that within a year we shall have a government of national unity; and if I had the choice of the two to lead it right now I would go for Blair (for whom I never voted) and Cameron.
We won't have a government of national unity within a year because there is no national unity frankly.....there are people like most on here that are ok and thinking the status quo is just dandy....then there is people like me who rent and dont see our pay rising and about to start tearing things down frankly.... my pay rise this year 1%, my power bill up 10% my water up 10% my council tax up 5% rent up 12% food prices up by more than 1% story of the last quarter decade.......where are we going to find national unity when most politicians come from a class that never suffered that and most middle classes like here don't either?
Minerals deal seemingly imminent. Not going down too well according to Ukraine Telegram reactions:
While it is, undoubtedly, blackmail, it is (I suspect) a price well worth paying from Ukraine's point of view.
That depends entirely on what they get from the US in return. Given the current administration, I’d say you’re considerably overestimating the likely quid for their quo.
This mix of arrogance and condescension suggests I’m right.
Sununu urges Zelensky to ‘be careful’ not to anger Trump
https://thehill.com/policy/international/5159120-chris-sununu-volodymyr-zelensky-donald-trump-russia-ukraine-war/ …Sununu also gave credit to the Trump administration for seemingly sidelining the prospects of Ukraine joining the NATO military alliance — an idea that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth poured cold water on after being confirmed to lead the Pentagon. “Let’s just stop with that nonsense,” the New Hampshire Republican said Friday. “That’s just, that’s what kind of led to a lot of this. And so I do give them credit for trying to be a bit blunt about it, but yeah, it’s not about conservatives or Democrats or Republicans supporting this or that.” “This is an international stage. This is what’s best in America’s interest,” he added. “Of course, that has to be taken first, but also in the western hemisphere.” Trump has previously said that Putin wants to make a deal to end the war in Eastern Europe and criticized the way former President Biden and his administration handled the conflict. “But I’m telling you, Biden said the wrong things. Zelensky said the wrong things. They got attacked by somebody that’s much bigger and much stronger,” Trump said earlier this week in an interview with host Brian Kilmeade on Fox News Radio. The criticism comes as the White House presses Zelensky to accept an offer related to Ukraine’s rare minerals. If accepted, the U.S. would ensure Ukraine has security guarantees in return for negotiating an end to the war. Zelensky did not greenlight the agreement, but some Trump officials are confident that he will come on board. He has also indicated in the past that he is open to it. The ex-New Hampshire governor, who led the state from 2017 to 2025, stated that he always thought “democracy” was “on the line” in the Russia-Ukraine war. “The Ukrainian people stood up and pushed back and pushed back on Putin appropriately. And now there’s going to be some capitulation to get peace,” he said. “They all want peace. There’s no question on that.”
Sure, but I'm reminded of the parable of the Sultan's advisor who was sentenced to death, and promised to teach the dog to sing.
Just getting the US out of Russia's orbit, in return for a promise of minerals that may or may not be valuable at some point in the future and which will no doubt be subject to the democratic decisions of future Ukrainian governments seems like a ugly trade, but probably one worth doing.
Given the lead time on development of mines I would imagine Ukraine would have the opportunity to repudiate the deal at some point in the future before the money starts to flow
If the Democrats are in power, there might be a renegotiation.
If there really is an investment of tens of billions of US$ to unlock hundreds of billions of "rare earth metals", that will have a massive effect in the Ukrainian economy. As well as a worldwide effort to support reconstruction, it will be one of the most active economies anywhere. The multiplier used in large civil engineering projects is 2.2 - so every 10 billion spent feels like 22 billion in the local economy.
Of course, a shiny revitalised Ukraine is going to be an ever more attractive bauble for Putin.
What makes you think there won't be similar investment opportunities on the eastern side of the ceasefire line? It's quite possible some of the money invested will come from outside the region too. [*] Perhaps from China. Perhaps from the USA or Germany - who knows? Money has no smell.
* Although probably not from Wales, as in Donetsk which was known as Hughesovka from its foundation until 1924:
Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week.
Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.
I assume that also applies to the Federal employee in the Oval office?
If you reply "sacked some essential staff by mistake and spent the rest of the week shitposting on social media", is that a good thing or a bad thing?
Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week.
Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.
I assume that also applies to the Federal employee in the Oval office?
Whatever else we can accuse Trump of, inactivity isn't it.
Yep, he's carried out every one of the tasks that Vlad set him at the start of the week.
I am very glad we have Sir Keir Starmer as PM now and not Nigel Farage. I do believe he will come to be viewed as one of the great PMs.
Well maybe in fantasy lefty land, Starmer will be a great pm in the same way as genghis khan was seen as a pacifist who preached peace and love
I think Starmer will be remembered, post-power, in the same vein as Eden, Callaghan, Major, May and Sunak. And Carter, Hollande, Scholz. Decent enough person but couldn’t quite rise to the occasion.
Sorry decent person doesn't cut it he wanted to be a leader but he cannot lead Being a nice guy doesn't cut it else we would have elected Ed Davey
Given the events of the last month it is quite possible that within a year we shall have a government of national unity; and if I had the choice of the two to lead it right now I would go for Blair (for whom I never voted) and Cameron.
We won't have a government of national unity within a year because there is no national unity frankly.....there are people like most on here that are ok and thinking the status quo is just dandy....then there is people like me who rent and dont see our pay rising and about to start tearing things down frankly.... my pay rise this year 1%, my power bill up 10% my water up 10% my council tax up 5% rent up 12% food prices up by more than 1% story of the last quarter decade.......where are we going to find national unity when most politicians come from a class that never suffered that and most middle classes like here don't either?
Well unless you work for a nationalised industry or the state, earn minimum wage or live in state provided housing not a huge amount the government can do about that given the global rise in prices and cost of living since the Ukraine war and Covid and now with Trump's tariffs coming along too. Even council tax is the council's responsibility.
Though they could maybe do more to support our farmers to reduce food prices and 'drill baby drill' to increase energy supplies. Plenty of votes have been cast in protest for Corbyn and now for Farage, it doesn't mean they have the answers either
Minerals deal seemingly imminent. Not going down too well according to Ukraine Telegram reactions:
While it is, undoubtedly, blackmail, it is (I suspect) a price well worth paying from Ukraine's point of view.
That depends entirely on what they get from the US in return. Given the current administration, I’d say you’re considerably overestimating the likely quid for their quo.
This mix of arrogance and condescension suggests I’m right.
Sununu urges Zelensky to ‘be careful’ not to anger Trump
https://thehill.com/policy/international/5159120-chris-sununu-volodymyr-zelensky-donald-trump-russia-ukraine-war/ …Sununu also gave credit to the Trump administration for seemingly sidelining the prospects of Ukraine joining the NATO military alliance — an idea that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth poured cold water on after being confirmed to lead the Pentagon. “Let’s just stop with that nonsense,” the New Hampshire Republican said Friday. “That’s just, that’s what kind of led to a lot of this. And so I do give them credit for trying to be a bit blunt about it, but yeah, it’s not about conservatives or Democrats or Republicans supporting this or that.” “This is an international stage. This is what’s best in America’s interest,” he added. “Of course, that has to be taken first, but also in the western hemisphere.” Trump has previously said that Putin wants to make a deal to end the war in Eastern Europe and criticized the way former President Biden and his administration handled the conflict. “But I’m telling you, Biden said the wrong things. Zelensky said the wrong things. They got attacked by somebody that’s much bigger and much stronger,” Trump said earlier this week in an interview with host Brian Kilmeade on Fox News Radio. The criticism comes as the White House presses Zelensky to accept an offer related to Ukraine’s rare minerals. If accepted, the U.S. would ensure Ukraine has security guarantees in return for negotiating an end to the war. Zelensky did not greenlight the agreement, but some Trump officials are confident that he will come on board. He has also indicated in the past that he is open to it. The ex-New Hampshire governor, who led the state from 2017 to 2025, stated that he always thought “democracy” was “on the line” in the Russia-Ukraine war. “The Ukrainian people stood up and pushed back and pushed back on Putin appropriately. And now there’s going to be some capitulation to get peace,” he said. “They all want peace. There’s no question on that.”
Sure, but I'm reminded of the parable of the Sultan's advisor who was sentenced to death, and promised to teach the dog to sing.
Just getting the US out of Russia's orbit, in return for a promise of minerals that may or may not be valuable at some point in the future and which will no doubt be subject to the democratic decisions of future Ukrainian governments seems like a ugly trade, but probably one worth doing.
Given the lead time on development of mines I would imagine Ukraine would have the opportunity to repudiate the deal at some point in the future before the money starts to flow
If the Democrats are in power, there might be a renegotiation.
If there really is an investment of tens of billions of US$ to unlock hundreds of billions of "rare earth metals", that will have a massive effect in the Ukrainian economy. As well as a worldwide effort to support reconstruction, it will be one of the most active economies anywhere. The multiplier used in large civil engineering projects is 2.2 - so every 10 billion spent feels like 22 billion in the local economy.
Of course, a shiny revitalised Ukraine is going to be an ever more attractive bauble for Putin.
What makes you think there won't be similar investment opportunities on the eastern side of the ceasefire line? It's quite possible some of the money invested will come from outside the region too. [*] Perhaps from China. Perhaps from the USA or Germany - who knows? Money has no smell.
* Although probably not from Wales, as in Donetsk which was known as Hughesovka from its foundation until 1924:
When I lived in Geneva there was a bar under a Private Bank’s offices called “Le Nonolet”. It was owned by a few of the bankers who had named it after “Pecuniam Non Olet” which was quite witty for Swiss financiers.
Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week.
Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.
I assume that also applies to the Federal employee in the Oval office?
Whatever else we can accuse Trump of, inactivity isn't it.
He wakes up makes a provocative statement or tweet or 2, then has lunch, maybe meets or phones a world leader and then spends much of the afternoon playing golf
Do we get our fags back if it turns out smoking causes lung cancer but suppresses other cancers?
Avocado not so good for you after all.
Phones? We had avocados in the 80s
Poorer diet I should think.
Poorer diet and fatness. But cancer levels in young people are minuscule anyway. So it’s a rise on a tiny baseline.
I had a micro skin cancer scare after a medical check up this week. Doctor looked worried and referred me. Turns out it’s a patch of dry skin.
I'm never sure whether the storage of energy as fat can really be described as a cause. I think it's more of a symptom of poor diet really.
Yes, with the exception of cardiac conditions where fatty build up in the arteries does it, for youngsters it would presumably be things other than the fat itself - blood sugar, weakened immune system, fewer antioxidants etc.
Do the arteries get conventional fat growth within them (though of course compromised arteries does correlate with being fat a lot)? I was under the impression arterial plaque was made up of mainly calcium.
Called plaque but made up of fats, cholesterol and proteins.
Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week.
Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.
I'm starting to feel slightly more optimistic.
The levels of overreach from AfD's american branch and its own pet teen nazis are going to cause a reaction.
America is better than this and the fight back will begin soon.
I am very glad we have Sir Keir Starmer as PM now and not Nigel Farage. I do believe he will come to be viewed as one of the great PMs.
Well maybe in fantasy lefty land, Starmer will be a great pm in the same way as genghis khan was seen as a pacifist who preached peace and love
I think Starmer will be remembered, post-power, in the same vein as Eden, Callaghan, Major, May and Sunak. And Carter, Hollande, Scholz. Decent enough person but couldn’t quite rise to the occasion.
Sorry decent person doesn't cut it he wanted to be a leader but he cannot lead Being a nice guy doesn't cut it else we would have elected Ed Davey
Given the events of the last month it is quite possible that within a year we shall have a government of national unity; and if I had the choice of the two to lead it right now I would go for Blair (for whom I never voted) and Cameron.
We won't have a government of national unity within a year because there is no national unity frankly.....there are people like most on here that are ok and thinking the status quo is just dandy....then there is people like me who rent and dont see our pay rising and about to start tearing things down frankly.... my pay rise this year 1%, my power bill up 10% my water up 10% my council tax up 5% rent up 12% food prices up by more than 1% story of the last quarter decade.......where are we going to find national unity when most politicians come from a class that never suffered that and most middle classes like here don't either?
We won't have a government of national unity for the simple and obvious reason that Starmer has a huge parliamentary majority for the next 4 1/2 years.
You must be in a uniquely moribund line of work, as for the last year private sector mean wages have had bigger rises than either the public sector or inflation.
Trump is purging the military top brass to replace them with 'more compliant' individuals.
I am curious about the motivation of any such individuals. I can see in the very short term career advancement, but in the next 5 or 10 years, unless the republic is overthrown and the insane clown and his posse remain in charge it's not going to end well for them
How many of Hitler's top generals did well out of it...?
Changing Joint Chiefs around the start of a presidential term isn’t, in itself, all that unusual. Which is not something you can say about the simultaneous dismissal of three Judge Advocates General.
Hegseth called Brown unqualified solely because he's Black. Then they fired him... and replaced him with a white guy so indisputably unqualified that he requires a Presidential waiver.
Racism, sexism, homophobia will all become very apparent soon, sadly. The rights of anyone not white and straight will slowly be reduced - as has already become the case for women.
That's what the illiberals want.
The generals would not have been fired, had they been fervent admirers of Trump; expressed support for slavey; claimed that the 2020 election was stolen etc.
Saying someone is a "DEI hire" is now an acceptable way of expressing racism
No, it means you oppose racism - in this case reverse racism.
That would be more believable if we weren’t seeing the Trump administration firing supposed “DEI hires” and then replacing them with complete incompetents, whose main qualifications are that they looked good on Fox News,
As a matter of interest, has Trump appointed any minorities since his anti DEI campaign started?
Do we get our fags back if it turns out smoking causes lung cancer but suppresses other cancers?
Avocado not so good for you after all.
Phones? We had avocados in the 80s
Poorer diet I should think.
Poorer diet and fatness. But cancer levels in young people are minuscule anyway. So it’s a rise on a tiny baseline.
I had a micro skin cancer scare after a medical check up this week. Doctor looked worried and referred me. Turns out it’s a patch of dry skin.
I'm never sure whether the storage of energy as fat can really be described as a cause. I think it's more of a symptom of poor diet really.
Yes, with the exception of cardiac conditions where fatty build up in the arteries does it, for youngsters it would presumably be things other than the fat itself - blood sugar, weakened immune system, fewer antioxidants etc.
Do the arteries get conventional fat growth within them (though of course compromised arteries does correlate with being fat a lot)? I was under the impression arterial plaque was made up of mainly calcium.
Called plaque but made up of fats, cholesterol and proteins.
Do we get our fags back if it turns out smoking causes lung cancer but suppresses other cancers?
Avocado not so good for you after all.
Phones? We had avocados in the 80s
Poorer diet I should think.
Poorer diet and fatness. But cancer levels in young people are minuscule anyway. So it’s a rise on a tiny baseline.
I had a micro skin cancer scare after a medical check up this week. Doctor looked worried and referred me. Turns out it’s a patch of dry skin.
I'm never sure whether the storage of energy as fat can really be described as a cause. I think it's more of a symptom of poor diet really.
Yes, with the exception of cardiac conditions where fatty build up in the arteries does it, for youngsters it would presumably be things other than the fat itself - blood sugar, weakened immune system, fewer antioxidants etc.
Do the arteries get conventional fat growth within them (though of course compromised arteries does correlate with being fat a lot)? I was under the impression arterial plaque was made up of mainly calcium.
Called plaque but made up of fats, cholesterol and proteins.
I am very glad we have Sir Keir Starmer as PM now and not Nigel Farage. I do believe he will come to be viewed as one of the great PMs.
Well maybe in fantasy lefty land, Starmer will be a great pm in the same way as genghis khan was seen as a pacifist who preached peace and love
I think Starmer will be remembered, post-power, in the same vein as Eden, Callaghan, Major, May and Sunak. And Carter, Hollande, Scholz. Decent enough person but couldn’t quite rise to the occasion.
Sorry decent person doesn't cut it he wanted to be a leader but he cannot lead Being a nice guy doesn't cut it else we would have elected Ed Davey
Given the events of the last month it is quite possible that within a year we shall have a government of national unity; and if I had the choice of the two to lead it right now I would go for Blair (for whom I never voted) and Cameron.
We won't have a government of national unity within a year because there is no national unity frankly.....there are people like most on here that are ok and thinking the status quo is just dandy....then there is people like me who rent and dont see our pay rising and about to start tearing things down frankly.... my pay rise this year 1%, my power bill up 10% my water up 10% my council tax up 5% rent up 12% food prices up by more than 1% story of the last quarter decade.......where are we going to find national unity when most politicians come from a class that never suffered that and most middle classes like here don't either?
Well unless you work for a nationalised industry or the state, earn minimum wage or live in state provided housing not a huge amount the government can do about that given the global rise in prices and cost of living since the Ukraine war and Covid and now with Trump's tariffs coming along too. Even council tax is the council's responsibility.
Though they could maybe do more to support our farmers to reduce food prices and 'drill baby drill' to increase energy supplies. Plenty of votes have been cast in protest for Corbyn and now for Farage, it doesn't mean they have the answers either
Farming is the most heavily subsidised industry going. If the same approach had been taken in other sectors, we'd still have a steelworks in Consett and shipyards on the Tyne.
Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week.
Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.
I assume that also applies to the Federal employee in the Oval office?
Whatever else we can accuse Trump of, inactivity isn't it.
He wakes up makes a provocative statement or tweet or 2, then has lunch, maybe meets or phones a world leader and then spends much of the afternoon playing golf
I've just watched him set a new world record for spouting stream of consciousness, non-sequitur bollocks. That, and being an longstanding crook and sex pest means he'll need plenty of downtime.
Comments
Or do you have an orchard in your kitchen?
Air pollution, microplastics, lack of physical activity, highly processed foods
Often seems their lives are dedicated to phones and social media and not just being with another human.
As social animals that has to be very very bad.
Recent events don’t seem to have had much of an impact . Part of this might be due to the high postal vote which means many have already voted .
Putting aside the last election which had a postal vote of 47% and effected by Covid there has been a large increase in that over the previous cycles .
So on recent trends you’d expect at least 30% will have already voted by post .
I had a micro skin cancer scare after a medical check up this week. Doctor looked worried and referred me. Turns out it’s a patch of dry skin.
https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2025-02/pope-at-gemelli-hospital-respiratory-crisis-in-the-morning.html
Mars turns direct tomorrow (Sunday) at 07:29 GMT.
It has been in retrograde motion since 6 December.
Sumed up the post-cold war world brilliantly, in Russia, and it wouldn't be the same film without it.
Honourable mention for Martin Campbell who actually managed to get Pierce Brosnan to act and not muck around.
Same today, Villa well and truly deserved the winner against Chelsea and he may not have scored but set up both goals.
I wonder how United fans feel seeing him playing so well, but just not in their shirt?
Missed the Arsenal game, for some reason I had in my head that it was tomorrow, but LOL at the result. Will be happy with a draw against City tomorrow, any result should be good enough now I think.
*Ask any Russian speaker to confirm.
Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week.
Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.
We can’t exactly force them to host it…
The Luddites were fucking right.
(Minor Bordeaux / SW France grape gets its place in the sun in a new world country. An old story).
Surprisingly enough his riff on autism was utter bollocks.
It’s like: they don’t even try to hide it. Zero dwarves. Nil homunculi. And if you don’t believe me try and remember the last time you saw a deft skilful midget dribbling through the Lakers defence then jumping eight times his own height to execute a perfect slam dunk?
Fact is: you don’t remember this coz it’s never happened because basketball remains a bastion of anti-diddymen heightism
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/24038-atheroma
Somewhat ill judged.
If there really is an investment of tens of billions of US$ to unlock hundreds of billions of "rare earth metals", that will have a massive effect in the Ukrainian economy. As well as a worldwide effort to support reconstruction, it will be one of the most active economies anywhere. The multiplier used in large civil engineering projects is 2.2 - so every 10 billion spent feels like 22 billion in the local economy.
Of course, a shiny revitalised Ukraine is going to be an ever more attractive bauble for Putin.
The “Alpage” bar and restaurant, where we were looking forward to an Alpine themed burger or melty cheese dish were closed when I came to enquire at 8pm. So I thought about going to “Exty” but it closed at 8.30. Ended up queuing at Burger King. For half an hour. And then they said « désolé, nous sommes fermé » after half an hour of waiting. So it was a bottle of wine from the duty free and a couple of pizza slices from “Mozzarella and co”..
I mean FFS don’t close when you have a queue of about 20 willing buyers. In an airport. Where flights depart up to midnight.
Was a pretty dry and dull couple of hours wait after that.
Being a nice guy doesn't cut it else we would have elected Ed Davey
And security might be a bit of an issue if you tried.
"Nice supply base you've got there. Shame if it had a bit of a fire...".
The only upside was that the only screw top reds were pretty dodge so probably saved me from a thumping headache on the Monday morning. Thanks Puritan ladies.
"Google DeepMind and Anthropic founders, Demis Hassabis and Dario Amodei, are two of the world's foremost leaders in artificial intelligence. Our editor-in-chief, Zanny Minton Beddoes, sat down with them to discuss AI safety, timelines for artificial general intelligence and whether they fear becoming the Oppenheimers of our time, in a conversation for Visionaries Club."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4poqjZlM8Lo&list=WL
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXz2KvpHr9k
- and in due course there is going to be a new cast of heroes and villains for those who support tolerance, freedom and liberty. Maybe Starmer will be one of the heroes.
The nineteen eighties are still raw to the occupants.
(Sevenoaks doesn't count. Seven would.)
Personally I think it’s a shame we never had PM Farron representing us on the world stage.
Vance as a Roman Catholic may get to have a say but the Cardinals will decide, I would suggest an African or Filipino Pope is more likely though we wish Pope Francis a few more years
* Although probably not from Wales, as in Donetsk which was known as Hughesovka from its foundation until 1924:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hughes_(businessman)
There is probably a good Millwall joke here somewhere.
Dire as it is, I can't help thinking the baddie "Jason Volta" is more than loosely based on Elon Musk
He must be exhausted.
Though they could maybe do more to support our farmers to reduce food prices and 'drill baby drill' to increase energy supplies. Plenty of votes have been cast in protest for Corbyn and now for Farage, it doesn't mean they have the answers either
I see from google it’s still going.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0XoVj99w-U&themeRefresh=1
Edit: that is primarily calcareous, in terms of being in large part calcium phosphate. Not, as I undersyand it, the case with arterial plaque.
Edit. It's Kentucky.
The levels of overreach from AfD's american branch and its own pet teen nazis are going to cause a reaction.
America is better than this and the fight back will begin soon.
You must be in a uniquely moribund line of work, as for the last year private sector mean wages have had bigger rises than either the public sector or inflation.
Kash Patel sworn in as FBI Director on the Bhagavad Gita instead of the Bible.
That, and being an longstanding crook and sex pest means he'll need plenty of downtime.