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  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 52,391
    HYUFD said:

    Foxy said:

    I see that recognition of a Palestinian state polls well, with majority support of every party apart from Reform, and even there it has substantial support.

    https://yougov.co.uk/international/articles/52679-britons-support-palestinian-statehood-by-45-to-14?utm_source=website_article&utm_medium=bluesky&utm_campaign=52679

    Plurality rather than majority support from the Tories but yes a clear overall majority for it from uniparty voters and overall 45% for the UK recognising a Palestinian state, only 14% against. Reform again the exception. 37% of Reform voters oppose recognising a Palestinian state, just 15% in favour
    Once again demonstrating that Reform and Tory voters are not interchangeable.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 99,232
    Foxy said:

    I see the IMF is predicting that we will have the third highest growth amongst developed economies.

    BBC News - IMF upgrades global growth forecast as tariffs ease
    https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn84gg2y5kpo

    Be great if it felt that way.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 44,590
    edited July 29

    Foxy said:

    I see the IMF is predicting that we will have the third highest growth amongst developed economies.

    BBC News - IMF upgrades global growth forecast as tariffs ease
    https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn84gg2y5kpo

    Labour will be fans of the random number generator today then
    IMF are famous for getting it right after all. Those feckers could not forecast the winner of a one horse race.
  • TazTaz Posts: 19,994
    Foxy said:

    Phil said:

    Both Owen Jones and Nigel Farage are calling for the repeal of the Online Safety Act.

    Is this good or bad for the Act’s probability of survival? I honestly can’t tell any more.

    There are some issues that unite left and right?
    They are both worshippers of Onan?
    The barbarian
  • wooliedyedwooliedyed Posts: 13,102
    malcolmg said:

    Foxy said:

    I see the IMF is predicting that we will have the third highest growth amongst developed economies.

    BBC News - IMF upgrades global growth forecast as tariffs ease
    https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn84gg2y5kpo

    Labour will be fans of the random number generator today then
    IMF are famous for getting it right after all.
    Like having Nostradamus there.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 52,391
    kle4 said:

    Foxy said:

    I see the IMF is predicting that we will have the third highest growth amongst developed economies.

    BBC News - IMF upgrades global growth forecast as tariffs ease
    https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn84gg2y5kpo

    Be great if it felt that way.
    I see also the FTSE100 is at an all time high this week too.
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 86,321
    The BBC meant to say 3rd of the G7.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 67,095

    Zarah Sultana MP
    @zarahsultana
    ·
    2h
    Palestinian self-determination is an inalienable right, not a bargaining chip.

    https://x.com/zarahsultana/status/1950236130114490513
  • wooliedyedwooliedyed Posts: 13,102

    The BBC meant to say 3rd of the G7.

    UK are the Centrist Dads of the G7.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 56,011
    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    ydoethur said:

    MattW said:

    MaxPB said:

    Starmer says UK will recognise Palestinian statehood in September unless Israel agrees ceasefire and two-state solution

    Downing Street has just issued its readout of today’s cabinet meeting on Gaza.

    Here is the key extract.

    Turning to recognition, the prime minister said it had been this government’s longstanding position that recognition of a Palestinian state was an inalienable right of the Palestinian people and that we would recognise a Palestinian state as part of a process to peace and a two state solution.

    He said that because of the increasingly intolerable situation in Gaza and the diminishing prospect of a peace process towards a two state solution, now was the right time to move this position forward. He said that the UK will recognise the state of Palestine in September, before UNGA, unless the Israeli government takes substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza, reaches a ceasefire, makes clear there will be no annexation in the West Bank, and commits to a long-term peace process that delivers a two state solution. He reiterated that there is no equivalence between Israel and Hamas and that our demands on Hamas remain, that they must release all the hostages, sign up to a ceasefire, accept that they will play no role in the government of Gaza, and disarm.

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2025/jul/29/uk-politics-latest-news-cabinet-keir-starmer-nigel-farage-online-safety-act

    No preconditions on Hamas surrendering then, capitulation by the government and rewarding them for October 7th. Disgusting.
    I don't see recognition of Hamas as Govt, or for that matter Gaza included, but it is not clear.

    There are also four conditions that apply to Hamas: releasing all hostages, agreeing a ceasefire, withdrawing from the government of Gaza, and disarming. But the UK was calling for these anyway, and there seems little prospect of Hamas agreeing all of them.

    This means that the most likely outcome seems to be that, by September, the UK will conclude its conditions have not been met, and it will then recognise the state of Palestine.

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2025/jul/29/uk-politics-latest-news-cabinet-keir-starmer-nigel-farage-online-safety-act?CMP=share_btn_url&page=with:block-6888fba08f0805ff5de4ff58#block-6888fba08f0805ff5de4ff58
    I’m no longer convinced that Gaza is saveable in any recognisable form. It’s just too damaged. I wonder if a compromise could be agreed whereby the West Bank is properly protected, by UN peacekeeping forces if necessary, with a commitment to absolutely no more Israeli settlers. Gazans could be encouraged to settle in the West Bank, or stay in their present territory as part of Israel, but again, protected from violence as long as they lay down their arms. It would need support of the wider world, including the Arab nations, who seem to be not supporting their fellow Arabs sufficiently.

    P.S. Has anyone ever seen Topping and Benjamin Netanyahu in the same room?
    Their 'fellow Arabs' in the West Bank and Gaza who are in their eyes hand in glove with their *real* enemies - Iran and Russia?

    As for Gaza I think you've misunderstood what's happening. The whole idea is and has been for some years to make it so damaged it is uninhabitable because if the 2 million Palestinians leave it (for wherever) there will be an Israeli majority in the mandate so the West Bank can be annexed, even if it is given limited autonomy within the Israeli state (and by limited autonomy I mean on the level of West Yorkshire rather than Scotland or even Wales).

    Netanyahu is accelerating this process because he's scared his collar is about to be felt, but it's been ongoing since at least 2007. Indeed, Sharon's withdrawal was aimed at tightening Israel's grip on the West Bank.

    The West Bank is what they really want as it has fertile land, water, a strategic position between Israel and Jordan, the Biblical and tourist heartlands and perhaps above all means that Israel will be wider than ten miles wide.

    The question we might want to ask is why did Hamas hand them this opportunity to do all these things under political and diplomatic cover on a plate? And that's a question to which we still do not have a real answer. It was obvious from the get-go that this would be how Netanyahu's government would play it and that should have been obvious to Hamas too.
    That’s why Palestine, i.e. the West Bank, needs to be a sovereign independent country recognised by the rest of the World. Then, if Israel invades, they are invading a sovereign country, and should be treated like Russia. Their choice.
    I always wonder why all the Arab states hate Palestinians and never lift a finger to help them.
    Have you read the history of the region? Start with Jordan.

    Alternatively, watch the film Animal House


    Boon: [Niedermyer is abusing Flounder in ROTC] Vicious mother, isn't he?
    Otter: He can't do that to our pledges!
    Boon: Only we can do that to our pledges.
    No but imagine it is just that they love killing each other on a regular basis and if stuck just fight among themselves.
    Everyone in the region seems to like Palestinians as a minority to kick. See the First Gulf War and the Palestinian "guest workers" in Kuwait, their reaction to the Iraqi invasion. And the Kuwaiti's reaction to that, when they returned to power.
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 86,321
    edited July 29
    The US economy is amazingly resilient despite Trump's best efforts,

    The US is due to report annualised second-quarter growth of 2.5 per cent on Wednesday, according to a Bloomberg survey of economists, after the world’s largest economy shrank at the start of the year. The IMF believes the US is now set to grow by 1.9 per cent this year and 2 per cent in 2026

    The dream of a 2% a year growth rate in the UK.....
  • LeonLeon Posts: 63,629

    The BBC meant to say 3rd of the G7.

    Yes, it's an obvious error, I see @foxy just mindlessly repeats it

    Many countries in the OECD will out-perform us
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 99,232


    Zarah Sultana MP
    @zarahsultana
    ·
    2h
    Palestinian self-determination is an inalienable right, not a bargaining chip.

    https://x.com/zarahsultana/status/1950236130114490513

    Self determination is not the issue, getting other states to recognise you is, and that is a bargaining chip and surely always has been.

    But I feel like her principal point of the support not being firm enough is clear.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 52,391
    malcolmg said:

    Foxy said:

    I see the IMF is predicting that we will have the third highest growth amongst developed economies.

    BBC News - IMF upgrades global growth forecast as tariffs ease
    https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn84gg2y5kpo

    Labour will be fans of the random number generator today then
    IMF are famous for getting it right after all. Those feckers could not forecast the winner of a one horse race.
    Over recent years haven't their forecasts underestimated UK growth?
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 123,065
    I hate Justin Trudeau

    Watch: Katy Perry and Justin Trudeau spotted having dinner together

    Sighting of former Canadian PM and singer in high-end restaurant raises questions of potential budding romance


    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2025/07/29/katy-perry-justin-trudeau-dinner-together/
  • LeonLeon Posts: 63,629
    kle4 said:

    Christ alive,

    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/29/american-eagle-sydney-sweeney-jeans-ad

    They picked a hot woman who is well known because she has been in some big hit tv shows to advertise some clothes. There ain't anything deeper than that.

    It's a hilarious story really. Dislike it for its lazy appeal to sexuality (as if that's never been done before), sure, but 'coded promotion of eugenics'? Get a grip. Yes, it quotes the line about genes passed down etc, but it's just a lame pun. She's not going to be an A-lister, despite attempts, but it almost feels like some people right and left want to make her an aspect of a culture war.

    I do also hate the trend of 'user on X/tiktok/etc said Y' quotes. I guess it is just modern vox pop, but it means people saying stuff online itself becomes a story.
    1. Sydney Sweeney is genuinely and remarkably hot

    2. I suspect the ad writers wanted exactly this response, and got what they desired

    3. It will be way more successful than the Jaguar rebrand, which went the opposite way
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 60,852
    malcolmg said:

    ydoethur said:

    MattW said:

    MaxPB said:

    Starmer says UK will recognise Palestinian statehood in September unless Israel agrees ceasefire and two-state solution

    Downing Street has just issued its readout of today’s cabinet meeting on Gaza.

    Here is the key extract.

    Turning to recognition, the prime minister said it had been this government’s longstanding position that recognition of a Palestinian state was an inalienable right of the Palestinian people and that we would recognise a Palestinian state as part of a process to peace and a two state solution.

    He said that because of the increasingly intolerable situation in Gaza and the diminishing prospect of a peace process towards a two state solution, now was the right time to move this position forward. He said that the UK will recognise the state of Palestine in September, before UNGA, unless the Israeli government takes substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza, reaches a ceasefire, makes clear there will be no annexation in the West Bank, and commits to a long-term peace process that delivers a two state solution. He reiterated that there is no equivalence between Israel and Hamas and that our demands on Hamas remain, that they must release all the hostages, sign up to a ceasefire, accept that they will play no role in the government of Gaza, and disarm.

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2025/jul/29/uk-politics-latest-news-cabinet-keir-starmer-nigel-farage-online-safety-act

    No preconditions on Hamas surrendering then, capitulation by the government and rewarding them for October 7th. Disgusting.
    I don't see recognition of Hamas as Govt, or for that matter Gaza included, but it is not clear.

    There are also four conditions that apply to Hamas: releasing all hostages, agreeing a ceasefire, withdrawing from the government of Gaza, and disarming. But the UK was calling for these anyway, and there seems little prospect of Hamas agreeing all of them.

    This means that the most likely outcome seems to be that, by September, the UK will conclude its conditions have not been met, and it will then recognise the state of Palestine.

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2025/jul/29/uk-politics-latest-news-cabinet-keir-starmer-nigel-farage-online-safety-act?CMP=share_btn_url&page=with:block-6888fba08f0805ff5de4ff58#block-6888fba08f0805ff5de4ff58
    I’m no longer convinced that Gaza is saveable in any recognisable form. It’s just too damaged. I wonder if a compromise could be agreed whereby the West Bank is properly protected, by UN peacekeeping forces if necessary, with a commitment to absolutely no more Israeli settlers. Gazans could be encouraged to settle in the West Bank, or stay in their present territory as part of Israel, but again, protected from violence as long as they lay down their arms. It would need support of the wider world, including the Arab nations, who seem to be not supporting their fellow Arabs sufficiently.

    P.S. Has anyone ever seen Topping and Benjamin Netanyahu in the same room?
    Their 'fellow Arabs' in the West Bank and Gaza who are in their eyes hand in glove with their *real* enemies - Iran and Russia?

    As for Gaza I think you've misunderstood what's happening. The whole idea is and has been for some years to make it so damaged it is uninhabitable because if the 2 million Palestinians leave it (for wherever) there will be an Israeli majority in the mandate so the West Bank can be annexed, even if it is given limited autonomy within the Israeli state (and by limited autonomy I mean on the level of West Yorkshire rather than Scotland or even Wales).

    Netanyahu is accelerating this process because he's scared his collar is about to be felt, but it's been ongoing since at least 2007. Indeed, Sharon's withdrawal was aimed at tightening Israel's grip on the West Bank.

    The West Bank is what they really want as it has fertile land, water, a strategic position between Israel and Jordan, the Biblical and tourist heartlands and perhaps above all means that Israel will be wider than ten miles wide.

    The question we might want to ask is why did Hamas hand them this opportunity to do all these things under political and diplomatic cover on a plate? And that's a question to which we still do not have a real answer. It was obvious from the get-go that this would be how Netanyahu's government would play it and that should have been obvious to Hamas too.
    That’s why Palestine, i.e. the West Bank, needs to be a sovereign independent country recognised by the rest of the World. Then, if Israel invades, they are invading a sovereign country, and should be treated like Russia. Their choice.
    I always wonder why all the Arab states hate Palestinians and never lift a finger to help them.
    Because each time they do, they get their arses handed to them?
  • BartholomewRobertsBartholomewRoberts Posts: 25,501

    How have we got into this total mess?


    David Brindle
    @DavidJ_Brindle
    ·
    7h
    Almost 1 in 4 #socialcare jobs now held by non-EU overseas workers,
    @skillsforcare reports. Numbers doubled in just 2 years. Hard to see how sector will cope with visa clampdown.

    https://x.com/DavidJ_Brindle/status/1950152659098378678

    So more than 3 in 4 are not held by them.

    The old stat was ~84% were British, while people act like all care workers are non-British. Holding the wages down at minimum wage and opening up visas has lowered the British percentage but its still over three quarters.

    The sector can cope by paying its staff a market rate. Then people will apply for the jobs. Or the sector can go bust and shut down due to lack of employees. Their choice. No need to import minimum wage people to save a sector from paying a market rate.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 46,445


    Zarah Sultana MP
    @zarahsultana
    ·
    2h
    Palestinian self-determination is an inalienable right, not a bargaining chip.

    https://x.com/zarahsultana/status/1950236130114490513

    Yes. This is a great issue for YP.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 67,095
    So, am I being stupid but seems the logic to Hamas is if they keep fighting and there is no ceasefire then they get the UK to recognise a Palestinian state?
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 86,321
    edited July 29
    Leon said:

    kle4 said:

    Christ alive,

    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/29/american-eagle-sydney-sweeney-jeans-ad

    They picked a hot woman who is well known because she has been in some big hit tv shows to advertise some clothes. There ain't anything deeper than that.

    It's a hilarious story really. Dislike it for its lazy appeal to sexuality (as if that's never been done before), sure, but 'coded promotion of eugenics'? Get a grip. Yes, it quotes the line about genes passed down etc, but it's just a lame pun. She's not going to be an A-lister, despite attempts, but it almost feels like some people right and left want to make her an aspect of a culture war.

    I do also hate the trend of 'user on X/tiktok/etc said Y' quotes. I guess it is just modern vox pop, but it means people saying stuff online itself becomes a story.
    1. Sydney Sweeney is genuinely and remarkably hot

    2. I suspect the ad writers wanted exactly this response, and got what they desired

    3. It will be way more successful than the Jaguar rebrand, which went the opposite way
    I am not sure a butt naked Sydeny Sweeney on the hood of the new Jag like some return to 1980s tyre calendars could save them. You would of course have to provide your ID to see such a picture if you were in the UK and not using a VPN.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 60,852

    I hate Justin Trudeau

    Watch: Katy Perry and Justin Trudeau spotted having dinner together

    Sighting of former Canadian PM and singer in high-end restaurant raises questions of potential budding romance


    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2025/07/29/katy-perry-justin-trudeau-dinner-together/

    And I think Katy Perry is an untalented 40 year old singer.

    Will anyone be playing her music in two decades time?
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 33,391
    edited July 29
    Foxy said:

    kle4 said:

    Foxy said:

    I see the IMF is predicting that we will have the third highest growth amongst developed economies.

    BBC News - IMF upgrades global growth forecast as tariffs ease
    https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn84gg2y5kpo

    Be great if it felt that way.
    I see also the FTSE100 is at an all time high this week too.
    That's not how the wealthy international playboy chap Leon met on the bus to New Cross reads the tea leaves.


    Zarah Sultana MP
    @zarahsultana
    ·
    2h
    Palestinian self-determination is an inalienable right, not a bargaining chip.

    https://x.com/zarahsultana/status/1950236130114490513

    I know, let's go on a march! That'll fix everything.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 52,391
    I see Trump says Epstein "stole" Viginia Giuffre from him.

    https://bsky.app/profile/acyn.bsky.social/post/3lv4q5ebnkk2l
  • BartholomewRobertsBartholomewRoberts Posts: 25,501

    So, am I being stupid but seems the logic to Hamas is if they keep fighting and there is no ceasefire then they get the UK to recognise a Palestinian state?

    Yep.

    Stupid gesture and meaningless politics from Starmer, but what else should we expect from him?
  • TazTaz Posts: 19,994
    rcs1000 said:

    I hate Justin Trudeau

    Watch: Katy Perry and Justin Trudeau spotted having dinner together

    Sighting of former Canadian PM and singer in high-end restaurant raises questions of potential budding romance


    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2025/07/29/katy-perry-justin-trudeau-dinner-together/

    And I think Katy Perry is an untalented 40 year old singer.

    Will anyone be playing her music in two decades time?
    She’ll be playing the legends slot at ‘Glasto’
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 123,065
    rcs1000 said:

    I hate Justin Trudeau

    Watch: Katy Perry and Justin Trudeau spotted having dinner together

    Sighting of former Canadian PM and singer in high-end restaurant raises questions of potential budding romance


    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2025/07/29/katy-perry-justin-trudeau-dinner-together/

    And I think Katy Perry is an untalented 40 year old singer.

    Will anyone be playing her music in two decades time?
    I will.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAp9BKosZXs&list=RDtAp9BKosZXs&start_radio=1
  • FlatlanderFlatlander Posts: 5,166

    Foxy said:

    I see the IMF is predicting that we will have the third highest growth amongst developed economies.

    BBC News - IMF upgrades global growth forecast as tariffs ease
    https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn84gg2y5kpo

    Labour will be fans of the random number generator today then
    Surely they'll be banning random number generators as they might be used for cryptography.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 63,629

    The US economy is amazingly resilient despite Trump's best efforts,

    The US is due to report annualised second-quarter growth of 2.5 per cent on Wednesday, according to a Bloomberg survey of economists, after the world’s largest economy shrank at the start of the year. The IMF believes the US is now set to grow by 1.9 per cent this year and 2 per cent in 2026

    The dream of a 2% a year growth rate in the UK.....

    Cheap energy is one of the surest ways to economic growth. Thank God we've got Ed Miliband to save us from this outcome
  • StuartinromfordStuartinromford Posts: 19,305
    kinabalu said:


    Zarah Sultana MP
    @zarahsultana
    ·
    2h
    Palestinian self-determination is an inalienable right, not a bargaining chip.

    https://x.com/zarahsultana/status/1950236130114490513

    Yes. This is a great issue for YP.
    If Zahra Sultana is to be believed, "The Left Party"

    https://www.thenational.scot/news/25349555.zarah-sultana-reveals-preference-name-new-party/

    My conclusion is that it's a good name to massage your ego, but a terrible one to win votes.
  • BlancheLivermoreBlancheLivermore Posts: 6,510
    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    The Gazette has asked me to write about this thing called "the Online Safety Act"

    Has anyone got any thoughts? I hear bad things

    Beyond terrible. Another post passed as we sleepwalk our way into the totalitarian surveillance state. And all to appease earnestly woke do-gooders who wouldn't recognise a VPL if it joined them for breakfast.
    Is it during the traditional twerking stage of breakfast that you recognise the visible panty line?
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 44,517

    malcolmg said:

    Foxy said:

    I see the IMF is predicting that we will have the third highest growth amongst developed economies.

    BBC News - IMF upgrades global growth forecast as tariffs ease
    https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn84gg2y5kpo

    Labour will be fans of the random number generator today then
    IMF are famous for getting it right after all.
    Like having Nostradamus there.
    If only they had an anonymous new pal that they’d just had a drink with, that’s the gold standard we need.
  • PhilPhil Posts: 2,759
    edited July 29

    Foxy said:

    Phil said:

    Both Owen Jones and Nigel Farage are calling for the repeal of the Online Safety Act.

    Is this good or bad for the Act’s probability of survival? I honestly can’t tell any more.

    There are some issues that unite left and right?
    They are both worshippers of Onan?
    They're both Very Very Online.

    For Very Online People, this is existential. It's saying that the ground on which you have built a chunk of your life is so toxic as to be uninhabitable by healthy people.

    Understandable that some people are taking that badly.

    (If you want the naughty bits without shame, whether it's seeing the contents of people's underwear or the ability to proclaim fruity opinions, just put your details in. If you're worried about the resulting shame, that's your conscience telling you something that web culture has falsely encouraged you to ignore.)
    It’s not entirely clear to me why I should need to reveal my identity to read (checks notes) the cider making reddit, websites that advise sexual abuse victims or online discussions of immigration, amongst a plethora of other topics that the OSA deems unsuitable for children.

    Most people think that requiring some kind of age verification for porn sites is reasonable. That’s not the problem with the OSA.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 63,629

    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    The Gazette has asked me to write about this thing called "the Online Safety Act"

    Has anyone got any thoughts? I hear bad things

    Beyond terrible. Another post passed as we sleepwalk our way into the totalitarian surveillance state. And all to appease earnestly woke do-gooders who wouldn't recognise a VPL if it joined them for breakfast.
    Is it during the traditional twerking stage of breakfast that you recognise the visible panty line?
    Blanche! Dearest @BlancheLivermore - PB's favourite postie

    How are you doing, you poor old sod? Are you still in hospital? Do you need cheering up?!
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 32,211
    rcs1000 said:

    I hate Justin Trudeau

    Watch: Katy Perry and Justin Trudeau spotted having dinner together

    Sighting of former Canadian PM and singer in high-end restaurant raises questions of potential budding romance


    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2025/07/29/katy-perry-justin-trudeau-dinner-together/

    And I think Katy Perry is an untalented 40 year old singer.

    Will anyone be playing her music in two decades time?
    Yes probably, in the same way people listen to Bucks Fizz and Toni Basil now - as fun nostalgia. Her songs will never be regarded as classics, but a nostalgic trip down memory lane.

    Her relatively cheery hit California Girls did lead bubblegum music out of its dark/all black wearing/illuminati-pop phase, for which we should all be somewhat grateful. Though someone else would have done it if she hadn't.
  • wooliedyedwooliedyed Posts: 13,102
    edited July 29

    kinabalu said:


    Zarah Sultana MP
    @zarahsultana
    ·
    2h
    Palestinian self-determination is an inalienable right, not a bargaining chip.

    https://x.com/zarahsultana/status/1950236130114490513

    Yes. This is a great issue for YP.
    If Zahra Sultana is to be believed, "The Left Party"

    https://www.thenational.scot/news/25349555.zarah-sultana-reveals-preference-name-new-party/

    My conclusion is that it's a good name to massage your ego, but a terrible one to win votes.
    Call it La Gauche with highly sexualised marketing 👌
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 55,340

    kinabalu said:


    Zarah Sultana MP
    @zarahsultana
    ·
    2h
    Palestinian self-determination is an inalienable right, not a bargaining chip.

    https://x.com/zarahsultana/status/1950236130114490513

    Yes. This is a great issue for YP.
    If Zahra Sultana is to be believed, "The Left Party"

    https://www.thenational.scot/news/25349555.zarah-sultana-reveals-preference-name-new-party/

    My conclusion is that it's a good name to massage your ego, but a terrible one to win votes.
    The Left Behind Party?
  • LeonLeon Posts: 63,629

    malcolmg said:

    Foxy said:

    I see the IMF is predicting that we will have the third highest growth amongst developed economies.

    BBC News - IMF upgrades global growth forecast as tariffs ease
    https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn84gg2y5kpo

    Labour will be fans of the random number generator today then
    IMF are famous for getting it right after all.
    Like having Nostradamus there.
    If only they had an anonymous new pal that they’d just had a drink with, that’s the gold standard we need.
    Do you think I am making this up?
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 32,211
    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    The Gazette has asked me to write about this thing called "the Online Safety Act"

    Has anyone got any thoughts? I hear bad things

    Beyond terrible. Another post passed as we sleepwalk our way into the totalitarian surveillance state. And all to appease earnestly woke do-gooders who wouldn't recognise a VPL if it joined them for breakfast.
    Is it during the traditional twerking stage of breakfast that you recognise the visible panty line?
    Blanche! Dearest @BlancheLivermore - PB's favourite postie

    How are you doing, you poor old sod? Are you still in hospital? Do you need cheering up?!
    Stop it, he's in no mood for a sponge bath.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 56,011

    How have we got into this total mess?


    David Brindle
    @DavidJ_Brindle
    ·
    7h
    Almost 1 in 4 #socialcare jobs now held by non-EU overseas workers,
    @skillsforcare reports. Numbers doubled in just 2 years. Hard to see how sector will cope with visa clampdown.

    https://x.com/DavidJ_Brindle/status/1950152659098378678

    So more than 3 in 4 are not held by them.

    The old stat was ~84% were British, while people act like all care workers are non-British. Holding the wages down at minimum wage and opening up visas has lowered the British percentage but its still over three quarters.

    The sector can cope by paying its staff a market rate. Then people will apply for the jobs. Or the sector can go bust and shut down due to lack of employees. Their choice. No need to import minimum wage people to save a sector from paying a market rate.
    {Checks notes}

    It's Extreme Right Ultra Neon Nazism to suggest that jobs in care homes should pay enough to attract workers. The jobs are supposed to be left for slaves imported through Bristol docks.

    Or have I got my cue cards mixed up again?
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 60,852

    rcs1000 said:

    I hate Justin Trudeau

    Watch: Katy Perry and Justin Trudeau spotted having dinner together

    Sighting of former Canadian PM and singer in high-end restaurant raises questions of potential budding romance


    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2025/07/29/katy-perry-justin-trudeau-dinner-together/

    And I think Katy Perry is an untalented 40 year old singer.

    Will anyone be playing her music in two decades time?
    Yes probably, in the same way people listen to Bucks Fizz and Toni Basil now - as fun nostalgia. Her songs will never be regarded as classics, but a nostalgic trip down memory lane.

    Her relatively cheery hit California Girls did lead bubblegum music out of its dark/all black wearing/illuminati-pop phase, for which we should all be somewhat grateful. Though someone else would have done it if she hadn't.
    Wait.

    People listen to Bucks Fizz these days?

    Really?

    And they do this non-ironically?
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 56,011

    malcolmg said:

    Foxy said:

    I see the IMF is predicting that we will have the third highest growth amongst developed economies.

    BBC News - IMF upgrades global growth forecast as tariffs ease
    https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn84gg2y5kpo

    Labour will be fans of the random number generator today then
    IMF are famous for getting it right after all.
    Like having Nostradamus there.
    If only they had an anonymous new pal that they’d just had a drink with, that’s the gold standard we need.
    Where do you IMF forecasts come from?

    They hail a black cab.....
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 52,554
    Leon said:

    malcolmg said:

    Foxy said:

    I see the IMF is predicting that we will have the third highest growth amongst developed economies.

    BBC News - IMF upgrades global growth forecast as tariffs ease
    https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn84gg2y5kpo

    Labour will be fans of the random number generator today then
    IMF are famous for getting it right after all.
    Like having Nostradamus there.
    If only they had an anonymous new pal that they’d just had a drink with, that’s the gold standard we need.
    Do you think I am making this up?
    Remind us what you do for a living again?
  • wooliedyedwooliedyed Posts: 13,102
    'Now is the time to act'
    'So, in September.........'

    Prick
  • solarflaresolarflare Posts: 4,082

    kinabalu said:


    Zarah Sultana MP
    @zarahsultana
    ·
    2h
    Palestinian self-determination is an inalienable right, not a bargaining chip.

    https://x.com/zarahsultana/status/1950236130114490513

    Yes. This is a great issue for YP.
    If Zahra Sultana is to be believed, "The Left Party"

    https://www.thenational.scot/news/25349555.zarah-sultana-reveals-preference-name-new-party/

    My conclusion is that it's a good name to massage your ego, but a terrible one to win votes.
    I didn't leave my party, it left me. So I left it. For The Left Party. Or something.
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 44,517
    Leon said:

    malcolmg said:

    Foxy said:

    I see the IMF is predicting that we will have the third highest growth amongst developed economies.

    BBC News - IMF upgrades global growth forecast as tariffs ease
    https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn84gg2y5kpo

    Labour will be fans of the random number generator today then
    IMF are famous for getting it right after all.
    Like having Nostradamus there.
    If only they had an anonymous new pal that they’d just had a drink with, that’s the gold standard we need.
    Do you think I am making this up?
    Yes.
    Not like you haven’t made up poorly conceived characters on here before.
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 32,211
    rcs1000 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    I hate Justin Trudeau

    Watch: Katy Perry and Justin Trudeau spotted having dinner together

    Sighting of former Canadian PM and singer in high-end restaurant raises questions of potential budding romance


    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2025/07/29/katy-perry-justin-trudeau-dinner-together/

    And I think Katy Perry is an untalented 40 year old singer.

    Will anyone be playing her music in two decades time?
    Yes probably, in the same way people listen to Bucks Fizz and Toni Basil now - as fun nostalgia. Her songs will never be regarded as classics, but a nostalgic trip down memory lane.

    Her relatively cheery hit California Girls did lead bubblegum music out of its dark/all black wearing/illuminati-pop phase, for which we should all be somewhat grateful. Though someone else would have done it if she hadn't.
    Wait.

    People listen to Bucks Fizz these days?

    Really?

    And they do this non-ironically?
    Yes, via channels like Youtube and at Rewind Festivals etc. There will always be an audience keen on reliving their youth, and another audience keen on rediscovering a youth that wasn't theirs.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 67,095
    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    The Gazette has asked me to write about this thing called "the Online Safety Act"

    Has anyone got any thoughts? I hear bad things

    Beyond terrible. Another post passed as we sleepwalk our way into the totalitarian surveillance state. And all to appease earnestly woke do-gooders who wouldn't recognise a VPL if it joined them for breakfast.
    Is it during the traditional twerking stage of breakfast that you recognise the visible panty line?
    Blanche! Dearest @BlancheLivermore - PB's favourite postie

    How are you doing, you poor old sod? Are you still in hospital? Do you need cheering up?!
    In order to be absolutely sure they are complying with OSA all NHS trusts have turned off wifi in their estates.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 63,629
    edited July 29

    Leon said:

    malcolmg said:

    Foxy said:

    I see the IMF is predicting that we will have the third highest growth amongst developed economies.

    BBC News - IMF upgrades global growth forecast as tariffs ease
    https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn84gg2y5kpo

    Labour will be fans of the random number generator today then
    IMF are famous for getting it right after all.
    Like having Nostradamus there.
    If only they had an anonymous new pal that they’d just had a drink with, that’s the gold standard we need.
    Do you think I am making this up?
    Yes.
    Not like you haven’t made up poorly conceived characters on here before.
    Stop being a twit. If I'm gonna make shit up it would be more interesting than this

    I have made friends with a very rich guy. It's not unknown. I've got one friend who is worth over a billion. Several friends are in the £100m-1bn range

    I recommend making friends who are absurdly wealthy. They have nice houses around the world, and invite you to stay, and shit like that
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 52,391

    rcs1000 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    I hate Justin Trudeau

    Watch: Katy Perry and Justin Trudeau spotted having dinner together

    Sighting of former Canadian PM and singer in high-end restaurant raises questions of potential budding romance


    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2025/07/29/katy-perry-justin-trudeau-dinner-together/

    And I think Katy Perry is an untalented 40 year old singer.

    Will anyone be playing her music in two decades time?
    Yes probably, in the same way people listen to Bucks Fizz and Toni Basil now - as fun nostalgia. Her songs will never be regarded as classics, but a nostalgic trip down memory lane.

    Her relatively cheery hit California Girls did lead bubblegum music out of its dark/all black wearing/illuminati-pop phase, for which we should all be somewhat grateful. Though someone else would have done it if she hadn't.
    Wait.

    People listen to Bucks Fizz these days?

    Really?

    And they do this non-ironically?
    Yes, via channels like Youtube and at Rewind Festivals etc. There will always be an audience keen on reliving their youth, and another audience keen on rediscovering a youth that wasn't theirs.
    Nostalgia ain't what it used to be.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 63,629

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    The Gazette has asked me to write about this thing called "the Online Safety Act"

    Has anyone got any thoughts? I hear bad things

    Beyond terrible. Another post passed as we sleepwalk our way into the totalitarian surveillance state. And all to appease earnestly woke do-gooders who wouldn't recognise a VPL if it joined them for breakfast.
    Is it during the traditional twerking stage of breakfast that you recognise the visible panty line?
    Blanche! Dearest @BlancheLivermore - PB's favourite postie

    How are you doing, you poor old sod? Are you still in hospital? Do you need cheering up?!
    Stop it, he's in no mood for a sponge bath.
    I was being unusually nice!

    I like @BlancheLivermore - he's one of the sanest posters on here. Dryly funny, and with a fresh take on stuff. A valuable commenter. I also really like his walking holiday travelogues. sorry if this is coming across as saccharine or schmaltzy

    I was genuinely horrified to read of his car accident. I hope he's ok
  • StuartinromfordStuartinromford Posts: 19,305

    How have we got into this total mess?


    David Brindle
    @DavidJ_Brindle
    ·
    7h
    Almost 1 in 4 #socialcare jobs now held by non-EU overseas workers,
    @skillsforcare reports. Numbers doubled in just 2 years. Hard to see how sector will cope with visa clampdown.

    https://x.com/DavidJ_Brindle/status/1950152659098378678

    So more than 3 in 4 are not held by them.

    The old stat was ~84% were British, while people act like all care workers are non-British. Holding the wages down at minimum wage and opening up visas has lowered the British percentage but its still over three quarters.

    The sector can cope by paying its staff a market rate. Then people will apply for the jobs. Or the sector can go bust and shut down due to lack of employees. Their choice. No need to import minimum wage people to save a sector from paying a market rate.
    {Checks notes}

    It's Extreme Right Ultra Neon Nazism to suggest that jobs in care homes should pay enough to attract workers. The jobs are supposed to be left for slaves imported through Bristol docks.

    Or have I got my cue cards mixed up again?
    It's not... But we then have to be willing to pay enough (one way or another) for social care providers to pay decent wages. And all the evidence is that nobody is prepared to do that.

    (Personal anecdote: I teach, I have a paid-off mortgage, I'm in my early fifties. I'm not seriously thinking of retiring, but am starting to do the whole 'would it work if I stopped working... what would happen?' thing because it's blooming tempting. I'm certainly in the 'if this job isn't enjoyable, I won't do it because I don't have to' space. Very nice for me, but I'm not sure it's healthy for society.

    And I don't know how you manage people like me- we can't collectively afford to do it with money.)
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 52,554
    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    The Gazette has asked me to write about this thing called "the Online Safety Act"

    Has anyone got any thoughts? I hear bad things

    Beyond terrible. Another post passed as we sleepwalk our way into the totalitarian surveillance state. And all to appease earnestly woke do-gooders who wouldn't recognise a VPL if it joined them for breakfast.
    Is it during the traditional twerking stage of breakfast that you recognise the visible panty line?
    Blanche! Dearest @BlancheLivermore - PB's favourite postie

    How are you doing, you poor old sod? Are you still in hospital? Do you need cheering up?!
    Stop it, he's in no mood for a sponge bath.
    I was being unusually nice!

    I like @BlancheLivermore - he's one of the sanest posters on here. Dryly funny, and with a fresh take on stuff. A valuable commenter. I also really like his walking holiday travelogues. sorry if this is coming across as saccharine or schmaltzy

    I was genuinely horrified to read of his car accident. I hope he's ok
    So attentive that you’ve missed that she’s not a ‘he’
  • PhilPhil Posts: 2,759

    Phil said:

    kle4 said:

    Sean_F said:

    kle4 said:
    I’ve just read the article, and to draw such a comparison, between modern Scotland, and Jim Crow era America, with its very different demographic and socio-economic profile, seems like an argument made in bad faith to me.
    I'm just not sure what is gained by the analogy in the context made, even within the wider article. Bearing in mind an experienced academic said it in that context they presumably think it a great point, but at best it seems a distraction to me from broader and more positive arguments being sought.
    It doesn't make sense at any level. That's *beyond* "Death Recorded" level of stupidity.

    I presume it is part of the Americanisation of socio-political discourse.

    There was someone ranting about the price of drugs in healthcare the other day, on Reddit. For the UK.

    He exploded when various people pointed out that NHS bulk buys and gets very good prices on most things. When it was pointed out that some of the reforms to bulk buying and using generics happened under Thatcher - he nearly got banned by the mods. From his "points" he had obviously absorbed a lot of content about US healthcare.
    Giving the best possible case for the argument: you could perhaps argue that if the Jim Crow South can manage to appoint that many black people then a Scottish University drawing on the peoples of the British Empire ought to have at least managed reach that same low bar?

    The racial make-up still doesn’t make any sense of course: the Scottish Universities should (by this argument) have been recruiting this fraction mostly from the Indian subcontinent, not people of African descent.
    I don't understand that - are you saying that Scottish universities should have more ethnic diversity than the Scottish population, due to international students/fellows?
    By this argument, yes? Why should Scottish universities restrict themselves only to Scottish academics?

    I’m not 100% pushing this line, but it’s a line you could take - a colourable argument as US lawyers like to say.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 67,095
    rcs1000 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    I hate Justin Trudeau

    Watch: Katy Perry and Justin Trudeau spotted having dinner together

    Sighting of former Canadian PM and singer in high-end restaurant raises questions of potential budding romance


    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2025/07/29/katy-perry-justin-trudeau-dinner-together/

    And I think Katy Perry is an untalented 40 year old singer.

    Will anyone be playing her music in two decades time?
    Yes probably, in the same way people listen to Bucks Fizz and Toni Basil now - as fun nostalgia. Her songs will never be regarded as classics, but a nostalgic trip down memory lane.

    Her relatively cheery hit California Girls did lead bubblegum music out of its dark/all black wearing/illuminati-pop phase, for which we should all be somewhat grateful. Though someone else would have done it if she hadn't.
    Wait.

    People listen to Bucks Fizz these days?

    Really?

    And they do this non-ironically?
    Well, they have certainly made their minds up.

    etc...

  • boulayboulay Posts: 6,692
    IanB2 said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    The Gazette has asked me to write about this thing called "the Online Safety Act"

    Has anyone got any thoughts? I hear bad things

    Beyond terrible. Another post passed as we sleepwalk our way into the totalitarian surveillance state. And all to appease earnestly woke do-gooders who wouldn't recognise a VPL if it joined them for breakfast.
    Is it during the traditional twerking stage of breakfast that you recognise the visible panty line?
    Blanche! Dearest @BlancheLivermore - PB's favourite postie

    How are you doing, you poor old sod? Are you still in hospital? Do you need cheering up?!
    Stop it, he's in no mood for a sponge bath.
    I was being unusually nice!

    I like @BlancheLivermore - he's one of the sanest posters on here. Dryly funny, and with a fresh take on stuff. A valuable commenter. I also really like his walking holiday travelogues. sorry if this is coming across as saccharine or schmaltzy

    I was genuinely horrified to read of his car accident. I hope he's ok
    So attentive that you’ve missed that she’s not a ‘he’
    Blanche is a “he”.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 63,629
    IanB2 said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    The Gazette has asked me to write about this thing called "the Online Safety Act"

    Has anyone got any thoughts? I hear bad things

    Beyond terrible. Another post passed as we sleepwalk our way into the totalitarian surveillance state. And all to appease earnestly woke do-gooders who wouldn't recognise a VPL if it joined them for breakfast.
    Is it during the traditional twerking stage of breakfast that you recognise the visible panty line?
    Blanche! Dearest @BlancheLivermore - PB's favourite postie

    How are you doing, you poor old sod? Are you still in hospital? Do you need cheering up?!
    Stop it, he's in no mood for a sponge bath.
    I was being unusually nice!

    I like @BlancheLivermore - he's one of the sanest posters on here. Dryly funny, and with a fresh take on stuff. A valuable commenter. I also really like his walking holiday travelogues. sorry if this is coming across as saccharine or schmaltzy

    I was genuinely horrified to read of his car accident. I hope he's ok
    So attentive that you’ve missed that she’s not a ‘he’
    Oh dear
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 52,391

    How have we got into this total mess?


    David Brindle
    @DavidJ_Brindle
    ·
    7h
    Almost 1 in 4 #socialcare jobs now held by non-EU overseas workers,
    @skillsforcare reports. Numbers doubled in just 2 years. Hard to see how sector will cope with visa clampdown.

    https://x.com/DavidJ_Brindle/status/1950152659098378678

    So more than 3 in 4 are not held by them.

    The old stat was ~84% were British, while people act like all care workers are non-British. Holding the wages down at minimum wage and opening up visas has lowered the British percentage but its still over three quarters.

    The sector can cope by paying its staff a market rate. Then people will apply for the jobs. Or the sector can go bust and shut down due to lack of employees. Their choice. No need to import minimum wage people to save a sector from paying a market rate.
    {Checks notes}

    It's Extreme Right Ultra Neon Nazism to suggest that jobs in care homes should pay enough to attract workers. The jobs are supposed to be left for slaves imported through Bristol docks.

    Or have I got my cue cards mixed up again?
    It's not... But we then have to be willing to pay enough (one way or another) for social care providers to pay decent wages. And all the evidence is that nobody is prepared to do that.

    (Personal anecdote: I teach, I have a paid-off mortgage, I'm in my early fifties. I'm not seriously thinking of retiring, but am starting to do the whole 'would it work if I stopped working... what would happen?' thing because it's blooming tempting. I'm certainly in the 'if this job isn't enjoyable, I won't do it because I don't have to' space. Very nice for me, but I'm not sure it's healthy for society.

    And I don't know how you manage people like me- we can't collectively afford to do it with money.)
    Yes, it's a great position to be in, I am much the same only a bit older. I enjoy my work, but it's a very comfortable place to be both financially and in terms of dealing with management.

    If the Government, the commissioners or the Trust do something that I really don't like then I can just walkaway.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 60,852

    rcs1000 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    I hate Justin Trudeau

    Watch: Katy Perry and Justin Trudeau spotted having dinner together

    Sighting of former Canadian PM and singer in high-end restaurant raises questions of potential budding romance


    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2025/07/29/katy-perry-justin-trudeau-dinner-together/

    And I think Katy Perry is an untalented 40 year old singer.

    Will anyone be playing her music in two decades time?
    Yes probably, in the same way people listen to Bucks Fizz and Toni Basil now - as fun nostalgia. Her songs will never be regarded as classics, but a nostalgic trip down memory lane.

    Her relatively cheery hit California Girls did lead bubblegum music out of its dark/all black wearing/illuminati-pop phase, for which we should all be somewhat grateful. Though someone else would have done it if she hadn't.
    Wait.

    People listen to Bucks Fizz these days?

    Really?

    And they do this non-ironically?
    Yes, via channels like Youtube and at Rewind Festivals etc. There will always be an audience keen on reliving their youth, and another audience keen on rediscovering a youth that wasn't theirs.
    Phew.

    Is there any way of identifying these people, so I can avoid having to engage them in conversation?
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 33,391
    boulay said:

    IanB2 said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    The Gazette has asked me to write about this thing called "the Online Safety Act"

    Has anyone got any thoughts? I hear bad things

    Beyond terrible. Another post passed as we sleepwalk our way into the totalitarian surveillance state. And all to appease earnestly woke do-gooders who wouldn't recognise a VPL if it joined them for breakfast.
    Is it during the traditional twerking stage of breakfast that you recognise the visible panty line?
    Blanche! Dearest @BlancheLivermore - PB's favourite postie

    How are you doing, you poor old sod? Are you still in hospital? Do you need cheering up?!
    Stop it, he's in no mood for a sponge bath.
    I was being unusually nice!

    I like @BlancheLivermore - he's one of the sanest posters on here. Dryly funny, and with a fresh take on stuff. A valuable commenter. I also really like his walking holiday travelogues. sorry if this is coming across as saccharine or schmaltzy

    I was genuinely horrified to read of his car accident. I hope he's ok
    So attentive that you’ve missed that she’s not a ‘he’
    Blanche is a “he”.
    Well if is possible. Lady G. was gender fluid, or so I recall.
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 52,554
    boulay said:

    IanB2 said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    The Gazette has asked me to write about this thing called "the Online Safety Act"

    Has anyone got any thoughts? I hear bad things

    Beyond terrible. Another post passed as we sleepwalk our way into the totalitarian surveillance state. And all to appease earnestly woke do-gooders who wouldn't recognise a VPL if it joined them for breakfast.
    Is it during the traditional twerking stage of breakfast that you recognise the visible panty line?
    Blanche! Dearest @BlancheLivermore - PB's favourite postie

    How are you doing, you poor old sod? Are you still in hospital? Do you need cheering up?!
    Stop it, he's in no mood for a sponge bath.
    I was being unusually nice!

    I like @BlancheLivermore - he's one of the sanest posters on here. Dryly funny, and with a fresh take on stuff. A valuable commenter. I also really like his walking holiday travelogues. sorry if this is coming across as saccharine or schmaltzy

    I was genuinely horrified to read of his car accident. I hope he's ok
    So attentive that you’ve missed that she’s not a ‘he’
    Blanche is a “he”.
    Then that’s my mistake and I will go sit in the naughty corner
  • TazTaz Posts: 19,994
    Leon said:

    IanB2 said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    The Gazette has asked me to write about this thing called "the Online Safety Act"

    Has anyone got any thoughts? I hear bad things

    Beyond terrible. Another post passed as we sleepwalk our way into the totalitarian surveillance state. And all to appease earnestly woke do-gooders who wouldn't recognise a VPL if it joined them for breakfast.
    Is it during the traditional twerking stage of breakfast that you recognise the visible panty line?
    Blanche! Dearest @BlancheLivermore - PB's favourite postie

    How are you doing, you poor old sod? Are you still in hospital? Do you need cheering up?!
    Stop it, he's in no mood for a sponge bath.
    I was being unusually nice!

    I like @BlancheLivermore - he's one of the sanest posters on here. Dryly funny, and with a fresh take on stuff. A valuable commenter. I also really like his walking holiday travelogues. sorry if this is coming across as saccharine or schmaltzy

    I was genuinely horrified to read of his car accident. I hope he's ok
    So attentive that you’ve missed that she’s not a ‘he’
    Oh dear
    In the words of Taggart, ‘there’s been a misgendering’
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 52,391
    boulay said:

    IanB2 said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    The Gazette has asked me to write about this thing called "the Online Safety Act"

    Has anyone got any thoughts? I hear bad things

    Beyond terrible. Another post passed as we sleepwalk our way into the totalitarian surveillance state. And all to appease earnestly woke do-gooders who wouldn't recognise a VPL if it joined them for breakfast.
    Is it during the traditional twerking stage of breakfast that you recognise the visible panty line?
    Blanche! Dearest @BlancheLivermore - PB's favourite postie

    How are you doing, you poor old sod? Are you still in hospital? Do you need cheering up?!
    Stop it, he's in no mood for a sponge bath.
    I was being unusually nice!

    I like @BlancheLivermore - he's one of the sanest posters on here. Dryly funny, and with a fresh take on stuff. A valuable commenter. I also really like his walking holiday travelogues. sorry if this is coming across as saccharine or schmaltzy

    I was genuinely horrified to read of his car accident. I hope he's ok
    So attentive that you’ve missed that she’s not a ‘he’
    Blanche is a “he”.
    Self ID is not the fashion that it was...
  • LeonLeon Posts: 63,629
    Taz said:

    Leon said:

    IanB2 said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    The Gazette has asked me to write about this thing called "the Online Safety Act"

    Has anyone got any thoughts? I hear bad things

    Beyond terrible. Another post passed as we sleepwalk our way into the totalitarian surveillance state. And all to appease earnestly woke do-gooders who wouldn't recognise a VPL if it joined them for breakfast.
    Is it during the traditional twerking stage of breakfast that you recognise the visible panty line?
    Blanche! Dearest @BlancheLivermore - PB's favourite postie

    How are you doing, you poor old sod? Are you still in hospital? Do you need cheering up?!
    Stop it, he's in no mood for a sponge bath.
    I was being unusually nice!

    I like @BlancheLivermore - he's one of the sanest posters on here. Dryly funny, and with a fresh take on stuff. A valuable commenter. I also really like his walking holiday travelogues. sorry if this is coming across as saccharine or schmaltzy

    I was genuinely horrified to read of his car accident. I hope he's ok
    So attentive that you’ve missed that she’s not a ‘he’
    Oh dear
    In the words of Taggart, ‘there’s been a misgendering’
    People have been cancelled for this. Literally
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 46,445
    edited July 29

    kinabalu said:


    Zarah Sultana MP
    @zarahsultana
    ·
    2h
    Palestinian self-determination is an inalienable right, not a bargaining chip.

    https://x.com/zarahsultana/status/1950236130114490513

    Yes. This is a great issue for YP.
    If Zahra Sultana is to be believed, "The Left Party"

    https://www.thenational.scot/news/25349555.zarah-sultana-reveals-preference-name-new-party/

    My conclusion is that it's a good name to massage your ego, but a terrible one to win votes.
    Prefer YP. I think they should stick with that. They need to attract some NOTAs.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 63,629
    kinabalu said:

    kinabalu said:


    Zarah Sultana MP
    @zarahsultana
    ·
    2h
    Palestinian self-determination is an inalienable right, not a bargaining chip.

    https://x.com/zarahsultana/status/1950236130114490513

    Yes. This is a great issue for YP.
    If Zahra Sultana is to be believed, "The Left Party"

    https://www.thenational.scot/news/25349555.zarah-sultana-reveals-preference-name-new-party/

    My conclusion is that it's a good name to massage your ego, but a terrible one to win votes.
    Prefer YP. I think they should stick with that. They need to attract some NOTAs.
    Yes, "Your Party" is unusual, but might just work. Certainly distinctive

    "Left Party" is calamitous. Left on the shelf, Left at the altar, Left way behind, Left at the party by all of his friends

    It's a bad sign if they cannot even agree on a decent name. It's not hard
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 46,445

    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    The Gazette has asked me to write about this thing called "the Online Safety Act"

    Has anyone got any thoughts? I hear bad things

    Beyond terrible. Another post passed as we sleepwalk our way into the totalitarian surveillance state. And all to appease earnestly woke do-gooders who wouldn't recognise a VPL if it joined them for breakfast.
    Is it during the traditional twerking stage of breakfast that you recognise the visible panty line?
    VPN, I meant! God, embarrassing or what. It's like I'm a tech nincompoop.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 99,232
    edited July 29

    kinabalu said:


    Zarah Sultana MP
    @zarahsultana
    ·
    2h
    Palestinian self-determination is an inalienable right, not a bargaining chip.

    https://x.com/zarahsultana/status/1950236130114490513

    Yes. This is a great issue for YP.
    If Zahra Sultana is to be believed, "The Left Party"

    https://www.thenational.scot/news/25349555.zarah-sultana-reveals-preference-name-new-party/

    My conclusion is that it's a good name to massage your ego, but a terrible one to win votes.
    I think it's decent enough, for the large numbers who claim Labour is by definition not Left anymore.

    Though having the leaders already suggest names would somewhat undermine their efforts to mock the people who mocked them for not coming up with a name in the first place.

    I think something more dynamic would be better though - why not Peace and Justice, the name of Corbyn's ego vehicle?
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 99,232
    edited July 29
    Phil said:

    Phil said:

    kle4 said:

    Sean_F said:

    kle4 said:
    I’ve just read the article, and to draw such a comparison, between modern Scotland, and Jim Crow era America, with its very different demographic and socio-economic profile, seems like an argument made in bad faith to me.
    I'm just not sure what is gained by the analogy in the context made, even within the wider article. Bearing in mind an experienced academic said it in that context they presumably think it a great point, but at best it seems a distraction to me from broader and more positive arguments being sought.
    It doesn't make sense at any level. That's *beyond* "Death Recorded" level of stupidity.

    I presume it is part of the Americanisation of socio-political discourse.

    There was someone ranting about the price of drugs in healthcare the other day, on Reddit. For the UK.

    He exploded when various people pointed out that NHS bulk buys and gets very good prices on most things. When it was pointed out that some of the reforms to bulk buying and using generics happened under Thatcher - he nearly got banned by the mods. From his "points" he had obviously absorbed a lot of content about US healthcare.
    Giving the best possible case for the argument: you could perhaps argue that if the Jim Crow South can manage to appoint that many black people then a Scottish University drawing on the peoples of the British Empire ought to have at least managed reach that same low bar?

    The racial make-up still doesn’t make any sense of course: the Scottish Universities should (by this argument) have been recruiting this fraction mostly from the Indian subcontinent, not people of African descent.
    I don't understand that - are you saying that Scottish universities should have more ethnic diversity than the Scottish population, due to international students/fellows?
    By this argument, yes? Why should Scottish universities restrict themselves only to Scottish academics?

    I’m not 100% pushing this line, but it’s a line you could take - a colourable argument as US lawyers like to say.
    It'd be ok to suggest it should be more diverse than the generaal population, but that's not really the same as lambasting them as equivalent to the Jim Crow era if all they do is match the general population - even in context it is overly harsh.
  • ohnotnowohnotnow Posts: 5,168
    rcs1000 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    I hate Justin Trudeau

    Watch: Katy Perry and Justin Trudeau spotted having dinner together

    Sighting of former Canadian PM and singer in high-end restaurant raises questions of potential budding romance


    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2025/07/29/katy-perry-justin-trudeau-dinner-together/

    And I think Katy Perry is an untalented 40 year old singer.

    Will anyone be playing her music in two decades time?
    Yes probably, in the same way people listen to Bucks Fizz and Toni Basil now - as fun nostalgia. Her songs will never be regarded as classics, but a nostalgic trip down memory lane.

    Her relatively cheery hit California Girls did lead bubblegum music out of its dark/all black wearing/illuminati-pop phase, for which we should all be somewhat grateful. Though someone else would have done it if she hadn't.
    Wait.

    People listen to Bucks Fizz these days?

    Really?

    And they do this non-ironically?
    A while back I was walking behind two young students. One was extolling an amazing band he'd come across. Just *so good*. Etc, etc.

    After a few minutes he name-dropped that it was an old obscure band called 'Dire Straits'.

  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 19,693
    IanB2 said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    The Gazette has asked me to write about this thing called "the Online Safety Act"

    Has anyone got any thoughts? I hear bad things

    Beyond terrible. Another post passed as we sleepwalk our way into the totalitarian surveillance state. And all to appease earnestly woke do-gooders who wouldn't recognise a VPL if it joined them for breakfast.
    Is it during the traditional twerking stage of breakfast that you recognise the visible panty line?
    Blanche! Dearest @BlancheLivermore - PB's favourite postie

    How are you doing, you poor old sod? Are you still in hospital? Do you need cheering up?!
    Stop it, he's in no mood for a sponge bath.
    I was being unusually nice!

    I like @BlancheLivermore - he's one of the sanest posters on here. Dryly funny, and with a fresh take on stuff. A valuable commenter. I also really like his walking holiday travelogues. sorry if this is coming across as saccharine or schmaltzy

    I was genuinely horrified to read of his car accident. I hope he's ok
    So attentive that you’ve missed that she’s not a ‘he’
    Weirdly wrong. He is a he. Have you heard of aliases? They don’t have to conform to your actual biological sex…
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 55,340

    IanB2 said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    The Gazette has asked me to write about this thing called "the Online Safety Act"

    Has anyone got any thoughts? I hear bad things

    Beyond terrible. Another post passed as we sleepwalk our way into the totalitarian surveillance state. And all to appease earnestly woke do-gooders who wouldn't recognise a VPL if it joined them for breakfast.
    Is it during the traditional twerking stage of breakfast that you recognise the visible panty line?
    Blanche! Dearest @BlancheLivermore - PB's favourite postie

    How are you doing, you poor old sod? Are you still in hospital? Do you need cheering up?!
    Stop it, he's in no mood for a sponge bath.
    I was being unusually nice!

    I like @BlancheLivermore - he's one of the sanest posters on here. Dryly funny, and with a fresh take on stuff. A valuable commenter. I also really like his walking holiday travelogues. sorry if this is coming across as saccharine or schmaltzy

    I was genuinely horrified to read of his car accident. I hope he's ok
    So attentive that you’ve missed that she’s not a ‘he’
    Weirdly wrong. He is a he. Have you heard of aliases? They don’t have to conform to your actual biological sex…
    Seems weird to call hers... er, I mean himself "Blanche".
  • boulayboulay Posts: 6,692
    ohnotnow said:

    rcs1000 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    I hate Justin Trudeau

    Watch: Katy Perry and Justin Trudeau spotted having dinner together

    Sighting of former Canadian PM and singer in high-end restaurant raises questions of potential budding romance


    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2025/07/29/katy-perry-justin-trudeau-dinner-together/

    And I think Katy Perry is an untalented 40 year old singer.

    Will anyone be playing her music in two decades time?
    Yes probably, in the same way people listen to Bucks Fizz and Toni Basil now - as fun nostalgia. Her songs will never be regarded as classics, but a nostalgic trip down memory lane.

    Her relatively cheery hit California Girls did lead bubblegum music out of its dark/all black wearing/illuminati-pop phase, for which we should all be somewhat grateful. Though someone else would have done it if she hadn't.
    Wait.

    People listen to Bucks Fizz these days?

    Really?

    And they do this non-ironically?
    A while back I was walking behind two young students. One was extolling an amazing band he'd come across. Just *so good*. Etc, etc.

    After a few minutes he name-dropped that it was an old obscure band called 'Dire Straits'.

    Had similar with an ex’s teenage daughter who announced that she had discovered a really cool band we wouldn’t know of. Apparently something called Fleetwood Mac.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 63,629
    edited July 29
    Today, thanks to my older daughter, I discovered one of the most quietly incredible female life stories of modern times

    Laydeez and Gennulmen

    Lucy, Lady Houston

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy,_Lady_Houston

    Suffragette, feminist, bit of a tart, common cockney lass, chorus girl, "England's second richest woman", imperialist, Fascist sympathiser, possible husband-poisoner, friend of Winston Churchill and the King, newspaper magnate, opponent of Indian independence, aviation pioneer, "Saviour of the Spitfire", and so royally patriotic when the Abdication happened she stopped eating, and died
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 123,065
    ohnotnow said:

    rcs1000 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    I hate Justin Trudeau

    Watch: Katy Perry and Justin Trudeau spotted having dinner together

    Sighting of former Canadian PM and singer in high-end restaurant raises questions of potential budding romance


    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2025/07/29/katy-perry-justin-trudeau-dinner-together/

    And I think Katy Perry is an untalented 40 year old singer.

    Will anyone be playing her music in two decades time?
    Yes probably, in the same way people listen to Bucks Fizz and Toni Basil now - as fun nostalgia. Her songs will never be regarded as classics, but a nostalgic trip down memory lane.

    Her relatively cheery hit California Girls did lead bubblegum music out of its dark/all black wearing/illuminati-pop phase, for which we should all be somewhat grateful. Though someone else would have done it if she hadn't.
    Wait.

    People listen to Bucks Fizz these days?

    Really?

    And they do this non-ironically?
    A while back I was walking behind two young students. One was extolling an amazing band he'd come across. Just *so good*. Etc, etc.

    After a few minutes he name-dropped that it was an old obscure band called 'Dire Straits'.

    I employ people who until quite recently had never heard of Oasis.

    i currently have one person working for me who was born after Istanbul 2005/The greatest Ashes series ever.

    Fuck me, youth to middle age isn't a marathon, it's a sprint.

  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 33,391

    IanB2 said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    The Gazette has asked me to write about this thing called "the Online Safety Act"

    Has anyone got any thoughts? I hear bad things

    Beyond terrible. Another post passed as we sleepwalk our way into the totalitarian surveillance state. And all to appease earnestly woke do-gooders who wouldn't recognise a VPL if it joined them for breakfast.
    Is it during the traditional twerking stage of breakfast that you recognise the visible panty line?
    Blanche! Dearest @BlancheLivermore - PB's favourite postie

    How are you doing, you poor old sod? Are you still in hospital? Do you need cheering up?!
    Stop it, he's in no mood for a sponge bath.
    I was being unusually nice!

    I like @BlancheLivermore - he's one of the sanest posters on here. Dryly funny, and with a fresh take on stuff. A valuable commenter. I also really like his walking holiday travelogues. sorry if this is coming across as saccharine or schmaltzy

    I was genuinely horrified to read of his car accident. I hope he's ok
    So attentive that you’ve missed that she’s not a ‘he’
    Weirdly wrong. He is a he. Have you heard of aliases? They don’t have to conform to your actual biological sex…
    Right that's it, in that case I am demanding single sex lavatories here at PB. That could become expensive.
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 55,340
    rcs1000 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    I hate Justin Trudeau

    Watch: Katy Perry and Justin Trudeau spotted having dinner together

    Sighting of former Canadian PM and singer in high-end restaurant raises questions of potential budding romance


    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2025/07/29/katy-perry-justin-trudeau-dinner-together/

    And I think Katy Perry is an untalented 40 year old singer.

    Will anyone be playing her music in two decades time?
    Yes probably, in the same way people listen to Bucks Fizz and Toni Basil now - as fun nostalgia. Her songs will never be regarded as classics, but a nostalgic trip down memory lane.

    Her relatively cheery hit California Girls did lead bubblegum music out of its dark/all black wearing/illuminati-pop phase, for which we should all be somewhat grateful. Though someone else would have done it if she hadn't.
    Wait.

    People listen to Bucks Fizz these days?

    Really?

    And they do this non-ironically?
    Yes, via channels like Youtube and at Rewind Festivals etc. There will always be an audience keen on reliving their youth, and another audience keen on rediscovering a youth that wasn't theirs.
    Phew.

    Is there any way of identifying these people, so I can avoid having to engage them in conversation?
    UK Number One 40 years ago this week:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlGXDy5xFlw
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 56,011
    Phil said:

    Phil said:

    kle4 said:

    Sean_F said:

    kle4 said:
    I’ve just read the article, and to draw such a comparison, between modern Scotland, and Jim Crow era America, with its very different demographic and socio-economic profile, seems like an argument made in bad faith to me.
    I'm just not sure what is gained by the analogy in the context made, even within the wider article. Bearing in mind an experienced academic said it in that context they presumably think it a great point, but at best it seems a distraction to me from broader and more positive arguments being sought.
    It doesn't make sense at any level. That's *beyond* "Death Recorded" level of stupidity.

    I presume it is part of the Americanisation of socio-political discourse.

    There was someone ranting about the price of drugs in healthcare the other day, on Reddit. For the UK.

    He exploded when various people pointed out that NHS bulk buys and gets very good prices on most things. When it was pointed out that some of the reforms to bulk buying and using generics happened under Thatcher - he nearly got banned by the mods. From his "points" he had obviously absorbed a lot of content about US healthcare.
    Giving the best possible case for the argument: you could perhaps argue that if the Jim Crow South can manage to appoint that many black people then a Scottish University drawing on the peoples of the British Empire ought to have at least managed reach that same low bar?

    The racial make-up still doesn’t make any sense of course: the Scottish Universities should (by this argument) have been recruiting this fraction mostly from the Indian subcontinent, not people of African descent.
    I don't understand that - are you saying that Scottish universities should have more ethnic diversity than the Scottish population, due to international students/fellows?
    By this argument, yes? Why should Scottish universities restrict themselves only to Scottish academics?

    I’m not 100% pushing this line, but it’s a line you could take - a colourable argument as US lawyers like to say.
    Does anyone have data on the international cohort of students/fellows etc at Scottish universities vs other universities? I would suspect that Edinburgh and St Andrews would have quite a few...
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 44,517
    edited July 29
    ohnotnow said:

    rcs1000 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    I hate Justin Trudeau

    Watch: Katy Perry and Justin Trudeau spotted having dinner together

    Sighting of former Canadian PM and singer in high-end restaurant raises questions of potential budding romance


    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2025/07/29/katy-perry-justin-trudeau-dinner-together/

    And I think Katy Perry is an untalented 40 year old singer.

    Will anyone be playing her music in two decades time?
    Yes probably, in the same way people listen to Bucks Fizz and Toni Basil now - as fun nostalgia. Her songs will never be regarded as classics, but a nostalgic trip down memory lane.

    Her relatively cheery hit California Girls did lead bubblegum music out of its dark/all black wearing/illuminati-pop phase, for which we should all be somewhat grateful. Though someone else would have done it if she hadn't.
    Wait.

    People listen to Bucks Fizz these days?

    Really?

    And they do this non-ironically?
    A while back I was walking behind two young students. One was extolling an amazing band he'd come across. Just *so good*. Etc, etc.

    After a few minutes he name-dropped that it was an old obscure band called 'Dire Straits'.

    Tbf they are objectively so good. Not forever on my Spotify but Sultans of Swing is Desert Island Discs level.
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 123,065
    Leon said:

    Today, thanks to my older daughter, I discovered one of the most quietly incredible female life stories of modern times

    Laydeez and Gennulmen

    Lucy, Lady Houston

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy,_Lady_Houston

    Suffragette, feminist, bit of a tart, common cockney lass, "England's second richest woman", imperialist, Fascist sympathiser, possible husband-poisoner, friend of Winston Churchill and the King, newspaper magnate, opponent of Indian independence, aviation pioneer, "Saviour of the Spitfire", and so royally patriotic when the Abdication happened she stopped eating, and died

    She's a pound ship Unity Mitford.
  • StuartinromfordStuartinromford Posts: 19,305
    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    kinabalu said:


    Zarah Sultana MP
    @zarahsultana
    ·
    2h
    Palestinian self-determination is an inalienable right, not a bargaining chip.

    https://x.com/zarahsultana/status/1950236130114490513

    Yes. This is a great issue for YP.
    If Zahra Sultana is to be believed, "The Left Party"

    https://www.thenational.scot/news/25349555.zarah-sultana-reveals-preference-name-new-party/

    My conclusion is that it's a good name to massage your ego, but a terrible one to win votes.
    Prefer YP. I think they should stick with that. They need to attract some NOTAs.
    Yes, "Your Party" is unusual, but might just work. Certainly distinctive

    "Left Party" is calamitous. Left on the shelf, Left at the altar, Left way behind, Left at the party by all of his friends

    It's a bad sign if they cannot even agree on a decent name. It's not hard
    It's one of the curious blind spots people on the left seem to have. (I teach. I work with some people who are utterly delightful and damn good at what they do and are utterly professional... but very left-wing.) They seem convinced that Proper Left will be popular, when all the evidence is that it isn't.

    The right has mostly avoided that pitfall, at least until the rise of Nige.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 63,629

    Leon said:

    Today, thanks to my older daughter, I discovered one of the most quietly incredible female life stories of modern times

    Laydeez and Gennulmen

    Lucy, Lady Houston

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy,_Lady_Houston

    Suffragette, feminist, bit of a tart, common cockney lass, "England's second richest woman", imperialist, Fascist sympathiser, possible husband-poisoner, friend of Winston Churchill and the King, newspaper magnate, opponent of Indian independence, aviation pioneer, "Saviour of the Spitfire", and so royally patriotic when the Abdication happened she stopped eating, and died

    She's a pound ship Unity Mitford.
    FAR more interesting than Unity Mitford, who was just a bit dim
  • MattWMattW Posts: 28,721
    Leon said:

    malcolmg said:

    Foxy said:

    I see the IMF is predicting that we will have the third highest growth amongst developed economies.

    BBC News - IMF upgrades global growth forecast as tariffs ease
    https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn84gg2y5kpo

    Labour will be fans of the random number generator today then
    IMF are famous for getting it right after all.
    Like having Nostradamus there.
    If only they had an anonymous new pal that they’d just had a drink with, that’s the gold standard we need.
    Do you think I am making this up?
    Did you have a drink with the new pal?

    What was his tipple?

  • ohnotnowohnotnow Posts: 5,168

    ohnotnow said:

    rcs1000 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    I hate Justin Trudeau

    Watch: Katy Perry and Justin Trudeau spotted having dinner together

    Sighting of former Canadian PM and singer in high-end restaurant raises questions of potential budding romance


    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2025/07/29/katy-perry-justin-trudeau-dinner-together/

    And I think Katy Perry is an untalented 40 year old singer.

    Will anyone be playing her music in two decades time?
    Yes probably, in the same way people listen to Bucks Fizz and Toni Basil now - as fun nostalgia. Her songs will never be regarded as classics, but a nostalgic trip down memory lane.

    Her relatively cheery hit California Girls did lead bubblegum music out of its dark/all black wearing/illuminati-pop phase, for which we should all be somewhat grateful. Though someone else would have done it if she hadn't.
    Wait.

    People listen to Bucks Fizz these days?

    Really?

    And they do this non-ironically?
    A while back I was walking behind two young students. One was extolling an amazing band he'd come across. Just *so good*. Etc, etc.

    After a few minutes he name-dropped that it was an old obscure band called 'Dire Straits'.

    I employ people who until quite recently had never heard of Oasis.

    i currently have one person working for me who was born after Istanbul 2005/The greatest Ashes series ever.

    Fuck me, youth to middle age isn't a marathon, it's a sprint.

    In news that might cheer you up - I recently took on a new hire who's "first prime minister" was David Cameron.

    I did say 'might'.
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 55,340
    ohnotnow said:

    ohnotnow said:

    rcs1000 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    I hate Justin Trudeau

    Watch: Katy Perry and Justin Trudeau spotted having dinner together

    Sighting of former Canadian PM and singer in high-end restaurant raises questions of potential budding romance


    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2025/07/29/katy-perry-justin-trudeau-dinner-together/

    And I think Katy Perry is an untalented 40 year old singer.

    Will anyone be playing her music in two decades time?
    Yes probably, in the same way people listen to Bucks Fizz and Toni Basil now - as fun nostalgia. Her songs will never be regarded as classics, but a nostalgic trip down memory lane.

    Her relatively cheery hit California Girls did lead bubblegum music out of its dark/all black wearing/illuminati-pop phase, for which we should all be somewhat grateful. Though someone else would have done it if she hadn't.
    Wait.

    People listen to Bucks Fizz these days?

    Really?

    And they do this non-ironically?
    A while back I was walking behind two young students. One was extolling an amazing band he'd come across. Just *so good*. Etc, etc.

    After a few minutes he name-dropped that it was an old obscure band called 'Dire Straits'.

    I employ people who until quite recently had never heard of Oasis.

    i currently have one person working for me who was born after Istanbul 2005/The greatest Ashes series ever.

    Fuck me, youth to middle age isn't a marathon, it's a sprint.

    In news that might cheer you up - I recently took on a new hire who's "first prime minister" was David Cameron.

    I did say 'might'.
    You employ child labour??
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 44,517

    Leon said:

    Today, thanks to my older daughter, I discovered one of the most quietly incredible female life stories of modern times

    Laydeez and Gennulmen

    Lucy, Lady Houston

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy,_Lady_Houston

    Suffragette, feminist, bit of a tart, common cockney lass, "England's second richest woman", imperialist, Fascist sympathiser, possible husband-poisoner, friend of Winston Churchill and the King, newspaper magnate, opponent of Indian independence, aviation pioneer, "Saviour of the Spitfire", and so royally patriotic when the Abdication happened she stopped eating, and died

    She's a pound ship Unity Mitford.
    ‘She believed Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler were strong leaders’

    I am lightheaded with surprise.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 56,011
    Leon said:

    Today, thanks to my older daughter, I discovered one of the most quietly incredible female life stories of modern times

    Laydeez and Gennulmen

    Lucy, Lady Houston

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy,_Lady_Houston

    Suffragette, feminist, bit of a tart, common cockney lass, chorus girl, "England's second richest woman", imperialist, Fascist sympathiser, possible husband-poisoner, friend of Winston Churchill and the King, newspaper magnate, opponent of Indian independence, aviation pioneer, "Saviour of the Spitfire", and so royally patriotic when the Abdication happened she stopped eating, and died

    She wasn't so much "the saviour of the Spitfire" as the "saviour of the design team at Rolls specialising in V-12 aero engines."

    They essentially trained up on building the R, which meant that they could make a pitch to the board to produce a private venture V-12 to fill a perceived gap win the line up of engines. Which gave us the Merlin. The same team (pretty much) then pitched the Griffon to the Royal Navy.
  • BurgessianBurgessian Posts: 3,075

    Leon said:

    Today, thanks to my older daughter, I discovered one of the most quietly incredible female life stories of modern times

    Laydeez and Gennulmen

    Lucy, Lady Houston

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy,_Lady_Houston

    Suffragette, feminist, bit of a tart, common cockney lass, "England's second richest woman", imperialist, Fascist sympathiser, possible husband-poisoner, friend of Winston Churchill and the King, newspaper magnate, opponent of Indian independence, aviation pioneer, "Saviour of the Spitfire", and so royally patriotic when the Abdication happened she stopped eating, and died

    She's a pound ship Unity Mitford.
    More like the other way round.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 63,629
    edited July 29

    Leon said:

    Today, thanks to my older daughter, I discovered one of the most quietly incredible female life stories of modern times

    Laydeez and Gennulmen

    Lucy, Lady Houston

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy,_Lady_Houston

    Suffragette, feminist, bit of a tart, common cockney lass, "England's second richest woman", imperialist, Fascist sympathiser, possible husband-poisoner, friend of Winston Churchill and the King, newspaper magnate, opponent of Indian independence, aviation pioneer, "Saviour of the Spitfire", and so royally patriotic when the Abdication happened she stopped eating, and died

    She's a pound ship Unity Mitford.
    ‘She believed Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler were strong leaders’

    I am lightheaded with surprise.
    I didn't claim she was "nice"

    I said her life story is jaw-dropping. And it is

    I love all the little details, eg

    "In 1932, she offered to give £200,000 (equivalent to £15 million in 2023) to strengthen the British Armed Forces. The National Government refused. She hung a huge electric sign, "DOWN WITH MACDONALD THE TRAITOR", in the rigging of Liberty and sailed round Great Britain.[11]"
  • ohnotnowohnotnow Posts: 5,168
    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    kinabalu said:


    Zarah Sultana MP
    @zarahsultana
    ·
    2h
    Palestinian self-determination is an inalienable right, not a bargaining chip.

    https://x.com/zarahsultana/status/1950236130114490513

    Yes. This is a great issue for YP.
    If Zahra Sultana is to be believed, "The Left Party"

    https://www.thenational.scot/news/25349555.zarah-sultana-reveals-preference-name-new-party/

    My conclusion is that it's a good name to massage your ego, but a terrible one to win votes.
    Prefer YP. I think they should stick with that. They need to attract some NOTAs.
    Yes, "Your Party" is unusual, but might just work. Certainly distinctive

    "Left Party" is calamitous. Left on the shelf, Left at the altar, Left way behind, Left at the party by all of his friends

    It's a bad sign if they cannot even agree on a decent name. It's not hard
    Both of the names sound like they belong in an episode of Borgen. The kind of party Nyborg would have either set up and regretted, or had a dalliance with then ditched at a crucial moment due to some momentary drama.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 63,629

    Leon said:

    Today, thanks to my older daughter, I discovered one of the most quietly incredible female life stories of modern times

    Laydeez and Gennulmen

    Lucy, Lady Houston

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy,_Lady_Houston

    Suffragette, feminist, bit of a tart, common cockney lass, chorus girl, "England's second richest woman", imperialist, Fascist sympathiser, possible husband-poisoner, friend of Winston Churchill and the King, newspaper magnate, opponent of Indian independence, aviation pioneer, "Saviour of the Spitfire", and so royally patriotic when the Abdication happened she stopped eating, and died

    She wasn't so much "the saviour of the Spitfire" as the "saviour of the design team at Rolls specialising in V-12 aero engines."

    They essentially trained up on building the R, which meant that they could make a pitch to the board to produce a private venture V-12 to fill a perceived gap win the line up of engines. Which gave us the Merlin. The same team (pretty much) then pitched the Griffon to the Royal Navy.
    Don't go into sub-editing
  • MattWMattW Posts: 28,721

    IanB2 said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    Leon said:

    The Gazette has asked me to write about this thing called "the Online Safety Act"

    Has anyone got any thoughts? I hear bad things

    Beyond terrible. Another post passed as we sleepwalk our way into the totalitarian surveillance state. And all to appease earnestly woke do-gooders who wouldn't recognise a VPL if it joined them for breakfast.
    Is it during the traditional twerking stage of breakfast that you recognise the visible panty line?
    Blanche! Dearest @BlancheLivermore - PB's favourite postie

    How are you doing, you poor old sod? Are you still in hospital? Do you need cheering up?!
    Stop it, he's in no mood for a sponge bath.
    I was being unusually nice!

    I like @BlancheLivermore - he's one of the sanest posters on here. Dryly funny, and with a fresh take on stuff. A valuable commenter. I also really like his walking holiday travelogues. sorry if this is coming across as saccharine or schmaltzy

    I was genuinely horrified to read of his car accident. I hope he's ok
    So attentive that you’ve missed that she’s not a ‘he’
    Weirdly wrong. He is a he. Have you heard of aliases? They don’t have to conform to your actual biological sex…
    Seems weird to call hers... er, I mean himself "Blanche".
    The only real world Blanche Livermore known to me was a Yankee-Doodle Quiltist.

    https://sunyjefferson.academicworks.com/donors/samaritan-medical-center
  • ohnotnowohnotnow Posts: 5,168

    ohnotnow said:

    ohnotnow said:

    rcs1000 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    I hate Justin Trudeau

    Watch: Katy Perry and Justin Trudeau spotted having dinner together

    Sighting of former Canadian PM and singer in high-end restaurant raises questions of potential budding romance


    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2025/07/29/katy-perry-justin-trudeau-dinner-together/

    And I think Katy Perry is an untalented 40 year old singer.

    Will anyone be playing her music in two decades time?
    Yes probably, in the same way people listen to Bucks Fizz and Toni Basil now - as fun nostalgia. Her songs will never be regarded as classics, but a nostalgic trip down memory lane.

    Her relatively cheery hit California Girls did lead bubblegum music out of its dark/all black wearing/illuminati-pop phase, for which we should all be somewhat grateful. Though someone else would have done it if she hadn't.
    Wait.

    People listen to Bucks Fizz these days?

    Really?

    And they do this non-ironically?
    A while back I was walking behind two young students. One was extolling an amazing band he'd come across. Just *so good*. Etc, etc.

    After a few minutes he name-dropped that it was an old obscure band called 'Dire Straits'.

    I employ people who until quite recently had never heard of Oasis.

    i currently have one person working for me who was born after Istanbul 2005/The greatest Ashes series ever.

    Fuck me, youth to middle age isn't a marathon, it's a sprint.

    In news that might cheer you up - I recently took on a new hire who's "first prime minister" was David Cameron.

    I did say 'might'.
    You employ child labour??
    They're so cheap to hire. Literally work for sweeties.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 55,538
    edited July 29
    boulay said:

    ohnotnow said:

    rcs1000 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    I hate Justin Trudeau

    Watch: Katy Perry and Justin Trudeau spotted having dinner together

    Sighting of former Canadian PM and singer in high-end restaurant raises questions of potential budding romance


    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2025/07/29/katy-perry-justin-trudeau-dinner-together/

    And I think Katy Perry is an untalented 40 year old singer.

    Will anyone be playing her music in two decades time?
    Yes probably, in the same way people listen to Bucks Fizz and Toni Basil now - as fun nostalgia. Her songs will never be regarded as classics, but a nostalgic trip down memory lane.

    Her relatively cheery hit California Girls did lead bubblegum music out of its dark/all black wearing/illuminati-pop phase, for which we should all be somewhat grateful. Though someone else would have done it if she hadn't.
    Wait.

    People listen to Bucks Fizz these days?

    Really?

    And they do this non-ironically?
    A while back I was walking behind two young students. One was extolling an amazing band he'd come across. Just *so good*. Etc, etc.

    After a few minutes he name-dropped that it was an old obscure band called 'Dire Straits'.

    Had similar with an ex’s teenage daughter who announced that she had discovered a really cool band we wouldn’t know of. Apparently something called Fleetwood Mac.
    There's masses of stuff on Youtube of young 'ums listening to classic tracks for the first time.

    Minds blown.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 44,703
    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Today, thanks to my older daughter, I discovered one of the most quietly incredible female life stories of modern times

    Laydeez and Gennulmen

    Lucy, Lady Houston

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy,_Lady_Houston

    Suffragette, feminist, bit of a tart, common cockney lass, "England's second richest woman", imperialist, Fascist sympathiser, possible husband-poisoner, friend of Winston Churchill and the King, newspaper magnate, opponent of Indian independence, aviation pioneer, "Saviour of the Spitfire", and so royally patriotic when the Abdication happened she stopped eating, and died

    She's a pound ship Unity Mitford.
    ‘She believed Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler were strong leaders’

    I am lightheaded with surprise.
    I didn't claim she was "nice"

    I said her life story is jaw-dropping. And it is

    I love all the little details, eg

    "In 1932, she offered to give £200,000 (equivalent to £15 million in 2023) to strengthen the British Armed Forces. The National Government refused. She hung a huge electric sign, "DOWN WITH MACDONALD THE TRAITOR", in the rigging of Liberty and sailed round Great Britain.[11]"
    Known about her for decades. She paid for the Everest flights. I had a model Westland Wallace on the shelf when I was young, which is how I know (they used to put lots of historical information in with the kits in those days).

  • kle4kle4 Posts: 99,232

    ohnotnow said:

    rcs1000 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    I hate Justin Trudeau

    Watch: Katy Perry and Justin Trudeau spotted having dinner together

    Sighting of former Canadian PM and singer in high-end restaurant raises questions of potential budding romance


    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2025/07/29/katy-perry-justin-trudeau-dinner-together/

    And I think Katy Perry is an untalented 40 year old singer.

    Will anyone be playing her music in two decades time?
    Yes probably, in the same way people listen to Bucks Fizz and Toni Basil now - as fun nostalgia. Her songs will never be regarded as classics, but a nostalgic trip down memory lane.

    Her relatively cheery hit California Girls did lead bubblegum music out of its dark/all black wearing/illuminati-pop phase, for which we should all be somewhat grateful. Though someone else would have done it if she hadn't.
    Wait.

    People listen to Bucks Fizz these days?

    Really?

    And they do this non-ironically?
    A while back I was walking behind two young students. One was extolling an amazing band he'd come across. Just *so good*. Etc, etc.

    After a few minutes he name-dropped that it was an old obscure band called 'Dire Straits'.

    I employ people who until quite recently had never heard of Oasis.

    i currently have one person working for me who was born after Istanbul 2005/The greatest Ashes series ever.

    Fuck me, youth to middle age isn't a marathon, it's a sprint.

    I've found myself saying things like 'I remember about 30 years ago' a lot lately. Definitely becoming an old codger.
  • Alphabet_SoupAlphabet_Soup Posts: 3,678

    rcs1000 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    I hate Justin Trudeau

    Watch: Katy Perry and Justin Trudeau spotted having dinner together

    Sighting of former Canadian PM and singer in high-end restaurant raises questions of potential budding romance


    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2025/07/29/katy-perry-justin-trudeau-dinner-together/

    And I think Katy Perry is an untalented 40 year old singer.

    Will anyone be playing her music in two decades time?
    Yes probably, in the same way people listen to Bucks Fizz and Toni Basil now - as fun nostalgia. Her songs will never be regarded as classics, but a nostalgic trip down memory lane.

    Her relatively cheery hit California Girls did lead bubblegum music out of its dark/all black wearing/illuminati-pop phase, for which we should all be somewhat grateful. Though someone else would have done it if she hadn't.
    Wait.

    People listen to Bucks Fizz these days?

    Really?

    And they do this non-ironically?
    Yes, via channels like Youtube and at Rewind Festivals etc. There will always be an audience keen on reliving their youth, and another audience keen on rediscovering a youth that wasn't theirs.
    Phew.

    Is there any way of identifying these people, so I can avoid having to engage them in conversation?
    UK Number One 40 years ago this week:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlGXDy5xFlw
    Is that a clip from Night of the Gorgon Terror?

    I'm a bit rusty on the classics.
  • bondegezoubondegezou Posts: 15,399

    Leon said:

    I just heard the most depressing prognosis of Britain's economic situation from one of the smartest businessmen I've ever met, who has recently become a friend

    Suffice to say, wow we're fucked

    Coming from you, a man who never ever expresses such serious concerns about the future makes that even more scary.

    Oh wait.

    Not saying you/he is wrong, but gives us the gist please?
    Evening everyone. I just had dinner with someone really important and special, but I can't tell you who they are. Anyway, the thing is he said something that exactly fits my existing political views.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 63,629
    Carnyx said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Today, thanks to my older daughter, I discovered one of the most quietly incredible female life stories of modern times

    Laydeez and Gennulmen

    Lucy, Lady Houston

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy,_Lady_Houston

    Suffragette, feminist, bit of a tart, common cockney lass, "England's second richest woman", imperialist, Fascist sympathiser, possible husband-poisoner, friend of Winston Churchill and the King, newspaper magnate, opponent of Indian independence, aviation pioneer, "Saviour of the Spitfire", and so royally patriotic when the Abdication happened she stopped eating, and died

    She's a pound ship Unity Mitford.
    ‘She believed Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler were strong leaders’

    I am lightheaded with surprise.
    I didn't claim she was "nice"

    I said her life story is jaw-dropping. And it is

    I love all the little details, eg

    "In 1932, she offered to give £200,000 (equivalent to £15 million in 2023) to strengthen the British Armed Forces. The National Government refused. She hung a huge electric sign, "DOWN WITH MACDONALD THE TRAITOR", in the rigging of Liberty and sailed round Great Britain.[11]"
    Known about her for decades. She paid for the Everest flights. I had a model Westland Wallace on the shelf when I was young, which is how I know (they used to put lots of historical information in with the kits in those days).

    She's utterly fabulous. OK she liked Hitler, no one is perfect

    I sense an essay coming on

    It was my daughter today who got me into her lifestory. As we walked around Nunhead Cemetery

    That's my daughter who is reading The Master and Margarita

    "proud father of daughters with excellent taste"
  • ohnotnowohnotnow Posts: 5,168
    kle4 said:

    ohnotnow said:

    rcs1000 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    I hate Justin Trudeau

    Watch: Katy Perry and Justin Trudeau spotted having dinner together

    Sighting of former Canadian PM and singer in high-end restaurant raises questions of potential budding romance


    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2025/07/29/katy-perry-justin-trudeau-dinner-together/

    And I think Katy Perry is an untalented 40 year old singer.

    Will anyone be playing her music in two decades time?
    Yes probably, in the same way people listen to Bucks Fizz and Toni Basil now - as fun nostalgia. Her songs will never be regarded as classics, but a nostalgic trip down memory lane.

    Her relatively cheery hit California Girls did lead bubblegum music out of its dark/all black wearing/illuminati-pop phase, for which we should all be somewhat grateful. Though someone else would have done it if she hadn't.
    Wait.

    People listen to Bucks Fizz these days?

    Really?

    And they do this non-ironically?
    A while back I was walking behind two young students. One was extolling an amazing band he'd come across. Just *so good*. Etc, etc.

    After a few minutes he name-dropped that it was an old obscure band called 'Dire Straits'.

    I employ people who until quite recently had never heard of Oasis.

    i currently have one person working for me who was born after Istanbul 2005/The greatest Ashes series ever.

    Fuck me, youth to middle age isn't a marathon, it's a sprint.

    I've found myself saying things like 'I remember about 30 years ago' a lot lately. Definitely becoming an old codger.
    Then you realise it was actually 40 years ago. While the youngsters look at their new-fangled 'mobile telephones' in embarrassment.
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