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  • taffystaffys Posts: 9,753
    One should celebrate a friend's acquittal , shouldn't one ?

    Was Sarah Brown, Rebekah's pyjama party companion, there I wonder???
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 119,959
    edited June 2014

    fitalass said:

    Twitter
    The Staggers ‏@TheStaggers 4m
    #PMQs review: Miliband's pose with the Sun and the Leveson inquiry gift victory to Cameron http://bit.ly/1lPnjIt

    UNBELIEVABLE
    Ed Miliband is the bastard love child of Emile Heskey and Roberto Soldado.
  • antifrank1antifrank1 Posts: 81
    The judge's comments will have far more significance in the public's mind than Prime Minister's Questions, and rightly so.
  • SimonStClareSimonStClare Posts: 7,976
    TGOHF said:

    surbiton said:

    Did Cameron attend Rebekah's aprty last night ? After all they were friends and used to have supper together.

    One should celebrate a friend's acquittal , shouldn't one ?

    I think I can see daylight through the bottom of the barrel..
    Arf - may I nick that for future use? ; )
  • GIN1138GIN1138 Posts: 22,376
    TGOHF said:
    Obama is turning out to be an unmitigated disaster for the US...
  • TykejohnnoTykejohnno Posts: 7,362
    edited June 2014
    @DecrepitJohnL -

    Evidence/link ? And that makes him a conservative,he may have just asked some friendly advise on Robinsons fellow beeb man
  • TGOHFTGOHF Posts: 21,633
    SeanT said:

    Socrates said:

    TGOHF said:

    US booming ?

    zerohedge ‏@zerohedge 6m
    GDP -2.9%!!!

    That's Q1, during the bad weather.
    Snow or no snow, those are terrible growth stats for the USA. America is now in swift relative decline, right across the board: militarily, economically, politically, diplomatically.

    As America shrank by an annualised 2.9%, China grew by an annualised 7.4%

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-27045527

    The Chinese sorpasso moves ever closer.


    Obama should have implemented more austerity - Uk style.

  • dyedwooliedyedwoolie Posts: 7,786
    SeanT said:

    Socrates said:

    TGOHF said:

    US booming ?

    zerohedge ‏@zerohedge 6m
    GDP -2.9%!!!

    That's Q1, during the bad weather.
    Snow or no snow, those are terrible growth stats for the USA. America is now in swift relative decline, right across the board: militarily, economically, politically, diplomatically.

    As America shrank by an annualised 2.9%, China grew by an annualised 7.4%

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-27045527

    The Chinese sorpasso moves ever closer.



    Barry's economic miracle.
    Goodnight America, I'd like to say it was fun while it lasted, but you're a bunch of God-bothering hicks and the world no longer needs, nor cares about you.
  • taffystaffys Posts: 9,753
    ''The Chinese sorpasso moves ever closer.''

    Chinese central banker 1: It's great we're gaining on the US in growth terms

    Chinese central banker 2: Maybe....but what the f8ck are we doing to do with all these dollars??
  • AndyJSAndyJS Posts: 29,395
    SeanT said:

    Socrates said:

    TGOHF said:

    US booming ?

    zerohedge ‏@zerohedge 6m
    GDP -2.9%!!!

    That's Q1, during the bad weather.
    Snow or no snow, those are terrible growth stats for the USA. America is now in swift relative decline, right across the board: militarily, economically, politically, diplomatically.

    As America shrank by an annualised 2.9%, China grew by an annualised 7.4%

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-27045527

    The Chinese sorpasso moves ever closer.



    Interesting that US population growth is now higher than China. Is that a good or bad thing for the US?
  • isamisam Posts: 41,118
    MikeK said:

    MikeK said:

    MikeK said:

    Pulpstar said:

    Lol Has Game of Thrones been mentioned ?

    Yes, mentioned by that arch Fantasy fan, the PM.

    The whole of QT was a pot and kettle dance: "you covered your arse, I'm covering mine. Enough hypocrisy to make anyone sick.

    Come on UKIP, clean up this mess!!!!

    With all those UKIP politicians who went to prison?
    Which UKIP politicians????

    Ashley Mote maybe, or Tom Wise.

    http://ampp3d.mirror.co.uk/2014/05/20/ukip-meps-are-more-likely-to-go-to-prison-than-romanians/

    MikeK said:

    MikeK said:

    Pulpstar said:

    Lol Has Game of Thrones been mentioned ?

    Yes, mentioned by that arch Fantasy fan, the PM.

    The whole of QT was a pot and kettle dance: "you covered your arse, I'm covering mine. Enough hypocrisy to make anyone sick.

    Come on UKIP, clean up this mess!!!!

    With all those UKIP politicians who went to prison?
    Which UKIP politicians????

    Ashley Mote maybe, or Tom Wise.

    http://ampp3d.mirror.co.uk/2014/05/20/ukip-meps-are-more-likely-to-go-to-prison-than-romanians/

    @The Watcher
    You are a fraud and a cheapskate, Watcher. If you want I'll nail to the mast a long list of Tory and Labour MPs that have actually gone to prison for crimes various. Just not worth printing their names.



    Tories using Daily Mirror hyperbole to attack UKIP, dear oh dear
  • Richard_NabaviRichard_Nabavi Posts: 30,821

    The judge's comments will have far more significance in the public's mind than Prime Minister's Questions, and rightly so.

    Really? I must confess I'm baffled as to what the judge was complaining about, for the reason given by Dan Hodges (quoted upthread). I can't imagine the general public will be any less baffled that I am.
  • edmundintokyoedmundintokyo Posts: 17,708
    General point on recent constituency polling: Either somebody's repealed one of the universal laws of politics or the pollsters are having a hard time catching incumbency. I think it's the second of those.
  • Scrapheap_as_wasScrapheap_as_was Posts: 10,069

    fitalass said:

    Twitter
    The Staggers ‏@TheStaggers 4m
    #PMQs review: Miliband's pose with the Sun and the Leveson inquiry gift victory to Cameron http://bit.ly/1lPnjIt

    UNBELIEVABLE
    Ed Miliband is the bastard love child of Emile Heskey and Roberto Soldado.
    It all makes sense now.
  • MikeKMikeK Posts: 9,053
    GIN1138 said:

    TGOHF said:
    Obama is turning out to be an unmitigated disaster for the US...
    Some of us said that on PB in 2008; we are proven justified.
  • taffystaffys Posts: 9,753
    Is that a good or bad thing for the US?

    I was in New York recently. The US really does feel like a country that's lost its way.
  • AveryLPAveryLP Posts: 7,815
    edited June 2014
    Socrates said:

    TGOHF said:

    US booming ?

    zerohedge ‏@zerohedge 6m
    GDP -2.9%!!!

    That's Q1, during the bad weather.
    US National accounts had the fall in GDP at -0.247%, or -1% rounded when expressed to US custom as an annual rate. Today's revision triples the fall to -0.725 or 2.9% annualised. The main cause of the downward revision was a big slowdown in medical spending.

    Today's news was a bit of a shocker though. As Bloomberg put it, this was the biggest downward revision from the agency’s second GDP estimate since records began in 1976...

    It does make one more appreciative of the UK economy where the next revision to Q1 2014 GDP is likely to be up 0.1% from 0.8% to 0.9%! But then we had a very mild (if wet) winter compared to the US record freeze and snowfall.

    Not that the rest of the world is booming though. Markit's Flash Composite PMIs for the Eurozone published on Monday were distinctly gloomy:

    • Flash Eurozone PMI Composite Output Index(1) at 52.8 (53.5 in May). 6-month low.

    • Flash Eurozone Services PMI Activity Index(2) at 52.8 (53.2 in May). 3-month low.

    • Flash Eurozone Manufacturing PMI(3) at 51.9 (52.2 in May). 7-month low.

    • Flash Eurozone Manufacturing PMI Output Index(4) at 52.8 (54.3 in May). 9-month low.


    This hides a slowing but adequate performance by Germany, a terrible performance by France and good (but insignificant to the total) performances from the periphery. Only silver lining is that future orders for both services and manufactures rose.

    Early US figures for the current quarter are looking up though (e.g. housing starts) so I doubt that the Q1 figures will turn out to be a trend. More a blip.
  • dyedwooliedyedwoolie Posts: 7,786
    SeanT said:

    GIN1138 said:

    TGOHF said:
    Obama is turning out to be an unmitigated disaster for the US...
    He is awesomely mediocre as president. Presided over further economic decline and compounded the disaster of Iraq.

    The only silver lining for Americans is that they have just endured two of the worst presidentsin US history, one after the other, Dubya and Obama - and both got two terms!

    Surely, by the law of statistics, the next guy must be a Reagan or a Roosevelt in comparison. Stands to reason.
    Hillary Clinton, who will finally bury the USA. Good riddance.
  • SimonStClareSimonStClare Posts: 7,976
    edited June 2014
    isam said:

    MikeK said:

    MikeK said:

    MikeK said:

    Pulpstar said:

    Lol Has Game of Thrones been mentioned ?

    Yes, mentioned by that arch Fantasy fan, the PM.

    The whole of QT was a pot and kettle dance: "you covered your arse, I'm covering mine. Enough hypocrisy to make anyone sick.

    Come on UKIP, clean up this mess!!!!

    With all those UKIP politicians who went to prison?
    Which UKIP politicians????

    Ashley Mote maybe, or Tom Wise.

    http://ampp3d.mirror.co.uk/2014/05/20/ukip-meps-are-more-likely-to-go-to-prison-than-romanians/

    MikeK said:

    MikeK said:

    Pulpstar said:

    Lol Has Game of Thrones been mentioned ?

    Yes, mentioned by that arch Fantasy fan, the PM.

    The whole of QT was a pot and kettle dance: "you covered your arse, I'm covering mine. Enough hypocrisy to make anyone sick.

    Come on UKIP, clean up this mess!!!!

    With all those UKIP politicians who went to prison?
    Which UKIP politicians????

    Ashley Mote maybe, or Tom Wise.

    http://ampp3d.mirror.co.uk/2014/05/20/ukip-meps-are-more-likely-to-go-to-prison-than-romanians/

    @The Watcher
    You are a fraud and a cheapskate, Watcher. If you want I'll nail to the mast a long list of Tory and Labour MPs that have actually gone to prison for crimes various. Just not worth printing their names.



    Tories using Daily Mirror hyperbole to attack UKIP, dear oh dear
    Don't talk wet Isam. - If MikeK didn't want to know the list of convicted UKIP MEPs, then he shouldn't have asked for it.


  • antifrank1antifrank1 Posts: 81

    The judge's comments will have far more significance in the public's mind than Prime Minister's Questions, and rightly so.

    Really? I must confess I'm baffled as to what the judge was complaining about, for the reason given by Dan Hodges (quoted upthread). I can't imagine the general public will be any less baffled that I am.
    Politicians politick - that is their nature. Whether or not one or the other spins a good soundbite isn't really of much interest.

    But when a judge says that the Prime Minister's actions had made him think long and hard about whether a trial that had lasted aeons needed to be collapsed, that is far more important.
  • TykejohnnoTykejohnno Posts: 7,362

    Simon Richards @simplysimontfa

    How Danny Alexander came up with his '3.3 million jobs lost if we leave EU': think of a number, double it, & add a million so it looks scary

  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 119,959

    fitalass said:

    Twitter
    The Staggers ‏@TheStaggers 4m
    #PMQs review: Miliband's pose with the Sun and the Leveson inquiry gift victory to Cameron http://bit.ly/1lPnjIt

    UNBELIEVABLE
    Ed Miliband is the bastard love child of Emile Heskey and Roberto Soldado.
    It all makes sense now.
    It wouldn't surprise me to find out Jade Dernbach's first cricket coach was Ed Miliband.

    "If Jade Dernbach is bowling at the death you normally live."
  • HurstLlamaHurstLlama Posts: 9,098
    edited June 2014
    surbiton said:

    Did Cameron attend Rebekah's aprty last night ? After all they were friends and used to have supper together.

    One should celebrate a friend's acquittal , shouldn't one ?

    You must have missed the photograph collage from Twitter that I posted earlier. I'll try again. Have a look then you may not seem such a partisan pillock later on:

    twitter.com/Jamin2g/status/481754402492260352/photo/1

  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 52,937
    fitalass said:

    Twitter
    The Staggers ‏@TheStaggers 4m
    #PMQs review: Miliband's pose with the Sun and the Leveson inquiry gift victory to Cameron http://bit.ly/1lPnjIt

    Miliband's lack of political nous is extraordinary. It should have taken about 4 nanoseconds to think - "Is there any other Murdoch-related news item which could break in the next few days where posing with the Sun could be used to make me look a prat? Ah, the phone-hacking verdicts..."

    That is discounting that it should have taken less than 2 nanoseconds for "Liverpool?" to flash through his mind.

    Do you think Miliband sneaks off and does this shit without any of his "people" knowing? Or maybe Ed Balls gave him a bit of friendly advice? "You don't want to let the PM and Deputy PM get a jump on you in the common man stakes, now do you...?

    I think we need a judge-led inquiry into whether the Balls household has a wall full of newspaper clippings of Ed's media disasters.....
  • CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758
    CD13 said:

    The Labour party going on about "judgement" is odd. Politicians by their nature think their own judgement is always right, or they wouldn't enter politics. Cammo may have been given advice but he'll still trust what he wants to trust. Labour PMs always think their judgement is spot on too.

    "Are you sure that invading a foreign and relatively secular country is a good way to punish dangerous Islamic extremists, Mr Blair?" "Hmm ... perhaps you're right, I'll have a rethink."

    Yes, very likely.

    MPs have inordinate faith in their own judgement. That's why they like to control the levers of power. Can't have the plebs making decision; they'll only get it wrong.

    And that's why we should introduce a Catch 22 into the selection procedure. "Explain why you might be totally wrong, please?" If they can't explain, pick someone else.

    There's a family owned company in France that I know where there is a very interesting policy: if 8 members of the executive committee agree on something, then it becomes the 9th member's job to argue against it. At little Cartesian, perhaps, but I can see what they are trying to achieve
  • FlightpathFlightpath Posts: 4,012
    Pulpstar said:

    Maybe Nick Robinson just thinks he needs to basically hold the Gov't to account on this ?

    After all judging by the comments here seems Ed Miliband isn't. Always tricky to judge a PMQs when I never listen to it and my only sources are Twitter and here at any rate.

    His job is to report the news objectively, not hold anyone to account, especially not from his own opinionated point of view. I thought Robinson was selective with the actualité. Coulson did nothing wrong in cameron's employ. Whatever happened was when he, his paper, was a Labour supporter. This is the problem with the BBC - it views the world through its own lens
  • Richard_NabaviRichard_Nabavi Posts: 30,821

    General point on recent constituency polling: Either somebody's repealed one of the universal laws of politics or the pollsters are having a hard time catching incumbency. I think it's the second of those.

    I agree, and I have a theory as to the reason, which is that incumbency doesn't really come into it until the actual campaign, when uncommitted voters start paying a little bit of attention and see the familiar name of the MP all over the place, contrasted with some unknown opponent.
  • BobaFettBobaFett Posts: 2,789
    @SeanT

    I think you might be over-reacting, just a teensy weensy bit.

    This wasn't just a snowfall - it was total wintry lockdown for many of the states. Worst winter in living memory, people stranded in their homes and major cities such as NY brought to their knees. Given the scale of it, these figures are less remarkable.
  • taffystaffys Posts: 9,753
    ''Surely, by the law of statistics, the next guy must be a Reagan or a Roosevelt in comparison. Stands to reason. ''

    Given the way America has changed economically and socially since the 1980s, would Reagan even make the republican nomination?

  • Scrapheap_as_wasScrapheap_as_was Posts: 10,069

    fitalass said:

    Twitter
    The Staggers ‏@TheStaggers 4m
    #PMQs review: Miliband's pose with the Sun and the Leveson inquiry gift victory to Cameron http://bit.ly/1lPnjIt

    UNBELIEVABLE
    Ed Miliband is the bastard love child of Emile Heskey and Roberto Soldado.
    It all makes sense now.
    It wouldn't surprise me to find out Jade Dernbach's first cricket coach was Ed Miliband.

    "If Jade Dernbach is bowling at the death you normally live."
    He's a deathly hallow?
  • SmarmeronSmarmeron Posts: 5,099
    Amazing, the real story is "disaster for Milliband", yet the BBC's page has a different line.
    Left wingery at its worst? or perhaps Tories indulging themselves on PB?
  • FlightpathFlightpath Posts: 4,012
    SeanT said:

    GIN1138 said:

    TGOHF said:
    Obama is turning out to be an unmitigated disaster for the US...
    He is awesomely mediocre as president. Presided over further economic decline and compounded the disaster of Iraq.

    The only silver lining for Americans is that they have just endured two of the worst presidentsin US history, one after the other, Dubya and Obama - and both got two terms!

    Surely, by the law of statistics, the next guy must be a Reagan or a Roosevelt in comparison. Stands to reason.
    Bush had barely been in power 6 months before a mad arab decided to blow up the twin towers. In terms of foreign policy I am not sure he was left with many places to go.
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 119,959
    Smarmeron said:

    Amazing, the real story is "disaster for Milliband", yet the BBC's page has a different line.
    Left wingery at its worst? or perhaps Tories indulging themselves on PB?

    When even the New statesman political Editor and Kevin Maguire say Ed was crap today, you know he was crap, are the PB Tories, well actually, I know both of them read PB.

    *Innocent Face*
  • antifrank1antifrank1 Posts: 81
    Bitchy tweet of the day goes to Daniel Hannan:

    Getting down to work in Brussels: pic.twitter.com/jgknCumloj
  • HurstLlamaHurstLlama Posts: 9,098
    edited June 2014

    SeanT said:

    Socrates said:

    TGOHF said:

    US booming ?

    zerohedge ‏@zerohedge 6m
    GDP -2.9%!!!

    That's Q1, during the bad weather.
    Snow or no snow, those are terrible growth stats for the USA. America is now in swift relative decline, right across the board: militarily, economically, politically, diplomatically.

    As America shrank by an annualised 2.9%, China grew by an annualised 7.4%

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-27045527

    The Chinese sorpasso moves ever closer.



    Barry's economic miracle.
    Goodnight America, I'd like to say it was fun while it lasted, but you're a bunch of God-bothering hicks and the world no longer needs, nor cares about you.
    If the USA was really a nation of "God-bothering hicks" I very much doubt they would be in the position that the are.
  • CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758
    SeanT said:



    Surely, by the law of statistics, the next guy must be a Reagan or a Roosevelt in comparison. Stands to reason.

    Because Harrison, Tyler, Polk,Taylor, Fillmore, Pierce and Hayes, Garfield, Arthur, Cleveland, Harrison, Cleveland were such notable runs of memorable Presidents?
  • Scrapheap_as_wasScrapheap_as_was Posts: 10,069
    Smarmeron said:

    Amazing, the real story is "disaster for Milliband", yet the BBC's page has a different line.
    Left wingery at its worst? or perhaps Tories indulging themselves on PB?

    Ok the New Statesman and Mirror journalists are Tories now as well... we get everywhere.
  • Scrapheap_as_wasScrapheap_as_was Posts: 10,069
    I'm thinking of outsourcing my posts to TSE.....
  • SmarmeronSmarmeron Posts: 5,099
    @SeanT

    Your contention seems to be that the West needs more peasants to work themselves to death so you can show off your latest Iphone and boast about property prices.
    I can see great merit in this argument as the way forward for the world, unfortunately the peasants might not agree
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 78,406
    edited June 2014
    Pulpstar said:

    Of course, the danger for Labour here is they get painted as witch hunters, their outrage and hufflepuff sending innocent people into a two year cycle of rumour and pain.
    Coulson is a problem for CamOz though......

    The existence of Hacked Off relieves this danger I'd have thought -

    Here is a prediction:

    I think Ed Miliband will go on the attack about Dave's judgement at PMQs - Dave will come back with the latest decent economic news and ask Ed why he isn't asking about that. Ed Miliband will say that Dave hasn't got an answer and PMQs will be written up as a missed open goal for Ed Miliband by a fair few on here and also Dan Hodges.

    Let's see how that prediction pans out...

    From a couple of days back...

    How correct was my crystal ball gazing ?

  • edmundintokyoedmundintokyo Posts: 17,708

    SeanT said:

    GIN1138 said:

    TGOHF said:
    Obama is turning out to be an unmitigated disaster for the US...
    He is awesomely mediocre as president. Presided over further economic decline and compounded the disaster of Iraq.

    The only silver lining for Americans is that they have just endured two of the worst presidentsin US history, one after the other, Dubya and Obama - and both got two terms!

    Surely, by the law of statistics, the next guy must be a Reagan or a Roosevelt in comparison. Stands to reason.
    Bush had barely been in power 6 months before a mad arab decided to blow up the twin towers. In terms of foreign policy I am not sure he was left with many places to go.
    Not invading random unconnected countries would have worked both politically and practically.

    A better president - say someone talented like Nixon - would have realigned with Iran against Saudi Arabia.
  • dyedwooliedyedwoolie Posts: 7,786

    SeanT said:

    Socrates said:

    TGOHF said:

    US booming ?

    zerohedge ‏@zerohedge 6m
    GDP -2.9%!!!

    That's Q1, during the bad weather.
    Snow or no snow, those are terrible growth stats for the USA. America is now in swift relative decline, right across the board: militarily, economically, politically, diplomatically.

    As America shrank by an annualised 2.9%, China grew by an annualised 7.4%

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-27045527

    The Chinese sorpasso moves ever closer.



    Barry's economic miracle.
    Goodnight America, I'd like to say it was fun while it lasted, but you're a bunch of God-bothering hicks and the world no longer needs, nor cares about you.
    If the USA was really a nation of "God-bothering hicks" I very much doubt they would be in the position that the are.
    I must be mistaking them for another nation of God-botherers then. Clearly there is no problem with Christian fundamentalism in the USA. Probably why Bush and Blair prayed together to their sky fairy before slaughtering hundreds of thousands.
  • MarkHopkinsMarkHopkins Posts: 5,584

    SeanT said:

    GIN1138 said:

    TGOHF said:
    Obama is turning out to be an unmitigated disaster for the US...
    He is awesomely mediocre as president. Presided over further economic decline and compounded the disaster of Iraq.

    The only silver lining for Americans is that they have just endured two of the worst presidentsin US history, one after the other, Dubya and Obama - and both got two terms!

    Surely, by the law of statistics, the next guy must be a Reagan or a Roosevelt in comparison. Stands to reason.
    Bush had barely been in power 6 months before a mad arab decided to blow up the twin towers. In terms of foreign policy I am not sure he was left with many places to go.
    The twin towers explains Afghanistan, but not Iraq.
  • Scrapheap_as_wasScrapheap_as_was Posts: 10,069
    Pulpstar said:

    Pulpstar said:

    Of course, the danger for Labour here is they get painted as witch hunters, their outrage and hufflepuff sending innocent people into a two year cycle of rumour and pain.
    Coulson is a problem for CamOz though......

    The existence of Hacked Off relieves this danger I'd have thought -

    Here is a prediction:

    I think Ed Miliband will go on the attack about Dave's judgement at PMQs - Dave will come back with the latest decent economic news and ask Ed why he isn't asking about that. Ed Miliband will say that Dave hasn't got an answer and PMQs will be written up as a missed open goal for Ed Miliband by a fair few on here and also Dan Hodges.

    Let's see how that prediction pans out...

    From a couple of days back...

    How correct was my crystal ball gazing ?

    You missed out the New Statesman, Mirror Journos and as yet, nothing from Saint Hodges.
  • HurstLlamaHurstLlama Posts: 9,098
    Charles said:

    CD13 said:

    The Labour party going on about "judgement" is odd. Politicians by their nature think their own judgement is always right, or they wouldn't enter politics. Cammo may have been given advice but he'll still trust what he wants to trust. Labour PMs always think their judgement is spot on too.

    "Are you sure that invading a foreign and relatively secular country is a good way to punish dangerous Islamic extremists, Mr Blair?" "Hmm ... perhaps you're right, I'll have a rethink."

    Yes, very likely.

    MPs have inordinate faith in their own judgement. That's why they like to control the levers of power. Can't have the plebs making decision; they'll only get it wrong.

    And that's why we should introduce a Catch 22 into the selection procedure. "Explain why you might be totally wrong, please?" If they can't explain, pick someone else.

    There's a family owned company in France that I know where there is a very interesting policy: if 8 members of the executive committee agree on something, then it becomes the 9th member's job to argue against it. At little Cartesian, perhaps, but I can see what they are trying to achieve
    Interesting, Mr. C., perhaps some catholic inspired "Devil's Advocate" coming through there. I should have thought that the Disney policy of "Three Rooms" would have produced a better result or, at least, a more complete buy-in.
  • dyedwooliedyedwoolie Posts: 7,786

    SeanT said:

    GIN1138 said:

    TGOHF said:
    Obama is turning out to be an unmitigated disaster for the US...
    He is awesomely mediocre as president. Presided over further economic decline and compounded the disaster of Iraq.

    The only silver lining for Americans is that they have just endured two of the worst presidentsin US history, one after the other, Dubya and Obama - and both got two terms!

    Surely, by the law of statistics, the next guy must be a Reagan or a Roosevelt in comparison. Stands to reason.
    Bush had barely been in power 6 months before a mad arab decided to blow up the twin towers. In terms of foreign policy I am not sure he was left with many places to go.
    Not invading random unconnected countries would have worked both politically and practically.

    A better president - say someone talented like Nixon - would have realigned with Iran against Saudi Arabia.
    Quite. The man who opened up the USSR and China to detente, paving the way for the end of the Cold War, and was brought down by another ridiculous little scandal that should never have got off the ground. 'I screwed up, I am sorry' would have sufficed in the early days.

    Something someone has learned from.
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 33,703
    Charles said:

    CD13 said:

    The Labour party going on about "judgement" is odd. Politicians by their nature think their own judgement is always right, or they wouldn't enter politics. Cammo may have been given advice but he'll still trust what he wants to trust. Labour PMs always think their judgement is spot on too.

    "Are you sure that invading a foreign and relatively secular country is a good way to punish dangerous Islamic extremists, Mr Blair?" "Hmm ... perhaps you're right, I'll have a rethink."

    Yes, very likely.

    MPs have inordinate faith in their own judgement. That's why they like to control the levers of power. Can't have the plebs making decision; they'll only get it wrong.

    And that's why we should introduce a Catch 22 into the selection procedure. "Explain why you might be totally wrong, please?" If they can't explain, pick someone else.

    There's a family owned company in France that I know where there is a very interesting policy: if 8 members of the executive committee agree on something, then it becomes the 9th member's job to argue against it. At little Cartesian, perhaps, but I can see what they are trying to achieve
    On a “Creative and Transformational Management” course I attended before I retired we discussed team formation, and the Course Leader was, as I recall, very keen on a structure which included someone whose job it was to do just that!

    If I recall, too, and Dr Fox will confirm (I hope) there’s a medical model whereby, as team members agree on a programme of treatment, one has the duty of arguing against it.
  • TykejohnnoTykejohnno Posts: 7,362
  • SlackbladderSlackbladder Posts: 9,779
    MikeK said:

    GIN1138 said:

    TGOHF said:
    Obama is turning out to be an unmitigated disaster for the US...
    Some of us said that on PB in 2008; we are proven justified.
    I think the quote I used was he was a bit of an 'empty suit', and nothing really has changed my mind on that.

    Good at speeches, not much else..
  • BobaFettBobaFett Posts: 2,789
    I come on here to learn that Coulson's being guilty is disaster for Ed.

    Only from the PBTories.

    Only on PB.
  • AveryLPAveryLP Posts: 7,815
    edited June 2014

    The judge's comments will have far more significance in the public's mind than Prime Minister's Questions, and rightly so.

    Really? I must confess I'm baffled as to what the judge was complaining about, for the reason given by Dan Hodges (quoted upthread). I can't imagine the general public will be any less baffled that I am.
    Politicians politick - that is their nature. Whether or not one or the other spins a good soundbite isn't really of much interest.

    But when a judge says that the Prime Minister's actions had made him think long and hard about whether a trial that had lasted aeons needed to be collapsed, that is far more important.
    Judges always think "long and hard", antifrank. Just as convicted defendants who pleaded not guilty "never showed any remorse during the trial".

    Luckily for us all, judges are accountable for their judgements rather than their thoughts.

  • SocratesSocrates Posts: 10,322
    edited June 2014
    SeanT said:

    GIN1138 said:

    TGOHF said:
    Obama is turning out to be an unmitigated disaster for the US...
    He is awesomely mediocre as president. Presided over further economic decline and compounded the disaster of Iraq.

    The only silver lining for Americans is that they have just endured two of the worst presidentsin US history, one after the other, Dubya and Obama - and both got two terms!

    Surely, by the law of statistics, the next guy must be a Reagan or a Roosevelt in comparison. Stands to reason.
    This is an utterly absurd reading of Obama's tenure. The man is certainly not perfect, but he has done a very good job in difficult circumstances left to him by the previous president. He has largely extricated the US from quagmires in Afghanistan and Iraq. He successfully negotiated the removal of WMDs from Syria, of which the last shipment went this week, after serious foot dragging from Assad. He is close to coming to a nuclear deal with Iran, which will be a Nixon in China moment if it happens. He finally brought justice to Osama bin Laden, the fugitive behind the worst attack on American soil since Pearl Harbor. He brought stability to the US banking sector, making a profit in the process, and has brought in new rules to restrain future dangerous behaviour, as well as the triumph of a consumer protection bureau to contain the worst abuses. He rescued the US automotive industry, which was in complete freefall, at a profit to the Treasury. He has overseen the greatest investment in America's infrastructure in a generation. He initiated an education reform effort that has confronted the teaching unions, empowering states to remove teacher tenure and introduce merit pay. And he brought in a healthcare reform effort that has already slowed healthcare inflation, while providing a basic human right to millions of Americans. And he's done all this despite working in a separation of powers system with an opposition that agreed on the night of his inauguration to outright oppose him and never compromise on any issue. The man is a Harry Truman, disliked in his time, but will be lauded for his long term foresight years from now when the partisan animosity and the pessimism of the recession fades.
  • SlackbladderSlackbladder Posts: 9,779

    surbiton said:

    Did Cameron attend Rebekah's aprty last night ? After all they were friends and used to have supper together.

    One should celebrate a friend's acquittal , shouldn't one ?

    Did Miliband go? He must have been to a few other parties hosted by Brooks in the past.
    Who would invite Miliband to a party?
  • HurstLlamaHurstLlama Posts: 9,098
    edited June 2014

    SeanT said:

    Socrates said:

    TGOHF said:

    US booming ?

    zerohedge ‏@zerohedge 6m
    GDP -2.9%!!!

    That's Q1, during the bad weather.
    Snow or no snow, those are terrible growth stats for the USA. America is now in swift relative decline, right across the board: militarily, economically, politically, diplomatically.

    As America shrank by an annualised 2.9%, China grew by an annualised 7.4%

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-27045527

    The Chinese sorpasso moves ever closer.



    Barry's economic miracle.
    Goodnight America, I'd like to say it was fun while it lasted, but you're a bunch of God-bothering hicks and the world no longer needs, nor cares about you.
    If the USA was really a nation of "God-bothering hicks" I very much doubt they would be in the position that the are.
    I must be mistaking them for another nation of God-botherers then. Clearly there is no problem with Christian fundamentalism in the USA. Probably why Bush and Blair prayed together to their sky fairy before slaughtering hundreds of thousands.
    Nah, Mr. Woolie, you are just letting your prejudices leap ahead of your knowledge of history and, dare I say it, theocracy. The God-bothering-hicks were the ones who in the late thirties and early forties were saying WW2 is nothing to do with us, they were also the people saying that involvement in Vietnam was a bad idea, that Iraq/Afghanistan was an even worse idea and, today, that if Europe can't be arsed to actually comply by the NATO agreement on spending then the USA should leave them to to it. Then there was domestic policy, which space forbids I explore here.

    Don't confuse support for the troops on the ground in a fight with support for the policy that took them there. Blair and Cameron have also tried to pull of that trick. In the end it don't work.
  • dyedwooliedyedwoolie Posts: 7,786
    BobaFett said:

    I come on here to learn that Coulson's being guilty is disaster for Ed.

    Only from the PBTories.

    Only on PB.

    No one is disputing his guilt is not good for Cam. eds line of questioning was weak and I'll-directed, as confirmed by most commentators outside PB on the subject of PMQs.

    I see BobaFett has turned another thread into a 'withering' attack on 'PBTories'
    Only PBlefties are that boringly consistent and wrong
    Only on PB
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 119,959
    BobaFett said:

    I come on here to learn that Coulson's being guilty is disaster for Ed.

    Only from the PBTories.

    Only on PB.

    I come on here to find that Kevin Maguire and The Political Editor of New Statesman are PB Tories.

    Only from the PB Kinnocks.

    Only on PB

  • CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758

    MikeK said:

    GIN1138 said:

    TGOHF said:
    Obama is turning out to be an unmitigated disaster for the US...
    Some of us said that on PB in 2008; we are proven justified.
    I think the quote I used was he was a bit of an 'empty suit', and nothing really has changed my mind on that.

    Good at speeches, not much else..
    good at reading from teleprompters you mean... ;-)
  • SmarmeronSmarmeron Posts: 5,099
    @TheScreamingEagles

    Kevin Maguire + The Political Editor of New Statesman = (estimate readers)

    BBC headline = (estimate readers, viewers, and listeners)

    calculate net effect of both.
  • dyedwooliedyedwoolie Posts: 7,786
    edited June 2014

    SeanT said:

    Socrates said:

    TGOHF said:

    US booming ?

    zerohedge ‏@zerohedge 6m
    GDP -2.9%!!!

    That's Q1, during the bad weather.
    Snow or no snow, those are terrible growth stats for the USA. America is now in swift relative decline, right across the board: militarily, economically, politically, diplomatically.

    As America shrank by an annualised 2.9%, China grew by an annualised 7.4%

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-27045527

    The Chinese sorpasso moves ever closer.



    Barry's economic miracle.
    Goodnight America, I'd like to say it was fun while it lasted, but you're a bunch of God-bothering hicks and the world no longer needs, nor cares about you.
    If the USA was really a nation of "God-bothering hicks" I very much doubt they would be in the position that the are.
    I must be mistaking them for another nation of God-botherers then. Clearly there is no problem with Christian fundamentalism in the USA. Probably why Bush and Blair prayed together to their sky fairy before slaughtering hundreds of thousands.
    Nah, Mr. Woolie, you are just letting your prejudices leap ahead of your knowledge of history and, dare I say it, theocracy. The God-bothering-hicks were the ones who in the late thirties and early forties were saying WW2 is nothing to do with us, they were also the people saying that involvement in Vietnam was a bad idea, that Iraq/Afghanistan was an even worse idea and, today, that if Europe can't be arsed to actually comply by the NATO agreement on spending then the USA should leave them to to it.

    Don't confuse support for the troops on the ground in a fight with support for the policy that took them there. Blair and Cameron have also tried to pull of that trick. In the end it don't work.
    Oh, the God-botherers and Warcraft are not the main issue specifically in the USA. They have plenty of other bigoted positions on abortion, gay marriage and civil rights.
    And besides, given the falsity of religious faith, it's unsurprising that one of the 'faithful' takes a different bigoted approach to another.

    You're right about one thing. I am prejudiced against god-botherers. The cause of, and reason for, almost every war ever fought.

    Edit - and before there's any 'people of faith aren't all terrible yards yadda' gubbins, I'm quite capable of respecting a person as an individual and admiring or admonishing their actions whilst despising their faith.
  • SocratesSocrates Posts: 10,322
    edited June 2014
    Since 2010, Obama's US economy has grown by 8%, and unemployment has fallen by 3.6 points. In the same time period, Cameron's UK economy has grown by 6% and unemployment has fallen by 1.5 points. But you know, one quarter of very bad weather in the US was bad, so that must mean that Obama is a disaster, while Cameron has overseen an economic miracle.
  • JackWJackW Posts: 14,787
    SeanT said:

    GIN1138 said:

    TGOHF said:
    Obama is turning out to be an unmitigated disaster for the US...
    Surely, by the law of statistics, the next guy must be a Reagan or a Roosevelt in comparison. Stands to reason.
    I think the next occupant of the White House may lack a todger.

    You heard it hear it first.

  • BobaFettBobaFett Posts: 2,789
    @TSE @Dyed

    I happen to be of the view that no-one cares about Coulson, and that it makes no difference.

    But Ed's PMQs response is even less relevant to anything at all, as is Maguire's view of it - let's face it, if he had deemed it excellent, he would have been widely ignored.

    PS who are the PB Kinnocks??
  • SocratesSocrates Posts: 10,322
    edited June 2014

    Oh, the God-botherers and Warcraft are not the main issue specifically in the USA. They have plenty of other bigoted positions on abortion, gay marriage and civil rights.
    And besides, given the falsity of religious faith, it's unsurprising that one of the 'faithful' takes a different bigoted approach to another.

    You're right about one thing. I am prejudiced against god-botherers. The cause of, and reason for, almost every war ever fought.

    Nationalism is responsible for most wars ever fought. Religion might be vaguely connected to many of them, but it wasn't the cause. Only the most prejudiced atheist could think that.

  • volcanopetevolcanopete Posts: 2,078
    Ken Clarke puts the boot in and ensures if he weren't about to be reshuffled he will now.I guess in his current "demob happy" state of mind,he could be a thorn in Cameron's side for some time to come.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/phone-hacking/10925324/David-Camerons-criticised-by-phone-hacking-judge-for-open-season-on-Andy-Coulson-as-jury-fail-to-reach-final-verdicts.html
  • BobaFettBobaFett Posts: 2,789
    @Smarmeron

    It's a left liberal metropolitan media conspiracy.
  • TGOHFTGOHF Posts: 21,633
    Socrates said:

    Since 2010, Obama's US economy has grown by 8%, and unemployment has fallen by 3.6 points. In the same time period, Cameron's UK economy has grown by 6% and unemployment has fallen by 1.5 points. But you know, one quarter of very bad weather in the US was bad, so that must mean that Obama is a disaster, while Cameron has overseen an economic miracle.

    How much QE has the US performed since 2010 ?
    What structural reforms has the US performed since 2010 ?
    What long term entitlement cuts has the US performed since 2010 ?
    How many UK cities have gone bankrupt since 2010 ?

    BO has done nothing positive for the economy.

  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 33,703
    JackW said:

    SeanT said:

    GIN1138 said:

    TGOHF said:
    Obama is turning out to be an unmitigated disaster for the US...
    Surely, by the law of statistics, the next guy must be a Reagan or a Roosevelt in comparison. Stands to reason.
    I think the next occupant of the White House may lack a todger.

    You heard it hear it first.

    And as regards ability or competence, what difference, as a President, does that make?
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 78,406
    Well known Lefty rag "The Daily Mail" has been sticking the boot into Cameron on this one.

    Mind you the Daily Fail hates just about everyone and everything.
  • dyedwooliedyedwoolie Posts: 7,786
    Socrates said:

    Oh, the God-botherers and Warcraft are not the main issue specifically in the USA. They have plenty of other bigoted positions on abortion, gay marriage and civil rights.
    And besides, given the falsity of religious faith, it's unsurprising that one of the 'faithful' takes a different bigoted approach to another.

    You're right about one thing. I am prejudiced against god-botherers. The cause of, and reason for, almost every war ever fought.

    Nationalism is responsible for most wars ever fought. Religion might be vaguely connected to many of them, but it wasn't the cause. Only the most prejudiced atheist could think that.

    Nationalism and religion are almost inseparably linked.
    One nation, under God. Etc etc etc
    Cry God for Harry, England and St George
    The sycophantic references to God in every US presidential address
    Muslim expansionism
    crusades in response
    The Aztec and Inca empires
    Empire building and missionaryism as Empire building in disguise.
    Etc etc etc
  • Sean_FSean_F Posts: 37,534

    SeanT said:

    Socrates said:

    TGOHF said:

    US booming ?

    zerohedge ‏@zerohedge 6m
    GDP -2.9%!!!

    That's Q1, during the bad weather.
    Snow or no snow, those are terrible growth stats for the USA. America is now in swift relative decline, right across the board: militarily, economically, politically, diplomatically.

    As America shrank by an annualised 2.9%, China grew by an annualised 7.4%

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-27045527

    The Chinese sorpasso moves ever closer.



    Barry's economic miracle.
    Goodnight America, I'd like to say it was fun while it lasted, but you're a bunch of God-bothering hicks and the world no longer needs, nor cares about you.
    If the USA was really a nation of "God-bothering hicks" I very much doubt they would be in the position that the are.
    I must be mistaking them for another nation of God-botherers then. Clearly there is no problem with Christian fundamentalism in the USA. Probably why Bush and Blair prayed together to their sky fairy before slaughtering hundreds of thousands.
    Curiously, this nation of "God-Bothering Hicks" have managed to create an enormously wealthy, successful, and powerful country that lots of people want to settle in.

    Perhaps being a "God-bothering hick" is the secret to success.

  • dyedwooliedyedwoolie Posts: 7,786
    BobaFett said:

    @TSE @Dyed

    I happen to be of the view that no-one cares about Coulson, and that it makes no difference.

    But Ed's PMQs response is even less relevant to anything at all, as is Maguire's view of it - let's face it, if he had deemed it excellent, he would have been widely ignored.

    PS who are the PB Kinnocks??

    We are discussing PMQs, not Coulsons verdict.
    PB Kinnocks are probably a group like PBTories - something the other side say because they think it makes a point. A bit like ironic references to PBLefties
  • JackWJackW Posts: 14,787
    Murray RollaOvers his opponent - 6:1 6:1 6:0
  • MarkHopkinsMarkHopkins Posts: 5,584

    Oh, the God-botherers and Warcraft are not the main issue specifically in the USA. They have plenty of other bigoted positions on abortion, gay marriage and civil rights.
    And besides, given the falsity of religious faith, it's unsurprising that one of the 'faithful' takes a different bigoted approach to another.

    You're right about one thing. I am prejudiced against god-botherers. The cause of, and reason for, almost every war ever fought.

    " I am prejudiced against god-botherers. The cause of, and reason for, almost every war ever fought."

    I respect the right of any person to believe or (as in your case) not believe as they see fit. But this presumption that religion causes all the wars is bollocks.

    Wars are mostly fought for status and revenge. Religion, culture, or tribe might be used as an excuse but status/revenge are the fundamentals. And they can apply no matter the religious state of a person or a country.

  • dyedwooliedyedwoolie Posts: 7,786
    edited June 2014
    Sean_F said:

    SeanT said:

    Socrates said:

    TGOHF said:

    US booming ?

    zerohedge ‏@zerohedge 6m
    GDP -2.9%!!!

    That's Q1, during the bad weather.
    Snow or no snow, those are terrible growth stats for the USA. America is now in swift relative decline, right across the board: militarily, economically, politically, diplomatically.

    As America shrank by an annualised 2.9%, China grew by an annualised 7.4%

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-27045527

    The Chinese sorpasso moves ever closer.



    Barry's economic miracle.
    Goodnight America, I'd like to say it was fun while it lasted, but you're a bunch of God-bothering hicks and the world no longer needs, nor cares about you.
    If the USA was really a nation of "God-bothering hicks" I very much doubt they would be in the position that the are.
    I must be mistaking them for another nation of God-botherers then. Clearly there is no problem with Christian fundamentalism in the USA. Probably why Bush and Blair prayed together to their sky fairy before slaughtering hundreds of thousands.
    Curiously, this nation of "God-Bothering Hicks" have managed to create an enormously wealthy, successful, and powerful country that lots of people want to settle in.

    Perhaps being a "God-bothering hick" is the secret to success.

    It's certainly the secret to being a bigot.
    And the USA is dying. Something we can all enjoy,

    P.s. My own bigotry against religion is taken as read
  • TheWatcherTheWatcher Posts: 5,262

    surbiton said:

    Did Cameron attend Rebekah's aprty last night ? After all they were friends and used to have supper together.

    One should celebrate a friend's acquittal , shouldn't one ?

    Did Miliband go? He must have been to a few other parties hosted by Brooks in the past.
    Who would invite Miliband to a party?
    News International did in 2011. The Eds Balls and Miliband were happy to quaff champers with everyone else.
  • SocratesSocrates Posts: 10,322
    edited June 2014

    Socrates said:

    Oh, the God-botherers and Warcraft are not the main issue specifically in the USA. They have plenty of other bigoted positions on abortion, gay marriage and civil rights.
    And besides, given the falsity of religious faith, it's unsurprising that one of the 'faithful' takes a different bigoted approach to another.

    You're right about one thing. I am prejudiced against god-botherers. The cause of, and reason for, almost every war ever fought.

    Nationalism is responsible for most wars ever fought. Religion might be vaguely connected to many of them, but it wasn't the cause. Only the most prejudiced atheist could think that.

    Nationalism and religion are almost inseparably linked.
    One nation, under God. Etc etc etc
    Cry God for Harry, England and St George
    The sycophantic references to God in every US presidential address
    Muslim expansionism
    crusades in response
    The Aztec and Inca empires
    Empire building and missionaryism as Empire building in disguise.
    Etc etc etc
    The Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union? Chinese discontent against Japan? Napoleon's aggressive assault on the rest of Europe?

    Nationalism and religion are linked in nations that are religious and not linked in nations that aren't religious. Just because religion is common place does not mean it is behind common ills. You may as well say wheels are the cause of war. They were used in Roman chariots and in Soviet tanks...
  • JackWJackW Posts: 14,787

    JackW said:

    SeanT said:

    GIN1138 said:

    TGOHF said:
    Obama is turning out to be an unmitigated disaster for the US...
    Surely, by the law of statistics, the next guy must be a Reagan or a Roosevelt in comparison. Stands to reason.
    I think the next occupant of the White House may lack a todger.

    You heard it hear it first.

    And as regards ability or competence, what difference, as a President, does that make?
    Zip.

  • Sean_FSean_F Posts: 37,534

    Sean_F said:

    SeanT said:

    Socrates said:

    TGOHF said:

    US booming ?

    zerohedge ‏@zerohedge 6m
    GDP -2.9%!!!

    That's Q1, during the bad weather.
    Snow or no snow, those are terrible growth stats for the USA. America is now in swift relative decline, right across the board: militarily, economically, politically, diplomatically.

    As America shrank by an annualised 2.9%, China grew by an annualised 7.4%

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-27045527

    The Chinese sorpasso moves ever closer.



    Barry's economic miracle.
    Goodnight America, I'd like to say it was fun while it lasted, but you're a bunch of God-bothering hicks and the world no longer needs, nor cares about you.
    If the USA was really a nation of "God-bothering hicks" I very much doubt they would be in the position that the are.
    I must be mistaking them for another nation of God-botherers then. Clearly there is no problem with Christian fundamentalism in the USA. Probably why Bush and Blair prayed together to their sky fairy before slaughtering hundreds of thousands.
    Curiously, this nation of "God-Bothering Hicks" have managed to create an enormously wealthy, successful, and powerful country that lots of people want to settle in.

    Perhaps being a "God-bothering hick" is the secret to success.

    It's certainly the secret to being a bigot.
    And the USA is dying. So,etching we can all enjoy,
    But, you're a bigot, and you aren't a God-botherer.

  • dyedwooliedyedwoolie Posts: 7,786
    Socrates said:

    Socrates said:

    Oh, the God-botherers and Warcraft are not the main issue specifically in the USA. They have plenty of other bigoted positions on abortion, gay marriage and civil rights.
    And besides, given the falsity of religious faith, it's unsurprising that one of the 'faithful' takes a different bigoted approach to another.

    You're right about one thing. I am prejudiced against god-botherers. The cause of, and reason for, almost every war ever fought.

    Nationalism is responsible for most wars ever fought. Religion might be vaguely connected to many of them, but it wasn't the cause. Only the most prejudiced atheist could think that.

    Nationalism and religion are almost inseparably linked.
    One nation, under God. Etc etc etc
    Cry God for Harry, England and St George
    The sycophantic references to God in every US presidential address
    Muslim expansionism
    crusades in response
    The Aztec and Inca empires
    Empire building and missionaryism as Empire building in disguise.
    Etc etc etc
    The Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union?
    I believe I said almost all wars
  • dyedwooliedyedwoolie Posts: 7,786

    Oh, the God-botherers and Warcraft are not the main issue specifically in the USA. They have plenty of other bigoted positions on abortion, gay marriage and civil rights.
    And besides, given the falsity of religious faith, it's unsurprising that one of the 'faithful' takes a different bigoted approach to another.

    You're right about one thing. I am prejudiced against god-botherers. The cause of, and reason for, almost every war ever fought.

    " I am prejudiced against god-botherers. The cause of, and reason for, almost every war ever fought."

    I respect the right of any person to believe or (as in your case) not believe as they see fit. But this presumption that religion causes all the wars is bollocks.

    Wars are mostly fought for status and revenge. Religion, culture, or tribe might be used as an excuse but status/revenge are the fundamentals. And they can apply no matter the religious state of a person or a country.

    I disagree. Religion is the disease, war the external symptom
  • JohnOJohnO Posts: 4,291
    Sean_F said:

    SeanT said:

    Socrates said:

    TGOHF said:

    US booming ?

    zerohedge ‏@zerohedge 6m
    GDP -2.9%!!!

    That's Q1, during the bad weather.
    Snow or no snow, those are terrible growth stats for the USA. America is now in swift relative decline, right across the board: militarily, economically, politically, diplomatically.

    As America shrank by an annualised 2.9%, China grew by an annualised 7.4%

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-27045527

    The Chinese sorpasso moves ever closer.



    Barry's economic miracle.
    Goodnight America, I'd like to say it was fun while it lasted, but you're a bunch of God-bothering hicks and the world no longer needs, nor cares about you.
    If the USA was really a nation of "God-bothering hicks" I very much doubt they would be in the position that the are.
    I must be mistaking them for another nation of God-botherers then. Clearly there is no problem with Christian fundamentalism in the USA. Probably why Bush and Blair prayed together to their sky fairy before slaughtering hundreds of thousands.
    Curiously, this nation of "God-Bothering Hicks" have managed to create an enormously wealthy, successful, and powerful country that lots of people want to settle in.

    Perhaps being a "God-bothering hick" is the secret to success.

    I imagine God won't take too much umbrage about being tormented by an ungrateful Woolie-botherer.
  • SmarmeronSmarmeron Posts: 5,099
    @dyedwoolie

    The first World War was about religion?
  • dyedwooliedyedwoolie Posts: 7,786
    edited June 2014
    Sean_F said:

    Sean_F said:

    SeanT said:

    Socrates said:

    TGOHF said:

    US booming ?

    zerohedge ‏@zerohedge 6m
    GDP -2.9%!!!

    That's Q1, during the bad weather.
    Snow or no snow, those are terrible growth stats for the USA. America is now in swift relative decline, right across the board: militarily, economically, politically, diplomatically.

    As America shrank by an annualised 2.9%, China grew by an annualised 7.4%

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-27045527

    The Chinese sorpasso moves ever closer.



    Barry's economic miracle.
    Goodnight America, I'd like to say it was fun while it lasted, but you're a bunch of God-bothering hicks and the world no longer needs, nor cares about you.
    If the USA was really a nation of "God-bothering hicks" I very much doubt they would be in the position that the are.
    I must be mistaking them for another nation of God-botherers then. Clearly there is no problem with Christian fundamentalism in the USA. Probably why Bush and Blair prayed together to their sky fairy before slaughtering hundreds of thousands.
    Curiously, this nation of "God-Bothering Hicks" have managed to create an enormously wealthy, successful, and powerful country that lots of people want to settle in.

    Perhaps being a "God-bothering hick" is the secret to success.

    It's certainly the secret to being a bigot.
    And the USA is dying. So,etching we can all enjoy,
    But, you're a bigot, and you aren't a God-botherer.

    See my edit. My bigotry against religion is taken as read.
    There are many routes to hatred. I guess you just have to trust your own
  • TGOHFTGOHF Posts: 21,633
    edited June 2014
    Someone calls PMQs for Ed - Riddel in the DT

    http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/maryriddell/100277612/ed-miliband-reveals-his-inner-suarez/

    "With a Suarez-style flash of teeth, Ed Miliband indicated that he had won his match against David Cameron."

    "Senior figures in Labour believe that the Coulson factor is "not a game-changer" in the broader contest. But today Mr Miliband, while displaying none of the footballer's aggression, revealed his inner Suarez."
  • MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 39,050
    So it looks like Shire are going to be able to defend themselves against AbbVie. Troubling times for the latter as they get hit by the patent cliff in 2016 and have, like a lot of other mid sized American pharmaceutical companies, been chronically underinvesting in their pipeline so they need to buy a new one in. If they can't get this deal done then they will become a take over target by the end of 2015.

  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 33,703
    I’m not sure, Mr Woolie that one can dismiss religion so sweepingly. Religion does help to give a moral code; very few major religions actively seek war and most enjoin charity and assistance to the sick.
  • AndyJSAndyJS Posts: 29,395
    CIA World Factbook, population growth:

    China 0.44%
    US 0.77%
  • Sean_FSean_F Posts: 37,534
    Thucidydes got it right 2,500 years ago. Most wars are fought for reasons of honour, self-interest, or out of fear.
  • dyedwooliedyedwoolie Posts: 7,786

    I’m not sure, Mr Woolie that one can dismiss religion so sweepingly. Religion does help to give a moral code; very few major religions actively seek war and most enjoin charity and assistance to the sick.

    One does not need religion to help others, nor to create a moral code for oneself and others,
    The supposition of a superior power passing down this code of behaviour is in itself divisive amongst humanity.
    As I have said, I do not judge an individual on their faith, but their actions. I reserve the right to despise their faith and rail against the organisation of which they are a part as a net drain on harmony and peace, as well as a constraint on the limitless hope and achievement of mankind.

  • JackWJackW Posts: 14,787
    BobaFett said:

    @TSE @Dyed

    I happen to be of the view that no-one cares about Coulson, and that it makes no difference.

    But Ed's PMQs response is even less relevant to anything at all, as is Maguire's view of it - let's face it, if he had deemed it excellent, he would have been widely ignored.

    PS who are the PB Kinnocks??

    To the former I would agree

    But to the later I'd say Ed's response has importance because his poor performance reads into the narrative that he can't command the HoC, dents morale of his own backbenchers and provides ammunition to critics on his own side and in left leaning media.

    Any fair assessment would note that regularly not hitting the back of the net in an open goal situation certainly isn't a positive going forward.

  • TheWatcherTheWatcher Posts: 5,262
    edited June 2014
    TGOHF said:

    Someone calls PMQs for Ed - Riddel in the DT

    http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/maryriddell/100277612/ed-miliband-reveals-his-inner-suarez/

    "With a Suarez-style flash of teeth, Ed Miliband indicated that he had won his match against David Cameron."

    "Senior figures in Labour believe that the Coulson factor is "not a game-changer" in the broader contest. But today Mr Miliband, while displaying none of the footballer's aggression, revealed his inner Suarez."

    Mary Riddell wrote a positive piece for Ed? Wonders will never cease.

    (Doesn't she always?)
  • HurstLlamaHurstLlama Posts: 9,098



    Oh, the God-botherers and Warcraft are not the main issue specifically in the USA. They have plenty of other bigoted positions on abortion, gay marriage and civil rights.
    And besides, given the falsity of religious faith, it's unsurprising that one of the 'faithful' takes a different bigoted approach to another.

    You're right about one thing. I am prejudiced against god-botherers. The cause of, and reason for, almost every war ever fought.

    I typed out a fairly long and sensible reply but once again this wretched comment system asked me to edit someone else's comments before I can add my own. What a load of crap this Vanilla is. It is the sort of discussion system that Ed Miliband would choose.

    Anyway, since I can't argue my case, Mr. Woolie, can just say you are wrong and when you let me know the name of your pub I shall come up there to argue the point in detail?
  • SocratesSocrates Posts: 10,322
    edited June 2014

    Socrates said:

    Socrates said:

    Oh, the God-botherers and Warcraft are not the main issue specifically in the USA. They have plenty of other bigoted positions on abortion, gay marriage and civil rights.
    And besides, given the falsity of religious faith, it's unsurprising that one of the 'faithful' takes a different bigoted approach to another.

    You're right about one thing. I am prejudiced against god-botherers. The cause of, and reason for, almost every war ever fought.

    Nationalism is responsible for most wars ever fought. Religion might be vaguely connected to many of them, but it wasn't the cause. Only the most prejudiced atheist could think that.

    Nationalism and religion are almost inseparably linked.
    One nation, under God. Etc etc etc
    Cry God for Harry, England and St George
    The sycophantic references to God in every US presidential address
    Muslim expansionism
    crusades in response
    The Aztec and Inca empires
    Empire building and missionaryism as Empire building in disguise.
    Etc etc etc
    The Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union?
    I believe I said almost all wars
    The First World War, the Second World War, the Mongol Conquests, the Manchu Conquest, the Russian Civil War, the Napoleonic Wars... you really believe any of these were caused by religion?
  • TGOHFTGOHF Posts: 21,633


    TGOHF said:

    Someone calls PMQs for Ed - Riddel in the DT

    http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/maryriddell/100277612/ed-miliband-reveals-his-inner-suarez/

    "With a Suarez-style flash of teeth, Ed Miliband indicated that he had won his match against David Cameron."

    "Senior figures in Labour believe that the Coulson factor is "not a game-changer" in the broader contest. But today Mr Miliband, while displaying none of the footballer's aggression, revealed his inner Suarez."

    Mary Riddell wrote a positive piece for Ed? Wonders will never cease.

    (Doesn't she always?)
    Yes - his inner Suarez - a petulant little man who has cost his team the bigger prize.

  • perdixperdix Posts: 1,806
    Pulpstar said:

    Well known Lefty rag "The Daily Mail" has been sticking the boot into Cameron on this one.

    Mind you the Daily Fail hates just about everyone and everything.

    In The Daily Fail the only people allowed to be successful are those who show their t*ts and *ss. Click-bait journalism.

  • dyedwooliedyedwoolie Posts: 7,786
    Sean_F said:

    Thucidydes got it right 2,500 years ago. Most wars are fought for reasons of honour, self-interest, or out of fear.

    All three of which can be intrinsically linked to faith and religion. Honour of MY God, interests of MY people and MY religion, fear of another creed or religion.

    If we are going down the Greek philosopher route, let's take the remarkably astute Protagoras of Abdera
    man is the measure of all things, of the reality of those things which are, and the unreality of those things which are not.

    We are so far beyond the ken of prehistoric Gods and superstition that it is embarrassing anyone still believes.

  • CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758
    edited June 2014
    MaxPB said:

    If they [Abbvie] can't get this deal done then they will become a take over target by the end of 2015.

    Why? It's basically just what's left of Solvay Pharma + Fournier + Knoll + the leftovers of Humira. The HCV franchise has potential, but Gilead is caning that market.
  • dyedwooliedyedwoolie Posts: 7,786



    Oh, the God-botherers and Warcraft are not the main issue specifically in the USA. They have plenty of other bigoted positions on abortion, gay marriage and civil rights.
    And besides, given the falsity of religious faith, it's unsurprising that one of the 'faithful' takes a different bigoted approach to another.

    You're right about one thing. I am prejudiced against god-botherers. The cause of, and reason for, almost every war ever fought.

    I typed out a fairly long and sensible reply but once again this wretched comment system asked me to edit someone else's comments before I can add my own. What a load of crap this Vanilla is. It is the sort of discussion system that Ed Miliband would choose.

    Anyway, since I can't argue my case, Mr. Woolie, can just say you are wrong and when you let me know the name of your pub I shall come up there to argue the point in detail?
    Let me know your contact details and I'll let you know. I'm not up for posting my address on here!
    I look forward to battling you in person.
  • Sean_FSean_F Posts: 37,534

    Sean_F said:

    Thucidydes got it right 2,500 years ago. Most wars are fought for reasons of honour, self-interest, or out of fear.

    All three of which can be intrinsically linked to faith and religion. Honour of MY God, interests of MY people and MY religion, fear of another creed or religion.

    If we are going down the Greek philosopher route, let's take the remarkably astute Protagoras of Abdera
    man is the measure of all things, of the reality of those things which are, and the unreality of those things which are not.

    We are so far beyond the ken of prehistoric Gods and superstition that it is embarrassing anyone still believes.

    Thucidydes was keen to explain war in terms of power-politics. He ruled out religion as a major factor.

This discussion has been closed.