Don't forget the lace, there is always the lace. Yes but apart from the battlefields and the chocolates and the beer what have... The Menin Gate! Of course the Menin Gate, thats a given. But... apart from the chocolates and the battlefields and the beer and lace and the Menin... Eddie Merckx! Er... Yes and Audrey Hepburn... Well of course there's Audrey Hepburn, but apart from... Potato Chips! Eh? They invented potato chips. All right then, but... apart from Sprouts and the chocolates and the battlefields and the beer and the lace and the Menin Gate and Eddie Mercks and Audrey Hepburn and potato chips...! What have the Belgians ever done for us!
Tom Boonen
Tom Boonen can't climb a speed bump. He doen't count.
There's plenty of uphill bits in the classics. He's done alright in those.
He hasn't won a classic in 3 years, he;s over, finished and never made a breakthrough in a proper race. He had the chance in his early career to shed the weight and do what Wiggins or Thomas has done and convert from classics man to a proper bike race. He refused.
Of course the stupid Belgians are happy with that, given how poor their recent record has been. But in all honesty, of their generation, Gilbert is the better man.
But that wasn't the question. The question was about Belgians generally. Boonen fits the criteria.
Maybe it's just me, but are stories about politicians having affairs really 'sleaze' scandals, unless there is something else about the affair that makes it sleazy? Frankly, while I don't approve of breaking marriage vows, if they are good enough at their actual job, I cannot say I'd let that personal failing influence my vote any. I feel like true sleaze stories would not be so easily overlooked.
It's always the hypocrisy: Labour MP's taking bribes while preaching economic equality, Tory MP's in sex scandals while preaching moral virtue.
Yes, I suppose, if the person committing the affair is a moralising type, that would make it more relevant. Do either of these two fit the bill?
Watching the Spanish results come in, and realising a lot will tern on what the small party do, while most are regional nationalist and/or very left wing, but can anybody tell me what this party is for: DEMOCRÀCIA I LLIBERTAT. CONVERGÈNCIA. DEMÒCRATES. REAGRUPAMENT
Maybe it's just me, but are stories about politicians having affairs really 'sleaze' scandals, unless there is something else about the affair that makes it sleazy? Frankly, while I don't approve of breaking marriage vows, if they are good enough at their actual job, I cannot say I'd let that personal failing influence my vote any. I feel like true sleaze stories would not be so easily overlooked.
It's always the hypocrisy: Labour MP's taking bribes while preaching economic equality, Tory MP's in sex scandals while preaching moral virtue.
Yes, I suppose, if the person committing the affair is a moralising type, that would make it more relevant. Do either of these two fit the bill?
Andy Murray 361,446 Kevin Sinfield 278,353 Jessica Ennis-Hill 79,898 Tyson Fury 72,330 Lewis Hamilton 48,379 Chris Froome 39,007 Mo Farah 31,311 Max Whitlock 25,925 Greg Rutherford 23,492 Lizzie Armitstead 22,356 Adam Peaty 13,738 Lucy Bronze 13,236
The market overestimated Ennis but otherwise was pretty much on the money.
This tallies with what I said in September about Ennis having no real chance. The market hugely overpriced her.
If the BBC had the regular superleague season (and not SKY) as well as the Challenge Cup and internationals (although Sinfeld had retired) then Sinfield would have probably won! O'Loughlin's try in the first test against NZ was worth an award in anyones book.
The BBC have little top live sport and given the pathetic performance of local rugby union and the pointlessness of professional footballers (and the collapse of Hamilton after winning his title) then the big difference in votes between 2nd and the rest is not surprising. (Athletics is far too tied up with chemistry anyway) They have never been heard of by the voting public.
Plus Clare Balding has gone on record as wishing for Sinfield as the son she never had...
You don't have to persuade me as to the merits of League, it is by far the better sport compared to all it's comparative versions. But it is still a tiny, minority sport played in three countries (and that is being VERY generous with how much New Zealand is an RL country).
I wish, truly, it were otherwise. But it isn't.
League was on the BBC for decades and failed to grow. It's not really grown much since Superleague but it's probably benefited to some degree both from the additional money and from a slightly wider profile that the BBC never gave it but Sky have.
If Eddie Waring couldn't raise League's profile then nobody can. He was hilariously mimicked by Graeme Garden in the 70s.
League's continued failure to grow is one of the tragedies of world sport. It is a truly amazing game, with more merit than most team sports and the combination of skill, strength and bravery is probably unmatched.
Even worse, it's really, really well marketed. But it still can't find the audience. It becomes almost embarrassing and "trying too hard" these days.
I'd love to see it grow and become a truly international sport but the reality is this is never going to happen. It is very, very annoying that Union is more popular given how inferior a contest that game is. But at this point, it's probably best just to accept that League will never be that popular, and accept it as an Aussie League type community sport limited to a narrow audience.
Andy Murray 361,446 Kevin Sinfield 278,353 Jessica Ennis-Hill 79,898 Tyson Fury 72,330 Lewis Hamilton 48,379 Chris Froome 39,007 Mo Farah 31,311 Max Whitlock 25,925 Greg Rutherford 23,492 Lizzie Armitstead 22,356 Adam Peaty 13,738 Lucy Bronze 13,236
The market overestimated Ennis but otherwise was pretty much on the money.
This tallies with what I said in September about Ennis having no real chance. The market hugely overpriced her.
England in general does not match the Little Englander cadre on here, they voted on merit not nationality
You have just brought your little scotlander baggage into the argument. Murray is a Brit and it was Brits who voted.
Congrats to our BRITISH sporting hero Andy Murray!
Maybe it's just me, but are stories about politicians having affairs really 'sleaze' scandals, unless there is something else about the affair that makes it sleazy? Frankly, while I don't approve of breaking marriage vows, if they are good enough at their actual job, I cannot say I'd let that personal failing influence my vote any. I feel like true sleaze stories would not be so easily overlooked.
It's always the hypocrisy: Labour MP's taking bribes while preaching economic equality, Tory MP's in sex scandals while preaching moral virtue.
Yes, I suppose, if the person committing the affair is a moralising type, that would make it more relevant. Do either of these two fit the bill?
Don't forget the lace, there is always the lace. Yes but apart from the battlefields and the chocolates and the beer what have... The Menin Gate! Of course the Menin Gate, thats a given. But... apart from the chocolates and the battlefields and the beer and lace and the Menin... Eddie Merckx! Er... Yes and Audrey Hepburn... Well of course there's Audrey Hepburn, but apart from... Potato Chips! Eh? They invented potato chips. All right then, but... apart from Sprouts and the chocolates and the battlefields and the beer and the lace and the Menin Gate and Eddie Mercks and Audrey Hepburn and potato chips...! What have the Belgians ever done for us!
Tom Boonen
Tom Boonen can't climb a speed bump. He doen't count.
There's plenty of uphill bits in the classics. He's done alright in those.
I'm afraid the best bit of toilet graffiti I have ever seen (not least for its dedication and earnestness) was 'Eddie Mercks is God!' Boonen cannot compete with that.
I didn't say he could. Your list was about what Belgians have achieved. Tom Boonen is certainly a worthy addition to that list.
Am I being taken too seriously? There was I thinking that if I could perfect my soft shoe shuffle I could overtake Alan Johnson in the betting for next labour leader.
Andy Murray 361,446 Kevin Sinfield 278,353 Jessica Ennis-Hill 79,898 Tyson Fury 72,330 Lewis Hamilton 48,379 Chris Froome 39,007 Mo Farah 31,311 Max Whitlock 25,925 Greg Rutherford 23,492 Lizzie Armitstead 22,356 Adam Peaty 13,738 Lucy Bronze 13,236
The market overestimated Ennis but otherwise was pretty much on the money.
This tallies with what I said in September about Ennis having no real chance. The market hugely overpriced her.
If the BBC had the regular superleague season (and not SKY) as well as the Challenge Cup and internationals (although Sinfeld had retired) then Sinfield would have probably won! O'Loughlin's try in the first test against NZ was worth an award in anyones book.
The BBC have little top live sport and given the pathetic performance of local rugby union and the pointlessness of professional footballers (and the collapse of Hamilton after winning his title) then the big difference in votes between 2nd and the rest is not surprising. (Athletics is far too tied up with chemistry anyway) They have never been heard of by the voting public.
Plus Clare Balding has gone on record as wishing for Sinfield as the son she never had...
You don't have to persuade me as to the merits of League, it is by far the better sport compared to all it's comparative versions. But it is still a tiny, minority sport played in three countries (and that is being VERY generous with how much New Zealand is an RL country).
I wish, truly, it were otherwise. But it isn't.
League was on the BBC for decades and failed to grow. It's not really grown much since Superleague but it's probably benefited to some degree both from the additional money and from a slightly wider profile that the BBC never gave it but Sky have.
My main point is how little sport outside the Olympics and Wimbledon the BBC has. A lot of name recognition is zero. The BBC do follow the RL regular season with a highlights programme which will have given Sinfield some exposure (as well as that he has been a fixture for over 10 years). RL is the national winter sport in Australia.
In Scotland you have to watch the RL on iPlayer.
but outside of that, i think you are wrong. Tennis is on Eurosport, not the BBC and Eurosport has far more coverage of Tennis than the BBC, Athletics is the same, RL is on Sky predominantly and fourth place Fury is on PPV.
The BBC is pretty much irrelevant for sport these days, Triathlon, umm, the football highlights, umm, it really isn't a sports channel any more.
Don't forget the lace, there is always the lace. Yes but apart from the battlefields and the chocolates and the beer what have... The Menin Gate! Of course the Menin Gate, thats a given. But... apart from the chocolates and the battlefields and the beer and lace and the Menin... Eddie Merckx! Er... Yes and Audrey Hepburn... Well of course there's Audrey Hepburn, but apart from... Potato Chips! Eh? They invented potato chips. All right then, but... apart from Sprouts and the chocolates and the battlefields and the beer and the lace and the Menin Gate and Eddie Mercks and Audrey Hepburn and potato chips...! What have the Belgians ever done for us!
Tom Boonen
Tom Boonen can't climb a speed bump. He doen't count.
There's plenty of uphill bits in the classics. He's done alright in those.
I'm afraid the best bit of toilet graffiti I have ever seen (not least for its dedication and earnestness) was 'Eddie Mercks is God!' Boonen cannot compete with that.
I didn't say he could. Your list was about what Belgians have achieved. Tom Boonen is certainly a worthy addition to that list.
Am I being taken too seriously? There was I thinking that if I could perfect my soft shoe shuffle I could overtake Alan Johnson in the betting for next labour leader.
I am still annoyed I forgot the waffles.
Maybe. No cyclist can compete with the great Eddie. Even Lance (before he got rumbled) would refuse comparison's with Merckx
Are you Belgian?
Mercx was a heavy user of PEDs and much like Kelly his transition from Sprinter/Classics to Grand Tour was entirely based on his drug regiment.
Choosing a cycling hero in the 60, 70s, 80s, 90s or early 2000s will always choose a drug cheat. You have to choose other values and other achievements. Personally, I'd go with Joop,.
Don't forget the lace, there is always the lace. Yes but apart from the battlefields and the chocolates and the beer what have... The Menin Gate! Of course the Menin Gate, thats a given. But... apart from the chocolates and the battlefields and the beer and lace and the Menin... Eddie Merckx! Er... Yes and Audrey Hepburn... Well of course there's Audrey Hepburn, but apart from... Potato Chips! Eh? They invented potato chips. All right then, but... apart from Sprouts and the chocolates and the battlefields and the beer and the lace and the Menin Gate and Eddie Mercks and Audrey Hepburn and potato chips...! What have the Belgians ever done for us!
Tom Boonen
Tom Boonen can't climb a speed bump. He doen't count.
There's plenty of uphill bits in the classics. He's done alright in those.
He hasn't won a classic in 3 years, he;s over, finished and never made a breakthrough in a proper race. He had the chance in his early career to shed the weight and do what Wiggins or Thomas has done and convert from classics man to a proper bike race. He refused.
Of course the stupid Belgians are happy with that, given how poor their recent record has been. But in all honesty, of their generation, Gilbert is the better man.
But that wasn't the question. The question was about Belgians generally. Boonen fits the criteria.
The question was about positive Belgians. Of which Boonen is not one. He's like JJ Abrams Star Wars. Forget something good, just a play it safe remake without taking any chances.
Andy Murray 361,446 Kevin Sinfield 278,353 Jessica Ennis-Hill 79,898 Tyson Fury 72,330 Lewis Hamilton 48,379 Chris Froome 39,007 Mo Farah 31,311 Max Whitlock 25,925 Greg Rutherford 23,492 Lizzie Armitstead 22,356 Adam Peaty 13,738 Lucy Bronze 13,236
Which confirms nobody cares less about the Olympic sports.
Ennis-Hill surprisingly low and Sinfield polled very well indeed.
I would happily bet that Gerrard would have been in the top 3 if nominated.
Who is Gerrard ?
If you're talking about Stephen Gerrard, no idea why he should be in the running for SPOTY this year.
Andy Murray 361,446 Kevin Sinfield 278,353 Jessica Ennis-Hill 79,898 Tyson Fury 72,330 Lewis Hamilton 48,379 Chris Froome 39,007 Mo Farah 31,311 Max Whitlock 25,925 Greg Rutherford 23,492 Lizzie Armitstead 22,356 Adam Peaty 13,738 Lucy Bronze 13,236
The market overestimated Ennis but otherwise was pretty much on the money.
This tallies with what I said in September about Ennis having no real chance. The market hugely overpriced her.
If the BBC had the regular superleague season (and not SKY) as well as the Challenge Cup and internationals (although Sinfeld had retired) then Sinfield would have probably won! O'Loughlin's try in the first test against NZ was worth an award in anyones book.
The BBC have little top live sport and given the pathetic performance of local rugby union and the pointlessness of professional footballers (and the collapse of Hamilton after winning his title) then the big difference in votes between 2nd and the rest is not surprising. (Athletics is far too tied up with chemistry anyway) They have never been heard of by the voting public.
Plus Clare Balding has gone on record as wishing for Sinfield as the son she never had...
You don't have to persuade me as to the merits of League, it is by far the better sport compared to all it's comparative versions. But it is still a tiny, minority sport played in three countries (and that is being VERY generous with how much New Zealand is an RL country).
I wish, truly, it were otherwise. But it isn't.
League was on the BBC for decades and failed to grow. It's not really grown much since Superleague but it's probably benefited to some degree both from the additional money and from a slightly wider profile that the BBC never gave it but Sky have.
My main point is how little sport outside the Olympics and Wimbledon the BBC has. A lot of name recognition is zero. The BBC do follow the RL regular season with a highlights programme which will have given Sinfield some exposure (as well as that he has been a fixture for over 10 years). RL is the national winter sport in Australia.
In Scotland you have to watch the RL on iPlayer.
but outside of that, i think you are wrong. Tennis is on Eurosport, not the BBC and Eurosport has far more coverage of Tennis than the BBC, Athletics is the same, RL is on Sky predominantly and fourth place Fury is on PPV.
The BBC is pretty much irrelevant for sport these days, Triathlon, umm, the football highlights, umm, it really isn't a sports channel any more.
Thanks all for the Spanish updates - will be interesting to see how things unfold now.
All pretty much counted in 4 hours - only Madrid had electronic voting, everywhere else was paper ballots, and like most democracies apart from UK/Ireland/India/Japan, counting was done at the polling stations which is why it was so fast. That said, Spain is probably the fastest-counting major country which doesn't have nationwide electronic voting.
It looks like 163-159 in Spain with almost all the votes counted. The Podemos total looks murky because they are in alliance also with smaller parties, but it looks like it's 69 seats for them:
The main thing we can take away is that I was robbed of more profit when Jamie Vardy wasn't included on the list. He'd have been a shoo in for 3rd methinks.
Maybe it's just me, but are stories about politicians having affairs really 'sleaze' scandals, unless there is something else about the affair that makes it sleazy? Frankly, while I don't approve of breaking marriage vows, if they are good enough at their actual job, I cannot say I'd let that personal failing influence my vote any. I feel like true sleaze stories would not be so easily overlooked.
I think it depends if they have played the "family man" card while standing for election. Such as using photos showing themselves with a happy wife, 2.4 children and a labrador.
Thanks all for the Spanish updates - will be interesting to see how things unfold now.
All pretty much counted in 4 hours - only Madrid had electronic voting, everywhere else was paper ballots, and like most democracies apart from UK/Ireland/India/Japan, counting was done at the polling stations which is why it was so fast. That said, Spain is probably the fastest-counting major country which doesn't have nationwide electronic voting.
I'm amazed that counting in Britain is not done at the polling stations, this is the key why the count always gets delayed. Still, better than the mess they have in america.
It looks like 163-159 in Spain with almost all the votes counted. The Podemos total looks murky because they are in alliance also with smaller parties, but it looks like it's 69 seats for them:
Maybe it's just me, but are stories about politicians having affairs really 'sleaze' scandals, unless there is something else about the affair that makes it sleazy? Frankly, while I don't approve of breaking marriage vows, if they are good enough at their actual job, I cannot say I'd let that personal failing influence my vote any. I feel like true sleaze stories would not be so easily overlooked.
It's always the hypocrisy: Labour MP's taking bribes while preaching economic equality, Tory MP's in sex scandals while preaching moral virtue.
Yes, I suppose, if the person committing the affair is a moralising type, that would make it more relevant. Do either of these two fit the bill?
Probably not. But hypociacy covers many things http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/politics/article4646279.ece ''A key ally of Jeremy Corbyn has been accused of hypocrisy after he was linked to a property company used for tax avoidance and “asset stripping”. Jon Lansman, a leftwing activist, created the Momentum group to support Mr Corbyn after his successful campaign for the Labour party leadership.''
Mercx was a heavy user of PEDs and much like Kelly his transition from Sprinter/Classics to Grand Tour was entirely based on his drug regiment.
Choosing a cycling hero in the 60, 70s, 80s, 90s or early 2000s will always choose a drug cheat. You have to choose other values and other achievements. Personally, I'd go with Joop,.
I prefer to choose on the basis of cool sideburns.
In the age of TV politics , appearance and ''likability '' is crucial
If that is true then how do explain Hilary Clinton?
Hillary is the Democrats Nixon, she may well end up lucky in her opponents, just as Nixon probably would have lost to Bobby Kennedy in 1968 had he faced him rather than Hubert Humphrey and then George McGovern, so Hillary is lucky in that she may face Trump and Cruz rather than Rubio. 8 years earlier facing the charismatic and likeable JFK Nixon was narrowly beaten, just as in 2008 Hillary lost to the more likeable and charismatic Obama
Tyson Fury could have beaten McGovern, but HH was easily as well respected a Democrat as RFK.
Being respected is not the same as being charismatic and while HH ran Nixon close polls showed Bobby Kennedy would have beaten Nixon
I anticipated that you were going to bring up Corbyn and make the completely bogus comparison .....having lived in America for 25 years in 9 different states I actually know the Yanks ....Trump is about as far away from the Gandhi-like Corbyn as you could possibly get and the GOP are light years from the Left dominated Labour Party ...Corbyn is a career politician while Trump is a Real Estate tycoon and TV star with virtually no experience in politics ....he is treating his gormless political supporters like the crowd from a WWF event...many of these folks are very unlikely to actually vote !
Anyone viewing this GOP race through the lens of the former LP leadership race are completely deluding themselves and couldn't be more wrong ...the Yanks , especially the GOP are pragmatic and can be ruthlessly ambitious ; they are great problem solvers who will find a way around a problem like Trump ...they will never let this egotistical creep usurp their Party , NEVER !...even if they have to bribe him, they will get rid of him
Did you notice how comradely and gentle that Burnham , Cooper and Liz were to Corbyn , even when they suspected he was going to win ?.....the GOP are never going to be that gentle with Trump ! They are going to produce PAC attack adds to humiliate and crucify Trump until he becomes a laughing stock and gets the hell out of the race
To draw a parallel between the election of a Labour leader and a Republican leader , between the Labour Party base and the GOP base couldn't be more mistaken ; the GOP race and Labour Party race is completely different
Well of course the Labour party and GOP have nothing ideologically in common at the moment and of course Trump has at least made his own money and had a career. I am afraid it is you who are deluding yourself and are completely wrong, the GOP are not always pragmatic, they nominated Barry Goldwater after all and you are talking only about the establishment, not the GOP activists who will actually determine the nomination, the establishment have nothing to stop the Trump juggernaut and are hardly going to be able to bribe a billionaire.
The likes of Bush and Kasich have been sending attack ads against Trump for months with zero impact, the likes of Mandelson and Cooper and Kendall and the Labour moderates were also pretty scathing of Corbyn, American politics tends to be more vicious but nothing has hit teflon Trump and he has more than enough money to hit back and more.
So there is in fact an almost exact parallel between the election of the Labour leader and the Republican nominee, both the Labour membership and the GOP voter base are in an ideological mood putting anti austerity and anti immigration above all else and the parallels are almost identical
Andy Murray 361,446 Kevin Sinfield 278,353 Jessica Ennis-Hill 79,898 Tyson Fury 72,330 Lewis Hamilton 48,379 Chris Froome 39,007 Mo Farah 31,311 Max Whitlock 25,925 Greg Rutherford 23,492 Lizzie Armitstead 22,356 Adam Peaty 13,738 Lucy Bronze 13,236
Which confirms nobody cares less about the Olympic sports.
Ennis-Hill surprisingly low and Sinfield polled very well indeed.
I would happily bet that Gerrard would have been in the top 3 if nominated.
Who is Gerrard ?
If you're talking about Stephen Gerrard, no idea why he should be in the running for SPOTY this year.
Who is Sinfield? Never heard of him prior to this thread
Es muy fácil: el primero ha perdido, el tercero ha ganado y el segundo puede ser presidente
Its simple: the first has lost, the third has won, and the second could be president.
The maths and politics look difficult for anyone and I think the favorite is another election in Feb/March. The only broadly plausible working majority is PSOE+Pod+Citizens, but getting the latter 2 together don't look easy.
I have no special knowledge of Spanish politics but to me, I think options now include
1) A (majority) left wing government, is just possible, if ESoP can get all the varies Left, Extreme left, and regional nationalist Left. into one alliance.
2) A minority government, in which case the Right have the edge as the PP are the largest party and PP & C, have 163 seats between them.
3) new elections, even if 1 or 2 are attempted in the short term, a new election in next few months is a definite possibility.
Don't forget the lace, there is always the lace. Yes but apart from the battlefields and the chocolates and the beer what have... The Menin Gate! Of course the Menin Gate, thats a given. But... apart from the chocolates and the battlefields and the beer and lace and the Menin... Eddie Merckx! Er... Yes and Audrey Hepburn... Well of course there's Audrey Hepburn, but apart from... Potato Chips! Eh? They invented potato chips. All right then, but... apart from Sprouts and the chocolates and the battlefields and the beer and the lace and the Menin Gate and Eddie Mercks and Audrey Hepburn and potato chips...! What have the Belgians ever done for us!
Tom Boonen
Tom Boonen can't climb a speed bump. He doen't count.
There's plenty of uphill bits in the classics. He's done alright in those.
He hasn't won a classic in 3 years, he;s over, finished and never made a breakthrough in a proper race. He had the chance in his early career to shed the weight and do what Wiggins or Thomas has done and convert from classics man to a proper bike race. He refused.
Of course the stupid Belgians are happy with that, given how poor their recent record has been. But in all honesty, of their generation, Gilbert is the better man.
But that wasn't the question. The question was about Belgians generally. Boonen fits the criteria.
The question was about positive Belgians. Of which Boonen is not one. He's like JJ Abrams Star Wars. Forget something good, just a play it safe remake without taking any chances.
YOU WERE THE CHOSEN ONE! It was said that you would destroy the Prequels, not join them! Bring balance to the Franchise, not leave it in darkness!
In the age of TV politics , appearance and ''likability '' is crucial
If that is true then how do explain Hilary Clinton?
Hillary is the Democrats Nixon, she may well end up lucky in her opponents, just as Nixon probably would have lost to Bobby Kennedy in 1968 had he faced him rather than Hubert Humphrey and then George McGovern, so Hillary is lucky in that she may face Trump and Cruz rather than Rubio. 8 years earlier facing the charismatic and likeable JFK Nixon was narrowly beaten, just as in 2008 Hillary lost to the more likeable and charismatic Obama
Tyson Fury could have beaten McGovern, but HH was easily as well respected a Democrat as RFK.
Being respected is not the same as being charismatic and while HH ran Nixon close polls showed Bobby Kennedy would have beaten Nixon
Fair points if a bit obvious and perhaps a bit over optimistic. But the other obvious point was that Kennedy had not got the nomination when he was assassinated. Would he?
But leaving aside comparisons - it is indeed clear that Hilary is going to be lucky in her opponent, whoever it may be.
In the age of TV politics , appearance and ''likability '' is crucial
If that is true then how do explain Hilary Clinton?
Hillary is the Democrats Nixon, she may well end up lucky in her opponents, just as Nixon probably would have lost to Bobby Kennedy in 1968 had he faced him rather than Hubert Humphrey and then George McGovern, so Hillary is lucky in that she may face Trump and Cruz rather than Rubio. 8 years earlier facing the charismatic and likeable JFK Nixon was narrowly beaten, just as in 2008 Hillary lost to the more likeable and charismatic Obama
Tyson Fury could have beaten McGovern, but HH was easily as well respected a Democrat as RFK.
Being respected is not the same as being charismatic and while HH ran Nixon close polls showed Bobby Kennedy would have beaten Nixon
Fair points if a bit obvious and perhaps a bit over optimistic. But the other obvious point was that Kennedy had not got the nomination when he was assassinated. Would he?
But leaving aside comparisons - it is indeed clear that Hilary is going to be lucky in her opponent, whoever it may be.
Yes the nomination was by no means a given but had he been nominee he would in all probability have beaten Nixon. Certainly it does look like the GOP primary voters are going to give Hillary an easier ride than she could have had, true
Referendums on minority rights ain't the way forward.
Yes it is sad, however the civil union legislation, will remain in place, giving gay couples most of the rights of strat couples. (with the exception of the right to adopt children)
However, I anticipate that a similar thing will happen in Slovenia, as happened hear and elsewhere, more and more gay people will 'come out of the closet' and have civil unions, and more strat Slovenians will realise that they know at least some gay couples. they will realise that they are just like everybody else, it will become 'normal' to be gay, social attitudes will change, opinion will change and in a few years they will change their mind.
I may be wrong, and it is still a say day for Slovenia. Just overall I'm hopeful for Freedom.
Don't forget the lace, there is always the lace. Yes but apart from the battlefields and the chocolates and the beer what have... The Menin Gate! Of course the Menin Gate, thats a given. But... apart from the chocolates and the battlefields and the beer and lace and the Menin... Eddie Merckx! Er... Yes and Audrey Hepburn... Well of course there's Audrey Hepburn, but apart from... Potato Chips! Eh? They invented potato chips. All right then, but... apart from Sprouts and the chocolates and the battlefields and the beer and the lace and the Menin Gate and Eddie Mercks and Audrey Hepburn and potato chips...! What have the Belgians ever done for us!
Tom Boonen
Tom Boonen can't climb a speed bump. He doen't count.
There's plenty of uphill bits in the classics. He's done alright in those.
He hasn't won a classic in 3 years, he;s over, finished and never made a breakthrough in a proper race. He had the chance in his early career to shed the weight and do what Wiggins or Thomas has done and convert from classics man to a proper bike race. He refused.
Of course the stupid Belgians are happy with that, given how poor their recent record has been. But in all honesty, of their generation, Gilbert is the better man.
But that wasn't the question. The question was about Belgians generally. Boonen fits the criteria.
The question was about positive Belgians. Of which Boonen is not one. He's like JJ Abrams Star Wars. Forget something good, just a play it safe remake without taking any chances.
YOU WERE THE CHOSEN ONE! It was said that you would destroy the Prequels, not join them! Bring balance to the Franchise, not leave it in darkness!
Fans: Your thoughts betray you, JJ. I feel the good in you, the conflict.
JJ Abrams: There is no conflict.
Fans: You couldn't bring yourself to kill Star Wars before and I don't believe you'll destroy it now.
JJ Abrams: You underestimate the power of Disney. If you will not fight, then you will meet your destiny.
I hadn't spotted that,t have just checked, and when you include the reduction in the number of spooned ballet papers the difference increases to almost 1.5 Million, (from 36,430,507 to 35,023,510(+11,533 still to count))
Some may be to emigration with the bad economy, some may be demographics (falling birth rates 20/30 years ago = less voters now) bet even so this seems a lot of people, I wonder if there have been any changes to the rules on who could vote?
Lance Armstrong 2hr interview...he is actually a lot more open and honest (its all relative) than ever heard him before...but there is still some classic dissembling. It seems he is willing to talk a lot more about the drug use, but still spinning in regards to individuals who tried to expose him.
I hadn't spotted that,t have just checked, and when you include the reduction in the number of spooned ballet papers the difference increases to almost 1.5 Million, (from 36,430,507 to 35,023,510(+11,533 still to count))
Some may be to emigration with the bad economy, some may be demographics (falling birth rates 20/30 years ago = less voters now) bet even so this seems a lot of people, I wonder if there have been any changes to the rules on who could vote?
Blank / spoiled ballot papers are in the total of voters.
I hadn't spotted that,t have just checked, and when you include the reduction in the number of spooned ballet papers the difference increases to almost 1.5 Million, (from 36,430,507 to 35,023,510(+11,533 still to count))
Some may be to emigration with the bad economy, some may be demographics (falling birth rates 20/30 years ago = less voters now) bet even so this seems a lot of people, I wonder if there have been any changes to the rules on who could vote?
Blank / spoiled ballot papers are in the total of voters.
Votes for parties add up to 24,927,000.
Blank / spoilt = 415,000
Total voters = 25,342,000
(As at 99.97% counted)
Mike, thanks for doing the maths on that.
That still leaves us with a big drop in the electorate though!
Hello PBers. Apologies for the lack of a piece this weekend. I'm in Madurai, India (wonderful place; highly recommended for a bit of a different holiday) and am a little out of touch with events.
That said, on topic, I agree with Pulpstar. Rubio seems the big lay at the moment - he's making far too little headway in the pre-ST states and while history is not the whole story it is revealing of the natural dynamics of the campaign: you can survive a poor Iowa; it's very hard to survive a poor NH; it's nigh-on impossible to survive a poor result in both.
Comments
The question was about Belgians generally.
Boonen fits the criteria.
http://www.representativedemocracy.org.uk/mps-who-listened-to-you/
More like saving traditional infidelity.
Even worse, it's really, really well marketed. But it still can't find the audience. It becomes almost embarrassing and "trying too hard" these days.
I'd love to see it grow and become a truly international sport but the reality is this is never going to happen. It is very, very annoying that Union is more popular given how inferior a contest that game is. But at this point, it's probably best just to accept that League will never be that popular, and accept it as an Aussie League type community sport limited to a narrow audience.
but outside of that, i think you are wrong. Tennis is on Eurosport, not the BBC and Eurosport has far more coverage of Tennis than the BBC, Athletics is the same, RL is on Sky predominantly and fourth place Fury is on PPV.
The BBC is pretty much irrelevant for sport these days, Triathlon, umm, the football highlights, umm, it really isn't a sports channel any more.
163-153.
99.59% counted.
Mercx was a heavy user of PEDs and much like Kelly his transition from Sprinter/Classics to Grand Tour was entirely based on his drug regiment.
Choosing a cycling hero in the 60, 70s, 80s, 90s or early 2000s will always choose a drug cheat. You have to choose other values and other achievements. Personally, I'd go with Joop,.
If you're talking about Stephen Gerrard, no idea why he should be in the running for SPOTY this year.
All pretty much counted in 4 hours - only Madrid had electronic voting, everywhere else was paper ballots, and like most democracies apart from UK/Ireland/India/Japan, counting was done at the polling stations which is why it was so fast. That said, Spain is probably the fastest-counting major country which doesn't have nationwide electronic voting.
The Podemos total looks murky because they are in alliance also with smaller parties, but it looks like it's 69 seats for them:
https://twitter.com/eldiarioes/status/678712886039027712
The nationalists holding the balance of power.
Goodnight.
Still, better than the mess they have in america.
They are adamantly against dissolution of Spain.
But hypociacy covers many things
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/politics/article4646279.ece
''A key ally of Jeremy Corbyn has been accused of hypocrisy after he was linked to a property company used for tax avoidance and “asset stripping”.
Jon Lansman, a leftwing activist, created the Momentum group to support Mr Corbyn after his successful campaign for the Labour party leadership.''
hence roger de vlaeminck
“From the new political centre, it’ll be easier to talk to those who don’t think like us.”
The likes of Bush and Kasich have been sending attack ads against Trump for months with zero impact, the likes of Mandelson and Cooper and Kendall and the Labour moderates were also pretty scathing of Corbyn, American politics tends to be more vicious but nothing has hit teflon Trump and he has more than enough money to hit back and more.
So there is in fact an almost exact parallel between the election of the Labour leader and the Republican nominee, both the Labour membership and the GOP voter base are in an ideological mood putting anti austerity and anti immigration above all else and the parallels are almost identical
The political class are an evil organisation, only there to prevent the people from making a choice.
Anu chance of PSOE/PP forming a grand coalition ?
PSOE to abstain confidence vote by PP ?
Left/centre rainbow Gov't ?
Es muy fácil: el primero ha perdido, el tercero ha ganado y el segundo puede ser presidente
Its simple: the first has lost, the third has won, and the second could be president.
The maths and politics look difficult for anyone and I think the favorite is another election in Feb/March. The only broadly plausible working majority is PSOE+Pod+Citizens, but getting the latter 2 together don't look easy.
I have no special knowledge of Spanish politics but to me, I think options now include
1) A (majority) left wing government, is just possible, if ESoP can get all the varies Left, Extreme left, and regional nationalist Left. into one alliance.
2) A minority government, in which case the Right have the edge as the PP are the largest party and PP & C, have 163 seats between them.
3) new elections, even if 1 or 2 are attempted in the short term, a new election in next few months is a definite possibility.
But leaving aside comparisons - it is indeed clear that Hilary is going to be lucky in her opponent, whoever it may be.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3hB3iOQKjY
http://www.politico.eu/article/slovenia-says-no-to-gay-marriage-lgbt-lgbti-rights/
Referendums on minority rights ain't the way forward.
However, I anticipate that a similar thing will happen in Slovenia, as happened hear and elsewhere, more and more gay people will 'come out of the closet' and have civil unions, and more strat Slovenians will realise that they know at least some gay couples. they will realise that they are just like everybody else, it will become 'normal' to be gay, social attitudes will change, opinion will change and in a few years they will change their mind.
I may be wrong, and it is still a say day for Slovenia. Just overall I'm hopeful for Freedom.
ie total of voters + abstentions.
http://resultadosgenerales2015.interior.es/congreso/#/ES201512-CON-ES/ES
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/politics/article4646179.ece
JJ Abrams: There is no conflict.
Fans: You couldn't bring yourself to kill Star Wars before and I don't believe you'll destroy it now.
JJ Abrams: You underestimate the power of Disney. If you will not fight, then you will meet your destiny.
Is this his real advert?
Some may be to emigration with the bad economy, some may be demographics (falling birth rates 20/30 years ago = less voters now) bet even so this seems a lot of people, I wonder if there have been any changes to the rules on who could vote?
'They won't get into the EU till it passes.'
They have been in the EU for several years.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEfSdPz1WtA
Votes for parties add up to 24,927,000.
Blank / spoilt = 415,000
Total voters = 25,342,000
(As at 99.97% counted)
http://coventryobserver.co.uk/news/labour-infighting-coventry-council-leadership-amid-division-corbyn/
That still leaves us with a big drop in the electorate though!
That said, on topic, I agree with Pulpstar. Rubio seems the big lay at the moment - he's making far too little headway in the pre-ST states and while history is not the whole story it is revealing of the natural dynamics of the campaign: you can survive a poor Iowa; it's very hard to survive a poor NH; it's nigh-on impossible to survive a poor result in both.