Dark angels from Russia. Song not bad. At least it had some sort of tune. You could imagine Russian panzers streaming towards Europe singing that song.
Anyone and everyone can get it wrong - that doesn't make them a liar but it does make them human. I think there are plenty of sticks you can throw at Boris - his time as London Mayor was unremarkable and especially on housing hugely unproductive.
Agreed. Anyone who thinks Cameron can go from it'l be OK if we leaver to it'l be WWIII on the one hand is credible but someone changing their mind on a treaty the text of which is secret shows they blow in the wind is both an odd and untenable position to take. That seems Soames position.
Dark angels from Russia. Song not bad. At least it had some sort of tune. You could imagine Russian panzers streaming towards Europe singing that song.
The_Taxman - I do not understand your point. Can you please inform us what is the source of your fixed income that you think is threatened by Brexit? Or are you in favour of LEAVE?
We will have to disagree on this. Leaving aside the opportunity cost for the moment, I think they'll be absolutely smaller in the short/medium term (2-5 years).
1. It's mostly the less well off that will vote for Brexit not the ABs. 2. They do genuinely feel immigration is keeping down their wages.
It's a fair point: for some of them it will be the truth, and for others they will consider the reduction in their wealth to be worth the reduction in immigration. My response to this is that the migration levels are driven by geopolitics/the UK government and will remain (pun!) high even after LEAVE. I had a lengthy discussion about this with Socrates, I think last year.
Some wealthy people will vote to LEAVE because they can afford the drop in wealth: a class that considers themselves bereft if they have only one dishwasher is not one to be swayed by logical argument.[1] Some poor people will vote to LEAVE as detailed above. But the squeezed middle, with mortgages and credit card bills, are entitled to consider the costs and how it will affect their lives. Calling the costs "small sums" or deprecating their patriotism is wrong.
[1] In my lighter moments I wonder if telling them their "liposuctioned plutocratic arses will look absolutely YUUUGE if they vote LEAVE" might work
While we are all watching the musical horror show, fistfights have erupted at the Nevada Democratic Convention between Hillary and Sanders supporters over the Hillary campaign trying to reduce the number of Sanders delegates.
When Soames was opining on how Churchill would vote I was thinking:
He died years ago, what he would have done doesn't matter and as he wasn't buried in Northern Ireland, he doesn't get a vote!
If I were Churchill's grandson, I cherish the fantasy I'd have done something more than shot my mouth off at every given opportunity and opined on what my grandfather would have done. Sadly for Soames the family traits end with the double chins.
Dark angels from Russia. Song not bad. At least it had some sort of tune. You could imagine Russian panzers streaming towards Europe singing that song.
I think they were T34's but get the point.
Now they've upped the ante with modern T14's - Armata.
When Soames was opining on how Churchill would vote I was thinking:
He died years ago, what he would have done doesn't matter and as he wasn't buried in Northern Ireland, he doesn't get a vote!
If I were Churchill's grandson, I cherish the fantasy I'd have done something more than shot my mouth off at every given opportunity and opined on what my grandfather would have done. Sadly for Soames the family traits end with the double chins.
I've always thought he was a boorish oaf - the more I hear from him, the more my view is confirmed.
I'm watching the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time since the early 1970s, when the songs were all bubblegum, not memorable, relentlessly 'pop' and the whole thing was kitsch and way over produced. Some things never change.
It's the middle of the afternoon here, 29 degrees C, so staying inside is a challenge.
The show is on LOGO, the network appealing to the LGBTQ set. It's not in HD, (don't know why, LOGO broadcasts in HD), and has two relentlessly gay female commentators (who obviously know nothing about the contest or its history) who talk constantly, make lots of comments about this singer being bi-sexual, sequins, double entendres, shoes and other dross.
Frankly watching it is an ordeal.
I miss the multi-lingual Katie Boyle and her "Norway - nul points." in French.
This is the choice in a nutshell. Which way will people fall? As a gloomy remainer, I think migration will trump.
Yep, I've always thought Leave would win on the back of immigration. If the government tells you there are too many immigrants, they are ruining public services, scrounging benefits and driving down wages you are going to believe them. Dave can't turn round now and say that actually it isn't true, so he's going to lose.
As I said, Dave can't resist sticking too many eggs into his "Immigrant delight" pudding.
I think REMAIN can win if the Labour Party came out flat out for REMAIN. 75% of 30% = 22.5%.
Plus Tories' 45% of 37% = 16.6%, LD's 75% of 8% = 6%. 60% of the rest [ excl. UKIP ] 60% of 12% = 7.2%.
All these fractions add up to : 22.5% + 16.6% + 6% + 7.2% = 52.3%. I am assuming 100% of the fruitcakes [ 13% ] will vote to LEAVE [ even though that never happens ]
The point REMAINS that REMAIN cannot win without Labour voters. Those Labour voters [ mostly ex ] who will vote to LEAVE have already decamped to UKIP and the SNP. That is why I am assuming only 60% in Scotland, Wales and NI.
Well I haven't, but:
"Those Labour voters [ mostly ex ] who will vote to LEAVE have already decamped to UKIP and the SNP "
The SNP ?
Yes. Most Central and Western belt Labour voters who moved over to the SNP will actually vote to LEAVE. That is why the Scottish element to vote REMAIN has been changed from 70% to 60%. The bonus is in NI where , I think, 60% voting to remain is an understatement.
For NI I have LEAVE 36% REMAIN 64%, Turnout LEAVE 50% REMAIN 60%.
110% turnout. Normal for NI.
Ha, the turnout is for each specific area! 36% of NI vote LEAVE and of that 36% only 50% of them will bother to vote.
I'm watching the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time since the early 1970s, when the songs were all bubblegum, not memorable, relentlessly 'pop' and the whole thing was kitsch and way over produced. Some things never change.
It's the middle of the afternoon here, 29 degrees C, so staying inside is a challenge.
The show is on LOGO, the network appealing to the LGBTQ set. It's not in HD, (don't know why, LOGO broadcasts in HD), and has two relentlessly gay female commentators (who obviously know nothing about the contest or its history) who talk constantly, make lots of comments about this singer being bi-sexual, sequins, double entendres, shoes and other dross.
Frankly watching it is an ordeal.
I miss the multi-lingual Katie Boyle and her "Norway - nul points." in French.
I'm just glad the fad for male ballad singers with a piano has died out. That was beyond dreary.
While we are all watching the musical horror show, fistfights have erupted at the Nevada Democratic Convention between Hillary and Sanders supporters over the Hillary campaign trying to reduce the number of Sanders delegates.
The same thing happened at the Saturday 2 April 2016: County Conventions
I think this is a very average Eurovision. I thought Austria was half decent, but Spain is the big mover in the betting. If this was the X Factor I would be suspicious of the Timberlake interview taking place in the vicinity of the girls from Spain, Austria and Bulgaria. But I suspect it's just because they are pretty girls who they wanted in shot rather than some ploy to win them votes.
Not something I'd have said, but perhaps the polling is telling Leave that it'd work. Certainly provides for much amusing debate whatever the case. Dave's WAR!!! is getting rebutted...
@kle4 was getting bored and wanted some Hitler - and here it is
I think this is a very average Eurovision. I thought Austria was half decent, but Spain is the big mover in the betting. If this was the X Factor I would be suspicious of the Timberlake interview taking place in the vicinity of the girls from Spain, Austria and Bulgaria. But I suspect it's just because they are pretty girls who they wanted in shot rather than some ploy to win them votes.
Really liked Austria - so retro and sweet, was it my imagination or did she sing in French too?
I think this is a very average Eurovision. I thought Austria was half decent, but Spain is the big mover in the betting. If this was the X Factor I would be suspicious of the Timberlake interview taking place in the vicinity of the girls from Spain, Austria and Bulgaria. But I suspect it's just because they are pretty girls who they wanted in shot rather than some ploy to win them votes.
Really liked Austria - so retro and sweet, was it my imagination or did she sing in French too?
It was. Norton said it was the first time the Austrian entry had sung in French since 1966....when they won. Watching the recap I quite liked Bulgaria too.
"Scheduled - Starting at 2PM Eastern Time on May 14th, Vanilla's hosting environment will be in a maintenance window for 6 hours. During this time, all nodes in the environment will be rebooted at least once and as a result there will be some instance downtime which will impact customer forums. We expect the actual outage period to last for approximately 45 minutes. We expect this upgrade to solve some long standing pain points for us and improve our ability to provide consistently high uptime for our customers, so we are excited to move ahead"
The EU has pretensions of being a superstate. Hitler wanted a greater Germany etc. They may have been geographically similar and the EU may not be democratic but it is hyperbole.
It's a bit like Cameron, Osbourne, Legarde et al really.
I think this is a very average Eurovision. I thought Austria was half decent, but Spain is the big mover in the betting. If this was the X Factor I would be suspicious of the Timberlake interview taking place in the vicinity of the girls from Spain, Austria and Bulgaria. But I suspect it's just because they are pretty girls who they wanted in shot rather than some ploy to win them votes.
Really liked Austria - so retro and sweet, was it my imagination or did she sing in French too?
I think this is a very average Eurovision. I thought Austria was half decent, but Spain is the big mover in the betting. If this was the X Factor I would be suspicious of the Timberlake interview taking place in the vicinity of the girls from Spain, Austria and Bulgaria. But I suspect it's just because they are pretty girls who they wanted in shot rather than some ploy to win them votes.
Really liked Austria - so retro and sweet, was it my imagination or did she sing in French too?
The EU has pretensions of being a superstate. Hitler wanted a greater Germany etc. They may have been geographically similar and the EU may not be democratic but it is hyperbole.
It's a bit like Cameron, Osbourne, Legarde et al really.
So you Leavers will be lining up to criticise Boris the way you did Dave?
I think this is a very average Eurovision. I thought Austria was half decent, but Spain is the big mover in the betting. If this was the X Factor I would be suspicious of the Timberlake interview taking place in the vicinity of the girls from Spain, Austria and Bulgaria. But I suspect it's just because they are pretty girls who they wanted in shot rather than some ploy to win them votes.
Really liked Austria - so retro and sweet, was it my imagination or did she sing in French too?
I think this is a very average Eurovision. I thought Austria was half decent, but Spain is the big mover in the betting. If this was the X Factor I would be suspicious of the Timberlake interview taking place in the vicinity of the girls from Spain, Austria and Bulgaria. But I suspect it's just because they are pretty girls who they wanted in shot rather than some ploy to win them votes.
Really liked Austria - so retro and sweet, was it my imagination or did she sing in French too?
You mean Australia. Austria is not in Europe.
Uh?
And yes, she was singing in French. Do shifting borders mean it's an official language out there?
I think this is a very average Eurovision. I thought Austria was half decent, but Spain is the big mover in the betting. If this was the X Factor I would be suspicious of the Timberlake interview taking place in the vicinity of the girls from Spain, Austria and Bulgaria. But I suspect it's just because they are pretty girls who they wanted in shot rather than some ploy to win them votes.
Really liked Austria - so retro and sweet, was it my imagination or did she sing in French too?
I think this is a very average Eurovision. I thought Austria was half decent, but Spain is the big mover in the betting. If this was the X Factor I would be suspicious of the Timberlake interview taking place in the vicinity of the girls from Spain, Austria and Bulgaria. But I suspect it's just because they are pretty girls who they wanted in shot rather than some ploy to win them votes.
Really liked Austria - so retro and sweet, was it my imagination or did she sing in French too?
You mean Australia. Austria is not in Europe.
Uh?
And yes, she was singing in French. Do shifting borders mean it's an official language out there?
The EU has pretensions of being a superstate. Hitler wanted a greater Germany etc. They may have been geographically similar and the EU may not be democratic but it is hyperbole.
It's a bit like Cameron, Osbourne, Legarde et al really.
So you Leavers will be lining up to criticise Boris the way you did Dave?
Not something I'd have said, but perhaps the polling is telling Leave that it'd work
The polling may be telling LEAVE that it'd work, but it is a ludicrously disproportionate claim, not one that somebody claiming to be an adult could make.
Remember I keep saying that Boris's reputation for intelligence is overstated?
I thought he wanted a German Reich, but not equal rights for other peoples.
Not a superstate as such. Structures were never particularly important to him, in contrast to the EU.
Protectorate of Bohemia Moravia (1938/1939) General Government (Poland - 1939) Reichskommissariat Nederland (1940) Reichskommissariat Norwegen (1940) Reichskommissariat Ostland (Baltics + Belarus - 1941) Reichskommissariat Ukraine (1941) Bezirk Bialystok (1941) Operational Zone of the Alpine foothills (Italian Tyrol - 1943) Operational Zone of the Adriatic Littoral (Slovenia, Trieste - 1943) Reichskommissariat Belgium and North France (1944).
And I need to thank Boris once again for coming along at exactly the right moment and proving me right. I said it only a few hours ago in spite of the polling on trust.
The longer the campaign goes on the more of a liability he will become. At the moment he seems pretty bulletproof but many more of these ludicrous comparisons and any benefit he has to Leave will dwindle pretty quickly.
I would have thought that any politician would have learnt long ago that any comparison of anything with Hitler in any way, good bad or indifferent, is simply a stupid thing to do.
Not something I'd have said, but perhaps the polling is telling Leave that it'd work
The polling may be telling LEAVE that it'd work, but it is a ludicrously disproportionate claim, not one that somebody claiming to be an adult could make.
Remember I keep saying that Boris's reputation for intelligence is overstated?
To be fair we haven't read the article so don't know how the headline came about. Clearly the EU wants to be a superstate. However it isn't going to be like Hitler's reich and getting caught in that meme is not only daft but quite unhelpful.
The EU has pretensions of being a superstate. Hitler wanted a greater Germany etc. They may have been geographically similar and the EU may not be democratic but it is hyperbole.
It's a bit like Cameron, Osbourne, Legarde et al really.
When Soames was opining on how Churchill would vote I was thinking:
He died years ago, what he would have done doesn't matter and as he wasn't buried in Northern Ireland, he doesn't get a vote!
If I were Churchill's grandson, I cherish the fantasy I'd have done something more than shot my mouth off at every given opportunity and opined on what my grandfather would have done. Sadly for Soames the family traits end with the double chins.
I've always thought he was a boorish oaf - the more I hear from him, the more my view is confirmed.
I have met him several times and he can be an arrogant shit, especially if he doesn't get exactly what he wants delivered exactly the way he wants it. He can also be the most charming and gracious fellow you could ever wish to meet, and he has a wicked sense of humour. As an MP he is top notch - he knows how to get things done in Whitehall and uses that knowledge to help his constituents. When he takes an interest in something then, e.g. a certain University's Army Cadet scheme, he really takes an interest. He is certainly not stupid and he doesn't stand on ceremony (once when Tony Blair was PM Soames collared him a corridor in Parliament literally backed him against the wall and standing just a few inches away told Blair exactly why he was wrong about the army's needs in Afghanistan).
So no, I don't think he is a boorish oaf at all. Not someone I'd care to invite for dinner or an evening's bridge, but someone I'd vote for.
They've totally played up the gay angle so well with the oiled up drummers, and that girl licking the butter plunger! And the grannies - I remember them. The whole thing had me crying with laughter
There must be a good chance that next year's Eurovision will be held in the UK, France or Spain - three big contributors who have not hosted it recently.
That's the problem with "The thick of it" if you're in politics. You do something stupid, and Malcolm Tucker has seen something like it and put it down....
Comments
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3590299/The-naked-pictures-past-Russian-ex-gymnast-favourite-storm-Eurovision-Song-Contest-glory-tonight.html
Agreed. Anyone who thinks Cameron can go from it'l be OK if we leaver to it'l be WWIII on the one hand is credible but someone changing their mind on a treaty the text of which is secret shows they blow in the wind is both an odd and untenable position to take. That seems Soames position.
He died years ago, what he would have done doesn't matter and as he wasn't buried in Northern Ireland, he doesn't get a vote!
Some wealthy people will vote to LEAVE because they can afford the drop in wealth: a class that considers themselves bereft if they have only one dishwasher is not one to be swayed by logical argument.[1] Some poor people will vote to LEAVE as detailed above. But the squeezed middle, with mortgages and credit card bills, are entitled to consider the costs and how it will affect their lives. Calling the costs "small sums" or deprecating their patriotism is wrong.
[1] In my lighter moments I wonder if telling them their "liposuctioned plutocratic arses will look absolutely YUUUGE if they vote LEAVE" might work
I don't care whether Boris is parsimonious with the truth
I only care whether he agrees with me.
Ummmm
It's the middle of the afternoon here, 29 degrees C, so staying inside is a challenge.
The show is on LOGO, the network appealing to the LGBTQ set. It's not in HD, (don't know why, LOGO broadcasts in HD), and has two relentlessly gay female commentators (who obviously know nothing about the contest or its history) who talk constantly, make lots of comments about this singer being bi-sexual, sequins, double entendres, shoes and other dross.
Frankly watching it is an ordeal.
I miss the multi-lingual Katie Boyle and her "Norway - nul points." in French.
I was betting blind on this Eurovision - If there's any justice, Spain should win it.
I've reversed my lays on spain top 3/4/5/10 and had a small punt on them to win at 59/1
Pity I missed the 250/1 e/w
Oh dear.... Malta has a pitch invasion
https://twitter.com/TSEofPB/status/731588644474114050
Are you suggesting the EU don't want a superstate?
Believe in BRITAIN!
Be LEAVE!
https://twitter.com/MSmithsonPB/status/731593664875642881
I thought he wanted a German Reich, but not equal rights for other peoples.
'What is it about ex London Mayors that make them talk bollocks about Hitler?'
Murray looks to have a good chance tomorrow afternoon for once.
@kle4 was getting bored and wanted some Hitler - and here it is
https://twitter.com/PickardJE/status/731587737778847744
"Scheduled - Starting at 2PM Eastern Time on May 14th, Vanilla's hosting environment will be in a maintenance window for 6 hours. During this time, all nodes in the environment will be rebooted at least once and as a result there will be some instance downtime which will impact customer forums. We expect the actual outage period to last for approximately 45 minutes. We expect this upgrade to solve some long standing pain points for us and improve our ability to provide consistently high uptime for our customers, so we are excited to move ahead"
http://status.vanillaforums.com/
It's a bit like Cameron, Osbourne, Legarde et al really.
And yes, she was singing in French. Do shifting borders mean it's an official language out there?
Remember I keep saying that Boris's reputation for intelligence is overstated?
General Government (Poland - 1939)
Reichskommissariat Nederland (1940)
Reichskommissariat Norwegen (1940)
Reichskommissariat Ostland (Baltics + Belarus - 1941)
Reichskommissariat Ukraine (1941)
Bezirk Bialystok (1941)
Operational Zone of the Alpine foothills (Italian Tyrol - 1943)
Operational Zone of the Adriatic Littoral (Slovenia, Trieste - 1943)
Reichskommissariat Belgium and North France (1944).
The longer the campaign goes on the more of a liability he will become. At the moment he seems pretty bulletproof but many more of these ludicrous comparisons and any benefit he has to Leave will dwindle pretty quickly.
I would have thought that any politician would have learnt long ago that any comparison of anything with Hitler in any way, good bad or indifferent, is simply a stupid thing to do.
So no, I don't think he is a boorish oaf at all. Not someone I'd care to invite for dinner or an evening's bridge, but someone I'd vote for.