At least there will be some people to boo mercilessly at the opening ceremony. Quite cowardly from the IOC, given the evidence, though.
The nicest thing I can think of to say about the IOC is that they're slightly less corrupt than FIFA.
Which Remainer was it that had that zinger during the campaign ? When asked why they wanted to remain in " the world's most corrupt organisation " they replied " I'm not campaigning to remain in FIFA ".
Miss Plato, they can repeal the Act with a simple majority, rather than keep the act and meet the two-thirds needed for an election under its terms, as I understand it.
Yes - but that would probably not get through the Lords who are unlikely to agree to constitutional changes sought for party advantage that were not in the governing party's manifesto.
I volunteer to be a Conservative peer. I live to serve etc.
Happy to join you on the red benches Mr M.
More seriously, however, the implied threat of flooding the HoL with lots of new members (or, perhaps more cannily, threatening to reform it and remove a load of members) would see the FTPA repealed very swiftly.
In the words of Corporal Jones....
I very much doubt that, and cannot imagine May operating that way. It would also reak of sharp practice and lead to accusations of political corruption etc. The political class has more than enough problems with its social standing without seeking to add to it.
How would threatening to reform the HoL be sharp practice? It needs reforming
In what way I for one am not certain, and neither are most people it seems, but given we are about to Brexit, reforming other issues concurrently would seem an appropriate time.
At least there will be some people to boo mercilessly at the opening ceremony. Quite cowardly from the IOC, given the evidence, though.
The rest of the world should refuse to compete against any Russian athlete or team.
Nah, they'll be all 'These athletes are clean, shouldn't punish them for years and years and years of organised cheating by their country'.
Bet this decision won't stop the Russians crying foul though.
I'm torn. It's unfair to penalise clean athletes who've trained overseas/been tested there for ages vs the rest. .
I don't think it is unfair. You compete under a specific banner, you suffer from the consequences of that if necessary. These days you can even choose your country if it is a problem, and I don't believe they would not have been aware of what was going on, even if they chose not to participate.
At least there will be some people to boo mercilessly at the opening ceremony. Quite cowardly from the IOC, given the evidence, though.
The rest of the world should refuse to compete against any Russian athlete or team.
Nah, they'll be all 'These athletes are clean, shouldn't punish them for years and years and years of organised cheating by their country'.
Bet this decision won't stop the Russians crying foul though.
I'm torn. It's unfair to penalise clean athletes who've trained overseas/been tested there for ages vs the rest.
I'm of an appropriate vintage to recall Moscow/Los Angeles where hundreds of competitors didn't contest because of boycotts - nationality wide. It undermined the value of the medals won.
Apparently only two Russian athletes were outside the system and are able to conpete as individuals. It is to be hoped that sports now, individually, ban them. Regarding LA, taking out the Eastern bloc probably made the medals more representative than less. Moscow, clearly has zero credibility.
I'm not convinced by the scenario Joff (ugh, knowing people's real names, it's just not right) outlines, but the idea that it would be beneficial for both the Tories and, in the long term, Labour, for May to call a GE and win handsomely, is kind of funny.
I'm not sure she'll want to though. Granted, dissent in particular on the right is inevitable if she goes for anything less than the most hard core of Brexits, but I just don't get the sense any of them want to chance a GE, nor that Labour MPs would help them call it.
It's been a few years since I was at a PB drinks do, but the funniest bit was we all called each other by our screen names. I met 37 others - being a PR networking saddo, I made a little list on the way home on the train
My regret is I did not pick my usual cool username when creating a vanilla account so am stuck with this nonsense.
I remain impressed that there are three others called kle1, kle2 and kle3 before you.
I was aware of kle3 afterwards, but the amazing thing is I didn't pick kle4 because the other three were used up, it was the first one I tried in fact.
I wanted DedicatedFenceSitter, but c'est la vie
@TheWhiteRabbit used to be called @Grandiose - you could ask @rcs1000 to change yours or just create a new account with another email address and tell us. I rely on my identity across a dozen platforms - funnily enough, someone well known on Twitter asked me if I was me on PB just yesterday.
When you've been an online saddo for this long, it does help other saddos to spot each other
I'm not convinced by the scenario Joff (ugh, knowing people's real names, it's just not right) outlines, but the idea that it would be beneficial for both the Tories and, in the long term, Labour, for May to call a GE and win handsomely, is kind of funny.
I'm not sure she'll want to though. Granted, dissent in particular on the right is inevitable if she goes for anything less than the most hard core of Brexits, but I just don't get the sense any of them want to chance a GE, nor that Labour MPs would help them call it.
It's been a few years since I was at a PB drinks do, but the funniest bit was we all called each other by our screen names. I met 37 others - being a PR networking saddo, I made a little list on the way home on the train
My regret is I did not pick my usual cool username when creating a vanilla account so am stuck with this nonsense.
I remain impressed that there are three others called kle1, kle2 and kle3 before you.
I was aware of kle3 afterwards, but the amazing thing is I didn't pick kle4 because the other three were used up, it was the first one I tried in fact.
I wanted DedicatedFenceSitter, but c'est la vie
As a well known politician once wrote of a fellow Cabinet Member:
He sat upon the fence so long That everything fell out And true, and false, and right, and wrong Were scrambled into doubt
At least there will be some people to boo mercilessly at the opening ceremony. Quite cowardly from the IOC, given the evidence, though.
The nicest thing I can think of to say about the IOC is that they're slightly less corrupt than FIFA.
Which Remainer was it that had that zinger during the campaign ? When asked why they wanted to remain in " the world's most corrupt organisation " they replied " I'm not campaigning to remain in FIFA ".
At least there will be some people to boo mercilessly at the opening ceremony. Quite cowardly from the IOC, given the evidence, though.
Interesting bit will be the reaction if any of them win gold, or any medal for that matter. The other athletes will always wonder if this is drug aided. Given that clean athletes train for years to even take part let alone finally win a medal it's entirely understandable.
Speaking as an amateur from the recentish past - one can gain an enormous amount of muscle using supplements banned by the IOC, and stop using them in time to avoid detection. I wasn't attempting to match any of them - but the whole sports/gym world is awash with advantage gaining stuff = and when you're after a teeny-weeny edge, it could be the clincher.
We can't escape the fact that the post Brexit relationship with the EU could be anything between 0% and 99% of what we have now. None of those 99 different options have any democratic mandate and are going to upset loads of people who will scream betrayal. May is clearly a class act but Lincoln or Gandhi wouldn't be able to pull this off with a majority of 12 newly empowered nutters. She'll need to go to the country before 2020.
Out of curiosity - did you buy a vote for Labour? Your Kendall avatar took me my surprise - thought you were a LD.
I left the Lib Dems in 2012. I keep the YelliwSubmarine name for continuity purposes. The new avatar is Liz Kendal but the now trounced leadership candidate is grinning and winking. Perhaps I was being too subtle.
The total political landscape is in flux - I'm a TINO/NOTA right now. Pissed off not having a vote in the leadership election/feel May is Ted Meets EdM. Rudd announcing bigger sentences for racism made me wince. It's more Noo Labour. What about FGM? Or loads of other more pernicious stuff?
I gave £20 to Woolfe's leadership campaign in the hope he'd shake up Labour in the North.
I agree ! It's so liberating. Since I left the Lib Dems I've voted for Independent, Lib Dem, Green and - a life time first - a Conservative Candidate. I've donated to specific campaigns for Greens, Plaid, Yorkshire First and the Pirate Party.
I gave far more to BSE and Better Together than I would have been able to as a party member.
Another lifetime first was being able to work for a personal friend and exceptional council candidate. She stood and won for Labour.
Political parties are a *good* thing and completely necessary. But after so long in one being able to take a broader view is liberating.
Ha! My inner shaker-up has been released too. Although I like to be loyal once I've chosen a side, I'm a natural Why, rather than Why Not? sort.
I wonder how many of us there are - particularly those who didn't bother to vote for 20yrs or defied what their Party leaders said?
It's a very exciting time to be involved with politics and so different to 2001 when it was set in stone.
At least there will be some people to boo mercilessly at the opening ceremony. Quite cowardly from the IOC, given the evidence, though.
The rest of the world should refuse to compete against any Russian athlete or team.
Nah, they'll be all 'These athletes are clean, shouldn't punish them for years and years and years of organised cheating by their country'.
Bet this decision won't stop the Russians crying foul though.
I'm torn. It's unfair to penalise clean athletes who've trained overseas/been tested there for ages vs the rest. .
I don't think it is unfair. You compete under a specific banner, you suffer from the consequences of that if necessary. These days you can even choose your country if it is a problem, and I don't believe they would not have been aware of what was going on, even if they chose not to participate.
A load of Russians could apply like Zola Budd to compete for Country XYZ.
Zola was never one of ours though. A paper tiger of a medal.
For those as young as I wish I was
"The Daily Mail, a British tabloid newspaper, persuaded Budd's father to encourage her to apply for British citizenship, on the grounds that her grandfather was British, to circumvent the international sporting boycott of South Africa, so that she could compete in the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. With a strong push from the Daily Mail, British citizenship was granted in short order and she moved to Guildford. Her application and arrival was controversial due to her acquiring a passport under preferential circumstances. Groups supporting the abolition of apartheid campaigned vociferously and effectively to highlight the special treatment she received; other applicants had to wait sometimes years to be granted citizenship, if at all."
At least there will be some people to boo mercilessly at the opening ceremony. Quite cowardly from the IOC, given the evidence, though.
The rest of the world should refuse to compete against any Russian athlete or team.
Nah, they'll be all 'These athletes are clean, shouldn't punish them for years and years and years of organised cheating by their country'.
Bet this decision won't stop the Russians crying foul though.
I'm torn. It's unfair to penalise clean athletes who've trained overseas/been tested there for ages vs the rest.
I'm of an appropriate vintage to recall Moscow/Los Angeles where hundreds of competitors didn't contest because of boycotts - nationality wide. It undermined the value of the medals won.
Apparently only two Russian athletes were outside the system and are able to conpete as individuals. It is to be hoped that sports now, individually, ban them. Regarding LA, taking out the Eastern bloc probably made the medals more representative than less. Moscow, clearly has zero credibility.
At least there will be some people to boo mercilessly at the opening ceremony. Quite cowardly from the IOC, given the evidence, though.
The rest of the world should refuse to compete against any Russian athlete or team.
Nah, they'll be all 'These athletes are clean, shouldn't punish them for years and years and years of organised cheating by their country'.
Bet this decision won't stop the Russians crying foul though.
I'm torn. It's unfair to penalise clean athletes who've trained overseas/been tested there for ages vs the rest.
I'm of an appropriate vintage to recall Moscow/Los Angeles where hundreds of competitors didn't contest because of boycotts - nationality wide. It undermined the value of the medals won.
Apparently only two Russian athletes were outside the system and are able to conpete as individuals. It is to be hoped that sports now, individually, ban them. Regarding LA, taking out the Eastern bloc probably made the medals more representative than less. Moscow, clearly has zero credibility.
Just wondering if the bad PR for Jezbollah might harm his prospects.
You have clearly not wandered amongst the Faithful as I have, Mr Dancer. There is no bad PR. There is only a media conspiracy against the Blessed Leader, orchestrated by Zionists, MI5 and for all I know, the Lizard People.
Miss Plato, they can repeal the Act with a simple majority, rather than keep the act and meet the two-thirds needed for an election under its terms, as I understand it.
Yes - but that would probably not get through the Lords who are unlikely to agree to constitutional changes sought for party advantage that were not in the governing party's manifesto.
I volunteer to be a Conservative peer. I live to serve etc.
Happy to join you on the red benches Mr M.
More seriously, however, the implied threat of flooding the HoL with lots of new members (or, perhaps more cannily, threatening to reform it and remove a load of members) would see the FTPA repealed very swiftly.
In the words of Corporal Jones....
I very much doubt that, and cannot imagine May operating that way. It would also reak of sharp practice and lead to accusations of political corruption etc. The political class has more than enough problems with its social standing without seeking to add to it.
How would threatening to reform the HoL be sharp practice? It needs reforming
I am referring to trying to repeal the FTA for reasons of opportunism or party advantage!
But we were told all of this was totally impossible....if Cameron had just got this deal to start with, we wouldn't have Brexit'ed.
Impossible within the EU. Not clear yet if it's possible - this is just a few UK diplomatic sources, apparently not European officials, let alone someone in the Commons who would know if it could pass.
Miss Plato, they can repeal the Act with a simple majority, rather than keep the act and meet the two-thirds needed for an election under its terms, as I understand it.
Yes - but that would probably not get through the Lords who are unlikely to agree to constitutional changes sought for party advantage that were not in the governing party's manifesto.
I volunteer to be a Conservative peer. I live to serve etc.
Happy to join you on the red benches Mr M.
More seriously, however, the implied threat of flooding the HoL with lots of new members (or, perhaps more cannily, threatening to reform it and remove a load of members) would see the FTPA repealed very swiftly.
In the words of Corporal Jones....
I very much doubt that, and cannot imagine May operating that way. It would also reak of sharp practice and lead to accusations of political corruption etc. The political class has more than enough problems with its social standing without seeking to add to it.
How would threatening to reform the HoL be sharp practice? It needs reforming
I am referring to trying to repeal the FTA for reasons of opportunism or party advantage!
Opportunistic party advantage sounds like a fantastic reason to repeal the FTPA. Lords is far too full of opposition placemen. Time to set that right. We need a couple of hundred Tory peers for starters.
At least there will be some people to boo mercilessly at the opening ceremony. Quite cowardly from the IOC, given the evidence, though.
The rest of the world should refuse to compete against any Russian athlete or team.
Nah, they'll be all 'These athletes are clean, shouldn't punish them for years and years and years of organised cheating by their country'.
Bet this decision won't stop the Russians crying foul though.
I'm torn. It's unfair to penalise clean athletes who've trained overseas/been tested there for ages vs the rest.
I'm of an appropriate vintage to recall Moscow/Los Angeles where hundreds of competitors didn't contest because of boycotts - nationality wide. It undermined the value of the medals won.
Apparently only two Russian athletes were outside the system and are able to conpete as individuals. It is to be hoped that sports now, individually, ban them. Regarding LA, taking out the Eastern bloc probably made the medals more representative than less. Moscow, clearly has zero credibility.
What the DDR did to their athletes was beyond appalling. Growing up in the 70s - I thought all Eastern European women were built like that because they toiled in fields/ploughed with horses.
But we were told all of this was totally impossible....if Cameron had just got this deal to start with, we wouldn't have Brexit'ed.
Impossible within the EU. Not clear yet if it's possible - this is just a few UK diplomatic sources, apparently not European officials, let alone someone in the Commons who would know if it could pass.
It was reported in the Guardian this morning. Just a motley few Dutch and Italian types musing about it.
But we were told all of this was totally impossible....if Cameron had just got this deal to start with, we wouldn't have Brexit'ed.
We wouldn't have got this deal if we hadnt brexited. Cameron was screwed because the EU hierarchy couldn't believe that we'd vote for out, so they could take the piss.
But we were told all of this was totally impossible....if Cameron had just got this deal to start with, we wouldn't have Brexit'ed.
A steady trickle of EU goodies will no doubt try to undermine the British peoples' vote. If they carry on dismantling themselves to accommodate us then in a few years we will probably want to settle. A certain schadenfreude in the meantime though!
But we were told all of this was totally impossible....if Cameron had just got this deal to start with, we wouldn't have Brexit'ed.
Impossible within the EU. Not clear yet if it's possible - this is just a few UK diplomatic sources, apparently not European officials, let alone someone in the Commons who would know if it could pass.
Once it becomes possible within the EEA, it surely becomes possible to contemplate within the EU too.
If we now start to see the sort of fundamental negotiation that some people thought they were getting from Cameron in the first place it will be a complete vindication of Boris Johnson's original position and also provide a basis on which a second referendum would be politically viable.
We can't escape the fact that the post Brexit relationship with the EU could be anything between 0% and 99% of what we have now. None of those 99 different options have any democratic mandate and are going to upset loads of people who will scream betrayal. May is clearly a class act but Lincoln or Gandhi wouldn't be able to pull this off with a majority of 12 newly empowered nutters. She'll need to go to the country before 2020.
Out of curiosity - did you buy a vote for Labour? Your Kendall avatar took me my surprise - thought you were a LD.
I left the Lib Dems in 2012. I keep the YelliwSubmarine name for continuity purposes. The new avatar is Liz Kendal but the now trounced leadership candidate is grinning and winking. Perhaps I was being too subtle.
The total political landscape is in flux - I'm a TINO/NOTA right now. Pissed off not having a vote in the leadership election/feel May is Ted Meets EdM. Rudd announcing bigger sentences for racism made me wince. It's more Noo Labour. What about FGM? Or loads of other more pernicious stuff?
I gave £20 to Woolfe's leadership campaign in the hope he'd shake up Labour in the North.
I agree ! It's so liberating. Since I left the Lib Dems I've voted for Independent, Lib Dem, Green and - a life time first - a Conservative Candidate. I've donated to specific campaigns for Greens, Plaid, Yorkshire First and the Pirate Party.
I gave far more to BSE and Better Together than I would have been able to as a party member.
Another lifetime first was being able to work for a personal friend and exceptional council candidate. She stood and won for Labour.
Political parties are a *good* thing and completely necessary. But after so long in one being able to take a broader view is liberating.
Hi Yellow, can I ask when and why did u vote for the tory?
Reading the thread header I can quite see May calling a snap GE in early October.
From now until September is the "holiday season", and the conference season follows on fast, so October is the earliest and safest date she could choose.
Just wondering if the bad PR for Jezbollah might harm his prospects.
You have clearly not wandered amongst the Faithful as I have, Mr Dancer. There is no bad PR. There is only a media conspiracy against the Blessed Leader, orchestrated by Zionists, MI5 and for all I know, the Lizard People.
I've heard of these Lizard People: they can get very stroppy.
Why do machetes that aren't actually machetes always cited?
They're a very specific form of weapon. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machete - they're a tool like many others designed to chop down jungle growth.
We never hear of cutlasses [they have a cupped hand protector] or pangas or whatever.
Sounds better than 'big knife'.
I love how the flag of Angola has a half cog wheel and machete rather than a hammer and sickle.
I actually have a machete. Comes in useful walking the dogs in the back field this time of year. Have to make sure no pups are in my immediate vicinity when I swing it though...
Nothing on main news channels. PB always first as was discussed yesterday.
Being reported on RT.
I find it very depressing that when I want to see what's going on - I look at Twitter, then RT/Al Jaz/local country feeds TV/Sky - I never watch the BBC.
The BBC is obsessed with wrapping their viewers in cottonwool lest they actually notice what's going on...
Nothing on main news channels. PB always first as was discussed yesterday.
Being reported on RT.
Got it 1 dead 2 injured at the moment. Photo of the perp arrested and on the ground. Yup looks like your typical German .........so long as it's a Middle East German.
"The perpetrator was acting alone, police said, adding that there is no evidence suggesting that he had any accomplices."
That was quick to rule that out or are we seeing another "Nothing to see here move along." Scenario.
Reading the thread header I can quite see May calling a snap GE in early October.
From now until September is the "holiday season", and the conference season follows on fast, so October is the earliest and safest date she could choose.
May wont call an autumn election. She said she wouldn't and so that's the end of it imho.
Reading the thread header I can quite see May calling a snap GE in early October.
From now until September is the "holiday season", and the conference season follows on fast, so October is the earliest and safest date she could choose.
May wont call an autumn election. She said she wouldn't and so that's the end of it imho.
Nothing on main news channels. PB always first as was discussed yesterday.
Being reported on RT.
Got it 1 dead 2 injured at the moment. Photo of the perp arrested and on the ground. Yup looks like your typical German .........so long as it's a Middle East German.
"The perpetrator was acting alone, police said, adding that there is no evidence suggesting that he had any accomplices."
That was quick to rule that out or are we seeing another "Nothing to see here move along." Scenario.
Personally speaking - I find this epidemic of Lone Wolf attacks enormously reassuring in terms of public safety
Trump really is just beyond satire. Having rallied against the elite and powerful and the financiers and lobbyists of Wall Street on Thursday, he spends the weekend planning his cabinet... and considers bringing in:
"...former Goldman Sachs executive Steve Mnuchin as a possible choice to head the Treasury Department, a development first reported by Fortune. Mnuchin serves as the national finance chairman of his campaign."
“If we’re going to have the biggest deals in the world, which are trade deals, why not have the best guys negotiate this? Why not have the Carl Icahns or the top guys of Wall Street?”
Reading the thread header I can quite see May calling a snap GE in early October.
From now until September is the "holiday season", and the conference season follows on fast, so October is the earliest and safest date she could choose.
May wont call an autumn election. She said she wouldn't and so that's the end of it imho.
Let the betting begin!
Currently 8/1 on betfair.
I'm laying off betting for a while, having won a stack on May becoming PM and having actual need of the money back in the real world :-)
But we were told all of this was totally impossible....if Cameron had just got this deal to start with, we wouldn't have Brexit'ed.
Impossible within the EU. Not clear yet if it's possible - this is just a few UK diplomatic sources, apparently not European officials, let alone someone in the Commons who would know if it could pass.
Once it becomes possible within the EEA, it surely becomes possible to contemplate within the EU too.
If we now start to see the sort of fundamental negotiation that some people thought they were getting from Cameron in the first place it will be a complete vindication of Boris Johnson's original position and also provide a basis on which a second referendum would be politically viable.
I wouldn't read too much into the Guardian article suggesting that the Single Market will be offered with a time limited immediately available derogation on freedom of movement. British officials who talk approvingly of this are working towards this outcome. Otherwise you have a Dutch politician in favour who is influential in the ruling party and an Italian Eurocrat whose political clout in Italy isn't clear. The actual deal will be negotiated down once all the parties are involved and will certainly not be so straightforward. Say the UK is offered a hypothetical derogation and full access to the Single Market for as long as it doesn't use it, would the UK government accept that? And if not, would the EU side be minded to up their offer. Or would they say, fine, we offered you the option but you decided not to take it
Miss Plato, that's unfair. I rather liked Lone Wolf gamebooks growing up, and he only ever attacked the Darklords of Helgedad[sp] and other such rotters.
Our SO doesn't appear to have considered the possibility that Corbyn wins, then changes the leadership/nomination rules?
Without doubt that is what he will do.
SO was reasonably confident the NEC's makeup wouldn't make that easy.
Yes I read that. Won't stop him trying and we should never underestimate Jez and his followers.
I completely agree. Ed Miliband was clearly a Trekkie. He decided to enter the Labour party into its very own Kobayashi Maru - with a little help from 35 slow-of-thought MPs.
Whats sad about the situation in Germany is that once it kicked off it wasn't going to be a one off with a long gap.
The German security services have fears of both something bigger and of a pace of incidents. The political pressure on all the German counter terror authorities sitting in the central coordination office in Berlin is immense to play shit down. Apart from the 440-odd individuals of active note in Germany, there is an estimation of around 38 individuals who came into Europe via that the recent open doors policy announced by Merkel. Thats not to say they are all in Germany but thats the kind of numbers identified that came in as asylum seekers who may not be merely fleeing a warzone.
Politically, however if the German people can't trust what they are being told then they are going to draw their own conclusions.
Whats sad about the situation in Germany is that once it kicked off it wasn't going to be a one off with a long gap.
The German security services have fears of both something bigger and of a pace of incidents. The political pressure on all the German counter terror authorities sitting in the central coordination office in Berlin is immense to play shit down. Apart from the 440-odd individuals of active note in Germany, there is an estimation of around 38 individuals who came into Europe via that the recent open doors policy announced by Merkel. Thats not to say they are all in Germany but thats the kind of numbers identified that came in as asylum seekers who may not be merely fleeing a warzone.
Politically, however if the German people can't trust what they are being told then they are going to draw their own conclusions.
How many more of these can Merkel politically survive. I do notice that these attacks appear to be happening mainly in the south of the country ( at the moment)
Our SO doesn't appear to have considered the possibility that Corbyn wins, then changes the leadership/nomination rules?
Without doubt that is what he will do.
SO was reasonably confident the NEC's makeup wouldn't make that easy.
The members to be elected will be 5 hardcore Corbynistas, and Ann Black - who could go both ways on decision.
They won't decide this year's conference agenda, so earliest mandatory reselection could be considered by conference is 2018. However, CLP has six out of 33 NEC seats. Unite has 3, I think. Corbyn has one. He needs at least seven more on top. It's not guaranteed.
We can't escape the fact that the post Brexit relationship with the EU could be anything between 0% and 99% of what we have now. None of those 99 different options have any democratic mandate and are going to upset loads of people who will scream betrayal. May is clearly a class act but Lincoln or Gandhi wouldn't be able to pull this off with a majority of 12 newly empowered nutters. She'll need to go to the country before 2020.
Out of curiosity - did you buy a vote for Labour? Your Kendall avatar took me my surprise - thought you were a LD.
I left the Lib Dems in 2012. I keep the YelliwSubmarine name for continuity purposes. The new avatar is Liz Kendal but the now trounced leadership candidate is grinning and winking. Perhaps I was being too subtle.
The total political landscape is in flux - I'm a TINO/NOTA right now. Pissed off not having a vote in the leadership election/feel May is Ted Meets EdM. Rudd announcing bigger sentences for racism made me wince. It's more Noo Labour. What about FGM? Or loads of other more pernicious stuff?
I gave £20 to Woolfe's leadership campaign in the hope he'd shake up Labour in the North.
I agree ! It's so liberating. Since I left the Lib Dems I've voted for Independent, Lib Dem, Green and - a life time first - a Conservative Candidate. I've donated to specific campaigns for Greens, Plaid, Yorkshire First and the Pirate Party.
I gave far more to BSE and Better Together than I would have been able to as a party member.
Another lifetime first was being able to work for a personal friend and exceptional council candidate. She stood and won for Labour.
Political parties are a *good* thing and completely necessary. But after so long in one being able to take a broader view is liberating.
Hi Yellow, can I ask when and why did u vote for the tory?
Whats sad about the situation in Germany is that once it kicked off it wasn't going to be a one off with a long gap.
The German security services have fears of both something bigger and of a pace of incidents. The political pressure on all the German counter terror authorities sitting in the central coordination office in Berlin is immense to play shit down. Apart from the 440-odd individuals of active note in Germany, there is an estimation of around 38 individuals who came into Europe via that the recent open doors policy announced by Merkel. Thats not to say they are all in Germany but thats the kind of numbers identified that came in as asylum seekers who may not be merely fleeing a warzone.
Politically, however if the German people can't trust what they are being told then they are going to draw their own conclusions.
How many more of these can Merkel politically survive. I do notice that these attacks appear to be happening mainly in the south of the country ( at the moment)
We have to try and keep a sense of perspective. 925k Germans died in 2015.
May has nothing to gain from a GE now. It'd always be seen as a cut-and-run while Labour are in turmoil. She should wait until 2020 if at all possible. IDS and co will swiftly find that there's no appetite at all to rock the boat for a while.
The BBC (and others) are on a long slow decline. "Russia escape total Rio Olympics ban" is their current leader. I think there's quite a lot wrong with that phrasing.
Whats sad about the situation in Germany is that once it kicked off it wasn't going to be a one off with a long gap.
The German security services have fears of both something bigger and of a pace of incidents. The political pressure on all the German counter terror authorities sitting in the central coordination office in Berlin is immense to play shit down. Apart from the 440-odd individuals of active note in Germany, there is an estimation of around 38 individuals who came into Europe via that the recent open doors policy announced by Merkel. Thats not to say they are all in Germany but thats the kind of numbers identified that came in as asylum seekers who may not be merely fleeing a warzone.
Politically, however if the German people can't trust what they are being told then they are going to draw their own conclusions.
How many more of these can Merkel politically survive. I do notice that these attacks appear to be happening mainly in the south of the country ( at the moment)
Loads, until there is a spectacular in Berlin. The siteing of attacks may just be coincidence or may point to something about where possible perpetrators may be settling, their timing in entering the country and so on, I think the German states have fairly even spread of take ins based on overall scale of refugee reception centres.
Comments
When you've been an online saddo for this long, it does help other saddos to spot each other
jokes.
England bat again.
Hales still in so far.
He sat upon the fence so long
That everything fell out
And true, and false, and right, and wrong
Were scrambled into doubt
I wonder how many of us there are - particularly those who didn't bother to vote for 20yrs or defied what their Party leaders said?
It's a very exciting time to be involved with politics and so different to 2001 when it was set in stone.
Zola was never one of ours though. A paper tiger of a medal.
For those as young as I wish I was
"The Daily Mail, a British tabloid newspaper, persuaded Budd's father to encourage her to apply for British citizenship, on the grounds that her grandfather was British, to circumvent the international sporting boycott of South Africa, so that she could compete in the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. With a strong push from the Daily Mail, British citizenship was granted in short order and she moved to Guildford. Her application and arrival was controversial due to her acquiring a passport under preferential circumstances. Groups supporting the abolition of apartheid campaigned vociferously and effectively to highlight the special treatment she received; other applicants had to wait sometimes years to be granted citizenship, if at all."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zola_Budd
Just wondering if the bad PR for Jezbollah might harm his prospects.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andreas_Krieger
Entirely agree on Cameron's arrogance and complacency, however.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/2016/07/24/oliver-reed-saddam-hussein-and-the-true-story-of-the-worlds-most/ IIRC its mid/late August - so a month before conference.
It's just such a mind-bending abuse of power.
http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2016/07/alan-cumming-brexit-stupid-english-people/
If we now start to see the sort of fundamental negotiation that some people thought they were getting from Cameron in the first place it will be a complete vindication of Boris Johnson's original position and also provide a basis on which a second referendum would be politically viable.
Why do machetes that aren't actually machetes always cited?
They're a very specific form of weapon. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machete - they're a tool like many others designed to chop down jungle growth.
We never hear of cutlasses [they have a cupped hand protector] or pangas or whatever.
Lack of knowledge or research.
Reading the thread header I can quite see May calling a snap GE in early October.
From now until September is the "holiday season", and the conference season follows on fast,
so October is the earliest and safest date she could choose.
I guess machete *sounds* really macho and bloody/cannibal.
I actually have a machete. Comes in useful walking the dogs in the back field this time of year. Have to make sure no pups are in my immediate vicinity when I swing it though...
The BBC is obsessed with wrapping their viewers in cottonwool lest they actually notice what's going on...
1 dead 2 injured at the moment. Photo of the perp arrested and on the ground. Yup looks like your typical German .........so long as it's a Middle East German.
"The perpetrator was acting alone, police said, adding that there is no evidence suggesting that he had any accomplices."
That was quick to rule that out or are we seeing another "Nothing to see here move along." Scenario.
https://twitter.com/MichaelCholbi/status/756928606706688000
"...former Goldman Sachs executive Steve Mnuchin as a possible choice to head the Treasury Department, a development first reported by Fortune. Mnuchin serves as the national finance chairman of his campaign."
“If we’re going to have the biggest deals in the world, which are trade deals, why not have the best guys negotiate this? Why not have the Carl Icahns or the top guys of Wall Street?”
http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/288817-trump-starts-considering-cabinet
What's your Twitter name? Always happy to follow a fellow PBer - send me a VM if you prefer.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CoJFKaFWAAAcfT8?format=pjpg&name=large
I'm laying off betting for a while, having won a stack on May becoming PM and having actual need of the money back in the real world :-)
This is a knife - from a much gentler time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01NHcTM5IA4
The German security services have fears of both something bigger and of a pace of incidents. The political pressure on all the German counter terror authorities sitting in the central coordination office in Berlin is immense to play shit down. Apart from the 440-odd individuals of active note in Germany, there is an estimation of around 38 individuals who came into Europe via that the recent open doors policy announced by Merkel. Thats not to say they are all in Germany but thats the kind of numbers identified that came in as asylum seekers who may not be merely fleeing a warzone.
Politically, however if the German people can't trust what they are being told then they are going to draw their own conclusions.
Did many of them win :-))) ?
Terrorist brought a knife to a car fight.
Sky news
"The man has been arrested and was apparently acting alone, with police saying there is no evidence pointing to terrorism"
The BBC (and others) are on a long slow decline. "Russia escape total Rio Olympics ban" is their current leader. I think there's quite a lot wrong with that phrasing.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/757205678821928960
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-36879359
My fault for not studying more closely
You do however seem particularly keen to find a way out from Corbyn; pehaps keener than the probability of it coming about?