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politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » This week’s by-elections. SNP and LAB both win and lose a s

SystemSystem Posts: 11,684
edited August 2016 in General

imagepoliticalbetting.com » Blog Archive » This week’s by-elections. SNP and LAB both win and lose a seat from each other

Irvine West (SNP defence) on North Ayrshire
First Preference Votes: Scottish National Party 1,164 (37% unchanged), Labour 1,029 (33% -7%), Conservative 639 (21% +9%), Socialist Labour Party 131 (4% +3%), Green Party 94 (3%, no candidate in 2012), Liberal Democrat 48 (2% -3%)
SNP lead of 135 (4%) on a swing of 3.5% from Lab to SNP
Labour GAIN from SNP on the sixth count

Read the full story here


«13

Comments

  • Options
    MP_SEMP_SE Posts: 3,642
    First like Leave.
  • Options
    peter_from_putneypeter_from_putney Posts: 6,875
    Second like Jessica Ennis-Hill

    ** ducks**
  • Options
    Philip_ThompsonPhilip_Thompson Posts: 65,826
    "a swing of 3.5% from Lab to SNP
    Labour GAIN from SNP on the sixth count"

    What a stupid voting system ...
  • Options
    Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 55,353
    FPT @ Sean Fear - looking at the huge Leave vote in Stoke (almost 70%) and the dicey position of Labour from GE2015, I could see Labour losing all three Stoke seats at the next general election.

    Including Tristam Hunt.
  • Options
    Wulfrun_PhilWulfrun_Phil Posts: 4,601
    Nice to see a Sturgeon lose. Worth noting though that there was an overall Lab to SNP swing in both seats compared to aggregate previous votes. The Lab gain is thus a peculiarity and must reflect the different impact of STV when there is only one member in a by-election compared to when elections are held for two members simultaneously.
  • Options
    SimonStClareSimonStClare Posts: 7,976
    Irvine West – A not so safe seat after all for Nicola’s dad…
  • Options
    BromptonautBromptonaut Posts: 1,113
    Philip_Thompson said:

    "a swing of 3.5% from Lab to SNP
    Labour GAIN from SNP on the sixth count"

    What a stupid voting system ...

    No, one that chooses a candidate that is most acceptable to the voters as a whole.
  • Options
    Sean_FSean_F Posts: 35,850
    edited August 2016
    Casino_Royale said:

    FPT @ Sean Fear - looking at the huge Leave vote in Stoke (almost 70%) and the dicey position of Labour from GE2015, I could see Labour losing all three Stoke seats at the next general election.

    Including Tristam Hunt.

    Stoke South, and Newcastle-under-Lyme now look as if they're marginal seats, and Stoke North may well be soon. All three were retained by Labour even in 1983.
  • Options
    taffystaffys Posts: 9,753
    ''Including Tristam Hunt.''

    Wow. Stoke goes tory.
  • Options
    logical_songlogical_song Posts: 9,721
    Philip_Thompson said:

    "a swing of 3.5% from Lab to SNP
    Labour GAIN from SNP on the sixth count"

    What a stupid voting system ...

    The voting system is fine, it's the swing notification that's the problem.
    It's also evident in another of last night's results (under FPTP).
    It wasn't really "on a swing of 2.5% from Lib Dem to Con", more of a big swing against UKIP.

    Britain Elects ‏@britainelects 13h13 hours ago
    Ombersley (Worcestershire) result:
    CON: 63.2% (+15.3)
    LDEM: 14.8% (+9.7)
    UKIP: 14.0% (-19.2)
    IND: 7.9% (+7.9)
    Lab and Grn didn't stand.
  • Options
    TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 114,453
    Philip_Thompson said:

    "a swing of 3.5% from Lab to SNP
    Labour GAIN from SNP on the sixth count"

    What a stupid voting system ...

    They should use AV, much fairer and simpler.
  • Options
    SandpitSandpit Posts: 49,897
    edited August 2016
    peter_from_putney said:

    Second like Jessica Ennis-Hill

    ** ducks**

    She won her heat, with the fastest time so far! Only woman under 13 seconds with her 12.84.
  • Options
    PlatoSaidPlatoSaid Posts: 10,383
    Casino_Royale said:

    FPT @ Sean Fear - looking at the huge Leave vote in Stoke (almost 70%) and the dicey position of Labour from GE2015, I could see Labour losing all three Stoke seats at the next general election.

    Including Tristam Hunt.

    He can go back to making BBC docus.
  • Options
    Sean_FSean_F Posts: 35,850
    taffys said:

    ''Including Tristam Hunt.''

    Wow. Stoke goes tory.

    Stoke and Newcastle under Lyme split Labour 39%, Con 30%, UKIP 21% in 2015, while Labour won all four seats on low vote shares. So, they are vulnerable.
  • Options
    theakestheakes Posts: 842
    Has Owen Smith has got things pear shaped again. Complaining about ASOS comparing to Sports Direct zero hours contracts etc. They say never met him, never been here, we do not have zero hour contracts, our workers take tiolet breaks when they want and we pay above the minimum wage! All verystrange..
    Think he needs to calm down
  • Options
    CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758
    Tories +9% in Irvine West and +8% in Renfrew South.

    Does this count as a Tory surge?
  • Options
    AnorakAnorak Posts: 6,621
    Bromptonaut said:

    Philip_Thompson said:

    "a swing of 3.5% from Lab to SNP
    Labour GAIN from SNP on the sixth count"

    What a stupid voting system ...

    No, one that chooses a candidate that is most acceptable to the voters as a whole.
    SNP well ahead for most rounds, but the Socialist Labour and Tory voters had a heavy preference to Labour over the SNP.

    http://www.north-ayrshire.gov.uk/Documents/CorporateServices/ChiefExecutive/Communications/Election-ResultsWard-1---Irvine-WestBreakdown.pdf
  • Options
    rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 54,001
    Casino_Royale said:

    FPT @ Sean Fear - looking at the huge Leave vote in Stoke (almost 70%) and the dicey position of Labour from GE2015, I could see Labour losing all three Stoke seats at the next general election.

    Including Tristam Hunt.

    Could the world survive that?
  • Options
    SimonStClareSimonStClare Posts: 7,976
    Charles said:

    Tories +9% in Irvine West and +8% in Renfrew South.

    Does this count as a Tory surge?

    No, the devaluation of the £ has artificially inflated the vote share – or something like that..!
  • Options
    PlatoSaidPlatoSaid Posts: 10,383
    edited August 2016
    Holy crap

    The Daily Beast has removed the article, which provoked widespread criticism for containing specific details about closeted athletes, including their nationalities.

    It is believed at least one of the athletes referred to in the piece is from a country where homosexuality is illegal.

    Straight journalist Nico Hines used the gay dating app Grindr to meet homosexual athletes in the Olympic village.

    The article was later removed by editor John Avlon, before an apology appeared on the website.


    Read more: http://metro.co.uk/2016/08/12/news-website-says-sorry-for-article-outing-gay-olympians-6063743/#ixzz4H7jdBiVS
  • Options
    MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 50,125
    FPT: On ticket sales, it might surprise some to hear that a friend of mine turned up to Wembley for the semi-final of the 1966 World Cup - and bought a ticket on the day.

    However, he still remains bitter that his friend went along to the box office on the day of the final - and got to buy a ticket for England v Germany...
  • Options
    logical_songlogical_song Posts: 9,721
    Charles said:

    Tories +9% in Irvine West and +8% in Renfrew South.

    Does this count as a Tory surge?

    Definition of 'surge':
    "A sudden powerful forward or upward movement."
    So, no.
  • Options
    John_MJohn_M Posts: 7,503
    edited August 2016
    PlatoSaid said:

    Holy crap

    The Daily Beast has removed the article, which provoked widespread criticism for containing specific details about closeted athletes, including their nationalities.

    It is believed at least one of the athletes referred to in the piece is from a country where homosexuality is illegal.

    Straight journalist Nico Hines used the gay dating app Grindr to meet homosexual athletes in the Olympic village.

    The article was later removed by editor John Avlon, before an apology appeared on the website.


    Read more: http://metro.co.uk/2016/08/12/news-website-says-sorry-for-article-outing-gay-olympians-6063743/#ixzz4H7jdBiVS

    It's easy to forget how illiberal the world is - even the USA isn't _that_ keen on LGBT folk. As my favourite author says "The future is already here. It's just unevenly distributed."

    image
  • Options
    JonathanJonathan Posts: 20,901
    logical_song said:

    Charles said:

    Tories +9% in Irvine West and +8% in Renfrew South.

    Does this count as a Tory surge?

    Definition of 'surge':
    "A sudden powerful forward or upward movement."
    So, no.
    With a turnout circa 20% for both Scottish seats I don't think "surge" is quite the right word.

  • Options
    AnorakAnorak Posts: 6,621
    edited August 2016
    John_M said:

    PlatoSaid said:

    Holy crap

    The Daily Beast has removed the article, which provoked widespread criticism for containing specific details about closeted athletes, including their nationalities.

    It is believed at least one of the athletes referred to in the piece is from a country where homosexuality is illegal.

    Straight journalist Nico Hines used the gay dating app Grindr to meet homosexual athletes in the Olympic village.

    The article was later removed by editor John Avlon, before an apology appeared on the website.


    Read more: http://metro.co.uk/2016/08/12/news-website-says-sorry-for-article-outing-gay-olympians-6063743/#ixzz4H7jdBiVS

    It's easy to forget how illiberal the world is - even the USA isn't _that_ keen on LGBT folk. As my favourite author says "The future is already here. It's just unevenly distributed."

    *image snipped to avoid thread cloggage*
    S. America (and the Philippines) are interestingly liberal, given how pervasive the Catholic Church is there.
  • Options
    MikeKMikeK Posts: 9,053
    Unless UKIP come to their collective senses, they as a political party are doomed. Which really saddens me, as they were the future; once. :(
  • Options
    Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 55,353
    Sean_F said:

    Casino_Royale said:

    FPT @ Sean Fear - looking at the huge Leave vote in Stoke (almost 70%) and the dicey position of Labour from GE2015, I could see Labour losing all three Stoke seats at the next general election.

    Including Tristam Hunt.

    Stoke South, and Newcastle-under-Lyme now look as if they're marginal seats, and Stoke North may well be soon. All three were retained by Labour even in 1983.
    If May's blue collar Toryism appeals it will be precisely to those sort of seats that her pitch will be heard.
  • Options
    MTimTMTimT Posts: 7,034
    theakes said:

    Has Owen Smith has got things pear shaped again. Complaining about ASOS comparing to Sports Direct zero hours contracts etc. They say never met him, never been here, we do not have zero hour contracts, our workers take tiolet breaks when they want and we pay above the minimum wage! All verystrange..
    Think he needs to calm down

    Sounds like Smith is dutifully paying back the union for supporting him without doing his own research first. Oops!
  • Options
    Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 55,353
    taffys said:

    ''Including Tristam Hunt.''

    Wow. Stoke goes tory.

    Labour did even worse in the council elections last year, losing 15 seats.

    What on earth does Corbyn's Labour have to offer the WWC of Stoke?
  • Options
    SandpitSandpit Posts: 49,897
    MarqueeMark said:

    FPT: On ticket sales, it might surprise some to hear that a friend of mine turned up to Wembley for the semi-final of the 1966 World Cup - and bought a ticket on the day.

    However, he still remains bitter that his friend went along to the box office on the day of the final - and got to buy a ticket for England v Germany...

    Very lucky guy, but in recent years it's been almost impossible to get tickets for major events. That the stadium is half empty for the Olympic althetics first day is disappointing. In London the athletics sold out every session months in advance.
  • Options
    PlatoSaidPlatoSaid Posts: 10,383
    British Museum
    The best discus throw in ancient Greece was around 30m. Now the record is 74m! #Rio2016 https://t.co/jc6nDD3F0b https://t.co/EUO2N1q3F4
  • Options
    ThrakThrak Posts: 494
    Anorak said:

    John_M said:

    PlatoSaid said:

    Holy crap

    The Daily Beast has removed the article, which provoked widespread criticism for containing specific details about closeted athletes, including their nationalities.

    It is believed at least one of the athletes referred to in the piece is from a country where homosexuality is illegal.

    Straight journalist Nico Hines used the gay dating app Grindr to meet homosexual athletes in the Olympic village.

    The article was later removed by editor John Avlon, before an apology appeared on the website.


    Read more: http://metro.co.uk/2016/08/12/news-website-says-sorry-for-article-outing-gay-olympians-6063743/#ixzz4H7jdBiVS

    It's easy to forget how illiberal the world is - even the USA isn't _that_ keen on LGBT folk. As my favourite author says "The future is already here. It's just unevenly distributed."

    *image snipped to avoid thread cloggage*
    S. America (and the Philippines) are interestingly liberal, given how pervasive the Catholic Church is there.
    Presuming that Qatar, along with other Muslim countries, is similarly homophobic that make the next two football world cups in violently homophobic countries. Good work there FIFA, rewarding such places when you are supposedly trying to stamp out prejudice in the game. It's no wonder that there are so few 'out' footballers.
  • Options
    AnorakAnorak Posts: 6,621
    theakes said:

    Has Owen Smith has got things pear shaped again. Complaining about ASOS comparing to Sports Direct zero hours contracts etc. They say never met him, never been here, we do not have zero hour contracts, our workers take tiolet breaks when they want and we pay above the minimum wage! All verystrange..
    Think he needs to calm down

    Smith and Corbyn
    image
  • Options
    Sean_FSean_F Posts: 35,850
    John_M said:

    PlatoSaid said:

    Holy crap

    The Daily Beast has removed the article, which provoked widespread criticism for containing specific details about closeted athletes, including their nationalities.

    It is believed at least one of the athletes referred to in the piece is from a country where homosexuality is illegal.

    Straight journalist Nico Hines used the gay dating app Grindr to meet homosexual athletes in the Olympic village.

    The article was later removed by editor John Avlon, before an apology appeared on the website.


    Read more: http://metro.co.uk/2016/08/12/news-website-says-sorry-for-article-outing-gay-olympians-6063743/#ixzz4H7jdBiVS

    It's easy to forget how illiberal the world is - even the USA isn't _that_ keen on LGBT folk. As my favourite author says "The future is already here. It's just unevenly distributed."

    image
    Some of those numbers are surprising (on either side of the divide).
  • Options
    Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 55,353
    Sean_F said:

    John_M said:

    PlatoSaid said:

    Holy crap

    The Daily Beast has removed the article, which provoked widespread criticism for containing specific details about closeted athletes, including their nationalities.

    It is believed at least one of the athletes referred to in the piece is from a country where homosexuality is illegal.

    Straight journalist Nico Hines used the gay dating app Grindr to meet homosexual athletes in the Olympic village.

    The article was later removed by editor John Avlon, before an apology appeared on the website.


    Read more: http://metro.co.uk/2016/08/12/news-website-says-sorry-for-article-outing-gay-olympians-6063743/#ixzz4H7jdBiVS

    It's easy to forget how illiberal the world is - even the USA isn't _that_ keen on LGBT folk. As my favourite author says "The future is already here. It's just unevenly distributed."

    image
    Some of those numbers are surprising (on either side of the divide).
    I wouldn't want to be gay in Nigeria.
  • Options
    PlatoSaidPlatoSaid Posts: 10,383
    Sandpit said:

    MarqueeMark said:

    FPT: On ticket sales, it might surprise some to hear that a friend of mine turned up to Wembley for the semi-final of the 1966 World Cup - and bought a ticket on the day.

    However, he still remains bitter that his friend went along to the box office on the day of the final - and got to buy a ticket for England v Germany...

    Very lucky guy, but in recent years it's been almost impossible to get tickets for major events. That the stadium is half empty for the Olympic althetics first day is disappointing. In London the athletics sold out every session months in advance.
    After a few events were missing corp ticketers - didn't we offer them up for free to Armed Services/their families for London2012?

    I've still got an incredibly low opinion of those who didn't bother to attend when offered a superb ring-side seat. I know during my BT days how often some great events were passed about internally the afternoon before because someone couldn't be arsed.
  • Options
    oxfordsimonoxfordsimon Posts: 5,831
    Less than 20 minutes to the judgement in the latest Labour v Labour court case...

    will it go all the way to the Supreme Court? ECJ?
  • Options
    Sean_FSean_F Posts: 35,850
    Casino_Royale said:

    Sean_F said:

    John_M said:

    PlatoSaid said:

    Holy crap

    The Daily Beast has removed the article, which provoked widespread criticism for containing specific details about closeted athletes, including their nationalities.

    It is believed at least one of the athletes referred to in the piece is from a country where homosexuality is illegal.

    Straight journalist Nico Hines used the gay dating app Grindr to meet homosexual athletes in the Olympic village.

    The article was later removed by editor John Avlon, before an apology appeared on the website.


    Read more: http://metro.co.uk/2016/08/12/news-website-says-sorry-for-article-outing-gay-olympians-6063743/#ixzz4H7jdBiVS

    It's easy to forget how illiberal the world is - even the USA isn't _that_ keen on LGBT folk. As my favourite author says "The future is already here. It's just unevenly distributed."

    image
    Some of those numbers are surprising (on either side of the divide).
    I wouldn't want to be gay in Nigeria.
    Being gay in Nigeria is paradise, compared to being gay in Iran. The numbers for both places like Tunisia, Turkey, and Indonesia were surprising, given that they were all pretty tolerant of homosexuality in the past.
  • Options
    TheWhiteRabbitTheWhiteRabbit Posts: 12,388
    Sean_F said:

    John_M said:

    PlatoSaid said:

    Holy crap

    The Daily Beast has removed the article, which provoked widespread criticism for containing specific details about closeted athletes, including their nationalities.

    It is believed at least one of the athletes referred to in the piece is from a country where homosexuality is illegal.

    Straight journalist Nico Hines used the gay dating app Grindr to meet homosexual athletes in the Olympic village.

    The article was later removed by editor John Avlon, before an apology appeared on the website.


    Read more: http://metro.co.uk/2016/08/12/news-website-says-sorry-for-article-outing-gay-olympians-6063743/#ixzz4H7jdBiVS

    It's easy to forget how illiberal the world is - even the USA isn't _that_ keen on LGBT folk. As my favourite author says "The future is already here. It's just unevenly distributed."

    image
    Some of those numbers are surprising (on either side of the divide).
    "Accept" is an interesting word.
  • Options
    [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 0
    Anorak said:

    John_M said:

    PlatoSaid said:

    Holy crap

    The Daily Beast has removed the article, which provoked widespread criticism for containing specific details about closeted athletes, including their nationalities.

    It is believed at least one of the athletes referred to in the piece is from a country where homosexuality is illegal.

    Straight journalist Nico Hines used the gay dating app Grindr to meet homosexual athletes in the Olympic village.

    The article was later removed by editor John Avlon, before an apology appeared on the website.


    Read more: http://metro.co.uk/2016/08/12/news-website-says-sorry-for-article-outing-gay-olympians-6063743/#ixzz4H7jdBiVS

    It's easy to forget how illiberal the world is - even the USA isn't _that_ keen on LGBT folk. As my favourite author says "The future is already here. It's just unevenly distributed."

    *image snipped to avoid thread cloggage*
    S. America (and the Philippines) are interestingly liberal, given how pervasive the Catholic Church is there.
    Philippines is an interesting one - where the Catholic influence appears to conflict directly with the 'ladyboy' culture but seems, bizarrely, to rub along just fine. I had any number of chaps in my department who made Julian Clary look like Rambo who were nonetheless very religious. It's abortion that the church really gets hot about over there not sexuality.
  • Options
    grabcocquegrabcocque Posts: 4,234
    Sean_F said:

    Casino_Royale said:

    Sean_F said:

    John_M said:

    PlatoSaid said:

    Holy crap

    The Daily Beast has removed the article, which provoked widespread criticism for containing specific details about closeted athletes, including their nationalities.

    It is believed at least one of the athletes referred to in the piece is from a country where homosexuality is illegal.

    Straight journalist Nico Hines used the gay dating app Grindr to meet homosexual athletes in the Olympic village.

    The article was later removed by editor John Avlon, before an apology appeared on the website.


    Read more: http://metro.co.uk/2016/08/12/news-website-says-sorry-for-article-outing-gay-olympians-6063743/#ixzz4H7jdBiVS

    It's easy to forget how illiberal the world is - even the USA isn't _that_ keen on LGBT folk. As my favourite author says "The future is already here. It's just unevenly distributed."

    image
    Some of those numbers are surprising (on either side of the divide).
    I wouldn't want to be gay in Nigeria.
    Being gay in Nigeria is paradise, compared to being gay in Iran. The numbers for both places like Tunisia, Turkey, and Indonesia were surprising, given that they were all pretty tolerant of homosexuality in the past.
    But then Islamism happened, or in Africa, Anglicanism.
  • Options
    SimonStClareSimonStClare Posts: 7,976
    edited August 2016
    PlatoSaid said:

    Sandpit said:

    MarqueeMark said:

    FPT: On ticket sales, it might surprise some to hear that a friend of mine turned up to Wembley for the semi-final of the 1966 World Cup - and bought a ticket on the day.

    However, he still remains bitter that his friend went along to the box office on the day of the final - and got to buy a ticket for England v Germany...

    Very lucky guy, but in recent years it's been almost impossible to get tickets for major events. That the stadium is half empty for the Olympic althetics first day is disappointing. In London the athletics sold out every session months in advance.
    After a few events were missing corp ticketers - didn't we offer them up for free to Armed Services/their families for London2012?
    I seem to recall military personal were drafted into fill the gap left by missing G4S guards. Free tickets to empty seats were offered to those soldiers not on duty.
  • Options
    SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 20,617
    Casino_Royale said:

    Sean_F said:

    John_M said:

    PlatoSaid said:

    Holy crap

    The Daily Beast has removed the article, which provoked widespread criticism for containing specific details about closeted athletes, including their nationalities.

    It is believed at least one of the athletes referred to in the piece is from a country where homosexuality is illegal.

    Straight journalist Nico Hines used the gay dating app Grindr to meet homosexual athletes in the Olympic village.

    The article was later removed by editor John Avlon, before an apology appeared on the website.


    Read more: http://metro.co.uk/2016/08/12/news-website-says-sorry-for-article-outing-gay-olympians-6063743/#ixzz4H7jdBiVS

    It's easy to forget how illiberal the world is - even the USA isn't _that_ keen on LGBT folk. As my favourite author says "The future is already here. It's just unevenly distributed."

    image
    Some of those numbers are surprising (on either side of the divide).
    I wouldn't want to be gay in Nigeria.
    I wouldn't be too keen on being straight in Nigeria either.
  • Options
    TheWhiteRabbitTheWhiteRabbit Posts: 12,388
    Patrick said:

    Anorak said:

    John_M said:

    PlatoSaid said:

    Holy crap

    The Daily Beast has removed the article, which provoked widespread criticism for containing specific details about closeted athletes, including their nationalities.

    It is believed at least one of the athletes referred to in the piece is from a country where homosexuality is illegal.

    Straight journalist Nico Hines used the gay dating app Grindr to meet homosexual athletes in the Olympic village.

    The article was later removed by editor John Avlon, before an apology appeared on the website.


    Read more: http://metro.co.uk/2016/08/12/news-website-says-sorry-for-article-outing-gay-olympians-6063743/#ixzz4H7jdBiVS

    It's easy to forget how illiberal the world is - even the USA isn't _that_ keen on LGBT folk. As my favourite author says "The future is already here. It's just unevenly distributed."

    *image snipped to avoid thread cloggage*
    S. America (and the Philippines) are interestingly liberal, given how pervasive the Catholic Church is there.
    Philippines is an interesting one - where the Catholic influence appears to conflict directly with the 'ladyboy' culture but seems, bizarrely, to rub along just fine. I had any number of chaps in my department who made Julian Clary look like Rambo who were nonetheless very religious. It's abortion that the church really gets hot about over there not sexuality.
    Makes sense. Same-sex male couples are not responsible for very many abortions
  • Options
    Sean_FSean_F Posts: 35,850
    SandyRentool said:

    Casino_Royale said:

    Sean_F said:

    John_M said:

    PlatoSaid said:

    Holy crap

    The Daily Beast has removed the article, which provoked widespread criticism for containing specific details about closeted athletes, including their nationalities.

    It is believed at least one of the athletes referred to in the piece is from a country where homosexuality is illegal.

    Straight journalist Nico Hines used the gay dating app Grindr to meet homosexual athletes in the Olympic village.

    The article was later removed by editor John Avlon, before an apology appeared on the website.


    Read more: http://metro.co.uk/2016/08/12/news-website-says-sorry-for-article-outing-gay-olympians-6063743/#ixzz4H7jdBiVS

    It's easy to forget how illiberal the world is - even the USA isn't _that_ keen on LGBT folk. As my favourite author says "The future is already here. It's just unevenly distributed."

    image
    Some of those numbers are surprising (on either side of the divide).
    I wouldn't want to be gay in Nigeria.
    I wouldn't be too keen on being straight in Nigeria either.
    It's not a nice place to live.
  • Options
    John_MJohn_M Posts: 7,503
    Sean_F said:

    Casino_Royale said:

    Sean_F said:

    John_M said:

    PlatoSaid said:

    Holy crap

    The Daily Beast has removed the article, which provoked widespread criticism for containing specific details about closeted athletes, including their nationalities.

    It is believed at least one of the athletes referred to in the piece is from a country where homosexuality is illegal.

    Straight journalist Nico Hines used the gay dating app Grindr to meet homosexual athletes in the Olympic village.

    The article was later removed by editor John Avlon, before an apology appeared on the website.


    Read more: http://metro.co.uk/2016/08/12/news-website-says-sorry-for-article-outing-gay-olympians-6063743/#ixzz4H7jdBiVS

    It's easy to forget how illiberal the world is - even the USA isn't _that_ keen on LGBT folk. As my favourite author says "The future is already here. It's just unevenly distributed."

    image
    Some of those numbers are surprising (on either side of the divide).
    I wouldn't want to be gay in Nigeria.
    Being gay in Nigeria is paradise, compared to being gay in Iran. The numbers for both places like Tunisia, Turkey, and Indonesia were surprising, given that they were all pretty tolerant of homosexuality in the past.
    Iran is a strange place. It actually has the world's highest GCS rates (that's sex change in non-pc speak). There is considerable pressure on gay people to transition to the 'correct' gender. Executions are generally confined to cases of gay rape.
  • Options
    CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758
    logical_song said:

    Charles said:

    Tories +9% in Irvine West and +8% in Renfrew South.

    Does this count as a Tory surge?

    Definition of 'surge':
    "A sudden powerful forward or upward movement."
    So, no.
    12 + 9
    5 + 8

    those seem "powerful forward movements", albeit not "sudden"
  • Options
    oxfordsimonoxfordsimon Posts: 5,831
    John_M said:

    Sean_F said:

    Casino_Royale said:

    Sean_F said:

    John_M said:

    PlatoSaid said:

    Holy crap

    The Daily Beast has removed the article, which provoked widespread criticism for containing specific details about closeted athletes, including their nationalities.

    It is believed at least one of the athletes referred to in the piece is from a country where homosexuality is illegal.

    Straight journalist Nico Hines used the gay dating app Grindr to meet homosexual athletes in the Olympic village.

    The article was later removed by editor John Avlon, before an apology appeared on the website.


    Read more: http://metro.co.uk/2016/08/12/news-website-says-sorry-for-article-outing-gay-olympians-6063743/#ixzz4H7jdBiVS

    It's easy to forget how illiberal the world is - even the USA isn't _that_ keen on LGBT folk. As my favourite author says "The future is already here. It's just unevenly distributed."

    image
    Some of those numbers are surprising (on either side of the divide).
    I wouldn't want to be gay in Nigeria.
    Being gay in Nigeria is paradise, compared to being gay in Iran. The numbers for both places like Tunisia, Turkey, and Indonesia were surprising, given that they were all pretty tolerant of homosexuality in the past.
    Iran is a strange place. It actually has the world's highest GCS rates (that's sex change in non-pc speak). There is considerable pressure on gay people to transition to the 'correct' gender. Executions are generally confined to cases of gay rape.
    An Iranian friend of mine claims that Iran is very progressive with their GCS policies. I don't think giving people a choice between nasty punishment or surgery is exactly progressive.

  • Options
    Sean_FSean_F Posts: 35,850
    John_M said:

    Sean_F said:

    Casino_Royale said:

    Sean_F said:

    John_M said:

    PlatoSaid said:

    Holy crap

    The Daily Beast has removed the article, which provoked widespread criticism for containing specific details about closeted athletes, including their nationalities.

    It is believed at least one of the athletes referred to in the piece is from a country where homosexuality is illegal.

    Straight journalist Nico Hines used the gay dating app Grindr to meet homosexual athletes in the Olympic village.

    The article was later removed by editor John Avlon, before an apology appeared on the website.


    Read more: http://metro.co.uk/2016/08/12/news-website-says-sorry-for-article-outing-gay-olympians-6063743/#ixzz4H7jdBiVS

    It's easy to forget how illiberal the world is - even the USA isn't _that_ keen on LGBT folk. As my favourite author says "The future is already here. It's just unevenly distributed."

    image
    Some of those numbers are surprising (on either side of the divide).
    I wouldn't want to be gay in Nigeria.
    Being gay in Nigeria is paradise, compared to being gay in Iran. The numbers for both places like Tunisia, Turkey, and Indonesia were surprising, given that they were all pretty tolerant of homosexuality in the past.
    Iran is a strange place. It actually has the world's highest GCS rates (that's sex change in non-pc speak). There is considerable pressure on gay people to transition to the 'correct' gender. Executions are generally confined to cases of gay rape.
    By Middle Eastern standards, it's also a fairly religiously tolerant society.
  • Options
    nunununu Posts: 6,024
    TheScreamingEagles said:

    Philip_Thompson said:

    "a swing of 3.5% from Lab to SNP
    Labour GAIN from SNP on the sixth count"

    What a stupid voting system ...

    They should use AV, much fairer and simpler.
    By election in the stv is under AV apparently.
  • Options
    MarkHopkinsMarkHopkins Posts: 5,584
    Charles said:

    logical_song said:

    Charles said:

    Tories +9% in Irvine West and +8% in Renfrew South.

    Does this count as a Tory surge?

    Definition of 'surge':
    "A sudden powerful forward or upward movement."
    So, no.
    12 + 9
    5 + 8

    those seem "powerful forward movements", albeit not "sudden"

    Not sudden? It seems to have caught Mr Song by surprise.

  • Options
    John_MJohn_M Posts: 7,503
    TheWhiteRabbit said:

    Patrick said:

    Anorak said:

    John_M said:

    PlatoSaid said:

    Holy crap

    The Daily Beast has removed the article, which provoked widespread criticism for containing specific details about closeted athletes, including their nationalities.

    It is believed at least one of the athletes referred to in the piece is from a country where homosexuality is illegal.

    Straight journalist Nico Hines used the gay dating app Grindr to meet homosexual athletes in the Olympic village.

    The article was later removed by editor John Avlon, before an apology appeared on the website.


    Read more: http://metro.co.uk/2016/08/12/news-website-says-sorry-for-article-outing-gay-olympians-6063743/#ixzz4H7jdBiVS

    It's easy to forget how illiberal the world is - even the USA isn't _that_ keen on LGBT folk. As my favourite author says "The future is already here. It's just unevenly distributed."

    *image snipped to avoid thread cloggage*
    S. America (and the Philippines) are interestingly liberal, given how pervasive the Catholic Church is there.
    Philippines is an interesting one - where the Catholic influence appears to conflict directly with the 'ladyboy' culture but seems, bizarrely, to rub along just fine. I had any number of chaps in my department who made Julian Clary look like Rambo who were nonetheless very religious. It's abortion that the church really gets hot about over there not sexuality.
    Makes sense. Same-sex male couples are not responsible for very many abortions
    Asia has a long and varied tradition of 'third gender' people, with varying degrees of acceptance.
  • Options
    ThreeQuidderThreeQuidder Posts: 6,133
    How can there have been six rounds in a six candidate election and four rounds in a four candidate election?
  • Options
    CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758
    MarkHopkins said:

    Charles said:

    logical_song said:

    Charles said:

    Tories +9% in Irvine West and +8% in Renfrew South.

    Does this count as a Tory surge?

    Definition of 'surge':
    "A sudden powerful forward or upward movement."
    So, no.
    12 + 9
    5 + 8

    those seem "powerful forward movements", albeit not "sudden"

    Not sudden? It seems to have caught Mr Song by surprise.

    Although people have been talking about "Tory surges" for years...
  • Options
    PlatoSaidPlatoSaid Posts: 10,383
    SimonStClare said:

    PlatoSaid said:

    Sandpit said:

    MarqueeMark said:

    FPT: On ticket sales, it might surprise some to hear that a friend of mine turned up to Wembley for the semi-final of the 1966 World Cup - and bought a ticket on the day.

    However, he still remains bitter that his friend went along to the box office on the day of the final - and got to buy a ticket for England v Germany...

    Very lucky guy, but in recent years it's been almost impossible to get tickets for major events. That the stadium is half empty for the Olympic althetics first day is disappointing. In London the athletics sold out every session months in advance.
    After a few events were missing corp ticketers - didn't we offer them up for free to Armed Services/their families for London2012?
    I seem to recall military personal were drafted into fill the gap left by missing G4S guards. Free tickets to empty seats were offered to those soldiers not on duty.
    I'd forgotten about the G4S eff-up.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/supportservices/10070425/Timeline-how-G4Ss-bungled-Olympics-security-contract-unfolded.html

    OT - I've a Typhoon buzzing backwards and forwards by my place. Kitties are still hiding after the Red Arrows did a great display! http://www.eastbourneairshow.com/Flying-Lineup.aspx
  • Options
    MTimTMTimT Posts: 7,034
    John_M said:

    PlatoSaid said:

    Holy crap

    The Daily Beast has removed the article, which provoked widespread criticism for containing specific details about closeted athletes, including their nationalities.

    It is believed at least one of the athletes referred to in the piece is from a country where homosexuality is illegal.

    Straight journalist Nico Hines used the gay dating app Grindr to meet homosexual athletes in the Olympic village.

    The article was later removed by editor John Avlon, before an apology appeared on the website.


    Read more: http://metro.co.uk/2016/08/12/news-website-says-sorry-for-article-outing-gay-olympians-6063743/#ixzz4H7jdBiVS

    It's easy to forget how illiberal the world is - even the USA isn't _that_ keen on LGBT folk. As my favourite author says "The future is already here. It's just unevenly distributed."

    image
    So who would you rate higher, Gibson or Stephenson? Snow Crash was a real eye opener for me when I read it back in 1992 at the suggestion of a friend who had set up a company to create photorealistic avatars. I find Stephenson's work high on amazing ideas, but ultimately failing as literature.

    I know of Neuromancer but have not read it or other of Gibson's works.
  • Options
    FF43FF43 Posts: 15,722
    Explanation of the STV voting system used in Scottish Councils. Labour saw fewer first preference votes in Irvine west than the SNP - and fewer than last time, presumably having lost a bunch to the Conservatives. HOWEVER, Tory and Labour voters hate each other less than they loathe the SNP, so Tory second preference votes went Labour. In this way, Labour denied Nicola Sturgeon's father his seat and the prospect of romantic times spent in the council chambers together with the Lady Provost of North Ayrshire, Nicola Sturgeon's mother.
  • Options
    grabcocquegrabcocque Posts: 4,234
    edited August 2016
    MTimT said:

    I know of Neuromancer but have not read it or other of Gibson's works.

    Gibson is a terrible author. A close-minded petty nasty backward-looking anti-intellectual technophobe who understood neither people nor technology when he wrote idiotic tomes like Neuromancer.

    Neal Stephenson is practically Gibson's opposite in every way. An open-minded intellectual futurist with a lust for technology and a love of people.

    Bin Gibson, love Stephenson.
  • Options
    SandpitSandpit Posts: 49,897
    edited August 2016
    PlatoSaid said:

    Sandpit said:

    MarqueeMark said:

    FPT: On ticket sales, it might surprise some to hear that a friend of mine turned up to Wembley for the semi-final of the 1966 World Cup - and bought a ticket on the day.

    However, he still remains bitter that his friend went along to the box office on the day of the final - and got to buy a ticket for England v Germany...

    Very lucky guy, but in recent years it's been almost impossible to get tickets for major events. That the stadium is half empty for the Olympic althetics first day is disappointing. In London the athletics sold out every session months in advance.
    After a few events were missing corp ticketers - didn't we offer them up for free to Armed Services/their families for London2012?

    I've still got an incredibly low opinion of those who didn't bother to attend when offered a superb ring-side seat. I know during my BT days how often some great events were passed about internally the afternoon before because someone couldn't be arsed.
    From memory in London there were headlines about empty seats the first couple of days, turned out they were the corporate areas. They drafted off duty military and local school kids to fill the seats, I'm sure it was a great experience for them
  • Options
    AllyPally_RobAllyPally_Rob Posts: 605
    Sean_F said:

    John_M said:

    Sean_F said:

    Casino_Royale said:

    Sean_F said:

    John_M said:

    PlatoSaid said:

    Holy crap

    The Daily Beast has removed the article, which provoked widespread criticism for containing specific details about closeted athletes, including their nationalities.

    It is believed at least one of the athletes referred to in the piece is from a country where homosexuality is illegal.

    Straight journalist Nico Hines used the gay dating app Grindr to meet homosexual athletes in the Olympic village.

    The article was later removed by editor John Avlon, before an apology appeared on the website.


    Read more: http://metro.co.uk/2016/08/12/news-website-says-sorry-for-article-outing-gay-olympians-6063743/#ixzz4H7jdBiVS

    It's easy to forget how illiberal the world is - even the USA isn't _that_ keen on LGBT folk. As my favourite author says "The future is already here. It's just unevenly distributed."

    image
    Some of those numbers are surprising (on either side of the divide).
    I wouldn't want to be gay in Nigeria.
    Being gay in Nigeria is paradise, compared to being gay in Iran. The numbers for both places like Tunisia, Turkey, and Indonesia were surprising, given that they were all pretty tolerant of homosexuality in the past.
    Iran is a strange place. It actually has the world's highest GCS rates (that's sex change in non-pc speak). There is considerable pressure on gay people to transition to the 'correct' gender. Executions are generally confined to cases of gay rape.
    By Middle Eastern standards, it's also a fairly religiously tolerant society.
    Between Iran and Saudi, Iran seem's to have much more potential for reform.
  • Options
    ThreeQuidderThreeQuidder Posts: 6,133
    Sandpit said:

    PlatoSaid said:

    Sandpit said:

    MarqueeMark said:

    FPT: On ticket sales, it might surprise some to hear that a friend of mine turned up to Wembley for the semi-final of the 1966 World Cup - and bought a ticket on the day.

    However, he still remains bitter that his friend went along to the box office on the day of the final - and got to buy a ticket for England v Germany...

    Very lucky guy, but in recent years it's been almost impossible to get tickets for major events. That the stadium is half empty for the Olympic althetics first day is disappointing. In London the athletics sold out every session months in advance.
    After a few events were missing corp ticketers - didn't we offer them up for free to Armed Services/their families for London2012?

    I've still got an incredibly low opinion of those who didn't bother to attend when offered a superb ring-side seat. I know during my BT days how often some great events were passed about internally the afternoon before because someone couldn't be arsed.
    From memory in London there were headlines about empty seats the first couple of days, turned out they were the corporate areas. They drafted off duty military and local school kids to fill the seats, I'm sure it was a great experience for them
    The corporate areas and also the seats reserved for the Olympians themselves, who in London tended not to watch other sports until they'd completed their own events.
  • Options
    not_on_firenot_on_fire Posts: 4,341
    edited August 2016
    PlatoSaid said:

    Sandpit said:

    MarqueeMark said:

    FPT: On ticket sales, it might surprise some to hear that a friend of mine turned up to Wembley for the semi-final of the 1966 World Cup - and bought a ticket on the day.

    However, he still remains bitter that his friend went along to the box office on the day of the final - and got to buy a ticket for England v Germany...

    Very lucky guy, but in recent years it's been almost impossible to get tickets for major events. That the stadium is half empty for the Olympic althetics first day is disappointing. In London the athletics sold out every session months in advance.
    After a few events were missing corp ticketers - didn't we offer them up for free to Armed Services/their families for London2012?

    I've still got an incredibly low opinion of those who didn't bother to attend when offered a superb ring-side seat. I know during my BT days how often some great events were passed about internally the afternoon before because someone couldn't be arsed.
    The media are a problem too (which, funnily enough, isn't reported on.) My wife and I managed to get some last minute tickets to the gymnastics in London 2012. We were in a huge empty area of seats, all of which had "press" written on them.
  • Options
    TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 114,453
    I see Liam Fox's department has buggered up again.

    What was Theresa May when she appointed him to the cabinet? Was she thinking?
  • Options
    PlatoSaidPlatoSaid Posts: 10,383
    Sandpit said:

    PlatoSaid said:

    Sandpit said:

    MarqueeMark said:

    FPT: On ticket sales, it might surprise some to hear that a friend of mine turned up to Wembley for the semi-final of the 1966 World Cup - and bought a ticket on the day.

    However, he still remains bitter that his friend went along to the box office on the day of the final - and got to buy a ticket for England v Germany...

    Very lucky guy, but in recent years it's been almost impossible to get tickets for major events. That the stadium is half empty for the Olympic althetics first day is disappointing. In London the athletics sold out every session months in advance.
    After a few events were missing corp ticketers - didn't we offer them up for free to Armed Services/their families for London2012?

    I've still got an incredibly low opinion of those who didn't bother to attend when offered a superb ring-side seat. I know during my BT days how often some great events were passed about internally the afternoon before because someone couldn't be arsed.
    From memory in London there were headlines about empty seats the first couple of days, turned out they were the corporate areas. They drafted off duty military and local school kids to fill the seats, I'm sure it was a great experience for them
    Found another article about the eff-up

    We used 17 000 military personnel :open_mouth:

    http://www.businessinsider.com/g4s-olympic-security-disaster-2012-7?IR=T

    "Last week, with less than a month to go to the opening ceremony, G4S announced that it would not be able to meet provide the staff it had said it would, falling short by over 3,500 personnel. The BBC reports that even those staff who had accepted offers with G4S have been dumbfounded by a lack of contact with the company, and many of them had not turned up to their shifts.

    Given the short notice, the armed forces had to be called in to fill the spaces, meaning that over 17,000 military personnel would be on the ground or on standby in London during the games. Not only is that more than are currently in Afghanistan, these well-trained troops are being used for menial tasks."
  • Options
    AnorakAnorak Posts: 6,621
    edited August 2016
    ThreeQuidder said:

    How can there have been six rounds in a six candidate election and four rounds in a four candidate election?

    The sixth round is when there is only one candidate left, and they're given the preference votes from the candidate in second place. There would be two rounds even if there were only two candidates!

    Seems a bit pointless to me, but there you have it.
  • Options
    Sean_FSean_F Posts: 35,850
    AllyPally_Rob said:

    Sean_F said:

    John_M said:

    Sean_F said:

    Casino_Royale said:

    Sean_F said:

    John_M said:

    PlatoSaid said:

    Holy crap

    The Daily Beast has removed the article, which provoked widespread criticism for containing specific details about closeted athletes, including their nationalities.

    It is believed at least one of the athletes referred to in the piece is from a country where homosexuality is illegal.

    Straight journalist Nico Hines used the gay dating app Grindr to meet homosexual athletes in the Olympic village.

    The article was later removed by editor John Avlon, before an apology appeared on the website.


    Read more: http://metro.co.uk/2016/08/12/news-website-says-sorry-for-article-outing-gay-olympians-6063743/#ixzz4H7jdBiVS

    It's easy to forget how illiberal the world is - even the USA isn't _that_ keen on LGBT folk. As my favourite author says "The future is already here. It's just unevenly distributed."

    image
    Some of those numbers are surprising (on either side of the divide).
    I wouldn't want to be gay in Nigeria.
    Being gay in Nigeria is paradise, compared to being gay in Iran. The numbers for both places like Tunisia, Turkey, and Indonesia were surprising, given that they were all pretty tolerant of homosexuality in the past.
    Iran is a strange place. It actually has the world's highest GCS rates (that's sex change in non-pc speak). There is considerable pressure on gay people to transition to the 'correct' gender. Executions are generally confined to cases of gay rape.
    By Middle Eastern standards, it's also a fairly religiously tolerant society.
    Between Iran and Saudi, Iran seem's to have much more potential for reform.
    Saudi must be one of the worst places on earth, in terms of personal freedom.
  • Options
    not_on_firenot_on_fire Posts: 4,341
    ThreeQuidder said:

    How can there have been six rounds in a six candidate election and four rounds in a four candidate election?

    The whisky round?
  • Options
    John_MJohn_M Posts: 7,503
    MTimT said:

    John_M said:

    PlatoSaid said:

    Holy crap

    The Daily Beast has removed the article, which provoked widespread criticism for containing specific details about closeted athletes, including their nationalities.

    It is believed at least one of the athletes referred to in the piece is from a country where homosexuality is illegal.

    Straight journalist Nico Hines used the gay dating app Grindr to meet homosexual athletes in the Olympic village.

    The article was later removed by editor John Avlon, before an apology appeared on the website.


    Read more: http://metro.co.uk/2016/08/12/news-website-says-sorry-for-article-outing-gay-olympians-6063743/#ixzz4H7jdBiVS

    It's easy to forget how illiberal the world is - even the USA isn't _that_ keen on LGBT folk. As my favourite author says "The future is already here. It's just unevenly distributed."

    image
    So who would you rate higher, Gibson or Stephenson? Snow Crash was a real eye opener for me when I read it back in 1992 at the suggestion of a friend who had set up a company to create photorealistic avatars. I find Stephenson's work high on amazing ideas, but ultimately failing as literature.

    I know of Neuromancer but have not read it or other of Gibson's works.
    The Neuromancer trilogy is a must read, though you'd have to treat them as historical novels now. Reading the first in '85 was mind blowing. Gibson is a far better writer, but Stephenson is more entertaining (though he desperately needs a stronger editor).

    I love, love, love Cryptonomicon (while accepting it's an acquired taste), but Neuromancer is much the better novel.

    If you'll allow me to digress & recommend others- Charlie Stross's Accelerando is a valiant failure that attempts to deal with the the Singularity., while Ted Chiang is my current favourite. I believe 'Story of your Life' is being made into a film.
  • Options
    not_on_firenot_on_fire Posts: 4,341
    John_M said:

    MTimT said:

    John_M said:

    PlatoSaid said:

    Holy crap

    The Daily Beast has removed the article, which provoked widespread criticism for containing specific details about closeted athletes, including their nationalities.

    It is believed at least one of the athletes referred to in the piece is from a country where homosexuality is illegal.

    Straight journalist Nico Hines used the gay dating app Grindr to meet homosexual athletes in the Olympic village.

    The article was later removed by editor John Avlon, before an apology appeared on the website.


    Read more: http://metro.co.uk/2016/08/12/news-website-says-sorry-for-article-outing-gay-olympians-6063743/#ixzz4H7jdBiVS

    It's easy to forget how illiberal the world is - even the USA isn't _that_ keen on LGBT folk. As my favourite author says "The future is already here. It's just unevenly distributed."

    image
    So who would you rate higher, Gibson or Stephenson? Snow Crash was a real eye opener for me when I read it back in 1992 at the suggestion of a friend who had set up a company to create photorealistic avatars. I find Stephenson's work high on amazing ideas, but ultimately failing as literature.

    I know of Neuromancer but have not read it or other of Gibson's works.
    The Neuromancer trilogy is a must read, though you'd have to treat them as historical novels now. Reading the first in '85 was mind blowing. Gibson is a far better writer, but Stephenson is more entertaining (though he desperately needs a stronger editor).

    I love, love, love Cryptonomicon (while accepting it's an acquired taste), but Neuromancer is much the better novel.

    If you'll allow me to digress & recommend others- Charlie Stross's Accelerando is a valiant failure that attempts to deal with the the Singularity., while Ted Chiang is my current favourite. I believe 'Story of your Life' is being made into a film.
    Neal Stephenson's novels are great but he can't do endings. The finish to Cryptonomicon is a real let-down.
  • Options
    JonathanJonathan Posts: 20,901
    TheScreamingEagles said:

    I see Liam Fox's department has buggered up again.

    What was Theresa May when she appointed him to the cabinet? Was she thinking?

    tent pissing
  • Options
    oxfordsimonoxfordsimon Posts: 5,831
    Appeal court has blocked new members from voting.

    This is going to go all the way.
  • Options
    AnorakAnorak Posts: 6,621
    edited August 2016
    Sean_F said:

    Saudi must be one of the worst places on earth, in terms of personal freedom.

    Let me stop you at the word 'earth'.
  • Options
    Philip_ThompsonPhilip_Thompson Posts: 65,826
    Sean_F said:

    Casino_Royale said:

    FPT @ Sean Fear - looking at the huge Leave vote in Stoke (almost 70%) and the dicey position of Labour from GE2015, I could see Labour losing all three Stoke seats at the next general election.

    Including Tristam Hunt.

    Stoke South, and Newcastle-under-Lyme now look as if they're marginal seats, and Stoke North may well be soon. All three were retained by Labour even in 1983.
    I lived in Newcastle-under-Lyme in 2004, it was a safe seat Labour was winning by nearly 30 points. I find it absolutely remarkable to believe it could be a marginal now.
  • Options
    TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 114,453
    Anorak said:

    Sean_F said:

    Saudi must be one of the worst places on earth, in terms of personal freedom.

    Let me stop you at the word 'earth'.
    I blame Sykes-Picot.

    We should have appointed T.E. Lawrence as Viceroy of the whole of Arabia.
  • Options
    Philip_ThompsonPhilip_Thompson Posts: 65,826
    oxfordsimon said:

    Appeal court has blocked new members from voting.

    This is going to go all the way.

    Ridiculous. Changing the rules after payment was made was a clear breach of contract.
  • Options
    SlackbladderSlackbladder Posts: 9,704
    Labour are Farsical....
  • Options
    oxfordsimonoxfordsimon Posts: 5,831
    Philip_Thompson said:

    oxfordsimon said:

    Appeal court has blocked new members from voting.

    This is going to go all the way.

    Ridiculous. Changing the rules after payment was made was a clear breach of contract.
    Almost as ridiculous as BBC news not covering this live - they showed the rowing instead (a direct feed from BBC1)
  • Options
    ThreeQuidderThreeQuidder Posts: 6,133
    Glover and Stanning gold, and they had the race won by halfway, all they had to do after that was not sink.

    Unbeaten since 2011.
  • Options
    DanSmithDanSmith Posts: 1,215
    Yet another twist.
  • Options
    PlatoSaidPlatoSaid Posts: 10,383
    German Federal and Criminal Police (BKA) documents last month revealed that there are 45,120 Islamists living in Germany. Of these, 1,100 have been identified by police as members of the country’s “terrorist scene” and another 499 classified as “troublemakers”.

    http://www.breitbart.com/london/2016/08/11/germany-raids-islamist-preachers/
  • Options
    Philip_ThompsonPhilip_Thompson Posts: 65,826
    Anorak said:

    ThreeQuidder said:

    How can there have been six rounds in a six candidate election and four rounds in a four candidate election?

    The sixth round is when there is only one candidate left, and they're given the preference votes from the candidate in second place. There would be two rounds even if there were only two candidates!

    Seems a bit pointless to me, but there you have it.
    Surely once you reach the round where you only have two candidates left then one has a majority already? Unless they tied and it was decided by drawing lots etc
  • Options
    MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 37,607
    Gold!
  • Options
    Sean_FSean_F Posts: 35,850
    Philip_Thompson said:

    Sean_F said:

    Casino_Royale said:

    FPT @ Sean Fear - looking at the huge Leave vote in Stoke (almost 70%) and the dicey position of Labour from GE2015, I could see Labour losing all three Stoke seats at the next general election.

    Including Tristam Hunt.

    Stoke South, and Newcastle-under-Lyme now look as if they're marginal seats, and Stoke North may well be soon. All three were retained by Labour even in 1983.
    I lived in Newcastle-under-Lyme in 2004, it was a safe seat Labour was winning by nearly 30 points. I find it absolutely remarkable to believe it could be a marginal now.
    The shifts in voting in some seats between 2001-15 were extraordinary.
  • Options
    PlatoSaidPlatoSaid Posts: 10,383
    Guido
    Labour Wins Appeal to Block New Corbynista Voters https://t.co/QtmwjaV4PS https://t.co/8L0DGFly6W
  • Options
    John_MJohn_M Posts: 7,503
    TheScreamingEagles said:

    I see Liam Fox's department has buggered up again.

    What was Theresa May when she appointed him to the cabinet? Was she thinking?

    Sam Coates got very excited by the press release. Don't know what the fuss is about meself.
  • Options
    John_MJohn_M Posts: 7,503
    not_on_fire said:

    John_M said:

    MTimT said:

    John_M said:

    PlatoSaid said:

    Holy crap

    The Daily Beast has removed the article, which provoked widespread criticism for containing specific details about closeted athletes, including their nationalities.

    It is believed at least one of the athletes referred to in the piece is from a country where homosexuality is illegal.

    Straight journalist Nico Hines used the gay dating app Grindr to meet homosexual athletes in the Olympic village.

    The article was later removed by editor John Avlon, before an apology appeared on the website.


    Read more: http://metro.co.uk/2016/08/12/news-website-says-sorry-for-article-outing-gay-olympians-6063743/#ixzz4H7jdBiVS

    It's easy to forget how illiberal the world is - even the USA isn't _that_ keen on LGBT folk. As my favourite author says "The future is already here. It's just unevenly distributed."

    image
    So who would you rate higher, Gibson or Stephenson? Snow Crash was a real eye opener for me when I read it back in 1992 at the suggestion of a friend who had set up a company to create photorealistic avatars. I find Stephenson's work high on amazing ideas, but ultimately failing as literature.

    I know of Neuromancer but have not read it or other of Gibson's works.
    The Neuromancer trilogy is a must read, though you'd have to treat them as historical novels now. Reading the first in '85 was mind blowing. Gibson is a far better writer, but Stephenson is more entertaining (though he desperately needs a stronger editor).

    I love, love, love Cryptonomicon (while accepting it's an acquired taste), but Neuromancer is much the better novel.

    If you'll allow me to digress & recommend others- Charlie Stross's Accelerando is a valiant failure that attempts to deal with the the Singularity., while Ted Chiang is my current favourite. I believe 'Story of your Life' is being made into a film.
    Neal Stephenson's novels are great but he can't do endings. The finish to Cryptonomicon is a real let-down.
    Completely agree. However, the overall story is too epic for it to spoil it utterly.
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    williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 48,067
    Perhaps Labour will ultimately be extinguished through the financial burden of a PPE-style mis-selling scandal.

    UKIP will have their work cut out to top this for a leadership election farce.
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    logical_songlogical_song Posts: 9,721
    MarkHopkins said:

    Charles said:

    logical_song said:

    Charles said:

    Tories +9% in Irvine West and +8% in Renfrew South.

    Does this count as a Tory surge?

    Definition of 'surge':
    "A sudden powerful forward or upward movement."
    So, no.
    12 + 9
    5 + 8

    those seem "powerful forward movements", albeit not "sudden"

    Not sudden? It seems to have caught Mr Song by surprise.

    I was referring not to the suddenness but to the 'powerful movement' part of surge. There have been swings of 20% or so in recent by elections, 8 or 9 percent is piffling small change.
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    AnorakAnorak Posts: 6,621
    Philip_Thompson said:

    Anorak said:

    ThreeQuidder said:

    How can there have been six rounds in a six candidate election and four rounds in a four candidate election?

    The sixth round is when there is only one candidate left, and they're given the preference votes from the candidate in second place. There would be two rounds even if there were only two candidates!

    Seems a bit pointless to me, but there you have it.
    Surely once you reach the round where you only have two candidates left then one has a majority already? Unless they tied and it was decided by drawing lots etc
    I agree!! But this sets it all out for the six-rounder from yesterday...

    http://www.north-ayrshire.gov.uk/Documents/CorporateServices/ChiefExecutive/Communications/Election-ResultsWard-1---Irvine-WestBreakdown.pdf
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    wasdwasd Posts: 276
    edited August 2016
    John_M said:

    Charlie Stross's Accelerando is a valiant failure that attempts to deal with the the Singularity.

    Accelerando is Stross's intellectual break with and rejection of the singularians. If you look at the stuff that came out around then and shortly afterwards (AA, HS, Glasshouse et al.) you can start to see his rejection of all encompassing, all pervasive technology as a Natural Good.
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    rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 54,001
    Casino_Royale said:

    Sean_F said:

    John_M said:

    PlatoSaid said:

    Holy crap

    The Daily Beast has removed the article, which provoked widespread criticism for containing specific details about closeted athletes, including their nationalities.

    It is believed at least one of the athletes referred to in the piece is from a country where homosexuality is illegal.

    Straight journalist Nico Hines used the gay dating app Grindr to meet homosexual athletes in the Olympic village.

    The article was later removed by editor John Avlon, before an apology appeared on the website.


    Read more: http://metro.co.uk/2016/08/12/news-website-says-sorry-for-article-outing-gay-olympians-6063743/#ixzz4H7jdBiVS

    It's easy to forget how illiberal the world is - even the USA isn't _that_ keen on LGBT folk. As my favourite author says "The future is already here. It's just unevenly distributed."

    image
    Some of those numbers are surprising (on either side of the divide).
    I wouldn't want to be gay in Nigeria.
    I have good news for you!
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    CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758
    just on a call with someone who was at grad school with Trump

    "Completely consistent...a jerk then and a jerk now"...
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    williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 48,067
    Charles said:

    just on a call with someone who was at grad school with Trump

    "Completely consistent...a jerk then and a jerk now"...

    But what does he think about Trump?
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    TheWhiteRabbitTheWhiteRabbit Posts: 12,388
    edited August 2016
    Labour's appeal - which sought to argue that whether members can vote was a decision for the NEC - has been successful.

    In the Corbyn-on-the-ballot, the High Court (?) judge ruled that the Courts, not the NEC were the final arbiter: that the ouster clause was not effective on this question at least.

    It will be interesting to see how this is squared.
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    PlatoSaidPlatoSaid Posts: 10,383
    Ben
    Farage has grown a tash.. https://t.co/kQ4Lahi2Yj
  • Options
    MTimTMTimT Posts: 7,034
    John_M said:

    MTimT said:

    John_M said:

    PlatoSaid said:

    Holy crap

    The Daily Beast has removed the article, which provoked widespread criticism for containing specific details about closeted athletes, including their nationalities.

    It is believed at least one of the athletes referred to in the piece is from a country where homosexuality is illegal.

    Straight journalist Nico Hines used the gay dating app Grindr to meet homosexual athletes in the Olympic village.

    The article was later removed by editor John Avlon, before an apology appeared on the website.


    Read more: http://metro.co.uk/2016/08/12/news-website-says-sorry-for-article-outing-gay-olympians-6063743/#ixzz4H7jdBiVS

    It's easy to forget how illiberal the world is - even the USA isn't _that_ keen on LGBT folk. As my favourite author says "The future is already here. It's just unevenly distributed."

    image
    So who would you rate higher, Gibson or Stephenson? Snow Crash was a real eye opener for me when I read it back in 1992 at the suggestion of a friend who had set up a company to create photorealistic avatars. I find Stephenson's work high on amazing ideas, but ultimately failing as literature.

    I know of Neuromancer but have not read it or other of Gibson's works.
    The Neuromancer trilogy is a must read, though you'd have to treat them as historical novels now. Reading the first in '85 was mind blowing. Gibson is a far better writer, but Stephenson is more entertaining (though he desperately needs a stronger editor).

    I love, love, love Cryptonomicon (while accepting it's an acquired taste), but Neuromancer is much the better novel.

    If you'll allow me to digress & recommend others- Charlie Stross's Accelerando is a valiant failure that attempts to deal with the the Singularity., while Ted Chiang is my current favourite. I believe 'Story of your Life' is being made into a film.
    Thanks. I haven't read fiction regularly in over a decade. I found most English language new offerings so incredibly 'first world problem-obsessed' and so self-referencing that they left me cold. Hopefully this list will get me back into the habit.
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    MarkHopkinsMarkHopkins Posts: 5,584

    Gold!

    Comedy Gold with Labour in the courts...

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    FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 76,285
    Gold in the punting....
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    SimonStClareSimonStClare Posts: 7,976
    BBC - Labour has won an appeal against a High Court ruling that allowed new members a vote in its leadership contest. - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-37057589

    Bored now - this leadership contest reminds me of Crossroads after Noele Gordon left.
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    williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 48,067
    PlatoSaid said:

    Ben
    Farage has grown a tash.. https://t.co/kQ4Lahi2Yj

    A reverse Mandelson.
This discussion has been closed.