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politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » Local By-Election Preview : March 23rd 2017

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  • Options
    kle4kle4 Posts: 91,750
    SeanT said:

    rcs1000 said:

    I will make a forecast. The next five years will see fewer (probably far fewer) deaths in Europe from Islamic terrorists than the past five.

    Two reasons:

    1. Before 2001, we didn't take Islamic terrorism seriously. It's taken a long time to re-orient the security services so they're pointing at Muslim fundamentalists, but now they are. This means that large scale incidents get harder and harder to organise.

    2. The Saudis (that'll be our "allies") have funded practically Islamic terrorism. It is they that have spread Wahabbi Islam (as opposed to Sufi and other more moderate sects) by spending money on Mosques and sponsoring schools. The Saudi money is drying up.

    I hope you're right, but the worry now is that radicalism in Western Islam is so entrenched it is self-starting and self-motivating. The seed has been sown.

    We need to crush ISIS. Stop any more Saudi bullshit. Then come down VERY hard on halal, FGM, honour killings, imams, the niqab: just make daily life much more uncomfortable for the more fundamentalist of Muslims. The evidence is: with enough pressure, they move, in the end.

    Right now we are STILL bending over backwards to make life EASIER for them.
    It does seem like there needs to be more official discouragement of the fundamentalists, and whether there could or should be formal disapproval of those who merely don't participate in discouraging it is a different question, a much harder one, but its getting ridiculous.

    I, like most people, have an inherent dislike of interfering with the rights of others and fear of going too far and being counterproductive, but it really feels like we're at the point where out of fear of accusations of overreacting, we are actually underreacting instead. It's not as though we are not affected, life does not just go on, we do change in response, but because we don't want to confront some of the issues, we only tough at the margins.

    On more pleasant topics, anyone seen The OA on Netflix? What garbage. The price of funding unusual stuff that won't get made for tv networks - some will be gems, some will be The OA.
  • Options
    rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,995

    rcs1000 said:

    SeanT said:

    rcs1000 said:

    SeanT said:

    Sean_F said:

    HYUFD said:

    Interesting polling from Ipsos breaking down which French regions Macron leads in and which Le Pen leads in

    Macron

    Brittany
    Paris and Ile de France
    Nouvelle-Aquitaine
    Pays de la Loire

    Le Pen

    Auvergne-Rhone-Alps
    Bourgogne-Franche-Comte
    Grand Est
    Hauts-de-France
    Normandy
    Occitanie
    Provence-Alpes-Cotes d'Azur

    Tied

    Centre-Val de Loire

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_for_the_French_presidential_election,_2017

    Roger lives in Provence-Alpes-Cotes d'Azur.
    The south of France is pretty much the most rightwing part of the country. I imagine the Nice attack has only reinforced this.

    We are probably headed to a huge clash of cultures: versus internal Islam. It's going to be hideous, and violent.
    Maajid Nawaz thinks that until there is a clash of cultures within Islam itself and the modernizers win there will always be problems.
    Almost all the foreign money coming in to subsidise Islam in the UK (and without which most Mosques would close) comes from Saudi Arabia and goes to Wahabbi and Deobandi Mosques. Until that money is cut off, one way or another, there will be problems.
    Indeed. And Wahhabism is barely distinguishable from Nazism.

    Imagine if, in 1930s Britain, we allowed Hitler to fund special schools for millions of German emigres in the UK, where they were taught quasi-Nazi doctrines.

    I mean, we just wouldn't fucking do that. So why allow the mosques?

    Stop The Funding.
    30 years ago, there were virtually no Wahabbi or Deobandi Mosques in the UK - it was like 2 out of 190. Now they are more than half the number and account for all of our homegrown terrorists.

    We need to stop being squeamish about pissing off the Saudis. No Wahabbism (and trust me, there's no one other than the Saudis funding these Mosques), means virtually no radicalised local Muslims.
    Why do the Saudis fund the Mosques here and elsewhere? Seems a bizarre use of their money.
    Because the House of Saud has entered into a Faustian pact with the Wahabbi sect. They allow Saudi Arabia to remain a monarchy, and in return the Saudi government hands the Wahabbi religious authorities tens of billions of dollars to spread their evil. They fund Madrassas in Pakistan, they fund Mosques in the UK and they spread their evil word around the world.
  • Options
    kle4kle4 Posts: 91,750
    On the by-elections, if the 'It's our county' party suffered a split, I assume the electoral commission would not accept a rival 'Its our county' group.
  • Options
    MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 50,125
    rcs1000 said:

    The Saudi money is drying up.

    Maybe. Still getting on for 10 million barrels a day of oil and condensate production going through the coffers. Half a billion dollars a day of revenues is hardly putting Saudi in witches' tit territory.

    And as it will be about their only legacy from Saudi's oil years, I suspect promoting Wahhabism might be the last thing to get cut.

  • Options
    welshowlwelshowl Posts: 4,460
    rcs1000 said:

    SeanT said:

    rcs1000 said:

    SeanT said:

    Sean_F said:

    HYUFD said:

    Interesting polling from Ipsos breaking down which French regions Macron leads in and which Le Pen leads in

    Macron

    Brittany
    Paris and Ile de France
    Nouvelle-Aquitaine
    Pays de la Loire

    Le Pen

    Auvergne-Rhone-Alps
    Bourgogne-Franche-Comte
    Grand Est
    Hauts-de-France
    Normandy
    Occitanie
    Provence-Alpes-Cotes d'Azur

    Tied

    Centre-Val de Loire

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_for_the_French_presidential_election,_2017

    Roger lives in Provence-Alpes-Cotes d'Azur.
    The south of France is pretty much the most rightwing part of the country. I imagine the Nice attack has only reinforced this.

    We are probably headed to a huge clash of cultures: versus internal Islam. It's going to be hideous, and violent.
    Maajid Nawaz thinks that until there is a clash of cultures within Islam itself and the modernizers win there will always be problems.
    Almost all the foreign money coming in to subsidise Islam in the UK (and without which most Mosques would close) comes from Saudi Arabia and goes to Wahabbi and Deobandi Mosques. Until that money is cut off, one way or another, there will be problems.
    Indeed. And Wahhabism is barely distinguishable from Nazism.

    Imagine if, in 1930s Britain, we allowed Hitler to fund special schools for millions of German emigres in the UK, where they were taught quasi-Nazi doctrines.

    I mean, we just wouldn't fucking do that. So why allow the mosques?

    Stop The Funding.
    30 years ago, there were virtually no Wahabbi or Deobandi Mosques in the UK - it was like 2 out of 190. Now they are more than half the number and account for all of our homegrown terrorists.

    We need to stop being squeamish about pissing off the Saudis. No Wahabbism (and trust me, there's no one other than the Saudis funding these Mosques), means virtually no radicalised local Muslims.
    And we should frack like billy o, that'll help cut the cash off.
  • Options
    FF43FF43 Posts: 15,718

    kle4 said:

    Speaking of railway journeys, I'm actually flying from Bristol to Newcastle tomorrow for the express purpose of avoiding the rail. Not that I dislike train journeys as such - get a table and its the best way to travel - but it is so bloody long to get up north! I don't know how people survive days long journeys on the things.

    I went to Newcastle Airport via the Metro last week, and saw the Bristol flight on the departure screens. I also happened to see an Airbus A400 military turboprop take-off.

    Longest UK train ride (without changing) for me was Leuchars to King's Cross southbound, about 5 years back, all of six hours.
    Longest train journey for me was Beijing to Moscow, which took eight days. Your timescales stretch and I wasn't bored although I was a bit wobbly on my feet when I got off. Back in the eighties I would take train journeys lasting a couple of days in China (average train speed 30km/h - very different now with HST). Often just hard benches and sometimes standing in horribly overcrowded trains.

    There's a train from Dundee to Penzance, which I have taken for parts of the journey many times. I doubt anyone gets on in Dundee and off again in Penzance
  • Options
    Ishmael_ZIshmael_Z Posts: 8,981
    rcs1000 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    SeanT said:

    rcs1000 said:

    I will make a forecast. The next five years will see fewer (probably far fewer) deaths in Europe from Islamic terrorists than the past five.

    Two reasons:

    1. Before 2001, we didn't take Islamic terrorism seriously. It's taken a long time to re-orient the security services so they're pointing at Muslim fundamentalists, but now they are. This means that large scale incidents get harder and harder to organise.

    2. The Saudis (that'll be our "allies") have funded practically Islamic terrorism. It is they that have spread Wahabbi Islam (as opposed to Sufi and other more moderate sects) by spending money on Mosques and sponsoring schools. The Saudi money is drying up.

    I hope you're right, but the worry now is that radicalism in Western Islam is so entrenched it is self-starting and self-motivating. The seed has been sown.

    We need to crush ISIS. Stop any more Saudi bullshit. Then come down VERY hard on halal, FGM, honour killings, imams, the niqab: just make daily life much more uncomfortable for the more fundamentalist of Muslims. The evidence is: with enough pressure, they move, in the end.

    Right now we are STILL bending over backwards to make life EASIER for them.
    FGM is GBH/ABH and any child who has it, the parents are clearly accessories.
    Careful Surbiton will be out again claiming nothing to do with Islam...doesn't happen outside a tiny number of countries....and a tiny number of hardcore Jewish nutters also do it so its a score draw on that front...
    FGM is not confined solely to Muslims (Ethopian Christians do it do), but I would guess the vast majority of adherents in the UK are Muslims.
    East African tribes like the Maasai, Turkana, Kikuyu etc also do it (as part of their own cultural heritage, not because they have converted to Islam or whatever)
  • Options
    FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 76,285
    Telegraph...

    According to reports Masood had previously worked as an English teacher. However, it is understood he never worked as a teacher in any of England's state schools.

    Dodgy language school?
  • Options
    SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 20,616
    FF43 said:

    kle4 said:

    Speaking of railway journeys, I'm actually flying from Bristol to Newcastle tomorrow for the express purpose of avoiding the rail. Not that I dislike train journeys as such - get a table and its the best way to travel - but it is so bloody long to get up north! I don't know how people survive days long journeys on the things.

    I went to Newcastle Airport via the Metro last week, and saw the Bristol flight on the departure screens. I also happened to see an Airbus A400 military turboprop take-off.

    Longest UK train ride (without changing) for me was Leuchars to King's Cross southbound, about 5 years back, all of six hours.
    Longest train journey for me was Beijing to Moscow, which took eight days. Your timescales stretch and I wasn't bored although I was a bit wobbly on my feet when I got off. Back in the eighties I would take train journeys lasting a couple of days in China (average train speed 30km/h - very different now with HST). Often just hard benches and sometimes standing in horribly overcrowded trains.

    There's a train from Dundee to Penzance, which I have taken for parts of the journey many times. I doubt anyone gets on in Dundee and off again in Penzance
    Aberdeen to Penzance
  • Options
    welshowlwelshowl Posts: 4,460
    edited March 2017
    SeanT said:

    Fat_Steve said:

    SeanT said:

    I trust everyone is preparing for "the biggest protest march in modern British history", against Brexit, this weekend

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jan/28/stop-brexit-campaign-biggest-uk-biggest-protest-march

    It's going to dwarf that silly Iraq thing. Possibly 3 million people? Five?

    I'm worried London will run out of water.

    The posters I've seen say "no to brexit and racism". Which is a bit like "no to Stalinism and broccoli".
    I very much doubt they will make 100,000, let alone the million they predicted. In fact I wonder if they will get 20,000. It will be embarrassingly crap.
    There was a pro EU march in Cardiff shortly post June 23rd. Admittedly it was raining hard but it garnered a whopping 75 soggy souls apparently. Cardiff voted 60/40 Remain.
  • Options
    AndyJSAndyJS Posts: 29,395
    edited March 2017
    Walked along Westminster Bridge today and was surprised that it was open to both traffic and pedestrians with no police monitoring it at the southern end.
  • Options
    FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 76,285
    welshowl said:

    SeanT said:

    Fat_Steve said:

    SeanT said:

    I trust everyone is preparing for "the biggest protest march in modern British history", against Brexit, this weekend

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jan/28/stop-brexit-campaign-biggest-uk-biggest-protest-march

    It's going to dwarf that silly Iraq thing. Possibly 3 million people? Five?

    I'm worried London will run out of water.

    The posters I've seen say "no to brexit and racism". Which is a bit like "no to Stalinism and broccoli".
    I very much doubt they will make 100,000, let alone the million they predicted. In fact I wonder if they will get 20,000. It will be embarrassingly crap.
    There was a pro EU march in Cardiff shortly post June 23rd. Admittedly it was raining hard but it garnered a whopping 75 soggy souls apparently.
    I presume Charlotte Church was one...

    65 more than the big Alexis Sánchez protest in Chile then ;-)
  • Options
    wasdwasd Posts: 276
    edited March 2017
    welshowl said:

    rcs1000 said:

    SeanT said:

    rcs1000 said:

    SeanT said:

    Sean_F said:

    HYUFD said:

    Interesting polling from Ipsos breaking down which French regions Macron leads in and which Le Pen leads in

    Macron

    Brittany
    Paris and Ile de France
    Nouvelle-Aquitaine
    Pays de la Loire

    Le Pen

    Auvergne-Rhone-Alps
    Bourgogne-Franche-Comte
    Grand Est
    Hauts-de-France
    Normandy
    Occitanie
    Provence-Alpes-Cotes d'Azur

    Tied

    Centre-Val de Loire

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_for_the_French_presidential_election,_2017

    Roger lives in Provence-Alpes-Cotes d'Azur.
    The south of France is pretty much the most rightwing part of the country. I imagine the Nice attack has only reinforced this.

    We are probably headed to a huge clash of cultures: versus internal Islam. It's going to be hideous, and violent.
    Maajid Nawaz thinks that until there is a clash of cultures within Islam itself and the modernizers win there will always be problems.
    Almost all the foreign money coming in to subsidise Islam in the UK (and without which most Mosques would close) comes from Saudi Arabia and goes to Wahabbi and Deobandi Mosques. Until that money is cut off, one way or another, there will be problems.
    Indeed. And Wahhabism is barely distinguishable from Nazism.

    Imagine if, in 1930s Britain, we allowed Hitler to fund special schools for millions of German emigres in the UK, where they were taught quasi-Nazi doctrines.

    I mean, we just wouldn't fucking do that. So why allow the mosques?

    Stop The Funding.
    30 years ago, there were virtually no Wahabbi or Deobandi Mosques in the UK - it was like 2 out of 190. Now they are more than half the number and account for all of our homegrown terrorists.

    We need to stop being squeamish about pissing off the Saudis. No Wahabbism (and trust me, there's no one other than the Saudis funding these Mosques), means virtually no radicalised local Muslims.
    And we should frack like billy o, that'll help cut the cash off.
    Country of origin labelling - I doubt it would take much for the average Brit to prefer Scottish or Norwegian petrol over Saudi.
  • Options
    MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 50,125
    FF43 said:

    kle4 said:

    Speaking of railway journeys, I'm actually flying from Bristol to Newcastle tomorrow for the express purpose of avoiding the rail. Not that I dislike train journeys as such - get a table and its the best way to travel - but it is so bloody long to get up north! I don't know how people survive days long journeys on the things.

    I went to Newcastle Airport via the Metro last week, and saw the Bristol flight on the departure screens. I also happened to see an Airbus A400 military turboprop take-off.

    Longest UK train ride (without changing) for me was Leuchars to King's Cross southbound, about 5 years back, all of six hours.
    Longest train journey for me was Beijing to Moscow, which took eight days. Your timescales stretch and I wasn't bored although I was a bit wobbly on my feet when I got off. Back in the eighties I would take train journeys lasting a couple of days in China (average train speed 30km/h - very different now with HST). Often just hard benches and sometimes standing in horribly overcrowded trains.

    There's a train from Dundee to Penzance, which I have taken for parts of the journey many times. I doubt anyone gets on in Dundee and off again in Penzance
    I might do Totnes to Dundee some time this spring, get a hire car in Dundee, potter about the Highlands, then return to Totnes....
  • Options
    AndyJSAndyJS Posts: 29,395
    rcs1000 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    SeanT said:

    rcs1000 said:

    I will make a forecast. The next five years will see fewer (probably far fewer) deaths in Europe from Islamic terrorists than the past five.

    Two reasons:

    1. Before 2001, we didn't take Islamic terrorism seriously. It's taken a long time to re-orient the security services so they're pointing at Muslim fundamentalists, but now they are. This means that large scale incidents get harder and harder to organise.

    2. The Saudis (that'll be our "allies") have funded practically Islamic terrorism. It is they that have spread Wahabbi Islam (as opposed to Sufi and other more moderate sects) by spending money on Mosques and sponsoring schools. The Saudi money is drying up.

    I hope you're right, but the worry now is that radicalism in Western Islam is so entrenched it is self-starting and self-motivating. The seed has been sown.

    We need to crush ISIS. Stop any more Saudi bullshit. Then come down VERY hard on halal, FGM, honour killings, imams, the niqab: just make daily life much more uncomfortable for the more fundamentalist of Muslims. The evidence is: with enough pressure, they move, in the end.

    Right now we are STILL bending over backwards to make life EASIER for them.
    FGM is GBH/ABH and any child who has it, the parents are clearly accessories.
    Careful Surbiton will be out again claiming nothing to do with Islam...doesn't happen outside a tiny number of countries....and a tiny number of hardcore Jewish nutters also do it so its a score draw on that front...
    FGM is not confined solely to Muslims (Ethopian Christians do it do), but I would guess the vast majority of adherents in the UK are Muslims.
    It's been illegal since 1985 in the UK and yet there have been no serious attempts at prosecuting anyone. A total failure of the justice system.
  • Options
    Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 49,311
    FF43 said:

    kle4 said:

    Speaking of railway journeys, I'm actually flying from Bristol to Newcastle tomorrow for the express purpose of avoiding the rail. Not that I dislike train journeys as such - get a table and its the best way to travel - but it is so bloody long to get up north! I don't know how people survive days long journeys on the things.

    I went to Newcastle Airport via the Metro last week, and saw the Bristol flight on the departure screens. I also happened to see an Airbus A400 military turboprop take-off.

    Longest UK train ride (without changing) for me was Leuchars to King's Cross southbound, about 5 years back, all of six hours.
    Longest train journey for me was Beijing to Moscow, which took eight days. Your timescales stretch and I wasn't bored although I was a bit wobbly on my feet when I got off. Back in the eighties I would take train journeys lasting a couple of days in China (average train speed 30km/h - very different now with HST). Often just hard benches and sometimes standing in horribly overcrowded trains.

    There's a train from Dundee to Penzance, which I have taken for parts of the journey many times. I doubt anyone gets on in Dundee and off again in Penzance
    It's Aberdeen to Penzance:
    Starts Aberdeen at 8.20 am
    Arrives Penzance 9.43 pm
  • Options
    Tim_BTim_B Posts: 7,669

    FF43 said:

    kle4 said:

    Speaking of railway journeys, I'm actually flying from Bristol to Newcastle tomorrow for the express purpose of avoiding the rail. Not that I dislike train journeys as such - get a table and its the best way to travel - but it is so bloody long to get up north! I don't know how people survive days long journeys on the things.

    I went to Newcastle Airport via the Metro last week, and saw the Bristol flight on the departure screens. I also happened to see an Airbus A400 military turboprop take-off.

    Longest UK train ride (without changing) for me was Leuchars to King's Cross southbound, about 5 years back, all of six hours.
    Longest train journey for me was Beijing to Moscow, which took eight days. Your timescales stretch and I wasn't bored although I was a bit wobbly on my feet when I got off. Back in the eighties I would take train journeys lasting a couple of days in China (average train speed 30km/h - very different now with HST). Often just hard benches and sometimes standing in horribly overcrowded trains.

    There's a train from Dundee to Penzance, which I have taken for parts of the journey many times. I doubt anyone gets on in Dundee and off again in Penzance
    I might do Totnes to Dundee some time this spring, get a hire car in Dundee, potter about the Highlands, then return to Totnes....
    I'm planning to ride the train from Atlanta to NYC, then to Chicago, then San Francisco, Los Angeles, New Orleans, then back to the ATL. 12 days should do it.
  • Options
    Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 49,311
    AndyJS said:

    Walked along Westminster Bridge today and was surprised that it was open to both traffic and pedestrians with no police monitoring it at the southern end.

    My mum and I walked across on Sunday afternoon, could easily have been us if the attack occurred that day.
  • Options
    FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 76,285
    Tim_B said:

    FF43 said:

    kle4 said:

    Speaking of railway journeys, I'm actually flying from Bristol to Newcastle tomorrow for the express purpose of avoiding the rail. Not that I dislike train journeys as such - get a table and its the best way to travel - but it is so bloody long to get up north! I don't know how people survive days long journeys on the things.

    I went to Newcastle Airport via the Metro last week, and saw the Bristol flight on the departure screens. I also happened to see an Airbus A400 military turboprop take-off.

    Longest UK train ride (without changing) for me was Leuchars to King's Cross southbound, about 5 years back, all of six hours.
    Longest train journey for me was Beijing to Moscow, which took eight days. Your timescales stretch and I wasn't bored although I was a bit wobbly on my feet when I got off. Back in the eighties I would take train journeys lasting a couple of days in China (average train speed 30km/h - very different now with HST). Often just hard benches and sometimes standing in horribly overcrowded trains.

    There's a train from Dundee to Penzance, which I have taken for parts of the journey many times. I doubt anyone gets on in Dundee and off again in Penzance
    I might do Totnes to Dundee some time this spring, get a hire car in Dundee, potter about the Highlands, then return to Totnes....
    I'm planning to ride the train from Atlanta to NYC, then to Chicago, then San Francisco, Los Angeles, New Orleans, then back to the ATL. 12 days should do it.
    Really.....Chicago to San Fran....on a train !!!!!

    Sucker for punishment.
  • Options
    welshowlwelshowl Posts: 4,460

    FF43 said:

    kle4 said:

    Speaking of railway journeys, I'm actually flying from Bristol to Newcastle tomorrow for the express purpose of avoiding the rail. Not that I dislike train journeys as such - get a table and its the best way to travel - but it is so bloody long to get up north! I don't know how people survive days long journeys on the things.

    I went to Newcastle Airport via the Metro last week, and saw the Bristol flight on the departure screens. I also happened to see an Airbus A400 military turboprop take-off.

    Longest UK train ride (without changing) for me was Leuchars to King's Cross southbound, about 5 years back, all of six hours.
    Longest train journey for me was Beijing to Moscow, which took eight days. Your timescales stretch and I wasn't bored although I was a bit wobbly on my feet when I got off. Back in the eighties I would take train journeys lasting a couple of days in China (average train speed 30km/h - very different now with HST). Often just hard benches and sometimes standing in horribly overcrowded trains.

    There's a train from Dundee to Penzance, which I have taken for parts of the journey many times. I doubt anyone gets on in Dundee and off again in Penzance
    It's Aberdeen to Penzance:
    Starts Aberdeen at 8.20 am
    Arrives Penzance 9.43 pm
    At the opposite end, have you done Stourbridge to Stourbridge Junction shortest branch line in the country ( if still going)?
  • Options
    glwglw Posts: 9,549

    London terror attacker Khalid Masood, 52, once stabbed a man in the FACE and changed from Kent schoolboy Adrian Elms to maniac who launched car and knife rampage through Westminster.

    Again, how the f##k did this guy ever get clearance to be an English teacher.

    I'm guessing that vetting and records checks are about as effective as our laws on FGM. i.e. They are a PR exercise.
  • Options
    rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,995
    edited March 2017
    welshowl said:


    And we should frack like billy o, that'll help cut the cash off.

    While I would encourage Fraccing in the UK (and am a shareholder in a number of firms with UK tight hydrocarbon assets), I would caution about over-estimating the potential in the UK. Firstly, we mostly have gas. And if there's one thing there is lots of in the world right now, it's gas. (There are more LNG projects in development right now than the current world LNG market.) Secondly, we live on a crowded island with no proper infrastructure. If you go to Midland, Texas, it's surrounded by tens of thousands of square miles of empty land. The area around Blackpool isn't like that.
  • Options
    FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 76,285
    glw said:

    London terror attacker Khalid Masood, 52, once stabbed a man in the FACE and changed from Kent schoolboy Adrian Elms to maniac who launched car and knife rampage through Westminster.

    Again, how the f##k did this guy ever get clearance to be an English teacher.

    I'm guessing that vetting and records checks are about as effective as our laws on FGM. i.e. They are a PR exercise.
    Telegraph says he never taught in UK state school, so guessing language school or something similar. However, I have always been extremely skeptical of how effective those checks are, especially now they have been forced to be further watered down by the courts.
  • Options
    Tim_BTim_B Posts: 7,669

    Tim_B said:

    FF43 said:

    kle4 said:

    Speaking of railway journeys, I'm actually flying from Bristol to Newcastle tomorrow for the express purpose of avoiding the rail. Not that I dislike train journeys as such - get a table and its the best way to travel - but it is so bloody long to get up north! I don't know how people survive days long journeys on the things.

    I went to Newcastle Airport via the Metro last week, and saw the Bristol flight on the departure screens. I also happened to see an Airbus A400 military turboprop take-off.

    Longest UK train ride (without changing) for me was Leuchars to King's Cross southbound, about 5 years back, all of six hours.
    Longest train journey for me was Beijing to Moscow, which took eight days. Your timescales stretch and I wasn't bored although I was a bit wobbly on my feet when I got off. Back in the eighties I would take train journeys lasting a couple of days in China (average train speed 30km/h - very different now with HST). Often just hard benches and sometimes standing in horribly overcrowded trains.

    There's a train from Dundee to Penzance, which I have taken for parts of the journey many times. I doubt anyone gets on in Dundee and off again in Penzance
    I might do Totnes to Dundee some time this spring, get a hire car in Dundee, potter about the Highlands, then return to Totnes....
    I'm planning to ride the train from Atlanta to NYC, then to Chicago, then San Francisco, Los Angeles, New Orleans, then back to the ATL. 12 days should do it.
    Really.....Chicago to San Fran....on a train !!!!!

    Sucker for punishment.
    The California Zephyr. Looking forward to the views!

    http://www.seat61.com/california-zephyr.htm#Chicago_to_San_Francisco_on_Amtraks_California_Zephyr.
  • Options
    welshowlwelshowl Posts: 4,460
    rcs1000 said:

    welshowl said:


    And we should frack like billy o, that'll help cut the cash off.

    While I would encourage Fraccing in the UK (and am a shareholder in a number of firms with UK tight hydrocarbon assets), I would caution about over-estimating the potential in the UK. Firstly, we mostly have gas. And if there's one thing there is lots of in the world right now, it's gas. (There are more LNG projects in development right now than the current world LNG market.) Secondly, we live on a crowded island with no proper infrastructure. If you go to Midland, Texas, it's surrounded by tens of thousands of square miles of empty land. The area around Blackpool isn't like that.
    Points taken. But I guess "we" can be extended to "the West".
  • Options
    SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 20,616
    welshowl said:

    FF43 said:

    kle4 said:

    Speaking of railway journeys, I'm actually flying from Bristol to Newcastle tomorrow for the express purpose of avoiding the rail. Not that I dislike train journeys as such - get a table and its the best way to travel - but it is so bloody long to get up north! I don't know how people survive days long journeys on the things.

    I went to Newcastle Airport via the Metro last week, and saw the Bristol flight on the departure screens. I also happened to see an Airbus A400 military turboprop take-off.

    Longest UK train ride (without changing) for me was Leuchars to King's Cross southbound, about 5 years back, all of six hours.
    Longest train journey for me was Beijing to Moscow, which took eight days. Your timescales stretch and I wasn't bored although I was a bit wobbly on my feet when I got off. Back in the eighties I would take train journeys lasting a couple of days in China (average train speed 30km/h - very different now with HST). Often just hard benches and sometimes standing in horribly overcrowded trains.

    There's a train from Dundee to Penzance, which I have taken for parts of the journey many times. I doubt anyone gets on in Dundee and off again in Penzance
    It's Aberdeen to Penzance:
    Starts Aberdeen at 8.20 am
    Arrives Penzance 9.43 pm
    At the opposite end, have you done Stourbridge to Stourbridge Junction shortest branch line in the country ( if still going)?
    Now operated by the 'Parry People Mover'. It was a bubble car unit back in my day.
  • Options
    ThreeQuidderThreeQuidder Posts: 6,133

    FF43 said:

    kle4 said:

    Speaking of railway journeys, I'm actually flying from Bristol to Newcastle tomorrow for the express purpose of avoiding the rail. Not that I dislike train journeys as such - get a table and its the best way to travel - but it is so bloody long to get up north! I don't know how people survive days long journeys on the things.

    I went to Newcastle Airport via the Metro last week, and saw the Bristol flight on the departure screens. I also happened to see an Airbus A400 military turboprop take-off.

    Longest UK train ride (without changing) for me was Leuchars to King's Cross southbound, about 5 years back, all of six hours.
    Longest train journey for me was Beijing to Moscow, which took eight days. Your timescales stretch and I wasn't bored although I was a bit wobbly on my feet when I got off. Back in the eighties I would take train journeys lasting a couple of days in China (average train speed 30km/h - very different now with HST). Often just hard benches and sometimes standing in horribly overcrowded trains.

    There's a train from Dundee to Penzance, which I have taken for parts of the journey many times. I doubt anyone gets on in Dundee and off again in Penzance
    Aberdeen to Penzance
    d 0820
    a 2143
  • Options
    GeoffMGeoffM Posts: 6,071
    rcs1000 said:

    welshowl said:


    And we should frack like billy o, that'll help cut the cash off.

    While I would encourage Fraccing in the UK (and am a shareholder in a number of firms with UK tight hydrocarbon assets), I would caution about over-estimating the potential in the UK. Firstly, we mostly have gas. And if there's one thing there is lots of in the world right now, it's gas. (There are more LNG projects in development right now than the current world LNG market.) Secondly, we live on a crowded island with no proper infrastructure. If you go to Midland, Texas, it's surrounded by tens of thousands of square miles of empty land. The area around Blackpool isn't like that.
    Yes, a dreary soulless place devoid of sentient life or indeed any redeeming features.
    Midland, Texas is probably similar.
  • Options
    MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 50,125
    Fat_Steve said:

    SeanT said:

    I trust everyone is preparing for "the biggest protest march in modern British history", against Brexit, this weekend

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jan/28/stop-brexit-campaign-biggest-uk-biggest-protest-march

    It's going to dwarf that silly Iraq thing. Possibly 3 million people? Five?

    I'm worried London will run out of water.

    The posters I've seen say "no to brexit and racism". Which is a bit like "no to Stalinism and broccoli".
    It would be great craic to turn up with a "Down with this kind of thing" poster....
  • Options
    rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,995
    wasd said:

    welshowl said:

    rcs1000 said:

    SeanT said:

    rcs1000 said:

    SeanT said:

    Sean_F said:

    HYUFD said:

    Interesting polling from Ipsos breaking down which French regions Macron leads in and which Le Pen leads in

    Macron

    Brittany
    Paris and Ile de France
    Nouvelle-Aquitaine
    Pays de la Loire

    Le Pen

    Auvergne-Rhone-Alps
    Bourgogne-Franche-Comte
    Grand Est
    Hauts-de-France
    Normandy
    Occitanie
    Provence-Alpes-Cotes d'Azur

    Tied

    Centre-Val de Loire

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_for_the_French_presidential_election,_2017

    Roger lives in Provence-Alpes-Cotes d'Azur.
    The south of France is pretty much the most rightwing part of the country. I imagine the Nice attack has only reinforced this.

    We are probably headed to a huge clash of cultures: versus internal Islam. It's going to be hideous, and violent.
    Maajid Nawaz thinks that until there is a clash of cultures within Islam itself and the modernizers win there will always be problems.
    Almost all the foreign money coming in to subsidise Islam in the UK (and without which most Mosques would close) comes from Saudi Arabia and goes to Wahabbi and Deobandi Mosques. Until that money is cut off, one way or another, there will be problems.
    Indeed. And Wahhabism is barely distinguishable from Nazism.

    Imagine if, in 1930s Britain, we allowed Hitler to fund special schools for millions of German emigres in the UK, where they were taught quasi-Nazi doctrines.

    I mean, we just wouldn't fucking do that. So why allow the mosques?

    Stop The Funding.
    30 years ago, there were virtually no Wahabbi or Deobandi Mosques in the UK - it was like 2 out of 190. Now they are more than half the number and account for all of our homegrown terrorists.

    We need to stop being squeamish about pissing off the Saudis. No Wahabbism (and trust me, there's no one other than the Saudis funding these Mosques), means virtually no radicalised local Muslims.
    And we should frack like billy o, that'll help cut the cash off.
    Country of origin labelling - I doubt it would take much for the average Brit to prefer Scottish or Norwegian petrol over Saudi.
    I don't think our refineries are setup for Saudi sour crude, we tend to buy light sweet oil (either North Sea, Russian, or Nigerian/Libyan).
  • Options
    TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 40,109
    Could righties bleating about HMG getting tough with the Saudis (which they know ABSOLUTELY is not going to happen) be described as virtue signallers?

    https://twitter.com/londonerabroad/status/844932544814612480
  • Options
    CyclefreeCyclefree Posts: 25,205
    When the Hebdo attacks happened I wrote on here that amongst other things we should stop all Saudi or indeed Pakistani funding of mosques or schools or universities in this country. We should sup with the Saudis, if at all, with a very long spoon.

    And as for FGM, this should be made a strict liability offence. If a girl is cut her parents are automatically guilty and the girl and any other children are made wards of court or taken into care.

    Enough with tolerating and appeasing evil. Enough.
  • Options
    rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,995
    welshowl said:

    rcs1000 said:

    welshowl said:


    And we should frack like billy o, that'll help cut the cash off.

    While I would encourage Fraccing in the UK (and am a shareholder in a number of firms with UK tight hydrocarbon assets), I would caution about over-estimating the potential in the UK. Firstly, we mostly have gas. And if there's one thing there is lots of in the world right now, it's gas. (There are more LNG projects in development right now than the current world LNG market.) Secondly, we live on a crowded island with no proper infrastructure. If you go to Midland, Texas, it's surrounded by tens of thousands of square miles of empty land. The area around Blackpool isn't like that.
    Points taken. But I guess "we" can be extended to "the West".
    Absolutely. And I would come down hard on the Russians, who have been funding anti-fraccing movements in the West.
  • Options
    Sean_FSean_F Posts: 35,850
    SeanT said:

    Fat_Steve said:

    SeanT said:

    I trust everyone is preparing for "the biggest protest march in modern British history", against Brexit, this weekend

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jan/28/stop-brexit-campaign-biggest-uk-biggest-protest-march

    It's going to dwarf that silly Iraq thing. Possibly 3 million people? Five?

    I'm worried London will run out of water.

    The posters I've seen say "no to brexit and racism". Which is a bit like "no to Stalinism and broccoli".
    I very much doubt they will make 100,000, let alone the million they predicted. In fact I wonder if they will get 20,000. It will be embarrassingly crap.
    About 16,000 are expected.
  • Options
    welshowlwelshowl Posts: 4,460
    GeoffM said:

    rcs1000 said:

    welshowl said:


    And we should frack like billy o, that'll help cut the cash off.

    While I would encourage Fraccing in the UK (and am a shareholder in a number of firms with UK tight hydrocarbon assets), I would caution about over-estimating the potential in the UK. Firstly, we mostly have gas. And if there's one thing there is lots of in the world right now, it's gas. (There are more LNG projects in development right now than the current world LNG market.) Secondly, we live on a crowded island with no proper infrastructure. If you go to Midland, Texas, it's surrounded by tens of thousands of square miles of empty land. The area around Blackpool isn't like that.
    Yes, a dreary soulless place devoid of sentient life or indeed any redeeming features.
    Midland, Texas is probably similar.
    But probably less donkeys.
  • Options
    TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 40,109
    SeanT said:

    Fat_Steve said:

    SeanT said:

    I trust everyone is preparing for "the biggest protest march in modern British history", against Brexit, this weekend

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jan/28/stop-brexit-campaign-biggest-uk-biggest-protest-march

    It's going to dwarf that silly Iraq thing. Possibly 3 million people? Five?

    I'm worried London will run out of water.

    The posters I've seen say "no to brexit and racism". Which is a bit like "no to Stalinism and broccoli".
    I very much doubt they will make 100,000, let alone the million they predicted. In fact I wonder if they will get 20,000. It will be embarrassingly crap.
    More or less so than this?

    http://tinyurl.com/jww56a7
  • Options
    Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 49,311
    welshowl said:

    FF43 said:

    kle4 said:

    Speaking of railway journeys, I'm actually flying from Bristol to Newcastle tomorrow for the express purpose of avoiding the rail. Not that I dislike train journeys as such - get a table and its the best way to travel - but it is so bloody long to get up north! I don't know how people survive days long journeys on the things.

    I went to Newcastle Airport via the Metro last week, and saw the Bristol flight on the departure screens. I also happened to see an Airbus A400 military turboprop take-off.

    Longest UK train ride (without changing) for me was Leuchars to King's Cross southbound, about 5 years back, all of six hours.
    Longest train journey for me was Beijing to Moscow, which took eight days. Your timescales stretch and I wasn't bored although I was a bit wobbly on my feet when I got off. Back in the eighties I would take train journeys lasting a couple of days in China (average train speed 30km/h - very different now with HST). Often just hard benches and sometimes standing in horribly overcrowded trains.

    There's a train from Dundee to Penzance, which I have taken for parts of the journey many times. I doubt anyone gets on in Dundee and off again in Penzance
    It's Aberdeen to Penzance:
    Starts Aberdeen at 8.20 am
    Arrives Penzance 9.43 pm
    At the opposite end, have you done Stourbridge to Stourbridge Junction shortest branch line in the country ( if still going)?
    Spooky, I did it this afternoon, after a gap of three years! Class 139 Parry People Mover, unique to that line, and can barely fit twenty people!

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_139

  • Options
    MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 50,125
    Tim_B said:

    FF43 said:

    kle4 said:

    Speaking of railway journeys, I'm actually flying from Bristol to Newcastle tomorrow for the express purpose of avoiding the rail. Not that I dislike train journeys as such - get a table and its the best way to travel - but it is so bloody long to get up north! I don't know how people survive days long journeys on the things.

    I went to Newcastle Airport via the Metro last week, and saw the Bristol flight on the departure screens. I also happened to see an Airbus A400 military turboprop take-off.

    Longest UK train ride (without changing) for me was Leuchars to King's Cross southbound, about 5 years back, all of six hours.
    Longest train journey for me was Beijing to Moscow, which took eight days. Your timescales stretch and I wasn't bored although I was a bit wobbly on my feet when I got off. Back in the eighties I would take train journeys lasting a couple of days in China (average train speed 30km/h - very different now with HST). Often just hard benches and sometimes standing in horribly overcrowded trains.

    There's a train from Dundee to Penzance, which I have taken for parts of the journey many times. I doubt anyone gets on in Dundee and off again in Penzance
    I might do Totnes to Dundee some time this spring, get a hire car in Dundee, potter about the Highlands, then return to Totnes....
    I'm planning to ride the train from Atlanta to NYC, then to Chicago, then San Francisco, Los Angeles, New Orleans, then back to the ATL. 12 days should do it.
    Yeah, but you won't see a Scottish Crossbill....
  • Options
    isamisam Posts: 40,930
    edited March 2017
    Diverse cross section of London tourists maimed by mad Islamist... hardly a five star review on trip advisor

    https://twitter.com/georgeeaton/status/844863098171277313
  • Options
    FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 76,285
    Tim_B said:

    Tim_B said:

    FF43 said:

    kle4 said:

    Speaking of railway journeys, I'm actually flying from Bristol to Newcastle tomorrow for the express purpose of avoiding the rail. Not that I dislike train journeys as such - get a table and its the best way to travel - but it is so bloody long to get up north! I don't know how people survive days long journeys on the things.

    I went to Newcastle Airport via the Metro last week, and saw the Bristol flight on the departure screens. I also happened to see an Airbus A400 military turboprop take-off.

    Longest UK train ride (without changing) for me was Leuchars to King's Cross southbound, about 5 years back, all of six hours.
    Longest train journey for me was Beijing to Moscow, which took eight days. Your timescales stretch and I wasn't bored although I was a bit wobbly on my feet when I got off. Back in the eighties I would take train journeys lasting a couple of days in China (average train speed 30km/h - very different now with HST). Often just hard benches and sometimes standing in horribly overcrowded trains.

    There's a train from Dundee to Penzance, which I have taken for parts of the journey many times. I doubt anyone gets on in Dundee and off again in Penzance
    I might do Totnes to Dundee some time this spring, get a hire car in Dundee, potter about the Highlands, then return to Totnes....
    I'm planning to ride the train from Atlanta to NYC, then to Chicago, then San Francisco, Los Angeles, New Orleans, then back to the ATL. 12 days should do it.
    Really.....Chicago to San Fran....on a train !!!!!

    Sucker for punishment.
    The California Zephyr. Looking forward to the views!

    http://www.seat61.com/california-zephyr.htm#Chicago_to_San_Francisco_on_Amtraks_California_Zephyr.
    I have driven NY -> Chicago -> San Fran....and NY -> Chicago I get....but from Chicago to Denver...Iowa and Nebreska....you better like looking at flat fields.
  • Options
    SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 20,616
    rcs1000 said:

    welshowl said:


    And we should frack like billy o, that'll help cut the cash off.

    While I would encourage Fraccing in the UK (and am a shareholder in a number of firms with UK tight hydrocarbon assets), I would caution about over-estimating the potential in the UK. Firstly, we mostly have gas. And if there's one thing there is lots of in the world right now, it's gas. (There are more LNG projects in development right now than the current world LNG market.) Secondly, we live on a crowded island with no proper infrastructure. If you go to Midland, Texas, it's surrounded by tens of thousands of square miles of empty land. The area around Blackpool isn't like that.
    I attended a shale gas conference a few years ago and one of the presenters reckoned that the cheapest source of shale gas in the UK would be LNG from the US Gulf Coast.

    (Only time I have attended a conference with protesters outside and security guards at the door to the auditorium.)
  • Options
    Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 49,311
    Tim_B said:

    FF43 said:

    kle4 said:

    Speaking of railway journeys, I'm actually flying from Bristol to Newcastle tomorrow for the express purpose of avoiding the rail. Not that I dislike train journeys as such - get a table and its the best way to travel - but it is so bloody long to get up north! I don't know how people survive days long journeys on the things.

    I went to Newcastle Airport via the Metro last week, and saw the Bristol flight on the departure screens. I also happened to see an Airbus A400 military turboprop take-off.

    Longest UK train ride (without changing) for me was Leuchars to King's Cross southbound, about 5 years back, all of six hours.
    Longest train journey for me was Beijing to Moscow, which took eight days. Your timescales stretch and I wasn't bored although I was a bit wobbly on my feet when I got off. Back in the eighties I would take train journeys lasting a couple of days in China (average train speed 30km/h - very different now with HST). Often just hard benches and sometimes standing in horribly overcrowded trains.

    There's a train from Dundee to Penzance, which I have taken for parts of the journey many times. I doubt anyone gets on in Dundee and off again in Penzance
    I might do Totnes to Dundee some time this spring, get a hire car in Dundee, potter about the Highlands, then return to Totnes....
    I'm planning to ride the train from Atlanta to NYC, then to Chicago, then San Francisco, Los Angeles, New Orleans, then back to the ATL. 12 days should do it.
    I've only done Santa Fe to Albuquerque (2009), and the Denver Light Rail (as it was in 2011, extensions have been built since then).
  • Options
    rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,995
    GeoffM said:

    rcs1000 said:

    welshowl said:


    And we should frack like billy o, that'll help cut the cash off.

    While I would encourage Fraccing in the UK (and am a shareholder in a number of firms with UK tight hydrocarbon assets), I would caution about over-estimating the potential in the UK. Firstly, we mostly have gas. And if there's one thing there is lots of in the world right now, it's gas. (There are more LNG projects in development right now than the current world LNG market.) Secondly, we live on a crowded island with no proper infrastructure. If you go to Midland, Texas, it's surrounded by tens of thousands of square miles of empty land. The area around Blackpool isn't like that.
    Yes, a dreary soulless place devoid of sentient life or indeed any redeeming features.
    Midland, Texas is probably similar.
    Boom boom.

    Two and a half years ago, Midland was a massive boom town. Production from the Permian basin had gone from tens of thousand of barrels a day to close to a million over the course of a decade. The Hilton Garden Inn (which I can assure you is not a fancy hotel) cost me $470 for a night.

    But it was a souless town. People came, lived in trailers, earned 5x what they would have made back home, and spent it on drinking, and... errr... other pursuits.
  • Options
    GeoffMGeoffM Posts: 6,071

    SeanT said:

    Fat_Steve said:

    SeanT said:

    I trust everyone is preparing for "the biggest protest march in modern British history", against Brexit, this weekend

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jan/28/stop-brexit-campaign-biggest-uk-biggest-protest-march

    It's going to dwarf that silly Iraq thing. Possibly 3 million people? Five?

    I'm worried London will run out of water.

    The posters I've seen say "no to brexit and racism". Which is a bit like "no to Stalinism and broccoli".
    I very much doubt they will make 100,000, let alone the million they predicted. In fact I wonder if they will get 20,000. It will be embarrassingly crap.
    More or less so than this?

    http://tinyurl.com/jww56a7
    Bloke in the middle needs a haircut.
  • Options
    FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 76,285
    isam said:

    Lots of London tourists killed by mad Islamist... hardly a five star review on trip advisor

    https://twitter.com/georgeeaton/status/844863098171277313

    Not really sure what George's point is....go to any major western city and stand outside the most famous landmark and it will be stuffed full of tourists from all over the world.
  • Options
    welshowlwelshowl Posts: 4,460

    welshowl said:

    FF43 said:

    kle4 said:

    Speaking of railway journeys, I'm actually flying from Bristol to Newcastle tomorrow for the express purpose of avoiding the rail. Not that I dislike train journeys as such - get a table and its the best way to travel - but it is so bloody long to get up north! I don't know how people survive days long journeys on the things.

    I went to Newcastle Airport via the Metro last week, and saw the Bristol flight on the departure screens. I also happened to see an Airbus A400 military turboprop take-off.

    Longest UK train ride (without changing) for me was Leuchars to King's Cross southbound, about 5 years back, all of six hours.
    Longest train journey for me was Beijing to Moscow, which took eight days. Your timescales stretch and I wasn't bored although I was a bit wobbly on my feet when I got off. Back in the eighties I would take train journeys lasting a couple of days in China (average train speed 30km/h - very different now with HST). Often just hard benches and sometimes standing in horribly overcrowded trains.

    There's a train from Dundee to Penzance, which I have taken for parts of the journey many times. I doubt anyone gets on in Dundee and off again in Penzance
    It's Aberdeen to Penzance:
    Starts Aberdeen at 8.20 am
    Arrives Penzance 9.43 pm
    At the opposite end, have you done Stourbridge to Stourbridge Junction shortest branch line in the country ( if still going)?
    Spooky, I did it this afternoon, after a gap of three years! Class 139 Parry People Mover, unique to that line, and can barely fit twenty people!

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_139

    Looks like a minibus on rails! And yes, spooky!
  • Options
    Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 49,311
    welshowl said:

    GeoffM said:

    rcs1000 said:

    welshowl said:


    And we should frack like billy o, that'll help cut the cash off.

    While I would encourage Fraccing in the UK (and am a shareholder in a number of firms with UK tight hydrocarbon assets), I would caution about over-estimating the potential in the UK. Firstly, we mostly have gas. And if there's one thing there is lots of in the world right now, it's gas. (There are more LNG projects in development right now than the current world LNG market.) Secondly, we live on a crowded island with no proper infrastructure. If you go to Midland, Texas, it's surrounded by tens of thousands of square miles of empty land. The area around Blackpool isn't like that.
    Yes, a dreary soulless place devoid of sentient life or indeed any redeeming features.
    Midland, Texas is probably similar.
    But probably less donkeys.
    Less Trams :lol:
  • Options
    wasdwasd Posts: 276
    rcs1000 said:

    wasd said:

    welshowl said:

    rcs1000 said:

    SeanT said:

    rcs1000 said:

    SeanT said:

    Sean_F said:

    HYUFD said:

    Interesting polling from Ipsos breaking down which French regions Macron leads in and which Le Pen leads in

    Macron

    Brittany
    Paris and Ile de France
    Nouvelle-Aquitaine
    Pays de la Loire

    Le Pen

    Auvergne-Rhone-Alps
    Bourgogne-Franche-Comte
    Grand Est
    Hauts-de-France
    Normandy
    Occitanie
    Provence-Alpes-Cotes d'Azur

    Tied

    Centre-Val de Loire

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_for_the_French_presidential_election,_2017

    Roger lives in Provence-Alpes-Cotes d'Azur.
    The south of France is pretty much the most rightwing part of the country. I imagine the Nice attack has only reinforced this.

    We are probably headed to a huge clash of cultures: versus internal Islam. It's going to be hideous, and violent.
    Maajid Nawaz thinks that until there is a clash of cultures within Islam itself and the modernizers win there will always be problems.
    Almost all the foreign money coming in to subsidise Islam in the UK (and without which most Mosques would close) comes from Saudi Arabia and goes to Wahabbi and Deobandi Mosques. Until that money is cut off, one way or another, there will be problems.
    Indeed. And Wahhabism is barely distinguishable from Nazism.

    Imagine if, in 1930s Britain, we allowed Hitler to fund special schools for millions of German emigres in the UK, where they were taught quasi-Nazi doctrines.

    I mean, we just wouldn't fucking do that. So why allow the mosques?

    Stop The Funding.
    30 years ago, there were virtually no Wahabbi or Deobandi Mosques in the UK - it was like 2 out of 190. Now they are more than half the number and account for all of our homegrown terrorists.

    We need to stop being squeamish about pissing off the Saudis. No Wahabbism (and trust me, there's no one other than the Saudis funding these Mosques), means virtually no radicalised local Muslims.
    And we should frack like billy o, that'll help cut the cash off.
    Country of origin labelling - I doubt it would take much for the average Brit to prefer Scottish or Norwegian petrol over Saudi.
    I don't think our refineries are setup for Saudi sour crude, we tend to buy light sweet oil (either North Sea, Russian, or Nigerian/Libyan).
    That's certainly a plus. It would be good to see less Russian tho'.
  • Options
    SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 20,616
    rcs1000 said:

    wasd said:

    welshowl said:

    rcs1000 said:

    SeanT said:

    rcs1000 said:

    SeanT said:

    Sean_F said:

    HYUFD said:

    Interesting polling from Ipsos breaking down which French regions Macron leads in and which Le Pen leads in

    Macron

    Brittany
    Paris and Ile de France
    Nouvelle-Aquitaine
    Pays de la Loire

    Le Pen

    Auvergne-Rhone-Alps
    Bourgogne-Franche-Comte
    Grand Est
    Hauts-de-France
    Normandy
    Occitanie
    Provence-Alpes-Cotes d'Azur

    Tied

    Centre-Val de Loire

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_for_the_French_presidential_election,_2017

    Roger lives in Provence-Alpes-Cotes d'Azur.
    The south of France is pretty much the most rightwing part of the country. I imagine the Nice attack has only reinforced this.

    We are probably headed to a huge clash of cultures: versus internal Islam. It's going to be hideous, and violent.
    Maajid Nawaz thinks that until there is a clash of cultures within Islam itself and the modernizers win there will always be problems.
    Almost all the foreign money coming in to subsidise Islam in the UK (and without which most Mosques would close) comes from Saudi Arabia and goes to Wahabbi and Deobandi Mosques. Until that money is cut off, one way or another, there will be problems.
    Indeed. And Wahhabism is barely distinguishable from Nazism.

    Imagine if, in 1930s Britain, we allowed Hitler to fund special schools for millions of German emigres in the UK, where they were taught quasi-Nazi doctrines.

    I mean, we just wouldn't fucking do that. So why allow the mosques?

    Stop The Funding.
    30 years ago, there were virtually no Wahabbi or Deobandi Mosques in the UK - it was like 2 out of 190. Now they are more than half the number and account for all of our homegrown terrorists.

    We need to stop being squeamish about pissing off the Saudis. No Wahabbism (and trust me, there's no one other than the Saudis funding these Mosques), means virtually no radicalised local Muslims.
    And we should frack like billy o, that'll help cut the cash off.
    Country of origin labelling - I doubt it would take much for the average Brit to prefer Scottish or Norwegian petrol over Saudi.
    I don't think our refineries are setup for Saudi sour crude, we tend to buy light sweet oil (either North Sea, Russian, or Nigerian/Libyan).
    We don't refine a lot of what we consume these days - integrated refinery / petchem facilities in the Middle East export refined products globally.
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    rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,995

    rcs1000 said:

    welshowl said:


    And we should frack like billy o, that'll help cut the cash off.

    While I would encourage Fraccing in the UK (and am a shareholder in a number of firms with UK tight hydrocarbon assets), I would caution about over-estimating the potential in the UK. Firstly, we mostly have gas. And if there's one thing there is lots of in the world right now, it's gas. (There are more LNG projects in development right now than the current world LNG market.) Secondly, we live on a crowded island with no proper infrastructure. If you go to Midland, Texas, it's surrounded by tens of thousands of square miles of empty land. The area around Blackpool isn't like that.
    I attended a shale gas conference a few years ago and one of the presenters reckoned that the cheapest source of shale gas in the UK would be LNG from the US Gulf Coast.

    (Only time I have attended a conference with protesters outside and security guards at the door to the auditorium.)
    It's probably now from the East Coast of the US, as the Marcellus field is incredibly cheap, and the Cove Point LNG plant is coming on stream any day now. Including purchase, liquifaction, and transportation it's probably sub $6/mcf from the East Coast (cost - not market price), against a minimum of $10 to justify meaningful drilling in the UK.
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    kle4kle4 Posts: 91,750
    edited March 2017

    Could righties bleating about HMG getting tough with the Saudis (which they know ABSOLUTELY is not going to happen) be described as virtue signallers?

    https://twitter.com/londonerabroad/status/844932544814612480

    Yeah, not our proudest area, that. Seems to come down to Yes Minister once again. 'Either you're in the arms business or you're not. If you are, they will inevitably end up in the hands of people who have the cash to buy them'.

    Still, that we cannot match the rhetoric, we can do some things. Just because you cannot do it all doesn't mean you should do nothing.
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    FloaterFloater Posts: 14,195
    Cyclefree said:

    When the Hebdo attacks happened I wrote on here that amongst other things we should stop all Saudi or indeed Pakistani funding of mosques or schools or universities in this country. We should sup with the Saudis, if at all, with a very long spoon.

    And as for FGM, this should be made a strict liability offence. If a girl is cut her parents are automatically guilty and the girl and any other children are made wards of court or taken into care.

    Enough with tolerating and appeasing evil. Enough.

    Agreed
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    OUTOUT Posts: 569
    SeanT said:

    I trust everyone is preparing for "the biggest protest march in modern British history", against Brexit, this weekend

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jan/28/stop-brexit-campaign-biggest-uk-biggest-protest-march

    It's going to dwarf that silly Iraq thing. Possibly 3 million people? Five?

    I'm worried London will run out of water.

    Trump visit is where it's at this year.
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    FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 76,285
    SeanT said:

    isam said:
    That is richly incredible. The Stupidity of the Left.
    Nothing to do with Islam....
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    ParistondaParistonda Posts: 1,819
    https://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2017/03/22/how-nationalist-marine-le-pen-wins-france/#2bcd7b7c5662

    This article kind of sums up my view on Le Pen's winning - if she does, it will be the economy, and not a victory reliant on increasing the anti-islam vote. Although of course there is a significant bedrock based on the anti-islam vote, it's not that group that will increase to potentially hand her the presidency, there is little left to harvest there.

    We saw with Wilders that a pure anti-islam pressure group has a limit. Wilders had nothing to offer beyond that so he hit a low ceiling. Notice how Le Pen didn't speak all that much about islam during the debate, except for the burkini segment, she's pivoting the campaign away from this issue.

    She is able to separate herself from her party more easily in a presidential than a parliamentary/local election - so Marine with the blue rose is a far less toxic brand than Front National. It will make it easier for people to vote for her because they are fed up with globalisation/stagnation/unemployment etc, people that wouldn't vote for the FN normally because they have a history of anti-semitism and racism that still exists in the party today (which is why I don't think they will do well in the parliamentary elections regardless of the presidential result).

    I think Macron will probably still get enough of the Republican Front together in a way that Fillon wouldn't have been able to, as the left are less likely to abstain. But I certainly don't see it as much more unlikely than Trump winning (which I did predict). Too much faith is being placed in the 2 round system, and in historical precedents from 2002, which was highly incomparable to now (JMLP was a true fascist/nazi sympathizer and a rabble rouser, who had no interest in winning and didn't even try to do so!). If she does win, it won't be because of some black swan terrorist event, it will be for similar reasons that Trump won - not The Wall, not The Muslim Ban, but a more mundane general anti-globalisation backlash.

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    rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,995


    We don't refine a lot of what we consume these days - integrated refinery / petchem facilities in the Middle East export refined products globally.

    I would have thought most of our refined product imports come from the continent rather than the Gulf, but happy to be corrected. (Except diesel, which comes from the US.)
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    TykejohnnoTykejohnno Posts: 7,362

    isam said:

    Lots of London tourists killed by mad Islamist... hardly a five star review on trip advisor

    https://twitter.com/georgeeaton/status/844863098171277313

    Not really sure what George's point is....go to any major western city and stand outside the most famous landmark and it will be stuffed full of tourists from all over the world.
    He's new labour,that's was the aim while in government for every part of the country.
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    kle4kle4 Posts: 91,750



    She is able to separate herself from her party more easily in a presidential than a parliamentary/local election - so Marine with the blue rose is a far less toxic brand than Front National.

    Have they ever considered rebranding and changing the name, by any chance?
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    FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 76,285
    SeanT said:

    isam said:

    Lots of London tourists killed by mad Islamist... hardly a five star review on trip advisor

    https://twitter.com/georgeeaton/status/844863098171277313

    Not really sure what George's point is....go to any major western city and stand outside the most famous landmark and it will be stuffed full of tourists from all over the world.
    He's new labour,that's was the aim while in government for every part of the country.
    The British Left wants to "rub our noses in diversity", remember. They've just taken a bit further and decided to rub our noses in diversity and tarmac while crushed under an SUV on Westminster Bridge.
    Gotta make those whites angry, as somebody once said.
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    Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 49,311

    SeanT said:

    isam said:
    That is richly incredible. The Stupidity of the Left.
    Nothing to do with Islam....
    Islam has nothing to do with Islam?
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    Ishmael_ZIshmael_Z Posts: 8,981

    SeanT said:

    isam said:

    Pahahaha

    htps://twitter.com/godfreyelfwick/status/845033753277857793

    That is richly incredible. The Stupidity of the Left.
    Nothing to do with Islam....
    Cox has a history of acts of love and kindness.
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    BigRichBigRich Posts: 3,489
    welshowl said:

    SeanT said:

    Fat_Steve said:

    SeanT said:

    I trust everyone is preparing for "the biggest protest march in modern British history", against Brexit, this weekend

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jan/28/stop-brexit-campaign-biggest-uk-biggest-protest-march

    It's going to dwarf that silly Iraq thing. Possibly 3 million people? Five?

    I'm worried London will run out of water.

    The posters I've seen say "no to brexit and racism". Which is a bit like "no to Stalinism and broccoli".
    I very much doubt they will make 100,000, let alone the million they predicted. In fact I wonder if they will get 20,000. It will be embarrassingly crap.
    There was a pro EU march in Cardiff shortly post June 23rd. Admittedly it was raining hard but it garnered a whopping 75 soggy souls apparently. Cardiff voted 60/40 Remain.
    The website for this pro EU march is saying it has 20,744 people who have pledged to attend? I wonder how may will?

    I would have thought more, because each person may bring along a friend, children, or others who do not have Facebook.

    Then again has the momentum come out of these protests?
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    kle4kle4 Posts: 91,750
    BigRich said:

    welshowl said:

    SeanT said:

    Fat_Steve said:

    SeanT said:

    I trust everyone is preparing for "the biggest protest march in modern British history", against Brexit, this weekend

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jan/28/stop-brexit-campaign-biggest-uk-biggest-protest-march

    It's going to dwarf that silly Iraq thing. Possibly 3 million people? Five?

    I'm worried London will run out of water.

    The posters I've seen say "no to brexit and racism". Which is a bit like "no to Stalinism and broccoli".
    I very much doubt they will make 100,000, let alone the million they predicted. In fact I wonder if they will get 20,000. It will be embarrassingly crap.
    There was a pro EU march in Cardiff shortly post June 23rd. Admittedly it was raining hard but it garnered a whopping 75 soggy souls apparently. Cardiff voted 60/40 Remain.
    The website for this pro EU march is saying it has 20,744 people who have pledged to attend? I wonder how may will?

    I would have thought more, because each person may bring along a friend, children, or others who do not have Facebook.

    Then again has the momentum come out of these protests?
    Probably, but as a last gasp maybe a few more will show up.
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    AndyJSAndyJS Posts: 29,395
    edited March 2017
    Masood's original name was Adrian Elms. First convicted in 1983 for criminal damage, and most recently in 2003 for stabbing someone in the nose. Born 1964.
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    glwglw Posts: 9,549
    edited March 2017

    Telegraph says he never taught in UK state school, so guessing language school or something similar.

    I would have thought that stabbing someone in the face would bar a person from teaching in any sort of educational institution.
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    FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 76,285
    glw said:

    Telegraph says he never taught in UK state school, so guessing language school or something similar.

    I would have thought that stabbing someone in the face would bar a person from teaching in any sort of educational institution.
    You would hope so...I will be interested to know if these reports of being an "English Teacher" turn out to be correct and if so who has he worked for.
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    ParistondaParistonda Posts: 1,819
    kle4 said:



    She is able to separate herself from her party more easily in a presidential than a parliamentary/local election - so Marine with the blue rose is a far less toxic brand than Front National.

    Have they ever considered rebranding and changing the name, by any chance?
    Yes, there's been a fair bit of discussion on it in recent years, by the upper levels of the party like Florian Philippot. Think there's been too much internal dissent over it. Must be harder than you'd think to get a rebrand approved, even after 2015 the Lib Dems weren't able to shed their old brand, despite a lot of talk on the subject and a dire need for it (at the time anyway).
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    rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,995
    Cyclefree said:
    The premise is wrong, though. The fact is that the per capita terrorism deaths in Western European capitals are 1% of the level of the cities compared.

    I don't mean to sound unfeeling, but if the UK is hit by one incident like the Wednesday's per year, it has the same effect on your life expectancy as the vehicle accident rate rising from 1,800 deaths a year to 1,805. And your odds of dying in a road or terrorism accident will be half what they were a decade ago.

    If we were being hit by attacks like those in Paris and Nice on a regular basis, then that would be different. But we're not.

    Our security services are doing an amazing job. And there is more we can do. But ripping up the fabric of our society to go from 1,805 road and terrorist deaths to 1,800 seems a little extreme.
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    AndyJSAndyJS Posts: 29,395
    SeanT said:

    Does anyone know what happened to that helpless Channel 4 News journo who named the wrong guy, yesterday, re the Westminster attack?

    That was perhaps the biggest, clumsiest error I have ever seen from a major TV news network.

    Is he being sued, exiled, sent to Glasgow to do local traffic reports, or what?

    He's been tweeting today.

    https://twitter.com/simonisrael
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    RobDRobD Posts: 58,967
    New thread!
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    CyclefreeCyclefree Posts: 25,205
    SeanT said:

    Does anyone know what happened to that helpless Channel 4 News journo who named the wrong guy, yesterday, re the Westminster attack?

    That was perhaps the biggest, clumsiest error I have ever seen from a major TV news network.

    Is he being sued, exiled, sent to Glasgow to do local traffic reports, or what?

    He was reporting on Channel 4 this evening.
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    BarnesianBarnesian Posts: 7,989
    edited March 2017
    Britain Elects‏ @britainelects 1m1 minute ago
    More
    Dunster & Timberscombe (West Somerset) result:
    LDEM: 49.7% (+49.7)
    CON: 32.9% (-26.7)
    GRN: 10.9% (-29.6)
    LAB: 6.6% (+6.6)

    Who said the LibDem surge was over!
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    sladeslade Posts: 1,932
    Barnesian said:

    Britain Elects‏ @britainelects 1m1 minute ago
    More
    Dunster & Timberscombe (West Somerset) result:
    LDEM: 49.7% (+49.7)
    CON: 32.9% (-26.7)
    GRN: 10.9% (-29.6)
    LAB: 6.6% (+6.6)

    Who said the LibDem surge was over!

    I make that a 38.2% wing!
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    viewcodeviewcode Posts: 18,782
    SeanT said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Cyclefree said:
    The premise is wrong, though. The fact is that the per capita terrorism deaths in Western European capitals are 1% of the level of the cities compared.

    I don't mean to sound unfeeling, but if the UK is hit by one incident like the Wednesday's per year, it has the same effect on your life expectancy as the vehicle accident rate rising from 1,800 deaths a year to 1,805. And your odds of dying in a road or terrorism accident will be half what they were a decade ago.

    If we were being hit by attacks like those in Paris and Nice on a regular basis, then that would be different. But we're not.

    Our security services are doing an amazing job. And there is more we can do. But ripping up the fabric of our society to go from 1,805 road and terrorist deaths to 1,800 seems a little extreme.
    You'd be right if the "Problem of Islam" was just terror. Absolutely right.

    But, it isn't just that, is it?

    It's honour killings, cousin marriage, FGM, the niqab, the burqa, increasing homophobia, atomised northern cities, polygamy, implicit blasphemy laws, the curtailment of free speech, generalised race hate, new forms of anti-Semitism, and racist gang rape of underage white girls on an industrial scale. THIS is what Islam brings us. All of this and more.

    It's a fucking disaster. It just is. No one in their right minds, if they could have foreseen all this, would have allowed two Muslims into Britain in 1950, let alone two fucking million.

    All of Europe now faces this hellish nightmare. What do we do? We have to push back, as hard as possible, within the norms of liberal democracy. We have to start not-tolerating their intolerance. We have to start ejecting the crazier fringes of these communities: actually reducing their number.

    The alternative is surrendering liberal democracy, women's rights, sexual freedom, the Enlightenment. That's it. That's the choice. We cannot avoid it forever.
    At the risk of prodding a raw nerve, if REMAIN had won we could now be devoting considerable sums of time and money to dealing with this problem. But now we are LEAVING, we have considerably less legislative time and less money to do so. We are removing free movement from Europe (in theory, tho' I'm not convinced about the hardness of the Irish border) but the Islamists weren't coming from Europe, they were coming from MENA and Afpak.
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    theakestheakes Posts: 842
    Poor night for the Conservatives; is it the budget, is it schools, is it increasing incompetemce?
This discussion has been closed.