That was pretty much my reaction. And I'm not American.
She asks whether this year can get any worse.
Oh yes. Much, much worse...
I suspect that 2021 isn't going to be any better than 2020.
It could be ;-
Trump gone, Biden President US rejoins Paris Agreement Coronavirus vaccine approved Electric cars become cheaper than ICE vehicles
In fact at least some of those stand a good chance of happening.
Until they have a comparable range and a reasonable recharge time, ‘being cheaper’ than ICE isn’t going to help much.
An average EV can get 250 miles and it will be fully charged each morning (so you'll not need to charge for most trips and if you do it can be done in 30 minutes). Not enough? Some can already get 400 miles. Also see 'Battery Day' next Tuesday.
My quite cheap diesel can do 800 miles and takes seven minutes to refuel.
When an average EV can do 500 miles on one charge and fully recharge in 45 minutes ICE will be done.
Edit - I would also like to know which EVs can do 400. The one with the best range I know of is the Kona at 259 miles. Even allowing for good driving I don’t think that would go 400 miles.
Tesla Model S Long Range - 379 miles Tesla Model 3 Long Range - 348 miles - these are available now.
£38000 is unfortunately rather out of my budget. Moreover, the size and styling of the car isn’t great for what I want. Any that will do the same thing with decent boot space and a price tag around the £20-25000 mark?
... and we're back to
Electric cars become cheaper than ICE vehicles
The model 'S' is too big, model 3 is about BMW 3 series size. The Polestar2 looks good, but yes the price needs to come down - hopefully Elon will say something about it next Tuesday.
Given that the cost of most EVs in the batteries how exactly do you get the cost down without reducing range significantly?
I reckon Keir has got the tone spot on with the patriotic values.
I wonder if we'll see some Union Jacks, footage of Blair's win always amazes me compared to Labour today, flags everywhere
Well Blair also liked the term whiter than white....which is verboten now. Simpler times.
It was unfortunate that he used that phrase at the same time as he was taking large sums of money from Bernie Ecclestone, although we all know of course that had nothing whatever to do with F1’s exemption from the tobacco advertising ban. Nothing. Why, they gave it back and everything when they got caught to ensure there was no conflict of interest.
The Labour Government of Blair was so much more adept than this Government. Even the corruption was better. I am of course referencing Jenrick's paltry ten grand from Desmond.
Boris Johnson hasn’t yet been accused of flogging peerages.
Which is quite amazing when you like at some of the rubbish he’s ennobled.
It mattered in the days of David Lloyd-George, it mattered in the days of Tony Blair. No one really cares anymore, Boris will be Boris!
On Topic, I am not sure what the death of RBG will mean to most undecided voters in middle America. I would have thought COVID and all its fall out is much more at the forefront on their mind, not an argument about which judge gets to replace her and how quickly.
There are not that many undecided voters left, however it will drive up evangelical voters turnout for Trump to get a pro life Justice
Almost all Conservatives for whom the SC is a massive priority would be voting Trump anyway. And plus it raises passions on the other side too. In the 2018 midterms, straight after the Kavanaugh circus, the Dems won the PV by over 8 points. RBG is no election gamechanger imo. The only possible gamechanger is something really really bad from or about Joe Biden.
If the Republicans do try to seat a Trump nominee, it might be a political game changer, though. It will take the brakes off what an incoming Democratic administration might consider in terms of constitutional radicalism.
They are simply not going to accept a decades long conservative domination of the Supreme Court put in place by the lame duck representatives of a minority of the electorate.
No, exactly. They'll come in and change the court itself. The Republicans should take that into account if they have any sense.
What happens if the elections needs a Supreme Court Ruling and there only 6 members and it ends up tied.....
If say the current court is deadlocked at 4-4 because the Chief Justice in recent times has sided on some big issues with the liberal wing then the original lower court ruling stands . What then happens is the case is reheard at a later date with the full compliment of 9 judges .
I doubt there will be any confirmed appointment to replace Bader Ginsburg until after the election. Trump and the Republicans know in particular that there will be huge evangelical turnout at the prospect of replacing the most pro abortion Justice on the court with a conservative.
It was high evangelical support which proved pivotal in 2004 in winning George W Bush a second term, the last re elected Republican president
You’re assuming that Republican senators want him re-elected. Maybe some of them would happily trade his defeat for securing a long term majority on the court. Some might even see it secretly as a win-win.
There is another angle to this though. A Republican nominee would fix the court balance decisively for a generation. Even worse the next change is likely to be neutral for the Democrats at best. Doesn’t it actually suit Republicans (Pres candidates and Senators alike) for the balance of the Supreme Court to be a live issue? Remove this issue and for the foreseeable future Republicans are going to need to find other reasons to get voters to support them.
Republican Senators up for re election this year will also want a delay to ensure high evangelical turnout for them
I do find it baffling that so many US evangelicals are obsessed with abortion but don’t care about infidelity, lying or fraud. Do they perhaps have a different version of the 10 Commandments?
It's logical.
Abortion is a terrible crime committed against a completely innocent victim, and American has a lot of it.
This is much more important than picking one president over another because he's marginally less of a sliezeball.
Also, the abortion issue is likely to be settled for 50 years by a rebalanced SC, Trump will be gone in 4 years regardless.
Those who would legally remove a woman's right to choose (with safeguards and within limits) whether to give birth or not are primitive zealots whose views have no place in a civilized society.
And regardless of Trump or no Trump, or the precise composition of the SC, such a radical diminution in the status of women would IMO not be tolerated in America, or indeed in any Western society. It's a reactionaries unicorn.
You may think that this should not be tolerated. I agree. But I can easily see how it could be tolerated - in America and elsewhere.
America is tolerating changes to voter eligibility rules (in part because of a recent SC decision - listen to The Crisis of American Democracy on iPlayer to get the details) which are unpicking the right to vote so painfully won in the 1960’s. Change does not go always go in the same direction.
True, But I'm bullish on the 'right to choose' since it is so fundamental to the status of women in society. The people who want to turn the clock back on this are imo howling at the moon.
Yes, that's why the current Supreme Court has shied away from banning abortion, to the disappointment of evangelicals, because it doesn't want to impose a decision so monumental that the backlash might imperil its own existence.
My own view on abortion is probably odd, because I accept two of the major points from both sides of the debate: (1) Abortion is obviously murder - what else would you call the premeditated taking of a viable human life?; (2) Notwithstanding that, a woman has the right to an abortion whenever she pleases - right up to the moment of birth, if necessary - because human beings have an absolute right to control what happens to our own bodies, which are the one inalienable piece of property that all people are born with, and infringing that right makes all the others fairly meaningless. It's an ugly business, but infinitely preferable to the alternative.
The counterargument to 2) is that for adults all rights come with responsibilities, and in almost all cases the woman's exercise of a right was a necessary part of how she became pregnant. We don't have an absolute right to control our bodies. If I'm flying a passenger plane I don't have a right to use my body to crash it. I've got a responsibility to use my body not to. But I think the law is fine pretty much where it is now.
The SC vacancy probably won't have much effect on voting choices or on likelihood to vote - at least not in the presidential. It might have an effect downticket for a few GOP senators. But this is assuming Trump is sensible and doesn't try to polarise too much by nominating say Tom Cotton. If I were on Biden's team I would love Trump to pick Cotton. Trump can have too much limelight. That wasn't true in 2016 but it is now.
That was pretty much my reaction. And I'm not American.
She asks whether this year can get any worse.
Oh yes. Much, much worse...
I suspect that 2021 isn't going to be any better than 2020.
It could be ;-
Trump gone, Biden President US rejoins Paris Agreement Coronavirus vaccine approved Electric cars become cheaper than ICE vehicles
In fact at least some of those stand a good chance of happening.
Until they have a comparable range and a reasonable recharge time, ‘being cheaper’ than ICE isn’t going to help much.
An average EV can get 250 miles and it will be fully charged each morning (so you'll not need to charge for most trips and if you do it can be done in 30 minutes). Not enough? Some can already get 400 miles. Also see 'Battery Day' next Tuesday.
My quite cheap diesel can do 800 miles and takes seven minutes to refuel.
When an average EV can do 500 miles on one charge and fully recharge in 45 minutes ICE will be done.
Edit - I would also like to know which EVs can do 400. The one with the best range I know of is the Kona at 259 miles. Even allowing for good driving I don’t think that would go 400 miles.
Tesla Model S Long Range - 379 miles Tesla Model 3 Long Range - 348 miles - these are available now.
£38000 is unfortunately rather out of my budget. Moreover, the size and styling of the car isn’t great for what I want. Any that will do the same thing with decent boot space and a price tag around the £20-25000 mark?
... and we're back to
Electric cars become cheaper than ICE vehicles
The model 'S' is too big, model 3 is about BMW 3 series size. The Polestar2 looks good, but yes the price needs to come down - hopefully Elon will say something about it next Tuesday.
Given that the cost of most EVs in the batteries how exactly do you get the cost down without reducing range significantly?
Cheaper, higher capacity batteries. That will happen soon.
On Topic, I am not sure what the death of RBG will mean to most undecided voters in middle America. I would have thought COVID and all its fall out is much more at the forefront on their mind, not an argument about which judge gets to replace her and how quickly.
There are not that many undecided voters left, however it will drive up evangelical voters turnout for Trump to get a pro life Justice
Almost all Conservatives for whom the SC is a massive priority would be voting Trump anyway. And plus it raises passions on the other side too. In the 2018 midterms, straight after the Kavanaugh circus, the Dems won the PV by over 8 points. RBG is no election gamechanger imo. The only possible gamechanger is something really really bad from or about Joe Biden.
It was high evangelical turnout for George W Bush that was pivotal for re electing him over Kerry in 2004, evangelicals did not turn out in 2018 to the extent they did in 2016 or 2004
Well there was supposedly a "Kavanaugh effect" - it got the juices flowing on both sides, just like now. No, I think Biden has this unless he blows it. And he's a seasoned old pro who is unlikely to do that.
Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell vowed to put President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee to a vote within hours of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death being announced, sparking outrage among Democrats.
Trump managed 46% and got very lucky to win in 2016 and was with the SC judge opening at that time so talk of this event suddenly seeing him coasting to victory is misguided and this is likely to repeat the increased turnout of the Dems in the 2018 mid terms .
The Dems were far too soft in 2016 , they thought Clinton would beat Trump so they’d get their nominee . This is different altogether , the anger is through the roof and nuclear tactics are Iikely to be used this time .
Indeed. No complacency this time. And if the SC gets rigged before the election the Dems will unrig it after they get in.
That was pretty much my reaction. And I'm not American.
She asks whether this year can get any worse.
Oh yes. Much, much worse...
I suspect that 2021 isn't going to be any better than 2020.
It could be ;-
Trump gone, Biden President US rejoins Paris Agreement Coronavirus vaccine approved Electric cars become cheaper than ICE vehicles
In fact at least some of those stand a good chance of happening.
Until they have a comparable range and a reasonable recharge time, ‘being cheaper’ than ICE isn’t going to help much.
An average EV can get 250 miles and it will be fully charged each morning (so you'll not need to charge for most trips and if you do it can be done in 30 minutes). Not enough? Some can already get 400 miles. Also see 'Battery Day' next Tuesday.
My quite cheap diesel can do 800 miles and takes seven minutes to refuel.
When an average EV can do 500 miles on one charge and fully recharge in 45 minutes ICE will be done.
Edit - I would also like to know which EVs can do 400. The one with the best range I know of is the Kona at 259 miles. Even allowing for good driving I don’t think that would go 400 miles.
Tesla Model S Long Range - 379 miles Tesla Model 3 Long Range - 348 miles - these are available now.
£38000 is unfortunately rather out of my budget. Moreover, the size and styling of the car isn’t great for what I want. Any that will do the same thing with decent boot space and a price tag around the £20-25000 mark?
... and we're back to
Electric cars become cheaper than ICE vehicles
The model 'S' is too big, model 3 is about BMW 3 series size. The Polestar2 looks good, but yes the price needs to come down - hopefully Elon will say something about it next Tuesday.
Given that the cost of most EVs in the batteries how exactly do you get the cost down without reducing range significantly?
My gut tells me Trump and his minions in the Senate will find a way of getting this done in time. Any republican senator who doesn't toe the line is toast, even in a relatively blue state, as they'll lose a decent fraction of their base.
The Dem reaction will be dramatic. I wouldn't be surprised if we see an expansion of Supreme Court in future years.
Of course neither adding two reliably blue states to the senate, nor adding two seats to the Court (to be appointed by a democrats president) count as “gerrymandering” of course
Do you think they convinced him to talk to Everton by doing the old Oxford Brookes uni move, a university in Oxford....a club in Liverpool in interested in signing you.
Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell vowed to put President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee to a vote within hours of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death being announced, sparking outrage among Democrats.
My gut tells me Trump and his minions in the Senate will find a way of getting this done in time. Any republican senator who doesn't toe the line is toast, even in a relatively blue state, as they'll lose a decent fraction of their base.
The Dem reaction will be dramatic. I wouldn't be surprised if we see an expansion of Supreme Court in future years.
Of course neither adding two reliably blue states to the senate, nor adding two seats to the Court (to be appointed by a democrats president) count as “gerrymandering” of course
I don’t wish to appear rude. But it’s quite something to be sufficiently high functioning that you can be elected as an MP and yet gleefully admit that you are so incurious and inept that you’ve never made even a simple meal from scratch.
My gut tells me Trump and his minions in the Senate will find a way of getting this done in time. Any republican senator who doesn't toe the line is toast, even in a relatively blue state, as they'll lose a decent fraction of their base.
The Dem reaction will be dramatic. I wouldn't be surprised if we see an expansion of Supreme Court in future years.
Of course neither adding two reliably blue states to the senate, nor adding two seats to the Court (to be appointed by a democrats president) count as “gerrymandering” of course
Puerto Rico should long since have been admitted to statehood.
I don’t wish to appear rude. But it’s quite something to be sufficiently high functioning that you can be elected as an MP and yet gleefully admit that you are so incurious and inept that you’ve never made even a simple meal from scratch.
Not necessarily. It’s still possible that would end up 5-3 for the ACA given the substance of the case . Not all cases come down on political lines and they could delay that anyway until a new judge is picked .
Not necessarily. It’s still possible that would end up 5-3 for the ACA given the substance of the case . Not all cases come down on political lines and they could delay that anyway until a new judge is picked .
I really think following Sweden is a bad idea for COVID
I don't believe even Anders Tegnell says we should. I think what he would argue is that you need to come up with a consistent set of rules that work for your particular demographics and you stick to for the long term, not stop / start circuit breaker stuff.
Hello, I've just got in at 8pm after a 10 hour shift in the warehouse.
I know, I will put on a meal that takes 2 hours to cook.
That makes sense.
Very very very few meals take two hours and if they do you are not involved for the majority of the two hours , just a bit of prep and stick in oven, feet up with a beer watching the box and wait the remainder of the two hours. Stop digging Alistair.
Still talking about the hypothetical roast chicken dinner. It doesn't matter if that 2 hours is spent working on it or feet up it is the delay before eating that is important.
If you are working shifts and coming home late the idea you will wait hours before eating is nonsense.
There's plenty of other meals that are faster to cook or can be cooked in advance.
Last weekend I got a kg of beef mince for £3, large bag of onions for 40p, garlic for 30p, two tins of tomatoes for 60p and diced a carrot for around 10p and made bolognese for 3 days as I knew I was going to be working a lot the next week. Got a tin of kidney beans and some cumin and made chilli with the leftovers.
The idea that this sort of thing is impossible and the only option is frozen pizzas every day is quite frankly bollocks.
That's great. Now do it in a kitchen with no fridge and a single hotplate.
The sad truth is - like housing & credit costs, it's expensive to be poor when it comes to food.
When a kitchen was being rebuilt, I lived off a single electric hotplate for a while. Tricky, but it is possible to cook for 4 like that.
Ended up getting a rice cooker as well, in the end. The Japanese have created a zillion dishes that can be cooked in a rice cooker - due to mini apartments with no cooking facilities....
I am always surprised how even among my more foodie friends, that have all the latest "in" kitchen gadgets, rice cookers don't ever seen to be something they buy...when every Chinese or Japanese student I have ever encountered, first they do, is purchase one and not only does it make cooking rice super easy, far superior than the how most people do it by boiling water in a pan.
We have a rice cooker.
I expect nothing less of PBers....
In fact we have two rice cookers. One for regular use and a giant one for when we have to make curry for twenty people. It's a Sri Lankan thing.
Hello, I've just got in at 8pm after a 10 hour shift in the warehouse.
I know, I will put on a meal that takes 2 hours to cook.
That makes sense.
Very very very few meals take two hours and if they do you are not involved for the majority of the two hours , just a bit of prep and stick in oven, feet up with a beer watching the box and wait the remainder of the two hours. Stop digging Alistair.
Still talking about the hypothetical roast chicken dinner. It doesn't matter if that 2 hours is spent working on it or feet up it is the delay before eating that is important.
If you are working shifts and coming home late the idea you will wait hours before eating is nonsense.
There's plenty of other meals that are faster to cook or can be cooked in advance.
Last weekend I got a kg of beef mince for £3, large bag of onions for 40p, garlic for 30p, two tins of tomatoes for 60p and diced a carrot for around 10p and made bolognese for 3 days as I knew I was going to be working a lot the next week. Got a tin of kidney beans and some cumin and made chilli with the leftovers.
The idea that this sort of thing is impossible and the only option is frozen pizzas every day is quite frankly bollocks.
That's great. Now do it in a kitchen with no fridge and a single hotplate.
The sad truth is - like housing & credit costs, it's expensive to be poor when it comes to food.
When a kitchen was being rebuilt, I lived off a single electric hotplate for a while. Tricky, but it is possible to cook for 4 like that.
Ended up getting a rice cooker as well, in the end. The Japanese have created a zillion dishes that can be cooked in a rice cooker - due to mini apartments with no cooking facilities....
I am always surprised how even among my more foodie friends, that have all the latest "in" kitchen gadgets, rice cookers don't ever seen to be something they buy...when every Chinese or Japanese student I have ever encountered, first they do, is purchase one and not only does it make cooking rice super easy, far superior than the how most people do it by boiling water in a pan.
We have a rice cooker.
I expect nothing less of PBers....
In fact we have two rice cookers. One for regular use and a giant one for when we have to make curry for twenty people. It's a Sri Lankan thing.
I really think following Sweden is a bad idea for COVID
I don't believe even Anders Tegnell says we should. I think what he would argue is that you need to come up with a consistent set of rules that work for your particular demographics and you stick to for the long term, not stop / start circuit breaker stuff.
We didn’t get off to a good start with the ‘masks don’t matter’ guidance, so that boat long since sailed for this government.
Do you think they convinced him to talk to Everton by doing the old Oxford Brookes uni move, a university in Oxford....a club in Liverpool in interested in signing you.
Nah, he wants to play for Carlo Ancelotti, probably the best coach of this century, who signed him for Real Madrid.
Just look at Ancelotti's record, 3 Champions Leagues, title winner in Italy, England, Germany, and France, and of course my favourite, the coach of AC Milan when they were 3 nil up at half time against Liverpool in the 2005 Champions League final.
Hello, I've just got in at 8pm after a 10 hour shift in the warehouse.
I know, I will put on a meal that takes 2 hours to cook.
That makes sense.
Very very very few meals take two hours and if they do you are not involved for the majority of the two hours , just a bit of prep and stick in oven, feet up with a beer watching the box and wait the remainder of the two hours. Stop digging Alistair.
Still talking about the hypothetical roast chicken dinner. It doesn't matter if that 2 hours is spent working on it or feet up it is the delay before eating that is important.
If you are working shifts and coming home late the idea you will wait hours before eating is nonsense.
There's plenty of other meals that are faster to cook or can be cooked in advance.
Last weekend I got a kg of beef mince for £3, large bag of onions for 40p, garlic for 30p, two tins of tomatoes for 60p and diced a carrot for around 10p and made bolognese for 3 days as I knew I was going to be working a lot the next week. Got a tin of kidney beans and some cumin and made chilli with the leftovers.
The idea that this sort of thing is impossible and the only option is frozen pizzas every day is quite frankly bollocks.
That's great. Now do it in a kitchen with no fridge and a single hotplate.
The sad truth is - like housing & credit costs, it's expensive to be poor when it comes to food.
When a kitchen was being rebuilt, I lived off a single electric hotplate for a while. Tricky, but it is possible to cook for 4 like that.
Ended up getting a rice cooker as well, in the end. The Japanese have created a zillion dishes that can be cooked in a rice cooker - due to mini apartments with no cooking facilities....
I am always surprised how even among my more foodie friends, that have all the latest "in" kitchen gadgets, rice cookers don't ever seen to be something they buy...when every Chinese or Japanese student I have ever encountered, first they do, is purchase one and not only does it make cooking rice super easy, far superior than the how most people do it by boiling water in a pan.
We have a rice cooker.
I expect nothing less of PBers....
In fact we have two rice cookers. One for regular use and a giant one for when we have to make curry for twenty people. It's a Sri Lankan thing.
I hope they're paid the living wage!
Sounds as though the giant Sri Lankan is on a zero hours contract.
Hello, I've just got in at 8pm after a 10 hour shift in the warehouse.
I know, I will put on a meal that takes 2 hours to cook.
That makes sense.
Very very very few meals take two hours and if they do you are not involved for the majority of the two hours , just a bit of prep and stick in oven, feet up with a beer watching the box and wait the remainder of the two hours. Stop digging Alistair.
Still talking about the hypothetical roast chicken dinner. It doesn't matter if that 2 hours is spent working on it or feet up it is the delay before eating that is important.
If you are working shifts and coming home late the idea you will wait hours before eating is nonsense.
There's plenty of other meals that are faster to cook or can be cooked in advance.
Last weekend I got a kg of beef mince for £3, large bag of onions for 40p, garlic for 30p, two tins of tomatoes for 60p and diced a carrot for around 10p and made bolognese for 3 days as I knew I was going to be working a lot the next week. Got a tin of kidney beans and some cumin and made chilli with the leftovers.
The idea that this sort of thing is impossible and the only option is frozen pizzas every day is quite frankly bollocks.
That's great. Now do it in a kitchen with no fridge and a single hotplate.
The sad truth is - like housing & credit costs, it's expensive to be poor when it comes to food.
When a kitchen was being rebuilt, I lived off a single electric hotplate for a while. Tricky, but it is possible to cook for 4 like that.
Ended up getting a rice cooker as well, in the end. The Japanese have created a zillion dishes that can be cooked in a rice cooker - due to mini apartments with no cooking facilities....
I am always surprised how even among my more foodie friends, that have all the latest "in" kitchen gadgets, rice cookers don't ever seen to be something they buy...when every Chinese or Japanese student I have ever encountered, first they do, is purchase one and not only does it make cooking rice super easy, far superior than the how most people do it by boiling water in a pan.
We have a rice cooker.
I expect nothing less of PBers....
In fact we have two rice cookers. One for regular use and a giant one for when we have to make curry for twenty people. It's a Sri Lankan thing.
I hope they're paid the living wage!
Sounds as though the giant Sri Lankan is on a zero hours contract.
I wondered why the weight was relevant, now it makes sense
I don’t wish to appear rude. But it’s quite something to be sufficiently high functioning that you can be elected as an MP and yet gleefully admit that you are so incurious and inept that you’ve never made even a simple meal from scratch.
One of the saddest things about this country is how inept so many people are at preparing food for themselves and their family. It is shocking and helps to explain the epidemic of obesity and poor health that blights every town. Why isn't it a focus of government to make sure everyone can cook? At my kids' school they do zero home economics. What do you expect when schools have seen years of funding cuts and huge pressure to devote time to academic subjects. But if parents can't cook, schools don't teach it, and there are junk food takeaways on every street corner, how are people going to learn to cook?
The question is does a Trump nominee get through the Senate.
Can't see Romney voting for a Trump nominee now, also GOP senators up for re-election might face problems if they back a Trump nominee, someone like Susan Collins would definitely be toast in Maine.
Hello, I've just got in at 8pm after a 10 hour shift in the warehouse.
I know, I will put on a meal that takes 2 hours to cook.
That makes sense.
Very very very few meals take two hours and if they do you are not involved for the majority of the two hours , just a bit of prep and stick in oven, feet up with a beer watching the box and wait the remainder of the two hours. Stop digging Alistair.
Still talking about the hypothetical roast chicken dinner. It doesn't matter if that 2 hours is spent working on it or feet up it is the delay before eating that is important.
If you are working shifts and coming home late the idea you will wait hours before eating is nonsense.
There's plenty of other meals that are faster to cook or can be cooked in advance.
Last weekend I got a kg of beef mince for £3, large bag of onions for 40p, garlic for 30p, two tins of tomatoes for 60p and diced a carrot for around 10p and made bolognese for 3 days as I knew I was going to be working a lot the next week. Got a tin of kidney beans and some cumin and made chilli with the leftovers.
The idea that this sort of thing is impossible and the only option is frozen pizzas every day is quite frankly bollocks.
That's great. Now do it in a kitchen with no fridge and a single hotplate.
The sad truth is - like housing & credit costs, it's expensive to be poor when it comes to food.
When a kitchen was being rebuilt, I lived off a single electric hotplate for a while. Tricky, but it is possible to cook for 4 like that.
Ended up getting a rice cooker as well, in the end. The Japanese have created a zillion dishes that can be cooked in a rice cooker - due to mini apartments with no cooking facilities....
I am always surprised how even among my more foodie friends, that have all the latest "in" kitchen gadgets, rice cookers don't ever seen to be something they buy...when every Chinese or Japanese student I have ever encountered, first they do, is purchase one and not only does it make cooking rice super easy, far superior than the how most people do it by boiling water in a pan.
We have a rice cooker.
I expect nothing less of PBers....
In fact we have two rice cookers. One for regular use and a giant one for when we have to make curry for twenty people. It's a Sri Lankan thing.
I hope they're paid the living wage!
I look forward to enjoying your work on the northern comedy circuit.
On topic, I think Trump will struggle to get his nominee through by election day, but that probably isn't too much of a worry for him as he simply wants it to be an election issue.
He'll struggle because it's easy to think of some GOP Senators who probably need people to ticket-split between them and Biden to be re-elected (certainly Collins and Gardner, probably McSally, possibly Tillis). This has come at a bad time for them - they can't rely on driving core vote turnout at this time and need to play the bipartisan card. Murkowski isn't up for election but loathes Trump personally and politically. A few others both have a few qualms about the principle, and have personal political agendas they'd want to pursue in the event of a Biden White House in the near future - they don't want to be part of a losing effort to help a man who may be history in a few weeks and who they never totally liked, whilst antagonising a man who may be the future for the next several years and who they quite like. They might not shout about it, but they'd be relieved if the Democrats managed to push this into January, and that will probably allow it to happen.
It isn't a big problem for Trump, though, as it's a nice motivator for the evangelical base to vote, and a fight he'll enjoy having up to election day.
The question is does a Trump nominee get through the Senate.
Can't see Romney voting for a Trump nominee now, also GOP senators up for re-election might face problems if they back a Trump nominee, someone like Susan Collins would definitely be toast in Maine.
Murkowski says she won’t vote to confirm. Romney probably won’t, either. Collins is likely toast anyway, so who knows which way she’ll flip ?
On topic, there is nothing inherently wrong with Trump nominating RBG's President. The hypocrisy angle would be more McConnell pushing full steam ahead with a nomination.
FWIW, I think this is a topic Trump has to handle carefully. Yes, he can motivate the evangelicals but push someone too extreme and it risks massively motivating younger voters. It is a balancing act.
Personally, I think he will go with Amy Coney Barrett for several reasons. He can say he has replaced a woman with a woman, she is well liked by the social conservatives and, even though she is against abortion, she is on record as saying that Roe vs Wade will probably not be reversed. That might not satisfy everyone but it may be enough for some.
But perhaps the biggest plus is that she is a devout Catholic and, if the Democrats go too hard on her nomination and opposing her, they risk alienating Catholic voters, which are significant in a number of swing states. That would also neutralise the appeal of Biden's own Catholic background to swing Catholic voters.
Re the Senate vote, it looks like Romney has already said he won't vote for a nominee until a new President is elected. If I was Trump and McConnell, I may want to play smart with this and say to Collins that you can oppose this as well to help you with your re-election campaign.
Hello, I've just got in at 8pm after a 10 hour shift in the warehouse.
I know, I will put on a meal that takes 2 hours to cook.
That makes sense.
Very very very few meals take two hours and if they do you are not involved for the majority of the two hours , just a bit of prep and stick in oven, feet up with a beer watching the box and wait the remainder of the two hours. Stop digging Alistair.
Still talking about the hypothetical roast chicken dinner. It doesn't matter if that 2 hours is spent working on it or feet up it is the delay before eating that is important.
If you are working shifts and coming home late the idea you will wait hours before eating is nonsense.
There's plenty of other meals that are faster to cook or can be cooked in advance.
Last weekend I got a kg of beef mince for £3, large bag of onions for 40p, garlic for 30p, two tins of tomatoes for 60p and diced a carrot for around 10p and made bolognese for 3 days as I knew I was going to be working a lot the next week. Got a tin of kidney beans and some cumin and made chilli with the leftovers.
The idea that this sort of thing is impossible and the only option is frozen pizzas every day is quite frankly bollocks.
That's great. Now do it in a kitchen with no fridge and a single hotplate.
The sad truth is - like housing & credit costs, it's expensive to be poor when it comes to food.
When a kitchen was being rebuilt, I lived off a single electric hotplate for a while. Tricky, but it is possible to cook for 4 like that.
Ended up getting a rice cooker as well, in the end. The Japanese have created a zillion dishes that can be cooked in a rice cooker - due to mini apartments with no cooking facilities....
I am always surprised how even among my more foodie friends, that have all the latest "in" kitchen gadgets, rice cookers don't ever seen to be something they buy...when every Chinese or Japanese student I have ever encountered, first they do, is purchase one and not only does it make cooking rice super easy, far superior than the how most people do it by boiling water in a pan.
We have a rice cooker.
I expect nothing less of PBers....
In fact we have two rice cookers. One for regular use and a giant one for when we have to make curry for twenty people. It's a Sri Lankan thing.
I hope they're paid the living wage!
Sounds as though the giant Sri Lankan is on a zero hours contract.
They're so much more productive than the native rice cookers.
I have been watching the Tour De France on TV and I've been shocked by some of the scenes of spectators ignoring social distancing. Most were wearing masks but about 10-15 per cent were not. Also, during the mountain ascent stages, I've seen unmasked members of the public leap into the road and shout encouragement at the cyclists only yards from their faces. The message just isn't getting through.
The question is does a Trump nominee get through the Senate.
Can't see Romney voting for a Trump nominee now, also GOP senators up for re-election might face problems if they back a Trump nominee, someone like Susan Collins would definitely be toast in Maine.
Murkowski says she won’t vote to confirm. Romney probably won’t, either. Collins is likely toast anyway, so who knows which way she’ll flip ?
Re the tweet about the surge in Covid surge in France:
I have been watching the Tour De France on TV and I've been shocked by some of the scenes of spectators ignoring social distancing. Most were wearing masks but about 10-15 per cent were not. Also, during the mountain ascent stages, I've seen unmasked members of the public leap into the road and shout encouragement at the cyclists only yards from their faces. The message just isn't getting through.
Its bonkers and they are allowing 5000 for the finish in Paris.
I am surprised a cyclist hasn't tested positive after some infected fan has run alongside them screaming allez, allez, allez.
The question is does a Trump nominee get through the Senate.
Can't see Romney voting for a Trump nominee now, also GOP senators up for re-election might face problems if they back a Trump nominee, someone like Susan Collins would definitely be toast in Maine.
Murkowski says she won’t vote to confirm. Romney probably won’t, either. Collins is likely toast anyway, so who knows which way she’ll flip ?
Collins is still within striking distance so she is not toast yet and she is a fighter.
Graham also said he wouldn't push for someone to be confirmed so close to an election, and he is head of the Judiciary Committee.
One thought to consider is that RBG's passing at this time will not have come as a shock to Washington insiders. They are likely to have known there was a good chance she could have died before an election. This would therefore have been wargamed (apologies for being so distasteful as the passing of someone).
Do you think they convinced him to talk to Everton by doing the old Oxford Brookes uni move, a university in Oxford....a club in Liverpool in interested in signing you.
Nah, he wants to play for Carlo Ancelotti, probably the best coach of this century, who signed him for Real Madrid.
Just look at Ancelotti's record, 3 Champions Leagues, title winner in Italy, England, Germany, and France, and of course my favourite, the coach of AC Milan when they were 3 nil up at half time against Liverpool in the 2005 Champions League final.
Do you think they convinced him to talk to Everton by doing the old Oxford Brookes uni move, a university in Oxford....a club in Liverpool in interested in signing you.
Nah, he wants to play for Carlo Ancelotti, probably the best coach of this century, who signed him for Real Madrid.
Just look at Ancelotti's record, 3 Champions Leagues, title winner in Italy, England, Germany, and France, and of course my favourite, the coach of AC Milan when they were 3 nil up at half time against Liverpool in the 2005 Champions League final.
I am sure I am not imagining that the average Swedish girl is more attractive than the average Brit.
Romanian girls too
Viking looks are generally attractive.
One of the many stupidities of the Nazis was their belief that somehow the many blonde-haired/blue or grey eyed slavs, were in reality ethnic Germans. in reality, it's their viking heritage.
Didn't you see that just released research finding that there were tons of dark haired Vikings?
The question is does a Trump nominee get through the Senate.
Can't see Romney voting for a Trump nominee now, also GOP senators up for re-election might face problems if they back a Trump nominee, someone like Susan Collins would definitely be toast in Maine.
Murkowski says she won’t vote to confirm. Romney probably won’t, either. Collins is likely toast anyway, so who knows which way she’ll flip ?
Collins is still within striking distance so she is not toast yet and she is a fighter.
Graham also said he wouldn't push for someone to be confirmed so close to an election, and he is head of the Judiciary Committee.
One thought to consider is that RBG's passing at this time will not have come as a shock to Washington insiders. They are likely to have known there was a good chance she could have died before an election. This would therefore have been wargamed (apologies for being so distasteful as the passing of someone).
Graham is a serial flip flopper. He might not push, but he’s shown time and again he can be pushed.
And I‘m pretty sure Collins is toast; whether or not she realises it is an open question.
On the subject of cooking it doesn't seem to be a rich versus poor thing. I certainly taught my son to cook some basic dishes before he went to university however he did have a few tales of amazement to tell when he came home including one student trying to cook dried pasta by frying it in a frying pan.
As to the comment about no home economics taught in schools so how can anyone learn to cook....you have noticed that tv is replete with cookery shows? In addition there are plenty of youtube video how to's.
I never had home economics at school either but it really isn't difficult to learn I did it from recipe books and cooking shows way before the internet was a thing. It really isn't rocket science
They remind me of Labour in 2015 (and 1992) claiming a government which had lost its majority must resign at once, and in 2010 claiming that despite receiving the lowest voteshare and third worst result in seats of any governing party since 1832 as Gordon Brown was Prime Minister he had the right to remain in office at least until a new government was formed.
The amusing irony - apart from the fact they were wrong in 2010, due to poor advice from Gus O’Donnell - is that in both in ‘92 and 2015 the government confounded them by retaining a majority.
Corey Gardner and Steve Daines are also possible waverers.
My guess is that McConnell would get 50 votes, as Republican senators usually run more scared of Trump than the electorate.
If you are Trump and McConnell, the smart path is probably:
(1) Trump nominates someone who appeals to social conservatives and evangelicals but who is not so far out there (which is why I suggested Coney Barrett); (2) McConnell pushes to get the vote done to please the evangelicals; (3) A number of Republican Senators in vulnerable positions (Collins, Gardner etc) state they will vote for the nominee but will not vote on a successor until a new President is elected. It has the double benefit of allowing them to look principled and also say to the evangelical base "if you want a conservative SC Justice to be elected, you are going to get off your ass and vote for me in the Senate elections."
Personally, I don't think Trump is really going to take it out on any Senator who crosses him on not pushing ahead with the SC pick. If he doesn't get elected, he doesn't care and, if he is re-elected, it is likely the Senate will stay with the GOP so his pick will go through regardless.
The question is does a Trump nominee get through the Senate.
Can't see Romney voting for a Trump nominee now, also GOP senators up for re-election might face problems if they back a Trump nominee, someone like Susan Collins would definitely be toast in Maine.
Murkowski says she won’t vote to confirm. Romney probably won’t, either. Collins is likely toast anyway, so who knows which way she’ll flip ?
Collins is still within striking distance so she is not toast yet and she is a fighter.
Graham also said he wouldn't push for someone to be confirmed so close to an election, and he is head of the Judiciary Committee.
One thought to consider is that RBG's passing at this time will not have come as a shock to Washington insiders. They are likely to have known there was a good chance she could have died before an election. This would therefore have been wargamed (apologies for being so distasteful as the passing of someone).
Graham is a serial flip flopper. He might not push, but he’s shown time and again he can be pushed.
And I‘m pretty sure Collins is toast; whether or not she realises it is an open question.
Apart from Quinnipac, Gideon's lead over Collins has been +4% to +5% with a large block of undecideds. I wouldn't call her toast from that unless you see Quinnipac as the Platinum standard
The question is does a Trump nominee get through the Senate.
Can't see Romney voting for a Trump nominee now, also GOP senators up for re-election might face problems if they back a Trump nominee, someone like Susan Collins would definitely be toast in Maine.
Murkowski says she won’t vote to confirm. Romney probably won’t, either. Collins is likely toast anyway, so who knows which way she’ll flip ?
Collins is still within striking distance so she is not toast yet and she is a fighter.
Graham also said he wouldn't push for someone to be confirmed so close to an election, and he is head of the Judiciary Committee.
One thought to consider is that RBG's passing at this time will not have come as a shock to Washington insiders. They are likely to have known there was a good chance she could have died before an election. This would therefore have been wargamed (apologies for being so distasteful as the passing of someone).
Graham is a serial flip flopper. He might not push, but he’s shown time and again he can be pushed.
And I‘m pretty sure Collins is toast; whether or not she realises it is an open question.
Collins isn't "toast". She's got an uphill battle, but polls generally show her opponent's lead in the low-ish single figures. You'd bet against her at this stage, but it's not a Colorado or Alabama situation where it'd be really, really surprising if the incumbent clung on and they might as well save their energy and go on holiday at this point.
Indeed, the fact it's fairly close is precisely why she'll be careful and strategic rather than cast an "ah, f*** it" vote.
I am sure I am not imagining that the average Swedish girl is more attractive than the average Brit.
Romanian girls too
Viking looks are generally attractive.
One of the many stupidities of the Nazis was their belief that somehow the many blonde-haired/blue or grey eyed slavs, were in reality ethnic Germans. in reality, it's their viking heritage.
Didn't you see that just released research finding that there were tons of dark haired Vikings?
And the odd black one. The sagas speak of blámenn, blue men. Viking was after all a job description, not an ethnicity. The Icelanders have as many British and Irish genes as Norwegian so dark-haired Celts.
I was recently in Copenhagen, and at the Nasionalmuseet there was a bog body of a young girl from the pre-Roman Iron age. From genetic analysis they reckon she was dark-skinned and blonde.
The concept of race and homo sapiens is deeply flawed. We apparently don't have enough differences to qualify for the biological description of different races.
The question is does a Trump nominee get through the Senate.
Can't see Romney voting for a Trump nominee now, also GOP senators up for re-election might face problems if they back a Trump nominee, someone like Susan Collins would definitely be toast in Maine.
Murkowski says she won’t vote to confirm. Romney probably won’t, either. Collins is likely toast anyway, so who knows which way she’ll flip ?
The question is does a Trump nominee get through the Senate.
Can't see Romney voting for a Trump nominee now, also GOP senators up for re-election might face problems if they back a Trump nominee, someone like Susan Collins would definitely be toast in Maine.
Murkowski says she won’t vote to confirm. Romney probably won’t, either. Collins is likely toast anyway, so who knows which way she’ll flip ?
Collins is still within striking distance so she is not toast yet and she is a fighter.
Graham also said he wouldn't push for someone to be confirmed so close to an election, and he is head of the Judiciary Committee.
One thought to consider is that RBG's passing at this time will not have come as a shock to Washington insiders. They are likely to have known there was a good chance she could have died before an election. This would therefore have been wargamed (apologies for being so distasteful as the passing of someone).
Graham is a serial flip flopper. He might not push, but he’s shown time and again he can be pushed.
And I‘m pretty sure Collins is toast; whether or not she realises it is an open question.
Collins isn't "toast". She's got an uphill battle, but polls generally show her opponent's lead in the low-ish single figures. You'd bet against her at this stage, but it's not a Colorado or Alabama situation where it'd be really, really surprising if the incumbent clung on and they might as well save their energy and go on holiday at this point.
Indeed, the fact it's fairly close is precisely why she'll be careful and strategic rather than cast an "ah, f*** it" vote.
Alabama is probably more of a lost cause than Colorado. The Democrats won Colorado by 5% in 2016 but, more to the point, Hicklenhooper has been hit by a number of scandals and being censored by the independent standards board. Hard to tell because there does not look to be much in the way of polling there
The question is does a Trump nominee get through the Senate.
Can't see Romney voting for a Trump nominee now, also GOP senators up for re-election might face problems if they back a Trump nominee, someone like Susan Collins would definitely be toast in Maine.
Murkowski says she won’t vote to confirm. Romney probably won’t, either. Collins is likely toast anyway, so who knows which way she’ll flip ?
Collins is still within striking distance so she is not toast yet and she is a fighter.
Graham also said he wouldn't push for someone to be confirmed so close to an election, and he is head of the Judiciary Committee.
One thought to consider is that RBG's passing at this time will not have come as a shock to Washington insiders. They are likely to have known there was a good chance she could have died before an election. This would therefore have been wargamed (apologies for being so distasteful as the passing of someone).
Graham is a serial flip flopper. He might not push, but he’s shown time and again he can be pushed.
And I‘m pretty sure Collins is toast; whether or not she realises it is an open question.
Collins isn't "toast". She's got an uphill battle, but polls generally show her opponent's lead in the low-ish single figures. You'd bet against her at this stage, but it's not a Colorado or Alabama situation where it'd be really, really surprising if the incumbent clung on and they might as well save their energy and go on holiday at this point.
Indeed, the fact it's fairly close is precisely why she'll be careful and strategic rather than cast an "ah, f*** it" vote.
Whichever way she jumps is going to cost her, however much she agonises - which is a large part of why she’s toast this time around. Her independent Republican schtick simply doesn’t work anymore with a lot of Democrats who’ve voted for her in the past, and Republicans won’t forgive an abstention.
Re the tweet about the surge in Covid surge in France:
I have been watching the Tour De France on TV and I've been shocked by some of the scenes of spectators ignoring social distancing. Most were wearing masks but about 10-15 per cent were not. Also, during the mountain ascent stages, I've seen unmasked members of the public leap into the road and shout encouragement at the cyclists only yards from their faces. The message just isn't getting through.
Its bonkers and they are allowing 5000 for the finish in Paris.
I am surprised a cyclist hasn't tested positive after some infected fan has run alongside them screaming allez, allez, allez.
I don't think that's going to happen outside. But people clumping together waiting for the peloton to go past is probably a different matter
The question is does a Trump nominee get through the Senate.
Can't see Romney voting for a Trump nominee now, also GOP senators up for re-election might face problems if they back a Trump nominee, someone like Susan Collins would definitely be toast in Maine.
Murkowski says she won’t vote to confirm. Romney probably won’t, either. Collins is likely toast anyway, so who knows which way she’ll flip ?
Collins is still within striking distance so she is not toast yet and she is a fighter.
Graham also said he wouldn't push for someone to be confirmed so close to an election, and he is head of the Judiciary Committee.
One thought to consider is that RBG's passing at this time will not have come as a shock to Washington insiders. They are likely to have known there was a good chance she could have died before an election. This would therefore have been wargamed (apologies for being so distasteful as the passing of someone).
Graham is a serial flip flopper. He might not push, but he’s shown time and again he can be pushed.
And I‘m pretty sure Collins is toast; whether or not she realises it is an open question.
Collins isn't "toast". She's got an uphill battle, but polls generally show her opponent's lead in the low-ish single figures. You'd bet against her at this stage, but it's not a Colorado or Alabama situation where it'd be really, really surprising if the incumbent clung on and they might as well save their energy and go on holiday at this point.
Indeed, the fact it's fairly close is precisely why she'll be careful and strategic rather than cast an "ah, f*** it" vote.
Whichever way she jumps is going to cost her, however much she agonises - which is a large part of why she’s toast this time around. Her independent Republican schtick simply doesn’t work anymore with a lot of Democrats who’ve voted for her in the past, and Republicans won’t forgive an abstention.
People from Maine are definitely sui generis. Being seen as independent certainly gains you more kudos than voting on religious lines.
The question is does a Trump nominee get through the Senate.
Can't see Romney voting for a Trump nominee now, also GOP senators up for re-election might face problems if they back a Trump nominee, someone like Susan Collins would definitely be toast in Maine.
Murkowski says she won’t vote to confirm. Romney probably won’t, either. Collins is likely toast anyway, so who knows which way she’ll flip ?
Collins is still within striking distance so she is not toast yet and she is a fighter.
Graham also said he wouldn't push for someone to be confirmed so close to an election, and he is head of the Judiciary Committee.
One thought to consider is that RBG's passing at this time will not have come as a shock to Washington insiders. They are likely to have known there was a good chance she could have died before an election. This would therefore have been wargamed (apologies for being so distasteful as the passing of someone).
Graham is a serial flip flopper. He might not push, but he’s shown time and again he can be pushed.
And I‘m pretty sure Collins is toast; whether or not she realises it is an open question.
Collins isn't "toast". She's got an uphill battle, but polls generally show her opponent's lead in the low-ish single figures. You'd bet against her at this stage, but it's not a Colorado or Alabama situation where it'd be really, really surprising if the incumbent clung on and they might as well save their energy and go on holiday at this point.
Indeed, the fact it's fairly close is precisely why she'll be careful and strategic rather than cast an "ah, f*** it" vote.
Whichever way she jumps is going to cost her, however much she agonises - which is a large part of why she’s toast this time around. Her independent Republican schtick simply doesn’t work anymore with a lot of Democrats who’ve voted for her in the past, and Republicans won’t forgive an abstention.
I'd have thought her strategy will be to quietly support procedural moves to avoid her having to vote (or abstain) on the substance. Punt it into the long grass beyond the election as she's nothing to gain from any of it as you say.
I really think following Sweden is a bad idea for COVID
I don't believe even Anders Tegnell says we should. I think what he would argue is that you need to come up with a consistent set of rules that work for your particular demographics and you stick to for the long term, not stop / start circuit breaker stuff.
Yes, long term consistent rules. The desperate desire to "reopen" has been the achilles heel of the UK approach
That said Sweden is about to start allowing care home visits again.
By coincidence a poll was done into the SC only a few days ago .
You get some interesting answers , whether people might change their answer when faced with the situation actually occurring we’ll see when they do further polling .
Briefly a clear majority favour hearings being held for a nominee in 2020 but at the same time a clear majority think what the GOP did in 2016 was wrong .
Depending on which of those two competing views wins out we might see some effect on the polling .
I don’t wish to appear rude. But it’s quite something to be sufficiently high functioning that you can be elected as an MP and yet gleefully admit that you are so incurious and inept that you’ve never made even a simple meal from scratch.
Yes, it's Tory MPs who are supposed to be completely out of touch with everyday life.
I am sure I am not imagining that the average Swedish girl is more attractive than the average Brit.
Romanian girls too
Viking looks are generally attractive.
One of the many stupidities of the Nazis was their belief that somehow the many blonde-haired/blue or grey eyed slavs, were in reality ethnic Germans. in reality, it's their viking heritage.
Didn't you see that just released research finding that there were tons of dark haired Vikings?
And the odd black one. The sagas speak of blámenn, blue men. Viking was after all a job description, not an ethnicity. The Icelanders have as many British and Irish genes as Norwegian so dark-haired Celts.
I was recently in Copenhagen, and at the Nasionalmuseet there was a bog body of a young girl from the pre-Roman Iron age. From genetic analysis they reckon she was dark-skinned and blonde.
The concept of race and homo sapiens is deeply flawed. We apparently don't have enough differences to qualify for the biological description of different races.
"Race is a social construct" sounds like some kind of ultra-woke post millennium phrase but it actually comes from the 1940s.
If you take the exact same person of mixed parentage and put them in America and then in Brazil you would get a different answer from the man on the street in that country as to whether they were 'white' or not.
My gut tells me Trump and his minions in the Senate will find a way of getting this done in time. Any republican senator who doesn't toe the line is toast, even in a relatively blue state, as they'll lose a decent fraction of their base.
The Dem reaction will be dramatic. I wouldn't be surprised if we see an expansion of Supreme Court in future years.
Of course neither adding two reliably blue states to the senate, nor adding two seats to the Court (to be appointed by a democrats president) count as “gerrymandering” of course
Puerto Rico should long since have been admitted to statehood.
Charles is in favour of taxation without representation.
The question is does a Trump nominee get through the Senate.
Can't see Romney voting for a Trump nominee now, also GOP senators up for re-election might face problems if they back a Trump nominee, someone like Susan Collins would definitely be toast in Maine.
Murkowski says she won’t vote to confirm. Romney probably won’t, either. Collins is likely toast anyway, so who knows which way she’ll flip ?
Collins is still within striking distance so she is not toast yet and she is a fighter.
Graham also said he wouldn't push for someone to be confirmed so close to an election, and he is head of the Judiciary Committee.
One thought to consider is that RBG's passing at this time will not have come as a shock to Washington insiders. They are likely to have known there was a good chance she could have died before an election. This would therefore have been wargamed (apologies for being so distasteful as the passing of someone).
Graham is a serial flip flopper. He might not push, but he’s shown time and again he can be pushed.
And I‘m pretty sure Collins is toast; whether or not she realises it is an open question.
Apart from Quinnipac, Gideon's lead over Collins has been +4% to +5% with a large block of undecideds. I wouldn't call her toast from that unless you see Quinnipac as the Platinum standard
Collins is toast if she votes before the election . Undecideds would prefer Biden to pick the next SC judge and that shows up in a range of polling for Maine .
I am sure I am not imagining that the average Swedish girl is more attractive than the average Brit.
Romanian girls too
Viking looks are generally attractive.
One of the many stupidities of the Nazis was their belief that somehow the many blonde-haired/blue or grey eyed slavs, were in reality ethnic Germans. in reality, it's their viking heritage.
Didn't you see that just released research finding that there were tons of dark haired Vikings?
And the odd black one. The sagas speak of blámenn, blue men. Viking was after all a job description, not an ethnicity. The Icelanders have as many British and Irish genes as Norwegian so dark-haired Celts.
I was recently in Copenhagen, and at the Nasionalmuseet there was a bog body of a young girl from the pre-Roman Iron age. From genetic analysis they reckon she was dark-skinned and blonde.
The concept of race and homo sapiens is deeply flawed. We apparently don't have enough differences to qualify for the biological description of different races.
"Race is a social construct" sounds like some kind of ultra-woke post millennium phrase but it actually comes from the 1940s.
If you take the exact same person of mixed parentage and put them in America and then in Brazil you would get a different answer from the man on the street in that country as to whether they were 'white' or not.
Only in America could they come up with the theory that Irish people were not ‘white’.
The question is does a Trump nominee get through the Senate.
Can't see Romney voting for a Trump nominee now, also GOP senators up for re-election might face problems if they back a Trump nominee, someone like Susan Collins would definitely be toast in Maine.
Murkowski says she won’t vote to confirm. Romney probably won’t, either. Collins is likely toast anyway, so who knows which way she’ll flip ?
Collins is still within striking distance so she is not toast yet and she is a fighter.
Graham also said he wouldn't push for someone to be confirmed so close to an election, and he is head of the Judiciary Committee.
One thought to consider is that RBG's passing at this time will not have come as a shock to Washington insiders. They are likely to have known there was a good chance she could have died before an election. This would therefore have been wargamed (apologies for being so distasteful as the passing of someone).
Graham is a serial flip flopper. He might not push, but he’s shown time and again he can be pushed.
And I‘m pretty sure Collins is toast; whether or not she realises it is an open question.
Collins isn't "toast". She's got an uphill battle, but polls generally show her opponent's lead in the low-ish single figures. You'd bet against her at this stage, but it's not a Colorado or Alabama situation where it'd be really, really surprising if the incumbent clung on and they might as well save their energy and go on holiday at this point.
Indeed, the fact it's fairly close is precisely why she'll be careful and strategic rather than cast an "ah, f*** it" vote.
Whichever way she jumps is going to cost her, however much she agonises - which is a large part of why she’s toast this time around. Her independent Republican schtick simply doesn’t work anymore with a lot of Democrats who’ve voted for her in the past, and Republicans won’t forgive an abstention.
I'd have thought her strategy will be to quietly support procedural moves to avoid her having to vote (or abstain) on the substance. Punt it into the long grass beyond the election as she's nothing to gain from any of it as you say.
But it is precisely her recently earned reputation for temporising on difficult issues which has cost her the support of those who believed in her long cultivated image as a strong independent voice. ‘Susan Collins is concerned’ didn’t become a meme for no reason.
I am sure I am not imagining that the average Swedish girl is more attractive than the average Brit.
Romanian girls too
Viking looks are generally attractive.
One of the many stupidities of the Nazis was their belief that somehow the many blonde-haired/blue or grey eyed slavs, were in reality ethnic Germans. in reality, it's their viking heritage.
Didn't you see that just released research finding that there were tons of dark haired Vikings?
And the odd black one. The sagas speak of blámenn, blue men. Viking was after all a job description, not an ethnicity. The Icelanders have as many British and Irish genes as Norwegian so dark-haired Celts.
I was recently in Copenhagen, and at the Nasionalmuseet there was a bog body of a young girl from the pre-Roman Iron age. From genetic analysis they reckon she was dark-skinned and blonde.
The concept of race and homo sapiens is deeply flawed. We apparently don't have enough differences to qualify for the biological description of different races.
"Race is a social construct" sounds like some kind of ultra-woke post millennium phrase but it actually comes from the 1940s.
If you take the exact same person of mixed parentage and put them in America and then in Brazil you would get a different answer from the man on the street in that country as to whether they were 'white' or not.
It's still garbage to deny that race exists, though. Just because some particular individual might not fit into some category, or that there are people whose parents are of different races, doesn't mean that the category itself is meaningless. Or are you really saying that there are no identifiable genetic, visible and measurable differences between the populations of, say, Iceland, Japan, and Ghana?
The problem isn't the concept, it's the illogical application of that concept.
They remind me of Labour in 2015 (and 1992) claiming a government which had lost its majority must resign at once, and in 2010 claiming that despite receiving the lowest voteshare and third worst result in seats of any governing party since 1832 as Gordon Brown was Prime Minister he had the right to remain in office at least until a new government was formed.
The amusing irony - apart from the fact they were wrong in 2010, due to poor advice from Gus O’Donnell - is that in both in ‘92 and 2015 the government confounded them by retaining a majority.
In most countries the the outgoing prime minister and ministers stay in place until the details of ther new government is agreeed. This is what happened in Ireland this year.
I am sure I am not imagining that the average Swedish girl is more attractive than the average Brit.
Romanian girls too
Viking looks are generally attractive.
One of the many stupidities of the Nazis was their belief that somehow the many blonde-haired/blue or grey eyed slavs, were in reality ethnic Germans. in reality, it's their viking heritage.
Didn't you see that just released research finding that there were tons of dark haired Vikings?
And the odd black one. The sagas speak of blámenn, blue men. Viking was after all a job description, not an ethnicity. The Icelanders have as many British and Irish genes as Norwegian so dark-haired Celts.
I was recently in Copenhagen, and at the Nasionalmuseet there was a bog body of a young girl from the pre-Roman Iron age. From genetic analysis they reckon she was dark-skinned and blonde.
The concept of race and homo sapiens is deeply flawed. We apparently don't have enough differences to qualify for the biological description of different races.
"Race is a social construct" sounds like some kind of ultra-woke post millennium phrase but it actually comes from the 1940s.
If you take the exact same person of mixed parentage and put them in America and then in Brazil you would get a different answer from the man on the street in that country as to whether they were 'white' or not.
It's still garbage to deny that race exists, though. Just because some particular individual might not fit into some category, or that there are people whose parents are of different races, doesn't mean that the category itself is meaningless. Or are you really saying that there are no identifiable genetic, visible and measurable differences between the populations of, say, Iceland, Japan, and Ghana?
The problem isn't the concept, it's the illogical application of that concept.
He did not say that race "does not exist", he said it is a "social construct". Good luck trying to define race based on genes.
I am sure I am not imagining that the average Swedish girl is more attractive than the average Brit.
Romanian girls too
Viking looks are generally attractive.
One of the many stupidities of the Nazis was their belief that somehow the many blonde-haired/blue or grey eyed slavs, were in reality ethnic Germans. in reality, it's their viking heritage.
Didn't you see that just released research finding that there were tons of dark haired Vikings?
And the odd black one. The sagas speak of blámenn, blue men. Viking was after all a job description, not an ethnicity. The Icelanders have as many British and Irish genes as Norwegian so dark-haired Celts.
I was recently in Copenhagen, and at the Nasionalmuseet there was a bog body of a young girl from the pre-Roman Iron age. From genetic analysis they reckon she was dark-skinned and blonde.
The concept of race and homo sapiens is deeply flawed. We apparently don't have enough differences to qualify for the biological description of different races.
"Race is a social construct" sounds like some kind of ultra-woke post millennium phrase but it actually comes from the 1940s.
If you take the exact same person of mixed parentage and put them in America and then in Brazil you would get a different answer from the man on the street in that country as to whether they were 'white' or not.
Only in America could they come up with the theory that Irish people were not ‘white’.
They remind me of Labour in 2015 (and 1992) claiming a government which had lost its majority must resign at once, and in 2010 claiming that despite receiving the lowest voteshare and third worst result in seats of any governing party since 1832 as Gordon Brown was Prime Minister he had the right to remain in office at least until a new government was formed.
The amusing irony - apart from the fact they were wrong in 2010, due to poor advice from Gus O’Donnell - is that in both in ‘92 and 2015 the government confounded them by retaining a majority.
In most countries the the outgoing prime minister and ministers stay in place until the details of ther new government is agreeed. This is what happened in Ireland this year.
Cos they don't have the same constitution, it's more like America with a strong supreme court upholding a written constitution. HM Gov has more primacy so one would be more antsy about any situation where the government does not enjoy the support of the people.
The thing with RBG is she’s very well known in the USA and has a high favourable rating . I expect Trump will get to put in his nominee but Biden will still win the election . And then things will turn very ugly next year when the Dems anger over this will spill into some drastic actions . It’s not just about the SC but other judges in lower courts .
The question is does a Trump nominee get through the Senate.
Can't see Romney voting for a Trump nominee now, also GOP senators up for re-election might face problems if they back a Trump nominee, someone like Susan Collins would definitely be toast in Maine.
Murkowski says she won’t vote to confirm. Romney probably won’t, either. Collins is likely toast anyway, so who knows which way she’ll flip ?
Collins is still within striking distance so she is not toast yet and she is a fighter.
Graham also said he wouldn't push for someone to be confirmed so close to an election, and he is head of the Judiciary Committee.
One thought to consider is that RBG's passing at this time will not have come as a shock to Washington insiders. They are likely to have known there was a good chance she could have died before an election. This would therefore have been wargamed (apologies for being so distasteful as the passing of someone).
I think not pushing to have someone confirmed before the election definitely works in Trump's favour. It also minimises the risks to Cory Gardner and Susan Collins, both of whom probably want to appear as bipartisan as possible before the election. (And, while the polling is old, Maine is one of the most pro-Choice states in the whole US.)
The more interesting question is this: if Trump loses, and if that loss is accompanied by the loss of the Senate, then does Trump attempt to push through a new Supreme Court Justice in the lame duck session? And if so, what are the odds Bill Barr is the man?
Yup, the first thing the Biden Presidency will need to do is reimplement Obamacare.
I think the case going before the Supreme Court isn't as simple as that.
As I understand it, the technical argument being heard is that what made the ACA unconstitutional was Trump's/the GOP's own decision to cut the penalty for not complying with the individual mandate (the requirement to purchase insurance) to nil. So, even if that point is accepted, it appears likely it can be rectified with a relatively simple change so the penalty is no longer nil (which wouldn't happen under Trump but would under Biden).
Further, the Texas judge that upheld the technical point rather dubiously accepted that, if that limited part was unconstitutional, the whole structure was. Now it is by no means a given, even if they accept the technical point, the SCOTUS would split on liberal/conservative lines on that aspect. They are still, after all, judges, and indeed both Trump's appointees went against him on the recent case on Presidential tax records (albeit winning him some concessions on timing etc in the process). It would not shock me at all if the court compromised on upholding the limited part of the lower court's ruling but rejected the broader part.
I am sure I am not imagining that the average Swedish girl is more attractive than the average Brit.
Romanian girls too
Viking looks are generally attractive.
One of the many stupidities of the Nazis was their belief that somehow the many blonde-haired/blue or grey eyed slavs, were in reality ethnic Germans. in reality, it's their viking heritage.
Didn't you see that just released research finding that there were tons of dark haired Vikings?
And the odd black one. The sagas speak of blámenn, blue men. Viking was after all a job description, not an ethnicity. The Icelanders have as many British and Irish genes as Norwegian so dark-haired Celts.
I was recently in Copenhagen, and at the Nasionalmuseet there was a bog body of a young girl from the pre-Roman Iron age. From genetic analysis they reckon she was dark-skinned and blonde.
The concept of race and homo sapiens is deeply flawed. We apparently don't have enough differences to qualify for the biological description of different races.
"Race is a social construct" sounds like some kind of ultra-woke post millennium phrase but it actually comes from the 1940s.
If you take the exact same person of mixed parentage and put them in America and then in Brazil you would get a different answer from the man on the street in that country as to whether they were 'white' or not.
It's still garbage to deny that race exists, though. Just because some particular individual might not fit into some category, or that there are people whose parents are of different races, doesn't mean that the category itself is meaningless. Or are you really saying that there are no identifiable genetic, visible and measurable differences between the populations of, say, Iceland, Japan, and Ghana?
The problem isn't the concept, it's the illogical application of that concept.
He did not say that race "does not exist", he said it is a "social construct". Good luck trying to define race based on genes.
Of course you can define race based on genes. Are you seriously suggesting that given three samples of DNA, one each from a person of Icelandic heritage, Japanese heritage, and Ghanian heritage, that a lab wouldn't typically be able to tell which was which?
Of course these are fuzzy sets. But we're grown ups here, we can understand that just because a set is fuzzy at the edges, that doesn't mean it is meaningless.
They remind me of Labour in 2015 (and 1992) claiming a government which had lost its majority must resign at once, and in 2010 claiming that despite receiving the lowest voteshare and third worst result in seats of any governing party since 1832 as Gordon Brown was Prime Minister he had the right to remain in office at least until a new government was formed.
The amusing irony - apart from the fact they were wrong in 2010, due to poor advice from Gus O’Donnell - is that in both in ‘92 and 2015 the government confounded them by retaining a majority.
In most countries the the outgoing prime minister and ministers stay in place until the details of ther new government is agreeed. This is what happened in Ireland this year.
So what?
The precedents are crystal clear. Admittedly not to Gus O'Donnell, but he didn't know what he was talking about. Labour were completely wrong not to resign at once in 2010.
The only partial exception - and the one O'Donnell seems to have cited - is February 1974. However, at the time of the election it was very unclear who led the largest party, due to the changes in Northern Ireland. So while Heath probably should have resigned, it wasn't a given he should have done.
The most pertinent precedent - and the only one in the age of universal suffrage - was Baldwin in 1929, who resigned on coming a clear second in terms of seats even though he narrowly won the popular vote. He took the view that a majority government that had not only lost its majority but come second had been rejected should leave office. And in our system, that's the way it should be if Brown was not a megalomaniac.
Edit - the irony of course is that from all points of view their attempt to hang on was incredibly politically damaging. It further eroded their credibility and effectively forced the Liberal Democrats to do a deal with the Tories, which has had to put it mildly severe negative repercussions for Labour ever since.
Comments
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xx4gjL62zxI&feature=emb_title
So if Trump was appealing a lower court judgment for Biden, Biden would win. If Biden was appealing a lower court judgment for Trump, Trump would win.
The SC vacancy probably won't have much effect on voting choices or on likelihood to vote - at least not in the presidential. It might have an effect downticket for a few GOP senators. But this is assuming Trump is sensible and doesn't try to polarise too much by nominating say Tom Cotton. If I were on Biden's team I would love Trump to pick Cotton. Trump can have too much limelight. That wasn't true in 2016 but it is now.
That will happen soon.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-54216710
As is Allen.
https://www.barrons.com/articles/tesla-battery-day-and-the-future-of-electric-batteries-51600386083
Even if he doesn't pull a rabbit out of the hat "Battery costs are falling. Some industry insiders tell Barron’s costs are down 75% over the past 10 years. The cost bogey today is for battery cells to hit $100 per kilowatt hour.."
https://twitter.com/ElieNYC/status/1307194955459375109
https://twitter.com/Politics_Polls/status/1307076199898853385?s=20
https://twitter.com/MollyJongFast/status/1307294311667597312
Looks terrible again
Keir ahead of the game again
Just look at Ancelotti's record, 3 Champions Leagues, title winner in Italy, England, Germany, and France, and of course my favourite, the coach of AC Milan when they were 3 nil up at half time against Liverpool in the 2005 Champions League final.
The question is does a Trump nominee get through the Senate.
Can't see Romney voting for a Trump nominee now, also GOP senators up for re-election might face problems if they back a Trump nominee, someone like Susan Collins would definitely be toast in Maine.
He'll struggle because it's easy to think of some GOP Senators who probably need people to ticket-split between them and Biden to be re-elected (certainly Collins and Gardner, probably McSally, possibly Tillis). This has come at a bad time for them - they can't rely on driving core vote turnout at this time and need to play the bipartisan card. Murkowski isn't up for election but loathes Trump personally and politically. A few others both have a few qualms about the principle, and have personal political agendas they'd want to pursue in the event of a Biden White House in the near future - they don't want to be part of a losing effort to help a man who may be history in a few weeks and who they never totally liked, whilst antagonising a man who may be the future for the next several years and who they quite like. They might not shout about it, but they'd be relieved if the Democrats managed to push this into January, and that will probably allow it to happen.
It isn't a big problem for Trump, though, as it's a nice motivator for the evangelical base to vote, and a fight he'll enjoy having up to election day.
Collins is likely toast anyway, so who knows which way she’ll flip ?
Grassley, unless he changes his stance (entirely possible), is also a vote against:
https://eu.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2020/09/18/how-ernst-grassley-said-they-would-handle-supreme-court-vacancy/5831959002/
FWIW, I think this is a topic Trump has to handle carefully. Yes, he can motivate the evangelicals but push someone too extreme and it risks massively motivating younger voters. It is a balancing act.
Personally, I think he will go with Amy Coney Barrett for several reasons. He can say he has replaced a woman with a woman, she is well liked by the social conservatives and, even though she is against abortion, she is on record as saying that Roe vs Wade will probably not be reversed. That might not satisfy everyone but it may be enough for some.
But perhaps the biggest plus is that she is a devout Catholic and, if the Democrats go too hard on her nomination and opposing her, they risk alienating Catholic voters, which are significant in a number of swing states. That would also neutralise the appeal of Biden's own Catholic background to swing Catholic voters.
Re the Senate vote, it looks like Romney has already said he won't vote for a nominee until a new President is elected. If I was Trump and McConnell, I may want to play smart with this and say to Collins that you can oppose this as well to help you with your re-election campaign.
I have been watching the Tour De France on TV and I've been shocked by some of the scenes of spectators ignoring social distancing. Most were wearing masks but about 10-15 per cent were not. Also, during the mountain ascent stages, I've seen unmasked members of the public leap into the road and shout encouragement at the cyclists only yards from their faces. The message just isn't getting through.
I am surprised a cyclist hasn't tested positive after some infected fan has run alongside them screaming allez, allez, allez.
Graham also said he wouldn't push for someone to be confirmed so close to an election, and he is head of the Judiciary Committee.
One thought to consider is that RBG's passing at this time will not have come as a shock to Washington insiders. They are likely to have known there was a good chance she could have died before an election. This would therefore have been wargamed (apologies for being so distasteful as the passing of someone).
My guess is that McConnell would get 50 votes, as Republican senators usually run more scared of Trump than the electorate.
And I‘m pretty sure Collins is toast; whether or not she realises it is an open question.
As to the comment about no home economics taught in schools so how can anyone learn to cook....you have noticed that tv is replete with cookery shows? In addition there are plenty of youtube video how to's.
I never had home economics at school either but it really isn't difficult to learn I did it from recipe books and cooking shows way before the internet was a thing. It really isn't rocket science
The amusing irony - apart from the fact they were wrong in 2010, due to poor advice from Gus O’Donnell - is that in both in ‘92 and 2015 the government confounded them by retaining a majority.
(1) Trump nominates someone who appeals to social conservatives and evangelicals but who is not so far out there (which is why I suggested Coney Barrett);
(2) McConnell pushes to get the vote done to please the evangelicals;
(3) A number of Republican Senators in vulnerable positions (Collins, Gardner etc) state they will vote for the nominee but will not vote on a successor until a new President is elected. It has the double benefit of allowing them to look principled and also say to the evangelical base "if you want a conservative SC Justice to be elected, you are going to get off your ass and vote for me in the Senate elections."
Personally, I don't think Trump is really going to take it out on any Senator who crosses him on not pushing ahead with the SC pick. If he doesn't get elected, he doesn't care and, if he is re-elected, it is likely the Senate will stay with the GOP so his pick will go through regardless.
Indeed, the fact it's fairly close is precisely why she'll be careful and strategic rather than cast an "ah, f*** it" vote.
I was recently in Copenhagen, and at the Nasionalmuseet there was a bog body of a young girl from the pre-Roman Iron age. From genetic analysis they reckon she was dark-skinned and blonde.
The concept of race and homo sapiens is deeply flawed. We apparently don't have enough differences to qualify for the biological description of different races.
As per this list:
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/09/mitch-mcconnell-senate-votes-ginsburg-supreme-court.html
This is an interesting story in light of recent debates on here about inheritance and rich lefties voluntarily paying extra tax.
That said Sweden is about to start allowing care home visits again.
You get some interesting answers , whether people might change their answer when faced with the situation actually occurring we’ll see when they do further polling .
Briefly a clear majority favour hearings being held for a nominee in 2020 but at the same time a clear majority think what the GOP did in 2016 was wrong .
Depending on which of those two competing views wins out we might see some effect on the polling .
If you take the exact same person of mixed parentage and put them in America and then in Brazil you would get a different answer from the man on the street in that country as to whether they were 'white' or not.
‘Susan Collins is concerned’ didn’t become a meme for no reason.
The problem isn't the concept, it's the illogical application of that concept.
https://twitter.com/Redistrict/status/1307300610044297217
The more interesting question is this: if Trump loses, and if that loss is accompanied by the loss of the Senate, then does Trump attempt to push through a new Supreme Court Justice in the lame duck session? And if so, what are the odds Bill Barr is the man?
As I understand it, the technical argument being heard is that what made the ACA unconstitutional was Trump's/the GOP's own decision to cut the penalty for not complying with the individual mandate (the requirement to purchase insurance) to nil. So, even if that point is accepted, it appears likely it can be rectified with a relatively simple change so the penalty is no longer nil (which wouldn't happen under Trump but would under Biden).
Further, the Texas judge that upheld the technical point rather dubiously accepted that, if that limited part was unconstitutional, the whole structure was. Now it is by no means a given, even if they accept the technical point, the SCOTUS would split on liberal/conservative lines on that aspect. They are still, after all, judges, and indeed both Trump's appointees went against him on the recent case on Presidential tax records (albeit winning him some concessions on timing etc in the process). It would not shock me at all if the court compromised on upholding the limited part of the lower court's ruling but rejected the broader part.
Of course these are fuzzy sets. But we're grown ups here, we can understand that just because a set is fuzzy at the edges, that doesn't mean it is meaningless.
The precedents are crystal clear. Admittedly not to Gus O'Donnell, but he didn't know what he was talking about. Labour were completely wrong not to resign at once in 2010.
The only partial exception - and the one O'Donnell seems to have cited - is February 1974. However, at the time of the election it was very unclear who led the largest party, due to the changes in Northern Ireland. So while Heath probably should have resigned, it wasn't a given he should have done.
The most pertinent precedent - and the only one in the age of universal suffrage - was Baldwin in 1929, who resigned on coming a clear second in terms of seats even though he narrowly won the popular vote. He took the view that a majority government that had not only lost its majority but come second had been rejected should leave office. And in our system, that's the way it should be if Brown was not a megalomaniac.
Edit - the irony of course is that from all points of view their attempt to hang on was incredibly politically damaging. It further eroded their credibility and effectively forced the Liberal Democrats to do a deal with the Tories, which has had to put it mildly severe negative repercussions for Labour ever since.