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Two new VI voting polls out today adding to the confusion – politicalbetting.com

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Comments

  • CookieCookie Posts: 11,182

    tlg86 said:

    DougSeal said:

    Question for PBers. Do you have an opinion that would embarrass you in front of the mainstream of the political affiliation you identify with?

    Plenty!

    1. Wishing to see the extinction of humankind
    2. Supporting Brexit
    3. Thinking that someone with a cock and balls is a man
    4. Being anti-abortion

    That's enough for now.
    On 3, are you sure you’re out of step with most in the Labour Party? The only place I’ve ever discussed this issue to that level of detail is on here. I wonder to what extent people even think about this?

    On 4, what would the law be if you were dictator? I’m anti-abortion, but only in a prevention is better than the cure kind of way. I wouldn’t want to see it banned. Also, isn’t 4 in contradiction to 1?!
    No, I would not ban abortion. But I would not allow it to be used as a proxy for contraception.

    I would seek to achieve extinction by the sterilisation of the entire human population so that we all die out in 100 years or so. I am not advocating mass killings or anything like that.
    Well phew! Thank goodness it's only mass sterilisation.
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 49,614
    Criminal stopped in his car in California - with the usual criminal crap in his car:

    He was found by Torrance police in southern Los Angeles. Officers also found Xanax pills, methamphetamine, a loaded gun, thousands of other pieces of mail, a scale, several driver licenses’ and credit cards in other people’s names.

    Oh, and 300 unused ballot papers for the California Governor recall election…

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/crime/election-ballots-firearm-drugs-car-b1908012.html
  • NorthofStokeNorthofStoke Posts: 1,758
    Toms said:

    Is America going to lay responsibility for todays dead servicemen at the door of the Biden White House, do we think?

    That question occurred to me. Biden (age 78, mind) seems to be getting flack for just about everything, and deserving none of it.

    Incidentally, if Blair thinks it's imbecilic to follow the agreed deadline, does he not realize that the launch of a single rocket from the shoulder of one battle-hardened Taliban can bring down a plane with 500 people aboard?

    Then too there are the lunatic suicide bombers.
    He does deserve some of it. The tactics of the withdrawal process have been astonishingly inept.
  • MrEdMrEd Posts: 5,578
    Sandpit said:

    Criminal stopped in his car in California - with the usual criminal crap in his car:

    He was found by Torrance police in southern Los Angeles. Officers also found Xanax pills, methamphetamine, a loaded gun, thousands of other pieces of mail, a scale, several driver licenses’ and credit cards in other people’s names.

    Oh, and 300 unused ballot papers for the California Governor recall election…

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/crime/election-ballots-firearm-drugs-car-b1908012.html

    Yes, it’s starting to be flagged that there are big potential risks about the CA recall election around integrity. Still, I’m sure it’s a Trumpian plot.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,766

    DougSeal said:

    Question for PBers. Do you have an opinion that would embarrass you in front of the mainstream of the political affiliation you identify with?

    I think like JJ my problem with that question would be that I don't identify with any mainstream (or even lunatic fringe) political affiliation.

    But I take PB in all its glorious diversity as my political family so yes there are a number of positions I have stated in the past which, whilst not exactly embarrassing, I generally avoid discussing as they get me into trouble with people on here I like.

    They include:

    - Abolition of whipping in Parliament. Reducing the power of parties to almost zero.
    - Complete freedom of movement and settlement in and out of the country for anyone who wants except for reasons of security/health/crime. By which I mean if you are a non terrorist, non criminal, non infectious person then the state should not be allowed to stop you coming to the UK to live work or anything else within the law.
    - In complete contradiction to what I have just said, a radical reduction in the UK population and stopping all new house building. (I fully recognise these two items - freedom of movement and stopping house building are mutually exclusive)
    - Scepticism of catastrophic Anthropogenic Global Warming. The reason I don't bang on about this one these days is because I actually like the solutions without agreeing with the problem so it seems petty to argue about it. I do however fear that if I turn out to be right then the damage done to people's faith in science will be truly catastrophic)
    - A desire for the human race to be reduced to perhaps 10% of its current number. But at the same time an abhorrence and rejection of any of the possible ways in which this might happen. Another of those absolute contradictions.
    - A belief that the 'Growth' model of Western economies is fundamentally flawed and should be replaced but without any idea of what could or should replace it.

    Also and finally, the belief that Bing Crosby was perhaps the greatest singer of all time. But I realise some things truly are beyond the pale and can never be discussed in polite society.


    Interestingly, I would actually start mandatory whipping of politicians by members of the public. I would probably try and make some kind of game show out of it, to reintroduce some joy into the political process.
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 39,744
    Loads of folk deleting the cherry emoji from their profiles as I type.


  • TomsToms Posts: 2,478

    Toms said:

    Is America going to lay responsibility for todays dead servicemen at the door of the Biden White House, do we think?

    That question occurred to me. Biden (age 78, mind) seems to be getting flack for just about everything, and deserving none of it.

    Incidentally, if Blair thinks it's imbecilic to follow the agreed deadline, does he not realize that the launch of a single rocket from the shoulder of one battle-hardened Taliban can bring down a plane with 500 people aboard?

    Then too there are the lunatic suicide bombers.
    He does deserve some of it. The tactics of the withdrawal process have been astonishingly inept.
    Perhaps you could have sorted it out?
    I'm glad I didn't have to.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,766

    Republican Senator Hawley calls for Biden to resign.

    https://twitter.com/hawleymo/status/1430991129638539269

    image

    I would have a lot more respect for Mr Hawley, if he hadn't been at forefront of peddling lies about the election.
  • ISIS claim responsibility for Kabul attacks that have killed at least 72 - including 12 US soldiers - and name suicide bomber who blew himself up checkpoint manned by US Marines

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9930695/ISIS-claim-responsibility-devastating-attacks-Kabul-killed-72.html
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 76,274
    edited August 2021
    New listings of fossil fuel companies would be immediately banned on the London Stock Exchange as part of a proposal by the Liberal Democrats that the party says could help the UK become a leader in tackling the climate emergency.

    Under the plan outlined to the Guardian by the Lib Dem leader, Ed Davey, another immediate policy would be to stop new bonds being issued in London to finance oil, coal or gas exploration.

    Fossil fuel firms already listed in the UK would then have two years to produce a coherent plan about how they would reach net zero emissions by 2045, or risk being struck off the LSE.

    https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/aug/26/lib-dems-propose-ban-on-new-listings-of-fossil-fuel-companies-on-lse-london-climate-change
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 91,392

    England test match team might be struggling for batters,

    Not this week they aren't.
  • SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 20,392
    Cookie said:

    tlg86 said:

    DougSeal said:

    Question for PBers. Do you have an opinion that would embarrass you in front of the mainstream of the political affiliation you identify with?

    Plenty!

    1. Wishing to see the extinction of humankind
    2. Supporting Brexit
    3. Thinking that someone with a cock and balls is a man
    4. Being anti-abortion

    That's enough for now.
    On 3, are you sure you’re out of step with most in the Labour Party? The only place I’ve ever discussed this issue to that level of detail is on here. I wonder to what extent people even think about this?

    On 4, what would the law be if you were dictator? I’m anti-abortion, but only in a prevention is better than the cure kind of way. I wouldn’t want to see it banned. Also, isn’t 4 in contradiction to 1?!
    No, I would not ban abortion. But I would not allow it to be used as a proxy for contraception.

    I would seek to achieve extinction by the sterilisation of the entire human population so that we all die out in 100 years or so. I am not advocating mass killings or anything like that.
    Well phew! Thank goodness it's only mass sterilisation.
    Well of course. I'm not some kind of extremist.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,766

    DougSeal said:

    Question for PBers. Do you have an opinion that would embarrass you in front of the mainstream of the political affiliation you identify with?

    Plenty!

    1. Wishing to see the extinction of humankind
    2. Supporting Brexit
    3. Thinking that someone with a cock and balls is a man
    4. Being anti-abortion

    That's enough for now.
    Is anyone actually pro-abortion?

    I would have thought most of its supporters regard its legal status as a necessary evil.
  • MattWMattW Posts: 18,080
    edited August 2021

    rcs1000 said:
    The mindset of the American outback - an attempt to gain meaning from emptiness.

    Does the USA have an equivalent word to the Australian outback ?

    There's heartland but that suggests more of a centre of activity than the sparsity of much of rural USA.
    "The belief that God controls everything that happens in the world is a core tenet of evangelicalism"

    Seems this may the key. It is God's Will that I die on ventilation at the ICU.

    How can you argue against that?
    Not quite imo.

    But it depends a little on your definition definition of "control", whether active / passive, whether God is a micro-manager or an Executive Director based in Timbuku, and how circumscribed by time - continuing or did it stop after the starting handle was turned.

    But not doing a debate on Arminian / Calvinist. Or Free Will.

    There is some exquisitely careful line-walking phrasing in modern Evangelical texts trying to find a median line that no one acceptable will be offended by.

    Try poking @Foxy for a mudwrestle :smile: .
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 49,614
    rcs1000 said:

    DougSeal said:

    Question for PBers. Do you have an opinion that would embarrass you in front of the mainstream of the political affiliation you identify with?

    I think like JJ my problem with that question would be that I don't identify with any mainstream (or even lunatic fringe) political affiliation.

    But I take PB in all its glorious diversity as my political family so yes there are a number of positions I have stated in the past which, whilst not exactly embarrassing, I generally avoid discussing as they get me into trouble with people on here I like.

    They include:

    - Abolition of whipping in Parliament. Reducing the power of parties to almost zero.
    - Complete freedom of movement and settlement in and out of the country for anyone who wants except for reasons of security/health/crime. By which I mean if you are a non terrorist, non criminal, non infectious person then the state should not be allowed to stop you coming to the UK to live work or anything else within the law.
    - In complete contradiction to what I have just said, a radical reduction in the UK population and stopping all new house building. (I fully recognise these two items - freedom of movement and stopping house building are mutually exclusive)
    - Scepticism of catastrophic Anthropogenic Global Warming. The reason I don't bang on about this one these days is because I actually like the solutions without agreeing with the problem so it seems petty to argue about it. I do however fear that if I turn out to be right then the damage done to people's faith in science will be truly catastrophic)
    - A desire for the human race to be reduced to perhaps 10% of its current number. But at the same time an abhorrence and rejection of any of the possible ways in which this might happen. Another of those absolute contradictions.
    - A belief that the 'Growth' model of Western economies is fundamentally flawed and should be replaced but without any idea of what could or should replace it.

    Also and finally, the belief that Bing Crosby was perhaps the greatest singer of all time. But I realise some things truly are beyond the pale and can never be discussed in polite society.


    Interestingly, I would actually start mandatory whipping of politicians by members of the public. I would probably try and make some kind of game show out of it, to reintroduce some joy into the political process.
    Start by making it clear that the noise made by the tip of a cracked whip, is in fact a sonic boom.
  • TomsToms Posts: 2,478
    rcs1000 said:

    Republican Senator Hawley calls for Biden to resign.

    https://twitter.com/hawleymo/status/1430991129638539269

    image

    I would have a lot more respect for Mr Hawley, if he hadn't been at forefront of peddling lies about the election.
    He reminds me of the Duke or the King in Huckleberry Finn.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 91,392

    Republican Senator Hawley calls for Biden to resign.

    https://twitter.com/hawleymo/status/1430991129638539269

    image

    Is he going to encourage people to storm the Capitol if Biden doesn't?
    I'm some Republicans will start looking at impeachment. Come 2032 and parties will be initiating impeachment proceedings on a President's first day of office, just to save time.
  • It's not "Afghanis", it is Afghans
  • MrEdMrEd Posts: 5,578
    IshmaelZ said:

    MrEd said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    MrEd said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    TimT said:

    TimT said:

    rcs1000 said:

    MattW said:

    Though I have always thought Boris Johnson's optimism was a good trait and a votewinner , i am not sure he is wise to say UK evacuations will continue (a lot of other countries have said they will now stop) . Sometimes you can not get everything your way and dont see a need to risk UK servicemen and diplomats in a highly dangerous situation anymore. If Boris insists maybe he needs to go over there

    Have all the rescue dogs got out yet?
    it really is ridiculous how johnson promised to get dogs and cats out before people. All because some Brit in Afgahnistan got some emotion going on Radio 4
    Evidence that such a promise was made?
    There is no evidence.
    Actually there is.

    The defence secretary has complained that British military efforts to evacuate people from Kabul have been "diverted" because of the attempts to rescue animals being cared for by a former British Royal Marine, Sky News has learned.

    Ben Wallace has said he found it "upsetting" that the military had been "diverted from saving .. people" because of "inaccurate stories" about what was happening to the 200 dogs and cats and workers under the care of ex-Marine Paul "Pen" Farthing.


    https://news.sky.com/story/defence-secretary-ben-wallace-says-british-evacuation-efforts-in-kabul-have-been-diverted-by-bid-to-rescue-animals-cared-for-by-ex-royal-marine-pen-farthing-12390679?dcmp=snt-sf-twitter

    Ben Wallace's twitter thread is quite the cri de cœur.

    https://twitter.com/BWallaceMP/status/1430865167471022080

    Then there's this

    Animal rights activists have credited Carrie Johnson after a former marine was given permission to fly hundreds of dogs and cats out of Kabul.

    Campaigners claimed that Boris Johnson had ordered Ben Wallace, the defence secretary, to rescue the stranded animals after coming under pressure from his wife.



    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/carrie-johnson-was-key-to-rescue-of-200-cats-and-dogs-from-kabul-6lgqn3gzz
    'Campaigners claimed that ...' 'Animal rights activist have credited ...' Is this what is counted as evidence in the courts where you practice law? Sounds very much like hearsay, not evidence.
    I think I'd trust the word of the Defence Secretary. His words and inference tell you everything.

    Balance of probabilities and all that jazz.
    Fair enough on Wallace. But I'd still like to see proof that this was actually a decision made and orders given to implement, rather than claims from activists eliciting a cri de coeur from the Defence Secretary.
    I don't think he would've reacted just to random twats.

    I am sincerely hoping that if his ark flight takes off it gets taken out by a SAM. Not in a spirit of malice, but because it uses up a SAM which might otherwise have hit a plane full of decent human beings.
    LOL. “Not in a spirit of malice.” As convincing as “I’m not racist but…” and “some of my best friends are black”
    OK I was lying about that. Nothing gets past you, does it?

    Why the obsession with racism, btw? Something bothering you?
    Yeah, racism.
    I can imagine.

    Try saying "I support Donald Trump, but I am not a racist." Go on, try.
    I’m not racist and I’ve lived that through my actions.

    As for Trump, I’ve criticised him for things I think he has done, said etc that are wrong. But the US presidential election is a binary choice and Trump was better than the alternatives. As is clearly been shown now.

    Plus, cracks me up that the same people who bang on about him being a threat to democracy were so happy to support some crackpot conspiracy theory that he was a Russian plant that was p1ssed on by Russian hookers. If you believed that, you truly was a loon.
  • Northern_AlNorthern_Al Posts: 7,458
    rcs1000 said:

    DougSeal said:

    Question for PBers. Do you have an opinion that would embarrass you in front of the mainstream of the political affiliation you identify with?

    Plenty!

    1. Wishing to see the extinction of humankind
    2. Supporting Brexit
    3. Thinking that someone with a cock and balls is a man
    4. Being anti-abortion

    That's enough for now.
    Is anyone actually pro-abortion?

    I would have thought most of its supporters regard its legal status as a necessary evil.
    I'm pro women's right to choose. I don't think anybody suggests abortion should be obligatory.
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 27,835

    @DougSeal I think Tony Blair was a great PM.

    Yep. Me too.
  • MrEd said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    MrEd said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    MrEd said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    TimT said:

    TimT said:

    rcs1000 said:

    MattW said:

    Though I have always thought Boris Johnson's optimism was a good trait and a votewinner , i am not sure he is wise to say UK evacuations will continue (a lot of other countries have said they will now stop) . Sometimes you can not get everything your way and dont see a need to risk UK servicemen and diplomats in a highly dangerous situation anymore. If Boris insists maybe he needs to go over there

    Have all the rescue dogs got out yet?
    it really is ridiculous how johnson promised to get dogs and cats out before people. All because some Brit in Afgahnistan got some emotion going on Radio 4
    Evidence that such a promise was made?
    There is no evidence.
    Actually there is.

    The defence secretary has complained that British military efforts to evacuate people from Kabul have been "diverted" because of the attempts to rescue animals being cared for by a former British Royal Marine, Sky News has learned.

    Ben Wallace has said he found it "upsetting" that the military had been "diverted from saving .. people" because of "inaccurate stories" about what was happening to the 200 dogs and cats and workers under the care of ex-Marine Paul "Pen" Farthing.


    https://news.sky.com/story/defence-secretary-ben-wallace-says-british-evacuation-efforts-in-kabul-have-been-diverted-by-bid-to-rescue-animals-cared-for-by-ex-royal-marine-pen-farthing-12390679?dcmp=snt-sf-twitter

    Ben Wallace's twitter thread is quite the cri de cœur.

    https://twitter.com/BWallaceMP/status/1430865167471022080

    Then there's this

    Animal rights activists have credited Carrie Johnson after a former marine was given permission to fly hundreds of dogs and cats out of Kabul.

    Campaigners claimed that Boris Johnson had ordered Ben Wallace, the defence secretary, to rescue the stranded animals after coming under pressure from his wife.



    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/carrie-johnson-was-key-to-rescue-of-200-cats-and-dogs-from-kabul-6lgqn3gzz
    'Campaigners claimed that ...' 'Animal rights activist have credited ...' Is this what is counted as evidence in the courts where you practice law? Sounds very much like hearsay, not evidence.
    I think I'd trust the word of the Defence Secretary. His words and inference tell you everything.

    Balance of probabilities and all that jazz.
    Fair enough on Wallace. But I'd still like to see proof that this was actually a decision made and orders given to implement, rather than claims from activists eliciting a cri de coeur from the Defence Secretary.
    I don't think he would've reacted just to random twats.

    I am sincerely hoping that if his ark flight takes off it gets taken out by a SAM. Not in a spirit of malice, but because it uses up a SAM which might otherwise have hit a plane full of decent human beings.
    LOL. “Not in a spirit of malice.” As convincing as “I’m not racist but…” and “some of my best friends are black”
    OK I was lying about that. Nothing gets past you, does it?

    Why the obsession with racism, btw? Something bothering you?
    Yeah, racism.
    I can imagine.

    Try saying "I support Donald Trump, but I am not a racist." Go on, try.
    I’m not racist and I’ve lived that through my actions.

    As for Trump, I’ve criticised him for things I think he has done, said etc that are wrong. But the US presidential election is a binary choice and Trump was better than the alternatives. As is clearly been shown now.

    Plus, cracks me up that the same people who bang on about him being a threat to democracy were so happy to support some crackpot conspiracy theory that he was a Russian plant that was p1ssed on by Russian hookers. If you believed that, you truly was a loon.
    Hi Ed,

    Hope you're well.

    I am afraid I find this opinion very puzzling. Trump negotiated the agreement Biden has seen through, so there is absolutely no evidence to say it would have gone any better under him. Indeed, with his actions on North Korea and elsewhere, I am inclined to say it would have been worse under him.
  • MrEdMrEd Posts: 5,578
    rcs1000 said:

    DougSeal said:

    Question for PBers. Do you have an opinion that would embarrass you in front of the mainstream of the political affiliation you identify with?

    Plenty!

    1. Wishing to see the extinction of humankind
    2. Supporting Brexit
    3. Thinking that someone with a cock and balls is a man
    4. Being anti-abortion

    That's enough for now.
    Is anyone actually pro-abortion?

    I would have thought most of its supporters regard its legal status as a necessary evil.
    Actually, yes. There are a fair few who see it as a badge of honour and you are truly not progressive enough if you haven’t had one.
  • TomsToms Posts: 2,478
    Toms said:

    Toms said:

    Is America going to lay responsibility for todays dead servicemen at the door of the Biden White House, do we think?

    That question occurred to me. Biden (age 78, mind) seems to be getting flack for just about everything, and deserving none of it.

    Incidentally, if Blair thinks it's imbecilic to follow the agreed deadline, does he not realize that the launch of a single rocket from the shoulder of one battle-hardened Taliban can bring down a plane with 500 people aboard?

    Then too there are the lunatic suicide bombers.
    He does deserve some of it. The tactics of the withdrawal process have been astonishingly inept.
    Perhaps you could have sorted it out?
    I'm glad I didn't have to.
    Oh, and I expect the main problem was the nearly instant collapse of the Afghan army, so proving that our "mission" there was fruitless.
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 75,841

    DougSeal said:

    Question for PBers. Do you have an opinion that would embarrass you in front of the mainstream of the political affiliation you identify with?

    I think like JJ my problem with that question would be that I don't identify with any mainstream (or even lunatic fringe) political affiliation.

    But I take PB in all its glorious diversity as my political family so yes there are a number of positions I have stated in the past which, whilst not exactly embarrassing, I generally avoid discussing as they get me into trouble with people on here I like.

    They include:

    - Abolition of whipping in Parliament. Reducing the power of parties to almost zero.
    - Complete freedom of movement and settlement in and out of the country for anyone who wants except for reasons of security/health/crime. By which I mean if you are a non terrorist, non criminal, non infectious person then the state should not be allowed to stop you coming to the UK to live work or anything else within the law.
    - In complete contradiction to what I have just said, a radical reduction in the UK population and stopping all new house building. (I fully recognise these two items - freedom of movement and stopping house building are mutually exclusive)
    - Scepticism of catastrophic Anthropogenic Global Warming. The reason I don't bang on about this one these days is because I actually like the solutions without agreeing with the problem so it seems petty to argue about it. I do however fear that if I turn out to be right then the damage done to people's faith in science will be truly catastrophic)
    - A desire for the human race to be reduced to perhaps 10% of its current number. But at the same time an abhorrence and rejection of any of the possible ways in which this might happen. Another of those absolute contradictions.
    - A belief that the 'Growth' model of Western economies is fundamentally flawed and should be replaced but without any idea of what could or should replace it.

    Also and finally, the belief that Bing Crosby was perhaps the greatest singer of all time. But I realise some things truly are beyond the pale and can never be discussed in polite society.


    On human global warming - its definitely happening; I don't think the UK as a whole has a problem with carbon emissions. I'm opposed to the heat pump nonsense for instance, I'd push back electrification of all new cars to 2050...
  • SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 20,392
    rcs1000 said:

    DougSeal said:

    Question for PBers. Do you have an opinion that would embarrass you in front of the mainstream of the political affiliation you identify with?

    Plenty!

    1. Wishing to see the extinction of humankind
    2. Supporting Brexit
    3. Thinking that someone with a cock and balls is a man
    4. Being anti-abortion

    That's enough for now.
    Is anyone actually pro-abortion?

    I would have thought most of its supporters regard its legal status as a necessary evil.
    Define 'necessary'.

    My problem is that the vast majority of terminations are not necessary.
  • MattWMattW Posts: 18,080

    It's not "Afghanis", it is Afghans

    Stop hounding people :smile: .
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 49,614
    MrEd said:

    rcs1000 said:

    DougSeal said:

    Question for PBers. Do you have an opinion that would embarrass you in front of the mainstream of the political affiliation you identify with?

    Plenty!

    1. Wishing to see the extinction of humankind
    2. Supporting Brexit
    3. Thinking that someone with a cock and balls is a man
    4. Being anti-abortion

    That's enough for now.
    Is anyone actually pro-abortion?

    I would have thought most of its supporters regard its legal status as a necessary evil.
    Actually, yes. There are a fair few who see it as a badge of honour and you are truly not progressive enough if you haven’t had one.
    Wasn’t there an actress who was supporting their seriously woke pro-abortion campaign, who had to admit that she actually hadn’t had one? Lena Dunham maybe?
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 27,835

    rcs1000 said:

    DougSeal said:

    Question for PBers. Do you have an opinion that would embarrass you in front of the mainstream of the political affiliation you identify with?

    Plenty!

    1. Wishing to see the extinction of humankind
    2. Supporting Brexit
    3. Thinking that someone with a cock and balls is a man
    4. Being anti-abortion

    That's enough for now.
    Is anyone actually pro-abortion?

    I would have thought most of its supporters regard its legal status as a necessary evil.
    I'm pro women's right to choose. I don't think anybody suggests abortion should be obligatory.
    If it were, our current labour shortage would be nowt compared to what would be coming.
  • MrEdMrEd Posts: 5,578

    MrEd said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    MrEd said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    MrEd said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    TimT said:

    TimT said:

    rcs1000 said:

    MattW said:

    Though I have always thought Boris Johnson's optimism was a good trait and a votewinner , i am not sure he is wise to say UK evacuations will continue (a lot of other countries have said they will now stop) . Sometimes you can not get everything your way and dont see a need to risk UK servicemen and diplomats in a highly dangerous situation anymore. If Boris insists maybe he needs to go over there

    Have all the rescue dogs got out yet?
    it really is ridiculous how johnson promised to get dogs and cats out before people. All because some Brit in Afgahnistan got some emotion going on Radio 4
    Evidence that such a promise was made?
    There is no evidence.
    Actually there is.

    The defence secretary has complained that British military efforts to evacuate people from Kabul have been "diverted" because of the attempts to rescue animals being cared for by a former British Royal Marine, Sky News has learned.

    Ben Wallace has said he found it "upsetting" that the military had been "diverted from saving .. people" because of "inaccurate stories" about what was happening to the 200 dogs and cats and workers under the care of ex-Marine Paul "Pen" Farthing.


    https://news.sky.com/story/defence-secretary-ben-wallace-says-british-evacuation-efforts-in-kabul-have-been-diverted-by-bid-to-rescue-animals-cared-for-by-ex-royal-marine-pen-farthing-12390679?dcmp=snt-sf-twitter

    Ben Wallace's twitter thread is quite the cri de cœur.

    https://twitter.com/BWallaceMP/status/1430865167471022080

    Then there's this

    Animal rights activists have credited Carrie Johnson after a former marine was given permission to fly hundreds of dogs and cats out of Kabul.

    Campaigners claimed that Boris Johnson had ordered Ben Wallace, the defence secretary, to rescue the stranded animals after coming under pressure from his wife.



    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/carrie-johnson-was-key-to-rescue-of-200-cats-and-dogs-from-kabul-6lgqn3gzz
    'Campaigners claimed that ...' 'Animal rights activist have credited ...' Is this what is counted as evidence in the courts where you practice law? Sounds very much like hearsay, not evidence.
    I think I'd trust the word of the Defence Secretary. His words and inference tell you everything.

    Balance of probabilities and all that jazz.
    Fair enough on Wallace. But I'd still like to see proof that this was actually a decision made and orders given to implement, rather than claims from activists eliciting a cri de coeur from the Defence Secretary.
    I don't think he would've reacted just to random twats.

    I am sincerely hoping that if his ark flight takes off it gets taken out by a SAM. Not in a spirit of malice, but because it uses up a SAM which might otherwise have hit a plane full of decent human beings.
    LOL. “Not in a spirit of malice.” As convincing as “I’m not racist but…” and “some of my best friends are black”
    OK I was lying about that. Nothing gets past you, does it?

    Why the obsession with racism, btw? Something bothering you?
    Yeah, racism.
    I can imagine.

    Try saying "I support Donald Trump, but I am not a racist." Go on, try.
    I’m not racist and I’ve lived that through my actions.

    As for Trump, I’ve criticised him for things I think he has done, said etc that are wrong. But the US presidential election is a binary choice and Trump was better than the alternatives. As is clearly been shown now.

    Plus, cracks me up that the same people who bang on about him being a threat to democracy were so happy to support some crackpot conspiracy theory that he was a Russian plant that was p1ssed on by Russian hookers. If you believed that, you truly was a loon.
    Hi Ed,

    Hope you're well.

    I am afraid I find this opinion very puzzling. Trump negotiated the agreement Biden has seen through, so there is absolutely no evidence to say it would have gone any better under him. Indeed, with his actions on North Korea and elsewhere, I am inclined to say it would have been worse under him.
    Hi @CorrectHorseBattery all good thanks and hope you are too.

    So, on the agreement point, I’d actually agree and it is what I said to @rcs1000 a few threads back. I think Trump was being quite cynical when he signed Doha. His view was - and I think rightly - if he won in 2020, the Taliban would not have dared to push things as they would think Trump would react. However, if he didn’t win, Biden would be left with the problem and take the flak. Plus - crucially - the Taliban would not be scared of Biden.

    Cynical? Yes. The only thing I would say is Trump always wanted to get out of Afghanistan.
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 27,835
    MrEd said:

    rcs1000 said:

    DougSeal said:

    Question for PBers. Do you have an opinion that would embarrass you in front of the mainstream of the political affiliation you identify with?

    Plenty!

    1. Wishing to see the extinction of humankind
    2. Supporting Brexit
    3. Thinking that someone with a cock and balls is a man
    4. Being anti-abortion

    That's enough for now.
    Is anyone actually pro-abortion?

    I would have thought most of its supporters regard its legal status as a necessary evil.
    Actually, yes. There are a fair few who see it as a badge of honour and you are truly not progressive enough if you haven’t had one.
    There are?
    I've never met one. Maybe I should get out more.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,766
    edited August 2021
    MrEd said:

    Sandpit said:

    Criminal stopped in his car in California - with the usual criminal crap in his car:

    He was found by Torrance police in southern Los Angeles. Officers also found Xanax pills, methamphetamine, a loaded gun, thousands of other pieces of mail, a scale, several driver licenses’ and credit cards in other people’s names.

    Oh, and 300 unused ballot papers for the California Governor recall election…

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/crime/election-ballots-firearm-drugs-car-b1908012.html

    Yes, it’s starting to be flagged that there are big potential risks about the CA recall election around integrity. Still, I’m sure it’s a Trumpian plot.
    There are two scenarios here:

    (1) There's a drug addict who steals thousands of peoples' pieces of mail so he can sell anything valuable for meth, and which inevitably contain some ballot papers (given they are all mailed out).

    or

    (2) The California Democrats are working with meth addicts to... errr... steal mail from people so as to get hold of their ballot papers

    I'm going with the latter option.

    The reality is that mail in ballot security can be checked by a random sampling incredibly easily. We know exactly who voted. It's public information in the US. You can download CSV files.

    I offered to finance a cross party look at any of the US states. It would cost a couple of thousand dollars to do. But I got exactly zero takers. Because no election denier wanted to get involved in something bipartisan that might result in "the election wasn't rigged".

    And I offered money to do it. And it is exceptionally easy to detect fraud.

    If lots of people were getting their ballot papers stolen. We'd know.
    If there were lots of fake ballot papers being submitted, we'd know. (And we'd know because there'd be a mismatch between people who are supposed to have voted and actual vote totals.)

  • MattW said:

    It's not "Afghanis", it is Afghans

    Stop hounding people :smile: .
    That's in response to the Tweet that was posted, by the same guy who was quite happy to go on about the election being rigged as another user pointed out. It shows he is and continues to be, an idiot.

    Afghani is a unit of currency, it's like calling British people Pounds, it makes no sense
  • contrariancontrarian Posts: 5,818
    dixiedean said:

    @DougSeal I think Tony Blair was a great PM.

    Yep. Me too.
    George W. Bush did too. Tony did absolutely everything he asked without question.

  • rcs1000 said:

    DougSeal said:

    Question for PBers. Do you have an opinion that would embarrass you in front of the mainstream of the political affiliation you identify with?

    I think like JJ my problem with that question would be that I don't identify with any mainstream (or even lunatic fringe) political affiliation.

    But I take PB in all its glorious diversity as my political family so yes there are a number of positions I have stated in the past which, whilst not exactly embarrassing, I generally avoid discussing as they get me into trouble with people on here I like.

    They include:

    - Abolition of whipping in Parliament. Reducing the power of parties to almost zero.
    - Complete freedom of movement and settlement in and out of the country for anyone who wants except for reasons of security/health/crime. By which I mean if you are a non terrorist, non criminal, non infectious person then the state should not be allowed to stop you coming to the UK to live work or anything else within the law.
    - In complete contradiction to what I have just said, a radical reduction in the UK population and stopping all new house building. (I fully recognise these two items - freedom of movement and stopping house building are mutually exclusive)
    - Scepticism of catastrophic Anthropogenic Global Warming. The reason I don't bang on about this one these days is because I actually like the solutions without agreeing with the problem so it seems petty to argue about it. I do however fear that if I turn out to be right then the damage done to people's faith in science will be truly catastrophic)
    - A desire for the human race to be reduced to perhaps 10% of its current number. But at the same time an abhorrence and rejection of any of the possible ways in which this might happen. Another of those absolute contradictions.
    - A belief that the 'Growth' model of Western economies is fundamentally flawed and should be replaced but without any idea of what could or should replace it.

    Also and finally, the belief that Bing Crosby was perhaps the greatest singer of all time. But I realise some things truly are beyond the pale and can never be discussed in polite society.


    Interestingly, I would actually start mandatory whipping of politicians by members of the public. I would probably try and make some kind of game show out of it, to reintroduce some joy into the political process.
    Hmmm. I like it.
  • TomsToms Posts: 2,478
    Trump talked loudly and carried a small stick.
    But he did have a good stab at bringing down an old democracy.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,766

    rcs1000 said:

    DougSeal said:

    Question for PBers. Do you have an opinion that would embarrass you in front of the mainstream of the political affiliation you identify with?

    Plenty!

    1. Wishing to see the extinction of humankind
    2. Supporting Brexit
    3. Thinking that someone with a cock and balls is a man
    4. Being anti-abortion

    That's enough for now.
    Is anyone actually pro-abortion?

    I would have thought most of its supporters regard its legal status as a necessary evil.
    Define 'necessary'.

    My problem is that the vast majority of terminations are not necessary.
    That's probably true.

    But the best way to actually reduce the number of abortions is to make contraceptives widely available and to increase levels of sex education.

    It's why there are dramatically fewer abortions in Blue States than Red States.
  • MrEdMrEd Posts: 5,578
    rcs1000 said:

    MrEd said:

    Sandpit said:

    Criminal stopped in his car in California - with the usual criminal crap in his car:

    He was found by Torrance police in southern Los Angeles. Officers also found Xanax pills, methamphetamine, a loaded gun, thousands of other pieces of mail, a scale, several driver licenses’ and credit cards in other people’s names.

    Oh, and 300 unused ballot papers for the California Governor recall election…

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/crime/election-ballots-firearm-drugs-car-b1908012.html

    Yes, it’s starting to be flagged that there are big potential risks about the CA recall election around integrity. Still, I’m sure it’s a Trumpian plot.
    There are two scenarios here:

    (1) There's a drug addict who steals thousands of peoples' pieces of mail so he can sell anything valuable for meth, and which inevitably contain some ballot papers (given they are all mailed out).

    or

    (2) The California Democrats are working with meth addicts to... errr... steal mail from people so as to get hold of their ballot papers

    I'm going with the latter option.

    The reality is that mail in ballot security can be checked by a random sampling incredibly easily. We know exactly who voted. It's public information in the US. You can download CSV files.

    I offered to finance a cross party look at any of the US states. It would cost a couple of thousand dollars to do. But I got exactly zero takers. Because no election denier wanted to get involved in something bipartisan that might result in "the election wasn't rigged".

    And I offered money to do it. And it is exceptionally easy to detect fraud.

    If lots of people were getting their ballot papers stolen. We'd know.
    If there were lots of fake ballot papers being submitted, we'd know. (And we'd know because there'd be a mismatch between people who are supposed to have voted and actual vote totals.)

    I’d agree the whole electoral fraud thing is overdone but I think there are big gaps in US electoral security that most people wouldn’t tolerate in the U.K.

    Yes, he’s probably stealing mail. Still not a great look

    Ps I think the CA SOS response has been spot on
  • FairlieredFairliered Posts: 3,866
    dixiedean said:

    MrEd said:

    rcs1000 said:

    DougSeal said:

    Question for PBers. Do you have an opinion that would embarrass you in front of the mainstream of the political affiliation you identify with?

    Plenty!

    1. Wishing to see the extinction of humankind
    2. Supporting Brexit
    3. Thinking that someone with a cock and balls is a man
    4. Being anti-abortion

    That's enough for now.
    Is anyone actually pro-abortion?

    I would have thought most of its supporters regard its legal status as a necessary evil.
    Actually, yes. There are a fair few who see it as a badge of honour and you are truly not progressive enough if you haven’t had one.
    There are?
    I've never met one. Maybe I should get out more.
    Or maybe the pro-abortionists should have got out less.
  • MrEdMrEd Posts: 5,578
    dixiedean said:

    MrEd said:

    rcs1000 said:

    DougSeal said:

    Question for PBers. Do you have an opinion that would embarrass you in front of the mainstream of the political affiliation you identify with?

    Plenty!

    1. Wishing to see the extinction of humankind
    2. Supporting Brexit
    3. Thinking that someone with a cock and balls is a man
    4. Being anti-abortion

    That's enough for now.
    Is anyone actually pro-abortion?

    I would have thought most of its supporters regard its legal status as a necessary evil.
    Actually, yes. There are a fair few who see it as a badge of honour and you are truly not progressive enough if you haven’t had one.
    There are?
    I've never met one. Maybe I should get out more.
    I wouldn’t. They tend to be the types who think that everything in society is a plot by the patriarchy.
  • contrariancontrarian Posts: 5,818
    rcs1000 said:

    MrEd said:

    Sandpit said:

    Criminal stopped in his car in California - with the usual criminal crap in his car:

    He was found by Torrance police in southern Los Angeles. Officers also found Xanax pills, methamphetamine, a loaded gun, thousands of other pieces of mail, a scale, several driver licenses’ and credit cards in other people’s names.

    Oh, and 300 unused ballot papers for the California Governor recall election…

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/crime/election-ballots-firearm-drugs-car-b1908012.html

    Yes, it’s starting to be flagged that there are big potential risks about the CA recall election around integrity. Still, I’m sure it’s a Trumpian plot.
    There are two scenarios here:

    (1) There's a drug addict who steals thousands of peoples' pieces of mail so he can sell anything valuable for meth, and which inevitably contain some ballot papers (given they are all mailed out).

    or

    (2) The California Democrats are working with meth addicts to... errr... steal mail from people so as to get hold of their ballot papers

    I'm going with the latter option.

    The reality is that mail in ballot security can be checked by a random sampling incredibly easily. We know exactly who voted. It's public information in the US. You can download CSV files.

    I offered to finance a cross party look at any of the US states. It would cost a couple of thousand dollars to do. But I got exactly zero takers. Because no election denier wanted to get involved in something bipartisan that might result in "the election wasn't rigged".

    And I offered money to do it. And it is exceptionally easy to detect fraud.

    If lots of people were getting their ballot papers stolen. We'd know.
    If there were lots of fake ballot papers being submitted, we'd know. (And we'd know because there'd be a mismatch between people who are supposed to have voted and actual vote totals.)

    I am looking forward to your analysis of the Maricopa audit report!
  • tlg86tlg86 Posts: 25,164
    ISIS-K sound like right charmers going by Frank Gardner’s overview of them.
  • SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 20,392
    rcs1000 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    DougSeal said:

    Question for PBers. Do you have an opinion that would embarrass you in front of the mainstream of the political affiliation you identify with?

    Plenty!

    1. Wishing to see the extinction of humankind
    2. Supporting Brexit
    3. Thinking that someone with a cock and balls is a man
    4. Being anti-abortion

    That's enough for now.
    Is anyone actually pro-abortion?

    I would have thought most of its supporters regard its legal status as a necessary evil.
    Define 'necessary'.

    My problem is that the vast majority of terminations are not necessary.
    That's probably true.

    But the best way to actually reduce the number of abortions is to make contraceptives widely available and to increase levels of sex education.

    It's why there are dramatically fewer abortions in Blue States than Red States.
    Agreed.

    Of course, if we did sterilise everyone we'd cut the abortion rate to zero.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,766
    MrEd said:

    rcs1000 said:

    DougSeal said:

    Question for PBers. Do you have an opinion that would embarrass you in front of the mainstream of the political affiliation you identify with?

    Plenty!

    1. Wishing to see the extinction of humankind
    2. Supporting Brexit
    3. Thinking that someone with a cock and balls is a man
    4. Being anti-abortion

    That's enough for now.
    Is anyone actually pro-abortion?

    I would have thought most of its supporters regard its legal status as a necessary evil.
    Actually, yes. There are a fair few who see it as a badge of honour and you are truly not progressive enough if you haven’t had one.
    I know quite a few people who've had abortions, some of whom are "woke". Most of them suffered enormously in choosing to terminate, and often had terrible guilt afterwards.

    I don't know anyone who has ever boasted of having had an abortion.

    There presumably are some - because you can find any kind of crazy if you look hard enough - but I'd be staggered if they were common.
  • MrEdMrEd Posts: 5,578
    rcs1000 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    DougSeal said:

    Question for PBers. Do you have an opinion that would embarrass you in front of the mainstream of the political affiliation you identify with?

    Plenty!

    1. Wishing to see the extinction of humankind
    2. Supporting Brexit
    3. Thinking that someone with a cock and balls is a man
    4. Being anti-abortion

    That's enough for now.
    Is anyone actually pro-abortion?

    I would have thought most of its supporters regard its legal status as a necessary evil.
    Define 'necessary'.

    My problem is that the vast majority of terminations are not necessary.
    That's probably true.

    But the best way to actually reduce the number of abortions is to make contraceptives widely available and to increase levels of sex education.

    It's why there are dramatically fewer abortions in Blue States than Red States.
    The dreaded +1
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 38,847

    DougSeal said:

    Question for PBers. Do you have an opinion that would embarrass you in front of the mainstream of the political affiliation you identify with?

    I have serious doubts as to the merits of Trident - though still think the UK should maintain nuclear weapons.

    I support drugs legalisation - though no mainstream politicians seem to support that.

    Though I do not identify with a political party.
    But you are a Tory as discussed the other day.
  • MrEdMrEd Posts: 5,578
    Sandpit said:

    MrEd said:

    rcs1000 said:

    DougSeal said:

    Question for PBers. Do you have an opinion that would embarrass you in front of the mainstream of the political affiliation you identify with?

    Plenty!

    1. Wishing to see the extinction of humankind
    2. Supporting Brexit
    3. Thinking that someone with a cock and balls is a man
    4. Being anti-abortion

    That's enough for now.
    Is anyone actually pro-abortion?

    I would have thought most of its supporters regard its legal status as a necessary evil.
    Actually, yes. There are a fair few who see it as a badge of honour and you are truly not progressive enough if you haven’t had one.
    Wasn’t there an actress who was supporting their seriously woke pro-abortion campaign, who had to admit that she actually hadn’t had one? Lena Dunham maybe?
    I think that’s right.
  • CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 59,540
    Following the shocking scenes in Afghanistan today, I have issued a NOTAM (Notice to Aviation) further advising airlines to avoid Afghan airspace under 25,000ft. We will continue to keep this under review.

    https://twitter.com/grantshapps/status/1430929929877835788?s=20

    1) Not sure why a suicide bomb at ground level should lead to a NOTAM and
    2) Commercial traffic has not been overflying Afghanistan for over a week in any case - there's no ATC and
    3) Even if there was who would overfly Afghanistan at 25,000' in any case?
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 116,709

    DougSeal said:

    Question for PBers. Do you have an opinion that would embarrass you in front of the mainstream of the political affiliation you identify with?

    I think like JJ my problem with that question would be that I don't identify with any mainstream (or even lunatic fringe) political affiliation.

    But I take PB in all its glorious diversity as my political family so yes there are a number of positions I have stated in the past which, whilst not exactly embarrassing, I generally avoid discussing as they get me into trouble with people on here I like.

    They include:

    - Abolition of whipping in Parliament. Reducing the power of parties to almost zero.
    - Complete freedom of movement and settlement in and out of the country for anyone who wants except for reasons of security/health/crime. By which I mean if you are a non terrorist, non criminal, non infectious person then the state should not be allowed to stop you coming to the UK to live work or anything else within the law.
    - In complete contradiction to what I have just said, a radical reduction in the UK population and stopping all new house building. (I fully recognise these two items - freedom of movement and stopping house building are mutually exclusive)
    - Scepticism of catastrophic Anthropogenic Global Warming. The reason I don't bang on about this one these days is because I actually like the solutions without agreeing with the problem so it seems petty to argue about it. I do however fear that if I turn out to be right then the damage done to people's faith in science will be truly catastrophic)
    - A desire for the human race to be reduced to perhaps 10% of its current number. But at the same time an abhorrence and rejection of any of the possible ways in which this might happen. Another of those absolute contradictions.
    - A belief that the 'Growth' model of Western economies is fundamentally flawed and should be replaced but without any idea of what could or should replace it.

    Also and finally, the belief that Bing Crosby was perhaps the greatest singer of all time. But I realise some things truly are beyond the pale and can never be discussed in polite society.


    Your second position would of course lead to a surge in African and South Asian migration to the UK
  • MrEdMrEd Posts: 5,578
    rcs1000 said:

    MrEd said:

    rcs1000 said:

    DougSeal said:

    Question for PBers. Do you have an opinion that would embarrass you in front of the mainstream of the political affiliation you identify with?

    Plenty!

    1. Wishing to see the extinction of humankind
    2. Supporting Brexit
    3. Thinking that someone with a cock and balls is a man
    4. Being anti-abortion

    That's enough for now.
    Is anyone actually pro-abortion?

    I would have thought most of its supporters regard its legal status as a necessary evil.
    Actually, yes. There are a fair few who see it as a badge of honour and you are truly not progressive enough if you haven’t had one.
    I know quite a few people who've had abortions, some of whom are "woke". Most of them suffered enormously in choosing to terminate, and often had terrible guilt afterwards.

    I don't know anyone who has ever boasted of having had an abortion.

    There presumably are some - because you can find any kind of crazy if you look hard enough - but I'd be staggered if they were common.
    I think there is a “pre” and “post” issue here.

    Some of my acquaintances had them, went into them thinking “this is my body, I can do what I want” and then we’re traumatised afterwards as the impact hit home.

    I take the Caitlin Moran view. Either you consider an abortion like having a cup of tea (it’s not a life so what’s the big deal) or you are killing a life. No in-between stuff.
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 75,841

    rcs1000 said:

    DougSeal said:

    Question for PBers. Do you have an opinion that would embarrass you in front of the mainstream of the political affiliation you identify with?

    Plenty!

    1. Wishing to see the extinction of humankind
    2. Supporting Brexit
    3. Thinking that someone with a cock and balls is a man
    4. Being anti-abortion

    That's enough for now.
    Is anyone actually pro-abortion?

    I would have thought most of its supporters regard its legal status as a necessary evil.
    Define 'necessary'.

    My problem is that the vast majority of terminations are not necessary.
    The technical term 'abortion' refers to both voluntary and involuntary acts.
    Having experienced (Second hand) the trauma of an involuntary one I struggle to see how any woman could put herself through such an experience voluntarily.
    Mandating voluntary abortions as illegal drives women to desperate measures and I can't see it as a decision any woman takes lightly. It's not for me but I think it's a right that needs to be upheld.
  • FairlieredFairliered Posts: 3,866

    rcs1000 said:

    DougSeal said:

    Question for PBers. Do you have an opinion that would embarrass you in front of the mainstream of the political affiliation you identify with?

    I think like JJ my problem with that question would be that I don't identify with any mainstream (or even lunatic fringe) political affiliation.

    But I take PB in all its glorious diversity as my political family so yes there are a number of positions I have stated in the past which, whilst not exactly embarrassing, I generally avoid discussing as they get me into trouble with people on here I like.

    They include:

    - Abolition of whipping in Parliament. Reducing the power of parties to almost zero.
    - Complete freedom of movement and settlement in and out of the country for anyone who wants except for reasons of security/health/crime. By which I mean if you are a non terrorist, non criminal, non infectious person then the state should not be allowed to stop you coming to the UK to live work or anything else within the law.
    - In complete contradiction to what I have just said, a radical reduction in the UK population and stopping all new house building. (I fully recognise these two items - freedom of movement and stopping house building are mutually exclusive)
    - Scepticism of catastrophic Anthropogenic Global Warming. The reason I don't bang on about this one these days is because I actually like the solutions without agreeing with the problem so it seems petty to argue about it. I do however fear that if I turn out to be right then the damage done to people's faith in science will be truly catastrophic)
    - A desire for the human race to be reduced to perhaps 10% of its current number. But at the same time an abhorrence and rejection of any of the possible ways in which this might happen. Another of those absolute contradictions.
    - A belief that the 'Growth' model of Western economies is fundamentally flawed and should be replaced but without any idea of what could or should replace it.

    Also and finally, the belief that Bing Crosby was perhaps the greatest singer of all time. But I realise some things truly are beyond the pale and can never be discussed in polite society.


    Interestingly, I would actually start mandatory whipping of politicians by members of the public. I would probably try and make some kind of game show out of it, to reintroduce some joy into the political process.
    Hmmm. I like it.
    Sorry, folks, but this post gave me visions of Edwina Currie in black leather and a whip. No more wine for me!
  • MrEdMrEd Posts: 5,578

    Following the shocking scenes in Afghanistan today, I have issued a NOTAM (Notice to Aviation) further advising airlines to avoid Afghan airspace under 25,000ft. We will continue to keep this under review.

    https://twitter.com/grantshapps/status/1430929929877835788?s=20

    1) Not sure why a suicide bomb at ground level should lead to a NOTAM and
    2) Commercial traffic has not been overflying Afghanistan for over a week in any case - there's no ATC and
    3) Even if there was who would overfly Afghanistan at 25,000' in any case?

    If you think extremists have SAMs capable of shooting down planes, it makes perfect sense
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 49,614

    Following the shocking scenes in Afghanistan today, I have issued a NOTAM (Notice to Aviation) further advising airlines to avoid Afghan airspace under 25,000ft. We will continue to keep this under review.

    https://twitter.com/grantshapps/status/1430929929877835788?s=20

    1) Not sure why a suicide bomb at ground level should lead to a NOTAM and
    2) Commercial traffic has not been overflying Afghanistan for over a week in any case - there's no ATC and
    3) Even if there was who would overfly Afghanistan at 25,000' in any case?

    Grant Shapps thinks he issues NOTAMs in Afghanistan?
    NOTAM is a Notice to Airmen, not a “notice to aviation”
  • Northern_AlNorthern_Al Posts: 7,458
    MrEd said:

    rcs1000 said:

    DougSeal said:

    Question for PBers. Do you have an opinion that would embarrass you in front of the mainstream of the political affiliation you identify with?

    Plenty!

    1. Wishing to see the extinction of humankind
    2. Supporting Brexit
    3. Thinking that someone with a cock and balls is a man
    4. Being anti-abortion

    That's enough for now.
    Is anyone actually pro-abortion?

    I would have thought most of its supporters regard its legal status as a necessary evil.
    Actually, yes. There are a fair few who see it as a badge of honour and you are truly not progressive enough if you haven’t had one.
    Utter garbage.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 116,709
    edited August 2021
    stodge said:

    Meanwhile, in Germany, plenty of interest in the national numbers but more useful data may come from the Regional polling. Here's Mecklenburg/Upper Pomerania:

    Changes from 2017 election:

    Social Democrats: 36% (+18.5)
    Alternative for Germany: 17% (-1)
    Christian Democrats: 15% (-19)
    Left: 11% (-7.5)
    Free Democrats: 8% (+3)
    Greens: 6% (+2.5)

    That's an extraordinary swing against the CDU and perhaps suggests the SPD will gain ground in the more industrial areas while the Greens will be the beneficiaries in the more rural areas.

    Not in rural Bavaria there isn't, there polling still has the CSU with a comfortable 15% or so lead over the Greens.

    If the SPD does beat the Union for most seats and the Union enter opposition it will be the fault of the CDU, for putting an unpopular candidate from their own party ahead of the popular leader of their CSU sister party which will see them suffer significant losses in the North and East.

    In Bavaria the CSU will still win comfortably and if there ends up an SPD led government in Berlin with the CSU forced into opposition and a CDU led opposition in Berlin which still ignores the CSU then there will likely start to be calls in Bavaria for independence.

    There already is a Bavarian independence party, the Bavaria party, which like the CSU grew out of the Bavarian People's Party. Culturally Bavaria is also closer to Austria than the rest of Germany
  • MrEdMrEd Posts: 5,578

    rcs1000 said:

    MrEd said:

    Sandpit said:

    Criminal stopped in his car in California - with the usual criminal crap in his car:

    He was found by Torrance police in southern Los Angeles. Officers also found Xanax pills, methamphetamine, a loaded gun, thousands of other pieces of mail, a scale, several driver licenses’ and credit cards in other people’s names.

    Oh, and 300 unused ballot papers for the California Governor recall election…

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/crime/election-ballots-firearm-drugs-car-b1908012.html

    Yes, it’s starting to be flagged that there are big potential risks about the CA recall election around integrity. Still, I’m sure it’s a Trumpian plot.
    There are two scenarios here:

    (1) There's a drug addict who steals thousands of peoples' pieces of mail so he can sell anything valuable for meth, and which inevitably contain some ballot papers (given they are all mailed out).

    or

    (2) The California Democrats are working with meth addicts to... errr... steal mail from people so as to get hold of their ballot papers

    I'm going with the latter option.

    The reality is that mail in ballot security can be checked by a random sampling incredibly easily. We know exactly who voted. It's public information in the US. You can download CSV files.

    I offered to finance a cross party look at any of the US states. It would cost a couple of thousand dollars to do. But I got exactly zero takers. Because no election denier wanted to get involved in something bipartisan that might result in "the election wasn't rigged".

    And I offered money to do it. And it is exceptionally easy to detect fraud.

    If lots of people were getting their ballot papers stolen. We'd know.
    If there were lots of fake ballot papers being submitted, we'd know. (And we'd know because there'd be a mismatch between people who are supposed to have voted and actual vote totals.)

    I am looking forward to your analysis of the Maricopa audit report!
    Just don’t mention what’s been discovered in Fulton County :)
  • MrEdMrEd Posts: 5,578

    MrEd said:

    rcs1000 said:

    DougSeal said:

    Question for PBers. Do you have an opinion that would embarrass you in front of the mainstream of the political affiliation you identify with?

    Plenty!

    1. Wishing to see the extinction of humankind
    2. Supporting Brexit
    3. Thinking that someone with a cock and balls is a man
    4. Being anti-abortion

    That's enough for now.
    Is anyone actually pro-abortion?

    I would have thought most of its supporters regard its legal status as a necessary evil.
    Actually, yes. There are a fair few who see it as a badge of honour and you are truly not progressive enough if you haven’t had one.
    Utter garbage.
    How predictable.
  • CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 59,540
    Sandpit said:

    Following the shocking scenes in Afghanistan today, I have issued a NOTAM (Notice to Aviation) further advising airlines to avoid Afghan airspace under 25,000ft. We will continue to keep this under review.

    https://twitter.com/grantshapps/status/1430929929877835788?s=20

    1) Not sure why a suicide bomb at ground level should lead to a NOTAM and
    2) Commercial traffic has not been overflying Afghanistan for over a week in any case - there's no ATC and
    3) Even if there was who would overfly Afghanistan at 25,000' in any case?

    Grant Shapps thinks he issues NOTAMs in Afghanistan?
    NOTAM is a Notice to Airmen, not a “notice to aviation”
    Pathetic attention seeking......
  • Northern_AlNorthern_Al Posts: 7,458

    rcs1000 said:

    DougSeal said:

    Question for PBers. Do you have an opinion that would embarrass you in front of the mainstream of the political affiliation you identify with?

    Plenty!

    1. Wishing to see the extinction of humankind
    2. Supporting Brexit
    3. Thinking that someone with a cock and balls is a man
    4. Being anti-abortion

    That's enough for now.
    Is anyone actually pro-abortion?

    I would have thought most of its supporters regard its legal status as a necessary evil.
    Define 'necessary'.

    My problem is that the vast majority of terminations are not necessary.
    Why is it your problem? Surely it is women's problem, and it is they who should decide what's 'necessary'. It's very rare that abortion is entered into lightly.
  • FairlieredFairliered Posts: 3,866
    HYUFD said:

    DougSeal said:

    Question for PBers. Do you have an opinion that would embarrass you in front of the mainstream of the political affiliation you identify with?

    I think like JJ my problem with that question would be that I don't identify with any mainstream (or even lunatic fringe) political affiliation.

    But I take PB in all its glorious diversity as my political family so yes there are a number of positions I have stated in the past which, whilst not exactly embarrassing, I generally avoid discussing as they get me into trouble with people on here I like.

    They include:

    - Abolition of whipping in Parliament. Reducing the power of parties to almost zero.
    - Complete freedom of movement and settlement in and out of the country for anyone who wants except for reasons of security/health/crime. By which I mean if you are a non terrorist, non criminal, non infectious person then the state should not be allowed to stop you coming to the UK to live work or anything else within the law.
    - In complete contradiction to what I have just said, a radical reduction in the UK population and stopping all new house building. (I fully recognise these two items - freedom of movement and stopping house building are mutually exclusive)
    - Scepticism of catastrophic Anthropogenic Global Warming. The reason I don't bang on about this one these days is because I actually like the solutions without agreeing with the problem so it seems petty to argue about it. I do however fear that if I turn out to be right then the damage done to people's faith in science will be truly catastrophic)
    - A desire for the human race to be reduced to perhaps 10% of its current number. But at the same time an abhorrence and rejection of any of the possible ways in which this might happen. Another of those absolute contradictions.
    - A belief that the 'Growth' model of Western economies is fundamentally flawed and should be replaced but without any idea of what could or should replace it.

    Also and finally, the belief that Bing Crosby was perhaps the greatest singer of all time. But I realise some things truly are beyond the pale and can never be discussed in polite society.


    Your second position would of course lead to a surge in African and South Asian migration to the UK
    Would your first position mean that HYUFD could give us his preferred view, rather than CCO’s current view? If so, it would possibly be more revealing than his usual posts.
  • ChameleonChameleon Posts: 3,886
    edited August 2021
    Toms said:

    Toms said:

    Toms said:

    Is America going to lay responsibility for todays dead servicemen at the door of the Biden White House, do we think?

    That question occurred to me. Biden (age 78, mind) seems to be getting flack for just about everything, and deserving none of it.

    Incidentally, if Blair thinks it's imbecilic to follow the agreed deadline, does he not realize that the launch of a single rocket from the shoulder of one battle-hardened Taliban can bring down a plane with 500 people aboard?

    Then too there are the lunatic suicide bombers.
    He does deserve some of it. The tactics of the withdrawal process have been astonishingly inept.
    Perhaps you could have sorted it out?
    I'm glad I didn't have to.
    Oh, and I expect the main problem was the nearly instant collapse of the Afghan army, so proving that our "mission" there was fruitless.
    Turns out that if you tell people that you expect them to get slaughtered to a man within a year, install a weak puppet as leader, and actively sabotage their ability to maintain their key weapons (by banning contractors from entering Afghanistan, who did ~70% of maintenance) that force will collapse in fairly short order, as people look to save themselves.

    There was no lack of fighting spirit from the 80,000 ANA who sacrificed themselves for their country, and the ~100,000 who were broadly let down by their superiors.

    The Taliban was a snowball rolling down the hill (being pushed by the US) - the more momentum it got/the likelier it looked that they'd win, the easier it turned out to be to get people to switch sides.

    Had the US left air support and not sabotaged the ANA it's likely most of this would not have happened.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 116,709

    rcs1000 said:

    DougSeal said:

    Question for PBers. Do you have an opinion that would embarrass you in front of the mainstream of the political affiliation you identify with?

    Plenty!

    1. Wishing to see the extinction of humankind
    2. Supporting Brexit
    3. Thinking that someone with a cock and balls is a man
    4. Being anti-abortion

    That's enough for now.
    Is anyone actually pro-abortion?

    I would have thought most of its supporters regard its legal status as a necessary evil.
    Define 'necessary'.

    My problem is that the vast majority of terminations are not necessary.
    I would certainly consider moving the time limit from 24 weeks to 15 or 16 weeks like most of Europe
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 27,835
    HYUFD said:

    stodge said:

    Meanwhile, in Germany, plenty of interest in the national numbers but more useful data may come from the Regional polling. Here's Mecklenburg/Upper Pomerania:

    Changes from 2017 election:

    Social Democrats: 36% (+18.5)
    Alternative for Germany: 17% (-1)
    Christian Democrats: 15% (-19)
    Left: 11% (-7.5)
    Free Democrats: 8% (+3)
    Greens: 6% (+2.5)

    That's an extraordinary swing against the CDU and perhaps suggests the SPD will gain ground in the more industrial areas while the Greens will be the beneficiaries in the more rural areas.

    Not in rural Bavaria there isn't, there polling still has the CSU with a comfortable 15% or so lead over the Greens.

    If the SPD does beat the Union for most seats and the Union enter opposition it will be the fault of the CDU, for putting an unpopular candidate from their own party ahead of the popular leader of their CSU sister party which will see them suffer significant losses in the North and East.

    In Bavaria the CSU will still win comfortably and if there ends up an SPD led government in Berlin with the CSU forced into opposition and a CDU led opposition in Berlin which still ignores the CSU then there will likely start to be calls in Bavaria for independence.

    There already is a Bavarian independence party, the Bavaria party, which like the CSU grew out of the Bavarian People's Party. Culturally Bavaria is also closer to Austria than the rest of Germany
    On the plus side, someone other than Bayern might win the Bundesliga.
  • Northern_AlNorthern_Al Posts: 7,458
    MrEd said:

    MrEd said:

    rcs1000 said:

    DougSeal said:

    Question for PBers. Do you have an opinion that would embarrass you in front of the mainstream of the political affiliation you identify with?

    Plenty!

    1. Wishing to see the extinction of humankind
    2. Supporting Brexit
    3. Thinking that someone with a cock and balls is a man
    4. Being anti-abortion

    That's enough for now.
    Is anyone actually pro-abortion?

    I would have thought most of its supporters regard its legal status as a necessary evil.
    Actually, yes. There are a fair few who see it as a badge of honour and you are truly not progressive enough if you haven’t had one.
    Utter garbage.
    How predictable.
    As is your lack of evidence for a typically reactionary and objectionable comment.
  • kinabalu said:

    DougSeal said:

    Question for PBers. Do you have an opinion that would embarrass you in front of the mainstream of the political affiliation you identify with?

    I have serious doubts as to the merits of Trident - though still think the UK should maintain nuclear weapons.

    I support drugs legalisation - though no mainstream politicians seem to support that.

    Though I do not identify with a political party.
    But you are a Tory as discussed the other day.
    You need to lose this obsession with discrete but broad categorisation of people.

    People are individuals unless they contract out their thoughts and actions to the decisions of others.

    And I'm not sure any PBer does that totally - even Hyufd has occasional criticisms of the Conservative party.
  • CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 59,540

    Sandpit said:

    Following the shocking scenes in Afghanistan today, I have issued a NOTAM (Notice to Aviation) further advising airlines to avoid Afghan airspace under 25,000ft. We will continue to keep this under review.

    https://twitter.com/grantshapps/status/1430929929877835788?s=20

    1) Not sure why a suicide bomb at ground level should lead to a NOTAM and
    2) Commercial traffic has not been overflying Afghanistan for over a week in any case - there's no ATC and
    3) Even if there was who would overfly Afghanistan at 25,000' in any case?

    Grant Shapps thinks he issues NOTAMs in Afghanistan?
    NOTAM is a Notice to Airmen, not a “notice to aviation”
    Pathetic attention seeking......
    The UK NOTAM on Afghanistan was issued 6 years ago:

    Reference: UK AIP ENR 1.1 (1.4.5)
    Issued: 08-Oct-15, valid until: Ongoing
    Plain English: Risk to aircraft overflying OAKB/Kabul FIR at less than 25,000ft AGL.


    https://safeairspace.net/afghanistan/
  • tlg86tlg86 Posts: 25,164
    Biden speaking. He continues to emphasise this is about America and their Afghan people. Everyone else can do one.

    Now he’s quoting the bible. Seems so alien to us.
  • londonpubmanlondonpubman Posts: 3,152
    HYUFD said:

    rcs1000 said:

    DougSeal said:

    Question for PBers. Do you have an opinion that would embarrass you in front of the mainstream of the political affiliation you identify with?

    Plenty!

    1. Wishing to see the extinction of humankind
    2. Supporting Brexit
    3. Thinking that someone with a cock and balls is a man
    4. Being anti-abortion

    That's enough for now.
    Is anyone actually pro-abortion?

    I would have thought most of its supporters regard its legal status as a necessary evil.
    Define 'necessary'.

    My problem is that the vast majority of terminations are not necessary.
    I would certainly consider moving the time limit from 24 weeks to 15 or 16 weeks like most of Europe
    I don't like abortion and would set the cut off at the absolute limit of viability of the foetus. I would prefer 20 weeks but could live with 21 weeks as a foetus will never be viable at that time.

    Before then it's the mother's right to choose. Beyond then it should only be allowed where there is a clear threat to the mother's life.
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 75,841
    HYUFD said:

    rcs1000 said:

    DougSeal said:

    Question for PBers. Do you have an opinion that would embarrass you in front of the mainstream of the political affiliation you identify with?

    Plenty!

    1. Wishing to see the extinction of humankind
    2. Supporting Brexit
    3. Thinking that someone with a cock and balls is a man
    4. Being anti-abortion

    That's enough for now.
    Is anyone actually pro-abortion?

    I would have thought most of its supporters regard its legal status as a necessary evil.
    Define 'necessary'.

    My problem is that the vast majority of terminations are not necessary.
    I would certainly consider moving the time limit from 24 weeks to 15 or 16 weeks like most of Europe
    I think 15/16 is a bit short, 20 weeks makes sense - 18 + a fortnight's max decision time on genetic disorders (Trisomy 21).
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 38,847

    kinabalu said:

    DougSeal said:

    Question for PBers. Do you have an opinion that would embarrass you in front of the mainstream of the political affiliation you identify with?

    I'm not a big fan of the NHS.
    DougSeal said:

    kinabalu said:

    DougSeal said:

    Question for PBers. Do you have an opinion that would embarrass you in front of the mainstream of the political affiliation you identify with?

    I'm not a big fan of the NHS.
    That would be mine too.
    I'm curious.

    Bad experiences ? Prefer the system used in a different country ?
    No bad personal experiences no. In fact I've had little contact, been very fortunate healthwise thus far, hope not tempting fate there.

    It's more that I am very ready to consider other models. There's evidence in other European countries of things that work well (although funding is higher there too).

    And I particularly don't have the special reverence for the NHS and its workers that seems compulsory sometimes on my side of politics. I admire and respect all people who work hard in useful jobs.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 91,392
    edited August 2021

    rcs1000 said:

    DougSeal said:

    Question for PBers. Do you have an opinion that would embarrass you in front of the mainstream of the political affiliation you identify with?

    Plenty!

    1. Wishing to see the extinction of humankind
    2. Supporting Brexit
    3. Thinking that someone with a cock and balls is a man
    4. Being anti-abortion

    That's enough for now.
    Is anyone actually pro-abortion?

    I would have thought most of its supporters regard its legal status as a necessary evil.
    Define 'necessary'.

    My problem is that the vast majority of terminations are not necessary.
    Why is it your problem? Surely it is women's problem, and it is they who should decide what's 'necessary'.
    But that's clearly not the case. We have laws for instance around for how many weeks termination is permissable and for what reason, so even if an individual woman felt it was necessary at X weeks it isn't up to that woman alone, and we have no means of passing a law on the basis of what women alone, as a collective, think about what the limits should be, if there should be any limits, or it not be permitted at all.

    Given the existence of the law setting the current extent and limitations, people of any gender are surely able to debate where they think the extent and limitations should apply. The views of women would presumably be of particular relevance to many in determining that, but it's not as though women have a unified view about it, nor that men can all be expected to simply delegate their opinion making on the subject.

    So while I'm happy to stay right out of it, I'd have some concerns about a 'It's a woman thing' attitude to apply, especially when laws exist or will be set on the matter, as they are on a great many things, because we don't and never decided individuals have total free rein even on matters that apply to themselves. As robert says, life isn't that simple.
  • solarflaresolarflare Posts: 3,623
    edited August 2021
    tlg86 said:

    Biden speaking. He continues to emphasise this is about America and their Afghan people. Everyone else can do one.

    Now he’s quoting the bible. Seems so alien to us.

    Is he doing sombre or are his batteries empty? I can't quite tell.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,766

    HYUFD said:

    rcs1000 said:

    DougSeal said:

    Question for PBers. Do you have an opinion that would embarrass you in front of the mainstream of the political affiliation you identify with?

    Plenty!

    1. Wishing to see the extinction of humankind
    2. Supporting Brexit
    3. Thinking that someone with a cock and balls is a man
    4. Being anti-abortion

    That's enough for now.
    Is anyone actually pro-abortion?

    I would have thought most of its supporters regard its legal status as a necessary evil.
    Define 'necessary'.

    My problem is that the vast majority of terminations are not necessary.
    I would certainly consider moving the time limit from 24 weeks to 15 or 16 weeks like most of Europe
    I don't like abortion and would set the cut off at the absolute limit of viability of the foetus. I would prefer 20 weeks but could live with 21 weeks as a foetus will never be viable at that time.

    Before then it's the mother's right to choose. Beyond then it should only be allowed where there is a clear threat to the mother's life.
    I think beyond the 12th trimester abortion should be illegal.
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 49,614

    Sandpit said:

    Following the shocking scenes in Afghanistan today, I have issued a NOTAM (Notice to Aviation) further advising airlines to avoid Afghan airspace under 25,000ft. We will continue to keep this under review.

    https://twitter.com/grantshapps/status/1430929929877835788?s=20

    1) Not sure why a suicide bomb at ground level should lead to a NOTAM and
    2) Commercial traffic has not been overflying Afghanistan for over a week in any case - there's no ATC and
    3) Even if there was who would overfly Afghanistan at 25,000' in any case?

    Grant Shapps thinks he issues NOTAMs in Afghanistan?
    NOTAM is a Notice to Airmen, not a “notice to aviation”
    Pathetic attention seeking......
    The UK NOTAM on Afghanistan was issued 6 years ago:

    Reference: UK AIP ENR 1.1 (1.4.5)
    Issued: 08-Oct-15, valid until: Ongoing
    Plain English: Risk to aircraft overflying OAKB/Kabul FIR at less than 25,000ft AGL.


    https://safeairspace.net/afghanistan/
    Good spot. Right now, no-one is flying anywhere near the ‘Stan, and airlines are adding hundreds of miles to routes in avoidance, even at FL380. No-one knows what arms the Taliban have available to them, and there’s always a small chance of an MH17-type shootdown from the ground.
  • JohnLilburneJohnLilburne Posts: 5,997
    rcs1000 said:

    HYUFD said:

    rcs1000 said:

    DougSeal said:

    Question for PBers. Do you have an opinion that would embarrass you in front of the mainstream of the political affiliation you identify with?

    Plenty!

    1. Wishing to see the extinction of humankind
    2. Supporting Brexit
    3. Thinking that someone with a cock and balls is a man
    4. Being anti-abortion

    That's enough for now.
    Is anyone actually pro-abortion?

    I would have thought most of its supporters regard its legal status as a necessary evil.
    Define 'necessary'.

    My problem is that the vast majority of terminations are not necessary.
    I would certainly consider moving the time limit from 24 weeks to 15 or 16 weeks like most of Europe
    I don't like abortion and would set the cut off at the absolute limit of viability of the foetus. I would prefer 20 weeks but could live with 21 weeks as a foetus will never be viable at that time.

    Before then it's the mother's right to choose. Beyond then it should only be allowed where there is a clear threat to the mother's life.
    I think beyond the 12th trimester abortion should be illegal.
    12th trimester? There are only 3.
  • CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758

    New listings of fossil fuel companies would be immediately banned on the London Stock Exchange as part of a proposal by the Liberal Democrats that the party says could help the UK become a leader in tackling the climate emergency.

    Under the plan outlined to the Guardian by the Lib Dem leader, Ed Davey, another immediate policy would be to stop new bonds being issued in London to finance oil, coal or gas exploration.

    Fossil fuel firms already listed in the UK would then have two years to produce a coherent plan about how they would reach net zero emissions by 2045, or risk being struck off the LSE.

    https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/aug/26/lib-dems-propose-ban-on-new-listings-of-fossil-fuel-companies-on-lse-london-climate-change

    Introducing legislation directly targeted at one privately owned company (the LSE)? Would that be allowable as a piece of public (vs private) legislation?
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 116,709
    rcs1000 said:
    Some interesting figures linked to there by religion.

    Jewish Americans most likely to be vaccine accepters at 85%, then Catholics at 79%, non-Christians 78%, other Christians 77%, religiously unaffiliated at 75% and white mainline Protestants at 74%. Then come other Protestants of color at 69%, black Protestants at 66%, Mormons at 65% and last are Hispanic Protestants and white evangelical Protestants both on only 56% vaccine acceptance
    https://www.prri.org/research/religious-vaccines-covid-vaccination/
  • ChameleonChameleon Posts: 3,886
    rcs1000 said:

    MrEd said:

    rcs1000 said:

    MrEd said:

    rcs1000 said:

    DougSeal said:

    Question for PBers. Do you have an opinion that would embarrass you in front of the mainstream of the political affiliation you identify with?

    Plenty!

    1. Wishing to see the extinction of humankind
    2. Supporting Brexit
    3. Thinking that someone with a cock and balls is a man
    4. Being anti-abortion

    That's enough for now.
    Is anyone actually pro-abortion?

    I would have thought most of its supporters regard its legal status as a necessary evil.
    Actually, yes. There are a fair few who see it as a badge of honour and you are truly not progressive enough if you haven’t had one.
    I know quite a few people who've had abortions, some of whom are "woke". Most of them suffered enormously in choosing to terminate, and often had terrible guilt afterwards.

    I don't know anyone who has ever boasted of having had an abortion.

    There presumably are some - because you can find any kind of crazy if you look hard enough - but I'd be staggered if they were common.
    I think there is a “pre” and “post” issue here.

    Some of my acquaintances had them, went into them thinking “this is my body, I can do what I want” and then we’re traumatised afterwards as the impact hit home.

    I take the Caitlin Moran view. Either you consider an abortion like having a cup of tea (it’s not a life so what’s the big deal) or you are killing a life. No in-between stuff.
    Really?

    I mean I wish that life was that simple. But it's not. There are people in terrible relationships. There are people who have drug or alcohol issues. There are people who didn't know the facts of life.

    And, of course, there are people who regard abortion as just another form of contraception.

    You will never get rid of abortion. When it was illegal, people would still have them and then juries would not convict either mothers or "back street practioners". People died, both mothers and unborn children.

    What's your goal?

    If it's to minimise the number of terminations, the answer is simple: increase spending on sex education, increase the availability of contraceptives, and make adoption as easy as possible.

    Indeed, the countries with the lowest levels of abortion do exactly that. Portugal has an abortion rate less than one tenth that of the US, and probably below what the US's illegal abortion rate was pre-Roe vs Wade.
    Some of the views on display here are worrying, and perhaps betray a lack of experience with the issue. Thankfully yours is not one.

    If you want to minimise abortions then plentiful sex ed and cheap contraception is the best way.

    However, I sadly know some people who have had abortions, predominately from 16-23, and none of them did it lightly, for beyond the plan-b pill, it is broadly a very traumatic affair that haunts people for a long while. Ultimately, inn my opinion it is often better to not have a child than bring one into an existence of suffering (whic pairs well with my support of assisted dying). The idea that people get abortions just for the fun of it, or that you need to have had one to have an opinion is pretty ghoulish.

  • JohnLilburneJohnLilburne Posts: 5,997

    rcs1000 said:

    HYUFD said:

    rcs1000 said:

    DougSeal said:

    Question for PBers. Do you have an opinion that would embarrass you in front of the mainstream of the political affiliation you identify with?

    Plenty!

    1. Wishing to see the extinction of humankind
    2. Supporting Brexit
    3. Thinking that someone with a cock and balls is a man
    4. Being anti-abortion

    That's enough for now.
    Is anyone actually pro-abortion?

    I would have thought most of its supporters regard its legal status as a necessary evil.
    Define 'necessary'.

    My problem is that the vast majority of terminations are not necessary.
    I would certainly consider moving the time limit from 24 weeks to 15 or 16 weeks like most of Europe
    I don't like abortion and would set the cut off at the absolute limit of viability of the foetus. I would prefer 20 weeks but could live with 21 weeks as a foetus will never be viable at that time.

    Before then it's the mother's right to choose. Beyond then it should only be allowed where there is a clear threat to the mother's life.
    I think beyond the 12th trimester abortion should be illegal.
    12th trimester? There are only 3.
    Actually I now realise you are being sarcastic there, but I can't seem to edit posts on mobile, so the comment will have to stay
  • YokesYokes Posts: 1,178
    edited August 2021
    Well done Joe Biden, all the empathetic words then in the space of 20 words lands that ISIS-K are an enemy of the Taliban, lots of them got freed from those two big jails .

    By who Joe? Who let them out?
  • Sandpit said:

    Sandpit said:

    Following the shocking scenes in Afghanistan today, I have issued a NOTAM (Notice to Aviation) further advising airlines to avoid Afghan airspace under 25,000ft. We will continue to keep this under review.

    https://twitter.com/grantshapps/status/1430929929877835788?s=20

    1) Not sure why a suicide bomb at ground level should lead to a NOTAM and
    2) Commercial traffic has not been overflying Afghanistan for over a week in any case - there's no ATC and
    3) Even if there was who would overfly Afghanistan at 25,000' in any case?

    Grant Shapps thinks he issues NOTAMs in Afghanistan?
    NOTAM is a Notice to Airmen, not a “notice to aviation”
    Pathetic attention seeking......
    The UK NOTAM on Afghanistan was issued 6 years ago:

    Reference: UK AIP ENR 1.1 (1.4.5)
    Issued: 08-Oct-15, valid until: Ongoing
    Plain English: Risk to aircraft overflying OAKB/Kabul FIR at less than 25,000ft AGL.


    https://safeairspace.net/afghanistan/
    Good spot. Right now, no-one is flying anywhere near the ‘Stan, and airlines are adding hundreds of miles to routes in avoidance, even at FL380. No-one knows what arms the Taliban have available to them, and there’s always a small chance of an MH17-type shootdown from the ground.
    It was suggested tonight ISIS K could take down a plane and it is much more likely than the Taliban
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 91,392
    edited August 2021

    kinabalu said:

    DougSeal said:

    Question for PBers. Do you have an opinion that would embarrass you in front of the mainstream of the political affiliation you identify with?

    I have serious doubts as to the merits of Trident - though still think the UK should maintain nuclear weapons.

    I support drugs legalisation - though no mainstream politicians seem to support that.

    Though I do not identify with a political party.
    But you are a Tory as discussed the other day.
    People are individuals unless they contract out their thoughts and actions to the decisions of others.
    I feel this is a very important and sometimes overlooked point. People are rarely so blunt, but from time to time in discussing controversial issues particularly you sometimes see people out in the world arguing, in effect, that you should just do what group X says, or what only X says matters on topic Y. And in practice you might reasonably feel that on topic Y that doing what X says is the right thing to do, but we would all still need to apply some critical thought to it, not simply delegate our opinion to another, even if we think their view should very strongly influence ours.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,766

    rcs1000 said:

    HYUFD said:

    rcs1000 said:

    DougSeal said:

    Question for PBers. Do you have an opinion that would embarrass you in front of the mainstream of the political affiliation you identify with?

    Plenty!

    1. Wishing to see the extinction of humankind
    2. Supporting Brexit
    3. Thinking that someone with a cock and balls is a man
    4. Being anti-abortion

    That's enough for now.
    Is anyone actually pro-abortion?

    I would have thought most of its supporters regard its legal status as a necessary evil.
    Define 'necessary'.

    My problem is that the vast majority of terminations are not necessary.
    I would certainly consider moving the time limit from 24 weeks to 15 or 16 weeks like most of Europe
    I don't like abortion and would set the cut off at the absolute limit of viability of the foetus. I would prefer 20 weeks but could live with 21 weeks as a foetus will never be viable at that time.

    Before then it's the mother's right to choose. Beyond then it should only be allowed where there is a clear threat to the mother's life.
    I think beyond the 12th trimester abortion should be illegal.
    12th trimester? There are only 3.
    There are only three pre-natal trimesters.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 38,847

    kinabalu said:

    DougSeal said:

    Question for PBers. Do you have an opinion that would embarrass you in front of the mainstream of the political affiliation you identify with?

    I have serious doubts as to the merits of Trident - though still think the UK should maintain nuclear weapons.

    I support drugs legalisation - though no mainstream politicians seem to support that.

    Though I do not identify with a political party.
    But you are a Tory as discussed the other day.
    You need to lose this obsession with discrete but broad categorisation of people.

    People are individuals unless they contract out their thoughts and actions to the decisions of others.

    And I'm not sure any PBer does that totally - even Hyufd has occasional criticisms of the Conservative party.
    Richard, you ARE an individual. Very much so. Being a Tory doesn't define you in my eyes or anyone else's. There's far more to you than that. Plus you cease to be a Tory as soon as you make a public and sincere declaration of intent to vote otherwise at the next election. So nothing is written in stone. You're not being tagged and boxed. Not at all.
  • CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758
    rcs1000 said:

    New listings of fossil fuel companies would be immediately banned on the London Stock Exchange as part of a proposal by the Liberal Democrats that the party says could help the UK become a leader in tackling the climate emergency.

    Under the plan outlined to the Guardian by the Lib Dem leader, Ed Davey, another immediate policy would be to stop new bonds being issued in London to finance oil, coal or gas exploration.

    Fossil fuel firms already listed in the UK would then have two years to produce a coherent plan about how they would reach net zero emissions by 2045, or risk being struck off the LSE.

    https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/aug/26/lib-dems-propose-ban-on-new-listings-of-fossil-fuel-companies-on-lse-london-climate-change

    What a stupid policy.

    It would have zero actual effect (Shell can issue bonds wherever it likes, and anyone can write a credible quarter century plan), while announcing to the world that we are not open for business.
    You do realise your not their target voter?

    And that their target voters have a less nuanced understanding of the investment world than you do?
  • ChameleonChameleon Posts: 3,886
    edited August 2021

    tlg86 said:

    Biden speaking. He continues to emphasise this is about America and their Afghan people. Everyone else can do one.

    Now he’s quoting the bible. Seems so alien to us.

    Is he doing sombre or are his batteries empty? I can't quite tell.
    As I said last year, pre-election he reminds me of one of my grandfathers. Sadly he now reminds me of the other grandfather just before he got his dementia diagnosis.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 46,208
    The most humiliating press conference ever given by a US president
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 91,392

    rcs1000 said:

    HYUFD said:

    rcs1000 said:

    DougSeal said:

    Question for PBers. Do you have an opinion that would embarrass you in front of the mainstream of the political affiliation you identify with?

    Plenty!

    1. Wishing to see the extinction of humankind
    2. Supporting Brexit
    3. Thinking that someone with a cock and balls is a man
    4. Being anti-abortion

    That's enough for now.
    Is anyone actually pro-abortion?

    I would have thought most of its supporters regard its legal status as a necessary evil.
    Define 'necessary'.

    My problem is that the vast majority of terminations are not necessary.
    I would certainly consider moving the time limit from 24 weeks to 15 or 16 weeks like most of Europe
    I don't like abortion and would set the cut off at the absolute limit of viability of the foetus. I would prefer 20 weeks but could live with 21 weeks as a foetus will never be viable at that time.

    Before then it's the mother's right to choose. Beyond then it should only be allowed where there is a clear threat to the mother's life.
    I think beyond the 12th trimester abortion should be illegal.
    12th trimester? There are only 3.
    Old joke.
  • tlg86 said:

    Biden speaking. He continues to emphasise this is about America and their Afghan people. Everyone else can do one.

    Now he’s quoting the bible. Seems so alien to us.

    Trump was America First, Biden is Only America.....
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,766

    rcs1000 said:

    HYUFD said:

    rcs1000 said:

    DougSeal said:

    Question for PBers. Do you have an opinion that would embarrass you in front of the mainstream of the political affiliation you identify with?

    Plenty!

    1. Wishing to see the extinction of humankind
    2. Supporting Brexit
    3. Thinking that someone with a cock and balls is a man
    4. Being anti-abortion

    That's enough for now.
    Is anyone actually pro-abortion?

    I would have thought most of its supporters regard its legal status as a necessary evil.
    Define 'necessary'.

    My problem is that the vast majority of terminations are not necessary.
    I would certainly consider moving the time limit from 24 weeks to 15 or 16 weeks like most of Europe
    I don't like abortion and would set the cut off at the absolute limit of viability of the foetus. I would prefer 20 weeks but could live with 21 weeks as a foetus will never be viable at that time.

    Before then it's the mother's right to choose. Beyond then it should only be allowed where there is a clear threat to the mother's life.
    I think beyond the 12th trimester abortion should be illegal.
    12th trimester? There are only 3.
    Actually I now realise you are being sarcastic there, but I can't seem to edit posts on mobile, so the comment will have to stay
    The gag is from South Park where Cartman's mum campaigns to get the abortion limit raised. The Governor is seduced by her, and readily agrees to raise the limit to 30, thinking she means weeks, when in fact she means the 30th trimester - i.e. her ten year old son.
  • kinabalu said:

    kinabalu said:

    DougSeal said:

    Question for PBers. Do you have an opinion that would embarrass you in front of the mainstream of the political affiliation you identify with?

    I'm not a big fan of the NHS.
    DougSeal said:

    kinabalu said:

    DougSeal said:

    Question for PBers. Do you have an opinion that would embarrass you in front of the mainstream of the political affiliation you identify with?

    I'm not a big fan of the NHS.
    That would be mine too.
    I'm curious.

    Bad experiences ? Prefer the system used in a different country ?
    No bad personal experiences no. In fact I've had little contact, been very fortunate healthwise thus far, hope not tempting fate there.

    It's more that I am very ready to consider other models. There's evidence in other European countries of things that work well (although funding is higher there too).

    And I particularly don't have the special reverence for the NHS and its workers that seems compulsory sometimes on my side of politics. I admire and respect all people who work hard in useful jobs.
    Actually that's pretty much identical to my experiences and thoughts.

    IIRC the French health system had some beneficial attributes.

    I do wonder if the NHS reverence some engage in makes the UK look odd to outsiders - though many countries have, to my mind at least, their own bizarre reverences.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 91,392
    Yokes said:

    Well done Joe Biden, all the empathetic words then in the space of 20 words lands that ISIS-K are an enemy of the Taliban, lots of them got freed from those two big jails .

    By who Joe? Who let them out?

    The passive voice is a real boon for these sorts of things I should think. Mistakes were made.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 46,208
    Jesus Christ. Get him off the stage
  • MattWMattW Posts: 18,080

    MattW said:

    It's not "Afghanis", it is Afghans

    Stop hounding people :smile: .
    That's in response to the Tweet that was posted, by the same guy who was quite happy to go on about the election being rigged as another user pointed out. It shows he is and continues to be, an idiot.

    Afghani is a unit of currency, it's like calling British people Pounds, it makes no sense
    I know. Not having a go. I clearly need to be more explicit with my puns.


  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,766
    Leon said:

    Jesus Christ. Get him off the stage

    Someone is very glad she's in Vietnam.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 91,392
    rcs1000 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    HYUFD said:

    rcs1000 said:

    DougSeal said:

    Question for PBers. Do you have an opinion that would embarrass you in front of the mainstream of the political affiliation you identify with?

    Plenty!

    1. Wishing to see the extinction of humankind
    2. Supporting Brexit
    3. Thinking that someone with a cock and balls is a man
    4. Being anti-abortion

    That's enough for now.
    Is anyone actually pro-abortion?

    I would have thought most of its supporters regard its legal status as a necessary evil.
    Define 'necessary'.

    My problem is that the vast majority of terminations are not necessary.
    I would certainly consider moving the time limit from 24 weeks to 15 or 16 weeks like most of Europe
    I don't like abortion and would set the cut off at the absolute limit of viability of the foetus. I would prefer 20 weeks but could live with 21 weeks as a foetus will never be viable at that time.

    Before then it's the mother's right to choose. Beyond then it should only be allowed where there is a clear threat to the mother's life.
    I think beyond the 12th trimester abortion should be illegal.
    12th trimester? There are only 3.
    Actually I now realise you are being sarcastic there, but I can't seem to edit posts on mobile, so the comment will have to stay
    The gag is from South Park where Cartman's mum campaigns to get the abortion limit raised. The Governor is seduced by her, and readily agrees to raise the limit to 30, thinking she means weeks, when in fact she means the 30th trimester - i.e. her ten year old son.
    In fact she had to go all the way to the President.

    I don't recall if he did think she meant weeks, as the end gag was actually she mixed up abortion when she meant adoption, which as Clinton noted was pretty different.
  • Leon said:

    Jesus Christ. Get him off the stage

    He looks so utterly lost and I just cannot see how he recovers from this humiliation
This discussion has been closed.