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Your regular reminder that the questions influence poll responses – politicalbetting.com

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  • Fysics_TeacherFysics_Teacher Posts: 6,303
    IshmaelZ said:

    No, because if you are doing that by choice, you have the money you could have spent on the house invested in something else
    Taxing houses and land is a lot easier than taxing other assets: what happens if I've invested the money in my education for example?
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 50,785
    Farooq said:

    And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money changers, and the seats of them that sold doves, And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.
    Both capitalism and socialism are materialistic philosophies, though they differ in how that money should be distributed. Jesus taught us of the world beyond material things. That is the point of the overturning of the money changers tables. Politically he was unaligned.
  • FishingFishing Posts: 5,459
    HYUFD said:

    The USA was neutral in 1813 to 1815 as was Turkey unlike now and France of course is on our side this time
    Yes, and Russia is on the opposite side, apart from Ukraine.

    The USA was actually at war with Britain between 1812 and 1814.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 126,534
    Cookie said:

    Fair enough.
    This all seems very alien to me though.
    I can see why homeowners would vote in the interests of homeowners. Obviously a LOT of nuances here, but I can see why it would hold true.
    But Anglicans and Monarchists - there just don't seem enough, and their interests don't seem obviously served by the Conservative Party nor threatened by the other lot. And it just doesn't seem the sort of thing one would care about enough. But that is because I am a middle-aged middle-class suburbanite and simply don't ever meet such people. And it's always dangerous to generalise from the people you know.
    About 80% of the population are monarchists, even more than homeowners.

    There are also still more Christians than atheists even in the UK, far less religious than most nations globally.

    Monarchists and Anglicans believe in conserving their institutions as much as Conservatives do
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 50,785
    HYUFD said:

    The USA was neutral in 1813 to 1815 as was Turkey unlike now and France of course is on our side this time
    From 1812-14 we were at war with the USA, so hardly neutral.
  • FrankBoothFrankBooth Posts: 10,022
    Fishing said:

    Doubt it, as they are planning a similarly mad and brutal war on Taiwan.
    They import quite a bit of food from Ukraine don't they?
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 50,785
    HYUFD said:

    Read the parable of the talents, he believed in invested wealth.

    The Old Testament also clear stealing wealth was wrong
    It is harder for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven than to pass a camel through the eye of a needle.
  • Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 64,914
    edited March 2022
    HYUFD said:

    Read the parable of the talents, he believed in invested wealth.

    The Old Testament also clear stealing wealth was wrong
    Jesus would have rejected your worship of wealth and inheritance

    And taxing wealth is not stealing
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 53,394
    HYUFD said:

    Much of Italy, the low countries, Germany and Spain were under Napoleon's control.

    The Ottoman Empire and United States were neutral.

    It is is not remotely comparable to now where France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Turkey and the United States are all in NATO with us to contain Putin
    Russia, Prussia Spain, Portugal, and Austria were on our side for most of the period 1792 to 1815.
  • FF43FF43 Posts: 17,813
    edited March 2022
    BigRich said:

    It depends what Russia has asked for/needs, examples:

    As somebody posted on here have a very good missile Kr101 I think it was, that they used a lot in the first few days, but have stopped, possibly because they have run out, if so the Russians are a bit stuck as the engine for the missile is made in the Ukraine, perhaps China could give some of the engines of there missiles, or even the whole thing just repainted.

    Or it could be for mundane things like tiers for trucks, remember that controversy, well the chines do make that sort of tier, they will where out quicker, but at the moment any new tiers would be greatly apricated.

    Ammunition as you mention, china exports a lot of ammunition made for Russian made weapon systems so that might be easy. or other things like radios, i bet china makes cheep copy's of a lot of Russian bits.

    new equipment would be harder to hide, but the Russians probably are keeping some things just in case WW3 starts, near the Finish and Estonian boarders, Russia could put borrowed Chines stuff there and then pull the last of their own equipment down to Ukraine.

    it would be fascinating to know what they asked for, and what they get.
    UAVs are a big Chinese export. Missile systems also - but Russia has plenty of those - and many of the Chinese products are based on Russian models. China will be keen to develop Russia as an export market, having imported large numbers of Russian weapons in the past.

    Maybe also communication equipment.
  • bigglesbiggles Posts: 6,735
    HYUFD said:

    Read the parable of the talents, he believed in invested wealth.

    The Old Testament also clear stealing wealth was wrong
    You think taxation is stealing?
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 65,092
    "The Ukr government is corrupt and has been pushing woke ideology"

    GOP Congressman for North Carolina’s 11th district.



    Liz Cheney
    @Liz_Cheney
    ·
    Mar 10
    Another member of the Putin wing of the
    @GOP

    https://twitter.com/Liz_Cheney/status/1502043295748345857
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 126,534

    Jesus would have rejected your worship of wealth and inheritance

    And taxing wealth is not stealing
    I do not worship wealth, I do believe in preservation of wealth.

    Taxing wealth excessively is arguably stealing
  • IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830

    From what has been reported, a very large pile of decent, encrypted radios would be good start.

    The comment on the trucks in the FT was interesting - they confirmed the stories that a problem the Russians had was cheap knock-off tires, poorly maintained on some of their equipment. Tires made in China.....
    They didn't confirm it, they simply referred to it - their source is a twitter link to the tyre nerd we all knew about 4 days ago. The whole article is worth analysing for its sources, almost all of which are randomers on Twitter. Very little added.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 126,534
    Foxy said:

    From 1812-14 we were at war with the USA, so hardly neutral.
    Making the point even more, the USA now leads NATO v Putin.

    Albeit the USA was not strictly allied with Napoleon either
  • HYUFD said:

    I do not worship wealth, I do believe in preservation of wealth.

    Taxing wealth excessively is arguably stealing
    No it is not if it passes the HOC
  • FF43FF43 Posts: 17,813
    geoffw said:

    When the dust has settled Russia will be a province of Kievan Rus.

    Don't think that would be in Ukraine's interest. They want Russia out.
  • FF43FF43 Posts: 17,813

    Former NATO commander:


    stavridisj
    @stavridisj
    ·
    10m
    This is time for quiet diplomacy btwn DC and Beijing. China will place some big bets ahead. We must try 2 convince them to bet on the right side of history,not on Putin.We have our differences, but hopefully they'll see the madness of a brutal war Putin has foisted on the world

    Yep. Hegemons - to which China aspires - like orderly worlds they can dominate.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 98,302
    biggles said:

    You think taxation is stealing?
    When it suits.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 98,302
    Foxy said:

    Both capitalism and socialism are materialistic philosophies, though they differ in how that money should be distributed. Jesus taught us of the world beyond material things. That is the point of the overturning of the money changers tables. Politically he was unaligned.
    Hasn't stopped people acting otherwise for 2000 years.
  • bigglesbiggles Posts: 6,735

    "The Ukr government is corrupt and has been pushing woke ideology"

    GOP Congressman for North Carolina’s 11th district.



    Liz Cheney
    @Liz_Cheney
    ·
    Mar 10
    Another member of the Putin wing of the
    @GOP

    https://twitter.com/Liz_Cheney/status/1502043295748345857

    “Woke ideology” like…… fighting for democracy and against fascism.
  • bigglesbiggles Posts: 6,735
    edited March 2022
    kle4 said:

    Hasn't stopped people acting otherwise for 2000 years.
    I think you’ll all find that God is on my side. It’s why I never ask questions.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 98,302
    edited March 2022
    Farooq said:

    "arguably" in the sense that literally anything is "arguable".
    I think you may just have boiled down HYUFD's entire debate philosophy to one sentence.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 98,302
    Farooq said:

    Given that Jesus was a socialist, you can have him.
    Given the choice between God and the money lenders, I'd keep the money lenders.
    Depends on the situation. I'm happy to have him with me, but if the bailiffs are at the door someone offering a check would solve the immediate problem.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 126,534

    No it is not if it passes the HOC
    Which it will not as long as we have a Tory government
  • bigglesbiggles Posts: 6,735
    Farooq said:

    Given that Jesus was a socialist, you can have him.
    Given the choice between God and the money lenders, I'd keep the money lenders.
    Long hair? Beard? Sandals? Wittering on about the environment? He wasn’t a socialist, he was a liberal. I’ll take him because he will at least know where there’s a decent pub and I can speak to him about steam trains.
  • FF43FF43 Posts: 17,813
    I think what scares the world witless about Putin is his bonkers ideology about Ukraine. If it was a grubby territorial dispute with Ukraine about Crimea or something they could cope with that. This is the real deal "mad man" theory, not the pretend Cummings version of it.
  • MoonRabbitMoonRabbit Posts: 14,008
    Putin’s attack on base near Poland “as message to West” (our papers turning it into gangster movie script) quite rightly dominates tomorrows papers. BBC called it ten minute drive from Poland, the Mirror has it 6 miles the Telegraph and Times and Mail all say 15 miles. Russia used up to 35 missiles in this attack. But something on European news media but not UK media I can find is the timing of the hit, claiming Putin had been following a group of US people into this base and chose to hit at the moment they were there (firstly, how would they know that, so our media quite right to leave such speculation alone) I rather fear this is the base used as way in for the foreign fighters for Freedom.
    The west claim 35 dead 134 injured, the Russians claim 180 foreign fighters and much incoming equipment destroyed. ☹️
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 65,092
    edited March 2022
    Wow. Just wow. John Gray himself could not have written a more succinct summary of why the western liberal clinton obama Fukuyama view of the future of the world was utterly deluded than Reich has penned.

    mea culpa.

    Fair play to him.

    Putin and Trump have convinced me: I was wrong about the 21st century
    Robert Reich

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/mar/13/putin-trump-ukraine-russia-invasion-war-21st-century


    Including: "Civilization will never again be held hostage by crazy isolated men with the power to wreak havoc."
  • Fysics_TeacherFysics_Teacher Posts: 6,303

    Russia, Prussia Spain, Portugal, and Austria were on our side for most of the period 1792 to 1815.
    Then all those Spanish ships at Trafalgar were really on the British side? No wonder we won.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 65,092

    Putin’s attack on base near Poland “as message to West” (our papers turning it into gangster movie script) quite rightly dominates tomorrows papers. BBC called it ten minute drive from Poland, the Mirror has it 6 miles the Telegraph and Times and Mail all say 15 miles. Russia used up to 35 missiles in this attack. But something on European news media but not UK media I can find is the timing of the hit, claiming Putin had been following a group of US people into this base and chose to hit at the moment they were there (firstly, how would they know that, so our media quite right to leave such speculation alone) I rather fear this is the base used as way in for the foreign fighters for Freedom.
    The west claim 35 dead 134 injured, the Russians claim 180 foreign fighters and much incoming equipment destroyed. ☹️

    Only days now until we are officially at war with Russia imho.
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 22,124
    HYFD is right in the sense that Toryism *has* been reduced to simple protection of its client vote, which means elderly homeowners and the odd Russian kleptocrat.

    I don’t know why he gets so much stick for pointing it out.

    The onus is actually on others to explain why they continue to cheerlead for the Tories despite the truism above.
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 53,394
    biggles said:

    I think you’ll all find that God is on my side. It’s why I never ask questions.
    God is a socialist too? Who knew!
  • Fysics_TeacherFysics_Teacher Posts: 6,303
    biggles said:

    You think taxation is stealing?
    In the New Testament tax collectors are not looked on as fine, upstanding servants of the people.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 98,302
    edited March 2022

    HYFD is right in the sense that Toryism *has* been reduced to simple protection of its client vote, which means elderly homeowners and the odd Russian kleptocrat.

    I don’t know why he gets so much stick for pointing it out.

    The onus is actually on others to explain why they continue to cheerlead for the Tories despite the truism above.

    He gets stick for thinking it is a good thing. Very might makes right.
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 53,394
    edited March 2022

    Then all those Spanish ships at Trafalgar were really on the British side? No wonder we won.
    I said MOST of the period!

    You never heard of Salamanca?

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peninsular_War
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 65,092
    biggles said:

    “Woke ideology” like…… fighting for democracy and against fascism.
    Obviously it is more important that no gay people get married than we defend western liberal democracy against fascism, murder and genocide.

    GOP was the party of Eisenhower. Incredible to think how far it has fallen.



  • bigglesbiggles Posts: 6,735

    In the New Testament tax collectors are not looked on as fine, upstanding servants of the people.
    Well after all, what had the Romans ever done for them?
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 98,302

    In the New Testament tax collectors are not looked on as fine, upstanding servants of the people.
    Such a difference from how tax collectors are usually looked on as in culture and society. I'm sure the Epic of Gilgamesh has them as the heroes, beloved by all.
  • bigglesbiggles Posts: 6,735

    Obviously it is more important that no gay people get married than we defend western liberal democracy against fascism, murder and genocide.

    GOP was the party of Eisenhower. Incredible to think how far it has fallen.



    Reagan and his Republicans would have hated this mob. Have they started to view Newt Gingrich as a liberal yet?
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 43,127

    HYFD is right in the sense that Toryism *has* been reduced to simple protection of its client vote, which means elderly homeowners and the odd Russian kleptocrat.

    I don’t know why he gets so much stick for pointing it out.

    The onus is actually on others to explain why they continue to cheerlead for the Tories despite the truism above.

    He's letting the 'I'm no fan of BJ but there is a war on and it's all Corbyn's fault anyway' side down.
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 22,124
    kle4 said:

    He gets stick for thinking it is a good thing. Very might makes right.
    No he doesn’t, he mostly attracts criticism from habitual Tory PBs that can’t handle the truth.

    Non-Tory PBs know he is ethically batshit and largely ignore him.
  • IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830

    In the New Testament tax collectors are not looked on as fine, upstanding servants of the people.
    Yes they are. Romans 13 could hardly be clearer

    13 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4 for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 7 Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 75,902

    Wow. Just wow. John Gray himself could not have written a more succinct summary of why the western liberal clinton obama Fukuyama view of the future of the world was utterly deluded than Reich has penned.

    mea culpa.

    Fair play to him.

    Putin and Trump have convinced me: I was wrong about the 21st century
    Robert Reich

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/mar/13/putin-trump-ukraine-russia-invasion-war-21st-century

    Including: "Civilization will never again be held hostage by crazy isolated men with the power to wreak havoc."

    And more positively, this.
    … They are also displaying with inspiring clarity that democracy cannot be taken for granted. Democracy is not a spectator sport. It’s not what governments do. Democracy is what people do.…
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 98,302
    IshmaelZ said:

    Yes they are. Romans 13 could hardly be clearer

    13 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4 for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 7 Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.
    Feels like the sort of thing that a governor who wanted taxes paid almost slipped in there.
  • Fysics_TeacherFysics_Teacher Posts: 6,303

    I said MOST of the period!

    You never heard of Salamanca?

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peninsular_War
    '96 to '08 (so for12 years) Spain was on the side of the French. That leaves 10 years when they were against them. ('93 - '95 then '08-'15) if my maths is right.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 98,302
    I do find the highlighting of moral messages in brief passages of biblical text to be quite fascinating, as they do indeed often have very clear morals, but equally some very learned people and their societies for a very long time mostly saw no problem with, say, slavery, as being incompatible with any of those passages, even though eventually many did.
  • Fysics_TeacherFysics_Teacher Posts: 6,303
    IshmaelZ said:

    Yes they are. Romans 13 could hardly be clearer

    13 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4 for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 7 Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.
    I see your Romans 13 and raise you Luke 19: 1-10.
  • MoonRabbitMoonRabbit Posts: 14,008
    edited March 2022

    Only days now until we are officially at war with Russia imho.
    In this article, articulate US senator rips into White House NFZ position, and Deputy Secretary of State seriously believes Putin is now keen to negotiate? The US seems all over the road?

    Biden seems to have much more pressure on him from his political establishment to harden position than Boris has here? 40 senators signed joint letter demanding Biden supply Ukraine planes. That’s a lot openly revolting against Biden’s position. I reckon we need to keep an eye on this growing, and signs of it actually shifting White House position. I wonder if UK will import this mood from US?

    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/mar/13/biden-adviser-rejects-republican-call-close-skies-over-ukraine
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 65,092
    biggles said:

    Reagan and his Republicans would have hated this mob. Have they started to view Newt Gingrich as a liberal yet?
    Yes, they are a very long way from Reagan.

    This new GOP basically does not believe in America, democracy and especially in the foundation Declaration of Independence text.

    "You have a republic madam... if you can keep it" said Jefferson to a woman waiting for news of the foundation of the USA.


  • Northern_AlNorthern_Al Posts: 8,744

    = "Don't even think of voting Tory @Northern_Al!"
    Don't worry; as my offspring would say, that's a not-happening event.
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 53,394

    '96 to '08 (so for12 years) Spain was on the side of the French. That leaves 10 years when they were against them. ('93 - '95 then '08-'15) if my maths is right.
    Um, the PB pedantry is worse than we imagined!
  • Fysics_TeacherFysics_Teacher Posts: 6,303

    Um, the PB pedantry is worse than we imagined!
    Look at my user-name...
  • AslanAslan Posts: 1,673
    IshmaelZ said:

    Yes they are. Romans 13 could hardly be clearer

    13 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4 for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 7 Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.
    Also "Give unto Caesar what is Caesar", said by the Big Dog himself.
  • AslanAslan Posts: 1,673
    biggles said:

    Reagan and his Republicans would have hated this mob. Have they started to view Newt Gingrich as a liberal yet?
    Gingrich is one of the most Trumpist Republicans. Was Ambassador to the Vatican under Donny Moscow.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 65,092

    In this article, articulate US senator rips into White House NFZ position, and Deputy Secretary of State seriously believes Putin is now keen to negotiate? The US seems all over the road?

    Biden seems to have much more pressure on him from his political establishment to harden position than Boris has here? 40 senators signed joint letter demanding Biden supply Ukraine planes. That’s a lot openly revolting against Biden’s position. I reckon we need to keep an eye on this growing, and signs of it actually shifting White House position. I wonder if UK will import this mood from US?

    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/mar/13/biden-adviser-rejects-republican-call-close-skies-over-ukraine
    If my memory serves me Portman is ex-military.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 65,092

    NEXTA
    @nexta_tv
    ·
    1h
    ❗️Zelensky said that the task of the #Ukrainian delegation in negotiations with the Russian Federation is to achieve his meeting with Putin

    He also stated that the goal of negotiations with the #Russian Federation is to obtain "effective guarantees."

    https://twitter.com/nexta_tv
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 59,044
    edited March 2022
    Leon said:

    It is definitely a "strange thing to bet on" and also quite, quite wrong. The shift in German priorities is obviously real and profound. See the polling in Germany. This move is popular. Germany has a muscle memory of an aggressive Russia's military strategies - ie rape and bomb. This has been quieted for 70 years because of German guilt. But -rightly - no more

    Even if the war ends tonight - we can pray - the shift is tectonic and for real
    Oh come on, you can do better than that: how about the tectonic Teutonic shift.
  • MoonRabbitMoonRabbit Posts: 14,008
    Through the headlines, such as restrictions on Chelsea FC, are you left with the impression Roman Abramovich is quite and properly sanctioned?

    One story bubbling under I suspect will soon erupt Monday and Tuesday through the war coverage, is Why has Abramovich’s “right-hand man” not yet been sanctioned? Abramovich gave him a super yacht, jolly nice gift if you expect nothing in return.

    3 of 4 really strong impenetrable walls, but the 4th is just a wide open space you can pass anything out through? You see what I mean? Is it done proper, or are we the people being conned?

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/12/why-has-abramovichs-billionaire-friend-been-left-off-the-uk-sanctions-list

    Onto Wednesday. But Starmer won’t lead on this on Wednesday. Starmer will ask 6 questions Ed Davey 2 on the most serious lapse of Boris Johnson’s judgement yet - a hundred times worse than Partygate.

    “Are you aware your good friend had a campaign to infiltrate the establishment?”
    “Not a friend? How many visits to villa and castle in Italy? How much of free flights, accommodation and private cars? Is there any such thing as a free lunch?”
    “At the time of these free flights, visits to villa and castles, were you aware your friend suggested MI6 killed Alexander Litvinenko, played down invasion of Crimea, said Putin showed leadership in Syria and Russians thanked Putin for “unimaginable freedoms, “regained sense of national pride?” Not aware? Everyone else seemed aware.”
    “At what point did you decide to recommend your friend a peerage, and for what reasons?”
    “When you were told no, blocked on national security grounds, what did you do next?”

    Parked for now by Conservative MPs, obviously, even wee Ross has withdrawn his letter, but once the Ukraine war is in a new phase, hard to see how Boris explains this away to MPs. In the meantime, the opposition parties are going to have a field day. They’ve been hollowing Boris out with party spoons, they’ve just been handed an ermine wrapped Dave Crockett 😮
  • MoonRabbitMoonRabbit Posts: 14,008

    If my memory serves me Portman is ex-military.
    The forty signatories of the letter are all Republican Senators, yet it’s still quite a block publicly saying they would have made opposite decision than Biden on Polish migs.
  • MoonRabbitMoonRabbit Posts: 14,008
    rcs1000 said:

    Oh come on, you can do better than that: how about the tectonic Teutonic shift.
    On the second point first, Cyclefree posted yesterday we should say Bolshevik instead of Nazi in this case, and I was reminded of the Aldous Huxley quote I heard a billion times in art college, we naturally presume we understand what someone is saying, but everyone is an island in its own universe, in this case, UK not invaded or occupied by Germany in world war 2 it’s possible as both sides in this conflict use the word at each other, NAZI has a different mean to them than what we think of.

    On the first point, I am sure China is already helping Russia. John made the point near start of this thread he hopes we are up to much more double handed and under the radar help to Ukraine - Russia’s such a key ally of China on the world stage, in the great game, OF COURSE China is helping them where it can under the radar. It’s up to us to catch them at it!
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 59,044

    It was probably higher in the 20 years before 1980, to be fair.

    The figures are skewed as there were so many public corporations back then, which were excluded from the figures.
    I don't think that's what skewing the figures: it's simply the fact that the population has gotten dramatically older, and that means that the proportion of wages diverted to pay for the pensions and healthcare of the old is rising.
  • TimTTimT Posts: 6,468

    If my memory serves me Portman is ex-military.
    I don't think so. Legal background. Stints in private practice, White House, OMB, House and finally Senate.
  • MoonRabbitMoonRabbit Posts: 14,008

    On the second point first, Cyclefree posted yesterday we should say Bolshevik instead of Nazi in this case, and I was reminded of the Aldous Huxley quote I heard a billion times in art college, we naturally presume we understand what someone is saying, but everyone is an island in its own universe, in this case, UK not invaded or occupied by Germany in world war 2 it’s possible as both sides in this conflict use the word at each other, NAZI has a different mean to them than what we think of.

    On the first point, I am sure China is already helping Russia. John made the point near start of this thread he hopes we are up to much more double handed and under the radar help to Ukraine - Russia’s such a key ally of China on the world stage, in the great game, OF COURSE China is helping them where it can under the radar. It’s up to us to catch them at it!
    PS I think a band got their name from this essay

    We live together, we act on, and react to, one another; but always and in all circumstances we are by ourselves. The martyrs go hand in hand into the arena; they are crucified alone. Embraced, the lovers desperately try to fuse their insulated ecstasies into a single self-transcendence; in vain. By its very nature every embodied spirit is doomed to suffer and enjoy in solitude. Sensations, feelings, insights, fancies - all these are private and, except through symbols and at second hand, incommunicable. We can pool information about experiences, but never the experiences themselves. From family to nation, every human group is a society of island universes. Most island universes are sufficiently like one another to Permit of inferential understanding or even of mutual empathy or "feeling into." Thus, remembering our own bereavements and humiliations, we can condole with others in analogous circumstances, can put ourselves (always, of course, in a slightly Pickwickian sense) in their places. But in certain cases communication between universes is incomplete or even nonexistent. The mind is its own place, and the Places inhabited by the insane and the exceptionally gifted are so different from the places where ordinary men and women live, that there is little or no common ground of memory to serve as a basis for understanding or fellow feeling. Words are uttered, but fail to enlighten. The things and events to which the symbols refer belong to mutually exclusive realms of experience.
  • MoonRabbitMoonRabbit Posts: 14,008
    edited March 2022


    NEXTA
    @nexta_tv
    ·
    1h
    ❗️Zelensky said that the task of the #Ukrainian delegation in negotiations with the Russian Federation is to achieve his meeting with Putin

    He also stated that the goal of negotiations with the #Russian Federation is to obtain "effective guarantees."

    https://twitter.com/nexta_tv

    I fear Putin not remotely interested in meaningful talks ☹️

    If our hero wants a showdown meeting with blofeld, I shall pray for him to have it.

    Good night PB 🙋‍♀️
  • TimTTimT Posts: 6,468

    The forty signatories of the letter are all Republican Senators, yet it’s still quite a block publicly saying they would have made opposite decision than Biden on Polish migs.
    And of note that 80% of Republican Senators are taking a more stridently anti-Putin stance than Biden. At least there are still some old-style Republicans out there post-Trump.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 59,044
    edited March 2022
    ydoethur said:

    On transsexuals, the only bible passage I can think of is this one;

    https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy+22:5&version=ESV
    So long as people are allowed to self identify, I don't see the problem.

    And let's be clear: the Bible would have said "A person with a cervix shall not wear a man's garment" if it opposed self identification.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 59,044
    Leon said:

    China is not going to admit to supplying weapons to Russia, which is so deeply unpopular worldwide

    If it happens it will be a quiet transfer via Mongolia
    While that's true, it's also true that any weapons "lent" to the Russians are likely to be captured by a Ukrainian farmer and posted to TikTok within 48 hours.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 59,044

    So to avoid the tax you just need to take out a 100% interest only mortgage?
    What could possibly go wrong?
  • MoonRabbitMoonRabbit Posts: 14,008
    rcs1000 said:

    While that's true, it's also true that any weapons "lent" to the Russians are likely to be captured by a Ukrainian farmer and posted to TikTok within 48 hours.
    Have they never done arms deals with each other so have some interchangeable kit? Such as missiles? Drones? Recovery vehicles? Mineploughs. Night vision? Surface to air.

    What about logistical supplies that’s not quite so obvious. Blood. medicine. Oxygen.

    Intelligence from satellites, spy networks.

    https://www.institutmontaigne.org/en/blog/china-trends-3-china-and-russia-brothers-arms
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 54,484
    rcs1000 said:

    So long as people are allowed to self identify, I don't see the problem.

    And let's be clear: the Bible would have said "A person with a cervix shall not wear a man's garment" if it opposed self identification.
    “In the name of the male-identifying parent, and of the child assigned male at birth, and of the Holy Spirit.”
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 59,044

    Have they never done arms deals with each other so have some interchangeable kit? Such as missiles? Drones? Recovery vehicles? Mineploughs. Night vision? Surface to air.

    What about logistical supplies that’s not quite so obvious. Blood. medicine. Oxygen.

    Intelligence from satellites, spy networks.

    https://www.institutmontaigne.org/en/blog/china-trends-3-china-and-russia-brothers-arms
    Sure: but you probably want to get rid of all the Chinese characters and replace them with Cyrillic ones, otherwise people might be a tad suspicious.
  • CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 60,281
    Pundits on Russian state TV advocate implementing public hangings in Ukraine once Russia's dominance is established. If you speak Russian, here is one example (watch). Other pundits later agreed, one of them noting that DPR/LPR constitution conveniently permits the death penalty.

    https://twitter.com/JuliaDavisNews/status/1503149624789504004
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 43,127


    Sajid Javid
    @sajidjavid
    ·
    2h
    I can confirm that 21 very ill Ukrainian children with cancer have landed safely in UK this evening.


    Big ‘even the worst anti immigration ****s will have problems condemning this and we can definitely keep track of 21 sick kids’ energy.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 75,902
    rcs1000 said:

    It's a well known fact that hanging the locals engenders a great deal of positive feeling towards to any occupying force.
    … I'm only just starting to understand the scale and extent of Russian atrocities in Kyiv region over the past 2 weeks. It's unbelievable. It's not just Irpin, Bucha, Hostomel, Borodyanka etc. Dozens of smaller villages were completely terrorized, cut off, people were executed...
    https://twitter.com/IKoshiw/status/1503049053210300417
  • bigglesbiggles Posts: 6,735
    rcs1000 said:

    It's a well known fact that hanging the locals engenders a great deal of positive feeling towards to any occupying force.
    It’s an attempt to integrate and treat them just like his dissidents back home. Heartwarming really.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 75,902
    edited March 2022
    rcs1000 said:

    It's a well known fact that hanging the locals engenders a great deal of positive feeling towards to any occupying force.
    The programme apparently showed clips of mass hangings carried out by the Soviets in Kyiv in 1946. That the hangings were of Nazis reinforces the current propaganda.
    They mean this shit.

    The use of terror on a massive scale was Soviet 101. The recent glorification of Stalin is not accidental.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 59,044
    New thread
This discussion has been closed.