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The French election looking even more likely to be a 2017 re-run – politicalbetting.com

The latest polling for the first round of the French presidential election on April 10th shows Macron edging down a touch with Le Pen moving upwards.
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https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10637425/Russia-loses-10-000-men-just-four-weeks-toll-Ukraine-invasion-revealed.html
The ex-lover of the King of Spain was secretly recorded trying to enlist a notorious moonlighting police officer to help "resolve" questions for Zac Goldsmith over a tax evasion scheme
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/mar/22/secret-recording-sheds-light-on-zac-goldsmith-tax-evasion-case https://twitter.com/jessicaelgot/status/1506215544642547715/photo/1
Will be closer, with Le Pen still getting 40%+ but Macron will still likely win
👀
https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/boris-attends-another-party https://twitter.com/SamCoatesSky/status/1506209989173686273/photo/1
Why is the French government allowing them to collaborate with Putin today?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-60832310
We can but hope.
https://twitter.com/mariatad/status/1506218787418386442
https://twitter.com/palazzo_chigi/status/1506218122646278151
I've read a lot of criticism of the UK in the European press over decades, but there was always a basic respect, even fondness - nothing like the quasi unanimous contempt with which this man is now viewed all over the continent
https://twitter.com/AlexTaylorNews/status/1505964667608391683
https://twitter.com/AlexTaylorNews/status/1505958746673102848
To Boris I'm prepared to believe it probably could.
"Researchers in Valencia pinpoint unwritten rules of paella
No fish or shellfish in Spain’s famous national dish says survey of 400 amateur chefs
Many crimes have been committed in the name of paella but now researchers in Valencia have laid down 10 commandments of what thou shall and shall not put in their national dish.
The ten permitted ingredients are: rice, water, olive oil, salt, saffron (or food colouring), tomato, flat green beans, lima beans, chicken and rabbit. No fish or shellfish. Ever."
https://www.theguardian.com/food/2022/mar/22/researchers-in-valencia-pinpoint-unwritten-rules-of-paella
Damn - I fell in to the trolls trap.
Totally off-topic, my bank (First Direct) is introducing new security in online transactions, and will ask me to enter my email address, not because they want to know but so they judge whether it's genuine based on how I type it in. How does this work? Dependent on speed, or tendency to make typos, or what?
The only similar behavioural typing thing I've heard of is payday lenders, who apparently judge how much interest to charge you partly on how you move the bar on the online chart when you're exploring what you might get. If you go straight for the maximum amount, they interpret that as being higher risk and charge you more than if you experiment with different levels before trying the maximum. I don't actually like the idea but I can see the logic.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CbZuJV-MTZO/
The first Russian soldier to hand over a fully-working T-80 tank to the Ukrainians. He will get $10k after the war, and can apply for Ukrainian citizenship.
Ramp them up over here, Boris
“Democrats working to save their slim majority in the House in November’s elections have been sounding alarm bells lately over research showing that Republican attacks on culture-war issues are working, particularly with center-left, Hispanic and independent voters.”
NYT ($$)
https://twitter.com/ProfTimBale/status/1506214760718680070
As Putin’s invasion loomed, President Zelensky didn’t write two statements – one announcing surrender, the other declaring that Ukraine would fight – to see which would be best for his career...
https://euromaidanpress.com/2022/03/21/the-russian-military-rape-women-the-dead-are-just-being-dumped-evacuee-from-russian-occupied-city-says/
“It sounded better written down than it did when spoken,” an insider told The Times. So obviously the matter is closed.
Yeah, come on. Are you kidding? You don’t just shake this one off, Taylor Swift. I simply don’t believe it sounded any different written down at all, not least because we seem to be in the territory of people who can’t read without moving their lips. What was he thinking? Most Johnson gaffes — letterboxes, tank-topped bum-boys, pangas hacking human flesh etc — were at least meant as jokes. This one was cold sincerity, and as mad as a horse in a duvet cover.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/brexit-has-a-russia-problem-and-opportunity-9nktmt66g
Ultimately it’s just another another barrier to put up against bots. Now the bot has to type like a human does & that’s non trivial. Eventually the bad guys will work out a way round this one, but by then we’ll have moved on to something else...
If anything the last few weeks have shown that it really doesn't matter how contemptible your politicians are when the country they are leading still holds such political and military power. Sad but true. And I say that as someone who detests Johnson.
The PM would have been invited to the EU summit on Thursday if BoZo wasn't such a dick.
Maybe that matters. Maybe not.
Inflation, cost of living crisis, energy security, levelling up, growing the economy and not weaponising division ?
Step 1: Create as many divisions in society as possible
Step 2: When the Right respond, whinge about them "weaponising division".
They bang on about Culture Wars because that's pretty much all they've got.
Zelenskiy was a former clown transformed into one of the great politicians of our age. Johnson is a politician become a clown.
From the ONS:
"The age distribution of those receiving an inheritance is quite different from those receiving a gift or loan. Inheritances become more common as individuals age, with a peak in receipt among those aged 55 to 64 years. This is consistent with Gardiner (2017), who estimated, based on parents’ life expectancies, that the most common age at which today’s 20- to 35-year-olds in the UK will inherit is age 61 years (PDF, 482KB). "
Story of the season, perhaps, if things don't change.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhfysskVosU
Kiev Calling, a Ukrainian rock band have done a song to the music of the Clash Hit 'London Calling' its good
Zelenskiy is everything Johnson imagined himself to be, wishes he was, but isn't.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/03/22/biden-warns-putin-considering-using-chemical-weapons/
They also risk simply further alienating the younger demographic too.
They need to grasp the nettle on housing and housebuilding. They need to build far more rather than just talk about it and congratulate themselves on hitting modest targets.
I would hazard a guess based on social media that perhaps 15-20% of the population really indulge in culture warring, with roughly a 50:50 split between those outraged by "far right bigotry" and those equally offended by "left wing woke nonsense". Perhaps another 40-50% of the population have a mild leaning towards one side or the other, the Anglican church of these particular wars of religion (I'd put myself in that camp), and the rest don't even know it's happening.
In Hostomel (Kyiv Oblast), the Russian occupiers burned a stable with horses — most of the animals were killed.
According to the owner, Russian troops first threatened to shoot the horses, but then burned the stable with them
Or a bottle of vodka and a pot noodle to a Ukrainian tractor boy....
https://twitter.com/REWearmouth/status/1506240721673768964
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-politics-60834936
Been reading a bit about French tank design between the wars and they tended to go for one man turrets (ie the commander had to do a helluva lot) because of the manpower shortage after WWI.
So the likelihood of Putin making some gains is reasonably high.
That won't be great, and it increases the likelihood of future conflict, but Europe as a whole would have the opportunity to do what Ukraine has done since 2014, and get ready for Russia's next attempt at expansionism.
And if we are visibly ready enough, then that preparation might be enough in itself to deter future aggression. But we have to take it seriously.