Nikki Haley to fight Trump for the WH2024 GOP nomination – politicalbetting.com

System · February 2023

Nikki Haley to fight Trump for the WH2024 GOP nomination – politicalbetting.com

Breaking News: Nikki Haley announced a 2024 run for president. She would be Donald Trump’s first Republican rival in the race. https://t.co/y6tHNUzzCA

Read the full story here

Theuniondivvie · February 2023

First Gentleman like Haley's hubby will/might/probably won't be

ydoethur · February 2023

She would be a far better candidate and president than Trump (see 101 Things That Are Not Exactly Hard).

But she doesn't stand a chance, I fear. She's sane.

RochdalePioneers · February 2023

Surely natural justice demands a Trump candidacy? Poor man was robbed of the presidency by a rigged election which he categorically won. Mean old GOP for even considering anyone else.

Malmesbury · February 2023

ydoethur said:
She would be a far better candidate and president than Trump (see 101 Things That Are Not Exactly Hard).

But she doesn't stand a chance, I fear. She's sane.

Franco, as a write in candidate, would be an improvement on Trump.

My Russian stepmother speaks of Chernenko as one of the best Soviet leaders. Being dead was a massive plus.

Malmesbury · February 2023

YBarddCwsc said:

OldKingCole said:

YBarddCwsc said:

Malmesbury said:

Sandpit said:

RochdalePioneers said:

turbotubbs said:

OnlyLivingBoy said:

turbotubbs said:

RochdalePioneers said:

MattW said:

RochdalePioneers said:

Malmesbury said:

RochdalePioneers said:

Pulpstar said:

DJ41a said:
PB herds towards lumping on Labour, and not just on Labour but on Starmer at 1/4.
One answer to the implied question in the header is if the Tories keep their majority. They do that by bigging up immigration. If necessary they can ditch no.4 in a row of their own leaders. The last one who went of his own accord was David Cameron.

GIN1138 said:

DecrepiterJohnL said:
On election night 2015, Ed Miliband went to bed expecting to wake up as Prime Minister.
Did he?

The exit poll was clear that the Tories were on the cusp of being the largest party (if not having an overall majority) while Labour was a long way behind with the Lib-Dems facing meltdown and Labour facing total oblivion to the SNP in Scotland.

So at 10pm the writing was on the Edstone lol.

That said, I get what you're saying. We're a long way from the election and a lot can happen. Maybe we'll have an alien invasion... that would probably be regarded as "events dear boy" and change the narrative hahahaha!
Indeed. Or WW3. Or an economic catastrophe. Anyone who lumps on the favourite when things are so volatile is taking a bigger risk than they think.
I don't think immigration can save the Tories.
Recent comment on Talk (No fans of Labour) do point out they used to send more people back.
Immigration is the albatross around the Tory neck.

Their own supporters would be very happy to see a country with no immigrants, with the "just drown them" rhetoric always simmering away.

Problem is that as they refuse to engage with solutions, drowning them is basically all they have left and the Royal Navy refused last time it was proposed.

Dead migrants may excite a few, but repulses anyone who isn't a total stard. The newspaper front pages with the dead toddler face down on the beach in Greece horrified people - if we had the same on the beach at Hythe as a result of government policy there would be absolute outrage. Doubly so from the stards who were demanding exactly this kind of policy.

There is No Way to stop the boats because the Tories refuse to co-operate internationally. And the libertarian wing of the party looks at the ever growing labour shortage, and the migrants brought in and housed in misery not allowed to work and thinks "exploitable labour pool". All Starmer has to do to win on this subject is propose what the Tories can't do - control our borders.
You are assuming that the French government will enthusiastically implement any agreement. They won't. Historically, they haven't - at least for the long term.

This is because the local French hate the immigrants. Hate. Any policy that stops them getting to the UK creates anger. Hence the police standing around as the pile in to boats in front of them.

If Paris tries to *enforce* such an agreement, then

a) This mean using force against the immigrants. Which upsets the more liberal French.
b) This means the immigrants pileup at the camps in France. Which upsets the locals.

Action was taken before, when immigrants trying to access the Channel Tunnel interrupted operations. Which would have been seen, at national level as an unacceptable interference with state infrastructure.

Why should the French government (local or national) stop the immigrants?
Because they don't want vast camps in Pas de Calais. So we work together on stopping them arriving there at all. For starters we work with source nations like Albania. All the Albanians are coming via France and small boats because there is no legal route they can use. Same with Afghanistan. And there are various other examples - whither Braverman getting stumped at the select committee by a Tory backbencher.

Slow the flow into France and the French work with us. As they have said they want to do. As they have done in the past.
Slow the flow into France how?

The not-very-publicised EU policy of funding militias to keep them in North Africa was withdrawn 12 months (?) ago.
A significant number are Albanians. Who cannot seek asylum in the UK via a legal route. Open one up and there is no need to enter france and get on a small boat.
Under what status are they claiming asylum though? I didn't think Albania was that unsafe a country? They are, for the most part, economic migrants, with no genuine refugee claim.
As someone who has a lot of sympathy for genuine refugees (to the extent of buying a property to house them) and having been to Albania too I have the sense that there is a lot of exploiting of rules going on among this group. There are issues with organised crime in Albania but it isn't a war zone, it is a reasonably free country and there is no genocide going on there.
But I also don't see why we shouldn't welcome them here to work legally, as long as they have no organised crime links. The current setup seems the worst of all worlds - especially in terms of strengthening the hand of criminal gangs, while reducing public confidence in the asylum process.
This is bang on - get them able to work legally, help with English, training courses fine. But people I think ought to accept that there is a distinct issue with Albanians abusing the system for economic gain.

Frankly I admire those who are trying to make a better life for themselves, I just don't accept the way this is happening, with the conivance of the French too.
Its a radical proposal. We need workers and have whole industries going up the swanny due to lack of people. And there is tide of able-bodied people looking for work coming to our shores.

There are still a pile of people who want no migration. As they are "taking our jobs". If that was true I would have sympathy. But it isn't true. So its back to "do you know what its like cleaning up your own mother's piss" from The Thick of It. People want someone else to do it.
None of which has anything to do with asylum.
Anyone who can tell me why the following won't work -

1) Anyone who employees illegals - 100K fine
2) 50k to the undocumented person who gives evidence leading to a conviction. Plus indefinite leave to remain.

A fair chunk of the "black" economy would evaporate before lunch.

Prices in certain nail bars and wages for Deliveroo riders would go up, but hey....
That will cost most people on pb.com a packet.

What about all the cleaners, nannies, gardeners and builders employed by the affluent?

VIde Baroness Scotland.

In January 2009 Scotland employed Lolo Tapui, an illegal immigrant as a cleaner. Tapui had been using a forged passport for the period up to and including December 2008. Tapui was later jailed for eight months for fraud, possessing a false identity stamp, and overstaying her UK visa. At her trial Tapui admitted to having been paid £95,000 by the Daily Mail. She was later deported to her native Tonga.

Scotland, who was Attorney General at the time, had earlier been subjected to a penalty of £5,000 for employing Tapui. She had not kept copies of relevant documents to check Tapui's immigration status and could therefore not establish a statutory defence. The rules were established when Scotland was a Home Office minister. The investigation by the UK Border Agency found that Scotland did not "knowingly" employ an illegal work
Apart from the obvious… goodbye story …why did the Mail pay her? And in doing so, did they not compound a felony?I
I was more struck by the fact that the Mail are more generous than @Malmesbury (95k versus 50k)

Vote for me - tougher on illegal immigrants than the Daily Mail!

williamglenn · February 2023

The headline should be "Haley's Commit".

ydoethur · February 2023

That joke is a bad pun on a steroid.

Malmesbury · February 2023

ydoethur said:
That joke is a bad pun on a steroid.

it was Reaching for the Stars. Failed to even hit London.

ydoethur · February 2023

Malmesbury said:

ydoethur said:
That joke is a bad pun on a steroid.
it was Reaching for the Stars. Failed to even hit London.

That Star Wars waning before it was launched.

Malmesbury · February 2023

ydoethur said:

Malmesbury said:

ydoethur said:
That joke is a bad pun on a steroid.
it was Reaching for the Stars. Failed to even hit London.
That Star Wars waning before it was launched.

Some have harsh words for this man of renown,
But some think our attitude
Should be one of gratitude,
Like the widows and cripples in old London town,
Who owe their large pensions to Wernher von Braun.

You too may be a big hero,
Once you've learned to count backwards to zero.
"In German oder English I know how to count down,
Und I'm learning Chinese," says Wernher von Braun.

Sandpit · February 2023

An interesting suggestion (from Democrat commentator Kyle Kulinski, on Rogan’s podcast) that Marianne Williamson might be the person who officially primaries Biden. Possibly worth a pint as Dem nominee.

Malmesbury · February 2023

Malmesbury said:

ydoethur said:

Malmesbury said:

ydoethur said:
That joke is a bad pun on a steroid.
it was Reaching for the Stars. Failed to even hit London.
That Star Wars waning before it was launched.

Some have harsh words for this man of renown,
But some think our attitude
Should be one of gratitude,
Like the widows and cripples in old London town,
Who owe their large pensions to Wernher von Braun.

You too may be a big hero,
Once you've learned to count backwards to zero.
"In German oder English I know how to count down,
Und I'm learning Chinese," says Wernher von Braun.

Though, perhaps ironically, key technologies for American military superiority in missiles and the Apollo program were developed without Von Braun and actually against his advice.

Carnyx · February 2023

Malmesbury said:

ydoethur said:

Malmesbury said:

ydoethur said:
That joke is a bad pun on a steroid.
it was Reaching for the Stars. Failed to even hit London.
That Star Wars waning before it was launched.

Some have harsh words for this man of renown,
But some think our attitude
Should be one of gratitude,
Like the widows and cripples in old London town,
Who owe their large pensions to Wernher von Braun.

You too may be a big hero,
Once you've learned to count backwards to zero.
"In German oder English I know how to count down,
Und I'm learning Chinese," says Wernher von Braun.

In another universe ...

https://jatstorey.com/2015/07/22/ministry-of-space/

(have not read it - but it looks intriguing)

Leon · February 2023

Phnom Penh. First trip for ten years. Last time they had impoverished slums and Khmer Rouge trials now they have Chinese skyscrapers and chic rooftop bars

Driver · February 2023

Malmesbury said:

Malmesbury said:

ydoethur said:

Malmesbury said:

ydoethur said:
That joke is a bad pun on a steroid.
it was Reaching for the Stars. Failed to even hit London.
That Star Wars waning before it was launched.

Some have harsh words for this man of renown,
But some think our attitude
Should be one of gratitude,
Like the widows and cripples in old London town,
Who owe their large pensions to Wernher von Braun.

You too may be a big hero,
Once you've learned to count backwards to zero.
"In German oder English I know how to count down,
Und I'm learning Chinese," says Wernher von Braun.
Though, perhaps ironically, key technologies for American military superiority in missiles and the Apollo program were developed without Von Braun and actually against his advice.

Von Braun and his team went to quite some lengths to make sure they could surrender to the Americans not the Soviets - which would have changed history. Assuming, of course, that the Soviets learned from and worked with them, which is perhaps somewhat outside their character of the period.

kinabalu · February 2023

14 comments in an hour. This thread is about as popular as a RINO in Alabama.

Benpointer · February 2023

Carnyx said:

Malmesbury said:

ydoethur said:

Malmesbury said:

ydoethur said:
That joke is a bad pun on a steroid.
it was Reaching for the Stars. Failed to even hit London.
That Star Wars waning before it was launched.

Some have harsh words for this man of renown,
But some think our attitude
Should be one of gratitude,
Like the widows and cripples in old London town,
Who owe their large pensions to Wernher von Braun.

You too may be a big hero,
Once you've learned to count backwards to zero.
"In German oder English I know how to count down,
Und I'm learning Chinese," says Wernher von Braun.
In another universe ...

https://jatstorey.com/2015/07/22/ministry-of-space/

(have not read it - but it looks intriguing)

Just looking at those few samples - how much time must that book have taken?!

DJ41a · February 2023

Trump's response to Biden's SOTU address was the first clip of Trump I've watched since his failed putsch attempt three years ago. His energy level looks as high as it was in 2016-20. He looks angrier, much angrier - he looks furious.

This will be the first time he runs against a sitting president. He said something about what's happening "under Biden", rather than referring to him as "the election-losing fraudster" or something crazy like that. He accused Biden of criminally pressuring the judiciary to go after his opponents, which is ironic because it's surely probable that one of Trump's own campaign promises will to be jail Biden. And the GOP base will love him for it.

Can Haley call him what he is - a dangerous nutter?

Jim_Miller · February 2023

George H. W. Bush asked to be named ambassador to the UN. (Nixon obliged him.)

That was a shrewd move, politically, and the UN experience made him a more effective president.

(One of the curious aspects of the American presidency is that most of the job, usually, is foreign policy, but voters usually judge presidents more on domestic isues.)

Leon · February 2023

kinabalu said:
14 comments in an hour. This thread is about as popular as a RINO in Alabama.

This is what you get when you’re not allowed to talk about TRANS. The overwhelming issue of the day

There is nothing else happening in the world, of any great note. Yet we are dissed if we dare to even venture a single comment on gender dysphoria

Jim_Miller · February 2023

I believe that we got most of the top von Braun team, and the Soviets got most of the technicians. So we came out ahead, but they did get something from those advances

Leon · February 2023

At first glance the new post-Covid Phnom Penh is EPIC

I’m giving it the full “five m” MMMMMBop

Feels like Bangkok in about 1994

Leon · February 2023

An extraordinary fact I learned today

Life expectancy in Thailand - 77.8 - is now higher than life expectancy in the USA - 76.4

If the trends continue for another couple of years American life expectancy will, in one of history’s grandest reversals, be overtaken by life expectancy in Vietnam (right now it is 75.7 and rising, unlike the USA)

Cookie · February 2023

Leon said:
Phnom Penh. First trip for ten years. Last time they had impoverished slums and Khmer Rouge trials now they have Chinese skyscrapers and chic rooftop bars

My worry there is the last-but-five word. Is this all being paid for by Chinese money? Is Cambodia becoming a de facto colony of China?

TimS · February 2023

Leon said:
An extraordinary fact I learned today

Life expectancy in Thailand - 77.8 - is now higher than life expectancy in the USA - 76.4

If the trends continue for another couple of years American life expectancy will, in one of history’s grandest reversals, be overtaken by life expectancy in Vietnam (right now it is 75.7 and rising, unlike the USA)

I suppose this is probably one reason the US economy doesn't have the same demographics-related challenges as many other developed economies: less of a pensions crisis, fewer economically inactive people etc.

felix · February 2023

Leon said:
An extraordinary fact I learned today

Life expectancy in Thailand - 77.8 - is now higher than life expectancy in the USA - 76.4

If the trends continue for another couple of years American life expectancy will, in one of history’s grandest reversals, be overtaken by life expectancy in Vietnam (right now it is 75.7 and rising, unlike the USA)

Diet? Climate?

DJ41a · February 2023

Leon said:
Phnom Penh. First trip for ten years. Last time they had impoverished slums and Khmer Rouge trials now they have Chinese skyscrapers and chic rooftop bars
(snaps snipped)

What happened to the slums?

Talking of China, the line has come out in connection with the ongoing UFO flap that whereas western military thinking uses FOUR physical domains of warfare (land, sea, air, space), Chinese military thinking uses FIVE.

Those five are the western ones plus "near space", where the balloons and UFOs hang out.
This is surely TRUE.
Gotta wonder whether the west had spotted this before.

Joseph Needham would have been able to tell them. Wood and metal. No air.

Meanwhile I have now watched "The Wandering Earth". Potted summary:

1. Earth whacks Jupiter after a big fight. The hell with the Sun.
2. Silicon Valley "data is everything" nutcases are species traitors. 👍
3. And they're solar with it.
4. Chinese respect for grandfathers wins the day.

The Moon does figure but I haven't begun to get my head round that yet.

Leon · February 2023

Cookie said:

Leon said:
Phnom Penh. First trip for ten years. Last time they had impoverished slums and Khmer Rouge trials now they have Chinese skyscrapers and chic rooftop bars

My worry there is the last-but-five word. Is this all being paid for by Chinese money? Is Cambodia becoming a de facto colony of China?

In a word: Yes

It’s like Argentina was to Britain in the late 19th century. A colony in all but name, and economically dependent on the imperial country more than some ACTUAL colonies

Cookie · February 2023

kinabalu said:
14 comments in an hour. This thread is about as popular as a RINO in Alabama.

I can't contribute any wisdom about American politics, nor any snaps of South East Asia at night. But if it'll help things moving I will contribute that my builders are noisy buggers. Hard to know what's generating most noise: the hammering, the implausible volume of Smooth FM, or the even louder volume of the chief builder's exuberant brother periodically crooning along.

Leon · February 2023

felix said:

Leon said:
An extraordinary fact I learned today

Life expectancy in Thailand - 77.8 - is now higher than life expectancy in the USA - 76.4

If the trends continue for another couple of years American life expectancy will, in one of history’s grandest reversals, be overtaken by life expectancy in Vietnam (right now it is 75.7 and rising, unlike the USA)
Diet? Climate?

First, yes. Hardly any obese people here, much better diet, and few fewer cars. They walk and cycle and move around a lot

Climate I doubt, some of the longest lived nations - Iceland - have hideous cold climates, some, like Spain, have great climates

Three other major factors: no terrible drug/opioid crisis here, better healthcare for the really poor (and a safety net), and of course fewer murders and gunshot suicides because fewer guns

Stark_Dawning · February 2023

Leon said:

Cookie said:

Leon said:
Phnom Penh. First trip for ten years. Last time they had impoverished slums and Khmer Rouge trials now they have Chinese skyscrapers and chic rooftop bars

My worry there is the last-but-five word. Is this all being paid for by Chinese money? Is Cambodia becoming a de facto colony of China?
In a word: Yes

It’s like Argentina was to Britain in the late 19th century. A colony in all but name, and economically dependent on the imperial country more than some ACTUAL colonies

I always wondered why Argentina happened to play rugby, so presumably that's the reason. Thanks!

MaxPB · February 2023

Interesting that the first AI/deep learning company to actually make money is the much less public Palantir rather than the very eye catching Open AI or Deep Mind. Lefties in the US will be absolutely fuming about it as Peter Thiel has once again defied their expectations.

Cookie · February 2023

Leon said:

Cookie said:

Leon said:
Phnom Penh. First trip for ten years. Last time they had impoverished slums and Khmer Rouge trials now they have Chinese skyscrapers and chic rooftop bars

My worry there is the last-but-five word. Is this all being paid for by Chinese money? Is Cambodia becoming a de facto colony of China?
In a word: Yes

It’s like Argentina was to Britain in the late 19th century. A colony in all but name, and economically dependent on the imperial country more than some ACTUAL colonies

That's interesting (about Argentina) - I didn't know that.
What are the implications? Do we therefore expect Cambodia to go the way of Sri Lanka at some point in the future?
On a note closer to home, I wonder how much of the UK China owns? In Greater Manchester at least it is, I think, rather a lot.

Leon · February 2023

Stark_Dawning said:

Leon said:

Cookie said:

Leon said:
Phnom Penh. First trip for ten years. Last time they had impoverished slums and Khmer Rouge trials now they have Chinese skyscrapers and chic rooftop bars

My worry there is the last-but-five word. Is this all being paid for by Chinese money? Is Cambodia becoming a de facto colony of China?
In a word: Yes

It’s like Argentina was to Britain in the late 19th century. A colony in all but name, and economically dependent on the imperial country more than some ACTUAL colonies
I always wondered why Argentina happened to play rugby, so presumably that's the reason. Thanks!

Also probably the Welsh in Patagonia?

But rugby was definitely seen as the desirable posh public school English game by rich Argentinians, who copied British imperial manners. The same in Uruguay

SeaShantyIrish2 · February 2023

Leon said:
Phnom Penh. First trip for ten years. Last time they had impoverished slums and Khmer Rouge trials now they have Chinese skyscrapers and chic rooftop bars

Looks like Honolulu - where I was visiting for a week, just a week (or rather two) ago.

Must say I REALLY enjoyed my stay in O'ahu. First time ever in Hawai'i and it was a trip & a half. Thing that surprised me the most was the SPIRITUAL dimension.

Personal highlights included touring the USS Missouri, with an excellent Japanese tour leader. Also chit-chatting with Amanda Knox (aka Foxy Knoxy) at a benefit for the Hawaii Innocence Project, in company with a gentleman (and gentle man) who'd just been released from nearly quarter-century in prison for a crime he did NOT commit.

Showed up on the Island with one Aloha (aka Hawaiian) shirt. Left with five! Including one that I got after seeing a fellow wearing similar on a city bus. It depicts scenes from the life work of Father Damien and Sister Marianne of Moloka'i, purchased from the gift shop

https://cathedralbasilicagallery.square.site/product/new-2020-saints-statuary-men-s-aloha-shirt/17?cs=true&cst=custom

Stayed for most of my visit in air-conditioned comfort at a hotel in Waikiki, right next to Fort DeRussy, which is (mostly) a beautiful park with an equally beautiful beach. On final day, before my red-eye back home, I moved to the YMCA so I could chill (relatively speaking, no a/c) before my flight.

BTW (also FYI) took public transport everywhere, including to & from the airport. Great deal, get a "Holo" card and total cost for unlimited bus rides capped at $7.50 per day. Took me from Waikiki to Hale'ima (my farthest West on the face of the Earth!) and back. Riding with a few tourists, but mostly locals.

Mahalo Oah'u! God Bless Hawai'i!!

AND eat yer heart out, Leon!

Jim_Miller · February 2023

For those interested in US life expectancy, here's a clue: It began to fall during the the Obama presidency: "The average life expectancy in the United States has been on a decline since 2014. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cites three main reasons: a 72% increase in overdoses in the last decade (including a 30% increase in opioid overdoses from July 2016 to September 2017, but did not differentiate between accidental overdose with a legal prescription and overdose with opioids obtained illegally and/or combined with illegal drugs i.e., heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, etc.), a ten-year increase in liver disease (the rate for men age 25 to 34 increased by 8% per year; for women, by 11% per year), and a 33% increase in suicide rates since 1999."
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_the_United_States#Demographic_statistics

(Similarly, the fertility rate declined sharply during hsi presidency.)

Cookie · February 2023

Leon said:

Stark_Dawning said:

Leon said:

Cookie said:

Leon said:
Phnom Penh. First trip for ten years. Last time they had impoverished slums and Khmer Rouge trials now they have Chinese skyscrapers and chic rooftop bars

My worry there is the last-but-five word. Is this all being paid for by Chinese money? Is Cambodia becoming a de facto colony of China?
In a word: Yes

It’s like Argentina was to Britain in the late 19th century. A colony in all but name, and economically dependent on the imperial country more than some ACTUAL colonies
I always wondered why Argentina happened to play rugby, so presumably that's the reason. Thanks!
Also probably the Welsh in Patagonia?

But rugby was definitely seen as the desirable posh public school English game by rich Argentinians, who copied British imperial manners. The same in Uruguay

I think more the latter than the Welsh. I think the Patagonian Welsh were pretty insular. At least, a perfunctory search doesn't reveal any Patagonian Welsh Argentine rugby players that I can see.

I once played for a colts side who had a fixture against the touring Buenos Aires Rugby and Cricket club U18s (at rugby). At the after match dinner, I sat opposite my opposite number, who spoke no English - and I, of course, spoke no Spanish. Without conversation to break up the drinking it became a very, very messy evening.

SeaShantyIrish2 · February 2023

Jim_Miller said:
I believe that we got most of the top von Braun team, and the Soviets got most of the technicians. So we came out ahead, but they did get something from those advances

Werner von Braun ranks perhaps (with Thomas Jefferson?) as historical figure whose general reputation has perhaps the MOST in my own lifetime.

In WvB's case, from acclaimed rocket scientist to reviled war criminal.

Leon · February 2023

Cookie said:

Leon said:

Cookie said:

Leon said:
Phnom Penh. First trip for ten years. Last time they had impoverished slums and Khmer Rouge trials now they have Chinese skyscrapers and chic rooftop bars

My worry there is the last-but-five word. Is this all being paid for by Chinese money? Is Cambodia becoming a de facto colony of China?
In a word: Yes

It’s like Argentina was to Britain in the late 19th century. A colony in all but name, and economically dependent on the imperial country more than some ACTUAL colonies
That's interesting (about Argentina) - I didn't know that.
What are the implications? Do we therefore expect Cambodia to go the way of Sri Lanka at some point in the future?
On a note closer to home, I wonder how much of the UK China owns? In Greater Manchester at least it is, I think, rather a lot.

Tis true

“During the nineteenth century, at the same time as the settlement and economic development of Australia, New Zealand, Canada and South Africa, British interests were active in the rising independent states of South America, particularly in Argentina.

So great was the financial investment, so numerous the British subjects resident in South America’s second largest country, that Argentina was fondly described by them as ‘the Sixth Dominion’. Argentinian opinion about this title is not recorded in books by British authors; but it is a fact that the British community in the republic was the largest outside the British Empire.”

https://www.historytoday.com/archive/british-argentina

Sri Lanka is - I hope - a case of unique mismanagement by Sri Lankans themselves, not helped by clumsy Chinese interference and voracious Chinese lending techniques. It is harsh to blame it all on Beijing, tho they are undoubtedly ruthless (like all growing empires)

Cambodia’s future is rosier I would say. It is quite resource rich, it has hard working people, with good demographics, the environment is an issue but not calamitous, yet

The Cambodian economy has been growing at a healthy lick for decades, pulled by the Chinese locomotive. More investment is pouring in (expect Chinese built high speed trains across SE Asia soon, from Beijing to Singapore). Cambodian democracy is feeble and corruption is pretty bad but they seem to get by. And when you compare it to the days of the Khmer Rouge….

ohnotnow · February 2023

Leon said:
Phnom Penh. First trip for ten years. Last time they had impoverished slums and Khmer Rouge trials now they have Chinese skyscrapers and chic rooftop bars

Quite a few years ago I read that there was a lot of Chinese money flowing over the border for Casino's and the like. I guess it's spread into other 'legitimate' business if the skyline is like that now though.

DJ41a · February 2023

Cookie said:

Leon said:

Cookie said:

Leon said:
Phnom Penh. First trip for ten years. Last time they had impoverished slums and Khmer Rouge trials now they have Chinese skyscrapers and chic rooftop bars

My worry there is the last-but-five word. Is this all being paid for by Chinese money? Is Cambodia becoming a de facto colony of China?
In a word: Yes

It’s like Argentina was to Britain in the late 19th century. A colony in all but name, and economically dependent on the imperial country more than some ACTUAL colonies
That's interesting (about Argentina) - I didn't know that.
What are the implications? Do we therefore expect Cambodia to go the way of Sri Lanka at some point in the future?
On a note closer to home, I wonder how much of the UK China owns? In Greater Manchester at least it is, I think, rather a lot.

A Chinese company owns what's actually at the Port of Felixstowe, Britain's biggest container port, but they rent the land from Trinity College, Cambridge.
Dunno who pays for Trinity's annual fireworks extravaganza.

Chinese interests are big in Cambridge generally, not necessarily only in connection with Burgess, Philby, Blunt, and Cairncross's old college.

Benpointer · February 2023

Leon said:

kinabalu said:
14 comments in an hour. This thread is about as popular as a RINO in Alabama.
This is what you get when you’re not allowed to talk about TRANS. The overwhelming issue of the day

There is nothing else happening in the world, of any great note. Yet we are dissed if we dare to even venture a single comment on gender dysphoria

The Leon doth protest too much, methinks.

OnlyLivingBoy · February 2023

Leon said:

Cookie said:

Leon said:

Cookie said:

Leon said:
Phnom Penh. First trip for ten years. Last time they had impoverished slums and Khmer Rouge trials now they have Chinese skyscrapers and chic rooftop bars

My worry there is the last-but-five word. Is this all being paid for by Chinese money? Is Cambodia becoming a de facto colony of China?
In a word: Yes

It’s like Argentina was to Britain in the late 19th century. A colony in all but name, and economically dependent on the imperial country more than some ACTUAL colonies
That's interesting (about Argentina) - I didn't know that.
What are the implications? Do we therefore expect Cambodia to go the way of Sri Lanka at some point in the future?
On a note closer to home, I wonder how much of the UK China owns? In Greater Manchester at least it is, I think, rather a lot.
Tis true

“During the nineteenth century, at the same time as the settlement and economic development of Australia, New Zealand, Canada and South Africa, British interests were active in the rising independent states of South America, particularly in Argentina.

So great was the financial investment, so numerous the British subjects resident in South America’s second largest country, that Argentina was fondly described by them as ‘the Sixth Dominion’. Argentinian opinion about this title is not recorded in books by British authors; but it is a fact that the British community in the republic was the largest outside the British Empire.”

https://www.historytoday.com/archive/british-argentina

Sri Lanka is - I hope - a case of unique mismanagement by Sri Lankans themselves, not helped by clumsy Chinese interference and voracious Chinese lending techniques. It is harsh to blame it all on Beijing, tho they are undoubtedly ruthless (like all growing empires)

Cambodia’s future is rosier I would say. It is quite resource rich, it has hard working people, with good demographics, the environment is an issue but not calamitous, yet

The Cambodian economy has been growing at a healthy lick for decades, pulled by the Chinese locomotive. More investment is pouring in (expect Chinese built high speed trains across SE Asia soon, from Beijing to Singapore). Cambodian democracy is feeble and corruption is pretty bad but they seem to get by. And when you compare it to the days of the Khmer Rouge….

I've heard Argentinians described as Italians who speak Spanish and think they're English.

Leon · February 2023

SeaShantyIrish2 said:

Leon said:
Phnom Penh. First trip for ten years. Last time they had impoverished slums and Khmer Rouge trials now they have Chinese skyscrapers and chic rooftop bars

Looks like Honolulu - where I was visiting for a week, just a week (or rather two) ago.

Must say I REALLY enjoyed my stay in O'ahu. First time ever in Hawai'i and it was a trip & a half. Thing that surprised me the most was the SPIRITUAL dimension.

Personal highlights included touring the USS Missouri, with an excellent Japanese tour leader. Also chit-chatting with Amanda Knox (aka Foxy Knoxy) at a benefit for the Hawaii Innocence Project, in company with a gentleman (and gentle man) who'd just been released from nearly quarter-century in prison for a crime he did NOT commit.

Showed up on the Island with one Aloha (aka Hawaiian) shirt. Left with five! Including one that I got after seeing a fellow wearing similar on a city bus. It depicts scenes from the life work of Father Damien and Sister Marianne of Moloka'i, purchased from the gift shop

https://cathedralbasilicagallery.square.site/product/new-2020-saints-statuary-men-s-aloha-shirt/17?cs=true&cst=custom

Stayed for most of my visit in air-conditioned comfort at a hotel in Waikiki, right next to Fort DeRussy, which is (mostly) a beautiful park with an equally beautiful beach. On final day, before my red-eye back home, I moved to the YMCA so I could chill (relatively speaking, no a/c) before my flight.

BTW (also FYI) took public transport everywhere, including to & from the airport. Great deal, get a "Holo" card and total cost for unlimited bus rides capped at $7.50 per day. Took me from Waikiki to Hale'ima (my farthest West on the face of the Earth!) and back. Riding with a few tourists, but mostly locals.

Mahalo Oah'u! God Bless Hawai'i!!

AND eat yer heart out, Leon!

I love Hawaii. It is far more interesting than the average punter is led to expect

For a start the geology and geography is insane - the volcanoes!

Also the history is vivid and it does have a spiritual side which is intense in places. One of the spookiest locales I have ever visited is right on the northern tip of the Big Island. A site of consistent human sacrifice for many centuries. The idea that Hawaiians were all peace loving garland wearing hippy types is nonsense. They were eager cannibals for a start, tho Woke historians hate this and try to pretend it was all made up. Pff!

There is now a fair amount of obesity and drug use but that’s true of West Bromwich

DecrepiterJohnL · February 2023

MaxPB said:
Interesting that the first AI/deep learning company to actually make money is the much less public Palantir rather than the very eye catching Open AI or Deep Mind. Lefties in the US will be absolutely fuming about it as Peter Thiel has once again defied their expectations.

Palantir is hardly a secret to anyone paying attention to British government no-bid contracts and Dominic Cummings. As posted to PB recently, bidders for new NHS contracts have to ensure compatibility with Palantir's dashboards. Maybe it is righties who will be fuming at Palantir's dependence on the public sector both here and in America (including the CIA).

DJ41a · February 2023

Leon said:

Cookie said:

Leon said:

Cookie said:

Leon said:
Phnom Penh. First trip for ten years. Last time they had impoverished slums and Khmer Rouge trials now they have Chinese skyscrapers and chic rooftop bars

My worry there is the last-but-five word. Is this all being paid for by Chinese money? Is Cambodia becoming a de facto colony of China?
In a word: Yes

It’s like Argentina was to Britain in the late 19th century. A colony in all but name, and economically dependent on the imperial country more than some ACTUAL colonies
That's interesting (about Argentina) - I didn't know that.
What are the implications? Do we therefore expect Cambodia to go the way of Sri Lanka at some point in the future?
On a note closer to home, I wonder how much of the UK China owns? In Greater Manchester at least it is, I think, rather a lot.
Tis true

“During the nineteenth century, at the same time as the settlement and economic development of Australia, New Zealand, Canada and South Africa, British interests were active in the rising independent states of South America, particularly in Argentina.

So great was the financial investment, so numerous the British subjects resident in South America’s second largest country, that Argentina was fondly described by them as ‘the Sixth Dominion’. Argentinian opinion about this title is not recorded in books by British authors; but it is a fact that the British community in the republic was the largest outside the British Empire.”

https://www.historytoday.com/archive/british-argentina

Thought it was Barings Bank that owned Argentina in the late 19thC.
The 6th dominion, owned by the "6th great power" :-)

ohnotnow · February 2023

Leon said:

“During the nineteenth century, at the same time as the settlement and economic development of Australia, New Zealand, Canada and South Africa, British interests were active in the rising independent states of South America, particularly in Argentina.

I was watching a cookery show where they were travelling around Argentina and it was very noticeable how many of the beef cows were recognisably British breeds. Which also led me to find out about https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roca–Runciman_Treaty - which I'd never heard of before.

Leon · February 2023

Imagine being a strapping six foot tall ribeye-fed American GI in Vietnam in 1965, confronted by these tiny 5 foot three Vietnamese “gooks” living mainly on rice and rotten fish, and being told “in sixty years time these ‘gooks’ will have a better life expectancy than you”

Stuartinromford · February 2023

Jim_Miller said:
I believe that we got most of the top von Braun team, and the Soviets got most of the technicians. So we came out ahead, but they did get something from those advances

As WvB put it "we feared the Russians, despised the French, and the British couldn't afford us."

MattW · February 2023

Leon said:

felix said:

Leon said:
An extraordinary fact I learned today

Life expectancy in Thailand - 77.8 - is now higher than life expectancy in the USA - 76.4

If the trends continue for another couple of years American life expectancy will, in one of history’s grandest reversals, be overtaken by life expectancy in Vietnam (right now it is 75.7 and rising, unlike the USA)
Diet? Climate?
First, yes. Hardly any obese people here, much better diet, and few fewer cars. They walk and cycle and move around a lot

Climate I doubt, some of the longest lived nations - Iceland - have hideous cold climates, some, like Spain, have great climates

Three other major factors: no terrible drug/opioid crisis here, better healthcare for the really poor (and a safety net), and of course fewer murders and gunshot suicides because fewer guns

Coming to a city near you, soon. Modal share of cycling in Central London (as opposed to Inner London or London) is now at 11%. Inner London is 8%. That's double since 2010.
https://twitter.com/willnorman/status/1494567072046764050

You live in Inner London not Central (imo) - have you noticed anything yet?

And they have hardly started building the network of safe cycling routes. Being followed at a distance in certain places such as Manchester, Leicester, Nottingham.

DecrepiterJohnL · February 2023

Woke Queen Camilla will not wear the Koh-i-Noor diamond for the coronation. She will wear Queen Mary's crown instead.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-64638152

DecrepiterJohnL · February 2023

MattW said:

Leon said:

felix said:

Leon said:
An extraordinary fact I learned today

Life expectancy in Thailand - 77.8 - is now higher than life expectancy in the USA - 76.4

If the trends continue for another couple of years American life expectancy will, in one of history’s grandest reversals, be overtaken by life expectancy in Vietnam (right now it is 75.7 and rising, unlike the USA)
Diet? Climate?
First, yes. Hardly any obese people here, much better diet, and few fewer cars. They walk and cycle and move around a lot

Climate I doubt, some of the longest lived nations - Iceland - have hideous cold climates, some, like Spain, have great climates

Three other major factors: no terrible drug/opioid crisis here, better healthcare for the really poor (and a safety net), and of course fewer murders and gunshot suicides because fewer guns
Coming to a city near you, soon. Modal share of cycling in Central London (as opposed to Inner London or London) is now at 11%. Inner London is 8%. That's double since 2010.
https://twitter.com/willnorman/status/1494567072046764050

You live in Inner London not Central (imo) - have you noticed anything yet?

And they have hardly started building the network of safe cycling routes. Being followed at a distance in certain places such as Manchester, Leicester, Nottingham.

Lots of Boris bikes; fewer cars. Probably a lot of the bike use is at the expense of buses and tubes (and walking) rather than cars.

SandyRentool · February 2023

Nikki is Punjabi for Little.

ydoethur · February 2023

DecrepiterJohnL said:

MaxPB said:
Interesting that the first AI/deep learning company to actually make money is the much less public Palantir rather than the very eye catching Open AI or Deep Mind. Lefties in the US will be absolutely fuming about it as Peter Thiel has once again defied their expectations.
Palantir is hardly a secret to anyone paying attention to British government no-bid contracts and Dominic Cummings. As posted to PB recently, bidders for new NHS contracts have to ensure compatibility with Palantir's dashboards. Maybe it is righties who will be fuming at Palantir's dependence on the public sector both here and in America (including the CIA).

There are people who pay attention to Dominic Cummings?

Leon · February 2023

MattW said:

Leon said:

felix said:

Leon said:
An extraordinary fact I learned today

Life expectancy in Thailand - 77.8 - is now higher than life expectancy in the USA - 76.4

If the trends continue for another couple of years American life expectancy will, in one of history’s grandest reversals, be overtaken by life expectancy in Vietnam (right now it is 75.7 and rising, unlike the USA)
Diet? Climate?
First, yes. Hardly any obese people here, much better diet, and few fewer cars. They walk and cycle and move around a lot

Climate I doubt, some of the longest lived nations - Iceland - have hideous cold climates, some, like Spain, have great climates

Three other major factors: no terrible drug/opioid crisis here, better healthcare for the really poor (and a safety net), and of course fewer murders and gunshot suicides because fewer guns
Coming to a city near you, soon. Modal share of cycling in Central London (as opposed to Inner London or London) is now at 11%. Inner London is 8%. That's double since 2010.
https://twitter.com/willnorman/status/1494567072046764050

You live in Inner London not Central (imo) - have you noticed anything yet?

And they have hardly started building the network of safe cycling routes. Being followed at a distance in certain places such as Manchester, Leicester, Nottingham.

Yes, for sure. Cycling is surging. And e-bikes are accelerating the trend (and easier for older or less fit people)

I am all for it. Get rid of every single fucking car in our cities. Sure we will lose something but the benefits are so tremendous it has to happen - and it will happen

Cleaner, quieter, lovelier, greener cities, with all that hideous infrastructure now dedicated to cars - ugly car parks, horrible urban motorways, grimy garages and workshops - suddenly liberated and freed up to become new parks, urban woods, glorious European boulevards where people WALK and STROLL without fear of being run over

We can keep a fair few autonomous e-cars that purr about the place then park themselves at night

The future of the city is carless and splendid

ydoethur · February 2023

SandyRentool said:
Nikki is Punjabi for Little.

So if Trump and Haley go against each other it will be Nikki Haley vs Nikki Cock?

algarkirk · February 2023

Cookie said:

kinabalu said:
14 comments in an hour. This thread is about as popular as a RINO in Alabama.
I can't contribute any wisdom about American politics, nor any snaps of South East Asia at night. But if it'll help things moving I will contribute that my builders are noisy buggers. Hard to know what's generating most noise: the hammering, the implausible volume of Smooth FM, or the even louder volume of the chief builder's exuberant brother periodically crooning along.

Is there a niche opportunity in establishing an online business linking domestic customers with builders and other tradespeople who love either silence or Schubert chamber music played quietly?

Nigelb · February 2023

A quiet reminder, guys.

saw a couple walking into trader joe’s and the girl said “wow look at all the pretty flowers” and the guy replied “oh yeah it must be flower season” please pray for him
https://mobile.twitter.com/PleaseBeGneiss/status/1625339736553562113

Theuniondivvie · February 2023

DecrepiterJohnL said:
Woke Queen Camilla will not wear the Koh-i-Noor diamond for the coronation. She will wear Queen Mary's crown instead.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-64638152

This changes everything.

ydoethur · February 2023

Theuniondivvie said:

DecrepiterJohnL said:
Woke Queen Camilla will not wear the Koh-i-Noor diamond for the coronation. She will wear Queen Mary's crown instead.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-64638152
This changes everything.

There is Noor way it makes a difference.

Nigelb · February 2023

Theuniondivvie said:

DecrepiterJohnL said:
Woke Queen Camilla will not wear the Koh-i-Noor diamond for the coronation. She will wear Queen Mary's crown instead.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-64638152
This changes everything.

She's been consorting with the wrong types, clearly.

OnlyLivingBoy · February 2023

Leon said:

Cookie said:

Leon said:

Cookie said:

Leon said:
Phnom Penh. First trip for ten years. Last time they had impoverished slums and Khmer Rouge trials now they have Chinese skyscrapers and chic rooftop bars

My worry there is the last-but-five word. Is this all being paid for by Chinese money? Is Cambodia becoming a de facto colony of China?
In a word: Yes

It’s like Argentina was to Britain in the late 19th century. A colony in all but name, and economically dependent on the imperial country more than some ACTUAL colonies
That's interesting (about Argentina) - I didn't know that.
What are the implications? Do we therefore expect Cambodia to go the way of Sri Lanka at some point in the future?
On a note closer to home, I wonder how much of the UK China owns? In Greater Manchester at least it is, I think, rather a lot.
Tis true

“During the nineteenth century, at the same time as the settlement and economic development of Australia, New Zealand, Canada and South Africa, British interests were active in the rising independent states of South America, particularly in Argentina.

So great was the financial investment, so numerous the British subjects resident in South America’s second largest country, that Argentina was fondly described by them as ‘the Sixth Dominion’. Argentinian opinion about this title is not recorded in books by British authors; but it is a fact that the British community in the republic was the largest outside the British Empire.”

https://www.historytoday.com/archive/british-argentina

Sri Lanka is - I hope - a case of unique mismanagement by Sri Lankans themselves, not helped by clumsy Chinese interference and voracious Chinese lending techniques. It is harsh to blame it all on Beijing, tho they are undoubtedly ruthless (like all growing empires)

Cambodia’s future is rosier I would say. It is quite resource rich, it has hard working people, with good demographics, the environment is an issue but not calamitous, yet

The Cambodian economy has been growing at a healthy lick for decades, pulled by the Chinese locomotive. More investment is pouring in (expect Chinese built high speed trains across SE Asia soon, from Beijing to Singapore). Cambodian democracy is feeble and corruption is pretty bad but they seem to get by. And when you compare it to the days of the Khmer Rouge….

Britain helped the South American states gain their independence in the nineteenth century to undermine Spain and France, led by George Canning as Foreign Secretary (a role of far greater significance than his famously short stint as PM at the end of his life). IIRC he was so well regarded in Argentina that they had a statue to him in Buenos Aires, although it was damaged in the wake of the Falklands War.

SeaShantyIrish2 · February 2023

Leon said:

SeaShantyIrish2 said:

Leon said:
Phnom Penh. First trip for ten years. Last time they had impoverished slums and Khmer Rouge trials now they have Chinese skyscrapers and chic rooftop bars

Looks like Honolulu - where I was visiting for a week, just a week (or rather two) ago.

Must say I REALLY enjoyed my stay in O'ahu. First time ever in Hawai'i and it was a trip & a half. Thing that surprised me the most was the SPIRITUAL dimension.

Personal highlights included touring the USS Missouri, with an excellent Japanese tour leader. Also chit-chatting with Amanda Knox (aka Foxy Knoxy) at a benefit for the Hawaii Innocence Project, in company with a gentleman (and gentle man) who'd just been released from nearly quarter-century in prison for a crime he did NOT commit.

Showed up on the Island with one Aloha (aka Hawaiian) shirt. Left with five! Including one that I got after seeing a fellow wearing similar on a city bus. It depicts scenes from the life work of Father Damien and Sister Marianne of Moloka'i, purchased from the gift shop

https://cathedralbasilicagallery.square.site/product/new-2020-saints-statuary-men-s-aloha-shirt/17?cs=true&cst=custom

Stayed for most of my visit in air-conditioned comfort at a hotel in Waikiki, right next to Fort DeRussy, which is (mostly) a beautiful park with an equally beautiful beach. On final day, before my red-eye back home, I moved to the YMCA so I could chill (relatively speaking, no a/c) before my flight.

BTW (also FYI) took public transport everywhere, including to & from the airport. Great deal, get a "Holo" card and total cost for unlimited bus rides capped at $7.50 per day. Took me from Waikiki to Hale'ima (my farthest West on the face of the Earth!) and back. Riding with a few tourists, but mostly locals.

Mahalo Oah'u! God Bless Hawai'i!!

AND eat yer heart out, Leon!
I love Hawaii. It is far more interesting than the average punter is led to expect

For a start the geology and geography is insane - the volcanoes!

Also the history is vivid and it does have a spiritual side which is intense in places. One of the spookiest locales I have ever visited is right on the northern tip of the Big Island. A site of consistent human sacrifice for many centuries. The idea that Hawaiians were all peace loving garland wearing hippy types is nonsense. They were eager cannibals for a start, tho Woke historians hate this and try to pretend it was all made up. Pff!

There is now a fair amount of obesity and drug use but that’s true of West Bromwich

Looking forward to visiting the Big Island sometime in the not-so-distant future . . .

Interesting you invoke the dread W-word. My own impression is that Hawai'i is one of the wokeist places on the globe.

As for spirituality, the thing that struck me was definitely NOT human sacrifice or anything akin, but instead THIS kind:

Hawaiian Music Hula: Weldon Kekauoha "Queenʻs Jubilee"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbqkjkkcE7M

Written in honor of Queen Victoria by Queen Liliʻuokalani. Whose statue, adorned with leis, stands between the Hawai'i State Capitol and her former Iolani Palace, on Bretania (Hawai'ian for Britannia) Street.

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

Her song(s), and her memory, are still cherished by the Hawai'ian people today, as this video makes crystal clear. Brings tears to my eyes every time I watch it.

Benpointer · February 2023

"...I rate her highly and believe she will give Trump a run for his money."

Not really his money though is it?

Sean_F · February 2023

SeaShantyIrish2 said:

Jim_Miller said:
I believe that we got most of the top von Braun team, and the Soviets got most of the technicians. So we came out ahead, but they did get something from those advances
Werner von Braun ranks perhaps (with Thomas Jefferson?) as historical figure whose general reputation has perhaps the MOST in my own lifetime.

In WvB's case, from acclaimed rocket scientist to reviled war criminal.

Apart from Jimmy Saville.

Sean_F · February 2023

OnlyLivingBoy said:

Leon said:

Cookie said:

Leon said:

Cookie said:

Leon said:
Phnom Penh. First trip for ten years. Last time they had impoverished slums and Khmer Rouge trials now they have Chinese skyscrapers and chic rooftop bars

My worry there is the last-but-five word. Is this all being paid for by Chinese money? Is Cambodia becoming a de facto colony of China?
In a word: Yes

It’s like Argentina was to Britain in the late 19th century. A colony in all but name, and economically dependent on the imperial country more than some ACTUAL colonies
That's interesting (about Argentina) - I didn't know that.
What are the implications? Do we therefore expect Cambodia to go the way of Sri Lanka at some point in the future?
On a note closer to home, I wonder how much of the UK China owns? In Greater Manchester at least it is, I think, rather a lot.
Tis true

“During the nineteenth century, at the same time as the settlement and economic development of Australia, New Zealand, Canada and South Africa, British interests were active in the rising independent states of South America, particularly in Argentina.

So great was the financial investment, so numerous the British subjects resident in South America’s second largest country, that Argentina was fondly described by them as ‘the Sixth Dominion’. Argentinian opinion about this title is not recorded in books by British authors; but it is a fact that the British community in the republic was the largest outside the British Empire.”

https://www.historytoday.com/archive/british-argentina

Sri Lanka is - I hope - a case of unique mismanagement by Sri Lankans themselves, not helped by clumsy Chinese interference and voracious Chinese lending techniques. It is harsh to blame it all on Beijing, tho they are undoubtedly ruthless (like all growing empires)

Cambodia’s future is rosier I would say. It is quite resource rich, it has hard working people, with good demographics, the environment is an issue but not calamitous, yet

The Cambodian economy has been growing at a healthy lick for decades, pulled by the Chinese locomotive. More investment is pouring in (expect Chinese built high speed trains across SE Asia soon, from Beijing to Singapore). Cambodian democracy is feeble and corruption is pretty bad but they seem to get by. And when you compare it to the days of the Khmer Rouge….

Britain helped the South American states gain their independence in the nineteenth century to undermine Spain and France, led by George Canning as Foreign Secretary (a role of far greater significance than his famously short stint as PM at the end of his life). IIRC he was so well regarded in Argentina that they had a statue to him in Buenos Aires, although it was damaged in the wake of the Falklands War.

Ferdinand VII, "El Rey Felone", "A Coward and a Cur" (according to Sir Charles Oman), probably did more for South American independence than any other individual.

Benpointer · February 2023

Nigelb said:
A quiet reminder, guys.

saw a couple walking into trader joe’s and the girl said “wow look at all the pretty flowers” and the guy replied “oh yeah it must be flower season” please pray for him
https://mobile.twitter.com/PleaseBeGneiss/status/1625339736553562113

Candlelit ready meal, er, ready for Mrs P. when she gets in tonight ;-)

Benpointer · February 2023

Sean_F said:

SeaShantyIrish2 said:

Jim_Miller said:
I believe that we got most of the top von Braun team, and the Soviets got most of the technicians. So we came out ahead, but they did get something from those advances
Werner von Braun ranks perhaps (with Thomas Jefferson?) as historical figure whose general reputation has perhaps the MOST in my own lifetime.

In WvB's case, from acclaimed rocket scientist to reviled war criminal.
Apart from Jimmy Saville.

Or that bloke with his didgeridoo.

beinndearg · February 2023

Theuniondivvie said:

DecrepiterJohnL said:
Woke Queen Camilla will not wear the Koh-i-Noor diamond for the coronation. She will wear Queen Mary's crown instead.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-64638152
This changes everything.

LOL @ Article III Treaty of Lahore 1849

The gem called the Koh-i-Noor, which was taken from Shah Sooja-ool-moolk by Maharajah Ranjeet Singh, shall be surrendered by the Maharajah of Lahore to the Queen of England.

So decision probably taken to avoid offence to malcolmg.

Chris · February 2023

DecrepiterJohnL said:
Woke Queen Camilla will not wear the Koh-i-Noor diamond for the coronation. She will wear Queen Mary's crown instead.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-64638152

It sounds as though "woke" is the new word for "diplomatic".

But the PR person who said the recycling of Queen Mary's crown was being done in the "interests of sustainability" should be taken out and shot. Or perhaps naturally composted.

DJ41a · February 2023

DecrepiterJohnL said:
Woke Queen Camilla will not wear the Koh-i-Noor diamond for the coronation. She will wear Queen Mary's crown instead.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-64638152

It's not up to Camilla, the British answer to Mike Pence, to decide what she wears or doesn't wear at the coronation.

No surprise that nut boy won't let his wife wear a bigger diamond in her hat than he does. She'd embarrass him.

If he were truly woke, he'd return the Koh-i-Noor to where his family stole it.

But that would be opening the floodgates. There'd be much of the royal art collection for starters, robbed after the restoration from those who'd bought stuff at auction from the Commonwealth government using their own money.

I wonder whether he and his hangers-on will f*** the coronation up. Many held back at his mother's funeral, but the crowning is me me me all the way.

Nigelb · February 2023

Chris said:

DecrepiterJohnL said:
Woke Queen Camilla will not wear the Koh-i-Noor diamond for the coronation. She will wear Queen Mary's crown instead.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-64638152
It sounds as though "woke" is the new word for "diplomatic".

But the PR person who said the recycling of Queen Mary's crown was being done in the "interests of sustainability" should be taken out and shot. Or perhaps naturally composted.

Sustaining the monarchy doubtless comes into it.

Chris · February 2023

DJ41a said:

... the crowning is me me me all the way.

Almost the definition of a coronation, surely?

SandyRentool · February 2023

Benpointer said:

Nigelb said:
A quiet reminder, guys.

saw a couple walking into trader joe’s and the girl said “wow look at all the pretty flowers” and the guy replied “oh yeah it must be flower season” please pray for him
https://mobile.twitter.com/PleaseBeGneiss/status/1625339736553562113
Candlelit ready meal, er, ready for Mrs P. when she gets in tonight ;-)

Wor Lass on her way out this morning: "I'm not sure when I'll be back so best get your own tea."

Ghedebrav · February 2023

Sean_F said:

SeaShantyIrish2 said:

Jim_Miller said:
I believe that we got most of the top von Braun team, and the Soviets got most of the technicians. So we came out ahead, but they did get something from those advances
Werner von Braun ranks perhaps (with Thomas Jefferson?) as historical figure whose general reputation has perhaps the MOST in my own lifetime.

In WvB's case, from acclaimed rocket scientist to reviled war criminal.
Apart from Jimmy Saville.

Plenty of folk thought he was a wrong 'un tbf, just got shouted down by the BUT CHARITEE crowd, and Leeds fans.

Nigelb · February 2023

On topic, I think Haley's chances, such as they are, depend quite a bit on Sen. Tim Scott. If he decides not to run, she has some sort of chances of getting some momentum, since S. Carolina is right at the start of the melee.

Ghedebrav · February 2023

ydoethur said:

Theuniondivvie said:

DecrepiterJohnL said:
Woke Queen Camilla will not wear the Koh-i-Noor diamond for the coronation. She will wear Queen Mary's crown instead.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-64638152
This changes everything.
There is Noor way it makes a difference.

It's a karat and stick approach.

ydoethur · February 2023

Ghedebrav said:

ydoethur said:

Theuniondivvie said:

DecrepiterJohnL said:
Woke Queen Camilla will not wear the Koh-i-Noor diamond for the coronation. She will wear Queen Mary's crown instead.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-64638152
This changes everything.
There is Noor way it makes a difference.
It's a karat and stick approach.

Possibly, but for myself I'm sceptrecal.

Benpointer · February 2023

SandyRentool said:

Benpointer said:

Nigelb said:
A quiet reminder, guys.

saw a couple walking into trader joe’s and the girl said “wow look at all the pretty flowers” and the guy replied “oh yeah it must be flower season” please pray for him
https://mobile.twitter.com/PleaseBeGneiss/status/1625339736553562113
Candlelit ready meal, er, ready for Mrs P. when she gets in tonight ;-)
Wor Lass on her way out this morning: "I'm not sure when I'll be back so best get your own tea."

Get in a pizza, salad, bottle of red, few candles... you know it makes sense.

MattW · February 2023

DecrepiterJohnL said:

MattW said:

Leon said:

felix said:

Leon said:
An extraordinary fact I learned today

Life expectancy in Thailand - 77.8 - is now higher than life expectancy in the USA - 76.4

If the trends continue for another couple of years American life expectancy will, in one of history’s grandest reversals, be overtaken by life expectancy in Vietnam (right now it is 75.7 and rising, unlike the USA)
Diet? Climate?
First, yes. Hardly any obese people here, much better diet, and few fewer cars. They walk and cycle and move around a lot

Climate I doubt, some of the longest lived nations - Iceland - have hideous cold climates, some, like Spain, have great climates

Three other major factors: no terrible drug/opioid crisis here, better healthcare for the really poor (and a safety net), and of course fewer murders and gunshot suicides because fewer guns
Coming to a city near you, soon. Modal share of cycling in Central London (as opposed to Inner London or London) is now at 11%. Inner London is 8%. That's double since 2010.
https://twitter.com/willnorman/status/1494567072046764050

You live in Inner London not Central (imo) - have you noticed anything yet?

And they have hardly started building the network of safe cycling routes. Being followed at a distance in certain places such as Manchester, Leicester, Nottingham.
Lots of Boris bikes; fewer cars. Probably a lot of the bike use is at the expense of buses and tubes (and walking) rather than cars.

One interesting contrast between London and Paris is that the Paris bikes have expanded faster (London less subsidised probably), and get nicked more.

Still have to work on Lee Anderson wrt a Brompton, but he's currently on a very public weight loss campaign, and went up 1lb last week!

CorrectHorseBattery3 · February 2023

When Starmer wins, I believe the Tories will be out of power for a generation.

RochdalePioneers · February 2023

CorrectHorseBattery3 said:
When Starmer wins, I believe the Tories will be out of power for a generation.

A Tory generation can be as short as 50 days though. Then its an entirely new government!

SeaShantyIrish2 · February 2023

Nigelb said:
On topic, I think Haley's chances, such as they are, depend quite a bit on Sen. Tim Scott. If he decides not to run, she has some sort of chances of getting some momentum, since S. Carolina is right at the start of the melee.

Nikki Haley is THE best that the Republican Party's got, for appealing to (what's left) of Mainstream America in general, AND the 2024 presidential swing vote in particular.

For example, she is just about the ONLY GOPer who'd I'd personally rate as having as much as 5% chance of garnering my own humble vote. Which is better than the 99.46% odds AGAINST any other Republican Party Reptile getting it.

Note that Nikki means "Victory" in Greek!

Further note she comes out of a VERY tough league, politically- & electorally-speaking. Can still recall the vicious slurs & slanders spewed forth, during the final days of Haley's first campaign for Governor, by scumbag hacks who learned their shitty art at the stinky feet of Lee Atwater (remember that A-hole 1st-Class with clusters?)

As for Sen. Tim Scott, he is indeed another credible (and in more ways than one!) possible contender for POTUS - or VP - on the 2024 GOP ticket. However, think it likely that he & Nikki Haley have already come to some understanding, if NOT agreement or anything binding) on this front, and will not get in each other's way.

Keep your eye of the Great Palmetto State, from start to finish, for BOTH major US parties in 2024.

MattW · February 2023

Favourite video clip of the week so far.

Buckfastleigh firemen turning out the Trumpton way.

https://twitter.com/mattwardman/status/1625530154494619648

DecrepiterJohnL · February 2023

Leon said:

MattW said:

Leon said:

felix said:

Leon said:
An extraordinary fact I learned today

Life expectancy in Thailand - 77.8 - is now higher than life expectancy in the USA - 76.4

If the trends continue for another couple of years American life expectancy will, in one of history’s grandest reversals, be overtaken by life expectancy in Vietnam (right now it is 75.7 and rising, unlike the USA)
Diet? Climate?
First, yes. Hardly any obese people here, much better diet, and few fewer cars. They walk and cycle and move around a lot

Climate I doubt, some of the longest lived nations - Iceland - have hideous cold climates, some, like Spain, have great climates

Three other major factors: no terrible drug/opioid crisis here, better healthcare for the really poor (and a safety net), and of course fewer murders and gunshot suicides because fewer guns
Coming to a city near you, soon. Modal share of cycling in Central London (as opposed to Inner London or London) is now at 11%. Inner London is 8%. That's double since 2010.
https://twitter.com/willnorman/status/1494567072046764050

You live in Inner London not Central (imo) - have you noticed anything yet?

And they have hardly started building the network of safe cycling routes. Being followed at a distance in certain places such as Manchester, Leicester, Nottingham.
Yes, for sure. Cycling is surging. And e-bikes are accelerating the trend (and easier for older or less fit people)

I am all for it. Get rid of every single fucking car in our cities. Sure we will lose something but the benefits are so tremendous it has to happen - and it will happen

Cleaner, quieter, lovelier, greener cities, with all that hideous infrastructure now dedicated to cars - ugly car parks, horrible urban motorways, grimy garages and workshops - suddenly liberated and freed up to become new parks, urban woods, glorious European boulevards where people WALK and STROLL without fear of being run over

We can keep a fair few autonomous e-cars that purr about the place then park themselves at night

The future of the city is carless and splendid

Wait till you are 70 and your legs go, and you can't get a cab because the council's put bollards down all the roads.

kinabalu · February 2023

Stark_Dawning said:

Leon said:

Cookie said:

Leon said:
Phnom Penh. First trip for ten years. Last time they had impoverished slums and Khmer Rouge trials now they have Chinese skyscrapers and chic rooftop bars

My worry there is the last-but-five word. Is this all being paid for by Chinese money? Is Cambodia becoming a de facto colony of China?
In a word: Yes

It’s like Argentina was to Britain in the late 19th century. A colony in all but name, and economically dependent on the imperial country more than some ACTUAL colonies
I always wondered why Argentina happened to play rugby, so presumably that's the reason. Thanks!

Rugby, yes, and polo is the other niche sport I associate with them. It's not for me but I understand its appeal - stylish, form fitted trousers tucked into soft leather boots, charging hither and zither around a field with a thoroughbred between your thighs, chasing the whizzing little ball and every so often coming quite close to it.

Leon · February 2023

RochdalePioneers said:

CorrectHorseBattery3 said:
When Starmer wins, I believe the Tories will be out of power for a generation.
A Tory generation can be as short as 50 days though. Then its an entirely new government!

A true story. I got chatting with my cab driver from Phnom Penh airport to my hotel this evening and when he heard I was British and from London, instead of saying Chelsea! Or “Leicester need a new striker” - like most SE Asians in this context, he said, with a chuckle “in London you have many many prime ministers”

I thought he was understandably mocking the chaos in our recent politics, but then he added “this is democracy, it’s good”

So I dunno. He might have been making an extremely subtle point that even a turbulent democracy can be seen - maybe obviously so - as superior to the quasi-autocracy they have here in Cambodia. The turbulence is the point. It shows that unpopular leaders are toppled by the public will, as does not happen in indochina

Driver · February 2023

People talk about the Tories having only two modes - panic and complacency - but from what I can tell Labour are in full on complacency mode, verging on hubris.

Leon · February 2023

DecrepiterJohnL said:

Leon said:

MattW said:

Leon said:

felix said:

Leon said:
An extraordinary fact I learned today

Life expectancy in Thailand - 77.8 - is now higher than life expectancy in the USA - 76.4

If the trends continue for another couple of years American life expectancy will, in one of history’s grandest reversals, be overtaken by life expectancy in Vietnam (right now it is 75.7 and rising, unlike the USA)
Diet? Climate?
First, yes. Hardly any obese people here, much better diet, and few fewer cars. They walk and cycle and move around a lot

Climate I doubt, some of the longest lived nations - Iceland - have hideous cold climates, some, like Spain, have great climates

Three other major factors: no terrible drug/opioid crisis here, better healthcare for the really poor (and a safety net), and of course fewer murders and gunshot suicides because fewer guns
Coming to a city near you, soon. Modal share of cycling in Central London (as opposed to Inner London or London) is now at 11%. Inner London is 8%. That's double since 2010.
https://twitter.com/willnorman/status/1494567072046764050

You live in Inner London not Central (imo) - have you noticed anything yet?

And they have hardly started building the network of safe cycling routes. Being followed at a distance in certain places such as Manchester, Leicester, Nottingham.
Yes, for sure. Cycling is surging. And e-bikes are accelerating the trend (and easier for older or less fit people)

I am all for it. Get rid of every single fucking car in our cities. Sure we will lose something but the benefits are so tremendous it has to happen - and it will happen

Cleaner, quieter, lovelier, greener cities, with all that hideous infrastructure now dedicated to cars - ugly car parks, horrible urban motorways, grimy garages and workshops - suddenly liberated and freed up to become new parks, urban woods, glorious European boulevards where people WALK and STROLL without fear of being run over

We can keep a fair few autonomous e-cars that purr about the place then park themselves at night

The future of the city is carless and splendid
Wait till you are 70 and your legs go, and you can't get a cab because the council's put bollards down all the roads.

That’s why we will have autonomous e-cars

geoffw · February 2023

Leon said:

DecrepiterJohnL said:

Leon said:

MattW said:

Leon said:

felix said:

Leon said:
An extraordinary fact I learned today

Life expectancy in Thailand - 77.8 - is now higher than life expectancy in the USA - 76.4

If the trends continue for another couple of years American life expectancy will, in one of history’s grandest reversals, be overtaken by life expectancy in Vietnam (right now it is 75.7 and rising, unlike the USA)
Diet? Climate?
First, yes. Hardly any obese people here, much better diet, and few fewer cars. They walk and cycle and move around a lot

Climate I doubt, some of the longest lived nations - Iceland - have hideous cold climates, some, like Spain, have great climates

Three other major factors: no terrible drug/opioid crisis here, better healthcare for the really poor (and a safety net), and of course fewer murders and gunshot suicides because fewer guns
Coming to a city near you, soon. Modal share of cycling in Central London (as opposed to Inner London or London) is now at 11%. Inner London is 8%. That's double since 2010.
https://twitter.com/willnorman/status/1494567072046764050

You live in Inner London not Central (imo) - have you noticed anything yet?

And they have hardly started building the network of safe cycling routes. Being followed at a distance in certain places such as Manchester, Leicester, Nottingham.
Yes, for sure. Cycling is surging. And e-bikes are accelerating the trend (and easier for older or less fit people)

I am all for it. Get rid of every single fucking car in our cities. Sure we will lose something but the benefits are so tremendous it has to happen - and it will happen

Cleaner, quieter, lovelier, greener cities, with all that hideous infrastructure now dedicated to cars - ugly car parks, horrible urban motorways, grimy garages and workshops - suddenly liberated and freed up to become new parks, urban woods, glorious European boulevards where people WALK and STROLL without fear of being run over

We can keep a fair few autonomous e-cars that purr about the place then park themselves at night

The future of the city is carless and splendid
Wait till you are 70 and your legs go, and you can't get a cab because the council's put bollards down all the roads.
That’s why we will have autonomous e-cars

Autonomous e-zimmers will be the thing

DecrepiterJohnL · February 2023

Ghedebrav said:

Sean_F said:

SeaShantyIrish2 said:

Jim_Miller said:
I believe that we got most of the top von Braun team, and the Soviets got most of the technicians. So we came out ahead, but they did get something from those advances
Werner von Braun ranks perhaps (with Thomas Jefferson?) as historical figure whose general reputation has perhaps the MOST in my own lifetime.

In WvB's case, from acclaimed rocket scientist to reviled war criminal.
Apart from Jimmy Saville.
Plenty of folk thought he was a wrong 'un tbf, just got shouted down by the BUT CHARITEE crowd, and Leeds fans.

I do not think that is right.

Savile was a bloody awful broadcaster imo, speaking in catchphrases and barely able to string a sentence together. I guess I was of the Goldilocks generation for Savile. Too young to know him as a pioneering DJ and too old for Jim'll Fix It. Before the exposures, I did once discuss him with a Fleet Street hack who said the red tops were all over the rumours but could not stand anything up. You'd have thought MI5 or Special Branch might have taken a look because of Savile's proximity to Mrs Thatcher and the government but if so, nada.

kinabalu · February 2023

Benpointer said:

Nigelb said:
A quiet reminder, guys.

saw a couple walking into trader joe’s and the girl said “wow look at all the pretty flowers” and the guy replied “oh yeah it must be flower season” please pray for him
https://mobile.twitter.com/PleaseBeGneiss/status/1625339736553562113
Candlelit ready meal, er, ready for Mrs P. when she gets in tonight ;-)

We don't do cards but we have got an M&S in that features scallops and chocolate. Both those things are pretty romantic imo - scallops and chocolate.

ydoethur · February 2023

RochdalePioneers said:

CorrectHorseBattery3 said:
When Starmer wins, I believe the Tories will be out of power for a generation.
A Tory generation can be as short as 50 days though. Then its an entirely new government!

Sturgeon will still claim it's a generation even if it's 50 hours.

JosiasJessop · February 2023

Off-topic:

We just spent a pleasant sunny day at the IWM Duxford. A large area, and two hangars, were cordoned off for filming work. To my surprise, there were a large group of black women, all decked out in what looked like WW2 garb. There must have been at least 100 of them, and they were marching in sync up and down an area.

I tried to think of an all-black female unit from WW2, and couldn't think of one. I asked one of the film crew, and it is apparently Tyler Perry's (*) latest film for Netflix about the 6888th Battalion, the only all-black, all-female unit to serve overseas in WW2.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/6888th_Central_Postal_Directory_Battalion
https://www.forces.net/news/six-triple-eight-netflix-film-tell-story-wwiis-only-all-black-all-female-unit

I'd like to think I had more knowledge than average about WW2, but I'd never heard of this battalion, or the work they did.

Also, I've seen film units for a TV series before, but a film unit was... large. Very large, in fact. There were large telescopic boom lifts holding large blue canvases in the air; presumably as a form of greenscreen.

(*) Yep, I've never heard of him, either.

eek · February 2023

Nigelb said:
A quiet reminder, guys.

saw a couple walking into trader joe’s and the girl said “wow look at all the pretty flowers” and the guy replied “oh yeah it must be flower season” please pray for him
https://mobile.twitter.com/PleaseBeGneiss/status/1625339736553562113

We were in the Ivy in Leeds last night. I don't know why they offered me the £75 a head Valentine menu - it was a family meal to mark the twin's 21st birthday.

For those with the cash the menu wasn't bad for the money...

CorrectHorseBattery3 · February 2023

Not long until the clocks go forward and here comes the Summer

Leon · February 2023

Anyone who doesn’t have anchoring responsibilities at home (job, kids, stupid pets) and who has money and who ISN”T travelling is an idiot

Travel is all there is, in the end, along with love and art. The new, the fascinating, the challenging, the strange. It is the best. It doesn’t just broaden the mind it enriches it in an intoxicating way, like adding wine to a sauce, like lashing burning booze on the stodgy Christmas pud

You have one life. Go see the world before your knees give out

RochdalePioneers · February 2023

Leon said:

RochdalePioneers said:

CorrectHorseBattery3 said:
When Starmer wins, I believe the Tories will be out of power for a generation.
A Tory generation can be as short as 50 days though. Then its an entirely new government!
A true story. I got chatting with my cab driver from Phnom Penh airport to my hotel this evening and when he heard I was British and from London, instead of saying Chelsea! Or “Leicester need a new striker” - like most SE Asians in this context, he said, with a chuckle “in London you have many many prime ministers”

I thought he was understandably mocking the chaos in our recent politics, but then he added “this is democracy, it’s good”

So I dunno. He might have been making an extremely subtle point that even a turbulent democracy can be seen - maybe obviously so - as superior to the quasi-autocracy they have here in Cambodia. The turbulence is the point. It shows that unpopular leaders are toppled by the public will, as does not happen in indochina

He has a point. When we have a leader who is brazenly corrupt or incompetent the people can have them removed. In some countries, the brazenly corrupt leader has the people removed...

CorrectHorseBattery3 · February 2023

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-64638653

How odd, the PB trans obsessives have decided not to mention that the case is now considered to be a hate crime.

This is the reality for trans people - and yet Rishi would rather score political points.

ydoethur · February 2023

CorrectHorseBattery3 said:
Not long until the clocks go forward and here comes the Summer

We are exactly half way through February but I'm afraid there's quite a lot of March to go as well.

Equally, I've been sat in my conservatory working all afternoon and it's been perfectly pleasant.

Nikki Haley to fight Trump for the WH2024 GOP nomination – politicalbetting.com

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