@trussliz I am appalled by the attacks on free speech in Britain and Europe.
We can't be truly free without free speech.
Good for @elonmusk and @X for standing up to these bullies.
Farage says Keir Starmer is the biggest threat to free speech we've seen in our history.
The real threat is from people who say things like that imo.
Elon Musk is becoming a massive problem for western governments. The problem is this: He is not being subtle. He is saying 'it is a war and you have to choose a side', and his message goes down well with a lot of people. It works against trying to achieve any kind of cohesion and inclusion.
However, in a deeper sense it could be interpreted as a delayed reaction/realisation to changes bought forward by governments of both left and right whilst in power over the last 30 years, ie legislation about equalities, hate speech, harrassment etc which do act as a significant limit on free political expression, particularly by 'majority' groups.
I have said a few times that the example of Finland is one that we would do well to look at, the 'far right' are part of the political culture, and have been for the last 20 years, but they are integrated and not excluded from it, however reluctantly.
I don't think you need a grand theory of "delayed reaction/realisation to changes bought forward by governments of both left and right" to explain Musk's behaviour. He's acting like a 15-year old edgelord; he's been sucked in by a process of social media radicalisation. The problem is a system that gives so much power to deluded tech bros.
It's a spillover of electing Trump President. Once you've given up on any basic levels of expected common sense, this is what you get.
If the Governing consensus were operating in the realms of 'common sense', Musk wouldn't be getting any traction. Open borders don't make any sense as we traditionally understand the term. Nor does the implementation of Net Zero. If the Governing class decides to take leave of its senses and force through deeply unpopular and anti-person policies, someone will fill the vacuum.
Clearly Harris will win. I would vote for her as Trump is unhinged. But any result is suboptimal. The republicans need to pick a rational candidate in 2028 and onwards but I think it will be too late now for 2028, maybe even 2032.
Do you not think they'll wise up if Trump gets a pasting?
There are a lot of similarities between Trump and Corbyn, as @Cyclefree wrote years ago.
Hopefully a second defeat of Trump will see America move on from Trump.
Though I'm not sure who plays the Starmer role in this analogy, who has been supporting Trump until election day but then moves the party on afterwards.
@trussliz I am appalled by the attacks on free speech in Britain and Europe.
We can't be truly free without free speech.
Good for @elonmusk and @X for standing up to these bullies.
Farage says Keir Starmer is the biggest threat to free speech we've seen in our history.
The real threat is from people who say things like that imo.
Elon Musk is becoming a massive problem for western governments. The problem is this: He is not being subtle. He is saying 'it is a war and you have to choose a side', and his message goes down well with a lot of people. It works against trying to achieve any kind of cohesion and inclusion.
However, in a deeper sense it could be interpreted as a delayed reaction/realisation to changes bought forward by governments of both left and right whilst in power over the last 30 years, ie legislation about equalities, hate speech, harrassment etc which do act as a significant limit on free political expression, particularly by 'majority' groups.
I have said a few times that the example of Finland is one that we would do well to look at, the 'far right' are part of the political culture, and have been for the last 20 years, but they are integrated and not excluded from it, however reluctantly.
I don't think you need a grand theory of "delayed reaction/realisation to changes bought forward by governments of both left and right" to explain Musk's behaviour. He's acting like a 15-year old edgelord; he's been sucked in by a process of social media radicalisation. The problem is a system that gives so much power to deluded tech bros.
It's a spillover of electing Trump President. Once you've given up on any basic levels of expected common sense, this is what you get.
If the Governing consensus were operating in the realms of 'common sense', Musk wouldn't be getting any traction. Open borders don't make any sense as we traditionally understand the term. Nor does the Implementation of Net Zero. If the Governing class decides to take leave of its senses and force through deeply unpopular and anti-person policies, someone will fill the vacuum.
@trussliz I am appalled by the attacks on free speech in Britain and Europe.
We can't be truly free without free speech.
Good for @elonmusk and @X for standing up to these bullies.
Farage says Keir Starmer is the biggest threat to free speech we've seen in our history.
The real threat is from people who say things like that imo.
Elon Musk is becoming a massive problem for western governments. The problem is this: He is not being subtle. He is saying 'it is a war and you have to choose a side', and his message goes down well with a lot of people. It works against trying to achieve any kind of cohesion and inclusion.
However, in a deeper sense it could be interpreted as a delayed reaction/realisation to changes bought forward by governments of both left and right whilst in power over the last 30 years, ie legislation about equalities, hate speech, harrassment etc which do act as a significant limit on free political expression, particularly by 'majority' groups.
I have said a few times that the example of Finland is one that we would do well to look at, the 'far right' are part of the political culture, and have been for the last 20 years, but they are integrated and not excluded from it, however reluctantly.
I don't think you need a grand theory of "delayed reaction/realisation to changes bought forward by governments of both left and right" to explain Musk's behaviour. He's acting like a 15-year old edgelord; he's been sucked in by a process of social media radicalisation. The problem is a system that gives so much power to deluded tech bros.
It's a spillover of electing Trump President. Once you've given up on any basic levels of expected common sense, this is what you get.
If the Governing consensus were operating in the realms of 'common sense', Musk wouldn't be getting any traction. Open borders don't make any sense as we traditionally understand the term. Nor does the Implementation of Net Zero. If the Governing class decides to take leave of its senses and force through deeply unpopular and anti-person policies, someone will fill the vacuum.
We don't have open borders.
Sophistry. We've had mass migration so they haven't exactly been closed.
@christopherhope Tory leadership contender Tom Tugendhat says the PM should not have waited a week before convening Cobra when the summer riots started, and sacked Home Office minister Jess Phillips over her comments. He says it was “the Government’a first real test and the PM fell short”.
Reminder, Bozo was on holiday during the London riots, and didn't come home...
@trussliz I am appalled by the attacks on free speech in Britain and Europe.
We can't be truly free without free speech.
Good for @elonmusk and @X for standing up to these bullies.
Farage says Keir Starmer is the biggest threat to free speech we've seen in our history.
The real threat is from people who say things like that imo.
Elon Musk is becoming a massive problem for western governments. The problem is this: He is not being subtle. He is saying 'it is a war and you have to choose a side', and his message goes down well with a lot of people. It works against trying to achieve any kind of cohesion and inclusion.
However, in a deeper sense it could be interpreted as a delayed reaction/realisation to changes bought forward by governments of both left and right whilst in power over the last 30 years, ie legislation about equalities, hate speech, harrassment etc which do act as a significant limit on free political expression, particularly by 'majority' groups.
I have said a few times that the example of Finland is one that we would do well to look at, the 'far right' are part of the political culture, and have been for the last 20 years, but they are integrated and not excluded from it, however reluctantly.
I don't think you need a grand theory of "delayed reaction/realisation to changes bought forward by governments of both left and right" to explain Musk's behaviour. He's acting like a 15-year old edgelord; he's been sucked in by a process of social media radicalisation. The problem is a system that gives so much power to deluded tech bros.
It's a spillover of electing Trump President. Once you've given up on any basic levels of expected common sense, this is what you get.
If the Governing consensus were operating in the realms of 'common sense', Musk wouldn't be getting any traction. Open borders don't make any sense as we traditionally understand the term. Nor does the Implementation of Net Zero. If the Governing class decides to take leave of its senses and force through deeply unpopular and anti-person policies, someone will fill the vacuum.
We don't have open borders.
The fact that they couldn't find any Rwanda-eligible people because they had all absconded suggests that in practise, the border is open.
@christopherhope Tory leadership contender Tom Tugendhat says the PM should not have waited a week before convening Cobra when the summer riots started, and sacked Home Office minister Jess Phillips over her comments. He says it was “the Government’a first real test and the PM fell short”.
Reminder, Bozo was on holiday during the London riots, and didn't come home...
I was planning on voting for Tom in this election but boy is he coming across as a snivelling little shit during this campaign.
As Ukrainian soldiers take more Russian territory, as Russian soldiers loot their compatriots' evacuated homes, as paranoid Russian authorities finally block YouTube...this is the week the NYT runs an op-ed entitled "Putin has Victory in his Grasp"? https://x.com/anneapplebaum/status/1823343688983945516
@christopherhope Tory leadership contender Tom Tugendhat says the PM should not have waited a week before convening Cobra when the summer riots started, and sacked Home Office minister Jess Phillips over her comments. He says it was “the Government’a first real test and the PM fell short”.
Reminder, Bozo was on holiday during the London riots, and didn't come home...
I was planning on voting for Tom in this election but boy is he coming across as a snivelling little shit during this campaign.
Hey at least he's showing his true colours before you wasted your vote on him...
@trussliz I am appalled by the attacks on free speech in Britain and Europe.
We can't be truly free without free speech.
Good for @elonmusk and @X for standing up to these bullies.
Farage says Keir Starmer is the biggest threat to free speech we've seen in our history.
The real threat is from people who say things like that imo.
Elon Musk is becoming a massive problem for western governments. The problem is this: He is not being subtle. He is saying 'it is a war and you have to choose a side', and his message goes down well with a lot of people. It works against trying to achieve any kind of cohesion and inclusion.
However, in a deeper sense it could be interpreted as a delayed reaction/realisation to changes bought forward by governments of both left and right whilst in power over the last 30 years, ie legislation about equalities, hate speech, harrassment etc which do act as a significant limit on free political expression, particularly by 'majority' groups.
I have said a few times that the example of Finland is one that we would do well to look at, the 'far right' are part of the political culture, and have been for the last 20 years, but they are integrated and not excluded from it, however reluctantly.
I don't think you need a grand theory of "delayed reaction/realisation to changes bought forward by governments of both left and right" to explain Musk's behaviour. He's acting like a 15-year old edgelord; he's been sucked in by a process of social media radicalisation. The problem is a system that gives so much power to deluded tech bros.
It's a spillover of electing Trump President. Once you've given up on any basic levels of expected common sense, this is what you get.
If the Governing consensus were operating in the realms of 'common sense', Musk wouldn't be getting any traction. Open borders don't make any sense as we traditionally understand the term. Nor does the Implementation of Net Zero. If the Governing class decides to take leave of its senses and force through deeply unpopular and anti-person policies, someone will fill the vacuum.
We don't have open borders.
The fact that they couldn't find any Rwanda-eligible people because they had all absconded suggests that in practise, the border is open.
I wonder if the fact they couldn't find any eligible shows that the entire scheme was a piece of very expensive performance art that completely fooled people like you.
@christopherhope Tory leadership contender Tom Tugendhat says the PM should not have waited a week before convening Cobra when the summer riots started, and sacked Home Office minister Jess Phillips over her comments. He says it was “the Government’a first real test and the PM fell short”.
Reminder, Bozo was on holiday during the London riots, and didn't come home...
Has to be said, 'slightly less shit than Massive Johnson' is scarcely a ringing endorsement.
@trussliz I am appalled by the attacks on free speech in Britain and Europe.
We can't be truly free without free speech.
Good for @elonmusk and @X for standing up to these bullies.
Farage says Keir Starmer is the biggest threat to free speech we've seen in our history.
The real threat is from people who say things like that imo.
Elon Musk is becoming a massive problem for western governments. The problem is this: He is not being subtle. He is saying 'it is a war and you have to choose a side', and his message goes down well with a lot of people. It works against trying to achieve any kind of cohesion and inclusion.
However, in a deeper sense it could be interpreted as a delayed reaction/realisation to changes bought forward by governments of both left and right whilst in power over the last 30 years, ie legislation about equalities, hate speech, harrassment etc which do act as a significant limit on free political expression, particularly by 'majority' groups.
I have said a few times that the example of Finland is one that we would do well to look at, the 'far right' are part of the political culture, and have been for the last 20 years, but they are integrated and not excluded from it, however reluctantly.
I don't think you need a grand theory of "delayed reaction/realisation to changes bought forward by governments of both left and right" to explain Musk's behaviour. He's acting like a 15-year old edgelord; he's been sucked in by a process of social media radicalisation. The problem is a system that gives so much power to deluded tech bros.
It's a spillover of electing Trump President. Once you've given up on any basic levels of expected common sense, this is what you get.
If the Governing consensus were operating in the realms of 'common sense', Musk wouldn't be getting any traction. Open borders don't make any sense as we traditionally understand the term. Nor does the Implementation of Net Zero. If the Governing class decides to take leave of its senses and force through deeply unpopular and anti-person policies, someone will fill the vacuum.
We don't have open borders.
Sophistry. We've had mass migration so they haven't exactly been closed.
We took back control. The vast majority of that migration was under the direct control of the UK government. That is not an open border. But don't take it from me: there are several here on PB who can talk to you about how difficult it is bringing a spouse into the UK!
Now, you may well be unhappy on the decisions the UK government took over immigration, but the government that took the decisions that led to high levels of immigration has recently been voted out of office.
As Ukrainian soldiers take more Russian territory, as Russian soldiers loot their compatriots' evacuated homes, as paranoid Russian authorities finally block YouTube...this is the week the NYT runs an op-ed entitled "Putin has Victory in his Grasp"? https://x.com/anneapplebaum/status/1823343688983945516
Am I alone in wondering what the Ukrainian aims are in this invasion? Are they hoping to be able to outflank the Russians in the Eastern Ukraine territory they're occupying, or what? Scaring hell out of ordinary Russians in the Kursk area?
@trussliz I am appalled by the attacks on free speech in Britain and Europe.
We can't be truly free without free speech.
Good for @elonmusk and @X for standing up to these bullies.
Farage says Keir Starmer is the biggest threat to free speech we've seen in our history.
The real threat is from people who say things like that imo.
Elon Musk is becoming a massive problem for western governments. The problem is this: He is not being subtle. He is saying 'it is a war and you have to choose a side', and his message goes down well with a lot of people. It works against trying to achieve any kind of cohesion and inclusion.
However, in a deeper sense it could be interpreted as a delayed reaction/realisation to changes bought forward by governments of both left and right whilst in power over the last 30 years, ie legislation about equalities, hate speech, harrassment etc which do act as a significant limit on free political expression, particularly by 'majority' groups.
I have said a few times that the example of Finland is one that we would do well to look at, the 'far right' are part of the political culture, and have been for the last 20 years, but they are integrated and not excluded from it, however reluctantly.
I don't think you need a grand theory of "delayed reaction/realisation to changes bought forward by governments of both left and right" to explain Musk's behaviour. He's acting like a 15-year old edgelord; he's been sucked in by a process of social media radicalisation. The problem is a system that gives so much power to deluded tech bros.
It's a spillover of electing Trump President. Once you've given up on any basic levels of expected common sense, this is what you get.
If the Governing consensus were operating in the realms of 'common sense', Musk wouldn't be getting any traction. Open borders don't make any sense as we traditionally understand the term. Nor does the Implementation of Net Zero. If the Governing class decides to take leave of its senses and force through deeply unpopular and anti-person policies, someone will fill the vacuum.
We don't have open borders.
The fact that they couldn't find any Rwanda-eligible people because they had all absconded suggests that in practise, the border is open.
That's not what happened.
The failings of the Tory government's Rwanda policy are terrible. So much public money down the drain. But they don't in any way demonstrate that we have open borders.
The Russians appear to be unable to defend the region at all, with reports of 1,000 sq km now captured, and 100,000 civilians evacuated. Presumably the latter have their phones confiscated and get sent on a long coach trip to Siberia, to stop them talking to anyone about what’s actually happening in Kursk Oblast.
The key to this is that last summer's attempt to launch a counter offensive by Ukraine got completely bogged down in minefields and fixed positions that proved extremely difficult to get through without excessive casualties. This counter offensive, in contrast, is going through relatively unprotected land and can use their western armour and Bradleys to maximum effect.
It's fairly astonishing that Russia did not anticipate this. Utter incompetence.
They believed in the value of their deterrence. To be fair, given the way in which the West has been cranky demonstrating that they are deterred by Russia by not supplying various weapons for ages, by continuing to quibble over whether Ukraine can use Western weapons against targets in Russia, etc, there was a fair amount of evidence of the deterrence being strong enough. And it has taken until nearly 30 months after the failed attempt to take Kyiv for Ukraine to dare to cross the Russian border.
Bit of a warning for the West as a whole though. Just as Ukraine has called Russia's deterrence bluff, so might China call our bluff over Taiwan.
@trussliz I am appalled by the attacks on free speech in Britain and Europe.
We can't be truly free without free speech.
Good for @elonmusk and @X for standing up to these bullies.
Farage says Keir Starmer is the biggest threat to free speech we've seen in our history.
The real threat is from people who say things like that imo.
Elon Musk is becoming a massive problem for western governments. The problem is this: He is not being subtle. He is saying 'it is a war and you have to choose a side', and his message goes down well with a lot of people. It works against trying to achieve any kind of cohesion and inclusion.
However, in a deeper sense it could be interpreted as a delayed reaction/realisation to changes bought forward by governments of both left and right whilst in power over the last 30 years, ie legislation about equalities, hate speech, harrassment etc which do act as a significant limit on free political expression, particularly by 'majority' groups.
I have said a few times that the example of Finland is one that we would do well to look at, the 'far right' are part of the political culture, and have been for the last 20 years, but they are integrated and not excluded from it, however reluctantly.
I don't think you need a grand theory of "delayed reaction/realisation to changes bought forward by governments of both left and right" to explain Musk's behaviour. He's acting like a 15-year old edgelord; he's been sucked in by a process of social media radicalisation. The problem is a system that gives so much power to deluded tech bros.
It's a spillover of electing Trump President. Once you've given up on any basic levels of expected common sense, this is what you get.
If the Governing consensus were operating in the realms of 'common sense', Musk wouldn't be getting any traction. Open borders don't make any sense as we traditionally understand the term. Nor does the Implementation of Net Zero. If the Governing class decides to take leave of its senses and force through deeply unpopular and anti-person policies, someone will fill the vacuum.
We don't have open borders.
Sophistry. We've had mass migration so they haven't exactly been closed.
We took back control. The vast majority of that migration was under the direct control of the UK government. That is not an open border. But don't take it from me: there are several here on PB who can talk to you about how difficult it is bringing a spouse into the UK!
Now, you may well be unhappy on the decisions the UK government took over immigration, but the government that took the decisions that led to high levels of immigration has recently been voted out of office.
We've had high levels of immigration for over 25 years. It has a hold on economic policy-making across the spectrum that is the equivalent of the post-war consensus and isn't just the responsibility of one party or one decision. Do you dispute this?
Has Leon heard anything from his MAGA sources? Trump suddenly sounds old and vulnerable, and that might be a positive spin.
If The Leonster has come across that photo of Katie Price on his regular patrol of Twitter's mottled underbelly then clear your agendas, lads, because that'll be all we hear about for days.
Do you have a link?
y'all need to rename the sandpit to the shitpit
If that’s who I think it is, we definitely don’t want that whale polluting our beach.
Many years ago (early 2000s) I had a friend who worked for the Foreign Office and he was on the Middle East desk and one of his jobs was to scour local news articles for info.
One thing he used to do was to google ‘Syria’, ‘Lebanon’ etc, but the first time he googled ‘Jordan’ it led to him having a discussion with HR.
Were they willing to pay for ALL the therapy he required?
They were not.
Makes me glad I didn’t apply for a job with the Foreign Office.
I had I would have become an ambassador by now, I had all the skills, multi lingual, subtlety and nuance.
In alternate universe I could be His Majesty’s Most Excellent Ambassador Extraordinaire and Plenipotentiary to France.
As Ukrainian soldiers take more Russian territory, as Russian soldiers loot their compatriots' evacuated homes, as paranoid Russian authorities finally block YouTube...this is the week the NYT runs an op-ed entitled "Putin has Victory in his Grasp"? https://x.com/anneapplebaum/status/1823343688983945516
Am I alone in wondering what the Ukrainian aims are in this invasion? Are they hoping to be able to outflank the Russians in the Eastern Ukraine territory they're occupying, or what? Scaring hell out of ordinary Russians in the Kursk area?
They want to trade this occupied land for the occupied Ukrainian land Russia has.
As Ukrainian soldiers take more Russian territory, as Russian soldiers loot their compatriots' evacuated homes, as paranoid Russian authorities finally block YouTube...this is the week the NYT runs an op-ed entitled "Putin has Victory in his Grasp"? https://x.com/anneapplebaum/status/1823343688983945516
The whole of the US mainstream media is totally broken, and has been for some time.
@christopherhope Tory leadership contender Tom Tugendhat says the PM should not have waited a week before convening Cobra when the summer riots started, and sacked Home Office minister Jess Phillips over her comments. He says it was “the Government’a first real test and the PM fell short”.
Reminder, Bozo was on holiday during the London riots, and didn't come home...
I was planning on voting for Tom in this election but boy is he coming across as a snivelling little shit during this campaign.
I've been unimpressed with him since his time as Chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee. His grandstanding during the Afghan debacle - something his committee had failed completely to question ministers on before the withdrawal - was all about self aggrandisement, and pretty well substance free.
He's on the side of the party I ought to approve off, but I just can't see him as an effective leader.
If he is not British, but Romanian, and he is also jobless and homeless, why isn't he back in Romania?; if he was in Romania he would not be in Leicester Square, stabbing little children
I guess he could have some Right to Remain, but the article gives no indication of that. It looks - prima facie - like another huge migration failure
According to the article he can't even speak English - he needed an interpreter
If he is not British, but Romanian, and he is also jobless and homeless, why isn't he back in Romania?; if he was in Romania he would not be in Leicester Square, stabbing little children
I guess he could have some Right to Remain, but the article gives no indication of that. It looks - prima facie - like another huge migration failure
According to the article he can't even speak English - he needed an interpreter
"Andrew Neil lives in France, Douglas Murray lives in New York, Tommy Robinson is hiding in Athens, Nigel Farage never visits Clacton, Laurence Fox is hiding in Ireland. That tells you everything you need to know about these 'patriots'."
As Ukrainian soldiers take more Russian territory, as Russian soldiers loot their compatriots' evacuated homes, as paranoid Russian authorities finally block YouTube...this is the week the NYT runs an op-ed entitled "Putin has Victory in his Grasp"? https://x.com/anneapplebaum/status/1823343688983945516
Am I alone in wondering what the Ukrainian aims are in this invasion? Are they hoping to be able to outflank the Russians in the Eastern Ukraine territory they're occupying, or what? Scaring hell out of ordinary Russians in the Kursk area?
1. Get something to trade away in the inevitable negotiations. 2. Regain the initiative after almost 2 years of slow motion defeats. 3. Keep the western alliance of super friends interested. 4. They can't get anywhere in the four contested oblasts so they've got to do something and this is something.
It both hurts and helps VVP domestically. On one hand, he and his generals look like twats. On the other hand he's been saying for years that Ukraine wants NATO assistance to invade Russia; a view that was dismissed and derided inside Russia and abroad. Now, well here they fucking are.
"Andrew Neil lives in France, Douglas Murray lives in New York, Tommy Robinson is hiding in Athens, Nigel Farage never visits Clacton, Laurence Fox is hiding in Ireland. That tells you everything you need to know about these 'patriots'."
As Ukrainian soldiers take more Russian territory, as Russian soldiers loot their compatriots' evacuated homes, as paranoid Russian authorities finally block YouTube...this is the week the NYT runs an op-ed entitled "Putin has Victory in his Grasp"? https://x.com/anneapplebaum/status/1823343688983945516
Am I alone in wondering what the Ukrainian aims are in this invasion? Are they hoping to be able to outflank the Russians in the Eastern Ukraine territory they're occupying, or what? Scaring hell out of ordinary Russians in the Kursk area?
Basically, the battle lines in the East and South of the country are *nearly* frozen, but not *actually* frozen, and the Russians are still advancing - slowly, but advancing. The Ukranians have done the math and despite moving the draft age down to 24-ish from 27-ish, I think have worked out that they don't know how to stop it. So they need to do some lateral thinking.
The intent of the Russian incursion is twofold: i) persuade the UKR people that they are still in the fight, and ii) try to get the Russians to divert forces away from the occupied zones. It's not a bad idea, but it's the action of somebody who isn't winning.
Not made a list of methods or anything, but along with jumping off a tall building, jumping in front of a train/bus would not be the way I'd go.
When I die I want it to be like Chrysippus of Soli who died laughing at his own joke.
Actually I want to die on my hundredth birthday and I want my wife to be so upset that she cancels her 21st birthday party as a mark of respect.
I want to die some time in my early 90s; still physically and mentally relatively sound. I will have had a large family lunch with children and grandchildren and maybe the odd great grandchild, after which I will drift off to sleep in a comfortable chair in a room on my own while listening to TMS cover the final stages of a test match drifting towards an amiable draw in a dead rubber which England have already won, with the background noise of my family elsewhere in the house talking and laughing.
There is not, AFAICS, a good way to be discovered dead, but the best I have come up with is that I will be discovered by a stout-hearted and tactful son-in-law who has wandered in to see how the test is progressing, who will find a way to break it to the girls (who will be - what - in their 50s by then) and to the rest of the family. Any sadness they feel will be offset by the knowledge that I lived a full life and died happy and content and surrounded by those I loved.
There's not much I can do to control this, of course, except the 'lived a full life' bit.
I can’t speak for everyone but my experience of depression is that the patient doesn’t want to die so much as doesn’t want to live. If it were possible to erase the pain of existence without the need for the inconvenience of dying then they’d take it. Choosing a “good” or “bad” death doesn’t factor. Commiserations to the family and deepest sympathy to the poor driver.
It is ridiculous we don’t have better medications for severe depression. In fact I am sure we do
A combination of hefty doses of tramadol and Xanax, plus maybe moderate amounts of cocaine, would wipe out almost any blues
You’d be absolutely zonked, there is a risk of addiction - but you probably wouldn’t want to kill yourself. So it’s better
The lack of progress over the last 30 years is puzzling given the size of the problem and the number of people being medicated. Plenty of fuss about Ketamine/Psilocybin but nothing come to market. Hearing about Graham Thorpe makes me realise how much worse things could be than my own tussle with existence.
"Andrew Neil lives in France, Douglas Murray lives in New York, Tommy Robinson is hiding in Athens, Nigel Farage never visits Clacton, Laurence Fox is hiding in Ireland. That tells you everything you need to know about these 'patriots'."
As Ukrainian soldiers take more Russian territory, as Russian soldiers loot their compatriots' evacuated homes, as paranoid Russian authorities finally block YouTube...this is the week the NYT runs an op-ed entitled "Putin has Victory in his Grasp"? https://x.com/anneapplebaum/status/1823343688983945516
Am I alone in wondering what the Ukrainian aims are in this invasion? Are they hoping to be able to outflank the Russians in the Eastern Ukraine territory they're occupying, or what? Scaring hell out of ordinary Russians in the Kursk area?
We'll only know after the event. It could be about relieving pressure on the front by drawing away Russian reinforcements; it could be gaining territory to bargain with in a peace settlement; it could be the sort of grand manoeuvre you suggest; it could be to inflict political damage on Putin.
Or something else completely.
So long as they're inflicting sufficient damage in relation to the cost, then all of the above remain possible.
As Ukrainian soldiers take more Russian territory, as Russian soldiers loot their compatriots' evacuated homes, as paranoid Russian authorities finally block YouTube...this is the week the NYT runs an op-ed entitled "Putin has Victory in his Grasp"? https://x.com/anneapplebaum/status/1823343688983945516
Am I alone in wondering what the Ukrainian aims are in this invasion? Are they hoping to be able to outflank the Russians in the Eastern Ukraine territory they're occupying, or what? Scaring hell out of ordinary Russians in the Kursk area?
1. Get something to trade away in the inevitable negotiations. 2. Regain the initiative after almost 2 years of slow motion defeats. 3. Keep the western alliance of super friends interested. 4. They can't get anywhere in the four contested oblasts so they've got to do something and this is something.
It both hurts and helps VVP domestically. On one hand, he and his generals look like twats. On the other hand he's been saying for years that Ukraine wants NATO assistance to invade Russia; a view that was dismissed and derided inside Russia and abroad. Now, well here they fucking are.
@trussliz I am appalled by the attacks on free speech in Britain and Europe.
We can't be truly free without free speech.
Good for @elonmusk and @X for standing up to these bullies.
Farage says Keir Starmer is the biggest threat to free speech we've seen in our history.
The real threat is from people who say things like that imo.
Elon Musk is becoming a massive problem for western governments. The problem is this: He is not being subtle. He is saying 'it is a war and you have to choose a side', and his message goes down well with a lot of people. It works against trying to achieve any kind of cohesion and inclusion.
However, in a deeper sense it could be interpreted as a delayed reaction/realisation to changes bought forward by governments of both left and right whilst in power over the last 30 years, ie legislation about equalities, hate speech, harrassment etc which do act as a significant limit on free political expression, particularly by 'majority' groups.
I have said a few times that the example of Finland is one that we would do well to look at, the 'far right' are part of the political culture, and have been for the last 20 years, but they are integrated and not excluded from it, however reluctantly.
I don't think you need a grand theory of "delayed reaction/realisation to changes bought forward by governments of both left and right" to explain Musk's behaviour. He's acting like a 15-year old edgelord; he's been sucked in by a process of social media radicalisation. The problem is a system that gives so much power to deluded tech bros.
It's a spillover of electing Trump President. Once you've given up on any basic levels of expected common sense, this is what you get.
Trump does speak 'common sense' to people though. The idea of building a wall on the border is 'common sense' to many voters, even though his opponents see it as outrageous. The liberal governing elite keep on with the insisentence that they must be correct and rational, even as they carry out plainly irrational acts, like taking in an unlimited amount of migrants, and supporting protests against racism leading to 'superspreader' events in the middle of the covid pandemic.
With Musk, there is an element of what you are saying that is correct; but what is really significant and dangerous is that people with enormous power and influence are dropping the idea that any of these issues can be resolved through the democratic political system.
If there is any hope of saving the system, the elite need to stop believing they are right all the time and start to be more self critical and start listening to everyone. This is to build a credible system that accommodates differing views, rather than one that exists solely to impose an elite worldview on everyone else.
"Andrew Neil lives in France, Douglas Murray lives in New York, Tommy Robinson is hiding in Athens, Nigel Farage never visits Clacton, Laurence Fox is hiding in Ireland. That tells you everything you need to know about these 'patriots'."
@christopherhope Tory leadership contender Tom Tugendhat says the PM should not have waited a week before convening Cobra when the summer riots started, and sacked Home Office minister Jess Phillips over her comments. He says it was “the Government’a first real test and the PM fell short”.
Reminder, Bozo was on holiday during the London riots, and didn't come home...
I was planning on voting for Tom in this election but boy is he coming across as a snivelling little shit during this campaign.
Hey at least he's showing his true colours before you wasted your vote on him...
I think it might have to vote for James Cleverly as the least worst option.
"Andrew Neil lives in France, Douglas Murray lives in New York, Tommy Robinson is hiding in Athens, Nigel Farage never visits Clacton, Laurence Fox is hiding in Ireland. That tells you everything you need to know about these 'patriots'."
It tells you they've got the good sense to get out of this declining, authoritarian toilet of a country, where you can be arrested for tweeting about pigeons as you stare at the drizzle
"Andrew Neil lives in France, Douglas Murray lives in New York, Tommy Robinson is hiding in Athens, Nigel Farage never visits Clacton, Laurence Fox is hiding in Ireland. That tells you everything you need to know about these 'patriots'."
As Ukrainian soldiers take more Russian territory, as Russian soldiers loot their compatriots' evacuated homes, as paranoid Russian authorities finally block YouTube...this is the week the NYT runs an op-ed entitled "Putin has Victory in his Grasp"? https://x.com/anneapplebaum/status/1823343688983945516
Am I alone in wondering what the Ukrainian aims are in this invasion? Are they hoping to be able to outflank the Russians in the Eastern Ukraine territory they're occupying, or what? Scaring hell out of ordinary Russians in the Kursk area?
1. Get something to trade away in the inevitable negotiations. 2. Regain the initiative after almost 2 years of slow motion defeats. 3. Keep the western alliance of super friends interested. 4. They can't get anywhere in the four contested oblasts so they've got to do something and this is something.
It both hurts and helps VVP domestically. On one hand, he and his generals look like twats. On the other hand he's been saying for years that Ukraine wants NATO assistance to invade Russia; a view that was dismissed and derided inside Russia and abroad. Now, well here they fucking are.
Reads like a good analysis to me.
Apart from the odd word!
There's also this.
Ukraine snatching Russian territory to stop cross-border shelling, Zelenskyy says https://www.politico.eu/article/ukraine-snatch-russia-territory-stop-cross-border-shelling-volodymyr-zelenskyy-kursk-region/ ..In his nightly address to his nation late Monday, Zelenskyy said Ukraine was targeting "the areas from which the Russian army launches strikes on our Sumy," adding that almost 2,100 shells had been fired from Russia's Kursk region since June 1. "Therefore, our operations are purely a security matter for Ukraine — the liberation of the border area from the Russian military."..
As Ukrainian soldiers take more Russian territory, as Russian soldiers loot their compatriots' evacuated homes, as paranoid Russian authorities finally block YouTube...this is the week the NYT runs an op-ed entitled "Putin has Victory in his Grasp"? https://x.com/anneapplebaum/status/1823343688983945516
Am I alone in wondering what the Ukrainian aims are in this invasion? Are they hoping to be able to outflank the Russians in the Eastern Ukraine territory they're occupying, or what? Scaring hell out of ordinary Russians in the Kursk area?
The stated aim is to protect Ukrainian civilians from Russian shelling, which has become quite intense in the border regions of Sumy Oblast.
It's also evening up the playing field. Before now Ukraine has had to keep forces ready to defend the borders of several regions in case Russia should attack there again, but Russia has not done so. Now Russia cannot concentrate all its forces in the Donbass, because they have to match Ukrainian forces in Kursk.
And also, it has psychological value in showing Russian weakness. Russia can't defend its borders. Putin is not a strongman, he's a weakling. Ukraine have also shown that they're finding it easier to destroy Russian forces and capture Russian soldiers with the more fluid frontline in Kursk, than attacking heavily fortified defensive positions in Donetsk.
Ukraine are fighting on territory that is more favourable to them. And now they have Russian territory to trade for Ukrainian territory in any future peace talks.
@christopherhope Tory leadership contender Tom Tugendhat says the PM should not have waited a week before convening Cobra when the summer riots started, and sacked Home Office minister Jess Phillips over her comments. He says it was “the Government’a first real test and the PM fell short”.
Reminder, Bozo was on holiday during the London riots, and didn't come home...
I was planning on voting for Tom in this election but boy is he coming across as a snivelling little shit during this campaign.
Hey at least he's showing his true colours before you wasted your vote on him...
I think it might have to vote for James Cleverly as the least worst option.
It baffles me why Cleverly, having been a perfectly capable Foreign Secretary, should behave so weirdly on moving to the Home Office.
"Andrew Neil lives in France, Douglas Murray lives in New York, Tommy Robinson is hiding in Athens, Nigel Farage never visits Clacton, Laurence Fox is hiding in Ireland. That tells you everything you need to know about these 'patriots'."
It tells you they've got the good sense to get out of this declining, authoritarian toilet of a country, where you can be arrested for tweeting about pigeons as you stare at the drizzle
Not made a list of methods or anything, but along with jumping off a tall building, jumping in front of a train/bus would not be the way I'd go.
When I die I want it to be like Chrysippus of Soli who died laughing at his own joke.
Actually I want to die on my hundredth birthday and I want my wife to be so upset that she cancels her 21st birthday party as a mark of respect.
I want to die some time in my early 90s; still physically and mentally relatively sound. I will have had a large family lunch with children and grandchildren and maybe the odd great grandchild, after which I will drift off to sleep in a comfortable chair in a room on my own while listening to TMS cover the final stages of a test match drifting towards an amiable draw in a dead rubber which England have already won, with the background noise of my family elsewhere in the house talking and laughing.
There is not, AFAICS, a good way to be discovered dead, but the best I have come up with is that I will be discovered by a stout-hearted and tactful son-in-law who has wandered in to see how the test is progressing, who will find a way to break it to the girls (who will be - what - in their 50s by then) and to the rest of the family. Any sadness they feel will be offset by the knowledge that I lived a full life and died happy and content and surrounded by those I loved.
There's not much I can do to control this, of course, except the 'lived a full life' bit.
I can’t speak for everyone but my experience of depression is that the patient doesn’t want to die so much as doesn’t want to live. If it were possible to erase the pain of existence without the need for the inconvenience of dying then they’d take it. Choosing a “good” or “bad” death doesn’t factor. Commiserations to the family and deepest sympathy to the poor driver.
It is ridiculous we don’t have better medications for severe depression. In fact I am sure we do
A combination of hefty doses of tramadol and Xanax, plus maybe moderate amounts of cocaine, would wipe out almost any blues
You’d be absolutely zonked, there is a risk of addiction - but you probably wouldn’t want to kill yourself. So it’s better
The lack of progress over the last 30 years is puzzling given the size of the problem and the number of people being medicated. Plenty of fuss about Ketamine/Psilocybin but nothing come to market. Hearing about Graham Thorpe makes me realise how much worse things could be than my own tussle with existence.
Because, despite my licensed drug dealer career and hence bias, it isn't a condition always capable of being treated with medication. There are, I have to recognise, quite a few such.
"Andrew Neil lives in France, Douglas Murray lives in New York, Tommy Robinson is hiding in Athens, Nigel Farage never visits Clacton, Laurence Fox is hiding in Ireland. That tells you everything you need to know about these 'patriots'."
It tells you they've got the good sense to get out of this declining, authoritarian toilet of a country, where you can be arrested for tweeting about pigeons as you stare at the drizzle
The intent of the Russian incursion is twofold: i) persuade the UKR people that they are still in the fight, and ii) try to get the Russians to divert forces away from the occupied zones. It's not a bad idea, but it's the action of somebody who isn't winning.
Oh
@POLITICOEurope 🚨 BREAKING: President Vladimir Putin has pulled units out of Ukraine to defend Russia, Kyiv has said.
There's a report that Belarus is stripping its active military units of equipment to send to Russia, because the Russians have nothing left to defend Kursk with.
This is a sign that Russia is getting closer to the end of the war. They are running out of emergency measures that they can take.
Referencing THAT poll from yesterday, Wethink have attempted to justify their methodology. They claim they simply copied an identical and well-known poll done in Germany
"To put some clarity on the first set of charts on our latest thread - the questions are a direct repeat of a European study, deatils of which can be found here - https://pnas.org/doi/epub/10.1073/pnas.2212757120 - These questions were deliberately repeated from this study to see how attitudes have changed"
@trussliz I am appalled by the attacks on free speech in Britain and Europe.
We can't be truly free without free speech.
Good for @elonmusk and @X for standing up to these bullies.
Farage says Keir Starmer is the biggest threat to free speech we've seen in our history.
The real threat is from people who say things like that imo.
Elon Musk is becoming a massive problem for western governments. The problem is this: He is not being subtle. He is saying 'it is a war and you have to choose a side', and his message goes down well with a lot of people. It works against trying to achieve any kind of cohesion and inclusion.
However, in a deeper sense it could be interpreted as a delayed reaction/realisation to changes bought forward by governments of both left and right whilst in power over the last 30 years, ie legislation about equalities, hate speech, harrassment etc which do act as a significant limit on free political expression, particularly by 'majority' groups.
I have said a few times that the example of Finland is one that we would do well to look at, the 'far right' are part of the political culture, and have been for the last 20 years, but they are integrated and not excluded from it, however reluctantly.
I don't think you need a grand theory of "delayed reaction/realisation to changes bought forward by governments of both left and right" to explain Musk's behaviour. He's acting like a 15-year old edgelord; he's been sucked in by a process of social media radicalisation. The problem is a system that gives so much power to deluded tech bros.
It's a spillover of electing Trump President. Once you've given up on any basic levels of expected common sense, this is what you get.
Trump does speak 'common sense' to people though. The idea of building a wall on the border is 'common sense' to many voters, even though his opponents see it as outrageous. The liberal governing elite keep on with the insisentence that they must be correct and rational, even as they carry out plainly irrational acts, like taking in an unlimited amount of migrants, and supporting protests against racism leading to 'superspreader' events in the middle of the covid pandemic.
With Musk, there is an element of what you are saying that is correct; but what is really significant and dangerous is that people with enormous power and influence are dropping the idea that any of these issues can be resolved through the democratic political system.
If there is any hope of saving the system, the elite need to stop believing they are right all the time and start to be more self critical and start listening to everyone. This is to build a credible system that accommodates differing views, rather than one that exists solely to impose an elite worldview on everyone else.
I would have thought that the 'problems' we are having with immigration should demonstrate that physical barriers aren't always the answer to Life, the Universe and Everything migratory.
"Andrew Neil lives in France, Douglas Murray lives in New York, Tommy Robinson is hiding in Athens, Nigel Farage never visits Clacton, Laurence Fox is hiding in Ireland. That tells you everything you need to know about these 'patriots'."
It tells you they've got the good sense to get out of this declining, authoritarian toilet of a country, where you can be arrested for tweeting about pigeons as you stare at the drizzle
The intent of the Russian incursion is twofold: i) persuade the UKR people that they are still in the fight, and ii) try to get the Russians to divert forces away from the occupied zones. It's not a bad idea, but it's the action of somebody who isn't winning.
Oh
@POLITICOEurope 🚨 BREAKING: President Vladimir Putin has pulled units out of Ukraine to defend Russia, Kyiv has said.
There's a report that Belarus is stripping its active military units of equipment to send to Russia, because the Russians have nothing left to defend Kursk with.
This is a sign that Russia is getting closer to the end of the war. They are running out of emergency measures that they can take.
I await the Stop The War Coalition condemning this escalation from Belarus.
There's a report that Belarus is stripping its active military units of equipment to send to Russia, because the Russians have nothing left to defend Kursk with.
This is a sign that Russia is getting closer to the end of the war. They are running out of emergency measures that they can take.
My head canon says they should capture the Russian nukes stationed in Belarus.
As Ukrainian soldiers take more Russian territory, as Russian soldiers loot their compatriots' evacuated homes, as paranoid Russian authorities finally block YouTube...this is the week the NYT runs an op-ed entitled "Putin has Victory in his Grasp"? https://x.com/anneapplebaum/status/1823343688983945516
Ozempic seems to cure basically..... everything. Not just obesity and diabetes, but alcoholism and drug addiction... and parkinsons and dementia and some cancers....
"Andrew Neil lives in France, Douglas Murray lives in New York, Tommy Robinson is hiding in Athens, Nigel Farage never visits Clacton, Laurence Fox is hiding in Ireland. That tells you everything you need to know about these 'patriots'."
It tells you they've got the good sense to get out of this declining, authoritarian toilet of a country, where you can be arrested for tweeting about pigeons as you stare at the drizzle
It seems increasingly likely that we’ll have de facto political exiles from Britain rather than just people leaving for a better lifestyle.
"Andrew Neil lives in France, Douglas Murray lives in New York, Tommy Robinson is hiding in Athens, Nigel Farage never visits Clacton, Laurence Fox is hiding in Ireland. That tells you everything you need to know about these 'patriots'."
It tells you they've got the good sense to get out of this declining, authoritarian toilet of a country, where you can be arrested for tweeting about pigeons as you stare at the drizzle
Somebody has to fight for the UK. If not us, who?
YOU, not I
Imma done
Coward.
Reminds me of the most passionate advocates of Scottish independence, such as that vicar in Bath.
Long parts of the border region now clearly have neither air nor land defences, which is a good sign for Ukraine. If, as reported, Russian units are being pulled from Ukraine and Belarus to assist, that should quickly see Ukraine taking back more of its own territory in the South and East of their country.
I guess all we need now, is another bomb on the Kerch Bridge.
As Ukrainian soldiers take more Russian territory, as Russian soldiers loot their compatriots' evacuated homes, as paranoid Russian authorities finally block YouTube...this is the week the NYT runs an op-ed entitled "Putin has Victory in his Grasp"? https://x.com/anneapplebaum/status/1823343688983945516
Am I alone in wondering what the Ukrainian aims are in this invasion? Are they hoping to be able to outflank the Russians in the Eastern Ukraine territory they're occupying, or what? Scaring hell out of ordinary Russians in the Kursk area?
At a guess - a mix of motives
1) occupy territory as a bargaining chip 2) have the devastation of war happen on Russian, not Ukrainian territory 3) relieve the pressure on other fronts 4) smash Russian shit - equipment, men, logistics 5) damage Russian morale 6) improve Ukrainian morale
As Ukrainian soldiers take more Russian territory, as Russian soldiers loot their compatriots' evacuated homes, as paranoid Russian authorities finally block YouTube...this is the week the NYT runs an op-ed entitled "Putin has Victory in his Grasp"? https://x.com/anneapplebaum/status/1823343688983945516
Am I alone in wondering what the Ukrainian aims are in this invasion? Are they hoping to be able to outflank the Russians in the Eastern Ukraine territory they're occupying, or what? Scaring hell out of ordinary Russians in the Kursk area?
At a guess - a mix of motives
1) occupy territory as a bargaining chip 2) have the devastation of war happen on Russian, not Ukrainian territory 3) relieve the pressure on other fronts 4) smash Russian shit - equipment, men, logistics 5) damage Russian morale 6) improve Ukrainian morale
I think its a classic flank manoeuvre to destabilise the Russian positions in Ukraine. Also why attack where your enemy has laid huge defences with mines and wire (the Somme) when you don't have to?
There's a report that Belarus is stripping its active military units of equipment to send to Russia, because the Russians have nothing left to defend Kursk with.
This is a sign that Russia is getting closer to the end of the war. They are running out of emergency measures that they can take.
I await the Stop The War Coalition condemning this escalation from Belarus.
There's a famous line about a sports match. Which team is winning? Neither but one is losing faster than the other. Apparently Russia has been running down its Cold War stocks of weapons. They've fired an awful lot of stuff in Ukraine. However it's also reported that morale on the Ukrainian side has been slipping and they've had difficulty with conscription. I don't blame them. The west want them to fight a war of attrition against a much larger neighbour rather than give them any kind of ADVANTAGE with things like modern fighter jets. Whilst it may seem beneficial for the Ukrainians to be fighting on Russian soil rather than trying to get through the Surovikin lines remember that they can't use certain western weapons in Kursk. Always one hand tied behind their back.
"Andrew Neil lives in France, Douglas Murray lives in New York, Tommy Robinson is hiding in Athens, Nigel Farage never visits Clacton, Laurence Fox is hiding in Ireland. That tells you everything you need to know about these 'patriots'."
It tells you they've got the good sense to get out of this declining, authoritarian toilet of a country, where you can be arrested for tweeting about pigeons as you stare at the drizzle
It seems increasingly likely that we’ll have de facto political exiles from Britain rather than just people leaving for a better lifestyle.
Preferred you when you were occasionally plausible tbh
"Andrew Neil lives in France, Douglas Murray lives in New York, Tommy Robinson is hiding in Athens, Nigel Farage never visits Clacton, Laurence Fox is hiding in Ireland. That tells you everything you need to know about these 'patriots'."
It tells you they've got the good sense to get out of this declining, authoritarian toilet of a country, where you can be arrested for tweeting about pigeons as you stare at the drizzle
It seems increasingly likely that we’ll have de facto political exiles from Britain rather than just people leaving for a better lifestyle.
Really? Seems that the British Right have gotten into a frightful strop over Sir Keir and Elon Musk.
If he is not British, but Romanian, and he is also jobless and homeless, why isn't he back in Romania?; if he was in Romania he would not be in Leicester Square, stabbing little children
I guess he could have some Right to Remain, but the article gives no indication of that. It looks - prima facie - like another huge migration failure
According to the article he can't even speak English - he needed an interpreter
Are you going to start a riot?
If we are going to have PB Riot, we need to sort some things out. But like the PB Covid Panics.
1) what biscuits to go with the urns of tea and coffee? 2) who is responsible for putting the folding chairs back in cupboard, afterwards?
@christopherhope Tory leadership contender Tom Tugendhat says the PM should not have waited a week before convening Cobra when the summer riots started, and sacked Home Office minister Jess Phillips over her comments. He says it was “the Government’a first real test and the PM fell short”.
Reminder, Bozo was on holiday during the London riots, and didn't come home...
I know you’re still obsessed with him but a reminder he was not PM and not in the govt at the time.
Oh, and Brexit has happened. Best move on, eh 😂😂😂😂
Referencing THAT poll from yesterday, Wethink have attempted to justify their methodology. They claim they simply copied an identical and well-known poll done in Germany
"To put some clarity on the first set of charts on our latest thread - the questions are a direct repeat of a European study, deatils of which can be found here - https://pnas.org/doi/epub/10.1073/pnas.2212757120 - These questions were deliberately repeated from this study to see how attitudes have changed"
"Andrew Neil lives in France, Douglas Murray lives in New York, Tommy Robinson is hiding in Athens, Nigel Farage never visits Clacton, Laurence Fox is hiding in Ireland. That tells you everything you need to know about these 'patriots'."
It tells you they've got the good sense to get out of this declining, authoritarian toilet of a country, where you can be arrested for tweeting about pigeons as you stare at the drizzle
Somebody has to fight for the UK. If not us, who?
YOU, not I
Imma done
It only remains to thank you for your brave and gallant service.
"Andrew Neil lives in France, Douglas Murray lives in New York, Tommy Robinson is hiding in Athens, Nigel Farage never visits Clacton, Laurence Fox is hiding in Ireland. That tells you everything you need to know about these 'patriots'."
It tells you they've got the good sense to get out of this declining, authoritarian toilet of a country, where you can be arrested for tweeting about pigeons as you stare at the drizzle
Long parts of the border region now clearly have neither air nor land defences, which is a good sign for Ukraine. If, as reported, Russian units are being pulled from Ukraine and Belarus to assist, that should quickly see Ukraine taking back more of its own territory in the South and East of their country.
I guess all we need now, is another bomb on the Kerch Bridge.
Tetkino is literally on the border, but it's also about 40km west of the westernmost extent of the current Ukrainian advance into Kursk.
Russia are still moving forward in Donetsk at the moment. They still have an artillery advantage, which is more decisive on static frontlines.
If the Ukrainian offensive in Kursk continues to move forwards Ukraine might be able to demolish the Kerch bridge after the end of the war, and that might come sooner than people think.
It's hard to know. We don't know to what extent Ukraine has weakened it's own defensive forces in the East to assemble the force that has moved into Kursk.
Ozempic seems to cure basically..... everything. Not just obesity and diabetes, but alcoholism and drug addiction... and parkinsons and dementia and some cancers....
Expect some pushback. There are businesses and industries who have grown up around managing these problems and done very well out of them. They won’t go down without a fight although there may be an element of rent seeking.
"Andrew Neil lives in France, Douglas Murray lives in New York, Tommy Robinson is hiding in Athens, Nigel Farage never visits Clacton, Laurence Fox is hiding in Ireland. That tells you everything you need to know about these 'patriots'."
Long parts of the border region now clearly have neither air nor land defences, which is a good sign for Ukraine. If, as reported, Russian units are being pulled from Ukraine and Belarus to assist, that should quickly see Ukraine taking back more of its own territory in the South and East of their country.
I guess all we need now, is another bomb on the Kerch Bridge.
Tetkino is literally on the border, but it's also about 40km west of the westernmost extent of the current Ukrainian advance into Kursk.
Russia are still moving forward in Donetsk at the moment. They still have an artillery advantage, which is more decisive on static frontlines.
If the Ukrainian offensive in Kursk continues to move forwards Ukraine might be able to demolish the Kerch bridge after the end of the war, and that might come sooner than people think.
It's hard to know. We don't know to what extent Ukraine has weakened it's own defensive forces in the East to assemble the force that has moved into Kursk.
The fog of war is thick, and there's lots we don't know.
But we know one thing: Ukraine have attacked into Russia, and regardless of whether are still expanding their control or not, Russia have not been able to push them back for a week.
This is a massive embarrassment for Russia, both inside Russia and internationally.
In a nutshell, that's the economy, housing, health, tax and spending paradox in data form.
It's interesting to note the level of economic inactivity has remained remarkably consistent since 2011 as has the level of employment so little changed during the time of the last Government. Exhortations to get the inactive back to work clearly had little or no impact.
I don't know how the 9.41 million is beoken down - do we have students (there will be many in full time education). There will be those who, like me, have taken early retirement. There will be others who have simply chosen not to work.
Basically, three quarters of those who can work do, the rest either want to work but can't or choose not to but we ran a fairly stable state on similar ratios before - why is it so different now? Is it?
Long parts of the border region now clearly have neither air nor land defences, which is a good sign for Ukraine. If, as reported, Russian units are being pulled from Ukraine and Belarus to assist, that should quickly see Ukraine taking back more of its own territory in the South and East of their country.
I guess all we need now, is another bomb on the Kerch Bridge.
Tetkino is literally on the border, but it's also about 40km west of the westernmost extent of the current Ukrainian advance into Kursk.
Russia are still moving forward in Donetsk at the moment. They still have an artillery advantage, which is more decisive on static frontlines.
If the Ukrainian offensive in Kursk continues to move forwards Ukraine might be able to demolish the Kerch bridge after the end of the war, and that might come sooner than people think.
It's hard to know. We don't know to what extent Ukraine has weakened it's own defensive forces in the East to assemble the force that has moved into Kursk.
The fog of war is thick, and there's lots we don't know.
But we know one thing: Ukraine have attacked into Russia, and regardless of whether are still expanding their control or not, Russia have not been able to push them back for a week.
This is a massive embarrassment for Russia, both inside Russia and internationally.
It may or may not be coincidence, but since Sir Royale Starmer, my heroic PM who is ALSO my brave MP, got rightly elected to office, mainly thanks to my vote, Camden Town has been transformed
For several years it has been getting grottier and grottier, the homeless getting more persistent, the litter worse, the grunge more intense, tent villages spriging up, ugh. Quite dystopian
Suddenly in the last six weeks (basically since I went to France) it has all changed. The tents have gone, the litter is cleared, the graffiti is being cleaned, the homeless are being hosed into the gutter. It's still a bit scruffy, it's Camden, and it gets 30 trillion visitors every weekend, who drop their crap everywhere. Nonetheless, the change is remarkable
Is this because Labour have brilliantly cleaned up the country in a month? I doubt it. But could it be a kind of "prime minister" effect? He can't have his OWN constituency looking like Downtown Dar Es Salaam, and presumably if you get a call from Number 10 in Camden Town Council you pay attention, as against the usual locals moarning
Anyway, well done Sir Kir. What a dude. Glad I voted for you
Walk up Tottenham Court Road tonight at 11pm. Count the tents and report back tomorrow.
Is it bad? It is also shite in Kentish Town, I noticed - not tents, just grot
So maybe this is a strictly Camden Town thing. Nonetheless what I report is true
One theory I have is that Sir Kir can't afford to have his very OWN constituency looking hideously run down. It screams Daily Mail article - "How the PM's own constituency looks like the Fall of Rome with extra Fentanyl" - so he has to get it sorted. But of course I might be entirely wrong and it is coincidence. Quite odd timing, tho
It's a Labour seat - of course it's hideously run down.
The really baffling thing is that people can look at the absolute state of a Labour constituency and think 'I really want my neighbourhood to be more like that!'
Could possibly be psychological, but I'm convinced Canterbury is much less nice than it was even just a decade ago...
This is weird logic on so many levels.
Are you suggesting that if - for example - Richmond Yorkshire were to elect a Labour MP, then it would only be a matter of months before a bustling market sprung up by its canal? And that dense blocks of flats would be erected?
Not mere months, but, in the longer term, yes, absolutely. And after 50 years or so of continuous Labour representation and the decline that goes therewith we'd be in riot territory, and it would start showing up in crime statistics.
One can debate how much is symptom and how much is cause, but persistent Labour-voting areas are worse, by many different metrics, than places that don't vote Labour.
I genuinely struggle to think of a single 'desirable' place anywhere in this country that has been continually Labour in my lifetime. Possibly the centre of York, but even that was Tory under Thatcher. And is less nice than it was when I first visited.
The reasons behind this are undoubtedly complex. Traditionally it may have had something to with Conservative voters having more of a sense of civic/local pride and making more of an effort, but those types of people are rapidly dying out and I fear a shortage of flower-arrangers is looming.
Long parts of the border region now clearly have neither air nor land defences, which is a good sign for Ukraine. If, as reported, Russian units are being pulled from Ukraine and Belarus to assist, that should quickly see Ukraine taking back more of its own territory in the South and East of their country.
I guess all we need now, is another bomb on the Kerch Bridge.
Tetkino is literally on the border, but it's also about 40km west of the westernmost extent of the current Ukrainian advance into Kursk.
Russia are still moving forward in Donetsk at the moment. They still have an artillery advantage, which is more decisive on static frontlines.
If the Ukrainian offensive in Kursk continues to move forwards Ukraine might be able to demolish the Kerch bridge after the end of the war, and that might come sooner than people think.
It's hard to know. We don't know to what extent Ukraine has weakened it's own defensive forces in the East to assemble the force that has moved into Kursk.
The fog of war is thick, and there's lots we don't know.
But we know one thing: Ukraine have attacked into Russia, and regardless of whether are still expanding their control or not, Russia have not been able to push them back for a week.
This is a massive embarrassment for Russia, both inside Russia and internationally.
Assuming the people of Russia have any idea about what's happening in the far South-West of their country.
Ozempic seems to cure basically..... everything. Not just obesity and diabetes, but alcoholism and drug addiction... and parkinsons and dementia and some cancers....
Expect some pushback. There are businesses and industries who have grown up around managing these problems and done very well out of them. They won’t go down without a fight although there may be an element of rent seeking.
The US FDA just turned down approval of MDMA for the treatment of post-traumatic stress.
This is despite a lot of testing in various countries that have shown remarkable results from supervised studies.
Critics of the result point to three main reasons. 1. That MDMA is out of patent 2. That the FDA is stuffed full of industry placemen who lobbied hard against it because of (1) 3. That MDMA, better known to many as Ecstasy, E, or Molly, is currently a banned drug more often seen at parties.
The suggestion is that the same study will be repeated with almost-identical $newdrug, that costs $1,000 a treatment, and the approval for that will go through just fine.
Ozempic seems to cure basically..... everything. Not just obesity and diabetes, but alcoholism and drug addiction... and parkinsons and dementia and some cancers....
How will the Belorussian army now protect themselves from their own people? Do they have anything much equivalent to the Rosgvardia?
Well, important caveat is that the report is from a single source, and it doesn't give detail on what equipment, or in what quantity, is being transferred.
Some bits of equipment - artillery, say - aren't much good as a crowd control measure.
But, yes, the regimes in Minsk and Moscow are both edging closer to the abyss.
"Andrew Neil lives in France, Douglas Murray lives in New York, Tommy Robinson is hiding in Athens, Nigel Farage never visits Clacton, Laurence Fox is hiding in Ireland. That tells you everything you need to know about these 'patriots'."
It tells you they've got the good sense to get out of this declining, authoritarian toilet of a country, where you can be arrested for tweeting about pigeons as you stare at the drizzle
It seems increasingly likely that we’ll have de facto political exiles from Britain rather than just people leaving for a better lifestyle.
"Leaving for a better lifestyle". A country isn't a tin of beans you compare to other tins of beans and pick the one you like. If Britain is not good enough then one's duty is to fix it. Because nobody else will.
It may or may not be coincidence, but since Sir Royale Starmer, my heroic PM who is ALSO my brave MP, got rightly elected to office, mainly thanks to my vote, Camden Town has been transformed
For several years it has been getting grottier and grottier, the homeless getting more persistent, the litter worse, the grunge more intense, tent villages spriging up, ugh. Quite dystopian
Suddenly in the last six weeks (basically since I went to France) it has all changed. The tents have gone, the litter is cleared, the graffiti is being cleaned, the homeless are being hosed into the gutter. It's still a bit scruffy, it's Camden, and it gets 30 trillion visitors every weekend, who drop their crap everywhere. Nonetheless, the change is remarkable
Is this because Labour have brilliantly cleaned up the country in a month? I doubt it. But could it be a kind of "prime minister" effect? He can't have his OWN constituency looking like Downtown Dar Es Salaam, and presumably if you get a call from Number 10 in Camden Town Council you pay attention, as against the usual locals moarning
Anyway, well done Sir Kir. What a dude. Glad I voted for you
Walk up Tottenham Court Road tonight at 11pm. Count the tents and report back tomorrow.
Is it bad? It is also shite in Kentish Town, I noticed - not tents, just grot
So maybe this is a strictly Camden Town thing. Nonetheless what I report is true
One theory I have is that Sir Kir can't afford to have his very OWN constituency looking hideously run down. It screams Daily Mail article - "How the PM's own constituency looks like the Fall of Rome with extra Fentanyl" - so he has to get it sorted. But of course I might be entirely wrong and it is coincidence. Quite odd timing, tho
It's a Labour seat - of course it's hideously run down.
The really baffling thing is that people can look at the absolute state of a Labour constituency and think 'I really want my neighbourhood to be more like that!'
Could possibly be psychological, but I'm convinced Canterbury is much less nice than it was even just a decade ago...
This is weird logic on so many levels.
Are you suggesting that if - for example - Richmond Yorkshire were to elect a Labour MP, then it would only be a matter of months before a bustling market sprung up by its canal? And that dense blocks of flats would be erected?
Not mere months, but, in the longer term, yes, absolutely. And after 50 years or so of continuous Labour representation and the decline that goes therewith we'd be in riot territory, and it would start showing up in crime statistics.
One can debate how much is symptom and how much is cause, but persistent Labour-voting areas are worse, by many different metrics, than places that don't vote Labour.
I genuinely struggle to think of a single 'desirable' place anywhere in this country that has been continually Labour in my lifetime. Possibly the centre of York, but even that was Tory under Thatcher. And is less nice than it was when I first visited.
The reasons behind this are undoubtedly complex. Traditionally it may have had something to with Conservative voters having more of a sense of civic/local pride and making more of an effort, but those types of people are rapidly dying out and I fear a shortage of flower-arrangers is looming.
The truth is most of the wealthy areas in this country now have Liberal Democrat MPs and Liberal Democrat-run councils.
"Andrew Neil lives in France, Douglas Murray lives in New York, Tommy Robinson is hiding in Athens, Nigel Farage never visits Clacton, Laurence Fox is hiding in Ireland. That tells you everything you need to know about these 'patriots'."
"Andrew Neil lives in France, Douglas Murray lives in New York, Tommy Robinson is hiding in Athens, Nigel Farage never visits Clacton, Laurence Fox is hiding in Ireland. That tells you everything you need to know about these 'patriots'."
"Andrew Neil lives in France, Douglas Murray lives in New York, Tommy Robinson is hiding in Athens, Nigel Farage never visits Clacton, Laurence Fox is hiding in Ireland. That tells you everything you need to know about these 'patriots'."
It tells you they've got the good sense to get out of this declining, authoritarian toilet of a country, where you can be arrested for tweeting about pigeons as you stare at the drizzle
It seems increasingly likely that we’ll have de facto political exiles from Britain rather than just people leaving for a better lifestyle.
"Leaving for a better lifestyle". A country isn't a tin of beans you compare to other tins of beans and pick the one you like. If Britain is not good enough then one's duty is to fix it. Because nobody else will.
Those with wealth who do have the option of going somewhere more amenable to their politics seem to forget the vast majority don't have that "freedom".
Let's not forget barely six weeks ago the Conservative Government was decisively rejected losing two thirds of its MPs and nearly half the vote. Some may be suffering from buyers' remorse over that but I suspect most aren't (yet).
Basically, three quarters of those who can work do, the rest either want to work but can't or choose not to but we ran a fairly stable state on similar ratios before - why is it so different now? Is it?
Differences I would identify are. 1. Decline in the proportion of the working-age population. 2. Failure to increase productivity. 3. Increase in rent-extraction.
(1) means that the remaining workers have to produce more to support the greater numbers of retired. Increasing the proportion of the working age population who work, from 75% to 85% would be one way to make up for the lack of productivity growth (2).
That rent-seeking (3) has increased, some of it by foreign capital, also means that there is less to go round. And Britain is sort of running up a down escalator in that regard, because they're continuing to sell off assets to finance short-term expenditure.
It may or may not be coincidence, but since Sir Royale Starmer, my heroic PM who is ALSO my brave MP, got rightly elected to office, mainly thanks to my vote, Camden Town has been transformed
For several years it has been getting grottier and grottier, the homeless getting more persistent, the litter worse, the grunge more intense, tent villages spriging up, ugh. Quite dystopian
Suddenly in the last six weeks (basically since I went to France) it has all changed. The tents have gone, the litter is cleared, the graffiti is being cleaned, the homeless are being hosed into the gutter. It's still a bit scruffy, it's Camden, and it gets 30 trillion visitors every weekend, who drop their crap everywhere. Nonetheless, the change is remarkable
Is this because Labour have brilliantly cleaned up the country in a month? I doubt it. But could it be a kind of "prime minister" effect? He can't have his OWN constituency looking like Downtown Dar Es Salaam, and presumably if you get a call from Number 10 in Camden Town Council you pay attention, as against the usual locals moarning
Anyway, well done Sir Kir. What a dude. Glad I voted for you
Walk up Tottenham Court Road tonight at 11pm. Count the tents and report back tomorrow.
Is it bad? It is also shite in Kentish Town, I noticed - not tents, just grot
So maybe this is a strictly Camden Town thing. Nonetheless what I report is true
One theory I have is that Sir Kir can't afford to have his very OWN constituency looking hideously run down. It screams Daily Mail article - "How the PM's own constituency looks like the Fall of Rome with extra Fentanyl" - so he has to get it sorted. But of course I might be entirely wrong and it is coincidence. Quite odd timing, tho
It's a Labour seat - of course it's hideously run down.
The really baffling thing is that people can look at the absolute state of a Labour constituency and think 'I really want my neighbourhood to be more like that!'
Could possibly be psychological, but I'm convinced Canterbury is much less nice than it was even just a decade ago...
This is weird logic on so many levels.
Are you suggesting that if - for example - Richmond Yorkshire were to elect a Labour MP, then it would only be a matter of months before a bustling market sprung up by its canal? And that dense blocks of flats would be erected?
Not mere months, but, in the longer term, yes, absolutely. And after 50 years or so of continuous Labour representation and the decline that goes therewith we'd be in riot territory, and it would start showing up in crime statistics.
One can debate how much is symptom and how much is cause, but persistent Labour-voting areas are worse, by many different metrics, than places that don't vote Labour.
I genuinely struggle to think of a single 'desirable' place anywhere in this country that has been continually Labour in my lifetime. Possibly the centre of York, but even that was Tory under Thatcher. And is less nice than it was when I first visited.
The reasons behind this are undoubtedly complex. Traditionally it may have had something to with Conservative voters having more of a sense of civic/local pride and making more of an effort, but those types of people are rapidly dying out and I fear a shortage of flower-arrangers is looming.
The truth is most of the wealthy areas in this country now have Liberal Democrat MPs and Liberal Democrat-run councils.
And no doubt we will go to rack and ruin in no time like Richmond and Twickenham have. Ghastly places of deprivation and poverty.
There's a report that Belarus is stripping its active military units of equipment to send to Russia, because the Russians have nothing left to defend Kursk with.
This is a sign that Russia is getting closer to the end of the war. They are running out of emergency measures that they can take.
They've already stripped down their own Soviet back catalogue, followed by Iran of its available equipment and are now using North Korean munitions and motorbikes they're that desperate.
Culmination is coming. Putin's hope was that the war would drag into Trump's presidency and Trump would pull the plug on Ukraine, but now that hope is being snuffed out too.
It may or may not be coincidence, but since Sir Royale Starmer, my heroic PM who is ALSO my brave MP, got rightly elected to office, mainly thanks to my vote, Camden Town has been transformed
For several years it has been getting grottier and grottier, the homeless getting more persistent, the litter worse, the grunge more intense, tent villages spriging up, ugh. Quite dystopian
Suddenly in the last six weeks (basically since I went to France) it has all changed. The tents have gone, the litter is cleared, the graffiti is being cleaned, the homeless are being hosed into the gutter. It's still a bit scruffy, it's Camden, and it gets 30 trillion visitors every weekend, who drop their crap everywhere. Nonetheless, the change is remarkable
Is this because Labour have brilliantly cleaned up the country in a month? I doubt it. But could it be a kind of "prime minister" effect? He can't have his OWN constituency looking like Downtown Dar Es Salaam, and presumably if you get a call from Number 10 in Camden Town Council you pay attention, as against the usual locals moarning
Anyway, well done Sir Kir. What a dude. Glad I voted for you
Walk up Tottenham Court Road tonight at 11pm. Count the tents and report back tomorrow.
Is it bad? It is also shite in Kentish Town, I noticed - not tents, just grot
So maybe this is a strictly Camden Town thing. Nonetheless what I report is true
One theory I have is that Sir Kir can't afford to have his very OWN constituency looking hideously run down. It screams Daily Mail article - "How the PM's own constituency looks like the Fall of Rome with extra Fentanyl" - so he has to get it sorted. But of course I might be entirely wrong and it is coincidence. Quite odd timing, tho
It's a Labour seat - of course it's hideously run down.
The really baffling thing is that people can look at the absolute state of a Labour constituency and think 'I really want my neighbourhood to be more like that!'
Could possibly be psychological, but I'm convinced Canterbury is much less nice than it was even just a decade ago...
This is weird logic on so many levels.
Are you suggesting that if - for example - Richmond Yorkshire were to elect a Labour MP, then it would only be a matter of months before a bustling market sprung up by its canal? And that dense blocks of flats would be erected?
Not mere months, but, in the longer term, yes, absolutely. And after 50 years or so of continuous Labour representation and the decline that goes therewith we'd be in riot territory, and it would start showing up in crime statistics.
One can debate how much is symptom and how much is cause, but persistent Labour-voting areas are worse, by many different metrics, than places that don't vote Labour.
I genuinely struggle to think of a single 'desirable' place anywhere in this country that has been continually Labour in my lifetime. Possibly the centre of York, but even that was Tory under Thatcher. And is less nice than it was when I first visited.
The reasons behind this are undoubtedly complex. Traditionally it may have had something to with Conservative voters having more of a sense of civic/local pride and making more of an effort, but those types of people are rapidly dying out and I fear a shortage of flower-arrangers is looming.
@christopherhope Tory leadership contender Tom Tugendhat says the PM should not have waited a week before convening Cobra when the summer riots started, and sacked Home Office minister Jess Phillips over her comments. He says it was “the Government’a first real test and the PM fell short”.
Reminder, Bozo was on holiday during the London riots, and didn't come home...
I was planning on voting for Tom in this election but boy is he coming across as a snivelling little shit during this campaign.
Hey at least he's showing his true colours before you wasted your vote on him...
I think it might have to vote for James Cleverly as the least worst option.
It baffles me why Cleverly, having been a perfectly capable Foreign Secretary, should behave so weirdly on moving to the Home Office.
Is there something in the water fountain?
Suspect that having to justify the unjustifiable for a living will do that to a chap.
@trussliz I am appalled by the attacks on free speech in Britain and Europe.
We can't be truly free without free speech.
Good for @elonmusk and @X for standing up to these bullies.
Farage says Keir Starmer is the biggest threat to free speech we've seen in our history.
The real threat is from people who say things like that imo.
Elon Musk is becoming a massive problem for western governments. The problem is this: He is not being subtle. He is saying 'it is a war and you have to choose a side', and his message goes down well with a lot of people. It works against trying to achieve any kind of cohesion and inclusion.
However, in a deeper sense it could be interpreted as a delayed reaction/realisation to changes bought forward by governments of both left and right whilst in power over the last 30 years, ie legislation about equalities, hate speech, harrassment etc which do act as a significant limit on free political expression, particularly by 'majority' groups.
I have said a few times that the example of Finland is one that we would do well to look at, the 'far right' are part of the political culture, and have been for the last 20 years, but they are integrated and not excluded from it, however reluctantly.
I don't think you need a grand theory of "delayed reaction/realisation to changes bought forward by governments of both left and right" to explain Musk's behaviour. He's acting like a 15-year old edgelord; he's been sucked in by a process of social media radicalisation. The problem is a system that gives so much power to deluded tech bros.
It's a spillover of electing Trump President. Once you've given up on any basic levels of expected common sense, this is what you get.
If the Governing consensus were operating in the realms of 'common sense', Musk wouldn't be getting any traction. Open borders don't make any sense as we traditionally understand the term. Nor does the Implementation of Net Zero. If the Governing class decides to take leave of its senses and force through deeply unpopular and anti-person policies, someone will fill the vacuum.
We don't have open borders.
Sophistry. We've had mass migration so they haven't exactly been closed.
We took back control. The vast majority of that migration was under the direct control of the UK government. That is not an open border. But don't take it from me: there are several here on PB who can talk to you about how difficult it is bringing a spouse into the UK!
Now, you may well be unhappy on the decisions the UK government took over immigration, but the government that took the decisions that led to high levels of immigration has recently been voted out of office.
You are arguing against a point that no-one has made. I'm not absolving the UK Government of responsibility for the open borders approach, far from it.
How will the Belorussian army now protect themselves from their own people? Do they have anything much equivalent to the Rosgvardia?
Well, important caveat is that the report is from a single source, and it doesn't give detail on what equipment, or in what quantity, is being transferred.
Some bits of equipment - artillery, say - aren't much good as a crowd control measure.
But, yes, the regimes in Minsk and Moscow are both edging closer to the abyss.
In a nutshell, that's the economy, housing, health, tax and spending paradox in data form.
It's interesting to note the level of economic inactivity has remained remarkably consistent since 2011 as has the level of employment so little changed during the time of the last Government. Exhortations to get the inactive back to work clearly had little or no impact.
I don't know how the 9.41 million is beoken down - do we have students (there will be many in full time education). There will be those who, like me, have taken early retirement. There will be others who have simply chosen not to work.
Basically, three quarters of those who can work do, the rest either want to work but can't or choose not to but we ran a fairly stable state on similar ratios before - why is it so different now? Is it?
How do full time parents and carers fit into this?
It may or may not be coincidence, but since Sir Royale Starmer, my heroic PM who is ALSO my brave MP, got rightly elected to office, mainly thanks to my vote, Camden Town has been transformed
For several years it has been getting grottier and grottier, the homeless getting more persistent, the litter worse, the grunge more intense, tent villages spriging up, ugh. Quite dystopian
Suddenly in the last six weeks (basically since I went to France) it has all changed. The tents have gone, the litter is cleared, the graffiti is being cleaned, the homeless are being hosed into the gutter. It's still a bit scruffy, it's Camden, and it gets 30 trillion visitors every weekend, who drop their crap everywhere. Nonetheless, the change is remarkable
Is this because Labour have brilliantly cleaned up the country in a month? I doubt it. But could it be a kind of "prime minister" effect? He can't have his OWN constituency looking like Downtown Dar Es Salaam, and presumably if you get a call from Number 10 in Camden Town Council you pay attention, as against the usual locals moarning
Anyway, well done Sir Kir. What a dude. Glad I voted for you
Walk up Tottenham Court Road tonight at 11pm. Count the tents and report back tomorrow.
Is it bad? It is also shite in Kentish Town, I noticed - not tents, just grot
So maybe this is a strictly Camden Town thing. Nonetheless what I report is true
One theory I have is that Sir Kir can't afford to have his very OWN constituency looking hideously run down. It screams Daily Mail article - "How the PM's own constituency looks like the Fall of Rome with extra Fentanyl" - so he has to get it sorted. But of course I might be entirely wrong and it is coincidence. Quite odd timing, tho
It's a Labour seat - of course it's hideously run down.
The really baffling thing is that people can look at the absolute state of a Labour constituency and think 'I really want my neighbourhood to be more like that!'
Could possibly be psychological, but I'm convinced Canterbury is much less nice than it was even just a decade ago...
This is weird logic on so many levels.
Are you suggesting that if - for example - Richmond Yorkshire were to elect a Labour MP, then it would only be a matter of months before a bustling market sprung up by its canal? And that dense blocks of flats would be erected?
Now you have me wondering... What's the least plausible-sounding current Labour seat? The one that Michael Dobbs's editor would have pulled him up and said "Homicidal PM? Maybe. But nobody will believe a Labour MP from there."
Has Leon heard anything from his MAGA sources? Trump suddenly sounds old and vulnerable, and that might be a positive spin.
If The Leonster has come across that photo of Katie Price on his regular patrol of Twitter's mottled underbelly then clear your agendas, lads, because that'll be all we hear about for days.
Do you have a link?
y'all need to rename the sandpit to the shitpit
If that’s who I think it is, we definitely don’t want that whale polluting our beach.
Many years ago (early 2000s) I had a friend who worked for the Foreign Office and he was on the Middle East desk and one of his jobs was to scour local news articles for info.
One thing he used to do was to google ‘Syria’, ‘Lebanon’ etc, but the first time he googled ‘Jordan’ it led to him having a discussion with HR.
Were they willing to pay for ALL the therapy he required?
They were not.
Makes me glad I didn’t apply for a job with the Foreign Office.
I had I would have become an ambassador by now, I had all the skills, multi lingual, subtlety and nuance.
In alternate universe I could be His Majesty’s Most Excellent Ambassador Extraordinaire and Plenipotentiary to France.
On topic: In 1980, the Republican platform included this, on abortion: "There can be no doubt that the question of abortion, despite the complex nature of its various issues, is ultimately concerned with equality of rights under the law. While we recognize differing views on this question among Americans in general—and in our own Party—we affirm our support of a constitutional amendment to restore protection of the right to life for unborn children. We also support the Congressional efforts to restrict the use of taxpayers' dollars for abortion.
Candidates, after that, usually accepted three exceptions, rape, incest, and the life of he mother.
There is some irony about that because that convention nominated Ronald Reagan who, as governor of California, had signed a bill permitting abortion.
Before then the debate over abortion was -- mostly -- a debate between Catholics and Jews and mainline Protestants. So, there were many elected Catholic Democrats who were pro-life.
Comments
Tory leadership contender Tom Tugendhat says the PM should not have waited a week before convening Cobra when the summer riots started, and sacked Home Office minister Jess Phillips over her comments.
He says it was “the Government’a first real test and the PM fell short”.
Reminder, Bozo was on holiday during the London riots, and didn't come home...
As Ukrainian soldiers take more Russian territory, as Russian soldiers loot their compatriots' evacuated homes, as paranoid Russian authorities finally block YouTube...this is the week the NYT runs an op-ed entitled "Putin has Victory in his Grasp"?
https://x.com/anneapplebaum/status/1823343688983945516
Now, you may well be unhappy on the decisions the UK government took over immigration, but the government that took the decisions that led to high levels of immigration has recently been voted out of office.
Scaring hell out of ordinary Russians in the Kursk area?
The failings of the Tory government's Rwanda policy are terrible. So much public money down the drain. But they don't in any way demonstrate that we have open borders.
Bit of a warning for the West as a whole though. Just as Ukraine has called Russia's deterrence bluff, so might China call our bluff over Taiwan.
Makes me glad I didn’t apply for a job with the Foreign Office.
I had I would have become an ambassador by now, I had all the skills, multi lingual, subtlety and nuance.
In alternate universe I could be His Majesty’s Most Excellent Ambassador Extraordinaire and Plenipotentiary to France.
He's on the side of the party I ought to approve off, but I just can't see him as an effective leader.
"A 32-year-old man has appeared in court charged with attempted murder after an 11-year-old girl was stabbed in London’s Leicester Square on Monday.
Ioan Pintaru, a Romanian national with no fixed address, is also charged with possession of a bladed article."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5y3e6dl6wgo
If he is not British, but Romanian, and he is also jobless and homeless, why isn't he back in Romania?; if he was in Romania he would not be in Leicester Square, stabbing little children
I guess he could have some Right to Remain, but the article gives no indication of that. It looks - prima facie - like another huge migration failure
According to the article he can't even speak English - he needed an interpreter
That tells you everything you need to know about these 'patriots'."
- 3:19 PM Aug 10, 2024 https://x.com/BladeoftheS/status/1822276515440005329
2. Regain the initiative after almost 2 years of slow motion defeats.
3. Keep the western alliance of super friends interested.
4. They can't get anywhere in the four contested oblasts so they've got to do something and this is something.
It both hurts and helps VVP domestically. On one hand, he and his generals look like twats. On the other hand he's been saying for years that Ukraine wants NATO assistance to invade Russia; a view that was dismissed and derided inside Russia and abroad. Now, well here they fucking are.
Task & Purpose has a rather sad explanation for this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kndAdLxnasM
Basically, the battle lines in the East and South of the country are *nearly* frozen, but not *actually* frozen, and the Russians are still advancing - slowly, but advancing. The Ukranians have done the math and despite moving the draft age down to 24-ish from 27-ish, I think have worked out that they don't know how to stop it. So they need to do some lateral thinking.
The intent of the Russian incursion is twofold: i) persuade the UKR people that they are still in the fight, and ii) try to get the Russians to divert forces away from the occupied zones. It's not a bad idea, but it's the action of somebody who isn't winning.
It could be about relieving pressure on the front by drawing away Russian reinforcements; it could be gaining territory to bargain with in a peace settlement; it could be the sort of grand manoeuvre you suggest; it could be to inflict political damage on Putin.
Or something else completely.
So long as they're inflicting sufficient damage in relation to the cost, then all of the above remain possible.
Apart from the odd word!
With Musk, there is an element of what you are saying that is correct; but what is really significant and dangerous is that people with enormous power and influence are dropping the idea that any of these issues can be resolved through the democratic political system.
If there is any hope of saving the system, the elite need to stop believing they are right all the time and start to be more self critical and start listening to everyone. This is to build a credible system that accommodates differing views, rather than one that exists solely to impose an elite worldview on everyone else.
Ukraine snatching Russian territory to stop cross-border shelling, Zelenskyy says
https://www.politico.eu/article/ukraine-snatch-russia-territory-stop-cross-border-shelling-volodymyr-zelenskyy-kursk-region/
..In his nightly address to his nation late Monday, Zelenskyy said Ukraine was targeting "the areas from which the Russian army launches strikes on our Sumy," adding that almost 2,100 shells had been fired from Russia's Kursk region since June 1. "Therefore, our operations are purely a security matter for Ukraine — the liberation of the border area from the Russian military."..
It's also evening up the playing field. Before now Ukraine has had to keep forces ready to defend the borders of several regions in case Russia should attack there again, but Russia has not done so. Now Russia cannot concentrate all its forces in the Donbass, because they have to match Ukrainian forces in Kursk.
And also, it has psychological value in showing Russian weakness. Russia can't defend its borders. Putin is not a strongman, he's a weakling. Ukraine have also shown that they're finding it easier to destroy Russian forces and capture Russian soldiers with the more fluid frontline in Kursk, than attacking heavily fortified defensive positions in Donetsk.
Ukraine are fighting on territory that is more favourable to them. And now they have Russian territory to trade for Ukrainian territory in any future peace talks.
Is there something in the water fountain?
Imma done
@POLITICOEurope
🚨 BREAKING: President Vladimir Putin has pulled units out of Ukraine to defend Russia, Kyiv has said.
https://x.com/POLITICOEurope/status/1823356914178077027
This is a sign that Russia is getting closer to the end of the war. They are running out of emergency measures that they can take.
"To put some clarity on the first set of charts on our latest thread - the questions are a direct repeat of a European study, deatils of which can be found here - https://pnas.org/doi/epub/10.1073/pnas.2212757120 - These questions were deliberately repeated from this study to see how attitudes have changed"
https://x.com/wethinkpolling/status/1823298336306221339
Ozempic seems to cure basically..... everything. Not just obesity and diabetes, but alcoholism and drug addiction... and parkinsons and dementia and some cancers....
https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/why-does-ozempic-cure-all-diseases?
https://x.com/osinttechnical/status/1823361259166687287
Long parts of the border region now clearly have neither air nor land defences, which is a good sign for Ukraine. If, as reported, Russian units are being pulled from Ukraine and Belarus to assist, that should quickly see Ukraine taking back more of its own territory in the South and East of their country.
I guess all we need now, is another bomb on the Kerch Bridge.
1) occupy territory as a bargaining chip
2) have the devastation of war happen on Russian, not Ukrainian territory
3) relieve the pressure on other fronts
4) smash Russian shit - equipment, men, logistics
5) damage Russian morale
6) improve Ukrainian morale
1) what biscuits to go with the urns of tea and coffee?
2) who is responsible for putting the folding chairs back in cupboard, afterwards?
Oh, and Brexit has happened. Best move on, eh 😂😂😂😂
Russia are still moving forward in Donetsk at the moment. They still have an artillery advantage, which is more decisive on static frontlines.
If the Ukrainian offensive in Kursk continues to move forwards Ukraine might be able to demolish the Kerch bridge after the end of the war, and that might come sooner than people think.
It's hard to know. We don't know to what extent Ukraine has weakened it's own defensive forces in the East to assemble the force that has moved into Kursk.
If you live abroad do you suddenly stop caring about your home nation ?
Blade of the Sun also seems to think there is a University in Borehamwood. Although they did film the On the Buses films there.
But we know one thing: Ukraine have attacked into Russia, and regardless of whether are still expanding their control or not, Russia have not been able to push them back for a week.
This is a massive embarrassment for Russia, both inside Russia and internationally.
https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-9366/#:~:text=The UK unemployment rate was 4.4%, and 1.53,economically inactive, and the inactivity rate was 22.1%.
The figures should be treated with some caution
In a nutshell, that's the economy, housing, health, tax and spending paradox in data form.
It's interesting to note the level of economic inactivity has remained remarkably consistent since 2011 as has the level of employment so little changed during the time of the last Government. Exhortations to get the inactive back to work clearly had little or no impact.
I don't know how the 9.41 million is beoken down - do we have students (there will be many in full time education). There will be those who, like me, have taken early retirement. There will be others who have simply chosen not to work.
Basically, three quarters of those who can work do, the rest either want to work but can't or choose not to but we ran a fairly stable state on similar ratios before - why is it so different now? Is it?
Not mere months, but, in the longer term, yes, absolutely. And after 50 years or so of continuous Labour representation and the decline that goes therewith we'd be in riot territory, and it would start showing up in crime statistics.
One can debate how much is symptom and how much is cause, but persistent Labour-voting areas are worse, by many different metrics, than places that don't vote Labour.
I genuinely struggle to think of a single 'desirable' place anywhere in this country that has been continually Labour in my lifetime. Possibly the centre of York, but even that was Tory under Thatcher. And is less nice than it was when I first visited.
The reasons behind this are undoubtedly complex. Traditionally it may have had something to with Conservative voters having more of a sense of civic/local pride and making more of an effort, but those types of people are rapidly dying out and I fear a shortage of flower-arrangers is looming.
https://x.com/royal_greenwich/status/1823298556083503353
https://edition.cnn.com/2024/08/13/health/mdma-ptsd-studies-retracted-whats-next/index.html
This is despite a lot of testing in various countries that have shown remarkable results from supervised studies.
Critics of the result point to three main reasons.
1. That MDMA is out of patent
2. That the FDA is stuffed full of industry placemen who lobbied hard against it because of (1)
3. That MDMA, better known to many as Ecstasy, E, or Molly, is currently a banned drug more often seen at parties.
The suggestion is that the same study will be repeated with almost-identical $newdrug, that costs $1,000 a treatment, and the approval for that will go through just fine.
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (Prozac, Seroxat) were seen as miracle drugs 30 years ago.
Until they weren't.
Some bits of equipment - artillery, say - aren't much good as a crowd control measure.
But, yes, the regimes in Minsk and Moscow are both edging closer to the abyss.
It's entirely possible that both men are hypocritical Authoritarian thunderfucks for whom freedoms never come without caveat or qualification.
And by 'entirely possible' I mean 'true', obviously...
Let's not forget barely six weeks ago the Conservative Government was decisively rejected losing two thirds of its MPs and nearly half the vote. Some may be suffering from buyers' remorse over that but I suspect most aren't (yet).
1. Decline in the proportion of the working-age population.
2. Failure to increase productivity.
3. Increase in rent-extraction.
(1) means that the remaining workers have to produce more to support the greater numbers of retired. Increasing the proportion of the working age population who work, from 75% to 85% would be one way to make up for the lack of productivity growth (2).
That rent-seeking (3) has increased, some of it by foreign capital, also means that there is less to go round. And Britain is sort of running up a down escalator in that regard, because they're continuing to sell off assets to finance short-term expenditure.
Culmination is coming. Putin's hope was that the war would drag into Trump's presidency and Trump would pull the plug on Ukraine, but now that hope is being snuffed out too.
Oh dear, what a shame, nevermind.
'America stands on the edge of the abyss!'
'And where are we?'
'One step ahead!'
First bid: Isle of Wight West.
Those from Team GB who stayed until the end in Paris booked out a Eurostar train yesterday, and took photos on the platform at St Pancras.
https://x.com/ForecasterEnten/status/1823371599153594823
Double-entendre les Francais à se soumettre.
It could work.
"There can be no doubt that the question of abortion, despite the complex nature of its various issues, is ultimately concerned with equality of rights under the law. While we recognize differing views on this question among Americans in general—and in our own Party—we affirm our support of a constitutional amendment to restore protection of the right to life for unborn children. We also support the Congressional efforts to restrict the use of taxpayers' dollars for abortion.
We protest the Supreme Court's intrusion into the family structure through its denial of the parent's obligation and right to guide their minor children."
source: https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/republican-party-platform-1980
Candidates, after that, usually accepted three exceptions, rape, incest, and the life of he mother.
There is some irony about that because that convention nominated Ronald Reagan who, as governor of California, had signed a bill permitting abortion.
Before then the debate over abortion was -- mostly -- a debate between Catholics and Jews and mainline Protestants. So, there were many elected Catholic Democrats who were pro-life.