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The State of the Union, Week 4 – politicalbetting.com

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  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,795

    They literally have on the record quotes from Andrew Gwynne, the public health minister, saying the opposite.
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/09/23/pubs-to-call-last-orders-early-under-labour-nanny-state/

    Does the left hand not know what the right hand is doing?
    This is the full quote from Gwynne. “These are discussions that we have got to have – even if it’s just about tightening up on some of the hours of operation; particularly where there are concerns that people are drinking too much.”

    Infer as you will. To me it looks like a sanction for problem venues. But, as I say, let’s see.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,336
    edited September 2024
    RobD said:

    I'm pretty sure that's a gif from a previous conference, not the one this year.
    Yes, there is a claim that this is actually when Starmer got covered with glitter (a year ago?). If so, this is bolleux
  • That’s a value judgement, that it’s a “problem”. Is it any worse than booze health-wise? Tobacco?
    Yes.

    Coke makes people utter twats.
  • RobDRobD Posts: 60,317
    Leon said:

    Yes, there is a claim that this is actually when Starmer got covered with glitter (a year ago?). If so, this is bolleux
    Indeed it is, I just posted the link to a tweet from 11 months ago.
  • maxhmaxh Posts: 1,573
    Roger said:

    Michael Portillo did the best dismantling job I've ever seen done by a politician on a 'journalist'. She is a real piece of work. ....

    Portillo and Abbott were a double act and Vine was in the studio with them and Andrew Neil. They read out an article about Ed Miliband at home with his wife that she'd written and Portillo asked if she didn't feel ashamed writing something like that when her husband is himself a politician?

    She at least blushed. But it was quite disgusting and personal and she knew it. Abbott couldn't bring herself to say anything but Portillo to his credit said it was sickening.
    I think this might just be my favourite PB sub-thread of all time. An utterly vitriolic attack (no doubt entirely deserved) suddenly veers with no warning into a deconstruction of Sarah Vine's journalistic qualities.

    I know tempers might still be raised but chapeau to you all nevertheless.
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,795
    RobD said:

    I'm pretty sure that's a gif from a previous conference, not the one this year.
    Maybe, Rachel was in a plum coloured today for her speech, not black, I suppose she might have changed?
  • That’s a value judgement, that it’s a “problem”. Is it any worse than booze health-wise? Tobacco?
    Yes. If you take enough you die in your 30s,or 40s of heart problems. It transforms 98% of users into complete arseholes. Getting it to the end user entails unimaginable cruelty and suffering. I have seen, for instance, the video popularly called "funkytown" of a bloke in Colombia having his hands taken off with a chainsaw and my value judgment is that that sort of thing ought not to happen. And I doubt it was great for him "health-wise".
  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,336
    RobD said:

    Indeed it is, I just posted the link to a tweet from 11 months ago.
    Yes, my bad
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 30,515
    edited September 2024
    Leon said:

    It is quite remarkable
    Twitter misinfo - this is a reaction from when Keir got covered in glitter last year.

    Think we should delete it or something - I was feeling sorry for Reeves even before I knew the clip was bogus.
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 83,160
    edited September 2024
    Roger said:

    What's the crime? Listening to the radio while driving a scooter. They are a bit odd. I was stopped for not wearing gloves which is a new law. Odder still the gloves have to be black
    Its illegal to listen to headphones while in operation of a car, scooter, motorbike, etc in France. You aren't even allowed to use hand-free headsets for calls.
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,795

    How would they know? They are not at the party conference where policy is being outlined at fringe meetings.
    I’ve been to lots of party conferences (of all parties) and lots of stuff gets floated that never gets anywhere near policy. Why don’t you wait and see?
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,795
    RobD said:

    Yes, it was from when Starmer got glitter bombed about a year ago:

    https://x.com/HenryRiley1/status/1711763299656724945

    Good spot.
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,795
    Roger said:

    What's the crime? Listening to the radio while driving a scooter. They are a bit odd. I was stopped for not wearing gloves which is a new law. Odder still the gloves have to be black
    Ha ha, peak France 😄
  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,336
    I am watching Michel Roux's French country cooking and he just told everyone that Francois Mittterand used to eat sea squirts with scrambled eggs for breakfast, "for his Mojo"

    SEA SQUIRTS
  • TresTres Posts: 2,787

    They literally have on the record quotes from Andrew Gwynne, the public health minister, saying the opposite.
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/09/23/pubs-to-call-last-orders-early-under-labour-nanny-state/

    Does the left hand not know what the right hand is doing?
    It's the Telegraph, even decades ago when it wasn't a complete comic it was never the place to go for Labour party exclusives.
  • FishingFishing Posts: 5,464
    edited September 2024

    You know when we all used to have a little bit of a chuckle and a joke about Starmer being a humourless sod?

    Maybe he actually is a humourless sod, who really does get his kicks out of being solemn and telling people what they can or can’t do and banning stuff and telling people it’s best for them? And that’s who we’ve elected, and we’re in for five years of misery and being told off and being given charmless Arsenal anecdotes?

    It could be a long five years….
    Please no sneer, smear or leer for two-tier free gear Keir.
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,795

    Yes.

    Coke makes people utter twats.
    Well so the tired stereotype goes. More likely it makes some people unpleasant, some people energetic and some people happy. Just like booze, it affects different people differently I should think.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 54,251
    rcs1000 said:

    Well, he did offer to impregnate Taylor Swift.
    I THINK that was Elon Musk...
  • Yes.

    Coke makes people utter twats.
    Happy Shopper Cola!
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,795
    edited September 2024
    mercator said:

    Yes. If you take enough you die in your 30s,or 40s of heart problems. It transforms 98% of users into complete arseholes. Getting it to the end user entails unimaginable cruelty and suffering. I have seen, for instance, the video popularly called "funkytown" of a bloke in Colombia having his hands taken off with a chainsaw and my value judgment is that that sort of thing ought not to happen. And I doubt it was great for him "health-wise".
    Well the latter two-thirds of your post are a consequence of its prohibition. Booze is a killer - a big killer - if, just as you rightly point out with cocaine, “you take enough”.
  • Well so the tired stereotype goes. More likely it makes some people unpleasant, some people energetic and some people happy. Just like booze, it affects different people differently I should think.
    "I should think."
  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,336

    Well the latter two-thirds of your post are a consequence of its prohibition. Booze is a killer - a big killer - if, just as you rightly point out with cocaine, “you take enough”.
    I am generally quite pessimistic about drug control, but it is worth noting that, for the first time in a long time, Fentanyl overdoses are DOWN

    No one is quite sure why

    https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/nchs_press_releases/2024/20240515.htm
  • Ha ha, peak France 😄
    The Style Police :)
  • carnforthcarnforth Posts: 5,558
    Leon said:

    I am watching Michel Roux's French country cooking and he just told everyone that Francois Mittterand used to eat sea squirts with scrambled eggs for breakfast, "for his Mojo"

    SEA SQUIRTS

    And for dinner, Ortolan Bunting:

    https://interconnected.org/home/2021/06/23/songbird

    Bad as a pet cat.
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,795
    Leon said:

    Yes, my bad
    Maybe check your sources before posting any old nasty inaccurate shite you find on Twatz here. Kudos to @RobD and @Luckyguy1983 for being good eggs.
  • BartholomewRobertsBartholomewRoberts Posts: 23,276
    edited September 2024

    Well the latter two-thirds of your post are a consequence of its prohibition. Booze is a killer - a big killer - if, just as you rightly point out with cocaine, “you take enough”.
    On the former point you are right which is why I would end prohibition, but it is a completely false equivalence to pretend that booze is as bad as coke, its not.

    Coke turns its users into complete and utter twats in a way that booze does not.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,336

    Maybe check your sources before posting any old nasty inaccurate shite you find on Twatz here. Kudos to @RobD and @Luckyguy1983 for being good eggs.
    I checked myself and amended myself, as you can see. But otherwise, thanks
  • You amuse me, you're all in favour of land being used for fracking to generate energy . . . but if land gets turned to solar farms or wind farms to generate energy then you scream that its disgraceful as that land should be used to produce food and nothing else.

    Why is it OK for people to use their own land for fracking to generate energy, but not OK to use their own land for solar or wind if that's what they want to do with it?
    I have not proposed a ban on solar farms, and I certainly haven't proposed to ban wind turbines from farms because as far as I know you can still farm around wind turbines.

    I do believe that it's perverse to incentivise the building of solar on good agricultural land, and what farmers should be incentivised to do is produce food. It seems unlikely that fracking does prevent agricultural land use in the same way that solar farms do - I imagine their impact is more like that of wind turbines. But if they do preclude agriculture in and around them, of course that should should be judged on a case by case basis, clearly not by a blanket ban. As PB's favourite libertarian, are you in favour of continuing the ban?
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,795

    On the former point you are right which is why I would end prohibition, but it is a completely false equivalence to pretend that booze is as bad as coke, its not.

    Coke turns its users into complete and utter twats in a way that booze does not.
    I have met many people who were turned into twats by booze. And its role in domestic violence is a matter of record.
  • BartholomewRobertsBartholomewRoberts Posts: 23,276
    edited September 2024

    I have not proposed a ban on solar farms, and I certainly haven't proposed to ban wind turbines from farms because as far as I know you can still farm around wind turbines.

    I do believe that it's perverse to incentivise the building of solar on good agricultural land, and what farmers should be incentivised to do is produce food. It seems unlikely that fracking does prevent agricultural land use in the same way that solar farms do - I imagine their impact is more like that of wind turbines. But if they do preclude agriculture in and around them, of course that should should be judged on a case by case basis, clearly not by a blanket ban. As PB's favourite libertarian, are you in favour of continuing the ban?
    No I abhor the ban, just as I abhor the ban on onshore wind, or prohibitions on change of use of land.

    Let people do what they want with their own land.

    If its not productive, they won't do it, if it is, they will.

    So hypothetically if a farmer decides they want to stop farming and exclusively use their land for wind or solar, not incentivised by the state but purely by free market economics, are you OK with that?
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,795
    edited September 2024

    The Style Police :)
    Indeed. You can have any colour of glove you like as long as it’s black 😃
  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,336
    carnforth said:

    And for dinner, Ortolan Bunting:

    https://interconnected.org/home/2021/06/23/songbird

    Bad as a pet cat.
    I, too, am obsessed - mildly - with Mitterand's Last Ortolan

    Was he a bad guy or a good guy? No one is entirely sure if he was a Nazi informer or a Resistance hero

    He kind of embodies the shame and glory of France, perhaps that is why he had, perplexingly, the French-est last meal, ever
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,795
    ….,
  • You amuse me, you're all in favour of land being used for fracking to generate energy . . . but if land gets turned to solar farms or wind farms to generate energy then you scream that its disgraceful as that land should be used to produce food and nothing else.

    Why is it OK for people to use their own land for fracking to generate energy, but not OK to use their own land for solar or wind if that's what they want to do with it?
    If onshore fracking was economic in the UK then it would be happening, as for oil, in £s it's close but any new fields would be likely to be West of Shetland and that means expensive to develop and operate.
    RobD said:

    I'm pretty sure that's a gif from a previous conference, not the one this year.
    Yep, Rayner's hair is a different shade this year.
    On a similar theme watched "Small Town, Big Riot" earlier.
    Less heinous than reposting social media from "concerned citizens" about Southport though.
  • EabhalEabhal Posts: 9,989

    On the former point you are right which is why I would end prohibition, but it is a completely false equivalence to pretend that booze is as bad as coke, its not.

    Coke turns its users into complete and utter twats in a way that booze does not.
    I'm always astonished at how many drug drivers the police find whenever they bother to stop a few cars. Perhaps they have a sixth sense when they choose who to pull over, but still.

    A few of my cyclist friends reckon a lot of the scarier interactions we have with drivers is down to coke. I think it's just *people*, but I'm starting to wonder.
  • FishingFishing Posts: 5,464
    edited September 2024
    Foxy said:

    Yes but there is no equivalent in Labour to The 1922 committee.

    Starmer stays as long as he wants.
    In that case, I think we rerun the general election.

    Surely Keir would welcome that. After all, he believes in rerunning democratic votes at the slightest trace of a change in opinion, doesn't he?
  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,336

    On the former point you are right which is why I would end prohibition, but it is a completely false equivalence to pretend that booze is as bad as coke, its not.

    Coke turns its users into complete and utter twats in a way that booze does not.
    Really not sure that's true

    When I was banged up the screws were massively down on booze, because they knew it encourages violence. It is simultaneously a depressant and a disinhibitor, ultimately it puts many in a bad mood but encourages them to act out that bad mood. Hence the awful stats on alcohol and wifebeating etc

    The wardens were much less concerned by dope, and not that concerned by coke. The first just makes you eat, and then sleepy, the second makes you talk like a twat and shove a firework up your arse, it doesn't reliably make you physically aggressive in the way booze does
  • Ministers, yet again, trying to defend the WFA cut. This time on Newsnight.

    So much more they want to be talking about but they can't because of this totally unforced policy error that wont even save the £1b claimed.

    And if universal benefits are a terrible idea why have ministers literally today committed to bring in free breakfast for all primary kids from April?



  • RogerRoger Posts: 20,320
    edited September 2024
    I think someone has jumbled the headline Daily Express

    'Vanessa Feltz Monstrous Al Fayed Tried To Frighten Me Into Submission'

    (I knew her husband!)
  • GIN1138GIN1138 Posts: 22,803

    Exactly what I was about to say. Stamping on puppies law next (yes, I know Leon would like that)? Ban Yorkshire puddings? Replace Saturdays with another Monday?

    This has got to be expectations management. They're putting this out there so that we're all eternally grateful when the pubs are allowed to continue plying their trade.
    I think we need a law that forces everyone to get 8hrs sleep a night from 10pm to 6am including all of us debauched PB night owls... 😂
  • No I abhor the ban, just as I abhor the ban on onshore wind, or prohibitions on change of use of land.

    Let people do what they want with their own land.

    If its not productive, they won't do it, if it is, they will.

    So hypothetically if a farmer decides they want to stop farming and exclusively use their land for wind or solar, not incentivised by the state but purely by free market economics, are you OK with that?
    I wouldn't love it, but all other things being equal, it's peoples' right to do things I don't necessarily love.

    I believe that the market sorts out most things, and I am certain that greater value lies in the food produced by fertile land than the potential power energy produced by small solar installations on top of it.
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,795
    Leon said:

    Really not sure that's true

    When I was banged up the screws were massively down on booze, because they knew it encourages violence. It is simultaneously a depressant and a disinhibitor, ultimately it puts many in a bad mood but encourages them to act out that bad mood. Hence the awful stats on alcohol and wifebeating etc

    The wardens were much less concerned by dope, and not that concerned by coke. The first just makes you eat, and then sleepy, the second makes you talk like a twat and shove a firework up your arse, it doesn't reliably make you physically aggressive in the way booze does
    Absolutely. An excellent post (and see my post above). The point about booze ultimately putting many a bad mood is on point.
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 50,972
    First rain since I left Colorado, and the car is in an underground car park.
  • Leon said:

    Really not sure that's true

    When I was banged up the screws were massively down on booze, because they knew it encourages violence. It is simultaneously a depressant and a disinhibitor, ultimately it puts many in a bad mood but encourages them to act out that bad mood. Hence the awful stats on alcohol and wifebeating etc

    The wardens were much less concerned by dope, and not that concerned by coke. The first just makes you eat, and then sleepy, the second makes you talk like a twat and shove a firework up your arse, it doesn't reliably make you physically aggressive in the way booze does
    Coke can make you paranoid and that's probably not a good thing in an over subscribed prison.
  • GIN1138GIN1138 Posts: 22,803

    Interestingly Professor David Nutt does rank booze as more dangerous than coke when both societal and individual factors are taken into account. Of course, he was sacked by the last Labour government because they didn’t like his findings.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11660210

    Coke and booze really go together like fish and chips, salt and pepper and Renee and Ronato.

    I don't think you can separate them. Where older generations would have smoked and drank, younger generations drink and get coked up.
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,795
    Leon said:

    I checked myself and amended myself, as you can see. But otherwise, thanks
    Okay fair enough
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 54,251
    Leon said:

    I am generally quite pessimistic about drug control, but it is worth noting that, for the first time in a long time, Fentanyl overdoses are DOWN

    No one is quite sure why

    https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/nchs_press_releases/2024/20240515.htm
    Perhaps there is a limited pool of people who will take Fentanyl.

    And thanks to Fentanyl, they are dying out?
  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,336

    Absolutely. An excellent post (and see my post above). The point about booze ultimately putting many a bad mood is on point.
    Yes. In my experience cocaine makes the user manic and self-aggrandizing, you think you are the cleverest person on earth and full of good ideas, and jokes, so you insist on dominating conversations - if you can - and you want to shove a firework up your anus coz you think it will be totally hilarious, especially for your coked up friends

    If it makes you fight it is usually as a display to your peers, LOOK I AM HARD AS WELL, it doesn't encourage violence per se

    Alcohol really does. It disinhibits all instincts, from the libido to the death instinct, so if you have a violent grudge or a lurking resentment, when you are blind drunk that will come out, and you WILL attack people, especially those smaller than you, like wives
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 23,975
    I AM NOT JESSICA CHASTAIN (Bryce Dallas Howard) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipObSiFHpyY
  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,336

    Coke can make you paranoid and that's probably not a good thing in an over subscribed prison.
    Yeah I'm not saying it's great, just that the screws were REALLY concerned about booze above all else - even coke and heroin - which says something (this is in the innocent days before Fent and Meth etc)
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,795
    GIN1138 said:

    Coke and booze really go together like fish and chips, salt and pepper and Renee and Ronato.

    I don't think you can separate them. Where older generations would have smoked and drank, younger generations drink and get coked up.
    That’s a very fair and true point. But the OP claimed that coke was more societally harmful (it isn’t) and booze less dangerous (it is statistically more dangerous).

    The reason booze gets an easier ride is because it’s legal and widespread, pure and simple. If we had rational approach to drugs policy that wasn’t based around prohibition we’d consider them all together in a fairer light. The health freaks would probably stick to mushrooms (and maybe the odd E).
  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,336

    Perhaps there is a limited pool of people who will take Fentanyl.

    And thanks to Fentanyl, they are dying out?
    That is actually a rather good and wise guess. In the end the Mexican cartels are surely killing off their potential clientele

    Gruesome but plausible
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 76,030
    I wonder if this less than stellar publicity for these corporates is what led to the RGA pulling its support for Robinson tonight ?

    1. Major corporations — including @doordash, @google, @walmart, @cvs, and @microsoft — have bankrolled an ongoing multi-million dollar effort to elect @markrobinsonNC. the next governor of North Carolina

    Follow this thread for details…

    https://x.com/JuddLegum/status/1838208167638974925
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 59,097
    Leon said:

    Yes. In my experience cocaine makes the user manic and self-aggrandizing, you think you are the cleverest person on earth and full of good ideas, and jokes, so you insist on dominating conversations - if you can - and you want to shove a firework up your anus coz you think it will be totally hilarious, especially for your coked up friends

    If it makes you fight it is usually as a display to your peers, LOOK I AM HARD AS WELL, it doesn't encourage violence per se

    Alcohol really does. It disinhibits all instincts, from the libido to the death instinct, so if you have a violent grudge or a lurking resentment, when you are blind drunk that will come out, and you WILL attack people, especially those smaller than you, like wives
    Are you trying to tell us something, @Leon?
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,795
    Leon said:

    Yes. In my experience cocaine makes the user manic and self-aggrandizing, you think you are the cleverest person on earth and full of good ideas, and jokes, so you insist on dominating conversations - if you can - and you want to shove a firework up your anus coz you think it will be totally hilarious, especially for your coked up friends

    If it makes you fight it is usually as a display to your peers, LOOK I AM HARD AS WELL, it doesn't encourage violence per se

    Alcohol really does. It disinhibits all instincts, from the libido to the death instinct, so if you have a violent grudge or a lurking resentment, when you are blind drunk that will come out, and you WILL attack people, especially those smaller than you, like wives
    Liked the post because of the good sense within it obviously, not because of its grim conclusion. But yes booze is the ultimate disinhibitor.

    (it is also full of sugar and is very bad for your waistline, as I’ve discovered since reaching my mid years!)
  • MJWMJW Posts: 2,008
    Leon said:

    Really not sure that's true

    When I was banged up the screws were massively down on booze, because they knew it encourages violence. It is simultaneously a depressant and a disinhibitor, ultimately it puts many in a bad mood but encourages them to act out that bad mood. Hence the awful stats on alcohol and wifebeating etc

    The wardens were much less concerned by dope, and not that concerned by coke. The first just makes you eat, and then sleepy, the second makes you talk like a twat and shove a firework up your arse, it doesn't reliably make you physically aggressive in the way booze does
    Isn't the point about how it's used and that coke is it being combined with booze? On its own it makes you an overactive and thinking jabbering tit and magnifies certain aspects of your personality. So you'll get users who are a a nightmare, but most people will just be irritating and self-absorbed.

    The moralising over the current trend of use is that it's used as part of an all day bender down the pub/at the game/and so on rather than the traditional pick me up towards the end of a night out or at home. Meaning people to booze far more and far longer than they would otherwise do. So you get the ugly scenes and violence when you combine the two.
  • GIN1138GIN1138 Posts: 22,803

    That’s a very fair and true point. But the OP claimed that coke was more societally harmful (it isn’t) and booze less dangerous (it is statistically more dangerous).

    The reason booze gets an easier ride is because it’s legal and widespread, pure and simple. If we had rational approach to drugs policy that wasn’t based around prohibition we’d consider them all together in a fairer light. The health freaks would probably stick to mushrooms (and maybe the odd E).
    Don't get me wrong. I'd legalize most drugs (including coke) and tax them (I'd draw the line at the Opiates though)

    Coke is absolutely rife and basically a way of life for most people under 40 these days so clearly Prohibition has failed.

    The only sensible way forward is to legalize and regulate. Same with Cannabis (but even more so) and probably Ecstasy .
  • ohnotnowohnotnow Posts: 4,571
    edited September 2024
    carnforth said:

    And for dinner, Ortolan Bunting:

    https://interconnected.org/home/2021/06/23/songbird

    Bad as a pet cat.
    For politicians eating (somewhat) squeamish dishes, I can recommend :

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haughey_(TV_series)

    "Haughey is a four-part mini-series documenting the life of former Taoiseach Charles Haughey"
  • ohnotnowohnotnow Posts: 4,571
    Eabhal said:

    I'm always astonished at how many drug drivers the police find whenever they bother to stop a few cars. Perhaps they have a sixth sense when they choose who to pull over, but still.

    A few of my cyclist friends reckon a lot of the scarier interactions we have with drivers is down to coke. I think it's just *people*, but I'm starting to wonder.
    I remember a police person of my acquaintance turning up outside my house with the back of their car filled with flashing traffic cones. Killing themselves laughing at ALL THE FLASHING LIGHTS.

    That was... a long night.
  • viewcode said:

    I AM NOT JESSICA CHASTAIN (Bryce Dallas Howard) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipObSiFHpyY

    The actors I get mixed up are Edward Norton and John Cusack.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 76,030
    edited September 2024

    The actors I get mixed up are Edward Norton and John Cusack.
    But they don’t even look like each other.

    Gillian Jacobs and (before she got really famous) Margot Robbie.
  • Biggest problem at the moment is not people drinking too much, its the widespread and copious use of coke across society. Its totally unmissable if you go out anywhere.

    And a big contributor to the recent uptick in violence around football matches.
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,795
    Nigelb said:

    But they don’t even look like each other.

    Gillian Jacobs and (before she got really famous) Margot Robbie.
    Keira Knightley and Natalie Portman.
  • ohnotnowohnotnow Posts: 4,571

    And a big contributor to the recent uptick in violence around football matches.
    Certainly been a big factor around here (Celtic/Rangers). Cocaine has taken the place of 'a chaser'.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 76,030

    Keira Knightley and Natalie Portman.
    One of the best is the two Korean actors Kim Byung-Chul, and Jo Woo-Jin.

    They appeared together in Mr Sunshine (great historical drama series, btw), and it was nearly halfway through watching it before I realised they were two different characters (it’s a running joke in the drama).
  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,336
    rcs1000 said:

    Are you trying to tell us something, @Leon?
    Yes, I am. I never do cocaine

    Imagine how bad I would be if I DID
  • FairlieredFairliered Posts: 5,492
    Foxy said:

    Yes, better all round to crack down on off sales. Ban 19 crimes.
    Non wine drinking friends brought us some 19Crimes. It was so awful we didn’t even put it in the gravy. Cleared the drains, though.
  • Non wine drinking friends brought us some 19Crimes. It was so awful we didn’t even put it in the gravy. Cleared the drains, though.
    Looks at the other crap the same company makes,

    https://www.tweglobal.com/brands
  • GIN1138 said:

    Don't get me wrong. I'd legalize most drugs (including coke) and tax them (I'd draw the line at the Opiates though)

    Coke is absolutely rife and basically a way of life for most people under 40 these days so clearly Prohibition has failed.

    The only sensible way forward is to legalize and regulate. Same with Cannabis (but even more so) and probably Ecstasy .
    Cannabis literally smells like dog turd. Gives me a billious attack.
  • theProletheProle Posts: 1,297
    Eabhal said:

    I'm always astonished at how many drug drivers the police find whenever they bother to stop a few cars. Perhaps they have a sixth sense when they choose who to pull over, but still.

    A few of my cyclist friends reckon a lot of the scarier interactions we have with drivers is down to coke. I think it's just *people*, but I'm starting to wonder.
    How much of that is because traces of drugs hang around in people's systems rather longer than alcohol? You'd have to have a pretty major session to still be over the drink drive limit 24 hours later, but if you'd done some coke at the same time, I think the plod could have you 24hrs later for drug driving, despite the fact you probably wouldn't actually be impaired in reality.
  • FairlieredFairliered Posts: 5,492
    ohnotnow said:

    Certainly been a big factor around here (Celtic/Rangers). Cocaine has taken the place of 'a chaser'.
    I would have thought that Rangers supporters would all be on anti-depressants.
  • Non wine drinking friends brought us some 19Crimes. It was so awful we didn’t even put it in the gravy. Cleared the drains, though.
    I'm quite partial to 19 Crimes. I've only done up to junior level with the Court of Master Sommeliers though so I bow to your superior appreciation.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 76,030

    I'm quite partial to 19 Crimes. I've only done up to junior level with the Court of Master Sommeliers though so I bow to your superior appreciation.
    Leon, who has probably sunk more wine than most of us, has spoken not disapprovingly of it.
  • EabhalEabhal Posts: 9,989
    edited September 2024
    theProle said:

    How much of that is because traces of drugs hang around in people's systems rather longer than alcohol? You'd have to have a pretty major session to still be over the drink drive limit 24 hours later, but if you'd done some coke at the same time, I think the plod could have you 24hrs later for drug driving, despite the fact you probably wouldn't actually be impaired in reality.
    Yes, good point. The limits are set exceptionally low for illegal drugs - you're essentially being prosecuted for taking the drugs rather than the impairment. *

    But it still demonstrates just how widespread use is.

    *The limit is lower in Scotland for alcohol too; you can barely get away with a half pint as you can in England.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,336
    Nigelb said:

    Leon, who has probably sunk more wine than most of us, has spoken not disapprovingly of it.
    Yes, 19 Crimes is fine, and perfectly palatable. Esp the "Red Blend"

    People who snark at it don't remember how bad "mediocre wine" USED to be (and fair enough, they may be younglings)
    Anyone over 45 can remember red or white so bad it made your tongue curl and your brain assume (correctly): instant hangover

    Wine is a bit like airplanes. Fifty years ago planes regularly crashed, now these crashes are so rare they are noticeable and make headline news (even small ones). Ditto wine. Fifty years ago wines were often so bad it was hard to keep them down after a couple of glasses, now that is exceptionally unusual

    19 Crimes would have passed for "rather good wine" back in 1984
  • GIN1138GIN1138 Posts: 22,803
    Kemi has subjected herself to an interview with Andrew Neil (and did OK)

    Check it out from around 23:50

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gn1sbj8s-fA
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 76,030
    Interesting idea.
    The US is again developing a space gun.

    Longshot is a building a cannon to gradually accelerate a projectile up to orbital launch speeds.
    https://www.longshotspace.com/technology

    The theoretical advantage - if it could be made to work reliably on a large scale - is much cheaper (another order of magnitude or so) cost to get mass into orbit.
  • GIN1138GIN1138 Posts: 22,803
    Lets hope it's not a train coming at us at 100mph 😂
  • theProle said:

    How much of that is because traces of drugs hang around in people's systems rather longer than alcohol? You'd have to have a pretty major session to still be over the drink drive limit 24 hours later, but if you'd done some coke at the same time, I think the plod could have you 24hrs later for drug driving, despite the fact you probably wouldn't actually be impaired in reality.
    I assume they're judging that by the nature of the interaction rather than plod having done someone for road rage.

    Alcohol is about same as class A drugs it seems, if you're likely to get tested then avoid weed or bennies

    https://www.drugs.ie/drugs_info/about_drugs/how_long_do_drugs_stay_in_your_system/
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 83,160
    edited September 2024
    GIN1138 said:

    Lets hope it's not a train coming at us at 100mph 😂
    Sir Keir will also announce new legislation to crack down on welfare fraudsters, which Labour says is expected to save £1.6bn over the next five years. Under the plans, the Department for Work and Pensions will get new powers to investigate suspected benefit fraud and recover debts from individuals who can pay money back but have avoided doing so. Labour said there would be safeguarding measures to protect vulnerable claimants.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0e1gjexyxno

    Be interesting to see how this pans out.
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 34,162
    edited September 2024

    Starmer isn't going anywhere, first and foremost because everybody else of note is shit or totally unproven.
    I think Yvette Cooper could be PM within two and half years. Might place a bet on it.

    On coke, I have no idea how you tell whether someone's been taking it. I don't even know what cannabis smells like, lol.
  • carnforthcarnforth Posts: 5,558

    Looks at the other crap the same company makes,

    https://www.tweglobal.com/brands
    They make Penfolds Grange? The bastards.
  • YokesYokes Posts: 1,359
    edited September 2024
    I think if you can hedge, its worth backing Trump. Its the 'real' economy thats the problem for Harris as the incumbent. If you look at the figures Americans are dropping their discretionary spending. Yes the totem that is fuel is down and the interest rate cut may be seen as a relief, but a lot Americans are either running on credit or paring back or both.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 59,097

    Looks at the other crap the same company makes,

    https://www.tweglobal.com/brands
    Ummm:

    Beringer is pretty decent. And Penfold's make some very nice wine.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 59,097
    Yokes said:

    I think if you can hedge, its worth backing Trump. Its the 'real' economy thats the problem for Harris as the incumbent. If you look at the figures Americans are dropping their discretionary spending. Yes the totem that is fuel is down and the inettest rate cut may be seen as a relief but a lot Americans are either running on credit or paring back or both.

    Absolutely: consumer disposable income has been hammered across the developed world. If Haley was the Republican candidate, they would be cantering to victory right now.

    It is only because the Republicans chose Donald Trump as their nominee that there is even a contest right now.
  • rcs1000 said:

    Ummm:

    Beringer is pretty decent. And Penfold's make some very nice wine.
    Where as Wolf Blass, Lindemans and Blossom Hill....
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 59,097

    Where as Wolf Blass, Lindemans and Blossom Hill....
    Nobody's perfect.
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 50,972
    Leon said:

    Yes. In my experience cocaine makes the user manic and self-aggrandizing, you think you are the cleverest person on earth and full of good ideas, and jokes, so you insist on dominating conversations - if you can - and you want to shove a firework up your anus coz you think it will be totally hilarious, especially for your coked up friends

    You must be on it 24/7
  • For me Cocaine is like the knife edge between a tingling sense of fear and jubilantly telling the fear to go fuck itself.

    I can see the appeal for those who like to live dangerously and feel like winners. I prefer a greater sense of stability these days.
  • carnforthcarnforth Posts: 5,558
    It's crane fly season already, it seems. Summer is over. And the largest crane fly in Christendom is lurking in my flat. Actually lurking is the wrong word. It's more frenetic than lurking.
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 50,972
    CNN is wall to wall Harris ads, this evening
  • IanB2 said:

    CNN is wall to wall Harris ads, this evening

    Isn't CNN a wall to wall Harris ad every night? And I hear they also occasionally show one of her campaign videos during the commercial breaks. ;-)
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 23,975
    They're aiming for Mach 5, but escape velocity is around what, Mach 24? What am I missing?
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 34,162
    PA has moved closer again. Yesterday was 60/40 Harris, now 57/43.

    https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2024-election-forecast/pennsylvania/
  • Nunu3Nunu3 Posts: 257

    Trump was only the ological progression (I won't say endpoint, but I hope it to be so) of how the Republican Party had devolved over the previous decades: racism, isolationism, denial of facts and wilful ignorance. These were already part of the party's DNA before DJT arrived - it it hadn't been so, he couldn't have seized the party so quickly.
    Exactly.If not trump then someone similar.
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 34,162
    Janet Jackson goes down the rabbit hole.

    "Janet Jackson says Kamala Harris is ‘not black’
    The singer said she had heard Ms Harris’s father ‘was white’. But Donald J Harris is a Jamaican-American academic"

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/politics/2024/09/23/janet-jackson-kamala-harris-black/
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 54,251
    Nunu3 said:

    Exactly.If not trump then someone similar.
    There's someone similar to Donald Trump?
  • TazTaz Posts: 17,231
    Leon said:

    Really not sure that's true

    When I was banged up the screws were massively down on booze, because they knew it encourages violence. It is simultaneously a depressant and a disinhibitor, ultimately it puts many in a bad mood but encourages them to act out that bad mood. Hence the awful stats on alcohol and wifebeating etc

    The wardens were much less concerned by dope, and not that concerned by coke. The first just makes you eat, and then sleepy, the second makes you talk like a twat and shove a firework up your arse, it doesn't reliably make you physically aggressive in the way booze does
    Watched a YouTube channel a while back, a guy called Larry Lawton, ex con USA about life inside.

    He was talking about prison hooch and how they made it. Looked rank.

    Did you get to try any inside ?
This discussion has been closed.