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So it begins. The elephant in the 2028 presidential election room – politicalbetting.com

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  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 53,749

    The elastic round the ears is a real nuisance if one wears hearing aids.
    Then get the ones that have elastic round the back of the head.

    The reusable masks generally come with a kit of options for wearing - over ear, back of head etc etc.

    The paper junk ones always use over ear.
  • DriverDriver Posts: 5,560
    Scott_xP said:

    How Trump gets a 3rd term. Get SCOTUS to declare the amendment unconstitutional...

    @alastairmeeks.bsky.social‬

    On the question of a Trump third term, if I were so minded, rather than trying to get the 22nd amendment repealed, which is a super high bar, I'd be looking for irregularities in the original ratification process that I could challenge judicially before a friendly Supreme Court.

    Result: Dems nominate Obama, who wins a landslide.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 75,750

    There is some Trump paranoia /derangement going on here. He's just one man. Sure, a demented one, but the constitution of the USA was designed with its checks and balances precisely for this.

    I don't see, with the Dems holding essentially half the House and 45%+ of the Senate, plus many states, how any of these criteria pass.


    I would have agreed with you, Casino, until the immunity decision.
    That drew a coach and horses through the constitution, greatly reinforcing the power if the Presidency at the expense if the other branches of government - particularly the judiciary itself.

    Constitutional protections only work as far as constitutional law is respected, and can be enforced.

    I still think it unlikely, but no longer impossible at all.
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 37,367
    Driver said:

    Result: Dems nominate Obama, who wins a landslide.
    I am not sure either of those statements is true
  • another_richardanother_richard Posts: 27,361
    with a compliant majority on the Supreme Court

    So compliant that they voted unanimously against Trump in 2020.

    The conspiracy theorising here is becoming deranged.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 53,749
    edited January 26

    Paris Olympic medals are already seriously tarnished because of EU regulations banning an anti-oxidation chemical that was traditionally used:

    https://x.com/trevmckendrick/status/1883459030326382944

    Options

    1) make gold medals out of gold
    2) make gold medals with thick, multi coat gold plating.
    3) dip the medals in thin lacquer - you can create a nearly invisible layer that prevents oxidation.

    I used spray-on engine block lacquer on a couple of mini steam engines I built. Copper mild steel and brass need polishing all the time, otherwise. Still look shiny, years later.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 44,515

    'RAF' might be considered snide and bullying in this particular case.
    Oh shit yes. Planes but RN, wasn't it.

    Genuine mistake and too late to edit!
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 44,515
    edited January 26

    No-one thinks Trump is a scream but it should be obvious say, that Trump at the inauguration was hamming up being unable to kiss Melania because her hat got in the way. You do not have to think it funny to realise it was also not a sign of dementia.
    I don't see any dementia in Trump. He doesn't have that excuse.
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 23,908
    edited January 26
    Scott_xP said:

    How Trump gets a 3rd term. Get SCOTUS to declare the amendment unconstitutional...

    @alastairmeeks.bsky.social‬

    On the question of a Trump third term, if I were so minded, rather than trying to get the 22nd amendment repealed, which is a super high bar, I'd be looking for irregularities in the original ratification process that I could challenge judicially before a friendly Supreme Court.

    https://bsky.app/profile/alastairmeeks.bsky.social/post/3lgngggofe224

    (Former and hopefully future PBer Alistair Meeks's Medium site is at https://alastair-meeks.medium.com/ )
  • CyclefreeCyclefree Posts: 25,588
    edited January 26

    My partner and I decided last week to get married although we're both 74 (wish us luck!) - we haven't bothered to think whether people will think that appropriate or difficult. Age is one of the first things one learns about people, but that shouldn't make it the most important thing. I'd rather have a competent, reasonable 82-year-old POTUS than an eccentric, unpredictable figure of any age.

    I'm surprised to see all the evidence that older people tend to be more right-wing. I'm chair of my CLP and as leftish as ever. What I do notice is a certain detachment from the longer term. Will Britain become a member of the EU in 30 years, for instance? I'm in favour, but accept that coming generations will do as they think fit. But certain things, such as ridiculous inequality of income and opportunity across the world, seem as burningly intolerable as ever.

    Congratulations Nick. What lovely news!
  • bondegezoubondegezou Posts: 13,279
    kinabalu said:

    60/40 is "most likely". You can say that without losing the plot.

    (that's the telegraph btw)
    Why is Leon describing Tim Spector as “HMG’s official COVID advisor”? Here’s a list of SAGE participants, https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/scientific-advisory-group-for-emergencies-sage-coronavirus-covid-19-response-membership/list-of-participants-of-sage-and-related-sub-groups , and Spector isn’t there. He probably advised the government at some point, lots of people did, but it would seem like an outright lie to describe him as “HMG’s official COVID advisor”.
  • DriverDriver Posts: 5,560
    Scott_xP said:

    I am not sure either of those statements is true
    I can't be certain about anything in the future. But I think both of them are pretty likely. There's a reason the proposal in the House rules him out.
  • another_richardanother_richard Posts: 27,361

    with a compliant majority on the Supreme Court

    So compliant that they voted unanimously against Trump in 2020.

    The conspiracy theorising here is becoming deranged.

    Now if we want an example of a Trump enabling judge don't look at the supreme court.

    Because the judge who really helped Trump was Merrick Garland with his utterly botched investigation and prosecution.

    Why Garland did such a shockingly inept job is surely worthy of investigation.

    The LOL bit is that some PBers thought Garland was following a brilliant strategy.
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 43,082
    kinabalu said:

    Oh shit yes. Planes but RN, wasn't it.

    Genuine mistake and too late to edit!
    I’m sure DA will bear up manfully!
  • bondegezoubondegezou Posts: 13,279

    Andrew Lilico
    @andrew_lilico

    Lab leaks have occurred many times through history - e.g. the last person to die from smallpox died after a lab leak. I never saw any good reason why some people were so aggressively opposed to the idea that should be regarded as a possibility.

    https://x.com/andrew_lilico/status/1883304200857391398
    Lab leaks do occur. However, smallpox is an existing disease, not a novel one, like COVID-19 was. What are the *origins* of smallpox? Did it originally arise from a lab leak? Well, no, it arose from zoonosis, crossing over from rodents to humans in Africa, maybe 16-68k years ago.
  • Dura_AceDura_Ace Posts: 14,217
    DJT is looking pretty fucking haggard. Hopefully he'll die before we get into the heart of the third term crossfire hurricane. I have 0% doubt that he'll try if he is still with us in 2028. Why the fuck wouldn't he?
  • logical_songlogical_song Posts: 10,012

    I don't think Trump does humour unless it is unpleasant "othering". The Shark episode was quite earnest as was his question to Fauci regarding injecting bleach.
    It's the way he tells them
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0eDaYt413g
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 43,082
    edited January 26

    Now if we want an example of a Trump enabling judge don't look at the supreme court.

    Because the judge who really helped Trump was Merrick Garland with his utterly botched investigation and prosecution.

    Why Garland did such a shockingly inept job is surely worthy of investigation.

    The LOL bit is that some PBers thought Garland was following a brilliant strategy.
    Did they? As far as I was paying attention Trump negative PBers thought he was terrible. US leftish Dems on Twitter definitely thought he was shit.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,249

    Why is Leon describing Tim Spector as “HMG’s official COVID advisor”? Here’s a list of SAGE participants, https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/scientific-advisory-group-for-emergencies-sage-coronavirus-covid-19-response-membership/list-of-participants-of-sage-and-related-sub-groups , and Spector isn’t there. He probably advised the government at some point, lots of people did, but it would seem like an outright lie to describe him as “HMG’s official COVID advisor”.
    How about Christian Drosten?

    “Christian Heinrich Maria Drosten (German: [ˈkʁɪs.ti̯an ˈdʁɔs.tn̩] ⓘ, born 1972) is a German virologist whose research focus is on novel viruses (emergent viruses). During the COVID-19 pandemic, Drosten came to national prominence as an expert on the implications and actions required to combat the illness in Germany”

    Good enough?
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 30,379

    I see Leon has self-appointed himself as PB's morality police commissionaire. ;)

    Give you a chance to use up some annual leave.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,249

    Lab leaks do occur. However, smallpox is an existing disease, not a novel one, like COVID-19 was. What are the *origins* of smallpox? Did it originally arise from a lab leak? Well, no, it arose from zoonosis, crossing over from rodents to humans in Africa, maybe 16-68k years ago.
    What you really need to do now is post one of your pompous inane little comments where you say Well Akshually Evryone AgreeS it Came form the Market, see Cell, volume 9, MArch edition, and “Why it came from the market say people desperate to believe it came from the market”, co-authors Antony Fauci. Kristian Andersen, Peter Daszak, Xi Jinping, The Batwoman of Wuhan, Your Stupid Middlebrow Butt, Worobey, et al
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 45,045

    Give you a chance to use up some annual leave.
    Care to give examples? ;)
  • TazTaz Posts: 17,086

    Fuck off, twat. Seriously, go away. FOAD.
    The ghost of Ishmael returns.
  • TazTaz Posts: 17,086
    Cyclefree said:

    Congratulations Nick. What lovely news!
    Yes, wonderful news. Congratulations @NickPalmer to you both.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,249
    Dura_Ace said:

    DJT is looking pretty fucking haggard. Hopefully he'll die before we get into the heart of the third term crossfire hurricane. I have 0% doubt that he'll try if he is still with us in 2028. Why the fuck wouldn't he?

    He’s really not “looking pretty haggard” when you take into account his age

    For a 78 year old he looks alarmingly good. i saw some footage of him climbing on Marine One with the Missus and I reflexively thought, Wow he looks quite spry and vigorous, open necked shirt, talking lucidly, no obvious impairment

    The contrast with the Late Biden Look: recently exhumed waxwork, eyes sewn shut, pallor of one of those blind cave lizards they find in Romania, was striking

    Yeah he’s 78 - but for a 78 year old, doing OK
  • FrancisFrancis Posts: 34
    kinabalu said:

    Yes it's a hell of a trick to pull off.
    Much of Trumps success is that the outrage and pleasure centres of the brain are closely linked. Admit it didnt you wake up this morning wondering what batshit crazy thing Trump has done next, turned on the news and sure enough he wants to send the palestinians to egypt. Its a never ending show and people are hooked.
  • Donald Trump vs Barack Obama in 2028? Sounds like fun. Would demonstrate that American democracy has completely run out of road - the only possible candidates the only two viable parties could proffer are ones who needed a change of rules to be allowed to run.
  • Dura_AceDura_Ace Posts: 14,217
    I would rather eat my elevenses out of the urinal at that fucking Wuhan market than read one more shittious post about whether covid came from a lab or not.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 44,515

    Why is Leon describing Tim Spector as “HMG’s official COVID advisor”? Here’s a list of SAGE participants, https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/scientific-advisory-group-for-emergencies-sage-coronavirus-covid-19-response-membership/list-of-participants-of-sage-and-related-sub-groups , and Spector isn’t there. He probably advised the government at some point, lots of people did, but it would seem like an outright lie to describe him as “HMG’s official COVID advisor”.
    Leon and Telegraph. That's one dodgy combo.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 64,993

    Lab leaks do occur. However, smallpox is an existing disease, not a novel one, like COVID-19 was. What are the *origins* of smallpox? Did it originally arise from a lab leak? Well, no, it arose from zoonosis, crossing over from rodents to humans in Africa, maybe 16-68k years ago.
    It was more the 2nd sentence I was interested in highlighting.
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 35,148
    FPT:
    Driver said:

    [Snip]

    USD/Ruble exchange rate at London FOREX close on 31/12/2025 (31/12/2024 = 114 USD/RUB): 143 (but isn't this RUB per USD? So a weaker RUB has a higher number?)

    {Snip]

    IANAE but I believe USD/RUB is meant to represent USD 'divided by' RUB, so a ruble goes into a dollar 97.79 times currently.

    https://uk.investing.com/currencies/usd-rub

    No one has offered up a rate of ~0.01 for the competition yet anyway ;-)
  • SouthamObserverSouthamObserver Posts: 39,999
    Barnesian said:

    That depends. I'm 82 this April. I'm going skiing this March. I think I'd cope with being President or PM, given the chance.

    My Mum is 82 this year. Still active, still mentally all there. But I doubt she would trust herself to handle multiple immensely complicated issues simultaneously while having to make potentially life or death decisions about a few of them day after day after day.

  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 44,515
    Leon said:

    “Accountant” was the ideal job for you, wasn’t it?

    I’m glad you found your vocation and your proper role. Something so quintessentially YOU

    Not everyone is so fortunate in life
    Chartered remember. That's important.
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 35,148

    Options

    1) make gold medals out of gold
    2) make gold medals with thick, multi coat gold plating.
    3) dip the medals in thin lacquer - you can create a nearly invisible layer that prevents oxidation.

    I used spray-on engine block lacquer on a couple of mini steam engines I built. Copper mild steel and brass need polishing all the time, otherwise. Still look shiny, years later.
    The lacquer rubs off quite quickly surely. Ok maybe not on your steam engines but I imagine an olympic medal could get handled a lot more.

    Given the cost of the olympics you'd think they'd stretch to option 1.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,249
    Cyclefree said:

    Really unnecessary.

    @JosiasJessop and I have our disagreements. I don't think he particularly likes me but he is civil and I hope I am the same back. Some of his posts I agree with. No-one is right all the time and no-one agrees with others all the time. Abuse does nothing for this site, frankly. Rather detracts from it.
    Oh give over

    We lay into each other all the time. We’d all die of pious boredom otherwise. @moonshine put the boot in with skill. His insult is deft, not randomly nasty, it’s the OPPOSITE of pointless abuse

    Parse it

    “Often I come to the site and feel intellectually enriched. And other times, @JossiasJessop is here”

    Why is that effective? Because it’s economical, it scans, it’s got rhythm and punch, and it feels fresh. And ALSO - importantly - it tells a truth, with a dash of hyperbole. We all love @JosiasJessop but he’s not one of the site’s intellectual titans, is he? Indeed he’d be the first to admit that, in his simple, affable, good natured provincial way. He IS self aware, even if he’s really not very bright

    It would be like me saying

    “Often I come to the site looking for pithy and concise headers. And other times, @Cyclefree is the writer”

  • noneoftheabovenoneoftheabove Posts: 23,999
    Leon said:

    He’s really not “looking pretty haggard” when you take into account his age

    For a 78 year old he looks alarmingly good. i saw some footage of him climbing on Marine One with the Missus and I reflexively thought, Wow he looks quite spry and vigorous, open necked shirt, talking lucidly, no obvious impairment

    The contrast with the Late Biden Look: recently exhumed waxwork, eyes sewn shut, pallor of one of those blind cave lizards they find in Romania, was striking

    Yeah he’s 78 - but for a 78 year old, doing OK
    We better not get back onto muscular not fat.
  • SouthamObserverSouthamObserver Posts: 39,999
    Dura_Ace said:

    I would rather eat my elevenses out of the urinal at that fucking Wuhan market than read one more shittious post about whether covid came from a lab or not.

    I think it's possible to believe it's really important to know where covid came from and to be immensely bored by relentless discussion of it.

  • pigeonpigeon Posts: 5,173

    Donald Trump vs Barack Obama in 2028? Sounds like fun. Would demonstrate that American democracy has completely run out of road - the only possible candidates the only two viable parties could proffer are ones who needed a change of rules to be allowed to run.

    I don't think that's going to be a problem - or, at any rate, if it is then the American Republic is over. Constitutional change requires the assent of two-thirds supermajorities in both houses and three-quarters of the states. How even the very dodgy Supreme Court gets around this, short of declaring that Trump's immunity extends to the ability to legislate by diktat and he is therefore a King, is beyond me.
  • FrancisFrancis Posts: 34
    kinabalu said:

    Chartered remember. That's important.
    Whens your next holiday to Tenerife.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,249

    I think it's possible to believe it's really important to know where covid came from and to be immensely bored by relentless discussion of it.

    The idea this subject is discussed “relentlessly” is completely fictitious

    The fact is the overwhelming evidence now points to lab leak and quite a few people on here do not like that, and want the whole debate to go away, as it makes them uncomfortable

    We literally discuss the Post Office scandal more often than this. Indeed we discuss it ad nauseam, if you aak me, but I’m not a whiner and people on here are free to debate whatever they like

    Covid is arguably the biggest event in all of our lives, if anything we ignore it too much - but I get why, it’s a hideous memory for 80% of people. Including me. But sometimes it must be addressed
  • squareroot2squareroot2 Posts: 6,986
    Dura_Ace said:

    I would rather eat my elevenses out of the urinal at that fucking Wuhan market than read one more shittious post about whether covid came from a lab or not.

    I can arrange that 4 u.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 53,749

    We better not get back onto muscular not fat.
    How much fat is required to make vegan venison into bacon?
  • another_richardanother_richard Posts: 27,361
    MaxPB said:

    It doesn't raise any money though and all of the supermarkets have come out and said it will put long term food security at risk. I guarantee you that people are more likely to trust farmers, Tesco and Sainsbury's on food matters than the government. It's a such an odd policy hill to die on unless it's ideologically driven in which case Labour will get spanked at the ballot box because largely the British public supports farmers more than they support politicians.
    The ineptitude of Reeves is that she's wasting time and political capital on things which raise/save trivial amounts of money - farmers inheritance, VAT on school fees, WFA.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 44,515
    Dura_Ace said:

    I would rather eat my elevenses out of the urinal at that fucking Wuhan market than read one more shittious post about whether covid came from a lab or not.

    That's pretty much how I feel too.

    Let's get back to Donald Trump. Jeez, what a piece of work.
  • FrancisFrancis Posts: 34
    Leon said:

    The idea this subject is discussed “relentlessly” is completely fictitious

    The fact is the overwhelming evidence now points to lab leak and quite a few people on here do not like that, and want the whole debate to go away, as it makes them uncomfortable

    We literally discuss the Post Office scandal more often than this. Indeed we discuss it ad nauseam, if you aak me, but I’m not a whiner and people on here are free to debate whatever they like

    Covid is arguably the biggest event in all of our lives, if anything we ignore it too much - but I get why, it’s a hideous memory for 80% of people. Including me. But sometimes it must be addressed
    The question now is Leon was it accidental or deliberate.
  • SouthamObserverSouthamObserver Posts: 39,999
    We've just hit 123 mm of rain for January down here in Sidmouth. We were over 1,000 mm for 2024. There is more on the way. I expect South West Water to have imposed a hosepipe ban by the start of August!
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 53,749

    The lacquer rubs off quite quickly surely. Ok maybe not on your steam engines but I imagine an olympic medal could get handled a lot more.

    Given the cost of the olympics you'd think they'd stretch to option 1.
    Some of the lacquers are hard wearing. Most Olympic medals end up in a presentation case on the wall.

    Re lacquering is a pretty simple thing.

    Option 1, is pretty simple, as you say.
    Option 2 is very cheap to do these days.
  • FrancisFrancis Posts: 34
    By the way once i got covid it was clear to me it came from a lab. Something unnatural about it.
  • another_richardanother_richard Posts: 27,361

    Did they? As far as I was paying attention Trump negative PBers thought he was terrible. US leftish Dems on Twitter definitely thought he was shit.
    Garland's support came from 'centrist dads' who love a slow and steady process.

    Garland is a centrist dad himself.
  • noneoftheabovenoneoftheabove Posts: 23,999

    How much fat is required to make vegan venison into bacon?
    I'll get the Chinese to test it in a lab.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,983

    My Mum is 82 this year. Still active, still mentally all there. But I doubt she would trust herself to handle multiple immensely complicated issues simultaneously while having to make potentially life or death decisions about a few of them day after day after day.

    But, does she have hundreds of staff to do all the work and just leave her to say yes or no.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 50,713

    My partner and I decided last week to get married although we're both 74 (wish us luck!) - we haven't bothered to think whether people will think that appropriate or difficult. Age is one of the first things one learns about people, but that shouldn't make it the most important thing. I'd rather have a competent, reasonable 82-year-old POTUS than an eccentric, unpredictable figure of any age.

    I'm surprised to see all the evidence that older people tend to be more right-wing. I'm chair of my CLP and as leftish as ever. What I do notice is a certain detachment from the longer term. Will Britain become a member of the EU in 30 years, for instance? I'm in favour, but accept that coming generations will do as they think fit. But certain things, such as ridiculous inequality of income and opportunity across the world, seem as burningly intolerable as ever.

    Congratulations Nick. May your marriage always be more harmonious than Radiohead!
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 44,515

    I’m sure DA will bear up manfully!
    Hope so. Don't want that acid tongue dissolving me in a barrel. I already have Leon's barbs to cope with on a regular basis.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,983

    The lacquer rubs off quite quickly surely. Ok maybe not on your steam engines but I imagine an olympic medal could get handled a lot more.

    Given the cost of the olympics you'd think they'd stretch to option 1.
    Not sure many of them will run around saying do you want to hold my medal, unless they are total wassocks. Most likely be in a box or mounted in a frame
  • Richard_TyndallRichard_Tyndall Posts: 33,227
    Completely OT. I have not really followed the news much the last few days form obvious reasons. Looking through the newspaper websites today I see that there is a developing kerfuffle about Labour deciding to count compensation payouts to the families of military personnel who die in the line of duty as taxable for inheritence tax purposes. So they could end upo getting taxed 40% on their compensation.

    If true then this seem spretty fucking callous to me but it is worth asking the obvious question first.

    Is this true? Or is it journalists and politicians trying to find an adverse angle for something that is not intended by the Treasury?

    Until I know the detail I am not sure whether to be outraged at the Government or a those making up the stories.

    At least I get to be outraged at someone whatever the answer ;)
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 45,045
    Incidentally; we just bought a new device from a well-known manufacturer, and it is nice and gleaming.

    However, the manual is absolute pants. It is written in poor, unclear English; repeats the same points several times, and uses CAPITALS in such a way that it might have been written by Trump on a bad day. Stylistically, it is all over the place.

    Manuals often get poor attention from manufacturers, and are almost always an afterthought. And yes, I often don't RTFM. But I wish people would take a little bit more pride in them.

    (/rant mode)
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 50,713

    How much fat is required to make vegan venison into bacon?
    Venison is probably best preserved as biltong, which is actually not that hard to do.

  • another_richardanother_richard Posts: 27,361
    Francis said:

    The question now is Leon was it accidental or deliberate.
    An accidental leak and a deliberate cover up.

    How it then flowed around the world with the deliberate tolerance of some countries and the idiotic tolerance of others is something worthy of more discussion.
  • carnforthcarnforth Posts: 5,503
    edited January 26

    I can arrange that 4 u.
    Mildly NSFW: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troughman
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 44,515

    Garland's support came from 'centrist dads' who love a slow and steady process.

    Garland is a centrist dad himself.
    With hindsight a quick and dirty process would have been better. But there were reasons it wasn't, not least Trump's 'every trick in the book' delaying tactics.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,249
    Francis said:

    The question now is Leon was it accidental or deliberate.
    Accidental. 99.7%. China would surely have had a vaccine ready to go if this was some bioweapon

  • pigeonpigeon Posts: 5,173

    The ineptitude of Reeves is that she's wasting time and political capital on things which raise/save trivial amounts of money - farmers inheritance, VAT on school fees, WFA.
    That's not entirely true to be fair. The centrepiece of the budget - the National Insurance hike - raised a decent amount of revenue. The fact that it was yet another raid on earned incomes of the kind we had been promised would not happen, disguised so poorly as an alleged levy on businesses that Reeves herself openly admitted that the cost would be offloaded directly to workers through wage suppression, hardly speaks to competence. But we must not under any circumstances tax wealth properly, so hey-ho.
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 45,045
    Leon said:

    The idea this subject is discussed “relentlessly” is completely fictitious

    The fact is the overwhelming evidence now points to lab leak and quite a few people on here do not like that, and want the whole debate to go away, as it makes them uncomfortable

    We literally discuss the Post Office scandal more often than this. Indeed we discuss it ad nauseam, if you aak me, but I’m not a whiner and people on here are free to debate whatever they like

    Covid is arguably the biggest event in all of our lives, if anything we ignore it too much - but I get why, it’s a hideous memory for 80% of people. Including me. But sometimes it must be addressed
    A regular reminder that "Fact" and Leon are rarely acquainted. ;)
  • another_richardanother_richard Posts: 27,361

    Incidentally; we just bought a new device from a well-known manufacturer, and it is nice and gleaming.

    However, the manual is absolute pants. It is written in poor, unclear English; repeats the same points several times, and uses CAPITALS in such a way that it might have been written by Trump on a bad day. Stylistically, it is all over the place.

    Manuals often get poor attention from manufacturers, and are almost always an afterthought. And yes, I often don't RTFM. But I wish people would take a little bit more pride in them.

    (/rant mode)

    I remember watching, decades ago, about a small manufacturer of build yourself planes in the USA.

    Designing the assembly manual cost five times what it cost to design the plane.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 73,029
    Leon said:

    “Accountant” was the ideal job for you, wasn’t it?

    I’m glad you found your vocation and your proper role. Something so quintessentially YOU

    Not everyone is so fortunate in life
    Indeed.

    I mean, imagine being somebody whose fantasies are so set in stone that nothing ever shakes them.

    That poor person. What jobs would be open? Flint knapper? Spectator columnist?
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 44,515
    Francis said:

    Whens your next holiday to Tenerife.
    Not sure. I have a cat now.
  • Dura_AceDura_Ace Posts: 14,217
    kinabalu said:

    That's pretty much how I feel too.

    Let's get back to Donald Trump. Jeez, what a piece of work.
    More evidence, if any were needed, that he is a vile c-nt and a deeply flawed human being comes to us the form of his old F430 which is up for auction.

    https://rockstarcarauction.com/view/trumps-2007-ferrari-f430-coupe/0f8ec2bb-609d-4f0f-e763-08dd29cbe8c6

    It's Rosso Corsa with a TAN interior when, of course, it should be Rosso Corsa/Crema - the classic combo for V8 Ferraris. Tan looks stupid and wrong with Rosso Corsa even if the leather, in both shade and texture, matches the folds of his neck pussy.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,983

    Completely OT. I have not really followed the news much the last few days form obvious reasons. Looking through the newspaper websites today I see that there is a developing kerfuffle about Labour deciding to count compensation payouts to the families of military personnel who die in the line of duty as taxable for inheritence tax purposes. So they could end upo getting taxed 40% on their compensation.

    If true then this seem spretty fucking callous to me but it is worth asking the obvious question first.

    Is this true? Or is it journalists and politicians trying to find an adverse angle for something that is not intended by the Treasury?

    Until I know the detail I am not sure whether to be outraged at the Government or a those making up the stories.

    At least I get to be outraged at someone whatever the answer ;)

    I doubt there is much beyond the stupidity of these clowns, other than enacting policies that will actually achieve what they want and actually bring in money and not piss off the majority of the population.
    You could not make some of this stuff up.
  • FrancisFrancis Posts: 34
    Leon said:

    Accidental. 99.7%. China would surely have had a vaccine ready to go if this was some bioweapon

    Yes but if it was an attack by China on western economies they wouldnt want a vaccine immediately for obvious reasons. What would be the point. They would want to let the fear and chaos do damage first.
  • noneoftheabovenoneoftheabove Posts: 23,999

    Completely OT. I have not really followed the news much the last few days form obvious reasons. Looking through the newspaper websites today I see that there is a developing kerfuffle about Labour deciding to count compensation payouts to the families of military personnel who die in the line of duty as taxable for inheritence tax purposes. So they could end upo getting taxed 40% on their compensation.

    If true then this seem spretty fucking callous to me but it is worth asking the obvious question first.

    Is this true? Or is it journalists and politicians trying to find an adverse angle for something that is not intended by the Treasury?

    Until I know the detail I am not sure whether to be outraged at the Government or a those making up the stories.

    At least I get to be outraged at someone whatever the answer ;)

    https://en.econostrum.info/uk/labours-inheritance-tax-proposal-outrage/

    If this source is accurate then proposal is:

    active duty: exempt
    off duty: taxable

    Active duty should definitely be exempt, not sure on off duty.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,983

    Incidentally; we just bought a new device from a well-known manufacturer, and it is nice and gleaming.

    However, the manual is absolute pants. It is written in poor, unclear English; repeats the same points several times, and uses CAPITALS in such a way that it might have been written by Trump on a bad day. Stylistically, it is all over the place.

    Manuals often get poor attention from manufacturers, and are almost always an afterthought. And yes, I often don't RTFM. But I wish people would take a little bit more pride in them.

    (/rant mode)

    Bet it was made in China and manual written there as well.
  • Sean_FSean_F Posts: 38,317
    edited January 26

    Completely OT. I have not really followed the news much the last few days form obvious reasons. Looking through the newspaper websites today I see that there is a developing kerfuffle about Labour deciding to count compensation payouts to the families of military personnel who die in the line of duty as taxable for inheritence tax purposes. So they could end upo getting taxed 40% on their compensation.

    If true then this seem spretty fucking callous to me but it is worth asking the obvious question first.

    Is this true? Or is it journalists and politicians trying to find an adverse angle for something that is not intended by the Treasury?

    Until I know the detail I am not sure whether to be outraged at the Government or a those making up the stories.

    At least I get to be outraged at someone whatever the answer ;)

    Death in service benefits to military personnel will potentially be chargeable to IHT after 2027. This may not have occurred to Rachel Reeves, when the changes were announced.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 126,439
    edited January 26

    Donald Trump vs Barack Obama in 2028? Sounds like fun. Would demonstrate that American democracy has completely run out of road - the only possible candidates the only two viable parties could proffer are ones who needed a change of rules to be allowed to run.

    More likely to be Vice President Vance v Buttigieg or Shapiro or O'Rourke in my view
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 53,749
    malcolmg said:

    Not sure many of them will run around saying do you want to hold my medal, unless they are total wassocks. Most likely be in a box or mounted in a frame
    A few Olympians bring their medals along when doing a speech to a small audience. Had one chap, at the rowing club, do that so that the kids could see an Olympic medal up close.
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 45,045
    Leon said:

    (Snip). We all love @JosiasJessop but he’s not one of the site’s intellectual titans, is he? Indeed he’d be the first to admit that, in his simple, affable, good natured provincial way. He IS self aware, even if he’s really not very bright

    (Snip)
    I worked for tech companies as an engineer, including one that did change the world in a minor way (though before I was there... ;) ). I certainly was not the best engineer at those companies, but I doubt I would have survived years at any of them if I was 'really not very bright'. Ditto when I did contracting.

    How that compares to your self-proclaimed brilliance is up to others to decide. ;)
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 126,439

    The ineptitude of Reeves is that she's wasting time and political capital on things which raise/save trivial amounts of money - farmers inheritance, VAT on school fees, WFA.
    She is just targeting those who mostly don't vote Labour ie farmers, pensioners, private school parents and business owners (who have been hit by the rise in employers NI too)
  • FrancisFrancis Posts: 34
    Just saw this. Very true.

    It’s incredible how low energy the left is now. If Trump were making changes like this in 2016 there’d be armies of blue-haired transgoblins burning down the country. But now their media is dead. Their tech CEOs bent the knee. They’ve got nothing now. Demoralized. Tired. Flaccid.
    5:20 AM · Jan 26, 2025
    ·
    55.2K
    Views

    https://x.com/MedGold_/status/1883384398512636313
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 35,148
    Just taken a quick skim through the past hour or so's posts:

    @Leon: boring
    @Dura_Ace: brilliant
    @NickPalmer: many congrats
    @Richard_Tyndall: glad you've survived and yes I agree it would be wrong to tax death compensation payments as part of the estate of the deceased... they could though reasonably be taxed as part the estates of the descendants eventually, if not spent beforehand.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 44,515
    Francis said:

    Much of Trumps success is that the outrage and pleasure centres of the brain are closely linked. Admit it didnt you wake up this morning wondering what batshit crazy thing Trump has done next, turned on the news and sure enough he wants to send the palestinians to egypt. Its a never ending show and people are hooked.
    No I didn't. It was the Aussie Open final.

    I quite like discussing the Trump phenomenon (which it is) but I don't find what he says particularly interesting. To me it's quite dull hearing him ramble on. I'd rather listen to, say, Yvette Cooper.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,249
    MaxPB said:

    An engineered virus that accidentally leaked from the lab is my working theory with the research being done for benign reasons such as vaccine development rather than anything like biowarfare.
    Yes, I'm with @another_richard - accidental release, deliberate cover-up. The cover-up is now 100% indisputable, I will reluctantly allow maybe 2% doubt on the origin (we shall probably never know 100%)

    That said there were disquieting links between Chinese military and those labs, and Chinese intel and defence people were discussing "weaponised coronaviruses" for years before Covid. However, I am certain you could find similarly iffy links between the US military and US biolabs and similar discussions in US circles. This is what they do, these big hegemonic nations

    Accidental leak; deliberate cover-up

  • Richard_TyndallRichard_Tyndall Posts: 33,227

    Just taken a quick skim through the past hour or so's posts:

    @Leon: boring
    @Dura_Ace: brilliant
    @NickPalmer: many congrats
    @Richard_Tyndall: glad you've survived and yes I agree it would be wrong to tax death compensation payments as part of the estate of the deceased... they could though reasonably be taxed as part the estates of the descendants eventually, if not spent beforehand.

    Cheers Ben and yes I agree. I don't think they should be ringfenced after the first inheritence. It just seems pretty callous to pay out compensation to someone who died serving their country and then take 40% of it away again with the other hand.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 53,749
    a

    I worked for tech companies as an engineer, including one that did change the world in a minor way (though before I was there... ;) ). I certainly was not the best engineer at those companies, but I doubt I would have survived years at any of them if I was 'really not very bright'. Ditto when I did contracting.

    How that compares to your self-proclaimed brilliance is up to others to decide. ;)
    Intelligence is like being “hard”, “coolness” or “funny”.

    Anyone who bangs on about how much they have, has none.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 44,515
    Francis said:

    Just saw this. Very true.

    It’s incredible how low energy the left is now. If Trump were making changes like this in 2016 there’d be armies of blue-haired transgoblins burning down the country. But now their media is dead. Their tech CEOs bent the knee. They’ve got nothing now. Demoralized. Tired. Flaccid.
    5:20 AM · Jan 26, 2025
    ·
    55.2K
    Views

    https://x.com/MedGold_/status/1883384398512636313

    Rope a dope.
  • another_richardanother_richard Posts: 27,361
    kinabalu said:

    With hindsight a quick and dirty process would have been better. But there were reasons it wasn't, not least Trump's 'every trick in the book' delaying tactics.
    Garland wasted so much time that Trump was able to run down the clock.

    The Smith special counsel investigation was a special counsel investigation that was opened by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland on November 18, 2022, three days after Donald Trump announced his campaign for the 2024 United States presidential election.

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

    Those two events look very connected - would Garland have done anything if Trump had delayed his presidential campaign a few more months ?

    It then took until August 2023 for Trump to be indicted with a trial set to begin in March 2024.
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 45,045

    Cheers Ben and yes I agree. I don't think they should be ringfenced after the first inheritence. It just seems pretty callous to pay out compensation to someone who died serving their country and then take 40% of it away again with the other hand.
    It seems just so egregiously callous that I cannot imagine it's the case. Then again, governments of all stripes occasionally veer into egregious callousness.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 59,249
    Francis said:

    Yes but if it was an attack by China on western economies they wouldnt want a vaccine immediately for obvious reasons. What would be the point. They would want to let the fear and chaos do damage first.
    But they didn't have a vaccine ready to roll even for their own people, recall the awful scenes in Hubei. And there is no way China wanted to do three/four years of lockdown which nearly led to civil strife

    It was probably a pathogenised virus (engineered for wellmeaning if dodgy Gain of Function vaccine-research reasons), it got out by accident, and shifted 300 years from the CDC to the wet market, which became the first superspreader event

    The DEEP irony of all this, is that this exact theory - it was an engineered virus which accidentally escaped from the Wuhan CDC and then spread at the market - was the conclusion of the very first Chinese scientists to investigate Covid in early 2020. They pre-published their study. And then China "disappeared" them and tried to erase their paper from history

    They were right all along. First thought, best thought - as is so often the case
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 53,749

    Garland wasted so much time that Trump was able to run down the clock.

    The Smith special counsel investigation was a special counsel investigation that was opened by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland on November 18, 2022, three days after Donald Trump announced his campaign for the 2024 United States presidential election.

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

    Those two events look very connected - would Garland have done anything if Trump had delayed his presidential campaign a few more months ?

    It then took until August 2023 for Trump to be indicted with a trial set to begin in March 2024.
    It seemed fairly clear to me, that the lack of interest in prosecuting Trump was about the tradition of not prosecuting people once they are out of power. Many democratic countries drop cases after politicians return to private life.

    The Trump investigation should have started on Jan 6th.
  • DriverDriver Posts: 5,560

    FPT:

    IANAE but I believe USD/RUB is meant to represent USD 'divided by' RUB, so a ruble goes into a dollar 97.79 times currently.

    https://uk.investing.com/currencies/usd-rub

    No one has offered up a rate of ~0.01 for the competition yet anyway ;-)
    Yeah, I expect I'm not understanding the notation convention of forex - but I'm right that higher number = weaker ruble?
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 44,515

    I worked for tech companies as an engineer, including one that did change the world in a minor way (though before I was there... ;) ). I certainly was not the best engineer at those companies, but I doubt I would have survived years at any of them if I was 'really not very bright'. Ditto when I did contracting.

    How that compares to your self-proclaimed brilliance is up to others to decide. ;)
    Brightness is ten a penny on here. What's more unusual is where there's a big gap between self-perception and reality on that score. This can cause turbulence.
  • Leon said:

    But they didn't have a vaccine ready to roll even for their own people, recall the awful scenes in Hubei. And there is no way China wanted to do three/four years of lockdown which nearly led to civil strife

    It was probably a pathogenised virus (engineered for wellmeaning if dodgy Gain of Function vaccine-research reasons), it got out by accident, and shifted 300 years from the CDC to the wet market, which became the first superspreader event

    The DEEP irony of all this, is that this exact theory - it was an engineered virus which accidentally escaped from the Wuhan CDC and then spread at the market - was the conclusion of the very first Chinese scientists to investigate Covid in early 2020. They pre-published their study. And then China "disappeared" them and tried to erase their paper from history

    They were right all along. First thought, best thought - as is so often the case
    The flaw with all these labs and our own Pirbright is just as bad is that it only takes one loony, one Shipman in 1,000 good workers to release something ghastly. Most farmers still think that is what happend with the 2001 FMD at Pirbright. If it were proved to be true then the compensation due to those affected mega and minor would bankrupt DEFRA.

    On COVID no one was treated more harshly and more unfairly for doing no more than voicing an unwelcome alternative analysis than Andrew Bridgen. Even if he was wrong his analysis deserved to be listened to and deserved to be aired on boards such as this.

    For clarity in Andrew Bridgen now an un-un-person ?
  • DriverDriver Posts: 5,560

    Garland wasted so much time that Trump was able to run down the clock.

    The Smith special counsel investigation was a special counsel investigation that was opened by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland on November 18, 2022, three days after Donald Trump announced his campaign for the 2024 United States presidential election.

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

    Those two events look very connected - would Garland have done anything if Trump had delayed his presidential campaign a few more months ?

    It then took until August 2023 for Trump to be indicted with a trial set to begin in March 2024.
    That in itself is a sign that the investigation was politically motivated, and they didn't even try to hide it.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 53,749
    Driver said:

    Yeah, I expect I'm not understanding the notation convention of forex - but I'm right that higher number = weaker ruble?
    When quoted in this format, yes.

    Think of it as “How many rubles to buy a dollar?”
  • DriverDriver Posts: 5,560

    When quoted in this format, yes.

    Think of it as “How many rubles to buy a dollar?”
    OK, thanks. My brain still wants that to be the other way round... but I'll accept it :)
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 53,749

    It seems just so egregiously callous that I cannot imagine it's the case. Then again, governments of all stripes occasionally veer into egregious callousness.
    Why is it that I am certain that MPs have a life insurance scheme that pays no tax on payout?
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 43,082
    Dura_Ace said:

    More evidence, if any were needed, that he is a vile c-nt and a deeply flawed human being comes to us the form of his old F430 which is up for auction.

    https://rockstarcarauction.com/view/trumps-2007-ferrari-f430-coupe/0f8ec2bb-609d-4f0f-e763-08dd29cbe8c6

    It's Rosso Corsa with a TAN interior when, of course, it should be Rosso Corsa/Crema - the classic combo for V8 Ferraris. Tan looks stupid and wrong with Rosso Corsa even if the leather, in both shade and texture, matches the folds of his neck pussy.
    I'd pay money to see the fat **** get in and out of it.
  • edited January 26

    It seemed fairly clear to me, that the lack of interest in prosecuting Trump was about the tradition of not prosecuting people once they are out of power. Many democratic countries drop cases after politicians return to private life.

    The Trump investigation should have started on Jan 6th.
    I have a problem with dropping cases when politicians return to private life. I am afraid it has been abused. Now suppose Reeves and Starmer stole £100 M while in office and put it in their own accounts, I guess there would be efforts to recover it. But if they cause £100 B damage to the nation's finances through arrogant malfeasance, as seems to be their goal and aspiration then they are let walk away with it. Is that really right ?
This discussion has been closed.