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You might not want to back Reform to win the most seats even if you think Farage is going to be PM a

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  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 43,556
    Carnyx said:

    Or Nevinson: never forgotten his work at the IWM of soldiers marching.

    https://www.facebook.com/britishmuseum/posts/english-painter-and-printmaker-c-r-w-nevinson-was-a-celebrated-war-artist-and-ca/10158521315264723/
    Yep fantastic. And of course - trigger warning @TSE - although he was French, Gaudier-Brzeska, killed in 1915.
  • MattWMattW Posts: 25,759
    edited February 7

    All the things considered, there hasn't been a huge number of Con to Ref defections. Certainly some, but maybe not as many as you might expect.

    Will there be many red wall Lab to Ref defections? Must've been quite lonely for this lady.


    Tom Harwood@tomhfh
    ·
    31m
    NEW: Ashfield Labour Councillor Cathy Mason has defected to the Reform Party.

    There are now no longer any Labour Party representatives left on the Ashfield District Council.

    Interesting.

    Note quite as startling as it sounds - the last time Labour had more than 2 seats was in May 2019. Cons have 2. Ashfield Independents have 32 iirc.

    But the Leeanderthal Man will be pleased, and I bet he was involved.

    The big thing that will impact here is the Council Leader up in Crown Court later this month:

    A date has been set for the trial of Ashfield District Council's leader Jason Zadrozny following the latest hearing in the case. Councillor Zadrozny has pleaded not guilty to 12 counts of fraud by false representation and four counts of income tax evasion.

    Northampton Crown Court has now confirmed that the trial is currently listed to begin on February 24, 2025.

    https://www.nottinghampost.com/news/local-news/start-date-trial-ashfield-district-9733871

    (They seem to have dropped the cocaine charge.)
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 43,556
    edited February 7
    kamski said:

    Like I said, no actual examples. Pathetic.


    Look if you want to defend cutting USAID from one day to the next on some real grounds, go ahead, otherwise piss off.
    The fact that your tiny brain cannot understand the conversations this morning about USAID and its role in American foreign policy is not my problem.

    I suggest you acquaint yourself with some facts, or it might just be all too complicate for you, sonny.
  • ManOfGwentManOfGwent Posts: 147
    Taz said:

    Let them freeze and live with the consequences of their actions.
    If it were a referendum between nuclear power and people speaking Welsh, then chuck me the uranium and let's build a power station on every Welsh medium school.
  • The faux anti-French or anti-Welsh racism that infests pb is a bit juvenile, n'est ce pas?
    It’s not racism, it is the way they’ve treated me.

    The French tried to teargas me for no reason for example.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 44,317

    It's also not true. The darkest hour is at local midnight. Just before dawn is usually pretty bright.
    Yes, it's nonsense, isn't it. Joins a long list of such sayings.

    Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger ... what?
  • MattWMattW Posts: 25,759
    edited February 7

    It’s not racism, it is the way they’ve treated me.

    The French tried to teargas me for no reason for example.
    Come on TSE - you know it wasn't to make you tear up.

    They just wanted it knee-high to hide the shoes.
  • SelebianSelebian Posts: 9,137

    Yes, I almost always only give good reviews. If I get bad service (in any area) I always give the provider the chance to put things right first. Everyone can have bad luck or an off day, and a good way to judge a provider is by the way they deal with a mistake.

    But I did, very unusually, write a bad review recently. This was for a plumber whose efforts to repair a leak actually made it worse. After a month of excuses and missed appointments to fix the problem, I eventually gave up and got another (competent) plumber to fix it properly. The first plumber was incompetent and unreliable, but I still felt bad about giving him a bad review.
    Trustpilot is great for getting responses from otherwise unresponsive companies. A 1-star review gets you a call from someone who can actually fix the problem, rather than the level 1 flunkies whose main job appears to be to fob you off. The now largely defunct Cazoo being a case in point - several days of frustration before we left the review and then got contacted by someone who took charge of the problem personally and gave us his direct number (I did then update the review).

    I've never bothered with Tripadvisor. In places where you pay after you've received the service the time to bring it up is when paying, I think. Exceptions of course for where the bad service becomes apparent later (as with your plumber - but I guess that wasn't tripadvisor?!)
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 54,173

    It’s not racism, it is the way they’ve treated me.

    The French tried to teargas me for no reason for example.
    They take fashion crimes very seriously.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 44,317

    Hmmmm

    Not so sure. I think changes in process and systems can be put through quite rapidly. The results will take longer.

    For example, a planning process similar to the that used for offshore wind could be introduced quite rapidly, in other areas. By specifying the documentation that guarantees success and virtually eliminates the serial appeal comedy, years can be removed from the process.

    That could be done within 30 days of a new government. But would take much longer to have an effect.
    Yes, I agree. I was more talking about the impact - the famous "people really feeling it".

    But you absolutely can get cracking on things that are going to pay big dividends over time.
  • SelebianSelebian Posts: 9,137

    It's also not true. The darkest hour is at local midnight. Just before dawn is usually pretty bright.
    You're not allowing for energy saving schemes that extinguish the street lights a little while after midnight :wink:
  • SelebianSelebian Posts: 9,137

    Fuck the Welsh.
    That'll just lead to more of them, no?
  • pigeonpigeon Posts: 5,173

    The faux anti-French or anti-Welsh racism that infests pb is a bit juvenile, n'est ce pas?
    Is it even faux? There's a long and ignoble tradition of justifying all kinds of -isms because "bants" - especially against Wales, which is relatively small and not fashionable and therefore lacks defenders.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 53,476
    kinabalu said:

    Yes, I agree. I was more talking about the impact - the famous "people really feeling it".

    But you absolutely can get cracking on things that are going to pay big dividends over time.
    Then again, my proposal Ito eliminate illegal employment would probably work inside 30 days.
  • Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 62,310
    To be fair, ruling out a nuclear reactor because Welsh speakers live nearby does seem to be rather silly.
  • SelebianSelebian Posts: 9,137
    edited February 7
    Taz said:

    The Guardian article linked below is free to read.

    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/planners-recommended-against-nuclear-plant-in-2019-citing-fears-for-welsh-language/ar-AA1yAlFs?ocid=entnewsntp&pc=U531&cvid=ade77d81fba04530e9900138fc9abc7e&ei=25
    The solution, surely, is to give it a name in Welsh that is broadly accurate but in no way suggests it's a nuclear power station? Such as 'canolfan dadelfennu allyriadau sero'*, maybe.

    *apologies to any Welsh speakers for the (no doubt) mangling of the language of the bards by the US tech giant
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 53,476
    kinabalu said:

    Yes, it's nonsense, isn't it. Joins a long list of such sayings.

    Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger ... what?
    The phenomenon of surviving unpleasant experiences making *some* people mentally stronger is well attested.

    To the point that it is used as a training method.
  • DopermeanDopermean Posts: 850
    Taz said:

    WASPI women are, mainly, entitled middle class white boomers who are victims of their own stupidity or lack of attention to detail.

    The allegation about Lloyds Names is it was deliberate fraud. I don't know either way. I just found it interesting given how it was presented at the time.

    Some middle aged women not reading a letter or forgetting about having it is not fraud.
    The Lloyds names scandal is interesting, apparently they knew of the risk of asbestos liabilities from ~1970.
    Then they made it easier to become a "name" so more could be recruited, mention of number of MPs who were existing names and therefore benefited from dilution of the liabilities. There's a website with a summary of events but it brought up several security warnings so I won't link.
  • MattW said:

    Interesting.

    Note quite as startling as it sounds - the last time Labour had more than 2 seats was in May 2019. Cons have 2. Ashfield Independents have 32 iirc.

    But the Leeanderthal Man will be pleased, and I bet he was involved.

    The big thing that will impact here is the Council Leader up in Crown Court later this month:

    A date has been set for the trial of Ashfield District Council's leader Jason Zadrozny following the latest hearing in the case. Councillor Zadrozny has pleaded not guilty to 12 counts of fraud by false representation and four counts of income tax evasion.

    Northampton Crown Court has now confirmed that the trial is currently listed to begin on February 24, 2025.

    https://www.nottinghampost.com/news/local-news/start-date-trial-ashfield-district-9733871

    (They seem to have dropped the cocaine charge.)
    The Jason Zadrozny story is so odd, I have no idea what to make of it. Perhaps the court case will shed some light, but not sure.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 53,476
    Selebian said:

    The solution, surely, is to give it a name in Welsh that is broadly accurate but in no way suggests it's a nuclear power station? Such as 'canolfan dadelfennu allyriadau sero'*, maybe.

    *apologies to any Welsh speakers for the (no doubt) mangling of the language of the bards by the US tech giant
    Or, as part of building the power station, build a number of large, elegant houses in the neighbourhood, so that house prices remain affordable for the locals despite the increase in population from people working at the power station.
  • TazTaz Posts: 16,920
    From The Guardian article.

    A "Welsh language impact assessement"

    Hitachi carried out a Welsh language impact assessment as part of its application, which found that the project would need to bring 7,500 workers from outside the area. Anglesey has 70,000 residents and one of the highest concentrations of Welsh speakers in the country.

    The impact assessment concluded the extra workers “could have a major adverse effect on the balance of Welsh and non-Welsh speakers” in the area and “could adversely affect the use and prominence of the Welsh language within communities”.

    But the assessment also found that by creating high-skilled jobs for young people, the project would help preserve the Welsh language on the island. It would have created more than 2,000 local construction jobs for nine years, and about 85% of the plant’s workforce would be local under the plans.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 53,476
    Dopermean said:

    The Lloyds names scandal is interesting, apparently they knew of the risk of asbestos liabilities from ~1970.
    Then they made it easier to become a "name" so more could be recruited, mention of number of MPs who were existing names and therefore benefited from dilution of the liabilities. There's a website with a summary of events but it brought up several security warnings so I won't link.
    Yes. It was deliberate. There was also a game of shuffling liabilities to schemes, so those in the know could remove a liability. The new schemes, taking on these liabilities were stuffed with the marks....
  • LeonLeon Posts: 58,927
    viewcode said:

    Artists who exalt war are not thought of kindly.

    "We want to glorify war - the only cure for the world - militarism, patriotism, the destructive gesture of the anarchists, the beautiful ideas which kill, and contempt for woman. We want to demolish museums and libraries, fight morality, feminism and all opportunist and utilitarian cowardice....we want to deliver Italy from its gangrene of professors, archaeologists, tourist guides and antiquaries." - Filippo Tommaso Marinetti in The Futurist Manifesto, 1909
    Ooh, i quite like the sound of that

    Not sure about “contempt for women”tho. Women are nice. Just make them a tiny bit sub and we’re all good
  • kamskikamski Posts: 6,164
    edited February 7
    TOPPING said:

    The fact that your tiny brain cannot understand the conversations this morning about USAID and its role in American foreign policy is not my problem.

    I suggest you acquaint yourself with some facts, or it might just be all too complicate for you, sonny.
    So not willing to defend the cut off USAID.


    You can't give a single quote from me can you? Shouldn't be hard as it was only this morning. If you can't give me even one actual quote from me to help my tiny brain understand what you mean by my ignorance, I'll just assume that you are a lying shit. Fair?
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 30,585
    ...
    kinabalu said:

    It's not looking good, is it. A powerful wave is building and Farage is surfing it with all the grace and skill of Elvis in Blue Hawaii. But the darkest hour is just before the dawn. That's what they say and there's a reason they do. Hubris will soon kick in and he'll fall off his board.
    What is remarkable both on here and in the wider media is Chagos has captured the zeitgeist and is instrumental in trashing Labour, yet Rwanda using the UKs £700m small boats bung to smash DRC doesn't get a look in.

    I need to lobby Leon to spam the site for days in order for the Rwanda scandal to gain any traction
  • DopermeanDopermean Posts: 850

    Or, as part of building the power station, build a number of large, elegant houses in the neighbourhood, so that house prices remain affordable for the locals despite the increase in population from people working at the power station.
    Presumably they'd have built a portacabin village with the ensuing social problems/economic opportunities that 7,000 temporary workers bring.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 44,317
    kamski said:

    So not willing to defend the cut off USAID.

    You can't give a single quote from me can you? Shouldn't be hard as it was only this morning. If you can't give me even one actual quote from me to help my tiny brain understand what you mean by my ignorance, I'll just assume that you are a lying shit. Fair?
    Black Doves
    Pyramids
    Topping

    :smile:
  • SelebianSelebian Posts: 9,137

    Or, as part of building the power station, build a number of large, elegant houses in the neighbourhood, so that house prices remain affordable for the locals despite the increase in population from people working at the power station.
    Ah. I see you've actually thought about the thing and come up with a reasonable solution. Isn't that frowned upon nowadays?
  • LeonLeon Posts: 58,927

    ...

    What is remarkable both on here and in the wider media is Chagos has captured the zeitgeist and is instrumental in trashing Labour, yet Rwanda using the UKs £700m small boats bung to smash DRC doesn't get a look in.

    I need to lobby Leon to spam the site for days in order for the Rwanda scandal to gain any traction
    I’m afraid I charge
  • bondegezoubondegezou Posts: 13,079
    TOPPING said:

    Eating fresh watermelon. Truly the height of luxury.

    I can't offhand think of the circumstances whereby people would not eat fresh watermelon. I don't think they tin it, do they?
    https://www.myjewishlearning.com/the-nosher/russian-style-pickled-watermelon-is-everything-you-need-this-summer/
  • CookieCookie Posts: 14,642
    kinabalu said:

    Yes, it's nonsense, isn't it. Joins a long list of such sayings.

    Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger ... what?
    ..."The exception that proves the rule"...

    actually, that one used to make sense. The word 'prove' used to mean 'test' (as in 'the proof of the pudding'). So the exception that proves - or tests - the rule - shows that the rule doesn't work. So nowadays, we might instead say 'the exception that disproves the rule' to be more true to its original sense.

    I don't think 'darkest before the dawn' falls into the same category, mind. That was never true.
  • noneoftheabovenoneoftheabove Posts: 23,935
    pigeon said:

    Is it even faux? There's a long and ignoble tradition of justifying all kinds of -isms because "bants" - especially against Wales, which is relatively small and not fashionable and therefore lacks defenders.
    You've got the dragons to be fair.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 44,317

    The phenomenon of surviving unpleasant experiences making *some* people mentally stronger is well attested.

    To the point that it is used as a training method.
    Yes, it works but not literally. Like "darkest hour" in fact.

    Some do work literally though. Eg you can't make an omelette without breaking eggs. I'd like to hear that one a bit more from politicians - so long as it's referring to something I agree with, otherwise it would irritate me intensely.
  • bondegezoubondegezou Posts: 13,079
    Sandpit said:

    They can see what’s actually important once the $60bn swamp has been drained. It’s probably a few hundred million of actual direct foreign aid. Right now they can’t see the wood for the trees.
    How much MAGA Koop-Aid to you have to drink to believe that over 99% of USAID’s budget is lost to administration and corrupt? Sandpit, please come back to reality.
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 43,556
    kamski said:

    So not willing to defend the cut off USAID.


    You can't give a single quote from me can you? Shouldn't be hard as it was only this morning. If you can't give me even one actual quote from me to help my tiny brain understand what you mean by my ignorance, I'll just assume that you are a lying shit. Fair?
    You're not handling this very well are you. In fact it reads like it's affecting you. I always said there should be an "open door" policy at PB where morons like you are welcomed but you really have me doubting my inclusiveness here.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 58,927
    Just like to point out that I said on about October 17th 2023 that Israel’s strategy in Gaza only made sense if they were trying to make Gaza uninhabitable - thereby changing the facts on the ground and driving the poor Gazans into the sea - or Somaliland

    So it is

    NB: I did not applaud this (and still don’t, it’s horrific) but there WAS a logic to what they were doing (despite many saying otherwise on here)
  • bondegezoubondegezou Posts: 13,079

    One-third of Labour seats lost in 7 months...
    It’s bad news for Labour for sure, but it’s still not bad that they’ve won more seats than Con + Ref put together.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 44,317

    Then again, my proposal Ito eliminate illegal employment would probably work inside 30 days.
    Yes, well if you were calling the shots, Malmesbury, all bets would be off. Paradigm shift.
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 30,585
    Leon said:

    I’m afraid I charge
    Ah, that explains your terrier-like assiduity.
  • kamskikamski Posts: 6,164
    kinabalu said:

    Black Doves
    Pyramids
    Topping

    :smile:
    Black Doves and Pyramids neither "on this topic" nor "this morning".

    Anyway Black Doves is truly crap. Don't waste any time on it.
  • Dura_AceDura_Ace Posts: 14,165

    ...

    What is remarkable both on here and in the wider media is Chagos has captured the zeitgeist and is instrumental in trashing Labour, yet Rwanda using the UKs £700m small boats bung to smash DRC doesn't get a look in.
    Has it? I don't think I've heard a normal person mention it. Is there any polling on it?

    It's a fairly abstract argument about made up numbers, some obscure naval base that the UK isn't even allowed to use with a dose of liminal and weak minded Sinophobia chucked in.

  • kamskikamski Posts: 6,164
    TOPPING said:

    You're not handling this very well are you. In fact it reads like it's affecting you. I always said there should be an "open door" policy at PB where morons like you are welcomed but you really have me doubting my inclusiveness here.
    Lying shit it is then.

    I've always said pompous gits should be tolerated if they occasionally say something that isn't utterly moronic, but I don't think you ever have.
  • bondegezoubondegezou Posts: 13,079
    Sandpit said:

    What do you reckon a British DOGE uncovers?
    Presumably nothing, given that’s what the US DOGE has uncovered (if you ignore the MAGA conspiracy theories).
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 64,695
    Leon said:

    Just like to point out that I said on about October 17th 2023 that Israel’s strategy in Gaza only made sense if they were trying to make Gaza uninhabitable - thereby changing the facts on the ground and driving the poor Gazans into the sea - or Somaliland

    So it is

    NB: I did not applaud this (and still don’t, it’s horrific) but there WAS a logic to what they were doing (despite many saying otherwise on here)

    Thomas Friedman (NYT) said early on that a huge problem for Isreal is that could very easily end up having to run the place having destroyed it and with no exit strategy. He has been saying all through this that Isreal has no exit strategy.

    He obviously hadn't imagined Trump would bail them out by offering to turn the whole place into a golf resort!
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 30,585
    Dura_Ace said:

    Has it? I don't think I've heard a normal person mention it. Is there any polling on it?

    It's a fairly abstract argument about made up numbers, some obscure naval base that the UK isn't even allowed to use with a dose of liminal and weak minded Sinophobia chucked in.

    Every other post on the august PB this Wednesday was about Chagos. Granted 99% of those posts were Leon's.

    Nonetheless, hats off to the old fellow.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 44,317

    ...

    What is remarkable both on here and in the wider media is Chagos has captured the zeitgeist and is instrumental in trashing Labour, yet Rwanda using the UKs £700m small boats bung to smash DRC doesn't get a look in.

    I need to lobby Leon to spam the site for days in order for the Rwanda scandal to gain any traction
    We're paying 18 BILLION (!) to give away Chagos. Let's keep it and fund our NHS instead.

    That's the bus. It's game over. Might as well start dotting the ashtrays around number ten now.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 44,617
    edited February 7
    Dopermean said:

    Presumably they'd have built a portacabin village with the ensuing social problems/economic opportunities that 7,000 temporary workers bring.
    I was reading a history of Dunbar - a small seaside resort in SE Scotland. The building of Torness AGR nearby had a huge effect on it - basically booked up a lot of the holiday accommodation solid IIRC, and the results were fairly predictable, incl. the streets on payday. I suspect this rapidly accelerated the burgh's evolution to a douce commuter dormitory for Edinburgh once construction was completed.
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 33,924
    Martin Baxter Electoral Calculus latest figures

    Lab 209
    Con 156
    Ref 151
    LD 62
    SNP 43

    https://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/prediction_main.html
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 30,585
    kinabalu said:

    We're paying 18 BILLION (!) to give away Chagos. Let's keep it and fund our NHS instead.

    That's the bus. It's game over. Might as well start dotting the ashtrays around number ten now.
    I don't suppose the Rwanda £700m freebie would even touch the NHS sides. Probably better value if it is used to furtively invade DRC.
  • david_herdsondavid_herdson Posts: 18,111

    It’s bad news for Labour for sure, but it’s still not bad that they’ve won more seats than Con + Ref put together.
    More recent results have been worse though.
  • david_herdsondavid_herdson Posts: 18,111
    Cookie said:

    ..."The exception that proves the rule"...

    actually, that one used to make sense. The word 'prove' used to mean 'test' (as in 'the proof of the pudding'). So the exception that proves - or tests - the rule - shows that the rule doesn't work. So nowadays, we might instead say 'the exception that disproves the rule' to be more true to its original sense.

    I don't think 'darkest before the dawn' falls into the same category, mind. That was never true.
    Or alternatively, 'the exception is a category / data error' and the rule is fine, which is often the case.
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 79,006
    Kanye West's Xs making Musk and Trump look as pure as the driven snow.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 44,317
    Cookie said:

    ..."The exception that proves the rule"...

    actually, that one used to make sense. The word 'prove' used to mean 'test' (as in 'the proof of the pudding'). So the exception that proves - or tests - the rule - shows that the rule doesn't work. So nowadays, we might instead say 'the exception that disproves the rule' to be more true to its original sense.

    I don't think 'darkest before the dawn' falls into the same category, mind. That was never true.
    Ah interesting. Unfortunately "the exception that disproves the rule" is not going to cut the mustard as a saying. It's too much of a simple obvious statement. Like "it all adds up". A 'saying' has to have a bit more about it than that.

    "A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step."

    This is another one (in addition to eggs and omelettes) I'd quite like to hear more of from politicians of all parties.
  • Dura_Ace said:

    Has it? I don't think I've heard a normal person mention it. Is there any polling on it?

    It's a fairly abstract argument about made up numbers, some obscure naval base that the UK isn't even allowed to use with a dose of liminal and weak minded Sinophobia chucked in.

    YouGov did a follow up to their initial polling yesterday. Beginning to cut through more:

    Support proposed deal: 23% (-2 from 9 Jan)
    Oppose proposed deal: 27% (+6)
    Don't know: 50% (-4)

    Electoral Calculus is much more damning:

    40% disagree
    18% agree

    If the details of the deal were mentioned in the question, I'd imagine support will plummet. As it will when finalised.
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 43,556
    kamski said:

    Lying shit it is then.

    I've always said pompous gits should be tolerated if they occasionally say something that isn't utterly moronic, but I don't think you ever have.
    What a funny old sausage you are.

    I have made rationale, cogent, intelligent, insightful, but above all frankly incontrovertible points about USAID which you seem to have been singularly (no, Nigel also) unable to grasp. I am tempted to put this down solely to your immense stupidity but I think, rather, that it contradicts your "truth" and hence you get all snarky. I mean yes, you are immensely stupid, that everyone can see, but to get hung up on the nature of USAID when there is an enormous amount of analysis supporting my position is, well, bizarre.

    So looking forward to your next scathing "lying shit" post.

    Go for it.
  • It’s bad news for Labour for sure, but it’s still not bad that they’ve won more seats than Con + Ref put together.
    Labour 2025 is 3 holds, 1 gain and 5 losses. Small, but hardly auspicious.
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 43,556
    kinabalu said:

    Black Doves
    Pyramids
    Topping

    :smile:
    You do love a good pushing from the back post.
  • bondegezoubondegezou Posts: 13,079
    MattW said:

    Hmm.

    Mr Trump's latest order sanctions people associated with the International Criminal Court. Amusingly, he calls it "illegitimate".
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2p19l24g2o

    He did that last time, too.

    A win for Putin and Netanyahu.
  • algarkirkalgarkirk Posts: 13,673
    edited February 7

    Thomas Friedman (NYT) said early on that a huge problem for Isreal is that could very easily end up having to run the place having destroyed it and with no exit strategy. He has been saying all through this that Isreal has no exit strategy.

    He obviously hadn't imagined Trump would bail them out by offering to turn the whole place into a golf resort!
    Another possibility - and I agree with those who think that Israel had a particular agenda in reducing Gaza to rubble as soon as an abominable atrocity gave a ground for doing so - is that Israel plans to decline to run the place having reduced it to rubble, which they hope will in the end require someone else to find an exit strategy involving large scale relocation. This very simply combines with the fact that the October atrocity provides a ground for simply excluding a two state solution from consideration.

    Perhaps Israel will hand the matter over to that nonexistent entity so beloved of the BBC 'The International Community'.
  • Dura_AceDura_Ace Posts: 14,165
    I've only met one American who's ever been to NSF Diego Garcia. It took him 41 hours on a C-130 from Norfolk, VI via Lajes, Naples, Crete, Bahrain and Muscat. Tinnitus is now the defining feature of his life.
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 79,006
    The day is darkest after about quarter past 7 today (Sun 20 deg or so below horizon)

    https://www.cloudynights.com/uploads/monthly_04_2020/post-235546-0-11694700-1586207866.jpg
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 44,317

    I don't suppose the Rwanda £700m freebie would even touch the NHS sides. Probably better value if it is used to furtively invade DRC.
    Yes, sorry Pete. I'm not helping, am I. Mocking only gives more oxygen. Let's get this TORY RWANDA SCANDAL up the charts. Our money given away to fund bloodshed in Africa. Surely worth some coverage.
  • FlatlanderFlatlander Posts: 4,852

    UK orders Apple to give it access to users' encrypted accounts, Washington Post reports
    https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-asks-apple-let-it-spy-users-encrypted-accounts-washington-post-reports-2025-02-07/

    Bonkers. Is this the Home Office blob getting loose again?

    It supposedly applies worldwide. How does that work?
  • glwglw Posts: 10,254
    edited February 7

    UK orders Apple to give it access to users' encrypted accounts, Washington Post reports
    https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-asks-apple-let-it-spy-users-encrypted-accounts-washington-post-reports-2025-02-07/

    Hopefully Apple will tell the UK government to shove it.

    Even if you think "if you nothing to hide you have nothing to fear" which is a terrible argument, does anyone really want a backdoor into Apple's systems when we have no idea who may form a future government? You might not worry about a government led by Starmer abusing such powers, but do want a government led by Farage able to read everything?

    Oh and CALEA (lawful access of telecoms in the US) has completely blown up with the Chinese Salt Typhoon exploting it to intecept communications in the US across essentially all telecoms companies. The US government has actually told citizens to use end-to-end encyrpted services as a consequence.
  • FF43FF43 Posts: 17,779
    edited February 7

    It's also not true. The darkest hour is at local midnight. Just before dawn is usually pretty bright.
    I thought the saying was "coldest before dawn"

    Which happens to be true according to the weather forecast for where I live
  • LeonLeon Posts: 58,927
    Trump needs to start arresting ‘human rights lawyers” and “International judges”

    Just get on with it, Donald
  • theProletheProle Posts: 1,290
    HYUFD said:

    'Both Angela Rayner and Yvette Cooper are predicted to lose their seats as revealed in a shock poll which forecasts that Labour, Conservatives and Reform UK will be locked in a three-way tie.

    A new MRP poll shows Reform at the top with 24 per cent of the vote, with Labour and the Tories just inches behind at 23 per cent each.

    The survey of 5,743 British adults, the largest post-Election poll to date, shows that the Conservatives could win 178 seats (up from 121), Labour 174 (down from 412), and Reform UK 175 (a huge rise from only five seats).

    The poll conducted national communications agency PLMR and Electoral Calculus predicted that multiple Labour ministers will have to give up their seats.

    Rayner will lose her seat of Ashton-under-Lyne to Nigel Farage's party, whilst Home Secretary Cooper is also forecast to give up her seat of Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley to Reform UK.

    Jonathan Reynolds, Secretary of State for Business and Trade, is also forecast to lose Stalybridge and Hyde to Reform, whilst Wes Streeting is expected to lose hold of Ilford North to the Tories.'

    https://www.gbnews.com/politics/politics-news-latest-tories-migrants-barred-suella-braverman-lord-hermer-chagos

    Given the usual accuracy of MRP polls, especially for the seat by seat predictions, this is probably the best news Cooper or Rayner have had in ages!
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 29,650

    Bonkers. Is this the Home Office blob getting loose again?

    It supposedly applies worldwide. How does that work?
    The article speculates on UK-specific storage being created.
  • ManOfGwentManOfGwent Posts: 147
    Dura_Ace said:

    I've only met one American who's ever been to NSF Diego Garcia. It took him 41 hours on a C-130 from Norfolk, VI via Lajes, Naples, Crete, Bahrain and Muscat. Tinnitus is now the defining feature of his life.

    I know someone who used to be the deputy commissioner. Largely a London based job but they did get to go there a few times and had a jolly snorkeling, not much else to do.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 58,927
    FF43 said:

    I thought the saying was "coldest before dawn"

    Which happens to be true according to the weather forecast for where I live
    Speaking as someone who has spent an entire night in a genuinely haunted and terrifying Plantation House in Louisiana, I can confirm that it is, indeed, “darkest before dawn”
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 44,317
    TOPPING said:

    You do love a good pushing from the back post.
    "sonny" ... lol

    Terrific stuff.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 53,476
    a

    The article speculates on UK-specific storage being created.
    It is more likely that Apple ceases to offer iCloud to UK users.

    Note that the Government is demanding unlimited, warrantless access.
  • bondegezoubondegezou Posts: 13,079
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9qj3gzxzp2o

    Alba's general secretary has been suspended after being accused of gross misconduct.

    The removal of Chris McEleny, a former SNP councillor, comes as infighting dominates the party's attempt to find a new leader following the death of founder Alex Salmond.

    McEleny is understood to have launched a separate complaint against acting leader and former justice secretary Kenny MacAskill.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 58,927
    kinabalu said:

    Yes, sorry Pete. I'm not helping, am I. Mocking only gives more oxygen. Let's get this TORY RWANDA SCANDAL up the charts. Our money given away to fund bloodshed in Africa. Surely worth some coverage.
    But wait. You guys are in charge of the world’s great agenda setting social media called

    <<< checks phone >>>

    bluski. Blueski. bloosky

    Just use that to get your favoured stories into the headlines
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 44,317
    kamski said:

    Black Doves and Pyramids neither "on this topic" nor "this morning".

    Anyway Black Doves is truly crap. Don't waste any time on it.
    Thanks, I won't. In fact I have 3 months of free Apple and plan to watch Slow Horses.

    (don't say if that's crap too because I'm mentally committed)
  • glwglw Posts: 10,254
    Here you go. The FBI saying in essence for God's sake use end-to-end encryption because the Chinese government have exploited the CALEA mandated lawful intercept capabilities (a backdoor in common parlance).

    https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/us-officials-urge-americans-use-encrypted-apps-cyberattack-rcna182694

    I do not believe for a moment that the UK government could justify how they having full access to Apple's cloud storage would somehow not face the exact same problems.

    Apple should withdraw from the UK entirely if the government will not change their demands.
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 30,585
    Leon said:

    Trump needs to start arresting ‘human rights lawyers” and “International judges”

    Just get on with it, Donald

    It starts with leftie lawyers. Amal Clooney is already on the hit list. Next it will be itinerant hacks. I suspect Trump hates journos.
  • glwglw Posts: 10,254
    Leon said:

    Trump needs to start arresting ‘human rights lawyers” and “International judges”

    Just get on with it, Donald

    He should arrest the UK Home Office for threatening the privacy and security of American citizens.
  • Dura_AceDura_Ace Posts: 14,165
    glw said:

    Hopefully Apple will tell the UK government to shove it.

    Even if you think "if you nothing to hide you have nothing to fear" which is a terrible argument, does anyone really want a backdoor into Apple's systems when we have no idea who may form a future government? You might not worry about a government led by Starmer abusing such powers, but do want a government led by Farage able to read everything?
    Fukker members are the type of people who can't get their printers to work and whose microwave clocks blink 00:00 for years on end. They will never work out how to read your email. Nothing to worry about.

  • FlatlanderFlatlander Posts: 4,852

    The article speculates on UK-specific storage being created.
    So what do they do with apps that encrypt everything on the way out first? Ban them?

    They really aren't going to like my self-installed NextCloud instance.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 44,317
    Leon said:

    But wait. You guys are in charge of the world’s great agenda setting social media called

    <<< checks phone >>>

    bluski. Blueski. bloosky

    Just use that to get your favoured stories into the headlines
    I'm not on it. Sounds like that needs to change ASAP if I want to be a part of shaping the future.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 58,927
    kinabalu said:

    Thanks, I won't. In fact I have 3 months of free Apple and plan to watch Slow Horses.

    (don't say if that's crap too because I'm mentally committed)
    Black Doves has a much better script. Genuinely funny

    Slow Horses is more absorbing in its character work

    Both are utterly ludicrous with corpses strewn over london and huge mass murders all tidied up in minutes and no one notices

    Favouring one over the other is a sign of middling intellect or worse
  • kamskikamski Posts: 6,164
    TOPPING said:

    What a funny old sausage you are.

    I have made rationale, cogent, intelligent, insightful, but above all frankly incontrovertible points about USAID which you seem to have been singularly (no, Nigel also) unable to grasp. I am tempted to put this down solely to your immense stupidity but I think, rather, that it contradicts your "truth" and hence you get all snarky. I mean yes, you are immensely stupid, that everyone can see, but to get hung up on the nature of USAID when there is an enormous amount of analysis supporting my position is, well, bizarre.

    So looking forward to your next scathing "lying shit" post.

    Go for it.
    Give me a quote from me that illustrates this then.

    Or even find a single person who has mentioned "American cultural imperialism" except you.

    Also, are you defending the cutting off of USAID?
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 30,585
    edited February 7
    kinabalu said:

    Yes, sorry Pete. I'm not helping, am I. Mocking only gives more oxygen. Let's get this TORY RWANDA SCANDAL up the charts. Our money given away to fund bloodshed in Africa. Surely worth some coverage.
    Don't be silly!
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 53,476

    So what do they do with apps that encrypt everything on the way out first? Ban them?

    They really aren't going to like my self-installed NextCloud instance.
    There is already a law that says you must divulge a key/password on police demand. Failure to do so is a criminal offence.

    The next step is to make using encryption without a government back door a crime.
  • ChrisChris Posts: 11,838

    Thomas Friedman (NYT) said early on that a huge problem for Isreal is that could very easily end up having to run the place having destroyed it and with no exit strategy. He has been saying all through this that Isreal has no exit strategy.

    He obviously hadn't imagined Trump would bail them out by offering to turn the whole place into a golf resort!
    I reckon the Israelis should think twice before encouraging Trump.

    A Disney-run Holy Land theme park could be pretty profitable, if only the locals could be shipped off somewhere.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 58,927

    It starts with leftie lawyers. Amal Clooney is already on the hit list. Next it will be itinerant hacks. I suspect Trump hates journos.
    Nah

    Imagine the hilarity if he goes for Philippe Sands
  • CookieCookie Posts: 14,642
    Dura_Ace said:

    Fukker members are the type of people who can't get their printers to work and whose microwave clocks blink 00:00 for years on end. They will never work out how to read your email. Nothing to worry about.

    Sounds like a body of people I would be at home with.

    1) All printers are bastards.

    2) I take the long view with digital clocks on appliances. I keep them permanently on BST. During the winter months, I'm quite capable of mentally subtracting 1; and by March, while all those other fools are running round resetting everything, all my clocks are right and my indolence pays off.
  • FF43FF43 Posts: 17,779
    Cookie said:

    ..."The exception that proves the rule"...

    actually, that one used to make sense. The word 'prove' used to mean 'test' (as in 'the proof of the pudding'). So the exception that proves - or tests - the rule - shows that the rule doesn't work. So nowadays, we might instead say 'the exception that disproves the rule' to be more true to its original sense.

    I don't think 'darkest before the dawn' falls into the same category, mind. That was never true.
    You prove the rule through deduction by elimination, as long as you identify all exceptions.
  • Sean_FSean_F Posts: 38,254
    edited February 7
    Leon said:

    Nah

    Imagine the hilarity if he goes for Philippe Sands
    No need to bother with any “trial” nonsense. Just follow the examples of Robespierre and St. Just.
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 43,556
    kinabalu said:

    "sonny" ... lol

    Terrific stuff.
    I suppose you dream of the days when people called you sonny.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 58,927
    edited February 7
    Sean_F said:

    No need to bother with any “trial” nonsense. Just follow the example of Robespierre and St. Just.
    Yes

    Of course it would be wrong and barbaric and unjustifiable, and as America consigned Mr Sands to Gitmo I would be upset and angry for 0.00043 seconds
  • FlatlanderFlatlander Posts: 4,852
    edited February 7

    There is already a law that says you must divulge a key/password on police demand. Failure to do so is a criminal offence.

    The next step is to make using encryption without a government back door a crime.
    At least the law regarding divulgence is specific to individuals, rather than giving them a licence to trawl.

    Presumably the cloud files could be accessed on this basis via any connected device but what they really want is to be able to read things without the user knowing.

    [We seem to be very keen on an 'international rule based order'. So what happens when China asks for access on the same basis?]
  • LeonLeon Posts: 58,927
    glw said:

    One other thought. Remember Reeves blathering about Europe's Silicon Valley being built between Cambridge and Oxford? Who the hell is going to want to build cloud services in the UK when we have a more authoritarian stance on encryption than the Chinese? China only demands that iCloud for Chinese users runs on Chinese systems, they don't expect to be able to get at all data worldwide.

    We are becoming a ridiculous nation

    This government needs to step down. They have virtually no ideas, and the only ideas they have are bad

    Fuck them. Just go. Get rid. PURGE
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 53,476
    edited February 7
    glw said:

    One other thought. Remember Reeves blathering about Europe's Silicon Valley being built between Cambridge and Oxford? Who the hell is going to want to build cloud services in the UK when we have a more authoritarian stance on encryption than the Chinese? China only demands that iCloud for Chinese users runs on Chinese systems, they don't expect to be able to get at all data worldwide.

    "The laws of Australia the UK prevail in Australia the UK, I can assure you of that," he said on Friday. "The laws of mathematics are very commendable, but the only law that applies in Australia the UK is the law of Australia the UK."
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 43,556
    edited February 7
    kamski said:

    Give me a quote from me that illustrates this then.

    Or even find a single person who has mentioned "American cultural imperialism" except you.

    Also, are you defending the cutting off of USAID?
    Oh FFS. I can't even remember what you are trying to prove I haven't proven.

    My point was and is that people bemoan USAID curtailing its activities. But USAID is a tool of the US government designed to promote its soft power (or to undertake cultural imperialism, or expand US hegemony, take your pick of phrases).

    The same people - you perhaps, if you could string together a coherent post about it - who bemoan US imperialist pretensions at the same time are upset that one of the main tools of US imperialism - USAID - is being scaled back.

    Now, readers, I'm sorry if I appear to be repeating myself, but it has become evident that The Kamskmeister requires it.
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 43,556
    The three things I enjoy the most are eating cats and correcting peoples' punctuation.

    Who says the internet has no use.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 58,927
    Frankly, Trump should just arrest and intern, without trial, anyone called “Philippe”

    Save a lot of pointless hassle
This discussion has been closed.