Trump invited Conor McGregor, the Reform-y Tomm-eh esque UFC dude in to the WH and the Oval Office, for St Paddy's Day, and left the Teseaichoichscshuckseoischyeiaghhrshffffqooowooo fuming half a mile down the road
I know Donald Trump is not always to everyone's taste, on PB, but he can be fucking funny
I'm calling you out on this. There is nothing funny about inviting a convicted rapist to the White House. Imagine - go on, you're a writer, you can do it - one of the women or girls close to you, someone you care about a lot and feel protective towards, that they've been raped and that they have to see their rapist admired and celebrated because he has a nice line in suits and repartee.
It's not hard to imagine. And if you can't ask one of the many women you know how they'd feel about their rapist being treated in this way. How would you feel about a Conor McGregor if it was someone you loved he hurt? I have been raped. I have seen my rapist treated as a great fellow because he could charm. They didn't see the violence and abuse of an inexperienced and naive girls that followed that charm. Nor the shame and guilt and fear that I felt afterwards. And what happened to me has happened to pretty much every woman, in some form or other. And we are absolutely fucking sick of seeing the appalling men who treat us in this way dismissed by others because, hey, they are funny and sharp.
We don't want to be victims. We wish - Christ we wish it every fucking day since we were 11 or so - that we weren't victims, that we didn't have to take steps all the time to avoid this. And we wish that when we slip up we got the benefit of the doubt. But no it's the abusers, those who turn a blind eye, those who egg them on and those who do "it's only a bit of banter/he's a nice guy really" who get the benefit of the doubt.
You are not the only man on here who gives the impression - maybe unthinkingly - that women are somehow not fully human, only really support animals for men, the people who fit in with what's left when men have got what they want first. This forum frankly has one hell of a blind spot about the woman's perspective on life. But it is precisely because of attitudes like this that people like Trump get away with behaviour which is disgusting, not decent and should have no place in any country trying to be civilised.
I like you Leon. But sometimes you really need to think about what you say.
And if I sound furious, put it down to having been ill for longer than is pleasant, if that helps. It'll have a word - hysteria. That'll be the one.
It's the love of the transgressor. The mad, bad, boy. The "truly free". The infantile worship of the "propaganda of the deed". The one not held back by "bourgeoise morality".
Hunter Biden?
We are getting to the point where we need to call Prevent for you.
Or should we wait for the Pizza Parlour Basement phase?
No, PB has reached the insane point when anyone who dares to mention an awkward fact that might discomfort the Dems, the American Left, the anti-Trumpers - is regarded as a Nazi, a conspiracy theorist, and a Trumpite coup-encourager, and so forth. Rather than someone pointing out that there are two sides to this story, and there is a reason so many Americans voted Trump and abhor the Democrats, they are not all Hitler-its thickos, even at the same time as Trump IS a mad buffoon who should be nowhere near the Oval
We saw the same shit vis a vis Ukraine, we see it here, it’s just a sad dumbing down of the site, as inability to do nuance, a kind of dim, morally shrill groupthink, and it is getting REALLY old
Yup, I think in an election rerun Trump would still win both the EC and PV. I don't think there's really a realisation of how fed up average Americans are with the constant drum beat of DEI and culture war stuff that comes from the left, even in blue states friends of mine are quite pleased to see the back of it all under Trump despite everything else he's doing. Again, I'll point to the wide condemnation among the left that the Dems encouraged against Gavin Newsom when he pointed out the bleeding obvious that allowing biological men into women's sports is unfair. People see that and the lizard part of their brain just switches off from anything else the Dems have to offer IMO. Until they get real on this and other similar subjects I don't see the Dems making any real headway in the 1 v 1 presidential election.
Trump invited Conor McGregor, the Reform-y Tomm-eh esque UFC dude in to the WH and the Oval Office, for St Paddy's Day, and left the Teseaichoichscshuckseoischyeiaghhrshffffqooowooo fuming half a mile down the road
I know Donald Trump is not always to everyone's taste, on PB, but he can be fucking funny
I'm calling you out on this. There is nothing funny about inviting a convicted rapist to the White House. Imagine - go on, you're a writer, you can do it - one of the women or girls close to you, someone you care about a lot and feel protective towards, that they've been raped and that they have to see their rapist admired and celebrated because he has a nice line in suits and repartee.
It's not hard to imagine. And if you can't ask one of the many women you know how they'd feel about their rapist being treated in this way. How would you feel about a Conor McGregor if it was someone you loved he hurt? I have been raped. I have seen my rapist treated as a great fellow because he could charm. They didn't see the violence and abuse of an inexperienced and naive girls that followed that charm. Nor the shame and guilt and fear that I felt afterwards. And what happened to me has happened to pretty much every woman, in some form or other. And we are absolutely fucking sick of seeing the appalling men who treat us in this way dismissed by others because, hey, they are funny and sharp.
We don't want to be victims. We wish - Christ we wish it every fucking day since we were 11 or so - that we weren't victims, that we didn't have to take steps all the time to avoid this. And we wish that when we slip up we got the benefit of the doubt. But no it's the abusers, those who turn a blind eye, those who egg them on and those who do "it's only a bit of banter/he's a nice guy really" who get the benefit of the doubt.
You are not the only man on here who gives the impression - maybe unthinkingly - that women are somehow not fully human, only really support animals for men, the people who fit in with what's left when men have got what they want first. This forum frankly has one hell of a blind spot about the woman's perspective on life. But it is precisely because of attitudes like this that people like Trump get away with behaviour which is disgusting, not decent and should have no place in any country trying to be civilised.
I like you Leon. But sometimes you really need to think about what you say.
And if I sound furious, put it down to having been ill for longer than is pleasant, if that helps. It'll have a word - hysteria. That'll be the one.
It's the love of the transgressor. The mad, bad, boy. The "truly free". The infantile worship of the "propaganda of the deed". The one not held back by "bourgeoise morality".
Hunter Biden?
We are getting to the point where we need to call Prevent for you.
Or should we wait for the Pizza Parlour Basement phase?
No, PB has reached the insane point when anyone who dares to mention an awkward fact that might discomfort the Dems, the American Left, the anti-Trumpers - is regarded as a Nazi, a conspiracy theorist, and a Trumpite coup-encourager, and so forth. Rather than someone pointing out that there are two sides to this story, and there is a reason so many Americans voted Trump and abhor the Democrats, they are not all Hitler-its thickos, even at the same time as Trump IS a mad buffoon who should be nowhere near the Oval
We saw the same shit vis a vis Ukraine, we see it here, it’s just a sad dumbing down of the site, as inability to do nuance, a kind of dim, morally shrill groupthink, and it is getting REALLY old
You never learn do you. You were suspended from the site for a week for your attitude and behaviour. Things don't change much. How many days is it now?
I would like to think that the moderators are running out of patience with you.
OGH has told me to permanently ban Leon if he breaks the site rules again or goes down the white babies angle.
OGH isn't going to be out of pocket because Leon cannot follow the rules.
Again, I will ask, if Trump was a Russian asset what would he have done differently?
Scoop: The Trump administration has discussed recognizing Crimea as Russian territory - & pushing the UN to do the same - to get a peace deal across the finish line.
(No decisions have been formally made) w/ @mchalfant16:
Leavitt: "It's only because of the United States of America that the French aren't speaking German right now."
It is in large part because of France that the United States of America doesn't have King Charles III as its head of state now
I am not sure that the Nazis planned to make everyone speak German. I imagine the French would have continued to speak French. I am not sure what their hellish plans for Russia and the Baltic States would have been like. They might have tried to establish German as the main language there. I don't think they would have made the UK speak German either.
Trump invited Conor McGregor, the Reform-y Tomm-eh esque UFC dude in to the WH and the Oval Office, for St Paddy's Day, and left the Teseaichoichscshuckseoischyeiaghhrshffffqooowooo fuming half a mile down the road
I know Donald Trump is not always to everyone's taste, on PB, but he can be fucking funny
I'm calling you out on this. There is nothing funny about inviting a convicted rapist to the White House. Imagine - go on, you're a writer, you can do it - one of the women or girls close to you, someone you care about a lot and feel protective towards, that they've been raped and that they have to see their rapist admired and celebrated because he has a nice line in suits and repartee.
It's not hard to imagine. And if you can't ask one of the many women you know how they'd feel about their rapist being treated in this way. How would you feel about a Conor McGregor if it was someone you loved he hurt? I have been raped. I have seen my rapist treated as a great fellow because he could charm. They didn't see the violence and abuse of an inexperienced and naive girls that followed that charm. Nor the shame and guilt and fear that I felt afterwards. And what happened to me has happened to pretty much every woman, in some form or other. And we are absolutely fucking sick of seeing the appalling men who treat us in this way dismissed by others because, hey, they are funny and sharp.
We don't want to be victims. We wish - Christ we wish it every fucking day since we were 11 or so - that we weren't victims, that we didn't have to take steps all the time to avoid this. And we wish that when we slip up we got the benefit of the doubt. But no it's the abusers, those who turn a blind eye, those who egg them on and those who do "it's only a bit of banter/he's a nice guy really" who get the benefit of the doubt.
You are not the only man on here who gives the impression - maybe unthinkingly - that women are somehow not fully human, only really support animals for men, the people who fit in with what's left when men have got what they want first. This forum frankly has one hell of a blind spot about the woman's perspective on life. But it is precisely because of attitudes like this that people like Trump get away with behaviour which is disgusting, not decent and should have no place in any country trying to be civilised.
I like you Leon. But sometimes you really need to think about what you say.
And if I sound furious, put it down to having been ill for longer than is pleasant, if that helps. It'll have a word - hysteria. That'll be the one.
It's the love of the transgressor. The mad, bad, boy. The "truly free". The infantile worship of the "propaganda of the deed". The one not held back by "bourgeoise morality".
Hunter Biden?
We are getting to the point where we need to call Prevent for you.
Or should we wait for the Pizza Parlour Basement phase?
No, PB has reached the insane point when anyone who dares to mention an awkward fact that might discomfort the Dems, the American Left, the anti-Trumpers - is regarded as a Nazi, a conspiracy theorist, and a Trumpite coup-encourager, and so forth. Rather than someone pointing out that there are two sides to this story, and there is a reason so many Americans voted Trump and abhor the Democrats, they are not all Hitler-its thickos, even at the same time as Trump IS a mad buffoon who should be nowhere near the Oval
We saw the same shit vis a vis Ukraine, we see it here, it’s just a sad dumbing down of the site, as inability to do nuance, a kind of dim, morally shrill groupthink, and it is getting REALLY old
You never learn do you. You were suspended from the site for a week for your attitude and behaviour. Things don't change much. How many days is it now?
I would like to think that the moderators are running out of patience with you.
OGH has told me to permanently ban Leon if he breaks the site rules again or goes down the white babies angle.
OGH isn't going to be out of pocket because Leon cannot follow the rules.
I am quite willing to follow rules (It helps if they are clear) - it’s your site
But if I am merely going to be banned for attitudes and opinions and gags which enrage the centrist dads, then PB is not really a debate forum but a silo of deadening consensus
Eg what have I done today which is remote bannable? Made a few jokes, insulted Irish orthography, pointed out - quite truthfully - that serious allegations swirl against the Biden family, some of which have turned into confessions and convictions. That’s it
Leavitt: "It's only because of the United States of America that the French aren't speaking German right now."
It is in large part because of France that the United States of America doesn't have King Charles III as its head of state now
I am not sure that the Nazis planned to make everyone speak German. I imagine the French would have continued to speak French. I am not sure what their hellish plans for Russia and the Baltic States would have been like. They might have tried to establish German as the main language there. I don't think they would have made the UK speak German either.
So, you're saying that really there was no need to fight WW2?
Trump invited Conor McGregor, the Reform-y Tomm-eh esque UFC dude in to the WH and the Oval Office, for St Paddy's Day, and left the Teseaichoichscshuckseoischyeiaghhrshffffqooowooo fuming half a mile down the road
I know Donald Trump is not always to everyone's taste, on PB, but he can be fucking funny
I'm calling you out on this. There is nothing funny about inviting a convicted rapist to the White House. Imagine - go on, you're a writer, you can do it - one of the women or girls close to you, someone you care about a lot and feel protective towards, that they've been raped and that they have to see their rapist admired and celebrated because he has a nice line in suits and repartee.
It's not hard to imagine. And if you can't ask one of the many women you know how they'd feel about their rapist being treated in this way. How would you feel about a Conor McGregor if it was someone you loved he hurt? I have been raped. I have seen my rapist treated as a great fellow because he could charm. They didn't see the violence and abuse of an inexperienced and naive girls that followed that charm. Nor the shame and guilt and fear that I felt afterwards. And what happened to me has happened to pretty much every woman, in some form or other. And we are absolutely fucking sick of seeing the appalling men who treat us in this way dismissed by others because, hey, they are funny and sharp.
We don't want to be victims. We wish - Christ we wish it every fucking day since we were 11 or so - that we weren't victims, that we didn't have to take steps all the time to avoid this. And we wish that when we slip up we got the benefit of the doubt. But no it's the abusers, those who turn a blind eye, those who egg them on and those who do "it's only a bit of banter/he's a nice guy really" who get the benefit of the doubt.
You are not the only man on here who gives the impression - maybe unthinkingly - that women are somehow not fully human, only really support animals for men, the people who fit in with what's left when men have got what they want first. This forum frankly has one hell of a blind spot about the woman's perspective on life. But it is precisely because of attitudes like this that people like Trump get away with behaviour which is disgusting, not decent and should have no place in any country trying to be civilised.
I like you Leon. But sometimes you really need to think about what you say.
And if I sound furious, put it down to having been ill for longer than is pleasant, if that helps. It'll have a word - hysteria. That'll be the one.
Of course you make a reasonable point, BUT Joe Biden has been persuasively accused of pedophile behaviour by his own daughter. And I don’t remember you freaking out every day during his presidency as he sat there in the White House. Indeed, I don’t recall your ever mentioning it (tho I might be wrong)
Plus the other sleaze swirling around Joe and Hunter, and Bill “Epstein” Clinton before them?
The entire American political elite seems deeply dodgy to me, whether you look left or right, Trump or Biden, we might as well extract some dark humour from the grisliness
On the other hand, I am very sorry to hear of your continuing ill health, I hope you get better
Today is the first time I have heard of those accusations against Biden.
I could list the number of headers I have written on here about child abuse - and the way we do not take it seriously. I could show you stuff I've written about Staley and Epstein. (I have seen a list of people in Epstein's telephone book and I've even investigated some of them.) And all the stuff I've written about abuse of women. I have gone on about it because it matters - even in the face of yawns, the "she's off again" and on some occasions threads being diverted into discussions about the sexual prowess of PB'ers.
If you want black humour about men's sexual behaviour I can provide plenty of that. Are you sure you're ready for it?
And I also have a life, work and a family. But a look at my oeuvre on here would show you that the abuse of the vulnerable is something I really care about.
So as the Scots say "get tae fuck".
That’s more like the @Cyclefree I know and love. Got your pep back. Good to see
You could profitably ask yourself why and how the very plausible, indeed proven accusations against Joe Biden miraculously disappeared (proven inasmuch as this is the verbatim account of his daughter, which she has not denied). How come someone as switched on as you never heard of them? Possibly because the Dems do a pretty good job in suppressing stories they don’t like - cf lab leak and Hunter’s laptop. They usually do it by labeling it as a “conspiracy theory” until it turns out to be undeniably true, by which point they hope no one cares
Again, I turn to lab leak. I know this bores PB but TWENTY MILLION PEOPLE DIED
And now that it is basically accepted that it happened suddenly the Left pivots from “it came from the market” to “shit happens, let’s move on, it was just an accident, who really cares”
Imagine if 20 million humans died due to an air crash or an industrial accident. Finding, trying and punishing the culprits would consume us for years and years
I do not follow US politics closely. My heart is in Europe. I have some topics I am interested in, not all of which I discuss on here. And I try to limit how much time I spend on current affairs for my own sanity. But I would not be surprised. Lord Devlin - a very distinguished judge abused his own daughter - and Cardinal Heenan, the then leader of Catholics in the U.K., was told about it but said that better it happen to the daughter than for him to take a mistress. I could list out here - and it would take a hell of a lot of posts - the number of men found guilty of child abuse / possession of child abuse images etc - who get no custodial sentences at all.
The brutal reality is that far more men than we would like to admit are sexually attracted to children. And we have a society in which the sexualisation of girls and boys, the ubiquity of horrific pornography, the worship of adult women with bodies aping pre-pubescent girls, the abandonment of any serious attempt at genuine safeguarding is seen as normal. And those - mostly but not of course exclusively - women who call this out are often criticised for pointing out the harm this causes.
Trump invited Conor McGregor, the Reform-y Tomm-eh esque UFC dude in to the WH and the Oval Office, for St Paddy's Day, and left the Teseaichoichscshuckseoischyeiaghhrshffffqooowooo fuming half a mile down the road
I know Donald Trump is not always to everyone's taste, on PB, but he can be fucking funny
I'm calling you out on this. There is nothing funny about inviting a convicted rapist to the White House. Imagine - go on, you're a writer, you can do it - one of the women or girls close to you, someone you care about a lot and feel protective towards, that they've been raped and that they have to see their rapist admired and celebrated because he has a nice line in suits and repartee.
It's not hard to imagine. And if you can't ask one of the many women you know how they'd feel about their rapist being treated in this way. How would you feel about a Conor McGregor if it was someone you loved he hurt? I have been raped. I have seen my rapist treated as a great fellow because he could charm. They didn't see the violence and abuse of an inexperienced and naive girls that followed that charm. Nor the shame and guilt and fear that I felt afterwards. And what happened to me has happened to pretty much every woman, in some form or other. And we are absolutely fucking sick of seeing the appalling men who treat us in this way dismissed by others because, hey, they are funny and sharp.
We don't want to be victims. We wish - Christ we wish it every fucking day since we were 11 or so - that we weren't victims, that we didn't have to take steps all the time to avoid this. And we wish that when we slip up we got the benefit of the doubt. But no it's the abusers, those who turn a blind eye, those who egg them on and those who do "it's only a bit of banter/he's a nice guy really" who get the benefit of the doubt.
You are not the only man on here who gives the impression - maybe unthinkingly - that women are somehow not fully human, only really support animals for men, the people who fit in with what's left when men have got what they want first. This forum frankly has one hell of a blind spot about the woman's perspective on life. But it is precisely because of attitudes like this that people like Trump get away with behaviour which is disgusting, not decent and should have no place in any country trying to be civilised.
I like you Leon. But sometimes you really need to think about what you say.
And if I sound furious, put it down to having been ill for longer than is pleasant, if that helps. It'll have a word - hysteria. That'll be the one.
It's the love of the transgressor. The mad, bad, boy. The "truly free". The infantile worship of the "propaganda of the deed". The one not held back by "bourgeoise morality".
Hunter Biden?
We are getting to the point where we need to call Prevent for you.
Or should we wait for the Pizza Parlour Basement phase?
No, PB has reached the insane point when anyone who dares to mention an awkward fact that might discomfort the Dems, the American Left, the anti-Trumpers - is regarded as a Nazi, a conspiracy theorist, and a Trumpite coup-encourager, and so forth. Rather than someone pointing out that there are two sides to this story, and there is a reason so many Americans voted Trump and abhor the Democrats, they are not all Hitler-its thickos, even at the same time as Trump IS a mad buffoon who should be nowhere near the Oval
We saw the same shit vis a vis Ukraine, we see it here, it’s just a sad dumbing down of the site, as inability to do nuance, a kind of dim, morally shrill groupthink, and it is getting REALLY old
You never learn do you. You were suspended from the site for a week for your attitude and behaviour. Things don't change much. How many days is it now?
I would like to think that the moderators are running out of patience with you.
OGH has told me to permanently ban Leon if he breaks the site rules again or goes down the white babies angle.
OGH isn't going to be out of pocket because Leon cannot follow the rules.
I am quite willing to follow rules (It helps if they are clear) - it’s your site
But if I am merely going to be banned for attitudes and opinions and gags which enrage the centrist dads, then PB is not really a debate forum but a silo of deadening consensus
Eg what have I done today which is remote bannable? Made a few jokes, insulted Irish orthography, pointed out - quite truthfully - that serious allegations swirl against the Biden family, some of which have turned into confessions and convictions. That’s it
You voted for Starmer, you are the epitome of a centrist dad.
Related to the header and thanks to you @Cyclefree
"If you are a citizen and you are casting doubt on the importance of due process, remember this: you need due process in order to prove that you are a citizen."
"If members of the executive branch are allowed to issue truth claims that have the consequence that human beings leave the United States, we are in a dictatorship. If we accept that the executive branch can simply deport anyone they call a "foreign alien terrorist," then none of us has any rights."
Leavitt: "It's only because of the United States of America that the French aren't speaking German right now."
It is in large part because of France that the United States of America doesn't have King Charles III as its head of state now
I am not sure that the Nazis planned to make everyone speak German. I imagine the French would have continued to speak French. I am not sure what their hellish plans for Russia and the Baltic States would have been like. They might have tried to establish German as the main language there. I don't think they would have made the UK speak German either.
So, you're saying that really there was no need to fight WW2?
I think that there was little need to fight World War 1. That set in train a path toward World War 2 that was probably unavoidable.
Leavitt: "It's only because of the United States of America that the French aren't speaking German right now."
It is in large part because of France that the United States of America doesn't have King Charles III as its head of state now
I am not sure that the Nazis planned to make everyone speak German. I imagine the French would have continued to speak French. I am not sure what their hellish plans for Russia and the Baltic States would have been like. They might have tried to establish German as the main language there. I don't think they would have made the UK speak German either.
Decisive! No wishy washy thinking from @Luckyguy1983 (Sorry LG )
Trump invited Conor McGregor, the Reform-y Tomm-eh esque UFC dude in to the WH and the Oval Office, for St Paddy's Day, and left the Teseaichoichscshuckseoischyeiaghhrshffffqooowooo fuming half a mile down the road
I know Donald Trump is not always to everyone's taste, on PB, but he can be fucking funny
I'm calling you out on this. There is nothing funny about inviting a convicted rapist to the White House. Imagine - go on, you're a writer, you can do it - one of the women or girls close to you, someone you care about a lot and feel protective towards, that they've been raped and that they have to see their rapist admired and celebrated because he has a nice line in suits and repartee.
It's not hard to imagine. And if you can't ask one of the many women you know how they'd feel about their rapist being treated in this way. How would you feel about a Conor McGregor if it was someone you loved he hurt? I have been raped. I have seen my rapist treated as a great fellow because he could charm. They didn't see the violence and abuse of an inexperienced and naive girls that followed that charm. Nor the shame and guilt and fear that I felt afterwards. And what happened to me has happened to pretty much every woman, in some form or other. And we are absolutely fucking sick of seeing the appalling men who treat us in this way dismissed by others because, hey, they are funny and sharp.
We don't want to be victims. We wish - Christ we wish it every fucking day since we were 11 or so - that we weren't victims, that we didn't have to take steps all the time to avoid this. And we wish that when we slip up we got the benefit of the doubt. But no it's the abusers, those who turn a blind eye, those who egg them on and those who do "it's only a bit of banter/he's a nice guy really" who get the benefit of the doubt.
You are not the only man on here who gives the impression - maybe unthinkingly - that women are somehow not fully human, only really support animals for men, the people who fit in with what's left when men have got what they want first. This forum frankly has one hell of a blind spot about the woman's perspective on life. But it is precisely because of attitudes like this that people like Trump get away with behaviour which is disgusting, not decent and should have no place in any country trying to be civilised.
I like you Leon. But sometimes you really need to think about what you say.
And if I sound furious, put it down to having been ill for longer than is pleasant, if that helps. It'll have a word - hysteria. That'll be the one.
Of course you make a reasonable point, BUT Joe Biden has been persuasively accused of pedophile behaviour by his own daughter. And I don’t remember you freaking out every day during his presidency as he sat there in the White House. Indeed, I don’t recall your ever mentioning it (tho I might be wrong)
Plus the other sleaze swirling around Joe and Hunter, and Bill “Epstein” Clinton before them?
The entire American political elite seems deeply dodgy to me, whether you look left or right, Trump or Biden, we might as well extract some dark humour from the grisliness
On the other hand, I am very sorry to hear of your continuing ill health, I hope you get better
Today is the first time I have heard of those accusations against Biden.
I could list the number of headers I have written on here about child abuse - and the way we do not take it seriously. I could show you stuff I've written about Staley and Epstein. (I have seen a list of people in Epstein's telephone book and I've even investigated some of them.) And all the stuff I've written about abuse of women. I have gone on about it because it matters - even in the face of yawns, the "she's off again" and on some occasions threads being diverted into discussions about the sexual prowess of PB'ers.
If you want black humour about men's sexual behaviour I can provide plenty of that. Are you sure you're ready for it?
And I also have a life, work and a family. But a look at my oeuvre on here would show you that the abuse of the vulnerable is something I really care about.
So as the Scots say "get tae fuck".
That’s more like the @Cyclefree I know and love. Got your pep back. Good to see
You could profitably ask yourself why and how the very plausible, indeed proven accusations against Joe Biden miraculously disappeared (proven inasmuch as this is the verbatim account of his daughter, which she has not denied). How come someone as switched on as you never heard of them? Possibly because the Dems do a pretty good job in suppressing stories they don’t like - cf lab leak and Hunter’s laptop. They usually do it by labeling it as a “conspiracy theory” until it turns out to be undeniably true, by which point they hope no one cares
Again, I turn to lab leak. I know this bores PB but TWENTY MILLION PEOPLE DIED
And now that it is basically accepted that it happened suddenly the Left pivots from “it came from the market” to “shit happens, let’s move on, it was just an accident, who really cares”
Imagine if 20 million humans died due to an air crash or an industrial accident. Finding, trying and punishing the culprits would consume us for years and years
"Let's move on" is the response of the British state - not just the left - to pretty much all scandals. It shouldn't be.
That in 2 short sentences is my book. (I hope you're proud of me.) Your glowing encomium for the cover will be on its way, I'm sure.
Leavitt: "It's only because of the United States of America that the French aren't speaking German right now."
It is in large part because of France that the United States of America doesn't have King Charles III as its head of state now
I am not sure that the Nazis planned to make everyone speak German. I imagine the French would have continued to speak French. I am not sure what their hellish plans for Russia and the Baltic States would have been like. They might have tried to establish German as the main language there. I don't think they would have made the UK speak German either.
Decisive! No wishy washy thinking from @Luckyguy1983 (Sorry LG )
I thought it was worth commenting because this 'would be speaking German if it weren't for us' is an oft repeated American claim, and I am just not sure it's valid.
Again, I will ask, if Trump was a Russian asset what would he have done differently?
Scoop: The Trump administration has discussed recognizing Crimea as Russian territory - & pushing the UN to do the same - to get a peace deal across the finish line.
(No decisions have been formally made) w/ @mchalfant16:
Again, I will ask, if Trump was a Russian asset what would he have done differently?
Scoop: The Trump administration has discussed recognizing Crimea as Russian territory - & pushing the UN to do the same - to get a peace deal across the finish line.
(No decisions have been formally made) w/ @mchalfant16:
Powerful header. Has felt a bit odd that we haven't had one on what is perhaps the most significant story of the decade, America's slide into dictatorship. No criticism of the site intended.
The key question is will Americans notice the disaster before it is too late?
Again, I will ask, if Trump was a Russian asset what would he have done differently?
Scoop: The Trump administration has discussed recognizing Crimea as Russian territory - & pushing the UN to do the same - to get a peace deal across the finish line.
(No decisions have been formally made) w/ @mchalfant16:
Again, I will ask, if Trump was a Russian asset what would he have done differently?
Scoop: The Trump administration has discussed recognizing Crimea as Russian territory - & pushing the UN to do the same - to get a peace deal across the finish line.
(No decisions have been formally made) w/ @mchalfant16:
Trump invited Conor McGregor, the Reform-y Tomm-eh esque UFC dude in to the WH and the Oval Office, for St Paddy's Day, and left the Teseaichoichscshuckseoischyeiaghhrshffffqooowooo fuming half a mile down the road
I know Donald Trump is not always to everyone's taste, on PB, but he can be fucking funny
I'm calling you out on this. There is nothing funny about inviting a convicted rapist to the White House. Imagine - go on, you're a writer, you can do it - one of the women or girls close to you, someone you care about a lot and feel protective towards, that they've been raped and that they have to see their rapist admired and celebrated because he has a nice line in suits and repartee.
It's not hard to imagine. And if you can't ask one of the many women you know how they'd feel about their rapist being treated in this way. How would you feel about a Conor McGregor if it was someone you loved he hurt? I have been raped. I have seen my rapist treated as a great fellow because he could charm. They didn't see the violence and abuse of an inexperienced and naive girls that followed that charm. Nor the shame and guilt and fear that I felt afterwards. And what happened to me has happened to pretty much every woman, in some form or other. And we are absolutely fucking sick of seeing the appalling men who treat us in this way dismissed by others because, hey, they are funny and sharp.
We don't want to be victims. We wish - Christ we wish it every fucking day since we were 11 or so - that we weren't victims, that we didn't have to take steps all the time to avoid this. And we wish that when we slip up we got the benefit of the doubt. But no it's the abusers, those who turn a blind eye, those who egg them on and those who do "it's only a bit of banter/he's a nice guy really" who get the benefit of the doubt.
You are not the only man on here who gives the impression - maybe unthinkingly - that women are somehow not fully human, only really support animals for men, the people who fit in with what's left when men have got what they want first. This forum frankly has one hell of a blind spot about the woman's perspective on life. But it is precisely because of attitudes like this that people like Trump get away with behaviour which is disgusting, not decent and should have no place in any country trying to be civilised.
I like you Leon. But sometimes you really need to think about what you say.
And if I sound furious, put it down to having been ill for longer than is pleasant, if that helps. It'll have a word - hysteria. That'll be the one.
It's the love of the transgressor. The mad, bad, boy. The "truly free". The infantile worship of the "propaganda of the deed". The one not held back by "bourgeoise morality".
Hunter Biden?
We are getting to the point where we need to call Prevent for you.
Or should we wait for the Pizza Parlour Basement phase?
No, PB has reached the insane point when anyone who dares to mention an awkward fact that might discomfort the Dems, the American Left, the anti-Trumpers - is regarded as a Nazi, a conspiracy theorist, and a Trumpite coup-encourager, and so forth. Rather than someone pointing out that there are two sides to this story, and there is a reason so many Americans voted Trump and abhor the Democrats, they are not all Hitler-its thickos, even at the same time as Trump IS a mad buffoon who should be nowhere near the Oval
We saw the same shit vis a vis Ukraine, we see it here, it’s just a sad dumbing down of the site, as inability to do nuance, a kind of dim, morally shrill groupthink, and it is getting REALLY old
You never learn do you. You were suspended from the site for a week for your attitude and behaviour. Things don't change much. How many days is it now?
I would like to think that the moderators are running out of patience with you.
Ah, so I must be banned again
For my “attitude” and “behaviour”
Not for doing anything wrong any more, simply for voicing opinions - attitudes - you do not like
You shouldn't underestimate how predictable and boring you are becoming.
There is no pleasure in saying this and you should thank me for it. Like the person who catches the rancid breath of a work colleague and offers them a polo.
But no doubt it will be taken the wrong way. As indeed could be the case with the polo.
Leavitt: "It's only because of the United States of America that the French aren't speaking German right now."
It is in large part because of France that the United States of America doesn't have King Charles III as its head of state now
I am not sure that the Nazis planned to make everyone speak German. I imagine the French would have continued to speak French. I am not sure what their hellish plans for Russia and the Baltic States would have been like. They might have tried to establish German as the main language there. I don't think they would have made the UK speak German either.
Decisive! No wishy washy thinking from @Luckyguy1983 (Sorry LG )
I thought it was worth commenting because this 'would be speaking German if it weren't for us' is an oft repeated American claim, and I am just not sure it's valid.
It was just funny. The start of the sentences.
I'm not sure I imagine I am not sure They might I don't think
Leavitt: "It's only because of the United States of America that the French aren't speaking German right now."
It is in large part because of France that the United States of America doesn't have King Charles III as its head of state now
I am not sure that the Nazis planned to make everyone speak German. I imagine the French would have continued to speak French. I am not sure what their hellish plans for Russia and the Baltic States would have been like. They might have tried to establish German as the main language there. I don't think they would have made the UK speak German either.
Decisive! No wishy washy thinking from @Luckyguy1983 (Sorry LG )
I thought it was worth commenting because this 'would be speaking German if it weren't for us' is an oft repeated American claim, and I am just not sure it's valid.
Victory in WW2 wasn’t just down to the Americans either, though they seem to think it was.
Trump invited Conor McGregor, the Reform-y Tomm-eh esque UFC dude in to the WH and the Oval Office, for St Paddy's Day, and left the Teseaichoichscshuckseoischyeiaghhrshffffqooowooo fuming half a mile down the road
I know Donald Trump is not always to everyone's taste, on PB, but he can be fucking funny
I'm calling you out on this. There is nothing funny about inviting a convicted rapist to the White House. Imagine - go on, you're a writer, you can do it - one of the women or girls close to you, someone you care about a lot and feel protective towards, that they've been raped and that they have to see their rapist admired and celebrated because he has a nice line in suits and repartee.
It's not hard to imagine. And if you can't ask one of the many women you know how they'd feel about their rapist being treated in this way. How would you feel about a Conor McGregor if it was someone you loved he hurt? I have been raped. I have seen my rapist treated as a great fellow because he could charm. They didn't see the violence and abuse of an inexperienced and naive girls that followed that charm. Nor the shame and guilt and fear that I felt afterwards. And what happened to me has happened to pretty much every woman, in some form or other. And we are absolutely fucking sick of seeing the appalling men who treat us in this way dismissed by others because, hey, they are funny and sharp.
We don't want to be victims. We wish - Christ we wish it every fucking day since we were 11 or so - that we weren't victims, that we didn't have to take steps all the time to avoid this. And we wish that when we slip up we got the benefit of the doubt. But no it's the abusers, those who turn a blind eye, those who egg them on and those who do "it's only a bit of banter/he's a nice guy really" who get the benefit of the doubt.
You are not the only man on here who gives the impression - maybe unthinkingly - that women are somehow not fully human, only really support animals for men, the people who fit in with what's left when men have got what they want first. This forum frankly has one hell of a blind spot about the woman's perspective on life. But it is precisely because of attitudes like this that people like Trump get away with behaviour which is disgusting, not decent and should have no place in any country trying to be civilised.
I like you Leon. But sometimes you really need to think about what you say.
And if I sound furious, put it down to having been ill for longer than is pleasant, if that helps. It'll have a word - hysteria. That'll be the one.
It's the love of the transgressor. The mad, bad, boy. The "truly free". The infantile worship of the "propaganda of the deed". The one not held back by "bourgeoise morality".
Hunter Biden?
We are getting to the point where we need to call Prevent for you.
Or should we wait for the Pizza Parlour Basement phase?
No, PB has reached the insane point when anyone who dares to mention an awkward fact that might discomfort the Dems, the American Left, the anti-Trumpers - is regarded as a Nazi, a conspiracy theorist, and a Trumpite coup-encourager, and so forth. Rather than someone pointing out that there are two sides to this story, and there is a reason so many Americans voted Trump and abhor the Democrats, they are not all Hitler-its thickos, even at the same time as Trump IS a mad buffoon who should be nowhere near the Oval
We saw the same shit vis a vis Ukraine, we see it here, it’s just a sad dumbing down of the site, as inability to do nuance, a kind of dim, morally shrill groupthink, and it is getting REALLY old
You never learn do you. You were suspended from the site for a week for your attitude and behaviour. Things don't change much. How many days is it now?
I would like to think that the moderators are running out of patience with you.
Ah, so I must be banned again
For my “attitude” and “behaviour”
Not for doing anything wrong any more, simply for voicing opinions - attitudes - you do not like
You shouldn't underestimate how predictable and boring you are becoming.
There is no pleasure in saying this and you should thank me for it. Like the person who catches the rancid breath of a work colleague and offers them a polo.
But no doubt it will be taken the wrong way. As indeed could be the case with the polo.
This is all making me very hungry for Polo's. I haven't had one for about 15 years.
I would also need some cola bottles, to be able to properly reflect on world events.
Again, I will ask, if Trump was a Russian asset what would he have done differently?
Scoop: The Trump administration has discussed recognizing Crimea as Russian territory - & pushing the UN to do the same - to get a peace deal across the finish line.
(No decisions have been formally made) w/ @mchalfant16:
Trump invited Conor McGregor, the Reform-y Tomm-eh esque UFC dude in to the WH and the Oval Office, for St Paddy's Day, and left the Teseaichoichscshuckseoischyeiaghhrshffffqooowooo fuming half a mile down the road
I know Donald Trump is not always to everyone's taste, on PB, but he can be fucking funny
I'm calling you out on this. There is nothing funny about inviting a convicted rapist to the White House. Imagine - go on, you're a writer, you can do it - one of the women or girls close to you, someone you care about a lot and feel protective towards, that they've been raped and that they have to see their rapist admired and celebrated because he has a nice line in suits and repartee.
It's not hard to imagine. And if you can't ask one of the many women you know how they'd feel about their rapist being treated in this way. How would you feel about a Conor McGregor if it was someone you loved he hurt? I have been raped. I have seen my rapist treated as a great fellow because he could charm. They didn't see the violence and abuse of an inexperienced and naive girls that followed that charm. Nor the shame and guilt and fear that I felt afterwards. And what happened to me has happened to pretty much every woman, in some form or other. And we are absolutely fucking sick of seeing the appalling men who treat us in this way dismissed by others because, hey, they are funny and sharp.
We don't want to be victims. We wish - Christ we wish it every fucking day since we were 11 or so - that we weren't victims, that we didn't have to take steps all the time to avoid this. And we wish that when we slip up we got the benefit of the doubt. But no it's the abusers, those who turn a blind eye, those who egg them on and those who do "it's only a bit of banter/he's a nice guy really" who get the benefit of the doubt.
You are not the only man on here who gives the impression - maybe unthinkingly - that women are somehow not fully human, only really support animals for men, the people who fit in with what's left when men have got what they want first. This forum frankly has one hell of a blind spot about the woman's perspective on life. But it is precisely because of attitudes like this that people like Trump get away with behaviour which is disgusting, not decent and should have no place in any country trying to be civilised.
I like you Leon. But sometimes you really need to think about what you say.
And if I sound furious, put it down to having been ill for longer than is pleasant, if that helps. It'll have a word - hysteria. That'll be the one.
It's the love of the transgressor. The mad, bad, boy. The "truly free". The infantile worship of the "propaganda of the deed". The one not held back by "bourgeoise morality".
Hunter Biden?
We are getting to the point where we need to call Prevent for you.
Or should we wait for the Pizza Parlour Basement phase?
No, PB has reached the insane point when anyone who dares to mention an awkward fact that might discomfort the Dems, the American Left, the anti-Trumpers - is regarded as a Nazi, a conspiracy theorist, and a Trumpite coup-encourager, and so forth. Rather than someone pointing out that there are two sides to this story, and there is a reason so many Americans voted Trump and abhor the Democrats, they are not all Hitler-its thickos, even at the same time as Trump IS a mad buffoon who should be nowhere near the Oval
We saw the same shit vis a vis Ukraine, we see it here, it’s just a sad dumbing down of the site, as inability to do nuance, a kind of dim, morally shrill groupthink, and it is getting REALLY old
You never learn do you. You were suspended from the site for a week for your attitude and behaviour. Things don't change much. How many days is it now?
I would like to think that the moderators are running out of patience with you.
OGH has told me to permanently ban Leon if he breaks the site rules again or goes down the white babies angle.
OGH isn't going to be out of pocket because Leon cannot follow the rules.
I am quite willing to follow rules (It helps if they are clear) - it’s your site
But if I am merely going to be banned for attitudes and opinions and gags which enrage the centrist dads, then PB is not really a debate forum but a silo of deadening consensus
Eg what have I done today which is remote bannable? Made a few jokes, insulted Irish orthography, pointed out - quite truthfully - that serious allegations swirl against the Biden family, some of which have turned into confessions and convictions. That’s it
@leon mate - take a break. Step away for an hour or two. Go and investigate the quality of the snacks in the airport lounge you are waiting in.
If PB is a pub, a metaphor you have used now and again, then I am an old git gently putting an arm around your shoulder and saying: maybe that's enough for one evening old son.
You are an asset to this site most of the time imho, sparky, interesting, bombastic, entertaining etc etc and unlike some, I enjoy the travel stuff. For health reasons I can no longer travel so maybe this is some vicarious thing, but anyway.
Don't get banned permanently which it seems you are on the brink of.
Leavitt: "It's only because of the United States of America that the French aren't speaking German right now."
It's only because of French intervention at Yorktown that the Americans aren't speaking British right now!
I don't think that's true. The British defeated themselves through having no real strategy, and a complete blindness as to logistics.
Errrr, that's the point! Leavitt wasn't telling the truth either!
It's only because of 'us' that 'they' are "not speaking German right now".
This is on my (long) list of hackneyed phrases that cause the user to fall in my estimation. A fate that all good people strive to avoid.
It’s worth contemplating Nazi plans for their Eastern Empire, which was to be their India. Locals reduced to uneducated slaves, able to perhaps read road signs for safety, German towns and huge farms for thousands of miles. The ultimate in Germanisation. And what of the rest of Europe? I don’t think France would have been forced to speak German but the German langauge would have been the, ahem, linga Franca, as it were.
Again, I will ask, if Trump was a Russian asset what would he have done differently?
Scoop: The Trump administration has discussed recognizing Crimea as Russian territory - & pushing the UN to do the same - to get a peace deal across the finish line.
(No decisions have been formally made) w/ @mchalfant16:
Another Russian asset? It's a strange negotiation when you set out the minimum you'll concede.
Matthew Parris in this week's Speccie, claims when he went to Ukr every person he met under 25 thought that Crimea wasn't worth arguing over and would agree to Russia keeping.
The problem of the Democrats is similar to Labour’s problems here. There is a growing disconnect between their middle class public sector supporters and the working classes they are supposed to represent. The obsessions of the middle classes are simply not shared by the working class and their worries, such as immigration and gang related violence, are thought both vulgar and racist.
In the US those vulgar people are now MAGA supporters and here they are now Reform.
How that coalition is rebuilt is an interesting question in both cases. The middle class consider themselves morally superior because they “care” but what they care about is of little to no interest to those they pretend to represent.
It won't be, the white working class in most of the West is now solidly rightwing, fuelled by anti immigration, anti woke, anti net zero taxes and protectionism in particular.
The left liberal core vote is the public sector and ethnic minorities and those living in inner cities (albeit Hispanics and non Muslim Asians in particular can vote conservative in significant numbers).
The swing voters are now white suburban and commuter belt high earning graduates
Mea culpa on the Own Outright category: I read that wrong.
What stands out for me on the socio-economic group chart is now similar the vote share is across all the groups. Class is not the major determiner of voting intention it once was. It’s age and education level that matter more, and there are still plenty of people at all ages and education levels voting for all the different parties.
Trump invited Conor McGregor, the Reform-y Tomm-eh esque UFC dude in to the WH and the Oval Office, for St Paddy's Day, and left the Teseaichoichscshuckseoischyeiaghhrshffffqooowooo fuming half a mile down the road
I know Donald Trump is not always to everyone's taste, on PB, but he can be fucking funny
I'm calling you out on this. There is nothing funny about inviting a convicted rapist to the White House. Imagine - go on, you're a writer, you can do it - one of the women or girls close to you, someone you care about a lot and feel protective towards, that they've been raped and that they have to see their rapist admired and celebrated because he has a nice line in suits and repartee.
It's not hard to imagine. And if you can't ask one of the many women you know how they'd feel about their rapist being treated in this way. How would you feel about a Conor McGregor if it was someone you loved he hurt? I have been raped. I have seen my rapist treated as a great fellow because he could charm. They didn't see the violence and abuse of an inexperienced and naive girls that followed that charm. Nor the shame and guilt and fear that I felt afterwards. And what happened to me has happened to pretty much every woman, in some form or other. And we are absolutely fucking sick of seeing the appalling men who treat us in this way dismissed by others because, hey, they are funny and sharp.
We don't want to be victims. We wish - Christ we wish it every fucking day since we were 11 or so - that we weren't victims, that we didn't have to take steps all the time to avoid this. And we wish that when we slip up we got the benefit of the doubt. But no it's the abusers, those who turn a blind eye, those who egg them on and those who do "it's only a bit of banter/he's a nice guy really" who get the benefit of the doubt.
You are not the only man on here who gives the impression - maybe unthinkingly - that women are somehow not fully human, only really support animals for men, the people who fit in with what's left when men have got what they want first. This forum frankly has one hell of a blind spot about the woman's perspective on life. But it is precisely because of attitudes like this that people like Trump get away with behaviour which is disgusting, not decent and should have no place in any country trying to be civilised.
I like you Leon. But sometimes you really need to think about what you say.
And if I sound furious, put it down to having been ill for longer than is pleasant, if that helps. It'll have a word - hysteria. That'll be the one.
Of course you make a reasonable point, BUT Joe Biden has been persuasively accused of pedophile behaviour by his own daughter. And I don’t remember you freaking out every day during his presidency as he sat there in the White House. Indeed, I don’t recall your ever mentioning it (tho I might be wrong)
Plus the other sleaze swirling around Joe and Hunter, and Bill “Epstein” Clinton before them?
The entire American political elite seems deeply dodgy to me, whether you look left or right, Trump or Biden, we might as well extract some dark humour from the grisliness
On the other hand, I am very sorry to hear of your continuing ill health, I hope you get better
Today is the first time I have heard of those accusations against Biden.
I could list the number of headers I have written on here about child abuse - and the way we do not take it seriously. I could show you stuff I've written about Staley and Epstein. (I have seen a list of people in Epstein's telephone book and I've even investigated some of them.) And all the stuff I've written about abuse of women. I have gone on about it because it matters - even in the face of yawns, the "she's off again" and on some occasions threads being diverted into discussions about the sexual prowess of PB'ers.
If you want black humour about men's sexual behaviour I can provide plenty of that. Are you sure you're ready for it?
And I also have a life, work and a family. But a look at my oeuvre on here would show you that the abuse of the vulnerable is something I really care about.
So as the Scots say "get tae fuck".
That’s more like the @Cyclefree I know and love. Got your pep back. Good to see
You could profitably ask yourself why and how the very plausible, indeed proven accusations against Joe Biden miraculously disappeared (proven inasmuch as this is the verbatim account of his daughter, which she has not denied). How come someone as switched on as you never heard of them? Possibly because the Dems do a pretty good job in suppressing stories they don’t like - cf lab leak and Hunter’s laptop. They usually do it by labeling it as a “conspiracy theory” until it turns out to be undeniably true, by which point they hope no one cares
Again, I turn to lab leak. I know this bores PB but TWENTY MILLION PEOPLE DIED
And now that it is basically accepted that it happened suddenly the Left pivots from “it came from the market” to “shit happens, let’s move on, it was just an accident, who really cares”
Imagine if 20 million humans died due to an air crash or an industrial accident. Finding, trying and punishing the culprits would consume us for years and years
I do not follow US politics closely. My heart is in Europe. I have some topics I am interested in, not all of which I discuss on here. And I try to limit how much time I spend on current affairs for my own sanity. But I would not be surprised. Lord Devlin - a very distinguished judge abused his own daughter - and Cardinal Heenan, the then leader of Catholics in the U.K., was told about it but said that better it happen to the daughter than for him to take a mistress. I could list out here - and it would take a hell of a lot of posts - the number of men found guilty of child abuse / possession of child abuse images etc - who get no custodial sentences at all.
The brutal reality is that far more men than we would like to admit are sexually attracted to children. And we have a society in which the sexualisation of girls and boys, the ubiquity of horrific pornography, the worship of adult women with bodies aping pre-pubescent girls, the abandonment of any serious attempt at genuine safeguarding is seen as normal. And those - mostly but not of course exclusively - women who call this out are often criticised for pointing out the harm this causes.
Leavitt: "It's only because of the United States of America that the French aren't speaking German right now."
It is in large part because of France that the United States of America doesn't have King Charles III as its head of state now
I am not sure that the Nazis planned to make everyone speak German. I imagine the French would have continued to speak French. I am not sure what their hellish plans for Russia and the Baltic States would have been like. They might have tried to establish German as the main language there. I don't think they would have made the UK speak German either.
The official German plan was to leave France to the Fascist French.
In the East, the locals would be replaced with Germans. The locals would be turned into serfs. Those that survived.
Again, I will ask, if Trump was a Russian asset what would he have done differently?
Scoop: The Trump administration has discussed recognizing Crimea as Russian territory - & pushing the UN to do the same - to get a peace deal across the finish line.
(No decisions have been formally made) w/ @mchalfant16:
Trump invited Conor McGregor, the Reform-y Tomm-eh esque UFC dude in to the WH and the Oval Office, for St Paddy's Day, and left the Teseaichoichscshuckseoischyeiaghhrshffffqooowooo fuming half a mile down the road
I know Donald Trump is not always to everyone's taste, on PB, but he can be fucking funny
I'm calling you out on this. There is nothing funny about inviting a convicted rapist to the White House. Imagine - go on, you're a writer, you can do it - one of the women or girls close to you, someone you care about a lot and feel protective towards, that they've been raped and that they have to see their rapist admired and celebrated because he has a nice line in suits and repartee.
It's not hard to imagine. And if you can't ask one of the many women you know how they'd feel about their rapist being treated in this way. How would you feel about a Conor McGregor if it was someone you loved he hurt? I have been raped. I have seen my rapist treated as a great fellow because he could charm. They didn't see the violence and abuse of an inexperienced and naive girls that followed that charm. Nor the shame and guilt and fear that I felt afterwards. And what happened to me has happened to pretty much every woman, in some form or other. And we are absolutely fucking sick of seeing the appalling men who treat us in this way dismissed by others because, hey, they are funny and sharp.
We don't want to be victims. We wish - Christ we wish it every fucking day since we were 11 or so - that we weren't victims, that we didn't have to take steps all the time to avoid this. And we wish that when we slip up we got the benefit of the doubt. But no it's the abusers, those who turn a blind eye, those who egg them on and those who do "it's only a bit of banter/he's a nice guy really" who get the benefit of the doubt.
You are not the only man on here who gives the impression - maybe unthinkingly - that women are somehow not fully human, only really support animals for men, the people who fit in with what's left when men have got what they want first. This forum frankly has one hell of a blind spot about the woman's perspective on life. But it is precisely because of attitudes like this that people like Trump get away with behaviour which is disgusting, not decent and should have no place in any country trying to be civilised.
I like you Leon. But sometimes you really need to think about what you say.
And if I sound furious, put it down to having been ill for longer than is pleasant, if that helps. It'll have a word - hysteria. That'll be the one.
It's the love of the transgressor. The mad, bad, boy. The "truly free". The infantile worship of the "propaganda of the deed". The one not held back by "bourgeoise morality".
Hunter Biden?
We are getting to the point where we need to call Prevent for you.
Or should we wait for the Pizza Parlour Basement phase?
No, PB has reached the insane point when anyone who dares to mention an awkward fact that might discomfort the Dems, the American Left, the anti-Trumpers - is regarded as a Nazi, a conspiracy theorist, and a Trumpite coup-encourager, and so forth. Rather than someone pointing out that there are two sides to this story, and there is a reason so many Americans voted Trump and abhor the Democrats, they are not all Hitler-its thickos, even at the same time as Trump IS a mad buffoon who should be nowhere near the Oval
We saw the same shit vis a vis Ukraine, we see it here, it’s just a sad dumbing down of the site, as inability to do nuance, a kind of dim, morally shrill groupthink, and it is getting REALLY old
You never learn do you. You were suspended from the site for a week for your attitude and behaviour. Things don't change much. How many days is it now?
I would like to think that the moderators are running out of patience with you.
OGH has told me to permanently ban Leon if he breaks the site rules again or goes down the white babies angle.
OGH isn't going to be out of pocket because Leon cannot follow the rules.
I am quite willing to follow rules (It helps if they are clear) - it’s your site
But if I am merely going to be banned for attitudes and opinions and gags which enrage the centrist dads, then PB is not really a debate forum but a silo of deadening consensus
Eg what have I done today which is remote bannable? Made a few jokes, insulted Irish orthography, pointed out - quite truthfully - that serious allegations swirl against the Biden family, some of which have turned into confessions and convictions. That’s it
@leon mate - take a break. Step away for an hour or two. Go and investigate the quality of the snacks in the airport lounge you are waiting in.
If PB is a pub, a metaphor you have used now and again, then I am an old git gently putting an arm around your shoulder and saying: maybe that's enough for one evening old son.
You are an asset to this site most of the time imho, sparky, interesting, bombastic, entertaining etc etc and unlike some, I enjoy the travel stuff. For health reasons I can no longer travel so maybe this is some vicarious thing, but anyway.
Don't get banned permanently which it seems you are on the brink of.
I wholeheartedly agree with.this. If you get banned I'll need to follow some right prat on X who travels a lot and bangs on about similar shit to you.
Leavitt: "It's only because of the United States of America that the French aren't speaking German right now."
It's only because of French intervention at Yorktown that the Americans aren't speaking British right now!
I don't think that's true. The British defeated themselves through having no real strategy, and a complete blindness as to logistics.
Errrr, that's the point! Leavitt wasn't telling the truth either!
It's only because of 'us' that 'they' are "not speaking German right now".
This is on my (long) list of hackneyed phrases that cause the user to fall in my estimation. A fate that all good people strive to avoid.
It’s worth contemplating Nazi plans for their Eastern Empire, which was to be their India. Locals reduced to uneducated slaves, able to perhaps read road signs for safety, German towns and huge farms for thousands of miles. The ultimate in Germanisation. And what of the rest of Europe? I don’t think France would have been forced to speak German but the German langauge would have been the, ahem, linga Franca, as it were.
There was a "Zone Interdite" west and north of Alsace-Lorraine, intended for German settlement.
Welcome back, Cyclefree and thanks for the header.
One other thing it might usefully have gone into in more detail is yesterday's invocation of the Alien Enemies Act (what remains of the Sedition Acts of 1798), in the deportation, without any court proceeding, of over 200 unnamed Venezuelans (alleged, without evidence being provided, of being gang members).
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/50/21 Whenever there is a declared war between the United States and any foreign nation or government, or any invasion or predatory incursion is perpetrated, attempted, or threatened against the territory of the United States by any foreign nation or government, and the President makes public proclamation of the event, all natives, citizens, denizens, or subjects of the hostile nation or government, being of the age of fourteen years and upward, who shall be within the United States and not actually naturalized, shall be liable to be apprehended, restrained, secured, and removed as alien enemies. The President is authorized in any such event, by his proclamation thereof, or other public act, to direct the conduct to be observed on the part of the United States, toward the aliens who become so liable; the manner and degree of the restraint to which they shall be subject and in what cases, and upon what security their residence shall be permitted, and to provide for the removal of those who, not being permitted to reside within the United States, refuse or neglect to depart therefrom; and to establish any other regulations which are found necessary in the premises and for the public safety...
Invoking it in peacetime goes against two centuries of precedent, and goes against the obvious interpretation of the statute. The administration ignored a court order to halt the deportation - which was not to the individuals' country of origin, but to a El Salvadorean jail, where inmates regularly die in captivity.
Under the act, any foreign national, including those legally resident, could be treated in this manner, should the administration so decide.
There's no pleasing this forum. Either my headers are too long or too short. This is 620 words. I wrote it over breakfast before heading for Scotland where I now am for a wedding. It is pretty much the first day in ages I have not felt ill or had some health issue to worry about as has been the case for the last few months.
But the sun is shining, the landscape is glorious and so my convalescence continues. God willing I will be back to my old self before spring and summer really get underway.
Welcome to Scotland. Visiting us is bound to make you feel better.
Trump invited Conor McGregor, the Reform-y Tomm-eh esque UFC dude in to the WH and the Oval Office, for St Paddy's Day, and left the Teseaichoichscshuckseoischyeiaghhrshffffqooowooo fuming half a mile down the road
I know Donald Trump is not always to everyone's taste, on PB, but he can be fucking funny
I'm calling you out on this. There is nothing funny about inviting a convicted rapist to the White House. Imagine - go on, you're a writer, you can do it - one of the women or girls close to you, someone you care about a lot and feel protective towards, that they've been raped and that they have to see their rapist admired and celebrated because he has a nice line in suits and repartee.
It's not hard to imagine. And if you can't ask one of the many women you know how they'd feel about their rapist being treated in this way. How would you feel about a Conor McGregor if it was someone you loved he hurt? I have been raped. I have seen my rapist treated as a great fellow because he could charm. They didn't see the violence and abuse of an inexperienced and naive girls that followed that charm. Nor the shame and guilt and fear that I felt afterwards. And what happened to me has happened to pretty much every woman, in some form or other. And we are absolutely fucking sick of seeing the appalling men who treat us in this way dismissed by others because, hey, they are funny and sharp.
We don't want to be victims. We wish - Christ we wish it every fucking day since we were 11 or so - that we weren't victims, that we didn't have to take steps all the time to avoid this. And we wish that when we slip up we got the benefit of the doubt. But no it's the abusers, those who turn a blind eye, those who egg them on and those who do "it's only a bit of banter/he's a nice guy really" who get the benefit of the doubt.
You are not the only man on here who gives the impression - maybe unthinkingly - that women are somehow not fully human, only really support animals for men, the people who fit in with what's left when men have got what they want first. This forum frankly has one hell of a blind spot about the woman's perspective on life. But it is precisely because of attitudes like this that people like Trump get away with behaviour which is disgusting, not decent and should have no place in any country trying to be civilised.
I like you Leon. But sometimes you really need to think about what you say.
And if I sound furious, put it down to having been ill for longer than is pleasant, if that helps. It'll have a word - hysteria. That'll be the one.
It's the love of the transgressor. The mad, bad, boy. The "truly free". The infantile worship of the "propaganda of the deed". The one not held back by "bourgeoise morality".
Hunter Biden?
We are getting to the point where we need to call Prevent for you.
Or should we wait for the Pizza Parlour Basement phase?
No, PB has reached the insane point when anyone who dares to mention an awkward fact that might discomfort the Dems, the American Left, the anti-Trumpers - is regarded as a Nazi, a conspiracy theorist, and a Trumpite coup-encourager, and so forth. Rather than someone pointing out that there are two sides to this story, and there is a reason so many Americans voted Trump and abhor the Democrats, they are not all Hitler-its thickos, even at the same time as Trump IS a mad buffoon who should be nowhere near the Oval
We saw the same shit vis a vis Ukraine, we see it here, it’s just a sad dumbing down of the site, as inability to do nuance, a kind of dim, morally shrill groupthink, and it is getting REALLY old
You never learn do you. You were suspended from the site for a week for your attitude and behaviour. Things don't change much. How many days is it now?
I would like to think that the moderators are running out of patience with you.
Ah, so I must be banned again
For my “attitude” and “behaviour”
Not for doing anything wrong any more, simply for voicing opinions - attitudes - you do not like
You shouldn't underestimate how predictable and boring you are becoming.
There is no pleasure in saying this and you should thank me for it. Like the person who catches the rancid breath of a work colleague and offers them a polo.
But no doubt it will be taken the wrong way. As indeed could be the case with the polo.
If we were all to be banned for being “predictable” and “boring” then 90% of PB wouldn’t last half an hour, especially the Centrist Dads
Again, I will ask, if Trump was a Russian asset what would he have done differently?
Scoop: The Trump administration has discussed recognizing Crimea as Russian territory - & pushing the UN to do the same - to get a peace deal across the finish line.
(No decisions have been formally made) w/ @mchalfant16:
Trump invited Conor McGregor, the Reform-y Tomm-eh esque UFC dude in to the WH and the Oval Office, for St Paddy's Day, and left the Teseaichoichscshuckseoischyeiaghhrshffffqooowooo fuming half a mile down the road
I know Donald Trump is not always to everyone's taste, on PB, but he can be fucking funny
I'm calling you out on this. There is nothing funny about inviting a convicted rapist to the White House. Imagine - go on, you're a writer, you can do it - one of the women or girls close to you, someone you care about a lot and feel protective towards, that they've been raped and that they have to see their rapist admired and celebrated because he has a nice line in suits and repartee.
It's not hard to imagine. And if you can't ask one of the many women you know how they'd feel about their rapist being treated in this way. How would you feel about a Conor McGregor if it was someone you loved he hurt? I have been raped. I have seen my rapist treated as a great fellow because he could charm. They didn't see the violence and abuse of an inexperienced and naive girls that followed that charm. Nor the shame and guilt and fear that I felt afterwards. And what happened to me has happened to pretty much every woman, in some form or other. And we are absolutely fucking sick of seeing the appalling men who treat us in this way dismissed by others because, hey, they are funny and sharp.
We don't want to be victims. We wish - Christ we wish it every fucking day since we were 11 or so - that we weren't victims, that we didn't have to take steps all the time to avoid this. And we wish that when we slip up we got the benefit of the doubt. But no it's the abusers, those who turn a blind eye, those who egg them on and those who do "it's only a bit of banter/he's a nice guy really" who get the benefit of the doubt.
You are not the only man on here who gives the impression - maybe unthinkingly - that women are somehow not fully human, only really support animals for men, the people who fit in with what's left when men have got what they want first. This forum frankly has one hell of a blind spot about the woman's perspective on life. But it is precisely because of attitudes like this that people like Trump get away with behaviour which is disgusting, not decent and should have no place in any country trying to be civilised.
I like you Leon. But sometimes you really need to think about what you say.
And if I sound furious, put it down to having been ill for longer than is pleasant, if that helps. It'll have a word - hysteria. That'll be the one.
It's the love of the transgressor. The mad, bad, boy. The "truly free". The infantile worship of the "propaganda of the deed". The one not held back by "bourgeoise morality".
Hunter Biden?
We are getting to the point where we need to call Prevent for you.
Or should we wait for the Pizza Parlour Basement phase?
No, PB has reached the insane point when anyone who dares to mention an awkward fact that might discomfort the Dems, the American Left, the anti-Trumpers - is regarded as a Nazi, a conspiracy theorist, and a Trumpite coup-encourager, and so forth. Rather than someone pointing out that there are two sides to this story, and there is a reason so many Americans voted Trump and abhor the Democrats, they are not all Hitler-its thickos, even at the same time as Trump IS a mad buffoon who should be nowhere near the Oval
We saw the same shit vis a vis Ukraine, we see it here, it’s just a sad dumbing down of the site, as inability to do nuance, a kind of dim, morally shrill groupthink, and it is getting REALLY old
You never learn do you. You were suspended from the site for a week for your attitude and behaviour. Things don't change much. How many days is it now?
I would like to think that the moderators are running out of patience with you.
Ah, so I must be banned again
For my “attitude” and “behaviour”
Not for doing anything wrong any more, simply for voicing opinions - attitudes - you do not like
You shouldn't underestimate how predictable and boring you are becoming.
There is no pleasure in saying this and you should thank me for it. Like the person who catches the rancid breath of a work colleague and offers them a polo.
But no doubt it will be taken the wrong way. As indeed could be the case with the polo.
This is all making me very hungry for Polo's. I haven't had one for about 15 years.
I would also need some cola bottles, to be able to properly reflect on world events.
Trump invited Conor McGregor, the Reform-y Tomm-eh esque UFC dude in to the WH and the Oval Office, for St Paddy's Day, and left the Teseaichoichscshuckseoischyeiaghhrshffffqooowooo fuming half a mile down the road
I know Donald Trump is not always to everyone's taste, on PB, but he can be fucking funny
I'm calling you out on this. There is nothing funny about inviting a convicted rapist to the White House. Imagine - go on, you're a writer, you can do it - one of the women or girls close to you, someone you care about a lot and feel protective towards, that they've been raped and that they have to see their rapist admired and celebrated because he has a nice line in suits and repartee.
It's not hard to imagine. And if you can't ask one of the many women you know how they'd feel about their rapist being treated in this way. How would you feel about a Conor McGregor if it was someone you loved he hurt? I have been raped. I have seen my rapist treated as a great fellow because he could charm. They didn't see the violence and abuse of an inexperienced and naive girls that followed that charm. Nor the shame and guilt and fear that I felt afterwards. And what happened to me has happened to pretty much every woman, in some form or other. And we are absolutely fucking sick of seeing the appalling men who treat us in this way dismissed by others because, hey, they are funny and sharp.
We don't want to be victims. We wish - Christ we wish it every fucking day since we were 11 or so - that we weren't victims, that we didn't have to take steps all the time to avoid this. And we wish that when we slip up we got the benefit of the doubt. But no it's the abusers, those who turn a blind eye, those who egg them on and those who do "it's only a bit of banter/he's a nice guy really" who get the benefit of the doubt.
You are not the only man on here who gives the impression - maybe unthinkingly - that women are somehow not fully human, only really support animals for men, the people who fit in with what's left when men have got what they want first. This forum frankly has one hell of a blind spot about the woman's perspective on life. But it is precisely because of attitudes like this that people like Trump get away with behaviour which is disgusting, not decent and should have no place in any country trying to be civilised.
I like you Leon. But sometimes you really need to think about what you say.
And if I sound furious, put it down to having been ill for longer than is pleasant, if that helps. It'll have a word - hysteria. That'll be the one.
It's the love of the transgressor. The mad, bad, boy. The "truly free". The infantile worship of the "propaganda of the deed". The one not held back by "bourgeoise morality".
Hunter Biden?
We are getting to the point where we need to call Prevent for you.
Or should we wait for the Pizza Parlour Basement phase?
No, PB has reached the insane point when anyone who dares to mention an awkward fact that might discomfort the Dems, the American Left, the anti-Trumpers - is regarded as a Nazi, a conspiracy theorist, and a Trumpite coup-encourager, and so forth. Rather than someone pointing out that there are two sides to this story, and there is a reason so many Americans voted Trump and abhor the Democrats, they are not all Hitler-its thickos, even at the same time as Trump IS a mad buffoon who should be nowhere near the Oval
We saw the same shit vis a vis Ukraine, we see it here, it’s just a sad dumbing down of the site, as inability to do nuance, a kind of dim, morally shrill groupthink, and it is getting REALLY old
You never learn do you. You were suspended from the site for a week for your attitude and behaviour. Things don't change much. How many days is it now?
I would like to think that the moderators are running out of patience with you.
Ah, so I must be banned again
For my “attitude” and “behaviour”
Not for doing anything wrong any more, simply for voicing opinions - attitudes - you do not like
You shouldn't underestimate how predictable and boring you are becoming.
There is no pleasure in saying this and you should thank me for it. Like the person who catches the rancid breath of a work colleague and offers them a polo.
But no doubt it will be taken the wrong way. As indeed could be the case with the polo.
This is all making me very hungry for Polo's. I haven't had one for about 15 years.
I would also need some cola bottles, to be able to properly reflect on world events.
Trump invited Conor McGregor, the Reform-y Tomm-eh esque UFC dude in to the WH and the Oval Office, for St Paddy's Day, and left the Teseaichoichscshuckseoischyeiaghhrshffffqooowooo fuming half a mile down the road
I know Donald Trump is not always to everyone's taste, on PB, but he can be fucking funny
I'm calling you out on this. There is nothing funny about inviting a convicted rapist to the White House. Imagine - go on, you're a writer, you can do it - one of the women or girls close to you, someone you care about a lot and feel protective towards, that they've been raped and that they have to see their rapist admired and celebrated because he has a nice line in suits and repartee.
It's not hard to imagine. And if you can't ask one of the many women you know how they'd feel about their rapist being treated in this way. How would you feel about a Conor McGregor if it was someone you loved he hurt? I have been raped. I have seen my rapist treated as a great fellow because he could charm. They didn't see the violence and abuse of an inexperienced and naive girls that followed that charm. Nor the shame and guilt and fear that I felt afterwards. And what happened to me has happened to pretty much every woman, in some form or other. And we are absolutely fucking sick of seeing the appalling men who treat us in this way dismissed by others because, hey, they are funny and sharp.
We don't want to be victims. We wish - Christ we wish it every fucking day since we were 11 or so - that we weren't victims, that we didn't have to take steps all the time to avoid this. And we wish that when we slip up we got the benefit of the doubt. But no it's the abusers, those who turn a blind eye, those who egg them on and those who do "it's only a bit of banter/he's a nice guy really" who get the benefit of the doubt.
You are not the only man on here who gives the impression - maybe unthinkingly - that women are somehow not fully human, only really support animals for men, the people who fit in with what's left when men have got what they want first. This forum frankly has one hell of a blind spot about the woman's perspective on life. But it is precisely because of attitudes like this that people like Trump get away with behaviour which is disgusting, not decent and should have no place in any country trying to be civilised.
I like you Leon. But sometimes you really need to think about what you say.
And if I sound furious, put it down to having been ill for longer than is pleasant, if that helps. It'll have a word - hysteria. That'll be the one.
I gave this a like although in truth I didn't agree with all of it, specifically the phrase "I like you Leon."
Again, I will ask, if Trump was a Russian asset what would he have done differently?
Scoop: The Trump administration has discussed recognizing Crimea as Russian territory - & pushing the UN to do the same - to get a peace deal across the finish line.
(No decisions have been formally made) w/ @mchalfant16:
Trump invited Conor McGregor, the Reform-y Tomm-eh esque UFC dude in to the WH and the Oval Office, for St Paddy's Day, and left the Teseaichoichscshuckseoischyeiaghhrshffffqooowooo fuming half a mile down the road
I know Donald Trump is not always to everyone's taste, on PB, but he can be fucking funny
I'm calling you out on this. There is nothing funny about inviting a convicted rapist to the White House. Imagine - go on, you're a writer, you can do it - one of the women or girls close to you, someone you care about a lot and feel protective towards, that they've been raped and that they have to see their rapist admired and celebrated because he has a nice line in suits and repartee.
It's not hard to imagine. And if you can't ask one of the many women you know how they'd feel about their rapist being treated in this way. How would you feel about a Conor McGregor if it was someone you loved he hurt? I have been raped. I have seen my rapist treated as a great fellow because he could charm. They didn't see the violence and abuse of an inexperienced and naive girls that followed that charm. Nor the shame and guilt and fear that I felt afterwards. And what happened to me has happened to pretty much every woman, in some form or other. And we are absolutely fucking sick of seeing the appalling men who treat us in this way dismissed by others because, hey, they are funny and sharp.
We don't want to be victims. We wish - Christ we wish it every fucking day since we were 11 or so - that we weren't victims, that we didn't have to take steps all the time to avoid this. And we wish that when we slip up we got the benefit of the doubt. But no it's the abusers, those who turn a blind eye, those who egg them on and those who do "it's only a bit of banter/he's a nice guy really" who get the benefit of the doubt.
You are not the only man on here who gives the impression - maybe unthinkingly - that women are somehow not fully human, only really support animals for men, the people who fit in with what's left when men have got what they want first. This forum frankly has one hell of a blind spot about the woman's perspective on life. But it is precisely because of attitudes like this that people like Trump get away with behaviour which is disgusting, not decent and should have no place in any country trying to be civilised.
I like you Leon. But sometimes you really need to think about what you say.
And if I sound furious, put it down to having been ill for longer than is pleasant, if that helps. It'll have a word - hysteria. That'll be the one.
It's the love of the transgressor. The mad, bad, boy. The "truly free". The infantile worship of the "propaganda of the deed". The one not held back by "bourgeoise morality".
Hunter Biden?
We are getting to the point where we need to call Prevent for you.
Or should we wait for the Pizza Parlour Basement phase?
No, PB has reached the insane point when anyone who dares to mention an awkward fact that might discomfort the Dems, the American Left, the anti-Trumpers - is regarded as a Nazi, a conspiracy theorist, and a Trumpite coup-encourager, and so forth. Rather than someone pointing out that there are two sides to this story, and there is a reason so many Americans voted Trump and abhor the Democrats, they are not all Hitler-its thickos, even at the same time as Trump IS a mad buffoon who should be nowhere near the Oval
We saw the same shit vis a vis Ukraine, we see it here, it’s just a sad dumbing down of the site, as inability to do nuance, a kind of dim, morally shrill groupthink, and it is getting REALLY old
You never learn do you. You were suspended from the site for a week for your attitude and behaviour. Things don't change much. How many days is it now?
I would like to think that the moderators are running out of patience with you.
Ah, so I must be banned again
For my “attitude” and “behaviour”
Not for doing anything wrong any more, simply for voicing opinions - attitudes - you do not like
You shouldn't underestimate how predictable and boring you are becoming.
There is no pleasure in saying this and you should thank me for it. Like the person who catches the rancid breath of a work colleague and offers them a polo.
But no doubt it will be taken the wrong way. As indeed could be the case with the polo.
If we were all to be banned for being “predictable” and “boring” then 90% of PB wouldn’t last half an hour, especially the Centrist Dads
And most especially…. you
I've said my piece. You keep going as you are if you like. I know the self-image of "fruity challenger to the staid consensus" is strong.
Trump invited Conor McGregor, the Reform-y Tomm-eh esque UFC dude in to the WH and the Oval Office, for St Paddy's Day, and left the Teseaichoichscshuckseoischyeiaghhrshffffqooowooo fuming half a mile down the road
I know Donald Trump is not always to everyone's taste, on PB, but he can be fucking funny
I'm calling you out on this. There is nothing funny about inviting a convicted rapist to the White House. Imagine - go on, you're a writer, you can do it - one of the women or girls close to you, someone you care about a lot and feel protective towards, that they've been raped and that they have to see their rapist admired and celebrated because he has a nice line in suits and repartee.
It's not hard to imagine. And if you can't ask one of the many women you know how they'd feel about their rapist being treated in this way. How would you feel about a Conor McGregor if it was someone you loved he hurt? I have been raped. I have seen my rapist treated as a great fellow because he could charm. They didn't see the violence and abuse of an inexperienced and naive girls that followed that charm. Nor the shame and guilt and fear that I felt afterwards. And what happened to me has happened to pretty much every woman, in some form or other. And we are absolutely fucking sick of seeing the appalling men who treat us in this way dismissed by others because, hey, they are funny and sharp.
We don't want to be victims. We wish - Christ we wish it every fucking day since we were 11 or so - that we weren't victims, that we didn't have to take steps all the time to avoid this. And we wish that when we slip up we got the benefit of the doubt. But no it's the abusers, those who turn a blind eye, those who egg them on and those who do "it's only a bit of banter/he's a nice guy really" who get the benefit of the doubt.
You are not the only man on here who gives the impression - maybe unthinkingly - that women are somehow not fully human, only really support animals for men, the people who fit in with what's left when men have got what they want first. This forum frankly has one hell of a blind spot about the woman's perspective on life. But it is precisely because of attitudes like this that people like Trump get away with behaviour which is disgusting, not decent and should have no place in any country trying to be civilised.
I like you Leon. But sometimes you really need to think about what you say.
And if I sound furious, put it down to having been ill for longer than is pleasant, if that helps. It'll have a word - hysteria. That'll be the one.
It's the love of the transgressor. The mad, bad, boy. The "truly free". The infantile worship of the "propaganda of the deed". The one not held back by "bourgeoise morality".
Hunter Biden?
We are getting to the point where we need to call Prevent for you.
Or should we wait for the Pizza Parlour Basement phase?
No, PB has reached the insane point when anyone who dares to mention an awkward fact that might discomfort the Dems, the American Left, the anti-Trumpers - is regarded as a Nazi, a conspiracy theorist, and a Trumpite coup-encourager, and so forth. Rather than someone pointing out that there are two sides to this story, and there is a reason so many Americans voted Trump and abhor the Democrats, they are not all Hitler-its thickos, even at the same time as Trump IS a mad buffoon who should be nowhere near the Oval
We saw the same shit vis a vis Ukraine, we see it here, it’s just a sad dumbing down of the site, as inability to do nuance, a kind of dim, morally shrill groupthink, and it is getting REALLY old
Yup, I think in an election rerun Trump would still win both the EC and PV. I don't think there's really a realisation of how fed up average Americans are with the constant drum beat of DEI and culture war stuff that comes from the left, even in blue states friends of mine are quite pleased to see the back of it all under Trump despite everything else he's doing. Again, I'll point to the wide condemnation among the left that the Dems encouraged against Gavin Newsom when he pointed out the bleeding obvious that allowing biological men into women's sports is unfair. People see that and the lizard part of their brain just switches off from anything else the Dems have to offer IMO. Until they get real on this and other similar subjects I don't see the Dems making any real headway in the 1 v 1 presidential election.
Rather like someone who wanted the Conservatives to "stop banging on about Europe" and then created the conditions when "Europe" was all the party talked about for nearly a decade despite leading the Government (in no small part due to the paucity of the opposition) until it drove itself off a cliff.
Again, I will ask, if Trump was a Russian asset what would he have done differently?
Scoop: The Trump administration has discussed recognizing Crimea as Russian territory - & pushing the UN to do the same - to get a peace deal across the finish line.
(No decisions have been formally made) w/ @mchalfant16:
Another Russian asset? It's a strange negotiation when you set out the minimum you'll concede.
Matthew Parris in this week's Speccie, claims when he went to Ukr every person he met under 25 thought that Crimea wasn't worth arguing over and would agree to Russia keeping.
What did MP's mates in the bistro make of the last election here or in America?
Trump invited Conor McGregor, the Reform-y Tomm-eh esque UFC dude in to the WH and the Oval Office, for St Paddy's Day, and left the Teseaichoichscshuckseoischyeiaghhrshffffqooowooo fuming half a mile down the road
I know Donald Trump is not always to everyone's taste, on PB, but he can be fucking funny
I'm calling you out on this. There is nothing funny about inviting a convicted rapist to the White House. Imagine - go on, you're a writer, you can do it - one of the women or girls close to you, someone you care about a lot and feel protective towards, that they've been raped and that they have to see their rapist admired and celebrated because he has a nice line in suits and repartee.
It's not hard to imagine. And if you can't ask one of the many women you know how they'd feel about their rapist being treated in this way. How would you feel about a Conor McGregor if it was someone you loved he hurt? I have been raped. I have seen my rapist treated as a great fellow because he could charm. They didn't see the violence and abuse of an inexperienced and naive girls that followed that charm. Nor the shame and guilt and fear that I felt afterwards. And what happened to me has happened to pretty much every woman, in some form or other. And we are absolutely fucking sick of seeing the appalling men who treat us in this way dismissed by others because, hey, they are funny and sharp.
We don't want to be victims. We wish - Christ we wish it every fucking day since we were 11 or so - that we weren't victims, that we didn't have to take steps all the time to avoid this. And we wish that when we slip up we got the benefit of the doubt. But no it's the abusers, those who turn a blind eye, those who egg them on and those who do "it's only a bit of banter/he's a nice guy really" who get the benefit of the doubt.
You are not the only man on here who gives the impression - maybe unthinkingly - that women are somehow not fully human, only really support animals for men, the people who fit in with what's left when men have got what they want first. This forum frankly has one hell of a blind spot about the woman's perspective on life. But it is precisely because of attitudes like this that people like Trump get away with behaviour which is disgusting, not decent and should have no place in any country trying to be civilised.
I like you Leon. But sometimes you really need to think about what you say.
And if I sound furious, put it down to having been ill for longer than is pleasant, if that helps. It'll have a word - hysteria. That'll be the one.
I gave this a like although in truth I didn't agree with all of it, specifically the phrase "I like you Leon."
Trump invited Conor McGregor, the Reform-y Tomm-eh esque UFC dude in to the WH and the Oval Office, for St Paddy's Day, and left the Teseaichoichscshuckseoischyeiaghhrshffffqooowooo fuming half a mile down the road
I know Donald Trump is not always to everyone's taste, on PB, but he can be fucking funny
I'm calling you out on this. There is nothing funny about inviting a convicted rapist to the White House. Imagine - go on, you're a writer, you can do it - one of the women or girls close to you, someone you care about a lot and feel protective towards, that they've been raped and that they have to see their rapist admired and celebrated because he has a nice line in suits and repartee.
It's not hard to imagine. And if you can't ask one of the many women you know how they'd feel about their rapist being treated in this way. How would you feel about a Conor McGregor if it was someone you loved he hurt? I have been raped. I have seen my rapist treated as a great fellow because he could charm. They didn't see the violence and abuse of an inexperienced and naive girls that followed that charm. Nor the shame and guilt and fear that I felt afterwards. And what happened to me has happened to pretty much every woman, in some form or other. And we are absolutely fucking sick of seeing the appalling men who treat us in this way dismissed by others because, hey, they are funny and sharp.
We don't want to be victims. We wish - Christ we wish it every fucking day since we were 11 or so - that we weren't victims, that we didn't have to take steps all the time to avoid this. And we wish that when we slip up we got the benefit of the doubt. But no it's the abusers, those who turn a blind eye, those who egg them on and those who do "it's only a bit of banter/he's a nice guy really" who get the benefit of the doubt.
You are not the only man on here who gives the impression - maybe unthinkingly - that women are somehow not fully human, only really support animals for men, the people who fit in with what's left when men have got what they want first. This forum frankly has one hell of a blind spot about the woman's perspective on life. But it is precisely because of attitudes like this that people like Trump get away with behaviour which is disgusting, not decent and should have no place in any country trying to be civilised.
I like you Leon. But sometimes you really need to think about what you say.
And if I sound furious, put it down to having been ill for longer than is pleasant, if that helps. It'll have a word - hysteria. That'll be the one.
Of course you make a reasonable point, BUT Joe Biden has been persuasively accused of pedophile behaviour by his own daughter. And I don’t remember you freaking out every day during his presidency as he sat there in the White House. Indeed, I don’t recall your ever mentioning it (tho I might be wrong)
Plus the other sleaze swirling around Joe and Hunter, and Bill “Epstein” Clinton before them?
The entire American political elite seems deeply dodgy to me, whether you look left or right, Trump or Biden, we might as well extract some dark humour from the grisliness
On the other hand, I am very sorry to hear of your continuing ill health, I hope you get better
Today is the first time I have heard of those accusations against Biden.
I could list the number of headers I have written on here about child abuse - and the way we do not take it seriously. I could show you stuff I've written about Staley and Epstein. (I have seen a list of people in Epstein's telephone book and I've even investigated some of them.) And all the stuff I've written about abuse of women. I have gone on about it because it matters - even in the face of yawns, the "she's off again" and on some occasions threads being diverted into discussions about the sexual prowess of PB'ers.
If you want black humour about men's sexual behaviour I can provide plenty of that. Are you sure you're ready for it?
And I also have a life, work and a family. But a look at my oeuvre on here would show you that the abuse of the vulnerable is something I really care about.
So as the Scots say "get tae fuck".
That’s more like the @Cyclefree I know and love. Got your pep back. Good to see
You could profitably ask yourself why and how the very plausible, indeed proven accusations against Joe Biden miraculously disappeared (proven inasmuch as this is the verbatim account of his daughter, which she has not denied). How come someone as switched on as you never heard of them? Possibly because the Dems do a pretty good job in suppressing stories they don’t like - cf lab leak and Hunter’s laptop. They usually do it by labeling it as a “conspiracy theory” until it turns out to be undeniably true, by which point they hope no one cares
Again, I turn to lab leak. I know this bores PB but TWENTY MILLION PEOPLE DIED
And now that it is basically accepted that it happened suddenly the Left pivots from “it came from the market” to “shit happens, let’s move on, it was just an accident, who really cares”
Imagine if 20 million humans died due to an air crash or an industrial accident. Finding, trying and punishing the culprits would consume us for years and years
I do not follow US politics closely. My heart is in Europe. I have some topics I am interested in, not all of which I discuss on here. And I try to limit how much time I spend on current affairs for my own sanity. But I would not be surprised. Lord Devlin - a very distinguished judge abused his own daughter - and Cardinal Heenan, the then leader of Catholics in the U.K., was told about it but said that better it happen to the daughter than for him to take a mistress. I could list out here - and it would take a hell of a lot of posts - the number of men found guilty of child abuse / possession of child abuse images etc - who get no custodial sentences at all.
The brutal reality is that far more men than we would like to admit are sexually attracted to children. And we have a society in which the sexualisation of girls and boys, the ubiquity of horrific pornography, the worship of adult women with bodies aping pre-pubescent girls, the abandonment of any serious attempt at genuine safeguarding is seen as normal. And those - mostly but not of course exclusively - women who call this out are often criticised for pointing out the harm this causes.
I'm really not sure blaming women with the wrong-sized bodies does much for the feminist cause.
Trump invited Conor McGregor, the Reform-y Tomm-eh esque UFC dude in to the WH and the Oval Office, for St Paddy's Day, and left the Teseaichoichscshuckseoischyeiaghhrshffffqooowooo fuming half a mile down the road
I know Donald Trump is not always to everyone's taste, on PB, but he can be fucking funny
I'm calling you out on this. There is nothing funny about inviting a convicted rapist to the White House. Imagine - go on, you're a writer, you can do it - one of the women or girls close to you, someone you care about a lot and feel protective towards, that they've been raped and that they have to see their rapist admired and celebrated because he has a nice line in suits and repartee.
It's not hard to imagine. And if you can't ask one of the many women you know how they'd feel about their rapist being treated in this way. How would you feel about a Conor McGregor if it was someone you loved he hurt? I have been raped. I have seen my rapist treated as a great fellow because he could charm. They didn't see the violence and abuse of an inexperienced and naive girls that followed that charm. Nor the shame and guilt and fear that I felt afterwards. And what happened to me has happened to pretty much every woman, in some form or other. And we are absolutely fucking sick of seeing the appalling men who treat us in this way dismissed by others because, hey, they are funny and sharp.
We don't want to be victims. We wish - Christ we wish it every fucking day since we were 11 or so - that we weren't victims, that we didn't have to take steps all the time to avoid this. And we wish that when we slip up we got the benefit of the doubt. But no it's the abusers, those who turn a blind eye, those who egg them on and those who do "it's only a bit of banter/he's a nice guy really" who get the benefit of the doubt.
You are not the only man on here who gives the impression - maybe unthinkingly - that women are somehow not fully human, only really support animals for men, the people who fit in with what's left when men have got what they want first. This forum frankly has one hell of a blind spot about the woman's perspective on life. But it is precisely because of attitudes like this that people like Trump get away with behaviour which is disgusting, not decent and should have no place in any country trying to be civilised.
I like you Leon. But sometimes you really need to think about what you say.
And if I sound furious, put it down to having been ill for longer than is pleasant, if that helps. It'll have a word - hysteria. That'll be the one.
It's the love of the transgressor. The mad, bad, boy. The "truly free". The infantile worship of the "propaganda of the deed". The one not held back by "bourgeoise morality".
Hunter Biden?
We are getting to the point where we need to call Prevent for you.
Or should we wait for the Pizza Parlour Basement phase?
No, PB has reached the insane point when anyone who dares to mention an awkward fact that might discomfort the Dems, the American Left, the anti-Trumpers - is regarded as a Nazi, a conspiracy theorist, and a Trumpite coup-encourager, and so forth. Rather than someone pointing out that there are two sides to this story, and there is a reason so many Americans voted Trump and abhor the Democrats, they are not all Hitler-its thickos, even at the same time as Trump IS a mad buffoon who should be nowhere near the Oval
We saw the same shit vis a vis Ukraine, we see it here, it’s just a sad dumbing down of the site, as inability to do nuance, a kind of dim, morally shrill groupthink, and it is getting REALLY old
You never learn do you. You were suspended from the site for a week for your attitude and behaviour. Things don't change much. How many days is it now?
I would like to think that the moderators are running out of patience with you.
OGH has told me to permanently ban Leon if he breaks the site rules again or goes down the white babies angle.
OGH isn't going to be out of pocket because Leon cannot follow the rules.
I am quite willing to follow rules (It helps if they are clear) - it’s your site
But if I am merely going to be banned for attitudes and opinions and gags which enrage the centrist dads, then PB is not really a debate forum but a silo of deadening consensus
Eg what have I done today which is remote bannable? Made a few jokes, insulted Irish orthography, pointed out - quite truthfully - that serious allegations swirl against the Biden family, some of which have turned into confessions and convictions. That’s it
@leon mate - take a break. Step away for an hour or two. Go and investigate the quality of the snacks in the airport lounge you are waiting in.
If PB is a pub, a metaphor you have used now and again, then I am an old git gently putting an arm around your shoulder and saying: maybe that's enough for one evening old son.
You are an asset to this site most of the time imho, sparky, interesting, bombastic, entertaining etc etc and unlike some, I enjoy the travel stuff. For health reasons I can no longer travel so maybe this is some vicarious thing, but anyway.
Don't get banned permanently which it seems you are on the brink of.
The other night - after the always-entertaining @CorrectHorseBattery said he was quitting the site merely because I had returned, I had a fit of conscience, or satirical intent
I genuinely don’t want to drive people away merely by my presence. But nor will I be told what and when I can speak, above and beyond the rules, due to some special rules which only apply to me (and are often opaque if not non-existent). I get that several mods want me gone, forever, and quite a few commenters likewise - but TBH I think much of this is driven by the fact I articulately deliver opinions others don’t like, it’s got nothing to do with rule breaking
So fuck it, as I said then - mainly in jest, but now for real - call a vote. Let’s have a PB plebiscite. You can vote for me to disappear entirely and I shall do so. Or you can vote for me to stay but if I I stay then I need an end to the endless calls for me to be banned simply for having “the wrong attitudes”
Let’s do it. Let a neutral organize it. This may be seen as an ultimate exercise in narcissism by me, and it is, I am a horrific narcissist - - but on the other hand I swear if the vote goes against me I will abide by it. No more reincarnations. My narcissism will disappear forever, and those can’t abide me will be satisfied for good
I suggest One Commenter One Vote. It’s Leave or Remain Leon!
Pro-life individuals often emphasize sanctity-of-life concerns as driving their opposition to abortion. This implies the straightforward prediction that the more strongly people oppose abortion for such reasons (e.g., “abortion is murder”), the more they will endorse policies preventing abortions (face-value account). An alternative suggests that typically nonconscious reproductive goals (e.g., discouraging casual sex) influence policy preferences; this strategic account predicts a different pattern of policy endorsement: all else equal, abortion opponents will prioritize abortion-preventing policies discouraging casual sex. A pilot study and two preregistered U.S. experiments (N = 1,960) provide relatively greater support for the strategic account: the strongest abortion opponents more strongly endorse policies that prevent abortions by discouraging casual sex (e.g., abortion bans, abstinence-only sex education) over policies that do not (comprehensive sex education)—even controlling for conservatism and religiosity. Commonly voiced arguments against abortion may be more rhetorically effective but less reflective of genuine drivers underlying arguers’ beliefs.
Trump invited Conor McGregor, the Reform-y Tomm-eh esque UFC dude in to the WH and the Oval Office, for St Paddy's Day, and left the Teseaichoichscshuckseoischyeiaghhrshffffqooowooo fuming half a mile down the road
I know Donald Trump is not always to everyone's taste, on PB, but he can be fucking funny
I'm calling you out on this. There is nothing funny about inviting a convicted rapist to the White House. Imagine - go on, you're a writer, you can do it - one of the women or girls close to you, someone you care about a lot and feel protective towards, that they've been raped and that they have to see their rapist admired and celebrated because he has a nice line in suits and repartee.
It's not hard to imagine. And if you can't ask one of the many women you know how they'd feel about their rapist being treated in this way. How would you feel about a Conor McGregor if it was someone you loved he hurt? I have been raped. I have seen my rapist treated as a great fellow because he could charm. They didn't see the violence and abuse of an inexperienced and naive girls that followed that charm. Nor the shame and guilt and fear that I felt afterwards. And what happened to me has happened to pretty much every woman, in some form or other. And we are absolutely fucking sick of seeing the appalling men who treat us in this way dismissed by others because, hey, they are funny and sharp.
We don't want to be victims. We wish - Christ we wish it every fucking day since we were 11 or so - that we weren't victims, that we didn't have to take steps all the time to avoid this. And we wish that when we slip up we got the benefit of the doubt. But no it's the abusers, those who turn a blind eye, those who egg them on and those who do "it's only a bit of banter/he's a nice guy really" who get the benefit of the doubt.
You are not the only man on here who gives the impression - maybe unthinkingly - that women are somehow not fully human, only really support animals for men, the people who fit in with what's left when men have got what they want first. This forum frankly has one hell of a blind spot about the woman's perspective on life. But it is precisely because of attitudes like this that people like Trump get away with behaviour which is disgusting, not decent and should have no place in any country trying to be civilised.
I like you Leon. But sometimes you really need to think about what you say.
And if I sound furious, put it down to having been ill for longer than is pleasant, if that helps. It'll have a word - hysteria. That'll be the one.
It's the love of the transgressor. The mad, bad, boy. The "truly free". The infantile worship of the "propaganda of the deed". The one not held back by "bourgeoise morality".
Hunter Biden?
We are getting to the point where we need to call Prevent for you.
Or should we wait for the Pizza Parlour Basement phase?
No, PB has reached the insane point when anyone who dares to mention an awkward fact that might discomfort the Dems, the American Left, the anti-Trumpers - is regarded as a Nazi, a conspiracy theorist, and a Trumpite coup-encourager, and so forth. Rather than someone pointing out that there are two sides to this story, and there is a reason so many Americans voted Trump and abhor the Democrats, they are not all Hitler-its thickos, even at the same time as Trump IS a mad buffoon who should be nowhere near the Oval
We saw the same shit vis a vis Ukraine, we see it here, it’s just a sad dumbing down of the site, as inability to do nuance, a kind of dim, morally shrill groupthink, and it is getting REALLY old
You never learn do you. You were suspended from the site for a week for your attitude and behaviour. Things don't change much. How many days is it now?
I would like to think that the moderators are running out of patience with you.
OGH has told me to permanently ban Leon if he breaks the site rules again or goes down the white babies angle.
OGH isn't going to be out of pocket because Leon cannot follow the rules.
I am quite willing to follow rules (It helps if they are clear) - it’s your site
But if I am merely going to be banned for attitudes and opinions and gags which enrage the centrist dads, then PB is not really a debate forum but a silo of deadening consensus
Eg what have I done today which is remote bannable? Made a few jokes, insulted Irish orthography, pointed out - quite truthfully - that serious allegations swirl against the Biden family, some of which have turned into confessions and convictions. That’s it
@leon mate - take a break. Step away for an hour or two. Go and investigate the quality of the snacks in the airport lounge you are waiting in.
If PB is a pub, a metaphor you have used now and again, then I am an old git gently putting an arm around your shoulder and saying: maybe that's enough for one evening old son.
You are an asset to this site most of the time imho, sparky, interesting, bombastic, entertaining etc etc and unlike some, I enjoy the travel stuff. For health reasons I can no longer travel so maybe this is some vicarious thing, but anyway.
Don't get banned permanently which it seems you are on the brink of.
The other night - after the always-entertaining @CorrectHorseBattery said he was quitting the site merely because I had returned, I had a fit of conscience, or satirical intent
I genuinely don’t want to drive people away merely by my presence. But nor will I be told what and when I can speak, above and beyond the rules, due to some special rules which only apply to me (and are often opaque if not non-existent). I get that several mods want me gone, forever, and quite a few commenters likewise - but TBH I think much of this is driven by the fact I articulately deliver opinions others don’t like, it’s got nothing to do with rule breaking
So fuck it, as I said then - mainly in jest, but now for real - call a vote. Let’s have a PB plebiscite. You can vote for me to disappear entirely and I shall do so. Or you can vote for me to stay but if I I stay then I need an end to the endless calls for me to be banned simply for having “the wrong attitudes”
Let’s do it. Let a neutral organize it. This may be seen as an ultimate exercise in narcissism by me, and it is, I am a horrific narcissist - - but on the other hand I swear if the vote goes against me I will abide by it. No more reincarnations. My narcissism will disappear forever, and those can’t abide me will be satisfied for good
I suggest One Commenter One Vote. It’s Leave or Remain Leon!
C’mon, it could be fun
I reckon it’s 5/4 Remain
Could be close. I think you should write two responses anticipating either outcome.
The problem of the Democrats is similar to Labour’s problems here. There is a growing disconnect between their middle class public sector supporters and the working classes they are supposed to represent. The obsessions of the middle classes are simply not shared by the working class and their worries, such as immigration and gang related violence, are thought both vulgar and racist.
In the US those vulgar people are now MAGA supporters and here they are now Reform.
How that coalition is rebuilt is an interesting question in both cases. The middle class consider themselves morally superior because they “care” but what they care about is of little to no interest to those they pretend to represent.
It won't be, the white working class in most of the West is now solidly rightwing, fuelled by anti immigration, anti woke, anti net zero taxes and protectionism in particular.
The left liberal core vote is the public sector and ethnic minorities and those living in inner cities (albeit Hispanics and non Muslim Asians in particular can vote conservative in significant numbers).
The swing voters are now white suburban and commuter belt high earning graduates
Mea culpa on the Own Outright category: I read that wrong.
What stands out for me on the socio-economic group chart is now similar the vote share is across all the groups. Class is not the major determiner of voting intention it once was. It’s age and education level that matter more, and there are still plenty of people at all ages and education levels voting for all the different parties.
Class is in the UK the biggest determinant of whether someone would vote LD or Reform, age is the biggest determinant of whether they would vote Conservative or Labour now
Trump invited Conor McGregor, the Reform-y Tomm-eh esque UFC dude in to the WH and the Oval Office, for St Paddy's Day, and left the Teseaichoichscshuckseoischyeiaghhrshffffqooowooo fuming half a mile down the road
I know Donald Trump is not always to everyone's taste, on PB, but he can be fucking funny
I'm calling you out on this. There is nothing funny about inviting a convicted rapist to the White House. Imagine - go on, you're a writer, you can do it - one of the women or girls close to you, someone you care about a lot and feel protective towards, that they've been raped and that they have to see their rapist admired and celebrated because he has a nice line in suits and repartee.
It's not hard to imagine. And if you can't ask one of the many women you know how they'd feel about their rapist being treated in this way. How would you feel about a Conor McGregor if it was someone you loved he hurt? I have been raped. I have seen my rapist treated as a great fellow because he could charm. They didn't see the violence and abuse of an inexperienced and naive girls that followed that charm. Nor the shame and guilt and fear that I felt afterwards. And what happened to me has happened to pretty much every woman, in some form or other. And we are absolutely fucking sick of seeing the appalling men who treat us in this way dismissed by others because, hey, they are funny and sharp.
We don't want to be victims. We wish - Christ we wish it every fucking day since we were 11 or so - that we weren't victims, that we didn't have to take steps all the time to avoid this. And we wish that when we slip up we got the benefit of the doubt. But no it's the abusers, those who turn a blind eye, those who egg them on and those who do "it's only a bit of banter/he's a nice guy really" who get the benefit of the doubt.
You are not the only man on here who gives the impression - maybe unthinkingly - that women are somehow not fully human, only really support animals for men, the people who fit in with what's left when men have got what they want first. This forum frankly has one hell of a blind spot about the woman's perspective on life. But it is precisely because of attitudes like this that people like Trump get away with behaviour which is disgusting, not decent and should have no place in any country trying to be civilised.
I like you Leon. But sometimes you really need to think about what you say.
And if I sound furious, put it down to having been ill for longer than is pleasant, if that helps. It'll have a word - hysteria. That'll be the one.
It's the love of the transgressor. The mad, bad, boy. The "truly free". The infantile worship of the "propaganda of the deed". The one not held back by "bourgeoise morality".
Hunter Biden?
We are getting to the point where we need to call Prevent for you.
Or should we wait for the Pizza Parlour Basement phase?
No, PB has reached the insane point when anyone who dares to mention an awkward fact that might discomfort the Dems, the American Left, the anti-Trumpers - is regarded as a Nazi, a conspiracy theorist, and a Trumpite coup-encourager, and so forth. Rather than someone pointing out that there are two sides to this story, and there is a reason so many Americans voted Trump and abhor the Democrats, they are not all Hitler-its thickos, even at the same time as Trump IS a mad buffoon who should be nowhere near the Oval
We saw the same shit vis a vis Ukraine, we see it here, it’s just a sad dumbing down of the site, as inability to do nuance, a kind of dim, morally shrill groupthink, and it is getting REALLY old
You never learn do you. You were suspended from the site for a week for your attitude and behaviour. Things don't change much. How many days is it now?
I would like to think that the moderators are running out of patience with you.
OGH has told me to permanently ban Leon if he breaks the site rules again or goes down the white babies angle.
OGH isn't going to be out of pocket because Leon cannot follow the rules.
I am quite willing to follow rules (It helps if they are clear) - it’s your site
But if I am merely going to be banned for attitudes and opinions and gags which enrage the centrist dads, then PB is not really a debate forum but a silo of deadening consensus
Eg what have I done today which is remote bannable? Made a few jokes, insulted Irish orthography, pointed out - quite truthfully - that serious allegations swirl against the Biden family, some of which have turned into confessions and convictions. That’s it
@leon mate - take a break. Step away for an hour or two. Go and investigate the quality of the snacks in the airport lounge you are waiting in.
If PB is a pub, a metaphor you have used now and again, then I am an old git gently putting an arm around your shoulder and saying: maybe that's enough for one evening old son.
You are an asset to this site most of the time imho, sparky, interesting, bombastic, entertaining etc etc and unlike some, I enjoy the travel stuff. For health reasons I can no longer travel so maybe this is some vicarious thing, but anyway.
Don't get banned permanently which it seems you are on the brink of.
The other night - after the always-entertaining @CorrectHorseBattery said he was quitting the site merely because I had returned, I had a fit of conscience, or satirical intent
I genuinely don’t want to drive people away merely by my presence. But nor will I be told what and when I can speak, above and beyond the rules, due to some special rules which only apply to me (and are often opaque if not non-existent). I get that several mods want me gone, forever, and quite a few commenters likewise - but TBH I think much of this is driven by the fact I articulately deliver opinions others don’t like, it’s got nothing to do with rule breaking
So fuck it, as I said then - mainly in jest, but now for real - call a vote. Let’s have a PB plebiscite. You can vote for me to disappear entirely and I shall do so. Or you can vote for me to stay but if I I stay then I need an end to the endless calls for me to be banned simply for having “the wrong attitudes”
Let’s do it. Let a neutral organize it. This may be seen as an ultimate exercise in narcissism by me, and it is, I am a horrific narcissist - - but on the other hand I swear if the vote goes against me I will abide by it. No more reincarnations. My narcissism will disappear forever, and those can’t abide me will be satisfied for good
I suggest One Commenter One Vote. It’s Leave or Remain Leon!
Last month, Rasha Alawieh traveled to Beirut, Lebanon, to attend the funeral of Hassan Nasrallah— a brutal terrorist who led Hezbollah, responsible for killing hundreds of Americans over a four-decade terror spree. Alawieh openly admitted to this to CBP officers, as well as her support of Nasrallah.
A visa is a privilege not a right—glorifying and supporting terrorists who kill Americans is grounds for visa issuance to be denied. This is commonsense security.
Again, I will ask, if Trump was a Russian asset what would he have done differently?
Scoop: The Trump administration has discussed recognizing Crimea as Russian territory - & pushing the UN to do the same - to get a peace deal across the finish line.
(No decisions have been formally made) w/ @mchalfant16:
Mrs Thatcher would call out such shameful appeasement talk.
She didn't call out Deng over his threat to invade Hong Kong island.
Mrs Thatcher picked wars she could win, she knew she could crush Galtieri's Argentina, she also knew she couldn't defeat the million strong Chinese army so signed the deal confirming the return of Hong Kong to China in 1997
Last month, Rasha Alawieh traveled to Beirut, Lebanon, to attend the funeral of Hassan Nasrallah— a brutal terrorist who led Hezbollah, responsible for killing hundreds of Americans over a four-decade terror spree. Alawieh openly admitted to this to CBP officers, as well as her support of Nasrallah.
A visa is a privilege not a right—glorifying and supporting terrorists who kill Americans is grounds for visa issuance to be denied. This is commonsense security.
I doubt he would care less, he is more likely to travel to Cuba or Iran or Venezuala than Trump's USA
Trump invited Conor McGregor, the Reform-y Tomm-eh esque UFC dude in to the WH and the Oval Office, for St Paddy's Day, and left the Teseaichoichscshuckseoischyeiaghhrshffffqooowooo fuming half a mile down the road
I know Donald Trump is not always to everyone's taste, on PB, but he can be fucking funny
I'm calling you out on this. There is nothing funny about inviting a convicted rapist to the White House. Imagine - go on, you're a writer, you can do it - one of the women or girls close to you, someone you care about a lot and feel protective towards, that they've been raped and that they have to see their rapist admired and celebrated because he has a nice line in suits and repartee.
It's not hard to imagine. And if you can't ask one of the many women you know how they'd feel about their rapist being treated in this way. How would you feel about a Conor McGregor if it was someone you loved he hurt? I have been raped. I have seen my rapist treated as a great fellow because he could charm. They didn't see the violence and abuse of an inexperienced and naive girls that followed that charm. Nor the shame and guilt and fear that I felt afterwards. And what happened to me has happened to pretty much every woman, in some form or other. And we are absolutely fucking sick of seeing the appalling men who treat us in this way dismissed by others because, hey, they are funny and sharp.
We don't want to be victims. We wish - Christ we wish it every fucking day since we were 11 or so - that we weren't victims, that we didn't have to take steps all the time to avoid this. And we wish that when we slip up we got the benefit of the doubt. But no it's the abusers, those who turn a blind eye, those who egg them on and those who do "it's only a bit of banter/he's a nice guy really" who get the benefit of the doubt.
You are not the only man on here who gives the impression - maybe unthinkingly - that women are somehow not fully human, only really support animals for men, the people who fit in with what's left when men have got what they want first. This forum frankly has one hell of a blind spot about the woman's perspective on life. But it is precisely because of attitudes like this that people like Trump get away with behaviour which is disgusting, not decent and should have no place in any country trying to be civilised.
I like you Leon. But sometimes you really need to think about what you say.
And if I sound furious, put it down to having been ill for longer than is pleasant, if that helps. It'll have a word - hysteria. That'll be the one.
Of course you make a reasonable point, BUT Joe Biden has been persuasively accused of pedophile behaviour by his own daughter. And I don’t remember you freaking out every day during his presidency as he sat there in the White House. Indeed, I don’t recall your ever mentioning it (tho I might be wrong)
Plus the other sleaze swirling around Joe and Hunter, and Bill “Epstein” Clinton before them?
The entire American political elite seems deeply dodgy to me, whether you look left or right, Trump or Biden, we might as well extract some dark humour from the grisliness
On the other hand, I am very sorry to hear of your continuing ill health, I hope you get better
Today is the first time I have heard of those accusations against Biden.
I could list the number of headers I have written on here about child abuse - and the way we do not take it seriously. I could show you stuff I've written about Staley and Epstein. (I have seen a list of people in Epstein's telephone book and I've even investigated some of them.) And all the stuff I've written about abuse of women. I have gone on about it because it matters - even in the face of yawns, the "she's off again" and on some occasions threads being diverted into discussions about the sexual prowess of PB'ers.
If you want black humour about men's sexual behaviour I can provide plenty of that. Are you sure you're ready for it?
And I also have a life, work and a family. But a look at my oeuvre on here would show you that the abuse of the vulnerable is something I really care about.
So as the Scots say "get tae fuck".
That’s more like the @Cyclefree I know and love. Got your pep back. Good to see
You could profitably ask yourself why and how the very plausible, indeed proven accusations against Joe Biden miraculously disappeared (proven inasmuch as this is the verbatim account of his daughter, which she has not denied). How come someone as switched on as you never heard of them? Possibly because the Dems do a pretty good job in suppressing stories they don’t like - cf lab leak and Hunter’s laptop. They usually do it by labeling it as a “conspiracy theory” until it turns out to be undeniably true, by which point they hope no one cares
Again, I turn to lab leak. I know this bores PB but TWENTY MILLION PEOPLE DIED
And now that it is basically accepted that it happened suddenly the Left pivots from “it came from the market” to “shit happens, let’s move on, it was just an accident, who really cares”
Imagine if 20 million humans died due to an air crash or an industrial accident. Finding, trying and punishing the culprits would consume us for years and years
I do not follow US politics closely. My heart is in Europe. I have some topics I am interested in, not all of which I discuss on here. And I try to limit how much time I spend on current affairs for my own sanity. But I would not be surprised. Lord Devlin - a very distinguished judge abused his own daughter - and Cardinal Heenan, the then leader of Catholics in the U.K., was told about it but said that better it happen to the daughter than for him to take a mistress. I could list out here - and it would take a hell of a lot of posts - the number of men found guilty of child abuse / possession of child abuse images etc - who get no custodial sentences at all.
The brutal reality is that far more men than we would like to admit are sexually attracted to children. And we have a society in which the sexualisation of girls and boys, the ubiquity of horrific pornography, the worship of adult women with bodies aping pre-pubescent girls, the abandonment of any serious attempt at genuine safeguarding is seen as normal. And those - mostly but not of course exclusively - women who call this out are often criticised for pointing out the harm this causes.
I'm really not sure blaming women with the wrong-sized bodies does much for the feminist cause.
I think the current fashion for no body hair is what @Cyclefree is getting at. It is a pre-pubertal aesthetic.
Again, I will ask, if Trump was a Russian asset what would he have done differently?
Scoop: The Trump administration has discussed recognizing Crimea as Russian territory - & pushing the UN to do the same - to get a peace deal across the finish line.
(No decisions have been formally made) w/ @mchalfant16:
What do you mean 'Even Farage'? He is no friend of Ukraine at all and has sided with the Tangerine Toddler on almost everything to do with Ukraine and Russia.
'Even Farage...' in that context is like saying 'Even HYUFD says nice things about the Tories sometimes'
Again, I will ask, if Trump was a Russian asset what would he have done differently?
Scoop: The Trump administration has discussed recognizing Crimea as Russian territory - & pushing the UN to do the same - to get a peace deal across the finish line.
(No decisions have been formally made) w/ @mchalfant16:
Again, I will ask, if Trump was a Russian asset what would he have done differently?
Scoop: The Trump administration has discussed recognizing Crimea as Russian territory - & pushing the UN to do the same - to get a peace deal across the finish line.
(No decisions have been formally made) w/ @mchalfant16:
Again, I will ask, if Trump was a Russian asset what would he have done differently?
Scoop: The Trump administration has discussed recognizing Crimea as Russian territory - & pushing the UN to do the same - to get a peace deal across the finish line.
(No decisions have been formally made) w/ @mchalfant16:
What do you mean 'Even Farage'? He is no friend of Ukraine at all and has sided with the Tangerine Toddler on almost everything to do with Ukraine and Russia.
'Even Farage...' in that context is like saying 'Even HYUFD says nice things about the Tories sometimes'
Though to be realpolitik about it Farage is probably right, zero chance of Putin agreeing any peace deal without at least taking Crimea
Pro-life individuals often emphasize sanctity-of-life concerns as driving their opposition to abortion. This implies the straightforward prediction that the more strongly people oppose abortion for such reasons (e.g., “abortion is murder”), the more they will endorse policies preventing abortions (face-value account). An alternative suggests that typically nonconscious reproductive goals (e.g., discouraging casual sex) influence policy preferences; this strategic account predicts a different pattern of policy endorsement: all else equal, abortion opponents will prioritize abortion-preventing policies discouraging casual sex. A pilot study and two preregistered U.S. experiments (N = 1,960) provide relatively greater support for the strategic account: the strongest abortion opponents more strongly endorse policies that prevent abortions by discouraging casual sex (e.g., abortion bans, abstinence-only sex education) over policies that do not (comprehensive sex education)—even controlling for conservatism and religiosity. Commonly voiced arguments against abortion may be more rhetorically effective but less reflective of genuine drivers underlying arguers’ beliefs.
I'm sure that's right: abortion activists in the US are routinely against providing access to condoms or to sex education, despite the fact that these things are shown to have a very positive impact on pregnancy and abortion rates.
Again, I will ask, if Trump was a Russian asset what would he have done differently?
Scoop: The Trump administration has discussed recognizing Crimea as Russian territory - & pushing the UN to do the same - to get a peace deal across the finish line.
(No decisions have been formally made) w/ @mchalfant16:
The problem of the Democrats is similar to Labour’s problems here. There is a growing disconnect between their middle class public sector supporters and the working classes they are supposed to represent. The obsessions of the middle classes are simply not shared by the working class and their worries, such as immigration and gang related violence, are thought both vulgar and racist.
In the US those vulgar people are now MAGA supporters and here they are now Reform.
How that coalition is rebuilt is an interesting question in both cases. The middle class consider themselves morally superior because they “care” but what they care about is of little to no interest to those they pretend to represent.
It won't be, the white working class in most of the West is now solidly rightwing, fuelled by anti immigration, anti woke, anti net zero taxes and protectionism in particular.
The left liberal core vote is the public sector and ethnic minorities and those living in inner cities (albeit Hispanics and non Muslim Asians in particular can vote conservative in significant numbers).
The swing voters are now white suburban and commuter belt high earning graduates
Mea culpa on the Own Outright category: I read that wrong.
What stands out for me on the socio-economic group chart is now similar the vote share is across all the groups. Class is not the major determiner of voting intention it once was. It’s age and education level that matter more, and there are still plenty of people at all ages and education levels voting for all the different parties.
Class is in the UK the biggest determinant of whether someone would vote LD or Reform, age is the biggest determinant of whether they would vote Conservative or Labour now
The biggest class difference for Reform UK is 10% for AB versus 20% for C2, but there is a bigger difference on employment status (6% for students versus 17% for unemployed) and education (8% for high versus 23% for low). It’s the same for the LibDems (biggest difference on employment status with 11% retired versus 19% among students).
Trump invited Conor McGregor, the Reform-y Tomm-eh esque UFC dude in to the WH and the Oval Office, for St Paddy's Day, and left the Teseaichoichscshuckseoischyeiaghhrshffffqooowooo fuming half a mile down the road
I know Donald Trump is not always to everyone's taste, on PB, but he can be fucking funny
I'm calling you out on this. There is nothing funny about inviting a convicted rapist to the White House. Imagine - go on, you're a writer, you can do it - one of the women or girls close to you, someone you care about a lot and feel protective towards, that they've been raped and that they have to see their rapist admired and celebrated because he has a nice line in suits and repartee.
It's not hard to imagine. And if you can't ask one of the many women you know how they'd feel about their rapist being treated in this way. How would you feel about a Conor McGregor if it was someone you loved he hurt? I have been raped. I have seen my rapist treated as a great fellow because he could charm. They didn't see the violence and abuse of an inexperienced and naive girls that followed that charm. Nor the shame and guilt and fear that I felt afterwards. And what happened to me has happened to pretty much every woman, in some form or other. And we are absolutely fucking sick of seeing the appalling men who treat us in this way dismissed by others because, hey, they are funny and sharp.
We don't want to be victims. We wish - Christ we wish it every fucking day since we were 11 or so - that we weren't victims, that we didn't have to take steps all the time to avoid this. And we wish that when we slip up we got the benefit of the doubt. But no it's the abusers, those who turn a blind eye, those who egg them on and those who do "it's only a bit of banter/he's a nice guy really" who get the benefit of the doubt.
You are not the only man on here who gives the impression - maybe unthinkingly - that women are somehow not fully human, only really support animals for men, the people who fit in with what's left when men have got what they want first. This forum frankly has one hell of a blind spot about the woman's perspective on life. But it is precisely because of attitudes like this that people like Trump get away with behaviour which is disgusting, not decent and should have no place in any country trying to be civilised.
I like you Leon. But sometimes you really need to think about what you say.
And if I sound furious, put it down to having been ill for longer than is pleasant, if that helps. It'll have a word - hysteria. That'll be the one.
It's the love of the transgressor. The mad, bad, boy. The "truly free". The infantile worship of the "propaganda of the deed". The one not held back by "bourgeoise morality".
Hunter Biden?
We are getting to the point where we need to call Prevent for you.
Or should we wait for the Pizza Parlour Basement phase?
No, PB has reached the insane point when anyone who dares to mention an awkward fact that might discomfort the Dems, the American Left, the anti-Trumpers - is regarded as a Nazi, a conspiracy theorist, and a Trumpite coup-encourager, and so forth. Rather than someone pointing out that there are two sides to this story, and there is a reason so many Americans voted Trump and abhor the Democrats, they are not all Hitler-its thickos, even at the same time as Trump IS a mad buffoon who should be nowhere near the Oval
We saw the same shit vis a vis Ukraine, we see it here, it’s just a sad dumbing down of the site, as inability to do nuance, a kind of dim, morally shrill groupthink, and it is getting REALLY old
You never learn do you. You were suspended from the site for a week for your attitude and behaviour. Things don't change much. How many days is it now?
I would like to think that the moderators are running out of patience with you.
OGH has told me to permanently ban Leon if he breaks the site rules again or goes down the white babies angle.
OGH isn't going to be out of pocket because Leon cannot follow the rules.
I am quite willing to follow rules (It helps if they are clear) - it’s your site
But if I am merely going to be banned for attitudes and opinions and gags which enrage the centrist dads, then PB is not really a debate forum but a silo of deadening consensus
Eg what have I done today which is remote bannable? Made a few jokes, insulted Irish orthography, pointed out - quite truthfully - that serious allegations swirl against the Biden family, some of which have turned into confessions and convictions. That’s it
@leon mate - take a break. Step away for an hour or two. Go and investigate the quality of the snacks in the airport lounge you are waiting in.
If PB is a pub, a metaphor you have used now and again, then I am an old git gently putting an arm around your shoulder and saying: maybe that's enough for one evening old son.
You are an asset to this site most of the time imho, sparky, interesting, bombastic, entertaining etc etc and unlike some, I enjoy the travel stuff. For health reasons I can no longer travel so maybe this is some vicarious thing, but anyway.
Don't get banned permanently which it seems you are on the brink of.
The other night - after the always-entertaining @CorrectHorseBattery said he was quitting the site merely because I had returned, I had a fit of conscience, or satirical intent
I genuinely don’t want to drive people away merely by my presence. But nor will I be told what and when I can speak, above and beyond the rules, due to some special rules which only apply to me (and are often opaque if not non-existent). I get that several mods want me gone, forever, and quite a few commenters likewise - but TBH I think much of this is driven by the fact I articulately deliver opinions others don’t like, it’s got nothing to do with rule breaking
So fuck it, as I said then - mainly in jest, but now for real - call a vote. Let’s have a PB plebiscite. You can vote for me to disappear entirely and I shall do so. Or you can vote for me to stay but if I I stay then I need an end to the endless calls for me to be banned simply for having “the wrong attitudes”
Let’s do it. Let a neutral organize it. This may be seen as an ultimate exercise in narcissism by me, and it is, I am a horrific narcissist - - but on the other hand I swear if the vote goes against me I will abide by it. No more reincarnations. My narcissism will disappear forever, and those can’t abide me will be satisfied for good
I suggest One Commenter One Vote. It’s Leave or Remain Leon!
C’mon, it could be fun
I reckon it’s 5/4 Remain
Could be close. I think you should write two responses anticipating either outcome.
No need. If he loses, he won’t be able to post a response.
Again, I will ask, if Trump was a Russian asset what would he have done differently?
Scoop: The Trump administration has discussed recognizing Crimea as Russian territory - & pushing the UN to do the same - to get a peace deal across the finish line.
(No decisions have been formally made) w/ @mchalfant16:
What do you mean 'Even Farage'? He is no friend of Ukraine at all and has sided with the Tangerine Toddler on almost everything to do with Ukraine and Russia.
'Even Farage...' in that context is like saying 'Even HYUFD says nice things about the Tories sometimes'
Though to be realpolitik about it Farage is probably right, zero chance of Putin agreeing any peace deal without at least taking Crimea
Crimea is very Russian though. Ukraine will concede it without question.
Again, I will ask, if Trump was a Russian asset what would he have done differently?
Scoop: The Trump administration has discussed recognizing Crimea as Russian territory - & pushing the UN to do the same - to get a peace deal across the finish line.
(No decisions have been formally made) w/ @mchalfant16:
What do you mean 'Even Farage'? He is no friend of Ukraine at all and has sided with the Tangerine Toddler on almost everything to do with Ukraine and Russia.
'Even Farage...' in that context is like saying 'Even HYUFD says nice things about the Tories sometimes'
Though to be realpolitik about it Farage is probably right, zero chance of Putin agreeing any peace deal without at least taking Crimea
Crimea is very Russian though. Ukraine will concede it without question.
Again, I will ask, if Trump was a Russian asset what would he have done differently?
Scoop: The Trump administration has discussed recognizing Crimea as Russian territory - & pushing the UN to do the same - to get a peace deal across the finish line.
(No decisions have been formally made) w/ @mchalfant16:
Mrs Thatcher would call out such shameful appeasement talk.
She didn't call out Deng over his threat to invade Hong Kong island.
Mrs Thatcher picked wars she could win, she knew she could crush Galtieri's Argentina, she also knew she couldn't defeat the million strong Chinese army so signed the deal confirming the return of Hong Kong to China in 1997
Although British control over Hong Kong Island was established via treaty in 1842, the control of the New Territories was via a lease signed in 1898 so said lease was always going to expire in 1997.
It was deemed impractical to maintain a presence on just Hong Kong Island so the whole lot was returned to China - had we tried to retain control of the New Territory, we would have been in breach of international law and treaty.
That's why Margaret Thatcher's Government agreed the Sino-British Declaration of 1984 which agreed the handover of the whole of Hong Kong but China pledged to "guarantee the economic and political systems" for 50 years after handover.
We can certainly argue whether China has retained the political aspect but there's no question the economic has been retained.
You could argue British Governments since 1997 could have been more assertive about China changing the political system in Hong Kong but what practically could we do or have done about it?
The problem of the Democrats is similar to Labour’s problems here. There is a growing disconnect between their middle class public sector supporters and the working classes they are supposed to represent. The obsessions of the middle classes are simply not shared by the working class and their worries, such as immigration and gang related violence, are thought both vulgar and racist.
In the US those vulgar people are now MAGA supporters and here they are now Reform.
How that coalition is rebuilt is an interesting question in both cases. The middle class consider themselves morally superior because they “care” but what they care about is of little to no interest to those they pretend to represent.
It won't be, the white working class in most of the West is now solidly rightwing, fuelled by anti immigration, anti woke, anti net zero taxes and protectionism in particular.
The left liberal core vote is the public sector and ethnic minorities and those living in inner cities (albeit Hispanics and non Muslim Asians in particular can vote conservative in significant numbers).
The swing voters are now white suburban and commuter belt high earning graduates
Mea culpa on the Own Outright category: I read that wrong.
What stands out for me on the socio-economic group chart is now similar the vote share is across all the groups. Class is not the major determiner of voting intention it once was. It’s age and education level that matter more, and there are still plenty of people at all ages and education levels voting for all the different parties.
Class is in the UK the biggest determinant of whether someone would vote LD or Reform, age is the biggest determinant of whether they would vote Conservative or Labour now
The biggest class difference for Reform UK is 10% for AB versus 20% for C2, but there is a bigger difference on employment status (6% for students versus 17% for unemployed) and education (8% for high versus 23% for low). It’s the same for the LibDems (biggest difference on employment status with 11% retired versus 19% among students).
LDs got 16% of 18-24s and 12% of over 65s, Reform got 8% of 18-24s and 14% of over 65s.
LDs got 17% of ABs and 10% of DEs, Reform got 9% of ABs and 17% of DEs and 25% of C2s
So I repeat the main difference between the LDs and Reform is class not age based (and education a correlation for class as more young people are graduates than pensioners were)
Again, I will ask, if Trump was a Russian asset what would he have done differently?
Scoop: The Trump administration has discussed recognizing Crimea as Russian territory - & pushing the UN to do the same - to get a peace deal across the finish line.
(No decisions have been formally made) w/ @mchalfant16:
Mrs Thatcher would call out such shameful appeasement talk.
She didn't call out Deng over his threat to invade Hong Kong island.
Mrs Thatcher picked wars she could win, she knew she could crush Galtieri's Argentina, she also knew she couldn't defeat the million strong Chinese army so signed the deal confirming the return of Hong Kong to China in 1997
Although British control over Hong Kong Island was established via treaty in 1842, the control of the New Territories was via a lease signed in 1898 so said lease was always going to expire in 1997.
It was deemed impractical to maintain a presence on just Hong Kong Island so the whole lot was returned to China - had we tried to retain control of the New Territory, we would have been in breach of international law and treaty.
That's why Margaret Thatcher's Government agreed the Sino-British Declaration of 1984 which agreed the handover of the whole of Hong Kong but China pledged to "guarantee the economic and political systems" for 50 years after handover.
We can certainly argue whether China has retained the political aspect but there's no question the economic has been retained.
You could argue British Governments since 1997 could have been more assertive about China changing the political system in Hong Kong but what practically could we do or have done about it?
Indeed, a British PM knows the British armed forces could beat most nations in the world alone but not China, the US or Russia (who also have nuclear weapons).
So we avoid direct conflicts with those nations and any war with China could only be done following behind the US armed forces and supporting Ukraine against Russia has to be done with most of the rest of NATO (even absent Trump's US)
Conservatives on 37% would still be at their highest voteshare since 2011 but Liberals on 42% would be at their highest level since 1993 as NDP and Greens get squeezed
Call a vote or forever stop whining. You have the chance to be rid of me for good, and this result - Leon forever silenced!! - does seem to entice a number of commenters and moderators
We are PB. We love elections. We can vote on the outcome. Even bet on it. As a non-narcissist I will recuse myself from offering odds, I hate that kind of personal attention
Call a vote or forever stop whining. You have the chance to be rid of me for good, and this result - Leon forever silenced!! - does seem to entice a number of commenters and moderators
We are PB. We love elections. We can vote on the outcome. Even bet on it. As a non-narcissist I will recuse myself from offering odds, I hate that kind of personal attention
We went through this yesterday. I think I was the only person who voted for you to stay (or even voted at all). Mostly because I dislike people trying to get other posters banned. And even though you can be a real prick sometimes.
But stop trying to be the centre of attention, accept the fact that most of us think you can be a real prick at times and just get on with discussing whatever the fuck you want, as long as its not always about you.
The problem of the Democrats is similar to Labour’s problems here. There is a growing disconnect between their middle class public sector supporters and the working classes they are supposed to represent. The obsessions of the middle classes are simply not shared by the working class and their worries, such as immigration and gang related violence, are thought both vulgar and racist.
In the US those vulgar people are now MAGA supporters and here they are now Reform.
How that coalition is rebuilt is an interesting question in both cases. The middle class consider themselves morally superior because they “care” but what they care about is of little to no interest to those they pretend to represent.
It won't be, the white working class in most of the West is now solidly rightwing, fuelled by anti immigration, anti woke, anti net zero taxes and protectionism in particular.
The left liberal core vote is the public sector and ethnic minorities and those living in inner cities (albeit Hispanics and non Muslim Asians in particular can vote conservative in significant numbers).
The swing voters are now white suburban and commuter belt high earning graduates
Mea culpa on the Own Outright category: I read that wrong.
What stands out for me on the socio-economic group chart is now similar the vote share is across all the groups. Class is not the major determiner of voting intention it once was. It’s age and education level that matter more, and there are still plenty of people at all ages and education levels voting for all the different parties.
Class is in the UK the biggest determinant of whether someone would vote LD or Reform, age is the biggest determinant of whether they would vote Conservative or Labour now
The biggest class difference for Reform UK is 10% for AB versus 20% for C2, but there is a bigger difference on employment status (6% for students versus 17% for unemployed) and education (8% for high versus 23% for low). It’s the same for the LibDems (biggest difference on employment status with 11% retired versus 19% among students).
LDs got 16% of 18-24s and 12% of over 65s, Reform got 8% of 18-24s and 14% of over 65s.
LDs got 17% of ABs and 10% of DEs, Reform got 9% of ABs and 17% of DEs and 25% of C2s
So I repeat the main difference between the LDs and Reform is class not age based (and education a correlation for class as more young people are graduates than pensioners were)
A lot of tactical voting to keep Trump's lickspittles out of power.
To be fair to Polilievre he is NOT Trump's lickspittle, he supports military aid to Ukraine, he is anti Trump's tariffs and he is a Canadian patriot who doesn't want to join the USA.
Maxime Bernier is closer to Trump than Poilievre who Trump called 'not maga enough'
Call a vote or forever stop whining. You have the chance to be rid of me for good, and this result - Leon forever silenced!! - does seem to entice a number of commenters and moderators
We are PB. We love elections. We can vote on the outcome. Even bet on it. As a non-narcissist I will recuse myself from offering odds, I hate that kind of personal attention
We went through this yesterday. I think I was the only person who voted for you to stay (or even voted at all). Mostly because I dislike people trying to get other posters banned. And even though you can be a real prick sometimes.
But stop trying to be the centre of attention, accept the fact that most of us think you can be a real prick at times and just get on with discussing whatever the fuck you want, as long as its not always about you.
Pro-life individuals often emphasize sanctity-of-life concerns as driving their opposition to abortion. This implies the straightforward prediction that the more strongly people oppose abortion for such reasons (e.g., “abortion is murder”), the more they will endorse policies preventing abortions (face-value account). An alternative suggests that typically nonconscious reproductive goals (e.g., discouraging casual sex) influence policy preferences; this strategic account predicts a different pattern of policy endorsement: all else equal, abortion opponents will prioritize abortion-preventing policies discouraging casual sex. A pilot study and two preregistered U.S. experiments (N = 1,960) provide relatively greater support for the strategic account: the strongest abortion opponents more strongly endorse policies that prevent abortions by discouraging casual sex (e.g., abortion bans, abstinence-only sex education) over policies that do not (comprehensive sex education)—even controlling for conservatism and religiosity. Commonly voiced arguments against abortion may be more rhetorically effective but less reflective of genuine drivers underlying arguers’ beliefs.
I'm sure that's right: abortion activists in the US are routinely against providing access to condoms or to sex education, despite the fact that these things are shown to have a very positive impact on pregnancy and abortion rates.
I'm convinced that the abortion protestors in Scotland are using it as an excuse to berate women getting their contraception sorted, from the experience of one of my former partners.
Comments
OGH isn't going to be out of pocket because Leon cannot follow the rules.
But if I am merely going to be banned for attitudes and opinions and gags which enrage the centrist dads, then PB is not really a debate forum but a silo of deadening consensus
Eg what have I done today which is remote bannable? Made a few jokes, insulted Irish orthography, pointed out - quite truthfully - that serious allegations swirl against the Biden family, some of which have turned into confessions and convictions. That’s it
The brutal reality is that far more men than we would like to admit are sexually attracted to children. And we have a society in which the sexualisation of girls and boys, the ubiquity of horrific pornography, the worship of adult women with bodies aping pre-pubescent girls, the abandonment of any serious attempt at genuine safeguarding is seen as normal. And those - mostly but not of course exclusively - women who call this out are often criticised for pointing out the harm this causes.
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/danhodges/100246867/a-year-ago-the-tories-were-bracing-for-a-heavy-defeat-now-theyre-going-for-the-win/ (Dead link now it seems)
Which the PCC found in his favour
I only asked them to publish the relevant polls in accordance with BPC rules !
"If you are a citizen and you are casting doubt on the importance of due process, remember this: you need due process in order to prove that you are a citizen."
"If members of the executive branch are allowed to issue truth claims that have the consequence that human beings leave the United States, we are in a dictatorship. If we accept that the executive branch can simply deport anyone they call a "foreign alien terrorist," then none of us has any rights."
https://snyder.substack.com/p/the-evil-at-your-door
It shouldn't be.
That in 2 short sentences is my book. (I hope you're proud of me.) Your glowing encomium for the cover will be on its way, I'm sure.
https://x.com/addicted2newz/status/1901698139943530796
This is on my (long) list of hackneyed phrases that cause the user to fall in my estimation. A fate that all good people strive to avoid.
https://national.thelead.uk/p/nigel-farage-has-exposed-his-true
The key question is will Americans notice the disaster before it is too late?
Still at least Ukraine couldn't risk Biden Catholicism, eh?
There is no pleasure in saying this and you should thank me for it. Like the person who catches the rancid breath of a work colleague and offers them a polo.
But no doubt it will be taken the wrong way. As indeed could be the case with the polo.
I'm not sure
I imagine
I am not sure
They might
I don't think
I would also need some cola bottles, to be able to properly reflect on world events.
It's a strange negotiation when you set out the minimum you'll concede.
If PB is a pub, a metaphor you have used now and again, then I am an old git gently putting an arm around your shoulder and saying: maybe that's enough for one evening old son.
You are an asset to this site most of the time imho, sparky, interesting, bombastic, entertaining etc etc and unlike some, I enjoy the travel stuff. For health reasons I can no longer travel so maybe this is some vicarious thing, but anyway.
Don't get banned permanently which it seems you are on the brink of.
What stands out for me on the socio-economic group chart is now similar the vote share is across all the groups. Class is not the major determiner of voting intention it once was. It’s age and education level that matter more, and there are still plenty of people at all ages and education levels voting for all the different parties.
In the East, the locals would be replaced with Germans. The locals would be turned into serfs. Those that survived.
Can you provide a citation for Biden criticising the Pope's comments about Ukraine?
Fucking snowflake
And most especially…. you
I genuinely don’t want to drive people away merely by my presence. But nor will I be told what and when I can speak, above and beyond the rules, due to some special rules which only apply to me (and are often opaque if not non-existent). I get that several mods want me gone, forever, and quite a few commenters likewise - but TBH I think much of this is driven by the fact I articulately deliver opinions others don’t like, it’s got nothing to do with rule breaking
So fuck it, as I said then - mainly in jest, but now for real - call a vote. Let’s have a PB plebiscite. You can vote for me to disappear entirely and I shall do so. Or you can vote for me to stay but if I I stay then I need an end to the endless calls for me to be banned simply for having “the wrong attitudes”
Let’s do it. Let a neutral organize it. This may be seen as an ultimate exercise in narcissism by me, and it is, I am a horrific narcissist - - but on the other hand I swear if the vote goes against me I will abide by it. No more reincarnations. My narcissism will disappear forever, and those can’t abide me will be satisfied for good
I suggest One Commenter One Vote. It’s Leave or Remain Leon!
C’mon, it could be fun
I reckon it’s 5/4 Remain
Ireland and America we are siblings,’ McGregor responded, saying it was important ‘for Irish Americans to have a place to visit.’
‘We wish to be taken care of by the big bro. The United States should look after its little bro. That’s how we
(says Sunil, the tee-totaller!)
Pro-life individuals often emphasize sanctity-of-life concerns as driving their opposition to abortion. This implies the straightforward prediction that the more strongly people oppose abortion for such reasons (e.g., “abortion is murder”), the more they will endorse policies preventing abortions (face-value account). An alternative suggests that typically nonconscious reproductive goals (e.g., discouraging casual sex) influence policy preferences; this strategic account predicts a different pattern of policy endorsement: all else equal, abortion opponents will prioritize abortion-preventing policies discouraging casual sex. A pilot study and two preregistered U.S. experiments (N = 1,960) provide relatively greater support for the strategic account: the strongest abortion opponents more strongly endorse policies that prevent abortions by discouraging casual sex (e.g., abortion bans, abstinence-only sex education) over policies that do not (comprehensive sex education)—even controlling for conservatism and religiosity. Commonly voiced arguments against abortion may be more rhetorically effective but less reflective of genuine drivers underlying arguers’ beliefs.
On Disney+ they have have first ten episodes of season one of Doctor Odyssey, it is utter trash but utterly compelling and entertaining.
https://x.com/angusreidorg/status/1901710412846162336
https://x.com/dhsgov/status/1901668299793899705
Last month, Rasha Alawieh traveled to Beirut, Lebanon, to attend the funeral of Hassan Nasrallah— a brutal terrorist who led Hezbollah, responsible for killing hundreds of Americans over a four-decade terror spree. Alawieh openly admitted to this to CBP officers, as well as her support of Nasrallah.
A visa is a privilege not a right—glorifying and supporting terrorists who kill Americans is grounds for visa issuance to be denied. This is commonsense security.
'Even Farage...' in that context is like saying 'Even HYUFD says nice things about the Tories sometimes'
This is the HLS precedent which finally required the Bank of England to provide commercial banking services to a private company.
(Although the greens digging up and kidnapping the CEO’s granny’s corpse was inspired)
https://www.theguardian.com/uk/1999/oct/16/northernireland.thatcher
http://napier-chronicles.co.uk/9001.htm
It was deemed impractical to maintain a presence on just Hong Kong Island so the whole lot was returned to China - had we tried to retain control of the New Territory, we would have been in breach of international law and treaty.
That's why Margaret Thatcher's Government agreed the Sino-British Declaration of 1984 which agreed the handover of the whole of Hong Kong but China pledged to "guarantee the economic and political systems" for 50 years after handover.
We can certainly argue whether China has retained the political aspect but there's no question the economic has been retained.
You could argue British Governments since 1997 could have been more assertive about China changing the political system in Hong Kong but what practically could we do or have done about it?
https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1901635479528726969
My companies make great products that people love and I’ve never physically hurt anyone.
So why the hate and violence against me?
Because I am a deadly threat to the woke mind parasite and the humans it controls.
LDs got 17% of ABs and 10% of DEs, Reform got 9% of ABs and 17% of DEs and 25% of C2s
So I repeat the main difference between the LDs and Reform is class not age based (and education a correlation for class as more young people are graduates than pensioners were)
https://www.ipsos.com/en-uk/how-britain-voted-in-the-2024-election
LPC 42 (+26 vs December)
CPC 37 (-8)
NDP 9 (-12)
BQ 8 (-3)
GPC 1 (-2)
https://x.com/OwenWntr/status/1901719910461686171
So we avoid direct conflicts with those nations and any war with China could only be done following behind the US armed forces and supporting Ukraine against Russia has to be done with most of the rest of NATO (even absent Trump's US)
We are PB. We love elections. We can vote on the outcome. Even bet on it. As a non-narcissist I will recuse myself from offering odds, I hate that kind of personal attention
But stop trying to be the centre of attention, accept the fact that most of us think you can be a real prick at times and just get on with discussing whatever the fuck you want, as long as its not always about you.
There they are all standing in a row
Big ones, small ones, some as big as your head
Maxime Bernier is closer to Trump than Poilievre who Trump called 'not maga enough'
Did it use AV?