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America is going to the dogs – politicalbetting.com
America is going to the dogs – politicalbetting.com
YouGov America have some fascinating polling when it comes to dog/pet owners. As a cat owner/slave to a cat I am delighted to see my fellow cat owners are a net negative when it comes to Trump but what is going with dog owners?
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Whatever brought that on?
The Tories lost control of our borders and let net migration soar to record levels, undercutting hardworking Brits.
I won't stand for it.
I promised to restore control and cut migration, and I'm delivering with tough new measures.
British workers – I’ve got your back.
https://x.com/keir_starmer/status/1921454888766112166?s=46&t=CW4pL-mMpTqsJXCdjW0Z6Q
Labour have tried to face both ways on this for some time now. But in a new White Paper they plan to embrace a ‘crackdown’ ostensibly intended to deport immigrants who commit any crime, and to somehow overcome the ‘Human Rights’ provisions which make deportation so hard and which Labour themselves wrote into British law.
We are also promised less complacency about the questionable economic benefits of mass immigration, which is seriously straining our health, welfare and school systems.
These moves are designed to create helpful headlines. But should we take any of it seriously?
While they thought they were safe from voter anger, Labour energetically pursued an open borders policy.
Now they are scared of electoral oblivion, they try to ape Nigel Farage. How they used to jeer and sneer at those who warned that their policy was foolish and unrealistic, such as the fact-based campaigning body Migration Watch.
Anyone who suggested that the levels of migration were impractically high was dismissed as some sort of bigot.
Well, now Home Office experts are admitting what Migration Watch said many years ago, that net migration has reached such levels that it is the equivalent of adding a city the size of Edinburgh to the population of the UK each year. Who are the bigots now?
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-14699325/MAIL-SUNDAY-COMMENT-Labour-change-spots-immigration.html
Apparently as a result of celebrities who have cats.
I always thought of cat people as more introverted & sensitive and dog owners the macho extroverts, so it fits that the latter voted Trump I suppose
We all know dogs are a man's best friend. Guide dogs, police dogs, sniffer dogs, mountain rescue dogs.
Huzzah for canine companions!
This is something Starmer needs to do something about. He won’t as he, and his party, are fundamentally wedded to it.
For this reason alone the Tories should have a long and tormented road back to power.
https://www.adamsmith.org/blog/britains-ilr-emergency
Back on topic- is it a simple as cats = urban bias = Democrat bias and dogs = suburb/rural bias = Republican bias?
That and the cat ladies that Vance and co hate so much.
And, from my experience of the US, a lot of Trump’s core demographic happen to own dogs. Often rather large, untrained, fierce dogs. Such that owners of smaller less fierce dogs have to watch where they go with their dogs and take care in dog parks and the like.
These folks mostly live in small settlements in rural areas where dog ownership is normal and relatively easy to accommodate within your lifestyle. With the advantage that the dog guards your property at times when you don’t have a gun to hand. A dog fits less easily into the lifestyles of the Dem core demographic of younger professional folk living in the large cities.
Whereas, provided you don’t live in a flat (and even then), a cat is much easier to accommodate within a busy urban life; you just need a cat flap and be home often enough to feed the useless animal.
QED
(Channelling my inner Edwina Currie there.)
Hunters use dogs for hunting, not cats. (Tigers tend to come home with a hunter in their jaws...)
Considerably more.
Indeed there are some in labour who think they need to go left. Of course that was not a winner in 2019 but who knows in 2029
1. Pick the cat up & cradle in the crook of your left arm as if holding a baby. Position right forefinger & thumb on either side of cat's mouth and gently apply pressure to cheeks while holding pill in right hand. As cat opens mouth pop pill into it, allow cat to close mouth & swallow.
2. Retrieve pill from floor & cat from behind the sofa. Cradle cat in left arm & repeat process.
3. Retrieve cat from bedroom and throw soggy pill away.
4. Take new pill from foil wrap, cradle cat in left arm holding rear paws tightly with left hand. Force jaws open & push pill to back of mouth with right forefinger. Hold mouth shut for count of ten.
5. Retrieve pill from goldfish bowl & cat from top of wardrobe. Call partner in from garden.
6. Kneel on floor with cat wedged firmly between knees, hold front & rear paws. Ignore low growls emitted by cat. Get partner to hold head firmly with one hand while forcing wooden ruler into mouth. Drop pill down ruler & rub cat's throat vigorously.
7. Retrieve cat from curtain rail, get another pill from foil wrap. Make note to get new ruler & repair curtains. Carefully sweep shattered 'Doulton' figurines from hearth & set to one side for gluing later.
8. Wrap cat in large towel & get partner to lie on cat with head just visible from below armpit. Put pill in end of drinking straw, force cat's mouth open with pencil & blow down drinking straw.
9. Check label to make sure pills not harmful to humans, drink glass of water to take taste away. Apply plaster to partner's forearm & remove blood from carpet with cold water & soap.
10. Retrieve cat from neighbour's shed & get another pill. Place cat in cupboard & close door onto neck to leave head showing. Force mouth open with dessert spoon & flick pill down throat with elastic band.
11. Fetch screwdriver from garage & put cupboard door back on hinges. Apply cold compress to cheek & check for date of last tetanus shot. Throw T-shirt away & fetch new one from bedroom.
12. Ring fire brigade to retrieve cat from tree across the road & apologise to neighbour who crashed into fence while swerving to avoid the cat. Take last pill from foil wrap.
13. Tie cat's paws to rear paws with garden twine & bind tightly to leg of dining table, find heavy duty pruning gloves from shed & pry cat's mouth open with a small spanner wrench. Push pill into mouth followed by a large piece of fillet steak. Hold head vertically & pour a pint of water down throat to wash down pill.
14. Get partner to drive you to hospital & sit quietly while doctor stitches fingers & forearms & remove pill remnants from right eye. Call at furniture shop on way home to order new dining table.
15. Arrange for RSPCA to collect cat & ring local pet shop to see if they have hamsters for sale.
How to give a dog a pill
1. Wrap it in bacon
Not illegal but certainly tax effficient.
https://x.com/danneidle/status/1921480956285776198?s=61
Once Reform reaches 25%+, its vote is more efficient than Labour’s.
I think it's perfectly natural for a "labour" party to be against immigration. The minimum wage was a control against it in some respects, because it prevented the flooding of our labour market with low-wage workers. Now that we are out of the EU, I guess you could make the argument that we don't need it anymore as long as there are restrictions on inwards migration/salary controls.
And the bigoted thing is tiresome. The trouble is that some of those who are most against immigration are bigots, dominate the discussion about it and don't like being called out.
And, very pleasant morning here, and the cold Easterly wind of yesterday seems to have moved more to the South East, so is warmer.
And, if it comes to it, Farage is likely to be.
In 1939 cat and dog density was about 1 per 14 people. 3 million cats and dogs. 41 million people.
In 2024 that number was about 1 per 3 people. 21.5 millions cats and dogs. 57 million people.
The songbird density has gone down.
Meanwhile, here's Trump's Chump at the FBI explaining why he is (ahem) complying with the law:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/FkBPrjJUH1k
(We'll keep their plots to suspend Habeas Corpus - much more important in the USA then here - for later.)
Cats are far better pets than dogs. We have a catchprase in our house whenever some minor setback befalls us "at least we don't have a dog" as some would say "worse things happen at sea". But we can't blame this on dogs, or indeed their owners
Is a 2025 graduate from a Russell Group university worth the same as a 1995 one?
Total anarchy.
We've had a couple of cats though, largely as a result of demands from our children.However, after the second died we've no desire to have another.
Society benefits since dog walkers are always everywhere, and always know everything.
Imagine what it would be without dog walkers.
https://www.frontpages.com/g/2025/05/10/the-daily-telegraph-230450943.jpg
I'm still averaging 5k or so, despite missing one or two days per week.
Today I'm repeating a favourite childhood walk - back way to Newstead Abbey avoiding the pay-barrier., the saved entrance money being the lunch budget.
I think that as the Lib Dems make further progress we will see a lot more of this. However as the power of mass media continues to decline it is an open question as to how effective it will be. I think the Lib Dems will live to see the body of Murdoch floating past down the stream as they have several other of their enemies of recent years.
Cameron also set out to destroy them. Witney is now a Lib Dem seat.
To get to the area I needed to visit I had to pass several scrap or apparently similar, yards, all guarded by apparently half starved Alsatian or similar dogs. In an open-topped car it was quite alarming, even though the fences were high.
The road was a cinder track so one had to go slowly.
I find Tough Sir Keir’s Twitter persona exceptionally cringe, but it does show how much they have realised this issue is hurting them. They might however be better served at quietly getting on with it rather than trying to get into a measuring contest as to who can sound tougher on immigration (because Farage will always, always win that one).
I think the Telegraph may be slightly out of touch.
https://archive.is/20250511035344/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/0/70s-tv-we-loved-and-lost-channel-5/
It's the same as for Labour switchers to Reform - the Tories that were going to switch to the Lib Dems have already done so.
I would have thought Reform voters would be more put off by the blatant hypocrisy from the nations leading Human Rights lawyer, who signed letters preventing criminals who went on to commit murder being deported recently, as well as campaigning for a second referendum and promising to fight for FOM