Has anyone other than Franklin D. Roosevelt ever mounted four serious runs for the presidency?
I can't think of anyone.
Ronald Reagan, 1968, 1976, 1980, and 1984.
let me rephrase that then to show what I actually meant. Has anyone been a major party nominee for president in four separate elections other than Franklin D. Roosevelt?
Reagan and FDR were the two dominant Presidents of the 20th century and both changed their country ideologically as well. Had Reagan run for a 3rd term in 1988 he almost certainly would have beaten Dukakis like Bush 41 did, though he probably still wouldn't have beaten Clinton in 1992 so would not have quite matched FDR had the constitution still allowed more than 2 terms.
Reagan might have beaten Carter in 1976 though, Ford only lost narrowly and his 1976 GOP convention speech was brilliant and many in the hall thought they had nominated the wrong man https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuoRDY9c5SQ
The two-term limit has benefited the Republicans. Both Clinton and Obama would have won third terms comfortably. As it was both W and Trump scraped in against much weaker opponents, both losing the popular vote. And, of course, it was the Republicans who brought in the limit, horrified by FDRs four-in-a-row.
Yes Bill Clinton would have beaten Governor George W Bush in 2000 and Obama beaten Trump in 2016. JFK had he lived would likely have beaten Nixon in 1968 as he did in 1960, though IKE would have beaten JFK in 1960 most likely. Reagan would have beaten Dukakis in 1988 but then so did his VP Bush Snr anyway
FDR may have triggered the term limits but it has been an issue and debated in US politics since the days of the formation of the original constitutional convention.
Which makes it all the more interesting that no one managed to get a third term before him, and but for his death might have served twice as long as any other President.
...And quite possibly won again in 1948, since Truman did..
An interesting "alternative history" crossed my mind recently. If FDR had lived would he have authorised the dropping of The Bomb?
Yes.
Going back to Reagan, wasn't he well into Alzheimer's by 1988? Seems unlikely that Bush wouldn't have been the nominee even without term limits.
He made his "tear down this wall" speech in June 87. That doesn't seem to fit being well into dementia just a few months later.
Reading a speech (well) that is written by someone else is possible with early dementia.
Professional actor, too. Internalised skill?
Edit: I mean, reading something someone else wrote ...
Indeed.
As TSE noted upthread, dementia isn't all or nothing. Someone can be fine most of the time, but then occasionally very confused. There's a very common problem that people start to decline and the people around don't notice at first because they are still mostly competent. Clever, talented people can make it even harder to spot. Someone very clever with a bit of cognitive decline can still be cleverer than your average bod, after all! Someone who is charming, charismatic, skilled at acting, you can easily see how that could carry them through many situations.
If he isn't already dead, he will be too far gone to stand
At 79 I was quite good for my age, but the dramatic and sudden drop in my health over the next 2 years was entirely unexpected
I have no doubt you are correct
Nine facts.
I was officially declared elderly in the 'nicest of ways' by my doctor this week when she referred me to the falls clinic and 'hesitantly' said it comes under 'elderly care'
I leaned forward, smiled, and said at 81 I fully accept that proposition !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
After being badgered by Mrs. F for some time, I finally went for a Prostate check today. Not as embarrassing as I feared, (it was a male doctor). Given the PB demographic, there will be many here who I advise to go for the examination, if you haven’t already.
I had a female doctor when I had my prostate felt. Not at all embarrassing either!
Every day we have leaders calling meetings with each other, and discussing interminable about the war in Ukraine, and yet Putin not only rejects their interventions but says he is ready to conduct war with Europe
The world is going round in circles while Ukraine suffers
Maybe it is time to call Putins bluff and actively intervene in Ukraine militarily and show some strength
Both Trump and Putin play on weakness
Sad reality is that Europe's political leaders are weak. They are desperate for the war to end, and their desperation encourages Putin to persist.
It will take a political leader of considerable qualities to break out of this thinking and to aim for victory.
I have some hope of the Poles.
Not just Poland. The prevaricating of some countries like Italy or Spain and the Putinism of Hungary conceal some pretty sizeable efforts to support Ukraine.
Denmark has given 2.9% of GDP to support Ukraine. That’s above most countries’ entire military budget. All 3 Baltic states, Sweden, Finland and the Netherlands have all given more than 1% of GDP according to stats from the Kiel institute. (Poland has given 0.8%).
We’re not in total war yet, but the “Europe is frit” narrative is just lazy MAGA.
It's not what individual countries are doing that matters, but what it amounts to collectively.
Collectively Europe is doing enough to keep Ukraine in the fight for as long as it takes for Russia to break their will to resist. Europe is not doing enough to give Ukraine hope for victory - it's not even trying to win! - and it's that hope they will sustain them through the fight.
Europe needs to say collectively that it will do whatever is necessary to defeat Russia - but they do not. They say they will sort Ukraine, "for as long as it takes," but to do what? What is the objective?
There is no strategy. They are entirely reactive. It is not good enough.
Europe wants Ukraine to win. That is their strategy. Individual European countries have to weigh up domestic spending concerns with support for Ukraine and have come to different conclusions. But that doesn't mean they don't have an objective.
Europe wants Ukraine to win in the same way that I want to win the lottery. Of course it would be lovely, but they have no idea how to make it happen, and perhaps believe it's not something they can influence.
When you listen to what they actually say you can see that their best hope is only to achieve a ceasefire on the current frontline. That's it. They are hoping to convince Putin that he's conquered as much as he can get this time, and to take a break.
Every day we have leaders calling meetings with each other, and discussing interminable about the war in Ukraine, and yet Putin not only rejects their interventions but says he is ready to conduct war with Europe
The world is going round in circles while Ukraine suffers
Maybe it is time to call Putins bluff and actively intervene in Ukraine militarily and show some strength
Both Trump and Putin play on weakness
Sad reality is that Europe's political leaders are weak. They are desperate for the war to end, and their desperation encourages Putin to persist.
It will take a political leader of considerable qualities to break out of this thinking and to aim for victory.
I have some hope of the Poles.
Not just Poland. The prevaricating of some countries like Italy or Spain and the Putinism of Hungary conceal some pretty sizeable efforts to support Ukraine.
Denmark has given 2.9% of GDP to support Ukraine. That’s above most countries’ entire military budget. All 3 Baltic states, Sweden, Finland and the Netherlands have all given more than 1% of GDP according to stats from the Kiel institute. (Poland has given 0.8%).
We’re not in total war yet, but the “Europe is frit” narrative is just lazy MAGA.
It's not what individual countries are doing that matters, but what it amounts to collectively.
Collectively Europe is doing enough to keep Ukraine in the fight for as long as it takes for Russia to break their will to resist. Europe is not doing enough to give Ukraine hope for victory - it's not even trying to win! - and it's that hope they will sustain them through the fight.
Europe needs to say collectively that it will do whatever is necessary to defeat Russia - but they do not. They say they will sort Ukraine, "for as long as it takes," but to do what? What is the objective?
There is no strategy. They are entirely reactive. It is not good enough.
Europe wants Ukraine to win. That is their strategy. Individual European countries have to weigh up domestic spending concerns with support for Ukraine and have come to different conclusions. But that doesn't mean they don't have an objective.
Europe wants Ukraine to win in the same way that I want to win the lottery. Of course it would be lovely, but they have no idea how to make it happen, and perhaps believe it's not something they can influence.
When you listen to what they actually say you can see that their best hope is only to achieve a ceasefire on the current frontline. That's it. They are hoping to convince Putin that he's conquered as much as he can get this time, and to take a break.
Neither side has a theory of victory right now. But simultaneously, losing is seen as unacceptable to both - the Ukrainians (rightly) fear what Russian dominance would bring to their land & Putin fears losing both his presidency & his life if the war in Ukraine fails.
So the war continues, until for one side or the other it cannot continue any more.
Take for example the frozen Russian assets. This money could be used to fund a massive amount of extra arms for Ukraine to help them towards victory. Instead of looks like the Europeans will dripfeed the money in to replace the budget support previously provided by the US.
If he isn't already dead, he will be too far gone to stand
At 79 I was quite good for my age, but the dramatic and sudden drop in my health over the next 2 years was entirely unexpected
I have no doubt you are correct
Nine facts.
I was officially declared elderly in the 'nicest of ways' by my doctor this week when she referred me to the falls clinic and 'hesitantly' said it comes under 'elderly care'
I leaned forward, smiled, and said at 81 I fully accept that proposition !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
After being badgered by Mrs. F for some time, I finally went for a Prostate check today. Not as embarrassing as I feared, (it was a male doctor). Given the PB demographic, there will be many here who I advise to go for the examination, if you haven’t already.
I had a female doctor when I had my prostate felt. Not at all embarrassing either!
If he isn't already dead, he will be too far gone to stand
At 79 I was quite good for my age, but the dramatic and sudden drop in my health over the next 2 years was entirely unexpected
I have no doubt you are correct
Nine facts.
I was officially declared elderly in the 'nicest of ways' by my doctor this week when she referred me to the falls clinic and 'hesitantly' said it comes under 'elderly care'
I leaned forward, smiled, and said at 81 I fully accept that proposition !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
After being badgered by Mrs. F for some time, I finally went for a Prostate check today. Not as embarrassing as I feared, (it was a male doctor). Given the PB demographic, there will be many here who I advise to go for the examination, if you haven’t already.
I had a female doctor when I had my prostate felt. Not at all embarrassing either!
EXC - I've seen a leaked policy document from Labour in opposition which sets out how to approach assisted dying.
The document sets out how it could be introduced as a private member’s bill, suggesting that would still allow “heavy influence” for the government in the process
That's not news is it and it's a matter of conscience not party political. Some people want to die with dignity rather than in pain. A friend's parent recently passed with metastatic cancer that had spread to the spine, they were in constant pain at the end and wanted to pass several weeks before they did. My parent has late stage Alzheimer's, they had clearly expressed a wish not to exist as they do now, physically they're in good health so it could be years of cognitive decline, this bill wouldn't help them, but it might help some people. It's not going to be compulsory FFS, it'll give a small number of people a choice.
If it's only about those who choose it why does the Bill allow doctors to suggest it? Suicide is not a medical treatment. There are no clinical indices for it. A doctor is in no position to know whether someone should commit suicide - let alone suggest it. Suicide is not a medical treatment.
Why are the training slides which the NHS is already developing saying that the training should be targeted at oncologists and palliative care doctors?
Why is there no conscience opt-out? What about people who do not believe in it, whether medical professionals or hospices? Why are they not given a choice?
Why have those proposing the Bill refused all safeguards - especially to prevent coercion?
Why is the government refusing to find palliative care properly?
Why did Starmer say in the Commons recently that the law should be "effective" and "enforceable" but notably refused to say that it should be "safe"?
Why is Falconer saying that being poor is a reason to get the state to help you kill yourself? There was a time when the Labour Party thought its job was to help the poor, to alleviate their poverty. Now it thinks they should be killed instead.
Every single medical group, the disabled groups, those who know about coercion, coroners etc - everyone with any expertise in the care of the very sick etc.,has said this Bill is unsafe and will lead to the forced deaths of the vulnerable. And the Labour Party is the one seeking to push it through with minimal scrutiny, without a proper mandate and by bullying those who raise concerns.
Last week I told my oncologist that on no account was he or any of the team treating me even to think about suggesting suicide to me. He told me that he wouldn't and that he didn't believe in it. But I now have to worry - on top of everything else - if this bill becomes law that when doctors tell me there is nothing more they can do for me - whether this is really a medical assessment or whether they are under financial pressure to stop treating me because it will save the NHS money and push me into suicide instead because to the state my life is no longer worth living. That I should even have to worry about this is unconscionable. This Bill will break the trust a patient should be able to have in their doctor. It will break the NHS if it becomes a service which thinks that the administration of death is what it should be doing.
Those on here who handwave this fear away can fuck off, frankly. And I never ever want to hear again from Labour Party supporters that they are somehow morally better than everyone else. When the state adopts an attitude which views the sick, the disabled, the old, the abused, the mentally ill, the mentally distressed, the unhappy, the poor as lives which are not worth living, as people who should be helped to die rather than helped to live, a moral Rubicon has been crossed. "Let's kill useless mouths to feed for the greater good" is an experiment that's been tried before and it did not end well.
Has anyone other than Franklin D. Roosevelt ever mounted four serious runs for the presidency?
I can't think of anyone.
Ronald Reagan, 1968, 1976, 1980, and 1984.
let me rephrase that then to show what I actually meant. Has anyone been a major party nominee for president in four separate elections other than Franklin D. Roosevelt?
Reagan and FDR were the two dominant Presidents of the 20th century and both changed their country ideologically as well. Had Reagan run for a 3rd term in 1988 he almost certainly would have beaten Dukakis like Bush 41 did, though he probably still wouldn't have beaten Clinton in 1992 so would not have quite matched FDR had the constitution still allowed more than 2 terms.
Reagan might have beaten Carter in 1976 though, Ford only lost narrowly and his 1976 GOP convention speech was brilliant and many in the hall thought they had nominated the wrong man https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuoRDY9c5SQ
The two-term limit has benefited the Republicans. Both Clinton and Obama would have won third terms comfortably. As it was both W and Trump scraped in against much weaker opponents, both losing the popular vote. And, of course, it was the Republicans who brought in the limit, horrified by FDRs four-in-a-row.
Yes Bill Clinton would have beaten Governor George W Bush in 2000 and Obama beaten Trump in 2016. JFK had he lived would likely have beaten Nixon in 1968 as he did in 1960, though IKE would have beaten JFK in 1960 most likely. Reagan would have beaten Dukakis in 1988 but then so did his VP Bush Snr anyway
FDR may have triggered the term limits but it has been an issue and debated in US politics since the days of the formation of the original constitutional convention.
Which makes it all the more interesting that no one managed to get a third term before him, and but for his death might have served twice as long as any other President.
...And quite possibly won again in 1948, since Truman did..
An interesting "alternative history" crossed my mind recently. If FDR had lived would he have authorised the dropping of The Bomb?
Yes.
Going back to Reagan, wasn't he well into Alzheimer's by 1988? Seems unlikely that Bush wouldn't have been the nominee even without term limits.
He made his "tear down this wall" speech in June 87. That doesn't seem to fit being well into dementia just a few months later.
Speaking from the experience of dealing with my grandfather's Alzheimer's, he could have very lucid days for weeks on end, then he'd have a moment where he didn't know any of us were, those days kept on becoming more and more frequent.
Yes it's not predictable or the same for everyone. RR was diagnosed with AD in 94, six years after leaving the WH. He lived until 2004.
Has anyone other than Franklin D. Roosevelt ever mounted four serious runs for the presidency?
I can't think of anyone.
Ronald Reagan, 1968, 1976, 1980, and 1984.
let me rephrase that then to show what I actually meant. Has anyone been a major party nominee for president in four separate elections other than Franklin D. Roosevelt?
Reagan and FDR were the two dominant Presidents of the 20th century and both changed their country ideologically as well. Had Reagan run for a 3rd term in 1988 he almost certainly would have beaten Dukakis like Bush 41 did, though he probably still wouldn't have beaten Clinton in 1992 so would not have quite matched FDR had the constitution still allowed more than 2 terms.
Reagan might have beaten Carter in 1976 though, Ford only lost narrowly and his 1976 GOP convention speech was brilliant and many in the hall thought they had nominated the wrong man https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuoRDY9c5SQ
The two-term limit has benefited the Republicans. Both Clinton and Obama would have won third terms comfortably. As it was both W and Trump scraped in against much weaker opponents, both losing the popular vote. And, of course, it was the Republicans who brought in the limit, horrified by FDRs four-in-a-row.
Yes Bill Clinton would have beaten Governor George W Bush in 2000 and Obama beaten Trump in 2016. JFK had he lived would likely have beaten Nixon in 1968 as he did in 1960, though IKE would have beaten JFK in 1960 most likely. Reagan would have beaten Dukakis in 1988 but then so did his VP Bush Snr anyway
FDR may have triggered the term limits but it has been an issue and debated in US politics since the days of the formation of the original constitutional convention.
Which makes it all the more interesting that no one managed to get a third term before him, and but for his death might have served twice as long as any other President.
...And quite possibly won again in 1948, since Truman did..
An interesting "alternative history" crossed my mind recently. If FDR had lived would he have authorised the dropping of The Bomb?
Yes.
Going back to Reagan, wasn't he well into Alzheimer's by 1988? Seems unlikely that Bush wouldn't have been the nominee even without term limits.
He made his "tear down this wall" speech in June 87. That doesn't seem to fit being well into dementia just a few months later.
He was already at the stage of confusion and low energy by the aftermath of Iran-Contra in 1986 that his staff were seriously considering asking the cabinet to invoke the 25th.
Pretty well everyone I knew thought him gaga during his second term. The ability to read a script and deliver a line was still there, though.
Every day we have leaders calling meetings with each other, and discussing interminable about the war in Ukraine, and yet Putin not only rejects their interventions but says he is ready to conduct war with Europe
The world is going round in circles while Ukraine suffers
Maybe it is time to call Putins bluff and actively intervene in Ukraine militarily and show some strength
Both Trump and Putin play on weakness
Sad reality is that Europe's political leaders are weak. They are desperate for the war to end, and their desperation encourages Putin to persist.
It will take a political leader of considerable qualities to break out of this thinking and to aim for victory.
I have some hope of the Poles.
Not just Poland. The prevaricating of some countries like Italy or Spain and the Putinism of Hungary conceal some pretty sizeable efforts to support Ukraine.
Denmark has given 2.9% of GDP to support Ukraine. That’s above most countries’ entire military budget. All 3 Baltic states, Sweden, Finland and the Netherlands have all given more than 1% of GDP according to stats from the Kiel institute. (Poland has given 0.8%).
We’re not in total war yet, but the “Europe is frit” narrative is just lazy MAGA.
It's not what individual countries are doing that matters, but what it amounts to collectively.
Collectively Europe is doing enough to keep Ukraine in the fight for as long as it takes for Russia to break their will to resist. Europe is not doing enough to give Ukraine hope for victory - it's not even trying to win! - and it's that hope they will sustain them through the fight.
Europe needs to say collectively that it will do whatever is necessary to defeat Russia - but they do not. They say they will sort Ukraine, "for as long as it takes," but to do what? What is the objective?
There is no strategy. They are entirely reactive. It is not good enough.
Europe wants Ukraine to win. That is their strategy. Individual European countries have to weigh up domestic spending concerns with support for Ukraine and have come to different conclusions. But that doesn't mean they don't have an objective.
Europe wants Ukraine to win in the same way that I want to win the lottery. Of course it would be lovely, but they have no idea how to make it happen, and perhaps believe it's not something they can influence.
When you listen to what they actually say you can see that their best hope is only to achieve a ceasefire on the current frontline. That's it. They are hoping to convince Putin that he's conquered as much as he can get this time, and to take a break.
Neither side has a theory of victory right now. But simultaneously, losing is seen as unacceptable to both - the Ukrainians (rightly) fear what Russian dominance would bring to their land & Putin fears losing both his presidency & his life if the war in Ukraine fails.
So the war continues, until for one side or the other it cannot continue any more.
The Russian theory of victory is that, one-by-one, further democratic governments are elected that scale back support for Ukraine, that the West tires of the war, and so eventually Ukraine is left without sufficient support to fight.
Already this has happened in the US, Slovakia and Czechia. The French Presidential election is looming. How much support can Ukraine expect from Le Pen? What about PM Farage?
In the first year of the war it was confidently predicted that the West would send a tidal wave of weapons that would overwhelm Russia. This hasn't happened. The West has chosen not to provide that level of support. It's been a choice to punch below our weight.
Why is that? It's in trying to understand why we've chosen not to help Ukraine win that I come to the conclusion that Western leaders are almost as scared of Russia losing as they are of Ukraine losing.
I think this is a massive miscalculation that we are going to suffer from for decades to come - unless at this late stage we change course.
"Wes Streeting orders inquiry into mental health ‘overdiagnosis’ Health secretary wants clinical review of the rise in conditions such as ADHD and autism that cause people to drop out of the workforce" (£)
Every day we have leaders calling meetings with each other, and discussing interminable about the war in Ukraine, and yet Putin not only rejects their interventions but says he is ready to conduct war with Europe
The world is going round in circles while Ukraine suffers
Maybe it is time to call Putins bluff and actively intervene in Ukraine militarily and show some strength
Both Trump and Putin play on weakness
Sad reality is that Europe's political leaders are weak. They are desperate for the war to end, and their desperation encourages Putin to persist.
It will take a political leader of considerable qualities to break out of this thinking and to aim for victory.
I have some hope of the Poles.
Not just Poland. The prevaricating of some countries like Italy or Spain and the Putinism of Hungary conceal some pretty sizeable efforts to support Ukraine.
Denmark has given 2.9% of GDP to support Ukraine. That’s above most countries’ entire military budget. All 3 Baltic states, Sweden, Finland and the Netherlands have all given more than 1% of GDP according to stats from the Kiel institute. (Poland has given 0.8%).
We’re not in total war yet, but the “Europe is frit” narrative is just lazy MAGA.
It's not what individual countries are doing that matters, but what it amounts to collectively.
Collectively Europe is doing enough to keep Ukraine in the fight for as long as it takes for Russia to break their will to resist. Europe is not doing enough to give Ukraine hope for victory - it's not even trying to win! - and it's that hope they will sustain them through the fight.
Europe needs to say collectively that it will do whatever is necessary to defeat Russia - but they do not. They say they will sort Ukraine, "for as long as it takes," but to do what? What is the objective?
There is no strategy. They are entirely reactive. It is not good enough.
Europe wants Ukraine to win. That is their strategy. Individual European countries have to weigh up domestic spending concerns with support for Ukraine and have come to different conclusions. But that doesn't mean they don't have an objective.
Europe wants Ukraine to win in the same way that I want to win the lottery. Of course it would be lovely, but they have no idea how to make it happen, and perhaps believe it's not something they can influence.
When you listen to what they actually say you can see that their best hope is only to achieve a ceasefire on the current frontline. That's it. They are hoping to convince Putin that he's conquered as much as he can get this time, and to take a break.
The problem is that there is no "Europe". There are a bunch of different actors: both national and supranational.
But no one has -yet- stepped up and assumed the mantel of leadership.
Has anyone other than Franklin D. Roosevelt ever mounted four serious runs for the presidency?
I can't think of anyone.
Ronald Reagan, 1968, 1976, 1980, and 1984.
let me rephrase that then to show what I actually meant. Has anyone been a major party nominee for president in four separate elections other than Franklin D. Roosevelt?
Reagan and FDR were the two dominant Presidents of the 20th century and both changed their country ideologically as well. Had Reagan run for a 3rd term in 1988 he almost certainly would have beaten Dukakis like Bush 41 did, though he probably still wouldn't have beaten Clinton in 1992 so would not have quite matched FDR had the constitution still allowed more than 2 terms.
Reagan might have beaten Carter in 1976 though, Ford only lost narrowly and his 1976 GOP convention speech was brilliant and many in the hall thought they had nominated the wrong man https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuoRDY9c5SQ
The two-term limit has benefited the Republicans. Both Clinton and Obama would have won third terms comfortably. As it was both W and Trump scraped in against much weaker opponents, both losing the popular vote. And, of course, it was the Republicans who brought in the limit, horrified by FDRs four-in-a-row.
Yes Bill Clinton would have beaten Governor George W Bush in 2000 and Obama beaten Trump in 2016. JFK had he lived would likely have beaten Nixon in 1968 as he did in 1960, though IKE would have beaten JFK in 1960 most likely. Reagan would have beaten Dukakis in 1988 but then so did his VP Bush Snr anyway
FDR may have triggered the term limits but it has been an issue and debated in US politics since the days of the formation of the original constitutional convention.
Which makes it all the more interesting that no one managed to get a third term before him, and but for his death might have served twice as long as any other President.
...And quite possibly won again in 1948, since Truman did..
An interesting "alternative history" crossed my mind recently. If FDR had lived would he have authorised the dropping of The Bomb?
Yes.
Going back to Reagan, wasn't he well into Alzheimer's by 1988? Seems unlikely that Bush wouldn't have been the nominee even without term limits.
He made his "tear down this wall" speech in June 87. That doesn't seem to fit being well into dementia just a few months later.
Speaking from the experience of dealing with my grandfather's Alzheimer's, he could have very lucid days for weeks on end, then he'd have a moment where he didn't know any of us were, those days kept on becoming more and more frequent.
Yes it's not predictable or the same for everyone. RR was diagnosed with AD in 94, six years after leaving the WH. He lived until 2004.
My father in law died here in our home with his family beside him unrecognisable from the wonderful kind person he was
He didn't know us and it was heartbreaking
My wife and I couldn't talk about it for 2 years and even now it is so painful
Every day we have leaders calling meetings with each other, and discussing interminable about the war in Ukraine, and yet Putin not only rejects their interventions but says he is ready to conduct war with Europe
The world is going round in circles while Ukraine suffers
Maybe it is time to call Putins bluff and actively intervene in Ukraine militarily and show some strength
Both Trump and Putin play on weakness
Sad reality is that Europe's political leaders are weak. They are desperate for the war to end, and their desperation encourages Putin to persist.
It will take a political leader of considerable qualities to break out of this thinking and to aim for victory.
I have some hope of the Poles.
Not just Poland. The prevaricating of some countries like Italy or Spain and the Putinism of Hungary conceal some pretty sizeable efforts to support Ukraine.
Denmark has given 2.9% of GDP to support Ukraine. That’s above most countries’ entire military budget. All 3 Baltic states, Sweden, Finland and the Netherlands have all given more than 1% of GDP according to stats from the Kiel institute. (Poland has given 0.8%).
We’re not in total war yet, but the “Europe is frit” narrative is just lazy MAGA.
It's not what individual countries are doing that matters, but what it amounts to collectively.
Collectively Europe is doing enough to keep Ukraine in the fight for as long as it takes for Russia to break their will to resist. Europe is not doing enough to give Ukraine hope for victory - it's not even trying to win! - and it's that hope they will sustain them through the fight.
Europe needs to say collectively that it will do whatever is necessary to defeat Russia - but they do not. They say they will sort Ukraine, "for as long as it takes," but to do what? What is the objective?
There is no strategy. They are entirely reactive. It is not good enough.
Europe wants Ukraine to win. That is their strategy. Individual European countries have to weigh up domestic spending concerns with support for Ukraine and have come to different conclusions. But that doesn't mean they don't have an objective.
Europe wants Ukraine to win in the same way that I want to win the lottery. Of course it would be lovely, but they have no idea how to make it happen, and perhaps believe it's not something they can influence.
When you listen to what they actually say you can see that their best hope is only to achieve a ceasefire on the current frontline. That's it. They are hoping to convince Putin that he's conquered as much as he can get this time, and to take a break.
The problem is that there is no "Europe". There are a bunch of different actors: both national and supranational.
But no one has -yet- stepped up and assumed the mantel of leadership.
Which is a shame.
Sadly they are all world class talkers but no doers or real leaders
The consequences are likely to be a never ending war sadly
Take for example the frozen Russian assets. This money could be used to fund a massive amount of extra arms for Ukraine to help them towards victory. Instead of looks like the Europeans will dripfeed the money in to replace the budget support previously provided by the US.
Hey: at least they're going to take the money. Eventually.
EXC - I've seen a leaked policy document from Labour in opposition which sets out how to approach assisted dying.
The document sets out how it could be introduced as a private member’s bill, suggesting that would still allow “heavy influence” for the government in the process
That's not news is it and it's a matter of conscience not party political. Some people want to die with dignity rather than in pain. A friend's parent recently passed with metastatic cancer that had spread to the spine, they were in constant pain at the end and wanted to pass several weeks before they did. My parent has late stage Alzheimer's, they had clearly expressed a wish not to exist as they do now, physically they're in good health so it could be years of cognitive decline, this bill wouldn't help them, but it might help some people. It's not going to be compulsory FFS, it'll give a small number of people a choice.
If it's only about those who choose it why does the Bill allow doctors to suggest it? Suicide is not a medical treatment. There are no clinical indices for it. A doctor is in no position to know whether someone should commit suicide - let alone suggest it. Suicide is not a medical treatment.
Why are the training slides which the NHS is already developing saying that the training should be targeted at oncologists and palliative care doctors?
Why is there no conscience opt-out? What about people who do not believe in it, whether medical professionals or hospices? Why are they not given a choice?
Why have those proposing the Bill refused all safeguards - especially to prevent coercion?
Why is the government refusing to find palliative care properly?
Why did Starmer say in the Commons recently that the law should be "effective" and "enforceable" but notably refused to say that it should be "safe"?
Why is Falconer saying that being poor is a reason to get the state to help you kill yourself? There was a time when the Labour Party thought its job was to help the poor, to alleviate their poverty. Now it thinks they should be killed instead.
Every single medical group, the disabled groups, those who know about coercion, coroners etc - everyone with any expertise in the care of the very sick etc.,has said this Bill is unsafe and will lead to the forced deaths of the vulnerable. And the Labour Party is the one seeking to push it through with minimal scrutiny, without a proper mandate and by bullying those who raise concerns.
Last week I told my oncologist that on no account was he or any of the team treating me even to think about suggesting suicide to me. He told me that he wouldn't and that he didn't believe in it. But I now have to worry - on top of everything else - if this bill becomes law that when doctors tell me there is nothing more they can do for me - whether this is really a medical assessment or whether they are under financial pressure to stop treating me because it will save the NHS money and push me into suicide instead because to the state my life is no longer worth living. That I should even have to worry about this is unconscionable. This Bill will break the trust a patient should be able to have in their doctor. It will break the NHS if it becomes a service which thinks that the administration of death is what it should be doing.
Those on here who handwave this fear away can fuck off, frankly. And I never ever want to hear again from Labour Party supporters that they are somehow morally better than everyone else. When the state adopts an attitude which views the sick, the disabled, the old, the abused, the mentally ill, the mentally distressed, the unhappy, the poor as lives which are not worth living, as people who should be helped to die rather than helped to live, a moral Rubicon has been crossed. "Let's kill useless mouths to feed for the greater good" is an experiment that's been tried before and it did not end well.
Why should doctors be able to suggest it? Because it is an option to be considered.
Would you forbid doctors from suggesting abortion as an option to anyone who is pregnant?
If people are in agony and want to end their suffering, then facilitating that is a medical treatment.
If you don't want it, say no. But trying to shove your views on others is illiberal.
Every day we have leaders calling meetings with each other, and discussing interminable about the war in Ukraine, and yet Putin not only rejects their interventions but says he is ready to conduct war with Europe
The world is going round in circles while Ukraine suffers
Maybe it is time to call Putins bluff and actively intervene in Ukraine militarily and show some strength
Both Trump and Putin play on weakness
Sad reality is that Europe's political leaders are weak. They are desperate for the war to end, and their desperation encourages Putin to persist.
It will take a political leader of considerable qualities to break out of this thinking and to aim for victory.
I have some hope of the Poles.
Not just Poland. The prevaricating of some countries like Italy or Spain and the Putinism of Hungary conceal some pretty sizeable efforts to support Ukraine.
Denmark has given 2.9% of GDP to support Ukraine. That’s above most countries’ entire military budget. All 3 Baltic states, Sweden, Finland and the Netherlands have all given more than 1% of GDP according to stats from the Kiel institute. (Poland has given 0.8%).
We’re not in total war yet, but the “Europe is frit” narrative is just lazy MAGA.
It's not what individual countries are doing that matters, but what it amounts to collectively.
Collectively Europe is doing enough to keep Ukraine in the fight for as long as it takes for Russia to break their will to resist. Europe is not doing enough to give Ukraine hope for victory - it's not even trying to win! - and it's that hope they will sustain them through the fight.
Europe needs to say collectively that it will do whatever is necessary to defeat Russia - but they do not. They say they will sort Ukraine, "for as long as it takes," but to do what? What is the objective?
There is no strategy. They are entirely reactive. It is not good enough.
Europe wants Ukraine to win. That is their strategy. Individual European countries have to weigh up domestic spending concerns with support for Ukraine and have come to different conclusions. But that doesn't mean they don't have an objective.
Europe wants Ukraine to win in the same way that I want to win the lottery. Of course it would be lovely, but they have no idea how to make it happen, and perhaps believe it's not something they can influence.
When you listen to what they actually say you can see that their best hope is only to achieve a ceasefire on the current frontline. That's it. They are hoping to convince Putin that he's conquered as much as he can get this time, and to take a break.
The problem is that there is no "Europe". There are a bunch of different actors: both national and supranational.
But no one has -yet- stepped up and assumed the mantel of leadership.
Which is a shame.
Many nations have been forged in the crucible of war. If the EU ever had aspirations to become a nation state - as Brexiteers confidently asserted was the plan - then this war was that time. Thus far they appear singularly uninterested in taking advantage of the crisis in such a way.
EXC - I've seen a leaked policy document from Labour in opposition which sets out how to approach assisted dying.
The document sets out how it could be introduced as a private member’s bill, suggesting that would still allow “heavy influence” for the government in the process
That's not news is it and it's a matter of conscience not party political. Some people want to die with dignity rather than in pain. A friend's parent recently passed with metastatic cancer that had spread to the spine, they were in constant pain at the end and wanted to pass several weeks before they did. My parent has late stage Alzheimer's, they had clearly expressed a wish not to exist as they do now, physically they're in good health so it could be years of cognitive decline, this bill wouldn't help them, but it might help some people. It's not going to be compulsory FFS, it'll give a small number of people a choice.
Every single medical group, the disabled groups, those who know about coercion, coroners etc - everyone with any expertise in the care of the very sick etc.,has said this Bill is unsafe and will lead to the forced deaths of the vulnerable.
EXC - I've seen a leaked policy document from Labour in opposition which sets out how to approach assisted dying.
The document sets out how it could be introduced as a private member’s bill, suggesting that would still allow “heavy influence” for the government in the process
That's not news is it and it's a matter of conscience not party political. Some people want to die with dignity rather than in pain. A friend's parent recently passed with metastatic cancer that had spread to the spine, they were in constant pain at the end and wanted to pass several weeks before they did. My parent has late stage Alzheimer's, they had clearly expressed a wish not to exist as they do now, physically they're in good health so it could be years of cognitive decline, this bill wouldn't help them, but it might help some people. It's not going to be compulsory FFS, it'll give a small number of people a choice.
Every single medical group, the disabled groups, those who know about coercion, coroners etc - everyone with any expertise in the care of the very sick etc.,has said this Bill is unsafe and will lead to the forced deaths of the vulnerable.
EXC - I've seen a leaked policy document from Labour in opposition which sets out how to approach assisted dying.
The document sets out how it could be introduced as a private member’s bill, suggesting that would still allow “heavy influence” for the government in the process
That's not news is it and it's a matter of conscience not party political. Some people want to die with dignity rather than in pain. A friend's parent recently passed with metastatic cancer that had spread to the spine, they were in constant pain at the end and wanted to pass several weeks before they did. My parent has late stage Alzheimer's, they had clearly expressed a wish not to exist as they do now, physically they're in good health so it could be years of cognitive decline, this bill wouldn't help them, but it might help some people. It's not going to be compulsory FFS, it'll give a small number of people a choice.
Every single medical group, the disabled groups, those who know about coercion, coroners etc - everyone with any expertise in the care of the very sick etc.,has said this Bill is unsafe and will lead to the forced deaths of the vulnerable.
Every day we have leaders calling meetings with each other, and discussing interminable about the war in Ukraine, and yet Putin not only rejects their interventions but says he is ready to conduct war with Europe
The world is going round in circles while Ukraine suffers
Maybe it is time to call Putins bluff and actively intervene in Ukraine militarily and show some strength
Both Trump and Putin play on weakness
Sad reality is that Europe's political leaders are weak. They are desperate for the war to end, and their desperation encourages Putin to persist.
It will take a political leader of considerable qualities to break out of this thinking and to aim for victory.
I have some hope of the Poles.
Not just Poland. The prevaricating of some countries like Italy or Spain and the Putinism of Hungary conceal some pretty sizeable efforts to support Ukraine.
Denmark has given 2.9% of GDP to support Ukraine. That’s above most countries’ entire military budget. All 3 Baltic states, Sweden, Finland and the Netherlands have all given more than 1% of GDP according to stats from the Kiel institute. (Poland has given 0.8%).
We’re not in total war yet, but the “Europe is frit” narrative is just lazy MAGA.
It's not what individual countries are doing that matters, but what it amounts to collectively.
Collectively Europe is doing enough to keep Ukraine in the fight for as long as it takes for Russia to break their will to resist. Europe is not doing enough to give Ukraine hope for victory - it's not even trying to win! - and it's that hope they will sustain them through the fight.
Europe needs to say collectively that it will do whatever is necessary to defeat Russia - but they do not. They say they will sort Ukraine, "for as long as it takes," but to do what? What is the objective?
There is no strategy. They are entirely reactive. It is not good enough.
Europe wants Ukraine to win. That is their strategy. Individual European countries have to weigh up domestic spending concerns with support for Ukraine and have come to different conclusions. But that doesn't mean they don't have an objective.
Europe wants Ukraine to win in the same way that I want to win the lottery. Of course it would be lovely, but they have no idea how to make it happen, and perhaps believe it's not something they can influence.
When you listen to what they actually say you can see that their best hope is only to achieve a ceasefire on the current frontline. That's it. They are hoping to convince Putin that he's conquered as much as he can get this time, and to take a break.
Neither side has a theory of victory right now. But simultaneously, losing is seen as unacceptable to both - the Ukrainians (rightly) fear what Russian dominance would bring to their land & Putin fears losing both his presidency & his life if the war in Ukraine fails.
So the war continues, until for one side or the other it cannot continue any more.
The Russian theory of victory is that, one-by-one, further democratic governments are elected that scale back support for Ukraine, that the West tires of the war, and so eventually Ukraine is left without sufficient support to fight.
Already this has happened in the US, Slovakia and Czechia. The French Presidential election is looming. How much support can Ukraine expect from Le Pen? What about PM Farage?
In the first year of the war it was confidently predicted that the West would send a tidal wave of weapons that would overwhelm Russia. This hasn't happened. The West has chosen not to provide that level of support. It's been a choice to punch below our weight.
Why is that? It's in trying to understand why we've chosen not to help Ukraine win that I come to the conclusion that Western leaders are almost as scared of Russia losing as they are of Ukraine losing.
I think this is a massive miscalculation that we are going to suffer from for decades to come - unless at this late stage we change course.
You don’t need some convoluted reason why the West didn’t send enough weapons. Europe is not scared of Russia losing. (Trump might be!)
EXC - I've seen a leaked policy document from Labour in opposition which sets out how to approach assisted dying.
The document sets out how it could be introduced as a private member’s bill, suggesting that would still allow “heavy influence” for the government in the process
That's not news is it and it's a matter of conscience not party political. Some people want to die with dignity rather than in pain. A friend's parent recently passed with metastatic cancer that had spread to the spine, they were in constant pain at the end and wanted to pass several weeks before they did. My parent has late stage Alzheimer's, they had clearly expressed a wish not to exist as they do now, physically they're in good health so it could be years of cognitive decline, this bill wouldn't help them, but it might help some people. It's not going to be compulsory FFS, it'll give a small number of people a choice.
Every single medical group, the disabled groups, those who know about coercion, coroners etc - everyone with any expertise in the care of the very sick etc.,has said this Bill is unsafe and will lead to the forced deaths of the vulnerable.
If anyone wants to purchase a computer or add some memory in the next few years now would be a very good time.
Micron have just scrapped their consumer memory and storage brand Crucial because demand from AI exceeds what they can manufacture.
In case anyone doesn't understand how serious this is, Micron just shut down one of the biggest and most recognised brands in the consumer memory and SSD markets because they expect to literally have nothing available to sell to that market. Micron's entire output has been bought by AI and datacentre companies.
The computer industry (and much of the tech world) is heading into a period of shortages that will be COVID level or worse.
EXC - I've seen a leaked policy document from Labour in opposition which sets out how to approach assisted dying.
The document sets out how it could be introduced as a private member’s bill, suggesting that would still allow “heavy influence” for the government in the process
That's not news is it and it's a matter of conscience not party political. Some people want to die with dignity rather than in pain. A friend's parent recently passed with metastatic cancer that had spread to the spine, they were in constant pain at the end and wanted to pass several weeks before they did. My parent has late stage Alzheimer's, they had clearly expressed a wish not to exist as they do now, physically they're in good health so it could be years of cognitive decline, this bill wouldn't help them, but it might help some people. It's not going to be compulsory FFS, it'll give a small number of people a choice.
Every single medical group, the disabled groups, those who know about coercion, coroners etc - everyone with any expertise in the care of the very sick etc.,has said this Bill is unsafe and will lead to the forced deaths of the vulnerable.
Citation needed
Why ?
Because he can't come up with a valid argument..
I'd like to know what Cyclefree said is true, not just something she made up
EXC - I've seen a leaked policy document from Labour in opposition which sets out how to approach assisted dying.
The document sets out how it could be introduced as a private member’s bill, suggesting that would still allow “heavy influence” for the government in the process
That's not news is it and it's a matter of conscience not party political. Some people want to die with dignity rather than in pain. A friend's parent recently passed with metastatic cancer that had spread to the spine, they were in constant pain at the end and wanted to pass several weeks before they did. My parent has late stage Alzheimer's, they had clearly expressed a wish not to exist as they do now, physically they're in good health so it could be years of cognitive decline, this bill wouldn't help them, but it might help some people. It's not going to be compulsory FFS, it'll give a small number of people a choice.
Every single medical group, the disabled groups, those who know about coercion, coroners etc - everyone with any expertise in the care of the very sick etc.,has said this Bill is unsafe and will lead to the forced deaths of the vulnerable.
Every day we have leaders calling meetings with each other, and discussing interminable about the war in Ukraine, and yet Putin not only rejects their interventions but says he is ready to conduct war with Europe
The world is going round in circles while Ukraine suffers
Maybe it is time to call Putins bluff and actively intervene in Ukraine militarily and show some strength
Both Trump and Putin play on weakness
Sad reality is that Europe's political leaders are weak. They are desperate for the war to end, and their desperation encourages Putin to persist.
It will take a political leader of considerable qualities to break out of this thinking and to aim for victory.
I have some hope of the Poles.
Not just Poland. The prevaricating of some countries like Italy or Spain and the Putinism of Hungary conceal some pretty sizeable efforts to support Ukraine.
Denmark has given 2.9% of GDP to support Ukraine. That’s above most countries’ entire military budget. All 3 Baltic states, Sweden, Finland and the Netherlands have all given more than 1% of GDP according to stats from the Kiel institute. (Poland has given 0.8%).
We’re not in total war yet, but the “Europe is frit” narrative is just lazy MAGA.
It's not what individual countries are doing that matters, but what it amounts to collectively.
Collectively Europe is doing enough to keep Ukraine in the fight for as long as it takes for Russia to break their will to resist. Europe is not doing enough to give Ukraine hope for victory - it's not even trying to win! - and it's that hope they will sustain them through the fight.
Europe needs to say collectively that it will do whatever is necessary to defeat Russia - but they do not. They say they will sort Ukraine, "for as long as it takes," but to do what? What is the objective?
There is no strategy. They are entirely reactive. It is not good enough.
Europe wants Ukraine to win. That is their strategy. Individual European countries have to weigh up domestic spending concerns with support for Ukraine and have come to different conclusions. But that doesn't mean they don't have an objective.
Europe wants Ukraine to win in the same way that I want to win the lottery. Of course it would be lovely, but they have no idea how to make it happen, and perhaps believe it's not something they can influence.
When you listen to what they actually say you can see that their best hope is only to achieve a ceasefire on the current frontline. That's it. They are hoping to convince Putin that he's conquered as much as he can get this time, and to take a break.
Neither side has a theory of victory right now. But simultaneously, losing is seen as unacceptable to both - the Ukrainians (rightly) fear what Russian dominance would bring to their land & Putin fears losing both his presidency & his life if the war in Ukraine fails.
So the war continues, until for one side or the other it cannot continue any more.
The Russian theory of victory is that, one-by-one, further democratic governments are elected that scale back support for Ukraine, that the West tires of the war, and so eventually Ukraine is left without sufficient support to fight.
Already this has happened in the US, Slovakia and Czechia. The French Presidential election is looming. How much support can Ukraine expect from Le Pen? What about PM Farage?
In the first year of the war it was confidently predicted that the West would send a tidal wave of weapons that would overwhelm Russia. This hasn't happened. The West has chosen not to provide that level of support. It's been a choice to punch below our weight.
Why is that? It's in trying to understand why we've chosen not to help Ukraine win that I come to the conclusion that Western leaders are almost as scared of Russia losing as they are of Ukraine losing.
I think this is a massive miscalculation that we are going to suffer from for decades to come - unless at this late stage we change course.
I think you've got it wrong.
Western leaders are scared of being seen by voters of spending money on Ukraine when there are people struggling at home. They - by and large - would love to see Russia defeated. But they don't want to be thrown out by voters for sending tens of billions of dollars worth of taxpayers' money abroad.
The Trump administration has recently taken a keen interest in the behavior of pregnant women, urging them to stop using Tylenol based on poorly supported claims that the medication is linked to autism. If federal officials really wanted to protect maternal and child health, they would instead focus on a far more insidious toxin among expectant moms: cannabis.
They aren't the only group endangered by cannabis:
Pregnant women are not the only group who should receive screening and counseling for cannabis use. Researchers have long known that adolescent marijuana consumption can disrupt brain development and is linked to serious mental health conditions, including psychosis. Yet, in 2022, nearly a third of 12th-graders reported using cannabis in the past year, and more than 6 percent used it daily. Adult cannabis consumption is also not without harm: Cannabis-impaired driving is on the rise, contributing to a growing share of fatal crashes. And up to 30 percent of regular users are developing addictions marked by cravings, withdrawal and significant effects on health and daily functioning.
If you think there are more crazy people around now, you may be right, and cannabis may be one of the reasons. (I have read that the THC levels are much higher now, which could make these dangers worse.)
Will they listen? I hope so, but recognize that DJT and RFK, Jr. are not known for being good listeners.
If anyone wants to purchase a computer or add some memory in the next few years now would be a very good time.
Micron have just scrapped their consumer memory and storage brand Crucial because demand from AI exceeds what they can manufacture.
In case anyone doesn't understand how serious this is, Micron just shut down one of the biggest and most recognised brands in the consumer memory and SSD markets because they expect to literally have nothing available to sell to that market. Micron's entire output has been bought by AI and datacentre companies.
The computer industry (and much of the tech world) is heading into a period of shortages that will be COVID level or worse.
It is -of course- worth remembering that today it is perfectly possible for the well heeled to take advantage of Dignitas and check themselves out.
Surely if you have lots of money and want to check out you would do something more interesting. Spend a bit of time reading all the great detective novels to find a great way of committing a murder and avoid the failing where Sherlock Holmes worked it out then hire a hitman to do it to you.
The end of your life will be an enduring mystery which Netflix will be making “unsolved” programmes about for years and then, when the hitman makes a death bed confession you get another true crime series and a movie made about it ensuring your place in cultural history.
Starmer to delay new Mayoral elections for 2 years
Has he been talking to Trump
Some of the areas requiring reorganisations will take more time that their rather ambitious timetable would allow for. But there are other areas which are pretty ready to go, so I'm a little surprised it'd all be delayed.
EXC - I've seen a leaked policy document from Labour in opposition which sets out how to approach assisted dying.
The document sets out how it could be introduced as a private member’s bill, suggesting that would still allow “heavy influence” for the government in the process
That's not news is it and it's a matter of conscience not party political. Some people want to die with dignity rather than in pain. A friend's parent recently passed with metastatic cancer that had spread to the spine, they were in constant pain at the end and wanted to pass several weeks before they did. My parent has late stage Alzheimer's, they had clearly expressed a wish not to exist as they do now, physically they're in good health so it could be years of cognitive decline, this bill wouldn't help them, but it might help some people. It's not going to be compulsory FFS, it'll give a small number of people a choice.
Every single medical group, the disabled groups, those who know about coercion, coroners etc - everyone with any expertise in the care of the very sick etc.,has said this Bill is unsafe and will lead to the forced deaths of the vulnerable.
It is -of course- worth remembering that today it is perfectly possible for the well heeled to take advantage of Dignitas and check themselves out.
It is also worth remembering that lots of people’s lives are already shortened by medical treatment under the doctrine of double effect (you’re giving meds that alleviate suffering, but also hasten death). This is euthanasia with a get-out clause so we can pretend it isn’t. It is very commonplace. Hundreds of thousands of people per year.
It is -of course- worth remembering that today it is perfectly possible for the well heeled to take advantage of Dignitas and check themselves out.
It is also worth remembering that lots of people’s lives are already shortened by medical treatment under the doctrine of double effect (you’re giving meds that alleviate suffering, but also hasten death). This is euthanasia with a get-out clause so we can pretend it isn’t. It is very commonplace. Hundreds of thousands of people per year.
My mum, just over a year ago, was helped on her way by opioids. A release, in the end.
It is -of course- worth remembering that today it is perfectly possible for the well heeled to take advantage of Dignitas and check themselves out.
It is also worth remembering that lots of people’s lives are already shortened by medical treatment under the doctrine of double effect (you’re giving meds that alleviate suffering, but also hasten death). This is euthanasia with a get-out clause so we can pretend it isn’t. It is very commonplace. Hundreds of thousands of people per year.
My mum, just over a year ago, was helped on her way by opioids. A release, in the end.
My Mum too. Her life was probably only shortened by days, maybe weeks, but it avoided suffering and was very much what she wanted (and she was a doctor, so she knew the details).
Every day we have leaders calling meetings with each other, and discussing interminable about the war in Ukraine, and yet Putin not only rejects their interventions but says he is ready to conduct war with Europe
The world is going round in circles while Ukraine suffers
Maybe it is time to call Putins bluff and actively intervene in Ukraine militarily and show some strength
Both Trump and Putin play on weakness
Sad reality is that Europe's political leaders are weak. They are desperate for the war to end, and their desperation encourages Putin to persist.
It will take a political leader of considerable qualities to break out of this thinking and to aim for victory.
I have some hope of the Poles.
Not just Poland. The prevaricating of some countries like Italy or Spain and the Putinism of Hungary conceal some pretty sizeable efforts to support Ukraine.
Denmark has given 2.9% of GDP to support Ukraine. That’s above most countries’ entire military budget. All 3 Baltic states, Sweden, Finland and the Netherlands have all given more than 1% of GDP according to stats from the Kiel institute. (Poland has given 0.8%).
We’re not in total war yet, but the “Europe is frit” narrative is just lazy MAGA.
It's not what individual countries are doing that matters, but what it amounts to collectively.
Collectively Europe is doing enough to keep Ukraine in the fight for as long as it takes for Russia to break their will to resist. Europe is not doing enough to give Ukraine hope for victory - it's not even trying to win! - and it's that hope they will sustain them through the fight.
Europe needs to say collectively that it will do whatever is necessary to defeat Russia - but they do not. They say they will sort Ukraine, "for as long as it takes," but to do what? What is the objective?
There is no strategy. They are entirely reactive. It is not good enough.
Europe wants Ukraine to win. That is their strategy. Individual European countries have to weigh up domestic spending concerns with support for Ukraine and have come to different conclusions. But that doesn't mean they don't have an objective.
Europe wants Ukraine to win in the same way that I want to win the lottery. Of course it would be lovely, but they have no idea how to make it happen, and perhaps believe it's not something they can influence.
When you listen to what they actually say you can see that their best hope is only to achieve a ceasefire on the current frontline. That's it. They are hoping to convince Putin that he's conquered as much as he can get this time, and to take a break.
The problem is that there is no "Europe". There are a bunch of different actors: both national and supranational.
But no one has -yet- stepped up and assumed the mantel of leadership.
Which is a shame.
Sadly they are all world class talkers but no doers or real leaders
The consequences are likely to be a never ending war sadly
A never ending war is a stunning defeat for Putin. I think the longer this goes on, the worse for the Kremlin. Those Trumpians who took the Rouble are going to be unsuccessful in their attempts to reshape US policy in the Russusn image. This last week may have been the worst for the Ukrainians... the worst week for the Russians is still out there.
It is -of course- worth remembering that today it is perfectly possible for the well heeled to take advantage of Dignitas and check themselves out.
It is also worth remembering that lots of people’s lives are already shortened by medical treatment under the doctrine of double effect (you’re giving meds that alleviate suffering, but also hasten death). This is euthanasia with a get-out clause so we can pretend it isn’t. It is very commonplace. Hundreds of thousands of people per year.
Far better to get informed consent than a nod and a wink that allows those who haven't consented to undergo that too.
Every day we have leaders calling meetings with each other, and discussing interminable about the war in Ukraine, and yet Putin not only rejects their interventions but says he is ready to conduct war with Europe
The world is going round in circles while Ukraine suffers
Maybe it is time to call Putins bluff and actively intervene in Ukraine militarily and show some strength
Both Trump and Putin play on weakness
Sad reality is that Europe's political leaders are weak. They are desperate for the war to end, and their desperation encourages Putin to persist.
It will take a political leader of considerable qualities to break out of this thinking and to aim for victory.
I have some hope of the Poles.
Not just Poland. The prevaricating of some countries like Italy or Spain and the Putinism of Hungary conceal some pretty sizeable efforts to support Ukraine.
Denmark has given 2.9% of GDP to support Ukraine. That’s above most countries’ entire military budget. All 3 Baltic states, Sweden, Finland and the Netherlands have all given more than 1% of GDP according to stats from the Kiel institute. (Poland has given 0.8%).
We’re not in total war yet, but the “Europe is frit” narrative is just lazy MAGA.
It's not what individual countries are doing that matters, but what it amounts to collectively.
Collectively Europe is doing enough to keep Ukraine in the fight for as long as it takes for Russia to break their will to resist. Europe is not doing enough to give Ukraine hope for victory - it's not even trying to win! - and it's that hope they will sustain them through the fight.
Europe needs to say collectively that it will do whatever is necessary to defeat Russia - but they do not. They say they will sort Ukraine, "for as long as it takes," but to do what? What is the objective?
There is no strategy. They are entirely reactive. It is not good enough.
Europe wants Ukraine to win. That is their strategy. Individual European countries have to weigh up domestic spending concerns with support for Ukraine and have come to different conclusions. But that doesn't mean they don't have an objective.
Europe wants Ukraine to win in the same way that I want to win the lottery. Of course it would be lovely, but they have no idea how to make it happen, and perhaps believe it's not something they can influence.
When you listen to what they actually say you can see that their best hope is only to achieve a ceasefire on the current frontline. That's it. They are hoping to convince Putin that he's conquered as much as he can get this time, and to take a break.
The problem is that there is no "Europe". There are a bunch of different actors: both national and supranational.
But no one has -yet- stepped up and assumed the mantel of leadership.
Which is a shame.
Sadly they are all world class talkers but no doers or real leaders
The consequences are likely to be a never ending war sadly
A never ending war is a stunning defeat for Putin. I think the longer this goes on, the worse for the Kremlin. Those Trumpians who took the Rouble are going to be unsuccessful in their attempts to reshape US policy in the Russusn image. This last week may have been the worst for the Ukrainians... the worst week for the Russians is still out there.
In response to others, and personal, here's why I support AD. My father was very active in his 80s - still tending his garden and allotment, socialising and so forth. But around 90 his body gave way. He had to leave his house, utter misery for him, and move to a care home. He was immobile and incontinent. He was as miserable as fuck. There was no prospect of recovery. But his brain was still absolutely fine. And he wanted to die, because the quality of his life was absolutely zero. He even asked us, his sons, to dispense with him. Of course we said no. So, he spent the last 2.5 years of his life, which had been absolutely splendid until then, in abject misery. For no good reason.
If it's only about those who choose it why does the Bill allow doctors to suggest it? Suicide is not a medical treatment. There are no clinical indices for it. A doctor is in no position to know whether someone should commit suicide - let alone suggest it. Suicide is not a medical treatment.
In response to others, and personal, here's why I support AD. My father was very active in his 80s - still tending his garden and allotment, socialising and so forth. But around 90 his body gave way. He had to leave his house, utter misery for him, and move to a care home. He was immobile and incontinent. He was as miserable as fuck. There was no prospect of recovery. But his brain was still absolutely fine. And he wanted to die, because the quality of his life was absolutely zero. He even asked us, his sons, to dispense with him. Of course we said no. So, he spent the last 2.5 years of his life, which had been absolutely splendid until then, in abject misery. For no good reason.
I feel loathe to "like" that but very well said. Sorry for what your family and he went through and hopefully one day people won't be forced to undergo such misery against their wishes.
We treat sick pets with more humanity than those who are actually able to express their wishes.
This Bill is not remotely liberal enough. The six month proviso should be abolished, for people like your dad. People should be able to sign living wills with advanced directives in case they get illnesses like dementia.
None of that is in this Bill. Its a starting point, hopefully one day it gets liberalised much further.
If it's only about those who choose it why does the Bill allow doctors to suggest it? Suicide is not a medical treatment. There are no clinical indices for it. A doctor is in no position to know whether someone should commit suicide - let alone suggest it. Suicide is not a medical treatment.
If it's only about those who choose it why does the Bill allow doctors to suggest it? Suicide is not a medical treatment. There are no clinical indices for it. A doctor is in no position to know whether someone should commit suicide - let alone suggest it. Suicide is not a medical treatment.
"Labour expected to postpone mayoral elections by two years amid continued Reform poll lead The Independent has seen briefing notes from officials suggesting that mayoral elections will postponed from 2026 to 2028
Keir Starmer’s government is expected to announce that crucial elections for new mayors are set to be postponed by two years. Elections for newly created mayoral posts in Cumbria, Cheshire & Warrington, Norfolk & Suffolk, Greater Essex, Sussex & Brighton, and Hampshire & Solent were due to be held next year. But it is understood the elections, where Reform are tipped to win, will be postponed by two years until 2028."
If it's only about those who choose it why does the Bill allow doctors to suggest it? Suicide is not a medical treatment. There are no clinical indices for it. A doctor is in no position to know whether someone should commit suicide - let alone suggest it. Suicide is not a medical treatment.
Every day we have leaders calling meetings with each other, and discussing interminable about the war in Ukraine, and yet Putin not only rejects their interventions but says he is ready to conduct war with Europe
The world is going round in circles while Ukraine suffers
Maybe it is time to call Putins bluff and actively intervene in Ukraine militarily and show some strength
Both Trump and Putin play on weakness
Sad reality is that Europe's political leaders are weak. They are desperate for the war to end, and their desperation encourages Putin to persist.
It will take a political leader of considerable qualities to break out of this thinking and to aim for victory.
I have some hope of the Poles.
Not just Poland. The prevaricating of some countries like Italy or Spain and the Putinism of Hungary conceal some pretty sizeable efforts to support Ukraine.
Denmark has given 2.9% of GDP to support Ukraine. That’s above most countries’ entire military budget. All 3 Baltic states, Sweden, Finland and the Netherlands have all given more than 1% of GDP according to stats from the Kiel institute. (Poland has given 0.8%).
We’re not in total war yet, but the “Europe is frit” narrative is just lazy MAGA.
It's not what individual countries are doing that matters, but what it amounts to collectively.
Collectively Europe is doing enough to keep Ukraine in the fight for as long as it takes for Russia to break their will to resist. Europe is not doing enough to give Ukraine hope for victory - it's not even trying to win! - and it's that hope they will sustain them through the fight.
Europe needs to say collectively that it will do whatever is necessary to defeat Russia - but they do not. They say they will sort Ukraine, "for as long as it takes," but to do what? What is the objective?
There is no strategy. They are entirely reactive. It is not good enough.
Europe wants Ukraine to win. That is their strategy. Individual European countries have to weigh up domestic spending concerns with support for Ukraine and have come to different conclusions. But that doesn't mean they don't have an objective.
Europe wants Ukraine to win in the same way that I want to win the lottery. Of course it would be lovely, but they have no idea how to make it happen, and perhaps believe it's not something they can influence.
When you listen to what they actually say you can see that their best hope is only to achieve a ceasefire on the current frontline. That's it. They are hoping to convince Putin that he's conquered as much as he can get this time, and to take a break.
Neither side has a theory of victory right now. But simultaneously, losing is seen as unacceptable to both - the Ukrainians (rightly) fear what Russian dominance would bring to their land & Putin fears losing both his presidency & his life if the war in Ukraine fails.
So the war continues, until for one side or the other it cannot continue any more.
The Russian theory of victory is that, one-by-one, further democratic governments are elected that scale back support for Ukraine, that the West tires of the war, and so eventually Ukraine is left without sufficient support to fight.
Already this has happened in the US, Slovakia and Czechia. The French Presidential election is looming. How much support can Ukraine expect from Le Pen? What about PM Farage?
In the first year of the war it was confidently predicted that the West would send a tidal wave of weapons that would overwhelm Russia. This hasn't happened. The West has chosen not to provide that level of support. It's been a choice to punch below our weight.
Why is that? It's in trying to understand why we've chosen not to help Ukraine win that I come to the conclusion that Western leaders are almost as scared of Russia losing as they are of Ukraine losing.
I think this is a massive miscalculation that we are going to suffer from for decades to come - unless at this late stage we change course.
I think you've got it wrong.
Western leaders are scared of being seen by voters of spending money on Ukraine when there are people struggling at home. They - by and large - would love to see Russia defeated. But they don't want to be thrown out by voters for sending tens of billions of dollars worth of taxpayers' money abroad.
Perhaps.
You can't half fight a war though. This isn't like transport infrastructure where you can decide to build it more slowly and spread the cost out over more years. The war needs to be fought and won now.
Suicide is the number one cause of death of young men in this country, but there is no safe and humane way of doing it. Driving people to obscene acts like jumping in front of trains, of off bridges, or causing horrific scenes for their loved ones to discover.
Nobody should be left to feel that a train, or similar, is their only way out.
If someone wants to die they should be offered support, eg Samaritans style, but if they have firmly made their mind up there should be a safer and more humane option than stepping in front of trains.
Assisted death should be an option to everyone who desires it, whatever their reasons. Their life, their choice.
If anyone wants to purchase a computer or add some memory in the next few years now would be a very good time.
Micron have just scrapped their consumer memory and storage brand Crucial because demand from AI exceeds what they can manufacture.
In case anyone doesn't understand how serious this is, Micron just shut down one of the biggest and most recognised brands in the consumer memory and SSD markets because they expect to literally have nothing available to sell to that market. Micron's entire output has been bought by AI and datacentre companies.
The computer industry (and much of the tech world) is heading into a period of shortages that will be COVID level or worse.
Worse. December last year you could get 32gb of decent DDR5 memory for £80 on amazon. Scan are today selling the same memory for £360 (Amazon is £390).
"Labour expected to postpone mayoral elections by two years amid continued Reform poll lead The Independent has seen briefing notes from officials suggesting that mayoral elections will postponed from 2026 to 2028
Keir Starmer’s government is expected to announce that crucial elections for new mayors are set to be postponed by two years. Elections for newly created mayoral posts in Cumbria, Cheshire & Warrington, Norfolk & Suffolk, Greater Essex, Sussex & Brighton, and Hampshire & Solent were due to be held next year. But it is understood the elections, where Reform are tipped to win, will be postponed by two years until 2028."
'Added to that, the delay means that the elections would not be held under first past the post, where the candidate who gets the most votes wins, even if they do not have above 50 per cent.Instead, it would revert to a proportional supplementary vote system following implentation of Labour’s local government reforms.' https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/mayoral-elections-labour-reform-postpone-b2877661.html
Suicide is the number one cause of death of young men in this country, but there is no safe and humane way of doing it. Driving people to obscene acts like jumping in front of trains, of off bridges, or causing horrific scenes for their loved ones to discover.
Nobody should be left to feel that a train, or similar, is their only way out.
If someone wants to die they should be offered support, eg Samaritans style, but if they have firmly made their mind up there should be a safer and more humane option than stepping in front of trains.
Assisted death should be an option to everyone who desires it, whatever their reasons. Their life, their choice.
Nope. Assisted dying should be illegal except with at most 6 months left to live and in severe pain otherwise it is state sponsored murder.
Suicide was of course illegal until 1961 and you could be arrested after a failed suicide attempt
It is -of course- worth remembering that today it is perfectly possible for the well heeled to take advantage of Dignitas and check themselves out.
Surely if you have lots of money and want to check out you would do something more interesting. Spend a bit of time reading all the great detective novels to find a great way of committing a murder and avoid the failing where Sherlock Holmes worked it out then hire a hitman to do it to you.
The end of your life will be an enduring mystery which Netflix will be making “unsolved” programmes about for years and then, when the hitman makes a death bed confession you get another true crime series and a movie made about it ensuring your place in cultural history.
Sod a soulless machine in Zug.
Oh, if I ever decide to commit suicide, I shall do it so as to frame @viewcode. I'll make sure he's listed as the main benificiary in my will. Then, I'll organize to recieve threatening letters posted from his local postbox. And I'll write worried things to my friends about how I think he's after me. I'll organize for some dodgy internet pharmacy to send him arsenic in the mail. And then I'll make sure I know when he's next in London, I'll then have coffee in a place just a few minutes after him, where I'll ingest the arsenic.
The evidence against him will be overwhelming.
Some might say this is a slight over reaction against a percieved slight on an internet message board, but needs must, as they say.
Suicide is the number one cause of death of young men in this country, but there is no safe and humane way of doing it. Driving people to obscene acts like jumping in front of trains, of off bridges, or causing horrific scenes for their loved ones to discover.
Nobody should be left to feel that a train, or similar, is their only way out.
If someone wants to die they should be offered support, eg Samaritans style, but if they have firmly made their mind up there should be a safer and more humane option than stepping in front of trains.
Assisted death should be an option to everyone who desires it, whatever their reasons. Their life, their choice.
Interesting example that, because most of those young men could be persuaded out of it by contact with an appropriate professional - which they might meet under these new laws. Or, they won't seek that help, and will jump instead of a train instead. Because it's often impulsive.
If anyone wants to purchase a computer or add some memory in the next few years now would be a very good time.
Micron have just scrapped their consumer memory and storage brand Crucial because demand from AI exceeds what they can manufacture.
In case anyone doesn't understand how serious this is, Micron just shut down one of the biggest and most recognised brands in the consumer memory and SSD markets because they expect to literally have nothing available to sell to that market. Micron's entire output has been bought by AI and datacentre companies.
The computer industry (and much of the tech world) is heading into a period of shortages that will be COVID level or worse.
Worse. December last year you could get 32gb of decent DDR5 memory for £80 on amazon. Scan are today selling the same memory for £360 (Amazon is £390).
If anyone wants to purchase a computer or add some memory in the next few years now would be a very good time.
Micron have just scrapped their consumer memory and storage brand Crucial because demand from AI exceeds what they can manufacture.
In case anyone doesn't understand how serious this is, Micron just shut down one of the biggest and most recognised brands in the consumer memory and SSD markets because they expect to literally have nothing available to sell to that market. Micron's entire output has been bought by AI and datacentre companies.
The computer industry (and much of the tech world) is heading into a period of shortages that will be COVID level or worse.
Worse. December last year you could get 32gb of decent DDR5 memory for £80 on amazon. Scan are today selling the same memory for £360 (Amazon is £390).
I paid £150 for 64GB of Kingston DDR5 in September, two weeks ago it was £400 and today it's £599.
Interestingly, Overclockers UK have said their DDR5 sales are above normal, even given the insane prices. I suspect people are panic buying in expectation (correctly) of stocks completely drying up in the next month or two.
Suicide is the number one cause of death of young men in this country, but there is no safe and humane way of doing it. Driving people to obscene acts like jumping in front of trains, of off bridges, or causing horrific scenes for their loved ones to discover.
Nobody should be left to feel that a train, or similar, is their only way out.
If someone wants to die they should be offered support, eg Samaritans style, but if they have firmly made their mind up there should be a safer and more humane option than stepping in front of trains.
Assisted death should be an option to everyone who desires it, whatever their reasons. Their life, their choice.
Nope. Assisted dying should be illegal except with at most 6 months left to live and in severe pain otherwise it is state sponsored murder.
Suicide was of course illegal until 1961 and you could be arrested after a failed suicide attempt
So people step out in front of trains, where there is no risk of failure.
Jeez.
Those who insist on perpetuating the lives of those who don't want to live them anymore will be seen as peculiarly cruel before this century is out.
If anyone wants to purchase a computer or add some memory in the next few years now would be a very good time.
Micron have just scrapped their consumer memory and storage brand Crucial because demand from AI exceeds what they can manufacture.
In case anyone doesn't understand how serious this is, Micron just shut down one of the biggest and most recognised brands in the consumer memory and SSD markets because they expect to literally have nothing available to sell to that market. Micron's entire output has been bought by AI and datacentre companies.
The computer industry (and much of the tech world) is heading into a period of shortages that will be COVID level or worse.
Worse. December last year you could get 32gb of decent DDR5 memory for £80 on amazon. Scan are today selling the same memory for £360 (Amazon is £390).
I paid £150 for 64GB of Kingston DDR5 in September, two weeks ago it was £400 and today it's £599.
Interestingly, Overclockers UK have said their DDR5 sales are above normal, even given the insane prices. I suspect people are panic buying in expectation (correctly) of stocks completely drying up in the next month or two.
Well Dell are saying they are expecting to receive only 40% of what they need for 2026 - and that means manufacturers are happy to ignore their biggest long term customer...
Got to say it doesn't look pretty and currently Apple's memory prices are starting to look reasonable.
Suicide is the number one cause of death of young men in this country, but there is no safe and humane way of doing it. Driving people to obscene acts like jumping in front of trains, of off bridges, or causing horrific scenes for their loved ones to discover.
Nobody should be left to feel that a train, or similar, is their only way out.
If someone wants to die they should be offered support, eg Samaritans style, but if they have firmly made their mind up there should be a safer and more humane option than stepping in front of trains.
Assisted death should be an option to everyone who desires it, whatever their reasons. Their life, their choice.
The love of my life had terrible depression. One dark night - many years after we'd had to separate - she climbed up to the top of a cliff overlooking a disused quarry and threw herself to her death into the rancid water down below.
I often think how wretched that final walk must have been. In the dark. Bushes scratching. The wind.
So yeah - more mental health support and other options would be kinda good - male or female.
It is -of course- worth remembering that today it is perfectly possible for the well heeled to take advantage of Dignitas and check themselves out.
Surely if you have lots of money and want to check out you would do something more interesting. Spend a bit of time reading all the great detective novels to find a great way of committing a murder and avoid the failing where Sherlock Holmes worked it out then hire a hitman to do it to you.
The end of your life will be an enduring mystery which Netflix will be making “unsolved” programmes about for years and then, when the hitman makes a death bed confession you get another true crime series and a movie made about it ensuring your place in cultural history.
Sod a soulless machine in Zug.
Oh, if I ever decide to commit suicide, I shall do it so as to frame @viewcode. I'll make sure he's listed as the main benificiary in my will. Then, I'll organize to recieve threatening letters posted from his local postbox. And I'll write worried things to my friends about how I think he's after me. I'll organize for some dodgy internet pharmacy to send him arsenic in the mail. And then I'll make sure I know when he's next in London, I'll then have coffee in a place just a few minutes after him, where I'll ingest the arsenic.
The evidence against him will be overwhelming.
Some might say this is a slight over reaction against a percieved slight on an internet message board, but needs must, as they say.
You need to watch the Murder in mind episode called 'Suicide'
Diana Rigg is the main character. It used to be on YouTube, not sure if its still online
If anyone wants to purchase a computer or add some memory in the next few years now would be a very good time.
Micron have just scrapped their consumer memory and storage brand Crucial because demand from AI exceeds what they can manufacture.
In case anyone doesn't understand how serious this is, Micron just shut down one of the biggest and most recognised brands in the consumer memory and SSD markets because they expect to literally have nothing available to sell to that market. Micron's entire output has been bought by AI and datacentre companies.
The computer industry (and much of the tech world) is heading into a period of shortages that will be COVID level or worse.
Worse. December last year you could get 32gb of decent DDR5 memory for £80 on amazon. Scan are today selling the same memory for £360 (Amazon is £390).
I paid £150 for 64GB of Kingston DDR5 in September, two weeks ago it was £400 and today it's £599.
Interestingly, Overclockers UK have said their DDR5 sales are above normal, even given the insane prices. I suspect people are panic buying in expectation (correctly) of stocks completely drying up in the next month or two.
Well Dell are saying they are expecting to receive only 40% of what they need for 2026 - and that means manufacturers are happy to ignore their biggest long term customer...
Got to say it doesn't look pretty and currently Apple's memory prices are starting to look reasonable.
If anyone wants to purchase a computer or add some memory in the next few years now would be a very good time.
Micron have just scrapped their consumer memory and storage brand Crucial because demand from AI exceeds what they can manufacture.
In case anyone doesn't understand how serious this is, Micron just shut down one of the biggest and most recognised brands in the consumer memory and SSD markets because they expect to literally have nothing available to sell to that market. Micron's entire output has been bought by AI and datacentre companies.
The computer industry (and much of the tech world) is heading into a period of shortages that will be COVID level or worse.
Worse. December last year you could get 32gb of decent DDR5 memory for £80 on amazon. Scan are today selling the same memory for £360 (Amazon is £390).
$ more /proc/meminfo MemTotal: 196932540 kB
Good job I went shopping last year!
We have a few servers at work with a terrabyte of ram - also lucky for the taxpayer that we bought them ahead of schedule!
Suicide is the number one cause of death of young men in this country, but there is no safe and humane way of doing it. Driving people to obscene acts like jumping in front of trains, of off bridges, or causing horrific scenes for their loved ones to discover.
Nobody should be left to feel that a train, or similar, is their only way out.
If someone wants to die they should be offered support, eg Samaritans style, but if they have firmly made their mind up there should be a safer and more humane option than stepping in front of trains.
Assisted death should be an option to everyone who desires it, whatever their reasons. Their life, their choice.
Nope. Assisted dying should be illegal except with at most 6 months left to live and in severe pain otherwise it is state sponsored murder.
Suicide was of course illegal until 1961 and you could be arrested after a failed suicide attempt
So people step out in front of trains, where there is no risk of failure.
Jeez.
Those who insist on perpetuating the lives of those who don't want to live them anymore will be seen as peculiarly cruel before this century is out.
I am not proposing to recriminalise the lives of those who attempt suicide but I certainly will continue to oppose assisted dying for all but the terminally ill in severe pain
Suicide is the number one cause of death of young men in this country, but there is no safe and humane way of doing it. Driving people to obscene acts like jumping in front of trains, of off bridges, or causing horrific scenes for their loved ones to discover.
Nobody should be left to feel that a train, or similar, is their only way out.
If someone wants to die they should be offered support, eg Samaritans style, but if they have firmly made their mind up there should be a safer and more humane option than stepping in front of trains.
Assisted death should be an option to everyone who desires it, whatever their reasons. Their life, their choice.
The love of my life had terrible depression. One dark night - many years after we'd had to separate - she climbed up to the top of a cliff overlooking a disused quarry and threw herself to her death into the rancid water down below.
I often think how wretched that final walk must have been. In the dark. Bushes scratching. The wind.
So yeah - more mental health support and other options would be kinda good - male or female.
Suicide is the number one cause of death of young men in this country, but there is no safe and humane way of doing it. Driving people to obscene acts like jumping in front of trains, of off bridges, or causing horrific scenes for their loved ones to discover.
Nobody should be left to feel that a train, or similar, is their only way out.
If someone wants to die they should be offered support, eg Samaritans style, but if they have firmly made their mind up there should be a safer and more humane option than stepping in front of trains.
Assisted death should be an option to everyone who desires it, whatever their reasons. Their life, their choice.
Assisted dying should be illegal except with at most 6 months left to live and in severe pain otherwise it is state sponsored murder.
Explain your workings to get to 6 months. Why not 5 or 7?
It is -of course- worth remembering that today it is perfectly possible for the well heeled to take advantage of Dignitas and check themselves out.
Surely if you have lots of money and want to check out you would do something more interesting. Spend a bit of time reading all the great detective novels to find a great way of committing a murder and avoid the failing where Sherlock Holmes worked it out then hire a hitman to do it to you.
The end of your life will be an enduring mystery which Netflix will be making “unsolved” programmes about for years and then, when the hitman makes a death bed confession you get another true crime series and a movie made about it ensuring your place in cultural history.
Sod a soulless machine in Zug.
Oh, if I ever decide to commit suicide, I shall do it so as to frame @viewcode. I'll make sure he's listed as the main benificiary in my will. Then, I'll organize to recieve threatening letters posted from his local postbox. And I'll write worried things to my friends about how I think he's after me. I'll organize for some dodgy internet pharmacy to send him arsenic in the mail. And then I'll make sure I know when he's next in London, I'll then have coffee in a place just a few minutes after him, where I'll ingest the arsenic.
The evidence against him will be overwhelming.
Some might say this is a slight over reaction against a percieved slight on an internet message board, but needs must, as they say.
Suicide is the number one cause of death of young men in this country, but there is no safe and humane way of doing it. Driving people to obscene acts like jumping in front of trains, of off bridges, or causing horrific scenes for their loved ones to discover.
Nobody should be left to feel that a train, or similar, is their only way out.
If someone wants to die they should be offered support, eg Samaritans style, but if they have firmly made their mind up there should be a safer and more humane option than stepping in front of trains.
Assisted death should be an option to everyone who desires it, whatever their reasons. Their life, their choice.
The love of my life had terrible depression. One dark night - many years after we'd had to separate - she climbed up to the top of a cliff overlooking a disused quarry and threw herself to her death into the rancid water down below.
I often think how wretched that final walk must have been. In the dark. Bushes scratching. The wind.
So yeah - more mental health support and other options would be kinda good - male or female.
I'm so sorry, that must have been incredibly traumatic.
A similar thing happened to a good friend of mine after University: the girl he was dating committed suicide, and it took him a long time to get over it.
Cadets have been ordered to leave their long-standing training camp to make way for 600 small-boat migrants.
The site in rural Crowborough, East Sussex, is set to be turned into open accommodation for male asylum seekers by the end of the month.
On Wednesday night, the town's No.8 Detachment of cadets paraded for the last time at the camp, previously used by the British and Canadian military during the First and Second World Wars.
EXC - I've seen a leaked policy document from Labour in opposition which sets out how to approach assisted dying.
The document sets out how it could be introduced as a private member’s bill, suggesting that would still allow “heavy influence” for the government in the process
That's not news is it and it's a matter of conscience not party political. Some people want to die with dignity rather than in pain. A friend's parent recently passed with metastatic cancer that had spread to the spine, they were in constant pain at the end and wanted to pass several weeks before they did. My parent has late stage Alzheimer's, they had clearly expressed a wish not to exist as they do now, physically they're in good health so it could be years of cognitive decline, this bill wouldn't help them, but it might help some people. It's not going to be compulsory FFS, it'll give a small number of people a choice.
If it's only about those who choose it why does the Bill allow doctors to suggest it? Suicide is not a medical treatment. There are no clinical indices for it. A doctor is in no position to know whether someone should commit suicide - let alone suggest it. Suicide is not a medical treatment.
Why are the training slides which the NHS is already developing saying that the training should be targeted at oncologists and palliative care doctors?
Why is there no conscience opt-out? What about people who do not believe in it, whether medical professionals or hospices? Why are they not given a choice?
Why have those proposing the Bill refused all safeguards - especially to prevent coercion?
Why is the government refusing to find palliative care properly?
Why did Starmer say in the Commons recently that the law should be "effective" and "enforceable" but notably refused to say that it should be "safe"?
Why is Falconer saying that being poor is a reason to get the state to help you kill yourself? There was a time when the Labour Party thought its job was to help the poor, to alleviate their poverty. Now it thinks they should be killed instead.
Every single medical group, the disabled groups, those who know about coercion, coroners etc - everyone with any expertise in the care of the very sick etc.,has said this Bill is unsafe and will lead to the forced deaths of the vulnerable. And the Labour Party is the one seeking to push it through with minimal scrutiny, without a proper mandate and by bullying those who raise concerns.
Last week I told my oncologist that on no account was he or any of the team treating me even to think about suggesting suicide to me. He told me that he wouldn't and that he didn't believe in it. But I now have to worry - on top of everything else - if this bill becomes law that when doctors tell me there is nothing more they can do for me - whether this is really a medical assessment or whether they are under financial pressure to stop treating me because it will save the NHS money and push me into suicide instead because to the state my life is no longer worth living. That I should even have to worry about this is unconscionable. This Bill will break the trust a patient should be able to have in their doctor. It will break the NHS if it becomes a service which thinks that the administration of death is what it should be doing.
Those on here who handwave this fear away can fuck off, frankly. And I never ever want to hear again from Labour Party supporters that they are somehow morally better than everyone else. When the state adopts an attitude which views the sick, the disabled, the old, the abused, the mentally ill, the mentally distressed, the unhappy, the poor as lives which are not worth living, as people who should be helped to die rather than helped to live, a moral Rubicon has been crossed. "Let's kill useless mouths to feed for the greater good" is an experiment that's been tried before and it did not end well.
Very reminiscent of what’s happened with abortion.
Those in favour of it at the time were saying it will be rare and will stop the same thing happening but illegally and dangerously, but a few decades later we have a quarter of a million per year and going up.
It is -of course- worth remembering that today it is perfectly possible for the well heeled to take advantage of Dignitas and check themselves out.
Surely if you have lots of money and want to check out you would do something more interesting. Spend a bit of time reading all the great detective novels to find a great way of committing a murder and avoid the failing where Sherlock Holmes worked it out then hire a hitman to do it to you.
The end of your life will be an enduring mystery which Netflix will be making “unsolved” programmes about for years and then, when the hitman makes a death bed confession you get another true crime series and a movie made about it ensuring your place in cultural history.
Sod a soulless machine in Zug.
Oh, if I ever decide to commit suicide, I shall do it so as to frame @viewcode. I'll make sure he's listed as the main benificiary in my will. Then, I'll organize to recieve threatening letters posted from his local postbox. And I'll write worried things to my friends about how I think he's after me. I'll organize for some dodgy internet pharmacy to send him arsenic in the mail. And then I'll make sure I know when he's next in London, I'll then have coffee in a place just a few minutes after him, where I'll ingest the arsenic.
The evidence against him will be overwhelming.
Some might say this is a slight over reaction against a percieved slight on an internet message board, but needs must, as they say.
That's a very passive aggressive way to avenge an insult but in the modern age I suppose it's all we have.
Whoever abolished duelling has a lot to answer for.
If anyone wants to purchase a computer or add some memory in the next few years now would be a very good time.
Micron have just scrapped their consumer memory and storage brand Crucial because demand from AI exceeds what they can manufacture.
In case anyone doesn't understand how serious this is, Micron just shut down one of the biggest and most recognised brands in the consumer memory and SSD markets because they expect to literally have nothing available to sell to that market. Micron's entire output has been bought by AI and datacentre companies.
The computer industry (and much of the tech world) is heading into a period of shortages that will be COVID level or worse.
Definitely not a bubble....
Oh it’s a bubble, a really big bubble, but it could have several more years to run before it eventually bursts.
Reform UK 1121 / 745 Labour 767 / 579 Conservative 720 / 722 Liberal Democrat 295 / 154 Green Party 228 / 314
Cheryl Pidgeon, Derbyshire Community Party – 0/141
Froth off Reform, though the May councillor resigned so a local factor. Green surge but nowhere near Tories higher vote on a lower turnout, always a good sign Labour - Continued disappointment Lib Dems moribund
"A Scottish Labour MP has said claims Westminster colleagues are planning to topple Keir Starmer are “absolute and total bollocks”. The parliamentarian hit out over claims in The Times that the Prime Minister could face a leadership challenge from Scottish MPs in the New Year."
Starmer to delay new Mayoral elections for 2 years
Has he been talking to Trump
Some of the areas requiring reorganisations will take more time that their rather ambitious timetable would allow for. But there are other areas which are pretty ready to go, so I'm a little surprised it'd all be delayed.
In Hampshire they are only now consulting on the new council boundaries, before which no work can be done on council size, ward boundaries, etc. There is no way that elections to these councils can take place next year - it was always inevitable that those areas faced with reorganisation would see a further postponement to 2027. The surprise in this story - if the papers the Indy has “seen” are accurate - is the further delay to 2028.
Comments
As TSE noted upthread, dementia isn't all or nothing. Someone can be fine most of the time, but then occasionally very confused. There's a very common problem that people start to decline and the people around don't notice at first because they are still mostly competent. Clever, talented people can make it even harder to spot. Someone very clever with a bit of cognitive decline can still be cleverer than your average bod, after all! Someone who is charming, charismatic, skilled at acting, you can easily see how that could carry them through many situations.
When you listen to what they actually say you can see that their best hope is only to achieve a ceasefire on the current frontline. That's it. They are hoping to convince Putin that he's conquered as much as he can get this time, and to take a break.
So the war continues, until for one side or the other it cannot continue any more.
My idol. I want to become the Edinburgh version.
Why are the training slides which the NHS is already developing saying that the training should be targeted at oncologists and palliative care doctors?
Why is there no conscience opt-out? What about people who do not believe in it, whether medical professionals or hospices? Why are they not given a choice?
Why have those proposing the Bill refused all safeguards - especially to prevent coercion?
Why is the government refusing to find palliative care properly?
Why did Starmer say in the Commons recently that the law should be "effective" and "enforceable" but notably refused to say that it should be "safe"?
Why is Falconer saying that being poor is a reason to get the state to help you kill yourself? There was a time when the Labour Party thought its job was to help the poor, to alleviate their poverty. Now it thinks they should be killed instead.
Every single medical group, the disabled groups, those who know about coercion, coroners etc - everyone with any expertise in the care of the very sick etc.,has said this Bill is unsafe and will lead to the forced deaths of the vulnerable. And the Labour Party is the one seeking to push it through with minimal scrutiny, without a proper mandate and by bullying those who raise concerns.
Last week I told my oncologist that on no account was he or any of the team treating me even to think about suggesting suicide to me. He told me that he wouldn't and that he didn't believe in it. But I now have to worry - on top of everything else - if this bill becomes law that when doctors tell me there is nothing more they can do for me - whether this is really a medical assessment or whether they are under financial pressure to stop treating me because it will save the NHS money and push me into suicide instead because to the state my life is no longer worth living. That I should even have to worry about this is unconscionable. This Bill will break the trust a patient should be able to have in their doctor. It will break the NHS if it becomes a service which thinks that the administration of death is what it should be doing.
Those on here who handwave this fear away can fuck off, frankly. And I never ever want to hear again from Labour Party supporters that they are somehow morally better than everyone else. When the state adopts an attitude which views the sick, the disabled, the old, the abused, the mentally ill, the mentally distressed, the unhappy, the poor as lives which are not worth living, as people who should be helped to die rather than helped to live, a moral Rubicon has been crossed. "Let's kill useless mouths to feed for the greater good" is an experiment that's been tried before and it did not end well.
The ability to read a script and deliver a line was still there, though.
Already this has happened in the US, Slovakia and Czechia. The French Presidential election is looming. How much support can Ukraine expect from Le Pen? What about PM Farage?
In the first year of the war it was confidently predicted that the West would send a tidal wave of weapons that would overwhelm Russia. This hasn't happened. The West has chosen not to provide that level of support. It's been a choice to punch below our weight.
Why is that? It's in trying to understand why we've chosen not to help Ukraine win that I come to the conclusion that Western leaders are almost as scared of Russia losing as they are of Ukraine losing.
I think this is a massive miscalculation that we are going to suffer from for decades to come - unless at this late stage we change course.
Health secretary wants clinical review of the rise in conditions such as ADHD and autism that cause people to drop out of the workforce" (£)
https://www.thetimes.com/uk/healthcare/article/wes-streeting-orders-inquiry-into-mental-health-overdiagnosis-hgpzjx7d5
But no one has -yet- stepped up and assumed the mantel of leadership.
Which is a shame.
He didn't know us and it was heartbreaking
My wife and I couldn't talk about it for 2 years and even now it is so painful
Dementia is a wicked disease
The consequences are likely to be a never ending war sadly
Would you forbid doctors from suggesting abortion as an option to anyone who is pregnant?
If people are in agony and want to end their suffering, then facilitating that is a medical treatment.
If you don't want it, say no. But trying to shove your views on others is illiberal.
Has he been talking to Trump
Micron have just scrapped their consumer memory and storage brand Crucial because demand from AI exceeds what they can manufacture.
The computer industry (and much of the tech world) is heading into a period of shortages that will be COVID level or worse.
Western leaders are scared of being seen by voters of spending money on Ukraine when there are people struggling at home. They - by and large - would love to see Russia defeated. But they don't want to be thrown out by voters for sending tens of billions of dollars worth of taxpayers' money abroad.
Will they listen? I hope so, but recognize that DJT and RFK, Jr. are not known for being good listeners.
The end of your life will be an enduring mystery which Netflix will be making “unsolved” programmes about for years and then, when the hitman makes a death bed confession you get another true crime series and a movie made about it ensuring your place in cultural history.
Sod a soulless machine in Zug.
No disrespect, nor just because I disagree with her, but because she is not remotely on this matter a dispassionate observer.
She cares passionately and believes what she says, which is not a bad thing at all, but clouds judgment.
Maine - DEM Senate Polling:
🟢 Platner: 58%
🔵 Mills: 38%
Z to A Research / Nov 18, 2025
https://x.com/USA_Polling/status/1996284452754862249
News - MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell to run for Minnesota governor
https://x.com/PpollingNumbers/status/1996289202678620297
- "Hell", @viewcode for politicalbetting.com, 29/11/2024 see https://www1.politicalbetting.com/index.php/archives/2024/11/29/hell/
We treat sick pets with more humanity than those who are actually able to express their wishes.
This Bill is not remotely liberal enough. The six month proviso should be abolished, for people like your dad. People should be able to sign living wills with advanced directives in case they get illnesses like dementia.
None of that is in this Bill. Its a starting point, hopefully one day it gets liberalised much further.
Do you want this? Are you sure? Ok, seven day cooling off period, come back next week if you are still certain. Job done.
No judges, messing around, eligibility criteria or anything else.
The Independent has seen briefing notes from officials suggesting that mayoral elections will postponed from 2026 to 2028
Keir Starmer’s government is expected to announce that crucial elections for new mayors are set to be postponed by two years. Elections for newly created mayoral posts in Cumbria, Cheshire & Warrington, Norfolk & Suffolk, Greater Essex, Sussex & Brighton, and Hampshire & Solent were due to be held next year. But it is understood the elections, where Reform are tipped to win, will be postponed by two years until 2028."
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/mayoral-elections-labour-reform-postpone-b2877661.html
You can't half fight a war though. This isn't like transport infrastructure where you can decide to build it more slowly and spread the cost out over more years. The war needs to be fought and won now.
Nobody should be left to feel that a train, or similar, is their only way out.
If someone wants to die they should be offered support, eg Samaritans style, but if they have firmly made their mind up there should be a safer and more humane option than stepping in front of trains.
Assisted death should be an option to everyone who desires it, whatever their reasons. Their life, their choice.
Long Eaton North (Derbyshire)
➡️ RFM: 28.1% (-7.7)
🌳 CON: 27.2% (+4.2)
🌹 LAB: 21.8% (-2.7)
🌍 GRN: 11.8% (+4.5)
🔶 LDM: 5.8% (-3.6)
🏘️ DCP: 5.3% (New)
https://x.com/atrupar/status/1996333935245111625
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/mayoral-elections-labour-reform-postpone-b2877661.html
Suicide was of course illegal until 1961 and you could be arrested after a failed suicide attempt
The evidence against him will be overwhelming.
Some might say this is a slight over reaction against a percieved slight on an internet message board, but needs must, as they say.
MemTotal: 196932540 kB
Good job I went shopping last year!
Interestingly, Overclockers UK have said their DDR5 sales are above normal, even given the insane prices. I suspect people are panic buying in expectation (correctly) of stocks completely drying up in the next month or two.
Jeez.
Those who insist on perpetuating the lives of those who don't want to live them anymore will be seen as peculiarly cruel before this century is out.
Got to say it doesn't look pretty and currently Apple's memory prices are starting to look reasonable.
I often think how wretched that final walk must have been. In the dark. Bushes scratching. The wind.
So yeah - more mental health support and other options would be kinda good - male or female.
Diana Rigg is the main character. It used to be on YouTube, not sure if its still online
She wasn't clear.
Wokerati Marty
@WokeratiMarty
A clip from the New Statesman’s review of last weekends Your Party conference.
https://x.com/WokeratiMarty/status/1996291743310868922
A similar thing happened to a good friend of mine after University: the girl he was dating committed suicide, and it took him a long time to get over it.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15350179/Teenage-cadets-kicked-camp-defence-chiefs.html
Cadets have been ordered to leave their long-standing training camp to make way for 600 small-boat migrants.
The site in rural Crowborough, East Sussex, is set to be turned into open accommodation for male asylum seekers by the end of the month.
On Wednesday night, the town's No.8 Detachment of cadets paraded for the last time at the camp, previously used by the British and Canadian military during the First and Second World Wars.
Those in favour of it at the time were saying it will be rare and will stop the same thing happening but illegally and dangerously, but a few decades later we have a quarter of a million per year and going up.
If the GOP wants to go hard on Tim Walz over the Somali corruption scandal, they need someone a little more serious than a pillow salesman doing it.
Whoever abolished duelling has a lot to answer for.
Political correctness gone mad ...
All out by lunch....
LE in May / Result just now
Reform UK 1121 / 745
Labour 767 / 579
Conservative 720 / 722
Liberal Democrat 295 / 154
Green Party 228 / 314
Cheryl Pidgeon, Derbyshire Community Party – 0/141
Froth off Reform, though the May councillor resigned so a local factor.
Green surge but nowhere near
Tories higher vote on a lower turnout, always a good sign
Labour - Continued disappointment
Lib Dems moribund
"A Scottish Labour MP has said claims Westminster colleagues are planning to topple Keir Starmer are “absolute and total bollocks”. The parliamentarian hit out over claims in The Times that the Prime Minister could face a leadership challenge from Scottish MPs in the New Year."
Lunch might be a stretch.
Maybe we make the first drinks break.