The Prime Minister is set to give a press conference tomorrow morning in Downing Street following the frantic diplomatic activity of the past 24 hours in response to Donald Trump’s extraordinary threats to impose tariffs on the UK and other European allies over Greenland @SkyNews
Anything less than a Love Actually moment and the nation will be sorely disappointed.
Isn't it a fairly easy one for him?
No nation can be blackmailed like this, and the EU certainly cannot submit to it, so the response has to be eff off Donald and do your worst. The consequences for world trade will be catastrophic, and that obviously impacts the US as much if not more than most countries.
I cannot imagine DT does not blink at that point, but if he doesn't, c'est la vie.
He needs to have a speech tailored to Americans not Trump, as do all other European leaders. Finally all that bullshit where Americans call themselves “Irish-American”, “German -American” etc might be useful.
“Don’t pretend you are x-American if you are happy to sell Europe to Trump’s friends over the ordinary working man”.
The extraordinary meeting of EU leaders to discuss Greenland could take physically as soon as Thursday, 22 January, according to EU officials.
It will take place in Brussels after leaders attend the WEF in Davos.
By Thursday the whole meeting could be moot - that leaves 3 days for Trump to open up the gates of the American base there and take over..
Isn't the American base a long way from Nuuk?
Yes, what does a US occupation actually look like?
CIA SADS/SF/PMCs kill or intern the government and take over the airport.
Start flying in the occupying forces on C-17/C-5 from Dover AFB in Maine.
That's the takeover. What dues the occupation look like ?
Americans never leave the base.
10km cordon around it - anybody within that can be shot, in an ICE manner.
The locals can otherwise get on with their lives in a grumpy way, making giant obscene snowmen of Trump shagging Hegseth but otherwise impotent.
The funny thing is that the Americans have absolutely no idea about the losses European countries have taken through history. They think the US civil war was bad but they have no understanding of the devastation Europehas taken as “normal” from the Hundred Years’ War, thirty years war, war of the roses, English civil war, seven years war, Napoleonic wars, WW1 and 2 pre US involvement.
We have had a remarkably peaceful period but there is a deep seated culture in Europe that accepts war and brutality that the US has very little concept of.
Don't you think that European culture has changed now that it's a continent of pensioners and Eurovision who hide behind the sofa at the shout of "drone!"
It's not as though Europeans have exhibited a war-fighting spirit when it comes to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The Prime Minister is set to give a press conference tomorrow morning in Downing Street following the frantic diplomatic activity of the past 24 hours in response to Donald Trump’s extraordinary threats to impose tariffs on the UK and other European allies over Greenland @SkyNews
Anything less than a Love Actually moment and the nation will be sorely disappointed.
‘I have in my pocket a THIRD state visit invitation…’
I am disappointed nobody spotted the subtle Queen music reference in the headline.
I think your puns are made in heaven. They always have the appropriate amount of innuendo. The miracle is that you keep coming up with them. It's a kind of magic how, whether we are discussing the news of the world or just a day at the races, you still deliver the works.
Yes usually we are the champions at squeezing in a music related pun.
We all prefer 80's music references to a Night at the Opera.
Each time someone posts a Queen pun, they Save Me the trouble.
The Prime Minister is set to give a press conference tomorrow morning in Downing Street following the frantic diplomatic activity of the past 24 hours in response to Donald Trump’s extraordinary threats to impose tariffs on the UK and other European allies over Greenland @SkyNews
Anything less than a Love Actually moment and the nation will be sorely disappointed.
‘I have in my pocket a THIRD state visit invitation…’
"Given the title has recently been vacated, His Majesty has agreed to award the title of Honorary Duke of York to His Excellency, President Donald Trump".
The extraordinary meeting of EU leaders to discuss Greenland could take physically as soon as Thursday, 22 January, according to EU officials.
It will take place in Brussels after leaders attend the WEF in Davos.
By Thursday the whole meeting could be moot - that leaves 3 days for Trump to open up the gates of the American base there and take over..
Isn't the American base a long way from Nuuk?
Yes, what does a US occupation actually look like?
CIA SADS/SF/PMCs kill or intern the government and take over the airport.
Start flying in the occupying forces on C-17/C-5 from Dover AFB in Maine.
That's the takeover. What dues the occupation look like ?
Americans never leave the base.
10km cordon around it - anybody within that can be shot, in an ICE manner.
The locals can otherwise get on with their lives in a grumpy way, making giant obscene snowmen of Trump shagging Hegseth but otherwise impotent.
The funny thing is that the Americans have absolutely no idea about the losses European countries have taken through history. They think the US civil war was bad but they have no understanding of the devastation Europehas taken as “normal” from the Hundred Years’ War, thirty years war, war of the roses, English civil war, seven years war, Napoleonic wars, WW1 and 2 pre US involvement.
We have had a remarkably peaceful period but there is a deep seated culture in Europe that accepts war and brutality that the US has very little concept of.
Don't you think that European culture has changed now that it's a continent of pensioners and Eurovision who hide behind the sofa at the shout of "drone!"
It's not as though Europeans have exhibited a war-fighting spirit when it comes to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
I think there is still a strong cultural memory and sadly for Ukraine they were not in the idea of “Europe” as in WW2 they were “Russia” and all people really knew about Ukraine was Chernobyl.
Europe was in Afghanistan, Iraq, the Sahara, Sierra Leone. There are natural skills in Arctic areas for many Euro countries. Europe isn’t soft, America is just loud.
This is fairly well understood by anyone who works with AI on a technical basis. LLMs are not a basis for AGI, companies like OpenAI just hope LLMs will be useful enough to provide them with the cash and compute power to work out what is.
The Prime Minister is set to give a press conference tomorrow morning in Downing Street following the frantic diplomatic activity of the past 24 hours in response to Donald Trump’s extraordinary threats to impose tariffs on the UK and other European allies over Greenland @SkyNews
Anything less than a Love Actually moment and the nation will be sorely disappointed.
‘I have in my pocket a THIRD state visit invitation…’
"Given the title has recently been vacated, His Majesty has agreed to award the title of Honorary Duke of York to His Excellency, President Donald Trump".
Charles III is apparently due to go on state visit to Orange face's liar in April.
Just 45 more defections until the Lib Dems become the official opposition.
Fewer if any Tories go direct to the Lib Dems.
Which if it ever looks like hitting that tipping point, is certainly possible.
Name me one Tory MP likely to defect to the LibDems.
Badenoch has moved Conservative Party policy considerably to the right since everyone last stood on a manifesto, there must be many wondering how they feel about the glib offerings on ECHR and Net Zero, for example. Maybe they will wait though, driven by considering if it’s a better chance or not to hold their current or any seat if standing as a Libdem, also for more meat on the bones of the economic offering, as economics is normally at the heart of someone’s politics.
Esther and Mark to Reform look like the next to defections, if I was a betting person.
The extraordinary meeting of EU leaders to discuss Greenland could take physically as soon as Thursday, 22 January, according to EU officials.
It will take place in Brussels after leaders attend the WEF in Davos.
By Thursday the whole meeting could be moot - that leaves 3 days for Trump to open up the gates of the American base there and take over..
Isn't the American base a long way from Nuuk?
Yes, what does a US occupation actually look like?
CIA SADS/SF/PMCs kill or intern the government and take over the airport.
Start flying in the occupying forces on C-17/C-5 from Dover AFB in Maine.
That's the takeover. What dues the occupation look like ?
Americans never leave the base.
10km cordon around it - anybody within that can be shot, in an ICE manner.
The locals can otherwise get on with their lives in a grumpy way, making giant obscene snowmen of Trump shagging Hegseth but otherwise impotent.
The funny thing is that the Americans have absolutely no idea about the losses European countries have taken through history. They think the US civil war was bad but they have no understanding of the devastation Europehas taken as “normal” from the Hundred Years’ War, thirty years war, war of the roses, English civil war, seven years war, Napoleonic wars, WW1 and 2 pre US involvement.
We have had a remarkably peaceful period but there is a deep seated culture in Europe that accepts war and brutality that the US has very little concept of.
Don't you think that European culture has changed now that it's a continent of pensioners and Eurovision who hide behind the sofa at the shout of "drone!"
I think it was Bill Bryson in one of his books describing (fondly) the continents as though they were people of specific age groups, with Europe being someone in their 40s - 'Exhausted but not without areas of interest'.
2 Apologies to anyone who listened to me saying that Rozzer was a loyal Conservative in a way that Jenrick wasn't.
3 Eagles is right about his people skills; from the point of view of being seen around the place, and available for weddings and bar mitzvahs, he's the best. I doubt there are many public buildings in Romford that don't have a portrait of the monarch, generously presented by the local MP.
4 But despite being an MP since 2001, I don't think he was ever a minister. Admittedly, he was unavailable in the mad bit of summer 2022 when BoJo was desperate for anyone to serve, but it's still indicative of his skillset.
5 The Chagos thing has to be nonsense, doesn't it? Not that he doesn't believe in their cause, but it surely isn't a reason to jump to Reform now.
6 I wonder how his old party will respond.
7 So much for the really careful vetting that el Nige promised us.
8 The council elections for Havering (3.5 months away) will presumably be even more of a shitshow than they were going to be already. (One of our local Conservative councillors, talented and going places but deselected for insufficient loyalty to the Andrissimo, recently changed his social media pic to the Traitors logo.)
9 Did I say blimey?
I'm surprised because his minions were still out and about working hard for him right before Christmas. I'm not surprised because there has been hardly a fag paper of difference between him and Farage's party (under whatever branding).
He definitely fits the liar or crook or both mould of the other Reform MPs (I have heard some interesting stories from recent members of the Romford Conservative Association). He is personally very polite but also crashingly dull with no sense of humour at all. He adds nothing to them except anther failed Tory, except in his case nobody gas ever trusted him to run anything so I suppose you can't really accuse him of failure.
It's a shame the news broke when it did because I was with a Conservative councillor until about 5 minutes before, who clearly didn't know about it either because we were discussing local politics! I imagine the party will be in disarray locally as it was very much his private fiefdom, purged of anyone except Rosindell loyalists. Presumably they will also all now join Reform, and half of the current Reform members will leave.
On the positive side for the Conservatives it does open the possibility that I might vote Tory in a GE for the first time ever, if they select a sensible candidate.
All this does is cement Kemi's position and I expect her now to lead into the next GE
A little counter intuitive!! If she loses many more she she be able to hold her shadow cabinet meetings in a taxi.
She will lead the official opposition to the GE and so much better without Jenrick and others
Yes to the first part, possibly to the second, but it could be the last GE the Conservative Party in its current form contests.
This is fairly well understood by anyone who works with AI on a technical basis. LLMs are not a basis for AGI, companies like OpenAI just hope LLMs will be useful enough to provide them with the cash and compute power to work out what is.
They always tell a better story than that when pitching though, for understandable reasons.
Aren't they still on the 'figure out how LLMs will make money' stage of the process though? The hyperscaling is insane, revenue is expanding, but most people presumably aren't yet paying for services?
The Prime Minister is set to give a press conference tomorrow morning in Downing Street following the frantic diplomatic activity of the past 24 hours in response to Donald Trump’s extraordinary threats to impose tariffs on the UK and other European allies over Greenland @SkyNews
Anything less than a Love Actually moment and the nation will be sorely disappointed.
‘I have in my pocket a THIRD state visit invitation…’
"Given the title has recently been vacated, His Majesty has agreed to award the title of Honorary Duke of York to His Excellency, President Donald Trump".
Charles III is apparently due to go on state visit to Orange face's liar in April.
Cancel.
Time to test out that centuries of breeding to make nice with anyone.
And someone get on with making a solid gold golf club to present as the gift, and tell him it belonged to King Arthur, greatest of all the kings (until Trump).
"Doctors warn of 'horrific' impact of tech and devices on children and young people's health The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges says it wants to highlight the risks of unrestricted content and screen time to children and young people."
This is fairly well understood by anyone who works with AI on a technical basis. LLMs are not a basis for AGI, companies like OpenAI just hope LLMs will be useful enough to provide them with the cash and compute power to work out what is.
They always tell a better story than that when pitching though, for understandable reasons.
Aren't they still on the 'figure out how LLMs will make money' stage of the process though? The hyperscaling is insane, revenue is expanding, but most people presumably aren't yet paying for services?
Yes - it is clear that that "AIs" are no such thing. But they have their uses. And the real question is, as you say, what the real price is.
It looks like the last week of January and Early February is going to be cold snap, with ongoing ice and snow in North Yorkshire, as someone on PB warned a week ago.
This is fairly well understood by anyone who works with AI on a technical basis. LLMs are not a basis for AGI, companies like OpenAI just hope LLMs will be useful enough to provide them with the cash and compute power to work out what is.
They always tell a better story than that when pitching though, for understandable reasons.
Aren't they still on the 'figure out how LLMs will make money' stage of the process though? The hyperscaling is insane, revenue is expanding, but most people presumably aren't yet paying for services?
Yes - it is clear that that "AIs" are no such thing. But they have their uses. And the real question is, as you say, what the real price is.
They are completely distorting the compute market. Dell are quoting 6 weeks delivery for laptops because the RAM is being hoarded for use in data centers that haven't been built yet for AI that nobody wants to pay for
You can buy old stock SBCs for less than the RAM they have soldered onto the boards
Just 45 more defections until the Lib Dems become the official opposition.
Fewer if any Tories go direct to the Lib Dems.
Which if it ever looks like hitting that tipping point, is certainly possible.
Name me one Tory MP likely to defect to the LibDems.
Caroline Nokes
Tory to her finger tips.
That's what I would have said about my MP John Steed soundalike Peter Temple-Morris. His father had been a Tory MP before him and he was definitely a Tory 'til I die type who first went independent and then joined Blair in opposition. Not long before his passing he was doing work for Corbyn.
Johnson: I would like to say much about our history of friendship and comradery. But because of recent events, I am required by the President to tell you we hate your f*cking guts, you weak, woke-ass liberal pieces of crap.
Just 45 more defections until the Lib Dems become the official opposition.
Fewer if any Tories go direct to the Lib Dems.
Which if it ever looks like hitting that tipping point, is certainly possible.
Name me one Tory MP likely to defect to the LibDems.
Caroline Nokes
Tory to her finger tips.
That's what I would have said about my MP John Steed soundalike Peter Temple-Morris. His father had been a Tory MP before him and he was definitely a Tory 'til I die type who first went independent and then joined Blair in opposition. Not long before his passing he was doing work for Corbyn.
As I explained already, if motivated by staying MP, then winning seat as a Conservative at low water mark 2024 likely indicates staying put best chance of winning seat. Just being a One Nation Conservative is no reason to leave Badenoch’s party for Lib Dem’s, simply stand on Kemi’s manifesto with fingers crossed behind the back, and battle to return the party to centre in the future - exactly the same as entire current Labour cabinet done in 2019!
Highy unlikely any manifesto Badenoch produces gets voted on in the HoC.
Johnson: I would like to say much about our history of friendship and comradery. But because of recent events, I am required by the President to tell you we hate your f*cking guts, you weak, woke-ass liberal pieces of crap.
Now, about the trade deal....
The Trump lickspittle should just fxck off . Time to put the stupid charade of the special relationship out of its misery !
Uniparty is an americanism that super lame people attempted to make a thing but have largely failed. I think Reform tends to stick with 'Legacy parties' instead.
This is fairly well understood by anyone who works with AI on a technical basis. LLMs are not a basis for AGI, companies like OpenAI just hope LLMs will be useful enough to provide them with the cash and compute power to work out what is.
They always tell a better story than that when pitching though, for understandable reasons.
Aren't they still on the 'figure out how LLMs will make money' stage of the process though? The hyperscaling is insane, revenue is expanding, but most people presumably aren't yet paying for services?
They've discovered it's brutally difficult to make money from LLMs. The general public find them useful and will use them if they're free, but are not prepared to pay much if anything at all. And those who get enough from LLMs to pay tend to use them so much it's hard to make any profit. OpenAI charges £200/month for unrestricted access to the latest ChatGPT model and still loses money on the deal.
The only businesses making real money from LLMs are NVIDIA and TSMC, much like the shovel vendors during the gold rush.
This is fairly well understood by anyone who works with AI on a technical basis. LLMs are not a basis for AGI, companies like OpenAI just hope LLMs will be useful enough to provide them with the cash and compute power to work out what is.
They always tell a better story than that when pitching though, for understandable reasons.
Aren't they still on the 'figure out how LLMs will make money' stage of the process though? The hyperscaling is insane, revenue is expanding, but most people presumably aren't yet paying for services?
As I understand it Anthropic at on about +70% margins on API calls just now. If they stopped their new model training runs they'd be massively profitable. As it is they're due to reach break even in a year or so. No idea what margins google are on given they own the whole stack.
Danish MP Rasmus Jarlov, speaking about Stephen Miller: “I hope he’s kept away from young women, because that’s the mentality of a rapist. You can’t defend yourself, so I’m going to take you. That’s basically what he’s saying” https://x.com/OldManLefty1/status/2012700921721933932
Starmer needs a script writer urgently. If you want to stand up to Trump you can't sound like Michael Crawford or he'll just drop more papers for him to pick up
I am disappointed nobody spotted the subtle Queen music reference in the headline.
I’m also amazed that nobody saw that Freddy was gay. Amazingly you can miss obvious things.
Freddie was gay?
My mother had a huge crush of Freddie and absolutely refused to believe it was possibly a 'non-goer'.
Also, my favourite Freddie story went along the lines of :
London cinema, early 80s, mid-feature break for ice-cream and ciggies. Freddie and friends had dressed up as 'ice cream girls' and were wandering round the audience offering free ice-cream cones. Handed one to a woman who asked "What am I supposed to do with this?"
Freddie's response? "You can shove it up your c**t for all I care, dearie!" and flounced off.
Yes, one day Democrats might reinstitute DEI training sessions no one goes to, that's the big worry right now, and not a president destroying the country and attacking the West.
To lose one MP to Reform in January can be considered unfortunate.
To lose two is downright careless.
And the Tories didn't have that many to begin with.
The 2 were Jenrick and Rosindell, if you wanted 2 Alan B'stards for 2026 those would be probably top of the list.
Hardly a shock they are now with Farage in Reform
Gotta be Kemi's best weekend since winning the leadership.
If she can find Bravermann's resignation letter tucked into the back of an office sofa then she gets the treble.
How many defections would have to happen for it to start to be a negative for the Tories?
I don’t know the number, but the Tories want to shed the skin of the party that was in charge for 14 years and the defections of old timers helps that. There is a reason Starmer always goes back to ‘14 years’ at PMQs. If Kemi can have a front bench of people untarnished from that period, I think that will help her. I’ve said it before, but I think the Tories look younger and more energetic than Reform, although Jenrick was helpful in that regard.
Badenoch, Katie Lam, and Laura Trott seem like a decent front for a revitalised party. Reform seem a bit old to me now
To lose one MP to Reform in January can be considered unfortunate.
To lose two is downright careless.
And the Tories didn't have that many to begin with.
The 2 were Jenrick and Rosindell, if you wanted 2 Alan B'stards for 2026 those would be probably top of the list.
Hardly a shock they are now with Farage in Reform
Gotta be Kemi's best weekend since winning the leadership.
If she can find Bravermann's resignation letter tucked into the back of an office sofa then she gets the treble.
How many defections would have to happen for it to start to be a negative for the Tories?
I don’t know the number, but the Tories want to shed the skin of the party that was in charge for 14 years and the defections of old timers helps that. There is a reason Starmer always goes back to ‘14 years’ at PMQs. If Kemi can have a front bench of people untarnished from that period, I think that will help her. I’ve said it before, but I think the Tories look younger and more energetic than Reform, although Jenrick was helpful in that regard.
Badenoch, Katie Lam, and Laura Trott seem like a decent front for a revitalised party. Reform seem a bit old to me now
That only works if you have enough MPs left to form a front bench. It's all very well saying that the Tories would be better off without this person or that but they need to have some people left.
Johnson: I would like to say much about our history of friendship and comradery. But because of recent events, I am required by the President to tell you we hate your f*cking guts, you weak, woke-ass liberal pieces of crap.
Now, about the trade deal....
The Trump lickspittle should just fxck off . Time to put the stupid charade of the special relationship out of its misery !
Can't parliament just cancel him? Or all turn up in inflatable Trump baby costumes...
I am disappointed nobody spotted the subtle Queen music reference in the headline.
I’m also amazed that nobody saw that Freddy was gay. Amazingly you can miss obvious things.
Freddie was gay?
My mother had a huge crush of Freddie and absolutely refused to believe it was possibly a 'non-goer'.
Also, my favourite Freddie story went along the lines of :
London cinema, early 80s, mid-feature break for ice-cream and ciggies. Freddie and friends had dressed up as 'ice cream girls' and were wandering round the audience offering free ice-cream cones. Handed one to a woman who asked "What am I supposed to do with this?"
Freddie's response? "You can shove it up your c**t for all I care, dearie!" and flounced off.
I had just arrived at the Holiday Inn in Glasgow and there was a crowd several deep snaking round the entrance foyer. I asked a waiter what was going on and was told Queen were staying there and they were queuing up for an autograph. So I went to have a look and sitting on an armchair at the front of the queue was my camera assistant signing autographs. I asked my PA what was going on and she said he was the spitting image of Roger Taylor and someone had asked for his autograph and he signed it and then dozens of others followed on. I said what name was he sighning and she said 'Roger Taylor'
The new BA tier points structure sets impossible hurdles even for frequent flyers regularly using business or first. I have always planned my extensive and expensive global travel through London to use BA. These days are over. I will now use whatever airline is most convenient and competitive. It will make travel planning easier. I can make more use of other airlines whose business and first seats are far superior to BA. Hello Emirates, Qatar, Singapore, Etihad etc. I have BA gold for life so it no longer matters how much I use BA. I also have Group 0 status which is meant to allow priority boarding. But, like yesterday in Nice they could not even be bothered to call it. Same in London for plane to NYC. BA can’t even organise an orderly queue at the gate these days , something you’d think would come naturally to a British airline given the Brit propensity to queue. BA now run by numpties who put no value on long-standing, big-spending loyal customers, of which I’ve been one for 55 years!! They can’t even get the little things right. I flew London-NYC yesterday in First. WiFi meant to be free and I needed it for work. But free wifi didn’t work. So I had to pay for it. The lovely crew embarrassed by the poor service. I remember when my friend John King was the boss how proud the crews were to work for BA. Long gone. Crews are ashamed. No idea who runs BA these days. But he/she clearly useless. They’ve inherited the dead hand and cheapskate service of Willie Walsh, whose inability to determine what quality service meant began the long-running decline. He really was useless. Crew moral is very low as a result. Passengers see it. Good crew people, badly led. They lost any pride on working for what was once ‘the world’s favourite airline’ — then a matter of pride for staff and country and passengers. Now BA is just another middling airline over charging over the odds for a level of service barely above the cheaper budget airlines. A business model with suicide written all over it."
I am disappointed nobody spotted the subtle Queen music reference in the headline.
I’m also amazed that nobody saw that Freddy was gay. Amazingly you can miss obvious things.
Freddie was gay?
My mother had a huge crush of Freddie and absolutely refused to believe it was possibly a 'non-goer'.
Also, my favourite Freddie story went along the lines of :
London cinema, early 80s, mid-feature break for ice-cream and ciggies. Freddie and friends had dressed up as 'ice cream girls' and were wandering round the audience offering free ice-cream cones. Handed one to a woman who asked "What am I supposed to do with this?"
Freddie's response? "You can shove it up your c**t for all I care, dearie!" and flounced off.
I had just arrived at the Holiday Inn in Glasgow and there was a crowd several deep snaking round the entrance foyer. I asked a waiter what was going on and was told Queen were staying there and they were queuing up for an autograph. So I went to have a look and sitting on an armchair at the front of the queue was my camera assistant signing autographs. I asked my PA what was going on and she said he was the spitting image of Roger Taylor and someone had asked for his autograph and he signed it and then dozens of others followed on. I said what name was he sighning and she said 'Roger Taylor'
Is this like that case the other day where some guy dressed as a navy admiral?
Republican activists starting to lose patience with the Congresscritters not doing their job. It sounds like they want to start gearing up to primary those who have sat on their arses for a year, and not even attempted to pass anything such as codification of executive orders.
Republican activists starting to lose patience with the Congresscritters not doing their job. It sounds like they want to start gearing up to primary those who have sat on their arses for a year, and not even attempted to pass anything such as codification of executive orders.
I want to make something clear to Republican House & Senate members:
The American people don’t want to hear that you WON’T introduce legislation b/c you think it won’t pass.
We EXPECT you to vote on bills, so we can find out who’s with us & against us.
There's a reason, though, why this hasn't happened.
In theory, the Republicans have a five vote majority.
However, Republican Representative of the California 1st -Doug LaMalfa- died about ten days ago. So, it's really just a four vote majority.
Oh yes, and then Marjorie Taylor Greene resigned from Congress. So, now it's three vote majority.
And one of those is Victoria Spartz, who while technically a Republican, has been generally pissed off over the Trump handling of Ukraine, and has resigned all her Republican assignments.
Then there are another dozen or so Republicans in districts which were won by tiny margins, and who ran as moderates. Their only chance of getting reelected in November is to avoid being put in a situation where they have to vote for policies that their electorates disagree with. A couple of these: Brian Fitzpatrick and Mike Lawler are in districts which voted Democrat in the Senate and which Kamala won, and they are only Republican because their Representatives have done an incredible of job of courting conservative Democratic votes. Most of the Trump Executive Orders that the activists want voting on are going to be complete electoral poison in the midterms. Their only hope of reelection in November is persuade their Republican base that they would vote for these things... while making sure they don't actually have to vote on -say- tariffs.
The new BA tier points structure sets impossible hurdles even for frequent flyers regularly using business or first. I have always planned my extensive and expensive global travel through London to use BA. These days are over. I will now use whatever airline is most convenient and competitive. It will make travel planning easier. I can make more use of other airlines whose business and first seats are far superior to BA. Hello Emirates, Qatar, Singapore, Etihad etc. I have BA gold for life so it no longer matters how much I use BA. I also have Group 0 status which is meant to allow priority boarding. But, like yesterday in Nice they could not even be bothered to call it. Same in London for plane to NYC. BA can’t even organise an orderly queue at the gate these days , something you’d think would come naturally to a British airline given the Brit propensity to queue. BA now run by numpties who put no value on long-standing, big-spending loyal customers, of which I’ve been one for 55 years!! They can’t even get the little things right. I flew London-NYC yesterday in First. WiFi meant to be free and I needed it for work. But free wifi didn’t work. So I had to pay for it. The lovely crew embarrassed by the poor service. I remember when my friend John King was the boss how proud the crews were to work for BA. Long gone. Crews are ashamed. No idea who runs BA these days. But he/she clearly useless. They’ve inherited the dead hand and cheapskate service of Willie Walsh, whose inability to determine what quality service meant began the long-running decline. He really was useless. Crew moral is very low as a result. Passengers see it. Good crew people, badly led. They lost any pride on working for what was once ‘the world’s favourite airline’ — then a matter of pride for staff and country and passengers. Now BA is just another middling airline over charging over the odds for a level of service barely above the cheaper budget airlines. A business model with suicide written all over it."
Republican activists starting to lose patience with the Congresscritters not doing their job. It sounds like they want to start gearing up to primary those who have sat on their arses for a year, and not even attempted to pass anything such as codification of executive orders.
I want to make something clear to Republican House & Senate members:
The American people don’t want to hear that you WON’T introduce legislation b/c you think it won’t pass.
We EXPECT you to vote on bills, so we can find out who’s with us & against us.
There's a reason, though, why this hasn't happened.
In theory, the Republicans have a five vote majority.
However, Republican Representative of the California 1st -Doug LaMalfa- died about ten days ago. So, it's really just a four vote majority.
Oh yes, and then Marjorie Taylor Greene resigned from Congress. So, now it's three vote majority.
And one of those is Victoria Spartz, who while technically a Republican, has been generally pissed off over the Trump handling of Ukraine, and has resigned all her Republican assignments.
Then there are another dozen or so Republicans in districts which were won by tiny margins, and who ran as moderates. Their only chance of getting reelected in November is to avoid being put in a situation where they have to vote for policies that their electorates disagree with. A couple of these: Brian Fitzpatrick and Mike Lawler are in districts which voted Democrat in the Senate and which Kamala won, and they are only Republican because their Representatives have done an incredible of job of courting conservative Democratic votes. Most of the Trump Executive Orders that the activists want voting on are going to be complete electoral poison in the midterms. Their only hope of reelection in November is persuade their Republican base that they would vote for these things... while making sure they don't actually have to vote on -say- tariffs.
Indeed, which is why the activists are furious with John Thune and Mike Johnson, and want Congress on record individually as voting for or against a number of single-issue bills. Voter ID is the latest one.
They all spent a considerable amount of time getting Trump elected, and don’t want to see everything good that the President has done, undone at the stroke of the pen of the next guy who turns up in the White House.
It’s rather like the peak of the Brexit votes in 2007 and 2008, where everyone wanted to see the MPs have to walk through the lobbies and be accountable for their actions afterwards.
Comments
“Don’t pretend you are x-American if you are happy to sell Europe to Trump’s friends over the ordinary working man”.
It's not as though Europeans have exhibited a war-fighting spirit when it comes to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Hardly a shock they are now with Farage in Reform
Europe was in Afghanistan, Iraq, the Sahara, Sierra Leone. There are natural skills in Arctic areas for many Euro countries. Europe isn’t soft, America is just loud.
Cancel.
Esther and Mark to Reform look like the next to defections, if I was a betting person.
If she can find Bravermann's resignation letter tucked into the back of an office sofa then she gets the treble.
Equities little movement.
30 year Treasury Bond down 0.75% in value, yielding 4.84%
Aren't they still on the 'figure out how LLMs will make money' stage of the process though? The hyperscaling is insane, revenue is expanding, but most people presumably aren't yet paying for services?
And someone get on with making a solid gold golf club to present as the gift, and tell him it belonged to King Arthur, greatest of all the kings (until Trump).
"Doctors warn of 'horrific' impact of tech and devices on children and young people's health
The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges says it wants to highlight the risks of unrestricted content and screen time to children and young people."
https://news.sky.com/story/doctors-warn-of-horrific-impact-of-tech-and-devices-on-young-peoples-health-13495803
"Doctors declare effects of child phone use a public health emergency"
https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/phone-impact-on-children-is-public-health-emergency-doctors-declare-c8n3xvfmp
Possibly could, in the event the Tories are disintegrating (as 40+ further defections would indicate)? That's a different story.
That will be fun.
Johnson’s address on Jan. 20 will be one of many ceremonial events the U.S. has planned to commemorate this year’s anniversary around the country.
https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2026/01/07/congress/mike-johnson-uk-parliament-speech-00713833
You can buy old stock SBCs for less than the RAM they have soldered onto the boards
I was too quick off the mark.
Or have him address an empty chamber.
Now, about the trade deal....
What's the point of making a party to take on the uniparty.
Only to build a party out of the uniparty'
https://x.com/TRobinsonNewEra/status/2013004254542225706?s=20
https://www.nytimes.com/
Highy unlikely any manifesto Badenoch produces gets voted on in the HoC.
@andrew_lilico
·
28m
There'll be plenty more defections to Reform soon. We've reached the tipping point now.
https://x.com/andrew_lilico
WarMonitor🇺🇦🇬🇧
@WarMonitor3
·
2h
The scale of this U.S. build up in the middle east is huge.
https://x.com/WarMonitor3/status/2012995057582813442
The only businesses making real money from LLMs are NVIDIA and TSMC, much like the shovel vendors during the gold rush.
OpenAI is an entirely open question mind you.
https://x.com/OldManLefty1/status/2012700921721933932
The Tory Party has reached the point where it is taking its dregs to the tip....
Also, my favourite Freddie story went along the lines of :
London cinema, early 80s, mid-feature break for ice-cream and ciggies. Freddie and friends had dressed up as 'ice cream girls' and were wandering round the audience offering free ice-cream cones. Handed one to a woman who asked "What am I supposed to do with this?"
Freddie's response? "You can shove it up your c**t for all I care, dearie!" and flounced off.
@RadioFreeTom
Yes, one day Democrats might reinstitute DEI training sessions no one goes to, that's the big worry right now, and not a president destroying the country and attacking the West.
https://x.com/RadioFreeTom/status/2012974957383270772
How can Patel join now? Farage's top recruit has basically said she is utterly shit and deliberately allowed a million brown faces in.
But if it makes the party that they vacate more coherent then it will matter in 2028/9
Badenoch, Katie Lam, and Laura Trott seem like a decent front for a revitalised party. Reform seem a bit old to me now
Or all turn up in inflatable Trump baby costumes...
Lewis Goodall
@lewis_goodall
Lib Dem source: “Just 45 more Tory defections until Ed becomes Leader of the Opposition.”
https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationprojections/bulletins/nationalpopulationprojections/2022based
"Andrew Neil
@afneil
The new BA tier points structure sets impossible hurdles even for frequent flyers regularly using business or first.
I have always planned my extensive and expensive global travel through London to use BA. These days are over.
I will now use whatever airline is most convenient and competitive. It will make travel planning easier. I can make more use of other airlines whose business and first seats are far superior to BA. Hello Emirates, Qatar, Singapore, Etihad etc.
I have BA gold for life so it no longer matters how much I use BA. I also have Group 0 status which is meant to allow priority boarding. But, like yesterday in Nice they could not even be bothered to call it. Same in London for plane to NYC. BA can’t even organise an orderly queue at the gate these days , something you’d think would come naturally to a British airline given the Brit propensity to queue.
BA now run by numpties who put no value on long-standing, big-spending loyal customers, of which I’ve been one for 55 years!!
They can’t even get the little things right. I flew London-NYC yesterday in First. WiFi meant to be free and I needed it for work. But free wifi didn’t work. So I had to pay for it. The lovely crew embarrassed by the poor service.
I remember when my friend John King was the boss how proud the crews were to work for BA. Long gone. Crews are ashamed. No idea who runs BA these days. But he/she clearly useless. They’ve inherited the dead hand and cheapskate service of Willie Walsh, whose inability to determine what quality service meant began the long-running decline. He really was useless.
Crew moral is very low as a result. Passengers see it. Good crew people, badly led. They lost any pride on working for what was once ‘the world’s favourite airline’ — then a matter of pride for staff and country and passengers. Now BA is just another middling airline over charging over the odds for a level of service barely above the cheaper budget airlines. A business model with suicide written all over it."
https://x.com/afneil/status/2012373091171655726
Liz Truss
@trussliz
Robert Jenrick may have joined Reform but who is he getting his orders from?
Trojan horse.
https://x.com/trussliz/status/2013019047693009025
Nasty train derailment in Spain. At least 21 dead.
https://x.com/scottpresler/status/2012945851094909202
I want to make something clear to Republican House & Senate members:
The American people don’t want to hear that you WON’T introduce legislation b/c you think it won’t pass.
We EXPECT you to vote on bills, so we can find out who’s with us & against us.
In theory, the Republicans have a five vote majority.
However, Republican Representative of the California 1st -Doug LaMalfa- died about ten days ago. So, it's really just a four vote majority.
Oh yes, and then Marjorie Taylor Greene resigned from Congress. So, now it's three vote majority.
And one of those is Victoria Spartz, who while technically a Republican, has been generally pissed off over the Trump handling of Ukraine, and has resigned all her Republican assignments.
Then there are another dozen or so Republicans in districts which were won by tiny margins, and who ran as moderates. Their only chance of getting reelected in November is to avoid being put in a situation where they have to vote for policies that their electorates disagree with. A couple of these: Brian Fitzpatrick and Mike Lawler are in districts which voted Democrat in the Senate and which Kamala won, and they are only Republican because their Representatives have done an incredible of job of courting conservative Democratic votes. Most of the Trump Executive Orders that the activists want voting on are going to be complete electoral poison in the midterms. Their only hope of reelection in November is persuade their Republican base that they would vote for these things... while making sure they don't actually have to vote on -say- tariffs.
They all spent a considerable amount of time getting Trump elected, and don’t want to see everything good that the President has done, undone at the stroke of the pen of the next guy who turns up in the White House.
It’s rather like the peak of the Brexit votes in 2007 and 2008, where everyone wanted to see the MPs have to walk through the lobbies and be accountable for their actions afterwards.