Healey might be worth going for: 1) Compromise candidate 2) Defence, highly relevant for current matters 3) Not totally mental
So we are at the "not totally mental" stage. Just as well there is nothing too serious going on.
We had the same with the equivalent Tory non-entity Ben Wallace.
Very true. The quality of options available to all of our parties these days is so far down on what it used to be. Where are the people with genuine talent who have decided that doing well for their country is more important than doing well for themselves? In any party? Is politics such a miserable game these days that they have decided it simply isn't worth the candle and left the field to a variety of buffoons and crackpots?
There might be something in Peter Cook's remarks on how well the Berlin satirical scene saved Germany from the Nazis.
Perhaps we do lampoon our leaders too much. How many of us could survive this much aggressive scrutiny?
Some people revel in it. And so rise above it.
And when people get brought down by "scrutiny" it's often for things that are basic sanity checks. Such as
- Don't commit sexual assaults on a regular basis - Don't be a slum landlord - Ease up on selling secrets to criminals and foreign powers.
Trouble is, we currently have the worst of both worlds. Enough snark to put off the well-meaning, but not enough to deflate the crooks and crazies.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Qatar are discussing pulling back from U.S. and other investments as the toll from this regional war with Iran mounts.
Politico has a report saying the Iranian war is likely to last until September at least (from a US perspective). I guess the thinking now is: once you’ve started you might as well finish. Totally obliterate Iran as a threat and adversary for a generation. Regime change is a bonus
If and when that happens Iran will go down, all drones blazing, destabilising the region for a looooooong time
This has the potential to destroy Dubai, Qatar, Abu Dhabi - all of them - as tourist/tech/financial hubs. Even zero income tax won’t make up for months of potential death by Shahed
At this point the Iranian threat to others has almost disappeared completely.
Reports from Iran are very scarce, but it looks like the US and Israel have done a damn good job at taking out almost every launch facility in the country.
The worst thing is that they claim policies were followed and don't seem to have changed their policies. So stay in a Travelodge and any random who knows you're there can potentially get a key card to your room in the middle of the night.
Sad to say our Council by-election resulted in a Reform gain from Independent (although the latter wasn't opposed by, and was would have sat with, the Greens.). They only bright spot was that Conservative candidate, in a once reasonably Conservative seat, came fourth. About 3.30pm, while we were watching the cricket, we had a knock on the door. Very pleasant lady there ...... "You do know it's Election Day today?". My wife said we'd already voted. "Conservative by any chance?" asked the lady. "No" said my wife and closed the door.
Never known anyone do that before.
31% is probably a fairly big undershoot for Reform in Essex despite winning, and on a big turnout. The CC might be rather variable. Greens stand a chance at CC level in your neck of the woods
We have a (hard-working) Green County Councillor already and I would expect him to hold his seat next time. Braintree itself seems to have a lot of flags about.
My God, that's a whole new universe of Ultra-Cringe
'Dire Straits' on a military preparedness video.......
Setting aside the question of why the food does our PM have a TikTok profile, this is bad on so many levels The choice of music The sound levels The optics
Senedd election is referendum on Starmer's leadership, says Nigel Farage
Um, shouldn't the Senedd election be a referendum on the government in Wales?
Not even that. Given it's Farage asking, the question should be, will the party of Russian spies do a better job of running the Senedd than the others?
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Qatar are discussing pulling back from U.S. and other investments as the toll from this regional war with Iran mounts.
Politico has a report saying the Iranian war is likely to last until September at least (from a US perspective). I guess the thinking now is: once you’ve started you might as well finish. Totally obliterate Iran as a threat and adversary for a generation. Regime change is a bonus
If and when that happens Iran will go down, all drones blazing, destabilising the region for a looooooong time
This has the potential to destroy Dubai, Qatar, Abu Dhabi - all of them - as tourist/tech/financial hubs. Even zero income tax won’t make up for months of potential death by Shahed
At this point the Iranian threat to others has almost disappeared completely.
Reports from Iran are very scarce, but it looks like the US and Israel have done a damn good job at taking out almost every launch facility in the country.
The worst thing is that they claim policies were followed and don't seem to have changed their policies. So stay in a Travelodge and any random who knows you're there can potentially get a key card to your room in the middle of the night.
Israel’s opposition leader has called for Israel to create a “sterile zone” in southern Lebanon, similar to the Yellow Line in Gaza, by removing Lebanese villages there.
Yair Lapid, who heads the centrist Yesh Atid party, told a local television channel that Israel would “have no choice” but to create a “sterile zone” in southern Lebanon. “It might be unaesthetic, or unpleasant, to scrape away two or three Lebanese villages,” he said, “but they brought it upon themselves.”
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Qatar are discussing pulling back from U.S. and other investments as the toll from this regional war with Iran mounts.
Politico has a report saying the Iranian war is likely to last until September at least (from a US perspective). I guess the thinking now is: once you’ve started you might as well finish. Totally obliterate Iran as a threat and adversary for a generation. Regime change is a bonus
If and when that happens Iran will go down, all drones blazing, destabilising the region for a looooooong time
This has the potential to destroy Dubai, Qatar, Abu Dhabi - all of them - as tourist/tech/financial hubs. Even zero income tax won’t make up for months of potential death by Shahed
At this point the Iranian threat to others has almost disappeared completely.
Reports from Iran are very scarce, but it looks like the US and Israel have done a damn good job at taking out almost every launch facility in the country.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Qatar are discussing pulling back from U.S. and other investments as the toll from this regional war with Iran mounts.
Politico has a report saying the Iranian war is likely to last until September at least (from a US perspective). I guess the thinking now is: once you’ve started you might as well finish. Totally obliterate Iran as a threat and adversary for a generation. Regime change is a bonus
If and when that happens Iran will go down, all drones blazing, destabilising the region for a looooooong time
This has the potential to destroy Dubai, Qatar, Abu Dhabi - all of them - as tourist/tech/financial hubs. Even zero income tax won’t make up for months of potential death by Shahed
At this point the Iranian threat to others has almost disappeared completely.
Reports from Iran are very scarce, but it looks like the US and Israel have done a damn good job at taking out almost every launch facility in the country.
We are already in a shadow Third World War, one that pits the axis of autocracies against the disintegrating West. You cannot pick off Iran without a chain of consequences elsewhere. The other side has a vote too.
Amazing the war even affects our lovely neighbours, who are retired Iraqi doctors as their Iranian friends grandson's 6th birthday party has been cancelled due to the stress and worry in the family for their families in Iran
Apparently, they support the US intervention but are worried how this all ends
My God, that's a whole new universe of Ultra-Cringe
'Dire Straits' on a military preparedness video.......
Setting aside the question of why the food does our PM have a TikTok profile, this is bad on so many levels The choice of music The sound levels The optics
Plus, Starmer's voice. Which would ruin any video, but reaches World King Levels of Scrotum-Tightening Cringe-ache when accompanying a "macho military video"
Look at that bloke on the stage with the laser light pen, Talking to the room like he’s king of the den, Slides going by with a colourful chart, Half of it jargon, the rest modern art.
He waves at the screen like he’s steering a ship, Drops big words every time his voice dips, Someone whispers, “What’s all that for?” He smiles and says it once more.
Chorus “My Number One Priority, Yes my Number One Priority, Put it big in the government story, That’s my Number One Priority.”
Verse 2 Now he’s got a team and a strategic review, A dashboard glowing in corporate blue, Three assistants carrying folders around, Nobody sure what’s actually found.
He’s pointing at graphs that climb to the sky, Nobody brave enough to ask why, Someone mutters quietly: “Is that really the priority?”
Chorus “My Number One Priority, Write it bold for authority, If it sounds good in a budget— That’s my Number One Priority.”
Bridge Big speech, bright lights, big display, New initiative every other day, Nobody knows what the plan will be, But it’s definitely a priority.
Final Chorus “My Number One Priority, Say it loud so the world can see, If you ask what it’s meant to be— Well… that’s my Number One Priority.”
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Qatar are discussing pulling back from U.S. and other investments as the toll from this regional war with Iran mounts.
Politico has a report saying the Iranian war is likely to last until September at least (from a US perspective). I guess the thinking now is: once you’ve started you might as well finish. Totally obliterate Iran as a threat and adversary for a generation. Regime change is a bonus
If and when that happens Iran will go down, all drones blazing, destabilising the region for a looooooong time
This has the potential to destroy Dubai, Qatar, Abu Dhabi - all of them - as tourist/tech/financial hubs. Even zero income tax won’t make up for months of potential death by Shahed
At this point the Iranian threat to others has almost disappeared completely.
Reports from Iran are very scarce, but it looks like the US and Israel have done a damn good job at taking out almost every launch facility in the country.
My God, that's a whole new universe of Ultra-Cringe
'Dire Straits' on a military preparedness video.......
Setting aside the question of why the food does our PM have a TikTok profile, this is bad on so many levels The choice of music The sound levels The optics
Plus, Starmer's voice. Which would ruin any video, but reaches World King Levels of Scrotum-Tightening Cringe-ache when accompanying a "macho military video"
My God, that's a whole new universe of Ultra-Cringe
'Dire Straits' on a military preparedness video.......
Setting aside the question of why the food does our PM have a TikTok profile, this is bad on so many levels The choice of music The sound levels The optics
Plus, Starmer's voice. Which would ruin any video, but reaches World King Levels of Scrotum-Tightening Cringe-ache when accompanying a "macho military video"
Whenhe says 'additional military capabilities' its like he is saying 'cheese and tomato sandwich'
My God, that's a whole new universe of Ultra-Cringe
'Dire Straits' on a military preparedness video.......
Setting aside the question of why the food does our PM have a TikTok profile, this is bad on so many levels The choice of music The sound levels The optics
Plus, Starmer's voice. Which would ruin any video, but reaches World King Levels of Scrotum-Tightening Cringe-ache when accompanying a "macho military video"
Israel’s opposition leader has called for Israel to create a “sterile zone” in southern Lebanon, similar to the Yellow Line in Gaza, by removing Lebanese villages there.
Yair Lapid, who heads the centrist Yesh Atid party, told a local television channel that Israel would “have no choice” but to create a “sterile zone” in southern Lebanon. “It might be unaesthetic, or unpleasant, to scrape away two or three Lebanese villages,” he said, “but they brought it upon themselves.”
Sounds like the usual Isrseli rhetoric we've come to know and love. As my friend who recently returned from a work trip there said, they've become a highly radicalised state.
Well done Ed. Trump has gone fully mental and the further away we are from this debacle the better.
The point is surely that we are not far away from it. Successive Governments, including ones that Milliband has been involved with, have made independence from the US, even in the domestic sphere, virtually impossible. That situation cannot be reversed in days - frankly it cannot be reversed in years. To distance ourselves now is the definition of shutting the stable door.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Qatar are discussing pulling back from U.S. and other investments as the toll from this regional war with Iran mounts.
Politico has a report saying the Iranian war is likely to last until September at least (from a US perspective). I guess the thinking now is: once you’ve started you might as well finish. Totally obliterate Iran as a threat and adversary for a generation. Regime change is a bonus
If and when that happens Iran will go down, all drones blazing, destabilising the region for a looooooong time
This has the potential to destroy Dubai, Qatar, Abu Dhabi - all of them - as tourist/tech/financial hubs. Even zero income tax won’t make up for months of potential death by Shahed
At this point the Iranian threat to others has almost disappeared completely.
Reports from Iran are very scarce, but it looks like the US and Israel have done a damn good job at taking out almost every launch facility in the country.
Israel’s opposition leader has called for Israel to create a “sterile zone” in southern Lebanon, similar to the Yellow Line in Gaza, by removing Lebanese villages there.
Yair Lapid, who heads the centrist Yesh Atid party, told a local television channel that Israel would “have no choice” but to create a “sterile zone” in southern Lebanon. “It might be unaesthetic, or unpleasant, to scrape away two or three Lebanese villages,” he said, “but they brought it upon themselves.”
Israel’s opposition leader has called for Israel to create a “sterile zone” in southern Lebanon, similar to the Yellow Line in Gaza, by removing Lebanese villages there.
Yair Lapid, who heads the centrist Yesh Atid party, told a local television channel that Israel would “have no choice” but to create a “sterile zone” in southern Lebanon. “It might be unaesthetic, or unpleasant, to scrape away two or three Lebanese villages,” he said, “but they brought it upon themselves.”
Considering there was no genocide that html link is clearly not an impartial source.
The genocide in Srebrenica involved the death of over 30% of the population. That would be approaching a million people had there been a like-for-like "Gaza genocide". BS.
Srebrenica is a small town in Bosnia. No-one (other than some Serbs probably) says it wasn't genocide because it was only 0.5% of the population of Bosniaks.
In any case it is a poor comparator. It was a deliberate Einsatzgruppen-type action that is easy to characterise as an individual act of genocide. What is a better comparison is the general genocide against Bosniaks (and Croats) during the whole war. More diffuse, but still genocide. Gaza likewise in my opinion.
"It was a deliberate Einsatzgruppen-type action that is easy to characterise as an individual act of genocide."
This. And this in turn was the end for the Lord Turd types who wanted another round of negotiations with the Serbs, while they carried on "creating facts on the ground".
There was also a range of Croat atrocities against the Serbs alongside the Serb ones. Culpability was wide-ranging in that conflict, but Milosevic was certainly a major factor.
Croat (and Bosnia) atrocities happened, but were relatively minor and what you might expect in an inter-ethnic civil war. The Bosniaks certainly prosecuted people for them.
Ratko Mladic stood in the town square of Srebrenica and declared vengeance on "the Turks"
But that's ignoring the history. Nothing excuses what the Serbs did in the 90s, but they do have historical reasons to feel aggrieved. Right back to the Muslim Ottoman Empire whuch used to kidnap Christian boys across the Balkans in a yearly "tax" and take them away forever, to become soldiers for the Sultan
Some Balkan communities have never forgotten this. If you want to see true pure "Islamophobia" chat to people in Montenegro, for example. They hate "the Turks", even now, and despise and fear Islam
But the Christians themselves have very chequered records. Some of the Croats were so violently anti-Semitic they made the Nazis wince in distaste
There's a story of some Nazi bigwig dining with a Balkan politician early in the war. The Nazi pointed out that the politician's chef was Jewish, expecting the poor chef to be fired, or pumished, or maybe sent to a ghetto
Instead the Balkan guy had the chef brought into the room and he personally shot the chef dead, there and then. The Nazi apparently complained that it was a vulgar overreaction, and it totally ruined his dinner
The Ustasa vie with the 36th SS, and Unit 731 as the most psychopathic military organisation in WWII.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Qatar are discussing pulling back from U.S. and other investments as the toll from this regional war with Iran mounts.
Politico has a report saying the Iranian war is likely to last until September at least (from a US perspective). I guess the thinking now is: once you’ve started you might as well finish. Totally obliterate Iran as a threat and adversary for a generation. Regime change is a bonus
If and when that happens Iran will go down, all drones blazing, destabilising the region for a looooooong time
This has the potential to destroy Dubai, Qatar, Abu Dhabi - all of them - as tourist/tech/financial hubs. Even zero income tax won’t make up for months of potential death by Shahed
At this point the Iranian threat to others has almost disappeared completely.
Reports from Iran are very scarce, but it looks like the US and Israel have done a damn good job at taking out almost every launch facility in the country.
Considering there was no genocide that html link is clearly not an impartial source.
The genocide in Srebrenica involved the death of over 30% of the population. That would be approaching a million people had there been a like-for-like "Gaza genocide". BS.
Srebrenica is a small town in Bosnia. No-one (other than some Serbs probably) says it wasn't genocide because it was only 0.5% of the population of Bosniaks.
In any case it is a poor comparator. It was a deliberate Einsatzgruppen-type action that is easy to characterise as an individual act of genocide. What is a better comparison is the general genocide against Bosniaks (and Croats) during the whole war. More diffuse, but still genocide. Gaza likewise in my opinion.
"It was a deliberate Einsatzgruppen-type action that is easy to characterise as an individual act of genocide."
This. And this in turn was the end for the Lord Turd types who wanted another round of negotiations with the Serbs, while they carried on "creating facts on the ground".
There was also a range of Croat atrocities against the Serbs alongside the Serb ones. Culpability was wide-ranging in that conflict, but Milosevic was certainly a major factor.
Croat (and Bosnia) atrocities happened, but were relatively minor and what you might expect in an inter-ethnic civil war. The Bosniaks certainly prosecuted people for them.
Ratko Mladic stood in the town square of Srebrenica and declared vengeance on "the Turks"
But that's ignoring the history. Nothing excuses what the Serbs did in the 90s, but they do have historical reasons to feel aggrieved. Right back to the Muslim Ottoman Empire whuch used to kidnap Christian boys across the Balkans in a yearly "tax" and take them away forever, to become soldiers for the Sultan
Some Balkan communities have never forgotten this. If you want to see true pure "Islamophobia" chat to people in Montenegro, for example. They hate "the Turks", even now, and despise and fear Islam
But the Christians themselves have very chequered records. Some of the Croats were so violently anti-Semitic they made the Nazis wince in distaste
There's a story of some Nazi bigwig dining with a Balkan politician early in the war. The Nazi pointed out that the politician's chef was Jewish, expecting the poor chef to be fired, or pumished, or maybe sent to a ghetto
Instead the Balkan guy had the chef brought into the room and he personally shot the chef dead, there and then. The Nazi apparently complained that it was a vulgar overreaction, and it totally ruined his dinner
The Ustasa vie with the 36th SS, and Unit 731 as the most psychopathic military organisation in WWII.
I was in Dubrovnik last Spring. I was eavesdropping on a tour guide. I was quite startled at the insouciance with which he dropped into his spiel that his grandfather was in the ustase. I mean, obviously, there's going to be a fair few individuals for whom that is true - but I would imagine a German being rather more circurmspect about mentioning this sort of thing.
Considering there was no genocide that html link is clearly not an impartial source.
The genocide in Srebrenica involved the death of over 30% of the population. That would be approaching a million people had there been a like-for-like "Gaza genocide". BS.
Srebrenica is a small town in Bosnia. No-one (other than some Serbs probably) says it wasn't genocide because it was only 0.5% of the population of Bosniaks.
In any case it is a poor comparator. It was a deliberate Einsatzgruppen-type action that is easy to characterise as an individual act of genocide. What is a better comparison is the general genocide against Bosniaks (and Croats) during the whole war. More diffuse, but still genocide. Gaza likewise in my opinion.
"It was a deliberate Einsatzgruppen-type action that is easy to characterise as an individual act of genocide."
This. And this in turn was the end for the Lord Turd types who wanted another round of negotiations with the Serbs, while they carried on "creating facts on the ground".
There was also a range of Croat atrocities against the Serbs alongside the Serb ones. Culpability was wide-ranging in that conflict, but Milosevic was certainly a major factor.
Croat (and Bosnia) atrocities happened, but were relatively minor and what you might expect in an inter-ethnic civil war. The Bosniaks certainly prosecuted people for them.
Ratko Mladic stood in the town square of Srebrenica and declared vengeance on "the Turks"
But that's ignoring the history. Nothing excuses what the Serbs did in the 90s, but they do have historical reasons to feel aggrieved. Right back to the Muslim Ottoman Empire whuch used to kidnap Christian boys across the Balkans in a yearly "tax" and take them away forever, to become soldiers for the Sultan
Some Balkan communities have never forgotten this. If you want to see true pure "Islamophobia" chat to people in Montenegro, for example. They hate "the Turks", even now, and despise and fear Islam
But the Christians themselves have very chequered records. Some of the Croats were so violently anti-Semitic they made the Nazis wince in distaste
There's a story of some Nazi bigwig dining with a Balkan politician early in the war. The Nazi pointed out that the politician's chef was Jewish, expecting the poor chef to be fired, or pumished, or maybe sent to a ghetto
Instead the Balkan guy had the chef brought into the room and he personally shot the chef dead, there and then. The Nazi apparently complained that it was a vulgar overreaction, and it totally ruined his dinner
The Ustasa vie with the 36th SS, and Unit 731 as the most psychopathic military organisation in WWII.
Yes, unspeakably violent and cruel. And they took the opportunity to inflict some of this violence on their rival Serbs
Which is why Serbs were gunning for a chance to get revenge. It was only Tito, and communism, which prevented Yugoslavia descending into outright civil war in 1945 when the Germans were sent packing. But that civil war was delayed, not cancelled
Wiki:
"During World War II in Yugoslavia, the Ustaše went on to perpetrate the Holocaust and genocide against its Jewish, Serb and Roma populations,[42] killing hundreds of thousands of Serbs, Jews, Roma, as well as Muslim and Croat political dissidents.[43][44][45]"
Woolies snap/insta judgement on last nights council by elections
2 Ref gain and one loss, 1 Con gain, 1 Lab gain and 1 loss, 1 Green hold, 2 indy losses
Reform look good for taking Tamworth Laura Trott looks reasonably secure in Sevenoaks Labour not dead and buried in the NE yet Essex looks messy, underwhelming Ref gain. Could be a real battleground at CC and next GE Stroud showing Green strength again but theyve yet to breakthrough at GE level there - with Ref underperforming at the last GE it might be a genuine multi way fight
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Qatar are discussing pulling back from U.S. and other investments as the toll from this regional war with Iran mounts.
Politico has a report saying the Iranian war is likely to last until September at least (from a US perspective). I guess the thinking now is: once you’ve started you might as well finish. Totally obliterate Iran as a threat and adversary for a generation. Regime change is a bonus
If and when that happens Iran will go down, all drones blazing, destabilising the region for a looooooong time
This has the potential to destroy Dubai, Qatar, Abu Dhabi - all of them - as tourist/tech/financial hubs. Even zero income tax won’t make up for months of potential death by Shahed
At this point the Iranian threat to others has almost disappeared completely.
Reports from Iran are very scarce, but it looks like the US and Israel have done a damn good job at taking out almost every launch facility in the country.
Israel’s opposition leader has called for Israel to create a “sterile zone” in southern Lebanon, similar to the Yellow Line in Gaza, by removing Lebanese villages there.
Yair Lapid, who heads the centrist Yesh Atid party, told a local television channel that Israel would “have no choice” but to create a “sterile zone” in southern Lebanon. “It might be unaesthetic, or unpleasant, to scrape away two or three Lebanese villages,” he said, “but they brought it upon themselves.”
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Qatar are discussing pulling back from U.S. and other investments as the toll from this regional war with Iran mounts.
Politico has a report saying the Iranian war is likely to last until September at least (from a US perspective). I guess the thinking now is: once you’ve started you might as well finish. Totally obliterate Iran as a threat and adversary for a generation. Regime change is a bonus
If and when that happens Iran will go down, all drones blazing, destabilising the region for a looooooong time
This has the potential to destroy Dubai, Qatar, Abu Dhabi - all of them - as tourist/tech/financial hubs. Even zero income tax won’t make up for months of potential death by Shahed
At this point the Iranian threat to others has almost disappeared completely.
Reports from Iran are very scarce, but it looks like the US and Israel have done a damn good job at taking out almost every launch facility in the country.
Considering there was no genocide that html link is clearly not an impartial source.
The genocide in Srebrenica involved the death of over 30% of the population. That would be approaching a million people had there been a like-for-like "Gaza genocide". BS.
Srebrenica is a small town in Bosnia. No-one (other than some Serbs probably) says it wasn't genocide because it was only 0.5% of the population of Bosniaks.
In any case it is a poor comparator. It was a deliberate Einsatzgruppen-type action that is easy to characterise as an individual act of genocide. What is a better comparison is the general genocide against Bosniaks (and Croats) during the whole war. More diffuse, but still genocide. Gaza likewise in my opinion.
"It was a deliberate Einsatzgruppen-type action that is easy to characterise as an individual act of genocide."
This. And this in turn was the end for the Lord Turd types who wanted another round of negotiations with the Serbs, while they carried on "creating facts on the ground".
There was also a range of Croat atrocities against the Serbs alongside the Serb ones. Culpability was wide-ranging in that conflict, but Milosevic was certainly a major factor.
Croat (and Bosnia) atrocities happened, but were relatively minor and what you might expect in an inter-ethnic civil war. The Bosniaks certainly prosecuted people for them.
Ratko Mladic stood in the town square of Srebrenica and declared vengeance on "the Turks"
But that's ignoring the history. Nothing excuses what the Serbs did in the 90s, but they do have historical reasons to feel aggrieved. Right back to the Muslim Ottoman Empire whuch used to kidnap Christian boys across the Balkans in a yearly "tax" and take them away forever, to become soldiers for the Sultan
Some Balkan communities have never forgotten this. If you want to see true pure "Islamophobia" chat to people in Montenegro, for example. They hate "the Turks", even now, and despise and fear Islam
But the Christians themselves have very chequered records. Some of the Croats were so violently anti-Semitic they made the Nazis wince in distaste
There's a story of some Nazi bigwig dining with a Balkan politician early in the war. The Nazi pointed out that the politician's chef was Jewish, expecting the poor chef to be fired, or pumished, or maybe sent to a ghetto
Instead the Balkan guy had the chef brought into the room and he personally shot the chef dead, there and then. The Nazi apparently complained that it was a vulgar overreaction, and it totally ruined his dinner
The Ustasa vie with the 36th SS, and Unit 731 as the most psychopathic military organisation in WWII.
Yes, unspeakably violent and cruel. And they took the opportunity to inflict some of this violence on their rival Serbs
Which is why Serbs were gunning for a chance to get revenge. It was only Tito, and communism, which prevented Yugoslavia descending into outright civil war in 1945 when the Germans were sent packing. But that civil war was delayed, not cancelled
Wiki:
"During World War II in Yugoslavia, the Ustaše went on to perpetrate the Holocaust and genocide against its Jewish, Serb and Roma populations,[42] killing hundreds of thousands of Serbs, Jews, Roma, as well as Muslim and Croat political dissidents.[43][44][45]"
I will never condemn the Klagenfurt repatriations.
Israel’s opposition leader has called for Israel to create a “sterile zone” in southern Lebanon, similar to the Yellow Line in Gaza, by removing Lebanese villages there.
Yair Lapid, who heads the centrist Yesh Atid party, told a local television channel that Israel would “have no choice” but to create a “sterile zone” in southern Lebanon. “It might be unaesthetic, or unpleasant, to scrape away two or three Lebanese villages,” he said, “but they brought it upon themselves.”
Lebensraum?
I’m sure our resident John Bolton will be along to cheerfully support this and blame Lebanon.
"Qatar expects all Gulf energy producers to shut down exports within weeks and drive oil to $150 a barrel, the country's Energy Minister Saad al-Kaabi told the Financial Times in an interview published on Friday. "Everybody that has not called for force majeure we expect will do so in the next few days that this continues. All exporters in the Gulf region will have to call force majeure," Kaabi told the FT." #OOTT
Considering there was no genocide that html link is clearly not an impartial source.
The genocide in Srebrenica involved the death of over 30% of the population. That would be approaching a million people had there been a like-for-like "Gaza genocide". BS.
Srebrenica is a small town in Bosnia. No-one (other than some Serbs probably) says it wasn't genocide because it was only 0.5% of the population of Bosniaks.
In any case it is a poor comparator. It was a deliberate Einsatzgruppen-type action that is easy to characterise as an individual act of genocide. What is a better comparison is the general genocide against Bosniaks (and Croats) during the whole war. More diffuse, but still genocide. Gaza likewise in my opinion.
"It was a deliberate Einsatzgruppen-type action that is easy to characterise as an individual act of genocide."
This. And this in turn was the end for the Lord Turd types who wanted another round of negotiations with the Serbs, while they carried on "creating facts on the ground".
There was also a range of Croat atrocities against the Serbs alongside the Serb ones. Culpability was wide-ranging in that conflict, but Milosevic was certainly a major factor.
Croat (and Bosnia) atrocities happened, but were relatively minor and what you might expect in an inter-ethnic civil war. The Bosniaks certainly prosecuted people for them.
Ratko Mladic stood in the town square of Srebrenica and declared vengeance on "the Turks"
But that's ignoring the history. Nothing excuses what the Serbs did in the 90s, but they do have historical reasons to feel aggrieved. Right back to the Muslim Ottoman Empire whuch used to kidnap Christian boys across the Balkans in a yearly "tax" and take them away forever, to become soldiers for the Sultan
Some Balkan communities have never forgotten this. If you want to see true pure "Islamophobia" chat to people in Montenegro, for example. They hate "the Turks", even now, and despise and fear Islam
But the Christians themselves have very chequered records. Some of the Croats were so violently anti-Semitic they made the Nazis wince in distaste
There's a story of some Nazi bigwig dining with a Balkan politician early in the war. The Nazi pointed out that the politician's chef was Jewish, expecting the poor chef to be fired, or pumished, or maybe sent to a ghetto
Instead the Balkan guy had the chef brought into the room and he personally shot the chef dead, there and then. The Nazi apparently complained that it was a vulgar overreaction, and it totally ruined his dinner
The Ustasa vie with the 36th SS, and Unit 731 as the most psychopathic military organisation in WWII.
Yes, unspeakably violent and cruel. And they took the opportunity to inflict some of this violence on their rival Serbs
Which is why Serbs were gunning for a chance to get revenge. It was only Tito, and communism, which prevented Yugoslavia descending into outright civil war in 1945 when the Germans were sent packing. But that civil war was delayed, not cancelled
Wiki:
"During World War II in Yugoslavia, the Ustaše went on to perpetrate the Holocaust and genocide against its Jewish, Serb and Roma populations,[42] killing hundreds of thousands of Serbs, Jews, Roma, as well as Muslim and Croat political dissidents.[43][44][45]"
I will never condemn the Klagenfurt repatriations.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Qatar are discussing pulling back from U.S. and other investments as the toll from this regional war with Iran mounts.
Politico has a report saying the Iranian war is likely to last until September at least (from a US perspective). I guess the thinking now is: once you’ve started you might as well finish. Totally obliterate Iran as a threat and adversary for a generation. Regime change is a bonus
If and when that happens Iran will go down, all drones blazing, destabilising the region for a looooooong time
This has the potential to destroy Dubai, Qatar, Abu Dhabi - all of them - as tourist/tech/financial hubs. Even zero income tax won’t make up for months of potential death by Shahed
At this point the Iranian threat to others has almost disappeared completely.
Reports from Iran are very scarce, but it looks like the US and Israel have done a damn good job at taking out almost every launch facility in the country.
AIUI the Shahed drones can be launched from an adapted pickup truck
But ins'allah you're right, if Iran is already effectively defanged that's great news
The bigger issue is reopening the shipping lanes so that oil and gas tankers can start to operate again. There's only around 2-3 days left before production shutdowns will commence because storage facilities are full.
Israel’s opposition leader has called for Israel to create a “sterile zone” in southern Lebanon, similar to the Yellow Line in Gaza, by removing Lebanese villages there.
Yair Lapid, who heads the centrist Yesh Atid party, told a local television channel that Israel would “have no choice” but to create a “sterile zone” in southern Lebanon. “It might be unaesthetic, or unpleasant, to scrape away two or three Lebanese villages,” he said, “but they brought it upon themselves.”
Lebensraum?
I’m sure our resident John Bolton will be along to cheerfully support this and blame Lebanon.
"Qatar expects all Gulf energy producers to shut down exports within weeks and drive oil to $150 a barrel, the country's Energy Minister Saad al-Kaabi told the Financial Times in an interview published on Friday. "Everybody that has not called for force majeure we expect will do so in the next few days that this continues. All exporters in the Gulf region will have to call force majeure," Kaabi told the FT." #OOTT
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Qatar are discussing pulling back from U.S. and other investments as the toll from this regional war with Iran mounts.
Politico has a report saying the Iranian war is likely to last until September at least (from a US perspective). I guess the thinking now is: once you’ve started you might as well finish. Totally obliterate Iran as a threat and adversary for a generation. Regime change is a bonus
If and when that happens Iran will go down, all drones blazing, destabilising the region for a looooooong time
This has the potential to destroy Dubai, Qatar, Abu Dhabi - all of them - as tourist/tech/financial hubs. Even zero income tax won’t make up for months of potential death by Shahed
At this point the Iranian threat to others has almost disappeared completely.
Reports from Iran are very scarce, but it looks like the US and Israel have done a damn good job at taking out almost every launch facility in the country.
Reform naming their Holyrood candidates 19th March, giving them just 7 weeks to actually campaign in constituencies
You and I both know you can't "campaign" in constituencies of that size - at least, not in the traditional way of leaflets and canvassing. It's going to be interesting to see how social media is used both in Scotland, Wales and in London where many voters aren't easily reachable in the old fashioned way.
Israel’s opposition leader has called for Israel to create a “sterile zone” in southern Lebanon, similar to the Yellow Line in Gaza, by removing Lebanese villages there.
Yair Lapid, who heads the centrist Yesh Atid party, told a local television channel that Israel would “have no choice” but to create a “sterile zone” in southern Lebanon. “It might be unaesthetic, or unpleasant, to scrape away two or three Lebanese villages,” he said, “but they brought it upon themselves.”
Funnily enough, some of his old associates are blanking me.
Is it because after I reported on the killing of a Polish man in Essex in 2016, he said that I had caused him "more misery than any other in 25 years in politics"?
So I'm asking the Great British public to lend me a hand because NF is seeking to be our lord and master.
Were you at school with NF? Worked with him in the City when he was a tin trader? Met him through politics?
Did you drive the pink Cadillac hired by Nathan Gill who last year got ten years for taking bribes from a Russian spy?
Sorry to say but I rather enjoyed this Guardian article about the discomfiture of the Dubai-based tax exiles caught in the cross-hairs. Obvs don't wish any of them harm (Mr Tice, please note), but heh.
"Alongside the wealth managers, property agents and taut-skinned trophy wives who always accompany the mega-rich, it attracted its share of Reform-supporting X blue ticks banging on from their beach clubs about London supposedly going to the dogs; influencers seeking luxury backdrops for their unboxing videos; crypto guys, tech bros, and assorted hustlers. But many rungs down the financial ladder behind them came an army of younger temporary workers to clean their pools and nanny for their kids and teach them pilates, many of whom have families back home now worried sick. Gloat if you must that they are now finding out why other people stay home in the rain, but schadenfreude is a grim look when fellow human beings are sleeping in their basements as the tyrannical Iranian regime tries to kill them."
Netflix has a couple of series of a behind the scenes look at the WWE which shows the story writers and bookers. Currently I prefer AEW. Better matches, booking and writing.
Wrestling is pre-determined. But these guys put their bodies on the line for our entertainment and the love of the game.
As a wrestling fan my golden rule is if it’s on screen it’s a work.
They have 1 battery left in each car and the batteries are being broken by the vibrations from the engines. I don't give them much chance of both cars starting the race and we know they won't finish it.
If only Verstappen had followed Adrian Newley to Aston Martin.
‘She has decided to focus on other projects’
That’s ruddy lawyer speak !
As a red blooded male I am going to miss her but as a F1 fan I’m not going to miss her.
Jensen Button is either going to very sad or happy at her departure.
Have you seen Jenson's wife Brittany? I don't believe he will miss Danica.
Shock news, some men like to stir their spoon in more than bowl of porridge.
Israel’s opposition leader has called for Israel to create a “sterile zone” in southern Lebanon, similar to the Yellow Line in Gaza, by removing Lebanese villages there.
Yair Lapid, who heads the centrist Yesh Atid party, told a local television channel that Israel would “have no choice” but to create a “sterile zone” in southern Lebanon. “It might be unaesthetic, or unpleasant, to scrape away two or three Lebanese villages,” he said, “but they brought it upon themselves.”
Sounds like the usual Isrseli rhetoric we've come to know and love. As my friend who recently returned from a work trip there said, they've become a highly radicalised state.
The Israelis are wild animals. I have been texting some friends in Beirut and just when Lebanon gets its act together Israel bombs again. the irony is that the first time I went there to work Beirut was riddled with bullet holes and the Israelis weren't badly thought of.
The Lebanese are probably my favourite people in the world and they really don't deserve this. They are generous hospitable bright tri lingual and just very sweet in the most old fashined sense of the word.
The girls have too much plastic surgery but that's just something they do.My last ad for them was using Miss Lebanion who came in the top 3 of Miss World She was funny like a lot of Lebanese. When I think of all those really rounded attractive people and I see the arrogant self important Israelis it makes me want to vomit.
They tell the story of when their President went to visit President Xi in China he asked what the Lebanese population was? "Three million".He said. "
"Three million? Why didn't you bring them with you?"
Reform naming their Holyrood candidates 19th March, giving them just 7 weeks to actually campaign in constituencies
You and I both know you can't "campaign" in constituencies of that size - at least, not in the traditional way of leaflets and canvassing. It's going to be interesting to see how social media is used both in Scotland, Wales and in London where many voters aren't easily reachable in the old fashioned way.
Constituency candidates do tend to campaign in constituencies.the other parties have their people out already getting that name recognition/reelect thing going. If it had no effect nobody would do it. Therefore i conclude Reform Scotland either has some utter goobers lined up they are hiding or they arent standing everywhere in individual constituencies but dont want to give their approach away too early. (Or they are struggling to fill the slots with electable people)
Sorry to say but I rather enjoyed this Guardian article about the discomfiture of the Dubai-based tax exiles caught in the cross-hairs. Obvs don't wish any of them harm (Mr Tice, please note), but heh.
"Alongside the wealth managers, property agents and taut-skinned trophy wives who always accompany the mega-rich, it attracted its share of Reform-supporting X blue ticks banging on from their beach clubs about London supposedly going to the dogs; influencers seeking luxury backdrops for their unboxing videos; crypto guys, tech bros, and assorted hustlers. But many rungs down the financial ladder behind them came an army of younger temporary workers to clean their pools and nanny for their kids and teach them pilates, many of whom have families back home now worried sick. Gloat if you must that they are now finding out why other people stay home in the rain, but schadenfreude is a grim look when fellow human beings are sleeping in their basements as the tyrannical Iranian regime tries to kill them."
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Qatar are discussing pulling back from U.S. and other investments as the toll from this regional war with Iran mounts.
Politico has a report saying the Iranian war is likely to last until September at least (from a US perspective). I guess the thinking now is: once you’ve started you might as well finish. Totally obliterate Iran as a threat and adversary for a generation. Regime change is a bonus
If and when that happens Iran will go down, all drones blazing, destabilising the region for a looooooong time
This has the potential to destroy Dubai, Qatar, Abu Dhabi - all of them - as tourist/tech/financial hubs. Even zero income tax won’t make up for months of potential death by Shahed
At this point the Iranian threat to others has almost disappeared completely.
Reports from Iran are very scarce, but it looks like the US and Israel have done a damn good job at taking out almost every launch facility in the country.
AIUI the Shahed drones can be launched from an adapted pickup truck
But ins'allah you're right, if Iran is already effectively defanged that's great news
The bigger issue is reopening the shipping lanes so that oil and gas tankers can start to operate again. There's only around 2-3 days left before production shutdowns will commence because storage facilities are full.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Qatar are discussing pulling back from U.S. and other investments as the toll from this regional war with Iran mounts.
Politico has a report saying the Iranian war is likely to last until September at least (from a US perspective). I guess the thinking now is: once you’ve started you might as well finish. Totally obliterate Iran as a threat and adversary for a generation. Regime change is a bonus
If and when that happens Iran will go down, all drones blazing, destabilising the region for a looooooong time
This has the potential to destroy Dubai, Qatar, Abu Dhabi - all of them - as tourist/tech/financial hubs. Even zero income tax won’t make up for months of potential death by Shahed
At this point the Iranian threat to others has almost disappeared completely.
Reports from Iran are very scarce, but it looks like the US and Israel have done a damn good job at taking out almost every launch facility in the country.
While not disagreeing with the general trend aren't we currently on day 7 ?
I read an analysis which suggested the Iranian regime is planning on being in for the long-haul, outlasting the US commitment (we are talking Trump here - instant gratification personified), and eking out their drones and missiles for as long as possible. Then they can get back to the serious job of murdering and torturing the internal opposition.
My God, that's a whole new universe of Ultra-Cringe
Keir, I implore you, please: get some bloody voice training. It's like nails down a blackboard.
Self deception is everywhere, but most strong in politics I suspect. Sir Keir and his team have to be looking at his output and thinking it’s ok, that’ll work. Connectedly Morgan McSweeny’s farewell party was apparently awash with fulsome tributes to the ginger homunculus, including SKS calling him a world class talent. Presumably they have to reinforce each other with this stuff because the alternative is too awful to contemplate.
Restore Britain have another recruit at least as a member, after a Councillor was suspended from the Reform Whip over an argument about allegedly misappropriated clipboards. Clipboards !!! ?
(Celebrating the likely modal age of PB, this is number 64.)
'I was suspended from Reform over row about clipboards' says Walsall councillor, six months after shock by-election win
He told the Express & Star that he had resigned with immediate effect, and was now a member of Rupert Lowe's rival Restore Britain party. He said his suspension related to an argument about clipboards at a party event in Kingswinford last month where Reform deputy leader Richard Tice was special guest. Councillor Eardley said that a fellow party member had accused him of 'misappropriating branch assets' after losing track of six clipboards which had been purchased for his by-election campaign. "During the event I was showing these text messages to a fellow party member, when the lady who had sent these messages overheard and started shouting," he said.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Qatar are discussing pulling back from U.S. and other investments as the toll from this regional war with Iran mounts.
Politico has a report saying the Iranian war is likely to last until September at least (from a US perspective). I guess the thinking now is: once you’ve started you might as well finish. Totally obliterate Iran as a threat and adversary for a generation. Regime change is a bonus
If and when that happens Iran will go down, all drones blazing, destabilising the region for a looooooong time
This has the potential to destroy Dubai, Qatar, Abu Dhabi - all of them - as tourist/tech/financial hubs. Even zero income tax won’t make up for months of potential death by Shahed
At this point the Iranian threat to others has almost disappeared completely.
Reports from Iran are very scarce, but it looks like the US and Israel have done a damn good job at taking out almost every launch facility in the country.
Israel’s opposition leader has called for Israel to create a “sterile zone” in southern Lebanon, similar to the Yellow Line in Gaza, by removing Lebanese villages there.
Yair Lapid, who heads the centrist Yesh Atid party, told a local television channel that Israel would “have no choice” but to create a “sterile zone” in southern Lebanon. “It might be unaesthetic, or unpleasant, to scrape away two or three Lebanese villages,” he said, “but they brought it upon themselves.”
Sounds like the usual Isrseli rhetoric we've come to know and love. As my friend who recently returned from a work trip there said, they've become a highly radicalised state.
The Israelis are wild animals. I have been texting some friends in Beirut and just when Lebanon gets its act together Israel bombs again. the irony is that the first time I went there to work Beirut was riddled with bullet holes and the Israelis weren't badly thought of.
The Lebanese are probably my favourite people in the world and they really don't deserve this. They are generous hospitable bright tri lingual and just very sweet in the most old fashined sense of the word.
The girls have too much plastic surgery but that's just something they do.My last ad for them was using Miss Lebanion who came in the top 3 of Miss World She was funny like a lot of Lebanese. When I think of all those really rounded attractive people and I see the arrogant self important Israelis it makes me want to vomit.
They tell the story of when their President went to visit President Xi in China he asked what the Lebanese population was? "Three million".He said. "
"Three million? Why didn't you bring them with you?"
"The Israelis are wild animals." They are not alone in this though Roger, are they? Oct 7th wasn't exactly a picnic for the victims. Tens of thousands of Iranians killed by their own government for the crime of protesting is not a great look.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Qatar are discussing pulling back from U.S. and other investments as the toll from this regional war with Iran mounts.
Politico has a report saying the Iranian war is likely to last until September at least (from a US perspective). I guess the thinking now is: once you’ve started you might as well finish. Totally obliterate Iran as a threat and adversary for a generation. Regime change is a bonus
If and when that happens Iran will go down, all drones blazing, destabilising the region for a looooooong time
This has the potential to destroy Dubai, Qatar, Abu Dhabi - all of them - as tourist/tech/financial hubs. Even zero income tax won’t make up for months of potential death by Shahed
At this point the Iranian threat to others has almost disappeared completely.
Reports from Iran are very scarce, but it looks like the US and Israel have done a damn good job at taking out almost every launch facility in the country.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Qatar are discussing pulling back from U.S. and other investments as the toll from this regional war with Iran mounts.
Politico has a report saying the Iranian war is likely to last until September at least (from a US perspective). I guess the thinking now is: once you’ve started you might as well finish. Totally obliterate Iran as a threat and adversary for a generation. Regime change is a bonus
If and when that happens Iran will go down, all drones blazing, destabilising the region for a looooooong time
This has the potential to destroy Dubai, Qatar, Abu Dhabi - all of them - as tourist/tech/financial hubs. Even zero income tax won’t make up for months of potential death by Shahed
At this point the Iranian threat to others has almost disappeared completely.
Reports from Iran are very scarce, but it looks like the US and Israel have done a damn good job at taking out almost every launch facility in the country.
While not disagreeing with the general trend aren't we currently on day 7 ?
I read an analysis which suggested the Iranian regime is planning on being in for the long-haul, outlasting the US commitment (we are talking Trump here - instant gratification personified), and eking out their drones and missiles for as long as possible. Then they can get back to the serious job of murdering and torturing the internal opposition.
Let's hope this doesn't prove to be the case.
If they've fired 800+ ballistic missiles, that's a good chunk of their prewar stock. Obviously, we don't know how many got destroyed in US and Israeli attacks,
Reform naming their Holyrood candidates 19th March, giving them just 7 weeks to actually campaign in constituencies
You and I both know you can't "campaign" in constituencies of that size - at least, not in the traditional way of leaflets and canvassing. It's going to be interesting to see how social media is used both in Scotland, Wales and in London where many voters aren't easily reachable in the old fashioned way.
Constituency candidates do tend to campaign in constituencies.the other parties have their people out already getting that name recognition/reelect thing going. If it had no effect nobody would do it. Therefore i conclude Reform Scotland either has some utter goobers lined up they are hiding or they arent standing everywhere in individual constituencies but dont want to give their approach away too early. (Or they are struggling to fill the slots with electable people)
The Reformers I've heard about on the grapevine are a pretty gruesome lot. Unbiddables with a high opinion of their own abilities not shared by anyone who knows them. But, maybe Lord Offord will spring a few surprises?
Woolies snap/insta judgement on last nights council by elections
2 Ref gain and one loss, 1 Con gain, 1 Lab gain and 1 loss, 1 Green hold, 2 indy losses
Reform look good for taking Tamworth Laura Trott looks reasonably secure in Sevenoaks Labour not dead and buried in the NE yet Essex looks messy, underwhelming Ref gain. Could be a real battleground at CC and next GE Stroud showing Green strength again but theyve yet to breakthrough at GE level there - with Ref underperforming at the last GE it might be a genuine multi way fight
The Essex example was complicated by a strong Ind/Green showing, and a relatively good Labour one.
Reform naming their Holyrood candidates 19th March, giving them just 7 weeks to actually campaign in constituencies
You and I both know you can't "campaign" in constituencies of that size - at least, not in the traditional way of leaflets and canvassing. It's going to be interesting to see how social media is used both in Scotland, Wales and in London where many voters aren't easily reachable in the old fashioned way.
Constituency candidates do tend to campaign in constituencies.the other parties have their people out already getting that name recognition/reelect thing going. If it had no effect nobody would do it. Therefore i conclude Reform Scotland either has some utter goobers lined up they are hiding or they arent standing everywhere in individual constituencies but dont want to give their approach away too early. (Or they are struggling to fill the slots with electable people)
The Reformers I've heard about on the grapevine are a pretty gruesome lot. Unbiddables with a high opinion of their own abilities not shared by anyone who knows them. But, maybe Lord Offord will spring a few surprises?
Ive got Reform Scotland and Reform London down as potential massive underperformers in May. Particularly the former.
Woolies snap/insta judgement on last nights council by elections
2 Ref gain and one loss, 1 Con gain, 1 Lab gain and 1 loss, 1 Green hold, 2 indy losses
Reform look good for taking Tamworth Laura Trott looks reasonably secure in Sevenoaks Labour not dead and buried in the NE yet Essex looks messy, underwhelming Ref gain. Could be a real battleground at CC and next GE Stroud showing Green strength again but theyve yet to breakthrough at GE level there - with Ref underperforming at the last GE it might be a genuine multi way fight
The Essex example was complicated by a strong Ind/Green showing, and a relatively good Labour one.
It was, but i genuinely think Reform are not performing as well in Essex as they should on national polling and the 2024 results. May will give us a good overview of expectation vs reality.
Reform naming their Holyrood candidates 19th March, giving them just 7 weeks to actually campaign in constituencies
You and I both know you can't "campaign" in constituencies of that size - at least, not in the traditional way of leaflets and canvassing. It's going to be interesting to see how social media is used both in Scotland, Wales and in London where many voters aren't easily reachable in the old fashioned way.
Constituency candidates do tend to campaign in constituencies.the other parties have their people out already getting that name recognition/reelect thing going. If it had no effect nobody would do it. Therefore i conclude Reform Scotland either has some utter goobers lined up they are hiding or they arent standing everywhere in individual constituencies but dont want to give their approach away too early. (Or they are struggling to fill the slots with electable people)
The Reformers I've heard about on the grapevine are a pretty gruesome lot. Unbiddables with a high opinion of their own abilities not shared by anyone who knows them. But, maybe Lord Offord will spring a few surprises?
I expect it will be the same on the island; from what I have heard they’ve been signing up the idiot from every village and the bore from every pub.
Israel’s opposition leader has called for Israel to create a “sterile zone” in southern Lebanon, similar to the Yellow Line in Gaza, by removing Lebanese villages there.
Yair Lapid, who heads the centrist Yesh Atid party, told a local television channel that Israel would “have no choice” but to create a “sterile zone” in southern Lebanon. “It might be unaesthetic, or unpleasant, to scrape away two or three Lebanese villages,” he said, “but they brought it upon themselves.”
Sounds like the usual Isrseli rhetoric we've come to know and love. As my friend who recently returned from a work trip there said, they've become a highly radicalised state.
The Israelis are wild animals. I have been texting some friends in Beirut and just when Lebanon gets its act together Israel bombs again. the irony is that the first time I went there to work Beirut was riddled with bullet holes and the Israelis weren't badly thought of.
The Lebanese are probably my favourite people in the world and they really don't deserve this. They are generous hospitable bright tri lingual and just very sweet in the most old fashined sense of the word.
The girls have too much plastic surgery but that's just something they do.My last ad for them was using Miss Lebanion who came in the top 3 of Miss World She was funny like a lot of Lebanese. When I think of all those really rounded attractive people and I see the arrogant self important Israelis it makes me want to vomit.
They tell the story of when their President went to visit President Xi in China he asked what the Lebanese population was? "Three million".He said. "
"Three million? Why didn't you bring them with you?"
"The Israelis are wild animals." They are not alone in this though Roger, are they? Oct 7th wasn't exactly a picnic for the victims. Tens of thousands of Iranians killed by their own government for the crime of protesting is not a great look.
How stupid are those people who assume that because someone condemns Bibi for indiscriminately flattening Gaza and now Beirut and Tehran that they are fanatical supporters of Hamas, Hezbollah and the Mullahs?
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Qatar are discussing pulling back from U.S. and other investments as the toll from this regional war with Iran mounts.
Politico has a report saying the Iranian war is likely to last until September at least (from a US perspective). I guess the thinking now is: once you’ve started you might as well finish. Totally obliterate Iran as a threat and adversary for a generation. Regime change is a bonus
If and when that happens Iran will go down, all drones blazing, destabilising the region for a looooooong time
This has the potential to destroy Dubai, Qatar, Abu Dhabi - all of them - as tourist/tech/financial hubs. Even zero income tax won’t make up for months of potential death by Shahed
At this point the Iranian threat to others has almost disappeared completely.
Reports from Iran are very scarce, but it looks like the US and Israel have done a damn good job at taking out almost every launch facility in the country.
While not disagreeing with the general trend aren't we currently on day 7 ?
I read an analysis which suggested the Iranian regime is planning on being in for the long-haul, outlasting the US commitment (we are talking Trump here - instant gratification personified), and eking out their drones and missiles for as long as possible. Then they can get back to the serious job of murdering and torturing the internal opposition.
Let's hope this doesn't prove to be the case.
There will be a point where Iranian drones become so minimal they are irrelevant.
Reform naming their Holyrood candidates 19th March, giving them just 7 weeks to actually campaign in constituencies
You and I both know you can't "campaign" in constituencies of that size - at least, not in the traditional way of leaflets and canvassing. It's going to be interesting to see how social media is used both in Scotland, Wales and in London where many voters aren't easily reachable in the old fashioned way.
Constituency candidates do tend to campaign in constituencies.the other parties have their people out already getting that name recognition/reelect thing going. If it had no effect nobody would do it. Therefore i conclude Reform Scotland either has some utter goobers lined up they are hiding or they arent standing everywhere in individual constituencies but dont want to give their approach away too early. (Or they are struggling to fill the slots with electable people)
The Reformers I've heard about on the grapevine are a pretty gruesome lot. Unbiddables with a high opinion of their own abilities not shared by anyone who knows them. But, maybe Lord Offord will spring a few surprises?
I expect it will be the same on the island; from what I have heard they’ve been signing up the idiot from every village and the bore from every pub.
My take is that Reform don't expect to win any constituencies, so will only run on the list and the candidates won't have to subject themselves to public scrutiny at hustings etc
Yes, my impressions of Lebanese people have often. been very positive, too, although major and generalised anti-semitism has often become an issue, as well, after so many years of Israeli attacks and worries.
Very hospitable, passionate, imaginative and spirited people, including many bright and beautiful women.
Israel’s opposition leader has called for Israel to create a “sterile zone” in southern Lebanon, similar to the Yellow Line in Gaza, by removing Lebanese villages there.
Yair Lapid, who heads the centrist Yesh Atid party, told a local television channel that Israel would “have no choice” but to create a “sterile zone” in southern Lebanon. “It might be unaesthetic, or unpleasant, to scrape away two or three Lebanese villages,” he said, “but they brought it upon themselves.”
I was joking about Barry being off with a bad back and Steve on a golfing holiday meaning they couldn't get the boat ready for a week....seems closer to the truth. Its 5 o clock mate, we don't work past then.
Its been reported that Trump signalled to Starmer on the 11th Feb that Iran strikes were likely in near future, but they also let our own working sub sail to Australia.
Reform naming their Holyrood candidates 19th March, giving them just 7 weeks to actually campaign in constituencies
You and I both know you can't "campaign" in constituencies of that size - at least, not in the traditional way of leaflets and canvassing. It's going to be interesting to see how social media is used both in Scotland, Wales and in London where many voters aren't easily reachable in the old fashioned way.
Constituency candidates do tend to campaign in constituencies.the other parties have their people out already getting that name recognition/reelect thing going. If it had no effect nobody would do it. Therefore i conclude Reform Scotland either has some utter goobers lined up they are hiding or they arent standing everywhere in individual constituencies but dont want to give their approach away too early. (Or they are struggling to fill the slots with electable people)
The Reformers I've heard about on the grapevine are a pretty gruesome lot. Unbiddables with a high opinion of their own abilities not shared by anyone who knows them. But, maybe Lord Offord will spring a few surprises?
I expect it will be the same on the island; from what I have heard they’ve been signing up the idiot from every village and the bore from every pub.
My take is that Reform don't expect to win any constituencies, so will only run on the list and the candidates won't have to subject themselves to public scrutiny at hustings etc
If they didnt run in the constituencies at all it would make the current projections wildly out
Israel’s opposition leader has called for Israel to create a “sterile zone” in southern Lebanon, similar to the Yellow Line in Gaza, by removing Lebanese villages there.
Yair Lapid, who heads the centrist Yesh Atid party, told a local television channel that Israel would “have no choice” but to create a “sterile zone” in southern Lebanon. “It might be unaesthetic, or unpleasant, to scrape away two or three Lebanese villages,” he said, “but they brought it upon themselves.”
Sounds like the usual Isrseli rhetoric we've come to know and love. As my friend who recently returned from a work trip there said, they've become a highly radicalised state.
The Israelis are wild animals. I have been texting some friends in Beirut and just when Lebanon gets its act together Israel bombs again. the irony is that the first time I went there to work Beirut was riddled with bullet holes and the Israelis weren't badly thought of.
The Lebanese are probably my favourite people in the world and they really don't deserve this. They are generous hospitable bright tri lingual and just very sweet in the most old fashined sense of the word.
The girls have too much plastic surgery but that's just something they do.My last ad for them was using Miss Lebanion who came in the top 3 of Miss World She was funny like a lot of Lebanese. When I think of all those really rounded attractive people and I see the arrogant self important Israelis it makes me want to vomit.
They tell the story of when their President went to visit President Xi in China he asked what the Lebanese population was? "Three million".He said. "
"Three million? Why didn't you bring them with you?"
"The Israelis are wild animals." They are not alone in this though Roger, are they? Oct 7th wasn't exactly a picnic for the victims. Tens of thousands of Iranians killed by their own government for the crime of protesting is not a great look.
How stupid are those people who assume that because someone condemns Bibi for indiscriminately flattening Gaza and now Beirut and Tehran that they are fanatical supporters of Hamas, Hezbollah and the Mullahs?
Calling Israelis "Wild animals" is not the same as condemning Bibi. That's the point. I am sick and tired of the polarised extremes on here. There is a lot of nastiness on all sides. Israel has been under attack just for existing for decades. They were attacked to start the war in Gaza. Very much like the Nazi's calling Bomber Command "terror fliers" its a bit rich for people to call Israeli's wild animals after what was done to them.
I just want it all to stop. No more bombs, no more people being killed. Fuck knows how we get there but idiotic comments on PB are not the way.
My God, that's a whole new universe of Ultra-Cringe
Keir, I implore you, please: get some bloody voice training. It's like nails down a blackboard.
Self deception is everywhere, but most strong in politics I suspect. Sir Keir and his team have to be looking at his output and thinking it’s ok, that’ll work. Connectedly Morgan McSweeny’s farewell party was apparently awash with fulsome tributes to the ginger homunculus, including SKS calling him a world class talent. Presumably they have to reinforce each other with this stuff because the alternative is too awful to contemplate.
Your first sentence also explains the Reform candidate alluded to earlier who didn't think his conviction for chil p*rn and embezzlement might be a hindrance to his political career. But yes, it's baffling. The only alternative explanation is that SKS's output is being deliberately sabotaged by someone with a very dry sense of humour. Or maybe they've just subcontracted it all to AI.
I mean, on a very superficial level - if you consider it for less than a second - it's quite appealing: I like images of helicopters in flight, and, guiltily, I like the guitar riff from 'Money for Nothing'. I expect many middle aged men feel the same, including, possibly, the person who signed this off. If you think about it for less than half a second, it works. But then the words 'money for nothing' and 'Dire Straits' spring to mind, along with 'this all looks a bit American, no?', and 'why has the PM got a tiktok account - isn't that how the Chinese spy on us?', and then you get SKS's voice - and this is all in seconds 0.5 to 3.0. How, how did this get approved?
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Qatar are discussing pulling back from U.S. and other investments as the toll from this regional war with Iran mounts.
Politico has a report saying the Iranian war is likely to last until September at least (from a US perspective). I guess the thinking now is: once you’ve started you might as well finish. Totally obliterate Iran as a threat and adversary for a generation. Regime change is a bonus
If and when that happens Iran will go down, all drones blazing, destabilising the region for a looooooong time
This has the potential to destroy Dubai, Qatar, Abu Dhabi - all of them - as tourist/tech/financial hubs. Even zero income tax won’t make up for months of potential death by Shahed
At this point the Iranian threat to others has almost disappeared completely.
Reports from Iran are very scarce, but it looks like the US and Israel have done a damn good job at taking out almost every launch facility in the country.
While not disagreeing with the general trend aren't we currently on day 7 ?
I read an analysis which suggested the Iranian regime is planning on being in for the long-haul, outlasting the US commitment (we are talking Trump here - instant gratification personified), and eking out their drones and missiles for as long as possible. Then they can get back to the serious job of murdering and torturing the internal opposition.
Let's hope this doesn't prove to be the case.
The unresolvable dialogue about the multiple and inconsistent war aims of the USA re Iran has hidden a more significant conversation. Doing the best one can with the reality, what would be, in the end, the best available real war aim?
Would it not be simply to eliminate for the next X years Iran's capacity to be a major external threat?
However sad it is, I can't see the smallest possibility of a coherent external plan to sort the internal politics of Iran. That way madness lies.
Funnily enough, some of his old associates are blanking me.
Is it because after I reported on the killing of a Polish man in Essex in 2016, he said that I had caused him "more misery than any other in 25 years in politics"?
So I'm asking the Great British public to lend me a hand because NF is seeking to be our lord and master.
Were you at school with NF? Worked with him in the City when he was a tin trader? Met him through politics?
Did you drive the pink Cadillac hired by Nathan Gill who last year got ten years for taking bribes from a Russian spy?
Big new psephological analysis on voters Labour is losing to the Green Party, plus the Liberal Democrats and nationalist parties.
Key quote:
Demographically, most progressive defectors are frustrated lower middle class Millennials - not affluent urbanites or a PMC ‘lanyard class’. Though they have liberal social values, many are frustrated graduates; Millennials with a mortgage or rent they are struggling to afford - primary school teachers, IT support or clerical workers. In short, the face of the modern social democratic voter.
Big new psephological analysis on voters Labour is losing to the Green Party, plus the Liberal Democrats and nationalist parties.
Key quote:
Demographically, most progressive defectors are frustrated lower middle class Millennials - not affluent urbanites or a PMC ‘lanyard class’. Though they have liberal social values, many are frustrated graduates; Millennials with a mortgage or rent they are struggling to afford - primary school teachers, IT support or clerical workers. In short, the face of the modern social democratic voter.
Does not just describe a lot of those that would have been Jezza fans back in the day?
Comments
Not till they are all refitted though. June. Maybe.
Reports from Iran are very scarce, but it looks like the US and Israel have done a damn good job at taking out almost every launch facility in the country.
https://x.com/iranspec/status/2029837939010916382
The choice of music
The sound levels
The optics
As opposed to the party of Chinese spies ?
yep, looks legit
AIUI the Shahed drones can be launched from an adapted pickup truck
But ins'allah you're right, if Iran is already effectively defanged that's great news
"The Process was followed. Therefore all ok."
Yair Lapid, who heads the centrist Yesh Atid party, told a local television channel that Israel would “have no choice” but to create a “sterile zone” in southern Lebanon. “It might be unaesthetic, or unpleasant, to scrape away two or three Lebanese villages,” he said, “but they brought it upon themselves.”
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/03/06/trump-could-win-iran-and-lose-taiwan-in-the-process/
Apparently, they support the US intervention but are worried how this all ends
That must be replicated across the UK and beyond
Talking to the room like he’s king of the den,
Slides going by with a colourful chart,
Half of it jargon, the rest modern art.
He waves at the screen like he’s steering a ship,
Drops big words every time his voice dips,
Someone whispers, “What’s all that for?”
He smiles and says it once more.
Chorus
“My Number One Priority,
Yes my Number One Priority,
Put it big in the government story,
That’s my Number One Priority.”
Verse 2
Now he’s got a team and a strategic review,
A dashboard glowing in corporate blue,
Three assistants carrying folders around,
Nobody sure what’s actually found.
He’s pointing at graphs that climb to the sky,
Nobody brave enough to ask why,
Someone mutters quietly:
“Is that really the priority?”
Chorus
“My Number One Priority,
Write it bold for authority,
If it sounds good in a budget—
That’s my Number One Priority.”
Bridge
Big speech, bright lights, big display,
New initiative every other day,
Nobody knows what the plan will be,
But it’s definitely a priority.
Final Chorus
“My Number One Priority,
Say it loud so the world can see,
If you ask what it’s meant to be—
Well… that’s my Number One Priority.”
He lurks and he steals. He's a British journalist. It's what they do
I regard it as mildly flattering
Which is why Serbs were gunning for a chance to get revenge. It was only Tito, and communism, which prevented Yugoslavia descending into outright civil war in 1945 when the Germans were sent packing. But that civil war was delayed, not cancelled
Wiki:
"During World War II in Yugoslavia, the Ustaše went on to perpetrate the Holocaust and genocide against its Jewish, Serb and Roma populations,[42] killing hundreds of thousands of Serbs, Jews, Roma, as well as Muslim and Croat political dissidents.[43][44][45]"
2 Ref gain and one loss, 1 Con gain, 1 Lab gain and 1 loss, 1 Green hold, 2 indy losses
Reform look good for taking Tamworth
Laura Trott looks reasonably secure in Sevenoaks
Labour not dead and buried in the NE yet
Essex looks messy, underwhelming Ref gain. Could be a real battleground at CC and next GE
Stroud showing Green strength again but theyve yet to breakthrough at GE level there - with Ref underperforming at the last GE it might be a genuine multi way fight
Anecdotal evidence says it’s a lot quieter, and there appear to be several sources citing similar falling numbers across the region.
Here’s the Hudson Institute update.
https://x.com/hudsoninstitute/status/2029684318659125293
@Amena__Bakr
"Qatar expects all Gulf energy producers to shut down exports within weeks and drive oil to $150 a barrel, the country's Energy Minister Saad al-Kaabi told the Financial Times in an interview published on Friday.
"Everybody that has not called for force majeure we expect will do so in the next few days that this continues. All exporters in the Gulf region will have to call force majeure," Kaabi told the FT." #OOTT
https://x.com/Amena__Bakr/status/2029860298581233712
Trump has saved Putin's economy.
We’re not headed for a recession.
Learned a new word.
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/ideas/pro-wrestling-kayfabe-1.6571027
Funnily enough, some of his old associates are blanking me.
Is it because after I reported on the killing of a Polish man in Essex in 2016, he said that I had caused him "more misery than any other in 25 years in politics"?
So I'm asking the Great British public to lend me a hand because NF is seeking to be our lord and master.
Were you at school with NF? Worked with him in the City when he was a tin trader? Met him through politics?
Did you drive the pink Cadillac hired by Nathan Gill who last year got ten years for taking bribes from a Russian spy?
Do get in touch: https://johnsweeney.co.uk
https://x.com/johnsweeneyroar/status/2029510621599772878
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/mar/06/influencers-sold-fantasy-dubai-missile-economic-migrants
"Alongside the wealth managers, property agents and taut-skinned trophy wives who always accompany the mega-rich, it attracted its share of Reform-supporting X blue ticks banging on from their beach clubs about London supposedly going to the dogs; influencers seeking luxury backdrops for their unboxing videos; crypto guys, tech bros, and assorted hustlers. But many rungs down the financial ladder behind them came an army of younger temporary workers to clean their pools and nanny for their kids and teach them pilates, many of whom have families back home now worried sick. Gloat if you must that they are now finding out why other people stay home in the rain, but schadenfreude is a grim look when fellow human beings are sleeping in their basements as the tyrannical Iranian regime tries to kill them."
If you watch videos of him 5 or 10 years ago, his voice is much more tolerable and relaxed. He's not Peak Baritone Obama, but he's acceptable
So they did something to him, and it was double plus ungood, especially when combined with his natural tendency to speak like a boring HR robot lawyer
Wrestling is pre-determined. But these guys put their bodies on the line for our entertainment and the love of the game.
As a wrestling fan my golden rule is if it’s on screen it’s a work.
Shoots are few and far between.
The Lebanese are probably my favourite people in the world and they really don't deserve this. They are generous hospitable bright tri lingual and just very sweet in the most old fashined sense of the word.
The girls have too much plastic surgery but that's just something they do.My last ad for them was using Miss Lebanion who came in the top 3 of Miss World She was funny like a lot of Lebanese. When I think of all those really rounded attractive people and I see the arrogant self important Israelis it makes me want to vomit.
They tell the story of when their President went to visit President Xi in China he asked what the Lebanese population was? "Three million".He said. "
"Three million? Why didn't you bring them with you?"
If it had no effect nobody would do it.
Therefore i conclude Reform Scotland either has some utter goobers lined up they are hiding or they arent standing everywhere in individual constituencies but dont want to give their approach away too early.
(Or they are struggling to fill the slots with electable people)
Let's hope this doesn't prove to be the case.
Restore Britain have another recruit at least as a member, after a Councillor was suspended from the Reform Whip over an argument about allegedly misappropriated clipboards. Clipboards !!! ?
(Celebrating the likely modal age of PB, this is number 64.)
'I was suspended from Reform over row about clipboards' says Walsall councillor, six months after shock by-election win
He told the Express & Star that he had resigned with immediate effect, and was now a member of Rupert Lowe's rival Restore Britain party.
He said his suspension related to an argument about clipboards at a party event in Kingswinford last month where Reform deputy leader Richard Tice was special guest.
Councillor Eardley said that a fellow party member had accused him of 'misappropriating branch assets' after losing track of six clipboards which had been purchased for his by-election campaign.
"During the event I was showing these text messages to a fellow party member, when the lady who had sent these messages overheard and started shouting," he said.
https://www.expressandstar.com/news/local-hubs/walsall/pelsall/2026/03/05/i-was-suspended-from-reform-over-row-about-clipboards-says-walsall-councillor-six-months-after-by-election-win/
Not his fault. Just the way things are. He won the lottwry on hair, but not on voice.
May will give us a good overview of expectation vs reality.
Takes a very special level of comms genius to soundtrack this bizarre clip to “Money for Nothing”
https://x.com/sebastianepayne/status/2029865079705940000?s=46&t=CW4pL-mMpTqsJXCdjW0Z6Q
Very hospitable, passionate, imaginative and spirited people, including many bright and beautiful women.
https://x.com/joshglancy/status/2029829489140674598?s=20
Its been reported that Trump signalled to Starmer on the 11th Feb that Iran strikes were likely in near future, but they also let our own working sub sail to Australia.
I just want it all to stop. No more bombs, no more people being killed. Fuck knows how we get there but idiotic comments on PB are not the way.
But yes, it's baffling. The only alternative explanation is that SKS's output is being deliberately sabotaged by someone with a very dry sense of humour. Or maybe they've just subcontracted it all to AI.
I mean, on a very superficial level - if you consider it for less than a second - it's quite appealing: I like images of helicopters in flight, and, guiltily, I like the guitar riff from 'Money for Nothing'. I expect many middle aged men feel the same, including, possibly, the person who signed this off. If you think about it for less than half a second, it works. But then the words 'money for nothing' and 'Dire Straits' spring to mind, along with 'this all looks a bit American, no?', and 'why has the PM got a tiktok account - isn't that how the Chinese spy on us?', and then you get SKS's voice - and this is all in seconds 0.5 to 3.0. How, how did this get approved?
Would it not be simply to eliminate for the next X years Iran's capacity to be a major external threat?
However sad it is, I can't see the smallest possibility of a coherent external plan to sort the internal politics of Iran. That way madness lies.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15620519/David-Lammy-UK-strikes-Iran-Trump-missile-legal-Cyprus-Nato.html
https://home.38degrees.org.uk/2026/03/05/revolt-on-the-left-report-publication/
Big new psephological analysis on voters Labour is losing to the Green Party, plus the Liberal Democrats and nationalist parties.
Key quote:
Demographically, most progressive defectors are frustrated lower middle class Millennials - not affluent urbanites or a PMC ‘lanyard class’. Though they have liberal social values, many are frustrated graduates; Millennials with a mortgage or rent they are struggling to afford - primary school teachers, IT support or clerical workers. In short, the face of the modern social democratic voter.