“Are the Ukrainians helping us with drone defense?”
TRUMP:
“We don’t need their help in drone defense. We know more about drones than anybody. We have the best drones in the world, actually”
Americans are going to wake up in world where their military has been eclipsed by China's, and it will happen a lot sooner than most of them anticipate.
Turns out Donald Trump does fancy nuking Iran and a year later there is little left of the world's economy or population.
The internet survives though and on PB the debate goes on. There's anger about Trump destroying everything, it's the majority position, but there is pushback from certain posters.
"Hiroshima. It's ok when a Dem president does it then?"
"Well perhaps if the Dems had had a proper primary instead of choosing Kamala."
"Woke simply had to be defeated. It's a shame it came to this but it's all on the Dems."
"Imagine if Hillary had won in 2016. God help us."
Turns out Donald Trump does fancy nuking Iran and a year later there is little left of the world's economy or population.
The internet survives though and on PB the debate goes on. There's anger about Trump destroying everything, it's the majority position, but there is still pushback from certain posters.
"Hiroshima. It's ok when a Dem president does it then?"
"Well perhaps if the Dems had had a proper primary instead of choosing Kamala."
"Woke simply had to be defeated. It's a shame it came to this but it's all on the Dems."
"Imagine if Hillary had won in 2016. God help us."
"Hunter Biden's laptop."
NEW THREAD
You're missing the important stuff. Pineapple on pizza, is Die Hard a Christmas Movie, these debates will never end.
What if Kamala had ordered deep pan pizza with pineapple wrapped in bacon, while watch Die Hard the Christmas Movie? Using Hunter Bidens laptop to place the order, obviously…
As he is filmed walking down a street shaking hands with the public
Only question - when?
That was the President on the streets, not the person in charge.
My mum likes Hesketh.
The whole conflict has changed now, from what it was last weekend. UK didn’t have much of a stake in it last weekend, but now it’s about the straits of hormooz and keeping the oil flowing, US are committing ground troops up to five thousand of them. The UK is now going to have to put Warships in the gulf to play active role keeping the oil flowing, and grounds troops alongside the Americans in order to go after where the threats to tankers are coming from. Arn’t we?
Naval assistance possibly but even that may not be possible
The French have more naval ships in the area
However, it only takes a couple of tankers to be sunk in the narrow navigable channel to close the straits indefinitely
UK is now in this situation up to its eyebrows, whether it likes how things got here or not. The UK has to send a small armada to the gulf to keep the straits of Hormuz open in our national interest, as well as ground troops, boots on the ground alongside our coalition of allies, as the only way to go after and silence the threat to the tankers.
When you look at the bigger picture here, where this is naturally progressing - there’s no ceasefire nor regime change, just ongoing conflict from this point, with action by allies to secure passage of oil.
What are people seeing as the bigger picture and direction of travel and natural progression of the national interest if you are not seeing it like this?
You were the first one posted it yesterday, BigG and it’s on the front of the papers today, what I described here is exactly what you told us is the thinking of the UK Minister for Defence. 🤷♀️
I haven't changed my mind - the UK should stay out of it. If there are other countries keen enough to get & keep the Straits open then we'll benefit from that & be grateful to them. The UK isn't capable of being the world's policeman any longer and Mr Trump is not a UK ally. Neither is he a messiah figure to follow into any old mess just because.
As he is filmed walking down a street shaking hands with the public
Only question - when?
That was the President on the streets, not the person in charge.
My mum likes Hesketh.
The whole conflict has changed now, from what it was last weekend. UK didn’t have much of a stake in it last weekend, but now it’s about the straits of hormooz and keeping the oil flowing, US are committing ground troops up to five thousand of them. The UK is now going to have to put Warships in the gulf to play active role keeping the oil flowing, and grounds troops alongside the Americans in order to go after where the threats to tankers are coming from. Arn’t we?
Naval assistance possibly but even that may not be possible
The French have more naval ships in the area
However, it only takes a couple of tankers to be sunk in the narrow navigable channel to close the straits indefinitely
UK is now in this situation up to its eyebrows, whether it likes how things got here or not. The UK has to send a small armada to the gulf to keep the straits of Hormuz open in our national interest, as well as ground troops, boots on the ground alongside our coalition of allies, as the only way to go after and silence the threat to the tankers.
When you look at the bigger picture here, where this is naturally progressing - there’s no ceasefire nor regime change, just ongoing conflict from this point, with action by allies to secure passage of oil.
What are people seeing as the bigger picture and direction of travel and natural progression of the national interest if you are not seeing it like this?
You were the first one posted it yesterday, BigG and it’s on the front of the papers today, what I described here is exactly what you told us is the thinking of the UK Minister for Defence. 🤷♀️
I haven't changed my mind - the UK should stay out of it. If there are other countries keen enough to get & keep the Straits open then we'll benefit from that & be grateful to them. The UK isn't capable of being the world's policeman any longer and Mr Trump is not a UK ally. Neither is he a messiah figure to follow into any old mess just because.
Hegseth: "We will keep pushing, keep advancing. No quarter, no mercy for our enemies."
No quarter is the refusal to take prisoners and instead just execute everyone. It's been considered a war crime for over a century.
Difficult to take prisoners when you don't have the balls to commit anyone on the ground to actually do it. So in that sense he's correct.
A unit of marines is on its way to the Middle East apparently.
The problem is...US marines repositioned themselves a few years ago to be a force that takes ground via marine landings, not a force that holds ground via protracted land warfare. This is why they got rid of their Abrams tanks (we should have bought them, btw). What do the Marines legitimately hope to achieve in the area that the Army is not better suited for?
Its what I said yesterday. They need to seize the land opposite the straits and that strikes me as a job for marines. Not an easy job either.
Turns out Donald Trump does fancy nuking Iran and a year later there is little left of the world's economy or population.
The internet survives though and on PB the debate goes on. There's anger about Trump destroying everything, it's the majority position, but there is pushback from certain posters.
"Hiroshima. It's ok when a Dem president does it then?"
"Well perhaps if the Dems had had a proper primary instead of choosing Kamala."
"Woke simply had to be defeated. It's a shame it came to this but it's all on the Dems."
"Imagine if Hillary had won in 2016. God help us."
Turns out Donald Trump does fancy nuking Iran and a year later there is little left of the world's economy or population.
The internet survives though and on PB the debate goes on. There's anger about Trump destroying everything, it's the majority position, but there is still pushback from certain posters.
"Hiroshima. It's ok when a Dem president does it then?"
"Well perhaps if the Dems had had a proper primary instead of choosing Kamala."
"Woke simply had to be defeated. It's a shame it came to this but it's all on the Dems."
"Imagine if Hillary had won in 2016. God help us."
"Hunter Biden's laptop."
NEW THREAD
You're missing the important stuff. Pineapple on pizza, is Die Hard a Christmas Movie, these debates will never end.
Turns out Donald Trump does fancy nuking Iran and a year later there is little left of the world's economy or population.
The internet survives though and on PB the debate goes on. There's anger about Trump destroying everything, it's the majority position, but there is pushback from certain posters.
"Hiroshima. It's ok when a Dem president does it then?"
"Well perhaps if the Dems had had a proper primary instead of choosing Kamala."
"Woke simply had to be defeated. It's a shame it came to this but it's all on the Dems."
"Imagine if Hillary had won in 2016. God help us."
"Hunter Biden's laptop."
NEW THREAD
Go old school.
"At least we missed the chaos of Ed Miliband"
EICIPM
Scottish subsamples say that the SNP are best placed to manage the nuclear wasteland.
As he is filmed walking down a street shaking hands with the public
Only question - when?
That was the President on the streets, not the person in charge.
My mum likes Hesketh.
The whole conflict has changed now, from what it was last weekend. UK didn’t have much of a stake in it last weekend, but now it’s about the straits of hormooz and keeping the oil flowing, US are committing ground troops up to five thousand of them. The UK is now going to have to put Warships in the gulf to play active role keeping the oil flowing, and grounds troops alongside the Americans in order to go after where the threats to tankers are coming from. Arn’t we?
Naval assistance possibly but even that may not be possible
The French have more naval ships in the area
However, it only takes a couple of tankers to be sunk in the narrow navigable channel to close the straits indefinitely
UK is now in this situation up to its eyebrows, whether it likes how things got here or not. The UK has to send a small armada to the gulf to keep the straits of Hormuz open in our national interest, as well as ground troops, boots on the ground alongside our coalition of allies, as the only way to go after and silence the threat to the tankers.
When you look at the bigger picture here, where this is naturally progressing - there’s no ceasefire nor regime change, just ongoing conflict from this point, with action by allies to secure passage of oil.
What are people seeing as the bigger picture and direction of travel and natural progression of the national interest if you are not seeing it like this?
You were the first one posted it yesterday, BigG and it’s on the front of the papers today, what I described here is exactly what you told us is the thinking of the UK Minister for Defence. 🤷♀️
I haven't changed my mind - the UK should stay out of it. If there are other countries keen enough to get & keep the Straits open then we'll benefit from that & be grateful to them. The UK isn't capable of being the world's policeman any longer and Mr Trump is not a UK ally. Neither is he a messiah figure to follow into any old mess just because.
He's not the messiah, he's a very naughty boy.
There’s no Messiah here. There’s a mess all right, but no Messiah.
A visit to the dentist today and two observations:
1) I spent longer filling in the multiple forms beforehand than I did in the dentist's chair.
2) I paid for it, just as I have to pay for my eye test, my flu jab and any prescriptions I get - is the 'free' NHS only for oldies and those on benefits ?
1) My dentist encourages patients to fill in the paperwork online before the appointment.
2) I pay for dentist, but I am extremely fortunate to have a dentist that has some NHS patients so the fees are very much less than private.
On the dentist my wife and I pay nearly £1,000 pa as there are no NHS dentists taking more patients
A visit to the dentist today and two observations:
1) I spent longer filling in the multiple forms beforehand than I did in the dentist's chair.
2) I paid for it, just as I have to pay for my eye test, my flu jab and any prescriptions I get - is the 'free' NHS only for oldies and those on benefits ?
1) My dentist encourages patients to fill in the paperwork online before the appointment.
2) I pay for dentist, but I am extremely fortunate to have a dentist that has some NHS patients so the fees are very much less than private.
On the dentist my wife and I pay nearly £1,000 pa as there are no NHS dentists taking more patients
We have been in Denplan for over 20 years
I travel down to Lancashire every three months for mine. Been on a waiting list for one up here for years.
As he is filmed walking down a street shaking hands with the public
Only question - when?
That was the President on the streets, not the person in charge.
My mum likes Hesketh.
The whole conflict has changed now, from what it was last weekend. UK didn’t have much of a stake in it last weekend, but now it’s about the straits of hormooz and keeping the oil flowing, US are committing ground troops up to five thousand of them. The UK is now going to have to put Warships in the gulf to play active role keeping the oil flowing, and grounds troops alongside the Americans in order to go after where the threats to tankers are coming from. Arn’t we?
Naval assistance possibly but even that may not be possible
The French have more naval ships in the area
However, it only takes a couple of tankers to be sunk in the narrow navigable channel to close the straits indefinitely
UK is now in this situation up to its eyebrows, whether it likes how things got here or not. The UK has to send a small armada to the gulf to keep the straits of Hormuz open in our national interest, as well as ground troops, boots on the ground alongside our coalition of allies, as the only way to go after and silence the threat to the tankers.
When you look at the bigger picture here, where this is naturally progressing - there’s no ceasefire nor regime change, just ongoing conflict from this point, with action by allies to secure passage of oil.
What are people seeing as the bigger picture and direction of travel and natural progression of the national interest if you are not seeing it like this?
You were the first one posted it yesterday, BigG and it’s on the front of the papers today, what I described here is exactly what you told us is the thinking of the UK Minister for Defence. 🤷♀️
I haven't changed my mind - the UK should stay out of it. If there are other countries keen enough to get & keep the Straits open then we'll benefit from that & be grateful to them. The UK isn't capable of being the world's policeman any longer and Mr Trump is not a UK ally. Neither is he a messiah figure to follow into any old mess just because.
He's not the messiah, he's a very naughty boy.
There’s no Messiah here. There’s a mess all right, but no Messiah.
If there are no messiahs are there any naughty boys ?
The independent adviser on ministerial standards has rejected calls from the Conservatives for an investigation into Sir Keir Starmer over the appointment of Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the U.S.
A visit to the dentist today and two observations:
1) I spent longer filling in the multiple forms beforehand than I did in the dentist's chair.
2) I paid for it, just as I have to pay for my eye test, my flu jab and any prescriptions I get - is the 'free' NHS only for oldies and those on benefits ?
1) My dentist encourages patients to fill in the paperwork online before the appointment.
2) I pay for dentist, but I am extremely fortunate to have a dentist that has some NHS patients so the fees are very much less than private.
On the dentist my wife and I pay nearly £1,000 pa as there are no NHS dentists taking more patients
We have been in Denplan for over 20 years
I travel down to Lancashire every three months for mine. Been on a waiting list for one up here for years.
Whilst our £1,000 is for the two of us, it is far more than most can afford or should have to
Hegseth: "We will keep pushing, keep advancing. No quarter, no mercy for our enemies."
No quarter is the refusal to take prisoners and instead just execute everyone. It's been considered a war crime for over a century.
Difficult to take prisoners when you don't have the balls to commit anyone on the ground to actually do it. So in that sense he's correct.
A unit of marines is on its way to the Middle East apparently.
The problem is...US marines repositioned themselves a few years ago to be a force that takes ground via marine landings, not a force that holds ground via protracted land warfare. This is why they got rid of their Abrams tanks (we should have bought them, btw). What do the Marines legitimately hope to achieve in the area that the Army is not better suited for?
Its what I said yesterday. They need to seize the land opposite the straits and that strikes me as a job for marines. Not an easy job either.
Good point, thank you
There’s quite a lot of ‘land’ there, and a big hinterland. Seizing and, importantly, holding it isn’t going to be easy. The Iranian forces are better trained, I suspect, than the Vietnamese were. And the US lost that war.
The independent adviser on ministerial standards has rejected calls from the Conservatives for an investigation into Sir Keir Starmer over the appointment of Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the U.S.
As he is filmed walking down a street shaking hands with the public
Only question - when?
That was the President on the streets, not the person in charge.
My mum likes Hesketh.
The whole conflict has changed now, from what it was last weekend. UK didn’t have much of a stake in it last weekend, but now it’s about the straits of hormooz and keeping the oil flowing, US are committing ground troops up to five thousand of them. The UK is now going to have to put Warships in the gulf to play active role keeping the oil flowing, and grounds troops alongside the Americans in order to go after where the threats to tankers are coming from. Arn’t we?
Did an interesting if ultimately shite motorbike, so fair enough.
The independent adviser on ministerial standards has rejected calls from the Conservatives for an investigation into Sir Keir Starmer over the appointment of Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the U.S.
Just adds to the impression of no accountability
At least Starmer has an Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards. Brave Sir Boris went through two before deciding, nah.
A visit to the dentist today and two observations:
1) I spent longer filling in the multiple forms beforehand than I did in the dentist's chair.
2) I paid for it, just as I have to pay for my eye test, my flu jab and any prescriptions I get - is the 'free' NHS only for oldies and those on benefits ?
1) My dentist encourages patients to fill in the paperwork online before the appointment.
2) I pay for dentist, but I am extremely fortunate to have a dentist that has some NHS patients so the fees are very much less than private.
On the dentist my wife and I pay nearly £1,000 pa as there are no NHS dentists taking more patients
A visit to the dentist today and two observations:
1) I spent longer filling in the multiple forms beforehand than I did in the dentist's chair.
2) I paid for it, just as I have to pay for my eye test, my flu jab and any prescriptions I get - is the 'free' NHS only for oldies and those on benefits ?
1) My dentist encourages patients to fill in the paperwork online before the appointment.
2) I pay for dentist, but I am extremely fortunate to have a dentist that has some NHS patients so the fees are very much less than private.
On the dentist my wife and I pay nearly £1,000 pa as there are no NHS dentists taking more patients
We have been in Denplan for over 20 years
My wife and I pay £55 each every six months for a check-up. Mrs C had some work done last year; cost £400.
Number 10 has claimed there was “no requirement” for Keir Starmer to formally interview Peter Mandelson before appointing him as ambassador to the US. The Times revealed last night that Starmer delegated the job entirely to Morgan McSweeney and Matthew Doyle.
Amazing how nothing ever hits his desk.
The obvious question is, how many of the last 10 US Ambassadors been interviewed by the sitting PM??
If the answer is 10 he has serious questions to answer
If the answer is more than 5, he should explain why not
If its less than 5, their is nothing to see here.
Choosing not to interview someone doesn’t absolve you of responsibility if you appoint them to the role
A visit to the dentist today and two observations:
1) I spent longer filling in the multiple forms beforehand than I did in the dentist's chair.
2) I paid for it, just as I have to pay for my eye test, my flu jab and any prescriptions I get - is the 'free' NHS only for oldies and those on benefits ?
1) My dentist encourages patients to fill in the paperwork online before the appointment.
2) I pay for dentist, but I am extremely fortunate to have a dentist that has some NHS patients so the fees are very much less than private.
On the dentist my wife and I pay nearly £1,000 pa as there are no NHS dentists taking more patients
A visit to the dentist today and two observations:
1) I spent longer filling in the multiple forms beforehand than I did in the dentist's chair.
2) I paid for it, just as I have to pay for my eye test, my flu jab and any prescriptions I get - is the 'free' NHS only for oldies and those on benefits ?
1) My dentist encourages patients to fill in the paperwork online before the appointment.
2) I pay for dentist, but I am extremely fortunate to have a dentist that has some NHS patients so the fees are very much less than private.
On the dentist my wife and I pay nearly £1,000 pa as there are no NHS dentists taking more patients
We have been in Denplan for over 20 years
My wife and I pay £55 each every six months for a check-up. Mrs C had some work done last year; cost £400.
To be fair we have had excellent service including dental treatment in New Zealand when I lost a crown whilst visiting our son there
Number 10 has claimed there was “no requirement” for Keir Starmer to formally interview Peter Mandelson before appointing him as ambassador to the US. The Times revealed last night that Starmer delegated the job entirely to Morgan McSweeney and Matthew Doyle.
Amazing how nothing ever hits his desk.
The obvious question is, how many of the last 10 US Ambassadors been interviewed by the sitting PM??
If the answer is 10 he has serious questions to answer
If the answer is more than 5, he should explain why not
If its less than 5, their is nothing to see here.
Choosing not to interview someone doesn’t absolve you of responsibility if you appoint them to the role
Number 10 has claimed there was “no requirement” for Keir Starmer to formally interview Peter Mandelson before appointing him as ambassador to the US. The Times revealed last night that Starmer delegated the job entirely to Morgan McSweeney and Matthew Doyle.
Amazing how nothing ever hits his desk.
The obvious question is, how many of the last 10 US Ambassadors been interviewed by the sitting PM??
If the answer is 10 he has serious questions to answer
If the answer is more than 5, he should explain why not
If its less than 5, their is nothing to see here.
Choosing not to interview someone doesn’t absolve you of responsibility if you appoint them to the role
The most obvious answer to Why not? is that he knew the man so well he didn't need to interview him. But given what came out, did SKS know PM that well? But even if he had interviewed him, all that would probably not have surfaced.
Hegseth: "We will keep pushing, keep advancing. No quarter, no mercy for our enemies."
No quarter is the refusal to take prisoners and instead just execute everyone. It's been considered a war crime for over a century.
Difficult to take prisoners when you don't have the balls to commit anyone on the ground to actually do it. So in that sense he's correct.
A unit of marines is on its way to the Middle East apparently.
The problem is...US marines repositioned themselves a few years ago to be a force that takes ground via marine landings, not a force that holds ground via protracted land warfare. This is why they got rid of their Abrams tanks (we should have bought them, btw). What do the Marines legitimately hope to achieve in the area that the Army is not better suited for?
Its what I said yesterday. They need to seize the land opposite the straits and that strikes me as a job for marines. Not an easy job either.
Good point, thank you
There’s quite a lot of ‘land’ there, and a big hinterland. Seizing and, importantly, holding it isn’t going to be easy. The Iranian forces are better trained, I suspect, than the Vietnamese were. And the US lost that war.
The Americans have overwhelming airpower and there is no jungle to hide in. Iranians would find it incredibly difficult to move any opposing forces of any size against a Marine expeditionary force. They would be wiped out before they got close. Drones etc might be more of an issue.
First a THAAD system pulled from South Korea, now Marines pulled from Japan — both to Middle East.
I have seen arguments that Trump is going to war in Iran to deter China. Concretely, the East Asia power balance is shifting in China's favor every day.
it's like one of those photos where you see Picasso, Joyce and Beckett having a coffee in the same Paris cafe, or maybe David Bowie, Mick Jagger and Bob Dylan sharing a joint in Soho in 1969
Except it's the anti-version of that. The negative fame
The interesting question is: who is the hidden fourth person, behind Mandy?
Is there a fourth person?! Looks like a barbecue, to me
As for the photographer, I bet its Ghislaine Maxwell. Her job was to take lots and lots of kompromat, sorry, photographs
Leon Brittain
You should retract that now
I did not flag it but it is simply outrageous
Rod Line Sinker
Who then
Marc François Chris Pincher
Are you trying to get banned for libelling random political opponents?
Well blow me down with a feather. I always thought @Shecorns88 was a @Leon parody account.
I think that @Brixian59 is a far more robust version of your previous incarnation. You are annoying all the right people as our right wing friends would say.
A long dark tea-time of the political soul. Had a very productive day working with my business partners / friends on our new business. Next week is a BIG week in our ambitions.
Spent lunchtime walking round the lake with my friend of 16 years who has clearly drifted right in his perspective. And it's entertaining how my own perspective continues to slide to the right once someone who knows how I think challenges me.
Last time I thought about the Tories positively was in the early days of Boris, and look how badly that turned out...
Someone mentioned selling old hard drives. If you do so, think about this
Don't delete your data first. Encrypt the drive first. So when you format the drive, this destroys the encryption key. So even if someone managed to run a recovery utility on your drive, they would get encrypted data. Which would be very hard to distinguish from noise.
So -
1) Encrypt 2) Wipe 3) Run a secure wipe tool (for the extra paranoid).
I think you could safely throw away a hard drive with the UK's nuclear codes (And even if it had the US over-rides too) without the slightest risk that anyone would read that data.
Throwing a hard drive in a bin is nearly 100% data safe I'd suggest. (Obviously it does depend a little on the bin)
The neodymium magnets within are sort-of useful. They don't fall off the fridge, at any rate.
The disks themselves make a posher bird scarer than AOL CDs.
Surely 10 year old 2Tb disks aren't worth anything?
I needed some crowns & stuff done a few years ago - went to KL for two weeks and had it all done there. The overall cost including flights and hotels was way cheaper than a UK dentist.
I was sorry to read about the deaths of horses at Cheltenham. Not a thing I'd associated with horse racing.
I won't bet on jump races. For three years in a row I bet on the Grand National and each year my horse fell and had to be destroyed. Literally the kiss of death.
I was sorry to read about the deaths of horses at Cheltenham. Not a thing I'd associated with horse racing.
I won't bet on jump races. For three years in a row I bet on the Grand National and each year my horse fell and had to be destroyed. Literally the kiss of death.
That's horrible. Normally I Like replies but not that one.
Number 10 has claimed there was “no requirement” for Keir Starmer to formally interview Peter Mandelson before appointing him as ambassador to the US. The Times revealed last night that Starmer delegated the job entirely to Morgan McSweeney and Matthew Doyle.
Amazing how nothing ever hits his desk.
The obvious question is, how many of the last 10 US Ambassadors been interviewed by the sitting PM??
If the answer is 10 he has serious questions to answer
If the answer is more than 5, he should explain why not
If its less than 5, their is nothing to see here.
Choosing not to interview someone doesn’t absolve you of responsibility if you appoint them to the role
Further, if you decide to appoint a specific person to a role, rather than going with whoever passes the last round of the interview process, you’ve made yourself responsible.
I needed some crowns & stuff done a few years ago - went to KL for two weeks and had it all done there. The overall cost including flights and hotels was way cheaper than a UK dentist.
I needed some crowns & stuff done a few years ago - went to KL for two weeks and had it all done there. The overall cost including flights and hotels was way cheaper than a UK dentist.
I wonder whether the combination of poverty plus dental pain will qualify for Medically Assisted Dying?
Hegseth: "We will keep pushing, keep advancing. No quarter, no mercy for our enemies."
No quarter is the refusal to take prisoners and instead just execute everyone. It's been considered a war crime for over a century.
Difficult to take prisoners when you don't have the balls to commit anyone on the ground to actually do it. So in that sense he's correct.
A unit of marines is on its way to the Middle East apparently.
The problem is...US marines repositioned themselves a few years ago to be a force that takes ground via marine landings, not a force that holds ground via protracted land warfare. This is why they got rid of their Abrams tanks (we should have bought them, btw). What do the Marines legitimately hope to achieve in the area that the Army is not better suited for?
Its what I said yesterday. They need to seize the land opposite the straits and that strikes me as a job for marines. Not an easy job either.
Good point, thank you
There’s quite a lot of ‘land’ there, and a big hinterland. Seizing and, importantly, holding it isn’t going to be easy. The Iranian forces are better trained, I suspect, than the Vietnamese were. And the US lost that war.
The Americans have overwhelming airpower and there is no jungle to hide in. Iranians would find it incredibly difficult to move any opposing forces of any size against a Marine expeditionary force. They would be wiped out before they got close. Drones etc might be more of an issue.
The Americans would have massive coverage from Reaper and other drones and behind that AWACS, with fighter support and then B52s ready to obliterate any ground force that tried to mass. Iranian missiles are getting scarcer by the day. Certinly the US would not operating with impunity - but the Road of Death would be waving hello.
The Iranians would use mosques and schools and hopsitals to operate from, but Trump and Hegseth aren't going to worry about those niceties. They have already told us as much. They would just press on regardless. Press on where to is the question though. Whether the regime fails in the areas they pass through would an interesting question. There might not be many people left to "liberate".
Someone mentioned selling old hard drives. If you do so, think about this
Don't delete your data first. Encrypt the drive first. So when you format the drive, this destroys the encryption key. So even if someone managed to run a recovery utility on your drive, they would get encrypted data. Which would be very hard to distinguish from noise.
So -
1) Encrypt 2) Wipe 3) Run a secure wipe tool (for the extra paranoid).
I think you could safely throw away a hard drive with the UK's nuclear codes (And even if it had the US over-rides too) without the slightest risk that anyone would read that data.
Throwing a hard drive in a bin is nearly 100% data safe I'd suggest. (Obviously it does depend a little on the bin)
The neodymium magnets within are sort-of useful. They don't fall off the fridge, at any rate.
The disks themselves make a posher bird scarer than AOL CDs.
Surely 10 year old 2Tb disks aren't worth anything?
There is a 'complex tug-of-war inside the White House' as Trump's aides debate 'when and how to declare victory' against Iran, according to Reuters report.
A long dark tea-time of the political soul. Had a very productive day working with my business partners / friends on our new business. Next week is a BIG week in our ambitions.
Spent lunchtime walking round the lake with my friend of 16 years who has clearly drifted right in his perspective. And it's entertaining how my own perspective continues to slide to the right once someone who knows how I think challenges me.
Last time I thought about the Tories positively was in the early days of Boris, and look how badly that turned out...
There is a 'complex tug-of-war inside the White House' as Trump's aides debate 'when and how to declare victory' against Iran, according to Reuters report.
I think it would be wise for all of us to concede the win now. I am quite content to do so. The World would be far safer for Trump to take the win and any awards that brings. I doubt Bibi is done just yet though.
“Are the Ukrainians helping us with drone defense?”
TRUMP:
“We don’t need their help in drone defense. We know more about drones than anybody. We have the best drones in the world, actually”
Americans are going to wake up in world where their military has been eclipsed by China's, and it will happen a lot sooner than most of them anticipate.
They are going to wake up in a world where their military has been eclipsed by Ukraine's. Bang for buck, their Military Industrial Complex is going to be priced out of the market.
There is a 'complex tug-of-war inside the White House' as Trump's aides debate 'when and how to declare victory' against Iran, according to Reuters report.
If the Straits of Hormuz aren't open, then it is patently NOT a "victory" of any hue that even Trump and Hegseth can spin.
First a THAAD system pulled from South Korea, now Marines pulled from Japan — both to Middle East.
I have seen arguments that Trump is going to war in Iran to deter China. Concretely, the East Asia power balance is shifting in China's favor every day.
I kind of wonder if things getting much more contested between the US and China might not be a bad thing. The whole geopolitical crucible would shift to the far East, and Europe might be left quiet and unharassed for a while.
Might disrupt semiconductor production but if it’s that vs oil and LNG…
There is a 'complex tug-of-war inside the White House' as Trump's aides debate 'when and how to declare victory' against Iran, according to Reuters report.
If the Straits of Hormuz aren't open, then it is patently NOT a "victory" of any hue that even Trump and Hegseth can spin.
But they are open, subject to Iran not bombing boats. Hegseth told us so.
There is a 'complex tug-of-war inside the White House' as Trump's aides debate 'when and how to declare victory' against Iran, according to Reuters report.
If the Straits of Hormuz aren't open, then it is patently NOT a "victory" of any hue that even Trump and Hegseth can spin.
Hegseth said today they are open (as long as Iran doesn't sink any ships)
I needed some crowns & stuff done a few years ago - went to KL for two weeks and had it all done there. The overall cost including flights and hotels was way cheaper than a UK dentist.
King's Lynn?
Rather more rustic dentistry there - extraction by a string connected to a slammed door!
There is a 'complex tug-of-war inside the White House' as Trump's aides debate 'when and how to declare victory' against Iran, according to Reuters report.
If the Straits of Hormuz aren't open, then it is patently NOT a "victory" of any hue that even Trump and Hegseth can spin.
But they are open, subject to Iran not bombing boats. Hegseth told us so.
Well, that has always been the case I suppose. The Straits of Dover are open, subject to France not bombing boats.
Someone mentioned selling old hard drives. If you do so, think about this
Don't delete your data first. Encrypt the drive first. So when you format the drive, this destroys the encryption key. So even if someone managed to run a recovery utility on your drive, they would get encrypted data. Which would be very hard to distinguish from noise.
So -
1) Encrypt 2) Wipe 3) Run a secure wipe tool (for the extra paranoid).
I think you could safely throw away a hard drive with the UK's nuclear codes (And even if it had the US over-rides too) without the slightest risk that anyone would read that data.
Throwing a hard drive in a bin is nearly 100% data safe I'd suggest. (Obviously it does depend a little on the bin)
The neodymium magnets within are sort-of useful. They don't fall off the fridge, at any rate.
The disks themselves make a posher bird scarer than AOL CDs.
Surely 10 year old 2Tb disks aren't worth anything?
There is a 'complex tug-of-war inside the White House' as Trump's aides debate 'when and how to declare victory' against Iran, according to Reuters report.
If the Straits of Hormuz aren't open, then it is patently NOT a "victory" of any hue that even Trump and Hegseth can spin.
But they are open, subject to Iran not bombing boats. Hegseth told us so.
I've just heard a clip of Hegseth saying that Iran is acting out of shear desperation.
A long dark tea-time of the political soul. Had a very productive day working with my business partners / friends on our new business. Next week is a BIG week in our ambitions.
Spent lunchtime walking round the lake with my friend of 16 years who has clearly drifted right in his perspective. And it's entertaining how my own perspective continues to slide to the right once someone who knows how I think challenges me.
Last time I thought about the Tories positively was in the early days of Boris, and look how badly that turned out...
Oh God No! lol
Hmm. I can only repeat my previous question: what Lib Dem policies do you now no longer believe, and what Conservative policies do you now believe which you did not believe before? Politics isn't ties.
First a THAAD system pulled from South Korea, now Marines pulled from Japan — both to Middle East.
I have seen arguments that Trump is going to war in Iran to deter China. Concretely, the East Asia power balance is shifting in China's favor every day.
I would guess that China's top foreign policy priority is making sure they don't accidentally do anything that sees Donald Trump replaced or weakened. "Keep him in post at all costs."
There is a 'complex tug-of-war inside the White House' as Trump's aides debate 'when and how to declare victory' against Iran, according to Reuters report.
If the Straits of Hormuz aren't open, then it is patently NOT a "victory" of any hue that even Trump and Hegseth can spin.
As the military analysts say: the enemy also has a vote on this.
There is a 'complex tug-of-war inside the White House' as Trump's aides debate 'when and how to declare victory' against Iran, according to Reuters report.
A circular tug of war.
All pointless. There is no debate. They will do as Trump tells them.
A long dark tea-time of the political soul. Had a very productive day working with my business partners / friends on our new business. Next week is a BIG week in our ambitions.
Spent lunchtime walking round the lake with my friend of 16 years who has clearly drifted right in his perspective. And it's entertaining how my own perspective continues to slide to the right once someone who knows how I think challenges me.
Last time I thought about the Tories positively was in the early days of Boris, and look how badly that turned out...
Oh God No! lol
Hmm. I can only repeat my previous question: what Lib Dem policies do you now no longer believe, and what Conservative policies do you now believe which you did not believe before? Politics isn't ties.
I only see politics as that partisan when forced to do it. There’s good and bad in all parties. With the exception of of those racist fucks in Restore Britain.
I was a liberal inside the Labour Party for a while. And now I find myself on the Orange Book end of the LibDems as opposed to the SDP end.
It’s not about specific policies or even people. It’s about feel. And what has my feel been for a while? I really liked Rishi Sunak and told him that when I met him as Chancellor. even if he ended up utterly ineffective as PM. I keep saying “Liz Truss was right” to provoke the need to think the unthinkable. Even if she was bonkers. Etc
A long dark tea-time of the political soul. Had a very productive day working with my business partners / friends on our new business. Next week is a BIG week in our ambitions.
Spent lunchtime walking round the lake with my friend of 16 years who has clearly drifted right in his perspective. And it's entertaining how my own perspective continues to slide to the right once someone who knows how I think challenges me.
Last time I thought about the Tories positively was in the early days of Boris, and look how badly that turned out...
Oh God No! lol
Hmm. I can only repeat my previous question: what Lib Dem policies do you now no longer believe, and what Conservative policies do you now believe which you did not believe before? Politics isn't ties.
I only see politics as that partisan when forced to do it. There’s good and bad in all parties. With the exception of of those racist fucks in Restore Britain.
I was a liberal inside the Labour Party for a while. And now I find myself on the Orange Book end of the LibDems as opposed to the SDP end.
It’s not about specific policies or even people. It’s about feel. And what has my feel been for a while? I really liked Rishi Sunak and told him that when I met him as Chancellor. even if he ended up utterly ineffective as PM. I keep saying “Liz Truss was right” to provoke the need to think the unthinkable. Even if she was bonkers. Etc
Ah, thank you. I don't share your conception of parties but I do understand your explanation.
This has been a pattern in local by-elections for a while now. Greens are making gains in some areas but losing seats in others. I suspect pattern will continue into the local elections as the party's prime mission changes from an ecologically-based party to a left populist one.
it's like one of those photos where you see Picasso, Joyce and Beckett having a coffee in the same Paris cafe, or maybe David Bowie, Mick Jagger and Bob Dylan sharing a joint in Soho in 1969
Except it's the anti-version of that. The negative fame
The Immortal Dinner - Wordsworth, Keats and Lamb, 28th December 1817, London.
Nice one
Or Byron Shelley and Mary Shelley in the Villa Diodati
Surprised you forgot Polidori the vampire author. Interesting to think that the main reason for all that summer’s bad weather was a mega eruption half a world away.
This has been a pattern in local by-elections for a while now. Greens are making gains in some areas but losing seats in others. I suspect pattern will continue into the local elections as the party's prime mission changes from an ecologically-based party to a left populist one.
A long dark tea-time of the political soul. Had a very productive day working with my business partners / friends on our new business. Next week is a BIG week in our ambitions.
Spent lunchtime walking round the lake with my friend of 16 years who has clearly drifted right in his perspective. And it's entertaining how my own perspective continues to slide to the right once someone who knows how I think challenges me.
Last time I thought about the Tories positively was in the early days of Boris, and look how badly that turned out...
Oh God No! lol
Hmm. I can only repeat my previous question: what Lib Dem policies do you now no longer believe, and what Conservative policies do you now believe which you did not believe before? Politics isn't ties.
I only see politics as that partisan when forced to do it. There’s good and bad in all parties. With the exception of of those racist fucks in Restore Britain.
I was a liberal inside the Labour Party for a while. And now I find myself on the Orange Book end of the LibDems as opposed to the SDP end.
It’s not about specific policies or even people. It’s about feel. And what has my feel been for a while? I really liked Rishi Sunak and told him that when I met him as Chancellor. even if he ended up utterly ineffective as PM. I keep saying “Liz Truss was right” to provoke the need to think the unthinkable. Even if she was bonkers. Etc
Useful 10 minutes from Times Radio on YouTube on Reform and polling with Peter Kellner. Why is Reform lower with YouGov?
Reasons:
1) YouGov ask how people would vote 'in their constituency' as well as the open question, and the results are a bit lower for Reform.
2) They weight a bit for more women than men being DK (22% against 10%), but who nonetheless vote and are less likely than men to vote Reform.
Kellner also opines that Left of Centre is keener on tactical voting than Right of Centre, but some LOC people hate Labour so much now that this is a bit wavering.
Useful 10 minutes from Times Radio on YouTube on Reform and polling with Peter Kellner. Why is Reform lower with YouGov?
Reasons:
1) YouGov ask how people would vote 'in their constituency' as well as the open question, and the results are a bit lower for Reform.
2) They weight a bit for more women than men being DK (22% against 10%), but who nonetheless vote and are less likely than men to vote Reform.
Kellner also opines that Left of Centre is keener on tactical voting than Right of Centre, but some LOC people hate Labour so much now that this is a bit wavering.
There’s some evidence that left wing voters are more willing to turn against their own than right wing voters are. It’s not enough to agree on most key issues, and agree to differ on a minority. One must agree on all.
Useful 10 minutes from Times Radio on YouTube on Reform and polling with Peter Kellner. Why is Reform lower with YouGov?
Reasons:
1) YouGov ask how people would vote 'in their constituency' as well as the open question, and the results are a bit lower for Reform.
2) They weight a bit for more women than men being DK (22% against 10%), but who nonetheless vote and are less likely than men to vote Reform.
Kellner also opines that Left of Centre is keener on tactical voting than Right of Centre, but some LOC people hate Labour so much now that this is a bit wavering.
There’s some evidence that left wing voters are more willing to turn against their own than right wing voters are. It’s not enough to agree on most key issues, and agree to differ on a minority. One must agree on all.
Those are not the reasons. The reason is that Yougov puts the raw data through a computer that weights it; a weighting mechanism that Yougov doesn't disclose, and out it comes the other end having had a Reform diet.
This would be all very well if it was reflected in the actual electoral tests of Reform, which seem to happen fairly frequently, but it doesn't.
Useful 10 minutes from Times Radio on YouTube on Reform and polling with Peter Kellner. Why is Reform lower with YouGov?
Reasons:
1) YouGov ask how people would vote 'in their constituency' as well as the open question, and the results are a bit lower for Reform.
2) They weight a bit for more women than men being DK (22% against 10%), but who nonetheless vote and are less likely than men to vote Reform.
Kellner also opines that Left of Centre is keener on tactical voting than Right of Centre, but some LOC people hate Labour so much now that this is a bit wavering.
There’s some evidence that left wing voters are more willing to turn against their own than right wing voters are. It’s not enough to agree on most key issues, and agree to differ on a minority. One must agree on all.
Those are not the reasons. The reason is that Yougov puts the raw data through a computer that weights it; a weighting mechanism that Yougov doesn't disclose, and out it comes the other end having had a Reform diet.
This would be all very well if it was reflected in the actual electoral tests of Reform, which seem to happen fairly frequently, but it doesn't.
It would be interesting to know whether yougov estimate of likelihood to vote is close to actual turnout. It could be as simple as younger votes (more left) turning out at a lower % than Yougov have estimated.
Physicists on X are claiming they have evidence the universe is a Simulation, and that very soon it will be turned off, annihliating all "existence" as we know it
So at least I can stop worrying about Making Tax Digital
So if God turns it off, surely that is just the coming to fruition of Revelation, in which case a war in the Middle East bringing it to the end is very appropriate as that is where it all started!
Useful 10 minutes from Times Radio on YouTube on Reform and polling with Peter Kellner. Why is Reform lower with YouGov?
Reasons:
1) YouGov ask how people would vote 'in their constituency' as well as the open question, and the results are a bit lower for Reform.
2) They weight a bit for more women than men being DK (22% against 10%), but who nonetheless vote and are less likely than men to vote Reform.
Kellner also opines that Left of Centre is keener on tactical voting than Right of Centre, but some LOC people hate Labour so much now that this is a bit wavering.
There’s some evidence that left wing voters are more willing to turn against their own than right wing voters are. It’s not enough to agree on most key issues, and agree to differ on a minority. One must agree on all.
Those are not the reasons. The reason is that Yougov puts the raw data through a computer that weights it; a weighting mechanism that Yougov doesn't disclose, and out it comes the other end having had a Reform diet.
This would be all very well if it was reflected in the actual electoral tests of Reform, which seem to happen fairly frequently, but it doesn't.
Every pollster puts their raw data through a weighting algorithm that they don’t disclose. There’s nothing special about YouGov.
Useful 10 minutes from Times Radio on YouTube on Reform and polling with Peter Kellner. Why is Reform lower with YouGov?
Reasons:
1) YouGov ask how people would vote 'in their constituency' as well as the open question, and the results are a bit lower for Reform.
2) They weight a bit for more women than men being DK (22% against 10%), but who nonetheless vote and are less likely than men to vote Reform.
Kellner also opines that Left of Centre is keener on tactical voting than Right of Centre, but some LOC people hate Labour so much now that this is a bit wavering.
There’s some evidence that left wing voters are more willing to turn against their own than right wing voters are. It’s not enough to agree on most key issues, and agree to differ on a minority. One must agree on all.
Those are not the reasons. The reason is that Yougov puts the raw data through a computer that weights it; a weighting mechanism that Yougov doesn't disclose, and out it comes the other end having had a Reform diet.
This would be all very well if it was reflected in the actual electoral tests of Reform, which seem to happen fairly frequently, but it doesn't.
It would be interesting to know whether yougov estimate of likelihood to vote is close to actual turnout. It could be as simple as younger votes (more left) turning out at a lower % than Yougov have estimated.
YouGov are trying to estimate a general election turnout, which is going to be different to local election or Westminster by-election turnouts.
“On being asked by Ahmad Tibi, one of the Arab MPs within the Israeli Knesset last week if it was legitimate “to insert a stick into a person’s rectum”, Hanoch Milwidsky, a member of Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party, responded: “If he is a Nukhba [Hamas militant], everything is legitimate to do! Everything!””
This has been a pattern in local by-elections for a while now. Greens are making gains in some areas but losing seats in others. I suspect pattern will continue into the local elections as the party's prime mission changes from an ecologically-based party to a left populist one.
Voting Green used to be something that posh privately educated people could do. Friends of the King like Jonathan Porritt, even posh billionaire's sons like Zac Goldsmith briefly flirted with them before becoming Tory MPs.
Now voting for Polanski's Greens is something for uncouth angry common oiks, little different to voting Reform. Something for former Corbynites to do living in urban parts of the North one has barely heard of let alone visited who went to bog standard comps and academies not those with a nice house in the Cotswolds, LD is now as far as the posh with a bleeding heart conscience will go. Indeed the Greens now do worse with the privately educated than they do with voters overall as a percentage of their overall vote and perform almost as badly as a percentage of the privately educated vote as Reform do. https://x.com/LukeTryl/status/1968262146275655869?s=20
Useful 10 minutes from Times Radio on YouTube on Reform and polling with Peter Kellner. Why is Reform lower with YouGov?
Reasons:
1) YouGov ask how people would vote 'in their constituency' as well as the open question, and the results are a bit lower for Reform.
2) They weight a bit for more women than men being DK (22% against 10%), but who nonetheless vote and are less likely than men to vote Reform.
Kellner also opines that Left of Centre is keener on tactical voting than Right of Centre, but some LOC people hate Labour so much now that this is a bit wavering.
There’s some evidence that left wing voters are more willing to turn against their own than right wing voters are. It’s not enough to agree on most key issues, and agree to differ on a minority. One must agree on all.
Those are not the reasons. The reason is that Yougov puts the raw data through a computer that weights it; a weighting mechanism that Yougov doesn't disclose, and out it comes the other end having had a Reform diet.
This would be all very well if it was reflected in the actual electoral tests of Reform, which seem to happen fairly frequently, but it doesn't.
Every pollster puts their raw data through a weighting algorithm that they don’t disclose. There’s nothing special about YouGov.
You can work out the weights by comparing the weighted and unweighted data. What is more difficult is working out which part of the weights is due to differential non response, and which to differential turnout,and which to the house special source. Polling is an art as well as a craft. Unfortunately.
Sir Keir Starmer’s former chief of staff used his personal email address to communicate with Lord Mandelson before his controversial appointment as ambassador to the United States
This has been a pattern in local by-elections for a while now. Greens are making gains in some areas but losing seats in others. I suspect pattern will continue into the local elections as the party's prime mission changes from an ecologically-based party to a left populist one.
Voting Green used to be something that posh privately educated people could do. Friends of the King like Jonathan Porritt, even posh billionaire's sons like Zac Goldsmith briefly flirted with them before becoming Tory MPs.
Now voting for Polanski's Greens is something for uncouth angry common oiks, little different to voting Reform. Something for former Corbynites to do living in urban parts of the North one has barely heard of let alone visited who went to bog standard comps and academies not those with a nice house in the Cotswolds, LD is now as far as the posh with a bleeding heart conscience will go. Indeed the Greens now do worse with the privately educated than they do with voters overall as a percentage of their overall vote and perform almost as badly as a percentage of the privately educated vote as Reform do. https://x.com/LukeTryl/status/1968262146275655869?s=20
Although the data in your link was from last September, when Polanski had just taken over and the Greens were at 8%, so is rather out of date. As I suspect you well know.
Sir Keir Starmer’s former chief of staff used his personal email address to communicate with Lord Mandelson before his controversial appointment as ambassador to the United States
This has been a pattern in local by-elections for a while now. Greens are making gains in some areas but losing seats in others. I suspect pattern will continue into the local elections as the party's prime mission changes from an ecologically-based party to a left populist one.
Voting Green used to be something that posh privately educated people could do. Friends of the King like Jonathan Porritt, even posh billionaire's sons like Zac Goldsmith briefly flirted with them before becoming Tory MPs.
Now voting for Polanski's Greens is something for uncouth angry common oiks, little different to voting Reform. Something for former Corbynites to do living in urban parts of the North one has barely heard of let alone visited who went to bog standard comps and academies not those with a nice house in the Cotswolds, LD is now as far as the posh with a bleeding heart conscience will go. Indeed the Greens now do worse with the privately educated than they do with voters overall as a percentage of their overall vote and perform almost as badly as a percentage of the privately educated vote as Reform do. https://x.com/LukeTryl/status/1968262146275655869?s=20
Although the data in your link was from last September, when Polanski had just taken over and the Greens were at 8%, so is rather out of date. As I suspect you well know.
Polanski was elected Green leader on 2nd September, the poll was taken over September so the oiks had already taken over the Greens by the time it was taken.
Who was the winner of the Gorton by election? A plumber with no PPE degree or trust fund to be seen!
A long dark tea-time of the political soul. Had a very productive day working with my business partners / friends on our new business. Next week is a BIG week in our ambitions.
Spent lunchtime walking round the lake with my friend of 16 years who has clearly drifted right in his perspective. And it's entertaining how my own perspective continues to slide to the right once someone who knows how I think challenges me.
Last time I thought about the Tories positively was in the early days of Boris, and look how badly that turned out...
Oh God No! lol
Hmm. I can only repeat my previous question: what Lib Dem policies do you now no longer believe, and what Conservative policies do you now believe which you did not believe before? Politics isn't ties.
I only see politics as that partisan when forced to do it. There’s good and bad in all parties. With the exception of of those racist fucks in Restore Britain.
I was a liberal inside the Labour Party for a while. And now I find myself on the Orange Book end of the LibDems as opposed to the SDP end.
It’s not about specific policies or even people. It’s about feel. And what has my feel been for a while? I really liked Rishi Sunak and told him that when I met him as Chancellor. even if he ended up utterly ineffective as PM. I keep saying “Liz Truss was right” to provoke the need to think the unthinkable. Even if she was bonkers. Etc
I am fearful there might be some sort of thought osmosis being transferred from Elon Musk to Rochdale Pioneers via your car.
A long dark tea-time of the political soul. Had a very productive day working with my business partners / friends on our new business. Next week is a BIG week in our ambitions.
Spent lunchtime walking round the lake with my friend of 16 years who has clearly drifted right in his perspective. And it's entertaining how my own perspective continues to slide to the right once someone who knows how I think challenges me.
Last time I thought about the Tories positively was in the early days of Boris, and look how badly that turned out...
Oh God No! lol
Hmm. I can only repeat my previous question: what Lib Dem policies do you now no longer believe, and what Conservative policies do you now believe which you did not believe before? Politics isn't ties.
I only see politics as that partisan when forced to do it. There’s good and bad in all parties. With the exception of of those racist fucks in Restore Britain.
I was a liberal inside the Labour Party for a while. And now I find myself on the Orange Book end of the LibDems as opposed to the SDP end.
It’s not about specific policies or even people. It’s about feel. And what has my feel been for a while? I really liked Rishi Sunak and told him that when I met him as Chancellor. even if he ended up utterly ineffective as PM. I keep saying “Liz Truss was right” to provoke the need to think the unthinkable. Even if she was bonkers. Etc
I am fearful there might be some sort of thought osmosis being transferred from Elon Musk to Rochdale Pioneers via your car.
The mechanism is probably via being exposed to too many fanatical Musk haters.
Cliff hanger - Will Donald Trump Jnr and Eric Trump win sought after government contracts?
New drone maker partly owned by Trump's sons is hoping to win some of the $1.1 billion set aside by the Pentagon to build up a U.S. manufacturing base for armed drones now that the Trump administration put a ban on importing them from China.
Useful 10 minutes from Times Radio on YouTube on Reform and polling with Peter Kellner. Why is Reform lower with YouGov?
Reasons:
1) YouGov ask how people would vote 'in their constituency' as well as the open question, and the results are a bit lower for Reform.
2) They weight a bit for more women than men being DK (22% against 10%), but who nonetheless vote and are less likely than men to vote Reform.
Kellner also opines that Left of Centre is keener on tactical voting than Right of Centre, but some LOC people hate Labour so much now that this is a bit wavering.
IIRC I read somewhere today that "tactical voting" was one of the explanations for Reform being lower with YouGov.
Doesn't this make no sense at all? Because tactical voting doesn't affect the share of the party in first place, in this case Reform, it only affects the shares of the parties in 2nd, 3rd, etc, place, if one is looking at things from a constituency perspective (as YouGov is doing).
A visit to the dentist today and two observations:
1) I spent longer filling in the multiple forms beforehand than I did in the dentist's chair.
2) I paid for it, just as I have to pay for my eye test, my flu jab and any prescriptions I get - is the 'free' NHS only for oldies and those on benefits ?
1) My dentist encourages patients to fill in the paperwork online before the appointment.
2) I pay for dentist, but I am extremely fortunate to have a dentist that has some NHS patients so the fees are very much less than private.
On the dentist my wife and I pay nearly £1,000 pa as there are no NHS dentists taking more patients
A visit to the dentist today and two observations:
1) I spent longer filling in the multiple forms beforehand than I did in the dentist's chair.
2) I paid for it, just as I have to pay for my eye test, my flu jab and any prescriptions I get - is the 'free' NHS only for oldies and those on benefits ?
1) My dentist encourages patients to fill in the paperwork online before the appointment.
2) I pay for dentist, but I am extremely fortunate to have a dentist that has some NHS patients so the fees are very much less than private.
On the dentist my wife and I pay nearly £1,000 pa as there are no NHS dentists taking more patients
We have been in Denplan for over 20 years
My wife and I pay £55 each every six months for a check-up. Mrs C had some work done last year; cost £400.
To be fair we have had excellent service including dental treatment in New Zealand when I lost a crown whilst visiting our son there
A long dark tea-time of the political soul. Had a very productive day working with my business partners / friends on our new business. Next week is a BIG week in our ambitions.
Spent lunchtime walking round the lake with my friend of 16 years who has clearly drifted right in his perspective. And it's entertaining how my own perspective continues to slide to the right once someone who knows how I think challenges me.
Last time I thought about the Tories positively was in the early days of Boris, and look how badly that turned out...
Oh God No! lol
Hmm. I can only repeat my previous question: what Lib Dem policies do you now no longer believe, and what Conservative policies do you now believe which you did not believe before? Politics isn't ties.
I only see politics as that partisan when forced to do it. There’s good and bad in all parties. With the exception of of those racist fucks in Restore Britain.
I was a liberal inside the Labour Party for a while. And now I find myself on the Orange Book end of the LibDems as opposed to the SDP end.
It’s not about specific policies or even people. It’s about feel. And what has my feel been for a while? I really liked Rishi Sunak and told him that when I met him as Chancellor. even if he ended up utterly ineffective as PM. I keep saying “Liz Truss was right” to provoke the need to think the unthinkable. Even if she was bonkers. Etc
I am fearful there might be some sort of thought osmosis being transferred from Elon Musk to Rochdale Pioneers via your car.
The mechanism is probably via being exposed to too many fanatical Musk haters.
You wonder why they wasted money developing Grok as a propaganda tool.
A long dark tea-time of the political soul. Had a very productive day working with my business partners / friends on our new business. Next week is a BIG week in our ambitions.
Spent lunchtime walking round the lake with my friend of 16 years who has clearly drifted right in his perspective. And it's entertaining how my own perspective continues to slide to the right once someone who knows how I think challenges me.
Last time I thought about the Tories positively was in the early days of Boris, and look how badly that turned out...
Oh God No! lol
Hmm. I can only repeat my previous question: what Lib Dem policies do you now no longer believe, and what Conservative policies do you now believe which you did not believe before? Politics isn't ties.
I only see politics as that partisan when forced to do it. There’s good and bad in all parties. With the exception of of those racist fucks in Restore Britain.
I was a liberal inside the Labour Party for a while. And now I find myself on the Orange Book end of the LibDems as opposed to the SDP end.
It’s not about specific policies or even people. It’s about feel. And what has my feel been for a while? I really liked Rishi Sunak and told him that when I met him as Chancellor. even if he ended up utterly ineffective as PM. I keep saying “Liz Truss was right” to provoke the need to think the unthinkable. Even if she was bonkers. Etc
Liz Truss WAS RIGHT.
And well done for saying so.
Being open to thinking the unthinkable is not the same thing as believing the unbelievable.
There is nothing unusual in Yougovs findings compared to any other party variations The difference is Reform are whining little bitches when things aren't going their way
Another example of Farage wanting to import the worst of US politics to the UK.
Nigel Farage said the ban on handguns brought in after Dunblane was “ludicrous” and should be lifted, arguing handguns ought to be legalised and licensed again. https://x.com/BladeoftheS/status/2032165358610653484
This has been a pattern in local by-elections for a while now. Greens are making gains in some areas but losing seats in others. I suspect pattern will continue into the local elections as the party's prime mission changes from an ecologically-based party to a left populist one.
This has been a pattern in local by-elections for a while now. Greens are making gains in some areas but losing seats in others. I suspect pattern will continue into the local elections as the party's prime mission changes from an ecologically-based party to a left populist one.
Another example of Farage wanting to import the worst of US politics to the UK.
Nigel Farage said the ban on handguns brought in after Dunblane was “ludicrous” and should be lifted, arguing handguns ought to be legalised and licensed again. https://x.com/BladeoftheS/status/2032165358610653484
Not to be out-Righted, Revive Restore UK is introducing a policy of free handguns for all white Christian Brits.
Another example of Farage wanting to import the worst of US politics to the UK.
Nigel Farage said the ban on handguns brought in after Dunblane was “ludicrous” and should be lifted, arguing handguns ought to be legalised and licensed again. https://x.com/BladeoftheS/status/2032165358610653484
Not to be out-Righted, Revive Restore UK is introducing a policy of free handguns for all white Christian Brits.
A visit to the dentist today and two observations:
1) I spent longer filling in the multiple forms beforehand than I did in the dentist's chair.
2) I paid for it, just as I have to pay for my eye test, my flu jab and any prescriptions I get - is the 'free' NHS only for oldies and those on benefits ?
1) My dentist encourages patients to fill in the paperwork online before the appointment.
2) I pay for dentist, but I am extremely fortunate to have a dentist that has some NHS patients so the fees are very much less than private.
On the dentist my wife and I pay nearly £1,000 pa as there are no NHS dentists taking more patients
A visit to the dentist today and two observations:
1) I spent longer filling in the multiple forms beforehand than I did in the dentist's chair.
2) I paid for it, just as I have to pay for my eye test, my flu jab and any prescriptions I get - is the 'free' NHS only for oldies and those on benefits ?
1) My dentist encourages patients to fill in the paperwork online before the appointment.
2) I pay for dentist, but I am extremely fortunate to have a dentist that has some NHS patients so the fees are very much less than private.
On the dentist my wife and I pay nearly £1,000 pa as there are no NHS dentists taking more patients
We have been in Denplan for over 20 years
My wife and I pay £55 each every six months for a check-up. Mrs C had some work done last year; cost £400.
To be fair we have had excellent service including dental treatment in New Zealand when I lost a crown whilst visiting our son there
"I’d be harsh on Iran. They’ve been beating us psychologically, making us look like a bunch of fools. One bullet shot at one of our men or ships, and I’d do a number on Kharg Island. I’d go in and take it."
Another example of Farage wanting to import the worst of US politics to the UK.
Nigel Farage said the ban on handguns brought in after Dunblane was “ludicrous” and should be lifted, arguing handguns ought to be legalised and licensed again. https://x.com/BladeoftheS/status/2032165358610653484
Not to be out-Righted, Revive Restore UK is introducing a policy of free handguns for all white Christian Brits.
Another example of Farage wanting to import the worst of US politics to the UK.
Nigel Farage said the ban on handguns brought in after Dunblane was “ludicrous” and should be lifted, arguing handguns ought to be legalised and licensed again. https://x.com/BladeoftheS/status/2032165358610653484
Not to be out-Righted, Revive Restore UK is introducing a policy of free handguns for all white Christian Brits.
Winston: Under the circumstances your privileges are reinstated immediately, what do you need? John Wick: Guns, lots of guns.
Comments
Which toilet should they use?
We have been in Denplan for over 20 years
Been on a waiting list for one up here for years.
The independent adviser on ministerial standards has rejected calls from the Conservatives for an investigation into Sir Keir Starmer over the appointment of Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the U.S.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hesketh_Motorcycles
First a THAAD system pulled from South Korea, now Marines pulled from Japan — both to Middle East.
I have seen arguments that Trump is going to war in Iran to deter China. Concretely, the East Asia power balance is shifting in China's favor every day.
https://x.com/jawillick/status/2032504029582917825?s=20
I think that @Brixian59 is a far more robust version of your previous incarnation. You are annoying all the right people as our right wing friends would say.
Spent lunchtime walking round the lake with my friend of 16 years who has clearly drifted right in his perspective. And it's entertaining how my own perspective continues to slide to the right once someone who knows how I think challenges me.
Last time I thought about the Tories positively was in the early days of Boris, and look how badly that turned out...
Oh God No! lol
The disks themselves make a posher bird scarer than AOL CDs.
Surely 10 year old 2Tb disks aren't worth anything?
The Iranians would use mosques and schools and hopsitals to operate from, but Trump and Hegseth aren't going to worry about those niceties. They have already told us as much. They would just press on regardless. Press on where to is the question though. Whether the regime fails in the areas they pass through would an interesting question. There might not be many people left to "liberate".
There is a 'complex tug-of-war inside the White House' as Trump's aides debate 'when and how to declare victory' against Iran, according to Reuters report.
Might disrupt semiconductor production but if it’s that vs oil and LNG…
Or is it Shia desperation?
All pointless. There is no debate. They will do as Trump tells them.
I was a liberal inside the Labour Party for a while. And now I find myself on the Orange Book end of the LibDems as opposed to the SDP end.
It’s not about specific policies or even people. It’s about feel. And what has my feel been for a while? I really liked Rishi Sunak and told him that when I met him as Chancellor. even if he ended up utterly ineffective as PM. I keep saying “Liz Truss was right” to provoke the need to think the unthinkable. Even if she was bonkers. Etc
@DarrenJohnson66
This has been a pattern in local by-elections for a while now. Greens are making gains in some areas but losing seats in others. I suspect pattern will continue into the local elections as the party's prime mission changes from an ecologically-based party to a left populist one.
https://x.com/DarrenJohnson66/status/2032370773495586909
Interesting to think that the main reason for all that summer’s bad weather was a mega eruption half a world away.
I believe some of the Japanese have already said they aren't coming but at the moment the actual meeting is going ahead.
True Greens abandoning the party that has abandoned them.
But who will they vote for now?
And well done for saying so.
Reasons:
1) YouGov ask how people would vote 'in their constituency' as well as the open question, and the results are a bit lower for Reform.
2) They weight a bit for more women than men being DK (22% against 10%), but who nonetheless vote and are less likely than men to vote Reform.
Kellner also opines that Left of Centre is keener on tactical voting than Right of Centre, but some LOC people hate Labour so much now that this is a bit wavering.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZL0gMybVVNw
Israel dropped charges against 5 IDF soldiers who were caught on camera beating and raping a Palestinian prisoner.
This would be all very well if it was reflected in the actual electoral tests of Reform, which seem to happen fairly frequently, but it doesn't.
Netanyahu: Israel will 'reach the kingdom' and make it to 'Messiah's return'
“On being asked by Ahmad Tibi, one of the Arab MPs within the Israeli Knesset last week if it was legitimate “to insert a stick into a person’s rectum”, Hanoch Milwidsky, a member of Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party, responded: “If he is a Nukhba [Hamas militant], everything is legitimate to do! Everything!””
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/8/9/everything-is-legitimate-israeli-leaders-defend-soldiers-accused-of-rape
Now voting for Polanski's Greens is something for uncouth angry common oiks, little different to voting Reform. Something for former Corbynites to do living in urban parts of the North one has barely heard of let alone visited who went to bog standard comps and academies not those with a nice house in the Cotswolds, LD is now as far as the posh with a bleeding heart conscience will go. Indeed the Greens now do worse with the privately educated than they do with voters overall as a percentage of their overall vote and perform almost as badly as a percentage of the privately educated vote as Reform do.
https://x.com/LukeTryl/status/1968262146275655869?s=20
Sir Keir Starmer’s former chief of staff used his personal email address to communicate with Lord Mandelson before his controversial appointment as ambassador to the United States
As I suspect you well know.
Who was the winner of the Gorton by election? A plumber with no PPE degree or trust fund to be seen!
New drone maker partly owned by Trump's sons is hoping to win some of the $1.1 billion set aside by the Pentagon to build up a U.S. manufacturing base for armed drones now that the Trump administration put a ban on importing them from China.
https://www.stripes.com/theaters/us/2026-03-11/drone-maker-trump-pentagon-contracts-21031605.html
Doesn't this make no sense at all? Because tactical voting doesn't affect the share of the party in first place, in this case Reform, it only affects the shares of the parties in 2nd, 3rd, etc, place, if one is looking at things from a constituency perspective (as YouGov is doing).
Ranges for each party with pollsters reporting in March
Ref 7 points
Con 4 points
Lab 7 points
Grn 10 points
LD 4 points
There is nothing unusual in Yougovs findings compared to any other party variations
The difference is Reform are whining little bitches when things aren't going their way
Nigel Farage said the ban on handguns brought in after Dunblane was “ludicrous” and should be lifted, arguing handguns ought to be legalised and licensed again.
https://x.com/BladeoftheS/status/2032165358610653484
"Italy will withdraw the army from US led adventure in Middle East and will not participate in the war against Iran"
https://x.com/Microinteracti1/status/2032584837131862155
Give me strength.
Lost in translation: How Russia’s new elite hit squad was compromised by an idiotic lapse in tradecraft
https://theins.press/en/inv/290235
5 Bob was s lot of money back then!!
Donald Trump in a 1988 interview, 38 years ago:
"I’d be harsh on Iran. They’ve been beating us psychologically, making us look like a bunch of fools. One bullet shot at one of our men or ships, and I’d do a number on Kharg Island. I’d go in and take it."
John Wick: Guns, lots of guns.