The exponential growth of solar capacity and the rate of costs falling isn't widely appreciated. Although it's been very well covered on this forum.
It's going to completely change global energy markets within the next two decades, and act as a long-term cap on energy prices. And no further government subsidies are required.
Unfortunately the UK isn't geographically best placed but it's still going to be a big contributor, particularly on long summer days. It's 37% of power generation at present.
Thing is that the panels are increasingly so cheap that it doesn't particularly matter. Put them on pretty much any available surface (or better still, as any available surface) exposed to the Sun, and they will pay their way.
And then we have the fun question of what to do with the excess electricity generated on sunny days, of which there shoud be plenty. One answer may well be to do the (fairly energy-expensive) things to extract atmospheric carbon dioxide and lock it in stable solids. Whilst they may need lots of energy, that doesn't matter if you have more electricity than you know what to do with.
It's seeming like Wes Streeting is out of contention for COTE, with a choice of Milliband or Mahmoud. Along with a few other straws in the wind, it's really just a reminder that Labour always, always contrives a way to shoot itself (and us) in the foot.
Why don’t you just wait and see
What the fucks the point of that. The speculation is part of the fun.
As I'm in a tetchy mood this morning, I see that waste of space Kemi Badenoch is wittering on about "common sense" again.
Now, I'm all for common sense though rather like liberalism, everyone seems to have their own definition and it's quite clear Badenoch's is everything opposed to the Government since July 2024 and that's fair enough - she's in opposition and it's her role to oppose (constructively one would hope).
What irritates me is her notion she would somehow bring back "common sense" - now, we all know common sense didn't end on July 5th 2024, it ended sometime before that during the period of Governments of which she was often a senior member - what was her take on "common sense" then? The stench of hypocrisy pervades all this and while I'm sure she and her supporters would rather we forgot the Conservatives led the Government for 14 years, it's easy for those of us not so well disposed to remind them of the absence of common sense during those years.
I haven't heard a proper mea culpa for these years apart from Rishi Sunak's the day after the election who showed commensurate grace in defeat and my view of him went up several notches but he was primus inter pares and it wouldn't be inappropriate for some of those who shared the Cabinet table to admit mistakes were made rather than stomp around in a permanent tetch - mine will pass with coffee and lunch.
I find that people who actually have common sense don't talk about it, and those that do talk about common sense don't have any.
There must be some exceptions to this rule I suppose but Badenoch certainly isn't one.
I will have to review Sunak's speech (I probably won't tbf), but I don't remember it being particularly gracious. I do remember repeated bitching from him during his tenure about previous Conservative PMs, which I call the opposite of gracious. To be truly gracious is to own ones' own part in the state of the country and it's rejection of your Government, not to use it to passive-aggressively attack your rival faction within the Party.
Currently on the train to the inferno (London) and we’re being told to put the blinds down on the train because the aircon isn’t powerful enough. This is the east coast mainline ffs
No part of our rail network was designed for temperatures above 30 degrees.
Clientco's office has had instructions to keep blinds down all week with some desks not usable as the air conditioning can't cope and they've lost 5 laptops to water damage.
I did comment well done to those 5 people for getting their laptop upgrades slightly early..
SKS reign ends with him backing future Reform MP Mike Tapp against Mahmood
LOL
I think you've got that wrong. Tapp was / is trying to get an exemption so that foreign Social Care workers would be granted indefinite leave to remain earlier than they will be under the new rules..
Shabana Mahmood is the one with the more Reform friendly policy...
Mahmood's work has been median voter friendly, not Reform friendly.
Reminds of a recent Patrick Boyle video on the metaverse, where all these analysts and consultants basically said hundreds of billions would come from it, and it was all based on vibes and nonsense yet i bet none of them faced any blowback for being so laughably wrong.
Currently on the train to the inferno (London) and we’re being told to put the blinds down on the train because the aircon isn’t powerful enough. This is the east coast mainline ffs
No part of our rail network was designed for temperatures above 30 degrees.
Clientco's office has had instructions to keep blinds down all week with some desks not usable as the air conditioning can't cope and they've lost 5 laptops to water damage.
I did comment well done to those 5 people for getting their laptop upgrades slightly early..
Were they "Working from Lido"?
Working underneath the air conditioning vents where I believe what were occasional drips of water become a constant stream..
Not that I can comment as I've not been in the office for 2 months and I'm only going down next month to see a theatre show and going into the office to show my face (and lunch with another team who are reaching the end of their project).
Betting on Ukraine to win is a mugs game (worse than betting on PAK Womens cricket) despite a few wins here and there IMO!
There's an interesting interview with Sirs'kiy (that's how you transliterate it correctly if you want to pass your Russian A-Level) in the Times today in which he is not exactly on message about the prospect of imminent victory and makes up a load of numbers with 237% accuracy.
It was giving interviews to Western media that got Zaluzhniy shitcanned so we'll have to see how this goes.
Reuters had something yesterday about Russian hardliners wanting to go all-in, flattening Kyiv, assassinating Zelensky and so on. Funny that Putin can be cast as the moderate (cf Bibi in Israel). Here we go:-
Betting on Ukraine to win is a mugs game (worse than betting on PAK Womens cricket) despite a few wins here and there IMO!
I’m not betting, just massively cheering on Ukraine from the sidelines.
Whilst you support Trump
For the 100th time no I don’t support him. I just don’t think he’s Hitler, and try to correct some of the more deranged things said about him.
That's true, Hitler was a strategic mastermind compared to Trump.
Also 'not Hitler' is a pretty low bar to clear, and as Trump physically, mentally and morally disintegrates he's finding it more and more difficult.
He is taking rather a long time to disintegrate physically isn't he? I remember breathless reports of him being chucked out of the White House window in a bin bag - he's made a very quick recovery from that.
He's a very old man, older than Biden was, and his supporters are embarrassing in their praise of his physical and mental prowess, but opponents are way too quick to jump to him being barely functioning 99% of the time.
Personally I think they're embarrassed that they went out to bat for the idea of having a proto-vegetable occupying the White House for so long, so they must draw an equivalence. Of course Trump will have his health issues and be under the doctor at times - hamburgers and revenge are not a balanced diet. But I see no evidence that he is senile, rather than just Trump.
Reminds of a recent Patrick Boyle video on the metaverse, where all these analysts and consultants basically said hundreds of billions would come from it, and it was all based on vibes and nonsense yet i bet none of them faced any blowback for being so laughably wrong.
Betting on Ukraine to win is a mugs game (worse than betting on PAK Womens cricket) despite a few wins here and there IMO!
I’m not betting, just massively cheering on Ukraine from the sidelines.
Whilst you support Trump
For the 100th time no I don’t support him. I just don’t think he’s Hitler, and try to correct some of the more deranged things said about him.
If you need to correct something 100 times, perhaps consider that you are not portraying yourself that way.
It’s not my fault that most of this board has severe TDS.
Alright let’s tackle this head on.
What is an example where you think Trump is right and this board wrong? Just one will do.
Trump's demand Europe pays more into NATO
Which would be weird. Apart from a relatively small amount of direct funding, no one "pays into NATO".
Yes - to be correct NATO countries increase their defence spending to 5 %
Trump has done the inevitable and forced the issue to the point I do not expect his successors to change their view on this, even Democrats
It has been settled US policy throughout this century to call on Europeans to pay more, hardly surprising. Trump has been ruder and more aggressive about it, as is his way, but nearly all US politicians have argued this for years.
Obama from 2016 "Europe has sometimes been complacent about its own defence," Obama said bluntly.
In 2000: "A new Republican administration would press European nations to make massive increases in their defence budgets during the next decade to help free up the United States military from international peacekeeping, George W Bush's top foreign policy adviser says."
Whoever produced the graph needs shooting. It is megatonnes of CO2, not carbon. We aren't burying diamonds, ffs.
Many of the so-called projections haven't been a forecast of what will happen, but have been a wishcast of what needs to happen to achieve global net zero. My first reaction on seeing these wishcasts is to think "that's never going to happen".
Betting on Ukraine to win is a mugs game (worse than betting on PAK Womens cricket) despite a few wins here and there IMO!
I’m not betting, just massively cheering on Ukraine from the sidelines.
Whilst you support Trump
For the 100th time no I don’t support him. I just don’t think he’s Hitler, and try to correct some of the more deranged things said about him.
That's true, Hitler was a strategic mastermind compared to Trump.
Also 'not Hitler' is a pretty low bar to clear, and as Trump physically, mentally and morally disintegrates he's finding it more and more difficult.
He is taking rather a long time to disintegrate physically isn't he? I remember breathless reports of him being chucked out of the White House window in a bin bag - he's made a very quick recovery from that.
He's a very old man, older than Biden was, and his supporters are embarrassing in their praise of his physical and mental prowess, but opponents are way too quick to jump to him being barely functioning 99% of the time.
Personally I think they're embarrassed that they went out to bat for the idea of having a proto-vegetable occupying the White House for so long, so they must draw an equivalence. Of course Trump will have his health issues and be under the doctor at times - hamburgers and revenge are not a balanced diet. But I see no evidence that he is senile, rather than just Trump.
He didn’t repeatedly fall asleep in meetings in his first term. That’s not necessarily dementia, but it is a clear sign that this isn’t just Trump being Trump.
Whoever produced the graph needs shooting. It is megatonnes of CO2, not carbon. We aren't burying diamonds, ffs.
Many of the so-called projections haven't been a forecast of what will happen, but have been a wishcast of what needs to happen to achieve global net zero. My first reaction on seeing these wishcasts is to think "that's never going to happen".
The point is that carbon capture has had all the wishcasts, while solar power generation has exceeded people’s wildest fantasies.
Betting on Ukraine to win is a mugs game (worse than betting on PAK Womens cricket) despite a few wins here and there IMO!
There's an interesting interview with Sirs'kiy (that's how you transliterate it correctly if you want to pass your Russian A-Level) in the Times today in which he is not exactly on message about the prospect of imminent victory and makes up a load of numbers with 237% accuracy.
It was giving interviews to Western media that got Zaluzhniy shitcanned so we'll have to see how this goes.
Reuters had something yesterday about Russian hardliners wanting to go all-in, flattening Kyiv, assassinating Zelensky and so on. Funny that Putin can be cast as the moderate (cf Bibi in Israel). Here we go:-
Betting on Ukraine to win is a mugs game (worse than betting on PAK Womens cricket) despite a few wins here and there IMO!
I’m not betting, just massively cheering on Ukraine from the sidelines.
Whilst you support Trump
For the 100th time no I don’t support him. I just don’t think he’s Hitler, and try to correct some of the more deranged things said about him.
That's true, Hitler was a strategic mastermind compared to Trump.
Also 'not Hitler' is a pretty low bar to clear, and as Trump physically, mentally and morally disintegrates he's finding it more and more difficult.
He is taking rather a long time to disintegrate physically isn't he? I remember breathless reports of him being chucked out of the White House window in a bin bag - he's made a very quick recovery from that.
He's a very old man, older than Biden was, and his supporters are embarrassing in their praise of his physical and mental prowess, but opponents are way too quick to jump to him being barely functioning 99% of the time.
Personally I think they're embarrassed that they went out to bat for the idea of having a proto-vegetable occupying the White House for so long, so they must draw an equivalence. Of course Trump will have his health issues and be under the doctor at times - hamburgers and revenge are not a balanced diet. But I see no evidence that he is senile, rather than just Trump.
He didn’t repeatedly fall asleep in meetings in his first term. That’s not necessarily dementia, but it is a clear sign that this isn’t just Trump being Trump.
He's only 80. That's not old. I'm nearly ten years older than he is, and I don't fall asleep in the middle of discussions.
Reminds of a recent Patrick Boyle video on the metaverse, where all these analysts and consultants basically said hundreds of billions would come from it, and it was all based on vibes and nonsense yet i bet none of them faced any blowback for being so laughably wrong.
It's not about being right, it's about being defensibly wrong.
So what happens is people take today's trends and assumptions that look broadly sensible and simply chuck them into the future.
Have we discussed the Norfolk Police and Crime Commissioner by-election? Labour won narrowly last time (under FPTP), but the Tories topped the poll at the three previous elections (but lost the first to an independent with the elections under SV). Could Reform win the seat? Restore are standing: how might they do? I am uncertain whether the election is back under SV or will still be under FPTP. PCCs are being abolished, so whoever wins won’t be in office too long.
The exponential growth of solar capacity and the rate of costs falling isn't widely appreciated. Although it's been very well covered on this forum.
It's going to completely change global energy markets within the next two decades, and act as a long-term cap on energy prices. And no further government subsidies are required.
Unfortunately the UK isn't geographically best placed but it's still going to be a big contributor, particularly on long summer days. It's 37% of power generation at present.
Thing is that the panels are increasingly so cheap that it doesn't particularly matter. Put them on pretty much any available surface (or better still, as any available surface) exposed to the Sun, and they will pay their way.
And then we have the fun question of what to do with the excess electricity generated on sunny days, of which there shoud be plenty. One answer may well be to do the (fairly energy-expensive) things to extract atmospheric carbon dioxide and lock it in stable solids. Whilst they may need lots of energy, that doesn't matter if you have more electricity than you know what to do with.
Using solar energy to "extract atmospheric carbon dioxide and lock it in stable solids".
That's what trees do.
But yes, we can use surplus renewable leccy for intermittent DAC plants or alternatively for intermittent Green Hydrogen electrolysis. The H2 can then be used to generate clean power when demand is high and renewable output is low.
However, running these assets at low load factors isn't great and increases production costs.
Betting on Ukraine to win is a mugs game (worse than betting on PAK Womens cricket) despite a few wins here and there IMO!
I’m not betting, just massively cheering on Ukraine from the sidelines.
Whilst you support Trump
For the 100th time no I don’t support him. I just don’t think he’s Hitler, and try to correct some of the more deranged things said about him.
That's true, Hitler was a strategic mastermind compared to Trump.
Also 'not Hitler' is a pretty low bar to clear, and as Trump physically, mentally and morally disintegrates he's finding it more and more difficult.
He is taking rather a long time to disintegrate physically isn't he? I remember breathless reports of him being chucked out of the White House window in a bin bag - he's made a very quick recovery from that.
He's a very old man, older than Biden was, and his supporters are embarrassing in their praise of his physical and mental prowess, but opponents are way too quick to jump to him being barely functioning 99% of the time.
Personally I think they're embarrassed that they went out to bat for the idea of having a proto-vegetable occupying the White House for so long, so they must draw an equivalence. Of course Trump will have his health issues and be under the doctor at times - hamburgers and revenge are not a balanced diet. But I see no evidence that he is senile, rather than just Trump.
He didn’t repeatedly fall asleep in meetings in his first term. That’s not necessarily dementia, but it is a clear sign that this isn’t just Trump being Trump.
He's only 80. That's not old. I'm nearly ten years older than he is, and I don't fall asleep in the middle of discussions.
Betting on Ukraine to win is a mugs game (worse than betting on PAK Womens cricket) despite a few wins here and there IMO!
I’m not betting, just massively cheering on Ukraine from the sidelines.
Whilst you support Trump
For the 100th time no I don’t support him. I just don’t think he’s Hitler, and try to correct some of the more deranged things said about him.
If you need to correct something 100 times, perhaps consider that you are not portraying yourself that way.
It’s not my fault that most of this board has severe TDS.
Alright let’s tackle this head on.
What is an example where you think Trump is right and this board wrong? Just one will do.
I guess some people on here will say him forcing Europe to increase their Defence spending.
And I have TDS!!
We only have to increase defence spending because Trump has given Putin a pass for his land-grabbing expansionism that brings NATO countries within his range of ambitions.
Betting on Ukraine to win is a mugs game (worse than betting on PAK Womens cricket) despite a few wins here and there IMO!
I’m not betting, just massively cheering on Ukraine from the sidelines.
Whilst you support Trump
For the 100th time no I don’t support him. I just don’t think he’s Hitler, and try to correct some of the more deranged things said about him.
That's true, Hitler was a strategic mastermind compared to Trump.
Also 'not Hitler' is a pretty low bar to clear, and as Trump physically, mentally and morally disintegrates he's finding it more and more difficult.
He is taking rather a long time to disintegrate physically isn't he? I remember breathless reports of him being chucked out of the White House window in a bin bag - he's made a very quick recovery from that.
He's a very old man, older than Biden was, and his supporters are embarrassing in their praise of his physical and mental prowess, but opponents are way too quick to jump to him being barely functioning 99% of the time.
Personally I think they're embarrassed that they went out to bat for the idea of having a proto-vegetable occupying the White House for so long, so they must draw an equivalence. Of course Trump will have his health issues and be under the doctor at times - hamburgers and revenge are not a balanced diet. But I see no evidence that he is senile, rather than just Trump.
Betting on Ukraine to win is a mugs game (worse than betting on PAK Womens cricket) despite a few wins here and there IMO!
There's an interesting interview with Sirs'kiy (that's how you transliterate it correctly if you want to pass your Russian A-Level) in the Times today in which he is not exactly on message about the prospect of imminent victory and makes up a load of numbers with 237% accuracy.
It was giving interviews to Western media that got Zaluzhniy shitcanned so we'll have to see how this goes.
Reuters had something yesterday about Russian hardliners wanting to go all-in, flattening Kyiv, assassinating Zelensky and so on. Funny that Putin can be cast as the moderate (cf Bibi in Israel). Here we go:-
Have we discussed the Norfolk Police and Crime Commissioner by-election? Labour won narrowly last time (under FPTP), but the Tories topped the poll at the three previous elections (but lost the first to an independent with the elections under SV). Could Reform win the seat? Restore are standing: how might they do? I am uncertain whether the election is back under SV or will still be under FPTP. PCCs are being abolished, so whoever wins won’t be in office too long.
Betting on Ukraine to win is a mugs game (worse than betting on PAK Womens cricket) despite a few wins here and there IMO!
I’m not betting, just massively cheering on Ukraine from the sidelines.
Whilst you support Trump
For the 100th time no I don’t support him. I just don’t think he’s Hitler, and try to correct some of the more deranged things said about him.
If you need to correct something 100 times, perhaps consider that you are not portraying yourself that way.
It’s not my fault that most of this board has severe TDS.
Alright let’s tackle this head on.
What is an example where you think Trump is right and this board wrong? Just one will do.
Trump's demand Europe pays more into NATO
Which would be weird. Apart from a relatively small amount of direct funding, no one "pays into NATO".
Yes - to be correct NATO countries increase their defence spending to 5 %
Trump has done the inevitable and forced the issue to the point I do not expect his successors to change their view on this, even Democrats
It has been settled US policy throughout this century to call on Europeans to pay more, hardly surprising. Trump has been ruder and more aggressive about it, as is his way, but nearly all US politicians have argued this for years.
Obama from 2016 "Europe has sometimes been complacent about its own defence," Obama said bluntly.
In 2000: "A new Republican administration would press European nations to make massive increases in their defence budgets during the next decade to help free up the United States military from international peacekeeping, George W Bush's top foreign policy adviser says."
That did not really work out when the USA had done nearly all the international warmaking.
A Terrible Thing Happened to My Family Even in today's climate, there should be one fundamental principle everyone respects: whatever you think about someone in politics, you leave their kids alone. https://petebuttigieg.substack.com/p/a-terrible-thing-happened-to-my-family Someone decided to hurt our family this week. I’m furious, and I want to share what happened.
You’ve probably heard of “swatting.” It’s a cruel and dangerous kind of hoax that has started happening more frequently in recent years. Someone anonymously calls 911 with a false report of imminent danger, such as a hostage situation, at the home of a public figure. Law enforcement swarms the house, guns drawn, terrifying the unsuspecting homeowner and family and sometimes even leading to deaths or injuries in the confusion. It’s happened to dozens of lawmakers, judges, celebrities, and others. (When I was in the Cabinet, someone attempted to do this to our home, but fortunately the hoax was quickly detected.) It’s become enough of a problem that the FBI now has a dedicated database to track such incidents.
Now imagine the same concept, but with Child Protective Services instead of a SWAT team. Hadn’t thought of that? Me neither, until a few days ago when a police officer and a CPS worker showed up at our home and politely asked to speak with me.
I showed them in, invited them on the deck so that we could hear each other over the barking dog, and asked what was going on. They explained that there had been an allegation against me, that it concerned our four-year-old twins, and that a forensic interview had been arranged for the children the following day. I could not be present at the children’s interview, nor could any family member sit in. Afterwards, they would come back and interview me. And only then would they tell me anything about the nature of the allegation...
That's appalling. Who would want to be in politics in the US? No wonder so many of them are mad.
I hardly ever recommend summary execution for media folk but in this case..
. @LouiseRawAuthor I will be pursuing a press complaint against you @DailyMail for this revolting, dangerous, damaging headline.
His poor daughter went to live with him after a difficult life, hoping for love and stability. He got her blind drunk & raped her. She killed herself. Shame on you.
Even leaving aside the headline, just on the details we have how on earth did this disgusting excuse for a human being only get one year in prison?
What was the judge smoking?
Uncle Malmesbury’s simple rules for not being in a Sentencing Mob (either direction)
1) Find out what the defendant was charged with 2) Look up the sentencing guidelines - they are online and easy to read 3) read the judges sentencing remarks. They very often contain references to the tables in the sentencing guidelines that constrain the sentence.
The number of sentences that get changed on appeal is very small, because judges follow the sentencing guidelines carefully.
The issue is often (1)
The issue is often (2), that the sentencing guidelines don’t match up with what the public sees as the significance of the crime.
I think you are wrong on that - feel free to find an example though.
Very often the issue is down charging - a lesser offence than the one apparently commited.
Yes. This case seems to be in California, and features a guilty plea to incest and providing alcohol to a minor, and not a conviction for rape.
I read somewhere that one of the next World Cups was in Saudi Arabia, and the other jointly between Spain, Portugal, and Morocco, which should both have rather closer times.
2030 World Cup is in Spain, Portugal, and Morroco with one off matches in Uruguay, Paraguay, and Argentina.
2034 is in Saudia Arabia, however, because of Ramadan and with it likely to be a 64 team World Cup, then the tournament is going to be held between January and March.
RIP Christmas football that season.
You just need to support a non Prem team. It’s fun!*
*I tell myself this all the time. It’s sometimes true.
'It’s sometimes true' - 2026 at the County Ground has been shocking. Please don't ever use the word 'fun' in relation to STFC. I can only imagine the horrors that are coming our way this season. It's going to be grim.
Totally sustainable and will get worse when the Boriswave gets its ILR
It would, though, be helpful to adjust it for the change in dependency ratio (i.e. proportion of those over pension age or under 18 Vs working age population). Not to say that it would eliminate the trend entirely, but it would be a useful measure of how much is demographics, how much is macro-economics (ie unemployment and underemployment) and how much is policy.
The other effect worth quantifying is how much relates to those at the lower end of income being taken out of tax. We tax our low and lower-middle income population far less heavily than most developed countries, as Dan Neidle's stats show.
Have we discussed the Norfolk Police and Crime Commissioner by-election? Labour won narrowly last time (under FPTP), but the Tories topped the poll at the three previous elections (but lost the first to an independent with the elections under SV). Could Reform win the seat? Restore are standing: how might they do? I am uncertain whether the election is back under SV or will still be under FPTP. PCCs are being abolished, so whoever wins won’t be in office too long.
Totally sustainable and will get worse when the Boriswave gets its ILR
Unlike FoM, Boriswavers will need at least 5 years employment record to get their benefits. Thus delaying the start of any benefits and demonstrating they might not need as much in benefits. No turning up at the housing benefit office three months after arriving for them.
I hardly ever recommend summary execution for media folk but in this case..
. @LouiseRawAuthor I will be pursuing a press complaint against you @DailyMail for this revolting, dangerous, damaging headline.
His poor daughter went to live with him after a difficult life, hoping for love and stability. He got her blind drunk & raped her. She killed herself. Shame on you.
Even leaving aside the headline, just on the details we have how on earth did this disgusting excuse for a human being only get one year in prison?
What was the judge smoking?
Uncle Malmesbury’s simple rules for not being in a Sentencing Mob (either direction)
1) Find out what the defendant was charged with 2) Look up the sentencing guidelines - they are online and easy to read 3) read the judges sentencing remarks. They very often contain references to the tables in the sentencing guidelines that constrain the sentence.
The number of sentences that get changed on appeal is very small, because judges follow the sentencing guidelines carefully.
The issue is often (1)
The issue is often (2), that the sentencing guidelines don’t match up with what the public sees as the significance of the crime.
I think you are wrong on that - feel free to find an example though.
Very often the issue is down charging - a lesser offence than the one apparently commited.
Yes. This case seems to be in California, and features a guilty plea to incest and providing alcohol to a minor, and not a conviction for rape.
The US system is bizarre. With luck (or as with a recent-ish Texas case, a connection to the State AG) a plea bargain can get you off with a six month sentence for child molestation. Or you might get fifty years without parole.
Totally sustainable and will get worse when the Boriswave gets its ILR
It would, though, be helpful to adjust it for the change in dependency ratio (i.e. proportion of those over pension age or under 18 Vs working age population). Not to say that it would eliminate the trend entirely, but it would be a useful measure of how much is demographics, how much is macro-economics (ie unemployment and underemployment) and how much is policy.
The other effect worth quantifying is how much relates to those at the lower end of income being taken out of tax. We tax our low and lower-middle income population far less heavily than most developed countries, as Dan Neidle's stats show.
Do you (or Taz) know if this graph is taxes on income only, or total tax burden including consumption taxes and so on?
Totally sustainable and will get worse when the Boriswave gets its ILR
Unlike FoM, Boriswavers will need at least 5 years employment record to get their benefits. Thus delaying the start of any benefits and demonstrating they might not need as much in benefits. No turning up at the housing benefit office three months after arriving for them.
It is almost as if the politicians at the Home Office have started doing their job rather than competing amongst themselves to get the most favourable Daily Mail headlines.
Betting on Ukraine to win is a mugs game (worse than betting on PAK Womens cricket) despite a few wins here and there IMO!
There's an interesting interview with Sirs'kiy (that's how you transliterate it correctly if you want to pass your Russian A-Level) in the Times today in which he is not exactly on message about the prospect of imminent victory and makes up a load of numbers with 237% accuracy.
It was giving interviews to Western media that got Zaluzhniy shitcanned so we'll have to see how this goes.
Reuters had something yesterday about Russian hardliners wanting to go all-in, flattening Kyiv, assassinating Zelensky and so on. Funny that Putin can be cast as the moderate (cf Bibi in Israel). Here we go:-
Comment on the Russian TV show Большая игра ('The Great Game', think the Sky News papers bit only featuring panellists with very high levels of education) last week: Vladimir Vladimirovich (ie Putin) is either старый и изможденный (old and exhausted) or безнадежно наивный (naive without hope).
This is going a bit further than the usual performative dissent. Almost all of the internal pressure on Vovka, such as it is, comes from the hawks.
Betting on Ukraine to win is a mugs game (worse than betting on PAK Womens cricket) despite a few wins here and there IMO!
I’m not betting, just massively cheering on Ukraine from the sidelines.
Whilst you support Trump
For the 100th time no I don’t support him. I just don’t think he’s Hitler, and try to correct some of the more deranged things said about him.
If you need to correct something 100 times, perhaps consider that you are not portraying yourself that way.
It’s not my fault that most of this board has severe TDS.
Alright let’s tackle this head on.
What is an example where you think Trump is right and this board wrong? Just one will do.
Ooh, so where to start.
That there is rampant election fraud in the US
That conflicted foreigners should be deported immedaitely
That illegal immigrants should be deported
That hundreds of billions of dollars a year are lost to fraud
That NATO has been supported purely by the US for decades, and that European nations need to step up
That most of those convicted for the 6th Jan protest were innocent bystanders
That Iran must be stopped from acquiring a nuclear weapon by any means necessary
That everything bad in the last four decades of the Middle East has Iran’s fingerprints on it.
That Israel has the right to defend itself, and has generally behaved well in response to the Oct 7th attacks.
That Gaza will only behave itself if allowed to prosper economically
That the Democratic Party is becoming infested with communists and antisemites.
But mostly it’s not actually policy positions that people are annoyed by, it’s Trump himself. They either take him far too literally, or they start from the premise that whatever it is must be bad because Trump is doing it or supports it, and work backwards from there.
Totally sustainable and will get worse when the Boriswave gets its ILR
Unlike FoM, Boriswavers will need at least 5 years employment record to get their benefits. Thus delaying the start of any benefits and demonstrating they might not need as much in benefits. No turning up at the housing benefit office three months after arriving for them.
It is almost as if the politicians at the Home Office have started doing their job rather than competing amongst themselves to get the most favourable Daily Mail headlines.
I don't think it's new - non-EU arrivals were always no access to public funds for 5 years, as far as I know.
I read somewhere that one of the next World Cups was in Saudi Arabia, and the other jointly between Spain, Portugal, and Morocco, which should both have rather closer times.
Would you believe there's suspicion the award to Saudi Arabia was not on the up and up?
It's the reason why The Englsh FA have decided to no longer bid to host future World Cups.
Along with the US, the UK is one of very few countries who could hold the World Cup at short notice, with sufficient stadia already extant.
Some of those US stadia are amazing, but their polluting the game with mid-half ad breaks, half-time music shows, and outrageous ticket pricing, and all the associated American over-the-top hyperbole isn't so welcome. Some of the reporting on their TV is absurd; you'd think Americans had never seen a group of fans walking along a street or drinking in a bar before.
Betting on Ukraine to win is a mugs game (worse than betting on PAK Womens cricket) despite a few wins here and there IMO!
There's an interesting interview with Sirs'kiy (that's how you transliterate it correctly if you want to pass your Russian A-Level) in the Times today in which he is not exactly on message about the prospect of imminent victory and makes up a load of numbers with 237% accuracy.
It was giving interviews to Western media that got Zaluzhniy shitcanned so we'll have to see how this goes.
Reuters had something yesterday about Russian hardliners wanting to go all-in, flattening Kyiv, assassinating Zelensky and so on. Funny that Putin can be cast as the moderate (cf Bibi in Israel). Here we go:-
Comment on the Russian TV show Большая игра ('The Great Game', think the Sky News papers bit only featuring panellists with very high levels of education) last week: Vladimir Vladimirovich (ie Putin) is either старый и изможденный (old and exhausted) or безнадежно наивный (naive without hope).
This is going a bit further than the usual performative dissent. Almost all of the internal pressure on Vovka, such as it is, comes from the hawks.
SKS reign ends with him backing future Reform MP Mike Tapp against Mahmood
LOL
I think you've got that wrong. Tapp was / is trying to get an exemption so that foreign Social Care workers would be granted indefinite leave to remain earlier than they will be under the new rules..
Shabana Mahmood is the one with the more Reform friendly policy...
Yes he was stating future policy against the collective responsibility rules on this ocassion
But he is very much one of the most likely to go to Reform if AB doesn't turn the polling round.
He is one of the worst quality Ministers I can remember rewarded for his ultra Zionism rather than any talent
Can't see ultra-Zionism sitting well with Reform though.
There lies a strange conundrum. Reformy types don't tend to like Jewish people, but they quite like the ones flattening Gaza and Beirut. My enemy's enemy is my friend.
Betting on Ukraine to win is a mugs game (worse than betting on PAK Womens cricket) despite a few wins here and there IMO!
There's an interesting interview with Sirs'kiy (that's how you transliterate it correctly if you want to pass your Russian A-Level) in the Times today in which he is not exactly on message about the prospect of imminent victory and makes up a load of numbers with 237% accuracy.
It was giving interviews to Western media that got Zaluzhniy shitcanned so we'll have to see how this goes.
Reuters had something yesterday about Russian hardliners wanting to go all-in, flattening Kyiv, assassinating Zelensky and so on. Funny that Putin can be cast as the moderate (cf Bibi in Israel). Here we go:-
Comment on the Russian TV show Большая игра ('The Great Game', think the Sky News papers bit only featuring panellists with very high levels of education) last week: Vladimir Vladimirovich (ie Putin) is either старый и изможденный (old and exhausted) or безнадежно наивный (naive without hope).
This is going a bit further than the usual performative dissent. Almost all of the internal pressure on Vovka, such as it is, comes from the hawks.
Is there a Russian equivalent of and/or ?
Not really. The two Russian words are very similar and would be very difficult to say in rapid succession.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/articles/cx23rd2x54lo ..There is no legal maximum temperature for classrooms - and the government does not normally advise schools to close. Instead, it says schools can usually be managed safely and that keeping children in school is important. Teaching unions have recommended that schools should aim to keep indoor temperatures at a maximum of 26C..
Betting on Ukraine to win is a mugs game (worse than betting on PAK Womens cricket) despite a few wins here and there IMO!
There's an interesting interview with Sirs'kiy (that's how you transliterate it correctly if you want to pass your Russian A-Level) in the Times today in which he is not exactly on message about the prospect of imminent victory and makes up a load of numbers with 237% accuracy.
It was giving interviews to Western media that got Zaluzhniy shitcanned so we'll have to see how this goes.
Reuters had something yesterday about Russian hardliners wanting to go all-in, flattening Kyiv, assassinating Zelensky and so on. Funny that Putin can be cast as the moderate (cf Bibi in Israel). Here we go:-
Comment on the Russian TV show Большая игра ('The Great Game', think the Sky News papers bit only featuring panellists with very high levels of education) last week: Vladimir Vladimirovich (ie Putin) is either старый и изможденный (old and exhausted) or безнадежно наивный (naive without hope).
This is going a bit further than the usual performative dissent. Almost all of the internal pressure on Vovka, such as it is, comes from the hawks.
Is there a Russian equivalent of and/or ?
Not really. The two Russian words are very similar and would be very difficult to say in rapid succession.
Betting on Ukraine to win is a mugs game (worse than betting on PAK Womens cricket) despite a few wins here and there IMO!
I’m not betting, just massively cheering on Ukraine from the sidelines.
Whilst you support Trump
For the 100th time no I don’t support him. I just don’t think he’s Hitler, and try to correct some of the more deranged things said about him.
If you need to correct something 100 times, perhaps consider that you are not portraying yourself that way.
It’s not my fault that most of this board has severe TDS.
Alright let’s tackle this head on.
What is an example where you think Trump is right and this board wrong? Just one will do.
Ooh, so where to start.
That there is rampant election fraud in the US
That conflicted foreigners should be deported immedaitely
That illegal immigrants should be deported
That hundreds of billions of dollars a year are lost to fraud
That NATO has been supported purely by the US for decades, and that European nations need to step up
That most of those convicted for the 6th Jan protest were innocent bystanders
That Iran must be stopped from acquiring a nuclear weapon by any means necessary
That everything bad in the last four decades of the Middle East has Iran’s fingerprints on it.
That Israel has the right to defend itself, and has generally behaved well in response to the Oct 7th attacks.
That Gaza will only behave itself if allowed to prosper economically
That the Democratic Party is becoming infested with communists and antisemites.
But mostly it’s not actually policy positions that people are annoyed by, it’s Trump himself. They either take him far too literally, or they start from the premise that whatever it is must be bad because Trump is doing it or supports it, and work backwards from there.
Right, an afternoon of cricket and F1 beckons.
Thank you for replying. I will read over it and respond later.
Question for the soft Tory one Nation Centrists on here?
How much longer can the Conservative and Unionist Party be considered Centre Right and mainstream, when it's Leader is not only associating herself with the ARC (Alliance for Responsible Citizenship) and their "Da Yookay" Campaign , but Sharing a Platform with Farage , and associated American and European Far Right "fruitloops" and rabid fascists like Sarah B Rogers, Alternative fur Deutschland, Vlaams Belang, Vox from Spain and the uber Right Dutch Group For Freedom. In addition Badenoch and farage shared a stage and platforn with Carl Benjamin (Sargon Of Akkad) who specualated in the past about Raping Jess Phillips.
One would hope that other prominent Labour female figures aren't the next on his list.
I've been arguing along these lines for a while. It's hard to criticise individual companies for deciding to outsource R&D to China, since the vast advantage is (currently) very large. But as with the earlier round of offshoring, that might eventually cede a very large share of the industry to China.
On China Biotech.
This is an interesting debate to watch because it feels like capitalism doesn’t remember its mistakes.
We are back to where China Manufacturing was over 20 years ago but for biotech.
Reminder that doing production in China was done to give “customers” better pricing. Meantime the entire western world offshores manufacturing capabilities and China became a super power.
Something that only the US and EU governments might address, and it would not be an easy matter now (it might have been easier a decade ago). Post Brexit, the UK has no real say in determining what happens.
Question for the soft Tory one Nation Centrists on here?
How much longer can the Conservative and Unionist Party be considered Centre Right and mainstream, when it's Leader is not only associating herself with the ARC (Alliance for Responsible Citizenship) and their "Da Yookay" Campaign , but Sharing a Platform with Farage , and associated American and European Far Right "fruitloops" and rabid fascists like Sarah B Rogers, Alternative fur Deutschland, Vlaams Belang, Vox from Spain and the uber Right Dutch Group For Freedom. In addition Badenoch and farage shared a stage and platforn with Carl Benjamin (Sargon Of Akkad) who specualated in the past about Raping Jess Phillips.
One would hope that other prominent Labour female figures aren't the next on his list.
Why does any of this matter? Centre Right as an electorally viable political position in Britain has been dead for years and the tories would be even more idiotic than the considerable evidence already suggests to go there.
Betting on Ukraine to win is a mugs game (worse than betting on PAK Womens cricket) despite a few wins here and there IMO!
There's an interesting interview with Sirs'kiy (that's how you transliterate it correctly if you want to pass your Russian A-Level) in the Times today in which he is not exactly on message about the prospect of imminent victory and makes up a load of numbers with 237% accuracy.
It was giving interviews to Western media that got Zaluzhniy shitcanned so we'll have to see how this goes.
Reuters had something yesterday about Russian hardliners wanting to go all-in, flattening Kyiv, assassinating Zelensky and so on. Funny that Putin can be cast as the moderate (cf Bibi in Israel). Here we go:-
As if the Russians haven't been trying to assassinate Zelenskyy for the length of SMO. 7 known attempts, isn't it?
The Americans regularly decided "this time we're really going in hard" during Vietnam. They flattened the place but they still lost.
It’s fairly hard to see what more Russia can do.
They can conscript more men, but the problem is arming, training and supporting them.
They went all in on tanks, SPGs etc - and run down they stockpiles to nothing. They rely on a trickle of production to have anything in that regard.
Long range missiles, similarly - they can do damage. Especially when they save up a months production to do a surge of attacks. But it’s a long way from the days of Frontal Aviation planning attacks of 300+ heavy supersonic missiles with one ton warheads. Then doing the same again 12 hours later.
In short, they are already fighting a broken back war, with a massive technological reduction.
Using chemical weapons won’t help - they’ve lost the old USSR setup where everyone and everything on the front line had protection against chemical weapons. The plan, back in the day, was to soak battlefields in nerve agents, then drive through. Now, they would kill their own troops as well. Also, the mass delivery systems have mostly been destroyed in conventional battle.
Nukes - much the same. Plus the issue of escalation.
That being said, I could see Putin trying chemical or nuclear, if the front collapsed. I could imagine, for example, using a nuke in the Crimea (following a collapse there) and claiming it was defensive and part of a trap for the “invaders”.
Betting on Ukraine to win is a mugs game (worse than betting on PAK Womens cricket) despite a few wins here and there IMO!
There's an interesting interview with Sirs'kiy (that's how you transliterate it correctly if you want to pass your Russian A-Level) in the Times today in which he is not exactly on message about the prospect of imminent victory and makes up a load of numbers with 237% accuracy.
It was giving interviews to Western media that got Zaluzhniy shitcanned so we'll have to see how this goes.
Reuters had something yesterday about Russian hardliners wanting to go all-in, flattening Kyiv, assassinating Zelensky and so on. Funny that Putin can be cast as the moderate (cf Bibi in Israel). Here we go:-
Comment on the Russian TV show Большая игра ('The Great Game', think the Sky News papers bit only featuring panellists with very high levels of education) last week: Vladimir Vladimirovich (ie Putin) is either старый и изможденный (old and exhausted) or безнадежно наивный (naive without hope).
This is going a bit further than the usual performative dissent. Almost all of the internal pressure on Vovka, such as it is, comes from the hawks.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Question for the soft Tory one Nation Centrists on here?
How much longer can the Conservative and Unionist Party be considered Centre Right and mainstream, when it's Leader is not only associating herself with the ARC (Alliance for Responsible Citizenship) and their "Da Yookay" Campaign , but Sharing a Platform with Farage , and associated American and European Far Right "fruitloops" and rabid fascists like Sarah B Rogers, Alternative fur Deutschland, Vlaams Belang, Vox from Spain and the uber Right Dutch Group For Freedom. In addition Badenoch and farage shared a stage and platforn with Carl Benjamin (Sargon Of Akkad) who specualated in the past about Raping Jess Phillips.
One would hope that other prominent Labour female figures aren't the next on his list.
Why does any of this matter? Centre Right as an electorally viable political position in Britain has been dead for years and the tories would be even more idiotic than the considerable evidence already suggests to go there.
What really matters to the many decent Tories out there, is whether or not they want their Party associating iteself with HARD Right nutcases.
I can't imagine Major, Cameron, May , Sunak or even Boris doing that.
If you're happy that this is the Tories direction of travel then thats perfectly fine, their extinction will be even sooner than anticipated.
Whats next Kemi advocating laving the WHO and supporting Farages "Action On World Health" nutcases .
Having rid herself of the likes of Jenrick, Braverman and others she is now making Jenrick look like a Liberal!
Betting on Ukraine to win is a mugs game (worse than betting on PAK Womens cricket) despite a few wins here and there IMO!
There's an interesting interview with Sirs'kiy (that's how you transliterate it correctly if you want to pass your Russian A-Level) in the Times today in which he is not exactly on message about the prospect of imminent victory and makes up a load of numbers with 237% accuracy.
It was giving interviews to Western media that got Zaluzhniy shitcanned so we'll have to see how this goes.
Reuters had something yesterday about Russian hardliners wanting to go all-in, flattening Kyiv, assassinating Zelensky and so on. Funny that Putin can be cast as the moderate (cf Bibi in Israel). Here we go:-
As if the Russians haven't been trying to assassinate Zelenskyy for the length of SMO. 7 known attempts, isn't it?
The Americans regularly decided "this time we're really going in hard" during Vietnam. They flattened the place but they still lost.
It’s fairly hard to see what more Russia can do.
They can conscript more men, but the problem is arming, training and supporting them. ...
The big unknown is if China would supply the equipment to arm something like, say 250,000 mobilised Russian troops.
If the alternative was a collapse of the front and an outright Russian defeat then they might do so. The Chinese have been learning a lot about drone warfare in Myanmar's civil war.
Betting on Ukraine to win is a mugs game (worse than betting on PAK Womens cricket) despite a few wins here and there IMO!
I’m not betting, just massively cheering on Ukraine from the sidelines.
Whilst you support Trump
For the 100th time no I don’t support him. I just don’t think he’s Hitler, and try to correct some of the more deranged things said about him.
If you need to correct something 100 times, perhaps consider that you are not portraying yourself that way.
It’s not my fault that most of this board has severe TDS.
Alright let’s tackle this head on.
What is an example where you think Trump is right and this board wrong? Just one will do.
Ooh, so where to start.
That there is rampant election fraud in the US
That conflicted foreigners should be deported immedaitely
That illegal immigrants should be deported
That hundreds of billions of dollars a year are lost to fraud
That NATO has been supported purely by the US for decades, and that European nations need to step up
That most of those convicted for the 6th Jan protest were innocent bystanders
That Iran must be stopped from acquiring a nuclear weapon by any means necessary
That everything bad in the last four decades of the Middle East has Iran’s fingerprints on it.
That Israel has the right to defend itself, and has generally behaved well in response to the Oct 7th attacks.
That Gaza will only behave itself if allowed to prosper economically
That the Democratic Party is becoming infested with communists and antisemites.
But mostly it’s not actually policy positions that people are annoyed by, it’s Trump himself. They either take him far too literally, or they start from the premise that whatever it is must be bad because Trump is doing it or supports it, and work backwards from there.
Right, an afternoon of cricket and F1 beckons.
The biggest load of crap I've ever read! I knew you were right wing but living in Dubai I thought you might at least have some small insight into the Middle East. Even Smodrich would struggle to find such an extreme Zionist. Have you visited Israel or the Wast Bank?
Worth unpicking these, I think (blockquotes deleted due to SNAFU)
That there is rampant election fraud in the US - Nobody on this board disputes that AFAIK. It's just that we've noticed it's Trump and his fellow MAGA loons that are doing it, while he and that Nazi weirdo Miller claim it's the other side.
That conflicted foreigners should be deported immedaitely - I'm assuming that should say 'convicted,' but actually, the reason they can't be is because of laws passed by Congress. Where, in case you hadn't noticed, Trump's party has a majority. So why has he not changed the law rather than issuing random Exec Orders in crayon?
That illegal immigrants should be deported - He doesn't think that. Elon Musk is still there. He only wants the ones who don't pay him bribes to go.
That hundreds of billions of dollars a year are lost to fraud - It's been repeatedly demonstrated to you that your claims on this are essentially a repetition of a bunch of lies, half-truths and exaggerations ultimately from Trump's supporters most of whom lie with even greater felicity and facility than he does. Yes, there is fraud. And it is committed by Democrats, Republicans and non-partisan Mafia bosses like Trump himself. The
That NATO has been supported purely by the US for decades, and that European nations need to step up - I don't think anyone disputes that, not least because we can't rely on America any more if they're going to elect fat dementia addled grifting perverts in the pay of the Russians to high office.
That most of those convicted for the 6th Jan protest were innocent bystanders - er, ok. If you believe that, may I interest you in this bridge I have for sale? If anything, rather too many of them (including Trump himself of course) got away without being convicted because of the corruption and inefficiency of the US court system.
Continued That Iran must be stopped from acquiring a nuclear weapon by any means necessary - He doesn't think that. He's just given them loadsa cash that they will use to build one.
That everything bad in the last four decades of the Middle East has Iran’s fingerprints on it - does anyone apart from that muppet Roger dispute this?
That Israel has the right to defend itself, and has generally behaved well in response to the Oct 7th attacks - I think we can safely draw a distinction between 'its initial response' (which was foolish, as it was what Hamas wanted, but understandable) and the more recent operations aimed solely at extending the loathsome Netanyahu's political career.
That Gaza will only behave itself if allowed to prosper economically - this is an illogical contradiction of your previous point, given the reason they can't is Israel's strangling of them (assisted by Egypt under US pressure).
That the Democratic Party is becoming infested with communists and antisemites - There are some, just as there are out and Nazis and indeed antisemites in the Republicans (Miller, Vance, Hegseth). That is kind of the nature of the beast of American politics. The Democrats cannot realistically be said to be 'infested' with such people.
But mostly it’s not actually policy positions that people are annoyed by, it’s Trump himself. They either take him far too literally, or they start from the premise that whatever it is must be bad because Trump is doing it or supports it, and work backwards from there - well, it frequently is. As when he orders pardons for the rioters of 6th Jan because of bribes they paid him. Or demanding the arrest of somebody who dared to inspect the damage caused by a restoration carried out to a Washington landmark carried out illegally on Trump's orders and claiming he was the cause of the damage. Or his claims about vote rigging (epic projection) or about his increasingly obvious medical treatment.
Right, an afternoon of cricket and F1 beckons - well, enjoy, but I don't think you're convincing anyone with this.
Betting on Ukraine to win is a mugs game (worse than betting on PAK Womens cricket) despite a few wins here and there IMO!
I’m not betting, just massively cheering on Ukraine from the sidelines.
Whilst you support Trump
For the 100th time no I don’t support him. I just don’t think he’s Hitler, and try to correct some of the more deranged things said about him.
If you need to correct something 100 times, perhaps consider that you are not portraying yourself that way.
It’s not my fault that most of this board has severe TDS.
Alright let’s tackle this head on.
What is an example where you think Trump is right and this board wrong? Just one will do.
Ooh, so where to start.
That there is rampant election fraud in the US
That conflicted foreigners should be deported immedaitely
That illegal immigrants should be deported
That hundreds of billions of dollars a year are lost to fraud
That NATO has been supported purely by the US for decades, and that European nations need to step up
That most of those convicted for the 6th Jan protest were innocent bystanders
That Iran must be stopped from acquiring a nuclear weapon by any means necessary
That everything bad in the last four decades of the Middle East has Iran’s fingerprints on it.
That Israel has the right to defend itself, and has generally behaved well in response to the Oct 7th attacks.
That Gaza will only behave itself if allowed to prosper economically
That the Democratic Party is becoming infested with communists and antisemites.
But mostly it’s not actually policy positions that people are annoyed by, it’s Trump himself. They either take him far too literally, or they start from the premise that whatever it is must be bad because Trump is doing it or supports it, and work backwards from there.
Right, an afternoon of cricket and F1 beckons.
Thank you for replying. I will read over it and respond later.
I think your response would be one of what YouTube channels are you watching and X accounts are you following? Please list so I can avoid like the plague.
Betting on Ukraine to win is a mugs game (worse than betting on PAK Womens cricket) despite a few wins here and there IMO!
There's an interesting interview with Sirs'kiy (that's how you transliterate it correctly if you want to pass your Russian A-Level) in the Times today in which he is not exactly on message about the prospect of imminent victory and makes up a load of numbers with 237% accuracy.
It was giving interviews to Western media that got Zaluzhniy shitcanned so we'll have to see how this goes.
Reuters had something yesterday about Russian hardliners wanting to go all-in, flattening Kyiv, assassinating Zelensky and so on. Funny that Putin can be cast as the moderate (cf Bibi in Israel). Here we go:-
Comment on the Russian TV show Большая игра ('The Great Game', think the Sky News papers bit only featuring panellists with very high levels of education) last week: Vladimir Vladimirovich (ie Putin) is either старый и изможденный (old and exhausted) or безнадежно наивный (naive without hope).
This is going a bit further than the usual performative dissent. Almost all of the internal pressure on Vovka, such as it is, comes from the hawks.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Betting on Ukraine to win is a mugs game (worse than betting on PAK Womens cricket) despite a few wins here and there IMO!
There's an interesting interview with Sirs'kiy (that's how you transliterate it correctly if you want to pass your Russian A-Level) in the Times today in which he is not exactly on message about the prospect of imminent victory and makes up a load of numbers with 237% accuracy.
It was giving interviews to Western media that got Zaluzhniy shitcanned so we'll have to see how this goes.
Reuters had something yesterday about Russian hardliners wanting to go all-in, flattening Kyiv, assassinating Zelensky and so on. Funny that Putin can be cast as the moderate (cf Bibi in Israel). Here we go:-
Comment on the Russian TV show Большая игра ('The Great Game', think the Sky News papers bit only featuring panellists with very high levels of education) last week: Vladimir Vladimirovich (ie Putin) is either старый и изможденный (old and exhausted) or безнадежно наивный (naive without hope).
This is going a bit further than the usual performative dissent. Almost all of the internal pressure on Vovka, such as it is, comes from the hawks.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
That hundreds of billions of dollars a year are lost to fraud - It's been repeatedly demonstrated to you that your claims on this are essentially a repetition of a bunch of lies, half-truths and exaggerations ultimately from Trump's supporters most of whom lie with even greater felicity and facility than he does. Yes, there is fraud. And it is committed by Democrats, Republicans and non-partisan Mafia bosses like Trump himself. The
That should finish, 'the weaponisation of false/exaggerated fraud allegations by a man who is well known for his frauds and has been repeatedly convicted for them is ironic, but it does not mean that Trump is right about either the scale or the location it is happening in.'
The Kiwis burn their final review for no obvious reason. Why? They're all over England like a cheap suit but a dud decision in future could now hurt them.
Betting on Ukraine to win is a mugs game (worse than betting on PAK Womens cricket) despite a few wins here and there IMO!
I’m not betting, just massively cheering on Ukraine from the sidelines.
Whilst you support Trump
For the 100th time no I don’t support him. I just don’t think he’s Hitler, and try to correct some of the more deranged things said about him.
If you need to correct something 100 times, perhaps consider that you are not portraying yourself that way.
It’s not my fault that most of this board has severe TDS.
Alright let’s tackle this head on.
What is an example where you think Trump is right and this board wrong? Just one will do.
Ooh, so where to start.
That there is rampant election fraud in the US
That conflicted foreigners should be deported immedaitely
That illegal immigrants should be deported
That hundreds of billions of dollars a year are lost to fraud
That NATO has been supported purely by the US for decades, and that European nations need to step up
That most of those convicted for the 6th Jan protest were innocent bystanders
That Iran must be stopped from acquiring a nuclear weapon by any means necessary
That everything bad in the last four decades of the Middle East has Iran’s fingerprints on it.
That Israel has the right to defend itself, and has generally behaved well in response to the Oct 7th attacks.
That Gaza will only behave itself if allowed to prosper economically
That the Democratic Party is becoming infested with communists and antisemites.
But mostly it’s not actually policy positions that people are annoyed by, it’s Trump himself. They either take him far too literally, or they start from the premise that whatever it is must be bad because Trump is doing it or supports it, and work backwards from there.
Right, an afternoon of cricket and F1 beckons.
Thank you for replying. I will read over it and respond later.
I think your response would be one of what YouTube channels are you watching and X accounts are you following? Please list so I can avoid like the plague.
Or, as the World's most brilliant political blog very recently put it,
The technology to polish and disseminate information is brilliant these days. Unfortunately, that is equally the case whether the information is true or not.
SKS reign ends with him backing future Reform MP Mike Tapp against Mahmood
LOL
I think you've got that wrong. Tapp was / is trying to get an exemption so that foreign Social Care workers would be granted indefinite leave to remain earlier than they will be under the new rules..
Shabana Mahmood is the one with the more Reform friendly policy...
Yes he was stating future policy against the collective responsibility rules on this ocassion
But he is very much one of the most likely to go to Reform if AB doesn't turn the polling round.
He is one of the worst quality Ministers I can remember rewarded for his ultra Zionism rather than any talent
Continued That Iran must be stopped from acquiring a nuclear weapon by any means necessary - He doesn't think that. He's just given them loadsa cash that they will use to build one.
That everything bad in the last four decades of the Middle East has Iran’s fingerprints on it - does anyone apart from that muppet Roger dispute this?
That Israel has the right to defend itself, and has generally behaved well in response to the Oct 7th attacks - I think we can safely draw a distinction between 'its initial response' (which was foolish, as it was what Hamas wanted, but understandable) and the more recent operations aimed solely at extending the loathsome Netanyahu's political career.
That Gaza will only behave itself if allowed to prosper economically - this is an illogical contradiction of your previous point, given the reason they can't is Israel's strangling of them (assisted by Egypt under US pressure).
That the Democratic Party is becoming infested with communists and antisemites - There are some, just as there are out and Nazis and indeed antisemites in the Republicans (Miller, Vance, Hegseth). That is kind of the nature of the beast of American politics. The Democrats cannot realistically be said to be 'infested' with such people.
But mostly it’s not actually policy positions that people are annoyed by, it’s Trump himself. They either take him far too literally, or they start from the premise that whatever it is must be bad because Trump is doing it or supports it, and work backwards from there - well, it frequently is. As when he orders pardons for the rioters of 6th Jan because of bribes they paid him. Or demanding the arrest of somebody who dared to inspect the damage caused by a restoration carried out to a Washington landmark carried out illegally on Trump's orders and claiming he was the cause of the damage. Or his claims about vote rigging (epic projection) or about his increasingly obvious medical treatment.
Right, an afternoon of cricket and F1 beckons - well, enjoy, but I don't think you're convincing anyone with this.
I think you may have fallen into the trap of taking Sandpit too literally. Therefore it is all your fault.
Betting on Ukraine to win is a mugs game (worse than betting on PAK Womens cricket) despite a few wins here and there IMO!
I’m not betting, just massively cheering on Ukraine from the sidelines.
Whilst you support Trump
For the 100th time no I don’t support him. I just don’t think he’s Hitler, and try to correct some of the more deranged things said about him.
If you need to correct something 100 times, perhaps consider that you are not portraying yourself that way.
It’s not my fault that most of this board has severe TDS.
Alright let’s tackle this head on.
What is an example where you think Trump is right and this board wrong? Just one will do.
Ooh, so where to start.
That there is rampant election fraud in the US
That conflicted foreigners should be deported immedaitely
That illegal immigrants should be deported
That hundreds of billions of dollars a year are lost to fraud
That NATO has been supported purely by the US for decades, and that European nations need to step up
That most of those convicted for the 6th Jan protest were innocent bystanders
That Iran must be stopped from acquiring a nuclear weapon by any means necessary
That everything bad in the last four decades of the Middle East has Iran’s fingerprints on it.
That Israel has the right to defend itself, and has generally behaved well in response to the Oct 7th attacks.
That Gaza will only behave itself if allowed to prosper economically
That the Democratic Party is becoming infested with communists and antisemites.
But mostly it’s not actually policy positions that people are annoyed by, it’s Trump himself. They either take him far too literally, or they start from the premise that whatever it is must be bad because Trump is doing it or supports it, and work backwards from there.
Right, an afternoon of cricket and F1 beckons.
Thank you for replying. I will read over it and respond later.
I think your response would be one of what YouTube channels are you watching and X accounts are you following? Please list so I can avoid like the plague.
Or, as the World's most brilliant political blog very recently put it,
The technology to polish and disseminate information is brilliant these days. Unfortunately, that is equally the case whether the information is true or not.
And the false information is often the easier story to tell and has more funds attached to it..
Betting on Ukraine to win is a mugs game (worse than betting on PAK Womens cricket) despite a few wins here and there IMO!
I’m not betting, just massively cheering on Ukraine from the sidelines.
Whilst you support Trump
For the 100th time no I don’t support him. I just don’t think he’s Hitler, and try to correct some of the more deranged things said about him.
If you need to correct something 100 times, perhaps consider that you are not portraying yourself that way.
It’s not my fault that most of this board has severe TDS.
Alright let’s tackle this head on.
What is an example where you think Trump is right and this board wrong? Just one will do.
Ooh, so where to start.
That there is rampant election fraud in the US
That conflicted foreigners should be deported immedaitely
That illegal immigrants should be deported
That hundreds of billions of dollars a year are lost to fraud
That NATO has been supported purely by the US for decades, and that European nations need to step up
That most of those convicted for the 6th Jan protest were innocent bystanders
That Iran must be stopped from acquiring a nuclear weapon by any means necessary
That everything bad in the last four decades of the Middle East has Iran’s fingerprints on it.
That Israel has the right to defend itself, and has generally behaved well in response to the Oct 7th attacks.
That Gaza will only behave itself if allowed to prosper economically
That the Democratic Party is becoming infested with communists and antisemites.
But mostly it’s not actually policy positions that people are annoyed by, it’s Trump himself. They either take him far too literally, or they start from the premise that whatever it is must be bad because Trump is doing it or supports it, and work backwards from there.
Betting on Ukraine to win is a mugs game (worse than betting on PAK Womens cricket) despite a few wins here and there IMO!
I’m not betting, just massively cheering on Ukraine from the sidelines.
Whilst you support Trump
For the 100th time no I don’t support him. I just don’t think he’s Hitler, and try to correct some of the more deranged things said about him.
If you need to correct something 100 times, perhaps consider that you are not portraying yourself that way.
It’s not my fault that most of this board has severe TDS.
Alright let’s tackle this head on.
What is an example where you think Trump is right and this board wrong? Just one will do.
Ooh, so where to start.
That there is rampant election fraud in the US
That conflicted foreigners should be deported immedaitely
That illegal immigrants should be deported
That hundreds of billions of dollars a year are lost to fraud
That NATO has been supported purely by the US for decades, and that European nations need to step up
That most of those convicted for the 6th Jan protest were innocent bystanders
That Iran must be stopped from acquiring a nuclear weapon by any means necessary
That everything bad in the last four decades of the Middle East has Iran’s fingerprints on it.
That Israel has the right to defend itself, and has generally behaved well in response to the Oct 7th attacks.
That Gaza will only behave itself if allowed to prosper economically
That the Democratic Party is becoming infested with communists and antisemites.
But mostly it’s not actually policy positions that people are annoyed by, it’s Trump himself. They either take him far too literally, or they start from the premise that whatever it is must be bad because Trump is doing it or supports it, and work backwards from there.
Right, an afternoon of cricket and F1 beckons.
Thank you for replying. I will read over it and respond later.
I think your response would be one of what YouTube channels are you watching and X accounts are you following? Please list so I can avoid like the plague.
Or, as the World's most brilliant political blog very recently put it,
The technology to polish and disseminate information is brilliant these days. Unfortunately, that is equally the case whether the information is true or not.
And the false information is often the easier story to tell and has more funds attached to it..
I like the notion that "a lie is half way around the World before the truth has got its trousers on".
Obviously not listening to Any Questions today. One of least encouraging from a Badenoch point of view that I've heard
Probably harder for Neil to pick up Radio 4 now that Long Wave has been switched off.
You still listen to the radio? How quaint!
Radio is an awesome medium. I listen to the people I like on LBC, and Radio Four is like a care home for old buffers like me, even matronly Lady Brooke has her moments. Most of them are excited Kemi fangirl moments, but that'll do in the event of nothing better.
Comments
Apart from a relatively small amount of direct funding, no one "pays into NATO".
And then we have the fun question of what to do with the excess electricity generated on sunny days, of which there shoud be plenty. One answer may well be to do the (fairly energy-expensive) things to extract atmospheric carbon dioxide and lock it in stable solids. Whilst they may need lots of energy, that doesn't matter if you have more electricity than you know what to do with.
Of course all pro trans activists are paragons of virtue.
Trump has done the inevitable and forced the issue to the point I do not expect his successors to change their view on this, even Democrats
Not that I can comment as I've not been in the office for 2 months and I'm only going down next month to see a theatre show and going into the office to show my face (and lunch with another team who are reaching the end of their project).
He surely has something nasty on the selection committee.
Russian hawks urge Putin to escalate war, drop US talks as Ukraine strikes deep
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russian-hawks-urge-putin-escalate-war-drop-us-talks-ukraine-strikes-deep-2026-06-26/ (might be £££)
Obama from 2016 "Europe has sometimes been complacent about its own defence," Obama said bluntly.
In 2000: "A new Republican administration would press European nations to make massive increases in their defence budgets during the next decade to help free up the United States military from international peacekeeping, George W Bush's top foreign policy adviser says."
Many of the so-called projections haven't been a forecast of what will happen, but have been a wishcast of what needs to happen to achieve global net zero. My first reaction on seeing these wishcasts is to think "that's never going to happen".
Grrrr...
Early days on this of course.
Usually, anyway.
So what happens is people take today's trends and assumptions that look broadly sensible and simply chuck them into the future.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Norfolk_Police_and_Crime_Commissioner_by-election
That's what trees do.
But yes, we can use surplus renewable leccy for intermittent DAC plants or alternatively for intermittent Green Hydrogen electrolysis. The H2 can then be used to generate clean power when demand is high and renewable output is low.
However, running these assets at low load factors isn't great and increases production costs.
The other point is that the US seem to expect that money to be spent on US weapons. That's also becoming somewhat less rather than more likely.
(Edited to remove covfefe)
He charges a million a shot.
The other effect worth quantifying is how much relates to those at the lower end of income being taken out of tax. We tax our low and lower-middle income population far less heavily than most developed countries, as Dan Neidle's stats show.
With luck (or as with a recent-ish Texas case, a connection to the State AG) a plea bargain can get you off with a six month sentence for child molestation.
Or you might get fifty years without parole.
This is going a bit further than the usual performative dissent. Almost all of the internal pressure on Vovka, such as it is, comes from the hawks.
Some things don't work.
Generally speaking you can only find out if something is going to work by trying to use it.
That there is rampant election fraud in the US
That conflicted foreigners should be deported immedaitely
That illegal immigrants should be deported
That hundreds of billions of dollars a year are lost to fraud
That NATO has been supported purely by the US for decades, and that European nations need to step up
That most of those convicted for the 6th Jan protest were innocent bystanders
That Iran must be stopped from acquiring a nuclear weapon by any means necessary
That everything bad in the last four decades of the Middle East has Iran’s fingerprints on it.
That Israel has the right to defend itself, and has generally behaved well in response to the Oct 7th attacks.
That Gaza will only behave itself if allowed to prosper economically
That the Democratic Party is becoming infested with communists and antisemites.
But mostly it’s not actually policy positions that people are annoyed by, it’s Trump himself. They either take him far too literally, or they start from the premise that whatever it is must be bad because Trump is doing it or supports it, and work backwards from there.
Right, an afternoon of cricket and F1 beckons.
Jack Draper to meet Taylor Fritz in Round 1 (Draper's been ill, so he's currently low-ranking). Not a match either of them would want.
My little bets, placed a few weeks ago, all outright. Mostly long shots for my own amusement.
Djokovic 4/1
Musetti 20/1 (He has withdrawn. Should have waited!)
Cobolli 40/1
Fils 50/1
It’s Official: F-35s Are Now Being Delivered Without Radars
https://www.twz.com/air/its-official-f-35s-are-now-being-delivered-without-radars
It won't affect Europe, since AFAIK we're not getting the new (and much more capable) radar anyway.
“A third staffer working on the 8th floor told POLITICO on Friday that even with working AC, the temperature inside was still 25.7 degrees.”
EU Commission HQ forced to shut down air-conditioning amid heatwave
https://x.com/s8mb/status/2070599638025949380
https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/articles/cx23rd2x54lo
..There is no legal maximum temperature for classrooms - and the government does not normally advise schools to close.
Instead, it says schools can usually be managed safely and that keeping children in school is important.
Teaching unions have recommended that schools should aim to keep indoor temperatures at a maximum of 26C..
Do you understand covenant consent now 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Fuck off Taz.
Easy to get muddled up
How much longer can the Conservative and Unionist Party be considered Centre Right and mainstream, when it's Leader is not only associating herself with the ARC (Alliance for Responsible Citizenship) and their "Da Yookay" Campaign , but Sharing a Platform with Farage , and associated American and European Far Right "fruitloops" and rabid fascists like Sarah B Rogers, Alternative fur Deutschland, Vlaams Belang, Vox from Spain and the uber Right Dutch Group For Freedom. In addition Badenoch and farage shared a stage and platforn with Carl Benjamin (Sargon Of Akkad) who specualated in the past about Raping Jess Phillips.
One would hope that other prominent Labour female figures aren't the next on his list.
It's hard to criticise individual companies for deciding to outsource R&D to China, since the vast advantage is (currently) very large.
But as with the earlier round of offshoring, that might eventually cede a very large share of the industry to China.
On China Biotech.
This is an interesting debate to watch because it feels like capitalism doesn’t remember its mistakes.
We are back to where China Manufacturing was over 20 years ago but for biotech.
Reminder that doing production in China was done to give “customers” better pricing. Meantime the entire western world offshores manufacturing capabilities and China became a super power.
The Chinese have a playbook now and they are using it again, but for biotech.
https://x.com/LauraMinquini/status/2070522891024683055
Something that only the US and EU governments might address, and it would not be an easy matter now (it might have been easier a decade ago).
Post Brexit, the UK has no real say in determining what happens.
If you say so. You’re not at all a Vagueposting incel who needs attention
https://x.com/afneil/status/2070726177623290092
ANDREW NEIL: Reform is waning — at least for now — but Kemi Badenoch has never looked in finer fettle
They can conscript more men, but the problem is arming, training and supporting them.
They went all in on tanks, SPGs etc - and run down they stockpiles to nothing. They rely on a trickle of production to have anything in that regard.
Long range missiles, similarly - they can do damage. Especially when they save up a months production to do a surge of attacks. But it’s a long way from the days of Frontal Aviation planning attacks of 300+ heavy supersonic missiles with one ton warheads. Then doing the same again 12 hours later.
In short, they are already fighting a broken back war, with a massive technological reduction.
Using chemical weapons won’t help - they’ve lost the old USSR setup where everyone and everything on the front line had protection against chemical weapons. The plan, back in the day, was to soak battlefields in nerve agents, then drive through. Now, they would kill their own troops as well. Also, the mass delivery systems have mostly been destroyed in conventional battle.
Nukes - much the same. Plus the issue of escalation.
That being said, I could see Putin trying chemical or nuclear, if the front collapsed. I could imagine, for example, using a nuke in the Crimea (following a collapse there) and claiming it was defensive and part of a trap for the “invaders”.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Game
I can't imagine Major, Cameron, May , Sunak or even Boris doing that.
If you're happy that this is the Tories direction of travel then thats perfectly fine, their extinction will be even sooner than anticipated.
Whats next Kemi advocating laving the WHO and supporting Farages "Action On World Health" nutcases .
Having rid herself of the likes of Jenrick, Braverman and others she is now making Jenrick look like a Liberal!
If the alternative was a collapse of the front and an outright Russian defeat then they might do so. The Chinese have been learning a lot about drone warfare in Myanmar's civil war.
Ooh where to start.
Worth unpicking these, I think (blockquotes deleted due to SNAFU)
That there is rampant election fraud in the US - Nobody on this board disputes that AFAIK. It's just that we've noticed it's Trump and his fellow MAGA loons that are doing it, while he and that Nazi weirdo Miller claim it's the other side.
That conflicted foreigners should be deported immedaitely - I'm assuming that should say 'convicted,' but actually, the reason they can't be is because of laws passed by Congress. Where, in case you hadn't noticed, Trump's party has a majority. So why has he not changed the law rather than issuing random Exec Orders in crayon?
That illegal immigrants should be deported - He doesn't think that. Elon Musk is still there. He only wants the ones who don't pay him bribes to go.
That hundreds of billions of dollars a year are lost to fraud - It's been repeatedly demonstrated to you that your claims on this are essentially a repetition of a bunch of lies, half-truths and exaggerations ultimately from Trump's supporters most of whom lie with even greater felicity and facility than he does. Yes, there is fraud. And it is committed by Democrats, Republicans and non-partisan Mafia bosses like Trump himself. The
That NATO has been supported purely by the US for decades, and that European nations need to step up - I don't think anyone disputes that, not least because we can't rely on America any more if they're going to elect fat dementia addled grifting perverts in the pay of the Russians to high office.
That most of those convicted for the 6th Jan protest were innocent bystanders - er, ok. If you believe that, may I interest you in this bridge I have for sale? If anything, rather too many of them (including Trump himself of course) got away without being convicted because of the corruption and inefficiency of the US court system.
Continued
That Iran must be stopped from acquiring a nuclear weapon by any means necessary - He doesn't think that. He's just given them loadsa cash that they will use to build one.
That everything bad in the last four decades of the Middle East has Iran’s fingerprints on it - does anyone apart from that muppet Roger dispute this?
That Israel has the right to defend itself, and has generally behaved well in response to the Oct 7th attacks - I think we can safely draw a distinction between 'its initial response' (which was foolish, as it was what Hamas wanted, but understandable) and the more recent operations aimed solely at extending the loathsome Netanyahu's political career.
That Gaza will only behave itself if allowed to prosper economically - this is an illogical contradiction of your previous point, given the reason they can't is Israel's strangling of them (assisted by Egypt under US pressure).
That the Democratic Party is becoming infested with communists and antisemites - There are some, just as there are out and Nazis and indeed antisemites in the Republicans (Miller, Vance, Hegseth). That is kind of the nature of the beast of American politics. The Democrats cannot realistically be said to be 'infested' with such people.
But mostly it’s not actually policy positions that people are annoyed by, it’s Trump himself. They either take him far too literally, or they start from the premise that whatever it is must be bad because Trump is doing it or supports it, and work backwards from there - well, it frequently is. As when he orders pardons for the rioters of 6th Jan because of bribes they paid him. Or demanding the arrest of somebody who dared to inspect the damage caused by a restoration carried out to a Washington landmark carried out illegally on Trump's orders and claiming he was the cause of the damage. Or his claims about vote rigging (epic projection) or about his increasingly obvious medical treatment.
Right, an afternoon of cricket and F1 beckons - well, enjoy, but I don't think you're convincing anyone with this.
Tim Paine can explain this...
https://www.politicalbetting.com/index.php/archives/2026/06/26/we-live-in-an-era-massive-viral-misinformation/
The technology to polish and disseminate information is brilliant these days. Unfortunately, that is equally the case whether the information is true or not.
https://x.com/andrewpmunro/status/1783144151049027990?s=61&t=LYVEHh2mqFy1oUJAdCfe-Q
That the earth is not flat
That the past occurred before the future
Archer might not want to listen to the radio about that drive though!