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  • foxinsoxuk
    foxinsoxuk Posts: 23,548
    MarkHopkins said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    MikeL said:

    FrancisUrquhart said:

    MikeL said:

    Who did we actually beat in the Davis Cup?

    Federer and Wawrinka didn't play for Switzerland.

    We just beat a whole pile of no hopers in a competition nobody else could even be bothered with.

    No DJOKOVIC either.
    Indeed - it's a complete farce - illustrated by GB beating a Belgium team in the final with nobody who anyone had ever heard of.
    Stop dissing Belgium.

    I love Belgium, a nation invented to get up the nose of the French.

    What's not to love about the Belgians?

    "What's not to love about the Belgians? "

    Do you want the list alphabetically, or in order of importance?
    Their chocolate is quite passable, the beer too, and their landscape eminently suitable for pitched battles between warring great powers. Conveniently located and not too much of significance that can get significantly damaged.

  • SouthamObserver
    SouthamObserver Posts: 40,054
    Practically speaking, Podemos is not one party.
  • flightpath01
    flightpath01 Posts: 4,903
    TheScreamingEagles said:

    MikeL said:

    FrancisUrquhart said:

    MikeL said:

    Who did we actually beat in the Davis Cup?

    Federer and Wawrinka didn't play for Switzerland.

    We just beat a whole pile of no hopers in a competition nobody else could even be bothered with.

    No DJOKOVIC either.
    Indeed - it's a complete farce - illustrated by GB beating a Belgium team in the final with nobody who anyone had ever heard of.
    Stop dissing Belgium.

    I love Belgium, a nation invented to get up the nose of the French.

    What's not to love about the Belgians?

    But the fact remains - how good a tennis nation are Belgium? Pretend for a moment that you have not paid silly money for the Davis Cup TV rights, then ask yourself how important is the Davis Cup in the world of modern tennis?
    We might think GB were brilliant to get to the final and maybe we were. But how is it that at the same time Belgium got there?
  • rcs1000
    rcs1000 Posts: 60,717
    SouthamObserver said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Looks like its 160 for right vs 155 for left

    Good results for PP and PSOE
    Podemos did OK
    Citizens' undershot expectations and - more so - seats

    New elections in February, I'd reckon

    It looks like PP's worst result since the 1980s; could be PSOE's worst since the late 70s.

    Yes, but compared to the Andorran polls, we saw the old parties outperform, and the new ones underperform. Citizens, in particular, had terrible vote-to-seat conversion.
  • SouthamObserver
    SouthamObserver Posts: 40,054
    Looks like PP may have put a slight squeeze on the Cs vote with warnings of letting in a Red alliance.
  • rcs1000
    rcs1000 Posts: 60,717
    SouthamObserver said:

    Practically speaking, Podemos is not one party.

    I was told that the Barcelona Podemos is quite pro-EU, while the Madrid one is vehemently anti.

    Is that right?
  • rcs1000
    rcs1000 Posts: 60,717
    SouthamObserver said:

    Looks like PP may have put a slight squeeze on the Cs vote with warnings of letting in a Red alliance.

    I think that's almost certainly right.
  • Tim_B
    Tim_B Posts: 7,669
    edited December 2015
    foxinsoxuk said:

    MarkHopkins said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    MikeL said:

    FrancisUrquhart said:

    MikeL said:

    Who did we actually beat in the Davis Cup?

    Federer and Wawrinka didn't play for Switzerland.

    We just beat a whole pile of no hopers in a competition nobody else could even be bothered with.

    No DJOKOVIC either.
    Indeed - it's a complete farce - illustrated by GB beating a Belgium team in the final with nobody who anyone had ever heard of.
    Stop dissing Belgium.

    I love Belgium, a nation invented to get up the nose of the French.

    What's not to love about the Belgians?

    "What's not to love about the Belgians? "

    Do you want the list alphabetically, or in order of importance?
    Their chocolate is quite passable, the beer too, and their landscape eminently suitable for pitched battles between warring great powers. Conveniently located and not too much of significance that can get significantly damaged.

    Also, and this is of major importance, their capital city lent its name to a sprout.
  • TheScreamingEagles
    TheScreamingEagles Posts: 122,806
    I would do a thread on the Spanish election, but I have no fucking idea about Spanish politics
  • Dair
    Dair Posts: 6,108
    My 8-1 tip on Andy Murray for SPOTY in September appears to have been successful.
  • MP_SE
    MP_SE Posts: 3,642
    How did Spanish eurosceptics do today?
  • flightpath01
    flightpath01 Posts: 4,903
    MikeL said:

    Sinfield would have been a good choice - would have been like when Giggs won - basically a "career award".

    Say Gerrard had been nominated - he would have had a good chance.

    It's a bit silly really because half the nominations went to people that 99% of the public wouldn't have even heard of - ie "worthy" people in "Olympic" sports that nobody cares about. Hence why they were all 1000 on Betfair.

    I would not give my vote or any award to any modern footballer. (Although I can foresee Vardy winning if circumstances conspire).
    Most leading modern footballers are overpaid prima donnas who get a bit upset and run home crying to their agent when someone tells them to pull their fingers out and actually do something to earn their salaries.
    If England were to win the 2017 RL World Cup (or even the 2016 4 nations then, now that Sinfield has broken the glass ceiling, I can see Burgess winning.
    Which Burgess I am not saying.
  • Dair
    Dair Posts: 6,108
    tyson said:

    GB tennis have just won the team event. But wasn't it only Andy Murray who won a match? Murray cannot win both and should be disqualified from the individual event.

    Pulpstar said:

    Pong said:

    Pulpstar said:

    Pong said:

    Interesting Murray is trading at 1/4

    Can be expected to win by a respectable margin if those odds are correct.

    I backed him £50 E/W at 5-1, then laid him off on Betfair at 4.44 ^^; Still he'll win me about £80
    Good luck!

    I laid a bit at 1/3 & some more @ 1/4 to top up my fury/ennis back bets.

    I expect to lose, but won't feel too bad so long as he doesn't win by a huge margin.

    If he barnstorms it, I'll give up punting on these type of bets!
    I just can't see why he is 1.3, the Davis cup isn't Wimbledon. But I have no idea truthfully.
    In the World Group First Round against the United States, they didn't play Murray against the Bryans, it required a point from James Ward.

    Of course that point was gained before the doubles. It is possible the Murray's could beat the Bryans, who are at the end of their career and Jamie Murray's doubles rating must be close to the Bryans (as each individuals double's rating) by now.

    So it wasn't 100% a win for Scotland but it could have been if needed and may well have been.
  • SouthamObserver
    SouthamObserver Posts: 40,054
    rcs1000 said:

    SouthamObserver said:

    Practically speaking, Podemos is not one party.

    I was told that the Barcelona Podemos is quite pro-EU, while the Madrid one is vehemently anti.

    Is that right?

    Pablo Iglesias - the national Podemos leader - has been massively critical of the EU and its institutions, but I don't think he's anti-EU per se. Barcelona en Comu is in alliance with Podemos, but is very much a product of the local situation.

  • rcs1000
    rcs1000 Posts: 60,717
    TheScreamingEagles said:

    I would do a thread on the Spanish election, but I have no fucking idea about Spanish politics

    There are three possible outcomes to the Spanish election:

    1. Minority PP government. PSOE and Cs decide to abstain on confidence vote. (35% likelihood)
    2. New elections in February. (40% likelihood)
    3. PSOE + P + Nationalists coalition. (10% likelihood)

    I don't believe there is any real chance of a PP/nationalist agreement.
  • Hertsmere_Pubgoer
    Hertsmere_Pubgoer Posts: 3,476
    TheScreamingEagles said:

    Danny565 said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    tlg86 said:

    If they used AV for SPOTY it would be much more exciting.

    Sadly the AV thread wasn't published today, you can all blame Pulpstar for sending me this time sensitive piece.

    New publication date is the 3rd of January
    Will it come before the Chilcot Report?
    I hope so.

    I've already written next Sunday's pieces.

    One of them is pure clickbait
    Are we going to ever see a return of night owls?
    I particularly enjoyed the links to obscure battles of 1800 years ago.
  • MikeL
    MikeL Posts: 7,809
    edited December 2015
    PP/C just gained 2 - now 162

    Small party just lost 1 - Democracia - whoever they are!
  • rcs1000
    rcs1000 Posts: 60,717
    MP_SE said:

    How did Spanish eurosceptics do today?

    Podemos is the nearest thing to a Eurosceptic party in Spain, but it's a bit complicated as the Barcelona Podemos En Comu Podem is pro-EU, while the national Podemos is more anti.

    Podemos - across its three separate party lists - got 18%.
  • Tim_B
    Tim_B Posts: 7,669
    TheScreamingEagles said:

    I would do a thread on the Spanish election, but I have no fucking idea about Spanish politics

    That's OK - in Franco's day neither did the Spanish.
  • TheScreamingEagles
    TheScreamingEagles Posts: 122,806
    Hertsmere_Pubgoer said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    Danny565 said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    tlg86 said:

    If they used AV for SPOTY it would be much more exciting.

    Sadly the AV thread wasn't published today, you can all blame Pulpstar for sending me this time sensitive piece.

    New publication date is the 3rd of January
    Will it come before the Chilcot Report?
    I hope so.

    I've already written next Sunday's pieces.

    One of them is pure clickbait
    Are we going to ever see a return of night owls?
    I particularly enjoyed the links to obscure battles of 1800 years ago.
    Nighthawks should return in the New Year

    It won't appear as regularly as in the past, but I'm hoping to do a couple a week.
  • rcs1000
    rcs1000 Posts: 60,717
    MikeL said:

    PP/C just gained 2 - now 162

    Small party just lost 1 - Democracia - whoever they are!

    AT 162 vs 153, it's almost certainly a PP minority government.
  • MikeL
    MikeL Posts: 7,809
    edited December 2015
    162-154.

    91.5% counted.
  • SouthamObserver
    SouthamObserver Posts: 40,054
    rcs1000 said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    I would do a thread on the Spanish election, but I have no fucking idea about Spanish politics

    There are three possible outcomes to the Spanish election:

    1. Minority PP government. PSOE and Cs decide to abstain on confidence vote. (35% likelihood)
    2. New elections in February. (40% likelihood)
    3. PSOE + P + Nationalists coalition. (10% likelihood)

    I don't believe there is any real chance of a PP/nationalist agreement.

    PNV could do some kind of deal with PP. In the old days CiU almost certainly would have done. But it's hard to see how the nationalist Catalan parties could find any way to deal with any of the national Spanish parties. It looks like the avowedly separatist Catalan parties have got well under 50% of the vote in catalonia today.

  • Hertsmere_Pubgoer
    Hertsmere_Pubgoer Posts: 3,476
    edited December 2015
    Slovenia votes down bringing in same sex marriages.
    http://www.reuters.com/article/us-slovenia-rights-idUSKBN0U30BS20151220
  • MikeL
    MikeL Posts: 7,809
    Compare the efficiency of this count to our GE!
  • MP_SE
    MP_SE Posts: 3,642
    rcs1000 said:

    MP_SE said:

    How did Spanish eurosceptics do today?

    Podemos is the nearest thing to a Eurosceptic party in Spain, but it's a bit complicated as the Barcelona Podemos En Comu Podem is pro-EU, while the national Podemos is more anti.

    Podemos - across its three separate party lists - got 18%.
    Thanks.
  • Pong
    Pong Posts: 4,693
    edited December 2015
    Meh.

    Andy Murray 361,446
    Kevin Sinfield 278,353
    Jessica Ennis-Hill 79,898
    Tyson Fury 72,330
    Lewis Hamilton 48,379
    Chris Froome 39,007
    Mo Farah 31,311
    Max Whitlock 25,925
    Greg Rutherford 23,492
    Lizzie Armitstead 22,356
    Adam Peaty 13,738
    Lucy Bronze 13,236

    The market overestimated Ennis but otherwise was pretty much on the money.
  • rcs1000
    rcs1000 Posts: 60,717
    MikeL said:

    Compare the efficiency of this count to our GE!

    Too true
  • TheScreamingEagles
    TheScreamingEagles Posts: 122,806
    Pong said:

    Meh.

    Andy Murray 361,446
    Kevin Sinfield 278,353
    Jessica Ennis-Hill 79,898
    Tyson Fury 72,330
    Lewis Hamilton 48,379
    Chris Froome 39,007
    Mo Farah 31,311
    Max Whitlock 25,925
    Greg Rutherford 23,492
    Lizzie Armitstead 22,356
    Adam Peaty 13,738
    Lucy Bronze 13,236

    The market overestimated Ennis but otherwise was pretty much on the money.

    Under AV, Yorkshire would have won.
  • MikeL
    MikeL Posts: 7,809
    Pong said:

    Meh.

    Andy Murray 361,446
    Kevin Sinfield 278,353
    Jessica Ennis-Hill 79,898
    Tyson Fury 72,330
    Lewis Hamilton 48,379
    Chris Froome 39,007
    Mo Farah 31,311
    Max Whitlock 25,925
    Greg Rutherford 23,492
    Lizzie Armitstead 22,356
    Adam Peaty 13,738
    Lucy Bronze 13,236

    Which confirms nobody cares less about the Olympic sports.

    Ennis-Hill surprisingly low and Sinfield polled very well indeed.

    I would happily bet that Gerrard would have been in the top 3 if nominated.
  • RobD
    RobD Posts: 60,608
    MikeL said:

    Compare the efficiency of this count to our GE!

    No paper ballots sure speeds things up, although with electronic voting there would no election night spectacle, the votes would be immediately tallied, and the results announced at 10:01 pm. Very boring.
  • MarkHopkins
    MarkHopkins Posts: 5,584
    TheScreamingEagles said:

    Pong said:

    Meh.

    Andy Murray 361,446
    Kevin Sinfield 278,353
    Jessica Ennis-Hill 79,898
    Tyson Fury 72,330
    Lewis Hamilton 48,379
    Chris Froome 39,007
    Mo Farah 31,311
    Max Whitlock 25,925
    Greg Rutherford 23,492
    Lizzie Armitstead 22,356
    Adam Peaty 13,738
    Lucy Bronze 13,236

    The market overestimated Ennis but otherwise was pretty much on the money.

    Under AV, Yorkshire would have won.

    Under AV, Yorkshire would have been least hated.
  • TheScreamingEagles
    TheScreamingEagles Posts: 122,806
    RobD said:

    MikeL said:

    Compare the efficiency of this count to our GE!

    No paper ballots sure speeds things up, although with electronic voting there would no election night spectacle, the votes would be immediately tallied, and the results announced at 10:01 pm. Very boring.
    Indeed, that couple of hours between the exit poll being released and the Swindon South result were great.
  • flightpath01
    flightpath01 Posts: 4,903
    edited December 2015
    Tim_B said:

    foxinsoxuk said:

    MarkHopkins said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    MikeL said:

    FrancisUrquhart said:

    MikeL said:

    Who did we actually beat in the Davis Cup?

    Federer and Wawrinka didn't play for Switzerland.

    We just beat a whole pile of no hopers in a competition nobody else could even be bothered with.

    No DJOKOVIC either.
    Indeed - it's a complete farce - illustrated by GB beating a Belgium team in the final with nobody who anyone had ever heard of.
    Stop dissing Belgium.

    I love Belgium, a nation invented to get up the nose of the French.

    What's not to love about the Belgians?

    "What's not to love about the Belgians? "

    Do you want the list alphabetically, or in order of importance?
    Their chocolate is quite passable, the beer too, and their landscape eminently suitable for pitched battles between warring great powers. Conveniently located and not too much of significance that can get significantly damaged.

    Also, and this is of major importance, their capital city lent its name to a sprout.
    Don't forget the lace, there is always the lace.
    Yes but apart from the battlefields and the chocolates and the beer what have...
    The Menin Gate!
    Of course the Menin Gate, thats a given. But... apart from the chocolates and the battlefields and the beer and lace and the Menin...
    Eddie Merckx!
    Er...
    Yes and Audrey Hepburn...
    Well of course there's Audrey Hepburn, but apart from...
    Potato Chips!
    Eh?
    They invented potato chips.
    All right then, but... apart from Sprouts and the chocolates and the battlefields and the beer and the lace and the Menin Gate and Eddie Mercks and Audrey Hepburn and potato chips...! What have the Belgians ever done for us!
  • Scott_P
    Scott_P Posts: 51,453
    @Jake_Wilde: How many times do I have to re-read this story?

    Labour MPs want to oust Corbyn and make Alan Johnson new leader https://t.co/WmCqf328Di
  • SouthamObserver
    SouthamObserver Posts: 40,054
    Looks like the pro-independence parties got less than 35% of the vote in Catalonia.
  • Pong
    Pong Posts: 4,693
    edited December 2015
    MikeL said:

    Pong said:

    Meh.

    Andy Murray 361,446
    Kevin Sinfield 278,353
    Jessica Ennis-Hill 79,898
    Tyson Fury 72,330
    Lewis Hamilton 48,379
    Chris Froome 39,007
    Mo Farah 31,311
    Max Whitlock 25,925
    Greg Rutherford 23,492
    Lizzie Armitstead 22,356
    Adam Peaty 13,738
    Lucy Bronze 13,236

    Which confirms nobody cares less about the Olympic sports.

    Ennis-Hill surprisingly low and Sinfield polled very well indeed.

    I would happily bet that Gerrard would have been in the top 3 if nominated.
    Yeah.

    Dunno what the odds on Sinfield top 2 / top 3 were, but that was probably the value bet all along.
  • Dair
    Dair Posts: 6,108
    Pong said:

    Meh.

    Andy Murray 361,446
    Kevin Sinfield 278,353
    Jessica Ennis-Hill 79,898
    Tyson Fury 72,330
    Lewis Hamilton 48,379
    Chris Froome 39,007
    Mo Farah 31,311
    Max Whitlock 25,925
    Greg Rutherford 23,492
    Lizzie Armitstead 22,356
    Adam Peaty 13,738
    Lucy Bronze 13,236

    The market overestimated Ennis but otherwise was pretty much on the money.

    This tallies with what I said in September about Ennis having no real chance. The market hugely overpriced her.
  • SouthamObserver
    SouthamObserver Posts: 40,054
    PP lost over 4 million votes today, PSOE close to 2 million.
  • Tim_B
    Tim_B Posts: 7,669
    flightpath01 said:

    Tim_B said:

    foxinsoxuk said:

    MarkHopkins said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    MikeL said:

    FrancisUrquhart said:

    MikeL said:

    Who did we actually beat in the Davis Cup?

    Federer and Wawrinka didn't play for Switzerland.

    We just beat a whole pile of no hopers in a competition nobody else could even be bothered with.

    No DJOKOVIC either.
    Indeed - it's a complete farce - illustrated by GB beating a Belgium team in the final with nobody who anyone had ever heard of.
    Stop dissing Belgium.

    I love Belgium, a nation invented to get up the nose of the French.

    What's not to love about the Belgians?

    "What's not to love about the Belgians? "

    Do you want the list alphabetically, or in order of importance?
    Their chocolate is quite passable, the beer too, and their landscape eminently suitable for pitched battles between warring great powers. Conveniently located and not too much of significance that can get significantly damaged.

    Also, and this is of major importance, their capital city lent its name to a sprout.
    Don't forget the lace, there is always the lace.
    Yes but apart from the battlefields and the chocolates and the beer what have...
    The Menin Gate!
    Of course the Menin Gate, thats a given. But... apart from the chocolates and the battlefields and the beer and lace and the Menin...
    Eddie Merckx!
    Er...
    Yes and Audrey Hepburn...
    Well of course there's Audrey Hepburn, but apart from...
    Potato Chips!
    Eh?
    They invented potato chips.
    All right then, but... apart from Sprouts and the chocolates and the battlefields and the beer and the lace and the Menin Gate and Eddie Mercks and Audrey Hepburn and potato chips...! What have the Belgians ever done for us!
    provide a haven for ISIS terrorists?
  • Hertsmere_Pubgoer
    Hertsmere_Pubgoer Posts: 3,476
    flightpath01 said:

    Tim_B said:

    foxinsoxuk said:

    MarkHopkins said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    MikeL said:

    FrancisUrquhart said:

    MikeL said:

    Who did we actually beat in the Davis Cup?

    Federer and Wawrinka didn't play for Switzerland.

    We just beat a whole pile of no hopers in a competition nobody else could even be bothered with.

    No DJOKOVIC either.
    Indeed - it's a complete farce - illustrated by GB beating a Belgium team in the final with nobody who anyone had ever heard of.
    Stop dissing Belgium.

    I love Belgium, a nation invented to get up the nose of the French.

    What's not to love about the Belgians?

    "What's not to love about the Belgians? "

    Do you want the list alphabetically, or in order of importance?
    Their chocolate is quite passable, the beer too, and their landscape eminently suitable for pitched battles between warring great powers. Conveniently located and not too much of significance that can get significantly damaged.

    Also, and this is of major importance, their capital city lent its name to a sprout.
    Don't forget the lace, there is always the lace.
    Yes but apart from the battlefields and the chocolates and the beer what have...
    The Menin Gate!
    Of course the Menin Gate, thats a given. But... apart from the chocolates and the battlefields and the beer and lace and the Menin...
    Eddie Merckx!
    Er...
    Yes and Audrey Hepburn...
    Well of course there's Audrey Hepburn, but apart from...
    Potato Chips!
    Eh?
    They invented potato chips.
    All right then, but... apart from Sprouts and the chocolates and the battlefields and the beer and the lace and the Menin Gate and Eddie Mercks and Audrey Hepburn and potato chips...! What have the Belgians ever done for us!
    Tom Boonen
  • welshowl
    welshowl Posts: 4,464
    flightpath01 said:

    Tim_B said:

    foxinsoxuk said:

    MarkHopkins said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    MikeL said:

    FrancisUrquhart said:

    MikeL said:

    Who did we actually beat in the Davis Cup?

    Federer and Wawrinka didn't play for Switzerland.

    We just beat a whole pile of no hopers in a competition nobody else could even be bothered with.

    No DJOKOVIC either.
    Indeed - it's a complete farce - illustrated by GB beating a Belgium team in the final with nobody who anyone had ever heard of.
    Stop dissing Belgium.

    I love Belgium, a nation invented to get up the nose of the French.

    What's not to love about the Belgians?

    "What's not to love about the Belgians? "

    Do you want the list alphabetically, or in order of importance?
    Their chocolate is quite passable, the beer too, and their landscape eminently suitable for pitched battles between warring great powers. Conveniently located and not too much of significance that can get significantly damaged.

    Also, and this is of major importance, their capital city lent its name to a sprout.
    Don't forget the lace, there is always the lace.
    Yes but apart from the battlefields and the chocolates and the beer what have...
    The Menin Gate!
    Of course the Menin Gate, thats a given. But... apart from the chocolates and the battlefields and the beer and lace and the Menin...
    Eddie Merckx!
    Er...
    Yes and Audrey Hepburn...
    Well of course there's Audrey Hepburn, but apart from...
    Potato Chips!
    Eh?
    They invented potato chips.
    All right then, but... apart from Sprouts and the chocolates and the battlefields and the beer and the lace and the Menin Gate and Eddie Mercks and Audrey Hepburn and potato chips...! What have the Belgians ever done for us!
    Stop waffling on.

    Gets coat
  • flightpath01
    flightpath01 Posts: 4,903
    Scott_P said:

    @Jake_Wilde: How many times do I have to re-read this story?

    Labour MPs want to oust Corbyn and make Alan Johnson new leader https://t.co/WmCqf328Di

    Lets face it he tells better jokes
  • flightpath01
    flightpath01 Posts: 4,903
    welshowl said:

    flightpath01 said:

    Tim_B said:

    foxinsoxuk said:

    MarkHopkins said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    MikeL said:

    FrancisUrquhart said:

    MikeL said:

    Who did we actually beat in the Davis Cup?

    Federer and Wawrinka didn't play for Switzerland.

    We just beat a whole pile of no hopers in a competition nobody else could even be bothered with.

    No DJOKOVIC either.
    Indeed - it's a complete farce - illustrated by GB beating a Belgium team in the final with nobody who anyone had ever heard of.
    Stop dissing Belgium.

    I love Belgium, a nation invented to get up the nose of the French.

    What's not to love about the Belgians?

    "What's not to love about the Belgians? "

    Do you want the list alphabetically, or in order of importance?
    Their chocolate is quite passable, the beer too, and their landscape eminently suitable for pitched battles between warring great powers. Conveniently located and not too much of significance that can get significantly damaged.

    Also, and this is of major importance, their capital city lent its name to a sprout.
    Don't forget the lace, there is always the lace.
    Yes but apart from the battlefields and the chocolates and the beer what have...
    The Menin Gate!
    Of course the Menin Gate, thats a given. But... apart from the chocolates and the battlefields and the beer and lace and the Menin...
    Eddie Merckx!
    Er...
    Yes and Audrey Hepburn...
    Well of course there's Audrey Hepburn, but apart from...
    Potato Chips!
    Eh?
    They invented potato chips.
    All right then, but... apart from Sprouts and the chocolates and the battlefields and the beer and the lace and the Menin Gate and Eddie Mercks and Audrey Hepburn and potato chips...! What have the Belgians ever done for us!
    Stop waffling on.

    Gets coat
    :-)
  • Scott_P
    Scott_P Posts: 51,453
    @PolhomeEditor: BREAKING: Jeremy Corbyn has opened the door to @georgegalloway re-joining Labour https://t.co/TRMxWY4OJL https://t.co/PEwTsm6nb3
  • SouthamObserver
    SouthamObserver Posts: 40,054
    Ciudadanos has just said that its MPs will not vote for either Rajoy (PP) or Sanchez (PSOE) to be new PM.
  • SquareRoot
    SquareRoot Posts: 7,095
    less than a million votes all told for SPOTY.. I wonder how many votes were cast for Strictly in the final? I thought either the blonde girl or the little girl from Corrie should have won, Her indoors and I were very surprised at the Strictly result.
  • RobD
    RobD Posts: 60,608
    TheScreamingEagles said:

    RobD said:

    MikeL said:

    Compare the efficiency of this count to our GE!

    No paper ballots sure speeds things up, although with electronic voting there would no election night spectacle, the votes would be immediately tallied, and the results announced at 10:01 pm. Very boring.
    Indeed, that couple of hours between the exit poll being released and the Swindon South result were great.
    I'm sitting in Swindon South right now :D
  • kle4
    kle4 Posts: 99,113
    Scott_P said:

    @Jake_Wilde: How many times do I have to re-read this story?

    Labour MPs want to oust Corbyn and make Alan Johnson new leader https://t.co/WmCqf328Di

    Honestly, surely Corbyn has to be a better leader than Johnson - he at least had the guts to stand. I understand the idea sometimes those who don't want to lead may be best at it, but I don't think it's true, you need to be tough enough to win the position and then stay there, and while I'm sure Johnson is plenty tough, he's obviously never wanted the position enough to go for it, and lacking that ambition is he best placed to make Labour the best it can be?

    Although this quote from the other story is more concerning:

    Mr Corbyn also said that Labour's pro-Trident policy could be changed by an email poll of party members, in the same way that he gauged opinion before the Commons vote on bombing Syria.

    That type of electronic canvassing or voting only seems even vaguely plausible in ideal circumstances, and that previous canvass was riddled with flaws as I understand it.

    https://www.politicshome.com/party-politics/articles/story/george-galloway-could-rejoin-labour-hints-jeremy-corbyn#sthash.vCqzQgW6.dpuf
    SouthamObserver said:

    Ciudadanos has just said that its MPs will not vote for either Rajoy (PP) or Sanchez (PSOE) to be new PM.

    Saves having to make some tough decisions, makes sense.
  • flightpath01
    flightpath01 Posts: 4,903
    Dair said:

    Pong said:

    Meh.

    Andy Murray 361,446
    Kevin Sinfield 278,353
    Jessica Ennis-Hill 79,898
    Tyson Fury 72,330
    Lewis Hamilton 48,379
    Chris Froome 39,007
    Mo Farah 31,311
    Max Whitlock 25,925
    Greg Rutherford 23,492
    Lizzie Armitstead 22,356
    Adam Peaty 13,738
    Lucy Bronze 13,236

    The market overestimated Ennis but otherwise was pretty much on the money.

    This tallies with what I said in September about Ennis having no real chance. The market hugely overpriced her.
    If the BBC had the regular superleague season (and not SKY) as well as the Challenge Cup and internationals (although Sinfeld had retired) then Sinfield would have probably won!
    O'Loughlin's try in the first test against NZ was worth an award in anyones book.

    The BBC have little top live sport and given the pathetic performance of local rugby union and the pointlessness of professional footballers (and the collapse of Hamilton after winning his title) then the big difference in votes between 2nd and the rest is not surprising. (Athletics is far too tied up with chemistry anyway) They have never been heard of by the voting public.

    Plus Clare Balding has gone on record as wishing for Sinfield as the son she never had...
  • flightpath01
    flightpath01 Posts: 4,903
    TheScreamingEagles said:

    Pong said:

    Meh.

    Andy Murray 361,446
    Kevin Sinfield 278,353
    Jessica Ennis-Hill 79,898
    Tyson Fury 72,330
    Lewis Hamilton 48,379
    Chris Froome 39,007
    Mo Farah 31,311
    Max Whitlock 25,925
    Greg Rutherford 23,492
    Lizzie Armitstead 22,356
    Adam Peaty 13,738
    Lucy Bronze 13,236

    The market overestimated Ennis but otherwise was pretty much on the money.

    Under AV, Yorkshire would have won.
    They still might if England RL win their world cup!
  • MikeL
    MikeL Posts: 7,809
    PSOE just took one from PP.
  • Tom
    Tom Posts: 273
    SouthamObserver said:

    rcs1000 said:

    SouthamObserver said:

    Practically speaking, Podemos is not one party.

    I was told that the Barcelona Podemos is quite pro-EU, while the Madrid one is vehemently anti.

    Is that right?

    Pablo Iglesias - the national Podemos leader - has been massively critical of the EU and its institutions, but I don't think he's anti-EU per se. Barcelona en Comu is in alliance with Podemos, but is very much a product of the local situation.

    Podemos significantly softened their debt default/bank nationalisation positions which they had as their platform in the eu elections after seeing what happened to Syriza. They were never explicitly for eu withdrawal but that was the logic of their positions. They are now much more mainstream anti austerity but not anti eu left. I waded through their manifesto last week and parts are interesting but it is undeliverable. Their main objective at present is holding their movement together and replacing psoe as the party of the left. Having an agnostic potion on independence but open position on referenda seems to have worked for them in both catalunya and pais vasco which could be a positive thing for Spain.
  • TheScreamingEagles
    TheScreamingEagles Posts: 122,806
    RobD said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    RobD said:

    MikeL said:

    Compare the efficiency of this count to our GE!

    No paper ballots sure speeds things up, although with electronic voting there would no election night spectacle, the votes would be immediately tallied, and the results announced at 10:01 pm. Very boring.
    Indeed, that couple of hours between the exit poll being released and the Swindon South result were great.
    I'm sitting in Swindon South right now :D
    You should do a marginals tour.

    Next stop Nuneaton, then Warwickshire North, then Twickenham, then Rochester and Strood and the cherry on the parfait, Morley and Outwood
  • Dair
    Dair Posts: 6,108
    edited December 2015
    Hertsmere_Pubgoer said:

    flightpath01 said:


    Don't forget the lace, there is always the lace.
    Yes but apart from the battlefields and the chocolates and the beer what have...
    The Menin Gate!
    Of course the Menin Gate, thats a given. But... apart from the chocolates and the battlefields and the beer and lace and the Menin...
    Eddie Merckx!
    Er...
    Yes and Audrey Hepburn...
    Well of course there's Audrey Hepburn, but apart from...
    Potato Chips!
    Eh?
    They invented potato chips.
    All right then, but... apart from Sprouts and the chocolates and the battlefields and the beer and the lace and the Menin Gate and Eddie Mercks and Audrey Hepburn and potato chips...! What have the Belgians ever done for us!

    Tom Boonen
    Tom Boonen can't climb a speed bump. He doen't count.
  • flightpath01
    flightpath01 Posts: 4,903
    Scott_P said:

    @PolhomeEditor: BREAKING: Jeremy Corbyn has opened the door to @georgegalloway re-joining Labour https://t.co/TRMxWY4OJL https://t.co/PEwTsm6nb3

    Lets hope so.
  • Tim_B
    Tim_B Posts: 7,669
    RobD said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    RobD said:

    MikeL said:

    Compare the efficiency of this count to our GE!

    No paper ballots sure speeds things up, although with electronic voting there would no election night spectacle, the votes would be immediately tallied, and the results announced at 10:01 pm. Very boring.
    Indeed, that couple of hours between the exit poll being released and the Swindon South result were great.
    I'm sitting in Swindon South right now :D
    Car broken down and you're waiting for the AA? :D
  • BigRich
    BigRich Posts: 3,492
    Watching the Spanish results come in, and realising a lot will tern on what the small party do, while most are regional nationalist and/or very left wing, but can anybody tell me what this party is for: DEMOCRÀCIA I LLIBERTAT. CONVERGÈNCIA. DEMÒCRATES. REAGRUPAMENT

    With 8 seats, they could make a difference.
  • Hertsmere_Pubgoer
    Hertsmere_Pubgoer Posts: 3,476
    Dair said:

    Hertsmere_Pubgoer said:

    flightpath01 said:


    Don't forget the lace, there is always the lace.
    Yes but apart from the battlefields and the chocolates and the beer what have...
    The Menin Gate!
    Of course the Menin Gate, thats a given. But... apart from the chocolates and the battlefields and the beer and lace and the Menin...
    Eddie Merckx!
    Er...
    Yes and Audrey Hepburn...
    Well of course there's Audrey Hepburn, but apart from...
    Potato Chips!
    Eh?
    They invented potato chips.
    All right then, but... apart from Sprouts and the chocolates and the battlefields and the beer and the lace and the Menin Gate and Eddie Mercks and Audrey Hepburn and potato chips...! What have the Belgians ever done for us!

    Tom Boonen
    Tom Boonen can't climb a speed bump. He doen't count.
    There's plenty of uphill bits in the classics. He's done alright in those.
  • Scott_P
    Scott_P Posts: 51,453
    TheScreamingEagles said:

    You should do a marginals tour.

    Next stop Nuneaton, then Warwickshire North, then Twickenham, then Rochester and Strood and the cherry on the parfait, Morley and Outwood

    Did you see University Challenge tonight?

    One of the picture rounds was constituencies with big name losers...
  • RobD
    RobD Posts: 60,608
    Tim_B said:

    RobD said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    RobD said:

    MikeL said:

    Compare the efficiency of this count to our GE!

    No paper ballots sure speeds things up, although with electronic voting there would no election night spectacle, the votes would be immediately tallied, and the results announced at 10:01 pm. Very boring.
    Indeed, that couple of hours between the exit poll being released and the Swindon South result were great.
    I'm sitting in Swindon South right now :D
    Car broken down and you're waiting for the AA? :D
    Stuck on the magic roundabout ;)
  • kle4
    kle4 Posts: 99,113
    edited December 2015
    RobD said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    RobD said:

    MikeL said:

    Compare the efficiency of this count to our GE!

    No paper ballots sure speeds things up, although with electronic voting there would no election night spectacle, the votes would be immediately tallied, and the results announced at 10:01 pm. Very boring.
    Indeed, that couple of hours between the exit poll being released and the Swindon South result were great.
    I'm sitting in Swindon South right now :D
    For your sake I hope only temporarily.

    Too easy.
  • RobD
    RobD Posts: 60,608
    kle4 said:

    RobD said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    RobD said:

    MikeL said:

    Compare the efficiency of this count to our GE!

    No paper ballots sure speeds things up, although with electronic voting there would no election night spectacle, the votes would be immediately tallied, and the results announced at 10:01 pm. Very boring.
    Indeed, that couple of hours between the exit poll being released and the Swindon South result were great.
    I'm sitting in Swindon South right now :D
    For your sake I hope only temporarily.

    Too easy.
    Well, we all die at some point.... :p
  • flightpath01
    flightpath01 Posts: 4,903
    Hertsmere_Pubgoer said:

    Dair said:

    Hertsmere_Pubgoer said:

    flightpath01 said:


    Don't forget the lace, there is always the lace.
    Yes but apart from the battlefields and the chocolates and the beer what have...
    The Menin Gate!
    Of course the Menin Gate, thats a given. But... apart from the chocolates and the battlefields and the beer and lace and the Menin...
    Eddie Merckx!
    Er...
    Yes and Audrey Hepburn...
    Well of course there's Audrey Hepburn, but apart from...
    Potato Chips!
    Eh?
    They invented potato chips.
    All right then, but... apart from Sprouts and the chocolates and the battlefields and the beer and the lace and the Menin Gate and Eddie Mercks and Audrey Hepburn and potato chips...! What have the Belgians ever done for us!

    Tom Boonen
    Tom Boonen can't climb a speed bump. He doen't count.
    There's plenty of uphill bits in the classics. He's done alright in those.
    I'm afraid the best bit of toilet graffiti I have ever seen (not least for its dedication and earnestness) was 'Eddie Mercks is God!'
    Boonen cannot compete with that.
  • Scott_P
    Scott_P Posts: 51,453
    Tim_B said:

    Car broken down and you're waiting for the AA? :D

    Hey Tim, talking of break downs, I see the most expensive team in the World failed to make is past Christmas.

    Again.

    What are you going to do with the spare time now you don't need to watch the post season?

    Again.
  • Scott_P
    Scott_P Posts: 51,453
    @jfalbertos: PP+Cs=162. PSOE+Podemos+IU=162.
  • FrancisUrquhart
    FrancisUrquhart Posts: 85,724
    edited December 2015
    flightpath01 said:

    Scott_P said:

    @PolhomeEditor: BREAKING: Jeremy Corbyn has opened the door to @georgegalloway re-joining Labour https://t.co/TRMxWY4OJL https://t.co/PEwTsm6nb3

    Lets hope so.
    Corbyn, Livingston, Galloway...well journos won't be sort of plenty of copy for the next 4 years.
  • Tom
    Tom Posts: 273
    BigRich said:

    Watching the Spanish results come in, and realising a lot will tern on what the small party do, while most are regional nationalist and/or very left wing, but can anybody tell me what this party is for: DEMOCRÀCIA I LLIBERTAT. CONVERGÈNCIA. DEMÒCRATES. REAGRUPAMENT

    With 8 seats, they could make a difference.

    Conservative Catalan nationalists. Their previous party (CiU) split over the referendum issue. I think they have had a plurality in catalunya in national elections every time before this but have been overtaken by podemos and the left. They have done deals with PP in the past in return for more pork for catalunya, but such an approach would probably be fatal this time.
  • MikeL
    MikeL Posts: 7,809
    edited December 2015
    PP takes the seat back from PSOE!
  • MikeL
    MikeL Posts: 7,809
    162-154.

    97.65% counted.
  • Hertsmere_Pubgoer
    Hertsmere_Pubgoer Posts: 3,476
    flightpath01 said:

    Hertsmere_Pubgoer said:

    Dair said:

    Hertsmere_Pubgoer said:

    flightpath01 said:


    Don't forget the lace, there is always the lace.
    Yes but apart from the battlefields and the chocolates and the beer what have...
    The Menin Gate!
    Of course the Menin Gate, thats a given. But... apart from the chocolates and the battlefields and the beer and lace and the Menin...
    Eddie Merckx!
    Er...
    Yes and Audrey Hepburn...
    Well of course there's Audrey Hepburn, but apart from...
    Potato Chips!
    Eh?
    They invented potato chips.
    All right then, but... apart from Sprouts and the chocolates and the battlefields and the beer and the lace and the Menin Gate and Eddie Mercks and Audrey Hepburn and potato chips...! What have the Belgians ever done for us!

    Tom Boonen
    Tom Boonen can't climb a speed bump. He doen't count.
    There's plenty of uphill bits in the classics. He's done alright in those.
    I'm afraid the best bit of toilet graffiti I have ever seen (not least for its dedication and earnestness) was 'Eddie Mercks is God!'
    Boonen cannot compete with that.
    I didn't say he could.
    Your list was about what Belgians have achieved.
    Tom Boonen is certainly a worthy addition to that list.
  • Scott_P
    Scott_P Posts: 51,453
    @stephenkb: More significant than going wobbly on Galloway: Corbyn U-Turns on deselecting MPs: https://t.co/SG2hJzN4yV https://t.co/0JHNcRrCgP
  • Tim_B
    Tim_B Posts: 7,669
    Scott_P said:

    Tim_B said:

    Car broken down and you're waiting for the AA? :D

    Hey Tim, talking of break downs, I see the most expensive team in the World failed to make is past Christmas.

    Again.

    What are you going to do with the spare time now you don't need to watch the post season?

    Again.
    As you know, I am not a fan.
  • flightpath01
    flightpath01 Posts: 4,903
    Hertsmere_Pubgoer said:

    flightpath01 said:

    Hertsmere_Pubgoer said:

    Dair said:

    Hertsmere_Pubgoer said:

    flightpath01 said:


    Don't forget the lace, there is always the lace.
    Yes but apart from the battlefields and the chocolates and the beer what have...
    The Menin Gate!
    Of course the Menin Gate, thats a given. But... apart from the chocolates and the battlefields and the beer and lace and the Menin...
    Eddie Merckx!
    Er...
    Yes and Audrey Hepburn...
    Well of course there's Audrey Hepburn, but apart from...
    Potato Chips!
    Eh?
    They invented potato chips.
    All right then, but... apart from Sprouts and the chocolates and the battlefields and the beer and the lace and the Menin Gate and Eddie Mercks and Audrey Hepburn and potato chips...! What have the Belgians ever done for us!

    Tom Boonen
    Tom Boonen can't climb a speed bump. He doen't count.
    There's plenty of uphill bits in the classics. He's done alright in those.
    I'm afraid the best bit of toilet graffiti I have ever seen (not least for its dedication and earnestness) was 'Eddie Mercks is God!'
    Boonen cannot compete with that.
    I didn't say he could.
    Your list was about what Belgians have achieved.
    Tom Boonen is certainly a worthy addition to that list.
    Am I being taken too seriously? There was I thinking that if I could perfect my soft shoe shuffle I could overtake Alan Johnson in the betting for next labour leader.

    I am still annoyed I forgot the waffles.
  • BigRich
    BigRich Posts: 3,492
    Tom said:

    BigRich said:

    Watching the Spanish results come in, and realising a lot will tern on what the small party do, while most are regional nationalist and/or very left wing, but can anybody tell me what this party is for: DEMOCRÀCIA I LLIBERTAT. CONVERGÈNCIA. DEMÒCRATES. REAGRUPAMENT

    With 8 seats, they could make a difference.

    Conservative Catalan nationalists. Their previous party (CiU) split over the referendum issue. I think they have had a plurality in catalunya in national elections every time before this but have been overtaken by podemos and the left. They have done deals with PP in the past in return for more pork for catalunya, but such an approach would probably be fatal this time.
    Thanks Tom,

  • rcs1000
    rcs1000 Posts: 60,717
    MikeL said:

    PSOE just took one from PP.

    And they've just lost it back again!
  • Dair
    Dair Posts: 6,108
    flightpath01 said:

    Dair said:

    Pong said:

    Meh.

    Andy Murray 361,446
    Kevin Sinfield 278,353
    Jessica Ennis-Hill 79,898
    Tyson Fury 72,330
    Lewis Hamilton 48,379
    Chris Froome 39,007
    Mo Farah 31,311
    Max Whitlock 25,925
    Greg Rutherford 23,492
    Lizzie Armitstead 22,356
    Adam Peaty 13,738
    Lucy Bronze 13,236

    The market overestimated Ennis but otherwise was pretty much on the money.

    This tallies with what I said in September about Ennis having no real chance. The market hugely overpriced her.
    If the BBC had the regular superleague season (and not SKY) as well as the Challenge Cup and internationals (although Sinfeld had retired) then Sinfield would have probably won!
    O'Loughlin's try in the first test against NZ was worth an award in anyones book.

    The BBC have little top live sport and given the pathetic performance of local rugby union and the pointlessness of professional footballers (and the collapse of Hamilton after winning his title) then the big difference in votes between 2nd and the rest is not surprising. (Athletics is far too tied up with chemistry anyway) They have never been heard of by the voting public.

    Plus Clare Balding has gone on record as wishing for Sinfield as the son she never had...
    You don't have to persuade me as to the merits of League, it is by far the better sport compared to all it's comparative versions. But it is still a tiny, minority sport played in three countries (and that is being VERY generous with how much New Zealand is an RL country).

    I wish, truly, it were otherwise. But it isn't.

    League was on the BBC for decades and failed to grow. It's not really grown much since Superleague but it's probably benefited to some degree both from the additional money and from a slightly wider profile that the BBC never gave it but Sky have.
  • rcs1000
    rcs1000 Posts: 60,717
    Tom said:

    BigRich said:

    Watching the Spanish results come in, and realising a lot will tern on what the small party do, while most are regional nationalist and/or very left wing, but can anybody tell me what this party is for: DEMOCRÀCIA I LLIBERTAT. CONVERGÈNCIA. DEMÒCRATES. REAGRUPAMENT

    With 8 seats, they could make a difference.

    Conservative Catalan nationalists. Their previous party (CiU) split over the referendum issue. I think they have had a plurality in catalunya in national elections every time before this but have been overtaken by podemos and the left. They have done deals with PP in the past in return for more pork for catalunya, but such an approach would probably be fatal this time.
    I'm not sure; remember, 55% of Catalans - give or take - are opposed to independence. I think they could do a deal with the PP, but it would require a lot of pork.
  • SouthamObserver
    SouthamObserver Posts: 40,054
    Tom said:

    BigRich said:

    Watching the Spanish results come in, and realising a lot will tern on what the small party do, while most are regional nationalist and/or very left wing, but can anybody tell me what this party is for: DEMOCRÀCIA I LLIBERTAT. CONVERGÈNCIA. DEMÒCRATES. REAGRUPAMENT

    With 8 seats, they could make a difference.

    Conservative Catalan nationalists. Their previous party (CiU) split over the referendum issue. I think they have had a plurality in catalunya in national elections every time before this but have been overtaken by podemos and the left. They have done deals with PP in the past in return for more pork for catalunya, but such an approach would probably be fatal this time.

    Socialists have usually won most votes in Catalonia in Spanish GEs. CiU usually won the regional elections.

  • rcs1000
    rcs1000 Posts: 60,717
    edited December 2015
    MikeL said:

    PP takes the seat back from PSOE!

    Ah, you beat me to it.

    There are clearly some seats that are absolutely on a knife edge. I think Citizen's are going to come up about 80 votes short of taking another seat in Barcelona too...
  • FrancisUrquhart
    FrancisUrquhart Posts: 85,724
    https://twitter.com/suttonnick/status/678704630386319360
  • Danny565
    Danny565 Posts: 8,091
    FrancisUrquhart said:

    https://twitter.com/suttonnick/status/678704630386319360

    Welp, not "Balls breaker"
  • flightpath01
    flightpath01 Posts: 4,903
    FrancisUrquhart said:

    twitter.com/suttonnick/status/678704630386319360

    One wonders what the Suns headline would be over Sean Woodwards marriage break up
  • FrancisUrquhart
    FrancisUrquhart Posts: 85,724
    edited December 2015
    https://twitter.com/suttonnick/status/678703537333788672

    Guardian want to turn this into Hunt bashing...Hunt has plenty of stuff you can throw at him, this is not one of them. This is something that has been running for a long long time and it is a "cultural" problem throughout the NHS. Norman Lamb commissioned work on this and found the NHS were a disgrace as an organisation on this issue and tried to bury it.

    It has only come to light, because of the last and current government wanting to shine a light on this issue. We will hear a huge amount more about this issue over the next few years and it will make for some awful reading.
  • Tim_B
    Tim_B Posts: 7,669
    Dair said:

    flightpath01 said:

    Dair said:

    Pong said:

    Meh.

    Andy Murray 361,446
    Kevin Sinfield 278,353
    Jessica Ennis-Hill 79,898
    Tyson Fury 72,330
    Lewis Hamilton 48,379
    Chris Froome 39,007
    Mo Farah 31,311
    Max Whitlock 25,925
    Greg Rutherford 23,492
    Lizzie Armitstead 22,356
    Adam Peaty 13,738
    Lucy Bronze 13,236

    The market overestimated Ennis but otherwise was pretty much on the money.

    This tallies with what I said in September about Ennis having no real chance. The market hugely overpriced her.
    If the BBC had the regular superleague season (and not SKY) as well as the Challenge Cup and internationals (although Sinfeld had retired) then Sinfield would have probably won!
    O'Loughlin's try in the first test against NZ was worth an award in anyones book.

    The BBC have little top live sport and given the pathetic performance of local rugby union and the pointlessness of professional footballers (and the collapse of Hamilton after winning his title) then the big difference in votes between 2nd and the rest is not surprising. (Athletics is far too tied up with chemistry anyway) They have never been heard of by the voting public.

    Plus Clare Balding has gone on record as wishing for Sinfield as the son she never had...
    You don't have to persuade me as to the merits of League, it is by far the better sport compared to all it's comparative versions. But it is still a tiny, minority sport played in three countries (and that is being VERY generous with how much New Zealand is an RL country).

    I wish, truly, it were otherwise. But it isn't.

    League was on the BBC for decades and failed to grow. It's not really grown much since Superleague but it's probably benefited to some degree both from the additional money and from a slightly wider profile that the BBC never gave it but Sky have.
    If Eddie Waring couldn't raise League's profile then nobody can. He was hilariously mimicked by Graeme Garden in the 70s.
  • TheScreamingEagles
    TheScreamingEagles Posts: 122,806
    So someone's Balls deep in trouble ?
  • flightpath01
    flightpath01 Posts: 4,903
    Dair said:

    flightpath01 said:

    Dair said:

    Pong said:

    Meh.

    Andy Murray 361,446
    Kevin Sinfield 278,353
    Jessica Ennis-Hill 79,898
    Tyson Fury 72,330
    Lewis Hamilton 48,379
    Chris Froome 39,007
    Mo Farah 31,311
    Max Whitlock 25,925
    Greg Rutherford 23,492
    Lizzie Armitstead 22,356
    Adam Peaty 13,738
    Lucy Bronze 13,236

    The market overestimated Ennis but otherwise was pretty much on the money.

    This tallies with what I said in September about Ennis having no real chance. The market hugely overpriced her.
    If the BBC had the regular superleague season (and not SKY) as well as the Challenge Cup and internationals (although Sinfeld had retired) then Sinfield would have probably won!
    O'Loughlin's try in the first test against NZ was worth an award in anyones book.

    The BBC have little top live sport and given the pathetic performance of local rugby union and the pointlessness of professional footballers (and the collapse of Hamilton after winning his title) then the big difference in votes between 2nd and the rest is not surprising. (Athletics is far too tied up with chemistry anyway) They have never been heard of by the voting public.

    Plus Clare Balding has gone on record as wishing for Sinfield as the son she never had...
    You don't have to persuade me as to the merits of League, it is by far the better sport compared to all it's comparative versions. But it is still a tiny, minority sport played in three countries (and that is being VERY generous with how much New Zealand is an RL country).

    I wish, truly, it were otherwise. But it isn't.

    League was on the BBC for decades and failed to grow. It's not really grown much since Superleague but it's probably benefited to some degree both from the additional money and from a slightly wider profile that the BBC never gave it but Sky have.
    My main point is how little sport outside the Olympics and Wimbledon the BBC has. A lot of name recognition is zero.
    The BBC do follow the RL regular season with a highlights programme which will have given Sinfield some exposure (as well as that he has been a fixture for over 10 years).
    RL is the national winter sport in Australia.
  • kle4
    kle4 Posts: 99,113
    edited December 2015
    Maybe it's just me, but are stories about politicians having affairs really 'sleaze' scandals, unless there is something else about the affair that makes it sleazy? Frankly, while I don't approve of breaking marriage vows, if they are good enough at their actual job, I cannot say I'd let that personal failing influence my vote any. I feel like true sleaze stories would not be so easily overlooked.
  • Speedy
    Speedy Posts: 12,100
    Danny565 said:

    FrancisUrquhart said:

    https://twitter.com/suttonnick/status/678704630386319360

    Welp, not "Balls breaker"
    Back to basics.
    Just like old times.
  • flightpath01
    flightpath01 Posts: 4,903
    edited December 2015
    FrancisUrquhart said:

    twitter.com/suttonnick/status/678703537333788672

    Guardian want to turn this into Hunt bashing...Hunt has plenty of stuff you can throw at him, this is not one of them. This is something that has been running for a long long time and it is a "cultural" problem throughout the NHS. Norman Lamb commissioned work on this and found the NHS were a disgrace as an organisation on this issue and tried to bury it.

    It has only come to light, because of the last and current government wanting to shine a light on this issue. We will hear a huge amount more about this issue over the next few years and it will make for some awful reading.

    Yes - it is not NHS under pressure.... it is 'Hunt'. Where is Burnham - this is his legacy.
  • malcolmg
    malcolmg Posts: 44,523
    Dair said:

    Pong said:

    Meh.

    Andy Murray 361,446
    Kevin Sinfield 278,353
    Jessica Ennis-Hill 79,898
    Tyson Fury 72,330
    Lewis Hamilton 48,379
    Chris Froome 39,007
    Mo Farah 31,311
    Max Whitlock 25,925
    Greg Rutherford 23,492
    Lizzie Armitstead 22,356
    Adam Peaty 13,738
    Lucy Bronze 13,236

    The market overestimated Ennis but otherwise was pretty much on the money.

    This tallies with what I said in September about Ennis having no real chance. The market hugely overpriced her.
    England in general does not match the Little Englander cadre on here, they voted on merit not nationality
  • FrancisUrquhart
    FrancisUrquhart Posts: 85,724
    kle4 said:

    Maybe it's just me, but are stories about politicians having affairs really 'sleaze' scandals, unless there is something else about the affair that makes it sleazy? Frankly, while I don't approve of breaking marriage vows, if they are good enough at their actual job, I cannot say I'd let that personal failing influence my vote any. I feel like true sleaze stories would not be so easily overlooked.

    I think public reaction to this stuff has definitely changed. In the past, this kind of thing was automatic resignation, loads and loads of column inches, now it seems to be a one day thing, as long as it is seen to just be the bonking and not anything else.
  • Speedy
    Speedy Posts: 12,100
    edited December 2015
    kle4 said:

    Maybe it's just me, but are stories about politicians having affairs really 'sleaze' scandals, unless there is something else about the affair that makes it sleazy? Frankly, while I don't approve of breaking marriage vows, if they are good enough at their actual job, I cannot say I'd let that personal failing influence my vote any. I feel like true sleaze stories would not be so easily overlooked.

    It's always the hypocrisy:
    Labour MP's taking bribes while preaching economic equality, Tory MP's in sex scandals while preaching moral virtue.
  • flightpath01
    flightpath01 Posts: 4,903
    malcolmg said:

    Dair said:

    Pong said:

    Meh.

    Andy Murray 361,446
    Kevin Sinfield 278,353
    Jessica Ennis-Hill 79,898
    Tyson Fury 72,330
    Lewis Hamilton 48,379
    Chris Froome 39,007
    Mo Farah 31,311
    Max Whitlock 25,925
    Greg Rutherford 23,492
    Lizzie Armitstead 22,356
    Adam Peaty 13,738
    Lucy Bronze 13,236

    The market overestimated Ennis but otherwise was pretty much on the money.

    This tallies with what I said in September about Ennis having no real chance. The market hugely overpriced her.
    England in general does not match the Little Englander cadre on here, they voted on merit not nationality
    You have just brought your little scotlander baggage into the argument.
    Murray is a Brit and it was Brits who voted.
  • Hertsmere_Pubgoer
    Hertsmere_Pubgoer Posts: 3,476
    flightpath01 said:

    Hertsmere_Pubgoer said:

    flightpath01 said:

    Hertsmere_Pubgoer said:

    Dair said:

    Hertsmere_Pubgoer said:

    flightpath01 said:


    Don't forget the lace, there is always the lace.
    Yes but apart from the battlefields and the chocolates and the beer what have...
    The Menin Gate!
    Of course the Menin Gate, thats a given. But... apart from the chocolates and the battlefields and the beer and lace and the Menin...
    Eddie Merckx!
    Er...
    Yes and Audrey Hepburn...
    Well of course there's Audrey Hepburn, but apart from...
    Potato Chips!
    Eh?
    They invented potato chips.
    All right then, but... apart from Sprouts and the chocolates and the battlefields and the beer and the lace and the Menin Gate and Eddie Mercks and Audrey Hepburn and potato chips...! What have the Belgians ever done for us!

    Tom Boonen
    Tom Boonen can't climb a speed bump. He doen't count.
    There's plenty of uphill bits in the classics. He's done alright in those.
    I'm afraid the best bit of toilet graffiti I have ever seen (not least for its dedication and earnestness) was 'Eddie Mercks is God!'
    Boonen cannot compete with that.
    I didn't say he could.
    Your list was about what Belgians have achieved.
    Tom Boonen is certainly a worthy addition to that list.
    Am I being taken too seriously? There was I thinking that if I could perfect my soft shoe shuffle I could overtake Alan Johnson in the betting for next labour leader.

    I am still annoyed I forgot the waffles.
    Maybe. No cyclist can compete with the great Eddie.
    Even Lance (before he got rumbled) would refuse comparison's with Merckx
  • FrancisUrquhart
    FrancisUrquhart Posts: 85,724
    edited December 2015
    flightpath01 said:

    FrancisUrquhart said:

    twitter.com/suttonnick/status/678703537333788672

    Guardian want to turn this into Hunt bashing...Hunt has plenty of stuff you can throw at him, this is not one of them. This is something that has been running for a long long time and it is a "cultural" problem throughout the NHS. Norman Lamb commissioned work on this and found the NHS were a disgrace as an organisation on this issue and tried to bury it.

    It has only come to light, because of the last and current government wanting to shine a light on this issue. We will hear a huge amount more about this issue over the next few years and it will make for some awful reading.

    Yes - it is not NHS under pressure.... it is 'Hunt'. Where is Burnham - this is his legacy.
    Actually, I don't blame Burnham on this issue either. There is a cultural problem within the NHS when it comes to for instance treating people with learning difficulties, and then there is the whole ass covering, never admit anything is wrong, bury the issue problem which means this problem isn't properly addressed.
  • kle4
    kle4 Posts: 99,113
    Speedy said:

    kle4 said:

    Maybe it's just me, but are stories about politicians having affairs really 'sleaze' scandals, unless there is something else about the affair that makes it sleazy? Frankly, while I don't approve of breaking marriage vows, if they are good enough at their actual job, I cannot say I'd let that personal failing influence my vote any. I feel like true sleaze stories would not be so easily overlooked.

    It's always the hypocrisy:
    Labour MP's taking bribes while preaching economic equality, Tory MP's in sex scandals while preaching moral virtue.
    Yes, I suppose, if the person committing the affair is a moralising type, that would make it more relevant. Do either of these two fit the bill?
  • flightpath01
    flightpath01 Posts: 4,903
    kle4 said:

    Maybe it's just me, but are stories about politicians having affairs really 'sleaze' scandals, unless there is something else about the affair that makes it sleazy? Frankly, while I don't approve of breaking marriage vows, if they are good enough at their actual job, I cannot say I'd let that personal failing influence my vote any. I feel like true sleaze stories would not be so easily overlooked.

    Lots of people, not least journalists, break marriage vows. Even Speakers wives. But life seems to move on. Not surprising when lives are lived by humans.
  • Dair
    Dair Posts: 6,108
    Hertsmere_Pubgoer said:

    Dair said:

    Hertsmere_Pubgoer said:

    flightpath01 said:


    Don't forget the lace, there is always the lace.
    Yes but apart from the battlefields and the chocolates and the beer what have...
    The Menin Gate!
    Of course the Menin Gate, thats a given. But... apart from the chocolates and the battlefields and the beer and lace and the Menin...
    Eddie Merckx!
    Er...
    Yes and Audrey Hepburn...
    Well of course there's Audrey Hepburn, but apart from...
    Potato Chips!
    Eh?
    They invented potato chips.
    All right then, but... apart from Sprouts and the chocolates and the battlefields and the beer and the lace and the Menin Gate and Eddie Mercks and Audrey Hepburn and potato chips...! What have the Belgians ever done for us!

    Tom Boonen
    Tom Boonen can't climb a speed bump. He doen't count.
    There's plenty of uphill bits in the classics. He's done alright in those.
    He hasn't won a classic in 3 years, he;s over, finished and never made a breakthrough in a proper race. He had the chance in his early career to shed the weight and do what Wiggins or Thomas has done and convert from classics man to a proper bike race. He refused.

    Of course the stupid Belgians are happy with that, given how poor their recent record has been. But in all honesty, of their generation, Gilbert is the better man.
  • Dair
    Dair Posts: 6,108
    BigRich said:

    Watching the Spanish results come in, and realising a lot will tern on what the small party do, while most are regional nationalist and/or very left wing, but can anybody tell me what this party is for: DEMOCRÀCIA I LLIBERTAT. CONVERGÈNCIA. DEMÒCRATES. REAGRUPAMENT

    With 8 seats, they could make a difference.

    Double L = Catalan something.
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