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politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » Corporeal on the Corbyn excitement factor

SystemSystem Posts: 11,002
edited September 2015 in General

imagepoliticalbetting.com » Blog Archive » Corporeal on the Corbyn excitement factor

“The Labour party is a moral crusade or it is nothing” was Harold Wilson’s rallying cry to the Labour conference a little over fifty years ago (somewhat unusually for political quotations it seems clear that he did actually say it). Twelve years later he was declaring they were now a “natural party of government”.

Read the full story here


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Comments

  • felixfelix Posts: 15,124
    SeanT said:

    Well this was totally unexpected. Not.

    @hughesroland 7m7 minutes ago
    Austrian paper says Germany to reintroduce border control in an hour's time. Sheesh. http://www.krone.at/Welt/Deutschland_korrigiert_Kurs_in_der_Asylpolitik-Kontrollen_an_Grenze-Story-471848

    Bit early for Merky to be getting buyer's remorse :)
  • felixfelix Posts: 15,124
    SeanT said:

    One more time. First photo of Jeremy Corbyn's provisional Shadow Cabinet.

    https://twitter.com/youngvulgarian/status/643060426247434240

    Lol - which one's Angela Eagle? :)
  • Bit harsh to accuse Ed Miliband of belonging to the blandocracy. Not that harsh, but the truly unassailable triumvirate would have included his brother.

    "But those groupings are revealing, if the Lib Dems under Clegg were a medium party that still tried to think and act like a major one then Corbyn is the part of Labour that holds on to a small party mentality."

    Yes. Very interesting to see how Labour will withstand continued (often brutal) scrutiny with that kind of attitude, and how much message discipline there will be from the backbenches.
  • saddenedsaddened Posts: 2,245
    SeanT said:

    One more time. First photo of Jeremy Corbyn's provisional Shadow Cabinet.

    https://twitter.com/youngvulgarian/status/643060426247434240

    And that ladies and gentleman, is the leader of the opposition. They are royally screwed.
  • SeanT said:

    One more time. First photo of Jeremy Corbyn's provisional Shadow Cabinet.

    https://twitter.com/youngvulgarian/status/643060426247434240

    You mean there's an Official Shadow Cabinet too?

    :)
  • OmniumOmnium Posts: 9,688
    FPT
    felix said:


    I taught nothing - twas how the students and others used it. BTW - thisis not the USA.

    Hah - I'm sure you taught them something.

    These tamed down equivalents are tricky though. For a long time I imagined that 'Berk' was a pretty tame insult, much the same as 'Chump' say. It turns out of course that it isn't.

    As I've got older though I realise that 'strong' language gets you nowhere. 'Fool' is quite sufficient to condemn someone really. I think I'll have really grown up properly when I feel myself to be safe from that epithet. I suspect that will never happen.

  • welshowlwelshowl Posts: 4,460
    felix said:

    SeanT said:

    Well this was totally unexpected. Not.

    @hughesroland 7m7 minutes ago
    Austrian paper says Germany to reintroduce border control in an hour's time. Sheesh. http://www.krone.at/Welt/Deutschland_korrigiert_Kurs_in_der_Asylpolitik-Kontrollen_an_Grenze-Story-471848

    Bit early for Merky to be getting buyer's remorse :)
    First stirrings of her whirlwind that she's sowed. Report says rumblings from the provinces too with those not happy with her policy. What a surprise.
  • FPT -

    ***** Betting Post *****

    I've just placed my first bet on the outcome of the 2020 General Election, backing Labour to be the party to win the most seats.
    Those nice people at Bet365 are offering decimal odds of 3.75, i.e. 11/4 in old money, against this being the outcome.
    However you look at it, this is a two horse race between Labour and the Conservatives and these odds therefore imply that Labour has a 26.7% chance and the Tories a 73.3% chance of winning the most seats. I see it as being a great deal closer what with "events" and all that, and have invested £72.73 on Labour to win a nice round £200 .... wish me luck!
    As ever - DYOR.
  • Plato_SaysPlato_Says Posts: 11,822
    Well worth reading Rawnsley on Corbyn http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/sep/13/jeremy-corbyn-followers-disillusion-labour-party
    One of the heaviest burdens that has just descended on his shoulders is the huge weight of expectations of his followers. He is the canvas on which they have painted their dreams. The more naive of the Corbynistas are hailing his victory as “a democratic storm”. They talk as if Britain has just been swept by a revolution.
  • FrankBoothFrankBooth Posts: 9,005
    Who do we think will be running the Labour party? Corbyn? Watson? What about McDonnell? Could he be the power behind the throne?
  • Plato_SaysPlato_Says Posts: 11,822
    Len.

    Who do we think will be running the Labour party? Corbyn? Watson? What about McDonnell? Could he be the power behind the throne?

  • kle4kle4 Posts: 91,400
    edited September 2015
    An interesting idea that the LDs were small trying to act big, and Corbyn Labour might be big but trying to act small.

    Fair play on comments on the blandocracy, but for the moment that has still worked for the Tories, so I don't think the age is dead yet, and if Corbyn is unsuccessful, it will demonstrate why the blandocracy emerged - it's what we, the public, asked for and deserve.

    PS - Looking back on the last threat, I had no idea Prat did not mean simply 'idiot' apparently.
  • FPT -

    ***** Betting Post *****

    I've just placed my first bet on the outcome of the 2020 General Election, backing Labour to be the party to win the most seats.
    Those nice people at Bet365 are offering decimal odds of 3.75, i.e. 11/4 in old money, against this being the outcome.
    However you look at it, this is a two horse race between Labour and the Conservatives and these odds therefore imply that Labour has a 26.7% chance and the Tories a 73.3% chance of winning the most seats. I see it as being a great deal closer what with "events" and all that, and have invested £72.73 on Labour to win a nice round £200 .... wish me luck!
    As ever - DYOR.

    Best of luck. I am temporarily retiring from political betting while I lick my Yvette wounds.
  • FPT Sunil..Those bombings were carried out by Irishmen on Irishmen..small but significant point
  • Well worth reading Rawnsley on Corbyn http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/sep/13/jeremy-corbyn-followers-disillusion-labour-party

    One of the heaviest burdens that has just descended on his shoulders is the huge weight of expectations of his followers. He is the canvas on which they have painted their dreams. The more naive of the Corbynistas are hailing his victory as “a democratic storm”. They talk as if Britain has just been swept by a revolution.
    A splendid victory for Democratic Socialism!
  • SeanT said:

    One more time. First photo of Jeremy Corbyn's provisional Shadow Cabinet.

    https://twitter.com/youngvulgarian/status/643060426247434240

    You mean there's an Official Shadow Cabinet too?

    :)
    Is the guy in the shiny suit the one who beat the LibDems into last place in a by-election somewhere in the Midlands last parliament?
  • Regarding "Prat" and "Bottom":

    There's a Pratt's Bottom in Kent, served by Knockholt train station, just inside the modern Greater London boundary.
  • Plato_SaysPlato_Says Posts: 11,822
    I saw a piece earlier comparing Farage to Corbyn and I spluttered on behalf of Kippers.

    Farage isn't snuggling up with terrorists nor does he want to give away the Falklands. He said somethings others were afraid too for a long time on immigration, but I can't see any else in common with Corbyn.

    It's as empty a comparison as IDS which @HYUFD keeps making.

    And AFAIC Corbyn's a minnow compared to Foot and it's a disservice to include them in the same sentence.
    kle4 said:

    An interesting idea that the LDs were small trying to act big, and Corbyn Labour might be big but trying to act small.

    Fair play on comments on the blandocracy, but for the moment that has still worked for the Tories, so I don't think the age is dead yet, and if Corbyn is unsuccessful, it will demonstrate why the blandocracy emerged - it's what we, the public, asked for and deserve.

  • SeanT said:

    One more time. First photo of Jeremy Corbyn's provisional Shadow Cabinet.

    https://twitter.com/youngvulgarian/status/643060426247434240

    You mean there's an Official Shadow Cabinet too?

    :)
    He's wearing the polo shirt that the Sun labeled 'Man at C&A'. Any other politician would lose the offending item at the charity shop. I wonder what Corbyn will do and whether we'll see it on our screens again.

    I know clothing's trivial really but peer pressure to conform is hard to resist, and the extent to which people bend to it shows how likely they are to compromise on other things. On this, I was a bit surprised to see Corbyn wearing a dark suit for his big day yesterday and took this to be a concessionary move that showed respect for his colleagues, party and protocol. After all, he could of worn the red Butlins blazer he wore to parliament for death of the Queen Mother.
  • SeanT said:

    Well this was totally unexpected. Not.

    @hughesroland 7m7 minutes ago
    Austrian paper says Germany to reintroduce border control in an hour's time. Sheesh. http://www.krone.at/Welt/Deutschland_korrigiert_Kurs_in_der_Asylpolitik-Kontrollen_an_Grenze-Story-471848

    Basically the article translates as: Germany will introduce border controls between itself and Austria as from 5pm this afternoon with the purpose of ascertaining genuine asylum seekers from those that are not.

    --------------------------

    Merkel was bloody stupid in her initial announcement which will have exacerbated an already serious migration problem across Europe. – With this change of tack, what happens now to migrants that don’t qualify for refugee status? – I guess it’s Austria’s problem now…

  • And AFAIC Corbyn's a minnow compared to Foot and it's a disservice to include them in the same sentence.

    kle4 said:

    An interesting idea that the LDs were small trying to act big, and Corbyn Labour might be big but trying to act small.

    Fair play on comments on the blandocracy, but for the moment that has still worked for the Tories, so I don't think the age is dead yet, and if Corbyn is unsuccessful, it will demonstrate why the blandocracy emerged - it's what we, the public, asked for and deserve.

    Corbyn 59.5%
    Blairites 40.5% :)
  • Tim_BTim_B Posts: 7,669
    Those of you who have seen local TV news in the US know what it's like - there is a lot of it, and it's all crime, crashes, weather, traffic and fires. Here stations typically have 4 hours in the morning, 2 in the early evening, and an hour at 11pm. It's a big money earner for local TV stations.

    I came downstairs this Sunday morning, grabbed my cereal and turned on the TV. I watched a college football game on a local station last night.

    Local news was going gangbusters - the lead story was a tree falling across a suburban street. Not a major road or a rat run, just a quiet suburban street. They had a reporter and camera crew on scene, and the news chopper was circling overhead. They had interviews with the crew chopping the tree up, the utility crew waiting to fix the power lines, residents who heard it fall. It was classic local news.

    Then they went breathlessly to see the traffic situation, with graphics, traffic cams, traffic chopper, the whole deal. It's 8am on a Sunday - there is no traffic.

    I've mentioned football and Sunday. This is the first sunday of the NFL season. The NBC game this evening is the Giants visiting America's Team. At about 8.20pm Carrie Underwood will sing the intro, and we'll all go nuts. It will sound something like this.....

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7ZrkIclBgQ

    But of course nothing could match Hank Williams Jr and the craziness of Monday Night Football at its height. This is Giants at Dallas a few years back.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmQFz3WugQE
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 48,921
    edited September 2015

    FPT Sunil..Those bombings were carried out by Irishmen on Irishmen..small but significant point

    You said you weren't aware of any "shopping streets" being bombed in Southern Ireland. Just educating you, Richard.

    Moreover:

    The report said it was likely that British security force personnel were involved but had insufficient evidence of higher-level involvement. However, the inquiry was hindered by the British government's refusal to release key documents.[4] The victims' families and others have continued to campaign for the British government to release these documents.


    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dublin_and_Monaghan_bombings


  • OmniumOmnium Posts: 9,688
    SeanT said:
    "arse" surely. The capitalised version has been nabbed, and to my mind happily, by a fellow poster.
  • ArtistArtist Posts: 1,882
    Positioning the party as one of opposition could be interpreted as being small party mentality but you could argue that it was a necessary move in the current climate to stop Labour becoming irrelevant.

    If Labour had elected a centrist leader the smaller parties would have had free reign to offer a much more nuanced critique of the Conservatives, with the SNP and Greens attacking them from the left on austerity, welfare etc. and UKIP from the anti establishment/right.

    The days of the main opposition party hoovering up all the anti-government votes by default are probably over in this new era of multi party politics.
  • JackWJackW Posts: 14,787
    SeanT said:

    Well this was totally unexpected. Not.

    @hughesroland 7m7 minutes ago
    Austrian paper says Germany to reintroduce border control in an hour's time. Sheesh. http://www.krone.at/Welt/Deutschland_korrigiert_Kurs_in_der_Asylpolitik-Kontrollen_an_Grenze-Story-471848

    Austria should have done the same in 1938.

  • SeanT said:

    Well this was totally unexpected. Not.

    @hughesroland 7m7 minutes ago
    Austrian paper says Germany to reintroduce border control in an hour's time. Sheesh. http://www.krone.at/Welt/Deutschland_korrigiert_Kurs_in_der_Asylpolitik-Kontrollen_an_Grenze-Story-471848

    Basically the article translates as: Germany will introduce border controls between itself and Austria as from 5pm this afternoon with the purpose of ascertaining genuine asylum seekers from those that are not.

    --------------------------

    Merkel was bloody stupid in her initial announcement which will have exacerbated an already serious migration problem across Europe. – With this change of tack, what happens now to migrants that don’t qualify for refugee status? – I guess it’s Austria’s problem now…
    Sadly reports today of increasing hostility to the asylum seekers including arson and increasing activity by the neo-nazis. Forget Corbyn the crisis in Europe is going to dominate the news for a long time to come.
  • BannedInParisBannedInParis Posts: 2,191
    edited September 2015
    "Fair play on comments on the blandocracy, but for the moment that has still worked for the Tories, so I don't think the age is dead yet, and if Corbyn is unsuccessful, it will demonstrate why the blandocracy emerged - it's what we, the public, asked for and deserve."

    Any selective system puts into place a series of incentives and disincentives for certain behavior and characteristics. The House of Commons that exists today is, at least in part, our fault.

    Someone else noted that we say we want politicians to be more consensual and to collaborate more, but when they do do that, we then punish them in the ballot box. Likewise, the development of a 'blandocracy' is *our* *own* *fault*. Maybe not as individuals, but as a collective group that elects according to the leader, or according to the rosette colour, or won't vote for one party because of FATCHA/the 70s/the coalitionbetrayal or whatever.

    And the people already selected in and the people around them aren't stupid. As someone mentioned elsewhere, if PMQs would be more effective in a less aggressive style, someone would have worked it out and played it by now.

    Anyway, in a cross-over with the strong language, I've found a Sergeant Wilson style "do you think that's wise?" often works absolute wonders.

  • Plato_SaysPlato_Says Posts: 11,822
    And the tens of thousands en route?

    SeanT said:

    Well this was totally unexpected. Not.

    @hughesroland 7m7 minutes ago
    Austrian paper says Germany to reintroduce border control in an hour's time. Sheesh. http://www.krone.at/Welt/Deutschland_korrigiert_Kurs_in_der_Asylpolitik-Kontrollen_an_Grenze-Story-471848

    Basically the article translates as: Germany will introduce border controls between itself and Austria as from 5pm this afternoon with the purpose of ascertaining genuine asylum seekers from those that are not.

    --------------------------

    Merkel was bloody stupid in her initial announcement which will have exacerbated an already serious migration problem across Europe. – With this change of tack, what happens now to migrants that don’t qualify for refugee status? – I guess it’s Austria’s problem now…
  • richardDoddrichardDodd Posts: 5,472
    edited September 2015
    Sunil So a report that says it was British intelligence that did the job and not a scrap of evidence wow..not even British forces..double wow That would bring down the Government of the day and for what purpose..to say up yours to the IRA..Give me a break
  • corporealcorporeal Posts: 2,549
    Tim_B said:

    Those of you who have seen local TV news in the US know what it's like - there is a lot of it, and it's all crime, crashes, weather, traffic and fires. Here stations typically have 4 hours in the morning, 2 in the early evening, and an hour at 11pm. It's a big money earner for local TV stations.

    I came downstairs this Sunday morning, grabbed my cereal and turned on the TV. I watched a college football game on a local station last night.

    Local news was going gangbusters - the lead story was a tree falling across a suburban street. Not a major road or a rat run, just a quiet suburban street. They had a reporter and camera crew on scene, and the news chopper was circling overhead. They had interviews with the crew chopping the tree up, the utility crew waiting to fix the power lines, residents who heard it fall. It was classic local news.

    Then they went breathlessly to see the traffic situation, with graphics, traffic cams, traffic chopper, the whole deal. It's 8am on a Sunday - there is no traffic.

    I've mentioned football and Sunday. This is the first sunday of the NFL season. The NBC game this evening is the Giants visiting America's Team. At about 8.20pm Carrie Underwood will sing the intro, and we'll all go nuts. It will sound something like this.....

    What I remember is the local TV adverts, they were something special.

    (Of course the biggest NFL change now is how the promo packages make a point of avoiding the big hits they used to love).

    (Go Chargers).
  • SeanT said:
    Indeed its roots are old (FPT): The Canters Dictionary of 1608 lists "prat" as meaning "buttock". (That was by Thomas Dekker but apparently mostly plagiarised from the mysterious Thomas Harman.)

    But then consider this delightful poem from 1942:

    "She's a far better piece
    Than the Viceroy's niece,
    Who has also more fur on her prat."

    In modern times there has certainly also been a "female genitalia" meaning, though the "backside" use is even longer established.

    Note that "twat" also dates back for centuries ("they talk’t of his having a Cardinall’s Hat / they’d send him as soon an Old Nun’s Twat" from 1660). Very speculatively, I wonder if the genital sense of "prat" was originally a bowdlerisation, or simply a mistake, for "twat".
  • tysontyson Posts: 6,049
    This is just why Corbyn is so appealing. A humble man who didn't want to be anything other than a lefty polemicist is thrust into the national stage. Corbyn is the classic anti hero. Cameron needs to do better than his silly hyperbolic tweet today.
    SeanT said:

    One more time. First photo of Jeremy Corbyn's provisional Shadow Cabinet.

    https://twitter.com/youngvulgarian/status/643060426247434240

  • IndigoIndigo Posts: 9,966

    FPT Sunil..Those bombings were carried out by Irishmen on Irishmen..small but significant point

    You said you weren't aware of any "shopping streets" being bombed in Southern Ireland. Just educating you, Richard.

    Moreover:

    The report said it was likely that British security force personnel were involved but had insufficient evidence of higher-level involvement. However, the inquiry was hindered by the British government's refusal to release key documents.[4] The victims' families and others have continued to campaign for the British government to release these documents.


    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dublin_and_Monaghan_bombings


    And then some Tory invited their political wing to tea at the House of Commons the next week ? This whataboutery is moronic.
  • Sunil So a report that says it was British intelligence that did the jo and not a scrap of evidence wow..not enen British forces..double wow That would bring down the Government of rhe daty and for what purpose..to say up yours to the IRA..Give me a break

    No evidence because HMG is witholding crucial documents relating to Dublin-Monaghan?
  • JackWJackW Posts: 14,787
    Omnium said:

    SeanT said:
    "arse" surely. The capitalised version has been nabbed, and to my mind happily, by a fellow poster.
    SeanT clearly requires some ARSEistance on the matter.

  • Omnium said:

    SeanT said:
    "arse" surely. The capitalised version has been nabbed, and to my mind happily, by a fellow poster.
    ELBOW? ;)
  • Good afternoon, everyone.

    Farage, successful? Depends on the measure you choose to use.
  • richardDoddrichardDodd Posts: 5,472
    edited September 2015
    Sunil of course.. so the Brits must have done then.. stands to reason..
  • Plato_SaysPlato_Says Posts: 11,822
    Times reporting 10 000 migrants turned up in Munich yesterday and 180 000 have entered Hungary illegally so far this year.

    It's a complete mess. http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/world/europe/article4555482.ece

    And the tens of thousands en route?

    SeanT said:

    Well this was totally unexpected. Not.

    @hughesroland 7m7 minutes ago
    Austrian paper says Germany to reintroduce border control in an hour's time. Sheesh. http://www.krone.at/Welt/Deutschland_korrigiert_Kurs_in_der_Asylpolitik-Kontrollen_an_Grenze-Story-471848

    Basically the article translates as: Germany will introduce border controls between itself and Austria as from 5pm this afternoon with the purpose of ascertaining genuine asylum seekers from those that are not.

    --------------------------

    Merkel was bloody stupid in her initial announcement which will have exacerbated an already serious migration problem across Europe. – With this change of tack, what happens now to migrants that don’t qualify for refugee status? – I guess it’s Austria’s problem now…
  • JackWJackW Posts: 14,787

    Good afternoon, everyone.

    Farage, successful? Depends on the measure you choose to use.

    I'd say an un/resignation every few years should suffice.

  • IndigoIndigo Posts: 9,966

    Sunil So a report that says it was British intelligence that did the jo and not a scrap of evidence wow..not enen British forces..double wow That would bring down the Government of rhe daty and for what purpose..to say up yours to the IRA..Give me a break

    No evidence because HMG is witholding crucial documents relating to Dublin-Monaghan?
    Bollocks. There is no suggestion that those documents contained any such evidence, the enquiry wasn't able to discount them because the government didn't provide them. The government declines to reveal classified documents all the time. I know that Labour doesn't care about the Defence of the Realm any more and is becoming, for want of a better term a security risk but its quite important to a lot of people.
  • Meanwhile "all of you can come" Germany is to re-establish some sort of border control, or try to, at least:
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-34239674
  • testing
  • Tee hee I crept up behind the lines.
  • Plato_SaysPlato_Says Posts: 11,822
    Welcome Mr/Ms Channeler
    Channeler said:

    testing

  • Welcome to pb.com, Mr. Channeler.
  • JackWJackW Posts: 14,787
    Channeler said:

    Tee hee I crept up behind the lines.

    Have you paid your £3 to Mike Smithson?

  • Sunil of course.. so the Brits must have done then.. stands to reason..

    You really don't like me pointing out the outrages during the Troubles were NOT as one-sided as you think/believe.
  • F1: haze over Singapore:
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/34237355

    Reminds me a bit of one race, maybe China, a year or two ago. The circuit itself was ok for driving but the poor air quality meant practice had to be delayed because it was unsafe if a medical helicopter was required.
  • OmniumOmnium Posts: 9,688
    JackW said:

    SeanT said:

    Well this was totally unexpected. Not.

    @hughesroland 7m7 minutes ago
    Austrian paper says Germany to reintroduce border control in an hour's time. Sheesh. http://www.krone.at/Welt/Deutschland_korrigiert_Kurs_in_der_Asylpolitik-Kontrollen_an_Grenze-Story-471848

    Austria should have done the same in 1938.

    Schadenfreude!

    Of course though there's no joy in any of this. True equality for all is probably anarchy. I would certainly argue that I've earned the right to be in a better place that the stolen tracksuit wearing immigrant criminal. Unfortunately though I can't make such arguments for many, many good reasons. Those reasons of course hold us all back from throwing the whole lot of them on the returning banana boats (to coin a phrase).

    Germany and the UK will embrace those who's views we can identify with, but there's a long way to go before I'd agree that someone should be shrouded from the world because of my beliefs.

    Things will get very nasty in central Europe. If we're lucky we'll vote to get out just before that.


  • Tim_BTim_B Posts: 7,669
    corporeal said:

    Tim_B said:

    Those of you who have seen local TV news in the US know what it's like - there is a lot of it, and it's all crime, crashes, weather, traffic and fires. Here stations typically have 4 hours in the morning, 2 in the early evening, and an hour at 11pm. It's a big money earner for local TV stations.

    I came downstairs this Sunday morning, grabbed my cereal and turned on the TV. I watched a college football game on a local station last night.

    Local news was going gangbusters - the lead story was a tree falling across a suburban street. Not a major road or a rat run, just a quiet suburban street. They had a reporter and camera crew on scene, and the news chopper was circling overhead. They had interviews with the crew chopping the tree up, the utility crew waiting to fix the power lines, residents who heard it fall. It was classic local news.

    Then they went breathlessly to see the traffic situation, with graphics, traffic cams, traffic chopper, the whole deal. It's 8am on a Sunday - there is no traffic.

    I've mentioned football and Sunday. This is the first sunday of the NFL season. The NBC game this evening is the Giants visiting America's Team. At about 8.20pm Carrie Underwood will sing the intro, and we'll all go nuts. It will sound something like this.....

    What I remember is the local TV adverts, they were something special.

    (Of course the biggest NFL change now is how the promo packages make a point of avoiding the big hits they used to love).

    (Go Chargers).
    Chargers for Pete's sake?! Philip Rivers, his bolo tie and 15 kids, threatening to leave if the team relocates to LA???

    As an Episcopalian imitating liberation theology lefty pope Francis - I forgive you.

    I make a point of not watching local TV news - that's why this morning was unusual.

    More to the point it's Sunday Ticket today on DirecTV. It will lack something as Dallas is the NBC Sunday night game, seen by everyone. I can't decide whether to wear my Aikman or Emmitt shirt.
  • SimonStClareSimonStClare Posts: 7,976
    edited September 2015
    @Corporeal – where are my manners - good to see you contributing again to PB and cheers for the interesting article.
  • MTimTMTimT Posts: 7,034
    Omnium said:

    FPT

    felix said:


    I taught nothing - twas how the students and others used it. BTW - thisis not the USA.

    Hah - I'm sure you taught them something.

    These tamed down equivalents are tricky though. For a long time I imagined that 'Berk' was a pretty tame insult, much the same as 'Chump' say. It turns out of course that it isn't.

    As I've got older though I realise that 'strong' language gets you nowhere. 'Fool' is quite sufficient to condemn someone really. I think I'll have really grown up properly when I feel myself to be safe from that epithet. I suspect that will never happen.

    The 'strength' of the language lies in the intent behind it, not the words. "Fool" spat out with contempt is every bit as strong as any swear word, whereas 'f**king' used without emotion as a space filler or emphatic is not a swear word at all, just entirely unnecessary.
  • Mr. StClare, indeed.

    There's a tangible benefit to Mr. Corporeal's presence.
  • Merkels decision re the Migrants is almost on a par with the Labour Party electing Corbyn.. another fucking disaster..now the guests she invited are camping out on an Austrian motorway..poor feckers..
  • CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758
    Omnium said:



    As I've got older though I realise that 'strong' language gets you nowhere. 'Fool' is quite sufficient to condemn someone really. I think I'll have really grown up properly when I feel myself to be safe from that epithet. I suspect that will never happen.

    Nah.

    As you get older you desperately try to hold onto your youth by channeling Mr. T.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_irUw5PfHM
  • MTimTMTimT Posts: 7,034

    Well worth reading Rawnsley on Corbyn http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/sep/13/jeremy-corbyn-followers-disillusion-labour-party

    One of the heaviest burdens that has just descended on his shoulders is the huge weight of expectations of his followers. He is the canvas on which they have painted their dreams. The more naive of the Corbynistas are hailing his victory as “a democratic storm”. They talk as if Britain has just been swept by a revolution.

    Obama has shown how hard it is to satisfy all the extreme identity groups that make up the left-wing fringe. They now are some of his harshest critics because following anything less than 110% of their agenda is betrayal to them.

    Given the impossibility of providing all the groups that make up the fringe everything they want, Corbyn's support is bound to splinter at some point.
  • OmniumOmnium Posts: 9,688

    Omnium said:

    SeanT said:
    "arse" surely. The capitalised version has been nabbed, and to my mind happily, by a fellow poster.
    ELBOW? ;)
    Close, but no cigar. A hint, but no claim beyond a blunderbuss to the ribs seems to be the philosophy of the stakeholder, and who am I to judge.


  • Mr. StClare, indeed.

    There's a tangible benefit to Mr. Corporeal's presence.

    Anyone who gets as far as the fourth asterisk when he's writing is a star in my book.

    Still think Ed Miliband was the odd one out in the Three Teflon-slick Robots sketch. His brother would have fitted right in.
  • Mr. Charles, now *that* is a chief whip.
  • OmniumOmnium Posts: 9,688
    Charles said:

    Omnium said:



    As I've got older though I realise that 'strong' language gets you nowhere. 'Fool' is quite sufficient to condemn someone really. I think I'll have really grown up properly when I feel myself to be safe from that epithet. I suspect that will never happen.

    Nah.

    As you get older you desperately try to hold onto your youth by channeling Mr. T.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_irUw5PfHM
    I am undone!


  • Times reporting 10 000 migrants turned up in Munich yesterday and 180 000 have entered Hungary illegally so far this year.

    It's a complete mess. http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/world/europe/article4555482.ece

    And the tens of thousands en route?

    SeanT said:

    Well this was totally unexpected. Not.

    @hughesroland 7m7 minutes ago
    Austrian paper says Germany to reintroduce border control in an hour's time. Sheesh. http://www.krone.at/Welt/Deutschland_korrigiert_Kurs_in_der_Asylpolitik-Kontrollen_an_Grenze-Story-471848

    Basically the article translates as: Germany will introduce border controls between itself and Austria as from 5pm this afternoon with the purpose of ascertaining genuine asylum seekers from those that are not.

    --------------------------

    Merkel was bloody stupid in her initial announcement which will have exacerbated an already serious migration problem across Europe. – With this change of tack, what happens now to migrants that don’t qualify for refugee status? – I guess it’s Austria’s problem now…
    Must say, I find myself wondering for how long the "asylum seekers" will be content to lodge in sports centres, disused airport terminals and so on.
  • IndigoIndigo Posts: 9,966

    Sunil of course.. so the Brits must have done then.. stands to reason..

    You really don't like me pointing out the outrages during the Troubles were NOT as one-sided as you think/believe.
    No we just don't care. This is politicalbetting.com not irishtroubles.com and yet you continue to divert discussion of Mr Corbyn's "interesting" Irish friends into a load of whataboutery on whose fault the troubles were.

    Yes, lots of people did lots of naughty things during the Troubles, the political wing of one side met with a Labour politician, now the leader of his party just after their paramilitary colleagues blew up the Grand Hotel in Brighton. Possibly you could stop your dancing now and enlighten us as to which loyalist paramilitary supporters met with a Tory politician, without a bunch of diversionary crap about the security services.
  • Tim_BTim_B Posts: 7,669

    Merkels decision re the Migrants is almost on a par with the Labour Party electing Corbyn.. another fucking disaster..now the guests she invited are camping out on an Austrian motorway..poor feckers..

    How is a country policing its borders a disaster? Admittedly it's not good for the "ever closer union" delusion, but in the real world it merely means the government is behaving responsibly.
  • CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758
    Omnium said:

    JackW said:

    SeanT said:

    Well this was totally unexpected. Not.

    @hughesroland 7m7 minutes ago
    Austrian paper says Germany to reintroduce border control in an hour's time. Sheesh. http://www.krone.at/Welt/Deutschland_korrigiert_Kurs_in_der_Asylpolitik-Kontrollen_an_Grenze-Story-471848

    Austria should have done the same in 1938.

    Schadenfreude!

    Of course though there's no joy in any of this. True equality for all is probably anarchy. I would certainly argue that I've earned the right to be in a better place that the stolen tracksuit wearing immigrant criminal. Unfortunately though I can't make such arguments for many, many good reasons. Those reasons of course hold us all back from throwing the whole lot of them on the returning banana boats (to coin a phrase).

    Germany and the UK will embrace those who's views we can identify with, but there's a long way to go before I'd agree that someone should be shrouded from the world because of my beliefs.

    Things will get very nasty in central Europe. If we're lucky we'll vote to get out just before that.


    What's so unjust about this is that Germany has triggered a massive influx and now closed the borders.

    If I were Hungary, I'd be feeling really really p1ssed right now.
  • Merkels decision re the Migrants is almost on a par with the Labour Party electing Corbyn.. another fucking disaster..now the guests she invited are camping out on an Austrian motorway..poor feckers..

    At least Merkel isn't a socialist :)
  • OmniumOmnium Posts: 9,688
    edited September 2015
    MTimT said:

    Omnium said:

    FPT

    felix said:


    I taught nothing - twas how the students and others used it. BTW - thisis not the USA.

    Hah - I'm sure you taught them something.

    These tamed down equivalents are tricky though. For a long time I imagined that 'Berk' was a pretty tame insult, much the same as 'Chump' say. It turns out of course that it isn't.

    As I've got older though I realise that 'strong' language gets you nowhere. 'Fool' is quite sufficient to condemn someone really. I think I'll have really grown up properly when I feel myself to be safe from that epithet. I suspect that will never happen.

    The 'strength' of the language lies in the intent behind it, not the words. "Fool" spat out with contempt is every bit as strong as any swear word, whereas 'f**king' used without emotion as a space filler or emphatic is not a swear word at all, just entirely unnecessary.
    Yes, entirely true. "You old Bastard" if delivered by an Aussie is a nice warming sort of phrase. If delivered by a Scotsman you start to go for your stored weaponry, and wonder what's this kilted fellow doing in my house!
  • IndigoIndigo Posts: 9,966
    edited September 2015
    Tim_B said:

    Merkels decision re the Migrants is almost on a par with the Labour Party electing Corbyn.. another fucking disaster..now the guests she invited are camping out on an Austrian motorway..poor feckers..

    How is a country policing its borders a disaster? Admittedly it's not good for the "ever closer union" delusion, but in the real world it merely means the government is behaving responsibly.
    Its a disaster because only a week ago she was giving it her "Give me your tired, your poor,
    Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.." then when the wretched refuse of your teeming shore arrived she decided it was all a bit of an embarrassment, thus inciting a lot more people to cross the Med, and hence a lot more people to drown in that attempt, and a lot more people to end up sitting on the German border causing severe inconvenience to their neighbours, not that such has caused Germany any great pause before.
  • Mr. Charles, Hungary's in the process of finishing off a massive fence and doing its best to keep out the stream of migrants. They'll shift, therefore, and probably try going another way, to a country that's less prepared.
  • Plato_SaysPlato_Says Posts: 11,822
    Especially after all the names they've been called by liberals in Germany.
    Charles said:

    Omnium said:

    JackW said:

    SeanT said:

    Well this was totally unexpected. Not.

    @hughesroland 7m7 minutes ago
    Austrian paper says Germany to reintroduce border control in an hour's time. Sheesh. http://www.krone.at/Welt/Deutschland_korrigiert_Kurs_in_der_Asylpolitik-Kontrollen_an_Grenze-Story-471848

    Austria should have done the same in 1938.

    Schadenfreude!

    Of course though there's no joy in any of this. True equality for all is probably anarchy. I would certainly argue that I've earned the right to be in a better place that the stolen tracksuit wearing immigrant criminal. Unfortunately though I can't make such arguments for many, many good reasons. Those reasons of course hold us all back from throwing the whole lot of them on the returning banana boats (to coin a phrase).

    Germany and the UK will embrace those who's views we can identify with, but there's a long way to go before I'd agree that someone should be shrouded from the world because of my beliefs.

    Things will get very nasty in central Europe. If we're lucky we'll vote to get out just before that.


    What's so unjust about this is that Germany has triggered a massive influx and now closed the borders.

    If I were Hungary, I'd be feeling really really p1ssed right now.
  • CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758

    Mr. Charles, Hungary's in the process of finishing off a massive fence and doing its best to keep out the stream of migrants. They'll shift, therefore, and probably try going another way, to a country that's less prepared.

    And, of course, the Austrian Chancellor saw fit to compare them to Nazis. Great for harmonious neighbourly relationships
  • Plato_SaysPlato_Says Posts: 11,822
    Is it really just a week? Even if it's two - her invite must be go down as one of the biggest made by any EU leader in a very long time.
    Indigo said:

    Tim_B said:

    Merkels decision re the Migrants is almost on a par with the Labour Party electing Corbyn.. another fucking disaster..now the guests she invited are camping out on an Austrian motorway..poor feckers..

    How is a country policing its borders a disaster? Admittedly it's not good for the "ever closer union" delusion, but in the real world it merely means the government is behaving responsibly.
    Its a disaster because only a week ago she was giving it her "Give me your tired, your poor,
    Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.." then when the wretched refuse of your teeming shore arrived she decided it was all a bit of an embarrassment, thus inciting a lot more people to cross the Med, and hence a lot more people to drown in that attempt, and a lot more people to end up sitting on the German border causing severe inconvenience to their neighbours, not that such has caused Germany any great pause before.
  • richardDoddrichardDodd Posts: 5,472
    edited September 2015
    SUNIL No need to point it out.. I am probably the only PBer who has been chased through some Dublin council house rear gardens in the early hours by a some pistol wielding boyos.. so I am very aware...I also went on patrol with some of the soldiers... but it seemed to me then and still does that the killings were mainly Irish on Irish The Brits were just in the bloody way...
  • tysontyson Posts: 6,049

    Who do we think will be running the Labour party? Corbyn? Watson? What about McDonnell? Could he be the power behind the throne?


    I think Tom Watson without doubt is Labour's new kingmaker. I cannot imagine anyone who has such an influence in a major political party without being leader. His power base is enhanced because he has no aspirations for the main prize.
  • FPT Sunil..Those bombings were carried out by Irishmen on Irishmen..small but significant point

    I'd really, really enjoy watching you tell the fine upstanding chaps that planted those bombs that they're Irishmen.
  • Plato_SaysPlato_Says Posts: 11,822
    @HurstLlama served in NI too.

    SUNIL No need to point it out.. I am probably the only PBer who has been chased through some council house rear gardens in the early hours by a some pistol wielding boyos.. so I am very aware...i also went on patrol with some of the soldiers. but it seemed to me then and still does that the killings were mainly Irish on Irish The Brits were just in the bloody way...

  • OmniumOmnium Posts: 9,688
    Charles said:

    Omnium said:

    JackW said:

    SeanT said:

    Well this was totally unexpected. Not.

    @hughesroland 7m7 minutes ago
    Austrian paper says Germany to reintroduce border control in an hour's time. Sheesh. http://www.krone.at/Welt/Deutschland_korrigiert_Kurs_in_der_Asylpolitik-Kontrollen_an_Grenze-Story-471848

    Austria should have done the same in 1938.

    Schadenfreude!

    Of course though there's no joy in any of this. True equality for all is probably anarchy. I would certainly argue that I've earned the right to be in a better place that the stolen tracksuit wearing immigrant criminal. Unfortunately though I can't make such arguments for many, many good reasons. Those reasons of course hold us all back from throwing the whole lot of them on the returning banana boats (to coin a phrase).

    Germany and the UK will embrace those who's views we can identify with, but there's a long way to go before I'd agree that someone should be shrouded from the world because of my beliefs.

    Things will get very nasty in central Europe. If we're lucky we'll vote to get out just before that.


    What's so unjust about this is that Germany has triggered a massive influx and now closed the borders.

    If I were Hungary, I'd be feeling really really p1ssed right now.
    Yup!

    But it's the Germans that will spark this. More specifically the German middle class. Merkel is about to become the most spectacular political failure ever. 'Forever Change' the country - I think this needs a greater mandate than she has.
  • MP_SEMP_SE Posts: 3,642

    Mr. Charles, Hungary's in the process of finishing off a massive fence and doing its best to keep out the stream of migrants. They'll shift, therefore, and probably try going another way, to a country that's less prepared.

    I would have thought the migrants could just cut through the fence. Once through they can either claim asylum in Hungary or continue on to other EU member countries.
  • Tim_BTim_B Posts: 7,669
    Indigo said:

    Tim_B said:

    Merkels decision re the Migrants is almost on a par with the Labour Party electing Corbyn.. another fucking disaster..now the guests she invited are camping out on an Austrian motorway..poor feckers..

    How is a country policing its borders a disaster? Admittedly it's not good for the "ever closer union" delusion, but in the real world it merely means the government is behaving responsibly.
    Its a disaster because only a week ago she was giving it her "Give me your tired, your poor,
    Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.." then when the wretched refuse of your teeming shore arrived she decided it was all a bit of an embarrassment, thus inciting a lot more people to cross the Med, and hence a lot more people to drown in that attempt, and a lot more people to end up sitting on the German border causing severe inconvenience to their neighbours, not that such has caused Germany any great pause before.
    I admit unreservedly that her "if you get here we'll welcome you" comments were unwise and ill thought out, with unfortunate consequences. Schengen's time has come and gone, and it's time it was consigned to the trash can of history. It's ridiculous. Countries need to police their borders and control who they let in. If you don't have borders you don't have countries, but then that's what 'ever closer union' is about.
  • SeanT said:

    Well this was totally unexpected. Not.

    @hughesroland 7m7 minutes ago
    Austrian paper says Germany to reintroduce border control in an hour's time. Sheesh. http://www.krone.at/Welt/Deutschland_korrigiert_Kurs_in_der_Asylpolitik-Kontrollen_an_Grenze-Story-471848

    That's gone against the script. I was in London yesterday and saw some girls on the Tube (they looked about fifteen) who were carrying placards from the 'People's Assembly' saying 'Refugees in. Tories out'. What is 'the People's Assembly' anyway? I take it's some Corbynite agitprop outfit. Whatever, they should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves using the plight of those fleeing genocide for petty localized party-political stunts.
  • MTimTMTimT Posts: 7,034
    Omnium said:

    MTimT said:

    Omnium said:

    FPT

    felix said:


    I taught nothing - twas how the students and others used it. BTW - thisis not the USA.

    Hah - I'm sure you taught them something.

    These tamed down equivalents are tricky though. For a long time I imagined that 'Berk' was a pretty tame insult, much the same as 'Chump' say. It turns out of course that it isn't.

    As I've got older though I realise that 'strong' language gets you nowhere. 'Fool' is quite sufficient to condemn someone really. I think I'll have really grown up properly when I feel myself to be safe from that epithet. I suspect that will never happen.

    The 'strength' of the language lies in the intent behind it, not the words. "Fool" spat out with contempt is every bit as strong as any swear word, whereas 'f**king' used without emotion as a space filler or emphatic is not a swear word at all, just entirely unnecessary.
    Yes, entirely true. "You old Bastard" if delivered by an Aussie is a nice warming sort of phrase. If delivered by a Scotsman you start to go for your stored weaponry, and wonder what's this kilted fellow doing in my house!
    Had a mate from the East End who would great his closest friends with "[name}! You old c**t!"
  • FrankBoothFrankBooth Posts: 9,005
    Not sure if this was Jeremy's singing voice captured on Putin TV or the person next to him

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Oa04A8dNeI
  • corporealcorporeal Posts: 2,549
    Tim_B said:

    corporeal said:

    Tim_B said:

    Those of you who have seen local TV news in the US know what it's like - there is a lot of it, and it's all crime, crashes, weather, traffic and fires. Here stations typically have 4 hours in the morning, 2 in the early evening, and an hour at 11pm. It's a big money earner for local TV stations.

    I came downstairs this Sunday morning, grabbed my cereal and turned on the TV. I watched a college football game on a local station last night.

    Local news was going gangbusters - the lead story was a tree falling across a suburban street. Not a major road or a rat run, just a quiet suburban street. They had a reporter and camera crew on scene, and the news chopper was circling overhead. They had interviews with the crew chopping the tree up, the utility crew waiting to fix the power lines, residents who heard it fall. It was classic local news.

    Then they went breathlessly to see the traffic situation, with graphics, traffic cams, traffic chopper, the whole deal. It's 8am on a Sunday - there is no traffic.

    I've mentioned football and Sunday. This is the first sunday of the NFL season. The NBC game this evening is the Giants visiting America's Team. At about 8.20pm Carrie Underwood will sing the intro, and we'll all go nuts. It will sound something like this.....

    What I remember is the local TV adverts, they were something special.

    (Of course the biggest NFL change now is how the promo packages make a point of avoiding the big hits they used to love).

    (Go Chargers).
    Chargers for Pete's sake?! Philip Rivers, his bolo tie and 15 kids, threatening to leave if the team relocates to LA?.
    Philip "the best QB in his draft class" Rivers yes.
  • Indigo said:

    Possibly you could stop your dancing now and enlighten us as to which loyalist paramilitary supporters met with a Tory politician, without a bunch of diversionary crap about the security services.

    The whole point of Collusion between elements of the State and the Loyalists was that it was all hush-hush, hoosh-hoosh.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,756

    FPT Sunil..Those bombings were carried out by Irishmen on Irishmen..small but significant point

    I'd really, really enjoy watching you tell the fine upstanding chaps that planted those bombs that they're Irishmen.
    They would doubtless turn a delicate shade of Orange before exploding...
  • So the inhabitants of NI are not Irish,,thats a new one..
  • corporealcorporeal Posts: 2,549

    @Corporeal – where are my manners - good to see you contributing again to PB and cheers for the interesting article.

    Mr. StClare, indeed.

    There's a tangible benefit to Mr. Corporeal's presence.

    Thanks to the both of you. I rather drifted away from politics with life and one thing and another. Trying to get back into the swing of writing a bit more often.
  • Indigo said:

    Tim_B said:

    Merkels decision re the Migrants is almost on a par with the Labour Party electing Corbyn.. another fucking disaster..now the guests she invited are camping out on an Austrian motorway..poor feckers..

    How is a country policing its borders a disaster? Admittedly it's not good for the "ever closer union" delusion, but in the real world it merely means the government is behaving responsibly.
    Its a disaster because only a week ago she was giving it her "Give me your tired, your poor,
    Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.." then when the wretched refuse of your teeming shore arrived she decided it was all a bit of an embarrassment, thus inciting a lot more people to cross the Med, and hence a lot more people to drown in that attempt, and a lot more people to end up sitting on the German border causing severe inconvenience to their neighbours, not that such has caused Germany any great pause before.
    Yes, surely Merkel has to go. This has been the most tragically blundering piece of ineptitude by any European leader in recent history. Is there any way she can be ousted if she doesn't resign?
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,756

    Not sure if this was Jeremy's singing voice captured on Putin TV or the person next to him

    A rare occasion when I am glad I am (a) deaf and (b) being kept waiting forever for hearing aids, because I imagine that sounds even worse with good hearing. Can't one of them in that whole crowd carry a tune?

    Posted in order to get the horrible sound out of my ears:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDIuApfVxBg

    PS - he's very effusive about MacDonnell, isn't he? Nailed on for at least some big job or other, I would think, even if not the SCE.
  • surbitonsurbiton Posts: 13,549
    edited September 2015
    To those who criticise Merkel: what is a government supposed to do when the population in
    2015 = 82.5m and in 2045 is supposed to be 74.5m ?

    http://populationpyramid.net/germany/2045/

    Worse, with people living longer, the working age population will fall even more drastically.

    Who will pay the taxes ?

    UK, on the other hand goes from 2015 = 63.8 to 2045 = 72.1

    It is this switch which projects that the UK will have a larger GDP than Germany in 2050 !

    Should Merkel just sit there and wring her hands ?

  • FloaterFloater Posts: 14,195
    Schengen suspended...... (by Germany)

    Where did that moral high ground go?

    Where Germany leads others follow....


  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,756
    edited September 2015

    So the inhabitants of NI are not Irish,,thats a new one..

    The Protestants are not - they're descended from mostly Scottish settlers transported across and 'planted' in Ulster (at that time, the most Catholic and intractable area of Ireland) in the seventeenth century.
  • Tim_BTim_B Posts: 7,669
    corporeal said:

    Tim_B said:

    corporeal said:

    Tim_B said:

    Those of you who have seen local TV news in the US know what it's like - there is a lot of it, and it's all crime, crashes, weather, traffic and fires. Here stations typically have 4 hours in the morning, 2 in the early evening, and an hour at 11pm. It's a big money earner for local TV stations.

    I came downstairs this Sunday morning, grabbed my cereal and turned on the TV. I watched a college football game on a local station last night.

    Local news was going gangbusters - the lead story was a tree falling across a suburban street. Not a major road or a rat run, just a quiet suburban street. They had a reporter and camera crew on scene, and the news chopper was circling overhead. They had interviews with the crew chopping the tree up, the utility crew waiting to fix the power lines, residents who heard it fall. It was classic local news.

    Then they went breathlessly to see the traffic situation, with graphics, traffic cams, traffic chopper, the whole deal. It's 8am on a Sunday - there is no traffic.

    I've mentioned football and Sunday. This is the first sunday of the NFL season. The NBC game this evening is the Giants visiting America's Team. At about 8.20pm Carrie Underwood will sing the intro, and we'll all go nuts. It will sound something like this.....

    What I remember is the local TV adverts, they were something special.

    (Of course the biggest NFL change now is how the promo packages make a point of avoiding the big hits they used to love).

    (Go Chargers).
    Chargers for Pete's sake?! Philip Rivers, his bolo tie and 15 kids, threatening to leave if the team relocates to LA?.
    Philip "the best QB in his draft class" Rivers yes.
    I have to ask - how many Chargers games have you been to?
  • MP_SEMP_SE Posts: 3,642
    surbiton said:

    To those who criticise Merkel: what is a government supposed to do when the population in
    2015 = 82.5m and in 2045 is supposed to be 74.5m ?

    http://populationpyramid.net/germany/2045/

    Worse, with people living longer, the working age population will fall even more drastically.

    Who will pay the taxes ?

    UK, on the other hand goes from 2015 = 63.8 to 2045 = 72.1

    It is this switch which projects that the UK will have a larger GDP than Germany in 2050 !

    Should Merkel just sit there and wring her hands ?

    Incentivise the German people into having larger families through tax breaks and more family friendly policies.
  • JEOJEO Posts: 3,656
    If Germany was worried about a falling population why didn't they let in the Eastern Europeans without transitional controls?
    surbiton said:

    To those who criticise Merkel: what is a government supposed to do when the population in
    2015 = 82.5m and in 2045 is supposed to be 74.5m ?

    http://populationpyramid.net/germany/2045/

    Worse, with people living longer, the working age population will fall even more drastically.

    Who will pay the taxes ?

    UK, on the other hand goes from 2015 = 63.8 to 2045 = 72.1

    It is this switch which projects that the UK will have a larger GDP than Germany in 2050 !

    Should Merkel just sit there and wring her hands ?

  • CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758
    MP_SE said:

    Mr. Charles, Hungary's in the process of finishing off a massive fence and doing its best to keep out the stream of migrants. They'll shift, therefore, and probably try going another way, to a country that's less prepared.

    I would have thought the migrants could just cut through the fence. Once through they can either claim asylum in Hungary or continue on to other EU member countries.
    It doesn't help them with the need to staff the border. But it means that the police can concentrate their efforts rather than playing catch-chase with migrants running in all directions
  • ' “The Labour party is a moral crusade or it is nothing” was Harold Wilson’s rallying cry to the Labour conference a little over fifty years ago '
    Clever politics (which was what Wilson was about) - because it implied other political parties were not about 'morals'.

    I read Blunkett is saying, 'Give Corbyn time to adapt' - again clever politics since it is implying 'give Corbyn time to abandon his principles'.
  • Tim_BTim_B Posts: 7,669
    corporeal said:

    @Corporeal – where are my manners - good to see you contributing again to PB and cheers for the interesting article.

    Mr. StClare, indeed.

    There's a tangible benefit to Mr. Corporeal's presence.

    Thanks to the both of you. I rather drifted away from politics with life and one thing and another. Trying to get back into the swing of writing a bit more often.
    Yup, Philip Rivers is certainly a drift ;)
  • Mr. Corporeal, glad to hear it.

    Mr. Floater, indeed. Schengen was so vital a few days ago Germany used it for emotional blackmail to try and force other countries to take migrants, now it's an optional extra that can be suspended by Germany whenever it likes.

    With winter coming, there's a chance the flow of migrants will decline. Or, they'll think the drawbridge is being pulled up and rush to clamber onto it.
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