General News Thread

[Spudulike]

I'm not familiar with Charlie Kirk but after reading Starmers message of condolence, would he have been gaoled if he were British?

[Samilktray]

6 minutes ago, Sly said:

I think without social media, the world was a more innocent place. 
 

We didn’t know about half the stuff that goes on now. 

Yeah I saw the video of my man being shot in the neck and barely flinched. Social media is crazy

[st albans fox]

53 minutes ago, st albans fox said:

Time out for a ‘pony and trap’

 

given the turn over in live news atm, we may be onto another subject by the time I’ve finished …….

 

Told you @CosbehFox

elliott carver would be cheery 

Edited 11 September 2025 by st albans fox

[Trav Le Bleu]

55 minutes ago, bovril said:

Don't really see the problem with saying stuff like "if you live by the sword...". He was a fanatically pro gun rabble-rouser in a country known for shootings and increasing political polarisation and violence. Surprised at the confidence of some of these people to be so openly controversial and confrontational in such a violent country. 

Yup.

 

"Gun ownership will protect you!"

 

No, it won't.

Edited 11 September 2025 by Trav Le Bleu

[Sly]

Starmer has sacked Mandelson then! 

[Sly]

 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/czewp16k6k6t

[st albans fox]

I wonder how many people are going to lose their careers and reputations based on being friends with a paedophile ?

 

Some will do on the basis of poor judgment once they were aware of accusations (quite rightly). 

 

but there will be others who are swept up in the mess. probably should have spoken out earlier.  
 

amd some who are guilty of the same crime and deserve everything that’s coming their way 

[Trav Le Bleu]

I'm assuming the person who asked the final question, about gun control, has been taken in for questioning?

 

Unfortunate for them if it was merely coincidence, but if you wanted to make a statement, well that's one way to do it.

 

Personally, I'm surprised how little security there was and choosing a location surrounded by elevated positions.

[Tommy G]

4 minutes ago, Sly said:

Starmer has sacked Mandelson then! 

Good, no brainer.

[leicsmac]

16 minutes ago, Sly said:

I think without social media, the world was a more innocent place. 
 

We didn’t know about half the stuff that goes on now. 

Yeah, ignorance is sometimes bliss and sometimes knowledge can be a curse. 

 

9 minutes ago, Spudulike said:

I'm not familiar with Charlie Kirk but after reading Starmers message of condolence, would he have been gaoled if he were British?

50/50 on him being questioned, much less on him actually doing time IMO.

 

4 minutes ago, Sly said:

Starmer has sacked Mandelson then! 

Had to be done. 

[Zear0]

2 minutes ago, st albans fox said:

I wonder how many people are going to lose their careers and reputations based on being friends with a paedophile ?

 

Some will do on the basis of poor judgment once they were aware of accusations (quite rightly). 

 

but there will be others who are swept up in the mess. probably should have spoken out earlier.  
 

amd some who are guilty of the same crime and deserve everything that’s coming their way 

I felt dumping him by association was knee-jerk yesterday as I didn't think people should be sacked by association, but the overnight comms of his support of Epstein after the charges were made are not appropriate at all and he needed binning.

 

Curious what Donald will make of this as they were good mates it seemed.

[st albans fox]

6 minutes ago, Zear0 said:

I felt dumping him by association was knee-jerk yesterday as I didn't think people should be sacked by association, but the overnight comms of his support of Epstein after the charges were made are not appropriate at all and he needed binning.

 

Curious what Donald will make of this as they were good mates it seemed.

Donald is of course interesting 

could be that trump decided he was worth being friendly with given business access rather than anything seedy.  Wouldn’t put it past trump not to have used what he knew about Epstein to get stuff he wanted on a commercial level.  But without any evidence being released we are left to make up our own minds and anything goes!   Has anyone ‘young’ ever made accusations against trump?  Evidence is he’s guilty of sexual crimes/unpleasant acts against women but never seen/heard anything to indicate he was attracted to young women. 
 

[kenny]

25 minutes ago, Sly said:

Starmer has sacked Mandelson then! 

No way. He had his full support yesterday in PMQs.

 

If I were Reeves I'd be clearing my desk now ready for the chop. When SKS fully supports you you have less than a week.

[Tommy G]

18 minutes ago, Zear0 said:

I felt dumping him by association was knee-jerk yesterday as I didn't think people should be sacked by association, but the overnight comms of his support of Epstein after the charges were made are not appropriate at all and he needed binning.

 

Curious what Donald will make of this as they were good mates it seemed.

But No10 had been fully aware that he had an extended relationship with a convicted sex offender after the point he had been to jail for sex trafficking, and they are ok with that?

 

He also referred to a ''full vetting process'' which shows how flawed the vetting process actually is. He's backed two people wholeheartedly in the past then fired them the following day (well Rayner resigned) not great optics is it? Or sign of a confident leader. Chancellor will be next. 

 

I'm sure Donald's state visit will still go ahead unfortunately.  

[danny.]

37 minutes ago, Trav Le Bleu said:

Yup.

 

"Gun ownership will protect you!"

 

No, it won't.

Equating the concept of self defence i.e. if someone comes into your home with being murdered by a trained sniper is wild.

I don't agree with gun ownership, BTW, but not a fan of disingenuous fallacies or false equivalences either.

Edited 11 September 2025 by danny.
spelling typo

[AKCJ]

27 minutes ago, st albans fox said:

I wonder how many people are going to lose their careers and reputations based on being friends with a paedophile ?

 

Some will do on the basis of poor judgment once they were aware of accusations (quite rightly). 

 

but there will be others who are swept up in the mess. probably should have spoken out earlier.  
 

amd some who are guilty of the same crime and deserve everything that’s coming their way 

Maybe quite a few. But then again, i'd imagine that quite a lot of people didn't write him messages like "...in one of his glorious homes he likes to share with his friends (yum yum)" or repeadedly call him his "best pal" all while trying to claim that he didn't ever see any illegal or suspicious activity of a paedophile and sex trafficker. 

 

I think there will be people that are falsely accused because of a loose connection with Epstein but it appears to me that Mandelson was right in the thick of it. 

[MC Prussian]

38 minutes ago, Trav Le Bleu said:

Yup.

 

"Gun ownership will protect you!"

 

No, it won't.

Try fighting a gun (or knife) with your bare hands. Good luck.

 

You can always try running, too.

[Zear0]

2 minutes ago, Tommy G said:

But No10 had been fully aware that he had an extended relationship with a convicted sex offender after the point he had been to jail for sex trafficking, and they are ok with that?

 

He also referred to a ''full vetting process'' which shows how flawed the vetting process actually is. He's backed two people wholeheartedly in the past then fired them the following day (well Rayner resigned) not great optics is it? Or sign of a confident leader. Chancellor will be next. 

 

I'm sure Donald's state visit will still go ahead unfortunately.  

One of the characteristics of an ex-barrister, he'll always wait until he's got the facts despite the political direction of travel on them.  Does seem pretty crap at reading the room, but it's not in his nature to act on his gut.  Still not sure how waiting for the independent advisor to finish investigating Rayner was a bad thing either.  If he didn't back either, he'll just be accused of not having confidence in them even if they're found not to have done anything wrong.  Do suspect any future issues with him team will end up with small details being leaked, wait for a defence with the available information, then release more that night to embarrass him.

 

Not entirely sure what Reeves has to do with this though.

[AKCJ]

3 minutes ago, danny. said:

Equating the concept of self defence i.e. if someone comes into your home with being murdered by a trained sniper is wild.

I don't agree with gun ownership, BTW, but not a fan of disingenuous fallacies or false equivalences either.

I personally think the way forward for America is to clamp down hard on high powered assault rifles and machine guns.

 

I really don't see any need for any civilian to own or use one.

[CosbehFox]

I do wonder if Starmer had the three card trick played on him with Mandelson. Russian esque kropomat type tactics from the US

[danny.]

1 minute ago, AKCJ said:

I personally think the way forward for America is to clamp down hard on high powered assault rifles and machine guns.

 

I really don't see any need for any civilian to own or use one.

Totally agree. I don't like that anyone can have even a pistol, but there is a big difference between keeping a pistol at home vs walking around with a machine gun. Their "constitutional rights" cause a huge issue for actioning this though.

[Zear0]

1 minute ago, danny. said:

Totally agree. I don't like that anyone can have even a pistol, but there is a big difference between keeping a pistol at home vs walking around with a machine gun. Their "constitutional rights" cause a huge issue for actioning this though.

Least you can see someone with a rifle.  I lived in a state that permitted conceal carry law on handguns that terrified me.

[MC Prussian]

39 minutes ago, Zear0 said:

I felt dumping him by association was knee-jerk yesterday as I didn't think people should be sacked by association, but the overnight comms of his support of Epstein after the charges were made are not appropriate at all and he needed binning.

 

Curious what Donald will make of this as they were good mates it seemed.

The truth probably lies somewhere in the middle. I can imagine they were friends at some point, then had a falling-out. Trump even said he banned Epstein from Maro-o-Lago after the latter had hit a woman.

We can't tell how the birthday letter fits in with the timeline.

 

It also doesn't tell us anything about how tight they really were. I mean, anyone can write birthday wishes, without much of a personal connection. Sometimes. it's simply a standard gesture.

 

The alleged Epstein Black Book has also been around for years, and it's hardly talked about.

 

Up to this day, we still don't know what politicians and/or showbiz people or others were involved in those acts in Florida, New York and on Epstein's island.

The flight logs make for an interesting read, though.

Edited 11 September 2025 by MC Prussian

[AKCJ]

1 minute ago, danny. said:

Totally agree. I don't like that anyone can have even a pistol, but there is a big difference between keeping a pistol at home vs walking around with a machine gun. Their "constitutional rights" cause a huge issue for actioning this though.

I'm the same but so many lives would be saved if high powered guns are taken out of civilian hands.

 

I can't personally imagine a life where I'd feel safer with a gun strapped to my waist but if Americans only have access to pistols then I think it stops 90% of America's gun problems.

 

[Muzzy_no7]

40 minutes ago, Tommy G said:

Good, no brainer.

One step closer