US Presidential Election 2020

Betfair trading & Punting on politics. Be aware there is a lot of off topic discussion in this group centred on Political views.
Post Reply
User avatar
superfrank
Posts: 2762
Joined: Fri Aug 14, 2009 8:28 pm

Biden health pick Rachel Levine set to become first transgender Senate confirmee...

This is going to be the funniest 4 years in human history.
https://twitter.com/still_a_nerd/status ... 5802915840
sionascaig
Posts: 1053
Joined: Fri Nov 20, 2015 9:38 am

Derek27 wrote:
Thu Jan 21, 2021 11:03 pm

But I can assure you when it comes to crap, outdated technology, you can't design it to breakdown early - it does that anyway. ;)
Do apple phones still start to run slowly just after an update & just before a new model is released?
User avatar
Derek27
Posts: 23468
Joined: Wed Aug 30, 2017 11:44 am
Location: UK

sionascaig wrote:
Fri Jan 22, 2021 1:15 am
Derek27 wrote:
Thu Jan 21, 2021 11:03 pm

But I can assure you when it comes to crap, outdated technology, you can't design it to breakdown early - it does that anyway. ;)
Do apple phones still start to run slowly just after an update & just before a new model is released?
No idea, I've never had an Apple phone.

The concept of 'planned obsolescence' is largely conspiracy theory, in my opinion. From the 1980s we had capitalism, competition, and What Hi-Fi, TV, Video magazine where poor products could easily be called out. The chances of every washing machine company on the market agreeing on how long a washing machine should last and trusting that nobody in the contract would cheat and make one last longer, coupled with the fact that in those days machines didn't have sophisticated microchips, are very slim.

As a trader you'll understand it's difficult enough to create a bot that works, nevermind one that works for 6 months and gradually reduces it's profits. How do you manufacture a mechanical device that works for a specified length of time?

Personally, if I had a phone that started slowing down for no reason, and the manufacturer said, "don't worry, give us £1000 for a new model", I'd switch to a different manufacturer. :)
User avatar
Derek27
Posts: 23468
Joined: Wed Aug 30, 2017 11:44 am
Location: UK

The election's over, Biden's president, knightwire2 hasn't got his Lamborghini ( :lol: ) and there's nothing more to discuss, yet we're still talking about pens, VAT, lightbulbs, Apple phones and washing machines. :lol:
Archery1969
Posts: 3192
Joined: Thu Oct 24, 2019 8:25 am
Location: Newport

Biden has his first problem apart from the pandemic.

His administration is being sued by the Texas state attorney over the pause in deportations.

Think its going to be a tough 4 years assuming he lasts that long.
greenmark
Posts: 4948
Joined: Mon Jan 29, 2018 2:15 pm

Archery1969 wrote:
Fri Jan 22, 2021 9:02 pm
Biden has his first problem apart from the pandemic.

His administration is being sued by the Texas state attorney over the pause in deportations.

Think its going to be a tough 4 years assuming he lasts that long.
Indeed. But the point was stoppng the Trump bulldozer. And its becoming evident the Republicans are worried about Trump spliiting their vote and gifting power to the Democrats.
It would be really weird to have an independent President with the Senate and Congress split in the traditional way. Figure that one out. Blimey it sounds like the Roman empire.
Archery1969
Posts: 3192
Joined: Thu Oct 24, 2019 8:25 am
Location: Newport

greenmark wrote:
Fri Jan 22, 2021 11:26 pm
Archery1969 wrote:
Fri Jan 22, 2021 9:02 pm
Biden has his first problem apart from the pandemic.

His administration is being sued by the Texas state attorney over the pause in deportations.

Think its going to be a tough 4 years assuming he lasts that long.
Indeed. But the point was stoppng the Trump bulldozer. And its becoming evident the Republicans are worried about Trump spliiting their vote and gifting power to the Democrats.
It would be really weird to have an independent President with the Senate and Congress split in the traditional way. Figure that one out. Blimey it sounds like the Roman empire.
Yep + 1

I think if 17 Republicans cross the floor and allow Trump to be convicted of impeachment then the country will at some point implode.

Don’t get me wrong, I was no fan of Trump as I think he went a bit nuts in the last 18 months.

But listening to 2 women, one his private security, who he sacked and the Fox woman who he trashed several times, both agree and say he did some good things, was rather astonishing. Neither had anything to gain by doing so and deep down probably hate the guy.

Also, I don’t believe you can fool or brainwash 70 million people to vote for you even though most maybe voting for the party and not an individual. Well if you can then that speaks volumes to the US education system.

Personally, I like the USA allot, spent allot of time there in different states. I hope Biden and Harris don’t go after gun owners. Don’t mean about further background checks as the majority think that’s a good move.

But telling people what guns they can have and not would be a disaster. People outside of the US really don’t understand the right to bear arms arguments and they probably shouldn’t comment on the subject unless they actually live there.

What people fail to realise is that if you put a gun on a table then it won’t harm anyone. It can only fire if someone picks it up and pulls the trigger, so what’s dangerous, the gun, the person or a combination of both.

Allot of people have cars, the maximum speed limit on a motorway is 70mph, so why aren’t they restricted to that speed, why can you buy a car that does 80, 90, 100, 110 or more.

Can you do more damage with a Car or a Gun. Don’t know but if you drove a Car the wrong way down a motorway at 110 mph then you would cause some carnage. Must be reason enough to ban cars, yes or is the argument you need a Car but you don’t need a Gun ?
greenmark
Posts: 4948
Joined: Mon Jan 29, 2018 2:15 pm

Actually, your various posts around guns/America have succeeded in changing my mind.
The American psyche is heavily informed by the knowledge they've built one of the most powerful countries n the world. From scratch in a few hundred years.
Bossing them about seems to go down badly. Eg the protests about masks/lockdowns.
And finally your point about cars/guns has occured to me too. And we've already seen examples of vehicles being weaponised.
My only caveat can be the sheer cost in lives evey year. But even there, as you say, as a European, its not my place to judge whether thats worth the freedom that Americans attach to gun ownership.
Archery1969
Posts: 3192
Joined: Thu Oct 24, 2019 8:25 am
Location: Newport

greenmark wrote:
Sat Jan 23, 2021 12:26 pm
Actually, your various posts around guns/America have succeeded in changing my mind.
The American psyche is heavily informed by the knowledge they've built one of the most powerful countries n the world. From scratch in a few hundred years.
Bossing them about seems to go down badly. Eg the protests about masks/lockdowns.
And finally your point about cars/guns has occured to me too. And we've already seen examples of vehicles being weaponised.
My only caveat can be the sheer cost in lives evey year. But even there, as you say, as a European, its not my place to judge whether thats worth the freedom that Americans attach to gun ownership.
Everyone including gun owners condemn mass shootings seen over the years in different parts of the USA. But when it comes to it nothing major is done and said gun owners would never willingly hand guns over to the authorities as seen in other parts of the world.

It’s easy for outsiders to judge but if you are living in say Wyoming, 40 miles from law enforcement and you have a home invasion then how do you protect yourself, property, family and if you have any, livestock. In the UK we don’t live in that type of situation. Well, you might in some remote parts of Scotland.

Obviously they need to tighten up on background checks. But then what happens if your that person living in Wyoming and would fail any enhanced checks. Could move i guess but property is allot cheaper in remote parts with beautiful landscapes. I swear the rest of the world thinks all Americans live in NY, LA or FL.

One thing is for sure, no way I would live in say Alaska without a very big gun. Wouldn’t want to go for a stroll in the woods and come face to face with a pack of wolves or grizzly.

A guy called Timothy Treadwell decided to live in bear country for part of each year without any protection for himself or girlfriend. That documented story didn’t end well for either of them. Don’t think hitting a kodiak bear over the head with a frying pan was the correct weapon under the circumstances...
Trader Pat
Posts: 4327
Joined: Tue Oct 25, 2016 12:50 pm

Archery1969 wrote:
Sat Jan 23, 2021 1:03 pm
A guy called Timothy Treadwell decided to live in bear country for part of each year without any protection for himself or girlfriend. That documented story didn’t end well for either of them. Don’t think hitting a kodiak bear over the head with a frying pan was the correct weapon under the circumstances...
I read about him and a saw a couple of docs

Definitely deserving of a Darwin Award
Archery1969
Posts: 3192
Joined: Thu Oct 24, 2019 8:25 am
Location: Newport

Trader Pat wrote:
Sat Jan 23, 2021 1:42 pm
Archery1969 wrote:
Sat Jan 23, 2021 1:03 pm
A guy called Timothy Treadwell decided to live in bear country for part of each year without any protection for himself or girlfriend. That documented story didn’t end well for either of them. Don’t think hitting a kodiak bear over the head with a frying pan was the correct weapon under the circumstances...
I read about him and a saw a couple of docs

Definitely deserving of a Darwin Award
Yeah but if it’s true that he knew he was being stalked by a bear he wasn’t familiar with why the hell didn’t he get himself and girlfriend out of there. Can’t imagine it’s much fun being ripped apart and eaten by a bear...
Trader Pat
Posts: 4327
Joined: Tue Oct 25, 2016 12:50 pm

Archery1969 wrote:
Sat Jan 23, 2021 2:09 pm
Trader Pat wrote:
Sat Jan 23, 2021 1:42 pm
Archery1969 wrote:
Sat Jan 23, 2021 1:03 pm
A guy called Timothy Treadwell decided to live in bear country for part of each year without any protection for himself or girlfriend. That documented story didn’t end well for either of them. Don’t think hitting a kodiak bear over the head with a frying pan was the correct weapon under the circumstances...
I read about him and a saw a couple of docs

Definitely deserving of a Darwin Award
Yeah but if it’s true that he knew he was being stalked by a bear he wasn’t familiar with why the hell didn’t he get himself and girlfriend out of there. Can’t imagine it’s much fun being ripped apart and eaten by a bear...
He was obviously one fish short of a salmon run

He used to pet the bears so not sure how he was expecting it to end any other way than how it did
Archery1969
Posts: 3192
Joined: Thu Oct 24, 2019 8:25 am
Location: Newport

Trader Pat wrote:
Sat Jan 23, 2021 2:18 pm
Archery1969 wrote:
Sat Jan 23, 2021 2:09 pm
Trader Pat wrote:
Sat Jan 23, 2021 1:42 pm


I read about him and a saw a couple of docs

Definitely deserving of a Darwin Award
Yeah but if it’s true that he knew he was being stalked by a bear he wasn’t familiar with why the hell didn’t he get himself and girlfriend out of there. Can’t imagine it’s much fun being ripped apart and eaten by a bear...
He was obviously one fish short of a salmon run

He used to pet the bears so not sure how he was expecting it to end any other way than how it did
I think I read that the opinion was:

1. A bear he knew attacked him for an unknown reason.
2. A bear he hadn’t seen before entered the camp looking for food and killed them both.

Point 2 seems more likely as park rangers shot a bear they hadn’t seen in the area before which was close to the camp. It’s stomach contained bits of treadwell.

But of course nobody really knows and the recording of the attack has never been released to the public. Not that I would want to listen too it.
Trader Pat
Posts: 4327
Joined: Tue Oct 25, 2016 12:50 pm

Archery1969 wrote:
Sat Jan 23, 2021 3:01 pm
But of course nobody really knows and the recording of the attack has never been released to the public. Not that I would want to listen too it.
Me neither. Werner Herzog said in the doc that he made about it that he had the sound recording of the attack but chose not to put it in the movie, I think he played the recording up to a point though.

He seemed like a gentle soul, definitely misguided though.

I'd much rather see the likes of Joe Exotic been torn apart than that poor guy.
Archery1969
Posts: 3192
Joined: Thu Oct 24, 2019 8:25 am
Location: Newport

Trader Pat wrote:
Sat Jan 23, 2021 3:20 pm
Archery1969 wrote:
Sat Jan 23, 2021 3:01 pm
But of course nobody really knows and the recording of the attack has never been released to the public. Not that I would want to listen too it.
Me neither. Werner Herzog said in the doc that he made about it that he had the sound recording of the attack but chose not to put it in the movie, I think he played the recording up to a point though.

He seemed like a gentle soul, definitely misguided though.

I'd much rather see the likes of Joe Exotic been torn apart than that poor guy.
Very misguided I think, fair enough putting himself in that situation but his girlfriend too is not good.

Seems he is not the only one though who thinks wild animals can be tamed.

There is a video on YouTube of Stephan Miller who’s cousin trained bears for films. So he trusts his cousin and has a go at wrestling with it.

Although the video cuts out at the end, you can hear what they call the death scream, staggers to his feet, stumbles, collapses to the ground. Bear had ripped his throat out before they got him off Stephan.

Why would anyone try to play fight with a bear ?
Post Reply

Return to “Political betting & arguing”