Detournement

I don't think we can beat tops teams without one of Hogg or Russell playing with more emphasis on Russell. We need to score three tries to win a game. The wins over England, France, Ireland and Wales and Oz away we scored three tries. If we get the third try at home to NZ we win. The good thing is we are making the opportunities in every game it's just about finishing the chances.

Skinner doesn't have a first team spot nailed down at Exeter so he's got a bit to do. Hopefully he steps up tomorrow.

Samoa and Russia aren't on the level of Fiji. Having three rookies who haven't even played much club rubgy is a big risk.

None the same as you. You are posting about this daft Yank like we should know and care who he is.

Because you only first heard about him on Monday?

The 20 quid is from recent winnings. Either Scotland win or i'm 130 quid to the good. I'll be supporting Scotland anyway.

I think the changes are because no one will play the four games and Townsend probably hopes the backs will be able to win this one and Gray and Watson will play the Tier One games. Thompson and Bradbury being injured has limited his options in the pack. I got Fiji at 13/2. That's mental considering they are putting out clearly the best lock, the best two back rowers and the best centre on show. The Fiji 10 Volavola plays with Russell at Racing so that should be an interesting duel.

I just stuck 20 quid on Fiji at 13/2. I'm guessing that no one is going to play all four games but the locks and the backrow don't inspire confidence when Fiji are putting out genuine world class players in Nakawara, Mata and Yato.

There is no need to take the opposite position to Trump on every issue. Trump is reactionary, Time Warner is reactionary. The differences between them are insignificant compared to the values they share, promote and enforce.

Too many people are looking at this as Trump versus a plucky journalist. It's Trump vs Time Warner. Oligarchy vs Oligarchy. Let them knock lumps out of each other.

I hate to agree with Bawatching but he's right. If you know that voting won't make any difference to your life why bother? What's the difference between Bush, Obama and Trump for low income Americans? Basically nothing.

I said that she would be the candidate that could unite the Democratic Party. She doesn't seem to have any enemies and is left but not too left for the DNC. I also said she might struggle in the swing states. On the other hand i'm not sure that being repeating the 2016 level of aggression against other woman than HRC would be a vote winner.

That's an all time horrorshow. I genuinely hate Aaronovitch but hopefully he gives Lobster Boy a shoeing.

This is going to be a problem for them. They have had an easy ride being anti Trump and putting new faces at the centre of their campaigns. When the time comes for primaries it is going to be a shitshow with lot of the grass roots expecting single payer and other left wing ideas to be up for debate which the DNC will no doubt be trying to avoid. The Hillary fans hate Bernie, Biden has a racist past and is tainted by Delaware tax evasion, Harris/Booker/Holder will have black support and white people pointing out they are corporate stooges which will be fun and if anyone like Cuomo, Bloomberg, Kennedy or Oprah stands they will get torn to shreds. Elizabeth Warren seems like the candidate that most unites Democrats but does she have the appeal to take on Trump in the swing states?

https://www.rugbypass.com/news/analysis-why-scotlands-defensive-system-made-huw-jones-look-worse-than-he-actually-is Some good analysis of the problems with Scotland's defence. It seems mad to have no one sweeping. I remember seeing one of the Italian tries this year coming a mile off cause Hogg was up in the line.

And in the USA they have a 100% track record of Presidents in bed with the oligarchy...... The Dems can win seats in Colorado, Maine and Arizona. They will lose one in Alabama though.

The entire point of gerrymandering is it doesn't happen naturally. It's easy to draw maps that can't be overcome by any level of campaigning.

The demographics is destiny stuff is lazy thinking which amounts to the idea Dems can keep on being corporate shills and eventually everything will work out ok. It doesn't take into account changes in voting behaviour amongst white voters who have been abandoning the Dems in increasing numbers. There is every possibility that the white population will become as polarised to one party as the black population but three times as big, more efficiently distributed and with greater participation. Clinton lost because she only got 37% of white voters compared to Obama getting 43% then 39%. If that figure drops to 35% then the Dems won't win in 2020. These figures also don't account for lots of Hispanics being subsumed into the white population as happened with Italians and Slavs. The long term decline of the USA has been due to the the decreased power of organised labour and the weakening of the working class at the expense of financialised capital. It was high school educated people who supplied the votes and the impetus for the New Deal and the Keynesian policies that produced 40 years of relative prosperity. It may be the case that university education may lead to voting liberal but that also may have the effect of keeping the Dems to the right economically. If the Dems continue to hope that racial demographics will hand them power the best that they can hope for is retaining the political status quo. If they want to genuinely improve the lives of the poorest Americans they will need to build a broad class based alliance.

FTFY

I checked and Florida prisons are 41% white and 46% black. There's probably more white felons outside prison who would benefit from this though. What do you think the turnout will be in this group? 20% if you are lucky.

I don't think that will benefit either party on a state wide level.

The Dems were holding Senate seats in red states that they have had for a while and lost them due to incumbents stepping down and polarisation. Their House gains are mainly in comfortable middle class suburbs.

It looks like the route to power in 2020 just got a lot narrower. If Florida and Indiana are solid red now then there aren't many swing states remaining. The Rust Belt, Virgina and Nevada.

Gabbard is a strange one. Superficially progressive but with some weird views on Islam, Iran and India. She's got Obama potential to whip up a change frenzy then just do whatever the CIA want.

I don't know who Steve Bullock or John Delaney are but they must be completely hopeless if Avenatti is above them.