Cameroni

From the Economist article itself: "Ukraine’s surprise mini-invasion of Russia provokes mixed feelings. Dublin says early successes lifted morale. But it didn’t last. The hope that Russia might respond by moving troops from Pokrovsk has been supplanted by the realisation that it has not. Ukrainian security sources confirm that while Russia has moved troops from other sections of the eastern front line, it reinforced around Pokrovsk. Ukraine meanwhile redeployed special forces units to Kursk, and is patching up the Pokrovsk front with untested formations. “The Russians have figured things out and aren’t taking the bait,” complains Dublin. The defenders of Pokrovsk are reluctant to say how long they can hold out. The Russians may take weeks or months to get past outlying towns like Myrnohrad, Selydove, and Ukrainsk, all now haunted by drones, artillery and bomber planes. The advance has slowed since August 19th, says Oleksandr, a drone commander with the 110th brigade, who watches the battlefield from his screens. But the Russians have a habit of pouncing on weak spots to devastating effect, he warns. It seems only a matter of time before Pokrovsk is crushed like Mariupol, Bakhmut and Avdiivka." And some say Russia is not winning the war. Bizarre.

Definitely the defense was at fault too, however, the prosecution too for pursuing the case against an innocent man. And later for preventing new DNA evidence from being admitted. Consider also Jamal Trulove, who was sentenced to 50 years in prison after he was framed by police for the 2007 shooting of his friend Seu Kuka. Again Kamala secured the conviction. Trulove was acquitted in a 2015 retrial. Three years after his exoneration, Trulove sued the police department and four officers saying they fabricated evidence, coerced a key eyewitness and withheld vital information that may have exonerated Trulove. A federal jury determined the two lead homicide detectives had violated Trulove's civil rights and awarded him $14.5 million. This was the evidence Kamala Harris used to get Trulove convicted. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13750465/actor-wrongfully-convicted-kamala-harris-taunt.html It would appear far from being a great achievement, Kamala Harris' stint as a DA was a litany of failures and she was part of a broken justice system.

At her direction. And why she thought she had the evidence to prosecute a man who was actually innocent, only she will know. What's worse, she then battled tooth and nail to prevent new DNA evidence being admitted that would have exonerated Mr Cooper. "I think a lawsplainer is in order about Harris' efforts as AG to prevent an appeals court from considering DNA evidence that would have exonerated a man on death row." "Her office litigated aggressively against allowing that evidence to be considered in federal litigation to say his execution date. https://www.newsweek.com/kamala-harris-cooper-death-row-case-california-san-francisco-prosecutor-attorney-general-1929773

When she was prosecutor. She prosecuted an innocent man and led the jury to convict an innocent man.

In the swing states Harris and Trump are tied, according to a democrat poll.

Yes, Volvo is still cheaper than the big BMW SUV, that's true.

MG cars are now indeed Chinese cars. "MG Motor cars were once engineered by SAIC at the Longbridge facility in Birmingham, UK. Longbridge was formerly home to Austin, British Leyland, Rover Group and, later, the MG Rover Group. Currently, most of the design, development and R&D takes place in China by SAIC Motor R&D Innovation Headquarters (SRIH)." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MG_Motor#:~:text=MG Motor cars were once,R%26D Innovation Headquarters (SRIH). However, this is very different in the case of Volvo. Volvo's biggest factory is Torslanda in Sweden. It's main design studio is in Sweden, though it has design subsidiary studios in Camarillo and Shanghai. It is completely FALSE to say all Volvo cars are made in China. The majority of Volvo cars are made outside of China. https://www.motortrend.com/features/where-is-volvo-made/

No, it won't, the election will be determined by the undecided voters in the swing states. Officials with the top pro-Harris super PAC said their polling “is much less rosy” than public surveys. Other Democratic pollsters noted that — even if their polling is right — Trump still maintains a lot of advantages. There are plenty of warning signs hidden in the data: A poll commissioned by the Democratic messaging firm Navigator Research and unveiled during the convention showed Harris and Trump essentially tied across the swing-state map. “Every year, we’ve had different curveballs. This is a difficult industry,” said John Anzalone, who was the lead pollster on Biden’s 2020 campaign. “Something’s gonna happen in 2024. You and I, right now, don’t know what that is.” https://www.politico.com/news/2024/08/22/democrat-pollsters-kamala-harris-00176065 Looks like the pollsters themselves are less confident than you, Danderman.

From your own link: "In his letter to the defence ministry, Lindner downplayed the impact of the move, suggesting that funds could be made available to Kyiv from frozen Russian central bank assets. Still, it’s unclear how those resources could be tapped amid ongoing legal issues, the FAZ reported. Under current plans, Germany’s military support for Ukraine — second only to the US, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy — is set to be almost halved next year and then reduced to less than a tenth of the current amount in 2027, the newspaper reported. " So not only is Germany halving its funding for Ukraine by half, in due course Germany plans to reduce funding to less than one tenth of the current funding.

Germany has stopped funding Ukraine by 50 percent, at best Ukraine will get 4 billion from Germany, not 8 as before. "Berlin, which is Europe's main supplier of military aid to Kyiv, had already signaled a change in course on Ukraine last month, when the governing coalition of the Social Democrats, the Greens and the Liberals adopted a preliminary deal on a draft budget for 2025. The compromise seen by POLITICO detailed plans to slash future assistance to Ukraine by half to €4 billion to fulfill other spending priorities." https://www.politico.eu/article/germany-halt-new-ukraine-military-aid-report-war-russia/

No car in the world is "ALL" Swedish. Or "ALL" German. Or "ALL" Chinese. Or "ALL" Japanese". Every single car in the world contains components from various countries. Including Chinese cars. However, Volvo cars are designed in Sweden, as before. The manufacturing direction and supervision comes from Sweden, as before. This is not the same case as MG. Geely has, smartly, allowed Volvo considerable independence to continue to retain the value of the Volvo brand. Volvo has retained independence from its Chinese shareholder which MG never had.

Not at all, Germany has stopped funding Ukraine to the same extent. Germany has HALVED its funding for Ukraine. Therefore Germany has stopped 50 percent of its funding for Ukraine. Thus, your statement that donor nations have not stopped funding for Ukraine is wrong. Countries in the West have limited resources. And even the major donor, the USA will be forced to re-evluate its funding in due course.

No. Volvo cars continue to be Swedish cars. Designed in Sweden, manufactured in Sweden and to the extent they're assembled in China, manufacturing directions are emanting from Sweden. Unlike MG, Volvo has scucceeded in retaining independence from Geely. You can certainly say MG cars are now Chinese cars, as they have nothing in common with previous British MG cars apart from the badge, design and manufacturing are directred from China. This is not the case with Volvo. When and if Volvo cars are ever designed in China and directions for manufacturing come from China, you can claim Volvo cars are Chinese cars. As of today Volvo cars very much continue to be Swedish cars. Even if a key shareholder is Chinese.

No it's not, polls cannot reflect how undecided voters in swing states will vote and they don't claim to. But this election will be determined by undecided voters in swing states. Hence, all these polls are of little value.

You are wrong, Brian. "The German government will stop new military aid to Ukraine as part of the ruling coalition's plan to reduce spending, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) reported on Saturday. The moratorium on new assistance is already in effect and will affect new requests for funding, not previously approved aid, according to the FAZ report, which cited non-public documents and emails as well as discussions with people familiar with the matter." https://www.politico.eu/article/germany-halt-new-ukraine-military-aid-report-war-russia/ Whilst it's true that Germany will use interest on Russian assets to pay for prior funding commitments Germany's new budget signals a German change of course and a plan to slash payments to Ukraine by half." "Berlin, which is Europe's main supplier of military aid to Kyiv, had already signaled a change in course on Ukraine last month, when the governing coalition of the Social Democrats, the Greens and the Liberals adopted a preliminary deal on a draft budget for 2025. The compromise seen by POLITICO detailed plans to slash future assistance to Ukraine by half to €4 billion to fulfill other spending priorities." https://www.politico.eu/article/germany-halt-new-ukraine-military-aid-report-war-russia/

Sadly for Harris though, the election will be determined by undecided voters in the swing states. The polls do not reflect how they will vote, so in terms of predicting the election these polls are of very little use.

If we're talking about polls, in 2012 polls suggested Mitt Romney's voters were more enthusiastic than Barack Obama voters. In the end Obama won. In the case of Harris, she has the new candidate shine now, but it's almost guaranteed that closer to the election her likeability will fall. The Trump campaign has already pushed millions of advertising painting her as a left liberal, and as scrutiny of her voting record happens closer to the election her record will guarantee that her current poll numbers will fall. https://www.politico.com/news/2024/08/14/kamala-harris-polls-donald-trump-00174050 Harris' record, she actually wrongfully convicted an innocent man, helped to set a man free that later killed, all these things will come back to haunt her. As will her lack of credibility on the main issue, the economy. I am not saying Trump will win for sure, however, this is a very close election and Harris' shiny new polls now don't mean a thing.

No, Volvo is not a Chinese car. It always was and today continues to be a Swedish car. Mercedes makes some cars in the USA, that does not make Mercedes an American car. Volvo cars are made in Sweden, and some, for the Asian market, are made in China, but according to Swedish designs and following directions from Sweden. "Volvo Cars has managed to stay separate from Geely despite having its majority shares owned by this Chinese multinational corporation. "This ownership structure has allowed Geely to support its resources behind Volvo’s global ambitions while enabling them to remain true Swedish brands at heart." https://www.autocango.com/blog-detail/Volvo-cars-ownership-Geely-connection Volvo is not the same as Britain's MG, which was completely transformed by the new Chinese owners. In the case of Volvo Geely is not a 100% owner and has decided to let Volvo act independently of the Geely brand. Volvo is very much separate from Geely. Volvo cars are still designed and made in Sweden. Only models for Asia are made in China. As you rightly observed, the specs on Volvos tend to be higher than on BYD cards, especially the safety specs. The higher specs, in my view, make Volvo better cars than BYD.

Quite so, there's any number of examples where polls were flatly contradicted by the final voting result. Most likely because the polls can not accurately account for what undecided voters will do and thus the polls do not include their numbers.

Indeed quite odd, I have never gone on about polls, even when Trump was way ahead with Biden. That was also meaningless, as this is a very close election it will be decided by undecided voters in the swing states. By definition the polls do not include their numbers in their figures, which makes the polls pretty meaningless for predicting election outcome.

Volvo is a Swedish car. Volvo Cars has managed to stay separate from Geely despite having its majority shares owned by this Chinese multinational corporation. The specs of a volvo are definitely higher than on BYD cars.

I predicted it and it's already starting. Donor nations to stop funding Ukraine: Germany's FAZ reports Germany to halt military aid to Ukraine. "Germany to halt new Ukraine military aid: Report The ban, which is already in place, will affect all new requests for assistance to Kyiv, Germany’s FAZ newspaper reported." https://www.politico.eu/article/germany-halt-new-ukraine-military-aid-report-war-russia/

I switched off after 2 minutes, her fake "I'm about to cry because of my own words" delivery was quite offputting. Just like her very obvious insincerity. She really comes across terrible as a speaker.

I would say the Volvo is miles better than any Chinese car out there, but as you say fantastically overpriced. And that's also for parts and servicing, just like the Porsche. Those costs are indeed ruinous.

Totally agree, they are fantastic cars, well specced cars. It's just the pricing would put me off, since it's not just the purchase price, but also a review found that maintenance of a volvo was about 100 USD above normal rates. The Volvo now is overpriced and expensive to maintain. But yes, a good price for a used one is definitely worth a look.