Best Of

A rock ribbed Republican, ex US military, and definitely straight white male friend of mine predicts catastrophe for the Trump administration.

He suggests that the issue is that the shock is taking time to get through. There are indeed many demonstrations taking place, though not widely reported, and the GOP town meetings are descending into open rebellion.

He believes that if Europe can do the right thing and save Ukraine, then the opposition to Trump will grow so strong that he cannot avoid the midterms which will be a crushing disaster for Trump. However if Trump even tries to suspend the elections, he will be removed from office immediately.

I see that Peter Zeihan and now increasingly many others are suggesting that Trump really is compromised by Putin and that may be a straw in the wind. '

By pushing back against Russia in Ukraine we are also reinforcing against the Quislings in Washington.

The situation is moving fast, and the damage being done to the USA could reach a full blown crisis even as early as this Summer.

The real conservatives are as shocked at the current turn of events as anyone else. I note that, as always, Liz Truss has backed the wrong horse. The fate of Trump could be the same as Truss, just on a slower but more dramatic timeline.

A rock ribbed Republican, ex US military, and definitely straight white male friend of mine predicts catastrophe for the Trump administration.

He suggests that the issue is that the shock is taking time to get through. There are indeed many demonstrations taking place, though not widely reported, and the GOP town meetings are descending into open rebellion.

He believes that if Europe can do the right thing and save Ukraine, then the opposition to Trump will grow so strong that he cannot avoid the midterms which will be a crushing disaster for Trump. However if Trump even tries to suspend the elections, he will be removed from office immediately.

I see that Peter Zeihan and now increasingly many others are suggesting that Trump really is compromised by Putin and that may be a straw in the wind. '

By pushing back against Russia in Ukraine we are also reinforcing against the Quislings in Washington.

The situation is moving fast, and the damage being done to the USA could reach a full blown crisis even as early as this Summer.

The real conservatives are as shocked at the current turn of events as anyone else. I note that, as always, Liz Truss has backed the wrong horse. The fate of Trump could be the same as Truss, just on a slower but more dramatic timeline.

Trump should last longer than Truss, American lettuces will be genetically modified.

Buying Starlink when Musk can turn it off if he does not like you is not a smart move. In fact, buying any US-made or owned defence/security related product is probably not a great idea if there is any residual after-sale reliance on the manufacturer. Buying a Tesla is different because there are no real post-purchase dependency concerns but there is the association with Musk and that will clearly affect the choices a lot of people make.

I'm one consumer. My business bought Starlink a couple of years ago and despite claims to the contrary it is consistently faster than any other option available.

Lets assume that Musk switches it off tomorrow. I revert back to an alternative. Same if he turns it off next month. Next year. If that happens then we revert back to the slower laggier alternatives, but have had the benefit of the superior faster product.

I'm unclear where the downsides are.

In politics there is a real problem with dismissing real world lived experience because actually I know more than you and actually the stats show that what you have in the real world you actually don't actually.

I think Horse is a great poster but repeatedly he has told me that my lived experience of using Starlink isn't real. Translate that into politics and we have the Tories putting up taxes and trying to tell people that the big tax rise eating into their net pay on their payslip is actually a cut actually, or one of a myriad of Labour topics where they are right and the voters are wrong. I can still picture the Momentum activist literally finger jabbing at a guy on his doorstep berating him about how he was wrong about the stuff he was saying about his life.

The header is about Reform - and they're doing very well by not falling into this trap of telling people they are wrong when they describe their lives. We can disagree with a political or philosophical perspective, but when that translates into insisting that lived experience is wrong then you've lost.

I think that’s unfair. I am very glad Starlink works for you. My point was simply that the latency is not reliable and not comparable to other solutions. If it works for you then great.

I am not trying to deny your lived experience, what I am denying is that it is a solution that can work for the vast majority. That is all.

Once again, this is purely a technical argument. I’d make the same arguments about OneWeb.

As I’ve said repeatedly: use Starlink as you wish. The fact you’re being told not to by a bunch of virtue signallers is becoming very boring.

There is a problem though. Your industry take is pro cellular. Great - we all want faster and more reliable service.

You went way beyond that. You've insisted that Starlink's latency is so horrible as to ask "How do you use Starlink for meetings"

I'm not sure what industrial uses you are considering it unsuitable for. For small business and consumer?

Again again. It is Fast. It is reliable. It has low latency. It does the things you say it can't do.

Whereas the things you are advocating cannot. But you've repeatedly and stridently insisted you're right on this subject. Yes - from your perspective with your chosen bias and your chosen selective usage model.

This is precisely the point I am making about politics. You cannot tell someone they are wrong when they're describing how things in their lives work for them - with the exception of someone insisting we're all controlled by aliens or something. For the rest, its qui bono?

I’ve already explained to you. It’s not usable at scale. It cannot in any way replace a mast with a 10Gb fibre running to it.

I don’t think you are wrong to use it. I am happy it works for you. I think you are wrong to advocate for it as something that can replace 4G/5G or FTTP for more than a few hundred people.

That's not what you said. I am not using it at scale. I am using a single terminal. "How do you use Starlink for meetings" because "the latency is horrible"

But it isn't. If you are suggesting that it *might* be horrible and usable in the future if it scaled to millions of UK users then ok. But you didn't say that. You said it isn't usable today and proceeded to sell 4G/5G which as you just said it can't replace.

But it can replace. I have no 5G to replace, only 4G. And Starlink is waaaaay faster and more reliable.

Can it replace a mast with 10Gb fibre? No! Am I ever likely to get a mast with 10Gb fibre? No!

Starlink is not supposed to be a replacement for other systems. It's a supplement to those systems where they don't exist. And at no point have I suggested that someone like my Lincolnshire mate bin his 5G router for Starlink - that would be stupid.

Do you get it yet? "FTTP will cover 99% of households by 2030". OK, lets assume that's true. I can't wait until 2030. And neither can most people without it. And the alternatives you prefer don't exist here, and in all likelihood won't come here.

You are literally denying lived reality today to sell a future that is vapourware.

Can you hold this discussion for about 20 minutes lads. I don't want to miss any of it but I've found something more important and interesting that I just need to do.