We dodged Mordaunt, who I really liked, but who we now know would have had a very difficult time for reasons that are not her fault. We dodged Sunak, who whilst he had many personal qualities, would have taken a 'take your medicine' approach to recession and economic contraction, and been even worse. We mocked Truss (I did anyway), but actually we've ended up with someone who is passionate about our country prospering, and is prepared to have a scrap if necessary. It shows fate knows a lot better than we do at times.
Yes, I am pessimistic - as I’ve said - about Tory chances in 2024. Time for a change seems like the overriding sentiment, and I can see why
However, of all the Tory candidates Truss is the one who might just turn it around. She has a long history of being underestimated. She seems gritty, self confident, determined and not entirely lacking in charisma. If I was a Labour strategist, I’d be nervous
Could I point out something to the ludicrous Dynamo on the last thread who wanted a referendum on the monarchy on the basis of one poll with a landslide 61% still in favour of the monarchy.
Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in. It would be ludicrous to give it up
Why the fuck would you bother responding to anything Dynamo posts with anything but contempt. It’s a Troll and you can give him oxygen or stab him in the vitals. Stick to the latter.
Hopefully Truss' response to this week's events will give her some gravitas. While her cost of living proposals will make a difference
I think she has been overshadowed somewhat by Boris Johnsons speech to parliament about the Queen which was one of his best .
Are most people watching the speeches? I know lots of ardent monarchists around here, who are properly sad - as as quite a few non-monarchists - but I don't know anyone who is following all the eulogies and retrospectives - everyone says it's just too much, and *especially* when they're sad. Quite a few saw Charles, and catch oddments on the radio, but most seem to be putting it aside for their private lives.
Boris was, deliciously, upstaged on humour by his predecessor.
Hopefully Truss' response to this week's events will give her some gravitas. While her cost of living proposals will make a difference
I think she has been overshadowed somewhat by Boris Johnsons speech to parliament about the Queen which was one of his best .
No she wasn't.
His speech which he had clearly spent hours and hours preparing for his eulogy whilst still PM was, as you say, one of his best, but sadly for him he is now yesterday's man and it doesn't matter. He is merely a footnote in the precedings just like May, Cameron, Brown, Blair and Major.
Like her or loathe her, Truss is the one in the driving seat through the events of the next fortnight, and Johnson isn't even a passenger, he's more like a hitch hiker.
Hopefully Truss' response to this week's events will give her some gravitas. While her cost of living proposals will make a difference
I think she has been overshadowed somewhat by Boris Johnsons speech to parliament about the Queen which was one of his best .
Are most people watching the speeches? I know lots of ardent monarchists around here, who are properly sad - as as quite a few non-monarchists - but I don't know anyone who is following all the eulogies and retrospectives - everyone says it's just too much, and *especially* when they're sad. Quite a few saw Charles, and catch oddments on the radio, but most seem to be putting it aside for their private lives.
I have had a busy day, but it is so repetitive. What more is there to know about the most famous woman in the world?
Hopefully Truss' response to this week's events will give her some gravitas. While her cost of living proposals will make a difference
I think she has been overshadowed somewhat by Boris Johnsons speech to parliament about the Queen which was one of his best .
Are most people watching the speeches? I know lots of ardent monarchists around here, who are properly sad - as as quite a few non-monarchists - but I don't know anyone who is following all the eulogies and retrospectives - everyone says it's just too much, and *especially* when they're sad. Quite a few saw Charles, and catch oddments on the radio, but most seem to be putting it aside for their private lives.
Boris was, deliciously, upstaged on humour by his predecessor.
Best speech remains that of Macron.
Best speech was that pre-recorded by the Queen herself and aired in the Jubilee and re-aired repeatedly in recent days.
Paddington Bear, ending with a lifting of the hat and "thank you, for everything".
I was looking at info on the Father of the House (as you do). He was elected in a 1975 by-election, the page for which has some amusing nuggets in it.
This was the first by-election the Conservatives fought under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher, who abandoned a precedent that party leaders did not campaign in by-elections, by personally canvassing in support of Bottomley.[1] Writing in The Glasgow Herald political correspondent John Warden stated that the victory would boost Mrs Thatcher by silencing "mutterings about her leadership" for at least a few months
Risk of tactical nuclear escalation is probably the highest it’s been since March.
What madman liked this post?
Its a good point though. People think that 'Putin is being pushed back', and that 'Russia poses no conventional military threat to Europe'; but they just haven't thought it through.
We have.
Putin being pushed back doesn't threaten nuclear war.
If Putin tried to suggest launching nukes when his Generals know he has lost a crazy war, he would be on a crash course of learning how to fly from an upper story window faster than you can say defenestration.
This is complete speculation, because we know almost nothing about the generals and what is going on inside the Kremlin. Certainly there is a longstanding idea that no one would execute the order to start a nuclear war, but as for 'tactical nukes', then I think that this is actually part of Russian Military Doctrine, that they can be used to defend land that they claim; and I think this is probably behind the original comment about fear of tactical nuclear escalation.
All goes back to the discussion earlier; 'careful what you wish for'.
Early on in the war, we were all talking about how the oligarchs wouldn't stand to see their fortunes sanctioned, how some sort of palace coup was inevitable, and so on. But all the evidence from the last few months suggests that Putin is in complete control of both government and military and nobody dares oppose him.
Would anyone in his government or armed forces oppose him if he ordered the use of a battlefield nuke? I'd argue that, based on what we've seen, no.
The question then becomes, would he be mad enough to issue the order? The answer probably lies in his calculation of what the west would do in response. Would we intervene with boots on the ground? How quickly could such a situation escalate into a full-blown nuclear exchange? If he rightly or wrongly assumes we wouldn't dare escalate, then it's his only trump card in a battle he can't otherwise win. A way to tell the world - "do as I say, because now the gloves are off".
Unfortunately I have to concur with Tims' original comment - that the risk of nuclear escalation is the highest it's been since the conflict began.
Hard to disagree with this...
But.
I think it is China who matters here. And I think China is absolutely terrified that Russia might use nukes. Because Russia using nukes - and there being no consequences - means the Japanese and the Taiwanese and the Baltic states are all going to want nukes.
Could I point out something to the ludicrous Dynamo on the last thread who wanted a referendum on the monarchy on the basis of one poll with a landslide 61% still in favour of the monarchy.
Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in. It would be absurd to give it up
FFS I thought you were a patriot?
“Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in.”
What ARE you talking about? The UK is a phenomenally effective soft power, and a pretty consequential hard power - with the 6th largest economy in the world
But it’s our soft power which truly impresses, from some of the world’s best universities to the world’s most popular sports league to the home of the world’s most spoken language (which much that comes from this) to a mighty tradition in all the arts, pop music to theatre, Harry Potter to Harry Styles
You need to get out more. Only then do you realise the powerful puissant sway of that small, rainy archipelago off northwest Europe
We dodged Mordaunt, who I really liked, but who we now know would have had a very difficult time for reasons that are not her fault. We dodged Sunak, who whilst he had many personal qualities, would have taken a 'take your medicine' approach to recession and economic contraction, and been even worse. We mocked Truss (I did anyway), but actually we've ended up with someone who is passionate about our country prospering, and is prepared to have a scrap if necessary. It shows fate knows a lot better than we do at times.
Yes, I am pessimistic - as I’ve said - about Tory chances in 2024. Time for a change seems like the overriding sentiment, and I can see why
However, of all the Tory candidates Truss is the one who might just turn it around. She has a long history of being underestimated. She seems gritty, self confident, determined and not entirely lacking in charisma. If I was a Labour strategist, I’d be nervous
You could be right, but I'm not sure there's a positive (or let's face it any) change that Starmer would bring. Even his big windfall tax just turns out to be a few more billion on top of Sunak's windfall tax. He has improved recently don't get me wrong - and he should continue to have policies. But I think Truss represents more of a departure from the Boris years than Starmer.
Hopefully Truss' response to this week's events will give her some gravitas. While her cost of living proposals will make a difference
I think she has been overshadowed somewhat by Boris Johnsons speech to parliament about the Queen which was one of his best .
Are most people watching the speeches? I know lots of ardent monarchists around here, who are properly sad - as as quite a few non-monarchists - but I don't know anyone who is following all the eulogies and retrospectives - everyone says it's just too much, and *especially* when they're sad. Quite a few saw Charles, and catch oddments on the radio, but most seem to be putting it aside for their private lives.
I have had a busy day, but it is so repetitive. What more is there to know about the most famous woman in the world?
No one could absorb all the coverage, but its a smorgasbord of monarchical content to sample from as and when the mood strikes.
Weather Report - Here in Seattle we are blessedly removed from the intense, persistent heat wave parked over California.
HOWEVER, we are getting some rather wacky weather of our own.
For past week it's been pretty nice, cool in morning, warm but not hot in the afternoon, often starting out cloudy (or foggy) then clearing out in late morning.
BUT in past several days, the skies have started to get a bit hazy, due to smoke from forest fires, some in Eastern Washington but most much farther afield, esp. California.
Today is different, however, because wind has shifted and now coming from north. Meaning NOT less smoke, but MORE, this time from British Columbia. And smoke is now closer to the ground AND more of it. To point where you can start to smell it when you go outside AND see the drop in air quality on various websites, such as below:
PLUS due to shift in winds, brought on by class of weather fronts & dip in jet stream, the high temperature in Seattle for Saturday is forecast to hit 90 F or thereabouts. And remain hot through Sunday.
Good news is that yet another shift in weather & wind will mean that Monday is both cooler AND clearer, with the smoke getting pushed out.
In the meantime, here in the Emerald City, dig out your N94 masks!
Could I point out something to the ludicrous Dynamo on the last thread who wanted a referendum on the monarchy on the basis of one poll with a landslide 61% still in favour of the monarchy.
Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in. It would be absurd to give it up
FFS I thought you were a patriot?
“Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in.”
What ARE you talking about? The UK is a phenomenally effective soft power, and a pretty consequential hard power - with the 6th largest economy in the world
But it’s our soft power which truly impresses, from some of the world’s best universities to the world’s most popular sports league to the home of the world’s most spoken language (which much that comes from this) to a mighty tradition in all the arts, pop music to theatre, Harry Potter to Harry Styles
You need to get out more. Only then do you realise the powerful puissant sway of that small, rainy archipelago off northwest Europe
It's baffling, isn't it, that we still have some of the world's best universities when they are so infested by ludicrous wokeness and CRT? At least, that's what I've read in The Spectator and elsewhere.
Hopefully Truss' response to this week's events will give her some gravitas. While her cost of living proposals will make a difference
I think she has been overshadowed somewhat by Boris Johnsons speech to parliament about the Queen which was one of his best .
Are most people watching the speeches? I know lots of ardent monarchists around here, who are properly sad - as as quite a few non-monarchists - but I don't know anyone who is following all the eulogies and retrospectives - everyone says it's just too much, and *especially* when they're sad. Quite a few saw Charles, and catch oddments on the radio, but most seem to be putting it aside for their private lives.
I have had a busy day, but it is so repetitive. What more is there to know about the most famous woman in the world?
No one could absorb all the coverage, but its a smorgasbord of monarchical content to sample from as and when the mood strikes.
Yes, quite
I am abroad but I dip in and out, as and when I feel sad or curious or whatever. It’s like a 24/7 buffet of mourning, and maybe that is how it should it be. No one is forced to consume anything, but it is there if you want it
It is an epochal moment in the nation’s life, it will take time to digest
Could I point out something to the ludicrous Dynamo on the last thread who wanted a referendum on the monarchy on the basis of one poll with a landslide 61% still in favour of the monarchy.
Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in. It would be absurd to give it up
FFS I thought you were a patriot?
“Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in.”
What ARE you talking about? The UK is a phenomenally effective soft power, and a pretty consequential hard power - with the 6th largest economy in the world
But it’s our soft power which truly impresses, from some of the world’s best universities to the world’s most popular sports league to the home of the world’s most spoken language (which much that comes from this) to a mighty tradition in all the arts, pop music to theatre, Harry Potter to Harry Styles
You need to get out more. Only then do you realise the powerful puissant sway of that small, rainy archipelago off northwest Europe
6th largest economy is not first though is it. Even Oxford and Cambridge are behind Stanford and MIT or Harvard in most global university league tables. More speak Mandarin than English as their first language. We have not won the World Cup since 1966 and most players in the Premier league are foreign, we just host it.
The arts centre is still Hollywood and increasingly China even if we have some good theatres and actors and musicians most Oscar and Grammy winners are still American. So yes, my point stands, we do well I many things relative to our size as you say. Yet the only thing we are still global no 1 on is the best known and recognised Royal family, as the global coverage of the last few days confirms
Hopefully Truss' response to this week's events will give her some gravitas. While her cost of living proposals will make a difference
I think she has been overshadowed somewhat by Boris Johnsons speech to parliament about the Queen which was one of his best .
Are most people watching the speeches? I know lots of ardent monarchists around here, who are properly sad - as as quite a few non-monarchists - but I don't know anyone who is following all the eulogies and retrospectives - everyone says it's just too much, and *especially* when they're sad. Quite a few saw Charles, and catch oddments on the radio, but most seem to be putting it aside for their private lives.
I have had a busy day, but it is so repetitive. What more is there to know about the most famous woman in the world?
No one could absorb all the coverage, but its a smorgasbord of monarchical content to sample from as and when the mood strikes.
We dodged Mordaunt, who I really liked, but who we now know would have had a very difficult time for reasons that are not her fault. We dodged Sunak, who whilst he had many personal qualities, would have taken a 'take your medicine' approach to recession and economic contraction, and been even worse. We mocked Truss (I did anyway), but actually we've ended up with someone who is passionate about our country prospering, and is prepared to have a scrap if necessary. It shows fate knows a lot better than we do at times.
Yes, I am pessimistic - as I’ve said - about Tory chances in 2024. Time for a change seems like the overriding sentiment, and I can see why
However, of all the Tory candidates Truss is the one who might just turn it around. She has a long history of being underestimated. She seems gritty, self confident, determined and not entirely lacking in charisma. If I was a Labour strategist, I’d be nervous
And, she may be lucky, if indeed, the Russian army is about to be routed, and energy prices fall.
PB Tories will say "polls don't matter" until one shows the Tories going forward, then they will be important again!!!!
Look, either fucking engage with individual posters, or post original and interesting thoughts of your own, or fuck off. There is NOTHING more fucking tedious than non specific sniping at "pb Tories" for what you very unimaginatively expect them to say rather than anything they actually do say.
Especially when he has a history of posting selectively on polling, only ever mentioning the bits that Labour are doing well or the Tories badly.
We dodged Mordaunt, who I really liked, but who we now know would have had a very difficult time for reasons that are not her fault. We dodged Sunak, who whilst he had many personal qualities, would have taken a 'take your medicine' approach to recession and economic contraction, and been even worse. We mocked Truss (I did anyway), but actually we've ended up with someone who is passionate about our country prospering, and is prepared to have a scrap if necessary. It shows fate knows a lot better than we do at times.
Yes, I am pessimistic - as I’ve said - about Tory chances in 2024. Time for a change seems like the overriding sentiment, and I can see why
However, of all the Tory candidates Truss is the one who might just turn it around. She has a long history of being underestimated. She seems gritty, self confident, determined and not entirely lacking in charisma. If I was a Labour strategist, I’d be nervous
You could be right, but I'm not sure there's a positive (or let's face it any) change that Starmer would bring. Even his big windfall tax just turns out to be a few more billion on top of Sunak's windfall tax. He has improved recently don't get me wrong - and he should continue to have policies. But I think Truss represents more of a departure from the Boris years than Starmer.
I know this won’t be to your taste, but. To several million people in the professional classes a more pragmatic and constructive relationship with the EU will be change enough.
To a few million others the prospect of a bit more priority for public services over tax cuts will appeal. Now Blair is partially rehabilitated on the left they’ll be able to remind people of some of his pre-Iraq successes.
This is the risk for the conservatives. Just as Labour managed to burn its bridges with the traditional working class while piling up middle class votes in the wrong places, so the Tories may find themselves losing the red wall with their new full fat Thatcherite ideology while failing to win back the Home Counties because of their approach to Europe. Piling up votes in Essex, Lincolnshire and Medway is as inefficient as doing so in Hackney and Islington.
Could I point out something to the ludicrous Dynamo on the last thread who wanted a referendum on the monarchy on the basis of one poll with a landslide 61% still in favour of the monarchy.
Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in. It would be absurd to give it up
FFS I thought you were a patriot?
“Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in.”
What ARE you talking about? The UK is a phenomenally effective soft power, and a pretty consequential hard power - with the 6th largest economy in the world
But it’s our soft power which truly impresses, from some of the world’s best universities to the world’s most popular sports league to the home of the world’s most spoken language (which much that comes from this) to a mighty tradition in all the arts, pop music to theatre, Harry Potter to Harry Styles
You need to get out more. Only then do you realise the powerful puissant sway of that small, rainy archipelago off northwest Europe
6th largest economy is not first though is it. Even Oxford and Cambridge are behind Stanford and MIT or Harvard in most global university league tables. More speak Mandarin than English. We have not won the World Cup since 1966 and most players in the Premier league are foreign, we just host it.
The arts centre is still Hollywood and increasingly China even if we have some good theatres and actors and musicians most Oscar and Grammy winners are still American. So yes, my point stands, we do well I many things relative to our size as you say. Yet the only thing we are still global no 1 on is the best known and recognised Royal family, as the global coverage of the last few days confirms
We dodged Mordaunt, who I really liked, but who we now know would have had a very difficult time for reasons that are not her fault. We dodged Sunak, who whilst he had many personal qualities, would have taken a 'take your medicine' approach to recession and economic contraction, and been even worse. We mocked Truss (I did anyway), but actually we've ended up with someone who is passionate about our country prospering, and is prepared to have a scrap if necessary. It shows fate knows a lot better than we do at times.
Yes, I am pessimistic - as I’ve said - about Tory chances in 2024. Time for a change seems like the overriding sentiment, and I can see why
However, of all the Tory candidates Truss is the one who might just turn it around. She has a long history of being underestimated. She seems gritty, self confident, determined and not entirely lacking in charisma. If I was a Labour strategist, I’d be nervous
Anything can happen in two years. Compare 1981 with 1983.
Could I point out something to the ludicrous Dynamo on the last thread who wanted a referendum on the monarchy on the basis of one poll with a landslide 61% still in favour of the monarchy.
Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in. It would be absurd to give it up
FFS I thought you were a patriot?
“Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in.”
What ARE you talking about? The UK is a phenomenally effective soft power, and a pretty consequential hard power - with the 6th largest economy in the world
But it’s our soft power which truly impresses, from some of the world’s best universities to the world’s most popular sports league to the home of the world’s most spoken language (which much that comes from this) to a mighty tradition in all the arts, pop music to theatre, Harry Potter to Harry Styles
You need to get out more. Only then do you realise the powerful puissant sway of that small, rainy archipelago off northwest Europe
6th largest economy is not first though is it. Even Oxford and Cambridge are behind Stanford and MIT or Harvard in most global university league tables. More speak Mandarin than English. We have not won the World Cup since 1966 and most players in the Premier league are foreign, we just host it.
The arts centre is still Hollywood and increasingly China even if we have some good theatres and actors
No, we no longer rule 1/3 of the world. But nor does anyone else. Moreover, we had THE BIGGEST EMPIRE THERE HAS EVER BEEN OR EVER WILL BE. They can’t take that way from us, and no one will ever match it now. YAY Britain and GO England
Given the tiny size of the UK geographically and demographically, it is outstandingly consequential in world affairs
The only nation that matches us per capita or per sq km is Israel
Indeed I would say they are the two most influential races in world affairs and human history. The Jews and the English. Discuss
Risk of tactical nuclear escalation is probably the highest it’s been since March.
What madman liked this post?
Its a good point though. People think that 'Putin is being pushed back', and that 'Russia poses no conventional military threat to Europe'; but they just haven't thought it through.
We have.
Putin being pushed back doesn't threaten nuclear war.
If Putin tried to suggest launching nukes when his Generals know he has lost a crazy war, he would be on a crash course of learning how to fly from an upper story window faster than you can say defenestration.
This is complete speculation, because we know almost nothing about the generals and what is going on inside the Kremlin. Certainly there is a longstanding idea that no one would execute the order to start a nuclear war, but as for 'tactical nukes', then I think that this is actually part of Russian Military Doctrine, that they can be used to defend land that they claim; and I think this is probably behind the original comment about fear of tactical nuclear escalation.
All goes back to the discussion earlier; 'careful what you wish for'.
Early on in the war, we were all talking about how the oligarchs wouldn't stand to see their fortunes sanctioned, how some sort of palace coup was inevitable, and so on. But all the evidence from the last few months suggests that Putin is in complete control of both government and military and nobody dares oppose him.
Would anyone in his government or armed forces oppose him if he ordered the use of a battlefield nuke? I'd argue that, based on what we've seen, no.
The question then becomes, would he be mad enough to issue the order? The answer probably lies in his calculation of what the west would do in response. Would we intervene with boots on the ground? How quickly could such a situation escalate into a full-blown nuclear exchange? If he rightly or wrongly assumes we wouldn't dare escalate, then it's his only trump card in a battle he can't otherwise win. A way to tell the world - "do as I say, because now the gloves are off".
Unfortunately I have to concur with Tims' original comment - that the risk of nuclear escalation is the highest it's been since the conflict began.
Hard to disagree with this...
But.
I think it is China who matters here. And I think China is absolutely terrified that Russia might use nukes. Because Russia using nukes - and there being no consequences - means the Japanese and the Taiwanese and the Baltic states are all going to want nukes.
A fair point.
Then I suppose the final question is, is Putin a rational actor or is he the type to flip the chess board and kick the table over when he loses?
Kremlinology is anyone's guess, but despite being paranoid and at times clearly badly informed, Putin still strikes me as a rational player rather than a madman.
The question is whether he will remain rational if/when it's clear he's losing in Ukraine, and what the options are for a way out of the conflict before that happens.
Assuming he retains his grip on internal power, I can't imagine the war ending without him having some way of saving face. But the Ukrainians have made it pretty clear they will fight until every Russian is pushed back to the 2014 border - rightly so. So there is a risk that Putin becomes less rational in defeat than he is behaving now.
Could I point out something to the ludicrous Dynamo on the last thread who wanted a referendum on the monarchy on the basis of one poll with a landslide 61% still in favour of the monarchy.
Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in. It would be absurd to give it up
FFS I thought you were a patriot?
“Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in.”
What ARE you talking about? The UK is a phenomenally effective soft power, and a pretty consequential hard power - with the 6th largest economy in the world
But it’s our soft power which truly impresses, from some of the world’s best universities to the world’s most popular sports league to the home of the world’s most spoken language (which much that comes from this) to a mighty tradition in all the arts, pop music to theatre, Harry Potter to Harry Styles
You need to get out more. Only then do you realise the powerful puissant sway of that small, rainy archipelago off northwest Europe
6th largest economy is not first though is it. Even Oxford and Cambridge are behind Stanford and MIT or Harvard in most global university league tables. More speak Mandarin than English. We have not won the World Cup since 1966 and most players in the Premier league are foreign, we just host it.
The arts centre is still Hollywood and increasingly China even if we have some good theatres and actors and musicians most Oscar and Grammy winners are still American. So yes, my point stands, we do well I many things relative to our size as you say. Yet the only thing we are still global no 1 on is the best known and recognised Royal family, as the global coverage of the last few days confirms
We dodged Mordaunt, who I really liked, but who we now know would have had a very difficult time for reasons that are not her fault. We dodged Sunak, who whilst he had many personal qualities, would have taken a 'take your medicine' approach to recession and economic contraction, and been even worse. We mocked Truss (I did anyway), but actually we've ended up with someone who is passionate about our country prospering, and is prepared to have a scrap if necessary. It shows fate knows a lot better than we do at times.
Yes, I am pessimistic - as I’ve said - about Tory chances in 2024. Time for a change seems like the overriding sentiment, and I can see why
However, of all the Tory candidates Truss is the one who might just turn it around. She has a long history of being underestimated. She seems gritty, self confident, determined and not entirely lacking in charisma. If I was a Labour strategist, I’d be nervous
You could be right, but I'm not sure there's a positive (or let's face it any) change that Starmer would bring. Even his big windfall tax just turns out to be a few more billion on top of Sunak's windfall tax. He has improved recently don't get me wrong - and he should continue to have policies. But I think Truss represents more of a departure from the Boris years than Starmer.
I know this won’t be to your taste, but. To several million people in the professional classes a more pragmatic and constructive relationship with the EU will be change enough.
Quite wrong - a pragmatic and constructive relationship with the EU would be fabulous, and has been lacking for the past 40 years at least. I do however feel that our definitions of pragmatic and constructive 'may vary'.
Could I point out something to the ludicrous Dynamo on the last thread who wanted a referendum on the monarchy on the basis of one poll with a landslide 61% still in favour of the monarchy.
Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in. It would be absurd to give it up
FFS I thought you were a patriot?
“Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in.”
What ARE you talking about? The UK is a phenomenally effective soft power, and a pretty consequential hard power - with the 6th largest economy in the world
But it’s our soft power which truly impresses, from some of the world’s best universities to the world’s most popular sports league to the home of the world’s most spoken language (which much that comes from this) to a mighty tradition in all the arts, pop music to theatre, Harry Potter to Harry Styles
You need to get out more. Only then do you realise the powerful puissant sway of that small, rainy archipelago off northwest Europe
6th largest economy is not first though is it. Even Oxford and Cambridge are behind Stanford and MIT or Harvard in most global university league tables. More speak Mandarin than English. We have not won the World Cup since 1966 and most players in the Premier league are foreign, we just host it.
The arts centre is still Hollywood and increasingly China even if we have some good theatres and actors
No, we no longer rule 1/3 of the world. But nor does anyone else. Moreover, we had THE BIGGEST EMPIRE THERE HAS EVER BEEN OR EVER WILL BE. They can’t take that way from us, and no one will ever match it now. YAY Britain and GO England
Given the tiny size of the UK geographically and demographically, it is outstandingly consequential in world affairs
The only nation that matches us per capita or per sq km is Israel
Indeed I would say they are the two most influential races in world affairs and human history. The Jews and the English. Discuss
Could I point out something to the ludicrous Dynamo on the last thread who wanted a referendum on the monarchy on the basis of one poll with a landslide 61% still in favour of the monarchy.
Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in. It would be absurd to give it up
FFS I thought you were a patriot?
“Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in.”
What ARE you talking about? The UK is a phenomenally effective soft power, and a pretty consequential hard power - with the 6th largest economy in the world
But it’s our soft power which truly impresses, from some of the world’s best universities to the world’s most popular sports league to the home of the world’s most spoken language (which much that comes from this) to a mighty tradition in all the arts, pop music to theatre, Harry Potter to Harry Styles
You need to get out more. Only then do you realise the powerful puissant sway of that small, rainy archipelago off northwest Europe
6th largest economy is not first though is it. Even Oxford and Cambridge are behind Stanford and MIT or Harvard in most global university league tables. More speak Mandarin than English. We have not won the World Cup since 1966 and most players in the Premier league are foreign, we just host it.
The arts centre is still Hollywood and increasingly China even if we have some good theatres and actors and musicians most Oscar and Grammy winners are still American. So yes, my point stands, we do well I many things relative to our size as you say. Yet the only thing we are still global no 1 on is the best known and recognised Royal family, as the global coverage of the last few days confirms
Using nuclear weapons creates a very serious, unpredictable risk of that not continuing to be the case. The threats to him would be so numerous as to be wholly impossible to plan against.
Mass mobilisation surely a safer option if he was to escalate things.
Could I point out something to the ludicrous Dynamo on the last thread who wanted a referendum on the monarchy on the basis of one poll with a landslide 61% still in favour of the monarchy.
Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in. It would be absurd to give it up
FFS I thought you were a patriot?
“Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in.”
What ARE you talking about? The UK is a phenomenally effective soft power, and a pretty consequential hard power - with the 6th largest economy in the world
But it’s our soft power which truly impresses, from some of the world’s best universities to the world’s most popular sports league to the home of the world’s most spoken language (which much that comes from this) to a mighty tradition in all the arts, pop music to theatre, Harry Potter to Harry Styles
You need to get out more. Only then do you realise the powerful puissant sway of that small, rainy archipelago off northwest Europe
6th largest economy is not first though is it. Even Oxford and Cambridge are behind Stanford and MIT or Harvard in most global university league tables. More speak Mandarin than English. We have not won the World Cup since 1966 and most players in the Premier league are foreign, we just host it.
The arts centre is still Hollywood and increasingly China even if we have some good theatres and actors and musicians most Oscar and Grammy winners are still American. So yes, my point stands, we do well I many things relative to our size as you say. Yet the only thing we are still global no 1 on is the best known and recognised Royal family, as the global coverage of the last few days confirms
English is a lingua franca, unlike Mandarin. English literature is pretty well dominant, across the world.
Let’s be honest though, American is the lingua franca.
But that’s actually not true. It’s glib
American English and British English duke it out worldwide, I am not at all sure American English prevails indeed I’d say British English maintains a healthy advantage
See the new Game of Thrones and LOTR, the biggest new TV drama series on the planet. British accents, British themes, British stories, British actors, British English
American money, but no one cares about that. The premium version of the language is British
Risk of tactical nuclear escalation is probably the highest it’s been since March.
What madman liked this post?
Its a good point though. People think that 'Putin is being pushed back', and that 'Russia poses no conventional military threat to Europe'; but they just haven't thought it through.
We have.
Putin being pushed back doesn't threaten nuclear war.
If Putin tried to suggest launching nukes when his Generals know he has lost a crazy war, he would be on a crash course of learning how to fly from an upper story window faster than you can say defenestration.
This is complete speculation, because we know almost nothing about the generals and what is going on inside the Kremlin. Certainly there is a longstanding idea that no one would execute the order to start a nuclear war, but as for 'tactical nukes', then I think that this is actually part of Russian Military Doctrine, that they can be used to defend land that they claim; and I think this is probably behind the original comment about fear of tactical nuclear escalation.
All goes back to the discussion earlier; 'careful what you wish for'.
Early on in the war, we were all talking about how the oligarchs wouldn't stand to see their fortunes sanctioned, how some sort of palace coup was inevitable, and so on. But all the evidence from the last few months suggests that Putin is in complete control of both government and military and nobody dares oppose him.
Would anyone in his government or armed forces oppose him if he ordered the use of a battlefield nuke? I'd argue that, based on what we've seen, no.
The question then becomes, would he be mad enough to issue the order? The answer probably lies in his calculation of what the west would do in response. Would we intervene with boots on the ground? How quickly could such a situation escalate into a full-blown nuclear exchange? If he rightly or wrongly assumes we wouldn't dare escalate, then it's his only trump card in a battle he can't otherwise win. A way to tell the world - "do as I say, because now the gloves are off".
Unfortunately I have to concur with Tims' original comment - that the risk of nuclear escalation is the highest it's been since the conflict began.
Hard to disagree with this...
But.
I think it is China who matters here. And I think China is absolutely terrified that Russia might use nukes. Because Russia using nukes - and there being no consequences - means the Japanese and the Taiwanese and the Baltic states are all going to want nukes.
A fair point.
Then I suppose the final question is, is Putin a rational actor or is he the type to flip the chess board and kick the table over when he loses?
Kremlinology is anyone's guess, but despite being paranoid and at times clearly badly informed, Putin still strikes me as a rational player rather than a madman.
The question is whether he will remain rational if/when it's clear he's losing in Ukraine, and what the options are for a way out of the conflict before that happens.
Assuming he retains his grip on internal power, I can't imagine the war ending without him having some way of saving face. But the Ukrainians have made it pretty clear they will fight until every Russian is pushed back to the 2014 border - rightly so. So there is a risk that Putin becomes less rational in defeat than he is behaving now.
We wouldn't go to nuclear war with Russia unless a NATO nation was hit. If Putin used a tactical nuke on Ukraine it would lead to increased sanctions and arms supplies and Russia isolated internationally but it would not lead to MAD
I rather like her. And I think she would be a good PM in “normal” times
But she is sailing into overwhelming headwinds and, after 12 years, the public wants the Tories out. That’s it. Sunak would not have done any better. The Tories are doomed
Yes, I quite like her too - she and Starmer treat us like adults at a debate, whereas Johnson treated us like kids at a circus. I think the headwinds will abate somewhat and she'll do better than expected, but not enough to win.
I feel like I quite like her too - person not politics - but this is mainly because her being PM means Johnson isn't and the joyous relief at that is still fresh. Once it's faded I confidently expect to develop a nice downer on her.
My GE view is that it's Labour's to lose. TFAC is strong after so much toryness for so long, the economy is weak, the global winds are all blowing the wrong way, and that GE19 result was a freak, its 3 main drivers - Brexit, Johnson, Corbyn - all now out of frame.
So it's Labour's to lose and I don't think Keir Starmer will oblige. Like Clint in a spaghetti western he's lining up all the anticipated tory (and their media mates) attack lines - tax, woke, spendthrift, hate Britain, Sturgeon’s pocket - and he's shooting them down in practice before leaving the barn and making his way to town for the showdown.
"Undertaker, better make that 4 coffins"
I'm short Labour majority at average over 6 - back from last year when I held a different view - and I wish I wasn't.
Could I point out something to the ludicrous Dynamo on the last thread who wanted a referendum on the monarchy on the basis of one poll with a landslide 61% still in favour of the monarchy.
Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in. It would be absurd to give it up
FFS I thought you were a patriot?
“Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in.”
What ARE you talking about? The UK is a phenomenally effective soft power, and a pretty consequential hard power - with the 6th largest economy in the world
But it’s our soft power which truly impresses, from some of the world’s best universities to the world’s most popular sports league to the home of the world’s most spoken language (which much that comes from this) to a mighty tradition in all the arts, pop music to theatre, Harry Potter to Harry Styles
You need to get out more. Only then do you realise the powerful puissant sway of that small, rainy archipelago off northwest Europe
6th largest economy is not first though is it. Even Oxford and Cambridge are behind Stanford and MIT or Harvard in most global university league tables. More speak Mandarin than English. We have not won the World Cup since 1966 and most players in the Premier league are foreign, we just host it.
The arts centre is still Hollywood and increasingly China even if we have some good theatres and actors and musicians most Oscar and Grammy winners are still American. So yes, my point stands, we do well I many things relative to our size as you say. Yet the only thing we are still global no 1 on is the best known and recognised Royal family, as the global coverage of the last few days confirms
Could I point out something to the ludicrous Dynamo on the last thread who wanted a referendum on the monarchy on the basis of one poll with a landslide 61% still in favour of the monarchy.
Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in. It would be absurd to give it up
FFS I thought you were a patriot?
“Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in.”
What ARE you talking about? The UK is a phenomenally effective soft power, and a pretty consequential hard power - with the 6th largest economy in the world
But it’s our soft power which truly impresses, from some of the world’s best universities to the world’s most popular sports league to the home of the world’s most spoken language (which much that comes from this) to a mighty tradition in all the arts, pop music to theatre, Harry Potter to Harry Styles
You need to get out more. Only then do you realise the powerful puissant sway of that small, rainy archipelago off northwest Europe
6th largest economy is not first though is it. Even Oxford and Cambridge are behind Stanford and MIT or Harvard in most global university league tables. More speak Mandarin than English. We have not won the World Cup since 1966 and most players in the Premier league are foreign, we just host it.
The arts centre is still Hollywood and increasingly China even if we have some good theatres and actors
No, we no longer rule 1/3 of the world. But nor does anyone else. Moreover, we had THE BIGGEST EMPIRE THERE HAS EVER BEEN OR EVER WILL BE. They can’t take that way from us, and no one will ever match it now. YAY Britain and GO England
Given the tiny size of the UK geographically and demographically, it is outstandingly consequential in world affairs
The only nation that matches us per capita or per sq km is Israel
Indeed I would say they are the two most influential races in world affairs and human history. The Jews and the English. Discuss
Next the Italians
*ducks*
I don't deny we still punch well above our size internationally.
Yet we are no longer a superpower or number 1 in almost anything apart from our royal family
Could I point out something to the ludicrous Dynamo on the last thread who wanted a referendum on the monarchy on the basis of one poll with a landslide 61% still in favour of the monarchy.
Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in. It would be absurd to give it up
FFS I thought you were a patriot?
“Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in.”
What ARE you talking about? The UK is a phenomenally effective soft power, and a pretty consequential hard power - with the 6th largest economy in the world
But it’s our soft power which truly impresses, from some of the world’s best universities to the world’s most popular sports league to the home of the world’s most spoken language (which much that comes from this) to a mighty tradition in all the arts, pop music to theatre, Harry Potter to Harry Styles
You need to get out more. Only then do you realise the powerful puissant sway of that small, rainy archipelago off northwest Europe
6th largest economy is not first though is it. Even Oxford and Cambridge are behind Stanford and MIT or Harvard in most global university league tables. More speak Mandarin than English. We have not won the World Cup since 1966 and most players in the Premier league are foreign, we just host it.
The arts centre is still Hollywood and increasingly China even if we have some good theatres and actors and musicians most Oscar and Grammy winners are still American. So yes, my point stands, we do well I many things relative to our size as you say. Yet the only thing we are still global no 1 on is the best known and recognised Royal family, as the global coverage of the last few days confirms
Hopefully Truss' response to this week's events will give her some gravitas. While her cost of living proposals will make a difference
I think she has been overshadowed somewhat by Boris Johnsons speech to parliament about the Queen which was one of his best .
Are most people watching the speeches? I know lots of ardent monarchists around here, who are properly sad - as as quite a few non-monarchists - but I don't know anyone who is following all the eulogies and retrospectives - everyone says it's just too much, and *especially* when they're sad. Quite a few saw Charles, and catch oddments on the radio, but most seem to be putting it aside for their private lives.
Reckon pretty similar to reaction to the death of Queen Victoria. With both better mourned than that other long-reigning monarch, George III.
BTW, doubt that "Elizabeth the Great" is anything more than temporary media bumpf.
Note that THAT sobriquet invites confusion with Elizabeth I, considering that most folks would recognize her superior claim to such a title.
Bit like Bush the Elder versus Bush the Younger?
Speaking of Elder & Younger, they used to call Pitt the Elder "the Great Commoner" until that is he was "elevated" to Earl of Chatham.
Perhaps QEI can (still be) Good Queen Bess while QEII becomes Good Queen Liz?
Could I point out something to the ludicrous Dynamo on the last thread who wanted a referendum on the monarchy on the basis of one poll with a landslide 61% still in favour of the monarchy.
Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in. It would be absurd to give it up
FFS I thought you were a patriot?
“Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in.”
What ARE you talking about? The UK is a phenomenally effective soft power, and a pretty consequential hard power - with the 6th largest economy in the world
But it’s our soft power which truly impresses, from some of the world’s best universities to the world’s most popular sports league to the home of the world’s most spoken language (which much that comes from this) to a mighty tradition in all the arts, pop music to theatre, Harry Potter to Harry Styles
You need to get out more. Only then do you realise the powerful puissant sway of that small, rainy archipelago off northwest Europe
6th largest economy is not first though is it. Even Oxford and Cambridge are behind Stanford and MIT or Harvard in most global university league tables. More speak Mandarin than English. We have not won the World Cup since 1966 and most players in the Premier league are foreign, we just host it.
The arts centre is still Hollywood and increasingly China even if we have some good theatres and actors
No, we no longer rule 1/3 of the world. But nor does anyone else. Moreover, we had THE BIGGEST EMPIRE THERE HAS EVER BEEN OR EVER WILL BE. They can’t take that way from us, and no one will ever match it now. YAY Britain and GO England
Given the tiny size of the UK geographically and demographically, it is outstandingly consequential in world affairs
The only nation that matches us per capita or per sq km is Israel
Indeed I would say they are the two most influential races in world affairs and human history. The Jews and the English. Discuss
Next the Italians
*ducks*
I don't deny we still punch well above our size internationally.
Yet we are no longer a superpower or number 1 in almost anything apart from our royal family
Both you and Leon seem to be forgetting that we won the World Cup in 1966.
Could I point out something to the ludicrous Dynamo on the last thread who wanted a referendum on the monarchy on the basis of one poll with a landslide 61% still in favour of the monarchy.
Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in. It would be absurd to give it up
FFS I thought you were a patriot?
“Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in.”
What ARE you talking about? The UK is a phenomenally effective soft power, and a pretty consequential hard power - with the 6th largest economy in the world
But it’s our soft power which truly impresses, from some of the world’s best universities to the world’s most popular sports league to the home of the world’s most spoken language (which much that comes from this) to a mighty tradition in all the arts, pop music to theatre, Harry Potter to Harry Styles
You need to get out more. Only then do you realise the powerful puissant sway of that small, rainy archipelago off northwest Europe
6th largest economy is not first though is it. Even Oxford and Cambridge are behind Stanford and MIT or Harvard in most global university league tables. More speak Mandarin than English. We have not won the World Cup since 1966 and most players in the Premier league are foreign, we just host it.
The arts centre is still Hollywood and increasingly China even if we have some good theatres and actors
No, we no longer rule 1/3 of the world. But nor does anyone else. Moreover, we had THE BIGGEST EMPIRE THERE HAS EVER BEEN OR EVER WILL BE. They can’t take that way from us, and no one will ever match it now. YAY Britain and GO England
Given the tiny size of the UK geographically and demographically, it is outstandingly consequential in world affairs
The only nation that matches us per capita or per sq km is Israel
Indeed I would say they are the two most influential races in world affairs and human history. The Jews and the English. Discuss
The most interesting political event in the next few days is the Swedish general election on Sunday. Looks like it could be a real nailbiter. Both main blocs are on about 49% in the polls.
Could I point out something to the ludicrous Dynamo on the last thread who wanted a referendum on the monarchy on the basis of one poll with a landslide 61% still in favour of the monarchy.
Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in. It would be absurd to give it up
FFS I thought you were a patriot?
“Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in.”
What ARE you talking about? The UK is a phenomenally effective soft power, and a pretty consequential hard power - with the 6th largest economy in the world
But it’s our soft power which truly impresses, from some of the world’s best universities to the world’s most popular sports league to the home of the world’s most spoken language (which much that comes from this) to a mighty tradition in all the arts, pop music to theatre, Harry Potter to Harry Styles
You need to get out more. Only then do you realise the powerful puissant sway of that small, rainy archipelago off northwest Europe
6th largest economy is not first though is it. Even Oxford and Cambridge are behind Stanford and MIT or Harvard in most global university league tables. More speak Mandarin than English. We have not won the World Cup since 1966 and most players in the Premier league are foreign, we just host it.
The arts centre is still Hollywood and increasingly China even if we have some good theatres and actors and musicians most Oscar and Grammy winners are still American. So yes, my point stands, we do well I many things relative to our size as you say. Yet the only thing we are still global no 1 on is the best known and recognised Royal family, as the global coverage of the last few days confirms
Could I point out something to the ludicrous Dynamo on the last thread who wanted a referendum on the monarchy on the basis of one poll with a landslide 61% still in favour of the monarchy.
Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in. It would be absurd to give it up
FFS I thought you were a patriot?
“Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in.”
What ARE you talking about? The UK is a phenomenally effective soft power, and a pretty consequential hard power - with the 6th largest economy in the world
But it’s our soft power which truly impresses, from some of the world’s best universities to the world’s most popular sports league to the home of the world’s most spoken language (which much that comes from this) to a mighty tradition in all the arts, pop music to theatre, Harry Potter to Harry Styles
You need to get out more. Only then do you realise the powerful puissant sway of that small, rainy archipelago off northwest Europe
6th largest economy is not first though is it. Even Oxford and Cambridge are behind Stanford and MIT or Harvard in most global university league tables. More speak Mandarin than English. We have not won the World Cup since 1966 and most players in the Premier league are foreign, we just host it.
The arts centre is still Hollywood and increasingly China even if we have some good theatres and actors and musicians most Oscar and Grammy winners are still American. So yes, my point stands, we do well I many things relative to our size as you say. Yet the only thing we are still global no 1 on is the best known and recognised Royal family, as the global coverage of the last few days confirms
English is a lingua franca, unlike Mandarin. English literature is pretty well dominant, across the world.
Let’s be honest though, American is the lingua franca.
But that’s actually not true. It’s glib
American English and British English duke it out worldwide, I am not at all sure American English prevails indeed I’d say British English maintains a healthy advantage
See the new Game of Thrones and LOTR, the biggest new TV drama series on the planet. British accents, British themes, British stories, British actors, British English
American money, but no one cares about that. The premium version of the language is British
Or, by way of synthesis, America is the reason English is the lingua franca. British English is the super-premium label. Rather like Prosecco is behind the surge in sparkling wind consumption but Champagne (and ESW, and Franciacorta) remains the premium brand.
Could I point out something to the ludicrous Dynamo on the last thread who wanted a referendum on the monarchy on the basis of one poll with a landslide 61% still in favour of the monarchy.
Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in. It would be absurd to give it up
FFS I thought you were a patriot?
“Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in.”
What ARE you talking about? The UK is a phenomenally effective soft power, and a pretty consequential hard power - with the 6th largest economy in the world
But it’s our soft power which truly impresses, from some of the world’s best universities to the world’s most popular sports league to the home of the world’s most spoken language (which much that comes from this) to a mighty tradition in all the arts, pop music to theatre, Harry Potter to Harry Styles
You need to get out more. Only then do you realise the powerful puissant sway of that small, rainy archipelago off northwest Europe
6th largest economy is not first though is it. Even Oxford and Cambridge are behind Stanford and MIT or Harvard in most global university league tables. More speak Mandarin than English. We have not won the World Cup since 1966 and most players in the Premier league are foreign, we just host it.
The arts centre is still Hollywood and increasingly China even if we have some good theatres and actors and musicians most Oscar and Grammy winners are still American. So yes, my point stands, we do well I many things relative to our size as you say. Yet the only thing we are still global no 1 on is the best known and recognised Royal family, as the global coverage of the last few days confirms
I rather like her. And I think she would be a good PM in “normal” times
But she is sailing into overwhelming headwinds and, after 12 years, the public wants the Tories out. That’s it. Sunak would not have done any better. The Tories are doomed
I am not so sure about this. The problem is always, if you look at it from a labour point of view, how do they get the numbers to get a majority? Where do they need to hold and where do they need to win?
I think that Truss could well win a general election and then do a John major and keep going for 6-7 years.
It's a decent start by Liz in the face of exceptionally difficult circumstances.
I think PB is perhaps in danger of overanalysing the content of speeches rather than the general mood music.
Electorate seems to be saying time for a change. And Liz has, overnight, neutralised the biggest attack line on Keir, that he’s wooden and unexciting.
On the other hand, when electorates choose to evict incumbents, they usually do it to elect someone with the opposite character flaws. Starmer (dull and worthy) would have a been a fair pick after Johnson (not dull and not worthy). But Truss is - BDSM/Finland notwithstanding - dull and worthy.
Could I point out something to the ludicrous Dynamo on the last thread who wanted a referendum on the monarchy on the basis of one poll with a landslide 61% still in favour of the monarchy.
Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in. It would be absurd to give it up
FFS I thought you were a patriot?
“Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in.”
What ARE you talking about? The UK is a phenomenally effective soft power, and a pretty consequential hard power - with the 6th largest economy in the world
But it’s our soft power which truly impresses, from some of the world’s best universities to the world’s most popular sports league to the home of the world’s most spoken language (which much that comes from this) to a mighty tradition in all the arts, pop music to theatre, Harry Potter to Harry Styles
You need to get out more. Only then do you realise the powerful puissant sway of that small, rainy archipelago off northwest Europe
6th largest economy is not first though is it. Even Oxford and Cambridge are behind Stanford and MIT or Harvard in most global university league tables. More speak Mandarin than English. We have not won the World Cup since 1966 and most players in the Premier league are foreign, we just host it.
The arts centre is still Hollywood and increasingly China even if we have some good theatres and actors
No, we no longer rule 1/3 of the world. But nor does anyone else. Moreover, we had THE BIGGEST EMPIRE THERE HAS EVER BEEN OR EVER WILL BE. They can’t take that way from us, and no one will ever match it now. YAY Britain and GO England
Given the tiny size of the UK geographically and demographically, it is outstandingly consequential in world affairs
The only nation that matches us per capita or per sq km is Israel
Indeed I would say they are the two most influential races in world affairs and human history. The Jews and the English. Discuss
Next the Italians
*ducks*
I don't deny we still punch well above our size internationally.
Yet we are no longer a superpower or number 1 in almost anything apart from our royal family
i think you’ll find we still boast the world’s seventh biggest ship canal, so your despair is unwarranted
Could I point out something to the ludicrous Dynamo on the last thread who wanted a referendum on the monarchy on the basis of one poll with a landslide 61% still in favour of the monarchy.
Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in. It would be absurd to give it up
FFS I thought you were a patriot?
“Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in.”
What ARE you talking about? The UK is a phenomenally effective soft power, and a pretty consequential hard power - with the 6th largest economy in the world
But it’s our soft power which truly impresses, from some of the world’s best universities to the world’s most popular sports league to the home of the world’s most spoken language (which much that comes from this) to a mighty tradition in all the arts, pop music to theatre, Harry Potter to Harry Styles
You need to get out more. Only then do you realise the powerful puissant sway of that small, rainy archipelago off northwest Europe
6th largest economy is not first though is it. Even Oxford and Cambridge are behind Stanford and MIT or Harvard in most global university league tables. More speak Mandarin than English. We have not won the World Cup since 1966 and most players in the Premier league are foreign, we just host it.
The arts centre is still Hollywood and increasingly China even if we have some good theatres and actors
No, we no longer rule 1/3 of the world. But nor does anyone else. Moreover, we had THE BIGGEST EMPIRE THERE HAS EVER BEEN OR EVER WILL BE. They can’t take that way from us, and no one will ever match it now. YAY Britain and GO England
Given the tiny size of the UK geographically and demographically, it is outstandingly consequential in world affairs
The only nation that matches us per capita or per sq km is Israel
Indeed I would say they are the two most influential races in world affairs and human history. The Jews and the English. Discuss
Next the Italians
*ducks*
I don't deny we still punch well above our size internationally.
Yet we are no longer a superpower or number 1 in almost anything apart from our royal family
Both you and Leon seem to be forgetting that we won the World Cup in 1966.
I mentioned that but in 1966 we also had Hong Kong and a number of colonies in Africa still too
Could I point out something to the ludicrous Dynamo on the last thread who wanted a referendum on the monarchy on the basis of one poll with a landslide 61% still in favour of the monarchy.
Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in. It would be absurd to give it up
FFS I thought you were a patriot?
“Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in.”
What ARE you talking about? The UK is a phenomenally effective soft power, and a pretty consequential hard power - with the 6th largest economy in the world
But it’s our soft power which truly impresses, from some of the world’s best universities to the world’s most popular sports league to the home of the world’s most spoken language (which much that comes from this) to a mighty tradition in all the arts, pop music to theatre, Harry Potter to Harry Styles
You need to get out more. Only then do you realise the powerful puissant sway of that small, rainy archipelago off northwest Europe
6th largest economy is not first though is it. Even Oxford and Cambridge are behind Stanford and MIT or Harvard in most global university league tables. More speak Mandarin than English. We have not won the World Cup since 1966 and most players in the Premier league are foreign, we just host it.
The arts centre is still Hollywood and increasingly China even if we have some good theatres and actors
No, we no longer rule 1/3 of the world. But nor does anyone else. Moreover, we had THE BIGGEST EMPIRE THERE HAS EVER BEEN OR EVER WILL BE. They can’t take that way from us, and no one will ever match it now. YAY Britain and GO England
Given the tiny size of the UK geographically and demographically, it is outstandingly consequential in world affairs
The only nation that matches us per capita or per sq km is Israel
Indeed I would say they are the two most influential races in world affairs and human history. The Jews and the English. Discuss
Next the Italians
*ducks*
I don't deny we still punch well above our size internationally.
Yet we are no longer a superpower or number 1 in almost anything apart from our royal family
i think you’ll find we still boast the world’s seventh biggest ship canal, so your despair is unwarranted
"CHANGES TO MATCH-DAY EXPERIENCE The remainder of this Test Series will be a very special period for everyone involved, but please be informed that there will be some significant differences from your usual match-day experience.
On Day’s 4 and 5, bars will be open once play starts and fans will be limited to purchasing two alcoholic drinks at a time throughout the day.
Fancy dress will not be permitted across the three days, and those in fancy dress will be refused entry.
We look forward to welcoming people across the next three days. Please be mindful of other people and behave with respect as concerns other people and the occasion.
It is a chance for all of us to recognise the extraordinary contribution the Queen has made to public life, and we ask that all fans behave in such a way that shows we are equal to the moment."
Britain may have many problems but the fact that power was handed over from Johnson to Truss without a shot and within three days Johnson is speaking from the backbench, with no problems or issues, is something many countries would dearly love to enjoy.
Risk of tactical nuclear escalation is probably the highest it’s been since March.
What madman liked this post?
Its a good point though. People think that 'Putin is being pushed back', and that 'Russia poses no conventional military threat to Europe'; but they just haven't thought it through.
We have.
Putin being pushed back doesn't threaten nuclear war.
If Putin tried to suggest launching nukes when his Generals know he has lost a crazy war, he would be on a crash course of learning how to fly from an upper story window faster than you can say defenestration.
This is complete speculation, because we know almost nothing about the generals and what is going on inside the Kremlin. Certainly there is a longstanding idea that no one would execute the order to start a nuclear war, but as for 'tactical nukes', then I think that this is actually part of Russian Military Doctrine, that they can be used to defend land that they claim; and I think this is probably behind the original comment about fear of tactical nuclear escalation.
All goes back to the discussion earlier; 'careful what you wish for'.
Yes, I was just stating an opinion of the facts rather than a policy position. Clearly Ukraine needs to keep pushing as hard as it can.
If the Russian regime panics and Putin starts to fear getting too close to upper floor windows then he / they may be tempted to do something stupid.
It’ll only happen after some weeks of threat and blackmail. In which case NATO needs to be crystal clear about what such an escalation would mean: the complete annihilation of Russia (and by extension of course, most of the rest of the Northern hemisphere). That’s the point of MAD.
I don't know about the last point. I was listening to Oliver Stone on the Lex Fridman podcast. He came out (as i recall) with the suggestion that the US could nuke the Donbass as a false flag. It got me thinking that Russia could alternatively set off a battlefield nuke and suggest it was a NATO false flag. Things could escalate that way.
It is - of course - worth noting that such a false flag would not hold up to longer-term scrutiny, as nuclear weapons have very obvious fingerprints.
Could I point out something to the ludicrous Dynamo on the last thread who wanted a referendum on the monarchy on the basis of one poll with a landslide 61% still in favour of the monarchy.
Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in. It would be absurd to give it up
FFS I thought you were a patriot?
“Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in.”
What ARE you talking about? The UK is a phenomenally effective soft power, and a pretty consequential hard power - with the 6th largest economy in the world
But it’s our soft power which truly impresses, from some of the world’s best universities to the world’s most popular sports league to the home of the world’s most spoken language (which much that comes from this) to a mighty tradition in all the arts, pop music to theatre, Harry Potter to Harry Styles
You need to get out more. Only then do you realise the powerful puissant sway of that small, rainy archipelago off northwest Europe
6th largest economy is not first though is it. Even Oxford and Cambridge are behind Stanford and MIT or Harvard in most global university league tables. More speak Mandarin than English. We have not won the World Cup since 1966 and most players in the Premier league are foreign, we just host it.
The arts centre is still Hollywood and increasingly China even if we have some good theatres and actors and musicians most Oscar and Grammy winners are still American. So yes, my point stands, we do well I many things relative to our size as you say. Yet the only thing we are still global no 1 on is the best known and recognised Royal family, as the global coverage of the last few days confirms
"Tribute" upon death of Frederick, Prince of Wales in 1751, allegedly by an errant cricket ball:
Here lies poor FRED, who was alive and is dead Had it been his Father I had much rather, Had it been his Sister nobody would have miss’d Her, Had it been his Brother, still better than another, Had it been the whole Generation, so much better for the Nation, But since it is FRED who was alive and is dead, There is no more to be said!
Due to Fred's untimely demise, when George II expired, he was succeeded by his grandson, Frederick's son George III.
The most interesting political event in the next few days is the Swedish general election on Sunday. Looks like it could be a real nailbiter. Both main blocs are on about 49% in the polls.
And Brazil coming up. Will Bolsonaro cede power if he loses? I doubt it. It's not the right wing populist way.
PB Tories will say "polls don't matter" until one shows the Tories going forward, then they will be important again!!!!
Look, either fucking engage with individual posters, or post original and interesting thoughts of your own, or fuck off. There is NOTHING more fucking tedious than non specific sniping at "pb Tories" for what you very unimaginatively expect them to say rather than anything they actually do say.
Touched a nerve did I matey
Yes, I felt utterly embarrassed at spending so much of my time in an intellectual ecosystem where people like you manage to eke out a living. moron.
Could I point out something to the ludicrous Dynamo on the last thread who wanted a referendum on the monarchy on the basis of one poll with a landslide 61% still in favour of the monarchy.
Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in. It would be absurd to give it up
FFS I thought you were a patriot?
“Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in.”
What ARE you talking about? The UK is a phenomenally effective soft power, and a pretty consequential hard power - with the 6th largest economy in the world
But it’s our soft power which truly impresses, from some of the world’s best universities to the world’s most popular sports league to the home of the world’s most spoken language (which much that comes from this) to a mighty tradition in all the arts, pop music to theatre, Harry Potter to Harry Styles
You need to get out more. Only then do you realise the powerful puissant sway of that small, rainy archipelago off northwest Europe
6th largest economy is not first though is it. Even Oxford and Cambridge are behind Stanford and MIT or Harvard in most global university league tables. More speak Mandarin than English. We have not won the World Cup since 1966 and most players in the Premier league are foreign, we just host it.
The arts centre is still Hollywood and increasingly China even if we have some good theatres and actors
No, we no longer rule 1/3 of the world. But nor does anyone else. Moreover, we had THE BIGGEST EMPIRE THERE HAS EVER BEEN OR EVER WILL BE. They can’t take that way from us, and no one will ever match it now. YAY Britain and GO England
Given the tiny size of the UK geographically and demographically, it is outstandingly consequential in world affairs
The only nation that matches us per capita or per sq km is Israel
Indeed I would say they are the two most influential races in world affairs and human history. The Jews and the English. Discuss
Next the Italians
*ducks*
I don't deny we still punch well above our size internationally.
Yet we are no longer a superpower or number 1 in almost anything apart from our royal family
Premier league Football receipts FX trading Virus gene sequencing Olympic cycling Print media Wildlife documentaries Offshore wind power International art market Numerical weather prediction (before ECMWF left Reading)
Could I point out something to the ludicrous Dynamo on the last thread who wanted a referendum on the monarchy on the basis of one poll with a landslide 61% still in favour of the monarchy.
Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in. It would be absurd to give it up
FFS I thought you were a patriot?
“Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in.”
What ARE you talking about? The UK is a phenomenally effective soft power, and a pretty consequential hard power - with the 6th largest economy in the world
But it’s our soft power which truly impresses, from some of the world’s best universities to the world’s most popular sports league to the home of the world’s most spoken language (which much that comes from this) to a mighty tradition in all the arts, pop music to theatre, Harry Potter to Harry Styles
You need to get out more. Only then do you realise the powerful puissant sway of that small, rainy archipelago off northwest Europe
6th largest economy is not first though is it. Even Oxford and Cambridge are behind Stanford and MIT or Harvard in most global university league tables. More speak Mandarin than English. We have not won the World Cup since 1966 and most players in the Premier league are foreign, we just host it.
The arts centre is still Hollywood and increasingly China even if we have some good theatres and actors and musicians most Oscar and Grammy winners are still American. So yes, my point stands, we do well I many things relative to our size as you say. Yet the only thing we are still global no 1 on is the best known and recognised Royal family, as the global coverage of the last few days confirms
English is a lingua franca, unlike Mandarin. English literature is pretty well dominant, across the world.
Let’s be honest though, American is the lingua franca.
But that’s actually not true. It’s glib
American English and British English duke it out worldwide, I am not at all sure American English prevails indeed I’d say British English maintains a healthy advantage
See the new Game of Thrones and LOTR, the biggest new TV drama series on the planet. British accents, British themes, British stories, British actors, British English
American money, but no one cares about that. The premium version of the language is British
Or, by way of synthesis, America is the reason English is the lingua franca. British English is the super-premium label. Rather like Prosecco is behind the surge in sparkling wind consumption but Champagne (and ESW, and Franciacorta) remains the premium brand.
Yes, that’s closer to the truth, but still not quite the truth
Eg India
One of the reasons English as a language will predominate for the foreseeable future is India. Which is destined to become - very soon - the biggest country on the planet by population and also one of the great economic superpowers
India speaks English and plays cricket and looks to Britain - if it looks anywhere in the west - as a cultural marker (tho of course the relationship is complex and two way, and the UK is now economically the smaller partner). India really does not look to the USA, in my experience
So that is a legacy of the British Empire and has nothing to do with America, yet it is a significant reason why English language hegemony will endure
The most interesting political event in the next few days is the Swedish general election on Sunday. Looks like it could be a real nailbiter. Both main blocs are on about 49% in the polls.
And Brazil coming up. Will Bolsonaro cede power if he loses? I doubt it. It's not the right wing populist way.
Brazil is not until October. Italy is before then later this month and Meloni still leads
Britain may have many problems but the fact that power was handed over from Johnson to Truss without a shot and within three days Johnson is speaking from the backbench, with no problems or issues, is something many countries would dearly love to enjoy.
Yes I remember all the hysterical rubbish on here and elsewhere about a possible coup when Boris tried to form an alternative government after the resignations. The last outing for Boris Derangement Syndrome.
The most interesting political event in the next few days is the Swedish general election on Sunday. Looks like it could be a real nailbiter. Both main blocs are on about 49% in the polls.
And Brazil coming up. Will Bolsonaro cede power if he loses? I doubt it. It's not the right wing populist way.
Stolen!
And the biggest and most dangerous example, early next year, will be the democratic thrashing of Erdogan.
Could I point out something to the ludicrous Dynamo on the last thread who wanted a referendum on the monarchy on the basis of one poll with a landslide 61% still in favour of the monarchy.
Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in. It would be absurd to give it up
FFS I thought you were a patriot?
“Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in.”
What ARE you talking about? The UK is a phenomenally effective soft power, and a pretty consequential hard power - with the 6th largest economy in the world
But it’s our soft power which truly impresses, from some of the world’s best universities to the world’s most popular sports league to the home of the world’s most spoken language (which much that comes from this) to a mighty tradition in all the arts, pop music to theatre, Harry Potter to Harry Styles
You need to get out more. Only then do you realise the powerful puissant sway of that small, rainy archipelago off northwest Europe
6th largest economy is not first though is it. Even Oxford and Cambridge are behind Stanford and MIT or Harvard in most global university league tables. More speak Mandarin than English. We have not won the World Cup since 1966 and most players in the Premier league are foreign, we just host it.
The arts centre is still Hollywood and increasingly China even if we have some good theatres and actors
No, we no longer rule 1/3 of the world. But nor does anyone else. Moreover, we had THE BIGGEST EMPIRE THERE HAS EVER BEEN OR EVER WILL BE. They can’t take that way from us, and no one will ever match it now. YAY Britain and GO England
Given the tiny size of the UK geographically and demographically, it is outstandingly consequential in world affairs
The only nation that matches us per capita or per sq km is Israel
Indeed I would say they are the two most influential races in world affairs and human history. The Jews and the English. Discuss
Next the Italians
*ducks*
I don't deny we still punch well above our size internationally.
Yet we are no longer a superpower or number 1 in almost anything apart from our royal family
Premier league Football receipts FX trading Virus gene sequencing Olympic cycling Print media Wildlife documentaries Offshore wind power International art market Numerical weather prediction (before ECMWF left Reading)
The US still leads on FX trading, wildlife docs are reliant on Attenborough who is as old as the Queen was, much of our print media is foreign owned as is the Premier league
Risk of tactical nuclear escalation is probably the highest it’s been since March.
What madman liked this post?
Its a good point though. People think that 'Putin is being pushed back', and that 'Russia poses no conventional military threat to Europe'; but they just haven't thought it through.
We have.
Putin being pushed back doesn't threaten nuclear war.
If Putin tried to suggest launching nukes when his Generals know he has lost a crazy war, he would be on a crash course of learning how to fly from an upper story window faster than you can say defenestration.
This is complete speculation, because we know almost nothing about the generals and what is going on inside the Kremlin. Certainly there is a longstanding idea that no one would execute the order to start a nuclear war, but as for 'tactical nukes', then I think that this is actually part of Russian Military Doctrine, that they can be used to defend land that they claim; and I think this is probably behind the original comment about fear of tactical nuclear escalation.
All goes back to the discussion earlier; 'careful what you wish for'.
Early on in the war, we were all talking about how the oligarchs wouldn't stand to see their fortunes sanctioned, how some sort of palace coup was inevitable, and so on. But all the evidence from the last few months suggests that Putin is in complete control of both government and military and nobody dares oppose him.
Would anyone in his government or armed forces oppose him if he ordered the use of a battlefield nuke? I'd argue that, based on what we've seen, no.
The question then becomes, would he be mad enough to issue the order? The answer probably lies in his calculation of what the west would do in response. Would we intervene with boots on the ground? How quickly could such a situation escalate into a full-blown nuclear exchange? If he rightly or wrongly assumes we wouldn't dare escalate, then it's his only trump card in a battle he can't otherwise win. A way to tell the world - "do as I say, because now the gloves are off".
Unfortunately I have to concur with Tims' original comment - that the risk of nuclear escalation is the highest it's been since the conflict began.
Hard to disagree with this...
But.
I think it is China who matters here. And I think China is absolutely terrified that Russia might use nukes. Because Russia using nukes - and there being no consequences - means the Japanese and the Taiwanese and the Baltic states are all going to want nukes.
A fair point.
Then I suppose the final question is, is Putin a rational actor or is he the type to flip the chess board and kick the table over when he loses?
Kremlinology is anyone's guess, but despite being paranoid and at times clearly badly informed, Putin still strikes me as a rational player rather than a madman.
The question is whether he will remain rational if/when it's clear he's losing in Ukraine, and what the options are for a way out of the conflict before that happens.
Assuming he retains his grip on internal power, I can't imagine the war ending without him having some way of saving face. But the Ukrainians have made it pretty clear they will fight until every Russian is pushed back to the 2014 border - rightly so. So there is a risk that Putin becomes less rational in defeat than he is behaving now.
There's another factor too.
Will a Russian nuke work as planned?
Keeping nuclear weapons 'fresh' is fiendishly difficult for a number of reasons: Firstly, their electronics are very sensitive, and a little bit of a timing misfire will result in a dud; Secondly, by their very nature, the nuclear material will be throwing off a lot of alpha particles in all directions, which will be absorbed by (and weaken) the other components, structure, etc.
Have the Russians skimped on maintenance? My money would be on a big 'yes'. And if Russia were to fire a nuke, and it were to be a dud, that would be a lot worse for Russia that not having used a nuke at all.
Could I point out something to the ludicrous Dynamo on the last thread who wanted a referendum on the monarchy on the basis of one poll with a landslide 61% still in favour of the monarchy.
Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in. It would be absurd to give it up
FFS I thought you were a patriot?
“Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in.”
What ARE you talking about? The UK is a phenomenally effective soft power, and a pretty consequential hard power - with the 6th largest economy in the world
But it’s our soft power which truly impresses, from some of the world’s best universities to the world’s most popular sports league to the home of the world’s most spoken language (which much that comes from this) to a mighty tradition in all the arts, pop music to theatre, Harry Potter to Harry Styles
You need to get out more. Only then do you realise the powerful puissant sway of that small, rainy archipelago off northwest Europe
6th largest economy is not first though is it. Even Oxford and Cambridge are behind Stanford and MIT or Harvard in most global university league tables. More speak Mandarin than English. We have not won the World Cup since 1966 and most players in the Premier league are foreign, we just host it.
The arts centre is still Hollywood and increasingly China even if we have some good theatres and actors
No, we no longer rule 1/3 of the world. But nor does anyone else. Moreover, we had THE BIGGEST EMPIRE THERE HAS EVER BEEN OR EVER WILL BE. They can’t take that way from us, and no one will ever match it now. YAY Britain and GO England
Given the tiny size of the UK geographically and demographically, it is outstandingly consequential in world affairs
The only nation that matches us per capita or per sq km is Israel
Indeed I would say they are the two most influential races in world affairs and human history. The Jews and the English. Discuss
Next the Italians
*ducks*
I don't deny we still punch well above our size internationally.
Yet we are no longer a superpower or number 1 in almost anything apart from our royal family
Premier league Football receipts FX trading Virus gene sequencing Olympic cycling Print media Wildlife documentaries Offshore wind power International art market Numerical weather prediction (before ECMWF left Reading)
The US still leads on FX trading, wildlife docs are reliant on Attenborough who is as old as the Queen was, much of our print media is foreign owned as is the Premier league
London is the centre of the global Forex market. (Albeit NY isn't far behind these days.)
Will be interesting (among plenty of other & more important things) to find out the future of the relatively-recent, double-barreled surname "Mountbatten-Windsor".
Could I point out something to the ludicrous Dynamo on the last thread who wanted a referendum on the monarchy on the basis of one poll with a landslide 61% still in favour of the monarchy.
Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in. It would be absurd to give it up
FFS I thought you were a patriot?
“Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in.”
What ARE you talking about? The UK is a phenomenally effective soft power, and a pretty consequential hard power - with the 6th largest economy in the world
But it’s our soft power which truly impresses, from some of the world’s best universities to the world’s most popular sports league to the home of the world’s most spoken language (which much that comes from this) to a mighty tradition in all the arts, pop music to theatre, Harry Potter to Harry Styles
You need to get out more. Only then do you realise the powerful puissant sway of that small, rainy archipelago off northwest Europe
6th largest economy is not first though is it. Even Oxford and Cambridge are behind Stanford and MIT or Harvard in most global university league tables. More speak Mandarin than English. We have not won the World Cup since 1966 and most players in the Premier league are foreign, we just host it.
The arts centre is still Hollywood and increasingly China even if we have some good theatres and actors
No, we no longer rule 1/3 of the world. But nor does anyone else. Moreover, we had THE BIGGEST EMPIRE THERE HAS EVER BEEN OR EVER WILL BE. They can’t take that way from us, and no one will ever match it now. YAY Britain and GO England
Given the tiny size of the UK geographically and demographically, it is outstandingly consequential in world affairs
The only nation that matches us per capita or per sq km is Israel
Indeed I would say they are the two most influential races in world affairs and human history. The Jews and the English. Discuss
Next the Italians
*ducks*
I don't deny we still punch well above our size internationally.
Yet we are no longer a superpower or number 1 in almost anything apart from our royal family
Premier league Football receipts FX trading Virus gene sequencing Olympic cycling Print media Wildlife documentaries Offshore wind power International art market Numerical weather prediction (before ECMWF left Reading)
Greatest cricket ground in the world Formula One engineering
Could I point out something to the ludicrous Dynamo on the last thread who wanted a referendum on the monarchy on the basis of one poll with a landslide 61% still in favour of the monarchy.
Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in. It would be absurd to give it up
FFS I thought you were a patriot?
“Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in.”
What ARE you talking about? The UK is a phenomenally effective soft power, and a pretty consequential hard power - with the 6th largest economy in the world
But it’s our soft power which truly impresses, from some of the world’s best universities to the world’s most popular sports league to the home of the world’s most spoken language (which much that comes from this) to a mighty tradition in all the arts, pop music to theatre, Harry Potter to Harry Styles
You need to get out more. Only then do you realise the powerful puissant sway of that small, rainy archipelago off northwest Europe
6th largest economy is not first though is it. Even Oxford and Cambridge are behind Stanford and MIT or Harvard in most global university league tables. More speak Mandarin than English. We have not won the World Cup since 1966 and most players in the Premier league are foreign, we just host it.
The arts centre is still Hollywood and increasingly China even if we have some good theatres and actors
No, we no longer rule 1/3 of the world. But nor does anyone else. Moreover, we had THE BIGGEST EMPIRE THERE HAS EVER BEEN OR EVER WILL BE. They can’t take that way from us, and no one will ever match it now. YAY Britain and GO England
Given the tiny size of the UK geographically and demographically, it is outstandingly consequential in world affairs
The only nation that matches us per capita or per sq km is Israel
Indeed I would say they are the two most influential races in world affairs and human history. The Jews and the English. Discuss
Next the Italians
*ducks*
I don't deny we still punch well above our size internationally.
Yet we are no longer a superpower or number 1 in almost anything apart from our royal family
Premier league Football receipts FX trading Virus gene sequencing Olympic cycling Print media Wildlife documentaries Offshore wind power International art market Numerical weather prediction (before ECMWF left Reading)
The US still leads on FX trading, wildlife docs are reliant on Attenborough who is as old as the Queen was, much of our print media is foreign owned as is the Premier league
London FX trading volumes >3x those of New York. London is the undisputed world capital at that shit.
Could I point out something to the ludicrous Dynamo on the last thread who wanted a referendum on the monarchy on the basis of one poll with a landslide 61% still in favour of the monarchy.
Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in. It would be absurd to give it up
FFS I thought you were a patriot?
“Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in.”
What ARE you talking about? The UK is a phenomenally effective soft power, and a pretty consequential hard power - with the 6th largest economy in the world
But it’s our soft power which truly impresses, from some of the world’s best universities to the world’s most popular sports league to the home of the world’s most spoken language (which much that comes from this) to a mighty tradition in all the arts, pop music to theatre, Harry Potter to Harry Styles
You need to get out more. Only then do you realise the powerful puissant sway of that small, rainy archipelago off northwest Europe
6th largest economy is not first though is it. Even Oxford and Cambridge are behind Stanford and MIT or Harvard in most global university league tables. More speak Mandarin than English. We have not won the World Cup since 1966 and most players in the Premier league are foreign, we just host it.
The arts centre is still Hollywood and increasingly China even if we have some good theatres and actors
No, we no longer rule 1/3 of the world. But nor does anyone else. Moreover, we had THE BIGGEST EMPIRE THERE HAS EVER BEEN OR EVER WILL BE. They can’t take that way from us, and no one will ever match it now. YAY Britain and GO England
Given the tiny size of the UK geographically and demographically, it is outstandingly consequential in world affairs
The only nation that matches us per capita or per sq km is Israel
Indeed I would say they are the two most influential races in world affairs and human history. The Jews and the English. Discuss
Next the Italians
*ducks*
I don't deny we still punch well above our size internationally.
Yet we are no longer a superpower or number 1 in almost anything apart from our royal family
Premier league Football receipts FX trading Virus gene sequencing Olympic cycling Print media Wildlife documentaries Offshore wind power International art market Numerical weather prediction (before ECMWF left Reading)
Could I point out something to the ludicrous Dynamo on the last thread who wanted a referendum on the monarchy on the basis of one poll with a landslide 61% still in favour of the monarchy.
Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in. It would be absurd to give it up
FFS I thought you were a patriot?
“Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in.”
What ARE you talking about? The UK is a phenomenally effective soft power, and a pretty consequential hard power - with the 6th largest economy in the world
But it’s our soft power which truly impresses, from some of the world’s best universities to the world’s most popular sports league to the home of the world’s most spoken language (which much that comes from this) to a mighty tradition in all the arts, pop music to theatre, Harry Potter to Harry Styles
You need to get out more. Only then do you realise the powerful puissant sway of that small, rainy archipelago off northwest Europe
6th largest economy is not first though is it. Even Oxford and Cambridge are behind Stanford and MIT or Harvard in most global university league tables. More speak Mandarin than English. We have not won the World Cup since 1966 and most players in the Premier league are foreign, we just host it.
The arts centre is still Hollywood and increasingly China even if we have some good theatres and actors and musicians most Oscar and Grammy winners are still American. So yes, my point stands, we do well I many things relative to our size as you say. Yet the only thing we are still global no 1 on is the best known and recognised Royal family, as the global coverage of the last few days confirms
Could I point out something to the ludicrous Dynamo on the last thread who wanted a referendum on the monarchy on the basis of one poll with a landslide 61% still in favour of the monarchy.
Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in. It would be absurd to give it up
FFS I thought you were a patriot?
“Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in.”
What ARE you talking about? The UK is a phenomenally effective soft power, and a pretty consequential hard power - with the 6th largest economy in the world
But it’s our soft power which truly impresses, from some of the world’s best universities to the world’s most popular sports league to the home of the world’s most spoken language (which much that comes from this) to a mighty tradition in all the arts, pop music to theatre, Harry Potter to Harry Styles
You need to get out more. Only then do you realise the powerful puissant sway of that small, rainy archipelago off northwest Europe
6th largest economy is not first though is it. Even Oxford and Cambridge are behind Stanford and MIT or Harvard in most global university league tables. More speak Mandarin than English. We have not won the World Cup since 1966 and most players in the Premier league are foreign, we just host it.
The arts centre is still Hollywood and increasingly China even if we have some good theatres and actors
No, we no longer rule 1/3 of the world. But nor does anyone else. Moreover, we had THE BIGGEST EMPIRE THERE HAS EVER BEEN OR EVER WILL BE. They can’t take that way from us, and no one will ever match it now. YAY Britain and GO England
Given the tiny size of the UK geographically and demographically, it is outstandingly consequential in world affairs
The only nation that matches us per capita or per sq km is Israel
Indeed I would say they are the two most influential races in world affairs and human history. The Jews and the English. Discuss
Next the Italians
*ducks*
I don't deny we still punch well above our size internationally.
Yet we are no longer a superpower or number 1 in almost anything apart from our royal family
Premier league Football receipts FX trading Virus gene sequencing Olympic cycling Print media Wildlife documentaries Offshore wind power International art market Numerical weather prediction (before ECMWF left Reading)
The US still leads on FX trading, wildlife docs are reliant on Attenborough who is as old as the Queen was, much of our print media is foreign owned as is the Premier league
London FX trading volumes >3x those of New York. London is the undisputed world capital at that shit.
I don't think it's still 3x any more, but it's still a decent lead.
Could I point out something to the ludicrous Dynamo on the last thread who wanted a referendum on the monarchy on the basis of one poll with a landslide 61% still in favour of the monarchy.
Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in. It would be absurd to give it up
FFS I thought you were a patriot?
“Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in.”
What ARE you talking about? The UK is a phenomenally effective soft power, and a pretty consequential hard power - with the 6th largest economy in the world
But it’s our soft power which truly impresses, from some of the world’s best universities to the world’s most popular sports league to the home of the world’s most spoken language (which much that comes from this) to a mighty tradition in all the arts, pop music to theatre, Harry Potter to Harry Styles
You need to get out more. Only then do you realise the powerful puissant sway of that small, rainy archipelago off northwest Europe
6th largest economy is not first though is it. Even Oxford and Cambridge are behind Stanford and MIT or Harvard in most global university league tables. More speak Mandarin than English. We have not won the World Cup since 1966 and most players in the Premier league are foreign, we just host it.
The arts centre is still Hollywood and increasingly China even if we have some good theatres and actors
No, we no longer rule 1/3 of the world. But nor does anyone else. Moreover, we had THE BIGGEST EMPIRE THERE HAS EVER BEEN OR EVER WILL BE. They can’t take that way from us, and no one will ever match it now. YAY Britain and GO England
Given the tiny size of the UK geographically and demographically, it is outstandingly consequential in world affairs
The only nation that matches us per capita or per sq km is Israel
Indeed I would say they are the two most influential races in world affairs and human history. The Jews and the English. Discuss
Next the Italians
*ducks*
I don't deny we still punch well above our size internationally.
Yet we are no longer a superpower or number 1 in almost anything apart from our royal family
Premier league Football receipts FX trading Virus gene sequencing Olympic cycling Print media Wildlife documentaries Offshore wind power International art market Numerical weather prediction (before ECMWF left Reading)
The US still leads on FX trading, wildlife docs are reliant on Attenborough who is as old as the Queen was, much of our print media is foreign owned as is the Premier league
Could I point out something to the ludicrous Dynamo on the last thread who wanted a referendum on the monarchy on the basis of one poll with a landslide 61% still in favour of the monarchy.
Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in. It would be absurd to give it up
FFS I thought you were a patriot?
“Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in.”
What ARE you talking about? The UK is a phenomenally effective soft power, and a pretty consequential hard power - with the 6th largest economy in the world
But it’s our soft power which truly impresses, from some of the world’s best universities to the world’s most popular sports league to the home of the world’s most spoken language (which much that comes from this) to a mighty tradition in all the arts, pop music to theatre, Harry Potter to Harry Styles
You need to get out more. Only then do you realise the powerful puissant sway of that small, rainy archipelago off northwest Europe
6th largest economy is not first though is it. Even Oxford and Cambridge are behind Stanford and MIT or Harvard in most global university league tables. More speak Mandarin than English. We have not won the World Cup since 1966 and most players in the Premier league are foreign, we just host it.
The arts centre is still Hollywood and increasingly China even if we have some good theatres and actors and musicians most Oscar and Grammy winners are still American. So yes, my point stands, we do well I many things relative to our size as you say. Yet the only thing we are still global no 1 on is the best known and recognised Royal family, as the global coverage of the last few days confirms
English is a lingua franca, unlike Mandarin. English literature is pretty well dominant, across the world.
Let’s be honest though, American is the lingua franca.
But that’s actually not true. It’s glib
American English and British English duke it out worldwide, I am not at all sure American English prevails indeed I’d say British English maintains a healthy advantage
See the new Game of Thrones and LOTR, the biggest new TV drama series on the planet. British accents, British themes, British stories, British actors, British English
American money, but no one cares about that. The premium version of the language is British
Or, by way of synthesis, America is the reason English is the lingua franca. British English is the super-premium label. Rather like Prosecco is behind the surge in sparkling wind consumption but Champagne (and ESW, and Franciacorta) remains the premium brand.
Best value drink on the planet is Spanish cava. If you regularly drink run of the mill champagne, switch to cava, with dom perignon every 4th bottle. Same cost.
Could I point out something to the ludicrous Dynamo on the last thread who wanted a referendum on the monarchy on the basis of one poll with a landslide 61% still in favour of the monarchy.
Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in. It would be absurd to give it up
FFS I thought you were a patriot?
“Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in.”
What ARE you talking about? The UK is a phenomenally effective soft power, and a pretty consequential hard power - with the 6th largest economy in the world
But it’s our soft power which truly impresses, from some of the world’s best universities to the world’s most popular sports league to the home of the world’s most spoken language (which much that comes from this) to a mighty tradition in all the arts, pop music to theatre, Harry Potter to Harry Styles
You need to get out more. Only then do you realise the powerful puissant sway of that small, rainy archipelago off northwest Europe
6th largest economy is not first though is it. Even Oxford and Cambridge are behind Stanford and MIT or Harvard in most global university league tables. More speak Mandarin than English. We have not won the World Cup since 1966 and most players in the Premier league are foreign, we just host it.
The arts centre is still Hollywood and increasingly China even if we have some good theatres and actors
No, we no longer rule 1/3 of the world. But nor does anyone else. Moreover, we had THE BIGGEST EMPIRE THERE HAS EVER BEEN OR EVER WILL BE. They can’t take that way from us, and no one will ever match it now. YAY Britain and GO England
Given the tiny size of the UK geographically and demographically, it is outstandingly consequential in world affairs
The only nation that matches us per capita or per sq km is Israel
Indeed I would say they are the two most influential races in world affairs and human history. The Jews and the English. Discuss
Next the Italians
*ducks*
I don't deny we still punch well above our size internationally.
Yet we are no longer a superpower or number 1 in almost anything apart from our royal family
Premier league Football receipts FX trading Virus gene sequencing Olympic cycling Print media Wildlife documentaries Offshore wind power International art market Numerical weather prediction (before ECMWF left Reading)
The US still leads on FX trading, wildlife docs are reliant on Attenborough who is as old as the Queen was, much of our print media is foreign owned as is the Premier league
London is the centre of the global Forex market. (Albeit NY isn't far behind these days.)
London maybe, the US overall however is still ahead of the UK once you add Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco etc to New York city
Oz Katerji @OzKaterji · 9h Replying to @OzKaterji *confirmation. Russian troops are being routed in the east of Ukraine at a speed that has flabbergasted even the most seasoned military veterans. This level of progress is probably not sustainable long-term, but as it stands, Russian defences are collapsing across the Oblast.
Could I point out something to the ludicrous Dynamo on the last thread who wanted a referendum on the monarchy on the basis of one poll with a landslide 61% still in favour of the monarchy.
Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in. It would be absurd to give it up
FFS I thought you were a patriot?
“Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in.”
What ARE you talking about? The UK is a phenomenally effective soft power, and a pretty consequential hard power - with the 6th largest economy in the world
But it’s our soft power which truly impresses, from some of the world’s best universities to the world’s most popular sports league to the home of the world’s most spoken language (which much that comes from this) to a mighty tradition in all the arts, pop music to theatre, Harry Potter to Harry Styles
You need to get out more. Only then do you realise the powerful puissant sway of that small, rainy archipelago off northwest Europe
6th largest economy is not first though is it. Even Oxford and Cambridge are behind Stanford and MIT or Harvard in most global university league tables. More speak Mandarin than English. We have not won the World Cup since 1966 and most players in the Premier league are foreign, we just host it.
The arts centre is still Hollywood and increasingly China even if we have some good theatres and actors
No, we no longer rule 1/3 of the world. But nor does anyone else. Moreover, we had THE BIGGEST EMPIRE THERE HAS EVER BEEN OR EVER WILL BE. They can’t take that way from us, and no one will ever match it now. YAY Britain and GO England
Given the tiny size of the UK geographically and demographically, it is outstandingly consequential in world affairs
The only nation that matches us per capita or per sq km is Israel
Indeed I would say they are the two most influential races in world affairs and human history. The Jews and the English. Discuss
Next the Italians
*ducks*
I don't deny we still punch well above our size internationally.
Yet we are no longer a superpower or number 1 in almost anything apart from our royal family
Premier league Football receipts FX trading Virus gene sequencing Olympic cycling Print media Wildlife documentaries Offshore wind power International art market Numerical weather prediction (before ECMWF left Reading)
The US still leads on FX trading, wildlife docs are reliant on Attenborough who is as old as the Queen was, much of our print media is foreign owned as is the Premier league
London FX trading volumes >3x those of New York. London is the undisputed world capital at that shit.
And Wildlife docs from the natural history unit are about far more than the narration.
Edit - My reply looks bonkers to anyone not unravelling what you’re quoting of course.
Will be interesting (among plenty of other & more important things) to find out the future of the relatively-recent, double-barreled surname "Mountbatten-Windsor".
Could I point out something to the ludicrous Dynamo on the last thread who wanted a referendum on the monarchy on the basis of one poll with a landslide 61% still in favour of the monarchy.
Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in. It would be absurd to give it up
FFS I thought you were a patriot?
“Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in.”
What ARE you talking about? The UK is a phenomenally effective soft power, and a pretty consequential hard power - with the 6th largest economy in the world
But it’s our soft power which truly impresses, from some of the world’s best universities to the world’s most popular sports league to the home of the world’s most spoken language (which much that comes from this) to a mighty tradition in all the arts, pop music to theatre, Harry Potter to Harry Styles
You need to get out more. Only then do you realise the powerful puissant sway of that small, rainy archipelago off northwest Europe
6th largest economy is not first though is it. Even Oxford and Cambridge are behind Stanford and MIT or Harvard in most global university league tables. More speak Mandarin than English. We have not won the World Cup since 1966 and most players in the Premier league are foreign, we just host it.
The arts centre is still Hollywood and increasingly China even if we have some good theatres and actors
No, we no longer rule 1/3 of the world. But nor does anyone else. Moreover, we had THE BIGGEST EMPIRE THERE HAS EVER BEEN OR EVER WILL BE. They can’t take that way from us, and no one will ever match it now. YAY Britain and GO England
Given the tiny size of the UK geographically and demographically, it is outstandingly consequential in world affairs
The only nation that matches us per capita or per sq km is Israel
Indeed I would say they are the two most influential races in world affairs and human history. The Jews and the English. Discuss
Next the Italians
*ducks*
I don't deny we still punch well above our size internationally.
Yet we are no longer a superpower or number 1 in almost anything apart from our royal family
Premier league Football receipts FX trading Virus gene sequencing Olympic cycling Print media Wildlife documentaries Offshore wind power International art market Numerical weather prediction (before ECMWF left Reading)
The US still leads on FX trading, wildlife docs are reliant on Attenborough who is as old as the Queen was, much of our print media is foreign owned as is the Premier league
PB Tories will say "polls don't matter" until one shows the Tories going forward, then they will be important again!!!!
Look, either fucking engage with individual posters, or post original and interesting thoughts of your own, or fuck off. There is NOTHING more fucking tedious than non specific sniping at "pb Tories" for what you very unimaginatively expect them to say rather than anything they actually do say.
Touched a nerve did I matey
Yes, I felt utterly embarrassed at spending so much of my time in an intellectual ecosystem where people like you manage to eke out a living. moron.
Every year, Britain remains the undisputed world origin of the best global swearwords. While F*ck retains its crown as the noblest, most useful planet-wide swearword - and a crucial British export - c*nt has gained new popularity amongst the young, along with K-pop and anime
When did you last hear a global youth say “merde” or “huhneficker”?
Could I point out something to the ludicrous Dynamo on the last thread who wanted a referendum on the monarchy on the basis of one poll with a landslide 61% still in favour of the monarchy.
Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in. It would be absurd to give it up
FFS I thought you were a patriot?
“Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in.”
What ARE you talking about? The UK is a phenomenally effective soft power, and a pretty consequential hard power - with the 6th largest economy in the world
But it’s our soft power which truly impresses, from some of the world’s best universities to the world’s most popular sports league to the home of the world’s most spoken language (which much that comes from this) to a mighty tradition in all the arts, pop music to theatre, Harry Potter to Harry Styles
You need to get out more. Only then do you realise the powerful puissant sway of that small, rainy archipelago off northwest Europe
6th largest economy is not first though is it. Even Oxford and Cambridge are behind Stanford and MIT or Harvard in most global university league tables. More speak Mandarin than English. We have not won the World Cup since 1966 and most players in the Premier league are foreign, we just host it.
The arts centre is still Hollywood and increasingly China even if we have some good theatres and actors
No, we no longer rule 1/3 of the world. But nor does anyone else. Moreover, we had THE BIGGEST EMPIRE THERE HAS EVER BEEN OR EVER WILL BE. They can’t take that way from us, and no one will ever match it now. YAY Britain and GO England
Given the tiny size of the UK geographically and demographically, it is outstandingly consequential in world affairs
The only nation that matches us per capita or per sq km is Israel
Indeed I would say they are the two most influential races in world affairs and human history. The Jews and the English. Discuss
Next the Italians
*ducks*
I don't deny we still punch well above our size internationally.
Yet we are no longer a superpower or number 1 in almost anything apart from our royal family
Premier league Football receipts FX trading Virus gene sequencing Olympic cycling Print media Wildlife documentaries Offshore wind power International art market Numerical weather prediction (before ECMWF left Reading)
The US still leads on FX trading, wildlife docs are reliant on Attenborough who is as old as the Queen was, much of our print media is foreign owned as is the Premier league
London is the centre of the global Forex market. (Albeit NY isn't far behind these days.)
London maybe, the US overall however is still ahead of the UK once you add Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco etc to New York city
Do you really want me to fire up Bloomberg and to dig into the exact numbers?
I can do that if you like, but I'd be staggered if the UK wasn't ahead of the US ion Forex trading when all is counted.
Could I point out something to the ludicrous Dynamo on the last thread who wanted a referendum on the monarchy on the basis of one poll with a landslide 61% still in favour of the monarchy.
Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in. It would be absurd to give it up
FFS I thought you were a patriot?
“Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in.”
What ARE you talking about? The UK is a phenomenally effective soft power, and a pretty consequential hard power - with the 6th largest economy in the world
But it’s our soft power which truly impresses, from some of the world’s best universities to the world’s most popular sports league to the home of the world’s most spoken language (which much that comes from this) to a mighty tradition in all the arts, pop music to theatre, Harry Potter to Harry Styles
You need to get out more. Only then do you realise the powerful puissant sway of that small, rainy archipelago off northwest Europe
6th largest economy is not first though is it. Even Oxford and Cambridge are behind Stanford and MIT or Harvard in most global university league tables. More speak Mandarin than English. We have not won the World Cup since 1966 and most players in the Premier league are foreign, we just host it.
The arts centre is still Hollywood and increasingly China even if we have some good theatres and actors
No, we no longer rule 1/3 of the world. But nor does anyone else. Moreover, we had THE BIGGEST EMPIRE THERE HAS EVER BEEN OR EVER WILL BE. They can’t take that way from us, and no one will ever match it now. YAY Britain and GO England
Given the tiny size of the UK geographically and demographically, it is outstandingly consequential in world affairs
The only nation that matches us per capita or per sq km is Israel
Indeed I would say they are the two most influential races in world affairs and human history. The Jews and the English. Discuss
Next the Italians
*ducks*
I don't deny we still punch well above our size internationally.
Yet we are no longer a superpower or number 1 in almost anything apart from our royal family
Premier league Football receipts FX trading Virus gene sequencing Olympic cycling Print media Wildlife documentaries Offshore wind power International art market Numerical weather prediction (before ECMWF left Reading)
The US still leads on FX trading, wildlife docs are reliant on Attenborough who is as old as the Queen was, much of our print media is foreign owned as is the Premier league
Could I point out something to the ludicrous Dynamo on the last thread who wanted a referendum on the monarchy on the basis of one poll with a landslide 61% still in favour of the monarchy.
Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in. It would be absurd to give it up
FFS I thought you were a patriot?
“Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in.”
What ARE you talking about? The UK is a phenomenally effective soft power, and a pretty consequential hard power - with the 6th largest economy in the world
But it’s our soft power which truly impresses, from some of the world’s best universities to the world’s most popular sports league to the home of the world’s most spoken language (which much that comes from this) to a mighty tradition in all the arts, pop music to theatre, Harry Potter to Harry Styles
You need to get out more. Only then do you realise the powerful puissant sway of that small, rainy archipelago off northwest Europe
6th largest economy is not first though is it. Even Oxford and Cambridge are behind Stanford and MIT or Harvard in most global university league tables. More speak Mandarin than English. We have not won the World Cup since 1966 and most players in the Premier league are foreign, we just host it.
The arts centre is still Hollywood and increasingly China even if we have some good theatres and actors
No, we no longer rule 1/3 of the world. But nor does anyone else. Moreover, we had THE BIGGEST EMPIRE THERE HAS EVER BEEN OR EVER WILL BE. They can’t take that way from us, and no one will ever match it now. YAY Britain and GO England
Given the tiny size of the UK geographically and demographically, it is outstandingly consequential in world affairs
The only nation that matches us per capita or per sq km is Israel
Indeed I would say they are the two most influential races in world affairs and human history. The Jews and the English. Discuss
Next the Italians
*ducks*
I don't deny we still punch well above our size internationally.
Yet we are no longer a superpower or number 1 in almost anything apart from our royal family
Premier league Football receipts FX trading Virus gene sequencing Olympic cycling Print media Wildlife documentaries Offshore wind power International art market Numerical weather prediction (before ECMWF left Reading)
The US still leads on FX trading, wildlife docs are reliant on Attenborough who is as old as the Queen was, much of our print media is foreign owned as is the Premier league
Could I point out something to the ludicrous Dynamo on the last thread who wanted a referendum on the monarchy on the basis of one poll with a landslide 61% still in favour of the monarchy.
Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in. It would be absurd to give it up
FFS I thought you were a patriot?
“Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in.”
What ARE you talking about? The UK is a phenomenally effective soft power, and a pretty consequential hard power - with the 6th largest economy in the world
But it’s our soft power which truly impresses, from some of the world’s best universities to the world’s most popular sports league to the home of the world’s most spoken language (which much that comes from this) to a mighty tradition in all the arts, pop music to theatre, Harry Potter to Harry Styles
You need to get out more. Only then do you realise the powerful puissant sway of that small, rainy archipelago off northwest Europe
6th largest economy is not first though is it. Even Oxford and Cambridge are behind Stanford and MIT or Harvard in most global university league tables. More speak Mandarin than English. We have not won the World Cup since 1966 and most players in the Premier league are foreign, we just host it.
The arts centre is still Hollywood and increasingly China even if we have some good theatres and actors
No, we no longer rule 1/3 of the world. But nor does anyone else. Moreover, we had THE BIGGEST EMPIRE THERE HAS EVER BEEN OR EVER WILL BE. They can’t take that way from us, and no one will ever match it now. YAY Britain and GO England
Given the tiny size of the UK geographically and demographically, it is outstandingly consequential in world affairs
The only nation that matches us per capita or per sq km is Israel
Indeed I would say they are the two most influential races in world affairs and human history. The Jews and the English. Discuss
Next the Italians
*ducks*
I don't deny we still punch well above our size internationally.
Yet we are no longer a superpower or number 1 in almost anything apart from our royal family
Of course you’re on the wind up, but on the premise you might half believe this crap:
a) We’re in the top tier of consequential nations and at any moment will lead the world in many things; but
b) It’s not a competition, we should focus on being content, happy, and prosperous, and let the international comparisons look after themselves.
Will be interesting (among plenty of other & more important things) to find out the future of the relatively-recent, double-barreled surname "Mountbatten-Windsor".
My guess is that KCIII keeps it. But maybe not?
Yeah snub to his dad otherwise
More to the point, he was close to Mountbatten himself.
Will be interesting (among plenty of other & more important things) to find out the future of the relatively-recent, double-barreled surname "Mountbatten-Windsor".
My guess is that KCIII keeps it. But maybe not?
Charles is a Wittelsbach, and his mum was a Wettin. Victoria was a Welf.
Every year, Britain remains the undisputed world origin of the best global swearwords. While F*ck retains its crown as the noblest, most useful planet-wide swearword - and a crucial British export - c*nt has gained new popularity amongst the young, along with K-pop and anime
When did you last hear a global youth say “merde” or “huhneficker”?
Could I point out something to the ludicrous Dynamo on the last thread who wanted a referendum on the monarchy on the basis of one poll with a landslide 61% still in favour of the monarchy.
Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in. It would be absurd to give it up
FFS I thought you were a patriot?
“Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in.”
What ARE you talking about? The UK is a phenomenally effective soft power, and a pretty consequential hard power - with the 6th largest economy in the world
But it’s our soft power which truly impresses, from some of the world’s best universities to the world’s most popular sports league to the home of the world’s most spoken language (which much that comes from this) to a mighty tradition in all the arts, pop music to theatre, Harry Potter to Harry Styles
You need to get out more. Only then do you realise the powerful puissant sway of that small, rainy archipelago off northwest Europe
6th largest economy is not first though is it. Even Oxford and Cambridge are behind Stanford and MIT or Harvard in most global university league tables. More speak Mandarin than English. We have not won the World Cup since 1966 and most players in the Premier league are foreign, we just host it.
The arts centre is still Hollywood and increasingly China even if we have some good theatres and actors
No, we no longer rule 1/3 of the world. But nor does anyone else. Moreover, we had THE BIGGEST EMPIRE THERE HAS EVER BEEN OR EVER WILL BE. They can’t take that way from us, and no one will ever match it now. YAY Britain and GO England
Given the tiny size of the UK geographically and demographically, it is outstandingly consequential in world affairs
The only nation that matches us per capita or per sq km is Israel
Indeed I would say they are the two most influential races in world affairs and human history. The Jews and the English. Discuss
Next the Italians
*ducks*
I don't deny we still punch well above our size internationally.
Yet we are no longer a superpower or number 1 in almost anything apart from our royal family
i think you’ll find we still boast the world’s seventh biggest ship canal, so your despair is unwarranted
Risk of tactical nuclear escalation is probably the highest it’s been since March.
What madman liked this post?
Its a good point though. People think that 'Putin is being pushed back', and that 'Russia poses no conventional military threat to Europe'; but they just haven't thought it through.
We have.
Putin being pushed back doesn't threaten nuclear war.
If Putin tried to suggest launching nukes when his Generals know he has lost a crazy war, he would be on a crash course of learning how to fly from an upper story window faster than you can say defenestration.
This is complete speculation, because we know almost nothing about the generals and what is going on inside the Kremlin. Certainly there is a longstanding idea that no one would execute the order to start a nuclear war, but as for 'tactical nukes', then I think that this is actually part of Russian Military Doctrine, that they can be used to defend land that they claim; and I think this is probably behind the original comment about fear of tactical nuclear escalation.
All goes back to the discussion earlier; 'careful what you wish for'.
Yes, I was just stating an opinion of the facts rather than a policy position. Clearly Ukraine needs to keep pushing as hard as it can.
If the Russian regime panics and Putin starts to fear getting too close to upper floor windows then he / they may be tempted to do something stupid.
It’ll only happen after some weeks of threat and blackmail. In which case NATO needs to be crystal clear about what such an escalation would mean: the complete annihilation of Russia (and by extension of course, most of the rest of the Northern hemisphere). That’s the point of MAD.
I don't know about the last point. I was listening to Oliver Stone on the Lex Fridman podcast. He came out (as i recall) with the suggestion that the US could nuke the Donbass as a false flag. It got me thinking that Russia could alternatively set off a battlefield nuke and suggest it was a NATO false flag. Things could escalate that way.
It is - of course - worth noting that such a false flag would not hold up to longer-term scrutiny, as nuclear weapons have very obvious fingerprints.
Putin's other problem is if he does a battlefield nuke, horrendous as it will be, he exposes himself to the reality that it gains him absolutely nothing militarily and so he loses yet another threat card. And on the downside, for him, the Chinese will walk away I think.
Could I point out something to the ludicrous Dynamo on the last thread who wanted a referendum on the monarchy on the basis of one poll with a landslide 61% still in favour of the monarchy.
Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in. It would be absurd to give it up
FFS I thought you were a patriot?
“Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in.”
What ARE you talking about? The UK is a phenomenally effective soft power, and a pretty consequential hard power - with the 6th largest economy in the world
But it’s our soft power which truly impresses, from some of the world’s best universities to the world’s most popular sports league to the home of the world’s most spoken language (which much that comes from this) to a mighty tradition in all the arts, pop music to theatre, Harry Potter to Harry Styles
You need to get out more. Only then do you realise the powerful puissant sway of that small, rainy archipelago off northwest Europe
6th largest economy is not first though is it. Even Oxford and Cambridge are behind Stanford and MIT or Harvard in most global university league tables. More speak Mandarin than English. We have not won the World Cup since 1966 and most players in the Premier league are foreign, we just host it.
The arts centre is still Hollywood and increasingly China even if we have some good theatres and actors and musicians most Oscar and Grammy winners are still American. So yes, my point stands, we do well I many things relative to our size as you say. Yet the only thing we are still global no 1 on is the best known and recognised Royal family, as the global coverage of the last few days confirms
English is a lingua franca, unlike Mandarin. English literature is pretty well dominant, across the world.
Let’s be honest though, American is the lingua franca.
But that’s actually not true. It’s glib
American English and British English duke it out worldwide, I am not at all sure American English prevails indeed I’d say British English maintains a healthy advantage
See the new Game of Thrones and LOTR, the biggest new TV drama series on the planet. British accents, British themes, British stories, British actors, British English
American money, but no one cares about that. The premium version of the language is British
Or, by way of synthesis, America is the reason English is the lingua franca. British English is the super-premium label. Rather like Prosecco is behind the surge in sparkling wind consumption but Champagne (and ESW, and Franciacorta) remains the premium brand.
Best value drink on the planet is Spanish cava. If you regularly drink run of the mill champagne, switch to cava, with dom perignon every 4th bottle. Same cost.
Could I point out something to the ludicrous Dynamo on the last thread who wanted a referendum on the monarchy on the basis of one poll with a landslide 61% still in favour of the monarchy.
Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in. It would be absurd to give it up
FFS I thought you were a patriot?
“Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in.”
What ARE you talking about? The UK is a phenomenally effective soft power, and a pretty consequential hard power - with the 6th largest economy in the world
But it’s our soft power which truly impresses, from some of the world’s best universities to the world’s most popular sports league to the home of the world’s most spoken language (which much that comes from this) to a mighty tradition in all the arts, pop music to theatre, Harry Potter to Harry Styles
You need to get out more. Only then do you realise the powerful puissant sway of that small, rainy archipelago off northwest Europe
6th largest economy is not first though is it. Even Oxford and Cambridge are behind Stanford and MIT or Harvard in most global university league tables. More speak Mandarin than English. We have not won the World Cup since 1966 and most players in the Premier league are foreign, we just host it.
The arts centre is still Hollywood and increasingly China even if we have some good theatres and actors
No, we no longer rule 1/3 of the world. But nor does anyone else. Moreover, we had THE BIGGEST EMPIRE THERE HAS EVER BEEN OR EVER WILL BE. They can’t take that way from us, and no one will ever match it now. YAY Britain and GO England
Given the tiny size of the UK geographically and demographically, it is outstandingly consequential in world affairs
The only nation that matches us per capita or per sq km is Israel
Indeed I would say they are the two most influential races in world affairs and human history. The Jews and the English. Discuss
Next the Italians
*ducks*
I don't deny we still punch well above our size internationally.
Yet we are no longer a superpower or number 1 in almost anything apart from our royal family
Premier league Football receipts FX trading Virus gene sequencing Olympic cycling Print media Wildlife documentaries Offshore wind power International art market Numerical weather prediction (before ECMWF left Reading)
The US still leads on FX trading, wildlife docs are reliant on Attenborough who is as old as the Queen was, much of our print media is foreign owned as is the Premier league
Could I point out something to the ludicrous Dynamo on the last thread who wanted a referendum on the monarchy on the basis of one poll with a landslide 61% still in favour of the monarchy.
Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in. It would be absurd to give it up
FFS I thought you were a patriot?
“Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in.”
What ARE you talking about? The UK is a phenomenally effective soft power, and a pretty consequential hard power - with the 6th largest economy in the world
But it’s our soft power which truly impresses, from some of the world’s best universities to the world’s most popular sports league to the home of the world’s most spoken language (which much that comes from this) to a mighty tradition in all the arts, pop music to theatre, Harry Potter to Harry Styles
You need to get out more. Only then do you realise the powerful puissant sway of that small, rainy archipelago off northwest Europe
6th largest economy is not first though is it. Even Oxford and Cambridge are behind Stanford and MIT or Harvard in most global university league tables. More speak Mandarin than English. We have not won the World Cup since 1966 and most players in the Premier league are foreign, we just host it.
The arts centre is still Hollywood and increasingly China even if we have some good theatres and actors and musicians most Oscar and Grammy winners are still American. So yes, my point stands, we do well I many things relative to our size as you say. Yet the only thing we are still global no 1 on is the best known and recognised Royal family, as the global coverage of the last few days confirms
English is a lingua franca, unlike Mandarin. English literature is pretty well dominant, across the world.
Let’s be honest though, American is the lingua franca.
But that’s actually not true. It’s glib
American English and British English duke it out worldwide, I am not at all sure American English prevails indeed I’d say British English maintains a healthy advantage
See the new Game of Thrones and LOTR, the biggest new TV drama series on the planet. British accents, British themes, British stories, British actors, British English
American money, but no one cares about that. The premium version of the language is British
Or, by way of synthesis, America is the reason English is the lingua franca. British English is the super-premium label. Rather like Prosecco is behind the surge in sparkling wind consumption but Champagne (and ESW, and Franciacorta) remains the premium brand.
Best value drink on the planet is Spanish cava. If you regularly drink run of the mill champagne, switch to cava, with dom perignon every 4th bottle. Same cost.
Well yes I sort of agree on the value front alongside crémant de Bourgogne which if it’s from Yonne is basically champagne made across the border, and given less age for cash-flow reasons.
Could I point out something to the ludicrous Dynamo on the last thread who wanted a referendum on the monarchy on the basis of one poll with a landslide 61% still in favour of the monarchy.
Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in. It would be absurd to give it up
FFS I thought you were a patriot?
“Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in.”
What ARE you talking about? The UK is a phenomenally effective soft power, and a pretty consequential hard power - with the 6th largest economy in the world
But it’s our soft power which truly impresses, from some of the world’s best universities to the world’s most popular sports league to the home of the world’s most spoken language (which much that comes from this) to a mighty tradition in all the arts, pop music to theatre, Harry Potter to Harry Styles
You need to get out more. Only then do you realise the powerful puissant sway of that small, rainy archipelago off northwest Europe
6th largest economy is not first though is it. Even Oxford and Cambridge are behind Stanford and MIT or Harvard in most global university league tables. More speak Mandarin than English. We have not won the World Cup since 1966 and most players in the Premier league are foreign, we just host it.
The arts centre is still Hollywood and increasingly China even if we have some good theatres and actors
No, we no longer rule 1/3 of the world. But nor does anyone else. Moreover, we had THE BIGGEST EMPIRE THERE HAS EVER BEEN OR EVER WILL BE. They can’t take that way from us, and no one will ever match it now. YAY Britain and GO England
Given the tiny size of the UK geographically and demographically, it is outstandingly consequential in world affairs
The only nation that matches us per capita or per sq km is Israel
Indeed I would say they are the two most influential races in world affairs and human history. The Jews and the English. Discuss
Next the Italians
*ducks*
I don't deny we still punch well above our size internationally.
Yet we are no longer a superpower or number 1 in almost anything apart from our royal family
Of course you’re on the wind up, but on the premise you might half believe this crap:
a) We’re in the top tier of consequential nations and at any moment will lead the world in many things; but
b) It’s not a competition, we should focus on being content, happy, and prosperous, and let the international comparisons look after themselves.
A Russian friend, who I used to chat with all the time but has recently ghosted me (possibly for geopolitical reasons) once bemoaned the fact that “in Russia our leaders want Russia to be great. In Britain your leaders want people to be rich”.
She was somewhat wishful thinking about Britain but there’s an important point in there.
Could I point out something to the ludicrous Dynamo on the last thread who wanted a referendum on the monarchy on the basis of one poll with a landslide 61% still in favour of the monarchy.
Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in. It would be absurd to give it up
FFS I thought you were a patriot?
“Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in.”
What ARE you talking about? The UK is a phenomenally effective soft power, and a pretty consequential hard power - with the 6th largest economy in the world
But it’s our soft power which truly impresses, from some of the world’s best universities to the world’s most popular sports league to the home of the world’s most spoken language (which much that comes from this) to a mighty tradition in all the arts, pop music to theatre, Harry Potter to Harry Styles
You need to get out more. Only then do you realise the powerful puissant sway of that small, rainy archipelago off northwest Europe
6th largest economy is not first though is it. Even Oxford and Cambridge are behind Stanford and MIT or Harvard in most global university league tables. More speak Mandarin than English. We have not won the World Cup since 1966 and most players in the Premier league are foreign, we just host it.
The arts centre is still Hollywood and increasingly China even if we have some good theatres and actors
No, we no longer rule 1/3 of the world. But nor does anyone else. Moreover, we had THE BIGGEST EMPIRE THERE HAS EVER BEEN OR EVER WILL BE. They can’t take that way from us, and no one will ever match it now. YAY Britain and GO England
Given the tiny size of the UK geographically and demographically, it is outstandingly consequential in world affairs
The only nation that matches us per capita or per sq km is Israel
Indeed I would say they are the two most influential races in world affairs and human history. The Jews and the English. Discuss
Next the Italians
*ducks*
I don't deny we still punch well above our size internationally.
Yet we are no longer a superpower or number 1 in almost anything apart from our royal family
Premier league Football receipts FX trading Virus gene sequencing Olympic cycling Print media Wildlife documentaries Offshore wind power International art market Numerical weather prediction (before ECMWF left Reading)
The US still leads on FX trading, wildlife docs are reliant on Attenborough who is as old as the Queen was, much of our print media is foreign owned as is the Premier league
London is the centre of the global Forex market. (Albeit NY isn't far behind these days.)
London maybe, the US overall however is still ahead of the UK once you add Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco etc to New York city
Do you really want me to fire up Bloomberg and to dig into the exact numbers?
I can do that if you like, but I'd be staggered if the UK wasn't ahead of the US ion Forex trading when all is counted.
Yup. From memory we are about 40% and the US 20%. Various factors not least time zone.
Could I point out something to the ludicrous Dynamo on the last thread who wanted a referendum on the monarchy on the basis of one poll with a landslide 61% still in favour of the monarchy.
Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in. It would be absurd to give it up
FFS I thought you were a patriot?
“Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in.”
What ARE you talking about? The UK is a phenomenally effective soft power, and a pretty consequential hard power - with the 6th largest economy in the world
But it’s our soft power which truly impresses, from some of the world’s best universities to the world’s most popular sports league to the home of the world’s most spoken language (which much that comes from this) to a mighty tradition in all the arts, pop music to theatre, Harry Potter to Harry Styles
You need to get out more. Only then do you realise the powerful puissant sway of that small, rainy archipelago off northwest Europe
6th largest economy is not first though is it. Even Oxford and Cambridge are behind Stanford and MIT or Harvard in most global university league tables. More speak Mandarin than English. We have not won the World Cup since 1966 and most players in the Premier league are foreign, we just host it.
The arts centre is still Hollywood and increasingly China even if we have some good theatres and actors
No, we no longer rule 1/3 of the world. But nor does anyone else. Moreover, we had THE BIGGEST EMPIRE THERE HAS EVER BEEN OR EVER WILL BE. They can’t take that way from us, and no one will ever match it now. YAY Britain and GO England
Given the tiny size of the UK geographically and demographically, it is outstandingly consequential in world affairs
The only nation that matches us per capita or per sq km is Israel
Indeed I would say they are the two most influential races in world affairs and human history. The Jews and the English. Discuss
Next the Italians
*ducks*
I don't deny we still punch well above our size internationally.
Yet we are no longer a superpower or number 1 in almost anything apart from our royal family
Of course you’re on the wind up, but on the premise you might half believe this crap:
a) We’re in the top tier of consequential nations and at any moment will lead the world in many things; but
b) It’s not a competition, we should focus on being content, happy, and prosperous, and let the international comparisons look after themselves.
A Russian friend, who I used to chat with all the time but has recently ghosted me (possibly for geopolitical reasons) once bemoaned the fact that “in Russia our leaders want Russia to be great. In Britain your leaders want people to be rich”.
She was somewhat wishful thinking about Britain but there’s an important point in there.
Could I point out something to the ludicrous Dynamo on the last thread who wanted a referendum on the monarchy on the basis of one poll with a landslide 61% still in favour of the monarchy.
Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in. It would be absurd to give it up
FFS I thought you were a patriot?
“Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in.”
What ARE you talking about? The UK is a phenomenally effective soft power, and a pretty consequential hard power - with the 6th largest economy in the world
But it’s our soft power which truly impresses, from some of the world’s best universities to the world’s most popular sports league to the home of the world’s most spoken language (which much that comes from this) to a mighty tradition in all the arts, pop music to theatre, Harry Potter to Harry Styles
You need to get out more. Only then do you realise the powerful puissant sway of that small, rainy archipelago off northwest Europe
6th largest economy is not first though is it. Even Oxford and Cambridge are behind Stanford and MIT or Harvard in most global university league tables. More speak Mandarin than English. We have not won the World Cup since 1966 and most players in the Premier league are foreign, we just host it.
The arts centre is still Hollywood and increasingly China even if we have some good theatres and actors
No, we no longer rule 1/3 of the world. But nor does anyone else. Moreover, we had THE BIGGEST EMPIRE THERE HAS EVER BEEN OR EVER WILL BE. They can’t take that way from us, and no one will ever match it now. YAY Britain and GO England
Given the tiny size of the UK geographically and demographically, it is outstandingly consequential in world affairs
The only nation that matches us per capita or per sq km is Israel
Indeed I would say they are the two most influential races in world affairs and human history. The Jews and the English. Discuss
Next the Italians
*ducks*
I don't deny we still punch well above our size internationally.
Yet we are no longer a superpower or number 1 in almost anything apart from our royal family
Premier league Football receipts FX trading Virus gene sequencing Olympic cycling Print media Wildlife documentaries Offshore wind power International art market Numerical weather prediction (before ECMWF left Reading)
The US still leads on FX trading, wildlife docs are reliant on Attenborough who is as old as the Queen was, much of our print media is foreign owned as is the Premier league
Could I point out something to the ludicrous Dynamo on the last thread who wanted a referendum on the monarchy on the basis of one poll with a landslide 61% still in favour of the monarchy.
Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in. It would be absurd to give it up
FFS I thought you were a patriot?
“Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in.”
What ARE you talking about? The UK is a phenomenally effective soft power, and a pretty consequential hard power - with the 6th largest economy in the world
But it’s our soft power which truly impresses, from some of the world’s best universities to the world’s most popular sports league to the home of the world’s most spoken language (which much that comes from this) to a mighty tradition in all the arts, pop music to theatre, Harry Potter to Harry Styles
You need to get out more. Only then do you realise the powerful puissant sway of that small, rainy archipelago off northwest Europe
6th largest economy is not first though is it. Even Oxford and Cambridge are behind Stanford and MIT or Harvard in most global university league tables. More speak Mandarin than English. We have not won the World Cup since 1966 and most players in the Premier league are foreign, we just host it.
The arts centre is still Hollywood and increasingly China even if we have some good theatres and actors
No, we no longer rule 1/3 of the world. But nor does anyone else. Moreover, we had THE BIGGEST EMPIRE THERE HAS EVER BEEN OR EVER WILL BE. They can’t take that way from us, and no one will ever match it now. YAY Britain and GO England
Given the tiny size of the UK geographically and demographically, it is outstandingly consequential in world affairs
The only nation that matches us per capita or per sq km is Israel
Indeed I would say they are the two most influential races in world affairs and human history. The Jews and the English. Discuss
Next the Italians
*ducks*
I don't deny we still punch well above our size internationally.
Yet we are no longer a superpower or number 1 in almost anything apart from our royal family
Premier league Football receipts FX trading Virus gene sequencing Olympic cycling Print media Wildlife documentaries Offshore wind power International art market Numerical weather prediction (before ECMWF left Reading)
The US still leads on FX trading, wildlife docs are reliant on Attenborough who is as old as the Queen was, much of our print media is foreign owned as is the Premier league
“Over half of the world’s wild bluebells grow in the UK”
They do have blue bonnets in the USA, but to my biased mind they are not as pretty. Never seen them in person mind.
"Yet we are no longer a superpower or number 1 in almost anything apart from our royal family"
We will be in wind power.
Most people have no idea how much is coming on stream in the North Sea.
It is a stunning achievement.
It’s amazing how wrong we can all be. Even ten years ago I remember thinking off shore wind was surely silly because of the loss involved in getting energy to land. I was clearly utterly, magnificently, wrong.
Comments
However, of all the Tory candidates Truss is the one who might just turn it around. She has a long history of being underestimated. She seems gritty, self confident, determined and not entirely lacking in charisma. If I was a Labour strategist, I’d be nervous
his predecessor.
Best speech remains that of Macron.
His speech which he had clearly spent hours and hours preparing for his eulogy whilst still PM was, as you say, one of his best, but sadly for him he is now yesterday's man and it doesn't matter. He is merely a footnote in the precedings just like May, Cameron, Brown, Blair and Major.
Like her or loathe her, Truss is the one in the driving seat through the events of the next fortnight, and Johnson isn't even a passenger, he's more like a hitch hiker.
Paddington Bear, ending with a lifting of the hat and "thank you, for everything".
This was the first by-election the Conservatives fought under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher, who abandoned a precedent that party leaders did not campaign in by-elections, by personally canvassing in support of Bottomley.[1] Writing in The Glasgow Herald political correspondent John Warden stated that the victory would boost Mrs Thatcher by silencing "mutterings about her leadership" for at least a few months
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1975_Woolwich_West_by-election
https://twitter.com/TimesRadio/status/1568248426344730625
But.
I think it is China who matters here. And I think China is absolutely terrified that Russia might use nukes. Because Russia using nukes - and there being no consequences - means the Japanese and the Taiwanese and the Baltic states are all going to want nukes.
“Having the best known Royal family in the world is about the only thing left we as the United Kingdom still lead the world in.”
What ARE you talking about? The UK is a phenomenally effective soft power, and a pretty consequential hard power - with the 6th largest economy in the world
But it’s our soft power which truly impresses, from some of the world’s best universities to the world’s most popular sports league to the home of the world’s most spoken language (which much that comes from this) to a mighty tradition in all the arts, pop music to theatre, Harry Potter to Harry Styles
You need to get out more. Only then do you realise the powerful puissant sway of that small, rainy archipelago off northwest Europe
HOWEVER, we are getting some rather wacky weather of our own.
For past week it's been pretty nice, cool in morning, warm but not hot in the afternoon, often starting out cloudy (or foggy) then clearing out in late morning.
BUT in past several days, the skies have started to get a bit hazy, due to smoke from forest fires, some in Eastern Washington but most much farther afield, esp. California.
Today is different, however, because wind has shifted and now coming from north. Meaning NOT less smoke, but MORE, this time from British Columbia. And smoke is now closer to the ground AND more of it. To point where you can start to smell it when you go outside AND see the drop in air quality on various websites, such as below:
https://www.iqair.com/us/air-quality-map?lat=47.568236&lng=-122.308628&zoomLevel=10
PLUS due to shift in winds, brought on by class of weather fronts & dip in jet stream, the high temperature in Seattle for Saturday is forecast to hit 90 F or thereabouts. And remain hot through Sunday.
Good news is that yet another shift in weather & wind will mean that Monday is both cooler AND clearer, with the smoke getting pushed out.
In the meantime, here in the Emerald City, dig out your N94 masks!
I am abroad but I dip in and out, as and when I feel sad or curious or whatever. It’s like a 24/7 buffet of mourning, and maybe that is how it should it be. No one is forced to consume anything, but it is there if you want it
It is an epochal moment in the nation’s life, it will take time to digest
The arts centre is still Hollywood and increasingly China even if we have some good theatres and actors and musicians most Oscar and Grammy winners are still American. So yes, my point stands, we do well I many things relative to our size as you say. Yet the only thing we are still global no 1 on is the best known and recognised Royal family, as the global coverage of the last few days confirms
https://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2022
It's pure projection.
To a few million others the prospect of a bit more priority for public services over tax cuts will appeal. Now Blair is partially rehabilitated on the left they’ll be able to remind people of some of his pre-Iraq successes.
This is the risk for the conservatives. Just as Labour managed to burn its bridges with the traditional working class while piling up middle class votes in the wrong places, so the Tories may find themselves losing the red wall with their new full fat Thatcherite ideology while failing to win back the Home Counties because of their approach to Europe. Piling up votes in Essex, Lincolnshire and Medway is as inefficient as doing so in Hackney and Islington.
No, we no longer rule 1/3 of the world. But nor does anyone else. Moreover, we had THE BIGGEST EMPIRE THERE HAS EVER BEEN OR EVER WILL BE. They can’t take that way from us, and no one will ever match it now. YAY Britain and GO England
Given the tiny size of the UK geographically and demographically, it is outstandingly consequential in world affairs
The only nation that matches us per capita or per sq km is Israel
Indeed I would say they are the two most influential races in world affairs and human history. The Jews and the English. Discuss
Next the Italians
*ducks*
Then I suppose the final question is, is Putin a rational actor or is he the type to flip the chess board and kick the table over when he loses?
Kremlinology is anyone's guess, but despite being paranoid and at times clearly badly informed, Putin still strikes me as a rational player rather than a madman.
The question is whether he will remain rational if/when it's clear he's losing in Ukraine, and what the options are for a way out of the conflict before that happens.
Assuming he retains his grip on internal power, I can't imagine the war ending without him having some way of saving face. But the Ukrainians have made it pretty clear they will fight until every Russian is pushed back to the 2014 border - rightly so. So there is a risk that Putin becomes less rational in defeat than he is behaving now.
Using nuclear weapons creates a very serious, unpredictable risk of that not continuing to be the case. The threats to him would be so numerous as to be wholly impossible to plan against.
Mass mobilisation surely a safer option if he was to escalate things.
American English and British English duke it out worldwide, I am not at all sure American English prevails indeed I’d say British English maintains a healthy advantage
See the new Game of Thrones and LOTR, the biggest new TV drama series on the planet. British accents, British themes, British stories, British actors, British English
American money, but no one cares about that. The premium version of the language is British
My GE view is that it's Labour's to lose. TFAC is strong after so much toryness for so long, the economy is weak, the global winds are all blowing the wrong way, and that GE19 result was a freak, its 3 main drivers - Brexit, Johnson, Corbyn - all now out of frame.
So it's Labour's to lose and I don't think Keir Starmer will oblige. Like Clint in a spaghetti western he's lining up all the anticipated tory (and their media mates) attack lines - tax, woke, spendthrift, hate Britain, Sturgeon’s pocket - and he's shooting them down in practice before leaving the barn and making his way to town for the showdown.
"Undertaker, better make that 4 coffins"
I'm short Labour majority at average over 6 - back from last year when I held a different view - and I wish I wasn't.
Yet we are no longer a superpower or number 1 in almost anything apart from our royal family
BTW, doubt that "Elizabeth the Great" is anything more than temporary media bumpf.
Note that THAT sobriquet invites confusion with Elizabeth I, considering that most folks would recognize her superior claim to such a title.
Bit like Bush the Elder versus Bush the Younger?
Speaking of Elder & Younger, they used to call Pitt the Elder "the Great Commoner" until that is he was "elevated" to Earl of Chatham.
Perhaps QEI can (still be) Good Queen Bess while QEII becomes Good Queen Liz?
Or maybe just Queen of the Commonwealth.
Jews
English
Italians
Greeks
French
Arabs
Chinese
Spanish
Japanese
Other
https://www.kiaoval.com/england-vs-south-africa-updated-match-day-information/
"CHANGES TO MATCH-DAY EXPERIENCE
The remainder of this Test Series will be a very special period for everyone involved, but please be informed that there will be some significant differences from your usual match-day experience.
On Day’s 4 and 5, bars will be open once play starts and fans will be limited to purchasing two alcoholic drinks at a time throughout the day.
Fancy dress will not be permitted across the three days, and those in fancy dress will be refused entry.
We look forward to welcoming people across the next three days. Please be mindful of other people and behave with respect as concerns other people and the occasion.
It is a chance for all of us to recognise the extraordinary contribution the Queen has made to public life, and we ask that all fans behave in such a way that shows we are equal to the moment."
Here lies poor FRED, who was alive and is dead
Had it been his Father I had much rather,
Had it been his Sister nobody would have miss’d Her,
Had it been his Brother, still better than another,
Had it been the whole Generation, so much better for the Nation,
But since it is FRED who was alive and is dead,
There is no more to be said!
Due to Fred's untimely demise, when George II expired, he was succeeded by his grandson, Frederick's son George III.
I am not a tory, thicko.
FX trading
Virus gene sequencing
Olympic cycling
Print media
Wildlife documentaries
Offshore wind power
International art market
Numerical weather prediction (before ECMWF left Reading)
Eg India
One of the reasons English as a language will predominate for the foreseeable future is India. Which is destined to become - very soon - the biggest country on the planet by population and also one of the great economic superpowers
India speaks English and plays cricket and looks to Britain - if it looks anywhere in the west - as a cultural marker (tho of course the relationship is complex and two way, and the UK is now economically the smaller partner). India really does not look to the USA, in my experience
So that is a legacy of the British Empire and has nothing to do with America, yet it is a significant reason why English language hegemony will endure
Yay!
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_for_the_2022_Italian_general_election
And the biggest and most dangerous example, early next year, will be the democratic thrashing of Erdogan.
Will a Russian nuke work as planned?
Keeping nuclear weapons 'fresh' is fiendishly difficult for a number of reasons: Firstly, their electronics are very sensitive, and a little bit of a timing misfire will result in a dud; Secondly, by their very nature, the nuclear material will be throwing off a lot of alpha particles in all directions, which will be absorbed by (and weaken) the other components, structure, etc.
Have the Russians skimped on maintenance? My money would be on a big 'yes'. And if Russia were to fire a nuke, and it were to be a dud, that would be a lot worse for Russia that not having used a nuke at all.
My guess is that KCIII keeps it. But maybe not?
Formula One engineering
https://www.kentwildlifetrust.org.uk/blog/maureen-rainey/10-amazing-facts-about-bluebells
“Over half of the world’s wild bluebells grow in the UK”
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/it-s-official-sarah-palin-cost-the-gop-a-house-seat/ar-AA11EJmA?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=c0c6897f73c346b2bf5e7919b7c1a14e
@OzKaterji
·
9h
Replying to
@OzKaterji
*confirmation. Russian troops are being routed in the east of Ukraine at a speed that has flabbergasted even the most seasoned military veterans. This level of progress is probably not sustainable long-term, but as it stands, Russian defences are collapsing across the Oblast.
Edit - My reply looks bonkers to anyone not unravelling what you’re quoting of course.
That really is putting the Great back into Britain
Every year, Britain remains the undisputed world origin of the best global swearwords. While F*ck retains its crown as the noblest, most useful planet-wide swearword - and a crucial British export - c*nt has gained new popularity amongst the young, along with K-pop and anime
When did you last hear a global youth say “merde” or “huhneficker”?
Exactly
I can do that if you like, but I'd be staggered if the UK wasn't ahead of the US ion Forex trading when all is counted.
a) We’re in the top tier of consequential nations and at any moment will lead the world in many things; but
b) It’s not a competition, we should focus on being content, happy, and prosperous, and let the international comparisons look after themselves.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddwCUCJR0J4
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barton_Swing_Aqueduct
https://twitter.com/oneunderscore__/status/1568326997939552257
She was somewhat wishful thinking about Britain but there’s an important point in there.
We will be in wind power.
Most people have no idea how much is coming on stream in the North Sea.
It is a stunning achievement.