The whole speech astonishes me every time I read it, especially the final paragraph: "With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations."
* General Mark Milley * Dr. Anthony Fauci * Jan. 6 Committee members of Congress and staffers * The police officers who testified before the Jan. 6 Committee
Biden says these pardons are not an acknowledgment of wrongdoing.
MRDA.
Biden just admitted that Fauci fucked up over the pan(dem)ic.
It’s quite extraordinary. “Yeah so what fauci lied about lab leak anyway now he’s PRE EMPTIVELY PARDONED”
What? Of everything? Of misleading the world about a plague that killed 20 millions? Of funding the research that led to that plague?
Nothing has so unbecome Biden in office as the way he has departed it. All this and Hunter too
The Hunter pardon was pretty foolish, but was just about understandable from a parent. He's not a politician, and he's been pursued in a manner completely unprecedented for what were fairly minor crimes, with every indication that would carry on post election.
These pre-emptive pardons, though, set a terrible precedent, which no doubt Trump will turbocharge in due course.
It wasn't understandable, it was disgraceful.
What bollocks bearing in mind what Trump previously did regarding pardons and intends to do to the January 6th rioters later on today. The pre emptive pardons will not set a precedent, he would do what he liked regardless.
So the Democrats should follow suit?
In anticipation of vexatious prosecutions against Trump's personal foes, for example several Republicans like Milley I am comfortable with that. If you want Democrat pardoning misbehaviour Clinton pardoning the USA's biggest white collar criminals Marc Rich and Pinky Green was unforgivable.
Were you comfortable with vexatious prosecutions against Trump?
OT: just cancelled my Telegraph subscription because they've gone full-on Trumpist now. Dear God, we need a click-to-cancel law in this country. A Scotsman and a woman with a thick Nigerian accent trying to communicate down a terrible phone line is a trial for both parties, especially when the customer service agent seems to be under firm instructions to make it as difficult to cancel as possible.
"Former M&S boss says working from home is ‘not doing proper work’ WFH has harmed employee productivity, says Stuart Rose, who was also executive chair of Asda"
I WFH all but one day a month. He's not wrong. Some things I have to be in the office to do a decent job of, and most things I can do a decent job at home but would need to be in the office to do a good job.
As someone WFH since 2012, here are three observations.
One of the reasons WFH is better is management obsession with open plan offices and cubicles made office work harder than it needs to be.
Bringing in new team members is hard to do remotely.
Some people do take the piss, whether at home or at the office.
The major thing driving workers liking WFH is, I rather suspect, that commuting absolutely sucks. Especially around big cities - it was one of the main reasons I left London. Maybe there needs to be a shift to paying for commuting time.
Commuting time and money, perhaps especially outside London where commuting was always less popular.
But management soon realised it could save a metric sackful of cash by giving up office leases. Aiui the government has been doing the same thing (pace JRM's post-it notes) since the pandemic.
* General Mark Milley * Dr. Anthony Fauci * Jan. 6 Committee members of Congress and staffers * The police officers who testified before the Jan. 6 Committee
Biden says these pardons are not an acknowledgment of wrongdoing.
MRDA.
Biden just admitted that Fauci fucked up over the pan(dem)ic.
It’s quite extraordinary. “Yeah so what fauci lied about lab leak anyway now he’s PRE EMPTIVELY PARDONED”
What? Of everything? Of misleading the world about a plague that killed 20 millions? Of funding the research that led to that plague?
Nothing has so unbecome Biden in office as the way he has departed it. All this and Hunter too
The Hunter pardon was pretty foolish, but was just about understandable from a parent. He's not a politician, and he's been pursued in a manner completely unprecedented for what were fairly minor crimes, with every indication that would carry on post election.
These pre-emptive pardons, though, set a terrible precedent, which no doubt Trump will turbocharge in due course.
It wasn't understandable, it was disgraceful.
What bollocks bearing in mind what Trump previously did regarding pardons and intends to do to the January 6th rioters later on today. The pre emptive pardons will not set a precedent, he would do what he liked regardless.
So the Democrats should follow suit?
In anticipation of vexatious prosecutions against Trump's personal foes, for example several Republicans like Milley I am comfortable with that. If you want Democrat pardoning misbehaviour Clinton pardoning the USA's biggest white collar criminals Marc Rich and Pinky Green was unforgivable.
The point of such a pre-emptive pardon is that it sets aside any judicial process - there is no objective way of distinguishing those whom the President "knows did no wrong" from the criminal.
I'm not comfortable with any of it.
The other difference from the rest of these pardons, in Hunter Biden's case, is that he was actually a convicted felon. As I said upthread, I think his pardon was foolish, but I'm not convinced it sets quite the same precedent.
* General Mark Milley * Dr. Anthony Fauci * Jan. 6 Committee members of Congress and staffers * The police officers who testified before the Jan. 6 Committee
Biden says these pardons are not an acknowledgment of wrongdoing.
MRDA.
Biden just admitted that Fauci fucked up over the pan(dem)ic.
It’s quite extraordinary. “Yeah so what fauci lied about lab leak anyway now he’s PRE EMPTIVELY PARDONED”
What? Of everything? Of misleading the world about a plague that killed 20 millions? Of funding the research that led to that plague?
Nothing has so unbecome Biden in office as the way he has departed it. All this and Hunter too
The Hunter pardon was pretty foolish, but was just about understandable from a parent. He's not a politician, and he's been pursued in a manner completely unprecedented for what were fairly minor crimes, with every indication that would carry on post election.
These pre-emptive pardons, though, set a terrible precedent, which no doubt Trump will turbocharge in due course.
It wasn't understandable, it was disgraceful.
What bollocks bearing in mind what Trump previously did regarding pardons and intends to do to the January 6th rioters later on today. The pre emptive pardons will not set a precedent, he would do what he liked regardless.
So the Democrats should follow suit?
In anticipation of vexatious prosecutions against Trump's personal foes, for example several Republicans like Milley I am comfortable with that. If you want Democrat pardoning misbehaviour Clinton pardoning the USA's biggest white collar criminals Marc Rich and Pinky Green was unforgivable.
Were you comfortable with vexatious prosecutions against Trump?
Yes. Because they weren't vexatious. And to be honest they were too few and too late. The man is a hood, and a ****!
Trump should schedule his executive orders like a 1970s television schedule.
“At 6, I’ll announce my tariffs on Europe, before some light relief at 7 with the Black and White Minstrels.”
It's not so far from that. I can easily imagine a weekly show where he issues the latest bunch of edicts straight into the camera. Perhaps just call it "Trump".
Accepting a pardon for something you've been convicted of implies acceptance of wrongdoing. However if it's preemptive it doesn't since there is no offense to base the question on. Isn't that the difference? Technically anyway.
Seriously. Be warned. It’s actually quite disturbing (but it is just a face in case the mods are worried)
Certainly not the last thing you ever want to see.
On the terrorist vs psycho question, he looks very much like a cardboard cutout psycho to me. Terrorist photos usually involve a look of austere piety or kneecap-focused thuggery. I don't think there was a "cause" involved.
* General Mark Milley * Dr. Anthony Fauci * Jan. 6 Committee members of Congress and staffers * The police officers who testified before the Jan. 6 Committee
Biden says these pardons are not an acknowledgment of wrongdoing.
MRDA.
Biden just admitted that Fauci fucked up over the pan(dem)ic.
It’s quite extraordinary. “Yeah so what fauci lied about lab leak anyway now he’s PRE EMPTIVELY PARDONED”
What? Of everything? Of misleading the world about a plague that killed 20 millions? Of funding the research that led to that plague?
Nothing has so unbecome Biden in office as the way he has departed it. All this and Hunter too
The Hunter pardon was pretty foolish, but was just about understandable from a parent. He's not a politician, and he's been pursued in a manner completely unprecedented for what were fairly minor crimes, with every indication that would carry on post election.
These pre-emptive pardons, though, set a terrible precedent, which no doubt Trump will turbocharge in due course.
It wasn't understandable, it was disgraceful.
What bollocks bearing in mind what Trump previously did regarding pardons and intends to do to the January 6th rioters later on today. The pre emptive pardons will not set a precedent, he would do what he liked regardless.
So the Democrats should follow suit?
In anticipation of vexatious prosecutions against Trump's personal foes, for example several Republicans like Milley I am comfortable with that. If you want Democrat pardoning misbehaviour Clinton pardoning the USA's biggest white collar criminals Marc Rich and Pinky Green was unforgivable.
Were you comfortable with vexatious prosecutions against Trump?
Yes. Because they weren't vexatious. And to be honest they were too few and too late. The man is a hood, and a ****!
Bottom line: for all Biden and Harris failed to stop Trump, so did everyone else. In particular, the Republicans failed to stop him being their candidate. Which, given what happened four years ago, they really ought to have done.
Trump should schedule his executive orders like a 1970s television schedule.
“At 6, I’ll announce my tariffs on Europe, before some light relief at 7 with the Black and White Minstrels.”
It's not so far from that. I can easily imagine a weekly show where he issues the latest bunch of edicts straight into the camera. Perhaps just call it "Trump".
* General Mark Milley * Dr. Anthony Fauci * Jan. 6 Committee members of Congress and staffers * The police officers who testified before the Jan. 6 Committee
Biden says these pardons are not an acknowledgment of wrongdoing.
MRDA.
Biden just admitted that Fauci fucked up over the pan(dem)ic.
It’s quite extraordinary. “Yeah so what fauci lied about lab leak anyway now he’s PRE EMPTIVELY PARDONED”
What? Of everything? Of misleading the world about a plague that killed 20 millions? Of funding the research that led to that plague?
Nothing has so unbecome Biden in office as the way he has departed it. All this and Hunter too
The Hunter pardon was pretty foolish, but was just about understandable from a parent. He's not a politician, and he's been pursued in a manner completely unprecedented for what were fairly minor crimes, with every indication that would carry on post election.
These pre-emptive pardons, though, set a terrible precedent, which no doubt Trump will turbocharge in due course.
It wasn't understandable, it was disgraceful.
What bollocks bearing in mind what Trump previously did regarding pardons and intends to do to the January 6th rioters later on today. The pre emptive pardons will not set a precedent, he would do what he liked regardless.
So the Democrats should follow suit?
In anticipation of vexatious prosecutions against Trump's personal foes, for example several Republicans like Milley I am comfortable with that. If you want Democrat pardoning misbehaviour Clinton pardoning the USA's biggest white collar criminals Marc Rich and Pinky Green was unforgivable.
Were you comfortable with vexatious prosecutions against Trump?
Yes. Because they weren't vexatious. And to be honest they were too few and too late. The man is a hood, and a ****!
Then you must accept the consequences, one of which is his second inauguration today.
The Georgia case was the really serious one. Alvin Bragg's shenanigans in New York, were transparently politican and unjustified and the public saw right through it. And the problem was that detracted from the serious case.
* General Mark Milley * Dr. Anthony Fauci * Jan. 6 Committee members of Congress and staffers * The police officers who testified before the Jan. 6 Committee
Biden says these pardons are not an acknowledgment of wrongdoing.
MRDA.
Biden just admitted that Fauci fucked up over the pan(dem)ic.
It’s quite extraordinary. “Yeah so what fauci lied about lab leak anyway now he’s PRE EMPTIVELY PARDONED”
What? Of everything? Of misleading the world about a plague that killed 20 millions? Of funding the research that led to that plague?
Nothing has so unbecome Biden in office as the way he has departed it. All this and Hunter too
The Hunter pardon was pretty foolish, but was just about understandable from a parent. He's not a politician, and he's been pursued in a manner completely unprecedented for what were fairly minor crimes, with every indication that would carry on post election.
These pre-emptive pardons, though, set a terrible precedent, which no doubt Trump will turbocharge in due course.
It wasn't understandable, it was disgraceful.
What bollocks bearing in mind what Trump previously did regarding pardons and intends to do to the January 6th rioters later on today. The pre emptive pardons will not set a precedent, he would do what he liked regardless.
So the Democrats should follow suit?
In anticipation of vexatious prosecutions against Trump's personal foes, for example several Republicans like Milley I am comfortable with that. If you want Democrat pardoning misbehaviour Clinton pardoning the USA's biggest white collar criminals Marc Rich and Pinky Green was unforgivable.
The point of such a pre-emptive pardon is that it sets aside any judicial process - there is no objective way of distinguishing those whom the President "knows did no wrong" from the criminal.
I'm not comfortable with any of it.
The other difference from the rest of these pardons, in Hunter Biden's case, is that he was actually a convicted felon. As I said upthread, I think his pardon was foolish, but I'm not convinced it sets quite the same precedent.
But if Trump wasn't such a thing skinned, petty narcissist the pre emptive pardons wouldn't be necessary.
Tim Cook, Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos and Boris Johnson all in church with Trump and Vance.
* General Mark Milley * Dr. Anthony Fauci * Jan. 6 Committee members of Congress and staffers * The police officers who testified before the Jan. 6 Committee
Biden says these pardons are not an acknowledgment of wrongdoing.
Okay Milley in particular is bonkers, because what did he do to upset Trump?
In particular, who knows ? But Trump has publicly threatened to recall him to active service to face a military tribunal, with the threat of a treason indictment.
Mark Milley made a speech widely interpreted as a "swipe" against Trump. "We don't oaths to wannabe dictators.."
I think Biden made a mistake in "pardoning" Milley. If Trump had gone after him I suspect it would have badly backfired. Joe McCarthy came to grief when he went after the US military. They look after their own.
Trump should schedule his executive orders like a 1970s television schedule.
“At 6, I’ll announce my tariffs on Europe, before some light relief at 7 with the Black and White Minstrels.”
It's not so far from that. I can easily imagine a weekly show where he issues the latest bunch of edicts straight into the camera. Perhaps just call it "Trump".
15 minutes a week of Trump banging on about shower water pressure, toilets not flushing properly, "windmills" killing millions of birds, Canada hoarding all that water, the news media being the enemy, and his great friend Leon Musk singing his praises. Who wouldn't want to tune in to this ranting lunatic?
* General Mark Milley * Dr. Anthony Fauci * Jan. 6 Committee members of Congress and staffers * The police officers who testified before the Jan. 6 Committee
Biden says these pardons are not an acknowledgment of wrongdoing.
MRDA.
Biden just admitted that Fauci fucked up over the pan(dem)ic.
It’s quite extraordinary. “Yeah so what fauci lied about lab leak anyway now he’s PRE EMPTIVELY PARDONED”
What? Of everything? Of misleading the world about a plague that killed 20 millions? Of funding the research that led to that plague?
Nothing has so unbecome Biden in office as the way he has departed it. All this and Hunter too
The Hunter pardon was pretty foolish, but was just about understandable from a parent. He's not a politician, and he's been pursued in a manner completely unprecedented for what were fairly minor crimes, with every indication that would carry on post election.
These pre-emptive pardons, though, set a terrible precedent, which no doubt Trump will turbocharge in due course.
It wasn't understandable, it was disgraceful.
What bollocks bearing in mind what Trump previously did regarding pardons and intends to do to the January 6th rioters later on today. The pre emptive pardons will not set a precedent, he would do what he liked regardless.
So the Democrats should follow suit?
In anticipation of vexatious prosecutions against Trump's personal foes, for example several Republicans like Milley I am comfortable with that. If you want Democrat pardoning misbehaviour Clinton pardoning the USA's biggest white collar criminals Marc Rich and Pinky Green was unforgivable.
Were you comfortable with vexatious prosecutions against Trump?
Yes. Because they weren't vexatious. And to be honest they were too few and too late. The man is a hood, and a ****!
Bottom line: for all Biden and Harris failed to stop Trump, so did everyone else. In particular, the Republicans failed to stop him being their candidate. Which, given what happened four years ago, they really ought to have done.
You have to consider their aims and incentives. The number one aim of the two main US political parties is to win the president. It perhaps was somewhat less than feasible to stop him being the candidate, especially as the Dems kept him relevant.
"Former M&S boss says working from home is ‘not doing proper work’ WFH has harmed employee productivity, says Stuart Rose, who was also executive chair of Asda"
I WFH all but one day a month. He's not wrong. Some things I have to be in the office to do a decent job of, and most things I can do a decent job at home but would need to be in the office to do a good job.
As someone WFH since 2012, here are three observations.
One of the reasons WFH is better is management obsession with open plan offices and cubicles made office work harder than it needs to be.
Bringing in new team members is hard to do remotely.
Some people do take the piss, whether at home or at the office.
The major thing driving workers liking WFH is, I rather suspect, that commuting absolutely sucks. Especially around big cities - it was one of the main reasons I left London. Maybe there needs to be a shift to paying for commuting time.
If you were to include commuting time, our productivity stats have massively improved since 2019.
The Departing Bidens - raging crazy father; power mad mother, sleazy corrupt son - have done the impossible and made the Trumps look refreshingly wholesome
The Departing Bidens - raging crazy father; power mad mother, sleazy corrupt son - have done the impossible and made the Trumps look refreshingly wholesome
Only to a partial observer. Enjoy your day,but the chances of Trump ending well are not too high.
* General Mark Milley * Dr. Anthony Fauci * Jan. 6 Committee members of Congress and staffers * The police officers who testified before the Jan. 6 Committee
Biden says these pardons are not an acknowledgment of wrongdoing.
Okay Milley in particular is bonkers, because what did he do to upset Trump?
In particular, who knows ? But Trump has publicly threatened to recall him to active service to face a military tribunal, with the threat of a treason indictment.
Mark Milley made a speech widely interpreted as a "swipe" against Trump. "We don't oaths to wannabe dictators.."
I think Biden made a mistake in "pardoning" Milley. If Trump had gone after him I suspect it would have badly backfired. Joe McCarthy came to grief when he went after the US military. They look after their own.
I agree. These eleventh hour pre-emotive pardons are perhaps his single biggest political error, not just for his party, but for the entire US system.
The Departing Bidens - raging crazy father; power mad mother, sleazy corrupt son - have done the impossible and made the Trumps look refreshingly wholesome
The Departing Bidens - raging crazy father; power mad mother, sleazy corrupt son - have done the impossible and made the Trumps look refreshingly wholesome
* General Mark Milley * Dr. Anthony Fauci * Jan. 6 Committee members of Congress and staffers * The police officers who testified before the Jan. 6 Committee
Biden says these pardons are not an acknowledgment of wrongdoing.
MRDA.
Biden just admitted that Fauci fucked up over the pan(dem)ic.
It’s quite extraordinary. “Yeah so what fauci lied about lab leak anyway now he’s PRE EMPTIVELY PARDONED”
What? Of everything? Of misleading the world about a plague that killed 20 millions? Of funding the research that led to that plague?
Nothing has so unbecome Biden in office as the way he has departed it. All this and Hunter too
The Hunter pardon was pretty foolish, but was just about understandable from a parent. He's not a politician, and he's been pursued in a manner completely unprecedented for what were fairly minor crimes, with every indication that would carry on post election.
These pre-emptive pardons, though, set a terrible precedent, which no doubt Trump will turbocharge in due course.
It wasn't understandable, it was disgraceful.
What bollocks bearing in mind what Trump previously did regarding pardons and intends to do to the January 6th rioters later on today. The pre emptive pardons will not set a precedent, he would do what he liked regardless.
So the Democrats should follow suit?
In anticipation of vexatious prosecutions against Trump's personal foes, for example several Republicans like Milley I am comfortable with that. If you want Democrat pardoning misbehaviour Clinton pardoning the USA's biggest white collar criminals Marc Rich and Pinky Green was unforgivable.
The point of such a pre-emptive pardon is that it sets aside any judicial process - there is no objective way of distinguishing those whom the President "knows did no wrong" from the criminal.
I'm not comfortable with any of it.
The other difference from the rest of these pardons, in Hunter Biden's case, is that he was actually a convicted felon. As I said upthread, I think his pardon was foolish, but I'm not convinced it sets quite the same precedent.
But if Trump wasn't such a thing skinned, petty narcissist the pre emptive pardons wouldn't be necessary.
Tim Cook, Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos and Boris Johnson all in church with Trump and Vance.
I understand the motivation. But they're just wrong. If you help overturn respect for the rule of law, you do far more damage than you avert.
The Departing Bidens - raging crazy father; power mad mother, sleazy corrupt son - have done the impossible and made the Trumps look refreshingly wholesome
Only to a partial observer. Enjoy your day,but the chances of Trump ending well are not too high.
I think Trump is a lunatic and a threat - and have always said so
That said, the fairly despicable behaviour of Joe Biden these last months make Trump significantly more palatable; I can easily understand why American voters said OK Trump
The bigger picture is the overwhelming and simultaneous shift to the right across the Western world
Seriously. Be warned. It’s actually quite disturbing (but it is just a face in case the mods are worried)
It's the knowledge of what he did that makes us see that. It's an experiment I've done with photos of serial killers. What I know about them strongly influences my perception of their face and the meaning of their expression. I think I can see evil in their eyes. But I can't really.
The Departing Bidens - raging crazy father; power mad mother, sleazy corrupt son - have done the impossible and made the Trumps look refreshingly wholesome
They really haven't. However unwholesome pre emptive pardons may look they don't begin to equate to Trump's behaviour four years ago on January 6th 2021.
What is wrong with you people?
On a lighter note ALL the big cheeses of British politics are attending Trump's inauguration bin fight, unless they are double booked. Johnson, Braverman and Farage are in attendance, unfortunately due to prior engagements Robinson and Tate have sent their apologies.
OT: just cancelled my Telegraph subscription because they've gone full-on Trumpist now. Dear God, we need a click-to-cancel law in this country. A Scotsman and a woman with a thick Nigerian accent trying to communicate down a terrible phone line is a trial for both parties, especially when the customer service agent seems to be under firm instructions to make it as difficult to cancel as possible.
World instability, ad a regression of rights in the USA as the right-wing extremists get their way.
Whatever happens, it will be the fault of Trump's opponents. Not Trump, not his cheerleaders.
It will, of course, be the fault of all of them. If Biden had stepped aside a year earlier, Trump wouldn't be being inaugurated today. Sharing the blame fairly is not shifting the blame entirely.
* General Mark Milley * Dr. Anthony Fauci * Jan. 6 Committee members of Congress and staffers * The police officers who testified before the Jan. 6 Committee
Biden says these pardons are not an acknowledgment of wrongdoing.
MRDA.
Biden just admitted that Fauci fucked up over the pan(dem)ic.
It’s quite extraordinary. “Yeah so what fauci lied about lab leak anyway now he’s PRE EMPTIVELY PARDONED”
What? Of everything? Of misleading the world about a plague that killed 20 millions? Of funding the research that led to that plague?
Nothing has so unbecome Biden in office as the way he has departed it. All this and Hunter too
The Hunter pardon was pretty foolish, but was just about understandable from a parent. He's not a politician, and he's been pursued in a manner completely unprecedented for what were fairly minor crimes, with every indication that would carry on post election.
These pre-emptive pardons, though, set a terrible precedent, which no doubt Trump will turbocharge in due course.
It wasn't understandable, it was disgraceful.
What bollocks bearing in mind what Trump previously did regarding pardons and intends to do to the January 6th rioters later on today. The pre emptive pardons will not set a precedent, he would do what he liked regardless.
So the Democrats should follow suit?
In anticipation of vexatious prosecutions against Trump's personal foes, for example several Republicans like Milley I am comfortable with that. If you want Democrat pardoning misbehaviour Clinton pardoning the USA's biggest white collar criminals Marc Rich and Pinky Green was unforgivable.
The point of such a pre-emptive pardon is that it sets aside any judicial process - there is no objective way of distinguishing those whom the President "knows did no wrong" from the criminal.
I'm not comfortable with any of it.
The other difference from the rest of these pardons, in Hunter Biden's case, is that he was actually a convicted felon. As I said upthread, I think his pardon was foolish, but I'm not convinced it sets quite the same precedent.
The issue with the Hunter Biden pardon was that it covers anything he did for the last 11.5 years
The Departing Bidens - raging crazy father; power mad mother, sleazy corrupt son - have done the impossible and made the Trumps look refreshingly wholesome
Only to a partial observer. Enjoy your day,but the chances of Trump ending well are not too high.
I think Trump is a lunatic and a threat - and have always said so
That said, the fairly despicable behaviour of Joe Biden these last months make Trump significantly more palatable; I can easily understand why American voters said OK Trump
The bigger picture is the overwhelming and simultaneous shift to the right across the Western world
Bollocks. You couldn't stop felating Trump from the moment you thought Biden had lost his marbles.
'Pope Francis blasted Donald Trump’s plans to deport millions of undocumented immigrants, calling the United States president-elect’s proposal a “disgrace.”
The teenager who murdered three young girls at a dance class in Southport was referred three times to Prevent, the government’s scheme to stop terrorist violence, the Guardian has learned.
He was first referred to Prevent over concerns he was looking at material about school massacres in the US, and a fascination with violence. He used computers at the school he attended at the time to search for material on school massacres, it is understood.
In 2021, he was referred again to Prevent after viewing material on Libya and past terrorist attacks, including those on London in 2017.
The material is understood to have consisted of news articles, and at the time he was assessed by Prevent, officials did not have any information that he was viewing or searching for extremist material.
On each occasion it was decided that while the behaviour might be concerning it did not meet the threshold for intervention by Prevent. He was judged three times not to pose a terrorism risk, and was thus outside the scope of the scheme.
Now this is an interesting use use for crypto. It would likely be destabilising for equity markets, but that ship now seems to have sailed anyway.
The Overton Window has been smashed.
If everything is now legal[1], many startups will try raising funds by issuing tokens as explicit cryptoequity.
As context, the SEC distorted the market for the last decade by forcing founders to obscure the obvious analogy between tokens and equity.
But there is nothing *morally* wrong with moving equity from spreadsheets and NASDAQs to blockchains.
Indeed, from a *technical* perspective it’s far better to represent equities onchain. You can hold them in a wallet, price them with an API call, and track them on an explorer. You can also easily issue dividends, execute buybacks, and manage vesting schedules.
And from a *financial* perspective, there is no contest between the global market of crypto investors and the local market of any given city.
But that shouldn’t mean short-term behavior. Founders can (and should) implement lockups, drag along, cosale rights, and the like. All these conventions align long-term interests of investors and founders.
You could get there by using AI to translate a typical Series A package into a set of smart contracts. And exchanges should step up to help retail by clearly identifying assets that implement long-term, value-aligning lockups.
At least, that’s the responsible game plan for using new technology to fund actual companies. I hope we use our powers responsibly, and will fund projects in this space as we gain more legal clarity.
But we may *finally* enter the long-overdue age of the cryptoequity.
[1]: Obviously this is a rhetorical overstatement. It’s not literally the Purge. But as with the uncensoring of X, there is an enormous range of new things that is now apparently permissible to do — some good and some bad. And a risk-tolerant community will surge into that space to explore what’s possible.
This is one of the downsides of regulating by enforcement. All the SEC did was shoot at good people rather than make good rules. Perhaps the moment was simply beyond their capabilities, and the regulation will de facto fall to the crypto exchanges.
* General Mark Milley * Dr. Anthony Fauci * Jan. 6 Committee members of Congress and staffers * The police officers who testified before the Jan. 6 Committee
Biden says these pardons are not an acknowledgment of wrongdoing.
MRDA.
Biden just admitted that Fauci fucked up over the pan(dem)ic.
It’s quite extraordinary. “Yeah so what fauci lied about lab leak anyway now he’s PRE EMPTIVELY PARDONED”
What? Of everything? Of misleading the world about a plague that killed 20 millions? Of funding the research that led to that plague?
Nothing has so unbecome Biden in office as the way he has departed it. All this and Hunter too
The Hunter pardon was pretty foolish, but was just about understandable from a parent. He's not a politician, and he's been pursued in a manner completely unprecedented for what were fairly minor crimes, with every indication that would carry on post election.
These pre-emptive pardons, though, set a terrible precedent, which no doubt Trump will turbocharge in due course.
It wasn't understandable, it was disgraceful.
What bollocks bearing in mind what Trump previously did regarding pardons and intends to do to the January 6th rioters later on today. The pre emptive pardons will not set a precedent, he would do what he liked regardless.
So the Democrats should follow suit?
In anticipation of vexatious prosecutions against Trump's personal foes, for example several Republicans like Milley I am comfortable with that. If you want Democrat pardoning misbehaviour Clinton pardoning the USA's biggest white collar criminals Marc Rich and Pinky Green was unforgivable.
Were you comfortable with vexatious prosecutions against Trump?
Which do you consider were vexatious? The secret documents one and the electoral interference ones seem very well justified. The Carroll libel case was brought by a private citizen and seems justified. The cases against the Trump Foundation and the Trump Organisation seem justified.
The New York Stormy Daniels case is the only one that maybe was vexatious. I think one can argue either way. I would note that it was approved by a grand jury and he was found guilty. If you don't want to do the time, don't do the crime. Or, in Trump's case, if you don't want to be let off from doing any time or a fine because you're the President, don't do the crime.
Seriously. Be warned. It’s actually quite disturbing (but it is just a face in case the mods are worried)
It's the knowledge of what he did that makes us see that. It's an experiment I've done with photos of serial killers. What I know about them strongly influences my perception of their face and the meaning of their expression. I think I can see evil in their eyes. But I can't really.
That's very interesting, and I don't doubt correct.
But I'd still be a tad worried if met someone wearing that particular expression on their face.
The Departing Bidens - raging crazy father; power mad mother, sleazy corrupt son - have done the impossible and made the Trumps look refreshingly wholesome
Only to a partial observer. Enjoy your day,but the chances of Trump ending well are not too high.
I think Trump is a lunatic and a threat - and have always said so
That said, the fairly despicable behaviour of Joe Biden these last months make Trump significantly more palatable; I can easily understand why American voters said OK Trump
The bigger picture is the overwhelming and simultaneous shift to the right across the Western world
Bollocks. You couldn't stop felating Trump from the moment you thought Biden had lost his marbles.
Now this is an interesting use use for crypto. It would likely be destabilising for equity markets, but that ship now seems to have sailed anyway.
The Overton Window has been smashed.
If everything is now legal[1], many startups will try raising funds by issuing tokens as explicit cryptoequity.
As context, the SEC distorted the market for the last decade by forcing founders to obscure the obvious analogy between tokens and equity.
But there is nothing *morally* wrong with moving equity from spreadsheets and NASDAQs to blockchains.
Indeed, from a *technical* perspective it’s far better to represent equities onchain. You can hold them in a wallet, price them with an API call, and track them on an explorer. You can also easily issue dividends, execute buybacks, and manage vesting schedules.
And from a *financial* perspective, there is no contest between the global market of crypto investors and the local market of any given city.
But that shouldn’t mean short-term behavior. Founders can (and should) implement lockups, drag along, cosale rights, and the like. All these conventions align long-term interests of investors and founders.
You could get there by using AI to translate a typical Series A package into a set of smart contracts. And exchanges should step up to help retail by clearly identifying assets that implement long-term, value-aligning lockups.
At least, that’s the responsible game plan for using new technology to fund actual companies. I hope we use our powers responsibly, and will fund projects in this space as we gain more legal clarity.
But we may *finally* enter the long-overdue age of the cryptoequity.
[1]: Obviously this is a rhetorical overstatement. It’s not literally the Purge. But as with the uncensoring of X, there is an enormous range of new things that is now apparently permissible to do — some good and some bad. And a risk-tolerant community will surge into that space to explore what’s possible.
This is one of the downsides of regulating by enforcement. All the SEC did was shoot at good people rather than make good rules. Perhaps the moment was simply beyond their capabilities, and the regulation will de facto fall to the crypto exchanges.
'Rule of code' means you're fucked if anything inconceivable to a rushed, financially and legally naive coder crops up. Its very hard to describe the real world in boolean algebra. I'd stay far away.
* General Mark Milley * Dr. Anthony Fauci * Jan. 6 Committee members of Congress and staffers * The police officers who testified before the Jan. 6 Committee
Biden says these pardons are not an acknowledgment of wrongdoing.
MRDA.
Biden just admitted that Fauci fucked up over the pan(dem)ic.
It’s quite extraordinary. “Yeah so what fauci lied about lab leak anyway now he’s PRE EMPTIVELY PARDONED”
What? Of everything? Of misleading the world about a plague that killed 20 millions? Of funding the research that led to that plague?
Nothing has so unbecome Biden in office as the way he has departed it. All this and Hunter too
The Hunter pardon was pretty foolish, but was just about understandable from a parent. He's not a politician, and he's been pursued in a manner completely unprecedented for what were fairly minor crimes, with every indication that would carry on post election.
These pre-emptive pardons, though, set a terrible precedent, which no doubt Trump will turbocharge in due course.
It wasn't understandable, it was disgraceful.
What bollocks bearing in mind what Trump previously did regarding pardons and intends to do to the January 6th rioters later on today. The pre emptive pardons will not set a precedent, he would do what he liked regardless.
So the Democrats should follow suit?
In anticipation of vexatious prosecutions against Trump's personal foes, for example several Republicans like Milley I am comfortable with that. If you want Democrat pardoning misbehaviour Clinton pardoning the USA's biggest white collar criminals Marc Rich and Pinky Green was unforgivable.
Were you comfortable with vexatious prosecutions against Trump?
Which do you consider were vexatious? The secret documents one and the electoral interference ones seem very well justified. The Carroll libel case was brought by a private citizen and seems justified. The cases against the Trump Foundation and the Trump Organisation seem justified.
The New York Stormy Daniels case is the only one that maybe was vexatious. I think one can argue either way. I would note that it was approved by a grand jury and he was found guilty. If you don't want to do the time, don't do the crime. Or, in Trump's case, if you don't want to be let off from doing any time or a fine because you're the President, don't do the crime.
The only one he was actually convicted of was vexatious - certainly by charging misdemeanors as felonies with the aim of being able to describe him as a "convicted felon" during the election campaign. And it (and the rest which seemed like a bit of a scattergun approach) took away from the Georgia election interference case which was where the focus absolutely should have been and made it look more like part of a concerted "get Trump any way you can" effort rather than as justified a case as it certainly was.
* General Mark Milley * Dr. Anthony Fauci * Jan. 6 Committee members of Congress and staffers * The police officers who testified before the Jan. 6 Committee
Biden says these pardons are not an acknowledgment of wrongdoing.
MRDA.
Biden just admitted that Fauci fucked up over the pan(dem)ic.
It’s quite extraordinary. “Yeah so what fauci lied about lab leak anyway now he’s PRE EMPTIVELY PARDONED”
What? Of everything? Of misleading the world about a plague that killed 20 millions? Of funding the research that led to that plague?
Nothing has so unbecome Biden in office as the way he has departed it. All this and Hunter too
The Hunter pardon was pretty foolish, but was just about understandable from a parent. He's not a politician, and he's been pursued in a manner completely unprecedented for what were fairly minor crimes, with every indication that would carry on post election.
These pre-emptive pardons, though, set a terrible precedent, which no doubt Trump will turbocharge in due course.
It wasn't understandable, it was disgraceful.
What bollocks bearing in mind what Trump previously did regarding pardons and intends to do to the January 6th rioters later on today. The pre emptive pardons will not set a precedent, he would do what he liked regardless.
So the Democrats should follow suit?
In anticipation of vexatious prosecutions against Trump's personal foes, for example several Republicans like Milley I am comfortable with that. If you want Democrat pardoning misbehaviour Clinton pardoning the USA's biggest white collar criminals Marc Rich and Pinky Green was unforgivable.
Were you comfortable with vexatious prosecutions against Trump?
Yes. Because they weren't vexatious. And to be honest they were too few and too late. The man is a hood, and a ****!
Bottom line: for all Biden and Harris failed to stop Trump, so did everyone else. In particular, the Republicans failed to stop him being their candidate. Which, given what happened four years ago, they really ought to have done.
That's a good observation. The whole point of "mainstream" big-tent parties (such as Tories/Labour, Republican/Democrat) is to be able to accommodate the extremists without losing control to them, and to screen out bad actors and incompetents.
They are increasingly failing to do that as we saw with Corbyn and Truss respectively here. Over there, the primary process allowed Trump to gate-crash the Republicans and take the party over and take advantage of its brand and deep roots in the country. A disaster.
We should possibly be grateful that Reform are acting as a vehicle for Farage et al - much better that than a takeover by them of the Conservative Party which would be much more dangerous.
CNN throwing serious shade on Biden. "Badly tarnished", "betrayed his own values",
I wonder how the Dems will deal with all this toxic fallout
@Nigelb is correct: the Dems have to sweep all these old twats into the bin. An entire generation or two, including Kamala, the Clintons, all of them. Get rid, wipe the slate, start again
* General Mark Milley * Dr. Anthony Fauci * Jan. 6 Committee members of Congress and staffers * The police officers who testified before the Jan. 6 Committee
Biden says these pardons are not an acknowledgment of wrongdoing.
MRDA.
Biden just admitted that Fauci fucked up over the pan(dem)ic.
It’s quite extraordinary. “Yeah so what fauci lied about lab leak anyway now he’s PRE EMPTIVELY PARDONED”
What? Of everything? Of misleading the world about a plague that killed 20 millions? Of funding the research that led to that plague?
Nothing has so unbecome Biden in office as the way he has departed it. All this and Hunter too
The Hunter pardon was pretty foolish, but was just about understandable from a parent. He's not a politician, and he's been pursued in a manner completely unprecedented for what were fairly minor crimes, with every indication that would carry on post election.
These pre-emptive pardons, though, set a terrible precedent, which no doubt Trump will turbocharge in due course.
It wasn't understandable, it was disgraceful.
What bollocks bearing in mind what Trump previously did regarding pardons and intends to do to the January 6th rioters later on today. The pre emptive pardons will not set a precedent, he would do what he liked regardless.
So the Democrats should follow suit?
In anticipation of vexatious prosecutions against Trump's personal foes, for example several Republicans like Milley I am comfortable with that. If you want Democrat pardoning misbehaviour Clinton pardoning the USA's biggest white collar criminals Marc Rich and Pinky Green was unforgivable.
Were you comfortable with vexatious prosecutions against Trump?
Which do you consider were vexatious? The secret documents one and the electoral interference ones seem very well justified. The Carroll libel case was brought by a private citizen and seems justified. The cases against the Trump Foundation and the Trump Organisation seem justified.
The New York Stormy Daniels case is the only one that maybe was vexatious. I think one can argue either way. I would note that it was approved by a grand jury and he was found guilty. If you don't want to do the time, don't do the crime. Or, in Trump's case, if you don't want to be let off from doing any time or a fine because you're the President, don't do the crime.
The only one he was actually convicted of was vexatious - certainly by charging misdemeanors as felonies with the aim of being able to describe him as a "convicted felon" during the election campaign. And it (and the rest which seemed like a bit of a scattergun approach) took away from the Georgia election interference case which was where the focus absolutely should have been and made it look more like part of a concerted "get Trump any way you can" effort rather than as justified a case as it certainly was.
You talked about "vexatious prosecutions" against Trump. You have only proposed one prosecution as being vexatious so far. What's your second, or are you withdrawing your use of the plural?
The various prosecutions were not coordinated. They were made by different bodies (federal, New York, Georgia, Jean Carroll). Talking about a "scattergun approach" or where the "focus absolutely should have been" makes no sense because there was no coordination. There was no "concerted" effort: just different actors doing their own things in response to the many outrageous things Trump did.
As for whether the New York Stormy Daniels fraud case was vexatious or not... You complain about felony charges being made. That was tested in court. The court accepted felony charges. He was found guilty. He was guilty of those felonies.
The Departing Bidens - raging crazy father; power mad mother, sleazy corrupt son - have done the impossible and made the Trumps look refreshingly wholesome
Only to a partial observer. Enjoy your day,but the chances of Trump ending well are not too high.
I think Trump is a lunatic and a threat - and have always said so
That said, the fairly despicable behaviour of Joe Biden these last months make Trump significantly more palatable; I can easily understand why American voters said OK Trump
The bigger picture is the overwhelming and simultaneous shift to the right across the Western world
Bollocks. You couldn't stop felating Trump from the moment you thought Biden had lost his marbles.
U ok hun?
No! To quote REM "It's the end of the World as we know it".
Which is apparently contrary to the Ukrainian constitution.
Wikipedia quotes the final sentence of Article 17 of the Ukrainian Constitution as reading:
"The location of foreign military bases shall not be permitted on the territory of Ukraine."
They just need to pass a law like we have for Ireland stating that Britain is not a foreign country.
That would be a test for the Ukrainian Constitutional Court.
My assumption was that the British would have to be guests at Ukrainian bases. I think that's kinda the status of US bases in Britain. RAF Fylingdales for example.
That would make it a bit tricky for the British to be operating as independent peacekeepers, if hosted at a Ukrainian base rather than their own.
Now this is an interesting use use for crypto. It would likely be destabilising for equity markets, but that ship now seems to have sailed anyway.
The Overton Window has been smashed.
If everything is now legal[1], many startups will try raising funds by issuing tokens as explicit cryptoequity.
As context, the SEC distorted the market for the last decade by forcing founders to obscure the obvious analogy between tokens and equity.
But there is nothing *morally* wrong with moving equity from spreadsheets and NASDAQs to blockchains.
Indeed, from a *technical* perspective it’s far better to represent equities onchain. You can hold them in a wallet, price them with an API call, and track them on an explorer. You can also easily issue dividends, execute buybacks, and manage vesting schedules.
And from a *financial* perspective, there is no contest between the global market of crypto investors and the local market of any given city.
But that shouldn’t mean short-term behavior. Founders can (and should) implement lockups, drag along, cosale rights, and the like. All these conventions align long-term interests of investors and founders.
You could get there by using AI to translate a typical Series A package into a set of smart contracts. And exchanges should step up to help retail by clearly identifying assets that implement long-term, value-aligning lockups.
At least, that’s the responsible game plan for using new technology to fund actual companies. I hope we use our powers responsibly, and will fund projects in this space as we gain more legal clarity.
But we may *finally* enter the long-overdue age of the cryptoequity.
[1]: Obviously this is a rhetorical overstatement. It’s not literally the Purge. But as with the uncensoring of X, there is an enormous range of new things that is now apparently permissible to do — some good and some bad. And a risk-tolerant community will surge into that space to explore what’s possible.
This is one of the downsides of regulating by enforcement. All the SEC did was shoot at good people rather than make good rules. Perhaps the moment was simply beyond their capabilities, and the regulation will de facto fall to the crypto exchanges.
'Rule of code' means you're fucked if anything inconceivable to a rushed, financially and legally naive coder crops up. Its very hard to describe the real world in boolean algebra. I'd stay far away.
So would I. But in the new Trump regulatory environment, it's not an unlikely development, which actually makes a degree of sense compared to crypto-currency.
* General Mark Milley * Dr. Anthony Fauci * Jan. 6 Committee members of Congress and staffers * The police officers who testified before the Jan. 6 Committee
Biden says these pardons are not an acknowledgment of wrongdoing.
MRDA.
Biden just admitted that Fauci fucked up over the pan(dem)ic.
It’s quite extraordinary. “Yeah so what fauci lied about lab leak anyway now he’s PRE EMPTIVELY PARDONED”
What? Of everything? Of misleading the world about a plague that killed 20 millions? Of funding the research that led to that plague?
Nothing has so unbecome Biden in office as the way he has departed it. All this and Hunter too
The Hunter pardon was pretty foolish, but was just about understandable from a parent. He's not a politician, and he's been pursued in a manner completely unprecedented for what were fairly minor crimes, with every indication that would carry on post election.
These pre-emptive pardons, though, set a terrible precedent, which no doubt Trump will turbocharge in due course.
It wasn't understandable, it was disgraceful.
What bollocks bearing in mind what Trump previously did regarding pardons and intends to do to the January 6th rioters later on today. The pre emptive pardons will not set a precedent, he would do what he liked regardless.
So the Democrats should follow suit?
In anticipation of vexatious prosecutions against Trump's personal foes, for example several Republicans like Milley I am comfortable with that. If you want Democrat pardoning misbehaviour Clinton pardoning the USA's biggest white collar criminals Marc Rich and Pinky Green was unforgivable.
Were you comfortable with vexatious prosecutions against Trump?
Which do you consider were vexatious? The secret documents one and the electoral interference ones seem very well justified. The Carroll libel case was brought by a private citizen and seems justified. The cases against the Trump Foundation and the Trump Organisation seem justified.
The New York Stormy Daniels case is the only one that maybe was vexatious. I think one can argue either way. I would note that it was approved by a grand jury and he was found guilty. If you don't want to do the time, don't do the crime. Or, in Trump's case, if you don't want to be let off from doing any time or a fine because you're the President, don't do the crime.
The only one he was actually convicted of was vexatious - certainly by charging misdemeanors as felonies with the aim of being able to describe him as a "convicted felon" during the election campaign. And it (and the rest which seemed like a bit of a scattergun approach) took away from the Georgia election interference case which was where the focus absolutely should have been and made it look more like part of a concerted "get Trump any way you can" effort rather than as justified a case as it certainly was.
You talked about "vexatious prosecutions" against Trump. You have only proposed one prosecution as being vexatious so far. What's your second, or are you withdrawing your use of the plural?
The various prosecutions were not coordinated. They were made by different bodies (federal, New York, Georgia, Jean Carroll). Talking about a "scattergun approach" or where the "focus absolutely should have been" makes no sense because there was no coordination. There was no "concerted" effort: just different actors doing their own things in response to the many outrageous things Trump did.
As for whether the New York Stormy Daniels fraud case was vexatious or not... You complain about felony charges being made. That was tested in court. The court accepted felony charges. He was found guilty. He was guilty of those felonies.
I'll quote myself with emphasis, as you seem to have missed the point: "made it look like a concerted "get Trump any way you can" effort".
As for a New York court, located in New York and full of New York voters... well, that leads to an obvious conclusion, really.
Seriously. Be warned. It’s actually quite disturbing (but it is just a face in case the mods are worried)
It's the knowledge of what he did that makes us see that. It's an experiment I've done with photos of serial killers. What I know about them strongly influences my perception of their face and the meaning of their expression. I think I can see evil in their eyes. But I can't really.
That's very interesting, and I don't doubt correct.
But I'd still be a tad worried if met someone wearing that particular expression on their face.
Combined with a knife in the hand, definitely. But otherwise, I don't know. Hard to say.
Seriously. Be warned. It’s actually quite disturbing (but it is just a face in case the mods are worried)
It's the knowledge of what he did that makes us see that. It's an experiment I've done with photos of serial killers. What I know about them strongly influences my perception of their face and the meaning of their expression. I think I can see evil in their eyes. But I can't really.
I remember thinking exactly that when I saw a picture of Mohammed Atta after 911.
However that theory fell away when you saw some of the hijackers pictures and they looked normal everyday people.
Seriously. Be warned. It’s actually quite disturbing (but it is just a face in case the mods are worried)
It's the knowledge of what he did that makes us see that. It's an experiment I've done with photos of serial killers. What I know about them strongly influences my perception of their face and the meaning of their expression. I think I can see evil in their eyes. But I can't really.
A good example of this is Savile. Photos of him today look very creepy but previously the same photos just looked silly and ridiculous.
Comments
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln's_second_inaugural_address
The whole speech astonishes me every time I read it, especially the final paragraph:
"With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations."
But management soon realised it could save a metric sackful of cash by giving up office leases. Aiui the government has been doing the same thing (pace JRM's post-it notes) since the pandemic.
Any idea why there was a change of plea or has this already been done on PB today.
I'm not comfortable with any of it.
The other difference from the rest of these pardons, in Hunter Biden's case, is that he was actually a convicted felon. As I said upthread, I think his pardon was foolish, but I'm not convinced it sets quite the same precedent.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weekly_address_of_the_president_of_the_United_States
The Georgia case was the really serious one. Alvin Bragg's shenanigans in New York, were transparently politican and unjustified and the public saw right through it. And the problem was that detracted from the serious case.
Tim Cook, Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos and Boris Johnson all in church with Trump and Vance.
Today is going to be seen as a seminal day in the history of humanity. And not in a good way.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9to_1UYH5rE
I think Biden made a mistake in "pardoning" Milley. If Trump had gone after him I suspect it would have badly backfired. Joe McCarthy came to grief when he went after the US military. They look after their own.
These eleventh hour pre-emotive pardons are perhaps his single biggest political error, not just for his party, but for the entire US system.
World instability, ad a regression of rights in the USA as the right-wing extremists get their way.
But they're just wrong. If you help overturn respect for the rule of law, you do far more damage than you avert.
That said, the fairly despicable behaviour of Joe Biden these last months make Trump significantly more palatable; I can easily understand why American voters said OK Trump
The bigger picture is the overwhelming and simultaneous shift to the right across the Western world
What is wrong with you people?
On a lighter note ALL the big cheeses of British politics are attending Trump's inauguration bin fight, unless they are double booked. Johnson, Braverman and Farage are in attendance, unfortunately due to prior engagements Robinson and Tate have sent their apologies.
https://www.politico.eu/article/pope-francis-reviive-feud-donald-trumps-mass-deportation-plan-disgrace/
The teenager who murdered three young girls at a dance class in Southport was referred three times to Prevent, the government’s scheme to stop terrorist violence, the Guardian has learned.
He was first referred to Prevent over concerns he was looking at material about school massacres in the US, and a fascination with violence. He used computers at the school he attended at the time to search for material on school massacres, it is understood.
In 2021, he was referred again to Prevent after viewing material on Libya and past terrorist attacks, including those on London in 2017.
The material is understood to have consisted of news articles, and at the time he was assessed by Prevent, officials did not have any information that he was viewing or searching for extremist material.
On each occasion it was decided that while the behaviour might be concerning it did not meet the threshold for intervention by Prevent. He was judged three times not to pose a terrorism risk, and was thus outside the scope of the scheme.
It would likely be destabilising for equity markets, but that ship now seems to have sailed anyway.
The Overton Window has been smashed.
If everything is now legal[1], many startups will try raising funds by issuing tokens as explicit cryptoequity.
As context, the SEC distorted the market for the last decade by forcing founders to obscure the obvious analogy between tokens and equity.
But there is nothing *morally* wrong with moving equity from spreadsheets and NASDAQs to blockchains.
Indeed, from a *technical* perspective it’s far better to represent equities onchain. You can hold them in a wallet, price them with an API call, and track them on an explorer. You can also easily issue dividends, execute buybacks, and manage vesting schedules.
And from a *financial* perspective, there is no contest between the global market of crypto investors and the local market of any given city.
But that shouldn’t mean short-term behavior. Founders can (and should) implement lockups, drag along, cosale rights, and the like. All these conventions align long-term interests of investors and founders.
You could get there by using AI to translate a typical Series A package into a set of smart contracts. And exchanges should step up to help retail by clearly identifying assets that implement long-term, value-aligning lockups.
At least, that’s the responsible game plan for using new technology to fund actual companies. I hope we use our powers responsibly, and will fund projects in this space as we gain more legal clarity.
But we may *finally* enter the long-overdue age of the cryptoequity.
[1]: Obviously this is a rhetorical overstatement. It’s not literally the Purge. But as with the uncensoring of X, there is an enormous range of new things that is now apparently permissible to do — some good and some bad. And a risk-tolerant community will surge into that space to explore what’s possible.
This is one of the downsides of regulating by enforcement. All the SEC did was shoot at good people rather than make good rules. Perhaps the moment was simply beyond their capabilities, and the regulation will de facto fall to the crypto exchanges.
In other words: we don’t yet have rule-of-law. All we have is rule-of-code. And that may be how it lands up.
https://x.com/balajis/status/1881239201657876895
The New York Stormy Daniels case is the only one that maybe was vexatious. I think one can argue either way. I would note that it was approved by a grand jury and he was found guilty. If you don't want to do the time, don't do the crime. Or, in Trump's case, if you don't want to be let off from doing any time or a fine because you're the President, don't do the crime.
But I'd still be a tad worried if met someone wearing that particular expression on their face.
https://www.abc.net.au/religion/australia-day-dress-codes-can-venues-legally-deny-entry/104825856
What a role-call.
Johnson, Farage, Braverman, Patel, Truss.
The Declaration on a 100-year partnership concluded between Ukraine and Great Britain allows for the placement of British military bases in Ukraine.
https://x.com/WarMonitor3/status/1881288978621682101
"This is fun... I'm surrounded by all the very worst people in London..."
"What does that say about me?"
I doubt that many of those at today's parties have a fraction of the necessary self-awareness for that.
"The location of foreign military bases shall not be permitted on the territory of Ukraine."
They are increasingly failing to do that as we saw with Corbyn and Truss respectively here. Over there, the primary process allowed Trump to gate-crash the Republicans and take the party over and take advantage of its brand and deep roots in the country. A disaster.
We should possibly be grateful that Reform are acting as a vehicle for Farage et al - much better that than a takeover by them of the Conservative Party which would be much more dangerous.
I wonder how the Dems will deal with all this toxic fallout
@Nigelb is correct: the Dems have to sweep all these old twats into the bin. An entire generation or two, including Kamala, the Clintons, all of them. Get rid, wipe the slate, start again
The various prosecutions were not coordinated. They were made by different bodies (federal, New York, Georgia, Jean Carroll). Talking about a "scattergun approach" or where the "focus absolutely should have been" makes no sense because there was no coordination. There was no "concerted" effort: just different actors doing their own things in response to the many outrageous things Trump did.
As for whether the New York Stormy Daniels fraud case was vexatious or not... You complain about felony charges being made. That was tested in court. The court accepted felony charges. He was found guilty. He was guilty of those felonies.
Australian lesbians aren't allowed to exclude men from public meetings.
Read that sentence again and remind yourself that there are people who claim the gender identity movement poses no threat to women's or gay rights.
https://x.com/jk_rowling/status/1881308267907084458
NEW THREAD
"To think, the people we'd have been seen dead with".
a) Joe Biden
b) Kamala Harris
c) Melania Knauss
d) Fake Melania Trump.
My assumption was that the British would have to be guests at Ukrainian bases. I think that's kinda the status of US bases in Britain. RAF Fylingdales for example.
That would make it a bit tricky for the British to be operating as independent peacekeepers, if hosted at a Ukrainian base rather than their own.
But in the new Trump regulatory environment, it's not an unlikely development, which actually makes a degree of sense compared to crypto-currency.
As for a New York court, located in New York and full of New York voters... well, that leads to an obvious conclusion, really.
However that theory fell away when you saw some of the hijackers pictures and they looked normal everyday people.