Just watched Vance's speech to the Munich security conference today.
It is well worth a listen, whatever your politics. He makes an excellent challenge to Europe. I believe strongly that we should listen to his arguments, even if he has little credibility as a messenger.
For those who haven't listened, essentially he argues that Europe's biggest threat to security is our own desire to censor certain voices and not to listen to voters who want to vote for e.g. AfD. His strongest argument is that we cannot win by pretending far right parties are not popular.
My problem with his speech, though, is the blatant hypocrisy. To have Musk at the centre of your government and to lecture others on free speech is, to put it mildly, shameless.
My other problem is that he does not make any attempt to address the other side of the argument i.e. that the reason we need to fight against misinformation is that those such as Musk are in the business of spreading it, because it is profitable.
In my view the only way that we achieve the good parts of what Vance argues for (more robust free speech) is if we ensure that the megaphones that amplify speech in our democracy (media of all sorts) are working for us not against us.
"Our desire to censor voices" is just a hard-right fantasy that the likes of Musk use to try to justify an overwhelming stream of online disinformation.
What fools people are to believe a word of this crap.
It very clearly isn't just a hard-right fantasy. It only happens at the margins and is perhaps the least worst way to deal with the misinformation that is being firehosed at us. But to deny it's existence is naive. How else would you characterise the way we handled vaccine misinformation during COVID?
The trouble is that the world is full of useful idiots like you, who seem to think that "free speech" means lies should be allowed to propagate without correction or challenge.
Are you incapable of having a discussion without being insulting?
I would in no way characterise free speech in the way you suggest. I would have thought that was obvious from my first post. I have no desire to make the effort to spell it out given the tone of your response.
You come out with a nonsensical statement and then blame your inability to justify it on the "tone" of the response you get.
Well yes. You lost the argument as soon as you typed ‘useful idiots’.
Chris has always been an idiot I just ignore his posts as he is a wanker
A Cuban woman was given a visa to join her boyfriend in the UK despite the fact that he had died the previous year, The Times can reveal.
Ilian Velazquez arrived in the UK in March 2019 to join John Hewer on a two and a half year partner visa. It later emerged that Hewer had died in November 2018 — after she had applied for permanent settlement in the UK.
Velazquez then twice applied for indefinite leave to remain, on the basis that she was a bereaved partner. Both applications were refused, the latter in July 2022, but she has remained in the UK while appealing her case.
After her two applications to remain in the UK failed, Velazquez met a new partner, a man named Galan Zambo who is a dual South African and Hungarian national. She applied for leave to remain as his partner but this was refused on the basis that she was here illegally and that Zambo did not meet the required £18,600 salary threshold to sponsor a partner.
His own visa status was also uncertain after he failed to obtain EU settlement rights.
The couple then brought a claim that deporting Velazquez to Cuba would breach their article 8 rights under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which protects family life, arguing that they would be forced to separate. Zambo said he could not join her in Cuba because of his business in the UK, arguing that it would be impossible to financially support his children in Britain from the communist country.
So this Zambo is earning less than minimum wage in whatever he does, if anything.
And also has children in this country being funded by the rest of us.
But revealing that sub minimum wage workers can sponsor a dependent.
Telegraph Ed Miliband has pledged a permanent ban on fracking just days after the discovery of a giant gas field in Britain was announced.
Well, the gas is going nowhere...
Indeed. Best keep it where it is until we really need it for essential industrial purposes rather than flogging/burning it now. Our kids will thank us.
So best to import it from our neighbours or as LNG from further afield ...
You can be sure if things get tricky that we (however ‘we’ might be constituted) won’t be able to import it from from our neighbours or as LNG from further afield.
Telegraph Ed Miliband has pledged a permanent ban on fracking just days after the discovery of a giant gas field in Britain was announced.
Well, the gas is going nowhere...
Indeed. Best keep it where it is until we really need it for essential industrial purposes rather than flogging/burning it now. Our kids will thank us.
So best to import it from our neighbours or as LNG from further afield ...
You can be sure if things get tricky that we (however ‘we’ might be constituted) won’t be able to import it from from our neighbours or as LNG from further afield.
JD Vance @JDVance · 5h President Trump is the ultimate deal maker and will bring peace to the region by ending the war in Ukraine. As we've always said, American troops should never be put into harm's way where it doesn’t advance American interests and security. This war is between Russia and Ukraine.
But it isn't though is it? It's a war between the final frontier of european democracy against a neo-fascist dictatorship with ambitions to rebuild the soviet empire.
Multiple lawmakers here in Munich told me the U.S. Congressional delegation presented Zelensky with a piece of paper they wanted him to sign which would grant the U.S. rights to 50% of Ukraine’s future mineral reserves. Zelensky politely declined to sign it. https://x.com/joshrogin/status/1890450535083290803
Did Zelenskyy head to the wall and ask for his original offer of 3% of Ukraine's equity for $500 billion to be honoured ?
Just watched Vance's speech to the Munich security conference today.
It is well worth a listen, whatever your politics. He makes an excellent challenge to Europe. I believe strongly that we should listen to his arguments, even if he has little credibility as a messenger.
For those who haven't listened, essentially he argues that Europe's biggest threat to security is our own desire to censor certain voices and not to listen to voters who want to vote for e.g. AfD. His strongest argument is that we cannot win by pretending far right parties are not popular.
My problem with his speech, though, is the blatant hypocrisy. To have Musk at the centre of your government and to lecture others on free speech is, to put it mildly, shameless.
My other problem is that he does not make any attempt to address the other side of the argument i.e. that the reason we need to fight against misinformation is that those such as Musk are in the business of spreading it, because it is profitable.
In my view the only way that we achieve the good parts of what Vance argues for (more robust free speech) is if we ensure that the megaphones that amplify speech in our democracy (media of all sorts) are working for us not against us.
The interesting feature of the free speech argument is (whatever side of the fence we sit) our free speech is good and should be celebrated, but other people's free speech is dangerous and should be banned.
The basic problem with Vance's claptrap is that it's a massive overselling of the idea Europe "censors" certain voices based on a very American ignorance of how different norms, laws, and practices developed in Europe, and the extent to which they are in practice restrictive and not the will of the people.
The one example he cited - a British man being arrested for 'praying' outside an abortion clinic - was carried out under laws introduced by those well known Marxists Priti Patel and Suella Braverman. It exists because Brits broadly don't mind banning behaviour we don't like, are fairly solidly pro the right to abortion, our religion isn't generally evangelical, and we judge the potential distress to women worth blocking. So introduced exclusion zones because clinics were being targeted.
Proudly secular France of course has its ban on religious symbols, while Germany, for understandable reasons, has strict bans on Nazi symbolism. Each country has their own norms that broadly allow free speech and protest but place certain restrictions on it when deem the nuissance or dangers are too much.
Americans fetishise their 1st ammendment rights rhetorically, but we all know in practice it's somewhat different and are no better. There's no bigger reminder of that than the current administration trying to fire anyone who isn't a Trumpian wingnut, or Elon's banning of views he doesn't like from Twitter while claiming to be a free speech warrior. The only difference is that they are massive, hectoring, ignorant, hypocrites about it.
Despite Vance's claims the views he wants to whinge as being victimised aren't banned from the public sphere - as evidenced by the success of certain parties holding them. They might be socially unacceptable in some circles or looked down upon by liberal politicians but that's not the same thing as being unfairly restricted. Liberals have as much right to hate the far right as the far right do liberals.
What Vance is doing is rather inversion by trying to be a crybully - ironically, rather like the worst kind of 'wokeness' - saying it's so unfair you don't accept my views and reasoning as right, despite its obvious ignorance. Then I'll scream like a baby and demand as my right to 'free speech' that you have to not just allow me to say what I say, but go along with it too.
Truly a pathetic specimen, and yes, a Big Mac Eating Surrender Monkey to boot.
I think he chose a poor example but there are better ones. Take trans. I think the prevailing ‘right opinion’ is that you can change your gender, so a biological man, with xy chromosomes throughout, a prostate, a penis, a preponderance of testosterone etc can simply say ‘I am a woman’ and everyone has to say, yes, you are a woman. Don’t agree? You can end up suspended at work and accused of harassment. So yes there is a culture of there being the ‘correct’ opinion and dissent is not welcome. There are other subjects - race and immigration where people fear to say what they really think. So I think he is right to an extent, just not using the right examples.
I am seen I think as pretty far right so here is my opinion on your example
We should respect the wish that she is she, call her by her new name etc and treat her as a woman....however if the biological women in the building object to her being in the changing rooms or loos then we also have to respect those rights too. And no she absolutely doesn't get to do sports in the female category not end up in a women only space or group such as a refuge or prison or rape therapy unless the women involved are comfortable with it.
Telegraph Ed Miliband has pledged a permanent ban on fracking just days after the discovery of a giant gas field in Britain was announced.
Well, the gas is going nowhere...
Indeed. Best keep it where it is until we really need it for essential industrial purposes rather than flogging/burning it now. Our kids will thank us.
So best to import it from our neighbours or as LNG from further afield ...
You can be sure if things get tricky that we (however ‘we’ might be constituted) won’t be able to import it from from our neighbours or as LNG from further afield.
Reshuffle is looming I think.
Phillipson defo gone. Her plan to end Blair's academies has gone down like a cup of cold sick in No. 10 according to New Statesman.
Ed M must be a huge question mark now that growth is paramount.
Telegraph Ed Miliband has pledged a permanent ban on fracking just days after the discovery of a giant gas field in Britain was announced.
Well, the gas is going nowhere...
Indeed. Best keep it where it is until we really need it for essential industrial purposes rather than flogging/burning it now. Our kids will thank us.
Coal is an even better example (thanks, Maggie!). Once we've cracked carbon capture we can send 12-inch Welsh-speaking robots down to mine those 18-inch seams she left for future generations and they can live like there's no tomorrow.
Just watched Vance's speech to the Munich security conference today.
It is well worth a listen, whatever your politics. He makes an excellent challenge to Europe. I believe strongly that we should listen to his arguments, even if he has little credibility as a messenger.
For those who haven't listened, essentially he argues that Europe's biggest threat to security is our own desire to censor certain voices and not to listen to voters who want to vote for e.g. AfD. His strongest argument is that we cannot win by pretending far right parties are not popular.
My problem with his speech, though, is the blatant hypocrisy. To have Musk at the centre of your government and to lecture others on free speech is, to put it mildly, shameless.
My other problem is that he does not make any attempt to address the other side of the argument i.e. that the reason we need to fight against misinformation is that those such as Musk are in the business of spreading it, because it is profitable.
In my view the only way that we achieve the good parts of what Vance argues for (more robust free speech) is if we ensure that the megaphones that amplify speech in our democracy (media of all sorts) are working for us not against us.
"Our desire to censor voices" is just a hard-right fantasy that the likes of Musk use to try to justify an overwhelming stream of online disinformation.
What fools people are to believe a word of this crap.
It very clearly isn't just a hard-right fantasy. It only happens at the margins and is perhaps the least worst way to deal with the misinformation that is being firehosed at us. But to deny it's existence is naive. How else would you characterise the way we handled vaccine misinformation during COVID?
The trouble is that the world is full of useful idiots like you, who seem to think that "free speech" means lies should be allowed to propagate without correction or challenge.
Are you incapable of having a discussion without being insulting?
I would in no way characterise free speech in the way you suggest. I would have thought that was obvious from my first post. I have no desire to make the effort to spell it out given the tone of your response.
You come out with a nonsensical statement and then blame your inability to justify it on the "tone" of the response you get.
Well yes. You lost the argument as soon as you typed ‘useful idiots’.
Chris has always been an idiot I just ignore his posts as he is a wanker
Pragmatic self-refutation
We cannot win by pretending the Nazis aren't popular.
I think that Trump and Vance just seriously damaged American leadership of the West, and certainly the European part of it. I had a few beers with a friend who is a senior Estonian politician. The commentary from the MAGA crew was, to a degree predicted. What was not predicted was the naked contempt for all of the EU members and indeed also the UK. However, the economy of the Nordic Baltic 7 is basically the same size as that of Russia and the view he put forward is that in many ways the MAGA mob have just done Europe a massive favour. "We have no choice, we have to work together", There are already significant discussions as to what now needs to be done. The coordination of the JEF states: Nordic/Baltic, the Netherlands and the UK is being discussed and it seems that Poland too will probably join quite quickly. So, with large scale defence expenditure on the way, the view is that the Nordic/Baltic region will be more than capable of seeing off any Russian attack without calling on the US. The US leverage could fall surprisingly quickly.
As for wider EU-US relations, there are already significant discussions about what to do if the US is going to stab Ukraine in the back. Again the view is that if the US is attacking the EU, then the EU no longer needs to accommodate US wishes in a variety of spheres, including tech regulation and finance. The contempt that Vance expressed is not a one way street. The EU will hit back very hard if Trump attempts to hurt global trade in ways that Brussels deems unacceptable.
So, "it begins". The EU economy is larger and more integrated into global trade than the US economy. Vance´s astonishingly ill judged speech is going to blow back to Washington in ways that the MAGA people do not even begin to expect. "Its sad, but is a matter of survival, we can not allow the US to compromise our hard fought freedom on a mere whim, and we wont"
So, I think Putin and Trump are going to get a few nasty surprises in the coming weeks.
I can't see a reason why Reform couldn't poll 34-35% in a GE. They'd probably pip Labour and with tactical voting the other way (big ifs) they could govern in coalition/C&S with the Tories.
But, Farage would need to get a credible economic offer together and a serious foreign policy to do it first.
JD Vance @JDVance · 5h President Trump is the ultimate deal maker and will bring peace to the region by ending the war in Ukraine. As we've always said, American troops should never be put into harm's way where it doesn’t advance American interests and security. This war is between Russia and Ukraine.
But it isn't though is it? It's a war between the final frontier of european democracy against a neo-fascist dictatorship with ambitions to rebuild the soviet empire.
Indeed.
And we're up against that small dicked twat Putin as well.
Today, I learned that I can leave my house in Hampshire at 7.30am and arrive in Thurso by 11pm the same day by train. 5 trains to be precise. That's over 500 miles north. At a cost of less than £130.
That really is quite incredible.
Next, I want to see if I can fathom a route that gets me to the Orkney Islands (where I have never been, and i want to survey Scapa Flow) inside 24 hours sans car.
Mark Beaumont cycled the NC500 in 38 hours, non-stop.
Even a leisurely cycle tour would find you in Cornwall in 4 days from Hampshire. Hop on the train back.
Just watched Vance's speech to the Munich security conference today.
It is well worth a listen, whatever your politics. He makes an excellent challenge to Europe. I believe strongly that we should listen to his arguments, even if he has little credibility as a messenger.
For those who haven't listened, essentially he argues that Europe's biggest threat to security is our own desire to censor certain voices and not to listen to voters who want to vote for e.g. AfD. His strongest argument is that we cannot win by pretending far right parties are not popular.
My problem with his speech, though, is the blatant hypocrisy. To have Musk at the centre of your government and to lecture others on free speech is, to put it mildly, shameless.
My other problem is that he does not make any attempt to address the other side of the argument i.e. that the reason we need to fight against misinformation is that those such as Musk are in the business of spreading it, because it is profitable.
In my view the only way that we achieve the good parts of what Vance argues for (more robust free speech) is if we ensure that the megaphones that amplify speech in our democracy (media of all sorts) are working for us not against us.
"Our desire to censor voices" is just a hard-right fantasy that the likes of Musk use to try to justify an overwhelming stream of online disinformation.
What fools people are to believe a word of this crap.
It very clearly isn't just a hard-right fantasy. It only happens at the margins and is perhaps the least worst way to deal with the misinformation that is being firehosed at us. But to deny it's existence is naive. How else would you characterise the way we handled vaccine misinformation during COVID?
The trouble is that the world is full of useful idiots like you, who seem to think that "free speech" means lies should be allowed to propagate without correction or challenge.
Are you incapable of having a discussion without being insulting?
I would in no way characterise free speech in the way you suggest. I would have thought that was obvious from my first post. I have no desire to make the effort to spell it out given the tone of your response.
You come out with a nonsensical statement and then blame your inability to justify it on the "tone" of the response you get.
Well yes. You lost the argument as soon as you typed ‘useful idiots’.
Chris has always been an idiot I just ignore his posts as he is a wanker
Pragmatic self-refutation
We cannot win by pretending the Nazis aren't popular.
Erm?
Quite sure a lot think the same of me if thats what you mean and frankly don't care if they do. Does not mean I cannot to express an opinion
For @Casino_Royale - ypou may want to have a day to go to Lyness (the naval base) annd have a wander. Much gone but things like the naval cemetery and the old oil tanks. Ferry from Houton for instance.
Look into visits to the sunken warships (cctv on a string from your boat if you don't dive). And relics in Stromness museum.
But there is so much to see in Orkney generally.
Though you might understand why the matelots called a huge atoll in the Pacific with nothing but a little coral reef and odd islets that was used as a naval base,m with no amenities: Scapa with ****ing palm trees.
Just watched Vance's speech to the Munich security conference today.
It is well worth a listen, whatever your politics. He makes an excellent challenge to Europe. I believe strongly that we should listen to his arguments, even if he has little credibility as a messenger.
For those who haven't listened, essentially he argues that Europe's biggest threat to security is our own desire to censor certain voices and not to listen to voters who want to vote for e.g. AfD. His strongest argument is that we cannot win by pretending far right parties are not popular.
My problem with his speech, though, is the blatant hypocrisy. To have Musk at the centre of your government and to lecture others on free speech is, to put it mildly, shameless.
My other problem is that he does not make any attempt to address the other side of the argument i.e. that the reason we need to fight against misinformation is that those such as Musk are in the business of spreading it, because it is profitable.
In my view the only way that we achieve the good parts of what Vance argues for (more robust free speech) is if we ensure that the megaphones that amplify speech in our democracy (media of all sorts) are working for us not against us.
"Our desire to censor voices" is just a hard-right fantasy that the likes of Musk use to try to justify an overwhelming stream of online disinformation.
What fools people are to believe a word of this crap.
It very clearly isn't just a hard-right fantasy. It only happens at the margins and is perhaps the least worst way to deal with the misinformation that is being firehosed at us. But to deny it's existence is naive. How else would you characterise the way we handled vaccine misinformation during COVID?
The trouble is that the world is full of useful idiots like you, who seem to think that "free speech" means lies should be allowed to propagate without correction or challenge.
Are you incapable of having a discussion without being insulting?
I would in no way characterise free speech in the way you suggest. I would have thought that was obvious from my first post. I have no desire to make the effort to spell it out given the tone of your response.
You come out with a nonsensical statement and then blame your inability to justify it on the "tone" of the response you get.
Well yes. You lost the argument as soon as you typed ‘useful idiots’.
Chris has always been an idiot I just ignore his posts as he is a wanker
Pragmatic self-refutation
We cannot win by pretending the Nazis aren't popular.
Erm?
Quite sure a lot think the same of me if thats what you mean and frankly don't care if they do. Does not mean I cannot to express an opinion
Umm .. my "pragmatic self-refutation" comment was just referring to your saying "Chris has always been an idiot I just ignore his posts .. " when you obviously have not ignored his posts because you have observed that he's always been an idiot
I think that Trump and Vance just seriously damaged American leadership of the West, and certainly the European part of it. I had a few beers with a friend who is a senior Estonian politician. The commentary from the MAGA crew was, to a degree predicted. What was not predicted was the naked contempt for all of the EU members and indeed also the UK. However, the economy of the Nordic Baltic 7 is basically the same size as that of Russia and the view he put forward is that in many ways the MAGA mob have just done Europe a massive favour. "We have no choice, we have to work together", There are already significant discussions as to what now needs to be done. The coordination of the JEF states: Nordic/Baltic, the Netherlands and the UK is being discussed and it seems that Poland too will probably join quite quickly. So, with large scale defence expenditure on the way, the view is that the Nordic/Baltic region will be more than capable of seeing off any Russian attack without calling on the US. The US leverage could fall surprisingly quickly.
As for wider EU-US relations, there are already significant discussions about what to do if the US is going to stab Ukraine in the back. Again the view is that if the US is attacking the EU, then the EU no longer needs to accommodate US wishes in a variety of spheres, including tech regulation and finance. The contempt that Vance expressed is not a one way street. The EU will hit back very hard if Trump attempts to hurt global trade in ways that Brussels deems unacceptable.
So, "it begins". The EU economy is larger and more integrated into global trade than the US economy. Vance´s astonishingly ill judged speech is going to blow back to Washington in ways that the MAGA people do not even begin to expect. "Its sad, but is a matter of survival, we can not allow the US to compromise our hard fought freedom on a mere whim, and we wont"
So, I think Putin and Trump are going to get a few nasty surprises in the coming weeks.
So Vance comes to Europe with the objective of getting Europe to get serious about its own defence, Europe responds by doing just that, and Vance is the idiot?
Just watched Vance's speech to the Munich security conference today.
It is well worth a listen, whatever your politics. He makes an excellent challenge to Europe. I believe strongly that we should listen to his arguments, even if he has little credibility as a messenger.
For those who haven't listened, essentially he argues that Europe's biggest threat to security is our own desire to censor certain voices and not to listen to voters who want to vote for e.g. AfD. His strongest argument is that we cannot win by pretending far right parties are not popular.
My problem with his speech, though, is the blatant hypocrisy. To have Musk at the centre of your government and to lecture others on free speech is, to put it mildly, shameless.
My other problem is that he does not make any attempt to address the other side of the argument i.e. that the reason we need to fight against misinformation is that those such as Musk are in the business of spreading it, because it is profitable.
In my view the only way that we achieve the good parts of what Vance argues for (more robust free speech) is if we ensure that the megaphones that amplify speech in our democracy (media of all sorts) are working for us not against us.
"Our desire to censor voices" is just a hard-right fantasy that the likes of Musk use to try to justify an overwhelming stream of online disinformation.
What fools people are to believe a word of this crap.
It very clearly isn't just a hard-right fantasy. It only happens at the margins and is perhaps the least worst way to deal with the misinformation that is being firehosed at us. But to deny it's existence is naive. How else would you characterise the way we handled vaccine misinformation during COVID?
The trouble is that the world is full of useful idiots like you, who seem to think that "free speech" means lies should be allowed to propagate without correction or challenge.
Are you incapable of having a discussion without being insulting?
I would in no way characterise free speech in the way you suggest. I would have thought that was obvious from my first post. I have no desire to make the effort to spell it out given the tone of your response.
You come out with a nonsensical statement and then blame your inability to justify it on the "tone" of the response you get.
Well yes. You lost the argument as soon as you typed ‘useful idiots’.
Chris has always been an idiot I just ignore his posts as he is a wanker
Pragmatic self-refutation
We cannot win by pretending the Nazis aren't popular.
Erm?
Quite sure a lot think the same of me if thats what you mean and frankly don't care if they do. Does not mean I cannot to express an opinion
Umm .. my "pragmatic self-refutation" comment was just referring to your saying "Chris has always been an idiot I just ignore his posts .. " when you obviously have not ignored his posts because you have observed that he's always been an idiot
Well I meant I read his posts for a bit obviously to come to the conclusion then started ignoring them, you cant come to the conclusion till you read some obviously
I think that Trump and Vance just seriously damaged American leadership of the West, and certainly the European part of it. I had a few beers with a friend who is a senior Estonian politician. The commentary from the MAGA crew was, to a degree predicted. What was not predicted was the naked contempt for all of the EU members and indeed also the UK. However, the economy of the Nordic Baltic 7 is basically the same size as that of Russia and the view he put forward is that in many ways the MAGA mob have just done Europe a massive favour. "We have no choice, we have to work together", There are already significant discussions as to what now needs to be done. The coordination of the JEF states: Nordic/Baltic, the Netherlands and the UK is being discussed and it seems that Poland too will probably join quite quickly. So, with large scale defence expenditure on the way, the view is that the Nordic/Baltic region will be more than capable of seeing off any Russian attack without calling on the US. The US leverage could fall surprisingly quickly.
As for wider EU-US relations, there are already significant discussions about what to do if the US is going to stab Ukraine in the back. Again the view is that if the US is attacking the EU, then the EU no longer needs to accommodate US wishes in a variety of spheres, including tech regulation and finance. The contempt that Vance expressed is not a one way street. The EU will hit back very hard if Trump attempts to hurt global trade in ways that Brussels deems unacceptable.
So, "it begins". The EU economy is larger and more integrated into global trade than the US economy. Vance´s astonishingly ill judged speech is going to blow back to Washington in ways that the MAGA people do not even begin to expect. "Its sad, but is a matter of survival, we can not allow the US to compromise our hard fought freedom on a mere whim, and we wont"
So, I think Putin and Trump are going to get a few nasty surprises in the coming weeks.
So Vance comes to Europe with the objective of getting Europe to get serious about its own defence, Europe responds by doing just that, and Vance is the idiot?
Correction: Vance comes to Europe to sound off in a way that will get him social media likes from twats back home.
I think that Trump and Vance just seriously damaged American leadership of the West, and certainly the European part of it. I had a few beers with a friend who is a senior Estonian politician. The commentary from the MAGA crew was, to a degree predicted. What was not predicted was the naked contempt for all of the EU members and indeed also the UK. However, the economy of the Nordic Baltic 7 is basically the same size as that of Russia and the view he put forward is that in many ways the MAGA mob have just done Europe a massive favour. "We have no choice, we have to work together", There are already significant discussions as to what now needs to be done. The coordination of the JEF states: Nordic/Baltic, the Netherlands and the UK is being discussed and it seems that Poland too will probably join quite quickly. So, with large scale defence expenditure on the way, the view is that the Nordic/Baltic region will be more than capable of seeing off any Russian attack without calling on the US. The US leverage could fall surprisingly quickly.
As for wider EU-US relations, there are already significant discussions about what to do if the US is going to stab Ukraine in the back. Again the view is that if the US is attacking the EU, then the EU no longer needs to accommodate US wishes in a variety of spheres, including tech regulation and finance. The contempt that Vance expressed is not a one way street. The EU will hit back very hard if Trump attempts to hurt global trade in ways that Brussels deems unacceptable.
So, "it begins". The EU economy is larger and more integrated into global trade than the US economy. Vance´s astonishingly ill judged speech is going to blow back to Washington in ways that the MAGA people do not even begin to expect. "Its sad, but is a matter of survival, we can not allow the US to compromise our hard fought freedom on a mere whim, and we wont"
So, I think Putin and Trump are going to get a few nasty surprises in the coming weeks.
I'm pretty sure Trump 2.0 will end in an economic firestorm. He hasn't a fucking clue about the world, trade or economics. Or indeed science and technology.
He wants to drill shale like there's no tomorrow even though the world wont need to buy his shale because the caravan has moved on.
I think that Trump and Vance just seriously damaged American leadership of the West, and certainly the European part of it. I had a few beers with a friend who is a senior Estonian politician. The commentary from the MAGA crew was, to a degree predicted. What was not predicted was the naked contempt for all of the EU members and indeed also the UK. However, the economy of the Nordic Baltic 7 is basically the same size as that of Russia and the view he put forward is that in many ways the MAGA mob have just done Europe a massive favour. "We have no choice, we have to work together", There are already significant discussions as to what now needs to be done. The coordination of the JEF states: Nordic/Baltic, the Netherlands and the UK is being discussed and it seems that Poland too will probably join quite quickly. So, with large scale defence expenditure on the way, the view is that the Nordic/Baltic region will be more than capable of seeing off any Russian attack without calling on the US. The US leverage could fall surprisingly quickly.
As for wider EU-US relations, there are already significant discussions about what to do if the US is going to stab Ukraine in the back. Again the view is that if the US is attacking the EU, then the EU no longer needs to accommodate US wishes in a variety of spheres, including tech regulation and finance. The contempt that Vance expressed is not a one way street. The EU will hit back very hard if Trump attempts to hurt global trade in ways that Brussels deems unacceptable.
So, "it begins". The EU economy is larger and more integrated into global trade than the US economy. Vance´s astonishingly ill judged speech is going to blow back to Washington in ways that the MAGA people do not even begin to expect. "Its sad, but is a matter of survival, we can not allow the US to compromise our hard fought freedom on a mere whim, and we wont"
So, I think Putin and Trump are going to get a few nasty surprises in the coming weeks.
So Vance comes to Europe with the objective of getting Europe to get serious about its own defence, Europe responds by doing just that, and Vance is the idiot?
The idiotic bit is only thinking the one move ahead.
Just watched Vance's speech to the Munich security conference today.
It is well worth a listen, whatever your politics. He makes an excellent challenge to Europe. I believe strongly that we should listen to his arguments, even if he has little credibility as a messenger.
For those who haven't listened, essentially he argues that Europe's biggest threat to security is our own desire to censor certain voices and not to listen to voters who want to vote for e.g. AfD. His strongest argument is that we cannot win by pretending far right parties are not popular.
My problem with his speech, though, is the blatant hypocrisy. To have Musk at the centre of your government and to lecture others on free speech is, to put it mildly, shameless.
My other problem is that he does not make any attempt to address the other side of the argument i.e. that the reason we need to fight against misinformation is that those such as Musk are in the business of spreading it, because it is profitable.
In my view the only way that we achieve the good parts of what Vance argues for (more robust free speech) is if we ensure that the megaphones that amplify speech in our democracy (media of all sorts) are working for us not against us.
It seems hypocritical of the MAGA crowd to talk of Europe’s “desire to censor certain voices and not to listen to voters who want to vote for e.g. AfD” and to accuse Europeans of “pretending far right parties are not popular”. MAGA have built much of their success on culture wars against “woke” liberals. When have they listened to voters who want to vote for more liberal or socialist views?
Just watched Vance's speech to the Munich security conference today.
It is well worth a listen, whatever your politics. He makes an excellent challenge to Europe. I believe strongly that we should listen to his arguments, even if he has little credibility as a messenger.
For those who haven't listened, essentially he argues that Europe's biggest threat to security is our own desire to censor certain voices and not to listen to voters who want to vote for e.g. AfD. His strongest argument is that we cannot win by pretending far right parties are not popular.
My problem with his speech, though, is the blatant hypocrisy. To have Musk at the centre of your government and to lecture others on free speech is, to put it mildly, shameless.
My other problem is that he does not make any attempt to address the other side of the argument i.e. that the reason we need to fight against misinformation is that those such as Musk are in the business of spreading it, because it is profitable.
In my view the only way that we achieve the good parts of what Vance argues for (more robust free speech) is if we ensure that the megaphones that amplify speech in our democracy (media of all sorts) are working for us not against us.
The interesting feature of the free speech argument is (whatever side of the fence we sit) our free speech is good and should be celebrated, but other people's free speech is dangerous and should be banned.
The basic problem with Vance's claptrap is that it's a massive overselling of the idea Europe "censors" certain voices based on a very American ignorance of how different norms, laws, and practices developed in Europe, and the extent to which they are in practice restrictive and not the will of the people.
The one example he cited - a British man being arrested for 'praying' outside an abortion clinic - was carried out under laws introduced by those well known Marxists Priti Patel and Suella Braverman. It exists because Brits broadly don't mind banning behaviour we don't like, are fairly solidly pro the right to abortion, our religion isn't generally evangelical, and we judge the potential distress to women worth blocking. So introduced exclusion zones because clinics were being targeted.
Proudly secular France of course has its ban on religious symbols, while Germany, for understandable reasons, has strict bans on Nazi symbolism. Each country has their own norms that broadly allow free speech and protest but place certain restrictions on it when deem the nuissance or dangers are too much.
Americans fetishise their 1st ammendment rights rhetorically, but we all know in practice it's somewhat different and are no better. There's no bigger reminder of that than the current administration trying to fire anyone who isn't a Trumpian wingnut, or Elon's banning of views he doesn't like from Twitter while claiming to be a free speech warrior. The only difference is that they are massive, hectoring, ignorant, hypocrites about it.
Despite Vance's claims the views he wants to whinge as being victimised aren't banned from the public sphere - as evidenced by the success of certain parties holding them. They might be socially unacceptable in some circles or looked down upon by liberal politicians but that's not the same thing as being unfairly restricted. Liberals have as much right to hate the far right as the far right do liberals.
What Vance is doing is rather inversion by trying to be a crybully - ironically, rather like the worst kind of 'wokeness' - saying it's so unfair you don't accept my views and reasoning as right, despite its obvious ignorance. Then I'll scream like a baby and demand as my right to 'free speech' that you have to not just allow me to say what I say, but go along with it too.
Truly a pathetic specimen, and yes, a Big Mac Eating Surrender Monkey to boot.
I think he chose a poor example but there are better ones. Take trans. I think the prevailing ‘right opinion’ is that you can change your gender, so a biological man, with xy chromosomes throughout, a prostate, a penis, a preponderance of testosterone etc can simply say ‘I am a woman’ and everyone has to say, yes, you are a woman. Don’t agree? You can end up suspended at work and accused of harassment. So yes there is a culture of there being the ‘correct’ opinion and dissent is not welcome. There are other subjects - race and immigration where people fear to say what they really think. So I think he is right to an extent, just not using the right examples.
But...our courts have generally upheld, admittedly after much wrangling, Gender Critical women's right to their views - and right not to be dismissed for them. In practice of course certain organisations went beyond this - many got terrible advice as to their obligations - but the law there has worked to, in the end, protect their speech. And guess what, the argument has shifted despite certain people trying to shut down certain views.
It's arguably a sign of the system working, albeit eventually, and I'd say the UK has had a far more sophisticated debate on gender issues than the US. Obviously there's been some vile stuff some have experienced, but that's down to the perpetrators not the law.
As for immigration, it's a good example of my point. Might certain views get you disinvited from a party in certain social circles? Sure. So some people are reticent to say what they really think sometimes. We're social animals and like to be liked. But you can't force people who think your views are obnoxious to be nice to you, or that would be more of a violation of personal conscience.
And the state and institutions hardly stop people discussing it. Most of our largest newspapers are profoundly anti-immigration, as are GB News, and Talk TV, while many of LBC's hosts are too. Farage is probably the most regular guest on BBCQT. This week it had two of the most right-wing people in politics and media on the panel (Kruger and Goodwin).
That's not evidence of suppressing views on immigration. In fact one reason we might be quite so crap at dealing with it is the fact that we endlessly bang on about it all the time in a way that's profoundly unproductive.
I'd honestly love to know what a country looked like in which free speech was being suppressed on the issue of immigration, because it's certainly not this one.
Good points but I think you miss the prevailing sense of direction and opinion isn’t just determined by government and law. Why did organisations over egg the pudding? Why does the hospital in Scotland believe trans women have an automatic right to female changing spaces?
That direction may be reversing. But I do think there's a reason why. The legislation they were/are relying on was written way back in the 2000s - when the commonly understood definition of someone being transgender was narrower and based on either undergoing or set to undergo reassignment surgery.
This was a) a tiny number of people b) who were often accepted by default in many women's spaces as were so rare and the least noticeable cases and c) it was meant to stop discrimination on the basis of having that reassignment.
Generally the issue was only raised by feminists with deep philosophical objections to the idea of reassignment itself.
The politics looked like a fairly easy compromise when we were talking about around 150 people a year, low risk (i.e. not intact), and who the legislation was designed to protect from discrimination directed at the fact they were trans of and in itself, rather than, say, arguments about what constituted that. There was, it should be noted a provision for sex to override gender in certain exceptional circumstances. But obviously the narrower your definition the more rarely that might need to apply.
In the 2010s that changed, as activists greatly broadened the definition of those qualifying for those protections as 'trans' to include those who had no intention of getting reassignment surgery, and organisations advising on anti-discrimination law informed by those activists (e.g. Stonewall) followed suit.
The result was a legal mess whereby you had a legal protection designed for one thing, used to justify a raft of others it wasn't designed for, because the meaning of the word at its centre changed.
And the law has never been properly rewritten - initially with Maria Miller and then Sturgeon the plan was broaden to the wider activist definition. But which was dropped both times due to pushback over what it would mean.
Which means you have cases like the one in Scotland where an organisation has understood the law to apply a certain way, which has often bein ruled wrong at a higher level due to the difficulties posed by the implications of that interpretation.
It's been messy and dreaful for those involved, but basically you need to work through to rewrite the law to capture different circumstances and how they relate to clashing rights and definitions. Or stick with the narrower workable definition of the older one.
I think that Trump and Vance just seriously damaged American leadership of the West, and certainly the European part of it. I had a few beers with a friend who is a senior Estonian politician. The commentary from the MAGA crew was, to a degree predicted. What was not predicted was the naked contempt for all of the EU members and indeed also the UK. However, the economy of the Nordic Baltic 7 is basically the same size as that of Russia and the view he put forward is that in many ways the MAGA mob have just done Europe a massive favour. "We have no choice, we have to work together", There are already significant discussions as to what now needs to be done. The coordination of the JEF states: Nordic/Baltic, the Netherlands and the UK is being discussed and it seems that Poland too will probably join quite quickly. So, with large scale defence expenditure on the way, the view is that the Nordic/Baltic region will be more than capable of seeing off any Russian attack without calling on the US. The US leverage could fall surprisingly quickly.
As for wider EU-US relations, there are already significant discussions about what to do if the US is going to stab Ukraine in the back. Again the view is that if the US is attacking the EU, then the EU no longer needs to accommodate US wishes in a variety of spheres, including tech regulation and finance. The contempt that Vance expressed is not a one way street. The EU will hit back very hard if Trump attempts to hurt global trade in ways that Brussels deems unacceptable.
So, "it begins". The EU economy is larger and more integrated into global trade than the US economy. Vance´s astonishingly ill judged speech is going to blow back to Washington in ways that the MAGA people do not even begin to expect. "Its sad, but is a matter of survival, we can not allow the US to compromise our hard fought freedom on a mere whim, and we wont"
So, I think Putin and Trump are going to get a few nasty surprises in the coming weeks.
I'm pretty sure Trump 2.0 will end in an economic firestorm. He hasn't a fucking clue about the world, trade or economics. Or indeed science and technology.
He wants to drill shale like there's no tomorrow even though the world wont need to buy his shale because the caravan has moved on.
Hopefully the storm will only be in America.
lols at the thought that the eu is more integrated into world trade its a protectionist overregulated little backwater that even now is having to backpeddle on ai regulation because everyone else is laughing at them
Just watched Vance's speech to the Munich security conference today.
It is well worth a listen, whatever your politics. He makes an excellent challenge to Europe. I believe strongly that we should listen to his arguments, even if he has little credibility as a messenger.
For those who haven't listened, essentially he argues that Europe's biggest threat to security is our own desire to censor certain voices and not to listen to voters who want to vote for e.g. AfD. His strongest argument is that we cannot win by pretending far right parties are not popular.
My problem with his speech, though, is the blatant hypocrisy. To have Musk at the centre of your government and to lecture others on free speech is, to put it mildly, shameless.
My other problem is that he does not make any attempt to address the other side of the argument i.e. that the reason we need to fight against misinformation is that those such as Musk are in the business of spreading it, because it is profitable.
In my view the only way that we achieve the good parts of what Vance argues for (more robust free speech) is if we ensure that the megaphones that amplify speech in our democracy (media of all sorts) are working for us not against us.
It seems hypocritical of the MAGA crowd to talk of Europe’s “desire to censor certain voices and not to listen to voters who want to vote for e.g. AfD” and to accuse Europeans of “pretending far right parties are not popular”. MAGA have built much of their success on culture wars against “woke” liberals. When have they listened to voters who want to vote for more liberal or socialist views?
That would be a good point if the AfD had been in power for the last 20 years and ignored that wing of public opinion.
Just watched Vance's speech to the Munich security conference today.
It is well worth a listen, whatever your politics. He makes an excellent challenge to Europe. I believe strongly that we should listen to his arguments, even if he has little credibility as a messenger.
For those who haven't listened, essentially he argues that Europe's biggest threat to security is our own desire to censor certain voices and not to listen to voters who want to vote for e.g. AfD. His strongest argument is that we cannot win by pretending far right parties are not popular.
My problem with his speech, though, is the blatant hypocrisy. To have Musk at the centre of your government and to lecture others on free speech is, to put it mildly, shameless.
My other problem is that he does not make any attempt to address the other side of the argument i.e. that the reason we need to fight against misinformation is that those such as Musk are in the business of spreading it, because it is profitable.
In my view the only way that we achieve the good parts of what Vance argues for (more robust free speech) is if we ensure that the megaphones that amplify speech in our democracy (media of all sorts) are working for us not against us.
The interesting feature of the free speech argument is (whatever side of the fence we sit) our free speech is good and should be celebrated, but other people's free speech is dangerous and should be banned.
The basic problem with Vance's claptrap is that it's a massive overselling of the idea Europe "censors" certain voices based on a very American ignorance of how different norms, laws, and practices developed in Europe, and the extent to which they are in practice restrictive and not the will of the people.
The one example he cited - a British man being arrested for 'praying' outside an abortion clinic - was carried out under laws introduced by those well known Marxists Priti Patel and Suella Braverman. It exists because Brits broadly don't mind banning behaviour we don't like, are fairly solidly pro the right to abortion, our religion isn't generally evangelical, and we judge the potential distress to women worth blocking. So introduced exclusion zones because clinics were being targeted.
Proudly secular France of course has its ban on religious symbols, while Germany, for understandable reasons, has strict bans on Nazi symbolism. Each country has their own norms that broadly allow free speech and protest but place certain restrictions on it when deem the nuissance or dangers are too much.
Americans fetishise their 1st ammendment rights rhetorically, but we all know in practice it's somewhat different and are no better. There's no bigger reminder of that than the current administration trying to fire anyone who isn't a Trumpian wingnut, or Elon's banning of views he doesn't like from Twitter while claiming to be a free speech warrior. The only difference is that they are massive, hectoring, ignorant, hypocrites about it.
Despite Vance's claims the views he wants to whinge as being victimised aren't banned from the public sphere - as evidenced by the success of certain parties holding them. They might be socially unacceptable in some circles or looked down upon by liberal politicians but that's not the same thing as being unfairly restricted. Liberals have as much right to hate the far right as the far right do liberals.
What Vance is doing is rather inversion by trying to be a crybully - ironically, rather like the worst kind of 'wokeness' - saying it's so unfair you don't accept my views and reasoning as right, despite its obvious ignorance. Then I'll scream like a baby and demand as my right to 'free speech' that you have to not just allow me to say what I say, but go along with it too.
Truly a pathetic specimen, and yes, a Big Mac Eating Surrender Monkey to boot.
I think he chose a poor example but there are better ones. Take trans. I think the prevailing ‘right opinion’ is that you can change your gender, so a biological man, with xy chromosomes throughout, a prostate, a penis, a preponderance of testosterone etc can simply say ‘I am a woman’ and everyone has to say, yes, you are a woman. Don’t agree? You can end up suspended at work and accused of harassment. So yes there is a culture of there being the ‘correct’ opinion and dissent is not welcome. There are other subjects - race and immigration where people fear to say what they really think. So I think he is right to an extent, just not using the right examples.
Censorship is when materials intended for publication are required to be submitted beforehand to state officials, who can grant permission, deny it, or grant it subject to alterations. It's not when a private company that runs a micromessaging service on the internet refuses to keep distributing a message that some twatter has posted for consumption by other twatters.
Whether by this means or others, all regimes try to reduce the scope for anti-regime dissent.
The number of people working in jobs or unpaid positions with countering misinformation and disinformation among their roles in a country like Britain is huge.
When he mentioned the prayer outside the abortion clinic, Vance was taking the piss - as Musk was with his Nazi salute. Next he will say people in the US are allowed to burn the US flag, so why can't people in Germany fly the Nazi one, high and proud?
MAGA don't engage in debating, whether about the US constitution or the perennial and boring topic of freedom of speech.
MAGA will use any excuse to whip up hatred among white thickos against uppety black people, Muslims, and women - and to incentivise "might is right, and if you don't like it you can just FAAACK OFFFFF, you libtard loser!" attitudes among anyone in a position of authority, however lowly.
Just watched Vance's speech to the Munich security conference today.
It is well worth a listen, whatever your politics. He makes an excellent challenge to Europe. I believe strongly that we should listen to his arguments, even if he has little credibility as a messenger.
For those who haven't listened, essentially he argues that Europe's biggest threat to security is our own desire to censor certain voices and not to listen to voters who want to vote for e.g. AfD. His strongest argument is that we cannot win by pretending far right parties are not popular.
My problem with his speech, though, is the blatant hypocrisy. To have Musk at the centre of your government and to lecture others on free speech is, to put it mildly, shameless.
My other problem is that he does not make any attempt to address the other side of the argument i.e. that the reason we need to fight against misinformation is that those such as Musk are in the business of spreading it, because it is profitable.
In my view the only way that we achieve the good parts of what Vance argues for (more robust free speech) is if we ensure that the megaphones that amplify speech in our democracy (media of all sorts) are working for us not against us.
The interesting feature of the free speech argument is (whatever side of the fence we sit) our free speech is good and should be celebrated, but other people's free speech is dangerous and should be banned.
The basic problem with Vance's claptrap is that it's a massive overselling of the idea Europe "censors" certain voices based on a very American ignorance of how different norms, laws, and practices developed in Europe, and the extent to which they are in practice restrictive and not the will of the people.
The one example he cited - a British man being arrested for 'praying' outside an abortion clinic - was carried out under laws introduced by those well known Marxists Priti Patel and Suella Braverman. It exists because Brits broadly don't mind banning behaviour we don't like, are fairly solidly pro the right to abortion, our religion isn't generally evangelical, and we judge the potential distress to women worth blocking. So introduced exclusion zones because clinics were being targeted.
Proudly secular France of course has its ban on religious symbols, while Germany, for understandable reasons, has strict bans on Nazi symbolism. Each country has their own norms that broadly allow free speech and protest but place certain restrictions on it when deem the nuissance or dangers are too much.
Americans fetishise their 1st ammendment rights rhetorically, but we all know in practice it's somewhat different and are no better. There's no bigger reminder of that than the current administration trying to fire anyone who isn't a Trumpian wingnut, or Elon's banning of views he doesn't like from Twitter while claiming to be a free speech warrior. The only difference is that they are massive, hectoring, ignorant, hypocrites about it.
Despite Vance's claims the views he wants to whinge as being victimised aren't banned from the public sphere - as evidenced by the success of certain parties holding them. They might be socially unacceptable in some circles or looked down upon by liberal politicians but that's not the same thing as being unfairly restricted. Liberals have as much right to hate the far right as the far right do liberals.
What Vance is doing is rather inversion by trying to be a crybully - ironically, rather like the worst kind of 'wokeness' - saying it's so unfair you don't accept my views and reasoning as right, despite its obvious ignorance. Then I'll scream like a baby and demand as my right to 'free speech' that you have to not just allow me to say what I say, but go along with it too.
Truly a pathetic specimen, and yes, a Big Mac Eating Surrender Monkey to boot.
I think he chose a poor example but there are better ones. Take trans. I think the prevailing ‘right opinion’ is that you can change your gender, so a biological man, with xy chromosomes throughout, a prostate, a penis, a preponderance of testosterone etc can simply say ‘I am a woman’ and everyone has to say, yes, you are a woman. Don’t agree? You can end up suspended at work and accused of harassment. So yes there is a culture of there being the ‘correct’ opinion and dissent is not welcome. There are other subjects - race and immigration where people fear to say what they really think. So I think he is right to an extent, just not using the right examples.
I am seen I think as pretty far right so here is my opinion on your example
We should respect the wish that she is she, call her by her new name etc and treat her as a woman....however if the biological women in the building object to her being in the changing rooms or loos then we also have to respect those rights too. And no she absolutely doesn't get to do sports in the female category not end up in a women only space or group such as a refuge or prison or rape therapy unless the women involved are comfortable with it.
I am on the left and agree with most of what you say after the "....." As for the bit before it, I'm not going to call a bloke "she" just because he says I should. Male or female isn't a question of preference.
On the other hand, if someone who is not acting in a public service capacity or receiving any public money wishes to set up a group for women plus men who say they're women, and they want to engage in sporting activities together, maybe against other similar groups, I've got no problem with that. If I knew any women who wanted to take part, though, I might say why on earth do you want to play along with such shite.
'Dominic Cummings has called on the public to vote for Reform UK at this year’s local elections in order to remove Kemi Badenoch as leader of the Conservative Party.
Writing on his Substack yesterday, the former Boris Johnson adviser implored British voters to “do regime change” and combat the “rot of elite culture, elite values and elite education over decades”.
In the 25,000-word post, Cummings laid out his plan of action as: “shove out Kemi ASAP, take over Tories, get Trump/Elon to facilitate a merger with Reform.” Describing the Tories as “dead in every way,” he called on voters to “push what is falling”. “Vote Reform in all local elections,” he wrote, “and help start the avalanche” to remove Badenoch.'
Just watched Vance's speech to the Munich security conference today.
It is well worth a listen, whatever your politics. He makes an excellent challenge to Europe. I believe strongly that we should listen to his arguments, even if he has little credibility as a messenger.
For those who haven't listened, essentially he argues that Europe's biggest threat to security is our own desire to censor certain voices and not to listen to voters who want to vote for e.g. AfD. His strongest argument is that we cannot win by pretending far right parties are not popular.
My problem with his speech, though, is the blatant hypocrisy. To have Musk at the centre of your government and to lecture others on free speech is, to put it mildly, shameless.
My other problem is that he does not make any attempt to address the other side of the argument i.e. that the reason we need to fight against misinformation is that those such as Musk are in the business of spreading it, because it is profitable.
In my view the only way that we achieve the good parts of what Vance argues for (more robust free speech) is if we ensure that the megaphones that amplify speech in our democracy (media of all sorts) are working for us not against us.
The interesting feature of the free speech argument is (whatever side of the fence we sit) our free speech is good and should be celebrated, but other people's free speech is dangerous and should be banned.
The basic problem with Vance's claptrap is that it's a massive overselling of the idea Europe "censors" certain voices based on a very American ignorance of how different norms, laws, and practices developed in Europe, and the extent to which they are in practice restrictive and not the will of the people.
The one example he cited - a British man being arrested for 'praying' outside an abortion clinic - was carried out under laws introduced by those well known Marxists Priti Patel and Suella Braverman. It exists because Brits broadly don't mind banning behaviour we don't like, are fairly solidly pro the right to abortion, our religion isn't generally evangelical, and we judge the potential distress to women worth blocking. So introduced exclusion zones because clinics were being targeted.
Proudly secular France of course has its ban on religious symbols, while Germany, for understandable reasons, has strict bans on Nazi symbolism. Each country has their own norms that broadly allow free speech and protest but place certain restrictions on it when deem the nuissance or dangers are too much.
Americans fetishise their 1st ammendment rights rhetorically, but we all know in practice it's somewhat different and are no better. There's no bigger reminder of that than the current administration trying to fire anyone who isn't a Trumpian wingnut, or Elon's banning of views he doesn't like from Twitter while claiming to be a free speech warrior. The only difference is that they are massive, hectoring, ignorant, hypocrites about it.
Despite Vance's claims the views he wants to whinge as being victimised aren't banned from the public sphere - as evidenced by the success of certain parties holding them. They might be socially unacceptable in some circles or looked down upon by liberal politicians but that's not the same thing as being unfairly restricted. Liberals have as much right to hate the far right as the far right do liberals.
What Vance is doing is rather inversion by trying to be a crybully - ironically, rather like the worst kind of 'wokeness' - saying it's so unfair you don't accept my views and reasoning as right, despite its obvious ignorance. Then I'll scream like a baby and demand as my right to 'free speech' that you have to not just allow me to say what I say, but go along with it too.
Truly a pathetic specimen, and yes, a Big Mac Eating Surrender Monkey to boot.
I think he chose a poor example but there are better ones. Take trans. I think the prevailing ‘right opinion’ is that you can change your gender, so a biological man, with xy chromosomes throughout, a prostate, a penis, a preponderance of testosterone etc can simply say ‘I am a woman’ and everyone has to say, yes, you are a woman. Don’t agree? You can end up suspended at work and accused of harassment. So yes there is a culture of there being the ‘correct’ opinion and dissent is not welcome. There are other subjects - race and immigration where people fear to say what they really think. So I think he is right to an extent, just not using the right examples.
I am seen I think as pretty far right so here is my opinion on your example
We should respect the wish that she is she, call her by her new name etc and treat her as a woman....however if the biological women in the building object to her being in the changing rooms or loos then we also have to respect those rights too. And no she absolutely doesn't get to do sports in the female category not end up in a women only space or group such as a refuge or prison or rape therapy unless the women involved are comfortable with it.
This is - of course - the completely common sense view: i.e. don't be a dick and treat people like they would like to be treated.
Vance: "we want to achieve a durable, lasting peace — not the kind of peace that's going to have eastern Europe in conflict just a couple years down the road."
Just watched Vance's speech to the Munich security conference today.
It is well worth a listen, whatever your politics. He makes an excellent challenge to Europe. I believe strongly that we should listen to his arguments, even if he has little credibility as a messenger.
For those who haven't listened, essentially he argues that Europe's biggest threat to security is our own desire to censor certain voices and not to listen to voters who want to vote for e.g. AfD. His strongest argument is that we cannot win by pretending far right parties are not popular.
My problem with his speech, though, is the blatant hypocrisy. To have Musk at the centre of your government and to lecture others on free speech is, to put it mildly, shameless.
My other problem is that he does not make any attempt to address the other side of the argument i.e. that the reason we need to fight against misinformation is that those such as Musk are in the business of spreading it, because it is profitable.
In my view the only way that we achieve the good parts of what Vance argues for (more robust free speech) is if we ensure that the megaphones that amplify speech in our democracy (media of all sorts) are working for us not against us.
It seems hypocritical of the MAGA crowd to talk of Europe’s “desire to censor certain voices and not to listen to voters who want to vote for e.g. AfD” and to accuse Europeans of “pretending far right parties are not popular”. MAGA have built much of their success on culture wars against “woke” liberals. When have they listened to voters who want to vote for more liberal or socialist views?
That would be a good point if the AfD had been in power for the last 20 years and ignored that wing of public opinion.
I’m talking about what has happened in the US and how MAGA has behaved. In the US, Trump was President for 4 years and has just started a new term.
Just watched Vance's speech to the Munich security conference today.
It is well worth a listen, whatever your politics. He makes an excellent challenge to Europe. I believe strongly that we should listen to his arguments, even if he has little credibility as a messenger.
For those who haven't listened, essentially he argues that Europe's biggest threat to security is our own desire to censor certain voices and not to listen to voters who want to vote for e.g. AfD. His strongest argument is that we cannot win by pretending far right parties are not popular.
My problem with his speech, though, is the blatant hypocrisy. To have Musk at the centre of your government and to lecture others on free speech is, to put it mildly, shameless.
My other problem is that he does not make any attempt to address the other side of the argument i.e. that the reason we need to fight against misinformation is that those such as Musk are in the business of spreading it, because it is profitable.
In my view the only way that we achieve the good parts of what Vance argues for (more robust free speech) is if we ensure that the megaphones that amplify speech in our democracy (media of all sorts) are working for us not against us.
The interesting feature of the free speech argument is (whatever side of the fence we sit) our free speech is good and should be celebrated, but other people's free speech is dangerous and should be banned.
The basic problem with Vance's claptrap is that it's a massive overselling of the idea Europe "censors" certain voices based on a very American ignorance of how different norms, laws, and practices developed in Europe, and the extent to which they are in practice restrictive and not the will of the people.
The one example he cited - a British man being arrested for 'praying' outside an abortion clinic - was carried out under laws introduced by those well known Marxists Priti Patel and Suella Braverman. It exists because Brits broadly don't mind banning behaviour we don't like, are fairly solidly pro the right to abortion, our religion isn't generally evangelical, and we judge the potential distress to women worth blocking. So introduced exclusion zones because clinics were being targeted.
Proudly secular France of course has its ban on religious symbols, while Germany, for understandable reasons, has strict bans on Nazi symbolism. Each country has their own norms that broadly allow free speech and protest but place certain restrictions on it when deem the nuissance or dangers are too much.
Americans fetishise their 1st ammendment rights rhetorically, but we all know in practice it's somewhat different and are no better. There's no bigger reminder of that than the current administration trying to fire anyone who isn't a Trumpian wingnut, or Elon's banning of views he doesn't like from Twitter while claiming to be a free speech warrior. The only difference is that they are massive, hectoring, ignorant, hypocrites about it.
Despite Vance's claims the views he wants to whinge as being victimised aren't banned from the public sphere - as evidenced by the success of certain parties holding them. They might be socially unacceptable in some circles or looked down upon by liberal politicians but that's not the same thing as being unfairly restricted. Liberals have as much right to hate the far right as the far right do liberals.
What Vance is doing is rather inversion by trying to be a crybully - ironically, rather like the worst kind of 'wokeness' - saying it's so unfair you don't accept my views and reasoning as right, despite its obvious ignorance. Then I'll scream like a baby and demand as my right to 'free speech' that you have to not just allow me to say what I say, but go along with it too.
Truly a pathetic specimen, and yes, a Big Mac Eating Surrender Monkey to boot.
I think he chose a poor example but there are better ones. Take trans. I think the prevailing ‘right opinion’ is that you can change your gender, so a biological man, with xy chromosomes throughout, a prostate, a penis, a preponderance of testosterone etc can simply say ‘I am a woman’ and everyone has to say, yes, you are a woman. Don’t agree? You can end up suspended at work and accused of harassment. So yes there is a culture of there being the ‘correct’ opinion and dissent is not welcome. There are other subjects - race and immigration where people fear to say what they really think. So I think he is right to an extent, just not using the right examples.
I am seen I think as pretty far right so here is my opinion on your example
We should respect the wish that she is she, call her by her new name etc and treat her as a woman....however if the biological women in the building object to her being in the changing rooms or loos then we also have to respect those rights too. And no she absolutely doesn't get to do sports in the female category not end up in a women only space or group such as a refuge or prison or rape therapy unless the women involved are comfortable with it.
I am on the left and agree with what you say after the "....." I'm not going to call a bloke "she" just because he says I should.
See that I think rude, if she wants to be she and be called susan instead of samuel...don't see that as a problem and rude not to.
Just watched Vance's speech to the Munich security conference today.
It is well worth a listen, whatever your politics. He makes an excellent challenge to Europe. I believe strongly that we should listen to his arguments, even if he has little credibility as a messenger.
For those who haven't listened, essentially he argues that Europe's biggest threat to security is our own desire to censor certain voices and not to listen to voters who want to vote for e.g. AfD. His strongest argument is that we cannot win by pretending far right parties are not popular.
My problem with his speech, though, is the blatant hypocrisy. To have Musk at the centre of your government and to lecture others on free speech is, to put it mildly, shameless.
My other problem is that he does not make any attempt to address the other side of the argument i.e. that the reason we need to fight against misinformation is that those such as Musk are in the business of spreading it, because it is profitable.
In my view the only way that we achieve the good parts of what Vance argues for (more robust free speech) is if we ensure that the megaphones that amplify speech in our democracy (media of all sorts) are working for us not against us.
The interesting feature of the free speech argument is (whatever side of the fence we sit) our free speech is good and should be celebrated, but other people's free speech is dangerous and should be banned.
The basic problem with Vance's claptrap is that it's a massive overselling of the idea Europe "censors" certain voices based on a very American ignorance of how different norms, laws, and practices developed in Europe, and the extent to which they are in practice restrictive and not the will of the people.
The one example he cited - a British man being arrested for 'praying' outside an abortion clinic - was carried out under laws introduced by those well known Marxists Priti Patel and Suella Braverman. It exists because Brits broadly don't mind banning behaviour we don't like, are fairly solidly pro the right to abortion, our religion isn't generally evangelical, and we judge the potential distress to women worth blocking. So introduced exclusion zones because clinics were being targeted.
Proudly secular France of course has its ban on religious symbols, while Germany, for understandable reasons, has strict bans on Nazi symbolism. Each country has their own norms that broadly allow free speech and protest but place certain restrictions on it when deem the nuissance or dangers are too much.
Americans fetishise their 1st ammendment rights rhetorically, but we all know in practice it's somewhat different and are no better. There's no bigger reminder of that than the current administration trying to fire anyone who isn't a Trumpian wingnut, or Elon's banning of views he doesn't like from Twitter while claiming to be a free speech warrior. The only difference is that they are massive, hectoring, ignorant, hypocrites about it.
Despite Vance's claims the views he wants to whinge as being victimised aren't banned from the public sphere - as evidenced by the success of certain parties holding them. They might be socially unacceptable in some circles or looked down upon by liberal politicians but that's not the same thing as being unfairly restricted. Liberals have as much right to hate the far right as the far right do liberals.
What Vance is doing is rather inversion by trying to be a crybully - ironically, rather like the worst kind of 'wokeness' - saying it's so unfair you don't accept my views and reasoning as right, despite its obvious ignorance. Then I'll scream like a baby and demand as my right to 'free speech' that you have to not just allow me to say what I say, but go along with it too.
Truly a pathetic specimen, and yes, a Big Mac Eating Surrender Monkey to boot.
I think he chose a poor example but there are better ones. Take trans. I think the prevailing ‘right opinion’ is that you can change your gender, so a biological man, with xy chromosomes throughout, a prostate, a penis, a preponderance of testosterone etc can simply say ‘I am a woman’ and everyone has to say, yes, you are a woman. Don’t agree? You can end up suspended at work and accused of harassment. So yes there is a culture of there being the ‘correct’ opinion and dissent is not welcome. There are other subjects - race and immigration where people fear to say what they really think. So I think he is right to an extent, just not using the right examples.
I am seen I think as pretty far right so here is my opinion on your example
We should respect the wish that she is she, call her by her new name etc and treat her as a woman....however if the biological women in the building object to her being in the changing rooms or loos then we also have to respect those rights too. And no she absolutely doesn't get to do sports in the female category not end up in a women only space or group such as a refuge or prison or rape therapy unless the women involved are comfortable with it.
This is - of course - the completely common sense view: i.e. don't be a dick and treat people like they would like to be treated.
sadly a view too many take as going to far or not far enough
I think that Trump and Vance just seriously damaged American leadership of the West, and certainly the European part of it. I had a few beers with a friend who is a senior Estonian politician. The commentary from the MAGA crew was, to a degree predicted. What was not predicted was the naked contempt for all of the EU members and indeed also the UK. However, the economy of the Nordic Baltic 7 is basically the same size as that of Russia and the view he put forward is that in many ways the MAGA mob have just done Europe a massive favour. "We have no choice, we have to work together", There are already significant discussions as to what now needs to be done. The coordination of the JEF states: Nordic/Baltic, the Netherlands and the UK is being discussed and it seems that Poland too will probably join quite quickly. So, with large scale defence expenditure on the way, the view is that the Nordic/Baltic region will be more than capable of seeing off any Russian attack without calling on the US. The US leverage could fall surprisingly quickly.
As for wider EU-US relations, there are already significant discussions about what to do if the US is going to stab Ukraine in the back. Again the view is that if the US is attacking the EU, then the EU no longer needs to accommodate US wishes in a variety of spheres, including tech regulation and finance. The contempt that Vance expressed is not a one way street. The EU will hit back very hard if Trump attempts to hurt global trade in ways that Brussels deems unacceptable.
So, "it begins". The EU economy is larger and more integrated into global trade than the US economy. Vance´s astonishingly ill judged speech is going to blow back to Washington in ways that the MAGA people do not even begin to expect. "Its sad, but is a matter of survival, we can not allow the US to compromise our hard fought freedom on a mere whim, and we wont"
So, I think Putin and Trump are going to get a few nasty surprises in the coming weeks.
So Vance comes to Europe with the objective of getting Europe to get serious about its own defence, Europe responds by doing just that, and Vance is the idiot?
Don’t try to persuade us that an offering of turds is a plate of cookies, william. You’re entirely free to believe such things yourself, of course.
'Dominic Cummings has called on the public to vote for Reform UK at this year’s local elections in order to remove Kemi Badenoch as leader of the Conservative Party.
Writing on his Substack yesterday, the former Boris Johnson adviser implored British voters to “do regime change” and combat the “rot of elite culture, elite values and elite education over decades”.
In the 25,000-word post, Cummings laid out his plan of action as: “shove out Kemi ASAP, take over Tories, get Trump/Elon to facilitate a merger with Reform.” Describing the Tories as “dead in every way,” he called on voters to “push what is falling”. “Vote Reform in all local elections,” he wrote, “and help start the avalanche” to remove Badenoch.'
'Dominic Cummings has called on the public to vote for Reform UK at this year’s local elections in order to remove Kemi Badenoch as leader of the Conservative Party.
Writing on his Substack yesterday, the former Boris Johnson adviser implored British voters to “do regime change” and combat the “rot of elite culture, elite values and elite education over decades”.
In the 25,000-word post, Cummings laid out his plan of action as: “shove out Kemi ASAP, take over Tories, get Trump/Elon to facilitate a merger with Reform.” Describing the Tories as “dead in every way,” he called on voters to “push what is falling”. “Vote Reform in all local elections,” he wrote, “and help start the avalanche” to remove Badenoch.'
Vance: "we want to achieve a durable, lasting peace — not the kind of peace that's going to have eastern Europe in conflict just a couple years down the road."
LOL
Surely the Trump record on setting up the peace deal with the Taliban and sorting out the Donbas during his last stint speaks for itself.
'Dominic Cummings has called on the public to vote for Reform UK at this year’s local elections in order to remove Kemi Badenoch as leader of the Conservative Party.
Writing on his Substack yesterday, the former Boris Johnson adviser implored British voters to “do regime change” and combat the “rot of elite culture, elite values and elite education over decades”.
In the 25,000-word post, Cummings laid out his plan of action as: “shove out Kemi ASAP, take over Tories, get Trump/Elon to facilitate a merger with Reform.” Describing the Tories as “dead in every way,” he called on voters to “push what is falling”. “Vote Reform in all local elections,” he wrote, “and help start the avalanche” to remove Badenoch.'
Cummings has an uncle who was a Lord Justice and went to Oxford. If we are to ignore the elites, shouldn’t we ignore him for starters?
Nigel Farage went to Dulwich College, a top public school, and then became a commodities trader in the City. Richard Tice is the grandson of a rich property developer and also went to public school. If we want to combat elite culture, vote Labour (did you know Starmer was the son of a toolmaker?) or LibDem (Davey was orphaned at 15 and acted as a carer for his dying mum) or Green (Adrian Ramsay went to state school and then a former poly).
I think that Trump and Vance just seriously damaged American leadership of the West, and certainly the European part of it. I had a few beers with a friend who is a senior Estonian politician. The commentary from the MAGA crew was, to a degree predicted. What was not predicted was the naked contempt for all of the EU members and indeed also the UK. However, the economy of the Nordic Baltic 7 is basically the same size as that of Russia and the view he put forward is that in many ways the MAGA mob have just done Europe a massive favour. "We have no choice, we have to work together", There are already significant discussions as to what now needs to be done. The coordination of the JEF states: Nordic/Baltic, the Netherlands and the UK is being discussed and it seems that Poland too will probably join quite quickly. So, with large scale defence expenditure on the way, the view is that the Nordic/Baltic region will be more than capable of seeing off any Russian attack without calling on the US. The US leverage could fall surprisingly quickly.
As for wider EU-US relations, there are already significant discussions about what to do if the US is going to stab Ukraine in the back. Again the view is that if the US is attacking the EU, then the EU no longer needs to accommodate US wishes in a variety of spheres, including tech regulation and finance. The contempt that Vance expressed is not a one way street. The EU will hit back very hard if Trump attempts to hurt global trade in ways that Brussels deems unacceptable.
So, "it begins". The EU economy is larger and more integrated into global trade than the US economy. Vance´s astonishingly ill judged speech is going to blow back to Washington in ways that the MAGA people do not even begin to expect. "Its sad, but is a matter of survival, we can not allow the US to compromise our hard fought freedom on a mere whim, and we wont"
So, I think Putin and Trump are going to get a few nasty surprises in the coming weeks.
Agree. Trump and his chums are correct that we have unfairly taken the US military for a ride for 50 years and should pay our own way; but they seem to not realise that if the rest of the western world withdraws all other good will, the U.S. is ####ed. We do do things.
If it wants to take on China, it needs a united West, and it could and should lead us. But if doesn’t want to, the U.K. can share that role with its peers.
'Dominic Cummings has called on the public to vote for Reform UK at this year’s local elections in order to remove Kemi Badenoch as leader of the Conservative Party.
Writing on his Substack yesterday, the former Boris Johnson adviser implored British voters to “do regime change” and combat the “rot of elite culture, elite values and elite education over decades”.
In the 25,000-word post, Cummings laid out his plan of action as: “shove out Kemi ASAP, take over Tories, get Trump/Elon to facilitate a merger with Reform.” Describing the Tories as “dead in every way,” he called on voters to “push what is falling”. “Vote Reform in all local elections,” he wrote, “and help start the avalanche” to remove Badenoch.'
'Dominic Cummings has called on the public to vote for Reform UK at this year’s local elections in order to remove Kemi Badenoch as leader of the Conservative Party.
Writing on his Substack yesterday, the former Boris Johnson adviser implored British voters to “do regime change” and combat the “rot of elite culture, elite values and elite education over decades”.
In the 25,000-word post, Cummings laid out his plan of action as: “shove out Kemi ASAP, take over Tories, get Trump/Elon to facilitate a merger with Reform.” Describing the Tories as “dead in every way,” he called on voters to “push what is falling”. “Vote Reform in all local elections,” he wrote, “and help start the avalanche” to remove Badenoch.'
I think that Trump and Vance just seriously damaged American leadership of the West, and certainly the European part of it. I had a few beers with a friend who is a senior Estonian politician. The commentary from the MAGA crew was, to a degree predicted. What was not predicted was the naked contempt for all of the EU members and indeed also the UK. However, the economy of the Nordic Baltic 7 is basically the same size as that of Russia and the view he put forward is that in many ways the MAGA mob have just done Europe a massive favour. "We have no choice, we have to work together", There are already significant discussions as to what now needs to be done. The coordination of the JEF states: Nordic/Baltic, the Netherlands and the UK is being discussed and it seems that Poland too will probably join quite quickly. So, with large scale defence expenditure on the way, the view is that the Nordic/Baltic region will be more than capable of seeing off any Russian attack without calling on the US. The US leverage could fall surprisingly quickly.
As for wider EU-US relations, there are already significant discussions about what to do if the US is going to stab Ukraine in the back. Again the view is that if the US is attacking the EU, then the EU no longer needs to accommodate US wishes in a variety of spheres, including tech regulation and finance. The contempt that Vance expressed is not a one way street. The EU will hit back very hard if Trump attempts to hurt global trade in ways that Brussels deems unacceptable.
So, "it begins". The EU economy is larger and more integrated into global trade than the US economy. Vance´s astonishingly ill judged speech is going to blow back to Washington in ways that the MAGA people do not even begin to expect. "Its sad, but is a matter of survival, we can not allow the US to compromise our hard fought freedom on a mere whim, and we wont"
So, I think Putin and Trump are going to get a few nasty surprises in the coming weeks.
Agree. Trump and his chums are correct that we have unfairly taken the US military for a ride for 50 years and should pay our own way; but they seem to not realise that if the rest of the western world withdraws all other good will, the U.S. is ####ed. We do do things.
If it wants to take on China, it needs a united West, and it could and should lead us. But if doesn’t want to, the U.K. can share that role with its peers.
Europe will focus on containing Russia and ironically end up closer to China by default as both the EU and China become targets of Trump's tariffs
I think that Trump and Vance just seriously damaged American leadership of the West, and certainly the European part of it. I had a few beers with a friend who is a senior Estonian politician. The commentary from the MAGA crew was, to a degree predicted. What was not predicted was the naked contempt for all of the EU members and indeed also the UK. However, the economy of the Nordic Baltic 7 is basically the same size as that of Russia and the view he put forward is that in many ways the MAGA mob have just done Europe a massive favour. "We have no choice, we have to work together", There are already significant discussions as to what now needs to be done. The coordination of the JEF states: Nordic/Baltic, the Netherlands and the UK is being discussed and it seems that Poland too will probably join quite quickly. So, with large scale defence expenditure on the way, the view is that the Nordic/Baltic region will be more than capable of seeing off any Russian attack without calling on the US. The US leverage could fall surprisingly quickly.
As for wider EU-US relations, there are already significant discussions about what to do if the US is going to stab Ukraine in the back. Again the view is that if the US is attacking the EU, then the EU no longer needs to accommodate US wishes in a variety of spheres, including tech regulation and finance. The contempt that Vance expressed is not a one way street. The EU will hit back very hard if Trump attempts to hurt global trade in ways that Brussels deems unacceptable.
So, "it begins". The EU economy is larger and more integrated into global trade than the US economy. Vance´s astonishingly ill judged speech is going to blow back to Washington in ways that the MAGA people do not even begin to expect. "Its sad, but is a matter of survival, we can not allow the US to compromise our hard fought freedom on a mere whim, and we wont"
So, I think Putin and Trump are going to get a few nasty surprises in the coming weeks.
I'm pretty sure Trump 2.0 will end in an economic firestorm. He hasn't a fucking clue about the world, trade or economics. Or indeed science and technology.
He wants to drill shale like there's no tomorrow even though the world wont need to buy his shale because the caravan has moved on.
Hopefully the storm will only be in America.
lols at the thought that the eu is more integrated into world trade its a protectionist overregulated little backwater that even now is having to backpeddle on ai regulation because everyone else is laughing at them
External trade as a percentage of GDP is significantly higher for the EU than the US. Check the figures for yourself.
But it really doesn’t mean that the EU is better situated to deal with a trade war. Or that its economy is stronger. And in any event, such a thing would benefit none of us.
But it’s also true that Trump seems to be doing his level best to fall out with most of America’s allies.
Just watched Vance's speech to the Munich security conference today.
It is well worth a listen, whatever your politics. He makes an excellent challenge to Europe. I believe strongly that we should listen to his arguments, even if he has little credibility as a messenger.
For those who haven't listened, essentially he argues that Europe's biggest threat to security is our own desire to censor certain voices and not to listen to voters who want to vote for e.g. AfD. His strongest argument is that we cannot win by pretending far right parties are not popular.
My problem with his speech, though, is the blatant hypocrisy. To have Musk at the centre of your government and to lecture others on free speech is, to put it mildly, shameless.
My other problem is that he does not make any attempt to address the other side of the argument i.e. that the reason we need to fight against misinformation is that those such as Musk are in the business of spreading it, because it is profitable.
In my view the only way that we achieve the good parts of what Vance argues for (more robust free speech) is if we ensure that the megaphones that amplify speech in our democracy (media of all sorts) are working for us not against us.
The interesting feature of the free speech argument is (whatever side of the fence we sit) our free speech is good and should be celebrated, but other people's free speech is dangerous and should be banned.
The basic problem with Vance's claptrap is that it's a massive overselling of the idea Europe "censors" certain voices based on a very American ignorance of how different norms, laws, and practices developed in Europe, and the extent to which they are in practice restrictive and not the will of the people.
The one example he cited - a British man being arrested for 'praying' outside an abortion clinic - was carried out under laws introduced by those well known Marxists Priti Patel and Suella Braverman. It exists because Brits broadly don't mind banning behaviour we don't like, are fairly solidly pro the right to abortion, our religion isn't generally evangelical, and we judge the potential distress to women worth blocking. So introduced exclusion zones because clinics were being targeted.
Proudly secular France of course has its ban on religious symbols, while Germany, for understandable reasons, has strict bans on Nazi symbolism. Each country has their own norms that broadly allow free speech and protest but place certain restrictions on it when deem the nuissance or dangers are too much.
Americans fetishise their 1st ammendment rights rhetorically, but we all know in practice it's somewhat different and are no better. There's no bigger reminder of that than the current administration trying to fire anyone who isn't a Trumpian wingnut, or Elon's banning of views he doesn't like from Twitter while claiming to be a free speech warrior. The only difference is that they are massive, hectoring, ignorant, hypocrites about it.
Despite Vance's claims the views he wants to whinge as being victimised aren't banned from the public sphere - as evidenced by the success of certain parties holding them. They might be socially unacceptable in some circles or looked down upon by liberal politicians but that's not the same thing as being unfairly restricted. Liberals have as much right to hate the far right as the far right do liberals.
What Vance is doing is rather inversion by trying to be a crybully - ironically, rather like the worst kind of 'wokeness' - saying it's so unfair you don't accept my views and reasoning as right, despite its obvious ignorance. Then I'll scream like a baby and demand as my right to 'free speech' that you have to not just allow me to say what I say, but go along with it too.
Truly a pathetic specimen, and yes, a Big Mac Eating Surrender Monkey to boot.
I think he chose a poor example but there are better ones. Take trans. I think the prevailing ‘right opinion’ is that you can change your gender, so a biological man, with xy chromosomes throughout, a prostate, a penis, a preponderance of testosterone etc can simply say ‘I am a woman’ and everyone has to say, yes, you are a woman. Don’t agree? You can end up suspended at work and accused of harassment. So yes there is a culture of there being the ‘correct’ opinion and dissent is not welcome. There are other subjects - race and immigration where people fear to say what they really think. So I think he is right to an extent, just not using the right examples.
I am seen I think as pretty far right so here is my opinion on your example
We should respect the wish that she is she, call her by her new name etc and treat her as a woman....however if the biological women in the building object to her being in the changing rooms or loos then we also have to respect those rights too. And no she absolutely doesn't get to do sports in the female category not end up in a women only space or group such as a refuge or prison or rape therapy unless the women involved are comfortable with it.
I am on the left and agree with what you say after the "....." I'm not going to call a bloke "she" just because he says I should.
See that I think rude, if she wants to be she and be called susan instead of samuel...don't see that as a problem and rude not to.
Someone sent me an email recently that finished with the legend "Pronouns: She, Her".
So I concluded my reply with "Pronouns: I, Me".
I'm really getting into the swing of this at last.
I think that Trump and Vance just seriously damaged American leadership of the West, and certainly the European part of it. I had a few beers with a friend who is a senior Estonian politician. The commentary from the MAGA crew was, to a degree predicted. What was not predicted was the naked contempt for all of the EU members and indeed also the UK. However, the economy of the Nordic Baltic 7 is basically the same size as that of Russia and the view he put forward is that in many ways the MAGA mob have just done Europe a massive favour. "We have no choice, we have to work together", There are already significant discussions as to what now needs to be done. The coordination of the JEF states: Nordic/Baltic, the Netherlands and the UK is being discussed and it seems that Poland too will probably join quite quickly. So, with large scale defence expenditure on the way, the view is that the Nordic/Baltic region will be more than capable of seeing off any Russian attack without calling on the US. The US leverage could fall surprisingly quickly.
As for wider EU-US relations, there are already significant discussions about what to do if the US is going to stab Ukraine in the back. Again the view is that if the US is attacking the EU, then the EU no longer needs to accommodate US wishes in a variety of spheres, including tech regulation and finance. The contempt that Vance expressed is not a one way street. The EU will hit back very hard if Trump attempts to hurt global trade in ways that Brussels deems unacceptable.
So, "it begins". The EU economy is larger and more integrated into global trade than the US economy. Vance´s astonishingly ill judged speech is going to blow back to Washington in ways that the MAGA people do not even begin to expect. "Its sad, but is a matter of survival, we can not allow the US to compromise our hard fought freedom on a mere whim, and we wont"
So, I think Putin and Trump are going to get a few nasty surprises in the coming weeks.
Agree. Trump and his chums are correct that we have unfairly taken the US military for a ride for 50 years and should pay our own way; but they seem to not realise that if the rest of the western world withdraws all other good will, the U.S. is ####ed. We do do things.
If it wants to take on China, it needs a united West, and it could and should lead us. But if doesn’t want to, the U.K. can share that role with its peers.
Article 5 of the NATO Treaty has only been invoked once, and that was to aid the US after 9/11.
'Dominic Cummings has called on the public to vote for Reform UK at this year’s local elections in order to remove Kemi Badenoch as leader of the Conservative Party.
Writing on his Substack yesterday, the former Boris Johnson adviser implored British voters to “do regime change” and combat the “rot of elite culture, elite values and elite education over decades”.
In the 25,000-word post, Cummings laid out his plan of action as: “shove out Kemi ASAP, take over Tories, get Trump/Elon to facilitate a merger with Reform.” Describing the Tories as “dead in every way,” he called on voters to “push what is falling”. “Vote Reform in all local elections,” he wrote, “and help start the avalanche” to remove Badenoch.'
I think that Trump and Vance just seriously damaged American leadership of the West, and certainly the European part of it. I had a few beers with a friend who is a senior Estonian politician. The commentary from the MAGA crew was, to a degree predicted. What was not predicted was the naked contempt for all of the EU members and indeed also the UK. However, the economy of the Nordic Baltic 7 is basically the same size as that of Russia and the view he put forward is that in many ways the MAGA mob have just done Europe a massive favour. "We have no choice, we have to work together", There are already significant discussions as to what now needs to be done. The coordination of the JEF states: Nordic/Baltic, the Netherlands and the UK is being discussed and it seems that Poland too will probably join quite quickly. So, with large scale defence expenditure on the way, the view is that the Nordic/Baltic region will be more than capable of seeing off any Russian attack without calling on the US. The US leverage could fall surprisingly quickly.
As for wider EU-US relations, there are already significant discussions about what to do if the US is going to stab Ukraine in the back. Again the view is that if the US is attacking the EU, then the EU no longer needs to accommodate US wishes in a variety of spheres, including tech regulation and finance. The contempt that Vance expressed is not a one way street. The EU will hit back very hard if Trump attempts to hurt global trade in ways that Brussels deems unacceptable.
So, "it begins". The EU economy is larger and more integrated into global trade than the US economy. Vance´s astonishingly ill judged speech is going to blow back to Washington in ways that the MAGA people do not even begin to expect. "Its sad, but is a matter of survival, we can not allow the US to compromise our hard fought freedom on a mere whim, and we wont"
So, I think Putin and Trump are going to get a few nasty surprises in the coming weeks.
I'm pretty sure Trump 2.0 will end in an economic firestorm. He hasn't a fucking clue about the world, trade or economics. Or indeed science and technology.
He wants to drill shale like there's no tomorrow even though the world wont need to buy his shale because the caravan has moved on.
Hopefully the storm will only be in America.
lols at the thought that the eu is more integrated into world trade its a protectionist overregulated little backwater that even now is having to backpeddle on ai regulation because everyone else is laughing at them
External trade as a percentage of GDP is significantly higher for the EU than the US. Check the figures for yourself.
But it really doesn’t mean that the EU is better situated to deal with a trade war. Or that its economy is stronger. And in any event, such a thing would benefit none of us.
But it’s also true that Trump seems to be doing his level best to fall out with most of America’s allies.
Its external trade gdp being higher currently is irrelevant....eu trade as a percentage falls year on year on the basis of world trade....its a dying wannabe empire that failed to even get to the empire stage. If it was a duck I would be considering which sauce to serve it with
'Dominic Cummings has called on the public to vote for Reform UK at this year’s local elections in order to remove Kemi Badenoch as leader of the Conservative Party.
Writing on his Substack yesterday, the former Boris Johnson adviser implored British voters to “do regime change” and combat the “rot of elite culture, elite values and elite education over decades”.
In the 25,000-word post, Cummings laid out his plan of action as: “shove out Kemi ASAP, take over Tories, get Trump/Elon to facilitate a merger with Reform.” Describing the Tories as “dead in every way,” he called on voters to “push what is falling”. “Vote Reform in all local elections,” he wrote, “and help start the avalanche” to remove Badenoch.'
I think I vaguely remember a man called “Cummings”. Wasn’t he the one with the dodgy eyes. Yesterday’s man.
It's not his dodgy eyes, it's his dodgy brain that's the problem.
We'd have forgiven him the stupid eye test if he hadn't been such a thick twat with a remarkably inflated idea of his own ability inculcated by elite culture, elite education and elite values over an IQ somewhere below the number achieved in Celsius on an unusually cold winter's day in the Antarctic.
I can't see a reason why Reform couldn't poll 34-35% in a GE. They'd probably pip Labour and with tactical voting the other way (big ifs) they could govern in coalition/C&S with the Tories.
But, Farage would need to get a credible economic offer together and a serious foreign policy to do it first.
If he's sensible, he would try to overcompensate and take a very strongly pro-Ukraine and anti-Russian stance.
Any ambiguity on his position will be attacked ruthlessly by the other three major parties if Russia is still a major concern in 4 years. And it won't be to Farage's political advantage to be perceived as such.
Reform are now in a polling position where 'being in government' is a realistic possibility. That will come with greater scrutiny over their full range of policies.
The Indian economy is about to be devastated by AI. It will kill all the outsourced workers - the programmers. Then it will kill their call centres. Then it will kill *anyone* who works on a screen from abroad. Then it will kill anyone who works from home, even domestically. Then it will kill 50% of white collar workers overall
That’s in the next 1-4 years
I just want to get my next predictions in, after my success with Ukraine
The question is what form will the opposition to this take.
That the ongoing and near-future deskilling, dumbing down, capital concentration, and labour market reduction have been given a name - and a two-letter name at that - may turn out to be a weakness.
Who with any humanity in them, who with a soul, isn't open to the call "Fuck AI to stay alive"?
Anyone campaigning against AI who isn't using AI is giving themselves a handicap, so it's a self-defeating proposition.
Asymmetric warfare.
How will the AI side crush those who in their opposition to it don't use AI? What specific weapons will they use?
CND didn't use nukes. Okay, CND lost, but the reason wasn't its omission to nuke up.
Maybe that's where they went wrong. If the ladies of Greenham Common had an independent nuclear deterrent, they wouldn't have been so easy to ignore.
I was hoping for a less flippant response from you. I am interested in your point of view if you think opposition to AI can't really happen in a way that gets anywhere.
Perplexity.ai (oh the irony!) tells me there are >1bn white collar workers in the world. Killing or even lumpenising half of them within the space of a few years would be a LOT of people.
I'm not trying to push optimism. Just saying there will be opposition in some form.
On the Greenham women, a lot could be said, but they weren't easy to ignore and many have heard of them and remember them 40 years later. CND did fail, as I said, but they were still an opposition.
See also the breaking of restrictive trade practices in newspaper printing in Britain. I think everyone including printworkers knew which way the wind was blowing, but nonetheless there was visible opposition in the form of the Wapping dispute. It would be quite fair to suggest it was heads against the wall, but my point is that opposition took place.
I think that Trump and Vance just seriously damaged American leadership of the West, and certainly the European part of it. I had a few beers with a friend who is a senior Estonian politician. The commentary from the MAGA crew was, to a degree predicted. What was not predicted was the naked contempt for all of the EU members and indeed also the UK. However, the economy of the Nordic Baltic 7 is basically the same size as that of Russia and the view he put forward is that in many ways the MAGA mob have just done Europe a massive favour. "We have no choice, we have to work together", There are already significant discussions as to what now needs to be done. The coordination of the JEF states: Nordic/Baltic, the Netherlands and the UK is being discussed and it seems that Poland too will probably join quite quickly. So, with large scale defence expenditure on the way, the view is that the Nordic/Baltic region will be more than capable of seeing off any Russian attack without calling on the US. The US leverage could fall surprisingly quickly.
As for wider EU-US relations, there are already significant discussions about what to do if the US is going to stab Ukraine in the back. Again the view is that if the US is attacking the EU, then the EU no longer needs to accommodate US wishes in a variety of spheres, including tech regulation and finance. The contempt that Vance expressed is not a one way street. The EU will hit back very hard if Trump attempts to hurt global trade in ways that Brussels deems unacceptable.
So, "it begins". The EU economy is larger and more integrated into global trade than the US economy. Vance´s astonishingly ill judged speech is going to blow back to Washington in ways that the MAGA people do not even begin to expect. "Its sad, but is a matter of survival, we can not allow the US to compromise our hard fought freedom on a mere whim, and we wont"
So, I think Putin and Trump are going to get a few nasty surprises in the coming weeks.
Indeed. Obviously it isn't remarkable as they are American. But quite amusing that they can't see that just as an EU politician going to a conference in, say Atlanta, and giving a lecture on race, would go down like a cup of cold sick.
Turning up in Munich and lecturing on the far right on democracy is liable to provoke dripping disdain from across Europe.
'Dominic Cummings has called on the public to vote for Reform UK at this year’s local elections in order to remove Kemi Badenoch as leader of the Conservative Party.
Writing on his Substack yesterday, the former Boris Johnson adviser implored British voters to “do regime change” and combat the “rot of elite culture, elite values and elite education over decades”.
In the 25,000-word post, Cummings laid out his plan of action as: “shove out Kemi ASAP, take over Tories, get Trump/Elon to facilitate a merger with Reform.” Describing the Tories as “dead in every way,” he called on voters to “push what is falling”. “Vote Reform in all local elections,” he wrote, “and help start the avalanche” to remove Badenoch.'
I think I vaguely remember a man called “Cummings”. Wasn’t he the one with the dodgy eyes. Yesterday’s man.
It's not his dodgy eyes, it's his dodgy brain that's the problem.
We'd have forgiven him the stupid eye test if he hadn't been such a thick twat with a remarkably inflated idea of his own ego inculcated by elite culture, elite education and elite values over an IQ somewhere below the number achieved in Celsius on an unusually cold winter's day in the Antarctic.
The clue is in the linked article. 25,000 words to say that? No wonder his government achieved sod all.
I think that Trump and Vance just seriously damaged American leadership of the West, and certainly the European part of it. I had a few beers with a friend who is a senior Estonian politician. The commentary from the MAGA crew was, to a degree predicted. What was not predicted was the naked contempt for all of the EU members and indeed also the UK. However, the economy of the Nordic Baltic 7 is basically the same size as that of Russia and the view he put forward is that in many ways the MAGA mob have just done Europe a massive favour. "We have no choice, we have to work together", There are already significant discussions as to what now needs to be done. The coordination of the JEF states: Nordic/Baltic, the Netherlands and the UK is being discussed and it seems that Poland too will probably join quite quickly. So, with large scale defence expenditure on the way, the view is that the Nordic/Baltic region will be more than capable of seeing off any Russian attack without calling on the US. The US leverage could fall surprisingly quickly.
As for wider EU-US relations, there are already significant discussions about what to do if the US is going to stab Ukraine in the back. Again the view is that if the US is attacking the EU, then the EU no longer needs to accommodate US wishes in a variety of spheres, including tech regulation and finance. The contempt that Vance expressed is not a one way street. The EU will hit back very hard if Trump attempts to hurt global trade in ways that Brussels deems unacceptable.
So, "it begins". The EU economy is larger and more integrated into global trade than the US economy. Vance´s astonishingly ill judged speech is going to blow back to Washington in ways that the MAGA people do not even begin to expect. "Its sad, but is a matter of survival, we can not allow the US to compromise our hard fought freedom on a mere whim, and we wont"
So, I think Putin and Trump are going to get a few nasty surprises in the coming weeks.
I'm pretty sure Trump 2.0 will end in an economic firestorm. He hasn't a fucking clue about the world, trade or economics. Or indeed science and technology.
He wants to drill shale like there's no tomorrow even though the world wont need to buy his shale because the caravan has moved on.
Hopefully the storm will only be in America.
lols at the thought that the eu is more integrated into world trade its a protectionist overregulated little backwater that even now is having to backpeddle on ai regulation because everyone else is laughing at them
That's not really true: the EU exports far more than the US.
Take exports to China: it sucks up roughly twice as many goods and services from the EU ($250bn) as the US ($143bn). Or the UK - again, many more imports from the EU than the US. It's only really Mexico and Canada that import a lot more from the US than the EU.
The Indian economy is about to be devastated by AI. It will kill all the outsourced workers - the programmers. Then it will kill their call centres. Then it will kill *anyone* who works on a screen from abroad. Then it will kill anyone who works from home, even domestically. Then it will kill 50% of white collar workers overall
That’s in the next 1-4 years
I just want to get my next predictions in, after my success with Ukraine
The question is what form will the opposition to this take.
That the ongoing and near-future deskilling, dumbing down, capital concentration, and labour market reduction have been given a name - and a two-letter name at that - may turn out to be a weakness.
Who with any humanity in them, who with a soul, isn't open to the call "Fuck AI to stay alive"?
Anyone campaigning against AI who isn't using AI is giving themselves a handicap, so it's a self-defeating proposition.
Asymmetric warfare.
How will the AI side crush those who in their opposition to it don't use AI? What specific weapons will they use?
CND didn't use nukes. Okay, CND lost, but the reason wasn't its omission to nuke up.
Maybe that's where they went wrong. If the ladies of Greenham Common had an independent nuclear deterrent, they wouldn't have been so easy to ignore.
I was hoping for a less flippant response from you. I am interested in your point of view if you think opposition to AI can't really happen in a way that gets anywhere.
Perplexity.ai (oh the irony!) tells me there are >1bn white collar workers in the world. Killing or even lumpenising half of them would be a lot of people.
I'm not try to push optimism. Just saying there will be opposition in some form.
(On the Greenham women, a lot could be said, but they weren't easy to ignore and many have heard of them and remember them 40 years later. CND did fail, as I said, but they were still an opposition.)
The flippant response was just because it reminded me of a tweet I saw recently about some green activists who had objected to someone using AI to produce a nice logo for their campaign and argued that they should have paid some artists to do it instead. If AI makes it easier to do things like that then it would be foolish not to take advantage of it.
I think that Trump and Vance just seriously damaged American leadership of the West, and certainly the European part of it. I had a few beers with a friend who is a senior Estonian politician. The commentary from the MAGA crew was, to a degree predicted. What was not predicted was the naked contempt for all of the EU members and indeed also the UK. However, the economy of the Nordic Baltic 7 is basically the same size as that of Russia and the view he put forward is that in many ways the MAGA mob have just done Europe a massive favour. "We have no choice, we have to work together", There are already significant discussions as to what now needs to be done. The coordination of the JEF states: Nordic/Baltic, the Netherlands and the UK is being discussed and it seems that Poland too will probably join quite quickly. So, with large scale defence expenditure on the way, the view is that the Nordic/Baltic region will be more than capable of seeing off any Russian attack without calling on the US. The US leverage could fall surprisingly quickly.
As for wider EU-US relations, there are already significant discussions about what to do if the US is going to stab Ukraine in the back. Again the view is that if the US is attacking the EU, then the EU no longer needs to accommodate US wishes in a variety of spheres, including tech regulation and finance. The contempt that Vance expressed is not a one way street. The EU will hit back very hard if Trump attempts to hurt global trade in ways that Brussels deems unacceptable.
So, "it begins". The EU economy is larger and more integrated into global trade than the US economy. Vance´s astonishingly ill judged speech is going to blow back to Washington in ways that the MAGA people do not even begin to expect. "Its sad, but is a matter of survival, we can not allow the US to compromise our hard fought freedom on a mere whim, and we wont"
So, I think Putin and Trump are going to get a few nasty surprises in the coming weeks.
I'm pretty sure Trump 2.0 will end in an economic firestorm. He hasn't a fucking clue about the world, trade or economics. Or indeed science and technology.
He wants to drill shale like there's no tomorrow even though the world wont need to buy his shale because the caravan has moved on.
Hopefully the storm will only be in America.
lols at the thought that the eu is more integrated into world trade its a protectionist overregulated little backwater that even now is having to backpeddle on ai regulation because everyone else is laughing at them
The EU says it's the top trading partner for 80 countries and the US for only 20.
I think that Trump and Vance just seriously damaged American leadership of the West, and certainly the European part of it. I had a few beers with a friend who is a senior Estonian politician. The commentary from the MAGA crew was, to a degree predicted. What was not predicted was the naked contempt for all of the EU members and indeed also the UK. However, the economy of the Nordic Baltic 7 is basically the same size as that of Russia and the view he put forward is that in many ways the MAGA mob have just done Europe a massive favour. "We have no choice, we have to work together", There are already significant discussions as to what now needs to be done. The coordination of the JEF states: Nordic/Baltic, the Netherlands and the UK is being discussed and it seems that Poland too will probably join quite quickly. So, with large scale defence expenditure on the way, the view is that the Nordic/Baltic region will be more than capable of seeing off any Russian attack without calling on the US. The US leverage could fall surprisingly quickly.
As for wider EU-US relations, there are already significant discussions about what to do if the US is going to stab Ukraine in the back. Again the view is that if the US is attacking the EU, then the EU no longer needs to accommodate US wishes in a variety of spheres, including tech regulation and finance. The contempt that Vance expressed is not a one way street. The EU will hit back very hard if Trump attempts to hurt global trade in ways that Brussels deems unacceptable.
So, "it begins". The EU economy is larger and more integrated into global trade than the US economy. Vance´s astonishingly ill judged speech is going to blow back to Washington in ways that the MAGA people do not even begin to expect. "Its sad, but is a matter of survival, we can not allow the US to compromise our hard fought freedom on a mere whim, and we wont"
So, I think Putin and Trump are going to get a few nasty surprises in the coming weeks.
I'm pretty sure Trump 2.0 will end in an economic firestorm. He hasn't a fucking clue about the world, trade or economics. Or indeed science and technology.
He wants to drill shale like there's no tomorrow even though the world wont need to buy his shale because the caravan has moved on.
Hopefully the storm will only be in America.
lols at the thought that the eu is more integrated into world trade its a protectionist overregulated little backwater that even now is having to backpeddle on ai regulation because everyone else is laughing at them
You can lol if you want to but the EU is a bigger exporter than the US is.
I think that Trump and Vance just seriously damaged American leadership of the West, and certainly the European part of it. I had a few beers with a friend who is a senior Estonian politician. The commentary from the MAGA crew was, to a degree predicted. What was not predicted was the naked contempt for all of the EU members and indeed also the UK. However, the economy of the Nordic Baltic 7 is basically the same size as that of Russia and the view he put forward is that in many ways the MAGA mob have just done Europe a massive favour. "We have no choice, we have to work together", There are already significant discussions as to what now needs to be done. The coordination of the JEF states: Nordic/Baltic, the Netherlands and the UK is being discussed and it seems that Poland too will probably join quite quickly. So, with large scale defence expenditure on the way, the view is that the Nordic/Baltic region will be more than capable of seeing off any Russian attack without calling on the US. The US leverage could fall surprisingly quickly.
As for wider EU-US relations, there are already significant discussions about what to do if the US is going to stab Ukraine in the back. Again the view is that if the US is attacking the EU, then the EU no longer needs to accommodate US wishes in a variety of spheres, including tech regulation and finance. The contempt that Vance expressed is not a one way street. The EU will hit back very hard if Trump attempts to hurt global trade in ways that Brussels deems unacceptable.
So, "it begins". The EU economy is larger and more integrated into global trade than the US economy. Vance´s astonishingly ill judged speech is going to blow back to Washington in ways that the MAGA people do not even begin to expect. "Its sad, but is a matter of survival, we can not allow the US to compromise our hard fought freedom on a mere whim, and we wont"
So, I think Putin and Trump are going to get a few nasty surprises in the coming weeks.
I'm pretty sure Trump 2.0 will end in an economic firestorm. He hasn't a fucking clue about the world, trade or economics. Or indeed science and technology.
He wants to drill shale like there's no tomorrow even though the world wont need to buy his shale because the caravan has moved on.
Hopefully the storm will only be in America.
lols at the thought that the eu is more integrated into world trade its a protectionist overregulated little backwater that even now is having to backpeddle on ai regulation because everyone else is laughing at them
That's not really true: the EU exports far more than the US.
Take exports to China: it sucks up roughly twice as many goods and services from the EU ($250bn) as the US ($143bn). Or the UK - again, many more imports from the EU than the US. It's only really Mexico and Canada that import a lot more from the US than the EU.
And to repeat yes it does now but its an ever declining figure, not therefore a proof of the eu empires strength
The Indian economy is about to be devastated by AI. It will kill all the outsourced workers - the programmers. Then it will kill their call centres. Then it will kill *anyone* who works on a screen from abroad. Then it will kill anyone who works from home, even domestically. Then it will kill 50% of white collar workers overall
That’s in the next 1-4 years
I just want to get my next predictions in, after my success with Ukraine
The question is what form will the opposition to this take.
That the ongoing and near-future deskilling, dumbing down, capital concentration, and labour market reduction have been given a name - and a two-letter name at that - may turn out to be a weakness.
Who with any humanity in them, who with a soul, isn't open to the call "Fuck AI to stay alive"?
Anyone campaigning against AI who isn't using AI is giving themselves a handicap, so it's a self-defeating proposition.
Asymmetric warfare.
How will the AI side crush those who in their opposition to it don't use AI? What specific weapons will they use?
CND didn't use nukes. Okay, CND lost, but the reason wasn't its omission to nuke up.
Maybe that's where they went wrong. If the ladies of Greenham Common had an independent nuclear deterrent, they wouldn't have been so easy to ignore.
I was hoping for a less flippant response from you. I am interested in your point of view if you think opposition to AI can't really happen in a way that gets anywhere.
Perplexity.ai (oh the irony!) tells me there are >1bn white collar workers in the world. Killing or even lumpenising half of them within the space of a few years would be a LOT of people.
I'm not trying to push optimism. Just saying there will be opposition in some form.
(On the Greenham women, a lot could be said, but they weren't easy to ignore and many have heard of them and remember them 40 years later. CND did fail, as I said, but they were still an opposition.)
Can everyone in this mini-thread stop confusing “AI” with “LLMs”?
'Dominic Cummings has called on the public to vote for Reform UK at this year’s local elections in order to remove Kemi Badenoch as leader of the Conservative Party.
Writing on his Substack yesterday, the former Boris Johnson adviser implored British voters to “do regime change” and combat the “rot of elite culture, elite values and elite education over decades”.
In the 25,000-word post, Cummings laid out his plan of action as: “shove out Kemi ASAP, take over Tories, get Trump/Elon to facilitate a merger with Reform.” Describing the Tories as “dead in every way,” he called on voters to “push what is falling”. “Vote Reform in all local elections,” he wrote, “and help start the avalanche” to remove Badenoch.'
I think I vaguely remember a man called “Cummings”. Wasn’t he the one with the dodgy eyes. Yesterday’s man.
It's not his dodgy eyes, it's his dodgy brain that's the problem.
We'd have forgiven him the stupid eye test if he hadn't been such a thick twat with a remarkably inflated idea of his own ego inculcated by elite culture, elite education and elite values over an IQ somewhere below the number achieved in Celsius on an unusually cold winter's day in the Antarctic.
The clue is in the linked article. 25,000 words to say that? No wonder his government achieved sod all.
"get Trump/Elon to facilitate a merger with Reform"
Jeez.
He is desperate to be called in from the cold and have a meeting with Bannon so they can wargame the end of western civilisation in order to prove they were right all along and civil servants are the devil's gonads let lose on the world.
I think it's unrealistic for the UK to think that a man as fickle as Trump is going to be nice to us consistently for four years. Plus Musk and Cummings clearly hate Starmer.
The tariffs and bullying will come, all we are doing is buying time. We need to use it to get close to our European allies.
I think that Trump and Vance just seriously damaged American leadership of the West, and certainly the European part of it. I had a few beers with a friend who is a senior Estonian politician. The commentary from the MAGA crew was, to a degree predicted. What was not predicted was the naked contempt for all of the EU members and indeed also the UK. However, the economy of the Nordic Baltic 7 is basically the same size as that of Russia and the view he put forward is that in many ways the MAGA mob have just done Europe a massive favour. "We have no choice, we have to work together", There are already significant discussions as to what now needs to be done. The coordination of the JEF states: Nordic/Baltic, the Netherlands and the UK is being discussed and it seems that Poland too will probably join quite quickly. So, with large scale defence expenditure on the way, the view is that the Nordic/Baltic region will be more than capable of seeing off any Russian attack without calling on the US. The US leverage could fall surprisingly quickly.
As for wider EU-US relations, there are already significant discussions about what to do if the US is going to stab Ukraine in the back. Again the view is that if the US is attacking the EU, then the EU no longer needs to accommodate US wishes in a variety of spheres, including tech regulation and finance. The contempt that Vance expressed is not a one way street. The EU will hit back very hard if Trump attempts to hurt global trade in ways that Brussels deems unacceptable.
So, "it begins". The EU economy is larger and more integrated into global trade than the US economy. Vance´s astonishingly ill judged speech is going to blow back to Washington in ways that the MAGA people do not even begin to expect. "Its sad, but is a matter of survival, we can not allow the US to compromise our hard fought freedom on a mere whim, and we wont"
So, I think Putin and Trump are going to get a few nasty surprises in the coming weeks.
I'm pretty sure Trump 2.0 will end in an economic firestorm. He hasn't a fucking clue about the world, trade or economics. Or indeed science and technology.
He wants to drill shale like there's no tomorrow even though the world wont need to buy his shale because the caravan has moved on.
Hopefully the storm will only be in America.
lols at the thought that the eu is more integrated into world trade its a protectionist overregulated little backwater that even now is having to backpeddle on ai regulation because everyone else is laughing at them
That's not really true: the EU exports far more than the US.
Take exports to China: it sucks up roughly twice as many goods and services from the EU ($250bn) as the US ($143bn). Or the UK - again, many more imports from the EU than the US. It's only really Mexico and Canada that import a lot more from the US than the EU.
And to repeat yes it does now but its an ever declining figure, not therefore a proof of the eu empires strength
The EU's exports grew by over 50% in the ten years to 2022.
I think that Trump and Vance just seriously damaged American leadership of the West, and certainly the European part of it. I had a few beers with a friend who is a senior Estonian politician. The commentary from the MAGA crew was, to a degree predicted. What was not predicted was the naked contempt for all of the EU members and indeed also the UK. However, the economy of the Nordic Baltic 7 is basically the same size as that of Russia and the view he put forward is that in many ways the MAGA mob have just done Europe a massive favour. "We have no choice, we have to work together", There are already significant discussions as to what now needs to be done. The coordination of the JEF states: Nordic/Baltic, the Netherlands and the UK is being discussed and it seems that Poland too will probably join quite quickly. So, with large scale defence expenditure on the way, the view is that the Nordic/Baltic region will be more than capable of seeing off any Russian attack without calling on the US. The US leverage could fall surprisingly quickly.
As for wider EU-US relations, there are already significant discussions about what to do if the US is going to stab Ukraine in the back. Again the view is that if the US is attacking the EU, then the EU no longer needs to accommodate US wishes in a variety of spheres, including tech regulation and finance. The contempt that Vance expressed is not a one way street. The EU will hit back very hard if Trump attempts to hurt global trade in ways that Brussels deems unacceptable.
So, "it begins". The EU economy is larger and more integrated into global trade than the US economy. Vance´s astonishingly ill judged speech is going to blow back to Washington in ways that the MAGA people do not even begin to expect. "Its sad, but is a matter of survival, we can not allow the US to compromise our hard fought freedom on a mere whim, and we wont"
So, I think Putin and Trump are going to get a few nasty surprises in the coming weeks.
I'm pretty sure Trump 2.0 will end in an economic firestorm. He hasn't a fucking clue about the world, trade or economics. Or indeed science and technology.
He wants to drill shale like there's no tomorrow even though the world wont need to buy his shale because the caravan has moved on.
Hopefully the storm will only be in America.
lols at the thought that the eu is more integrated into world trade its a protectionist overregulated little backwater that even now is having to backpeddle on ai regulation because everyone else is laughing at them
That's not really true: the EU exports far more than the US.
Take exports to China: it sucks up roughly twice as many goods and services from the EU ($250bn) as the US ($143bn). Or the UK - again, many more imports from the EU than the US. It's only really Mexico and Canada that import a lot more from the US than the EU.
And to repeat yes it does now but its an ever declining figure, not therefore a proof of the eu empires strength
I am sorry but, speaking as a man who voted for Brexit and remains glad he did so, calling the EU an “empire”, even in jest, is just bollocks. It was not right for us as it got more integrated because we are too big and have a different legal/regulatory tradition, but it is not malign in any way. And we should be friends.
I think that Trump and Vance just seriously damaged American leadership of the West, and certainly the European part of it. I had a few beers with a friend who is a senior Estonian politician. The commentary from the MAGA crew was, to a degree predicted. What was not predicted was the naked contempt for all of the EU members and indeed also the UK. However, the economy of the Nordic Baltic 7 is basically the same size as that of Russia and the view he put forward is that in many ways the MAGA mob have just done Europe a massive favour. "We have no choice, we have to work together", There are already significant discussions as to what now needs to be done. The coordination of the JEF states: Nordic/Baltic, the Netherlands and the UK is being discussed and it seems that Poland too will probably join quite quickly. So, with large scale defence expenditure on the way, the view is that the Nordic/Baltic region will be more than capable of seeing off any Russian attack without calling on the US. The US leverage could fall surprisingly quickly.
As for wider EU-US relations, there are already significant discussions about what to do if the US is going to stab Ukraine in the back. Again the view is that if the US is attacking the EU, then the EU no longer needs to accommodate US wishes in a variety of spheres, including tech regulation and finance. The contempt that Vance expressed is not a one way street. The EU will hit back very hard if Trump attempts to hurt global trade in ways that Brussels deems unacceptable.
So, "it begins". The EU economy is larger and more integrated into global trade than the US economy. Vance´s astonishingly ill judged speech is going to blow back to Washington in ways that the MAGA people do not even begin to expect. "Its sad, but is a matter of survival, we can not allow the US to compromise our hard fought freedom on a mere whim, and we wont"
So, I think Putin and Trump are going to get a few nasty surprises in the coming weeks.
Agree. Trump and his chums are correct that we have unfairly taken the US military for a ride for 50 years and should pay our own way; but they seem to not realise that if the rest of the western world withdraws all other good will, the U.S. is ####ed. We do do things.
If it wants to take on China, it needs a united West, and it could and should lead us. But if doesn’t want to, the U.K. can share that role with its peers.
Certainly there should be no more showings of power using our aircraft carriers* in south china sea until Trump stops attacking us.
I think that Trump and Vance just seriously damaged American leadership of the West, and certainly the European part of it. I had a few beers with a friend who is a senior Estonian politician. The commentary from the MAGA crew was, to a degree predicted. What was not predicted was the naked contempt for all of the EU members and indeed also the UK. However, the economy of the Nordic Baltic 7 is basically the same size as that of Russia and the view he put forward is that in many ways the MAGA mob have just done Europe a massive favour. "We have no choice, we have to work together", There are already significant discussions as to what now needs to be done. The coordination of the JEF states: Nordic/Baltic, the Netherlands and the UK is being discussed and it seems that Poland too will probably join quite quickly. So, with large scale defence expenditure on the way, the view is that the Nordic/Baltic region will be more than capable of seeing off any Russian attack without calling on the US. The US leverage could fall surprisingly quickly.
As for wider EU-US relations, there are already significant discussions about what to do if the US is going to stab Ukraine in the back. Again the view is that if the US is attacking the EU, then the EU no longer needs to accommodate US wishes in a variety of spheres, including tech regulation and finance. The contempt that Vance expressed is not a one way street. The EU will hit back very hard if Trump attempts to hurt global trade in ways that Brussels deems unacceptable.
So, "it begins". The EU economy is larger and more integrated into global trade than the US economy. Vance´s astonishingly ill judged speech is going to blow back to Washington in ways that the MAGA people do not even begin to expect. "Its sad, but is a matter of survival, we can not allow the US to compromise our hard fought freedom on a mere whim, and we wont"
So, I think Putin and Trump are going to get a few nasty surprises in the coming weeks.
I'm pretty sure Trump 2.0 will end in an economic firestorm. He hasn't a fucking clue about the world, trade or economics. Or indeed science and technology.
He wants to drill shale like there's no tomorrow even though the world wont need to buy his shale because the caravan has moved on.
Hopefully the storm will only be in America.
lols at the thought that the eu is more integrated into world trade its a protectionist overregulated little backwater that even now is having to backpeddle on ai regulation because everyone else is laughing at them
That's not really true: the EU exports far more than the US.
Take exports to China: it sucks up roughly twice as many goods and services from the EU ($250bn) as the US ($143bn). Or the UK - again, many more imports from the EU than the US. It's only really Mexico and Canada that import a lot more from the US than the EU.
And to repeat yes it does now but its an ever declining figure, not therefore a proof of the eu empires strength
Errr: EU export performance has been pretty strong, it's domestic demand and demographics that are their real problem.
I think that Trump and Vance just seriously damaged American leadership of the West, and certainly the European part of it. I had a few beers with a friend who is a senior Estonian politician. The commentary from the MAGA crew was, to a degree predicted. What was not predicted was the naked contempt for all of the EU members and indeed also the UK. However, the economy of the Nordic Baltic 7 is basically the same size as that of Russia and the view he put forward is that in many ways the MAGA mob have just done Europe a massive favour. "We have no choice, we have to work together", There are already significant discussions as to what now needs to be done. The coordination of the JEF states: Nordic/Baltic, the Netherlands and the UK is being discussed and it seems that Poland too will probably join quite quickly. So, with large scale defence expenditure on the way, the view is that the Nordic/Baltic region will be more than capable of seeing off any Russian attack without calling on the US. The US leverage could fall surprisingly quickly.
As for wider EU-US relations, there are already significant discussions about what to do if the US is going to stab Ukraine in the back. Again the view is that if the US is attacking the EU, then the EU no longer needs to accommodate US wishes in a variety of spheres, including tech regulation and finance. The contempt that Vance expressed is not a one way street. The EU will hit back very hard if Trump attempts to hurt global trade in ways that Brussels deems unacceptable.
So, "it begins". The EU economy is larger and more integrated into global trade than the US economy. Vance´s astonishingly ill judged speech is going to blow back to Washington in ways that the MAGA people do not even begin to expect. "Its sad, but is a matter of survival, we can not allow the US to compromise our hard fought freedom on a mere whim, and we wont"
So, I think Putin and Trump are going to get a few nasty surprises in the coming weeks.
I'm pretty sure Trump 2.0 will end in an economic firestorm. He hasn't a fucking clue about the world, trade or economics. Or indeed science and technology.
He wants to drill shale like there's no tomorrow even though the world wont need to buy his shale because the caravan has moved on.
Hopefully the storm will only be in America.
lols at the thought that the eu is more integrated into world trade its a protectionist overregulated little backwater that even now is having to backpeddle on ai regulation because everyone else is laughing at them
The EU says it's the top trading partner for 80 countries and the US for only 20.
Ah the eu says......maybe not an impartial speaker, also even if true an irrelevant stat as it depends on who the the 20 are and who the 80 are....which would you choose 80 somalia's vs 20 canadas
I think that Trump and Vance just seriously damaged American leadership of the West, and certainly the European part of it. I had a few beers with a friend who is a senior Estonian politician. The commentary from the MAGA crew was, to a degree predicted. What was not predicted was the naked contempt for all of the EU members and indeed also the UK. However, the economy of the Nordic Baltic 7 is basically the same size as that of Russia and the view he put forward is that in many ways the MAGA mob have just done Europe a massive favour. "We have no choice, we have to work together", There are already significant discussions as to what now needs to be done. The coordination of the JEF states: Nordic/Baltic, the Netherlands and the UK is being discussed and it seems that Poland too will probably join quite quickly. So, with large scale defence expenditure on the way, the view is that the Nordic/Baltic region will be more than capable of seeing off any Russian attack without calling on the US. The US leverage could fall surprisingly quickly.
As for wider EU-US relations, there are already significant discussions about what to do if the US is going to stab Ukraine in the back. Again the view is that if the US is attacking the EU, then the EU no longer needs to accommodate US wishes in a variety of spheres, including tech regulation and finance. The contempt that Vance expressed is not a one way street. The EU will hit back very hard if Trump attempts to hurt global trade in ways that Brussels deems unacceptable.
So, "it begins". The EU economy is larger and more integrated into global trade than the US economy. Vance´s astonishingly ill judged speech is going to blow back to Washington in ways that the MAGA people do not even begin to expect. "Its sad, but is a matter of survival, we can not allow the US to compromise our hard fought freedom on a mere whim, and we wont"
So, I think Putin and Trump are going to get a few nasty surprises in the coming weeks.
Agree. Trump and his chums are correct that we have unfairly taken the US military for a ride for 50 years and should pay our own way; but they seem to not realise that if the rest of the western world withdraws all other good will, the U.S. is ####ed. We do do things.
If it wants to take on China, it needs a united West, and it could and should lead us. But if doesn’t want to, the U.K. can share that role with its peers.
Certainly there should be no more showings of power using our aircraft carriers* in south china sea until Trump stops attacking us.
* when they are actually seaworthy. LOL
On the contrary, yes there should. The Aussies need our support.
I think that Trump and Vance just seriously damaged American leadership of the West, and certainly the European part of it. I had a few beers with a friend who is a senior Estonian politician. The commentary from the MAGA crew was, to a degree predicted. What was not predicted was the naked contempt for all of the EU members and indeed also the UK. However, the economy of the Nordic Baltic 7 is basically the same size as that of Russia and the view he put forward is that in many ways the MAGA mob have just done Europe a massive favour. "We have no choice, we have to work together", There are already significant discussions as to what now needs to be done. The coordination of the JEF states: Nordic/Baltic, the Netherlands and the UK is being discussed and it seems that Poland too will probably join quite quickly. So, with large scale defence expenditure on the way, the view is that the Nordic/Baltic region will be more than capable of seeing off any Russian attack without calling on the US. The US leverage could fall surprisingly quickly.
As for wider EU-US relations, there are already significant discussions about what to do if the US is going to stab Ukraine in the back. Again the view is that if the US is attacking the EU, then the EU no longer needs to accommodate US wishes in a variety of spheres, including tech regulation and finance. The contempt that Vance expressed is not a one way street. The EU will hit back very hard if Trump attempts to hurt global trade in ways that Brussels deems unacceptable.
So, "it begins". The EU economy is larger and more integrated into global trade than the US economy. Vance´s astonishingly ill judged speech is going to blow back to Washington in ways that the MAGA people do not even begin to expect. "Its sad, but is a matter of survival, we can not allow the US to compromise our hard fought freedom on a mere whim, and we wont"
So, I think Putin and Trump are going to get a few nasty surprises in the coming weeks.
I'm pretty sure Trump 2.0 will end in an economic firestorm. He hasn't a fucking clue about the world, trade or economics. Or indeed science and technology.
He wants to drill shale like there's no tomorrow even though the world wont need to buy his shale because the caravan has moved on.
Hopefully the storm will only be in America.
lols at the thought that the eu is more integrated into world trade its a protectionist overregulated little backwater that even now is having to backpeddle on ai regulation because everyone else is laughing at them
That's not really true: the EU exports far more than the US.
Take exports to China: it sucks up roughly twice as many goods and services from the EU ($250bn) as the US ($143bn). Or the UK - again, many more imports from the EU than the US. It's only really Mexico and Canada that import a lot more from the US than the EU.
And to repeat yes it does now but its an ever declining figure, not therefore a proof of the eu empires strength
Errr: EU export performance has been pretty strong, it's domestic demand and demographics that are their real problem.
It's the strength of the EU's export performance that has put it in Trump's sights.
I think it's unrealistic for the UK to think that a man as fickle as Trump is going to be nice to us consistently for four years. Plus Musk and Cummings clearly hate Starmer.
The tariffs and bullying will come, all we are doing is buying time. We need to use it to get close to our European allies.
Everyone's got that one friend we suspect is secretly bitching about us behind our backs and we know is happy to make the odd catty remark to us in public, but it's just easier to pretend to be friends than trying to cut them out of our lives.
I think that Trump and Vance just seriously damaged American leadership of the West, and certainly the European part of it. I had a few beers with a friend who is a senior Estonian politician. The commentary from the MAGA crew was, to a degree predicted. What was not predicted was the naked contempt for all of the EU members and indeed also the UK. However, the economy of the Nordic Baltic 7 is basically the same size as that of Russia and the view he put forward is that in many ways the MAGA mob have just done Europe a massive favour. "We have no choice, we have to work together", There are already significant discussions as to what now needs to be done. The coordination of the JEF states: Nordic/Baltic, the Netherlands and the UK is being discussed and it seems that Poland too will probably join quite quickly. So, with large scale defence expenditure on the way, the view is that the Nordic/Baltic region will be more than capable of seeing off any Russian attack without calling on the US. The US leverage could fall surprisingly quickly.
As for wider EU-US relations, there are already significant discussions about what to do if the US is going to stab Ukraine in the back. Again the view is that if the US is attacking the EU, then the EU no longer needs to accommodate US wishes in a variety of spheres, including tech regulation and finance. The contempt that Vance expressed is not a one way street. The EU will hit back very hard if Trump attempts to hurt global trade in ways that Brussels deems unacceptable.
So, "it begins". The EU economy is larger and more integrated into global trade than the US economy. Vance´s astonishingly ill judged speech is going to blow back to Washington in ways that the MAGA people do not even begin to expect. "Its sad, but is a matter of survival, we can not allow the US to compromise our hard fought freedom on a mere whim, and we wont"
So, I think Putin and Trump are going to get a few nasty surprises in the coming weeks.
Indeed. Obviously it isn't remarkable as they are American. But quite amusing that they can't see that just as an EU politician going to a conference in, say Atlanta, and giving a lecture on race, would go down like a cup of cold sick.
Turning up in Munich and lecturing on the far right on democracy is liable to provoke dripping disdain from across Europe.
They think they’re better than us. They are born and raised, and have been for decades, to believe that they are better than us.
'Dominic Cummings has called on the public to vote for Reform UK at this year’s local elections in order to remove Kemi Badenoch as leader of the Conservative Party.
Writing on his Substack yesterday, the former Boris Johnson adviser implored British voters to “do regime change” and combat the “rot of elite culture, elite values and elite education over decades”.
In the 25,000-word post, Cummings laid out his plan of action as: “shove out Kemi ASAP, take over Tories, get Trump/Elon to facilitate a merger with Reform.” Describing the Tories as “dead in every way,” he called on voters to “push what is falling”. “Vote Reform in all local elections,” he wrote, “and help start the avalanche” to remove Badenoch.'
His lot really do have a chuffing nerve, they ARE running the Tories! Who else is running them? It isn't Sir John Hayes, Braverman and Jenrick. And now because Kemi is proving not up to it, it's chuck her under a bus time and (as I predicted) try to get his leech hooks into Reform. Piss off you silly sod (Cummings not HYUFD).
I think that Trump and Vance just seriously damaged American leadership of the West, and certainly the European part of it. I had a few beers with a friend who is a senior Estonian politician. The commentary from the MAGA crew was, to a degree predicted. What was not predicted was the naked contempt for all of the EU members and indeed also the UK. However, the economy of the Nordic Baltic 7 is basically the same size as that of Russia and the view he put forward is that in many ways the MAGA mob have just done Europe a massive favour. "We have no choice, we have to work together", There are already significant discussions as to what now needs to be done. The coordination of the JEF states: Nordic/Baltic, the Netherlands and the UK is being discussed and it seems that Poland too will probably join quite quickly. So, with large scale defence expenditure on the way, the view is that the Nordic/Baltic region will be more than capable of seeing off any Russian attack without calling on the US. The US leverage could fall surprisingly quickly.
As for wider EU-US relations, there are already significant discussions about what to do if the US is going to stab Ukraine in the back. Again the view is that if the US is attacking the EU, then the EU no longer needs to accommodate US wishes in a variety of spheres, including tech regulation and finance. The contempt that Vance expressed is not a one way street. The EU will hit back very hard if Trump attempts to hurt global trade in ways that Brussels deems unacceptable.
So, "it begins". The EU economy is larger and more integrated into global trade than the US economy. Vance´s astonishingly ill judged speech is going to blow back to Washington in ways that the MAGA people do not even begin to expect. "Its sad, but is a matter of survival, we can not allow the US to compromise our hard fought freedom on a mere whim, and we wont"
So, I think Putin and Trump are going to get a few nasty surprises in the coming weeks.
I'm pretty sure Trump 2.0 will end in an economic firestorm. He hasn't a fucking clue about the world, trade or economics. Or indeed science and technology.
He wants to drill shale like there's no tomorrow even though the world wont need to buy his shale because the caravan has moved on.
Hopefully the storm will only be in America.
lols at the thought that the eu is more integrated into world trade its a protectionist overregulated little backwater that even now is having to backpeddle on ai regulation because everyone else is laughing at them
That's not really true: the EU exports far more than the US.
Take exports to China: it sucks up roughly twice as many goods and services from the EU ($250bn) as the US ($143bn). Or the UK - again, many more imports from the EU than the US. It's only really Mexico and Canada that import a lot more from the US than the EU.
And to repeat yes it does now but its an ever declining figure, not therefore a proof of the eu empires strength
Errr: EU export performance has been pretty strong, it's domestic demand and demographics that are their real problem.
EU gdp as a percentage of world gdp has dropped year on year and now about 15% from a lot more than 20% a decade or two back
I think that Trump and Vance just seriously damaged American leadership of the West, and certainly the European part of it. I had a few beers with a friend who is a senior Estonian politician. The commentary from the MAGA crew was, to a degree predicted. What was not predicted was the naked contempt for all of the EU members and indeed also the UK. However, the economy of the Nordic Baltic 7 is basically the same size as that of Russia and the view he put forward is that in many ways the MAGA mob have just done Europe a massive favour. "We have no choice, we have to work together", There are already significant discussions as to what now needs to be done. The coordination of the JEF states: Nordic/Baltic, the Netherlands and the UK is being discussed and it seems that Poland too will probably join quite quickly. So, with large scale defence expenditure on the way, the view is that the Nordic/Baltic region will be more than capable of seeing off any Russian attack without calling on the US. The US leverage could fall surprisingly quickly.
As for wider EU-US relations, there are already significant discussions about what to do if the US is going to stab Ukraine in the back. Again the view is that if the US is attacking the EU, then the EU no longer needs to accommodate US wishes in a variety of spheres, including tech regulation and finance. The contempt that Vance expressed is not a one way street. The EU will hit back very hard if Trump attempts to hurt global trade in ways that Brussels deems unacceptable.
So, "it begins". The EU economy is larger and more integrated into global trade than the US economy. Vance´s astonishingly ill judged speech is going to blow back to Washington in ways that the MAGA people do not even begin to expect. "Its sad, but is a matter of survival, we can not allow the US to compromise our hard fought freedom on a mere whim, and we wont"
So, I think Putin and Trump are going to get a few nasty surprises in the coming weeks.
I'm pretty sure Trump 2.0 will end in an economic firestorm. He hasn't a fucking clue about the world, trade or economics. Or indeed science and technology.
He wants to drill shale like there's no tomorrow even though the world wont need to buy his shale because the caravan has moved on.
Hopefully the storm will only be in America.
lols at the thought that the eu is more integrated into world trade its a protectionist overregulated little backwater that even now is having to backpeddle on ai regulation because everyone else is laughing at them
That's not really true: the EU exports far more than the US.
Take exports to China: it sucks up roughly twice as many goods and services from the EU ($250bn) as the US ($143bn). Or the UK - again, many more imports from the EU than the US. It's only really Mexico and Canada that import a lot more from the US than the EU.
And to repeat yes it does now but its an ever declining figure, not therefore a proof of the eu empires strength
Errr: EU export performance has been pretty strong, it's domestic demand and demographics that are their real problem.
It's the strength of the EU's export performance that has put it in Trump's sights.
The fundamental issue is that Trump wants two contradictory things: he wants the dollar to the be the world's reserve currency, and he wants American manufacturing to be reinvigorated.
And, ultimately, he needs to pick one. To be the world's reserve currency means having a strong currency and running deficits. But that isn't great for domestic manufacturers: in fact, it's a disaster.
I think that Trump and Vance just seriously damaged American leadership of the West, and certainly the European part of it. I had a few beers with a friend who is a senior Estonian politician. The commentary from the MAGA crew was, to a degree predicted. What was not predicted was the naked contempt for all of the EU members and indeed also the UK. However, the economy of the Nordic Baltic 7 is basically the same size as that of Russia and the view he put forward is that in many ways the MAGA mob have just done Europe a massive favour. "We have no choice, we have to work together", There are already significant discussions as to what now needs to be done. The coordination of the JEF states: Nordic/Baltic, the Netherlands and the UK is being discussed and it seems that Poland too will probably join quite quickly. So, with large scale defence expenditure on the way, the view is that the Nordic/Baltic region will be more than capable of seeing off any Russian attack without calling on the US. The US leverage could fall surprisingly quickly.
As for wider EU-US relations, there are already significant discussions about what to do if the US is going to stab Ukraine in the back. Again the view is that if the US is attacking the EU, then the EU no longer needs to accommodate US wishes in a variety of spheres, including tech regulation and finance. The contempt that Vance expressed is not a one way street. The EU will hit back very hard if Trump attempts to hurt global trade in ways that Brussels deems unacceptable.
So, "it begins". The EU economy is larger and more integrated into global trade than the US economy. Vance´s astonishingly ill judged speech is going to blow back to Washington in ways that the MAGA people do not even begin to expect. "Its sad, but is a matter of survival, we can not allow the US to compromise our hard fought freedom on a mere whim, and we wont"
So, I think Putin and Trump are going to get a few nasty surprises in the coming weeks.
I'm pretty sure Trump 2.0 will end in an economic firestorm. He hasn't a fucking clue about the world, trade or economics. Or indeed science and technology.
He wants to drill shale like there's no tomorrow even though the world wont need to buy his shale because the caravan has moved on.
Hopefully the storm will only be in America.
lols at the thought that the eu is more integrated into world trade its a protectionist overregulated little backwater that even now is having to backpeddle on ai regulation because everyone else is laughing at them
That's not really true: the EU exports far more than the US.
Take exports to China: it sucks up roughly twice as many goods and services from the EU ($250bn) as the US ($143bn). Or the UK - again, many more imports from the EU than the US. It's only really Mexico and Canada that import a lot more from the US than the EU.
And to repeat yes it does now but its an ever declining figure, not therefore a proof of the eu empires strength
Errr: EU export performance has been pretty strong, it's domestic demand and demographics that are their real problem.
EU gdp as a percentage of world gdp has dropped year on year and now about 15% from a lot more than 20% a decade or two back
Yes, but that wasn't the discussion point: it was about being integrated into world trade.
'Dominic Cummings has called on the public to vote for Reform UK at this year’s local elections in order to remove Kemi Badenoch as leader of the Conservative Party.
Writing on his Substack yesterday, the former Boris Johnson adviser implored British voters to “do regime change” and combat the “rot of elite culture, elite values and elite education over decades”.
In the 25,000-word post, Cummings laid out his plan of action as: “shove out Kemi ASAP, take over Tories, get Trump/Elon to facilitate a merger with Reform.” Describing the Tories as “dead in every way,” he called on voters to “push what is falling”. “Vote Reform in all local elections,” he wrote, “and help start the avalanche” to remove Badenoch.'
I think I vaguely remember a man called “Cummings”. Wasn’t he the one with the dodgy eyes. Yesterday’s man.
It's not his dodgy eyes, it's his dodgy brain that's the problem.
We'd have forgiven him the stupid eye test if he hadn't been such a thick twat with a remarkably inflated idea of his own ego inculcated by elite culture, elite education and elite values over an IQ somewhere below the number achieved in Celsius on an unusually cold winter's day in the Antarctic.
The clue is in the linked article. 25,000 words to say that? No wonder his government achieved sod all.
"get Trump/Elon to facilitate a merger with Reform"
Jeez.
He is desperate to be called in from the cold and have a meeting with Bannon so they can wargame the end of western civilisation in order to prove they were right all along and civil servants are the devil's gonads let lose on the world.
A humanities graduate with physics envy?
He was going to start the Startup Party on election night as soon as the exit poll came in, if I recall. What a genius strategist and heir to Sun Tzu he surely is.
Much of what he bangs out on his keyboard reminds me of the labels on Dr Bronner's Soap, but did you get this following bit?
"The starkest aspect is how the delusional and deceitful story of ‘mass immigration is a success, integration is working’ is dramatically collapsing in rape gangs, riots, arson, vigilantes, and spreading discussion of mass conflict — while Westminster focuses not on the problems but on keeping the coverups hidden and changing the subject from 30 years of self-sabotage." (BBM)
I think that Trump and Vance just seriously damaged American leadership of the West, and certainly the European part of it. I had a few beers with a friend who is a senior Estonian politician. The commentary from the MAGA crew was, to a degree predicted. What was not predicted was the naked contempt for all of the EU members and indeed also the UK. However, the economy of the Nordic Baltic 7 is basically the same size as that of Russia and the view he put forward is that in many ways the MAGA mob have just done Europe a massive favour. "We have no choice, we have to work together", There are already significant discussions as to what now needs to be done. The coordination of the JEF states: Nordic/Baltic, the Netherlands and the UK is being discussed and it seems that Poland too will probably join quite quickly. So, with large scale defence expenditure on the way, the view is that the Nordic/Baltic region will be more than capable of seeing off any Russian attack without calling on the US. The US leverage could fall surprisingly quickly.
As for wider EU-US relations, there are already significant discussions about what to do if the US is going to stab Ukraine in the back. Again the view is that if the US is attacking the EU, then the EU no longer needs to accommodate US wishes in a variety of spheres, including tech regulation and finance. The contempt that Vance expressed is not a one way street. The EU will hit back very hard if Trump attempts to hurt global trade in ways that Brussels deems unacceptable.
So, "it begins". The EU economy is larger and more integrated into global trade than the US economy. Vance´s astonishingly ill judged speech is going to blow back to Washington in ways that the MAGA people do not even begin to expect. "Its sad, but is a matter of survival, we can not allow the US to compromise our hard fought freedom on a mere whim, and we wont"
So, I think Putin and Trump are going to get a few nasty surprises in the coming weeks.
Agree. Trump and his chums are correct that we have unfairly taken the US military for a ride for 50 years and should pay our own way; but they seem to not realise that if the rest of the western world withdraws all other good will, the U.S. is ####ed. We do do things.
If it wants to take on China, it needs a united West, and it could and should lead us. But if doesn’t want to, the U.K. can share that role with its peers.
Certainly there should be no more showings of power using our aircraft carriers* in south china sea until Trump stops attacking us.
I think that Trump and Vance just seriously damaged American leadership of the West, and certainly the European part of it. I had a few beers with a friend who is a senior Estonian politician. The commentary from the MAGA crew was, to a degree predicted. What was not predicted was the naked contempt for all of the EU members and indeed also the UK. However, the economy of the Nordic Baltic 7 is basically the same size as that of Russia and the view he put forward is that in many ways the MAGA mob have just done Europe a massive favour. "We have no choice, we have to work together", There are already significant discussions as to what now needs to be done. The coordination of the JEF states: Nordic/Baltic, the Netherlands and the UK is being discussed and it seems that Poland too will probably join quite quickly. So, with large scale defence expenditure on the way, the view is that the Nordic/Baltic region will be more than capable of seeing off any Russian attack without calling on the US. The US leverage could fall surprisingly quickly.
As for wider EU-US relations, there are already significant discussions about what to do if the US is going to stab Ukraine in the back. Again the view is that if the US is attacking the EU, then the EU no longer needs to accommodate US wishes in a variety of spheres, including tech regulation and finance. The contempt that Vance expressed is not a one way street. The EU will hit back very hard if Trump attempts to hurt global trade in ways that Brussels deems unacceptable.
So, "it begins". The EU economy is larger and more integrated into global trade than the US economy. Vance´s astonishingly ill judged speech is going to blow back to Washington in ways that the MAGA people do not even begin to expect. "Its sad, but is a matter of survival, we can not allow the US to compromise our hard fought freedom on a mere whim, and we wont"
So, I think Putin and Trump are going to get a few nasty surprises in the coming weeks.
I'm pretty sure Trump 2.0 will end in an economic firestorm. He hasn't a fucking clue about the world, trade or economics. Or indeed science and technology.
He wants to drill shale like there's no tomorrow even though the world wont need to buy his shale because the caravan has moved on.
Hopefully the storm will only be in America.
lols at the thought that the eu is more integrated into world trade its a protectionist overregulated little backwater that even now is having to backpeddle on ai regulation because everyone else is laughing at them
The EU says it's the top trading partner for 80 countries and the US for only 20.
Ah the eu says......maybe not an impartial speaker, also even if true an irrelevant stat as it depends on who the the 20 are and who the 80 are....which would you choose 80 somalia's vs 20 canadas
Why don't you look up the relevant figures yourself? Or just keep on believing that the EU is a 'little backwater' in terms of world trade if it makes you happy.
I think that Trump and Vance just seriously damaged American leadership of the West, and certainly the European part of it. I had a few beers with a friend who is a senior Estonian politician. The commentary from the MAGA crew was, to a degree predicted. What was not predicted was the naked contempt for all of the EU members and indeed also the UK. However, the economy of the Nordic Baltic 7 is basically the same size as that of Russia and the view he put forward is that in many ways the MAGA mob have just done Europe a massive favour. "We have no choice, we have to work together", There are already significant discussions as to what now needs to be done. The coordination of the JEF states: Nordic/Baltic, the Netherlands and the UK is being discussed and it seems that Poland too will probably join quite quickly. So, with large scale defence expenditure on the way, the view is that the Nordic/Baltic region will be more than capable of seeing off any Russian attack without calling on the US. The US leverage could fall surprisingly quickly.
As for wider EU-US relations, there are already significant discussions about what to do if the US is going to stab Ukraine in the back. Again the view is that if the US is attacking the EU, then the EU no longer needs to accommodate US wishes in a variety of spheres, including tech regulation and finance. The contempt that Vance expressed is not a one way street. The EU will hit back very hard if Trump attempts to hurt global trade in ways that Brussels deems unacceptable.
So, "it begins". The EU economy is larger and more integrated into global trade than the US economy. Vance´s astonishingly ill judged speech is going to blow back to Washington in ways that the MAGA people do not even begin to expect. "Its sad, but is a matter of survival, we can not allow the US to compromise our hard fought freedom on a mere whim, and we wont"
So, I think Putin and Trump are going to get a few nasty surprises in the coming weeks.
I'm pretty sure Trump 2.0 will end in an economic firestorm. He hasn't a fucking clue about the world, trade or economics. Or indeed science and technology.
He wants to drill shale like there's no tomorrow even though the world wont need to buy his shale because the caravan has moved on.
Hopefully the storm will only be in America.
lols at the thought that the eu is more integrated into world trade its a protectionist overregulated little backwater that even now is having to backpeddle on ai regulation because everyone else is laughing at them
That's not really true: the EU exports far more than the US.
Take exports to China: it sucks up roughly twice as many goods and services from the EU ($250bn) as the US ($143bn). Or the UK - again, many more imports from the EU than the US. It's only really Mexico and Canada that import a lot more from the US than the EU.
And to repeat yes it does now but its an ever declining figure, not therefore a proof of the eu empires strength
Errr: EU export performance has been pretty strong, it's domestic demand and demographics that are their real problem.
EU gdp as a percentage of world gdp has dropped year on year and now about 15% from a lot more than 20% a decade or two back
Yes, but that wasn't the discussion point: it was about being integrated into world trade.
yes it was the point however the point is actually to my mind largely irrelevant, The majority of people in most countries in the west don't give a damn about how much trade their country does externally nor their gdp....they care if the wage in their pocket is buying more or less than it was last year...if the answer despite oooh we are doing better for more external trade and gdp is rising is they have less money sooner or later they are going to express their displeasure and its not going to be pretty.
'Dominic Cummings has called on the public to vote for Reform UK at this year’s local elections in order to remove Kemi Badenoch as leader of the Conservative Party.
Writing on his Substack yesterday, the former Boris Johnson adviser implored British voters to “do regime change” and combat the “rot of elite culture, elite values and elite education over decades”.
In the 25,000-word post, Cummings laid out his plan of action as: “shove out Kemi ASAP, take over Tories, get Trump/Elon to facilitate a merger with Reform.” Describing the Tories as “dead in every way,” he called on voters to “push what is falling”. “Vote Reform in all local elections,” he wrote, “and help start the avalanche” to remove Badenoch.'
I think I vaguely remember a man called “Cummings”. Wasn’t he the one with the dodgy eyes. Yesterday’s man.
It's not his dodgy eyes, it's his dodgy brain that's the problem.
We'd have forgiven him the stupid eye test if he hadn't been such a thick twat with a remarkably inflated idea of his own ego inculcated by elite culture, elite education and elite values over an IQ somewhere below the number achieved in Celsius on an unusually cold winter's day in the Antarctic.
The clue is in the linked article. 25,000 words to say that? No wonder his government achieved sod all.
"get Trump/Elon to facilitate a merger with Reform"
Jeez.
He is desperate to be called in from the cold and have a meeting with Bannon so they can wargame the end of western civilisation in order to prove they were right all along and civil servants are the devil's gonads let lose on the world.
In what sense do they desire the end of western civilisation?
I think that Trump and Vance just seriously damaged American leadership of the West, and certainly the European part of it. I had a few beers with a friend who is a senior Estonian politician. The commentary from the MAGA crew was, to a degree predicted. What was not predicted was the naked contempt for all of the EU members and indeed also the UK. However, the economy of the Nordic Baltic 7 is basically the same size as that of Russia and the view he put forward is that in many ways the MAGA mob have just done Europe a massive favour. "We have no choice, we have to work together", There are already significant discussions as to what now needs to be done. The coordination of the JEF states: Nordic/Baltic, the Netherlands and the UK is being discussed and it seems that Poland too will probably join quite quickly. So, with large scale defence expenditure on the way, the view is that the Nordic/Baltic region will be more than capable of seeing off any Russian attack without calling on the US. The US leverage could fall surprisingly quickly.
As for wider EU-US relations, there are already significant discussions about what to do if the US is going to stab Ukraine in the back. Again the view is that if the US is attacking the EU, then the EU no longer needs to accommodate US wishes in a variety of spheres, including tech regulation and finance. The contempt that Vance expressed is not a one way street. The EU will hit back very hard if Trump attempts to hurt global trade in ways that Brussels deems unacceptable.
So, "it begins". The EU economy is larger and more integrated into global trade than the US economy. Vance´s astonishingly ill judged speech is going to blow back to Washington in ways that the MAGA people do not even begin to expect. "Its sad, but is a matter of survival, we can not allow the US to compromise our hard fought freedom on a mere whim, and we wont"
So, I think Putin and Trump are going to get a few nasty surprises in the coming weeks.
I'm pretty sure Trump 2.0 will end in an economic firestorm. He hasn't a fucking clue about the world, trade or economics. Or indeed science and technology.
He wants to drill shale like there's no tomorrow even though the world wont need to buy his shale because the caravan has moved on.
Hopefully the storm will only be in America.
lols at the thought that the eu is more integrated into world trade its a protectionist overregulated little backwater that even now is having to backpeddle on ai regulation because everyone else is laughing at them
The EU says it's the top trading partner for 80 countries and the US for only 20.
Ah the eu says......maybe not an impartial speaker, also even if true an irrelevant stat as it depends on who the the 20 are and who the 80 are....which would you choose 80 somalia's vs 20 canadas
Why don't you look up the relevant figures yourself? Or just keep on believing that the EU is a 'little backwater' in terms of world trade if it makes you happy.
I always believe what is true.....the eu is irrelevant to the world powers of us and china....you are the annoying kid brother going look at me no one cares what is says or thinks or does
I think that Trump and Vance just seriously damaged American leadership of the West, and certainly the European part of it. I had a few beers with a friend who is a senior Estonian politician. The commentary from the MAGA crew was, to a degree predicted. What was not predicted was the naked contempt for all of the EU members and indeed also the UK. However, the economy of the Nordic Baltic 7 is basically the same size as that of Russia and the view he put forward is that in many ways the MAGA mob have just done Europe a massive favour. "We have no choice, we have to work together", There are already significant discussions as to what now needs to be done. The coordination of the JEF states: Nordic/Baltic, the Netherlands and the UK is being discussed and it seems that Poland too will probably join quite quickly. So, with large scale defence expenditure on the way, the view is that the Nordic/Baltic region will be more than capable of seeing off any Russian attack without calling on the US. The US leverage could fall surprisingly quickly.
As for wider EU-US relations, there are already significant discussions about what to do if the US is going to stab Ukraine in the back. Again the view is that if the US is attacking the EU, then the EU no longer needs to accommodate US wishes in a variety of spheres, including tech regulation and finance. The contempt that Vance expressed is not a one way street. The EU will hit back very hard if Trump attempts to hurt global trade in ways that Brussels deems unacceptable.
So, "it begins". The EU economy is larger and more integrated into global trade than the US economy. Vance´s astonishingly ill judged speech is going to blow back to Washington in ways that the MAGA people do not even begin to expect. "Its sad, but is a matter of survival, we can not allow the US to compromise our hard fought freedom on a mere whim, and we wont"
So, I think Putin and Trump are going to get a few nasty surprises in the coming weeks.
I'm pretty sure Trump 2.0 will end in an economic firestorm. He hasn't a fucking clue about the world, trade or economics. Or indeed science and technology.
He wants to drill shale like there's no tomorrow even though the world wont need to buy his shale because the caravan has moved on.
Hopefully the storm will only be in America.
lols at the thought that the eu is more integrated into world trade its a protectionist overregulated little backwater that even now is having to backpeddle on ai regulation because everyone else is laughing at them
That's not really true: the EU exports far more than the US.
Take exports to China: it sucks up roughly twice as many goods and services from the EU ($250bn) as the US ($143bn). Or the UK - again, many more imports from the EU than the US. It's only really Mexico and Canada that import a lot more from the US than the EU.
And to repeat yes it does now but its an ever declining figure, not therefore a proof of the eu empires strength
Errr: EU export performance has been pretty strong, it's domestic demand and demographics that are their real problem.
EU gdp as a percentage of world gdp has dropped year on year and now about 15% from a lot more than 20% a decade or two back
Yes, but that wasn't the discussion point: it was about being integrated into world trade.
yes it was the point however the point is actually to my mind largely irrelevant, The majority of people in most countries in the west don't give a damn about how much trade their country does externally nor their gdp....they care if the wage in their pocket is buying more or less than it was last year...if the answer despite oooh we are doing better for more external trade and gdp is rising is they have less money sooner or later they are going to express their displeasure and its not going to be pretty.
"That's your GDP, not ours" was a key vox pop moment during Brexit iirc??
I think that Trump and Vance just seriously damaged American leadership of the West, and certainly the European part of it. I had a few beers with a friend who is a senior Estonian politician. The commentary from the MAGA crew was, to a degree predicted. What was not predicted was the naked contempt for all of the EU members and indeed also the UK. However, the economy of the Nordic Baltic 7 is basically the same size as that of Russia and the view he put forward is that in many ways the MAGA mob have just done Europe a massive favour. "We have no choice, we have to work together", There are already significant discussions as to what now needs to be done. The coordination of the JEF states: Nordic/Baltic, the Netherlands and the UK is being discussed and it seems that Poland too will probably join quite quickly. So, with large scale defence expenditure on the way, the view is that the Nordic/Baltic region will be more than capable of seeing off any Russian attack without calling on the US. The US leverage could fall surprisingly quickly.
As for wider EU-US relations, there are already significant discussions about what to do if the US is going to stab Ukraine in the back. Again the view is that if the US is attacking the EU, then the EU no longer needs to accommodate US wishes in a variety of spheres, including tech regulation and finance. The contempt that Vance expressed is not a one way street. The EU will hit back very hard if Trump attempts to hurt global trade in ways that Brussels deems unacceptable.
So, "it begins". The EU economy is larger and more integrated into global trade than the US economy. Vance´s astonishingly ill judged speech is going to blow back to Washington in ways that the MAGA people do not even begin to expect. "Its sad, but is a matter of survival, we can not allow the US to compromise our hard fought freedom on a mere whim, and we wont"
So, I think Putin and Trump are going to get a few nasty surprises in the coming weeks.
I'm pretty sure Trump 2.0 will end in an economic firestorm. He hasn't a fucking clue about the world, trade or economics. Or indeed science and technology.
He wants to drill shale like there's no tomorrow even though the world wont need to buy his shale because the caravan has moved on.
Hopefully the storm will only be in America.
lols at the thought that the eu is more integrated into world trade its a protectionist overregulated little backwater that even now is having to backpeddle on ai regulation because everyone else is laughing at them
That's not really true: the EU exports far more than the US.
Take exports to China: it sucks up roughly twice as many goods and services from the EU ($250bn) as the US ($143bn). Or the UK - again, many more imports from the EU than the US. It's only really Mexico and Canada that import a lot more from the US than the EU.
And to repeat yes it does now but its an ever declining figure, not therefore a proof of the eu empires strength
Errr: EU export performance has been pretty strong, it's domestic demand and demographics that are their real problem.
EU gdp as a percentage of world gdp has dropped year on year and now about 15% from a lot more than 20% a decade or two back
The EU’s share of world imports for goods and services was in the range of 15.2% to 15.8% between 2012 and 2018. This share subsequently increased in successive years to reach 16.5% in 2020 before dropping back to 16.1% in 2021 and then increasing in 2022 to a new peak, at 16.9%. As such, in 2022 it stood 1.6 percentage points above its share in 2012.
'Dominic Cummings has called on the public to vote for Reform UK at this year’s local elections in order to remove Kemi Badenoch as leader of the Conservative Party.
Writing on his Substack yesterday, the former Boris Johnson adviser implored British voters to “do regime change” and combat the “rot of elite culture, elite values and elite education over decades”.
In the 25,000-word post, Cummings laid out his plan of action as: “shove out Kemi ASAP, take over Tories, get Trump/Elon to facilitate a merger with Reform.” Describing the Tories as “dead in every way,” he called on voters to “push what is falling”. “Vote Reform in all local elections,” he wrote, “and help start the avalanche” to remove Badenoch.'
I think I vaguely remember a man called “Cummings”. Wasn’t he the one with the dodgy eyes. Yesterday’s man.
It's not his dodgy eyes, it's his dodgy brain that's the problem.
We'd have forgiven him the stupid eye test if he hadn't been such a thick twat with a remarkably inflated idea of his own ego inculcated by elite culture, elite education and elite values over an IQ somewhere below the number achieved in Celsius on an unusually cold winter's day in the Antarctic.
The clue is in the linked article. 25,000 words to say that? No wonder his government achieved sod all.
"get Trump/Elon to facilitate a merger with Reform"
Jeez.
He is desperate to be called in from the cold and have a meeting with Bannon so they can wargame the end of western civilisation in order to prove they were right all along and civil servants are the devil's gonads let lose on the world.
A humanities graduate with physics envy?
He was going to start the Startup Party on election night as soon as the exit poll came in, if I recall. What a genius strategist and heir to Sun Tzu he surely is.
Much of what he bangs out on his keyboard reminds me of the labels on Dr Bronner's Soap, but did you get this following bit?
"The starkest aspect is how the delusional and deceitful story of ‘mass immigration is a success, integration is working’ is dramatically collapsing in rape gangs, riots, arson, vigilantes, and spreading discussion of mass conflict — while Westminster focuses not on the problems but on keeping the coverups hidden and changing the subject from 30 years of self-sabotage." (BBM)
He means race war.
The two leading theorists for Reform/popularism/counter-woke-revolution that is days away in UK seem to be Goodwin and Cummings.
Comments
A Cuban woman was given a visa to join her boyfriend in the UK despite the fact that he had died the previous year, The Times can reveal.
Ilian Velazquez arrived in the UK in March 2019 to join John Hewer on a two and a half year partner visa. It later emerged that Hewer had died in November 2018 — after she had applied for permanent settlement in the UK.
Velazquez then twice applied for indefinite leave to remain, on the basis that she was a bereaved partner. Both applications were refused, the latter in July 2022, but she has remained in the UK while appealing her case.
https://www.thetimes.com/uk/law/article/cuban-woman-uk-immigration-visa-dead-partner-r2wl5l33z
After her two applications to remain in the UK failed, Velazquez met a new partner, a man named Galan Zambo who is a dual South African and Hungarian national. She applied for leave to remain as his partner but this was refused on the basis that she was here illegally and that Zambo did not meet the required £18,600 salary threshold to sponsor a partner.
His own visa status was also uncertain after he failed to obtain EU settlement rights.
The couple then brought a claim that deporting Velazquez to Cuba would breach their article 8 rights under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which protects family life, arguing that they would be forced to separate. Zambo said he could not join her in Cuba because of his business in the UK, arguing that it would be impossible to financially support his children in Britain from the communist country.
So this Zambo is earning less than minimum wage in whatever he does, if anything.
And also has children in this country being funded by the rest of us.
But revealing that sub minimum wage workers can sponsor a dependent.
JD Vance
@JDVance
·
5h
President Trump is the ultimate deal maker and will bring peace to the region by ending the war in Ukraine. As we've always said, American troops should never be put into harm's way where it doesn’t advance American interests and security. This war is between Russia and Ukraine.
https://x.com/JDVance/status/1890425322962636870
But it isn't though is it? It's a war between the final frontier of european democracy against a neo-fascist dictatorship with ambitions to rebuild the soviet empire.
We should respect the wish that she is she, call her by her new name etc and treat her as a woman....however if the biological women in the building object to her being in the changing rooms or loos then we also have to respect those rights too. And no she absolutely doesn't get to do sports in the female category not end up in a women only space or group such as a refuge or prison or rape therapy unless the women involved are comfortable with it.
Phillipson defo gone. Her plan to end Blair's academies has gone down like a cup of cold sick in No. 10 according to New Statesman.
Ed M must be a huge question mark now that growth is paramount.
Erm?
I think that Trump and Vance just seriously damaged American leadership of the West, and certainly the European part of it. I had a few beers with a friend who is a senior Estonian politician. The commentary from the MAGA crew was, to a degree predicted. What was not predicted was the naked contempt for all of the EU members and indeed also the UK. However, the economy of the Nordic Baltic 7 is basically the same size as that of Russia and the view he put forward is that in many ways the MAGA mob have just done Europe a massive favour. "We have no choice, we have to work together", There are already significant discussions as to what now needs to be done. The coordination of the JEF states: Nordic/Baltic, the Netherlands and the UK is being discussed and it seems that Poland too will probably join quite quickly. So, with large scale defence expenditure on the way, the view is that the Nordic/Baltic region will be more than capable of seeing off any Russian attack without calling on the US. The US leverage could fall surprisingly quickly.
As for wider EU-US relations, there are already significant discussions about what to do if the US is going to stab Ukraine in the back. Again the view is that if the US is attacking the EU, then the EU no longer needs to accommodate US wishes in a variety of spheres, including tech regulation and finance. The contempt that Vance expressed is not a one way street. The EU will hit back very hard if Trump attempts to hurt global trade in ways that Brussels deems unacceptable.
So, "it begins". The EU economy is larger and more integrated into global trade than the US economy. Vance´s astonishingly ill judged speech is going to blow back to Washington in ways that the MAGA people do not even begin to expect. "Its sad, but is a matter of survival, we can not allow the US to compromise our hard fought freedom on a mere whim, and we wont"
So, I think Putin and Trump are going to get a few nasty surprises in the coming weeks.
@HSJnews
Letby trust chair resigns after damning tribunal verdict
https://x.com/HSJnews/status/1890461876443607144
And we're up against that small dicked twat Putin as well.
Even a leisurely cycle tour would find you in Cornwall in 4 days from Hampshire. Hop on the train back.
That's unfair to c***s.
Look into visits to the sunken warships (cctv on a string from your boat if you don't dive). And relics in Stromness museum.
But there is so much to see in Orkney generally.
Though you might understand why the matelots called a huge atoll in the Pacific with nothing but a little coral reef and odd islets that was used as a naval base,m with no amenities: Scapa with ****ing palm trees.
Complete and utter ignorance of German modern history.
Is Harvard law degree like an Oxford PPE?
He wants to drill shale like there's no tomorrow even though the world wont need to buy his shale because the caravan has moved on.
Hopefully the storm will only be in America.
This was a) a tiny number of people b) who were often accepted by default in many women's spaces as were so rare and the least noticeable cases and c) it was meant to stop discrimination on the basis of having that reassignment.
Generally the issue was only raised by feminists with deep philosophical objections to the idea of reassignment itself.
The politics looked like a fairly easy compromise when we were talking about around 150 people a year, low risk (i.e. not intact), and who the legislation was designed to protect from discrimination directed at the fact they were trans of and in itself, rather than, say, arguments about what constituted that. There was, it should be noted a provision for sex to override gender in certain exceptional circumstances. But obviously the narrower your definition the more rarely that might need to apply.
In the 2010s that changed, as activists greatly broadened the definition of those qualifying for those protections as 'trans' to include those who had no intention of getting reassignment surgery, and organisations advising on anti-discrimination law informed by those activists (e.g. Stonewall) followed suit.
The result was a legal mess whereby you had a legal protection designed for one thing, used to justify a raft of others it wasn't designed for, because the meaning of the word at its centre changed.
And the law has never been properly rewritten - initially with Maria Miller and then Sturgeon the plan was broaden to the wider activist definition. But which was dropped both times due to pushback over what it would mean.
Which means you have cases like the one in Scotland where an organisation has understood the law to apply a certain way, which has often bein ruled wrong at a higher level due to the difficulties posed by the implications of that interpretation.
It's been messy and dreaful for those involved, but basically you need to work through to rewrite the law to capture different circumstances and how they relate to clashing rights and definitions. Or stick with the narrower workable definition of the older one.
Whether by this means or others, all regimes try to reduce the scope for anti-regime dissent.
The number of people working in jobs or unpaid positions with countering misinformation and disinformation among their roles in a country like Britain is huge.
When he mentioned the prayer outside the abortion clinic, Vance was taking the piss - as Musk was with his Nazi salute. Next he will say people in the US are allowed to burn the US flag, so why can't people in Germany fly the Nazi one, high and proud?
MAGA don't engage in debating, whether about the US constitution or the perennial and boring topic of freedom of speech.
MAGA will use any excuse to whip up hatred among white thickos against uppety black people, Muslims, and women - and to incentivise "might is right, and if you don't like it you can just FAAACK OFFFFF, you libtard loser!" attitudes among anyone in a position of authority, however lowly.
On the other hand, if someone who is not acting in a public service capacity or receiving any public money wishes to set up a group for women plus men who say they're women, and they want to engage in sporting activities together, maybe against other similar groups, I've got no problem with that. If I knew any women who wanted to take part, though, I might say why on earth do you want to play along with such shite.
Writing on his Substack yesterday, the former Boris Johnson adviser implored British voters to “do regime change” and combat the “rot of elite culture, elite values and elite education over decades”.
In the 25,000-word post, Cummings laid out his plan of action as: “shove out Kemi ASAP, take over Tories, get Trump/Elon to facilitate a merger with Reform.” Describing the Tories as “dead in every way,” he called on voters to “push what is falling”. “Vote Reform in all local elections,” he wrote, “and help start the avalanche” to remove Badenoch.'
https://unherd.com/newsroom/dominic-cummings-vote-reform-uk-in-the-local-elections/
LOL
You’re entirely free to believe such things yourself, of course.
Yet again today playing second fiddle to Vance.
Nigel Farage went to Dulwich College, a top public school, and then became a commodities trader in the City. Richard Tice is the grandson of a rich property developer and also went to public school. If we want to combat elite culture, vote Labour (did you know Starmer was the son of a toolmaker?) or LibDem (Davey was orphaned at 15 and acted as a carer for his dying mum) or Green (Adrian Ramsay went to state school and then a former poly).
If it wants to take on China, it needs a united West, and it could and should lead us. But if doesn’t want to, the U.K. can share that role with its peers.
But it really doesn’t mean that the EU is better situated to deal with a trade war. Or that its economy is stronger.
And in any event, such a thing would benefit none of us.
But it’s also true that Trump seems to be doing his level best to fall out with most of America’s allies.
So I concluded my reply with "Pronouns: I, Me".
I'm really getting into the swing of this at last.
I might make an exception for Cummings.
We'd have forgiven him the stupid eye test if he hadn't been such a thick twat with a remarkably inflated idea of his own ability inculcated by elite culture, elite education and elite values over an IQ somewhere below the number achieved in Celsius on an unusually cold winter's day in the Antarctic.
Any ambiguity on his position will be attacked ruthlessly by the other three major parties if Russia is still a major concern in 4 years. And it won't be to Farage's political advantage to be perceived as such.
Reform are now in a polling position where 'being in government' is a realistic possibility. That will come with greater scrutiny over their full range of policies.
Perplexity.ai (oh the irony!) tells me there are >1bn white collar workers in the world. Killing or even lumpenising half of them within the space of a few years would be a LOT of people.
I'm not trying to push optimism. Just saying there will be opposition in some form.
On the Greenham women, a lot could be said, but they weren't easy to ignore and many have heard of them and remember them 40 years later. CND did fail, as I said, but they were still an opposition.
See also the breaking of restrictive trade practices in newspaper printing in Britain. I think everyone including printworkers knew which way the wind was blowing, but nonetheless there was visible opposition in the form of the Wapping dispute. It would be quite fair to suggest it was heads against the wall, but my point is that opposition took place.
What form will opposition to AI take?
Turning up in Munich and lecturing on the far right on democracy is liable to provoke dripping disdain from across Europe.
Take exports to China: it sucks up roughly twice as many goods and services from the EU ($250bn) as the US ($143bn). Or the UK - again, many more imports from the EU than the US. It's only really Mexico and Canada that import a lot more from the US than the EU.
Trump agrees ‘friendly meeting’ with Keir Starmer after making surprise call
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/14/starmer-takes-call-trump-meeting-envoy-mark-burnett-apprentice
Jeez.
He is desperate to be called in from the cold and have a meeting with Bannon so they can wargame the end of western civilisation in order to prove they were right all along and civil servants are the devil's gonads let lose on the world.
The tariffs and bullying will come, all we are doing is buying time. We need to use it to get close to our European allies.
* when they are actually seaworthy. LOL
And, ultimately, he needs to pick one. To be the world's reserve currency means having a strong currency and running deficits. But that isn't great for domestic manufacturers: in fact, it's a disaster.
He was going to start the Startup Party on election night as soon as the exit poll came in, if I recall. What a genius strategist and heir to Sun Tzu he surely is.
Much of what he bangs out on his keyboard reminds me of the labels on Dr Bronner's Soap, but did you get this following bit?
"The starkest aspect is how the delusional and deceitful story of ‘mass immigration is a success, integration is working’ is dramatically collapsing in rape gangs, riots, arson, vigilantes, and spreading discussion of mass conflict — while Westminster focuses not on the problems but on keeping the coverups hidden and changing the subject from 30 years of self-sabotage." (BBM)
He means race war.
@Leon weather - dark, dank, cold, sleet. Why leave Britain?
https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=World_trade_in_goods_and_services_-_an_overview#:~:
Of course when it included the UK its share was higher
The defence rests m'lord.
@Anna_Soubry
·
1h
Bollocks
https://x.com/Anna_Soubry/status/1890505118312775722
Top stuff.
https://gizmodo.com/google-maps-wont-let-you-leave-negative-reviews-on-the-gulf-of-america-2000563649