Anyone know whether Farage has unequivocally condemned the Capitol outrage yet? It seems to be becoming more apparent by the day that describing Trump as a fascist is not hyperbole. His friend, supporter and fellow admirer of Putin deserved the epithet just as much.
You´d hope for a bit more than a statement of the blindingly obvious. Sadly for Farage- but hilariously for the rest of us- his meal ticket from the US far-right rubber chicken lecture circuit has just gone up in smoke. As for UK politics? A discount Enoch Powell without the after-life in Northern Ireland. Within a year or two, Nigel Who?
And yet he achieved one of the greatest changes in the political landscape of the UK in the last 70 years. The idea he will be forgotten - for better or worse - is laughable.
When I said that he was one of the most successful politicians of the past 50 years the only candidates people put up to show this wasn't so were, as I recall, Nelson Mandela, Margaret Thatcher, and Barack Obama.
Of course this is to a large extent in the eye of the beholder and subject to the criteria you choose but I would suggest Angela Merkel and Tony Blair as obviously far more successful.
Many, many others would also knock Farage well down the list in my opinion (every PM has been 'more successful' imo).
Farage will be remembered for one thing only; the success of that one thing might age well, or might not.
Well again, to put him into the Merkel and Blair bucket is slightly making my point isn't it?
And whether Brexit is a success or failure doesn't change the fact that Farage brought it about.
I'm not putting him that bracket at all; rather, just listing a couple of obvious names of politicians who (along with Mandela, Thatcher, Obama, and others) are in a different universe of political success.
Nigel wanted to leave the EU and he convinced the whole country to vote for it when most of them hadn't really thought about it too much.
No Nigel no Brexit.
If you don't think that is a huge political achievement then I really do wonder.
He was the only one who seemed to realise the only thing the average punter noticed about the EU was mass immigration, and harnessed that to his existing Euroscepticism, whilst the ERG types banged on about treaties, theories, self governance, appendix ii of Chapter VI etc
If I had I been on "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" in 2002, and were asked "Is the UK in the EU" for the £1m I reckon I'd have had to phone a friend
Is there a full and definitive list of the SeanT pseudonyms?
Byronic LadyG Eadric Leon
But from memory there was one which popped up for just a few posts between Byronic and Lady G.
Can we not do this? FFS, just let people have their pseudonyms.
I often spot "old" posters coming back with different handles but what I've never spotted is someone using multiple IDs at once.
So my assumption is that (assuming same ISP address) you can close your account and come back with a new name but you CAN'T run multiple IDs concurrently. Is this right? Or can you, like, have multiple IDs if you just link to different email addresses?
Asking only from curiosity, not as prep for messing around myself. I wouldn't do that. Life's too short.
Just so long as you don't answer your own question.
- I'm a bit cold, Ben. Can you put the heating on next time you go downstairs.
Careful, some people might notice how 'we' never argue!
Is there a full and definitive list of the SeanT pseudonyms?
Byronic LadyG Eadric Leon
But from memory there was one which popped up for just a few posts between Byronic and Lady G.
Can we not do this? FFS, just let people have their pseudonyms.
I often spot "old" posters coming back with different handles but what I've never spotted is someone using multiple IDs at once.
So my assumption is that (assuming same ISP address) you can close your account and come back with a new name but you CAN'T run multiple IDs concurrently. Is this right? Or can you, like, have multiple IDs if you just link to different email addresses?
Asking only from curiosity, not as prep for messing around myself. I wouldn't do that. Life's too short.
I'm old enough to remember when the PB powers that be said that it was impossible for posters to come back with new identities without them knowing about it, and such behaviour would be STAMPED ON VERY HARD.
Really? Sounds a bit "Orwellian", that, to me, and also "slippery slope". Mike Smithson and his palpably ambitious son should remember that 1984 is a warning not an instruction manual.
Anyone know whether Farage has unequivocally condemned the Capitol outrage yet? It seems to be becoming more apparent by the day that describing Trump as a fascist is not hyperbole. His friend, supporter and fellow admirer of Putin deserved the epithet just as much.
You´d hope for a bit more than a statement of the blindingly obvious. Sadly for Farage- but hilariously for the rest of us- his meal ticket from the US far-right rubber chicken lecture circuit has just gone up in smoke. As for UK politics? A discount Enoch Powell without the after-life in Northern Ireland. Within a year or two, Nigel Who?
And yet he achieved one of the greatest changes in the political landscape of the UK in the last 70 years. The idea he will be forgotten - for better or worse - is laughable.
When I said that he was one of the most successful politicians of the past 50 years the only candidates people put up to show this wasn't so were, as I recall, Nelson Mandela, Margaret Thatcher, and Barack Obama.
Boris Johnson.
Even Steve Baker had a bigger impact in the last couple of years.
Nah Topping is absolutely right on this. Brexit simply wouldn't have happened without Farage banging away about it for years. He forced the Tories into a position where they had to finally address the issue once and for all. Boris may have got it over the line but he wouldn't have even been in the game were it not for Farage.
Yes, Boris wouldn't have even been forced to decide whether he wanted to back Leave or Remain if it weren't for Farage!
Yes he would.
Cameron agreed to the referendum because his own MPs were demanding it and be couldn't control his own party. That was the case with or without Farage.
I couldn't disagree more, I think you are bang wrong. Not worth discussing as I wont budge an inch, and I doubt you will either, but thought I'd make my position clear!
If Parler won't moderate accounts that post things like this, I don't see why AWS should be obligated to host them?
Parler's entire business model seems to have become hosting extremists and violence that aren't tolerated elsewhere, seems reasonable to me for AWS in a free market to say they want nothing to do with that.
But Twitter and Facebook do the same, almost no jihadi content is taken down on either. YouTube fought a court case to ensure they weren't responsible for taking down ISIS propaganda videos.
The law is the law, AWS is a monopoly provider and its service shouldn't be subject to the whims of an owner or management.
AWS isn't a monopoly provider as in theory you still have google, IBM, Microsoft and Digital Ocean / Linode.
In reality it is but that's for technical debt reasons which isn't something a monopoly enquiry will look into.
Between Amazon, Google and Microsoft there is an effective monopoly on web service provision for the average punter.
Read most of this (vg) Header thinking it was Cyclefree and then it turns out to be Alastair Meeks. I'm losing it. What I'm not losing, though, is my facility to coin the right term for things. The one I've long used for Donald Trump - when I'm in a detached mood - is wannabe fascist and I'm sticking with this. This is what he has been - along with all the other things he undoubtedly is - ever since that ride down the golden escalator in 2015.
Thankfully he has not managed to drop the "w" qualifier and although one should not be complacent about it it's clear he never will. He's finished in politics now. This is the upside of the simultaneously frightening and shambolic events of last week. It was a complete mess of an affair. A very tittish coup. The real deal strongmen such as Putin and Xi would have been pissing themselves watching it on TV. "Oh Don, Don, Don. You crazy boy. Why didn't you get in touch?"
Eloquently put. And absolutely correct. Trump will leave office on Wednesday week as a spent, pathetic loser. A laughing stock.
Cheers thanks. Yes, you and I are the most confident on here about this, I think, that he's over as something serious in politics. I wish I was as confident he would see the inside of a jail cell but I have a feeling he won't.
Yeah, I agree that the balance of odds is against his jailing. But I’m confident he’ll wither rapidly as a force, and just become an increasingly pathetic joke: Sarah Palin is probably the nearest (but by no means precise) analogue.
Anyone remember her?
I don't think people will forget Trump. Maybe just send him to St Helena.
Too accessible now it has an airstrip.
Pitcairn.
Though I see that the 'capital' of Tristan de Cunha, Edinburgh of the Seven Seas,'is regarded as the most remote permanent settlement on Earth, being 2,173 kilometres (1,350 mi)[2] from the nearest other human settlement, on Saint Helena', so that'd make a good choice.
Madge all the way down the rabbit hole and ending up somewhere north of Koolaidsville. Slightly puzzled why he thinks events should be viewed through a conflict resolution lens if he believes those rampaging loons were Antifa?
If Parler won't moderate accounts that post things like this, I don't see why AWS should be obligated to host them?
Parler's entire business model seems to have become hosting extremists and violence that aren't tolerated elsewhere, seems reasonable to me for AWS in a free market to say they want nothing to do with that.
+1
Right side of history, here, Philip. Always a thrill when that happens.
Read most of this (vg) Header thinking it was Cyclefree and then it turns out to be Alastair Meeks. I'm losing it. What I'm not losing, though, is my facility to coin the right term for things. The one I've long used for Donald Trump - when I'm in a detached mood - is wannabe fascist and I'm sticking with this. This is what he has been - along with all the other things he undoubtedly is - ever since that ride down the golden escalator in 2015.
Thankfully he has not managed to drop the "w" qualifier and although one should not be complacent about it it's clear he never will. He's finished in politics now. This is the upside of the simultaneously frightening and shambolic events of last week. It was a complete mess of an affair. A very tittish coup. The real deal strongmen such as Putin and Xi would have been pissing themselves watching it on TV. "Oh Don, Don, Don. You crazy boy. Why didn't you get in touch?"
Eloquently put. And absolutely correct. Trump will leave office on Wednesday week as a spent, pathetic loser. A laughing stock.
Cheers thanks. Yes, you and I are the most confident on here about this, I think, that he's over as something serious in politics. I wish I was as confident he would see the inside of a jail cell but I have a feeling he won't.
Yeah, I agree that the balance of odds is against his jailing. But I’m confident he’ll wither rapidly as a force, and just become an increasingly pathetic joke: Sarah Palin is probably the nearest (but by no means precise) analogue.
Anyone remember her?
I don't think people will forget Trump. Maybe just send him to St Helena.
Too accessible now it has an airstrip.
Pitcairn.
Though I see that the 'capital' of Tristan de Cunha, Edinburgh of the Seven Seas,'is regarded as the most remote permanent settlement on Earth, being 2,173 kilometres (1,350 mi)[2] from the nearest other human settlement, on Saint Helena', so that'd make a good choice.
If Parler won't moderate accounts that post things like this, I don't see why AWS should be obligated to host them?
Parler's entire business model seems to have become hosting extremists and violence that aren't tolerated elsewhere, seems reasonable to me for AWS in a free market to say they want nothing to do with that.
But Twitter and Facebook do the same, almost no jihadi content is taken down on either. YouTube fought a court case to ensure they weren't responsible for taking down ISIS propaganda videos.
The law is the law, AWS is a monopoly provider and its service shouldn't be subject to the whims of an owner or management.
AWS isn't a monopoly provider as in theory you still have google, IBM, Microsoft and Digital Ocean / Linode.
In reality it is but that's for technical debt reasons which isn't something a monopoly enquiry will look into.
Between Amazon, Google and Microsoft there is an effective monopoly on web service provision for the average punter.
One thing that I haven't seen much mentioned, although it seems perfectly plausible so far, is whether security agencies have been involved in pressuring these tech giants, with these sudden about-faces of policy. Even in this drastic situation, these are a fundamental shift for them. Obviously they wouldn't want any of that to be known, for fear of creating an absolute firestorm, but in a security vacuum where Pence seems to be the one in charge, it look quite plausible to me.
Madge all the way down the rabbit hole and ending up somewhere north of Koolaidsville. Slightly puzzled why he thinks events should be viewed through a conflict resolution lens if he believes those rampaging loons were Antifa?
Has Maajid Nawaz had a massive hit on the head sometime in the past 12-18 months? He used to be a very reasoned sensible individual. It isn't just the Trump stuff, same with COVID / lockdown.
If Parler won't moderate accounts that post things like this, I don't see why AWS should be obligated to host them?
Parler's entire business model seems to have become hosting extremists and violence that aren't tolerated elsewhere, seems reasonable to me for AWS in a free market to say they want nothing to do with that.
But Twitter and Facebook do the same, almost no jihadi content is taken down on either. YouTube fought a court case to ensure they weren't responsible for taking down ISIS propaganda videos.
The law is the law, AWS is a monopoly provider and its service shouldn't be subject to the whims of an owner or management.
AWS isn't a monopoly provider as in theory you still have google, IBM, Microsoft and Digital Ocean / Linode.
In reality it is but that's for technical debt reasons which isn't something a monopoly enquiry will look into.
Between Amazon, Google and Microsoft there is an effective monopoly on web service provision for the average punter.
If Parler won't moderate accounts that post things like this, I don't see why AWS should be obligated to host them?
Parler's entire business model seems to have become hosting extremists and violence that aren't tolerated elsewhere, seems reasonable to me for AWS in a free market to say they want nothing to do with that.
But Twitter and Facebook do the same, almost no jihadi content is taken down on either. YouTube fought a court case to ensure they weren't responsible for taking down ISIS propaganda videos.
The law is the law, AWS is a monopoly provider and its service shouldn't be subject to the whims of an owner or management.
AWS isn't a monopoly provider as in theory you still have google, IBM, Microsoft and Digital Ocean / Linode.
In reality it is but that's for technical debt reasons which isn't something a monopoly enquiry will look into.
Between Amazon, Google and Microsoft there is an effective monopoly on web service provision for the average punter.
If you are sensible, it is possible to build a containerised application that can work across cloud providers. In fact, I know of at least one outfit that does this on a big scale - they load balance across the big providers AND their own server farm. The reason for this, in their case is that this gives them protection against outages, and the ability to rapidly move load to optimise costs.
Anyone know whether Farage has unequivocally condemned the Capitol outrage yet? It seems to be becoming more apparent by the day that describing Trump as a fascist is not hyperbole. His friend, supporter and fellow admirer of Putin deserved the epithet just as much.
You´d hope for a bit more than a statement of the blindingly obvious. Sadly for Farage- but hilariously for the rest of us- his meal ticket from the US far-right rubber chicken lecture circuit has just gone up in smoke. As for UK politics? A discount Enoch Powell without the after-life in Northern Ireland. Within a year or two, Nigel Who?
And yet he achieved one of the greatest changes in the political landscape of the UK in the last 70 years. The idea he will be forgotten - for better or worse - is laughable.
When I said that he was one of the most successful politicians of the past 50 years the only candidates people put up to show this wasn't so were, as I recall, Nelson Mandela, Margaret Thatcher, and Barack Obama.
Boris Johnson.
Even Steve Baker had a bigger impact in the last couple of years.
Your kidding, right? Without Nigel there would have been no Brexit. I mean I enjoy discussing with people about this because it is so transparently obvious that I can do something useful, such as ring my aged aunt at the same time as posting about it.
No I am not kidding. Backbenchers were more important than Farage.
Backbenchers were the reason Major struggled with Maastricht rebellions. Backbenchers were the reason Cameron was forced to concede the referendum, before UKIP took off in the polls. Backbenchers were the reason Theresa May failed to get her deal through.
Farage was a noisy bystander jumping on the bandwagon. If it wasn't for the backbenchers then May would have got her deal through, Cameron would never have needed to offer a referendum, Major would not have seen the party torn apart over Maastricht.
This could have happened with or without Farage. It couldn't have happened without backbenchers.
No Nigel no Brexit.
What did Bill Cash achieve? Fuck all.
Wrong.
Cash achieved Brexit.
No Farage and Brexit is still very much an issue because the MPs of the Governing party made it one.
No Tory Brexiteers and Farage is just a loudmouth pub bore.
It was Tory MPs that brought about Brexit, not Farage.
Yes, and no. Tory MPs played a key role in bringing about the referendum, for sure. Although you can make a case that Farage and UKIP both challenging them and infiltrating their local parties were not insignificant contributors.
But Brexit was achieved by the narrow referendum win, and, as Cummo recognised from the outset, this victory was only achieved by locking Cash and his ilk in a basement far from public view, during the campaign.
He was such a wise man it would take a fool not to learn from him. Also very good in bed, I understand.
If the various identities do indeed emanate from one poster - I`m not alleging that they do - then I have no problem with this. It`s quite fun.
I miss Byronic`s and Lady G`s posts. Especially the latter, from whom a gleaned two or three excellent travel tips. One for the coast north east of Athens and another in the Canaries.
Yes, there used to be a prevailing view on PB that pseudonyms, noms de plume, or - as they were inelegantly known here “multiple screen names” were some sort of grave crime. It was then, as it is now, an utterly pathetic attack.
I think it was Nick Palmer Ex MP who essentially nailed it when he asked: “Who cares if one anonymous poster returns as another anonymous poster?”
Which was a very good question I think.
In any case, Leon has improved in recent days. He is rather less boring and has thankfully rolled back somewhat on the doom pornography which was in danger of defining him.
I don`t mind the doom porn (as you put it). All interesting, well-written views are welcome in my opinion. That`s why I`m a fan of @Black_Rook posts.
"It is hard to think of a comparable insurrectionary moment, when a building of great significance was seized, that involved so much milling around."
Yep. We're in the Capitol! USA! USA!
Now what?
Remember that in his speech prior, Trump said that he “will be there with you”. I think a fair few of them thought he would arrive to take charge.
IIRC when the Bastille was stormed, much of the crowd *did* mill around, wondering "what next"... probably a lot to do with the fact the place was pretty empty, rather than a lynch pin of the regime.
Anyone know whether Farage has unequivocally condemned the Capitol outrage yet? It seems to be becoming more apparent by the day that describing Trump as a fascist is not hyperbole. His friend, supporter and fellow admirer of Putin deserved the epithet just as much.
You´d hope for a bit more than a statement of the blindingly obvious. Sadly for Farage- but hilariously for the rest of us- his meal ticket from the US far-right rubber chicken lecture circuit has just gone up in smoke. As for UK politics? A discount Enoch Powell without the after-life in Northern Ireland. Within a year or two, Nigel Who?
And yet he achieved one of the greatest changes in the political landscape of the UK in the last 70 years. The idea he will be forgotten - for better or worse - is laughable.
When I said that he was one of the most successful politicians of the past 50 years the only candidates people put up to show this wasn't so were, as I recall, Nelson Mandela, Margaret Thatcher, and Barack Obama.
Boris Johnson.
Even Steve Baker had a bigger impact in the last couple of years.
Nah Topping is absolutely right on this. Brexit simply wouldn't have happened without Farage banging away about it for years. He forced the Tories into a position where they had to finally address the issue once and for all. Boris may have got it over the line but he wouldn't have even been in the game were it not for Farage.
The LibDems & Tony Blair are to blame for Brexit.
A key mistake was surely the European Parliamentary Elections Act in 1999. Tony Blair's legislation changed the European elections from FPTP to PR (no doubt, the LibDems were cheering).
It was this that gave Nigel Farage has chance -- he was finally elected as an MEP in 1999. And he was able to grow UKIP as a political force with the oxygen of PR.
There is an arguable case that it was the LibDems endlessly blathering on about PR that caused Brexit
(FWIW, I favour PR, but it doesn't usually have the effect that the LibDems want -- see also the Senedd.)
Madge all the way down the rabbit hole and ending up somewhere north of Koolaidsville. Slightly puzzled why he thinks events should be viewed through a conflict resolution lens if he believes those rampaging loons were Antifa?
Has Maajid Nawaz had a massive hit on the head sometime in the past 12-18 months? He used to be a very reasoned sensible individual. It isn't just the Trump stuff, same with COVID / lockdown.
High on his own supply of social media attention I think. I don't happen to agree that too many tweets invariably make a twat, but it's certainly dangerous territory if one has twattish tendencies.
I don't think Trump is a fascist. I don't think he has any attachment to any political philosophy. I don't think he has any sense of patriotism, let alone nationalism. He is entirely and totally in it for himself. There is nothing else. Because of that he will associate with anyone and anything that he believes will further his own interests. He took the election defeat as a personal humiliation (as it was) and because of that has sought to do whatever possible to overturn it, up to and including insurrection. Last Wednesday was a coup, but it was not one designed to promote an ideology or secure the interests of a class. It was all about Trump not being able to handle being a loser. That's why he authorised it. Though it was probably not why others took part.
Does one need an ideology to be classed as a fascist? I don’t think so.
Fascism is an ideology, isn't it?
Wikipedia says it’s a far right ideology - but I tend to think it’s more about dictatorships and oppression.
I find it hard to accept a definition for fascism that covers Pol Pot or Mao.
How would you classify them?
Totalitarians.
The Big 5 criteria for fascism -
Viewing a country as your personal property and yourself as its embodiment. Contempt for democracy and judicial independence. Opponents = Enemies. Fetishization of the Nation and its superiority over others - who are to be "beaten". Elevation of the true blood "real" people over minorities and incomers. Leather.
I now have a horrible mental image of Trump in leathers. Thanks a bunch.
From Alastair's initial paragraph I thought he was going to inveigh against dog walkers. They appear to be increasing exponentially. All too often I seem to be the only dog-free person in the park and therefore an object of deep suspicion. "Where's your little bag of poo?" their accusing eyes seem to say, "Where's your mangey tennis ball, and that stupid stick thing to launch it with? Where's your 20m leash for snaring passers-by? It's alright, he won't hurt you, he just wants to be friendly."
I think some people think it's downright weird to be just out for a walk by yourself, unless you have a dog.
If Parler won't moderate accounts that post things like this, I don't see why AWS should be obligated to host them?
Parler's entire business model seems to have become hosting extremists and violence that aren't tolerated elsewhere, seems reasonable to me for AWS in a free market to say they want nothing to do with that.
But Twitter and Facebook do the same, almost no jihadi content is taken down on either. YouTube fought a court case to ensure they weren't responsible for taking down ISIS propaganda videos.
The law is the law, AWS is a monopoly provider and its service shouldn't be subject to the whims of an owner or management.
AWS isn't a monopoly provider as in theory you still have google, IBM, Microsoft and Digital Ocean / Linode.
In reality it is but that's for technical debt reasons which isn't something a monopoly enquiry will look into.
Between Amazon, Google and Microsoft there is an effective monopoly on web service provision for the average punter.
If you are sensible, it is possible to build a containerised application that can work across cloud providers. In fact, I know of at least one outfit that does this on a big scale - they load balance across the big providers AND their own server farm. The reason for this, in their case is that this gives them protection against outages, and the ability to rapidly move load to optimise costs.
For sure, but when all three have seemingly coordinated policies on what should be allowed service provision it becomes an issue.
The right-wing bury-bad-news handbook 1. It was BLM, Antifa, Muslims, and leftists [0-2 hours] 2. It's too early to tell what really happened [2-24 hours] 3. It wasn't BLM, Antifa, Muslims, or leftists but they caused others to do it [1-3 days] 4. We should take the time to find out what really happened [3-21 days] (YOU ARE HERE) 5. What, you're still on about that? That was ages ago! [3 weeks-eternity]
Brilliant.
On the pseudonyms things, I don't really care who posts as what, since with a few exceptions I've never heard of anyone on PB outside PB (nor do I expect anyone much outside PB to have heard of me). They can call themselves something different every week if they like, though I don't see the point. XXX is really YYY? Oh well.
My impression with seanT was that as he actually is a well-known author he decided to go anonymous so he can post outrageous stuff without a public backlash, which seems pretty sensible.
Former Labour lawmaker argues that people who wish to post “outrageous stuff” on the internet should create an account so that they can hide behind their anonymity? It’s a view, I suppose.
"Hegel remarks somewhere that all great world-historic facts and personages appear, so to speak, twice. He forgot to add: the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce." The Bierkeller theory is that we are getting it the other way round this time, and the tragedy is still to come. I think this is pessimistic because the people keeping and bearing arms is neither here nor there against the might of the modern state. A coup traditionally requires the allegiance of the military (or some of it) and seizing the state broadcaster. In modern terms Trump has been thrown off twitter and 10 out of 10 Defence secretaries are prepared to go into print during his presidency to say that he's an arse. I am predisposed to catastrophising when the situation requires it but in this instance I think Trump is a busted flush.
No coup or revolution can hope for success without the backing of at least a substantial proportion of the armed forces.
What's remarkable about Trump is how little sympathy he commands from the US military.
A very well written and argued article by Alastair, as is usual with his pieces. Unfortunately, it comes from the same mindset that dominates much of the discussion on here which is to ask, when deciding to condemn something or not, "who is doing it?" rather than "is the act wrong?".
First of all, Trump is not a wannabee dictator who dreams of gleaming jackboots marching down Pennsylvania Avenue. His mindset is of a CEO: he's conditioned to giving orders and having them obeyed. It's why business leaders make bad political leaders because they are unaccustomed to the checks and balances of political systems and why he gets mad at SC judges or political appointees not following his whims. But the idea he wants a fascist regime out of the pages of Gilead is fantasy doom-porn thinking on the part of the Democrats who need something to keep their coalition together. It wasn't sinister Government forces that led to a light Police presence at last week's demo, it was the Capitol Police assumed they would not be trouble, which (conversely) is why the National Guard were deployed for BLM rallies, which had a habit of ending in disturbances.
As for impeaching him or not, the reason for saying it would cause division is not the prosecution itself: if he has committed impeachable offences, he should be tried. It is because everyone knows it would be selective and based on targeting the individual involved rather than the act itself is worthy of impeachable. The same people on here who argue most vehemently that Trump is guilty of treason are the same ones who tie themselves in knots arguing why Democrat politicians encouraging BLM protests even given the violence. You want Trump charged with incitement? Sure go ahead. But I think Kamala Harris who said BLM protests should continue to the election, also was recklessly inciting violence, even though she covered her ass with the mealy mouthed "violence is never right". She is a political and ex-AG. She knew how her words about the protests would be interpreted.
And for all those lawyers on here who are so exercised about the constitutional damage Trump has caused, where's your outrage over Nancy Pelosi - who has absolutely no role in this under the US Constitution - calling the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to discuss the nuclear chain of command? Everyone knows it was a stunt but it's a dangerous one. But who of the many on here who get so exercised about little action Trump does criticised something that potentially has very far-reaching consequences?
Read "Why Nations Fail". One of the key points in there for a nation's success or not is that everyone feels as though the rules and laws are fair and applied to all. If there is going to be anything that destroys trust democracy, it is going to be this selective picking of what is right or wrong.
That's a very long way of saying that the law should be applied equally to all.
Sorry, I don't mean to sound snarky. But that's what you are saying in essence. And you're right. The laws on incitement and violence etc should be applied equally to all. As should all other laws eg on the right to vote.
Part of the difficulty the US has is that this has not been happening. Blacks feel that their right to vote is being slowly salami-sliced away by the various voter suppression techniques being used. Or that their right to walk the streets freely without being constantly picked and questioned by the police is less than it should be. Other groups will have their own complaints.
And what makes this particularly toxic is that in some cases one group which feels ignored feels that it needs to do down another group to feel better about itself. This racist legacy was deliberately stoked by Trump.
If Trump broke laws he should be prosecuted. I understand all the arguments for "healing" but that seems like a pretext for avoiding accountability for one's actions. To have genuine healing there needs to be justice first.
The argument that Trump should carry on his acts of sedition post Presidency in the name of "healing" is utterly ridiculous.
I am not a big fan of Mark Drakeford, were I to stand outside the Sennedd and incite a bunch of people even less enthused by Drakeford than I am, and they were armed with cable ties, ropes and assorted weaponry to enter the building, it would not look good. If they then entered the chamber with malice aforethought and damaged property, but were thwarted from taking matters further I would be looking at a growing charge sheet. If, sadly in securing the Senedd a South Wales Police Officer and three protestors were killed I would be in Butetown Police Station awaiting my Magistrates appearance prior to being remanded for Crown Court later.
I think a coup to overthrow Drakeford could be manned just from PB. I see BigG in the Trump role there, though, not you. Hope no offence taken.
Anyone know whether Farage has unequivocally condemned the Capitol outrage yet? It seems to be becoming more apparent by the day that describing Trump as a fascist is not hyperbole. His friend, supporter and fellow admirer of Putin deserved the epithet just as much.
You´d hope for a bit more than a statement of the blindingly obvious. Sadly for Farage- but hilariously for the rest of us- his meal ticket from the US far-right rubber chicken lecture circuit has just gone up in smoke. As for UK politics? A discount Enoch Powell without the after-life in Northern Ireland. Within a year or two, Nigel Who?
And yet he achieved one of the greatest changes in the political landscape of the UK in the last 70 years. The idea he will be forgotten - for better or worse - is laughable.
When I said that he was one of the most successful politicians of the past 50 years the only candidates people put up to show this wasn't so were, as I recall, Nelson Mandela, Margaret Thatcher, and Barack Obama.
Boris Johnson.
Even Steve Baker had a bigger impact in the last couple of years.
Nah Topping is absolutely right on this. Brexit simply wouldn't have happened without Farage banging away about it for years. He forced the Tories into a position where they had to finally address the issue once and for all. Boris may have got it over the line but he wouldn't have even been in the game were it not for Farage.
The LibDems & Tony Blair are to blame for Brexit.
A key mistake was surely the European Parliamentary Elections Act in 1999. Tony Blair's legislation changed the European elections from FPTP to PR (no doubt, the LibDems were cheering).
It was this that gave Nigel Farage has chance -- he was finally elected as an MEP in 1999. And he was able to grow UKIP as a political force with the oxygen of PR.
There is an arguable case that it was the LibDems endlessly blathering on about PR that caused Brexit
(FWIW, I favour PR, but it doesn't usually have the effect that the LibDems want -- see also the Senedd.)
The form of PR used in Wales (and Scotland) is a bit of a mongrel that perpetuates some of the negative aspects of FPTP.
Read most of this (vg) Header thinking it was Cyclefree and then it turns out to be Alastair Meeks. I'm losing it. What I'm not losing, though, is my facility to coin the right term for things. The one I've long used for Donald Trump - when I'm in a detached mood - is wannabe fascist and I'm sticking with this. This is what he has been - along with all the other things he undoubtedly is - ever since that ride down the golden escalator in 2015.
Thankfully he has not managed to drop the "w" qualifier and although one should not be complacent about it it's clear he never will. He's finished in politics now. This is the upside of the simultaneously frightening and shambolic events of last week. It was a complete mess of an affair. A very tittish coup. The real deal strongmen such as Putin and Xi would have been pissing themselves watching it on TV. "Oh Don, Don, Don. You crazy boy. Why didn't you get in touch?"
Eloquently put. And absolutely correct. Trump will leave office on Wednesday week as a spent, pathetic loser. A laughing stock.
Cheers thanks. Yes, you and I are the most confident on here about this, I think, that he's over as something serious in politics. I wish I was as confident he would see the inside of a jail cell but I have a feeling he won't.
Yeah, I agree that the balance of odds is against his jailing. But I’m confident he’ll wither rapidly as a force, and just become an increasingly pathetic joke: Sarah Palin is probably the nearest (but by no means precise) analogue.
Anyone remember her?
I don't think people will forget Trump. Maybe just send him to St Helena.
Too accessible now it has an airstrip.
Pitcairn.
If he comes to Prestwick, Nicola can exile him to Rockall.
A rock covered in seagull shit is just right for his new home.
We've got a few. There are still remains of the buildings used to imprison Covenanters on Bass Rock, Trump's Free Church Lewis ancestors may even approve of him joining the dissenting martyrs!
Hmm, as per James Robertson novel. But what has Lothian done to deserve Mr T? BTW gannet shite more than larid faeces. Been there, many years ago (before there was a fire and the gannets moved in to cover where the grassy top had been and those i/c discouraged visits). Must be very frustrating for a Leodheasach like you, seeing it and not being allowed to eat them.
I particularly like the 18 new steps required for exporting fish to the EU and the 8 steps the imports then have to follow. Unsurprisingly the importers are deciding that other sources that don't require 8 additional steps are easier to buy from.
A very well written and argued article by Alastair, as is usual with his pieces. Unfortunately, it comes from the same mindset that dominates much of the discussion on here which is to ask, when deciding to condemn something or not, "who is doing it?" rather than "is the act wrong?".
First of all, Trump is not a wannabee dictator who dreams of gleaming jackboots marching down Pennsylvania Avenue. His mindset is of a CEO: he's conditioned to giving orders and having them obeyed. It's why business leaders make bad political leaders because they are unaccustomed to the checks and balances of political systems and why he gets mad at SC judges or political appointees not following his whims. But the idea he wants a fascist regime out of the pages of Gilead is fantasy doom-porn thinking on the part of the Democrats who need something to keep their coalition together. It wasn't sinister Government forces that led to a light Police presence at last week's demo, it was the Capitol Police assumed they would not be trouble, which (conversely) is why the National Guard were deployed for BLM rallies, which had a habit of ending in disturbances.
As for impeaching him or not, the reason for saying it would cause division is not the prosecution itself: if he has committed impeachable offences, he should be tried. It is because everyone knows it would be selective and based on targeting the individual involved rather than the act itself is worthy of impeachable. The same people on here who argue most vehemently that Trump is guilty of treason are the same ones who tie themselves in knots arguing why Democrat politicians encouraging BLM protests even given the violence. You want Trump charged with incitement? Sure go ahead. But I think Kamala Harris who said BLM protests should continue to the election, also was recklessly inciting violence, even though she covered her ass with the mealy mouthed "violence is never right". She is a political and ex-AG. She knew how her words about the protests would be interpreted.
And for all those lawyers on here who are so exercised about the constitutional damage Trump has caused, where's your outrage over Nancy Pelosi - who has absolutely no role in this under the US Constitution - calling the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to discuss the nuclear chain of command? Everyone knows it was a stunt but it's a dangerous one. But who of the many on here who get so exercised about little action Trump does criticised something that potentially has very far-reaching consequences?
Read "Why Nations Fail". One of the key points in there for a nation's success or not is that everyone feels as though the rules and laws are fair and applied to all. If there is going to be anything that destroys trust democracy, it is going to be this selective picking of what is right or wrong.
That's a very long way of saying that the law should be applied equally to all.
Sorry, I don't mean to sound snarky. But that's what you are saying in essence. And you're right. The laws on incitement and violence etc should be applied equally to all. As should all other laws eg on the right to vote.
Part of the difficulty the US has is that this has not been happening. Blacks feel that their right to vote is being slowly salami-sliced away by the various voter suppression techniques being used. Or that their right to walk the streets freely without being constantly picked and questioned by the police is less than it should be. Other groups will have their own complaints.
And what makes this particularly toxic is that in some cases one group which feels ignored feels that it needs to do down another group to feel better about itself. This racist legacy was deliberately stoked by Trump.
If Trump broke laws he should be prosecuted. I understand all the arguments for "healing" but that seems like a pretext for avoiding accountability for one's actions. To have genuine healing there needs to be justice first.
The argument that Trump should carry on his acts of sedition post Presidency in the name of "healing" is utterly ridiculous.
I am not a big fan of Mark Drakeford, were I to stand outside the Sennedd and incite a bunch of people even less enthused by Drakeford than I am, and they were armed with cable ties, ropes and assorted weaponry to enter the building, it would not look good. If they then entered the chamber with malice aforethought and damaged property, but were thwarted from taking matters further I would be looking at a growing charge sheet. If, sadly in securing the Senedd a South Wales Police Officer and three protestors were killed I would be in Butetown Police Station awaiting my Magistrates appearance prior to being remanded for Crown Court later.
I think a coup to overthrow Drakeford could be manned just from PB. I see BigG in the Trump role there, though, not you. Hope no offence taken.
I suspect Big_G would be the one justifiably taking offence at that suggestion.
Anyone know whether Farage has unequivocally condemned the Capitol outrage yet? It seems to be becoming more apparent by the day that describing Trump as a fascist is not hyperbole. His friend, supporter and fellow admirer of Putin deserved the epithet just as much.
You´d hope for a bit more than a statement of the blindingly obvious. Sadly for Farage- but hilariously for the rest of us- his meal ticket from the US far-right rubber chicken lecture circuit has just gone up in smoke. As for UK politics? A discount Enoch Powell without the after-life in Northern Ireland. Within a year or two, Nigel Who?
And yet he achieved one of the greatest changes in the political landscape of the UK in the last 70 years. The idea he will be forgotten - for better or worse - is laughable.
When I said that he was one of the most successful politicians of the past 50 years the only candidates people put up to show this wasn't so were, as I recall, Nelson Mandela, Margaret Thatcher, and Barack Obama.
Boris Johnson.
Even Steve Baker had a bigger impact in the last couple of years.
Nah Topping is absolutely right on this. Brexit simply wouldn't have happened without Farage banging away about it for years. He forced the Tories into a position where they had to finally address the issue once and for all. Boris may have got it over the line but he wouldn't have even been in the game were it not for Farage.
The LibDems & Tony Blair are to blame for Brexit.
A key mistake was surely the European Parliamentary Elections Act in 1999. Tony Blair's legislation changed the European elections from FPTP to PR (no doubt, the LibDems were cheering).
It was this that gave Nigel Farage has chance -- he was finally elected as an MEP in 1999. And he was able to grow UKIP as a political force with the oxygen of PR.
There is an arguable case that it was the LibDems endlessly blathering on about PR that caused Brexit
(FWIW, I favour PR, but it doesn't usually have the effect that the LibDems want -- see also the Senedd.)
The form of PR used in Wales (and Scotland) is a bit of a mongrel that perpetuates some of the negative aspects of FPTP.
NZ PR works better.
Also the Scottish version is gerrymandered to be - ironically - a sort of inverse of FPTP, ie nobody is supposed to win a majority at all, nevver mind how many vote for them. Doesn't always wqork, but that was definitely Labour's intention in the first place.
Anyone know whether Farage has unequivocally condemned the Capitol outrage yet? It seems to be becoming more apparent by the day that describing Trump as a fascist is not hyperbole. His friend, supporter and fellow admirer of Putin deserved the epithet just as much.
You´d hope for a bit more than a statement of the blindingly obvious. Sadly for Farage- but hilariously for the rest of us- his meal ticket from the US far-right rubber chicken lecture circuit has just gone up in smoke. As for UK politics? A discount Enoch Powell without the after-life in Northern Ireland. Within a year or two, Nigel Who?
And yet he achieved one of the greatest changes in the political landscape of the UK in the last 70 years. The idea he will be forgotten - for better or worse - is laughable.
When I said that he was one of the most successful politicians of the past 50 years the only candidates people put up to show this wasn't so were, as I recall, Nelson Mandela, Margaret Thatcher, and Barack Obama.
Boris Johnson.
Even Steve Baker had a bigger impact in the last couple of years.
Nah Topping is absolutely right on this. Brexit simply wouldn't have happened without Farage banging away about it for years. He forced the Tories into a position where they had to finally address the issue once and for all. Boris may have got it over the line but he wouldn't have even been in the game were it not for Farage.
The LibDems & Tony Blair are to blame for Brexit.
A key mistake was surely the European Parliamentary Elections Act in 1999. Tony Blair's legislation changed the European elections from FPTP to PR (no doubt, the LibDems were cheering).
It was this that gave Nigel Farage has chance -- he was finally elected as an MEP in 1999. And he was able to grow UKIP as a political force with the oxygen of PR.
There is an arguable case that it was the LibDems endlessly blathering on about PR that caused Brexit
(FWIW, I favour PR, but it doesn't usually have the effect that the LibDems want -- see also the Senedd.)
The form of PR used in Wales (and Scotland) is a bit of a mongrel that perpetuates some of the negative aspects of FPTP.
NZ PR works better.
I would not advocate the form of PR used in Wales to any other country. It has done huge damage to Wales.
It was clearly designed by New Labour for one aim only -- and (unlike in Scotland), it has so far succeeded.
Anyone know whether Farage has unequivocally condemned the Capitol outrage yet? It seems to be becoming more apparent by the day that describing Trump as a fascist is not hyperbole. His friend, supporter and fellow admirer of Putin deserved the epithet just as much.
You´d hope for a bit more than a statement of the blindingly obvious. Sadly for Farage- but hilariously for the rest of us- his meal ticket from the US far-right rubber chicken lecture circuit has just gone up in smoke. As for UK politics? A discount Enoch Powell without the after-life in Northern Ireland. Within a year or two, Nigel Who?
And yet he achieved one of the greatest changes in the political landscape of the UK in the last 70 years. The idea he will be forgotten - for better or worse - is laughable.
When I said that he was one of the most successful politicians of the past 50 years the only candidates people put up to show this wasn't so were, as I recall, Nelson Mandela, Margaret Thatcher, and Barack Obama.
Boris Johnson.
Even Steve Baker had a bigger impact in the last couple of years.
Your kidding, right? Without Nigel there would have been no Brexit. I mean I enjoy discussing with people about this because it is so transparently obvious that I can do something useful, such as ring my aged aunt at the same time as posting about it.
No I am not kidding. Backbenchers were more important than Farage.
Backbenchers were the reason Major struggled with Maastricht rebellions. Backbenchers were the reason Cameron was forced to concede the referendum, before UKIP took off in the polls. Backbenchers were the reason Theresa May failed to get her deal through.
Farage was a noisy bystander jumping on the bandwagon. If it wasn't for the backbenchers then May would have got her deal through, Cameron would never have needed to offer a referendum, Major would not have seen the party torn apart over Maastricht.
This could have happened with or without Farage. It couldn't have happened without backbenchers.
No Nigel no Brexit.
What did Bill Cash achieve? Fuck all.
Wrong.
Cash achieved Brexit.
No Farage and Brexit is still very much an issue because the MPs of the Governing party made it one.
No Tory Brexiteers and Farage is just a loudmouth pub bore.
It was Tory MPs that brought about Brexit, not Farage.
Yes, and no. Tory MPs played a key role in bringing about the referendum, for sure. Although you can make a case that Farage and UKIP both challenging them and infiltrating their local parties were not insignificant contributors.
But Brexit was achieved by the narrow referendum win, and, as Cummo recognised from the outset, this victory was only achieved by locking Cash and his ilk in a basement far from public view, during the campaign.
And Farage and his ilk were locked away too.
There's a reason that Boris was the front man of the campaign and Farage led the Leave.EU sideshow.
I particularly like the 18 new steps required for exporting fish to the EU and the 8 steps the imports then have to follow. Unsurprisingly the importers are deciding that other sources that don't require 8 additional steps are easier to buy from.
At least the unemployed fishermen will have more free time to enjoy their sovereignty.
He was such a wise man it would take a fool not to learn from him. Also very good in bed, I understand.
If the various identities do indeed emanate from one poster - I`m not alleging that they do - then I have no problem with this. It`s quite fun.
I miss Byronic`s and Lady G`s posts. Especially the latter, from whom a gleaned two or three excellent travel tips. One for the coast north east of Athens and another in the Canaries.
I rather miss SeanT and the way he used to excite us all with information about his fabulous earnings, advances, translation rights, film rights - the full monty. I imagine by now he's safely housed on a private island with a select coterie of fellow multimillionaires, far too busy to drop by here. There was a tantalising cameo appearance on election night, 2019, if memory serves, but after that nothing to alleviate the gathering gloom and the slowly ticking clock. So if you happen to be reading this, Sean, good on yer, mate. You're a legend. Maybe you always were.
Legends don't buy a Mini to drive around in....!
Depends on whether it was a proper mini or the new modern abortion. Legends drive old minis.
The R50-R57 BMW Minis have been a colossal commercial success. I wouldn’t be seen fucking dead in one but you can't argue with engineering and marketing acumen behind them.
The ADO15 Minis are iconic and charming but are fucking deathtraps and more than a bit rust prone. I wrote one off in the early 90s while pretending to be Paddy Hopkirk at the 1964 Monte Carlo Rally but I didn't care because it belonged to RAF Valley.
Off topic
I am sure you would like the R53. The supercharged Chrysler engine is much less prone to failure than the turbocharged Peugeot unit from the R56. It is far more "catchable" than an understeering ADO15. Currently at the bottom of the pit of worthlessness, R53 values are creeping up.
ADO15 has been an excellent investment over the last 5 years. Although, UK cars even if they have been well cared for have usually endured time with the welder's torch. An accident, particularly an impact with something hard is best avoided.
A very well written and argued article by Alastair, as is usual with his pieces. Unfortunately, it comes from the same mindset that dominates much of the discussion on here which is to ask, when deciding to condemn something or not, "who is doing it?" rather than "is the act wrong?".
First of all, Trump is not a wannabee dictator who dreams of gleaming jackboots marching down Pennsylvania Avenue. His mindset is of a CEO: he's conditioned to giving orders and having them obeyed. It's why business leaders make bad political leaders because they are unaccustomed to the checks and balances of political systems and why he gets mad at SC judges or political appointees not following his whims. But the idea he wants a fascist regime out of the pages of Gilead is fantasy doom-porn thinking on the part of the Democrats who need something to keep their coalition together. It wasn't sinister Government forces that led to a light Police presence at last week's demo, it was the Capitol Police assumed they would not be trouble, which (conversely) is why the National Guard were deployed for BLM rallies, which had a habit of ending in disturbances.
As for impeaching him or not, the reason for saying it would cause division is not the prosecution itself: if he has committed impeachable offences, he should be tried. It is because everyone knows it would be selective and based on targeting the individual involved rather than the act itself is worthy of impeachable. The same people on here who argue most vehemently that Trump is guilty of treason are the same ones who tie themselves in knots arguing why Democrat politicians encouraging BLM protests even given the violence. You want Trump charged with incitement? Sure go ahead. But I think Kamala Harris who said BLM protests should continue to the election, also was recklessly inciting violence, even though she covered her ass with the mealy mouthed "violence is never right". She is a political and ex-AG. She knew how her words about the protests would be interpreted.
And for all those lawyers on here who are so exercised about the constitutional damage Trump has caused, where's your outrage over Nancy Pelosi - who has absolutely no role in this under the US Constitution - calling the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to discuss the nuclear chain of command? Everyone knows it was a stunt but it's a dangerous one. But who of the many on here who get so exercised about little action Trump does criticised something that potentially has very far-reaching consequences?
Read "Why Nations Fail". One of the key points in there for a nation's success or not is that everyone feels as though the rules and laws are fair and applied to all. If there is going to be anything that destroys trust democracy, it is going to be this selective picking of what is right or wrong.
If Trump broke laws he should be prosecuted. I understand all the arguments for "healing" but that seems like a pretext for avoiding accountability for one's actions. To have genuine healing there needs to be justice first.
This. We'll probably here it a lot from Republicans in the Senate (I don't condone what he did, but this is not the time to stir up tensions etc) because it is an easy way out, a way to pretend problems do not need to be confronted to be solved.
My belief is that President Biden will pardon The Donald. It would be a mistake imo.
"Hegel remarks somewhere that all great world-historic facts and personages appear, so to speak, twice. He forgot to add: the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce." The Bierkeller theory is that we are getting it the other way round this time, and the tragedy is still to come. I think this is pessimistic because the people keeping and bearing arms is neither here nor there against the might of the modern state. A coup traditionally requires the allegiance of the military (or some of it) and seizing the state broadcaster. In modern terms Trump has been thrown off twitter and 10 out of 10 Defence secretaries are prepared to go into print during his presidency to say that he's an arse. I am predisposed to catastrophising when the situation requires it but in this instance I think Trump is a busted flush.
No coup or revolution can hope for success without the backing of at least a substantial proportion of the armed forces.
What's remarkable about Trump is how little sympathy he commands from the US military.
It's different for the police.
Which is interesting considering the police in America is made up of 20% ex military.
Edit - I remember reading an analysis said that ex military people are more likely to use their guns as police officers than non ex military cops.
From Alastair's initial paragraph I thought he was going to inveigh against dog walkers. They appear to be increasing exponentially. All too often I seem to be the only dog-free person in the park and therefore an object of deep suspicion. "Where's your little bag of poo?" their accusing eyes seem to say, "Where's your mangey tennis ball, and that stupid stick thing to launch it with? Where's your 20m leash for snaring passers-by? It's alright, he won't hurt you, he just wants to be friendly."
I think some people think it's downright weird to be just out for a walk by yourself, unless you have a dog.
On that topic I recall the rapist (and perhaps murderer as well) who made a point of taking his hound with him so nobody suspected him ...
If Parler won't moderate accounts that post things like this, I don't see why AWS should be obligated to host them?
Parler's entire business model seems to have become hosting extremists and violence that aren't tolerated elsewhere, seems reasonable to me for AWS in a free market to say they want nothing to do with that.
But Twitter and Facebook do the same, almost no jihadi content is taken down on either. YouTube fought a court case to ensure they weren't responsible for taking down ISIS propaganda videos.
The law is the law, AWS is a monopoly provider and its service shouldn't be subject to the whims of an owner or management.
AWS isn't a monopoly provider as in theory you still have google, IBM, Microsoft and Digital Ocean / Linode.
In reality it is but that's for technical debt reasons which isn't something a monopoly enquiry will look into.
Between Amazon, Google and Microsoft there is an effective monopoly on web service provision for the average punter.
If you are sensible, it is possible to build a containerised application that can work across cloud providers. In fact, I know of at least one outfit that does this on a big scale - they load balance across the big providers AND their own server farm. The reason for this, in their case is that this gives them protection against outages, and the ability to rapidly move load to optimise costs.
For sure, but when all three have seemingly coordinated policies on what should be allowed service provision it becomes an issue.
It's also insanely expensive as the real cost savings are in using the cloud services directly on demand rather than containerized services.
Madge all the way down the rabbit hole and ending up somewhere north of Koolaidsville. Slightly puzzled why he thinks events should be viewed through a conflict resolution lens if he believes those rampaging loons were Antifa?
Anyone know whether Farage has unequivocally condemned the Capitol outrage yet? It seems to be becoming more apparent by the day that describing Trump as a fascist is not hyperbole. His friend, supporter and fellow admirer of Putin deserved the epithet just as much.
You´d hope for a bit more than a statement of the blindingly obvious. Sadly for Farage- but hilariously for the rest of us- his meal ticket from the US far-right rubber chicken lecture circuit has just gone up in smoke. As for UK politics? A discount Enoch Powell without the after-life in Northern Ireland. Within a year or two, Nigel Who?
And yet he achieved one of the greatest changes in the political landscape of the UK in the last 70 years. The idea he will be forgotten - for better or worse - is laughable.
When I said that he was one of the most successful politicians of the past 50 years the only candidates people put up to show this wasn't so were, as I recall, Nelson Mandela, Margaret Thatcher, and Barack Obama.
Of course this is to a large extent in the eye of the beholder and subject to the criteria you choose but I would suggest Angela Merkel and Tony Blair as obviously far more successful.
Many, many others would also knock Farage well down the list in my opinion (every PM has been 'more successful' imo).
Farage will be remembered for one thing only; the success of that one thing might age well, or might not.
Well again, to put him into the Merkel and Blair bucket is slightly making my point isn't it?
And whether Brexit is a success or failure doesn't change the fact that Farage brought it about.
Yep. I'm afraid he's a legend and deservedly so. And in fact, despite the political chasm, I used to quite respect him myself. This changed when he disappeared up the Big Orange's fundament, occasionally emerging for breath and to hassle migrants. Really neither like nor respect him now. Boo.
I particularly like the 18 new steps required for exporting fish to the EU and the 8 steps the imports then have to follow. Unsurprisingly the importers are deciding that other sources that don't require 8 additional steps are easier to buy from.
Yes I've just been reading that thread. Fun fun fun!
Anyone know whether Farage has unequivocally condemned the Capitol outrage yet? It seems to be becoming more apparent by the day that describing Trump as a fascist is not hyperbole. His friend, supporter and fellow admirer of Putin deserved the epithet just as much.
You´d hope for a bit more than a statement of the blindingly obvious. Sadly for Farage- but hilariously for the rest of us- his meal ticket from the US far-right rubber chicken lecture circuit has just gone up in smoke. As for UK politics? A discount Enoch Powell without the after-life in Northern Ireland. Within a year or two, Nigel Who?
And yet he achieved one of the greatest changes in the political landscape of the UK in the last 70 years. The idea he will be forgotten - for better or worse - is laughable.
When I said that he was one of the most successful politicians of the past 50 years the only candidates people put up to show this wasn't so were, as I recall, Nelson Mandela, Margaret Thatcher, and Barack Obama.
Boris Johnson.
Even Steve Baker had a bigger impact in the last couple of years.
Nah Topping is absolutely right on this. Brexit simply wouldn't have happened without Farage banging away about it for years. He forced the Tories into a position where they had to finally address the issue once and for all. Boris may have got it over the line but he wouldn't have even been in the game were it not for Farage.
If Farage was banging away in isolation that would be fair enough.
But that completely ignores the Tory backbenchers who themselves were also banging away about it for years too.
Cameron didn't agree the referendum due to UKIP surging in the polls or winning the EP elections, he did so after around a hundred of his own MPs voted for one.
There was a crucial element within the Tory Party that were unhappy, just like there was in Labour in the seventies. Farage fed off that but he didn't do anything in a vacuum.
That element within the Tory party achieved nothing except to create a lot of light but no heat. They failed in the Major era and continued to fail throughout the Blair era. It was only when Farage and UKIP became a serious threat that they moved from being a minor fringe to being mainstream in the backbench party. Without the pressure Farage put on Tory MPs and his successes in the European elections nothing would have changed in the Tory party. There wold have been no referendum and no Brexit.
Farage's only mistake (or rather perhaps his biggest mistake amongst many) was not to realise when he had won and to think he had an importance beyond securing the referendum. To be horribly brutal about it he outgrew his usefulness and became a liability to the Leave side. That is not to say I am not hugely grateful for what he achieved but he needed to know when to stop and accept he had won.
Read most of this (vg) Header thinking it was Cyclefree and then it turns out to be Alastair Meeks. I'm losing it. What I'm not losing, though, is my facility to coin the right term for things. The one I've long used for Donald Trump - when I'm in a detached mood - is wannabe fascist and I'm sticking with this. This is what he has been - along with all the other things he undoubtedly is - ever since that ride down the golden escalator in 2015.
Thankfully he has not managed to drop the "w" qualifier and although one should not be complacent about it it's clear he never will. He's finished in politics now. This is the upside of the simultaneously frightening and shambolic events of last week. It was a complete mess of an affair. A very tittish coup. The real deal strongmen such as Putin and Xi would have been pissing themselves watching it on TV. "Oh Don, Don, Don. You crazy boy. Why didn't you get in touch?"
Eloquently put. And absolutely correct. Trump will leave office on Wednesday week as a spent, pathetic loser. A laughing stock.
Cheers thanks. Yes, you and I are the most confident on here about this, I think, that he's over as something serious in politics. I wish I was as confident he would see the inside of a jail cell but I have a feeling he won't.
Yeah, I agree that the balance of odds is against his jailing. But I’m confident he’ll wither rapidly as a force, and just become an increasingly pathetic joke: Sarah Palin is probably the nearest (but by no means precise) analogue.
Anyone remember her?
I don't think people will forget Trump. Maybe just send him to St Helena.
Too accessible now it has an airstrip.
Pitcairn.
If he comes to Prestwick, Nicola can exile him to Rockall.
A rock covered in seagull shit is just right for his new home.
We've got a few. There are still remains of the buildings used to imprison Covenanters on Bass Rock, Trump's Free Church Lewis ancestors may even approve of him joining the dissenting martyrs!
Hmm, as per James Robertson novel. But what has Lothian done to deserve Mr T? BTW gannet shite more than larid faeces. Been there, many years ago (before there was a fire and the gannets moved in to cover where the grassy top had been and those i/c discouraged visits). Must be very frustrating for a Leodheasach like you, seeing it and not being allowed to eat them.
Never been offered guga, but it's not exactly a regret. Not helped by my dad (who never saw a story that he didn't think needed embellishment) telling me about the olden days when the guga were packed and salted in outdoor pits, and the men of the house would pop out to help the process with an occasional pee.
From Alastair's initial paragraph I thought he was going to inveigh against dog walkers. They appear to be increasing exponentially. All too often I seem to be the only dog-free person in the park and therefore an object of deep suspicion. "Where's your little bag of poo?" their accusing eyes seem to say, "Where's your mangey tennis ball, and that stupid stick thing to launch it with? Where's your 20m leash for snaring passers-by? It's alright, he won't hurt you, he just wants to be friendly."
I think some people think it's downright weird to be just out for a walk by yourself, unless you have a dog.
I lost three and a half stone during the second half of 2020, largely by going for an hour-long walk each day (and drinking a bit less booze). It set me up to start running a few times a week as well. Walking is a brilliant way to exercise and doing it alone gives you plenty of thinking time. That is also a pleasure, usually!!
A very well written and argued article by Alastair, as is usual with his pieces. Unfortunately, it comes from the same mindset that dominates much of the discussion on here which is to ask, when deciding to condemn something or not, "who is doing it?" rather than "is the act wrong?".
First of all, Trump is not a wannabee dictator who dreams of gleaming jackboots marching down Pennsylvania Avenue. His mindset is of a CEO: he's conditioned to giving orders and having them obeyed. It's why business leaders make bad political leaders because they are unaccustomed to the checks and balances of political systems and why he gets mad at SC judges or political appointees not following his whims. But the idea he wants a fascist regime out of the pages of Gilead is fantasy doom-porn thinking on the part of the Democrats who need something to keep their coalition together. It wasn't sinister Government forces that led to a light Police presence at last week's demo, it was the Capitol Police assumed they would not be trouble, which (conversely) is why the National Guard were deployed for BLM rallies, which had a habit of ending in disturbances.
As for impeaching him or not, the reason for saying it would cause division is not the prosecution itself: if he has committed impeachable offences, he should be tried. It is because everyone knows it would be selective and based on targeting the individual involved rather than the act itself is worthy of impeachable. The same people on here who argue most vehemently that Trump is guilty of treason are the same ones who tie themselves in knots arguing why Democrat politicians encouraging BLM protests even given the violence. You want Trump charged with incitement? Sure go ahead. But I think Kamala Harris who said BLM protests should continue to the election, also was recklessly inciting violence, even though she covered her ass with the mealy mouthed "violence is never right". She is a political and ex-AG. She knew how her words about the protests would be interpreted.
And for all those lawyers on here who are so exercised about the constitutional damage Trump has caused, where's your outrage over Nancy Pelosi - who has absolutely no role in this under the US Constitution - calling the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to discuss the nuclear chain of command? Everyone knows it was a stunt but it's a dangerous one. But who of the many on here who get so exercised about little action Trump does criticised something that potentially has very far-reaching consequences?
Read "Why Nations Fail". One of the key points in there for a nation's success or not is that everyone feels as though the rules and laws are fair and applied to all. If there is going to be anything that destroys trust democracy, it is going to be this selective picking of what is right or wrong.
If Trump broke laws he should be prosecuted. I understand all the arguments for "healing" but that seems like a pretext for avoiding accountability for one's actions. To have genuine healing there needs to be justice first.
This. We'll probably here it a lot from Republicans in the Senate (I don't condone what he did, but this is not the time to stir up tensions etc) because it is an easy way out, a way to pretend problems do not need to be confronted to be solved.
My belief is that President Biden will pardon The Donald. It would be a mistake imo.
I can't see the advantage in that - Trump sure doesn't do gratitude (though he expects it from others), and his supporters seem unlikely to be mollified by Biden's cronies trumping, ahem, up charges against their man and then 'generously' pardoning him.
From Alastair's initial paragraph I thought he was going to inveigh against dog walkers. They appear to be increasing exponentially. All too often I seem to be the only dog-free person in the park and therefore an object of deep suspicion. "Where's your little bag of poo?" their accusing eyes seem to say, "Where's your mangey tennis ball, and that stupid stick thing to launch it with? Where's your 20m leash for snaring passers-by? It's alright, he won't hurt you, he just wants to be friendly."
I think some people think it's downright weird to be just out for a walk by yourself, unless you have a dog.
On that topic I recall the rapist (and perhaps murderer as well) who made a point of taking his hound with him so nobody suspected him ...
PS Can't find details to check, so my memory may be wrong. But yes, some sort of crim using pooch for camouflage.
A very well written and argued article by Alastair, as is usual with his pieces. Unfortunately, it comes from the same mindset that dominates much of the discussion on here which is to ask, when deciding to condemn something or not, "who is doing it?" rather than "is the act wrong?".
First of all, Trump is not a wannabee dictator who dreams of gleaming jackboots marching down Pennsylvania Avenue. His mindset is of a CEO: he's conditioned to giving orders and having them obeyed. It's why business leaders make bad political leaders because they are unaccustomed to the checks and balances of political systems and why he gets mad at SC judges or political appointees not following his whims. But the idea he wants a fascist regime out of the pages of Gilead is fantasy doom-porn thinking on the part of the Democrats who need something to keep their coalition together. It wasn't sinister Government forces that led to a light Police presence at last week's demo, it was the Capitol Police assumed they would not be trouble, which (conversely) is why the National Guard were deployed for BLM rallies, which had a habit of ending in disturbances.
As for impeaching him or not, the reason for saying it would cause division is not the prosecution itself: if he has committed impeachable offences, he should be tried. It is because everyone knows it would be selective and based on targeting the individual involved rather than the act itself is worthy of impeachable. The same people on here who argue most vehemently that Trump is guilty of treason are the same ones who tie themselves in knots arguing why Democrat politicians encouraging BLM protests even given the violence. You want Trump charged with incitement? Sure go ahead. But I think Kamala Harris who said BLM protests should continue to the election, also was recklessly inciting violence, even though she covered her ass with the mealy mouthed "violence is never right". She is a political and ex-AG. She knew how her words about the protests would be interpreted.
And for all those lawyers on here who are so exercised about the constitutional damage Trump has caused, where's your outrage over Nancy Pelosi - who has absolutely no role in this under the US Constitution - calling the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to discuss the nuclear chain of command? Everyone knows it was a stunt but it's a dangerous one. But who of the many on here who get so exercised about little action Trump does criticised something that potentially has very far-reaching consequences?
Read "Why Nations Fail". One of the key points in there for a nation's success or not is that everyone feels as though the rules and laws are fair and applied to all. If there is going to be anything that destroys trust democracy, it is going to be this selective picking of what is right or wrong.
If Trump broke laws he should be prosecuted. I understand all the arguments for "healing" but that seems like a pretext for avoiding accountability for one's actions. To have genuine healing there needs to be justice first.
This. We'll probably here it a lot from Republicans in the Senate (I don't condone what he did, but this is not the time to stir up tensions etc) because it is an easy way out, a way to pretend problems do not need to be confronted to be solved.
My belief is that President Biden will pardon The Donald. It would be a mistake imo.
Not. A. Chance.
Ford acknowledged that his decision to pardon Nixon cost him the 1976 election. Biden's not stupid.
So, we now discover that the Welsh Government has already got 270,000 COVID doses
And used only 50,000 of them. They have so far used only 18 per cent of what has been delivered.
Sir "Round the Clock Vaccinations" has forgotten to mention to his Welsh colleagues that there is a great urgency to get jabs in arms.
If Wales has proportionality the same percentage of the vaccine as its percentage of the population then that would imply that there are nearly six million shots in the system.
Have there been any numbers released for the other home nations?
It would also mean that there are almost 40% of the jabs needed to hit the 15m head target already produced and ready to go.
So we’re back to distribution. Which I guess will be the media’s theme for the week.
Hancock just said 200k / day are now being vaccinated and a 1/3 of over 80s have been given at least first jab.
We should expect a large leap in the totals come tomorrow when the daily reporting starts.
Yet Lord Patten at 72 was on LBC bragging about how he had just made it to get his jab. Usual Tories, one rule for them and one for the rest.
Stop embarrassing yourself, he's on the vulnerable list due to him having had major heart surgery in the past.
Pull the other one it plays bells
You couldn’t get his age right, malcolm.
It came from the horses mouth, so maybe he is doolally as well.
Can someone remind me when the daily updates on vaccination numbers are due to start?
Tomorrow.
It'll be interesting to see if we have vaccinated 2 million last week per Hancock or if it is case we've offered vaccinations to 2 million people.
I think he misspoke / was misreported. It has to be 2 million total, as what he definitely did say was we are now doing 200k people per day (I presume that was probably what they did Friday or Saturday).
Read most of this (vg) Header thinking it was Cyclefree and then it turns out to be Alastair Meeks. I'm losing it. What I'm not losing, though, is my facility to coin the right term for things. The one I've long used for Donald Trump - when I'm in a detached mood - is wannabe fascist and I'm sticking with this. This is what he has been - along with all the other things he undoubtedly is - ever since that ride down the golden escalator in 2015.
Thankfully he has not managed to drop the "w" qualifier and although one should not be complacent about it it's clear he never will. He's finished in politics now. This is the upside of the simultaneously frightening and shambolic events of last week. It was a complete mess of an affair. A very tittish coup. The real deal strongmen such as Putin and Xi would have been pissing themselves watching it on TV. "Oh Don, Don, Don. You crazy boy. Why didn't you get in touch?"
Eloquently put. And absolutely correct. Trump will leave office on Wednesday week as a spent, pathetic loser. A laughing stock.
Cheers thanks. Yes, you and I are the most confident on here about this, I think, that he's over as something serious in politics. I wish I was as confident he would see the inside of a jail cell but I have a feeling he won't.
Yeah, I agree that the balance of odds is against his jailing. But I’m confident he’ll wither rapidly as a force, and just become an increasingly pathetic joke: Sarah Palin is probably the nearest (but by no means precise) analogue.
Anyone remember her?
I don't think people will forget Trump. Maybe just send him to St Helena.
Too accessible now it has an airstrip.
Pitcairn.
If he comes to Prestwick, Nicola can exile him to Rockall.
A rock covered in seagull shit is just right for his new home.
We've got a few. There are still remains of the buildings used to imprison Covenanters on Bass Rock, Trump's Free Church Lewis ancestors may even approve of him joining the dissenting martyrs!
Hmm, as per James Robertson novel. But what has Lothian done to deserve Mr T? BTW gannet shite more than larid faeces. Been there, many years ago (before there was a fire and the gannets moved in to cover where the grassy top had been and those i/c discouraged visits). Must be very frustrating for a Leodheasach like you, seeing it and not being allowed to eat them.
Never been offered guga, but it's not exactly a regret. Not helped by my dad (who never saw a story that he didn't think needed embellishment) telling me about the olden days when the guga were packed and salted in outdoor pits, and the men of the house would pop out to help the process with an occasional pee.
I do find it difficult to believe Mr T would come to Scotland - imagine himself in a Doric or Ayrshire links course with the winter wind off the sea. Not to mention the potential for repeated conflict with the SG who wouldn't be able to afford to let Mr T show his usual care for covid precautions.
The right-wing bury-bad-news handbook 1. It was BLM, Antifa, Muslims, and leftists [0-2 hours] 2. It's too early to tell what really happened [2-24 hours] 3. It wasn't BLM, Antifa, Muslims, or leftists but they caused others to do it [1-3 days] 4. We should take the time to find out what really happened [3-21 days] (YOU ARE HERE) 5. What, you're still on about that? That was ages ago! [3 weeks-eternity]
Brilliant.
On the pseudonyms things, I don't really care who posts as what, since with a few exceptions I've never heard of anyone on PB outside PB (nor do I expect anyone much outside PB to have heard of me). They can call themselves something different every week if they like, though I don't see the point. XXX is really YYY? Oh well.
My impression with seanT was that as he actually is a well-known author he decided to go anonymous so he can post outrageous stuff without a public backlash, which seems pretty sensible.
Former Labour lawmaker argues that people who wish to post “outrageous stuff” on the internet should create an account so that they can hide behind their anonymity? It’s a view, I suppose.
Surely, SeanT's shock-jock schtick was never intended - or to be honest, had the unintended side-effect - of getting people manning barricades or picking up the pitchfork or flaming brand.
My guess is the coup is pencilled in for 12th May 2021 (a week after a disappointing set of Senedd elections).
The Sunday Times says the government have put out feelers to delay the May elections across the UK, most likely delayed to September.
As was said last week. I still cannot see the necessity given logistical challenges can be handled, but I think a lot of places where elections ar edue would be quite happy to delay, and the government won't care that much so long as it happens this year, so will concede.
A very well written and argued article by Alastair, as is usual with his pieces. Unfortunately, it comes from the same mindset that dominates much of the discussion on here which is to ask, when deciding to condemn something or not, "who is doing it?" rather than "is the act wrong?".
First of all, Trump is not a wannabee dictator who dreams of gleaming jackboots marching down Pennsylvania Avenue. His mindset is of a CEO: he's conditioned to giving orders and having them obeyed. It's why business leaders make bad political leaders because they are unaccustomed to the checks and balances of political systems and why he gets mad at SC judges or political appointees not following his whims. But the idea he wants a fascist regime out of the pages of Gilead is fantasy doom-porn thinking on the part of the Democrats who need something to keep their coalition together. It wasn't sinister Government forces that led to a light Police presence at last week's demo, it was the Capitol Police assumed they would not be trouble, which (conversely) is why the National Guard were deployed for BLM rallies, which had a habit of ending in disturbances.
As for impeaching him or not, the reason for saying it would cause division is not the prosecution itself: if he has committed impeachable offences, he should be tried. It is because everyone knows it would be selective and based on targeting the individual involved rather than the act itself is worthy of impeachable. The same people on here who argue most vehemently that Trump is guilty of treason are the same ones who tie themselves in knots arguing why Democrat politicians encouraging BLM protests even given the violence. You want Trump charged with incitement? Sure go ahead. But I think Kamala Harris who said BLM protests should continue to the election, also was recklessly inciting violence, even though she covered her ass with the mealy mouthed "violence is never right". She is a political and ex-AG. She knew how her words about the protests would be interpreted.
And for all those lawyers on here who are so exercised about the constitutional damage Trump has caused, where's your outrage over Nancy Pelosi - who has absolutely no role in this under the US Constitution - calling the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to discuss the nuclear chain of command? Everyone knows it was a stunt but it's a dangerous one. But who of the many on here who get so exercised about little action Trump does criticised something that potentially has very far-reaching consequences?
Read "Why Nations Fail". One of the key points in there for a nation's success or not is that everyone feels as though the rules and laws are fair and applied to all. If there is going to be anything that destroys trust democracy, it is going to be this selective picking of what is right or wrong.
If Trump broke laws he should be prosecuted. I understand all the arguments for "healing" but that seems like a pretext for avoiding accountability for one's actions. To have genuine healing there needs to be justice first.
This. We'll probably here it a lot from Republicans in the Senate (I don't condone what he did, but this is not the time to stir up tensions etc) because it is an easy way out, a way to pretend problems do not need to be confronted to be solved.
My belief is that President Biden will pardon The Donald. It would be a mistake imo.
Not. A. Chance.
Ford acknowledged that his decision to pardon Nixon cost him the 1976 election. Biden's not stupid.
Biden should offer pardons to the Trump family members in exchange for testimony against Papa.
Anyone know whether Farage has unequivocally condemned the Capitol outrage yet? It seems to be becoming more apparent by the day that describing Trump as a fascist is not hyperbole. His friend, supporter and fellow admirer of Putin deserved the epithet just as much.
You´d hope for a bit more than a statement of the blindingly obvious. Sadly for Farage- but hilariously for the rest of us- his meal ticket from the US far-right rubber chicken lecture circuit has just gone up in smoke. As for UK politics? A discount Enoch Powell without the after-life in Northern Ireland. Within a year or two, Nigel Who?
And yet he achieved one of the greatest changes in the political landscape of the UK in the last 70 years. The idea he will be forgotten - for better or worse - is laughable.
When I said that he was one of the most successful politicians of the past 50 years the only candidates people put up to show this wasn't so were, as I recall, Nelson Mandela, Margaret Thatcher, and Barack Obama.
Boris Johnson.
Even Steve Baker had a bigger impact in the last couple of years.
Your kidding, right? Without Nigel there would have been no Brexit. I mean I enjoy discussing with people about this because it is so transparently obvious that I can do something useful, such as ring my aged aunt at the same time as posting about it.
No I am not kidding. Backbenchers were more important than Farage.
Backbenchers were the reason Major struggled with Maastricht rebellions. Backbenchers were the reason Cameron was forced to concede the referendum, before UKIP took off in the polls. Backbenchers were the reason Theresa May failed to get her deal through.
Farage was a noisy bystander jumping on the bandwagon. If it wasn't for the backbenchers then May would have got her deal through, Cameron would never have needed to offer a referendum, Major would not have seen the party torn apart over Maastricht.
This could have happened with or without Farage. It couldn't have happened without backbenchers.
No Nigel no Brexit.
What did Bill Cash achieve? Fuck all.
Wrong.
Cash achieved Brexit.
No Farage and Brexit is still very much an issue because the MPs of the Governing party made it one.
No Tory Brexiteers and Farage is just a loudmouth pub bore.
It was Tory MPs that brought about Brexit, not Farage.
Yes, and no. Tory MPs played a key role in bringing about the referendum, for sure. Although you can make a case that Farage and UKIP both challenging them and infiltrating their local parties were not insignificant contributors.
But Brexit was achieved by the narrow referendum win, and, as Cummo recognised from the outset, this victory was only achieved by locking Cash and his ilk in a basement far from public view, during the campaign.
And Farage and his ilk were locked away too.
There's a reason that Boris was the front man of the campaign and Farage led the Leave.EU sideshow.
Of course. When the need to spin the big con arrives, you need a professional con artist, not an amateur.
If Parler won't moderate accounts that post things like this, I don't see why AWS should be obligated to host them?
Parler's entire business model seems to have become hosting extremists and violence that aren't tolerated elsewhere, seems reasonable to me for AWS in a free market to say they want nothing to do with that.
But Twitter and Facebook do the same, almost no jihadi content is taken down on either. YouTube fought a court case to ensure they weren't responsible for taking down ISIS propaganda videos.
The law is the law, AWS is a monopoly provider and its service shouldn't be subject to the whims of an owner or management.
AWS isn't a monopoly provider as in theory you still have google, IBM, Microsoft and Digital Ocean / Linode.
In reality it is but that's for technical debt reasons which isn't something a monopoly enquiry will look into.
Between Amazon, Google and Microsoft there is an effective monopoly on web service provision for the average punter.
If you are sensible, it is possible to build a containerised application that can work across cloud providers. In fact, I know of at least one outfit that does this on a big scale - they load balance across the big providers AND their own server farm. The reason for this, in their case is that this gives them protection against outages, and the ability to rapidly move load to optimise costs.
For sure, but when all three have seemingly coordinated policies on what should be allowed service provision it becomes an issue.
It's also insanely expensive as the real cost savings are in using the cloud services directly on demand rather than containerized services.
I guess it depends on the scale of your operation, and cost may not be the issue. I know for some companies uptime is a lot more important than cost so having a distributed strategy is important in case AWS or GCP falls. I know one of our competitors relies on Azure and when they had problems a few months ago it resulted in a lot of headache.
It seems pretty clear that Trump has strongly fascist tendencies - one of the good reasons why he lost the popular vote numerically both in 2016 and 2020. What the term 'fascist' conceals is that certain attitudes common in the world embrace pretty much the same attributes and are just as bad. Terms like 'left' and 'right' don't help much here either; nor does the idea of ideology, for that implies something rational, thoughtful and long term.
Better maybe to look for the common attributes of bad politics wherever it comes from, such as
The use of political violence Suppression of dissent Distancing from the civil democratic process Use of scapegoating Indifference to succession planning Friends and allies who fit a particular pattern Use of 'the lie direct'
The list can be extended of course. The attention, rightly, on the USA should not disguise how everyday and frequent these attributes are in the world and how useless are terms like 'left' and 'right' when dealing with authoritarians, totalitarians, narcissists and psychopaths.
But most of the real xxxs are right wing.
Language, vicar, language....
Sorry. Post zapped by mods (only 2nd time ever for me!) and rightly so on a Sunday.
The right-wing bury-bad-news handbook 1. It was BLM, Antifa, Muslims, and leftists [0-2 hours] 2. It's too early to tell what really happened [2-24 hours] 3. It wasn't BLM, Antifa, Muslims, or leftists but they caused others to do it [1-3 days] 4. We should take the time to find out what really happened [3-21 days] (YOU ARE HERE) 5. What, you're still on about that? That was ages ago! [3 weeks-eternity]
Brilliant.
On the pseudonyms things, I don't really care who posts as what, since with a few exceptions I've never heard of anyone on PB outside PB (nor do I expect anyone much outside PB to have heard of me). They can call themselves something different every week if they like, though I don't see the point. XXX is really YYY? Oh well.
My impression with seanT was that as he actually is a well-known author he decided to go anonymous so he can post outrageous stuff without a public backlash, which seems pretty sensible.
Former Labour lawmaker argues that people who wish to post “outrageous stuff” on the internet should create an account so that they can hide behind their anonymity? It’s a view, I suppose.
Surely, SeanT's shock-jock schtick was never intended - or to be honest, had the unintended side-effect - of getting people manning barricades or picking up the pitchfork or flaming brand.
His put-downs were a thing of beauty though.
When you were talking about shock-jock shtick, those Stone Age sticks came to mind just now though it's probably quite wrong of me to associate then with anyone other than @Leon .....
It seems pretty clear that Trump has strongly fascist tendencies - one of the good reasons why he lost the popular vote numerically both in 2016 and 2020. What the term 'fascist' conceals is that certain attitudes common in the world embrace pretty much the same attributes and are just as bad. Terms like 'left' and 'right' don't help much here either; nor does the idea of ideology, for that implies something rational, thoughtful and long term.
Better maybe to look for the common attributes of bad politics wherever it comes from, such as
The use of political violence Suppression of dissent Distancing from the civil democratic process Use of scapegoating Indifference to succession planning Friends and allies who fit a particular pattern Use of 'the lie direct'
The list can be extended of course. The attention, rightly, on the USA should not disguise how everyday and frequent these attributes are in the world and how useless are terms like 'left' and 'right' when dealing with authoritarians, totalitarians, narcissists and psychopaths.
True enough. But most of the worst blighters are right wing.
I used to buy flowers for my desk at work. £10 for half a dozen red, white and blue roses, from a stall at the station. I stopped when, out of the blue after 18 months, it struck me I was subsidising the company to the tune of £500 a year. There seem to be a lot of adverts for florists now so perhaps that is another sector feeling the lockdown pinch, with limited weddings, hospital visits and dinner parties.
My guess is the coup is pencilled in for 12th May 2021 (a week after a disappointing set of Senedd elections).
The Sunday Times says the government have put out feelers to delay the May elections across the UK, most likely delayed to September.
It makes sense, by September we'll be into the old normal of little to no social distancing and everything open as normal. Why have a potential super spreader event in May?
Anyone know whether Farage has unequivocally condemned the Capitol outrage yet? It seems to be becoming more apparent by the day that describing Trump as a fascist is not hyperbole. His friend, supporter and fellow admirer of Putin deserved the epithet just as much.
You´d hope for a bit more than a statement of the blindingly obvious. Sadly for Farage- but hilariously for the rest of us- his meal ticket from the US far-right rubber chicken lecture circuit has just gone up in smoke. As for UK politics? A discount Enoch Powell without the after-life in Northern Ireland. Within a year or two, Nigel Who?
And yet he achieved one of the greatest changes in the political landscape of the UK in the last 70 years. The idea he will be forgotten - for better or worse - is laughable.
When I said that he was one of the most successful politicians of the past 50 years the only candidates people put up to show this wasn't so were, as I recall, Nelson Mandela, Margaret Thatcher, and Barack Obama.
Boris Johnson.
Even Steve Baker had a bigger impact in the last couple of years.
Nah Topping is absolutely right on this. Brexit simply wouldn't have happened without Farage banging away about it for years. He forced the Tories into a position where they had to finally address the issue once and for all. Boris may have got it over the line but he wouldn't have even been in the game were it not for Farage.
The LibDems & Tony Blair are to blame for Brexit.
A key mistake was surely the European Parliamentary Elections Act in 1999. Tony Blair's legislation changed the European elections from FPTP to PR (no doubt, the LibDems were cheering).
It was this that gave Nigel Farage has chance -- he was finally elected as an MEP in 1999. And he was able to grow UKIP as a political force with the oxygen of PR.
There is an arguable case that it was the LibDems endlessly blathering on about PR that caused Brexit
(FWIW, I favour PR, but it doesn't usually have the effect that the LibDems want -- see also the Senedd.)
The form of PR used in Wales (and Scotland) is a bit of a mongrel that perpetuates some of the negative aspects of FPTP.
NZ PR works better.
Also the Scottish version is gerrymandered to be - ironically - a sort of inverse of FPTP, ie nobody is supposed to win a majority at all, nevver mind how many vote for them. Doesn't always wqork, but that was definitely Labour's intention in the first place.
It was set up by Labour and the Lib Dems with the intention of them being in permanent coalition. The 2007 election scuppered this when the SNP minority government was often supported by the Conservatives. Since then, Scotland has realised that Labour are not good at governing Scotland.
My guess is the coup is pencilled in for 12th May 2021 (a week after a disappointing set of Senedd elections).
The Sunday Times says the government have put out feelers to delay the May elections across the UK, most likely delayed to September.
As was said last week. I still cannot see the necessity given logistical challenges can be handled, but I think a lot of places where elections ar edue would be quite happy to delay, and the government won't care that much so long as it happens this year, so will concede.
There's two major issues, one is the campaigning issue, which means parties cannot campaign as normal and secondly the age of polling station staff/volunteers.
The cleaning process also means it isn't possible to to sufficient cleaning and keep the normal 7am and 10pm window.
Labour want the elections to happen.
However, it is understood that Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, is resistant to moving the elections. A London Labour source said: “The prime minister has promised the most vulnerable people will be vaccinated against Covid-19 by mid-February, which means there is no legitimate reason to consider postponing the elections. Countries around the world have managed to hold elections during the pandemic safely — including the US presidential election.”
A very well written and argued article by Alastair, as is usual with his pieces. Unfortunately, it comes from the same mindset that dominates much of the discussion on here which is to ask, when deciding to condemn something or not, "who is doing it?" rather than "is the act wrong?".
First of all, Trump is not a wannabee dictator who dreams of gleaming jackboots marching down Pennsylvania Avenue. His mindset is of a CEO: he's conditioned to giving orders and having them obeyed. It's why business leaders make bad political leaders because they are unaccustomed to the checks and balances of political systems and why he gets mad at SC judges or political appointees not following his whims. But the idea he wants a fascist regime out of the pages of Gilead is fantasy doom-porn thinking on the part of the Democrats who need something to keep their coalition together. It wasn't sinister Government forces that led to a light Police presence at last week's demo, it was the Capitol Police assumed they would not be trouble, which (conversely) is why the National Guard were deployed for BLM rallies, which had a habit of ending in disturbances.
As for impeaching him or not, the reason for saying it would cause division is not the prosecution itself: if he has committed impeachable offences, he should be tried. It is because everyone knows it would be selective and based on targeting the individual involved rather than the act itself is worthy of impeachable. The same people on here who argue most vehemently that Trump is guilty of treason are the same ones who tie themselves in knots arguing why Democrat politicians encouraging BLM protests even given the violence. You want Trump charged with incitement? Sure go ahead. But I think Kamala Harris who said BLM protests should continue to the election, also was recklessly inciting violence, even though she covered her ass with the mealy mouthed "violence is never right". She is a political and ex-AG. She knew how her words about the protests would be interpreted.
And for all those lawyers on here who are so exercised about the constitutional damage Trump has caused, where's your outrage over Nancy Pelosi - who has absolutely no role in this under the US Constitution - calling the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to discuss the nuclear chain of command? Everyone knows it was a stunt but it's a dangerous one. But who of the many on here who get so exercised about little action Trump does criticised something that potentially has very far-reaching consequences?
Read "Why Nations Fail". One of the key points in there for a nation's success or not is that everyone feels as though the rules and laws are fair and applied to all. If there is going to be anything that destroys trust democracy, it is going to be this selective picking of what is right or wrong.
That's a very long way of saying that the law should be applied equally to all.
Sorry, I don't mean to sound snarky. But that's what you are saying in essence. And you're right. The laws on incitement and violence etc should be applied equally to all. As should all other laws eg on the right to vote.
Part of the difficulty the US has is that this has not been happening. Blacks feel that their right to vote is being slowly salami-sliced away by the various voter suppression techniques being used. Or that their right to walk the streets freely without being constantly picked and questioned by the police is less than it should be. Other groups will have their own complaints.
And what makes this particularly toxic is that in some cases one group which feels ignored feels that it needs to do down another group to feel better about itself. This racist legacy was deliberately stoked by Trump.
If Trump broke laws he should be prosecuted. I understand all the arguments for "healing" but that seems like a pretext for avoiding accountability for one's actions. To have genuine healing there needs to be justice first.
The argument that Trump should carry on his acts of sedition post Presidency in the name of "healing" is utterly ridiculous.
I am not a big fan of Mark Drakeford, were I to stand outside the Sennedd and incite a bunch of people even less enthused by Drakeford than I am, and they were armed with cable ties, ropes and assorted weaponry to enter the building, it would not look good. If they then entered the chamber with malice aforethought and damaged property, but were thwarted from taking matters further I would be looking at a growing charge sheet. If, sadly in securing the Senedd a South Wales Police Officer and three protestors were killed I would be in Butetown Police Station awaiting my Magistrates appearance prior to being remanded for Crown Court later.
I think a coup to overthrow Drakeford could be manned just from PB. I see BigG in the Trump role there, though, not you. Hope no offence taken.
I reckon I could get both BigG. and the Sleeping Bard on side, and in the building. I am planning the stand on the steps outside pretending it has nothing to do with me. Much like Trump did last week.
The vaccination program looks to be an immediate benefit of Brexit - I mean we could do what we're doing but with the tendency that'll be there forevermore to gold plate rules from Brussels within the civil service I doubt we'd be negotiating our own supplies. We've sacrificed price for speed which is an excellent trade on this one. Still, we could still have the same vaccine procurement program with a closer relationship with the EU.
A very well written and argued article by Alastair, as is usual with his pieces. Unfortunately, it comes from the same mindset that dominates much of the discussion on here which is to ask, when deciding to condemn something or not, "who is doing it?" rather than "is the act wrong?".
First of all, Trump is not a wannabee dictator who dreams of gleaming jackboots marching down Pennsylvania Avenue. His mindset is of a CEO: he's conditioned to giving orders and having them obeyed. It's why business leaders make bad political leaders because they are unaccustomed to the checks and balances of political systems and why he gets mad at SC judges or political appointees not following his whims. But the idea he wants a fascist regime out of the pages of Gilead is fantasy doom-porn thinking on the part of the Democrats who need something to keep their coalition together. It wasn't sinister Government forces that led to a light Police presence at last week's demo, it was the Capitol Police assumed they would not be trouble, which (conversely) is why the National Guard were deployed for BLM rallies, which had a habit of ending in disturbances.
As for impeaching him or not, the reason for saying it would cause division is not the prosecution itself: if he has committed impeachable offences, he should be tried. It is because everyone knows it would be selective and based on targeting the individual involved rather than the act itself is worthy of impeachable. The same people on here who argue most vehemently that Trump is guilty of treason are the same ones who tie themselves in knots arguing why Democrat politicians encouraging BLM protests even given the violence. You want Trump charged with incitement? Sure go ahead. But I think Kamala Harris who said BLM protests should continue to the election, also was recklessly inciting violence, even though she covered her ass with the mealy mouthed "violence is never right". She is a political and ex-AG. She knew how her words about the protests would be interpreted.
And for all those lawyers on here who are so exercised about the constitutional damage Trump has caused, where's your outrage over Nancy Pelosi - who has absolutely no role in this under the US Constitution - calling the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to discuss the nuclear chain of command? Everyone knows it was a stunt but it's a dangerous one. But who of the many on here who get so exercised about little action Trump does criticised something that potentially has very far-reaching consequences?
Read "Why Nations Fail". One of the key points in there for a nation's success or not is that everyone feels as though the rules and laws are fair and applied to all. If there is going to be anything that destroys trust democracy, it is going to be this selective picking of what is right or wrong.
If Trump broke laws he should be prosecuted. I understand all the arguments for "healing" but that seems like a pretext for avoiding accountability for one's actions. To have genuine healing there needs to be justice first.
This. We'll probably here it a lot from Republicans in the Senate (I don't condone what he did, but this is not the time to stir up tensions etc) because it is an easy way out, a way to pretend problems do not need to be confronted to be solved.
My belief is that President Biden will pardon The Donald. It would be a mistake imo.
Not. A. Chance.
Ford acknowledged that his decision to pardon Nixon cost him the 1976 election. Biden's not stupid.
I hope you are right. American democracy needs to go full Watergate on this, but America may be too polarised for that.
Unhappiness at Germany's slow roll-out growing according to The Guardian (@ 12:35)
Germany has set up hundreds of vaccination centres in sports halls and concert arenas and has the infrastructure to administer up to 300,000 shots a day, health minister Jens Spahn said. But the majority are standing empty, with most states not planning to open centres until mid-January
A very well written and argued article by Alastair, as is usual with his pieces. Unfortunately, it comes from the same mindset that dominates much of the discussion on here which is to ask, when deciding to condemn something or not, "who is doing it?" rather than "is the act wrong?".
First of all, Trump is not a wannabee dictator who dreams of gleaming jackboots marching down Pennsylvania Avenue. His mindset is of a CEO: he's conditioned to giving orders and having them obeyed. It's why business leaders make bad political leaders because they are unaccustomed to the checks and balances of political systems and why he gets mad at SC judges or political appointees not following his whims. But the idea he wants a fascist regime out of the pages of Gilead is fantasy doom-porn thinking on the part of the Democrats who need something to keep their coalition together. It wasn't sinister Government forces that led to a light Police presence at last week's demo, it was the Capitol Police assumed they would not be trouble, which (conversely) is why the National Guard were deployed for BLM rallies, which had a habit of ending in disturbances.
As for impeaching him or not, the reason for saying it would cause division is not the prosecution itself: if he has committed impeachable offences, he should be tried. It is because everyone knows it would be selective and based on targeting the individual involved rather than the act itself is worthy of impeachable. The same people on here who argue most vehemently that Trump is guilty of treason are the same ones who tie themselves in knots arguing why Democrat politicians encouraging BLM protests even given the violence. You want Trump charged with incitement? Sure go ahead. But I think Kamala Harris who said BLM protests should continue to the election, also was recklessly inciting violence, even though she covered her ass with the mealy mouthed "violence is never right". She is a political and ex-AG. She knew how her words about the protests would be interpreted.
And for all those lawyers on here who are so exercised about the constitutional damage Trump has caused, where's your outrage over Nancy Pelosi - who has absolutely no role in this under the US Constitution - calling the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to discuss the nuclear chain of command? Everyone knows it was a stunt but it's a dangerous one. But who of the many on here who get so exercised about little action Trump does criticised something that potentially has very far-reaching consequences?
Read "Why Nations Fail". One of the key points in there for a nation's success or not is that everyone feels as though the rules and laws are fair and applied to all. If there is going to be anything that destroys trust democracy, it is going to be this selective picking of what is right or wrong.
That's a very long way of saying that the law should be applied equally to all.
Sorry, I don't mean to sound snarky. But that's what you are saying in essence. And you're right. The laws on incitement and violence etc should be applied equally to all. As should all other laws eg on the right to vote.
Part of the difficulty the US has is that this has not been happening. Blacks feel that their right to vote is being slowly salami-sliced away by the various voter suppression techniques being used. Or that their right to walk the streets freely without being constantly picked and questioned by the police is less than it should be. Other groups will have their own complaints.
And what makes this particularly toxic is that in some cases one group which feels ignored feels that it needs to do down another group to feel better about itself. This racist legacy was deliberately stoked by Trump.
If Trump broke laws he should be prosecuted. I understand all the arguments for "healing" but that seems like a pretext for avoiding accountability for one's actions. To have genuine healing there needs to be justice first.
The argument that Trump should carry on his acts of sedition post Presidency in the name of "healing" is utterly ridiculous.
I am not a big fan of Mark Drakeford, were I to stand outside the Sennedd and incite a bunch of people even less enthused by Drakeford than I am, and they were armed with cable ties, ropes and assorted weaponry to enter the building, it would not look good. If they then entered the chamber with malice aforethought and damaged property, but were thwarted from taking matters further I would be looking at a growing charge sheet. If, sadly in securing the Senedd a South Wales Police Officer and three protestors were killed I would be in Butetown Police Station awaiting my Magistrates appearance prior to being remanded for Crown Court later.
I think a coup to overthrow Drakeford could be manned just from PB. I see BigG in the Trump role there, though, not you. Hope no offence taken.
I reckon I could get both BigG. and the Sleeping Bard on side, and in the building. I am planning the stand on the steps outside pretending it has nothing to do with me. Much like Trump did last week.
Trump tucked himself up safely in the White House.
Now, if he had been stood on the Capitol steps that would have been *really* interesting...
Most obviously - for anyone who still thinks this was a pantomime protest where people got a bit carried away - it shows a group of guys in army gear and equipment entering as an organised squad.
But also - they are entering late. After the tussles with the police at the crowd barriers in the grounds, after the confrontations on the steps, after the protestors had forced their way into the building (leaving their more cautious companions outside to sing the anthem - from interviews it seems these are the ones with enough sense to realise that entering a government building might be career limiting. Some also seem to have been waiting for Trump or someone to arrive to tell them what they were to do).
These guys held back until the building had been breached, before they appeared. They didn't want to risk early arrest or worse, or waste their time if the protestors didn't get inside, nor to be filmed by the world's media. Maybe also they had equipment they didn't want to be standing around with, until it was needed.
Further - they don't appear in the videos that have emerged from inside. They aren't the ones posing for selfies or carrying off souvenirs; they aren't the ones smashing the place up or seen trying to force entry to the chambers. Where are these guys? With the exception of the one (dressed in black) seen with the police-issue zip cuffs, most of these guys manage to stay off camera.
It was a mistake not to arrest people as they came out of the building - for some of the more 'professional' ones may never be identified - unless they are dobbed in by people back home.
But I expect the story of what they were doing, or trying to do, inside will emerge, sooner or later.
The white dude with a Blacks for Trump sign is an interesting distraction.
I particularly like the 18 new steps required for exporting fish to the EU and the 8 steps the imports then have to follow. Unsurprisingly the importers are deciding that other sources that don't require 8 additional steps are easier to buy from.
This is interesting, as it doesn't tally really with what the political media class have mainly made a show of being prepared for. Despite it being just as important, most of the advance news, arguments and public rhetoric have actually been on traffic in, not out.
Unmanaged wild deer herds could soon pose a threat to woodlands and important wildlife habitats in Britain because the commercial market for venison has collapsed during the pandemic.
A very well written and argued article by Alastair, as is usual with his pieces. Unfortunately, it comes from the same mindset that dominates much of the discussion on here which is to ask, when deciding to condemn something or not, "who is doing it?" rather than "is the act wrong?".
First of all, Trump is not a wannabee dictator who dreams of gleaming jackboots marching down Pennsylvania Avenue. His mindset is of a CEO: he's conditioned to giving orders and having them obeyed. It's why business leaders make bad political leaders because they are unaccustomed to the checks and balances of political systems and why he gets mad at SC judges or political appointees not following his whims. But the idea he wants a fascist regime out of the pages of Gilead is fantasy doom-porn thinking on the part of the Democrats who need something to keep their coalition together. It wasn't sinister Government forces that led to a light Police presence at last week's demo, it was the Capitol Police assumed they would not be trouble, which (conversely) is why the National Guard were deployed for BLM rallies, which had a habit of ending in disturbances.
As for impeaching him or not, the reason for saying it would cause division is not the prosecution itself: if he has committed impeachable offences, he should be tried. It is because everyone knows it would be selective and based on targeting the individual involved rather than the act itself is worthy of impeachable. The same people on here who argue most vehemently that Trump is guilty of treason are the same ones who tie themselves in knots arguing why Democrat politicians encouraging BLM protests even given the violence. You want Trump charged with incitement? Sure go ahead. But I think Kamala Harris who said BLM protests should continue to the election, also was recklessly inciting violence, even though she covered her ass with the mealy mouthed "violence is never right". She is a political and ex-AG. She knew how her words about the protests would be interpreted.
And for all those lawyers on here who are so exercised about the constitutional damage Trump has caused, where's your outrage over Nancy Pelosi - who has absolutely no role in this under the US Constitution - calling the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to discuss the nuclear chain of command? Everyone knows it was a stunt but it's a dangerous one. But who of the many on here who get so exercised about little action Trump does criticised something that potentially has very far-reaching consequences?
Read "Why Nations Fail". One of the key points in there for a nation's success or not is that everyone feels as though the rules and laws are fair and applied to all. If there is going to be anything that destroys trust democracy, it is going to be this selective picking of what is right or wrong.
Article 1 of the Constitution absolutely gives Congress role in declaring war, so the grounds for your objection to Pelosi's communication are questionable. Whether it was wise is another matter.
As for judging the individual rather than the act, one might also think you're doing the same thing in seeking to question his impeachment. Given the two thirds majority required in the Senate for such proceedings to succeed, it will take a significant number of Republicans to come to the same judgment. The signs are that they might well do so.
One thing that I haven't seen much mentioned, although it seems perfectly plausible so far, is whether security agencies have been involved in pressuring these tech giants, with these sudden about-faces of policy. Even in this drastic situation, these are a fundamental shift for them. Obviously they wouldn't want any of that to be known, for fear of creating an absolute firestorm, but in a security vacuum where Pence seems to be the one in charge, it look quite plausible to me.
The Lizard People have had a quiet word - obviously.
CNN: A majority of Americans believes Donald Trump should be removed from power before Joe Biden is sworn in to replace him, according to a poll released on Sunday.
In the survey by ABC News and Ipsos, 56% of respondents said Trump should be removed before inauguration day, 20 January.
A higher number, 67%, held Trump responsible for the violence at the US Capitol this week which left five people dead.
Anyone know whether Farage has unequivocally condemned the Capitol outrage yet? It seems to be becoming more apparent by the day that describing Trump as a fascist is not hyperbole. His friend, supporter and fellow admirer of Putin deserved the epithet just as much.
You´d hope for a bit more than a statement of the blindingly obvious. Sadly for Farage- but hilariously for the rest of us- his meal ticket from the US far-right rubber chicken lecture circuit has just gone up in smoke. As for UK politics? A discount Enoch Powell without the after-life in Northern Ireland. Within a year or two, Nigel Who?
And yet he achieved one of the greatest changes in the political landscape of the UK in the last 70 years. The idea he will be forgotten - for better or worse - is laughable.
When I said that he was one of the most successful politicians of the past 50 years the only candidates people put up to show this wasn't so were, as I recall, Nelson Mandela, Margaret Thatcher, and Barack Obama.
Boris Johnson.
Even Steve Baker had a bigger impact in the last couple of years.
Nah Topping is absolutely right on this. Brexit simply wouldn't have happened without Farage banging away about it for years. He forced the Tories into a position where they had to finally address the issue once and for all. Boris may have got it over the line but he wouldn't have even been in the game were it not for Farage.
The LibDems & Tony Blair are to blame for Brexit.
A key mistake was surely the European Parliamentary Elections Act in 1999. Tony Blair's legislation changed the European elections from FPTP to PR (no doubt, the LibDems were cheering).
It was this that gave Nigel Farage has chance -- he was finally elected as an MEP in 1999. And he was able to grow UKIP as a political force with the oxygen of PR.
There is an arguable case that it was the LibDems endlessly blathering on about PR that caused Brexit
(FWIW, I favour PR, but it doesn't usually have the effect that the LibDems want -- see also the Senedd.)
Can someone remind me when the daily updates on vaccination numbers are due to start?
Tomorrow.
It'll be interesting to see if we have vaccinated 2 million last week per Hancock or if it is case we've offered vaccinations to 2 million people.
I think he misspoke / was misreported. It has to be 2 million total, as what he definitely did say was we are now doing 200k people per day (I presume that was probably what they did Friday or Saturday).
Perviously, with the Pfzier vaccine alone, it was something like 350k per week. With massive capacity to do more, if there was vaccine. This week we had 500K plus of Oxford vaccine, I believe.
Since the number to Sunday 3rd was 1.29 million, 2 million total should be achievable by today.
Anyone know whether Farage has unequivocally condemned the Capitol outrage yet? It seems to be becoming more apparent by the day that describing Trump as a fascist is not hyperbole. His friend, supporter and fellow admirer of Putin deserved the epithet just as much.
You´d hope for a bit more than a statement of the blindingly obvious. Sadly for Farage- but hilariously for the rest of us- his meal ticket from the US far-right rubber chicken lecture circuit has just gone up in smoke. As for UK politics? A discount Enoch Powell without the after-life in Northern Ireland. Within a year or two, Nigel Who?
And yet he achieved one of the greatest changes in the political landscape of the UK in the last 70 years. The idea he will be forgotten - for better or worse - is laughable.
When I said that he was one of the most successful politicians of the past 50 years the only candidates people put up to show this wasn't so were, as I recall, Nelson Mandela, Margaret Thatcher, and Barack Obama.
Boris Johnson.
Even Steve Baker had a bigger impact in the last couple of years.
Your kidding, right? Without Nigel there would have been no Brexit. I mean I enjoy discussing with people about this because it is so transparently obvious that I can do something useful, such as ring my aged aunt at the same time as posting about it.
No I am not kidding. Backbenchers were more important than Farage.
Backbenchers were the reason Major struggled with Maastricht rebellions. Backbenchers were the reason Cameron was forced to concede the referendum, before UKIP took off in the polls. Backbenchers were the reason Theresa May failed to get her deal through.
Farage was a noisy bystander jumping on the bandwagon. If it wasn't for the backbenchers then May would have got her deal through, Cameron would never have needed to offer a referendum, Major would not have seen the party torn apart over Maastricht.
This could have happened with or without Farage. It couldn't have happened without backbenchers.
No Nigel no Brexit.
What did Bill Cash achieve? Fuck all.
Wrong.
Cash achieved Brexit.
No Farage and Brexit is still very much an issue because the MPs of the Governing party made it one.
No Tory Brexiteers and Farage is just a loudmouth pub bore.
It was Tory MPs that brought about Brexit, not Farage.
Yes, and no. Tory MPs played a key role in bringing about the referendum, for sure. Although you can make a case that Farage and UKIP both challenging them and infiltrating their local parties were not insignificant contributors.
But Brexit was achieved by the narrow referendum win, and, as Cummo recognised from the outset, this victory was only achieved by locking Cash and his ilk in a basement far from public view, during the campaign.
And Farage and his ilk were locked away too.
There's a reason that Boris was the front man of the campaign and Farage led the Leave.EU sideshow.
Of course. When the need to spin the big con arrives, you need a professional con artist, not an amateur.
Philip was a Remainer until Boris decided which article to publish.
My guess is the coup is pencilled in for 12th May 2021 (a week after a disappointing set of Senedd elections).
The Sunday Times says the government have put out feelers to delay the May elections across the UK, most likely delayed to September.
As was said last week. I still cannot see the necessity given logistical challenges can be handled, but I think a lot of places where elections ar edue would be quite happy to delay, and the government won't care that much so long as it happens this year, so will concede.
There's two major issues, one is the campaigning issue, which means parties cannot campaign as normal and secondly the age of polling station staff/volunteers.
The cleaning process also means it isn't possible to to sufficient cleaning and keep the normal 7am and 10pm window.
Labour want the elections to happen.
However, it is understood that Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, is resistant to moving the elections. A London Labour source said: “The prime minister has promised the most vulnerable people will be vaccinated against Covid-19 by mid-February, which means there is no legitimate reason to consider postponing the elections. Countries around the world have managed to hold elections during the pandemic safely — including the US presidential election.”
People can apply for postal votes if they're concerned about voting in person at a polling station. Those Brian Rose lays aren't going to come without an election Democracy can't hold on forever
Edit: Bets stand with Betfair at least so long as the election takes place in 2021.
CNN: A majority of Americans believes Donald Trump should be removed from power before Joe Biden is sworn in to replace him, according to a poll released on Sunday.
In the survey by ABC News and Ipsos, 56% of respondents said Trump should be removed before inauguration day, 20 January.
A higher number, 67%, held Trump responsible for the violence at the US Capitol this week which left five people dead.
One thing that I haven't seen much mentioned, although it seems perfectly plausible so far, is whether security agencies have been involved in pressuring these tech giants, with these sudden about-faces of policy. Even in this drastic situation, these are a fundamental shift for them. Obviously they wouldn't want any of that to be known, for fear of creating an absolute firestorm, but in a security vacuum where Pence seems to be the one in charge, it look quite plausible to me.
The Lizard People have had a quiet word - obviously.
This is how it would be instantly represented to millions of Trump followers, which is why, if it's played any role, we would be unlikely to hear about it at least for a very long while.
It seems pretty clear that Trump has strongly fascist tendencies - one of the good reasons why he lost the popular vote numerically both in 2016 and 2020. What the term 'fascist' conceals is that certain attitudes common in the world embrace pretty much the same attributes and are just as bad. Terms like 'left' and 'right' don't help much here either; nor does the idea of ideology, for that implies something rational, thoughtful and long term.
Better maybe to look for the common attributes of bad politics wherever it comes from, such as
The use of political violence Suppression of dissent Distancing from the civil democratic process Use of scapegoating Indifference to succession planning Friends and allies who fit a particular pattern Use of 'the lie direct'
The list can be extended of course. The attention, rightly, on the USA should not disguise how everyday and frequent these attributes are in the world and how useless are terms like 'left' and 'right' when dealing with authoritarians, totalitarians, narcissists and psychopaths.
True enough. But most of the worst blighters are right wing.
Nah that's rubbish. Extreme left and extreme right have equally as many evil feckers and no one side can claim to be better than the other. The ones that are better are the ones in the middle - on both left and right - who realise that ideology has its limits and that in the end personal responsibility and care for ones fellow man trumps (if you will the word) any political belief system.
Any belief system taken to its extreme is probably going to end up being dictatorial - I mean look at the one that says love your fellow man and see how badly that has been misused down the centuries.
I would be pretty much certain that between us you and I could match each other's list of evil bastards of the 20th century from the left and the right.
Madge all the way down the rabbit hole and ending up somewhere north of Koolaidsville. Slightly puzzled why he thinks events should be viewed through a conflict resolution lens if he believes those rampaging loons were Antifa?
This is a surprisingly common view, that the storming of the Capitol was an antifa false flag operation, but also a righteous way for patriots to stop the election being stolen.
Speaking to the Guardian on Saturday, Trump’s niece, the psychologist and author Mary Trump, pointed to the political price Republicans may pay for inaction.
“If they don’t vote to convict him,” she said, “they will own this disaster for ever. It will burn them down.
“In less than two weeks, [Trump] won’t have the Oval Office to protect him from lawsuits, bankruptcies and criminal indictments. I don’t know what he’s going to do, but we need to understand he’s capable of doing anything. And the clock is ticking.”
Comments
If I had I been on "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" in 2002, and were asked "Is the UK in the EU" for the £1m I reckon I'd have had to phone a friend
"In the midst of a health crisis, the Élysée Palace explodes its flower budget"
https://www.politis.fr/articles/2021/01/en-pleine-crise-sanitaire-lelysee-explose-son-budget-fleurs-42697/?fbclid=IwAR3mUnqIk-SQcCBkXW2REpoc2lhSwgs5qPnTA5sINBXACe7teP_yaaTE3XU
Mr Musk would be able to help take him somewhere much further away.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-9130971/Crystal-Palaces-Eberechi-Eze-spotted-stands-former-club-QPRs-cup-loss-Fulham.html
https://twitter.com/sundersays/status/1346988965203570688?s=20
Right side of history, here, Philip. Always a thrill when that happens.
https://twitter.com/doctorow/status/1347996799642976256?s=21
But Brexit was achieved by the narrow referendum win, and, as Cummo recognised from the outset, this victory was only achieved by locking Cash and his ilk in a basement far from public view, during the campaign.
A key mistake was surely the European Parliamentary Elections Act in 1999. Tony Blair's legislation changed the European elections from FPTP to PR (no doubt, the LibDems were cheering).
It was this that gave Nigel Farage has chance -- he was finally elected as an MEP in 1999. And he was able to grow UKIP as a political force with the oxygen of PR.
There is an arguable case that it was the LibDems endlessly blathering on about PR that caused Brexit
(FWIW, I favour PR, but it doesn't usually have the effect that the LibDems want -- see also the Senedd.)
It's different for the police.
NZ PR works better.
https://twitter.com/scotfoodjames/status/1348228266784649216
I particularly like the 18 new steps required for exporting fish to the EU and the 8 steps the imports then have to follow. Unsurprisingly the importers are deciding that other sources that don't require 8 additional steps are easier to buy from.
I think @david_herdson got this bang on when he said that Trump secretly hates himself.
It was clearly designed by New Labour for one aim only -- and (unlike in Scotland), it has so far succeeded.
There's a reason that Boris was the front man of the campaign and Farage led the Leave.EU sideshow.
I am sure you would like the R53. The supercharged Chrysler engine is much less prone to failure than the turbocharged Peugeot unit from the R56. It is far more "catchable" than an understeering ADO15. Currently at the bottom of the pit of worthlessness, R53 values are creeping up.
ADO15 has been an excellent investment over the last 5 years. Although, UK cars even if they have been well cared for have usually endured time with the welder's torch. An accident, particularly an impact with something hard is best avoided.
Edit - I remember reading an analysis said that ex military people are more likely to use their guns as police officers than non ex military cops.
Was banned in May and is still showing as banned. Not sure why. He/she was a vivid poster to be sure.
I'm not at all sure that I "hate what he says but would fight to the death for his right to say it".
Farage's only mistake (or rather perhaps his biggest mistake amongst many) was not to realise when he had won and to think he had an importance beyond securing the referendum. To be horribly brutal about it he outgrew his usefulness and became a liability to the Leave side. That is not to say I am not hugely grateful for what he achieved but he needed to know when to stop and accept he had won.
https://gov.wales/ken-skates-ms
My guess is the coup is pencilled in for 12th May 2021 (a week after a disappointing set of Senedd elections).
It'll be interesting to see if we have vaccinated 2 million last week per Hancock or if it is case we've offered vaccinations to 2 million people.
Ford acknowledged that his decision to pardon Nixon cost him the 1976 election. Biden's not stupid.
His put-downs were a thing of beauty though.
Will cleanse and resubmit.
Unhappiness at Germany's slow roll-out growing according to The Guardian (@ 12:35)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perforated_baton
The cleaning process also means it isn't possible to to sufficient cleaning and keep the normal 7am and 10pm window.
Labour want the elections to happen.
However, it is understood that Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, is resistant to moving the elections. A London Labour source said: “The prime minister has promised the most vulnerable people will be vaccinated against Covid-19 by mid-February, which means there is no legitimate reason to consider postponing the elections. Countries around the world have managed to hold elections during the pandemic safely — including the US presidential election.”
Still, we could still have the same vaccine procurement program with a closer relationship with the EU.
No rush....
Now, if he had been stood on the Capitol steps that would have been *really* interesting...
Jeane Freeman hits out at UK Government’s 'political game' over Covid vaccine roll-out
https://www.thenational.scot/news/19000565.jeanne-freeman-hits-uk-governments-political-game-covid-vaccine-rollout/
As for judging the individual rather than the act, one might also think you're doing the same thing in seeking to question his impeachment. Given the two thirds majority required in the Senate for such proceedings to succeed, it will take a significant number of Republicans to come to the same judgment. The signs are that they might well do so.
In the survey by ABC News and Ipsos, 56% of respondents said Trump should be removed before inauguration day, 20 January.
A higher number, 67%, held Trump responsible for the violence at the US Capitol this week which left five people dead.
Since the number to Sunday 3rd was 1.29 million, 2 million total should be achievable by today.
We shall see.
Those Brian Rose lays aren't going to come without an election Democracy can't hold on forever
Edit: Bets stand with Betfair at least so long as the election takes place in 2021.
Any belief system taken to its extreme is probably going to end up being dictatorial - I mean look at the one that says love your fellow man and see how badly that has been misused down the centuries.
I would be pretty much certain that between us you and I could match each other's list of evil bastards of the 20th century from the left and the right.
There's nowt queerer than folk.
https://twitter.com/GordPennycook/status/1347939026775339010?s=09
“If they don’t vote to convict him,” she said, “they will own this disaster for ever. It will burn them down.
“In less than two weeks, [Trump] won’t have the Oval Office to protect him from lawsuits, bankruptcies and criminal indictments. I don’t know what he’s going to do, but we need to understand he’s capable of doing anything. And the clock is ticking.”