All Federal Funding will STOP for any College, School, or University that allows illegal protests. Agitators will be imprisoned/or permanently sent back to the country from which they came. American students will be permanently expelled or, depending on on the crime, arrested. NO MASKS! Thank you for your attention to this matter.
I'm going to show you all the stamp. The official, regal, elaborate imprimatur of His Majesty's Revenue and Customs. The Seal of Royal Approval. This thing that has taken well over a year, five earthly seasons, to be stamped in all in stampiness in the stamp-ready place on the page that has to be stampethed
Prepare to be impressed
Or prepare to remember fondly the old off topic button.
Be sympathetic for poor little @Leon . His shtick has been praising Trump and Farage, and now he doesn't know what to say.
As I said, I approve of much of what Trump is doing domestically - Woke, DEI, migration, elements of DOGE
Then you are a fucking idiot
Everything Trusk is doing domestically is severely damaging. Lots of people will die as a result.
The death toll as a result of liberal policies on things like drugs and immigration is not insignificant so the selective outrage rings hollow.
What death toll?
The defect rate on immigrants (spontaneous self combustion, going mentalist etc) is much lower than the local population. Especially in the US
“Harry: [to Yuri] An Uzi? I'm not from South Central Los fucking Angeles. I didn't come here to shoot twenty black ten year olds in a drive-by. I want a normal gun for a normal person.”
The death toll from the war on drugs is directly linked to the criminalisation - varied quality, ever higher strengths, and insanely toxic brews that can be made in a bathtub. If everyone got their cocaine from Hoffman-La Roche, funeral parlours across Mexico (and many other places) would collapse.
This is a big development. Only recently, there was quite a big rift between market ppl and foreign policy ppl, with the former throwing a party and the latter saying the sky is falling.
Now, a finance friend just messaged me saying “I have never see US assets been considered this toxic”.
people whose literal job was always meant to factor in political risk but who thought "political risk" was restricted to countries they couldn't find on a map
Trump is going to do his nut when some underling explains that the €800 billion the EU is going to spend on defence won't be spent on US weapons, and in fact will likely lead to cancellations of US orders.
The Telegraph has Farage and Badenochs' comments on Vance. Interesting to see that Farage is to the left of Badenoch on this:
Mrs Badenoch, the Tory leader, said: “I know JD Vance quite well. I’ve looked at the comments, I don’t think he actually said that. A lot of people are getting carried away.
“They’re saying loads of things and getting quite animated. Let’s keep cool heads – America is our closest ally. I believe President Trump and JD Vance want peace, they’re looking after their national interest, we need to do so as well.”
But Mr Farage, the Reform leader, said: “JD Vance is wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong. For 20 years in Afghanistan pro rata, our size against America’s, we spent the same amount of money, we put the same number of men and women in. We suffered the same losses.
“We stood by America all through those 20 years putting in exactly the same contribution. And alright, they may be six times bigger but we did our bit. So, on this one JD is wrong.”
I'm confused. I had been assured on here that Badenoch had played a blinder on recent events and Farage was doomed...
The Telegraph has Farage and Badenochs' comments on Vance. Interesting to see that Farage is to the left of Badenoch on this:
Mrs Badenoch, the Tory leader, said: “I know JD Vance quite well. I’ve looked at the comments, I don’t think he actually said that. A lot of people are getting carried away.
“They’re saying loads of things and getting quite animated. Let’s keep cool heads – America is our closest ally. I believe President Trump and JD Vance want peace, they’re looking after their national interest, we need to do so as well.”
But Mr Farage, the Reform leader, said: “JD Vance is wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong. For 20 years in Afghanistan pro rata, our size against America’s, we spent the same amount of money, we put the same number of men and women in. We suffered the same losses.
“We stood by America all through those 20 years putting in exactly the same contribution. And alright, they may be six times bigger but we did our bit. So, on this one JD is wrong.”
Why are Farage's comments to the left of Kemi's? They don't strike me as left wing at all.
When I lived in Southam, one of the local boys was killed in Afghanistan. His name was Private Jeff Doherty and he died under enemy fire two days after his 21st birthday. There was absolute silence - save for the wind rustling through the trees and the tolling church bells - as his coffin came down the High Street. HIs weeping family followed behind and the whole town, heads bowed, lined both sides of the road. They even brought the kids out of the schools, the ones he had attended, to pay their respects. It still brings tears to my eyes remembering it now.
This scene was repeated across the UK countless times, while similar ones happened in many other countries too. All because, for the only time in history, the US invoked NATO Article 5.
If I believed in hell I would be praying for JD Vance and his apologists to burn there for eternity.
Politically, if Labour and the Tories do not have the skill to bury the Trump/Vance/Putin-backing Reform party, they need to dissolve themselves and let someone else have a go
Very sad and a very brave guy.
Article 5 was invoked immediately after 9/11 and as you well know obligates countries to "take such actions as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force".
I think you'll find that the generals and Downing Street needed no encouragement to deploy and to Helmand (Pte Doherty died in 2008), of all places, where it didn't do much except become a self-licking lollipop, heroically bravely fending off attack after attack by the Taliban until eventual withdrawal.
I don't think JD Vance was responsible for that.
Great story, though.
Nobody is saying Vance was responsible for that. We are saying he's either ignorant of the support given to the US or, more likely, wilfully trying to wipe it from the history books because it doesn't fit his warped view of the world.
No that's not what he has said. He used a rhetorical device, likely for consumption at home, about the likely benefits of a military contribution from eg the Canary Islands and then people read into it that he meant the UK and France and he actually clarified that he didn't mean the UK and France.
And the way Southam's heartfelt post read was that he absolutely was holding Vance responsible "If I believed in hell I would be praying for JD Vance and his apologists to burn there for eternity." etc
People read into it the UK and France because it's the UK and France which are the (only?) countries which have given Ukraine the commitment, not the Canary Islands.
So even if it was a rhetorical device made about abstract offers, and for domestic consumption, Vance is VP and should expect his comments to be noted abroad, particularly after this last week; in that context they would have been naive, silly and thoughtless.
But this is not an administration to assume it's mis-speaking when it says something people don't like. Usually the offence caused is the point, especially when it's aimed at someone who's opposing Trump - as Europeans are by not rowing in behind him. Vance meant what he said and the targets he was aiming at were the obvious ones.
Why has he rowed back then? Perhaps he genuinely forgot about other Nato (and non-Nato) contributions in Afghanistan and felt that part was unnecessary - not least because it's a verbal fight he doesn't want. But the insult still stands.
Ever since I got back from Singapore, it's been chilly mornings but glorious afternoons with wall to wall sunshine.
Reminds of the lockdown Spring in 2020.
Indeed - I well remember sitting in the garden in April 2020 enjoying two things - first, the clear air and second, the absence of traffic from the A406.
Halcyon days.
Everyone's pandemic was different. Many hated it, many lost people, for many its a terrible memory best forgotten. Yet for some with nice houses and gardens, jobs that you could WFH (or even those lucky buggers getting paid 80% to do nothing) that spring is a happy memory of lovely weather, mandated 1 hours dog walks and for once a country mostly pulling together.
Didn't last mind...
I liked it at first so long as I quelled the fear of catching Covid and dying. But by the end I was going slightly stir crazy and I was glad when it was over.
Itching to get back to something productive, eh.
You really are in limbo on here, aren't you.
Ah it's Captain Contra. How are we doing? Waking up to things yet?
So what were you itching to get back to after those months of enforced inactivity at home.
After periods of isolation at home for months at a time, I was so desperate to do something "sociable" I got a St Mirren season ticket.
I can't say I have much sympathy with Vance. For some time now he's been dining out on being the archetypal MAGA loudmouth who slags off every other country that isn't the US. Now we're all supposed to give him the benefit of the doubt when he employs clumsy, ambiguous phrasing. Too bad. If he didn't want to be thought a twit he shouldn't have gone out of his way to act like one.
It could be 4D chess. Anti-Americanism in Europe is a stronger force than pro-Putinism and might be enough to get the likes of Mélenchon and Wagenknecht to switch sides.
All Federal Funding will STOP for any College, School, or University that allows illegal protests. Agitators will be imprisoned/or permanently sent back to the country from which they came. American students will be permanently expelled or, depending on on the crime, arrested. NO MASKS! Thank you for your attention to this matter.
You know, I think Vance was right about the US and Europe having different attitudes towards free speech.
What's an illegal protest?
It Trump has his way it will be protesting against racism, against sexism, for equal rights, to protect the environment, for free elections, against famine and hunger, those sort of things.
I'm going to show you all the stamp. The official, regal, elaborate imprimatur of His Majesty's Revenue and Customs. The Seal of Royal Approval. This thing that has taken well over a year, five earthly seasons, to be stamped in all in stampiness in the stamp-ready place on the page that has to be stampethed
Prepare to be impressed
Or prepare to remember fondly the old off topic button.
Be sympathetic for poor little @Leon . His shtick has been praising Trump and Farage, and now he doesn't know what to say.
I think Trump is splendid and right on Woke and DEI, I think he is catastrophic on economics and most foreign policy, and the latter outweighs the former
This is why, before the election, I constructed my elaborate and oft-repeated metaphor: the voter in the USA is like someone stuck on a melting ice floe heading to warmer waters (= the drift to catastrophic Woke-ism etc). However on the ice floe there is also a hungry polar bear - the bear is Trump
The voter has a gun - his vote
What to do? The ice floe on its present course will eventually melt and you will definitely drown, but that will take a while. Right now the proximate, immediate danger is the hungry bear, who could maul or eat you any minute - so there is no choice: you have to shoot the bear, first. Despatch Trump, vote him down, then think about the mortally dangerous drift of the ice floe beneath you
That's what I said before the US election, Trump was the bigger immediate threat
Didn't you also say that voting for Trump was like having a baby.
I've actually found the original comment where I carefully constructed this metaphor. October 2023
"I think Wokeness is much worse than Trump. In all seriousness. You don't understand
However Wokeness is a generational challenge to us all and can only be defeated over decades. Trump is a more proximate and immediate danger, to the most powerful democracy in the West, so Trump must not win in 2024
To adapt an analogy of my own, we are trapped on an ice floe, the ice floe is heading to the warm sea where it will eventually melt and we will definitely drown. The sea current carrying us is: Wokeness
However, sharing this same ice floe with us is a polar bear. That's Trump. It doesn't matter if we manage to steer the ice floe in a different direction if the polar bear comes over and eats several of our limbs in the meantime
Ergo, we have to shoot the polar bear first, then work out how to stop drowning"
This is a big development. Only recently, there was quite a big rift between market ppl and foreign policy ppl, with the former throwing a party and the latter saying the sky is falling.
Now, a finance friend just messaged me saying “I have never see US assets been considered this toxic”.
people whose literal job was always meant to factor in political risk but who thought "political risk" was restricted to countries they couldn't find on a map
Trump is going to do his nut when some underling explains that the €800 billion the EU is going to spend on defence won't be spent on US weapons, and in fact will likely lead to cancellations of US orders.
I really wouldn't want to be an investor in the US defence sector right now: the combination of falling domestic spending, and a significantly reduced likelihood that foreigners will want to buy your weapons is not going to be great for your long term prospects.
I can't say I have much sympathy with Vance. For some time now he's been dining out on being the archetypal MAGA loudmouth who slags off every other country that isn't the US. Now we're all supposed to give him the benefit of the doubt when he employs clumsy, ambiguous phrasing. Too bad. If he didn't want to be thought a twit he shouldn't have gone out of his way to act like one.
He's probably not thought a twit by the people who his comments were intended for. And I doubt many of those people are PB contributors.
The thing I do like in this madness is the upending of the world order in particular for us Brits who, over years and years, and funnily (tragically) enough most exemplified in Afghan and Helmand in particular, believed that the divine right of countries would ensure we were and were perceived as exceptional and we treated other countries accordingly.
That we are bitching and whining like scolded puppies when exactly the same treatment is applied to us is the one ray of sunshine in otherwise uncertain times.
I can't say I have much sympathy with Vance. For some time now he's been dining out on being the archetypal MAGA loudmouth who slags off every other country that isn't the US. Now we're all supposed to give him the benefit of the doubt when he employs clumsy, ambiguous phrasing. Too bad. If he didn't want to be thought a twit he shouldn't have gone out of his way to act like one.
It could be 4D chess. Anti-Americanism in Europe is a stronger force than pro-Putinism and might be enough to get the likes of Mélenchon and Wagenknecht to switch sides.
I think we've learnt by now that it's not 4D chess.
I can't say I have much sympathy with Vance. For some time now he's been dining out on being the archetypal MAGA loudmouth who slags off every other country that isn't the US. Now we're all supposed to give him the benefit of the doubt when he employs clumsy, ambiguous phrasing. Too bad. If he didn't want to be thought a twit he shouldn't have gone out of his way to act like one.
Vance is just a typical bully - gives it out, can't take it. Pathetic.
And in further instances of PB gone mad, now, because Nigel Farage is condemning Vance, he (Farage) is being held up as the model of political acuity and insight.
And in further instances of PB gone mad, now, because Nigel Farage is condemning Vance, he (Farage) is being held up as the model of political acuity and insight.
I wouldn't say that but I reckon he'll be able to thread the needle on Ukraine/USA better than Badenoch tbh.
State visit idea. Invite Vance too. But his programme just includes pubs in Aldershot.
Make that Hereford...
@Leon could be his guide. He genuinely knows the pubs of Hereford very well, including the SAS ones in Bartestree. I believe he was also once known as The Cock of Tupsley.
I can't say I have much sympathy with Vance. For some time now he's been dining out on being the archetypal MAGA loudmouth who slags off every other country that isn't the US. Now we're all supposed to give him the benefit of the doubt when he employs clumsy, ambiguous phrasing. Too bad. If he didn't want to be thought a twit he shouldn't have gone out of his way to act like one.
It could be 4D chess. Anti-Americanism in Europe is a stronger force than pro-Putinism and might be enough to get the likes of Mélenchon and Wagenknecht to switch sides.
I think we've learnt by now that it's not 4D chess.
That part wasn't serious, but the rest of the comment was. Allowing suppressed anti-Americanism to go mainstream in Europe negates a lot of the motivation for pro-Russian sympathies among anti-establishment factions.
I'm going to show you all the stamp. The official, regal, elaborate imprimatur of His Majesty's Revenue and Customs. The Seal of Royal Approval. This thing that has taken well over a year, five earthly seasons, to be stamped in all in stampiness in the stamp-ready place on the page that has to be stampethed
Prepare to be impressed
Or prepare to remember fondly the old off topic button.
Be sympathetic for poor little @Leon . His shtick has been praising Trump and Farage, and now he doesn't know what to say.
I think Trump is splendid and right on Woke and DEI, I think he is catastrophic on economics and most foreign policy, and the latter outweighs the former
This is why, before the election, I constructed my elaborate and oft-repeated metaphor: the voter in the USA is like someone stuck on a melting ice floe heading to warmer waters (= the drift to catastrophic Woke-ism etc). However on the ice floe there is also a hungry polar bear - the bear is Trump
The voter has a gun - his vote
What to do? The ice floe on its present course will eventually melt and you will definitely drown, but that will take a while. Right now the proximate, immediate danger is the hungry bear, who could maul or eat you any minute - so there is no choice: you have to shoot the bear, first. Despatch Trump, vote him down, then think about the mortally dangerous drift of the ice floe beneath you
That's what I said before the US election, Trump was the bigger immediate threat
Didn't you also say that voting for Trump was like having a baby.
I've actually found the original comment where I carefully constructed this metaphor. October 2023
"I think Wokeness is much worse than Trump. In all seriousness. You don't understand
However Wokeness is a generational challenge to us all and can only be defeated over decades. Trump is a more proximate and immediate danger, to the most powerful democracy in the West, so Trump must not win in 2024
To adapt an analogy of my own, we are trapped on an ice floe, the ice floe is heading to the warm sea where it will eventually melt and we will definitely drown. The sea current carrying us is: Wokeness
However, sharing this same ice floe with us is a polar bear. That's Trump. It doesn't matter if we manage to steer the ice floe in a different direction if the polar bear comes over and eats several of our limbs in the meantime
Ergo, we have to shoot the polar bear first, then work out how to stop drowning"
I can't say I have much sympathy with Vance. For some time now he's been dining out on being the archetypal MAGA loudmouth who slags off every other country that isn't the US. Now we're all supposed to give him the benefit of the doubt when he employs clumsy, ambiguous phrasing. Too bad. If he didn't want to be thought a twit he shouldn't have gone out of his way to act like one.
It could be 4D chess. Anti-Americanism in Europe is a stronger force than pro-Putinism and might be enough to get the likes of Mélenchon and Wagenknecht to switch sides.
I think we've learnt by now that it's not 4D chess.
That part wasn't serious, but the rest of the comment was. Allowing suppressed anti-Americanism to go mainstream in Europe negates a lot of the motivation for pro-Russian sympathies among anti-establishment factions.
Back when Trump was first elected in 2016, I posted that we could see a slow reversal of human rights and liberalism in America. Sadly, I was proven correct. If you are different, or even female, you are lesser.
But what I did not expect was for him to make a significant reversal in foreign policy. Not just trying to extort good deals (for the US) out of countries, but actively shafting the countries that have been America's allies for many decades.
And most Americans appear to be just shrugging as the country they claim to love slides, at best, into dictatorship.
Trump is an utter horror show and the US under him can no longer be considered an ally.
Last night the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act (a law which would have stopped men and boys who identify as women to play in women's sports in schools) had a majority in Congress. But it did not get the 60 votes it needed to become law because Democrats refused to support it. Women and girls always lose out, no matter who is in power, because the rights of men matter more.
I think we should embrace this and let dolphins compete in men's swimming competitions. Let dolphins win everything and men always lose. If it's good enough for women it should be good enough for men.
Any sympathy for the trans people who had served the US military well for years being chucked out of the military?
Ever since I got back from Singapore, it's been chilly mornings but glorious afternoons with wall to wall sunshine.
Reminds of the lockdown Spring in 2020.
Indeed - I well remember sitting in the garden in April 2020 enjoying two things - first, the clear air and second, the absence of traffic from the A406.
Halcyon days.
Everyone's pandemic was different. Many hated it, many lost people, for many its a terrible memory best forgotten. Yet for some with nice houses and gardens, jobs that you could WFH (or even those lucky buggers getting paid 80% to do nothing) that spring is a happy memory of lovely weather, mandated 1 hours dog walks and for once a country mostly pulling together.
Didn't last mind...
I liked it at first so long as I quelled the fear of catching Covid and dying. But by the end I was going slightly stir crazy and I was glad when it was over.
Itching to get back to something productive, eh.
You really are in limbo on here, aren't you.
Ah it's Captain Contra. How are we doing? Waking up to things yet?
So what were you itching to get back to after those months of enforced inactivity at home.
After periods of isolation at home for months at a time, I was so desperate to do something "sociable" I got a St Mirren season ticket.
And in further instances of PB gone mad, now, because Nigel Farage is condemning Vance, he (Farage) is being held up as the model of political acuity and insight.
Remember that your level of tribalism is unusual. If Farage does something right, I think most people would be happy to commend him for it, particularly given the political cost he will incur.
Ever since I got back from Singapore, it's been chilly mornings but glorious afternoons with wall to wall sunshine.
Reminds of the lockdown Spring in 2020.
Indeed - I well remember sitting in the garden in April 2020 enjoying two things - first, the clear air and second, the absence of traffic from the A406.
Halcyon days.
Everyone's pandemic was different. Many hated it, many lost people, for many its a terrible memory best forgotten. Yet for some with nice houses and gardens, jobs that you could WFH (or even those lucky buggers getting paid 80% to do nothing) that spring is a happy memory of lovely weather, mandated 1 hours dog walks and for once a country mostly pulling together.
Didn't last mind...
I liked it at first so long as I quelled the fear of catching Covid and dying. But by the end I was going slightly stir crazy and I was glad when it was over.
Itching to get back to something productive, eh.
You really are in limbo on here, aren't you.
Ah it's Captain Contra. How are we doing? Waking up to things yet?
So what were you itching to get back to after those months of enforced inactivity at home.
The simple things. A pint in the sun was probably tops.
LOL you really are a lost soul.
My advice: relax, no need to try so hard on here, just be yourself.
What if one’s a lairy type that enjoys sneering at other people’s opinions as low information bollocks while bellowing that one’s own low information bollox are nestling beneath the cat’s pyjamas, should one still keep on being true to thyne own self? Asking for myself obviously.
And in further instances of PB gone mad, now, because Nigel Farage is condemning Vance, he (Farage) is being held up as the model of political acuity and insight.
By whom ?
The only insight demonstrated is a sudden realisation he might be losing votes. Even Russophile Marine le Pen has just cottoned on to that.
I can't say I have much sympathy with Vance. For some time now he's been dining out on being the archetypal MAGA loudmouth who slags off every other country that isn't the US. Now we're all supposed to give him the benefit of the doubt when he employs clumsy, ambiguous phrasing. Too bad. If he didn't want to be thought a twit he shouldn't have gone out of his way to act like one.
It could be 4D chess. Anti-Americanism in Europe is a stronger force than pro-Putinism and might be enough to get the likes of Mélenchon and Wagenknecht to switch sides.
I think we've learnt by now that it's not 4D chess.
And in further instances of PB gone mad, now, because Nigel Farage is condemning Vance, he (Farage) is being held up as the model of political acuity and insight.
Only by HY. The rest of us still have him marked down as a treacherous ****!
State visit idea. Invite Vance too. But his programme just includes pubs in Aldershot.
Make that Hereford...
@Leon could be his guide. He genuinely knows the pubs of Hereford very well, including the SAS ones in Bartestree. I believe he was also once known as The Cock of Tupsley.
What colour is the boathouse at Hereford?
A mix of brick, stained wood weatherboarding, glass and some blue painted bits.
I can't say I have much sympathy with Vance. For some time now he's been dining out on being the archetypal MAGA loudmouth who slags off every other country that isn't the US. Now we're all supposed to give him the benefit of the doubt when he employs clumsy, ambiguous phrasing. Too bad. If he didn't want to be thought a twit he shouldn't have gone out of his way to act like one.
It could be 4D chess. Anti-Americanism in Europe is a stronger force than pro-Putinism and might be enough to get the likes of Mélenchon and Wagenknecht to switch sides.
I think we've learnt by now that it's not 4D chess.
That part wasn't serious, but the rest of the comment was. Allowing suppressed anti-Americanism to go mainstream in Europe negates a lot of the motivation for pro-Russian sympathies among anti-establishment factions.
You blaming it all on LuckyGuy, then ?
I am not anti-American at all - I have merely questioned the level of compliance with their wishes shown by our own political leaders. Which is something we're all apparently saying now.
This is a big development. Only recently, there was quite a big rift between market ppl and foreign policy ppl, with the former throwing a party and the latter saying the sky is falling.
Now, a finance friend just messaged me saying “I have never see US assets been considered this toxic”.
people whose literal job was always meant to factor in political risk but who thought "political risk" was restricted to countries they couldn't find on a map
Trump is going to do his nut when some underling explains that the €800 billion the EU is going to spend on defence won't be spent on US weapons, and in fact will likely lead to cancellations of US orders.
I really wouldn't want to be an investor in the US defence sector right now: the combination of falling domestic spending, and a significantly reduced likelihood that foreigners will want to buy your weapons is not going to be great for your long term prospects.
Worse they can’t adopt their usual approach of purchasing foreign competitors to resolve knowledge gaps because no European country is going to allow US companies purchase local defence (or probably any) company
I'm going to show you all the stamp. The official, regal, elaborate imprimatur of His Majesty's Revenue and Customs. The Seal of Royal Approval. This thing that has taken well over a year, five earthly seasons, to be stamped in all in stampiness in the stamp-ready place on the page that has to be stampethed
Prepare to be impressed
Or prepare to remember fondly the old off topic button.
Be sympathetic for poor little @Leon . His shtick has been praising Trump and Farage, and now he doesn't know what to say.
I think Trump is splendid and right on Woke and DEI, I think he is catastrophic on economics and most foreign policy, and the latter outweighs the former
This is why, before the election, I constructed my elaborate and oft-repeated metaphor: the voter in the USA is like someone stuck on a melting ice floe heading to warmer waters (= the drift to catastrophic Woke-ism etc). However on the ice floe there is also a hungry polar bear - the bear is Trump
The voter has a gun - his vote
What to do? The ice floe on its present course will eventually melt and you will definitely drown, but that will take a while. Right now the proximate, immediate danger is the hungry bear, who could maul or eat you any minute - so there is no choice: you have to shoot the bear, first. Despatch Trump, vote him down, then think about the mortally dangerous drift of the ice floe beneath you
That's what I said before the US election, Trump was the bigger immediate threat
Didn't you also say that voting for Trump was like having a baby.
I've actually found the original comment where I carefully constructed this metaphor. October 2023
"I think Wokeness is much worse than Trump. In all seriousness. You don't understand
However Wokeness is a generational challenge to us all and can only be defeated over decades. Trump is a more proximate and immediate danger, to the most powerful democracy in the West, so Trump must not win in 2024
To adapt an analogy of my own, we are trapped on an ice floe, the ice floe is heading to the warm sea where it will eventually melt and we will definitely drown. The sea current carrying us is: Wokeness
However, sharing this same ice floe with us is a polar bear. That's Trump. It doesn't matter if we manage to steer the ice floe in a different direction if the polar bear comes over and eats several of our limbs in the meantime
Ergo, we have to shoot the polar bear first, then work out how to stop drowning"
NEW: Kemi Badenoch slapped down Alicia Kearns at shadow cabinet today, I’m told.
Alicia had called for the Trump state visit to be postponed.
Kemi said you can’t have shadow ministers freelancing on defence in the media, I’m told.
She does have a point. I mean I think her position - and that of Starmer - is wrong. We should not be inviting Trump. But she is also right that all the parties need to hold a line. If you are minister or shadow minister then you stick to the party line or resign and have your say. Otherwise when the situation is reversed you can have no criticism when another minister decides that Trump should be invited and tells everyone so.
I can't say I have much sympathy with Vance. For some time now he's been dining out on being the archetypal MAGA loudmouth who slags off every other country that isn't the US. Now we're all supposed to give him the benefit of the doubt when he employs clumsy, ambiguous phrasing. Too bad. If he didn't want to be thought a twit he shouldn't have gone out of his way to act like one.
It could be 4D chess. Anti-Americanism in Europe is a stronger force than pro-Putinism and might be enough to get the likes of Mélenchon and Wagenknecht to switch sides.
I think we've learnt by now that it's not 4D chess.
I can't say I have much sympathy with Vance. For some time now he's been dining out on being the archetypal MAGA loudmouth who slags off every other country that isn't the US. Now we're all supposed to give him the benefit of the doubt when he employs clumsy, ambiguous phrasing. Too bad. If he didn't want to be thought a twit he shouldn't have gone out of his way to act like one.
It could be 4D chess. Anti-Americanism in Europe is a stronger force than pro-Putinism and might be enough to get the likes of Mélenchon and Wagenknecht to switch sides.
I think we've learnt by now that it's not 4D chess.
State visit idea. Invite Vance too. But his programme just includes pubs in Aldershot.
Make that Hereford...
@Leon could be his guide. He genuinely knows the pubs of Hereford very well, including the SAS ones in Bartestree. I believe he was also once known as The Cock of Tupsley.
What colour is the boathouse at Hereford?
A mix of brick, stained wood weatherboarding, glass and some blue painted bits.
The blue bits used to be white. It's very confusing.
I can't say I have much sympathy with Vance. For some time now he's been dining out on being the archetypal MAGA loudmouth who slags off every other country that isn't the US. Now we're all supposed to give him the benefit of the doubt when he employs clumsy, ambiguous phrasing. Too bad. If he didn't want to be thought a twit he shouldn't have gone out of his way to act like one.
It could be 4D chess. Anti-Americanism in Europe is a stronger force than pro-Putinism and might be enough to get the likes of Mélenchon and Wagenknecht to switch sides.
I think we've learnt by now that it's not 4D chess.
I can't say I have much sympathy with Vance. For some time now he's been dining out on being the archetypal MAGA loudmouth who slags off every other country that isn't the US. Now we're all supposed to give him the benefit of the doubt when he employs clumsy, ambiguous phrasing. Too bad. If he didn't want to be thought a twit he shouldn't have gone out of his way to act like one.
It could be 4D chess. Anti-Americanism in Europe is a stronger force than pro-Putinism and might be enough to get the likes of Mélenchon and Wagenknecht to switch sides.
I think we've learnt by now that it's not 4D chess.
I can't say I have much sympathy with Vance. For some time now he's been dining out on being the archetypal MAGA loudmouth who slags off every other country that isn't the US. Now we're all supposed to give him the benefit of the doubt when he employs clumsy, ambiguous phrasing. Too bad. If he didn't want to be thought a twit he shouldn't have gone out of his way to act like one.
It could be 4D chess. Anti-Americanism in Europe is a stronger force than pro-Putinism and might be enough to get the likes of Mélenchon and Wagenknecht to switch sides.
I think we've learnt by now that it's not 4D chess.
Is there such a thing as 1D chess?
It'd be pretty limited. A lot of castling maybe.
Philosophical question: in 0D chess, is every piece a pawn or is every piece a queen?
This is a big development. Only recently, there was quite a big rift between market ppl and foreign policy ppl, with the former throwing a party and the latter saying the sky is falling.
Now, a finance friend just messaged me saying “I have never see US assets been considered this toxic”.
people whose literal job was always meant to factor in political risk but who thought "political risk" was restricted to countries they couldn't find on a map
Trump is going to do his nut when some underling explains that the €800 billion the EU is going to spend on defence won't be spent on US weapons, and in fact will likely lead to cancellations of US orders.
I really wouldn't want to be an investor in the US defence sector right now: the combination of falling domestic spending, and a significantly reduced likelihood that foreigners will want to buy your weapons is not going to be great for your long term prospects.
Plus also your domestic customer(s) have started to notice the pyramid of bullshit they are supporting.
This is a big development. Only recently, there was quite a big rift between market ppl and foreign policy ppl, with the former throwing a party and the latter saying the sky is falling.
Now, a finance friend just messaged me saying “I have never see US assets been considered this toxic”.
people whose literal job was always meant to factor in political risk but who thought "political risk" was restricted to countries they couldn't find on a map
Trump is going to do his nut when some underling explains that the €800 billion the EU is going to spend on defence won't be spent on US weapons, and in fact will likely lead to cancellations of US orders.
Until Europe has a current generation BMD system, they'll still be buying Patriots. We could get on the phone to S Korea, but they have to first satisfy their domestic requirements.
I can't say I have much sympathy with Vance. For some time now he's been dining out on being the archetypal MAGA loudmouth who slags off every other country that isn't the US. Now we're all supposed to give him the benefit of the doubt when he employs clumsy, ambiguous phrasing. Too bad. If he didn't want to be thought a twit he shouldn't have gone out of his way to act like one.
It could be 4D chess. Anti-Americanism in Europe is a stronger force than pro-Putinism and might be enough to get the likes of Mélenchon and Wagenknecht to switch sides.
I think we've learnt by now that it's not 4D chess.
So my 70th birthday celebrations are coming to an end on Saturday after 6 months of celebrating. But what a finale. My wife bid and won a holiday property in Southwold in an auction. My first reaction was why? We have a house here. But it is absolutely magnificent and friends and family have been coming and going all week and the sun has been out constantly.
And in the evening we sit around the fire reading out the day's posts from @leon and roll around the floor laughing like the aliens in the Smash adverts.
And when I return on Saturday, if the sun is still shining I will be getting the Cobra out for its first spin with me as it's new owner. I'm feeling rather smug at the moment.
Two quick remarks about NAFTA: It was proposed by Ronald Reagan, negotiated by George H. W. Bush, and confirmed in the Senate, thanks in part to the leadership of Bill Clinton. (Clinton favored freer trade, as a traditional southern Democrat would.)
Second, so far as I know, it has never been particularly popular in Canada, Mexico, or the United States.
The Canary Islanders would be a genuinely interesting military force to deploy in the Ukrainian War, especially on the Dnieper front, south of Kherson
Why?
For a start they speak a weird kind of "whistling language" - a rare form of communication which has evolved in mountainous areas, as high noises carry further in deep valleys and mighty peaks. I heard it once on the rugged Canarian island of La Gomera, where they whistle the ancient "tongue" of "silbo" - it is a haunting sound, floating down the gorges and ravines, especially on still, warm, darkly moonlit evenings
As the area around Kherson and the lower Dnieper is notoriously flat, this language of theirs would be completely useless and drowned out by any ambient sound, eg the wind in the steppes, or an ant on a walk
Furthermore, the Canary Islanders - the so-called Guanches - are now entirely extinct (arguably making it easier to insert them on to the battlefield, as they would require no transport)
This would confront Putin's forces with an army of soldiers that does not exist, speaking an eerie whistled language that cannot be heard. This may frighten Jonny Russian so much he deserts Ukraine entirely, leaving Kyiv victorious
I know he misses more often than he hits but I do like this piece from AEP today. I hope he is right about what will be done as well as about what should be done.
This is a big development. Only recently, there was quite a big rift between market ppl and foreign policy ppl, with the former throwing a party and the latter saying the sky is falling.
Now, a finance friend just messaged me saying “I have never see US assets been considered this toxic”.
people whose literal job was always meant to factor in political risk but who thought "political risk" was restricted to countries they couldn't find on a map
Trump is going to do his nut when some underling explains that the €800 billion the EU is going to spend on defence won't be spent on US weapons, and in fact will likely lead to cancellations of US orders.
Until Europe has a current generation BMD system, they'll still be buying Patriots. We could get on the phone to S Korea, but they have to first satisfy their domestic requirements.
Land based Astor 30 and Sampson radar (see Type 45 destroyer) have been tested against ballistic targets -15 years ago.
I know he misses more often than he hits but I do like this piece from AEP today. I hope he is right about what will be done as well as about what should be done.
I can't say I have much sympathy with Vance. For some time now he's been dining out on being the archetypal MAGA loudmouth who slags off every other country that isn't the US. Now we're all supposed to give him the benefit of the doubt when he employs clumsy, ambiguous phrasing. Too bad. If he didn't want to be thought a twit he shouldn't have gone out of his way to act like one.
It could be 4D chess. Anti-Americanism in Europe is a stronger force than pro-Putinism and might be enough to get the likes of Mélenchon and Wagenknecht to switch sides.
I think we've learnt by now that it's not 4D chess.
Time being the 4th dimension all activities are in a sense 4d, so it's 5d chess that JD Vance is playing with this deliberate stoking of anti-Americanism in Europe to encourage the populists to join the mainstream in rearming the continent against Russia thus getting America off the hook and able to declare peace with honour in Ukraine whilst saving huge sums of money. He's not just a pretty face, Vance.
If Mark Carney becomes the new Canadian PM on Sunday, do they have a parliamentary seat lined up for him?
I hear that his rival Chrystia Freeland proposes a 100% tariff on the import of Tesla vehicles - I hope that Carney would also adopt this excellent proposal.
I'm going to show you all the stamp. The official, regal, elaborate imprimatur of His Majesty's Revenue and Customs. The Seal of Royal Approval. This thing that has taken well over a year, five earthly seasons, to be stamped in all in stampiness in the stamp-ready place on the page that has to be stampethed
Prepare to be impressed
Or prepare to remember fondly the old off topic button.
Be sympathetic for poor little @Leon . His shtick has been praising Trump and Farage, and now he doesn't know what to say.
I think Trump is splendid and right on Woke and DEI, I think he is catastrophic on economics and most foreign policy, and the latter outweighs the former
This is why, before the election, I constructed my elaborate and oft-repeated metaphor: the voter in the USA is like someone stuck on a melting ice floe heading to warmer waters (= the drift to catastrophic Woke-ism etc). However on the ice floe there is also a hungry polar bear - the bear is Trump
The voter has a gun - his vote
What to do? The ice floe on its present course will eventually melt and you will definitely drown, but that will take a while. Right now the proximate, immediate danger is the hungry bear, who could maul or eat you any minute - so there is no choice: you have to shoot the bear, first. Despatch Trump, vote him down, then think about the mortally dangerous drift of the ice floe beneath you
That's what I said before the US election, Trump was the bigger immediate threat
Didn't you also say that voting for Trump was like having a baby.
I've actually found the original comment where I carefully constructed this metaphor. October 2023
"I think Wokeness is much worse than Trump. In all seriousness. You don't understand
However Wokeness is a generational challenge to us all and can only be defeated over decades. Trump is a more proximate and immediate danger, to the most powerful democracy in the West, so Trump must not win in 2024
To adapt an analogy of my own, we are trapped on an ice floe, the ice floe is heading to the warm sea where it will eventually melt and we will definitely drown. The sea current carrying us is: Wokeness
However, sharing this same ice floe with us is a polar bear. That's Trump. It doesn't matter if we manage to steer the ice floe in a different direction if the polar bear comes over and eats several of our limbs in the meantime
Ergo, we have to shoot the polar bear first, then work out how to stop drowning"
Who could Zelensky sign a mineral deal with that would piss of Trumpski the most?
Those countries that support Ukraine at this point - Europe primarily but not exclusively
Zelensky should sign a mineral deal with the US but only for those bits of the country that are currently under Russian control. So the US gets nothing until they are liberated
Two quick remarks about NAFTA: It was proposed by Ronald Reagan, negotiated by George H. W. Bush, and confirmed in the Senate, thanks in part to the leadership of Bill Clinton. (Clinton favored freer trade, as a traditional southern Democrat would.)
Second, so far as I know, it has never been particularly popular in Canada, Mexico, or the United States.
In Mexico, populists argue about the nature of the deal. But the enormous boost that NAFTA gave to the Mexican economy is accepted across politics. Ending it would collapse a swathe of the Mexican economy (and do massive damage in the US).
If Mark Carney becomes the new Canadian PM on Sunday, do they have a parliamentary seat lined up for him?
I hear that his rival Chrystia Freeland proposes a 100% tariff on the import of Tesla vehicles - I hope that Carney would also adopt this excellent proposal.
You don't need a seat to be Canadian PM, John Turner was PM for 4 months without being in the Commons in 1984 until he lost the election to Mulroney, though he did win a seat at that election
I know he misses more often than he hits but I do like this piece from AEP today. I hope he is right about what will be done as well as about what should be done.
I can't say I have much sympathy with Vance. For some time now he's been dining out on being the archetypal MAGA loudmouth who slags off every other country that isn't the US. Now we're all supposed to give him the benefit of the doubt when he employs clumsy, ambiguous phrasing. Too bad. If he didn't want to be thought a twit he shouldn't have gone out of his way to act like one.
It could be 4D chess. Anti-Americanism in Europe is a stronger force than pro-Putinism and might be enough to get the likes of Mélenchon and Wagenknecht to switch sides.
I think we've learnt by now that it's not 4D chess.
Is there such a thing as 1D chess?
It'd be pretty limited. A lot of castling maybe.
Philosophical question: in 0D chess, is every piece a pawn or is every piece a queen?
AI summary by IvyPanda The text discusses the rise of an authoritarian society dominated by a billionaire class, highlighting the manipulation of power by technology corporations. It reflects on the influence of figures like Tim Cook, Bob Iger, and Mark Zuckerberg, who prioritize profit and control over social responsibility. The author draws parallels between modern America and Plato's concept of oligarchy, suggesting that while oligarchs exist, not all societies are governed by them. The text critiques the belief that the wealthy are inherently wise leaders, arguing that their self-serving nature leads to societal destruction. It touches on the historical context of oligarchy and its consequences, using examples from ancient Greece. The narrative describes how the collapse of communism in Russia led to the emergence of new oligarchs, who exploited privatization to gain wealth. The author contrasts the idealistic promises of technological progress with the harsh realities faced by millennials and younger generations. It emphasizes that dreams of a sci-fi future have been twisted by billionaire interests into a dystopian present. Figures like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs are portrayed as architects of this new reality, leveraging technology to enhance their power while exploiting workers. The text warns that the current technocratic elite, represented by individuals like Elon Musk, aim to control not just labor and economy but human consciousness itself, culminating in a vision of technofeudalism where the masses own nothing and are entirely dependent on the oligarchs.
VP Vance says a mineral deal is still on the table
“Yeah, I certainly do. And I think the President is still committed to the mineral deal. I think we've heard some positive things, but not yet, of course, a signature from our friends in Ukraine...”
Two quick remarks about NAFTA: It was proposed by Ronald Reagan, negotiated by George H. W. Bush, and confirmed in the Senate, thanks in part to the leadership of Bill Clinton. (Clinton favored freer trade, as a traditional southern Democrat would.)
Second, so far as I know, it has never been particularly popular in Canada, Mexico, or the United States.
In Mexico, populists argue about the nature of the deal. But the enormous boost that NAFTA gave to the Mexican economy is accepted across politics. Ending it would collapse a swathe of the Mexican economy (and do massive damage in the US).
NAFTA doesn't exist any more. It was renegotiated and superceded by USMCA in 2020. I doubt USMCA will last much longer as the US is now (as of today) in breach of the agreement because of the Trump Tariffs.
Two quick remarks about NAFTA: It was proposed by Ronald Reagan, negotiated by George H. W. Bush, and confirmed in the Senate, thanks in part to the leadership of Bill Clinton. (Clinton favored freer trade, as a traditional southern Democrat would.)
Second, so far as I know, it has never been particularly popular in Canada, Mexico, or the United States.
In Mexico, populists argue about the nature of the deal. But the enormous boost that NAFTA gave to the Mexican economy is accepted across politics. Ending it would collapse a swathe of the Mexican economy (and do massive damage in the US).
It is worth remembering that, prior to 2016, southern border crossings had come down dramatically. They were at a fraction of the level they were in the 1990s, when they were mostly poor Mexicans trying to get to the US to work.
One of the reasons why the US was so keen on NAFTA was to revitalize the Mexican economy, and make becoming an illegal immigrant to the US much less attractive. And from that perspective, it was a big success.
The recent wave of migrant crossings (which started under Trump I, before becoming a crescendo under Biden) is mostly non-Mexicans.
I can't say I have much sympathy with Vance. For some time now he's been dining out on being the archetypal MAGA loudmouth who slags off every other country that isn't the US. Now we're all supposed to give him the benefit of the doubt when he employs clumsy, ambiguous phrasing. Too bad. If he didn't want to be thought a twit he shouldn't have gone out of his way to act like one.
It could be 4D chess. Anti-Americanism in Europe is a stronger force than pro-Putinism and might be enough to get the likes of Mélenchon and Wagenknecht to switch sides.
I think we've learnt by now that it's not 4D chess.
VP Vance says a mineral deal is still on the table
“Yeah, I certainly do. And I think the President is still committed to the mineral deal. I think we've heard some positive things, but not yet, of course, a signature from our friends in Ukraine...”
A text to all Tory MPs sent by Tory chief whip Rebecca Harris, and first reported by the Spectator, reads: “We understand that there are many concerns about the unfolding events around Ukraine and US involvement.
“We do not need to tweet all of our thoughts in real time. When it comes to defence and national security, we need to raise the threshold for what needs to be said publicly and ensure the facts are clear first.”
Bloody hell, some actually useful leadership from the Tories. MPs need to STFU and stop posting the first thing that comes into their idiotic brains on social media.
This is a big development. Only recently, there was quite a big rift between market ppl and foreign policy ppl, with the former throwing a party and the latter saying the sky is falling.
Now, a finance friend just messaged me saying “I have never see US assets been considered this toxic”.
people whose literal job was always meant to factor in political risk but who thought "political risk" was restricted to countries they couldn't find on a map
Trump is going to do his nut when some underling explains that the €800 billion the EU is going to spend on defence won't be spent on US weapons, and in fact will likely lead to cancellations of US orders.
Until Europe has a current generation BMD system, they'll still be buying Patriots. We could get on the phone to S Korea, but they have to first satisfy their domestic requirements.
Land based Astor 30 and Sampson radar (see Type 45 destroyer) have been tested against ballistic targets -15 years ago.
Yes, they're oldish - and a bit slow compared to Patriot, I think ? The new version is a year off, and initial production is already earmarked for France.
SAMP/T is in use by Ukraine, reportedly with some success, but we don't have the stocks to replace Patriot. Certainly not this year.
That's the kind of thing which made Ukraine so keen to have some US security commitment.
I know he misses more often than he hits but I do like this piece from AEP today. I hope he is right about what will be done as well as about what should be done.
The details might be awry, but the sentiment is correct. Europe has to re-arm, and it is a convenient time to do it, as European industry is about to fall off a cliff, due to Chinese competition etc
And speaking as a Leaver, I am perfectly happy indeed eager for us to do this with our European friends, plus Canada, Oz, etc
This was true BEFORE Trump, Trump has just accelerated the inevitable
There will be a painful schism inside the EU as countries like Hungary and Slovakia, and maybe Austria and the parasitic Irish complain, but that's their problem. We Brexited
Vance derangement syndrome is in danger of becoming a thing. Heaven knows there is enough wrong with the American regime without deliberately grasping the wrong end of the stick.
It was like this during the campaign when it became impossible to call out Trump's brain-freeze moments because it was drowned out by all the numpties pointing out his shark schtick.
So who was he dissing ?
The knob.
Hard to think of a European nation that didn't do *something* in Afghanistan, for instance.
I know he misses more often than he hits but I do like this piece from AEP today. I hope he is right about what will be done as well as about what should be done.
I know he misses more often than he hits but I do like this piece from AEP today. I hope he is right about what will be done as well as about what should be done.
It’s weird to read an AEP piece that I 100% agree with.
This is the perfect time for German and Italian car companies (who aren’t doing well with the move to electric) to move into a new world of defense procurement
I can easily see €500bn-1tn in defense spending not going to the USA while demand for other US exports also withers away
AI summary by IvyPandahttps://ivypanda.com/tools/online-text-summarizer/ The text discusses George Orwell's true fears as expressed in his works, particularly in 1984, where he warns against the rise of oligarchies and totalitarianism that can emerge from the misuse of power by superstates. Orwell's concerns stemmed from his experiences with socialism and fascism, leading him to believe that the concentration of power in the hands of a few elite individuals poses a significant threat to democracy and freedom. The modern political landscape is compared to Orwell's vision, highlighting the dangers of technological oligarchies and the manipulation of ideologies to maintain control over the populace.
I can't say I have much sympathy with Vance. For some time now he's been dining out on being the archetypal MAGA loudmouth who slags off every other country that isn't the US. Now we're all supposed to give him the benefit of the doubt when he employs clumsy, ambiguous phrasing. Too bad. If he didn't want to be thought a twit he shouldn't have gone out of his way to act like one.
It could be 4D chess. Anti-Americanism in Europe is a stronger force than pro-Putinism and might be enough to get the likes of Mélenchon and Wagenknecht to switch sides.
I think we've learnt by now that it's not 4D chess.
Is there such a thing as 1D chess?
That would be great to watch.
White can always force a win, so it would be rather boring actually.
Who could Zelensky sign a mineral deal with that would piss of Trumpski the most?
Those countries that support Ukraine at this point - Europe primarily but not exclusively
Zelensky should sign a mineral deal with the US but only for those bits of the country that are currently under Russian control. So the US gets nothing until they are liberated
Should have taken the same route with the State Visit “King Charles looks forward to welcoming President Trunp for a full state visit as soon as President Trump has successfully negotiated a peace deal with the return of lost territory and guaranteed the security of the future of Ukraine.
His majesty has no doubt that President Trump is the person who can achieve this and wouldn’t like him to be embarrassed by failing and this missing jelly and ice cream at Buckingham Palace.”
Vance: There is this crazy idea in the Democratic Party that if you just repeat insane ideas, eventually the American people are going to believe them. https://x.com/Acyn/status/1896750084693635324
Two quick remarks about NAFTA: It was proposed by Ronald Reagan, negotiated by George H. W. Bush, and confirmed in the Senate, thanks in part to the leadership of Bill Clinton. (Clinton favored freer trade, as a traditional southern Democrat would.)
Second, so far as I know, it has never been particularly popular in Canada, Mexico, or the United States.
In Mexico, populists argue about the nature of the deal. But the enormous boost that NAFTA gave to the Mexican economy is accepted across politics. Ending it would collapse a swathe of the Mexican economy (and do massive damage in the US).
It did a lot for manufacturing in the border strip, but US agribusiness flooded Mexico with cheap grain etc, causing millions of peasant farmers went out of business.
The enormous boost wasn't evenly distributed on either side of the border, with winners and lovers.
I can't say I have much sympathy with Vance. For some time now he's been dining out on being the archetypal MAGA loudmouth who slags off every other country that isn't the US. Now we're all supposed to give him the benefit of the doubt when he employs clumsy, ambiguous phrasing. Too bad. If he didn't want to be thought a twit he shouldn't have gone out of his way to act like one.
It could be 4D chess. Anti-Americanism in Europe is a stronger force than pro-Putinism and might be enough to get the likes of Mélenchon and Wagenknecht to switch sides.
I think we've learnt by now that it's not 4D chess.
I know he misses more often than he hits but I do like this piece from AEP today. I hope he is right about what will be done as well as about what should be done.
It’s weird to read an AEP piece that I 100% agree with.
This is the perfect time for German and Italian car companies (who aren’t doing well with the move to electric) to move into a new world of defense procurement
I have an Italian electric car, and it's surprisingly good! We got the new Fiat 500e, and it's the best non-Tesla, non-Rivian I've ever driven. (It beats the execrable Ford e-Mustang into a crooked hat.)
I know he misses more often than he hits but I do like this piece from AEP today. I hope he is right about what will be done as well as about what should be done.
@ZelenskyyUa I would like to reiterate Ukraine’s commitment to peace.
None of us wants an endless war. Ukraine is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer. Nobody wants peace more than Ukrainians. My team and I stand ready to work under President Trump’s strong leadership to get a peace that lasts.
We are ready to work fast to end the war, and the first stages could be the release of prisoners and truce in the sky — ban on missiles, long-ranged drones, bombs on energy and other civilian infrastructure — and truce in the sea immediately, if Russia will do the same. Then we want to move very fast through all next stages and to work with the US to agree a strong final deal.
We do really value how much America has done to help Ukraine maintain its sovereignty and independence. And we remember the moment when things changed when President Trump provided Ukraine with Javelins. We are grateful for this.
Our meeting in Washington, at the White House on Friday, did not go the way it was supposed to be. It is regrettable that it happened this way. It is time to make things right. We would like future cooperation and communication to be constructive.
Regarding the agreement on minerals and security, Ukraine is ready to sign it in any time and in any convenient format. We see this agreement as a step toward greater security and solid security guarantees, and I truly hope it will work effectively.
I know he misses more often than he hits but I do like this piece from AEP today. I hope he is right about what will be done as well as about what should be done.
It’s weird to read an AEP piece that I 100% agree with.
This is the perfect time for German and Italian car companies (who aren’t doing well with the move to electric) to move into a new world of defense procurement
Was the peace dividend actually an economic curse for Western Europe that lies at the root of our falling behing the US and China in technology?
I can't say I have much sympathy with Vance. For some time now he's been dining out on being the archetypal MAGA loudmouth who slags off every other country that isn't the US. Now we're all supposed to give him the benefit of the doubt when he employs clumsy, ambiguous phrasing. Too bad. If he didn't want to be thought a twit he shouldn't have gone out of his way to act like one.
It could be 4D chess. Anti-Americanism in Europe is a stronger force than pro-Putinism and might be enough to get the likes of Mélenchon and Wagenknecht to switch sides.
They don't tend to do subtlety.
Rather than 4D chess, I saw a neat metaphor on the Trump administration which is more that it's like playing chess against a pigeon. It'll ignore the rules, do its own thing, flap its wings, knock over the pieces, defecate on the board and then fly off leaving you to clean up the mess.
Time being the 4th dimension all activities are in a sense 4d, so it's 5d chess that JD Vance is playing with this deliberate stoking of anti-Americanism in Europe to encourage the populists to join the mainstream in rearming the continent against Russia thus getting America off the hook and able to declare peace with honour in Ukraine whilst saving huge sums of money. He's not just a pretty face, Vance.
I can't say I have much sympathy with Vance. For some time now he's been dining out on being the archetypal MAGA loudmouth who slags off every other country that isn't the US. Now we're all supposed to give him the benefit of the doubt when he employs clumsy, ambiguous phrasing. Too bad. If he didn't want to be thought a twit he shouldn't have gone out of his way to act like one.
It could be 4D chess. Anti-Americanism in Europe is a stronger force than pro-Putinism and might be enough to get the likes of Mélenchon and Wagenknecht to switch sides.
I think we've learnt by now that it's not 4D chess.
Is there such a thing as 1D chess?
It'd be pretty limited. A lot of castling maybe.
Philosophical question: in 0D chess, is every piece a pawn or is every piece a queen?
Is there even a point to this question?
There's more than most of williamglenn's questions!
@ZelenskyyUa I would like to reiterate Ukraine’s commitment to peace.
None of us wants an endless war. Ukraine is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer. Nobody wants peace more than Ukrainians. My team and I stand ready to work under President Trump’s strong leadership to get a peace that lasts.
We are ready to work fast to end the war, and the first stages could be the release of prisoners and truce in the sky — ban on missiles, long-ranged drones, bombs on energy and other civilian infrastructure — and truce in the sea immediately, if Russia will do the same. Then we want to move very fast through all next stages and to work with the US to agree a strong final deal.
We do really value how much America has done to help Ukraine maintain its sovereignty and independence. And we remember the moment when things changed when President Trump provided Ukraine with Javelins. We are grateful for this.
Our meeting in Washington, at the White House on Friday, did not go the way it was supposed to be. It is regrettable that it happened this way. It is time to make things right. We would like future cooperation and communication to be constructive.
Regarding the agreement on minerals and security, Ukraine is ready to sign it in any time and in any convenient format. We see this agreement as a step toward greater security and solid security guarantees, and I truly hope it will work effectively.
Unavoidable and really he had no choice but it makes me sick to my stomach that the country which was invaded is being treated as the invader .
VP Vance says a mineral deal is still on the table
“Yeah, I certainly do. And I think the President is still committed to the mineral deal. I think we've heard some positive things, but not yet, of course, a signature from our friends in Ukraine...”
The thing that's glaring by its absence, and highlighted all the more so by Trump's plans for Gaza, is a reconstruction plan for Russian-occupied Ukraine. One wonders what Trump has been offered there, including directly to him.
I know he misses more often than he hits but I do like this piece from AEP today. I hope he is right about what will be done as well as about what should be done.
The details might be awry, but the sentiment is correct. Europe has to re-arm, and it is a convenient time to do it, as European industry is about to fall off a cliff, due to Chinese competition etc
And speaking as a Leaver, I am perfectly happy indeed eager for us to do this with our European friends, plus Canada, Oz, etc
This was true BEFORE Trump, Trump has just accelerated the inevitable
There will be a painful schism inside the EU as countries like Hungary and Slovakia, and maybe Austria and the parasitic Irish complain, but that's their problem. We Brexited
China and Canada are and the EU is about to face big US tariffs too, Europeans will be watching to see if that rebuilds US industry if so they might want the same as well as more spent on defence
I know he misses more often than he hits but I do like this piece from AEP today. I hope he is right about what will be done as well as about what should be done.
It’s weird to read an AEP piece that I 100% agree with.
This is the perfect time for German and Italian car companies (who aren’t doing well with the move to electric) to move into a new world of defense procurement
I have an Italian electric car, and it's surprisingly good! We got the new Fiat 500e, and it's the best non-Tesla, non-Rivian I've ever driven. (It beats the execrable Ford e-Mustang into a crooked hat.)
The Fiat 500e alongside a lot of the other cars are good it’s just that not that many people are buying them and china and Korea are chipping away at the market. So I suspect no matter what happens VW will be selling less cars going forward than they used to which means there are factories with appropriately skilled staff waiting to be repurposed over the next few years
I can't say I have much sympathy with Vance. For some time now he's been dining out on being the archetypal MAGA loudmouth who slags off every other country that isn't the US. Now we're all supposed to give him the benefit of the doubt when he employs clumsy, ambiguous phrasing. Too bad. If he didn't want to be thought a twit he shouldn't have gone out of his way to act like one.
It could be 4D chess. Anti-Americanism in Europe is a stronger force than pro-Putinism and might be enough to get the likes of Mélenchon and Wagenknecht to switch sides.
I think we've learnt by now that it's not 4D chess.
I know he misses more often than he hits but I do like this piece from AEP today. I hope he is right about what will be done as well as about what should be done.
It’s weird to read an AEP piece that I 100% agree with.
This is the perfect time for German and Italian car companies (who aren’t doing well with the move to electric) to move into a new world of defense procurement
I have an Italian electric car, and it's surprisingly good! We got the new Fiat 500e, and it's the best non-Tesla, non-Rivian I've ever driven. (It beats the execrable Ford e-Mustang into a crooked hat.)
The Fiat 500e alongside a lot of the other cars are good it’s just that not that many people are buying them and china and Korea are chipping away at the market. So I suspect no matter what happens VW will be selling less cars going forward than they used to which means there are factories with appropriately skilled staff waiting to be repurposed over the next few years
I can't say I have much sympathy with Vance. For some time now he's been dining out on being the archetypal MAGA loudmouth who slags off every other country that isn't the US. Now we're all supposed to give him the benefit of the doubt when he employs clumsy, ambiguous phrasing. Too bad. If he didn't want to be thought a twit he shouldn't have gone out of his way to act like one.
It could be 4D chess. Anti-Americanism in Europe is a stronger force than pro-Putinism and might be enough to get the likes of Mélenchon and Wagenknecht to switch sides.
I think we've learnt by now that it's not 4D chess.
Is there such a thing as 1D chess?
It'd be pretty limited. A lot of castling maybe.
Philosophical question: in 0D chess, is every piece a pawn or is every piece a queen?
Is there even a point to this question?
There's more than most of williamglenn's questions!
Comments
The defect rate on immigrants (spontaneous self combustion, going mentalist etc) is much lower than the local population. Especially in the US
“Harry: [to Yuri] An Uzi? I'm not from South Central Los fucking Angeles. I didn't come here to shoot twenty black ten year olds in a drive-by. I want a normal gun for a normal person.”
The death toll from the war on drugs is directly linked to the criminalisation - varied quality, ever higher strengths, and insanely toxic brews that can be made in a bathtub. If everyone got their cocaine from Hoffman-La Roche, funeral parlours across Mexico (and many other places) would collapse.
So even if it was a rhetorical device made about abstract offers, and for domestic consumption, Vance is VP and should expect his comments to be noted abroad, particularly after this last week; in that context they would have been naive, silly and thoughtless.
But this is not an administration to assume it's mis-speaking when it says something people don't like. Usually the offence caused is the point, especially when it's aimed at someone who's opposing Trump - as Europeans are by not rowing in behind him. Vance meant what he said and the targets he was aiming at were the obvious ones.
Why has he rowed back then? Perhaps he genuinely forgot about other Nato (and non-Nato) contributions in Afghanistan and felt that part was unnecessary - not least because it's a verbal fight he doesn't want. But the insult still stands.
The thing I do like in this madness is the upending of the world order in particular for us Brits who, over years and years, and funnily (tragically) enough most exemplified in Afghan and Helmand in particular, believed that the divine right of countries would ensure we were and were perceived as exceptional and we treated other countries accordingly.
That we are bitching and whining like scolded puppies when exactly the same treatment is applied to us is the one ray of sunshine in otherwise uncertain times.
What colour is the boathouse at Hereford?
Asking for myself obviously.
The only insight demonstrated is a sudden realisation he might be losing votes. Even Russophile Marine le Pen has just cottoned on to that.
https://cselig.github.io/blog/one-d-chess
See Andruil etc for the newcomers.
We could get on the phone to S Korea, but they have to first satisfy their domestic requirements.
And in the evening we sit around the fire reading out the day's posts from @leon and roll around the floor laughing like the aliens in the Smash adverts.
And when I return on Saturday, if the sun is still shining I will be getting the Cobra out for its first spin with me as it's new owner. I'm feeling rather smug at the moment.
Second, so far as I know, it has never been particularly popular in Canada, Mexico, or the United States.
Why?
For a start they speak a weird kind of "whistling language" - a rare form of communication which has evolved in mountainous areas, as high noises carry further in deep valleys and mighty peaks. I heard it once on the rugged Canarian island of La Gomera, where they whistle the ancient "tongue" of "silbo" - it is a haunting sound, floating down the gorges and ravines, especially on still, warm, darkly moonlit evenings
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whistled_language
As the area around Kherson and the lower Dnieper is notoriously flat, this language of theirs would be completely useless and drowned out by any ambient sound, eg the wind in the steppes, or an ant on a walk
Furthermore, the Canary Islanders - the so-called Guanches - are now entirely extinct (arguably making it easier to insert them on to the battlefield, as they would require no transport)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guanches
This would confront Putin's forces with an army of soldiers that does not exist, speaking an eerie whistled language that cannot be heard. This may frighten Jonny Russian so much he deserts Ukraine entirely, leaving Kyiv victorious
Genius
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/03/04/european-rearmament-is-going-to-turn-the-world-upside-down/
I hear that his rival Chrystia Freeland proposes a 100% tariff on the import of Tesla vehicles - I hope that Carney would also adopt this excellent proposal.
AI summary by IvyPanda
The text discusses the rise of an authoritarian society dominated by a billionaire class, highlighting the manipulation of power by technology corporations. It reflects on the influence of figures like Tim Cook, Bob Iger, and Mark Zuckerberg, who prioritize profit and control over social responsibility. The author draws parallels between modern America and Plato's concept of oligarchy, suggesting that while oligarchs exist, not all societies are governed by them. The text critiques the belief that the wealthy are inherently wise leaders, arguing that their self-serving nature leads to societal destruction. It touches on the historical context of oligarchy and its consequences, using examples from ancient Greece. The narrative describes how the collapse of communism in Russia led to the emergence of new oligarchs, who exploited privatization to gain wealth. The author contrasts the idealistic promises of technological progress with the harsh realities faced by millennials and younger generations. It emphasizes that dreams of a sci-fi future have been twisted by billionaire interests into a dystopian present. Figures like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs are portrayed as architects of this new reality, leveraging technology to enhance their power while exploiting workers. The text warns that the current technocratic elite, represented by individuals like Elon Musk, aim to control not just labor and economy but human consciousness itself, culminating in a vision of technofeudalism where the masses own nothing and are entirely dependent on the oligarchs.
VP Vance says a mineral deal is still on the table
“Yeah, I certainly do. And I think the President is still committed to the mineral deal. I think we've heard some positive things, but not yet, of course, a signature from our friends in Ukraine...”
https://x.com/alanhe/status/1896943433639702723
One of the reasons why the US was so keen on NAFTA was to revitalize the Mexican economy, and make becoming an illegal immigrant to the US much less attractive. And from that perspective, it was a big success.
The recent wave of migrant crossings (which started under Trump I, before becoming a crescendo under Biden) is mostly non-Mexicans.
“We do not need to tweet all of our thoughts in real time. When it comes to defence and national security, we need to raise the threshold for what needs to be said publicly and ensure the facts are clear first.”
Bloody hell, some actually useful leadership from the Tories. MPs need to STFU and stop posting the first thing that comes into their idiotic brains on social media.
Bravo Kemi
SAMP/T is in use by Ukraine, reportedly with some success, but we don't have the stocks to replace Patriot. Certainly not this year.
That's the kind of thing which made Ukraine so keen to have some US security commitment.
And speaking as a Leaver, I am perfectly happy indeed eager for us to do this with our European friends, plus Canada, Oz, etc
This was true BEFORE Trump, Trump has just accelerated the inevitable
There will be a painful schism inside the EU as countries like Hungary and Slovakia, and maybe Austria and the parasitic Irish complain, but that's their problem. We Brexited
Are we sure AEP wrote it?
This is the perfect time for German and Italian car companies (who aren’t doing well with the move to electric) to move into a new world of defense procurement
I can easily see €500bn-1tn in defense spending not going to the USA while demand for other US exports also withers away
AI summary by IvyPanda https://ivypanda.com/tools/online-text-summarizer/
The text discusses George Orwell's true fears as expressed in his works, particularly in 1984, where he warns against the rise of oligarchies and totalitarianism that can emerge from the misuse of power by superstates. Orwell's concerns stemmed from his experiences with socialism and fascism, leading him to believe that the concentration of power in the hands of a few elite individuals poses a significant threat to democracy and freedom. The modern political landscape is compared to Orwell's vision, highlighting the dangers of technological oligarchies and the manipulation of ideologies to maintain control over the populace.
Should have taken the same route with the State Visit “King Charles looks forward to welcoming President Trunp for a full state visit as soon as President Trump has successfully negotiated a peace deal with the return of lost territory and guaranteed the security of the future of Ukraine.
His majesty has no doubt that President Trump is the person who can achieve this and wouldn’t like him to be embarrassed by failing and this missing jelly and ice cream at Buckingham Palace.”
Vance: There is this crazy idea in the Democratic Party that if you just repeat insane ideas, eventually the American people are going to believe them.
https://x.com/Acyn/status/1896750084693635324
The enormous boost wasn't evenly distributed on either side of the border, with winners and lovers.
I would like to reiterate Ukraine’s commitment to peace.
None of us wants an endless war. Ukraine is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer. Nobody wants peace more than Ukrainians. My team and I stand ready to work under President Trump’s strong leadership to get a peace that lasts.
We are ready to work fast to end the war, and the first stages could be the release of prisoners and truce in the sky — ban on missiles, long-ranged drones, bombs on energy and other civilian infrastructure — and truce in the sea immediately, if Russia will do the same. Then we want to move very fast through all next stages and to work with the US to agree a strong final deal.
We do really value how much America has done to help Ukraine maintain its sovereignty and independence. And we remember the moment when things changed when President Trump provided Ukraine with Javelins. We are grateful for this.
Our meeting in Washington, at the White House on Friday, did not go the way it was supposed to be. It is regrettable that it happened this way. It is time to make things right. We would like future cooperation and communication to be constructive.
Regarding the agreement on minerals and security, Ukraine is ready to sign it in any time and in any convenient format. We see this agreement as a step toward greater security and solid security guarantees, and I truly hope it will work effectively.
Canada then sells the minerals to the US.
US imposes import tariff on the minerals.
Everyone's a winner.
Rather than 4D chess, I saw a neat metaphor on the Trump administration which is more that it's like playing chess against a pigeon. It'll ignore the rules, do its own thing, flap its wings, knock over the pieces, defecate on the board and then fly off leaving you to clean up the mess.
Hopefully Doug Ford cuts the power from Canada whilst Trump is speaking.
The thing that's glaring by its absence, and highlighted all the more so by Trump's plans for Gaza, is a reconstruction plan for Russian-occupied Ukraine. One wonders what Trump has been offered there, including directly to him.