All reasonably mature checks and balances/good chaps/constitutional/democratic/rule of law states have two further elements governing them, once it is a given that it is possible to elect a person or government which recognises none of these.
One is the armed forces, and the other is the ability of 100,000,000 million people to take to the streets, go on strike amd generally engage in civil disobedience.
Americans don't really have a culture of street protests or civil disobedience, you'd need strong leadership from an organised protest movement as we saw in the Civil rights era and that would take time to set up. The armed forces have seen some high profile personnel changes at the top with the goal of ensuring fealty to Trump. I am quite pessimistic about chances of preventing a descent into an outright autocratic regime in the US - people have been way too naive about the robustness of the US system, underestimating its vulnerability to malign actors. Most likely Trump doesn't want to be a dictator, he's too needy for that. But if he changes his mind, or is replaced by someone who wants to go there, God help us.
Trump invited Conor McGregor, the Reform-y Tomm-eh esque UFC dude in to the WH and the Oval Office, for St Paddy's Day, and left the Teseaichoichscshuckseoischyeiaghhrshffffqooowooo fuming half a mile down the road
I know Donald Trump is not always to everyone's taste, on PB, but he can be fucking funny
For those who don't know, Conor McGregor is pretty much insane. He seems to think he *is* his character from the hilariously bad remake of Roadhouse. Think sociopath with no impulse control and knowingly happy about it.
A Trump sort of guy. Perhaps the Tates could make up the numbers. Cor that'd be some get together. Imagine the pin sharp repartee.
Have you ever seen Conor McGregor's performances at pre-fight press conferences. Sharper than the vast majority of his peers, and hence his success.
I thought it was his prowess in fights that explained his success rather than him being a bit of a card beforehand.
Yet another topic you seem to be unacquainted with.
Indeed. Like you and American politics. Horses for courses.
As I recall you were in the Rory Stewart camp of insightful political commentators on the US election.
I have not posted much recently because it seems everything is upside down, predicting what comes next is impossible and with the exception of Reform, who I oppose with a passio, I am resigned to just watching and waiting to see how politics evolves
Interesting I received some oranges from Asda from Spain with not for the EU on the label
Are Spain producing non EU range of exports ?
No. As I understand it:
1. Asda cannot re-export these Spanish oranges, even to Spain, without copious paperwork.
2. "Not for EU" means, in practical terms, Asda can send them to Northern Ireland with no or cursory paperwork without the EU complaining too much about the fact they might reach the Republic.
3. It's legal for a resident of the Republic to go to Northern Ireland and buy the oranges and take them home. It's not legal for a small shop-owner in the Republic to buy them at Asda in the North and then try to retail them in the Republic.
4. This is the compromise worked out: oranges from the UK (and sausages) may enter the Republic, so long as they are not sold.
5. Actually, a pretty big concession on the part of the EU. But not really a win, because it remains more complicated than pre-brexit.
Trump invited Conor McGregor, the Reform-y Tomm-eh esque UFC dude in to the WH and the Oval Office, for St Paddy's Day, and left the Teseaichoichscshuckseoischyeiaghhrshffffqooowooo fuming half a mile down the road
I know Donald Trump is not always to everyone's taste, on PB, but he can be fucking funny
For those who don't know, Conor McGregor is pretty much insane. He seems to think he *is* his character from the hilariously bad remake of Roadhouse. Think sociopath with no impulse control and knowingly happy about it.
A Trump sort of guy. Perhaps the Tates could make up the numbers. Cor that'd be some get together. Imagine the pin sharp repartee.
Have you ever seen Conor McGregor's performances at pre-fight press conferences. Sharper than the vast majority of his peers, and hence his success.
I thought it was his prowess in fights that explained his success rather than him being a bit of a card beforehand.
Yet another topic you seem to be unacquainted with.
Indeed. Like you and American politics. Horses for courses.
History is full of nasty thugs who were sharp.
Stalin really enjoyed violent bank robberies (think shoot everyone) chasing the ladies and was life and soul of the party. In fact, the young Stalin was the real life mad and funky bandit from the spaghetti westerns.
Then he discovered politics.
It's the Italy under the Borgias vs. Switzerland for 500 years thing.
Every society has a proportion of sharp, nasty thugs. Correctly used, some of them can achieve remarkable things. Lots of human progress comes from them. A lot of them are frustrated sharp, nasty thugs. If only they were set free to run everything, they could save the world. Techboes, or Dom C (who isn't a techbro but clearly wishes he was.) Unfortunately for them,
1) it's really hard to distinguish in advance between the useful sharp, nasty thugs and the harmful sharp, nasty thugs. And the harmful ones can do a lot of harm.
2) most of us are less sharp, less nasty, less thuggish. Herbivores not carnivores. What some see as societal sclerosis, most of us regard as civilisation.
Hence boring old laws that everyone has to follow. It's not perfect, but it's the best plan anyone has come up with.
I have not posted much recently because it seems everything is upside down, predicting what comes next is impossible and with the exception of Reform, who I oppose with a passio, I am resigned to just watching and waiting to see how politics evolves
Interesting I received some oranges from Asda from Spain with not for the EU on the label
Are Spain producing non EU range of exports ?
No. As I understand it:
1. Asda cannot re-export these Spanish oranges, even to Spain, without copious paperwork.
2. "Not for EU" means, in practical terms, Asda can send them to Northern Ireland with no or cursory paperwork without the EU complaining too much about the fact they might reach the Republic.
3. It's legal for a resident of the Republic to go to Northern Ireland and buy the oranges and take them home. It's not legal for a small shop-owner in the Republic to buy them at Asda in the North and then try to retail them in the Republic.
4. This is the compromise worked out: oranges from the UK (and sausages) may enter the Republic, so long as they are not sold.
5. Actually, a pretty big concession on the part of the EU. But not really a win, because it remains more complicated than pre-brexit.
(Happy to be corrected on the above.)
Thank you so much for your explanation which makes sense but I haven't noticed it before
The “assets” that Trump is talking about dividing up with Putin are all in Ukraine and are Ukrainian. Be warned Europe. If he divide up Ukrainians assets with Russia today, no reason he can’t do that with other European states tomorrow. www.cnn.com/2025/03/17/p...
Perhaps - but perhaps who actually enforces the laws? My own opinion is that even if Trump declared war on Canada, US troops would not actually invade, but I'm not 100 % sure.
As the great Pratchett had Vimes ask "Who watches the watchers?"
If they disobeyed orders they could be shot...
Could be, but by other Americans shooting their own? Its a hideous thought.
For all the bluster and misbehaviour, I think we are rapidly approaching the point where opposition to this shit starts in earnest. At least I hope we are.
Opposition from who, by what means?
Until, and less, the GOP decide they have had enough the lunacy will continue.
Even then it may be too far gone
I think within the GOP, to be honest but also don't forget that the USA is not like the UK - its 50 separate states too.
I don't think Trusk will have any issue with ordering Federal agents to suppress any State or local 'insurgents'
Whether they would comply is still an open question
I think that's the point. For all the hyperbole about Nazis I don't see Americans being the same as 1930's brainwashed Germans.
You are forgetting the 50%+ of Americans that voted for Trump as President.
The “assets” that Trump is talking about dividing up with Putin are all in Ukraine and are Ukrainian. Be warned Europe. If he divide up Ukrainians assets with Russia today, no reason he can’t do that with other European states tomorrow. www.cnn.com/2025/03/17/p...
Perhaps - but perhaps who actually enforces the laws? My own opinion is that even if Trump declared war on Canada, US troops would not actually invade, but I'm not 100 % sure.
As the great Pratchett had Vimes ask "Who watches the watchers?"
When the US declared war in 1917 Kaiser Wilhelm was convinced that German-Americans in the US Army would refuse to fight against the Fatherland.
Perhaps - but perhaps who actually enforces the laws? My own opinion is that even if Trump declared war on Canada, US troops would not actually invade, but I'm not 100 % sure.
As the great Pratchett had Vimes ask "Who watches the watchers?"
When the US declared war in 1917 Kaiser Wilhelm was convinced that German-Americans in the US Army would refuse to fight against the Fatherland.
Reader, they didn’t.
The Americans weren't too sure of the Japano-Americans in WW2.
The “assets” that Trump is talking about dividing up with Putin are all in Ukraine and are Ukrainian. Be warned Europe. If he divide up Ukrainians assets with Russia today, no reason he can’t do that with other European states tomorrow. www.cnn.com/2025/03/17/p...
'Carney began the day in Paris with a visit to the rebuilt Notre-Dame Cathedral before sitting down for a private lunch with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Palais de l'Élysée.
"It is more important than ever for Canada to strengthen its ties with its reliable allies, such as France," Carney said in French before lunch with Macron.
Describing Canada as the "most European of non-European countries," Carney told Macron he is "determined, like you, to maintain the most positive possible relations with the United States.
"We must strengthen our diplomatic ties to address a world that is increasingly unstable and dangerous," he said. "Canada is a reliable, trustworthy and strong partner of France, which shares our values and lives them through action, during this age of economic and geopolitical crisis."
Ouch. 'Carney will meet with the King before heading to London where he will sit down with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in London. '
The “assets” that Trump is talking about dividing up with Putin are all in Ukraine and are Ukrainian. Be warned Europe. If he divide up Ukrainians assets with Russia today, no reason he can’t do that with other European states tomorrow. www.cnn.com/2025/03/17/p...
Alsace-Lorraine to Germany and Normandy to England.
Seeing that it has been suggested that Trump is a Russian asset, can we please ask them to keep him as part of the negotiation, but that he resides in the Donbas?
As Trump II progresses, and if it progresses towards a logical conclusion that simultaneously gives some elements of wild west liberty but leaves ordinary Americans unfree in other respects, will the love of democracy and regret for what has been lost come to the fore, will we see the mass descent into public squares in defence of liberty, will we see senators and congressmen come to understand the game is up and impeach down to the speaker, will the US Army be prepared to put down free speech protest of ordinary citizens.
Even if the mid-terms are nobbled, from where the USA starts the prospect for returning to freedom, based on the popular memory, is very different from that of, say, Russia.
I retain some trust in the people, even if the process of getting back there could be pretty gruesome.
All reasonably mature checks and balances/good chaps/constitutional/democratic/rule of law states have two further elements governing them, once it is a given that it is possible to elect a person or government which recognises none of these.
One is the armed forces, and the other is the ability of 100,000,000 million people to take to the streets, go on strike amd generally engage in civil disobedience.
Americans don't really have a culture of street protests or civil disobedience, you'd need strong leadership from an organised protest movement as we saw in the Civil rights era and that would take time to set up. The armed forces have seen some high profile personnel changes at the top with the goal of ensuring fealty to Trump. I am quite pessimistic about chances of preventing a descent into an outright autocratic regime in the US - people have been way too naive about the robustness of the US system, underestimating its vulnerability to malign actors. Most likely Trump doesn't want to be a dictator, he's too needy for that. But if he changes his mind, or is replaced by someone who wants to go there, God help us.
IN Nazi Germany the civil power had goals and aspirations that largely matched those of the Wermacht, so getting the country to go to war was not that hard. I simply cannot situation where American troops invade Canada to try to subdue the population as the 51st state or Greenland, for that matter.
They tried to in 1812 but were forced out by British troops who then burnt down the White House
On the point of Canada, they've had population growth of 17% over the last 10 years, 41.5m from 35.5m in just 10 years. We think it's bad here but the equivalent would be going from 64.6m to 75.6m, we're struggling with 68.8m this year, imagine an additional 7m immigrants who bring little to no incremental economic value to the nation. Canada is at the forefront of the liberal experiment on immigration of low skill, low value workers even more than we are. Carney may be able to farm anti-Trump sentiment for a while longer but eventually that runs out and Canada still has a huge migration issue.
Indeed, at most Carney gets a one election against the odds re election like Major did in 1992, scrapping the carbon tax as he scrapped the poll tax and helped by Trump's unpopularity in Canada
'Carney began the day in Paris with a visit to the rebuilt Notre-Dame Cathedral before sitting down for a private lunch with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Palais de l'Élysée.
"It is more important than ever for Canada to strengthen its ties with its reliable allies, such as France," Carney said in French before lunch with Macron.
Describing Canada as the "most European of non-European countries," Carney told Macron he is "determined, like you, to maintain the most positive possible relations with the United States.
"We must strengthen our diplomatic ties to address a world that is increasingly unstable and dangerous," he said. "Canada is a reliable, trustworthy and strong partner of France, which shares our values and lives them through action, during this age of economic and geopolitical crisis."
Ouch. 'Carney will meet with the King before heading to London where he will sit down with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in London. '
'Carney began the day in Paris with a visit to the rebuilt Notre-Dame Cathedral before sitting down for a private lunch with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Palais de l'Élysée.
"It is more important than ever for Canada to strengthen its ties with its reliable allies, such as France," Carney said in French before lunch with Macron.
Describing Canada as the "most European of non-European countries," Carney told Macron he is "determined, like you, to maintain the most positive possible relations with the United States.
"We must strengthen our diplomatic ties to address a world that is increasingly unstable and dangerous," he said. "Canada is a reliable, trustworthy and strong partner of France, which shares our values and lives them through action, during this age of economic and geopolitical crisis."
Ouch. 'Carney will meet with the King before heading to London where he will sit down with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in London. '
Perfectly normal response by Carney and this is a moment for France, the UK, the EU, Canada, Iceland, Norway and others to come together in a new defence and trading partnership
On the point of Canada, they've had population growth of 17% over the last 10 years, 41.5m from 35.5m in just 10 years. We think it's bad here but the equivalent would be going from 64.6m to 75.6m, we're struggling with 68.8m this year, imagine an additional 7m immigrants who bring little to no incremental economic value to the nation. Canada is at the forefront of the liberal experiment on immigration of low skill, low value workers even more than we are. Carney may be able to farm anti-Trump sentiment for a while longer but eventually that runs out and Canada still has a huge migration issue.
Canada does, however, have a lot of space, something which is more of a premium in the UK (well England, at least).
It does and it doesn't, the habitable part of the country isn't that large and their cities are very densely populated. Vancouver has a similar population density to London and as a Londoner I'm quite comfortable in saying that London is over populated and we need a halt on immigration into London asap, though with rent prices as they are I expect this is already happening.
I did a three week job based in Vancover and I can hardly think of anywhere which lelt less over populated in the civilised world. Certainly nowhere with a half decent climate. The place positively echoed. You couldn't get a usable crew for love nor money and we were shooting in the X-files studio
Welcome back, Cyclefree and thanks for the header.
One other thing it might usefully have gone into in more detail is yesterday's invocation of the Alien Enemies Act (what remains of the Sedition Acts of 1798), in the deportation, without any court proceeding, of over 200 unnamed Venezuelans (alleged, without evidence being provided, of being gang members).
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/50/21 Whenever there is a declared war between the United States and any foreign nation or government, or any invasion or predatory incursion is perpetrated, attempted, or threatened against the territory of the United States by any foreign nation or government, and the President makes public proclamation of the event, all natives, citizens, denizens, or subjects of the hostile nation or government, being of the age of fourteen years and upward, who shall be within the United States and not actually naturalized, shall be liable to be apprehended, restrained, secured, and removed as alien enemies. The President is authorized in any such event, by his proclamation thereof, or other public act, to direct the conduct to be observed on the part of the United States, toward the aliens who become so liable; the manner and degree of the restraint to which they shall be subject and in what cases, and upon what security their residence shall be permitted, and to provide for the removal of those who, not being permitted to reside within the United States, refuse or neglect to depart therefrom; and to establish any other regulations which are found necessary in the premises and for the public safety...
Invoking it in peacetime goes against two centuries of precedent, and goes against the obvious interpretation of the statute. The administration ignored a court order to halt the deportation - which was not to the individuals' country of origin, but to a El Salvadorean jail, where inmates regularly die in captivity.
Under the act, any foreign national, including those legally resident, could be treated in this manner, should the administration so decide.
There's no pleasing this forum. Either my headers are too long or too short. This is 620 words. I wrote it over breakfast before heading for Scotland where I now am for a wedding. It is pretty much the first day in ages I have not felt ill or had some health issue to worry about as has been the case for the last few months.
But the sun is shining, the landscape is glorious and so my convalescence continues. God willing I will be back to my old self before spring and summer really get underway.
Trump invited Conor McGregor, the Reform-y Tomm-eh esque UFC dude in to the WH and the Oval Office, for St Paddy's Day, and left the Teseaichoichscshuckseoischyeiaghhrshffffqooowooo fuming half a mile down the road
I know Donald Trump is not always to everyone's taste, on PB, but he can be fucking funny
For those who don't know, Conor McGregor is pretty much insane. He seems to think he *is* his character from the hilariously bad remake of Roadhouse. Think sociopath with no impulse control and knowingly happy about it.
A Trump sort of guy. Perhaps the Tates could make up the numbers. Cor that'd be some get together. Imagine the pin sharp repartee.
Have you ever seen Conor McGregor's performances at pre-fight press conferences. Sharper than the vast majority of his peers, and hence his success.
I thought it was his prowess in fights that explained his success rather than him being a bit of a card beforehand.
Yet another topic you seem to be unacquainted with.
Indeed. Like you and American politics. Horses for courses.
History is full of nasty thugs who were sharp.
Stalin really enjoyed violent bank robberies (think shoot everyone) chasing the ladies and was life and soul of the party. In fact, the young Stalin was the real life mad and funky bandit from the spaghetti westerns.
Then he discovered politics.
Yes, Stalin at the Palladium I'd probably go see. Trump, no. Not even if it was free.
You'd probably like Stalin, if he wasn't a danger to you, or hadn't murdered your friends or family.
Rather like @Big_G_NorthWales and some others, I'm trying not to react or over-react to every pronouncement from the Trump Administration. As with many populists, what they say is often far removed from what they do.
Trump needs peace in the Ukraine - Putin and Zelenskyy might like it or want it but they need it less. Trump needs peace to cement his position in his own mind as the bringer of peace, the global statesman de nos jours, the Nobel Peace Prize winner in waiting.
As for what Trump may or may not do, the insidious element to centralisation is once the centraliser has gone, those who follow, for all their weasel words, often keep the changes made. Here, Johnson took a lot of power from Westminster to Whitehall during Covid - has any of that been reversed by Starmer? I suspect not - what about returning powers of scrutiny and accountability to Westminster, what about moving real power from Westminster to local authorities?
That's the thing about the "strong leader" schtick - it's not often about having a strong leader but having the mechanisms in place to allow a weak leader to govern as a strong leader. Absent the checks and balances on which democracy is built, authoritarian leadership, whether benign or malevolent, can flourish.
A final thought for now - another of my political Rules - Opposition parties who don't talk out the issues voters want to talk about are destined to remain opposition parties. Governing parties who talk about the issues voters want to talk about but lack any record of progress on those issues are destined to become opposition parties.
Welcome back, Cyclefree and thanks for the header.
One other thing it might usefully have gone into in more detail is yesterday's invocation of the Alien Enemies Act (what remains of the Sedition Acts of 1798), in the deportation, without any court proceeding, of over 200 unnamed Venezuelans (alleged, without evidence being provided, of being gang members).
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/50/21 Whenever there is a declared war between the United States and any foreign nation or government, or any invasion or predatory incursion is perpetrated, attempted, or threatened against the territory of the United States by any foreign nation or government, and the President makes public proclamation of the event, all natives, citizens, denizens, or subjects of the hostile nation or government, being of the age of fourteen years and upward, who shall be within the United States and not actually naturalized, shall be liable to be apprehended, restrained, secured, and removed as alien enemies. The President is authorized in any such event, by his proclamation thereof, or other public act, to direct the conduct to be observed on the part of the United States, toward the aliens who become so liable; the manner and degree of the restraint to which they shall be subject and in what cases, and upon what security their residence shall be permitted, and to provide for the removal of those who, not being permitted to reside within the United States, refuse or neglect to depart therefrom; and to establish any other regulations which are found necessary in the premises and for the public safety...
Invoking it in peacetime goes against two centuries of precedent, and goes against the obvious interpretation of the statute. The administration ignored a court order to halt the deportation - which was not to the individuals' country of origin, but to a El Salvadorean jail, where inmates regularly die in captivity.
Under the act, any foreign national, including those legally resident, could be treated in this manner, should the administration so decide.
There's no pleasing this forum. Either my headers are too long or too short. This is 620 words. I wrote it over breakfast before heading for Scotland where I now am for a wedding. It is pretty much the first day in ages I have not felt ill or had some health issue to worry about as has been the case for the last few months.
But the sun is shining, the landscape is glorious and so my convalescence continues. God willing I will be back to my old self before spring and summer really get underway.
It was a good post. You nailed all my thinking points
A final thought for now - another of my political Rules - Opposition parties who don't talk out the issues voters want to talk about are destined to remain opposition parties. Governing parties who talk about the issues voters want to talk about but lack any record of progress on those issues are destined to become opposition parties.
That theory is restricted to the information space in which 'the voters' are operating
Voters in the UK did not care about Brexit until Nigel Fucking Farage appeared on the BBC every fucking week.
Democrats are not talking to MAGA voters because MAGA voters get their 'news' from platforms the Democrats are not using (or permitted to use)
'Carney began the day in Paris with a visit to the rebuilt Notre-Dame Cathedral before sitting down for a private lunch with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Palais de l'Élysée.
"It is more important than ever for Canada to strengthen its ties with its reliable allies, such as France," Carney said in French before lunch with Macron.
Describing Canada as the "most European of non-European countries," Carney told Macron he is "determined, like you, to maintain the most positive possible relations with the United States.
"We must strengthen our diplomatic ties to address a world that is increasingly unstable and dangerous," he said. "Canada is a reliable, trustworthy and strong partner of France, which shares our values and lives them through action, during this age of economic and geopolitical crisis."
Ouch. 'Carney will meet with the King before heading to London where he will sit down with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in London. '
Perfectly normal response by Carney and this is a moment for France, the UK, the EU, Canada, Iceland, Norway and others to come together in a new defence and trading partnership
"It is more important than ever for Canada to strengthen its ties with its reliable allies, such as France," Carney said in French before lunch with Macron.
'Carney began the day in Paris with a visit to the rebuilt Notre-Dame Cathedral before sitting down for a private lunch with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Palais de l'Élysée.
"It is more important than ever for Canada to strengthen its ties with its reliable allies, such as France," Carney said in French before lunch with Macron.
Describing Canada as the "most European of non-European countries," Carney told Macron he is "determined, like you, to maintain the most positive possible relations with the United States.
"We must strengthen our diplomatic ties to address a world that is increasingly unstable and dangerous," he said. "Canada is a reliable, trustworthy and strong partner of France, which shares our values and lives them through action, during this age of economic and geopolitical crisis."
Ouch. 'Carney will meet with the King before heading to London where he will sit down with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in London. '
Perfectly normal response by Carney and this is a moment for France, the UK, the EU, Canada, Iceland, Norway and others to come together in a new defence and trading partnership
"It is more important than ever for Canada to strengthen its ties with its reliable allies, such as France," Carney said in French before lunch with Macron.
I just do not understand the point you are trying to make
Welcome back, Cyclefree and thanks for the header.
One other thing it might usefully have gone into in more detail is yesterday's invocation of the Alien Enemies Act (what remains of the Sedition Acts of 1798), in the deportation, without any court proceeding, of over 200 unnamed Venezuelans (alleged, without evidence being provided, of being gang members).
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/50/21 Whenever there is a declared war between the United States and any foreign nation or government, or any invasion or predatory incursion is perpetrated, attempted, or threatened against the territory of the United States by any foreign nation or government, and the President makes public proclamation of the event, all natives, citizens, denizens, or subjects of the hostile nation or government, being of the age of fourteen years and upward, who shall be within the United States and not actually naturalized, shall be liable to be apprehended, restrained, secured, and removed as alien enemies. The President is authorized in any such event, by his proclamation thereof, or other public act, to direct the conduct to be observed on the part of the United States, toward the aliens who become so liable; the manner and degree of the restraint to which they shall be subject and in what cases, and upon what security their residence shall be permitted, and to provide for the removal of those who, not being permitted to reside within the United States, refuse or neglect to depart therefrom; and to establish any other regulations which are found necessary in the premises and for the public safety...
Invoking it in peacetime goes against two centuries of precedent, and goes against the obvious interpretation of the statute. The administration ignored a court order to halt the deportation - which was not to the individuals' country of origin, but to a El Salvadorean jail, where inmates regularly die in captivity.
Under the act, any foreign national, including those legally resident, could be treated in this manner, should the administration so decide.
There's no pleasing this forum. Either my headers are too long or too short. This is 620 words. I wrote it over breakfast before heading for Scotland where I now am for a wedding. It is pretty much the first day in ages I have not felt ill or had some health issue to worry about as has been the case for the last few months.
But the sun is shining, the landscape is glorious and so my convalescence continues. God willing I will be back to my old self before spring and summer really get underway.
I love your longer headers.
But I’m glad that your back, and apparently on the mend.
Perhaps - but perhaps who actually enforces the laws? My own opinion is that even if Trump declared war on Canada, US troops would not actually invade, but I'm not 100 % sure.
As the great Pratchett had Vimes ask "Who watches the watchers?"
If they disobeyed orders they could be shot...
Could be, but by other Americans shooting their own? Its a hideous thought.
For all the bluster and misbehaviour, I think we are rapidly approaching the point where opposition to this shit starts in earnest. At least I hope we are.
Opposition from who, by what means?
Until, and less, the GOP decide they have had enough the lunacy will continue.
Even then it may be too far gone
I think within the GOP, to be honest but also don't forget that the USA is not like the UK - its 50 separate states too.
I don't think Trusk will have any issue with ordering Federal agents to suppress any State or local 'insurgents'
Whether they would comply is still an open question
I think that's the point. For all the hyperbole about Nazis I don't see Americans being the same as 1930's brainwashed Germans.
You'd hope not. But Trump's Maga base is well and truly brainwashed and that's about 50m people.
So by your own estimation you are much smarter than at the very least 50m people on the planet and coming up to 15% of the population of the US.
Go you.
He didn't say he's smarter than them. He's saying they've been brainwashed.
I don't know that I would use the word "brainwashed", but it seems undeniable that there is a MAGA core that have swallowed a lot of propaganda, who believe Trump really won in 2020, Putin's a nice guy, Jan 6 was a false flag operation, etc. How should we refer to this group of people who believe a set of "alternative facts"?
Is it a MAGA contention that Jan 6th was false flag? I thought they were all (pardoned) heroes?
It's both. It was, as Trump has called it, a "day of love", but the very few violent bits were FBI plants stirring up trouble.
'Carney began the day in Paris with a visit to the rebuilt Notre-Dame Cathedral before sitting down for a private lunch with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Palais de l'Élysée.
"It is more important than ever for Canada to strengthen its ties with its reliable allies, such as France," Carney said in French before lunch with Macron.
Describing Canada as the "most European of non-European countries," Carney told Macron he is "determined, like you, to maintain the most positive possible relations with the United States.
"We must strengthen our diplomatic ties to address a world that is increasingly unstable and dangerous," he said. "Canada is a reliable, trustworthy and strong partner of France, which shares our values and lives them through action, during this age of economic and geopolitical crisis."
Ouch. 'Carney will meet with the King before heading to London where he will sit down with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in London. '
Perfectly normal response by Carney and this is a moment for France, the UK, the EU, Canada, Iceland, Norway and others to come together in a new defence and trading partnership
"It is more important than ever for Canada to strengthen its ties with its reliable allies, such as France," Carney said in French before lunch with Macron.
A final thought for now - another of my political Rules - Opposition parties who don't talk out the issues voters want to talk about are destined to remain opposition parties. Governing parties who talk about the issues voters want to talk about but lack any record of progress on those issues are destined to become opposition parties.
That theory is restricted to the information space in which 'the voters' are operating
Voters in the UK did not care about Brexit until Nigel Fucking Farage appeared on the BBC every fucking week.
Democrats are not talking to MAGA voters because MAGA voters get their 'news' from platforms the Democrats are not using (or permitted to use)
That's more about doing the hard political yards - it used to be called campaigning.
Farage made an issue of peripheral import to most (as OGH repeatedly showed us) the paramount issue of the day through repetition and hitting cultural buttons and set up the epitome of the single issue party. The Conservatives, seeing their core vote threatened and the possibility of a schism within their party, bought off Farage with a pleadge to hold a referendum if they won a majority at the next GE.
That Faustian deal par excellence got Britain out of the EU and ultimately led to the destruction of the Conservative Party.
In America, Democrats need to engage in "pocket book issues" (to use the vernacular) and that may mean going on Newsmax and other outlets, going into the MAGA lion's den and stating their case. They probably will be ridiculed, scorned and parodied in first instance but over time and especially if Trump's policies continue to weaken the economy, people will begin to listen and that's where you start.
Another way for oppositions to remain oppositions is to talk only to themselves - Bernie Sanders gets it.
Entirely unconnected to my arrival in Terminal 3, with time to spare, I’ve decided that there should be a German compound noun for “that intensely awkward moment when you open your iPad in a public place and you forget that the last page open, which automatically reopens as you click on the iPad, is quite hardcore porn”
All reasonably mature checks and balances/good chaps/constitutional/democratic/rule of law states have two further elements governing them, once it is a given that it is possible to elect a person or government which recognises none of these.
One is the armed forces, and the other is the ability of 100,000,000 million people to take to the streets, go on strike amd generally engage in civil disobedience.
Americans don't really have a culture of street protests or civil disobedience, you'd need strong leadership from an organised protest movement as we saw in the Civil rights era and that would take time to set up. The armed forces have seen some high profile personnel changes at the top with the goal of ensuring fealty to Trump. I am quite pessimistic about chances of preventing a descent into an outright autocratic regime in the US - people have been way too naive about the robustness of the US system, underestimating its vulnerability to malign actors. Most likely Trump doesn't want to be a dictator, he's too needy for that. But if he changes his mind, or is replaced by someone who wants to go there, God help us.
IN Nazi Germany the civil power had goals and aspirations that largely matched those of the Wermacht, so getting the country to go to war was not that hard. I simply cannot situation where American troops invade Canada to try to subdue the population as the 51st state or Greenland, for that matter.
They tried to in 1812 but were forced out by British troops who then burnt down the White House
I posted this earlier today.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/03/us-canada-relations-trump/682046/ When I served as counselor of the State Department, I advised the secretary of state about America’s wars with Iraqi insurgents, the Taliban, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and al-Qaeda. I spent a good deal of time visiting battlefields in the Middle East and Afghanistan as well as shaping strategy in Washington. But when I left government service in 2009, I eagerly resumed work on a book that dealt with America’s most durable, and in many ways most effective and important, enemy: Canada...
As the author notes, they tried it before they’d even declared independence, in 1775. … The Americans had three talented generals. The first, Richard Montgomery, got killed in the opening assault on Quebec. The second, John Thomas, died of smallpox, along with many of his men. Inoculation was possible, but, like today’s vaccine skeptics, many thought it a bad idea. You can visit the capacious cemetery for the victims on Île aux Noix, now Fort Lennox, Canada.
The third general, the most talented of the lot, was Benedict Arnold, who held the expedition together even after suffering a grievous leg wound. Eventually, however, he grew disgusted with a Congress rather less craven and incompetent than its contemporary successor and became a traitor, accepting a commission as a brigadier general in the British army and fighting against American forces...
Welcome back, Cyclefree and thanks for the header.
One other thing it might usefully have gone into in more detail is yesterday's invocation of the Alien Enemies Act (what remains of the Sedition Acts of 1798), in the deportation, without any court proceeding, of over 200 unnamed Venezuelans (alleged, without evidence being provided, of being gang members).
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/50/21 Whenever there is a declared war between the United States and any foreign nation or government, or any invasion or predatory incursion is perpetrated, attempted, or threatened against the territory of the United States by any foreign nation or government, and the President makes public proclamation of the event, all natives, citizens, denizens, or subjects of the hostile nation or government, being of the age of fourteen years and upward, who shall be within the United States and not actually naturalized, shall be liable to be apprehended, restrained, secured, and removed as alien enemies. The President is authorized in any such event, by his proclamation thereof, or other public act, to direct the conduct to be observed on the part of the United States, toward the aliens who become so liable; the manner and degree of the restraint to which they shall be subject and in what cases, and upon what security their residence shall be permitted, and to provide for the removal of those who, not being permitted to reside within the United States, refuse or neglect to depart therefrom; and to establish any other regulations which are found necessary in the premises and for the public safety...
Invoking it in peacetime goes against two centuries of precedent, and goes against the obvious interpretation of the statute. The administration ignored a court order to halt the deportation - which was not to the individuals' country of origin, but to a El Salvadorean jail, where inmates regularly die in captivity.
Under the act, any foreign national, including those legally resident, could be treated in this manner, should the administration so decide.
There's no pleasing this forum. Either my headers are too long or too short. This is 620 words. I wrote it over breakfast before heading for Scotland where I now am for a wedding. It is pretty much the first day in ages I have not felt ill or had some health issue to worry about as has been the case for the last few months.
But the sun is shining, the landscape is glorious and so my convalescence continues. God willing I will be back to my old self before spring and summer really get underway.
I love your longer headers.
But I’m glad that your back, and apparently on the mend.
Agreed. @Cyclefree - the header was a good read, and echoes my disquiet, but it's very hard to know what madness will follow in the path of Trump, and thus quite hard to comment. No doubt it was a challenge to really assemble a coherent header for the same reason.
Hope the health improves as I'm sure it will with the onset of sunlight again.
'Carney began the day in Paris with a visit to the rebuilt Notre-Dame Cathedral before sitting down for a private lunch with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Palais de l'Élysée.
"It is more important than ever for Canada to strengthen its ties with its reliable allies, such as France," Carney said in French before lunch with Macron.
Describing Canada as the "most European of non-European countries," Carney told Macron he is "determined, like you, to maintain the most positive possible relations with the United States.
"We must strengthen our diplomatic ties to address a world that is increasingly unstable and dangerous," he said. "Canada is a reliable, trustworthy and strong partner of France, which shares our values and lives them through action, during this age of economic and geopolitical crisis."
Ouch. 'Carney will meet with the King before heading to London where he will sit down with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in London. '
Perfectly normal response by Carney and this is a moment for France, the UK, the EU, Canada, Iceland, Norway and others to come together in a new defence and trading partnership
"It is more important than ever for Canada to strengthen its ties with its reliable allies, such as France," Carney said in French before lunch with Macron.
And you have the nerve to moan about boring posts and posters on PB!
I was trying to be as boring as the PB Centrist Dads - you and @Nigelb and @kinabalu and the like - but I overshot and wrote a comment so dull it was quite interesting
Trump invited Conor McGregor, the Reform-y Tomm-eh esque UFC dude in to the WH and the Oval Office, for St Paddy's Day, and left the Teseaichoichscshuckseoischyeiaghhrshffffqooowooo fuming half a mile down the road
I know Donald Trump is not always to everyone's taste, on PB, but he can be fucking funny
I'm calling you out on this. There is nothing funny about inviting a convicted rapist to the White House. Imagine - go on, you're a writer, you can do it - one of the women or girls close to you, someone you care about a lot and feel protective towards, that they've been raped and that they have to see their rapist admired and celebrated because he has a nice line in suits and repartee.
It's not hard to imagine. And if you can't ask one of the many women you know how they'd feel about their rapist being treated in this way. How would you feel about a Conor McGregor if it was someone you loved he hurt? I have been raped. I have seen my rapist treated as a great fellow because he could charm. They didn't see the violence and abuse of an inexperienced and naive girls that followed that charm. Nor the shame and guilt and fear that I felt afterwards. And what happened to me has happened to pretty much every woman, in some form or other. And we are absolutely fucking sick of seeing the appalling men who treat us in this way dismissed by others because, hey, they are funny and sharp.
We don't want to be victims. We wish - Christ we wish it every fucking day since we were 11 or so - that we weren't victims, that we didn't have to take steps all the time to avoid this. And we wish that when we slip up we got the benefit of the doubt. But no it's the abusers, those who turn a blind eye, those who egg them on and those who do "it's only a bit of banter/he's a nice guy really" who get the benefit of the doubt.
You are not the only man on here who gives the impression - maybe unthinkingly - that women are somehow not fully human, only really support animals for men, the people who fit in with what's left when men have got what they want first. This forum frankly has one hell of a blind spot about the woman's perspective on life. But it is precisely because of attitudes like this that people like Trump get away with behaviour which is disgusting, not decent and should have no place in any country trying to be civilised.
I like you Leon. But sometimes you really need to think about what you say.
And if I sound furious, put it down to having been ill for longer than is pleasant, if that helps. It'll have a word - hysteria. That'll be the one.
We have looked at the USA-Canada border through the Great Lakes and along the 49th Parallel. Today, it is time to find out why there is an odd blip west of Lake Superior and east of Manitoba. This is the story of the Northwest Angle. https://x.com/CraigBaird/status/1901650559096029616
Anyone been there ?
Regarding Trump’s bizarre border claims, it does appear that the US did slightly better than Canada, and if the border were to be rationalised, it’s the former that should cede territory.
I have not posted much recently because it seems everything is upside down, predicting what comes next is impossible and with the exception of Reform, who I oppose with a passio, I am resigned to just watching and waiting to see how politics evolves
Interesting I received some oranges from Asda from Spain with not for the EU on the label
Are Spain producing non EU range of exports ?
Perhaps it's an instance of the Alchian and Allen "shipping the good oranges out theorem"
And you have the nerve to moan about boring posts and posters on PB!
I was trying to be as boring as the PB Centrist Dads - you and @Nigelb and @kinabalu and the like - but I overshot and wrote a comment so dull it was quite interesting
I’ve explained to you before that, while I still have a few aspirations in life left to fulfil, entertaining you isn’t one of them.
Exclusive: NIH officials have advised some scientists to remove references to mRNA vaccines from their grant applications, in expectation the Trump administration intends to abandon most research in the field. https://x.com/aawayne/status/1901401106208416041
Leavitt: "It's only because of the United States of America that the French aren't speaking German right now."
It is in large part because of France that the United States of America doesn't have King Charles III as its head of state now
A plus for the French then
You're not coming over all Owains and Dragons and Ivor the Engine are you?
KC3 is doing quite well - better than I thought he would.
To be honest apart from the late Queen I am not much into royalty
Nor me. He's doing very well though, and I rather like William and Kates double act. I also rather like our little collection of nations, and the Royals do help linking that up.
Trump invited Conor McGregor, the Reform-y Tomm-eh esque UFC dude in to the WH and the Oval Office, for St Paddy's Day, and left the Teseaichoichscshuckseoischyeiaghhrshffffqooowooo fuming half a mile down the road
I know Donald Trump is not always to everyone's taste, on PB, but he can be fucking funny
I'm calling you out on this. There is nothing funny about inviting a convicted rapist to the White House. Imagine - go on, you're a writer, you can do it - one of the women or girls close to you, someone you care about a lot and feel protective towards, that they've been raped and that they have to see their rapist admired and celebrated because he has a nice line in suits and repartee.
It's not hard to imagine. And if you can't ask one of the many women you know how they'd feel about their rapist being treated in this way. How would you feel about a Conor McGregor if it was someone you loved he hurt? I have been raped. I have seen my rapist treated as a great fellow because he could charm. They didn't see the violence and abuse of an inexperienced and naive girls that followed that charm. Nor the shame and guilt and fear that I felt afterwards. And what happened to me has happened to pretty much every woman, in some form or other. And we are absolutely fucking sick of seeing the appalling men who treat us in this way dismissed by others because, hey, they are funny and sharp.
We don't want to be victims. We wish - Christ we wish it every fucking day since we were 11 or so - that we weren't victims, that we didn't have to take steps all the time to avoid this. And we wish that when we slip up we got the benefit of the doubt. But no it's the abusers, those who turn a blind eye, those who egg them on and those who do "it's only a bit of banter/he's a nice guy really" who get the benefit of the doubt.
You are not the only man on here who gives the impression - maybe unthinkingly - that women are somehow not fully human, only really support animals for men, the people who fit in with what's left when men have got what they want first. This forum frankly has one hell of a blind spot about the woman's perspective on life. But it is precisely because of attitudes like this that people like Trump get away with behaviour which is disgusting, not decent and should have no place in any country trying to be civilised.
I like you Leon. But sometimes you really need to think about what you say.
And if I sound furious, put it down to having been ill for longer than is pleasant, if that helps. It'll have a word - hysteria. That'll be the one.
Of course you make a reasonable point, BUT Joe Biden has been persuasively accused of pedophile behaviour by his own daughter. And I don’t remember you freaking out every day during his presidency as he sat there in the White House. Indeed, I don’t recall your ever mentioning it (tho I might be wrong)
Plus the other sleaze swirling around Joe and Hunter, and Bill “Epstein” Clinton before them?
The entire American political elite seems deeply dodgy to me, whether you look left or right, Trump or Biden, we might as well extract some dark humour from the grisliness
On the other hand, I am very sorry to hear of your continuing ill health, I hope you get better
Trump invited Conor McGregor, the Reform-y Tomm-eh esque UFC dude in to the WH and the Oval Office, for St Paddy's Day, and left the Teseaichoichscshuckseoischyeiaghhrshffffqooowooo fuming half a mile down the road
I know Donald Trump is not always to everyone's taste, on PB, but he can be fucking funny
I'm calling you out on this. There is nothing funny about inviting a convicted rapist to the White House. Imagine - go on, you're a writer, you can do it - one of the women or girls close to you, someone you care about a lot and feel protective towards, that they've been raped and that they have to see their rapist admired and celebrated because he has a nice line in suits and repartee.
It's not hard to imagine. And if you can't ask one of the many women you know how they'd feel about their rapist being treated in this way. How would you feel about a Conor McGregor if it was someone you loved he hurt? I have been raped. I have seen my rapist treated as a great fellow because he could charm. They didn't see the violence and abuse of an inexperienced and naive girls that followed that charm. Nor the shame and guilt and fear that I felt afterwards. And what happened to me has happened to pretty much every woman, in some form or other. And we are absolutely fucking sick of seeing the appalling men who treat us in this way dismissed by others because, hey, they are funny and sharp.
We don't want to be victims. We wish - Christ we wish it every fucking day since we were 11 or so - that we weren't victims, that we didn't have to take steps all the time to avoid this. And we wish that when we slip up we got the benefit of the doubt. But no it's the abusers, those who turn a blind eye, those who egg them on and those who do "it's only a bit of banter/he's a nice guy really" who get the benefit of the doubt.
You are not the only man on here who gives the impression - maybe unthinkingly - that women are somehow not fully human, only really support animals for men, the people who fit in with what's left when men have got what they want first. This forum frankly has one hell of a blind spot about the woman's perspective on life. But it is precisely because of attitudes like this that people like Trump get away with behaviour which is disgusting, not decent and should have no place in any country trying to be civilised.
I like you Leon. But sometimes you really need to think about what you say.
And if I sound furious, put it down to having been ill for longer than is pleasant, if that helps. It'll have a word - hysteria. That'll be the one.
It's the love of the transgressor. The mad, bad, boy. The "truly free". The infantile worship of the "propaganda of the deed". The one not held back by "bourgeoise morality".
Leavitt: "It's only because of the United States of America that the French aren't speaking German right now."
It is in large part because of France that the United States of America doesn't have King Charles III as its head of state now
A plus for the French then
You're not coming over all Owains and Dragons and Ivor the Engine are you?
KC3 is doing quite well - better than I thought he would.
To be honest apart from the late Queen I am not much into royalty
Nor me. He's doing very well though, and I rather like William and Kates double act. I also rather like our little collection of nations, and the Royals do help linking that up.
William and Kate are a great credit to the nation and hope Kate defeats her cancer
And you have the nerve to moan about boring posts and posters on PB!
I was trying to be as boring as the PB Centrist Dads - you and @Nigelb and @kinabalu and the like - but I overshot and wrote a comment so dull it was quite interesting
I’ve explained to you before that, while I still have a few aspirations in life left to fulfil, entertaining you isn’t one of them.
Trump invited Conor McGregor, the Reform-y Tomm-eh esque UFC dude in to the WH and the Oval Office, for St Paddy's Day, and left the Teseaichoichscshuckseoischyeiaghhrshffffqooowooo fuming half a mile down the road
I know Donald Trump is not always to everyone's taste, on PB, but he can be fucking funny
I'm calling you out on this. There is nothing funny about inviting a convicted rapist to the White House. Imagine - go on, you're a writer, you can do it - one of the women or girls close to you, someone you care about a lot and feel protective towards, that they've been raped and that they have to see their rapist admired and celebrated because he has a nice line in suits and repartee.
It's not hard to imagine. And if you can't ask one of the many women you know how they'd feel about their rapist being treated in this way. How would you feel about a Conor McGregor if it was someone you loved he hurt? I have been raped. I have seen my rapist treated as a great fellow because he could charm. They didn't see the violence and abuse of an inexperienced and naive girls that followed that charm. Nor the shame and guilt and fear that I felt afterwards. And what happened to me has happened to pretty much every woman, in some form or other. And we are absolutely fucking sick of seeing the appalling men who treat us in this way dismissed by others because, hey, they are funny and sharp.
We don't want to be victims. We wish - Christ we wish it every fucking day since we were 11 or so - that we weren't victims, that we didn't have to take steps all the time to avoid this. And we wish that when we slip up we got the benefit of the doubt. But no it's the abusers, those who turn a blind eye, those who egg them on and those who do "it's only a bit of banter/he's a nice guy really" who get the benefit of the doubt.
You are not the only man on here who gives the impression - maybe unthinkingly - that women are somehow not fully human, only really support animals for men, the people who fit in with what's left when men have got what they want first. This forum frankly has one hell of a blind spot about the woman's perspective on life. But it is precisely because of attitudes like this that people like Trump get away with behaviour which is disgusting, not decent and should have no place in any country trying to be civilised.
I like you Leon. But sometimes you really need to think about what you say.
And if I sound furious, put it down to having been ill for longer than is pleasant, if that helps. It'll have a word - hysteria. That'll be the one.
It's the love of the transgressor. The mad, bad, boy. The "truly free". The infantile worship of the "propaganda of the deed". The one not held back by "bourgeoise morality".
'Carney began the day in Paris with a visit to the rebuilt Notre-Dame Cathedral before sitting down for a private lunch with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Palais de l'Élysée.
"It is more important than ever for Canada to strengthen its ties with its reliable allies, such as France," Carney said in French before lunch with Macron.
Describing Canada as the "most European of non-European countries," Carney told Macron he is "determined, like you, to maintain the most positive possible relations with the United States.
"We must strengthen our diplomatic ties to address a world that is increasingly unstable and dangerous," he said. "Canada is a reliable, trustworthy and strong partner of France, which shares our values and lives them through action, during this age of economic and geopolitical crisis."
Ouch. 'Carney will meet with the King before heading to London where he will sit down with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in London. '
Perfectly normal response by Carney and this is a moment for France, the UK, the EU, Canada, Iceland, Norway and others to come together in a new defence and trading partnership
"It is more important than ever for Canada to strengthen its ties with its reliable allies, such as France," Carney said in French before lunch with Macron.
This would be the France that did its best to destroy Canada long before anybody had heard of Donald Trump?
Trump invited Conor McGregor, the Reform-y Tomm-eh esque UFC dude in to the WH and the Oval Office, for St Paddy's Day, and left the Teseaichoichscshuckseoischyeiaghhrshffffqooowooo fuming half a mile down the road
I know Donald Trump is not always to everyone's taste, on PB, but he can be fucking funny
I'm calling you out on this. There is nothing funny about inviting a convicted rapist to the White House. Imagine - go on, you're a writer, you can do it - one of the women or girls close to you, someone you care about a lot and feel protective towards, that they've been raped and that they have to see their rapist admired and celebrated because he has a nice line in suits and repartee.
It's not hard to imagine. And if you can't ask one of the many women you know how they'd feel about their rapist being treated in this way. How would you feel about a Conor McGregor if it was someone you loved he hurt? I have been raped. I have seen my rapist treated as a great fellow because he could charm. They didn't see the violence and abuse of an inexperienced and naive girls that followed that charm. Nor the shame and guilt and fear that I felt afterwards. And what happened to me has happened to pretty much every woman, in some form or other. And we are absolutely fucking sick of seeing the appalling men who treat us in this way dismissed by others because, hey, they are funny and sharp.
We don't want to be victims. We wish - Christ we wish it every fucking day since we were 11 or so - that we weren't victims, that we didn't have to take steps all the time to avoid this. And we wish that when we slip up we got the benefit of the doubt. But no it's the abusers, those who turn a blind eye, those who egg them on and those who do "it's only a bit of banter/he's a nice guy really" who get the benefit of the doubt.
You are not the only man on here who gives the impression - maybe unthinkingly - that women are somehow not fully human, only really support animals for men, the people who fit in with what's left when men have got what they want first. This forum frankly has one hell of a blind spot about the woman's perspective on life. But it is precisely because of attitudes like this that people like Trump get away with behaviour which is disgusting, not decent and should have no place in any country trying to be civilised.
I like you Leon. But sometimes you really need to think about what you say.
And if I sound furious, put it down to having been ill for longer than is pleasant, if that helps. It'll have a word - hysteria. That'll be the one.
It's the love of the transgressor. The mad, bad, boy. The "truly free". The infantile worship of the "propaganda of the deed". The one not held back by "bourgeoise morality".
Hunter Biden?
We are getting to the point where we need to call Prevent for you.
Or should we wait for the Pizza Parlour Basement phase?
Trump invited Conor McGregor, the Reform-y Tomm-eh esque UFC dude in to the WH and the Oval Office, for St Paddy's Day, and left the Teseaichoichscshuckseoischyeiaghhrshffffqooowooo fuming half a mile down the road
I know Donald Trump is not always to everyone's taste, on PB, but he can be fucking funny
I'm calling you out on this. There is nothing funny about inviting a convicted rapist to the White House. Imagine - go on, you're a writer, you can do it - one of the women or girls close to you, someone you care about a lot and feel protective towards, that they've been raped and that they have to see their rapist admired and celebrated because he has a nice line in suits and repartee.
It's not hard to imagine. And if you can't ask one of the many women you know how they'd feel about their rapist being treated in this way. How would you feel about a Conor McGregor if it was someone you loved he hurt? I have been raped. I have seen my rapist treated as a great fellow because he could charm. They didn't see the violence and abuse of an inexperienced and naive girls that followed that charm. Nor the shame and guilt and fear that I felt afterwards. And what happened to me has happened to pretty much every woman, in some form or other. And we are absolutely fucking sick of seeing the appalling men who treat us in this way dismissed by others because, hey, they are funny and sharp.
We don't want to be victims. We wish - Christ we wish it every fucking day since we were 11 or so - that we weren't victims, that we didn't have to take steps all the time to avoid this. And we wish that when we slip up we got the benefit of the doubt. But no it's the abusers, those who turn a blind eye, those who egg them on and those who do "it's only a bit of banter/he's a nice guy really" who get the benefit of the doubt.
You are not the only man on here who gives the impression - maybe unthinkingly - that women are somehow not fully human, only really support animals for men, the people who fit in with what's left when men have got what they want first. This forum frankly has one hell of a blind spot about the woman's perspective on life. But it is precisely because of attitudes like this that people like Trump get away with behaviour which is disgusting, not decent and should have no place in any country trying to be civilised.
I like you Leon. But sometimes you really need to think about what you say.
And if I sound furious, put it down to having been ill for longer than is pleasant, if that helps. It'll have a word - hysteria. That'll be the one.
It's the love of the transgressor. The mad, bad, boy. The "truly free". The infantile worship of the "propaganda of the deed". The one not held back by "bourgeoise morality".
Hunter Biden?
He's just troughing in his Dad's coattails isn't he? Nothing to offer otherwise.
Trump invited Conor McGregor, the Reform-y Tomm-eh esque UFC dude in to the WH and the Oval Office, for St Paddy's Day, and left the Teseaichoichscshuckseoischyeiaghhrshffffqooowooo fuming half a mile down the road
I know Donald Trump is not always to everyone's taste, on PB, but he can be fucking funny
Harris is the Tánaiste not the Taoiseach. I bring this up because the AI-infected Bing just got it wrong as well, presumably because he did fill that role last year. No wonder Elon can't get it to drive his car.
Trump invited Conor McGregor, the Reform-y Tomm-eh esque UFC dude in to the WH and the Oval Office, for St Paddy's Day, and left the Teseaichoichscshuckseoischyeiaghhrshffffqooowooo fuming half a mile down the road
I know Donald Trump is not always to everyone's taste, on PB, but he can be fucking funny
I'm calling you out on this. There is nothing funny about inviting a convicted rapist to the White House. Imagine - go on, you're a writer, you can do it - one of the women or girls close to you, someone you care about a lot and feel protective towards, that they've been raped and that they have to see their rapist admired and celebrated because he has a nice line in suits and repartee.
It's not hard to imagine. And if you can't ask one of the many women you know how they'd feel about their rapist being treated in this way. How would you feel about a Conor McGregor if it was someone you loved he hurt? I have been raped. I have seen my rapist treated as a great fellow because he could charm. They didn't see the violence and abuse of an inexperienced and naive girls that followed that charm. Nor the shame and guilt and fear that I felt afterwards. And what happened to me has happened to pretty much every woman, in some form or other. And we are absolutely fucking sick of seeing the appalling men who treat us in this way dismissed by others because, hey, they are funny and sharp.
We don't want to be victims. We wish - Christ we wish it every fucking day since we were 11 or so - that we weren't victims, that we didn't have to take steps all the time to avoid this. And we wish that when we slip up we got the benefit of the doubt. But no it's the abusers, those who turn a blind eye, those who egg them on and those who do "it's only a bit of banter/he's a nice guy really" who get the benefit of the doubt.
You are not the only man on here who gives the impression - maybe unthinkingly - that women are somehow not fully human, only really support animals for men, the people who fit in with what's left when men have got what they want first. This forum frankly has one hell of a blind spot about the woman's perspective on life. But it is precisely because of attitudes like this that people like Trump get away with behaviour which is disgusting, not decent and should have no place in any country trying to be civilised.
I like you Leon. But sometimes you really need to think about what you say.
And if I sound furious, put it down to having been ill for longer than is pleasant, if that helps. It'll have a word - hysteria. That'll be the one.
Of course you make a reasonable point, BUT Joe Biden has been persuasively accused of pedophile behaviour by his own daughter. And I don’t remember you freaking out every day during his presidency as he sat there in the White House. Indeed, I don’t recall your ever mentioning it (tho I might be wrong)
Plus the other sleaze swirling around Joe and Hunter, and Bill “Epstein” Clinton before them?
The entire American political elite seems deeply dodgy to me, whether you look left or right, Trump or Biden, we might as well extract some dark humour from the grisliness
On the other hand, I am very sorry to hear of your continuing ill health, I hope you get better
Today is the first time I have heard of those accusations against Biden.
I could list the number of headers I have written on here about child abuse - and the way we do not take it seriously. I could show you stuff I've written about Staley and Epstein. (I have seen a list of people in Epstein's telephone book and I've even investigated some of them.) And all the stuff I've written about abuse of women. I have gone on about it because it matters - even in the face of yawns, the "she's off again" and on some occasions threads being diverted into discussions about the sexual prowess of PB'ers.
If you want black humour about men's sexual behaviour I can provide plenty of that. Are you sure you're ready for it?
And I also have a life, work and a family. But a look at my oeuvre on here would show you that the abuse of the vulnerable is something I really care about.
And you have the nerve to moan about boring posts and posters on PB!
I was trying to be as boring as the PB Centrist Dads - you and @Nigelb and @kinabalu and the like - but I overshot and wrote a comment so dull it was quite interesting
I’ve explained to you before that, while I still have a few aspirations in life left to fulfil, entertaining you isn’t one of them.
Probably for the best, given your skillset
You’ve lost a step. Not even close to a decent retort.
Trump invited Conor McGregor, the Reform-y Tomm-eh esque UFC dude in to the WH and the Oval Office, for St Paddy's Day, and left the Teseaichoichscshuckseoischyeiaghhrshffffqooowooo fuming half a mile down the road
I know Donald Trump is not always to everyone's taste, on PB, but he can be fucking funny
I'm calling you out on this. There is nothing funny about inviting a convicted rapist to the White House. Imagine - go on, you're a writer, you can do it - one of the women or girls close to you, someone you care about a lot and feel protective towards, that they've been raped and that they have to see their rapist admired and celebrated because he has a nice line in suits and repartee.
It's not hard to imagine. And if you can't ask one of the many women you know how they'd feel about their rapist being treated in this way. How would you feel about a Conor McGregor if it was someone you loved he hurt? I have been raped. I have seen my rapist treated as a great fellow because he could charm. They didn't see the violence and abuse of an inexperienced and naive girls that followed that charm. Nor the shame and guilt and fear that I felt afterwards. And what happened to me has happened to pretty much every woman, in some form or other. And we are absolutely fucking sick of seeing the appalling men who treat us in this way dismissed by others because, hey, they are funny and sharp.
We don't want to be victims. We wish - Christ we wish it every fucking day since we were 11 or so - that we weren't victims, that we didn't have to take steps all the time to avoid this. And we wish that when we slip up we got the benefit of the doubt. But no it's the abusers, those who turn a blind eye, those who egg them on and those who do "it's only a bit of banter/he's a nice guy really" who get the benefit of the doubt.
You are not the only man on here who gives the impression - maybe unthinkingly - that women are somehow not fully human, only really support animals for men, the people who fit in with what's left when men have got what they want first. This forum frankly has one hell of a blind spot about the woman's perspective on life. But it is precisely because of attitudes like this that people like Trump get away with behaviour which is disgusting, not decent and should have no place in any country trying to be civilised.
I like you Leon. But sometimes you really need to think about what you say.
And if I sound furious, put it down to having been ill for longer than is pleasant, if that helps. It'll have a word - hysteria. That'll be the one.
It's the love of the transgressor. The mad, bad, boy. The "truly free". The infantile worship of the "propaganda of the deed". The one not held back by "bourgeoise morality".
Hunter Biden?
We are getting to the point where we need to call Prevent for you.
Or should we wait for the Pizza Parlour Basement phase?
No, PB has reached the insane point when anyone who dares to mention an awkward fact that might discomfort the Dems, the American Left, the anti-Trumpers - is regarded as a Nazi, a conspiracy theorist, and a Trumpite coup-encourager, and so forth. Rather than someone pointing out that there are two sides to this story, and there is a reason so many Americans voted Trump and abhor the Democrats, they are not all Hitler-its thickos, even at the same time as Trump IS a mad buffoon who should be nowhere near the Oval
We saw the same shit vis a vis Ukraine, we see it here, it’s just a sad dumbing down of the site, as inability to do nuance, a kind of dim, morally shrill groupthink, and it is getting REALLY old
Leavitt: "It's only because of the United States of America that the French aren't speaking German right now."
It is in large part because of France that the United States of America doesn't have King Charles III as its head of state now
A plus for the French then
I think it unlikely that King Charles III would have invited Conor McGregor to tea, for example.
His mum invited the fucking Ceaucescus to STAY
The government of the day *told her* to invite him, you mean.
Besides. Ceausescu, horrible as he was and worse as he became, was President of Romania. Salute the role, not the man, and all that.
Whereas McGregor is a just a horrible private citizen.
Still, I suppose it's funny triggering someone into doing the same "you're such hypocrites- look at what they're doing and you're not telling them off" thing that all thwarted teenagers always do.
Trump invited Conor McGregor, the Reform-y Tomm-eh esque UFC dude in to the WH and the Oval Office, for St Paddy's Day, and left the Teseaichoichscshuckseoischyeiaghhrshffffqooowooo fuming half a mile down the road
I know Donald Trump is not always to everyone's taste, on PB, but he can be fucking funny
I'm calling you out on this. There is nothing funny about inviting a convicted rapist to the White House. Imagine - go on, you're a writer, you can do it - one of the women or girls close to you, someone you care about a lot and feel protective towards, that they've been raped and that they have to see their rapist admired and celebrated because he has a nice line in suits and repartee.
It's not hard to imagine. And if you can't ask one of the many women you know how they'd feel about their rapist being treated in this way. How would you feel about a Conor McGregor if it was someone you loved he hurt? I have been raped. I have seen my rapist treated as a great fellow because he could charm. They didn't see the violence and abuse of an inexperienced and naive girls that followed that charm. Nor the shame and guilt and fear that I felt afterwards. And what happened to me has happened to pretty much every woman, in some form or other. And we are absolutely fucking sick of seeing the appalling men who treat us in this way dismissed by others because, hey, they are funny and sharp.
We don't want to be victims. We wish - Christ we wish it every fucking day since we were 11 or so - that we weren't victims, that we didn't have to take steps all the time to avoid this. And we wish that when we slip up we got the benefit of the doubt. But no it's the abusers, those who turn a blind eye, those who egg them on and those who do "it's only a bit of banter/he's a nice guy really" who get the benefit of the doubt.
You are not the only man on here who gives the impression - maybe unthinkingly - that women are somehow not fully human, only really support animals for men, the people who fit in with what's left when men have got what they want first. This forum frankly has one hell of a blind spot about the woman's perspective on life. But it is precisely because of attitudes like this that people like Trump get away with behaviour which is disgusting, not decent and should have no place in any country trying to be civilised.
I like you Leon. But sometimes you really need to think about what you say.
And if I sound furious, put it down to having been ill for longer than is pleasant, if that helps. It'll have a word - hysteria. That'll be the one.
Of course you make a reasonable point, BUT Joe Biden has been persuasively accused of pedophile behaviour by his own daughter. And I don’t remember you freaking out every day during his presidency as he sat there in the White House. Indeed, I don’t recall your ever mentioning it (tho I might be wrong)
Plus the other sleaze swirling around Joe and Hunter, and Bill “Epstein” Clinton before them?
The entire American political elite seems deeply dodgy to me, whether you look left or right, Trump or Biden, we might as well extract some dark humour from the grisliness
On the other hand, I am very sorry to hear of your continuing ill health, I hope you get better
Today is the first time I have heard of those accusations against Biden.
I could list the number of headers I have written on here about child abuse - and the way we do not take it seriously. I could show you stuff I've written about Staley and Epstein. (I have seen a list of people in Epstein's telephone book and I've even investigated some of them.) And all the stuff I've written about abuse of women. I have gone on about it because it matters - even in the face of yawns, the "she's off again" and on some occasions threads being diverted into discussions about the sexual prowess of PB'ers.
If you want black humour about men's sexual behaviour I can provide plenty of that. Are you sure you're ready for it?
And I also have a life, work and a family. But a look at my oeuvre on here would show you that the abuse of the vulnerable is something I really care about.
So as the Scots say "get tae fuck".
That’s more like the @Cyclefree I know and love. Got your pep back. Good to see
You could profitably ask yourself why and how the very plausible, indeed proven accusations against Joe Biden miraculously disappeared (proven inasmuch as this is the verbatim account of his daughter, which she has not denied). How come someone as switched on as you never heard of them? Possibly because the Dems do a pretty good job in suppressing stories they don’t like - cf lab leak and Hunter’s laptop. They usually do it by labeling it as a “conspiracy theory” until it turns out to be undeniably true, by which point they hope no one cares
Again, I turn to lab leak. I know this bores PB but TWENTY MILLION PEOPLE DIED
And now that it is basically accepted that it happened suddenly the Left pivots from “it came from the market” to “shit happens, let’s move on, it was just an accident, who really cares”
Imagine if 20 million humans died due to an air crash or an industrial accident. Finding, trying and punishing the culprits would consume us for years and years
Trump invited Conor McGregor, the Reform-y Tomm-eh esque UFC dude in to the WH and the Oval Office, for St Paddy's Day, and left the Teseaichoichscshuckseoischyeiaghhrshffffqooowooo fuming half a mile down the road
I know Donald Trump is not always to everyone's taste, on PB, but he can be fucking funny
I'm calling you out on this. There is nothing funny about inviting a convicted rapist to the White House. Imagine - go on, you're a writer, you can do it - one of the women or girls close to you, someone you care about a lot and feel protective towards, that they've been raped and that they have to see their rapist admired and celebrated because he has a nice line in suits and repartee.
It's not hard to imagine. And if you can't ask one of the many women you know how they'd feel about their rapist being treated in this way. How would you feel about a Conor McGregor if it was someone you loved he hurt? I have been raped. I have seen my rapist treated as a great fellow because he could charm. They didn't see the violence and abuse of an inexperienced and naive girls that followed that charm. Nor the shame and guilt and fear that I felt afterwards. And what happened to me has happened to pretty much every woman, in some form or other. And we are absolutely fucking sick of seeing the appalling men who treat us in this way dismissed by others because, hey, they are funny and sharp.
We don't want to be victims. We wish - Christ we wish it every fucking day since we were 11 or so - that we weren't victims, that we didn't have to take steps all the time to avoid this. And we wish that when we slip up we got the benefit of the doubt. But no it's the abusers, those who turn a blind eye, those who egg them on and those who do "it's only a bit of banter/he's a nice guy really" who get the benefit of the doubt.
You are not the only man on here who gives the impression - maybe unthinkingly - that women are somehow not fully human, only really support animals for men, the people who fit in with what's left when men have got what they want first. This forum frankly has one hell of a blind spot about the woman's perspective on life. But it is precisely because of attitudes like this that people like Trump get away with behaviour which is disgusting, not decent and should have no place in any country trying to be civilised.
I like you Leon. But sometimes you really need to think about what you say.
And if I sound furious, put it down to having been ill for longer than is pleasant, if that helps. It'll have a word - hysteria. That'll be the one.
It's the love of the transgressor. The mad, bad, boy. The "truly free". The infantile worship of the "propaganda of the deed". The one not held back by "bourgeoise morality".
Hunter Biden?
We are getting to the point where we need to call Prevent for you.
Or should we wait for the Pizza Parlour Basement phase?
No, PB has reached the insane point when anyone who dares to mention an awkward fact that might discomfort the Dems, the American Left, the anti-Trumpers - is regarded as a Nazi, a conspiracy theorist, and a Trumpite coup-encourager, and so forth. Rather than someone pointing out that there are two sides to this story, and there is a reason so many Americans voted Trump and abhor the Democrats, they are not all Hitler-its thickos, even at the same time as Trump IS a mad buffoon who should be nowhere near the Oval
We saw the same shit vis a vis Ukraine, we see it here, it’s just a sad dumbing down of the site, as inability to do nuance, a kind of dim, morally shrill groupthink, and it is getting REALLY old
One of the refreshing things about the Israel Palestine conflict debate here was that there is a lack of decided establishment view. So you saw real, punchy debate here. Debate is rather frowned upon in the case of Ukraine and Russia, and increasingly Trump.
If you want an example of what I've been saying, follow the Newman v Metropolitan Police case in the Employment Tribunal. Today a senior Met police officer (a female superintendent) has said in evidence that she does not know whether men are more likely to commit violent crime or whether they are more likely to be involved in sexual crime or a risk to women. Baroness Casey will need to write another report which can be ignored.
No wonder the Met's VAWG efforts are not succeeding. Where do they find such stupid people? See also the recent conviction on child abuse, voyeurism and other revolting matters of a man who acted as a training advisor to the Surrey Police.
Trump invited Conor McGregor, the Reform-y Tomm-eh esque UFC dude in to the WH and the Oval Office, for St Paddy's Day, and left the Teseaichoichscshuckseoischyeiaghhrshffffqooowooo fuming half a mile down the road
I know Donald Trump is not always to everyone's taste, on PB, but he can be fucking funny
I'm calling you out on this. There is nothing funny about inviting a convicted rapist to the White House. Imagine - go on, you're a writer, you can do it - one of the women or girls close to you, someone you care about a lot and feel protective towards, that they've been raped and that they have to see their rapist admired and celebrated because he has a nice line in suits and repartee.
It's not hard to imagine. And if you can't ask one of the many women you know how they'd feel about their rapist being treated in this way. How would you feel about a Conor McGregor if it was someone you loved he hurt? I have been raped. I have seen my rapist treated as a great fellow because he could charm. They didn't see the violence and abuse of an inexperienced and naive girls that followed that charm. Nor the shame and guilt and fear that I felt afterwards. And what happened to me has happened to pretty much every woman, in some form or other. And we are absolutely fucking sick of seeing the appalling men who treat us in this way dismissed by others because, hey, they are funny and sharp.
We don't want to be victims. We wish - Christ we wish it every fucking day since we were 11 or so - that we weren't victims, that we didn't have to take steps all the time to avoid this. And we wish that when we slip up we got the benefit of the doubt. But no it's the abusers, those who turn a blind eye, those who egg them on and those who do "it's only a bit of banter/he's a nice guy really" who get the benefit of the doubt.
You are not the only man on here who gives the impression - maybe unthinkingly - that women are somehow not fully human, only really support animals for men, the people who fit in with what's left when men have got what they want first. This forum frankly has one hell of a blind spot about the woman's perspective on life. But it is precisely because of attitudes like this that people like Trump get away with behaviour which is disgusting, not decent and should have no place in any country trying to be civilised.
I like you Leon. But sometimes you really need to think about what you say.
And if I sound furious, put it down to having been ill for longer than is pleasant, if that helps. It'll have a word - hysteria. That'll be the one.
It's the love of the transgressor. The mad, bad, boy. The "truly free". The infantile worship of the "propaganda of the deed". The one not held back by "bourgeoise morality".
Hunter Biden?
We are getting to the point where we need to call Prevent for you.
Or should we wait for the Pizza Parlour Basement phase?
No, PB has reached the insane point when anyone who dares to mention an awkward fact that might discomfort the Dems, the American Left, the anti-Trumpers - is regarded as a Nazi, a conspiracy theorist, and a Trumpite coup-encourager, and so forth. Rather than someone pointing out that there are two sides to this story, and there is a reason so many Americans voted Trump and abhor the Democrats, they are not all Hitler-its thickos, even at the same time as Trump IS a mad buffoon who should be nowhere near the Oval
We saw the same shit vis a vis Ukraine, we see it here, it’s just a sad dumbing down of the site, as inability to do nuance, a kind of dim, morally shrill groupthink, and it is getting REALLY old
You never learn do you. You were suspended from the site for a week for your attitude and behaviour. Things don't change much. How many days is it now?
I would like to think that the moderators are running out of patience with you.
Trump invited Conor McGregor, the Reform-y Tomm-eh esque UFC dude in to the WH and the Oval Office, for St Paddy's Day, and left the Teseaichoichscshuckseoischyeiaghhrshffffqooowooo fuming half a mile down the road
I know Donald Trump is not always to everyone's taste, on PB, but he can be fucking funny
I'm calling you out on this. There is nothing funny about inviting a convicted rapist to the White House. Imagine - go on, you're a writer, you can do it - one of the women or girls close to you, someone you care about a lot and feel protective towards, that they've been raped and that they have to see their rapist admired and celebrated because he has a nice line in suits and repartee.
It's not hard to imagine. And if you can't ask one of the many women you know how they'd feel about their rapist being treated in this way. How would you feel about a Conor McGregor if it was someone you loved he hurt? I have been raped. I have seen my rapist treated as a great fellow because he could charm. They didn't see the violence and abuse of an inexperienced and naive girls that followed that charm. Nor the shame and guilt and fear that I felt afterwards. And what happened to me has happened to pretty much every woman, in some form or other. And we are absolutely fucking sick of seeing the appalling men who treat us in this way dismissed by others because, hey, they are funny and sharp.
We don't want to be victims. We wish - Christ we wish it every fucking day since we were 11 or so - that we weren't victims, that we didn't have to take steps all the time to avoid this. And we wish that when we slip up we got the benefit of the doubt. But no it's the abusers, those who turn a blind eye, those who egg them on and those who do "it's only a bit of banter/he's a nice guy really" who get the benefit of the doubt.
You are not the only man on here who gives the impression - maybe unthinkingly - that women are somehow not fully human, only really support animals for men, the people who fit in with what's left when men have got what they want first. This forum frankly has one hell of a blind spot about the woman's perspective on life. But it is precisely because of attitudes like this that people like Trump get away with behaviour which is disgusting, not decent and should have no place in any country trying to be civilised.
I like you Leon. But sometimes you really need to think about what you say.
And if I sound furious, put it down to having been ill for longer than is pleasant, if that helps. It'll have a word - hysteria. That'll be the one.
It's the love of the transgressor. The mad, bad, boy. The "truly free". The infantile worship of the "propaganda of the deed". The one not held back by "bourgeoise morality".
Hunter Biden?
We are getting to the point where we need to call Prevent for you.
Or should we wait for the Pizza Parlour Basement phase?
No, PB has reached the insane point when anyone who dares to mention an awkward fact that might discomfort the Dems, the American Left, the anti-Trumpers - is regarded as a Nazi, a conspiracy theorist, and a Trumpite coup-encourager, and so forth. Rather than someone pointing out that there are two sides to this story, and there is a reason so many Americans voted Trump and abhor the Democrats, they are not all Hitler-its thickos, even at the same time as Trump IS a mad buffoon who should be nowhere near the Oval
We saw the same shit vis a vis Ukraine, we see it here, it’s just a sad dumbing down of the site, as inability to do nuance, a kind of dim, morally shrill groupthink, and it is getting REALLY old
One of the refreshing things about the Israel Palestine conflict debate here was that there is a lack of decided establishment view. So you saw real, punchy debate here. Debate is rather frowned upon in the case of Ukraine and Russia, and increasingly Trump.
Why is debate required?
Russia invaded Ukraine. Ukraine didn't invade Russia.
Jack Straw on the news....He doesn't improve with time..........
You mean you do not like his political views though he is probably talking sense
He doean't like the ECHR
I recall Jack Straw inveighing against Sqeegee Merchants back in 1997 and, sure enough, you just don't see them any more. It's a proud achievement and for all I know there may well be others.
Trump invited Conor McGregor, the Reform-y Tomm-eh esque UFC dude in to the WH and the Oval Office, for St Paddy's Day, and left the Teseaichoichscshuckseoischyeiaghhrshffffqooowooo fuming half a mile down the road
I know Donald Trump is not always to everyone's taste, on PB, but he can be fucking funny
I'm calling you out on this. There is nothing funny about inviting a convicted rapist to the White House. Imagine - go on, you're a writer, you can do it - one of the women or girls close to you, someone you care about a lot and feel protective towards, that they've been raped and that they have to see their rapist admired and celebrated because he has a nice line in suits and repartee.
It's not hard to imagine. And if you can't ask one of the many women you know how they'd feel about their rapist being treated in this way. How would you feel about a Conor McGregor if it was someone you loved he hurt? I have been raped. I have seen my rapist treated as a great fellow because he could charm. They didn't see the violence and abuse of an inexperienced and naive girls that followed that charm. Nor the shame and guilt and fear that I felt afterwards. And what happened to me has happened to pretty much every woman, in some form or other. And we are absolutely fucking sick of seeing the appalling men who treat us in this way dismissed by others because, hey, they are funny and sharp.
We don't want to be victims. We wish - Christ we wish it every fucking day since we were 11 or so - that we weren't victims, that we didn't have to take steps all the time to avoid this. And we wish that when we slip up we got the benefit of the doubt. But no it's the abusers, those who turn a blind eye, those who egg them on and those who do "it's only a bit of banter/he's a nice guy really" who get the benefit of the doubt.
You are not the only man on here who gives the impression - maybe unthinkingly - that women are somehow not fully human, only really support animals for men, the people who fit in with what's left when men have got what they want first. This forum frankly has one hell of a blind spot about the woman's perspective on life. But it is precisely because of attitudes like this that people like Trump get away with behaviour which is disgusting, not decent and should have no place in any country trying to be civilised.
I like you Leon. But sometimes you really need to think about what you say.
And if I sound furious, put it down to having been ill for longer than is pleasant, if that helps. It'll have a word - hysteria. That'll be the one.
It's the love of the transgressor. The mad, bad, boy. The "truly free". The infantile worship of the "propaganda of the deed". The one not held back by "bourgeoise morality".
Hunter Biden?
We are getting to the point where we need to call Prevent for you.
Or should we wait for the Pizza Parlour Basement phase?
No, PB has reached the insane point when anyone who dares to mention an awkward fact that might discomfort the Dems, the American Left, the anti-Trumpers - is regarded as a Nazi, a conspiracy theorist, and a Trumpite coup-encourager, and so forth. Rather than someone pointing out that there are two sides to this story, and there is a reason so many Americans voted Trump and abhor the Democrats, they are not all Hitler-its thickos, even at the same time as Trump IS a mad buffoon who should be nowhere near the Oval
We saw the same shit vis a vis Ukraine, we see it here, it’s just a sad dumbing down of the site, as inability to do nuance, a kind of dim, morally shrill groupthink, and it is getting REALLY old
You never learn do you. You were suspended from the site for a week for your attitude and behaviour. Things don't change much. How many days is it now?
I would like to think that the moderators are running out of patience with you.
Ah, so I must be banned again
For my “attitude” and “behaviour”
Not for doing anything wrong any more, simply for voicing opinions - attitudes - you do not like
Jack Straw on the news....He doesn't improve with time..........
You mean you do not like his political views though he is probably talking sense
He doean't like the ECHR
Actually that seems to be a growung concensus including in the labour party
A podcast I watched the other day recalled thr view (can't remember whose it was) that we should have had a referendum on leaving the ECHR, not the EU. Would have certainly been an interesting idea. Personally I don't think that it would have worked, as Cameron and Osborne would have replicated everything and even 'strengthened UK human rights' leaving us with many of the same issues, but in the hands of a good Government it would leave us with far more leeway.
Trump invited Conor McGregor, the Reform-y Tomm-eh esque UFC dude in to the WH and the Oval Office, for St Paddy's Day, and left the Teseaichoichscshuckseoischyeiaghhrshffffqooowooo fuming half a mile down the road
I know Donald Trump is not always to everyone's taste, on PB, but he can be fucking funny
I'm calling you out on this. There is nothing funny about inviting a convicted rapist to the White House. Imagine - go on, you're a writer, you can do it - one of the women or girls close to you, someone you care about a lot and feel protective towards, that they've been raped and that they have to see their rapist admired and celebrated because he has a nice line in suits and repartee.
It's not hard to imagine. And if you can't ask one of the many women you know how they'd feel about their rapist being treated in this way. How would you feel about a Conor McGregor if it was someone you loved he hurt? I have been raped. I have seen my rapist treated as a great fellow because he could charm. They didn't see the violence and abuse of an inexperienced and naive girls that followed that charm. Nor the shame and guilt and fear that I felt afterwards. And what happened to me has happened to pretty much every woman, in some form or other. And we are absolutely fucking sick of seeing the appalling men who treat us in this way dismissed by others because, hey, they are funny and sharp.
We don't want to be victims. We wish - Christ we wish it every fucking day since we were 11 or so - that we weren't victims, that we didn't have to take steps all the time to avoid this. And we wish that when we slip up we got the benefit of the doubt. But no it's the abusers, those who turn a blind eye, those who egg them on and those who do "it's only a bit of banter/he's a nice guy really" who get the benefit of the doubt.
You are not the only man on here who gives the impression - maybe unthinkingly - that women are somehow not fully human, only really support animals for men, the people who fit in with what's left when men have got what they want first. This forum frankly has one hell of a blind spot about the woman's perspective on life. But it is precisely because of attitudes like this that people like Trump get away with behaviour which is disgusting, not decent and should have no place in any country trying to be civilised.
I like you Leon. But sometimes you really need to think about what you say.
And if I sound furious, put it down to having been ill for longer than is pleasant, if that helps. It'll have a word - hysteria. That'll be the one.
It's the love of the transgressor. The mad, bad, boy. The "truly free". The infantile worship of the "propaganda of the deed". The one not held back by "bourgeoise morality".
Hunter Biden?
We are getting to the point where we need to call Prevent for you.
Or should we wait for the Pizza Parlour Basement phase?
No, PB has reached the insane point when anyone who dares to mention an awkward fact that might discomfort the Dems, the American Left, the anti-Trumpers - is regarded as a Nazi, a conspiracy theorist, and a Trumpite coup-encourager, and so forth. Rather than someone pointing out that there are two sides to this story, and there is a reason so many Americans voted Trump and abhor the Democrats, they are not all Hitler-its thickos, even at the same time as Trump IS a mad buffoon who should be nowhere near the Oval
We saw the same shit vis a vis Ukraine, we see it here, it’s just a sad dumbing down of the site, as inability to do nuance, a kind of dim, morally shrill groupthink, and it is getting REALLY old
Yup, I think in an election rerun Trump would still win both the EC and PV. I don't think there's really a realisation of how fed up average Americans are with the constant drum beat of DEI and culture war stuff that comes from the left, even in blue states friends of mine are quite pleased to see the back of it all under Trump despite everything else he's doing. Again, I'll point to the wide condemnation among the left that the Dems encouraged against Gavin Newsom when he pointed out the bleeding obvious that allowing biological men into women's sports is unfair. People see that and the lizard part of their brain just switches off from anything else the Dems have to offer IMO. Until they get real on this and other similar subjects I don't see the Dems making any real headway in the 1 v 1 presidential election.
Comments
(((Dan Hodges)))
@DPJHodges
·
9m
The White House has become a lunatic asylum.
https://x.com/DPJHodges/status/1901672059664531476
1. Asda cannot re-export these Spanish oranges, even to Spain, without copious paperwork.
2. "Not for EU" means, in practical terms, Asda can send them to Northern Ireland with no or cursory paperwork without the EU complaining too much about the fact they might reach the Republic.
3. It's legal for a resident of the Republic to go to Northern Ireland and buy the oranges and take them home. It's not legal for a small shop-owner in the Republic to buy them at Asda in the North and then try to retail them in the Republic.
4. This is the compromise worked out: oranges from the UK (and sausages) may enter the Republic, so long as they are not sold.
5. Actually, a pretty big concession on the part of the EU. But not really a win, because it remains more complicated than pre-brexit.
(Happy to be corrected on the above.)
Every society has a proportion of sharp, nasty thugs. Correctly used, some of them can achieve remarkable things. Lots of human progress comes from them. A lot of them are frustrated sharp, nasty thugs. If only they were set free to run everything, they could save the world. Techboes, or Dom C (who isn't a techbro but clearly wishes he was.) Unfortunately for them,
1) it's really hard to distinguish in advance between the useful sharp, nasty thugs and the harmful sharp, nasty thugs. And the harmful ones can do a lot of harm.
2) most of us are less sharp, less nasty, less thuggish. Herbivores not carnivores. What some see as societal sclerosis, most of us regard as civilisation.
Hence boring old laws that everyone has to follow. It's not perfect, but it's the best plan anyone has come up with.
I’ll post more info later
Yes exactly they’re those chequered tea towels
@Polruan - I’ll let you know
And yes @Itajai - exactly right
@phillipspobrien.bsky.social
The “assets” that Trump is talking about dividing up with Putin are all in Ukraine and are Ukrainian. Be warned Europe. If he divide up Ukrainians assets with Russia today, no reason he can’t do that with other European states tomorrow. www.cnn.com/2025/03/17/p...
https://bsky.app/profile/phillipspobrien.bsky.social/post/3lkljbjccac2p
Mark Carney says thank you.
Reader, they didn’t.
"It is more important than ever for Canada to strengthen its ties with its reliable allies, such as France," Carney said in French before lunch with Macron.
Describing Canada as the "most European of non-European countries," Carney told Macron he is "determined, like you, to maintain the most positive possible relations with the United States.
"We must strengthen our diplomatic ties to address a world that is increasingly unstable and dangerous," he said. "Canada is a reliable, trustworthy and strong partner of France, which shares our values and lives them through action, during this age of economic and geopolitical crisis."
Ouch. 'Carney will meet with the King before heading to London where he will sit down with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in London. '
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/carney-arrives-in-uk-1.7485534
Even if the mid-terms are nobbled, from where the USA starts the prospect for returning to freedom, based on the popular memory, is very different from that of, say, Russia.
I retain some trust in the people, even if the process of getting back there could be pretty gruesome.
Certainly not when it comes to their choice of sports.
Perfectly normal response by Carney and this is a moment for France, the UK, the EU, Canada, Iceland, Norway and others to come together in a new defence and trading partnership
But the sun is shining, the landscape is glorious and so my convalescence continues. God willing I will be back to my old self before spring and summer really get underway.
Rather like @Big_G_NorthWales and some others, I'm trying not to react or over-react to every pronouncement from the Trump Administration. As with many populists, what they say is often far removed from what they do.
Trump needs peace in the Ukraine - Putin and Zelenskyy might like it or want it but they need it less. Trump needs peace to cement his position in his own mind as the bringer of peace, the global statesman de nos jours, the Nobel Peace Prize winner in waiting.
As for what Trump may or may not do, the insidious element to centralisation is once the centraliser has gone, those who follow, for all their weasel words, often keep the changes made. Here, Johnson took a lot of power from Westminster to Whitehall during Covid - has any of that been reversed by Starmer? I suspect not - what about returning powers of scrutiny and accountability to Westminster, what about moving real power from Westminster to local authorities?
That's the thing about the "strong leader" schtick - it's not often about having a strong leader but having the mechanisms in place to allow a weak leader to govern as a strong leader. Absent the checks and balances on which democracy is built, authoritarian leadership, whether benign or malevolent, can flourish.
A final thought for now - another of my political Rules - Opposition parties who don't talk out the issues voters want to talk about are destined to remain opposition parties. Governing parties who talk about the issues voters want to talk about but lack any record of progress on those issues are destined to become opposition parties.
Voters in the UK did not care about Brexit until Nigel Fucking Farage appeared on the BBC every fucking week.
Democrats are not talking to MAGA voters because MAGA voters get their 'news' from platforms the Democrats are not using (or permitted to use)
Leavitt: "It's only because of the United States of America that the French aren't speaking German right now."
Canada has huge ties with France
But I’m glad that your back, and apparently on the mend.
Farage made an issue of peripheral import to most (as OGH repeatedly showed us) the paramount issue of the day through repetition and hitting cultural buttons and set up the epitome of the single issue party. The Conservatives, seeing their core vote threatened and the possibility of a schism within their party, bought off Farage with a pleadge to hold a referendum if they won a majority at the next GE.
That Faustian deal par excellence got Britain out of the EU and ultimately led to the destruction of the Conservative Party.
In America, Democrats need to engage in "pocket book issues" (to use the vernacular) and that may mean going on Newsmax and other outlets, going into the MAGA lion's den and stating their case. They probably will be ridiculed, scorned and parodied in first instance but over time and especially if Trump's policies continue to weaken the economy, people will begin to listen and that's where you start.
Another way for oppositions to remain oppositions is to talk only to themselves - Bernie Sanders gets it.
Entirely unconnected to my arrival in Terminal 3, with time to spare, I’ve decided that there should be a German compound noun for “that intensely awkward moment when you open your iPad in a public place and you forget that the last page open, which automatically reopens as you click on the iPad, is quite hardcore porn”
Oh, wait, there is
ÖffentlicherTabletPornobildschirmwiedereröffnungspeinlichkeitsmoment
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/03/us-canada-relations-trump/682046/
When I served as counselor of the State Department, I advised the secretary of state about America’s wars with Iraqi insurgents, the Taliban, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and al-Qaeda. I spent a good deal of time visiting battlefields in the Middle East and Afghanistan as well as shaping strategy in Washington. But when I left government service in 2009, I eagerly resumed work on a book that dealt with America’s most durable, and in many ways most effective and important, enemy: Canada...
As the author notes, they tried it before they’d even declared independence, in 1775.
… The Americans had three talented generals. The first, Richard Montgomery, got killed in the opening assault on Quebec. The second, John Thomas, died of smallpox, along with many of his men. Inoculation was possible, but, like today’s vaccine skeptics, many thought it a bad idea. You can visit the capacious cemetery for the victims on Île aux Noix, now Fort Lennox, Canada.
The third general, the most talented of the lot, was Benedict Arnold, who held the expedition together even after suffering a grievous leg wound. Eventually, however, he grew disgusted with a Congress rather less craven and incompetent than its contemporary successor and became a traitor, accepting a commission as a brigadier general in the British army and fighting against American forces...
Hope the health improves as I'm sure it will with the onset of sunlight again.
KC3 is doing quite well - better than I thought he would.
It's not hard to imagine. And if you can't ask one of the many women you know how they'd feel about their rapist being treated in this way. How would you feel about a Conor McGregor if it was someone you loved he hurt? I have been raped. I have seen my rapist treated as a great fellow because he could charm. They didn't see the violence and abuse of an inexperienced and naive girls that followed that charm. Nor the shame and guilt and fear that I felt afterwards. And what happened to me has happened to pretty much every woman, in some form or other. And we are absolutely fucking sick of seeing the appalling men who treat us in this way dismissed by others because, hey, they are funny and sharp.
We don't want to be victims. We wish - Christ we wish it every fucking day since we were 11 or so - that we weren't victims, that we didn't have to take steps all the time to avoid this. And we wish that when we slip up we got the benefit of the doubt. But no it's the abusers, those who turn a blind eye, those who egg them on and those who do "it's only a bit of banter/he's a nice guy really" who get the benefit of the doubt.
You are not the only man on here who gives the impression - maybe unthinkingly - that women are somehow not fully human, only really support animals for men, the people who fit in with what's left when men have got what they want first. This forum frankly has one hell of a blind spot about the woman's perspective on life. But it is precisely because of attitudes like this that people like Trump get away with behaviour which is disgusting, not decent and should have no place in any country trying to be civilised.
I like you Leon. But sometimes you really need to think about what you say.
And if I sound furious, put it down to having been ill for longer than is pleasant, if that helps. It'll have a word - hysteria. That'll be the one.
Not sure how far I can comment under the site rules, but he definitely lost the civil case.
Today, it is time to find out why there is an odd blip west of Lake Superior and east of Manitoba.
This is the story of the Northwest Angle.
https://x.com/CraigBaird/status/1901650559096029616
Anyone been there ?
Regarding Trump’s bizarre border claims, it does appear that the US did slightly better than Canada, and if the border were to be rationalised, it’s the former that should cede territory.
Exclusive: NIH officials have advised some scientists to remove references to mRNA vaccines from their grant applications, in expectation the Trump administration intends to abandon most research in the field.
https://x.com/aawayne/status/1901401106208416041
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/ashley-biden-diary-claims/
Plus the other sleaze swirling around Joe and Hunter, and Bill “Epstein” Clinton before them?
The entire American political elite seems deeply dodgy to me, whether you look left or right, Trump or Biden, we might as well extract some dark humour from the grisliness
On the other hand, I am very sorry to hear of your continuing ill health, I hope you get better
Manrific
https://x.com/archivetvmus71/status/1901649738128310367?s=61
"Vive le Quebec libre"...
THAT reliable ally?
Or should we wait for the Pizza Parlour Basement phase?
I could list the number of headers I have written on here about child abuse - and the way we do not take it seriously. I could show you stuff I've written about Staley and Epstein. (I have seen a list of people in Epstein's telephone book and I've even investigated some of them.) And all the stuff I've written about abuse of women. I have gone on about it because it matters - even in the face of yawns, the "she's off again" and on some occasions threads being diverted into discussions about the sexual prowess of PB'ers.
If you want black humour about men's sexual behaviour I can provide plenty of that. Are you sure you're ready for it?
And I also have a life, work and a family. But a look at my oeuvre on here would show you that the abuse of the vulnerable is something I really care about.
So as the Scots say "get tae fuck".
Not even close to a decent retort.
We saw the same shit vis a vis Ukraine, we see it here, it’s just a sad dumbing down of the site, as inability to do nuance, a kind of dim, morally shrill groupthink, and it is getting REALLY old
Whereas McGregor is a just a horrible private citizen.
Still, I suppose it's funny triggering someone into doing the same "you're such hypocrites- look at what they're doing and you're not telling them off" thing that all thwarted teenagers always do.
You could profitably ask yourself why and how the very plausible, indeed proven accusations against Joe Biden miraculously disappeared (proven inasmuch as this is the verbatim account of his daughter, which she has not denied). How come someone as switched on as you never heard of them? Possibly because the Dems do a pretty good job in suppressing stories they don’t like - cf lab leak and Hunter’s laptop. They usually do it by labeling it as a “conspiracy theory” until it turns out to be undeniably true, by which point they hope no one cares
Again, I turn to lab leak. I know this bores PB but TWENTY MILLION PEOPLE DIED
And now that it is basically accepted that it happened suddenly the Left pivots from “it came from the market” to “shit happens, let’s move on, it was just an accident, who really cares”
Imagine if 20 million humans died due to an air crash or an industrial accident. Finding, trying and punishing the culprits would consume us for years and years
No wonder the Met's VAWG efforts are not succeeding. Where do they find such stupid people? See also the recent conviction on child abuse, voyeurism and other revolting matters of a man who acted as a training advisor to the Surrey Police.
I would like to think that the moderators are running out of patience with you.
Russia invaded Ukraine. Ukraine didn't invade Russia.
For my “attitude” and “behaviour”
Not for doing anything wrong any more, simply for voicing opinions - attitudes - you do not like