This week I ran a focus group in Grimsby for @channel4news.
The mood amongst voters was nothing short of apocalyptic. On migration, welfare, and the future of Britain.
No party leader was seen as truly capable of leading Britain out of a mess they felt was caused above all by mass immigration.
Rich in anger and conspiracy theories, it was also the most American of the English focus groups I’ve ever conducted.
This could have been written any time in the last 10 years.
I think the question is do these people continue to be disappointed by the main parties but still vote for them or do we see a rise in much much more radical left and right parties* that are common place in Europe. We did for a brief moment see the rise in the BNP in places like Stoke for exactly this reason, it was local people who joined the BNP and were pushing Corbynista economic policies.
*I don't really see Reform as radical, its a one man party of a bloke who could easily been in the Tories prior to Cameron and is quite to disown anything too radical and its really trying the same trick as Boris promising all the sweeties without any of the pain.
There is also a great complacency about voting for real dipshits offering the moon on a stick.
Think things couldn't get worse? They certainly can, and not just a bit worse. There are plenty of failed states in history, where the citizens thought the party could run forever.
These really are dark times . I do wonder what sort of country those cheering on Trump think they’re going to end up with . It’s quite astonishing now to see the US AG effectively trashing the law and constitution she’s there to protect .
And it’s now upto the Supreme Court to step in which is quite something when saving the last vestiges of US democracy are down to a Conservative majority court . Although I expect the Mago loons now to turn on that if it makes any rulings that Trump doesn’t like .
The Court is clever. Malign, but clever. They can 'deny' the extent of what Trump believes to be his powers (since that appears to be functionally endless), whilst setting out what he can do, which will probably be as broad as judicially imaginable given the majority believe Presidents can commit crimes with impunity.
To raise the tone above the likes of @kinabalu and @kjh - this is why my tour guide was so amazing
He met me at the cathedral and we spent a pleasant couple of hours touring pleasant, safe, unexciting Montevideo
Then there was a thunderstorm and we were forced inside a very atmospheric old cafe (Caffe Braziliano). 19th century. Great coffee. At this point he opened up about his prior life in the Uruguayan army - mainly in their UN peacekeeping force (I had no idea Uruguay did so much peacekeeping)
By the time we got to the famous old market in the port for a famous Uruguayan barbecue lunch we’d bonded so much he admitted that not only had he spent years in the Congo and Georgia (where he was held hostage at gunpoint for a week) in his UN mission, he was also in Rwanda (again for the UN) where he witnessed, personally, the entire genocide from before it began to the aftermath - seeing the killings, driving through corpses, everything. He showed me the evidence and discussed how it changed him
Maybe the most compelling single hour of conversation I’ve ever had. To arrive BEFORE that genocide and leave AFTER. What does that do to you? He tried to explain and he was very articulate
To accompany this extraordinary conversation we had excellent steaks, chorizo, provolone, a good bottle of Tannat red wine and this secret Uruguayan wine they call “half and half”
This is one reason I love my job
Interesting story (though why the unnecessary dig at a couple of PBers ?).
I didn't know there were Uruguayan members of the UN forces in Rwanda during the genocide. They are not mentioned here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roméo_Dallaire I'd be interested to hear more of his story.
"CONTRIBUTORS OF MILITARY AND CIVILIAN POLICE PERSONNEL Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chad, Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia, Fiji, Germany, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Guyana, India, Jordan, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Netherlands, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Poland, Romania, Russian Federation, Senegal, Slovak Republic, Spain, Switzerland, Togo, Tunisia, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Zambia and Zimbabwe"
Yes, I just did that myself. My bad.
Probably only a handful of troops from the countries other than Belgium (the majority, but withdrawn early on) Pakistan, Canada, Ghana, Tunisia, and Bangladesh, though ?
This week I ran a focus group in Grimsby for @channel4news.
The mood amongst voters was nothing short of apocalyptic. On migration, welfare, and the future of Britain.
No party leader was seen as truly capable of leading Britain out of a mess they felt was caused above all by mass immigration.
Rich in anger and conspiracy theories, it was also the most American of the English focus groups I’ve ever conducted.
This could have been written any time in the last 10 years.
No, I think there's been a marked shift in the last 12 months. There's now much more elite acceptance that Britain is in decline and that mass migration is not working and at the same time large parts of the public have become more radical.
Paradoxically the election of Labour broke the liberal consensus that had prevailed since Blair.
Social media is destroying our democracy.
That focus group seems to be stuff full of conspiracy theories and is "the most america" the guy has seen.
Can't think where these voters are getting all their information from.
Overwhelming mass immigration is not a “racist conspiracy theory”. Nor; as we now know, is “two tier justice”
British people can see the boriswave on their streets. They can see the 10 million we have let in since 1997. They can see that - despite all claims otherwise - this immigration is not “essential for growth and prosperity”. GDP per capita has basically flatlined for fifteen years. They can also see that both main parties are responsible for this and both of them have no clue what to do about it
Brace. It’s gonna kick off
Immigration is not the conspiracy theories the focus group are talking about. I get the anger about "Boriswave" of migrants but the conspiracy shit is beyond that:
"Conspiracy theories abounded: Epstein and a shady force “pulling the strings” featured."
"But bit by bit, our politics is becoming more online, more conspiratorial, more fractious, more American."
I would want to know exactly what people were saying about Epstein.
I don't think it is massive tin foil hat stuff to believe to some degree there is a lot more to that story than we currently know, too many things just don't stack up e.g. the guy appeared to have limitless money, but nobody can really work out where it all came from. There are researched stories of him earning millions here and there from previous financial scams, but that doesn't square with the lifestyle he led.
I don't think it is totally out of the realms of possibilities that he was some sort of intelligence asset.
@cb_doge · 6h 🚨 ELON MUSK: "I sleep for about 6 hours on average and I work almost every waking hour.
I don't have social dinners really. I literally just will have lunch and dinner during meetings and continue the meeting."
===
The problem in a nutshell.
Does he work almost every waking hour though? Ok, multitasking, but he clearly spends a lot of time scrolling through online content every day.
I don't doubt he spends more time focusing on achieving his various goals than most people, but it does feel played up a bit, like when my brother used to insist he worked 100 hours a week.
This week I ran a focus group in Grimsby for @channel4news.
The mood amongst voters was nothing short of apocalyptic. On migration, welfare, and the future of Britain.
No party leader was seen as truly capable of leading Britain out of a mess they felt was caused above all by mass immigration.
Rich in anger and conspiracy theories, it was also the most American of the English focus groups I’ve ever conducted.
This could have been written any time in the last 10 years.
No, I think there's been a marked shift in the last 12 months. There's now much more elite acceptance that Britain is in decline and that mass migration is not working and at the same time large parts of the public have become more radical.
Paradoxically the election of Labour broke the liberal consensus that had prevailed since Blair.
Yes. This is COMPLETELY different now, and extremely dangerous
Maybe and maybe not.
But how would you know from far off Uruguay or China or wherever you will be next week ?
Have you considered the possibility that extremely wide experience of the world - eg my encounter today with a fairly unique living witness to the Rwandan genocide - might give me some insights that others don’t? I’m not saying that is necessarily true, or even probably true, but it is of course possible
That you can spend the day discussing one of the most bloody genocides of recent decades then come on here cheerleading race war shows how little it broadens the mind.
So you are a self-confessed tax-avoider for all your left-of-centre champagne socialism. Such hypocrisy that is so typical of Labour supporters, particularly personified by Rayner and her two council house sales, Starmer and his tax-free benefit in kind clothing and Reeves with her lies on her CV and dodgy attitude to expenses.
You believe that you are some sort of special case, and your virtue is unsullied because you vote for the Labour Party
How nice of you to repeat your unpleasant jibes so more people can see them!
If someone is claiming murder is wrong but its allowed in law if its murder of a lower class person and they murder someone....would you not call them out on it even if what they did was legal?
There are things that are legal I wouldn't do because I believe them to be wrong and not what I believe in, Kinablu says these things are wrong but does them because he can and it benefits him is the point
There are also things that are legal that I don't do because I believe them to be wrong. Eg wearing speedos on the heath.
But on this tax thing. You're seriously suggesting that left wing political views should be penalised with a higher effective tax rate than everybody else?
C'mon that's a total joke. Stop messing around. This is a forum of national repute.
Hypocrisy always gets called out.
See the US politicians who denounce “nationalised healthcare”, while using the free comprehensive insurance (nothing excluded), for life, provided by 5 minutes membership of the Senate or Congress.
Hypocrisy is a sloppily used term. It means do as I say not as I do.
Thus if (say) you slag people off for using a tax break but do it yourself. That's hypocrisy.
But if you simply express a view that the break shouldn't be available (and would support its removal) but use it yourself, that isn't.
So people who advocated the abolition of slavery, while keeping slaves….
Ooo edge case. But no I'll stick with my guns. "Hypocrisy" doesn't quite nail that. Course their general anti-slavery credentials would be somewhat strengthened by not having any.
So let's look at a more reasonable example. I am fervently against Grammar schools for lots of reasons, but if I had lived in an area with Grammar schools and my kids got in I would certainly have sent them. Am I a hypocrite? I don't think so. I'm not going to move out of the area because they have that system and much of the damage of Grammars is to the Secondaries that come as a consequence and I'm not going to martyr my kids because of my principles.
I think it depends how you'd expressed your opposition to grammar schools.
If that it's not the system we should really have, but since we do you'd use it, that seems fine.
If someone suggests the system of grammars is a moral outrage, then I think it would be hypocritical to use it.
Oh dear that is a problem for me @kle4 because I am in the moral outrage camp. Luckily I was never in that position with my kids, but what would you suggest I do? Sacrifice my children's future by keeping to the moral high ground or be a hypocrite?
I'm happy being a hypocrite if that is what is necessary.
Let's say your partner will die if they don't have a drug, but you are anti private health care and that is the only way you can get it and you can afford it easily. Would you sacrifice your partner on that principle?
One of the things I found rather disturbing about Jeremy Corbyn was that by his own admission he divorced his wife because she wanted to send their son to a Grammar school and he disagreed.
I am sorry but if you are willing to give up your son and your wife for your political beliefs then that marks you as aan extremist in my eyes.
There you go. But the other way he'd have been (on the sloppy @Nigel_Foremain metric) a hypocrite.
I'm with you btw. Putting your politics above your family smacks of zealotry.
Principles, yes, great, but don't go right up yourself with them. That's off-putting.
You have principles or you don't sorry. If you have principles you don't violate them because it is convenient for you that means they aren't principles
But is, say, an opinion on the best way to enact a particular bit of tax legislation a "principle" in the same way opposing slavery is a "principle"? That seems demeaning to the campaign against slavery.
I might disagree with the details of some law or tax, but I accept it is appropriate to follow the rules set by society on the matter. If a government tried to bring in slavery, on the other hand, that would warrant civil disobedience. You can't equate them so simply.
I don't actually agree on this a principle is a principle One of my principles is I wont ever buy a slave even if its legal One of my principles is even if I disagree with the amount the state is spending I will pay my fair share of tax for it I don't see either principle as being a precedence thing, I wont say well I kept to principle 1 but failed principle 2 because....
You live by all of them and if you fail then you are a moral failure
You would never buy a slave, even if the alternative is that person will fall into the hands of someone who will use them cruelly?
Again, that was the reality for many black Southerners.
That's a slippery moral slope. The nicest guard at Auschwitz isn't something to aspire to.
But, what you do, if you were a free black in the South in1860? Your sister is a slave, you can buy her, and manumission is extremely difficult. And if you free her, there’s a risk she’ll be re-enslaved, if there’s the slightest error in her paperwork.
To raise the tone above the likes of @kinabalu and @kjh - this is why my tour guide was so amazing
He met me at the cathedral and we spent a pleasant couple of hours touring pleasant, safe, unexciting Montevideo
Then there was a thunderstorm and we were forced inside a very atmospheric old cafe (Caffe Braziliano). 19th century. Great coffee. At this point he opened up about his prior life in the Uruguayan army - mainly in their UN peacekeeping force (I had no idea Uruguay did so much peacekeeping)
By the time we got to the famous old market in the port for a famous Uruguayan barbecue lunch we’d bonded so much he admitted that not only had he spent years in the Congo and Georgia (where he was held hostage at gunpoint for a week) in his UN mission, he was also in Rwanda (again for the UN) where he witnessed, personally, the entire genocide from before it began to the aftermath - seeing the killings, driving through corpses, everything. He showed me the evidence and discussed how it changed him
Maybe the most compelling single hour of conversation I’ve ever had. To arrive BEFORE that genocide and leave AFTER. What does that do to you? He tried to explain and he was very articulate
To accompany this extraordinary conversation we had excellent steaks, chorizo, provolone, a good bottle of Tannat red wine and this secret Uruguayan wine they call “half and half”
This is one reason I love my job
Interesting story (though why the unnecessary dig at a couple of PBers ?).
I didn't know there were Uruguayan members of the UN forces in Rwanda during the genocide. They are not mentioned here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roméo_Dallaire I'd be interested to hear more of his story.
"CONTRIBUTORS OF MILITARY AND CIVILIAN POLICE PERSONNEL Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chad, Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia, Fiji, Germany, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Guyana, India, Jordan, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Netherlands, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Poland, Romania, Russian Federation, Senegal, Slovak Republic, Spain, Switzerland, Togo, Tunisia, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Zambia and Zimbabwe"
Yes, I just did that myself. My bad.
Probably only a handful of troops from the countries other than Belgium (the majority, but withdrawn early on) Pakistan, Canada, Ghana, Tunisia, and Bangladesh, though ?
“A 30 años del genocidio de Ruanda de 1994: la experiencia de los cascos azules uruguayos”
I wasn't suggesting he was (and I've already corrected/acknowledged my mistake upthread).
I am genuinely interested in hearing more.
Fair enough
He was full of the most incredible stories. At one point he saved his life by giving away a stick of chewing gum just as he was about to be shot
He also pointed out that he was unarmed, they had no guns. They were “military observers”, so they had to stand there and watch as the butchering took place right in front of them
We had some wine (excellent Tannat!) and got quite candid and I asked him right out if he was affected by it, perhaps traumatized. He was adamant that he was and is fine. “I am a soldier”. It seemed to be the case. He was good company, level headed, quite amusing, and I think a bit bored of boring Montevideo
He did admit that one of his superior officers, a Canadian, went a bit bonkers - then wrote this book
Dallaire was unfairly blamed by quite a few at the time, which can’t have helped. He seems basically to have been given an impossible mandate, with insufficient forces and weapons, and his warnings ignored.
He sent ten Belgians to protect the then prime minster; they were all killed. And Belgium then withdrew its forces, who were the majority of the UN contingent. And the genocide happened. You can see how that might weigh hard.
This week I ran a focus group in Grimsby for @channel4news.
The mood amongst voters was nothing short of apocalyptic. On migration, welfare, and the future of Britain.
No party leader was seen as truly capable of leading Britain out of a mess they felt was caused above all by mass immigration.
Rich in anger and conspiracy theories, it was also the most American of the English focus groups I’ve ever conducted.
This could have been written any time in the last 10 years.
No, I think there's been a marked shift in the last 12 months. There's now much more elite acceptance that Britain is in decline and that mass migration is not working and at the same time large parts of the public have become more radical.
Paradoxically the election of Labour broke the liberal consensus that had prevailed since Blair.
Yes. This is COMPLETELY different now, and extremely dangerous
Maybe and maybe not.
But how would you know from far off Uruguay or China or wherever you will be next week ?
Have you considered the possibility that extremely wide experience of the world - eg my encounter today with a fairly unique living witness to the Rwandan genocide - might give me some insights that others don’t? I’m not saying that is necessarily true, or even probably true, but it is of course possible
That you can spend the day discussing one of the most bloody genocides of recent decades then come on here cheerleading race war shows how little it broadens the mind.
This “you’re a racist” shit is just boring now. What’s the point?
To raise the tone above the likes of @kinabalu and @kjh - this is why my tour guide was so amazing
He met me at the cathedral and we spent a pleasant couple of hours touring pleasant, safe, unexciting Montevideo
Then there was a thunderstorm and we were forced inside a very atmospheric old cafe (Caffe Braziliano). 19th century. Great coffee. At this point he opened up about his prior life in the Uruguayan army - mainly in their UN peacekeeping force (I had no idea Uruguay did so much peacekeeping)
By the time we got to the famous old market in the port for a famous Uruguayan barbecue lunch we’d bonded so much he admitted that not only had he spent years in the Congo and Georgia (where he was held hostage at gunpoint for a week) in his UN mission, he was also in Rwanda (again for the UN) where he witnessed, personally, the entire genocide from before it began to the aftermath - seeing the killings, driving through corpses, everything. He showed me the evidence and discussed how it changed him
Maybe the most compelling single hour of conversation I’ve ever had. To arrive BEFORE that genocide and leave AFTER. What does that do to you? He tried to explain and he was very articulate
To accompany this extraordinary conversation we had excellent steaks, chorizo, provolone, a good bottle of Tannat red wine and this secret Uruguayan wine they call “half and half”
This is one reason I love my job
Interesting story (though why the unnecessary dig at a couple of PBers ?).
I didn't know there were Uruguayan members of the UN forces in Rwanda during the genocide. They are not mentioned here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roméo_Dallaire I'd be interested to hear more of his story.
"CONTRIBUTORS OF MILITARY AND CIVILIAN POLICE PERSONNEL Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chad, Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia, Fiji, Germany, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Guyana, India, Jordan, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Netherlands, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Poland, Romania, Russian Federation, Senegal, Slovak Republic, Spain, Switzerland, Togo, Tunisia, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Zambia and Zimbabwe"
Yes, I just did that myself. My bad.
Probably only a handful of troops from the countries other than Belgium (the majority, but withdrawn early on) Pakistan, Canada, Ghana, Tunisia, and Bangladesh, though ?
“A 30 años del genocidio de Ruanda de 1994: la experiencia de los cascos azules uruguayos”
That's where it leads when you dehumanise and "other" human beings in pursuit of ideology.
The world has forgotten that lesson, so is determined to repeat the crimes.
Boomer platitudes. The ideology that has brought us to this point is the denial of the reality of otherness.
Well, I guess we now know how far down the rabbit hole you have gone, given Foxy was making a point about the lessons from genocide.
Instrumentalising genocide to promote a particular ideology is not "learning lessons" but rather a very pernicious form of propaganda.
Your point might be more persuasive if not for months of propagandising. You implied it was a threat to democracy if Trump could not defy federal court orders and moaned it was just people venerating the US Constitution. If that was a troll then it makes it hard to spot a serious point.
This week I ran a focus group in Grimsby for @channel4news.
The mood amongst voters was nothing short of apocalyptic. On migration, welfare, and the future of Britain.
No party leader was seen as truly capable of leading Britain out of a mess they felt was caused above all by mass immigration.
Rich in anger and conspiracy theories, it was also the most American of the English focus groups I’ve ever conducted.
This could have been written any time in the last 10 years.
No, I think there's been a marked shift in the last 12 months. There's now much more elite acceptance that Britain is in decline and that mass migration is not working and at the same time large parts of the public have become more radical.
Paradoxically the election of Labour broke the liberal consensus that had prevailed since Blair.
Social media is destroying our democracy.
That focus group seems to be stuff full of conspiracy theories and is "the most america" the guy has seen.
Can't think where these voters are getting all their information from.
Overwhelming mass immigration is not a “racist conspiracy theory”. Nor; as we now know, is “two tier justice”
British people can see the boriswave on their streets. They can see the 10 million we have let in since 1997. They can see that - despite all claims otherwise - this immigration is not “essential for growth and prosperity”. GDP per capita has basically flatlined for fifteen years. They can also see that both main parties are responsible for this and both of them have no clue what to do about it
Brace. It’s gonna kick off
Immigration is not the conspiracy theories the focus group are talking about. I get the anger about "Boriswave" of migrants but the conspiracy shit is beyond that:
"Conspiracy theories abounded: Epstein and a shady force “pulling the strings” featured."
"But bit by bit, our politics is becoming more online, more conspiratorial, more fractious, more American."
I would want to know exactly what people were saying about Epstein.
I don't think it is massive tin foil hat stuff to believe to some degree there is a lot more to that story than we currently know, too many things just don't stack up e.g. the guy appeared to have limitless money, but nobody can really work out where it all came from. There are researched stories of him earning millions here and there from previous financial scams, but that doesn't square with the lifestyle he led.
I don't think it is totally out of the realms of possibilities that he was some sort of intelligence asset.
Here’s a true story
My ex wife’s dad is the most insane conspiracy theorist I know. He’s so conspiratorial he thinks Flat Earthers (he used to be one) are boring normies duped by the Establishment. He reckons David Icke is too orthodox. He believes entire chunks of human history have been faked
Anyway during my marriage I encountered one of his madder theories. It went like this:
“Somewhere in the Caribbean there’s a secret private island owned by a billionaire who flies in US presidents and famous actors and Bill Gates and British royals to have sex with underage girls, who are kept there like slaves”
Lord Glasman was the ONLY british politician invited to be seated at the Trump inauguration fest and yet he has just been on Newsnight completely slagging off Trumpski policy - such as it is - over Ukraine and praising Starmer's leadership.
This week I ran a focus group in Grimsby for @channel4news.
The mood amongst voters was nothing short of apocalyptic. On migration, welfare, and the future of Britain.
No party leader was seen as truly capable of leading Britain out of a mess they felt was caused above all by mass immigration.
Rich in anger and conspiracy theories, it was also the most American of the English focus groups I’ve ever conducted.
This could have been written any time in the last 10 years.
No, I think there's been a marked shift in the last 12 months. There's now much more elite acceptance that Britain is in decline and that mass migration is not working and at the same time large parts of the public have become more radical.
Paradoxically the election of Labour broke the liberal consensus that had prevailed since Blair.
Social media is destroying our democracy.
That focus group seems to be stuff full of conspiracy theories and is "the most america" the guy has seen.
Can't think where these voters are getting all their information from.
Overwhelming mass immigration is not a “racist conspiracy theory”. Nor; as we now know, is “two tier justice”
British people can see the boriswave on their streets. They can see the 10 million we have let in since 1997. They can see that - despite all claims otherwise - this immigration is not “essential for growth and prosperity”. GDP per capita has basically flatlined for fifteen years. They can also see that both main parties are responsible for this and both of them have no clue what to do about it
Brace. It’s gonna kick off
Immigration is not the conspiracy theories the focus group are talking about. I get the anger about "Boriswave" of migrants but the conspiracy shit is beyond that:
"Conspiracy theories abounded: Epstein and a shady force “pulling the strings” featured."
"But bit by bit, our politics is becoming more online, more conspiratorial, more fractious, more American."
I would want to know exactly what people were saying about Epstein.
I don't think it is massive tin foil hat stuff to believe to some degree there is a lot more to that story than we currently know, too many things just don't stack up e.g. the guy appeared to have limitless money, but nobody can really work out where it all came from. There are researched stories of him earning millions here and there from previous financial scams, but that doesn't square with the lifestyle he led.
I don't think it is totally out of the realms of possibilities that he was some sort of intelligence asset.
Here’s a true story
My ex wife’s dad is the most insane conspiracy theorist I know. He’s so conspiratorial he thinks Flat Earthers (he used to be one) are boring normies duped by the Establishment. He reckons David Icke is too orthodox. He believes entire chunks of human history have been faked
Anyway during my marriage I encountered one of his madder theories. It went like this:
“Somewhere in the Caribbean there’s a secret private island owned by a billionaire who flies in US presidents and famous actors and Bill Gates and British royals to have sex with underage girls, who are kept there like slaves”
i scoffed, of course
Well Alex Jones does get 1 in a million of his stories correct...
Re Epstein, its not a secret that Robert Maxwell had close ties to intelligence agencies.
Crickey I will be being labelled as conspiracy theorist if I am not careful.
This week I ran a focus group in Grimsby for @channel4news.
The mood amongst voters was nothing short of apocalyptic. On migration, welfare, and the future of Britain.
No party leader was seen as truly capable of leading Britain out of a mess they felt was caused above all by mass immigration.
Rich in anger and conspiracy theories, it was also the most American of the English focus groups I’ve ever conducted.
This could have been written any time in the last 10 years.
No, I think there's been a marked shift in the last 12 months. There's now much more elite acceptance that Britain is in decline and that mass migration is not working and at the same time large parts of the public have become more radical.
Paradoxically the election of Labour broke the liberal consensus that had prevailed since Blair.
Yes. This is COMPLETELY different now, and extremely dangerous
Maybe and maybe not.
But how would you know from far off Uruguay or China or wherever you will be next week ?
Have you considered the possibility that extremely wide experience of the world - eg my encounter today with a fairly unique living witness to the Rwandan genocide - might give me some insights that others don’t? I’m not saying that is necessarily true, or even probably true, but it is of course possible
You have a knowledge of extremes, both at the top and at the bottom, and often from decades ago
Whether that's living in druggie squats or on remand on rape charges to more recently posho hotels and restaurants.
So very top 10% and bottom 10%.
But most people live in the 80% in between.
Living the sort of mundane, average lives of which your experience is deficient.
Have you ever had, for example, a standard 9-5 style 40 hour per week job ?
Now does your experience allow you a different perspective on the current UK ? Possibly.
But only if you applied that experience.
And to do that you would need to be in and travelling and actually meeting people in this country.
Chair of the Danish parliament’s defence committee:
I dont know if there is a kill switch in the F35’s or not [there isn’t]. We obviously can not take your word for it.
As one of the decision makers behind Denmark’s purchase of F35’s, I regret it.
The USA can certainly disable the planes by simple stopping the supply of spare parts. They want to strengthen Russia and weaken Europa and are showing that they are willing to do tremendous damage to peaceful and loyal allies like Canada just because they insist on existing as a country.
I can easily imagine a situation where the USA will demand Greenland from Denmark and will threaten to deactivate our weapons and let Russia attack us when we refuse (which we will even in that situation).
Therefore, buying American weapons is a security risk that we can not run. We will make enormous investments in air defence, fighter jets, artillery and other weapons in the coming years, and we must avoid American weapons if at all possible.
Lord Glasman was the ONLY british politician invited to be seated at the Trump inauguration fest and yet he has just been on Newsnight completely slagging off Trumpski policy - such as it is - over Ukraine and praising Starmer's leadership.
Why was Lord Glasman there though? What's the connection?
Chair of the Danish parliament’s defence committee:
I dont know if there is a kill switch in the F35’s or not [there isn’t]. We obviously can not take your word for it.
As one of the decision makers behind Denmark’s purchase of F35’s, I regret it.
The USA can certainly disable the planes by simple stopping the supply of spare parts. They want to strengthen Russia and weaken Europa and are showing that they are willing to do tremendous damage to peaceful and loyal allies like Canada just because they insist on existing as a country.
I can easily imagine a situation where the USA will demand Greenland from Denmark and will threaten to deactivate our weapons and let Russia attack us when we refuse (which we will even in that situation).
Therefore, buying American weapons is a security risk that we can not run. We will make enormous investments in air defence, fighter jets, artillery and other weapons in the coming years, and we must avoid American weapons if at all possible.
Chair of the Danish parliament’s defence committee:
I dont know if there is a kill switch in the F35’s or not [there isn’t]. We obviously can not take your word for it.
As one of the decision makers behind Denmark’s purchase of F35’s, I regret it.
The USA can certainly disable the planes by simple stopping the supply of spare parts. They want to strengthen Russia and weaken Europa and are showing that they are willing to do tremendous damage to peaceful and loyal allies like Canada just because they insist on existing as a country.
I can easily imagine a situation where the USA will demand Greenland from Denmark and will threaten to deactivate our weapons and let Russia attack us when we refuse (which we will even in that situation).
Therefore, buying American weapons is a security risk that we can not run. We will make enormous investments in air defence, fighter jets, artillery and other weapons in the coming years, and we must avoid American weapons if at all possible.
Lord Glasman was the ONLY british politician invited to be seated at the Trump inauguration fest and yet he has just been on Newsnight completely slagging off Trumpski policy - such as it is - over Ukraine and praising Starmer's leadership.
Why was Lord Glasman there though? What's the connection?
Vance is a big fan of Glasman's 'blue labour' theorising.
@cb_doge · 6h 🚨 ELON MUSK: "I sleep for about 6 hours on average and I work almost every waking hour.
I don't have social dinners really. I literally just will have lunch and dinner during meetings and continue the meeting."
===
The problem in a nutshell.
Mrs Thatcher was said to get by on four hours a night. And that ended well.
Blimey.
There is no comparison.
If you think the poll tax and trying to smash the leadership of the miners unions is even barely comparable with a coup to end US democracy, wreck the constitution, threaten judges and install a never ending Trump dynasty then I am afrid you are wrong imho.
This week I ran a focus group in Grimsby for @channel4news.
The mood amongst voters was nothing short of apocalyptic. On migration, welfare, and the future of Britain.
No party leader was seen as truly capable of leading Britain out of a mess they felt was caused above all by mass immigration.
Rich in anger and conspiracy theories, it was also the most American of the English focus groups I’ve ever conducted.
This could have been written any time in the last 10 years.
No, I think there's been a marked shift in the last 12 months. There's now much more elite acceptance that Britain is in decline and that mass migration is not working and at the same time large parts of the public have become more radical.
Paradoxically the election of Labour broke the liberal consensus that had prevailed since Blair.
Social media is destroying our democracy.
That focus group seems to be stuff full of conspiracy theories and is "the most america" the guy has seen.
Can't think where these voters are getting all their information from.
Overwhelming mass immigration is not a “racist conspiracy theory”. Nor; as we now know, is “two tier justice”
British people can see the boriswave on their streets. They can see the 10 million we have let in since 1997. They can see that - despite all claims otherwise - this immigration is not “essential for growth and prosperity”. GDP per capita has basically flatlined for fifteen years. They can also see that both main parties are responsible for this and both of them have no clue what to do about it
Brace. It’s gonna kick off
Immigration is not the conspiracy theories the focus group are talking about. I get the anger about "Boriswave" of migrants but the conspiracy shit is beyond that:
"Conspiracy theories abounded: Epstein and a shady force “pulling the strings” featured."
"But bit by bit, our politics is becoming more online, more conspiratorial, more fractious, more American."
I would want to know exactly what people were saying about Epstein.
I don't think it is massive tin foil hat stuff to believe to some degree there is a lot more to that story than we currently know, too many things just don't stack up e.g. the guy appeared to have limitless money, but nobody can really work out where it all came from. There are researched stories of him earning millions here and there from previous financial scams, but that doesn't square with the lifestyle he led.
I don't think it is totally out of the realms of possibilities that he was some sort of intelligence asset.
Here’s a true story
My ex wife’s dad is the most insane conspiracy theorist I know. He’s so conspiratorial he thinks Flat Earthers (he used to be one) are boring normies duped by the Establishment. He reckons David Icke is too orthodox. He believes entire chunks of human history have been faked
Anyway during my marriage I encountered one of his madder theories. It went like this:
“Somewhere in the Caribbean there’s a secret private island owned by a billionaire who flies in US presidents and famous actors and Bill Gates and British royals to have sex with underage girls, who are kept there like slaves”
i scoffed, of course
Jeffrey Epstein's behavior was fairly well documented: his 2008 plea deal was covered at length by The Miami Herald.
@cb_doge · 6h 🚨 ELON MUSK: "I sleep for about 6 hours on average and I work almost every waking hour.
I don't have social dinners really. I literally just will have lunch and dinner during meetings and continue the meeting."
===
The problem in a nutshell.
Mrs Thatcher was said to get by on four hours a night. And that ended well.
Blimey.
There is no comparison.
If you think the poll tax and trying to smash the leadership of the miners unions is even barely comparable with a coup to end US democracy, wreck the constitution, threaten judges and install a never ending Trump dynasty then I am afrid you are wrong imho.
It was meant as a light-hearted joke. I should have added an emoji.
This week I ran a focus group in Grimsby for @channel4news.
The mood amongst voters was nothing short of apocalyptic. On migration, welfare, and the future of Britain.
No party leader was seen as truly capable of leading Britain out of a mess they felt was caused above all by mass immigration.
Rich in anger and conspiracy theories, it was also the most American of the English focus groups I’ve ever conducted.
This could have been written any time in the last 10 years.
No, I think there's been a marked shift in the last 12 months. There's now much more elite acceptance that Britain is in decline and that mass migration is not working and at the same time large parts of the public have become more radical.
Paradoxically the election of Labour broke the liberal consensus that had prevailed since Blair.
Social media is destroying our democracy.
That focus group seems to be stuff full of conspiracy theories and is "the most america" the guy has seen.
Can't think where these voters are getting all their information from.
Overwhelming mass immigration is not a “racist conspiracy theory”. Nor; as we now know, is “two tier justice”
British people can see the boriswave on their streets. They can see the 10 million we have let in since 1997. They can see that - despite all claims otherwise - this immigration is not “essential for growth and prosperity”. GDP per capita has basically flatlined for fifteen years. They can also see that both main parties are responsible for this and both of them have no clue what to do about it
Brace. It’s gonna kick off
Immigration is not the conspiracy theories the focus group are talking about. I get the anger about "Boriswave" of migrants but the conspiracy shit is beyond that:
"Conspiracy theories abounded: Epstein and a shady force “pulling the strings” featured."
"But bit by bit, our politics is becoming more online, more conspiratorial, more fractious, more American."
I would want to know exactly what people were saying about Epstein.
I don't think it is massive tin foil hat stuff to believe to some degree there is a lot more to that story than we currently know, too many things just don't stack up e.g. the guy appeared to have limitless money, but nobody can really work out where it all came from. There are researched stories of him earning millions here and there from previous financial scams, but that doesn't square with the lifestyle he led.
I don't think it is totally out of the realms of possibilities that he was some sort of intelligence asset.
Here’s a true story
My ex wife’s dad is the most insane conspiracy theorist I know. He’s so conspiratorial he thinks Flat Earthers (he used to be one) are boring normies duped by the Establishment. He reckons David Icke is too orthodox. He believes entire chunks of human history have been faked
Anyway during my marriage I encountered one of his madder theories. It went like this:
“Somewhere in the Caribbean there’s a secret private island owned by a billionaire who flies in US presidents and famous actors and Bill Gates and British royals to have sex with underage girls, who are kept there like slaves”
i scoffed, of course
Jeffrey Epstein's behavior was fairly well documented: his 2008 plea deal was covered at length by The Miami Herald.
It is interesting we are now only just starting to learn about the Wirecard bloke. That was always the weirdest story / company that didn't add up e.g. getting actors in the Far East to pretend to the bank that did business with Wirecard to try and convince auditors.
The FT did some great work on that and got very threatening incoming, but it appears they only just scratched the surface. It doesn't seem to be getting anywhere near the coverage you would think.
Chair of the Danish parliament’s defence committee:
I dont know if there is a kill switch in the F35’s or not [there isn’t]. We obviously can not take your word for it.
As one of the decision makers behind Denmark’s purchase of F35’s, I regret it.
The USA can certainly disable the planes by simple stopping the supply of spare parts. They want to strengthen Russia and weaken Europa and are showing that they are willing to do tremendous damage to peaceful and loyal allies like Canada just because they insist on existing as a country.
I can easily imagine a situation where the USA will demand Greenland from Denmark and will threaten to deactivate our weapons and let Russia attack us when we refuse (which we will even in that situation).
Therefore, buying American weapons is a security risk that we can not run. We will make enormous investments in air defence, fighter jets, artillery and other weapons in the coming years, and we must avoid American weapons if at all possible.
Chair of the Danish parliament’s defence committee:
I dont know if there is a kill switch in the F35’s or not [there isn’t]. We obviously can not take your word for it.
As one of the decision makers behind Denmark’s purchase of F35’s, I regret it.
The USA can certainly disable the planes by simple stopping the supply of spare parts. They want to strengthen Russia and weaken Europa and are showing that they are willing to do tremendous damage to peaceful and loyal allies like Canada just because they insist on existing as a country.
I can easily imagine a situation where the USA will demand Greenland from Denmark and will threaten to deactivate our weapons and let Russia attack us when we refuse (which we will even in that situation).
Therefore, buying American weapons is a security risk that we can not run. We will make enormous investments in air defence, fighter jets, artillery and other weapons in the coming years, and we must avoid American weapons if at all possible.
I don’t see anything in that tweet that isn’t based on the current situation. The US under Trump is out of control . It’s a shame the UK is still having to arselick Trump .
Chair of the Danish parliament’s defence committee:
I dont know if there is a kill switch in the F35’s or not [there isn’t]. We obviously can not take your word for it.
As one of the decision makers behind Denmark’s purchase of F35’s, I regret it.
The USA can certainly disable the planes by simple stopping the supply of spare parts. They want to strengthen Russia and weaken Europa and are showing that they are willing to do tremendous damage to peaceful and loyal allies like Canada just because they insist on existing as a country.
I can easily imagine a situation where the USA will demand Greenland from Denmark and will threaten to deactivate our weapons and let Russia attack us when we refuse (which we will even in that situation).
Therefore, buying American weapons is a security risk that we can not run. We will make enormous investments in air defence, fighter jets, artillery and other weapons in the coming years, and we must avoid American weapons if at all possible.
This week I ran a focus group in Grimsby for @channel4news.
The mood amongst voters was nothing short of apocalyptic. On migration, welfare, and the future of Britain.
No party leader was seen as truly capable of leading Britain out of a mess they felt was caused above all by mass immigration.
Rich in anger and conspiracy theories, it was also the most American of the English focus groups I’ve ever conducted.
This could have been written any time in the last 10 years.
No, I think there's been a marked shift in the last 12 months. There's now much more elite acceptance that Britain is in decline and that mass migration is not working and at the same time large parts of the public have become more radical.
Paradoxically the election of Labour broke the liberal consensus that had prevailed since Blair.
Social media is destroying our democracy.
That focus group seems to be stuff full of conspiracy theories and is "the most america" the guy has seen.
Can't think where these voters are getting all their information from.
Overwhelming mass immigration is not a “racist conspiracy theory”. Nor; as we now know, is “two tier justice”
British people can see the boriswave on their streets. They can see the 10 million we have let in since 1997. They can see that - despite all claims otherwise - this immigration is not “essential for growth and prosperity”. GDP per capita has basically flatlined for fifteen years. They can also see that both main parties are responsible for this and both of them have no clue what to do about it
Brace. It’s gonna kick off
Immigration is not the conspiracy theories the focus group are talking about. I get the anger about "Boriswave" of migrants but the conspiracy shit is beyond that:
"Conspiracy theories abounded: Epstein and a shady force “pulling the strings” featured."
"But bit by bit, our politics is becoming more online, more conspiratorial, more fractious, more American."
I would want to know exactly what people were saying about Epstein.
I don't think it is massive tin foil hat stuff to believe to some degree there is a lot more to that story than we currently know, too many things just don't stack up e.g. the guy appeared to have limitless money, but nobody can really work out where it all came from. There are researched stories of him earning millions here and there from previous financial scams, but that doesn't square with the lifestyle he led.
I don't think it is totally out of the realms of possibilities that he was some sort of intelligence asset.
Here’s a true story
My ex wife’s dad is the most insane conspiracy theorist I know. He’s so conspiratorial he thinks Flat Earthers (he used to be one) are boring normies duped by the Establishment. He reckons David Icke is too orthodox. He believes entire chunks of human history have been faked
Anyway during my marriage I encountered one of his madder theories. It went like this:
“Somewhere in the Caribbean there’s a secret private island owned by a billionaire who flies in US presidents and famous actors and Bill Gates and British royals to have sex with underage girls, who are kept there like slaves”
i scoffed, of course
Jeffrey Epstein's behavior was fairly well documented: his 2008 plea deal was covered at length by The Miami Herald.
It is interesting we are now only just starting to learn about the Wirecard bloke. That was always the weirdest story / company that didn't add up e.g. getting actors in the Far East to pretend to the bank that did business with Wirecard to try and convince auditors.
The FT did some great work on that, but it appears they only just scratched the surface.
i suspect you’re right that Epstein was an intelligence asset. Mossad?
It is the easiest thing to do, if you think about it, in terms of power gained for trouble expended. Give a handsome charming sex mad sociopath a billion dollars. Tell him to buy a private island and stock it with sexy girls under 18 or even 16. Fly in extremely powerful or wealthy men promising them a great party, then offer them the girls, and secretly take photos and movies of the illegal and/or kinky sex - kompromat
Result, you have incredible leverage over the most powerful men in the world, including US presidents and British princes
Makes total sense to me, and of course Epstein was aided by the daughter of Robert Maxwell, also strongly suspected to be a Mossad asset
And then Epstein conveniently offs himself in the most ridiculous way possible so he doesn’t go to trial
Chair of the Danish parliament’s defence committee:
I dont know if there is a kill switch in the F35’s or not [there isn’t]. We obviously can not take your word for it.
As one of the decision makers behind Denmark’s purchase of F35’s, I regret it.
The USA can certainly disable the planes by simple stopping the supply of spare parts. They want to strengthen Russia and weaken Europa and are showing that they are willing to do tremendous damage to peaceful and loyal allies like Canada just because they insist on existing as a country.
I can easily imagine a situation where the USA will demand Greenland from Denmark and will threaten to deactivate our weapons and let Russia attack us when we refuse (which we will even in that situation).
Therefore, buying American weapons is a security risk that we can not run. We will make enormous investments in air defence, fighter jets, artillery and other weapons in the coming years, and we must avoid American weapons if at all possible.
We’re beyond that, I think. Europe has a brief chance to get its act together on defence, and that requires an honest discussion. The fact that the US cannot, for the first time in our lifetimes, by considered a reliable ally isn’t something you can ignore.
And it’s not as though they aren’t already aware of that.
‘There is no kill switch’—The F-35 'kill switch' rumor has been debunked.
Chair of the Danish parliament’s defence committee:
I dont know if there is a kill switch in the F35’s or not [there isn’t]. We obviously can not take your word for it.
As one of the decision makers behind Denmark’s purchase of F35’s, I regret it.
The USA can certainly disable the planes by simple stopping the supply of spare parts. They want to strengthen Russia and weaken Europa and are showing that they are willing to do tremendous damage to peaceful and loyal allies like Canada just because they insist on existing as a country.
I can easily imagine a situation where the USA will demand Greenland from Denmark and will threaten to deactivate our weapons and let Russia attack us when we refuse (which we will even in that situation).
Therefore, buying American weapons is a security risk that we can not run. We will make enormous investments in air defence, fighter jets, artillery and other weapons in the coming years, and we must avoid American weapons if at all possible.
It's wise to do it. It's not wise to say it out loud.
Yes, that’s what I mean. The sentiment is entirely logical, but is this the best way to handle a maniac like Trump? To goad him publicly, however justified?
I don’t know. Maybe there is no good way to handle Trump
@cb_doge · 6h 🚨 ELON MUSK: "I sleep for about 6 hours on average and I work almost every waking hour.
I don't have social dinners really. I literally just will have lunch and dinner during meetings and continue the meeting."
===
The problem in a nutshell.
Mrs Thatcher was said to get by on four hours a night. And that ended well.
Blimey.
There is no comparison.
If you think the poll tax and trying to smash the leadership of the miners unions is even barely comparable with a coup to end US democracy, wreck the constitution, threaten judges and install a never ending Trump dynasty then I am afrid you are wrong imho.
Is it possible the lack of sleep increased her risk of dementia? That's how I took the comment...
There have been several periods of industrial decline, after which America recovered. For example, just after the First World War, the American index of industrial production fell from 104.7 in January 1919 to 77.4 in February 1921. Under Harding and Coolidge American industry then boomed.
Chair of the Danish parliament’s defence committee:
I dont know if there is a kill switch in the F35’s or not [there isn’t]. We obviously can not take your word for it.
As one of the decision makers behind Denmark’s purchase of F35’s, I regret it.
The USA can certainly disable the planes by simple stopping the supply of spare parts. They want to strengthen Russia and weaken Europa and are showing that they are willing to do tremendous damage to peaceful and loyal allies like Canada just because they insist on existing as a country.
I can easily imagine a situation where the USA will demand Greenland from Denmark and will threaten to deactivate our weapons and let Russia attack us when we refuse (which we will even in that situation).
Therefore, buying American weapons is a security risk that we can not run. We will make enormous investments in air defence, fighter jets, artillery and other weapons in the coming years, and we must avoid American weapons if at all possible.
It's wise to do it. It's not wise to say it out loud.
Yes, that’s what I mean. The sentiment is entirely logical, but is this the best way to handle a maniac like Trump? To goad him publicly, however justified?
I don’t know. Maybe there is no good way to handle Trump
Oh there is a good way to handle him. It involves a trial for treason and leg irons and a orange suit and 40 years in a maximum security.
Chair of the Danish parliament’s defence committee:
I dont know if there is a kill switch in the F35’s or not [there isn’t]. We obviously can not take your word for it.
As one of the decision makers behind Denmark’s purchase of F35’s, I regret it.
The USA can certainly disable the planes by simple stopping the supply of spare parts. They want to strengthen Russia and weaken Europa and are showing that they are willing to do tremendous damage to peaceful and loyal allies like Canada just because they insist on existing as a country.
I can easily imagine a situation where the USA will demand Greenland from Denmark and will threaten to deactivate our weapons and let Russia attack us when we refuse (which we will even in that situation).
Therefore, buying American weapons is a security risk that we can not run. We will make enormous investments in air defence, fighter jets, artillery and other weapons in the coming years, and we must avoid American weapons if at all possible.
We’re beyond that, I think. Europe has a brief chance to get its act together on defence, and that requires an honest discussion. The fact that the US cannot, for the first time in our lifetimes, by considered a reliable ally isn’t something you can ignore.
And it’s not as though they aren’t already aware of that.
‘There is no kill switch’—The F-35 'kill switch' rumor has been debunked.
This week I ran a focus group in Grimsby for @channel4news.
The mood amongst voters was nothing short of apocalyptic. On migration, welfare, and the future of Britain.
No party leader was seen as truly capable of leading Britain out of a mess they felt was caused above all by mass immigration.
Rich in anger and conspiracy theories, it was also the most American of the English focus groups I’ve ever conducted.
This could have been written any time in the last 10 years.
No, I think there's been a marked shift in the last 12 months. There's now much more elite acceptance that Britain is in decline and that mass migration is not working and at the same time large parts of the public have become more radical.
Paradoxically the election of Labour broke the liberal consensus that had prevailed since Blair.
Social media is destroying our democracy.
That focus group seems to be stuff full of conspiracy theories and is "the most america" the guy has seen.
Can't think where these voters are getting all their information from.
Overwhelming mass immigration is not a “racist conspiracy theory”. Nor; as we now know, is “two tier justice”
British people can see the boriswave on their streets. They can see the 10 million we have let in since 1997. They can see that - despite all claims otherwise - this immigration is not “essential for growth and prosperity”. GDP per capita has basically flatlined for fifteen years. They can also see that both main parties are responsible for this and both of them have no clue what to do about it
Brace. It’s gonna kick off
Immigration is not the conspiracy theories the focus group are talking about. I get the anger about "Boriswave" of migrants but the conspiracy shit is beyond that:
"Conspiracy theories abounded: Epstein and a shady force “pulling the strings” featured."
"But bit by bit, our politics is becoming more online, more conspiratorial, more fractious, more American."
I would want to know exactly what people were saying about Epstein.
I don't think it is massive tin foil hat stuff to believe to some degree there is a lot more to that story than we currently know, too many things just don't stack up e.g. the guy appeared to have limitless money, but nobody can really work out where it all came from. There are researched stories of him earning millions here and there from previous financial scams, but that doesn't square with the lifestyle he led.
I don't think it is totally out of the realms of possibilities that he was some sort of intelligence asset.
Here’s a true story
My ex wife’s dad is the most insane conspiracy theorist I know. He’s so conspiratorial he thinks Flat Earthers (he used to be one) are boring normies duped by the Establishment. He reckons David Icke is too orthodox. He believes entire chunks of human history have been faked
Anyway during my marriage I encountered one of his madder theories. It went like this:
“Somewhere in the Caribbean there’s a secret private island owned by a billionaire who flies in US presidents and famous actors and Bill Gates and British royals to have sex with underage girls, who are kept there like slaves”
i scoffed, of course
Jeffrey Epstein's behavior was fairly well documented: his 2008 plea deal was covered at length by The Miami Herald.
It is interesting we are now only just starting to learn about the Wirecard bloke. That was always the weirdest story / company that didn't add up e.g. getting actors in the Far East to pretend to the bank that did business with Wirecard to try and convince auditors.
The FT did some great work on that, but it appears they only just scratched the surface.
i suspect you’re right that Epstein was an intelligence asset. Mossad?
It is the easiest thing to do, if you think about it, in terms of power gained for trouble expended. Give a handsome charming sex mad sociopath a billion dollars. Tell him to buy a private island and stock it with sexy girls under 18 or even 16. Fly in extremely powerful or wealthy men promising them a great party, then offer them the girls, and secretly take photos and movies of the illegal and/or kinky sex - kompromat
Result, you have incredible leverage over the most powerful men in the world, including US presidents and British princes
Makes total sense to me, and of course Epstein was aided by the daughter of Robert Maxwell, also strongly suspected to be a Mossad asset
And then Epstein conveniently offs himself in the most ridiculous way possible so he doesn’t go to trial
He seemed to have tried to get involved with anybody who was anybody at one point or another. A load of the Tech Bros have said he was sniffing around in their social circles and very pushy about trying to get him to manage their money / raise money for them. He of course did that for Les Wexner, the bloke behind Limited Brands.
@cb_doge · 6h 🚨 ELON MUSK: "I sleep for about 6 hours on average and I work almost every waking hour.
I don't have social dinners really. I literally just will have lunch and dinner during meetings and continue the meeting."
===
The problem in a nutshell.
Mrs Thatcher was said to get by on four hours a night. And that ended well.
Blimey.
There is no comparison.
If you think the poll tax and trying to smash the leadership of the miners unions is even barely comparable with a coup to end US democracy, wreck the constitution, threaten judges and install a never ending Trump dynasty then I am afrid you are wrong imho.
It was meant as a light-hearted joke. I should have added an emoji.
Ok. Sorry. Humble apologies.
I have not had a good day to say the least with family care issues and so am a little over triggered this evening.
Bit dull, I’m afraid - like nearly all of Latin America
If you like hefty sausages and nice steaks, day after day, you’re in heaven
I’ve just written a Kanpper’s Gazette article on why the food in the ex-Iberian colonies is almost universally dreary (the Philippines is the one place in SE Asia with shite food, in an area otherwise blessed)
Bit dull, I’m afraid - like nearly all of Latin America
If you like hefty sausages and nice steaks, day after day, you’re in heaven
I’ve just written a Kanpper’s Gazette article on why the food in the ex-Iberian colonies is almost universally dreary (the Philippines is the one place in SE Asia with shite food, in an area otherwise blessed)
This week I ran a focus group in Grimsby for @channel4news.
The mood amongst voters was nothing short of apocalyptic. On migration, welfare, and the future of Britain.
No party leader was seen as truly capable of leading Britain out of a mess they felt was caused above all by mass immigration.
Rich in anger and conspiracy theories, it was also the most American of the English focus groups I’ve ever conducted.
This could have been written any time in the last 10 years.
No, I think there's been a marked shift in the last 12 months. There's now much more elite acceptance that Britain is in decline and that mass migration is not working and at the same time large parts of the public have become more radical.
Paradoxically the election of Labour broke the liberal consensus that had prevailed since Blair.
Social media is destroying our democracy.
That focus group seems to be stuff full of conspiracy theories and is "the most america" the guy has seen.
Can't think where these voters are getting all their information from.
Overwhelming mass immigration is not a “racist conspiracy theory”. Nor; as we now know, is “two tier justice”
British people can see the boriswave on their streets. They can see the 10 million we have let in since 1997. They can see that - despite all claims otherwise - this immigration is not “essential for growth and prosperity”. GDP per capita has basically flatlined for fifteen years. They can also see that both main parties are responsible for this and both of them have no clue what to do about it
Brace. It’s gonna kick off
Immigration is not the conspiracy theories the focus group are talking about. I get the anger about "Boriswave" of migrants but the conspiracy shit is beyond that:
"Conspiracy theories abounded: Epstein and a shady force “pulling the strings” featured."
"But bit by bit, our politics is becoming more online, more conspiratorial, more fractious, more American."
I would want to know exactly what people were saying about Epstein.
I don't think it is massive tin foil hat stuff to believe to some degree there is a lot more to that story than we currently know, too many things just don't stack up e.g. the guy appeared to have limitless money, but nobody can really work out where it all came from. There are researched stories of him earning millions here and there from previous financial scams, but that doesn't square with the lifestyle he led.
I don't think it is totally out of the realms of possibilities that he was some sort of intelligence asset.
Here’s a true story
My ex wife’s dad is the most insane conspiracy theorist I know. He’s so conspiratorial he thinks Flat Earthers (he used to be one) are boring normies duped by the Establishment. He reckons David Icke is too orthodox. He believes entire chunks of human history have been faked
Anyway during my marriage I encountered one of his madder theories. It went like this:
“Somewhere in the Caribbean there’s a secret private island owned by a billionaire who flies in US presidents and famous actors and Bill Gates and British royals to have sex with underage girls, who are kept there like slaves”
i scoffed, of course
Jeffrey Epstein's behavior was fairly well documented: his 2008 plea deal was covered at length by The Miami Herald.
It is interesting we are now only just starting to learn about the Wirecard bloke. That was always the weirdest story / company that didn't add up e.g. getting actors in the Far East to pretend to the bank that did business with Wirecard to try and convince auditors.
The FT did some great work on that, but it appears they only just scratched the surface.
i suspect you’re right that Epstein was an intelligence asset. Mossad?
It is the easiest thing to do, if you think about it, in terms of power gained for trouble expended. Give a handsome charming sex mad sociopath a billion dollars. Tell him to buy a private island and stock it with sexy girls under 18 or even 16. Fly in extremely powerful or wealthy men promising them a great party, then offer them the girls, and secretly take photos and movies of the illegal and/or kinky sex - kompromat
Result, you have incredible leverage over the most powerful men in the world, including US presidents and British princes
Makes total sense to me, and of course Epstein was aided by the daughter of Robert Maxwell, also strongly suspected to be a Mossad asset
And then Epstein conveniently offs himself in the most ridiculous way possible so he doesn’t go to trial
Apparently at one time the source of Epstein's wealth was more of a mystery than the fact he was a sex abuser. Is that still the case?
This week I ran a focus group in Grimsby for @channel4news.
The mood amongst voters was nothing short of apocalyptic. On migration, welfare, and the future of Britain.
No party leader was seen as truly capable of leading Britain out of a mess they felt was caused above all by mass immigration.
Rich in anger and conspiracy theories, it was also the most American of the English focus groups I’ve ever conducted.
This could have been written any time in the last 10 years.
No, I think there's been a marked shift in the last 12 months. There's now much more elite acceptance that Britain is in decline and that mass migration is not working and at the same time large parts of the public have become more radical.
Paradoxically the election of Labour broke the liberal consensus that had prevailed since Blair.
Social media is destroying our democracy.
That focus group seems to be stuff full of conspiracy theories and is "the most america" the guy has seen.
Can't think where these voters are getting all their information from.
Overwhelming mass immigration is not a “racist conspiracy theory”. Nor; as we now know, is “two tier justice”
British people can see the boriswave on their streets. They can see the 10 million we have let in since 1997. They can see that - despite all claims otherwise - this immigration is not “essential for growth and prosperity”. GDP per capita has basically flatlined for fifteen years. They can also see that both main parties are responsible for this and both of them have no clue what to do about it
Brace. It’s gonna kick off
Immigration is not the conspiracy theories the focus group are talking about. I get the anger about "Boriswave" of migrants but the conspiracy shit is beyond that:
"Conspiracy theories abounded: Epstein and a shady force “pulling the strings” featured."
"But bit by bit, our politics is becoming more online, more conspiratorial, more fractious, more American."
I would want to know exactly what people were saying about Epstein.
I don't think it is massive tin foil hat stuff to believe to some degree there is a lot more to that story than we currently know, too many things just don't stack up e.g. the guy appeared to have limitless money, but nobody can really work out where it all came from. There are researched stories of him earning millions here and there from previous financial scams, but that doesn't square with the lifestyle he led.
I don't think it is totally out of the realms of possibilities that he was some sort of intelligence asset.
Here’s a true story
My ex wife’s dad is the most insane conspiracy theorist I know. He’s so conspiratorial he thinks Flat Earthers (he used to be one) are boring normies duped by the Establishment. He reckons David Icke is too orthodox. He believes entire chunks of human history have been faked
Anyway during my marriage I encountered one of his madder theories. It went like this:
“Somewhere in the Caribbean there’s a secret private island owned by a billionaire who flies in US presidents and famous actors and Bill Gates and British royals to have sex with underage girls, who are kept there like slaves”
i scoffed, of course
Jeffrey Epstein's behavior was fairly well documented: his 2008 plea deal was covered at length by The Miami Herald.
It is interesting we are now only just starting to learn about the Wirecard bloke. That was always the weirdest story / company that didn't add up e.g. getting actors in the Far East to pretend to the bank that did business with Wirecard to try and convince auditors.
The FT did some great work on that, but it appears they only just scratched the surface.
i suspect you’re right that Epstein was an intelligence asset. Mossad?
It is the easiest thing to do, if you think about it, in terms of power gained for trouble expended. Give a handsome charming sex mad sociopath a billion dollars. Tell him to buy a private island and stock it with sexy girls under 18 or even 16. Fly in extremely powerful or wealthy men promising them a great party, then offer them the girls, and secretly take photos and movies of the illegal and/or kinky sex - kompromat
Result, you have incredible leverage over the most powerful men in the world, including US presidents and British princes
Makes total sense to me, and of course Epstein was aided by the daughter of Robert Maxwell, also strongly suspected to be a Mossad asset
And then Epstein conveniently offs himself in the most ridiculous way possible so he doesn’t go to trial
Apparently at one time the source of Epstein's wealth was more of a mystery than the fact he was a sex abuser. Is that still the case?
I watched a documentary a year or two about this (I can't remember the name of it) focusing on following the money and they couldn't make it add up. Yes he had millions from some early financial scams, he definitely got paid handsomely to manage money for Les Wexner (perhaps he stole from him), but they couldn't find anything to pointed to having the sort of money that equated to his lifestyle...and he had a huge property empire that just appeared out of nowhere, a massive ranch, the island, NYC mansion, Florida, etc.
Chair of the Danish parliament’s defence committee:
I dont know if there is a kill switch in the F35’s or not [there isn’t]. We obviously can not take your word for it.
As one of the decision makers behind Denmark’s purchase of F35’s, I regret it.
The USA can certainly disable the planes by simple stopping the supply of spare parts. They want to strengthen Russia and weaken Europa and are showing that they are willing to do tremendous damage to peaceful and loyal allies like Canada just because they insist on existing as a country.
I can easily imagine a situation where the USA will demand Greenland from Denmark and will threaten to deactivate our weapons and let Russia attack us when we refuse (which we will even in that situation).
Therefore, buying American weapons is a security risk that we can not run. We will make enormous investments in air defence, fighter jets, artillery and other weapons in the coming years, and we must avoid American weapons if at all possible.
We’re beyond that, I think. Europe has a brief chance to get its act together on defence, and that requires an honest discussion. The fact that the US cannot, for the first time in our lifetimes, by considered a reliable ally isn’t something you can ignore.
And it’s not as though they aren’t already aware of that.
‘There is no kill switch’—The F-35 'kill switch' rumor has been debunked.
Of all the stupid things Trump has done, this - along with the tariff madness - seems the most stupid of all
And i am strongly sympathetic (unlike anyone else on here) to a lot of the Trumpite Culture War on Woke. But the damage to alliances, friendships and American tech/industrial exports could be generational, it may never be fixable
I cannot see the logic. And usually I can see some logic to what Trump does - even if it is evil and immoral
Maybe Trump really is a Russian agent, just as Starmer works for China
Rachel Reeves will announce the biggest spending cuts since austerity at next week’s spring statement after ruling out tax rises as a way to close her budget deficit.
The chancellor will tell MPs next Wednesday that she intends to cut Whitehall budgets by billions of pounds more than previously expected in a move which could mean reductions of as much as 7% for certain departments over the next four years.
Chair of the Danish parliament’s defence committee:
I dont know if there is a kill switch in the F35’s or not [there isn’t]. We obviously can not take your word for it.
As one of the decision makers behind Denmark’s purchase of F35’s, I regret it.
The USA can certainly disable the planes by simple stopping the supply of spare parts. They want to strengthen Russia and weaken Europa and are showing that they are willing to do tremendous damage to peaceful and loyal allies like Canada just because they insist on existing as a country.
I can easily imagine a situation where the USA will demand Greenland from Denmark and will threaten to deactivate our weapons and let Russia attack us when we refuse (which we will even in that situation).
Therefore, buying American weapons is a security risk that we can not run. We will make enormous investments in air defence, fighter jets, artillery and other weapons in the coming years, and we must avoid American weapons if at all possible.
We’re beyond that, I think. Europe has a brief chance to get its act together on defence, and that requires an honest discussion. The fact that the US cannot, for the first time in our lifetimes, by considered a reliable ally isn’t something you can ignore.
And it’s not as though they aren’t already aware of that.
‘There is no kill switch’—The F-35 'kill switch' rumor has been debunked.
This week I ran a focus group in Grimsby for @channel4news.
The mood amongst voters was nothing short of apocalyptic. On migration, welfare, and the future of Britain.
No party leader was seen as truly capable of leading Britain out of a mess they felt was caused above all by mass immigration.
Rich in anger and conspiracy theories, it was also the most American of the English focus groups I’ve ever conducted.
This could have been written any time in the last 10 years.
No, I think there's been a marked shift in the last 12 months. There's now much more elite acceptance that Britain is in decline and that mass migration is not working and at the same time large parts of the public have become more radical.
Paradoxically the election of Labour broke the liberal consensus that had prevailed since Blair.
Social media is destroying our democracy.
That focus group seems to be stuff full of conspiracy theories and is "the most america" the guy has seen.
Can't think where these voters are getting all their information from.
Overwhelming mass immigration is not a “racist conspiracy theory”. Nor; as we now know, is “two tier justice”
British people can see the boriswave on their streets. They can see the 10 million we have let in since 1997. They can see that - despite all claims otherwise - this immigration is not “essential for growth and prosperity”. GDP per capita has basically flatlined for fifteen years. They can also see that both main parties are responsible for this and both of them have no clue what to do about it
Brace. It’s gonna kick off
Immigration is not the conspiracy theories the focus group are talking about. I get the anger about "Boriswave" of migrants but the conspiracy shit is beyond that:
"Conspiracy theories abounded: Epstein and a shady force “pulling the strings” featured."
"But bit by bit, our politics is becoming more online, more conspiratorial, more fractious, more American."
I would want to know exactly what people were saying about Epstein.
I don't think it is massive tin foil hat stuff to believe to some degree there is a lot more to that story than we currently know, too many things just don't stack up e.g. the guy appeared to have limitless money, but nobody can really work out where it all came from. There are researched stories of him earning millions here and there from previous financial scams, but that doesn't square with the lifestyle he led.
I don't think it is totally out of the realms of possibilities that he was some sort of intelligence asset.
Here’s a true story
My ex wife’s dad is the most insane conspiracy theorist I know. He’s so conspiratorial he thinks Flat Earthers (he used to be one) are boring normies duped by the Establishment. He reckons David Icke is too orthodox. He believes entire chunks of human history have been faked
Anyway during my marriage I encountered one of his madder theories. It went like this:
“Somewhere in the Caribbean there’s a secret private island owned by a billionaire who flies in US presidents and famous actors and Bill Gates and British royals to have sex with underage girls, who are kept there like slaves”
i scoffed, of course
Jeffrey Epstein's behavior was fairly well documented: his 2008 plea deal was covered at length by The Miami Herald.
It is interesting we are now only just starting to learn about the Wirecard bloke. That was always the weirdest story / company that didn't add up e.g. getting actors in the Far East to pretend to the bank that did business with Wirecard to try and convince auditors.
The FT did some great work on that, but it appears they only just scratched the surface.
i suspect you’re right that Epstein was an intelligence asset. Mossad?
It is the easiest thing to do, if you think about it, in terms of power gained for trouble expended. Give a handsome charming sex mad sociopath a billion dollars. Tell him to buy a private island and stock it with sexy girls under 18 or even 16. Fly in extremely powerful or wealthy men promising them a great party, then offer them the girls, and secretly take photos and movies of the illegal and/or kinky sex - kompromat
Result, you have incredible leverage over the most powerful men in the world, including US presidents and British princes
Makes total sense to me, and of course Epstein was aided by the daughter of Robert Maxwell, also strongly suspected to be a Mossad asset
And then Epstein conveniently offs himself in the most ridiculous way possible so he doesn’t go to trial
Apparently at one time the source of Epstein's wealth was more of a mystery than the fact he was a sex abuser. Is that still the case?
Yes, it is
Worth noting that what Epstein allegedly did - gather “kompromat” - is no longer possible, as deepfakes are now so good anyone allegedly compromised can credibly claim the image/video is fake, and no one can prove otherwise
Rachel Reeves will announce the biggest spending cuts since austerity at next week’s spring statement after ruling out tax rises as a way to close her budget deficit.
The chancellor will tell MPs next Wednesday that she intends to cut Whitehall budgets by billions of pounds more than previously expected in a move which could mean reductions of as much as 7% for certain departments over the next four years.
Rachel Reeves will announce the biggest spending cuts since austerity at next week’s spring statement after ruling out tax rises as a way to close her budget deficit.
The chancellor will tell MPs next Wednesday that she intends to cut Whitehall budgets by billions of pounds more than previously expected in a move which could mean reductions of as much as 7% for certain departments over the next four years.
Israel has started another "ground operation" in Gaza.
I am not really sure what they hope to achieve that they didn't achieve last time.
They got several Hamas leaders, including the de facto head Essam a-Da'lees. That's good news isn't it?
Hamas can end the conflict immediately by releasing all hostages and laying down all arms unconditionally - why hasn't it?
Ukraine can end the conflict immediately by surrendering all their territory and laying down arms unconditionally - why haven't they?
You see your statement sounds as ridiculous as mine.
Somewhat different in that Ukraine is the victim of the war of aggression of Russia.
Israel is the victim of attacks from Hamas continuing decades of harassment and seeking to annihilate Israel from the map right from the start.
We should support Ukraine and Israel to win their wars and defeat their enemies.
Nope. Hamas are indeed evil but they are not the target of the Israeli attacks. Israel aims to drive all the Palestinians out of Gaza by ethnic cleansing. And they also intend to do the same to the West Bank. You are actively supporting war crimes and genocide.
Rachel Reeves will announce the biggest spending cuts since austerity at next week’s spring statement after ruling out tax rises as a way to close her budget deficit.
The chancellor will tell MPs next Wednesday that she intends to cut Whitehall budgets by billions of pounds more than previously expected in a move which could mean reductions of as much as 7% for certain departments over the next four years.
Rachel Reeves will announce the biggest spending cuts since austerity at next week’s spring statement after ruling out tax rises as a way to close her budget deficit.
The chancellor will tell MPs next Wednesday that she intends to cut Whitehall budgets by billions of pounds more than previously expected in a move which could mean reductions of as much as 7% for certain departments over the next four years.
Rachel Reeves will announce the biggest spending cuts since austerity at next week’s spring statement after ruling out tax rises as a way to close her budget deficit.
The chancellor will tell MPs next Wednesday that she intends to cut Whitehall budgets by billions of pounds more than previously expected in a move which could mean reductions of as much as 7% for certain departments over the next four years.
David Frum @davidfrum · 10h My late father-in-law, then a reporter for the Toronto Telegram, stood about 20 feet away when Ruby shot Oswald. For decades afterward, he was the target of crazed insinuations and accusations from conspiracy crackpots.
Rachel Reeves will announce the biggest spending cuts since austerity at next week’s spring statement after ruling out tax rises as a way to close her budget deficit.
The chancellor will tell MPs next Wednesday that she intends to cut Whitehall budgets by billions of pounds more than previously expected in a move which could mean reductions of as much as 7% for certain departments over the next four years.
Rachel Reeves will announce the biggest spending cuts since austerity at next week’s spring statement after ruling out tax rises as a way to close her budget deficit.
The chancellor will tell MPs next Wednesday that she intends to cut Whitehall budgets by billions of pounds more than previously expected in a move which could mean reductions of as much as 7% for certain departments over the next four years.
Rachel Reeves will announce the biggest spending cuts since austerity at next week’s spring statement after ruling out tax rises as a way to close her budget deficit.
The chancellor will tell MPs next Wednesday that she intends to cut Whitehall budgets by billions of pounds more than previously expected in a move which could mean reductions of as much as 7% for certain departments over the next four years.
Rachel Reeves will announce the biggest spending cuts since austerity at next week’s spring statement after ruling out tax rises as a way to close her budget deficit.
The chancellor will tell MPs next Wednesday that she intends to cut Whitehall budgets by billions of pounds more than previously expected in a move which could mean reductions of as much as 7% for certain departments over the next four years.
Rachel Reeves will announce the biggest spending cuts since austerity at next week’s spring statement after ruling out tax rises as a way to close her budget deficit.
The chancellor will tell MPs next Wednesday that she intends to cut Whitehall budgets by billions of pounds more than previously expected in a move which could mean reductions of as much as 7% for certain departments over the next four years.
Rachel Reeves will announce the biggest spending cuts since austerity at next week’s spring statement after ruling out tax rises as a way to close her budget deficit.
The chancellor will tell MPs next Wednesday that she intends to cut Whitehall budgets by billions of pounds more than previously expected in a move which could mean reductions of as much as 7% for certain departments over the next four years.
Rachel Reeves will announce the biggest spending cuts since austerity at next week’s spring statement after ruling out tax rises as a way to close her budget deficit.
The chancellor will tell MPs next Wednesday that she intends to cut Whitehall budgets by billions of pounds more than previously expected in a move which could mean reductions of as much as 7% for certain departments over the next four years.
Rachel Reeves will announce the biggest spending cuts since austerity at next week’s spring statement after ruling out tax rises as a way to close her budget deficit.
The chancellor will tell MPs next Wednesday that she intends to cut Whitehall budgets by billions of pounds more than previously expected in a move which could mean reductions of as much as 7% for certain departments over the next four years.
Rachel Reeves will announce the biggest spending cuts since austerity at next week’s spring statement after ruling out tax rises as a way to close her budget deficit.
The chancellor will tell MPs next Wednesday that she intends to cut Whitehall budgets by billions of pounds more than previously expected in a move which could mean reductions of as much as 7% for certain departments over the next four years.
Rachel Reeves will announce the biggest spending cuts since austerity at next week’s spring statement after ruling out tax rises as a way to close her budget deficit.
The chancellor will tell MPs next Wednesday that she intends to cut Whitehall budgets by billions of pounds more than previously expected in a move which could mean reductions of as much as 7% for certain departments over the next four years.
Rachel Reeves will announce the biggest spending cuts since austerity at next week’s spring statement after ruling out tax rises as a way to close her budget deficit.
The chancellor will tell MPs next Wednesday that she intends to cut Whitehall budgets by billions of pounds more than previously expected in a move which could mean reductions of as much as 7% for certain departments over the next four years.
Rachel Reeves will announce the biggest spending cuts since austerity at next week’s spring statement after ruling out tax rises as a way to close her budget deficit.
The chancellor will tell MPs next Wednesday that she intends to cut Whitehall budgets by billions of pounds more than previously expected in a move which could mean reductions of as much as 7% for certain departments over the next four years.
Labour governments are often more realistic than Tory ones in terms of their policies, oddly enough. Probably because the Conservatives are always afraid of public sector strikes whenever they do anything.
This week I ran a focus group in Grimsby for @channel4news.
The mood amongst voters was nothing short of apocalyptic. On migration, welfare, and the future of Britain.
No party leader was seen as truly capable of leading Britain out of a mess they felt was caused above all by mass immigration.
Rich in anger and conspiracy theories, it was also the most American of the English focus groups I’ve ever conducted.
This could have been written any time in the last 10 years.
No, I think there's been a marked shift in the last 12 months. There's now much more elite acceptance that Britain is in decline and that mass migration is not working and at the same time large parts of the public have become more radical.
Paradoxically the election of Labour broke the liberal consensus that had prevailed since Blair.
Social media is destroying our democracy.
That focus group seems to be stuff full of conspiracy theories and is "the most america" the guy has seen.
Can't think where these voters are getting all their information from.
Overwhelming mass immigration is not a “racist conspiracy theory”. Nor; as we now know, is “two tier justice”
British people can see the boriswave on their streets. They can see the 10 million we have let in since 1997. They can see that - despite all claims otherwise - this immigration is not “essential for growth and prosperity”. GDP per capita has basically flatlined for fifteen years. They can also see that both main parties are responsible for this and both of them have no clue what to do about it
Brace. It’s gonna kick off
Immigration is not the conspiracy theories the focus group are talking about. I get the anger about "Boriswave" of migrants but the conspiracy shit is beyond that:
"Conspiracy theories abounded: Epstein and a shady force “pulling the strings” featured."
"But bit by bit, our politics is becoming more online, more conspiratorial, more fractious, more American."
I would want to know exactly what people were saying about Epstein.
I don't think it is massive tin foil hat stuff to believe to some degree there is a lot more to that story than we currently know, too many things just don't stack up e.g. the guy appeared to have limitless money, but nobody can really work out where it all came from. There are researched stories of him earning millions here and there from previous financial scams, but that doesn't square with the lifestyle he led.
I don't think it is totally out of the realms of possibilities that he was some sort of intelligence asset.
Here’s a true story
My ex wife’s dad is the most insane conspiracy theorist I know. He’s so conspiratorial he thinks Flat Earthers (he used to be one) are boring normies duped by the Establishment. He reckons David Icke is too orthodox. He believes entire chunks of human history have been faked
Anyway during my marriage I encountered one of his madder theories. It went like this:
“Somewhere in the Caribbean there’s a secret private island owned by a billionaire who flies in US presidents and famous actors and Bill Gates and British royals to have sex with underage girls, who are kept there like slaves”
i scoffed, of course
Jeffrey Epstein's behavior was fairly well documented: his 2008 plea deal was covered at length by The Miami Herald.
It is interesting we are now only just starting to learn about the Wirecard bloke. That was always the weirdest story / company that didn't add up e.g. getting actors in the Far East to pretend to the bank that did business with Wirecard to try and convince auditors.
The FT did some great work on that, but it appears they only just scratched the surface.
i suspect you’re right that Epstein was an intelligence asset. Mossad?
It is the easiest thing to do, if you think about it, in terms of power gained for trouble expended. Give a handsome charming sex mad sociopath a billion dollars. Tell him to buy a private island and stock it with sexy girls under 18 or even 16. Fly in extremely powerful or wealthy men promising them a great party, then offer them the girls, and secretly take photos and movies of the illegal and/or kinky sex - kompromat
Result, you have incredible leverage over the most powerful men in the world, including US presidents and British princes
Makes total sense to me, and of course Epstein was aided by the daughter of Robert Maxwell, also strongly suspected to be a Mossad asset
And then Epstein conveniently offs himself in the most ridiculous way possible so he doesn’t go to trial
Apparently at one time the source of Epstein's wealth was more of a mystery than the fact he was a sex abuser. Is that still the case?
Yes, it is
Worth noting that what Epstein allegedly did - gather “kompromat” - is no longer possible, as deepfakes are now so good anyone allegedly compromised can credibly claim the image/video is fake, and no one can prove otherwise
This is what worries me about something like writing, for instance: not that AI will write well (which it obviously will), but that new good writers will be accused of having used AI and they can't prove that isn't true.
Rachel Reeves will announce the biggest spending cuts since austerity at next week’s spring statement after ruling out tax rises as a way to close her budget deficit.
The chancellor will tell MPs next Wednesday that she intends to cut Whitehall budgets by billions of pounds more than previously expected in a move which could mean reductions of as much as 7% for certain departments over the next four years.
They will certainly leak more voters to the Greens if they just cut spending without further tax rises and see rebellions from leftwing Labour MPs
They're gonna leak to Reform. The Greens are the protest vote for nice middle-class people with bookshelves who think the Lib Dems are too boring. Reform is the protest vote for working-class people who think Labour is too Tory and the Conservatives aren't anti-immigration enough.
Rachel Reeves will announce the biggest spending cuts since austerity at next week’s spring statement after ruling out tax rises as a way to close her budget deficit.
The chancellor will tell MPs next Wednesday that she intends to cut Whitehall budgets by billions of pounds more than previously expected in a move which could mean reductions of as much as 7% for certain departments over the next four years.
They will certainly leak more voters to the Greens if they just cut spending without further tax rises and see rebellions from leftwing Labour MPs
They're gonna leak to Reform. The Greens are the protest vote for nice middle-class people with bookshelves who think the Lib Dems are too boring. Reform is the protest vote for working-class people who think Labour is too Tory and the Conservatives aren't anti-immigration enough.
I can see the Green's winning the type of people who love a bit of Gary's Economics, especially if they ramp up talk of wealth taxes at a level above what that those nice middle class people with bookshelves are worth.
"Judges Fear for Their Safety Amid a Wave of Threats
Federal judges are worried that online threats against those who oversee high-profile cases challenging Trump administration policies may lead to real-world violence."
Rachel Reeves will announce the biggest spending cuts since austerity at next week’s spring statement after ruling out tax rises as a way to close her budget deficit.
The chancellor will tell MPs next Wednesday that she intends to cut Whitehall budgets by billions of pounds more than previously expected in a move which could mean reductions of as much as 7% for certain departments over the next four years.
Rachel Reeves will announce the biggest spending cuts since austerity at next week’s spring statement after ruling out tax rises as a way to close her budget deficit.
The chancellor will tell MPs next Wednesday that she intends to cut Whitehall budgets by billions of pounds more than previously expected in a move which could mean reductions of as much as 7% for certain departments over the next four years.
IFS says steepest cuts since 2019... which er... isn't that long really? The projections for disability spending are crazy, surely there is room to reduce vs that baseline. Disappointed so far that there hasn't been much clear analysis I've seen of what these changes mean.
This week I ran a focus group in Grimsby for @channel4news.
The mood amongst voters was nothing short of apocalyptic. On migration, welfare, and the future of Britain.
No party leader was seen as truly capable of leading Britain out of a mess they felt was caused above all by mass immigration.
Rich in anger and conspiracy theories, it was also the most American of the English focus groups I’ve ever conducted.
This could have been written any time in the last 10 years.
No, I think there's been a marked shift in the last 12 months. There's now much more elite acceptance that Britain is in decline and that mass migration is not working and at the same time large parts of the public have become more radical.
Paradoxically the election of Labour broke the liberal consensus that had prevailed since Blair.
Yes. This is COMPLETELY different now, and extremely dangerous
Maybe and maybe not.
But how would you know from far off Uruguay or China or wherever you will be next week ?
Have you considered the possibility that extremely wide experience of the world - eg my encounter today with a fairly unique living witness to the Rwandan genocide - might give me some insights that others don’t? I’m not saying that is necessarily true, or even probably true, but it is of course possible
That you can spend the day discussing one of the most bloody genocides of recent decades then come on here cheerleading race war shows how little it broadens the mind.
This “you’re a racist” shit is just boring now. What’s the point?
Pointing and laughing at pathetic little racists is always a good thing to do.
@cb_doge · 6h 🚨 ELON MUSK: "I sleep for about 6 hours on average and I work almost every waking hour.
I don't have social dinners really. I literally just will have lunch and dinner during meetings and continue the meeting."
===
The problem in a nutshell.
Does he work almost every waking hour though? Ok, multitasking, but he clearly spends a lot of time scrolling through online content every day.
I don't doubt he spends more time focusing on achieving his various goals than most people, but it does feel played up a bit, like when my brother used to insist he worked 100 hours a week.
A colleague of mine once sent to work for a while with a large company in South Korea. The place was apparently like its own city, and he spent the entire long trip within it - he even had to hand over his passport when he entered, and inly got it back when he left.
The South Koreans had a reputation in the industry of being incredibly hard workers; going into work very early and working exceptionally late. He debunked that, claiming that they turn up early, and stay very late, as everything they need is on site. But they have a very long lunch break, and other breaks during the day, the amount of time they actually work is about the same. (*)
IME those who spend very long hours at work are not much more productive than those who do not - especially for jobs which require mental concentration.
(*) I do wonder if this 'live at work' philosophy is a part of South Korea's demographic problem.
Rachel Reeves will announce the biggest spending cuts since austerity at next week’s spring statement after ruling out tax rises as a way to close her budget deficit.
The chancellor will tell MPs next Wednesday that she intends to cut Whitehall budgets by billions of pounds more than previously expected in a move which could mean reductions of as much as 7% for certain departments over the next four years.
They will certainly leak more voters to the Greens if they just cut spending without further tax rises and see rebellions from leftwing Labour MPs
They're gonna leak to Reform. The Greens are the protest vote for nice middle-class people with bookshelves who think the Lib Dems are too boring. Reform is the protest vote for working-class people who think Labour is too Tory and the Conservatives aren't anti-immigration enough.
I can see the Green's winning the type of people who love a bit of Gary's Economics, especially if they ramp up talk of wealth taxes at a level above what that those nice middle class people with bookshelves are worth.
Greens ?
I know I run a refugee programme for dropped aitches when I have my Heggs for breakfast, but encouraging rampant breeding amongst apostrophes is pushing it a bit far.
Rachel Reeves will announce the biggest spending cuts since austerity at next week’s spring statement after ruling out tax rises as a way to close her budget deficit.
The chancellor will tell MPs next Wednesday that she intends to cut Whitehall budgets by billions of pounds more than previously expected in a move which could mean reductions of as much as 7% for certain departments over the next four years.
They will certainly leak more voters to the Greens if they just cut spending without further tax rises and see rebellions from leftwing Labour MPs
Yes - the budget needs something significant on both sides.
And Reeves needs to turn this "highest taxes since the 19xx" BS on it's head; that's not the comparator. We need to recover some of the money the last Governments failed to raise, and allowed to go on the national debt.
For those of us genuinely interested in AI, here's a brilliant long-form interview with an Oxford professor who has worked on the problem for decades. He goes into the history of AI (though I don't think it started with Turing...), highlights past approaches, and talks about the future. Matches up much better with what I've heard from experts (from a superior uni) than the media hype.
@cb_doge · 6h 🚨 ELON MUSK: "I sleep for about 6 hours on average and I work almost every waking hour.
I don't have social dinners really. I literally just will have lunch and dinner during meetings and continue the meeting."
===
The problem in a nutshell.
Does he work almost every waking hour though? Ok, multitasking, but he clearly spends a lot of time scrolling through online content every day.
I don't doubt he spends more time focusing on achieving his various goals than most people, but it does feel played up a bit, like when my brother used to insist he worked 100 hours a week.
A colleague of mine once sent to work for a while with a large company in South Korea. The place was apparently like its own city, and he spent the entire long trip within it - he even had to hand over his passport when he entered, and inly got it back when he left.
The South Koreans had a reputation in the industry of being incredibly hard workers; going into work very early and working exceptionally late. He debunked that, claiming that they turn up early, and stay very late, as everything they need is on site. But they have a very long lunch break, and other breaks during the day, the amount of time they actually work is about the same. (*)
IME those who spend very long hours at work are not much more productive than those who do not - especially for jobs which require mental concentration.
(*) I do wonder if this 'live at work' philosophy is a part of South Korea's demographic problem.
IME those who consistently get distracted by the likes of PB because they get bored are every bit as productive as those who don't. This is a vigorous scientific study with a sample size of 1 and I think its pretty conclusive.
The "blueprint" idea is interesting. It suggests that what we are going to see in the budget is a serious attempt to get the economy out of the analeptic shock his Chancellor put it in in October by a significant boost to public spending on defence and no doubt other things, partly covered by more taxes and partly by yet more borrowing.
"Judges Fear for Their Safety Amid a Wave of Threats
Federal judges are worried that online threats against those who oversee high-profile cases challenging Trump administration policies may lead to real-world violence."
Wow. Hodges pulls no punches as he tears into Starmer's administration over welfare:
Remember what people were told they were voting for last July: ‘Change’. And what were they presented with yesterday? The spectacle of a Labour minister – a Labour minister – aggressively confronting anyone who had the gall to question whether demanding that the most vulnerable in society again make the greatest sacrifices was really morally or economically sustainable.
A storm is coming. The British people have had enough. They are not going to tolerate another parade of ministers in tight grey suits, sporting red – rather than blue – ties, telling them those in most need have to do with less.
As I keep pointing out, Blairism DOES NOT WORK in the 2020s. We tried corporatism in 1945-1979: it had its day and then it died. We tried neoliberalism in 1980-2019: it had its day and then it died. This warmed-over rotting-fish neoliberalism is not working and requires Labour to act out of character: if it isn't there to defend the old and the sick, what the hell is it there for? When is the "taxing the rich" bit due to kick in? They aren't going to do that because Blairism could afford not to do so, but these days you have to.
Honestly Morgan McSweeney, if you read PB, please do the bloody maths, yes?
You can’t tax the rich any more because the rich are ever more mobile, as Covid and WFH and the interweb have shown
Britain is already suffering a profound exodus of rich people, more than any other nation on earth. At the same time sunnier places without terror attacks, migration nightmares and machete-wielding Rolex robbers are attracting these rich people (often the young) with digital nomad visas and very low taxes
The Treasury is well aware of this, hence Labour backtracking on non doms and desperately trying to change its rhetoric on wealth
If you want our tax base to entirely disappear, go ahead an impose a wealth tax, and see how much rain mobile wealthy people are willing to tolerate in return for, uhm, ah, the brilliance of the NHS?
Don’t be silly. You put the tax on expensive property, which isn’t going anywhere.
(Incidentally, many of the replies to that post are hysterical. e.g.: "Anyone who dislikes Tesla now is a blatant brainwashed by mainstream media radicalized cult member for the left.")
It’s quite funny how for decades the liberal Hollywood chaps have used the Military Industrial Complex as a baddie, plotting to take down good people who threaten their interests and yet if this shady cabal exists it might be the best hope of stopping Trump in his tracks.
You have to imagine that somewhere in a dark room in Washington DC the heads of defence manufacturers and related parties are meeting about how Trump has single handedly destroyed export markets of their most expensive products in a couple of months whilst also announcing cuts to domestic spending on defence.
At what point do they become the plotters of film and tv and try and remove him?
Meanwhile, in "two nations" news, talk of another focus group.
Focus group tonight. Offered them a chance between partnering with the US on a key policy issue or partnering with France. They were so pro-France I thought they were about to sing "La Marseillaise"...
(Incidentally, many of the replies to that post are hysterical. e.g.: "Anyone who dislikes Tesla now is a blatant brainwashed by mainstream media radicalized cult member for the left.")
(Ken Livingstone voice:)
I tell you who else took lots of deposits for cars that were never built.
It’s quite funny how for decades the liberal Hollywood chaps have used the Military Industrial Complex as a baddie, plotting to take down good people who threaten their interests and yet if this shady cabal exists it might be the best hope of stopping Trump in his tracks.
You have to imagine that somewhere in a dark room in Washington DC the heads of defence manufacturers and related parties are meeting about how Trump has single handedly destroyed export markets of their most expensive products in a couple of months whilst also announcing cuts to domestic spending on defence.
At what point do they become the plotters of film and tv and try and remove him?
It's also ironic that one of Trumpski's persistent complaints is that Europeans don't buy American cars, while they did buy most of their weapons.
We are still not buying their cars, especially Tesla's, or their weapons.
He freaks out about balance of trade. Well, guess what...
(Incidentally, many of the replies to that post are hysterical. e.g.: "Anyone who dislikes Tesla now is a blatant brainwashed by mainstream media radicalized cult member for the left.")
(Ken Livingstone voice:)
I tell you who else took lots of deposits for cars that were never built.
(Incidentally, many of the replies to that post are hysterical. e.g.: "Anyone who dislikes Tesla now is a blatant brainwashed by mainstream media radicalized cult member for the left.")
(Ken Livingstone voice:)
I tell you who else took lots of deposits for cars that were never built.
(Incidentally, many of the replies to that post are hysterical. e.g.: "Anyone who dislikes Tesla now is a blatant brainwashed by mainstream media radicalized cult member for the left.")
(Ken Livingstone voice:)
I tell you who else took lots of deposits for cars that were never built.
Israel has started another "ground operation" in Gaza.
I am not really sure what they hope to achieve that they didn't achieve last time.
They got several Hamas leaders, including the de facto head Essam a-Da'lees. That's good news isn't it?
Hamas can end the conflict immediately by releasing all hostages and laying down all arms unconditionally - why hasn't it?
Ukraine can end the conflict immediately by surrendering all their territory and laying down arms unconditionally - why haven't they?
You see your statement sounds as ridiculous as mine.
Somewhat different in that Ukraine is the victim of the war of aggression of Russia.
Israel is the victim of attacks from Hamas continuing decades of harassment and seeking to annihilate Israel from the map right from the start.
We should support Ukraine and Israel to win their wars and defeat their enemies.
Nope. Hamas are indeed evil but they are not the target of the Israeli attacks. Israel aims to drive all the Palestinians out of Gaza by ethnic cleansing. And they also intend to do the same to the West Bank. You are actively supporting war crimes and genocide.
You're wrong, they are targeting Hamas.
Even Hamas themselves have admitted these recent attacks have taken out some of their leaders, including their 'head of government'.
Hamas leaders are quite legitimate targets, are they not? Yet you refuse to accept that even when spelt out in black and white.
It’s quite funny how for decades the liberal Hollywood chaps have used the Military Industrial Complex as a baddie, plotting to take down good people who threaten their interests and yet if this shady cabal exists it might be the best hope of stopping Trump in his tracks.
You have to imagine that somewhere in a dark room in Washington DC the heads of defence manufacturers and related parties are meeting about how Trump has single handedly destroyed export markets of their most expensive products in a couple of months whilst also announcing cuts to domestic spending on defence.
At what point do they become the plotters of film and tv and try and remove him?
It's also ironic that one of Trumpski's persistent complaints is that Europeans don't buy American cars, while they did buy most of their weapons.
We are still not buying their cars, especially Tesla's, or their weapons.
He freaks out about balance of trade. Well, guess what...
Their cars are exceptionally ugly which doesn’t help. Teslas look shit - apparently because it’s about eking out every bit of efficiency - but I’m sure a few fewer miles per charge for a better looking car isn’t the worst idea.
It’s quite funny how for decades the liberal Hollywood chaps have used the Military Industrial Complex as a baddie, plotting to take down good people who threaten their interests and yet if this shady cabal exists it might be the best hope of stopping Trump in his tracks.
You have to imagine that somewhere in a dark room in Washington DC the heads of defence manufacturers and related parties are meeting about how Trump has single handedly destroyed export markets of their most expensive products in a couple of months whilst also announcing cuts to domestic spending on defence.
At what point do they become the plotters of film and tv and try and remove him?
It's also ironic that one of Trumpski's persistent complaints is that Europeans don't buy American cars, while they did buy most of their weapons.
We are still not buying their cars, especially Tesla's, or their weapons.
He freaks out about balance of trade. Well, guess what...
Their cars are exceptionally ugly which doesn’t help. Teslas look shit - apparently because it’s about eking out every bit of efficiency - but I’m sure a few fewer miles per charge for a better looking car isn’t the worst idea.
I don't think they look ugly, actually. Certainly not compared to the prototype new Jag.
The big problem is they've been bought by rather too many people who drive like utter bellends, and that seems unlikely to change.
Chair of the Danish parliament’s defence committee:
I dont know if there is a kill switch in the F35’s or not [there isn’t]. We obviously can not take your word for it.
As one of the decision makers behind Denmark’s purchase of F35’s, I regret it.
The USA can certainly disable the planes by simple stopping the supply of spare parts. They want to strengthen Russia and weaken Europa and are showing that they are willing to do tremendous damage to peaceful and loyal allies like Canada just because they insist on existing as a country.
I can easily imagine a situation where the USA will demand Greenland from Denmark and will threaten to deactivate our weapons and let Russia attack us when we refuse (which we will even in that situation).
Therefore, buying American weapons is a security risk that we can not run. We will make enormous investments in air defence, fighter jets, artillery and other weapons in the coming years, and we must avoid American weapons if at all possible.
Good for him. At least one European politician appreciates the need for strategic autonomy and will say so.
The calculation is a little different for SKS as he has much more to lose in the shape of Trident. If the US were to withdraw support that would be an ego shattering cataclysm for the English psyche on the level of Italia '90 hence his current policy of unabashed tromboning.
Chair of the Danish parliament’s defence committee:
I dont know if there is a kill switch in the F35’s or not [there isn’t]. We obviously can not take your word for it.
As one of the decision makers behind Denmark’s purchase of F35’s, I regret it.
The USA can certainly disable the planes by simple stopping the supply of spare parts. They want to strengthen Russia and weaken Europa and are showing that they are willing to do tremendous damage to peaceful and loyal allies like Canada just because they insist on existing as a country.
I can easily imagine a situation where the USA will demand Greenland from Denmark and will threaten to deactivate our weapons and let Russia attack us when we refuse (which we will even in that situation).
Therefore, buying American weapons is a security risk that we can not run. We will make enormous investments in air defence, fighter jets, artillery and other weapons in the coming years, and we must avoid American weapons if at all possible.
Good for him. At least one European politician appreciates the need for strategic autonomy and will say so.
The calculation is a little different for SKS as he has much more to lose in the shape of Trident. If the US were to withdraw support that would be an ego shattering cataclysm for the English psyche on the level of Italia '90 hence his current policy of unabashed tromboning.
Comments
I don't think it is massive tin foil hat stuff to believe to some degree there is a lot more to that story than we currently know, too many things just don't stack up e.g. the guy appeared to have limitless money, but nobody can really work out where it all came from. There are researched stories of him earning millions here and there from previous financial scams, but that doesn't square with the lifestyle he led.
I don't think it is totally out of the realms of possibilities that he was some sort of intelligence asset.
I don't doubt he spends more time focusing on achieving his various goals than most people, but it does feel played up a bit, like when my brother used to insist he worked 100 hours a week.
He sent ten Belgians to protect the then prime minster; they were all killed. And Belgium then withdrew its forces, who were the majority of the UN contingent. And the genocide happened.
You can see how that might weigh hard.
My ex wife’s dad is the most insane conspiracy theorist I know. He’s so conspiratorial he thinks Flat Earthers (he used to be one) are boring normies duped by the Establishment. He reckons David Icke is too orthodox. He believes entire chunks of human history have been faked
Anyway during my marriage I encountered one of his madder theories. It went like this:
“Somewhere in the Caribbean there’s a secret private island owned by a billionaire who flies in US presidents and famous actors and Bill Gates and British royals to have sex with underage girls, who are kept there like slaves”
i scoffed, of course
Lord Glasman was the ONLY british politician invited to be seated at the Trump inauguration fest and yet he has just been on Newsnight completely slagging off Trumpski policy - such as it is - over Ukraine and praising Starmer's leadership.
Re Epstein, its not a secret that Robert Maxwell had close ties to intelligence agencies.
Crickey I will be being labelled as conspiracy theorist if I am not careful.
Whether that's living in druggie squats or on remand on rape charges to more recently posho hotels and restaurants.
So very top 10% and bottom 10%.
But most people live in the 80% in between.
Living the sort of mundane, average lives of which your experience is deficient.
Have you ever had, for example, a standard 9-5 style 40 hour per week job ?
Now does your experience allow you a different perspective on the current UK ? Possibly.
But only if you applied that experience.
And to do that you would need to be in and travelling and actually meeting people in this country.
I dont know if there is a kill switch in the F35’s or not [there isn’t]. We obviously can not take your word for it.
As one of the decision makers behind Denmark’s purchase of F35’s, I regret it.
The USA can certainly disable the planes by simple stopping the supply of spare parts. They want to strengthen Russia and weaken Europa and are showing that they are willing to do tremendous damage to peaceful and loyal allies like Canada just because they insist on existing as a country.
I can easily imagine a situation where the USA will demand Greenland from Denmark and will threaten to deactivate our weapons and let Russia attack us when we refuse (which we will even in that situation).
Therefore, buying American weapons is a security risk that we can not run. We will make enormous investments in air defence, fighter jets, artillery and other weapons in the coming years, and we must avoid American weapons if at all possible.
I encourage our allies and friends to do the same.
https://x.com/RasmusJarlov/status/1902389277423509877
Where the fuck is it and why is it not acting to deal with treason?
https://x.com/Noahpinion/status/1902497783116079141
Reviled by most Republicans ever since, of course.
Not sure it’s wise
There is no comparison.
If you think the poll tax and trying to smash the leadership of the miners unions is even barely comparable with a coup to end US democracy, wreck the constitution, threaten judges and install a never ending Trump dynasty then I am afrid you are wrong imho.
The FT did some great work on that and got very threatening incoming, but it appears they only just scratched the surface. It doesn't seem to be getting anywhere near the coverage you would think.
https://xcancel.com/scope/status/1902001437611102501#m
It is the easiest thing to do, if you think about it, in terms of power gained for trouble expended. Give a handsome charming sex mad sociopath a billion dollars. Tell him to buy a private island and stock it with sexy girls under 18 or even 16. Fly in extremely powerful or wealthy men promising them a great party, then offer them the girls, and secretly take photos and movies of the illegal and/or kinky sex - kompromat
Result, you have incredible leverage over the most powerful men in the world, including US presidents and British princes
Makes total sense to me, and of course Epstein was aided by the daughter of Robert Maxwell, also strongly suspected to be a Mossad asset
And then Epstein conveniently offs himself in the most ridiculous way possible so he doesn’t go to trial
Europe has a brief chance to get its act together on defence, and that requires an honest discussion. The fact that the US cannot, for the first time in our lifetimes, by considered a reliable ally isn’t something you can ignore.
And it’s not as though they aren’t already aware of that.
‘There is no kill switch’—The F-35 'kill switch' rumor has been debunked.
“After weeks of speculation, the Pentagon formally denies having the ability to remotely disable @LockheedMartin’s F-35 fighter jets.”
https://x.com/thef35/status/1902117234039992683
I don’t know. Maybe there is no good way to handle Trump
There have been several periods of industrial decline, after which America recovered. For example, just after the First World War, the American index of industrial production fell from 104.7 in January 1919 to 77.4 in February 1921. Under Harding and Coolidge American industry then boomed.
See here. https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/g17/100_years_accessible_tables.htm
There have also been similar sharp setbacks then quick recoveries amongst many US Presidents, including Ronald Reagan.
Twitter's analysis living up to its usual standard I see.
I have not had a good day to say the least with family care issues and so am a little over triggered this evening.
And i am strongly sympathetic (unlike anyone else on here) to a lot of the Trumpite Culture War on Woke. But the damage to alliances, friendships and American tech/industrial exports could be generational, it may never be fixable
I cannot see the logic. And usually I can see some logic to what Trump does - even if it is evil and immoral
Maybe Trump really is a Russian agent, just as Starmer works for China
The chancellor will tell MPs next Wednesday that she intends to cut Whitehall budgets by billions of pounds more than previously expected in a move which could mean reductions of as much as 7% for certain departments over the next four years.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/mar/19/reeves-to-reveal-biggest-uk-spending-cuts-since-austerity-in-spring-statement
Particularly as they can anyway rapidly degrade its operability by withholding spares and the frequently required software updates.
Worth noting that what Epstein allegedly did - gather “kompromat” - is no longer possible, as deepfakes are now so good anyone allegedly compromised can credibly claim the image/video is fake, and no one can prove otherwise
The only reason she is doing this is her own economically bonkers fiscal rules.
At the asylum the inmates have literally been asked to design their own straitjackets.
It’s not going to be popular with voters
And on that explosive note, I am off to drink Tannat wine and watch Netflix
Buenas noches from Uruguay
David Frum
@davidfrum
·
10h
My late father-in-law, then a reporter for the Toronto Telegram, stood about 20 feet away when Ruby shot Oswald. For decades afterward, he was the target of crazed insinuations and accusations from conspiracy crackpots.
https://x.com/davidfrum/status/1902356971354812422
Re-election on the other hand...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XPPFYlcmOY
Bannon: We're working on it
https://x.com/factpostnews/status/1902377254694613475
Federal judges are worried that online threats against those who oversee high-profile cases challenging Trump administration policies may lead to real-world violence."
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/19/us/trump-judges-threats.html
"We are Labour. We don't do austerity. So whatever THIS is, it can't be austerity."
Glen (Harborough) Council By-Election Result:
🌳 CON: 79.8% (+22.8)
🔶 LDM: 11.2% (-17.5)
🌹 LAB: 7.6% (New)
🔴 SDP: 1.4% (New)
No GRN (-14.2) as previous.
Conservative HOLD.
Abbots Langley & Bedmond (Three Rivers) Council By-Election Result:
🌳 CON: 40.0% (-0.5)
🔶 LDM: 33.6% (-0.6)
➡️ RFM: 13.0% (New)
🌍 GRN: 7.8% (-8.1)
🌹 LAB: 5.5% (-3.8)
Conservative GAIN from Liberal Democrat.
Changes w/ 2024.
The projections for disability spending are crazy, surely there is room to reduce vs that baseline.
Disappointed so far that there hasn't been much clear analysis I've seen of what these changes mean.
The South Koreans had a reputation in the industry of being incredibly hard workers; going into work very early and working exceptionally late. He debunked that, claiming that they turn up early, and stay very late, as everything they need is on site. But they have a very long lunch break, and other breaks during the day, the amount of time they actually work is about the same. (*)
IME those who spend very long hours at work are not much more productive than those who do not - especially for jobs which require mental concentration.
(*) I do wonder if this 'live at work' philosophy is a part of South Korea's demographic problem.
I know I run a refugee programme for dropped aitches when I have my Heggs for breakfast, but encouraging rampant breeding amongst apostrophes is pushing it a bit far.
And Reeves needs to turn this "highest taxes since the 19xx" BS on it's head; that's not the comparator. We need to recover some of the money the last Governments failed to raise, and allowed to go on the national debt.
Forecast back to normal next week.
Pretty wild spring weather.
The region appears to be extremely vulnerable to climate change:
https://enpc.hal.science/hal-04603104/file/Climate_change_impacts_on_Central_Asia_Trends_extr.pdf
On his visit to the town, Sir Keir will say Barrow is a "blueprint" for how defence spending can benefit a community.
He is due to announce that the King has agreed to grant Barrow the title of "Royal" in recognition of its contribution to national security.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c62z1w1y2neo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zf-T3XdD9Z8
Well worth a watch IMO. You may disagree with him, but I think most of us will at least learn something from it.
I mean, what could go wrong?
It still has not shipped.
In the meantime, Tesla has got to keep all those tens of thousands of deposits...
https://x.com/MKBHD/status/1902408598254125125
(Incidentally, many of the replies to that post are hysterical. e.g.: "Anyone who dislikes Tesla now is a blatant brainwashed by mainstream media radicalized cult member for the left.")
You have to imagine that somewhere in a dark room in Washington DC the heads of defence manufacturers and related parties are meeting about how Trump has single handedly destroyed export markets of their most expensive products in a couple of months whilst also announcing cuts to domestic spending on defence.
At what point do they become the plotters of film and tv and try and remove him?
Focus group tonight. Offered them a chance between partnering with the US on a key policy issue or partnering with France. They were so pro-France I thought they were about to sing "La Marseillaise"...
C1, outer London.
https://bsky.app/profile/gabrielmilland.bsky.social/post/3lkrajv2yok2u
I tell you who else took lots of deposits for cars that were never built.
Edit - although I wonder if they thought through the title given what a 'royal barrow' actually is.
We are still not buying their cars, especially Tesla's, or their weapons.
He freaks out about balance of trade. Well, guess what...
Even Hamas themselves have admitted these recent attacks have taken out some of their leaders, including their 'head of government'.
Hamas leaders are quite legitimate targets, are they not? Yet you refuse to accept that even when spelt out in black and white.
The big problem is they've been bought by rather too many people who drive like utter bellends, and that seems unlikely to change.
The calculation is a little different for SKS as he has much more to lose in the shape of Trident. If the US were to withdraw support that would be an ego shattering cataclysm for the English psyche on the level of Italia '90 hence his current policy of unabashed tromboning.