FPT - re posting this as it only just made the end of the thread and I feel strongly about it
Sad news to report.
I have been following a youtube channel over the last few months by a British pakistani lady who has been talking about some of the issues within her community - generally things like religion, tolerance etc. However she has now posted a tearful video after being threatened and taken down her channel. When people ask why more British pakistanis do not speak out this is probably a good explanation. All very sad and fits a pattern. Salman Rushdie living in the US (but coming to Hay this month). Children expected to apologise for damaging a religious book, people in hiding, antisemitism rife. Many other things.
Lots of people worry about the far right. But has anyone considered, if the far right are so dangerous why is no-one afraid to criticise them? Tomorrow we will honour the sacrifice of our parents' and grandparents' generation to preserve this country's freedom and heritage. Yet we are completely passive over a thuggery that has been allowed to run amok. I've tried to educate this site till I am blue in the face but it's clear now that many of you are fake liberals more concerned with your stock portfolio than the maintenance of free expression.
There is clearly an Islamist threat to free speech, just as there is clearly a right wing (and in the US a particularly nutjub Christian) one too.
Both need to be fought and resisted.
If you aren't trying to protect speech you don't agree with, then you clearly don't really believe in free speech. You just believe in your speech being free.
Where is the comparable threat to free speech from the right in the UK? There isn't one. As I pointed out, who is afraid of criticising the far right in the UK? Almost no-one. They don't believe there will be repercussions for doing so.
Tell that to Lizzie Dearden.
You think one individual being threatened and harassed amounts to a crisis of free speech? You are a joke.
She is far from the only one.
I'm sorry but the proof of the pudding is in the eating. It's perfectly clear day after day that most people are perfectly happy criticising the far right without fear for their safety. When it comes to Islam people are treading on their toes for obvious reasons. Of course in any society you cannot guarantee against the occasional nutter.
Clearly you don't listen to women on Social Media. They nearly all get abusive and threatening comments.
Harassing people online ocurrs right across the spectrum of political belief.
We all know that. The point about Islam is that the thugs are WINNING. People are afraid to speak out in a way they are not when it comes to almost anything else. How can an otherwise intelligent person like yourself be so blind to this? You are the definition of one of Lenin's useful idiots.
I don't support anyone beng harassed offline, but if you think it only an Islamist problem then you are clearly not open to serious discussion on the subject.
Even the briefest stroll through X or YouTube comments runs very quickly into a sewer of invective. If you can't see that then you are part of the problem.
There is a big difference between “a sewer of invective” and having your windows smashed for speaking out of line. If you can't see that then you are part of the problem.
Really?
Are you honestly telling me with a straight face that people have not been absolutely traumatized by online bullying?
I've just been commissioned to go and see if it is nice. Is it?
We have an office there. Luxembourg is nice and clean. The public transport is free, the taxis are probably the most expensive in the world. Get the tram from the airport. It's right by the terminal and takes you into the centre of town, which is about as interesting as a well kept French provincial town with a population of about 100,000. It's good for one night if your expectations are not too high. No-one who works in our Luxembourg office lives in Luxembourg. They commute in from France and Germany. That tells you all you need to know.
lol. You’re all being very mean about Luxembourg
I heard that the countryside is really rather nice
Interesting question: why is Luxembourg so rich? Its economy was heavy industry. It has no coastline. Imagine if by some accident of history Derby and its immediate hinterland was a separate country - it would seem surprising for it to become much richer than the surrounding areas. I know microstates work differently, but it's not immediately obvious why, or why a greater-Derby could or would grow faster than rUK.
My company is there for tax reasons. It may not be the only one.
Well quite, but why is this option not available for, say, the UK?
Demographics and history, I guess. I think by European standards Luxembourg has a very young population, for example, so does not have the social care and pension issues we have. Its defence budget is also not huge, etc etc.
And it’s expensive, congested, has relatively high crime, and the weather is no better than at home.
FPT - re posting this as it only just made the end of the thread and I feel strongly about it
Sad news to report.
I have been following a youtube channel over the last few months by a British pakistani lady who has been talking about some of the issues within her community - generally things like religion, tolerance etc. However she has now posted a tearful video after being threatened and taken down her channel. When people ask why more British pakistanis do not speak out this is probably a good explanation. All very sad and fits a pattern. Salman Rushdie living in the US (but coming to Hay this month). Children expected to apologise for damaging a religious book, people in hiding, antisemitism rife. Many other things.
Lots of people worry about the far right. But has anyone considered, if the far right are so dangerous why is no-one afraid to criticise them? Tomorrow we will honour the sacrifice of our parents' and grandparents' generation to preserve this country's freedom and heritage. Yet we are completely passive over a thuggery that has been allowed to run amok. I've tried to educate this site till I am blue in the face but it's clear now that many of you are fake liberals more concerned with your stock portfolio than the maintenance of free expression.
There is clearly an Islamist threat to free speech, just as there is clearly a right wing (and in the US a particularly nutjub Christian) one too.
Both need to be fought and resisted.
If you aren't trying to protect speech you don't agree with, then you clearly don't really believe in free speech. You just believe in your speech being free.
Where is the comparable threat to free speech from the right in the UK? There isn't one. As I pointed out, who is afraid of criticising the far right in the UK? Almost no-one. They don't believe there will be repercussions for doing so.
Tell that to Lizzie Dearden.
You think one individual being threatened and harassed amounts to a crisis of free speech? You are a joke.
She is far from the only one.
I'm sorry but the proof of the pudding is in the eating. It's perfectly clear day after day that most people are perfectly happy criticising the far right without fear for their safety. When it comes to Islam people are treading on their toes for obvious reasons. Of course in any society you cannot guarantee against the occasional nutter.
But there's a whole political movement (the alt right) whose core message is that Muslims have no place here.
The advantage of boring rich places is that - sometimes - they will lavish luxury and attention on a journalistic visitor, to make up for the boringness, because they can afford it
I've just been commissioned to go and see if it is nice. Is it?
We have an office there. Luxembourg is nice and clean. The public transport is free, the taxis are probably the most expensive in the world. Get the tram from the airport. It's right by the terminal and takes you into the centre of town, which is about as interesting as a well kept French provincial town with a population of about 100,000. It's good for one night if your expectations are not too high. No-one who works in our Luxembourg office lives in Luxembourg. They commute in from France and Germany. That tells you all you need to know.
lol. You’re all being very mean about Luxembourg
I heard that the countryside is really rather nice
Interesting question: why is Luxembourg so rich? Its economy was heavy industry. It has no coastline. Imagine if by some accident of history Derby and its immediate hinterland was a separate country - it would seem surprising for it to become much richer than the surrounding areas. I know microstates work differently, but it's not immediately obvious why, or why a greater-Derby could or would grow faster than rUK.
My company is there for tax reasons. It may not be the only one.
Well quite, but why is this option not available for, say, the UK?
The richest places on earth are all city states - of which I'd count Luxembourg as one.
Smaller states have the option to adopt essentially parasitic economic strategies that aren't available to larger economies.
Or perhaps they cannot afford to attempt to engineer resiliance, which means greater volatility, but higher long term returns.
I've just been commissioned to go and see if it is nice. Is it?
We have an office there. Luxembourg is nice and clean. The public transport is free, the taxis are probably the most expensive in the world. Get the tram from the airport. It's right by the terminal and takes you into the centre of town, which is about as interesting as a well kept French provincial town with a population of about 100,000. It's good for one night if your expectations are not too high. No-one who works in our Luxembourg office lives in Luxembourg. They commute in from France and Germany. That tells you all you need to know.
lol. You’re all being very mean about Luxembourg
I heard that the countryside is really rather nice
Interesting question: why is Luxembourg so rich? Its economy was heavy industry. It has no coastline. Imagine if by some accident of history Derby and its immediate hinterland was a separate country - it would seem surprising for it to become much richer than the surrounding areas. I know microstates work differently, but it's not immediately obvious why, or why a greater-Derby could or would grow faster than rUK.
Countries with financial services tend to specialise as they need a critical mass of expertise. Luxembourg's speciality is investment fund management. The financial institution I was working for at the time moved a lot of its fund management from the UK to Luxembourg on Brexit.
I've never been there, but if @Leon is allowed to stray a little from his brief, strong recommendation for Trier, which is a short train hop away with lots of history, interesting wine bars, and really good Moselle wine, and attractive scenery.
I've just been commissioned to go and see if it is nice. Is it?
We have an office there. Luxembourg is nice and clean. The public transport is free, the taxis are probably the most expensive in the world. Get the tram from the airport. It's right by the terminal and takes you into the centre of town, which is about as interesting as a well kept French provincial town with a population of about 100,000. It's good for one night if your expectations are not too high. No-one who works in our Luxembourg office lives in Luxembourg. They commute in from France and Germany. That tells you all you need to know.
lol. You’re all being very mean about Luxembourg
I heard that the countryside is really rather nice
Interesting question: why is Luxembourg so rich? Its economy was heavy industry. It has no coastline. Imagine if by some accident of history Derby and its immediate hinterland was a separate country - it would seem surprising for it to become much richer than the surrounding areas. I know microstates work differently, but it's not immediately obvious why, or why a greater-Derby could or would grow faster than rUK.
My company is there for tax reasons. It may not be the only one.
Well quite, but why is this option not available for, say, the UK?
The richest places on earth are all city states - of which I'd count Luxembourg as one.
Smaller states have the option to adopt essentially parasitic economic strategies that aren't available to larger economies.
Its worked well for Ireland recently too. London could get more into money laundering if we had independence from rUK too.
I've just been commissioned to go and see if it is nice. Is it?
We have an office there. Luxembourg is nice and clean. The public transport is free, the taxis are probably the most expensive in the world. Get the tram from the airport. It's right by the terminal and takes you into the centre of town, which is about as interesting as a well kept French provincial town with a population of about 100,000. It's good for one night if your expectations are not too high. No-one who works in our Luxembourg office lives in Luxembourg. They commute in from France and Germany. That tells you all you need to know.
lol. You’re all being very mean about Luxembourg
I heard that the countryside is really rather nice
Interesting question: why is Luxembourg so rich? Its economy was heavy industry. It has no coastline. Imagine if by some accident of history Derby and its immediate hinterland was a separate country - it would seem surprising for it to become much richer than the surrounding areas. I know microstates work differently, but it's not immediately obvious why, or why a greater-Derby could or would grow faster than rUK.
My company is there for tax reasons. It may not be the only one.
Well quite, but why is this option not available for, say, the UK?
Demographics and history, I guess. I think by European standards Luxembourg has a very young population, for example, so does not have the social care and pension issues we have. Its defence budget is also not huge, etc etc.
And it’s expensive, congested, has relatively high crime, and the weather is no better than at home.
Relatively high crime?! Luxembourg? Ok that does surprise me
I imagined it would be like Switzerland. Dull but very safe (tho these days even Switzerland has issues, esp Geneva etc)
I've just been commissioned to go and see if it is nice. Is it?
We have an office there. Luxembourg is nice and clean. The public transport is free, the taxis are probably the most expensive in the world. Get the tram from the airport. It's right by the terminal and takes you into the centre of town, which is about as interesting as a well kept French provincial town with a population of about 100,000. It's good for one night if your expectations are not too high. No-one who works in our Luxembourg office lives in Luxembourg. They commute in from France and Germany. That tells you all you need to know.
lol. You’re all being very mean about Luxembourg
I heard that the countryside is really rather nice
Interesting question: why is Luxembourg so rich? Its economy was heavy industry. It has no coastline. Imagine if by some accident of history Derby and its immediate hinterland was a separate country - it would seem surprising for it to become much richer than the surrounding areas. I know microstates work differently, but it's not immediately obvious why, or why a greater-Derby could or would grow faster than rUK.
Countries with financial services tend to specialise as they need a critical mass of expertise. Luxembourg's speciality is investment fund management. The financial institution I was working for at the time moved a lot of its fund management from the UK to Luxembourg on Brexit.
I've never been there, but if @Leon is allowed to stray a little from his brief, strong recommendation for Trier, which is a short train hop away with lots of history, interesting wine bars, and really good Moselle wine, and attractive scenery.
I've just been commissioned to go and see if it is nice. Is it?
We have an office there. Luxembourg is nice and clean. The public transport is free, the taxis are probably the most expensive in the world. Get the tram from the airport. It's right by the terminal and takes you into the centre of town, which is about as interesting as a well kept French provincial town with a population of about 100,000. It's good for one night if your expectations are not too high. No-one who works in our Luxembourg office lives in Luxembourg. They commute in from France and Germany. That tells you all you need to know.
lol. You’re all being very mean about Luxembourg
I heard that the countryside is really rather nice
Interesting question: why is Luxembourg so rich? Its economy was heavy industry. It has no coastline. Imagine if by some accident of history Derby and its immediate hinterland was a separate country - it would seem surprising for it to become much richer than the surrounding areas. I know microstates work differently, but it's not immediately obvious why, or why a greater-Derby could or would grow faster than rUK.
My company is there for tax reasons. It may not be the only one.
Well quite, but why is this option not available for, say, the UK?
The richest places on earth are all city states - of which I'd count Luxembourg as one.
Smaller states have the option to adopt essentially parasitic economic strategies that aren't available to larger economies.
I've just been commissioned to go and see if it is nice. Is it?
We have an office there. Luxembourg is nice and clean. The public transport is free, the taxis are probably the most expensive in the world. Get the tram from the airport. It's right by the terminal and takes you into the centre of town, which is about as interesting as a well kept French provincial town with a population of about 100,000. It's good for one night if your expectations are not too high. No-one who works in our Luxembourg office lives in Luxembourg. They commute in from France and Germany. That tells you all you need to know.
lol. You’re all being very mean about Luxembourg
I heard that the countryside is really rather nice
Interesting question: why is Luxembourg so rich? Its economy was heavy industry. It has no coastline. Imagine if by some accident of history Derby and its immediate hinterland was a separate country - it would seem surprising for it to become much richer than the surrounding areas. I know microstates work differently, but it's not immediately obvious why, or why a greater-Derby could or would grow faster than rUK.
My company is there for tax reasons. It may not be the only one.
Well quite, but why is this option not available for, say, the UK?
The richest places on earth are all city states - of which I'd count Luxembourg as one.
Smaller states have the option to adopt essentially parasitic economic strategies that aren't available to larger economies.
Or they don’t have the size to compete against other industries in other countries who can do things on a larger and more efficient scale - whether agriculture or industry. So they have to find a way of growing their economy and making their population wealthy - surely every nation wants to improve its citizens lot rather than just roll over and give up?
It really does look as thought the Conservatives are going to be replaced by Reform and we're going to have Prime Minister Farage in 2029 doesn't it? 😮
I've just been commissioned to go and see if it is nice. Is it?
We have an office there. Luxembourg is nice and clean. The public transport is free, the taxis are probably the most expensive in the world. Get the tram from the airport. It's right by the terminal and takes you into the centre of town, which is about as interesting as a well kept French provincial town with a population of about 100,000. It's good for one night if your expectations are not too high. No-one who works in our Luxembourg office lives in Luxembourg. They commute in from France and Germany. That tells you all you need to know.
lol. You’re all being very mean about Luxembourg
I heard that the countryside is really rather nice
Interesting question: why is Luxembourg so rich? Its economy was heavy industry. It has no coastline. Imagine if by some accident of history Derby and its immediate hinterland was a separate country - it would seem surprising for it to become much richer than the surrounding areas. I know microstates work differently, but it's not immediately obvious why, or why a greater-Derby could or would grow faster than rUK.
My company is there for tax reasons. It may not be the only one.
Well quite, but why is this option not available for, say, the UK?
The richest places on earth are all city states - of which I'd count Luxembourg as one.
Smaller states have the option to adopt essentially parasitic economic strategies that aren't available to larger economies.
Well this feels like it - but why are these srategies not available for larger economies? Is it that there are only so many companies which can be weaned away?
FPT - re posting this as it only just made the end of the thread and I feel strongly about it
Sad news to report.
I have been following a youtube channel over the last few months by a British pakistani lady who has been talking about some of the issues within her community - generally things like religion, tolerance etc. However she has now posted a tearful video after being threatened and taken down her channel. When people ask why more British pakistanis do not speak out this is probably a good explanation. All very sad and fits a pattern. Salman Rushdie living in the US (but coming to Hay this month). Children expected to apologise for damaging a religious book, people in hiding, antisemitism rife. Many other things.
Lots of people worry about the far right. But has anyone considered, if the far right are so dangerous why is no-one afraid to criticise them? Tomorrow we will honour the sacrifice of our parents' and grandparents' generation to preserve this country's freedom and heritage. Yet we are completely passive over a thuggery that has been allowed to run amok. I've tried to educate this site till I am blue in the face but it's clear now that many of you are fake liberals more concerned with your stock portfolio than the maintenance of free expression.
There is clearly an Islamist threat to free speech, just as there is clearly a right wing (and in the US a particularly nutjub Christian) one too.
Both need to be fought and resisted.
If you aren't trying to protect speech you don't agree with, then you clearly don't really believe in free speech. You just believe in your speech being free.
Where is the comparable threat to free speech from the right in the UK? There isn't one. As I pointed out, who is afraid of criticising the far right in the UK? Almost no-one. They don't believe there will be repercussions for doing so.
Tell that to Lizzie Dearden.
You think one individual being threatened and harassed amounts to a crisis of free speech? You are a joke.
She is far from the only one.
I'm sorry but the proof of the pudding is in the eating. It's perfectly clear day after day that most people are perfectly happy criticising the far right without fear for their safety. When it comes to Islam people are treading on their toes for obvious reasons. Of course in any society you cannot guarantee against the occasional nutter.
But there's a whole political movement (the alt right) whose core message is that Muslims have no place here.
So far as I'm aware alt right is a term largely used in the US. I've not seen it much in the UK. Are there many people who have been frightened into silence by them?
One brave journalist who has certainly suffered for his cause is Andy Ngo, who has focused on antifa in the US.
New - Indian officials say Badenoch talking "rubbish" over "two tier tax" attack on UK/India FTA. Say she agreed principle of exempting Indian workers from NICs when she was trade sec. Team Badenoch: "The Indians put it on the table and Kemi said No."
I've just been commissioned to go and see if it is nice. Is it?
We have an office there. Luxembourg is nice and clean. The public transport is free, the taxis are probably the most expensive in the world. Get the tram from the airport. It's right by the terminal and takes you into the centre of town, which is about as interesting as a well kept French provincial town with a population of about 100,000. It's good for one night if your expectations are not too high. No-one who works in our Luxembourg office lives in Luxembourg. They commute in from France and Germany. That tells you all you need to know.
lol. You’re all being very mean about Luxembourg
I heard that the countryside is really rather nice
Interesting question: why is Luxembourg so rich? Its economy was heavy industry. It has no coastline. Imagine if by some accident of history Derby and its immediate hinterland was a separate country - it would seem surprising for it to become much richer than the surrounding areas. I know microstates work differently, but it's not immediately obvious why, or why a greater-Derby could or would grow faster than rUK.
My company is there for tax reasons. It may not be the only one.
Well quite, but why is this option not available for, say, the UK?
Demographics and history, I guess. I think by European standards Luxembourg has a very young population, for example, so does not have the social care and pension issues we have. Its defence budget is also not huge, etc etc.
And it’s expensive, congested, has relatively high crime, and the weather is no better than at home.
Expensive and congested with dodgy weather, for sure. High crime? I never felt that at all.
Could be a genius move, if by doing so they can establish it as required eating in the minds of the public. I would have gone with something shorter though like "Chippy sauce".
That's a totally different condiment here in the east central Scotland. Are you looking to break up Britain?
One thing I learned recently was that it was a British aim for the Russians to be pushed out of Crimea after the Crimean war returning it to Ottoman rule.
FPT - re posting this as it only just made the end of the thread and I feel strongly about it
Sad news to report.
I have been following a youtube channel over the last few months by a British pakistani lady who has been talking about some of the issues within her community - generally things like religion, tolerance etc. However she has now posted a tearful video after being threatened and taken down her channel. When people ask why more British pakistanis do not speak out this is probably a good explanation. All very sad and fits a pattern. Salman Rushdie living in the US (but coming to Hay this month). Children expected to apologise for damaging a religious book, people in hiding, antisemitism rife. Many other things.
Lots of people worry about the far right. But has anyone considered, if the far right are so dangerous why is no-one afraid to criticise them? Tomorrow we will honour the sacrifice of our parents' and grandparents' generation to preserve this country's freedom and heritage. Yet we are completely passive over a thuggery that has been allowed to run amok. I've tried to educate this site till I am blue in the face but it's clear now that many of you are fake liberals more concerned with your stock portfolio than the maintenance of free expression.
There is clearly an Islamist threat to free speech, just as there is clearly a right wing (and in the US a particularly nutjub Christian) one too.
Both need to be fought and resisted.
If you aren't trying to protect speech you don't agree with, then you clearly don't really believe in free speech. You just believe in your speech being free.
Where is the comparable threat to free speech from the right in the UK? There isn't one. As I pointed out, who is afraid of criticising the far right in the UK? Almost no-one. They don't believe there will be repercussions for doing so.
Tell that to Lizzie Dearden.
You think one individual being threatened and harassed amounts to a crisis of free speech? You are a joke.
She is far from the only one.
I'm sorry but the proof of the pudding is in the eating. It's perfectly clear day after day that most people are perfectly happy criticising the far right without fear for their safety. When it comes to Islam people are treading on their toes for obvious reasons. Of course in any society you cannot guarantee against the occasional nutter.
Clearly you don't listen to women on Social Media. They nearly all get abusive and threatening comments.
Harassing people online ocurrs right across the spectrum of political belief.
We all know that. The point about Islam is that the thugs are WINNING. People are afraid to speak out in a way they are not when it comes to almost anything else. How can an otherwise intelligent person like yourself be so blind to this? You are the definition of one of Lenin's useful idiots.
Do you have any references to serious research work on this ie Islamists winning?
I've always treated the Ahmadis as canaries in the coal mine for this, as a non-orthodox Muslim sect. Here's a recent MA done on discrimination against them, which suggests that it does exist, but they also continue to be herein the UK.
One thing I learned recently was that it was a British aim for the Russians to be pushed out of Crimea after the Crimean war returning it to Ottoman rule.
All part of the Great Game. Britain feared that Russia was slowly sneaking up on India as it empired its way through the Black Sea, the Caucasus, and Central Asia. And indeed the Russians did want to do that
Tho it is unlikely they could ever have succeeded given the whipping they got as soon as they met real resistance - eg the Japanese in 1905
FPT - re posting this as it only just made the end of the thread and I feel strongly about it
Sad news to report.
I have been following a youtube channel over the last few months by a British pakistani lady who has been talking about some of the issues within her community - generally things like religion, tolerance etc. However she has now posted a tearful video after being threatened and taken down her channel. When people ask why more British pakistanis do not speak out this is probably a good explanation. All very sad and fits a pattern. Salman Rushdie living in the US (but coming to Hay this month). Children expected to apologise for damaging a religious book, people in hiding, antisemitism rife. Many other things.
Lots of people worry about the far right. But has anyone considered, if the far right are so dangerous why is no-one afraid to criticise them? Tomorrow we will honour the sacrifice of our parents' and grandparents' generation to preserve this country's freedom and heritage. Yet we are completely passive over a thuggery that has been allowed to run amok. I've tried to educate this site till I am blue in the face but it's clear now that many of you are fake liberals more concerned with your stock portfolio than the maintenance of free expression.
There is clearly an Islamist threat to free speech, just as there is clearly a right wing (and in the US a particularly nutjub Christian) one too.
Both need to be fought and resisted.
If you aren't trying to protect speech you don't agree with, then you clearly don't really believe in free speech. You just believe in your speech being free.
Where is the comparable threat to free speech from the right in the UK? There isn't one. As I pointed out, who is afraid of criticising the far right in the UK? Almost no-one. They don't believe there will be repercussions for doing so.
Tell that to Lizzie Dearden.
You think one individual being threatened and harassed amounts to a crisis of free speech? You are a joke.
She is far from the only one.
I'm sorry but the proof of the pudding is in the eating. It's perfectly clear day after day that most people are perfectly happy criticising the far right without fear for their safety. When it comes to Islam people are treading on their toes for obvious reasons. Of course in any society you cannot guarantee against the occasional nutter.
Clearly you don't listen to women on Social Media. They nearly all get abusive and threatening comments.
Harassing people online ocurrs right across the spectrum of political belief.
We all know that. The point about Islam is that the thugs are WINNING. People are afraid to speak out in a way they are not when it comes to almost anything else. How can an otherwise intelligent person like yourself be so blind to this? You are the definition of one of Lenin's useful idiots.
I don't support anyone beng harassed offline, but if you think it only an Islamist problem then you are clearly not open to serious discussion on the subject.
Even the briefest stroll through X or YouTube comments runs very quickly into a sewer of invective. If you can't see that then you are part of the problem.
There is a big difference between “a sewer of invective” and having your windows smashed for speaking out of line. If you can't see that then you are part of the problem.
Really?
Are you honestly telling me with a straight face that people have not been absolutely traumatized by online bullying?
Really?
Nobody died from online bullying. Well not many. Ok quite a few.
FPT - re posting this as it only just made the end of the thread and I feel strongly about it
Sad news to report.
I have been following a youtube channel over the last few months by a British pakistani lady who has been talking about some of the issues within her community - generally things like religion, tolerance etc. However she has now posted a tearful video after being threatened and taken down her channel. When people ask why more British pakistanis do not speak out this is probably a good explanation. All very sad and fits a pattern. Salman Rushdie living in the US (but coming to Hay this month). Children expected to apologise for damaging a religious book, people in hiding, antisemitism rife. Many other things.
Lots of people worry about the far right. But has anyone considered, if the far right are so dangerous why is no-one afraid to criticise them? Tomorrow we will honour the sacrifice of our parents' and grandparents' generation to preserve this country's freedom and heritage. Yet we are completely passive over a thuggery that has been allowed to run amok. I've tried to educate this site till I am blue in the face but it's clear now that many of you are fake liberals more concerned with your stock portfolio than the maintenance of free expression.
There is clearly an Islamist threat to free speech, just as there is clearly a right wing (and in the US a particularly nutjub Christian) one too.
Both need to be fought and resisted.
If you aren't trying to protect speech you don't agree with, then you clearly don't really believe in free speech. You just believe in your speech being free.
Where is the comparable threat to free speech from the right in the UK? There isn't one. As I pointed out, who is afraid of criticising the far right in the UK? Almost no-one. They don't believe there will be repercussions for doing so.
Tell that to Lizzie Dearden.
You think one individual being threatened and harassed amounts to a crisis of free speech? You are a joke.
She is far from the only one.
I'm sorry but the proof of the pudding is in the eating. It's perfectly clear day after day that most people are perfectly happy criticising the far right without fear for their safety. When it comes to Islam people are treading on their toes for obvious reasons. Of course in any society you cannot guarantee against the occasional nutter.
Clearly you don't listen to women on Social Media. They nearly all get abusive and threatening comments.
Harassing people online ocurrs right across the spectrum of political belief.
We all know that. The point about Islam is that the thugs are WINNING. People are afraid to speak out in a way they are not when it comes to almost anything else. How can an otherwise intelligent person like yourself be so blind to this? You are the definition of one of Lenin's useful idiots.
Has anyone done a study of the relationship between ad-hominem comments and the use of CAPS LOCK. Seems to be quite a strong correlation but I've never tested it.
Yes, the person that uses CAPS LOCK first wins 88% of arguments. However than can be INCREASED by using CAPS LOCK both first and most often to a BIGLY 272% of arguments!!!!
Maybe some people just have a physical problem turning caps lock off on their keyboard.
I've just been commissioned to go and see if it is nice. Is it?
We have an office there. Luxembourg is nice and clean. The public transport is free, the taxis are probably the most expensive in the world. Get the tram from the airport. It's right by the terminal and takes you into the centre of town, which is about as interesting as a well kept French provincial town with a population of about 100,000. It's good for one night if your expectations are not too high. No-one who works in our Luxembourg office lives in Luxembourg. They commute in from France and Germany. That tells you all you need to know.
lol. You’re all being very mean about Luxembourg
I heard that the countryside is really rather nice
Interesting question: why is Luxembourg so rich? Its economy was heavy industry. It has no coastline. Imagine if by some accident of history Derby and its immediate hinterland was a separate country - it would seem surprising for it to become much richer than the surrounding areas. I know microstates work differently, but it's not immediately obvious why, or why a greater-Derby could or would grow faster than rUK.
Countries with financial services tend to specialise as they need a critical mass of expertise. Luxembourg's speciality is investment fund management. The financial institution I was working for at the time moved a lot of its fund management from the UK to Luxembourg on Brexit.
I've never been there, but if @Leon is allowed to stray a little from his brief, strong recommendation for Trier, which is a short train hop away with lots of history, interesting wine bars, and really good Moselle wine, and attractive scenery.
That does interest. Never been to trier
And you can visit the birthplace of the great man. My partner bought me this after her visit.
FPT - re posting this as it only just made the end of the thread and I feel strongly about it
Sad news to report.
I have been following a youtube channel over the last few months by a British pakistani lady who has been talking about some of the issues within her community - generally things like religion, tolerance etc. However she has now posted a tearful video after being threatened and taken down her channel. When people ask why more British pakistanis do not speak out this is probably a good explanation. All very sad and fits a pattern. Salman Rushdie living in the US (but coming to Hay this month). Children expected to apologise for damaging a religious book, people in hiding, antisemitism rife. Many other things.
Lots of people worry about the far right. But has anyone considered, if the far right are so dangerous why is no-one afraid to criticise them? Tomorrow we will honour the sacrifice of our parents' and grandparents' generation to preserve this country's freedom and heritage. Yet we are completely passive over a thuggery that has been allowed to run amok. I've tried to educate this site till I am blue in the face but it's clear now that many of you are fake liberals more concerned with your stock portfolio than the maintenance of free expression.
Never heard of this channel before but I think it might be this one.
The advantage of boring rich places is that - sometimes - they will lavish luxury and attention on a journalistic visitor, to make up for the boringness, because they can afford it
I would have thought LuxAir, the state airline of the Grand Duchy, could afford a few jet airliners. All I see are propellor Dash-8 aircraft whenever they overfly Ilford North on their way out of LCY.
"In May 2022, congestion on Luxembourg's roads was — depending on location — largely equivalent to or higher than levels in May 2019, before the free public transit policy was introduced. The reason for this, studies have shown, is that making transit free doesn't in itself tempt people away from their cars."
FPT - re posting this as it only just made the end of the thread and I feel strongly about it
Sad news to report.
I have been following a youtube channel over the last few months by a British pakistani lady who has been talking about some of the issues within her community - generally things like religion, tolerance etc. However she has now posted a tearful video after being threatened and taken down her channel. When people ask why more British pakistanis do not speak out this is probably a good explanation. All very sad and fits a pattern. Salman Rushdie living in the US (but coming to Hay this month). Children expected to apologise for damaging a religious book, people in hiding, antisemitism rife. Many other things.
Lots of people worry about the far right. But has anyone considered, if the far right are so dangerous why is no-one afraid to criticise them? Tomorrow we will honour the sacrifice of our parents' and grandparents' generation to preserve this country's freedom and heritage. Yet we are completely passive over a thuggery that has been allowed to run amok. I've tried to educate this site till I am blue in the face but it's clear now that many of you are fake liberals more concerned with your stock portfolio than the maintenance of free expression.
There is clearly an Islamist threat to free speech, just as there is clearly a right wing (and in the US a particularly nutjub Christian) one too.
Both need to be fought and resisted.
If you aren't trying to protect speech you don't agree with, then you clearly don't really believe in free speech. You just believe in your speech being free.
Where is the comparable threat to free speech from the right in the UK? There isn't one. As I pointed out, who is afraid of criticising the far right in the UK? Almost no-one. They don't believe there will be repercussions for doing so.
Tell that to Lizzie Dearden.
You think one individual being threatened and harassed amounts to a crisis of free speech? You are a joke.
She is far from the only one.
I'm sorry but the proof of the pudding is in the eating. It's perfectly clear day after day that most people are perfectly happy criticising the far right without fear for their safety. When it comes to Islam people are treading on their toes for obvious reasons. Of course in any society you cannot guarantee against the occasional nutter.
But there's a whole political movement (the alt right) whose core message is that Muslims have no place here.
So far as I'm aware alt right is a term largely used in the US. I've not seen it much in the UK. Are there many people who have been frightened into silence by them?
One brave journalist who has certainly suffered for his cause is Andy Ngo, who has focused on antifa in the US.
I know personally of at least one UK journalist who was put on a UK far-right hitlist.
Fortunately for him (and the rest of us) it was a list of people to target when they took power in their imagined future far-right revolution which never happened. Still means that there’s a bunch of nutters out there with his name down as an enemy of the state for when the next one of them has a psychotic break & decides to go out in a blaze of glory. I guess you just have to put that possibility out of your mind & carry on with life regardless.
"In May 2022, congestion on Luxembourg's roads was — depending on location — largely equivalent to or higher than levels in May 2019, before the free public transit policy was introduced. The reason for this, studies have shown, is that making transit free doesn't in itself tempt people away from their cars."
A classic example of the “cars offer the illusion of convenience & the reality of dealing with the fact that everyone else has a car and wants to use it just like you do” genre.
I love the guardian travel pages. Their readers are so sniffy and puritan and woke they go mad about decadence and carbon footprints and oligarchs if the poor writer goes far beyond newent. So you get outstanding gems like this
On topic, this is what I thought might happen. People are starting to see Reform leading the Tories, and a lot of the core vote might now be jumping across.
Yes, there’ll be hold outs and never-Farage Tories, but that won’t apply to all of the remaining Tory vote.
FPT - re posting this as it only just made the end of the thread and I feel strongly about it
Sad news to report.
I have been following a youtube channel over the last few months by a British pakistani lady who has been talking about some of the issues within her community - generally things like religion, tolerance etc. However she has now posted a tearful video after being threatened and taken down her channel. When people ask why more British pakistanis do not speak out this is probably a good explanation. All very sad and fits a pattern. Salman Rushdie living in the US (but coming to Hay this month). Children expected to apologise for damaging a religious book, people in hiding, antisemitism rife. Many other things.
Lots of people worry about the far right. But has anyone considered, if the far right are so dangerous why is no-one afraid to criticise them? Tomorrow we will honour the sacrifice of our parents' and grandparents' generation to preserve this country's freedom and heritage. Yet we are completely passive over a thuggery that has been allowed to run amok. I've tried to educate this site till I am blue in the face but it's clear now that many of you are fake liberals more concerned with your stock portfolio than the maintenance of free expression.
There is clearly an Islamist threat to free speech, just as there is clearly a right wing (and in the US a particularly nutjub Christian) one too.
Both need to be fought and resisted.
If you aren't trying to protect speech you don't agree with, then you clearly don't really believe in free speech. You just believe in your speech being free.
Where is the comparable threat to free speech from the right in the UK? There isn't one. As I pointed out, who is afraid of criticising the far right in the UK? Almost no-one. They don't believe there will be repercussions for doing so.
Tell that to Lizzie Dearden.
You think one individual being threatened and harassed amounts to a crisis of free speech? You are a joke.
She is far from the only one.
I'm sorry but the proof of the pudding is in the eating. It's perfectly clear day after day that most people are perfectly happy criticising the far right without fear for their safety. When it comes to Islam people are treading on their toes for obvious reasons. Of course in any society you cannot guarantee against the occasional nutter.
But there's a whole political movement (the alt right) whose core message is that Muslims have no place here.
So far as I'm aware alt right is a term largely used in the US. I've not seen it much in the UK. Are there many people who have been frightened into silence by them?
One brave journalist who has certainly suffered for his cause is Andy Ngo, who has focused on antifa in the US.
I can tell you one place where 100s of journalists have been silenced by a rightwing government, largely as a result of them being killed.
I've just been commissioned to go and see if it is nice. Is it?
We have an office there. Luxembourg is nice and clean. The public transport is free, the taxis are probably the most expensive in the world. Get the tram from the airport. It's right by the terminal and takes you into the centre of town, which is about as interesting as a well kept French provincial town with a population of about 100,000. It's good for one night if your expectations are not too high. No-one who works in our Luxembourg office lives in Luxembourg. They commute in from France and Germany. That tells you all you need to know.
lol. You’re all being very mean about Luxembourg
I heard that the countryside is really rather nice
Interesting question: why is Luxembourg so rich? Its economy was heavy industry. It has no coastline. Imagine if by some accident of history Derby and its immediate hinterland was a separate country - it would seem surprising for it to become much richer than the surrounding areas. I know microstates work differently, but it's not immediately obvious why, or why a greater-Derby could or would grow faster than rUK.
Countries with financial services tend to specialise as they need a critical mass of expertise. Luxembourg's speciality is investment fund management. The financial institution I was working for at the time moved a lot of its fund management from the UK to Luxembourg on Brexit.
I've never been there, but if @Leon is allowed to stray a little from his brief, strong recommendation for Trier, which is a short train hop away with lots of history, interesting wine bars, and really good Moselle wine, and attractive scenery.
Luxembourg doesn't have anything to prove now. It will be on your list if you are looking to dry up a Europe based investment fund. But to @Cookie 's point how did it get the fund management gig in the first place? It looks it dates back to the early eighties when the EU was standardising the provision and regulation of fund management when previously this had been a national competence. Luxembourg got in first with a favourable regulatory regime, so companies could service any EU country from there with a standardised operation.
FPT - re posting this as it only just made the end of the thread and I feel strongly about it
Sad news to report.
I have been following a youtube channel over the last few months by a British pakistani lady who has been talking about some of the issues within her community - generally things like religion, tolerance etc. However she has now posted a tearful video after being threatened and taken down her channel. When people ask why more British pakistanis do not speak out this is probably a good explanation. All very sad and fits a pattern. Salman Rushdie living in the US (but coming to Hay this month). Children expected to apologise for damaging a religious book, people in hiding, antisemitism rife. Many other things.
Lots of people worry about the far right. But has anyone considered, if the far right are so dangerous why is no-one afraid to criticise them? Tomorrow we will honour the sacrifice of our parents' and grandparents' generation to preserve this country's freedom and heritage. Yet we are completely passive over a thuggery that has been allowed to run amok. I've tried to educate this site till I am blue in the face but it's clear now that many of you are fake liberals more concerned with your stock portfolio than the maintenance of free expression.
There is clearly an Islamist threat to free speech, just as there is clearly a right wing (and in the US a particularly nutjub Christian) one too.
Both need to be fought and resisted.
If you aren't trying to protect speech you don't agree with, then you clearly don't really believe in free speech. You just believe in your speech being free.
Where is the comparable threat to free speech from the right in the UK? There isn't one. As I pointed out, who is afraid of criticising the far right in the UK? Almost no-one. They don't believe there will be repercussions for doing so.
Tell that to Lizzie Dearden.
You think one individual being threatened and harassed amounts to a crisis of free speech? You are a joke.
She is far from the only one.
I'm sorry but the proof of the pudding is in the eating. It's perfectly clear day after day that most people are perfectly happy criticising the far right without fear for their safety. When it comes to Islam people are treading on their toes for obvious reasons. Of course in any society you cannot guarantee against the occasional nutter.
But there's a whole political movement (the alt right) whose core message is that Muslims have no place here.
So far as I'm aware alt right is a term largely used in the US. I've not seen it much in the UK. Are there many people who have been frightened into silence by them?
One brave journalist who has certainly suffered for his cause is Andy Ngo, who has focused on antifa in the US.
I can tell you one place where 100s of journalists have been silenced by a rightwing government, largely as a result of them being killed.
FPT - re posting this as it only just made the end of the thread and I feel strongly about it
Sad news to report.
I have been following a youtube channel over the last few months by a British pakistani lady who has been talking about some of the issues within her community - generally things like religion, tolerance etc. However she has now posted a tearful video after being threatened and taken down her channel. When people ask why more British pakistanis do not speak out this is probably a good explanation. All very sad and fits a pattern. Salman Rushdie living in the US (but coming to Hay this month). Children expected to apologise for damaging a religious book, people in hiding, antisemitism rife. Many other things.
Lots of people worry about the far right. But has anyone considered, if the far right are so dangerous why is no-one afraid to criticise them? Tomorrow we will honour the sacrifice of our parents' and grandparents' generation to preserve this country's freedom and heritage. Yet we are completely passive over a thuggery that has been allowed to run amok. I've tried to educate this site till I am blue in the face but it's clear now that many of you are fake liberals more concerned with your stock portfolio than the maintenance of free expression.
There is clearly an Islamist threat to free speech, just as there is clearly a right wing (and in the US a particularly nutjub Christian) one too.
Both need to be fought and resisted.
If you aren't trying to protect speech you don't agree with, then you clearly don't really believe in free speech. You just believe in your speech being free.
Where is the comparable threat to free speech from the right in the UK? There isn't one. As I pointed out, who is afraid of criticising the far right in the UK? Almost no-one. They don't believe there will be repercussions for doing so.
Tell that to Lizzie Dearden.
You think one individual being threatened and harassed amounts to a crisis of free speech? You are a joke.
She is far from the only one.
I'm sorry but the proof of the pudding is in the eating. It's perfectly clear day after day that most people are perfectly happy criticising the far right without fear for their safety. When it comes to Islam people are treading on their toes for obvious reasons. Of course in any society you cannot guarantee against the occasional nutter.
But there's a whole political movement (the alt right) whose core message is that Muslims have no place here.
So far as I'm aware alt right is a term largely used in the US. I've not seen it much in the UK. Are there many people who have been frightened into silence by them?
One brave journalist who has certainly suffered for his cause is Andy Ngo, who has focused on antifa in the US.
I can tell you one place where 100s of journalists have been silenced by a rightwing government, largely as a result of them being killed.
Not the UK then?
Journalists are vulnerable under any authoritarian government. Right/left/centre.
FPT - re posting this as it only just made the end of the thread and I feel strongly about it
Sad news to report.
I have been following a youtube channel over the last few months by a British pakistani lady who has been talking about some of the issues within her community - generally things like religion, tolerance etc. However she has now posted a tearful video after being threatened and taken down her channel. When people ask why more British pakistanis do not speak out this is probably a good explanation. All very sad and fits a pattern. Salman Rushdie living in the US (but coming to Hay this month). Children expected to apologise for damaging a religious book, people in hiding, antisemitism rife. Many other things.
Lots of people worry about the far right. But has anyone considered, if the far right are so dangerous why is no-one afraid to criticise them? Tomorrow we will honour the sacrifice of our parents' and grandparents' generation to preserve this country's freedom and heritage. Yet we are completely passive over a thuggery that has been allowed to run amok. I've tried to educate this site till I am blue in the face but it's clear now that many of you are fake liberals more concerned with your stock portfolio than the maintenance of free expression.
There is clearly an Islamist threat to free speech, just as there is clearly a right wing (and in the US a particularly nutjub Christian) one too.
Both need to be fought and resisted.
If you aren't trying to protect speech you don't agree with, then you clearly don't really believe in free speech. You just believe in your speech being free.
Where is the comparable threat to free speech from the right in the UK? There isn't one. As I pointed out, who is afraid of criticising the far right in the UK? Almost no-one. They don't believe there will be repercussions for doing so.
Tell that to Lizzie Dearden.
You think one individual being threatened and harassed amounts to a crisis of free speech? You are a joke.
She is far from the only one.
I'm sorry but the proof of the pudding is in the eating. It's perfectly clear day after day that most people are perfectly happy criticising the far right without fear for their safety. When it comes to Islam people are treading on their toes for obvious reasons. Of course in any society you cannot guarantee against the occasional nutter.
But there's a whole political movement (the alt right) whose core message is that Muslims have no place here.
So far as I'm aware alt right is a term largely used in the US. I've not seen it much in the UK. Are there many people who have been frightened into silence by them?
One brave journalist who has certainly suffered for his cause is Andy Ngo, who has focused on antifa in the US.
I can tell you one place where 100s of journalists have been silenced by a rightwing government, largely as a result of them being killed.
On topic, this is what I thought might happen. People are starting to see Reform leading the Tories, and a lot of the core vote might now be jumping across.
Yes, there’ll be hold outs and never-Farage Tories, but that won’t apply to all of the remaining Tory vote.
Put that together with working class Labour voters heading over to REF and you have a potential election-winning coalition of voters... If REF and Garage can hold it all together until 2029.
On topic, this is what I thought might happen. People are starting to see Reform leading the Tories, and a lot of the core vote might now be jumping across.
Yes, there’ll be hold outs and never-Farage Tories, but that won’t apply to all of the remaining Tory vote.
Put that together with working class Labour voters heading over to REF and you have a potential election-winning coalition of voters... If REF and Garage can hold it all together until 2029.
350+ Reform MPs? There are going to be some right characters amongst them....
The Conservatives can't stop Labour doing stuff many people hate - they don't have the seats.
The logical way to stop Labour doing stuff many people hate is to have a bloc of votes that demonstrate they will be out on their ear at the next election - unless they stop doing stuff many people hate. So far, no evidence that Labour is stopping doing the stuff people hate. So the Reform bloc gets bigger - until Labour actually stop doing stuff many people hate.
The rise of Reform is not so much an anti-Tory vote, as a pro-Reform vote to kick Labour as the governing party.
Whether that survives until 2028/9 is kinda up to Labour.
Yes. I doubt if everyone - except Labour strategists - have realy taken on board the real target. The Tories aren't the target because there aren't enough of them. LDs aren't the target because they are strong in non-Reform terrain. Reform now seriously intend to win an election. That's 325 seats. A maximum of about 100 will come from the Tories. Almost none from the LDs. That gives 225 Labour seats Reform need out of 411. That leaves Labour with 186, minus any SNP gains.
I love the guardian travel pages. Their readers are so sniffy and puritan and woke they go mad about decadence and carbon footprints and oligarchs if the poor writer goes far beyond newent. So you get outstanding gems like this
New - Indian officials say Badenoch talking "rubbish" over "two tier tax" attack on UK/India FTA. Say she agreed principle of exempting Indian workers from NICs when she was trade sec. Team Badenoch: "The Indians put it on the table and Kemi said No."
@Leon why not go from London City and back via Eurostar so as to crowbar in some airport and train talk, thereby reducing the column inches to be filled with interesting things about Luxembored.
New - Indian officials say Badenoch talking "rubbish" over "two tier tax" attack on UK/India FTA. Say she agreed principle of exempting Indian workers from NICs when she was trade sec. Team Badenoch: "The Indians put it on the table and Kemi said No."
New - Indian officials say Badenoch talking "rubbish" over "two tier tax" attack on UK/India FTA. Say she agreed principle of exempting Indian workers from NICs when she was trade sec. Team Badenoch: "The Indians put it on the table and Kemi said No."
I've just been commissioned to go and see if it is nice. Is it?
We have an office there. Luxembourg is nice and clean. The public transport is free, the taxis are probably the most expensive in the world. Get the tram from the airport. It's right by the terminal and takes you into the centre of town, which is about as interesting as a well kept French provincial town with a population of about 100,000. It's good for one night if your expectations are not too high. No-one who works in our Luxembourg office lives in Luxembourg. They commute in from France and Germany. That tells you all you need to know.
lol. You’re all being very mean about Luxembourg
I heard that the countryside is really rather nice
Interesting question: why is Luxembourg so rich? Its economy was heavy industry. It has no coastline. Imagine if by some accident of history Derby and its immediate hinterland was a separate country - it would seem surprising for it to become much richer than the surrounding areas. I know microstates work differently, but it's not immediately obvious why, or why a greater-Derby could or would grow faster than rUK.
My company is there for tax reasons. It may not be the only one.
Well quite, but why is this option not available for, say, the UK?
The richest places on earth are all city states - of which I'd count Luxembourg as one.
Smaller states have the option to adopt essentially parasitic economic strategies that aren't available to larger economies.
Well this feels like it - but why are these srategies not available for larger economies? Is it that there are only so many companies which can be weaned away?
I don't think that's why city states are wealthy.
I think there are three fundamental reasons why they "work":
First, rural areas are usually much poorer than urban ones. Look at Germany's Lander: the richest one is not Bavaria, it's Hamburg. Simply, you cram a lot of people in a small area (whether Manchester, Hong Kong or London), and you get a lot of economic activity.
Secondly, city states simply can't afford -say- being food or energy independent. There is no way that Singapore can grow enough food to feed its population, or to produce enough energy to keep the lights on. In big countries, strategic reslience is a thing. But usually what that means is doing things that the market wouldn't do: i.e. overspending on Hinkley Point C or whatever.
Thirdly, city states are usually extremely open economies. They don't have any choice, and that usually works to their advantage.
I've just been commissioned to go and see if it is nice. Is it?
We have an office there. Luxembourg is nice and clean. The public transport is free, the taxis are probably the most expensive in the world. Get the tram from the airport. It's right by the terminal and takes you into the centre of town, which is about as interesting as a well kept French provincial town with a population of about 100,000. It's good for one night if your expectations are not too high. No-one who works in our Luxembourg office lives in Luxembourg. They commute in from France and Germany. That tells you all you need to know.
lol. You’re all being very mean about Luxembourg
I heard that the countryside is really rather nice
Interesting question: why is Luxembourg so rich? Its economy was heavy industry. It has no coastline. Imagine if by some accident of history Derby and its immediate hinterland was a separate country - it would seem surprising for it to become much richer than the surrounding areas. I know microstates work differently, but it's not immediately obvious why, or why a greater-Derby could or would grow faster than rUK.
My company is there for tax reasons. It may not be the only one.
Well quite, but why is this option not available for, say, the UK?
The richest places on earth are all city states - of which I'd count Luxembourg as one.
Smaller states have the option to adopt essentially parasitic economic strategies that aren't available to larger economies.
Well this feels like it - but why are these srategies not available for larger economies? Is it that there are only so many companies which can be weaned away?
I don't think that's why city states are wealthy.
I think there are three fundamental reasons why they "work":
First, rural areas are usually much poorer than urban ones. Look at Germany's Lander: the richest one is not Bavaria, it's Hamburg. Simply, you cram a lot of people in a small area (whether Manchester, Hong Kong or London), and you get a lot of economic activity.
Secondly, city states simply can't afford -say- being food or energy independent. There is no way that Singapore can grow enough food to feed its population, or to produce enough energy to keep the lights on. In big countries, strategic reslience is a thing. But usually what that means is doing things that the market wouldn't do: i.e. overspending on Hinkley Point C or whatever.
Thirdly, city states are usually extremely open economies. They don't have any choice, and that usually works to their advantage.
Fourth, city states very rarely want to spend vast sums of money "projecting their interests".
I've just been commissioned to go and see if it is nice. Is it?
We have an office there. Luxembourg is nice and clean. The public transport is free, the taxis are probably the most expensive in the world. Get the tram from the airport. It's right by the terminal and takes you into the centre of town, which is about as interesting as a well kept French provincial town with a population of about 100,000. It's good for one night if your expectations are not too high. No-one who works in our Luxembourg office lives in Luxembourg. They commute in from France and Germany. That tells you all you need to know.
lol. You’re all being very mean about Luxembourg
I heard that the countryside is really rather nice
Interesting question: why is Luxembourg so rich? Its economy was heavy industry. It has no coastline. Imagine if by some accident of history Derby and its immediate hinterland was a separate country - it would seem surprising for it to become much richer than the surrounding areas. I know microstates work differently, but it's not immediately obvious why, or why a greater-Derby could or would grow faster than rUK.
My company is there for tax reasons. It may not be the only one.
Well quite, but why is this option not available for, say, the UK?
The richest places on earth are all city states - of which I'd count Luxembourg as one.
Smaller states have the option to adopt essentially parasitic economic strategies that aren't available to larger economies.
Well this feels like it - but why are these srategies not available for larger economies? Is it that there are only so many companies which can be weaned away?
I don't think that's why city states are wealthy.
I think there are three fundamental reasons why they "work":
First, rural areas are usually much poorer than urban ones. Look at Germany's Lander: the richest one is not Bavaria, it's Hamburg. Simply, you cram a lot of people in a small area (whether Manchester, Hong Kong or London), and you get a lot of economic activity.
Secondly, city states simply can't afford -say- being food or energy independent. There is no way that Singapore can grow enough food to feed its population, or to produce enough energy to keep the lights on. In big countries, strategic reslience is a thing. But usually what that means is doing things that the market wouldn't do: i.e. overspending on Hinkley Point C or whatever.
Thirdly, city states are usually extremely open economies. They don't have any choice, and that usually works to their advantage.
Fourth, city states very rarely want to spend vast sums of money "projecting their interests".
Slightly alarming suggestion that Pakistan's China supplied air defence has had a very easy time shooting down Indian jets - including a Rafale.
If this does turn out to be true, China is going to become a major competitor for the US when it comes to air defenses. Especially with how trump is treating allies. https://x.com/JackRyanlives/status/1920070222993576440
Slightly alarming suggestion that Pakistan's China supplied air defence has had a very easy time shooting down Indian jets - including a Rafale.
If this does turn out to be true, China is going to become a major competitor for the US when it comes to air defenses. Especially with how trump is treating allies. https://x.com/JackRyanlives/status/1920070222993576440
That's a hell of a cost to kill 20-odd Pakistani peasants.
I love the guardian travel pages. Their readers are so sniffy and puritan and woke they go mad about decadence and carbon footprints and oligarchs if the poor writer goes far beyond newent. So you get outstanding gems like this
In large part, MAGA is driven by the recognition that America isn't the world's Unipower any more. Still Top Nation, but not to the extent that it can simply demand things from the rest of the world.
Unfortunately for Trump, every time he makes a demand and the other country shrugs, it highlights America's relative decline in power. And every time other countries make new arrangements that bypass Uncle Sam, that decline grows a little bit.
Did I say "irony"? My mistake. I meant "utterly hilarious things".
Slightly alarming suggestion that Pakistan's China supplied air defence has had a very easy time shooting down Indian jets - including a Rafale.
If this does turn out to be true, China is going to become a major competitor for the US when it comes to air defenses. Especially with how trump is treating allies. https://x.com/JackRyanlives/status/1920070222993576440
In large part, MAGA is driven by the recognition that America isn't the world's Unipower any more. Still Top Nation, but not to the extent that it can simply demand things from the rest of the world.
Unfortunately for Trump, every time he makes a demand and the other country shrugs, it highlights America's relative decline in power. And every time other countries make new arrangements that bypass Uncle Sam, that decline grows a little bit.
Did I say "irony"? My mistake. I meant "utterly hilarious things".
Same negative feedback loop as the Conservative party.....
On topic, this is what I thought might happen. People are starting to see Reform leading the Tories, and a lot of the core vote might now be jumping across.
Yes, there’ll be hold outs and never-Farage Tories, but that won’t apply to all of the remaining Tory vote.
I've just been commissioned to go and see if it is nice. Is it?
We have an office there. Luxembourg is nice and clean. The public transport is free, the taxis are probably the most expensive in the world. Get the tram from the airport. It's right by the terminal and takes you into the centre of town, which is about as interesting as a well kept French provincial town with a population of about 100,000. It's good for one night if your expectations are not too high. No-one who works in our Luxembourg office lives in Luxembourg. They commute in from France and Germany. That tells you all you need to know.
lol. You’re all being very mean about Luxembourg
I heard that the countryside is really rather nice
Interesting question: why is Luxembourg so rich? Its economy was heavy industry. It has no coastline. Imagine if by some accident of history Derby and its immediate hinterland was a separate country - it would seem surprising for it to become much richer than the surrounding areas. I know microstates work differently, but it's not immediately obvious why, or why a greater-Derby could or would grow faster than rUK.
Countries with financial services tend to specialise as they need a critical mass of expertise. Luxembourg's speciality is investment fund management. The financial institution I was working for at the time moved a lot of its fund management from the UK to Luxembourg on Brexit.
I've never been there, but if @Leon is allowed to stray a little from his brief, strong recommendation for Trier, which is a short train hop away with lots of history, interesting wine bars, and really good Moselle wine, and attractive scenery.
That’s a generous characterisation of their specialism. Helping Germans dodge their taxes is a better description
FPT - re posting this as it only just made the end of the thread and I feel strongly about it
Sad news to report.
I have been following a youtube channel over the last few months by a British pakistani lady who has been talking about some of the issues within her community - generally things like religion, tolerance etc. However she has now posted a tearful video after being threatened and taken down her channel. When people ask why more British pakistanis do not speak out this is probably a good explanation. All very sad and fits a pattern. Salman Rushdie living in the US (but coming to Hay this month). Children expected to apologise for damaging a religious book, people in hiding, antisemitism rife. Many other things.
Lots of people worry about the far right. But has anyone considered, if the far right are so dangerous why is no-one afraid to criticise them? Tomorrow we will honour the sacrifice of our parents' and grandparents' generation to preserve this country's freedom and heritage. Yet we are completely passive over a thuggery that has been allowed to run amok. I've tried to educate this site till I am blue in the face but it's clear now that many of you are fake liberals more concerned with your stock portfolio than the maintenance of free expression.
There is clearly an Islamist threat to free speech, just as there is clearly a right wing (and in the US a particularly nutjub Christian) one too.
Both need to be fought and resisted.
If you aren't trying to protect speech you don't agree with, then you clearly don't really believe in free speech. You just believe in your speech being free.
Where is the comparable threat to free speech from the right in the UK? There isn't one. As I pointed out, who is afraid of criticising the far right in the UK? Almost no-one. They don't believe there will be repercussions for doing so.
Lots of feminists have been driven offline, doxxed and stalked by far right male harassment. It isn't an unusual event, sadly.
Harassment like for example tim ex of this board.
Male harassment comes from both left and right...people who do it aren't doing it because political mostly at least in the uk they are doing it because they are mysogynist dickheads
FPT - re posting this as it only just made the end of the thread and I feel strongly about it
Sad news to report.
I have been following a youtube channel over the last few months by a British pakistani lady who has been talking about some of the issues within her community - generally things like religion, tolerance etc. However she has now posted a tearful video after being threatened and taken down her channel. When people ask why more British pakistanis do not speak out this is probably a good explanation. All very sad and fits a pattern. Salman Rushdie living in the US (but coming to Hay this month). Children expected to apologise for damaging a religious book, people in hiding, antisemitism rife. Many other things.
Lots of people worry about the far right. But has anyone considered, if the far right are so dangerous why is no-one afraid to criticise them? Tomorrow we will honour the sacrifice of our parents' and grandparents' generation to preserve this country's freedom and heritage. Yet we are completely passive over a thuggery that has been allowed to run amok. I've tried to educate this site till I am blue in the face but it's clear now that many of you are fake liberals more concerned with your stock portfolio than the maintenance of free expression.
This is what the far right look like. Prejudice comes in all shapes and sizes and finding a bit that suits your particular prejudice is a game for any number of players
The advantage of boring rich places is that - sometimes - they will lavish luxury and attention on a journalistic visitor, to make up for the boringness, because they can afford it
Try asking them about the scheme the Duke’s Dad (I think) cooked up with the Count of Namur and the Prince of Chimay to merge their states and families in a dynastic Union. Early 60s I think.
I was witness to a fascinating conversation between the Prince of Chimay and the them Duke of Brabant about the concept…
On topic, this is what I thought might happen. People are starting to see Reform leading the Tories, and a lot of the core vote might now be jumping across.
Yes, there’ll be hold outs and never-Farage Tories, but that won’t apply to all of the remaining Tory vote.
FPT - re posting this as it only just made the end of the thread and I feel strongly about it
Sad news to report.
I have been following a youtube channel over the last few months by a British pakistani lady who has been talking about some of the issues within her community - generally things like religion, tolerance etc. However she has now posted a tearful video after being threatened and taken down her channel. When people ask why more British pakistanis do not speak out this is probably a good explanation. All very sad and fits a pattern. Salman Rushdie living in the US (but coming to Hay this month). Children expected to apologise for damaging a religious book, people in hiding, antisemitism rife. Many other things.
Lots of people worry about the far right. But has anyone considered, if the far right are so dangerous why is no-one afraid to criticise them? Tomorrow we will honour the sacrifice of our parents' and grandparents' generation to preserve this country's freedom and heritage. Yet we are completely passive over a thuggery that has been allowed to run amok. I've tried to educate this site till I am blue in the face but it's clear now that many of you are fake liberals more concerned with your stock portfolio than the maintenance of free expression.
This is what the far right look like. Prejudice comes in all shapes and sizes and finding a bit that suits your particular prejudice is a game for any number of players
New - Indian officials say Badenoch talking "rubbish" over "two tier tax" attack on UK/India FTA. Say she agreed principle of exempting Indian workers from NICs when she was trade sec. Team Badenoch: "The Indians put it on the table and Kemi said No."
I was just tidying a bookcase, when I came across my old Psion 5. A 1997 computer, which I used to write up notes and other stuff on walks and camping trips before retiring it twenty or so years ago. I slipped in a couple of AA batteries, and the blooming thing still works, and all my data is still on the compact flash card.
Aside from one horizontal line (a sign the cable to the screen is going), it appears to work fine. Given the three- or five-year built-in obsolescence in most modern devices, the Psion 5 really was a remarkable product.
And I still love the keyboard-and-screen form factor if you actually want to create content.
I love the guardian travel pages. Their readers are so sniffy and puritan and woke they go mad about decadence and carbon footprints and oligarchs if the poor writer goes far beyond newent. So you get outstanding gems like this
Not only did they go on holiday on the Leeds Liverpool canal, they did it… off-season
Imagine the poor freelancer handed that commission, dreaming of the Seychelles and Namibia and Peru. The Leeds Liverpool canal off season
They probably orgasmed when they heard they got a bus tour of Luxembourg
I notice they didn't do the 21 locks between Bottom Lock and Top Lock. Some of the finest low speed views of Wigan in all its glory. Making do with Skipton to Barnoldswick... Lightweights.
For those who questioned why Kemi led with the WFA (As did Ed Davey) then this is a good enough reason when labour mps are demanding restoration of the WFA
Dozens of Labour MPs have broken ranks to warn that Sir Keir Starmer has to change direction immediately if he wants to save the party. The intervention comes days after dire local election results and highlights the growing tensions within the party just one year after its landslide majority.
The Labour Red Wall Group, formed last year to represent the voices of MPs in left-behind areas in the Midlands and North, turned on Chancellor Rachel Reeves and "Treasury orthodoxy". In their letter, published openly on Wednesday, the caucus warned their leader that voters have now said "loudly and clearly that we have not met their expectations". They also warned that Sir Keir's reaction to his election drubbing "has fallen on deaf ears".
A total of 45 MPs signed the letter demanding an urgent mission to "rebuild the social contract" - beginning by restoring the winter fuel allowance to millions of pensioners.
Bassetlaw MP and leader of the group Jo White said that responding to voters' fury "isn't weak, it takes us to a position of strength".
Most notably, the letter launches an all-out attack on Ms Reeves, demanding a "breakaway from Treasury orthodoxy, otherwise we will never get the investment we desperately need".
There are growing calls for the Treasury itself to be split up or abolished, with Labour peer Maurice Glasman saying: "I believe the abolition of the Treasury is necessary for our economic renewal."
The founder of the socially conservative Blue Labour movement added: "It is an outdated institution at odds with contemporary reality.
And in unconnected news our 16 year old grandson broke his leg in PE at school, the day before his exams start
He is presently in hospital having numerous x rays as they decide how to treat him
For those who say it's not worth the UK moving to renewable energy while China is building coal power stations - and who maybe doubt what I say about them also being the outstanding leader in renewables, watch this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skYCOlcdSlg and maybe start reading Ground News.
On topic, this is what I thought might happen. People are starting to see Reform leading the Tories, and a lot of the core vote might now be jumping across.
Yes, there’ll be hold outs and never-Farage Tories, but that won’t apply to all of the remaining Tory vote.
Put that together with working class Labour voters heading over to REF and you have a potential election-winning coalition of voters... If REF and Garage can hold it all together until 2029.
350+ Reform MPs? There are going to be some right characters amongst them....
We are getting to a point that "characters" instead of drones almost sounds attractive. So many of our MPs are beyond boring, beyond pointless, beyond useless.
I was just tidying a bookcase, when I came across my old Psion 5. A 1997 computer, which I used to write up notes and other stuff on walks and camping trips before retiring it twenty or so years ago. I slipped in a couple of AA batteries, and the blooming thing still works, and all my data is still on the compact flash card.
Aside from one horizontal line (a sign the cable to the screen is going), it appears to work fine. Given the three- or five-year built-in obsolescence in most modern devices, the Psion 5 really was a remarkable product.
And I still love the keyboard-and-screen form factor if you actually want to create content.
For those who questioned why Kemi led with the WFA (As did Ed Davey) then this is a good enough reason when labour mps are demanding restoration of the WFA
Dozens of Labour MPs have broken ranks to warn that Sir Keir Starmer has to change direction immediately if he wants to save the party. The intervention comes days after dire local election results and highlights the growing tensions within the party just one year after its landslide majority.
The Labour Red Wall Group, formed last year to represent the voices of MPs in left-behind areas in the Midlands and North, turned on Chancellor Rachel Reeves and "Treasury orthodoxy". In their letter, published openly on Wednesday, the caucus warned their leader that voters have now said "loudly and clearly that we have not met their expectations". They also warned that Sir Keir's reaction to his election drubbing "has fallen on deaf ears".
A total of 45 MPs signed the letter demanding an urgent mission to "rebuild the social contract" - beginning by restoring the winter fuel allowance to millions of pensioners.
Bassetlaw MP and leader of the group Jo White said that responding to voters' fury "isn't weak, it takes us to a position of strength".
Most notably, the letter launches an all-out attack on Ms Reeves, demanding a "breakaway from Treasury orthodoxy, otherwise we will never get the investment we desperately need".
There are growing calls for the Treasury itself to be split up or abolished, with Labour peer Maurice Glasman saying: "I believe the abolition of the Treasury is necessary for our economic renewal."
The founder of the socially conservative Blue Labour movement added: "It is an outdated institution at odds with contemporary reality.
And in unconnected news our 16 year old grandson broke his leg in PE at school, the day before his exams start
He is presently in hospital having numerous x rays as they decide how to treat him
1) Sorry to hear that. That sounds massively stressful fir the family. 2) I've got some time for Glasman. And treasury intransigence is strangling the investment we need for growth. But the WFA is not the sort of public spending we need. It's not investment, it doesn't lead to us getting richer. We need more on infrastructure, education, defence. Not more on pensioners.
Isn’t that a gift for the SNP, at least for Westminster, holding their vote whilst those opposed fragment still further?
A majority of the Scottish electorate voting along nationalist lines. At a GE, Conservatives and Labour might be lucky to come 5th and 6th at this rate. In seats, you can just about imagine 1) Reform 2) Lib Dems 3) Greens 4) SNP.
I'n quite sold on TimS's theory. Feels like the natural conclusion to this process, if it continues.
On topic, this is what I thought might happen. People are starting to see Reform leading the Tories, and a lot of the core vote might now be jumping across.
Yes, there’ll be hold outs and never-Farage Tories, but that won’t apply to all of the remaining Tory vote.
All doors temporarily locked. Had to unlock them for me so I could get in
“Disruption by shoplifters, Sir”
But remember we are all imagining it, as @Eabhal assures us
Jeezo, this has really upset you.
FWIW, my local Scotmid regularly gets cleaned out by a group of 16-year olds. I'm not suggesting it's not happening, just that the sudden obsession with it is a bit odd.
The big spike happened in 2020 and I don't recall any conniptions about it then. It's similar to small boats to a lesser extent, with the giant leap happening in 2022.
I was just tidying a bookcase, when I came across my old Psion 5. A 1997 computer, which I used to write up notes and other stuff on walks and camping trips before retiring it twenty or so years ago. I slipped in a couple of AA batteries, and the blooming thing still works, and all my data is still on the compact flash card.
Aside from one horizontal line (a sign the cable to the screen is going), it appears to work fine. Given the three- or five-year built-in obsolescence in most modern devices, the Psion 5 really was a remarkable product.
And I still love the keyboard-and-screen form factor if you actually want to create content.
The Psion 5 was amazing, best keyboard ever attached to a pocket sized device. When I was at University I got myself a tiny little Sharp Zaurus from Japan which ran linux and had a rotating screen to read stuff off. It was brilliant but the typing experience was so much worse than the Psion.
All doors temporarily locked. Had to unlock them for me so I could get in
“Disruption by shoplifters, Sir”
But remember we are all imagining it, as @Eabhal assures us
Jeezo, this has really upset you.
FWIW, my local Scotmid regularly gets cleaned out by a group of 16-year olds. I'm not suggesting it's not happening, just that the sudden obsession with it is a bit odd.
The big spike happened in 2020 and I don't recall any conniptions about it then. It's similar to small boats to a lesser extent, with the giant leap happening in 2022.
I respect your lived experience, of course.
The sudden obsession is possibly because, according to the Economist last week, shoplifting has increased ten-fold in ten years
I've just been commissioned to go and see if it is nice. Is it?
We have an office there. Luxembourg is nice and clean. The public transport is free, the taxis are probably the most expensive in the world. Get the tram from the airport. It's right by the terminal and takes you into the centre of town, which is about as interesting as a well kept French provincial town with a population of about 100,000. It's good for one night if your expectations are not too high. No-one who works in our Luxembourg office lives in Luxembourg. They commute in from France and Germany. That tells you all you need to know.
lol. You’re all being very mean about Luxembourg
I heard that the countryside is really rather nice
Interesting question: why is Luxembourg so rich? Its economy was heavy industry. It has no coastline. Imagine if by some accident of history Derby and its immediate hinterland was a separate country - it would seem surprising for it to become much richer than the surrounding areas. I know microstates work differently, but it's not immediately obvious why, or why a greater-Derby could or would grow faster than rUK.
Countries with financial services tend to specialise as they need a critical mass of expertise. Luxembourg's speciality is investment fund management. The financial institution I was working for at the time moved a lot of its fund management from the UK to Luxembourg on Brexit.
I've never been there, but if @Leon is allowed to stray a little from his brief, strong recommendation for Trier, which is a short train hop away with lots of history, interesting wine bars, and really good Moselle wine, and attractive scenery.
Luxembourg doesn't have anything to prove now. It will be on your list if you are looking to dry up a Europe based investment fund. But to @Cookie 's point how did it get the fund management gig in the first place? It looks it dates back to the early eighties when the EU was standardising the provision and regulation of fund management when previously this had been a national competence. Luxembourg got in first with a favourable regulatory regime, so companies could service any EU country from there with a standardised operation.
Do they still have the Amazon European postal HQ, for tax reasons?
On topic, this is what I thought might happen. People are starting to see Reform leading the Tories, and a lot of the core vote might now be jumping across.
Yes, there’ll be hold outs and never-Farage Tories, but that won’t apply to all of the remaining Tory vote.
For those who questioned why Kemi led with the WFA (As did Ed Davey) then this is a good enough reason when labour mps are demanding restoration of the WFA
Dozens of Labour MPs have broken ranks to warn that Sir Keir Starmer has to change direction immediately if he wants to save the party. The intervention comes days after dire local election results and highlights the growing tensions within the party just one year after its landslide majority.
The Labour Red Wall Group, formed last year to represent the voices of MPs in left-behind areas in the Midlands and North, turned on Chancellor Rachel Reeves and "Treasury orthodoxy". In their letter, published openly on Wednesday, the caucus warned their leader that voters have now said "loudly and clearly that we have not met their expectations". They also warned that Sir Keir's reaction to his election drubbing "has fallen on deaf ears".
A total of 45 MPs signed the letter demanding an urgent mission to "rebuild the social contract" - beginning by restoring the winter fuel allowance to millions of pensioners.
Bassetlaw MP and leader of the group Jo White said that responding to voters' fury "isn't weak, it takes us to a position of strength".
Most notably, the letter launches an all-out attack on Ms Reeves, demanding a "breakaway from Treasury orthodoxy, otherwise we will never get the investment we desperately need".
There are growing calls for the Treasury itself to be split up or abolished, with Labour peer Maurice Glasman saying: "I believe the abolition of the Treasury is necessary for our economic renewal."
The founder of the socially conservative Blue Labour movement added: "It is an outdated institution at odds with contemporary reality.
And in unconnected news our 16 year old grandson broke his leg in PE at school, the day before his exams start
He is presently in hospital having numerous x rays as they decide how to treat him
45 Labour MPs signed the letter. Which means 358 Labour MPs didn't sign the letter.
For those who questioned why Kemi led with the WFA (As did Ed Davey) then this is a good enough reason when labour mps are demanding restoration of the WFA
Dozens of Labour MPs have broken ranks to warn that Sir Keir Starmer has to change direction immediately if he wants to save the party. The intervention comes days after dire local election results and highlights the growing tensions within the party just one year after its landslide majority.
The Labour Red Wall Group, formed last year to represent the voices of MPs in left-behind areas in the Midlands and North, turned on Chancellor Rachel Reeves and "Treasury orthodoxy". In their letter, published openly on Wednesday, the caucus warned their leader that voters have now said "loudly and clearly that we have not met their expectations". They also warned that Sir Keir's reaction to his election drubbing "has fallen on deaf ears".
A total of 45 MPs signed the letter demanding an urgent mission to "rebuild the social contract" - beginning by restoring the winter fuel allowance to millions of pensioners.
Bassetlaw MP and leader of the group Jo White said that responding to voters' fury "isn't weak, it takes us to a position of strength".
Most notably, the letter launches an all-out attack on Ms Reeves, demanding a "breakaway from Treasury orthodoxy, otherwise we will never get the investment we desperately need".
There are growing calls for the Treasury itself to be split up or abolished, with Labour peer Maurice Glasman saying: "I believe the abolition of the Treasury is necessary for our economic renewal."
The founder of the socially conservative Blue Labour movement added: "It is an outdated institution at odds with contemporary reality.
And in unconnected news our 16 year old grandson broke his leg in PE at school, the day before his exams start
He is presently in hospital having numerous x rays as they decide how to treat him
I would suggest Mum/Dad contacts the school quickly for advice about how he sits his exams. As an ex exams officer myself this would be a nightmare for both the student and the school.
Comments
Are you honestly telling me with a straight face that people have not been absolutely traumatized by online bullying?
Really?
I've never been there, but if @Leon is allowed to stray a little from his brief, strong recommendation for Trier, which is a short train hop away with lots of history, interesting wine bars, and really good Moselle wine, and attractive scenery.
I imagined it would be like Switzerland. Dull but very safe (tho these days even Switzerland has issues, esp Geneva etc)
One brave journalist who has certainly suffered for his cause is Andy Ngo, who has focused on antifa in the US.
https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2025/may/07/luxembourg-free-public-transport-mullerthal-wine-vineyards
CIA, NSA and Defense Intelligence Agency all included in ‘collection emphasis message’, report says
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/07/greenland-spying-surveillance
I've always treated the Ahmadis as canaries in the coal mine for this, as a non-orthodox Muslim sect. Here's a recent MA done on discrimination against them, which suggests that it does exist, but they also continue to be herein the UK.
https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0016/2420404/rory-wade-ma.pdf
Tho it is unlikely they could ever have succeeded given the whipping they got as soon as they met real resistance - eg the Japanese in 1905
Well not many.
Ok quite a few.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_suicides_attributed_to_bullying
My partner bought me this after her visit.
https://karlmarxhaus.ticketfritz.de/en/Shop/Detail/51232/36182
"In May 2022, congestion on Luxembourg's roads was — depending on location — largely equivalent to or higher than levels in May 2019, before the free public transit policy was introduced. The reason for this, studies have shown, is that making transit free doesn't in itself tempt people away from their cars."
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-07-07/inside-luxembourg-s-experiment-with-free-public-transit
Fortunately for him (and the rest of us) it was a list of people to target when they took power in their imagined future far-right revolution which never happened. Still means that there’s a bunch of nutters out there with his name down as an enemy of the state for when the next one of them has a psychotic break & decides to go out in a blaze of glory. I guess you just have to put that possibility out of your mind & carry on with life regardless.
Pottering in the Potteries
https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2025/jan/02/pottering-in-the-potteries-exploring-the-museums-and-ceramics-studios-of-stoke-on-trent
Or the stunning… Surrey hills
https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2025/jan/14/beyond-the-commuter-belt-why-the-stunning-surrey-hills-are-worth-a-short-break
Or my absolute favourite
Winter waterway: a cosy off-season trip on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal
https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2025/feb/05/waterway-winter-leeds-liverpool-canal-boat-hire-holiday
Not only did they go on holiday on the Leeds Liverpool canal, they did it… off-season
Imagine the poor freelancer handed that commission, dreaming of the Seychelles and Namibia and Peru. The Leeds Liverpool canal off season
They probably orgasmed when they heard they got a bus tour of Luxembourg
Yes, there’ll be hold outs and never-Farage Tories, but that won’t apply to all of the remaining Tory vote.
Journalists are vulnerable under any authoritarian government. Right/left/centre.
Please do report back.
I think there are three fundamental reasons why they "work":
First, rural areas are usually much poorer than urban ones. Look at Germany's Lander: the richest one is not Bavaria, it's Hamburg. Simply, you cram a lot of people in a small area (whether Manchester, Hong Kong or London), and you get a lot of economic activity.
Secondly, city states simply can't afford -say- being food or energy independent. There is no way that Singapore can grow enough food to feed its population, or to produce enough energy to keep the lights on. In big countries, strategic reslience is a thing. But usually what that means is doing things that the market wouldn't do: i.e. overspending on Hinkley Point C or whatever.
Thirdly, city states are usually extremely open economies. They don't have any choice, and that usually works to their advantage.
What trade war?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvQMWTmXObY
If this does turn out to be true, China is going to become a major competitor for the US when it comes to air defenses. Especially with how trump is treating allies.
https://x.com/JackRyanlives/status/1920070222993576440
In large part, MAGA is driven by the recognition that America isn't the world's Unipower any more. Still Top Nation, but not to the extent that it can simply demand things from the rest of the world.
Unfortunately for Trump, every time he makes a demand and the other country shrugs, it highlights America's relative decline in power. And every time other countries make new arrangements that bypass Uncle Sam, that decline grows a little bit.
Did I say "irony"? My mistake. I meant "utterly hilarious things".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_European_Parliament_election_in_the_United_Kingdom
Male harassment comes from both left and right...people who do it aren't doing it because political mostly at least in the uk they are doing it because they are mysogynist dickheads
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002bm1y
I was witness to a fascinating conversation between the Prince of Chimay and the them Duke of Brabant about the concept…
Both in his preamble and at least twice in non sequitur responses to her questions.
I was just tidying a bookcase, when I came across my old Psion 5. A 1997 computer, which I used to write up notes and other stuff on walks and camping trips before retiring it twenty or so years ago. I slipped in a couple of AA batteries, and the blooming thing still works, and all my data is still on the compact flash card.
Aside from one horizontal line (a sign the cable to the screen is going), it appears to work fine. Given the three- or five-year built-in obsolescence in most modern devices, the Psion 5 really was a remarkable product.
And I still love the keyboard-and-screen form factor if you actually want to create content.
Edit: it appears not: https://www.whatscotlandthinks.org/questions/how-would-you-be-likely-to-vote-in-a-uk-general-election-asked-since-2024-general-election/
https://x.com/leftiestats/status/1920141034152923477
Scottish voting intention for UK elections:
🟡 SNP – 32% (-1)
🟦 REF – 21% (+6)
🔴 LAB – 19% (-5)
🟠 LD – 11% (+2)
🔵 CON – 11% (-3)
🟢 GRN – 5% (-)
Via @Survation, 2-5 May (+/- vs 16-22 Apr)
Some of the finest low speed views of Wigan in all its glory.
Making do with Skipton to Barnoldswick...
Lightweights.
For those who questioned why Kemi led with the WFA (As did Ed Davey) then this is a good enough reason when labour mps are demanding restoration of the WFA
Dozens of Labour MPs have broken ranks to warn that Sir Keir Starmer has to change direction immediately if he wants to save the party. The intervention comes days after dire local election results and highlights the growing tensions within the party just one year after its landslide majority.
The Labour Red Wall Group, formed last year to represent the voices of MPs in left-behind areas in the Midlands and North, turned on Chancellor Rachel Reeves and "Treasury orthodoxy". In their letter, published openly on Wednesday, the caucus warned their leader that voters have now said "loudly and clearly that we have not met their expectations". They also warned that Sir Keir's reaction to his election drubbing "has fallen on deaf ears".
A total of 45 MPs signed the letter demanding an urgent mission to "rebuild the social contract" - beginning by restoring the winter fuel allowance to millions of pensioners.
Bassetlaw MP and leader of the group Jo White said that responding to voters' fury "isn't weak, it takes us to a position of strength".
Most notably, the letter launches an all-out attack on Ms Reeves, demanding a "breakaway from Treasury orthodoxy, otherwise we will never get the investment we desperately need".
There are growing calls for the Treasury itself to be split up or abolished, with Labour peer Maurice Glasman saying: "I believe the abolition of the Treasury is necessary for our economic renewal."
The founder of the socially conservative Blue Labour movement added: "It is an outdated institution at odds with contemporary reality.
And in unconnected news our 16 year old grandson broke his leg in PE at school, the day before his exams start
He is presently in hospital having numerous x rays as they decide how to treat him
This article was amended on 7 May 2025 to clarify that Greenland is 836,000 sq miles, not sq feet.</>
How is that a “clarification”?!
2) I've got some time for Glasman. And treasury intransigence is strangling the investment we need for growth. But the WFA is not the sort of public spending we need. It's not investment, it doesn't lead to us getting richer. We need more on infrastructure, education, defence. Not more on pensioners.
A few weeks ago I reported that I had doubled up on car insurance by mistake.
Sheila's Wheels (expensive insurance but good customer service) have just refunded me the whole lot of their duplicated period, with no fees.
Impressive and painless. And TBH not what I was expecting.
I'n quite sold on TimS's theory. Feels like the natural conclusion to this process, if it continues.
Not Leon style, though.
All doors temporarily locked. Had to unlock them for me so I could get in
“Disruption by shoplifters, Sir”
But remember we are all imagining it, as @Eabhal assures us
FWIW, my local Scotmid regularly gets cleaned out by a group of 16-year olds. I'm not suggesting it's not happening, just that the sudden obsession with it is a bit odd.
The big spike happened in 2020 and I don't recall any conniptions about it then. It's similar to small boats to a lesser extent, with the giant leap happening in 2022.
I respect your lived experience, of course.
Which means 358 Labour MPs didn't sign the letter.