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Why Taiwan should be worried – politicalbetting.com

SystemSystem Posts: 12,873
edited January 5 in General
Why Taiwan should be worried – politicalbetting.com

BREAKING: A brand new account on Polymarket just made a massive bet that China will invade Taiwan this year.They will win $289K if they are correct.Insider or gamble? pic.twitter.com/ohH4q7mUtE

Read the full story here

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Comments

  • TazTaz Posts: 23,732
    First

    Like China in Taiwan
  • FF43FF43 Posts: 18,857
    The person making the bet can only be identified by his surname, Xi.
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 125,511
    FF43 said:

    The person making the bet can only be identified by his surname, Xi.

    Their username is Winnie the Pooh.
  • bondegezoubondegezou Posts: 17,940
    The Trump administration is cutting Senator Mark Kelly's military pension because he said military personnel should not follow illegal orders.
  • BattlebusBattlebus Posts: 2,213
    Is there a point when it will become obvious to Americans that their president is less than stable? Columbia, Mexico, Cuba, Greenland, Iran (add in your favourites here) are all mentioned.

    "Trump issues threats against multiple countries following Venezuela strike"

    https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5672700-trump-venezuela-cuba-mexico-threats/
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 38,978
    "When Nicolas Maduro appears in court, scheduled within the next hour, he will face a notable figure on the judge's bench: 92-year-old Alvin Hellerstein."

    https://news.sky.com/story/venezuela-live-trump-maduro-court-capture-strikes-colombia-greenland-latest-13489831#10800284
  • bondegezoubondegezou Posts: 17,940
    A headline to sum up 'modern' America: Health Authorities Issue Measles Alert at Creationist Museum
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 36,219
    Taz said:

    Taz said:

    algarkirk said:

    Taz said:

    One for Dura Ace here


    My first car, acquired 1982 from my dad. I did nearly 100,000 miles in it, much of it around central London where I lived till 1984. It was 'snapdragon yellow'. I hope she is happy in that heaven where all good Allegros go. RIP 1990.
    According to the How Many left site plenty in car heaven as only 294 are still licensed. A few more are SORNed.
    In the late 1980's I got stuck behind an Italian-registered Allegro (what kind of Italian would have bought an Austin Allegro?) as I attempted to cross over the Apennines along a notably twisty mountain road. It was a slow journey.
    In the late eighties the Austin Maestro was, supposedly, a favourite of taxi drivers in some parts of Eastern Europe.

    At least that’s what Austin rover were telling us.
    Romania.

    After the coup they remained unsold in CKD kit form. Years later two UK companies bought the unsold stock. One was Parkway Garage near Ledbury and R all the way through to Y plated Maestros ran round Ledbury for years. They were mainly the 1275 A plus cars. They came as LHD but could be converted to RHD at a cost.
  • FairlieredFairliered Posts: 7,260

    FF43 said:

    The person making the bet can only be identified by his surname, Xi.

    Their username is Winnie the Pooh.
    A Russian bear?
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 36,393
    Andy_JS said:

    "When Nicolas Maduro appears in court, scheduled within the next hour, he will face a notable figure on the judge's bench: 92-year-old Alvin Hellerstein."

    https://news.sky.com/story/venezuela-live-trump-maduro-court-capture-strikes-colombia-greenland-latest-13489831#10800284

    He couldn't should he? Say there was no case to answer or something? Order him to be returned home?
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 47,322
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c17x92nzgyzo

    Llandudno cosplay matelot fined £500. Rear-Admiral too. He might as well have gone for Admiral of the Fleet, so cheap.

    Even wore a DSO (apparently a real one, only someone else won it) , but that isn't criminal.

  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 41,440
    Big explosion in Iran apparently
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 36,393
    Carnyx said:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c17x92nzgyzo

    Llandudno cosplay matelot fined £500. Rear-Admiral too. He might as well have gone for Admiral of the Fleet, so cheap.

    Even wore a DSO (apparently a real one, only someone else won it) , but that isn't criminal.

    Done it before, apparently!
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 34,579

    FF43 said:

    The person making the bet can only be identified by his surname, Xi.

    Their username is Winnie the Pooh.
    A Russian bear?
    WtP is Xi. He doesn't like it.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 54,649

    FF43 said:

    The person making the bet can only be identified by his surname, Xi.

    Their username is Winnie the Pooh.
    A Russian bear?
    Darkest Peru. Famous for its white powder.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 54,649
    Battlebus said:

    Is there a point when it will become obvious to Americans that their president is less than stable? Columbia, Mexico, Cuba, Greenland, Iran (add in your favourites here) are all mentioned.

    "Trump issues threats against multiple countries following Venezuela strike"

    https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5672700-trump-venezuela-cuba-mexico-threats/

    He's really going for that peace prize!
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 48,709
    What is the polymarket price for this bet as an odds equivalent?
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 36,219
    Carnyx said:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c17x92nzgyzo

    Llandudno cosplay matelot fined £500. Rear-Admiral too. He might as well have gone for Admiral of the Fleet, so cheap.

    Even wore a DSO (apparently a real one, only someone else won it) , but that isn't criminal.

    I found it quite disheartening, if that is what floated his boat. King Charles never gets fined for wearing a f***ton of military combat medals he didn't earn. Likewise Edward.
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 34,579
    Scott_xP said:

    Big explosion in Iran apparently

    Just the one, dear?
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30cG5xP5mzU

    Lots of USAF & RAF tankers seen nearby on previous threads.
  • MelonBMelonB Posts: 16,636
    After the suspicious Polymarket win on Venezuela at the weekend, I can imagine a few trolls/state actors/hedge funds might quite like the idea of stirring things up with a Taiwan bet.

    Does feel like 2026 might be “the year” for various things though. I’m getting season finale vibes.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 48,709
    Foxy said:

    Battlebus said:

    Is there a point when it will become obvious to Americans that their president is less than stable? Columbia, Mexico, Cuba, Greenland, Iran (add in your favourites here) are all mentioned.

    "Trump issues threats against multiple countries following Venezuela strike"

    https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5672700-trump-venezuela-cuba-mexico-threats/

    He's really going for that peace prize!
    I can't fight it no more.

    War is Peace! Ignorance is Strength! Hate is Love! Trump is Truth!
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 56,987
    Scott_xP said:

    Big explosion in Iran apparently

    It sounds like an industrial accident is the most likely cause if this is accurate:

    https://x.com/ScharoMaroof/status/2008168674029347007
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 34,579

    Scott_xP said:

    Big explosion in Iran apparently

    It sounds like an industrial accident is the most likely cause if this is accurate:

    https://x.com/ScharoMaroof/status/2008168674029347007
    At a dairy plant? Cheese doesn't explode; powdered milk might.
  • noneoftheabovenoneoftheabove Posts: 26,361
    kinabalu said:

    What is the polymarket price for this bet as an odds equivalent?

    100/%chance gives decimal odds. So the bets struck at avg 12c/12% is 100/12 = 8.3 decimal approx 15/2 old money.

  • RogerRoger Posts: 21,754
    Of course they should be worried. We all should. the world is being treated as a marionette with a lunatic pulling the strings.

    Those who wanted us to Brexit so we could regain our sovereignty will hopefully be giving themselves a serious talking to and the leaders of the folly should be hung drawn and quartered
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 54,649

    Carnyx said:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c17x92nzgyzo

    Llandudno cosplay matelot fined £500. Rear-Admiral too. He might as well have gone for Admiral of the Fleet, so cheap.

    Even wore a DSO (apparently a real one, only someone else won it) , but that isn't criminal.

    I found it quite disheartening, if that is what floated his boat. King Charles never gets fined for wearing a f***ton of military combat medals he didn't earn. Likewise Edward.
    Aren't the Kings medals the insignia of weird European chivalric orders?
  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 21,733

    Scott_xP said:

    Big explosion in Iran apparently

    It sounds like an industrial accident is the most likely cause if this is accurate:

    https://x.com/ScharoMaroof/status/2008168674029347007
    At a dairy plant? Cheese doesn't explode; powdered milk might.
    Local big cheese factory has a biogas digester, and I think they use a lot of gas for heating the milk during processing, so plenty of stuff to explode that isn't the product in the factory.
  • Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 68,695
    Roger said:

    Of course they should be worried. We all should. the world is being treated as a marionette with a lunatic pulling the strings.

    Those who wanted us to Brexit so we could regain our sovereignty will hopefully be giving themselves a serious talking to and the leaders of the folly should be hung drawn and quartered

    And the EU fail to condemn Trump just as most of the west who fawn over him

    I and many others are pleased Ursula von der Leyen does not speak for us

    Closer ties yes, but rejoin no
  • Pro_RataPro_Rata Posts: 5,931
    edited January 5
    Cicero said:

    Foxy said:

    Battlebus said:

    Is there a point when it will become obvious to Americans that their president is less than stable? Columbia, Mexico, Cuba, Greenland, Iran (add in your favourites here) are all mentioned.

    "Trump issues threats against multiple countries following Venezuela strike"

    https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5672700-trump-venezuela-cuba-mexico-threats/

    He's really going for that peace prize!
    A piece of Venezuela, a piece of Cuba, a piece of Iran...
    A bombing of Iranians all night long
    A little bit of Greenland's what I need
    Manbaby number 5
  • Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 68,695

    Roger said:

    Of course they should be worried. We all should. the world is being treated as a marionette with a lunatic pulling the strings.

    Those who wanted us to Brexit so we could regain our sovereignty will hopefully be giving themselves a serious talking to and the leaders of the folly should be hung drawn and quartered

    Brexit really has the square root of feck all to do with what Trump is doing.
    It is a quirk of our politics that some who cannot accept brexit try to pin every problem on it
  • DougSealDougSeal Posts: 13,141

    Carnyx said:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c17x92nzgyzo

    Llandudno cosplay matelot fined £500. Rear-Admiral too. He might as well have gone for Admiral of the Fleet, so cheap.

    Even wore a DSO (apparently a real one, only someone else won it) , but that isn't criminal.

    I found it quite disheartening, if that is what floated his boat. King Charles never gets fined for wearing a f***ton of military combat medals he didn't earn. Likewise Edward.
    I'm not a huge fan but neither Charles nor Edward wear combat medals. They get various medals just for being involved but I don't think even they would pretend to have been in the Falklands or Iraq. AIUI you get medals for all sorts of stuff, long service, marching in the right parade, being the King etc etc. But I'm the least military or naval person you could ever meet.

  • TazTaz Posts: 23,732

    Carnyx said:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c17x92nzgyzo

    Llandudno cosplay matelot fined £500. Rear-Admiral too. He might as well have gone for Admiral of the Fleet, so cheap.

    Even wore a DSO (apparently a real one, only someone else won it) , but that isn't criminal.

    I found it quite disheartening, if that is what floated his boat. King Charles never gets fined for wearing a f***ton of military combat medals he didn't earn. Likewise Edward.
    Edward wears one for each week of service.
  • DougSealDougSeal Posts: 13,141
    Roger said:

    Of course they should be worried. We all should. the world is being treated as a marionette with a lunatic pulling the strings.

    Those who wanted us to Brexit so we could regain our sovereignty will hopefully be giving themselves a serious talking to and the leaders of the folly should be hung drawn and quartered

    Is there anything you won't connect to Brexit? Jack the Ripper? Food in buckets? Band Aid 2?
  • FF43 said:

    FF43 said:

    Listening to the EU commission press conference they simply cannot criticise Trump providing evasive and rambling responses, even over Greenland

    Kemi, Cleverley and Honest Bob's unoquivocal condemnation (despite not being in Government yet) has been impressive by contrast.
    "A lot of noise from people who couldn’t find Venezuela on a map" seems to me to be a robust and effective response from Kemi on where Venezuela stands in respect to invasions from other countries
    I'm probably missing the point but Venezuela is one of the easier countries to find on a map.
    Trump found Venezuela on a map, or at least his minions did.

    A lot of people criticised that comment by Badenoch as characteristically aggressive towards people who have nailed their colours to their mast. I actually think Badenoch is saying the quiet part out loud. Why should we care about Venezuela? The thing about quiet parts that Badenoch doesn't get, you're not meant to say them out loud.
    Why should we care:

    Rules based international order = Global prosperity
    Rules based international order = Defence spending 2% and 3% we can use however we please

    Might is right = Increase in tensions, suspicions, rival blocks and war
    Might is right = We spend that 3% on defence instead of NHS, education, tax cuts or whatever
    Rules based international order = utopian idealism

    Might is right = realpolitik

    We should be spending 3% on defence, not wishing for lawyers, unicorns and fairies to protect us.
    What a f*cking stupid post that is.

    The rules based international order has served us pretty well all our lives... Until it started to be ignored by Putin, Netanyahu, and now Trump in the past few years.
    Oh what sanctimonious claptrap.

    The rules based international order never existed. It was always a utopian myth, not an actual reality.

    Forget about how nice it would be to have one and deal with the cold, hard, realistic facts that countries have ALWAYS broken the rules. There has never been a time when it was not the case, as much as it would be nice were it to be the case.

    A desire for utopia is not a reason to claim it exists, or act as if it does.
  • Daveyboy1961Daveyboy1961 Posts: 5,127

    Carnyx said:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c17x92nzgyzo

    Llandudno cosplay matelot fined £500. Rear-Admiral too. He might as well have gone for Admiral of the Fleet, so cheap.

    Even wore a DSO (apparently a real one, only someone else won it) , but that isn't criminal.

    I found it quite disheartening, if that is what floated his boat. King Charles never gets fined for wearing a f***ton of military combat medals he didn't earn. Likewise Edward.
    I'm not sure he should have been charged. A victimless crime.
  • Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 68,695

    Carnyx said:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c17x92nzgyzo

    Llandudno cosplay matelot fined £500. Rear-Admiral too. He might as well have gone for Admiral of the Fleet, so cheap.

    Even wore a DSO (apparently a real one, only someone else won it) , but that isn't criminal.

    I found it quite disheartening, if that is what floated his boat. King Charles never gets fined for wearing a f***ton of military combat medals he didn't earn. Likewise Edward.
    I'm not sure he should have been charged. A victimless crime.
    It was hugely disrespectful and widely condemned here in Llandudno
  • Carnyx said:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c17x92nzgyzo

    Llandudno cosplay matelot fined £500. Rear-Admiral too. He might as well have gone for Admiral of the Fleet, so cheap.

    Even wore a DSO (apparently a real one, only someone else won it) , but that isn't criminal.

    I found it quite disheartening, if that is what floated his boat. King Charles never gets fined for wearing a f***ton of military combat medals he didn't earn. Likewise Edward.
    I'm not sure he should have been charged. A victimless crime.
    It was hugely disrespectful and widely condemned here in Llandudno
    Being disrespectful should not be a crime.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 62,821

    Andy_JS said:

    "When Nicolas Maduro appears in court, scheduled within the next hour, he will face a notable figure on the judge's bench: 92-year-old Alvin Hellerstein."

    https://news.sky.com/story/venezuela-live-trump-maduro-court-capture-strikes-colombia-greenland-latest-13489831#10800284

    He couldn't should he? Say there was no case to answer or something? Order him to be returned home?
    I believe he's going to claim to be an illegal immigrant and hope to get deported back whence he came.
  • Peter_the_PunterPeter_the_Punter Posts: 15,125
    MelonB said:

    After the suspicious Polymarket win on Venezuela at the weekend, I can imagine a few trolls/state actors/hedge funds might quite like the idea of stirring things up with a Taiwan bet.

    Does feel like 2026 might be “the year” for various things though. I’m getting season finale vibes.

    We're all ok as long as TSE doesn't go on holiday.
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 36,393

    Carnyx said:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c17x92nzgyzo

    Llandudno cosplay matelot fined £500. Rear-Admiral too. He might as well have gone for Admiral of the Fleet, so cheap.

    Even wore a DSO (apparently a real one, only someone else won it) , but that isn't criminal.

    I found it quite disheartening, if that is what floated his boat. King Charles never gets fined for wearing a f***ton of military combat medals he didn't earn. Likewise Edward.
    I'm not sure he should have been charged. A victimless crime.
    He strikes me as a rather sad man.
  • DougSealDougSeal Posts: 13,141

    Roger said:

    Of course they should be worried. We all should. the world is being treated as a marionette with a lunatic pulling the strings.

    Those who wanted us to Brexit so we could regain our sovereignty will hopefully be giving themselves a serious talking to and the leaders of the folly should be hung drawn and quartered

    Brexit really has the square root of feck all to do with what Trump is doing.
    It is a quirk of our politics that some who cannot accept brexit try to pin every problem on it
    I accept Brexit like I accept the general existence of gonorrhea but that doesn't mean I have to like it. Even I, however, don't pin this on gonorrhea. Syphilis possibly.
  • Daveyboy1961Daveyboy1961 Posts: 5,127

    Carnyx said:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c17x92nzgyzo

    Llandudno cosplay matelot fined £500. Rear-Admiral too. He might as well have gone for Admiral of the Fleet, so cheap.

    Even wore a DSO (apparently a real one, only someone else won it) , but that isn't criminal.

    I found it quite disheartening, if that is what floated his boat. King Charles never gets fined for wearing a f***ton of military combat medals he didn't earn. Likewise Edward.
    I'm not sure he should have been charged. A victimless crime.
    It was hugely disrespectful and widely condemned here in Llandudno
    Neither disrespect nor widely condemned should matter. Just ask DJT, Boris, Keir, Nigel, JRM, et al

  • Daveyboy1961Daveyboy1961 Posts: 5,127

    Carnyx said:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c17x92nzgyzo

    Llandudno cosplay matelot fined £500. Rear-Admiral too. He might as well have gone for Admiral of the Fleet, so cheap.

    Even wore a DSO (apparently a real one, only someone else won it) , but that isn't criminal.

    I found it quite disheartening, if that is what floated his boat. King Charles never gets fined for wearing a f***ton of military combat medals he didn't earn. Likewise Edward.
    I'm not sure he should have been charged. A victimless crime.
    He strikes me as a rather sad man.
    We have a lot of those in the UK and PB
  • Carnyx said:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c17x92nzgyzo

    Llandudno cosplay matelot fined £500. Rear-Admiral too. He might as well have gone for Admiral of the Fleet, so cheap.

    Even wore a DSO (apparently a real one, only someone else won it) , but that isn't criminal.

    I found it quite disheartening, if that is what floated his boat. King Charles never gets fined for wearing a f***ton of military combat medals he didn't earn. Likewise Edward.
    I'm not sure he should have been charged. A victimless crime.
    He strikes me as a rather sad man.
    Also not a crime.
  • MattWMattW Posts: 31,567
    edited January 5

    Carnyx said:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c17x92nzgyzo

    Llandudno cosplay matelot fined £500. Rear-Admiral too. He might as well have gone for Admiral of the Fleet, so cheap.

    Even wore a DSO (apparently a real one, only someone else won it) , but that isn't criminal.

    I found it quite disheartening, if that is what floated his boat. King Charles never gets fined for wearing a f***ton of military combat medals he didn't earn. Likewise Edward.
    I'm not sure he should have been charged. A victimless crime.
    It is a trend, and there have been a number charged in recent years.

    It's more than disrespectul. Passing yourself off as havign served in the services, and with a medal one below a VC is a terrible thing to do.

    The strange aspect is that he had a good career, and has been respected and popular.

    It's not a serious punisment though - just a small fine, so I hope he is deterred.
  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 21,733

    Carnyx said:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c17x92nzgyzo

    Llandudno cosplay matelot fined £500. Rear-Admiral too. He might as well have gone for Admiral of the Fleet, so cheap.

    Even wore a DSO (apparently a real one, only someone else won it) , but that isn't criminal.

    I found it quite disheartening, if that is what floated his boat. King Charles never gets fined for wearing a f***ton of military combat medals he didn't earn. Likewise Edward.
    I'm not sure he should have been charged. A victimless crime.
    The foundation stone of the rule of law is that the King is responsible for establishing the King's Peace, and therefore people shouldn't take the law into their own hands when they have been wronged, but trust in the King to do so.

    In this case, if the Crown declined to prosecute, then former service members will have been tempted to enforce their own justice on someone claiming their service, without having run the risks or done the work. Now that the Crown has prosecuted the contrary case is proved. Former service members know that the Crown will act if they provide evidence of the law being broken. Thus the King's Peace is maintained.
  • MelonBMelonB Posts: 16,636

    FF43 said:

    FF43 said:

    Listening to the EU commission press conference they simply cannot criticise Trump providing evasive and rambling responses, even over Greenland

    Kemi, Cleverley and Honest Bob's unoquivocal condemnation (despite not being in Government yet) has been impressive by contrast.
    "A lot of noise from people who couldn’t find Venezuela on a map" seems to me to be a robust and effective response from Kemi on where Venezuela stands in respect to invasions from other countries
    I'm probably missing the point but Venezuela is one of the easier countries to find on a map.
    Trump found Venezuela on a map, or at least his minions did.

    A lot of people criticised that comment by Badenoch as characteristically aggressive towards people who have nailed their colours to their mast. I actually think Badenoch is saying the quiet part out loud. Why should we care about Venezuela? The thing about quiet parts that Badenoch doesn't get, you're not meant to say them out loud.
    Why should we care:

    Rules based international order = Global prosperity
    Rules based international order = Defence spending 2% and 3% we can use however we please

    Might is right = Increase in tensions, suspicions, rival blocks and war
    Might is right = We spend that 3% on defence instead of NHS, education, tax cuts or whatever
    Rules based international order = utopian idealism

    Might is right = realpolitik

    We should be spending 3% on defence, not wishing for lawyers, unicorns and fairies to protect us.
    What a f*cking stupid post that is.

    The rules based international order has served us pretty well all our lives... Until it started to be ignored by Putin, Netanyahu, and now Trump in the past few years.
    Oh what sanctimonious claptrap.

    The rules based international order never existed. It was always a utopian myth, not an actual reality.

    Forget about how nice it would be to have one and deal with the cold, hard, realistic facts that countries have ALWAYS broken the rules. There has never been a time when it was not the case, as much as it would be nice were it to be the case.

    A desire for utopia is not a reason to claim it exists, or act as if it does.
    It does actually exist and serves us pretty well, just not in geopolitics.

    The OECD model tax convention, international standards in telephony, the WTO and incoterms, international maritime law, global aviation standards and the Warsaw Convention, international court of arbitration, etc etc.

    Some of the above is starting to come a bit unstuck, but most of it holds. Without it we’d be in a state of chaos.
  • DougSealDougSeal Posts: 13,141

    Carnyx said:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c17x92nzgyzo

    Llandudno cosplay matelot fined £500. Rear-Admiral too. He might as well have gone for Admiral of the Fleet, so cheap.

    Even wore a DSO (apparently a real one, only someone else won it) , but that isn't criminal.

    I found it quite disheartening, if that is what floated his boat. King Charles never gets fined for wearing a f***ton of military combat medals he didn't earn. Likewise Edward.
    I'm not sure he should have been charged. A victimless crime.
    It was hugely disrespectful and widely condemned here in Llandudno
    Being disrespectful should not be a crime.
    Pretending to hold a position of authority you do not have should be though. It can cause deception and thus loss. And thus is a crime. That no loss was caused is neither here nor there - you might as well refuse to prosecute motor offences where no one gets hurt. Or any attempted crime.

    Although I agree no-one rattles pearls quite like Big G. He should get medals just for that. The best pearl rattler in North Wales.
  • Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 68,695

    Carnyx said:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c17x92nzgyzo

    Llandudno cosplay matelot fined £500. Rear-Admiral too. He might as well have gone for Admiral of the Fleet, so cheap.

    Even wore a DSO (apparently a real one, only someone else won it) , but that isn't criminal.

    I found it quite disheartening, if that is what floated his boat. King Charles never gets fined for wearing a f***ton of military combat medals he didn't earn. Likewise Edward.
    I'm not sure he should have been charged. A victimless crime.
    It was hugely disrespectful and widely condemned here in Llandudno
    Neither disrespect nor widely condemned should matter. Just ask DJT, Boris, Keir, Nigel, JRM, et al

    This is the detail of this case

    A real-life' Walter Mitty posed as fake admiral and how he finally faced justice

    https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/real-life-walter-mitty-posing-33168759#ICID=Android_DailyPostNewsApp_AppShare
  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 21,733
    rcs1000 said:

    Andy_JS said:

    "When Nicolas Maduro appears in court, scheduled within the next hour, he will face a notable figure on the judge's bench: 92-year-old Alvin Hellerstein."

    https://news.sky.com/story/venezuela-live-trump-maduro-court-capture-strikes-colombia-greenland-latest-13489831#10800284

    He couldn't should he? Say there was no case to answer or something? Order him to be returned home?
    I believe he's going to claim to be an illegal immigrant and hope to get deported back whence he came.
    People speculated that he might adopt the entertaining, but spectacularly unsuccessful, approach of King Charles I and refuse to plead on the basis that the court had no jurisdiction to try him and he was being detained illegally - but instead he pled not guilty.
  • Daveyboy1961Daveyboy1961 Posts: 5,127

    Carnyx said:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c17x92nzgyzo

    Llandudno cosplay matelot fined £500. Rear-Admiral too. He might as well have gone for Admiral of the Fleet, so cheap.

    Even wore a DSO (apparently a real one, only someone else won it) , but that isn't criminal.

    I found it quite disheartening, if that is what floated his boat. King Charles never gets fined for wearing a f***ton of military combat medals he didn't earn. Likewise Edward.
    I'm not sure he should have been charged. A victimless crime.
    It was hugely disrespectful and widely condemned here in Llandudno
    Neither disrespect nor widely condemned should matter. Just ask DJT, Boris, Keir, Nigel, JRM, et al

    This is the detail of this case

    A real-life' Walter Mitty posed as fake admiral and how he finally faced justice

    https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/real-life-walter-mitty-posing-33168759#ICID=Android_DailyPostNewsApp_AppShare
    Yes, a total waste of legal time and money.
  • Peter_the_PunterPeter_the_Punter Posts: 15,125
    rcs1000 said:

    Andy_JS said:

    "When Nicolas Maduro appears in court, scheduled within the next hour, he will face a notable figure on the judge's bench: 92-year-old Alvin Hellerstein."

    https://news.sky.com/story/venezuela-live-trump-maduro-court-capture-strikes-colombia-greenland-latest-13489831#10800284

    He couldn't should he? Say there was no case to answer or something? Order him to be returned home?
    I believe he's going to claim to be an illegal immigrant and hope to get deported back whence he came.
    In all seriousness, I am surprised he accepted the jurisdiction of the Court.

    He was abducted from a foreign country and brought to trial having committed no crime in the US. He is no doubt a piece of shit, but if they can bang him up, why not you or me?
  • Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 68,695
    DougSeal said:

    Carnyx said:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c17x92nzgyzo

    Llandudno cosplay matelot fined £500. Rear-Admiral too. He might as well have gone for Admiral of the Fleet, so cheap.

    Even wore a DSO (apparently a real one, only someone else won it) , but that isn't criminal.

    I found it quite disheartening, if that is what floated his boat. King Charles never gets fined for wearing a f***ton of military combat medals he didn't earn. Likewise Edward.
    I'm not sure he should have been charged. A victimless crime.
    It was hugely disrespectful and widely condemned here in Llandudno
    Being disrespectful should not be a crime.
    Pretending to hold a position of authority you do not have should be though. It can cause deception and thus loss. And thus is a crime. That no loss was caused is neither here nor there - you might as well refuse to prosecute motor offences where no one gets hurt. Or any attempted crime.

    Although I agree no-one rattles pearls quite like Big G. He should get medals just for that. The best pearl rattler in North Wales.
    Actually he didnt upset me rather made me think he was sad

    It did upset the armed forces present as explained in the article I posted
  • MattWMattW Posts: 31,567
    DougSeal said:

    Carnyx said:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c17x92nzgyzo

    Llandudno cosplay matelot fined £500. Rear-Admiral too. He might as well have gone for Admiral of the Fleet, so cheap.

    Even wore a DSO (apparently a real one, only someone else won it) , but that isn't criminal.

    I found it quite disheartening, if that is what floated his boat. King Charles never gets fined for wearing a f***ton of military combat medals he didn't earn. Likewise Edward.
    I'm not sure he should have been charged. A victimless crime.
    It was hugely disrespectful and widely condemned here in Llandudno
    Being disrespectful should not be a crime.
    Pretending to hold a position of authority you do not have should be though. It can cause deception and thus loss. And thus is a crime. That no loss was caused is neither here nor there - you might as well refuse to prosecute motor offences where no one gets hurt. Or any attempted crime.

    Although I agree no-one rattles pearls quite like Big G. He should get medals just for that. The best pearl rattler in North Wales.
    He's been doing it for years.

    At one time he turned up at a memorial event, took over, and gave a speech.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 76,912
    Trump went for Democrats, Greenland, Canada, Venezuela, Cuba.

    Then Iran out of targets in America.
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 57,202

    Carnyx said:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c17x92nzgyzo

    Llandudno cosplay matelot fined £500. Rear-Admiral too. He might as well have gone for Admiral of the Fleet, so cheap.

    Even wore a DSO (apparently a real one, only someone else won it) , but that isn't criminal.

    I found it quite disheartening, if that is what floated his boat. King Charles never gets fined for wearing a f***ton of military combat medals he didn't earn. Likewise Edward.
    I'm not sure he should have been charged. A victimless crime.
    He strikes me as a rather sad man.
    He's done the National Rail network??
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 57,202
    ydoethur said:

    Trump went for Democrats, Greenland, Canada, Venezuela, Cuba.

    Then Iran out of targets in America.

    Iranium Enrichment.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 48,709

    kinabalu said:

    What is the polymarket price for this bet as an odds equivalent?

    100/%chance gives decimal odds. So the bets struck at avg 12c/12% is 100/12 = 8.3 decimal approx 15/2 old money.
    Thanks. Bit yuck betting on disasters* but I'd talk nobody out of that on value grounds.

    * Although I can talk. I backed the Boris landslide.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 57,256

    rcs1000 said:

    Andy_JS said:

    "When Nicolas Maduro appears in court, scheduled within the next hour, he will face a notable figure on the judge's bench: 92-year-old Alvin Hellerstein."

    https://news.sky.com/story/venezuela-live-trump-maduro-court-capture-strikes-colombia-greenland-latest-13489831#10800284

    He couldn't should he? Say there was no case to answer or something? Order him to be returned home?
    I believe he's going to claim to be an illegal immigrant and hope to get deported back whence he came.
    In all seriousness, I am surprised he accepted the jurisdiction of the Court.

    He was abducted from a foreign country and brought to trial having committed no crime in the US. He is no doubt a piece of shit, but if they can bang him up, why not you or me?
    He is being detained on an illegal warrant used improperly. Habeas Corpus is the obvious plea.
  • StuartinromfordStuartinromford Posts: 21,161
    MelonB said:

    FF43 said:

    FF43 said:

    Listening to the EU commission press conference they simply cannot criticise Trump providing evasive and rambling responses, even over Greenland

    Kemi, Cleverley and Honest Bob's unoquivocal condemnation (despite not being in Government yet) has been impressive by contrast.
    "A lot of noise from people who couldn’t find Venezuela on a map" seems to me to be a robust and effective response from Kemi on where Venezuela stands in respect to invasions from other countries
    I'm probably missing the point but Venezuela is one of the easier countries to find on a map.
    Trump found Venezuela on a map, or at least his minions did.

    A lot of people criticised that comment by Badenoch as characteristically aggressive towards people who have nailed their colours to their mast. I actually think Badenoch is saying the quiet part out loud. Why should we care about Venezuela? The thing about quiet parts that Badenoch doesn't get, you're not meant to say them out loud.
    Why should we care:

    Rules based international order = Global prosperity
    Rules based international order = Defence spending 2% and 3% we can use however we please

    Might is right = Increase in tensions, suspicions, rival blocks and war
    Might is right = We spend that 3% on defence instead of NHS, education, tax cuts or whatever
    Rules based international order = utopian idealism

    Might is right = realpolitik

    We should be spending 3% on defence, not wishing for lawyers, unicorns and fairies to protect us.
    What a f*cking stupid post that is.

    The rules based international order has served us pretty well all our lives... Until it started to be ignored by Putin, Netanyahu, and now Trump in the past few years.
    Oh what sanctimonious claptrap.

    The rules based international order never existed. It was always a utopian myth, not an actual reality.

    Forget about how nice it would be to have one and deal with the cold, hard, realistic facts that countries have ALWAYS broken the rules. There has never been a time when it was not the case, as much as it would be nice were it to be the case.

    A desire for utopia is not a reason to claim it exists, or act as if it does.
    It does actually exist and serves us pretty well, just not in geopolitics.

    The OECD model tax convention, international standards in telephony, the WTO and incoterms, international maritime law, global aviation standards and the Warsaw Convention, international court of arbitration, etc etc.

    Some of the above is starting to come a bit unstuck, but most of it holds. Without it we’d be in a state of chaos.
    There was a conversation here recently about why the Quakers were such successful entrepreneurs. In part, that was because they held themselves to higher standards, enforced only by a sky fairy. But the large circle of trust that created turned out to be pretty good for business.

    Being the only one to break the rules is brilliant, for as long as you get away with it. But the period for which that tends to be true tends to be short and then being an outlaw tends to suck. See the calculation that most drug dealers would make more money for less hassle working a minimum wage job.
  • No_Offence_AlanNo_Offence_Alan Posts: 5,328

    Carnyx said:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c17x92nzgyzo

    Llandudno cosplay matelot fined £500. Rear-Admiral too. He might as well have gone for Admiral of the Fleet, so cheap.

    Even wore a DSO (apparently a real one, only someone else won it) , but that isn't criminal.

    I found it quite disheartening, if that is what floated his boat. King Charles never gets fined for wearing a f***ton of military combat medals he didn't earn. Likewise Edward.
    I'm not sure he should have been charged. A victimless crime.
    Tell that to the servicepeople who actually earned their medals, and their families.
  • Dura_AceDura_Ace Posts: 15,003
    Foxy said:

    Carnyx said:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c17x92nzgyzo

    Llandudno cosplay matelot fined £500. Rear-Admiral too. He might as well have gone for Admiral of the Fleet, so cheap.

    Even wore a DSO (apparently a real one, only someone else won it) , but that isn't criminal.

    I found it quite disheartening, if that is what floated his boat. King Charles never gets fined for wearing a f***ton of military combat medals he didn't earn. Likewise Edward.
    Aren't the Kings medals the insignia of weird European chivalric orders?
    He wears the Royal Navy LS&GC medal which you only get after 15 years of continuous operational service. Stolen valour.
  • OmniumOmnium Posts: 12,371
    Re header:
    It just doesn't seem like the right strategic choice for a country that likes the long term. Wait long enough and a some point their governments will be sufficiently aligned to propose all sorts of agreements, and wait longer still and there will be union.

    The alternative seems quite non-Chinese - lots of death and destruction, a questionable outcome, and a black mark in Chinese history.


    However the Taiwanese wouldn't be spending so much on armaments if I was right.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 47,322
    edited January 5

    MelonB said:

    FF43 said:

    FF43 said:

    Listening to the EU commission press conference they simply cannot criticise Trump providing evasive and rambling responses, even over Greenland

    Kemi, Cleverley and Honest Bob's unoquivocal condemnation (despite not being in Government yet) has been impressive by contrast.
    "A lot of noise from people who couldn’t find Venezuela on a map" seems to me to be a robust and effective response from Kemi on where Venezuela stands in respect to invasions from other countries
    I'm probably missing the point but Venezuela is one of the easier countries to find on a map.
    Trump found Venezuela on a map, or at least his minions did.

    A lot of people criticised that comment by Badenoch as characteristically aggressive towards people who have nailed their colours to their mast. I actually think Badenoch is saying the quiet part out loud. Why should we care about Venezuela? The thing about quiet parts that Badenoch doesn't get, you're not meant to say them out loud.
    Why should we care:

    Rules based international order = Global prosperity
    Rules based international order = Defence spending 2% and 3% we can use however we please

    Might is right = Increase in tensions, suspicions, rival blocks and war
    Might is right = We spend that 3% on defence instead of NHS, education, tax cuts or whatever
    Rules based international order = utopian idealism

    Might is right = realpolitik

    We should be spending 3% on defence, not wishing for lawyers, unicorns and fairies to protect us.
    What a f*cking stupid post that is.

    The rules based international order has served us pretty well all our lives... Until it started to be ignored by Putin, Netanyahu, and now Trump in the past few years.
    Oh what sanctimonious claptrap.

    The rules based international order never existed. It was always a utopian myth, not an actual reality.

    Forget about how nice it would be to have one and deal with the cold, hard, realistic facts that countries have ALWAYS broken the rules. There has never been a time when it was not the case, as much as it would be nice were it to be the case.

    A desire for utopia is not a reason to claim it exists, or act as if it does.
    It does actually exist and serves us pretty well, just not in geopolitics.

    The OECD model tax convention, international standards in telephony, the WTO and incoterms, international maritime law, global aviation standards and the Warsaw Convention, international court of arbitration, etc etc.

    Some of the above is starting to come a bit unstuck, but most of it holds. Without it we’d be in a state of chaos.
    There was a conversation here recently about why the Quakers were such successful entrepreneurs. In part, that was because they held themselves to higher standards, enforced only by a sky fairy. But the large circle of trust that created turned out to be pretty good for business.

    Being the only one to break the rules is brilliant, for as long as you get away with it. But the period for which that tends to be true tends to be short and then being an outlaw tends to suck. See the calculation that most drug dealers would make more money for less hassle working a minimum wage job.
    Not quite true. The Quakers had enforcers, grim-faced Men and Women in Black/Grey. They came along, invited themselves in, prayed silently and hard, and told you not to bother coming to the Meeting again. That was it, credit rating and street-cred erased.

    Edit: but that was if you did it deliberately. They'd rally round and help with a rescue plan if possible, if it wasn't an intentional bust.

    Just think, if double-glazing were invented in 1775, they'd clean up the entire industry within decades.
  • Northern_AlNorthern_Al Posts: 9,292

    FF43 said:

    FF43 said:

    Listening to the EU commission press conference they simply cannot criticise Trump providing evasive and rambling responses, even over Greenland

    Kemi, Cleverley and Honest Bob's unoquivocal condemnation (despite not being in Government yet) has been impressive by contrast.
    "A lot of noise from people who couldn’t find Venezuela on a map" seems to me to be a robust and effective response from Kemi on where Venezuela stands in respect to invasions from other countries
    I'm probably missing the point but Venezuela is one of the easier countries to find on a map.
    Trump found Venezuela on a map, or at least his minions did.

    A lot of people criticised that comment by Badenoch as characteristically aggressive towards people who have nailed their colours to their mast. I actually think Badenoch is saying the quiet part out loud. Why should we care about Venezuela? The thing about quiet parts that Badenoch doesn't get, you're not meant to say them out loud.
    Why should we care:

    Rules based international order = Global prosperity
    Rules based international order = Defence spending 2% and 3% we can use however we please

    Might is right = Increase in tensions, suspicions, rival blocks and war
    Might is right = We spend that 3% on defence instead of NHS, education, tax cuts or whatever
    Rules based international order = utopian idealism

    Might is right = realpolitik

    We should be spending 3% on defence, not wishing for lawyers, unicorns and fairies to protect us.
    What a f*cking stupid post that is.

    The rules based international order has served us pretty well all our lives... Until it started to be ignored by Putin, Netanyahu, and now Trump in the past few years.
    Oh what sanctimonious claptrap.

    The rules based international order never existed. It was always a utopian myth, not an actual reality.

    Forget about how nice it would be to have one and deal with the cold, hard, realistic facts that countries have ALWAYS broken the rules. There has never been a time when it was not the case, as much as it would be nice were it to be the case.

    A desire for utopia is not a reason to claim it exists, or act as if it does.
    I'm confused. You state that "the rules-based international order never existed". You then state that "countries have ALWAYS broken the rules".

    How can countries break rules that never existed?
  • RattersRatters Posts: 1,696

    rcs1000 said:

    Andy_JS said:

    "When Nicolas Maduro appears in court, scheduled within the next hour, he will face a notable figure on the judge's bench: 92-year-old Alvin Hellerstein."

    https://news.sky.com/story/venezuela-live-trump-maduro-court-capture-strikes-colombia-greenland-latest-13489831#10800284

    He couldn't should he? Say there was no case to answer or something? Order him to be returned home?
    I believe he's going to claim to be an illegal immigrant and hope to get deported back whence he came.
    He was abducted from a foreign country and brought to trial having committed no crime in the US. He is no doubt a piece of shit, but if they can bang him up, why not you or me?
    It could be.

    The only reason he won't is we're not important enough.

    And, if it did happen, the Trump sympathisers on here will wring their hands and say, well Peter did once give a bad betting tip, maybe the US was right to kidnap him and lock him up on fraud charges.
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 34,579
    kinabalu said:

    It's clear that we are regressing to an unashamed 'might is right' rule in geopolitics but it's really not something to celebrate.

    It is not even clear how the end of Pax Americana helps America.
  • OmniumOmnium Posts: 12,371
    Dura_Ace said:

    Foxy said:

    Carnyx said:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c17x92nzgyzo

    Llandudno cosplay matelot fined £500. Rear-Admiral too. He might as well have gone for Admiral of the Fleet, so cheap.

    Even wore a DSO (apparently a real one, only someone else won it) , but that isn't criminal.

    I found it quite disheartening, if that is what floated his boat. King Charles never gets fined for wearing a f***ton of military combat medals he didn't earn. Likewise Edward.
    Aren't the Kings medals the insignia of weird European chivalric orders?
    He wears the Royal Navy LS&GC medal which you only get after 15 years of continuous operational service. Stolen valour.
    A medal you have? If so, and if the terms are precise then you might write to the King. If your case is good then you might see him not wearing that ribbon in the future.

    These sorts of things are overlooked, but the authorities are surprising receptive to such things being pointed out to them. My uncle (who I never met) died when flying an Avro Anson. Sadly no Dura mechanics seem to have been on his ground crew, or he just ploughed into the Irish mountain for his own reasons - possibly testing radar stuff. Anyway, after a few gentle letters my father got the local church monument adjusted to include him.
  • DougSealDougSeal Posts: 13,141

    DougSeal said:

    Carnyx said:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c17x92nzgyzo

    Llandudno cosplay matelot fined £500. Rear-Admiral too. He might as well have gone for Admiral of the Fleet, so cheap.

    Even wore a DSO (apparently a real one, only someone else won it) , but that isn't criminal.

    I found it quite disheartening, if that is what floated his boat. King Charles never gets fined for wearing a f***ton of military combat medals he didn't earn. Likewise Edward.
    I'm not sure he should have been charged. A victimless crime.
    It was hugely disrespectful and widely condemned here in Llandudno
    Being disrespectful should not be a crime.
    Pretending to hold a position of authority you do not have should be though. It can cause deception and thus loss. And thus is a crime. That no loss was caused is neither here nor there - you might as well refuse to prosecute motor offences where no one gets hurt. Or any attempted crime.

    Although I agree no-one rattles pearls quite like Big G. He should get medals just for that. The best pearl rattler in North Wales.
    Actually he didnt upset me rather made me think he was sad

    It did upset the armed forces present as explained in the article I posted
    Apologies Big G. I misrepresented you. I meant pearl-clutcher rather than pearl rattler. My mistake.
  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 21,733

    kinabalu said:

    It's clear that we are regressing to an unashamed 'might is right' rule in geopolitics but it's really not something to celebrate.

    It is not even clear how the end of Pax Americana helps America.
    It doesn't, but the claim that it does is a useful smokescreen for the individuals who hope to profit personally.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 47,322
    Interesting piece on returning to Victorian values - more specifically the public khazi, by the architect who does some of this work:

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jan/05/british-toilet-revolution-architects-loos

    I hadn't realised public latrines aren't a statutory duty (he must mean in England, but on checking, they're only indirectly a duty in Scotland and Wales through the more general public health and tourism promotion duties, if that).

    As one gets older ...
  • OmniumOmnium Posts: 12,371
    edited January 5
    kinabalu said:

    It's clear that we are regressing to an unashamed 'might is right' rule in geopolitics but it's really not something to celebrate.

    It's clearly not British....

    'British might is right' being an unarguable truth of course.
  • FF43FF43 Posts: 18,857
    Carnyx said:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c17x92nzgyzo

    Llandudno cosplay matelot fined £500. Rear-Admiral too. He might as well have gone for Admiral of the Fleet, so cheap.

    Even wore a DSO (apparently a real one, only someone else won it) , but that isn't criminal.

    Thank goodness then my grandfather's dress uniform didn't fit so I couldn't wear it to the fancy dress ball. I think my nephew may have made off with it.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 48,709

    kinabalu said:

    It's clear that we are regressing to an unashamed 'might is right' rule in geopolitics but it's really not something to celebrate.

    It is not even clear how the end of Pax Americana helps America.
    The usual disconnect between the interests of the puffed up autocrat and the people he supposedly represents.
  • Dura_AceDura_Ace Posts: 15,003
    Omnium said:

    Dura_Ace said:

    Foxy said:

    Carnyx said:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c17x92nzgyzo

    Llandudno cosplay matelot fined £500. Rear-Admiral too. He might as well have gone for Admiral of the Fleet, so cheap.

    Even wore a DSO (apparently a real one, only someone else won it) , but that isn't criminal.

    I found it quite disheartening, if that is what floated his boat. King Charles never gets fined for wearing a f***ton of military combat medals he didn't earn. Likewise Edward.
    Aren't the Kings medals the insignia of weird European chivalric orders?
    He wears the Royal Navy LS&GC medal which you only get after 15 years of continuous operational service. Stolen valour.
    A medal you have? I
    The "GC" stands for "Good Conduct", so no.
  • FF43FF43 Posts: 18,857
    edited January 5

    rcs1000 said:

    Andy_JS said:

    "When Nicolas Maduro appears in court, scheduled within the next hour, he will face a notable figure on the judge's bench: 92-year-old Alvin Hellerstein."

    https://news.sky.com/story/venezuela-live-trump-maduro-court-capture-strikes-colombia-greenland-latest-13489831#10800284

    He couldn't should he? Say there was no case to answer or something? Order him to be returned home?
    I believe he's going to claim to be an illegal immigrant and hope to get deported back whence he came.
    In all seriousness, I am surprised he accepted the jurisdiction of the Court.

    He was abducted from a foreign country and brought to trial having committed no crime in the US. He is no doubt a piece of shit, but if they can bang him up, why not you or me?
    I wouldn't be surprised if there's eventually some kind of deal once Trump has sucked the performative goodness out of the Maduro kidnapping. None of this has any legal or national security rationale.

    I mean, Maduro is Trump's kind of guy.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 69,402
    Ratters said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Andy_JS said:

    "When Nicolas Maduro appears in court, scheduled within the next hour, he will face a notable figure on the judge's bench: 92-year-old Alvin Hellerstein."

    https://news.sky.com/story/venezuela-live-trump-maduro-court-capture-strikes-colombia-greenland-latest-13489831#10800284

    He couldn't should he? Say there was no case to answer or something? Order him to be returned home?
    I believe he's going to claim to be an illegal immigrant and hope to get deported back whence he came.
    He was abducted from a foreign country and brought to trial having committed no crime in the US. He is no doubt a piece of shit, but if they can bang him up, why not you or me?
    It could be.

    The only reason he won't is we're not important enough.

    And, if it did happen, the Trump sympathisers on here will wring their hands and say, well Peter did once give a bad betting tip, maybe the US was right to kidnap him and lock him up on fraud charges.
    Could be a year before he faces trial according to NY Times.

    A year in the NY remand prison which kept Epstein safe.

  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 47,322
    FF43 said:

    Carnyx said:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c17x92nzgyzo

    Llandudno cosplay matelot fined £500. Rear-Admiral too. He might as well have gone for Admiral of the Fleet, so cheap.

    Even wore a DSO (apparently a real one, only someone else won it) , but that isn't criminal.

    Thank goodness then my grandfather's dress uniform didn't fit so I couldn't wear it to the fancy dress ball. I think my nephew may have made off with it.
    So long as great-uncle wasn't in the RTR. Might have caused some misunderstandings else.

    When I were a lad I used to raid my dad's redundant RN (actually by then Reservist and then RNVR) kit for going sailing, which was OK for the shirt and work trousers. But he wouldn't let me have the CPO's jacket for informal day wear until the badges had been removed and the buttons replace with plain brass. Sensible chap.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 48,709
    edited January 5
    Omnium said:

    kinabalu said:

    It's clear that we are regressing to an unashamed 'might is right' rule in geopolitics but it's really not something to celebrate.

    It's clearly not British....

    'British might is right' being an unarguable truth of course.
    Well good point. But we are now a middle rank nation needing alliances. Hopefully Europe can step up and we can stop pretending we're too special to be a part of it.
  • Daveyboy1961Daveyboy1961 Posts: 5,127

    Carnyx said:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c17x92nzgyzo

    Llandudno cosplay matelot fined £500. Rear-Admiral too. He might as well have gone for Admiral of the Fleet, so cheap.

    Even wore a DSO (apparently a real one, only someone else won it) , but that isn't criminal.

    I found it quite disheartening, if that is what floated his boat. King Charles never gets fined for wearing a f***ton of military combat medals he didn't earn. Likewise Edward.
    I'm not sure he should have been charged. A victimless crime.
    Tell that to the servicepeople who actually earned their medals, and their families.
    I thought remembance services were for remembering friends and colleagues who laid down their lives, not showing off medals. Not everyone got medals. Not all families had a medal holder to mourn, just an ordinary soldier.
  • OmniumOmnium Posts: 12,371
    Dura_Ace said:

    Omnium said:

    Dura_Ace said:

    Foxy said:

    Carnyx said:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c17x92nzgyzo

    Llandudno cosplay matelot fined £500. Rear-Admiral too. He might as well have gone for Admiral of the Fleet, so cheap.

    Even wore a DSO (apparently a real one, only someone else won it) , but that isn't criminal.

    I found it quite disheartening, if that is what floated his boat. King Charles never gets fined for wearing a f***ton of military combat medals he didn't earn. Likewise Edward.
    Aren't the Kings medals the insignia of weird European chivalric orders?
    He wears the Royal Navy LS&GC medal which you only get after 15 years of continuous operational service. Stolen valour.
    A medal you have? I
    The "GC" stands for "Good Conduct", so no.
    I'd not mention that criteria in your letter to the King.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 47,322
    edited January 5

    Carnyx said:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c17x92nzgyzo

    Llandudno cosplay matelot fined £500. Rear-Admiral too. He might as well have gone for Admiral of the Fleet, so cheap.

    Even wore a DSO (apparently a real one, only someone else won it) , but that isn't criminal.

    I found it quite disheartening, if that is what floated his boat. King Charles never gets fined for wearing a f***ton of military combat medals he didn't earn. Likewise Edward.
    I'm not sure he should have been charged. A victimless crime.
    Tell that to the servicepeople who actually earned their medals, and their families.
    I thought remembance services were for remembering friends and colleagues who laid down their lives, not showing off medals. Not everyone got medals. Not all families had a medal holder to mourn, just an ordinary soldier.
    Everyone got a medal for serving, actually: the campaign medals etc. Or at least they did if they wanted to apply for them - or their relatives did, I think.

    My dad had one for WW2 even though he was a teenager for all of his time (trained as artificer). He did get to see some operational service in a trench somewhere around Rame Head (invasion alert)! He also earned them for other campaigns etc. My granddad had several for his 1915-1919 stint. But my other granddad - no papers, no medals, no record of service survives other than one photo of him training on a Hotchkiss LMG, with a Lewis Gunner badge on his sleeve. That's it. He can't have been the only man to set his war aside.

    Edit: the gallantry awards are separate.
  • theProletheProle Posts: 1,633

    MelonB said:

    FF43 said:

    FF43 said:

    Listening to the EU commission press conference they simply cannot criticise Trump providing evasive and rambling responses, even over Greenland

    Kemi, Cleverley and Honest Bob's unoquivocal condemnation (despite not being in Government yet) has been impressive by contrast.
    "A lot of noise from people who couldn’t find Venezuela on a map" seems to me to be a robust and effective response from Kemi on where Venezuela stands in respect to invasions from other countries
    I'm probably missing the point but Venezuela is one of the easier countries to find on a map.
    Trump found Venezuela on a map, or at least his minions did.

    A lot of people criticised that comment by Badenoch as characteristically aggressive towards people who have nailed their colours to their mast. I actually think Badenoch is saying the quiet part out loud. Why should we care about Venezuela? The thing about quiet parts that Badenoch doesn't get, you're not meant to say them out loud.
    Why should we care:

    Rules based international order = Global prosperity
    Rules based international order = Defence spending 2% and 3% we can use however we please

    Might is right = Increase in tensions, suspicions, rival blocks and war
    Might is right = We spend that 3% on defence instead of NHS, education, tax cuts or whatever
    Rules based international order = utopian idealism

    Might is right = realpolitik

    We should be spending 3% on defence, not wishing for lawyers, unicorns and fairies to protect us.
    What a f*cking stupid post that is.

    The rules based international order has served us pretty well all our lives... Until it started to be ignored by Putin, Netanyahu, and now Trump in the past few years.
    Oh what sanctimonious claptrap.

    The rules based international order never existed. It was always a utopian myth, not an actual reality.

    Forget about how nice it would be to have one and deal with the cold, hard, realistic facts that countries have ALWAYS broken the rules. There has never been a time when it was not the case, as much as it would be nice were it to be the case.

    A desire for utopia is not a reason to claim it exists, or act as if it does.
    It does actually exist and serves us pretty well, just not in geopolitics.

    The OECD model tax convention, international standards in telephony, the WTO and incoterms, international maritime law, global aviation standards and the Warsaw Convention, international court of arbitration, etc etc.

    Some of the above is starting to come a bit unstuck, but most of it holds. Without it we’d be in a state of chaos.
    There was a conversation here recently about why the Quakers were such successful entrepreneurs. In part, that was because they held themselves to higher standards, enforced only by a sky fairy. But the large circle of trust that created turned out to be pretty good for business.

    Being the only one to break the rules is brilliant, for as long as you get away with it. But the period for which that tends to be true tends to be short and then being an outlaw tends to suck. See the calculation that most drug dealers would make more money for less hassle working a minimum wage job.
    Re the drug dealers - is that because you have to deduct the cost of running an overpriced Audi SUV as a business expense before calculating their net income?
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 56,987
    https://x.com/StateDept/status/2008221563888292207

    This is OUR Hemisphere, and President Trump will not allow our security to be threatened.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 47,322
    theProle said:

    MelonB said:

    FF43 said:

    FF43 said:

    Listening to the EU commission press conference they simply cannot criticise Trump providing evasive and rambling responses, even over Greenland

    Kemi, Cleverley and Honest Bob's unoquivocal condemnation (despite not being in Government yet) has been impressive by contrast.
    "A lot of noise from people who couldn’t find Venezuela on a map" seems to me to be a robust and effective response from Kemi on where Venezuela stands in respect to invasions from other countries
    I'm probably missing the point but Venezuela is one of the easier countries to find on a map.
    Trump found Venezuela on a map, or at least his minions did.

    A lot of people criticised that comment by Badenoch as characteristically aggressive towards people who have nailed their colours to their mast. I actually think Badenoch is saying the quiet part out loud. Why should we care about Venezuela? The thing about quiet parts that Badenoch doesn't get, you're not meant to say them out loud.
    Why should we care:

    Rules based international order = Global prosperity
    Rules based international order = Defence spending 2% and 3% we can use however we please

    Might is right = Increase in tensions, suspicions, rival blocks and war
    Might is right = We spend that 3% on defence instead of NHS, education, tax cuts or whatever
    Rules based international order = utopian idealism

    Might is right = realpolitik

    We should be spending 3% on defence, not wishing for lawyers, unicorns and fairies to protect us.
    What a f*cking stupid post that is.

    The rules based international order has served us pretty well all our lives... Until it started to be ignored by Putin, Netanyahu, and now Trump in the past few years.
    Oh what sanctimonious claptrap.

    The rules based international order never existed. It was always a utopian myth, not an actual reality.

    Forget about how nice it would be to have one and deal with the cold, hard, realistic facts that countries have ALWAYS broken the rules. There has never been a time when it was not the case, as much as it would be nice were it to be the case.

    A desire for utopia is not a reason to claim it exists, or act as if it does.
    It does actually exist and serves us pretty well, just not in geopolitics.

    The OECD model tax convention, international standards in telephony, the WTO and incoterms, international maritime law, global aviation standards and the Warsaw Convention, international court of arbitration, etc etc.

    Some of the above is starting to come a bit unstuck, but most of it holds. Without it we’d be in a state of chaos.
    There was a conversation here recently about why the Quakers were such successful entrepreneurs. In part, that was because they held themselves to higher standards, enforced only by a sky fairy. But the large circle of trust that created turned out to be pretty good for business.

    Being the only one to break the rules is brilliant, for as long as you get away with it. But the period for which that tends to be true tends to be short and then being an outlaw tends to suck. See the calculation that most drug dealers would make more money for less hassle working a minimum wage job.
    Re the drug dealers - is that because you have to deduct the cost of running an overpriced Audi SUV as a business expense before calculating their net income?
    Very short time period to depreciate the capital allowance over, too.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 47,322

    https://x.com/StateDept/status/2008221563888292207

    This is OUR Hemisphere, and President Trump will not allow our security to be threatened.

    That's Rotherhithe done for. Woolwich, on the other hand, is OK.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 59,767
    theProle said:

    MelonB said:

    FF43 said:

    FF43 said:

    Listening to the EU commission press conference they simply cannot criticise Trump providing evasive and rambling responses, even over Greenland

    Kemi, Cleverley and Honest Bob's unoquivocal condemnation (despite not being in Government yet) has been impressive by contrast.
    "A lot of noise from people who couldn’t find Venezuela on a map" seems to me to be a robust and effective response from Kemi on where Venezuela stands in respect to invasions from other countries
    I'm probably missing the point but Venezuela is one of the easier countries to find on a map.
    Trump found Venezuela on a map, or at least his minions did.

    A lot of people criticised that comment by Badenoch as characteristically aggressive towards people who have nailed their colours to their mast. I actually think Badenoch is saying the quiet part out loud. Why should we care about Venezuela? The thing about quiet parts that Badenoch doesn't get, you're not meant to say them out loud.
    Why should we care:

    Rules based international order = Global prosperity
    Rules based international order = Defence spending 2% and 3% we can use however we please

    Might is right = Increase in tensions, suspicions, rival blocks and war
    Might is right = We spend that 3% on defence instead of NHS, education, tax cuts or whatever
    Rules based international order = utopian idealism

    Might is right = realpolitik

    We should be spending 3% on defence, not wishing for lawyers, unicorns and fairies to protect us.
    What a f*cking stupid post that is.

    The rules based international order has served us pretty well all our lives... Until it started to be ignored by Putin, Netanyahu, and now Trump in the past few years.
    Oh what sanctimonious claptrap.

    The rules based international order never existed. It was always a utopian myth, not an actual reality.

    Forget about how nice it would be to have one and deal with the cold, hard, realistic facts that countries have ALWAYS broken the rules. There has never been a time when it was not the case, as much as it would be nice were it to be the case.

    A desire for utopia is not a reason to claim it exists, or act as if it does.
    It does actually exist and serves us pretty well, just not in geopolitics.

    The OECD model tax convention, international standards in telephony, the WTO and incoterms, international maritime law, global aviation standards and the Warsaw Convention, international court of arbitration, etc etc.

    Some of the above is starting to come a bit unstuck, but most of it holds. Without it we’d be in a state of chaos.
    There was a conversation here recently about why the Quakers were such successful entrepreneurs. In part, that was because they held themselves to higher standards, enforced only by a sky fairy. But the large circle of trust that created turned out to be pretty good for business.

    Being the only one to break the rules is brilliant, for as long as you get away with it. But the period for which that tends to be true tends to be short and then being an outlaw tends to suck. See the calculation that most drug dealers would make more money for less hassle working a minimum wage job.
    Re the drug dealers - is that because you have to deduct the cost of running an overpriced Audi SUV as a business expense before calculating their net income?
    The Economist did that investigation years ago. The street level guys live a miserable existence - making far less than minimum wage. Irregular bursts of cash, and the get “taxed” by the gang bosses. Which is why the commonest reason for a murder, in that world, is one of those guys stealing.

    A few guys at the top live good lives. Everyone else is poor and fearful.
  • BattlebusBattlebus Posts: 2,213

    FF43 said:

    FF43 said:

    Listening to the EU commission press conference they simply cannot criticise Trump providing evasive and rambling responses, even over Greenland

    Kemi, Cleverley and Honest Bob's unoquivocal condemnation (despite not being in Government yet) has been impressive by contrast.
    "A lot of noise from people who couldn’t find Venezuela on a map" seems to me to be a robust and effective response from Kemi on where Venezuela stands in respect to invasions from other countries
    I'm probably missing the point but Venezuela is one of the easier countries to find on a map.
    Trump found Venezuela on a map, or at least his minions did.

    A lot of people criticised that comment by Badenoch as characteristically aggressive towards people who have nailed their colours to their mast. I actually think Badenoch is saying the quiet part out loud. Why should we care about Venezuela? The thing about quiet parts that Badenoch doesn't get, you're not meant to say them out loud.
    Why should we care:

    Rules based international order = Global prosperity
    Rules based international order = Defence spending 2% and 3% we can use however we please

    Might is right = Increase in tensions, suspicions, rival blocks and war
    Might is right = We spend that 3% on defence instead of NHS, education, tax cuts or whatever
    Rules based international order = utopian idealism

    Might is right = realpolitik

    We should be spending 3% on defence, not wishing for lawyers, unicorns and fairies to protect us.
    What a f*cking stupid post that is.

    The rules based international order has served us pretty well all our lives... Until it started to be ignored by Putin, Netanyahu, and now Trump in the past few years.
    Oh what sanctimonious claptrap.

    The rules based international order never existed. It was always a utopian myth, not an actual reality.

    Forget about how nice it would be to have one and deal with the cold, hard, realistic facts that countries have ALWAYS broken the rules. There has never been a time when it was not the case, as much as it would be nice were it to be the case.

    A desire for utopia is not a reason to claim it exists, or act as if it does.
    Might is Right - until someone punches you in the face.
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 56,987
    Carnyx said:

    https://x.com/StateDept/status/2008221563888292207

    This is OUR Hemisphere, and President Trump will not allow our security to be threatened.

    That's Rotherhithe done for. Woolwich, on the other hand, is OK.
    If gangs start tagging Trump territory in London, then we'll know something is up.
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 56,987
    https://x.com/shashj/status/2008227013191168135

    More evidence that a deal was done. "Rodríguez, a canny political operator, was envisaged as head of a transitional government in secret talks that her politician brother, Jorge, led with Washington last year about a post-Maduro future"
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 48,709
    Gary Neville getting animated about the situation at Old Trafford

    "This is Manchester United we're talking about here"
  • FF43FF43 Posts: 18,857
    Interested in people's views. If China does move to occupy Taiwan in the next year or so I presume America does nothing to stop them - what would the effect be on America? Would they see that as a wake up call and time to stop this self indulgent nonsense, or would they double down?
  • stodgestodge Posts: 15,840
    Evening all :)

    We all knew, even before the events of last week, the Monroe Doctrine was enjoying a new lease of life in the Trump Administration but let's be fair, it never really went away.

    The notion of "buying" territories is hardly new for America - the Louisiana Purchase, Alaska? Making Denmark a commercial offer for Greenland would seem the sensible move - I always thought the only way Ireland would ever be reunited was if one side bought out the another.

    Diplomancy via force majeure and the power of money - it's really nothing new. The Americans used financial leverage against France and ourselves over Suez and the Romans would bribe tribes to collaborate.

    We might like to think international diplomacy is governed by rules and regulations more akin to a chess game but sometimes it isn't and forcing regime change through military or commercial power has occurred down the ages.
  • stodgestodge Posts: 15,840
    Carnyx said:

    https://x.com/StateDept/status/2008221563888292207

    This is OUR Hemisphere, and President Trump will not allow our security to be threatened.

    That's Rotherhithe done for. Woolwich, on the other hand, is OK.
    The line passes between Bromley by Bow and West Ham - very close.
  • FairlieredFairliered Posts: 7,260
    It seems worryingly like the 1930s at the moment. Economic stagnation, tyrants around the world doing what tyrants do, the UK with its head in the sand …
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