leicsmac

Also, it's telling that Vance considers warfare the primary yardstick by which a nation is measured. "...you inescapably associate technological advancement of a species' power with advancement of their capacity to intentionally inflict violence on each other. The capacity for violence and the nobility of restraint in its application is just so tightly bound up in your narrative of what it means to be powerful that it ruins your suspension of disbelief to be asked to question it."

I'm sure Michael Crichton would have something to say about unintended consequences on this one, but given this is really at the very early stage it's no guarantee they'll get anywhere near where they want to go anyway.

Make this one about even money.

While idealistically this is true, a dreadful decision that results in dreadful consequences isn't any less dreadful because it's the product of people being convinced to choose it within a democratic system. The bit about democracy being the worst system of government other that all the others that have been tried is still true, but its flaws are being rather sorely exposed at the moment, and they may get even more so in the near future. Yeah. "Hey, the tw@t over there says that we're weak. Let's be tw@ts like him so he won't do it, OK?"

What was it that Sun Tzu said in The Art of War about winning while doing very little/nothing at all?

Never let it be said that Vance and his ilk aren't hypocrites, to add to every other negative quality about them.

Au contraire, it should be consistently added as many times as possible, because the more that people make their position clear that geopolitics is the filthy business you mention, the greater the possibility of it actually changing. Which, for more than moral reasons, it's rather important. ... or we can just accept we're powerless, that we're not actually going togrow up as a species, and see death, suffering and destruction in the future as a fait accompli. Guess it depends on the person. Do agree that at this point in time defence spending needs a boost across Europe.

This may well be true. However, it should in no way be acceptable by anyone with a conscience.

Just wait until China and Canada stop American air carriers landing at their airports...

On the topic of Musk, however: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3e44ge0xnwo Behind the imposing doors of the world's oldest scientific academy, the Royal Society, confidential talks have been taking place. The gathering of 150 members on Monday evening was effectively a crisis meeting, held amid a growing campaign urging the society to expel its most controversial member - Elon Musk. Mr Musk's achievements earned him a fellowship of the Royal Society back in 2018., external But, over the last nine months, many scientists have raised concerns about the billionaire's behaviour, which has been called a threat to science. It is a great shame that the man decided to become Ted Faro rather than Tony Stark.

Scrubbed, wet dress rehearsal.

A welcome - if macabre - corollary of this week is that it does indeed show Reform up. This is not an issue they can really win on and it's hitting them hard.

Could do both tbh. I think presenting it as a public health matteer is not exactly something the Americans could argue with.

The UK, at least, could start with obligatory vaccination checks for some diseases on all US citizens, tourists or otherwise, coming into the country. Sending a valid message wrt RFK-style ignorance-of-public-health bollocks.

From what I know and have seen, they really are torn, yes. They know the necessity of advancement in this field, while despising the politics and name it is being done in. Or, as discussed before, we can make every effort to do both because treating this as an either/or problem will end in disaster both ways. At some point, the, Earth (or space itself) is going to throw a massive problem at us that will require space-based tech, resources or knowledge to deal with. No matter how good we are at being custodians of the Earth (and we really need to do far better on that one, as well).

- I'm not sure Vance (who I will assume will be the chosen candidate) can work the con artist routine as successfully as Trump has - the next election may well be fought on issues that any Trump-style Repub candidate may be uncomfortable with That being said, there's a long way between here and there, and there's no guarantee about what the world (to say nothing of the integrity of the US electoral process) will look like then, so I don't think many predictions will hold any kind of water right now.

Good to see. Always good to see such species making a comeback. Tbh given the current situation I wouldn't be surprised if the next words spoken on the Moon are in Mandarin.

Williamson falls, that's pretty much that. Final going to be outside the host country, then.

Williamson running out of partners. Needs to be there at the end and someone to stick around with him.

Could be building to a grandstand finish here.

Fair enough. I'm pretty sure that is exactly what's happening now anyway. I don't think that Putin is looking to target other nations if he were to claim Ukraine (though not for lack of trying), but at the same time ceding any more land to him and allowing him to dictate terms of what Ukraine can and cannot do in the international community henceforth are unacceptable.

Well, we'll find out, it would seem, given 250 is the exact target.

Then what do you do when the other party is seemingly totally unwilling to give ground and absolutely believe they have the right to grind you into the dust? Genuine question.

NZ bringing it for the big occasion again. NB. You could hear a pin drop in that stadium when Phillips took that.

Is it not obvious that Trump's plan for "peace" is the kind of "peace" that results from debellatio? That has always been the Russian intent and Trump is not going to convince them otherwise - and I'm not sure he'd even make any real effort to do so. I don't think that anyone outside the insane want this war to rumble on any longer than it has or needs to, but I'm not seeing how the alternative being put on the table right now is any more acceptable except to those who think Might Is Right realpolitik should keep ruling the world.