leicsmac

The voting pattern statistics bear this out for the most part, more's the pity. But that doesn't mean that there doesn't need to be a non-simple solution to this very complex problem.

I think the reboot has been a triumph for the most part. Mark Clattenburg trying to channel John Anderson and Viper being poundshop Wolf are a bit cringy, but they've kept most of the stuff that made it good, too, it's made for good Saturday TV and I'm looking forward to the next series.

Don't throw in the towel just yet. There is still time, and still a chance, to avert at least the worst consequences of what might come. Assuming that is so, is there a more complex scheme in mind than "pull up the "drawbridge and abandon then to their fate"? Simply addressing the consequences of a problem without focusing on the causes of that problem itself doesn't really get us anywhere. I'm curious as to what the problem is that it's too late for and how global ethnonationalism posited by the likes of Farage, Trump, Putin, Orban and Musk, with all the conflict, death and suffering that inevitably brings about, goes any way to addressing it not only ethically, but practically. We are all one species and acting like it on some matters is a matter of necessity, after all.

If you can indeed link it to actual financial damage that way as a follow on question, that would bee a good one, yes.

*insert MGS2 screed about proliferation of digital information and where it would lead our species here*

... also, if there is another sufficiently advanced species watching what we are getting up to now, I have no doubt they'd be laughing whatever the equivalent of their arses is off.

No Bumrah, no party for India, it seems. Aussies showing that they mean business at home again.

It would be nice if this morning Laura K asks Farage at least one question along the lines of "do you believe the scientific consensus on climate change and vaccination is both correct and should drive Reform policymaking, and if not, why?" Bonus points for: "do you think the actions of the current President-elect on January 6th 2021 were justified and how do you think his current comments and policy ideas should affect UK policy decision making?"

...with the ego and obsession with legacy that means that they never accept responsibility for their failures and would rather future generations live in ignorance than know how badly they messed up.

Absolutely, but the resemblance in terms of status and character is uncanny.

Nah, Ted Faro 30 years early.

Have a dose of terrestrial perspective.

*Insert comment about Americans and their incredibly skewed Overton Window and how it bleeds over into their commentary about the UK and sadly some UK folks buy into it here*

Given a target of 200-250 which it will likely be...well, goodness only knows what could happen, it's certainly been an unpredictable match so far.

... because he will expect the UK to act like a subordinate who does exactly what he says in all matters, not just defence and foreign policy. The character of the man and how he views personal and national relationships is abundantly clear. Enemies, subordinates, but no friends.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cjwl569p57lo Trump: "The U.K. is making a very big mistake. Open up the North Sea. Get rid of Windmills!" ... remind me, what's the diplomatic way of saying "you demean and always have demeaned the office of President of the US and go fvck yourself with your lack of regard for the future of our species"? On a more serious note, how is the UK - or indeed any other nation who actually thinks beyond their own line of sight spatially or temporally - supposed to deal diplomatically with this hailstorm of bullshit from multiple sources and how it might affect policy?

Outstanding. A generational talent shows he is exactly that.

If they fall out, it will be because of direction of ideology, not extremity of it. The past few years have shown quite clearly what lengths Trump and his supporters go to when they have the power to do so.

I would agree that it's nothing new under the sun globally. It's time for the UK democratic process to have that severe stress test, it would seem.

I didn't know of those two, I'll have to check them out. The sentiment about the internet is spot on. I'm not sure what solution wouldn't end up worse than the problem though - the Chinese and the like clearly have their way of dealing with it which appears to work for them, but that's inimical to the kind of society folks in the West expect, so...

More standoff related drama in Korea overnight. Rather unnecessary, really: Yoon isn't going anywhere and his supporter base in dwindling. Of course he'll try to gum up the process in the name of self preservation, but going for the arrest now and messing it up just feeds into his "fvcking commie oppression!" narrative.

And, as per above, it confers great power to do things quickly. That can be good...or as we're seeing now, rather bad.

And this is why people saying that this new wave of social media manipulation is no different from manipulation in the past are wrong. The very worst, most effective thing that the new utilisers of places like Twitter have managed to do is to convince people that those looking to use it as a tool are all the same - the projection of the "other side" being as ruthless powermongers as themselves gives the general public just enough apathy and reduces just enough pushback that they can gain the power that they need. And want. It's selling a comfortable, lazy lie for their own self-interested ends, we're seeing it in democratic results in a lot of places, and the stakes for the future are as high as they can possibly be.

Safer in general terms of violence and increased life expectancy? Yes, statistically. The potential, indeed the inevitability, of a much less stable world just around the corner where those things are massively increased and reduced respectively? Also yes. Both things can be and are true IMO. And it's up to those willing to offer their time and effort to do what they can to ensure that potential doesn't become reality. It will be difficult - perhaps even impossible. But the alternative is, to me, simply unconscionable for any decent member of our species.