leicsmac

Before this goes any further, would you be so good to clarify the exact point that is being made here in light of recent events, because I don't want to guess?

And yet the latter is being used directly upon the former for the dissemination of, shall we say, questionable content. Not sure too much of a dividing line can be placed between the two.

Good for the profile of the FA Cup, as well.

Excellent.

Ooof. Squeaky bum time now.

I've been looking into it as well. It's tricky because of the way the league pyramid changes quite often, but there definitely doesn't seem to be other definitive examples that are bigger in terms of division or league places gap.

I get that, but I still think that "don't think it couldn't ever happen here" should be taken seriously on this one.

I hope you're right there. Similar movements in other places in the world have been very damaging.

This is operating on the assumption that, in the world we're living in now, such a mess would actually be recoverable and not permanently damaging. Given current circumstances, I'm not sure about that at all.

Well, yeah. That kind of nationalist sentiment almost always ends in blood and tears on a world scale. History is very clear there. The idea of there being any kind of decent world in which those resources can be harvested is utterly fanciful, as well.

In so many words, no, mate. The people round him won't stop him because firstly he's spent an age cultivating things so the only thing that matters is self-interest and loyalty to the Dear Leader (anything outside those items is punished), and secondly because they know if there's dissent, he could go down and he takes all of them with him, so self-preservation. So the rest of us have to sit and watch this insanity play out because a man managed to build a cult of personality big enough to get him the position of one of the most powerful men alive, with all the consequences that means.

Also, did a decent chunk of last nights conversation get 86ed overnight?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c78vj5n7jg3o Either the man needs to pull his head out of Cold War geopolitics, or he's lying, or both. Doesn't look good no matter which way it's sliced. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj9rengvnp9o Given everything else going on, events in Iran are flying a little more under the radar than they normally would.

Oh, no doubt. In fact, statistically, in terms of overall species quality of life, likely the best. The problem is navigating both the way the Earth is changing and our own very human self interest and hubris to make sure it stays that way and progress, rather than regression, keeps happening. Tbf if I was plunging into a truly massive abyss with a demonic entity of rivaling power to my own I'd be saying that too.

Yes. The world is changing and people must change with it, or perish. I think it won't be just one of the issues mentioned in your last paragraph here that will result in disaster, but rather a combination of them causing pressure and then one being the the trigger itself for catastrophe. But only if we let that be so. Free speech apparently includes the freedom to create nonce pictures on a platform beloved of the current US administration supporters, according to those supporters and Repub politicians. Apparently.

The dearth of critical thinking is a problem, yes. Another might be people clinging onto the ideas of political compassing that IMO are rapidly becoming outmoded as the world changes, in order to maintain vesitigial tribal differences. Left or right doesn't matter so much now. What matters now, in 2026, is those willing to advocate for and act in favour of life and the future, and those who don't and would rather focus on their own self interest above all else. I'm an ideal world where everyone saw the value in everyone else and acted in their interest as well as their own, that would be best. Unfortunately, some humans make this world far from ideal. Not only is it more chance, it may be the only chance, on some matters. Evolutionary history is pretty clear; too much individualism at the wrong time results in downfall for a species.

Got to love a classic rose-tinted, survivorship-bias-ignoring social media special.

Oh, there's plenty of opportunity for it to get worse.

Right. I meant more that it doesn't tell us much more than is already known.

Fair enough. The further point is that if it does, then I guess it comes down to which source one believes is more trustworthy and less likely to fabricate such footage. If that is, then it doesn't tell us much.

Does it directly contradict most or all of the eyewitness videos that have been made public?

You're making the mistake of assuming the man, and anyone around him, cares about anything other than their short term self interest. Which of course is a fools errand, given that the degree of upheaval that climate change will inflict elsewhere in order to make those resources accessible will in all likelihood condemn everyone, including them.

I think there are those who are aware of what has to come next, but possibly in a certain amount of denial about it. Tech development will also allow them to build autonomous armies. Maybe not now, but give it a couple of decades... Musk wants to be Ted Faro in the world of Horizon about forty years early, and anyone who knows that particular story knows how that ends.

I think at least some of them think that way. They're wrong, of course. The upheaval and conflict caused by and connected with massive deprivation in vital resources in vast areas will consume their "civilisation" along with everyone else's.

A rare example of party unity in the UK with X/Grok: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c99kn52nx9do Even Farage backing the government action, though not said in this article.