General News

[Dahnsouff]

15 hours ago, Sampson said:

What I’ll never understand is why so many conservatives get behind the likes of Trump and Farage when they are extremely radical leaders who are the polar opposite of conservatism i.e. conserving tradition and order and they are in favour of smashing it. Similarly, We are always told the Tories were “the party of law and order” but the likes of Trump and Farage are all about not caring about both international and national laws and order and trying to find ways to smash them or just flat out ignore them.  

The entire political scene has shifted to the right to accommodate the division sown by both politicians and the media, this includes Labour. Thankfully Labour retain some of their public sector values, even if they perhaps suckle more readily on the teat of the super rich than previously. That is not a criticism of Labour, but more evidence of right wing power represented by money infiltrating all political parties.

 

This general shift has meant traditional conservatism is no longer on the right in isolation, as the arrival of Reform has gone further appealing to the sown discontent, leaving the Tories looking both even more feckless and rudderless, this is because parties previously considered left leaning now habitat the some of the space previously more typically regarded as on the right, and this is inline with perceived public preference.

 

This right leaning shift, typically shown in more isolationism (small boats, dog eating, them vs us, etc) risks snowballing as there is now few legitimate left leaning parties to add balance to political discourse. This means politics will naturally move further and further toward the right here and in the West as the politics of division (fear) holds a power that a more liberal outlook is having a hard time counteracting currently.

Edited 15 March by Dahnsouff

[st albans fox]

10 hours ago, Mike Oxlong said:

In his latest rant Trump indicates that he is looking to crush the free press 

 

Scary times just got scarier ! 

I think you’ll find that it’s only the press that don’t agree with him ……

hence it’s perfectly fine !

[leicsmac]

5 hours ago, st albans fox said:

I think you’ll find that it’s only the press that don’t agree with him ……

hence it’s perfectly fine !

On the topic of people who don't agree with him...

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crmj8ky3rvno

 

The US is expelling South Africa's ambassador to Washington, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying he is "no longer welcome in our great country".

In a post on X, Rubio accused Ebrahim Rasool of hating America and President Donald Trump and described him as a "race-baiting politician".

 

It's good to see that the US does care about (allegedly) oppressed populations... they just have to be white, apparently.

 

NB. Interesting that Rubio apparently makes zero distinction between a nation and the elected leader of that nation, as if they are by definition the very embodiment of that nations values. Very North Korean.

Edited 15 March by leicsmac

[Lionator]

Starmer is still utterly delusional if he thinks Russia will agree to a ceasefire that sees British and French troops then roll into Ukraine. 

Edited 15 March by Lionator

[leicsmac]

1 minute ago, Lionator said:

Starmer is still utterly delusional if he thinks Russia will agree to a ceasefire that sees British and French troops then roll into Ukraine. 

... and Putin is likewise delusional if he thinks the other side will agree to the terms he's put forward too.

 

So I guess now it's up to the diplomats to sort all of that out towards a middle ground as best they can.

[Lionator]

3 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

... and Putin is likewise delusional if he thinks the other side will agree to the terms he's put forward too.

 

So I guess now it's up to the diplomats to sort all of that out towards a middle ground as best they can.

Exactly, which is why the war will very likely continue because I don’t think either side is willing to compromise enough. 
 

I think our side was very much trying to play a ‘gotcha’ with Putin this week but it was far too easily telegraphed and the Americans didn’t fall for it. Russia is obviously not going to accept a Ukrainian devised ceasefire. 

Edited 15 March by Lionator

[leicsmac]

11 minutes ago, Lionator said:

Exactly, which is why the war will very likely continue because I don’t think either side is willing to compromise enough. 
 

I think our side was very much trying to play a ‘gotcha’ with Putin this week but it was far too easily telegraphed and the Americans didn’t fall for it. Russia is obviously not going to accept a Ukrainian devised ceasefire. 

It's just unfortunate that the US are far too busy selling out all the values they (supposedly) had to properly negotiate on this one.

[Lionator]

21 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

It's just unfortunate that the US are far too busy selling out all the values they (supposedly) had to properly negotiate on this one.

I think the Biden admin would’ve ended up in this position anyway. We’ve just got there quicker now. 

[foxes1988]

29 minutes ago, Lionator said:

Starmer is still utterly delusional if he thinks Russia will agree to a ceasefire that sees British and French troops then roll into Ukraine. 

Yeah I don't think he believes they will either.  This is mainly just trying to help the Ukrainians negotiating power.

 

The Americans miners suggestion is utterly delusional aswell and stands no chance and the Russians as far as I can see haven't compromised on anything at the minute. 

[leicsmac]

4 minutes ago, Lionator said:

I think the Biden admin would’ve ended up in this position anyway. We’ve just got there quicker now. 

It's possible, but I guess we'll never be sure either way.

[foxes1988]

Definitely got here faster. Although if it's just Americans trying to strong arm the Ukrainians into accepting a terrible deal that Russians have cooked up, as seems the way so far, then it ain't much to shout about.

Edited 15 March by foxes1988

[st albans fox]

Have we reached the point where if after a month or two of negs, the Russians accepted a ceasefire line drawn on current positions with them taking  the 4 oblasts that they occupy into Russia, then most of the world would consider that reasonable ?

 

if you’d said that on jan 21 then the majority of the west would have said its not acceptable.  This is how far trump has moved the bar. 

[Lionator]

6 minutes ago, foxes1988 said:

Definitely got here faster. Although if it's just Americans trying to strong arm the Ukrainians into accepting a terrible deal that Russians have cooked up, as seems the way so far, then it ain't much to shout about.

This is what happened this week. USA got Ukraine to fully submit to negotiate on their behalf. USA put the ceasefire offer forward knowing full well that wasn’t going to be accepted. Then the way Zelenskyy and Polydak were treating was that as soon as Russia initially rejected it, they thought Trump would be like “well Russia rejected it and have no interest in peace, here’s our nukes” (I exaggerate). But we shall see what happens next. US are just not going to escalate militarily, maybe economically is absolutely necessary. 

[Torquay Gunner]

1 hour ago, Lionator said:

This is what happened this week. USA got Ukraine to fully submit to negotiate on their behalf. USA put the ceasefire offer forward knowing full well that wasn’t going to be accepted. Then the way Zelenskyy and Polydak were treating was that as soon as Russia initially rejected it, they thought Trump would be like “well Russia rejected it and have no interest in peace, here’s our nukes” (I exaggerate). But we shall see what happens next. US are just not going to escalate militarily, maybe economically is absolutely necessary. 

I imagine Zelensky’s expectations of Trump and his administration have drastically altered in the last few weeks. 

Edited 15 March by Torquay Gunner

[Stevosevic]

Starmer has enough money for “refugee” hotels and Ukraine, but about to remove PIP for 1 million people… terrible.

 

Britain is falling. Everyone is sleep walking. 

[leicsmac]

10 minutes ago, Stevosevic said:

Starmer has enough money for “refugee” hotels and Ukraine, but about to remove PIP for 1 million people… terrible.

 

Britain is falling. Everyone is sleep walking. 

The global issues are where most people are sleepwalking in the name of lack of foresight either spatially or temporally. 

 

Focusing inward just means the UK falls shortly after a few others or last anyway.

 

 

[Jattdogg]

On 14/03/2025 at 09:58, urban.spaceman said:

 

I firmly believe that Trump will not survive until 2028. 

 

Whether that's as president or as a (barely) human, I can't tell yet.

Some maga redneck might get drunk, hungry and seek out cheetos...

[Lionator]

42 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

The global issues are where most people are sleepwalking in the name of lack of foresight either spatially or temporally. 

 

Focusing inward just means the UK falls shortly after a few others or last anyway.

 

 

What’s the bigger threat to the UK do you think? The Russian geo-sphere or escalating inequality? 

[leicsmac]

1 minute ago, Lionator said:

What’s the bigger threat to the UK do you think? The Russian geo-sphere or escalating inequality? 

The latter, because diminishing resources and increased inequality will feed from that into the former.

 

It's reasonably obvious that higher global pressures, either human or natural caused, can and will result in higher incidents of nationalist warfare and destruction as "tribes" attempt to protect what is "theirs" - be it resources of any kind or vital territory.

 

Any study of geopolitics has to include the above otherwise it misses an utterly critical element imo.

[Parafox]

1 hour ago, leicsmac said:

The latter, because diminishing resources and increased inequality will feed from that into the former.

 

It's reasonably obvious that higher global pressures, either human or natural caused, can and will result in higher incidents of nationalist warfare and destruction as "tribes" attempt to protect what is "theirs" - be it resources of any kind or vital territory.

 

Any study of geopolitics has to include the above otherwise it misses an utterly critical element imo.

 

Mad Max 1, 2 and 3.

[leicsmac]

14 minutes ago, Parafox said:

 

Mad Max 1, 2 and 3.

That at worst, The Expanse (where safe water and even oxygen have a price) at best.

Edited 15 March by leicsmac

[bovril]

2 hours ago, Lionator said:

What’s the bigger threat to the UK do you think? The Russian geo-sphere or escalating inequality? 

I think it's quite likely in the next few years that there is a Russian attack on UK infrastructure or terrorist attack on British soul aided and funded by Russia (or both). At the same time related to what Mac says I think it's also quite likely that rising inequality and declining living standards results in young Britons, especially young men, becoming increasingly nationalist and hostile to other groups (not just white Britons either).

 

Fun times ahead! 

[Trav Le Bleu]

57 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

That at worst, The Expanse (where safe water and even oxygen have a price) at best.

It's not surprising that the vast majority of sci-fi is dystopian.

 

[leicsmac]

10 minutes ago, Trav Le Bleu said:

It's not surprising that the vast majority of sci-fi is dystopian.

 

Sadly so.

 

But dystopia doesn't have to be an inevitability. People believing that it is will only help make it such.

[Sampson]

You don’t fix your economy by not caring about what happens in the rest of the world. And you certainly don’t reduce refugee numbers by doing it.

 

Just look at the US economy tanking and food prices going through the roof as it tries to pull foreign aid and turn isolationist.

 

Not to mention it will come back and bite you years later. You really think the US suddenly pulling aid from Jordan as it tries to build democratic institutions is not just creating a recipe for future attacks on the west or more refugees coming to the west from thieve countries in the future? 
 

Not to mention, due to its island nature with limited resources and climate options, UK’s economy is always going to be inherently dependent on having peaceful and economically thriving European neighbours. 
 

“Why are spending money on aid to Ukraine and refugees instead of at home” misses the point, you spend this money abroad so it doesn’t cause way more costs at home in the future.