General News Thread

[Salisbury Fox]

1 hour ago, BKLFox said:

Fair enough people seem happy with both outcomes & justice served as it was, a win for the justice system & the fight between wrong and right.

Whatever your political persuasion, calling for the death of others should lead to some sort of punishment. 

[Wymsey]

Keep thinking that Putin is going to 'ghost' Trump..

[Izzy]

3 minutes ago, Wymsey said:

Keep thinking that Putin is going to 'ghost' Trump..

The Kremlin says Trump will meet Putin at the steps of the Russian president's plane when it lands, adding the talks could last up to seven hours

 

I'm guessing they last more like seven minutes

 

[Wymsey]

Just now, Izzy said:

The Kremlin says Trump will meet Putin at the steps of the Russian president's plane when it lands, adding the talks could last up to seven hours

 

I'm guessing they last more like seven minutes

 

Possibly.

And any 'agreed ceasefire' deal will last about 2 days.

[urban.spaceman]

4 hours ago, leicsmac said:

The truly perverse thing about the Covid pandemic may be that it wasn't devastating enough. 

 

It took lives, destroyed lives, so many of them, but the fact that so many people didn't consider it to be a problem, either at the time or now, leading directly to the path that those Stateside have taken, possibly means that it didn't touch enough lives to convince enough folks of the truth that natural events (whether human driven or not), are the greatest threat to them. 

 

That will come back to haunt our species. It is doing so already. 

 

Not being able to look beyond a tribal mindset that results in both paranoia about other human groups and failure to understand threats that are global when they're not in your face is such a weakness. Such a costly one, too. 

We were absurdly lucky that deaths were 'only' 250,000. 

 

I'm not being hyperbolic or tribal when I say Johnson and Hancock should be spending the rest of their lives behind bars. That's just the basic level of accountability citizens should expect.
 

This is a very good (and fact checked) summary of what has already been revealed in the inquiry:

 

 

The final stages NEED to be broadcast live on national television. The public NEED to be fully informed of what these people did and what they are responsible for.

 

They need to be held accountable and people like them can never be allowed to hold public office again. 

[Parafox]

12 hours ago, Jon the Hat said:

I just hope not in my lifetime. I became a man in the 1990's I have no idea how to deal with major war.  None.

 

I was born in 1955 10 years after WW2. Rationing had just ended 3 months before I was born. That for me is a cat's whisker from the subsequent effects of WW2. It also makes me feel very old. 

[Parafox]

8 hours ago, bovril said:

Yeah it'd be great to uninvent it (apart from foxestalk of course). I do think though it is more corrosive in a country like England with its very individualistic culture and declining wealth. 

In Hesiod’s Works and Days, Pandora had a jar containing all manner of misery and evil. Zeus sent her to Epimetheus, who forgot the warning of his brother Prometheus and made Pandora his wife. She afterward opened the jar, from which the evils flew out over the earth. Hope alone remained inside, the lid having been shut down before she could escape. In a later story the jar contained not evils but blessings, which would have been preserved for the human race had they not been lost through the opening of the jar out of curiosity. 

 

Exchange curiosity, for "experimentation for the Good and as a by-product, Bad".

 

Greek myth = No going back on history.

 

What did they know back then?

[Lionator]

Trump can play hardman all he likes but he LOVES Putin, he’s his ideal man, domestic capital king with an authoritarian streak. He’s kinda the same with Xi but Xi is a bit more normal. 

[foxy boxing]

Trump meeting with his boss!.

[Zear0]

Making him wander through the middle of some F-22s is quite amusing. 

[st albans fox]

13 minutes ago, Zear0 said:

Making him wander through the middle of some F-22s is quite amusing. 

People think he’s trying to intimidate putin with them but he’s actually trying to sell them to him! 

[Parafox]

6 hours ago, urban.spaceman said:

 

She could have been entitled to Legal Aid but unfortunately her husband's party cut that to the bone. 

 

She also might have been able to have had her trial heard much quicker but unfortunately her husband's party created huge backlogs in the courts system.

 

She probably wouldn't even have committed the crime she confessed and plead guilty to if we weren't housing asylum seekers in hotels but unfortunately her husband's party destroyed the asylum system and decided to put them in hotels instead. And they probably wouldn't even be coming on small boats but unfortunately her husband's party took us out of the EU and out of the Dublin Arrangement which means we can't turn them around an escort them back to their point of origin. Whoops.

 

She could have been living in a 'safer' community but unfortunately her husband’s party cut police numbers and community programmes that would have made it feel safer.

 

She could have been given proper mental health support but unfortunately her husband's party gutted those services.

 

She should be grateful that she'll be entitled to early release after serving 40% of her sentence which was decreased from 50% by the new government after her husband’s party left prisons quite literally at breaking point. 

 

Political prisoner? Or someone being held accountable for a crime they committed and plead guilty to committing, and facing the consequences of quite literally everything she has voted for and directly enabled?

 

It's honestly astonishing she has the gall to whinge about it. 

 

The term "hoist by her own retard" springs to mind. 

 

Or maybe she's just a hater and a racist who genuinely believed she was justified, and not a product of every failure you mention above?

[urban.spaceman]

1 hour ago, Parafox said:

 

Or maybe she's just a hater and a racist who genuinely believed she was justified, and not a product of every failure you mention above?

It can be both. 

[Zear0]

Should be interesting...

 

Turns out it wasn't.  Guess they need to brief Ukraine, Europe and NATO on any proposals before announcing anything.

Edited 15 August 2025 by Zear0

[st albans fox]

6 hours ago, Zear0 said:

Should be interesting...

 

Turns out it wasn't.  Guess they need to brief Ukraine, Europe and NATO on any proposals before announcing anything.

Could be anything I guess

maybe there really was progress and trump has something to take to zelensky or maybe Putin is continuing to wrap trump around his fingers and delay these ‘best sanctions the world has ever seen’ 

 

I still don’t see any solution without crimea and and the two furthest southeast regions remaining under Russian control. 

Perhaps some kind of loose compromise on the regions but Moscow will not want to allow criimea to slip from its grasp.  

[Zear0]

46 minutes ago, st albans fox said:

Could be anything I guess

maybe there really was progress and trump has something to take to zelensky or maybe Putin is continuing to wrap trump around his fingers and delay these ‘best sanctions the world has ever seen’ 

 

I still don’t see any solution without crimea and and the two furthest southeast regions remaining under Russian control. 

Perhaps some kind of loose compromise on the regions but Moscow will not want to allow criimea to slip from its grasp.  

He's gone full on arse covering mode since so looks like a bit of a wet fart.

[Lionator]

1 hour ago, st albans fox said:

Could be anything I guess

maybe there really was progress and trump has something to take to zelensky or maybe Putin is continuing to wrap trump around his fingers and delay these ‘best sanctions the world has ever seen’ 

 

I still don’t see any solution without crimea and and the two furthest southeast regions remaining under Russian control. 

Perhaps some kind of loose compromise on the regions but Moscow will not want to allow criimea to slip from its grasp.  

Crimea would be one of the easier things to negotiate I reckon. Trump keeps going on about land but it’s all about keeping Ukraine out of the west for Putin. We’ll get a compromise soon but I can’t see anything better than a ‘Korean war’ frozen scenario. 

[Guest TamworthFoxes]

17 hours ago, urban.spaceman said:

 

She could have been entitled to Legal Aid but unfortunately her husband's party cut that to the bone. 

 

She also might have been able to have had her trial heard much quicker but unfortunately her husband's party created huge backlogs in the courts system.

 

She probably wouldn't even have committed the crime she confessed and plead guilty to if we weren't housing asylum seekers in hotels but unfortunately her husband's party destroyed the asylum system and decided to put them in hotels instead. And they probably wouldn't even be coming on small boats but unfortunately her husband's party took us out of the EU and out of the Dublin Arrangement which means we can't turn them around an escort them back to their point of origin. Whoops.

 

She could have been living in a 'safer' community but unfortunately her husband’s party cut police numbers and community programmes that would have made it feel safer.

 

She could have been given proper mental health support but unfortunately her husband's party gutted those services.

 

She should be grateful that she'll be entitled to early release after serving 40% of her sentence which was decreased from 50% by the new government after her husband’s party left prisons quite literally at breaking point. 

 

Political prisoner? Or someone being held accountable for a crime they committed and plead guilty to committing, and facing the consequences of quite literally everything she has voted for and directly enabled?

 

It's honestly astonishing she has the gall to whinge about it. 

 

The term "hoist by her own retard" springs to mind. 

Completer and utter drivel.

If you can’t understand the irony of these cases then you never will.

He was caught on camera saying people should be beheaded. The other lady sent a nasty tweet.

Quite literally if I break into your home and shit on your bed but get found not guilty at court I am still a weird fella who shit on your bed.

If you honestly have no awareness of how this looks then there is no helping you.

 

[Super_horns]

For a jury to decide within half an hour  either the defence lawyers were very good in their case or the prosecution arguments were utterly unless ?

[Guest TamworthFoxes]

18 minutes ago, Super_horns said:

For a jury to decide within half an hour  either the defence lawyers were very good in their case or the prosecution arguments were utterly unless ?

What a jury decides does not change if someone has committed a crime or not. 
If someone gets off on a technicality it does not mean they were innocent. 
In the simplest terms if I come and break into your house and the police catch me in the act, if the officer makes a mistake with evidence or doesn’t caution me properly. If I then get off at court for whatever reason I am still the bloke who broke into your house.

I think what it does show is that the people jailed for last summers riots should probably have run trial. The massive reason they didn’t was that they would have been held in remand until the trial. Why this Labour fella wasn’t remanded like the rest of them is a strange one. 
All it does is play right into the hands of the people who believe there is a two tier justice system.  With this example it is easy to understand why someone might feel that there is!!

[st albans fox]

1 hour ago, Lionator said:

Crimea would be one of the easier things to negotiate I reckon. Trump keeps going on about land but it’s all about keeping Ukraine out of the west for Putin. We’ll get a compromise soon but I can’t see anything better than a ‘Korean war’ frozen scenario. 

Another possibility 

 

And you’re right ight about putin’s motives re keeping Ukraine closer to Russia until an election or two delivers a president and parliament more ‘sympathetic’ to Moscow. 
 

Perhaps Putin would be best served by getting a peace deal where he has to give back land but gets guarantees that Ukraine won’t be allowed to join NATO or the EU.   Then it becomes a matter of time before he can move onto the domestic Ukrainian political side of his plans. 

[st albans fox]

1 hour ago, TamworthFoxes said:

What a jury decides does not change if someone has committed a crime or not. 
If someone gets off on a technicality it does not mean they were innocent. 
In the simplest terms if I come and break into your house and the police catch me in the act, if the officer makes a mistake with evidence or doesn’t caution me properly. If I then get off at court for whatever reason I am still the bloke who broke into your house.

I think what it does show is that the people jailed for last summers riots should probably have run trial. The massive reason they didn’t was that they would have been held in remand until the trial. Why this Labour fella wasn’t remanded like the rest of them is a strange one. 
All it does is play right into the hands of the people who believe there is a two tier justice system.  With this example it is easy to understand why someone might feel that there is!!

Absolutely 

those ‘peacefully’ arrested re PA protests should all call for jury trial 

Cannot see that they be held on remand and 100% they’ll get off infront of a jury.

Doesn't change the fact that they broke the law but the jury will effectively judge said law rather than the accused with not guilty verdicts. 

[leicsmac]

Both jury trial and jury nullification should be options avaliable to everyone in a free and fair society, yes. 

[Torquay Gunner]

57 minutes ago, TamworthFoxes said:

What a jury decides does not change if someone has committed a crime or not. 
If someone gets off on a technicality it does not mean they were innocent. 
In the simplest terms if I come and break into your house and the police catch me in the act, if the officer makes a mistake with evidence or doesn’t caution me properly. If I then get off at court for whatever reason I am still the bloke who broke into your house.

I think what it does show is that the people jailed for last summers riots should probably have run trial. The massive reason they didn’t was that they would have been held in remand until the trial. Why this Labour fella wasn’t remanded like the rest of them is a strange one. 
All it does is play right into the hands of the people who believe there is a two tier justice system.  With this example it is easy to understand why someone might feel that there is!!

So much wrong with your post, so I will try and start at the beginning.  So who decides if someone is guilty of a crime?  In most fair lands it will be a dozen of your peers, not the court of public opinion.  Jones did not get off on a technicality, a jury whether you agreed with it or not, acquitted him.   The rioters were held on remand before trial,  because they were accused of serious racially aggravated offences.  That is the normal process, no conspiracy there.  The Conservatives/coalition government in the riots of 2011 did the same thing.   Governments will always want to send out the strong message that rioting is unacceptable.  Jones was accused of a completely different offence, which I will soon get to and was granted bail. These cases are not evidence of a two tier system.  Connolly tweeted what she tweeted and guess what rioters tried to burn down asylum hotels with people inside them.  The fact she deleted it half an hour later does not change that fact.  As far as I am aware Jones didn’t actually incite people to slit fascist’s throats, but of course was rightfully charged with a public order offence.  I have no particular regard for Jones and his behaviour is hardly becoming of a local counsellor.  What other ‘evidence’ have the conservatives or Reform offered to back up their propagandist theory?  Don’t buy into their bulls**t. 

[urban.spaceman]

1 hour ago, TamworthFoxes said:

Completer and utter drivel.

If you can’t understand the irony of these cases then you never will.

He was caught on camera saying people should be beheaded. The other lady sent a nasty tweet.

Quite literally if I break into your home and shit on your bed but get found not guilty at court I am still a weird fella who shit on your bed.

If you honestly have no awareness of how this looks then there is no helping you.

“Nasty tweet”

 

“Mass deportation now. Set fire to all the ****ing hotels full of the bastards for all I care. While you’re at it, take the treacherous government and politicians with them. I feel physically sick knowing what these families will now have to endure. If that makes me racist, so be it.”
 

That’s incitement to mass murder of not just the 30,000 migrants her husband’s party had put in hotels but also a democratically elected government and politicians she claims are “treacherous” (she doesn’t go into detail for some reason). The tweet had 300,000 views and people literally tried to burn down some hotels afterwards.
 

She was charged with “inciting racial hatred”, and plead ****ing guilty to it. She’s not a victim. She’s a hateful racist. 
 

Jones was charged with “encouraging violent disorder”, a claim he denied and plead not guilty to. He argued that his remarks were a response to dangerous far-right propaganda, specifically claims of razor blades hidden behind National Front stickers on trains. A jury of his peers found him not guilty. 

 

The two cases are completely different. Incomparable. Two different set of circumstances, two different alleged crimes, two different charges, two different pleas. 
 

It only “looks” a certain way because certain politicians are claiming it is; notably the same politicians that were claiming that the Welsh Christian perpetrator was actually a Muslim asylum seeker. Such misinformation is still being shared, like the erroneous conflation of two completely different cases for political purposes.