General News Thread

[Parafox]

49 minutes ago, Lionator said:

It was sarcasm! 

Then you need to be better at it.

[st albans fox]

1 hour ago, Parafox said:

It's on a ship, so very isolated and contained and controllable as long as no one gets off it.

Too late !

 

fortunately it’s not a highly transmissible virus 

[Bellend Sebastian]

2 hours ago, Parafox said:

Then you need to be better at it.

Did you think it was the bloke out of Mumford and Sons? There's a lot of it about at the minute

[Trav Le Bleu]

10 hours ago, MPH said:

 

there’s no village in the UK that’s more than 50 miles from a city, and that’s not even counting large towns. In places like Japan, they have villages that can be 500-600 miles from, a city. Surely you understand the difference that can make?

I can name hundreds in Scotland, starting with all the ones in Shetland, the Orkneys and Outer Hebrides, that are more than 50 miles from a city. And that's allowing for Inverness being a city, when it's kind of the size of Loughborough, maybe smaller. (Very pretty though. It's my favourite UK city. Been there many times )

 

Honshu, the largest of the Japanese islands, is 800 miles long. Tokyo is roughly midway, with Nagoya about a quarter, Osaka at the southern end and Sendai is on the northern quarter. All cities of 2m+, north of that, no huge cities, but many about the size of Leicester or Coventry.

 

Whilst I imagine there are remote parts of Japan, I expect they're for similar reasons to the UK, remote islands.

[Parafox]

1 hour ago, Bellend Sebastian said:

Did you think it was the bloke out of Mumford and Sons? There's a lot of it about at the minute

[Parafox]

1 hour ago, st albans fox said:

Too late !

 

fortunately it’s not a highly transmissible virus 

Although those that disembarked are now self isolated. Rightly so given that we really don't know how it could go. 

Edited 6 May by Parafox

[deep blue]

7 hours ago, st albans fox said:

I think the Lib Dem’s are culpable for allowing labour voters to seemingly just abandon them for the greens.  You’d expect the Lib Dem’s to have picked up some of these voters.

They will.

[Wymsey]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/05/06/nearly-one-and-half-million-migrants-on-benefits/

 

[CornwallFox]

3 minutes ago, Wymsey said:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/05/06/nearly-one-and-half-million-migrants-on-benefits/

 

Is this just because migrants are disproportionately in low paying jobs which the welfare state subsidises?

The problem is low wages.

[Jon the Hat]

14 hours ago, MPH said:

there’s no village in the UK that’s more than 50 miles from a city, and that’s not even counting large towns. In places like Japan, they have villages that can be 500-600 miles from, a city. Surely you understand the difference that can make?

Japan absolutely does not have a single village 500-600 miles from a city, let alone a significant town.  I could believe it in China or Russia, but Japan is simply not that big, and quite densely filled with cities from top to bottom.

 

That doesn't mean a village a few hours away from a decent town doesn't suffer from isolation and the resulting depopulation.  I wonder if it is as much the traditional life as it is location which causes young people to leave and not come back for decades.

Edited 7 May by Jon the Hat

[leicsmac]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwy2e3wwd55o

 

The first road bridge connecting allies North Korea and Russia is nearing completion, satellite images analysed by BBC Verify show.

It's the latest sign of the deepening relationship between Pyongyang and Moscow that has seen North Korean troops fighting alongside Russian forces following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

"This bridge will offer a useful route to transfer military goods and munitions - both to North Korea and to Russia," said Dr Edward Howell, Korea Foundation Fellow at the Chatham House think tank.

 

Looks like the NKs have fully switched from the Chinese to the Russian camp once again. 

 

Don't think the Chinese will mind that all that much - that alliance had been a hindrance rather than a help for them for a while now.

[st albans fox]

7 hours ago, CornwallFox said:

Is this just because migrants are disproportionately in low paying jobs which the welfare state subsidises?

The problem is low wages.

This is broadly true 

I think the proportion of those playing the system are likely to be similar across demographics. 
 

did anyone pick up on the comments last week about taxing benefits ?  Seems obviously counter productive if the benefits are targeted and calculated. 
 

Is there an argument about the state pension though ??

[Lionator]

1 hour ago, leicsmac said:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwy2e3wwd55o

 

The first road bridge connecting allies North Korea and Russia is nearing completion, satellite images analysed by BBC Verify show.

It's the latest sign of the deepening relationship between Pyongyang and Moscow that has seen North Korean troops fighting alongside Russian forces following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

"This bridge will offer a useful route to transfer military goods and munitions - both to North Korea and to Russia," said Dr Edward Howell, Korea Foundation Fellow at the Chatham House think tank.

 

Looks like the NKs have fully switched from the Chinese to the Russian camp once again. 

 

Don't think the Chinese will mind that all that much - that alliance had been a hindrance rather than a help for them for a while now.

Nah both are Chinese vassal states, might as well build a bridge if you’re connected by land to be honest. CCP could have Kim overthrown in seconds if he stepped too far out of line. 

[Lionator]

Local election day and all that’s being debated are national issues. Our democracy is alive and well! 

[leicsmac]

5 minutes ago, Lionator said:

Nah both are Chinese vassal states, might as well build a bridge if you’re connected by land to be honest. CCP could have Kim overthrown in seconds if he stepped too far out of line. 

I was thinking more to the point that they're no longer China’s problem to help upkeep and they don't mind that - much better for them to keep on making sure practically all of Sub-Saharan Africa runs on renewable energy. 

[Lionator]

8 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

I was thinking more to the point that they're no longer China’s problem to help upkeep and they don't mind that - much better for them to keep on making sure practically all of Sub-Saharan Africa runs on renewable energy. 

Good point and not a terrible thing for the planet!

[Lionator]

Ukranian drones crashing into oil depots in Latvia is obviously not good. While obviously not deliberate, the Baltic states are screwed. Either they shoot them down and Zelensky says “I thought you supported us” or leave them and Russia accuses them of letting Ukraine use Baltic airspace to attack Russia which could lead in all sorts of terrible directions. 

[SpacedX]

4 hours ago, Lionator said:

 CCP could have Kim overthrown in seconds if he stepped too far out of line. 

Although China has significant leverage over North Korea, providing roughly 90% of its trade, food, and energy, it is highly unlikely to ever overthrow Kim Jong-un. Beijing prioritises regional stability, and fears the possibility of a refugee crisis, potential military conflict, or a pro-US, unified Korea on its border. 

 

North Korea offers significant strategic stability and acts as a buffer state against US-aligned South Korea and Japan. A sudden collapse or overthrowing of the Kim dynasty could trigger a chaotic war or regional instability, which China is anxious avoid. Also, contrary to popular belief, China does not station troops in North Korea and cannot easily install a new government and since North Korea is a nuclear power; a violent regime change could lead to dangerous instability.

 

While China holds leverage through trade, completely cutting off resources is seen as too risky, potentially causing an uncontrolled collapse. If the regime showed signs of collapse or the dictator as you say "stepped too far out of line", Beijing might notionally aim to support a more cooperative faction in Pyongyang rather than a full, hostile overthrow, though this would still be challenging in practice.

[Sampson]

Yeah. China also doesn’t want tens of millions of refugees fleeing over its borders and is allegedly extremely brutal in handling those escaping North Korea across its border, which has always been one of the arguments why they don’t want to topple the Kim dynasty.

[Trav Le Bleu]

Since when does attacking someone not break a ceasefire?

[filthyfox]

12 hours ago, Lionator said:

Ukranian drones crashing into oil depots in Latvia is obviously not good. While obviously not deliberate, the Baltic states are screwed. Either they shoot them down and Zelensky says “I thought you supported us” or leave them and Russia accuses them of letting Ukraine use Baltic airspace to attack Russia which could lead in all sorts of terrible directions. 

Russia is a paper tiger....   the Victory Parade has no tanks.... enough is said about the state of the Russian Military!

[Jon the Hat]

59 minutes ago, filthyfox said:

Russia is a paper tiger....   the Victory Parade has no tanks.... enough is said about the state of the Russian Military!

Those generals have some lovely super yachts in Turkey though!

[Jon the Hat]

Reform making a dogs breakfast of running more councils has to dent their chances at the next General Election right?  RIGHT??

[Super_horns]

Guess Starmer might be on the way out now ?

[StanSP]

57 minutes ago, Jon the Hat said:

Reform making a dogs breakfast of running more councils has to dent their chances at the next General Election right?  RIGHT??

I doubt it. Media control everything and this just helps their cause getting more seats. 

 

Look at how many scandals or controversies they've had. Council tax thing in Kent (?) being one of them and that doesn't seem to have changed their course...