General News Thread

[fox_up_north]

So, just to confirm, American politicians are annoyed that we have concerns a social media platform hosted in their country has a feature that allows you to digitally manipulate photos of children to sexualise them.

 

And they're threatening sanctions if we decide to take action? 

 

We need our government to lead the way and just stop using Twitter. Shut their accounts. Just post on .gov

[Heathrow fox]

7 minutes ago, kenny said:

Why can't the trades be left to think for themselves and vote how they wish?

Because I believe we have more chance  as a collective force rather than as individuals.As I said it was a master stroke by Thatcher.It forced Labour to prioritise the middle class vote

RACE TO THE BOTTOM

 

[leicsmac]

6 hours ago, Aus Fox said:

The biggest problem as I see it with society today, and this is all sides. People now, make up their own minds and then look for evidence to support their way of thinking. Rather than looking at the evidence and then making up their own minds.

I find it really sad, I would say more and more people are becoming rooted in their opinions and idealism and will not waver or change their opinions if something happens that distorts that narrative.

This is both left and right, and both in a desperate propaganda war to prove they are right. When the truth usually lies somewhere in the middle.

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.  

 

25 minutes ago, kenny said:

Why can't the trades be left to think for themselves and vote how they wish?

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. 

 

5 minutes ago, Heathrow fox said:

Because I believe we have more chance  as a collective force rather than as individuals.As I said it was a master stroke by Thatcher.It forced Labour to prioritise the middle class vote

RACE TO THE BOTTOM

 

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. 

[leicsmac]

18 minutes ago, Sampson said:

To don my tinhat end of the world catastrophising cloak for a minute - I think all this class, unions and trades stuff feels very 19th and 20th century. Not that they have zero importance now but we’re literally on the precipice of the majority of jobs being replaced by robots and ai, both blue collar or white collar jobs, both working and middle class jobs. And to the point individual companies will become more powerful than the UK nation state, and these things aren’t going to help us much and the UK state is not going to be powerful enough to its own enforce employment law against quadrillion dollar worldwide tech companies which can control the flow of information.
 

Used to think population ageing and climate change were the biggest issues for us to face in the 21st century, but I think now AI and companies becoming more powerful than countries will usurp those.

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. 

 

16 minutes ago, fox_up_north said:

So, just to confirm, American politicians are annoyed that we have concerns a social media platform hosted in their country has a feature that allows you to digitally manipulate photos of children to sexualise them.

 

And they're threatening sanctions if we decide to take action? 

 

We need our government to lead the way and just stop using Twitter. Shut their accounts. Just post on .gov

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. 

[kenny]

18 minutes ago, Heathrow fox said:

Because I believe we have more chance  as a collective force rather than as individuals.As I said it was a master stroke by Thatcher.It forced Labour to prioritise the middle class vote

RACE TO THE BOTTOM

 

Its hard to see how allowing the trades to earn more and have choice of education for their children as being a bad thing.

 

Typically, my most successful and enterprising clients are from a trades background. They are educated, culturally aware and have the trappings graduates expect without the work ethic and ability.

 

The obsession with classes is outdated and pointless IMO.

 

It's sad that there are still those out there that want people to be oppressed so they vote in a particular way.

[leicsmac]

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.

[leicsmac]

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

[Raj]

I'm a simple person, but how the feck can Trump take ownership of Greenland and think it's okay?

Surely the iduots around him even think hes lost the plot on this?

[leicsmac]

15 minutes ago, Raj said:

I'm a simple person, but how the feck can Trump take ownership of Greenland and think it's okay?

Surely the iduots around him even think hes lost the plot on this?

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.

Edited 10 January by leicsmac

[Raj]

Just now, leicsmac said:

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 do 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.

 

I like how Trump defends his own country first ( in his own way, he is) but things like this is very very worrying on a world scale.

When he says he doesnt want China or Russia taking Greenland we know that's all bo11ox.

Its cos of the natural resources they have$$$

[leicsmac]

1 minute ago, Raj said:

 

I like how Trump defends his own country first ( in his own way, he is) but things like this is very very worrying on a world scale.

When he says he doesnt want China or Russia taking Greenland we know that's all bo11ox.

Its cos of the natural resources they have$$$

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.

[CornwallFox]

1 hour ago, kenny said:

Its hard to see how allowing the trades to earn more and have choice of education for their children as being a bad thing.

 

Typically, my most successful and enterprising clients are from a trades background. They are educated, culturally aware and have the trappings graduates expect without the work ethic and ability.

 

The obsession with classes is outdated and pointless IMO.

 

It's sad that there are still those out there that want people to be oppressed so they vote in a particular way.

I think you're misunderstanding what's being written. 

Nobody is suggesting this in the trades shouldn't work for themselves or earn good money. 

 

What's being discussed is the impact of that on voting, that they align more with capital than worker, that this impacts on Labour the party, and it's a general discussion about the effects and whether there's a way to bring tradesmen back into not seeing public sector workers as akin to vermin. 

 

You seem to have taken it as a criticism of tradespeople which I don't think it is. Then you've followed that with a dig at graduates for no reason which kinda makes the point we're making - why do you receive graduates to be lazy given they've worked hard and in a focused way to earn their degrees? That's an anti-graduate view in this country at the moment that I don't really understand but it often feels somewhere between jealousy and hatred - just another group to despise because they're different to those doing the despising.

Edited 10 January by CornwallFox

[kenny]

8 minutes ago, CornwallFox said:

I think you're misunderstanding what's being written. 

Nobody is suggesting this in the trades shouldn't work for themselves or earn good money. 

 

What's being discussed is the impact of that on voting, that they align more with capital than worker, that this impacts on Labour the party, and it's a general discussion about the effects and whether there's a way to bring tradesmen back into not seeing public sector workers as akin to vermin. 

 

You seem to have taken it as a criticism of tradespeople which I don't think it is. Then you've followed that with a dig at graduates for no reason which kinda makes the point we're making - why do you receive graduates to be lazy given they've worked hard and in a focused way to earn their degrees? That's an anti-graduate view in this country at the moment that I don't really understand but it often feels somewhere between jealousy and hatred - just another group to despise because they're different to those doing the despising.

I am a graduate and I employ graduates.

 

They have become 10 a penny and the lack of respect for tradesman has meant they are now in short supply. My guess is that we will see a gentrification of the trades and it will become a middle class pursuit with university becoming a more selective endeavour.

 

If the labour movement wants to be popular then it simply has to deliver for people and not be over focused on itself and its team.

 

It's a very old world view that the working class must vote labour, ethnic minorities must vote labour, public sector must vote labour, why? Why not allow people not to be pigeon holes and allow them to vote for what they think is best for themselves or the country generally.

 

If reform are voted in and becomes the disaster they probably will be, then that will be the end of them. They are gaining popularity as the main parties haven't been seen to deliver. If they get a chance and make a mess, they will be gone.

 

These posts about the left scream 'footballification' to coin a James O'Brien phrase.

[leicsmac]

3 minutes ago, kenny said:

I am a graduate and I employ graduates.

 

They have become 10 a penny and the lack of respect for tradesman has meant they are now in short supply. My guess is that we will see a gentrification of the trades and it will become a middle class pursuit with university becoming a more selective endeavour.

 

If the labour movement wants to be popular then it simply has to deliver for people and not be over focused on itself and its team.

 

It's a very old world view that the working class must vote labour, ethnic minorities must vote labour, public sector must vote labour, why? Why not allow people not to be pigeon holes and allow them to vote for what they think is best for themselves or the country generally.

 

If reform are voted in and becomes the disaster they probably will be, then that will be the end of them. They are gaining popularity as the main parties haven't been seen to deliver. If they get a chance and make a mess, they will be gone.

 

These posts about the left scream 'footballification' to coin a James O'Brien phrase.

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. 

[kenny]

5 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

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. 

They are more loony than Labour at present, one of the issues the current government has is that it won too many seats and has too many candidates it didn't expect to win seats. 

 

Reform will be 10x worse. If they got in, they would be out within a year as the party imploded. 

 

They are more like a social movement than a political party.

[ramboacdc]

Usually something triggers Iran protests. What caused these, or is it Trump activating a few sleeper cells they have there to destabilise it 

[leicsmac]

5 minutes ago, kenny said:

They are more loony than Labour at present, one of the issues the current government has is that it won too many seats and has too many candidates it didn't expect to win seats. 

 

Reform will be 10x worse. If they got in, they would be out within a year as the party imploded. 

 

They are more like a social movement than a political party.

I hope you're right there. 

 

Similar movements in other places in the world have been very damaging. 

[kenny]

Just now, leicsmac said:

I hope you're right there. 

 

Similar movements in other places in the world have been very damaging. 

We have a lot of mechanisms in our system that help and the British people are pragmatic.

 

Look what happened after Truss. Maybe that was the ruthlessness of the Tories that did for her, but she would have been dealt with if she was crashing the country.

[leicsmac]

1 minute ago, kenny said:

We have a lot of mechanisms in our system that help and the British people are pragmatic.

 

Look what happened after Truss. Maybe that was the ruthlessness of the Tories that did for her, but she would have been dealt with if she was crashing the country.

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

[Bellend Sebastian]

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jan/10/elon-musk-uk-free-speech-x-ban-grok-ai

 

I must admit I'm starting to think, yeah, just close the f**king thing down.

 

The idea that this is in any way a vehicle for free speech has long evaporated from what I can see, and it's now just a means for bad actors to mainline disinformation to a public who seem weirdly unaware of this as a concept, as well as normalising folk becoming the very worst versions of themselves

 

 

Edited 10 January by Bellend Sebastian

[danny.]

5 hours ago, Heathrow fox said:

Self employment of the trades.Master stroke by Thatcher that was and up there with selling the council housing stock.Thatcher was a level up from world class at divide and rule tactics.Sadly the trades are lost forever and are never ever coming back into the left wing movements fold.Thatcher did the spade work by smashing up the big lump of concrete and Farage and co have got the easier task of shovelling the debris into the wheel barrow.
I don’t  think the public sector workers are viewed as elites.More as willing servants for the elites.How do we turn this around?

 

I think the reason trades have become more to the right is because they are self-employed for the most part. And most self-employed people and business owners tend to object to the massive amount of tax they pay to fund things they don't agree with. Some of the most left wing people I have met and know just live off benefits and have never worked a day in their life, and it's obvious to see why they lean left. Likewise the opposite is true.
 

 

5 hours ago, fox_up_north said:

So, just to confirm, American politicians are annoyed that we have concerns a social media platform hosted in their country has a feature that allows you to digitally manipulate photos of children to sexualise them.

 

And they're threatening sanctions if we decide to take action? 

 

We need our government to lead the way and just stop using Twitter. Shut their accounts. Just post on .gov

X and Grok are not the same thing, one is a social media platform the other is a chatbot and LLM powered by xAI.

Twitter doesn't exist, since 2023.

[leicsmac]

2 minutes ago, danny. said:

X and Grok are not the same thing, one is a social media platform the other is a chatbot and LLM powered by xAI.

Twitter doesn't exist, since 2023.

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.

[danny.]

3 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

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.

It's an X account with hooks to tie into a chatbot - there are literally thousands of bots doing exactly the same thing many powered by ChatGPT. I assume by the same logic you think Midjourney and Discord are the same thing?

[leicsmac]

5 minutes ago, danny. said:

It's an X account with hooks to tie into a chatbot - there are literally thousands of bots doing exactly the same thing many powered by ChatGPT. I assume by the same logic you think Midjourney and Discord are the same thing?

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? 

[danny.]

Just now, leicsmac said:

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? 

Sure, that it's not factually correct to say that X and Grok are the same thing.