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  1. #961
    Senior Member Emil El Zapato's Avatar
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    American propaganda. The hope is always that someone, perhaps someone important will believe it. I suppose it works once in awhile.
    “El revolucionario: te meteré la bota en el culo"

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  3. #962
    Senior Member Emil El Zapato's Avatar
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    Quote Originally posted by Dreamtimer View Post
    This is about historical Collapse, possible causes, and how it may relate to the present.

    (interesting note at the beginning, we live in a world with six degrees of separation, they lived in a world with three)

    From about 1500 BC to 1200 BC, the Mediterranean region played host to a complex cosmopolitan and globalized world-system. It may have been this very internationalism that contributed to the apocalyptic disaster that ended the Bronze Age. When the end came, the civilized and international world of the Mediterranean regions came to a dramatic halt in a vast area stretching from Greece and Italy in the west to Egypt, Canaan, and Mesopotamia in the east. Large empires and small kingdoms collapsed rapidly. With their end came the world’s first recorded Dark Ages. It was not until centuries later that a new cultural renaissance emerged in Greece and the other affected areas, setting the stage for the evolution of Western society as we know it today. Professor Eric H. Cline of The George Washington University will explore why the Bronze Age came to an end and whether the collapse of those ancient civilizations might hold some warnings for our current society.

    Considered for a Pulitzer Prize for his recent book 1177 BC, Dr. Eric H. Cline is Professor of Classics and Anthropology and the current Director of the Capitol Archaeological Institute at The George Washington University. He is a National Geographic Explorer, a Fulbright scholar, an NEH Public Scholar, and an award-winning teacher and author. He has degrees in archaeology and ancient history from Dartmouth, Yale, and the University of Pennsylvania; in May 2015, he was awarded an honorary doctoral degree (honoris causa) from Muhlenberg College. Dr. Cline is an active field archaeologist with 30 seasons of excavation and survey experience.

    He's an excellent historian.
    “El revolucionario: te meteré la bota en el culo"

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    Agents of chaos have purpose, and we aren't paying attention.

    One reason Trump and others blow their horns over China is they don't want folks looking at the other hand, Russia. Putin's Russia doesn't need to attack militarily as their current efforts to undermine and cause collapse are bringing home gold.



    A widely-held opinion in a decent chunk of the natsec community:

    Putin is trying to tear down other countries in part to make Russia seem ‘better’ by comparison. Whereby to quell Russians’ desire for better standards of living, free & fair elections, no corruption, etc.

    ‘Look, the rest of the world is a shithole, you have it so much better..’

    The tidal wave of refugees from Syria wasn’t a side effect, it was a deliberate main effect of Putin’s policies, whereby to feed the growing demands by, and popularity of, rightwing nationalists in EU countries.

    Putin also subscribes to some truly wacko Russian fascist ideologies.

    DuckDuckGo.com search these two names:

    Ivan Ilyin

    Aleksandr Dugin.

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    Valid concerns about the mental decline of the US president, its implication in international affair and its effect on press freedom.

    https://spectatorworld.com/topic/nee...ess-joe-biden/

    We need to talk about Joe Biden

    The President’s White House meeting with Boris Johnson was an embarrassment

    Americans are increasingly concerned about President Joe Biden’s mental state, and for good reason. It’s not just some mean right-wing trope. Biden routinely forgets the names of world leaders as well as officials in his own cabinet. He can just about get through a speech with a teleprompter, but anything off script leads to trouble.

    This is embarrassing enough to watch when Biden is addressing domestic issues. When his fatuity plays out on the world stage, as it did on Tuesday, it can be downright horrifying.

    The most powerful man in the world isn’t all there. Biden’s first address to the United Nations General Assembly suggested that he lives in an alternate reality.

    He claimed to have restored relations with America’s allies just a few days after France recalled its ambassador to the US over a dispute about a submarine contract with Australia. He later rather undermined the rapport built up with Australian prime minister Scott Morrison by forgetting his name and calling him ‘that fellow down under’.

    Biden’s usual pattern is that he can only handle one major public appearance each day before he needs to recover. Unfortunately, the mechanics of international relations demands more of world leaders. And Biden clearly can’t cope.

    After his speech to the UNGA, he still had a bilateral meeting with Boris Johnson at the White House. As such, Biden’s staff made sure he was armed with a laminated notecard for the meeting, which contained commands like ‘sit’, ‘stay’ and ‘roll over’.

    Not really, but the notes snapped by an eagle-eyed press photographer did remind the President to welcome Johnson to the White House and speak positively about the relationship between the UK and the US. An easy thing to forget for a president, apparently.

    The most shameful portion of the sit-down, however, came when the leaders began to interact with the press in the room. Biden derisively replied ‘good luck’ when Johnson suggested the pair take questions from the pool reporters then refused to call on any members of the American media.

    Once Johnson had taken questions from the British press, Biden’s wranglers cut the British PM off mid-sentence, yelling at the media to leave the room. Biden eventually appeared prepared to respond to a question about the border from CBS’s Ed O’Keefe, but the wranglers continued to shout so that reporters could not hear the President’s answer.

    It is bad enough that lower-level communications staffers prevented their boss from speaking to the media, but it is a pure disgrace that they also thought it appropriate to interrupt a visiting world leader. Can you imagine the international incident that would have erupted if British officials refused to let the President speak freely to the press while abroad?

    I have been in the Oval Office as a member of the press pool. During the Trump administration, I saw wranglers corral reporters rather aggressively. But they have always backed off when a world leader has indicated that they want to take further questions from the press.

    Yesterday afternoon’s scenario was so unprecedented, in fact, that the White House press corps filed a formal complaint with White House press secretary Jen Psaki about their treatment. Psaki dismissed their protest, insisting that she wasn’t even aware of what had happened in the Oval and that there was little she could do about the incident.

    Biden’s mental deterioration must be even worse than we realize if his staff members are willing to treat foreign leaders with wanton disrespect to prevent him speaking to the press. Their actions were more akin to an authoritarian regime than a country whose Constitution guarantees the right to a free press.

    Until now, many members of the mainstream media have claimed that it is cruel to question Biden’s mental state. Isn’t it worse to pretend that nothing is wrong as our Commander-in-Chief routinely embarrasses and degrades our country on the world stage?

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  9. #965
    Senior Member Emil El Zapato's Avatar
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    Quote Originally posted by Chris View Post
    Valid concerns about the mental decline of the US president, its implication in international affair and its effect on press freedom.

    https://spectatorworld.com/topic/nee...ess-joe-biden/

    We need to talk about Joe Biden

    The President’s White House meeting with Boris Johnson was an embarrassment

    Americans are increasingly concerned about President Joe Biden’s mental state, and for good reason. It’s not just some mean right-wing trope. Biden routinely forgets the names of world leaders as well as officials in his own cabinet. He can just about get through a speech with a teleprompter, but anything off script leads to trouble.

    This is embarrassing enough to watch when Biden is addressing domestic issues. When his fatuity plays out on the world stage, as it did on Tuesday, it can be downright horrifying.

    The most powerful man in the world isn’t all there. Biden’s first address to the United Nations General Assembly suggested that he lives in an alternate reality.

    He claimed to have restored relations with America’s allies just a few days after France recalled its ambassador to the US over a dispute about a submarine contract with Australia. He later rather undermined the rapport built up with Australian prime minister Scott Morrison by forgetting his name and calling him ‘that fellow down under’.

    Biden’s usual pattern is that he can only handle one major public appearance each day before he needs to recover. Unfortunately, the mechanics of international relations demands more of world leaders. And Biden clearly can’t cope.

    After his speech to the UNGA, he still had a bilateral meeting with Boris Johnson at the White House. As such, Biden’s staff made sure he was armed with a laminated notecard for the meeting, which contained commands like ‘sit’, ‘stay’ and ‘roll over’.

    Not really, but the notes snapped by an eagle-eyed press photographer did remind the President to welcome Johnson to the White House and speak positively about the relationship between the UK and the US. An easy thing to forget for a president, apparently.

    The most shameful portion of the sit-down, however, came when the leaders began to interact with the press in the room. Biden derisively replied ‘good luck’ when Johnson suggested the pair take questions from the pool reporters then refused to call on any members of the American media.

    Once Johnson had taken questions from the British press, Biden’s wranglers cut the British PM off mid-sentence, yelling at the media to leave the room. Biden eventually appeared prepared to respond to a question about the border from CBS’s Ed O’Keefe, but the wranglers continued to shout so that reporters could not hear the President’s answer.

    It is bad enough that lower-level communications staffers prevented their boss from speaking to the media, but it is a pure disgrace that they also thought it appropriate to interrupt a visiting world leader. Can you imagine the international incident that would have erupted if British officials refused to let the President speak freely to the press while abroad?

    I have been in the Oval Office as a member of the press pool. During the Trump administration, I saw wranglers corral reporters rather aggressively. But they have always backed off when a world leader has indicated that they want to take further questions from the press.

    Yesterday afternoon’s scenario was so unprecedented, in fact, that the White House press corps filed a formal complaint with White House press secretary Jen Psaki about their treatment. Psaki dismissed their protest, insisting that she wasn’t even aware of what had happened in the Oval and that there was little she could do about the incident.

    Biden’s mental deterioration must be even worse than we realize if his staff members are willing to treat foreign leaders with wanton disrespect to prevent him speaking to the press. Their actions were more akin to an authoritarian regime than a country whose Constitution guarantees the right to a free press.

    Until now, many members of the mainstream media have claimed that it is cruel to question Biden’s mental state. Isn’t it worse to pretend that nothing is wrong as our Commander-in-Chief routinely embarrasses and degrades our country on the world stage?
    Don't know, didn't see it, but the word projection comes to mind immediately. I guess Boris Johnson is considered the pinnacle of political decorum? Who writes this stuff anyway?
    “El revolucionario: te meteré la bota en el culo"

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  11. #966
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    Quote Originally posted by BeastOfBologna View Post
    Don't know, didn't see it, but the word projection comes to mind immediately. I guess Boris Johnson is considered the pinnacle of political decorum? Who writes this stuff anyway?
    Boris is a clown, but he isn't senile. Biden is barely there any more, despite the best efforts of his handlers to control the narrative. It was a similar story with Reagan during his second term, but they managed to hide it better.

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  13. #967
    Senior Member Emil El Zapato's Avatar
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    Quote Originally posted by Chris View Post
    Boris is a clown, but he isn't senile. Biden is barely there any more, despite the best efforts of his handlers to control the narrative. It was a similar story with Reagan during his second term, but they managed to hide it better.
    time will tell. It's the same situation though. Anything is better than an orange gork.
    “El revolucionario: te meteré la bota en el culo"

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  15. #968
    Senior Member Emil El Zapato's Avatar
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    History
    The Daily Caller was founded by Tucker Carlson and Neil Patel. After raising $3 million in funding from businessman Foster Friess, the website was launched on January 11, 2010. The organization began with a reporting staff of 21 in its Washington office. It was launched as a "conservative answer to The Huffington Post", similarly featuring sections in broad range of subjects beyond politics. When The Daily Caller launched in 2010, it became the third Washington DC based news site besides Talking Points Memo and Politico.[20]

    In a 2010 interview with the Columbia Journalism Review, Tucker Carlson described The Daily Caller's prospective audience as "[p]eople who are distrustful of conventional news organizations." Carlson said "the coverage of the Tea Party blows me away by its stupidity. The assumption of almost everyone I know who covers politics for the networks or daily newspapers is: they're all birthers, they're all crazy, they're upset about fluoride in the water, probably racist. And those assumptions have prevented good journalism from taking place."[21]

    By late 2012, the site had quadrupled its page view and total audience and had become profitable without ever buying an advertisement for itself.[22]

    Vince Coglianese replaced Carlson as editor-in-chief in 2016 when the Tucker Carlson Tonight show began on Fox.[23] Carlson departed the site in June 2020 to increase his focus on his new show.[24]

    Ties to white supremacists
    In September 2018, The Atlantic reported that Scott Greer, formerly a deputy editor and contributor at The Daily Caller between 2014[16] and 2018, had written pieces under a pseudonym "Michael McGregor" in the white supremacist publication Radix Journal from 2014 to 2015. In articles for Radix Journal, Greer expressed white nationalist views, as well as racist anti-black and antisemitic views. While in his emails and messages, he expressed anti-Christian and antisemitic theories, as well his relationship with Richard Spencer.[15] After being confronted with his past white supremacist writings, Greer resigned from any affiliation with The Daily Caller.[15] In 2017 it was revealed that Scott Greer had ties to members of the white nationalist movement, including friendships with Devin Saucier, assistant to Jared Taylor of American Renaissance, and anti-immigrant activist Marcus Epstein of VDARE, who had pled guilty to assaulting an African American woman two years prior to the beginning of his relationship with Scott Greer.[25]
    “El revolucionario: te meteré la bota en el culo"

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    BTW, if any of you guys is interested in the dynamics of collapse, watching what's going on in the UK right now is very instructive. I didn't write much about Brexit here, because it is a mostly self-inflicted and frankly idiotic example of self-harm, but I have been following it very closely these past few years. The chickens are finally coming home to roost and the Idiot Tories can barely keep the country functioning, or together. I haven't seen this level of Clusterfuck since the collapse of the Soviet Union. The amount of incompetence and self-delusion on display is truly breath taking to witness. If you ever wondered who is worse, the conservatives in the UK or those in the US, you have your answer now.

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  19. #970
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    Quote Originally posted by Chris View Post
    Boris is a clown, but he isn't senile. Biden is barely there any more, despite the best efforts of his handlers to control the narrative. It was a similar story with Reagan during his second term, but they managed to hide it better.
    Ok, I watched it: The aides had way too much coffee, it even surprised Biden ... The questions being asked were pointless ... the discussion was going nowhere fast as it was a conference about relations between the U.S. and U.K. All meeting holders are trained to stick to topic. The last questioned asked was about Ireland shutting its borders, presumably against the British. The aides didn't want to go there as that would have been off topic and perhaps distressing for Johnson (unprepared). The question/answer period was unplanned and in deference to Johnson, Biden agreed to direct questions to Johnson. The last question asked, actually both questions asked were directed to Biden (I wonder which news agency asked it) was about 'something'. Biden's last remark, probably to the asker, was "The violence was separate".
    “El revolucionario: te meteré la bota en el culo"

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  21. #971
    Senior Member Emil El Zapato's Avatar
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    NI riots: What is behind the violence in Northern Ireland?
    By Michael Hirst
    BBC News NI

    Nearly 90 officers have been hurt in Northern Ireland's worst street violence for years, after sporadic rioting in several towns and cities since the end of March.

    The governments in Belfast, London and Dublin have condemned the unrest, with the US calling for calm as police used water cannons for the first time in six years.

    Eighteen people have been arrested and 15 charged after crowds of predominantly loyalist youths attacked lines of riot police officers and vehicles with bricks, fireworks and petrol bombs.

    Saturday night was the first without major incident since Good Friday on 2 April, with the lack of trouble being linked to the death of the Duke of Edinburgh.

    While all Northern Ireland's main parties have condemned the violence, they are divided about its causes.

    Where has the violence been happening?

    Violence involving gangs of youths started on 29 March in an area of Londonderry that is loyalist - in favour of keeping Northern Ireland as part of the United Kingdom.

    Until the death of Prince Philip on 9 April, there were protests and rioting on a near-nightly basis in a number of towns and cities, including Belfast, Carrickfergus, Ballymena and Newtownabbey.

    The areas affected are among the most deprived in the country, with the lowest level of educational attainment in Europe.

    On the night of 7 April, the fighting spilled over a so-called peace wall in west Belfast that divides predominantly Protestant loyalist communities from predominantly Catholic nationalist communities who want to see a united Ireland.

    Belfast violence
    A gate that divides the two was smashed open and, during several hours of disorder, police officers and a press photographer were attacked and a bus was hijacked and burned.

    The clashes raised concerns of escalating sectarian tensions.

    Parts of Northern Ireland are still split along sectarian lines, 23 years after a peace deal largely ended Northern Ireland's Troubles - which lasted almost 30 years and cost the lives of more than 3,500 people.

    Who is behind the unrest?
    While there are no clear indications the unrest is being orchestrated by an organised group, the violence has been concentrated in areas where criminal gangs linked to loyalist paramilitaries have significant influence.


    There is increasing evidence that senior figures in organisations such as the Ulster Defence Association and Ulster Volunteer Force are allowing the trouble to proceed.

    Analysts suggest loyalist paramilitaries of the South East Antrim UDA may have exploited an opportunity to kick back at the Police Service of Northern Ireland after a recent clampdown on criminality in the area around Carrickfergus.

    The paramilitary group is involved in many forms of organised crime, doing "untold damage to the community and exerting fear in neighbourhoods", say police.

    Northern Ireland's children's commissioner said adults engaged in "criminal exploitation" of fighting youths "had to be held accountable".

    Koulla Yiasouma said the violence involved "coercion by adults of vulnerable and at-risk children".

    What has this got to do with Brexit?
    Unionist leaders have linked the violence to simmering loyalist tensions over the Irish Sea border imposed as a result of the UK-EU Brexit deal.

    The new trading border is the result of the Northern Ireland Protocol, introduced to avoid the need for a hard border on the island of Ireland.

    The protocol means Northern Ireland remains in the EU single market for goods, so products being moved from Great Britain to Northern Ireland undergo EU import procedures.

    It avoids the need for checks on the Irish border, as EU customs rules are enforced at Northern Ireland's ports instead.

    Unionists say it damages trade and threatens Northern Ireland's place in the UK.

    In January, graffiti opposing the Irish Sea border was daubed on walls in some loyalist areas, including parts of Bangor, Belfast, Glengormley, and the home of one of Northern Ireland's main ports, Larne.

    These Brexit checks were temporarily suspended amid reported threats against port workers in Larne and Belfast - although the police later said there was no evidence of "credible threats".

    In March, a group which includes representatives of loyalist paramilitaries wrote to Prime Minister Boris Johnson to withdraw its support for the Good Friday Agreement, the 1998 deal that effectively ended the Troubles.

    The Loyalist Communities Council said it was temporarily withdrawing its backing because of concerns about the protocol.

    Lord Frost, the UK Brexit minister, is to meet EU Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic in Brussels on Thursday to discuss plans about implementing the protocol.


    Are there other political factors involved?
    Some unionist leaders have attributed the violence to the decision not to prosecute leaders of the republican Sinn Féin party for breaching Covid regulations at the funeral of a former IRA intelligence chief last June.

    Bobby Storey's funeral drew 2,000 mourners - including Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill - at a time when strict Covid restrictions were still in place, limiting the number of people who could gather in public.

    Many people expressed anger at Ms O'Neill for failing to follow the guidance she insisted the public should follow - guidance which had led to loyalist band parades being cancelled last summer.

    Some have accused police of double standards after the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) said there would be no prosecutions - against the police's recommendations.

    While DUP leader and First Minister Arlene Foster said she did not share that view, she called on PSNI Chief Constable Simon Byrne to resign.

    Mr Byrne said he recognised people were angry, but has refused to step down.

    Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis has said the PSNI and the Policing Board need to reconnect with communities to restore trust, adding that the decision not to bring charges over Bobby Storey's funeral had "a very substantial impact" on the street violence.

    Biden's last statement:
    Q What’s your response to the situation on the border, Mr. President? (me: could have meant the American border which would have been wayyyy out of scope of the the later meet)

    PRESIDENT BIDEN: (Inaudible.) Violence is not justified.
    “El revolucionario: te meteré la bota en el culo"

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    I'm sad for the UK and Brexit. It was a stupid punt. I'm no expert at all, I probably couldn't even explain how it really happened. But it certainly wasn't very well thought out, imo.

    Collapse there, and here would start a bad run of dominoes, methinks.

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    Quote Originally posted by Dreamtimer View Post
    I'm sad for the UK and Brexit. It was a stupid punt. I'm no expert at all, I probably couldn't even explain how it really happened. But it certainly wasn't very well thought out, imo.

    Collapse there, and here would start a bad run of dominoes, methinks.
    Not to be snide or cynical, but I'm sure the ball was pushed off the hill by people looking for their freedom ... people that have no stake in the economic game and would be losers in any system unless they got the handouts that they wanted that went to someone else, no doubt an immigrant...
    “El revolucionario: te meteré la bota en el culo"

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    Quote Originally posted by Dreamtimer View Post
    I'm sad for the UK and Brexit. It was a stupid punt. I'm no expert at all, I probably couldn't even explain how it really happened. But it certainly wasn't very well thought out, imo.

    Collapse there, and here would start a bad run of dominoes, methinks.
    I am a bit of an expert on Brexit, so ask away

    The real reason for Brexit was uncontrolled immigration from Eastern Europe. Unlike other European countries, the UK had no adequate systems in place to track immigration and did not introduce safeguards and limits, even though they were fully within their rights under EU law, to do that.

    The last straw was large-scale Romany Gypsy immigration from the likes of Romania and Bulgaria, who moved to the UK with large families in tow and went immediately on benefits, as was their right.

    As in the rest of Europe anti-gypsy sentiment is incredibly strong in the UK, but it is very rarely discussed in public.

    As it turns out, the UK government had no idea how many immigrants have come and settled from Eastern Europe (they did so legally) and in hindsight, it seems they undercounted their actual numbers by several million. This wasn't planned for in terms of increasing public services, in terms of education, healthcare, infrastructure, public transit and the likes, in fact there were cutbacks in all these areas despite the large increase in the population using them.

    It was really the UK government that messed up, starting with labour leader Gordon Brown, but there was widespread failure on all levels of government in all parties to anticipate the mass immigration that started with the Eu accession of Eastern member states and to plan for it properly. There was also a complicity from business, as they benefited from cheap labour from the east and this obviously undercut wages and increased competition for the locals.

    The strain on public services and downwards pressure on wages really became quite extreme and quite a few people have had enough by the time the Brexit vote came around, so a slim majority voted leave (barely more than 51 percent, in fact).

    This could all have been avoided by proper planning, as Germany has done for instance, and putting caps on annual migratory flows from the EU.

    This was the main motivation for the British Electorate, though for actual Brexiteers, politicians and business people it varies quite a bit. Many of them are infected by a curious form of Imperial nostalgia and they imagine that they will build a second Elizabethan Age, after the first one established the building blocks of the British Empire, largely built on piracy and looting, mostly of Spanish galleons.

    Brexiteers still talk about the "Buccaneering Spirit" of that age, imagining that they will somehow sail around the world and shaft foreigners like they used to, stealing their gold in the process. That is a complete fantasy in this day and age, as they are slowly coming to realise...

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    Quote Originally posted by BeastOfBologna View Post
    Quote Originally posted by Dreamtimer View Post
    I'm sad for the UK and Brexit. It was a stupid punt. I'm no expert at all, I probably couldn't even explain how it really happened. But it certainly wasn't very well thought out, imo.

    Collapse there, and here would start a bad run of dominoes, methinks.
    Not to be snide or cynical, but I'm sure the ball was pushed off the hill by people looking for their freedom ... people that have no stake in the economic game and would be losers in any system unless they got the handouts that they wanted that went to someone else, no doubt an immigrant...
    The UK was never really in the European Union. They had never adopted the Euro as their currency, and they were paying only half of the contributions per capita as what the other EU member states are paying. And then Nigel Farage came along ─ a populist who knew exactly how to push the right buttons by coupling legitimate criticisms of the EU's undemocratic and wasteful bureaucracy to the remnants of British nationalism among the UK population.

    Furthermore, Scotland wanted to remain in the EU, but England didn't, and thanks to Farage, the Brexiteers won the poll by a very narrow margin. Theresa May tried to do what she believed the people wanted, but she was caught between a rock and a hard place, and she couldn't negotiate a deal. And then Boris Johnson came along. The rest is history.

    = DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR =

  30. The Following 4 Users Say Thank You to Aragorn For This Useful Post:

    Chris (28th September 2021), Dreamtimer (28th September 2021), Emil El Zapato (28th September 2021), Wind (28th September 2021)

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