Danny
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Post by Danny on Nov 18, 2024 7:19:41 GMT
There is absolutely no reason why Biden should change a 2 year policy today because of the N Korean troops. probably not, but as a president with only a month left and his successor who will have to deal with future policy coming from the opposite party, you could argue he now has nothing to lose by doing what he was previously constrained from for political reasons. But having said that, absoutely nothing should be assumed about Trump's likely policy, his top policy objective was simply to get elected. Indeed, I doubt the UK even has enough tanks in theatrical hands to stage a battle, never mind make them serviceable again. |
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Danny
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Post by Danny on Nov 18, 2024 7:23:27 GMT
The long range arms have no impact on the war. It is communication of messages. So, a kind of propaganda. This really isnt the commentary from such as ISW. They argues tht the capability to strike further behind enemy lines forces material to be stored further back, making it more difficult to supply the front or do anything with surprise. Also there have been some spectacular successes against stores. Its a ground war because Ukraine has been deprived of the long range weapons the west had planned to use were it directly engaged. This does still beg the question whether such weapons exist in sufficiently large numbers, which however equally applies were NATO itself fighting. One hopes they have learnt a lesson about that already. |
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steve
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Post by steve on Nov 18, 2024 7:55:09 GMT
Good news for Rachel Reeves follow the plan of an effective wealth tax on billionaires guaranteeing they pay at least 2% of their wealth annually up from the current . O3% .The plan promulgated by Spain is currently being discussed at the G20.
The less than 0.0001% of the UK population in this list along with immediate family members amount to around 350 individuals in the uk.
Between them they have net worth more than the GDP of Poland.
Between 1987 and 2024 the share of the world's wealth held in the hands of billionaires has risen from an already huge 3% to a staggering 14%.
This of course is the group that the rapist President elect wishes to give a tax cut.
The incredibly modest Spanish move which leaves the ultra rich still massively lower taxed than any one else would raise a huge amount around 8% of all billionaires in the world are based in the uk.
By some estimates the revenue gained could exceed £2 billion a year in the U.K. a more robust version of the plan could raise £20 billion p.a. for the exchequer.
The Labour government of course has no such plans focussing on increasing bus fairs by 50% next year and removing winter fuel allowance payment from couples on £25000 pa instead.
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Post by colin on Nov 18, 2024 8:36:19 GMT
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pjw1961
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Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one.
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Post by pjw1961 on Nov 18, 2024 9:12:47 GMT
Yes, technology means that what society has decided to make unacceptable can now be much more widely broadcast though I see little evidence that this is actually happening. But what is now labelled unacceptable was not necessarily so labelled 10, 20 or even 50 years ago .People of different ages, having learned "the rules" in their youth, have a different personal list of "unacceptables". My attitude to racism, religion, homosexuality is not the same as that of my daughter or son and they in turn have views different to those of their own children. Thats where the thought police come in, enforcing on people of all ages a standard set of rules in much the same way that religious laws were enforced in the middle ages. No doubt many of the left on here will disagree. They wont do so in 20 years time when things that are acceptable today are no longer so. There are no 10 Commandments here. No absolutes fixed in stone. Instead we have the intellectual fashions of the time . Except I already know that isn't true. People's ideas and behaviour are not fixed in your youth never to change again. I am 63 and I well remember the 1970s when jokes and terms that would now be regarded as racist or homophobic were the stuff of normal Saturday night TV entertainment. Although never actively racist or homophobic I used such terms myself - they were part of the standard vocabulary of the school yard. I had my eyes opened somewhat by going to university and meeting non-white people for the first time and listening to their experience of what the impact of casual racism was on them. I have continued to grow and learn since then, with the diversity of public sector work forces being an excellent school. Anyone who can be bothered to make the effort to do this can do it. I find it especially useful to actually talk to women in respect of male harassment and to ethnic and religious minorities and LGBTQ people on the issues they face daily. In short, stop making excuses for being abusive about other people and move with the times. It isn't difficult. |
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Post by colin on Nov 18, 2024 9:45:31 GMT
Yes, technology means that what society has decided to make unacceptable can now be much more widely broadcast though I see little evidence that this is actually happening. But what is now labelled unacceptable was not necessarily so labelled 10, 20 or even 50 years ago .People of different ages, having learned "the rules" in their youth, have a different personal list of "unacceptables". My attitude to racism, religion, homosexuality is not the same as that of my daughter or son and they in turn have views different to those of their own children. Thats where the thought police come in, enforcing on people of all ages a standard set of rules in much the same way that religious laws were enforced in the middle ages. No doubt many of the left on here will disagree. They wont do so in 20 years time when things that are acceptable today are no longer so. There are no 10 Commandments here. No absolutes fixed in stone. Instead we have the intellectual fashions of the time . Except I already know that isn't true. People's ideas and behaviour are not fixed in your youth never to change again. I am 63 and I well remember the 1970s when jokes and terms that would now be regarded as racist or homophobic were the stuff of normal Saturday night TV entertainment. Although never actively racist or homophobic I used such terms myself - they were part of the standard vocabulary of the school yard. I had my eyes opened somewhat by going to university and meeting non-white people for the first time and listening to their experience of what the impact of casual racism was on them. I have continued to grow and learn since then, with the diversity of public sector work forces being an excellent school. Anyone who can be bothered to make the effort to do this can do it. I find it especially useful to actually talk to women in respect of male harassment and to ethnic and religious minorities and LGBTQ people on the issues they face daily. In short, stop making excuses for being abusive about other people and move with the times. It isn't difficult. Yes I remember the 1970s too. And the absence of the tidal wave of abusive language dished out every day from the haven of anonymity now called Social Media. There is absolutely no comparison between the 1970s and today in abusive behaviour. |
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