How do we stop Iran killing their own citizens? I know, we kill them first! I are very smart!

It just looks creepily like Mara’s right arm is bending backwards.

What a great pair of books though (Allegiance and Choice of One). Would have made a great Disney Plus series if that had been a thing back when they were released. Honestly, they could still do something similar. Cut out Mara (sad face) and the Luke and Han stuff, but a story about a group of renegade stormtroopers trying to make the Empire a better place by taking out pirate gangs and corrupt Imperials would be pretty awesome.

I mean, if we can’t be a properly grown up functioning member of the international community any more, we should at least be a cautionary tale…

A few quotes from the article, for anyone looking at the headline asking “what does that mean?”

China had called the poll a choice between war and peace. Beijing strongly opposes [Ruling-party candidate] Lai

While domestic issues such as the sluggish economy and expensive housing also featured prominently in the campaign, Lai’s Democratic Progressive Party’s appeal to self-determination, social justice and rejection of China’s threats ultimately won out. It’s the first time a single party has led Taiwan for three consecutive four-year presidential terms since the first open presidential election in 1996.

Lai and incumbent President Tsai Ing-wen reject China’s sovereignty claims over Taiwan, a former Japanese colony that split from the Chinese mainland amid civil war in 1949. They have, however, offered to speak with Beijing, which has repeatedly refused to hold talks and called them separatists.

I don’t know American law, but isn’t offering favours in exchange for votes… illegal?

That’s a good point, hadn’t considered that.

No, I was thinking about the lack of empathy required to actively hate everyone under a certain age.

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Hey now

I’ve heard people saying everyone should be more involved in local politics, but I don’t think this is what they have in mind…

but sometimes you get a “false elector” who legally overrides democracy and votes for a different candidate.

Genuine questions - how often does that happen? It can’t be a lot, and it can’t make the deciding vote, right, otherwise the whole system would have been ripped apart by the media long ago…

While true, the Tory party that won the last election looks a bit different to the gobshites that are in government now.

Don’t get me wrong, I thought the last lot were assholes as well, but while technically legal, swapping out basically all of the government several times seems like a bit of a bait and switch.

I assume his slogan was “Well I’m not as bad as Priti ‘fuck you I got mine’ Patel”…

It’s security software - firewalls, VPNs, that sort of thing. It’s not that it’s not available anywhere else, but the Israeli stuff was always considered among the best before this conflict kicked off.

Ah, but from where I sit (a long way from the US), it looks more like a pissing contest between the Republicans to see who can be the most terrible human being in government, than it does look like any sort of actual policy or principal.

It’s not about helping Ukraine, or avoiding the mistakes of Afghanistan - it’s about trying to make Biden (and/or ‘The Dems’ in general) look bad, even if that involves civilian deaths.

Are they evil, Russian agents or just absolute clowns? It doesn’t really matter, does it. The end result is the same.

Me? I’m a Brit. I loathe everything Trump stands for.

Enjoy a second Trump presidency!

Well, I’ll believe it when I see it. But please, just give me a minute to sit back and enjoy that mental image…

Labour don’t want to talk about Brexit because they’re already on course to win the election by a landslide

Are they? Do they have any major policies or plans at all, or are they just relying on “well at least we’re not the Tories, right?”

I realise I don’t read the news much any more (because it’s depressing AF), but I’ve not seen anything to make me think the morons that voted for Brexit, and then confirmed it by voting in Johnson would do anything different this time around. Sure, they’re turkeys voting for Christmas, but they’ve done it twice, why assume they’ll learn the error of their ways?

Sure, but we didn’t go to war with another country, we just stuck a screwdriver in our own ear and kept twisting it.