Other countries

[Vrede too]

American cultural imperialism extends to Thai weddings:
https://wlos.com/news/nation-world/groo ... thlete-sad

"was quite intoxicated at the time,"
All of our traditions

[O Really]

"Princess Diana's brother Earl Spencer says he was sexually abused at boarding school"

Sorry mate, but I don't have much interest in your 40-years ago issue, but out of curiosity, what happened? Were you buggered by the local bully? Went through some "initiation" involving your asshole? Forced to gain bj experience from the giving side on some big bruiser?

Nope.

...a female staff member, whom he described as a "voracious paedophile", groomed and abused him and other young boys in their dormitory beds at night.

Oh. I see. Some would have called that an additional benefit of that elite school and included in the (current cost) £10,584 per semester.



https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-68522408?ut ... pic%2Fnews

[Vrede too]

"Princess Diana's brother Earl Spencer says he was sexually abused at boarding school"

Sorry mate, but I don't have much interest in your 40-years ago issue, but out of curiosity, what happened? Were you buggered by the local bully? Went through some "initiation" involving your asshole? Forced to gain bj experience from the giving side on some big bruiser?

Nope.

...a female staff member, whom he described as a "voracious paedophile", groomed and abused him and other young boys in their dormitory beds at night.

Oh. I see. Some would have called that an additional benefit of that elite school and included in the (current cost) £10,584 per semester.

https://paradise-education.com/images/c ... g_2_80.jpg

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-68522408

But but but (no pun intended), she was a commoner! You Yanks (no pun intended) just don't understand.

[Vrede too]

I'm not a close observer, but it feels like India is joining Italy and many other nations in becoming more authoritarian. Hindifascist?

Indian police stop a conference of activists and academics discussing G20 issues ahead of summit

... Critics also challenged the interests of the G-20 and whom it served to benefit.

“The G20 is being organized to secure the corporate interests of a few. We need to work to secure our interests, our rights, our forests, our water,” said Roma Malik of the All India Union of Forests’ Working People.

I may be mistaken but India has always been authoritarian while practicing "democracy". I've never felt a need to visit there.

Seems you have others who agree with you.

https://www.journalofdemocracy.org/2023 ... democracy/

Not high on my travel list, either.

https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/ste ... ill/f_webp

Modi’s Muslim remarks spark ‘hate speech’ accusations as India’s mammoth election deepens divides

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been accused of delivering Islamophobic remarks during an election rally Sunday, triggering widespread anger from prominent Muslims and members of the opposition.

The world’s most populous nation is in the midst of a mammoth weeks-long election in which Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is widely expected to secure a rare third consecutive term....

[O Really]

Reader warning: This post contains comments and opinion that may be taken as discriminatory, culturist, possibly racist and may be offensive to those sensitive to such things.

I had no idea who the Prime Minister ("First Minister") of Scotland is. If forced to guess, I'd say it was Hamish McTavish or Fergus McFarland or somebody. He'd be somebody who had authentic clan kilts and whose family had lived in some castle since 1600-something. Maybe he'd play bagpipes as a musical interest, and worked as a barrister while living on his gentleman's sheep farm. Nope.

The First Minister of Scotland, whose job is currently in jeopardy is Humza Yousaf. Humza Yousaf? Seriously? Habib is running Scotland?
Yousaf is Glasgow-born of Pakistani immigrant parents, and seems well-qualified for the job. And he's got a proper Scottish accent. England has Rishi Sunak as PM and Canada has Jagmeet Singh as leader of the NDP, but this is Scotland we're talking about. Scotland - where men are men even in skirts and wee lassies are fair. Where if your family hasn't lived there more than two centuries, you're a newcomer. A country where people eat Haggis as a sign of pride. A country of long traditions and strong cultural identification. But still, here he is, the First Minister of Scotland:

[Vrede too]

Reader warning: This post contains comments and opinion that may be taken as discriminatory, culturist, possibly racist and may be offensive to those sensitive to such things.

No worries, mate. It is indeed stunning that a Muslim, a Hindu, and a Sikh, all of south Asian heritage, would lower themselves to involvement with Scottish, British and Canadian politics

EDIT: The Muslim has decided that there are better things he can do:

Humza Yousaf resigns - live: SNP Scottish first minister quits in emotional speech to avoid no confidence vote

[Vrede too]

I'm not a close observer, but it feels like India is joining Italy and many other nations in becoming more authoritarian. Hindifascist?

Indian police stop a conference of activists and academics discussing G20 issues ahead of summit

I may be mistaken but India has always been authoritarian while practicing "democracy". I've never felt a need to visit there.

Seems you have others who agree with you.

https://www.journalofdemocracy.org/2023 ... democracy/

Not high on my travel list, either.

https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/ste ... ill/f_webp

Seems that there is significant resistance to hindifascism, no thanks to India's MSM:

India’s Cable News Predicted a Big Modi Win. How Did They Get It So Wrong?

Through the months of India’s sprawling national election season, the country’s hundreds of cable news outlets all seemed to be trying to outdo each other: They predicted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would win, and win big.

The actual election results on June 4, however, saw his fortunes plummet so low that he secured another term only with the help of coalition partners.

It was a shocking result to many, and now India finds itself wondering why so few foresaw the popularity of an opposition movement. Some outlets had predicted that Mr. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, or B.J.P., would win as many as 400 of the 543 available seats in Parliament, but in the end, it won only 240.

Many see the disparity as a sign of how thoroughly the prime minister had cowed the mainstream media, and how his control of the information system had grown so complete that the hype obscured voters’ true sentiments....

Will this lead to compromise, liberalization and more honest and accurate MSM, or will it lead to a fascist crackdown? For now, I'm heartened by the election results.

[Vrede too]

U.K. Independence Day

Labour Party Wins U.K. General Election In Landslide, Ending 14 Years Of Conservative Rule
Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer and prosecutor, is set to become Britain’s new prime minister.

O Really?

[O Really]

Happier days.
Maybe a chance to un-Brexit?

[Vrede too]

... Maybe a chance to un-Brexit?

I wondered the same thing. Is it a tar baby to be put off right out of the gate?

[O Really]

... Maybe a chance to un-Brexit?

I wondered the same thing. Is it a tar baby to be put off right out of the gate?

I think I'd go for it.

"As of May 2024, 55 percent of people in Great Britain thought that it was wrong to leave the European Union, compared with 31 percent who thought it was the right decision. During this time period, the share of people who regret Brexit has been slightly higher than those who support it, except for some polls in Spring 2021, which showed higher levels of support for Brexit. The share of people who don’t know whether Brexit was the right or wrong decision has generally been stable and usually ranged between 11 and 14 percent."

"If there was another referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU, how would you vote?"
Fieldwork dates: 28 June 2016 - 14 July 2023
Data from: Great Britain, United Kingdom
Results from: 117 polls

https://www.whatukthinks.org/eu/questio ... -you-vote/

[GoCubsGo]

Don't know the mechanics of joining/resigning from the EU, but would they be welcomed back if there's a possibility of a future resignation with changing political winds?

[O Really]

Don't know the mechanics of joining/resigning from the EU, but would they be welcomed back if there's a possibility of a future resignation with changing political winds?

Might require some groveling, but I think it could be done. Rest of the EU doesn't like Brexit, either.

[Vrede too]

Might require some groveling, but I think it could be done. Rest of the EU doesn't like Brexit, either.

Think they would do a new referendum in order to enhance the perception of legitimacy?


Watch Right-Wing Hearts Break In Real Time At France Election News
It was in stark contrast to the "explosion of joy" among the left.

[O Really]

Cheeriest vid I've seen lately.

[O Really]

Idle mind ramblings:
So the Russians bagged a WSJ reporter and convicted him of espionage so they can trade him for one or more of their guys. As usual the US claims the charges are bogus and has everybody who reports it include the term "sham" with the term "trial." Let's assume for discussion he's not a spy.
But - how do we know? If he was spying, would the US or WSJ people say anything different? Would they say "Our guy got caught and after a fair trial was sentenced..." Homey don't think so. They'd deny whether he was a spy or not. So what do the Russians say?

WSJ: "In June, Russian prosecutors approved an indictment of Gershkovich, falsely alleging that he was gathering information about a Russian defense contractor on behalf of the Central Intelligence Agency. In fact, Gershkovich, who was accredited as a foreign correspondent by Russian authorities, was in Yekaterinburg and elsewhere in the Sverdlovsk region for the sole purpose of reporting for the Journal."

Well, that certainly clears it right up. "...purpose of reporting for the Journal."

Was he in fact working on a story about the "Russian defense contractor"?

WSJ also claims "Gershkovich was afforded few of the protections normally accorded to defendants in the U.S. and other Western countries." Duh, he's in frickin' Russia. https://rsf.org/en/country/russia Toto's not in Kansas anymore.

https://www.wsj.com/world/russia/evan-g ... l-dbabd6e3

[Vrede too]

In Philippines election, late dictator's son aims to restore family pride

As frontrunner in the Philippines' presidential race, the son of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos appears poised to complete a remarkable rebranding of the family name 36 years after a "people power" uprising ended his father's autocratic rule.

With official campaigning beginning on Tuesday, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., 64, holds a double-digit lead in the polls, three months ahead of the May 9 elections....

Out of the Duterte frying pan, into the Marcos fire.

If I'm not mistaken, the wife either ran for president or thought hard about it some years ago. Marcos was one of those who made me feel ashamed to be an American back when I was in the navy.

Crap. I once considered retiring to the Philippines. The hell with that idea now, the nation is fucked up.

Yeah, I was surprised they'd elect another Marcos. I suppose junior figures there's been enough time since his dad stole billions and died that he himself will now have a chance to steal some more. And it's a hard call if Marcos junior will be worse than the idiot Duterte. Place your bets.

It's a 2 family war:

Duterte returns as Philippines’ political clans wage ‘a fight to the death’

A foul-mouthed former Philippine president who jailed political rivals, insulted the pope and claims to have hired “death squad” gangsters is running for re-election in his hometown in a desperate bid to strengthen his scandal-hit political dynasty.

Labeled “Asia’s Trump” by some commentators due to his unorthodox leadership style and bombastic rhetoric, Rodrigo Duterte is aiming for a perhaps even more unlikely political comeback than Donald Trump’s seismic return to the White House.

Duterte, 79, wants to return as mayor of Davao City, on the southern island of Mindanao, where he held power for more than two decades before leading the archipelago nation between 2016 and 2022.

His return to politics is about more than a personal quest for power, analysts say – it’s an attempt to shore up support for his family against the Philippines’ other famed political dynasty – the Marcoses, who have an opposing vision for the country, particularly its relationships with the United States and China....

[Vrede too]

Article

Senior and Junior are cretins, again. Even Faux Noise says so.

[Vrede too]

Making friends ...

Denmark “In Crisis Mode” After Terrible Trump Phone Call on Greenland

I thought that he was going to keep us out of wars.

[Supsalemgr]

I'll take the odds on not going to war with Denmark not even knowing what the odds are.