It’s presumably only a matter of time before ICE bundle Meduro into a van and deport him back to Venezuela
Well, I guess this is anticipated considering the recent deployment of the carrier fleet to the region.
The kidnapping the Venezuelan President is not a surprise but a matter of time, since the US admin has double down on the drug trafficking activities.
Venezuela and its drug trafficking is neither Maduro nor his wife; it's nothing to do with drugs, US national security or the positioning of advanced weapons (I said that Russia suggesting Oreshnik should be deployed there was a mistake) and everything to do with oil. There's a business deal behind this involving the development of the Venezuelan oil industry.
It's interesting that President Trump has publicly dismissed the obvious Nobel prize winning candidate for a presidential role. The Maduro government mechanisms and leaders remain untouched.
The US produces light crude oil but needs to import heavier grades, which form around 40% of oil refined in the US. The majority of refineries are in the south with Texas and Louisiana especially well-positioned for Venezuelan oil.
Problem with entire Latin America is that they are unfortunate to have a super power as a neighbour that wants to exert their dominance over them. No amount of peace or negotiation can come to Latin America when dealing with such super power.
In fact the entire Western hemisphere and Latin America are under the dominion of US admin, whether they like it or not.
On the other hand, most Latin Americans' govts do not help themselves by having poor administrations themselves. i.e. rich with natural resources but poorly managed.
Until such time as the population (Latin America) wake up to take pride in improving their own administration, they will always be vulnerable to regime change and dominance by their neighbouring super power.
The Monroe Doctrine (or Donroe Doctrine as Trump re-branded it) is supposed to be about keeping non-Americas influence out of the Americas while maintaining a non-interventionist stance.
It's also about reducing migration to the US and maintaining critical supply chains, it's in the US National Security Strategy 2025,
We want to ensure that the Western Hemisphere remains reasonably stable and well-governed enough to prevent and discourage mass migration to the United States; we want a Hemisphere whose governments cooperate with us against narco-terrorists, cartels, and other transnational criminal organizations; we want a Hemisphere that remains free of hostile foreign incursion or ownership of key assets, and that supports critical supply chains; and we want to ensure our continued access to key strategic
locations. In other words, we will assert and enforce a “Trump Corollary” to the Monroe Doctrine;
The US admin is currently consolidating their power in preparation with the big confrontation with the East. They (US) need all the resources etc in place before the confronting the East. i.e. they are also cutting off the supply chain (resources) to the East.
The US admin is not really concerned about lesser power (UK/EU etc) but remain focus on China, and they (US admin) are in the process of dismantling all the "pillars" that have a good relationship with the East (Russia and China). It is a systematic process with a strategic intent. Very good plan with no head on confrontation but going for the soft belly.
It looks like the world has started 2026 with a "bang" and they will be plenty more to come.
The problem with "cutting off the supply chain (resources) to the East" is that Venezuela exports about 1/5 of the cheap sanctioned oil that Russia does. Russia, Iran and others won't be too bothered about the loss of competition from Venezuela and the east won't notice the interruption.
As far as the Americas go, there are plenty of other countries to talk to and the US can't rule them all. Colombia is on notice, but we'll see what happens
At some point you have to stop tongueing his arse and tell the truth, though.
I think we missed that boat a few months back. The lack of unity and preparation amongst the rest of our allies has held us back.
And it's bizarre how many complete arseholes are on FB calling for Trump to come and get Starmer. Tiny brains and tiny dicks posturing behind keyboards.
Yeah Trump struggling to justify this on thr basis of 'drug trafficking bad' when he's just pardoned this guy
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9qewln7912o
Juan Orlando Hernández, the former president of Honduras, has walked free after President Donald Trump pardoned him - a man once characterised as the key figure in a drug trafficking scheme that flooded America with over 400 tonnes of cocaine.
Stephen Miller's wife has posted a rather threatening map of Greenland under the US flag with the word "Soon".
Starmer's going to have a lot of monitoring to do at this rate.
And it's bizarre how many complete arseholes are on FB calling for Trump to come and get Starmer.
People I see on my fb feed seem to be 99% morons. I'm not sure if that's because 99% of people are morons, the people fb directs me to see are non-representative, or they're all AI bots. Anything remotely connected to vaccines or immigration, the stats are even worse.
Starmer's going to have a lot of monitoring to do at this rate.
Curious to see how he spins Mette Frederiksen as a narco-criminal.
Just trying to work out what 400 tonnes of cocaine is like. Personal use, and supply a couple of mates, something like that 🤔 Or maybe as the BBC says equivalent to 4.5 billion individual doses over an 18y period.
I've found the real reason for the invasion.... In Brilliant Maps by Ian Wright.
It appears Venezuela has had more Miss World winners than the good old USA. Thats a wrong he must feel he needs to right. 
Just trying to work out what 400 tonnes of cocaine is like. Personal use, and supply a couple of mates, something like that 🤔 Or maybe as the BBC says equivalent to 4.5 billion individual doses over an 18y period.
The post-mission debrief is going to be wild.
TBH just a tonne of it is going to be a fair few pallets, going to be tricky to subtly unload into their houses.
At some point you have to stop tongueing his arse and tell the truth, though.
I think we missed that boat a few months back. The lack of unity and preparation amongst the rest of our allies has held us back.
And it's bizarre how many complete arseholes are on FB calling for Trump to come and get Starmer. Tiny brains and tiny dicks posturing behind keyboards.
They probably think it’s funny, but they should be worried about that sovereignty they all seem to love and defend.
TBH just a tonne of it is going to be a fair few pallets, going to be tricky to subtly unload into their houses.
A tonne of cocaine could very easily fit onto a euro size pallet with room to spare in 1kg brick form when the cocaine is hydraulically compressed before vacuum wrapping
So where is he going to go next?
Iran looking like it could be in his sights now hes gone all Colonel Kilgore , the next shaky vids of burning skyline will be of Tehran
Greenland gotta be worried - tho i reckon he'll offer them a straight up bribe first
Meanwhile China going for Taiwan while Trump gets distracted and bogged down in Venezuela seems more likely than ever, possibly before the end of the year?
TBH just a tonne of it is going to be a fair few pallets, going to be tricky to subtly unload into their houses.
Apparently, cocaine is slightly denser than water. One tonne of water is 1,000 litres, or 1 cubic meter. If it was vacuum packed, it would fit in half a dozen large suitcases. You'd fit it in the back of a small hatchback with the seats folded down.
You'd not drive far with 4 tons in the boot of a hatchback though. Best use a couple of vans for that.
Here’s a tonne in 2015, did arrive in suitcases.
edited: meh some weird forum stuff going on
Apparently during Trump's press, he mentioned the "change" of Monroe Doctrine to now "Donroe" Doctrine on steroid. He also mentioned that the "entire" Western Hemisphere "belongs" to US and no other power can enter. Well, I guess all the Western nations will now have to bow to the "King" of kings, and to serve the King at will. In the long run it seems that the concept of indirect servitude cannot be dismissed. Inflation, cost of living increment, economy downturn will be the norm for those serving, while the powerful enjoy the fruit of their power.
The Nordic countries are all issuing very clear statements that the US needs to dial back the Greenland rhetoric. Let's hope we don't need a separate Greenland thread soon.
Anyway, did the rest of the Epstein stuff get released by the deadline?
Well, I guess all the Western nations will now have to bow to the "King" of kings, and to serve the King at will.
He's already said that the whole of Europe wants him as leader.
Starmer and Mertz are happy to kiss his ring. Macron has probably stood up to him more than most (and Macron is far from a protector of the French people from corporate interests and oligarchs).
An emboldened Trump is a very bad thing! This is what he said yesterday
“” this incredible thing last night….. we HAVE to do it again in other countries. We can do it again too. No one can stop us””
If nothing else I think the Americans may be beginning to regret the amount of unregulated executive power they instil in their presidents. While our Prime Ministers have demonstrated a surprisingly common facility for ineptitude, at least their incompetence is limited.
Europe (including the UK) needs to grow a spine and tell Trump that this sort of thing is not done in decent society, and if it happens again American military assets will be summarily evicted from European territories.
That’s all very well, but we’re no where near ready to step in and replace USA and joint military capabilities in Europe.
Roll on the 6th of November (midterms) - hopefully this will cripple this bully.
Agree, we are utterly dependant on the USA for military support, especially regards Russia, without them US arms and assistance the UK would be completely unshielded from any Russian agression.
The US is the only country likely to attack Europe, China has no interest in a military takeover of Europe (at the moment), and Russia is incapable.
The US under Trump are Europes biggest threat, who the **** are they going to protect us against that is a bigger threat than they are? And frankly are more likely to side with Russia than come to our assistance, and even if they did help us it would be under the condition we came under their rule.
We have to get away from believing we are in the second half of the 20th century, one of the biggest reasons we are in such a mess is because Russia and the oligarchy led US aims are marching to the same tune, we are being tag teamed by them and still stupidly looking for our attacker to defend us, absolute ****ing insanity,
If you havent listened to it the Wragame podcast is an interetsing listen about what might happen in Russia attacked the UK and America didnt step in to help us
https://www.podbean.com/media/share/dir-3mtrg-2881c5a0
Looking at the episodes list quite a lot is about the cyber war and propaganda.
That is where the US and Russia are already aligned in destabilising Europe and financing and supporting the far right populists.
The US is no longer our allies in any real sense, that is the reality always deferring to the US, as so frequently preached on here, totally ignores.
But I will listen to it, it does look interesting.
Maybe the could redo it now that the new reality is so apparant.
Looking at the episodes list quite a lot is about the cyber war and propaganda.
the last 5 episodes are wargaming a war with russia
aren't we getting a little far fetched here - why would the US attack Europe? A continent of 450million people - with nukes. With the industrial capacity to build some of the most advanced munitions and defence in the world.
Why would Russia attack Europe?
The US a month ago stated its aim for regime change in Europe and its support for far right populist parties, the US is being run by megalomaniacs financed by oligarchs that wants to shape a new world with a few at the top and everyone else serving them (they already basically have that, but it still isn't enough, they want everything). The old idea of war is unlikely, but they are waging war in different ways and winning. Our lives will end up as bad either way if it isn't stopped.
And a war with Russia, with the US sitting it out would suit Trump and the US oligarchs as they think they could sit it out and create the world they want afterwards.
The US said it would protect Ukraine when it gave up its nukes, there is not a promise, deal, contract or legislation that Trump and co would not rip up and renege on. The idea that the US will protect us is wishful thinking at the moment, it is not supported by the actions we see daily.
So where is he going to go next?
Iran looking like it could be in his sights now hes gone all Colonel Kilgore , the next shaky vids of burning skyline will be of Tehran
Greenland gotta be worried - tho i reckon he'll offer them a straight up bribe first
Meanwhile China going for Taiwan while Trump gets distracted and bogged down in Venezuela seems more likely than ever, possibly before the end of the year?
TBH What would Europe actually be able to do if Trump just invaded Greenland.
Ask for a refund on the F-35’s.
And where would the U.K. stand.
This could be Denmark's Falklands moment 🙁
TBH What would Europe actually be able to do if Trump just invaded Greenland.
What we ought to do would see us facing Putin without US support.
Better to die free men? I don't know.
Putin has been fighting a misinformation war against Europe for over a decade, the US is on his side in that war, the only help he is willing to give Ukraine is for the payoff
The threat from Russia is no where near as great as is portrayed, look how they have done in Ukraine, and frankly there is only a small chance that Trump would help us, unless it furthered his aim of becoming king of the world.
The risk of being in perpetual servitude to the US is far greater, the threat of diminishing lifestyle and freedom is far greater under our current trajectory of ass kissing Trump and everything they represent, than the threat from Russia.
TBH What would Europe actually be able to do if Trump just invaded Greenland.
My mate would happily take his tractor and plough over the turnberry golf course, he lives a couple of miles away but I imagine he’d be able to do a fair bit of damage, he’s talked about loading up his silage sprayer and heading up the turnberry entryway
The European initiative to have payment systems that don't rely on VISA etc. I think is a really solid long term strategy.
That will be the next thing, financial extortion I think will be the next (very powerfull) weapon the USA uses against us, I think.
From the New York Times today
Moscow’s mixed reaction to the U.S. intervention in Venezuela has stirred memories of a barter reportedly offered by Russia seven years ago, during another moment of heightened tension between Washington and Caracas.
At the time, Russia signaled that it was willing to allow the United States to act as it pleased in Venezuela, in exchange for Washington giving the Kremlin a free hand in Ukraine, according to Congressional testimony from Fiona Hill, who ran Russian and European affairs on the National Security Council during the first Trump administration.
The Russians “were signaling very strongly that they wanted to somehow make some very strange swap arrangement between Venezuela and Ukraine,” Ms. Hill told a Congressional hearing in October 2019, more than two years before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The proposals were informal, through commentators and newspaper articles, she said, but the gist was that if the United States wanted the freedom to maintain a sphere of influence over neighboring countries, then it ought to agree to Russia doing the same.
Trump really has developed a taste for using the military as his own personal militia and I don't see that changing now.
I think we are at a point where it's not so much what will happen but the order in which they do.
So in no particular order:
Trump makes a play for Greenland, likely part carrot and part stick... the carrot simply to give the illusion of choice to Greenland. Denmark will be included in the negotiations about as much as Europe is over Ukraine's fate. Ie. not much at all.
There will be a war over Taiwan and due to Trump's total lack of strategic thinking he'll never see that he actively made it a near certainty. I still think he will seek to try and thwart the invasion and that's when all bets are off globally. China won't be inclined to back down and neither will Trump. If a US carrier goes down I suspect both sides will contemplate going nuclear if only to get the first strikes in.
Putin will live long enough to see a catastrophically weakened NATO or even see its demise if Trump annexes Greenland. Putin's war against Europe has historically been in the shadows but he will be emboldened and won't let a crumbling world order go to waste. The Russian state is entirely geared towards war at the moment and Europe is so far behind without US backing I don't see it ending well for us. I'm also not sure Europe (including us) has the stomach to send hundreds of thousands to the grave even if we had militaries big enough to do so. Additionally, the UK will simultaneously face a threat on another front whereby the English channel becomes a weakness rather than a defensive line. We are at the mercy of underwater infrastructure for power and a large part of our data communications. It's an open secret Russia has mapped this infrastructure and likely left sleeper drones/ bombs in place to sever them in a fine of war. Would France and/or the UK launch nukes at Russia if we face an existential threat? Should we even contemplate it knowing the almost certain global nuclear war it would trigger?
Anyway...
It's odd, I have watched and continue to watch the horror that is Ukraine but this episode with Venezuela feels like a real Rubicon moment to me. I usually don't worry about geological events too much but this event really has me worried. I just never saw the USA as being the country that allowed us to watch in real time the Mad King theory played out as actual fact rather than a political strategy.
At 57 I think it will be almost miraculous if I live out my days without seeing at least a tactical nuke being used in some region in the world, which is more than a little sobering.
Moscow’s mixed reaction to the U.S. intervention in Venezuela has stirred memories of a barter reportedly offered by Russia seven years ago, during another moment of heightened tension between Washington and Caracas.
At the time, Russia signaled that it was willing to allow the United States to act as it pleased in Venezuela, in exchange for Washington giving the Kremlin a free hand in Ukraine, according to Congressional testimony from Fiona Hill, who ran Russian and European affairs on the National Security Council during the first Trump administration.
The Russians “were signaling very strongly that they wanted to somehow make some very strange swap arrangement between Venezuela and Ukraine,” Ms. Hill told a Congressional hearing in October 2019, more than two years before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Which conveniently fits with Trump's first term. So now, we are nation building...
I hope I'm still young enough to see those two front page obituaries.
I hope I'm still young enough to see those two front page obituaries.
Couple of dementia experts I've read think that Trump may have as little as 2-4 months left - either dead or 25th amendment.
I don't think it ends with Trump.
The question will be has he done enough damage for those who come after to continue to easily replace him, or will the (strangely insane) devotion of his followers just evaporate the whole project. I expect it to be messy and I don't know which way it will swing, with the removal of so many who are not loyal and the general dismantling of the mechanisms of state, I am not sure democracy will have a say, and I edge towards "project 2025" continuing to dismantle democracy.
Maybe without Trump the pathetic sycophants like Starmer and Mertz may not be so brazenly useless, but I suspect they are more in the pockets of the oligarchs than Trump himself so don't really expect any change there either.
If you havent listened to it the Wragame podcast is an interetsing listen about what might happen in Russia attacked the UK and America didnt step in to help us
You've just made me go down that rabbit hole. 👍
I don't normally worry too much about World events, but Trump has me worried. One minute building a 'ballroom', the next kidnapping a country's President over some spurious drugs trafficking pretences - it's oil reserve security. Just because the country is a bit corrupt and they can't get 'enough' oil out is not the US's issue. He's been happy to shuffle up with Israel ! Madness.
I don't think it ends with Trump.
This.
The entire republican party machinery has fully bought into the crazy, and it's not really a cult of Trump any more so much as a cult of fascism.
It will be a long time before USA can be considered any sort of reliable ally in any sort of political, ideological, economic or military sense.
I like the quote from Angela Merkel.
“He was convinced that all countries were competitors of each other, where the success of one meant the failure of the other. He did not believe that the prosperity of all countries could be increased through cooperation.”
Unfortunately what it fails to address is that it isn't just him, the whole basis of our current economic climate is that for there to be winners there must be losers, and every day they are witling down the number of winners and expanding the base of economic losers.
Moscow’s mixed reaction to the U.S. intervention in Venezuela has stirred memories of a barter reportedly offered by Russia seven years ago, during another moment of heightened tension between Washington and Caracas.
At the time, Russia signaled that it was willing to allow the United States to act as it pleased in Venezuela, in exchange for Washington giving the Kremlin a free hand in Ukraine, according to Congressional testimony from Fiona Hill, who ran Russian and European affairs on the National Security Council during the first Trump administration.
The Russians “were signaling very strongly that they wanted to somehow make some very strange swap arrangement between Venezuela and Ukraine,” Ms. Hill told a Congressional hearing in October 2019, more than two years before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Which conveniently fits with Trump's first term. So now, we are nation building...
I hope I'm still young enough to see those two front page obituaries.
The dynamic in 2019 was different to the dynamic in 2026. I'd put that 2019 barter down to historical context rather than current reality.
In 2019 Russia was in a much stronger position than it is now, before the invasion of the rest of Ukraine, and Venzuela had become a drag on Russia because of US sanctions imposed between 2017 and 2019.
Venezuela used to buy Russian weapons, Russian assistance, etc, because it had the money to do so. Russia profited from that market and had influence in a good economy in the US backyard.
Sanctions meant the end to all of that and Russia then had to assist Venezuela with sanction-busting and accessing the world financial system, which is politically fraught and probably more trouble than it was worth financially.
In 2022 Russia also became subject to tighter sanctions that have ratcheted up over time. Russia is now much less use to Venezuela and has no capacity for helpful intervention; see also Syria, Iran, Armenia, etc.
President Trump could surely see that change and that Russia doesn't have the cards for a deal on Ukraine now.
It doesn't have to be a direct deal to be bargained and signed, just an nod and wink that they will largely allow each other to build their empires without too much real interference other than a bit of faux rhetoric for the media.
Trump makes a play for Greenland, likely part carrot and part stick... the carrot simply to give the illusion of choice to Greenland. Denmark will be included in the negotiations about as much as Europe is over Ukraine's fate. Ie. not much at all.
I think that this whole annexation business is going to be a real sticking point for the US. The assumption is that the military will go along with it, but Senator Mark Kelly has already demonstrated that calls for prosecution for "sedition" are empty threats. SecWar is going after his pension administratively, rather than prosecution for a crime. He's naturally going to fight that https://edition.cnn.com/2026/01/05/politics/pentagon-cuts-mark-kellys-retirement-pay-punishment
Greenland isn't Venezuela and the grounds for any kind of invasion are tenuous at best and military leaders can't pretend otherwise. Prosecution for sedition? Nope. Drug trafficking? Nope. Mass migration to the US? Nope. Russian advanced weapons? Nope. Necessary for the defence of the US? Nope, we already have bases there. Rare earth minerals? Nope, they've already offered to sell us minerals, etc.
Canada. Do we want a massive collection of "liberal" states that won't vote Republican? Nope
The only one that is a possibility is the Panama canal zone.
I'd agree that imperialism rather than rules leads to war, just look at the last two world wars. The possiblity of China taking cues from the US on Taiwan, leading to a confrontation between the US and China is a scary thought.
EDIT War also leads to mass migration, exactly what the US administration is dead set against.
It doesn't have to be a direct deal to be bargained and signed, just an nod and wink that they will largely allow each other to build their empires without too much real interference other than a bit of faux rhetoric for the media.
That's the point. What real interference can Russia offer?
Upon opening the forum just now, I was concerned to learn that Trump is now threatening to invade Jessie J! (🤮)
Jessie J is too old for Trump.
Recent offline chat has gone a bit like this… ‘why don’t UK politicians tell the USA that they oppose what’s happening there?”
Swiftly followed by “we’re off to New York for our holidays”… “just order them from Amazon”… “you can watch it on YouTube”… “my Tesla makes fart noises”.
We’re all so deeply embedded in USA infrastructure, commerce and culture, and so few of us are prepared to do anything about that, in fact many of us are embracing it further and further, that we are all telling the USA that they can do what they want just as much, if not more, than our representatives. A nation of hypocrites. That includes me.
I don't know anyone who said they would go to America at the moment, in fact most comments I see are quite the opposite, and people who would have gone now not doing so, its actually quite a problem for the US tourist industry. Swatikars have become hated, youtube and amazon is a problem, although enshitification is driving me away from it youtube, I absolutely should ween myself off amazon. I never liked twitter, and dumped facebook and whatsapp last year, there was also several threads about people doing so on here.
I don't accept your point I find a lot of people are now moving away from American services and providers while our leaders are lagging behind and pushing them on us.
I think you are projecting your personal excuses onto the rest of us.
They’re not my excuses… just some examples from others… personally I’m not going to the USA while Trump is in place, and at no point would I have ever have bought a Tesla product, I’ve stopped using Twitter/X, etc… but I’m still a hypocrite because I’m supporting the USA on a regular basis, because it is very inconvenient not to. Almost impossible not to. Yet many of us (including myself) are critical of our politicians for not standing strong against the USA: we’re all hypocrites… to different degrees. If my phone dies today, would I buy another one from the big American brand that has been handing Trump trophies? Yes.
just some example from others
I haven't seen anything like that at all, so I still don't accept your point as being common.
Nah, check the streaming thread… many of us are using USA media companies more and more… and you yourself are still enriching Bezos etc. Some us might be supporting the USA “less” than we were, but no one is withdrawing support completely, and as a whole we, the UK population, are becoming more and more embedded with the big USA companies. Let’s be honest… we want our politicians to stand strong against the USA, but none of us are doing that ourselves. Because we’re not prepared to accept the consequences.
But "we" shouldn't have to boycott particular American brands to make ourselves heard (TBF, just how many of us would have to do so before the likes of Tesla, Apple, Amazon etc really becomes concerned and pressurises their Government to change)?
We should be expecting our Government to speak on our behalf and take significant direct action against the regime.
but none of us are doing that ourselves.
Yes we are, many people are dumping American companies, services and products, far more than our leaders are. Yes it can go further, and it will, but it is happening and Starmer, Mertz etc are lagging far far behind the public.
do you know of someone with a spare nuclear deterent we could switch to?
France!
And as has been pointed out, Russia is a bogeyman being used to keep us in servitude to the US. They both want regime change in Europe, they both have desires to take European states with mineral wealth.
When is Trump going to kill motor vehicles? Motor vehicles killed 40,000 people in the US in 2023!
From wikipedia "Between 1899 and 2023, there were 3,996,709 traffic fatalities in the United States."
Some us might be supporting the USA “less” than we were, but no one is withdrawing support completely, and as a whole we, the UK population, are becoming more and more embedded with the big USA companies. Let’s be honest… we want our politicians to stand strong against the USA, but none of us are doing that ourselves
To an extent this crosses over with the Enshittification thread in that in certain fields we've passed a point where we can withdraw our patronage. Amazon's a great example because whether you shop with them or not you're probably giving them a lot of custom through the day without realising it - theres probably an amazon (or a google or an oracle) server somewhere between me typing this and you reading it.
I can boycott the Amazon or the Washington Post because Bezos owns it ... just now looking at the tabs I've got open the BBC website is hosted on AWS, the Guardian quick crossword is hosted on AWS - and I'm just doing my VAT return - the HMRC is hosted on AWS. Jeff's making money on all those activities.
Yes we are, many people are dumping American companies
Many people are dumping the visible attributes of American companies
Yes we are, many people are dumping American companies
One I'm guilty of (I use Netflix and AppleTV most days):
https://www.finder.com/uk/stats-facts/tv-streaming-statistics
More UK people used these USA services at the end of 2025 then they did when Trump took office.
If "we" (and that includes me) can't give up Plur1bus and weak arse American sit-coms, which let's face it would be a minor inconvenience... how can we expect the UK government to bring on a deeper trade war, infrastructure depletion, and risk removal of our joint defences on our behalf?
I'm just examining the hypocrisies of my friends and myself here. Happy for anyone else to go ahead imagining that's unique, or unusual, but I don't think the facts stack up to back that. Many people might think they're taking a stand, but a bit of self examination would probably show them that they're not really. It's not easy to do so in our own lives, we're not prepared too accept the consequences... yet we con ourselves that we'd be happy with the consequences of the UK government taking on the USA government far more directly. I don't think we're really ready for that at all.
I don't think we are ready for the consequences of not doing so, and the longer it takes for our governments to start leading us out of this US dependency the harder it will be and worst the consequences. We are heading towards the hard right politically with a whimper.
Your arguments seem to be that you are absolving our leaders of any responsibility for change because people watch netflix and engage with the world.
What we certainly aren't ready for is the consequences without our leaders actually laying out the dangers instead of pretending it is all going to go away at the midterms and/or the next US election if we just squint, look away and pretend everything can just carry on as normal.
I can boycott the Amazon
Maybe the website, Amazon Web Services data centres are used by most Internet providers so a boycott is probably harder than many people realise
Your arguments seem to be that you are absolving our leaders of any responsibility for change because people watch netflix and engage with the world.
No, my argument is that we want our politicians to act contrary to our own choices. That is that we are hypocrites. I still want our government to actively work towards turning us away from the USA economically, politically, and on defence. I’m examining and accepting the hypocrisy behind that. And even more so the desire of many (which I share) of wanting them to vocally oppose Trump without us really accepting the possible consequences.
Just because the use of some services is unavoidable it doesn't mean we shouldn't try to avoid supporting those we consider as bad actors, that's the same argument as not bothering with trying to reduce our carbon footprint because our neighbours don't.
Just because the use of some services is unavoidable it doesn't mean we shouldn't try to avoid supporting those we consider as bad actors, that's the same argument as not bothering with trying to reduce our carbon footprint because our neighbours don't.
Exactly - I have a long boycott list of companies and countries. Its not always practical to be 100% but never let perfect get in the way of good enough
USA is top of my list
@pothead All the more reason to boycott those of their services that can be avoided.
And it is also not an excuse for not expecting our leaders to create the environment for change.
Maybe the website, Amazon Web Services data centres are used by most Internet providers so a boycott is probably harder than many people realise
It would be like trying to boycott nuclear power. If you're connected to a grid that has nuclear plants, you're using energy from nuclear power. If you buy any products made in countries that have nuclear power plants, those products were made using nuclear energy.
There was never a better excuse to not buy shit off Amazon. As if you needed another one besides massive tax dodging despite a mammoth commercial and logistical UK footprint.
Argos next day delivery to the local Sainsbury’s FTW. Argos runs on AWS
I'll boycott Amazon later this year when the Reacher and Niegley series have dropped.
Europe (including the UK) needs to grow a spine and tell Trump that this sort of thing is not done in decent society, and if it happens again American military assets will be summarily evicted from European territories.
what if they refuse to leave? The reason no country has stood up to trump is because they aren’t in a position to do so. Even united, the consequences of standing up to the USA as run by Trump would be devastating.
Is there anything Trump wants from Europe? On the flip side, if Europe does nothing, Trump will just continue the steamrolling.
Without wanting to sound dramatic, the west goes to war with the USA or simply gives them what they want.
As for the mid term elections, I heard on the radio yesterday that the one that the plaque thatcommemorates the people who were killed by the demonstrators who attacked the Capitol has been removed, contrary to the law.
So what about all the US airbases around the world? 128 of them? blocking access or taking them back?
Also reading suggestions here
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskBrits/comments/1q68agi/what_do_you_think_the_uk_response_should_be_when/
"The first thing I’d suggest is a coordinated European government dumping of the US dollar. The EU holds over $1tn in us currency.
Dumping that will crash the dollar, forcing the US to panic buy it to prop up its currency.
Just as the market settles I’d dump a shot load of the US debt bonds held by the EU - around $3tn.
Sure, it will totally crash all economic markets but if the EU and the U.K. work together they can deal with it and the US can’t.
It would not be pretty whatsoever but America would lose regardless of its military might."
Yeah, the US has used Russia as the bogeyman, misinformation, and economic fear to isolate nations and bully them into submission. But if we co-ordinated and understood what was at risk I think we would take the economic hit to rid us of project2025's vision of the world. I don't think the Americans would be as ready to suffer the economic consequences to impose the project2025 vision onto the world.
And that is why Trump and the project2025 architects fear Europe because despite all its faults it is stronger together than separated, that is why Russia's and the US's aims align, a united Europe is a message of unity and hope against their message of hate and division, that's why they hate it and want to destroy it. Bullies fear their victims ganging together to fight back and that's what we need to do, along with Canada and other democracies that don't want to lose their freedom.