Roadsternut

Yes to capital punishment but with some caveats: Execution in public. To be monetized through a recorded blooper reel Cops type TV show, to cover the costs to the state. Counseling services will not be offered. Grow up. You supported it, now revel in it. Condemmed are given one appeal, to be delivered within 15 days of sentence being passed. Execution date is set at the state's choosing. The condemmed is given 30 minutes notice to make his or her peace. Mass execution to be encouraged for efficiency. Public participation in the act by ballot, in the same way one is selected for jury service, one is selected for execution service, with few opt outs (opt outs; you need to designate an alternate, eg wife, sibling, parent, children). If a nation wants the death penalty, then the public should own it. Hotdog sales to be encouraged, hot chocolate on cold days. Public witnesses are not told of the crime. The condemmed is not named by the state at the time of execution, except for record keeping purposes. You take their word for it, as you watch their bowels release. All condemmed are equal in the eyes of the law Electric chair, gas, lethal injection to be banned. Pole hanging sounds great. Someone does a countdown on a megaphone to add to the sense of theatre. Mobile execution devices to be designed and manufactured, and legislation enabled to enable designation of any public space as an interim execution ground. Could enable space in supermarket carparks, on a saturday, to be utilised. No hoods on the condemned Capital punishment to be extended to beyond murder, to include drug dealing/manufacture/delivery and certain white collar crimes, based on overall harm to society as well as the individual. Financial crime should not merely be a cost of doing business.

I still have my Veterans for Bush '04 T-Shirt. While George Bush wasn't really bilingual, he manages conversational Spanish, something that was seen as very respectful to the hispanic population in Texas. And there was the whole Compassionate Conservatism, which was upended by the events of 911, something that was plotted during Clinton's time. We'll never know how a President Bush would have faired without a 911. I liked him.

Pressure is easing now on Starmer. The Commons is now in a recess for 7 days, taking the sting out of things. Slightly better than expected growth figures (especially when you consider the impact of JLR's Cyberattack), plus a small fall in inflation, plus predictable headlines coming from the Reform run councils, with the latest being Kent's 3.99% Council tax rise (Reform campaigned promising to slash Council Tax, instead, increased it just 0.01% under the rate that would have triggered a local referendum, they have still decided to slash funding to Adult Social Care (basically meals of wheels and home carers for the elderly, along with fostering support). Next up is the Gorton and Denton by-election in just under 2 weeks. Prior to the Mandelson fallout, Labour was expected to do badly at the hands of Reform. But things have changed, because there has, in the last 48 hours, been more spotlight on Reform's policies. The Green's have emerged, not because there is any groundswell of support for their policies; their policies don't really matter, because they are never going to be in a position to enact them. Rather than being a referendum on Labour, the by-election will be seen as a referendum on Reform. Expect tactical voting for the Greens, on the basis they are not Reform, and forensic analysis/tealeaf reading of the Reform swing.

You have posted false information knowingly, and this post should be reported. In 2012, 1% of the European Union spoke Arabic as a first or second language (https://languageknowledge.eu/countries/european-union). By 2024, this had increased to 1.1% (https://languageknowledge.eu/countries/european-union) Calculating a compound annual growth rate, I get 0.8% annual rate of increase. In 2012, 41% of the European Union spoke English as a first or second language (https://europa.eu/eurobarometer/surveys/detail/2979) By 2024, this had increased to 47%. Quite obviously the population of English speakers vastly outstrips Arabic speakers (the number of new English speakers in 5 year is 5x more than the entire population of EU Arabic speakers in 2012), even more if you included the population of the former EU member, the United Kingdom. This amounts (excluding the UK of GB&NI) to an annual growth rate of 0.5%. Quite obviously your suggestion that the annual rate of increase of Arabic speakers is 2% is a complete falsehood, and a repeat of racist slurs that you regularly post, sometimes subtley, sometimes not so. This is far more offensive than criticism of an elected official.

Officially the story goes Epstein was an unqualifed teacher at a private school, and sacked because he was crap at it. Unofficially, there are reports he had an unhealthy interest in the girls there. When sacked in 1977, one of the parents (Alan Goldberg no less) apparently took pity on him, and got him a job at Bears Stearn, as a gopher. He became a junior trader and by 1980, was a partner, before being sacked when he was caught making up his CV. He seemed to have some sort of hold on Goldberg, who strangely kept trying to engineer a relationship between epstein and his daughter. He seems to have made his money in the 80s, legitimately, handling fund for clients. His biggest clients were Les Wexner and Leon Black. In todays hearings, Wexner was named as a suspect. Black is also prominant in the Epstein files. Sky NewsEpstein scandal: How the paedophile financier made his mi...Sky News takes a look at how Jeffrey Epstein was able to facilitate his crimes and how it was clear, even in his early career, that he could get away with lies to line his pockets.An interesting but creep article about Epstein from 2003; Donald Trump is mentioned. https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2003/03/jeffrey-epstein-200303?srsltid=AfmBOoqKI4EsweY6l7ZgDwJf7mYIymPtmh-nTj2SFl4of4Q0cKhEA5IC Elements of the article come of as really strange or disturbing. This is strange: Disturbing How times have changed Odd

Rather misleading headline. Obviously the foreign recruits are cannon fodder.

https://borneobulletin.com.bn/american-charged-over-child-molestation-at-changi-airport/ Sex fiend. Cut his knackers off.

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/american-charged-vape-contain-drug-condo-5349501 Another drug addict degenerate

South Africa uncover plot to employ illegals under the cover of a diplomatic mission. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/south-african-authorities-raid-a-u-s-refugee-processing-center-and-washington-protests

https://andscape.com/features/pro-basketball-player-jarred-shaw-sentenced-in-indonesia/ Drug addict degenerate sentenced

https://www.customs.govt.nz/about-us/news/our-stories/three-arrested-after-customs-seizes-30-kilograms-of-methamphetamine-at-auckland-airport More drug dealing scum

https://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/duo-charged-over-e348k-dublin-airport-cannabis-find-after-lost-luggage-report-1852438.html Drug smuggler. Pole hang him.

https://www.france24.com/en/france/20251115-france-arrests-longtime-arizona-fugitive-convicted-us-sex-crimes-case

https://english.ratopati.com/story/45827/immigration-department-detains-chinese-and-american-nationals-for-suspicious-activities-in-nepal Religious fanatics.

https://www.standard-freeholder.com/news/american-citizen-identity-fraud-passport-cbsa-cornwall Utter scum

https://www.euronews.com/2026/01/30/us-student-jailed-for-life-for-killing-chinese-girlfriend-in-uk-stabbing-and-strangling

https://mezha.net/eng/bukvy/german-court-sentences-us-contractor-for-spying-for-china/amp/ American defence contractor sent to the clink for spying for China in Germany.

Wiz Khalifa sentenced to nine months jail in RomaniaThe rapper, who has been sentenced in absentia, had admitted to smoking a cannabis joint on stage at a festival last year. Wanted man, a fugitive from justice, hiding in America.

Needs some balance https://kfor.com/border-report/american-charged-with-femicide-in-mexico/

Boris Johnson went to the same Oxford College as Maxwell, at the same time. Boris's sister has written about this years ago. I suspect its all a bit over aped. https://spectator.com/article/it-s-hard-not-to-pity-ghislaine-maxwell/ https://www.thegentlemansjournal.com/article/boris-johnson-oxford-university-history-school-politician-prime-minister/ https://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/arts-and-culture/a39662998/anatomy-of-a-scandal-libertines-bullingdon-club-real-life/ If this is the case, there wasn't a threesome with a ex-Prime Minister. It was a threesome between Uni students who had no idea what the future held for them. Cameron got away with the made up pigs head story. Boris is safe on this. Who the hell cares what George Galloway says, a tyre fitter who pretended to be a cat on TV and prostituted himself to Saddam Hussein. No suggestion that Epstein was part of the threesome. Of course, if we are talking about threesomes, have a deeper look at the Stormy Daniels story. Not just a story about a couple's amorous night in 2006.

Enough about the game and the players, what about show?

The point is that in many ways, Reform is quite leftwing. They only think in terms of raising taxes. This is the same as the position in the US of the current government actually nationalising sections of industry, a policy normally associated with the left. Populism tends to be socially conservative (old man yelling at the tv), economically liberal (tax your way out of trouble, whether you call that actual tax or some other name like tariffs). Hence among those headshots is at least one Trotskyist.

But that changed in 1947, when the leading mercantile countries established an organisation with the single objective of eliminating all tariffs. Was GATT able to achieve it? Partly. Tariffs were eliminated on healthcare products. The opening lines from the 1947 agreement One of the major causes of WW2 was the use of injurous tariffs in the 1930s, as inept politicians tried to regulate their way out of a depression. An oft repeated maxim, of uncertain origin is "When Goods Don't Cross Borders, Soldiers Will". Protectionism raises the risk of war. Those tariffs were passed at a time when imports were only 4% of the US economy. Subsequently, US GDP fell by 40%, half of that attributed to the tariff act as US trade collapsed because the the result global trade wars. It worsened the global geopolitical crisis, enabling grifting thugs like the Nazis to take power, and the militarists to cement power in Japan and beyond. Trade became weaponised as a means of strategic power. Weaponised trade talks between the US and Japan, nominally over the shipment of American scrap steel through the Panama canal on its way to Japan, ended with Pearl Harbor. Yeah, tariffs have always been a bloody terrible idea. Never been a good idea. Reagan knew that, Thatcher knew that. Tariffs were embraced more recently by left wingers who oppose the free market. Their beliefs in wrapping up industry in government cotton wool lead to crap like British Leyland and Red Robbo, and 6 months to get a phone line put in. Protectionism ruined the British car industry; it wasn't the imports, that's a red herring. Rubbish like the Morris Marina just could not compete. Not good enough. Government intervention makes business soft and fat, not hard and lean.

When I have imported vehicles in the past, the Japanese seller, the exporter, doesn't pay any duty or tax. The importer, me, pays that. Up until a few years ago, you could import a car, at some considerable cost, into Thailand. The exporter in Japan didn't pay the tax, you did. Its called Import tax, not export tax. When it comes to goods, by and large, a distributor imports the goods, builds up warehouse inventory, and appoints dealers to sell the goods. Inventory control ensures the dealers, the shops, most of the time don't have empty shelves, empty lots. Import taxes are assessed based on an estimate of the retail price, and are payable at the point of importation, not the point of sale. Maintaining an inventory has a cost, which varies if you need lots of land for, say cars, or refrigeration for chiiled goods. Other goods are also lifed. Tariffs are also typically levied on subassemblies, such as engines, ZF gearboxes, tyres etc Typically, distributors, importers, look for 30-50% markup due to their costs, such as paying the salaries of warehouse staff, truck drivers, and the desire to make a living selling, for instance, genuine Japanese art. The dealers also have their own costs, and also want to make a living. The manufacturer is usually the one that is squeezed. Now it seems the desire is to replace genuine Japanese art with counterfeit Japanese art made by some hobo in Wyoming. Ok. If it comes to cars, yes, make it more difficult to buy imported cars, because surely that will give the freedom for American car makers to make, for once, genuine, superb, best in class cars, rather than the <deleted> they currently make. Hows that going for Thailand? Have you got a really good choice of cars locally made? Or is it shades of pickup. When India had high tariffs on cars, the best a nation of over a billion people could come up with was a 60 year old Morris Oxford. Actually, that's not an expression of India ability; they have nukes, men in space etc. More to do with the car maker had no incentive to improve. The classic is Russia, and the Lada range. Utter <deleted>e, including the Niva. They had no lack of knowhow, but they didn't need to make anything better. What actually will happen in the US is an explosion of transplant factories, and a dilution of creative talent. Chinese car makers are already setting up plants, probably CKD and SKD at first. Local people in states with zero engineering heritage, like farming states, will be grateful for the jobs. Perhaps some money will flow in to establish technical colleges so people can learn to build the Chinese way, which is all the more easy when you don't have an established local engineering culture. More importantly, all that profit flows out of the state to benefit some other country, to build roads and hospitals in some other country. The workforce are taught to assemble, but not to build, which makes them easily replaceable. The factory is just a steel frame on land given for free by a desperate local government desperate to attract these new jobs. It can be written off. Hence companies like Honda found it very easy to shutter their UK factories. The transplant factory model is well developed, and can be applied to any country. Hence there are Chinese transplant factories in deepest Africa now, in countries with virtually no prior industrialisation.

Appears to be a Russian version of Curb Your Enthusiasm.