@crispybart
Aspiring Renaissance dude, special interests include education, politics, history, heavy metal, tabletop roleplaying, being a massive nerd in general, and a bit of rugby here and there. Views entirely my own* (subject to conditions)
I’ve just seen a political party stating that, and I quote, “Diplomacy means speaking truth to power even when it’s difficult.”
No. That’s journalism. Diplomacy is about advancing the interests of your state. This is why “diplomatic language” implies being able to be tactful or silent when needed.
"Please. My tax haven. She's very sick."
Erm... maybe the Greens want to look into *why* he left Corbyn's office before celebrating this too much.
"My mission to Dubai has been halted.
I am unable to leave this detention centre"
should become a meme template I reckon
I do in general try and engage in good faith with people who are not already in the same bracket as me, but describing the 11+ as "an objective test" is too stupid to be worth engaging with quite frankly. Best of luck to others who want to try and lead that horse to water
There's something really despicable about Trump calling for ordinary Iranians to take the risk of rising up against the regime. He's been so disdainful of the same sentiment in Ukraine. He's never taken a risk for anyone else's benefit. Man wouldn't stand up to serve himself at a buffet.
The post covers:
* Extent of UK risk - building on @davidallengreen.bsky.social's work on Palantir but also looking at e.g. cloud services and AI
* The EU's tech soverignty programme + how it's becoming more urgent in the Trump era.
* Why UK isn't going down this route and what govt should do.
New post just out:
"Sovereignty for sale"
The UK is uniquely exposed to the power of US tech monopolies - from Palantir to AI and cloud services.
Why is it so dangerous? What are other countries doing? And what should we do?
(£/free trial)
open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/s...
Jansen Ganesh is on fire in this column on the UK’s role in the Iran conflict
www.ft.com/content/eaee...
For me a really crucial element is unpacking the roles of jargon as in-group signifier/specification tool. I think people tend to have a very Manichean view of what jargon is for and lose sight of what really distinguishes the use of it to exclude laypersons and the use of it to provide detail
Good article. This bit made me laugh:
“Visual aids were once produced by graphic designers and used on special occasions only; the invention of PowerPoint meant that highly paid and skilled professionals started wasting time making their own slides, badly.”
"We can report that the mood amongst our influencer community remains positive. They are giving 110% and feel hashtag blessed to wake up each day in beautiful Dubai"
You can't analyse this stuff. It's the foreign policy equivalent of free jazz.
Pro tip: If seeking to achieve regime change, don't accidentally murder the people you envision taking over the regime.
fwiw there is never going to be a good answer to the question "what should a UK government do faced with a mad US President given frightening levels of powers by his own party?"
Do you enjoy extended and possibly tortured zombie analogies? Are you a post-liberal in a doomed fight against zombie liberalism? Are you a zombie too? Much to discuss.
Salman Rushdie is on his third Ayatollah
This came up on the Bulwark recently, and the distinction made there was that neocons genuinely thought that democracy was an inherent good for the USA and target states, whereas Trump's WH clearly sees democracy promotion as incidental at best to its goals
Americans really need to make their mind up, what are we the bland spiceless nation with no seasonings, or are we the weird nation with a wall of unknowable spices that are strange of foreign??
Like, I get all of these aren’t super common, but surely everyone should have Zaatar and Sumac??
Completely get the urge to joke about British tax dodgers/influencers fleeing Dubai but there are loads of people in the UAE from across MidEast and Asia who live there cos it's a hub for jobs and they don't have a ton of choice
Isabel Oakeshott must be so pleased she moved to Dubai because London is such a dangerous no-go war zone.
As I scroll through triumphal pro-war tweets, thinking about this image a lot today:
A long time ago, I used to know a lot about foreign-imposed regime change (FIRC) and study them.
I guess that makes me qualified to write a thread about them, especially in wake of Trump bombing Iran.
So here goes nothing. 🧵
Ah. Whoopsie
Hasn't AK already handpicked a successor?
Guns, Yo
Slow Down Gandhi was a big one for me
I think my general rule of thumb right across the political spectrum is "disagree with them - then you'll find out what they're really like"
