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jwonsm.bsky.social
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#r4today Plans for US security guarantees will come to nothing . European leaders still seem unwilling to accept the bleeding obvious, that Trump is a ‘de facto’ Russian agent

#r4today You have to wonder what the outcome of an EU referendum would be now

#r4today "It is dangerous to be right in matters where established men are wrong (Voltaire)." Cool heads are needed along with the courage and resolve to do the right thing

#r4today Time for a European military alliance that ensures in the shortest possible order that between us we have at the least the capacity to manufacture arms and provide logistical and intelligence support that match or outperform that of Russia and the USA

#r4today The people who have ‘disrespected’ the Oval Office are Trump, Vance and those who support them and who have reneged dishonourably on past commitments given to Ukraine and defence of traditional American values of democracy and freedom

#r4today People say Trump is unpredictable. He is easy to understand when you realise that he is essentially a Russian agent with a remit to break Western alliances who ran for the presidency and succeeded with Russian backing in order to keep himself out of jail

#r4today The duplicity in Trump’s argument is obvious. He says Putin can be trusted to keep ceasefire terms but if he really believed that he would realise that an American security guarantee would never be needed and cost the USA nothing to agree to.

#r4today There’s no point in negotiating with Trump except on the assumption that Putin and the Kremlin have something on him that allows them to blackmail him

#r4today Ukraine might reasonably offer 50% of the mineral rights in the Russian-occupied territories and Crimea

#r4today Ukraine's constitution does not allow it to cede its territory so the best that can be hoped for is a N/S Korea-style ceasefire along current lines, leaving Ukraine occupying land about the size of Germany with half the population density

#r4today A great many Americans must be grinding their teeth at the shame Trump's dishonorable behaviour is bringing to the country.

#r4today Given his history with elections its no surprise Trump doesn't understand that Ukraine's people elected Zelenski in free and fair elections and are fighting to avoid having to live in a pseudo-democracy where dictators are 'elected' in a system in which truth and opposition are suppressed.

#r4today Russia has a lot of cards. In particular it holds the Trumps

#r4today Of course Russia has all the cards. Zelensky has been Trumped

#r4today Oh cowardly new world that has such people in it

#r4today Trump may be an extraordinarily talented snake oil salesman but it should be remembered that he is also rather dim. Who can forget his suggestion that the USAs health experts should look into injecting people with disinfectant to combat Covid

#r4today How long before Trump offers to have the USA fight on Russia’s side against Ukraine?

#r4today There are many forms of encryption other than ‘end to end’. Trying to tackle this is probably a waste of time and effort and just diverts resources that might be used to try to find other better ways to fight crime and abuse

#r4today Anyone that places reliance on an ‘American Backstop’ is stuffed

#r4today Trump’s method is to be a disruptor by coming up with statements that are the last thing people want to hear. Others can play that game eg his actions may encourage alliances with each other or even China in order to resist attempts at bullying

#r4today The point of ‘peacekeeping’ troops in Ukraine is that any attack on them would bring Russia into direct conflict with Ukraine’s allies ie the stakes are high but they should be an effective deterrent

#r4today There are many who might think that it is the USA that has turned its back on its traditional values by electing a convicted felon, business fraudster, sex offender, subverter of democracy, insurrectionist and reckless thief of supposedly secure state documents

#r4today Well developed democratic countries that might reasonably club together to resist attempted tariff bullying by Trump’s USA are the EU, UK, Norway, Switzerland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Their combined GDP significantly exceeds the USA

#r4today The combined GDP of the EU, UK, Switzerland, Norway, Canada and Mexico is significantly greater than the USA

#r4today If the allegations have credibility then surely people should have the right to test them in court

#r4today It keeps being reported that Hamas claims Israel has violated the Ceasefire Deal but don’t specify in what way or whether this has any foundation

#r4today Signing up to anything seems a bit of a waste of time and money in the Trump era

#r4today A reasonable compromise for the farmers over inheritance tax might be to allow farmers who wish to gift their farms to a close relative during the coming year an exemption from the seven year rule

#r4today Canada might reasonably point out to Trump that the economic impact of his proposed tariffs may reduce their ability to police their borders and have unintended consequences for illegal migration to the USA

#r4today In Exmouth a public swimming pool’s water is heated by a data server. It would be good if hospitals and other buildings could also benefit from server heat.

#r4today Nobody wants to keep using oil and gas but if we can’t do without it until it can be completely replaced surely it is better to use our own than import it from the USA

#r4today A terrible irony that a nation founded in the aftermath of the holocaust should, having dispossessed a people, should now be ready to try to convince them voluntarily to move to a “better place”

#r4today There’s an opportunity for Trump to suggest resettling Palestinians on the Chagos Islands

#r4today We’ll probably be threatened with tariffs if we don’t support the USA over its Greenland, Panama and trade war policies

#r4today maybe Canada should consider joining the EU

#r4today if HS2 is anything to go by we’ll have to put up with one third of a runway

#r4today An irony of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian Territories is that modern day Palestinians are believed to be more closely related genetically to biblical era Israelites than most current Jewish Israelis

#r4today Fascinating to see Machiavelli’s theory on the cyclical nature of government played out in the USA. Rule predominantly by an individual, followed by a few, followed by the many and round again. In his day a monarch or dictator, then a few aristocrats, then democracy.

#r4today Israel’s right wing are clearly fans of Machiavelli, who commented that to maintain rule over a conquered country you either have to colonise it or (in the case of princes or dictators) go to live there