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#1
Off the Record / Re: The EU thread
Last post by The Minsky Moment - Today at 09:23:55 AMQuote from: Sheilbh on Today at 08:54:00 AMso we have a million and one pieces on what Labour can learn from Zohran Mamdani
But what can Reform learn from Curtis Sliwa? Farage might be PM by now if he just could have placed decently in a hot dog eating contest.
#2
Off the Record / Re: MLB 2026
Last post by The Minsky Moment - Today at 09:12:41 AMI think it's off to a good start. It counters the travesty of games being decided by badly blown calls, while still keeping the human element of the umpire, and adding a tactical layer of deciding when and what calls to challenge. The catchers with good framing skills will still have an advantage - just a little less - but the bad framers now have a chance to counteract by getting good on the challenge system (early returns but Salvador Perez may be rejuvenating his career behind the plate). The fans seem to get into it.
#3
Off the Record / Re: US - Greenland Crisis Thre...
Last post by Duque de Bragança - Today at 08:57:34 AMQuote from: Valmy on March 30, 2026, 11:54:08 AMQuote from: Zanza on March 30, 2026, 11:49:17 AMPete Hegseth mentioned Greater North America, which spans from Ecuador to Greenland in a speech.
As I German, I have a bit of a deja vu (or rather entendu) here.
Yeah. It's this dumb shit again: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technocracy_movement
Guyanas, including the French one, thrown in for good measure.
I guess Devil's Island was highly valued.
#4
Gaming HQ / Re: News from the lovely world...
Last post by Duque de Bragança - Today at 08:55:54 AMQuote from: Sheilbh on March 29, 2026, 09:07:14 AMThis may be fine for technical translations or other things where style doesn't matter. But that ecosystem of boring translation helps subsidise the artistic translators (with a few superstar exceptions).
Not even that, legal translations are notoriously disastrous.
Superficial, undetailed or undemanding messages, to get the gist of them, maybe.
#5
Off the Record / Re: The EU thread
Last post by Sheilbh - Today at 08:54:00 AMI agree with that - and I think my argument has always been that Farage's parties (and now the Greens) were Europeanising British politics. That so much of our discourse looks for explanations or analysis in positive or negative exceptionalisms (our island story or the Empire and imperial nostalgia explaining voting patterns in Grimsby) or the US, which is the obsession of Britain's political class (the most important fact in Britain's present is that America speaks English). Actually I think the answer is in our neighbours - our politics, the breakdowns, the structural problems look very similar to Benelux, Northern European countries, Germany, France - we are West European country that is fairly West European. Each of those, including the UK, have some little local flavour but the fundamentals are similar.
Having said all that there's two slightly contradictory ideas I've been wondering about recently.
One which was provoked by a column in the Times is actually that perhaps America is relevant in this. My argument aboe is pretty commonplace now in theory - in reality British journalists are still obsessed with DC, read the NYT, take Robert Caro books as their beach reads and don't speak or read any other languages so we have a million and one pieces on what Labour can learn from Zohran Mamdani
But his point was the story of European style multi-party politics and voter volatility is true but perhaps only superficially. Unlike the US the problem in Europe is arguably de-polarisation - the attachments to political parties are gone, there is no "base" anymore for ayone and voters swing wildly (I think we do see this in the US and Canada too - reading Naomi Klein's Doppelganger which is great and she talks about this diagonalism of political constellations right now).
But - to Jake's point of multi-party politics perhaps making explicit what is implicit within the parties in the US - if you lift the hood, this journalist argued that actually within that multi-party framework we are looking more American. If you look at the polling there's about a 50/50 breakdown between a broad left-right blocs. Tories + Reform on one side, Labour + Greens, and possibly nationalists and Lib Dems on the other (though as in the article on the Moderates - I'm not sure the Lib Dems could work with Reform or Greens formally). On every issue where there is a divide those two blocs have different views and those blocs are radicalising, what's more there is a "repulsion" factor where each bloc basically thinks the other is what's really wrong with their country. It plays out differently in Europe because of multi-party politics but I wonder if it is that different?
The other more sketchy idea I have is basically whether in Europe we're just seeing a slow-moving, continental Tagentopoli. I always think there's a back to the future element of Italian politics especially in the 90s in that it sort of got to the future first because the post-Cold War/End of History moment lasted for about a week before it all collapsed. They did a speed run through Europe's recent past - external constraints, technocratic governments, corruption scandals, regionalist parties emerging (I see Umberto Bossi died last week), populist, personalist politicians and a sort of "media democracy" where it's just a product you watch on TV.
But I wonder if part of it is also that structural fact. Italy was both at a European and Atlantic level at the periphery of the core - I think that's now Europe's position with the rise of China and Atlantic indifference of the US. We are a semi-peripheral space right now, Europe is not an agent but an object that is being acted upon by other, external powers. But also I'm cynical about conspiracy theories - except in Italy because they are literally all true in post-war Italy And I feel slightly similar now. I disagree with conspiracy theories but I think it is more challenging when you have various European ex-leaders (and some current) on the payroll of various autocratic regimes or dodgy tech billionaires and the Epstein files of business, political, scientific leaders chilling out with a nonce etc (my argument would still be that I don't think any of these indicate a conspiracy but rather a class interest and class consciousness for our political class). And where those things led to in Italy was Tagentopoli and I think there are similarities with what's happening in Europe (I also think something similar happened in post-Wall Eatern European democracies - again semi-periphalised, no party roots, corruption).
Having said all that there's two slightly contradictory ideas I've been wondering about recently.
One which was provoked by a column in the Times is actually that perhaps America is relevant in this. My argument aboe is pretty commonplace now in theory - in reality British journalists are still obsessed with DC, read the NYT, take Robert Caro books as their beach reads and don't speak or read any other languages so we have a million and one pieces on what Labour can learn from Zohran Mamdani
But his point was the story of European style multi-party politics and voter volatility is true but perhaps only superficially. Unlike the US the problem in Europe is arguably de-polarisation - the attachments to political parties are gone, there is no "base" anymore for ayone and voters swing wildly (I think we do see this in the US and Canada too - reading Naomi Klein's Doppelganger which is great and she talks about this diagonalism of political constellations right now).But - to Jake's point of multi-party politics perhaps making explicit what is implicit within the parties in the US - if you lift the hood, this journalist argued that actually within that multi-party framework we are looking more American. If you look at the polling there's about a 50/50 breakdown between a broad left-right blocs. Tories + Reform on one side, Labour + Greens, and possibly nationalists and Lib Dems on the other (though as in the article on the Moderates - I'm not sure the Lib Dems could work with Reform or Greens formally). On every issue where there is a divide those two blocs have different views and those blocs are radicalising, what's more there is a "repulsion" factor where each bloc basically thinks the other is what's really wrong with their country. It plays out differently in Europe because of multi-party politics but I wonder if it is that different?
The other more sketchy idea I have is basically whether in Europe we're just seeing a slow-moving, continental Tagentopoli. I always think there's a back to the future element of Italian politics especially in the 90s in that it sort of got to the future first because the post-Cold War/End of History moment lasted for about a week before it all collapsed. They did a speed run through Europe's recent past - external constraints, technocratic governments, corruption scandals, regionalist parties emerging (I see Umberto Bossi died last week), populist, personalist politicians and a sort of "media democracy" where it's just a product you watch on TV.
But I wonder if part of it is also that structural fact. Italy was both at a European and Atlantic level at the periphery of the core - I think that's now Europe's position with the rise of China and Atlantic indifference of the US. We are a semi-peripheral space right now, Europe is not an agent but an object that is being acted upon by other, external powers. But also I'm cynical about conspiracy theories - except in Italy because they are literally all true in post-war Italy
And I feel slightly similar now. I disagree with conspiracy theories but I think it is more challenging when you have various European ex-leaders (and some current) on the payroll of various autocratic regimes or dodgy tech billionaires and the Epstein files of business, political, scientific leaders chilling out with a nonce etc (my argument would still be that I don't think any of these indicate a conspiracy but rather a class interest and class consciousness for our political class). And where those things led to in Italy was Tagentopoli and I think there are similarities with what's happening in Europe (I also think something similar happened in post-Wall Eatern European democracies - again semi-periphalised, no party roots, corruption). #6
Off the Record / Re: MLB 2026
Last post by Baron von Schtinkenbutt - Today at 08:25:59 AMIt's going to be like electronic line calling in tennis. Starts out as a challenge system, purists will bitch and moan for a while, but eventually it will just be the way calls are made. Unlike tennis, it doesn't completely remove the umpire, but it will be a significant improvement.
#7
Off the Record / Re: Iran War
Last post by Grey Fox - Today at 08:24:47 AMJordy's 38 nowadays. He grew, Trump didn't.
#8
Off the Record / Re: TV/Movies Megathread
Last post by Baron von Schtinkenbutt - Today at 08:21:37 AMQuote from: grumbler on March 30, 2026, 11:42:27 PMI remember binging it (on vHS!) not too long after it ended, and had a very different appreciation for the foreshadowing than when watching it weekly. That ended up being the best feature of the show for me.
I first watched it after TNT picked up the fifth season and decided to rerun the first four weeknightly. I think that helped me with following the larger threads in the show.
#9
Off the Record / Re: Iran War
Last post by Crazy_Ivan80 - Today at 07:55:54 AMOh weh weh, bébé! C'est dur dur d'être un bébé...
#10
Off the Record / Re: Israel-Hamas War 2023
Last post by Syt - Today at 07:26:09 AMhttps://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp8dkd6lnjdo
QuotePalestinians convicted of lethal attacks face death penalty under new Israeli law
Israel's parliament has approved a law that would make the death penalty the default sentence for Palestinians convicted of deadly terror attacks.
Critics have described the new law as discriminatory and several European nations warn it risks undermining "democratic principles".
The new law passed its third and final reading in the Knesset by 62 votes to 48 on Monday, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu voting in favour.
The bill stipulates that Palestinians convicted in Israeli military courts of carrying out deadly attacks deemed to be "acts of terrorism" would be executed by hanging within 90 days, with a possible postponement of up to 180 days.
In theory, Jewish Israelis could also be executed under the law - but in practice this almost certainly would not happen, as the death penalty could only be carried out where the intention of the attack was to "negate the existence of the state of Israel".
The legislation was pushed hard by the far-right, with the National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir its driving force. After the vote, he posted on X: "We made history!!! We promised. We delivered."
A member of Ben-Gvir's party, Limor Son-Har-Melech, who survived an attack by Palestinian gunmen in which her husband was killed, argued that the law was necessary, citing the example of how one of her husband's killers was later released and went on to take part in the 7 October 2023 attacks on Israel.
During the debate in the Knesset, she said: "For years, we endured a cruel cycle of terror, imprisonment, release in reckless deals, and the return of these human monsters to murder Jews again."
But Yair Golan, the leader of opposition Democrats party, criticised the legislation and said it would lead to international sanctions.
"The death penalty law for terrorists is an unnecessary piece of legislation designed to get Ben-Gvir more likes," he said. "It does not contribute one ounce to Israel's security."
On the eve of the vote, the UK, France, Germany and Italy expressed their "deep concern", saying that the bill risked "undermining Israel's commitments with regard to democratic principles".
The Palestinian Authority, which administers the West Bank, condemned the adoption of the law, saying it "seeks to legitimise extrajudicial killing under legislative cover".
And Hamas, which controls Gaza, said in a statement on Monday evening that the approval of the bill "threatens the lives" of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, and called on the international community to "ensure the protection of our prisoners".
Amnesty International urged Israeli authorities to repeal the new law. "Israel is brazenly granting itself carte blanche to execute Palestinians while stripping away the most basic fair-trial safeguards", said Erika Guevara-Rosas, the rights group's senior director of research, advocacy, policy and campaigns.
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel has already petitioned the country's Supreme Court against the law.
"The law is unconstitutional, discriminatory by design and - for West Bank Palestinians - enacted without legal authority," it said in a statement.
The Supreme Court will now have to consider whether to hear the challenge to the bill.
Israel has only executed two people in its history - one of them the infamous Nazi official Adolf Eichmann, who played an important role in perpetrating the Holocaust.