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#31

Off the Record / Re: Brexit and the waning days...

Last post by garbon - December 30, 2025, 09:54:40 AM

Gonna be a race to strip him of citzrnship, isn't it? UK can't do it if egypt does it first, right? And vice versa. Can't leave someone stateless?

Shamima?

She had dual Bangladeshi & British citizenship, and we stripped our side first.

I thought Bangladesh had repeatedly stated she was not a Bangladeshi citizen and UK gov said whatevs.

#32

Off the Record / Re: TV/Movies Megathread

Last post by HVC - December 30, 2025, 09:54:31 AM

So, based on social media latest season of stranger things sucks, huh?

#33

Off the Record / Re: Brexit and the waning days...

Last post by PJL - December 30, 2025, 09:52:37 AM

Gonna be a race to strip him of citzrnship, isn't it? UK can't do it if egypt does it first, right? And vice versa. Can't leave someone stateless?

Shamima?

She had dual Bangladeshi & British citizenship, and we stripped our side first.

#34

Off the Record / Re: Brexit and the waning days...

Last post by garbon - December 30, 2025, 09:43:42 AM

Gonna be a race to strip him of citzrnship, isn't it? UK can't do it if egypt does it first, right? And vice versa. Can't leave someone stateless?

Shamima?

#35

Off the Record / Re: TV/Movies Megathread

Last post by Habbaku - December 30, 2025, 09:38:53 AM

Quick and dirty while I sip coffee:

Marty Supreme: 9.5/10, showcasing which of the Safdie Brothers has/had all the talent. Want to watch again ASAP.

The Chair Company: Tim Robinson finally connects with my humor bone. Couldn't get enough. I'm at my limit. 9 mattresses in a hallway out of 10.

Train Dreams: Quiet, thoughtful, and poignant. Beautiful film, enough to make me read the book.

#36

Off the Record / Re: TV/Movies Megathread

Last post by Habbaku - December 30, 2025, 09:36:43 AM

Quitting OBAA after 15 minutes is an indictment on the viewer, not the viewed.

#37

Gaming HQ / Re: What are you playing? (Red...

Last post by Darth Wagtaros - December 30, 2025, 09:25:06 AM

Eternal Sonata on the PS3. Was told it was a good RPG and I really felt like an old school RPG. It is...bizzare. Set in Chopin's head during his dying moments. No really. The classical music fanboyism you get in japan is strange stuff. Fairly fun so far though the plot seems pretty uninspiring- being told from the get go that anything you do will be meaningless as nothing is real....yeah.

King of Dragon Pass on the PC. Quite fun for a while but then suddenly foot shortages became regular and impossible to fix, my people starved. Which was a big anti-climax. Reading guides apparently you have to invest heavily into sacrificing to crops related gods. Shame I have to start again, was enjoying it.

I note Cities in Motion 2 was released recently. Don't have it yet though must investigate!

I got 3 quarters throuhg Eternal Sonata and then the damn game got corrupted.  Like something at that point on the disc just stopped. Ienjoyed it. Was weird. King of Dragon Pass was similar experience to yours.

#38

Off the Record / Re: Brexit and the waning days...

Last post by HVC - December 30, 2025, 09:21:53 AM

Gonna be a race to strip him of citzrnship, isn't it? UK can't do it if egypt does it first, right? And vice versa. Can't leave someone stateless?

#39

Off the Record / Re: Brexit and the waning days...

Last post by Sheilbh - December 30, 2025, 09:16:32 AM

Yeah - that also feels old fashioned to me. I remember Fox News bits on "no go" areas in Britain in the 2000s.

I think it was nonsense then and it still is now. To be honest I think there are strands of American opinion that are simply uncomfortable with any real level of racial, religious or cultural diversity in Europe - or simply find it very jarring with their imagined Europe.

On the El Fattah case Yvette Cooper has launched an internal inquiry in the FCDO: "it is clear that this has been an unacceptable failure and long stnding procedures and due diligence arrangements have been completely inadequate." She says neither she nor her predecessors in Tory governments were briefed properly.

Starmer has now issued a statement that's tonally rather different:

Keir Starmer
@Keir_Starmer
As @YvetteCooperMP sets out in her letter, the historic tweets by Alaa Abd El-Fattah are absolutely abhorrent.

With the rise of antisemitism, and recent horrific attacks, I know this has added to the distress of many in the Jewish community in the UK.

We are taking steps to review the information failures in this case.

The ever so slight complication to this is that the Egyptians have said they provided full briefings to their British counterparts (I assume in the civil service) including tweets. I would add I think the Egyptian view is a common Arab view that they get lectured and disrespected by the West (particularly Europe) for basically doing dirty work for the West. There was a long post by an Egyptian observer but I thought his summary points are striking because I think these reflect a more common Arab view (auto-translated):

But there are some observations I would like to mention quickly:

1- The attempts by Keir Starmer's government to distance itself from responsibility, and the claim of not being aware of Alaa Abdel Fattah's past and his previous positions toward Jews and the white man, seem closer to an effort to contain the repercussions of an internal political crisis, a disavowal that is not based on any facts. For the materials published about him had been circulating and documented for years, and were never out of reach of knowledge for any political or security entity that dealt with his file, whether during Rishi Sunak's government, previous governments, or even the current government itself.

2- Alaa Abdel Fattah's apology directed to the British came less than 24 hours after the escalation of attack campaigns against him in the media and public opinion there, which pushed him to reinterpret and clarify his previous positions, especially what relates to his incitement against Jews and the white man. However, in contrast, he lacked the same courage and honor to offer a similar apology to the Egyptian society, which paid with hundreds of army and police officers as martyrs in confronting terrorism and restoring internal security and stability.

3- These developments clearly reveal a glaring double standard in the British approach to the case, as well as in the nature of Alaa's apology itself; for the issue of his incitement to violence inside Egypt was not raised as a concern or for review, while he only became a danger and extremist when his rhetoric targeted groups considered part of the Western social fabric, which redefined the threat as an assault on British internal security.

4- There is indeed a problem in what is called the human rights community in Egypt, those who over three decades have systematically politicized it and made it a cover for financial gain and social climbing, and justified incitement to violence under the banner of "freedom of opinion and expression," in line with the agendas of funders. Whereas any similar incitement speech, if issued within the Western countries themselves, would be dealt with legally and decisively without any leniency.

5- I believe that demands to revoke Egyptian citizenship from Alaa Abdel Fattah are likely to escalate in the coming period, in light of the growing state of anger in Egyptian public opinion.

On that last point it seems entirely plausible to me that the Egyptians revoke his citizenship, he posts something about Palestine Action and the British state ends up having to imprison him.

It's also not made easier by El Fattah reportedly liking Facebook posts describing the story about him as a "Zionist campaign". His sister, described in the BBC as a "pro-democracy activist" (which she is), has also been talking about it as a "campaign" against her brother - obviously her posts celebrating October 7 have also been dug up.

#40

Gaming HQ / Re: What are you playing? (Red...

Last post by Maladict - December 30, 2025, 07:25:32 AM

Where do you find these lists?