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The Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, like the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, is simply another overblown vanity project by a man who not only 'Torified' the Labour Party, but brought turmoil and death to the Middle East in large measure.

Only small cuts in flying and driving needed to beat climate change, says Blair institute

thetimes.co.uk/article/only-sm

In this world there are many ignorant, self-serving and self-promoting prats. Sir James Dyson is almost certainly in the top league of clueless people spouting utter nonsense.

Sir James Dyson: Britain will fall behind unless workers are told to go back to office

telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/08/1

Ian Kenway boosted
Ian Kenway boosted
Ian Kenway boosted

@freemo @swiley Well it was his peace talks that set up the problem, right?

> Washington under then-president Donald Trump signed a deal with the Taliban in February 2020 that limited direct military action against the insurgents. That allowed the fighters to gather strength and move quickly to seize key areas when President Joe Biden announced his plans to withdraw all American forces by the end of this month.[[1]](cbc.ca/1.6141568)

> If the Taliban meet their commitments, all U.S. troops would leave in 14 months [from February 2020]. U.S. troops are to be withdrawn to 8,600 from about 13,000 in the weeks following Saturday's signing.[[2]](cbc.ca/1.5481070)

If the government agrees not to engage in direct action against you and to withdraw its military, you no longer need to take it on at all, with or without F-15s or nukes.

The Democrats criticised Trump for reneging on the nuclear deal with Iran that Obama entered into, so now that Biden was faced with a deal with the Taliban that Trump entered into, they had backed themselves into a corner politically. Had they not made such a big deal that Trump was setting a *bad* precedent, Biden could have followed the precedent without coming off as overtly hypocritical.

I think the broader point, that a force comprising solely small arms is almost certainly incapable of defeating the US military, still stands. If the Taliban had retaken the country while the US forces were still actively trying to hold it, you'd have a much better counterexample.

@swiley

Ian Kenway boosted
Ian Kenway boosted
Ian Kenway boosted
Ian Kenway boosted

From The Conversation

theconversation.com/orwells-id

"Totalitarianism seeks to obliterate the limits of law through the uninhibited exercise of power."

Ian Kenway boosted

I just need to copy and paste this every time someone on the fediverse posts anything about COVID.

Ian Kenway boosted

Yanis Varoufakis:

“I just heard that Keir Starmer expelled Ken Loach from the Labour Party. I hope this is fake news.

“If not, all he managed is to expel Labour's soul, leaving behind an arid, soulless Labour Party - one that is even poorer than under Blair."

Me? Amen!

Toot Redux (first published 5th December 2020)

Time to cut up your membership cards and 'Go Green'?

Ian Kenway boosted
Ian Kenway boosted

Wool is warm, is not made from oil, and does not break down into microplastics. This news is appalling. How do we restart wool as the sensible material for warm clothing? I've tried to find woolen cycling kit - remarkably rare! bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-hig

Ian Kenway boosted
Ian Kenway boosted

A thought occurred to me. Why don’t characters in American films like being called Virgil? Evidence: I know of three characters who appear in the following films: The Right Stuff (Virgil I. Grissom, “They call me Gus.”), The Great Escape (Captain Virigil Hilts, “Just make it Hilts.”) and The Abyss (Virgil Brigman, “`Virgil’?”). OK, only Grissom was a real person but why do writers do that? Is there some connotation in the name that I’m unaware of? I think The Aeneid is a great poem.

Ian Kenway boosted

Lambing is going really well this year on our farmlet. So far we have had ten sets of twin lambs and three singles with no losses. With six ewes left to lamb we could make it up to 35 lambs.

It is such a relief to be having a good lambing season after difficult times the previous two years.

The enjoyment of the new lambs is tempered by the knowledge that most of them will be killed and eaten before they are a year old.

Meanwhile it is time to enjoy these delightful little creatures.

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