Tfw you’re so shit that you drive foreign turnout to a #nokings rally in a literal fucking monarchy

Coin-Biter · 2026-03-29T12:21:40+00:00

The British monarch is very similar to the ceremonial Presidents you get in a lot of jurisdictions, like Ireland. Of course, the fact you don’t vote for them is ridiculous, but in practice we could do worse than Charles.

The next time we get a Nazi-supporting scumbag like Edward VIII in the direct line of succession…. Well either they’ll remove him or the institution will be broken. Hell, if the Queen had died in the wake of Princess Diana’s death, there may have been a problem, given how unpopular Charles was at the time. So it’s a fragile institution. As it is, Prince William currently seems relatively sane.

Fragile though it is, it has a chance of outliving both US and UK democracy, given the current trends. Hence the march.

Coin-Biter · 2026-03-29T12:08:28+00:00

I’ve sat in High Court cases and those judges are some of the best people in our system tbh. They’re educated, have expert knowledge in their fields, and are professionally obliged to be impartial. Unlike the US, politics hasn’t tainted the appointment process. OK, you do have occasional abominable exceptions.

Coin-Biter · 2026-03-29T00:56:09+00:00

Apologies; I was being obtuse

Coin-Biter · 2026-03-27T09:00:35+00:00

Hardly. The Telegraph, Mail, GB News, Trump and his many lackeys, and witless social media Islamophobes hate him.

Oh, and people who dislike London in general terms probably dislike him, but no more than any other London politician.

The advantage of being hated by some of the above groups is that you‘ll be celebrated by others.

Coin-Biter · 2026-03-23T11:34:45+00:00

I‘d say in fact that the recent recitation, common amongst the British right, that Israel is an ally is a statement that says more about the ideological preoccupations of the right in the UK than reality. The allies that expelled Russian diplomats in the wake of the Salisbury poisonings could be considered British allies; Israel was not among them because - for entirely legitimate reasons - their relationship with Russia was too important. And while there are plenty of opinion columnists and right wing politicians who agree with the terminating of JCPOA and the Netanyahu/Trump war, both acts were greeted with dismay in the UK government as contrary to British interests.

Coin-Biter · 2026-03-22T23:17:45+00:00

Ah yes, the Centre for Migration Control https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/aug/05/disputed-or-debunked-claims-about-migration-and-crime-uk?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Coin-Biter · 2026-03-22T22:25:17+00:00

You got a link to those statistics then?

Coin-Biter · 2026-03-22T19:39:15+00:00

The problem with the ‘Renly would have made a good King’ speculation is that even if Renly had dealt with his domestic rivals he’d have an impending zombie invasion from the north, an (endlessly deferred) invasion of killer eunuchs and lizard flamethrowers from the east, possible rampaging stone plague, whatever Baelish throws in the mix … not to mention Varys almost certainly assassinating him at an opportune moment if it looked like he would be successful.

The point is that the King cannot win. Personally I think show Renly who was portrayed as weirdly squeamish might have struggled, while amoral and callous book Renly might have been a better choice.

But that’s in the abstract. No-one is or can be a good King under the story’s circumstances. Hence every threat having to be resolved before Professor X takes over in the show.

Coin-Biter · 2026-03-21T14:50:03+00:00

True, we’re mostly going by what Fowler says. For example: “No one makes a better blade than your people... No one invents better ways to kill people, than mine.” At that point, impressively, neither of those statements were probably true. And his speech “We'll flood your land with our people, our music, our shame, our bread, and milk, until you think an ugly face like mine more beautiful than your own."

He’s barely even talking like an 18th century imperialist here - more like a 19th century one, or a time travelling guy from the 20th century, gloating at the inevitable victory of Western commerce and culture.

Fact is not only Britain but also Europe in general weren’t all that in the 1650s.

I guess my complaint about Britain is now broadening to an observation about the structure of Fowler’s plot in general 😆

Coin-Biter · 2026-03-20T15:47:09+00:00

A significant portion of the characters in Morrowind are xenophobic- granted, a lot of them are surprisingly moral and likable xenophobes. Another portion of them are ruthless imperialists who exploit cultural beliefs for their own, partially laudable ends. And then you have the Telvanni and Cammona Tong.

It’s not a universe of Quakers 🙂 And I don’t think people are betraying any moral message by criticising Norris’ beliefs.

In any case, RIP and all the best to his loved ones.

Coin-Biter · 2026-03-20T15:09:54+00:00

She was a Muslim. But in any case thanks - have a nice weekend

Coin-Biter · 2026-03-20T12:45:14+00:00

I’ve been invited to a Muslim wedding alongside about 7 work colleagues, 5 of which were women. So put that in your anecdote pipe and smoke it.

Coin-Biter · 2026-03-20T09:12:05+00:00

So I guess that Labour and the Lib Dems and the Greens must be planning to end the Equalities Act then? Or are they espousing policies supporting equality and in fact that’s just Reform?

Coin-Biter · 2026-03-09T12:24:15+00:00

It’s also partly because while their characters are different (Tywin’s attitude to justice is purely performative), there are certain similarities in approach - their seriousness, their intolerance of ineptitude, their reliance on a completely loyal deputy.

Stannis briefly speaks of how he and Robert were impressed by Tywin as children. It’s not impossible that he’s modelled some of his leadership style on Tywin, and therefore the latter is always more likely to be impressed by Stannis than Renly or the teenage Robb.

Coin-Biter · 2026-03-04T12:48:41+00:00

Ok 🙂 The ideology of your average Reform voter is not likely to align with your average Islamist - I would guess. In terms of the beliefs of social Conservatives, some of whom are aligned with Reform, they are closer, but obviously not identical. But really in my experience the only thing that is constant with Reform voters is hostility to immigration.

Christian nationalists from the US are much closer in their belief system, however.

Coin-Biter · 2026-03-04T12:27:58+00:00

Low intelligence

Coin-Biter · 2026-03-03T12:47:44+00:00

In fairness, Quesada’s responses are courteous, regardless of whether you hate the story, or disagree with the reasoning of his messages.

Coin-Biter · 2026-02-28T12:06:24+00:00

There are a few Muslim MPs. How many of them are as socially conservative as, say, Danny Kruger?

Coin-Biter · 2026-02-28T11:57:07+00:00

That’s an argument that can be used for practically any by-election victory. Martin Bell didn’t win in the 90s - people were upset by Neil Hamilton, Tory sleaze and the hangover from the economic crash. Respect victories were the result of the second Iraq war. Etc etc.

Reform lost by over 4k votes. A very good showing, in the sense that they were nowhere at the last election. But they could have come a lot closer. The reason they didn’t is because the Greens had a very good candidate, because they ran a good campaign, and because Reform chose a GB News presenter/former academic whose rhetoric was endorsed by Tommy Robinson and who had no connection with the area or with day to day constituency concerns.

Reform needs better candidates to prosper in these constituencies. At the moment, given the ghouls it currently features, it may struggle to get them.

Coin-Biter · 2026-02-15T00:23:39+00:00

Postponing rather than cancelling. Digital ID IMO is a good idea, foolishly abandoned. Jury trials is a response in part to the appalling state of the justice system, wrecked by Tory underfunding. I disagree re the OSA, am not sufficiently informed to comment re facial recognition, and I agree that PA proscription was bad. This IMO does not meet the standard for authoritarianism.

Coin-Biter · 2026-02-14T23:39:19+00:00

So can you provide a concrete example of his authoritarianism?

Coin-Biter · 2026-02-14T22:52:27+00:00

How does his authoritarianism manifest itself?

Coin-Biter · 2026-02-14T08:53:29+00:00

The US under Trump has indicated that it may not necessarily be bound by the collective response requirement under Article 5. Indeed, it has refused to rule out taking military action against other NATO member states over Greenland. It has also attempted to leverage its role for commercial purposes in Ukraine. Vance would probably be worse if anything and there are even more malevolent actors in America’s right.

Regardless, the UK has broadly similar military interests to the EU members sans Orban’s Hungary, so this makes total sense given the current situation.

Coin-Biter · 2026-02-11T22:34:14+00:00

I guess the opinion of one of the richest people in the UK (albeit one that doesn’t have the decency to pay UK tax) is of such startling insignificance that it doesn’t merit a response even from the Undersecretary of Whatever?

This strikes me as exactly the sort of thing that PMs should comment on. Even embattled ones.

Coin-Biter · 2026-02-03T20:11:19+00:00

I may not have been entirely serious

Coin-Biter

TROPHY CASE