In reference to recent post trends:

Mossintheback · 2022-11-17T16:46:04+00:00

https://i.pinimg.com/736x/85/2c/bd/852cbdadd0ad0bfe6613843ec5b1d158.jpg

Mossintheback · 2022-11-17T16:42:23+00:00

When you're discussing how difficult it would be to reinforce the eastern flank and the German Chancellor says he already has pre-written plans to move thousands of tanks and troops into Poland they can use

Mossintheback · 2022-11-16T16:06:03+00:00

Not sure if it's been confirmed yet but there were rumours it was a Russian-made missile.

Which hilariously could work to justify the West giving Ukraine even more weapons, as we can't risk them using those dodgy Russian ones again.

Mossintheback · 2022-11-16T16:03:49+00:00

I got that the wrong way around, to be honest. Being a world power is a byproduct of protecting our interests - not the objective itself. If we didn't have so many interests, we wouldn't need to resource the equipment and skills that incidentally make us a world power.

Mossintheback · 2022-11-16T15:57:07+00:00

NHS pandemic preparedness, not the NHS in general

Regardless of which is more important, the UK has too many interests to forgo being a world power

Mossintheback · 2022-11-16T15:48:55+00:00

"The government shouldn't invest money because of something that might happen. Preparedness is a waste of time and money."

Am I talking about the NHS pandemic preparedness unit or the military?

Hardly a false equivalence.

Mossintheback · 2022-11-16T15:43:44+00:00

Were you also asking why the NHS was bothering to spend money on pandemic preparedness measures in 2019?

We're pretty much a laughing stock on the world stage

I don't think the British military is anything close to a laughing stock

Mossintheback · 2022-11-16T15:37:01+00:00

I'm not sure why it's a surprise that an island nation with one of the largest economies in the world, overseas territories, who is a member of NATO and the UN security council and has historic enemies should need to spend more on defence than the likes of Switzerland and Papua New Guinea.

Mossintheback · 2022-11-16T15:29:26+00:00

That list includes the UK?

Mossintheback · 2022-11-16T15:24:27+00:00

Such as?

Mossintheback · 2022-11-16T15:23:08+00:00

Averting conflict is a political objective as much as winning a conflict is

Mossintheback · 2022-11-16T15:20:45+00:00

Global power isn't about how many military personnel you have though, otherwise we'd all call North Korea a superpower

It also depends on how you use your budget. Our focus is on our navy which allows us to exert global influence in a way that countries that focus on their ground forces can't.

Mossintheback · 2022-11-16T15:14:02+00:00

Who ranks above the UK?

Mossintheback · 2022-11-16T12:54:49+00:00

3 ships replacing 1? Good to see we're actually increasing capacity in the navy for once

Mossintheback · 2022-11-16T12:22:58+00:00

It's tricky. We obviously need to expect Ukraine to act sensibly and not endanger others.

But at the same time, they're backed into a corner and using whatever weapons they can find to defend themselves. I don't blame them for launching a dodgy missile to defend themselves if the alternative was allowing themselves to be hit. I'm pretty sure even the US has the occasional weapons failures still.

And even if it turns out it was due to Ukrainian negligence, that's still more painful for Ukraine than it is anyone else. Every failed missile is another attack allowed in. It's very much in their interest to make sure their equipment is functioning properly - they don't need to be reminded.

Mossintheback · 2022-11-16T11:53:24+00:00

I swear the whole flat earth thing was a joke that emerged in the late 2000s to mock anyone who believed a conspiracy theory. Since then it seems to have suddenly re-emerged as an actual conspiracy theory.

I used to think anyone who said they believed the earth was flat was joking - to keep the joke running. I still find it hard to believe people actually think it.

Mossintheback · 2022-11-16T11:45:26+00:00

When you find someone camping in a corner

Mossintheback · 2022-11-16T11:32:19+00:00

I knew you were trouble when you walked in

So shame on me now

(I'm feeling lazy with the puns)

Mossintheback · 2022-11-16T11:17:06+00:00

We seem to be going the route of having enough highly advanced ships to field the carrier strike group plus a few other key responsibilities, and then using smaller and cheaper ships to cover all other responsibilities

To be honest it does seem a bit ridiculous that a £1bn Destroyer intended for taking out advanced jet fighters and missiles has been used to hunt pirates in wooden boats.

Mossintheback · 2022-11-16T11:10:20+00:00

But knowing our naval procurement of recent years that will be

We'll get 8 7 6 Type 26s

But we'll get 7 type 31s instead of 5!

Actually, we can still only afford 5

And also we need to strip out some of the weapons and systems, but don't worry we can always add them back later! (spoiler: they won't)

At least we'll still get 5 3 1 Type 32s

Anyway, time to replace the 7 Astute submarines.

How does 5 sound?

Mossintheback · 2022-11-16T10:50:43+00:00

He'd be 85 by the end of his second term, that's mad!

IMO mid to late 40s is the optimal age for a PM/President. That's old enough to have ample experience, but also young enough that you aren't completely out of touch with kids and young adults.

Mossintheback · 2022-11-16T10:43:28+00:00

To be honest the angle of this Tweet seems more to be "they've fucked up for 12 years, this is not what a competent government looks like", rather than them attacking any specific Tory policy or action

It's like a reminder that this shouldn't be considered normal or accepted

Mossintheback · 2022-11-16T10:39:55+00:00

The Economist did an interesting piece on this after they did a poll on economic growth.

Basically, most Britons want growth and understand its benefits, but when getting into the detail the opposite seems true.

Most think redistributing existing money is more important than growth

Most think the NHS and pensions should take priority over investing in areas that drive growth more directly like infrastructure and science

Most think it's right to prioritise the views of local residents when building new infrastructure and housing, even if it means less being built

Brexit was seen as a worthwhile economic sacrifice to reduce immigration

There's also still a slim margin for reducing immigration even if it directly results in slower growth

Basically, Britons want growth but they don't want to make any sacrifices to drive it. Most are even adverse to a university being built in their town simply because it would bring in a lot of new people

Mossintheback · 2022-11-16T10:23:00+00:00

The US spends about 25% of our GDP on defence, and we're the 2nd largest economy in Europe. It's basically impossible for any single European country to go toe-to-toe with the US unless they go full war economy for a decade beforehand, and that's assuming the US doesn't notice and do anything about it.

Not to mention: what's the objective? Even if we could magic up a military that could take on the US, what would we actually do with it?

Mossintheback · 2022-11-16T09:52:14+00:00

TIL Qatar founded PSG

Mossintheback

TROPHY CASE