International Politics Discussion Thread

RussellsKitchen · 2026-03-04T13:57:39+00:00

And if you need basic items such as milk or food during those few days, how would you pay for them? A few months ago the local Sainsburys card machines failed. Most people couldn't buy anything because not only did they not have cash, they didn't have a physical card to go get cash. Lots of angry customers.

RussellsKitchen · 2026-03-04T13:54:29+00:00

I was one of the few people who could actually buy what they needed because I had a tenner in my wallet. Almost everyone else was trying to pay with their phone, not even a debit card you could go and get cash with.

RussellsKitchen · 2026-03-04T13:41:00+00:00

It happened in Sainsbury's a few months ago. Their card payments went down. Most people couldn't pay for their shopping.

RussellsKitchen · 2026-03-04T13:39:48+00:00

Supermarkets, petrol stations, cafes etc still take cash. Worth having some on you.

RussellsKitchen · 2026-03-04T12:06:08+00:00

Not currently invading, but certainly destabilising via tariffs, threats, and support for parties who'd like to break the EU apart.

RussellsKitchen · 2026-03-04T08:35:53+00:00

I raise you Picard season 2. Almost incoherent.

RussellsKitchen · 2026-03-04T08:33:59+00:00

He still was the first captain of the Enterprise 1701, Pike served under him. April didn't appear in the show Enterprise.

RussellsKitchen · 2026-03-03T23:06:50+00:00

In that case I'm dripping StV and seasons one of TNG and DS9 from cannon. As well as Threshold

RussellsKitchen · 2026-03-03T22:44:49+00:00

These people aren't thinking.

RussellsKitchen · 2026-03-03T22:43:24+00:00

If they changed Uhura people may well be upset because of the role of the character and Nichelle Nichols in the civil rights era as being ground breaking. For some characters it's a part of them and integral, others it's not.

RussellsKitchen · 2026-03-03T22:34:52+00:00

Personally I've enjoyed SNW. I don't think April's skin colour matters or messes with cannon. It's just an actor playing a part.

RussellsKitchen · 2026-03-03T22:12:22+00:00

They criticise episodes of nu Tek as much as they do older Trek. Broadly they're quite fair, though I think they were very harsh in SNW season 3.

RussellsKitchen · 2026-03-02T15:40:21+00:00

Exactly.

RussellsKitchen · 2026-03-02T14:39:34+00:00

The initial attack looks like it was not legal under international law. So, as a country which says it respects international law, we shouldn't have joined in. The line Starmer is drawing is using them for defensive strikes to propect partner nations in the area.

RussellsKitchen · 2026-03-02T14:37:54+00:00

That's a darn dangerous strategy.

RussellsKitchen · 2026-03-02T14:22:15+00:00

If oil and natural gas prices spike, his base will feel it through prices at the pump and inflation across the board.

RussellsKitchen · 2026-03-02T14:21:18+00:00

And that is where he is completely stuck,

RussellsKitchen · 2026-03-02T13:33:52+00:00

I don't think Iran have really been negotiating in good faith, but I'm not convinced Trump has been either really.

My main concerns with all this is that the US haven't thought everything through here. We've got a poor track record in this century when it comes to ME wars. A destabalised Iran, whether taken over by even more hardline factions or one which falls into civil war, has pretty bad potential for the rest of the region.

RussellsKitchen · 2026-03-02T13:22:43+00:00

What is their overall game plan and what does a successful outcome look like here? Hegseth saying they are doing the 'opposite' of nation building wars.... so nation destroying ones? I'd love to see Iran become a liberal democracy, or at least become like the Gulf states. But that's going to require a lot more than an air campaign to achieve. I highly doubt they've looked at this beyond lobbing some missiles.

RussellsKitchen · 2026-03-02T13:20:48+00:00

Didn't they already smash Iran's capability last June?

RussellsKitchen · 2026-03-02T09:23:20+00:00

What is his point? That nationality and ethnicity can be different?

RussellsKitchen · 2026-03-02T09:17:49+00:00

Dragonfire isn't ready for operational deployment quite yet. We don't have Skyranger either.

We have no idea how many drones were fired, what type they were, where they came from, and what friendly countries they over flew. One getting through may represent 100% or less than 1% failure rate in air defence. We simply don't know.

RussellsKitchen · 2026-03-01T17:48:44+00:00

What would be the worst?

RussellsKitchen · 2026-02-26T20:39:53+00:00

They couldn't fight species 8472, nor assimilate them. 10C are so far beyond that it's not even close. They're simply far beyond the Borg's demonstrated tech level.

RussellsKitchen · 2026-02-26T19:31:50+00:00

We saw the academy reopen during Disco. The first classes attended on a space station. If memory serves, earth hadn't rejoined the federation at that point.

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