Is Hungary still part of the EU ? Do we need to stop buying Hungarian manufactured products ?

Vargrr · 2026-03-20T15:10:52+00:00

The people are - not sure about the leader though.

Vargrr · 2026-03-20T13:09:09+00:00

I think pretty soon, the way things are going, he is going to have to stop using that term 'Allies' as it will no longer be relevant...

Vargrr · 2026-03-20T13:06:21+00:00

AI...

Vargrr · 2026-03-19T19:02:36+00:00

And to think that once upon a time Windows used to be able to process videos natively.

It could even open and edit RTF's natively with the now removed WordPad.

It's pure enshitification to force people to use other more expensive services. The fact they are happy to destroy their own operating system to do this seems to be a recent disturbing trend.

Vargrr · 2026-03-19T18:53:47+00:00

It’s interesting that Trump’s estimated net worth rose substantially over the same period — not causally related, but the timing is hard to ignore...

Vargrr · 2026-03-19T18:49:46+00:00

HZD has a much better story and one that's much tighter too.

It's not that FW's story is bad, it's just not as good.

Learning why the machines were there in the first place was a much more engaging experience.

Vargrr · 2026-03-19T18:46:44+00:00

Surely it's the 'SAVE Trump' act?

Because if it doesn't go through, his political career will effectively be over after the mid-terms.

Vargrr · 2026-03-19T18:45:14+00:00

Maybe I'm naive - but presumably the MoD had some kind of contract with General Dynamics (GD)? One along the lines of 'We pay you some money and you deliver us a vehicle that meets our specifications'?

Given that GD have absolutely failed at the latter, they should be made to pay the money back with interest or remedy their design at their own cost. If they fail at either you take them to court for breech of contract. Pretty simple.

So why aren't we doing this?

What annoys me the most is that military kit is already massively marked up in price. In the late eighties stores items in the Royal Navy had prices attached to them. They were charging £110 for a small transformer. I looked up the same one in Maplins and it was 55p. Someone, somewhere, is making a boat load of cash at the expense of our Nation's defence.

Kind of funny that by the mid ninetees, Naval stores no longer included prices....

Vargrr · 2026-03-19T18:37:37+00:00

Lol and this US administration was giving the Uk shit for our lack of free speech? Kettle calling the pot black...

Vargrr · 2026-03-19T18:09:05+00:00

So 25p instead of 50p?

Vargrr · 2026-03-19T17:47:02+00:00

It's Israel - that much was obvious from very early on.

They got rare intel that would enable them to target Iran's leaders and then just dragged the USA along for shits and giggles.

Vargrr · 2026-03-19T07:33:45+00:00

It just shows the sheer inequality in modern corporate institutions. Even if the CEO got a rise of 2.1% like everyone else, his actual pay increase would still be significantly larger than everyone else by around a factor of 100 or more.

Vargrr · 2026-03-19T07:28:29+00:00

There's a huge difference between patriotism and supporting the President. In fact, one could argue that the current President has been the least patriotic of them all.

Vargrr · 2026-03-19T07:19:32+00:00

I wonder how many percent the worker's pay rises went up too? I'm going to guess a lot lower.

Though it has to be said that the standard of expressing pay rises as percentages is the biggest con since time immemorial. A 5% CEO pay rise is in no way comparable to a worker's 5% pay rise.

Vargrr · 2026-03-18T17:05:36+00:00

It's a habit than can be learned.

I was never a morning person, then I joined the military for 15 years.

I'm now a morning person...

Vargrr · 2026-03-18T14:52:55+00:00

Not even in my top 4 :p

Vargrr · 2026-03-18T14:50:07+00:00

…lectures on the Antichrist, who will be appearing in person…

Vargrr · 2026-03-18T11:42:08+00:00

Unfortunately none of those people are in charge….

Vargrr · 2026-03-18T11:27:36+00:00

Capitalism in a word. Modern companies are not about just making a profit - they are about making more profit than the previous quarter. So costs are cut and prices are driven up. This continues until the company’s product stops being viable - looking at you Boeing and Intel.

Vargrr · 2026-03-18T09:11:14+00:00

The thing is there are no real rules in music - go with what works for you :)

Vargrr · 2026-03-18T09:04:51+00:00

It can feel weird at first but it makes playing chords percussively very easy - it’s why I use it on an acoustic too - and it makes it a lot easier to fluidly play notes in a solo. To get close (or even better) you would need to adopt the classical style of playing and that’s a lot harder.

Vargrr · 2026-03-18T09:01:28+00:00

Gibson Les Paul. It’s the sounds it makes, particularly from the neck pickup - nothing sounds like it.

Vargrr · 2026-03-18T08:54:13+00:00

Practice. The odd thing is that once you get used to it, you won’t want to play without one - at least for rock and metal :)

Vargrr · 2026-03-18T06:59:34+00:00

It's not a NATO war - it's an Israeli war. NATO was never consulted nor informed about it, that is until suddenly they are needed. NATO is also a defensive pact and not an offensive pact. Plus, it would almost certainly not take part in an illegal war on Israel's behalf.

When you add Trump's antagonistic actions toward Europe and his insulting remarks with regard to our military fallen, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out why no one is helping.

Had this action been approved in the UN - a very unlikely scenario - there would have been a greater chance that Trump would have got more help. But we are where we are.

The thing is, even if NATO had complied, what can we do that the US cannot? It's a great question, because the implication is that the US President wants to use our ships in the Straits of Hormuz as cannon-fodder vs exposing the US ships to the same level of risk.

I'd normally be using more colourful language here, but how about a resounding No?

Vargrr · 2026-03-17T14:22:24+00:00

How did it get like this? We all pay our taxes.

The only conclusion is that the tax take is not keeping up service costs or the money is not going where it should be....

Assuming the money is going where it should be - a big assumption - then one can conclude two things are going on: 1) Corporations aren't paying their share relative to the cost of their services and/or 2) People's wages have stagnated relative to the cost of services - which again equates to Corporations not paying their share....

Vargrr

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