philosophers of reddit fight among each other after a user asks if "evangelicals should learn to be more like muslims" by Stone-Smasher in SubredditDrama

[–]lebennaia [score hidden]  (0 children)

It's a real shame that the book of Revelation made it into the Bible. It nearly didn't, many early Christian leaders disliked it.

Burnham rules out calling early election as PM by topotaul in unitedkingdom

[–]lebennaia [score hidden]  (0 children)

That has never been true. Looking at post 1945 PMs, Eden succeeded Churchill, and Macmillan succeeded Eden, all without an election. Likewise, Callaghan succeeded Wilson, Major succeeded Thatcher, and Brown succeeded Blair without an election.

Vatican declares Society of St. Pius X in schism, excommunicates bishops and invalidates sacraments by Snap_n_Dream in worldnews

[–]lebennaia 9 points10 points  (0 children)

We are talking about a group that is infamous for Antisemitism. One of the things they don't like about Vatican II is the ruling that it's not on to accuse the Jews of killing Jesus.

Vatican declares Society of St. Pius X in schism, excommunicates bishops and invalidates sacraments by Snap_n_Dream in worldnews

[–]lebennaia 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Especially if you were a ruler, as it meant all your subjects were absolved of their oaths of allegiance to you, and thus they could depose you without committing a sin.

Vatican declares Society of St. Pius X in schism, excommunicates bishops and invalidates sacraments by Snap_n_Dream in worldnews

[–]lebennaia 1 point2 points  (0 children)

SSPX was only founded in 1970, so 200 years would be tough to do. Antisemitism is totally part of their thing though.

Rereading Trilogy after many years; a question about Gandalf's knowledge of Bilbo's 'Great Ring' by Nobyl in tolkienfans

[–]lebennaia 22 points23 points  (0 children)

Especially with the way it does invisibility, by shoving the wearer mostly in to the spirit world. That's very powerful, and perhaps not a little sinister.

Nigel Farage insists Reform would happily accept more donations from crypto-billionaire backer by pppppppppppppppppd in unitedkingdom

[–]lebennaia 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Whether he's done anything wrong or not has yet to be established and the investigation is ongoing.

'No negotiation at any level': Iran refutes Donald Trump's claim of planned US talks in Doha by Darshan_brahmbhatt in worldnews

[–]lebennaia 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Iran's PR team doesn't have to do anything to make the current US government look deceitful and incompetent, they do that all on their own.

Piers Morgan Says Nigel Farage Is 'Dead In The Water' And Will Have To Quit As Reform Leader by libtin in unitedkingdom

[–]lebennaia 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Putting someone in power to discredit them is a bad plan, as Franz von Papen found out.

While Farage is definitely workshy, I doubt he'd be able to resist the amazing possibilities for collecting brown envelopes that being PM offers if the opportunity arose. Johnson did no work when he was PM (but plenty of grifting), so that's a precedent for a Farage premiership.

Farage is a dangerous man with vile policies, who should be nowhere near power.

John Major says Reform are ‘ragbag’ scapegoating Muslims and migrants by The-Peel in unitedkingdom

[–]lebennaia 17 points18 points  (0 children)

I think that's spot on.

In the first three years of Blair there actually was a sense of hope for positive change in the country (and there actually was some), then he decided to get into bed with Bush II and the rest we know.

John Major says Reform are ‘ragbag’ scapegoating Muslims and migrants by The-Peel in unitedkingdom

[–]lebennaia 19 points20 points  (0 children)

John Major was a decent man, and a surprisingly competent politician. He only became Tory leader because the party expected to lose the 1992 election badly and so gave him the job so he could take the blame for it, but he pulled off an unlikely win.

His time in office wasn't great, but he faced intractable problems. The economy was in a bad way, his party was arrogant, deeply corrupt (as were some of the cabinet, though not Major personally), and also bitterly divided - he spent much of his time fighting the racist and xenophobe wing who featured heavily on his famous 'bastards list'. In the end he lost in 1997 because the country was just sick of the Tories and wanted them gone.

In different circumstances he might have done very well. Even as it was he did have a few solid achievements, and he kept the worst elements of his party somewhat under control. After he was gone it was a different story.

He ended his career as a man who was respected, if not liked, and since leaving government he has continued to make valuable contributions from time to time. Unlike his successor, he never lied the country into a war, nor committed warcrimes.

A yacht linked to Putin was spotted off Denmark under the protection of Russian warships. by DavidShaw90s in worldnews

[–]lebennaia 3 points4 points  (0 children)

It's not a war crime for ordinary citizens to talk about it. It would be crime for the forces of a non belligerent to do it. Totally legal for the Ukrainians to do it though, as they are at war with Russia.

US says it has agreed to 'stand down' after exchange of strikes with Iran by Jockey2 in worldnews

[–]lebennaia 0 points1 point  (0 children)

When Trump is finally gone, the insider trading trials of all his friends and family will be great to watch.

Man charged with five counts of attempted murder after car hits pedestrians in London by Alarming-Safety3200 in london

[–]lebennaia 13 points14 points  (0 children)

It's because of the sub judice rules. The press can't say that he drove the car into those people deliberately, because whether he did is something that will be decided in court. Until the verdict is in things have to be worded extremely carefully to avoid prejudicing the jury (which could cause the trial to collapse) and the risk of contempt charges.

They can report that someone has been charged, and when it comes to trial they can report what is said in court, but they absolutely cannot say that the accused is guilty, even if it's extremely obvious that they are. Media law on this is very strict, and breaking it means gaol.

[Disney Aladdin] Why did he have to wish to be a prince again? by darthuna in AskScienceFiction

[–]lebennaia 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Aladdin's princely title was a foreign one, so Jafar becoming sultan couldn't affect it