Iz 🌟

can already see myself cheering on KAJ with all my heart in the final and getting crushed by Sweden's incessant need to send boring derivative crap like 'Revolution' each and every year.

@1893707727995568470 As expected based on the polls largely, ffs

Zelensky press conference on right now, he's going hard on security guarantees for Ukraine as he should and the eye-catching alert that went out is that he said he'd step down as president if it meant NATO membership, obviously not literally what is likely to happen, but a good rebuff to Trump both on his insane 'dictator' accusations and an indication of how important it is that Ukraine receive long-term safety as the result of any deal. (any deal that doesn't do that isn't worth the paper it's written on)

That it shouldn't be the poor who bear the burden of Russia's war is true and where borrowing is viable that should be done, but there are fewer greater priorities than ensuring the continuation of our democracy, and by extension the same for our close friends. The numbers, to me at least, indicate some resilience on this subject, even in America where it's more polarised, an American president who wanted to could have continued spending without too much of a revolt, Ukraine financing wasn't top of most concerns in last year's election, it was a talking point among Trumpist demagogues but not a mainstream one.

Polls open in Germany, I may have to follow these results - and I'll take a GroKo if that's the best realistically on offer. Problem with the AfD and all far-right parties (and of course German electoral history proves this) is that you absolutely cannot let them in because they will do untold horrific damage to the country, but by not letting them in and yet still achieving a significant result, as they are likely to later today, there's not many ways they can fall back down in popularity due to being in opposition.

^Would be a boon for its significance if its Oscar campaign is accompanied by a real-life conclave. Hoping the Pope pulls through as long as possible though, though the reporting suggests his time may be short; you aren't likely to get many better Popes than Francis, someone who from my outsider view has been an excellent steward for the Catholic church and its response to humanitarian disasters these last few years.

I also said this! It's combined with 41% who think we should maintain our level of support.

I generally balk at increases on defence spending too, that's why I'm not a policymaker. People on the street do not react in the way that we need them to react on policy questions, which is why we don't do that in politics. Ben Wallace, one of the few Tories I trust on his specific subject, made good points on QT that actually do make me uncomfortable to hear in reality but need to be addressed, in a conversation on defence spending he pointed out that the increase to 2.5% that Labour have planned is not enough, and you can't include money such as that we are sending to Ukraine in those figures - that should be over and above and they are important as our strategic ally whatever happens. While I think Trump's suggestions of increased military spending for European nations are ridiculous and many European countries are already in the upper echelons of countries on GDP defence spending, it is clear that we need to raise it up for the time being while the Americans are being unreliable arses. (I do not know enough about Switzerland's internal policies to comment but they have a rather unique political system that may be hard to translate)

Simple dumb populist/man down the pub, 'let's have a vote on it' suggestion, I should just stop reading here. But I won't. You've phrased the description of such an issue in a way that would never make it past the first screening of any reputable poll company, let alone a voting commission. Fortunately we have a poll on the very issue which gives us an idea of the actual levels of such support in the UK. @1892512828579615067 That's just one question on a broader theme, but it's clearly a majority support the levels of funding we are giving to Ukraine - should that number increase, they might be reticent with only 24% saying 'more' but that is such a hypothetical right now that saying 'I think we know the result of this vote' is stupid, given the incredible cross-party support to Ukraine that is almost unanimous among MPs and the public. Except those Reform scammers, I notice with annoyance that after hearing idiotic braying from them on every other subject, they're suspiciously quiet on Ukraine. But even then Reform voters are split. so shove right off out of here with 'democracy has spoken'. Even in the US, the Republicans have been split on whether to aid Ukraine, Trump is certainly against it, but many Senate and House Republicans were advancing aid packages with no issue up to and during the election. This is a relatively acceptable scenario, and I see no reason the EU leaders wouldn't accept that in the short term given how Trump's torpedoed anything better. Long-term, it will only cause issues as new generations of leaders take power and want to reassert their preferences. The only correct way to sort the fate of these territories for good, other than Ukraine just keeping them as is their sovereign right, which is what they should do, is an actual honest-to-goodness 'let's have a vote' plebiscite (you do this for important constitutional changes) that is administered by the international community, without any military force and accepted by both the Russian and Ukrainian state.

me at these predictions:

Really glad you think so! I didn't expect to come back to J-pop this soon but it suckered me in.

Hand in hand with the idiotic Online Safety Bill, as ever, the UK government doesn't understand how to regulate and control the internet. I hope this one is withdrawn, the general pattern with our tech restriction bills is that they run up against the technical requirements of implementing it and then get quietly dropped but this might get through.

It isn't being stubborn to hold to something that should be a reasonable expectation of security. The EU leaders are right and acting sensibly, it's Trump who's coming out with nonsense statements that don't reflect reality. Europe can absolutely defend Ukraine against Russia without the US if necessary, they contribute more than the US after all, but it would require a lot more economic effort - something that perhaps is worth it to defend democracy. Your language, like all Russian apologists, removes all accountability and blame from Russia because you cannot defend invading a sovereign state, which is what they have done. Russia should withdraw with absolutely nothing. But of course, you'll say that's 'reality' and they won't withdraw because they have the upper hand. Who gave them the upper hand in those negotiations? The traitorous, idiotic president tearing up decades of White House diplomacy to do... I don't know what. How does any of this play long-term? I can't see any way that this doesn't lead to a conflict in the future once the aberration is gone from the White House and America has an anti-Russian president again, nor will Russia be welcomed back into the international fold having unlawfully stolen parts of Ukraine. I don't think you have been paying any attention to the opinions of Ukrainians or EU leaders if you think they are going to accept and recognise a treaty that is signed without Ukraine's involvement. Perhaps the US and Russia have enough between them to make most other nations around the world accept and recognise it, but peace.... to quote Tacitus, 'where they make a desert, they call it peace'. ~ Not really sure a slave state, sorry, migrant labourer heavy state like Qatar is one you want to be touting as a victory for the ethnostates. Japan through isolation I'll grant you, but they are starting to recognise the need for immigrants, Poland isn't too different to the UK across various levels of crime or cleanliness. Principled opposition to multiculturalism I do find weird though, the statistics don't really shake out, it's interesting living in a country with so many from different backgrounds and people are people no matter where they're from.

yes left wing good right wing bad, glad we're on the same page You keep saying 'well, what can you do, we don't have another solution, we must end the war', when your beloved Trumpian government is approaching the negotiations with the outlook of 'give the invader everything he wants, and let's also spin a narrative that Ukraine are the real bad guys here'. It's not simple peace they're after, it's capitulation - there are many options for peace such as bringing in outside, impartial negotiators (say for the sake of argument, Qatari, like with Israel/Palestine), but the principle reason that hasn't happened yet is because Russia won't want to end the war on anything other than their terms. Which doesn't mean you give into them, because not only is Putin emboldened but every tinpot dictator or democratic backslider from Minsk to Pyongyang to Pretoria will be looking for ways they can try their luck - the international order now says might makes right after all. also it's not relevant to the main discussion but it's a very telling part of your screed... why is multiculturalism bad, exactly?

I had heard that Die Linke managed to shed at least some if not most of the pro-Russian elements to BSW, been good to see their rise in the polls since that. Likewise hoping for those two parties, FDP and BSW, to fail to hit the threshold. There's not any chance Union will do a devil's coalition with AfD is there? My instincts say no but I haven't read too much into the possibility. Not looking forward to the fractious nature of what looks like a West-East split with right-wing parties taking up most of the seats in the Bundestag.

Honestly man, these are terrifying sentences to read. From the mind of someone who maybe knows deep down, they have been had by far-right and Russian propaganda, but doesn't want to admit it and will not change their mind because the memes or articles that confirm their world view are more comforting to read and believe in.

The PM against past PMs poll is interesting, but less useful compared to the 'best choice for PM' poll that went out recently. In fact, given Starmer is riding only just below those figures that are still in politics to a reasonable degree, not all that bad. I also don't think what he is likely to do with Trump matters too much for opinion, he's clearly not aligned with him on Ukraine, he's willing to talk to Trump on items that are directly about British interests. Certainly no sign he'd do a Blair at this juncture. Those opinions of Trump/Zelensky just show to me very clearly that Reform has a ceiling - they are operating on a fundamentally different world from most of the voting population.

This is probably the modus operandi, if there is one. It would be one thing if it were the US doing realpolitik, accepting that they cannot beat Russia with Ukraine so they're going for peace instead. That would be disappointing, but reconcilable with the post-1989 international order. This is something else. Trump is repeating Kremlin lines and lies (paraphrasing: 'Ukraine's run by a dictator' (the brass neck on him here!), 'Zelensky's only got 4% popularity', 'Ukraine started the war'), Zelensky's right when he says there an air of misinformation around Trump, but all the misinformation and lies are just excuses, it's the US making preparations to align with Russia and accepting their line that they have 'spheres of influence' which in a world with the UN and self-determination should be a sentence that is never thought of let alone made policy. If you went back to any point in US history over the past century and floated the idea of US-Russia aligning, especially against the interests of Europe, it would be unthinkable. Which is what makes this so scary.

One positive is that Russians have indicated they don't have too much opposition to Ukraine joining the EU, which is interesting as it'd be hard to wage a future war against them as a member of that bloc. But then the accession process would take years and without government changes in Hungary and Slovakia, unlikely. But that's about the only positive and it's not even much of one. Seems as though Russia-US are close to reaching an agreement and 'concessions will be made by all sides', though doesn't sound like Russia are making many. Utterly despicable quisling betrayal of Ukraine going on right now.

Agreed, the one drop rule is very malevolent. There was a video going round earlier about somebody getting bold enough to call Rishi Sunak not British (quote: 'he's a brown Hindu, how can he be British'), which is an indication that something is not right with these people's heads.

Following up on this, and I did read into the case at this time to check it wasn't an egregious usage of immigration policy and surprise surprise, the family did have extenuating circumstances like being anti-Hamas and having a relative here willing to look after them, but a judge has criticised that exchange at PMQs for misrepresenting the situation: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvgp47mpxgno Which I broadly agree with, once we have political figures questioning the motives of judges you start to get this situation where one side of the aisle loses trust in insitutional figures who are upholding the law and that's generally pretty dangerous. Umberto Eco #13 (yes I AM going to start quoting Ur-Fascism like bible verses) ties into this, the whipping up of outrage and populism (against 'lefty lawyers/judges', say) is used to delegitimise and sow distrust in these institutions. ~ on a more positive note, very pleased to see that the NHS waiting lists have come down and the Labour government can trumpet 'promise kept'. Sure it was probably helped a bit by the outgoing Tory government, but Streeting's being far less annoying and more competent than I expected him to be over at Health.

I don't know that there's much more to say really. Apparently it's just a fact that it's immigration and not anything else that have led to various economic woes and innovation slowdown among wealthy countries, rather than the various factors that come with a more educated populace used to a certain level of luxury. Utter stupidity dipped in outrage bait every time he posts. Oh and this: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/...ts-economy-soar Notably I also agree with what the article says at the end, that this is not enough to show that it's a trend, and Denmark shows another potential outcome, as their centre-left government has done well on a much harsher immigration policy, but undoubtedly having more people of working age and welcoming them has done Spain favours - and arguing that immigration slows down an economy and makes it worse off for its original residents is for the birds. Which is more charitable to opposing viewpoints than some here.

Aiobahn +81 - 天天天国地獄国 (feat. Nanahira & Pmarusama) eTplxWaAD8o Aiobahn is a South Korean producer who has been associated with Monstercat and is perhaps most well known for producing the theme songs to the video game 'Needy Streamer Overload' - those songs, 'Internet Overdose' and 'Internet Yamero' are rather fun J-Pop + Eurodance/rave messes, but not songs I ever thought good enough to share. Technically, 'Aiobahn +81' is a side-project of his, the '+81' meaning that it's an outlet for songs that are just for fun. Ironically then, the first song he's released under that name, 'Tententengokujigokugoku' (or the far more sensible 天天天国地獄国, which roughly means 'Heaven Heaven Heaven Hell') is by far the most controlled, rhythmic and well-structured song he's ever done IMO. As well as being very fun. Still that same rave-inspired dance-pop, just recruiting two well-known utaite (singers who got big covering vocaloid songs) to play the angel and devil characters here. Some useful Japanese words for you btw: 'Tengoku' - heaven 'Jigoku' - hell 'Tenshi' - angel 'Akuma' - devil or pretend I didn't post any of that and just enjoy whatever this is (complementary)

semi 1 looks great (in terms of song titles and possibly also for the song that's infected my brain), manifesting I have indeed come across a bunch of 'X the Maid's a while back, interesting subculture, can't recall exactly what songs I heard from them but Chikoi was definitely one of the more prominent ones.

Suede, Rooney and Severin have already made excellent points (particularly that detailed history of Ukraine and the lead up to the conflict that rebuffs the ridiculous reading of the conflict in the second post), but these posts betray such a misunderstanding of how geopolitics works, by the way they treat the collective will of European states as nothing more than a sideshow as opposed to a major player alongside Ukraine, Russia and the US and clearly the only pro-Ukraine force outside of Ukraine itself. Ukraine and Europe are under no obligation to recognise the outcome of talks that are made without their involvement; Europe represents actually more of the spending on Ukraine than the US does alone. Now hopefully America finds a bilateral US-Russia agreement unworkable for this reason and gives sufficient guarantees to Ukraine, and pressure from Europe will be part of why that happens if they do so. If America doesn't provide them, then maybe the UK and Europe will have to fill in. That's our business as one of Ukraine's closest allies and in our interest in further stopping Russian expansionism. Trump's style is not unique or clever, all it's achieved is giving Russia an enormous upper hand. That may be unconcerning to an isolationist America (in the short term, in the long term it will hurt) but it's vital for Europe/Ukraine that that doesn't happen. It's in Europe's interests to protect Ukraine, so they will do so if necessary. Ending the war is no good if Russia can restart it again when they choose. It's frustrating really because this unfortunate situation is entirely of the Trump administration's making, peace is maintained when democracies stand together against an outside threat, but America has essentially betrayed the liberal democratic order for selfish reasons and made the future of European security more precarious than it would otherwise be. Don't pretend that it's for peace, because the anarchic order (the antithesis of the liberal democratic order) is not a peaceful one.