Just reading an interview with Jacinda Ardern about her memoir. I thought this was very impressive… In the book, she describes how Trump called her after the massacre, and it’s subtly revealing about both of them. “We discussed what might happen to the terrorist,” she writes. “I used that word, ‘terrorist’, specifically and President Trump asked if we were calling the gunman that.” She said to him: “Yes, this was a white man from Australia who deliberately targeted our Muslim community. We are calling him that.” Trump did not respond, but asked if there was anything America could do. “You can show sympathy and love for all Muslim communities,” she told him. It was the reverse of the politics of division: she says that the terrorist “chose us because he knew that New Zealand openly welcomed people of all faiths. He wanted to destroy that.”
Ardhern is far from unique thinking like this. Shame she left office too early. It really felt at one stage that the world leaders who were women could massively change the way the world was run.
Bang on that and not really subtle, it shouldn't be. Trump and his divisive politics need shaming at every opportunity along with those spouting similar bile elsewhere in the world.
https://www.theguardian.com/news/ng...on-follow-new-york-and-decriminalise-cannabis Yes no doubt about it along with testing of recreationals and safe places with needle exchange. "The last time London dabbled in decriminalising cannabis, it brought one part of the capital to a brief but giddy high. In 2001, an enterprising Scotland Yard borough commander empowered his officers in Lambeth to caution rather than arrest those carrying small amounts of the drug for personal use – freeing them, according to the scheme’s proponents, to concentrate on more serious crimes. The softly-softly approach was controversial in some political and policing quarters, but wildly popular in the borough – and some of its results were dramatic. Over six months, more than 2,500 hours of police officers’ time were saved on processing cannabis arrests, while arrests for dealing class A drugs rose by almost a fifth." "Non-drug crime fell by 9% overall, with sharp declines in burglaries and street robberies. Almost two-thirds thought it had improved relations between the police and the community." "Almost a quarter of a century on, could decriminalisation be back on the cards for London? Sadiq Khan this week indicated his support, after an independent commission into cannabis regulation, promised by the mayor in his 2021 election manifesto, published its findings. Classifying cannabis as a class B drug was disproportionate to its harms, it said, and the sanctions users were subject to for personal possession “cannot be justified”.
This Tariff business from Trump is typical of how some ‘Capitalists’ aren’t as keen on competition as they really ought to be Also maybe US over-consumption has its problems for them? If the US made more stuff that the rest of the world wanted and their own citizens could curb their own consumption a little, maybe they wouldn’t have such a large imbalance of trade (around $1 trillion)
I’m not really sure if Trump fully understands how tariffs work or if he does know and is just deliberately working the stock markets for personal gain. He and his MAGA supporters certainly don’t seem to understand that if they could replicate the manufacturing of products in the USA, the manufacturing costs would potentially double or triple the retail price of whatever they produce simply because they won’t be able to match the low production costs of Asia.
I don’t know how credible this guy is but if this is true then hats off to Ukraine. Major drone strikes deep in Russia, the day before “peace” talks should get some attention.
18 months to plan, apparently. I think Russia will so something really bad as the Ukranian strike was so audacious. I am staggered how bad the Russians are.
And so the most predictable thing ever in politics begins. Musk bites back. Pass me the popcorn... https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0j76djzgpvo
The levels of self-interest across the board (and not just there) are horrendous. What ever happened to the public good part.
