Looks like it's starting....

I cannot understand why the American public haven’t called an indefinite general strike. The longer they wait to mount an adequate response the more impossible it will become.

Maybe many agree with Trump?

Maybe many don't know about it, with American news being so local?

Maybe they don't care?

It was in his manifesto and he won the election. He said he would remove illegal immigrants.

The clue is in the name, illegal. If you have no legal right to be there, you have legal right to be there. The issue is the law has not been well enforced on the past. There are millions who have become comfortable who don't want to leave for various reasons. You don't have a right to just live where you want.

But I suspect most of the trouble is being caused by opportunists out to cause trouble. Waving foreign flags is also somewhat incendiary.

Trump won't back down nor will most people want him to.

The left can call him a dictator if they want, but I don't think that is what is going on.

Both the SNP and the Greens have been infiltrated by extremists who's priority is NOT Scottish independence. 

Don't the SNP and Green's want independence? I thought they'd been collaborating in Scotland for a while?

TheCatWoman said:

If the Act of Union, isn't a union and Scotland and England were were disolved into part of a new country, then how come Scot's law still applies and Scotland has a different education system to England and Wales? How come it's banks are allowed to issue currency and yet Banks in England or Wales aren't?

I’m simply stating facts: the English and Scottish parliaments each passed an act of union which dissolved the previous countries. The UK is a unitary state with a single sovereign parliament. The UK only has a single currency, which is controlled by the Bank of England.

TheCatWoman said:

There was a referendum and people did narrowly chose to remain joined, but after Brexit the terms that, that referendum were fought on and promises made were overturned 2 years later. The fact that the Scotish Parliament has to ask permission from Westminster to hold another referendum tells me that the union isn't between equals and that Scotland, like Wales was subsummed by England. 

20% more people voted No than Yes and in all the years since there has never been any kind of election in which the majority voted for parties with independence in their manifestos.

If the Act of Union, isn't a union and Scotland and England were were disolved into part of a new country, then how come Scot's law still applies and Scotland has a different education system to England and Wales? How come it's banks are allowed to issue currency and yet Banks in England or Wales aren't?

There was a referendum and people did narrowly chose to remain joined, but after Brexit the terms that, that referendum were fought on and promises made were overturned 2 years later. The fact that the Scotish Parliament has to ask permission from Westminster to hold another referendum tells me that the union isn't between equals and that Scotland, like Wales was subsummed by England.  

I don't have any particular axe to grind about Scottish independence, or Welsh for that matter, but I do think the current situation is unsustainable and the obvious answer is to federalise

********************************************

Now Israel have decided to bomb Iran and Trump seems unable to decide who's side he's on, does he really want more talks or does he want to support Israel, because I don't seen how he can do both or be considered an honest broker?

It seems there are radiation leaks around the bunker Israel hit. That will be a disaster not just for the region, but for all of us, it will mean more refugees, less safe food and water, less habitable land and the possibility of escalation.

TheCatWoman said:

it would be like Scotland wanting to leave the UK, where we see that the union isn't really as voluntary as we're told.

We had a vote - the biggest in our history - and the majority voted to remain part of the UK. The UK government freely allowed this and let the nationalists set the terms of the vote (which was a mistake). 

Also, the UK isn’t a union. The union was an act (two actually) which dissolved the pre-existing countries of Scotland and England and replaced them with a single new country.

I saw a piece today, saying that the protests are being under reported, mostly in US media, but abroad too.

There have been reports of families being held in unsafe conditions with little food or water. Don't forget last itme we saw children taken from their families and held in cages, how is that right in a civilised society? This is the sort of thing we call human rights abuses when it happens in other countries.

California voted to do away with petrol cars, it passed Congress, Trump has stopped them from exercising that democratic right because he wants more oil and cars made in the US.

I think many people in Trumps government are out of control and running roughshod over convention and possibly the constitution too.

I wonder if California will vote to leave the union, I dont' know how that would work or if it would be like Scotland wanting to leave the UK, where we see that the union isn't really as voluntary as we're told. I could see Trump having an absolute hissy fit and ordering troops in. I don't know enough about how the American constitution or law works to be able to guess at what the legal position would be for a state wanting to leave the union.

Biden was a disaster, certainly towards the end of his term he was obviously failing mentally, many of us prefered Biden to Trump, felt sorry for Americans for having a choice between bad and worse, It wasn't that we wanted Biden or always agreed with him, he wasn't Trump. Having learned from his first term in office, Trump seems to have found ways around the checks and balances or is just ignoring them, that keep presidents from becoming dictators. The flurry of executive orders and from what we see a lack of oversight from both Congress and The Senate, shows Trump is being allowed to seemingly do as he pleases.

Labour cancelled half the local elections so they can change all the boundaries and win more seats and move money from well run areas to poorly run areas. There is no date for when or if the elections will occur. The councilors have no mandate any more.

Fiddling with things happens everywhere.

The constitution and checks on powers is what stops the pendulum swinging too far.

Labour could, as far as I can tell, change the duration of their term and decide not to have a general election for 10 years or more. The king can no longer dissolve parliament either. Arguably our risks are greater.

The CIA used encouraged trouble, uprising sings, coups, etc. in other countries in the past. Certainly this is occurring in reverse now in the US and elsewhere.

Stuart333 said:

It's not descending into dictatorship, his term will end in 3.5 years

There is the small detail that the Republicans are tabling a motion to allow him a 3rd term by amending the constitution although it is unlikely to pass, unless he declares a state of emergency towards the end of his term and never lifts it.

What could constiture a state of emergency? Perhaps a state like California trying to leave the state of union of the USA.

It puts some of the current craziness seem a little more coherent when you look on it with the longer term goal in mind.

There is also widespread gerrymandering of districts to create a glut of new political positions in states that are republican strongholds so there are many more senators / congress etc per captia for republican states than for decocratic states.

For those of you who don't know what gerrymandering is, educate yourselves here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrymandering

Whoever is guiding current policy (it does not seem to be Trump) is doing a scarily good job of it as with all the chaos sloshing about, the party quietly gets on with stacking the deck to ensure they stay in power long term in spite of the damage that is being done.

I rather suspect civil war is the only way to break the current situation.

It's not descending into dictatorship, his term will end in 3.5 years, people will vote again. If people are unhappy they can change the balance of power in the midterms in 18 months.

His tariffs stuff is interesting. It is not working very well and the rest of the world is not powerless.

He is not using the military, he is interested in keeping out of stuff.

The threats are just that, empty threats, a means to force dialogue and get attention on certain issues, also as a starting point for negotiation, as many politicians are too complacent. It also works as a means to get stuff in the press and get people talking. The US likes a larger than life showman as a president. It is part of the game.

Don't swallow all the stuff that is being put out.

His first term was supposed to be the end of the world. Yet we are still here. Biden did not reverse most of Trumps policies.

Biden signed 162 exec orders in his entire term. Trump has signed 161 in the first 5 months of his term.

The USA has the biggest economy and the biggest military of any country. Trump and his cabinet are already using that power to bully other countries into implementing policies they do not want. He’s already destroyed trillions in wealth and is tipping the whole world into recession. 

And then there’s his threats to Greenland, Canada, Panama, the effect he’s having on government spending even here because of his attitude to NATO, and his impact on Ukraine and Palestine.

The US is simply too big and too powerful to just shrug our shoulders as it descends into dictatorship.

Biden also signed plenty of executive orders. Perhaps they should reduce the president's powers, but both sides like it when they are in power.

The media are rarely neutral reporters, they frame stories and use emotive language and images to create a certain impression.

I can't get too worked up anymore about another country where I don't have a vote.

If this was France, Poland, Latvia, Jordan Congo, Vietnam, Colombia  no-one would be that bothered. It's all a bit manufactured.

The man has signed hundreds of executive orders, completely bypassing congress and senate and is defying the Supreme Court, he’s sent people to a concentration camp in El Salvador for unlimited periods of time without any kind of hearing and now he’s put troops - the actual army - on the street to prevent people from expressing dissent.

The man has signed hundreds of executive orders, completely bypassing congress and senate and is defying the Supreme Court, he’s sent people to a concentration camp in El Salvador for unlimited periods of time without any kind of hearing and now he’s put troops - the actual army - on the street to prevent people from expressing dissent.

Both the SNP and the Greens have been infiltrated by extremists who's priority is NOT Scottish independence. 

Don't the SNP and Green's want independence? I thought they'd been collaborating in Scotland for a while?

TheCatWoman said:

If the Act of Union, isn't a union and Scotland and England were were disolved into part of a new country, then how come Scot's law still applies and Scotland has a different education system to England and Wales? How come it's banks are allowed to issue currency and yet Banks in England or Wales aren't?

I’m simply stating facts: the English and Scottish parliaments each passed an act of union which dissolved the previous countries. The UK is a unitary state with a single sovereign parliament. The UK only has a single currency, which is controlled by the Bank of England.

TheCatWoman said:

There was a referendum and people did narrowly chose to remain joined, but after Brexit the terms that, that referendum were fought on and promises made were overturned 2 years later. The fact that the Scotish Parliament has to ask permission from Westminster to hold another referendum tells me that the union isn't between equals and that Scotland, like Wales was subsummed by England. 

20% more people voted No than Yes and in all the years since there has never been any kind of election in which the majority voted for parties with independence in their manifestos.

If the Act of Union, isn't a union and Scotland and England were were disolved into part of a new country, then how come Scot's law still applies and Scotland has a different education system to England and Wales? How come it's banks are allowed to issue currency and yet Banks in England or Wales aren't?

There was a referendum and people did narrowly chose to remain joined, but after Brexit the terms that, that referendum were fought on and promises made were overturned 2 years later. The fact that the Scotish Parliament has to ask permission from Westminster to hold another referendum tells me that the union isn't between equals and that Scotland, like Wales was subsummed by England.  

I don't have any particular axe to grind about Scottish independence, or Welsh for that matter, but I do think the current situation is unsustainable and the obvious answer is to federalise

********************************************

Now Israel have decided to bomb Iran and Trump seems unable to decide who's side he's on, does he really want more talks or does he want to support Israel, because I don't seen how he can do both or be considered an honest broker?

It seems there are radiation leaks around the bunker Israel hit. That will be a disaster not just for the region, but for all of us, it will mean more refugees, less safe food and water, less habitable land and the possibility of escalation.

TheCatWoman said:

it would be like Scotland wanting to leave the UK, where we see that the union isn't really as voluntary as we're told.

We had a vote - the biggest in our history - and the majority voted to remain part of the UK. The UK government freely allowed this and let the nationalists set the terms of the vote (which was a mistake). 

Also, the UK isn’t a union. The union was an act (two actually) which dissolved the pre-existing countries of Scotland and England and replaced them with a single new country.

I saw a piece today, saying that the protests are being under reported, mostly in US media, but abroad too.

There have been reports of families being held in unsafe conditions with little food or water. Don't forget last itme we saw children taken from their families and held in cages, how is that right in a civilised society? This is the sort of thing we call human rights abuses when it happens in other countries.

California voted to do away with petrol cars, it passed Congress, Trump has stopped them from exercising that democratic right because he wants more oil and cars made in the US.

I think many people in Trumps government are out of control and running roughshod over convention and possibly the constitution too.

I wonder if California will vote to leave the union, I dont' know how that would work or if it would be like Scotland wanting to leave the UK, where we see that the union isn't really as voluntary as we're told. I could see Trump having an absolute hissy fit and ordering troops in. I don't know enough about how the American constitution or law works to be able to guess at what the legal position would be for a state wanting to leave the union.

Biden was a disaster, certainly towards the end of his term he was obviously failing mentally, many of us prefered Biden to Trump, felt sorry for Americans for having a choice between bad and worse, It wasn't that we wanted Biden or always agreed with him, he wasn't Trump. Having learned from his first term in office, Trump seems to have found ways around the checks and balances or is just ignoring them, that keep presidents from becoming dictators. The flurry of executive orders and from what we see a lack of oversight from both Congress and The Senate, shows Trump is being allowed to seemingly do as he pleases.

Labour cancelled half the local elections so they can change all the boundaries and win more seats and move money from well run areas to poorly run areas. There is no date for when or if the elections will occur. The councilors have no mandate any more.

Fiddling with things happens everywhere.

The constitution and checks on powers is what stops the pendulum swinging too far.

Labour could, as far as I can tell, change the duration of their term and decide not to have a general election for 10 years or more. The king can no longer dissolve parliament either. Arguably our risks are greater.

The CIA used encouraged trouble, uprising sings, coups, etc. in other countries in the past. Certainly this is occurring in reverse now in the US and elsewhere.

Stuart333 said:

It's not descending into dictatorship, his term will end in 3.5 years

There is the small detail that the Republicans are tabling a motion to allow him a 3rd term by amending the constitution although it is unlikely to pass, unless he declares a state of emergency towards the end of his term and never lifts it.

What could constiture a state of emergency? Perhaps a state like California trying to leave the state of union of the USA.

It puts some of the current craziness seem a little more coherent when you look on it with the longer term goal in mind.

There is also widespread gerrymandering of districts to create a glut of new political positions in states that are republican strongholds so there are many more senators / congress etc per captia for republican states than for decocratic states.

For those of you who don't know what gerrymandering is, educate yourselves here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrymandering

Whoever is guiding current policy (it does not seem to be Trump) is doing a scarily good job of it as with all the chaos sloshing about, the party quietly gets on with stacking the deck to ensure they stay in power long term in spite of the damage that is being done.

I rather suspect civil war is the only way to break the current situation.

It's not descending into dictatorship, his term will end in 3.5 years, people will vote again. If people are unhappy they can change the balance of power in the midterms in 18 months.

His tariffs stuff is interesting. It is not working very well and the rest of the world is not powerless.

He is not using the military, he is interested in keeping out of stuff.

The threats are just that, empty threats, a means to force dialogue and get attention on certain issues, also as a starting point for negotiation, as many politicians are too complacent. It also works as a means to get stuff in the press and get people talking. The US likes a larger than life showman as a president. It is part of the game.

Don't swallow all the stuff that is being put out.

His first term was supposed to be the end of the world. Yet we are still here. Biden did not reverse most of Trumps policies.

Biden signed 162 exec orders in his entire term. Trump has signed 161 in the first 5 months of his term.

The USA has the biggest economy and the biggest military of any country. Trump and his cabinet are already using that power to bully other countries into implementing policies they do not want. He’s already destroyed trillions in wealth and is tipping the whole world into recession. 

And then there’s his threats to Greenland, Canada, Panama, the effect he’s having on government spending even here because of his attitude to NATO, and his impact on Ukraine and Palestine.

The US is simply too big and too powerful to just shrug our shoulders as it descends into dictatorship.

Biden also signed plenty of executive orders. Perhaps they should reduce the president's powers, but both sides like it when they are in power.

The media are rarely neutral reporters, they frame stories and use emotive language and images to create a certain impression.

I can't get too worked up anymore about another country where I don't have a vote.

If this was France, Poland, Latvia, Jordan Congo, Vietnam, Colombia  no-one would be that bothered. It's all a bit manufactured.