World News Random, Random

All the other crazy stuff we talk about. Politics, Science, News, the Kitchen, other hobbies.
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Re: World News Random, Random

#916

Post by ponchi101 »

Very telling.
It is no longer wondering if there is a fifth column within the USA higher government, it is how big it is.
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Re: World News Random, Random

#917

Post by ti-amie »

“Do not grow old, no matter how long you live. Never cease to stand like curious children before the Great Mystery into which we were born.” Albert Einstein
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Re: World News Random, Random

#918

Post by Suliso »

Large scale contested amphibious assaults remain extremely difficult. I believe they have been carried out successfully only twice in the 20th century.
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Re: World News Random, Random

#919

Post by ponchi101 »

How about if Taiwan laces with explosives all of their really valuable assets? As in "You invade us, we blow them up".
Given the recent developments in Ukraine, if China invades Taiwan, with all of its technological systems needed for the rest of the world, who know how can the USA/EU/Japan axis can respond. Or how will they respond.
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Re: World News Random, Random

#920

Post by ti-amie »

“Do not grow old, no matter how long you live. Never cease to stand like curious children before the Great Mystery into which we were born.” Albert Einstein
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Re: World News Random, Random

#921

Post by ponchi101 »

Just watching Spanish news. Price of gasoline: 2 Euros/Liter. That is: 7.7Euro/gal, $8.1/gal.
What is the cause behind this world wide inflation? It is really baffling to me. Prices here in Colombia are about 30% over last year. and I mean basic items.
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Re: World News Random, Random

#922

Post by Suliso »

How nice that I have no need to drive.
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Re: World News Random, Random

#923

Post by ponchi101 »

But are you seeing inflation in other areas of life? Food, energy? Down here, the price of premium gasoline is exactly as the price in the USA (regular gas is being held down or otherwise this country explodes) which is insane, in a country where income is well below American salaries.
Why is inflation affecting so many countries, which are not necessarily structurally similar?
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Re: World News Random, Random

#924

Post by Suliso »

Food might have become slightly more expensive, but I couldn't tell you by how much. Things are expensive here already anyway. Electricity in Switzerland used to be unusually cheap, let's see what our next bill says (we pay for 3 months at once). Public transport prices haven't changed for some years. My Basel area pass costs ca 800 $/year, up only 60$ from 12 years ago. The one area where I see significantly higher costs is hospitality both here and in neighbouring countries. It's no longer possible to find a decent place to stay for 100 $/night, now should expect to pay 130-150 $.
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Re: World News Random, Random

#925

Post by Owendonovan »

Inflation has always felt like the scam is kinda is.
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Re: World News Random, Random

#926

Post by ponchi101 »

It is a relatively recent invention. It started when countries began issuing "debt". If a country issued a debt to be payed in 30 years, the best thing for the country to do was to have a devaluing currency (i.e., inflation) so that in 30 years they would pay less.
So yes, sort of the Royal Scam.
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Re: World News Random, Random

#927

Post by ti-amie »

“Do not grow old, no matter how long you live. Never cease to stand like curious children before the Great Mystery into which we were born.” Albert Einstein
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Re: World News Random, Random

#928

Post by ti-amie »

“Do not grow old, no matter how long you live. Never cease to stand like curious children before the Great Mystery into which we were born.” Albert Einstein
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Re: World News Random, Random

#929

Post by ti-amie »

Carrie Johnson and the curious case of the vanishing Times story
Report had claimed Boris Johnson tried to hire his now wife as chief of staff when foreign secretary, but then it was deleted

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Boris and Carrie Johnson. A spokesperson for the prime minister’s wife said the claims were ‘totally untrue’. Photograph: Hannah McKay/AP

Rowena Mason and Jim Waterson
Sun 19 Jun 2022 18.38 BST

At first glance, the story appeared to be the political scoop of the weekend.

On Saturday, the Times reported claims that Boris Johnson had tried to hire his now wife as his chief of staff when he was foreign secretary.

But almost as soon as the article hit the printers, it was withdrawn, without explanation or clarification.

The piece, written by the veteran lobby journalist Simon Walters, formerly of the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday, appeared on page five of some early print copies of Saturday’s Times newspaper but was dropped for later editions.

It does not appear that the article was ever published on the Times’ website.

The story expanded on claims in a biography of Carrie Johnson by the Tory donor and peer Lord Ashcroft that Johnson had tried to appoint her to a £100,000-a-year government job when he was foreign secretary in 2018.

It said the idea had fallen apart when his closest advisers learned of the idea to hire the Tory press chief, then known as Carrie Symonds, whom he later married. Johnson was then still married to Marina Wheeler, a barrister.

A source with knowledge of the situation told the Guardian this account was correct.

However, a spokesperson for Carrie Johnson was categoric. “These claims are totally untrue,” she said.

Downing Street declined to give an on-the-record response to the story but a No 10 source also said the story was untrue – and suggested it was sexist.

“This is a grubby, discredited story turned down by most reputable media outlets because it isn’t true. The facts speak for themselves.”

Walters told the Guardian: “I stand by the story. I went to all the relevant people over two days. Nobody offered me an on-the-record denial and Downing St didn’t deny it off the record either.”

Journalists at the Times were baffled by the decision to withdraw Saturday’s story, with multiple sources suggesting there had been a high-level intervention to remove it.

The paper’s editor, John Witherow, is reported to be off work. His deputy Tony Gallagher edited the newspaper on Friday, with multiple sources saying he made the call to drop the story from later editions.

A spokesperson for News UK declined to comment on why an article that appeared prominently in potentially hundreds of thousands of print newspapers had been removed from later editions, without any explanation.

Walters recently left his senior position at the Daily Mail, where he first revealed the scandal over Carrie Johnson’s renovations of the Downing Street flat.

MailOnline rewrote the Times’ story about the proposed government job for Carrie Johnson in the early hours of Saturday morning but has since also deleted its article without explanation or an editor’s note. News aggregation sites have also deleted their copies of the MailOnline article.

Removing the article may be an example of the Streisand effect – where attempts to delete information from the internet make the public much more interested in it.

Alastair Campbell, the former No 10 director of communications under Tony Blair, tweeted on Sunday that the disappearance of the story appeared to be “further evidence that much of our media is essentially an extension of the press office of a liar and a crook”. He also said that the Times owner, Rupert Murdoch, had “done so much damage to journalism”.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/202 ... are_btn_tw
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Re: World News Random, Random

#930

Post by ti-amie »

“Do not grow old, no matter how long you live. Never cease to stand like curious children before the Great Mystery into which we were born.” Albert Einstein
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