Plan B Forum

The idiocy of the MAGA movement - separate from its utter incompetence and cruelty - is that it is, in fact, in the best interests of USA to participate in UN, WHO, NATO, ICC etc. We're the rich kid on the block: we probably own the football / hockey goalposts / basketball hoop on the driveway, but ...

I liked his Twizzlers analogy. I am less concerned about AI music - although I am friends with some excellent musicians - than the AI junk I see on Facebook which purports to be real. NYT had a piece a few months ago about AI generated faces - reader was asked to choose which ones were real and whic...

Yes Charles has power of pardon - in fact all criminal cases in the UK are Rex vs A Name (for those of you who never did Latin, Rex = King and Regina = Queen) so he would be prosecuting his own brother. Although he has that power he would never use it: the monarchy is in enough trouble as it is with...

I didn't recognize Neil Young. But he is 80.

I had a few Middle East stints during my working life. In 1978-9 I worked in Libya monitoring drinking water quality and sewage treatment. I had little to do much of the time, so I spent it learning Arabic. When I went to Saudi Arabia (1981 - monitoring coral reef health in the Red Sea) I was told t...

"Upon conclusion of the investigation, the officers may face termination of employment, as well as potential criminal prosecution," Lyons said.

I hope there is a criminal trial. I want to hear those officers testify as to who told them to do what and to say what. This will lead up and up.

This has got nothing to do with the breathability of air. CO2 - the main greenhouse gas but there are others such as methane which is more potent but less concentrated in air - is currently around 400 parts per million in air and you certainly breathe air up to 1% or so or about 10,000 ppm. It's all...

Nope, not even close. Think deeper, analyze everything you know about me, and try again. Here’s a hint: what was the bombing range in Puerto Rico that the Puerto Ricans shut down because they know it contributed significantly to America’s defense? You're talking about Vieques Island, lib. That "the...

Lib told us: I remember watching Donahue, maybe it was one of the interviewers, of the time. A liberal, hippie‑type guest was being interviewed, and something he said stuck with me for the rest of my life. He said that anything you have to work for, implying anything you have to fight for, is not wo...

We have to get used to the idea that nothing is permanent. I'm a regular frequenter of my local coffee shop - Starbucks-ish but only 5 branches, all local. I'd often be in there with a book, and I'd often sit with John, my age and also with a book. Got back from my last trip to UK; did not see John ...

Is there some universal definition of 'police'? The ICE guys have POLICE on their uniforms, but AFAIK they are not police and do not have those powers.

Well Joe, you really blew it with that little creation of yours. First of all, you do know that light is on the very high‑frequency end of the electromagnetic spectrum. Because of that, a beam of light can’t behave the way you’re suggesting. Visible light is more towards the middle of the EMS. Gamm...

As ever, the Guardian is on to the story. https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/feb/05/penis-injection-doping-claims-in-winter-olympics-ski-jumping-investigated-by-wada So you thought ski-jumping was immune from drugs? They go down a slope and sail through the air and whoever goes further, wins. Yo...

Yes, good to hear from you MGMcA. At our age when we don't hear from someone for a few weeks we usually assume the worst. Too many last year - I had four good friends who passed on over about a six month period. On the subject of the thread: I suppose too many of us assume that democracy will always...

OK, I won't go then.

I went to the Daily Mail - a rightish UK newspaper - which usually lives or dies by two types of storyline: she (insert name of minor 20th century celeb) used to be gorgeous but just look at her now, or: you won't believe what that house is now worth! Occasionally they dive into politics and they be...

I was in England during the Vietnam war but I had several American friends with student deferments and/or unlikely draft numbers. I don't think (but of course this was almost 60 years ago) any of them has 'escaped' to England to avoid the draft. I know there were rare examples of returning soldiers ...

I have little time for 'Prince' Harry but he's right here. It may be the stopped clock thing. The degree of anger in the UK - and presumably in other NATO countries whose troops also died in Afghanistan - at these moronic, childish, uninformed, revolting and absurd comments is enormous. I can only h...

The trial was of Gonzalez, who was the LEO on duty at the school who failed to prevent the shooting. I have not followed his trial; but it seems to me that the much bigger fuckup at Uvalde was the failure of the assembled cops to act and curtail the shootings for, IIRC , something like 70 minutes. E...

ICE in your underwear inevitably leads to shrinkage. Just ask George.