Speaking of "f**ked up", the US has withdrawn from the UNFCCC
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/01/07/climate/trump-withdrawal-climate-treaty-international-agreements
And I am happy to announce that I will be continuing my habit of posting comments which contain no less than one grammar, spelling, orthography or stylistic mistake in the new year ...
Regarding " narcoterrorism", apart from the obvious Netflix reference (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcos), I always feel that these compound words are coined because they roll of the tongue so easily and thus become popular.
How can one be even-handed about this? It's clearly illegal according to international law, the charges are ridiculous and hypocritical and the self-interested motivation is crystal clear.
No doubt, this will be enthusiastically repeated when the US invades Greenland and thereby officially ends the postwar consensus and NATO:
“We live in a world, in the real world, ... that is governed by strength, that is governed by force, that is governed by power,” he said. “These are the iron laws of the world since the beginning of time.”
Stephen Miller Asserts U.S. Has Right to Take Greenland
Whenever the US intervenes abroad at least half of its population will unquestioningly believe, parrot or justify the most ridiculous propaganda disseminated by the government and the rule of law will be ignored completely, contorted or aggressively ridiculed.
I'm the first one to wrap myself in a blue flag with golden stars - in fact, that was my Facebook profile picture for a few years after Brexit - but goodness, we need new leaders.
My expectations of the Trump administration were of course low, but I did expect at least a token gesture of resistance from the EU and the UK. Instead, they all folded immediately: Kallas, von der Leyen, Macron, Starmer and Merz. It is beyond belief how pathetic they are
International law and strategic consequences aside, they never learn:
U.S. officials ran a war game ...
The results showed that chaos and violence were likely to erupt ... “The thing that really worries us is that they don’t appear to have any serious plan for what happens afterward,” said Phil Gunson, a senior analyst at the International Crisis Group ... Mr. Maduro’s overthrow — whether by military coup, popular uprising or U.S. military action — would shatter Venezuela’s brittle authoritarian government and produce “chaos for a sustained period of time with no possibility of ending it,”
lj, you might be interested in this (free reg. required):
https://www.digitalconcerthall.com/en/film/108
The “Reichsorchester”
In 2007, the Berliner Philharmoniker celebrated their 125th anniversary. Film director Enrique Sánchez Lansch took this occasion to tell a hitherto unknown chapter in the history of the Berliner Philharmoniker: the years of National Socialism from 1933 to 1945.
Regarding the hierarchical culture, it's interesting that the Berlin Philharmonics, who choose their own conductors in a democratic vote, picked a series of nice guys (after Karajan):
Abbado, Rattle, Petrenko.
(Rattle's early relationship with the orchestra was described by himself as "turbulent" but watching them perform over the years, I felt that these were birthpangs. Also, he had a lot of unfair detractors in Germany.)
Interestingly, they also always picked the candidates that embodied a turning away from Karajan's heavy, 19th century 'German' style.
Abbado over Maazel and Barenboim
Rattle over Barenboim
Petrenko over Thielemann
I was looking at results, which is what counts for managers. And while Brown was clumsy, at least he didn't cause any major disasters like the other ones.
What lj said. I could easily draw you up a list of prime ministers in my living memory, i.e. Thatcher onwards, that proves how each one of them was incompetent, with the exception of Gordon Brown maybe, but he was not very successful either.
So that leaves us with the fear of actual policy change. Policies that a majority of people supported.
I don't get the Corbyn hate/dismissiveness, there's something visceral about it that is completely irrational. When you look at his policies instead, they were popular with a broad majority of people:
To be fair, I didn't vote for him because of Brexit, but then Starmer cut a similar sorry figure in this regard. And the young voters don't believe in him. Neither of them are gifted politicians, but after all the gifted politicians we had in this country and the havoc they wreaked, that might not be a bad thing.
I'm a fan of Meg Hillier, who spoke after Badenoch. Kemi is scary and stupid - makes me long for the days of Theresa May - and as an immigrant married to an immigrant, that is saying something...
A bunch of clowns indeed - the implosion of the GoP is quite funny to watch (or should we actually be worried ...?) in the way the downfall of the GDR was quite funny to watch (but the there was the, still ongoing, decades-long hangover...) :
Some Republicans are now finding themselves in the extraordinary position of clarifying what long seemed obvious: Nazis are evil.
“It’s something that we all should know, but the fact of the matter is, it had to be said,” said Representative David Kustoff of Tennessee, explaining why he felt the need to denounce Nazis and antisemitism at a recent gathering of the Republican Jewish Coalition. He was joined there by Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who declared, “I’m in the ‘Hitler sucks’ wing of the Republican Party.” And even Laura Loomer, the far-right activist, who is Jewish, has argued on social media that “the GOP has a Nazi problem.”
On “An open thread”
Well, the "Republic" - at least when taken literally - is actually a blueprint for a totalitarian state, so I don't really know what they're on about.
On “2026, as f**ked up as 2025”
Speaking of "f**ked up", the US has withdrawn from the UNFCCC
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/01/07/climate/trump-withdrawal-climate-treaty-international-agreements
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/07/trump-international-groups-un
https://www.un.org/climatesecuritymechanism/en/united-nations-framework-convention-climate-change-unfccc-and-climate-peace-and-security
"
And I am happy to announce that I will be continuing my habit of posting comments which contain no less than one grammar, spelling, orthography or stylistic mistake in the new year ...
"
Regarding " narcoterrorism", apart from the obvious Netflix reference (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcos), I always feel that these compound words are coined because they roll of the tongue so easily and thus become popular.
Other examples are:
Islamo-fascism
Islamo-gauchisme
"
How can one be even-handed about this? It's clearly illegal according to international law, the charges are ridiculous and hypocritical and the self-interested motivation is crystal clear.
This is just normalization.
"
No doubt, this will be enthusiastically repeated when the US invades Greenland and thereby officially ends the postwar consensus and NATO:
“We live in a world, in the real world, ... that is governed by strength, that is governed by force, that is governed by power,” he said. “These are the iron laws of the world since the beginning of time.”
Stephen Miller Asserts U.S. Has Right to Take Greenland
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/05/us/politics/stephen-miller-greenland-venezuela.html?unlocked_article_code=1.CVA.rKYs.cbVC6hJAGyHB&smid=url-share
"
Whenever the US intervenes abroad at least half of its population will unquestioningly believe, parrot or justify the most ridiculous propaganda disseminated by the government and the rule of law will be ignored completely, contorted or aggressively ridiculed.
This is a law of nature.
"
Regarding the feeble EU reponse:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jan/05/donald-trump-coup-venezuela-break-rules-regret
And an interesting take connecting it to the EU's own immigration policies:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jan/05/donald-trump-coup-venezuela-break-rules-regret
I'm the first one to wrap myself in a blue flag with golden stars - in fact, that was my Facebook profile picture for a few years after Brexit - but goodness, we need new leaders.
"
My expectations of the Trump administration were of course low, but I did expect at least a token gesture of resistance from the EU and the UK. Instead, they all folded immediately: Kallas, von der Leyen, Macron, Starmer and Merz. It is beyond belief how pathetic they are
"
International law and strategic consequences aside, they never learn:
U.S. officials ran a war game ...
The results showed that chaos and violence were likely to erupt ... “The thing that really worries us is that they don’t appear to have any serious plan for what happens afterward,” said Phil Gunson, a senior analyst at the International Crisis Group ... Mr. Maduro’s overthrow — whether by military coup, popular uprising or U.S. military action — would shatter Venezuela’s brittle authoritarian government and produce “chaos for a sustained period of time with no possibility of ending it,”
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/20/us/politics/venezuela-maduro-fallout-trump.html?unlocked_article_code=1.BlA.jrlx.gJPz0yuSJoGR&smid=url-share
On “Weekend music thread #10 Maurice Ravel”
lj, you might be interested in this (free reg. required):
https://www.digitalconcerthall.com/en/film/108
The “Reichsorchester”
In 2007, the Berliner Philharmoniker celebrated their 125th anniversary. Film director Enrique Sánchez Lansch took this occasion to tell a hitherto unknown chapter in the history of the Berliner Philharmoniker: the years of National Socialism from 1933 to 1945.
Not the greatest doc ever, but very informative.
"
Regarding the hierarchical culture, it's interesting that the Berlin Philharmonics, who choose their own conductors in a democratic vote, picked a series of nice guys (after Karajan):
Abbado, Rattle, Petrenko.
(Rattle's early relationship with the orchestra was described by himself as "turbulent" but watching them perform over the years, I felt that these were birthpangs. Also, he had a lot of unfair detractors in Germany.)
Interestingly, they also always picked the candidates that embodied a turning away from Karajan's heavy, 19th century 'German' style.
Abbado over Maazel and Barenboim
Rattle over Barenboim
Petrenko over Thielemann
"
Thank you.
I think that Ravel in particular and French composers in general doesn’t get their due because they don’t write in the symphony format.
That's very true and I have been guilty of dismissing them as slightly gauche and inconsequential myself, being very German about it all, lol.
On “Author, author?”
Not US politics, sorry, but good news from the UK. Might this be the beginning of a bigger shift?
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/dec/16/uk-to-rejoin-eu-erasmus-student-exchange-programme
I still regret not having taken part in my time.
On “How are you sleeping?”
Lol, same here.
"
I used to act out shouting "no, no, no" so that my wife had to wake me up. In the dream I would usually be in a situation of powerlesness.
Then, when my daughter was younger, I had these dreams where she suddenly was gone and I couldn't find her anymore. Scary stuff.
I'm glad things are calmer now.
On “It’s Your Party, you can cry if…”
I was looking at results, which is what counts for managers. And while Brown was clumsy, at least he didn't cause any major disasters like the other ones.
"
What lj said. I could easily draw you up a list of prime ministers in my living memory, i.e. Thatcher onwards, that proves how each one of them was incompetent, with the exception of Gordon Brown maybe, but he was not very successful either.
So that leaves us with the fear of actual policy change. Policies that a majority of people supported.
On “Weekend Music Thread #07 Sergei Prokofiev”
Same applies to me, though I'm on top of many other mainstream composers. I'll have to make an effort now, thanks.
On “It’s Your Party, you can cry if…”
I don't get the Corbyn hate/dismissiveness, there's something visceral about it that is completely irrational. When you look at his policies instead, they were popular with a broad majority of people:
https://yougov.co.uk/politics/articles/22265-eurotrack-corbyns-policies-popular-europe-and-uk
To be fair, I didn't vote for him because of Brexit, but then Starmer cut a similar sorry figure in this regard. And the young voters don't believe in him. Neither of them are gifted politicians, but after all the gifted politicians we had in this country and the havoc they wreaked, that might not be a bad thing.
On “Am I missing something?”
Badenoch really is a character: apparently the welfare state is "unchristian" because, wait for it:
In early Christian times, there was no state or welfare, so I think that you can argue that, actually.
https://www.cityam.com/rachel-reeves-benefit-handouts-are-unchristian-badenoch-says/
"
I'm a fan of Meg Hillier, who spoke after Badenoch. Kemi is scary and stupid - makes me long for the days of Theresa May - and as an immigrant married to an immigrant, that is saying something...
On “An openish thread featuring the comedy stylings of Steve Witkoff”
A bunch of clowns indeed - the implosion of the GoP is quite funny to watch (or should we actually be worried ...?) in the way the downfall of the GDR was quite funny to watch (but the there was the, still ongoing, decades-long hangover...) :
Some Republicans are now finding themselves in the extraordinary position of clarifying what long seemed obvious: Nazis are evil.
“It’s something that we all should know, but the fact of the matter is, it had to be said,” said Representative David Kustoff of Tennessee, explaining why he felt the need to denounce Nazis and antisemitism at a recent gathering of the Republican Jewish Coalition.
He was joined there by Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who declared, “I’m in the ‘Hitler sucks’ wing of the Republican Party.”
And even Laura Loomer, the far-right activist, who is Jewish, has argued on social media that “the GOP has a Nazi problem.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/23/us/politics/republicans-antisemitism-carlson-fuentes-trump.html?unlocked_article_code=1.3U8.2zff.86d5NwQCde2M&smid=url-share
(gift link; not sure it's ethical to contribute to Bret Stephens' salary, but hey ho)
On “Shabana burns the cakes”
London’s foreign-born population is 41%.
Yeah, what a hellhole. I increasingly run into US citizens relocating here...
On “I got depressed so I bought hydrangeas”
Thank you, nous, lj and pb.
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.