Fair point, but I wouldn’t want to be the tallest thing in a field when there’s a thunder storm nearby. Maybe it depends on the area you live in as well. Some areas will be very safe, so letting your kids walk to school in those areas wouldn’t be so bad, but other areas might not be so safe.

As a Brit, I’m in favour of:

• European digital sovereignty, to reduce dependence on the US, given how unreliable they now are
• The UK being part of efforts for European digital sovereignty

I think you’re right that crime rates are lower now. But crime does still happen, so I can understand parents wanting to keep their kids safe.

I find him funny but maybe his style isn’t for everyone. Like when he repeats things a lot. I guess I’m okay with that because maybe the repetition shows how absurd a situation is. But some people might not like that.

I think some Americans seem to be decent people who like Europe, but many Americans, including the current US government and all their supporters, clearly would be completely happy to see Europe invaded or destroyed.

Fair enough. I still think the massive, for-profit social media platforms are harmful to many people though. They push stuff you want to hear so you’ll keep watching and engaging, and you end up in an echo chamber. It’s not like real life where you might come across someone with a bit of a different view, and you think “okay, I can see where they’re coming from”, and then your own views become a bit more moderate.

I know it’s a cliche to say it, but I think the tech billionaires bear a lot of responsibility for this. A lot of Brits are consuming hateful content on things like Facebook and YouTube, because a profit-maximising algorithm is pushing that content. It radicalises people to the point where they feel it’s justified to assault a woman because she voiced opposition to the right-wing.

Nobody has mentioned this guy yet

It warms my heart

Freude, schöner Götterfunken, Tochter aus Elysium…

That makes sense. I don’t know tons about the space industry but I think SLS in America has been very expensive, while private rockets - from morally bankrupt billionaires - have turned out to be much more affordable. Hopefully Europe will have more success with rockets, whether publicly or privately owned, but preferably without the morally bankrupt billionaires.

Maybe the Ariane rockets are publicly owned by Europeans? Funded by the European Space Agency, which I guess is paid for by European taxpayers. So maybe the ESA holds the rights to the Ariane rockets (while using a private company to have them built), but I don’t know.

Yes the German rocket in the article seems to be a private venture, not a public venture. Maybe it’s good to have both. A public option means you don’t need to depend only on profit-driven companies. But private options can reduce the cost of space access and stimulate the economy, providing good jobs.

Ah yes of course, the reason I don’t support the tyrannical regimes in Beijing and Moscow must be because I can’t read. There are surely no legitimate reasons to criticise those regimes. I guess they must be flawless.

The point that @robot_dog_with_gun@hexbear.net was making seems to have been that there is no “propaganda”, yet you’ve mentioned “imperial propaganda rags”.

So I was just wondering how someone from Hexbear would react when it comes to the issue of Uyghurs allegedly being detained in camps without having committed real crimes. The post I replied to said this:

If propaganda is false, say it is false. If it’s true but misleading, explain how it’s misleading.

So is the allegation of Uyghurs being detained without having committed real crimes “false”, or is it “true but misleading”?

Is it true that the Chinese Communist Party detained Uyghurs in camps in Xinjiang, when they hadn’t committed real crimes? Is that just propaganda? Is it false? Can you prove that it’s false?

I see. I think it’s good though that Sadiq is willing to contest this legal case, when the UK’s right-wing politicians probably would have rolled over a long time ago if they were offered some kind of financial reward.

Sir Sadiq: standing up to money-hungry bastards who want to terrorise the British population for profit, even if it means his emails have to be searched

Nigel Farage: licking as many boots of money-hungry bastards as he can, as long as it makes him a little bit richer and a little more famous

The wishful imperialists are sitting in the Kremlin

I really do not care if they critically support Russia and China, in fact I prefer it to supporting western “democracies”

I think it is surely true that EU countries (just as a sample of “western” countries) are quite a bit more democratic than Russia is

This bit in the article is interesting:

Cezary Tomczyk, Poland’s deputy defence minister, said this month Warsaw was preparing for the possibility of a full-scale conflict.

Tomczyk told Super Express media: “We are preparing for war, hoping it never happens.”

I want the Ukrainian people to be able to live in Ukraine and make their own democratic choices without being invaded by Russia. Choices such as joining NATO if they wish to do so.

I hope nobody is forced to fight if they don’t want to. But like I say, I also hope that Russia does not invade Ukraine. Russia should withdraw their murderous invasion immediately.