Welcome to European Tribune. It's gone a bit quiet around here these days, but it's still going.

January 2025

by Oui Wed Jan 1st, 2025 at 10:36:35 AM EST

Your take on today's news media - Open Thread


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by Oui (Oui) on Wed Jan 1st, 2025 at 10:39:10 AM EST
Twenty councillors from Broxtowe Council have resigned from Labour in protest over the party's leadership under Sir Keir Starmer.

Twenty Labour Councillors Say 'Enough Is Enough'

Councillor Radulovic characterised Labour's candidate selection process for the upcoming 2025 elections as a "centrist purge," disenfranchising hard-working local representatives. A Labour spokesperson defended the selection process, stating its aim was to ensure high-calibre candidates.



'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Sun Jan 5th, 2025 at 08:08:44 PM EST
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'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Wed Jan 8th, 2025 at 05:30:08 PM EST
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See North America brushfires

'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Wed Jan 8th, 2025 at 05:32:24 PM EST
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We'll start an inquiry into potholes and risk to public

Year 2018
Inquiry launched into 'plague of potholes' on England's roads | Aug 2018 |

  • National Highways Report a problem
  • Potholes: Roads in England and Wales at 'breaking point'
  • RAC Pothole Index - statistics and data for UK roads
  • Year 2025

    "Future of Roads" 😂 Minister, Lilian Greenwood,

    At the J.C. Bamford Excavators Limited (JCB) power systems factory, the Roads Minister will speak to engineers to learn about the latest innovations being used to tackle the pothole plague. She will operate JCB's 'pothole pro', a machine that can fix a pothole in 8 minutes, with a cost of around £30. The 'pothole pro' is currently used by 20 local authorities.

    As part of its Plan for Change, the government is committed to delivering safer, smoother journeys - reducing delays, saving drivers money and going above and beyond its manifesto pledge.

    'Sapere aude'

    by Oui (Oui) on Fri Jan 17th, 2025 at 08:11:27 AM EST
    [ Parent ]
    Excellent presentation

    In the Netherlands we don't fill "potholes" ... we fix roads. If the surface is as bad as in the UK, I would think we are in a Commonwealth nation ... Third World.

    'Sapere aude'

    by Oui (Oui) on Fri Jan 17th, 2025 at 08:12:31 AM EST
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    by Oui (Oui) on Wed Jan 1st, 2025 at 10:40:09 AM EST
    Liz Truss Publication Gossip or 'Economics'

    New Liz Thatcher and Reagonomics Re-invented | 23 Sept 2022 |

    'Sapere aude'

    by Oui (Oui) on Sun Jan 12th, 2025 at 09:56:32 AM EST
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    .

    Liz Truss Former British PM Interrupted By `I Crashed The Economy' Lettuce Banner During Talk | CNN18G |

    A talk by former prime minister Liz Truss has been interrupted by political activists who unfurled a banner featuring a lettuce with eyes and the words, "I crashed the economy".

    Activists from the group, Led By Donkeys, posted a clip of the stunt on X, saying: "We just dropped in on Liz Truss's pro-Trump speaking tour with a remote-controlled lettuce banner. She didn't find it funny."



    'Sapere aude'
    by Oui (Oui) on Sun Jan 12th, 2025 at 09:57:51 AM EST
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    Liz Truss: an economist explains what she got wrong (and what she's actually right about)

    Liz Truss's 49 days as UK prime minister will probably be best remembered for her 2022 "mini-budget". Her plan for £45 billion of unfunded tax cuts led to economic panic, caused chaos on the financial markets, and she was forced to quit her job.

    But she still appears to be fairly resolute about her economic philosophy. Busy promoting her new memoir, she has dismissed anyone who blames her for crashing the UK economy as "stupid or malevolent".

    She has also been fiercely critical of two independent institutions she blames for standing in her way - the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) and the Bank of England.



    'Sapere aude'
    by Oui (Oui) on Sun Jan 12th, 2025 at 09:59:39 AM EST
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    'Sapere aude'
    by Oui (Oui) on Sun Jan 12th, 2025 at 10:00:19 AM EST
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    by Oui (Oui) on Wed Jan 1st, 2025 at 10:41:03 AM EST
    Southern California fire map: Brush fires force evacuations; thousands without power

    A windstorm that forecasters described as potentially destructive and life-threatening is impacting a large swath of Southern California, dramatically raising the risk of wildfires for the next several days.

    Firefighters are battling a fire in the foothills of Pacific Palisades, a Los Angeles coastal neighborhood. Another brush fire erupted in the evening in the Eaton Canyon area near Altadena, prompting mandatory evacuations. Then late Tuesday night, the Hurst Fire erupted in the Sylmar area.

    Winds are expected to peak in the early hours of Wednesday, when gusts could reach 80 mph, the National Weather Service said. Isolated gusts could top 100 mph in mountains and foothills.

    Red flag warnings are in effect and will and remain in place until 6 p.m. Thursday for the Malibu coast, the Santa Monica Mountains Recreational Area, the San Gabriel Valley, the San Fernando Valley, Calabasas, the Santa Clarita Valley, the San Gabriel Mountains, and the 5 Freeway and 14 Freeway corridors.

    Major brush fires burning in SoCal amid powerful windstorm | ABC7 News |

    'Sapere aude'

    by Oui (Oui) on Wed Jan 8th, 2025 at 05:25:18 PM EST
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    'Sapere aude'
    by Oui (Oui) on Wed Jan 8th, 2025 at 05:30:51 PM EST
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    'Sapere aude'
    by Oui (Oui) on Thu Jan 9th, 2025 at 08:03:29 PM EST
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    'Sapere aude'
    by Oui (Oui) on Thu Jan 16th, 2025 at 02:35:21 PM EST
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    by Oui (Oui) on Thu Jan 16th, 2025 at 02:36:12 PM EST
    [ Parent ]
    The high IQ response from the resident in the White House ...

    Midair collision w crash site in Potomac River.

    American figure skaters and coaches were among the passengers, according to The Wichita Eagle.

    • Russian figure skaters and other citizens were also on the flight, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed.
    • Russia's 1994 world champions in figure skating, Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, along with Inna Volyanskaya, a bronze medalist at the 1980 USSR Championships,
    were listed among the passengers, a source told AFP.

    'Sapere aude'
    by Oui (Oui) on Thu Jan 30th, 2025 at 04:09:39 PM EST
    [ Parent ]
    by Oui (Oui) on Wed Jan 1st, 2025 at 10:42:08 AM EST

    Indonesia 🇮🇩 becomes BRICS's first South Asian member and is the group's largest in both population (over 280 million people) and economic size, having seen a 5% growth in the past two years. The country is the world's largest exporter of palm oil and a leading nickel supplier. It also ranks fifth globally in LNG supplies and exports thermal coal and various agricultural products.

    Currently, annual trade between Russia and Indonesia totals approximately $4 billion, while Indonesia's key economic partners include China, the United States, and Japan. Before his inauguration, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto visited China and Japan for his first post-election trips. Additionally, in August 2024, he visited Europe and held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.



    'Sapere aude'
    by Oui (Oui) on Fri Jan 10th, 2025 at 10:59:49 PM EST
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    'Sapere aude'
    by Oui (Oui) on Sat Feb 1st, 2025 at 04:42:12 AM EST
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    by Oui (Oui) on Wed Jan 1st, 2025 at 10:43:08 AM EST
    by Cat on Sat Jan 4th, 2025 at 04:54:47 PM EST
    [ Parent ]
    by Oui (Oui) on Wed Jan 1st, 2025 at 10:44:11 AM EST
    by Oui (Oui) on Wed Jan 1st, 2025 at 10:45:08 AM EST
    By following conspiracy theorists, fine tune the pro-liberal bias to pro-conservatives bias.

    Social Media Companies Face Global Tug-of-War Over Online Speech Regulation | NY Times |

    Free speech is core to making America great, said Morgan Ackley, a spokeswoman for Mr. Trump. "President Trump is committed to protecting this right for all Americans," she added.

    The cross-Atlantic regulatory clash stems from distinctly different global views on free speech. The United States, which has the First Amendment, also passed a law in 1996, known as Section 230, that shields companies from liability for content posted online -- meaning it is largely up to social media sites to decide what to remove.

    In Europe, unfettered free speech is considered a potential threat to democracy. Historical moments like the rise of Nazism inform policy, and freedom of expression is balanced against the potential harm to the public, particularly when it comes to religious or racial minority groups.



    'Sapere aude'
    by Oui (Oui) on Sat Jan 11th, 2025 at 02:51:41 PM EST
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    by Oui (Oui) on Wed Jan 1st, 2025 at 10:46:06 AM EST

    Terror a Road to Nowhere

    US Ally Soleimani's Global Fight Against Terror
    • He fought the Iraqi invasion of Islamic Republic of Iran by Saddam Hussein
    • He fought the Soviet invaders of Afghanistan in the 80s
    • He fought the Taliban in the 90s
    • He fought the invaders of Iraq post March 2003
    • He fought Al Qaeda and Islamic State foreign fighters in Syria and Iraq alongside the US coalition


    'Sapere aude'
    by Oui (Oui) on Fri Jan 3rd, 2025 at 12:31:21 PM EST
    [ Parent ]
    Scots too of course ...



    'Sapere aude'
    by Oui (Oui) on Fri Jan 24th, 2025 at 09:24:00 AM EST
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    'Sapere aude'
    by Oui (Oui) on Fri Jan 24th, 2025 at 09:24:33 AM EST
    [ Parent ]
    Reminds me of enduring the 1 February 1953 storm and North Sea surge ... devastating

    Lived behind the dunes on the coastline west of Leiden ... beyond the damaged home and family business, we were save. We gathered in a single room as the storm howled outside and we heard the tiles being lifted from the roof ...

    An artist's depiction of the struggle against the sea waters in Zeeland ... The sea took us by surprise - video

    'Sapere aude'

    by Oui (Oui) on Fri Jan 24th, 2025 at 09:34:17 AM EST
    [ Parent ]
    by Oui (Oui) on Wed Jan 1st, 2025 at 10:46:55 AM EST

    😊

    'Sapere aude'

    by Oui (Oui) on Thu Jan 2nd, 2025 at 11:32:25 PM EST
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