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@bendav.bsky.social

574 Followers  |  350 Following  |  2,083 Posts  |  Joined: 13.11.2024  |  2.2595

Latest posts by bendav.bsky.social on Bluesky

I suspect that they would prefer to return the national focus to the Epstein files long term.
The president needlessly alienating Puerto Rican voters in swing states: Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Georgia; and Hispanic voters in Texas is a tactical own goal, but nothing on the Epstein scale.

10.02.2026 19:07 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Probably not interrupting an opponent who is making a mistake. Hispanics are about 32% of Texas’s eligible voters.

10.02.2026 18:04 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Realistically the one place where gun-enthusiast christian religious extremists are lacking a variety of already existing social outlets isn't Northern Ireland.
Ian Junior will no doubt get a lavish holiday to a tropical island at billionaire's expense, but I don't expect it to amount to much.

10.02.2026 17:49 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Did Turning Point offer him a free trip to their alternative non-Bad-Bunny Superbowl halftime show ?
Former M.P. for hire Ian Paisley Junior will advocate for most things in return for a free family holiday to some exotic place such as Sri Lanka or the Maldives. But he might settle for less exotic.

10.02.2026 15:10 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Insofar as sovereignty allows legal discrimination.
The impression that I got from abroad, was even though there was much rhetoric about lawmaking sovereignty, people actually voted leave to deny foreigners living in the UK legal access to housing, jobs, residence rights, and social services.

09.02.2026 08:14 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

And Holyhead in particular saw its major industry (Ro-Ro port services) stagnate, or even decline.
30% of the goods trade which used to transit via Holyhead now sails direct from Ireland to Europe instead.

08.02.2026 16:39 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Staffer.. my butt. The white house delayed for hours before taking it down, and then only after pressure and condemnation from several senior republican politicians.
If it had been a genuine blunder by a staffer it would have been removed immediately.

07.02.2026 13:25 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

But the most positive aspect is that a collapse of Bitcoin in particular (and crypto currencies in general) hurts the deep pockets very many obnoxious wealthy pricks who have subverted the politics of democracies by buying politicians, in pursuit of weak crypto regulation or complete lack thereof.

06.02.2026 17:31 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Bitcoin is not a viable a currency, except for crime including political bribes.
Mt. Gox was hacked, FTX was a fraud. Crypto is not safe.
Crypto is not a productive asset. Instead it uses vast amounts of fossil fuels.
If bitcoin is a hedge, then when the VIX is high bitcoin should be too, it isn’t.

06.02.2026 17:23 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

I'm hoping that all the crypto tycoon far-right nuts (especially one particular Thai/Brit who's been bankrolling Farage's far right in the UK) get wiped out. 🀞
Probably won't happen.

05.02.2026 23:06 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Bitcoin is not useable as an actual currency, except for crime.
Mt. Gox was hacked, FTX was a fraud. Crypto is not secure.
Crypto is not a productive asset.
If investors treated bitcoin as digital gold then anytime the VIX volatility index is high bitcoin should be too, it isn’t.
Worse than useless.

05.02.2026 22:59 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Or at a bogus 'Calendar Girls Competition' at Mar a Lago at which Epstein and Trump were the only male guests and there were no actual judges.
Is luring girls to such an event under false pretences not a crime ?

04.02.2026 09:55 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

I often traveled to the US for business or pleasure. I was there during the last Trump administration in 2017.
I'm not a fearful traveller generally.
I was in Egypt during the Muslim Brotherhood admin, and in Czechoslovakia before the Iron Curtain fell
But the US now is too risky.
I'm not Canadian.

02.02.2026 22:24 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

He is kinda factually correct but not in the way he intended I suspect.
People born in Northern Ireland can legally choose to be Irish and not British if they wish, and very many do.

02.02.2026 19:28 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Satire is protected a free speech from defamation lawsuits if it is unlikely to be taken as factual.
In order for Trump to win he would need to demonstrate that a reasonable person might believe that child sex was his Greenland motive.
There is no chance that Trevor Noah could be successfully sued.

02.02.2026 18:56 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

FIFA is the world governing authority for the sport of Kickbacks.
Kickbacks is a game of two halves. Half of it involves bribes, vote rigging, and ticket scandals; the other half involves kicking a ball into a net.

02.02.2026 17:42 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Johnson tried to illegally prorogue parliament on order to force a cliff-edge Brexit.
Ireland was not overreacting.
The threat of a hard border was very real. The ERG lunatics tried very hard to do it.
Had it not been for people like Gina Miller, Dominic Grieve, Hillary Benn it could have happened.

31.01.2026 11:14 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

When you form a party for the most hateful gobshites in a country it's hardly surprising when they all begin to hate each other.

30.01.2026 19:17 β€” πŸ‘ 10    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 1

Too late for that, murders have been committed. Abolition of ICE is the only acceptable outcome.

30.01.2026 18:23 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Until a pile of cash is handed over in a paper bag it will just be hints.

30.01.2026 18:22 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

The cruelty is by design.
It is like the public displays of human sacrifice in ancient empires, or in the Roman amphitheatres. The insane emperor is weary of the orgies of his youth, and now wants to be feared and worshiped as a god in a golden palace.
Next step is to make his horse a senator.

30.01.2026 18:20 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

I read General Groves' memoir of the Manhattan Project.
One of his priorities was to corner the post-war market in Uranium for a consortium of the US, UK and Canada.
Another was to cut France out of any nuclear sharing and prevent France's capture of German nuclear technology.
He distrusted Joliot.

30.01.2026 10:50 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Too late for a drawdown. Serious crimes have been committed including homicide and intentional human rights violations.
The agency is criminal from top to bottom and should be disbanded immediately.

29.01.2026 22:43 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

The whole agency is criminal from top to bottom with the man now in charge having taken $50,000 in a paper bag, and the agents below him disregarding all legal procedures and due process.
The only solution is immediate disbandment, release of anyone detained, and criminal investigation of all staff.

29.01.2026 22:38 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

The excuse behind his not being subject to full vetting before now was that he was merely an advisor.
Now that he has been put in charge of quasi-legal operations in Minnesota surely he should finally be fully vetted, with his acceptance of $50,000 in a bag being ample cause for dismissal.

29.01.2026 22:33 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

That is not an extreme position.
The only potential prejudice it encompasses is a stereotype that people who migrate possess some spark of initiative.
I am at the more permissive end of the spectrum regarding migration. But far from being an extremist.
I'm not burning down accommodation centres.

29.01.2026 11:00 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

I see it as a constant struggle against stagnation and population decline.
If a developed country is rich enough to attract migrants (people who by definition have a get-up-and-go mindset) and is tolerant enough to integrate them, that is a huge asset.
Intolerant countries will lose motivated youth.

29.01.2026 10:47 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

In the United States 'czar' is a term for certain high-ranking but sub-cabinet-level civil servants, such as:
'drug czar' (not to be confused with drug baron).
'terrorism czar' (not to be confused with terrorist mastermind).
'border czar' (not to be confused with borderline bribee).

26.01.2026 19:07 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

And before anyone makes the case that civilians also did not have firearms in Ireland in the 1920s 1930s.
Ireland had just been through the Great War, from which many men took home weapons.
Also there had just been a war of independence and a civil war.
Yet the Garda was and is not routinely armed.

25.01.2026 16:40 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Incidentally ( I because you display a Canadian flag icon ) one of my grandfathers was a Garda at the same time that Mark Carney's grandfather was.
It is possible that they knew each other.

25.01.2026 16:36 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

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