With the resignation of Sir Kier "Two Tier" Starmer, the UK is poised for its seventh Prime Minister in ten years. That's what happen in failed states.
[Homer Simpson] The seventh Prime Minister in ten years so far.[/Homer Simpson]
Busted Knuckles has an unimprovable sendoff for Sir Kier.
As HMS Defiant points out, there's no There there:
The knowing world watches and mocks as the mighty Royal Navy and Great Britain struggle to get ONE SINGLE SHIP underway 12 days after the war started and still the damned thing is unable to leave port ...
You can say exactly the same about all of the Britain's pantywaist partners in NATO. Not one single one of them has ponied up a ship or fighter squadron or bomb wing to send off to do something about the sudden and complete dramatic disruption to their oil and gas supplies. NOT ONE OF THE BASTARDS HAS STIRRED.
I have watched as people are concerned that poor Britain is struggling to get a ship underway but that really isn't the real problem. You see, any relevant and serious government would have seen the damage to their economic fortunes by the oil and gas embargo and sortied the entire fleet and sent every other fighter and bomber to the Middle East to squash the Iranians and as we have all noticed, not one of them lifted a finger.
Yup. If they don't care about oil from the Gulf being cut off, let them buy Permian Basin fracked oil. Otherwise, His Majesty's Government would tell Lloyd's to keep insuring tankers. But they don't.
The USA has let them act like children for so long that they no longer know how to act like adults. c.f. German Chancellor Mertz' comments yesterday that shutting down German nuclear power was a huge mistake, but it's too late to change the decision. Maybe you should try adulting sometime, Chancellor.
And the last word goes to HMS Defiant:
I think the first wave of European refugees is looking around now and beginning their research; where do they want to settle when they pick themselves up and their families and maybe even their businesses and move lock, stock, and barrel to the United States or Western hemisphere as they start fleeing the dire fate their elites have arranged for them all.
This wave of destruction is now unstoppable.
Sure looks that way to me.
His Majesty's fleet seems to be entirely unable to protect His Majesty's subjects abroad. There seems to be only a single ship (MHS Dragon) that can be sent to Cyprus for anti-missile defense, and it has taken more than a week to prepare to sail. And they still haven't left port.
The Royal Navy is no allied force worth considering. Perhaps HMS Defiant can comment on his place.
As they point out, the Royal Navy was ready to sail in three days when the Iron Lady Maggie Thatcher told them to stand ready in the Falkland crisis. And then they had something like 100 ships. Now they can't get a single one.
As Donald Trump would say, sad!
Although I like what he says about the "1000 ship Navy" at about 11:40 into the video. 'Tis a consummation devoutly to be wished.
But after all, what today is the "special relationship" or even the transatlantic alliance? But it's really weird that we're getting more support from Germany than from Great Britain these days.
Whatever you do, don't mention the war. Gosh, the darn Krauts have no sense of humor ...
The Royal Navy is the fleet of Great Britain. You know Great Britain, right? It used to be where Britain is now. Sic transit Gloria Mundi.
Things looked bleak for Great Britain in 1940. France had fallen and even with the "Miracle of Dunkirk" the British Army didn't really have the hardware to fight the Nazi war machine. All that stood between them and Hitler was the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force, but everyone expected an invasion at any time.
And so a whole bunch of pillboxes were built on likely landing beaches. The problem, of course, is that a pillbox looks like, well, a pillbox, and the Luftwaffe would target them as a matter of course.
And so the Brits built a disguised one.
Germany's infosec office (BSI) is sounding the alarm after finding that 92 percent of the nation's Exchange boxes are still running out-of-support software, a fortnight after Microsoft axed versions 2016 and 2019.
While the end of Windows 10 updates occupied most of the headlines, Microsoft's support for Exchange and a bunch of other 2016 and 2019-branded products ended on October 14, as scheduled a year earlier.
Alternate title: 90% of German firms fail their SOC 2 audit. Look, this isn't landing a man on the moon, and you had a whole year. You just couldn't be bothered.
Was ist los?
We did it by treated German POWs held in the USA well. Not just the US Government, but the American people treated them well. They had been told by the Nazis that America was weak, divided, and a mongrel race. The POWs saw the American people and society with their own eyes and then went home after the war.
And then built modern Germany.
We came to America as enemies, as Nazis, as believers in a lie. We left as friends, as democrats, as men who had seen the truth.
Many of the POWs who were employed on Kansas farms corresponded for decades with the families who showed them friendship as POW workers.
Playback has been disabled for this video (from which I got the quote above), but I encourage every reader to go watch it. If you don't - like I did - end up with watery eyes then we just cant be friends anymore. And to those who think this video is a one-off, there are more. So many more. You can watch them at the link (from Youtube suggestions) or you can watch this:
And a note to the Usual Suspects who fancy themselves as "Anti Nazi": this is what anti-Nazi is really about. This is how you turn actual, you know - Nazis - into anti-Nazis. It must really bust your chops to have Primary Sources telling you that your philosophy of life is full of shiest. You Commie Bastards.
Oh, this will too (note the substitution of the word freiheit - freedom - for freunde - I could translate for you but I wouldn't want to insult you; me, I think that Schiller would have approved of Bernstein's substitution at the fall of the Berlin Wall).
So an Irish chap (Graham Lineham) who is a resident of Arizona posted some stuff to Twitter. And so the British authorities arrested him at Heathrow airport essentially for exercising his First Amendment rights in America.
So how is it possible that the Administration has not summoned His Magesty's Ambassador and given them 24 hours to free him and drop all charges? Or. Else.
I really don't understand the political optics here. Sure, sure - "all politics is local" and all that. I understand why His Magesty's Government would be happy to stick a thumb in Trump's eye, but what's up with Trump?
I mean there's no domestic downside to bringing the hammer down - nobody here cares about Europe, everyone here loves free speech, everyone here hates the woke censors, and Trump has been going after the DEI (woke censor) brigade here on these shores.
How on earth is it possible that they are letting this golden opportunity slide? I mean, it's not like the UK has made themselves our greatest ally over the last decade. And it's not like Kier Starmer wouldn't fold like a house of cards over this.
Having grown up during the Cold War, I got used to European leaders who, if not always friendly, were all serious people. Francois Mitterand was serious. The Iron Lady Thatcher was serious. Heck, even pinko Willy Brandt was serious.
Now Donald Trump lines them up like school kids.
It's arguable that the only serious European leader today is Vladimir Putin. Good Grief.
UPDATE 19 AUGUST 2025 16:46: HMS Defiant leaves a comment about Hungary's Prime Ministor Viktor Orban as being a serious leader. I 100% agree. I would also suspect that many of the leaders from Central and Eastern Europe are also serious. The ones in the photo, not so much.
I was born by God's dear Grace in an extraordinary place. Happy Birthday to that place.
I pledge allegiance to that flag, and if that bothers you, well that's too bad.
But if you have pride and you're proud you do, we could use a some more like me and you. Glen Filthie, this means you. You're already half way thrown out of your current place. The air smells of freedom here ...
Aaron Tippin: Where The Stars And Stripes And The Eagle Fly
Well, if you ask me where I come from
Here's what I tell everyone
I was born by God's dear grace
In an extraordinary place
Where the stars and stripes and the eagle fly
It's a big ol' land with countless dreams
Happiness ain't out of reach
Hard work pays off the way it should
Yeah, I've seen enough to know that we've got it good
Where the stars and stripes and the eagle fly
There's a lady that stands in a harbor for what we believe
And there's a bell that still echoes the price that it cost to be free
I pledge allegiance to this flag
And if that bothers you, well, that's too bad
But if you got pride and you're proud you do
Hey, we could use some more like me and you
Where the stars and stripes and the eagle fly
Yes, there's a lady that stands in a harbor for what we believe
And there's a bell that still echoes the price that it cost to be free
No, it ain't the only place on earth
But it's the only place that I prefer
To love my wife and raise my kids
Hey, the same way that my daddy did
Where the stars and stripes and the eagle fly
Where the stars and stripes and the eagle fly
This song sums up the current Cold Civil War here on the shores of the New World*. It also sums up the increasing Cold War between Western Europe** and the USA under the Trump Administration. It's a fundamental disconnect between world views - us vs. them***.
All I can say is that God spared Donald Trump last summer for a purpose. That statement probably bothers some people.
Well, that's too bad****.
* I only use the term to bother the Usual Suspects.
** Ibid
*** Well, except for the European oppressed political minorities, like the AfD, Marine Le Pen, Tommy Robinson, et al.
**** Damn, this has turned into a rant. I guess that calls for a clarification. Maybe it's not a rant, it's a desire for a Reckoning:
Today is the day with the longest period of daylight (in the Northern Hemisphere; in the Southern it's the longest night).
Here in the Sunshine State we're not far enough north to really see much difference. Today's daylight will last 13-ish hours which isn't too noticeable. The reverse is true in Winter, when the daylight only lasts 11-ish hours.
But in Maine where I grew up (pretty close to 45 degrees North latitude) it will be 15:30 hours of light. Mom always hated winter because with only 9 hours or so of daylight it got dark around 4:00 in the afternoon.
But could be worse: Oslo (in the absolute south of Norway) will have almost 19 hours of daylight today. Maybe this is why Scandinavian films are so depressing - winter gives them only 5 hours of daylight.
So enjoy the sun (assuming you don't live in the Antipodes). And be thankful you don't live near Stonehenge. The freaks come out in force today.
Image re-enacted from the Wik
But eventually the sun will go down today (OK, not if you're in Fairbanks). Take us away, Kenny ...
When did the EU.gov get so, well, stupid?
The EU has issued its plans to keep the continent's denizens secure and among the pages of bureaucratese are a few worrying sections that indicate the political union wants to backdoor encryption by 2026, or even sooner.Well, duh.
While the superstate has made noises about backdooring encryption before the ProtectEU plan [PDF], launched on Monday at the European Parliament, says the European Commission wants to develop a roadmap to allow "lawful and effective access to data for law enforcement in 2025" and a technology roadmap to do so by the following year.
...
According to the document, the EC will set up a Security Research & Innovation Campus at its Joint Research Centre in 2026 to work out the technical details. Since it's impossible to backdoor encryption in a way that can't be exploited by others, it seems a very odd move to make if security's your goal.
China, Russia, and the US certainly would spend a huge amount of time and money to find the backdoor. Even American law enforcement has given up on the cause of backdooring, although the UK still seems to be wedded to the idea. [boldface by me - Borepatch]
Now the cynical view of things is that the EU.gov is not being stupid at all, but just think that their adversary is not China and Russia and the USofA but rather their own populations.
Last week I posted about the Congressional request that DNI Gabbard look into the UK government's demand that Apple put an encryption backdoor into their products. She has done so:
In a written response to members of Congress, Gabbard said this week that such a demand would violate Americans’ rights and raise concerns about a foreign government pressuring a U.S.-based technology company.
“This would be a clear and egregious violation of Americans’ privacy and civil liberties,” Gabbard told Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., who had written to express their worries.
...
Gabbard has asked the heads of the CIA and other U.S. intelligence agencies to study the U.K. demand and said she will discuss it with her British counterparts. She noted that existing agreements between the two nations prohibit either country from demanding cloud data about citizens or residents of the other.
This seems unprecedented to me - the relationship between the US and UK intelligence communities has been very close for literally decades - I have personal experience of this in the 1990s and it predates that by a lot.
Europe seems really intent on making all sorts of relationships worse.
We shall not see them relit in our lifetimes:
Signal CEO Meredith Whittaker says her company will withdraw from countries that force messaging providers to allow law enforcement officials to access encrypted user data, as Sweden continues to mull such plans.
Whittaker said Signal intends to exit Sweden should its government amend existing legislation essentially mandating the end of end-to-end encryption (E2EE), an identical position it took as the UK considered its Online Safety Bill, which ultimately did pass with a controversial encryption-breaking clause, although it can only be invoked where technically feasible.
Basically the Sweden.Gov is asking Signal to get pregnant, but only a little bit pregnant. But vulnerabilities (and that's exactly what a government mandated encryption backdoor is) don't work that way.
And from the Department of Irony, the Swedish military oppose this:
The Swedish Armed Forces routinely use Signal and are opposing the bill, saying that a backdoor could introduce vulnerabilities that could be exploited by bad actors.I guess this is just Exhibit 14,543,928 that Europe is fundamentally unserious about their own defense.
This follows hard on the heels of Apple turning off encryption in the UK.
Looking at what's going on over there, it makes me think that maybe we should just cut the whole of them loose, to sink or swim on their own. Unwilling to defend themselves, increasingly despotic to their subjects at home, maybe JD Vance is right after all that we no longer have shared values.
Maybe there's something in the water in Washington D.C. these days, but this is clearly A Very Good Thing Indeed:
A bipartisan, bicameral pair of lawmakers urged newly confirmed Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard to reevaluate U.S. cybersecurity and intelligence-sharing relations with the United Kingdom in response to a report revealing that the UK secretly ordered Apple to build a backdoor into encrypted iCloud backups.
The Feb. 7 report from the Washington Post says that the order issued last month demands UK law enforcement and intelligence operatives be granted worldwide, unfettered access to users’ protected cloud data. Apple customers residing in the United States would be cast into that dragnet.
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., asked Gabbard in the Thursday missive if the Trump administration was made aware of the order by stakeholders and whether the White House has understanding of the CLOUD Act, which lets U.S. law enforcement get data stored by American tech companies, even if that data is on servers outside the U.S., by using warrants or subpoenas.
“If Apple is forced to build a backdoor in its products, that backdoor will end up in Americans’ phones, tablets, and computers, undermining the security of Americans’ data, as well as of the countless federal, state and local government agencies that entrust sensitive data to Apple products,” they wrote in their letter to Gabbard.
Remember, Encryption Backdoors are a Very Bad Idea. It's not just me saying this, it's the former Director of the UK's GCHQ (their NSA equivalent).
And well done to Congresscritters from both parties in both the House and Senate for putting some pressure on the idiots in Blimey.
Musk has been vocal on X over the past week concerning the grooming gang scandal, which was covered up by the Labour government from the 90’s onwards for a period of over a decade.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Keir Starmer accused Musk and British politicians who support his call for justice for victims of grooming gangs of jumping on a “far-right bandwagon.”
According to BBC Newsnight, there is “absolute horror at the highest levels of government at the incendiary language we have seen from Elon Musk.”
Huh. So Elon's statement of facts - that hundreds of thousands of british girls were systematically gang raped by Pakistani immigrants over the span of decades - imperils our special relationship? Weird.
What actually seems to be imperiling the special relationship is the UK Labour government selling out our base at Diego Garcia:
Last ditch negotiations are underway in London as Starmer attempts to ram through his Chagos sellout before Trump’s inauguration. Earlier today Guido revealed how the deal would see UK nuclear options sold out as part of the giveaway…
...
Trump advisers now say the President is beginning to see Chagos as one of the same issues. “If Starmer sells out UK sovereignty disabling the US base and nukes, it’s going to make Trump as furious as over Panama” says one well-placed Trump team member.
Huh. My guess is that Trump refusing to shut Elon up about the UK.Gov mass rape scandal is the least of His Magesty's Government's problems.
Germany is revoking firearms permits for AfD party members. AfD is likely to be the biggest party in the coming March elections.
Wow:
Four members of the now-defunct REvil ransomware operation have been sentenced to several years in prison in Russia, marking one of the rare instances where cybercriminals from the country have been convicted of hacking and money laundering charges.They aren't just going to prison, they're going to a Russian prison. More of this, please.
Russian news publication Kommersant reported that a court in St. Petersburg found Artem Zaets, Alexei Malozemov, Daniil Puzyrevsky, and Ruslan Khansvyarov guilty of illegal circulation of means of payment. Puzyrevsky and Khansvyarov have also been found guilty of using and distributing malware.
...
REvil, which was once one of the most prolific ransomware groups, was dismantled after Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) announced arrests against several members in an unprecedented takedown.
A journalist with the London Telegraph has been visited unannounced at her home by police in the UK who told her they are investigating a “non-crime hate incident” over a tweet she posted a year ago.
...
Allison Pearson relates what happened on Sunday in an article, noting that police will not tell her which post is the subject of the investigation, nor will they tell her who her accuser is or what they feel offended about.
Well okay, then. But the UK Plods seems to have forgotten the old saying to not mess with someone who buys ink by the barrel:
I've just caught up with this by @AllisonPearson. Fortunately, she is a member of the Free @SpeechUnion, but I hope the @Telegraph will also be vigorously defending her freedom of expression. The ‘non-crime hate incident’ industry is a malignancy.https://t.co/iLsuNX4MgQ pic.twitter.com/yf0Cr2f0Vr
— Adrian Hilton (@Adrian_Hilton) November 12, 2024
So UK Prime Minister Keir "Two Tier" Starmer has decreed that people saying hateful things will be jailed because their speech is actually violence, and he's making room for them in His Magesty's prisons be releasing violent criminals because their violence is actually speech, you guys.
Some big shot police constable has even said he was going to go all 1775-Bunker Hill on Americans for their speech, which is totally violence. Ooooh kaaay,
All this totalitarianism reminds me of a joke from the Soviet Union, back in the day. It was said about Leonid Brezhnev (and likely others). I've somewhat rewritten it for modern times. See if you can tell the difference.
So this guy goes to Red Square Hyde Park Speaker's Corner and yells "Leonid Brezhnev Keir Starmer is a senile fascist old fool!" Of course, the police swarm him and drag him off to Ye Olde Gaol. He is sentenced to ten years and ten days in durance vile - ten days for slander and ten years for revealing State Secrets.
Maybe I gave away my edits right there ...
And so the Leonid Brezhnev Memorial Award for Totalitarianism goes to Brit PM Keir Starmer, for fascism above and beyond the call of duty. Well done you dirty commie bastard.
So some self-important English Plod said he was going to criminally charge and extradite US citizens for exercising their first amendment rights on US soil. Interesting.
Quite frankly, this seems like a golden opportunity for political candidates here to get a "gimmie" issue. Sticking up for the first amendment seems like a layup. And if as I suspect the Democrats are institutionally incapable of sticking up for free speech, then this is a gold plated opportunity to paint them as the party of censorship - not to mention being weak on foreign policy.
Like I said, this issue looks like it's 100% upside.
