Dave H
@thinkfoo.uk
Software Developer: TDD, CD etc
Political: liberal, pro EU, centrist non Dad
If you get blocked it's because I found you boring
https://thinkfoo.wordpress.com/
Political: liberal, pro EU, centrist non Dad
If you get blocked it's because I found you boring
https://thinkfoo.wordpress.com/
Feel like this is misleading being a geographic area map. Lots of big areas with low population and/or low gdp. Danger of doing a Trump and thinking "Greenland looks bigly"
January 15, 2026 at 8:06 AM
Feel like this is misleading being a geographic area map. Lots of big areas with low population and/or low gdp. Danger of doing a Trump and thinking "Greenland looks bigly"
He can say it. He can’t do it.
An order to invade Greenland would violate the NATO treaty (US law). The Secretary of Defense ( “Secretary of War” is just a stage name ) can’t lawfully pass it on, and the military is required at every level to refuse illegal orders.
End of story.
An order to invade Greenland would violate the NATO treaty (US law). The Secretary of Defense ( “Secretary of War” is just a stage name ) can’t lawfully pass it on, and the military is required at every level to refuse illegal orders.
End of story.
January 14, 2026 at 11:13 PM
He can say it. He can’t do it.
An order to invade Greenland would violate the NATO treaty (US law). The Secretary of Defense ( “Secretary of War” is just a stage name ) can’t lawfully pass it on, and the military is required at every level to refuse illegal orders.
End of story.
An order to invade Greenland would violate the NATO treaty (US law). The Secretary of Defense ( “Secretary of War” is just a stage name ) can’t lawfully pass it on, and the military is required at every level to refuse illegal orders.
End of story.
How would a kill switch even work? Trident launches submerged; long-range comms need a buoy, easily kept separate from launch systems. Once launched they self-navigate (pre-date GPS) and were designed to resist jamming. A hidden kill switch would need a physical radio receiver, easy to detect.
January 14, 2026 at 2:08 PM
How would a kill switch even work? Trident launches submerged; long-range comms need a buoy, easily kept separate from launch systems. Once launched they self-navigate (pre-date GPS) and were designed to resist jamming. A hidden kill switch would need a physical radio receiver, easy to detect.
I see Monbiot has deleted his post, just when it was starting to get some thoughtful engagement. 🤔
January 14, 2026 at 8:13 AM
I see Monbiot has deleted his post, just when it was starting to get some thoughtful engagement. 🤔
Despite long-term intense scrutiny, there’s no evidence of a US ‘kill switch’. The real risk is more pernicious: dependence on US software, data and sustainment that can quietly erode UK capability and freedom of action over time. Nuclear launch authority remains sovereign.
January 14, 2026 at 7:49 AM
Despite long-term intense scrutiny, there’s no evidence of a US ‘kill switch’. The real risk is more pernicious: dependence on US software, data and sustainment that can quietly erode UK capability and freedom of action over time. Nuclear launch authority remains sovereign.
I suppose if you've built a reputation that you don't stand for anything, you can ultimately stand for anything.
January 13, 2026 at 8:43 PM
I suppose if you've built a reputation that you don't stand for anything, you can ultimately stand for anything.
What do you do if you're entire national defence system is intimately entwined with a foreign power that is slipping into dictatorial control? Asking for a friend.
January 13, 2026 at 6:23 PM
What do you do if you're entire national defence system is intimately entwined with a foreign power that is slipping into dictatorial control? Asking for a friend.
"Myth does not deny thing, on the contrary, its function is to talk about them; simply, it purifies them, it makes them innocent, it gives them a natural and eternal justification, it gives them a clarity which is not that of an explanation but of a statement of fact" - Barthes Mythologies
January 13, 2026 at 9:24 AM
"Myth does not deny thing, on the contrary, its function is to talk about them; simply, it purifies them, it makes them innocent, it gives them a natural and eternal justification, it gives them a clarity which is not that of an explanation but of a statement of fact" - Barthes Mythologies
I think it was legislated but not commenced.
January 12, 2026 at 5:58 PM
I think it was legislated but not commenced.
I’ve been thinking differently. The model I’m working with isn’t technocrat or ideocrat.
Coercion ← ( fairness ⇄ cohesion ) → exclusion.
Ideology pushes moral aims. Technocracy sets limits. Lose that constraint and ideology collapses into coercion or exclusion.
Coercion ← ( fairness ⇄ cohesion ) → exclusion.
Ideology pushes moral aims. Technocracy sets limits. Lose that constraint and ideology collapses into coercion or exclusion.
January 12, 2026 at 3:45 PM
I’ve been thinking differently. The model I’m working with isn’t technocrat or ideocrat.
Coercion ← ( fairness ⇄ cohesion ) → exclusion.
Ideology pushes moral aims. Technocracy sets limits. Lose that constraint and ideology collapses into coercion or exclusion.
Coercion ← ( fairness ⇄ cohesion ) → exclusion.
Ideology pushes moral aims. Technocracy sets limits. Lose that constraint and ideology collapses into coercion or exclusion.
Ed Davey vs Keir Starmer
Davey
🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨 23%
Starmer
🟥🟥🟥🟥🟥 19%
Ed Davey vs Nigel Farage
Davey
🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨 33%
Farage
🟪🟪🟪🟪🟪🟪 27%
Ed Davey vs Zack Polanski
🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨 20%
Polanski
🟩🟩🟩🟩 15%
Davey
🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨 23%
Starmer
🟥🟥🟥🟥🟥 19%
Ed Davey vs Nigel Farage
Davey
🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨 33%
Farage
🟪🟪🟪🟪🟪🟪 27%
Ed Davey vs Zack Polanski
🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨 20%
Polanski
🟩🟩🟩🟩 15%
January 12, 2026 at 1:07 PM
Ed Davey vs Keir Starmer
Davey
🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨 23%
Starmer
🟥🟥🟥🟥🟥 19%
Ed Davey vs Nigel Farage
Davey
🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨 33%
Farage
🟪🟪🟪🟪🟪🟪 27%
Ed Davey vs Zack Polanski
🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨 20%
Polanski
🟩🟩🟩🟩 15%
Davey
🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨 23%
Starmer
🟥🟥🟥🟥🟥 19%
Ed Davey vs Nigel Farage
Davey
🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨 33%
Farage
🟪🟪🟪🟪🟪🟪 27%
Ed Davey vs Zack Polanski
🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨 20%
Polanski
🟩🟩🟩🟩 15%
Places where high streets seem to be doing well
• Free parking
• Butchers, bakers, greengrocers selling local produce
• Independent coffee shops with proper local cakes
• A regular farmers market (stallholders tell me trade is booming)
Easy to get to, and buying things from actual people.
• Free parking
• Butchers, bakers, greengrocers selling local produce
• Independent coffee shops with proper local cakes
• A regular farmers market (stallholders tell me trade is booming)
Easy to get to, and buying things from actual people.
January 11, 2026 at 8:24 PM
Places where high streets seem to be doing well
• Free parking
• Butchers, bakers, greengrocers selling local produce
• Independent coffee shops with proper local cakes
• A regular farmers market (stallholders tell me trade is booming)
Easy to get to, and buying things from actual people.
• Free parking
• Butchers, bakers, greengrocers selling local produce
• Independent coffee shops with proper local cakes
• A regular farmers market (stallholders tell me trade is booming)
Easy to get to, and buying things from actual people.
I presume we're going to get an influx here of the "protect our girls" populist mob, horrified at the child porn on x.
January 11, 2026 at 8:07 PM
I presume we're going to get an influx here of the "protect our girls" populist mob, horrified at the child porn on x.
There's an inverse of this as well. If your town is properly remote so it's the only natural town for a radius of say 30 minutes travel time then it will also likely have a vibrant high street.
January 11, 2026 at 8:04 PM
There's an inverse of this as well. If your town is properly remote so it's the only natural town for a radius of say 30 minutes travel time then it will also likely have a vibrant high street.
I think this is the key point of your thread yesterday.
Working alone is working alone whether you do it remotely or face to face.
Geography is not the or even a problem here.
bsky.app/profile/alle...
Working alone is working alone whether you do it remotely or face to face.
Geography is not the or even a problem here.
bsky.app/profile/alle...
Unless you're doing something like remote mobbing, working remotely turns collaboration into meetings. Collaborative and meeting cultures are fundamentally at odds. Working alone, then having a meeting to resolve problems, is not collaboration; it's working alone.
HOWEVER.
9/12
HOWEVER.
9/12
January 11, 2026 at 7:34 PM
I think this is the key point of your thread yesterday.
Working alone is working alone whether you do it remotely or face to face.
Geography is not the or even a problem here.
bsky.app/profile/alle...
Working alone is working alone whether you do it remotely or face to face.
Geography is not the or even a problem here.
bsky.app/profile/alle...
I'd actually say the driver is the other way, people really don't want to have to go to the high street to visit banks, post offices, local government, registry offices, they want to do those things on line. What they want from a high street is some combination of period theme park and social space.
January 11, 2026 at 6:49 PM
I'd actually say the driver is the other way, people really don't want to have to go to the high street to visit banks, post offices, local government, registry offices, they want to do those things on line. What they want from a high street is some combination of period theme park and social space.
I remember lot of us saying this at the time and being told it was NATO not Europe that was responsible for peace. The truth is it was both, and the UK could end up with neither.
January 11, 2026 at 5:53 PM
I remember lot of us saying this at the time and being told it was NATO not Europe that was responsible for peace. The truth is it was both, and the UK could end up with neither.
Biggest tech risk in a US–Europe spat isn’t messaging or hosting. It’s identity providers. If a hostile US move targets cloud identity, access can be restricted by law or policy. Staff can’t log in, admins can’t administer systems, and finance stalls fast. Control identity, control everything.
January 11, 2026 at 3:46 PM
Biggest tech risk in a US–Europe spat isn’t messaging or hosting. It’s identity providers. If a hostile US move targets cloud identity, access can be restricted by law or policy. Staff can’t log in, admins can’t administer systems, and finance stalls fast. Control identity, control everything.
I think USA breaking up NATO would give the cover needed, but it's a grim thought.
January 11, 2026 at 12:19 PM
I think USA breaking up NATO would give the cover needed, but it's a grim thought.
The best time to significantly increase defense spending was then, the next best time is now.
January 11, 2026 at 11:54 AM
The best time to significantly increase defense spending was then, the next best time is now.