Portcullis Fabuloso

@MerrynSW Two tricky things to balance: many right-wing concerns are totally valid, eg, how to have a thriving economy, esp in medium to long term. But at same time about 99% of all right-wing blab is either wallet-blab or ego-blab. Totally dismissible crap. Truth is elusive. 🤔

Extraordinary thing here is only partly his total confusion about how income tax and IHT work plus utter ignorance of the trust system. Main bit that threw me is that he doesn't know how NI works. And thinks he has paid way more tax than he has. How does this happen?

@ctindale for a brilliant male dancer around now, everyone should check out Will West.

Learn to dance again boys youtube.com/watch?v=UuOJ82…

@TheMichaelEvery ... and also of course watch out for: 'poor people, well, they're not really proper people, like us are they' - this usually an underlying assumption rather than said out loud: classic BS stepping-stone to wealth-apartheid. (I've met these people, even in UK, let alone US!) 🤢

@TheMichaelEvery Excellent! 'Economic success... virtuous'. I notice rabid-righties (Twitter!) peddling big link is between hard work and riches. No! Big link is between various forms of privilege (even fluke!) and riches (with noble exceptions of course) Selfish lies make me projectile-vomit!🤢

Besides the inequality Branko refers to below, matching deindustrialisation undermined US military primacy, leaving insufficient hegemonic hard power to enforce a neoliberal system & creating a backlash. In so many ways, said system destroys itself - as I said a decade ago. ⬇️

@Heritage of course the rich should pay more tax. They're still loaded even after paying it. Ug ug my brain hurts! lol

“What is your ‘fair share’ of what someone else has worked for?” - Thomas Sowell

@SantiagoAuFund Thanks for this. (The very place of the ol' padlock-hemlock combo!)

The place where Socrates was imprisoned for asking uncomfortable questions…

@xestadominimo it isn't a binary choice. Friedman was an idiot.

"La sociedad que pone la igualdad por encima de la libertad no obtendrá ninguna de las dos". - Milton Friedman-

@vtchakarova You need DEMOCRATIC capitalism with a SAFETY NET.

Respect to the lovers of freedom of markets and capitalism. The best that could happen to humankind. And yes, I’m working today too ✌️

@SantiagoAuFund We all need to be *politically* aware of what others think of us. But intellectually you have to just not care, and go where the real thinking takes you.

The ability to not care what other people think of you…

@xestadominimo ... said Lincoln's wallet. lol

“No puedes ayudar a los pobres destruyendo a los ricos. No puedes fortalecer al débil debilitando al fuerte. No se puede lograr la prosperidad desalentando el ahorro. No se puede levantar al asalariado destruyendo a quien lo contrata”. - Abraham Lincoln -

@xestadominimo This is simply not true. Welfare States hugely improved the plight of the poor. Don't fall for this drivel.

"El socialismo no produce una sociedad sin clases; por el contrario, produce la más estratificada de todas las sociedades, dividida en dos clases: los poderosos y los impotentes; la élite burocrática y las masas manipuladas". - Margaret Thatcher -

@ThomasSowell ... and just looting and enslaving them under the surface, lol.

@sfliberty lots of countries in the third world have opened up to trade and the poor of that country have just been exploited. Don't fall for the wallet-blab.

“The message from history is so blatantly obvious, that free trade causes mutual prosperity while protectionism causes poverty, that it seems incredible that anybody ever thinks otherwise. There is not a single example of a country opening its borders to trade and ending up poorer.” — Matt Ridley

@TheMichaelEvery ... not suggesting that the Falklands are 100% safe though (!) 🤔

@TheMichaelEvery Culturally (+linguistically) there is an enduring special relationship between US and UK... Magna Carta, Shakespeare, Churchill etc... and vice versa (Franklin, Twain, Hollywd, WW's). Politically it may blow hot or cold - maybe mostly coldish! But it's always there. It just is.🤔

2026, day 119 Good morning from Australia. ‘Security Council Demands Freedom of Navigation in Hormuz as Shipping Risks Mount’ (GCaptain); ‘Trump Says Iran Wants Hormuz Open Amid Efforts to End War’ (BBG); ‘Trump claims Iran in 'state of collapse' as Iran expected to submit revised proposal to mediators’ (Reuters); ‘Trump Tells Aides to Prepare for Extended Blockade of Iran’ (WSJ); ‘US forces board ship suspected of heading to Iran port’ (AFP); ‘Iran’s Guards seize wartime power, blunting Supreme Leader's role’ (Reuters); ‘US spy agencies examine how Iran would react to Trump declaring victory’ (Reuters); ‘China’s calls to open Hormuz show the limits of its ties to Iran, experts say’ (SCMP); ‘Beirut promise to disarm Hezbollah ‘only ink on paper,’ Lebanese Hezbollah expert says - interview’ (JPost); ‘Hezbollah attacks Israeli military helicopter with fibre optic drones’ (Telegraph) - “Born in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the now-unjammable deadly tech spreads to Lebanon”; ‘Indonesians question Lebanon peacekeeping force as casualties grow’ (Nikkei Asia) - “Death of 4th peacekeeper has led some to call for full withdrawal”; ‘The new UK ambassador to the US, Christian Turner, privately said that the US "special relationship" is with Israel, not the U.K.’ (FT); ‘King Charles Urges Trump Not to Abandon Special Relationship With U.K’ (WSJ); ‘King urges Trump not to abandon Nato’ (Telegraph); ‘Trump: King agrees Iran can not have nuclear weapon’ (Telegraph); ‘Trump slams Merz, Germany after chancellor’s Iran ‘humiliation’ remarks’ (The Hill); In geoeconomics, ‘U.A.E.’s OPEC Exit Deals Major Blow to Cartel Amid Middle East Oil Squeeze’ (WSJ); ‘Iran Is Flooded With So Much Unsold Oil That It’s Stashing It in Derelict Tanks’ (WSJ); ‘China poised to restart exporting jet fuel, diesel and gasoline’ (FT); ‘Japan turns to Chinese petrochemicals amid naphtha crunch’ (Nikkei Asia); ‘US Warns of Sanctions Risks for Chinese Refiners of Iranian Oil’ (BBG); ‘Opposition to Jones Act Waiver Extension Widens as Maritime Industry Pushes Back’ (GCaptain); ‘US-Led Bloc Condemns China Pressure on Panama-Flagged Ships’ (GCaptain); ‘How China’s reported ban on sulphuric acid exports could have overseas buyers reeling’ (SCMP); ‘The U.S. Wants to Ban China’s High-Tech Cars, but They’re Already Here in El Paso’ (WSJ); ‘Japan eyes world-first transmission of space-based solar power to Earth’ (Nikkei Asia) - “Experiment will use microwaves to send electricity from orbit”; ‘CGT, negative gearing changes needed for social cohesion: PM’ (AFR); ‘Brussels to step up legal action against EU capitals in bid to slash red tape’ (Euractiv); ‘European Parliament demands €200 billion extra for EU budget in hardball talks’ (Euronews); ‘Zelenskyy threatens Israelis with sanctions over stolen grain’ (Politico); ‘EU 'ready' to sanction Israel over Russian vessel carrying stolen Ukrainian grain’ (Euronews); ‘Deaths projected to outnumber births in UK every year from 2026’ (Guardian); In politics, ‘Ex-FBI head James Comey charged with threatening Donald Trump’s life’ (FT); ‘Trump admin revives COVID origins debate with indictment’ (The Hill); ‘Starmer avoids ethics inquiry after ordering MPs to back him’ (Telegraph); ‘Starmer staves off mutiny over Mandelson mess… but for how long?’ (Guardian); ‘Herzog’s office invites Netanyahu’s lawyer, AG to discuss potential plea deal’ (ToI); ‘Weyand leaves EU trade chief role after public fallout over Trump deal’ (Euractiv) - “Many believe her candour came at a political cost”; ‘Europe’s Socialists face far-right reckoning after Romania deal’ (Politico); In markets, ‘UAE Exit Blindsides OPEC and Threatens to Shake Its Grip on Oil’ (BBG)

@vtchakarova Term 'Free-market' is an oxymoron, as a healthy market must be managed. Left and right wing are equally full of childish oversimplified nursery-rhymes and shit. We have to plot an intelligent course between the two. (And not forgetting Green issues as well.)

Hundred of millions of people will be uplifted from poverty thanks to the economic growth, capitalism and free markets connecting India and the rest of South East Asia with the global economy in the decades to come. Mark my words!

@MileiSays False History. Sigh.

Javier Milei on the miracle of capitalism 🔥 “A little more than 200 years ago, 95% of the world population was below the extreme poverty line.” “Then came capitalism. Now the world has 7 times more people, and the number of people below the extreme line is less than 5%.”

@MiltonFriedmanW ... says Milton's wallet. lol.

“The fundamental threat to freedom is power to coerce, be it in the hands of a monarch, a dictator, an oligarchy, or a momentary majority.” — Milton Friedman

@WallStreetMav @JMilei Bullshit. Justice and envy are entirely different things. Buy a dictionary.

Argentina President Javier Milei “Being leftist is a disease of the soul. The left is built on envy, hatred, resentment, and unequal treatment under the law. They are very violent, and since they have no way or arguments to answer, they go for physical violence.” @JMilei

@KnowledgeArchiv Bullshit. Countries with a proper Welfare State are clearly not the social disaster that countries like the US are. Wakey wakey!

"I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it. In my youth I travelled much, and I observed in different countries, that the more public provisions were made for the poor, the less they provided for themselves, and of course became poorer." — Ben Franklin