USA news & politics

[ChicagoKid]

If you wire me $10k I’ll deliver it personally.

What is that in pounds? Like 30 million?

 

[Quel Carreleur]

Yo, DH @Saintjay

I'm looking to stay here in a few months: https://butcombe.com/the-methuen-arms-wiltshire/

Does anyone here know the area very well? I'm trying to catch a rugby match at Bath or Bristol while also driving around the Cotswold/visiting Jeremy Clarkson's farm.

Corsham?
Close to my neck of the woods, though I'll be 20 years out of date on details like which restaurants etc.
Avoid Swindon like the plague - well, like the metaphorical plague, not the one from 5 years ago...
Plenty of nice smaller places though. Bath is very easy access from Corsham, and Cotswolds a pretty easy (by UK standards) reach.

Main places to visit would be Bath itself, Salisbury too if you like little cities.
Easiest Ancient monuments to reach would be Avebury, Silbury hill and West-Kennet Long barrow. Stonehenge is obviously the big one, but a little more out on its own.
Westonbirt arboretum is good as well - especially around October when the leaves are turning.
Bradford on Avon, Burton in the Water, and Glastonbury if you like the twee tourist traps.
Too many little places to mention in the Cotswolds, Mendips and down on the levels...
Couple of Michelin starred places local there as well if that interests you - Bath, Castle Comb, Thickwood IIRC.

Also a few places worth visiting purely for a pic with the place sign - Little Sodbury, Old Sodbury, Petty France...

 

[ChicagoKid]

Corsham?
Close to my neck of the woods, though I'll be 20 years out of date on details like which restaurants etc.
Avoid Swindon like the plague - well, like the metaphorical plague, not the one from 5 years ago...
Plenty of nice smaller places though. Bath is very easy access from Corsham, and Cotswolds a pretty easy (by UK standards) reach.
Main places to visit would be Bath itself, Avebury, Silbury hill and West-Kennet Long barrow - all towards Marlborough - which is kinda worth a visit, but...
Westonbirt arboretum is good as well - especially around October when the leaves are turning.
Bradford on Avon and Glastonbury if you like the twee tourist traps.
Too many little places to mention in the Cotswolds, Mendips and down on the levels...

Thanks @Quel Carreleur.

Considering taking a sabbatical and walking around the UK. One of my favorite authors -- who has traveled all around the world -- said England is the best walking country in the world.

 

[Quel Carreleur]

Thanks @Quel Carreleur.

Considering taking a sabbatical and walking around the UK. One of my favorite authors -- who has traveled all around the world -- said England is the best walking country in the world.

I dunno about best, but there's absolutely tonnes.
If you're doing "a walk" from Corsham, I'd start at Avebury and do the Ridgeway - not that I'm biased at all.
87 miles, Britain's oldest road, and one of the oldest in Europe.

For a longer hike, you can't beat the SW coastal path, Start at Swanage, and walk West until you can't go any further, then peel back NorthEast until you reach Bridgewater.
The Wales and Northumbrian coastal paths are also well worth it, but IMO not much beats the Jurassic Coast, Devon and Cornwall.
More inland the Peek district, Lake district, Yorkshire Dales and Brecon Beacons are all fantastic - will remind you very much of the Apalacians. The Highlands and Islands are well worth it, but you need to time it to avoid the midges (bloody bastards!), whole the Penine Way speaks for itself.

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

Corsham?
Close to my neck of the woods, though I'll be 20 years out of date on details like which restaurants etc.
Avoid Swindon like the plague - well, like the metaphorical plague, not the one from 5 years ago...
Plenty of nice smaller places though. Bath is very easy access from Corsham, and Cotswolds a pretty easy (by UK standards) reach.

Main places to visit would be Bath itself, Salisbury too if you like little cities.
Easiest Ancient monuments to reach would be Avebury, Silbury hill and West-Kennet Long barrow. Stonehenge is obviously the big one, but a little more out on its own.
Westonbirt arboretum is good as well - especially around October when the leaves are turning.
Bradford on Avon and Glastonbury if you like the twee tourist traps.
Too many little places to mention in the Cotswolds, Mendips and down on the levels...
Couple of Michelin starred places local there as well if that interests you - Bath, Castle Comb, Thickwood IIRC.

Also a few places worth visiting purely for a pic with the place sign - Little Sodbury, Old Sodbury, Petty France...

I used to live near Swindon (not in it thankfully, actually near the White Horse hill). Volunteered at a radio station for a bit and there was a guy who, without a hint of irony, said Swindon was a cultural oasis. A brilliantly placed town logistically but culturally? Absolutely dead.

 

[Quel Carreleur]

I used to live near Swindon (not in it thankfully, actually near the White Horse hill). Volunteered at a radio station for a bit and there was a guy who, without a hint of irony, said Swindon was a cultural oasis. A brilliantly placed town logistically but culturally? Absolutely dead.

Puts the Wilt into Wiltshire!


Which "White Horse Hill"? The proper one at Uffington, or one the piddly ones like the Broad Hinton attempt?
I was born and bred in one of those little villages between PigHill and Marlborough, went to school out your way (assuming you're Uffington - I was Burton without any water), Secondary school up in the Cotswolds (near Ciren.) and.. erm... reaits in Chippenham...

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

Puts the Wilt into Wiltshire!


Which "White Horse Hill"? The proper one at Uffington, or one the piddly ones like the Broad Hinton attempt?
I was born and bred in one of those little villages between PigHill and Marlborough, went to school out your way (assuming you're Uffington - I was Burton without any water), Secondary school up in the Cotswolds (near Ciren.) and.. erm... reaits in Chippenham...

Uffington. Used to cycle up and down it as my main way to keep fit. Bit of trivia, Cloudbusting by Kate Bush was filmed on that hill.

 

[Saintjay]

I used to live near Swindon (not in it thankfully, actually near the White Horse hill). Volunteered at a radio station for a bit and there was a guy who, without a hint of irony, said Swindon was a cultural oasis. A brilliantly placed town logistically but culturally? Absolutely dead.

Cultural Oasis Swindon.

No but it's leisure centre was called The Oasis. From which Oasis the band got there name.

I'm available for all your pub quiz needs.

 

[Tomma235]

Cultural Oasis Swindon.

No but it's leisure centre was called The Oasis. From which Oasis the band got there name.

I'm available for all your pub quiz needs.

I was going to call you out for acting like an American and making sh*t up but apparently and bizarrely it's true. Who knew.

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

Cultural Oasis Swindon.

No but it's leisure centre was called The Oasis. From which Oasis the band got there name.

I'm available for all your pub quiz needs.

Really? Never knew they named themselves after that.

 

[Quel Carreleur]

More interestingly, the home of Billie Piper and Melinder Messenger

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

So trump has just removed the last remaining members of a bi-partisan committee set up by Congress, and whose current members were selected unanimously, to monitor elections. That's perfectly normal of course.

Why wouldn't the president wish to do this?

 

[Welsh Exile]

So trump has just removed the last remaining members of a bi-partisan committee set up by Congress, and whose current members were selected unanimously, to monitor elections. That's perfectly normal of course.

Why wouldn't the president wish to do this?

All politicians want to be dictators. They’re all the same.

 

[dirty harry]

All politicians want to be dictators. They’re all the same.

Name me an American president who didnt increase presidential power? Ill accept Buchanan, but thats going to be a hard sell.

You keep reiterating a false claim that theyre all the same, but the reality is you know im right, all politicians are untrustworthy, and all are incetivised to personally and politically gain.

 

[ChicagoKid]

Name me an American president who didnt increase presidential power? Ill accept Buchanan, but thats going to be a hard sell.

You keep reiterating a false claim that theyre all the same, but the reality is you know im right, all politicians are untrustworthy, and all are incetivised to personally and politically gain.

The entire executive branch has gained enormous power since Andrew Jackson in 1830.

Nearly 200 years of increasing presidential power.

 

[dirty harry]

The entire executive branch has gained enormous power since Andrew Jackson in 1830.

Nearly 200 years of increasing presidential power.

Which is my point, the next one will be the biggest fascist ever, then the next one, then the next...

20 years from now the kid from Stranger things will be Repunlican president and we will still be arguing about how unpresedented his orders are....

 

[ChicagoKid]

Which is my point, the next one will be the biggest fascist ever, then the next one, then the next...

20 years from now the kid from Stranger things will be Repunlican president and we will still be arguing about how unpresedented his orders are....

The racist stuff never resonated because they called Mitt Romney a racist/fascist/evil person.

Romney was a stereotypical nice guy who clearly loved his family. He was a good man and they painted him as a modern day slave owner.

 

[Welsh Exile]

Name me an American president who didnt increase presidential power? Ill accept Buchanan, but thats going to be a hard sell.

You keep reiterating a false claim that theyre all the same, but the reality is you know im right, all politicians are untrustworthy, and all are incetivised to personally and politically gain.

I said dictator.

 

[Quel Carreleur]

How dare you say war crimes are bad!
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/13/marco-rubio-dismantle-international-criminal-court

Marco Rubio launches campaign to dismantle international criminal court​

Trump’s secretary of state claims the global tribunal is interfering with US military and law enforcement operations

 

[ChicagoKid]

How dare you say war crimes are bad!
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/13/marco-rubio-dismantle-international-criminal-court

Marco Rubio launches campaign to dismantle international criminal court​

Trump’s secretary of state claims the global tribunal is interfering with US military and law enforcement operations

International Courts are pointless without International Armies.

An unenforceable law is just a piece of paper.

 

[dirty harry]

I said dictator.

You said want to be dictators...

 

[dirty harry]

International Courts are pointless without International Armies.

An unenforceable law is just a piece of paper.

Havnt read the whole article, or rhe whole op ed, but has the USA ratified the ICC yet anyway?

 

[Saintjay]

How dare you say war crimes are bad!
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/13/marco-rubio-dismantle-international-criminal-court

Marco Rubio launches campaign to dismantle international criminal court​

Trump’s secretary of state claims the global tribunal is interfering with US military and law enforcement operations

Should have represented the Germans at Nurembergh. They could have used the Rubio clause.

 

[Welsh Exile]

You said want to be dictators...

I did. As in most politicians in the west don’t want to be dictators. Not that they don’t want more power.

 

[ChicagoKid]

Should have represented the Germans at Nurembergh. They could have used the Rubio clause.

So true. There wasn't a million-plus Russian & US soldiers within Germany to enforce any verdicts.

 

[ChicagoKid]

Havnt read the whole article, or rhe whole op ed, but has the USA ratified the ICC yet anyway?

No idea. I don't care. I don't vote in International elections; therefore, I don't care what an international court says.

Europe does everything backwards. Create an international court, but fail to also create the enforcement mechanism.

Create AI legislation, but fail to actually create any AI-centric companies or data centers.

Create green legislation to phase out carbon-intensive energy production, but fail to create reliable redundancies.

 

[dirty harry]

I did. As in most politicians in the west don’t want to be dictators. Not that they don’t want more power.

And at what point over the last say 100 years have they stopped taking more power and returned some to the people?

How much power is enough power to the average politician, let alone US president?

At what point does that extra step toward more power become a dictatorship?

Has the Democrat party been squashed? Not at all, infact they are looking good for primaries. Thats right primaries. Has Trump increased presidential power more than any other president? Is he even in the top 10? Id rank him somewhere near 10th right behind Obama. Are the courts not checking Trump? Hardly they Uturn half of what he does lol.

So by any definition, there are checks on the president, there is democracy, and opposition is flouroshing so i dont see a dictator, I just see hyperbole.

 

[Saintjay]

So true. There wasn't a million-plus Russian & US soldiers within Germany to enforce any verdicts.

Why should the Allies and courts get in the way of Germany achieving is military objectives.

Who are we to stop the US using napalm on kids, and agent orange

 

[dirty harry]

Should have represented the Germans at Nurembergh. They could have used the Rubio clause.

To be fair, there were plenty involved in that entire process that were deemed too valuable to try, and there were another number who fled to south America, so its not as if the USA ever recognised or respected them, they would argue if they did NASA would be far behind lol

 

[ChicagoKid]

Why should the Allies and courts get in the way of Germany achieving is military objectives.

Who are we to stop the US using napalm on kids, and agent orange

Are you one of those people who think it was morally wrong to drop the atomic bombs on Japan?