Nick Downs

veteran, enthusiastic (read poor) golfer, Great Dane owner!

[Hunter Biden @HunterBiden]

I am officially nominating Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) for the Nobel Peace Prize.

No President in History has ended the same war so many times.

Our Dear Leader has ended the war with Iran at least 38 times by CNN’s count.

No President has ever done this before.

And he is nowhere near finished ending it.

It’s a record worthy of the Nobel committee’s recognition. Thank you for your attention to this matter!

[Andrew Fox @Mr_Andrew_Fox]

Here’s the issue with the British defence investment plan (DIP).

1. Our defences are already hollowed out. We have some great capabilities to chip in as part of a coalition, but nowhere near enough of them. So that’s the first hole to fill.

2. Future combat is changing at an exponential rate, as never before. AI, autonomy, all changing fast. So you need to sort out your procurement, because if you order something that takes ten years to be delivered, it’s long out of date by the time it arrives. We’re just dabbling in that game right now, when it needs mass investment.

3. You need to be able to make lots of stuff that goes bang, fast. We don’t need it today, but when the day comes, we’ll need it rapidly. But with equipment changing so fast, you can’t have big stockpiles of stuff that goes out of date sitting around. So we need to square that circle and have flexible ammunition and cheap equipment mass production lines, ready to go at the press of a button. Anyone who cracks a civilian/military dual use production line stands to make a lot of money.

4. It’s not drones or high-end equipment. You need both, because our enemies have both. You also need to be able to defend yourselves against the enemy’s stuff. We can’t do that right now.

So, we’re way behind where we need to be, and it’s going to take lots of money to even get to the start line. Total rethink needed in how we do defence generally and procurement specifically.

The DIP as it stands is not fit for purpose.

[Nick Downs @ayrpuffer]

@HQNewsNow Who’s gonna tell him……🤷🏻‍♂️

[Murray Rothbard @MurraySuggests]

The Iranian navy, which has been destroyed eight times, has apparently closed the Strait of Hormuz again, because the United States, for the seventh time, won the war that wasn’t a war, so now the United States has to open the Strait of Hormuz that was already open before the not-war began.

The not-war began because Iran had uranium that was totally, completely, beautifully obliterated, so they can’t build the nuclear bomb they weren’t building, which is why the United States had to start the not-war it definitely didn’t start.

Now the United States, which has nuclear weapons, is threatening to use nuclear weapons to stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons, because nuclear weapons are far too dangerous for countries with nuclear weapons to allow other countries to have.

If the United States saw the United States doing what the United States does in other countries, the United States would invade the United States to liberate the United States from the tyranny of the United States.

[Gianl1974 @Gianl1974]

*BRITISH WRITER PENS THE BEST DESCRIPTION OF TRUMP*
Someone asked "Why do some British people not like Donald Trump?" Nate White, an articulate and witty writer from England wrote the following response:

A few things spring to mind. Trump lacks certain qualities which the British traditionally esteem. For instance, he has no class, no charm, no coolness, no credibility, no compassion, no wit, no warmth, no wisdom, no subtlety, no sensitivity, no self-awareness, no humility, no honour and no grace – all qualities, funnily enough, with which his predecessor Mr. Obama was generously blessed.
So for us, the stark contrast does rather throw Trump's limitations into embarrassingly sharp relief.
Plus, we like a laugh. And while Trump may be laughable, he has never once said anything wry, witty or even faintly amusing – not once, ever.
I don't say that rhetorically, I mean it quite literally: not once, not ever. And that fact is particularly disturbing to the British sensibility – for us, to lack humour is almost inhuman.
But with Trump, it's a fact. He doesn't even seem to understand what a joke is – his idea of a joke is a crass comment, an illiterate insult, a casual act of cruelty. Trump is a troll. And like all trolls, he is never funny and he never laughs; he only crows or jeers.
And scarily, he doesn't just talk in crude, witless insults – he actually thinks in them. His mind is a simple bot-like algorithm of petty prejudices and knee-jerk nastiness. There is never any under-layer of irony, complexity, nuance or depth. It's all surface.
Some Americans might see this as refreshingly upfront. Well, we don't. We see it as having no inner world, no soul. And in Britain we traditionally side with David, not Goliath. All our heroes are plucky underdogs: Robin Hood, Dick Whittington, Oliver Twist. Trump is neither plucky, nor an underdog. He is the exact opposite of that. He's not even a spoiled rich-boy, or a greedy fat-cat. He's more a fat white slug. A Jabba the Hutt of privilege.
And worse, he is that most unforgivable of all things to the British: a bully. That is, except when he is among bullies; then he suddenly transforms into a snivelling sidekick instead.
There are unspoken rules to this stuff – the Queensberry rules of basic decency – and he breaks them all. He punches downwards – which a gentleman should, would, could never do – and every blow he aims is below the belt. He particularly likes to kick the vulnerable or voiceless or female – and he kicks them when they are down. So the fact that a significant minority – perhaps a third – of Americans look at what he does, listen to what he says, and then think 'Yeah, he seems like my kind of guy' is a matter of some confusion and no little distress to British people, given that:
• Americans are supposed to be nicer than us, and most are.
• You don't need a particularly keen eye for detail to spot a few flaws in the man.
This last point is what especially confuses and dismays British people, and many other people too; his faults seem pretty bloody hard to miss.
After all, it's impossible to read a single tweet, or hear him speak a sentence or two, without staring deep into the abyss. He turns being artless into an art form; he is a Picasso of pettiness; a Shakespeare of shit. His faults are fractal: even his flaws have flaws, and so on ad infinitum. God knows there have always been stupid people in the world, and plenty of nasty people too. But rarely has stupidity been so nasty, or nastiness so stupid. He makes Nixon look trustworthy and George W look smart. In fact, if Frankenstein decided to make a monster assembled entirely from human flaws – he would make a Trump.

[Olena Rohoza @OlenaRohoza]

“AND YOU STILL DARE TO OPEN YOUR MOUTH…”

Sasha Legerman: This is too accurate not to share.

This Australian’s response to Trump’s rant that “NATO does nothing for America” is absolutely devastating:

“Mate. You run a country where 600,000 homeless people will sleep on the streets tonight.

A country where 40% of adults can’t cover a $400 emergency without borrowing money.

A country where insulin costs more than a car payment, and people ration it just to stay alive.

A country where medical debt is the number one cause of bankruptcy.

A country where women die in hospital parking lots because doctors are too afraid of abortion laws to treat miscarriages.

You imprison more of your own citizens than any country on Earth.
More than China. More than Russia. More than North Korea.

In the land of the free, 2 million people sit in cages, and a quarter of them haven’t even been convicted of anything.
They’re simply too poor to afford bail.

Your life expectancy is declining. You’re the only developed nation where that’s happening.

Your infant mortality rate is worse than Cuba’s.

Your children practice active shooter drills between math and English classes while you sell defense stocks to your friends.

Your minimum wage hasn’t changed in 15 years.

Your teachers work two jobs, your veterans sleep under bridges, and you just spent a trillion dollars flattening a country that never attacked you.

And now a convicted criminal — found liable for sexual abuse, defending a pedophile, sleeping with a porn star, and running the biggest dumpster-fire campaign since the Taliban — is thanking you for yet another disaster.

And you call Greenland badly governed?

Greenland has universal healthcare. Free education. One of the lowest incarceration rates in the world.
Nobody there goes bankrupt because they got sick. Nobody dies in a waiting room because insurance refused treatment.

‘NATO wasn’t there when we needed them.’

When exactly was that, champ?
September 11?

Because NATO invoked Article 5 for the first and only time in history FOR YOU.

Soldiers from dozens of countries deployed, fought, bled, and died in Afghanistan FOR YOU.

Australia wasn’t even in NATO, and we still showed up. For twenty years.

And then you left at 2 a.m. without telling anyone and left everybody else to clean up the mess.

You don’t care that a great nation is being terrorized by your friend, and you haven’t shown it a single ounce of sympathy.

So maybe before calling other countries badly governed, take a look at your own backyard, you aluminum siding salesman with a spray tan.

The only thing badly managed in this picture is your damn mouth.

And you still dare to lecture the rest of the world?”

[Hoodlum 🇺🇸 @NotHoodlum]

I don’t have a problem with him falling asleep. It’s the waking up part I have a huge issue with.

[Tymofiy Mylovanov @Mylovanov]

McFaul: Trump doesn't get it. NATO is a defensive alliance.

NATO didn't fight in Vietnam with us, with the French in Algeria, with the Portuguese in Angola and Mozambique, or with the UK in the Falklands.

The only time they fought together was after Sep 11.

[James Tate @JamesTate121]

Too on point not to share, “Aussie reply to Trump rant about NATO not being there for us.

Mate. You run a country with 600,000 homeless people sleeping on the street tonight. A country where 40% of adults can't cover a $400 emergency without borrowing money. A country where insulin costs more than a car payment and people are rationing it to survive. A country where medical debt is the number 1 cause of bankruptcy. A country where women are dying in hospital car parks because doctors are too scared of abortion laws to treat a miscarriage.
You lock up more of your own citizens than any nation on earth. More than China. More than Russia. More than North Korea. The land of the free has 2 million people in cages, and a quarter of them haven't even been convicted of anything. They're just too poor to make bail.
Your life expectancy is going backwards. You're the only developed nation where that's happening. Your infant mortality rate is worse than Cuba's. Your kids do active shooter drills between maths and English while you sell the gunmaker's stock to your mates.
Your minimum wage hasn't moved in 15 years. You've got teachers working 2 jobs and veterans sleeping under bridges and you just spent a trillion dollars flattening a country that didn't attack you.
And you’ve got a convicted felon, adjudicating raping, paedophile protecting, porn star shagging insurrectionist running the biggest dumpster fire war campaign since the Taliban thanked you very much for losing again.
And you're calling Greenland poorly run?
Greenland has universal healthcare. Free education. One of the lowest incarceration rates in the world. Nobody goes bankrupt there because they got sick. Nobody dies in a waiting room because their insurance said no.
"NATO wasn't there when we needed them." When exactly was that, champ? September 11? Because NATO invoked Article 5 for the first and only time in history FOR YOU. Soldiers from dozens of countries deployed, fought, bled, and died in Afghanistan FOR YOU. Australia wasn't even in NATO and we still showed up. For 20 years.
And you pulled out at 2am without telling anyone and left them to deal with the mess.
So maybe before you start calling other countries poorly run, have a look at your own backyard, you spray-tanned aluminium siding salesman. The only thing poorly run in this picture is your fucking mouth. Credit (borrowed from) Jim Scroggins - original author 📷 unknown”

[Middle Age Riot @middleageriot]

Donald Trump is not a political genius or a genius of any kind. He ran for president out of pure narcissism and accidentally tapped into a thick, rich vein of American stupid.

[Gandalv @Microinteracti1]

🤡 The Strait was already open before the war.

So to summarize: Trump started a conflict that closed it, then celebrated reopening it. And somewhere out there, his supporters are calling this a masterclass, which tells you everything you need to know about who’s been doing their reading.

[Dan Purdy Out! @NotAndyFirth]

This isn’t Sheffield Wednesday Danny. You can’t be dreadful against Porto, worse against Hibs and then be very lucky to lead 1-0 at half time against 10 men and expect a standing ovation for a job well done. Rise to our expectations, don’t try to take us down to yours.

[Nick Downs @ayrpuffer]

@RpsAgainstTrump Unbelievable

[Bella Wallersteiner 🇺🇦 @BellaWallerstei]

In Trump’s Davos speech, he confused Greenland with Iceland and dismissed NATO allies who fought with the US after 9/11 as giving “nothing in return”. Republicans still backing this circus should be ashamed

[Times Radio @TimesRadio]

“Britain needs a step change in its energy, food and defence policies.”

Keir Starmer should follow Mark Carney’s lead and invest in food, fuel and defence - or risk further economic decline and growing vulnerability to our enemies, says Andrew Neil.

@Afneil | #TimesRadio

[Mark Ormrod MBE @MarkOrmrod]

The mission isn’t over — it’s just different.

[Canada Hates Trump @AntiTrumpCanada]

I’m reposting this 2008 clip that Trump really, REALLY doesn’t want circulating. It’s him gushing over the Clintons: “Bill Clinton was a great President. Hillary Clinton is a great woman.” So whatever you do, for the love of God, do NOT retweet this.

[Nick Downs @ayrpuffer]

@JoJoFromJerz @Acyn Well his ear did grow back🤷🏻‍♂️

[Nick Downs @ayrpuffer]

@JoJoFromJerz Yep