peteb

Isn't that just shooting the messenger? He was in charge from 2013 to 2020, when the economy was being mis-managed by an inept government. My understanding is that he attempted to modernize the BoE and used fiscal policy to encourage business lending, but couldn't perform miracles to counter incompetent political leadership.

You mean that he was 'truthful' and 'realistic'?

There have always been heart-breaking stories, but these days even kids who have no issues, work hard and get what appears to be a decent job, still can't afford to get a home to bring a family up unless they have pretty wealthy parents who will give them a substantial amount of help. Add to that less security and more stress, both in the workplace and in life outside of work and it's no wonder that people are having more mental health issues. Add to that the effect of social media and the resulting devaluation of truth . People now, both young and old, politically left leaning or right wing, seem able to believe things that just defy any notion of common sense, stuff they would have dismissed as comical not that long ago. Dangerous times...

I'm afraid that as a (late) Boomer, I don't find it offensive at all, mainly because there is an element of truth in it. It's a generalisation of course, and certainly doesn't apply to all people of that age, but there are plenty of people I know of my age who believe things these days that they would have found ridiculous thirty years ago. This may be because the young are the ones who have to deal with the stress and worries of the modern world. I already own a home, have a decent pension sorted out, have had a reasonably secure job for many years, not to mention that I don't have to deal with the strange dating rituals that seem to be in place these days. This is probably the first generation for hundreds of years who will be poorer and more disadvantaged than their parents.

Cheers Pete Always good to see you still playing out. Puts me in mind of Pinetop Perkins, the great American blues pianist, who died suddenly at age 99 of a heart attack, with a diary full of gigs booked for the coming year...!

The ultimate goal is political rather than economic and that is Project 25. Whether that is a burning issue with Trump, or just what he had to sign up to for the backing to get elected is another thing. The point of the tariffs seems to be a bit of political posturing and an attempt to sow chaos and confusion. This hurts everyone, but in every scenario, the USA comes out of it worse and will ultimately be politically unpopular. I assume that this is why he keeps backing down every time the tariffs are due to come into effect.

I've been using a Shure GLXD for years now and it is by far the best wireless system that I have come across (and I've had loads over the years, going back to the first Nady systems i the 80s that used to pick up taxi companies in the middle of a gig)! My GLXD is one of the older ones that you can't plug a lead into, so I have a separate tuner on my board as well.

I've gotta say that i just bumped into an old drummer mate of mine at a pub gig tonight and he was saying that we ought to appreciate that we're in our late fifties / early sixties and we're both lucky enough to be still gigging regularly. Make the most of it while you still can, I'm still looking for more gigs. @petergales of this parish has just turned 79 and is still gigging and I have every intention of doing the same!

But do the MAGA followers care any more? They are cheering on Trump's 'reforms' and were happy to support an attempted insurrection when an election went against them. Trump is also trying to stack future elections against a Democrat win, therefore not 'free' elections. I think that Project 25 is more about making elections irrelevant rather than stopping them!

I don't think that is really the plan. I think it is more to establish a political structure (Project 25) to serve the oligarchy that makes elections irrelevant.

As ever, you have summarised the situation perfectly. Trump disrespecting and abandoning Europe has already been very unpopular this side of the Atlantic and this is likely to grow as populist parties like Reform tear themselves apart (see the morning news)! Perhaps, this is a big opportunity for Europe to actually become a major superpower by untethering itself from the USA and the post WW2 accord. I know, I'm being uncharacteristically optimistic, but you never know in these uncertain times...

I can see that. People are voting for Trump / Farage / Brexit, etc because they are sick of people they perceive to be supporting the opposing side telling them what they have to think on trans issues, etc.

Turkeys voting for Christmas! It's pretty clear that the current system hasn't been working for 'Joe/Josephine Average', especially in the last sixteen years or so, but the main reason for that is the system has allowed drastically increasing wealth inequality. So these people want to replace it with a new system that will accelerate this inequality of wealth and leave them even worse off! You have to wonder if there will ever be a tipping point where increasingly less affluent Americans will realise this, and even rebel against it? Perhaps that would be too unamerican...

To keep with the Joker theme from earlier, it's the Killing Joke...!

I think that a lot of people are trying to look at this way in a logical way when Trump isn't even trying to act in a logical way. The real aim internally is to side-line the democratic process and to establish an oligarchy beholden to him personally. Despite his followers chanting Trump 2028, he knows that it is highly unlikely that he will be able to run for POTUS again, so he doesn't need the MAGA followers anymore to a large extent. Chaos, a 'cost of living crisis', inflation and stock market crashes will only help his backers to buy up even more of the economy. He has two years until the midterms to change things permanently to achieve this. Externally, again chaos is the name of the game to enable him to re-establish America as the pre-dominant superpower and to enrich his billionaire benefactors. This is obviously a dangerous game, as he is forcing America's biggest allies against them and really only enabling China to eventually claim the position as the world's major power, but in the short-term he will try to force the world to give him what he wants. There is also the narcissistic aim of establishing himself as the most famous President of the modern area, if not of all time. People are going to be talking about Trump for centuries and I don't think that he really cares if it will be all bad, as long as he is remembered more than his predecessors !

I think that it's more accurate to say the Joker these days...!

Lots and lots of people voted leave because of that. Not necessarily because they believed it was true, but because they liked the audacious nature of the lie and made them feel good to see that the people that they had come to blame for their falling living standards were outraged by the blatant untruth on the side of a bus. Of course, it is difficult to explain to people with no idea how the economy works that the real reason was the money pumped into the banking system following the 2008 crisis went to the very wealthy, rather to them as intended. It was easier to blame foreigners and overly-cautious politicians who should have stopped this from happening, rather than those who profiteered from the situation and opportunist fringe politicians with an eye for the main chance. It didn't help that a lot of people didn't really believe that Brexit would actually happen until it was too late, so many saw it as a 'free hit' to make a protest about a useless government!

Thanks Rob. I will have a look at it when I get the chance and try to see if my very basic reading skills are up to it! I know the song, but what I play is based more on what George Porter Jr and Andy Hess played on later live versions. I didn't even know that the bass player from the Dave Matthews Band was on the original. I learnt it for a band I was depping for, then they changed the key for the girl singer, played it on one gig and promptly dropped it for some reason! I did half a dozen gigs for them and then suggested that perhaps they should find a more permanent bass player. However, I always thought that it was a great song!

Do you really think that is going to happen? How long before Russia re-groups and tries to take the rest of Ukraine and / or moves into Moldova? What we are likely to see is an dangerous arms race between Russia and Europe, with a much higher chance of a war in Europe in the next ten years or so. As for the ceasefire in Gaza, Trump's ridiculous proposal to deliver 'peace' there would very likely start a civil war in Jordan, unrest in the rest of the Middle East and another major attack on Israel.

It should be remembered that America wasn't always the superpower it is today. It only became so after the great European powers bankrupted and tore themselves apart following two world wars, caused by tensions that went back more than a hundred years. Following WW2, it seemed likely that most of Western & Southern Europe could fall to communism, leading America to intervene to rebuild the major European economies (including that of the UK) and to guarantee their safety with military assistance. The price for this was that the dollar was to become the reserve currency for the free world. This is what made the USA the dominant superpower, along with Europe being beholden / dependant on them for their safety. The fall of communism has led to the USA losing interest in Europe. With hindsight, Europe should have been pivoting away from America around the turn of the century and asserting its independence economically, politically and militarily. But there was loads of money to be made and no one on either side of the Atlantic wanted to rock the boat too much. The unfortunate thing is that Europe is now being forced to do so by an America that is showing signs of becoming a rogue state, when there is no money around anymore!

This is my understanding as well, except many West Germans are not so happy about it. There also is a resentment about the history of the old Prussian state, and how they treated the rest of Germany. I should note that I don't have much first hand experience of Germany and my impression is based on reading a book on modern German history.

That's how democracy works! You could make a better case of saying the whole of Scotland was forced into Brexit, even though they were overwhelmingly against it. I'm no expert on German politics either, but I do know that the majority of West Germans were against reunification (as were the governments of the UK and France, the other major powers in Europe), but they were forced into it by the USA and general circumstances. If East Germany was still a separate country, I would imagine that the AfD would be a fringe party in WG, but a major force in a much poorer EG.

If you're listening to Gov't Mule, then perhaps you could look at the excellent 'Beautifully Broken'. Great song with a nice bass part.

That's a rather strange statement. For a start, every country in the EU has its own government (despite what the Brexity types would have you believe) and how does a democratically elected government leave people who live in this 'small village', but presumably had the opportunity to vote in an election, disenfranchised? The current situation does make one thing abundantly clear (as if it wasn't before) - the European democracies need to act strategically together in things like defence, otherwise they are vulnerable to the really big powers and just too small to stand up to them on their own.

One of my things to play on soundchecks!