We have agency when we unite and the good thing is that people all over the world are quite done with most of our … leaders. The difficulty is that we’re not united in which way to go.

I think that’s our biggest challenge right now, and all forces are coming out to prevent people being organised and standing together. If we can fix that, and some good stuff is happening, the future is ours. My worry is if we can get there soon enough, and whether or not we can minimise the harm in the meantime.

I understand all that, I just fundamentally disagree with it.

To be clear, I am not saying you’re wrong but I mean that this is just such irresponsible governing. It’s laziness indeed, it’s fear to take responsibility, it’s whatever else. What it isn’t is taking charge as leaders and feeling any kind of responsibility or accountability. This is something that could be done at a 10th of that amount if not less so.

I’ve worked a lot with governments myself in the past and the incredible wasteful spending just has me livid. From renting out entire castles to hold meetings to cleaning up walls, while also hollowing out just about all social services.

It’s just - it wasn’t always like this and I understand the politics behind but I will never understand it from a human point of view. It’s utter insanity and almost no one is willing to change it.

Sure, but still that’s just a price tag that can’t easily be validated - even with a subcontractor (and, frankly, municipalities should have this in their ranks - also for removing graffiti and such).

There’s a massive issue of government’s wasteful spending, local and national. This is one of those things. More generally, as a society that we have price tags like this is just insane. At the same time, basic services can’t be funded.

It just doesn’t add up, even if you agree with the removal.

The work came for free, courtesy of the artist.

The cleaning fee of £150k comes from - I mean wtf is that price even? That’s just absolutely bonkers on so many levels. Even if it requires some specialist work, this is just insane.

I hated the far right already but now I shall hate them even more.

Hrm…

I may have miscalculated this. Technically we’re still only at step 2 as I proposed it but with the North American and Asian equivalents of UEFA also against it, UEFA on a strike of sorts and people seemingly real mad at Infantino that might be the last step after all.

It’d be real funny if this caused the ouster of Infantino and he won’t even get a third term.

Still, I am not yet 100% convinced it won’t happen, or in some watered down version perhaps.

Honestly, football isn’t my thing but from the little reporting I saw UEFA (and others) came out swinging against this but the next day the tone was already considerably different.

The single fact that Infantino seems to have widespread support, also in Europe, for a third term to me basically tells the whole story. From the countries that were awarded the tournament in recent history, to the ‘Today I am’ speech, the FIFA Peace Prize, the influence from Trump… somehow that’s acceptable.

FIFA was incredibly corrupt, people got charged and somehow the next guy is even more corrupt.

So yeah, I have little hope.

My guess:

1. UEFA says no.
2. UEFA says really, really no.
3. EU issues warning.
4. FIFA says yes.
5. UEFA says yes.
6. EU says nothing.

Any connection is tangential at best and the forces against either are wholly different, and so is the nature of the allegations and everything else that surrounds them.

Either way this is not a thread about Platner, I won’t entertain this further.

First of all, there were multiple issues with Platner beyond the allegations. He also kept changing his story which made him unreliable.

He also was not removed, people called on him to step down but he made the call. He could have refused - it would not have made him friends but it was within his right to remain the candidate.

More importantly, he did not have arrest warrants out for some of the worst people in global politics that are somehow revered by much of the rest of the world. He also did not work for an institution grounded in international law others are seeking to dismantle.
Not quite at the same scale as someone running for US senate, let alone the numbers of the people of Maine vs the people of 125 independent countries.

Let’s not pull Platner into this. Quite a different situation.

True, but with 82 out of 125 voting for his removal it feels fair to say that at least some European countries voted in favour. This being closed-door is problematic in its own right but that’s another story.

My more general point is the utter failure of our leaders to defend the ICC as an institution and stand up for its people (even those without misconduct allegations). Let alone they won’t insist proper procedure is followed. On paper that may have been the case but in reality it appears to have been quite something else.

I think for me as well, if you check the flip side of the G notes I also love that the people show a fair bit of diversity. There’s a figure in a wheelchair (50), some people of colour and two sets of people who could well be same-sex couples (or siblings, or friends - imagine your own adventure, 100/200). None of the other designs have this.

I find the A series a little boring, feels like so many banknotes that already exist and what quite annoys me is that some have pictures and others paintings of people. I would strongly prefer them to be the same (and ideally painted in that case).

Series F or G for me. F has hand drawn images which is incredibly unusual but I really love it (even more so in the time of AI). It just feels radical and unexpected. G feels both retro and current, more of a typical banknote but still a striking design.

The birds bore me and the institution buildings aren’t the worst idea but there was a reason why we only had fictional architecture on the old notes and some of the buildings just aren’t that exciting.

Yes, but that I actually really like. They have always been pretty bold in colour already, but some of the new designs match that boldness. Some are unlike any notes I have ever seen which I just think is cool.

I love Weird Europe, some of these banknotes perfectly fit the bill (semi-pun).

Good, but…

1. There have been many EU fines on tech that were reversed or significantly reduced after promises to do better. They never do better but will do worse.

2. When Trump or Rubio or whomever get inevitably involved the Commission will walk it back because they always do.

3. While €890 million may be a ridiculous amount of money it’s also absolutely nothing for a company the size of Alphabet/Google. This does not significantly impact them in any way and as such is meaningless.

It takes effort, sadly more than it should, but I am proud of it and love to be able to tell the story behind the things I own. We don’t have the same diet exactly but the food across Europe is so much better than the commercial stuff from the US - I honestly don’t understand why we buy into it.

I’ve lived in Manchester and good UK food is nothing to be embarrassed about. I find it especially suitable for the colder days with all its pies and puddings, and I love that the UK has a very thriving vegan scene which set the example for the rest of Europe.

And yes, I’m a Reddit transplant and while the community here seems great its size pales in comparison and as such the activity as well, which really is a shame.

The clip of him saying that is apparently a decade old.

Problematic still but the context at that moment in time was wildly different, at least when it comes to general public perception and the politics around it. Not defending Israel in the slightest, to be clear.

Let’s judge things for what they actually are.

Not saying that isn’t the case but do you have any sources that show Palantir is directly involved?

I don’t know where you are in the world but in the EU this should not be legal without explicit consent. Of course that may matter little but in theory there are laws against this.