FOARP
@foarp.bsky.social
China, Taiwan, Poland. Ukraine and IP law mostly
Reposted by FOARP
"Ukrainians have been fighting & dying for their freedom, for their very lives, for 11 years now. They have suffered hundreds of thousands of dead & wounded... faced by an enemy that denies their very right to existence... a people getting brutalized for wanting what any state should be entitled to"
Hi All, Just sent out my free weekend update. It starts with the Ukrainian corruption scandal--we must all remember that this war is not about Zelensky personally, it’s about that for which the Ukrainians are fighting and dying. open.substack.com/pub/phillips...
Weekend Update #159: Ukraine Is Much More Than Zelensky
Ukraine’s Ranged War: Thermal Plants and Ports; Russia's Ranged War: Darkness and Death; Pokrovsk is all about the Relative Losses
open.substack.com
November 16, 2025 at 9:13 AM
"Ukrainians have been fighting & dying for their freedom, for their very lives, for 11 years now. They have suffered hundreds of thousands of dead & wounded... faced by an enemy that denies their very right to existence... a people getting brutalized for wanting what any state should be entitled to"
Reposted by FOARP
At some point we have to ask why British politics keeps producing leaders who struggle to do the job.
That's partly about the pressures of the role itself, but it's also about the "pipeline": how likely are our procedures to generate leaders with the skill-set to manage those pressures?
[THREAD] 🧵
That's partly about the pressures of the role itself, but it's also about the "pipeline": how likely are our procedures to generate leaders with the skill-set to manage those pressures?
[THREAD] 🧵
Looking at this graph and wonder if something else might be going on beyond 'poor quality leader'
November 15, 2025 at 2:15 PM
At some point we have to ask why British politics keeps producing leaders who struggle to do the job.
That's partly about the pressures of the role itself, but it's also about the "pipeline": how likely are our procedures to generate leaders with the skill-set to manage those pressures?
[THREAD] 🧵
That's partly about the pressures of the role itself, but it's also about the "pipeline": how likely are our procedures to generate leaders with the skill-set to manage those pressures?
[THREAD] 🧵
Reposted by FOARP
There's the constituency of 'I just don't like visible and audible difference' which Labour can't appeal to. And there's the 'I don't like that this has measurably made my area worse by introducing an insecure, economically detached class of people', which this policy makes worse.
November 15, 2025 at 3:06 PM
There's the constituency of 'I just don't like visible and audible difference' which Labour can't appeal to. And there's the 'I don't like that this has measurably made my area worse by introducing an insecure, economically detached class of people', which this policy makes worse.
A sad thing about being a lawyer is you do tend to write everything as if it might be read out in court at some point.
Back in 'Godfather' era, the mafia code was:
- Don't put anything in writing, that you can just say
- Don't say anything, if you can just wink and nod
Trump got "don't put it in writing" part, by not using email
But these people around Epstein—did they think emails could ever be "private"?
- Don't put anything in writing, that you can just say
- Don't say anything, if you can just wink and nod
Trump got "don't put it in writing" part, by not using email
But these people around Epstein—did they think emails could ever be "private"?
November 14, 2025 at 9:40 PM
A sad thing about being a lawyer is you do tend to write everything as if it might be read out in court at some point.
Reposted by FOARP
Back in 'Godfather' era, the mafia code was:
- Don't put anything in writing, that you can just say
- Don't say anything, if you can just wink and nod
Trump got "don't put it in writing" part, by not using email
But these people around Epstein—did they think emails could ever be "private"?
- Don't put anything in writing, that you can just say
- Don't say anything, if you can just wink and nod
Trump got "don't put it in writing" part, by not using email
But these people around Epstein—did they think emails could ever be "private"?
November 14, 2025 at 8:53 PM
Back in 'Godfather' era, the mafia code was:
- Don't put anything in writing, that you can just say
- Don't say anything, if you can just wink and nod
Trump got "don't put it in writing" part, by not using email
But these people around Epstein—did they think emails could ever be "private"?
- Don't put anything in writing, that you can just say
- Don't say anything, if you can just wink and nod
Trump got "don't put it in writing" part, by not using email
But these people around Epstein—did they think emails could ever be "private"?
Reposted by FOARP
America's network of democratic alliances was a jewel. Never before had a great power relied on cultivating voluntary relationships, leading to the richest, most powerful country in history, and benefitting the world relative to the alternative.
Then America decided to throw it away. And for what?
Then America decided to throw it away. And for what?
Homan: "I don't think the UK is a friend to this country and friend of the president"
November 14, 2025 at 6:38 PM
America's network of democratic alliances was a jewel. Never before had a great power relied on cultivating voluntary relationships, leading to the richest, most powerful country in history, and benefitting the world relative to the alternative.
Then America decided to throw it away. And for what?
Then America decided to throw it away. And for what?
Nearly every discussion you have as a patent attorney: "but how can X be an invention when not-X already existed!!!!"
November 14, 2025 at 1:00 PM
Nearly every discussion you have as a patent attorney: "but how can X be an invention when not-X already existed!!!!"
I really hate how, after nearly four years, these barbaric attacks barely register any more.
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
Russia attacks ‘every district’ of Kyiv, sparking fires across Ukrainian capital
Pictures posted on social media showed different sites in flames and residents gathering in rubble-strewn streets outside apartment buildings
www.theguardian.com
November 14, 2025 at 10:07 AM
I really hate how, after nearly four years, these barbaric attacks barely register any more.
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
Reposted by FOARP
"What is certain, and felt instinctively by almost everybody, is that things cannot go on in their present way" – The Times, May 1975
“It is difficult to imagine a previous period when such an all-pervasive hopelessness was exhibited at all levels of British life” – Professor Stephen Haseler, 1975
“It is difficult to imagine a previous period when such an all-pervasive hopelessness was exhibited at all levels of British life” – Professor Stephen Haseler, 1975
November 14, 2025 at 9:13 AM
"What is certain, and felt instinctively by almost everybody, is that things cannot go on in their present way" – The Times, May 1975
“It is difficult to imagine a previous period when such an all-pervasive hopelessness was exhibited at all levels of British life” – Professor Stephen Haseler, 1975
“It is difficult to imagine a previous period when such an all-pervasive hopelessness was exhibited at all levels of British life” – Professor Stephen Haseler, 1975
Reposted by FOARP
What was Russia ready to surrender in the name of coexistence?
Even today in posts like this Europe is expected to make concessions in advance in the name of future liberal Russia, with no details on what would Russians have to do in order to transform it into that form for more than usual 10 years
Even today in posts like this Europe is expected to make concessions in advance in the name of future liberal Russia, with no details on what would Russians have to do in order to transform it into that form for more than usual 10 years
November 13, 2025 at 6:31 PM
What was Russia ready to surrender in the name of coexistence?
Even today in posts like this Europe is expected to make concessions in advance in the name of future liberal Russia, with no details on what would Russians have to do in order to transform it into that form for more than usual 10 years
Even today in posts like this Europe is expected to make concessions in advance in the name of future liberal Russia, with no details on what would Russians have to do in order to transform it into that form for more than usual 10 years
I never thought PCC's were a particularly great idea, but scrapping them and replacing them with *nothing*?
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Police and crime commissioners to be abolished
Home secretary says PCCs, in England and Wales, were ‘failed experiment’ – and scrapping them will save £100m over this parliament
www.theguardian.com
November 13, 2025 at 5:40 PM
I never thought PCC's were a particularly great idea, but scrapping them and replacing them with *nothing*?
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
You know lads, that's a nice goal and all, but there's a quick way of achieving it...
November 12, 2025 at 4:36 PM
You know lads, that's a nice goal and all, but there's a quick way of achieving it...
Change a few of the words and the faces of the people doing it, and this could be a film playing on Chinese television. Particularly the need to affirm their own propaganda with a foreign viewpoint (Murchison was actually Scottish, not English, and reputedly a bit of a megalomaniac).
"Everyone wants to be Russian. Why?Because we are good people."
Russian film company released a movie called "Good Neighbors." It’s described as "a heartwarming family film about friendship"
A vivid illustration of the picture of the world that the Kremlin is painting for Russians
Russian film company released a movie called "Good Neighbors." It’s described as "a heartwarming family film about friendship"
A vivid illustration of the picture of the world that the Kremlin is painting for Russians
November 12, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Change a few of the words and the faces of the people doing it, and this could be a film playing on Chinese television. Particularly the need to affirm their own propaganda with a foreign viewpoint (Murchison was actually Scottish, not English, and reputedly a bit of a megalomaniac).
1997 at least.
This has been normal British cabinet politics since 2016
November 12, 2025 at 11:34 AM
1997 at least.
Reposted by FOARP
There’s a whole industry around designing effective offices but as far as I know execs don’t care; it’s well established that open plans suck but we’ve been stuck with them for decades so that they can save rent
November 11, 2025 at 3:21 PM
There’s a whole industry around designing effective offices but as far as I know execs don’t care; it’s well established that open plans suck but we’ve been stuck with them for decades so that they can save rent
Reposted by FOARP
Economic growth in Germany since reunification has mostly benefited the middle and upper middle class up to the 99th percentile. Income inequality (pre-tax) in 🇩🇪 is similar to the 🇺🇸 and higher than in 🇫🇷. Inequality has increased, but less than previous studies suggest.
November 11, 2025 at 7:20 AM
Economic growth in Germany since reunification has mostly benefited the middle and upper middle class up to the 99th percentile. Income inequality (pre-tax) in 🇩🇪 is similar to the 🇺🇸 and higher than in 🇫🇷. Inequality has increased, but less than previous studies suggest.
Reposted by FOARP
…I give up. I absolutely give up.
November 11, 2025 at 5:07 PM
…I give up. I absolutely give up.
FFS.
There's nothing this government won't do to pander to old people who ultimately won't vote for them anyway, and nothing they will even try to improve the lot of those who did vote for them.
There's nothing this government won't do to pander to old people who ultimately won't vote for them anyway, and nothing they will even try to improve the lot of those who did vote for them.
November 11, 2025 at 5:22 PM
FFS.
There's nothing this government won't do to pander to old people who ultimately won't vote for them anyway, and nothing they will even try to improve the lot of those who did vote for them.
There's nothing this government won't do to pander to old people who ultimately won't vote for them anyway, and nothing they will even try to improve the lot of those who did vote for them.
Reposted by FOARP
"Yes China has censorship, but everyone just uses a VPN!" It's not quite so simple. While private VPN usage is generally tolerated, it's illegal and only tolerated until it isn't, as this translated article from the Ministry of State Security proves.
mp.weixin.qq.com/s/DK-yLJmgfF...
mp.weixin.qq.com/s/DK-yLJmgfF...
China Calls On Public to Report Illegal VPN Usage, Man Arrested
Follow Expat Focus
mp.weixin.qq.com
November 11, 2025 at 8:16 AM
"Yes China has censorship, but everyone just uses a VPN!" It's not quite so simple. While private VPN usage is generally tolerated, it's illegal and only tolerated until it isn't, as this translated article from the Ministry of State Security proves.
mp.weixin.qq.com/s/DK-yLJmgfF...
mp.weixin.qq.com/s/DK-yLJmgfF...
Reposted by FOARP
SCOOP: China's top 2 gay dating apps, Blued and Finka, became unavailable on app stores over the weekend. Apple confirmed to WIRED that it removed the two apps following "an order from the Cyberspace Administration of China."
latest with @lmatsakis.bsky.social
latest with @lmatsakis.bsky.social
Apple Pulls China’s Top Gay Dating Apps After Government Order
The removal of Blued and Finka marks another setback for China’s marginalized LGBTQ+ community.
www.wired.com
November 10, 2025 at 5:27 AM
SCOOP: China's top 2 gay dating apps, Blued and Finka, became unavailable on app stores over the weekend. Apple confirmed to WIRED that it removed the two apps following "an order from the Cyberspace Administration of China."
latest with @lmatsakis.bsky.social
latest with @lmatsakis.bsky.social
Reposted by FOARP
history will ultimately decide this but i think joyce carol oates might have just landed the most devastating burn in human history. like the death star trench run of posting
November 10, 2025 at 7:03 PM
history will ultimately decide this but i think joyce carol oates might have just landed the most devastating burn in human history. like the death star trench run of posting
Reposted by FOARP
I’ve written to Keir Starmer, Kemi Badenoch and Nigel Farage urging them to condemn Donald Trump’s attack on the BBC.
The BBC belongs to Britain, not Trump. We must defend it together.
The BBC belongs to Britain, not Trump. We must defend it together.
November 10, 2025 at 11:29 AM
I’ve written to Keir Starmer, Kemi Badenoch and Nigel Farage urging them to condemn Donald Trump’s attack on the BBC.
The BBC belongs to Britain, not Trump. We must defend it together.
The BBC belongs to Britain, not Trump. We must defend it together.
Reposted by FOARP
Sack the editor of the New York Times every time it writes about boiled mutton.
Maybe Keir should demand the heads of major US news networks any time they imply Britain is on the brink of civil war or that we live under sharia law. Or does it not work both ways?
November 10, 2025 at 11:39 AM
Sack the editor of the New York Times every time it writes about boiled mutton.
Reposted by FOARP
Maybe Keir should demand the heads of major US news networks any time they imply Britain is on the brink of civil war or that we live under sharia law. Or does it not work both ways?
November 10, 2025 at 11:29 AM
Maybe Keir should demand the heads of major US news networks any time they imply Britain is on the brink of civil war or that we live under sharia law. Or does it not work both ways?