A general strike isn’t the end goal - it’s just one tool in a larger movement for a fairer society. Without deep structural change, any victory will be temporary, and moderates will be swept aside just like in the Russian Revolution.

The real fight is against a system that: • Turns housing into feudal lodgings • Keeps workers powerless through debt, low wages, and job insecurity • Uses healthcare as a profit engine instead of public infrastructure • Pushes every aspect of life toward privatization and financialization

A successful movement won’t just demand small fixes - it will challenge the entire system that allows exploitation to continue.

U.S. capitalism has hijacked basic needs like housing and healthcare, and these problems aren’t accidental—they’re built into the system. Housing is unaffordable because banks and financial institutions treat it as a commodity, locking people into debt. To fix this, we’d need to devalue real estate as an asset and limit speculative loans. The same goes for healthcare: the system isn’t broken, it’s designed to profit off human need, so true reform means nationalizing healthcare and removing corporate control.

The demands for a successful strike should include: • Housing as a right: End the financialization of housing and limit speculation. • Universal healthcare: Nationalize the healthcare system and eliminate private insurers. • Living wages: Set a living wage for all and drastically reduce the pay gap. • Job security & union rights: Real worker protections and job stability. • Progressive taxation & wealth redistribution: Tax the ultra-wealthy and corporations fairly. • Environmental justice: Transition to a green economy that prioritizes workers.

Real change requires systemic transformation, not reforms that merely patch up the existing system.

If I understand this correctly this is not about not giving Ukraine munitions it is about not giving the EU money to buy munitions to give to Ukraine. Each country in NATO is sovereign and pays for its own military. Each nation gives equipment and ordinance to Ukraine. There’s no change here (apart from the US saying they’re no longer supporting Ukraine). For the EU the future pooling resources will be developed within a sovereign framework so giving money to the EU for equipment now is like removing military sovereignty. Given that military procurement is rife with corruption and inflated costs, and the EU have no framework, or military strategy, or mandate for a EU army, you can understand why countries are reluctant to give money to the EU rather than giving to Ukraine directly.

In US English Ground is used to signify Earth. But if you said Ground in England people would understand what you meant.

Thanks for the suggestion. I’ve used Ubuntu a few times in the past on old computers it worked well although I do remember some headache trying to get the sound card to work well. But this was 10 years or so ago so I will look at Mint thanks.

I found the desktop was much nicer in Ubuntu compared with Windows. I find it bizarre that Windows still only has a very rudimentary, token option for multiple desktops.

Each country developed its own plug system in Europe. This looks like a French CEE 7 type plug - its asymmetrical fixed earth point creates wiring compatibility problems where the poles are wired differently in different countries. A lot of domestic appliances now use the German Schuko plug type as an answer to this problem (the earth is on the circumference edge pins)

I have an Asus Zenbook I bought when Windows 10 came out 10 years ago. Dropped, dented, scratched etc. still works great, runs all programs, though not Windows 11 - so I’ll either have to use a 3rd party antivirus or change the OS to Ubuntu or something.

Couldn’t she counter sue as Meta are saying it’s all lies? “Meta claimed the decision as a victory. “This ruling affirms that Sarah Wynn Williams’ false and defamatory book should never have been published,” Meta spokesperson Andy Stone said in a statement.