BRFR Cake Stop 'breaking news' miscellany

[briantrumpet]

Not really news, but an interesting take on the differences between the US and Europe, from an American who moved to London and didn't want to go back.

 

[Ian H]

Not really news, but an interesting take on the differences between the US and Europe, from an American who moved to London and didn't want to go back.

My only complaint is that his constantly waving hands made it difficult to concentrate on the sub-titles.

 

[briantrumpet]

My only complaint is that his constantly waving hands made it difficult to concentrate on the sub-titles.

I don't know why people don't look at their own videos and see how silly it looks.

But apart from that, I was interested in his reasoning for the perceptions involved in Americans being so sceptical of Europe, and his own realisation of the difference between perception and reality, especially when it comes to guns & transport, for instance, and their 'blindness' to the possibility that there might be a better way.

He also references the observation that all systems are quite shît, but that the US system, far from being a paragon of democracy, is possibly one of the worse examples. Mind you, I'm not sure he's quite grasped UK politics fully yet...

 

[Bazzer]

Not really news, but an interesting take on the differences between the US and Europe, from an American who moved to London and didn't want to go back.

His view is not unique either. I have seen several videos of Americans who moved to the UK or to mainland Europe, who now view their home country from a very different perspective.
Being "brainwashed" into believing the US is the greatest country in the world for health, education, discoveries etc., and anybody who disagrees with that is wrong, is commonly used either directly or strongly implied.
I am sure there are Americans over here and in Europe, who believe that the UK and Europe is too socialist, that less gun laws are needed and that people live to work not work to live. But for some reason they appear to be a less vocal about it.

 

[briantrumpet]

His view is not unique either. I have seen several videos of Americans who moved to the UK or to mainland Europe, who now view their home country from a very different perspective.
Being "brainwashed" into believing the US is the greatest country in the world for health, education, discoveries etc., and anybody who disagrees with that is wrong, is commonly used either directly or strongly implied.
I am sure there are Americans over here and in Europe, who believe that the UK and Europe is too socialist, that less gun laws are needed and that people live to work not work to live. But for some reason they appear to be a less vocal about it.

The mindset that one's country is the greatest in the world seems to be a sure-fire way to problems somewhere along the line - not entirely unrelated to the legacy of the British Empire, the loss of which (and related world-leading status) still seems to manifest itself in the British exceptionalism that fed the 'they need us more than we need them' mindset of Brexit.

I think the US is heading towards finding out that the world can cope when a country, even one as big as the US, decides to go it alone, especially when you've got economies the size of China, India and the EU capable of taking up the slack, and will welcome the brightest and best from the US.

 

[CXRAndy]

Donation on hold, high profile speakers cancelling Oxford union invites.


View: https://x.com/grok/status/1979831263742832878?t=s9EtTS1chWBOefZEadf6wA&s=19

 

[briantrumpet]

Interesting Dan Neidle post on whether Carter-Ruck should be in the dock for not just defending a fraudulent blockchain 'company' (OneCoin - actually a Ponzi scheme), but trying to silence all reporting on it, despite the fact they hadn't got satisfactory answers to the questions required by Know Your Client laws.

https://taxpolicy.org.uk/2025/10/19/carter-ruck-onecoin-fraud-crime/

 

[Evil_Breakfast]

Interesting Dan Neidle post on whether Carter-Ruck should be in the dock for not just defending a fraudulent blockchain 'company' (OneCoin - actually a Ponzi scheme), but trying to silence all reporting on it, despite the fact they hadn't got satisfactory answers to the questions required by Know Your Client laws.

https://taxpolicy.org.uk/2025/10/19/carter-ruck-onecoin-fraud-crime/

View attachment 10584

Always enjoy reading Dan's threads; informative yet easy to digest/comprehend.
Reminds me of the time when he appeared on BBC News to discuss Nadhim Zahawi's tax affairs, and Nina Warhurst decided to introduce him as a Labour Supporting Tax Lawyer. #BBCBias


View: https://x.com/simonjmason/status/1617085231940665345?t=gdvcNuGfHadCpRz0a4xLkA&s=19

 

[briantrumpet]

Always enjoy reading Dan's threads; informative yet easy to digest/comprehend.
Reminds me of the time when he appeared on BBC News to discuss Nadhim Zahawi's tax affairs, and Nina Warhurst decided to introduce him as a Labour Supporting Tax Lawyer. #BBCBias


View: https://x.com/simonjmason/status/1617085231940665345?t=gdvcNuGfHadCpRz0a4xLkA&s=19

To be fair, he is a Labour supporter (or has been), but he doesn't hide that, nor does that prevent him from looking into Labour proposals or politicians critically. He does manage to make tax policies and their application accessible and interesting, as well as annoying @PurplePenguin (for reasons I've never fully understood). He'd done good pieces on the idiotic cliff-edge taxes that the complicated UK allowances & rates result in (not that I'm ever going to get near those cliff edges on my income level).

 

[Evil_Breakfast]

To be fair, he is a Labour supporter (or has been), but he doesn't hide that, nor does that prevent him from looking into Labour proposals or politicians critically. He does manage to make tax policies and their application accessible and interesting, as well as annoying @PurplePenguin (for reasons I've never fully understood). He'd done good pieces on the idiotic cliff-edge taxes that the complicated UK allowances & rates result in (not that I'm ever going to get near those cliff edges on my income level).

My beef was the wording used, and it's 'implication'. Not a tax Lawyer and a Labour member; but a Labour supporting tax lawyer.
Little things like this are important IMO.

 

[PurplePenguin]

To be fair, he is a Labour supporter (or has been), but he doesn't hide that, nor does that prevent him from looking into Labour proposals or politicians critically. He does manage to make tax policies and their application accessible and interesting, as well as annoying @PurplePenguin (for reasons I've never fully understood). He'd done good pieces on the idiotic cliff-edge taxes that the complicated UK allowances & rates result in (not that I'm ever going to get near those cliff edges on my income level).

I think he is overconfident and tries to sensationalise everything. In that, he is far from alone on the internet, but he then manages to write lengthy quite dull "articles" (mostly just a series of tweets) which seem to be lapped up his followers.

For example, he confidently states cryptocurrency can't be centralised which just shows a lack of understanding. Ripple, for example, is centralised.

 

[briantrumpet]

My beef was the wording used, and it's 'implication'. Not a tax Lawyer and a Labour member; but a Labour supporting tax lawyer.
Little things like this are important IMO.

Yes indeed, but there is almost plausible deniability about the phrase.

 

[briantrumpet]

I think he is overconfident and tries to sensationalise everything. In that, he is far from alone on the internet, but he then manages to write lengthy quite dull "articles" (mostly just a series of tweets) which seem to be lapped up his followers.

For example, he confidently states cryptocurrency can't be centralised which just shows a lack of understanding. Ripple, for example, is centralised.

OK, thanks PP, though to be fair to him, I suspect that if you politely pointed that out to him, he would be prepared to be educated. As someone who generally finds tax extremely dull, I do think he does a good job of making it much less dull.

 

[First Aspect]

Is Dan Niedle the guy who always messes with the axes on graphs to exaggerate and misrepresent?

 

[briantrumpet]

Is Dan Niedle the guy who always messes with the axes on graphs to exaggerate and misrepresent?

Not that I remember, but he's got quite a comprehensive blog if you want to check. https://taxpolicy.org.uk/

It would be a silly thing to do if he wants to be taken seriously.