[Tsundoku]

You come up with the most interesting words. What is "brainlet"?

Still waiting for a definition of "bawbagging" as well.

[Maark Abbott]

Tsundoku, on 06 April 2021 - 09:00 AM, said:

You come up with the most interesting words. What is "brainlet"?

Still waiting for a definition of "bawbagging" as well.

Brainlet = lacking in brain

Bawbagging is Scottish - a bawbag is a pair of testicles, you can work the rest out from there.

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

'Most economic commentators agree that this boom is unlikely to end well, whenever the end arrives. But very little attention has been paid to the political and social harm already done to British society by this new model of capitalism over the past decade. A closer study of the consequences of an artificially engineered housing boom might cast light on the particular deformities of our politics, and help explain a number of seemingly unrelated afflictions – from the Brexit vote to the enduring power of "culture war" provocations by Downing Street and its court press.

Consider what a bizarre model of "growth" has governed Britain since the [2007] crash – where the value of a home rises by roughly 5% every year, but the value of an hour's work rises not at all, year after year. What does this do to us, psychologically and culturally? [...]

But it's not clear that this economic model has bred much contentment among its apparent beneficiaries either. The substitution of house price growth for collective prosperity can engender a paranoid and resentful mentality among asset-owners, in which any vision of social change looks fanciful and even threatening. Knowing that one's home is worth 5% more than it was a year ago may generate some inner comfort, but it doesn't represent any commensurate improvement to quality of life, in the way that a 5% increase in income might do.

Recent research, showing that those with wealth were more likely to support Brexit, confirmed that the crude narrative of "left behind" Brexiters was inaccurate. But it also posed questions about the political psychology of property ownership in an age of wage stagnation. The study's authors suggested that the "insurance" of housing wealth might allow for riskier political choices. What has not been adequately explained is why the apparent "winners" in our economic model have become so discontented.

One explanation is that progress and prosperity are now widely viewed as private rather than public ideals. After a decade in which austerity measures have allowed the public realm to crumble, many people believe there isn't enough money to go around, and you must cling all the more tightly to what you already have. Those voters who famously swung from Labour to the Conservatives in 2019 in the so-called "red wall" may have felt ignored by London, seen their high streets boarded up and their public services underfunded – but many of them still had large amounts of housing equity.

This weird model of capitalism, in which houses appreciate in value but people don't, may not have been consciously planned, but nor was it an accident. It is a consequence of an ideology of home ownership that has been essential to the Conservative party's policy agenda since Thatcher came to power. But it has never been exploited so deliberately and divisively: this is the real innovation of Johnson's "vote leave" government. [...]

It's under these distinctive economic circumstances that "cultural" factors become politically significant. The Tories have become expert at overseeing and manipulating a new sort of post-growth economy, in which there is no attempt to produce a "rising tide that lifts all boats", and the state simply intervenes to divert money toward those voters who deserve it and away from those who do not.'

https://www.theguard...se-prices-wages

'Mind the Gap: Why Wealthy Voters Support Brexit

[...] As wealth provides a cushion against financial risk, which in turn decreases risk-aversion, we argue that wealth increases support for a change to the status quo [this must mean when controlling for how much the people in question perceive the relevant aspects of the status quo as benefitting them...]. We test our theory in the case of Brexit, which has been widely characterized as a vote by economically left-behind voters. Our results show that individuals who lacked wealth are less likely to support leaving the EU, meaning they are more biased to the status quo. We corroborate our theory using two panel data surveys, accounting for unobserved individual level heterogeneity, and also using a survey experiment. The findings have implications for the role of wealth-as-insurance in electoral behavior, and also important implications for understanding the Brexit case.'

https://papers.ssrn....ract_id=3764889

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 26 April 2021 - 04:41 PM

[Maark Abbott]

These articles: saying things that people who didn't vote leave have been saying for half a decade...

[Gorefest]

Interesting (though volatile) situation with Jersey at present. I must confess that I had no idea that Jersey was not formally part of the UK but instead is an independent country with its own government. It does illustrate the unexpected pitfalls and caveats to the Brexit agreement.

If I understand correctly, Jersey was never formally part of the EU, but they had an existing fisheries agreement which was tied in with EU legislation. But because they are considered a UK crown dependency, when Brexit was formalised the existing agreement became null and void and Jersey was suddenly entitled to make its own rules regarding fishing in their territorial waters. And they seem to be taking quite a stern approach in favour of their own fleets, which is pissing off the French. As Jersey is classed as a crown dependency, the UK does have a legal obligation to provide the island's defence. So even though the UK does not have any direct involvement or influence on the new rules and regulations, if things really kick off they are obliged to defend Jersey against any French aggression. Bizarre situation.

[Maark Abbott]

Gorefest, on 07 May 2021 - 12:58 PM, said:

Interesting (though volatile) situation with Jersey at present. I must confess that I had no idea that Jersey was not formally part of the UK but instead is an independent country with its own government. It does illustrate the unexpected pitfalls and caveats to the Brexit agreement.

If I understand correctly, Jersey was never formally part of the EU, but they had an existing fisheries agreement which was tied in with EU legislation. But because they are considered a UK crown dependency, when Brexit was formalised the existing agreement became null and void and Jersey was suddenly entitled to make its own rules regarding fishing in their territorial waters. And they seem to be taking quite a stern approach in favour of their own fleets, which is pissing off the French. As Jersey is classed as a crown dependency, the UK does have a legal obligation to provide the island's defence. So even though the UK does not have any direct involvement or influence on the new rules and regulations, if things really kick off they are obliged to defend Jersey against any French aggression. Bizarre situation.

For the purpose of RTA law Jersey is considered 'out of jurisdiction' in the same way the Isle of Man is. We have to give those cases to a specific Jersey solicitor to handle.

It's also interesting to see the gammonious breklets roaring with approval over the thought of a scrap with the mainland. Which surprises me not a single bit.

[Mezla PigDog]

Gorefest, on 07 May 2021 - 12:58 PM, said:

if things really kick off they are obliged to defend Jersey against any French aggression

Define "obliged" though. If push came to shove and it was politically expedient I'm sure the UK government would throw them under the bus.

Either way though, it's pretty terrifying when you think about the morons in charge and their desperation to look like strong leaders and like Brexit was a good idea. Hopefully lessons were learned in WWI and II....

*goes off to google search "homemade bomb shelter"*

[Maark Abbott]

Mezla PigDog, on 10 May 2021 - 11:51 AM, said:

Gorefest, on 07 May 2021 - 12:58 PM, said:

if things really kick off they are obliged to defend Jersey against any French aggression

Define "obliged" though. If push came to shove and it was politically expedient I'm sure the UK government would throw them under the bus.

Either way though, it's pretty terrifying when you think about the morons in charge and their desperation to look like strong leaders and like Brexit was a good idea. Hopefully lessons were learned in WWI and II....

*goes off to google search "homemade bomb shelter"*

Bold of you to assume conservatives are capable of learning.

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Macron did recently say 'Napoleon is a part of us' (<<Napoléon Bonaparte est une part de nous>>)... though I imagine they'll wait for Scotland to secede before invading. Don't want to fight them highlanders.

Hard to imagine Merkel saying 'Adolf Hitler is a part of us' (explicitly anyway). Though I'd suppose I can imagine Boris Johnson saying 'Henry the 8th is a part of us' (if not the inspiration for Brexit---this one, that is...).

Napoleonic wars might have gone a bit differently if France had had Scotland, Ireland, and Wales on their side.

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

'France is closer to Jersey[...], so they have the possibility of gathering forces in the Cotentin Peninsula. Britain would have to send forces from mainland UK. So France could quickly assemble a local superiority, and they can fly aircraft over quite quickly. It could be a Falklands situation, where France does something and Britain has to retrieve the situation.

[...]

The French have more surface vessels than the Brits, and they have more fast jets, so they've got the slight edge in terms of numbers, for all the UK's expenditure. They've got the numerical superiority, but of course we are cleverer than they are.

Is that just you editorialising, or is there a reason for you saying that?

In terms of absolute numbers, we just announced cuts in our air force, and we've announced cuts in our helicopter force, and we've announced cuts in our army. That's at odds with the way the French are going – they are increasing their forces, certainly their armoured forces. It could be an interesting quandary for the Ministry of Defence.

[...] being British, I would say we've got a better edge in terms of fighting ability, if it comes to that. We just fight differently. I don't want to get into the details. But when I say we're cleverer, we are more sophisticated than the French are, because they just believe in sort of kicking the door in and smacking everybody, whereas we come through the window and skewer you while you're still sleeping.'

'The Hundred Years War, Part Two: This Time It's About Fish.'

https://www.vice.com...e-uk-and-france

Or maybe more than fish: suppose Scotland votes to leave the UK and rejoin the EU, and the Tories refuse to let them. This finally pushes Wales above 50% for seceding and rejoining the EU---or at least people assume the vote is symbolic and so only pro-secession voters turn out. Northern Ireland follows suit. Biden, the Commonwealth nations, and the EU condemn the UK and institute economic sanctions. France starts arming Scotland and Wales. The EU points out that the Tories have been able to take advantage of the lack of a written constitution, and demands that England adopt one in order to join 'the civilized world'. Boris Johnson appeals to Putin for aid... Russian agents poison Macron (or some high-ranking EU official they don't like) and frame England.

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 10 May 2021 - 04:57 PM

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

[Garak]

Mezla PigDog, on 10 May 2021 - 11:51 AM, said:

Define "obliged" though. If push came to shove and it was politically expedient I'm sure the UK government would throw them under the bus.

Well they fought for the Falklands despite it being far away and not even important. Idk.

[Malankazooie]

Anyone queue up for petrol over there recently? What's it been like? What's been your expirence?

[Mezla PigDog]

We have had half a tank and not been anywhere since this started so I haven't seen queues or needed to queue. The pro-Brexit peeps are conveniently not blaming Brexit for any of our current problems. Empty shelves in supermarkets, no fuel, likely to be gas shortages over winter so we may all freeze. Not Brexit or this governments fault. Absolute pillocks. I'm looking forward to no EU HGV drivers taking up the emergency visas they are issuing.

(I don't know if Brexit is the cause of the gas shortage...but I will blame the Tories for not using their last decade in power wisely anyway).

One thing I do kind of agree with some of the Tories on is that they want to drive up salaries and working conditions for the drivers so that the haulage companies can employ British people who aren't fans of low paid work. A fair days pay for a fair days work is fine by me. But they are going about it in such a cavalier way using brinkmanship instead of doing the long term policy work to create change. It's lazy and dumb. They nurtured a low wage environment in this country for over a decade, use Brexit to instantly turn off the tap of workers but didn't plan for the collapse of the haulage, hospitality and care sectors who relied on low paid EU staff.

Absolute waste of space politicians. Of course their right wing popular press won't do the leg work to link it all together so there is no chance of the country learning from its mistakes.

[TheRetiredBridgeburner]

Had to fill up at the weekend and luckily the second local one I tried had fuel, but they were limiting people to £30 each (which seems fair enough to me when there's a shortage). I have half a tank and it'll get me where I need to be going over the next week or so. Did feel slightly awkward filling up as without demanding to look at people's petrol gages there's no way to prove you're just buying what you normally would and it looks like you're another panic buyer.

[Maark Abbott]

Mezla PigDog, on 30 September 2021 - 01:09 AM, said:

Tories

Mezla PigDog, on 30 September 2021 - 01:09 AM, said:

they want to drive up salaries and working conditions

Those sure don't sound like Tories to me.

As despair-inducing as the whole mess is, I have to remind myself that we are where Tories, and their voters, wanted us to be. There was a lot of grumbling from the remain / non-Tory side that things would end up this way. We've long since gone past basic incompetence to the point I can only describe it as full blown malice.

It probably bears remembering as well that they have a very limited interest in actual governance. Their interest is towards profit generation for personal and corporate gain. It's also incredibly depressing to see the leader of the 'opposition' take the Tory stance, but he's been plainly a wrongun for a while now.

[Gorefest]

The sad thing is that there simply is no credible opposition in the UK, which means that the idiots have free reign. Nothing is suitably challenged, reviewed or discussed.

[Tiste Simeon]

TheRetiredBridgeburner, on 30 September 2021 - 06:55 AM, said:

Had to fill up at the weekend and luckily the second local one I tried had fuel, but they were limiting people to £30 each (which seems fair enough to me when there's a shortage). I have half a tank and it'll get me where I need to be going over the next week or so. Did feel slightly awkward filling up as without demanding to look at people's petrol gages there's no way to prove you're just buying what you normally would and it looks like you're another panic buyer.

This is the problem - panic breeds panic. I remember with the toilet paper last year when I found some I was like "should I buy am extra pack as I don't know when I'll see some again" luckily I decided to be a good citizen and didn't do so. I was almost grateful when stores started rationing things like that. People can be scum and don't think of others...

[Malankazooie]

What's happening with the pig processing over there? I know Christmas ham is popular here. We do turkey for Thanksgiving and a ham for Christmas. Pretty much anything associated with supply chains related to the Christmas season will be impacted, right?

[Gorefest]

It's fine, Christmas is about the people. Any food will do.

Where I said people I meant presents and where I said any food I mean chocolates and pizza.