The Political Thread

[Frank]

Country's only as free as its press. Well done, Namibia:

[JayzusB.Christ]

I'm pleasantly surprised to see Ireland at the top of the scale - things have definitely changed since I was a kid and the hocus-pocus freaks in black were in charge of pretty much everything.  Also surprised to see France is only 'satisfactory'.

Veering wildly off topic, is it just me or is the Lego Movie all about Anarchism versus Totalitarianism?  It certainly does a better job of conveying that theme than the V for Vendetta movie did.  Apart from its being a long ad for a huge toymaking business, of course.

[JOE SOAP]

I'm pleasantly surprised to see Ireland at the top of the scale - things have definitely changed since I was a kid and the hocus-pocus freaks in black were in charge of pretty much everything.

Now Denis O'Brien owns most of the media.

[TordelBack]

The great Mary Beard's musings on gendered speech:  http://www.lrb.co.uk/2014/02/14/mary-beard/the-public-voice-of-women

Very interesting to see the collision of Twitter and classical scholarship.

[Prodigal2]

Thanks y'all for trying to cheer me up but I don't feel like I've won anything.

Balls.  You fought them with honour and dignity, you delayed and inconvenienced them, you forced them to meet you in a compromise.  That's winning, that's how it goes when you're an individual and they're the power.  Imagine the world where every citizen fought for their principles like you do.  Only genocidal madmen insist on unconditional victory.

One of the best things I have ever read methinks.

[Old Tankie]

Has Sharky won?  Based purely on the amount that he's written about the subject on the thread, he's obviously been through hell.  I've only skip-read many of his posts, as they've made me feel uncomfortable at times, as has some of the "encouragement" from some of the boarders on here, who, presumably, don't know Sharky very well.  Hasn't he accepted what was originally offered by the landlord and council?

Sharky's only won if Sharky himself thinks he has won.  I'm physically disabled and people continually telling me, "go on, Mike, you can walk, you can walk, you've won, you've won", would not make me feel any better.

I hope you do feel you've won, Sharky, and all the best for the future.
 

[Professor Bear]

I know it's considered bad form to link to the Daily Mail website as it only encourages them, but today's front-page headline is a thing of perfect beauty: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2560898/200-women-troops-sent-home-pregnant-MoD-wont-impose-war-zone-pregnancy-tests-privacy-fears.html
It perfectly encapsulates the ethos of a newspaper founded by a Nazi sympathiser and which to this very day still publishes attacks on "banking conglomerates", homosexuals, and frontline British troops.

[Spikes]

Scotland may, or may not be, leaving the UK this year, and nowt's been said about it on here.

No one interested, or just saving it all up for nearer the day?

[Hawkmumbler]

I think what Scotland is failing to take into account is the fact that if they leave the UK they also leave the EU, or is that what they really want? 

[Frank]

Scotland may, or may not be, leaving the UK this year, and nowt's been said about it on here. No one interested, or just saving it all up for nearer the day?

I think what Scotland is failing to take into account is the fact that if they leave the UK they also leave the EU, or is that what they really want? 

Just watch the Northward rush of Daily Mail readers if that came to pass. Hardly any brown people either, which would suit them down to the ground as well. Nobody on either side of the independence debate appears capable of listening to opposing arguments without imagining their grandmother's sexual manners have been called into question, so sensible folks tend read the papers, come to their own conclusions, and give the shrill name calling and witch hunts of the public debate a wide berth.

Whatever the outcome of the referendum, this has not been my civilisation's finest hour.

[ZenArcade]

The EU situation is a really strange one.....there are 6 million EU citizens there, if Scotland does secede from the Union, and the EU member states like Spain (with their Catalan situation) throw the toys out of the cot and demand Scotland not be admitted to the EU as an independent entity. This still leaves 6 million people in Scotland who are still EU citizens even after the event.
My views on Scottish independence are fairly positive but that's for another time. Z

[Spikes]

@ Sauchie.
Its certainly an emotive subject for many, so to some degree its understandable, but it doesn't lend itself to sensible debate - at times, as you say.

Though I doubt any of the home nation's would behave any differently.

I was going to ask for a show of hands as to how the numerous Scots on the board will be voting come September, but does that come under 'Between me and the ballot box'?

[Frank]

I was going to ask for a show of hands as to how the numerous Scots on the board will be voting come September, but does that come under 'Between me and the ballot box'?

I'll be voting for no change. Not because I think independence would be a disaster, but because I don't think it would make any real difference.

The only real freedom in this world is financial independence, and - even without the plan to retain sterling as our currency and the influence that would afford Westminster over Holyrood's ability to determine their own course of action - the economic interests of the Northern and Southern halves of this island are so inextricably linked we'd end up operating a common economic policy anyway.

The first thing the Salmond administration did when they came to power was to order the signage outside Holyrood changed from THE SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE to THE SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT. Independence on the terms currently under offer seems like a similarly expensive and ultimately empty rebranding exercise.

[8-Ball]

@ Judge Jack

Like Sauchie I will be voting NO. We have come too far as part of the Union and, like most Scots, I am a pragmatist and I don't believe that it would be in our best interests to walk away. I come from Bannockburn - the site of a famous battle between Scotland and England - and personally I have no desire to fight old wars.

[The Legendary Shark]

@ Tankie; I'm not sure that viewing what I'm doing in terms of winning and losing is entirely correct. It depends on the definitions, I suppose. One could take the view expounded in Babylon 5 that all you have to do to "win" is to say "no I won't" just one more time than they can say "yes you will", in which case the 'battle' could last practically forever. To my mind, a 'win' would be the Council and I coming to a mutually acceptable agreement and a 'loss' would be doing exactly as I'm told. This leaves a lot of scope in between. It can't be just a simple 'us and them' thing - the world's already too full of crap like that. Which is a roundabout way of saying that I don't know whether I've won or not!

@Scotland: This is your Big Chance to free yourselves from the bankers, dammit! Say "no" to the pound, the euro and the dollar; don't let your politicians buy money through printing bonds; don't allow them to borrow money either. YOU MUST TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO CREATE AND CONTROL YOUR OWN MONEY SUPPLY - ONLY BY DOING THIS CAN YOU ACHIEVE TRUE AND LASTING INDEPENDENCE. Do not allow your politicians to squander this chance and do not allow English, European or international bankers and politicians anywhere near your money supply or practically nothing will (or can) change.