The Political Thread

[IndigoPrime]

Mortgages and other debts were one of the big issues in the country, since many of these things were tied heavily to foreign currency. That's fine when your currency is doing well (such as when you were lucky to get 120ISK per GBP around 2005), but not so much when your currency tanks (to the level of about 220ISK per GBP at the worst—it's of late hovering between 180 and 200). Many people lost homes. The rich soldiered on, as ever.

As for the bankers, I should note that doing something is better than effectively doing nothing. What always gets me is the daily crap I see online that Iceland's somehow transformed into a utopia with bankers being lobbed into jail, resulting in everything being all right now. Broadly speaking, very little has in fact changed. And the government that was trying hard under appalling conditions to effect changes of course got voted out in a reactionary swing to the right, as always seems to happen when money's tight.

[The Legendary Shark]

Thanks for your insight. It's always good to listen to someone with first-hand experience.
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I can understand why people want to believe Iceland has sorted itself out. They want to believe because it would mean that somewhere out there exists at least one government which puts the people first. Because if there's one government doing that it means others have the potential to do the same.
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But that's never going to happen.
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People want to believe in government because it's so easy. Someone else will ride into town wearing a big white hat and make things right for everyone. All they have to do is pick the correct hero and vote for him/her and all their troubles will be over. Like those folk out there waiting for Jesus to come back.
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But that ain't gonna' happen.
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It's easier to sit back and wait than to sort yourself out, easier to give over the running of your country, your community, your family and you to others than to take responsibility yourself.
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But people wait, and wait, and wait. And all the time, inch by inch, policy by policy, legislation by legislation, what little we have left is stolen, right by right, freedom by freedom, choice by choice, penny by penny, until there's nothing left to do, nothing left to say, nowhere left to go, nothing left to spend. And the sad part is, the part that truly breaks my heart, is that most people believe this is the only way.
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[CrazyFoxMachine]

Hairy Hunt.

What he has done today won't be forgotten for a looooong time.

[TordelBack]

Slap a pair of specs and a mug of whatever-you're-having-yourself on that nightmare and it's CFM's self-portrait avatar! Coinkydink?

[IndigoPrime]

What he has done today won't be forgotten for a looooong time.

Laying the groundwork to kill the NHS. Public support is dropping rapidly. The government presumably hopes that by 2020 there will be enough support for privatisation to 'save' the NHS that has failed despite the 'best efforts' of the Conservatives.

I suspect that unless by some miracle Labour (probably backed by the SNP) squeaks in, the NHS (and probably the BBC) will cease to exist in their current forms by the end of the 2020–2025 term.

[CrazyFoxMachine]

Slap a pair of specs and a mug of whatever-you're-having-yourself on that nightmare and it's CFM's self-portrait avatar! Coinkydink?

Right... that's just the incentive I need to change my avatar 

[The Legendary Shark]

Contracts cannot be imposed on anyone. The very nature of a contract is that it must be voluntary, otherwise it's a command, an edict. Is this what our "government" is now? Our commander, our boss?
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Forgive my bluntness, but fuck that.

[M.I.K.]

That's fake. It's just an old photo of Pat Sharp with Hunt's face stuck on it.

[IndigoPrime]

Contracts cannot be imposed on anyone.

My understanding of this is junior doctors leap from job to job extremely regularly, and re-sign contracts often. So this means that if the contract is enforced for new sign-ups, it will become what most junior doctors 'agree' to regardless. Their other options are to quit, go overseas, or flee to Scotland or Wales, which mysteriously appears to not be having the same kinds of issues, presumably due to devolution and non-psychotic people in charge.

[ZenArcade]

Cider drinking, mullet wearing art competition geniuses are an essential component of our forum. Stay strong CFM. Z

[The Legendary Shark]

I.P., that's true. However, the government doesn't have a monopoly on contracts. They can be proposed by individual hospitals, local "authorities" or even between doctors and patients, for instance.
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"My way or the highway" is no basis for honest contracts - even those supposedly proposed on our behalf - and in this case seems to be a weapon designed to starve public medicine of new doctors. Private medical facilities will offer better contracts, of course, making them appear preferable.
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There's more than one way to privatise a health service and more than one weapon in the privatisers' arsenal.
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They offer a shitty choice or a less shitty choice and call it democracy or freedom. It's neither.

[CrazyFoxMachine]

That's fake. It's just an old photo of Pat Sharp with Hunt's face stuck on it.

Yeah...



Shame. There are no researchable pictures of the young Hunt, but given he's a contemporary of the Bullingdon boyz it's a bit of a relief. Who knows what you'd turn up...

[The Legendary Shark]

From Avaaz:

Dear friends,

They bomb schools, hospitals, even wedding parties. What Saudi Arabia is doing in Yemen is disgusting -- and they're doing it with weapons they buy from Europe, the US, and Canada. But in just a few days we can do the unthinkable -- win a landmark decision that could stem the flow of weapons to the Saudis.

The European Parliament is days away from voting on a proposed EU-wide arms embargo -- but under heavy Saudi lobbying, some politicians are wavering.

Now more than ever, these leaders need to see that people from every corner of the Earth are looking to them to stand up and say "NO" to Saudi Arabia and their atrocities. Sign the urgent petition calling for an arms embargo -- we need to show the EU champions overwhelming public support:

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/saudi_arms_deal_uk

This is how we can help end wars -- by cutting off the supplies that fuel them. Calling for an embargo would have been unthinkable a few years ago because of western governments' tight relationship with the regime, but this total disregard for human rights has made it impossible for them to look the other way. Europe could vote for an embargo in days -- they just need to feel the public is watching and cares.

I'm not a fan of government, as you know, but as we're stuck with it (for now, at least) we might as well try and make it do something useful from time to time.

[JayzusB.Christ]

I'm not a fan of government, as you know, but as we're stuck with it (for now, at least) we might as well try and make it do something useful from time to time.

It's that time of year again - I agree with one of your political comments!  *Opens champagne; sets off fireworks*

Nice one, Sharky, I've signed the petition.

[The Legendary Shark]

Heh - this is how it begins; one agreement at a time. At this rate, I'll be In Charge in about 37,000 years. Luckily, I'm a very patient man. Bwa ha ha haaaa...