uziq
Member
+492|3422
none of those things caused the financial crash or were spurs for austerity. the tories spinning a global financial crisis into a bit of political point-scoring against the previous govt is not exactly unpredictable (it's even less surprising that they, like the republicans, have turned around and let the city/banks off the hook with deregulation). well done for swallowing it whole. you can be opposed to the wars in iraq and afghanistan AND defend the fact that it wasn't new labour that caused a eurozone crisis.

your hatred of brown people, blair, and of course jews seems to paint the world in very stark absolutes. sad!

how surprising that the UN report into mass child poverty and inequality in the UK doesn't mention new labour's recklessness with the economy once. it even states that the UK has a large enough economy and had a good enough treasury budget to navigate the global financial crisis and neoliberal/european strategy of austerity in ways that were far less harmful to society's most impoverished and vulnerable. and yet you'll blame roma gypsies and tony blair. ha ha ha

Last edited by uziq (2019-12-18 04:40:05)

Dilbert_X
The X stands for
+1,810|6076|eXtreme to the maX
Thats all great but Boris has promised to increase public spending, he's going to spend an extra something on the NHS and about the same on the Police.

If there's one thing you can depend on its Johnson sticking to his word.

That and Blair's vanity wars account for about four years of austerity, hardly trivial.
Русский военный корабль, иди на хуй!
uziq
Member
+492|3422
austerity has cost the country about £100bn, at a conservative estimate.

these things are a matter of political will, not good economic house-keeping.

vanity wars in iraq and afghan were huge disgraces, to be sure. but to incur 5x the economic damage to the nation's poorest, whilst giving tax cuts to the rich? quick, blame immigrants some more!
Dilbert_X
The X stands for
+1,810|6076|eXtreme to the maX
Seems those whiny Europeans can get along - seems like a win-win.

Austria's conservatives have agreed to form an unprecedented coalition government with the Greens after months of negotiations.

"We succeeded in uniting the best of both worlds," Mr Kurz said on Wednesday. "It is possible to protect the climate and borders."

Greens leader Werner Kogler said Austria should now become a European leader on climate change issues, telling reporters that both parties "have possibly agreed on more than we could have imagined beforehand".

Full details of the coalition will be announced on Thursday. But the leaders suggested they would aim to lower taxes in general - a People's Party pledge - while bringing in higher environmental taxes, in line with Green policies.


https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-50969001
Русский военный корабль, иди на хуй!
uziq
Member
+492|3422
hitler was a vegan, austria have an established pedigree in producing politicians that care more about how their meal was prepared or planting trees than refugees.
Dilbert_X
The X stands for
+1,810|6076|eXtreme to the maX
Vegan's can be a bit odd, looks like progress in Austria though.
Русский военный корабль, иди на хуй!
uziq
Member
+492|3422
something deeply creepy about kurz. expect to hear a lot more from him in coming years.

also, i don't think it has to be pointed out, but the left are way better on green policy in general. they are communitarian, after all. it's kind of depressing that a populist party actually having a green policy is newsworthy, tbh.

Last edited by uziq (2020-01-01 23:47:42)

SuperJail Warden
Gone Forever
+634|3689
New Prime minister and some secretaries in Finland.
https://i.redd.it/cgmeu71rnf841.jpg
3 , 2 , 1, 4

The one on the far left looks like a social studies teacher I hooked up with once.
#2 looks like Natalie Dorner which is fantastic
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/81/Natalie_Dormer_by_Gage_Skidmore_2.jpg
The blonde looks mean.
https://i.imgur.com/xsoGn9X.jpg
uziq
Member
+492|3422
what's more interesting about the PM is that she's 34 and used to be a cashier. first person in her family to go to university. worked summers in a bakery.

i bet jay is absolutely apoplectic with rage. she's basically AOC all over again.

talented and driven women being elected from completely nondescript backgrounds: see who gets bothered by this. it's always the ones with pretentious quotations in their signatures attesting to their 'liberalism' and 'democratic'' ideals..

Last edited by uziq (2020-01-02 17:29:46)

Dilbert_X
The X stands for
+1,810|6076|eXtreme to the maX
Thats the trouble with socialist countries, they let people who aren't rich become politicians.
Русский военный корабль, иди на хуй!
uziq
Member
+492|3422
anyway.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 … SApp_Other

Michael Gove has told businesses that trade with Europe they need to prepare for “significant change” with “inevitable” border checks for “almost everybody” who imports from the EU from next year.

In the first official confirmation that the government is going to impose trade barriers post-Brexit, he warned there would be checks on food and goods of animal origin, plus customs declarations and mandatory safety and security certificates required for all imports.

“You have to accept we will need some friction. We will minimise it but it is an inevitability of our departure,” he told delegates at a Cabinet Office event held in central London on Monday, entitled Preparing Our Border for the Future Relationship.
so gove and johnson, who sold brexit as 'there will be frictionless trade' and 'there will be £350 mill a week more for the NHS', respectively, are now trotting this line.

last week johnson used a major conference to talk about cooperating less with europe, not more.

but it doesn't matter because, in dilbert's words, 'now we have our brexit', and the white little englanders can start getting serious about johnny foreigner!
Larssen
Member
+99|1857
Nothing has happened. They've simply postponed all major decisions to december 31st.

At this point in time, ten months out, it's hard to say if this is serious or if they're playing a political game of sorts until they'll somehow turn around and soften the tone a little. Which is probably inevitable unless they want to postpone indefinitely.

Makes me think why not. I'm sure Johnson can make his idiot followers believe Brexit is done and over with. 'We left january 31st. We have regained control!'. Who cares about the details.
Dilbert_X
The X stands for
+1,810|6076|eXtreme to the maX
Populist claptrap turned out to be that? What a surprise.

Fear not, importation of hormone-packed beef, chlorinated chicken dross and toxic herbicides will be entirely frictionless.
Русский военный корабль, иди на хуй!
uziq
Member
+492|3422

Larssen wrote:

Nothing has happened. They've simply postponed all major decisions to december 31st.

At this point in time, ten months out, it's hard to say if this is serious or if they're playing a political game of sorts until they'll somehow turn around and soften the tone a little. Which is probably inevitable unless they want to postpone indefinitely.

Makes me think why not. I'm sure Johnson can make his idiot followers believe Brexit is done and over with. 'We left january 31st. We have regained control!'. Who cares about the details.
the point being that their messaging has changed, which marks a conscious decision. no more land of milk and honey rhetoric.

it was a pack of lies then and it has 10 months to neatly unravel.

watch them try to promise the earth to the proles in the north whilst being afraid to raise taxes on the rich in the south, or break the budget.
Dilbert_X
The X stands for
+1,810|6076|eXtreme to the maX
It would be interesting to know what was really behind all this:

Johnson's ego

City traders

Trump wanting a trade deal

Russia wanting Britain out of Europe
Русский военный корабль, иди на хуй!
Dilbert_X
The X stands for
+1,810|6076|eXtreme to the maX
Interesting

https://i.imgur.com/U9GRrs9.png
Русский военный корабль, иди на хуй!
uziq
Member
+492|3422
no mention of how worker's families or loved ones fit in. prettty hard to induce talent from abroad when you have no system in place to accommodate for, you know, their family life.

they're talking about 'skilling up' workers and yet you don't get any points towards your application until you make £23,000.

how many kale pickers make £23k a year? or £26k?

most nurses, carers, primary school/nursery staff, etc, don't make £26k a year. which is pretty funny, putting nurses somewhere beneath 'unskilled labour' in job categorisation.

predictably the CBI are in uproar about it because a bunch of industries are suddenly going to become very, very uncompetitive. english people don't work the sort of jobs that migrant workers do for < £23k a year. no unemployed english person is going to go wipe up geriatrics' shit and piss for the zero-hours contracts/temp work that most migrant carers do now.

Last edited by uziq (2020-02-19 05:45:07)

SuperJail Warden
Gone Forever
+634|3689
A lot of fundamental school staff don't make over $30,000 a year. And they don't get any benefits either. It's actually cruelly humorous. We underpay the people who watch our kids so that upper middle class people have more disposable income for Olive Garden takeout for lunch everyday.
https://i.imgur.com/xsoGn9X.jpg
unnamednewbie13
Moderator
+2,053|6741|PNW

So much of the country's wealth controlled by some of the richest people here, but yes some people in education aren't paid much because of takeout from middling restaurants like Olive Garden or sports bars with deep fried pickles.
uziq
Member
+492|3422
getting the middle-class to hate one another is highly effective. let's pretend that the richest countries on earth can't afford to have both well-paid nurses and takeaways.
SuperJail Warden
Gone Forever
+634|3689
The upper middle class votes for the policies that contribute to wealth inequality. They make up the support base of the Republicans. They largely do this out of selfish reasons. The gulf in wealth and lifestyle between the lower middle class and upper middle class is so wide that the term middle class is probably being abused.

Blaming the rich solely for the mass inequality in this country is as accurate as blaming the Jews for all of our problems. I don't think it helps to pretend that the upper middle class is innocent in all of this. As I said before with other issues in America: Americans are other Americans worst enemy.

I like to talk about Olive Garden takeout because it is a good example of what little the upper middle class would lose if we had a broader social safety net. And it displays how little Americans would cut each other's throats for.
https://i.imgur.com/xsoGn9X.jpg
SuperJail Warden
Gone Forever
+634|3689
I have a relative that manages a bank in the suburbs. He has a huge house and really nice things and votes Republican for tax reasons. Newbie would have us pretend he is innocent in our wealth inequality and clearly the equal of a lower middle class car mechanic that is going to die from chemical exposure someday.
https://i.imgur.com/xsoGn9X.jpg
uziq
Member
+492|3422
it's true that the upper-middle class are turkeys voting for christmas on that number. but the wealth is trickling up far, far past them. it's that pernicious (and useful) myth sold as aspiration: one day, with the right idea, you can join the millionaires at the yacht club! people will even vote against their own interests in the immediate term to sustain this future hope.
unnamednewbie13
Moderator
+2,053|6741|PNW

macbeth wrote:

the bank managers
And yet Olive Garden takeout took priority as if that were more impactful than someone's voting tendencies. Seriously you must think that place is the Ritz with its signature breadsticks or whatever. Truly the definitive hub of the cultured six-figured.

I think you're setting your sights a little low.
SuperJail Warden
Gone Forever
+634|3689
Are you trying to miss my point or are you an Olive garden fan? I picked the Olive Garden for exactly the reason it is deceptively low class. I live in the NYC area. Do you think the Olive Garden is the very best Italian food I can afford?
https://i.imgur.com/xsoGn9X.jpg

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