Friday Ephemera
“Hey, bear.” // A brief history of beehive hair-dos. // A brief history of horror films. // A brief history of urbanisation and the building of cities, 3700 BC – 2000 AD. // Batteries of yore. // There’s a loud buzzing noise in the garden. // Great questions of our time. // The secret world of foley. // So you know. // Illusions of note. // I’m doing it with my mind. // Casting Marvel’s Avengers, then and now. // Enhance grid 17. // Go deep. // HBO’s Westworld. // What could possibly go wrong? // Ladies and their electronic music. // Cats on amps. // Las Vegas in infrared. // And finally, voyeuristically, some passions are best left unseen.
Update: Much Brexit rumbling in the comments.
“FTSE down to slightly above where it was on Monday”, isn’t such an amazing headline.
Apart from the ageism, this “years to live with the consequence” argument misunderstands what a country is. It’s not about you, it’s about what your ancestors passed down to you and about what you can pass down to your descendants.
Don’t worry, I’m sure everything will turn out ok when they start again from Year Zero. I mean, what could possibly go wrong?
Well, goodness me. Brexit it is.
Have we started the mass deportations and eating of human flesh yet?
The newly elected muslim Mayor of London, Sidiq Khan, has launched a petition to declare independence from England and join the EU. London, now a majority non-white city, voted to remain.
Mr Counsell wins cake.
Have we started the mass deportations and eating of human flesh yet?

Mrs Pierce is itching to get cracking.
She hopes to bag a big one.
Have we started the mass deportations and eating of human flesh yet?
Slated to begin Monday I believe.
Laurie Penny shares her grief with the nation.
Says Laurie, “I’m no longer at all worried about risking hyperbole or unoriginality when referencing all that Nazi history they made us study in school.” After denouncing the “fear-mongering” of people in favour of leaving the EU – and their racism, obviously – Laurie warns us that the systemic mistreatment of “ethnic minorities and queer people” is likely to kick off any second now.
Have we started the mass deportations and eating of human flesh yet?
The weather turned bad for a bit and I thought we were getting the wrath of God, swiftly to be followed by the locusts, bubonic plague and all that.
But it’s a fine evening, just for the moment, and we’ve (indirectly) told the scrupulously honest Juncker where to stick his euro-army and his shared currency .. Things could be a lot worse.
Turns out calling voters xenophobes and racists because they disagree with you isn’t a winning strategy.
The race card has been declined.
The race card has been declined.
Over the last few hours, I’ve heard loudly and repeatedly that today is only a triumph for “racist little Englanders,” that “the masses” are, and I quote, “vile scum.” And I’ve seen several people being denounced, based on nothing I could see, as “white racists” and “white supremacists,” including a chap who happened to be a fairly brown Sikh. It scarcely needs pointing out that many of the targets of this name-calling are disaffected working-class Labour voters, by whom the more pious – their self-imagined betters – imagine themselves betrayed.
I was looking for a house name. I think ‘Vile Scum’ would do nicely. Thanks.
The newly elected muslim Mayor of London, Sidiq Khan, has launched a petition to declare independence from England and join the EU.
Here in the civilized states in the US and A we keep trying to get places like Boston, NYC, LA, Chicago, and the entire state of Massachusetts, to do the same. However, just like London, they won’t because they know the tax base isn’t entirely stupid, and all the people and businesses that keep London (or NY, or wherever) afloat will flee, and their next stop is Caracas-on-Thames.
I was looking for a house name. I think ‘Vile Scum’ would do nicely.
Doesn’t have a ring to it, perhaps “Scum Manor”, or go with Latin for that aristocratic touch, “Aedis Spumatus Neguissims”, or “Regnum Spumatum”.
A quote from American history seems apposite, so feel free to share it with the Remain voters:
“If ye love wealth better than liberty,
the tranquility of servitude
better than the animating contest of freedom,
go home from us in peace.
We ask not your counsels or your arms.
Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you.
May your chains set lightly upon you,
and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.” – Samuel Adams
Liberty (reciprocation) is Wealth.
Everything else such as wear and tear, natural disasters, extortion and rent-seeking are wealth destruction.
It really is just that simple.
The newly elected muslim Mayor of London, Sidiq Khan, has launched a petition to declare independence from England and join the EU.
Errr, actually Khan has done nothing of the sort, according to that link . . .
This petition is calling on Mayor Sadiq Khan to declare London independent, and apply to join the EU
. . .
This petition was started by James O’Malley. Get in touch if you like: psythor (at) gmail.com or tweet @Psythor.
Of the referendum overall . . . . Um.
Sooo, if I had access and the related franchise, I rather expect that with some near coin tosses, I would have voted for remain. Why? Lesseee . . .
Immigration Will occur, regardless of the circumstances, consider the stereotypical Polish plumber. When in the EU, the immigration border and border control is In France. When out of the EU, the border, and border controls, move to the UK landmass.
The EU parliament, to address an issue in general, is indeed continuing with All Sorts Of Rules. Of those rules, there are two responses. One is to get the hell out and proclaim to all that We are better because we don’t do that sort of nit picking crap. The other is to stay in and proclaim to all that That nit picking crap is bullshit and we all can and bloody well will do better together.
Oh, why together? That would be an entire Uni course of discussion—Actual, genuinely elite Uni, of course, some place with a majority of mathematicians—, but what keeps coming to mind is a comment by historian Shelby Foote on the US Civil War.
No, I’m not going to project what that match for the US Civil War would be, that’s what the Uni course is for.
Having noted the above, my personal and general reaction to the result is a very emphatic and definite Oh, Bloody Hell, You have got to be kidding. . . . . . And I am not reacting to the result, I’m reacting to the margins.
Fifty two percent to forty eight percent?!?!?!?!?
That’s not a margin, that’s a bloody tie vote. Tactically and Technically that is only a majority by very basic numbers. What is an actual majority? Sixty percent to forty percent is a majority. Seventy percent to thirty percent is a majority. Unanimous is a majority.
What do I see in the news?
Given the interest, bloody well yes, the referendum should have been had, regardless of the result, but bloody well yes, that referendum required being an actual assessment of the mass of people voting for or against Brexit, that referendum should have required two thirds majority to pass.
A friend of mine is from London. He got his BS in Computer Science from the Uni of Edinburgh. He and I were in a training meeting yesterday evening–Pacific Time, so eight hours after Greenwich—, as he was pulling up the results on a cell phone. He matter of factly noted that Oh, By The Way, Scotland voted for remain by a genuine real majority . . . rather pointing to Scotland then announcing, Y’all have fun, we’re joining the rest of Europe . . . And yes, that discussion is also its own very interesting Uni course . . . .
My friend’s overall assessment? Very roughly, very paraphrasing, as we’re watching numbers coming in, seeing what those numbers were and noting that the numbers are as noted, not any viable majority, his assessment is basically that Oh, y’know, of course, that it’s not going to go through . . . . . too much disruption, too much damage, absolutely not a chance of Brexit actually getting carried out . . . . .
Microbursts are nasty little sh*ts. Countless so-called “wind-shear” crashes of airplanes, especially during approach to landing, have been caused by them. (Imagine the transition from flying on final approach, near stall speed, into the headwind, through the “eye” and encountering a sudden tailwind while low and very slow.)
Now may airports have special detection and warning systems to prevent this.
Jabrwok:
There’s an American quote that begins “When in the course of human events” that seems appropriate too. Especially about Brussels sending hither swarms of officers.
@Hal
The fun starts now.
There was a referendum. But not on a specific defined course, in which the next steps are clearly set out.
Does the Eu now act capriciously? Or does it accept that good relations, including free trade, with its large island neighbour, is in the best interests of all?
How do the Dutch and Scandinavians, generally well disposed towards the Brits, wish the EU to behave?
What about the simmering disaffection with the EU in member states generally?
The Eurocrats are perplexed, and will be inclined to be punitive.
The elected politicians of Europe may feel the sands moving.
A generation of complacency is drawing to a close.
@Hal,
You’re team lost, we’re exiting with the majority vote.
Regards,
Someone with an honours degree in computing.
P.S. Mrs Krankie is welcome to rule New Venezuela.
The outpouring of sniveling whiny prejudice and intolerance toward ‘working class whites’ and anyone else who voted Leave is enough to make one nauseated. How does a country become so divided against itself?
I hope the average folk are left with a strong indelible image of the people who consider themselves their moral and intellectual superiors.
Fifty two percent to forty eight percent?!?!?!?!?
But if Britain had voted Remain with that margin reversed, would the winners have gone “hang on now, that’s not enough to stay in. Perhaps the Leavers have a genuine beef. We should look at their case.”
Would they fuck!
You’ll find that Leave will now strengthen, as it turns out that a) everyone realises that it is a defendable position to have, b) the world doesn’t immediately turn to custard as the Chicken Littles are predicting, and c) people like to be on a winning side.
The fun starts now.
Bingo!!!!!
The closest analogy that’s coming to mind, slowly, is playing a game of Go where neither side can see the other side’s pieces–at most, there is feedback stating that a stone can not be placed at a particular intersection, but no idea why . . . .
And now run a country that way.
You’re team lost, we’re exiting with the majority vote.
Actually, no, not my’re team, or as the rest of us with a demonstrable degree and having clearly learned something would put it, Not my team.
Through all the discussions I saw, I could see assorted reasons for and against, but all stacking rather evenly. Therefore, for all the demands that the issue is very simple, if the issue was indeed that simple there would have been a very clear majority for leaving or staying, Which Ever The Decision.
What I’ve pointed out is what Jimmy has echoed, and is now the big problem that is not going to go away: How does a country become so divided against itself?
And as with picking through a very peculiar game of Go, instead of doing a slight shift, see the result, do a different slight shift, see the result, every decision is going to be country scale, and is going to trigger several other cascading rounds of additional effects and results and decisions . . .
The fun starts now.
Other news announcements remind of the axioms related to hipsters, specifically, There is a hipster born every minute.
At least 30 Tony Robbins fans hurt walking over hot coals
Most children learn very early to treat situations with hot things as something to pay very close attention to. And then there are hipsters. . . .
> How does a country become so divided against itself?
Vote buying. It broke down basically along those lines, subsidy junkies voted to stay, wealth creators voted out.
The Hayley Miller tweet mentioned upthread has been retrieved:

Vote buying… subsidy junkies voted to stay,
And in the Guardian, “leading figures from the arts” express their “rage” with “the illiterate,” i.e., many of you and your families. You have brought “shame” on your betters.
…subsidy junkies voted to stay, wealth creators voted out.
Actually, with the exception of Scotland, it’s almost exactly the other way around. Cornwall for example.
Fifty two percent to forty eight percent?!?!?!?!?
Yes, a fairly narrow margin on a high turnout. There are issues on either side that aren’t easy to dismiss – I certainly don’t feel entitled to disdain people who voted differently, all of them, as morally indecent or unfit to vote. And that asymmetry in characterisation, as illustrated repeatedly above, is worth noting.
As Daniel Hannan put it before the result was known,
My general feeling is that the EU is a corrupt, corrupting and unsustainable project, one doomed to dramatic failure, and that we made it to the escape pod just in time. The question now, I think, is the size of the blast radius. Others may disagree, of course. I don’t plan to call them names.
If only all the Brexiteers were as measured, principled and thoughtful as Daniel Hannan. Let us hope he is right. There are silly noises coming from Brussels and Strasbourg that suggest he may not be. A supranational nexus of institutions led by the likes of Juncker and Schulz can hardly inspire positive enthusiasm and indeed will struggle to win grudging respect.
I have often wondered what the shelf life of the EU would turn out to be, and in what circumstances it would take on a radically different shape, or (much less likely) collapse completely. One of my main reasons for voting to Remain was that I would not wish the UK to precipitate a potentially fatal crisis. Apart from its impact on the people of mainland Europe, it could take generations for us to be forgiven.
My general feeling is that the EU is a corrupt, corrupting and unsustainable project, one doomed to dramatic failure, and that we made it to the escape pod just in time. The question now, I think, is the size of the blast radius. Others may disagree, of course. I don’t plan to call them names.
That.
The EU, and in particular the Eurozone, has been a complete disaster and has become as near as dammit a Fascist entity, awaiting only the ratification of the TTIP to make it entirely so. The consequences for Spain, Portugal and Greece have been awful, with nearly 50% unemployment rates for young people and trashed economies which will take a generation to recover. If the question were turned on its head (“Do you want to be involved with this catastrophe?”) then surely anyone who positions themselves on the Left would answer “No”. The ridiculous weeping and wailing that has taken over social media seems to be rooted in nothing more than some sort of half-arsed notion of internationalism. It’s pathetic to behold.
Hal,
Errr, actually Khan has done nothing of the sort, according to that link . . .
Sorry, my mistake.
Fifty two percent to forty eight percent?!?!?!?!?
The State set the question and the conditions of winning/ losing. They’ve lost, on their own terms, so it’s a bit rich to now complain.
The Washington Post noted that a British woman named Mandy, who voted in favor of an exit, told ITV that since the reality of the vote has hit her, she has realized that she would choose to stay with the EU if she were given the chance to vote again.
I’ve seen a lot of these ‘quotes’ from unnamed sources in the pro-EU media. TBH, I think it’s an attempt to lay the groundwork for demanding another referendum. It seems to be pretty standard for the EU when the result doesn’t go their way.
The ridiculous weeping and wailing that has taken over social media seems to be rooted in nothing more than some sort of half-arsed notion of internationalism. It’s pathetic to behold.
Is that not the default belief of most under 30s?
They grew up with mass immigration as a fact of life; after the Cold War and have some vague idea that the EU and not NATO kept the peace after WW2; and have been taught to have no empathy with the white working classes.
“half-arsed notion of internationalism”
More like they’ve been actively indoctrinated to HATE their own countries.
I can understand the anxiety about how Brexit will affect the economy – it is, after all, what caused me to vote Remain. I think it would be very optimistic indeed to disagree that some specialised jobs in the city will go. Plenty of hard working people will have a tough few years – there’ll be redundancies and retraining even in a best case scenario.
But those of my Facebook friends who declare themselves “ashamed to be British” and act as though we’ve been driven from the EU by an angel with a burning sword must be looking at a different EU from me.
If a British government created youth unemployment on such a scale, ignored democratic mandates in favour of a grand scheme and facilitated tax avoidance in the way the EU does, we’d never hear the end of the screeching. But criticising foreigners is racist, apparently.
You’re right about the half-arsed notion of internationalism. Have you seen that EU flag where one of the stars has been replaced by a tear? Pathetic.
‘quotes’ from unnamed sources in the pro-EU media.
I see this trend in general in the media when things don’t go their way. It’s quite the tell as to what “their way” actually is. Them supposedly being dispassionate observers and such. Seriously, what crap. A British woman named Mandy. Yes, by all means. Let us give her a name. Just not a traceable one. Nor a specific location, I presume. So this “Mandy” took time out of her Thursday, was it? To go to vote on a referendum regarding the future of her country, a referendum that has been much discussed even in places far away and obviously much more so in the UK (or the EU, wherever one draws the lines). As I understand it, the weather was even a bit of a bother in some places. Wonder if the WaPo made note of that in regard to wherever our “Mandy” was. And yet this action that “Mandy” consciously took, an effort that she did not have to engage in, she only comes to the realization that she went against her own interests after doing so. O Fortuna.
I wonder if there was an “Andy” who voted Remain and later had second thoughts. Ah, but that would be Faux News! Information that simply must be taken apart, dissected, every word pored over for the slightest slip of the nuance. But WaPo? Any imaginary character from a Barry Manilow song will do.
“That’s not a margin, that’s a bloody tie vote. Tactically and Technically that is only a majority by very basic numbers. What is an actual majority? Sixty percent to forty percent is a majority. Seventy percent to thirty percent is a majority. Unanimous is a majority.”
52 is more than 48. Therefore, in terms of a vote, it’s a majority.
Stop changing the meanings of words like a progressive.
Stop changing the meanings of words like a progressive.
Hmmm. ‘k. We note that you seem to be extremely familiar with how to be Progressive. Certainly more than me, but then I’m conservative.
Now let’s look at what’s actually quoted from . . .
Having noted the above, my personal and general reaction to the result is a very emphatic and definite Oh, Bloody Hell, You have got to be kidding. . . . . . And I am not reacting to the result, I’m reacting to the margins.
Fifty two percent to forty eight percent?!?!?!?!?
That’s not a margin, that’s a bloody tie vote. Tactically and Technically that is only a majority by very basic numbers. What is an actual majority? Sixty percent to forty percent is a majority. Seventy percent to thirty percent is a majority. Unanimous is a majority.
Or as David put it, and notes;
Yes, a fairly narrow margin on a high turnout. There are issues on either side that aren’t easy to dismiss . . .
Oh, and back to the original . . .
Here, I’ll make it simple. You won’t have to read, just look at the illustrative pictures.



Notice that I’m not stating which side is metaphorically which. Notice that three different examples are given, so that you can’t try to weasel your way past the current situation by reciting the plot of an unrelated movie. Just stare at the pictures and repeat to yourself Fifty two percent to forty eight percent?!?!?!?!?
… that referendum should have required two thirds majority to pass.
I confess ignorance. Was the decision to join the EU ratified by a two-thirds majority plebiscite?
Geezer: OMG that’s the best laugh ive had all week!
I confess ignorance. Was the decision to join the EU ratified by a two-thirds majority plebiscite?
Hmmm. Excellent question, that. . . . . . . Interesting. Apparently it was a genuine majority, as opposed to—as noted repeatedly—the Brexit vote.
Somewhere recently, David or someone resurrected the observations regarding interminable flailing of pillows by a roadside.


And also commentary on EU regulations . . .
@Hal I am a Computational Science graduate and I voted to LEAVE.
It is NOT a “statistical tie” when the winning margin was by more than a million votes. And by the way, at the last US Election Obama got 51.1% of the votes. Do you think that that should be classed as “a tie” as well? If not, why not?
The EU so-called “Parliament” cannot enact legislation, amend legislation, nor repeal legislation.
It is solely a rubber-stamp talking shop for the decisions taken by the UNELECTED Council of Ministers in cahoots with big business.
It is explicitly ANTI-democratic – no wonder why so many EU supporters are now calling for the vote to be overturned. They don’t believe in Democracy and are happily showing their true colours for all to see!
Apparently it was a genuine majority, as opposed to—as noted repeatedly—the Brexit vote.
Thanks for the answer. The source you cited says the question was this:
Has the EU evolved into something more intrusive than a Common Market since then? Did the voters in the UK ratify that evolution? Perhaps what they thought they bought in 1975 is not what they got instead in 2016.
Perhaps what they thought they bought in 1975 is not what they got instead in 2016.
That.
Nigel:

Something that happened?

Or something that only happened in Laurie’s head?
I agree with Hal that 52-48 is not a large majority (though according to Webster’s it is a majority). However, where he seems to think it means status quo and all band together and all that, I see it the other way round. It’s time to break up into smaller countries. In too many countries right now the populations are split almost 50/50 as to whom they prefer to rule over them, resulting in constant and acrimonious bickering.
We’ve always been told the more choice the better. Wouldn’t the same apply to countries? Instead of slowly marching in lockstep to a New World Order that leaves no room for dissent, we should be moving to greater freedom of choice. Now that would be true diversity! 🙂
It is NOT a “statistical tie” when the winning margin was by more than a million votes.
See some helpful and informative pictures.
And by the way, at the last US Election Obama got 51.1% of the votes. Do you think that that should be classed as “a tie” as well? If not, why not?
Lessee . . .
Brexit: A situation of an ongoing occurrence and a decision to keep going on or to end.
U.S. presidential election: A situation where there will be an end and a resulting void, and a need to fill the resulting void before it occurs.
Fruit salad is very nice, but apples and oranges remain utterly different fruit.