The Off Topic Topic

[Caliga]

Why not?

Crabs are nasty little fuckers.  My parents and uncle all have crab traps in their back yard (i.e. the Atlantic) and until those things are killed I'm scared to even be in the kitchen.

edit: Also... "the crabs done picked him clean".... people talk like that in Canada?

[Malthus]

Why not?

Crabs are nasty little fuckers.  My parents and uncle all have crab traps in their back yard (i.e. the Atlantic) and until those things are killed I'm scared to even be in the kitchen.

edit: Also... "the crabs done picked him clean".... people talk like that in Canada?

Atlantic Canada. Not in Ontario.

A helpful article:

https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.vice.com/amp/en/article/yv559w/the-vice-guide-to-speaking-like-a-maritimer-

[Sheilbh]

People talk like it here too - sounds v West Country to my ears.

[The Brain]

Those Japanese (?) big fucking crabs with loooong legs are awesome.

[Malthus]

I don't believe that for a second - but it's a good tale.

I won't swear to it's veracity - but it is certainly possible. 😉

In any event, he was fond of that story, whenever seafood was served ...

[Razgovory]

It's a generous take. But yeah broadly that's right.

I didn't think they did anything at all.  Or at least nothing meaningful.  Actually the idea of having an advisory council of retired statesmen isn't a terrible idea.  I wouldn't have bishops or life peers of course.  Maybe it would be a way to move out older politicians and judges.  Because nobody fucking retires anymore.

[crazy canuck]

Why not?

Crabs are nasty little fuckers.  My parents and uncle all have crab traps in their back yard (i.e. the Atlantic) and until those things are killed I'm scared to even be in the kitchen.

edit: Also... "the crabs done picked him clean".... people talk like that in Canada?

Atlantic Canada. Not in Ontario.

A helpful article:

https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.vice.com/amp/en/article/yv559w/the-vice-guide-to-speaking-like-a-maritimer-

When starting a conversation in the Maritimes it is advisable to immediately tell them you are from away so they adapt to be more understandable to outsiders.

[Sheilbh]

It's a generous take. But yeah broadly that's right.

I didn't think they did anything at all.  Or at least nothing meaningful.  Actually the idea of having an advisory council of retired statesmen isn't a terrible idea.  I wouldn't have bishops or life peers of course.  Maybe it would be a way to move out older politicians and judges.  Because nobody fucking retires anymore.

Not just retired statesmen - businessmen, judges, barristers, charity leaders, activists, diplomats, generals etc. But mainly politicians

They do very good work. I think the best comparison I've heard is that they're like the worms of the legislative system. The Commons dumps (literally) legislation on them. The Lords then spend time noodling through it and amending it and looking into the detail - there may be people with particular expertise but practically each party in the Lords normally appoints someone to "manage" the bill and they do a lot of the work including proposing amendments - and in normal, non-controversial legislation a lot are accepted by the government. So,as best they can, they return amended legislation that sort of works.

I know someone in a relatively niche area of law who got invited to an "informal committee" - basically him and a few other lawyers in the area went to parliament to speak with each of the parties "managers" and some cross-benchers (non-partisan peers). He said it was actually very impressive and he was really surprised how much they were on top of the detail of the current situation and the proposed legislation.

They're the least liked but possibly the most efficient part of parliament

[Admiral Yi]

Those Japanese (?) big fucking crabs with loooong legs are awesome.

Alaskan King Crabs maybe?

[Sheilbh]

Crab was cooked - made crab pasta. Was excellent

And now I can cook crabs

[Caliga]

edit: Also... "the crabs done picked him clean".... people talk like that in Canada?

Interesting.  In 'Merica the only place I think you might hear "the crabs done picked him clean" would be Appalachia.

[Admiral Yi]

Interesting.  In 'Merica the only place I think you might hear "the crabs done picked him clean" would be Appalachia.

Dude, people talk hillbilly in more places than Appalachia.

[Caliga]

I've never heard any of the folks around here, in TN, GA, or other let's say 'southern' places say "done picked him clean", nor in say rural New England.

Granted, I've not spent much time in the rural Midwest.

[Malthus]

edit: Also... "the crabs done picked him clean".... people talk like that in Canada?

Interesting.  In 'Merica the only place I think you might hear "the crabs done picked him clean" would be Appalachia.

They do share some linguistic similarities. Both have archaic survivals from older forms of English, influenced by Scottish and Irish.

[Sheilbh]

Maybe Cel's take on Italian politics was correct after all. Just listened to a podcast on the current situation. They got to what would happen if there was an election and chances are the right win (Lega-FdI-FI). There's an Italian presidential election in January (and the Italian President plays an important role) which would then quite likely end up in President Berlusconi

Edit: It makes me think that after his surprisingly durable but pointless premierships in the 2030s and 2040s we'll end up hearing about President Renzi in the 2060s.