Recent posts

#1

Gaming HQ / Re: New Paradox Tinto Game - "...

Last post by Tamas - Today at 05:03:03 AM

This will either be the greatest thing ever or a trainwreck that will make Imperator 1.0 look good.

#2

Off the Record / Re: Brexit and the waning days...

Last post by Tamas - Today at 05:01:38 AM

 

We are only voting for police commissioner which is lame. Actually, crossing off the couple of idiots, and then the carrier local councilmen, only the Labour candidate remains, who used to be a prosecutor. So I can vote along party lines while remaining rational. 

The incumbent is Conservative. I can't judge how good a job he has been doing it's not like I have police-related complaints, but being a Tory and having a CV of being various levels of somebody in local government is just too much for my stomach to handle.

#3

Off the Record / Re: Brexit and the waning days...

Last post by Gups - Today at 03:41:03 AM

Four votes? I don't think you should mention this on a public forum.

  Gups is not my real names

#4

Gaming HQ / Re: New Paradox Tinto Game - "...

Last post by Syt - Today at 03:36:11 AM

 

#5

Gaming HQ / Re: Victoria 3

Last post by Josquius - Today at 03:10:45 AM

Well thats scary and bizzare.
I bought humble choice this month and registered vicky 3, haven't played yet though I did install it.
This morning in my spam box is something from paradox.

New Player Guides Part #1: Start Building Your Grand Tomorrow

It is time to start building your grand tomorrow
In order to help you get started with Victoria 3, we will send you a series of resources over the coming days. First up is the Basic Tutorial series, showing you all the basics around the Economy, Pops and Diplomacy.

Already got the Basics? Great! Then start building your society

[Click Here If You Do Not Want To Receive Any Further Beginner Guides]

#6

Off the Record / Re: Brexit and the waning days...

Last post by Josquius - Today at 03:05:03 AM

I wouldn't trust Byline Times. It's a polite conspiracy sheet.

I haven't heard that before.
Its not a site I follow too regularly but it is about the only place to get local news beyond a level of "Council to introduce parking charges in Seaham. We sent our sub minimum wage journalist to chat to people on high street to find out what they think" and "Jarrow grandmother SHOCKED to find something in bag of crisps".

I definitely think there may be something fishy about the Freeport stuff which is being picked up by Private Eye - on the other hand it has been looked at by the National Audit Office who said there was no evidence of corruption or illegality. They did however criticise some of the governance structures and said the transparency wasn't good enough - they also said that "value for money" wasn't monitored closely enough particularly because they weren't doing things through formal tenders and public procurement (as someone who thinks our public procurement isn't fit for purpose and that the focus on "value for money" is a cause of lots of problems in under-investment, I'm fairly relaxed about that).

That the current planning system sucks is certainly true. But the checks it involves are there for a reason. The solution isn't to just ignore it where it suits suspiciously motivated projects.
The environmental shortcuts which have screwed things up far beyond the immediate area for instance should be considered worthy of criminal action.

I think he is quite like Johnson if Johnson wasn't who he is. He's fairly comfortable with spending money, he thinks the state has a role in industrial policy, he's a bit populist - the difference is he's actually doing it rather than just talking about it. Which is why, I suspect, he's got over 60% in his area who think he's doing a good job. He's very much a "here's what you could have won" for the Tories of what was possible after the 2017 and 19 election.

Maybe he's a step above Johnson when it comes to actually doing something. But again what he is doing is often very surface level only with little actual meat behind it.

Johnson won a huge majority and had an electoral map that could re-align British politics, having run on the most left-wing big spending Tory manifesto since MacMillan. As Andrew Neil was pointing out in his interview on election night there were two big problems with that: one was that those former Labour voters were only lending their votes to the Tories and expected them to deliver; the other was that lots of the party's traditional base and MPs hated those ideas and wanted standard Tory tax cuts instead. Maybe with focus, attention to detail and a lot of work the government could have delivered for their new voters - but that is immediately impossible if Boris Johnson is your Prime Minister. I'm not sure it was ever possible to reconcile the very centrist big spending manifesto which won a big majority in former Labour heartlands with most of your base being in well-off areas and wanting lower spending and taxes.

And tying yourself to negative growth policies like brekshit

Edit: Also discovered today that Andy Street is apparently in a relationship with Michael Fabricant. I suppose it's progress that I wasn't aware he was gay, far less in a relationship with Fabricant - but it does raise profound concerns about his judgement

That is bizzare.
I somehow don't think he's with him for his looks.... Maybe Street is making a brave sacrifice to defend staffers? (is that one too dark?).
It certainly does put into question the Street is a very non-Tory decent conservative as Fabricant is quite the piece of shit.

#7

Off the Record / Re: Brexit and the waning days...

Last post by The Brain - Today at 03:01:20 AM

Four votes? I don't think you should mention this on a public forum.

#8

Off the Record / Re: Brexit and the waning days...

Last post by Gups - Today at 02:35:23 AM

Quite a long queue at my polling station at 07:15. I splitted my four votes equally between Lab and Lib Dem.

#9

Off the Record / Re: Israel-Hamas War 2023

Last post by The Brain - Today at 02:34:53 AM

Has the idea of campus as a Safe Space been abandoned?

#10

Off the Record / Re: Israel-Hamas War 2023

Last post by Admiral Yi - Today at 02:24:06 AM

Brawling on UCLA campus, looks like pro Israels were on the offensive.  Campus security watched.