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#41

Off the Record / Re: The Off Topic Topic

Last post by HVC - Today at 11:54:38 AM

Congrats Raz

#42

Off the Record / Re: The Off Topic Topic

Last post by Valmy - Today at 11:54:07 AM

Hooray!  I just got an email back!  I got the job as a part-time Deli-guy at a local grocery store!  A local employee-owned store!

Fab! And you will not be alienated from your labor as you will have a stake in the means of production! 

Just kidding. Glad to hear it pal.

#43

Off the Record / Re: Facebook Follies of Friend...

Last post by Valmy - Today at 11:52:59 AM

Welfare benefits? What welfare benefits?

It there any degree to which the welfare state can be dismantled and our society become exploitative to people to satisfy these bloodthirsty corporate stooges? We are basically at the point where the vast majority of our population has to work multiple jobs that pay basically nothing with no benefits and it still isn't enough suffering by the poor.

#44

Off the Record / Re: Facebook Follies of Friend...

Last post by Valmy - Today at 11:51:23 AM

Oh sure one of our guys, who is not even in an elected position, said something stupid in 2019 and it is never forgotten. Somehow they can say stupid shit 400 times a day and it's no big deal.

#45

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

Last post by Valmy - Today at 11:48:35 AM

Well the sooner the break between progressive leftists and conservative Muslims come the better. It is an unholy alliance.

Amazing how green/progressive parties are such willing vectors for reactionary islam. It's as if they don't understand that they'll hang like the rest of us as soon as they're no longer useful to the islamics

I guess this is a Euro thing. The right wing continually passes more and more laws granting power and economic advantages to religious institutions. Islam is basically untouchable because of them. Even if we leftists wanted to seriously challenge the worst reactionary actions by radical Islam, the Republicans have build giant legal protections around them that are insurmountable. We face the same problem with a whole host of insane culty religions. There is almost no legal angle to go after them thanks to the right wing in the US. Over here Muslims can basically just make a compound and keep their kids from ever leaving and it is all fine and legal. Because they are religious.

However anybody hoping to reduce the political influence of conservative Islam in your country, you have a powerful ally. Cultural Muslims and ex-Muslims have the sort of insider information to fight their influence and ideas while not being compromised by racism against Muslims as people.

#46

Off the Record / Re: Facebook Follies of Friend...

Last post by Syt - Today at 11:17:31 AM

#47

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

Last post by Josquius - Today at 11:11:38 AM

On the hotel protesters bit I saw a great one today....


https://www.reddit.com/r/NewcastleUponTyne/comments/1n6cnbv/new_bridge_hotel_protests/



A reply in this thread....

Used to work with that woman in the picture She wasn't very nice..chronicle article

Clicky on the linky...
https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/sick-gateshead-couple-forced-children-1408626

A picture of this woman and a story confirming sometimes outer matches inner beauty.

Sick Gateshead couple forced children to fight

Protect our kids eh.

#48

Off the Record / Re: What does a TRUMP presiden...

Last post by The Minsky Moment - Today at 10:01:09 AM

Remember the original steel tariffs date back to 2018 we have data on the impact.

Steel employment is slightly down.  Productivity collapsed and overall output is down.
There may be other factors at work but anyone expecting more tariffs would benefit the US steel industry is engaging in magical thinking at this point.

And that's the direct impact on steel.  The impact on US companies that use steel as an input - i.e. a broad array of US manufacturers of which Deere is only one example - is far more negative. 

The tariffs like much of the Trump agenda - e.g. the insanity with vaccines and the CDC, the assault on higher education, the replacement of an expert professional civil services with incompetent flunkies and partisan hacks - is best understood as a fascinating experiment in national self-vandalism, though probably more interesting to observe from the outside then to experience from the inside.

#49

Off the Record / Re: What does a TRUMP presiden...

Last post by The Minsky Moment - Today at 09:57:23 AM

Canadian trade data was released today, export to the US went up, imports from the US declined. And remember we are their largest trading partner.

All by design, we must strengthen our 51st state.  So much winning!

#50

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

Last post by Richard Hakluyt - Today at 09:45:33 AM

It will be a very interesting election in my town. At the moment the constituency is still Labour, but the local Labour party is far more left wing than Starmer and co; as was Attila the Hun to be fair. In second place was a fellow called Michael Lavalette (Independent but left wing and , I think it is fair to say, a Marxist).

Lavalette has strong views on Gaza, for which he has been cautioned by the police ("In July 2025 Lavalette was questioned under caution, by police over potential Public Order charges for his outspoken support for Palestine and the people of Gaza" taken from wikipedia) so I suspect he mopped up a substantial part of the muslim vote.

The General Election results for Preston https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election/2024/uk/constituencies/E14001433

So it looks like I will be voting in a very interesting election next time round.