This thread exists to discuss British politics.
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Recent political stuff:
- The vote to see if Britain should adopt Alternative Voting has failed.
- Lib Dems lose lots of councils and councillors, whilst Labour make the majority of the gains in England.
- The Scottish National Party do really well in the elections.
A link to the BBC politics page containing relevant information.
Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 3rd 2023 at 11:15:30 AM
Well, you need to listen to him. His whiny voice and arrogant tone really grates on my nerves.
He's neither mundane nor boring. Pay attention when he speaks and when he acts.
Edited by Wyldchyld on Aug 29th 2018 at 12:33:29 PM
If my post doesn't mention a giant flying sperm whale with oversized teeth and lionfish fins for flippers, it just isn't worth reading.
Ironically, with the trend for Irish politics finally breaking away from the Catholic Church a 'traditional' Catholic as JRM would actually be against the nationalist cause as he'd be more comfortable in a separate Northern Ireland.
Unless his interest in a hard border would be to be able to stand on the border with an ultrasound scanner in one hand and a Magdalene laundry basket in the other.
There seems to be a lot of focus in all media talk now around JC's 5 year old speech. It's getting harder to sift out anything from the noise that is the establishment media.
Is it part of that effort I've seen discussed on English Wikipedia to paint Corbyn as an antisemite with often questionable evidence?
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
Okay, the video clip that is being debated.
This article is objecting to what Corbyn said (the 44-second video clip is present):
I gave Corbyn the benefit of the doubt on antisemitism. I can’t any more
This article covers Corbyn's response (the 44-second video clip is present):
Jeremy Corbyn: I used the term 'Zionist' in accurate political sense
Here is a YouTube link to Corbyn's full speech, which is 10.21 minutes long (the circulated clip starts at 4:00 minutes).
Edited by Wyldchyld on Aug 29th 2018 at 1:07:45 PM
If my post doesn't mention a giant flying sperm whale with oversized teeth and lionfish fins for flippers, it just isn't worth reading.
Tief girl with eartude
Is there an "accurate political sense" for the word Zionist?
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Oh, bother.
You'd think a politician would know better than to outright use a word like that with so much baggage, regardless of any "accurate political sense".
Disgusted, but not surprised
Zionism is technically a political movement within Israel that pushes for the creation of a Greater Israel via the seizure and colonisation of Gaza and the West Bank.
Thing is the anti-Israel movement tend to use it to mean anything Jewish.
Corbyn is notoriously bad at understanding how his statements can be misunderstood.
Tief girl with eartude
Wasn't it already used by some sort of antisemitic tract?
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Anti-semites tend to claim that they’re not anti-Semitic and instead either anti-Zionism or pro-Palestine.
The movement is a mess, with many who aren’t outright anti-Semitic associating with anti-semites in the fight against Israel occupation and colonisation.
Oh, bother.
Perhaps you're thinking of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion?
That piece of garbage is perhaps the ur-example of anti-Semitic propaganda.
Disgusted, but not surprised
Figure of Hourai
If there's one thing he's definitely mastered, it's having every past thing he's ever said be mined for quotes by the entire political spectrum.
Meanwhile, Salmond's resigned from the SNP.
From the Jewish Virtual Library:
The term “Zionism” was coined in 1890 by Nathan Birnbaum.
Its general definition means the national movement for the return of the Jewish people to their homeland and the resumption of Jewish sovereignty in the Land of Israel.
Since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, Zionism has come to include the movement for the development of the State of Israel and the protection of the Jewish nation in Israel through support for the Israel Defense Forces.
From inception, Zionism advocated tangible as well as spiritual aims. Jews of all persuasions - left, right, religious and secular - formed the Zionist movement and worked together toward its goals.
Disagreements in philosophy led to rifts in the Zionist movement over the years, and a number of separate forms emerged. Notably: Political Zionism; Religious Zionism; Socialist Zionism and Territorial Zionism.
Their section on Political Zionism says this:
The BBC also once did a summary:
What's the difference between anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism?
- Anti-Semitism is "hostility and prejudice directed against Jewish people" (OED).
- Zionism refers to the movement to create a Jewish state in the Middle East, roughly corresponding to the historical land of Israel, and thus support for the modern state of Israel. Anti-Zionism opposes that.
- But some say "Zionist" can be used as a coded attack on Jews, while others say the Israeli government and its supporters are deliberately confusing anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism to avoid criticism.
Edited by Wyldchyld on Aug 29th 2018 at 12:19:22 PM
If my post doesn't mention a giant flying sperm whale with oversized teeth and lionfish fins for flippers, it just isn't worth reading.
Pronounced YAK-you-luss
Basically, ‘Zionism’ is the accurate political term for supporters of a Jewish nation-state, or Zion. In this case, he was talking about how some British Christian Zionists (creepy fuckers who think the restoration of the Temple in Jerusalem is necessary to bring about the apocalypse) were being assholes to a foreign guest speaker, and the exchange ironically showed how he had a better grasp of stereotypical positive British values than they did.
What's precedent ever done for us?
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For once I find myself siding with manufacturers in the energy drinks debate. I'm fairly confident that anecdotal teacher reports of poor behaviour are an insufficient metric to impose an age restriction on purchases. And I also wonder why they ignore the existence of the sugar-free variants, mostly because the focus seems to be entirely on the combination of sugar and caffeine.
Oh, bother.
TBH, I think adults shouldn't be drinking them either. But yeah, more hard evidence is probably needed for a solid case.
I should probably mention that I've been spending the last few years avoiding sugary drinks in general, including juice. So maybe I'm biased.
Edited by M84 on Aug 30th 2018 at 9:47:16 PM
Disgusted, but not surprised
I am minded to agree. This seems like one of these things where age restrictions are not useful.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
Well, what when the energy companies point out it's like drinking a cup of coffee in terms of caffeine and it's like drinking a glass fruit juice in terms of sugar, what they're ignoring is that medical advice exists for how much caffeine and fruit juice should be drunk — by both adults and children. They're therefore accidentally reinforcing the demand for restriction of energy drinks.
The NHS guidelines for coffee and juice is as follows:
- Fruit juice should be limited to 150ml per day.
- Caffeine should be limited to 200mg per day if pregnant.
- The NHS assessed an American study the media picked up on in April 2017, which listed the following upper limits (i.e., these are the absolute upper limits people really shouldn't go beyond; note, the pregnancy limit is not a typo, it is higher than the NHS recommends — as the study observes, people are experiencing side-effects at these upper limits, which is why they're the upper limits, and the NHS feels confident in retaining the 200mg limit for pregnancy).
- 400mg/day in adults
- 300mg/day in pregnant women
- 2.5mg/kg per day in children and adolescents
- The NHS assessed an American study
Edited by Wyldchyld on Aug 30th 2018 at 4:12:50 PM
If my post doesn't mention a giant flying sperm whale with oversized teeth and lionfish fins for flippers, it just isn't worth reading.
Figure of Hourai
But we don't impose restrictions on the purchase of sugar or coffee (or sugar and coffee), nor does it seem like the proposals would extend to cover chilled ready-made coffee and the like. It's a strange fixation on the combination of sugar and caffeine which, again, does have the minor issue of there being more diet versions of these drinks than most normal soft drinks. And technically more nutritional contribution because for some reason they fortify these with more vitamins than seems reasonable.
It's all vaguely hysterical.
Edited by RainehDaze on Aug 30th 2018 at 4:16:46 PM
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Quite. I should note I wasn't talking about purchase, just health guidelines.
If my post doesn't mention a giant flying sperm whale with oversized teeth and lionfish fins for flippers, it just isn't worth reading.
Figure of Hourai
It's especially daft because if you go: "they're too cheap for the sugar content"... I can get two litres of sugary drinks, even with the tax changes and reformulation, for less than 50p. Fruit juice is cheaper than most brand-name energy drinks and half the off-brand ones that contain sugar. If you're particularly inclined, caffeine pills also exist and are cheap. So it's not the price that really makes them a problem. Yet for some reason this gets cited as being an issue? Did anyone stop to actually look in a shop before writing this rubbish?
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Pronounced YAK-you-luss
United for Change, the much-hyped En Marche-style centrist party, has split before even officially launching. The jokes do rather write themselves.
I assume that neither of the two co-founders (a duumvirate - and it would be even worse if it was a triumvirate - is already a starting mistake when it comes to starting a political party, imo) have the initial charisma Macron had.
This JRM guy looks as mundane and boring as Major ever did....I guess the banality of evil is still a thing.
Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.