Westminstenders: a feature of the system not a bug

[RedToothBrush]

Tests on the new queuing system in Kent have revealed that lengthy tail backs are a feature not a bug.

We should get used to them because thats normal not the system malfunctioning, but the planned system working as designed.

Today we have found out that there's no money left. The economy is fucked. And tomorrow we will probably all be in T3 with the Isles of Wight, the tip of Cornwall and inner Westminster the only places left in T1.

Christmas has apparently been 'saved' though. Well if you are dumb and lacking in functional brain cells its 'saved'. Trade for Christmas is already thoroughly goosed and indoor family gatherings may come with a extra side of covid. The BBC have done an epic job of 'doommongering project fear' style graphics on this wonderful subject.

Tis the season to be jolly. Jolly fucked.

Dawkins - The Selfish Gene

Been through these arguments so many times on here. Given loads of advice on here about building up your "pantry" - it doesn't have to be in a bloody pantry , ffs - especially if your budget is tight and your space is limited.
At this point, 🤷‍♀️.

The sad thing is that the UK has a government which does not understand the concept of
cooperation and support
the fact that avaricious PLC bosses have had to step in and look after the vulnerable
shows how poor the politicians are
and I really am not sure how the UK picks a path back

the USA at least had the sense to elect Biden
who is picking a cracking team

and the repurcussions of the sex party in Belgium may well restrain Orban
the quote from the host that "we could not show our ID cards as we had no clothes on"" is just a cracker

so life will get better
and we have to seek the positives each day

and wasn't the Rugby fab

Lotta sense here.

This is happier

At home with the Fripps

Apparently they are so lovey-dovey it hurts. And he used to read the FT after it had been ironed.

Still, he is a shit hot guitarist - invented his own tuning too.

Anyone who tells you that people are not basically good and cooperative needs to watch this
RIGHT TO THE END

There's a lovely thread in AIBU () at the moment about "The Kindest Thing a Stranger has done for you" which is heartwarming and restores faith in human nature

http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/amiibeingunreasonable/4098131-What-is-the-kindest-thing-a-stanger-has-done-for-you

Anyone who tells you that people are not basically good and cooperative needs to watch this

Remember that impromptu human chain at Durdle Dore earlier this year ?

Or the people who stood between US police and BLM protestors earlier this year to protect them ?

Or that guy who pulled someone who'd have had him deported out of the protest in London earlier this year ?

And I know, much as we might "hate" a lot of people right now, we'd dig through rubble with bare hands to save any and all of them if it were needed.

much winning.

The 'reasonable worst case' if EU talks collapse...

That should be So much winning

@InSuburbiton

That should be So much winning

10) "Between 40-70% of trucks travelling to the EU might not be ready for new border controls.

When your margin of error is approaching 100%, you really are full of shit. Nothing in that document can be trusted on that basis.

I remarked on that too. They have no idea, but have the cheek to describe themselves as a "responsible government".

The bit I noticed was supply of medicines for animals. Just what you need to mess up when you've got an avian flu outbreak.

My older cat is likely to need medicine soon ...

The hedgehog has been handed in to a specialist as she was not thriving .....

The options we take for granted
but did not in 1972
are at stake

I'm stockpiling old cat meds. Wishing I could do same for DH"s blood pressure medication. My elderly mum is on a shed load of medication too. I don't know how life threatening it is for any of their drugs to stop suddenly. I would be thinking seriously about hrt but I'm not prepared to start it only to find that I can't get regular supply.
I wonder how it'll affect the birth control pill. One dd is on that (can't tolerate coil or implant)
Worrying times indeed.

I hope little hedgehog survives LQ

Sending hedgehog love.

Had a nice weekend with a christmas tree and kids and mulled wine and music and stuff. Trying to not think about it all for a couple days.

Living through this is no fun at all is it? Stay safe everyone :(

mathanxiety
1973 was a big year for Ireland. We became a member of the EEC, opening up new trade opportunities for our little island.

To be fair though;

"Ireland has been a significant net beneficiary from the EU Budget since accession in 1973,"
"2014 represented the first time that Ireland was a (small) net contributor."

www.independent.ie/business/irish/ireland-contributes-more-money-than-it-gets-to-eu-for-first-time-34815450.html

Whereas the UK became a large net contributor to the EU budget from about 1980 - we've had many more years to grumble.

Clavinova
The UK fucked over Ireland for centuries.

It cut down ALL the trees to stop the peasants being able to have firewood - such that with no seed base, they have never regrown

It deliberately starved the people in the 1850s and helped them move away rather than eat (Priti has the same idea)

UK estates made fishing a capital offence to prevent self sufficiency

Counties like Leitrim, even now, have a population 25% of what they had before the Famine

Ireland was an asset stripped 3rd world country when it joined the EU

Nothing the UK should be proud of.

Whereas the UK became a large net contributor to the EU budget from about 1980 - we've had many more years to grumble.

Except Ireland is not grumbling as we recognise that the benefits of being in a large trading block far outweigh the contributions. UK grumbling has a lot less to do with contributions and a lot more to do with not being able to unilater dictate what the EU does a.k.a. Do they not know who we are

Love Phil's updates, DGR, he talks so much sense and manages to give me hope each week - no mean feat these days.

Am I the only one who shuddered when Johnson stroked his purple tie in aid of International Day of Persons with Disabilities at the start of PMQs on Wednesday?

Love Toyah, love Robert Fripp, especially his work with David Sylvian in the 80s/90s. I want some of what Toyah is on today! (Not to mention the secret of her eternal youth...)

Sorry your enjoyment of the festival was marred by kids doing midnight zipwire stunts DGR. I blame their folkie parents, most of whom were doubtless in a late night bar tent watching Ivor Cutler at the time... 😉

UK grumbling has a lot less to do with contributions and a lot more to do with not being able to unilater dictate what the EU does a.k.a. Do they not know who we are.

Margaret Thatcher November 1979;

"Broadly speaking, for every £2 we contribute we get £1 back. That leaves us with a net contribution of £1,000 million pounds next year to the Community and rising in the future. It is that £1,000 million on which we started to negotiate, because we want the greater part back. But it is not asking the Community for money; it is asking the Community to have our own money back, and I frequently said to them: “Look! We, as one of the poorer members of the Community, cannot go on filling the coffers of the Community. We are giving you notice that we just cannot afford it!”

"So that is the nature of the problem. I must say the other very big net contributors are Germany and many of the others are either broad balance or very substantial beneficiaries. It is we and Germany who are big net contributors and next year we would be the biggest of the lot, although one of the three poorest members."

www.margaretthatcher.org/document/104180

Margaret Thatcher November 1979;

Yeah. Because she was really going to admit that the UK hated no longer being king pin. We had an empire, don't you know

The complaints about the contributions are an excuse that sounds vaguely acceptable.

Yeah, investing in peace and stability is so overrated