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Brexit shenanigans


bernorange

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14 hours ago, FondrenRoad said:

They will also lose cash, not gain it, and will be required to maintain EU style regulations if they want to trade with anyone nearby. 

This is exactly right. For example, Korea does not have to build cars to meet California's regulations. There's no law requiring them to build Hyundais and Kias... they are totally sovereign about deciding what kind of cars they want to build. They only have to meet California's regulations if they want to sell cars to Californians. And since they have to meet those standards to sell there, it's cheaper in terms of tooling and manufacturing to build them that way for sale everywhere else, too.

This is the blind spot of Brexit: You won't be legally required to do things that meet EU standards unless you want to sell things to people living in the EU. And well... oops, guess what? Most Brit companies do want to sell to people living in the EU.

You may have experienced this even here in the USA with the new GDPR regulation. US web sites and software services don't have to follow the GDPR at all ... unless you want to be making money in Europe...

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31 minutes ago, Rimbo said:

This is exactly right. For example, Korea does not have to build cars to meet California's regulations. There's no law requiring them to build Hyundais and Kias... they are totally sovereign about deciding what kind of cars they want to build. They only have to meet California's regulations if they want to sell cars to Californians. And since they have to meet those standards to sell there, it's cheaper in terms of tooling and manufacturing to build them that way for sale everywhere else, too.

 This is the blind spot of Brexit: You won't be legally required to do things that meet EU standards unless you want to sell things to people living in the EU. And well... oops, guess what? Most Brit companies do want to sell to people living in the EU.

 You may have experienced this even here in the USA with the new GDPR regulation. US web sites and software services don't have to follow the GDPR at all ... unless you want to be making money in Europe...

They may have not thought this thing through.

Of course, the motivations for most leavers really weren't related to trade or economics. Most who voted to leave based their decision on some combination of deception, nostalgia, and xenophobia, which sounds awfully fucking familiar.

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10 hours ago, bolverk said:

They may have not thought this thing through.

Of course, the motivations for most leavers really weren't related to trade or economics. Most who voted to leave based their decision on some combination of deception, nostalgia, and xenophobia, which sounds awfully fucking familiar.

The Mexicans are invading Britain too? I had no idea.

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13 hours ago, Rimbo said:

This is exactly right. For example, Korea does not have to build cars to meet California's regulations. There's no law requiring them to build Hyundais and Kias... they are totally sovereign about deciding what kind of cars they want to build. They only have to meet California's regulations if they want to sell cars to Californians. And since they have to meet those standards to sell there, it's cheaper in terms of tooling and manufacturing to build them that way for sale everywhere else, too.

This is the blind spot of Brexit: You won't be legally required to do things that meet EU standards unless you want to sell things to people living in the EU. And well... oops, guess what? Most Brit companies do want to sell to people living in the EU.

You may have experienced this even here in the USA with the new GDPR regulation. US web sites and software services don't have to follow the GDPR at all ... unless you want to be making money in Europe...

Sucks that Britain has to deal with article 11 and 13 as well since the Sweedes fucked everyone over again.

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6 hours ago, Brisketexan said:


In Britain, their Mexicans are Polish.

For all intensive porpoises, that's true.

But during the election, the Brits were repeatedly told that the real threat was Turkey whose admission to the EU was supposedly imminent and whose citizens would soon be flooding across Europe.

Of course, these were lies meant to gin up fear and loathing.

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"These are the times that try mens souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as freedom should not be highly rated”

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1 hour ago, Brisketexan said:

At this point, I’m convinced that a resolution by parliament to “shoot the UK’s dick clean off” would pass unanimously.

Nah, it wouldn't pass.  They already know their dick is getting shot off in April unless they do something to save it.  So they'd vote against having it shot off, against cutting it off with a knife instead, against shooting off only the tip, and against keeping their dick in its entirety.  And at the end, their dick is going to get shot off because they refuse to choose an alternative outcome.

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Nah, it wouldn't pass.  They already know their dick is getting shot off in April unless they do something to save it.  So they'd vote against having it shot off, against cutting it off with a knife instead, against shooting off only the tip, and against keeping their dick in its entirety.  And at the end, their dick is going to get shot off because they refuse to choose an alternative outcome.

Yep, you’ve got it nailed. They’re pathetic.
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I listened to Marketplace on NPR interview a few Brits in Boston, England about Brexitb the other day. One woman went on and on about how immigration and foreigners have fucked everything up, and that she voted for Brexit gor that reason, but also that she believes it won't change anything when it happens. Interviewer was too taken aback by the pure stupidity to ask why you'd vote for all the trouble when you don't even think it'll change anything.

Insert Jackie Chan meme.

They might actually be dumber than us. At the very least they are in our league when it comes to stupid. This must be what it feels like to observe America from abroad.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

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Marketplace is a great program. The Boston interviews were very eye-opening, as were the interviews in London with the vendors who would be harmed by Brexit. Kai does a great job, though his bias shows from time to time. 

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8 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:


Yep, you’ve got it nailed. They’re pathetic.

Yep, the stupidest thing about all these votes is that they pretend each option is available in a vacuum, and they're all terrified of making any decision.  Time for them to shit or get off the pot though.  On Monday morning, they should have a ranked choice ballot in front of them that looks something like this.    

1. No deal
2. Common Market 2.0
3. EFTA/EEA
4. Customs Union
5. Labour's Alternative Plan
6. Revoke Article 50
7. May's Deal

If they're afraid of ranked choice, then they can run the vote six separate times in a day, each time eliminating the candidate with the fewest votes.  After they have a winner, they can have a second yes/no vote which says "Put the winner up for a national vote in a new referendum."  If the referendum option passes, voters get 2 choices, the top ranked Brexit option and Revoke Article 50.  If the referendum option fails, then the gov't goes ahead and immediately implements whatever option they chose.

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40 minutes ago, FondrenRoad said:

Nah, it wouldn't pass.  They already know their dick is getting shot off in April unless they do something to save it.  So they'd vote against having it shot off, against cutting it off with a knife instead, against shooting off only the tip, and against keeping their dick in its entirety.  And at the end, their dick is going to get shot off because they refuse to choose an alternative outcome.

Bravo my man. Bravo. 

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38 minutes ago, gmr548 said:

I listened to Marketplace on NPR interview a few Brits in Boston, England about Brexitb the other day. One woman went on and on about how immigration and foreigners have fucked everything up, and that she voted for Brexit gor that reason, but also that she believes it won't change anything when it happens. Interviewer was too taken aback by the pure stupidity to ask why you'd vote for all the trouble when you don't even think it'll change anything.

Insert Jackie Chan meme.

They might actually be dumber than us. At the very least they are in our league when it comes to stupid. This must be what it feels like to observe America from abroad.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk
 

White trash brits are worse than white trash yanks. Fact. 

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53 minutes ago, gmr548 said:

They might actually be dumber than us. At the very least they are in our league when it comes to stupid. This must be what it feels like to observe America from abroad.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk
 

Might?  Millions more Americans voted against the clusterfuck we're facing right now than for it.  The Brits got an actual majority for their clusterfuck. 

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Who knows what polls can be believed, but there is evidence that the UK public doesn't support Brexit any longer. Why not hold another referendum now that the public has a bit more understanding what it would look like. I understand that those supporting Brexit don't want another vote as it produces zero benefit for them, except it might end speculation of public sentiment.

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1 hour ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

Who knows what polls can be believed, but there is evidence that the UK public doesn't support Brexit any longer. Why not hold another referendum now that the public has a bit more understanding what it would look like. I understand that those supporting Brexit don't want another vote as it produces zero benefit for them, except it might end speculation of public sentiment.

No way. That one referendum is set in stone for infinity. Parliament just has to vote on the same proposition until it passes. 100 times, a million times, whatever it takes. Those Parliament votes are meaningless unless they say yes. Unlike the referendum which I believe is now the 11th commandment and can never be revisited. 

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3 hours ago, FondrenRoad said:

No way. That one referendum is set in stone for infinity. Parliament just has to vote on the same proposition until it passes. 100 times, a million times, whatever it takes. Those Parliament votes are meaningless unless they say yes. Unlike the referendum which I believe is now the 11th commandment and can never be revisited. 

This is what I don't get.  Just fucking vote again.  It's quite clear, or at least it fucking should be, that the Leave vote was the wrong fucking vote.  You'll still have the 40% (why does that sound familiar?) that will vote Leave again, but surely the majority of people have seen the absolute shit show this has been and would decide it's not fucking worth it.  And if not, then double down and crash out.  Fuck it. 

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How do you abstain from one of the most important votes in your career?

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/world/europe/what-is-brexit.html

I think this article is a couple of days old. Doesn't include latest vote.

Quote

Of the options considered this week by Parliament, the one it came closest to endorsing was a soft Brexit approach, remaining in the European Union’s customs union. It lost, 272 to 264, but more than 100 lawmakers abstained, so it is anyone’s guess how the vote would have gone if every lawmaker had taken part.

Quote

Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, has worked hard not to commit his party to a distinct course on Brexit. But under pressure from many of his members, he has expressed a willingness to back a second referendum under certain circumstances.

But a referendum could take many forms, and there is no agreement on that, either.

One of the options Parliament considered this week was a popular vote to confirm or reject Mrs. May’s deal, and it lost, 295 to 268. Once again, more than enough lawmakers abstained to sway the outcome.

Many Brexit opponents want a different referendum, a rerun of the 2016 contest, asking voters if they want any Brexit at all. Polls indicate that public opinion has shifted in favor of remaining in the European Union, but so far, Parliament has not considered such a measure.

Still other pro-Europe voters want Parliament to kill Brexit on its own, or at least delay it for years, by revoking Article 50.

Exiting without a deal in place also remains a real possibility, one that the hard-line pro-Brexit forces in the Conservative Party insist would be preferable to a long delay.

 

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32 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

This is what I don't get.  Just fucking vote again.  It's quite clear, or at least it fucking should be, that the Leave vote was the wrong fucking vote.  You'll still have the 40% (why does that sound familiar?) that will vote Leave again, but surely the majority of people have seen the absolute shit show this has been and would decide it's not fucking worth it.  And if not, then double down and crash out.  Fuck it. 

If you look at a pro brexit rally it looks just like a trump hate fest. Why aren’t the voting for brexit again despite it being a complete disaster? Have no idea.

But it’s probably similar to the reason that trump is still the president after our own disaster. A bunch of morons voted like morons and we haven’t been able to get a vote yet overturning the moron vote.

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The "austerity as principle trigger for Brexit" case is actually a really compelling one, which can be extended to a lot of these nationalist movements throughout the EU.

That’s a good piece. And it captured something that broadly afflicts liberal democracies these days:

“What we wanted was dignity, self respect, fuck the other guy, and fuck the government. Brexit, like The Wall, is not a real thing at all. It's a mood. A symbol. A story. A promise about power and pride and sovereignty told by swindlers and thugs to frightened children. What people voted for isn't the messy reality but the idea of "taking back control." In fact, it's our leaders who have lost control—of their senses, of their resources, of the plot. And it's the rest of us who are going to pay.”

Dead-on. For them, and us.
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21 minutes ago, bolverk said:

The "austerity as principle trigger for Brexit" case is actually a really compelling one, which can be extended to a lot of these nationalist movements throughout the EU.

it's not a new thing at all, either.

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While it's not a chef d'oeuvre of modern cinema, I do recommend watching "Brexit" with Benedict Cumberbatch on Prime as it provides the "first historical take" on the campaign. While it's a little superficial, I think it really tries to get at the misguided feelings of the Brits as they struggle to "take back control" over their diminished status in world affairs.

This paragraph from El Fenix's article, I think, captures it best:

Brexit was all about leaving the Idea of Europe, which nobody cared about before the Brexiteers began casting Europe as the root of all of our gnarliest cultural complexes—including Britain's complex about its new and diminished place in a changing world that it no longer owns most of. The idea of leaving Europe is simple and rather pathetic; the practical process of leaving the E.U. is fiendishly complex. Pulling out without a plan leaves us hemorrhaging political and economic capital, none of which the Brexiteers planned for—because they didn't have a plan at all. There's a chasm of meaning between what Europe symbolizes and what it actually is, and the British ruling class is about to pour its country's future down that chasm because they're too embarrassed to face the facts, their mistakes, and the consequences.

For whatever reason, the English have never reconciled the fact that they are indeed a European nation, an island that cannot stand alone, with their own idea of British Empire exceptionalism - something that we Americans could learn some lessons from.

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