tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2141372262111342844.post2795190338204026834..comments2024-03-29T07:35:51.362+00:00Comments on Fabled Lands: The sacred power of reasonDave Morrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14468228790874490693noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2141372262111342844.post-52969483477007329922020-04-24T19:06:59.435+01:002020-04-24T19:06:59.435+01:00https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Bq_dkPkQUU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Bq_dkPkQUU<br />Andy Fletcherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07735277481108984596noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2141372262111342844.post-77901549018801123822020-04-23T22:20:04.943+01:002020-04-23T22:20:04.943+01:00Thanks, Dave. Your monarchical comment has kept me...Thanks, Dave. Your monarchical comment has kept me going for a few days.Andy Fletcherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07735277481108984596noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2141372262111342844.post-75514613177746063372020-04-23T08:17:12.245+01:002020-04-23T08:17:12.245+01:00No need to apologise, Andy. A bit of humour goes a...No need to apologise, Andy. A bit of humour goes a long way in dark times, I reckon.Dave Morrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14468228790874490693noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2141372262111342844.post-17707756885514298332020-04-22T23:21:34.454+01:002020-04-22T23:21:34.454+01:00Dave, sorry. Second time I've apologised on yo...Dave, sorry. Second time I've apologised on your blog. Trente percente looks like a rating of the post! Where in fact it's just my favourite comedy line. I must stop trying to be clever, it doesn't suit me!Andy Fletcherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07735277481108984596noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2141372262111342844.post-42403856812067163082020-04-20T23:56:59.467+01:002020-04-20T23:56:59.467+01:00There's some prescience about this post, Dave....There's some prescience about this post, Dave. I only came back on it to ask you whether Jam was any good. Trente percente!Andy Fletcherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07735277481108984596noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2141372262111342844.post-5038528577310669922020-02-19T07:54:13.290+00:002020-02-19T07:54:13.290+00:00Surely you'd need that embarrassingly backward...Surely you'd need that embarrassingly backwards peasant class for subsistence farming when the post-Brexit economy inevitably collapses, Dave? I'm sure they'd even work for free once the Illuminated Ones living in the cities have smugly explained to them how Wrong and Stupid their vote was.Guida Diehlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06881861444442344243noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2141372262111342844.post-15615788462032709462020-01-31T09:06:45.816+00:002020-01-31T09:06:45.816+00:00I think that's quite a likely outcome, and als...I think that's quite a likely outcome, and also possibly that Northern Ireland will reintegrate with the rest of Eire -- though there are some hurdles to clear in that case.<br /><br />Given that Brexit was effectively an English nationalist project (see the PNG I linked to above) it's a shame that rural England couldn't simply have quit the UK. That way the half of us who wanted to stay in the EU would have done so and the other half could've gone their own way. Border checks at Watford? That would have been less of a pain than the whole thing is actually going to cause, I suspect.Dave Morrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14468228790874490693noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2141372262111342844.post-51194958249140480482020-01-31T01:31:11.903+00:002020-01-31T01:31:11.903+00:00It'll be interesting if Scotland to have a &qu...It'll be interesting if Scotland to have a "Scexit" from the "Not-quite-as United Kingdom" in order to remain in the EU.johntfshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16005496604068259398noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2141372262111342844.post-20075249031011311882020-01-30T22:02:55.097+00:002020-01-30T22:02:55.097+00:00Now that the current government has defined Brexit...Now that the current government has defined Brexit as the extremely hard variant that looks certain to happen, we can't of course know how the voters in 2016 would have responded to that, but for those interested in whether there are Remain/Leave "echo chambers" this map is useful -- in particular the one on the right, with especial reference to regions that had > 70% support for either Leave or Remain.<br /><br />http://www.viewsoftheworld.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/EUreferendumCartogram.pngDave Morrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14468228790874490693noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2141372262111342844.post-3312159605463052202020-01-30T17:50:12.778+00:002020-01-30T17:50:12.778+00:00'Also Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle, Bright...'Also Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle, Brighton, Oxford, Leeds, Norwich.' Ah yes, the cities. The only places that matter, eh? Nonetheless, we've now had a referendum, two general elections and a European election and the electorate have voted in favour of Brexit-supporting parties every time, despite the waves of absurd Project Fear propaganda they were subjected to (including that in Government issued leaflets prior to the referendum).<br /><br />The success of Brexit will be determined in the long term, and it doesn't just belong to the Tories. Johnson's majority has been leant to him by voters as a response to the idiocy of the opposition MPs who attempted to frustrate a democratic vote.<br /><br />'Lastly, I love how the issue of Brexit has got people fretting about Africa who probably aren't even in favour of Britain's foreign aid expenditure.'<br /><br />Well, this is just another piece of Remainer bigotry, so often vented in the past three and a half years: 'You voted Brexit, so you can't possibly care about Africa or other countries anyway - I mean you must be right wing and a xenophobe/racist, right?' None of those, actually, so I'll thank you not to make snide generalisations. Again, get of your echo chamber.<br /><br />As I said, Euroscepticism was once the main position of Britain's Left. The collapse of the 'red wall' was because Labour no longer represents the views of most working people upon the EU (nor many other issues).<br /><br />The EU will remain on its current course, which is that of further federalism, restrictions and contempt for national sovereignty (the only form of governance under which truly democratic accountability has ever been possible). Guy Verhofstadt's speech during the recent Brexit debate blamed Brexit on too many EU opt outs and concessions. Because, of course, the problem with the EU is that it's too flexible and accommodating, eh?<br />SanJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16674129475177129800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2141372262111342844.post-9944630136860306502020-01-30T09:24:13.348+00:002020-01-30T09:24:13.348+00:00Keep looking, Guida. I'm sure there's got ...Keep looking, Guida. I'm sure there's got to be a Fighting Fantasy or Lone Wolf blog out there that's got what you're looking for.Dave Morrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14468228790874490693noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2141372262111342844.post-46845705501788231842020-01-30T07:14:08.760+00:002020-01-30T07:14:08.760+00:00When I come to a blog devoted to a wonderful old G...When I come to a blog devoted to a wonderful old Gamebook series from the '90s, I desperately hope that it's filled with out-of-touch, off-topic political moralising. Hopefully the next blog entry will consist of a 10,000 word analogy highlighting the remarkable similarities between post-Brexit Britain and the equally villainous City of the Runes of Doom. (I can hardly tell the difference!) That would be really edifying and exactly the kind of content I'm seeking when I visit an online journal about fantasy gamebooks. Guida Diehlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06881861444442344243noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2141372262111342844.post-84850929295163549932020-01-28T13:16:31.668+00:002020-01-28T13:16:31.668+00:00Athena certainly knows how to deal with such vanda...Athena certainly knows how to deal with such vandals, Dave; in the end they all lose their Marbles ! John Haganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16249152658906641154noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2141372262111342844.post-12554694900687215042020-01-27T09:45:00.762+00:002020-01-27T09:45:00.762+00:00You express it perfectly DM; the way the leave cam...You express it perfectly DM; the way the leave campaign was run, so many contradictory promises were made that in the end there were 18 million different forms of Brexit voted for, each one a pick and mix of each leave voter's favourite fabrications, with the hard truths left out. <br /><br />Of course only one version of Remain was ever put forward...<br />Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03848530930786042468noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2141372262111342844.post-10678770554694632472020-01-27T02:21:55.947+00:002020-01-27T02:21:55.947+00:00It's Warren Ellis, what did you expect? It...It's Warren Ellis, what did you expect? It's profane but almost terrifyingly prescient in terms political. johntfshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16005496604068259398noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2141372262111342844.post-75041909306629908972020-01-26T23:31:36.534+00:002020-01-26T23:31:36.534+00:00Gosh, John, that's a long way from Saturday Mo...Gosh, John, that's a long way from Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal :-)Dave Morrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14468228790874490693noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2141372262111342844.post-64465749596654023972020-01-26T22:35:02.959+00:002020-01-26T22:35:02.959+00:00Of course Dave has come to terms with Democracy. ...Of course Dave has come to terms with Democracy. He fully understands how voting works: https://www.reddit.com/r/comicbooks/comments/11tvmb/im_here_to_tell_you_about_voting_transmetropolitan/<br /><br />And soon enough, so will the rest of you.johntfshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16005496604068259398noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2141372262111342844.post-47088902025349201492020-01-26T13:56:23.091+00:002020-01-26T13:56:23.091+00:00Not just London, Sanj. Also Manchester, Liverpool,...Not just London, Sanj. Also Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle, Brighton, Oxford, Leeds, Norwich. And another "echo chamber" is whether you talk to under-45s or over-45s. But anyway that's not what the post is about. <br /><br />Everyone who voted in 2016 knew that planning for Brexit would not be simple. Gove said we'd negotiate for several years before triggering Article 50. Johnson said we'd continue to have access to the single market. Even Arron Banks said, "The Norway option looks best for the UK."<br /><br />So voters had a right to expect that Brexit would be implemented sensibly, in the best interests of the British people and to reflect the views of a narrowly divided electorate. And so it could have been. I wouldn't expect you to have read our book, but the reason many Leave supporters as well as Remain supporters have liked it is because it plays fair. You can negotiate different forms of Brexit, each with ups and downs.<br /><br />But instead here we are with incompetents and opportunists, many of whom by their own admission don't even know what a customs union is, rushing through a form of Brexit that will impoverish those rural areas just as much as the Remain-voting cities. And they're doing that simply because of the internal politics of the Conservative party and the career strategy of Boris Johnson, which is a long way short of what all voters were promised four years ago.<br /><br />Lastly, I love how the issue of Brexit has got people fretting about Africa who probably aren't even in favour of Britain's foreign aid expenditure. I certainly don't claim the EU is ideal as it is, but a lot of that stuff is on a par with the "facts" that get spread around by climate change deniers: <br /><br />https://fullfact.org/europe/out-africa-facts-about-eu-tariffs-african-exports/Dave Morrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14468228790874490693noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2141372262111342844.post-85813240705568082942020-01-25T15:18:03.740+00:002020-01-25T15:18:03.740+00:00Oh dear, Dave. Still coming to terms with democrac...Oh dear, Dave. Still coming to terms with democracy are you?<br /><br />Perhaps you should get out of your London echo chamber and find out why people aren't as enamoured with the EU as you are. You know, travel the country a bit, listen to some other viewpoints.<br /><br />Or even look into the history of Euroscepticism and how it used to be the Left's approach to Europe, not just the Right's. While you're at it you could look up EU protectionism, corruption and its impoverishment of Africa, just for starters.SanJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16674129475177129800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2141372262111342844.post-61187331959819731422020-01-25T12:27:40.348+00:002020-01-25T12:27:40.348+00:00A friend of mine visited the Acropolis in the '...A friend of mine visited the Acropolis in the '70s and came back with a piece of it. As you can imagine, I gave him an earful.Dave Morrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14468228790874490693noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2141372262111342844.post-5330394812934268192020-01-24T12:58:52.298+00:002020-01-24T12:58:52.298+00:00Facebook could definitely do with some 'Eumeni...Facebook could definitely do with some 'Eumenidifcation' (to coin a phrase); more graciousness, less self-righteous fury. <br />The Goddess A is my chosen patron, so I'm always happy to see her invoked. I once poured a libation to her on the Acropolis, but that's another story... John Haganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16249152658906641154noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2141372262111342844.post-91528679325269151492020-01-24T09:49:23.429+00:002020-01-24T09:49:23.429+00:00Here here. Here here. Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03848530930786042468noreply@blogger.com