Interesting Links for 26-08-2018

[andrewducker]

Drive-in 'sex boxes' for prostitution are a wild success in Switzerland

(tags: Switzerland prostitution )

The risks of alcohol (again) (with actual details of how dangerous, and a useful graph)

(tags: ViaDrCross alcohol health )

No-deal Brexit will be blocked by at least 40 Tory MPs, former Conservative minister says

(tags: UK Europe Conservatives )

The case for abolishing private schools

(tags: school Education inequality )

It is actually fine to feed bread to swans (and presumably ducks, etc)

(tags: myths birds health food bread )

What happens to British manufacturers using the CE mark after "Brexit day"?

(tags: UK Europe manufacturing electronics safety trade )

The Origins of Opera and the Future of Programming

(tags: opera programming systems teams history )

Jacob Rees-Mogg suggests that after Brexit, people crossing the Irish border should be subject to 'inspections, just like during The Troubles'

(tags: OhForFucksSake conservatives Ireland NorthernIreland )

The Guardian view on science fiction: The Broken Earth deserves its Hugo (totally. Read them)

(tags: books Hugo scifi race awards )

Skim reading is the new normal (waffles on a lot, I found it hard not to skim read, and I'd like to see some detail on the studies and the effect sizes)

(tags: reading technology )

Muslim Journalist Forced To Show TSA Her Bloody Pad During Search

(tags: Islam security_theatre usa OhForFucksSake )

The State of the Bestiary is Stable: 25 years of Magic the Gathering. (Fascinating, mathematical, personal, and analytical)

(tags: games magic history )

Friends, gather round for the tale of the worst bride in the world.

(tags: wedding money OhForFucksSake )

Comments

Re: On Rees-Mogg and the UK-Ireland Border

[autopope]

In case you lack specific knowledge of him, J R-M manages a hedge fund. And as I understand it he's shorting the London stock market shamelessly in anticipation of a no-deal Brexit, while having moved his own investments out of the UK.

He's basically a traitorious disaster capitalist—there's no point in mincing words here: he actively wants to damage his own country for profit. Ideology is secondary (although he's got plenty of it, all totally barking mad in a manner that's probably familiar to anyone who monitors the spread of extreme authoritarian conservativism in the US republican party).

It says something about his lack of political interest that he's never been offered so much as a junior minister's portfolio. To put it bluntly: his own Conservative Party superiors distrust him.

Re: On Rees-Mogg and the UK-Ireland Border

[mountainkiss]

It's particularly odd because he and his wife between them are already worth about £150m.

Re: On Rees-Mogg and the UK-Ireland Border

[danieldwilliam]

I think the kind of people who amass a fortune of £150 million are the sort of people for whom £150 million is not enough.

Re: On Rees-Mogg and the UK-Ireland Border

[mountainkiss]

I do sort of get that at an abstract level, but it's very hard to get my head around. I'm also troubled by the depth of his espoused Roman Catholicism and very curious about what that means to him.

Re: On Rees-Mogg and the UK-Ireland Border

[danieldwilliam]

I suspect that one of the reasons why it's hard to get your head around is that you are not the sort of person who makes having £150 million a key part of your personality.

I know I'm not. I'd certainly gratefully accept £150 million in cash. And if I were offered work in my current profession that came with a chance of earning a £150 million (share options in a tech start up) then I might be tempted by that in preference to doing the same work but with no chance of £150 million. I'd even write 50 Shades of Grey and sell the film options. However, I'm not going to go around doing any thing substantially different in order to get a £150 million. Nor would I see myself as a different or better person if I had £150 million.

I think that's the difference. The money is used to keep score. There can never be enough winning in the world and if you are using money to keep score, never enough money.

In what way does his Roman Catholisism sit uneasily with you.

I confess I have my own reservations about strong faith motivations in politics and I am not convinced that JRM believes in the same God that you do, or that I would wish to believe in were I to believe in God.

Re: On Rees-Mogg and the UK-Ireland Border

[mountainkiss]

I struggle to reconcile his espoused faith with his voting record.

Re: On Rees-Mogg and the UK-Ireland Border

[danieldwilliam]

A thing I find hard to get my head around with regard to Roman Catholisism is the breadth of political opinion is supports as part of its theology. I think more so that Methodism or Quakerism or Russian Orthodoxy (as I understand it, which isn't hugely at all). I suppose the clue is in the title, being catholic. The scope of political philosophy open to those of the Catholic faith seems to range from strong, state authoritariansim to some fairly radical socialist positions.


Whilst looking for some examples of Catholic clergy of the radical and progressive type I found this

https://www.reddit.com/r/RadicalChristianity/comments/8ba20w/what_are_some_radical_catholic_saints/

Re: On Rees-Mogg and the UK-Ireland Border

[dewline]

I've been keeping an eye on reports about him by way of BBC News and the Guardian (mostly), so this characterization of him doesn't come as a surprise. It still terrifies me, but it's definitely not a surprise.