Interesting Links for 08-02-2021

[andrewducker]

Is the tide turning on Irish reunification?

(tags:Ireland NorthernIreland politics UK )

Brexit red tape 'makes it easier for EU nations to import lamb from New Zealand than from Wales'

(tags:UK newzealand Wales trade Europe )

The Queen secretly lobbied for change in law to hide her private wealth

(tags:wealth inequality UK monarchy Queen OhForFucksSake )

Power blackout hits more than 88,000 homes in Edinburgh, the Lothians and the Borders

(tags:Edinburgh Scotland power electricity fail )

Google's power to cancel, with no recourse, accounts with thousands of dollars of purchases on them is just ridiculous

(tags:Google OhForFucksSake )

Comments

[calimac]

1. So what is the Republic of Ireland's health care system? It sounds from the article that it's purely private insurance.

2. Curious thing, and not related to Brexit because this has been true for years: almost all the lamb sold in US markets is imported from Australia or New Zealand. (Which means, by the way, that it's gotten pretty old and tasteless by the time it gets here.) Why we don't produce lamb in this country escapes me. We certainly have enough sheep.

5. Amazon is also famous for abruptly terminating accounts with no explanation and no recourse. I've advised people not to buy anything on Amazon that they might have to return, because returning goods seems to be something that may trigger this. I've never bought anything on Amazon expensive enough that I couldn't just eat the loss if it turns out to be the wrong thing.

[andrewducker]

Some googling has people discussing that the price of lamb is much much higher than beef where they are in the US - but I don't have any idea how general that is. And discussion of how, in many places, cattle are allowed to graze on public land but sheep aren't. But it's all just anecdote. This is interesting though: https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2019/11/26/781652195/after-wwii-mutton-fell-out-of-favor-in-the-u-s-can-it-make-a-comeback?t=1612797043864

I don't know much about the ROI's healthcare system. A quick look at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healthcare_in_the_Republic_of_Ireland#Healthcare_system makes it look like there are fees, but they are limited and a third of the country is exempt.

[calimac]

Mutton. Fascinating topic. I like beef better than veal, and lamb (if it's fresh) better than either, so logically I should like mutton best of all. But, as the article says, you can't find it anywhere. I had mutton ribs once, at a bbq place out in rural Texas, and they were big enough, but it didn't taste different from lamb, so I dunno.

Sheep Wars

[agoodwinsmith]

This was a big thing:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheep_Wars

I learned about it in a old Western I watched, so I don't really know much, but I do know that there was also an active disinformation campaign about how disgusting sheep tasted and only wussies ate and and and ...

And tha active slaughter.

[naath]

Google suggests you can buy British lamb; is it perhaps more expensive? do we maybe focus on wool rather than meat in our breeding? unsure.

[calimac]

Since that would also be imported, it wouldn't help much. In any case it's not in the markets I frequent, and I'm not going to mail-order perishable food. I know it's possible to mail-order even ice cream, but I consider that insane.

[snippy]

2. I get local lamb in the spring-the land college runs a sheep farm as part of the training, and there are other local sheep farms. We have the right climate and geography for them. The farmers' market has two different stalls that sell local hides and yarn in addition to meat.

[channelpenguin]

Lamb is not popular in Germany. Not sure why. Some people say maybe had to eat too much of it in WWII and after they wanted something else. Also,there are 10 x as many sheep in the UK as in Germany. Shame, because I love lamb. Yes, we can sometimes get imported NZ stuff .... and I scored a frighteningly expensive BBQ pack last year that was actually from somewhere fairly local to where I have moved to - so I want to track the place down in spring!!!

[andrewducker]

I hope you can find a local supplier!

[danieldwilliam]

Gut feel is Irish reunification won't happen until after Scottish independence. After independence I think lots of things get better for the reunification side. Assuring indy isn't a disaster.

[andrewducker]

I'm intrigued what gets easier? EU trade routes?

[danieldwilliam]

Change is difficult. After someone has done the same change it feels easier.

If you are British nationalist / Unionist and Britain no longer exist that's a harder position to promote.

If you are planning on defending the status quo and the status quo has just changed that's harder. So easier to promote a change.

And if Scotland can successfully leave the UK and re-join the EU and that looks like it's going okay then it's easier to persuade people that NI can leave the UK and rejoin, via Eire, the EU and that this will be okay.

[andrewducker]

Ah yes. As a morale booster I can definitely see it.

[danieldwilliam]

I think it's a little stronger than a morale boost but that sort of thing.