Interesting Links for 22-10-2022

[andrewducker]

1. The facts around former PMs' £115,000 annual 'allowance'

(tags:money politics uk FactCheck )

2. Tories admitted to no oversight of ballot when members pick new prime minister (pet tortoises are totall eligible)

(tags:politics Conservatives voting fraud )

3. Where does JK Rowling stand on alliances with the far right?

(tags:LGBT transgender politics racism jkrowling bigotry )

4. The Conservatives are 5 parties fighting each other to death. We'd all be better off if they could split

(tags:politics conservatives UK )

5. Shooty gun games look pretty amazing (Amsterdam in this case)

(tags:games graphics )

6. Queen, Bowie & Annie Lennox - Under Pressure rehearsal ,1992 .

With George Michael singing along on the sidelines
(tags:Queen video music DavidBowie )

7. The world's energy situation is not as terrible as you might expect

(tags:electricity energy )

8. Tory leadership: How secure is the online vote?

(tags:voting conservatives security internet )

Comments

[rangifer]

I mean, good luck to Rishi Sunak or whoever it's going to be, but the major challenge is to unite the party behind an actual reality-based set of solutions to the major issues. There just may not be any that they can agree on. Whoever wins is in for a drubbing in the press in a couple of months, just like the others. The sanest thing would be a general election, but obviously that's not going to happen.

[channelpenguin]

The issue for most politicians is that the general public don't noticeably vote for reality-based solutions, but stop the thought process at whichever party/candidate correctly identifies the issues/problems of most concern to that individual. Having the correct explanation or any solutions at all seems optional. One sees this particularly clearly with the looney right vote.

[conuly]

What a cute little calico kitten!

[rangifer]

Calico kittens are the best kittens. (But then again all kittens are the best kittens.)

[calimac]

4) If this is stupid or offensive, I'll apologize and withdraw the question, but I'm genuinely curious: Both of the politicians named under the category "xenophobic English nationalists" are the children of immigrant parents. How exactly does the thinking here work? "Raise the drawbridge, I'm aboard"?

[andrewducker]

I really really do not know or understand. I've been looking for some kind of justification, but I haven't seen any kind of reasoning for why they should be allowed in and others shouldn't.

[channelpenguin]

I see it as the same thing as why some of the most virulent homophobes so often turn out to be gay. What that is, I dunno. Projection and self-hatred? Whatever.

[dewline]

"Raise the drawbridge, I'm aboard" seems just about correct here.

[alithea]

'Raise the drawbridge' plus the English exceptionalism thing - their parents might be immigrants but they have grown up in very middle class families (AFAIK) and been to Oxbridge and been indoctrinated into the idea that Britain is fantastic and the 'riffraff' (read 'foreigners') need to be kept out now because Britain is "full".

[calimac]

Yes, according to Wikipedia they both seem to have been from moderately prosperous families - Patel's parents owned a chain of newsagent stores. Patel's higher ed was plateglass rather than Oxbridge, but your basic point is valid.

[conuly]

How exactly does the thinking here work? "Raise the drawbridge, I'm aboard"?

Pretty much. You see the same thing in the US - "Okay, we're all here, we can lift up the rope and keep the rest of 'em out!"

[conuly]

I've said it before, and I'll no doubt say it again: when your natural allies are the far right, you need to sit down and seriously reconsider your life choices.

Somehow, JKR keeps getting confused. When we say 'sit down' she hears 'double down' and does it harder.