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Journal by turgid

Brexit finally got done at 23:00 GMT on 31st December 2020 when the UK's Withdrawal Agreement with the EU finally expired. A "trade deal" between the UK and EU was agreed on 24th December. The Alt-Wrong finally got their prize of freedom, democracy and British sovereignty.

What did they actually win? Chaos at the ports, thousands of tonnes of fish that can't be sold, tariffs, duties, and all sorts of things which were once Project Fear and the undemocratic, treasonous lies of the Liberal Metropolitan Elite, Socialists, Marxists, quislings, traitors, lefties and people who hate their country. Socialism, Marxism, EUSSR, Venezuela, toilet paper!

We are on the third week of this glorious new future of sunlit uplands with no downsides, only upsides with much more to look forward to. And Donald Trump is going to give us a fantastic trade deal with the USA straight away.

Over at the Guardian, Polly Toynbee has an excellent summary entitled Brexiters are waking up to the damage they've done.

As Brexiters turn on each other, Brexit politics move fast. Until now the Tories planned to move on, only reviving “Brexit done” triumphalism to re-arouse the captured red wall at the election: Labour just wanted to bury the whole issue.

The Westminster system has failed us (the UK). We are now looking at Irish Reunification and Scottish Independence. Gibraltar has already got its own deal where it gets to join Schengen.

We have Taken Back Control(TM).

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(1)
  • (Score: 0, Funny) by Ethanol-fueled on Monday January 18 2021, @09:51PM (1 child)

    by Ethanol-fueled (2792) on Monday January 18 2021, @09:51PM (#1102133) Homepage

    Stupid Amerifatus Burgerus here. What's the point of Brexit if all of your leaders (with the exception of Nigel Farage) are pro-Globohomo, pro-lockdown, COVID and climate hoax fearmongers and non-enforcers of the third-world filth still streaming through their borders?

    Based on what our news tells us about them, there's no difference between pre-brexit and post-brexit politics with the exception that Brexit has angered the Globohomo.

    • (Score: 4, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @07:23AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @07:23AM (#1102314)

      The Globohomo has pumped EF full of santorum.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 18 2021, @10:19PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 18 2021, @10:19PM (#1102146)
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 18 2021, @11:28PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 18 2021, @11:28PM (#1102170)

      LOL, those "talented but flawed" (ie: psychopaths) at the globohomo BBC.

  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 18 2021, @11:35PM (18 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 18 2021, @11:35PM (#1102171)

    The new president is Biden, his first act was to call 30,000 troops in then lock down the capitol because of a tramp fire under the bridge.

    His next act will be to pass out $2 trillion to banks and corners, giving 1/10th that to real people.

    • (Score: 3, Informative) by c0lo on Tuesday January 19 2021, @12:25AM (15 children)

      by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday January 19 2021, @12:25AM (#1102188) Journal

      His next act will be to pass out $2 trillion to banks and corners, giving 1/10th that to real people.

      Biden stimulus [cnn.com]

      The earliest the money could start flowing? Maybe mid- to late February, said Kevin Kosar, resident scholar at the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute and co-editor of the book "Congress Overwhelmed."
      Biden's massive plan includes several immediate relief items that are popular with a wide swath of Americans, including sending another $1,400 in direct stimulus payments, extending unemployment benefits and eviction protections, and offering more help for small businesses. It also would boost funding for vaccinations by $20 billion and for coronavirus testing by $50 billion.
      But it also calls for making some larger structural changes, such as mandating a $15 hourly minimum wage, expanding Obamacare premium subsidies and broadening tax credits for low-income Americans for a year.

      --
      https://www.youtube.com/@ProfSteveKeen https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
      • (Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @12:37AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @12:37AM (#1102193)

        popular with a wide swath of economically illiterate Americans

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @12:50AM (12 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @12:50AM (#1102196)

        How about don't give any money to pork projects and give it all directly to the people?

        Why do you want bank/corporate middle men to skim off 75-99% of the benefit before getting to the people in need?

        • (Score: 3, Touché) by c0lo on Tuesday January 19 2021, @01:04AM (11 children)

          by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday January 19 2021, @01:04AM (#1102200) Journal

          Why do you want bank/corporate middle men to skim off 75-99% of the benefit before getting to the people in need?

          [Citation needed] on the skimming.

          Additionally, I want nothing of the sort - one way or the other, I'm not an usian.

          --
          https://www.youtube.com/@ProfSteveKeen https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
          • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @01:18AM (9 children)

            by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @01:18AM (#1102202)

            $1,400 to each american is about $200 billion. That means $1,800 billion is going to banks and corporations. Where else would it go?

            • (Score: 4, Informative) by c0lo on Tuesday January 19 2021, @01:31AM (8 children)

              by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday January 19 2021, @01:31AM (#1102205) Journal

              extending unemployment benefits and eviction protections, and offering more help for small businesses.

              Those are more than one off payments.

              https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/14/politics/300-unemployment-benefit-congress/index.html [cnn.com] - $300/w for at least "First-time unemployment claims soared last week, with 965,000 people filing for benefits, substantially higher than the week before."

              https://edition.cnn.com/2020/12/23/success/what-renters-need-eviction-moratorium-fe-series/index.html [cnn.com] - $25B since Xmas to end of Jan, likely to be expanded (and become $25B/mo)
              https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/11/success/ppp-loan-program-reopens-small-business/index.html [cnn.com] - potentially forgivable federal loans for businesses.

              --
              https://www.youtube.com/@ProfSteveKeen https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
              • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @01:39AM (7 children)

                by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @01:39AM (#1102208)

                Wtf is the point of giving money as unemployment, business loans, etc?

                Just give it directly to the people to spend as they please without middle men skimming it. Of course, that will never happen because the family and friends of congress and their puppet masters need to be enriched 10x more than common people.

                In fact, don't even tax anyone making less than $200k per year to begin with.

                • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday January 19 2021, @03:09AM (6 children)

                  by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday January 19 2021, @03:09AM (#1102241) Journal

                  I provided you the info to correct your "2% of them will get to the population, the rest is feeding the banks", up to you what you do with it.

                  --
                  https://www.youtube.com/@ProfSteveKeen https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
                  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @03:41AM (5 children)

                    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @03:41AM (#1102250)

                    Do you understand the difference between sending someone a check and processing unemployment, etc?

                    One has almost no overhead, the mother is a handout for middlemen to skim off the top with no benefit to the people.

                    • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday January 19 2021, @04:46AM (4 children)

                      by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday January 19 2021, @04:46AM (#1102266) Journal

                      $600, or $1000, or $10,000, any lump sum checks will be spent and gone in a couple weeks, if it lasts that long. Unemployment, with all it's overhead, will last for months. This is 'Murica, where (almost) everyone is in debt for an amount equal to ten year's wages. It's the 'Murican way to borrow your way through life.

                      --
                      “I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz
                      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @06:11AM

                        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @06:11AM (#1102296)

                        The same thing happens if you give it to the government, what's the difference?

                        Printing money from thin air (going into debt) when you are already bankrupt is a very bad idea. But since they are doing it anyway just give it all directly to the people.

                      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @10:18PM (2 children)

                        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @10:18PM (#1102601)

                        $10k would last the average family a few months at least.

                        • (Score: 2, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday January 19 2021, @11:51PM (1 child)

                          by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday January 19 2021, @11:51PM (#1102645) Journal

                          I strongly disagree. The average family in the United States is months behind in credit card payments, rent, utilities, car payments, and whatever else they have signed a note for. The more responsible average families will attempt to pay some of those bills if given $10k. The least responsible are likely to splurge, buying stupid bling, like a new fishing boat, jewelry, or a new car, and other crap that won't see them through hard times. Some forward looking families may invest in the faltering economy, thinking that Wall Street can insure their future needs.

                          The MOST responsible will invest in essentials, like survivalists, then conserve the remainder of their money to get through several months. That group will be the smallest group, I'm certain.

                          --
                          “I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz
          • (Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @05:05AM

            by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @05:05AM (#1102272)

            You don't actually need a citation. 330 million Americans, $1400 "stimulus". 1400 * 340 million = $460 billion. And I'm making two incorrect assumptions:

            1) He's sending stimulus checks to everybody including illegal immigrants and 2 year olds.
            2) 100% of people will cash those checks.

            A fraction of the remaining ~80% will go to various social programs, and the remainder will go to corruption town. Biden has spent about 50 years in politics and only two things have remained true about him:

            1) He's always on the wrong side of issues and only changes long after society has.
            2) He's as corrupt as they come.

            There will be plentiful "stimulus" throughout Biden's terms. Expect a recurring theme. A fraction of each stimulus will go to 99% of the population. The majority of the stimulus will go to the 1%. Then as the rich continue to get even filthier rich during this pandemic people will freak out and demand we vote for the DNC, because they're the party that claims to care about wealth inequality. Bahhaha. I suppose they do. Just not how you think.

      • (Score: 2, Interesting) by khallow on Tuesday January 19 2021, @05:24AM

        by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday January 19 2021, @05:24AM (#1102281) Journal

        But it also calls for making some larger structural changes, such as mandating a $15 hourly minimum wage

        It's profoundly stupid to mandate the same minimum wage for both the poorest parts of the US and the wealthiest. Such a minimum wage would be mild in impact on Manhattan or San Francisco, but a disaster for Puerto Rico or Mississippi.

    • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @12:32AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @12:32AM (#1102189)

      You're just jealous he's so popular [babylonbee.com]

    • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @12:36AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @12:36AM (#1102191)

      Are you seriously suggesting that President Biden invade the UK, and force to rejoin the EU, like the USA had to do back in WWII? In order to fight fascism? Punch a Nazi in the face for Jesus!!

  • (Score: 4, Informative) by c0lo on Tuesday January 19 2021, @12:49AM (16 children)

    by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday January 19 2021, @12:49AM (#1102195) Journal

    Shellfish rotting in lorries [yahoo.com]

    Scottish fishermen have been unable to export stocks to Europe after the Brexit transition period ended on 31 December due to the introduction of catch certificates, health checks and customs declarations. These have all added to delays to the delivery times meaning European buyers have rejected their stock.

    The hold-ups have seen boats stuck at sea with no one able to buy their catch. There were complaints of shellfish rotting in ports due to lorry pile-ups, which has meant the stock had to be thrown away.

    Not enough ports to service local fishermen in North Ireland [highlandradio.com]

    Germany's DB Schenker suspends deliveries from EU to UK [ft.com]

    German logistics group DB Schenker on Wednesday became the latest major parcels operator to suspend cross-border delivery services because of new red tape and customs paperwork imposed by Brexit.

    In a note issued to customers the company said it was suspending shipments from the EU to the UK blaming the “enormous bureaucratic regulations” created by the post-Brexit trading arrangements that had left recipients in the UK unable to handle shipments in a “legally compliant manner”.
    ...
    The suspensions came as it emerged that the UK government is proposing to fast-track empty supermarket food lorries returning to Europe to restock, as concerns mount in Whitehall that post-Brexit port disruption threatened supermarket supply shortages.

    EU firms suspend deliveries to the UK over "ludicrous" new Brexit tax rules [mirror.co.uk]

    New tax rules from this week mean VAT is now collected at the point of sale rather than at the point of importation, a change that HMRC says will ensure that goods from EU and non-EU countries are treated in the same way

    --
    https://www.youtube.com/@ProfSteveKeen https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @01:27AM (4 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @01:27AM (#1102204)

      The EU requires every business exporting to an EU member state to charge VAT at the rate for that country. When this became law, there wasn't even a centralized place to find this information. Purchase taxes are stupid.

      • (Score: 3, Informative) by c0lo on Tuesday January 19 2021, @01:35AM (3 children)

        by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday January 19 2021, @01:35AM (#1102206) Journal

        The EU requires every business exporting to an EU member state to charge VAT at the rate for that country.

        Reading comprehension failure in the context. Let me emphasize it for you

        a change that HMRC says will ensure that goods from EU and non-EU countries are treated in the same way

        That's "Her Majesty Revenue and Customs" right there.

        --
        https://www.youtube.com/@ProfSteveKeen https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
        • (Score: -1, Redundant) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @01:49AM (2 children)

          by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @01:49AM (#1102209)

          Wrong! [thenextweb.com]

          • (Score: 3, Informative) by c0lo on Tuesday January 19 2021, @03:05AM (1 child)

            by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday January 19 2021, @03:05AM (#1102240) Journal

            I can't even.
            Context mismatch (not Brexit), timeline mismatch (2015) - we're talking together and understand each other separately. A waste of time I can't afford ATM.

            --
            https://www.youtube.com/@ProfSteveKeen https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
            • (Score: 0, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @01:42PM

              by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @01:42PM (#1102387)

              Wrong again. The context is the problem of interstate VAT, no matter how much you want to pretend it isn't. If you want to ignore VAT problems existing prior to Brexit and use that denial as pretext to whine like a retarded child, at least be honest about your intent.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @05:17AM (9 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @05:17AM (#1102276)

      I doubt you care because 'mah politics', but it should be clear this is a political stunt and not reality. Let's see, I have large amounts of shell fish that I cannot sell in foreign markets. I can:

      1) Drive around in giant trucks ranting about Brexit while letting the produce rot and telling everybody it's rotting.

      2) Go sell the produce at home at sub-market rates making the folks back home thrilled and giving you some time to sort your shit out.

      Real tough decision. Well I suppose it is for the politard types.

      • (Score: 3, Insightful) by c0lo on Tuesday January 19 2021, @05:29AM (8 children)

        by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday January 19 2021, @05:29AM (#1102283) Journal

        Yet another solution: dump the whole load on the steps of the politicians that caused the problem, then go to the pub and have a pint.
        I know which one "mah politics" would make me choose.

        --
        https://www.youtube.com/@ProfSteveKeen https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
        • (Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @06:29AM (6 children)

          by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @06:29AM (#1102298)

          I don't understand how people such as yourself fail to understand one simple recurring issue. It's not "politicians that caused the problem". The question was asked in a democratic fashion and the public and the public chose to leave. And that was after they were (and continue to be) inundated with nonstop propaganda against Brexit. And Authoritarian globalists spent years trying to cancel democracy, and hoping to somehow change the tide. And they failed. Even if Brexit were run again, it'd *still* [mirror.co.uk] pass.

          This is why democracy is failing. People on both sides appeal to it when they like the result of an election, but then aim to destroy society and undermine democracy in every imaginable way when they don't like the answer it gives. The very nature of democracy means you're sometimes not going to get your way. And at that point the right path forward is to make the best of what you perceive to be a bad situation, and move on with your life looking forward to the next vote where you can make your voice heard, so long as you believe that your vote still matters.

          • (Score: 4, Insightful) by c0lo on Tuesday January 19 2021, @06:47AM (5 children)

            by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday January 19 2021, @06:47AM (#1102304) Journal

            The question was asked in a democratic fashion and the public and the public chose to leave.

            The problem with rotting shellfish today was created by politicians, with no clear idea about what has to happen after the public and the public chose to leave. One may argue the same human subspecies, the politiheads, lied to public and the public before asking them in a democratic fashion, but that's so well behind everybody that it becomes a moot point today.

            I don't think you can argue in good faith that it was the people that wanted to make a choice between:
            1. ranting about post-Brexit brouhaha causing shellfish rotting in huge trucks or
            2. selling the stuff at under the cost of obtaining it.

            This is why democracy is failing.

            This is why the shellfish rots today, because of dickheads looking to "the principle of things" and letting to the others to deal with the fallout.

            --
            https://www.youtube.com/@ProfSteveKeen https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @08:51AM (4 children)

              by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @08:51AM (#1102334)

              There is no evidence that selling their product locally would be at a loss. Simply that it would likely need to be sold for less than they could get by selling it to foreign nations. And this was expected. Brexit was expected to lead to lower cost domestically obtained seafood, higher cost imported seafood, and lower profit margins for the fishing industry as a whole.

              Really I think the issue is quite symbolic of the entire issue in ways entirely unintended. Immigration and globalization do help improve economies but it's not equally distributed. It disproportionately helps the mid to upper class, and harms the lower class due to increased competition from foreign workers who are either imported, or to whom domestic jobs are exported. There's a growing underclass in the UK that overwhelmingly supported Brexit. And now the moneyed corporate class is able to throw a tantrum by simply letting tons of shellfish rot - the same sort of foods this underclass would struggle to be able to regularly afford. 'If we can't have our profit margins, let them eat cake!' An apocryphal but nonetheless apt quote that sums up the mentality. It's akin to a wealthy businessman protesting against a tax hike by lighting millions of dollars on fire. 'That'll show 'em!'

              • (Score: 3, Insightful) by c0lo on Tuesday January 19 2021, @09:48AM (3 children)

                by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday January 19 2021, @09:48AM (#1102341) Journal

                It's akin to a wealthy businessman protesting against a tax hike by lighting millions of dollars on fire. 'That'll show 'em!'

                Oh, so Molly Malone's ghost no longer pushes her wheelbarrow, eh? She gave place to greedy corporations, sucking the life out of the poor poor lower British class, who probably voted Brexit for cheaper seafood.

                Except... there's some dissonance in this narrative. You see, the Shellfish Association of Great Britain [shellfish.org.uk] is made of

                shellfish farmers, fishermen, fishermen's Associations, processors, commercial traders and retail companies

                Doesn't seem that the production side members of SAGB made it in the "moneyed corporate class". In 2012, there were exactly 248 shellfish enterprises employing 705 staff across the UK [service.gov.uk] (see page 17/20) - I'd call it a cottage industry by the number of employees.

                But what do I know, maybe they managed to take over the London forex and, in 2020, are pissing from the balcony on the poor class in the stalls.
                Heck, no! In 2019, When focusing on the challenges facing the UK oyster industry today, he conceded that, “the size of the industry is small, and out of balance with the regulatory burdens”. [thefishsite.com]

                --- Bottom line ---

                GTFO, mate, you help nobody spinning your hot air! Especially when your narrative seems always in the search for some scape goat to blame:
                1. the "mah politics" of a guy posting on S/N from Melbourne - yeah, surely I'm the UK equivalent of deep-state or some francmason or some other kettle of fi... conspirator
                2. if it's not c0lo, it's the "moneyed corporate class" of oppressors.

                At the end of the day, the reality is that the Brits will get to live with the consequences of their choice; maybe they'll be better of, maybe not.
                Mark my words, with the political class and bureaucracy in UK today, it will be a long time for them to get better and then there's no warranty they will.

                --
                https://www.youtube.com/@ProfSteveKeen https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
                • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @04:14PM (2 children)

                  by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @04:14PM (#1102433)

                  There being few shellfish enterprises is not the sort of argument you ought want to make. The gross throughput in shellfish is very high, which directly implies what I was speaking of before - that wealth tends to be deeply centralized rather than distributed, even in industries like fishing. The 'little guy' fisher, farmer, and so on has largely faded away to be replaced by larger conglomerate and corporate entities with large margins that tend to be disproportionately directed back towards their executives. A trend in most western nations today.

                  However, we do actually agree on the bottom line. There will be pros and cons of Brexit. And only the future will tell what happens. I'm curious what you feel were the benefits to the UK's participation in the EU in the past? For negatives I'd point to what I mentioned above about the rapid growth of an economic underclass, greater social instability including things like terror attacks due to diversity, and a substantial deterioration in national sovereignty due to the ability of the EU to impose binding legislation. Benefits? There are countless benefits for the rich and for multinational businesses, but for people/companies not engaged in international commerce? All I can really think of is paper free travel/employment/education throughout the EU. That's not really a great exchange, in my opinion.

                  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @07:24PM

                    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @07:24PM (#1102528)

                    It's not like the people of Europe have been free to move about, even in their own countries, for almost a year.

                  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by c0lo on Tuesday January 19 2021, @10:31PM

                    by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday January 19 2021, @10:31PM (#1102609) Journal

                    I'm curious what you feel were the benefits to the UK's participation in the EU in the past?

                    I have no opinions on the matter.

                    If you look at the title of my comment and the content of it, I made no judgement about the value (or lack thereof) of Brexit.
                    I just signaled the boondoggles caused by politicians and bureaucracy occurring after a moment that anyone knew for years it was coming and could have planned for.

                    --
                    https://www.youtube.com/@ProfSteveKeen https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 20 2021, @01:56AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 20 2021, @01:56AM (#1102698)

          According to a friend of mine in the UK, the area near one of their offices stinks to high heaven because of the various groups parking their rotting fish in trucks by the politician offices.

    • (Score: 3, Informative) by pTamok on Wednesday January 20 2021, @12:42PM

      by pTamok (3042) on Wednesday January 20 2021, @12:42PM (#1102828)

      New tax rules from this week mean VAT is now collected at the point of sale rather than at the point of importation, a change that HMRC says will ensure that goods from EU and non-EU countries are treated in the same way

      Well, it's actually an EU-wide change in the VAT rules, planned when the UK was still a member of the EU (or in transition). It turns out that EU delayed implementation for 6 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. HMRC simply declined to postpone the implementation.

      The rules are a little bit more complicated and nuanced. Examples are where businesses sell to private individuals (consumers), not other businesses, across a border.

      Do an Internet search for "EU VAT rules July 2021"

      https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/business/vat/modernising-vat-cross-border-ecommerce_en [europa.eu]
      https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/changes-to-vat-treatment-of-overseas-goods-sold-to-customers-from-1-january-2021/changes-to-vat-treatment-of-overseas-goods-sold-to-customers-from-1-january-2021 [www.gov.uk]

      This pwc page gives a reasonable overview, if you understand the jargon.

      https://www.pwc.ch/en/insights/tax/new-ecommerce-eu-vat-rules-july-2021.html [www.pwc.ch]

  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Azuma Hazuki on Tuesday January 19 2021, @02:02AM (24 children)

    by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Tuesday January 19 2021, @02:02AM (#1102215) Journal

    ...and they are going to get what they wanted, good and hard. This is the end of the UK and the end of England as anything other than an historical curiosity.

    I want to know who was behind this. I'd bet good money, if I had any, that this is another part of Putin's long game of dissolving NATO and/or that the Chinese had something to do with it.

    --
    I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
    • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @02:57AM (9 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @02:57AM (#1102235)

      Shocking how well timed these phenomena were, very much seems like an attack on the western cultural hegemony.

      • (Score: 0, Troll) by Ethanol-fueled on Tuesday January 19 2021, @03:26AM (1 child)

        by Ethanol-fueled (2792) on Tuesday January 19 2021, @03:26AM (#1102245) Homepage

        Biden's Pyrrhic "victory," Brexit, Merkel Stepping down not to return, and the death of Benjamin de Rothschild all are not attacks on Western cultural hegemony but rather removal of the obstacles holding it back for the past 10 years. Now lets hope that the Antifa/BLM, COVID, and climate hoaxes are next to fall.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @03:50AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @03:50AM (#1102254)

          Blah blah blah you're a racist troll we know

      • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @06:09AM (6 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @06:09AM (#1102295)

        This is so unbelievably ironic. Do you know the USSR lost? The nominal reason given is that they ran out of money and so we out-cold-warred them, but there was something much more fundamental. Soviet citizens envied the US: our freedom, our culture, our capitalism, and our ability to live, grow, and express ourselves in a way that was impossible in the USSR. When your own citizens envy your enemy, you're going to lose.

        The USSR was "woke", hardcore. All of the precepts of wokeness from identity politics hovering about race and sexual identity, to the equity for all, cultural cleansing, and censorship of wrong-think - these were all key precepts of the Soviet Union. The sexual identity stuff was rolled back under Stalin, but all other aspects remained for the breadth of the Soviet Union's brief flicker of an existence. And the people hated it.

        I think this is similar to what's happening in the US today, and even to a lesser degree within the EU. Our "cultural hegemony" is not being killed off by outside actors, but by ourselves. "Wokeness" rapidly trends towards self depreciation, censorship, intolerance, and ultimately - authoritarianism. It seeks to "purify" culture and does succeed in that - by destroying/suppressing it.

        ---

        Ultimately there's some great irony. The only reason you might think the deterioration of our "cultural hegemony" must be being driven by outside forces is because we are now collectively censoring and attacking anybody who dares to speak out against it. And so, in mainstream discourse, you are presented a false picture of relatively homogeneous views. But reality is quite different. Censoring and suppressing views does not make them disappear, it only evangelizes the people who are oppressed and drives them to discourse outside the public eye. And so when people push back you now suddenly have no idea where this all could have come from, leading to absurd conclusions like "It must be Putin!"

        • (Score: 4, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @08:02AM (1 child)

          by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @08:02AM (#1102328)

          Also abortion rights were rolled back by Stalin. We should be highly suspicious of these Republican commies that want to roll back Roe v. Wade.

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @04:26PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @04:26PM (#1102439)

            On these sort of divisive issues, it's unlikely either party would actually pull the trigger. A large chunk of republicans are pro-choice and similarly a large chunk of the pro-life contingent is pro-life only in certain circumstances (e.g. - after second trimester or whatever).

            They tease the pro-life stuff to get the evangelicals to show up. If they actually passed it not only would they alienate a pretty sizable chunk of their party, but they'd need to come up with a new gimmick to get the evangelicals. Similar to the DNC with reparations or similar hand-outs. The vast majority of people, including democrats, oppose reparations and so there's not a chance in hell they'd ever pass it. They just use it to try to sustain the usually 90%+ black vote which has been slipping in recent years.

        • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @06:30PM (3 children)

          by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @06:30PM (#1102493)

          Ya lost me when you started babbling about wokeness, wake me up when you have a real point instead of assumptions about mine.

          • (Score: 0, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @07:16PM (2 children)

            by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @07:16PM (#1102521)

            I'm not saying you are "woke"; an absolutely negligible percentage of people are. What I am saying is that the reason our cultural hegemony is fading into nothingness is because notions of freedom, entrepreneurship, expression, and achievement have been replaced with wokeness whose sole existence is persisted only by an adoption by corporations alongside the political establishment of which they are part.

            And wokeness will inevitably spur on its own collapse, as has been shown time and again, so looking for external causes when we have blindingly obvious internal causes is nonsensical. We're basically simply playing early 20th century world history over again, except we've decided to take on the role of the losing side.

            • (Score: 3, Insightful) by dry on Wednesday January 20 2021, @01:29AM (1 child)

              by dry (223) on Wednesday January 20 2021, @01:29AM (#1102683) Journal

              Are you still pissed off that Lincoln got elected by the woke folks and all that led to? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wide_Awakes [wikipedia.org]
              Considering that you seem to believe the Hollywood propaganda machine claims about America, I'm left wondering what other propaganda you've swallowed wholesale.

              • (Score: 2) by Socrastotle on Wednesday January 20 2021, @03:36PM

                by Socrastotle (13446) on Wednesday January 20 2021, @03:36PM (#1102883) Journal

                Wokeness in its modern form is a pattern carried out in various countries that have tried to implement Marxist ideals - most notably (though not the only) would be the Soviet Union and China. Whereas Marxism is (in theory) the notion that everybody should be economically equal, wokeness is the cultural equivalent. It achieves the pursuit of cultural equality by arguing that any preexisting culture was wrong (by some interpretation or another) and then thus destroying it to be replaced with the new homogeneous culture. Hence statue tumbling, 'purification' of 'problematic' references to the past, Google promoting 'unthanksgiving day', and so on.

                China's cultural purification was much more overt since they had leadership that were able to freely express their ideology. So see things like Destruction of Four Olds [wikipedia.org] campaign. The "Four Olds" in this case: were old culture, old habits, old customs, and old ideas. It started off similar to own with little more than renaming campaigns and the occasional toppling of a statue or whatever, but by the end they were engaging in widescale "purification" of China's thousands of cultural heritage sites. It was not a travesty not only against the Chinese people but the world. China has a direct history far longer than anywhere in the western world with a continuation going back thousands of years. This "purification" destroyed an unimaginable amount of not only their cultural heritage but really of *our* cultural heritage as humans.

                And then we get into things like struggle sessions [wikipedia.org] which are likely coming to America soon under the guise of justice. And that is "wokeness" for you.

                The problem with wokeness is what happens with any ideology that lets people think themselves 'holier than thou.' I think people are generally, inherently, good. But let them become self righteous and convince themselves that they're fighting the devil, and they will all too happily turn into the very monsters they've convinced themselves they're fighting against.

    • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @03:47AM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @03:47AM (#1102252)

      ...I want to know who was behind this [brexit]...

      Some supposed American whose name means "fart" in English slang.

      ...this is another part of Putin's long game...

      yes, see above.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @03:10PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @03:10PM (#1102410)

        Mr Shartwell [washingtonexaminer.com] works for China, not Putin.

    • (Score: 1, Flamebait) by khallow on Tuesday January 19 2021, @05:33AM

      by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday January 19 2021, @05:33AM (#1102284) Journal

      I want to know who was behind this.

      I'd guess Germany and Greece, since they were the prime drivers behind the EU migrant crisis from 2014-2019.

    • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @05:33AM (3 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @05:33AM (#1102285)

      Your words belie a lack of knowledge of what the 'UK' was. The British Empire used to lay claim to about a quarter of the world's population. They were one of the most far-spread and powerful empires in existence, all supported by a Navy unlike anything the world had ever seen. Britannia died at the end of World War 2. They were on the winning side but it was, for them, a Pyrrhic victory. The British Empire was ravaged and bankrupt. They were left to "liberate" nearly all of their territories and they rapidly transitioned from a world spanning megapower to America's little sidekick or 'that weird little country that bans everything'.

      The decline of the British Empire was humiliatingly rapid and remains in the living memory of many Brits alive today.

      • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday January 19 2021, @07:56AM (2 children)

        by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday January 19 2021, @07:56AM (#1102325) Journal

        The decline of the British Empire was humiliatingly rapid and remains in the living memory of many Brits alive today.

        Which factoid, even if true (which I doubt), is completely irrelevant in the world today.

        --
        https://www.youtube.com/@ProfSteveKeen https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
        • (Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday January 20 2021, @12:29PM (1 child)

          by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday January 20 2021, @12:29PM (#1102824) Journal
          Azuma's post wasn't relevant to the world today and that post adequately addressed a big part of the reason why. And what is there to doubt about the factoid? that's there's no Brits over the age of 75? That the UK's extent and influence massively declined in the last 75 years?
          • (Score: 3, Insightful) by c0lo on Wednesday January 20 2021, @02:06PM

            by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday January 20 2021, @02:06PM (#1102845) Journal

            The fact that I doubt it is an expression of personal opinion over a fact that is irrelevant in the context Azuma tabled:

            ...and they are going to get what they wanted, good and hard. This is the end of the UK and the end of England as anything other than an historical curiosity.

            Note the verb tense and the "here/now" implied but "This".

            As for:

            that's there's no Brits over the age of 75?

            Even assuming that all the "Brits over the age of 75" all voted Brexit, they alone are not enough to explain the outcome.
            In your terms "there are not enough Brits over the age of 75" (5.4 million people [ageuk.org.uk] - about 10% of a voting population of 52.7 million [ons.gov.uk])
            Even more so if one takes into consideration that, to have on object for their nostalgia/resentment, they should have lived for a while under a glorious British empire. Which makes their age, at least the age of Queen Lizzie - shall we say around 95 years?
            'Cause for the ones born at the very end of WW2, their life start was one of severe privation... war debt... bread rationing [wikipedia.org]

            That the UK's extent and influence massively declined in the last 75 years?

            I doubt the UK's extent and influence massively declined in the last 70 years, most of the decline happened during WW2 and shortly after.

            Since 1965, UK experienced an almost continuous economic growth [economicshelp.org] at least until til 2013 [economicshelp.org]; post-WW2, that's the only dimension in which a country could exercise influence that makes a difference to its population.

            --
            https://www.youtube.com/@ProfSteveKeen https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
    • (Score: 3, Interesting) by canopic jug on Tuesday January 19 2021, @08:15AM (2 children)

      by canopic jug (3949) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday January 19 2021, @08:15AM (#1102330) Journal

      That's probably an easy bet [ted.com], given what the few remaining investigative journalists like Carole Cadwalladr have found out since Brexit and the 2016 US presidential election.

      The bigger, more serious problem is that Facebook and other social control media have even stronger footholds in other countries than they have had in the UK. There social control media are actively brewing even worse discontent and, possibly, on the verge of fomenting violence, but keeping it just below the surface so that standing politicians can turn a blind eye to it until it is too late. Only a small number are tuned in, the rest are twitting away and having sessions in Facebook video and so on, feeding the very beast which will soon kill their institutions, and possibly the politicians themselves also.

      Thererefore it is very important that the "Schrems II [techcrunch.com]" case go forward, even though it is mostly about privacy and the integrity of personal data.

      --
      Money is not free speech. Elections should not be auctions.
      • (Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday January 20 2021, @12:44PM

        by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday January 20 2021, @12:44PM (#1102829) Journal
        I find it remarkable how poorly justified the TED talk was.

        When I got there, I was just a bit taken aback, because the last time I went to Ebbw Vale, it looked like this. And now, it looks like this. This is a new 33-million-pound college of further education that was mostly funded by the European Union. And this is the new sports center that's at the middle of 350-million-pound regeneration project that's being funded by the European Union. And this is the new 77-million-pound road-improvement scheme, and there's a new train line, a new railway station, and they're all being funded by the European Union. And it's not as if any of this is a secret, because there's big signs like this everywhere.

        Where did those half a billion pounds come from? Then she talks about her scientific study of asking a few people around town and characterizing the whole population from that.

        I had this sort of weird sense of unreality, walking around the town. And it came to a head when I met this young man in front of the sports center. And he told me that he had voted to leave, because the European Union had done nothing for him. He was fed up with it. And all around town, people told me the same thing. They said that they wanted to take back control, which was one of the slogans in the campaign. And they told me that they were most fed up with the immigrants and with the refugees. They'd had enough.

        Just because one is standing near a sports center doesn't mean that one got a piece of the sugar.

        And this entire referendum took place in darkness, because it took place on Facebook. And what happens on Facebook stays on Facebook, because only you see your news feed, and then it vanishes, so it's impossible to research anything. So we have no idea who saw what ads or what impact they had, or what data was used to target these people. Or even who placed the ads, or how much money was spent, or even what nationality they were.

        So in other words, the talk is being done in darkness too. We have to take her word that things happened like she claimed they happened.

      • (Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday January 20 2021, @12:46PM

        by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday January 20 2021, @12:46PM (#1102830) Journal

        The bigger, more serious problem is that Facebook and other social control media have even stronger footholds in other countries than they have had in the UK. There social control media are actively brewing even worse discontent and, possibly, on the verge of fomenting violence, but keeping it just below the surface so that standing politicians can turn a blind eye to it until it is too late. Only a small number are tuned in, the rest are twitting away and having sessions in Facebook video and so on, feeding the very beast which will soon kill their institutions, and possibly the politicians themselves also.

        Keep in mind that a fair number of those other countries badly need a cull of their institutions.

    • (Score: 0, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @01:46PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @01:46PM (#1102391)

      We need a clown world [summit.news] mod, funny doesn't do these justice.

    • (Score: 3, Insightful) by cmdrklarg on Tuesday January 19 2021, @07:37PM (2 children)

      by cmdrklarg (5048) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday January 19 2021, @07:37PM (#1102541)

      It seems to me that the vote wasn't exactly a majority voting to exit, nor was it supposed to be a binding vote?

      --
      The world is full of kings and queens who blind your eyes and steal your dreams.
      • (Score: 3, Insightful) by dry on Wednesday January 20 2021, @01:41AM

        by dry (223) on Wednesday January 20 2021, @01:41AM (#1102688) Journal

        Exactly, the failure was treating a non-binding referendum which resulted in basically a tie as a binding vote that resulted in basically Constitutional changes that can't be easily undone.
        Most countries have a way higher bar for Constitutional level changes, a super-majority in the voters, or in a Federal system, likewise a super-majority or at least a couple of votes.
        The question that was asked was unclear and at the minimum should have been followed up with another vote on the exit deal, and should have required a clear majority to pass.

      • (Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday January 20 2021, @12:33PM

        by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday January 20 2021, @12:33PM (#1102826) Journal
        The votes that put May and Johnson in charge did that.
  • (Score: 2, Funny) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday January 19 2021, @02:51AM (5 children)

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday January 19 2021, @02:51AM (#1102233) Journal

    Just this morning, one of the grandchildren wouldn't eat breakfast. Had to lecture the little tyke about children going hungry in Merry Olde England. Waste not, want not. Of course, he asked why England was so merry if they were starving to death, and I had to explain Brexit. That led to a reading of Aladdin and the Forty Thieves, where I explained to the child that he should always stay away from thieves. If you don't pal around with the thieves, they won't try to rob you when you leave. And, THAT led to more questions about Robbing Hood and Riding Hood and the birds and the bees . . .

    Anyway, let us know if you guys get hungry. I'll make a batch of biscuits and gravy, freeze it, and ship it express mail.

    https://www.quora.com/What-do-British-call-American-biscuits?share=1 [quora.com]

    --
    “I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz
    • (Score: 4, Insightful) by c0lo on Tuesday January 19 2021, @03:14AM

      by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday January 19 2021, @03:14AM (#1102243) Journal

      I'll make a batch of biscuits and gravy, freeze it, and ship it express mail.

      Just make sure you fill in the papers the way HMRC bureaucrats want [mirror.co.uk], otherwise the batch will be returned and charged to the sender.

      --
      https://www.youtube.com/@ProfSteveKeen https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
    • (Score: 3, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @03:48AM (3 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @03:48AM (#1102253)

      They let you near children?

      • (Score: 3, Informative) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday January 19 2021, @04:05AM (2 children)

        by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday January 19 2021, @04:05AM (#1102256) Journal

        Yes, I suffer the little children to come unto me.

        --
        “I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz
        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @07:58AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 19 2021, @07:58AM (#1102326)

          Irresponsible parenting.

        • (Score: 2, Offtopic) by Azuma Hazuki on Tuesday January 19 2021, @12:48PM

          by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Tuesday January 19 2021, @12:48PM (#1102375) Journal

          Uh...you might want to rephrase that one, Biblical quote or not.

          --
          I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
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