Red

Well, since the EU have done a splendid job fucking up the European economy, I'm not so surprised by the UK vote. I think this puts a lot of responsibility on the UK left to make sure that the British working class now don't gallopp into the arms of the racists. We need some old-school class struggle back on the table.

I also really liked the bits with Daenerys and Tyrion. Some good interplay there.

One of the guys at work is half Icelandic. He's currently in France, and is going totally, and understandably, apeshit.

I wouldn't follow Jon Snow across the road, let alone into battle, after that showing! Presumably Sansa will sit him down now and explain (in simple words) that he's really too slow to play any part in the future of the North and use him as a titular figure that she can wheel out to make inspirational speeches to the plebs when the clever folk need them to die on their behalf.

This! I want to see this!

Also, Tormund going for the jugular was a favorite moment.

Fellside is excellent. Enjoyed that a lot.

This looks like it'll be really really good.

They're...OK, I'd say. Not even close to being on Carey's level, but not aggressively bad either. Things I'm liking:

-Most of Lucifer's dialogue. They're pretty good at doing his voice.

-The subplot with Mazikeen.

Things I'm not liking:

-Killing god.With a sword! WTF?

-The "son of Lucifer"-subplot (so far, maybe it picks up).

-Just removing Elaine from everything, and consequently more or less invalidating her storyarc.

That was a very satisfying episode. It did irk me to see how colossally stupid Snow was going into the fight with Bolton. "We're outnumbered, so let's at least get the terrain to work for us, and stop the bastards from attacking us from the sides, AH WHAT THE HELL HE HAS MY BRITHER CHAAAAAARGE!". Jon Snow is EASILY the most annoying person on the show. What a fucking waste of space that guy is.

Basically, the only sensible person was Sansa, who made a deal with the Devil (aka Littlefinger), which won them the war.

But since this episode after all is said and done was a huge win for the "good guys", I'm predicting DOOM AND GLOOM GALORE for the season finale. Everything is going to go to shit now.

You vill all submit...or DIE!

My beard's growing

The paper or the closest star to earth?

Exactly. There's a huge difference to the EU debate in the Nordic countries, where the anti-EU campaigns were dominated by the left wing.

This is a good oped about the murder.

We do not hold all muslims accountable for the violence carried out in the name of their prophet but nor can we avoid the ugly, unpalatable, truth that, as far as the perpetrator is concerned, he (it is almost always he) is acting in the service of his view of his religion. He has a cause, no matter how warped it may be. And so we ask who influenced him? We ask, how did it come to this?

 

So, no, Nigel Farage isn’t responsible for Jo Cox’s murder. And nor is the Leave campaign. But they are responsible for the manner in which they have pressed their argument. They weren’t to know something like this was going to happen, of course, and they will be just as shocked and horrified by it as anyone else.

 

But, still. Look. When you encourage rage you cannot then feign surprise when people become enraged. You cannot turn around and say, ‘Mate, you weren’t supposed to take it so seriously. It’s just a game, just a ploy, a strategy for winning votes.’

I myself think there are some very good reasons for the UK leaving the EU. But Nigel Farage and his ilk can suck a huge bag of pestilent donkey-cocks. His racist bullshit makes it quite understandable that a lot of progressive people are against Brexit.

I declare a love for this Japanese Trump commercial.

No worries.

Yeah, while there have been bigots making the point that the "gays had it coming", the guy's father has not been one of them. Quite the contrary, he seems genuinely horrified by his son's actions.

It was very heartening to see how many people showed up, and brought flowers and rainbow flags. Also, the US embassy had tinted some of their windows in rainbow colours, and were flying the stars and stripes on half mast.

The Orlando shootings. I dislike absolutely everything about it: I dislike the homophobic bigotry which leads to such hatred. I dislike the fact that mentally unstable, violent people are allowed to buy and own fucking assault rifles, which enables them to maximise the death toll when they go postal. I dislike racist bigots saying this is what muslims are like. I dislike homophobic bigots saying gays deserve what they got. And I find it absolutely chilling that a main party contender for the presidency of the USA had this to say about it:

What has happened in Orlando is just the beginning. Our leadership is weak and ineffective. I called it and asked for the ban. Must be tough

Fuck the fuck off you racist scumbag!

Today I might go to a solidarity/grief rally outside the US embassy in Oslo. I guess there's a first for everything.

Sometimes, it's hard to figure out exactly what Trump supports, as he takes opposing stances based on his audience. His position on race, immigration, war, the police, and government surveillance are scary though.

Not really. He's a bigoted right-wing populist. He'll say and do whatever it takes to get power. However, once he's in power (hopefully never), I have absolutely zero doubt that he'll do anything but further an even more aggressive rightwing policy than Bush. After all, he doesn't even have the veneer of supporting basic human rights or international law.

Dogpoet, did you READ the Guardian article? They specifically ASKED for people who were contemplating switching to Trump. Of course they exist! But further down in the article was a much more relevant fact, namely an actual poll on the subject:

In an NBC News/Wall Street Journal survey conducted by Hart Research Associates this month, 7% of Sanders voters said they could see themselves supporting Trump. Some 66% said the same for Clinton.

 

A similar proportion of Sanders folk – 8% – gave Trump a positive likeability rating, compared with 48% for Clinton. That figure is unlikely to be causing Clinton campaign aides much loss of sleep.

So like I said, Sanders-supporters who could end up voting for Trump are a marginal group, and more to the point: In no way representative of Sanders' political base.

We're not even in this one

Here's more on the subject:

For Sanders supporters, trade is not a stand-alone voting issue—most of his base is too young to have lost a factory job because of NAFTA or Permanent Normal Trade Relation Status with China. Trade is part of a broader critique about how the rules are rigged for the billionaire class, of which Trump is a member. Trump’s promise to negotiate better deals doesn’t automatically signal to millennial democratic socialists that what he thinks is a better deal matches what they think is a better deal, if at the same time he’s on record supporting low wages and low top end tax rates.

A bit of an exaggaration that "Sanders' supporters have been whining for months that they'll vote Republican if their boy doesn't get the nomination", isn't it? Most Sanders fans I've read about hate Drumpf like the plague. Even some of the more fringe supporters are just threatening not to vote for Clinton.

I find the exceedingly condescending official narrative about those who support Sanders quite annoying, I must say.

I'm not entirely sure it does go away, I just think adults rarely get the chance to cut loose like kids do and do fun-fun things.

 

The tantrums though, maybe it's different in Norway but those are very real for adults in the UK. Maybe there's less tears but there's lots of hitting things/people, verbal abuse etc.

I'm not saying it completely disappears. Of course there are grownups with trouble dealing with emotional regulation, and such problems are often exacerbated by drinking or drug use. But there's a large difference in degree: Screaming tantrums is incerdibly common in little kids - nearly everyone has them, and quite often too. Whereas tantrums amongst adults are rarer, and most normal people are able to stop themselves from going completely over the edge, most of the time.

It's also a question of experience. To toddlers, everything is brand new, so the exhileration they feel over discovering ALL THIS NEW COOL STUFF is that much stronger. When we've lived some years on this earth, the experience of, for instance, splashing water, isn't novel or fascinating anymore, it's commonplace. The same goes for negative impulses. The first time a kid realises they can't do just whatever they want, for instance, run into the street, many kids get upset and angry that the world is placing barriers in their way, limiting their desires. You get used to that happening as you grow up, so it doesn't upset you so much.

I'm fine for comics

 

https://flic.kr/p/Asgfhi

Christ, man, how do you have time for anything else?