Re: It's the final countdown!
 

Yeah. I concur. Uniforms colour coded in interstellar wars?

Pro?
Con?

I think it’s good to have if we’re planning to colonize the space or trying to defend our rock in the future.

Re: It's the final countdown!
 

Yes! Let's make Britain Great again!

Re: It's the final countdown!
 

I’m in! How? Twitter? Wall? It’s freezing outside. And they are talking about global warming. GLOBAL WARMING!

Have this election alictually had any impact at all except in the papers. Buissness as usual. Now and tomorrow. So yes, no might not matter. Have you even noticed anything? Anything at all?

But yeah! Make things great again.

Re: It's the final countdown!
 

Ragarding that. Do mankind do more good things per day than bad things per day? If we could increase the good deeds by 1% it would have a ripple effect through the world.

To be great...er!

Re: It's the final countdown!
 

Oh yeah Dave....
our species is right on top of quantifying goodness...
Look at the the increase of global mean temp as an example...
Scientists say "We cannot exceed a 2 degree increase, we must decrease instead"
Everyone else only hears "2 degree max"
So everyone else says "Right, 2 degrees....
and ignores it ...and goes beyond that ...thinking the planet and all on it can take another one for the team and bounce back.

Wildlife experts say "We need to save species XXXXX , because it is now in threat of extinction..."
Opportunists hear that and speed up the process by poaching and taking even more of species XXXXX young to profit from them while they can in selling off the now even further sped - up demise of said species.

A beach full of ignorant people catch a rare endangered porpoise infant, and pass it around out of water to take selfies with it while it is dying.

I hope that the brave new technological dawn that is to arrive, euthanizes nine tenths of the deliberately ignorant population on the planet to save any hope of survival for not only our species, but most of the rest of this place too.



As far as Brexit separation goes...
I have a good perspective...
Quebec for decades attempted to secede from Canada.
It would have hurt both parties ...the country as a whole , and Quebec,
But would have impacted far worse on Quebec economically.
We had our referendums, our voting, and after all the estimated cost was tabulated, Quebec decided to finally stay and give up the notion it was better off with out us.
It would have been devastating for the province.

Likewise...
There is one thing mentioned here by pichlo...
The voter angst isn't really against the EU
as much as it is based on regional, local issues pertaining to the opportunities available IN Britain , that has people upset (and for many many decades too..)
Brexit is a smoke screen, to distract from the issues the British Government needs to address.
The overhaul of their political, social, and economic systems.
But it is far more convenient to point elsewhere and blame.

Fact is, it is just blunt truth that being part OF a Bloc of countries or provinces is more beneficial than being left outside in the rain.

The currency is more stable than going it alone.
There is more protection under a larger umbrella.
There is more recourse to resolving regional issues within a Bloc
and as a Bloc Member State, one gets a fair and impartial hearing to rectify needs.
There is more policing of worker health, environmental, and health concerns, and much more.

Britain spent much of its existence going it alone.
It did well during its Empire days, when tribute from the planet poured in.
But those days are done.
Also like most of the old world, Britain has pillaged most of its natural resource base over the millennia.
Couple that with a bureaucratically weighted and seized up government that cannot effect change...
And Brexit is a golden calf to parade through the streets to distract from the real issues...
Issues which are localized to Britain...and have little to do with being a EU member.

I am not trying to say an of this smugly...
We have our own share of issues here in Canada.
But here ...in Canada...we don't have the luxury of allowing problems to just keep existing, it gets cold here, and people can suffer in ways that are not pleasant.
Here for the most part , endless debate with no resolution is the same as elsewhere, it costs...
We tend to see such cost in direct ways..
"the cost of endless debate could feed and house how many people?" and such similar statements.

Canada isn't perfect, we have our issues, but here fixing issues as quickly as possible is a must...
We can't enjoy the luxury of endless debate with no conclusion or rectifying of the issue at hand.

Re: It's the final countdown!
 

That is another problem. Britain is an island and suffers from the typical island mentality. Brits, and especially the English, think of themselves as a special race, quite apart from and above anyone else in the world, especially their nearest neighbours across the channel. Having lived in isolation for centuries, they are not used to the fluency of change so typical of mainland Europe. I visited Slovakia last summer and on the 30 minutes' car drive from the airport to our destination, I heard songs on the radio in four languages (Slovak, German, Italian and English). In the 20 years I have lived in the UK, I have never heard any other language on the radio than English.

I have an English friend who repeatedly argues that thing X or thing Y (the imperial system, the lack of written constitution, the monarchy, the education system, separate hot and cold water taps, driving on the left...) is better than the alternative not because of some silly objective reasons like practicality, the ease of use, the achieved results - who cares about those? - but because they are English. He even went as far as arguing that it is OK to... err, let's just say teach history in a way that promotes national pride better, though he later denied it when I called him up on that.

And this is an educated person with a degree in engineering who studies philosophy as a hobby and understands politics better than I ever will. Now imagine a factory worker, a plumber or a fisherman in the pub surrounded by a bunch of his peers, exposed to decades of tabloid propaganda telling him that every ill of the world is caused by the evil, corrupt EU full of unelected officials whose only purpose is to force the metric system on and suck money from our noble motherland.

Another problem is the archaic, uncompromising, all-or-nothing approach to politics. It has to be either-or, the idea of a compromise is completely alien. Coalitions, part of a normal day-to-day political life pretty much everywhere else in Europe, are seen as a sign of weakness and instability. There are two major parties and either one or the other rules, there is no way of two or three parties sitting together and reaching some sort of a common agreement. Even the layout of the Parliament promotes this: you have two sides facing each other, not an arch layout like everywhere else that promotes the idea that there is a continuous spectrum of ideas. (This two-party, either-or system is also seen in other English speaking countries.)

The EU referendum cut across many lines. People on the political left and right, young and old, rich and poor voted this way or that in equal proportions. There was a noticeable preference of people with higher education to vote Remain but, as far as I see it, the main division was along the line of what I described above. People who cannot imagine it any other way and those who can.

Re: It's the final countdown!
 

Endsorrneans, don't you live on an island. Maybe that explains everything!

Living in an English speaking country (US) , probably the first time I ever heard French was listening to the radio and I heard the Beatles song Michelle. Was that song banned in England?

Re: It's the final countdown!
 

Then who added the word kind right after man?

Edit: wrong quote but my question is still valid and open for everyone.

Re: It's the final countdown!
 

To tell you the truth, I don't really know. All I can say with confidence is that I have never heard it played :D

Re: It's the final countdown!
 

yup mscion, I live on an island , off a bigger island, that is off the continent,
I can commiserate with pichlo, but the difference between the two is millennia of habitation versus a century and a half out here...
Here, the greatest differences between us islanders on the west coast and the continental mainland is this.
The indigenous natives believed for a VERY long time that the islands here were the rungs of the ladder of heaven.
They treated the largest island (Vancouver Island) as their place of the dead. And their souls walked up the rungs of the islands towards their afterlife.
And they are correct.
On the continent ...(unless one lives up north of the cities...then one understands how the pace of life and doing moves seasonally...such as winter ...virtually everything shuts down ...so life moves according to the seasons...) MOST of humanity never stops. never slows.
The moment one reaches Vancouver Island, it is like in sci-fi films when one sees time dilation slow down, The impact on the body and mind can be felt ...directly....here.
And once one leaves Vancouver Island for the smaller islands ...like mine...that time dilation again slows one down even further...
Going further north and further from Vancouver Island to the other islands it becomes even more pronounced.
Some here in a pat way...call it "Island Time" or "Rural Time" on the continent.
Continentals think we are "this" or "that" or not prompt or not sharp or whathaveyou ...
But it isn't about any of those projected ideas of others...
Once they get here and experience it ...then they begin to understand.
We live at the mercy of the weather and waves, ferries sail or do not accordingly, one cannot say one "will" be on time, since it is out of one's hands to control.
So when folks here say they will come over shortly, it could be anytime they come, in a few minutes, hours or days.
The mad agenda of promptness on the mainland has zero effect or place here.
So one finds that rapidly ..it is a human pace that one is really adapting to out here.

The other difference between my islands and continental mainland is that there are LOTS more people on the continent ...putting a massive strain on their services, social, medical, etc.
Here our services are more timely and available and there is far less strain on our infra.

As far as other languages and peoples and such....even on the radio...there has always been a mandate for diversity ..so we hear lots of different languages ...


And lastly ...yes pichlo...
I believe in customs and age old traditions ..the beauty of the diversity of culture is important and critical....
as long as they do not impact and stunt the ability to provide essentials ...

.the mentality of superiority or special-ness which is meant to elevate above others, and the inability to change when it is wise and prudent to do so for survivals sake...
will in the end be the Achilles Heel of Britain which will bring her very low.
I do hope in the end such superiority issues end up being replaced with gentle humility and grace.