UKMT January and a bit of February 2016: Marxist Theory and Danczuk Memes

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > UKMT January and a bit of February 2016: Marxist Theory and Danczuk Memes

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baka kaba: Jul 19, 2003; PLEASE ASK ME, THE SELF-PROFESSED NO #1 PAUL CATTERMOLE FAN IN THE SOMETHING AWFUL S-CLUB 7 MEGATHREAD, TO NAME A SINGLE SONG BY HIS EXCELLENT NU-METAL SIDE PROJECT, SKUA, AND IF I CAN'T PLEASE TELL ME TO
EAT SHIT

VileLL posted:

the level of technology that can now be put into a combat robot is genuinely horrific to watch

i had a look at the american robot wars knockoff and this one thing just threw itself across the arena every time its spinning weapon hit anything

it ended up actually tearing itself apart

it was beautiful

Not exactly a school project but this is apparently happening

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7u8mheM2Hrg

Speaking of robot wars, the tories are starting to fight over the EU...

quote:

Grayling accused of 'peddling myths' about Europe by former Tory minister

On the Today programme Damian Green, the Conservative former minister and a supporter of remaining in the European Union, was on the Today programme responding to Chris Grayling�s Telegraph article. Here are the main points he made.

Green accused Grayling of �peddling myths� about Europe. He told Today:

quote:
I want to challenge some of the things Chris is saying. I think he�s peddling myths about Britain in Europe; it�s fascinating he says that �carrying on as we are would be disastrous for Britain�. He and I fought an election campaign last year � a successful election campaign � in which we told the British people that we were creating more jobs, we kept inflation down, we�re bringing the deficit down, we�re creating millions of new apprenticeships. Well we�ve done all that as members of the EU. It seems to me a bit odd to say nine months later �oh it�s all disastrous�.

Green accused Grayling of ignoring David Cameron�s determination to oppose Britain being dragged into further EU integration.

quote:
The key miss in Chris� article is when he says �oh there are calls for still more integration�. It�s a very implicit and very important part of the prime minister�s renegotiation that Britain won�t be committed to ever-closer union. That is actually a big change in our relationship with the rest of the EU.

Green said the Tories should conduct the argument about Europe �in a civilised way�. Describing Grayling as �a good friend of mine�, he said:

quote:
There will be many Conservatives on both sides of this argument and we need to conduct it in a civilised way. And we know what happens to the Conservative party in the 1990s and I don�t think anyone wants to repeat that.

# ? Jan 14, 2016 11:55

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# ? Jun 3, 2024 17:04

Tesseraction: Apr 5, 2009

OwlFancier posted:

According to .gov.uk the brackets are not exactly what I would call poverty.

Haha that �50 is the thin line between struggling and easy times at university. (Yes, yes, I know how tapers work it just looks funny to see them show it.)

# ? Jan 14, 2016 12:04

OvineYeast: Jul 16, 2007; Freiheit ist immer Freiheit der Andersdenkenden

OwlFancier posted:

According to .gov.uk the brackets are not exactly what I would call poverty.

All comfortably below the median income for a family of four though (i.e. not middle class)

OvineYeast fucked around with this message at 12:12 on Jan 14, 2016

# ? Jan 14, 2016 12:08

Guavanaut: Nov 27, 2009; Looking At Them Tittys
1969 - 1998; Toilet Rascal

serious gaylord posted:

Degrees are still the preserve of the middle class. This is because everyone who isn't on benefits think they're middle class though.

This is true. And a bad thing for the welfare of the working class (which includes most of the middle class although they'd never admit it).

# ? Jan 14, 2016 12:10

ultrabindu: Jan 28, 2009

Here we go again.

New claims that phone hacking was rife at The Sun under former editor

quote:

Rebekah Brooks is facing a legal battle over new allegations that phone hacking was �endemic� when she was editor of The Sun, a court has heard.

Lawyers for News Group Newspapers, a division of Rupert Murdoch�s UK print business, told a High Court hearing that a �new flank� of hacking claims had been opened against Rupert Murdoch�s daily tabloid.

# ? Jan 14, 2016 12:15

Tesseraction: Apr 5, 2009

Bit of a heartbreaking article in the Graun today: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jan/14/rachel-watt-sleep-wheelchair-austerity-social-care

Some notable quotes from the article:

quote:

Rachel Watt is 42. She is severely disabled � she has multiple immune disorders � and uses a wheelchair, owing to a spinal condition. She relies on care workers coming to her home to help her move, eat and dress.

Over the course of five years of austerity, Watt has watched as two-thirds of her social care package has been cut. In 2010, just a few months into the coalition government, her local authority stopped her visit from a care worker who helped her get ready for bed.

Her domestic assistance was reduced a few months afterwards: to the cleaner, to hoover and dust her home, and eventually just the gardener, who kept the backyard from becoming overgrown. The following year, they cut her evening care call, meaning the end of her having a hot dinner.

...

When her body is particularly weak, she can�t undress properly at night or move from her wheelchair into bed. On her worst days � without her evening care visit � she tells me she has to sleep in her wheelchair, in her clothes. She pauses, �It�s horrible. I don�t sleep easily, anyway. [When I sleep in my chair] I wake up in pain.�

...

Meanwhile, Watt is left to struggle to feed herself. �Before, I would have had someone to make a meal for me. When my arms aren�t working properly I can�t cook, so I just eat fruit or bread,� she says. �The last time I was in hospital, the doctors told me I was malnourished.�

# ? Jan 14, 2016 12:17

Jrbg: May 20, 2014

Re: university chat - http://i100.independent.co.uk/article/these-are-the-countries-where-its-most-expensive-to-go-to-university--Z1vbqNIU2e

quote:

The below chart from Statista shows that England is the most expensive country in the world in which to study, as found by an OECD report in 2015.

The Education at a Glance 2015 report found that England was more expensive for students studying in their home country in the 2013/14 year, ahead of the US, Japan, South Korea and Canada.

There is a slight caveat in that the OECD report highlights that while the data broadly refers to public institutions, in England institutions are not public, but rather government-dependent private institutions.

^^^ also Jesus Christ.

# ? Jan 14, 2016 12:20

serious gaylord: Sep 16, 2007; what.

ultrabindu posted:

Here we go again.

New claims that phone hacking was rife at The Sun under former editor

The biggest thing is that the sun is implicated now. They've previously maintained that the Sun was always innocent and all phone hacking was done under the news of the world only.

I do like that they waited for Brooks to be hired back on before unleashing another volley at her though.

# ? Jan 14, 2016 12:25

feedmegin: Jul 30, 2008

J_RBG posted:

Re: university chat - http://i100.independent.co.uk/article/these-are-the-countries-where-its-most-expensive-to-go-to-university--Z1vbqNIU2e

^^^ also Jesus Christ.

...how are we ahead of the US. Maybe they're only counting state universities charging in-state tuition or something? (and private universities are much more of a thing over there).

# ? Jan 14, 2016 12:43

Guavanaut: Nov 27, 2009; Looking At Them Tittys
1969 - 1998; Toilet Rascal

Tesseraction posted:

Bit of a heartbreaking article in the Graun today: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jan/14/rachel-watt-sleep-wheelchair-austerity-social-care

At least those involved in Aktion T4 considered themselves to be acting out of mercy. Tories won't even grant that.

# ? Jan 14, 2016 12:47

Tesseraction: Apr 5, 2009

feedmegin posted:

...how are we ahead of the US. Maybe they're only counting state universities charging in-state tuition or something? (and private universities are much more of a thing over there).

Do courses in the US vary by subject? I could imagine that America's hatred of Liberal Arts would lead to those courses being cheaper. I know that Harvard Law will put you about a half-mil in debt (one of our D&D regs is exactly this).

# ? Jan 14, 2016 12:48

Tesseraction: Apr 5, 2009

Guavanaut posted:

At least those involved in Aktion T4 considered themselves to be acting out of mercy. Tories won't even grant that.

Dieses Lebenunwertesleben mu�t sterben. F�r die Vaterland!

# ? Jan 14, 2016 12:49

Guavanaut: Nov 27, 2009; Looking At Them Tittys
1969 - 1998; Toilet Rascal

Replace Vaterland with Wirtschaft and you have actual Tory policy.

# ? Jan 14, 2016 12:56

Quote-Unquote: Oct 22, 2002

Did anyone post this yet?

http://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/lets-get-jez-his-dream-bike

Lets get Corbyn his dream bike for his birthday

# ? Jan 14, 2016 13:00

serious gaylord: Sep 16, 2007; what.

Quote-Unquote posted:

Did anyone post this yet?

http://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/lets-get-jez-his-dream-bike

Lets get Corbyn his dream bike for his birthday

Huge lol that they think �475 is an expensive bicycle.

# ? Jan 14, 2016 13:04

dispatch_async: Nov 28, 2014; Imagine having the time to have played through 20 generations of one family in The Sims 2. Imagine making the original two members of that family Neil Buchanan and Cat Deeley. Imagine complaining to Maxis there was no technological progression. You've successfully imagined my life

OvineYeast posted:

It's based on your parents' household income

That's the argument: the tax levels that a �50k/year earner is paying are partly determined by the household income their parents had at the time they applied to university many years ago.

For example you have two people who went to university 10 years ago (for this example pretend the system 10 years ago was the same as today).

Person A earns �20k and when they applied to university their parents had an average (or even above average) income. They only got a partial (or zero) grant and have to use the student loan to pay most of the course fees and hence make loan repayments (i.e. pay a graduate tax).

Person B earns �50k today, but when they applied to university their parents household had a very low income. They got a full grant and have no fee-related debt. They don't have to make any fee-related loan repayments (i.e. they aren't paying a graduate tax at all).

A (the 20k earner) is paying graduate tax to subsidise the education of B (the 50k earner).

I was just saying that getting rid of the grant seems to be the logical conclusion of the New Labour rational for the student fees/graduate tax system; if graduates are expected to pay a higher tax on the basis that graduates earn more then it's strange to exclude some people from that based on their parents income 10 years ago (even though they became high earners themselves). Also remember that initially the fees were paid directly by the parents. Adjusting the amount of fees paid based on parent income makes sense in that context. When top-up fees were introduced that changed so that the fees became part of the loan that the student themselves paid off.

You end up with perverse situations where one person is making larger loan repayments than somebody who earns the same or less than them because of their respective parents income in a few selected years (and those years may not even be reflective of the longer term family wealth). It's exactly this kind of discrepancy that was used as an argument by New Labour when they introduced fees (i.e. poorer non-graduates were paying tax to subsidise the education of the more wealthy). This perceived unfairness is something that does seem to cause some aggravation in Middle(class) England, and helped fuel the "squeezed middle" narrative that contributed to Labour losing Blair's fabled Mondeo Man vote.

So that's why I'm surprised New Labour didn't get rid of the grant when they changed the system so that the fees were part of the loan. Of course this all assumes you are working under the bizzaro rules of New Labour where taxing the rich more is supposedly morally good but you aren't allowed to just raise the top rate of income tax, so you end up with these kinds of imperfect proxy-taxes that fuel class resentment.

They perhaps kept this system purely because they already took enough of a hit over introducing tuition fees and getting rid of the grant would have been even worse. Possibly they thought it would incentivise more people from poor backgrounds to go to university. I'm not sure it's a very effective way of doing that though. For it to work it requires people to make rational decisions based on estimating the tax rate they will pay in 10-20 years time. It probably doesn't work for the same reasons that Ricardian confidence fairies don't.

# ? Jan 14, 2016 13:05

big scary monsters: Sep 2, 2011; -~Ｓｋｕｌｌｗａｖｅ~-

Quote-Unquote posted:

Did anyone post this yet?

http://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/lets-get-jez-his-dream-bike

Lets get Corbyn his dream bike for his birthday

I was just about to post it! The original Telegraph article is some real dreck though.

Great journalism posted:

It's unclear whether his own bicycle cost �475 - but the socialist MP did reveal that his bike is 'like' the one he recommended, and is also a red Raleigh, so it is likely it cost a similar amount.

# ? Jan 14, 2016 13:06

Blacknose: Jul 28, 2006; Meet frustration face to face
A point of view creates more waves
So lose some sleep and say you tried

475 quid is pretty reasonable for a functional bike that you use all the time.

# ? Jan 14, 2016 13:13

OvineYeast: Jul 16, 2007; Freiheit ist immer Freiheit der Andersdenkenden

dispatch_async posted:

I was just saying that getting rid of the grant seems to be the logical conclusion of the New Labour rational for the student fees/graduate tax system; if graduates are expected to pay a higher tax on the basis that graduates earn more then it's strange to exclude some people from that based on their parents income 10 years ago (even though they became high earners themselves). Also remember that initially the fees were paid directly by the parents. Adjusting the amount of fees paid based on parent income makes sense in that context. When top-up fees were introduced that changed so that the fees became part of the loan that the student themselves paid off.

You end up with perverse situations where one person is making larger loan repayments than somebody who earns the same or less than them because of their respective parents income in a few selected years (and those years may not even be reflective of the longer term family wealth). It's exactly this kind of discrepancy that was used as an argument by New Labour when they introduced fees (i.e. poorer non-graduates were paying tax to subsidise the education of the more wealthy). This perceived unfairness is something that does seem to cause some aggravation in Middle(class) England, and helped fuel the "squeezed middle" narrative that contributed to Labour losing Blair's fabled Mondeo Man vote.

So that's why I'm surprised New Labour didn't get rid of the grant when they changed the system so that the fees were part of the loan. Of course this all assumes you are working under the bizzaro rules of New Labour where taxing the rich more is supposedly morally good but you aren't allowed to just raise the top rate of income tax, so you end up with these kinds of imperfect proxy-taxes that fuel class resentment.

They perhaps kept this system purely because they already took enough of a hit over introducing tuition fees and getting rid of the grant would have been even worse. Possibly they thought it would incentivise more people from poor backgrounds to go to university. I'm not sure it's a very effective way of doing that though. For it to work it requires people to make rational decisions based on estimating the tax rate they will pay in 10-20 years time. It probably doesn't work for the same reasons that Ricardian confidence fairies don't.

I think I see what you're saying, but I think the reason is that the pre-2011 system had maintenance grants as a supplement to loans, not as a replacement. So they wouldn't change the repayment rate in the way you suggest.

# ? Jan 14, 2016 13:14

Gonzo McFee: Jun 19, 2010

http://thelondoneconomic.com/news/virgin-care-takes-over-sheppey-and-sittingbourne-hospitals/14/01

quote:

Richard Branson�s business empire is about to grow again as his Virgin Care organisation is about to take over Sheppey and Sittingbourne hospitals as part of a �126 million deal.

The Virgin group will oversee the running of Sheppey Community Hospital, Livingstone Hospital in Dartford and Gravesham Hospital in Gravesend.The community hospitals, community nursing, intermediate care, community neuro rehabilitation, speech and language therapy, podiatry and continence services will all transfer to Virgin Care.

At present time all of the hospitals mentioned above are ran by Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust (KCH). It had been reported that Virgin will takeover on April 1st.Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust is one of the biggest providers of NHS community healthcare in the country with sites in Kent, London and East Sussex.

Seven bids were submitted but only four made the shortlist.The other bidders included Dartford and Gravesham Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs Darent Valley Hospital, and South Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust. The contract is worth just over �18 million a year over the next seven years, with an option to extend it another three years, if both parties agree later down the line.

Currently Sir Branson�s Virgin Care already holds almost 330 NHS contracts. In 2012 it landed a �500 million, five-year contract to run community health services in Surrey. only last year Virgin Care secured a �64 million five-year contract to run Wiltshire�s community health services, which had been a provided by a total of five NHS providers

Last year it won a �64 million five-year contract to run community child health services in Wiltshire which are currently provided by five separate NHS providers. That contract will also start in April.

Just buying hospitals to run for profit, don't mind this!

# ? Jan 14, 2016 13:28

big scary monsters: Sep 2, 2011; -~Ｓｋｕｌｌｗａｖｅ~-

Blacknose posted:

475 quid is pretty reasonable for a functional bike that you use all the time.

I thought I'd easily be able to look up various politician's bikes and do a comparison of their favourite two wheelers, but this doesn't appear to be information that anyone has compiled so far. Most pictures of politicians on bikes concentrate on the unimportant details like their face and don't give a good view of the bike's branding, and even the news stories about David Cameron having his bike stolen (twice) don't mention the model, just that one of them was a Scott bike. Why is nobody asking these important questions? I want to know which chubby forty-somethings are riding �8k XC bikes that have never been off the streets of London and which of them are pulling sick flatland tricks on their fixies.

# ? Jan 14, 2016 13:29

Guavanaut: Nov 27, 2009; Looking At Them Tittys
1969 - 1998; Toilet Rascal

David Cameron's bicycle:

# ? Jan 14, 2016 13:35

Chocolate Teapot: May 8, 2009

And now Alan Rickman has bit the dust.

# ? Jan 14, 2016 13:36

Pork Pie Hat: Apr 27, 2011

This made me laugh, so I thought I'd interrupt the stream of terrible news about Tory Bastards briefly.

Linkin Park's "In The End" as performed by 138 films

# ? Jan 14, 2016 13:37

Tesseraction: Apr 5, 2009

Chocolate Teapot posted:

And now Alan Rickman has bit the dust.

loving hell what is WRONG with you 2016?

# ? Jan 14, 2016 13:38

hookerbot 5000: Dec 21, 2009

Chocolate Teapot posted:

And now Alan Rickman has bit the dust.

I just read that, but it doesn't seem to be reported anywhere but the Guardian so I am holding out hope it's just a horrible horrible mistake.

# ? Jan 14, 2016 13:38

Guavanaut: Nov 27, 2009; Looking At Them Tittys
1969 - 1998; Toilet Rascal

Chocolate Teapot posted:

And now Alan Rickman has bit the dust.

He's the one that isn't Alan Cumming, right?

I get confused.

# ? Jan 14, 2016 13:39

OwlFancier: Aug 22, 2013

Chocolate Teapot posted:

And now Alan Rickman has bit the dust.

Wtf, stop dying you cunts or everyone I know and like is going to end up dead.

Guavanaut posted:

He's the one that isn't Alan Cumming, right?

I get confused.

He's the bad guy in die hard.

# ? Jan 14, 2016 13:39

XMNN: Apr 26, 2008; I am incredibly stupid

gently caress this year imho

# ? Jan 14, 2016 13:41

hookerbot 5000: Dec 21, 2009

Guavanaut posted:

He's the one that isn't Alan Cumming, right?

I get confused.

From his best role...."By Grabthar's hammer, by the suns of Worvan, you shall be avenged."

He was also a baddie in Die Hard and misunderstood hero professor Snape in Harry Potter.

Oh and poor Colonel Brandon in Sense and Sensibility.

hookerbot 5000 fucked around with this message at 13:45 on Jan 14, 2016

# ? Jan 14, 2016 13:41

Pork Pie Hat: Apr 27, 2011

Tesseraction posted:

loving hell what is WRONG with you 2016?

I'll take the blame for this one, I asked the Universe to off McCartney, but I must have loving stuttered or something.

The universe and I are going to have some serious loving words let me tell you.

# ? Jan 14, 2016 13:42

Guavanaut: Nov 27, 2009; Looking At Them Tittys
1969 - 1998; Toilet Rascal

OwlFancier posted:

Wtf, stop dying you cunts or everyone I know and like is going to end up dead.

That's going to happen anyway. :unsmigghh:

Ideally not, like, this year though.

OwlFancier posted:

He's the bad guy in die hard.

Ah, I know which one that is.

hookerbot 5000 posted:

and misunderstood hero professor Snape in Harry Potter

Oh god the social media outpouring will be terrible.

# ? Jan 14, 2016 13:44

Tesseraction: Apr 5, 2009

Pork Pie Hat posted:

I'll take the blame for this one, I asked the Universe to off McCartney, but I must have loving stuttered or something.

The universe and I are going to have some serious loving words let me tell you.

You used a loving monkey's pay didn't you?

# ? Jan 14, 2016 13:44

Trickjaw: Jun 23, 2005; Nadie puede dar lo que no tiene

"Hello, is that Sir Patrick Stewart?"
"Yes. Yes, it is"
"Phew. Thank gently caress for that, I was just checking. Tatty bye!"

# ? Jan 14, 2016 13:46

XMNN: Apr 26, 2008; I am incredibly stupid

Trickjaw posted:

"Hello, is that Sir Patrick Stewart?"
"Yes. Yes, it is"
"Phew. Thank gently caress for that, I was just checking. Tatty bye!"

He's safe, he's 75.

# ? Jan 14, 2016 13:50

Pork Pie Hat: Apr 27, 2011

Tesseraction posted:

You used a loving monkey's pay didn't you?

Goddamn Half Blood Prince and his lovely spidery writing.

In other news, the Gaurdian are running the headline "Labour Reshuffle Back On" but the story is

quote:

Like the Archers, Cliff Richard, the monarchy and a question from Jim Naughtie, the Labour reshuffle just goes on and on and on.

The party has just put out a press notice announcing three new appointments to shadow ministerial posts. All three are taking up new posts, not replacing someone.

Imran Hussain - shadow development minister

Kate Osamor - shadow equalities minister

Thangam Debbonaire - shadow culture minister

And Dave Anderson has been made a whip.

If they're new posts, that's not a loving "reshuffle" is it you shower of arseholes?

# ? Jan 14, 2016 13:50

Phoon: Apr 23, 2010

I think we've reached a point where there are so many famous old people that we are just going to have to get used to someone dying every few days

E: ^^ its just a "shuffle"

# ? Jan 14, 2016 13:53

Zephro: Nov 23, 2000; I suppose I could part with one and still be feared...

Guavanaut posted:

Oh god the social media outpouring will be terrible.

He was pretty awesome as Snape tbf

# ? Jan 14, 2016 13:54

Coohoolin: Aug 5, 2012; Oor Coohoolie.

The best De Valera there ever was is gone.

I'm genuinely bummed out.

# ? Jan 14, 2016 13:55

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? Jun 3, 2024 17:04

Darth Walrus: Feb 13, 2012

Pork Pie Hat posted:

Goddamn Half Blood Prince and his lovely spidery writing.

In other news, the Gaurdian are running the headline "Labour Reshuffle Back On" but the story is

If they're new posts, that's not a loving "reshuffle" is it you shower of arseholes?

I'm surprised those posts weren't filled up in the initial formation of the Shadow Cabinet. They seem pretty standard.

I'll try to do some research on this little lot like I did with the last crop of additions.

# ? Jan 14, 2016 13:56

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > UKMT January and a bit of February 2016: Marxist Theory and Danczuk Memes

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