[WilliamJenningsBryan]

Re: Which will last longer: Brexit dream or Trump presidency?

What that means, I am perfectly sure it is very true, Sister.

The Scotch Question is an interesting one. The English and the Welshers don't care what happens to them. I don't know what the Norn Irish "think" (I use the word loosely) about it - probably the opposite of whatever they "thought" last week - but that's not relevant as nobody cares what they "think". The only real obstacle to the Scotch separating themselves from the rest of Britain is that it's what a lot of them want, and those of us who are raising children know that it isn't good for them to get what they want. As a bonus, their (the Scotchers') tantrums can be entertaining.

The secondary obstacle is geographic, I suppose. Do we build a wall? I'd be more inclined to dredge a broad channel and fill it with naval mines. But that is a question for the men.

It's hard to know what God's thoughts are when it comes to the Scots - but we surmise that He doesn't have much use for them either. It could be their Haggis (banned by the FDA in the US since 1971), or their penchant for kilts - the sin of "transgenerism" (wearing women's clothing) and the modern version of "identifying" no matter what gender God assigned to you. They also make insufferable noises with their bagpipes (they call it "music").

Then there is the "North Sea Oil" - they've always claimed that it's theirs, and like all good little socialists they don't want to share it with anyone.

Historically we know that the Romans couldn't stand them either - witness the ruins of Hadrian's Wall throughout the country.

[Joanna Lytton-Vasey]

Re: Which will last longer: Brexit dream or Trump presidency?

It could be their Haggis (banned by the FDA in the US since 1971)

There is a sport called haggis hurling, which involves throwing the things as far away from you as possible. I think we can all understand the appeal of that.

The Scotch also invented the deep-fried Mars Bar, though Brexit looks set to put paid to that particular abomination, as production of the Mars Bar is set to stop within two weeks of Britain's Great Escape: This will of course save them a great deal of money on restorative dentistry.

As to "North Sea Oil", curiously it was British when it was buried under the sea and there was no infrastructure to mine it, but became Scotch once it was accessible. I hope they understand that they are welcome to it, but we will be filling in all the mine-shafts and taking away our diving equipment and pick-axes before we leave.

[Dr. Anthony J. Toole]

Re: Which will last longer: Brexit dream or Trump presidency?

Norway+ is the new front runner in Brexit circles. It means Britain will step out of the EU as far as Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. As you all know, this group of countries belongs to the ETFA which the UK would have to join. Sadly no-one seems to have told Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein about that plan. Which is a potential sticking point since Norwegian politicians reject UK's Norway-plus Brexit plan.

Norway-plus, the softest form of Brexit, requires the UK to seek to apply to join the European Free Trade Area grouping, consisting of Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. The scheme would require the UK also to remain in the EU customs union indefinitely, or at least until a solution to the border in Ireland could be found.

But the plan was rejected by Heidi Nordby Lunde, an MP in Norway’s governing Conservative party, and leader of Norway’s European movement.

“Really, the Norwegian option is not an option. We have been telling you this for one and a half years since the referendum and how this works, so I am surprised that after all these years it is still part of the grown-up debate in the UK. You just expect us to give you an invitation rather than consider whether Norway would want to give you such an invitation. It might be in your interest to use our agreement, but it would not be in our interest.”

“The three countries in Efta have to agree on all the regulations coming from the EU, so if one country vetoes something we all have to veto, which means that if the UK enters the Efta platform and starts to veto regulations that we want, this will affect not just the UK but also us as well. Part of the success we have had with this EEA agreement is for the last 25 years is that we do accept the rules and regulations that do come out of the EU, mostly because it is in our interest.

“If, as I understand, UK politicians do not want to be ruled by regulations coming from other countries, why would they accept a country with 38,000 citizens like Liechtenstein being able to veto regulations that the UK wants. That would be the reality.”

Let's assume this is a GO then someone just needs to come up with a creative idea what to do with Ireland. Let's put Norway and Ireland on the the "To do" list for tomorrow and call it a deal. A perfect, clean Brexit.

[Basilissa]

Re: Which will last longer: Brexit dream or Trump presidency?

Thank you fo this update, Brother Toole. Watching this whole Brexit debacle from afar, it seems that the UK wants to perform the miracle of eating the cake and having it, too.

Anyway. From what I hear, who is really benefiting from all this, are folks from lesser Europe, who are buying up vacation houses in Spain, cheap, as the English folks are forced to sell them.

Isn't it interesting, though, how history repeats itself. The original Brexit, 1776, was also due to too many taxes.

[Dr. Anthony J. Toole]

Re: Which will last longer: Brexit dream or Trump presidency?

That is a beautiful parallel, dear Sister.

The United States was the first to reject ever closer union with Europe when they Brexited from Britain 250 years ago. Next to go was Australia, then New Zealand, Zimbabwe, South Africa, India, Hong Kong and Singapore in quick succession.

Everyone must really despise even the thought of the EU, which just was a twinkle in the eye of Napoleon at the time. Who will be next? Scotland? Northern Ireland? Wales? Greater London? Yorkshire? Lancashire? Cheshire? Milton Keynes? Dunstable?

[MitzaLizalor]

Re: Which will last longer: Brexit dream or Trump presidency?

I hope I'm not being obtuse but why can't people with something to sell just sell it to people who want to buy it? Attractive knitwear made from hand spun wool. Very durable, original patterns, excessively warm & windproof.

Quite expensive but if you'd like one I'll make you one from exotic wools sourced by going to where it's grown, buying some, spinning it and designing a pattern suited to the wool tones available (I don't use dyes) which will fit you like a glove.—.other than the full length cable stitch Ulster.—.just send payment and you've got your jumper. Why do I need to be on a transnational gravy train to do that? Why does anyone?

Obviously garlic-oil hair-lotion (or whatever it is you smell as they loom pass by) will have limited market appeal outside Europe whether or not there's an import quota. And if you don't like my knitwear you don't have to buy it. Is there really any difference between garlic oil, heritage breed woollens or the Icelandic sloe mountain? What is it I'm missing?

[Dr. Anthony J. Toole]

Re: Which will last longer: Brexit dream or Trump presidency?

Problem over! President May just cancelled the Brexit vote, which gives a few more weeks to drum up support for... it's not clear. But we have a few more weeks of it until... another postponement? Please SOMEONE start a world war, this is unbearable!

Merry Christmas Britain!

[Harsha Shah]

Re: Which will last longer: Brexit dream or Trump presidency?

Yes, Dr. Toole, it is Harsha Shah here. I am hoping that I am not offending you but I am being very concerned about the Brexit developments. Yes. My nation and my party are now working very hard to give the decision back to the nation. Now that we can see how detrimental the Brexit is going to be, we want to be deciding ourselves about our fate. Yes, I am becoming a strong and independent Scotswoman and working hard for the SNP. Yes, if we will be failing to rescue the UK wee are hoping to save an independent Scotland as a strong and independent member of the EU. Yes, I am also learning Gaelic to be able to speak our national language, yes, it is very hard but it is very beautiful.

Yes, Mrs. May is sad and beautiful, yes. She is like the elephant and the blind men. Yes, it is an old Chinese story. One of the men is touching the trunk and taking it for a hose and one is touching the feet and thinking that they are columns. Yes, Mrs. May is losing the elephant, the well-being of her people to a referendum that was being based on lies. She is only looking at the footprints and not seeing where the elephant is walking now. Yes, very sad. Yes. I am hoping that I am not offending you, Dr. Toole, yes.

Yes. Now it is the time to speak!


Yes.

[Joanna Lytton-Vasey]

Re: Which will last longer: Brexit dream or Trump presidency?

Yes, Mrs. May is losing the elephant..

I'm sorry, dear, but would you care to clarify? I don't know about Scotland, but the only elephants we have in England are in the zoos, and as far as I know none of them are lost. (Not that Mrs May takes personal charge of not losing elephants. She has people to do that for her.)


We were all very disappointed to learn this evening that there will be no government shutdown in Britain, not even a temporary one, at least not for the time being. What this country needs is a leader with the courage to give us all a break.

[Basilissa]

Re: Which will last longer: Brexit dream or Trump presidency?

We were all very disappointed to learn this evening that there will be no government shutdown in Britain, not even a temporary one, at least not for the time being. What this country needs is a leader with the courage to give us all a break.

I was actually thinking, Sister, that one thing American and British politics have in common, is a similar approach to an urgent issue that needs to be solved soon. The British politicians seem to be dealing with the Brexit problem by delaying any actions needed to resolve it. For the American politicians, the favorite issue to be delayed ad infinitum is passing the annual budget. Temporary extensions of the previous year's budget are occasionally approved, and when that fails, both major parties take turns to be the one responsible for the shutdown.

[Dr. Anthony J. Toole]

Re: Which will last longer: Brexit dream or Trump presidency?

Sisters-in-Christ,

Don't fret your pretty little heads about all this! It's very difficult and you can get a man to explain it to you slowly if you feel distressed. It's like this.

In England, the Congress is delicately balanced after David Cameron won the election and then resigned and Theresa May won the leadership contest and called another election and basically lost except she bribed a few looney-tunes independents (think: Maine, Vermont, CT, except actually insane) to be on her team in exchange for $1B.

All perfectly legal and proper.

Skip forward 18 fun fun fun months and she just last night won a vote of confidence by her own (minority) party, winning 200 votes out of 317 out of 650. So that makes her the undisputed leader of the United Kingdom. It's similar to the Electoral College (ask your husbands) and it means if you're a Republican you don't necessarily need more votes to win.

So now Theresa May is ready to hold the Brexit vote again that she had cancelled last week because too many of her party were going to vote against it. This time, with her consolidated win of 200 votes, she's likely to get around 200 out of 650 in the full vote. After that, someone will probably table a full no confidence vote that includes those who aren't her closest 317 friends.

It's a terribly rigged system that unfairly penalizes conservatives just like in America. Anyway, the outcome is almost certainly going to be a general election between 2 pro-Brexit parties (soft vs hard) with no-one prepared to say it's all bullshit and call it off.

Skip forward 5 years and England will emerge from the chains of the EU, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and Gibraltar as a free country ready to buy high and sell low to the economic blocs of the world. As I said, don't worry your pretty little heads about any of this. Just imagine that in a few short years, you'll be able to buy cheap Chinese junk hand-made in English sweat shops and talk to Indians with a dodgy Northern English accent: "Ey up luv whut's up wi' thee, ow's about a nice cuppa tea aye petal." Exciting times!

[Dr. Anthony J. Toole]

Re: Which will last longer: Brexit dream or Trump presidency?

Another day, another breakthrough.

Theresa May just flew around to a few European capitals, like a drunk guy looking for someone to bump into, and managed to snag one of the bureaucratic freedom-haters who (out of context and speaking in his 3rd language) apparently called Theresa a "f*ggot-b*tch-wh*re-s*n-of-a-b*tch-m*ther-f*cker".

Later it turned out he was referring to the level of debate among UK members of Parliament and the actual word he used was "nebulous". Too late the damage has been done and Theresa can go back to the UK affronted and righteously indignant about the lack of respect from the entire continent of Europe.

What the UK needs most is respect for Theresa - who valiantly lost the majority in a national election that she unnecessarily called 4 years early to try and improve on the majority she already had, then said "Brexit is Brexit" for literally 18 months before pulling her Brexit vote the day before it was going to get rejected, then winning just 63% of her friends' support in a no-confidence vote the next day. Wears the respect? Yes it does, rather.

[MitzaLizalor]

Re: Which will last longer: Brexit dream or Trump presidency?

Thank you for clarifying. There was one point of difference suggested by Harsha Shah that caught my attention.

I am becoming a strong and independent Scotswoman.….Mrs. May is sad and beautiful.….She is only looking at the footprints and not seeing where the elephant is walking now.

. . . . . . . . . .

Comparing different countries was helpful and I noticed how she's trying to fit in with Scottish sensibilities. There was a time when that meant standing up to popes and cardinals under King James with a concerted effort from The Churches of England (Anglican) and Scotland (Presbyterian) and a solidly reliable Bible. Now they seem to let anyone in. There is one difference for Mrs May absent from North America even though discrimination against Christians is rampant in both places. I compared Nova Scotia [LEFT] with Scotland [RIGHT] and England. There's no picture for England.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Nova Scotia has a government, Scotland has a government. In both cases there are other provinces or territories (with their own governments) and a National government providing things like the army, welfare and spies I suppose. Mrs May, however, is without this luxury. There are governments for Wales and Ontario, Scotland and Nova Scotia, Canadian and British legislatures but nothing for England. Is one foot of the elephant in effect an anarchy? Could this be why Mrs May is sad?

. . . . . . . . . .

[WilliamJenningsBryan]

Re: Which will last longer: Brexit dream or Trump presidency?

Yes, Dr. Toole, it is Harsha Shah here. I am hoping that I am not offending you but I am being very concerned about the Brexit developments. Yes. My nation and my party are now working very hard to give the decision back to the nation. Now that we can see how detrimental the Brexit is going to be, we want to be deciding ourselves about our fate. Yes, I am becoming a strong and independent Scotswoman and working hard for the SNP. Yes, if we will be failing to rescue the UK wee are hoping to save an independent Scotland as a strong and independent member of the EU. Yes, I am also learning Gaelic to be able to speak our national language, yes, it is very hard but it is very beautiful.

Yes, Mrs. May is sad and beautiful, yes. She is like the elephant and the blind men. Yes, it is an old Chinese story. One of the men is touching the trunk and taking it for a hose and one is touching the feet and thinking that they are columns. Yes, Mrs. May is losing the elephant, the well-being of her people to a referendum that was being based on lies. She is only looking at the footprints and not seeing where the elephant is walking now. Yes, very sad. Yes. I am hoping that I am not offending you, Dr. Toole, yes.

Yes. Now it is the time to speak!


Yes.

Now I don't want to get off on a rant here Ms. Shah, but you're no more Scottish than Elizabeth Warren is injun - and when was the last time you submitted your recipe for haggis to a phony Scottish cook book? You need to stick with your papadums, samosas and chutneys, or God forbid, overpriced "Bombay" wraps and kati rolls. Of course the next question is how far do you have to go before you get accused of "appropriating" another "culture"?

While we're on the subject, how many obnoxious musical instruments, odd male and female clothing, disgusting food and eating habits, "cute" dancing and sexual practices, and other strange "customs" does a "culture" have to accumulate before they can demand their own "country"? I suppose they can then make a living on tourism - expecting normal people to travel there to marvel at how "quaint" they are and leave behind some money at a few memorabilia shops (with outrageous VAT taxes).

As to Scottish "independence", things are not looking good for them. Their budget deficits in their little socialist economy have been increasing, the revenue and output of their share of North Sea oil taxes have been decreasing, and their percentage of trade with the EU is miniscule compared to their trade with the UK. The Scottish seem to think they are some kind of modern industrial power because they have bagpipes, sheep, and kilts, and when they apply for membership in the EU it's going to be a shoe in.

As our good Sister Mitza pointed out here, "why can't people with something to sell just sell it to people who want to buy it"? It's because some useless meddlesome mercantilist unaccountable bureaucrat in Brussels says you can't without a "trade agreement" - and that's what most people understood Brexit was about. With all the riots in France recently, even the French are finally coming to their senses. The Scottish have a noble tradition of lighting some crosses to call the clan, and if they had any common sense they would be doing it now - Jesus would be pleased.

[Joanna Lytton-Vasey]

Re: Which will last longer: Brexit dream or Trump presidency?

The latest news of Brexit is that Britain may at last have succeeded in cutting its capital city off from Europe (or "le congtingnon" as the French say - more like the incontinent, frankly) by the simple expedient of closing one of London's airports - Gatwick: the one that's nearer to the south coast than to London. The government is pretending that drones have been flying over the airport, but nobody in the know is fooled. All incoming foreigners are therefore being redirected to places like Manchester and Scotland, where they will doubtless freeze to death or be poisoned by the food, if they aren't beaten to a pulp by drunks first.

This is causing some trouble for British people who wanted to go skiing, but that just shows their very poor forward-planning skills. We're off to the chalet in Verbier early on Wednesday morning (the renovations on the Aspen house are taking longer than expected, which is disappointing) but my husband anticipated this problem and arranged to use the company jet from a local airport.

Matthew has asked me to apologize to any True Christians™ who have been inconvenienced by this, but says that you should have read the memo and flown into Heathrow.