(no subject)
Dec. 31st, 2020 11:33 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkat1. Interesting...the New York Times attempts to explain what "BREXIT FINALIZED" means...
Brexit, finalized
More than four years after Britain voted to leave the European Union, new travel and trade rules will go into effect tomorrow, concluding a saga that has divided Britons and dominated British politics.
The two sides reached an agreement last week, after nearly a year of trade negotiations. Yesterday, Britain’s Parliament approved the deal. Tomorrow brings the end of free movement of people between Britain and the E.U.
I talked to Mark Landler, The Times’s London bureau chief, about what it all means and what comes next. (Our conversation has been edited for brevity.)
CLAIRE: How will the new relationship between Britain and the E.U. affect people’s everyday lives?
MARK: The purpose of the 1,200-page trade deal between Britain and the E.U. was to avoid very disruptive changes, such as tariffs and quotas. But there will be an array of other bureaucratic requirements that did not exist before Jan. 1.
People won’t see a sudden shift in the price of fresh fruit and vegetables in London supermarkets. But it’ll have an impact on Britons who, for example, want to bring their dog on vacation to the continent or who want to get a job somewhere in the E.U.
Trade. Travel. Anything else?
Britain withdrew from the Erasmus exchange program, which allowed British students to study in E.U. countries and vice versa. It’s one highly visible example of things that will change in the post-Brexit era.
Something else, which may take a little bit longer to play out, is this idea of separatism and independence. Scotland, for example, was against Brexit, and it could fuel a new push to break off from the rest of Britain.
What will this mean for Britain’s economy?
A lot of stuff still needs to be negotiated. A major driving force of the British economy is the services sector, including legal, financial, consulting and other services. Virtually none of that is covered yet in the trade agreement.
How did the pandemic affect the process?
Without it, the negotiations for the trade deal would have been the biggest story in the country. But Brexit was almost completely overshadowed by the coronavirus. Britain is preoccupied with this health crisis, which will muffle the immediate effects of Brexit. But over time those will become more visible. Which means that the debate over Brexit may not be finished in the country.
Will this deliver the “global Britain” that pro-Brexit campaigners hoped for?
One of the driving arguments in favor of Brexit was throwing off the shackles of the E.U., so that Britain would become this agile, dynamic, independent economy that could strike deals with everyone in the world. But rising protectionism and populism have made making free-trade agreements harder. The “global Britain” arguments looked more valid in May 2016 than in January 2021. In a way, the Brexit vision is four and a half years too late.
I have to admit Brexit never made any sense to me. Even after I had lengthy conversations with people about it. In 2016 - we were discussing it at work. A former co-worker/cubicle mate who hailed from Cypress was explaining the friction within the European Union and how Brexit resulted from Germany pushing Britain to take on Syrian Refugees, and to help them bail out Greece. Britain understandably didn't want to do it. (This was her perspective.) Online - on DW, I had discussions with someone who voted for Brexit who said it was about distancing themselves from European socialism, making Britain great again, and foreigners taking their jobs, and European Union controlling everything. (This person's arguments sounded similar to Trumpism, actually. And is a mindset I find irritating - I finally said something I shouldn't, they lost their temper, I lost my temper, we got into a fight, and that was that.) So I think the ultra conservative Brits voted for BREXIT for the same reasons the ultra conservative Americans voted for Trump. Stupidity, self-absorption, and fear.
Ironically? When I was arguing all of this with the Brexit supporter on my journal - we got into a discussion about pandemics. And how a pandemic would probably change all that. The poster was into the Walking Dead, and thinking how it would almost be better if Britain was isolated and didn't have to deal with Europe at all. That while she certainly wouldn't want a pandemic..it would help.
Hmm...talk about being careful what you wish for. Somehow, I doubt she's all that happy right about now. Europe on the other hand, couldn't be happier with the arrangement.
Brexit is finally finalized, but it is already out of date
2. Mother called while I was typing the above.
Mother: You're father is funny.
Me: Oh.
Mother: He lost the paper this morning. It was under the papers on my desk.
Me: You didn't hurt yourself looking for it, did you?
Mother: No, I just wandered about looking.
Mother: Then, I asked him for a knife this morning to butter a piece of bread, I needed something in my stomach. And he handed me the fork.
Me: Oh god. (I start to laugh, because honestly...I see where this is going)
Mother: He gave me everything in the draw but the knife. Your poor father he so desperately wants to help. He'll go for his cane when he wants to go for a walk. I'll him it is in the corner.
[Pause}
Me: And he can't find it?
Mother: No. I'll say no, that's the umbrella.
Me: Makes you almost want to do it for him.
Mother: No. It's too painful for me to get up and do it for him.
Mother:Your poor father. He told me that he was completely useless.
Me: He's not useless. He's still there. Still a comfort. Someone to hold. To hug. To touch. To talk too.
Mother: I know.
Mother is worried - apparently one of her friends called her after having an odd text exchange with someone on FB messenger. The individual was posing as my mother. And after a few texts, suggested her friend apply for a grant, which she'd just applied for. The friend found that to be out of character and phoned mother, who said no, it wasn't her. Now mother doesn't know what to do. She also has this odd security thing on her phone she can't quite get rid of. All of this happened after she gave in - in a weak moment - to watching a video that was sent in FB messenger. She changed her facebook password, but not her apple password.
I've no clue what to do. The change of the FB password should have worked.
3. News bits.. or links
* The Ball will drop but for the first time in decades, there will be no one to greet it in Times Square - it's all virtual this year
* The New Penn Station Opens tomorrow - it hosts the LIRR and Amtrak leaving the subterrean world of the subway far behind
"New York is set to open its grand expansion of Penn Station, the Moynihan Train Hall, on Friday. The new station looks nothing like its dingy, subterranean cousin: It has an acre of glass that lets the sun pour down and permanent installations by celebrated artists."
* How Pop Music Fandom became Sports, Religion, Politics and All-Out War
I can't say pop music fandom makes sense to me. My taste in music is varied, and I rarely can remember the names of songs or who performs them.
This was pop fandom in 2020: competitive, arcane, sales-obsessed, sometimes pointless, chaotic, adversarial, amusing and a little frightening — all happening almost entirely online. While music has long been intertwined with internet communities and the rise of social networks, a growing faction of the most vocal and dedicated pop enthusiasts have embraced the term “stan” — taken from the 20-year-old Eminem song about a superfan turned homicidal stalker — and are redefining what it means to love an artist.
On what is known as Stan Twitter — and its offshoots on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Tumblr and various message boards — these devotees compare No. 1s and streaming statistics like sports fans do batting averages, championship wins and shooting percentages. They pledge allegiance to their favorites like the most rabid political partisans or religious followers. They organize to win awards show polls, boost sales and raise money like grass roots activists. And they band together to pester — or harass, and even dox — those who may dare to slight the stars they have chosen to align themselves with.
“These people don’t even know who we are, but we spend countless days and months defending them from some stranger on the internet,” said Cordero, who later revealed his Grande prank, gaining nothing but the ability to revel in the backlash.
Off to make lunch and hopefully a quiche. I will not doomscroll today. The NY Times briefing was painful enough.
Brexit, finalized
More than four years after Britain voted to leave the European Union, new travel and trade rules will go into effect tomorrow, concluding a saga that has divided Britons and dominated British politics.
The two sides reached an agreement last week, after nearly a year of trade negotiations. Yesterday, Britain’s Parliament approved the deal. Tomorrow brings the end of free movement of people between Britain and the E.U.
I talked to Mark Landler, The Times’s London bureau chief, about what it all means and what comes next. (Our conversation has been edited for brevity.)
CLAIRE: How will the new relationship between Britain and the E.U. affect people’s everyday lives?
MARK: The purpose of the 1,200-page trade deal between Britain and the E.U. was to avoid very disruptive changes, such as tariffs and quotas. But there will be an array of other bureaucratic requirements that did not exist before Jan. 1.
People won’t see a sudden shift in the price of fresh fruit and vegetables in London supermarkets. But it’ll have an impact on Britons who, for example, want to bring their dog on vacation to the continent or who want to get a job somewhere in the E.U.
Trade. Travel. Anything else?
Britain withdrew from the Erasmus exchange program, which allowed British students to study in E.U. countries and vice versa. It’s one highly visible example of things that will change in the post-Brexit era.
Something else, which may take a little bit longer to play out, is this idea of separatism and independence. Scotland, for example, was against Brexit, and it could fuel a new push to break off from the rest of Britain.
What will this mean for Britain’s economy?
A lot of stuff still needs to be negotiated. A major driving force of the British economy is the services sector, including legal, financial, consulting and other services. Virtually none of that is covered yet in the trade agreement.
How did the pandemic affect the process?
Without it, the negotiations for the trade deal would have been the biggest story in the country. But Brexit was almost completely overshadowed by the coronavirus. Britain is preoccupied with this health crisis, which will muffle the immediate effects of Brexit. But over time those will become more visible. Which means that the debate over Brexit may not be finished in the country.
Will this deliver the “global Britain” that pro-Brexit campaigners hoped for?
One of the driving arguments in favor of Brexit was throwing off the shackles of the E.U., so that Britain would become this agile, dynamic, independent economy that could strike deals with everyone in the world. But rising protectionism and populism have made making free-trade agreements harder. The “global Britain” arguments looked more valid in May 2016 than in January 2021. In a way, the Brexit vision is four and a half years too late.
I have to admit Brexit never made any sense to me. Even after I had lengthy conversations with people about it. In 2016 - we were discussing it at work. A former co-worker/cubicle mate who hailed from Cypress was explaining the friction within the European Union and how Brexit resulted from Germany pushing Britain to take on Syrian Refugees, and to help them bail out Greece. Britain understandably didn't want to do it. (This was her perspective.) Online - on DW, I had discussions with someone who voted for Brexit who said it was about distancing themselves from European socialism, making Britain great again, and foreigners taking their jobs, and European Union controlling everything. (This person's arguments sounded similar to Trumpism, actually. And is a mindset I find irritating - I finally said something I shouldn't, they lost their temper, I lost my temper, we got into a fight, and that was that.) So I think the ultra conservative Brits voted for BREXIT for the same reasons the ultra conservative Americans voted for Trump. Stupidity, self-absorption, and fear.
Ironically? When I was arguing all of this with the Brexit supporter on my journal - we got into a discussion about pandemics. And how a pandemic would probably change all that. The poster was into the Walking Dead, and thinking how it would almost be better if Britain was isolated and didn't have to deal with Europe at all. That while she certainly wouldn't want a pandemic..it would help.
Hmm...talk about being careful what you wish for. Somehow, I doubt she's all that happy right about now. Europe on the other hand, couldn't be happier with the arrangement.
Brexit is finally finalized, but it is already out of date
2. Mother called while I was typing the above.
Mother: You're father is funny.
Me: Oh.
Mother: He lost the paper this morning. It was under the papers on my desk.
Me: You didn't hurt yourself looking for it, did you?
Mother: No, I just wandered about looking.
Mother: Then, I asked him for a knife this morning to butter a piece of bread, I needed something in my stomach. And he handed me the fork.
Me: Oh god. (I start to laugh, because honestly...I see where this is going)
Mother: He gave me everything in the draw but the knife. Your poor father he so desperately wants to help. He'll go for his cane when he wants to go for a walk. I'll him it is in the corner.
[Pause}
Me: And he can't find it?
Mother: No. I'll say no, that's the umbrella.
Me: Makes you almost want to do it for him.
Mother: No. It's too painful for me to get up and do it for him.
Mother:Your poor father. He told me that he was completely useless.
Me: He's not useless. He's still there. Still a comfort. Someone to hold. To hug. To touch. To talk too.
Mother: I know.
Mother is worried - apparently one of her friends called her after having an odd text exchange with someone on FB messenger. The individual was posing as my mother. And after a few texts, suggested her friend apply for a grant, which she'd just applied for. The friend found that to be out of character and phoned mother, who said no, it wasn't her. Now mother doesn't know what to do. She also has this odd security thing on her phone she can't quite get rid of. All of this happened after she gave in - in a weak moment - to watching a video that was sent in FB messenger. She changed her facebook password, but not her apple password.
I've no clue what to do. The change of the FB password should have worked.
3. News bits.. or links
* The Ball will drop but for the first time in decades, there will be no one to greet it in Times Square - it's all virtual this year
* The New Penn Station Opens tomorrow - it hosts the LIRR and Amtrak leaving the subterrean world of the subway far behind
"New York is set to open its grand expansion of Penn Station, the Moynihan Train Hall, on Friday. The new station looks nothing like its dingy, subterranean cousin: It has an acre of glass that lets the sun pour down and permanent installations by celebrated artists."
* How Pop Music Fandom became Sports, Religion, Politics and All-Out War
I can't say pop music fandom makes sense to me. My taste in music is varied, and I rarely can remember the names of songs or who performs them.
This was pop fandom in 2020: competitive, arcane, sales-obsessed, sometimes pointless, chaotic, adversarial, amusing and a little frightening — all happening almost entirely online. While music has long been intertwined with internet communities and the rise of social networks, a growing faction of the most vocal and dedicated pop enthusiasts have embraced the term “stan” — taken from the 20-year-old Eminem song about a superfan turned homicidal stalker — and are redefining what it means to love an artist.
On what is known as Stan Twitter — and its offshoots on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Tumblr and various message boards — these devotees compare No. 1s and streaming statistics like sports fans do batting averages, championship wins and shooting percentages. They pledge allegiance to their favorites like the most rabid political partisans or religious followers. They organize to win awards show polls, boost sales and raise money like grass roots activists. And they band together to pester — or harass, and even dox — those who may dare to slight the stars they have chosen to align themselves with.
“These people don’t even know who we are, but we spend countless days and months defending them from some stranger on the internet,” said Cordero, who later revealed his Grande prank, gaining nothing but the ability to revel in the backlash.
Off to make lunch and hopefully a quiche. I will not doomscroll today. The NY Times briefing was painful enough.
no subject
Date: 2020-12-31 07:27 pm (UTC)the Police Department would have 80 percent fewer officers in Times Square than on a normal New Year’s Eve
That was my first thought, that at least more of them would be able to be home with family this year.
no subject
Date: 2020-12-31 08:53 pm (UTC)They block it off about four blocks from where the ball would drop. Only those people living in Times Square will see it in person.
It's a smart idea - there's a lot of civil unrest right now - and with the virus, it makes sense to do it virtually - showing the ball drop via live streaming and broadcast channels.
Boss said he was going to be in Times Square buck naked on New Year's this year. That he'd never gone before - but this year, he jokingly stated he would.
I remember thinking - " yeah, good luck with that. They aren't letting anyone close let alone in there. You can just torture the folks at home with your nakedness."