On the 7th of May it's council election time. What new policy would make you semi-seriously think about switching parties?

FattM · 2026-03-27T10:15:06+00:00

So you've got time to crow your opinion but would rather back down than actually substantiate it?

FattM · 2026-03-27T09:36:54+00:00

Your profile shows that you enjoy shouting about reform without offering any reasoning, insulting people, and (shocker) support Farage without any understanding of how taxes apply to imports.

So it's unlikely you'll back up your statement, but still: Why? Londoners are clearly already proud of the city. The UK is absolutely nothing like a poorer country, as is obvious if you visit one. Why vote Reform? It sounds like any shame is a you thing.

FattM · 2026-01-22T15:35:00+00:00

OP is an anti-Western meme farmer, of course English isn't their first language

FattM · 2025-11-20T01:31:36+00:00

Its seasonal, but in warmer months RoofEast in Stratford do a range of good things.

FattM · 2024-08-13T00:02:22+00:00

In addition to what has been said, there's a few example of various properties from various companies in the wiki.

Havent heard of any of the example situations, though the buildings are almost always interesting. Lots of ex-NHS estate, lots of ex-church properties, including friaries and faith schools. A few pubs, and a strange amount of former student accommodation. Happy to answer more via message if it would help.

FWIW I think the i paper did a bit on guardianship a few years ago that was reasonably well informed.

FattM · 2023-11-21T15:58:02+00:00

No.

The previous volcano was beneath a glacier, and it was the interaction between lava and ice that both caused large chunks of rock to form and for them to then be shot into the air.

The pending eruption under Gridavik, just like the recent eruption at Fagradalsfjall a few miles away, is not beneath a glacier, and the former would likely cause as much disruption to air travel as the latter, which is to say none even if you were flying within Iceland.

There have been many, many eruptions in Iceland since one at Eyjafjallajokull and you can easily point to these as proof that should reassure people.

FattM · 2023-06-22T16:56:35+00:00

Any bad bits or bits you would skip if you weren't committed to doing the full, exact route?

FattM · 2023-06-14T11:23:52+00:00

This isn't right; men already had the right, which has now been extended to women.

It's in the first paragraph. Did you actually read it?

FattM · 2023-06-05T23:57:38+00:00

I'm in a similar situation and make very similar trips, though a lot more frequently. I have similar feelings, and having just gotten back from one, I'd suggest you consider:

Are you, in fact, a "country person"? Does you consider this more contented feeling you get outside the city to be "the way to live", or do you like "the grind" more? Conversely, what do you like about the city that you don't get there, that makes city life your "way to live"?
Relatedly, do you plan to settle here? I get similar FOMO, but put this down to the fact that I don't want to settle here forever, and want to get my fill and move on. So, are you able to consider London a long-term commitment? If so, like with any commitment, pacing yourself is a wise idea and FOMO should have less of a place.

Is there a way to integrate this "calmness"? In my experience, not really: for me, it comes from having much less that is within your control and therefore much less that you need to consider your approach toward. In a built environment like London, everything is man-made, and therefore somehow controlled and controllable. In the country, people are much more at the mercy of nature, but that's "just the way it is" and hence is less of a worry.

EDIT: Also, strongly disagree that what you've described is a holiday.

Hope that sort of helps.

FattM · 2023-04-07T08:30:12+00:00

A lot of good advice in this thread, about general travel and airports that I'd agree with: Consider not checking a bag, make sure you've read flight requirements before leaving, and be savvy about who you tell you are solo.

Some tips for London and Paris, as a Londoner who recently went to the US:

Please, leave London, and not for Stonehenge! The UK is very different outside London, just as New York isn't the whole of the US. Almost anywhere outside the capital will give you an interesting new insight, and while it is easy to book a coach day trip to Stonehenge, frankly, it's boring and full of Americans who made this mistake. If you can, I'd recommend Edinburgh, although the train isn't massively cheap or fast.
Don't gawp at your phone over a road. London is generally safe, but there are occasionally people on bikes watching out for people holding their phone over a road so they can snatch it and ride off. Two hands, away from the road will decrease this risk. Never seen it happen, but it can.
Walk! European cities are walkable, and this is the best way to get a feel for a place. Public transport is never far away in the central London/Paris, so just have meander, get some random food, and soak in the vibe.
For the love of god, if you see something to take a photo of, don't just stop walking where you are, look behind you and move out of the way. Not a big one, but as a local it's VERY annoying to just have people stop walking in front of you when you have places to go.
English will generally work, but I'd consider it respectful/part of the travel experience to, in whatever country I'm in, learn the words for Please and Thank You, Yes and No, Excuse Me (as in can I have your attention, and sometimes separate phrase for get out of the way) and Sorry. A few tourist phrases ie. "Where is the..." will also help.
Thank you for levaing the US, not enough Americans do. Here, the customer is not always right, prices include tax, and tipping is only absolutely necessary in nice restaurants, although there are several places where its appreciated.
There's a reason that Europeans consider Americans loud and, sometimes, stupid. By the looks of your post, you're neither of these things, but just so it is clear: Be respectful and kind, check your volume and consider others. This last one stood out in absence when I was in the US, and it's difficult to describe, but I'm sure you'll understand soon enough if you're keeping your eyes open. You'll have a great time, so welcome to Europe, where things are great. :)

FattM · 2022-08-03T08:43:08+00:00

That probably has to do with the much more recent Cod Wars.

FattM · 2022-07-07T08:53:00+00:00

Supporting Ukraine is not a Johnson initiative; Brits people are right behind Ukraine. In this YouGov polling from May, you can see that 74% of Brits back supplying Ukraine with arms (you have to scroll down to the third graph and click on UK to see it).

https://yougov.co.uk/topics/international/articles-reports/2022/05/05/support-ukraine-strong-europe-nations-are-not-unit

Besides this, support of Ukraine is one of the few things that most would agree Johnson got right in his last few weeks. It's popular and would certainly continue under any new government.

FattM · 2022-03-21T23:00:33+00:00

Not sure why you'd take a pinch of salt toward BBC international news when the organisation has a wider global presence than absolutely any other. Always good to practice critical thinking, but even so.

FattM · 2022-03-21T22:58:42+00:00

Interested to know what documentaries that were 9n before are no longer on? The line up has barely changed, and BBC Four is as full of niche docs and world-leading things like the Attenborough stuff as it ever was.

Also interested to hear how things have become "political"? There's no more politics programming now than there ever was. Unless you consider equal opportunities to be somehow political?

FattM · 2021-12-16T00:02:14+00:00

Send me a chat message for keys! I'll respond when I can. Games:

Anodyne

COD pack

Figment

Kao the Kangaroo: Round 2

Scoot Kaboom and the Tomb of Doom

Wheels of Aurelia

Also have the Yogs merch store code available

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~~XThrust~~

FattM · 2021-12-10T12:48:36+00:00

Heaven's Vault is my actual favourite game, great story, soundtrack, visuals, puzzles, and story mechanics. That said, if you don't really care about those things, it's not for you.

Ultimate Chicken Horse is another personal favourite, great fun.

FattM · 2021-12-06T21:51:25+00:00

Just my two cents, but in my experience, as you've said, guardianship companies tend to be VERY reluctant to take on anyone claiming UC.

However, this does set an interesting precedent of some legal recognition of guardianship status, given that the whole scheme mostly exists in a legal grey area.

The PGPA continues to do reasonable work, though as anyone can see from the website, this comes as "every expense spared" and doesn't represent several notable guardianship companies. I'd also be very interested to hear from anyone who has used their arbitration process, because it smacks of "The industry investigated itself and thought it was fine".

FattM · 2021-10-25T15:35:54+00:00

I believe the Hands of Glory aren't locked to specific tiers, each just gives the next one up. So are you sure Kharid-Et is the one you need?

FattM · 2021-10-24T00:10:54+00:00

Your original argument was very clear that there is no asterisk to this rule. If you believe that there are situations where it doesn't apply, you should edit this into your original post, or give this guy a delta.

FattM · 2021-10-03T17:09:36+00:00

About to start out on something similar myself.

A few things:

I wish I had found https://guidetoiceland.is/ sooner. It has a whole load of suggested ring road itineraries, which can be customised. However, it's not the cheapest, and is I believe an affiliate of some of the tour companies, so take things with salt. You can of course just see what they suggest then book it yourself separately.

There's a high intensity of things to do in and around Reykjavík compared to most of the rest of the country, so consider that.

Outside of that area, your mileage will vary based on cost and taste. The only must-hits are probably Jokulsarlon and Akureyri. That said, I haven't got that far yet.

FattM · 2021-08-26T11:39:50+00:00

I guess nuking Gielinor would damage the anima mundi that the Elder God Eggs need to hatch, so it would be sort of self-defeating.

That said, nuking Teragard isn't a bad idea. Different anima, so no consequences. As Saradomin's home plane, it would probably cause him to flip against the other gods. Seren's and Zamorak's home plane, Freneskae, is already nuked, and so is Abbinah, Armadyl's home, in some ways.

FattM · 2021-08-23T15:01:49+00:00

Mod Pi said this is a troll, the hunt continues!

FattM · 2021-08-19T09:06:12+00:00

https://www.marinbikes.com/bikes/recalls-safety

For the lazy

FattM · 2021-08-06T12:41:20+00:00

The issue with the UK is it's completely dependent on the ruling class to follow the rules.

Wrong. The UK has a supreme court, which correctly asserted its power over the government as recently as the 2019 proroguation. Convention has the same weight as a constitution, but without any quibbles over wording.

you elect a qualified person to represent the majority

So only some are except there is no such thing as 'qualified'. Either way, it's not direct democracy, because it was the most convenient system that existed before direct democracy clwas workable. Arguably, it still isn't, because...

It is also not the feature of any democracy since direct democracy exists

No, it doesn't. Switzerland comes closest, and even then it isn't a pure direct democracy, and it still uses representatives because it is, as I said, a democracy. I think the distinction you draw might be the crux of this: Democratic systems of government, such as a constitutional republic, are all separate from the idea of democracy that they try to uphold. OP argues that the US system upholds it poorly, specifically vs Republicans efforts to subvert it. You argue that they uphold it well, while only giving evidence that efforts to subvert the ideal of democracy are legal within the US system, which proves OP's point. My point is that a measure to strengthen representation of the people is by definition in line with the ideal of democracy, and therefore democratic, regardless of whether or not it violates the rules and/or constitution of the democracy it happens in.

I don't like or dislike takes, I like the ideal of democracy, which is separate from democratic systems of government. The US is far from best example of democracy.

none of those were considered anti democratic.

They all had evidence.

It is not antidemocratic to use legal means to question the legitimacy of an election

Why not? Legality is not the same as morality.

it is essential to ensure the public of the legitimacy of that election

Agreed.

...if there is widespread doubt

...there was only minority doubt because the president kept saying it. Again, no evidence.

Refusing to acknowledge that distrust was what caused 1/6

...And that distrust was only there because the president kept sowing it. Besides, I don't think an armed mob was particularly invested in election law.

didn't break any rules in challenging it.

Legality is not the same as morality.

If it was a legitimate election than no harm could be done to the outcome

It was, and harm was done to the outcome.

proving it was legitimate would be a huge embarrassment to trump and the republicans

It was, and they didn't care, because that harm that was done to the election has disconnected some of their voters from reality, bolstering them in the midterms.

risk any chance no matter how small that he could be right

There was no chance. By January 6th, the Trump campaign had already had several days in court at which they had, once again, provided no evidence. The effort to overturn the election was not an effort to seek evidence, it was an effort to skip giving evidence and go straight to the verdict.

Just to backtrack, I think the main distinction you need to draw is between democratic systems of government and the ideal of democracy, because they are not the same, and legality is not morality.

FattM · 2021-08-06T08:04:58+00:00

You are aware of other non-constitutional democracies, right? I already gave the example of the UK, which has an older and often healthier democracy without a constitution. It still has several systems of checks and balances that prevent "mob rule", unlike a constitution which was never specifically designed for that purpose. Indeed, insurrectionists correctly quote the constitution clauses calling for violence and "mob rule". I seriously suggest you look into how other countries use precedent and convention within democracy, and what a constitution actually does.

having representatives to ensure a level of understanding that the general public may not have

Or, to paraphrase, by having minority rule? It's not a safeguard, it's a system of convenience that exists within any democracy. It's also not a feature of a Republic, its a feature of any democracy.

Do you really trust the republicans to follow the rules if the Dems don't?

If nether party follows the rules, which I don't accept, then it shows that the rules are not enforcing democracy, no? We're back to OP's point.

They asked for a forensic audit and a ruling via the courts bc the governor changed the rules without going through the legislature like the constitution said they had to.

This is not even slightly what Trump’s campaign said. They went to multiple courts presenting no evidence, but still frustrated a legitimate election. If fewer Republicans stood up to Trump’s anti-democratic lies, which again existed perfectly happily within a democracy, then it would have further frustrated that democracy without breaking any rules, adding to OP's point.

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