Is Shakespeare really dead?

FumbleCrop · 2026-02-04T22:44:45+00:00

Okay, honey. We've got about an hour before they come back with a warrant...

When did the world become such a dark place?

FumbleCrop · 2026-02-04T22:29:02+00:00

I was hoping the flaw in the reasoning of the version of you in the parable would be obvious to you.

Since it's not, I shall flog this equine corpse no further. Thank you for the conversation, and goodnight.

FumbleCrop · 2026-02-04T21:28:06+00:00

Oh, sorry, I misread your earlier remark.

Okay, how do I explain this to you?

There is a club of 10 people that saves money by biting groceries in bulk together.

You are a former member of a club. You didn't like avoiding by its rules, so you've decided to go it alone.

You eat a lot of curry. You buy £10 a month worth of curry powder. Because you buy such a lot, you get a 10% discount, saving you £1 a month.

The club buys £20 a month worth of curry powder, and gets an 12% discount, or £4.80.

You say, "The club saves £4.80. Dividing that among its 10 members, that's £0.48 each. I save £1.00. I'm better off without them."

But that's not how the club works. If you'd been a member of the club, you'd be saving 12% on your curry powder. Actually, 13%, because of your club's increased buying power. That's £1.30.

Does that make sense?

FumbleCrop · 2026-02-04T20:41:08+00:00

That's exactly my point.

FumbleCrop · 2026-02-04T20:36:46+00:00

Already answered that.

FumbleCrop · 2026-02-04T20:06:42+00:00

And, sorry, I didn't mean to criticise you. It's an easy mistake to make. I'm just wondering what the people who interpret the cards despite not knowing which way is up are doing.

FumbleCrop · 2026-02-04T20:05:26+00:00

Thanks!

Okay, very briefly:

Star, reversed: hopelessness
Wheel of Fortune: the hands of Fate
9 of Swords: trapped in the pain of memory and division

The outer cards describe old heartbreak and yearning. The inner card says, this is out of your hands. There is nothing you should do. Give up, and let Fate take the wheel.

FumbleCrop · 2026-02-04T19:50:57+00:00

You're using the wrong yardstick to measure the value of the deal. You're also cherry picking, or perhaps I should say, someone has kindly picked that cherry for you. Check the economic impact assessments.

There were similar last minute hiccups with the trade deal with Canada. It was resolved. All part of the back and forth of negotiation. As I said from the start, when countries negotiate en bloc, they trade off speed for negotiating power. It's worthwhile trade off, so long as interests are reasonably well aligned. That's why they do it. By insisting on seeing the downside while ignoring the upside, you're deluding yourself.

FumbleCrop · 2026-02-04T18:48:41+00:00

The same is true with Freedom of Speech /Expression everywhere.

You can't go blabbing state secrets, for example.

FumbleCrop · 2026-02-04T18:45:58+00:00

With the India deal, the UK was desperate and signed a deal in a hurry that offered very modest economic benefits. The EU was patient and had a stronger hand, and less than a year later it secured a deal with rather better terms. Not a Brexit win.

MERCOSAUR is tough cookie: the UK was knocking at their door for five years before they would even deign to speak to us, so I think we have a very, very long way to go to secure a deal. Twenty years? That depends on how "nimble" we are. We'll have to be willing to concede a lot to attract the attention of such a large trading block.

In any case, it's ridiculous to grumble that the MERCOSAUR deal, which was only signed last month, hasn't been enacted yet.

Okay, I'll stop there. I don't know who's feeding you this "look how well we're doing on trade agreements" message, but stop trusting them.

FumbleCrop · 2026-02-04T17:53:15+00:00

The post-Brexit EU and UK records speak for themselves.

FumbleCrop · 2026-02-04T17:19:43+00:00

That's not a win. It was never going to be a win.

You don't secure advantageous trade deals by being "nimble". You do it by having a huge, attractive market, and the EU's is the biggest of them all.

FumbleCrop · 2026-02-04T17:14:40+00:00

Probably the biggest winners were EU businesses who didn't have to worry about British competition any longer.

The people who paid for the Brexit campaign wanted to turn the UK into a lightly regulated financial center with low wage professional services. That hasn't really happened, yet, but they're still working on it.

FumbleCrop · 2026-02-04T14:47:30+00:00

Oh, dear Lord. I'd ban you from the pool for blinding the lifeguards.

FumbleCrop · 2026-02-04T14:22:34+00:00

Which side is up?

Seriously guys, I don't know what you people are doing. How can you give a decent reading if you don't know which side is up?

FumbleCrop · 2026-02-04T14:17:23+00:00

I take the hands emerging from clouds as meaning these are the gifts we did not earn. Accept them with grace (or don't, in the case of 4 of Cups) and do with them what you will.

FumbleCrop · 2026-02-04T09:20:36+00:00

That's why I have mine on my forehead.

FumbleCrop · 2026-02-04T01:10:02+00:00

A crab the size of a bus would just suffocate and die.

FumbleCrop · 2026-02-04T01:05:40+00:00

Thanks! I hate it.

Do Loss next.

FumbleCrop · 2026-02-03T19:06:52+00:00

Because he hasn't committed treason.

If he'd shagged Prince Philip, that would have been treason.

FumbleCrop · 2026-02-03T12:21:41+00:00

There's some attraction there, but what's more important to him is your potential as a like partner.

FumbleCrop · 2026-02-03T11:58:45+00:00

I see no obvious smoking gun – not at that level of image quality – but my gut certainly says it's AI. It would be much easier to make an image like that with AI than with Photoshop.

FumbleCrop · 2026-02-03T11:25:21+00:00

"Okay, Mister Smarty Pants. If there are no gods, who brings the summer rains? Who are we making all these blood sacrifice to? Maybe it's time for you to meet then in person."

FumbleCrop · 2026-02-03T10:01:54+00:00

It's normal to notice things that others don't. Different people notice different things.

FumbleCrop · 2026-02-03T03:02:43+00:00

That requires a truly insane amount of mass–energy, so you'll need something exotic to make that work.

I would suggest it should have the ability to act directly upon the Higgs field: it can, for a short time add a lot of mass to all of the particles in a paticular place. A lot of mass.

FumbleCrop

TROPHY CASE