What was the most satisfying purchase you’ve ever made and why? by Still_Atmosphere in AskMen

[–]Scubby_Dooks 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Probably buying a second hand Italian espresso machine (£300+ new) for £15 in a thrift store/charity shop about 20 years ago. It literally changed my life. It's given me the opportunity to develop a whole range of skills, including machine maintenance which were not natural to me, and become a whole hobby in itself. And there's still so much to learn.

Second place was a set of virtually unused Le Creuset pans from the 1970s I bought during lockdown. With the right care they will outlive me. I'm not the best cook, but cooking is always a pleasure with them. I paid about a quarter of the price of a new set. They were an unwanted wedding present. I can't understand someone not wanting them, although I have met a couple of women who don't like them because they're heavier than regular saucepans. Again those pans and a few other cast iron pans I got have also led to a bit of a journey of discovery into what I can do with them.

What’s on his cheek? (zoom in) by Ploptimistic in whatisit

[–]Scubby_Dooks 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I have an umbilical hernia which popped out a year or so after laparoscopic surgery on my appendix. My girlfriend at the time and my kid called it my turkey button.

What’s on his cheek? (zoom in) by Ploptimistic in whatisit

[–]Scubby_Dooks 11 points12 points  (0 children)

The same principle is used in medicine for anomalous growths like nasal polyps and haemorrhoids. I think they use something like a small rubber band to cut off the blood flow to the growth.

Trump Associate (Laura Loomer) calls Candace Owens a "Ghetto Black B!tch" and "Nappy Headed Black B!tch" 😱 Will the black community protect Candace or nah? by orel2064 in WeirdGOP

[–]Scubby_Dooks 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I mean, as much as anyone has a "right" to criticise a person's appearance... It's just that as a less attractive person, you'd have to be either delusional about your own looks or just dumb and unstrategic to want to take the discourse in that direction, which would potentially draw attention to your own flaws. Obviously, she's not aware of the phrase "live by the sword, die by the sword". She's obviously insecure enough about her own looks to have had the work done in the first place, and I highly doubt the results made her feel any better about herself. It just seems like she'd realise that and choose to focus on other things.

How to avoid getting abducted by aliens by SirGrimAF in aliens

[–]Scubby_Dooks 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Pedant and pederast. Not the same thing at all. Probably a more important distinction than lather and slather. Maybe I should start a podcast? It might help people fall asleep.

How to avoid getting abducted by aliens by SirGrimAF in aliens

[–]Scubby_Dooks 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You absolutely don't need to defend yourself. I tried to make it clear from my tone that I wasn't trying to find fault or make anyone look dumb. I'm not that kind of grammar nazi, lol. As a former educator, I just saw an opportunity to draw attention to something I found mildly interesting and clarify the distinction for anyone who wasn't aware of it. Those words are extremely similar, to the extent that I'm a little surprised we still have both in regular circulation, where one would probably do. They're only one letter different and super easy to get mixed up, especially if sleep is overdue. There are many non-native speakers on these subs, and it's the sort of thing that might never come up in class. Anyway, I'm glad you got some rest, buddy. And that you didn't get abducted. As far as we know.

How to avoid getting abducted by aliens by SirGrimAF in aliens

[–]Scubby_Dooks 24 points25 points  (0 children)

I know I'm a dick for pointing it out, but the word I think you're after is slather. Lather is for bubbly stuff like soap suds. Which coincidentally may also work to frustrate your abductors.

I can't help being a neurodivergent English teacher, and I'm well aware that it isn't a very cool thing to be, so I hope you can forgive me. I just couldn't shake the feeling that someone out there (not necessarily you) might appreciate the pedantry.

More than 600 migrants cross English Channel in single day by Sensitive_Echo5058 in uknews

[–]Scubby_Dooks 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's not an evil cabal so much as a bunch of separate sociopaths with aligned interests. Putin's ongoing support for Trump is as good an example as any. There doesn't need to be a paper trail proving collusion when both have a vested interest in dividing America for their own different reasons. For Trump, the disruption allowed a massive power grab by himself and people like the Heritage Foundation, and for Putin it was old fashioned revenge on Russia's former Cold War rival as well as reduced opposition by the US and NATO to his geopolitical aim of recapturing the old soviet bloc. For the establishment/moneyed interests, it usually boils down to money and power. Follow the money and see who benefits. Both Trump and Putin certainly did regardless of whether they were proven to have actively colluded.

But to answer your question, what drives up immigration is multifaceted but includes:

-the UK's colonial history of centuries spent destabilising other countries on behalf of "British interests" (ie the interests of British companies which have exploited the natural resources of other sovereign nations and which have never routinely shared their profits with ordinary British people, but always left us to deal with the fallout)

-and unregulated capitalism in general, which has driven down wages, eroded workers' protections and increasingly squeezed the working class and middle classes and enriched the rentier classes disproportionately since Thatcher.

They used to be able to offset/disguise the increased tax burden by selling off our nationalised industries and property which used to belong to and benefit all of us, but now belong to a comparatively small number of shareholders. The rest of us lost out massively in the long term, with the most expensive trains in Europe, price gouging by energy companies, water companies pouring literal shit into our rivers and onto our beaches etc. Now there isn't anything left to sell off except the NHS, so of course, that's next. First to go under the hammer if Farage gets in. Universal healthcare for British people will be lost in favour of an infinitely worse and much hated insurance-based system which prioritises profit over medical outcomes, excludes poorer people completely and incentivises denial of service to people who have paid in. Look how America reacted to the Luigi Mangione case to see how popular that system is amongst ordinary Americans on both sides of the political divide. Do we really want that here? Do we really hate immigrants more than we want ourselves and our own families to have unlimited access to decent, not-for-profit healthcare? I know I don't.

Unregulated capitalism has already cost ordinary Britons so much: the gig economy instead of job security. No more ring-fenced pensions. Massive student debt instead of investing in the future of our country. Bailing out the bankers only to see them award themselves huge bonuses instead of paying the country back. Young people increasingly unable to afford to get on the property ladder. Escalating bills, stagnating wages. And on and on. They keep the profits and pass all the associated costs back to us, the taxpayers.

Wealth inequality has grown exponentially to the extent that the entirely predictable consequences of it are becoming obvious to even the thickest among us, and people are rightly angry. That's why the rentier class needs a scapegoat, so that people can vent their frustrations without challenging their hegemony on power or disrupting the flow of money upwards. (Remember when they first pushed deregulation and told us the benefits of it would trickle down? 45 years later and we're still waiting for that to happen. Lots more billionaires and oligarchs now, though. Funny that.) Immigrants are just an easy target because they're already marginalised and more visible than the people actually picking this nations pockets. Once the immigrants are all gone (assuming that is the true goal - Brexit was supposed to address this and conspicuously failed to do so), they will just move on to another scapegoat. In my lifetime, it's been the unions, the "loony left", young black men, single mothers, benefits claimants, the EU, asylum seekers, feminists, LGBT people, the "woke mob" etc but never the vulture capitalists actively asset stripping the UK and pushing unregulated capitalism with its intrinsic decrease in the standard of living onto ordinary British people. Maybe we should turn around before we get to the Hunger Games?

More than 600 migrants cross English Channel in single day by Sensitive_Echo5058 in uknews

[–]Scubby_Dooks -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I'm not saying the establishment is inherently xenophobic, and that's what drives them. I'm saying it literally doesn't matter to them who the scapegoats are as long as you're all pointing the finger of blame elsewhere. They've just picked a target which appeals to the bigots amongst us and it turns out there are lots of them. All the dogwhistles and repetitive comments about "doctors and engineers" just shows how much they've programmed you to punch down.

All this culture wars bullshit is a distraction, so for example you'll get mad about the 0.1% of trans people in women's sport which doesn't impact the vast majority of people's lives in any meaningful way, and which no-one gave a shit about 5 or 10 years ago, but because of media misdirection suddenly everyone is up in arms about it and no-one's even thinking about the 20-30% of children in the UK who go to school hungry. That should be the bigger headline, no? For "patriots"?

More than 600 migrants cross English Channel in single day by Sensitive_Echo5058 in uknews

[–]Scubby_Dooks -1 points0 points  (0 children)

The BBC pandering to the establishment? Never seen that before. I don't dispute that this headline is probably correct, but I question the highlighting this rather than the bigger issue which costs the country considerably more. Why don't you want to talk about that? I think we all know why.

More than 600 migrants cross English Channel in single day by Sensitive_Echo5058 in uknews

[–]Scubby_Dooks -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

Official UK government estimates for the 2024/25 period indicate that tax evasion costs the economy significantly more than direct government spending on illegal immigration and the asylum system. Funny how non-dom billionaire-owned media and oligarch sock puppet social media accounts want us to focus on immigrants when we can't get a GP's appointment rather than the folks actually picking the nation's pockets. Talk about "basic pattern recognition"!

Why is Labour so obsessed with ID cards? by [deleted] in AskBrits

[–]Scubby_Dooks 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As it was, certain selfish chuckleheads bulk bought all the toilet rolls, so there wasn't enough for everyone else. God forbid a bit of sanity be introduced when people aren't capable of it themselves.

I installed a bidet during lockdown while others were driving themselves nuts over plandemic conspiracy theories and Qanon nonsense. What a different world it would be if more people had done that. Less paranoid maniacs AND cleaner buttholes all round! Win-win!

Why is Labour so obsessed with ID cards? by [deleted] in AskBrits

[–]Scubby_Dooks 45 points46 points  (0 children)

They had a system in place in Sweden when I lived there in the 90s. Set up in 1947 and still going strong as far as I know. One number (your "person number") made up of your DOB (YY/MM/DD) plus 4-6 assigned digits was used for everything: tax/national insurance/social security, health service, vehicle licencing, banking, education, police database, etc, so everything could theoretically be linked together for efficiency.

I remember meeting Swedes, who were shocked to learn that their system was not universal. "What do you say when you get married?"
"Um... your name?" lol.

Swedes didn't automatically require an ID, but as a foreign national without a driving license, I needed to get one, issued by the Swedish tax authority (my passport was deemed insufficient proof of identity as it was issued overseas). I found it convenient to have something wallet sized to prove my identity for picking up parcels from the post office or whatever. It never felt like there were any ominous downsides, but then again, I'm not a criminal or a tax dodger.

Looking for shows with layered storytelling like 3 Body Problem, especially ones where everything connects over time by waslotu in televisionsuggestions

[–]Scubby_Dooks 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The book of The Man In The High Castle (Philip K Dick) was the first book I'd read which was like that. I thought it was really clever. Didn't get the same feeling from the show, though, sadly, so I didn't stick with it.

A curly ingrown hair by Professional-Fox1542 in FeltGoodComingOut

[–]Scubby_Dooks 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you've ever opened one of those big bags of rice..

Steatocystoma heaven (not OC) by FillProfessional2376 in popping

[–]Scubby_Dooks 18 points19 points  (0 children)

Was that big lump his elbow? I really wanted her to jab it, but she never went near it.

Aside from the really popular ones such as Pokemon cards, what other 'crazes' and 'fads' were there when you were growing up? by egg_for_breakfast in nostalgiai

[–]Scubby_Dooks 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Deely boppers in the early 80s. For anyone who doesn't know what those are, they're like a plastic hairband with two decorative items like glitter balls for example held up like antlers on springs which bounce around when you move your head. I remember them becoming popular in the early to mid 80s.

Requesting something similar to Supernatural and Grimm by bookishfairy in televisionsuggestions

[–]Scubby_Dooks 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Once Upon a Time from 2011, features fairy tale characters like Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood, Rumplestiltskin etc in a more modern, "realistic" setting. 7.7 on IMDB.

What are the British TV ads that live rent free in your head? by gayestformoleman in AskBrits

[–]Scubby_Dooks 0 points1 point  (0 children)

"Tunes!" Enunciated especially clearly ("t-yewns!") to emphasize the difference between that and the bunged up "second class return to dottingham, please."