Saturday 14 May 2016

Spotted at the Pub


Went to the local pub last night for dinner. Spotted this in the car park as we were leaving:


I know we live in a rural area, but that's taking it to the extreme...

Forgot to add a few more conspiracy theories being put about by the Brexiteers - Carney, the IMF, the FT, the LSE and the Economist are all in the pay of the EU and do their bidding. Seeing what Brexiteers write, half of them couldn't even do a weekly shopping budget, let alone understand economics at its most basic level, They're like religious fanatics - no matter what you say to them or what evidence you put in front of their noses they won't change their minds and stick to the discredited mantras. Their decision is not made on the basis of reason or analysis, but something more visceral, primitive and deeply unattractive. Politely point out their errors and you get a mouthful of abuse and told in no uncertain terms that you're wrong, for no other reason than they don't believe you - and never will. I'm at a total loss to understand what they don't understand about the effects of uncertainty (due to the singular lack of a plan) on markets, investment, jobs and the economy. What magical deus ex machina are they relying on to buck the almost a scientific fact that uncertainty is bad for an economy?

I can only put it down to xenophobia and a poor education, both of which tend to go hand-in-hand in people who would cut their noses off to spite their faces. Of course I'm not speaking of politicians here - they just sense a bit of political opportunism, although that's deeply unattractive too. The language used on social  meda is deeply offensive, inflammatory and very abusive, such is their hatred of the dastardly and corrupt Johnny Foreigner. They hark back to the lost days of Empire, warm beer, cricket on the village green and Maypoles (while drinking lager, driving German or French cars and shopping in Lidl or Aldi) and when the world kowtowed to Britons. They simply can't come to terms with the fact those days are long gone, never to return.

Talking of religious people, on Thought For the Day on Radio 4 yesterday (what with it being Friday the 13th) I heard the Bishop of somewhere or other (he sounded a bit Bath and Wellsish, but I could be mistaken) talking about superstition. The words pot, kettle and black came to mind. The words religion and superstition are synonymous in my lexicon.

Some psychiatrist in the USA (who is apparently renowned for peddling pseudoscience) is pronouncing that thinking yourself transgender is a psychological disorder. In saying this he's going against the conventional psychiatric consensus, but consensus is not always right. However, even supposing he's right, there's not necessarily a 'cure' for it - you just have to look at Trump voters (and Brexiteers) to recognise that. No amount of evidence, fact or just plain logic will change their minds. Perhaps their condition should be registered in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) - Trump Dissonance Syndrome?


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