melvisntnormal

@melvisntnormal@feddit.uk

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨[deleted]⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  There are plenty of users who don’t even know what the Eternal September was

  I’d be one of them. I’ve got some reading to do later.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨British public more likely to prefer Count Binface wins Clacton by-election than Nigel Farage⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  I’ll need to do more research before I can answer this fully. Off the top of my head:

  • Yes, an MP can be suspended for less than ten days, but that doesn’t imply MPs actually turn up every day. Suspension really just means they’re not allowed to.
  • The requirements for triggering a petition are defined by the Recall of MPs Act 2015, which also provides for a petition for MPs convicted of a crime and sentenced to a prison term of a certain length. I believe there’s another condition too but I can’t look that up right at this minute
  • Recall elections are referendums asking if a representative should be recalled, right? We don’t do that here; we go straight from a petition into a by-election. However, petitions cannot be started by the public, they are triggered automatically according to the RoMA2015
  • Having the other parties running would give Farage what he wants. If he wins against other parties in this election, it gives him more political weight to argue against another by-election after the investigation concludes.
  • Count Binface winning is more likely than usual, but basically not going to happen, unless turnout is low or the people of Clacton have had a change of heart since the last time I looked into this. Farage got 45% of the vote in the last general election [election of every seat in the HoC; I make this distinction because US generals happen in years divisible by 4when you guys elect the President as well as the House? We don’t have midterms here], so it’s more than likely he’ll with with a huge percentage but less absolute votes. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if Count Binface eats into his potential majority [margin of victory; as a mathematician, it annoys the hell out of me that we call the difference between first and second place a “majority”]
  • Clacton-on-sea is a seaside town, not necessarily rural, but was in a much better state in the previous century. As far as I know, Clacton has been left behind by the political establishment and for decades, like many parts of the UK, and the people there are rightly pissed about it. However, to say it’s equivalent to one of he small red states you mentioned is, IMO, a little reductive, but that’s because I know about as much about these states that you do about Clacton

  Agai , stream of consciousness here. This infodump was brought to you by Procrastination From Employment™.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨British public more likely to prefer Count Binface wins Clacton by-election than Nigel Farage⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  I’ll put US-equivalent terms in [square brackets]. Note that I equate Parliament with Congress, but the UK is not a federation; nonetheless, Parliament functions as the national UK legislature as Congress does in the US.

  This election is a by-election [special election] in the constituency [congressional district] of Clacton, to elect a new Member of Parliament (MP) [representative] for Clacton to the House of Commons (HoC) [House of Representatives].

  The former MP for Clacton, Nigel Farage, resigned his seat in order to frustrate an investigation into financial interests he should’ve declared (I’m glossing over this). Had the Parliamentary Standards Committee (PSC) [House Ethics Committee, I think] found Farage had done something wrong, they could recommend that he be suspended from Parliament for a period of time. If he had been suspended for 10 days or more, a recall petition would have been initiated in his constituency; if 20% of his constituents signed it, that would trigger a by-election in which he would still be able to stand.

  Farage decided to preempt this by resigning, attempting to take control of the narrative. This backfired when all the other major parties refused to contest the by-election, leaving Farage looking a little ridiculous. Plus, if he does with the by-election, which is the most likely outcome, note that the PSC investigation is only suspended, not closed, and would resume when he returned to Parliament, meaning this entire charade is a waste of time and public money.

  Now, the UK has a history of joke candidates running in elections, one of which is Count Binface. He usually contests the seat of the current Prime Minister (PM) [there isn’t really a US-equivalent; the PM is the head of government like the US President, but explaining all that is a whole other ordeal]. Joke candidates are never expected to win. However, he decided to run against Garage because of course he did, and because the other major parties are not contesting this by-election, he’s suddenly become the most high-profile opponent in the race. Farage wanted to make this about him versus “the establishment” (I use quotes here to highlight hypocrisy, not because the establishment doesn’t exist), and now he has to explain why he’s the underdog fighting against a man with a bin on his head.

  Basically, the people of Clacton have a chance to do the funniest thing British politics has seen in a good while.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨ard⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  ahh so that’s why charizard is so hot

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Katie Hopkins

  That’s a name I’ve had the pleasure of not seeing or hearing for a very long time.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨These totally legitimate comments⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  I’ve had my Google account for over a decade. At some point, I noticed my YouTube handle was just my name, and I don’t remember setting it to that.

  On pretty much all websites, I have a default username I try to use, but I don’t remember getting that option when making a Google account

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Here is the single thing Labour can do to see off Reform and make British politics work⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  Slightly tangential, but something that really pisses me off is how we had something like this system for elections for mayors and some other local positions.

  The Supplementary Vote was used for all combined authority mayoral elections until the Elections Act 2022 abolished it. It was basically the Alternative Vote (Instant Runoff/Ranked Choice Voting) but limited to two choices: the top two candidates who received the most preferences would advance to a runoff which used the second choices. It’s similar to the French system but it’s all done on the same ballot instead over two separate votes.

  The Tories had it in their manifesto to replace it with FPTP, and they did that through the EA2022. I knew they weren’t on board with changing parliamentary elections to a better system, but getting rid of (marginally better) established systems says a lot to me about what they think about democracy.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Today's Survey. One point for everything that you have NEVER DONE⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  I turn 29 in a few months and scored 2. I would not be surprised if I’ve forgotten an instance of using a typewriter or listening to a boombox outside though.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Good morning.⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  In my experience, people who like cock and balls generally like looking at cock and balls in porn, if only for help fantasising about playing with said cock and balls. Dressing them up makes them less sexual and more humourous, which someone might be into in the same way as playing “got your nose” with your arse cheeks. Though it’s only funny for a split second when you’re not expecting it, then you actually have to remove the costume in order to access the cock and balls.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Good morning.⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  I think it’s because most of those folks don’t want to see other people’s Johnsons.

  I mean… Men who like men exist, though I say that as a pan-guy that doesn’t really seek out penis. Not repulsed, they just seem boring. Seeing them dressed up is actually funny and interesting until I get bored

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Select a tip⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  Similar interface, different values. Not to say that the one in the article isn’t absolutely egregious as well though, so my point only really matters if you care about OP’s image specifically.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨huehuehue⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩:

  Whatever is in the background looks like they have a nice arse

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Mildred⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨years⁩ ago⁩:

  Morgana

  Only if I can still decide when I go to sleep