I IS DOG. MIGHTY AND TALL.
Brexit (this is a nightmare, I am so sorry, when I went to bed I still didn’t think it would possibly happen, so am woefully sad and also underprepared, please share what you’re thinking and reading):
For Jim Plows, in Clacton, Essex, the news of Brexit this morning triggered “panic stations”.
Despite voting to leave Europe, the 77-year-old said he was surprised by the news. His wife, Pam, said her first thoughts as the results came in was: “Oh dear.”
The retired couple from Jaywick, in Essex, were among several visitors to Clacton pier to say they were concerned about the process for Britain leaving the EU.
“The next year will be a worry,” said Jim Plows.
abusive murderer Oscar Pistorius takes it to a new fuckin level:
In his first TV interview since his girlfriend’s death, Pistorius said he “couldn’t disagree” with those who felt he should be punished. “At times I don’t feel like I should have the right to live for taking someone else’s life. What’s difficult is dealing with the charge of murder,” he said.
But Pistorius said he did not want to “waste my life” behind bars. “If I was afforded the opportunity of redemption I would like to help the less fortunate like I had in my past,” he said. “I would like to believe that if Reeva could look down upon me that she would want me to live that life.”
This Mother Jones investigation of private prisons is…whoa (there are some horrible, horrible stories in this piece, just so you know):
I started applying for jobs in private prisons because I wanted to see the inner workings of an industry that holds 131,000 of the nation’s 1.6 million prisoners. As a journalist, it’s nearly impossible to get an unconstrained look inside our penal system. When prisons do let reporters in, it’s usually for carefully managed tours and monitored interviews with inmates. Private prisons are especially secretive. Their records often aren’t subject to public access laws; CCA has fought to defeat legislation that would make private prisons subject to the same disclosure rules as their public counterparts. And even if I could get uncensored information from private prison inmates, how would I verify their claims? I keep coming back to this question: Is there any other way to see what really happens inside a private prison?
Cherished Friend of The Toast Joel Kim Booster KILLLLLLED his set on Conan last night, don’t miss it.
actual gasp (emphasis mine):
Dear Prudence,
My boyfriend is amazing, but his parents have a loose concept of hygiene. I’m admittedly a bit of a germaphobe but this weekend his mom made brunch while announcing she was sick, coughing over the plates, licking her fingers before touching food, using paper towels from out of the garbage to wipe off food prep surfaces, and using the dog’s water bowl (with a secondslong rinse) as a serving bowl. I love this guy and want to spend my life with him, but I can’t fake indigestion or lack of appetite for the next 10 years. If I talk to him about it, he’ll just say he eats their food and he’s fine. What do I do?
—Gross In-Laws
Friend of The Toast Erica Westly’s book on softball is out!!!
In other exciting Friend news, The Toast’s Madame Clairevoyant has found a home for her lovely horoscopes over at The Cut, and her weekly column starts 6/27!
arggggggleojnfg’ozhfg (Atlas Obscura had their tech people make little insects crawl over the page as you scroll and it’s THE WORST):
“A ritual gone wrong, satanic. The gas lamp in the old church explodes in your face when you light it,” Schmidt later wrote about his battle with the Fierce Black Polybia Wasp.
This description is one of 78 entries of ant, bee, and wasp stings in his Pain Scale for Stinging Insects, widely referred to as the Schmidt Sting Pain Index. Schmidt, a biologist at Southwestern Biological Institute and researcher in the entomology department at the University of Arizona, willingly offered his arm to different stinging insects of the order Hymenoptera to create the index featured in his new book The Sting of the Wild. The index ranks stinging pain on a scale of 1 (Red Fire Ant) to 4 (Warrior Wasp) and recounts Schmidt’s face-off with each insect with a poetic, and sometimes humorous, description. We have depicted a selection of insects included in Schmidt’s Sting Pain Index above, scaling the insects by how agonizing their stings are.
look we’re almost over, i’m gonna link to a hate-read for you:
My main group of friends and I call ourselves the Core Four—I’m known as the Plus One—and for the most part, we’re philosophically aligned. First, there’s my older brother, who works in banking as a financial analyst. He’s our de facto hype man, the guy who goes from 0 to 100 in the time it takes to down two shots of tequila. Five years ago, for his birthday, we drank $130-an-ounce, 30-year-old Macallan scotch on the Park Hyatt rooftop. I’m convinced that’s what gold tastes like. My brother also lives at home with my parents and me. Next, there’s a criminal lawyer, whose wife runs a pharmacy. Could they afford to buy? Definitely. But it makes more sense for them to rent and write it off as a business expense. My cousin is our ringleader and the one who got me hooked on the living-large ethos in the first place. He’s a mid-30s Bay Street entrepreneur who runs a tech software company and rents a penthouse in a luxury hotel downtown with his fiancée. He’s the kind of guy who can get a reservation at Reds when they’re booked solid. My cousin started in banking right after finishing his economics degree, so he’s been making money for longer than the rest of us. He spends a hundred hours a week with his clients, so when he finds time to be out with his closest friends, he goes hard. His influence has rubbed off on me. When I’m out on a date, I’ll buy an $80 bottle of wine. But when I’m out with him, I just pick whatever I think is the best, which usually means a $200 bottle. And then there’s our group’s voice of reason. He’s a teacher who wants to own a house one day, and he gets anxious when we’re all out on a bender. He passed on the opportunity to buy a house for $350,000 some 12 years ago when he was a couple of years out of teachers’ college and has always regretted it. He tries to rein in some of our more excessive behaviour, but we tune him out. (I’ve kept all names out of this story to protect my buddies from your scorn.)
Brexit. Holy shit, you guys. Holy shit.
That’s most of what I’ve got today.
I’m hoping that we’ll get a repeat of previously unfavourable referendum votes on the in other countries i.e. do it again until you get the ‘right’ answer. Like Ireland with the Lisbon Treaty. Especially given this weird thing we’ve got where people who voted leave are now going ‘Holy shit, I didn’t want it to *actually happen*’
But that’s a slim hope and basically I just think we’re fucked. Making plans to move to Scotland before indyref 2 which is definitely happening.
Is that a thing that can happen? And what’s the deal with Cameron resigning – could a new PM decide not to leave?
Technically, the referendum result is just a recommendation and not legally binding. It’s my understanding that the new PM could call a vote and MPs could vote not to leave. Or could just disregard the results entirely… Although that sounds like political suicide.
Also the new PM is likely to be a pro-Brexit toff such as Boris Johnson.
But to complicate this, I can’t imagine the Tories could choose a new leader and install him/her as PM and *not* trigger a snap general election, fixed term parliament act notwithstanding. I don’t think the PCP is united enough for anyone to maintain the confidence of the house for long without the democratic mandate provided by an election.
Then again, things I can’t imagine keep happening, so who knows?
Not really. The PM didn’t decide to leave, the people did. As far as I know, it’s binding. (or at least all parties consider it binding)
Also, the new PM will probably be someone that was on the side of Leave, like Boris Johnson, AND since they’ll be elected by just the members of the Conservative party, it may very well trigger a new General Election.
I wouldn’t rule anything out in this Brave New World.
No, of course not. But imagine what would happen if they ignored the results of the referendum?
Yeah, I mean, no one would ignore the results, probably… But because leaving the EU requires tons of legislation, which will have to be passed by the MPs, many of whom were not in favour of Brexit (and a PM to trigger Article 50 and begin the withdrawal process), it is technically possible that it could not happen. It’s all a giant clusterfuck.
Oh, you’re right, I mean it’s *possible*, there’s a lot of stuff that needs to happen and it might not all happen. But if they just… didn’t, or stalled too much, I could see all the Leave people that are nervous today turning that into serious anger against, well, everyone.
But I think momentum and self-interested politicians and the idea of having to say to the world ‘oops, we didn’t mean it’ will make this all go through.
@Judy Bolton – Yes, this!
There’s no legal basis to stop them from kicking it around in the long grass to the point that we’d end up having another referendum, or entropy wins and the UK stays in. Seems especially possible in the context of 2 of the 4 kingdoms splitting off and changing the terms of the game. However, a zombie approach like this would bring its own host of bad effects.
I mean Brussels just issued a statement to the effect of “gtfo then and don’t let the door hit you on the way out.” ; I mean, I’m sure that, posturing aside, a deal for remaining could be worked out depending on circumstances, but I don’t think the EU can afford to look like they are just hanging around ready to welcome Britain back with open arms.
ETA: a lot of my (EU, pro-EU) coworkers have been expressing things today like (I paraphrase) “well, I kind of hope that Britain’s economy tanks and they suffer a bit, so that other countries are warned not to listen to the far-right nationalists and pull shit like this.” Which is not an opinion that I particularly love, but it is sort of understandable from the EU point of view.
London is very, very keen on not leaving, and the sheer influence/power it has may find a way to stop a Brexit (ugh). They have not gone quietly or made any noise about respecting the decision, so maybe maybe maybe something will happen through them.
Yes, I think Brussels is well aware of the possibility that this could descend into five years of murk and muddle if this omnishambles of a government were left to look after themselves – rightly, they want none of it and are trying to hustle the UK out the door just as they always said they would.
Is Britain’s departure inevitable now? Or can they just have another vote? Like, “whoops, we didn’t really mean it, let’s try again”?
I doubt any politician would sacrifice their career to bring that about.
I don’t know. It seems so unfair (but I would say that, I suppose) that such a huge, momentous, completely game changing decision should be just over half the voters. Even in Weimar Germany changing the constitution required a quorum. So maybe things will change. Maybe they’ll see the consequences, see the EU not playing ball and capitulating and maybe there’ll be a way out. Or maybe I’ll emigrate or go back to Hong Kong.
Also considering a move to Scotland (Mr Wordchild is Scottish). I would much rather live in the land of the EU, Nicola Sturgeon, Kezia Dugdale and Ruth Davidson.
This is heartbreaking and incomprehensible.
I too am considering this. In the menatime, my Dad is furiously searching for my Irish grandad’s birth certificate so we can maintain our EU citizenship.
A second referendum once the negotiations with the EU are final and we know what ‘Leave’ really looks like – that is my very slim hope.
I will personally probably be OK. I’m eligible for German citizenship in 1.5 years and negotiations will likely still be taking place then. But other UK friends living here or who were planning to move here will not be so lucky.
More than anything, I’m absolutely gutted for all the kids growing up in the UK now who won’t have the opportunities that the EU has offered me.
I keep thinking about people I met in Belgrade describing how they lost access to the ocean after the breakup of Yugoslavia… like suddenly waves and the tide are just not something you get to experience easily any more.
Substitute ‘live, study, and work in 27 diverse and fascinating countries’ and that is what kids growing up in the UK now might never know.
This is what breaks my heart. I spent my twenties bouncing between the UK, Ireland and Germany, and suddenly my passport is this crappy, mean little thing. My partner is Irish, so we’ve got the forms to apply for our daughter’s Irish citizenship today. But suddenly, I’ve lost the right to go and work in Germany, and will probably lose the right to work in Ireland if the EU requires Ireland to close the free travel area. Just – fucking fucking fuck.
My family were seriously discussing this as a plan this morning. My sister is already in Scotland, my parents think they’ll join her as soon as they’ve packed their last two kids off to uni, and for me Scottish universities are looking even more attractive than they already were.
I am so sorry, UK Toasties. Sad and angry with you. Toast hugs.
Not to give a false impression – I’m American. Similarly horrified and and sad on y’all’s behalf.
I don’t even know how to properly commiserate about this. Sending infinite support and well wishes to UK toasts.
I don’t know what the best case scenario is here. I’ve been trying to come up with one but they all suck pretty fucking hard.
That’s pretty much the reaction of everyone I know today. That, and endless rage. I’ve actually seen people end friendships on Facebook for saying that leaving the EU is a good thing.
This is so unbelievably bad. Mostly for all the very real ways it’s going to affect very real people.
It’s also so, so deeply upsetting to see people choose to take a big step back. I tend to cling to the idea that no matter what, when it comes down to it we’re on a continuing upward path……November might not be pretty? And then what? Where else? Are we all looking around, seeing these huge systemic problems with government and such, and deciding to just burn down everything?
(Scotland-born-and-raised) DH and I had lunch yesterday at our neighborhood Italian joint with the Montenegrin owner and Irish waitperson. Talking about Brexit, the Montenegrin shared his stories of living in Yugoslavia during the breakup, and the Irish lassie talked about the victory of Stormont and the open EU border between the North and the republic. But Leave couldn’t win, we all agreed. Yes, it would be a close vote but in the end, economic common sense and decency would prevail over the fearmongering and lies. And now the UK has voted to go backwards. We are sickened.
My SIL lives in northern England and does immigration/asylum work. She fired off a very angry text this morning: her most fervent wish is that Scotland votes for independence, Northern Ireland votes to reunite with the south, and the financial wasteland that is the remaining home island of England-Wales falls into the sea and drowns all the asshole xenophobes.
You know that some of us still have to live here? It’s bad enough without folk actually wanting to drown us! (we are not all xenophobes, is what I’m saying)
i know and she knows. She needs to rage right now.
Some fuckwit, as of 21:53 here in Cambridge, UK, is letting off masses of fireworks. Fuck this right wing fascist bullshit.
Today me and everyone else I work with was somewhere on the spectrum between sad and devastated. 🙁
I’m so depressed- everybody at work is just shell shocked- we’re so dependent on EU funding etc. euugggghhhhhh.
A fun game: how many of my housemates / former colleagues / friends are going to be made redundant because they are on EU funding?
Many!
My parents don’t accept money from me for expenses, although I occasionally chip in for groceries.
this guy is a monster, burn that piece to the ground. YOU SPEND THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS ON STEAK DINNERS BUT WON’T FUCKING PAY FOR YOUR PARENTS GROCERIES REGULARLY IN THEIR HOUSE WHERE YOU LEAVE RENT FREE
ban men
If your parents aren’t accepting rent money from you then you better be paying for every-freaking-other thing in the house. Groceries, water, electric, the internet, TV, the leak in the roof to be fixed. A vacation so your parents can get away from your sorry butt.
I have tons of sympathy for people who have to move back in with their parents to make ends meet. I even know a couple people who moved back for a year to save up the money for a down payment on their own place. But if you have the money to buy $200 bottles of booze DON’T MOOCH OF YOUR PARENTS! Come on, dude. Be an adult.
Also, why does he think the only 2 options are live at home or buy a house? THERE ARE THESE THINGS CALLED APARTMENTS, YOU SHMUCK.
You can even rent a house, if you really need all that space! There is really no excuse for this behavior other than “I am a massive man-child.”
MISANDRY!! BAN THE MEN!
Well, actually, in Toronto, you can’t really rent a house for non-mortgage money, and that’s kind of the point. Like, in Vancouver to rent a house it’s $3-7k (or more) a month.
The housing crisis in these markets is real.
I 100% get your point and I’m not saying this guy is not a douche, but I do want to say: there are lots of ways to family, and the ethos of adults living independently in order to be adults is just one of them, and a very Western one, of our time.
Like, some of my very modern Sikh friends here in Vancouver do not share this ethos AT ALL, and live with their parents, including after marriage. In that culture, it could be totally appropriate, and in fact peak adulting, to carry a Louis Vuitton bag, work as a lawyer, go on expensive trips, and live with your parents or in laws. To move out would be a sign of disrespect.
Pretty sure those Sikhs are contributing to their families in many ways, however, and probably anticipate even more extensive contributions when their parents are older.
yesyesyes
HIS MOTHER DOES HIS LAUNDRY
I have made a solemn oath to never do a man’s laundry. I will make an exception for my dad when he gets old, because he did mine for 12 years. Laundry is something grown ups should be able to do. And it is your gross, sweaty, stinky clothes- you should have to clean them yourself. I do (and I don’t let anyone do mine for me).
I told my (now husband) boyfriend when we moved in together that I was not going to 1) do his laundry, or 2) clean the toilet. He works at an oil change place and I was not going to wash his nasty-ass oily work clothes, or his rank socks. Also, the toilet thing was a good compromise, because he can’t do dishes by hand often because he has eczema on his hands.
Yup! My dad did the laundry at my house because he had the greasy work clothes, but we all started doing our own the second we were able to, and I’ve never looked back.
Idk, my husband does my laundry
#winning
Same. We split and rotate most chores, but barring illness or emergency he does laundry and I buy food. Totally works.
*singsong voice* Somebody needs a misandrist mermaid tote…
Was reading the excerpt thinking “Oh yeah I totally know finance bros like this” and clicked through and IT’S TORONTO LIFE AND yeaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh
Sadly, this dude is too fucking real.
Look I tried being understanding. Immigrant parents sometimes have different cultural expectations about when and how you leave the parental home. In Colombia it’s normal to live with the ‘rents until you get married (and sometimes even after you you do). My parents really thought that’s what I’d do. And it’s not like my millenial self didn’t have to come home all humbled and broke and then a second time to finish saving up for a small down payment.
But… I would have NEVER brought strange home to my parents house. I’m horrified. He can’t even find a way to pay a few of their bills before they find out? UGH. BAN MEN. OVER IT.
WHAT an absolute tool.
I’m sorry this is weird and bad and selfish (mostly selfish!) but I can’t help thinking: the Brexit vote can/should/had better serve as a reminder to other Democratic nations (hey, USA) that votes really do matter, and if you’re like old whats-is-face in Essex up there, 77 year old who *voted for the Brexit* and then was surprised and panicked that it actually was passed, well…. just, please don’t vote for Donald Trump, Americans, and think “ha ha isn’t this so funny wouldn’t it be wild-crazy if he won?”
Because apparently, in democracies, they count up all the votes and both sides have a chance at winning!
This is actually what fucking happened so yes, please take note world. I spoke to multiple people who were just like ‘ehh it would be funny to see what happens’ and WELL NOW WE WILL.
I understand your point, but I’m already a little sick of seeing Brexit used as a cautionary tale for Americans. This is happening to us, now.
It is definitely happening to you and it is AWFUL, but for us over here, there’s nothing we can do to help you guys avoid this now, but we can try to avert our own disastrous election later this year by shaking the clowns who might vote like the 77-year-old quoted above. That’s all we mean.
I’m seeing it as a cautionary tale for anyone, regardless of country, not to use your vote for some tortured-logic, symbolic bullshit to “send a message” out of an over-inflated sense of your own importance. Your “message” vote will mean fuck-all as the minority vote or god forbid too many people do the same and it becomes the majority.
Vote for what you want the result to be in actual reality, folks, it is that simple.
Yep. I’m seriously considering posting a “if you ‘protest vote’ or stay home because blah blah lesser of two evils blah blah, just go ahead and stop talking to me now” statement between now and November.
Because I do not need those people in my life.
I once knew an anarchist who didn’t vote bc the whole “democrats and republicans are the same” and “you can’t fix a broken system from within” who decided one year to give their vote to a person who wasn’t able to bc they had a felony record (which is a horrible situation and one that disproportionately affects the poor and poc). I just wanted to scream at the condescending bs of saying votes don’t matter but I’ll graciously give mine to some fool who thinks they do.
the Brexit vote can/should/had better serve as a reminder to other Democratic nations
I tweeted basically that exact sentiment just now.
The Canadian radio station I happened to land on while flipping through made the same point this morning when this news item came up.
I know far too many people who aren’t planning to vote at all in the presidential election, and it’s so frustrating–SOMEONE is going to be elected, and it’s probably going to be a very close race, why wouldn’t you want to have a voice? Even if you, like me, will really be voting AGAINST someone instead of FOR someone, at least you’re making an effort.
I am seriously debating whether I should go down to DC and renounce my UK citizenship at the Embassy as a form of feeble protest, but am probably just going to listen to the Clash a lot instead.
Fun fact: people are idiots.
I don’t know how serious you are but if you do decide that’s necessary, you can crash with me in DC any time after August! Take care of yourself today
I live in Baltimore, so it’s not a big trip, but thank you. I need to think about it seriously and see where the coming days take us.
You might want to wait until November 3 before doing that.
I doubt anyone here needs telling but I’m working hard to scare the fuck out of anyone taking any action or inaction in November that will help CheetoJesus:
The Brexit vote should serve as a warning against any form of complacency or belief that voting to punish one politician is worth the price paid by fellow citizens, as well as the dangers of charismatic racists.
“CheetoJesus” just made me LOL hard, so thanks for that!
Source attibution. The other tweets are also worth a read.
The results in Britain are largely a function of turnout: populous, resolutely remain areas had much lower turnout than racist (let’s just call them what they are) areas (also I lived in London so please, nobody tell me how not racist Brits are). Glasgow had 56% turnout which is 16% less than average. So we in the US maybe should not sit out elections we’re not “excited” about.
One day at the supermarket and another at the pharmacy I overheard people saying they probably wouldn’t vote because “We’ll either end up with chaos or a liar.” Of the four people talking, three were women and three were people of color, and they ranged in age across three generations. What the actual fucking fuck, people. *invests in orange hair dye to fit in when Trump is crowned*
I am currently furious, having found out that a few people I know (including my brother-in-law!) were actually operating under a sort of Bernie-or-Bust mentality, thinking that a Leave vote would trigger other stuff that they want such as Scottish independence and therefore voting to throw young English people such as myself under the bus to achieve this. This result and its aftermath ought to show anyone with that mentality in the US that sacrificing people’s welfare to get your own agenda is Not Ok.
Ugh that Big Spender douche. For those unfamiliar with the shit-show that is Toronto/Vancouver real-estate, the whole point of the article is that the guy COULD afford to buy a house (the average actually shitty house, maybe former crack-shack in those markets is well over a million) but doesn’t want to. This very important message is undermined by his CONSTANT POSTURING.
THAT’S FINE, YOU CAN ABSTAIN FROM HOUSE BUYING AND SAVE YOUR MONEY WITHOUT BEING A COMPLETE DOUCHE AND BRAGGING ABOUT HOW BIG OF A DOUCHE YOU ARE. I couldn’t even finish it because every new paragraph was just more bragging about being a total douchecanoe with the occasional “oh yeah, you don’t need a house to be happy” appended.
I couldn’t finish it either.
And weird detail I fixated on, all his blather about wine prices. But a 6.99 bottle won SuperCoolestYumFantastic* wine a couple weeks ago. And loads of research shows people think price affects wine quality, and they’re totally wrong about that. So all his wine bottle dick swinging–he’s not even buying a thing that is real.
*maybe not this exact title
Any deets on this 6.99 winner? Asking for a friend.
The thing that gets me the most out of the entire loosely amalgamated trashfire that seems to be that dude’s personality is this bit: “Five years ago, for his birthday, we drank $130-an-ounce, 30-year-old Macallan scotch on the Park Hyatt rooftop. I’m convinced that’s what gold tastes like.”
So there are some Scotches that age really really well and you can definitely taste why they cost an obscene amount per serving. Macallan is NOT one of those, IMO. The 12 year is a solid choice in terms of “pretty good Scotch that a lot of places are likely to have,” but it really caps out there in terms of value for money. I’ve not had the 30, but I’ve had the 18 and the 25 and both are fine-not-great.
I guarantee you these guys bought the 30 year because they knew the name and it was old and expensive, which gives me a teeny bit of schadenfreude.
(I have opinions on Scotches.)
I’m having a nice little fantasy that the amount of money these guys are spending at restaurants is translating into big tips for the servers who are having to deal with that flotilla of douche-canoes. Whether through auto-gratuity or ‘look I’m such a big deal I’m gonna tip 40%’ I don’t care, I just hope that the servers are making tons of cash off of them.
I bet these putzes are bad tippers.
I’d say that’s pretty much guaranteed.
They also tell waitresses (and random women walking down the street, minding their own business) to smile.
Also, gold doesn’t taste of anything. He’s an idiot on so so so so so many levels.
You mean all those Goldschlager shots at college parties were for naught?!
I feel like a more effective way to find out what gold tastes like would be to lick some jewelry.
Honestly, that line was the saddest, because it’s contemptible from both an anti-consumerist/humanist point of view AND from the point of view of the genuinely rich. Your idea of peak indulgence is the wrong Scotch at a rooftop bar at a Park Hyatt? How sad for you. Might as well have gone to a Motel 6.
THIS.
I am not philosophically opposed to many of his overarching points, such as being unwilling to buy into an overpriced housing market (hello DC real estate!) and spending on experiences rather than material goods, but OMG YOU’RE DOING IT WRONG YOU COMPLETELY USELESS TOSSER.
Yeah, like I could have written a very similar article, as young professional making would would seem like decent money in Vancouver but facing a very real dilemma about where and how to live, and what to sacrifice to make that happen, but hopefully it would sound less douchey. I did literally just go to Barcelona, and I do eat in nice restaurants as a bit of a hobby, though, so maybe I’m just a total douche?
I don’t live with or accept money from my parents, so I guess there’s that.
Nah, money and liking nice things does not a douchebag make. It’s the tone of the article. The sheer number of paragraphs dedicated to describing and self-congratulating for his largess. The thesis is “you don’t need to buy a house to be successful”, but it’s so bogged down in everything else (probably on purpose, trying to generate clicks, comments, and hate-reads.)
I don’t think that’s the real thesis, I think the thesis is, “look how much money I’m able to piss away!” with a few lines about the housing market as camouflage.
Same, in the Bay area. My spouse and I have no plans to buy a house here, and I guess a nice side effect of that is that we are able to have a travel fund instead, are actually going to Barcelona later this summer (did you have fun? was there non-clubbing stuff to do?), can go back to the East Coast to see our families frequently, etc. I think there’s a difference between “the housing market is bananas, so I opted out and do other things with my money instead” and writing florid descriptions of expensive drinks and how “euphoric” you were after an exorbitant week of boozing, eating, and clubbing through Europe.
Yes we had an amazing time, and did not go to any clubs at all (maybe we missed out). We did go to Primavera Sound, which was one of the more exhausting (and fun! but exhausting) 3 days of my life, so maybe we didn’t need clubs.
There is tons of amazing things to do. Here are some faves:
1. Gaudi Gaudi Gaudi – my favourite was actually La Pedrera, but we didn’t go into Casa Batllo.
2. Montjuic – lots of cool things to see. Lots of walking. I really enjoyed the castle, and the Olympic stuff. Get to the Olympic stuff later in the day for great views and great light for great photos.
3. Eating: absolute top of the list was Quimet i Quimet. It’s crowded and insane and worth it. Oh so worth it. Lots of other great things to eat everywhere. For a taste of modern hipster fare done very well (house-brewed beer, roasted beets, puffed quinoa, tune poke, etc) try Caravelle in El Raval. They had vegetables, which was a nice change of pace from other places we were eating.
4. The beach was fun!
5. Walk everywhere, look at everything. Drink lots of cava.
Edit: 6. Art. Lots of amazing art.
Cool, thank you! We are going to Europe for a friend’s wedding in Geneva, heard Geneva was kind of boring and expensive, and kind of picked Barcelona to spend a week in on a whim/because we’ve both wanted to see Spain. Sounds like we will have plenty to do!
Oscar Pistorius lost the right to speculate on what Reeva Steenkamp wanted WHEN HE MURDERED HER. What a dick.
I’ve kept all names out of this story to protect my buddies from your scorn.
Sorry, no luck.
Fucking Brexit. I had really hoped it wouldn’t be this bad. My boyfriend has Irish citizenship through descent, so will remain an EU citizen; seriously considering getting married. We can flee to Scotland when it declares independence, which is now feeling inevitable.
I see Donald Trump thinks it is “essentially the same thing that is happening in the United States”. That’s not a compliment.
We are also thinking Scotland, because we are terrified. I know we ought to stay and fight. I know that. But… I want to be part of the EU. I don’t want these things to happen in my name.
I know I am in a fairly privileged position – my partner and I will probably be fine, whatever happens. But, like you, I want to be part of the EU, and I don’t want to be associated with whatever bad things happen as a result of this.
I very unromantically suggested getting married this morning – I am Irish by descent like your boyfriend, and my boyfriend is English, I want to give him options!
My dismay at the decision was firmly cemented this morning when Trump started praising it. That’s how you know it’s not a good idea! This man is a litmus test for bad ideas!
Oh god, we were just saying this morning (watching Trump tour his golf courses in Scotland & saying this is like Great like his presidency). Yes, if the orange dumpster fire wins, the dollar will collapse overnight & wreak havoc on the global stage. Because that’s how terrible that monument to human hubris crafted out of rotting Spam is at business.
Seriously. If the Orange Buffoon is congratulating you, you know you’re well and truly fucked.
But also… on the one hand out of the mouths of t*rmps, as it were, he correctly observes that the Leave vote was about racist, xenophobic, resolutely anti-reality fantasies of populist nostalgia (i.e. roughly identical to his base/the GOP line) and had zero to do with any substantive policy on the UK vis-à-vis the EU. And, obviously, it is a scary precedent for the power of these movements to get majorities to do really really dumb things
On the other hand, I have now seen a worryingly non-zero amount of dumbass Republican rhetoric congratulating Britain and declaring that the US will follow their precedent. Which — guys, you know that the US isn’t an EU member, right? You know that the EU isn’t the same as the UN, right?
I’m pretty sure most of them don’t, TBH. The right wing has for decades pushed the conspiracy theory that the UN is the seat of the mythical “world government” that stops the US from doing things (ignoring that it’s actually usually our own governmental checks and balances that stop us — and when they don’t we pretty much do whatever, anyway, at least recently). They have no use for or understanding of diplomacy so the difference between the UN and the EU does not register.
oh yeah, and I know that a hypothetical US-wide referendum on UN membership would probably be a landslide for “out” (I used to go by a “GET U.S. OUT OF THE UN” billboard every week on my way to music lessons in high school) — I guess I should be more worried that Republicans will use this to call for just such a referendum though.
If they’re Fox “News” viewers, they may not know. Apparently the channel was briefly running a story that the UK just left the UN….
“Penny-wise, pound-foolish” was a phrase INVENTED by the British. Seriously.
(And this is why I have never, ever joked or been gleeful about the prospect of an egomaniacal narcissist becoming President. Voters are not good or righteous, they just are, and they can make objectively bad decisions. Do not become complacent.)
Prisons in this country are a nightmare, and it is so hard to get people to care because the “well they are criminals and they deserve it” mentality is so strong. In addition to being plain wrong, that mentality ignores the fact that there are people in prison who aren’t criminals but weren’t able to make bail and are awaiting trial (including at the infamous Riker’s Island). And people who are jailed for what basically amounts to modern-day debtor’s sentences (can’t pay the fines and fees for lesser crimes). And the people who are in there for crimes that should not carry a jail sentence (possession of pot, really?).
People like to think that prisons are 100% full of rapists and murderers, but that simply isn’t the case. There are plenty of people who are locked up who are not dangerous and who are barely criminals. And once people are in the system, it has serious consequences. Jobs suddenly won’t hire you, often regardless of what your crime was. Which means that to earn money people often turn to, you guessed it, more crime. People aren’t able to support their families while they are in jail, leading to poverty and other issues.
It is bad, and it needs to change.
You know if I were president or whatever I would want to make prison reform, along with mental health care access, one of my top issues. Few things make me feel SICK the way I do when I read about the abuse that goes on in our prisons. I have a close family member who was very very close to serving prison time recently– and the only reason he didn’t is because our family was able to afford a good lawyer. His crime was not violent, he’s done very well getting sober and meeting the terms of his probation, and he’s now an apprentice in a lucrative trade. But that progress and potential is not the reason he didn’t go to prison and get abused and disenfranchised; the only reason is that he comes from a middle class family. That’s what I wish I could get across to people who think “it’s what they deserve, they’re criminals.” Actually, they are specifically *poor* criminals. And they could be productive members of society if we didn’t treat people this way.
I just want to make an important distinction: Prisons and Jails are different. Rikers is a jail–which is only short-term sentences and those who can’t make bail, as you pointed out. Prisons are where you go after you’ve been sentenced (for both serious and stupid crimes). So the for-profit prison crap is a little different.
I actually did an internship on Rikers with the Transitional Healthcare Coordination, which is a program run by the city that understand Rikers as place to intervene in the poverty cycle. So, it focuses on housing, health care, SNAP, and other rehabilitation programs.
The gross Stanford rapist stuff made me think this. Cause if ever anyone deserves to go to prison it’s that guy, but I also sort of get the judge being like “but prisons are awful and that’s a terrible thing to do to a person <who looks like me>” except for that last part. Like the moment you picture yourself there you can’t think anything but “these places are awful and we need reform,” but if you can casually spend your life thinking that prisons are places for other people that are nothing like you it’s super easy not to think about them at all.
especially when your job is to decide whether people are going there. *headdesk*
Okay the whole article is horrifying, but one tiny, almost throwaway detail I keep coming back to is:
“CCA and other prison companies have written “occupancy guarantees” into their contracts, requiring states to pay a fee if they cannot provide a certain number of inmates.” (emphasis mine)
OCCUPANCY GUARANTEES. This isn’t a hotel where your wedding guests are staying, it’s a goddamn prison. I mean, I know the system is rigged, but…how does something this blatant get written into it?
And even actual criminals aren’t going to be rehabilitated by being stuck in prisons for years. You take a violent rapist, and put him in shitty conditions with other rapists, as well as some thieves, murderers, and hate groups; do you think he’s somehow magically going to become a kinder, better person by the time he gets out?
I’m so sorry UK guys, if you just want to scream into a void you can scream at me, I will be your void.
(And then pray that I won’t need you to return the favor after the US election 🙁 …… )
One of the things that terrifies me is the exit polls indicating Remain, and then the votes swinging for Leave by a wider margin than anyone expected. It means there were people who SAID they were voting Remain, but secretly, voted Leave.
like the last election where everyone said they were voting labour or lib dem, and whooooops here’s the tories again…
I think, broadly speaking, with this and the last election, we’ve learned that the polls are pretty useless- I feel like The Sun is the best guide we have, ghastlily.
I have never been exit-polled so I’m always perplexed by them
There weren’t any actual exit polls this time – it was all done on an online survey tool, which has been unreliable for the last few elections.
I think that what happened was that the Brexiteers positioned themselves as the Party of Fear–fear of the future, of their losing what little they had, of brown people–and that, while some of the Leave voters knew objectively that Remain was the better option in the long run, in the privacy of the voting booth, their lizard brains got the better of them. If there isn’t a word in German or some other language for people who do the wrong thing in a clinch and then are immediately ashamed of it, there should be.
Today in (Feminist) History [Archive]
On this day in 1914 was the birth of Pearl Witherington, a French-born British citizen who was an SOE agent in World War 2. Though she was born in Paris and raised in France, she was technically a British subject. When the Germans invaded France in May of 1940, she was employed at the Paris British Embassy. She felt from occupied France along with her mother and three sisters, eventually making it to London where she joined Britain’s Special Operations Executive (SOE). She was said during her training to have been the “best shot” ever seen in the service.
Codenamed “Marie”, she was dropped into occupied France by parachute on September 22, 1943, where she joined the SOE Stationer Network, lead by Maurice Southgate, for whom she worked as a courier. In May of 1944 however, Southgate was caught by the Gestapo and brought to the Buchenwald concentration camp, so Pearl, under the new code-name “Pauline”, took over as the leader of the newly formed SOE Wrestler Network. With the help of her fiance, Henri Cornioley, she reorganized the entire network and its 1,500 members of the Maquis (French guerrilla resistance troops).
Pearl and her troops were so effective that the Nazi regime put a bounty of ƒ1,000,000 on her head, and ordered 2,000 men to attack her and her force with artillery. The battle lasted 14 hours, during which time the Germans lost 86 men and the Maquis lost 24 (including civilians). Pearl fled as the Germans broke up her unit, but quickly returned and regrouped her troop, launching into a series of large-scale guerrilla attacks that devastated the German forces who traveled through her area on their way to the battlefronts. All in all, her force eventually killed over 1,000 German soldiers, presided over the surrender of 18,000 German troops, and disrupted an important railway line (which connected the south of France with Normandy) over 800 times.
Despite everything she had accomplished, when she was recommended for the Military Cross following the battle, she was declared ineligible because she was a woman. The government attempted to offer her a “Most Excellent Order of the British Empire” (MBE) in the Civil Division, to which she icily responded, “there was nothing remotely “civil” about what I did. I didn’t sit behind a desk all day.” Eventually she accepted a military MBE, though in recent years she was also awarded a CBE and was a recipient of the French military’s Légion d’honneur (Legion of Honor). In April of 2006, after waiting for 60 years, she was awarded her parachute wings, which she had been fighting to earn despite having only done four parachute jumps instead of the required five. As she stated: “The chaps did four training jumps, and the fifth was operational – and you only got your wings after a total of five jumps. So I was not entitled – and for 63 years I have been moaning to anybody who would listen because I thought it was an injustice.”
Following the war she returned to England and married Henri Cornioley, with whom she had a daughter named Claire. Her autobiography, Pauline was published in 1997, with the help of journalist Hervé Larroque. The interviews in that autobiography were edited by Kathryn J. Atwood and published in 2013 as the book Code Name Pauline. She died at the age of 93, in a retirement home in the Loire Valley in France.
Okay I mostly chose this one because she’s a bamf but the fact that she was a British citizen born in France who worked with both countries MAY ALSO have been a pointed choice today.
Yes, thank you very much for this choice.
She’s my favorite and I need to get this book.
Same, right??? Definitely gonna look into that.
Thank you. God I needed to read something fortifying today.
You’re welcome! I was torn because there are actually apparently a LOT of awesome women born today but this one seemed most relevant.
I’m pretty sure that parts of Code Name Verity (most excellent book) were based off of her life.
I LOVED that book! (See also: cried like a big baby.)
And the TV series Wish Me Luck.
Yesss! There were several awesome women doing similar things and no one ever recognises their actions!
I’m going to miss reading these every day. Will you continue to update after The Toast has left us??
Another couple of awesome WW2 spies: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noor_Inayat_Khan http://www.obitoftheday.com/post/107414252365/son…
So many awesome lady spies! I think I’ve written about another before. And yes, I am going to be posting every day on the WordPress blog, and also doing a post every monday (for the week) on the new site clevermanka is making!
“there was nothing remotely “civil” about what I did.” Best rebuttal EVER.
I read that book of interviews! She is delightful, and a complete badass.
I am FURIOUS with the labour party reaction. Immediately declaring that Corbyn was iffy on it all along, the party is the center, and yes actually immigration does need to be cut down is not the stuff opposition is made of.
The conservatives fucked up, but I didn’t expect better. Did expect better of labour.
Me too, I was actually wondering if I was remembering yesterday right when I read the labour reaction. Also, this would (o rreally, any time the past week would) be an EXCELLENT time to point out how much of the issues everyone wants to change are the fault of the UK government in charge and have nothing to do with the EU! (I have co-worker who voted Leave “because his son couldn’t get a school place” or something. That’s not how this works!)
Exactly!
also contrast the labour reply with the greens’
Ugh yes they (although really all MPs) are annoying me at the moment. Get your shit together and stop blaming all your problems on Corbyn you whiny babies.
They are so annoying and the people who refuse to hear any criticism of corbyn/labour besides “weren’t anti-immigrant enough” are so annoying and everyone sucks.
Worrying, all of the labour postmortems I’m seeming imply that the party has to respond to nativism without any acknowledgement that it’s a created through a process you can actively oppose and change. I see a real danger of labour becoming a party that is very left on the economy and very xenophobic otherwise.
I’m so angry with labour, generally. Get it together, ffs, make some noise. It’s like they don’t even WANT to win.
In addition to, you know, everything else going on in the world this morning, the funeral for one of the Orlando shooting victims was being held at a church around the corner from me. So that was a sobering start to the day.
Jesus Christ, “I’d rather not eat out of the dog’s bowl.” WHO IN THE WORLD USES A DOG BOWL AS A SERVING BOWL? IT IS KEPT ON THE FLOOR WHERE THE DOG LIVES! THE DOG LICKS ITSELF AND THEN DRINKS OR EATS FROM IT!
how have they not all died of the plague in that house?
I honestly once saw a girl proudly proclaim on a PUBLIC forum she had to drink water out of the kitty’s bowl because she hadn’t a single clean glass or cup in the house. When it was pointed out to her that you can wash just ONE glass at a time, she laughed it off, as if it was the height of cuteness (she apparently fances herself a citizen of Mount St. Cute) that she hadn’t washed the dishes for a while and they were “marinating in some leftover pasta sauce” And she was late for yoga…
Sometimes I do despair.
Like today, for example…
oh my god. that’s beyond disgusting.
JUST DRINK STRAIGHT FROM THE TAP OH MY GODDDDDDD
LIKE THE TAP AT LEAST DOESN’T HAVE CAT SPIT IN IT, AND YOU GET TO STRETCH YOUR NECK MUSCLES BEFORE YOGA, WIN-WIN!
ugh. how is that even a “cutesy” thing to do? “oh, i live in squalor, tra la la, tra la la?”
“oh, i live in squalor, tra la la, tra la la?” – pretty much my reaction (and I’m soo not one who lives for cleaning, but food left in the unwashed dishes in the sink for freaking days is beyond revolting and the epitome of slobbiness.
(I guess if you’re a reasonably cute girl, being a slob automatically becomes cutesy/sexy (at least to socially inadequate horny men-boys, who seem to be the population of that particular forum these days…)
It’s one thing to not wash the dishes when they pile up! It’s another thing to boast about drinking from the goddamn cat’s dishes in order to avoid washing the human dishes. (also ew to the menchildren on that forum.)
I once went to dinner party at a house where the hostess instructed the guests to just put their plates on the floor for the dogs to lick when everyone was done with dinner.
I mean, I get that people do that when they’re at home alone. But it is something quite else to do with a house full of people.
What did the other guests say? Did you actually put the plates on the floor?
The hostess was my professor so I felt compelled to follow her directions, as did everyone else there. We all avoided eye contact with each other and never spoke of it again.
I’m so sorry. That’s unbelievable.
WAS IT MY PARENTS? IT WAS MY PARENTS WASN’T IT.
Ever since they got that dalmatian they let their dog turn into an entitled little asshole who howls if he does not get to lick the dishes so on the (admittedly rare) occasion there is a guest THE DOG STILL GETS TO LICK THE DISH. They never did this with the lab. They taught her manners.
There was once a post in an AskReddit thread about gross things observed in other people’s houses, and not only did the dogs lick the plates, the host picked the dishes right up off the ground and put them back in the cabinet. ‘Oh, don’t worry about washing; the dogs do it well enough for us!’
I’m reasonably certain these plates went into the sink but, honestly, I fled from the room so quickly, I can’t be sure.
Oh, so that “Cold Water” joke actually happens in real life? Oh ye immortal gods.
At least dog germs weren’t involved until *after* you were done eating, I guess…
Now I’m really curious about the boyfriend’s hygiene standards. If they’re living together and he adheres to his parents’ standards….or does she do all the cooking and cleaning?
I cannot wrap my mind around that level of disgusting-ness. One of my husband’s family members has some very questionable kitchen hygiene practices but even she would draw the line at the dog’s bowl, for fucks sake.
I mean, I have a high tolerance for food-related grossness and I could see using a pet’s water dish… after thoroughly rinsing it in soap and warm water. *shudder*
Scalzi just put up a very good summary of Brexit, and what it means for the US.
http://whatever.scalzi.com/2016/06/24/a-few-thoug…
CASE NIGHTMARE TWEED
“He literally just said that he thinks Brexit is great because the pound dropping means more people will come to his golf course, which I think is the 21st century’s gold standard entry in the “fiddling while Rome burns” sweepstakes.”
My fave: “Here in the US, the people who love Trump are gonna show up on election day. 100% sure of that prediction. We know they will because they already did. And you can say, yes, but there’s not enough of them overall, and I will say to you, fuck you and your complacent ass, I want him to lose in a goddamn landslide. I want him electorally nuked from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure. Everyone needs to vote. It’s really that important.”
My country is not my country any more and I am so afraid and so sad and I can’t bear this. I hoped we were better than this. I am bereft, I think: I am so afraid. The video of people in the street (fairly) shouting TRAITOR SCUM at Boris Johnson looked like something from a previous time: we are back there now. I am so sad and so scared and there is nothing to be done and all the things people say “do this” are just not going to fix the fact that we FUCKED IT, guys, we FUCKED IT UP.
So sad for you and so scared we may follow your example with Trump.
I feel all of the same way. This is the worst.
The news from UK is horribly disheartening.
What comes next?
You’ve been freed
Do you know how hard it is to lead?
You’re on your own
Awesome! Wow!
Do you have a clue what happens now?
I listen to Hamilton on the way to work and I didn’t have the heart to listen to King George today.
Do you think Angela Merkel is listening to this on loop?
They say,
Great Britain has voted, they’re stepping away
Is that true?
I wasn’t aware that was something a country could do
“Prime Minister Boris Johnson? Good luck!”
in my under-informed state I have been thinking of the Brexit vote was a sort of “no taxation without representation” situation. I mean I understand people are unhappy about decisions being made that affect them, and feeling like they don’t have a voice, but I am finding it strange that leaving the EU was a thing they could put up for a popular vote? I don’t have a point, I am just confused by the whole thing and will have some catching-up reading to do.
As I understand it, British voters elect Members of European Parliament (MEPs), and the number of MEPs that the UK gets is based on its population (relative to other EU countries). MEPs get to vote on EU policy. So they can’t really argue that they’re not represented.
Basically, the Tory party has been epically split on whether they like Europe since the late eighties. Half of them think the advantages of a free market outweigh the fact that the EU
is generally socially progressive and more economically left than the UK tends to be, and half of them don’t. Cameron is a pro-EU centre-rightist, who promised a referendum on EU membership in his second term to get the support of the Europhobes. Basically, the Tory party’s internal division has buffered everything right up.
The only good thing that has come out of this is the opportunity to use a Hamilton quote as the subject line for a mass client email.
Oscar Pistorius deserves to be torn apart by rabid hyenas
But do those hyenas really deserve the indigestion they would get from the act?
“Reeva* would have wanted it”
*Does this ‘Reeva Opinion’ come along with the knowledge that you murdered her?
Meant to post this earlier and then got distracted by the awfulness of today.
But, anyway, assuming that the world is still in one piece in 2017, the SpaceWitch retreat (aka “ToastieCon”) is happening Summer 2017. If you haven’t already, follow our twitter at @spacewitchcon or pop by the #Space_Witch_Retreat channel in ToastieSlack and join the conversation.
Do you happen to know who some hypothetical procrastinator should e-mail about joining ToastieSlack?
Yes, I do. ppyajunebug at gmail dot com. The Slack community is pretty great.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1_26MiL9WN…
Here’s the connections spreadsheet- it has the email for Slack at the top.
Thank you!
If you have write access to the spreadsheet could you add the DC toastie google group? We’re here and there are a bunch of us!
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/dc-toasti…
It’s in the Online Groups tab, and also everyone with the link should be able to access / edit it. If that’s not the case, please alert me: Mel @ melaniegreene.com so I can figure it out!
American Toasts, how do we take the disappointment/rage/anxiety surrounding the Brexit and turn it into something productive? I _know_ the Brexit is not about us, but it really does make a Trump presidency seem like more of a possibility. What should we do? Volunteer for Hillary? Call our Congressmen? I just feel overwhelmed and helpless, and would like to actually DO something so that we don’t wake up in November in a similar situation.
Sending my love to the UK toasties. Stay strong.
Register voters. Help them get ID, if you’re in an area with shitty voter ID laws. Get involved in a GOTV operation (through the HRC campaign or some other group.
Yes yes and yes – and we can support election protection organizations like 866ourvote.org – others better informed than I am will surely have more suggestions.
Just having dystopian visions of roving bands of neo-nazis trying to keep certain American voters away from the polls in November…
It’s a small thing, but having actual conversations with your friends and family about the voting process is really important! Before your state’s deadline, ask if they’ve updated their voter registration. If they haven’t, pull out your phone and look up what they need to do. If they say they are going to get an absentee ballot, get online right then and have them fill out the request. In the days before the election, start asking people– have you looked up your polling place yet? Let’s look it up right now. Do you know how you’ll get there? Have you thought about how you’ll vote in local races? Do you think you’ll go vote on your lunch break or after work? A lot of people vaguely plan to vote but don’t think about all the steps, and that’s how people end up getting turned away or not having time to get to the polls.
What the actual fuck, Jim??
Well, the Brexit may have ruined my future plans and maybe unhinged the world’s economic systems, but at least it’s been 6 years since I was last stung by a bullet ant!
I was stung once by three fire ants who had wedged their way between my toes. This is just to say that “1” on this scale is no picnic.
I took part in a summer program in Italy in 2010, and Oscar Pistorius was there for training or something, so he came to speak to us. He seemed normal and told some amusing “inspirational” stories. Then there was a little reception after in the town square, and this was at the very beginning of the program so I didn’t really know anyone yet, but they knew I was American and wanted me to go up to him with them and translate for them. I didn’t, partly because I was kind of shy and partly because I don’t like making a fuss over famous people just because they’re famous.
I’m very glad I didn’t talk to him. It’s weird enough reconciling that he’s a murderer, but I think it would be even weirder if I’d actually had a conversation with him.
I would like to believe that if Reeva Steenkamp could look down on Pistorius right now, she would sound exactly like the mother in the Decemberists’ Mariner’s Revenge Song.
The fingers to splinters part, especially.
I’m partial to “clawing at the ceiling of his grave,” personally.
A+, this exactly. I was thinking “she’d probably want you to literally BURN ALIVE because you fucking STOLE HER LIFE,” but this is more poetic.
A Roundup full of depressing news ended with “Look, we’re almost over.”
I NEED A FUN THREAD OF JOKES AND GIFS STAT Y’ALL. PLEASE HUMOR ME.
God bless you CleverManka. GOD BLESS YOU.
I recently discovered https://www.reddit.com/r/rarepuppers and highly, highly recommend it.
Bless you, Robin Hood. Bless you.
I can’t do jokes but I can do kittens!!!
Now with bonus puppies!
I snorted.
Okay, that made my day significantly brighter <3
https://twitter.com/dog_rates
The best Twitter account.
An oldie but a goodie:
Where does a mansplainer get their water? From a well, actually…
This instagram of a pit bull in love with a lil rescue kitten in is my new happy place. So many videos of them lounging around together: https://www.instagram.com/bubbalovesrue/
ohmygod the staring contest. thank you!
Why did so many people associated with Roman emperors end up prematurely dead?
Because they were running with Caesars!
https://youtu.be/WlBiLNN1NhQ
THANK YOU
This is not technically humor, but a reassurance that life continues on and includes relationship problems wherein one’s boyfriend is obsessed with growing giant pumpkins: https://www.reddit.com/r/relationships/comments/4…
Thank you for all the kind Toast wishes: they really do help on such a stupid day. Can’t help feel some schadenfreude that so many Leave-voting pensioners are going to see an immediate hit to their investments, but overall just bleurrrghh.
The media in this country is sewn up between the Mail and the Sun, particularly now that the BBC has given up all independence out of fear for its life. People have been lied to for years about so many things, but it burns that they choose to go along with it so easily.
About the only thing running through my head right now, is (Jonathan Cecil’s saying it as a Bertie Wooster): “O Diamond, Diamond, thou little knowest the mischief thou hast done.”
Unfortunately, it’s not helping nearly as much as Wodehouse invariably does 🙁
Such a disheartening day…
Honestly, I can’t think of a more appropriate time to simultaneously quote Newton and Bertie Wooster.
A reminder of Brits at their best, right? :/
I am devastated and furious. This doesn’t feel like my country anymore and for the first time in my life I really don’t want to be here. Partner is inquiring whether he can get a transfer to Spain. If Scotland has another run at independence, it’ll pass, and what remains of Britain will get much worse before it gets better. I am heartbroken.
Me too. Today I feel as bad for my country as I did for myself when I quit a job in the midst of a terrible mental breakdown.
I feel like a sponge for everyone around me’s angry, scared, confused emotions. I hoped that I could wake up today and feel like I chose the best option for my own mental health, but actually I just feel consumed by anxiety and like everyone in the country is angry and upset with one another. The streets are eerie and subdued and I worry for all the people who might not feel safe being outside this morning.
We should never have had this referendum. It has solved nothing and only spread discord and fallacy.
I’m a US’ian who has admittedly limited knowledge of this situation. BUT the fact that Cameron resigned just seems like such a slap in the face! Isn’t he the one responsible for allowing the referendum in the first place? IMHO, that should mean that you’re prepared to see it through, no matter the outcome. He’s like, “Well, shit, that didn’t go as I expected, sorry guys, you’re on your own.” ?!? It seems like the Leave outcome would have felt slightly (very slightly) less catastrophic if the PM didn’t immediately peace out.
Well, I kind of understand it because he tied himself so completely to the Remain side, so that a rejection of Remain was an implicit rejection of him, so he’s “following the will of the people.” It wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t apparent there’s no one better prepared to steer the country through What Comes Next, and Boris Johnson might get the job???
And I just learned that it wouldn’t have ever happened if Cameron hadn’t thrown it as a bone to the lunatic right fringe party, for his last election campaign because he was so power-hungry!!! That fucker’s legacy is going to be “Fucked a pig and ended the United Kingdom” and that’s it. Good job old man.
Indeed. It’s the worst.
Cameron is the worst PM in history. Internal Tory party arguments for the win. 🙁
I woke up at 5.50am and thought ‘I’ll just check what’s going on and go back to sleep for an hour’ … clearly I thought I was going to see a Remain result because of COURSE I was never going back to sleep when I saw what happened.
I work in translation and 50% of our staff is non-British, we are all just sitting around alternating between listlessly working for 5 minute stretches and then discussing politics for another 20 minutes.
It’s scary precisely because we don’t know what’s going to happen. It seems like every question everyone asks about the result has no answer.
So ironic that my first instinct is to go back to Ireland and one of the things that would stop me is their ridiculous reproductive health laws – something they’ve completely ignored DIRECT INSTRUCTIONS from the EU on for years and years.
What was that about member states having control over their legislation again?
I work in translation too and our situation is exactly the opposite (in terms of 50% of outer staff being British), and we have two branches in the UK and I just…dont know.
Much worse, I was a freelance ESL teacher here in Germany before this and more than 80% of my former colleagues are Brits, and two of my former places of work in that founded are run by the same. And everyone is massively in shock right now because what the hell? But they’re going to have to start having some serious conversations and queuing at the foreign nationals’ offices and like…what now? What on earth now?
I’m doing a translation internship in the land of croissants this summer and half of our Anglophone staff is British. I had an aghast conversation over lunch with two of the Brits today. This is just madness. Then an American friend who’s doing a degree in teaching English as a foreign language wondered if this will make it easier for Americans to get hired in Europe for language-related jobs. Because Brits won’t be the easy, visa-less choice anymore…
I’m so glad that I had Joel’s standup set to make me laugh temporarily before plunging back into sadness over Brexit.
Look, I’m the first to say we may have gone a little overboard on attention to hygiene. I drink from public water fountains. I’ve let my dog lick my popsicle and then continued eating it.
But damn, using the dog’s water dish as a serving bowl? For company?
Those things I’m describing are my choices about things I’m ingesting. When I have company or am cooking food other people might be eating, I do what I can to make sure what I’m serving would pass any health inspection.
I just. You guys. This day is such a clusterfuck already.
I am sending gentle ghost hugs and chocolate ice cream to everyone who needs it this morning.
I am trying to remain positive on social media and just make jokes and be optimistic but here, on the toast, anonymously, let me scream into the void:
The tiny minded tory trouser stains finally fucking did it and now we’re all up shit creek. I don’t want to be fucking British any more. This country has become cruel, hateful and disgusting. I don’t care if it’s what half the fucking country wants. I’d invite Boris Johnson to kiss my arse but I don’t want that Shrek-faced tosser anywhere near me.
I check twitter when I wake up as I think the blue light of my terrible iPhone son helps me wake up, and I almost wish I hadn’t because I am so sad about Brexit, so sad about the future of our already terrible world, and already prepping myself for the reality that Donald J. Trump, he of extreme racism and sexism, has a much better chance of winning than I’d previously accepted.
And The Toast is fucking ending in a week.
I woke up to my husband gasping at the Brexit news. I’ve never heard him gasp in his life. Ughh, ugh ugh.
My parents were visiting us one time and setting up cheese and crackers and my mom pulled the cat’s spare bowl (a square glass dish) out of the cupboard where it had been sitting after having been run through the dishwasher and I flipped about that because CAT DISH I cannot imagine being intentionally served from a dog bowl jfc.
A friend sent this to me as results were coming in last night and it was a very helpful analysis of things I was thinking and feeling but couldn’t organize: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/ju…
A breathtakingly bitter piece in the Times: http://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/comment/it-will…
I am very relieved this morning that the BBC World Service exists – I can quietly have them in my ear all day and occasionally take a break with a weather report that doesn’t affect me. This vote is the starkest reflection on the priorities, emotional weight, and function of the modern nation-state I can remember, and at the same time as I absorb the enormity of that, I’m praying for the physical and emotional safety of many, and particularly people of colour in the wake of much of Leave’s rhetoric.
“A collection of utopian dreamers, blathering on about romantic nationalism and freeing Britain from the bonds of servitude, have humiliated and slaughtered their prime minister, and his chancellor, for not being real conservatives.”
The parallels to what the Tea Party has done to the Republicans are overwhelming.
Wow, that Times piece. Breathtakingly bitter is exactly the right way to describe it.
Breathtakingly overwritten too!
“Marilyn, I’d prefer not to eat something out of the dog’s bowl”
There’s an embroidered pillow list somewhere, right?
This is more of an OT thing, but I’ll be having a haircut when it’s OT time. This referendum has had one weird effect on me: knowing that we’re completely fucked really crystallised a feeling of ‘What do I really want?’ So long story short, I’ve decided that in a year or two I want to do this Birkbeck/RADA MA I found in text and performance. I’ve always been like ‘Oh but I don’t want to do postgraduate study’ when really, I just didn’t want to do any more English Lit. But it would actually make sense to do as a continuation of a path I’ve started down recently trying to write plays, maybe getting something put on, maybe doing some performance myself… I don’t know, I think realising that nothing’s secure at all (and my job is at risk from Brexit, make no mistake) made me just think fuck it, maybe I can just pursue that for its own sake and maybe I can make a creative life for myself that doesn’t involve a day job, even if it’s only for a year. I don’t know. Any advice from anyone about this kind of thing?
That’s really exciting and I am excited for you! Sorry it had to happen this way though.
I’m about to start a part-time MA at UCL in order to do-over my shitty, PTSD-causing tertiary education experience. On the one hand I strongly encourage you to pursue a course you’ve fallen in love with, particularly when it’s something you think you might make a go of as a profession – a year isn’t that long in the grand scheme of things, so if you decide it’s not for you then at least you’ve tried it out and hopefully gotten an MA out of it – BUT it’s been hell trying to find part-time work and that was before today’s result. If you’ve got the savings, or viable freelance options then definitely go for it! It sounds great and I would be excited to see your plays. We should have Toasties take over every profession in the world!
TL;DR Go for it! But get finances/freelance work in place beforehand if you can, because unless you’re a teacher, there isn’t much part-time stuff in London right now.
I’ve got c. £5,500 in savings at the moment, and at the rate I’m going I could have maybe £8000 in two years’ time, maybe more depending on what happens with my living situation/job etc. I also didn’t come out of uni with a huge amount of debt, so I’ve no trouble with taking out the postgrad loan to cover fees. I am also lucky enough to have a rich sort-of aunt who is quite happy to help out the young people by letting them live in her enormous house for a while, especially now her own kids are grown up, so there is a chance I could live rent-free or low rent which would obvs be amazing.
Thanks for the advice about work – I was thinking (in the brief time I’ve been thinking about this) that freelance would be the way to go, so I’ll be looking at developing that. Most of my friends are freelancers of one kind or another so I’ve got plenty of people to ask about that.
That sounds great! Definitely do it in that case! There are often bursaries available too, though fewer now than in years past (thanks, Tories!!) so you might hit lucky with one of those.
Yeah I’m looking more seriously at freelance now and starting to build my portfolio after lots of job applications and interviews that went nowhere. I got made redundant at the worst time for this!
That Atlas Obscura link made me so itchy the entire time I read it. Also those sting descriptions are so vivid. I love Atlas Obscura <3
I’m an American teaching English in Prague and my relatively new boyfriend is Scottish. I’m pretty relieved that at least there should be two years before the official exit. If he had to decide right now between going through a visa process and staying in Prague and going back home, I think he’d pick the visa. But it would be a hard decision (the visa requires a lot of steps and more money than he currently has), and I’m glad that it’s not one that needs to be made now. At least two years from now we’ll either be in a place to decide on one country together or broken up.
I’m really curious: I didn’t follow the Oscar Pistorius case very closely, but I thought he was charged with manslaughter because there wasn’t enough evidence to suggest he knew he was behind the door. Did I miss something? I would love to know what you all think because the case definitely freaked me out!
He was charged with manslaughter rather than murder because he’s a famous athlete. I mean, come on, you wake up in the middle of the night and (1) your girlfriend’s not in bed and (2) someone’s in the bathroom. Would your first thought be ‘shoot the intruder!’ or would it be ‘Reeva’s up again’? It was a travesty.
My favourite part was always “I’m so scared of burglars I sleep with a gun, but leave ladders out on the lawn”.
Thanks! I didn’t really follow it and now I see why it turned out the way it did. Famous dudes. 😛
A couple of thoughts about the Brexit as a non-EU, non-US citizen:
While objectively, I recognize that the Brexit is deeply, deeply shitty, I’ve absorbed enough Frenchness for a small, mean, horrible part of me to enjoy whatever Schadenfreunde I can snatch out of this mess:
Farage lied about giving EU money to the NHS? ‘Course he did, that’s what he does!
Cornwall, you voted ‘Leave’ and now you’d very much like the UK government to replace your EU subsidies, please? Lol, you’re adorable.
And as someone for whom getting a UK tourist visa is a major and expensive pain in the ass, the prospect of British stag parties getting slammed with nasty, Chinese-style visa applications is making me salivate juust a little bit.
“Say what boys, we don’t have your fingerprints on file? Well off you go to the middle of nowhere, to a facility that’s only open for a few unpredictable hours a day. You’ll hear from us in two to three months if we don’t lose your application, which we almost certainly will.”
(Yes, I know, fewer British tourists would fuck over the EU even more. As I said, it is a small, mean part of me. Which is getting pummelled by the reasonable, non-sociopathic side as soon as it rears its ugly head).
You are beautifully echoing many of the thoughts of people in Britain today!
I am British, and I am trying so, so hard not to just give myself over to Schadenfreude, because I am young and English and totally screwed, and so many Leave votes came from a place of legitimate disillusionment (though this is not the way to deal with it!) but there is a very large part of me that still wants to sit back, watch the chaos hit the Leave voters hard and scream “you voted for this!” at them. This part of me really does not reflect my most mature self.
I’m Cornish and cut to pieces by the decision my county has made. What monumental stupidity. But a weird part of me is looking forward to the first time someone who voted Leave or didn’t vote at all complains about the state of the country. My my, isn’t that *something*.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1_26MiL9WN…
Toast connections spreadsheet, complete w instructions for ToastieSlack and I think Reddit, too. Because we won’t make the same mistake as Brexit and lose each other!
I can’t make this work! Can I add myself to it, or?
I feel like probably I’m already about on Toastie Twitter a whole bunch, but…
I may have posted a crap link – try this one:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1_26MiL9WNJPpY0p85NsigLAZK3-0Nf8vnlS5DnpJd0M/edit#gid=0
Sorry about that, all!
A. I cannot find how to add myself
B. I have already found someone I know/knew IRL
Try this link instead
<a href=”https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1_26MiL9WNJPpY0p85NsigLAZK3-0Nf8vnlS5DnpJd0M/edit#gid=0
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1_26MiL9WN… />
I foolishly posted a view-only link to start with, sorry.
re: B – !!!
How can we add ourselves to the spreadsheet? It’s not letting me edit.
Apologies – that’s the view-only link. Try this one! <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1_26MiL9WNJPpY0p85NsigLAZK3-0Nf8vnlS5DnpJd0M/edit#gid=0
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1_26MiL9WN… />
(But yell at me if this one doesn’t work either, since I keep telling people it’s the solution.)
I have been so vociferous and furious on Twitter all day that I feel like I might read through it later and wish I hadn’t. But you know what? I’m not ready to be reasonable. We were reasonable all through this cesspool of a campaign – reasoned argument, facts, expert opinions, on and on – and apparently they bounced off the skulls of these stupid racist idiots like paper balls and did no good whatsoever. So I don’t want to hear about respectful discourse, and I don’t want to hear all sides: you have mortgaged my children’s future because you had a Polish family next door and couldn’t get a GP appointment, and I AM GRIEVING AND FURIOUS AND I DON’T KNOW WHERE TO PUT IT.
I’m so sad 🙁
Right there with you. I posted ‘fuck’ on FB this morning and got a sneery comment about my lack of eloquence from a pro-Brexit family member. Like he had any respect for all the weeks and months when I was posting thoughtful, reasoned information. He and his ilk have fucked the country over royally and I am utterly devastated.
You didn’t even have a fucking Polish family next door. You HEARD THERE WERE POLSH PEOPLE IN THE NEXT COUNTY and voted in the hope they’d get kicked out.
I’m so sorry UK Toasties. I wish there was something helpful to do. I guess I’ll donate to the free tote fund for those who can’t afford them and hopefully all of you who want a tote can get one.
Ooop some Pro-Brexit Americans I know have started posting about NH leaving the US next now that the UK has shown it can be done or something. It honestly took them less time than I expected to make it all about them and “liberty.”
NH as in…New Hampshire? Like, they think New Hampshire would make a viable independent country?
Yeah. There’s a whole movement dedicated to “eradicating the state” in nh and I guess now secession is on the agenda (or it was always on the agenda? I can’t keep track of their platforms).
my in laws are born from the dirt, 17th century NH settlers. this does not surprise me at all.
yeah I think there was a This American Life about it a couple years ago. :eye roll:
New Hampshire? Seriously? I…what?
…good luck with that, New Hampshire? I live in MA, used to live in ME, and NH…I know and love some of its citizens, but the state as a whole is like the Discount Vermont, but with shittier drivers.
I remember there being a movement to get all the libertarians to move to NH so that they could have a “free state.” Wouldn’t surprise me if it was the same people.
(it for sure is, I didn’t want to invoke their name in case they appear)
So many of these libertarian schemes read like B-grade Bond villain plots. We’re going to take over New Hampshire, we’re going to build a floating island in international waters, we’re going to build a big “Citadel” in Idaho with a gun factory inside the walls. No doubt we’ll hear about the orbiting death laser before the year’s out.
Texas is on it, too. Surprise surprise.
Big hugs to UK and Irish Toasts. I’m so sorry- I couldn’t believe it would get this far.
Is there any possibility of/precedent for a do-over referendum?
Surprisingly, there is – but just imagine how it would stoke the anger if they tried it?
But this set of MPs could be heroes and take one for the team! And maybe enough people are now all “well, I voted for it but I didn’t think it was real!” that they’d be grumpy but secretly relieved.
I am firmly against a second referendum. It would be a straight gift to the far right.
I think we’ll end up leaving the EU and becoming EEA.
I don’t want to add to the pile of stress, but the Supreme Court is supposed to issue Whole Women’s Health opinion by the end of June. I think the most likely result is that they punt and remand to the state court to address the capacity of the remaining clinics to fill the state’s abortion needs. Four justices are pro choice (Ginsburg, Kagan, Sotomayor, Breyer), three are anti-choice (Roberts, Alito, Thomas), and Kennedy is typically ambivalent leaning towards anti. I don’t think Kennedy wants to decide this issue, or to have an 8-member court issue a definitive ruling on it, so I think punting is going to be the “compromise.” Just speculation, though.
Transcripts from the oral arguments made it sound like the pro-choice justices were courting Kennedy really really hard. I hope they were successful, but I have no idea how likely that is.
At least the Fisher v U of Texas ruling upheld affirmative action…I’m glad they finally put that case to bed.
I just kicked a harmless guy out of the museum for being a pest about five minutes ago and oh man it felt SO GOOD. also the café servers came over to thank me, because they felt bad about telling him to go away.
he’s got some mental deficits, and is a really nice person, but he kept coming in and wanting to talk to us while we were working and busy, and it was like “dude, please, we want to be nice to you, but you need to leave us alone” and a year ago, i got a security guard to ban him but he started coming back lately because one of our cooks was on a smokebreak and talked to him, i guess? anyway, he started to try to walk back to the kitchen past my reception desk and i put my foot down and yes, it felt good. (i feel kind of bad that it was necessary, because he really is harmless, never once has done anything threatening or rude, he’s just…too needy, I guess?)
Inappropriate behavior needs to be reinforced as Not Allowed! You did good. Especially since it doesn’t sound like you were cruel to him at all. The same rules apply to everyone — when they don’t, that’s when people fly off the handle (as I certainly do).
Yup, and I just heard back from one of my staff members that he made her feel uncomfortable (she didn’t give details), so I’m extra glad I finally had enough of him. I mean, you just can’t walk into a working kitchen that is busy prepping for the lunch rush! C’mon, guy.
(About a month ago I pulled up my britches and started standing up for myself more, and wow has it worked well! I pushed 2 weeks ago for my promised promotion to happen or I’d leave, and just yesterday got confirmation that it would happen, hopefully by July 1 but HR is HR, so it could be a few weeks to get all the paperwork ironed out. Our university-based department head was shocked that I’ve been here 6 years and hadn’t been promoted to a leadership role yet, at least that’s the impression I got in the meeting with him/semi-interview yesterday.)
YESSS! Evict the royals! Move parliament to Praze-An-Beeble!
A boatload of amicus briefs were aimed directly at Kennedy and his comments in Carhart v. Gonzales: “While we find no reliable data to measure the phenomenon, it seems unexceptionable to conclude some women come to regret their choice to abort the infant life they once created and sustained.”
The amicus briefs are available here: http://www.reproductiverights.org/document/amicus…
I’ve read several and they’re remarkable, but I think my favorite is the one submitted by historians who place abortion restrictions in the context of the patriarcy policing women under the guise of looking out for their health. http://www.reproductiverights.org/sites/crr.civic…
Big Spender Dude, all you are doing is consuming absurdly expensive food and booze. Which, I mean, I love good food and booze, but I would not be so jazzed to spend so much money on experiential things only for those experiences be kind of limited and repetitive.
I turned on the radio this morning and am still in total disbelief. Standing on the shore holding up a boombox playing Lisa Loeb apparently doesn’t help when you’re on the Pacific side. I’m keeping a good thought for all our UK toasts.
– Re: Brexit, about the best thing I can say about it is that things are looking up for Scottish independence and Irish reunification. And speaking of tweets, here’s Hugh Laurie’s reaction, plus Jo Rowling, who also had good news for Hogwarts. Plus, of course, Charles Stross’ take.
– That prison piece is chilling–if a Mother Jones reporter can get turned into someone with that mindset… And the way that the prisoners are almost abandoned in there rates a trigger warning for claustrophobia.
– Really felt for the Pru writer whose boyfriend keeps cycling between her apartment and the street. Moving probably would be the best thing for her, and might be the best thing for him, if losing an enabler helps him confront his addiction.
– Speaking of drinking, my first reaction to the Core Four was that they deserved some up close exposure to some of the creepy-crawlies on Justin Schmidt’s list. (Tarantula Hawk (which just sounds all kind of wrong): “Blinding, fierce, shockingly electric. A running hair dryer has been dropped into your bubble bath. A bolt out of the heavens. Lie down and scream.” Fun!) But something tells me that the author won’t last in that lifestyle very long. I don’t know what it takes to be the sort of pharmacist that makes six figures, but I doubt that it’s compatible with a booze-saturated lifestyle; maybe it’s just my RecoveringDrunkFilter, but almost all of his stories center around sucking down overpriced liquor.
Ugh, the responses to J.K. Rowling got pretty foul down there.
I’m just going to be over here in the corner, rocking back and forth and despairing for humanity. Don’t mind me.
I grew up in Canada, mostly, and it seemed every three or four years there would be threats of separation from Quebec. It’s hard to believe, all this time later, that Canada is still together and the EU is coming apart.
Well done, Canada. You are an example to all. Too bad more of us aren’t paying attention.
The CBC’s Brexit coverage includes a few mentions of Quebec separatists who see this as a good example that they hope to follow, so it’s vaguely possible that the EU’s coming apart will lead to Canada’s breakup. But I think probably we’ll be ok.
I’m so angry and upset about Brexit, I’ve been somewhere between crying and screaming all day. I live in one of the poorest parts of the country, somewhere that has received a billion pounds in EU funding, and yet my county voted leave. Everything is fucking terrible. I’m disabled and low income and so I was already upset about living under Tory rule but this has made me deeply fearful, and I’m ashamed and furious at our smallminded country and how we must look to the rest of the world. And my friends are fighting. And some of my family aren’t speaking any more. I just want to walk outside and howl at the moon until my throat is raw and people are acting like we’re just ‘sore losers’. I have been let down a lot in my years as a voter but I’ve never felt so ill.
P.S. My dad has spent all evening writing letters to our local politicians and telling them that he’s ashamed of them for backing Leave. Go daddy go!
First, Brexit: WHAT EVEN THE FUCK, BRITAIN?
Second: “(I’ve kept all names out of this story to protect my buddies from your scorn.)” —> Incorrect! My scorn has been liberally, if somewhat imprecisely, applied!
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp…
A lesson to everyone in the world. Think/research before you vote. I know many excellent librarians (here) who can help with the research!!
After I wrote this I saw you already posted another comment with the answer to my question. It makes sense, and is very demoralizing.
“My main group of friends and I call ourselves the Core Four—I’m known as the Plus One…” Anyone else feel like a finance anime was about to begin?
My partner is currently very grateful that he claimed his Irish citizenship as a teenager. (His maternal grandmother was born in Ireland, and his mum was therefore an Irish citizen too; he realised he was eligible and jumped at the chance to claim foreign birth registration.)
http://www.smsforfood.org
Chuck Tingle to the rescue!
(laughing so I don’t cry)