Lightly Seared on the Reality Grill
Random geekery from the Low Countries
Back in 2016, Lord Digby Jones, a vocal proponent of Brexit, inanely asserted that “There’s not going to be any economic pain. If there are job losses, they will be very few”.
As late as January 2019 he was still maintaining “not a single job” would be lost because of Brexit.
In a darkly humorous move, Yorkshire Bylines have come up with the Digby Jones Jobs Lost Index.
It’s a list that keeps on growing.
Flanders will use charter from 1666 to guarantee post-Brexit fishing rights
The Flemish government argues it can invoke a charter that dates back to 1666 to secure its right to fish in U.K. waters if there’s no deal on fisheries before the end of the Brexit transition period.
It turns out that King Charles II granted “eternal access” to fifty fishermen from Bruges way back in 1666.
It sounds like a joke, but a spokesperson for Flemish Fisheries Minister, Hilde Crevits has claimed that the charted “has been confirmed by a U.K. lawyer in 1820.”
That’s a mere ten years before Belgium was founded.
After seeking legal guidance, the government of Flanders has sent a copy of the charter to the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier.
One of the things I love about living in Belgium is the surrealism of the country’s politics.
Andrew Page notes that:
One of the challenges facing Leavers during the EU referendum campaign was to provide evidence of cast-iron, certain, undeniable benefits of Brexit.
And they’re still struggling. In the four years since the referendum, no-one has yet managed to come up with a single solid benefit of Brexit and appear to have given up trying.
Helpfully, therefore, Page has come up with 25 unquestionable benefits of Brexit.
It almost makes the whole mess seem worthwhile.
On occasion, we will find a dead animal or (more frequently) a dead bird, which always leads to a discussion as to what should be done about it. I don’t want to put it on the compost, which is what Eve always suggests, because I don’t want to start attracting vermin. Equally, Eve is not happy about having some dead thing rotting away in the bin for up to two weeks.
Since disposing of the corpse is a task that always falls to me, it ends up in the bin.
Jennie Breeden, however, has found a much better compromise.
The only problem, of course, is that no-one ever steals from our porch.
Finally, it all makes sense.
Instead of looking in the mirror and seeing the reality of the latest clusterfuck staring back, he sees a Steve Jobs or a Warren Buffett, or even a guy who remembers that the label is meant to go on the inside of his pants.
Thanks to The Scotsman for today’s Headline of the Day, and reminder of the importance of always checking your grammar.
