Picking and choosing

Once again Iceland has amazing facial expressions.

The most important thing about the whole list is that the UK have beaten the French

@weelydangle Give it ten days after a no deal brexit and see how well that holds up.

@TheDungen

That might well depend on how many remainers escalate to violence if they lose. I get the feeling it will be reduced to a small number of extremists and hopefully disappear as a destructive factor in UK politics. We would still need to get rid of Boris the brainless and get a decent government - of which there seems to be no candidates from any of the main parties.

Or do you mean the expected further surge in fascist violence in N Ireland after the EU kills the GFA?

@stevep59 Right. Because Balkanization always increases stability. UK leaves the EU. Northern Ireland and Scotland leave the UK. Northumberland and Wales leave England. London leaves England. But hey, everyone will be happy, right?

@Somber Didn't the Scandinavians start visiting in force the last time the British Isles broke up into small groups like that? Maybe they'll reestablish the Danelaw!

@Somber

A lot of errors and assumptions here. Far from clear that either Scotland or N Ireland will leave the UK for a start. Before you say they voted to remain in the EU technically they didn't. The majority in each state voted for the UK to remain, which is a different issue. If the UK escapes and then there were referendums in either both states people will have to consider whether their better off inside the UK or outside it. Of course being inside the EU isn't an option as they would have to start as new states and apply for membership, which would take years. Unless of course the EU does a 180 and decides its laws, which their been arguing they can't change, even to avoid screwing over the Irish Republic, can suddenly be altered instantly to allow them some sort of immediate access.

An independent UK will have problems, even without the repeated stated intent of the EU leadership to ensure it fails. Not sure whether that's solely to terrorise other nations out of considering leaving as they say or whether bruised egos play a big part but that's by the point.

There will still be the problem of getting rid of the other set of corrupt and incompetent politicians that plague Britain, those in Westminster, starting with the Tories but it will be 1 down 1 to go rather than having two infestations. Plus having set a precedent will probably help.

In answer to your last sentence I am a Liberal and a Democrat and hence believe in democracy and human rights, unlike the people who have perverted the party I was a member of for decades. Hence I see no problem with the break up of large autocratic states that ignore the desires of its people. So unlikely you imply I'm happy the Soviet empire is gone and that states like Poland, Latvia etc are balkanised. ;)

Britain will face problems but I think we're got a good chance of coming through OK. I wonder whether the same will be said of the EU? Not just because we're established a precedent and the EU have lost a source of funds and a controlled market. Britain was the largest state supporting a continued confederation status largely concerning freeing up trade and interaction and opposing the imposition of a 'national' state of 'Europe' but we're far from the only ones and with the 'elite' pushing forward towards that target with greater emphasis others are likely to see exit as the best option. Then there's the screwing over of much of southern Europe for the sake of Germany and France. If your concerned about problems then I suggest you look a bit closer to home.

@stevep59 Well to be fair, France doesn't profit that much of the collapse of southern Europe (though we are not collapsing ourselves). The big winner here is definitely Germany...

@Isdaril

Frankly I don't think any government or people in general profit from the economic collapse of much of southern Europe. Unfortunately the big wigs in the European central bank and EU don't agree with me.

Germany gains more than other countries from an economic and fiscal policy that seems to prefer Germany but I was under the impression, possibly wrongly admittedly, that this was made possible by the alliance between the governments of France and Germany.

@stevep59 Oh no you are very right about this... But our current government is driven by an ideology that doesn't sit well with our own interests...
NB : The best proof in date is the CETA agreement that is probably going to ruin our agriculture by authorizing products that have unfair advantages (like the use of more chemicals and OGM) compared to our own...
So yeah France (well at least its government) is totally onboard with the "Germany rules" project... I was just pointing out that we ourselves (as a country, I'm not even talking about the people) do not benefit very much from it.

And yeah I was not implying that germany is really profitting from the collapse of southern Europe. But at least for now they are making the best of the current regulations in the eurozone.
The process of that success is very complicated and very long to describe... But it has to do with the fact that due to the southern collapse, the current euro has less value than the mark would have if spain, italy and even france had their own money, thus strengthening germany's exports throughout the world but most critically in europe. The other critical point is that Germany was the country that invested the most (well all the northern countries did, but germany is the biggest and wealthiest) in the south investments before the euro crisis so as long as the southern countries do not collapse completely, they have an influx of money coming from all that is produced in the south in the form of dividends and interests.

But as you said, if they indeed collapse completely, germany will be close to follow...

@Isdaril

Thanks for the summary. I know there's a lot of internal conflict in France currently over the future of your country. Hopefully it works out well for France.

Steve - sorry this is a bit brief but work calling.

@stevep59 not sure about that, N Irland could vote for UK independence and Eire reunification. That would take away the need for a border and land them as UE territory in a swift move. Maybe Schotland would find someting similar with one of the EU Scandinavians... Humon did a strup back in the day.

@Nushka

Possibly although since such a vote is unlikely to occur before Britain left the EU so technically they would be becoming an independent state that would have to apply for membership. Given the Protestant majority and mistrust of Dublin hardened by decades of IRA terrorism joining the Irish republic could be a step too far for much of the population. True Ireland has liberalised a lot in recent decades but there are a lot of old fears and bigotry that dies hard. Plus Ireland has liberalised a lot and Ulster is still very conservative so that could be a factor.

Its always been the case that Ulster/N Ireland is in the UK because it wants to be and it can leave, and also join the Irish republic if it wishes. Probably the biggest single barrier, even more than the power of the Catholic church south of the border in earlier eras is the savagely of the IRA and similar groups. Not ignoring that especially in the early years of the troubles the unionists had their own terrorist groups and the Catholic minority had a case for reform.

Plus this would also mean that the EU would have to at the very least bend its rules dramatically and it hasn't been willing to do so to protect Ireland from the ending of the GFA - which is the single largest cause of the current impasse. They might do as they have frequently bent their rules when it suits them in the past but the people of N Ireland would have to think carefully before relying on them doing that.

Scotland, not a chance. While Norway ruled large parts of what's now Scotland in past centuries Scotland was never ruled in total by any Scandinavian group. Also given how much emphasis the SNP has put on independent claiming effectively a colonial union with part of Scandinavia would be too great a U turn even for them.

Also as I say both regions get a lot out of the current union in terms of resources, parliamentary representation and the like. To go from that to being very small fish in a very large EU that is centred very much around the Paris-Berlin alliance is a big ask.

@stevep59 Yes, you have lots of errors and assumptions there.

The EU has no stake if you succeed or fail. They suffer a larger economic hit if you fail. If they wanted to make the UK fail, they wouldn't have granted an extension and simply crashed you out with no deal. Contrary to paranoia, they are being far more tolerant of the UK's political mess than I would be.

You get what you elect. Don't blame the politicians. Blame the people who elect them. They didn't get in via magic. If you don't like the system, and first past the post is a horrible system, then put in fairer ranked or proportional voting.

Then as a liberal democrat, why aren't you supporting yearly referendums to verify the will of the electorate every year? Also, since I never said I support the soviet union, I think the proper response would be... Fuck you? I think? Go fuck yourself? Go fuck... your cow? Fuck something.

Sure you do. I have zero doubt that britain will eventually recover. I think it will be a balkanized, hollow shell of itself if it leaves as it's been trying to leave. Here's the thing: I don't care if Britain stays in the EU or leaves. What I care is HOW Britian stays or leaves. I care about the process, because the process employed will determine the harm that is inflicted.

And by the by... why the hell wouldn't you want to be Europe's Texas to Germany's California? Do you have any idea how much political, social, and economic power you're pissing away? Sure. Go be your own thing, but before you do, ask why Britain fought tooth and nail to get INTO the EEC in the first place before you rush to get out of it. Because I guarantee you're not going to get a second opportunity to join.

Also, I have this great thing call intelligence that lets me criticize fucked up situations, both foreign AND domestic!

@Somber

Well that's a lot of idiotic hatred and stupidity. Pity you don't have any wisdom else you wouldn't have produced a pile of crap like that. Cruder than I would normally reply but then you reap what you sow.

If you knew anything about British politics you would know a lot of people have been pushing for a more democratic system for generations. However the flaws which make it so bad are what makes it attractive for corrupt vested interests. [In that way its like the EU on steroids]. Unless your arguing that reformers should be planning some sort of military coup its got to be done via the political process and that is bloody tough, even before the only major party pushing for it decided it preferred repeated attempts at political suicide as it got more fanatic and extreme.

Sorry the position of Germany right hand is already taken. What we want is to govern ourselves and set rules that suit British culture and systems rather than an alien bloc that has continued to insult and lie to and about us and screw as much out of us as it can. This isn't something the imperialists are happy about but then fuck the parasitical little scum, to use your language.

If your not willing to discuss matters in a responsible and adult manner then get lost.

@weelydangle so did most of the P.I.G.S. and Portugal Spain and Italy beat the UK, with Portugal landing a bronze. ;)

@Nushka Which is great! I'm genuinely very happy for those countries And yes, it'd've been nice if the UK had been further up the list, but at least we beat the French.

I wonder if the situation is reversed in "Stand Still Stay Silent" -
Iceland is the most populous nation at 190,600, while Danes are just 12,400 folk isolated on Bornholm.

http://sssscomic.com/comic.php?page=66

@Epi Yes, this comic is good and relevant. Read it, y'all.

@Epi - Might be, if they could just keep the Danes from trying to reclaim their ancestral lands.
Although that endangers Danes, not the (SSSScurrent) Danish country itself....

@Epi - keep saying that and the post-Rash Danes will somehow get the idea that the trolls haunting their former homelands are technically still humans of Danish nationality ... >;->

.....dozens of African countries are safer than my country. I...think I'm going to move to Africa now. Seriously, I think I'd love to "go back to Africa" as some racist folks told me to do in grade school...except none of my ancestors came from Africa. Kinda the sad part of being First Nations. America IS our country. It was before the white folks even looked at it. Hmm. Maybe if the white people go back to Europe we'll be a safer country.

@tc49pz Everyone's ancestors came from Africa at some point.

@tc49pz I don't see how the whites going back to Europe would make your country safer since in the top 10 safest countries half of them are European.

Second comment on this, but here is the list for anyone curious were their own country has scored this year!

http://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/safest-countries-in-the-world/

@Lostdaydreams Eh, on par with what I was thinking. 6th.

@Lostdaydreams YES! No. 9! (*w*)

@JudasFm (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧ ✧ﾟ･: *ヽ(◕ヮ◕ヽ) Congrats!

@Lostdaydreams Mine isn't even in the list. :'(

@LaVallett1 Oh I'm sorry to hear that :C . Maybe you can find a different site that features more countries?

@Lostdaydreams Same webpage that listed Sweden as being Switzerland, yep:

Population Density and Surface Area in Sweden

//:.....Sweden is found in northern Europe and is made up of thousands of tiny islands in addition to the mainland. Switzerland is situated between the Baltic and North Seas and touches borders with Finlands and Norway.

Wow, just, wow.

@Shitzadorina Pff can't tell if that was a very weird "typo" or if the person who wrote that needs to take a double take on the world map.

@Lostdaydreams It also lists Sweden as being made of islands... my brother pointed that out for me.

@Shitzadorina To be fair it does start with the exact same 2 letters ! Talk about confusing country names...

Also Iceland is located rather far away - geographically speaking - from the other countries, thus easily overlooked.

The factors used to compile this report include: ... Military expenditures as a percentage of GDP.

In other words, worthless list (or maybe, not the list is worthless, but the name is misleading)

@szopen Would you happen to have a link to the list in question?

@TuxedoCartman
I presume this is the list:

http://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/safest-countries-in-the-world/

Canada is ranked 6th but has a higher population then the countries ranked 1 - 5.
Japan is ranked 9th but has a higher population then the countries ranked 1 - 8.

Behold the true titans of per capita safety.

@Kummerspeck

Thanks for that.

By the way, USA is 128th and falling. Not gloating or mocking; just saying you folks have some work to do. Get to it!
Also, please quickly let go of the fantasy that electing a new authoritarian tyrant that may or not be any better than the old authoritarian tyrant, will magically fix nation-wide systemic problems.

@Hinoron : While I am not exactly proud that the US is competing for the "Its not that bad" participation trophy, some of the countries that rank ahead of the US do lead me believe that these rankings should be taken with a grain of salt. The US is definitely safer then South Africa, Brazil, Honduras and Guatemala, just to name a few.

Israel is also ranked bellow Mali and Venezuela.

I agree that there is still a lot of work to do though.

@Kummerspeck I would like to see the criteria used. Someone else said that one of them was the amount spent of national defense as a percentage of GDP, and good god I don’t think ANYBODY outside of a few brutal African dictatorships beats the United States in that category!

@TuxedoCartman "There are some commonalities among the safest countries in the world, such as the their levels of wealth, social welfare, and education. Additionally, these countries have effective criminal justice systems, and the governments maintain very healthy relationships with their citizens."

Not sure how true or how accurate the date is, but that's more or less their explication on how they judged the list.

http://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/safest-countries-in-the-world/

@Lostdaydreams Haha... two things on the list stood out to me:
1)Number of internal and external violent conflicts.
2)Level of distrust.

Well, in America at the moment, the whites, blacks, Latinos, rich, poor, police, Democrats and Republicans are all trying to kill everyone else in that list, and we’ve lost count of how many foreigners we’re at war with, so... yeah. I think we, umm... win?... those two categories.

@TuxedoCartman Hey! The Republicans aren't trying to kill anyone! We just over here with our hand raised politely trying to get those crazy Liberals to TALK to us! (Instead of yelling at us over chicken sandwich boycotts and sharpies of all things) Hundreds of people have gotten beat up and even hospitalized because they were wearing a red hat. (Wasn't even always a Trump hat!) No one is getting beat up for wearing Hillary shirts! Bit surprizing how many people are still wearing those things really, guess they think the "I'm with Her" logo is cool.

@Kin 0/10 for trolling. No basis in reality so nowhere to engage; whining only exacerbates the fantasy you’re trying to spin. Not even annoying, just... sad.

@Kin : Conservative victim hood at its finest. Nobody is going to assault you for wearing a MEGA hat while shoveling Jesus chicken into your mouth. You conveniently neglect to mention the actual acts of domestic terrorism carried out by the skin flaps worshipers.

@Kummerspeck And they boast both one of the highest and one of the lowest ratios of guns per capita as well, putting everyone in the little gun scandal to silence (if they didn't ignore it)

Dear tourists, can you please stop trying to kill yourselves with our nature.
With love and concern,
- Norway

Iceland jumps two world ranks in women's equality! How did he do it?

(Slightly embarrassed) "...Well, uh... Anna from the coffee shop downtown got a pay raise this week, you see."