HeartyBeast
@HeartyBeast@kbin.social
- Comment on What happens when councils take control of buses? 5 months ago:
I’d say that the railways were probably more likely to fail because you have the added complication of the rail infrastructure company on top, plus the need for through-ticketing and timetable coordination. Those factors magnified the sheer amount of shit in the shoe
- Comment on What happens when councils take control of buses? 5 months ago:
Counterpoint- the council can mandate routes and frequency in the contract and put it out to tender. The idea is that the private sector is better an innovating to be efficient, though I’m not sure that has ever really been demonstrated
- Comment on Why do arranged marriages persist in many cultures? 6 months ago:
The way marriage is set up presently, it is made for the needs of a majority, but there are many outliers.
Firstly, of course many people cohabit very happily for a lifetime, there’s no requirement to get married. They settle their affairs with bespoke agreements property contracts and wills. It works fine for them - it’s just a bit more complex than the standard package that marriage presents , but not a real problem.
Don’t want marriage, but quite fancy the tax benefits? In the UK you can opt for a Civil Partnerships which handles most of the outliers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_partnership_in_the_United_Kingdom
Bottom line -for people who want to get married, there’s marriage. For people who want to formally merge most of their financial affairs and tax obligations, there is civil partnership, for everyone else, there are bespoke legal and financial arrangements and contracts.
No compulsion, no loss of autonomy (other than mutually agreed) an D.C. certainly no slavery.
Good, eh?
- Comment on Why do arranged marriages persist in many cultures? 6 months ago:
So, your actual problem is the legal expense and legal hassles involved in divorce?
Many/most of these are to do with the painful untangling of shared resources and responsibilities that come from sharing a life and resources. Marriage simplifies many things for two people - ‘we own this thing together’ becomes much simpler with marriage. The legal process of negotiating whether 20 or 40 or 50% of the house belongs to partner A is what tends to cause the pain.
- Comment on Why do arranged marriages persist in many cultures? 6 months ago:
How does gay marriage fit into your claims of misogyny? I have at least 3 sets of gay friends who, after decades of waiting were delighted to make formal public promises to each other.
- Comment on Why do arranged marriages persist in many cultures? 6 months ago:
A relationship is work.
Absolutely. And it’s an oath is just a commitment to work at it, and not just throw up hands at the earliest opportunity
There is no right to the rest of someone’s life on either side should they change their mind or evolve in different directions;
It’s not a “a right to another’s life” it’s a commitment to a shared life. And yes, that commitment can not work out, which is why divorce is now thankfully pretty easy.
that is slavery
Not using any common definition of the word, no.
I have no right to stop them. This is true equality and freedom. It is a fundamental human right.
See, divorce - above. Some marriages don’t work out, or are abusive. That doesn’t mean there’s no value in marriage.
- Comment on Why do arranged marriages persist in many cultures? 6 months ago:
I think you are getting downvoted because you framed it in terms of ‘entitled to get a wife’. It it is usually similarly beneficial/problematic for both partners. I have a work colleague from India who is probably going to have a marriage arranged for him in the next year. It’s not something he particularly wants, but it’s traditional so he’ll probably go through with it. It doesn’t really feel like he is benefitting from the patriarchy 🙂
- Comment on Why do arranged marriages persist in many cultures? 6 months ago:
The first scenario is called ‘forced marriage’ in English law and is illegal. Arranged marriage is consensual
- Comment on Why do arranged marriages persist in many cultures? 6 months ago:
It’s not clear to my why you draw parallels with slavery. Spending a massive sum on the days is not an intrinsic prerequisite for marriage, neither is a dowry.
All marriage is, is a formal public oath between two people to spend the rest of their lives together, to look after each other and to share resources.
As an institution, it has many benefits including to the married people’s health. It also negefurs the state in that the mutual commitment to care it tends to reduce healthcare and social costs. So the state may provide some benefits.
The main disadvantage is that she stacks the dishwasher wrong.
- Comment on Five ways to catapult the UK towards solar energy success - Positive News 6 months ago:
If that includes batteries, I suspect the payback is shorter these days if you are using an agile tariff like Octopus. I made a bit of money this winter forecast-charging batteries when the electricity price was negative and force discharging when the export price was high
- Comment on Five ways to catapult the UK towards solar energy success - Positive News 6 months ago:
Green Energy Together? We used them for our panels. Complete nightmare. But they eventually installed and the system is working well.
- Comment on Marc Conway risked his life to stop the London Bridge terror attack. Why did he fear being sent to prison for it? 6 months ago:
Sounds like he made a reasonable call and the probation officer was suitably supportive. I’m finding it hard to feel outraged about this one.
- Comment on Men over 30, what do you keep in your bedside nightstand? 6 months ago:
Yes, clearly that’s what they are saying 🤦♂️
- Comment on Boris Johnson turned away from polling station after forgetting to bring photo ID 6 months ago:
The things he'll do to have something to write about in his next newspaper column.
- Comment on Sword-wielding man attacks passersby in London, killing a 14-year-old boy and injuring 4 others 6 months ago:
If someone had a car, specifically designed to injure, it would probably be banned. Swords are already banned for the most part.
Legislation here - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-offensive-weapons-act-2019/statutory-guidance-offensive-weapons-act-2019-accessible-version
- Comment on Sword-wielding man attacks passersby in London, killing a 14-year-old boy and injuring 4 others 6 months ago:
Broadly already banned unless it is an antique sword. Decent rundown here
- Comment on ONS staff refuse to work two days a week in office 6 months ago:
Because it’s a ludicrous assertion. Just because something is useful on a regular basis, that does mean it is required constantly.
“Why are they letting people get out of bed? If people need beds, they clearly should be lying in them all day”
- Comment on Humza Yousaf to resign as Scotland's first minister 6 months ago:
It’s a weird one isn’t it.
- Comment on ONS staff refuse to work two days a week in office 6 months ago:
So why are they allowing part-time work then. If working in the office is necessary then surely it is necessary 100% of the time.
Ummmm, no?
- Comment on ONS staff refuse to work two days a week in office 6 months ago:
I’m that guy, to the extent that you’re the guy who never leaves his basement. I.e neither are true
- Comment on ONS staff refuse to work two days a week in office 6 months ago:
Its just inefficient to be using a building and requiring people to travel for what does mostly amount to sitting on your own on teams calls anyway.
Absolutely agreed, that’s why it is usually best to try and get the team together on agreed days - having a couple a week allows for flexibility, but also makes it likely you get critical mass
- Comment on ONS staff refuse to work two days a week in office 6 months ago:
They fully admit that it isn’t necessary to be in the office
Do they? I don’t think so.
- Comment on Ever notice mammals never seem to come in green? 6 months ago:
- Comment on ONS staff refuse to work two days a week in office 6 months ago:
I work with the data analysis guys in a large UK public-sector organisation and yes it can be very useful to be talking about the significance of different data sets, how data could be collected, how measurement can be improved - just to chew this stuff over. It can also be very useful for new team members, when they are in their first few months to get to know the rest of the crew and to feel they can ask questions in a natural way, not feeling that they are being annoying by cranking up a Teams call or chat.
Ii'm a big old fan of Teams and collaboration software in general, but face to face interaction can definitely be better in some circumstances. Yes - I'm also a big fan of being able to work from home a couple of days a week
- Comment on Conservative MP Daniel Poulter defects to Labour 6 months ago:
Blair is not a Thatcherite
- Comment on ONS staff refuse to work two days a week in office 6 months ago:
… unless there is.
- Comment on If Britain is so bothered by China, why do these .gov.uk sites use Chinese ad brokers? 6 months ago:
“The government” is a diverse thing look at the examples given in the article
- Transport for London
- Derbyshire Dales District Council
- Walsall Council
- The Met Office
I rather doubt Chinese banner ad brokers are at the top of Derbyshire council’s agenda
- Comment on Rooftop solar panels are flooding California’s grid. That’s a problem. As electricity prices go negative, the Golden State is struggling to offload a glut of solar power 6 months ago:
Well it runs on a Raspberry Pi 4 about £50 all in.
- Comment on Rooftop solar panels are flooding California’s grid. That’s a problem. As electricity prices go negative, the Golden State is struggling to offload a glut of solar power 6 months ago:
I have batteries that I use for my solar - but here in the UK electricity pricing frequently goes negative in the winter at night to due to a surplus of wind power. a few simple automations make sure when that happens my batteries start charging and my electric water tank heater turns on. My energy company now has a scheme where they will do it all for you if you opt in - automagically getting your batteries to charge when it makes financial sense for you.
- Comment on Rooftop solar panels are flooding California’s grid. That’s a problem. As electricity prices go negative, the Golden State is struggling to offload a glut of solar power 6 months ago:
The capitalism that has encouraged people to install lots of rooftop solar capacity?