Independence day

[rubato]

Pardon my French... work in French rather than English during the divorce talks, an EU official familiar with Brussels' Brexit task force said on Friday.

French has long been established as the language of international finance. This demand may seem unwarranted but it does fit within all business protocols. Brits just like to be stubborn, that's all.

even if that is the case, the issues of Brexit are more far-reaching than economics, and English is one of the official EU languages. It seems a bit overreaching to me--why not Latvian?

Used to be one of the official EU languages. Now there is only the Republic of Ireland who speak English and they are smaller than Denmark. The UK threw away any right to complain about it.

Au revoir et ne laissez pas la porte a frappé le cul à la sortie. .

yrs,
rubato

[Big RR]

Given that English is the most common second language in Europe, and EU regulations are written in English (and German and French as I recall), I sincerely doubt it will disappear as a language of the EU. That would be the EU biting its nose off to spite Britain's face.

As for the negotiations, since an orderly, planned exit will help both the EU and GB, it would be best to work this silliness out amicably and get on with the serious negotiations.

[Sue U]

Why not German?  After all, the Germans ran most of Europe not just once but twice in the past century.

They're still running it today, although thankfully they've learned to do it without the shooty-killy part.

[Bicycle Bill]

YET ANOTHER REASON TO REPEAL BREXIT!

The Effects of Brexit Hit the Model Train Industry
Residents of the UK are still feeling the impact of June’s Brexit vote.  Inflation has spiked, the trade deficit has widened, and a temporary Marmite shortage sent part of the country into a panic.  Now, the latest victim of the referendum’s aftermath is the model train industry.  As the BBC reports, makers of toy trains are boosting their wholesale prices in Britain.

One of the latest companies to adjust for Britain’s growing economic troubles is Hornby.  The top model train manufacturer is headquartered in the UK but they make their products in China.  The value of the pound against the U.S. dollar has dropped by about 17 percent since the Brexit vote; because the raw materials used to build kits are purchased with dollars, Hornby's profits are shrinking.

To make up for the devaluation, Hornby announced earlier this month that they’ll be raising wholesale prices by an average of 10 percent.  This marks the first price increase from the company in nearly three years.

Hornby isn’t the only figure in the model train scene forced to cope with the Brexit fallout.  Dapol, a much smaller manufacturer based in Wales, has had to raise costs of their imported models by 10 to 20 percent.

Despite the pastime’s decline in popularity over the years, there are still plenty of enthusiasts out there willing to shell out $650 or more for a model train set.  Time will tell if the cost increase is enough to turn off any longtime hobbyists.

-"BB"-

[wesw]

one of my grandfathers had hundreds of thousands of dollars (maybe a million) worth of model trains, they were donated to a museum in PA after his death, as was his wish......

I spent many hours and days helping him set up his train building and went to a few train meets with him.....

that orange and black Milwaukee locomotive was my favorite of all in his collection, and it was a massive collection

thanks for posting the pic.....

wes

eta- I also liked a couple of cheap little Marx engines he had.... they weren t as valuable as the Lionel stuff but they would just go like hell..., and he would let me run the piss out of them on the un adorned and incomplete sections of his train tables.....

[oldr_n_wsr]

I always liked Gomez Addams' train set.

[Gob]

According to a survey published in 2006, 13% of EU citizens speak English as their native language. Another 38% of EU citizens state that they have sufficient skills in English to have a conversation, so the total reach of English in the EU is 51%

Fuck the EU!

[rubato]

Good for you! Every continent needs a Mexico! Some place with a perpetually depressed economy and friendly poorly paid natives to take care of you.

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-36956418

Currency

The pound has fallen dramatically since the Brexit vote at the end of June.

It declined to a three-year low against the euro following Theresa May's announcement that the UK would begin formal Brexit negotiations by the end of March.

Since the referendum, it has fallen about 18% against the dollar since the referendum, to levels not seen since 1985. On 20 October the pound was worth $1.22.

Against the euro, on 20 October it was worth about €1.12. A year ago it was worth €1.35.

The currency's continuing weakness has been accentuated by the cut in interest rates and the Bank of England's economic stimulus measures.

The fall in the pound helps exporters but it makes foreign holidays more expensive for British tourists and it has also increased import costs for manufacturers (see Trade below).

The falling pound triggered a stand-off between Tesco and its biggest supplier, Unilever, which wanted to increase prices in the UK to compensate for drop in value. This led Tesco to stop selling some of his most famous brands - including Marmite - to online shoppers.

However, one beneficiary of cheaper sterling has been the UK's own tourism sector, as a weaker pound makes Britain a cheaper destination for overseas tourists. The travel analytics firm ForwardKeys says flight bookings to the UK rose 7.1% after the vote.

Caissa Touristic, a tour operator specialising in Chinese travel to Europe, says it saw a 20% increase in enquiries and bookings for the UK this summer compared with the same period last year, while Irish no-frills airline Ryanair says it has seen a rise in overseas visitors travelling to London, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds and Scotland."

Unfortunately the hard-working natives of England are mostly Italian. Bu then Italy has such a great cultural tradition.


yrs,
rubato

[Gob]

I was going to post a considered rebuttal of all your nonsense, but why waste time and energy when a simple "Why don't you fuck off and die double-Dick" will suffice.

[Gob]

Back on planet sane

A focus on the benefits of the sharp depreciation in the pound catapulted the domestically-focused FTSE 250 to a fresh intraday record high. The mid-cap index climbed by as much as 2.3pc to 18,607.13 in intraday trade.

Meanwhile, the internationally-focused FTSE 100 charged into bull-market territory, surging more than 20pc from its February nadir to 7,121.93 in intraday trading - a whisker away from its all-time record high of 7,122.74. However, it finished at 7,074.34 - up 90.82 points, or 1.3pc.

In an embarrassing u-turn, the International Monetary Fund has said the UK will be the fastest growing major economy this year. It follows earlier predictions that a vote to leave the EU could plunge the country into recession and trigger a stock market crash.

It praised the actions of the Bank of England post-Brexit, for helping to "maintain confidence" in the economy. The IMF now expects the UK economy will grow by 1.8pc this year - that's above its earlier forecast of 1.7pc (which it issued in July) and puts the UK on track to be the fastest growing G7 economy this year.

[Lord Jim]

You do realize, that because of rube's neurological condition which prevents his brain from recognizing and processing any information that could create cognitive dissonance with his pre-conceived conclusions, that when he sees this:

In an embarrassing u-turn, the International Monetary Fund has said the UK will be the fastest growing major economy this year. It follows earlier predictions that a vote to leave the EU could plunge the country into recession and trigger a stock market crash.

It praised the actions of the Bank of England post-Brexit, for helping to "maintain confidence" in the economy. The IMF now expects the UK economy will grow by 1.8pc this year - that's above its earlier forecast of 1.7pc (which it issued in July) and puts the UK on track to be the fastest growing G7 economy this year.

What he's "seeing" is something like this:

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.

[Joe Guy]

Don't be unfunnily stupid. As you can see below, the people of Britain should be highly worried about terrorists being upset.

yrs,
dingbato

[wesw]

just don t say that you are joining the tories....

I watched about a half hour of the EU summit in straburg, on c span, last night.....

it was friggin' must see tv....

if c span hadn t left it to cover a campaign event I woulda watched the whole dang shindig.....

[oldr_n_wsr]

it was friggin' must see tv....

Other than God fearing rednecks shooting guns and blowing stuff up, there is no such thing as "must see TV". IMHO

[wesw]

they were talking about eu ministers punching the shit out of each other, they were calling people quislings....

...and much much more.

it was halfway to a hillbilly feud...

Europe is done, both sides of the arguments got ovations of about equal vigar...

the EU is the sick man of Europe....

run, don t walk away from it...

[wesw]

the EU has softly become the Fourth Reich...

[Bicycle Bill]

it was friggin' must see tv....

Other than God fearing rednecks shooting guns and blowing stuff up, there is no such thing as "must see TV". IMHO

Unless it would be God-fearing rednecks saying "Hold muh beer an' watch this!"
... and then shooting guns at something and blowing themselves up.



-"BB"-

[wesw]

I didn t watch the video but....

everyone know that you are supposed to shoot a lawnmower full of explosives from behind a tree....

he had trees everywhere...

[rubato]

I was going to post a considered rebuttal of all your nonsense, but why waste time and energy when a simple "Why don't you fuck off and die double-Dick" will suffice.

Translation: "The facts are as rubato says they are but I'm too much of an ignoramus to have anything constructive to say about it."

The GBP has collapsed and stayed down, which will help exports, and god knows you're fucked otherwise.

Everyone complains that the Chinese devalue their currency like this to artificially boost exports. So now you're the Chinese of Europe!

yrs,
rubato

[Lord Jim]

You do realize, that because of rube's neurological condition which prevents his brain from recognizing and processing any information that could create cognitive dissonance with his pre-conceived conclusions, that when he sees this:

In an embarrassing u-turn, the International Monetary Fund has said the UK will be the fastest growing major economy this year. It follows earlier predictions that a vote to leave the EU could plunge the country into recession and trigger a stock market crash.

It praised the actions of the Bank of England post-Brexit, for helping to "maintain confidence" in the economy. The IMF now expects the UK economy will grow by 1.8pc this year - that's above its earlier forecast of 1.7pc (which it issued in July) and puts the UK on track to be the fastest growing G7 economy this year.

What he's "seeing" is something like this:

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.

And right on cue, the rubester provides the proof:

Translation: "The facts are as rubato says they are but I'm too much of an ignoramus to have anything constructive to say about it."

Well, he has bragged about being predictable...