Tag Archives: EU Referendum

Madness

The Brexit referendum could have been an invigorating exercise in participatory democracy, addressing important issues about subsidiarity, regulation, and the like. Instead, it was presented as a discussion of a post-Brexit wishlist in which dues no longer payable to the EU could be spent on [insert cause of your choice].

But now, the reformed Vote Leave, called Change Britain, have dropped their pre-referendum pledge of a £350m-a-week spending bonanza for the NHS.

Happy Han-UKIP-ah! GEDDIT?!
“How are we maintaining this bonfire with so few manifesto pages?”

Don’t worry – this post is actually about  awesome ska legend Prince Buster… Continue reading Madness

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This Is My Truth, Tell Me Yours

Urgh. What a horrible week or so it’s been. I survived a massive haemorrhagic stroke for this?!

At around 2am on the morning of Sunday 12 June, a man walked into the Pulse nightclub in Orlando. By the time two hours had passed, 49 people who had been in the club had been killed, and 43 injured. To highlight the disproportionate risk of violence people in the LGBT community face, it’s worth mentioning that Pulse is one of Orlando’s most popular gay clubs.

When even a Mail on Sunday commentator is saying this, it’s hard to imagine that America’s incredible rates of gun violence will ease any time soon:

1,600 kids aged 0-17 killed in gun violence so far this year

Continue reading This Is My Truth, Tell Me Yours

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Vote Man Returns!

I’ve been trying to tell myself that it’s too early for an #EURef post. But even now, still two-and-a-half weeks out, the media coverage is suffocating. It’s hard to focus on anything else. Europe touches so much that goes on in the blog.

Last week, Mrs Stroke Bloke and I had just returned from our trip to Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. One thing that really caught our eyes – other than the crazy number of Deloreans on the ferry from Cairnryan to Belfast – was the ease of crossing the border.

“Are you sure this is the Cairnryan ferry, Stroke Bloke?” Pic by Mat Moura at DeviantArt

[Enjoy apoplectic.me? Get close and personal with the Apoplexy Tiny Letter here.]

Continue reading Vote Man Returns!

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Will This Do?

Yesterday evening, I still had no idea what this week’s blog would be about. Then, the hand of history reached out across the British Isles….

Hold on, isn’t this an episode of Threads? Continue reading Will This Do?

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