FallingAwake

No. They'd be switched over to a meter if they WON'T pay. That's different from if they genuinely CAN'T pay, which I believe the energy companies already make some provision for. I'm also curious as to know why they'd be suddenly "left freezing in the dark" instead of, say, cutting back on some things like running a washing machine for 12 hours a day.

Well, it wouldn't happen overnight. Instead, they'd all gradually be switched over to a meter, and they'd probably end up topping up because their TV and washing machine wasn't running. I'm just talking about the practical reality of what would happen if a million people stopped paying their energy bills. My point is, it wouldn't be a government problem. Maybe if 50% or more people did it, yes. But a million? Nah, that would be a temporary problem for the companies.

In the case of gas and electricity, the government won't be forced to do anything because the energy companies can simply install a payment meter. Then if you don't pay, that's perfectly fine. Power stops flowing.

Given that saying the Wuhan virus came out of a lab in Wuhan where they were studying how to make coronaviruses more infectious, is the height of scientific heresy, especially given that all of the Fauci-funded scientists, and even the leading experts in making coronavirus more infectious, such as the people working for EcoHealth Alliance, insist it didn't come out of a lab.... your use of the word "clearly" is pretty bold You'll find that zugzwang will be silent on the idea of Omicron coming out of a lab, given that it doesn't affect Glorious One China and their impeccable and infallible Class A++ lab in Wuhan, where nothing ever gets out, and no research on making coronavirus more infectious ever gets used in the real world.

While the energy cap isn't great, I think it was one of the American states, maybe Texas, where billpayers suddenly found themselves owing several thousand dollars to the energy companies, because there had been in a huge spike in the price over one or two days. Personally, that is terrifying, and at least the energy cap prevents this from happening here.

Sure, it turned out to be an "empty threat", but only because Omicron came along and turned covid into a cold/flu/sniffles for most people. How empty would those threats have been, had Delta continued to be the dominant strain? Either way, people's livelihoods were threatened. And then there's the covid passes, which in some countries were pretty draconian (i.e. not just concerts and clubs, but health establishments in the case of Slovenia(?) I think, or even places of work in the case of Italy.) I'm not sure why we'd want to be part of a union that allows those kinds of empty or actual threats within its territories. Don't forget the EU actually came up with vaccine passes, had already planned for them prior to the pandemic, and passed a directive allowing their use both internationally AND domestically. Had they barred their use domestically I might have given them more credit. As it was, they allowed governments to ride roughshod over the people and also suggested that mandating vaccines was a conversation worth having.

Yet apparently people will buy a £6 Lurpack tub.

Thing is, and forgive the brief intrusion into "Brexitland", but one of the reasons I voted to Leave the EU was that I sensed that the way the EU does things is fundamentally different from the way the UK sees things. This was manifested during the pandemic, when several EU countries mandated vaccines, and were willing to fine people who wouldn't have them, or in the case of Italy, bar people from even working. This is not the British way of doing things, so the pandemic DID highlight a fundamental difference in their approach to governments telling people what to do. For all his faults, Boris never REQUIRED you to get vaccinated, but several EU countries did require their people to get the jab, or suffer various penalties.

I didn't bite, because we already have an "appease Putin" thread. But I did want to say... we should have let Hitler have Poland, because it would have saved a fortune on planes.

which would be Game Over.

Maybe not, but they'd need to be seen to be doing something. Imagine the fallout if inflation is at 22% and their rate is still at 2.25% or 3%

I'll admit, it would be worth seeing just for the pant-pooping by the Bank of England, when they realise the kind of interest rate they'd have to set, to curb 22% inflation 👀

Yes, the Operation has indeed been "Special" in that sense.

I'd say he cares insofar as, if he lost a few cities, he might end up losing one or more physical parts of his body to a Russian mob. See: the Tsars and their family.

If you really believe this, then I challenge you to find out how many old people (i.e. people most at risk from coronavirus) were actually included in Pfizer's main clinical trial which they submitted to the FDA for approval of their vaccine. The vast majority of people in Pfizer's trial were healthy, fairly youngish people who weren't at significant risk of dying from the virus in the first place. The FDA then put faith in this fairly shaky study, and then everyone else put faith in the FDA, because "Science". 🙏📿

Yes, I think it's fair to say there is definitely a huge difference in viewpoint between the West and at least Putin's version of the world, which is based on that Eurasian Mission stuff. But then, it was also like that during the Cold War. The Soviet Union had an opposing philosophy to the West, i.e. Communism.

Even if that were the case, 99% of people don't believe in Jeebus, and so need to put their complete faith in The Great Needle 🙏

Well, that's where we differ. There are many reasons, but let's just keep it simple. The reason NATO haven't directly intervened in Ukraine is because of nukes. Therefore the likelihood they would invade Russia is approximately, rounded to the nearest 3 decimal places, 0.000%.

It's an opinion in the sense that a small minority believe that "virology is BS". If this troubles you, simply ignore their posts. I think you're familiar with the Ignore button because you periodically remind us about it and how many people are on it. This is just a strawman. As we've pointed out to you before, very few if any are saying nurses are incompetent. In fact, I'd be surprised if ANYBODY is saying this. And nobody is saying scientists are all incompetent either. First, most scientists don't work in the relevant area we're discussing (i.e. virology, vaccines), so 99% of scientists aren't even relevant to the discussion. Of the remaining 1%, it's quite possible they are working under some false assumptions, or have some vested interests (i.e. Pfizer scientists, or scientists that have to beg for Fauci's money.) Most scientists aren't independently funded, but rely on others to fund them. Either way, people who aren't stupid can see that there's often vested interests at work. Case in point... the first paper to come out and claim that coronavirus couldn't possibly have come from a lab... was the people working in labs related to enhancing the effectiveness of coronavrius, i.e. Peter Daschle and co. Clearly then, any reasonable person should also pay attention to who is making claims and counter-claims, because there are a lot of potential vested interests at work. It's reassuring to know you have expertise in psychology, as well as virology. (I'm kidding here, since I believe you're entitled to your opinion). By the way, YOU are the one "clinging onto this"... because you repeatedly bring up that strawman about the nurses and scientists ALL being incompetent or conspiring! Literally nobody else does. Psychological issues?

Why do you think those newer members wanted to join NATO? What could possibly be a threat to these countries surrounding and near to Russia, that would cause them to join NATO, I wonder?

Either way, electricity is pad for by the public, either through their electricity bills or through general taxation. So the question is really just, should we pay for our electric through bills, or through taxation or some combination of these?

It's not, but it doesn't help either. I mean, half a million extra people a year have to live somewhere. Of course they're not buying up £300k houses. They're renting out portions of £300k houses that have been divided up into smaller and smaller living spaces, which does push up the price of those houses, since landlords can get more rent by stuffing these houses with more people. But obviously credit is the main driver of house prices.

I think you overestimate the ability of people to learn from the past.

Absolutely. What a laughingstock it would make Russia 🤣

Yes, what a great idea to outsource your most critical parts to these kinds of countries. Imagine the radical idea that these things might be manufactured one day in Western, reasonable-salary-paying democracies 😮