General Politics and Global Affairs Thread

[TRfan23]

Originally Posted by Sir Launcelot

What's an average UK water bill like? On my utility breakdown it's literally dirt cheap, like between 10-15 bucks a month. Electricity is much higher, always over $100 a month. That's just been going up and up over the years. I remember when I had my first apartment many years ago my electric bill was on the order of $20 bucks a month.

https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/bl...bill-per-month

I found this, mine currently has been ~£40 per month, and we've been metered in England for well over a decade now. It has been going up a fair bit more lately. I don't know how it works in the US, but you cannot pick the provider for water, so the water suppliers effectively operate as a natural monopoly over here.

For electric I pay around £43 per month and my gas (for central heating and hot water) I pay around £33 per month. It was much cheaper before the prices bumped up from the Ukrainian-Russian war years back.

[Sir Launcelot]

Originally Posted by TRfan23

https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/bl...bill-per-month

I found this, mine currently has been ~£40 per month, and we've been metered in England for well over a decade now. It has been going up a fair bit more lately. I don't know how it works in the US, but you cannot pick the provider for water, so the water suppliers effectively operate as a natural monopoly over here.

For electric I pay around £43 per month and my gas (for central heating and hot water) I pay around £33 per month. It was much cheaper before the prices bumped up from the Ukrainian-Russian war years back.

Any municipality providing city water here is a "monopoly" I guess, but in Minnesota at least, they don't try to skin you on water.

IDK if you can have your own well in US cities, I suppose you can, but in many spots, I would guess well water would be - not so good, because of pollution.

Even in rural areas, you have to worry about pollution from farm run-off, so you want a nice deep well. There's one place over by Austin, MN they call Cancer Road, because all the runoff from animal industry caused a lot of people to get sick from the water, over the years. Even Spam production has environmental consequences.

[TRfan23]

So the issue we've had from water companies here is sewage discharge - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sewage...United_Kingdom

Leading to hefty fines for many of them.

[Catapharact]

Well looks like the view on Guns in Canada; Especially around younger folks is shifting quite a bit:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/gun-o...tics-1.7504247

And its about damned time! You know, there is a difference between "responsible" Gun Ownership limitations and outright bans on the most ridiculous things imaginable that doesn't solves the underlying issue at all. Well Federal Elections are right around the corner, and this is going to be one of the hotly contested items on the table.

[Sir Launcelot]

Originally Posted by Catapharact

Well looks like the view on Guns in Canada; Especially around younger folks is shifting quite a bit:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/gun-o...tics-1.7504247

And its about damned time! You know, there is a difference between "responsible" Gun Ownership limitations and outright bans on the most ridiculous things imaginable that doesn't solves the underlying issue at all. Well Federal Elections are right around the corner, and this is going to be one of the hotly contested items on the table.

You need a Second Amendment. And while you are at it, take the King off of your coins.

While Canada has a long-standing history of firearms ownership, especially in rural and Indigenous communities for hunting, Cukier said that "when people start talking about gun owner rights, I get very concerned about the ideological flow of ideas from the U.S."

"There is no right to bear arms in Canada," she said.

Let these sorts of smug wannabe autocrats have the say and you will all eventually be slaves. You have never been truly free, but it can get a LOT worse.

[Catapharact]

Originally Posted by Sir Launcelot

You need a Second Amendment. And while you are at it, take the King off of your coins.

Easy there . Try to be a good neighbour and try to keep your problems on your side of the border. Keep in mind that unfortunately, most of the crimes that involve guns in Canada are usually linked with illegal supply of said guns from the U.S.

You guys are hitting us with tariffs on an overblown idea of a Fentanyl "Smuggling Ring" coming from Canada when in fact, only 59 lbs of Fentanyl was seized at the border during the years of 2022 - 2024. Should I post the statistics involving Gun Crimes in Canada and how many of those guns come from the U.S. ?

I don't mind having a discussion on an idea of having something like the 2nd Amendment in Canada but given the lower number of population numbers, coupled with what I think is a need for Mandatory Military service, a Swiss Model of Gun Laws and ownership might be more applicable for Canada.

Let these sorts of smug wannabe autocrats have the say and you will all eventually be slaves. You have never been truly free, but it can get a LOT worse.

Yeah the entire article pretty much screams "Karen!" Then again, its the CBC so that is to be expected.

The article fails to mention the increased interest in sports shooting among Younger folks of both gender or the fact that violent crime committed with guns has an increasingly "laissez-faire" attitude from the Liberal Government but God Forbid that a law abiding citizen shoots a perp in self defense. But nooo... Its all about Toxic Masculinity and those pesky Yankees!

There was a famous case in Milton Ontario in 2023 where a man who shot and killed an armed intruder breaking into his house was being charged with 2nd Degree Murder. It was after when a huge outcry happened from the public followed by an appeal by his lawyer is when the charges were dropped.

Canadians such as the aforementioned Author of the Article want well trained Soldiers and a solid Military yet they fail to realize that in order to do that, you will have to introduce firearms training to a lot of younger folks. There is a reason why some of the best soldiers in the Canadian Military come from Alberta and Quebec. Albertans usually introduce fire arms to their kids at a young age to teach them hunting. Quebec usually has families with a distinct history of Military Service and as such, we get the same deal as the Albertans.

You want a strong Military to pool from a small population? You will need to do two things:

1) Mandatory Military Service.
2) Laxing Gun Laws.

[perryloo]

Originally Posted by Sir Launcelot

You need a Second Amendment. And while you are at it, take the King off of your coins. .....

Here in Scotland we have our own money, but we also use English Money.

Any money will do me LOL.

Anyway I was quite shocked getting a fiver (£5) the other day and it had a picture of the King on it. After decades of the Queens face, this was just too weird!

But I spent it

[Sir Launcelot]

Originally Posted by Catapharact

I don't mind having a discussion on an idea of having something like the 2nd Amendment in Canada but given the lower number of population numbers, coupled with what I think is a need for Mandatory Military service, a Swiss Model of Gun Laws and ownership might be more applicable for Canada.

Well, that would be better than what you have.

It's a good idea to have SOME kind of check to keep guns out of the hands of criminal types and crazy people.

The great fear of course, is once something like that is in place, it will be used to deny for other reasons - maybe some government official doesn't like your politics, and denies you. Or denies you just because of a personal vendetta.

Originally Posted by perryloo

Here in Scotland we have our own money, but we also use English Money.

Any money will do me LOL.

Anyway I was quite shocked getting a fiver (£5) the other day and it had a picture of the King on it. After decades of the Queens face, this was just too weird!

But I spent it

You have your own money? I didn't know that. I thought you were still subject to the British Crown on such matters.

Do you get to print the face of William Wallace on your money if you want?

[xtimz]

Originally Posted by Catapharact

The article fails to mention the increased interest in sports shooting among Younger folks of both gender...

Could those guys rent guns for sports and return it afterwards?

[perryloo]

Originally Posted by Sir Launcelot

You have your own money? I didn't know that. I thought you were still subject to the British Crown on such matters.

Do you get to print the face of William Wallace on your money if you want?

Each bank up here has their own money, ie the Royal bank of Scotland, the Bank of Scotland, the Clydesdale bank, etc. so there is a lot of different money.

Some of the money shocks the tourists and wonders if it is legal LOL, for instance here is the back of a Clydesdale bank fiver, with a mouse on it (a reference to the poet Rabbie Burns famous poem 'to a mouse').



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