Cat Ladder

The cat ladder, all the rage in Berne, Switzerland!?
For urban cats, obviously...

source: the Guardian

Valentine's

Valentine's Day 2019 has an alternate to romance: girls
having a good time on their own. The best vacation vlog
on YouTube in this category is undoubtedly this one.



A close second, this one for self-assertion, goes to
cause célèbre A for going off Optavia at 550 lbs.



You are not lacking for calories, A,  and the long-term possibility
of vitamin deficiency is covered by the foods they give you. You
can do this; report back in next summer.

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G_Europe

The emergence of a viable European Community won't just
happen without design. And the present moment does seem
perillous as democratic impulse on the part of citizens
enters into conflict with institutional questions. Italy, for a while,
considered running a referendum on leaving the euro. It would
be in their interest to do so if nothing else changes. What needs
to change? The leadership is eloquently silent on the question but
tax harmonization and revenue sharing do seem reasonable. One
might even take seriously that certain enterprises are inherently
transnational, like Google Europe, and start from there...

                                     *     *     *

The smile of the day, on MSN France, is at the expense of ever-earnest
America. Tudder is the current hot app, and it allows bovine
pairings for reproduction; one swipes left or right!

http://www.slate.fr/story/173400/tudder-tinder-vaches-elevage-royaume-uni

Mad, I tell you!

Europe does seem to be going through something
of a rough patch with Brexit, the week-end insurrections
of the Gilets Jaunes in France, Italy's web-populist government.
New tech, I fear, is perhaps neglected as a driving factor.
Even in America, President Trump tweets away his
concerns in 'populist' language, an enduring vector
in his resilience. And this morning, Nigel Farage from
England presents his new party in intimate language: he
is ready for the European elections although he would
really prefer not to have to go...

What is really going on here. From a Communications point
of view, political actors seem to be creating personal characters
to present themselves. This is new, and is not being examined.
Worse, the historical legacy of 'There is no such thing as a
populist Left' is stopping the validation of democratic connectivity.

The Gilets Jaunes think they are bumping the 5th Republic because
no one is explaining they are not. They're 'meeting up' from Facebook
and it's turning ugly.

One of the really fun things about Montreal is that restaurants and
bars have cute names. Maybe a little meet-up at the UQAM district
YER MAD bar would do everyone a lot of good.

Brexitology

In discussion on voting mechanisms, I have always defended
straight win/loose on a seat by seat basis. This ensures more coherent
policies in a Parliamentary setting, in my view. But a shifting
context does present difficulties.

https://www.liberation.fr/planete/2019/02/06/une-sortie-de-l-ue-sans-accord-risque-de-precipiter-le-demantelement-du-royaume-uni_1707724

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source: Daily Mail, UK

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From The Economist

Less haste, less speed
Brexit? What Brexit? Amid national crisis, MPs debate beer and snooker
Despite a massive legislative backlog for Brexit, the parliamentary agenda is remarkably light
Britain
Feb 6th 2019
IF BREXIT IS to happen on the due date of March 29th a mass of legislation must be passed by Parliament. The pressure will be greater still if Britain leaves with no deal, which would mean no transition period. Yet so far the government has got through just five of 11 major laws that are needed to make Brexit workable. Bills still in the queue cover trade, agriculture, fisheries, immigration, international health care and financial services. And Parliament has processed only 100 of 600-odd Brexit-related statutory instruments.

It was thus no surprise when the government scrapped the ten-day half-term recess that had been due to begin on February 15th, causing MPs to moan about suddenly having to find child care or, worse, cancel skiing holidays. Yet here is a curious thing: despite the urgency of the situation, this week the Commons enjoyed a largely Brexit-free agenda. Besides police and local-government finance, debates were held on such pressing matters as anti-social behaviour, beer taxes and sport, in which MPs spent three hours discussing subjects like a new rugby ground in Nantyffyllon and a project to get people with autism interested in snooker. Barely 30 sitting days remain until March 29th.
Why the parliamentary inactivity? One answer is that everything is on hold until Theresa May comes up with a plan for winning a meaningful vote on a revised Brexit deal. This week the search took her from Belfast to Brussels. Yet the signs are that the EU is not ready to offer more than minor tweaks to the Irish backstop that could keep Britain in a customs union. Since Tory Brexiteers want the backstop ditched completely, the prime minister’s chances of getting her deal through Parliament still seem remote. She denies claims that she is running down the clock. Yet her inertia seems to be doing just that.
The other answer is the simple fact of minority government. Maddy Thimont Jack of the Institute for Government, a think-tank, says ministers have chosen not to press ahead with the agriculture and fisheries bills for fear of ambushes by MPs. The trade bill, which could be a vehicle for efforts to keep Britain permanently in a customs union, is held up in the Lords, where the government also lacks a majority. This points to another problem. Even if Mrs May miraculously wins a meaningful vote on her Brexit deal, she will find it hard to secure the majorities needed for all stages of a subsequent withdrawal bill.
She has promised MPs a new set of Brexit votes on Valentine’s day. That could see a further bid to upend normal procedure, to stop no deal. The government fiercely opposes such efforts to usurp its usual control of Parliament. Yet in truth its control is already weak—and unlikely to get stronger.

St-P

Just remembered the Russia restaurant vlogger I
sometimes follow. He is in St-Petersburg.