Yahoo News 'Government is an agglomeration of defeats and weaknesses': your best comments on the Guardian today
Today, readers have been discussing the latest on the government’s Brexit defeat, as well as the size of wine glasses and the short story Cat Person.
To join in you can click on the links in the comments below to expand and add your thoughts. We’ll continue to highlight more comments worth reading as the day goes on.
This government defeat on Brexit can now inspire other Tory rebels
Polly Toynbee said she hopes Theresa May’s loss yesterday will mean remainers will grow a backbone and stand up for parliamentary democracy. Readers joined the discussion to voice their opinions on the Brexit amendment vote.
‘The current administration looks to be less of a government and more of an agglomeration of defeats and weaknesses’
So, I’m a Yankee for whom a lot of the elaborate infighting over Brexit is a little mystifying, but based on the coverage I’ve seen, I understand the current May administration to be less of a government and more of an agglomeration of defeats and weaknesses in the vague shape of a ruling party. Is this correct?
SpaceCop
‘As someone who voted leave I’m appalled by the vilification by the right wing press of MPs’
I say this as someone who voted to leave, but I’m appalled by the vilification by the right wing press - particularly the Mail - of MPs for acting in a perfectly reasonable way to advance amendments to the Bill which they believe are appropriate. That is their job.
Of course the Mail has form in having taken the judges to task for simply doing their job in upholding the law.
I also completely accept that in a democracy those who want us to stay in the EU and/or those who want a continuing close relationship with the EU are completely entitled to seek to advance that cause inside and outside Parliament. The referendum set us on a course but it doesn’t mean all debate is silenced forevermore.
ds9074
Size does matter: wine glasses are seven times larger than they used to be
Readers talk about scientists discovering that the capacity of wine glasses is now nearly seven-fold than it was in the 1700s.
‘How ignorant we all are’
A clear demonstration of how ignorant we all are.
How many people realise that a bottle of wine or six pints is your weekly alcohol allowance?
I know people who do that pretty well every day and more at the weekend. Don’t even think about spirits and people who drink them in big glasses.
ID0303
‘In the 17th century wine was drunk more like shots’
1 key factor here is that in the 17th century, wine was drunk more like shots today. Everyone’s glasses would be filled. Somebody would propose a toast, and the whole glass would be downed. The glass would be refilled and another toast proposed...So you can’t measure the quantity of wine drunk from the size of the glass.
memesmith
Cat Person: the short story that launched a thousand theories
Elsewhere, readers are discussing Kristen Roupenian’s short story on the stilted romance between Margot and Robert whose ultimately unfulfilling relationship is fuelled only by the power of text message banter.
‘I took this to be a story about how sexual encounters that are technically consensual can sometimes end up feeling like a violation’
I took this to be a story about how sexual encounters that are technically consensual can sometimes end up feeling like a violation. This is all horribly realistic, and I think very common. Twenty is very young, and you don’t necessarily know what you want or how to tell the difference between being attracted to someone and being flattered that they’re attracted to you. It’s easy, when you’re twenty, to be optimistic. It’s easy to ignore red flags, to take a brief conversation or some witty texts as evidence of a real connection. After all, you want this to work. It’s very hard to admit when it hasn’t worked and back out in a situation like Margot’s - partly because there’s always the danger of violence, and partly because you don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. And the result can all too easily be a sexual encounter that the woman does not want and feels unable to escape. It’s not rape, in the sense that the man is not consciously forcing the woman to have sex with him. But the woman experiences it as a trauma and a violation all the same.
LilyDale
Comments have been edited for length. This article will be updated throughout the day with some of the most interesting ways readers have been participating across the site.
