Life

[Merus]

Given there appears to be a low-grade resentment over the UK's lack of engagement with the EU project, to the point of sabotaging it so they can keep autonomy, I wouldn't be overly surprised if the EU tries to oust the UK if they mess about too much.

[brkl]

I don't think the EU really operates with that level of agency. The UK would have to pull a couple of Russia's to become such a pariah.

[feelthedarkness]

This Minecraft thing is crushing my brain. If Notch keeps a BILLION for himself, he could easily just make the other 39 employees 25 millionaires. 

[Chris]

The tax rate for people in his income bracket in Sweden is extremely high so I imagine he's not going to walk away with $2.5b personally but yeah clearly he and anyone at Mojang with equity or beneficiary of a liquidity agreement is going to be in good shape.

[Nachimir]

If nothing else it's highlighted to me how naive I am to believe that the BBC is in any way a fair or impartial broadcaster. I know what the first B stands for so I shouldn't be too surprised but their attempt to smear and downplay the Yes campaign in the last few weeks in an effort to turn the undecideds towards a decision that would ensure their future has been an eye-opener. I wonder what else they've misrepresented over the years that I've fallen for.

 

BBC news has a really strange practice in place, at least in their TV work. No matter how insane or asymmetric the actors within a situation are, or how the available evidence stacks up, they'll always break an issue down into two sides, then give them both airtime for the sake of "balance". Their idea of balance sometimes becomes more important than facts, driving a weird agenda into

. It's centrist and bland in a way that seems to compromise accuracy rather than help it. Typically, BBC balance skews towards brown-nosing existing authorities, which can but doesn't necessarily create political bias in any specific direction, leading to all sides screaming about their very different ideas of how the BBC is biased.

 

I have a lot of love for the BBC because they make (non-news) programming that probably wouldn't be made on commercial or ad-based funding models, but they exist under the axe of whatever current government the UK has, and their news department could be burned to the ground as far as I'm concerned.

[Badfinger]

There can't possibly be any news that's unbiased, but it's funny you should mention the BBC specifically, as apparently their journalists were told this summer to stop giving equal air time to truther global warning wackos.

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/bbc/10944629/BBC-staff-told-to-stop-inviting-cranks-on-to-science-programmes.html

[Nachimir]

That's really encouraging.

 

Arguably the Financial Times has a bias towards capitalism, but not a political one. I've known some anarchists who read it for that reason, citing that news in it is generally more factual.

[brkl]

That's not a political bias?

[Nachimir]

Of course it is, but possibly on an international/historical scale, rather than the partisan bias that's obvious in most news sources.

 

To try and express it another way: People don't do good business on the basis of being in a capitalist echo-chamber. The FT's audience have different needs and criteria to most audiences and seem more interested in accurate information than validation of their ideology. A business focus obviously leans it right/neoliberal, but it's under no pretence of it not being about the money and doesn't really meander into other areas.

[brkl]

No partisan politics is a good description. I'm just wary of capitalism being considered outside politics which you didn't actually do but your post can be read that way.

[MadJackalope]

I think these days it is considered so, which is kind of weird when you go back and read more history and how mainstream a lot of non-capitalist theories were back in the day. There's a podcast I listen to called BackStory which had an episode on fair wage laws recently. It only really deals with American history but it's still interesting to see how a lot of assumptions I've made about the past were wrong, and they always delve into overlooked perspectives like minorities or feminist history when they tackle a subject. They also seem like really nice dudes. Like you know how people say "He's a guy who I'd have a beer with"? Well I wouldn't have a beer with them, but I would say they are the kind of guys who I could imagine being really neato dads. They're very daddish. 

[Dewar]

My wife got fired from her work yesterday, due to accidental safety violations (leaving gas in items that are being shipped back for repair.) She was only part time so while it sucks to lose the extra money, it's certainly nothing we can't handle. What I realized though is that I really suck at consoling her. In the past with other friends, I've always had "your boss sucked" or "that's BS that you got laid off due to politics" to fall back on, but I don't even really know what to say here. Thankfully, she seems to be taking it well as she's talked about trying to get out of there for a while, but it's frustrating for me to not really be able to do or say much useful about it.

[syntheticgerbil]

Everyone makes mistakes and it's no big deal?

 

I'm not sure of the nature of the job, but if it compromises a lot of skills that aren't specifically important to have and that she wasn't full time (thus making it routine and constantly fresh in the memory), then let her know not to sweat it so much. Hopefully it's not something she was looking to do career wise.

[Dewar]

Hmm, so is there anywhere I can watch live election results from Scotland? When do the polls close?

[Yasawas]

2200, which is in about three and a half hours. Results are expected around 0600ish tomorrow, maybe a little later, so I'll find out as soon as I get up for work which is weird and unsettling.

[Dewar]

Bloomberg just stated that first preliminary results will start coming out around 9pm Eastern (6.5 hours from now.) I'll be watching attentively while you sleep

[Yasawas]

They'll be close but probably won't count for much to be honest. Glasgow and Edinburgh are the two largest areas with the power to swing it significantly on their own and they won't declare until the end. Oh it's exciting and I can't wait for it to be over.

 

Going by your name I take it you have roots or family here?

[Dewar]

A long ways back, but more just an interest in international politics that aren't solved with tanks.

[Codicier]

I'm normally fairly nocturnal anyway but the idea of falling asleep and waking up finding Scotland possibly independent thanks to the referendum isn't helping.

I'm more excited/nervous than I expected I think It's a mix of pure curiosity, the fact my family has very strong roots there, & the the sheer historic potential.

[tegan]

I'm still waiting on the settlement cheque for that paperwork I filed two weeks ago, and still have no idea when the fibreop guy is going to show up. An electrician was by today to put in a new outlet, but the guy with the actual modem never showed.

 

I hate waiting for things.

[Badfinger]

I have an interview tomorrow for a "real job" which, if I get it, would be a 33% raise from my previous real job after the probationary period ends. I can't even calculate the percentage raise it would be over my average week at the restaurant currently. And this potential job even has performance reviews and raise structures and stuff if you do well! Wow! Crazy!

 

Right now I am feeling confident. This is by far the closest I've come to getting back to 40 hours a week, and I'm far beyond qualified. Tomorrow I will probably be more nervous.

[Yasawas]

Fucked it. Poverty, austerity and nuclear weapons it is. Even Andy Murray couldn't save us. Gutted.

[undermind9]

its probably no consolation, but voter turnout was amazing - far better than any election in the free world ive ever heard of.

[Vorlonesque]

BBC news has a really strange practice in place, at least in their TV work. No matter how insane or asymmetric the actors within a situation are, or how the available evidence stacks up, they'll always break an issue down into two sides, then give them both airtime for the sake of "balance". Their idea of balance sometimes becomes more important than facts, driving a weird agenda into

. It's centrist and bland in a way that seems to compromise accuracy rather than help it. Typically, BBC balance skews towards brown-nosing existing authorities, which can but doesn't necessarily create political bias in any specific direction, leading to all sides screaming about their very different ideas of how the BBC is biased.

This oddly sounds like a lot of news coverage here in the US (with the exception of a handful of sources that have specific leanings and thus split things into "us and them" or "good vs evil" but I'm not going to name any names...you might remember one of them having issues with Mass Effect though).

[brkl]

Pretty amazing to see an election with 84% turnout. Shame about the result.