SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
BBC News reports that the Conservatives have defied pre-election polls and all the exit polls to win an overall majority in the House of Commons. The race was thought to be much closer than the final results have shown, with many predicting either another coalition government or possibly a minority Conservative government being formed.
The Conservatives made gains in England and Wales and are forecast by the BBC to secure 331 seats in the Commons, giving them a slender majority. Sources say [Labour leader] Ed Miliband is expected to stand down after Labour was all but wiped out by the [Scottish National Party] in Scotland. [Liberal Democrat] leader Nick Clegg has already said he will quit, with his party set to be reduced from 57 to eight MPs. [United Kingdom Independence Party] leader Nigel Farage is also quitting after he failed to win Thanet South, losing by nearly 2,800 votes to the Conservatives.
The Conservatives have taken 331 of the 650 seats available. However, when Sinn Fein's continued boycott of Westminster is taken into account, along with the four seats they current hold, 324 is enough for a practical majority. An overall turnout of 66% is expected, marginally up on the previous general election in 2010.
Shortly after the results of the exit polls were revealed, Lord Ashdown, former leader of the Liberal Democrats, stated in a live interview on the BBC that he would "eat his hat" if the predicted losses for the Liberal Democrats came true. The poll showed the Lib Dems losing 45 seats - in the end they lost 47. Lord Ashdown mentioned shortly after he made the statement that he had received through Twitter ten offers of hats if he didn't have one of his own.
For those of us not familiar with UK politics, what are the views of the Conservatives we should be concerned about (if any)? How will their viewpoints affect the world political stage and/or the technology world?
(Score: 2) by Yog-Yogguth on Sunday May 10 2015, @10:47PM
Try fitting six gemstones into a worn and slightly torn paper bag that can only hold five without rupturing, /yesterday/.
The gemstones are people, the paper bag was a more or less functional society (housing, jobs, some kind of equilibrium, and all the rest: existing capacity and quality) when it held five gemstones.
You could have said that one should only fit five of those gemstones while fixing the bag and the sixth gemstone will have to stay elsewhere outside, a few political parties in Europe said that, or you could have said that all the six gemstones will fit in the bag, most political parties in Europe said this.
Today you have to fit seven gemstones into a rupturing bag.
Some still say you should only fit five while fixing the bag, the others now say the bag will fit seven and they start to crush some of the gemstones and throw away bits and pieces.
That's today.
Tomorrow it's eight.
This has been going on for over thirty years in Europe.
Why the insistence on “everyone” living in the same bag? Why do people supposedly have a “right” to force themselves onto another society?
There are almost no Saudi Arabians in Europe that aren't incredibly wealthy temporary tourists so let's use it as an example. How about if ten percent of Europe moves to Saudi Arabia and most of them decide they should live in Mecca and some decide they shouldn't have to adjust anything about themselves or living like they're used to. They don't have enough money and they don't speak the language and the Saudis have to look after them, give them homes, education, medical services, language training, rights and citizenship, and be respectful of their culture and traditions including blasphemy, promiscuous sex, and the use of alcohol and narcotics. Why is that supposed to make sense? Is that something bad?
Bite harder Ouroboros, bite! tails.boum.org/ linux USB CD secure desktop IRC *crypt tor (not endorsements (XKeyScore))
(Score: 2) by Geotti on Monday May 11 2015, @04:44AM
Because those gemstones make the economy grow you imbecile, that's why! What a load of bullshit! Go ahead, try to prove me wrong. You can't!
(Score: 2) by Nuke on Monday May 11 2015, @09:33AM
those gemstones make the economy grow
So presumably, by your argument, the economy shrinks in the place the immigrants came from. If you call yourself a man of the world, why is that good as a whole?
(Score: 2) by Geotti on Tuesday May 12 2015, @08:53AM
So presumably, by your argument, the economy shrinks in the place the immigrants came from.
That's not necessarily true, if we're talking about places, where there were no opportunities, in this case the migrants that send money back help both economies.
If you call yourself a man of the world, why is that good as a whole?
Economies of scale and available opportunities.
Also, the industrialized nations are (directly or indirectly) responsible for most of the wars and inequality in underdeveloped countries, so until that is fixed and we turn to sustainable economies, we need to make sure that we don't create even more problems.
(Score: 2) by Yog-Yogguth on Monday May 11 2015, @05:19PM
It is reality that should convince you, not me or anyone else.
Economic growth:
Is that why the Mediterranean is filling up with corpses?
Is that why there's “austerity”?
Is that why there is modern slavery now?
Is that why young people can't establish themselves and why older people are kicked out of their homes?
Is that why there is all those unused and crumbling new apartments that no one who need it can afford? Okay that's in Spain with the help of Italian mafia but still?
Is that why there aren't enough jobs anywhere?
Is that why old and infirm people now risk starvation and a lack of medical assistance?
Is that why wages are being dumped?
Is that why there are ghettos?
Too rich or too lucky to notice? Will your chosen religion (ideology, politics, principles, ideals, dogma) mark you as unclean and a heretic? Do you fear the branding being done on people like me? Will you be ostracized socially?
Imbecile doesn't sound too bad to me compared to your economic growth.
Bite harder Ouroboros, bite! tails.boum.org/ linux USB CD secure desktop IRC *crypt tor (not endorsements (XKeyScore))
(Score: 2) by Geotti on Tuesday May 12 2015, @08:47AM
Is that why the Mediterranean is filling up with corpses?
Is that why there's “austerity”?
Is that why there is modern slavery now?
Is that why young people can't establish themselves and why older people are kicked out of their homes?
Is that why there is all those unused and crumbling new apartments that no one who need it can afford? Okay that's in Spain with the help of Italian mafia but still?
Is that why there aren't enough jobs anywhere?
Is that why old and infirm people now risk starvation and a lack of medical assistance?
Is that why wages are being dumped?
Is that why there are ghettos?
The real problem is unrestrained capitalism and politicians listening to lobby groups more than the welfare of their people. This applies to all of the above issues.
"I can produce the same thing with the same quality 20x cheaper in China/India/..., you either grant me tax cuts and look the other way when I dump chemicals into the lake or I take my production there and you will have 10k new unemployed."
And besides, you don't feel responsible for the people that you've exploited for hundreds of years and whose countries you've drained of their resources to accumulate wealth if you talk about those migrants?
(Score: 2) by Yog-Yogguth on Tuesday May 12 2015, @10:05PM
Dear hypocrite don't get too worked up about this: soon enough you might become an imbecile just like me and realize ideals are the perfect tool for stopping people from thinking. I write this because I don't think you're able to challenge yourself sufficiently. You might feel offended but is it I that offended you or something else? Maybe you'll wake up now but probably not, that “maybe” is the only reason I'm replying. I apologize if this makes you feel bad.
And yes the problem is always someone else and you're not part of it at all (sarcasm).
Because which “their people” would that be? Is it the 40 thousand new slaves they got in the first few months this year? The tens of millions from the last decades that replaced and decimated “the working class”? The modern slave traders who profit from them? The ones you mindlessly support with your narrow “answers” taken straight out of the old tarnished 1917 copy of “how to fool nearly everyone into thinking you're a decent human”? Are you counting your easy profits from the government for running internment for the arriving slaves? Are you a “farmer” spraying your slaves with insecticide? Do you run a brothel with imported sex slaves? Does the slavery pay your wages? Is it the reason for your job? Are you part of the misery industry?
Why else would you peddle the typical shortsighted excuses that made such scum successful? What's your motivation for denying reality?
Are you an idiot stuck in a religious fantasy?
Don't you live in Europe? Go to your local ghetto or the farms using slaves and the internment centers and think thoroughly about what you can do with your “colonialism” and “white guilt” and any “little red book” you might own. Feel free to sing L'Internationale as loudly as you can while you cram your manifestos in and up since you'll finally realize what a silly hypocrite you've been and how much misery you've contributed to for so many millions of people and an entire continent.
You need to challenge your own beliefs, they have you completely fooled when you end up denying something as simple as an overflowing glass of water and your response is “keep pouring, it isn't full yet!”.
Several thousand dead slaves prove you wrong, they're not even skeletons yet so don't eat fish from the Mediterranean.
Or didn't you know? (How would it be possible not to know?)
Bite harder Ouroboros, bite! tails.boum.org/ linux USB CD secure desktop IRC *crypt tor (not endorsements (XKeyScore))
(Score: 2) by Geotti on Wednesday May 13 2015, @10:42AM
Is it the reason for your job? Are you part of the misery industry?
Quite the opposite, I'm actively working against it.
You need to challenge your own beliefs, they have you completely fooled when you end up denying something as simple as an overflowing glass of water and your response is “keep pouring, it isn't full yet!”.
Thank you, I challenge my beliefs regularly by taking LSD, maybe you should try that too? Just to understand all the points you got wrong while rambling about issues only tangential to the real problem.
Otherwise, go and continue to foster the exploitative nature of our societies so dependent on foreign labour and resources, while trying to hide behind your right-wing paroles and misunderstandings.
Feel free to sing L'Internationale as loudly as you can while you cram your manifestos in and up
+1 funny.
(Score: 2) by Yog-Yogguth on Friday May 15 2015, @04:16PM
You win something by using LSD as an argument in favor of slavery. Reasoning stands no chance against that level of enlightened insight.
Meanwhile Operation Triton has been expanding under the management of the EU and they'll attempt to pick up at least some of your floating corpses.
Bite harder Ouroboros, bite! tails.boum.org/ linux USB CD secure desktop IRC *crypt tor (not endorsements (XKeyScore))
(Score: 2) by Geotti on Friday May 15 2015, @05:10PM
You win something by using LSD as an argument in favor of slavery. Reasoning stands no chance against that level of enlightened insight.
Totally. I meant it, though, LSD does help understand things that have little to do with reason and a lot with empathy and being human.
(Score: 2) by Geotti on Saturday May 16 2015, @02:59AM
Oh, just saw this [9gag.com] and couldn't not think about you. ;)