What's in the news?

Started by Beorning, September 21, 2014, 07:02:11 AM

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Dice

Quote from: gaggedLouise on May 12, 2015, 12:29:22 AM
After the British elections, three major party leaders stepped down immediately, their movements having been badly beaten. Nigel Farage of UKIP, however, arose on the third day - as they facetiously stated it at a blog I'm sometimes reading.
They got 12% of the vote, he has nothing to be ashamed of. The vote system of first past, no preferences counted works against minor parties. Mathematically, it's worked out that Ukip would need an base of 3 million votes to get a seat while the Conservatives would need 25 thousand to win a seat. That gap is insane and proves the system flawed.

Libs and Labor got hammered but Ukip can be proud of itself. It did very well.

Dashenka

Quote from: gaggedLouise on May 12, 2015, 02:45:29 AM
There's been a major aftershock earthquake in Nepal, not that much weaker than the big one two weeks ago (estimated strength 7.1 Richter against 7.8 for the earlier quake; the scale is logarithmic).  :-(

Heard it too :( 7.4

Hope we'll get some emergency aid out there soon.
Out here in the fields, I fight for my meals and I get my back into my living.

I don't need to fight to prove I'm right and I don't need to be forgiven.

The Lovely Tsaritsa

Quote from: Dashenka on May 12, 2015, 03:53:20 AM
Heard it too :( 7.4

Hope we'll get some emergency aid out there soon.

I hope so too. I feel terrible, for the people there. :-(

It seems there's many earthquakes, and volcano eruptions too, of late. Does something connect them all, does anyone know?

TheGlyphstone

 Earth is a big and very fickle thing structurally. Stuff like this is literally inevitable near fault lines - pressure will build up whether we like it or not, and the longer any particular plate or line goes without a quake, or volcano goes without an eruption, the bigger and more destructive it will be when it hits. But that 'inevitability' is on a geologic time scale, measured in hundreds or thousands of years, so it's further than we can realistically comprehend in most cases.

Lustful Bride

Quote from: Dimir on May 11, 2015, 05:38:24 PM
A 13-year old boy in Hamilton, Ontario became irate after his father took away his Playstation 4. The boy responded by smashing property outside with a hammer and baseball bat and had been previously locked out due to his parents fearing him. The boy was arrested and charged.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/news/police-called-as-playstation-4-tantrum-leads-to-out-of-control-son-1.3069593

If only this boy could have found an age-appropriate roleplaying site as a new hobby rather than going ballistic over a gaming system. *sigh*

Oh god if I did that my father would have smashed by face in with his fists, Being a girl did not save me from a can of whoop ass XD

Ironwolf85

in an interesting memo that came out last week, and I heard about over the radio while coming home from work... I love NPR for things like this.
Apparently some senate committee dealing with the CIA has published an expense report with some funny expenses.

The thing I remember from the report is that between 2002-2013 the CIA has spent 7.8 million on erection pills... when asked why the official response stated. "medicine to cause and maintain erections is in high demand across much of the middle east and east africa. Tribal warlords or elders usually have more than enough money, nice residences, and plenty of weapons. As such the agency has occasionally paid them for their assistance in the form of medical supplies they can't get access to in their own local market. This is more often than not in the form of erectile assistance. Which is banned by local religious leaders who believe it leads to promiscuity."
Prudence, justice, temperance, courage, faith, hope, love...
debate any other aspect of my faith these are the heavenly virtues. this flawed mortal is going to try to adhere to them.

Culture: the ability to carve an intricate and beautiful bowl from the skull of a fallen enemy.
Civilization: the ability to put that psycho in prision for killing people.

Lustful Bride

Quote from: Ironwolf85 on May 12, 2015, 09:50:36 AM
in an interesting memo that came out last week, and I heard about over the radio while coming home from work... I love NPR for things like this.
Apparently some senate committee dealing with the CIA has published an expense report with some funny expenses.

The thing I remember from the report is that between 2002-2013 the CIA has spent 7.8 million on erection pills... when asked why the official response stated. "medicine to cause and maintain erections is in high demand across much of the middle east and east africa. Tribal warlords or elders usually have more than enough money, nice residences, and plenty of weapons. As such the agency has occasionally paid them for their assistance in the form of medical supplies they can't get access to in their own local market. This is more often than not in the form of erectile assistance. Which is banned by local religious leaders who believe it leads to promiscuity."

This says so much about them oh god I cant stop laughing.

Ironwolf85

I had the image in my head of a propaganda poster with the stereotypical tribal warlord in a white robe with a harem of pretty girls behind him half his age, a big bottle of pills, a big smile, and a thumb's up under it is a slogan "praise alah, I can now satisfy all my wives, Thanks America!"
Prudence, justice, temperance, courage, faith, hope, love...
debate any other aspect of my faith these are the heavenly virtues. this flawed mortal is going to try to adhere to them.

Culture: the ability to carve an intricate and beautiful bowl from the skull of a fallen enemy.
Civilization: the ability to put that psycho in prision for killing people.

Beorning

A female sports reporter in Canada confronted men who shouted obscene things at her while she was interviewing people:

http://www.citynews.ca/2015/05/11/shauna-hunt-confronts-men-who-bombarded-her-with-vulgarity/?show_id=127513

I really can't understand men who behave like that...

Cassandra LeMay

Quote from: Beorning on May 13, 2015, 08:37:44 AM
A female sports reporter in Canada confronted men who shouted obscene things at her while she was interviewing people:

http://www.citynews.ca/2015/05/11/shauna-hunt-confronts-men-who-bombarded-her-with-vulgarity/?show_id=127513

I really can't understand men who behave like that...
Neither can I, but it looks like at least one of those guys has suffered some serious consequences for his behaviour and lost his job over this episode: http://www.cbc.ca/news/trending/hydro-one-employee-fired-after-fhritp-heckling-of-citynews-reporter-shauna-hunt-1.3070948
ONs, OFFs, and writing samples | Oath of the Drake

You can not value dreams according to the odds of their becoming true.
(Sonia Sotomayor)

Beorning

Quote from: Cassandra LeMay on May 13, 2015, 08:47:13 AM
Neither can I, but it looks like at least one of those guys has suffered some serious consequences for his behaviour and lost his job over this episode: http://www.cbc.ca/news/trending/hydro-one-employee-fired-after-fhritp-heckling-of-citynews-reporter-shauna-hunt-1.3070948

You know, I'm not actually sure if it's okay that he got fired. I'm absolutely not defending his stupid and appalling behaviour (kudos to the reporter for confronting these guys), but his job had nothing to do with this situation - he was an engineer. So, basically, he got fired, because his employers found his out-of-job, private life behaviour unacceptable... and I find this kind of dodgy.

I mean, let's say an employers of some Elli member learns they are posting here and fires them, on the grounds that Elli is a lewd site and that such lewd behaviour of employees cannot be tolerated..?

Avis habilis

Don't try to pretend there's anything like an equivalence between participating in consensual racy writing online & harassing people in the street with unsolicited sexualized language.

Beorning

Not saying that these two things are equivalent... just that both of these things aren't worked-related. I don't think people should be punished by their employers because of things they do in their own free time and that have no bearing on their jobs. It feels... disturbingly moralistic to me.

Avis habilis

"Moralistic" my eye.

Quote from: http://www.cbc.ca/news/trending/hydro-one-employee-fired-after-fhritp-heckling-of-citynews-reporter-shauna-hunt-1.3070948Simoes is shown in the video using an expletive and calling his friend's use of FHTIP hilarious before telling the reporter she is lucky they didn't have a vibrator.

How long would anybody last at their job if they were caught on tape making sexualized threats in public? (Let's take the standard issue "oh, but he was just kidding around" bullshit as stipulated.)

Beorning

Quote from: Avis habilis on May 13, 2015, 09:20:08 AM
How long would anybody last at their job if they were caught on tape making sexualized threats in public?

I honestly don't know.

But let's go another example. One of the things I find utterly reprehensible is driving while intoxicated. So, if I'm an employer and I find that, say, my office assistant (who does no driving at work) got a DWI charge in their free time, should I be allowed to fire them? Just because I find their behaviour morally reprehensible?

Valerian

According to the article Cass linked, the shouting of threats / obscenities is illegal, just like the drunk driving example.  Moral judgment doesn't need to enter into it in either case.
"To live honorably, to harm no one, to give to each his due."
~ Ulpian, c. 530 CE

Avis habilis

There's also no chance of your hypothetical office assistant driving their car drunk through your office, while this misogynist lump of impacted feces may very well be engaging in the same behavior with other women in his workplace.

Or at least there's no reason to think he wouldn't very much like to.

Beorning

Quote from: Valerian on May 13, 2015, 09:31:02 AM
According to the article Cass linked, the shouting of threats / obscenities is illegal, just like the drunk driving example.  Moral judgment doesn't need to enter into it in either case.

So, you're saying that an employer has the right to fire any employee that breaks any kind of law? Personally, I'm not sure if it should be that way.

Quote from: Avis habilis on May 13, 2015, 09:34:02 AM
There's also no chance of your hypothetical office assistant driving their car drunk through your office, while this misogynist lump of impacted feces may very well be engaging in the same behavior with other women in his workplace.

Or at least there's no reason to think he wouldn't very much like to.

Okay, come on, now you're reaching. If this guy did anything like that in the office, then yes, he should get fired immediately. But you can't assume that he's prone to this kind of behaviour constantly. It was just one instance of lewd behaviour, there's no reason to think that this guy molests women as a habit.

Avis habilis

Quote from: Beorning on May 13, 2015, 09:43:51 AM
It was just one instance of lewd behaviour, there's no reason to think that this guy molests women as a habit.

The odds he would just happen to be wandering by video recording equipment the one & only time he's ever been overcome by the urge to seem ... long.

Valerian

Quote from: Beorning on May 13, 2015, 09:43:51 AM
So, you're saying that an employer has the right to fire any employee that breaks any kind of law? Personally, I'm not sure if it should be that way.
In the U.S., at least, there's no law that says that an employer cannot fire an employee because they have been convicted of a crime.  Practically speaking, I doubt anyone would get fired for, say, jaywalking (or if the employer would even find out about such a minor offense), but "people who have broken the law" isn't a legally protected class here.
"To live honorably, to harm no one, to give to each his due."
~ Ulpian, c. 530 CE

Cassandra LeMay

Quote from: Avis habilis on May 13, 2015, 09:34:02 AMOr at least there's no reason to think he wouldn't very much like to.
Unless you count in dubio pro reo as a reason.

Quote from: Avis habilis on May 13, 2015, 09:34:02 AM
... this misogynist lump of impacted feces ...
Yeah, guess it's okay to call him that, after what he did. And all the more acceptable as no one here has to actually call him that to his face while insulting him.  ::)

ONs, OFFs, and writing samples | Oath of the Drake

You can not value dreams according to the odds of their becoming true.
(Sonia Sotomayor)

Oniya

Quote from: Beorning on May 13, 2015, 09:43:51 AM
So, you're saying that an employer has the right to fire any employee that breaks any kind of law? Personally, I'm not sure if it should be that way.

At a bare minimum, there's going to be a conversation with Human Resources.  The 'drunk driver' example could possibly be mitigated if the employee were willing to go through an alcoholism program.  However, if the employee has to deal with heavy equipment, the employer could rightfully see the possibility that someone who would operate a car while intoxicated might operate a forklift, or passenger train while intoxicated.

As for his excuse that it was part of a trend?  My mother used to have a saying:  If all your friends were jumping off the Brooklyn Bridge, would you do it?
"Language was invented for one reason, boys - to woo women.~*~*~Don't think it's all been done before
And in that endeavor, laziness will not do." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think we're never gonna win this war
Robin Williams-Dead Poets Society ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think your world's gonna fall apart
I do have a cause, though.  It's obscenity.  I'm for it.  - Tom Lehrer~*~All you need is your beautiful heart
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Cassandra LeMay

In all this, perhaps we shouldn't forget that many of us come from different countries with different legislation and somewhat different traditions of empolyer/employee relations. What may be grounds for firing someone in one place might not be in another and even if all countries were equal it could still depend on the individual contract.
ONs, OFFs, and writing samples | Oath of the Drake

You can not value dreams according to the odds of their becoming true.
(Sonia Sotomayor)

TheGlyphstone

Quote from: Oniya on May 13, 2015, 10:12:41 AM

As for his excuse that it was part of a trend?  My mother used to have a saying:  If all your friends were jumping off the Brooklyn Bridge, would you do it?

Though my response to that cliche has always been "Yes. My friends are smart people - if they all simultaneously decide to jump off a bridge, the odds are very good they all know something I don't and being on that bridge is about to become a very bad idea."

Not helpful, but funny.

Oniya

Quote from: TheGlyphstone on May 13, 2015, 10:22:04 AM
Though my response to that cliche has always been "Yes. My friends are smart people - if they all simultaneously decide to jump off a bridge, the odds are very good they all know something I don't and being on that bridge is about to become a very bad idea."

Not helpful, but funny.

In that case (and more specific to this kind of 'trend') - if a hundred people that you know nothing else about jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge, on separate but temporally close occasions, would you do it?

(I live with the princess of loopholes.  Don't make me break out the duct tape and staple gun.  ;D )
"Language was invented for one reason, boys - to woo women.~*~*~Don't think it's all been done before
And in that endeavor, laziness will not do." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think we're never gonna win this war
Robin Williams-Dead Poets Society ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think your world's gonna fall apart
I do have a cause, though.  It's obscenity.  I'm for it.  - Tom Lehrer~*~All you need is your beautiful heart
O/O's Updated 5/11/21 - A/A's - Current Status! - Writing a novel - all draws for Fool of Fire up!
Requests updated March 17