Look, I’m kind of an outsider on this conversation because until we get a DaVinci for mechanical work, I’m never going to be WFH, but there’s something interesting I’ve noted with all my programmer friends.

The industrial world, that’s where unions are, they’re getting pulled out but that’s the places unions live. The people working in stores are starting to push hard on unions. My industry, biomed, hasn’t really gotten unions off the ground, but it’s rumbling. We’re a small industry that’s so short on people it’s just easier to move jobs than start a union, but we’re a mix of tech and industrial backgrounds. But the programming tech backgrounds, at least here in the midwest, is apparently so anti-union I don’t know how it’d get off the ground from what I’m hearing from my friends. Their coworkers who are mad about RTO will immediately turn around and say the corporate lines about unions. I’m honestly kinda baffled and hope your industry gets it figured out.

I really appreciate the dive into the politics there! As I talked with a coworker, to start understanding politics understanding historical context is important and I can keep some understanding with other countries, it’s hard enough to know the nuance of all of our states, figuring out how to get started with other countries is difficult so the primer really helps. Some of this sounds familiar over here on the antiquated thoughts driving politics that should have fallen by the wayside years ago, though I think a few of yours might be older than ours is. Friend visited the UK recently and traveled throughout, like I told him, I intellectually knew how old that area is but realizing that there were places that were historic before our country even existed is still kinda baffling. But I digress.

Having to do a dive into the Tories as I just knew them as your conservatives, it’s interesting that both the UK Conservative party and Scottish Conservatives definitely have a lot that I look at and go “That really does look like (Pre-Trump) Republicans” then every once in a while I see them supporting something that I realize if a Democrat would try to bring forward they’d be shouted down as being a communist. But what’s most fascinating dichotomy between our countries is your conservatives are staunchly fighting to keep the UK together, as you say wouldn’t allow you to hold a referendum after making you all leave the EU. Over in the States our Conservatives have gotten in bed with the US South which constantly yells about and threatens to secede again, and the Republican party is the one where you’re going to find the confederate (not the confederate, flag, Virigina Battle Flag but that’d involve them knowing their own ‘heritage’) flag all over the place so you could argue our conservatives are more seperationists. Growing up with this creates a bit of a knee-jerk reaction to be opposed to splitting, though like with the pulling out of the EU and as you described there’s actually a lot of ability to be successful to sustain yourselves that’s makes sense… vs our guys have the likes of most of our southern states who cry how much they hate the federal government, yet percentage-wise are some of our most reliant on federal funds.

I’m from the future. He does.

Trump administration really didn’t pull off much in his first 4 years because absolutely bloody chaotic administration ran more like a reality show with Republicans not knowing the game he was playing. But can talk at least one of his big talking points he tried then and is likely to push again.

“School choice”

A push has been going to get instead of money going to private schools, that tax dollars go to vouchers that can go to charter and private schools along with the public schools. Naturally it’s sold as “your kids can go to whatever school you like.” But what this means is now the people who can afford private schools won’t be putting in to public schools where the poorer are still going to go because

A) These schools you still have to get accepted into. Public schools at least, you’re in the district, you go to school. Looking up a private school in where I grew up involves sending test scores, letters of recommendation, writing samples, family meetings, etc. If you’re a have not, you’re not going there.

B) Tuition for this school is $29,300 for a student. One of those vouchers is not going to pay for that. Now used to the way to afford was to apply through the local business families group (Walton Family Foundation… Yup, Walmart) but now it’s talking about Indexed Tuition with a lovely bit of “We also recognize that your family may need more clarity regarding your expected family contribution before proceeding with the application process: if so, please do not hesitate to contact the tuition committee”

This along with the attacks on teachers unions continue to degrade the public schools, likely leading to many of the ones both rural and urban shutting down due to lack of funds that are getting hoovered up by these private organizations. That’s one of the attacks on education in the country right now.

So the US did in fact have a process where the government did give money to get broadband to the rural. But as is the nature with this country, was not a federal workforce, but was a company based one. The companies pocketed the money, got a few people hooked up, sat on their asses, then when people complained at them years later they responded they didn’t have enough money to connect people.

And good lord I’d take English National Health Service over the US “pay an insurance company to argue why they shouldn’t pay for your healthcare”

I do have a question on the independence, over here in the states the conversation was that Scotland stayed because to break from UK would be requiring a separate entry into EU with a lot less benefits because England was one of the special ones. Always figured that Scotland might make another attempt after Brexit, is there something I missed? I admit y’alls politics I don’t quite get. Probably a lot like my talking individual state politics to you guys.

Mine is the basic package for the price I’m doing, so your system is still nice.

I’ll honestly take the weather being shit. I live where there is no chance in hell government will fund a thing and that was before the current election. And the weather here is humid as fuck with either 100 degrees F to Below 0 with the humidity being the only predictable thing, maybe a week of spring and fall each. Oh, and tornadoes.

No no no, you see, we showed the democrats by not showing up to vote! /s

uuugh… I made myself sick quoting those jackass fucktards. (I did vote, and screamed until I was blue in the face to get people to vote. About every year.)

Damn, you’re an optimist.

I pay $70 a month for google fiber and it’s legit a thing that keeps me in the city I’m in because better is absolutely fucking rare.

This isn’t me trying to flex, this is me crying because I’d rather be in Scotland.

Strange that politics who call for deregulation never deregulate useful things.

Funny that right? Those that call for deregulation would probably call for deregulating the legal time frame that a company has to support their devices.

And as to what we did with ours, effectively trash. We have a medical junk guy who comes through yearly and picks up the stuff thats getting thrown out, he parts pieces out he can sell, sells scrap otherwise, etc. Also sells a lot of equipment to smaller hospitals out in rural that will make do, and a lot of stuff we have goes to Project Cure which sends medical devices out of country to places in need. The funny part about the rural hospitals and Project Cure is… neither of those can happen because, as I said earlier, can’t verify their accuracy anymore so for my hospital, about 30 units of trash in one day.

I work as a biomed, our hospital had to buy completely new sets of a type of ultrasound machine we have. Why?

Because in order to do the yearly preventative maintenance you have to go through the manufacturers program to test calibration. They stopped supporting it this year and shut it down. Legit these machines were working just fine, but now in order to keep up with verifying accuracy they’re essentially bricked. They did it on the exact day they hit the year mark that they legally were required to support in order to sell medical grade equipment passed.

This is only going to get worse, not better.

He can live out his remaining time in Russia as a wanna-be oligarch, and Putin will treat him like a leader-in-exile.

Honestly think he’d be safer in North Korea. Kim Jong Un could at least see him as an ally of “the world is against us.”

Putin already views Trump as a puppy that makes messes on the carpet… while running a dog fighting ring.

Personally I hope so. They’re burning the world, it’ll at least be fun to watch them flounder in the process.

Hell, I think my biggest problem is I can’t think of anything dumb enough before they’ve already got it

I used to think I was a pessimist. But now after multiple “There’s no way people are that dumb” and being wrong I must be an absolute optimist.

Or how about the part where all their chicken’s bland as shit. “Spicy” my ass.

Popeyes is the superior chicken fast food. I’ll fight anyone on this hill.

I’ve had practice eating at Popeyes.

Boy howdy I’m just imagining HIPAA with this.

Gee… wonder if this ever could have been predicted when Patriot Act was brought out.

Bentonville AR is being turned into a bicyclists haven. To the tune of Arkansas laws are making it that bicyclists don’t have to pay attention to traffic laws. That’s neat, wonder why… Ah. And while bicycling is one of the better things I guess billionaires can do, in the region buying bicycles are far beyond affordable anymore to a walmart wage because it’s gotten so over the top fancy, and the Waltons literally have a helicopter with a bike rack to fly out to the trails. My dad is irritated because of how often it shakes his house as it goes over.

Same city, Alice Walton had a really nice museum built in the area that was surely out of the good of her heart… Ah. Unless really local, one might not know of her nickname “Drunken Alice” where she has a history of dwi’s and wrecks, including one where someone was killed, yet somehow nothing seems to stick.

Yea… I’ve got a bit of an axe to grind with the Waltons having grown up in their personal playground, I agree with you to think this is a problem with just Amazon is ludicrous, and despite only living a state away it’s amazing to hear how people bitch about Amazon, it’s chokeholds, it’s problems, its wrecking of the country, and gives a full pass to Walmart. We live in an oligarchy.

Completely unrelated to my bitching about Walmart, but a perfect example of execs doing this nonsense and how I got in trouble because I can’t stop snarking: Worked for a medical testing facility, ran by a doctor. Said doctor buys himself a brand new shiny Lamborghini, then through the whole email has an announcement that for one day for 4 hours where any of the staff can get a picture with the Lambo and share on the company page. Now I met said doc once during training, but otherwise worked 3rd shift with two other people, he certainly never showed up when we had issues.

So when the day happened, it was one of those I commented it’s the first time I think I’m glad that 3rd shift gets ignored on any staff events. Think about it for a second, then ask the others “Who has the newest car?”, turns out was a Nissan Juke. So each of us go out and get a picture with the Juke, then sent the pictures in to where people were supposed to send in the pics with the Lambo. Turns out they got 4 pictures, the 3 with the Juke, and 1 with the Lambo. Got told by our manager said doc was pissed and to keep our heads down.

Start?

hey, if you type in your pw, it will show as stars ********* see!