European Politics

The coverage of this has been all over the place, in my opinion, ranging from seemingly unsubstantiated points copied wholesale from other sources, to overplaying certain pieces of information purely to add emotive drama, when that information in itself is unlikely to be significant, in my mind. Sky has been about the worst I've read, Reuters and AP a lot straighter.
 
Et tu Deutschland?

BERLIN (Reuters) - German security agents recorded a conversation involving Hillary Clinton while she was U.S. Secretary of State, media reported on Friday, a potential embarrassment for Berlin which has lambasted Washington for its widespread surveillanc

Clinton's words were intercepted while she was on a U.S. government plane, Germany's Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper and German regional public broadcasters NDR and WDR said, without giving details of where she was or when the recording was made.

The respected broadsheet quoted German government sources saying the conversation had been picked up "by accident" and was not part of any plan to spy on Washington's top diplomat. The fact the recording had not been destroyed immediately was "idiocy", said one of the sources.
 
10380757_277075939169547_2454597940981859651_n.jpg


I don't feel like commenting on this...
 
Well it does say "before deduction of income tax and social security contributions" and it doesn't specify how many hours are being worked. In the UK a full working week is 37.5 hours paid work, plus half an hour for lunch each day.
 
Yup, not a huge amount of information to that graph. Tax levels, average hours, average cost of housing etc etc. Wages may be more/less but if costs are proportionate it's less meaningful.
 
Looks like the Yes camp is making a comeback in Scotland:

Campaigners in the battle for Scotland's future say the referendum result is too close to call with less than two weeks until the vote.

The Yes camp claims to have the "big momentum" behind it, while opponents of independence insist they will win.

It comes as one poll put Yes Scotland narrowly ahead for the first time.

Responding to the poll, UK Chancellor George Osborne pledged that in the next few days there would be a plan for more powers for the Scottish Parliament.

With just 11 days of campaigning left, both sides are stepping up their bids for the wavering voters who could yet sway the result.
(continued in link above)
- - -

Personally, I think that actions like these ...
Elsewhere, Labour leader Ed Miliband suggested in an interview with the Scottish Mail on Sunday that manned border guards could be introduced if Scotland voted to go independent.

He told the paper: "If you don't want borders, vote to stay in the United Kingdom."

A spokesman for Mr Miliband added: "The last time I looked there were two sides to the border - and we would be in charge of one of them. It would be up to us, not [First Minister Alex] Salmond, to secure our northern border."
... work counter productive. Threaten Scotland, and there's more reason to vote yes. It's not very inviting to stay in the UK when people on the other side with their own fucking agendas want you to say no, or else. To be honest, I think this is going to be a yes. It has to be. Fear is never a good advisor.
 
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It's really hard to tell what the true picture is with the independence vote. I think I've personally heard more Nos than Yesses, but it looks like there's been a lot of bias in news reporting - particularly scaremongering about a possible 'yes' vote.
 
Can't say I have been following this closely.
Is it motivated by the usual nationalistic rhetoric, or are there legitimate practical benefits to the Scots?
 
Cried and Wizard could probably put it better than me (maybe from opposing viewpoints), but there's a variety of motivations within the yes camp. There are some who think Westminster doesn't really represent Scottish interests and that Scotland could stand on its own economically. There are some who are nationalists, and I suspect party politics comes into play too.
 
Forostar said:
Looks like the Yes camp is making a comeback in Scotland:

Campaigners in the battle for Scotland's future say the referendum result is too close to call with less than two weeks until the vote.

The Yes camp claims to have the "big momentum" behind it, while opponents of independence insist they will win.

It comes as one poll put Yes Scotland narrowly ahead for the first time.

Responding to the poll, UK Chancellor George Osborne pledged that in the next few days there would be a plan for more powers for the Scottish Parliament.

With just 11 days of campaigning left, both sides are stepping up their bids for the wavering voters who could yet sway the result.
(continued in link above)
- - -

Personally, I think that actions like these ...
Elsewhere, Labour leader Ed Miliband suggested in an interview with the Scottish Mail on Sunday that manned border guards could be introduced if Scotland voted to go independent.

He told the paper: "If you don't want borders, vote to stay in the United Kingdom."

A spokesman for Mr Miliband added: "The last time I looked there were two sides to the border - and we would be in charge of one of them. It would be up to us, not [First Minister Alex] Salmond, to secure our northern border."
... work counter productive. Threaten Scotland, and there's more reason to vote yes. It's not very inviting to stay in the UK when people on the other side with their own fucking agendas want you to say no, or else. To be honest, I think this is going to be a yes. It has to be. Fear is never a good advisor.
Click to expand...
Brigantium said:
Cried and Wizard could probably put it better than me (maybe from opposing viewpoints), but there's a variety of motivations within the yes camp. There are some who think Westminster doesn't really represent Scottish interests and that Scotland could stand on its own economically. There are some who are nationalists, and I suspect party politics comes into play too.
Click to expand...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/events/scotland-decides/poll-tracker
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-29176884
 
Scottish Independence Referandum receives zero attention in Turkish press, a lot of people whom I've spoken to had no clue such a thing was going to happen soon.
 
Forostar said:
Critics say the BBC can’t be objective about Scotland independence referendum

Can a country’s government-funded national news empire be objective when some propose splitting that country up?
Click to expand...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-29196912
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/sep/15/alex-salmond-bbc-protest-nick-robinson
The Flash said:
Scottish Independence Referandum receives zero attention in Turkish press, a lot of people whom I've spoken to had no clue such a thing was going to happen soon.
Click to expand...
http://www.scotsman.com/news/politi...ependence-eu-negotiations-under-way-1-3541269
 
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