Interesting Links for 08-09-2017
Sep. 8th, 2017 12:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
- Amazon and Apple join race for James Bond distribution rights
- (tags: JamesBond Apple Amazon business movies viaSwampers )
- Why Bulgaria is becoming a ghost country
- (tags: bulgaria demographics population viaSwampers )
- 7 Ways I Bond With My With My Son That Also Let Us Troll Jerks on Facebook
- (tags: fatherhood parenting viaSwampers )
- Go slow: an umbrella review of the effects of 20 mph zones and limits on health
- Of note because Edinburgh recently bought one in.
(tags: driving safety ) - How Donkey Kong was (re)created in 4kB of ROM and 128 bytes of RAM
- (tags: programming impressive games viaMyBrotherMike )
- Irish until she wasn't - how DNA testing can upend people's identities and lead them to new families
- (tags: identity genetics family viaSwampers )
- Zoë Quinn tells her story - and that of Gamergate
- (tags: games abuse internet misogyny racism viaSwampers )
- Judge won’t release man jailed 2 years for refusing to decrypt drives
- (tags: encryption usa prison )
- Why the Equifax breach is very possibly the worst leak of personal info ever
- (tags: hacking data epicfail security identity )
- What makes alcoholics drink? Research shows it's more complex than supposed
- (tags: alcohol mentalhealth )
- Fifty–fifty split best for children of divorce
- (tags: divorce children )
- Discovery of genes linked to preterm birth in landmark study
- Good work there from 23AndMe
(tags: genetics babies )
no subject
Date: 2017-09-08 11:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-09-08 12:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-09-08 12:44 pm (UTC)When the population falls to 3.5 million pensioners we could sneakily pay them to adopt us and become Bulgarians.
no subject
Date: 2017-09-08 01:08 pm (UTC)One is, what does happen to a country that is depopulating (relative to its neighbours). Particularly if that country is part of a free trade and free movement union like the EU.
Basic economics suggests that the price of land and property will fall quite a lot and the price of labour probably rise a little and that would encourage people to retire there.
The second thing I'm mulling over is that, if you are a poor Eastern European country and you join the EU and you don't want people to move to your country (and the criteria for Bulgarian citizenship include learning Bulgarian, so they seem serious about that) what were you hoping would happen? If there are good jobs with better pay in nice cities in other countries on offer to your young people and you are actively discouraging people moving in and you don't want your country to end up being a half-empty holiday rental retirement home why did you join the EU?
What ever the Bulgarian for puzzled is, I'm puzzled.
Why join the EU?
Date: 2017-09-08 01:23 pm (UTC)Imagine you have a country made up of 40% old people, who are very attached to their country, and also quite nationalist (but I repeat myself!) and also 60% younger people, who would quite like some options in life.
Well then, you vote to join the EU, and then some of your young people go elsewhere for jobs, and then some follow, and then about ten years after that 90% of your young people have moved elsewhere, and you're stuffed.
And the chances of you kickstarting your economy from absolutely nowhere is zero, and frankly in thirty years your country is going to be completely depopulated because the old people will either have moved to join their children (and be looked after them) or have simply died off.
Re: Why join the EU?
Date: 2017-09-08 01:57 pm (UTC)I wonder how hard Bulgarian is to learn? Fairly. Plus, no amount of cheapness makes a country with mostly old hardline nationalists all that appealing...
Re: Why join the EU?
Date: 2017-09-08 02:50 pm (UTC)EU nationals get to vote in local elections...
Re: Why join the EU?
Date: 2017-09-08 02:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-09-09 02:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-09-10 11:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-09-08 12:34 pm (UTC)> "They have a different culture, different religion, even different daily habits," he says. "And thank God Bulgaria so far is one of the most-well defended countries from Europe's immigrant influx."
Argh.
I saw a really good article ages ago about places in Italy doing the exact opposite: taking in refugees. The older people in the village taught them about the local customs, which sure, are going to change with the addition of outsiders, but better customs that change a bit than die out completely, surely? Besides, hardly the first time that a place's customs are altered by incomers -- that's how culture evolves anyway.
no subject
Date: 2017-09-10 11:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-09-08 03:48 pm (UTC)Bulgaria
Date: 2017-09-09 06:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-09-09 07:04 am (UTC)Well that's depressing, on a personal level.
no subject
Date: 2017-09-10 11:17 am (UTC)I was never sure of the details - but I assumed you didn't push for more control because you thought it would make things worse.
no subject
Date: 2017-09-10 02:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-09-10 02:44 pm (UTC)