Interesting Links for 18-03-2026

[andrewducker]

1. Coming soon to Netflix... a movie that requires none of your attention!

(tags:movies netflix attention video satire funny )

2. Everyone but Trump Understands What He's Done

(tags:politics UK USA middle_east Ukraine Russia NATO )

3. Scotland's assisted dying bill rejected after emotional debate

(tags:Scotland euthanasia )

4. More reports show that forcing people back to the office hurts productivity

(tags:productivity office )

Comments

[soemand]

As a Canadian, it’s interesting to see a free vote on the measure. These were whipped, as government legislation.

[andrewducker]

Wasn't government legislation here. I don't think it's in anyone's manifesto.

[soemand]

Interesting, didn’t realize that this was a private member bill; and the bill had specific headwinds due to the Canadian “slippery slope” experience.

[andrewducker]

Yeah - it looks like it was very easy to say "If we do this, then these bad things will happen" and point at people in Canada being pushed towards killing themselves.

[calimac]

1) Are there movies that actually do this? Maybe blockbusters that I don't watch. I'm more likely to see movies that are challenging to follow even if I'm paying close attention. The backstory part of One Battle After Another was like that.

3) Wouldn't it be possible to put in safeguards against coercion, rather than condemning the people this bill was actually for to a slow and agonizing death?

[andrewducker]

Here's the final version of the bill. Coercion is mentioned 8 times, to ensure that there is isn't any. https://www.parliament.scot/-/media/files/legislation/bills/s6-bills/assisted-dying-for-terminally-ill-adults-scotland-bill/stage-3/spbill46cs062026.pdf

[bens_dad]

3 In principle safeguards are possible.
So far the House of Lords has not been convinced that the safeguards proposed are sufficient. [ I don't know why Westminster and Holyrood are considering bills on the same thing at the same time or whether Westminister's bill will/would cover Scotland. ]

It does not appear to me that we provide the best possible palliative care, which should be a necessary step before assisted dying.

I suspect that robust safeguards would cost more than we are prepared to pay our courts or health service.

There is also the grey area of giving painkillers which may have a side effect of hastening death, which possibly reduces the actual harm which these bills would avoid.

We would need safeguards not only against bumping someone off, but also to protect those asked to assist - both their legal position and their mental welfare.
I suppose it is a bit like the trolley dilemma; when does a person have the right to ask someone to kill them, and does that someone have a right not to assist ?

[andrewducker]

The English legislation would not cover Scotland.

There are lots of safeguards.

The House of Lords have gone well past proposing amendments into the wrecking stages.

[cellio]

2: spot-on. As a USian I've been appalled by the toddler-in-chief's capricious behavior, both domestically and internationally. There is no rhyme or reason to it, and he controls the big weapons. That's scary enough on its own, but even more scary is that it's not just him: if Iran takes him out without also targeting his underlings, it won't fix the problem.