Next week but I think only for two days or so before we move on to the next places, and then back on the last night before I leave for a final party a week later!
0
Options
GumpyThere is alwaysa greater powerRegistered Userregular
Hello again EuroPAX thread
How's Greece holding up, it's been out of the news the last couple of weeks
Next week but I think only for two days or so before we move on to the next places, and then back on the last night before I leave for a final party a week later!
Oooh, I wanted to give some recommendations based on what we saw, but that's not a lot of time!
Next week but I think only for two days or so before we move on to the next places, and then back on the last night before I leave for a final party a week later!
Oooh, I wanted to give some recommendations based on what we saw, but that's not a lot of time!
It is! It's a jam packed schedule of workshops and meetings sadly.
The guy hovering between Mary and the predella was a prophet of the Old Testament (hence the scroll and the turban). The guy Saint Barbara was standing on was her father Dioscorus, who beheaded her. Actually this is a quite interesting example of how family quarrels escalate. He kept her locked up in a tower because she was so beautiful. She became a Christian and had a third window put in the wall of her bath-house, as a symbol of the Holy Trinity, and it all went downhill from there. Lesson: No interior design without asking Mum and Dad first. By the way she had a unicorn pendant around her neck which signifies her virtue, because only virgins can tame unicorns. I wish I had thought of that.
Saint Catherine of Alexandria right next to her was also crushing a dude who was the pagan emperor Maxentius. Maxentius proposed to her, she refused (because she was already married to Jesus; Jesus is polyamorous and gives his heart away freely, quite literally sometimes), and he sentenced her to torture on a breaking wheel, then beheaded her. Together, Saints Barbara, Catherine and Margaret are what can be translated as the "three holy girls".
The guy hovering between Mary and the predella was a prophet of the Old Testament (hence the scroll and the turban). The guy Saint Barbara was standing on was her father Dioscorus, who beheaded her. Actually this is a quite interesting example of how family quarrels escalate. He kept her locked up in a tower because she was so beautiful. She became a Christian and had a third window put in the wall of her bath-house, as a symbol of the Holy Trinity, and it all went downhill from there. Lesson: No interior design without asking Mum and Dad first. By the way she had a unicorn pendant around her neck which signifies her virtue, because only virgins can tame unicorns. I wish I had thought of that.
Saint Catherine of Alexandria right next to her was also crushing a dude who was the pagan emperor Maxentius. Maxentius proposed to her, she refused (because she was already married to Jesus; Jesus is polyamorous and gives his heart away freely, quite literally sometimes), and he sentenced her to torture on a breaking wheel, then beheaded her. Together, Saints Barbara, Catherine and Margaret are what can be translated as the "three holy girls".
Turns out the German State might actually come out of the financial crisis with a fiscal plus. According to
some projections the increased investment in german state bonds save Germany about 100 billion € since 2015. Some other states like The US and the Netherlands for example also benefited but not nearly as much.
Not directly comparable, but Germany so far has given 90 billion to Greece. Also while the state saved this money, private investors lost out on interest yield.
How's Greece holding up, it's been out of the news the last couple of weeks
Not great! They're apparently close to a bailout deal, but they're going to have to implement a bunch more austerity measures. The IMF doesn't want to be involved because they say the Greek debt load is unsustainable, but EU countries don't really want to talk about debt relief.
We're basically back to the status quo, and Greece will probably have new elections soon.
0
Options
GumpyThere is alwaysa greater powerRegistered Userregular
Holy moley British politics
If a political party makes a big song and dance about opening up it's leadership contest to the (more or less) general public after losing a popular election it can't then turn around and complain about the results. The Corbyn saga has been a roller coaster ride to follow and I have no doubt that there are some spectacular explosions still to come.
I'm starting to feel like British media never got the memo that most of the people currently streaming into the EU are not economic migrants but refugees, mostly from Syria
And it feels so fucked up that few countries inside the EU have to shoulder most of the load, there is no coordinated response and others go to such fucking lengths to avoid taking in any refugees
I'm sad and appalled at how Austrian authorities are handling the current crisis but the statistics are laughable and it feels like a huge part of the continent is currently in denial of reality
Current problems aside, I feel like Germany's willingness to resettle hundreds of thousands of Syrians within their borders is going to massively benefit them in the end
I personally think it's fantastic news - I have no love for new labour and the type of careerist it attracted, though the rise and fall of Syriza do give a cautionary tale about how to run an anti-austerity party. Will Corbyn walk into number 10? Probably not at this stage, though five years is a long time. The left of Labour is now at the forefront of their party and will have to take responsibility for any fuck ups in the next five years, which the Blarites have been happily doing up until now. I'd expect Corbyn to lose a bit of his sheen as he actually tries to govern the party.
The Tories are currently ecstatic that Labour's moving itself far enough away from it's own policies that it can lay into them without hitting itself. It couldn't really tear into them when what they promised was "tory lite". The Corbynites are more then happy to return the favour.
The Lib Dem's are happy to take any centralist labour supporters who find this move to be too radical for them, though Corbyn will easily bring in fresh blood to replace any losses.
The Green's are starting to take pot shots at him, but I think that they'll come out far worse from that fight. Natalie Bennet does not have the ability to go toe to toe with other party leaders.
The SNP on my news-feed are currently posting quotes from Enoch Powel and are savaging some Scottish labour lady for being a lady. I wish I had nice SNP people on my newsfeed.
Mojo_JojoWe are only now beginning to understand the full power and ramifications of sexual intercourseRegistered Userregular
I'm amazed the Greens have kept Bennet. She's utterly useless.
Homogeneous distribution of your varieties of amuse-gueule
0
Options
Brovid Hasselsmof[Growling historic on the fury road]Registered Userregular
I have never heard of Jeremy Corbyn before today. He sounds like... not a jerk. But I must be missing something because he's a politician so how can he be not a jerk?
Corbyn has some domestic policies I am well up on. Nationalised public transport. Nationalised power. Spending money on public services, anti-austerity, big fan of the welfare state. Good lad, get in.
However, given that it actually looked like he was going to win I did some research on more of his views and he's very limp-wristed when it comes to foreign policy in, as one commentator put it, "hard-bollocked reality"
For a leftie I am pretty damn hawkish and I have to say that his defence, foreign and energy policies aren't ones I agree with. He'll scrap trident, he'll drop military spending like a lead balloon, and he's also gushed over some mates in the middle east who have said some pretty "charming" things about gay people, women's rights and such.
I hope that the more hawkish streak of the labour party rises up to be a clear balancing influence on the new leadership. But hey, at least it means the Labour Party have droppe the Tory-lite brand, Ed Milliband was on the radio talking about it and I reckon that half of what Corbyn says is what he wanted to say but never thought it was feasible to do so, especially with the party leadership being what it was.
I have never heard of Jeremy Corbyn before today. He sounds like... not a jerk. But I must be missing something because he's a politician so how can he be not a jerk?
Corbyn personally seems like a pretty alright guy, though he did have a decent number of supporters on social media ready to tear into the opposition (RIP Liz Kendall) on his behalf. He's been in a secure Labour London since before the rise of Blair and thus avoided being tarnished with the new labour brush.
But hey, at least it means the Labour Party have droppe the Tory-lite brand, Ed Milliband was on the radio talking about it and I reckon that half of what Corbyn says is what he wanted to say but never thought it was feasible to do so, especially with the party leadership being what it was.
I've seen quite a few people say that Ed Milliband swinging the party to the left a bit was a vital stepping stone to Corbyn. I think he's gotten some satisfaction out of this result.
That quote has been rolled out by three or four tory bigwigs this morning. They are going to corbyn hard over his foreign policy and quantitative easing plans over the next five years.
Look at how close Cooper and Burnham were - That's one of the reasons they were obliterated. It seems like the membership couldn't see a major difference between them as candidates.
I'd say these were extraordinary circumstances that the Schengen Agreement accommodates, so it's within the rules as long as it's temporary. Still, it's a bit of a quick U-Turn from Germany. They've been remarkably more welcoming to refugees then pretty much any other state before now.
Germany has been very welcoming to refugees but in the last weeks up to 100,000 have left Eastern Europe for Germany
The German government has been pushing for EU-wide quotas and the current situation is the opposite of what they've been trying to achieve in this regard
There has also been much internal pressure on Merkel and this step might be a concession to those who are concerned about Germany's role in the crisis
There has been a dichotomy between German plans to evenly distribute refugees across the EU and the Hungarian government bringing refugees to the Austrian border so they can travel to Germany, although the humanitarian need to help these people was very real, especially in the face of what has been happening in Hungary
0
Options
GumpyThere is alwaysa greater powerRegistered Userregular
After the financial collapse and Greece, the refugee crisis is the third big balls up the EU has had trying to organise a coherent response to a major recent crisis. If this is not correctly worked through, the consequences could be considerable. I've seen reference to Germany preparing to support the UK's bid to renegotiate the relationship if the UK supports an expansion of federal power (specifically, the idea of an EU army), which is what Germany needs if it's going to strong arm other states into taking their share.
At the moment there is also squarrel between the german states because right now almost all the refugees end up in Munich/Bavaria (12.000 this saturday alone) and except for North Rhine-Westphalia most other states have not been that forthcoming with help until today when 4 more states offered to take in refugees from Bavaria and only about 3000 in total.
The numbers are a bit ridiculous if you look at them, there are massive differences in the distribution of refugees across Europe and even inside specific countries, yet everyone seems to feel equally beset
Posts
Amsterdam was p nice, I don't know if anyone here wondered about that, probably not, but Kochi was a great host
How's Greece holding up, it's been out of the news the last couple of weeks
Oooh, I wanted to give some recommendations based on what we saw, but that's not a lot of time!
It is! It's a jam packed schedule of workshops and meetings sadly.
The Rijksmuseum is great but it costs 17,50
Croc explained some strange statues of female saints crushing dudes below their feet to us
I will certainly be keeping my eye out for this!
some projections the increased investment in german state bonds save Germany about 100 billion € since 2015. Some other states like The US and the Netherlands for example also benefited but not nearly as much.
Not directly comparable, but Germany so far has given 90 billion to Greece. Also while the state saved this money, private investors lost out on interest yield.
Not great! They're apparently close to a bailout deal, but they're going to have to implement a bunch more austerity measures. The IMF doesn't want to be involved because they say the Greek debt load is unsustainable, but EU countries don't really want to talk about debt relief.
We're basically back to the status quo, and Greece will probably have new elections soon.
If a political party makes a big song and dance about opening up it's leadership contest to the (more or less) general public after losing a popular election it can't then turn around and complain about the results. The Corbyn saga has been a roller coaster ride to follow and I have no doubt that there are some spectacular explosions still to come.
And it feels so fucked up that few countries inside the EU have to shoulder most of the load, there is no coordinated response and others go to such fucking lengths to avoid taking in any refugees
I'm sad and appalled at how Austrian authorities are handling the current crisis but the statistics are laughable and it feels like a huge part of the continent is currently in denial of reality
Not that the state of journalism elsewhere is often that much better, mind, but still
I personally think it's fantastic news - I have no love for new labour and the type of careerist it attracted, though the rise and fall of Syriza do give a cautionary tale about how to run an anti-austerity party. Will Corbyn walk into number 10? Probably not at this stage, though five years is a long time. The left of Labour is now at the forefront of their party and will have to take responsibility for any fuck ups in the next five years, which the Blarites have been happily doing up until now. I'd expect Corbyn to lose a bit of his sheen as he actually tries to govern the party.
The Tories are currently ecstatic that Labour's moving itself far enough away from it's own policies that it can lay into them without hitting itself. It couldn't really tear into them when what they promised was "tory lite". The Corbynites are more then happy to return the favour.
The Lib Dem's are happy to take any centralist labour supporters who find this move to be too radical for them, though Corbyn will easily bring in fresh blood to replace any losses.
The Green's are starting to take pot shots at him, but I think that they'll come out far worse from that fight. Natalie Bennet does not have the ability to go toe to toe with other party leaders.
The SNP on my news-feed are currently posting quotes from Enoch Powel and are savaging some Scottish labour lady for being a lady. I wish I had nice SNP people on my newsfeed.
However, given that it actually looked like he was going to win I did some research on more of his views and he's very limp-wristed when it comes to foreign policy in, as one commentator put it, "hard-bollocked reality"
For a leftie I am pretty damn hawkish and I have to say that his defence, foreign and energy policies aren't ones I agree with. He'll scrap trident, he'll drop military spending like a lead balloon, and he's also gushed over some mates in the middle east who have said some pretty "charming" things about gay people, women's rights and such.
I hope that the more hawkish streak of the labour party rises up to be a clear balancing influence on the new leadership. But hey, at least it means the Labour Party have droppe the Tory-lite brand, Ed Milliband was on the radio talking about it and I reckon that half of what Corbyn says is what he wanted to say but never thought it was feasible to do so, especially with the party leadership being what it was.
Corbyn personally seems like a pretty alright guy, though he did have a decent number of supporters on social media ready to tear into the opposition (RIP Liz Kendall) on his behalf. He's been in a secure Labour London since before the rise of Blair and thus avoided being tarnished with the new labour brush.
She stood unopposed for Green leadership - There just aren't many people in the party willing to do the job
I've seen quite a few people say that Ed Milliband swinging the party to the left a bit was a vital stepping stone to Corbyn. I think he's gotten some satisfaction out of this result.
That quote has been rolled out by three or four tory bigwigs this morning. They are going to corbyn hard over his foreign policy and quantitative easing plans over the next five years.
(Taken from here)
Look at how close Cooper and Burnham were - That's one of the reasons they were obliterated. It seems like the membership couldn't see a major difference between them as candidates.
And you, David, are a threat to our souls.
Also I think Corbyn should take it and run with it. "The only security I threaten is the security of the Tory hold on power" or something like that.
I'd say these were extraordinary circumstances that the Schengen Agreement accommodates, so it's within the rules as long as it's temporary. Still, it's a bit of a quick U-Turn from Germany. They've been remarkably more welcoming to refugees then pretty much any other state before now.
The German government has been pushing for EU-wide quotas and the current situation is the opposite of what they've been trying to achieve in this regard
There has been a dichotomy between German plans to evenly distribute refugees across the EU and the Hungarian government bringing refugees to the Austrian border so they can travel to Germany, although the humanitarian need to help these people was very real, especially in the face of what has been happening in Hungary