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Although this thread does not function under the same strict guidelines as the USPMT, it is still a general practice on TL to provide a source with an explanation on why it is relevant and what purpose it adds to the discussion. Failure to do so will result in a mod action. |
On May 24 2017 21:31 opisska wrote:Show nested quote +On May 24 2017 17:42 TheDwf wrote:
Incredible, Macron wants to extend the state of emergency (which was supposed to end on 15/07) until November. Now they use attacks which happen in other countries to justify this useless thing! (90 people died to attacks under this state of emergency.) I am really surprised that the French put up with this bullshit. The whole point of the state of emergency is shown exactly in the name - it is supposed to serve in times of emergency, when a democratic solution would take too long. Having it extended for years is totally absurd. If the government thinks that an increase in the power of law enforcement is needed to handle some issue, they are free to try to press the changes through the normal democratic process. The ability to declare the state of emergency should come with a clear time limit on the timescale that is needed for proper arrangements. This is really not something that should be tolerated.
You shouldn't, the Vth Republic is a fairly authoritarian regime by European standards, most of our governing politicians have complete disdain for public liberties and the population is zombified by two decades of securitarian propaganda ("less liberty for more security"). Social-democrats completely capitulated to the cultural pressure from the right (left = laxism, blablabla), so they adopted the repressive approach of the right... which was forced to further drift to the right, if only to differentiate themselves, etc. In the political field, only the (real) left protested, especially as the state of emergency was of course instrumentalised to repress militants and demonstrations. NGOs like Amnesty International or the Human Rights League also protested but they were ignored. Out of the 6 first candidates, only Mélenchon clearly wanted to terminate the state of emergency.
Hollande had finally wanted to end the state of emergency the 14/06/2016... the very evening, Nice's attack and 85 dead.
The previous government had said that the state of emergency would no longer be necessary when a bill normalizaling some of its possibilities would pass (notice the trick: special measures can be abandoned... when they've become the norm). The bill was adopted, the state of emergency remained. Now Macron's minister is a repression lover and Macron himself has decided to adopt a bonapartist posture to gain credibility. Macron said that he wants a new antiterrorist bill (we probably had, what... 15? 20? in the last three decades), after which, according to our Prime minister, the state of emergency will end. Never heard that before...
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On May 23 2017 06:06 bardtown wrote:
You're right, man. If you dismiss all the evidence that says it's not about culture it becomes clear that it is about culture.
I haven't dismissed any evidence. I addressed your arguments, and I presented you with the state of the scientific research on the topic. You're the one dismissing it.
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Czech parliament passes a resolution asking the government to stop funding UNESCO because of its anti-Israel proclamations, based on an initiative by ODS, the oldest conservative slightly right-wing party. What I find rather difficult to understand is their obsession with Israel. In internet discussions around this party it almost seems like it is their core topic, which I find peculiar given that our country isn't exactly a big international player and nobody really cares what our stance is. To me it's mainly a smoke screen to detract voters from the sad reality that even if ODS gets into the parliament (which is oddly enough not even sure, after 25 years of them being important in the local politics) they have almost zero coalition potential with anyone, because they have essentially declared every single relevant party to be their mortal enemies.
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On May 24 2017 17:47 maybenexttime wrote:Show nested quote +On May 24 2017 17:42 TheDwf wrote:
Incredible, Macron wants to extend the state of emergency (which was supposed to end on 15/07) until November. Now they use attacks which happen in other countries to justify this useless thing! (90 people died to attacks under this state of emergency.) Perhaps the European Commission should take a closer look at the state of democracy in France? ;-)
My life didn't change at all between before state of emergency compared to after it was put in place.
Maybe it was because I was white and not in the Parisian region but I honestly don't care at all about state of emergency.
Doubtlessly something is wrong with it? I wouldn't know. I have strong faith in our police and judiciary system so I don't see an issue with the state of emergency, as a layman to that issue anyway.
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On May 25 2017 04:18 Incognoto wrote:Show nested quote +On May 24 2017 17:47 maybenexttime wrote:On May 24 2017 17:42 TheDwf wrote:
Incredible, Macron wants to extend the state of emergency (which was supposed to end on 15/07) until November. Now they use attacks which happen in other countries to justify this useless thing! (90 people died to attacks under this state of emergency.) Perhaps the European Commission should take a closer look at the state of democracy in France? ;-) My life didn't change at all between before state of emergency compared to after it was put in place. Maybe it was because I was white and not in the Parisian region but I honestly don't care at all about state of emergency. Doubtlessly something is wrong with it? I wouldn't know. I have strong faith in our police and judiciary system so I don't see an issue with the state of emergency, as a layman to that issue anyway.
But that's not a very good approach to being a citizen. If there are civil liberties being violated in your country, you shouldn't ignore it just because it's not your liberties, because a day might come when it will be your liberties and then it will be too late to complain. The state of emergency allows the law enforcement to conduct activities in a way that wouldn't be possible otherwise. As I have already tried to explain, the possibility to declare a state of emergency exists in democratic systems for the purpose to react to issues in a timely manner. But there is nothing timely about two years of state of emergency - if you the police want these powers for so long, they need to get them in a democratic manner, that is through the legislative process in the parliament, not just by a government decree about the state of emergency. This way it is also ensured that they do not collide with other existing law granting rights to people. These are the basic principles of separation of power that are very important for a healthy democracy. In general, having strong faith in any government organisation is already a dubious stance - you should always want to give those as little power as practically possible to reach the goals you want, because getting any power back is usually pretty impossible.
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On May 25 2017 04:26 opisska wrote:
But that's not a very good approach to being a citizen. If there are civil liberties being violated in your country, you shouldn't ignore it just because it's not your liberties,
Agreed entirely, don't worry. I understand that much.
What I don't understand anymore is what liberties we're losing through state emergency.
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I also think it's an unproductive discussion at the moment because a large portion of the population is insecure and an academic discussion about privacy rights is not on the minds of most people. Also when discussing privacy and security it should be done in material terms and not do this "if we read someone's phone we'll turn into the a dystopia" thing. Too often the privacy discussions are inconsistent and almost religious.
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France12887 Posts
On May 24 2017 17:42 TheDwf wrote:
Incredible, Macron wants to extend the state of emergency (which was supposed to end on 15/07) until November. Now they use attacks which happen in other countries to justify this useless thing! (90 people died to attacks under this state of emergency.)
Maybe more would have died without it, so 90 people dieing under this state of emergency hardly proves it's useless :o.
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United Kingdom13775 Posts
Yes but then again maybe it's the attacks you don't hear about that were prevented by (insert aggressive creep of authority here).
Of course there needs to be proof because that doesn't deserve the benefit of the doubt.
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On May 25 2017 05:22 Incognoto wrote:Show nested quote +On May 25 2017 04:26 opisska wrote:
But that's not a very good approach to being a citizen. If there are civil liberties being violated in your country, you shouldn't ignore it just because it's not your liberties, Agreed entirely, don't worry. I understand that much. What I don't understand anymore is what liberties we're losing through state emergency.
Well, it's actually pretty hard for me to find the specifics, because all the legal material are in French, which looks like random characters to me  But from what I could gather, it gives the police rights for home searches and arrests that would otherwise not be possible, or at least needed a permission from judge and it also gives the right to remove legally held weapons from people, to prohibit specific people from being in specific areas and to limit public gatherings. These might seem harmless, but the danger of the state turning to a police one should not be underestimated. Maybe it's my personal bias as I was born in a police state, but the line is much thinner than people imagine.
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On May 24 2017 07:48 SoSexy wrote:
It was a genuine question. What I mean is that, since political parties have different ideas, everything different from 'condolences' is instrumentalizing. 'close the borders now' - instrumentalizing. 'the real victims are moderate muslims' - instrumentalizing. What I mean is what is left to discuss if every attempt is instrumentalizing?
As a point of cultural comparison, in the US, it's usually the right accusing the left of instrumentalistalizing violence... due to the nature of the gun debate. No real thought there... it's just an interesting analogy.
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some positive news !
MAY 23, 2017 BRUSSELS—Europe’s economic recovery is showing surprising strength, as key surveys of business activity and optimism hit their highest levels in years.
The data released Tuesday hold out hope that the region is set to see a sustained and marked decline in its unemployment rate from the current 9.5 percent.
And the good economic news could well add pressure on the European Central Bank to signal a withdrawal of its extraordinary stimulus measures.
One of the indicators the ECB looks at when assessing its policy stance is the monthly survey of business activity from financial information company IHS Markit. Once again, it was strong, with the purchasing managers’ index – a broad gauge of economic activity – for the 19 countries that use the euro currency unchanged at a six-year high of 56.8 in May.
The results are consistent with quarterly economic growth of 0.6-0.7 percent, higher than the first quarter’s 0.5 percent growth. Chris Williamson, IHS Markit’s chief economist, says the consensus forecast for second-quarter growth of 0.4 percent may prove “overly pessimistic.”
He also noted that job creation has surged to the second-highest in nearly a decade as firms expand capacity and meet rising demand.
The strong purchasing managers’ survey comes on top of the 26-year high reached by Germany’s Ifo monthly confidence index. It rose to 114.6 points for May from 113.0 in April. Economists had forecast that it would increase, but only to 114.1.
Ifo said that was the highest figure since 1991 and, along with other data, points to growth of 0.6 percent in the second quarter, matching the quarter-on-quarter growth figure of 0.6 percent for the January-March period.
“Today’s strong German data add to the evidence that, not only the German economy, but the entire eurozone economy could become the positive growth surprise of 2017,” ING-Diba economist Carsten Brzeski said. “This sentiment is also spreading across financial markets, with many market participants now realizing that the eurozone economy had been written off too early.”
The eurozone grew 0.5 percent in the first quarter compared to the quarter before, and 1.7 percent compared to the year-ago quarter.
Germany has been the main engine behind the region’s recovery from recession which began four years ago. It’s been buoyed by strong exports of its cars and machinery. Stronger consumer confidence due to low unemployment of 3.9 percent has also supported the recovery.
However, for the region to really push on growth has to come from all corners and a run of surveys are pointing to a pick-up, particularly in France, the eurozone’s second-largest economy.
The strong data mean the eurozone is closer to no longer needing extraordinary stimulus provided by the European Central Bank through its 60 billion euros ($67 billion) in monthly bond purchases. The purchases pump newly printed money into the economy in an attempt to raise inflation that is considered too weak, and to protect the recovery from any new troubles. The bank has said it will continue the purchases at least through year end. Analysts expect more hints about the bank’s future plans at its June 8 meeting and a clear roadmap for tapering the stimulus could emerge in September. source
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United Kingdom13775 Posts
Yup, positive news indeed for Germany.
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Positive news for everyone, Portugal and Spain are doing better too. I thought after three elections we had established that the Kremlin needs some new talking points
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On May 24 2017 17:42 TheDwf wrote:
Incredible, Macron wants to extend the state of emergency (which was supposed to end on 15/07) until November. Now they use attacks which happen in other countries to justify this useless thing! (90 people died to attacks under this state of emergency.)
It feels a bit odd,would the risk in france be higher then in other European countries that do not have the state of emergency? On the other hand it probably wont hurt either,or is daily life severely disrupted by the state of emergency (I have no clue what this means in france)
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On May 26 2017 02:57 Nyxisto wrote:some positive news ! Show nested quote +MAY 23, 2017 BRUSSELS—Europe’s economic recovery is showing surprising strength, as key surveys of business activity and optimism hit their highest levels in years.
The data released Tuesday hold out hope that the region is set to see a sustained and marked decline in its unemployment rate from the current 9.5 percent.
And the good economic news could well add pressure on the European Central Bank to signal a withdrawal of its extraordinary stimulus measures.
One of the indicators the ECB looks at when assessing its policy stance is the monthly survey of business activity from financial information company IHS Markit. Once again, it was strong, with the purchasing managers’ index – a broad gauge of economic activity – for the 19 countries that use the euro currency unchanged at a six-year high of 56.8 in May.
The results are consistent with quarterly economic growth of 0.6-0.7 percent, higher than the first quarter’s 0.5 percent growth. Chris Williamson, IHS Markit’s chief economist, says the consensus forecast for second-quarter growth of 0.4 percent may prove “overly pessimistic.”
He also noted that job creation has surged to the second-highest in nearly a decade as firms expand capacity and meet rising demand.
The strong purchasing managers’ survey comes on top of the 26-year high reached by Germany’s Ifo monthly confidence index. It rose to 114.6 points for May from 113.0 in April. Economists had forecast that it would increase, but only to 114.1.
Ifo said that was the highest figure since 1991 and, along with other data, points to growth of 0.6 percent in the second quarter, matching the quarter-on-quarter growth figure of 0.6 percent for the January-March period.
“Today’s strong German data add to the evidence that, not only the German economy, but the entire eurozone economy could become the positive growth surprise of 2017,” ING-Diba economist Carsten Brzeski said. “This sentiment is also spreading across financial markets, with many market participants now realizing that the eurozone economy had been written off too early.”
The eurozone grew 0.5 percent in the first quarter compared to the quarter before, and 1.7 percent compared to the year-ago quarter.
Germany has been the main engine behind the region’s recovery from recession which began four years ago. It’s been buoyed by strong exports of its cars and machinery. Stronger consumer confidence due to low unemployment of 3.9 percent has also supported the recovery.
However, for the region to really push on growth has to come from all corners and a run of surveys are pointing to a pick-up, particularly in France, the eurozone’s second-largest economy.
The strong data mean the eurozone is closer to no longer needing extraordinary stimulus provided by the European Central Bank through its 60 billion euros ($67 billion) in monthly bond purchases. The purchases pump newly printed money into the economy in an attempt to raise inflation that is considered too weak, and to protect the recovery from any new troubles. The bank has said it will continue the purchases at least through year end. Analysts expect more hints about the bank’s future plans at its June 8 meeting and a clear roadmap for tapering the stimulus could emerge in September. source
Don't write of the Eurozone ever,it is the biggest middle class economy in the whole world. But the growth is partially fake,based on hidden inflation caused by the 1000 billion+ that has been pumped into the market.
The purchasing of bonds by the ecb is the crime of the century btw,i still can not believe they where allowed to choose this way to stimulate the economy as it heavily favors a very small upper class.
Almost no one understands how this works though so no one cares. o well.
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On May 26 2017 07:44 pmh wrote:Show nested quote +On May 26 2017 02:57 Nyxisto wrote:some positive news ! MAY 23, 2017 BRUSSELS—Europe’s economic recovery is showing surprising strength, as key surveys of business activity and optimism hit their highest levels in years.
The data released Tuesday hold out hope that the region is set to see a sustained and marked decline in its unemployment rate from the current 9.5 percent.
And the good economic news could well add pressure on the European Central Bank to signal a withdrawal of its extraordinary stimulus measures.
One of the indicators the ECB looks at when assessing its policy stance is the monthly survey of business activity from financial information company IHS Markit. Once again, it was strong, with the purchasing managers’ index – a broad gauge of economic activity – for the 19 countries that use the euro currency unchanged at a six-year high of 56.8 in May.
The results are consistent with quarterly economic growth of 0.6-0.7 percent, higher than the first quarter’s 0.5 percent growth. Chris Williamson, IHS Markit’s chief economist, says the consensus forecast for second-quarter growth of 0.4 percent may prove “overly pessimistic.”
He also noted that job creation has surged to the second-highest in nearly a decade as firms expand capacity and meet rising demand.
The strong purchasing managers’ survey comes on top of the 26-year high reached by Germany’s Ifo monthly confidence index. It rose to 114.6 points for May from 113.0 in April. Economists had forecast that it would increase, but only to 114.1.
Ifo said that was the highest figure since 1991 and, along with other data, points to growth of 0.6 percent in the second quarter, matching the quarter-on-quarter growth figure of 0.6 percent for the January-March period.
“Today’s strong German data add to the evidence that, not only the German economy, but the entire eurozone economy could become the positive growth surprise of 2017,” ING-Diba economist Carsten Brzeski said. “This sentiment is also spreading across financial markets, with many market participants now realizing that the eurozone economy had been written off too early.”
The eurozone grew 0.5 percent in the first quarter compared to the quarter before, and 1.7 percent compared to the year-ago quarter.
Germany has been the main engine behind the region’s recovery from recession which began four years ago. It’s been buoyed by strong exports of its cars and machinery. Stronger consumer confidence due to low unemployment of 3.9 percent has also supported the recovery.
However, for the region to really push on growth has to come from all corners and a run of surveys are pointing to a pick-up, particularly in France, the eurozone’s second-largest economy.
The strong data mean the eurozone is closer to no longer needing extraordinary stimulus provided by the European Central Bank through its 60 billion euros ($67 billion) in monthly bond purchases. The purchases pump newly printed money into the economy in an attempt to raise inflation that is considered too weak, and to protect the recovery from any new troubles. The bank has said it will continue the purchases at least through year end. Analysts expect more hints about the bank’s future plans at its June 8 meeting and a clear roadmap for tapering the stimulus could emerge in September. source Don't write of the Eurozone ever,it is the biggest middle class economy in the whole world. But the growth is partially fake,based on hidden inflation caused by the 1000 billion+ that has been pumped into the market. The purchasing of bonds by the ecb is the crime of the century btw,i still can not believe they where allowed to choose this way to stimulate the economy as it heavily favors a very small upper class. Almost no one understands how this works though so no one cares. o well.
Do you understand how it works? What other ways of 'stimulating the economy' were there? How does it only favor a very small upper class (ignoring that it was what saved Portugal and Spain from further collapse, we're now growing at a rate of 3% yearly, thanks ECB). What exactly is this hidden inflation?
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I guess the Euro losing value due to the sheer amounts of money being pumped into the market is that inflation. But I don't know why it would be hidden.
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Hidden because it does not show up in official inflation figures. The purchase program,people don't understand it so I guess I will explain it. I will finish this post in 2 hours as I have to do other things first.
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I honestly don't know what exactly the ECB did here, so I am awaiting the promised post to educate myself, but I find the "print money" method rather efficient, if used well. I actually don't understand why it isn't used for budget purposes more? I mean really in the most harsh way of "the state makes new money, and gives it itself to spend" - because what that is is a flat tax on any capital, however undeclared it might be, however it tries to hide from the hands of the state, because it simply takes a little bit of value from every piece of the currency and gives it to the state to spend. I find it quite brilliant.
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EPT
