|
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 August 19 2017 02:07 OtherWorld wrote:Show nested quote +On August 19 2017 00:21 Toadesstern wrote:unrelated to the recent events but I think this should be in here as well since it's politics after all even if the timing might be a bit bad: ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrat Party and its allies were enemies of Turkey, and told Turkish voters in Germany not to vote for them in next month's election.
"I am calling on all my countrymen in Germany: the Christian Democrats, SDP, the Green Party are all enemies of Turkey. Support those political parties who are not enemies of Turkey," Erdogan said. source: www.reuters.comI feel that's fairly extreme for him to go that far. Not sure if people with turkish origins living in Germany will listen to him but he's basicly telling people to neither vote for the ruling party-bloc nor the opposition the way I understand it? I don't think he'd be a fan or DieLinke or FDP either. Because I don't see DieLinke being chummy with Turkey either and FDP is basicly the third party-wing of Merkels CDU when it comes to the reality of how coalitions will be build... so all that's left would be AfD or am I forgetting something? Why are European countries still allied to this guy, seriously The Anatolian peninsula and the Bosphorus are of great strategic importance.
Unfortunately.
|
Also Turkey's relevance is likely to grow because with Syria and Iraq disintegrating the void will probably be filled by Turkey as most of the region is Sunni. Given that Iran isn't exactly an ally Turkey is pretty much the only partner in the region gulf states aside.
|
On August 18 2017 23:40 Acrofales wrote: Everybody must show up for the monthly bacon ball and eat at least 3 slices.
Sounds like the most awesomest law evar to me! But why a monthly bacon ball and not a daily bacon ball???
|
A 22-year-old Moroccan national is at the centre of the Spanish police’s search for the driver of the van used in the Barcelona attack.
Younes Abouyaaqoub is understood to be the chief suspect for the attack on Las Ramblas that killed at least 13 and injured more than 130.
According to the Spanish newspaper El País, police in Catalonia said they were searching for the man, who is thought to be a key member of a 12-strong jihadist cell responsible for the attacks.
On Friday it emerged that another suspect, Moussa Oukabir, who is thought to have rented the van, was among five men shot dead as they launched a second attack in the coastal town of Cambrils.
The teenager, said to be 17 or 18 years old, is suspected of using his brother’s documents to hire the vehicle that ploughed through pedestrians in the Barcelona tourist hotspot on Thursday evening.
He reportedly died along with Said Aallaa, 19, and Mohamed Hychami, 24, who were part of a group that mounted a similar attack in Cambrils that left one woman dead and six people injured.
The identities of the other two dead jihadists are yet to be confirmed by police.
Four men, aged 21, 27, 28 and 34, who were arrested in connection with the attack, remain in custody. Three are Moroccan and one is Spanish. Police said none of them were previously known to the security services for terror-related reasons.
Moussa Oukabir’s older brother, Driss Oukabir, is reported to be one of those detained.
Several of those suspected of involvement in the attacks are thought to come from Ripoll, an inland town of 10,000 people about 60m (100km) north-west of Barcelona. Police on Friday searched the apartment of the town’s imam, neighbours said.
An apparent search warrant seen by the Associated Press authorised police to extract any terrorism-related “weapons, ammunition, explosives, instruments, documents or papers” found in the apartment.
Despite fears that Abouyaaqoub is still at large, Spain on Saturday decided to maintain its terrorist threat alert at level 4, the second-highest level, declaring that no new attacks were imminent. Interior minister Juan Ignacio Zoido said the country would nevertheless reinforce security for events that draw large crowds and popular tourist sites.
“We are going to redirect our efforts and will adapt these to every place or area that needs special protection,” Zoido told a news conference, adding that Spanish authorities considered the cell behind the attacks had been fully dismantled.
About 34 nationalities were among almost 130 people wounded in the attacks in Las Ramblas and in Cambrils, which lies around 70 miles (110km) to the south-west.
Thirteen of the 14 victims have been identified, although not all have been named. Five were Spanish, three were German, two were Italian, with one from the United States, Belgium and Portugal respectively.
Authorities said 54 people injured in the attacks were still in hospital on Friday night, with 12 in a critical condition and 25 in a serious condition.
Relatives of a seven-year-old who became separated from his mother during the Barcelona attack are continuing to appeal for information. The father and grandmother of Julian Alessandro Cadman are travelling to Spain from Australia as the wait for news continues, family member Debbie Cadman said.
Speaking after the family’s initial plea for help, the prime minister, Theresa May, said a child with dual British nationality was believed to be among those unaccounted for.
Four Australians were injured in the attack, the country’s foreign minister, Julie Bishop, said.
Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, said one Canadian was killed and four injured during the attacks.
Police have revealed that the terrorists behind the rampage were preparing bigger attacks, with an explosion on Wednesday at a house in Alcanar believed to have robbed the killers of materials to use in larger-scale operations.
Reports from Spain had earlier suggested the terror cell may have been planning an attack using gas canisters.
Source
|
|
A van containing gas canisters has been discovered near a music venue in Rotterdam, hours after a tip-off from Spanish police led to the cancellation of a rock concert.
The driver of the Spain-registered van was detained by police, Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb told journalists.
US band Allah-Las - which often gets threats because of its name - had been due to perform at The Maassilo.
But the warning led to the gig being called off at the last minute.
However, Mr Aboutaleb said it was not clear if the van and the terror threat were linked. The warning came amid a heightened sense of alert after attacks in Spain.
The Spanish driver was arrested on a nearby road and taken for questioning, police said.
A bomb squad was examining the van, reports said. Police wearing bulletproof vests were at the venue, which was evacuated.
Source
|
Macron is such a clown trying to form alliances with Austrian chancellor Kern and Czech PM Sobotka, who both will be goners in the near future.
It seems like Europe is slowly splitting into republican parties (conservatives, far-right nationalists) and democrat parties (liberals, socdems, greens) with the left in shambles without their own media and no chance at proper fund-raising from the rich.
|
Interesting regional differences I guess. In Denmark there is an ongoing discussion whether "DR" (Danmarks Radio - the publicly funded radio and tv channel) is too left leaning or not (also whether it is too big and whether it has lost touch with it's primary mission which is to provide information and cohesion in society).
|
One of the most interesting parts of this thread is users from diverse countries describing what the political debates in their countries are. +1 for more of that. Unfortunately there's no political debate in Portugal worthy of note. Everyone seems to agree on pretty much everything.
|
Meh, I'm not really a good measure for what the talks in my country are about. It's probably the same as in most of your countries, people make a left-right divide and then throw the liberals to the left or right depending on their stance on immigration and then pretend there was a big leftwing movement, while the affiliated newspapers are under control of liberal oligarchs.
The political talks in my country are about "necessary" reforms to everything organized (EU, unions, chamber of workers, chamber of capitalists, health care, regulations), state budget and "too high" taxation, and obviously migration, migration, migration. And as always between liberals and conservatives there is a vast consent on the adjectives in the quotes. There is absolutely no leftwing media that's really talking about low levels of poverty through our social system, the economy running fine although we are highly regulated, since-1945-socialist (socdems still have a left orientation there) Vienna being the most liveable cities in the world with public housing and public transportation as role models for state-influenced city planning, the country having no taxation of wealth or inheritance but questionable legal constructs to prevent taxation. These are usually one-off articles in liberal newspaper and then they write 15-articles about too much talk about migration.
|
On August 17 2017 02:24 TheDwf wrote:+ Show Spoiler +On June 05 2017 00:31 TheDwf wrote: Macron's popularity will plummet fast. At the end of this autumn he should already be weakened, maybe already worn-out if a hard conflict arises. His labour bill will make him unpopular to the lower classes, and this is just the first of all the neoliberal counter-reforms he wants to pass. There is no sociological majority to support his program, but since you can get all powers with 25-30% of the votes in our "democracy" he'll be able to govern against most of the country. His policies will at most turn unemployed people into poor, precarious workers so he won't gain any social base here. Macron's mandate is a programmed failure. As expected... All poll companies registered a drop past mid-July or something. The questions asked are not exactly the same, hence the differences I guess... not that polls are science anyway. The latest polls (one Ifop, one Harris) done in early August for Macron's "100 days" show 36-37% of satisfied [about Macron's action] vs 62-64% of dissatisfied. To compare, Hollande had 46% at the same period in 2012. Macron is only positive within the upper classes and the sympathizers of his movement. Three main bills were passed this summer: 1) The law which authorizes Macron to modify the Labour Code by decrees. The exact text (clearly a deregulation bill) should be known the next week. A day of protests is already scheduled the 12 September (trade unions). The FI, the movement which supported Mélenchon, also scheduled a "popular gathering" the 23 September against Macron's ordinances. If the final text is as hardcore/liberal as what can be expected from Macron, it could/should trigger a heavy backlash from trade unions and the left. The method of the ordinances was already controversial, since it allows Macron to do the changes on his own, somewhat secretly until the text is published... The goal was clearly to rush this in order to avoid a social movement during the months of debates which would have occured in the Parliament, but it's a very risky strategy. People are going to be mad over this policy of the accomplished fact. 2) The law to "restore the trust in the public action" (initially, to "moralize the political life"). This was a campaign deal between Macron and his ally, Bayrou... who should have defended this bill in front of the Parliament, but had to resign to defend himself against fake jobs accusations in his party! Karma is tough... Anyway, regarding this law, as we say here, la montagne a accouché d'une souris... [the mountain gave birth to a mouse]. A few good things but the law was rushed and wasn't ambitious enough, and definitely weaker than what Macron himself had promised during the campaign. The opposition criticized its excessive focus on the MPs (sparing the high administration, where conflicts of interest can occur as well, etc.) and denounced a communications operation. 3) The sixth and last prorogation of the state of emergency... before some of its effects are passed in the common law this autumn. The most rejected measure so far seems to be the 5€ decrease in the APL [housing assistance to pay the rent] for the 6.5 millions of persons who benefit from them. 60% of those who get those APL belong to the first decile, the 10% poorest (often single mothers or students). Meanwhile, the richest got like 3 billions of tax cuts... Such is Macron's conception of social justice. Mélenchon brought 5€ of groceries in the Parliament to protest against this cut ("this is what you remove each month from the poorest") during a session of questions to the government. The minister who replied called it "demagogic". And the free fall goes on...
(Approval rating.)
Comparison with his predecessors:
+ Show Spoiler +
|
On August 27 2017 19:50 TheDwf wrote:Show nested quote +On August 17 2017 02:24 TheDwf wrote:+ Show Spoiler +On June 05 2017 00:31 TheDwf wrote: Macron's popularity will plummet fast. At the end of this autumn he should already be weakened, maybe already worn-out if a hard conflict arises. His labour bill will make him unpopular to the lower classes, and this is just the first of all the neoliberal counter-reforms he wants to pass. There is no sociological majority to support his program, but since you can get all powers with 25-30% of the votes in our "democracy" he'll be able to govern against most of the country. His policies will at most turn unemployed people into poor, precarious workers so he won't gain any social base here. Macron's mandate is a programmed failure. As expected... All poll companies registered a drop past mid-July or something. The questions asked are not exactly the same, hence the differences I guess... not that polls are science anyway. The latest polls (one Ifop, one Harris) done in early August for Macron's "100 days" show 36-37% of satisfied [about Macron's action] vs 62-64% of dissatisfied. To compare, Hollande had 46% at the same period in 2012. Macron is only positive within the upper classes and the sympathizers of his movement. Three main bills were passed this summer: 1) The law which authorizes Macron to modify the Labour Code by decrees. The exact text (clearly a deregulation bill) should be known the next week. A day of protests is already scheduled the 12 September (trade unions). The FI, the movement which supported Mélenchon, also scheduled a "popular gathering" the 23 September against Macron's ordinances. If the final text is as hardcore/liberal as what can be expected from Macron, it could/should trigger a heavy backlash from trade unions and the left. The method of the ordinances was already controversial, since it allows Macron to do the changes on his own, somewhat secretly until the text is published... The goal was clearly to rush this in order to avoid a social movement during the months of debates which would have occured in the Parliament, but it's a very risky strategy. People are going to be mad over this policy of the accomplished fact. 2) The law to "restore the trust in the public action" (initially, to "moralize the political life"). This was a campaign deal between Macron and his ally, Bayrou... who should have defended this bill in front of the Parliament, but had to resign to defend himself against fake jobs accusations in his party! Karma is tough... Anyway, regarding this law, as we say here, la montagne a accouché d'une souris... [the mountain gave birth to a mouse]. A few good things but the law was rushed and wasn't ambitious enough, and definitely weaker than what Macron himself had promised during the campaign. The opposition criticized its excessive focus on the MPs (sparing the high administration, where conflicts of interest can occur as well, etc.) and denounced a communications operation. 3) The sixth and last prorogation of the state of emergency... before some of its effects are passed in the common law this autumn. The most rejected measure so far seems to be the 5€ decrease in the APL [housing assistance to pay the rent] for the 6.5 millions of persons who benefit from them. 60% of those who get those APL belong to the first decile, the 10% poorest (often single mothers or students). Meanwhile, the richest got like 3 billions of tax cuts... Such is Macron's conception of social justice. Mélenchon brought 5€ of groceries in the Parliament to protest against this cut ("this is what you remove each month from the poorest") during a session of questions to the government. The minister who replied called it "demagogic". And the free fall goes on... (Approval rating.) Comparison with his predecessors: + Show Spoiler +
sry not really keeping up with french politics myself, but is there some reason behind that? Like is there one big thing looming over his head that is tanking his ratings atm like how it was with Merkel during the days of refugee crisis or is that just generally people in France being unhappy with their president as they always are? Sorry if that's a misconception but as a kid I was obviously less into politics and even less into foreign politics so the only ones I really remember ever actively thinking about are Macron and Hollande. And Hollande ended up with record lows on his approval as well, right? Granted it wasn't in the early stages of his presidency but by the end of it but you get the idea.
Because frankly I'd say he's well liked over here and I don't think that's just a german thing. Perhaps the same elsewhere in Europe?
|
Mostly he's not doing a great job with communication and his numbers were inflated by having been put against Marine.
|
United Kingdom13774 Posts
Saw the news last night, was wondering when it would make its way here .
This guy seems like an even worse Hollande honestly. He has all of the European leadership gushing over him because he very much seems to be on board with a pro-EU policy but once the dust clears people start to realize that he is one utterly awful choice. I can certainly sympathize with that folk would defend voting for him as an alternative against Le Pen, but beyond that he definitely gave off the vibe of being a Hollande v2.
|
On August 27 2017 21:19 Nebuchad wrote: Mostly he's not doing a great job with communication and his numbers were inflated by having been put against Marine.
I don't believe anything about "bad communication". The media can turn anything they want any way they want. He probably just doesn't have the media support as he used to. Makes him a bit more sympathetic, as this means he is really just a liberal ideologist and not a complete oligarchic puppet like one of those braindead conservatives. Sad times when propaganda is that strong, that you prefer a brainwashed idiot over a braindead one.
|
On August 27 2017 22:52 LegalLord wrote:Saw the news last night, was wondering when it would make its way here . This guy seems like an even worse Hollande honestly. He has all of the European leadership gushing over him because he very much seems to be on board with a pro-EU policy but once the dust clears people start to realize that he is one utterly awful choice. I can certainly sympathize with that folk would defend voting for him as an alternative against Le Pen, but beyond that he definitely gave off the vibe of being a Hollande v2.
I don't think anybody would have bet against the fact that his labour market reforms would go down like a lead balloon as far as public opinion is concerned, I think the whole idea was to get them through early so that the positive effects on the economy will show while he's still in office.
If France manages to get unemployment down by a significant margin that should give him a boost.
|
On August 27 2017 20:04 Toadesstern wrote:Show nested quote +On August 27 2017 19:50 TheDwf wrote:On August 17 2017 02:24 TheDwf wrote:+ Show Spoiler +On June 05 2017 00:31 TheDwf wrote: Macron's popularity will plummet fast. At the end of this autumn he should already be weakened, maybe already worn-out if a hard conflict arises. His labour bill will make him unpopular to the lower classes, and this is just the first of all the neoliberal counter-reforms he wants to pass. There is no sociological majority to support his program, but since you can get all powers with 25-30% of the votes in our "democracy" he'll be able to govern against most of the country. His policies will at most turn unemployed people into poor, precarious workers so he won't gain any social base here. Macron's mandate is a programmed failure. As expected... All poll companies registered a drop past mid-July or something. The questions asked are not exactly the same, hence the differences I guess... not that polls are science anyway. The latest polls (one Ifop, one Harris) done in early August for Macron's "100 days" show 36-37% of satisfied [about Macron's action] vs 62-64% of dissatisfied. To compare, Hollande had 46% at the same period in 2012. Macron is only positive within the upper classes and the sympathizers of his movement. Three main bills were passed this summer: 1) The law which authorizes Macron to modify the Labour Code by decrees. The exact text (clearly a deregulation bill) should be known the next week. A day of protests is already scheduled the 12 September (trade unions). The FI, the movement which supported Mélenchon, also scheduled a "popular gathering" the 23 September against Macron's ordinances. If the final text is as hardcore/liberal as what can be expected from Macron, it could/should trigger a heavy backlash from trade unions and the left. The method of the ordinances was already controversial, since it allows Macron to do the changes on his own, somewhat secretly until the text is published... The goal was clearly to rush this in order to avoid a social movement during the months of debates which would have occured in the Parliament, but it's a very risky strategy. People are going to be mad over this policy of the accomplished fact. 2) The law to "restore the trust in the public action" (initially, to "moralize the political life"). This was a campaign deal between Macron and his ally, Bayrou... who should have defended this bill in front of the Parliament, but had to resign to defend himself against fake jobs accusations in his party! Karma is tough... Anyway, regarding this law, as we say here, la montagne a accouché d'une souris... [the mountain gave birth to a mouse]. A few good things but the law was rushed and wasn't ambitious enough, and definitely weaker than what Macron himself had promised during the campaign. The opposition criticized its excessive focus on the MPs (sparing the high administration, where conflicts of interest can occur as well, etc.) and denounced a communications operation. 3) The sixth and last prorogation of the state of emergency... before some of its effects are passed in the common law this autumn. The most rejected measure so far seems to be the 5€ decrease in the APL [housing assistance to pay the rent] for the 6.5 millions of persons who benefit from them. 60% of those who get those APL belong to the first decile, the 10% poorest (often single mothers or students). Meanwhile, the richest got like 3 billions of tax cuts... Such is Macron's conception of social justice. Mélenchon brought 5€ of groceries in the Parliament to protest against this cut ("this is what you remove each month from the poorest") during a session of questions to the government. The minister who replied called it "demagogic". And the free fall goes on... (Approval rating.) Comparison with his predecessors: + Show Spoiler + sry not really keeping up with french politics myself, but is there some reason behind that? Like is there one big thing looming over his head that is tanking his ratings atm like how it was with Merkel during the days of refugee crisis or is that just generally people in France being unhappy with their president as they always are? Sorry if that's a misconception but as a kid I was obviously less into politics and even less into foreign politics so the only ones I really remember ever actively thinking about are Macron and Hollande. And Hollande ended up with record lows on his approval as well, right? Granted it wasn't in the early stages of his presidency but by the end of it but you get the idea. Because frankly I'd say he's well liked over here and I don't think that's just a german thing. Perhaps the same elsewhere in Europe? He was elected by default because Le Pen. During the campaign, you can make vague promises of "change" and "renewal," but then you have to prove that it was not empty words when you're in power... Once the few first weeks of illusions and "wait and see" attitude are over, people are starting to realize that it's going to be more of the same previous policies. His first economic/fiscal measures were perceived as socially unfair (tax cuts for the richest + austerity measures for others). He also abandoned or delayed some of his promises, and appeared needlessly authoritarian on some points.
The funny part is that the debate about his labour reform hasn't fully started yet, since the final text will be known only Wednesday. There is still a possible social movement to come, in which case his approval rating should further plummet in September.
But hey, if you say that people like Macron in Germany, you can have him...
|
i mean from the outside we just don't get a very detailed picture unless you really want to look into it. I'd say I'm more into politics than the average german my age but even then I have absolutly no idea what's going on in France aside from who is president. Not really any knowledge about what he's doing.
So from our perspective we pretty much just see a charismatic (?), young person in office and I'd say that's why people like him abroad?
|
I've been reading that support for Emmanuel Macron is in decline. Why is it so? I think his support for the EU is refreshing with a few exceptions. I don't know how he is doing in France though.
On August 28 2017 07:58 Toadesstern wrote: i mean from the outside we just don't get a very detailed picture unless you really want to look into it. I'd say I'm more into politics than the average german my age but even then I have absolutly no idea what's going on in France aside from who is president. Not really any knowledge about what he's doing.
So from our perspective we pretty much just see a charismatic (?), young person in office and I'd say that's why people like him abroad?
Yeah, I think the way he deals with foreign leaders is interesting. Also, I like he is pro-EU. I don't like that he is for refugees though. EU has got too many refugees since 2015. Same story about Merkel.
|
Being pro-eu doesn't score you political points unless you're matched against an eurosceptic. People who don't dislike the EU don't care, supporting the union is like the default political stance to them. My guess on why Macron is losing popularity is that he lacks charisma (in a way that just being himself doesn't make him popular, not that he's somehow unlikeable) and didn't present anything convincing regarding internal reforms. He's trying to do something internationally, but I don't get why trying like that should increase his popularity in France. He needs tangible results.
|
|
|
|