22 - 29 October 2018 | 123 comments (123 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)

by Bjinse on Mon Oct 22nd, 2018 at 08:18:57 PM EST

this was the total attendance for the EDL's national demo today in Manchester, and I think I speak for everyone when I say:

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH breathe HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA pic.twitter.com/492J61a47M
— Dan Hett (@danhett) October 20, 2018

by generic on Tue Oct 23rd, 2018 at 01:48:12 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Europe (none / 0)

EU rejects Italian budget in unprecedented rebuke | Financial Times

Brussels has rejected Italy's draft budget in an unprecedented move that threatens to deepen rifts between the European Commission and the populist government in Rome.

by generic on Tue Oct 23rd, 2018 at 06:05:28 PM EST
[ Parent ]

wut (none / 0)

decriminalisation of blasphemy

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Wed Oct 24th, 2018 at 09:42:01 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: wut (none / 0)

"Balance".

I sort of want to run a referendum mandating paedophilia and child sacrifice, just to see who they trot out to advocate for it as "balance".

by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Wed Oct 24th, 2018 at 10:02:38 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: wut (none / 0)

Don't try that without traveling in PPE, say, a hazmat onesie.

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Wed Oct 24th, 2018 at 11:54:00 AM EST
[ Parent ]

wut (none / 0)

Another case of vitamin D deficiency: The "Chinese masseur" aided by former councillor had a habit, seeks venue change to accommodate delicate sensibilities of presiding magistrate.

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Wed Oct 24th, 2018 at 01:30:58 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Europe (none / 0)

Italy's leader visits Russia for talks with Putin on trade
That's encouraging!

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Wed Oct 24th, 2018 at 02:06:26 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Europe (none / 0)

France plans to repatriate children of jihadist fighters in Syria
"government policy has been to refuse to take back fighters and their wives"

archived
They are not all going back to where they came from. ...

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Wed Oct 24th, 2018 at 05:12:26 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Europe (none / 0)

Germany 'ignoring' ECJ ruling on refugee reunification
"When is integration (not) worth it?"

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Wed Oct 24th, 2018 at 05:34:14 PM EST
[ Parent ]

public property (none / 0)

"stains" and purity peace palaver
Iraqi minority shuns children born of IS rape, enslavement

They have always rejected mixed marriages and children fathered by non-Yazidis. In this case, the stain is even greater since the fathers were the same Sunni Muslim radicals who sought to wipe out the community. Under Iraqi law, the children are considered Muslims.
[...]
But the Yazidis' spiritual leader, Babashekh Khirto Hadji Ismail, issued an edict in 2015 declaring women enslaved by the militants to be "pure," with their faith intact. The declaration allowed the women to be welcomed back into Yazidi society.
But not the children.
[...]
Back among her community, cut off from her son by borders, traditions and officials, she sees no choice now. She will bury it all. She'll get married, she says. She'll build a new family.
"I'll make it like I never saw anything. I'll try to forget everything and start a new life."

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Mon Oct 29th, 2018 at 10:11:27 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Europe (none / 0)

Thousands protest German coal phase-out
so WV hill billy --Gimme my black lung!
And my lead. Never forget the lead.

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Wed Oct 24th, 2018 at 05:29:46 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Europe (4.00 / 2)

neoliberal wage stagnation has been a hidden problem in Germany, because the skilled working classes have continued to enjoy realtively good wages in comparison to their middle manager white cllar brethren.

But the same issues attend displaced well paid workers everywhere; it is impossible to move to similarly well paid jobs. So coal workers are obviously concerned not so much for their current jobs as with their abilitiy to sustain the lifestyle 5 years down the line.

This is a challenge for polticians because neoconservatism demands that these people simply be left to fend for themselves, but we know that this ends with the right wing moving in to organise the disaffected.

So the german govt has to have a plan and it currently seems they don't have one.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Fri Oct 26th, 2018 at 07:40:45 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Europe (none / 1)

We'll see how well this keeps working now that Germany has effectively played out the string as far as exporting product to the southern EU, crash-out Brexit is reality, and Der Drumpfenfuehrer is napalming every US trade conduit.

by rifek on Thu Nov 1st, 2018 at 09:38:07 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Europe (none / 0)

Sarkozy Loses Appeal in Illegal Campaign Financing Case
That's encouraging!

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Thu Oct 25th, 2018 at 08:30:39 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Australian (none / 0)

Bloomberg

The first hearing in Julian Assange's lawsuit against Ecuador's Foreign Affairs Ministry was suspended as the WikiLeaks founder was unable to understand his translator, and the judge called for a replacement fluent in "Australian."

by gk (gk (gk quattro due due sette @gmail.com)) on Fri Oct 26th, 2018 at 07:59:25 AM EST
[ Parent ]

ECJ Victory for labor (none / 0)

Ballet Dancer Wins Contract Fight at Top EU Court

"This has a strong effect for all temporary workers, not only for those in entertainment but for all temporary workers -- those in schools (there are about 750,000 such people today) and the majority of workers in the public sector (not including those in the armed services)," [Sciotto's attorney Francesco] Andretta said in an email.

archived Art. 153.
After a meeting with European Employment Commissioner ...

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Fri Oct 26th, 2018 at 07:13:29 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: ECJ Victory for EU (none / 0)

re: affirming subsidarity, rather than perfection
How family law will change our lives: a practical case

The new regulation establishes that where a court of a Member State is seized to rule on an application for divorce, legal separation or marriage annulment pursuant, "the courts of that State shall have jurisdiction to rule on matters of the matrimonial property regime arising in connection with that application."
[...]
However, so far, only 18 out of 28 EU members have expressed their wish to participate: Sweden, Belgium, Greece, Croatia, Slovenia, Spain, France, Portugal, Italy, Malta, Luxembourg, Germany, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Austria, Bulgaria, Finland and Cyprus.

referred by Bulgaria, not yet land of the spouses

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Sat Oct 27th, 2018 at 07:33:58 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Europe (4.00 / 2)

Macron slams calls to halt arms sales to Saudi as populist

PARIS (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday dismissed as "demagoguery" the calls by several European countries including Germany to suspend arms sales to Saudi Arabia following the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
"What's the link between arms sales and Mr Khashoggi's murder? I understand the connection with what's happening in Yemen, but there is no link with Mister Khashoggi," Macron told a news conference in Slovakia.

by generic on Sat Oct 27th, 2018 at 01:09:25 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Europe (4.00 / 2)

Macron's tone deafness, exhibit #98527.

by Bernard (bernard) on Sat Oct 27th, 2018 at 03:16:29 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Europe (none / 1)

Well, then he can stop arms sales over Yemen.

But he won't, will he?

by fjallstrom on Sat Oct 27th, 2018 at 10:48:16 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Europe (none / 0)

It's the drugs dealer's defence;-

If we didn't sell them weapons, somebody else would. So what can we do?

We're kinda used to hearing in the UK, our Govt do it all the time

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Mon Oct 29th, 2018 at 06:49:37 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Europe (4.00 / 2)

Germany (Hesse regional election), FGW projection (11:37pm CET):

CDU-EPP: 27%
SPD-S&D: 19.8%
GRÜNE-G/EFA: 19.7%
AfD-EFDD 13.2%
FDP-ALDE: 7.5%
LINKE-LEFT: 6.3%#hessenwahl2018 #hessenwahl #ltwhe #ltwhessen #hessen pic.twitter.com/25FnS7J9qo
— Europe Elects (@EuropeElects) October 28, 2018

Not enough for a CDU-Greens coalition.

Headline from DW:

Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives eke out win in Hesse election

Despite a large drop in support, the CDU has won the Hesse state regional poll, giving the chancellor some welcome breathing room. But the weakness of the political center in Germany remains glaringly obvious.
There were a couple of points of solace for Angela Merkel's conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) as the first official projections were announced for Sunday's regional election.
The CDU's tally of 27.4 percent may have been down some 11 points compared with the last Hesse vote in 2013, but it was slightly better than pre-election polls had predicted and gives incumbent state premier and Merkel ally Volker Bouffier a mandate to form the next government.

Headline from The Guradian:

Merkel suffers another election setback in key German state of Hesse

Germany's ruling parties are reeling from their second electoral upset in a fortnight, after voters in a key state abandoned them in droves. The result in the central state of Hesse could plunge both parties of Angela Merkel's coalition government into renewed crises.
Early results from a regional election seen as decisive for the future of Germany's increasingly wobbly coalition showed Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) slumping to 28%, the party's worst showing in the state since 1966 and a drop of 10 percentage points since Hesse last went to the polls in 2013.

by Bernard (bernard) on Sun Oct 28th, 2018 at 11:41:55 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Europe (none / 0)

According to Wikipedia, CDU got 40 seats, Greens 29, SPD 29, AfD 19, FDP 11 and Linke 9. Total 137, majority 69. So CDU and Greens or SPD would be just enough. So would Greens, FDP and SDP.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hessian_state_election,_2018

by fjallstrom on Mon Oct 29th, 2018 at 10:43:25 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Europe (none / 0)

I note that SPD + Greens + Linke are two seats short of a majority.

This is actually irrelevant, because I presume that neither SPD nor Grünen would wand to associate with left wingers.

Actually, it looks like a fine mess. Minority administration?

_{It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue
- Queen Elizabeth II}

by eurogreen on Mon Oct 29th, 2018 at 11:28:51 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Merkeldämmerung (none / 0)

Merkel to step down as CDU leader

The end of the Angela Merkel era has begun.
The German chancellor declared on Monday she would stand down as leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), after the party suffered heavy losses in a regional election in the state of Hesse.
Merkel said she plans to remain chancellor until her term ends in 2021 but will not run for another term as German leader. But giving up the party post will weaken her authority and reinforce the sense that her long reign is coming to an end. It also raises the prospect that her party, or her coalition partners, could push her out of the chancellery sooner.

by Bernard (bernard) on Mon Oct 29th, 2018 at 01:52:43 PM EST
[ Parent ]

22 - 29 October 2018 | 123 comments (123 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

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