Search found 236 matches

by Raphael
Sun Jun 17, 2018 2:49 am
Forum: None of the above
Topic: The upcoming (September 24) German federal election
Replies: 101
Views: 44391

Re: The upcoming (September 24) German federal election

Ok, for a few weeks, Merkel's government has been in trouble now, owing to some of the more conservative cabinet members openly defying her authority over immigration policy. Problem is, I don't really know that much about the current crisis - that's what I get for often following international poli...
by Raphael
Tue May 22, 2018 1:23 pm
Forum: None of the above
Topic: The Official ZBB Quote Thread
Replies: 2878
Views: 637049

Re: The Official ZBB Quote Thread

From the Yanny or Laurel thread: It has just occurred to me that further investigation of this phenomenon could yield a lot of useful insights, such as how when somebody says "Trump", one group of people actually hears "One step removed from God", another hears "President", and another hears "Misogy...
by Raphael
Thu May 17, 2018 12:08 pm
Forum: None of the above
Topic: A Very Brief Explanation of the British Election
Replies: 323
Views: 93399

Re: A Very Brief Explanation of the British Election

Meanwhile, somewhat related to the general British politics theme, there's this little thread on twitter:

https://twitter.com/mc_hankins/status/9 ... 7737187330
by Raphael
Thu May 17, 2018 12:00 pm
Forum: None of the above
Topic: Venting thread that still excludes eddy (2)
Replies: 2639
Views: 301582

Re: Venting thread that still excludes eddy

I'm having the worst allergies of my life. My left ear canal has been clogged and hurting for a week and a half. I've been on painkillers almost that entire time--and I practically never use painkillers. I didn't think my sense of smell was that badly impacted but today I found out that I've had a ...
by Raphael
Mon May 07, 2018 7:54 am
Forum: None of the above
Topic: Confusing headlines and other trips down the garden path
Replies: 1058
Views: 221622

Re: Confusing headlines and other trips down the garden path

Oh, that entirely depends on how good that engineer is as an engineer...
by Raphael
Fri May 04, 2018 8:55 am
Forum: None of the above
Topic: French politics thread
Replies: 35
Views: 17642

Re: French politics thread

And Britain and Germany have had similar "alpha male shit" with Thatcher and Merkel, two female leaders. [Thatcher, in particular, was way more "alpha male" than any male British party leader in a century] Merkel? "Alpha male"? Wow, things really look differently from outside the country. In German...
by Raphael
Fri May 04, 2018 8:13 am
Forum: None of the above
Topic: What are you reading, watching and listening to?
Replies: 469
Views: 135620

Re: What are you reading, watching and listening to?

I'm currently reading Flesh and Machines: How Robots Will Change Us by Rodney Brooks, which, so far, seems to be mainly about various robots he and his teams have built.
by Raphael
Sun Apr 29, 2018 12:58 pm
Forum: None of the above
Topic: Confusing headlines and other trips down the garden path
Replies: 1058
Views: 221622

Re: Confusing headlines and other trips down the garden path

A tweet from one of the Guardian's Twitter accounts linking to a piece reads "Who should hold the keys to our data? | Nigel Shadbolt and Roger Hampson". Which, of course, invites the smartass response "What's so great about Messrs. Shadbolt and Hampson that they should hold the keys to our data?"
by Raphael
Thu Apr 19, 2018 11:34 am
Forum: None of the above
Topic: A Very Brief Explanation of the British Election
Replies: 323
Views: 93399

Re: A Very Brief Explanation of the British Election

Wow, that's horrible. And thank you for the explainer, Sal - I had seen people talking about how horrible this whole thing is in various places on the internet, but they were usually too busy pointing out that it is horrible to explain what exactly happened. Wow.
by Raphael
Wed Mar 14, 2018 3:52 pm
Forum: None of the above
Topic: The upcoming (September 24) German federal election
Replies: 101
Views: 44391

Re: The upcoming (September 24) German federal election

Angela Merkel was formally elected by the Bundestag for a fourth term today and took the oath of office a while later. I guess that's a wrap as far as this thread is concerned. Perhaps this thread could be moved to None of the Above now? Thanks for reading, everybody!
by Raphael
Sun Mar 04, 2018 3:44 am
Forum: None of the above
Topic: The upcoming (September 24) German federal election
Replies: 101
Views: 44391

Re: The upcoming (September 24) German federal election

Result just in: 66 percent of SPD members voted for the coalition agreement.
by Raphael
Mon Feb 19, 2018 1:46 pm
Forum: None of the above
Topic: The upcoming (September 24) German federal election
Replies: 101
Views: 44391

Re: The upcoming (September 24) German federal election

An outright coalition of that kind seems unlikely to me, but I could imagine a CDU/CSU minority government that engages in a certain amount of rhetorical warfare with the AfD (and, to a lesser extent, the FDP) over other issues while at the same time happily using their votes to get majorities for l...
by Raphael
Wed Feb 07, 2018 12:36 pm
Forum: None of the above
Topic: The upcoming (September 24) German federal election
Replies: 101
Views: 44391

Re: The upcoming (September 24) German federal election

The CDU, CSU, and SPD have finished their coalition deal! It now needs to be approved by the total SPD membership. The results of that vote will be published in early March. Sigh.
by Raphael
Wed Jan 24, 2018 2:59 pm
Forum: None of the above
Topic: The upcoming (September 24) German federal election
Replies: 101
Views: 44391

Re: The upcoming (September 24) German federal election

That article uses the phrase "guilt by association" a lot. I don't see anything wrong making up my mind about people partly based on whom they choose to associate with. Lie down with dogs, get up with fleas. Few people would take cries of "that's guilt by association" seriously if a right-wing polit...
by Raphael
Tue Jan 23, 2018 5:15 pm
Forum: None of the above
Topic: The upcoming (September 24) German federal election
Replies: 101
Views: 44391

Re: The upcoming (September 24) German federal election

A weird thing in the UK is that it's become unacceptable to support Labour, and nobody knows why. It used to be because of Blair and the Iraq War and Brown being an idiot, but now... ? I was at a dinner party not long ago and talking about politics and almost everybody around the table agreed that ...
by Raphael
Tue Jan 23, 2018 2:33 pm
Forum: None of the above
Topic: The upcoming (September 24) German federal election
Replies: 101
Views: 44391

Re: The upcoming (September 24) German federal election

Their basic problem, of course, is that they never really managed to compensate for the loss of supporters due to the decline of the blue-collar working class. Social democratic parties in other western European countries face similar problems. Same goes for the labour unions. People with well-paid...
by Raphael
Tue Jan 23, 2018 1:04 pm
Forum: None of the above
Topic: The upcoming (September 24) German federal election
Replies: 101
Views: 44391

Re: The upcoming (September 24) German federal election

There isn't really any good way out of this for the SPD - if they enter a coalition, they may well lose half their voters, but if they don't, they may well lose the other half. (I don't know how to properly translate Bürgerversicherung ) I think it means roughly the same as the proposal that, in the...
by Raphael
Sun Jan 21, 2018 11:04 am
Forum: None of the above
Topic: Venting thread that still excludes eddy (2)
Replies: 2639
Views: 301582

Re: Venting thread

I can't seem to spend half an hour awake without thinking of something stupid or embarrassing I've done at some point in the past. Things that seemed like a good idea at the time, but about which I realized a few seconds or a few minutes or a few hours or a few days or a few weeks or a few months or...
by Raphael
Sun Jan 21, 2018 10:39 am
Forum: None of the above
Topic: The upcoming (September 24) German federal election
Replies: 101
Views: 44391

Re: The upcoming (September 24) German federal election

That doesn't mean that a CDU/CSU-SPD coalition is certain, though. Once the coalition talks have produced a formal coalition agreement, there'll still be a vote about that among the entire SPD membership. And given how close the special convention vote was, nothing is certain about that.
by Raphael
Sun Jan 21, 2018 10:30 am
Forum: None of the above
Topic: The upcoming (September 24) German federal election
Replies: 101
Views: 44391

Re: The upcoming (September 24) German federal election

Voted with a fairly slim majority to enter formal coalition talks.
by Raphael
Sun Jan 21, 2018 10:19 am
Forum: None of the above
Topic: The upcoming (September 24) German federal election
Replies: 101
Views: 44391

Re: The upcoming (September 24) German federal election

SPD special convention currently voting.
by Raphael
Sat Jan 20, 2018 8:32 am
Forum: None of the above
Topic: The upcoming (September 24) German federal election
Replies: 101
Views: 44391

Re: The upcoming (September 24) German federal election

The SPD will have a special convention to vote on the preliminary deal tomorrow, and it's not at all clear how the vote will go. There's a lot of unhappiness about the deal among the SPD's rank and file. The deal is especially unpopular with the Jusos or Young Socialists, the SPD's youth organisatio...
by Raphael
Sun Jan 14, 2018 4:52 pm
Forum: None of the above
Topic: The upcoming (September 24) German federal election
Replies: 101
Views: 44391

Re: The upcoming (September 24) German federal election

And now it looks like there might be open rebellion in the SPD against the preliminary deal. There seems to be a lot of unhappiness in the base, and yesterday, a state SPD convention in Saxony-Anhalt voted against the deal.
by Raphael
Sat Jan 13, 2018 9:32 am
Forum: None of the above
Topic: The upcoming (September 24) German federal election
Replies: 101
Views: 44391

Re: The upcoming (September 24) German federal election

This just in: the Guardian has published an editorial titled "The Guardian view on Germany’s coalition deal: Merkel in the balance". Aaaaaargh! There is no coalition deal yet! There've only been sounding talks so far! The actual coalition talks are yet to come! And even if they produce a deal, it wi...