The General Politics Thread

Azrael

Euro and european stocks are down. that's fucking stupid. austerity is doing nothing for job creation and growth in Europe, so maybe the markets could perhaps let governments give the alternative a chance?

traptunderice

Azrael wrote
Euro and european stocks are down. that's fucking stupid. austerity is doing nothing for job creation and growth in Europe, so maybe the markets could perhaps let governments give the alternative a chance?

Stocks don't represent reality of what works and what doesn't. They support and push certain programs that create them profits. Stocks reflect what helps the stocks grow and not the country's own well-being.

Hollande on race in the French constitution: <a class="postlink" href="http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/03/10/uk-france-hollande-race-idUKBRE8290FT20120310">http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/03/1 ... FT20120310</a>

Sounds like a fucking stupid idea. As if the lack of the word race in the constitution will end racial tension. I really think this is post-racial bullshit that fails to see the struggles of race any differently than conservative ideology that disavows race. Cutting the word 'race' seems no different than the conservative argument that liberals always talking about race creates problems of race. Both are stupid in my book.

Azrael

i know, i was expressing frustration at the market's view of things. i swear, people probably think "oh it's going to go down so i'm shorting the euro and the CAC 40 and the PSI 20 and eurozone government bonds anything else euro-related that i can think of" instead of stopping to think exactly how these changes will affect the underlying economies and the performance of companies listed in the region.

i really don't think austerity, at least the way it's being dished out now, is helping. unemployment, bankruptcies and foreclosures are still rising in Portugal. VAT is higher, and for what? i read some projection claiming that the state will actually make LESS VAT because of the hike! so where will the growth come from?

i agree that we need a deleveraging, i do not agree that this is the way to accomplish it.

just hope Hollande doesn't go all populist and go and increase the minimum wage or something.

The_Annoying_Frenchman

He will increase the minimum wage, not sufficiently enough though. And it need to be done in a country where rental prices have gone off the roof, where social security has dramatically decreased the reimboursments... And, most of all, in a world where the benefit of labour go to bankers, traders and speculators rather than those actually building or growing things.

The world has gone mad, I doub Hollande can change that but I'm sure he'll do better than N.S.

Karmakosmonaut

The friendly neighbourhood maghrebins of France are obviously very glad a socialist won:

For the non-french literate among us: all of those people are proudly declaring their beloved Islam will fuck over the hated France.

C_Chulainn

The left needs to stop pandering to Islam if it's to maintain relevance and respect in a modern, multicultural society. I consider myself very leftist, but the parties need to realize that appeasing Islam does not follow leftist thought.

The_Annoying_Frenchman

Karmakosmonaut wrote
The friendly neighbourhood maghrebins of France are obviously very glad a socialist won:For the non-french literate among us: all of those people are proudly declaring their beloved Islam will fuck over the hated France.

They're just idiots. Chill out, Adolf. :wink:

Bruce_Bitenfils

Karmakosmonaut wrote
For the non-french literate among us: all of those people are proudly declaring their beloved Islam will fuck over the hated France.

This is not written in french.

Or is it Canadian-french maybe, I don't know.

edit : and yes, they're just stupid kids.

Goat

Not to be nice to socialists, but it's not like Sarkozy chased the anti-immigrant vote or anything.

Bruce_Bitenfils

Goat wrote
Not to be nice to socialists, but

Socialism is not a desease, you know? At least not entirely.

but it's not like Sarkozy chased the anti-immigrant vote or anything.

Right? Right?! It's like the guy WANTED to lose. Understandable when you know a former Prez here can earn 15000+ euros/month by doing virtually nothing if he plays it right (seriously, I'm not joking, we're THAT fucked up.)

dead1

Australian Federal Budget:

So what do you do when your economy is slowing down, consumer/business sentiment is low, your manufacturing and agricultural export sectors are suffocating due to a high exchange rate, government tax receipts are in freefall and the only sector of your economy that is functioning is mining

a.) You introduce a tax on mining profits
b.) You introduce a carbon tax
c.) You do not reduce corporate taxes as promised.
d.) You cut government expenditure
e.) You dole out billions of tax in cash handouts to mask the other more important blunders you've made.
f.) All of the above

Correct answer is f.).

So despite all conventional knowledge, the Australian federal government has introduced a budget that will cut expenditure and increase taxation at a time when the economy needs stimulus and lower taxation to kick start the economy.

The_Annoying_Frenchman

Bruce_Bitenfils wrote
Goat wrote
Not to be nice to socialists, but
Socialism is not a desease, you know? At least not entirely.
but it's not like Sarkozy chased the anti-immigrant vote or anything.
Right? Right?! It's like the guy WANTED to lose. Understandable when you know a former Prez here can earn 15000+ euros/month by doing virtually nothing if he plays it right (seriously, I'm not joking, we're THAT fucked up.)

Actually, if he accepts the postion on the Constitutional Council, he'll earn around 17,000€ a month ($22,000) of which 11,000 will not be submited to taxation. The rest comes from his pension as an ex-president (6,000€).

Goat

We throw money at our ex-PMs, too.

Figures revealed by the Cabinet Office minister, Francis Maude, in response to a written parliamentary question by the Conservative MP Philip Hollobone, show that Thatcher has received £535,000 from the state since 2006, and John Major, who set up the allowance in 1991, has received £490,000. Tony Blair has claimed since 2007 and received £273,000. The figures reveal he received £169,076 in 2008-9, more than his salary in office.

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/oct/28/margaret-thatcher-expenses-claim">http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011 ... nses-claim</a>

Goat

One for the Americans: an explanation of British government.

<a class="postlink" href="http://viva-freemania.blogspot.co.uk/2008/02/british-government-americans-guide.html">http://viva-freemania.blogspot.co.uk/20 ... guide.html</a>

Bruce_Bitenfils

Goat wrote
One for the Americans: an explanation of British government.<a class="postlink" href="http://viva-freemania.blogspot.co.uk/2008/02/british-government-americans-guide.html">http://viva-freemania.blogspot.co.uk/20 ... guide.html</a>

"We’re also part of the European Union. The EU, which has 26 other members, is basically a cross between NAFTA, the UN, Thanksgiving with the in-laws, a system of committees designed by a committee, a litigious travelling circus, and Belgium. This is the sort of thing that happens to you when you’re not a superpower.

Otherwise, though, everything’s the same as in the US. Except that we don’t have an Electoral College: we’re not crazy, you know."

:lol:

Karmakosmonaut

Bruce_Bitenfils wrote
Karmakosmonaut wrote
For the non-french literate among us: all of those people are proudly declaring their beloved Islam will fuck over the hated France.
This is not written in french.Or is it Canadian-french maybe, I don't know.edit : and yes, they're just stupid kids.

Regardless of how you would describe it, it's what is happening to your once-vaunted language. Not exactly a Lingua Franca anymore, eh? :wink:

noodles

"les shinoi" cracked me up

Bruce_Bitenfils

Karmakosmonaut wrote
Bruce_Bitenfils wrote
Karmakosmonaut wrote
For the non-french literate among us: all of those people are proudly declaring their beloved Islam will fuck over the hated France.
This is not written in french.Or is it Canadian-french maybe, I don't know.edit : and yes, they're just stupid kids.
Regardless of how you would describe it, it's what is happening to your once-vaunted language. Not exactly a Lingua Franca anymore, eh? :wink:

You know, our language has always been butchered by its own users. Countless White-Christian-Frencher-than-thou are desecrating it as I'm writing this*. Dumb people are what they are: dumb. Whether they have been here for generations, or they are coming from elsewhere.

a good chunk of them vote Le Pen, by the way. Ha! The irony.

noodles

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9SOVzMV2bc">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9SOVzMV2bc</a>

haha

Goat

noodles wrote
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9SOVzMV2bchaha

Bush in 2006 on immigration:

Meanwhile, these days:

<a class="postlink" href="http://colorlines.com/archives/2011/11/thousands_of_kids_lost_in_foster_homes_after_parents_deportation.html">http://colorlines.com/archives/2011/11/ ... ation.html</a>

I'm not saying Romney is a golden god in comparison. But in some ways, particularly immigration and civil liberties, Bush was better than Obama. Yep, the man who gave you the Patriot Act. Seriously, America is a great country, but fuck your politics.

Ah, just like the old days. 🙂

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