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Cat Mattress posted:So what's happening with the anti-government demonstrations in Serbia? The protests started after an opposition (left) politician was beaten up on the street by unknown assailants who still remain at large. The protests grew but with poor leadership, the main problem that nobody could credibly replace Vucic, Serbian president. Then the far-right joined the protests and it's now even harder to figure out what the protesters want and hope to accomplish. A couple of days ago the protesters broke into state TV and wanted to be filmed live. Several were later arrested, including one who had worn a mask and a chainsaw. Then additional protests by highschoolers and parents broke out because the guy is 18 and the chainsaw was electric (harmless unless plugged in a socket). It's a mess. My prediction: - Vucic remains in power even stronger, since his opponents have shown themselves as chainsaw-wielding, politically confused idiots. - Opposition politicians are less likely to be beaten up in the foreseeable future.
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Mar 20, 2019 10:30
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https://twitter.com/AFP/status/1108326872725835777
HUGE PUBES A PLUS fucked around with this message at 16:22 on Mar 20, 2019 |
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Mar 20, 2019 16:19
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His daughter also got the #2 position in the country.
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Mar 20, 2019 17:20
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I just want to know what all this shaking up in Kazakhstan's government means for this guy in particular: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm8704502/
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Mar 20, 2019 22:11
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https://twitter.com/Reuters/status/1111963524014788608
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Mar 30, 2019 13:14
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It's not quite in the bag yet; her opponent is a supposed social democrat supported by the currently ruling (and thoroughly corrupt) ruling party and over the last two weeks he's been doing everything to sway the people who voted for the conspiracy conservative (who placed third) and neo-Nazi (fourth) candidates in the first round. She's got pretty good chances, though. e: She won. e2: Could someone do a short rundown on the elections in Ukraine? anilEhilated fucked around with this message at 09:26 on Mar 31, 2019 |
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Mar 30, 2019 14:33
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https://twitter.com/simonostrovsky/status/1112400537184620544?s=21
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Mar 31, 2019 18:10
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Every single time I've ever seen a politician, specially in eastern europe, elected on some sort of "anti-corruption" mandate it turns out they're as corrupt as everyone else and are simply using an anti-graft crusade to witch-hunt only their opponents.
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Mar 31, 2019 18:17
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His platform includes a "repatriate dirty money, it will get taxed 5% and no further repercussions". In other words, he's not doing what you suggest, he' legalizing graft.
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Mar 31, 2019 18:41
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https://twitter.com/I_Katchanovski/status/1112379995601559553
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Mar 31, 2019 18:43
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https://twitter.com/fabrice_deprez/status/1112408843294773248
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Mar 31, 2019 18:50
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Baronjutter posted:Every single time I've ever seen a politician, specially in eastern europe, elected on some sort of "anti-corruption" mandate it turns out they're as corrupt as everyone else and are simply using an anti-graft crusade to witch-hunt only their opponents. Not saying she's clean but if the best they could come up with was photoshop and usual cries of immigration, Soros and homosexuals destroying family values I'm willing to at least give her the benefit of doubt.
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Mar 31, 2019 18:53
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Avakov's nazis (National Corpus) outnumber Poroshenko's nazis (C14), and it scared Poroshenko so much, his TV channels began to regurgitate Russian propaganda about Ukrainian far right, basically. Despite Zelenskyi's being not much more than Kolomoyskyi's puppet, it's hard to imagine he's going to have his fingers in as many pies as Poroshenko, so at this point even Zelenskyi is a welcome change.
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Mar 31, 2019 18:56
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cinci zoo sniper posted:I’m not sure I’d consider Aliyevs a separate ruler either. Heydar faked his death?
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Mar 31, 2019 19:07
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Nenonen posted:Heydar faked his death? Nah, just that the same troupe continues to run the show, in my opinion.
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Mar 31, 2019 19:14
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This is pretty light on detail re: actual policies. Is she a pro privatization/corporatist style neoliberal, or a socially liberal progressive social democrat?
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Mar 31, 2019 19:40
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Enjoy this Ukrainian electoral ASMR. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVPo_0edDxc
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Mar 31, 2019 22:01
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mila kunis posted:This is pretty light on detail re: actual policies. Is she a pro privatization/corporatist style neoliberal, or a socially liberal progressive social democrat? Put it this way: she's the only one of the bunch who didn't spout any anti-immigration or anti-gay propaganda. Small victories. anilEhilated fucked around with this message at 22:11 on Mar 31, 2019 |
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Mar 31, 2019 22:08
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mila kunis posted:This is pretty light on detail re: actual policies. Is she a pro privatization/corporatist style neoliberal, or a socially liberal progressive social democrat? Baronjutter posted:Every single time I've ever seen a politician, specially in eastern europe, elected on some sort of "anti-corruption" mandate it turns out they're as corrupt as everyone else and are simply using an anti-graft crusade to witch-hunt only their opponents. Dwesa fucked around with this message at 22:31 on Mar 31, 2019 |
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Mar 31, 2019 22:27
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Meanwhile in Poland, new cultural developments in Catholic spiritual life: priests burning books. Just like the old days!  
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Mar 31, 2019 23:04
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Guildencrantz posted:Meanwhile in Poland, new cultural developments in Catholic spiritual life: priests burning books. Just like the old days! Seeing Harry Potter in there, I'm reminded of Fr. Piotr Natanek (thankfully, suspended in 2011), who was very up in arms against wizardry books among other things. I wonder if those guys are from his little cult or it's his ideas going more mainstream now.
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Mar 31, 2019 23:21
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Guildencrantz posted:Meanwhile in Poland, new cultural developments in Catholic spiritual life: priests burning books. Just like the old days!
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Mar 31, 2019 23:26
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Guildencrantz posted:Meanwhile in Poland, new cultural developments in Catholic spiritual life: priests burning books. Just like the old days!  This makes me very sad. Hate to see this happen.
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Mar 31, 2019 23:34
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Osho book spotted! There's one book that won't be a huge loss at least.
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Apr 1, 2019 01:05
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My mom has a few cat figurines just like the one that's partly hidden by a book and the white elephant.
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Apr 1, 2019 01:14
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Wtf, that's not parody?
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Apr 1, 2019 01:28
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It's satanic panic redux (even by Polish standards). The last time the troglodytes tried to stir it up was either Pokemon or Harry Potter.
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Apr 1, 2019 10:15
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mila kunis posted:This is pretty light on detail re: actual policies. Is she a pro privatization/corporatist style neoliberal, or a socially liberal progressive social democrat? More the latter. What follows is a short primer on the Slovak parliamentary politics. The ruling coalition: Smer - SD (Smer - Sociálna Demokracia / Direction - Social Democracy) - the party of Robert Fico, former PM. In power since 2006, with an exception of 2010-2012. It's popularity was kept up by a buoyant economy. Despite calling themselves social democrats, they are pretty nationalist and conservative - anti-gay marriage, hard repression for the Roma, tough on crime etc. Went full Orbán after the 2014 migrant wave and especially after the murders of Kuciak and Kušnírová. Plagued by massive corruption scandals on every level. SNS (Slovenská Národná Strana / Slovak National Party) - nominally a nationalist party, but in effect a vehicle for moving EU funds to cronies. The party leader is the Speaker of the Parliament and a national laughingstock, prone to malapropisms. Also has plagiarized his doctoral thesis. Most - Híd (Bridge (in Slovak and Hungarian)) - A Hungarian minority party. Slovak Hungarians (about 10% of population) always vote for the Hungarian parties. In the latest parliamentary election they tried to appeal to Slovak social liberals as well. Have become the yes-men for Smer as long as money flows to the Hungarian-inhabited south. Opposition: SAS (Sloboda a Solidarita / Freedom and Solidarity (lol)) - the opposition party with most seats. Neoliberal shills - low taxes, deregulation, privatization, hate the poor, "personal responsibility". Originally had some pretensions to social liberalism, but now completely resigned to these issues. Very anti-immigration. OĽANO (Obyčajní ľudia a nezávislé osobnosti / Ordinary people and independent personalities) - A weird mishmash between social conservatives and anti-corruption activists. The party leader is fond of political stunts and stabbing partners in the back. Sme Rodina (We Are Family) - A socially conservative / pro-family party. Founded by a mob-adjacent millionaire known for a) having 9 children with as many women and b) making anti-immigration facebook videos during the 2014 wave (you see the pattern). Kotleba - ĽSNS (Ľudová Strana Naše Slovensko / People's Party Our Slovakia) - Straight-up fascists. As you can see, things look pretty dire for a socially liberal voter. However, since last elections (2016) a couple of new parties sprung up. One of them is Progresívne Slovensko / Progressive Slovakia. They try to profile themselves against both the ruling kleptocracy, as well as the neoliberal opposition. Their main planks are "actually, government is not all evil" and "gays and immigrants are people too". Their electorate is mainly young urban liberals. Their first major coup came in the 2018 municipal elections, when their (and another similar-minded party they entered into a coalition with) candidates managed to get elected as Mayor of Bratislava and the majority of City Councillors. This led to them being dismissed as "party of Bratislava cafés" (i.e. not real Slovakia) and "sunshiners" (slniečkári, a derogatory term for liberals in general and pro-immigration activists in particular) by Smer and most of the conservative opposition. Čaputová was a vice-chairwoman of PS. Her election has a chance to boost their profile for the upcoming 2020 parliamentary elections, and also indicates that Slovakia is not as conservative and nationalist as the conservatives would have us believe. However, this only partially explains her electoral success. This election was mainly a referendum on Robert Fico. In 2014, Smer was at its zenith. Two years earlier, they have comfortably won parliamentary elections and were able to form a one-party government, a rare feat in a proportional system. The economy was booming, unemployment was decreasing and wages went up. PM Fico decided that it's time to get out while the getting's good, and decided to run for president. The president in Slovakia is mostly a ceremonial position, and he counted on it providing him with a comfortable political retirement and an amount of respect. He won the first round of elections and went into runoffs with Andrej Kiska, a relatively unknown independently-running businessman. In a stunning reversal, Fico lost and Kiska became president. People had enough of Fico, mainly because despite a growing economy, situation in public services was dire. Education and healthcare were chronically underfunded, with low-paid teachers and nurses. Add to this the corruption scandals plaguing the government as well. During his time in the office, Kiska has become a fierce critic of the government. This was the start of a long enmity between Kiska and Fico, as well as the start of Smer's decline. Where in 2012 they received 45% of the vote, in 2016 they barely reached 30%. In 2017 they lost 4 out of 6 previously controlled regional governments (there are 8 total in Slovakia). Then came the murders of Kuciak and Kušnírová in late February 2018. The country was stunned. First demonstrations that were organized had the character of a memorial for the murdered journalist and his fiancee. Nobody doubted that he was murdered because of his work. The first calls from the protesters were to ensure a proper an independent investigation, as the trust in the police was pretty low and there were some weird inconsistencies (e.g. why was the head of the anti-corruption unit among the first at the scene of the crime). The demands then turned to the resignation of PM Fico and the Interior Minister Kaliňák for letting the situation get to the point where mobsters feel free to order hits on journalists. Journalists then started to look at what Kuciak was working on at the time of his death. His last unpublished article was on Antonino Vadala, Sicilian N'Drangheta mobster operating out of Eastern Slovakia, hoovering up EU agricultural funds (He was independently investigated in Italy for drugs trafficking). Further look revealed a couple of interesting things. First, Vadala's operation was dwarfed by Ľubica Rošková, a regional Smer functionary ruling over parts of the impoverished East like a feudal lady (bullying small farmers off of their land with the help of local cops, claiming EU subsidies on lands belonging to other people etc.). Second, and this was a major bombshell, was that Vadala's former business partner and girlfriend Mária Trošková was a personal assistant to PM Fico. The media first noticed her a couple of years earlier, but back then a sudden appearance of a young woman in Fico's entourage only lead to chuckles that she's his new mistress (which she probably is, too). Vadala was also a large booster for Smer in the east. This was the proverbial straw. The protests swelled to 60,000 in Bratislava and a couple of thousands in other major cities and this has led to a resignation of Fico and Kaliňák. There are pretty good articles about all of this here. It later came out that the Italians had probably nothing to do with the murder. The traces currently lead to Marian Kočner, another mob-adjacent businessman who was a frequent target of Kuciak's investigative journalism. He was already in jail by that time being charged by an unrelated financial crime. Fun fact - Kočner and Fico were neigbors, living in the same apartment complex owned by Ladislav Bašternák, buddy of Kaliňák. Bašternák has been convicted of VAT fraud to the amount of 12 mil. EUR last month, however his investigation went forward only after Kaliňák stepped down. This futher tanked Smer's popularity. Fico remained a party leader, although he was replaced as a PM by Peter Pellegrini. Smer then lost all major cities in the 2018 municipal election. Their poll numbers hover above 20%. Fico was frustrated and angry. He was never friendly to journalists, but now he was openly hostile, started to call them enemy of people etc. While all this was happening, the parliamentary opposition was completely toothless and was not able to capitalize on the popular discontent with the government. The street protests were driven mostly by student groups and young urban liberals. Sympathizers of Smer usually left for more radical parties, i.e. fash. Now, Fico still wanted out with some dignity. Another opportunity presented itself to him - the position of Justice of the Constitutional Court. However, there was one snag. The president's role is mostly ceremonial, but one of his functions is the appointment of Constitutional Court Justices. The way it works is that the parliament chooses a bunch of them, and the president then selects among those. However, Kiska flat out said that he will never confirm Fico to the Constitutional Court. Fico then banked everything on letting the terms of current Justices lapse and wait for a new president. The Court is currently paralysed, with only 4 out of 13 positions filled. Fico also broke the cordon sanitaire and negotiated with fascists for support for his election. However, there was another problem. The brand of Smer has become so toxic that no-one electable wanted to run for president. Fico then convinced Marián Šefčovič, the current EU commissioner and a pretty standart European left-wing politician, to run. Smer has supported him financially, but otherwise stayed quiet as to not tarnish him, and concentrated on smearing his opponents. However, his campaing was very inauthentic - he had to turn from a pro-EU, pro-western social democrat to a conservative Catholic in order to appeal to more conservative and nationalist base. However, those people had better candidates in fascist Marian Kotleba and Alex Jones-like conspiracist Štefan Harabin (who positioned himself as an anti-system candidate despite being the Minister for Justice in 2006-2009 and a Supreme Court Justice since then. In the end, the first round of elections ended up with Čaputová gaining 40% of the vote, Šefčovič second with 19%, Harabin third with 14% and Kotleba fourth with 10%. Before the first round, Čaputová and another candidate supported by the parliamentary opposition made a deal that one of them will concede in favor of the other based on the latest poll numbers, in order to prevent the alt-right/fash candidates from runoffs, a gamble which has paid out. In the end, the runoffs were between a progressive liberal and a social democrat who would be completely acceptable if not for his support by Smer. Some conservatives voted for Čaputová as a protest against Fico, some stayed home, as well as most of the fash and alt-right. tl;dr She's from a newly formed center-left progressive liberal party, but her succes does not solely represent the popularity of progressive ideas in Slovakia. vetinari100 fucked around with this message at 10:33 on Apr 1, 2019 |
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Apr 1, 2019 10:24
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Looks more like Westboro Baptist Church, they bank on outrage. 50 PLN worth of bargain bin books and a couple of "everything for 2 PLN" fake souvenirs, plus a total of 10 people in shot. There is a real deal Nazi in church, dude called Międlar, but last I've heard he was under gag order from church and got his YouTube channel suspended.
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Apr 1, 2019 10:31
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alex314 posted:Looks more like Westboro Baptist Church, they bank on outrage. 50 PLN worth of bargain bin books and a couple of "everything for 2 PLN" fake souvenirs, plus a total of 10 people in shot. It's always worth a shot writing a letter to the local bishop. Even if he agrees with them in his heart of hearts, modern day church bureaucracy has a good chance to propel him to suspend a problematic priest. With historical child abuse cases still very much in the spotlight, no-one wants to deal with book burning on top of that.
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Apr 1, 2019 11:52
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Paladinus posted:It's always worth a shot writing a letter to the local bishop. Even if he agrees with them in his heart of hearts, modern day church bureaucracy has a good chance to propel him to suspend a problematic priest. With historical child abuse cases still very much in the spotlight, no-one wants to deal with book burning on top of that. I think people were considering contacting the law about either burning an religious object or a plastic umbrella. First one is up to jail time, second up to a couple thousands PLN fine. Of course no one expects persecutors doing anything about them, considering Ziobro is their boss. In other Poland news: PiS aligned former mayor of Siedlce got stabbed in a targeted assault.
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Apr 1, 2019 12:21
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Gotta wonder about that 0.61% vote for Yuriy Timoshenko. It's surprising that had that much of an effect...
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Apr 1, 2019 12:37
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OddObserver posted:Gotta wonder about that 0.61% vote for Yuriy Timoshenko. It's surprising that had that much of an effect...
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Apr 1, 2019 15:50
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So that comedian I posted about made the run off in first place? Everything all right there Ukraine??
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Apr 1, 2019 19:26
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Scaramouche posted:So that comedian I posted about made the run off in first place? Everything all right there Ukraine?? Very few things are actually all right in Ukraine, au contraire.
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Apr 1, 2019 19:48
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At least our president is going to be funny? 
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Apr 1, 2019 20:51
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The American president is also funny but I'm not sure that's working out that great.
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Apr 1, 2019 20:56
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See Ukraine is catching up to developed countries.
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Apr 1, 2019 20:58
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Scaramouche posted:So that comedian I posted about made the run off in first place? Everything all right there Ukraine?? Well, the other alternatives were the unpopular incumbent and Yulia Timoshenko. (Also, interestingly Poroshenko did pretty well with voters outside the country and the middle-class neighborhoods of Kyiv).
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Apr 1, 2019 21:03
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My bandmate and I have toured Ukraine in the past, and he's currently in Germany. A recent conversation of ours went something like this. "I should move to Odessa. It's cheaper, and I could make better music with the producers there." "Dude, there's a presidential election going on." "Oh poo poo." "And the front runner is a TV actor." "gently caress." "A comedian parodying a president, even. And Tymoshenko is running again." "Yeah, gently caress that, I'm staying here."
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Apr 2, 2019 02:12
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