International Politics Thread - Disease and Disaster

[Kara]

My least favorite thing about that meme is that it completely disregards the colossal failure on the part of bond markets to reasonably evaluate debt issued by countries in the eurozone, which is their very reason for existing in the first place.

[Joe Molotov]

http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/30/world/france-un-car-sex-abuse-claims/index.html

 

[Brehvolution]

So.... anyone remember how bad Obama's deal was and how quick congress decided to go along with it after their interviews on TV calling it a disaster?

Good times

[Madrun Badrun]

Pretty sure Canada had a special forces unit disbanded after something like this (not sex related) happened on a UN mission.

fake edit:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalia_Affair

[benjipwns]

Hasn't France, and the Dutch(?), had like sex scandals on every single one of their UN peacekeeping missions?

My least favorite thing about that meme is that it completely disregards the colossal failure on the part of bond markets to reasonably evaluate debt issued by countries

Fixed?

[benjipwns]

We won the Vietnam War after all. 

[Rufus]

So the capitalist pig-dogs should have actually believed in the superiority of capitalism. Huh.

[Great Rumbler]

[Kara]

Deng Xiaoping da gawd.

[benjipwns]

(Image removed from quote.)

[Madrun Badrun]

I'd vote for Nixon after those two pictures.  Looks like a good leader.

[Great Rumbler]

If Nixon hadn't been so paranoid, he'd probably be remembered as one of the greatest Presidents of this past century.

[Madrun Badrun]

He's only paranoid because of his Hitler sweat stache he always has going

[benjipwns]

I'd vote for Nixon after those two pictures.  Looks like a good leader.

[VomKriege]

Hasn't France, and the Dutch(?), had like sex scandals on every single one of their UN peacekeeping missions?

Sex ones ? Not too sure. Soldiers being callous and abusing power, definitely. Considering how many operations conducts, it is pretty frequent as well.

[brob]

A free speech event attended by Geert Wilders 

[Rufus]

Time to stay indoors for a while and avoid being in public.



Oh wait. I do that 365 days a year.

(Image removed from quote.)

But that's also suspicious.

[Rufus]

Can't win this game.
Meet good people, be a good person yourself, hope for the best.

[Phoenix Dark]

compare yourself to Rosa Parks, brehs

[Great Rumbler]

When you really get down to it, Pamela Geller and ISIS want the same thing: all out war between Muslims and Christians.

[benjipwns]

"Everything that starts with 'Al' in the Middle East is bad news," Graham said at a dinner in Boston on Monday with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, according to investigative journalist Uri Blau.

Graham was referencing the Arabic word for "the."

"Al-Qaida, Al-Nusra, Al-Qaida in the Arab Peninsula," he continued. He went on to discuss U.S. relations with Israel and the Arab world, threatening the funding of the United Nations if it "marginalized" Israel.

Graham has been considering a presidential run, and recently laughed while saying that he has so much pro-Israel funding that he would assemble an "all-Jewish cabinet."

"If I put together a finance team that will make me financially competitive enough to stay in this thing…I may have the first all-Jewish cabinet in America because of the pro-Israel funding," Graham reportedly said, according to the Wall Street Journal.

[Kara]

I agree, definite articles are a pain in the ass in Arabic. "I study literature" has to be "I study the literature"... and don't get me started on idafa, I'll start yelling at small children.

[benjipwns]

UK election eve:

lol every single forecaster is saying "hung parliament"

I guess they measured all the candidates.

Speaking of commonwealth nations having 2015 elections:


This polling is going to go crazier if the Provinces are any indication.
Alberta's elections just saw the Conservatives go from 70 seats and 44% of the vote to 11 and 28%. The NDP went from 4 seats to 53 and 10% to 41%. 44 seats needed for majority. The Conservatives have dominated the legislature since 1971.
Newfoundland polls has the Conservatives going from 56% to 31% and Liberals from 19% to 56%.

I'm surprised the Kazakhstani presidential election didn't get a ton of talk in here. Nursultan Nazarbayev won with 98% of the vote, up from 96% in 2011 and 91% in 2005, 81% in 1999 and 99% in 1991. Seems that he's got his mojo back.

Also in France, they released a new Presidential poll finally and Hollande is doing so poorly he only wins 52-48 against Marine Le Pen. 

[Kara]

I'm surprised the Kazakhstani presidential election didn't get a ton of talk in here. Nursultan Nazarbayev won with 98% of the vote, up from 96% in 2011 and 91% in 2005, 81% in 1999 and 99% in 1991. Seems that he's got his mojo back.

I love you man.

[VomKriege]

You have a source for the french poll ?
But yeah the political situation is pretty bad here, no denying it.

[Madrun Badrun]

Man I wish Layton was still alive.

[benjipwns]

You have a source for the french poll ?
But yeah the political situation is pretty bad here, no denying it.

No idea how good of French pollster they are: http://www.opinion-way.com/pdf/sondage_opinionway_pour_le_figaro_lci_-_le_bilan_du_president_de_la_republique_trois_ans_apres_son_election_-_avril_2015.pdf

It's on Slide 21. (Or thereabouts.)

[Joe Molotov]

Man I wish Layton was still alive.

Spoiler Alert! I haven't finished the newest Professor Layton game yet!

[Great Rumbler]

Reading about the two guys who tried to attack Pamela Geller, they were basically Four Lions but in real life:

According to news reports, now-deceased jihadi attacker Elton Simpson was indicted in 2010 and 2011 and given probation for lying about going abroad to seek jihadist paramilitary training. Given how their failed attack panned out, it would seem he needed a good deal more training. Thankfully, one local police officer outside the building was brave and quick-witted enough to foil the attack. But let's put this in perspective. Simpson and his roommate, Nadir Soofi, had the element of surprise, came in with body armor, each had an assault rifle and still managed to get taken out by a single police officer with a pistol before they could do more damage than shoot a school security guard in the foot. It was, thankfully, probably the most pitiful terror attack we've seen in some time.

[VomKriege]

You have a source for the french poll ?
But yeah the political situation is pretty bad here, no denying it.

No idea how good of French pollster they are: http://www.opinion-way.com/pdf/sondage_opinionway_pour_le_figaro_lci_-_le_bilan_du_president_de_la_republique_trois_ans_apres_son_election_-_avril_2015.pdf

It's on Slide 21. (Or thereabouts.)

Thanks.
Opinionway is a legit pollster. Which means they are trash.
That's a terrible result if correct, even for someone like me who is pretty certain for a while that the FN will play some role in national governance between 2017 and 2022.

Sarkozy savior of the republic 

[Kara]

Empires rise and fall, but Gaullism is eternal.

[VomKriege]

Empires rise and fall, but Gaullism is eternal.

Gaullism is dead 
I'd say let the voters have the FN if that's what they really want, they'll regret it soon enough however :
- It will wreck the shit of the country.
- I am probably trapped here and will not realistically be able to emigrate.
- Great Britain is also on the descent to madness.

[Dickie Dee]

Speaking of commonwealth nations having 2015 elections:
(Image removed from quote.)

This polling is going to go crazier if the Provinces are any indication.
Alberta's elections just saw the Conservatives go from 70 seats and 44% of the vote to 11 and 28%. The NDP went from 4 seats to 53 and 10% to 41%. 44 seats needed for majority. The Conservatives have dominated the legislature since 1971.

I lived in Alberta for 4-5 years and this is

There's dynamics that might take a bit explain back here but

Edit: Classic case of living large while oil royalties were coming in, but once they were drying up either services had to be cut (driving people to the NDP) or raise taxes (driving people to the Wildrose Party, some ill-defined provincial populist party).

What will actually happen is that they'll all blame the current and continuing slump on the NDP and retroactively blame them for the whole thing and probably hold a grudge against them for a decade or two. So I should probably rescind my lols but I take them where I can get them.

[Great Rumbler]

Israeli politics:

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday completed the formation of a new coalition government, reaching a last-minute deal with a nationalist party just before a midnight deadline.

The late-night deal saved Netanyahu from the unthinkable scenario of being forced from office. But it set the stage for the formation of a narrow coalition dominated by hard-line and religious parties that appears to be on a collision course with the U.S. and other allies.

With a slim majority of just 61 seats in the 120-seat parliament, Netanyahu could also struggle to press forward with a domestic agenda.

After Netanyahu's Likud Party won March 17 elections with 30 seats, it seemed he would have a relatively easy time forming a coalition. But during a six-week negotiating process, the task turned out to be much more difficult than anticipated, as rival coalition partners and members of the Likud jockeyed for influential Cabinet ministries.

The talks stalled this week when Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, a longtime partner of Netanyahu's, unexpectedly stepped down and announced his secular nationalist Yisrael Beitenu party was joining the opposition.

That left Netanyahu dependent on Jewish Home leader Naftali Bennett, a former aide who has a rocky relationship with Netanyahu. The talks with Bennett stretched throughout the day and well into the night before Netanyahu called President Reuven Rivlin, as required by law, to announce the deal.

Netanyahu had until midnight to speak to Rivlin. Otherwise, the president would have been required to ask another politician to try to form a government.

The Jewish Home party is linked to the West Bank settler movement. It opposes peace moves toward the Palestinians and has pushed for increased settlement construction on occupied lands — a policy that is opposed by the U.S. and European countries.

His other partners include Kulanu, a centrist party focused on economic issues, and two ultra-Orthodox religious parties.

tl;dr = One of the more moderate parties that was supporting Netanyahu pulled support and went over to the opposition, forcing Netanyahu to partner up with an ultra-nationalist party that opposes all peace efforts towards Palestine.

[Kara]

In 2015 can any Israeli party that doesn't represent Israeli Arabs credibly claim to favor a lasting peace with Palestine? The last party that could--and I'm being generous with this--created "peace" by LARPing Banlieue 13.

[Great Rumbler]

Well, it's like mentioning that Pamela Geller really hates Muslims, and then somebody points at that pretty much the entire GOP dislikes Muslims. It's all a matter of degrees.

[Joe Molotov]

tl;dr = One of the more moderate parties that was supporting Netanyahu pulled support and went over to the opposition, forcing Netanyahu to partner up with an ultra-nationalist party that opposes all peace efforts towards Palestine.

I thought he already partnered up with the Republican party some time ago.

[Phoenix Dark]

but russell brand endorsed Labor. That's right, Labor. Spell shit right, losers.
 

[Kara]

Well, it's like mentioning that Pamela Geller really hates Muslims, and then somebody points at that pretty much the entire GOP dislikes Muslims. It's all a matter of degrees.

Fair enough, though I would say you're much more likely to find a GOP politician who isn't Islamophobic.

Hard to believe Oslo was in my lifetime sometimes.

[Phoenix Dark]

http://mondoweiss.net/2015/05/netanyahu-palestinians-government

[Brehvolution]

Well, it's like mentioning that Pamela Geller really hates Muslims, and then somebody points at that pretty much the entire GOP dislikes Muslims. It's all a matter of degrees.

Fair enough, though I would say you're much more likely to find a GOP politician who isn't Islamophobic.

Hard to believe Oslo was in my lifetime sometimes.

Gellar wants what ISIS wants... all out war between xtians and muslims. pLus, it's the only way for her to stay relevant.

What a shit way to try to stay relevant.

Human trash.

[brob]

I like how the bbc exit poll has more or less every vote from scotland going to SNP. Shoulda gotten out while y'all had the chance imo. now you get tories with the rest of the lot. 

[benjipwns]

Ed Miliband’s political future is hanging in the balance if the exit poll is correct, senior Labour figures have conceded. Mandelson said it was “very difficult indeed” to see Miliband becoming prime minister if the Conservatives won 316 seats and Labour 239, in accordance with the BBC numbers.

The Labour peer and former Downing Street adviser said Miliband had done a “magnificent job” during the campaign and he would not want to see him resign. However, Mandelson sidestepped questions about whether he would like to see the Labour leader fight another election if Cameron returns as prime minister.

...

He added: “Somebody was earlier predicting that Ed Miliband will have gone within 24 hours. I hope not. I think we should take our time. I think we should lick our wounds if we have to. I think we should think seriously.”

...

It is still possible that Miliband would try to hang on as Labour leader in the event of Cameron becoming prime minister of a minority government or what looks like an insecure coalition. In this scenario, he could hope to have a go at forming a centre-left bloc if the Conservatives tried to create a stable government but struggled to pass legislation and ended up collapsing within weeks.

However, with the exit poll suggesting Miliband’s party was on course to lose seats, including an almost total wipeout in Scotland, it would be more credible for him to resign and allow a caretaker leader such as his deputy, Harriet Harman, to take over.

One of the key factors in his decision will be the possibility of a second election. Senior party figures would agonise over whether there would be time to get a new leader in place in the event of another imminent contest. But the temptation would be to replace Miliband if a second election took place in more than a year’s time. Possible candidates include the shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, the shadow health secretary, Andy Burnham, and the shadow business secretary, Chuka Umunna.

[benjipwns]

BBC TOPS CNN:

[brob]

Look at all those hologram people. Like a evil council out of a sci-fi movie. How far we've come from a single holographic will.i.am.

[Phoenix Dark]

this cultural appropriate will not stand, man

[Madrun Badrun]

SNP going to be like the Bloc?

[Syph]

.

That Bloc/Quebecois implosion was glorious to behold a couple years ago
Now I'm getting nostalgic

[benjipwns]

Look at all those hologram people. Like a evil council out of a sci-fi movie. How far we've come from a single holographic will.i.am.

I like the eerie looping video of the "important" MPs while the rest have static pictures.

[benjipwns]

Daily Beast sent PJ O'Rourke to the UK to learn all about their elections for The Colonies: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/05/06/britain-a-democracy-worse-than-ours.html

[Dickie Dee]

Daily Beast sent PJ O'Rourke to the UK to learn all about their elections for The Colonies: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/05/06/britain-a-democracy-worse-than-ours.html

The prospect of a parliament where no party holds a majority, a “hung parliament,” is causing the British pundit class (which, like most British social classes, is larger and more obtrusive than any class of people we have in America except Walmart lard-asses) to call this “the most important election in a generation.”

More important than the election that swept Margaret Thatcher into office in 1979? More important the election that swept Winston Churchill out in 1945.

 

[Kara]

Someone should tell PJ how generations work.

[benjipwns]

Someone should tell PJ how generations work.

[benjipwns]

CNN discovers election shock:
First UK election shock as 20-year old becomes youngest lawmaker since 1667

By Catherine Shoichet, Nick Hunt, Laura Smith-Spark and Paul Armstrong, CNN
London (CNN)One of the closest British elections in recent memory didn't take long to create its own history in early counting Friday as a 20-year-old Scottish student became the country's youngest lawmaker since 1667 -- ousting one of the opposition Labour Party's top figures in the process.

Politics student Mhairi Black, representing the pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP), took Paisley and Renfrewshire South, a constituency outside Glasgow, Scotland, from Douglas Alexander, Labour's election chief and a former Cabinet minister.

"I pledge to use this voice not just to improve Scotland, but to pursue progressive politics for the benefit of people across the UK," Black told supporters during her acceptance speech.

[benjipwns]

George Galloway defeated 

spoiler (click to show/hide)

I feel like this is the only time I've ever used the gbcry one.

[close]

EDIT: Kick a man while he's down jeez:

George Galloway has been reported to the police for retweeting an exit poll before voting ended

[benjipwns]

Tories now projected to get a three seat majority by themselves.

[VomKriege]

Wasn't Cameron supposed to be on the ropes like one year ago ?
Must I conclude Labour is really terrible ?

[benjipwns]

I really thought the Giant Stone Tablet was going to put them over. Now all of Milliband's staff seem to be resigning.

[benjipwns]

Total National Green Party votes in 2010: 265,243
Total National Green Party votes in 2015 (so far): 1,073,491

Plus UKIP vote:

itshappening.gif

Should have been posting the GAF doom and gloom in here probably instead of stinking up the GAF thread that's now about comics:

I'm pretty much terrified for the NHS too at this point, I think we're pretty much fucked. My dad is very sick person and so far, the NHS hasn't let him down but if it were ever to go down another route then we'd be truly fucked.

I feel sick.

This is a case of idiots being allowed to vote. idiots are easily influenced by tabloid media propaganda.

This country is going to go to absolute shit over the next 5 years. These parties are absolute NOT the same and anybody who says different is out of touch with reality.

Blame the English idiots that just voted for a further 12 billion in ideologically driven cuts and a continued pursuance of a plan that has already been so devastating.

RIP welfare state
RIP NHS
RIP any respect for the English electorate

fucking pricks.

are you surprised? a tory majority means that the bbc are going to be on the chopping block. if they fall into lockstep now they might just about manage to scrape through without being sold to news corp.

England has turned into far right country imo. This is the beginning of the end. The Tory support in this thread is disgusting. it makes no sense.

[Kara]

America is a reactionary shitbin tho.