International Politics Thread - Disease and Disaster

[Broseidon]

[Cerveza mas fina]

[toku]

Didn't really know where else to put this:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/31/business/international/in-europe-fake-jobs-can-have-real-benefits.html?referrer=&_r=1

[Phoenix Dark]

Iraqi security forces lost 2,300 Humvee armored vehicles when ISIS overran the northern city of Mosul, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on Sunday.

"In the collapse of Mosul, we lost a lot of weapons," Abadi said in an interview with Iraqiya state TV. "We lost 2,300 Humvees in Mosul alone."

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2015/May-31/299962-iraq-lost-2300-humvees-in-mosul-pm.ashx

arm rebels and half baked armies, brehs

[Kara]

That many hummers sounds like corporate welfare bought in blood.

[brawndolicious]

Didn't really know where else to put this:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/31/business/international/in-europe-fake-jobs-can-have-real-benefits.html?referrer=&_r=1

Some of the faux companies even hold strikes — a common occurrence in France. Axisco, a virtual payment processing center in Val d’Oise, recently staged a fake protest, with slogans and painted banners, to teach workers’ rights and to train human resources staff members to calm tensions.

That is surprising, I don't think  it would ever happen in America. It sounds like a good solution for when older workers lose jobs but it can't fully train them to deal with real people and problems, it feels an economic model that has 95% accuracy and the rest is unpredictable human irrationality. I'm interested in seeing how this affects permanent job placement.

[brob]

https://twitter.com/curdistani/status/605101777462145024

The cleansing fire of the Euphrates Volcano   

[benjipwns]

NDP has surged this last month. That clusterfuck at the end of the graph is great, it's from all three of the parties being between 26-30% in every poll after May 15th. The Conservatives had a highest point of 31% during the period edging out the NDP and Liberals who were at 30%.

Greens are all over the place, they've been as high as 10%. (You can see the dot right on the line from that poll.)

Apparently they're going to have at least five debates with the Conservatives and NDP involved which the Liberals are boycotting, with their stance that they are only going to do the standard "official" debate which the Conservatives are boycotting. And the NDP and Greens will have their own debate as the NDP has stated it will accept any debate offered.

This one is better than the UK one. I've read that the parties hate each other to the level that there may not be any coalition possibility between a pair of them that will be necessary if FPP doesn't nail one of the parties hard enough. I love how our media mostly is ignoring it even though they're our neighbors in comparison to the UK one which they were all over.

[Samson Manhug]

Except for Alberta (and Quebec of course), it looks as though Canadian politics is much less geographically polarized than the US.

[Madrun Badrun]

Ya but we also only have 35 million people and a lot of power is concentrated in Ontario and Quebec. 

[brob]

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/03/opinion/mohamed-fahy-how-qatar-used-and-abused-its-al-jazeera-journalists.html?smid=tw-share

Things haven't been going all too well for Al Jazeera lately. They've been slowly bleeding to death financially for a long time, losing most of their worthwhile staff, and now this. :'( 

[Kara]

http://monthlyreview.org/castro/2015/05/08/our-right-to-be-marxist-leninists/

goat political mag

[benjipwns]

Erdogan’s Governing Party in Turkey Loses Parliamentary Majority

Turkish voters delivered a rebuke on Sunday to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as his party lost its majority in Parliament in a historic election that thwarted his ambition to rewrite Turkey’s Constitution and further bolster his clout.

The results represented a significant setback for Mr. Erdogan, an Islamist who has steadily increased his power since being elected last year as president, a partly but not solely ceremonial post. The prime minister for more than a decade before that, Mr. Erdogan has pushed for more control of the judiciary and cracked down on any form of criticism, including prosecuting those who insult him on social media, but his efforts appeared to have run aground on Sunday.

The vote was also a significant victory to the cadre of Kurds, liberals and secular Turks who found their voice of opposition to Mr. Erdogan during sweeping antigovernment protests two years ago. For the first time, the Kurdish slate crossed a 10 percent threshold required to enter Parliament.

Mr. Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party, or A.K.P., still won the most seats by far, but not a majority, according to preliminary results released Sunday night. The outcome suggests contentious days of jockeying ahead as the party moves to form a coalition government. Already, analysts were raising the possibility Sunday of new elections if a government cannot be formed swiftly. Many Turks were happy to see Mr. Erdogan’s powers curtailed, even though the prospect of a coalition government evokes dark memories of political instability and economic malaise during the 1990s.

With 99 percent of the votes counted, the A.K.P. had won 41 percent of the vote, according to TRT, a state-run broadcaster, down from nearly 50 percent during the last national election in 2011. The percentage gave it an estimated 258 seats in Turkey’s Parliament, compared with the 327 seats it has now.

“The outcome is an end to Erdogan’s presidential ambitions,” said Soner Cagaptay, an expert on Turkey and a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

Almost immediately, the results raised questions about the political future of Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who moved to that position from that of foreign minister last year and was seen as a loyal subordinate of Mr. Erdogan.

Speaking Sunday night from a balcony at the party headquarters in Ankara, Mr. Davutoglu struck notes of triumph and optimism, touting his party as the winner because it won the most seats, without mentioning the loss of its majority.

“The elections once again showed that the A.K. Party is the backbone of Turkey,” he said.

Turnout was 86 percent for the elections, which were seen as a referendum on Mr. Erdogan’s tenure, especially his plan for a presidential system that would have given him more power. Polling had consistently shown that the majority of Turks are opposed to the change.

By law, Mr. Erdogan can call for new elections after 45 days if a coalition is not formed, and the political uncertainty sent Turkey’s currency, the lira, to a record low against the dollar in after-hours trading.

The vote turned on the historic performance at the ballot box of Turkey’s Kurdish minority, which aligned with liberals and secular Turks opposed to Mr. Erdogan’s leadership to win almost 13 percent of the vote, passing the legal threshold for earning representation in Parliament.

[Rufus]

Turkey dodged a bullet. (For now.)

[chronovore]

http://m.thenation.com/blog/209745-we-regret-inform-you-4-days-you-and-your-family-will-be-deported-haiti

What the actual fuck?

How can it be that this is not being covered like crazy in the news? I mean, non-Dominican news...

[Samson Manhug]

Too much Rachel Dolezal and Caitlin Jenner to cover.

[Madrun Badrun]

http://m.thenation.com/blog/209745-we-regret-inform-you-4-days-you-and-your-family-will-be-deported-haiti

What the actual fuck?

How can it be that this is not being covered like crazy in the news? I mean, non-Dominican news...

 Haiti lead the only successful slave rebellion.  They ought to be let out of the penalty box in a century or two. 

[Samson Manhug]

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-33160184

The Palestinian unity government will resign, President Mahmoud Abbas has announced.
He told his Fatah faction the cabinet had to be dissolved because its Hamas rivals would not allow it to operate in Gaza, where Hamas is in control.
Some reports suggest that the government would step down within hours.

This is bizarre. Even more bizarre is my very Middle East-centric Twitter feed has no commentary/analysis on this. The Middle East really is an unpredictable place.

[Samson Manhug]

Maybe this will turn out to be a "I'm taking my ball and going home" threat but he knows he still wants to play because it's no fun by yourself.

[Phoenix Dark]

All I know is that it's Obama's fault.

[brob]

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/16/danish-election-guide-parties-candidates

any on-scene reports from the danish bore contingent?

[benjipwns]

If the seat distribution is as tight as the polls suggest, the four seats in Greenland and the Faroe Islands could prove decisive.

[benjipwns]

To be serious because politics IS SERIOUS, I had been tracking this one like I do other countries and it was increasingly looking like the Social Democrats retaking their spot as the largest party, but the "right" alliance being able to scrounge up just enough to put them over by like two or three seats.

Way back in March-April, Venstre and the People's Party were looking like they'd alone outpoll the "left" alliance. and the right would get 54-58%. Then they both collapsed and you've had the seesawing back and forth since. Though this month the right has mostly held a tiny tiny lead.

The Alternative has sucked away some of the standard left alliance votes which has hurt the Social Liberals and Socialist People's Party and especially the Red-Green Alliance as they cannibalize themselves outside the cities. And the way the PR system works.

The Liberal Alliance (one of the most libertarian parties in Europe) is polling up at 7-8% after getting 5% last time. LIBERTARIAN MOMENT IN DENMARK. 

I'm actually reading the Denmark chapter in that Scandinavia book I mentioned in the book thread and he talks to a Liberal Alliance dude he gently mocks as optimistic and crazy (because duh, restructuring the welfare state, reducing taxes from 72% to 40%? NUT JOB) because the guy thinks Denmark could be in a position to form a "centrist" liberal coalition soon around the Social Liberals, Liberal Alliance and parts of Venstre. So they can ditch the People's Parties, the Social Democrats and Socialist-Greens. Pointing to the SD's collapse in the 1990's and Venstre's revival that's led to their last few elections being like 50.2%-49.8% and similar.

Also, don't forget, the Burundian legislative election is on the 26th. They had a short-lived coup by some random military guy on May 13 while the President was in Tanzania for an hour or something. 

I expect the National Council for the Defense of Democracy – Forces for the Defense of Democracy to continue to win like 70% of the vote.

Meanwhile, CANADA UPDATE, the NDP has pulled ahead in the three way tie. Getting around 31-34% vs. 26-31% for Tories and 23-28% for Liberals.

[benjipwns]

Also, Spain has the best or second best polling chart:

[Cerveza mas fina]

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/16/danish-election-guide-parties-candidates

any on-scene reports from the danish bore contingent?

Shit sucks bro, those nazi nutters became the second biggest party

So there will be a right wing government now.

That said the Social Democrats got bigger too so not all is a loss.

[Kara]

Enhedslisten.

Radikale.

[Cerveza mas fina]

Im not alowed to vote yet but I took a test and my views align with Enhedslisten apparently.

Wife voted Soc. Dems

[benjipwns]

Liberal Alliance 3rd most seats gained, 13 total seats. 50% gain in share of vote. That's almost as many seats in total as the Danish People's Party gained!

  LIBERTARIAN MOMENT

[benjipwns]

those debate podiums

[Cerveza mas fina]

Danish design breh

[Kara]

Would have been funny if Enhedslisten could have fielded their actual leadership on that stage instead of their spokesperson.

[benjipwns]

And they all spoke at the same time in unison.

The last part is optional.

[Cerveza mas fina]

Resurrect Lenin?

I don't think Necromancy is legal here.

I'm real sad I have to live in another country where the nazi scum is gaining ground, same happened in Holland a decade ago.

National Socialism is the most disgusting political ideology.

[benjipwns]

Speaking of the Dutch, a new poll for them also came out this week.

VVD would drop from 41 seats to 25.
Labour would drop from 38 seats to 10.
Party for Freedom (Geert Wilders) would jump from 15 to 21. (They had been up to like 25-26 seats as late as April.)
Socialists from 15 to 23.
Christian Democrats from 13 to 22.
Democrats 66 from 12 to 17.
GreenLeft from 4 to 14.
Party for the Animals from 2 to 4.

Even though the election isn't until 2017, all these elections in Western Democracies goin' crazy brehs.

[Cerveza mas fina]

PVDA down by 28

But SP, Groen Links and the animal party up by 20

D66 is also up by 5 (pragmatic libruls)

Usually all these parties do ok in polls, but when its on they drop again

Fuck Wilders though, can't be friends with people that vote that shit

[Kara]

Resurrect Lenin?

I don't think Necromancy is legal here.

I'm real sad I have to live in another country where the nazi scum is gaining ground, same happened in Holland a decade ago.

National Socialism is the most disgusting political ideology.

They have a collective leadership.

[Cerveza mas fina]

Maybe one day the great state of Denmark will let me vote for them in national elections

I guess I'll vote for them in the next local elections

[Cerveza mas fina]

Rustle someones jimmies on Linkedin brehs by talking politics 

[benjipwns]

[Mandark]

That second graph a product of the Shia/Sunni stuff or what?

[Kara]

That timeframe roughly coincides with the Ahmadinejad presidency.

[VomKriege]

Turkey and Jordan are also are directly experiencing the consequences of Iranian policy.

[Joe Molotov]

Ethopia's just kinda like 

[benjipwns]

Meanwhile, in Denmark:

Lars Lokke Rasmussen of the centre-right Venstre party said Sunday he would form a minority government after a vote that brought the Danish right to power.

Denmark's Queen Margrethe II asked the prime minister-elect to "explore the possibility of forming a (majority) government with several parties," Rasmussen told public broadcaster DR.

"I honestly tried to fulfil that task, but I realised it was not possible" after meetings with several party leaders, he said.

Rasmussen added that he would hold a second meeting with the monarch on Monday to obtain an official mandate to form a minority government.

During the election campaign, other smaller right-wing parties had already announced they would not necessarily join a coalition government with Venstre.

Rasmussen's announcement came amid speculation following Thursday's vote over whether the centre-right would form a coalition government with the anti-immigration Danish People's Party (DPP).

While the DPP actually won more votes than Venstre, making it the second-biggest party in parliament after the Social Democrats, it has repeatedly said it would not join a coalition unless it could be sure to play an influential role.

The People Party's four demands for a coalition:

a Eurosceptic approach to the EU, the re-introduction of border controls, further restrictions on immigration and asylum policy, and 0.8% growth in public spending

[benjipwns]

Also, I discovered that the literal meaning for the word that's used for the name of the Faroe Islands local parliament is "law thing."

[T-Short]

Also, I discovered that the literal meaning for the word that's used for the name of the Faroe Islands local parliament is "law thing."

Well, almost. "Ting" can mean "thing", but is also an older term for meeting or parliamentary gathering.

[Madrun Badrun]

'republic' comes from 'res publica'  which can literally mean 'thing of the people'.  I'd be surprised if a lot of languages don't have similar etymology of their government. 

[Great Rumbler]

'republic' comes from 'res publica'  which can literally mean 'thing of the people'.  I'd be surprised if a lot of languages don't have similar etymology of their government. 

And there's "Cosa Nostra" and the like.

[Courage]

Greece to hold bailout referendum on July 5

I don't see this ending any other way than a Grexit at this point.

[Madrun Badrun]

http://ipolitics.ca/2015/06/26/surprising-number-of-canadians-condone-torture-says-pew-research-poll/

[VomKriege]

Greece to hold bailout referendum on July 5

I don't see this ending any other way than a Grexit at this point.

Maybe it will force the european establishment to face some of the issues that they stubbornly look away from. I think the UE is the way forward but you cannot just do it in spite of what the people actually think. Could also be a precedent for a doom scenario, but they kinda brought it on themselves.

[Kara]

KKE lining up against Syriza.

[Rufus]

This mess would be entertaining if it didn't highlight the painful incompetence by everyone involved. Cocksure stupidity on both sides, crotchety old fucks with a death grip on their failed ideas, upstarts who think finger wagging and bravado will move the needle... Just - pfft.

[Kara]

http://m.spiegel.de/international/europe/a-1039738.html

DER SPIEGEL: For five years now, international creditors have been trying to stave off Greek insolvency with vast aid packages worth hundreds of billions of euros. But unemployment in the country remains at 25 percent and gross domestic product has plunged by a quarter. Don't you have to admit that Europe's attempts to save Greece have failed?

Jean-Claude Juncker: You are failing to mention the successes we have achieved. Although Greece's GDP has fallen dramatically, the government has presented a budget in which revenues are significantly higher than expenditures . . . Pensions have been slashed, salaries reduced and public spending reined in.

I feel like I'm reading a Brecht play.

[Great Rumbler]

"Everything's really super-bad, but we've also done some good things, too, like slashing pension and reducing salaries!"

[Rufus]

Pensions that entire families rely on, becasue of that lovely 30% unemployment rate. The comission wanted them slashed further, same as last year.

[Kara]

Public expenditures weren't sustainable and any realistic plan to get Greece back on track has to include that, but years on the EU / IMF / ECB are still stuck on the same narrow spectrum of ideas even though Greece is electing Nazis and the guy who worked on Team Fortress 2 hats.

I can understand wanting to keep an even hand of discipline when you had other unruly children like Eire, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Cyprus to worry about, but at this point something more transformative and different is clearly necessary. This is a caricature of neoliberalism's internal contradiction of being rather hidebound when it comes to national policy.

[brob]

greek tragedy

[Mupepe]

And so Greece officially defaulted today?  The rest of this week will be interesting until the referendum.

[benjipwns]

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will accept most of the bailout creditors’ conditions offered last weekend but is still insisting on a handful of changes that could thwart a deal, according to a letter he sent late on Tuesday night.

The two-page letter to the heads of the European Commission, International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank and obtained by the Financial Times, elaborates on Tuesday’s request for an extension of Greece’s now-expired bailout and for a new, third rescue worth €29.1bn.

Eurozone officials involved in the talks cautioned Mr Tsipras’s remaining demands in the letter were “not a handful of minor changes” and would have “significant fiscal impact” and may not be acceptable to creditors.

http://blogs.ft.com/brusselsblog/files/2015/07/ESM-loan-agreement-prior-actions-amend-30.06.2015-1.pdf