World Politics

[Lou]

Just read about the New PM of Australia and this occurred to me.
It's probably naive and also I'm always looking for the silver lining. But....

As Trump trashes America, maybe the other nations will see this as a cautionary tale instead of a good example and stop their slide to the right.

 

[Second Summer]

As Trump trashes America, maybe the other nations will see this as a cautionary tale instead of a good example and stop their slide to the right.

I do think there is definitely an effect like that, especially in the EU and maybe the Anglosphere countries as well. How strong the effect is, is another question. It certainly didn't seem to help all that much in our recent local elections.

But maybe the problem is that voters are not given any really good choices. None of the parties seem to really have any proper vision or good answers to the problems we're facing. It's only the post-truth far-right parties that really stand out (although their solutions are based on lies). All the others basically want business as usual. (See my rant earlier in the thread about neoliberalism.)

 

[Second Summer]

I'm reading that the German domestic intelligence service (the federal constitution protection agency) has investigated the AfD and compiled a report which concludes they're incompatible with the constitution. This will probably again result in a lengthy investigation by the supreme court, which in turn can lead to a ban on the party.

 

[Emma JC]

I am starting to think that these oligarchs will not be satisfied with the amount of wealth that they have, moneywise, until the world is a Handmaid's dystopia - what none of them understand is that true wealth does not come from the biggest bank account but from kindness and empathy and love and serving others.... that is what politicians are supposed to do, is serve the people, especially the group that elected them. Here in Canada the leader of the Conservative Party that lost, also lost his own seat in Parliament and so another person that won, in a different province is going to give up his seat so that they can hold a by-election and elect this loser in that location so he can, once again, be the "leader" of the opposition. He is never going to serve the people in that riding as he likely won't even set foot in it.... which is why he lost his seat in the first place, which was in Ottawa itself.

This is from my favourite politician in Canada, at the moment. Charlie just retired from 20+ years as an NDP in Northern Ontario and he is fierce in his resistance and his wisdom. This is from yesterday.

https://bsky.app/profile/charlieangus104.bsky.social%2Fpost%2F3lodv2o3og22x

Emma JC
Find your vegan soulmate or just a friend. www.spiritualmatchmaking.com

 

[Andy_T]

The ongoing genocide against Palestinians continues to be a contentious issue in major European countries. Germany is historically a strong supporter of Israel, so this news story should probably not come as a surprise:

That is horrible.