Toth Posted March 22, 2020 Share Posted March 22, 2020 2 minutes ago, Mystical said: How this woman is still in any sort of political position is a mystery to me. But then as a German, I have been wondering that for years in regards to most of our politicians. Macron needed a pushover that nobody had any objections against. I guess that backfired, huh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toth Posted March 22, 2020 Share Posted March 22, 2020 2 minutes ago, Luzifer's right hand said: I always believed in the "spirit" of the EU. Solidarity and the protection of human rights. I guess I should have stopped believing in that bullshit during the refugee crisis... I too always believed in the spirit of the EU, but I must admit solidarity and human rights wasn't exactly very high on that list. I guess I was always quite pragmatic in that regard. I always saw the main advantage in the massive political power a united Europe could wield and have always been quite annoyed at how little use our politicians are making of that. Look how China uses its economic power to have everyone bend over for them. That's the power we could have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luzifer's right hand Posted March 22, 2020 Share Posted March 22, 2020 4 minutes ago, Toth said: I too always believed in the spirit of the EU, but I must admit solidarity and human rights wasn't exactly very high on that list. I guess I was always quite pragmatic in that regard. I always saw the main advantage in the massive political power a united Europe could wield and have always been quite annoyed at how little use our politicians are making of that. Look how China uses its economic power to have everyone bend over for them. That's the power we could have. It feels like doing things like kissing the butts of Putin and Xi Jinping was the better kind of pragmatism. Well our politicians were always good at that. Time will tell I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mystical Posted March 22, 2020 Share Posted March 22, 2020 12 minutes ago, Toth said: Macron needed a pushover that nobody had any objections against. I guess that backfired, huh? This woman is involved (and has been for years) in a federal case against her from her time as Minister of Defense and currently under investigation here in Germany. And it's not about something small either. It's about an advisor affair with billions of Euros attached to it. She has been able to avoid prosecution for forever it seems. The Ministry helpfully illegally wiped her phone data (which now the prosecution wants with a vengeance). Why do you think she was surprisingly placed as EU President? It's for her protection from prosecution. She's made it for years so far, she will continue to do so. Meanwhile, you catch hell if you don't pay a speeding ticket on time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toth Posted March 22, 2020 Share Posted March 22, 2020 17 minutes ago, Mystical said: This woman is involved (and has been for years) in a federal case against her from her time as Minister of Defense and currently under investigation here in Germany. And it's not about something small either. It's about an advisor affair with billions of Euros attached to it. She has been able to avoid prosecution for forever it seems. The Ministry helpfully illegally wiped her phone data (which now the prosecution wants with a vengeance). Why do you think she was surprisingly placed as EU President? It's for her protection from prosecution. She's made it for years so far, she will continue to do so. Meanwhile, you catch hell if you don't pay a speeding ticket on time. I am well aware of the advisor affair, though I must admit I never made that connection because I doubt Macron would make himself an asset for that (and because I thought it came out some time after Macron drafted her so haphazardly). I actually hated her ever since she was minister of family affairs back then, she is cut from the same worthless cloth as Schäuble. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mystical Posted March 22, 2020 Share Posted March 22, 2020 1 minute ago, Toth said: I am well aware of the advisor affair, though I must admit I never made that connection because I doubt Macron would make himself an asset for that (and because I thought it came out some time after Macron drafted her so haphazardly). I actually hated her ever since she was minister of family affairs back then, she is cut from the same worthless cloth as Schäuble. Macron and Merkel. EU is about buying seats and buying votes. M&M didn't like the other candidates, and vdL needed to be placed elsewhere asap because she couldn't be carried by the German politics anymore. Merkel threw enough money around to buy vdL her position which isn't a secret since Merkel always defends her failures (including her own politicians). This is how it works with the EU, it's a shit hole of the worst and most corrupt politicians in Europe. You buy your position, screw democracy. That's exactly why a lot of people want the EU to crash and burn, it's an undemocratic crap hole... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williamjm Posted March 22, 2020 Share Posted March 22, 2020 1 hour ago, polishgenius said: So, there's been a lot of talk about Italy's numbers and how we all need to be careful not to go the same way coz they've been on lockdown for two weeks and still rising, right. And fair enough we do need to be careful but we were just told that as of today they'll be shutting open-air markets and all non-essential shops and businesses, and it's like, what the hell kind of lockdown was it that they weren't doing that already? In one of the reports I saw a mention of building sites, which did surprise me that they hadn't done that already. I suppose markets could be selling food which could take some pressure off crowded supermarkets but stalls selling non-essential items would seem very stupid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toth Posted March 22, 2020 Share Posted March 22, 2020 6 minutes ago, Mystical said: Macron and Merkel. EU is about buying seats and buying votes. M&M didn't like the other candidates, and vdL needed to be placed elsewhere asap because she couldn't be carried by the German politics anymore. Merkel threw enough money around to buy vdL her position which isn't a secret since Merkel always defends her failures (including her own politicians). This is how it works with the EU, it's a shit hole of the worst and most corrupt politicians in Europe. You buy your position, screw democracy. That's exactly why a lot of people want the EU to crash and burn, it's an undemocratic crap hole... I think you are making this too easy for yourself. Von der Leyen's drafting was preceded by a very heated fight for the position and Merkel herself was pushing for a different candidate the entire time, one that Macron vehemently denied. I agree that the EU has its fair share of problems and especially the lobbyism plague has grinded down much of its former effectiveness. But von der Leyen's drafting a cover-up? When she is clearly not off the hook a year after the fact? The EU is in dire need of reform, getting rid of it will just make its members easy prey for all the superpowers around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davos Posted March 22, 2020 Share Posted March 22, 2020 Was out for a bit this afternoon. Just running my daughter over to her mother's house the next town down road for her week there. Did not have to expose myself to anyone not in my immediate family. What surprised me is that there were not that many less cars on the road compared to a normal Sunday afternoon. It still doesn't feel like people are locking themselves down the way they need to around here. I start a new job tomorrow. I would be really excited. Its a company with a good reputation as a workplace and top tier benefits, at least for an American employer. But I'm much more nervous because there is no way to escape having to be physically present. The type of work I do precludes working from home. So after being able to isolate with the family for 4 days, I'm going to be back out tomorrow. Its a company that processes at home cancer screen tests, so its a medical lab, which I'm hoping might be more on top of their sanitiation than most work places. Still, its having to interact with people, even if everyone is trying to keep their distance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mystical Posted March 22, 2020 Share Posted March 22, 2020 15 minutes ago, Toth said: I think you are making this too easy for yourself. Von der Leyen's drafting was preceded by a very heated fight for the position and Merkel herself was pushing for a different candidate the entire time, one that Macron vehemently denied. I agree that the EU has its fair share of problems and especially the lobbyism plague has grinded down much of its former effectiveness. But von der Leyen's drafting a cover-up? When she is clearly not off the hook a year after the fact? The EU is in dire need of reform, getting rid of it will just make its members easy prey for all the superpowers around. vdL has been getting off the hook for years. Helped by Merkel and vdL's former Ministry. The woman was getting too much bad press for years though, so after the latest scandal, she had to go. But Merkel never abandons her failures, she just throws more money at them. And Merkel and Macron 'fighting' in public...it's called theater. You think they would actually tell the truth for all the world to see? Heck no. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toth Posted March 22, 2020 Share Posted March 22, 2020 Sorry, you are veering too much into conspiracy theories for me. There is nothing in this for Macron and there is nothing in this for von der Leyen as well, given that she is still investigated no matter what. And of all the faults of the EU, taking this vague conspiracy theory as the main argument for its failings seems like a weak argument to me. Just one question: Do you want to see everything crash and burn instead of trying to fix things? Just curious where you position yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zorral Posted March 22, 2020 Share Posted March 22, 2020 2 hours ago, Frey family reunion said: Well my State just issued a stay at home order. I’m waiting to hear if I’m going to be considered “essential”. My guess is I’m going to have to go to work at least for this week. The good news in only 16 people have tested positive in my Parish with no deaths. New Orleans however, their numbers are pretty high for their population. Once again I worry about the future of the city I grew up in. A close NO friend sent a short video clip she took of Jackson Square, with the Cathedral belling out the dead, as it always has. Looking at it ... time slippage. When are we? This just as well could be Jackson Square, the Cathedral, New Orleans many times in the 18th and 19th centuries. The final Yellow Fever epidemic in NO was in 1905, with 452 deaths. Others are telling us that with AB&B dead without tourists, suddenly real estate people are selling houses in NO again. If you have any spare cash you can probably pick up something pretty good for relatively pretty cheap. As it was in these conditions, so it always is! Additionally, Weinstein in prison has tested positive for c-19. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karaddin Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 7 hours ago, Fury Resurrected said: What’s up! In positive news the cats are DELIGHTED I am home Not the only one, I'd been home a few weeks already and one of them in particular has very little patience for anything which could be construed as getting ready to go out. 5 hours ago, Fury Resurrected said: You guys just took out my brother’s appendix! This sounds like they executed a hit on his appendix, rather than a surgical removal :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clueless Northman Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 1 hour ago, Toth said: Just one question: Do you want to see everything crash and burn instead of trying to fix things? Just curious where you position yourself. Well, everything IS crashing and burning right now, actually. Though I agree with you on the principle - the EU should be a way for member-states to wield some power and to have a degree of independance from interferences and abuses from major powers like USA, Russia or China - except it doesn't work that way and their leaders are happy whoring themselves (and their people) to any of these three :/ 3 hours ago, Toth said: The main problem is the complete helplessness in how von der Leyen responded to the kneejerk shutting down of borders. The main problem the EU and a lot of Western leaders will have is exactly that: they knew what was coming and did NOT close down borders as soon as possible - actually, they pretty much did nothing apart from sitting on their hands and telling how bad the Chinese were at dealing with this, because they're not a democracy. It's not a matter of ideology but of public safety. Open borders, free movement and all is fine under normal circumstances. When you basically have to quarantine and isolate people, it's sheer lunacy. I mean, we're locking down people in their homes right now, which is a far bigger abuse of freedom than shutting down Italy would've been in late February. Sadly, isolating people in as small communities as possible is the way to go, to isolate infected groups from uninfected ones, and wait out until the disease goes away or, ideally, is dealt with with aggressive mass-testing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DireWolfSpirit Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 I read a report someone had linked earlier and was reading some of the Twitter commentary on it. Favorite comment by far- Regarding Trump's insistence on calling the Covid 19 Virus the Chinese Virus: "Someone should ask Trump if we should start calling the 1917 Spanish Flu , the American Flu instead, since the U.S. was it's country of origin? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitestripe Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 All of New York State is on lockdown as of tonight at 8 pm. It’s very, very odd. I’m in a teeny, tiny town in upstate NY where it’s not hard to go all day and only see three or four people under normal circumstances. It’s so very different from NYC that there’s a huge disconnect. We’re staying in, nonetheless. I took two bags of groceries to the food pantry today (drop off only, they put out a call through the school newsletter because schools are closed) and I’m going to sew some masks tomorrow, since I’ve seen several calls for them on various social media outlets. I don’t have much in the way of supplies, and all non-essential businesses are closed, but I did find some fabric from a project I never started. I am deathly worried for my in-laws who are in New Jersey. They have had cases in their town and still aren’t staying home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frey family reunion Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 2 hours ago, Zorral said: A close NO friend sent a short video clip she took of Jackson Square, with the Cathedral belling out the dead, as it always has. Looking at it ... time slippage. When are we? This just as well could be Jackson Square, the Cathedral, New Orleans many times in the 18th and 19th centuries. The final Yellow Fever epidemic in NO was in 1905, with 452 deaths. Others are telling us that with AB&B dead without tourists, suddenly real estate people are selling houses in NO again. If you have any spare cash you can probably pick up something pretty good for relatively pretty cheap. As it was in these conditions, so it always is! Additionally, Weinstein in prison has tested positive for c-1 Definitely worried about community spread coming through the heels of Mardi Gras. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Marquis de Leech Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 New Zealand to go into lockdown on Wednesday: https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/nzs-coronavirus-alert-system-rises-level-three-hit-four-in-48-hours-prepare-nation-go-into-self-isolation That moved quickly... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Scot A Ellison Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 5 hours ago, Luzifer's right hand said: According to local news Poland and the Czech Republic intercepted PPE ordered by Italy. The Czech Republic claimed that the equipment was stolen but some of it was later discovered in Czech Hospitals. Germany stopped PPE ordered by Austria earlier this week. It seem every country for itself is how the EU member states are handling this. China and Russia seem better partners for countries which need PPE right now. I would not be completely surprised if this crisis is the death blow that will kill the EU. Edit: Austria for example has hospitals that are mostly empty right now and in the meantime people across the border are dying. PPE order? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prince of the North Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 4 minutes ago, Ser Scot A Ellison said: PPE order? Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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