The Rise of Nationalism, Populism; Fall of The European Union

[polychronopolous]

I think you would like AVI YEMINI too , Facebook or TR.News 

Cool I'll check him out.

The Duran has some solid content as well.

[polychronopolous]

Buddhist nationalists claim victory in Sri Lankan election



KANDY, Sri Lanka (AP) — In this mountain city that was for centuries home to Sri Lanka’s kings and in recent years has been riven by religious violence, Buddhist nationalists are rejoicing the election of the country’s newest leader. They hope he ushers in another golden era for the nation’s ethnic majority.

“We built an ideology that the country needs a Sinhala leader who does not bend down in front of minorities,” said Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara, a nationalist leader and monk, referring to the Sinhalese ethnic group. “Now that ideology has won.”

Gnanasara and other members of his Bodu Bala Sena, or Army of Buddhist Power, campaigned hard for new President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Rajapaksa is a former defense official who is regarded by fellow Sinhalese Buddhists as a hero for his role in ending Sri Lanka’s 26-year civil war with ethnic Tamil rebels. But minorities fear him because of allegations he took part in war atrocities and ordered state-sponsored disappearances.


With the day-to-day violence of the civil war in the past, Buddhist nationalists in recent years have accused the government of paying too much heed to the needs of minorities, pointing in part to the previous government, which though led by Sinhalese Buddhists, also included ministers who were Hindu and Muslim.

About 70% of the 22 million people in this island nation off India’s southern coast are Buddhists, mainly ethnic Sinhalese. Hindus, mainly ethnic Tamils, make up 12.6% of the population, while another 9.7% are Muslim and 7.6% are Christian.

The days of Sri Lanka’s Buddhist kings and their monk advisers ended in the early 1800s with their defeat by the British, who ruled until independence in 1948. And though Buddhism was given predominance in Sri Lanka’s post-independence constitution, freedom to practice other religions was also enshrined.

https://apnews.com/bf051a4b2673484f8460131a7500b0ec

[polychronopolous]

Speculation: Hungary out of 'too gay' Eurovision



Hungary has pulled out of the Eurovision song contest amid speculation the competition is "too gay" for the country's far-right government.

Although no official reason has been given for the withdrawal, a source inside Hungary's public broadcaster reportedly said they assumed hostility to the contest's LGBT+ links was behind the decision.

One pro-government commentator described Eurovision as a "homosexual flotilla" and said the country's mental health would be better if it did not join the competition.


https://amp.independent.ie/entertainment/music/music-news/speculation-hungary-out-of-too-gay-eurovision-38737213.html

[illuminati]

Speculation: Hungary out of 'too gay' Eurovision



Hungary has pulled out of the Eurovision song contest amid speculation the competition is "too gay" for the country's far-right government.

Although no official reason has been given for the withdrawal, a source inside Hungary's public broadcaster reportedly said they assumed hostility to the contest's LGBT+ links was behind the decision.

One pro-government commentator described Eurovision as a "homosexual flotilla" and said the country's mental health would be better if it did not join the competition.


https://amp.independent.ie/entertainment/music/music-news/speculation-hungary-out-of-too-gay-eurovision-38737213.html

Wow - Decent & proper thinking Country - More power to them.

[Irongrip400]

AfD helps play kingmaker in Thuringia and now he steps down and new elections to be held. Mein Gott

[polychronopolous]

'Political earthquake' in Ireland as nationalists win historic result


Frustration with political status quo fuels surge for left-wing Sinn Féin.





 The left-wing nationalist party Sinn Féin surged to a historic result in the Irish general election over the weekend, upending the country’s two-party system as the wave of anti-establishment populism that has shaken up democracies around the world appeared to reach Ireland.

Sinn Féin, long associated with the nationalist terrorist group the Irish Republican Army or IRA, won the largest share of the popular vote in Saturday's election, coming ahead of Ireland’s two major centrist parties that have traditionally divided power between them for a century.

With over 96% of ballots counted on Monday, Sinn Féin had 24.53% of the first preference votes, Fianna Fáil had 22.18% and Fine Gael had 20.86%.

 It seemed to be powered by the same dissatisfaction with traditional parties and economic inequality, particularly among young people, that has seen a growth in populist politics worldwide and in the United States.

"There is no longer a two-party system," Sinn Féin's leader Mary Lou McDonald told a jubilant crowd of supporters on Sunday.

 Sinn Féin, however, may still be excluded from forming the next government, which must now be a coalition with no party winning enough seats to be a majority in the parliament's 160-seat lower chamber, called the Dáil Éireann.

Sinn Féin, believing before the election it would suffer losses, only fielded half the 80 candidates it would need to form a government itself. Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil ran more candidates and Fianna Fáil currently looks to have the largest number of seats. That means the two parties could theoretically keep Sinn Féin out of power.

Many observers though, including some members of both parties, have expressed doubts that is viable given the scale of Sinn Féin's gains.

McDonald has said she is in talks with other small left-wing parties about forming a "government of change" that would exclude Fine Gael and Sinn Féin. That will be difficult and many believe her party's best chance of getting into government is a coalition with Fianna Fáil.

Before the election, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil had both ruled out a coalition with Sinn Féin. Leo Varadkar, Fine Gael’s leader who had been Ireland’s prime minister, said previously he would be open to forming a coalition with Fianna Fáil. Varadkar's party had hoped for a third term.

https://abcnews.go.com/International/political-earthquake-ireland-nationalists-win-historic-result/story?id=68884381

[polychronopolous]

‘It’s a powder keg ready to explode’: In Greek village, tensions simmer between refugees and locals


LESVOS, Greece — Those looking from the windows of the Drop Center, a popular school and cafe for refugees in the Greek village of Moria, could tell the mood had turned on a warm morning in early February. Afghan mothers pushing strollers were heading back to the refugee camp, while young men were rushing in the other direction.

A morning protest by around 300 asylum seekers over their squalid living conditions had begun peacefully enough inside the camp, home to some 20,000 people from 64 different countries, including Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq and Angola. But clashes soon erupted with riot police after the group tried marching to Mytilini, the main port and capital of Lesvos. Now protesters were coming toward this small village, and its residents were mobilizing.

After a truck filled with locals stopped outside the center, continually blasting its horn through the usually serene town, workers inside hit the lights and pulled down the blinds. There was a message over loudspeakers calling for villagers to gather at the church. And it provided an opportunity for the staff to evacuate those inside two at a time.

After that day, the Drop Center was closed and staff moved elsewhere on the island. For the organization that ran the school, A Drop in the Ocean, it seemed their welcome had run out. Another NGO had rocks thrown through their windows. Later a group of local vigilantes went door-to-door looking for aid workers or refugees. “I understand that [the villagers] are tense. They live in an extreme situation. But it doesn’t excuse their behavior toward us,” said Ida Sorbye, a worker at the Drop Center.

If the Greek island of Lesvos is the frontline of Europe’s refugee crisis, Moria is a no-man’s land. The small village’s population of around 2,000 is now dwarfed by the camp of the same name up the road. As many as possible are crammed into the main facility, designed to hold only 2,800, with the rest spilling out in tents and hastily-built structures on the slopes of ancient olive groves. Numbers have exploded over the last year as new regulations require refugees to apply for asylum at their first landing place in Europe. For many that means Lesvos.

Turkey said on Thursday it would no longer restrain hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers in its territory from reaching Europe despite a deal to do so reached with the EU in 2016. That means islanders are things to rapidly worsen. Thousands of refugees are now on the border of Northern Greece. The crisis poses the toughest test for Greece since a 2015 financial crisis.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/01/refugee-crisis-in-greece-tensions-soar-between-migrants-and-locals.html

[Irongrip400]

‘It’s a powder keg ready to explode’: In Greek village, tensions simmer between refugees and locals


LESVOS, Greece — Those looking from the windows of the Drop Center, a popular school and cafe for refugees in the Greek village of Moria, could tell the mood had turned on a warm morning in early February. Afghan mothers pushing strollers were heading back to the refugee camp, while young men were rushing in the other direction.

A morning protest by around 300 asylum seekers over their squalid living conditions had begun peacefully enough inside the camp, home to some 20,000 people from 64 different countries, including Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq and Angola. But clashes soon erupted with riot police after the group tried marching to Mytilini, the main port and capital of Lesvos. Now protesters were coming toward this small village, and its residents were mobilizing.

After a truck filled with locals stopped outside the center, continually blasting its horn through the usually serene town, workers inside hit the lights and pulled down the blinds. There was a message over loudspeakers calling for villagers to gather at the church. And it provided an opportunity for the staff to evacuate those inside two at a time.

After that day, the Drop Center was closed and staff moved elsewhere on the island. For the organization that ran the school, A Drop in the Ocean, it seemed their welcome had run out. Another NGO had rocks thrown through their windows. Later a group of local vigilantes went door-to-door looking for aid workers or refugees. “I understand that [the villagers] are tense. They live in an extreme situation. But it doesn’t excuse their behavior toward us,” said Ida Sorbye, a worker at the Drop Center.

If the Greek island of Lesvos is the frontline of Europe’s refugee crisis, Moria is a no-man’s land. The small village’s population of around 2,000 is now dwarfed by the camp of the same name up the road. As many as possible are crammed into the main facility, designed to hold only 2,800, with the rest spilling out in tents and hastily-built structures on the slopes of ancient olive groves. Numbers have exploded over the last year as new regulations require refugees to apply for asylum at their first landing place in Europe. For many that means Lesvos.

Turkey said on Thursday it would no longer restrain hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers in its territory from reaching Europe despite a deal to do so reached with the EU in 2016. That means islanders are things to rapidly worsen. Thousands of refugees are now on the border of Northern Greece. The crisis poses the toughest test for Greece since a 2015 financial crisis.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/01/refugee-crisis-in-greece-tensions-soar-between-migrants-and-locals.html

Erdogan said today he’s opening the boarders to hundreds of thousands. If that’s true, and he decides to let through the 3.7 million Syrian refugees he’s currently housing, it’ll make the crisis of a few years ago pale in comparison.

[Megalodon]

Burning a EU flag in Germany is now a hate crime.

Up to 3 years in prison for destroying or even damaging an EU flag.

Hate can be anything. Hate may eventually be not worshiping a certain group of people.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-52674809

[B_B_C]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_Desecration_Amendment
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/06/trump-backs-ban-flag-burning-no-brainer.html

 President Donald Trump came out in favor of a fresh effort to challenge long-held precedent by the Supreme Court that would ban the burning of the American Flag. “All in for Senator Steve Daines as he proposes an Amendment for a strong BAN on burning our American Flag. A no brainer!” Trump wrote Saturday morning on Twitter.

    All in for Senator Steve Daines as he proposes an Amendment for a strong BAN on burning our American Flag. A no brainer!
    — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 15, 2019

[Teutonic Knight 1]

This is "nice" ( ), rape is almost leagal in Merkel land, but burning EU rag ........................ .

Italians love burning EU flag, don't they 

[illuminati]

Burning a EU flag in Germany is now a hate crime.

Up to 3 years in prison for destroying or even damaging an EU flag.

Hate can be anything. Hate may eventually be not worshiping a certain group of people.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-52674809

Desperate Measures By The German/ EU Leaders - EU is crumbling fast & they’re shitting themselves
Fcuking Hate Crime 🙄 Pathetic Bunch - Burn Everyone of them & the stupid EU Plaques
Good Riddance to The EU.

[illuminati]

This is "nice" ( ), rape is almost leagal in Merkel land, but burning EU rag ........................ .

Italians love burning EU flag, don't they 

Goes to Show just what a Hideous Horrible bitch merkal & her cohorts are.

Good for Italy. 👍🏻

[polychronopolous]

French president Emmanuel Macron loses absolute majority in parliament after defections



French President Emmanuel Macron lost his absolute parliamentary majority on Tuesday after several of his MPs defected to create a new political group.

Seven of Macron's La Republique En Marche (LREM) MPs have joined the new group called "Ecology, Democracy, Solidarity".

Made up of 17 lawmakers, including other ex-LREM parliamentarians, the group said it would be "independent" and sit "neither in the majority nor in the opposition".

The latest defections mean Macron's formation now has 288 MPs — just one shy of an absolute majority. LREM had 314 MPs at the beginning of Macron's presidency.

"With this COVID-19 crisis, we need to overcome the divisions and postures, and collectively build the world of after," Matthieu Orphelin, the group's co-president wrote on Twitter.

The group's spokesperson, Hubert Julien-Laferrière, who defected from LREM, argued that none of them betrayed the "commitments of 2017" they were elected on under the LREM banner but that it is "rather the majority who have moved from it".

https://www.euronews.com/2020/05/19/french-president-emmanuel-macron-loses-absolute-majority-in-parliament-after-defections

[polychronopolous]

“Prior assumptions about our business no longer apply”: Cuts pile up at Vice, Quartz, The Economist, BuzzFeed, and Condé Nast




Hundreds of journalism jobs — primarily, though not exclusively, at digital media outlets — were cut this week, piling up alongside thousands of other media job losses that have accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic (and joining the more than 20.5 million jobs that have been lost in the U.S. since April).



    Kerry Flynn 🐶
    ✔
    @kerrymflynn
    Replying to @kerrymflynn

    This was such a horrible week.

    Condé Nast: 100 layoffs + 100 furloughs
    BuzzFeed: ~ 20 furloughs
    Quartz: 80 layoffs
    Vice: 155 layoffs
    The Economist: 90 layoffs

    335 media jobs eliminated. 120 jobs tbd ...
    1,151
    9:40 AM - May 15, 2020
    Twitter Ads info and privacy

1,847 people are talking about this


Vice announced Friday that it’s laying off 55 employees in the U.S. today and about 100 more globally “over the coming weeks.” “The reality is that some tough decisions had to be made around our digital teams,” Vice CEO Nancy Dubuc wrote in a memo to staffers. “Currently, our digital organization accounts for around 50 percent of our headcount costs, but only brings in about 21 percent of our revenue.”

Quartz — owned by Japanese media business company Uzabase — announced Thursday that it is laying off 80 employees, almost half its staff (it had 188 employees as of the end of 2019), and is closing its offices in London, San Francisco, Hong Kong, and Washington, while also trying to find ways to reduce its rent in New York.

In a memo to staff, Quartz CEO Zach Seward said that while Quartz had 17,680 paying subscribers as of the end of April — not bad at all since it launched its paywall just a year ago — “advertising accounts for the bulk of our revenue, and that business has been hit very hard by the effects of coronavirus. Even after the pandemic recedes, the likely recession to follow could hurt ad revenue for years to come. Prior assumptions about our business no longer apply.” (Seward said he’s cutting his own salary by 50 percent for the rest of the year, “and the rest of our executive team — Katie Weber, Tomo Ota, and Katherine Bell — are voluntarily cutting their salaries by 20%, as well.”)

https://www.guy-apply-cuts-pile-up-at-vice-quartz-the-economist-buzzfeed-and-conde-nast/

[illuminati]

French president Emmanuel Macron loses absolute majority in parliament after defections



French President Emmanuel Macron lost his absolute parliamentary majority on Tuesday after several of his MPs defected to create a new political group.

Seven of Macron's La Republique En Marche (LREM) MPs have joined the new group called "Ecology, Democracy, Solidarity".

Made up of 17 lawmakers, including other ex-LREM parliamentarians, the group said it would be "independent" and sit "neither in the majority nor in the opposition".

The latest defections mean Macron's formation now has 288 MPs — just one shy of an absolute majority. LREM had 314 MPs at the beginning of Macron's presidency.

"With this COVID-19 crisis, we need to overcome the divisions and postures, and collectively build the world of after," Matthieu Orphelin, the group's co-president wrote on Twitter.

The group's spokesperson, Hubert Julien-Laferrière, who defected from LREM, argued that none of them betrayed the "commitments of 2017" they were elected on under the LREM banner but that it is "rather the majority who have moved from it".

https://www.euronews.com/2020/05/19/french-president-emmanuel-macron-loses-absolute-majority-in-parliament-after-defections

Thanks for posting that - I’d not seen heard that had happened- Mind I don’t watch or read MSM news
And I’ve hardly been on the Internet over last few days.

Another Nail in Maricon’s Coffin - Good News.

[polychronopolous]

Thanks for posting that - I’d not seen heard that had happened- Mind I don’t watch or read MSM news
And I’ve hardly been on the Internet over last few days.

Another Nail in Maricon’s Coffin - Good News.

Absolutely my bro. I've received a few PMs behind the scenes in regards to this thread so I will try to keep a closer eye on the news and keep the updates coming.

[illuminati]

Absolutely my bro. I've received a few PM's behind the scenes in regards to this thread so I will try to keep a closer eye on the news and keep the updates coming.

Got to say you’re doing a very good job with up to date info in this thread.

Many Thanks. 👍🏻

[polychronopolous]

UN accused of language policing as ‘gender-neutral’ language code draws backlash and ridicule

The list was originally posted by UN Women and suggested replacing "landlord" with "owner" and "businessman" with "representative" among others



The United Nations drew a major backlash after sharing a bizarre new dictionary of “gender-neutral” terms that were supposed to replace gender binary words used in day-to-day life. Social media users were quick to express their disapproval and confusion at the language policing maneuver.

“Help create a more equal world by using gender-neutral language if you're unsure about someone's gender or are referring to a group,” the United Nations Twitter account urged. The list was originally posted by UN Women and includes several terms that have been a part of public discourse for ages. The dictionary suggested replacing “mankind” with “humankind” and “chairman” with "chair.”

However, some others were a trifle more strained, with the list suggesting replacing “landlord” with “owner" - a term that already comes with its own problems due to slavery connotations and cannot practically be swapped with the original term without dramatically changing the intended meaning. Furthermore, the dictionary also suggests replacing "maiden name" with "family name," despite the fact that many people consider their family name as the one they are married into. Meanwhile, it also suggests “businessman" be replaced with "representative", despite the fact that the latter is often used to refer to a spokesman as opposed to someone owning a business.

Unsurprisingly, the tweet was inundated with hundreds of critical responses, with people suggesting the UN refrain from being the world's language police. “Stop trying to control people's language. It's creepy and unnecessary,” former British Member of the European Parliament Lucy Harris tweeted. "I remember when I used to respect this organization. We all make mistakes," one wrote.

https://meaww.com/un-major-backlash-gender-neutral-language-code-language-policing

[polychronopolous]

Got to say you’re doing a very good job with up to date info in this thread.

Many Thanks. 👍🏻

Thank you good sir!

[polychronopolous]

'Sex at birth': Hungary bans citizens from legally changing gender




 BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungarian lawmakers on Tuesday approved legislation banning the legal recognition of transgender citizens.

Amendments to the law on the birth, death and marriage registry, approved mostly by deputies from Prime Minister Viktor Orban's Fidesz party, will prevent transgender or intersex people from legally changing their gender to match their gender identity.

The bill changes the "sex" category in official documents like birth certificates to "sex at birth," defined as the "biological sex determined by primary sex characteristics and chromosomes." Once determined, the birth sex category can't be changed.
ADVERTISING

The amendments were part of a large legislative package submitted by Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjen, head of the Christian Democratic party.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban listens to a question during a press conference after a meeting with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in Belgrade, Serbia, Friday, May 15, 2020. Orban is on a one-day official visit to Serbia. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

"Given that the complete change of the biological sex is not possible, it is necessary to state in law that there is no possibility to change it in the registry of births, marriages and deaths, either," an explanation accompanying the amendment said.

The legislation has come under strong criticism from rights groups, which are asking Hungary's president to refrain from signing the bill into law and send it for review to the Constitutional Court.

Among those expressing concerns about the legislation were the European Parliament, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights and the Hungarian Psychological Society.

https://kutv.com/news/nation-world/sex-at-birth-hungary-bans-citizens-from-legally-changing-gender

[illuminati]

'Sex at birth': Hungary bans citizens from legally changing gender




 BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungarian lawmakers on Tuesday approved legislation banning the legal recognition of transgender citizens.

Amendments to the law on the birth, death and marriage registry, approved mostly by deputies from Prime Minister Viktor Orban's Fidesz party, will prevent transgender or intersex people from legally changing their gender to match their gender identity.

The bill changes the "sex" category in official documents like birth certificates to "sex at birth," defined as the "biological sex determined by primary sex characteristics and chromosomes." Once determined, the birth sex category can't be changed.
ADVERTISING

The amendments were part of a large legislative package submitted by Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjen, head of the Christian Democratic party.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban listens to a question during a press conference after a meeting with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in Belgrade, Serbia, Friday, May 15, 2020. Orban is on a one-day official visit to Serbia. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

"Given that the complete change of the biological sex is not possible, it is necessary to state in law that there is no possibility to change it in the registry of births, marriages and deaths, either," an explanation accompanying the amendment said.

The legislation has come under strong criticism from rights groups, which are asking Hungary's president to refrain from signing the bill into law and send it for review to the Constitutional Court.

Among those expressing concerns about the legislation were the European Parliament, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights and the Hungarian Psychological Society.

https://kutv.com/news/nation-world/sex-at-birth-hungary-bans-citizens-from-legally-changing-gender

And that exactly right - you cannot change sex. WTF is it with these Liberal Leftists & their total lack of comprehension- you can’t just change DNA & Genetics.
Regardless of what they add on or chop off or What they think they are 🙄🙄  OI leftist Twats let them put Tree / Frog / Crocodile or anything else they like because they think they are. 🙄🙄🙄
Fcuking idiots the lot of them.

[The Scott]

And that exactly right - you cannot change sex. WTF is it with these Liberal Leftists & their total lack of comprehension- you can’t just change DNA & Genetics.
Regardless of what they add on or chop off or What they think they are 🙄🙄  OI leftist Twats let them put Tree / Frog / Crocodile or anything else they like because they think they are. 🙄🙄🙄
Fcuking idiots the lot of them.

Well stated, brother! 

[Teutonic Knight 1]

Transgender "girls" will not represent Hungary in Tokyo Olympics 

Jeezzuss, just imagine 1 of them in rhythmic gymnastic 

[polychronopolous]

ECB warns virus response could renew fears of euro breakup






A vast fiscal fightback to the coronavirus crisis unleashed by eurozone governments could raise questions about capitals' ability to repay debts and revive the threat of countries exiting the single currency, the European Central Bank warned on Tuesday.

"Should measures taken at the national or European level be deemed insufficient to preserve debt sustainability, the market assessment of redenomination risk might rise further," the ECB said in its biannual Financial Stability Report.

"Redenomination risk" refers to the danger of some countries quitting the euro - or the single currency collapsing altogether.

Indicators of the risk have surged for Spain and Italy in the first half of 2020, while France's have picked up slightly.

The ECB forecasts that eurozone public debt as a share of output will grow by between seven and 22 percentage points in 2020 as governments borrow hundreds of billions to support their economies, driving the total debt-to-GDP ratio in the region from 86 to almost 103 percent.

In normal times, eurozone countries target public debt below 60 per cent, although that boundary has been suspended during the pandemic crisis.

The ECB highlighted that government spending "has softened the impact, and is expected to support economic recovery".

So far, the Frankfurt institution's announcements of over 1 trillion euros ($1.1 trillion) in bond-buying this year alone have kept a lid on investors' perceptions of comparative risk between highly-indebted and fiscally unencumbered nations.

But the so-called "spreads" - differences between the yields on countries' debt - "might increase if investors assess that public debt sustainability has deteriorated," the ECB said .

"A more severe and prolonged economic contraction than envisaged.... would risk putting the public debt to GDP ratio on an unsustainable path," prompting fears to "cascade" to the rest of the economy, the central bank warns.

https://m.khaleejtimes.com/business/economy/ecb-warns-virus-response-could-renew-fears-of-euro-breakup