It's not long ago that we were saying that of the Syrians.

Going on marches and the likes isn't a "leftist" way of thinking. It's excercising your democratic right to peaceful demonstration.

I've only been on one demo, back in 1984 protesting about Western governments supporting Saddam Hussein's regime. When I look back at myself then, I know I was right....

Well call me the strawman! Always have and always will be a socialist and damned proud of it too!

Social mobility and changing education means there are fewer and fewer blue collar workers. I think broadly supply will continue to follow demand.

Stunning pictures of Afghanistan in the 1960s

http://www.storyfilter.com/ein-schri...-jahren/18843/

Beautiful, yet tragic to see the lost potential.

I'm not sure, but I would venture a guess that they had a King at the time. A King is useful for people to strive for excellence. Liberal democracy seems great for the most part, but it can turn into a race towards the lowest common denominator, instead of achieving excellence. I think some people are not ready for liberal democracy, and need a King for their own good.

Well, the German economy is based on a very strong manufacturing sector, while the economy of the UK is more focused on banking, finance and real estate and more prone to market fluctuations. The manufacturing sector (percentage of total employment) is shrinking in the UK.

The UK economy is much less robust than the economy of Germany; the latter is a powerhouse in Europe with healthier finances. A speculative real estate market is not in Germany's best interest


Copy-paste from my notes:

Economy of Germany

Export: $1.511 trillion
Import: $1.226 trillion
Trade surplus: $285 billion
GDP per capita: $47K (nominal); $48K (PPP)
Public debt: $2.57 trillion
Budget surplus: $20.4 billion
Current account: $244 billion
Gross external debt: $5.717 trillion
Unemployment: 4.5%
Main partners: France, the Netherlands


Economy of the UK

Export: $503 billion
Import: $802 billion
Trade deficit: $299 billion
GDP per capita: $46K (nominal); $39K (PPP)
Public debt: $2.14 trillion
Budget deficit: $98 billion
Current account: −$90.4 billion
Gross external debt: $9.591 trillion
Unemployment: 5.1%
Main partners: Germany, United States


Which country is performing better?

Balance of trade: Germany
GDP per capita: Germany
Public debt: Germany
Public budget balance: Germany
Current account: Germany
Gross external debt: Germany
Unemployment: Germany
Social security: Germany
Public safety: Germany
Healthcare: Germany
Engineering quality: Germany
Public education: Germany
Affordability of higher education: Germany
Quality in higher education: UK
Housing price: Germany
Real estate speculation: UK
Cost of living: Germany
Ease-of-doing-business: UK
Globalization: UK
Ethnic and cultural diversity: UK

One of my favorite expressions as well. But we don't really need to rely on stats to see what is happening before our very eyes. There is, after all, an actual surge of immigration from predominantly Muslim countries into Germany ongoing. That's a fact. And as to the long-term social consequences, I think most people realize that they will not be good. The question is: How bad will they be? Does Lebanon serve as an example?

Either way, it doesn't really matter what party wins the next elections. It's the next 50 - 100 years that count. And the ones who will be most disadvantaged by these developments are women, gays and Jews (if there remain any left in Europe by then).

Maybe in a way it's a wake-up call. I can see public opinion in Germany is moving over and we are hearing positions in the mainstream that would have been unthinkable only months ago. Right now we are seeing knee-jerk reactions that come across as extremism. People see something is wrong but have difficulty formulating what exactly it is or finding a remedy. But over the next few years I expect a public discourse to ensue that will draw the line between helping those in genuine need and being tough on freeloaders.

Yes, but I saw a quite fascinating documentary (in German, for the interested student: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-RUlsC0yqE ) that clearly showed that even in the sixties, the cracks and fault-lines were already visible.

Yup.
Killed by Soviet Speznaz during the invasion, AFAIK.
I read that the Speznaz view it as one of their finest hours.
;-)

I trust in the instincts of Jews as a bellweather of which way the wind is blowing. And elderly Jewish friend was telling me how they are taught to be always prepared to leave, as they have had to throughout history. He gave me examples of contingency plans.

If you use that as an indicator, many are leaving; France, Germany and most of Europe.


Hmmm, so there may be interesting bargains to be had in Germany?


Now confused.

I only know one Jewish family who already have a house in Israel and could pack their bags and leave tomorrow if they needed to. And these are not in any way the type of Jews who display their Jewishness clearly. They don't talk much about it and I'd known them for years and been in their house many many times until they told me, so they're not the type who need to be immediately afraid of anything.

One of the contingency plans mentioned.

That's an intrinsic part of European Jewish culture. I've heard it dozens of times from friends and family members.

People truely seeking safe haven will assimilate to their new hosts society. Sometimes, they assimilate a little too much and become the leading opponents of further immigration, as has been witnessed a few times in the U.K.

Oh I'd love our Harry to read that! Might just have to email it to him Or better still, send it to my mate whose marrying his Muslim partner this year, but I know his response would be "Pfft!"

A brand-spanking-new report from Reuters on the magnificent suppression of 'wrong-think' on Facebook in Deutschland:

http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-eur...-idUKKCN0UW25E

Who is Bertelsmann Stitfung, this publisher that gets the job of government censor?

https://www.bertelsmann-stiftung.de/...ziales-europa/

https://www.bertelsmann-stiftung.de/...-sozialstaats/

And now, onto conspiracy theories. The IMF states that they feel that immigrants should be paid below minimum wage:

http://www.euractiv.com/sections/eur...um-wage-321157

http://neurope.eu/article/imf-pay-re...hem-integrate/

Oh, wait, the bankers are _admitting_ they want to depress wages in Europe. It's almost as if they want to distract the middle-class from the abuses of power at the top, by artificially creating the threat of the 'outside' men.

...

It's like Communism wasn't defeated and discredited, it just went underground for a couple of decades and then re-branded itself. Corporatism is the new communism, or maybe fascism. I can't tell the difference myself.

P.S. the first person to stop clapping after Vorsitzenderin Merkel's next speech on the five-year plan for refugee integration gets a bullet to the back of the neck.

Pretty scary stuff.

There was a huge shift for Merkel around September of last year. She was on television with a crying Palestian girl, telling her not everyone can come. Then she disappears for about a month. And then comes back and opens the borders.

Something happened we know little about. Whether it is some back door dealings, or all in her head. We may never know. I wonder if leaders should be subjected to mandatory psychological testing periodically when they are vested with so much power.

Here, a psychoanalyst points out something not right with Merkel:
http://www.huffingtonpost.de/2016/01..._9064278.html?

Good article here highlighting the problems Merkel has at moment. I'm not sure she'll survive this year.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-35414432

Hope it comes a lot earlier than that...

Still don't believe EU's borders can be secured without ejecting Greece.

I don't think psychological testing is the solution. I think there need to be more checks and balances so that this amount of power is not vested with a single person.

Arguably, those checks and balances existed in this case but there has been too much of a yes-man mentality. Germany needs to grow up and face its history rather than continue in this zombie mode of letting the guilt of the past justify stupidity in the present. Merkel has played that card very succesfully by tarnishing all those who spoke against her as far right, and the media and establishment sheepishly followed and repeated this sentiment. So essentially fear of history repeating itself is leading to history repeating itself.

I remember reading an interview with Orban in maybe December, in which he said the solution is not in Turkey but in Greece and that's where the EU should be expending their money and energy.