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91
DnD Central / Re: What's going on in Italy?
Last post by jax -
Obviously "politically correct feminists" are not thrilled with Meloni (nor obviously Berlusconi nor Salvini).

SD will not be "in government with" M (the Swedish conservatives), KD (Christian Democrats) and L[iberals], they will be the parliamentary base for that putative government. Which may not sound as such a big deal, but the leader joined when SD was a tiny Nazi parti decades ago, and changed it to a denazified and more electable one, though doubts remains about their honorable intentions. Sweden and Swedes are not really under threat, but the party is big enough to make once orderly Swedish politics a mess. Since they cleverly avoid being in power, they probably can avoid any disastrous blunder and remain big enough to keep Swedish politics messy. (And today the SD-supported three party coalition agreed to agree, so if things go well for Kristersson, he'll be the next PM on Monday.)

https://twitter.com/jaxroam/status/1569192665488449538

Not on an Italian level though, where the politics is messy both in the orderly North ("Germany with good food") and the more idiosyncratic South.

Putin is indeed the biggest question mark. Bit like the "now Nazi are the SD leaders really?", how anti-Putin is Meloni when it comes down to it? The other two definitely aren't.
93
Forum Administration / Re: Questions to the Administrator
Last post by Frenzie -
I'm at the new much much better place, but apparently setting up the internet is really complicated. They hooked up the fiber on 23 September, at which date it was supposed to be activated. Unfortunately they still haven't managed to fix some underlying street issue…

Luckily I could borrow a 4g modem from work[1] so I can still work from home three days a week as usual.
1 70 GB volume, not a lot, but my phone only has 12 GB↵
95
DnD Central / Re: Putin the Magnificent: Series 2 - Putin's Russia
Last post by ersi -
Happy birthday, Mr. President.



According to Alexey Arestovych, the explosion on the Crimea bridge is due to Russian infighting and leads to further Russian infighting. There are worse war-mongerers than Putin among Russians, and those war-mongerers deem Putin tragically slow, even though on the right path. According to Arestovych, one of those factions organised the explosion to bring further damage to Putin's image, in order to lead to his replacement. However, Putin may easily cut off a few (more) heads aroud him, as he has not been slow to make pre-emptive moves when it comes to threats against himself personally.

Arestovych is associated with Ukraine's intelligence services, so he has more of an interest to misdirect rather than inform. Still, I think he is the best source to get a sense of the attitude and sentiment of Ukrainians regarding the war.
97
DnD Central / Re: The Future of War
Last post by ersi -
According to Joe Blogs, Russia is doomed for next eight years

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODhwGw_n5lQ

According to Peter Zeihan, Germany is doomed imminently for a generation or so

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twnrMu6NRhY

If Germany goes down, it would not go down alone. Its huge trade surplus would bring down others. I always said since day one that eating Snickers instead of home-grown potatoes was not a good idea.

Anyway, if Russia really goes down, which is something to look forward to, Germany's existence will be irrelevant.
100
DnD Central / Re: The comings and goings of the European Union
Last post by ersi -
Ursula and Scholz are not just from different parties, but represent different political cultures.

Quote from: https://www.bild.de/politik/inland/politik-inland/ursula-von-der-leyen-im-bild-interview-eu-chefin-fordert-kampfpanzer-fuer-die-uk-81336896.bild.html
Die EU-Kommissionspräsidentin erinnerte daran, dass die Ukrainer „diesen Kampf für uns alle“ kämpfen. Nötig sei der Sieg der Demokratie.

For a "geopolitical Europe" (a term from Scholz's grundsatzrede) to be a thing, it is important for the EU members to demonstrate coherence and consistency with regard to Ukraine war. Instead, Scholz is playing a solo Nein-policy.

At the same time, Scholz eulogises Germany as the future main defence pillar of Europe.
Quote from: https://www.welt.de/politik/ausland/article241095407/Olaf-Scholz-Haertere-Reaktion-auf-Krim-Annexion-waere-richtig-gewesen.html
„Eine gut ausgerüstete Bundeswehr, die ihren Auftrag zum Schutz unseres Landes erfüllen kann, ist für mich eine Selbstverständlichkeit“, sagte Scholz. „Dafür stehe ich als Bundeskanzler – und darauf können Sie sich verlassen.“ Die Bundeswehr solle zum Grundpfeiler der konventionellen Verteidigung in Europa werden, „zur am besten ausgestatteten Streitkraft“. [...] „Der Kernauftrag der Bundeswehr ist die Verteidigung der Freiheit in Europa!“
No, Scholz. A soloing Germany always meant destruction and devastation to Europe. You are hell-bent on repeating Germany's biggest past mistakes.