Honestly, I think someone have to do something about North Korea.
Doing something about North Korea is something that could involve Japan or South Korea getting nuked by the crazy people.
And also opening a pandora's box of instability and chaos even if that didn't happened.
–- Update From New Post Merge ---
And mother of god the Trump regime are the last people for the job to begin with.
whitehouse.gov posted an article on their front page about how Trump's budget plan makes perfect sense and will fix america. They apparently didn't read past the headline and discover it was satire.
@CCC:
Speaking of… How's the social climate in Germany in general, Nami? Receptive to American ex-pats? Currently trying to convince my gf that America ain't the place to be anymore.
I'm also not Nami but I can tell you that you and your girlfriend are certainly welcome, especially if you are anti-Trump 
(the general opinion right now is that the majority of your country must be insane to elect this guy as your President).I can only speak for my Bundesland, but I don't think you would have to fear being treated badly in any way just because you're from the U.S.
I'm also not Nami but I can tell you that you and your girlfriend are certainly welcome, especially if you are anti-Trump
What's the atmosphere like for the political sphere though? I heard Merkel's facing formidable opponents/opposition in the form of former European Parliament President Mr Schulz (left-wing/Sanders figure?) and the 'Alternative for Germany' (AfD) party (right-wing party)?
I'm also not Nami but I can tell you that you and your girlfriend are certainly welcome, especially if you are anti-Trump
Inb4 'Donald Trump lost the popular vote by nearly 3 million votes'
I'm also not Nami but I can tell you that you and your girlfriend are certainly welcome, especially if you are anti-Trump
How is Germany for minorities? I've only been there as a toddler.
hm, I think most germans agree that Trump is an idiot and like the worst president ever. We seem to be pretty welcome of Americans, tho. It's the Muslims and eastern europe people the Nazis don't like. And yes, we have trouble with the AFD and I can only hope to god that Trump for once leads a perfect example of why we don't need or want racism here and therefore don't have to fear the AFD as much in the coming elections in September (I believe it's september). The AFD is also pretty good in making a clown of themselves but we do seem to have more trouble with Nazis. In my city it gotten so bad, they will build up surveillance to have better control of the area, where there's always police watching. Lots of Nazis tried to attack and harm refugees.
My school seems to have a course for refugees to learn german, I see and greet them every morning.
And last time I tried to donate my old clothes,they told me they already have enough, so that's good, I guess.
But yeah, over all I'm worried.
I honestly have been more invested in american politics than in german politics but from what I gather is that most people hate Merkel. I don't know why but I'm guessing for her politics on the refugees which I think she's done a great job on. I overall like her anyway and I'm kinda sad to see her go. But as I said, I don't rly know what's been going on in german politics except for the refugee boom and the minimum wage going up, which is also great!
I probably have a bit of a "don't care attitude" about german politics as I know I'll only be here for another 1 1/2years.
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Honestly, I think someone have to do something about North Korea.
They fear usa thats why they are doing these things if usa attacks fear will change to revenge
They fear usa thats why they are doing these things if usa attacks fear will change to revenge
It's a little more extreme than that… they literally believe the Korean war never ended, and the US has occupied and enslaved the South Koreans for decades.
Edit: I didn't want to believe this at first, but after watching the debate... Jontron basically came out as Alt-Right.
Thanks for the input James Rye, Riddler, and Nami :)
files away data
How is Germany for minorities? I've only been there as a toddler.
You should avoid some rural parts of east germany (our "flyover" countries), but in general you won't have a lot of issues here. You will face a ton of "positive racism" though, so be prepared for that. Especially if you are of color people will ask you all sorts of curious questions, but it's rarely mean-spirited.
Apart from that, what matters to me above all else is how the government is treating minorities here, and on that front there is nothing to be afraid of. Our far right is between 8-10% (despite refugee crisis and terror attacks), and no one would want to form a coalition with them anyway.
What's the atmosphere like for the political sphere though? I heard Merkel's facing formidable opponents/opposition in the form of former European Parliament President Mr Schulz (left-wing/Sanders figure?) and the 'Alternative for Germany' (AfD) party (right-wing party)?
Yeah Merkel is probably on her way out, which isn't a bad thing necessarily. She has been in power for 12 years now after all, and to be honest I'm a little sick of her, too. She hasn't been a bad leader at all but as Nami said, right now the majority of our country seems to hate her guts because of the refugee crisis. While I don't agree with that sentiment and don't think she ruined Germanys future or any such bullshit the AFD likes to spout, I just feel like it's time for a change. Merkel is in general a rather uncharismatic leader and often she seems very indecisive and not like a very strong leader. And I think, secondly to the current immense problems with terrorism and the refugee crisis, the AFD has also profited from the general public just feeling very lackluster about Merkel as chancellor lately. The problem is also that, in contrast to the political atmosphere in the U.S., where the political views of the Democratic and Republican party could not be further apart, the major parties in Germany, the SPD and the CDU (Merkels party) have become very similar and thus for a long time , it felt like it wouldn't really matter if Merkel was in charge or the candidate from the SPD. The AfD profited from this, of course, as to some, they literally felt like the only true alternative to Merkel.
Things have changed though since Schulz has announced to run for chancellor as the candidate for the SPD. He's much more energetic and charismatic than Merkel, has solid political views and really feels like a breath of fresh air in our political climate. Since he announced his candidacy the poll ratings of the SPD have constantly been improving and are right now higher than they've been the last four years. The SPD has also gained thousands of new members.
And thankfully, this also seems to have affected the popularity of the AfD, at least for now.
Inb4 'Donald Trump lost the popular vote by nearly 3 million votes'
Oh, I know that, but not every German is that knowledgable about your political system. Whenever I hear people talking 'bout "those stupid, crazy Americans" I try to defend you guys though by saying explaining exactly this, that most Americans did in fact not vote for Trump and that there are a lot of sane, educated and decent people in the U.S. who are just as disgusted by Trump as we are, if not even more so.
How is Germany for minorities? I've only been there as a toddler.
Now I don't know anyone personally who wold judge a person by his or her skin color, but I have to admit I'm a little sheltered in this regard and I know there are still sadly a lot of people that are prejudiced and racist. But I'd say this probably depends more on your nativity than on your actual skin color. Right now, racism is mostly aimed at people from Middle-Eastern countries. As a black person from a Western country, like GB, the U.S. or Canada, I don't think you'd have to fear anything.
You should avoid some rural parts of east germany (our "flyover" countries), but in general you won't have a lot of issues here. You will face a ton of "positive racism" though, so be prepared for that. Especially if you are of color people will ask you all sorts of curious questions, but it's rarely mean-spirited.
Apart from that, what matters to me above all else is how the government is treating minorities here, and on that front there is nothing to be afraid of. Our far right is between 8-10% (despite refugee crisis and terror attacks), and no one would want to form a coalition with them anyway.
Positive racism? I think I can imagine that. I kinda get that now lol.
Thanks Jabra and Riddler.
Givrn me some stuff to think about.
Positive racism? I think I can imagine that. I kinda get that now lol.
Thanks Jabra and Riddler.
Givrn me some stuff to think about.
I admit I'm not sure how to describe that behavior. It's not like people will necessarily judge your character or your abilities based on skincolor, but you will definitely get asked where you are coming from, a lot (even if you are born here, and yes even if you are fluent in german).
I called it "positive racism" because people usually don't ask those questions to discriminate someone, it's just that they can't keep their curiosity in check and often don't realise that such a question can also alienate people…
From the writer of that satire article the White House cited as proof of its successful budget:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/compost/wp/2017/03/17/how-the-white-house-made-me-real-news/
There are two possible explanations for why the White House daily newsletter included my piece about the budget, a piece composed almost entirely of onomatopoeic noises (PEW PEW! GRRRRRRRR!) typed out in all caps. Either they read it and loved it, especially the part where I wrote that all schoolchildren will be taught by an F-35 in a Make America Great Again hat, or they … did not read it, but liked the headline, “Trump’s budget makes perfect sense and will fix America, and I will tell you why“!
I’m fine with either, honestly. I agree that my articles are much worse if you click on them.
This reminds me of those movie trailers that manage to cite only a single word from a review (“Extreme” –LA Times) in such a way that you wonder how the word was used in context
I was as surprised as anyone to discover that I was Real News. Here I thought that I was toiling away in the Dank Cesspool of the Mainstream Media, but all along I was a Trusted News Source, just like Breitbart.com! I just needed to BELIEVE in myself more.
They fear usa thats why they are doing these things if usa attacks fear will change to revenge
North Korea does this stuff because it is an entrenched feudal state run by an elite that is intensely aware that everything about the outside world, whether peaceful or not, runs against the continuation of their privileges and way of life.
Those things include but are not limited to:
-Knowledge that their fellow asian "communist" countries have all reformed significantly away from super dictatorial Stalinist model, namely China
-Knowledge that their fellow asian "communist" countries have also economically reformed and integrated with the world economy
-Knowledge that the South has become a glittering first world economic titan
-Knowledge that if they did reform that they might not be able to hide all these things from their population, and that they would become obsolete and go the way of East Germany.
Add to that the fact that they embody a sort of extreme example of an old East Asian cultural bug, of grumpy hermitage. A cultural legacy that used to define Japan, South Korea (as part of the old whole) and even China. A mentality that goes something like "We are vulnerable pure children alone surrounded by a dark and cruel outside world".
In modern China, Japan and S Korea, that old cultural mindset is mostly a phantom that occasionally manifests in awkward funny moments.
In North Korea its been dialed up to 11.
The world would like nothing less (be they USA, China, Russia, Japan or South Korea) for North Korea to do as China, Laos and Vietnam did. To reform into even still an authoritarian state, but one not predicated on personality cult and totalitarian laws.
What you're missing most of all, is that by this point China is every bit as fed up with them as the West/Japan/S. Korea is. China, who is their biggest nominal ally and benefactor. China, who has attempted to convince them of political and economic reforms, and to not threaten people with nukes.
–- Update From New Post Merge ---
It's a little more extreme than that… they literally believe the Korean war never ended,
Technically it didn't. No treaty was ever signed. South Korea is in the same boat.
and the US has occupied and enslaved the South Koreans for decades.
The leadership certainly doesn't believe that lol, and frankly by this point even much of the population has an inkling that South Korea is not enslaved or destitute.
I believe the propaganda has shifted to championing the tough long suffering but pure North Koreans, versus the spoiled fat corrupt puppets of the South.
@CCC:
Well there goes his career.
The AARP is already spending large amounts of money to kill Trumpcare, they won't hesitate to throw him under the bus along with it.
@Monkey:
The leadership certainly doesn't believe that lol, and frankly by this point even much of the population has an inkling that South Korea is not enslaved or destitute.
Kim Jong Un should know that, but how would the population? 99.999% of them have no access of any kind to media that isn't completely insane propaganda.
I'm not totally convinced that he isn't drinking his own kool-aid though; he's killed an awful lot of people for completely stupid reasons.
@Monkey:
I believe the propaganda has shifted to championing the tough long suffering but pure North Koreans, versus the spoiled fat corrupt puppets of the South.
Does it still dogmatize Kim Jong Un as the Pope/Pharaoh of North Korea-ism and paint America as Satan, waiting just over the border to destroy everything good and pure?
Paul Ryan, International Man of Integritude and Principle, has an incredibly safe district (in a state run by Scott "No Votes For Black People" Walker). He'll stick around to propose his Ayn Rand fanfic legislation until the day he dies.
@Monkey:
I don't want to hear any more bullshit about how the Nazi comparisons are unfair.
To be fair, I did just condemn Jontron as a white ethnonationalist. That was a very bitter pill to have to swallow.
Just make sure the people you're comparing to Nazis are actual white supremacists (Pewdiepie was just an idiot) and I'll agree with you.
@Monkey:
Edit: Apparently from 2009. Doesn't change my comment though.
Insert comment about how the mainstream media has completely failed us here.
Seriously, that couldn't have popped up during the election?
Paul Ryan will probably become president one day.
@Cyan:
Paul Ryan, International Man of Integritude and Principle, has an incredibly safe district (in a state run by Scott "No Votes For Black People" Walker). He'll stick around to propose his Ayn Rand fanfic legislation until the day he dies.
Almost a third of the population is over 65.
He could easily be primaried.
Jontron's stupid racist bullshit is amplified by the fact that he's visibly, by surname, and in reality, at least in part goddamned Iranian.
I like to rag on the racist Italian and Irish Americans, but at least the jawdropping and disgusting hypocrisy is about what happened to their grandparents and/or great-grandparents.
To be like that IN THE MOMENT shit is happening to people like him…the amount of "OH EXCEPT ME AND MY FAMILY OF COURSE" pigheaded bullshit must be immense.
You're throwing your group under the bus, in the moment the bus is coming down the road. Not in retrospect.
Or he's incredibly stupid and thinks "WELL TECHNICALLY US IRANIANS ARE ARYAN AND FURTHERMORE" like the redhats give the slightest fuck.
Yes indeed, the distinguished racist idiots who attacks Sikhs, Hindus, and even Greek priests will stay their hand and go "Lo, my fellow racists, this Iranian fellow is one of us.".
@Monkey:
Jontron's stupid racist bullshit is amplified by the fact that he's visibly, by surname, and in reality, at least in part goddamned Iranian.
Iranian and Hungarian-Croat (at least according to his Wikipedia article).
But yeah, it's really frustrating because it's like his very existence is the antithesis of what he's arguing. Jon, honestly, I don't give a damn what you are or who you're descended from, nor do any of your fans. You're a funny guy and we like your videos.
And the lamb lies down on Broadway
@Monkey:
Jontron's stupid racist bullshit is amplified by the fact that he's visibly, by surname, and in reality, at least in part goddamned Iranian.
I like to rag on the racist Italian and Irish Americans, but at least the jawdropping and disgusting hypocrisy is about what happened to their grandparents and/or great-grandparents.
To be like that IN THE MOMENT shit is happening to people like him…the amount of "OH EXCEPT ME AND MY FAMILY OF COURSE" pigheaded bullshit must be immense.
You're throwing your group under the bus, in the moment the bus is coming down the road. Not in retrospect.Or he's incredibly stupid and thinks "WELL TECHNICALLY US IRANIANS ARE ARYAN AND FURTHERMORE" like the redhats give the slightest fuck.
Yes indeed, the distinguished racist idiots who attacks Sikhs, Hindus, and even Greek priests will stay their hand and go "Lo, my fellow racists, this Iranian fellow is one of us.".
His dad's an Iranian immigrant (I think others have said his mom's Hungarian), and he made up some bullshit reason why that doesn't matter. But he's been like this since January.
Speaking of minor celebrities who are ingorant.
Iranian and Hungarian-Croat (at least according to his Wikipedia article).
Doesn't matter.
I'm only 1/4 Italian. But my last name is the Italian one, and it's VERY Italian. No one irl, be they well meaning or not, when focusing on my background really sees past that without trying hard.
A guy with the last name JAFARI is not going to get a pass from Trumpites unless he came out looking totally Hungarian-Croat, which Jon assuredly does not.
But a hearty additional lol at someone of Hungarian background being hugely "EUROPEANS MUST DEFEND THEIR SACRED PURE VIRGINAL NATIVE CULTURES FROM ALL EXTERNAL CORRUPTION, Now yo yo yo, check it as I speak a totally martian to Europe language from Siberia that got into Europe on the back of a literal armed invasion of foreign conquerers."
I've been wondering where we're going to be in 4 years, cause this alt-right thing can't last with the way it's going. Now, weirdly enough, I have to wonder where Jontron is going to be in 4 years. Does he really think there's a future in this? It seems stupid, as others have said. I'm unsubscribing him for now, but he's gonna be someone I want to check on later. Assuming I even need to wait that long, and this doesn't backfire earlier than that.
I wonder what his other "Normal boots" co-workers think of this? I might e-mail them, for what little that's worth.
Seriously. Who the hell is Jontron and why do we care? I feel so old, and yet I'm about the same age as the rest of you.
Is there something wrong with me that I don't subscribe to this idolization of YouTube video makers?
Seriously. Who the hell is Jontron and why do we care? I feel so old, and yet I'm about the same age as the rest of you.
Is there something wrong with me that I don't subscribe to this idolization of YouTube video makers?
Don't feel bad, he's not really that famous or anything–there's better and more popular content creators out there. He had a youtube channel, used to work on that "Game Grumps" show before leaving, then went back to youtube. Now he's a white nationalist or something.
I can't speak for anyone else, but for me it's just a depressing grain of salt in everything else that's happened lately. His views are disappointing but he's not someone I'll miss too much. In short, you're not wrong, and I'd be happy to move on.
jontron is a dude that made some okay video comedy videos and was a part of game grumps before he got kicked out (probably)
he always had fucked political opinions and was always had a vague melange of sexism and general dickery to him but the past two years (or whenever he left Game Grumps?) had him really shit the bed because he just went went fucking crazy
Set Art by Daily Rowlet
The less is said about jontron, the better.
@Monkey:
But a hearty additional lol at someone of Hungarian background being hugely "EUROPEANS MUST DEFEND THEIR SACRED PURE VIRGINAL NATIVE CULTURES FROM ALL EXTERNAL CORRUPTION, Now yo yo yo, check it as I speak a totally martian to Europe language from Siberia that got into Europe on the back of a literal armed invasion of foreign conquerers."
Seriously. Who the hell is Jontron and why do we care? I feel so old, and yet I'm about the same age as the rest of you.
Is there something wrong with me that I don't subscribe to this idolization of YouTube video makers?
Jontron's a comedian who makes videos in the vein of Nostalgia Critic and AVGN. He reviews movies and video games, and I don't think he's ever made a political comment in any of his videos.
He's really outside of the groups that people idolize (he's neither a political commentator nor a creepy guy who panders to kids), which is part of why it's a huge shock for him to suddenly go all hardcore politics on us.
It's like if Weird Al randomly admitted to following the Westboro Baptist Church on facebook, and then immediately started parroting all of their worst talking points.
That's a pretty strange comparison given that Weird Al has a 35 year track record as a super clean guy with zero controversy and so it would really be out of nowhere.
A better example might be a Disney Pop starlet who had a music career when she was sixteen did a saucy photo shoot when she turned 21.
Or, Trey Parker and Matt stone finally did an episode of South Park that crossed a line and forced the network to never air that episode again after its first time.
IE, not surprising in the least and basically inevitable considering the personality involved..
A few of my friends and myself watch JonTron's videos, so when we ran into him in Manhattan(twice in the same day, and accidentally followed him home) and met him, we were excited because he was very nice, joking around in a very calm way. So a part of me wonders if this is him trying to capitilize in a really scummy way off the alt right gamer gate crowd.
But then again the 3 of us that met him are all white so there's that.
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article139231588.html
Two out of three laws passed by Republicans in the North Carolina governor's lame duck period, attempting to curb the power/influence of the incoming Democratic governor, have been struck down by the state courts.
RALEIGH*
The N.C. General Assembly’s attempt to revamp the state elections board and ethics commission weeks before Democrat Roy Cooper was sworn in as the new governor violates the state Constitution, a three-judge panel ruled on Friday.
The judges also found unconstitutional the legislature’s shift of managerial and policy-making employees from former Gov. Pat McCrory’s administration to positions where it’s more difficult to replace them.
But the Republican-controlled General Assembly’s attempt to have a say in who joins Cooper’s Cabinet was not found to be a violation of the separation of powers clause in the state Constitution. To date, the state Senate has approved three of the appointments Cooper has made with hearings for others set for next week.
Side note, my phone tried to auto correct "incoming" as "incubus" which, given NC's governor is the guy who pushed that transgender bathroom law HB2, is all kinds of hilarious to me.
That's a pretty strange comparison given that Weird Al has a 35 year track record as a super clean guy with zero controversy and so it would really be out of nowhere.
A better example might be a Disney Pop starlet who had a music career when she was sixteen did a saucy photo shoot when she turned 21.
Or, Trey Parker and Matt stone finally did an episode of South Park that crossed a line and forced the network to never air that episode again after its first time.IE, not surprising in the least and basically inevitable considering the personality involved..
Basically inevitable considering what personality? He's been squeaky clean for seven years (his entire public life), and now he's 26.
Also, he seems to be backing down a bit:
Actually I just assume 'YouTube stars' are awful by default until proven otherwise
 Boah, if that really happened then Merkel's patience to not just walk out there without a press conference is quite admirable. I mean, she has been through a lot of shit, like Putin letting his big dogs walk freely and closely to her despite her fear of dogs or Erdogan being all Sultan-like while she just wants to do business or the old Berlusconi who really was a piece of ****. But man, Trump, get some manners already!
Didn't realize the Rogue WH Twitter was still a thing. Do we have any idea to its authenticity?
@James:
Boah, if that really happened then Merkel's patience to not just walk out there without a press conference is quite admirable. I mean, she has been through a lot of shit, like Putin letting his big dogs walk freely and closely to her despite her fear of dogs or Erdogan being all Sultan-like while she just wants to do business or the old Berlusconi who really was a piece of ****. But man, Trump, get some manners already!
That twitter is bullshit or a joke. Don't take it seriously.
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article139231588.html
Two out of three laws passed by Republicans in the North Carolina governor's lame duck period, attempting to curb the power/influence of the incoming Democratic governor, have been struck down by the state courts.
Side note, my phone tried to auto correct "incoming" as "incubus" which, given NC's governor is the guy who pushed that transgender bathroom law HB2, is all kinds of hilarious to me.
Fuck McCrory and his lackeys.
Trump has hit a new high/low on the Gallup approval ratings. He's at 35 approval, with nearly 60 disapproval.
It's sort of spiked back to being extra bad (rather than just bad) in recent days of polling.
And the only conclusion I can make from that is this healthcare turd explosion mixed with the proposed budget buts is starting to cut into a not so insignificant portion of the Republican base.
I'd love to see approval ratings for Ryan considering he's more at the direct helm of the healthcare bullshit than even Trump.
Basically inevitable considering what personality? He's been squeaky clean for seven years (his entire public life), and now he's 26.
This didn't come out of nowhere. He used to say mildly Pro-GamerGate things, and at one point said the word "Retarded" in a video and when someone told him it made them uncomfortable, he replied with something along the lines of "I'm sorry you're too retarded for humor".
This is only really surprising if you never followed him before.
Also, he seems to be backing down a bit:
Not really. I'm at work so I haven't been able to sit and watch the full video in one go, only in 30 second bursts, so forgive me if I missed something, but the overall tone of that thing seems to be him trying to say he was unprepared and thus got backed into a corner by the guy debating him and coerced into saying things he wouldn't have under stress, then walked back the things he said into less overtly-shitty versions of the same points he made before without ever actually apologizing for anything he said.
More like "Sorry you misunderstood because that guy backed me into a corner and made me explain myself poorly".
But how is it hard to misconstrue "The richest black people commit more crimes than the poorest white people. That's just how they are, I mean, just look at Africa"…..
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In no sense can "I didn't present my alt-right bullshit on race properly because I wasn't prepared to be challenged on it" be considered backing down.
Complicating things since 2009.
@Monkey:
Trump has hit a new high/low on the Gallup approval ratings. He's at 35 approval, with nearly 60 disapproval.
It's sort of spiked back to being extra bad (rather than just bad) in recent days of polling.
And the only conclusion I can make from that is this healthcare turd explosion mixed with the proposed budget buts is starting to cut into a not so insignificant portion of the Republican base.I'd love to see approval ratings for Ryan considering he's more at the direct helm of the healthcare bullshit than even Trump.
http://elections.huffingtonpost.com/pollster/paul-ryan-favorable-rating
He's never been liked by the general public that knows him. Unfortunately, I can't find anything to really suggest that Ryancare has any damaged him any more than before.
Honestly, I feel like the general public associates the bill with Trump, not Ryan. I mean look at the search trends.
I'd love to hear stupid ass shit like this clarified.
"Why is it when the chinese were trying to colonise tibet, why was that a save tibet situation but when it's white people… I'm using an analogy to try to give a parallel situation so you can see the hypocrisy."
Why indeed is a violent military takeover not treated the same as immigration? Puzzling, truly.