Cold war 2.0

[Virtual ghost]

 

[Virtual ghost]

Feijóo’s now-or-never moment to lead Spain


This basically shows why Spain is such a mess for some time.

 

[Virtual ghost]

Romanian ultranationalist Georgescu to face trial over fascist propaganda

 

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Fiji PM says China military presence not welcome in Pacific

Thailand: Prime Minister suspended over leaked Cambodia call

Germany updates: Merz backs not flying rainbow flag

 

[Virtual ghost]

 

[Virtual ghost]

EU comes to Moldova’s defense against Russian hacking

US arms stoppage to Ukraine ‘serious setback’ for EU and NATO, Danish PM says

Ukraine updates: Zelenskyy in Denmark to discuss cooperation

Why are Malaysia and Indonesia boosting ties with Russia?

 

[Virtual ghost]

Leaders meet for first-ever EU-Moldova summit

 

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Something to think about.

 

[SensEye]

I'm a bit puzzled as to why England is green in that map. Maybe something to do with Scottish separatism? I think I might downgrade Canada to light blue, mainly due to threats from Trump (not that serious but also not non-existent) plus large volumes of immigrants leading to a loss of collective identity (that may be hurting England too).

 

[Virtual ghost]

I'm a bit puzzled as to why England is green in that map. Maybe something to do with Scottish separatism? I think I might downgrade Canada to light blue, mainly due to threats from Trump (not that serious but also not non-existent) plus large volumes of immigrants leading to a loss of collective identity (that may be hurting England too).

Why is UK green ?
Scottish separatism, Northern Ireland, Brexit issues, hard right on the rise, public debt is over 100% of GDP and it sinks further, infrastructure is crumbling for the most part, there is drama over immigration ... etc. These aren't exactly trivial problems once they pile one on another.


Plus this is just data for 2024 that got summed. Therefore Canada will probably lose a level or two in data for this year (since that will probably happen to US as well).

 

[The Cat]

yeah us feels redder than green.

 

[Virtual ghost]

yeah us feels redder than green.

Try going to some 3rd world country where truly nothing works. US is still above that even if things are far from perfect.

 

[Virtual ghost]

3 Turkish mayors reported arrested as crackdown on opposition continues

Fresh blow for Spain’s scandal-plagued Sánchez

Russia: Is Moscow losing Azerbaijan as an ally?

 

[The Cat]

Try going to some 3rd world country where truly nothing works. US is still above that even if things are far from perfect.

Obviously.

 

[Virtual ghost]

Obviously.

Truth to be told some parts of US probably deserve yellow or orange color. However country as a whole still doesn't fit the profile.

On the other hand scoring medium green on that map isn't something that you should celebrate. Since that is just one level above places like Mongolia, Romania, Namibia or Vietnam. Or two levels above Turkmenistan, Indonesia, Mexico or Bolivia (out of 12 levels that are on this scale). The real winners in this game are blue countries. Green is more of a "OK-ish" club. Therefore I think that the score of US is reasonable/realistic.

 

[Virtual ghost]

BRICS leaders meet amid Trump's tariff threats

EU-US trade talks: Crunch time looms with no deal in sight

Why is Trump meeting five African presidents this week?

 

[Virtual ghost]

Two wounded, two missing after another Red Sea attack on Greek-owned ship

13 things we learned from von der Leyen’s EU no-confidence debate

German polls show Merz gaining ground as SPD loses

 

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[Red Herring]

German polls show Merz gaining ground as SPD loses

Yeah, I didn't vote for him and would have prefered other CDU candidates over him but would say he is doing an okay job.

The border controls are Symbolpolitik to please the conservative base (while upsetting our Polish neighbors) and he sounded dismissive regarding a rainbow flag on the parliamentary building for pride month. But he is doing a relatively good job on foreign policy (often called the Außenkanzler, or "foreign policy chancelor" in the media) and is planning massive investments which I believe are necessary. The biggest problem with him, I think, is his lack of focus on climate protection. He's not a climate change denier or anything, but the topic just isn't as important to him right now compared to national security (read: Russia) and reanimating the economy. That makes sense given the urgency of those issues, but climate protection is also urgent. Welcome to the age of multicrises.

The SPD on the other hand acts and looks like a headless chicken. Their strongsuit has always been worker rights and welfare services. Now, things could obviously always be better and there still are problems, but compared to most other countries they have already achieved a lot in that regard. They are divided on Russia, and can't really present any vision for the country at this point. If you are young and leftwing these days, you go Green or Linke. But the national mood IS conservative, partly because of the many crises around us and in our midst and partly because we are an aging society (there are now more than twice as many voters over 70 as there are voters in their 20s).

As I said, I don't agree with Merz on many things and didn't vote for him. But if he, a tall masculine center-right boomer, gives the aging masses a feeling that things are being taken care of and he keeps them from drifting to the far-right then I'm grinding my teeth and holding my peace.