Return of the Mighty Observations Thread
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Low Down Low
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Re: Return of the Mighty Observations Thread
"Se faire baiser". Thus endeth my French lesson for today.
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Re: Return of the Mighty Observations Thread
Given that Brad Pitt is 60 years old, that's a somewhat curious example.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft
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Silent Majority
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Re: Return of the Mighty Observations Thread
So is the protester. Age appropriate hunk.Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑19 Mar 2023, 7:36amGiven that Brad Pitt is 60 years old, that's a somewhat curious example.
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Low Down Low
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Re: Return of the Mighty Observations Thread
If that's Brad at 60 in the pic, seems alright by me. And these folk losing their shit over the pension age being raised to all of 64, I mean there's talk of it going up to 67 or even 68 here and barely a whimper. The French seem kind of different and I don't mean in a negative way.Silent Majority wrote: ↑19 Mar 2023, 7:37amSo is the protester. Age appropriate hunk.Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑19 Mar 2023, 7:36amGiven that Brad Pitt is 60 years old, that's a somewhat curious example.
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Re: Return of the Mighty Observations Thread
Fair point.Silent Majority wrote: ↑19 Mar 2023, 7:37amSo is the protester. Age appropriate hunk.Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑19 Mar 2023, 7:36amGiven that Brad Pitt is 60 years old, that's a somewhat curious example.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft
- Dr. Medulla
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Re: Return of the Mighty Observations Thread
I don't think you can be French without protesting at least once a year. A long and valuable history of bringing violence to their political leaders gives threatening power to their protests.Low Down Low wrote: ↑19 Mar 2023, 7:43amAnd these folk losing their shit over the pension age being raised to all of 64, I mean there's talk of it going up to 67 or even 68 here and barely a whimper. The French seem kind of different and I don't mean in a negative way.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft
Re: Return of the Mighty Observations Thread
It is a positive trait for sure. One of a few countries who got the royalty thing sorted out properly.Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑19 Mar 2023, 8:29amI don't think you can be French without protesting at least once a year. A long and valuable history of bringing violence to their political leaders gives threatening power to their protests.Low Down Low wrote: ↑19 Mar 2023, 7:43amAnd these folk losing their shit over the pension age being raised to all of 64, I mean there's talk of it going up to 67 or even 68 here and barely a whimper. The French seem kind of different and I don't mean in a negative way.
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Low Down Low
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Re: Return of the Mighty Observations Thread
Vague recollection from history lectures was how Paris was redesigned in the 19th century to make the boulevards longer and straighter so as to make it essier for the army to control the protestors. In the current case, I think the anger is more with how Macron is bypassing parliament to railroad through the bill, just the latest example of a western liberal ruler not really all that crazy about democracy.Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑19 Mar 2023, 8:29amI don't think you can be French without protesting at least once a year. A long and valuable history of bringing violence to their political leaders gives threatening power to their protests.Low Down Low wrote: ↑19 Mar 2023, 7:43amAnd these folk losing their shit over the pension age being raised to all of 64, I mean there's talk of it going up to 67 or even 68 here and barely a whimper. The French seem kind of different and I don't mean in a negative way.
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Re: Return of the Mighty Observations Thread
Not to defend Macron or anyone anywhere else, but liberal democracies are rooted in a 19th c ideal of slow deliberation, but the complexity of contemporary society, along with the power of the mass media to generate instantaneous reaction, makes for the appearance that democracy doesn't work (especially when the Chinese model exists as a comparison and the sense that their way solves these problems.Low Down Low wrote: ↑19 Mar 2023, 9:15amVague recollection from history lectures was how Paris was redesigned in the 19th century to make the boulevards longer and straighter so as to make it essier for the army to control the protestors. In the current case, I think the anger is more with how Macron is bypassing parliament to railroad through the bill, just the latest example of a western liberal ruler not really all that crazy about democracy.Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑19 Mar 2023, 8:29amI don't think you can be French without protesting at least once a year. A long and valuable history of bringing violence to their political leaders gives threatening power to their protests.Low Down Low wrote: ↑19 Mar 2023, 7:43amAnd these folk losing their shit over the pension age being raised to all of 64, I mean there's talk of it going up to 67 or even 68 here and barely a whimper. The French seem kind of different and I don't mean in a negative way.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft
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Low Down Low
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Re: Return of the Mighty Observations Thread
To be honest, I've seen too many Le Pen far right goons honking the "violation of democracy" horn on the news over the past few days to want to push that needle too far.Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑19 Mar 2023, 10:06amNot to defend Macron or anyone anywhere else, but liberal democracies are rooted in a 19th c ideal of slow deliberation, but the complexity of contemporary society, along with the power of the mass media to generate instantaneous reaction, makes for the appearance that democracy doesn't work (especially when the Chinese model exists as a comparison and the sense that their way solves these problems.Low Down Low wrote: ↑19 Mar 2023, 9:15amVague recollection from history lectures was how Paris was redesigned in the 19th century to make the boulevards longer and straighter so as to make it essier for the army to control the protestors. In the current case, I think the anger is more with how Macron is bypassing parliament to railroad through the bill, just the latest example of a western liberal ruler not really all that crazy about democracy.Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑19 Mar 2023, 8:29amI don't think you can be French without protesting at least once a year. A long and valuable history of bringing violence to their political leaders gives threatening power to their protests.Low Down Low wrote: ↑19 Mar 2023, 7:43amAnd these folk losing their shit over the pension age being raised to all of 64, I mean there's talk of it going up to 67 or even 68 here and barely a whimper. The French seem kind of different and I don't mean in a negative way.
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Re: Return of the Mighty Observations Thread
Oh, definitely, those "populist" goons don't seek to make democracy more responsive in the contemporary world; they, like the fascists and Bolsheviks of a century before, think liberal democracy is a failed experiment and needs to be replaced with authoritarianism, or herrenvolk "democracy."Low Down Low wrote: ↑19 Mar 2023, 1:09pmTo be honest, I've seen too many Le Pen far right goons honking the "violation of democracy" horn on the news over the past few days to want to push that needle too far.Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑19 Mar 2023, 10:06amNot to defend Macron or anyone anywhere else, but liberal democracies are rooted in a 19th c ideal of slow deliberation, but the complexity of contemporary society, along with the power of the mass media to generate instantaneous reaction, makes for the appearance that democracy doesn't work (especially when the Chinese model exists as a comparison and the sense that their way solves these problems.Low Down Low wrote: ↑19 Mar 2023, 9:15amVague recollection from history lectures was how Paris was redesigned in the 19th century to make the boulevards longer and straighter so as to make it essier for the army to control the protestors. In the current case, I think the anger is more with how Macron is bypassing parliament to railroad through the bill, just the latest example of a western liberal ruler not really all that crazy about democracy.Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑19 Mar 2023, 8:29amI don't think you can be French without protesting at least once a year. A long and valuable history of bringing violence to their political leaders gives threatening power to their protests.Low Down Low wrote: ↑19 Mar 2023, 7:43amAnd these folk losing their shit over the pension age being raised to all of 64, I mean there's talk of it going up to 67 or even 68 here and barely a whimper. The French seem kind of different and I don't mean in a negative way.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft
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Low Down Low
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Re: Return of the Mighty Observations Thread
My reading may be faulty but way I see it in France right now is the left is getting shafted again, or at least those whose cause the left professes to champion, while the far right shimmies in to rake up the political capital and yet, when it comes to vote time, the likes of Macron will take the former for granted and seek to pander to the latter because you do whatever it takes to keep your mitts on power. And some conscientious liberals will say, don't worry, it's all a ploy and we'll pivot left once we reach the Elysee Palace and they almost never do.Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑19 Mar 2023, 1:23pmOh, definitely, those "populist" goons don't seek to make democracy more responsive in the contemporary world; they, like the fascists and Bolsheviks of a century before, think liberal democracy is a failed experiment and needs to be replaced with authoritarianism, or herrenvolk "democracy."Low Down Low wrote: ↑19 Mar 2023, 1:09pmTo be honest, I've seen too many Le Pen far right goons honking the "violation of democracy" horn on the news over the past few days to want to push that needle too far.Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑19 Mar 2023, 10:06amNot to defend Macron or anyone anywhere else, but liberal democracies are rooted in a 19th c ideal of slow deliberation, but the complexity of contemporary society, along with the power of the mass media to generate instantaneous reaction, makes for the appearance that democracy doesn't work (especially when the Chinese model exists as a comparison and the sense that their way solves these problems.Low Down Low wrote: ↑19 Mar 2023, 9:15amVague recollection from history lectures was how Paris was redesigned in the 19th century to make the boulevards longer and straighter so as to make it essier for the army to control the protestors. In the current case, I think the anger is more with how Macron is bypassing parliament to railroad through the bill, just the latest example of a western liberal ruler not really all that crazy about democracy.Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑19 Mar 2023, 8:29am
I don't think you can be French without protesting at least once a year. A long and valuable history of bringing violence to their political leaders gives threatening power to their protests.
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Re: Return of the Mighty Observations Thread
The norm of Canadian federal politics is that the centrist Liberals will campaign leftish when competitive against the Conservatives, counting on social democrats to regard them as the better than the Conservatives (and hoping for a crumb or two). The success depends largely on how bad whatever Liberal scandal of the times is. When the Liberals are in a strong position they dispense with any socdem rhetoric.Low Down Low wrote: ↑19 Mar 2023, 1:43pmMy reading may be faulty but way I see it in France right now is the left is getting shafted again, or at least those whose cause the left professes to champion, while the far right shimmies in to rake up the political capital and yet, when it comes to vote time, the likes of Macron will take the former for granted and seek to pander to the latter because you do whatever it takes to keep your mitts on power. And some conscientious liberals will say, don't worry, it's all a ploy and we'll pivot left once we reach the Elysee Palace and they almost never do.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft
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Low Down Low
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Re: Return of the Mighty Observations Thread
It was either Blair - topical reference on the 20th anniversary of his most seismic political intervention - or his sidekick Mandelson who captured the British left dilemma with a pithy "They have no place else to go", a calculation still very valid today. And speaking of French politics, one stark pattern of last year's presidential election was the amount of horseshoe stuff being spouted before the run off, how leftist Melenchon voters were going to put Le Pen in the Palace. As it turned out, those left voters were key to Macrons victory and polls conducted at the time suggested Macron voters would not have returned the favour the other way round.Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑19 Mar 2023, 1:53pmThe norm of Canadian federal politics is that the centrist Liberals will campaign leftish when competitive against the Conservatives, counting on social democrats to regard them as the better than the Conservatives (and hoping for a crumb or two). The success depends largely on how bad whatever Liberal scandal of the times is. When the Liberals are in a strong position they dispense with any socdem rhetoric.Low Down Low wrote: ↑19 Mar 2023, 1:43pmMy reading may be faulty but way I see it in France right now is the left is getting shafted again, or at least those whose cause the left professes to champion, while the far right shimmies in to rake up the political capital and yet, when it comes to vote time, the likes of Macron will take the former for granted and seek to pander to the latter because you do whatever it takes to keep your mitts on power. And some conscientious liberals will say, don't worry, it's all a ploy and we'll pivot left once we reach the Elysee Palace and they almost never do.
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Re: Return of the Mighty Observations Thread
Same shit here. I'd wager to say that 80% of Liberal voters would switch Conservative rather than NDP. I know that Conservatives will go out of their way to attack the common good; Liberals will do it more pragmatically.Low Down Low wrote: ↑19 Mar 2023, 2:32pmIt was either Blair - topical reference on the 20th anniversary of his most seismic political intervention - or his sidekick Mandelson who captured the British left dilemma with a pithy "They have no place else to go", a calculation still very valid today. And speaking of French politics, one stark pattern of last year's presidential election was the amount of horseshoe stuff being spouted before the run off, how leftist Melenchon voters were going to put Le Pen in the Palace. As it turned out, those left voters were key to Macrons victory and polls conducted at the time suggested Macron voters would not have returned the favour the other way round.Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑19 Mar 2023, 1:53pmThe norm of Canadian federal politics is that the centrist Liberals will campaign leftish when competitive against the Conservatives, counting on social democrats to regard them as the better than the Conservatives (and hoping for a crumb or two). The success depends largely on how bad whatever Liberal scandal of the times is. When the Liberals are in a strong position they dispense with any socdem rhetoric.Low Down Low wrote: ↑19 Mar 2023, 1:43pmMy reading may be faulty but way I see it in France right now is the left is getting shafted again, or at least those whose cause the left professes to champion, while the far right shimmies in to rake up the political capital and yet, when it comes to vote time, the likes of Macron will take the former for granted and seek to pander to the latter because you do whatever it takes to keep your mitts on power. And some conscientious liberals will say, don't worry, it's all a ploy and we'll pivot left once we reach the Elysee Palace and they almost never do.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft