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America remains the freest nation on earth. Does that mean you get to keep your student visa if you use it to support terrorism? No, but to cite that as proof that Europe is more liberal on free speech is laughable. The Economist should be ashamed. //
Bootsie
3 hours ago
In Europe you have freedom to say anything you want, as long as it is what the government says you can say. Is that about right? //
anon-g9p7
3 hours ago
Diversity leads to tribalism.
The most vicious tribe wins. //
anon-aqgv anon-exgv
3 hours ago
Europe has "free speech" for Leftists only. //
TexasVeteran
3 hours ago edited
"Europeans can say almost anything they want both in theory and in practice."
That’s a bald faced lie, just ask Tommy Robinson! Even pointing out a negative fact about Islam will land you in jail.
"Europe’s universities never became hotbeds of speech-policing by one breed of culture warrior or the other."
Because there's no dissent.They all think alike— on the left!
"No detention centres await foreign students who hold the wrong views on Gaza."
Another lie, they’ll, end you to prison for supporting Israel!
WascallyWabbit
2 days ago
“Did you really think we want those laws observed?" said Dr. Ferris. "We want them to be broken. You'd better get it straight that it's not a bunch of boy scouts you're up against... We're after power and we mean it... There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What's there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced or objectively interpreted – and you create a nation of law-breakers – and then you cash in on guilt. Now that's the system, Mr. Reardon, that's the game, and once you understand it, you'll be much easier to deal with.”
-- Atlas Shrugged //
Oyarsu
2 days ago
Israel, Romania, Brazil, England, And now France. These judges are creating a lawless world while insisting they aren’t. Its all insane. //
Buckeye28
2 days ago edited
For all the shrieking about Trump being a threat to democracy, these anti-democratic moves throughout Europe are becoming more and more troubling: machinations in France and Germany to prevent conservative parties from winning parliamentary elections; the popular conservative candidates in Romania and France being removed from the ballot by courts; conservative protest being criminalized in the U.K. and Ireland. European governments are undermining democracy, and that’s a point I hope our side really starts making to justify us distancing ourselves from Europe.
Having said that, I have to ask: did La Pen actually do something illegal under French law? It’s one thing if this is a rigged prosecution, like what happened to Trump in NYS. It’s another if she actually is guilty. (And selective prosecution arguments—“the other guy did it too but didn’t get charged”—are usually losers. If A and B both drive 40mph in a 25mph zone, and A gets a ticket and B doesn’t, doesn’t mean the speed limit isn’t a law.)
EU member states bought €21.9bn (£18.1bn) of Russian oil and gas in the third year of the war, according to estimates from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (Crea), despite the efforts under way to kick the continent’s addiction to the fuels that fund Vladimir Putin’s war chest.
The amount is one-sixth greater than the €18.7bn the EU allocated to Ukraine in financial aid in 2024, according to a tracker from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
AfD's mission statement is this: "We are liberals and conservatives. We are free citizens of our country. We are convinced democrats." Here is some of what the party, often described by the media as "far right," stands for:
Strong opposition to illegal immigration and asylum policies.
Emphasis on preserving German cultural identity.
Reforming or leaving the EU altogether ("Dexit" has been debated within the party).
Opposition to green energy policies, favoring traditional energy sources like coal and nuclear power. //
German elections : 84% voter turnout, highest since reunification. [Previous high was 42%] The CDU/CSU wins, but with only 30%. They refuse to deal with AfD and so must ally with smaller parties including, in the words of the soon-to-be Chancellor, "green and left wing idiots". //
Minister of War
8 hours ago edited
Explanation of German political parties to Americans:
CDU (Christian Democratic Union): German version of a Mitch McConnell, Lisa Murkowski & George W Bush party
AfD (Allianz fur Deutschland or Alliance for Germany) German version of a Donald Trump/Nigel Farage party
SPD (Social Democrats) German version of a Chuck Schumer party
Grüne (Green) German version of a American moron tree hugger party
Die Linke (The Left) German Communists - German version of a Bernie Sanders, the Squad & their hero Joseph Stalin party
stickdude90
9 hours ago
Remind me again why we spend so much blood and treasure to protect these blowhards...
jri500 anon-fv7m
6 hours ago
Bill Clinton and his buddy, Bernard Schwartz (LORAL Space) GAVE China our ballistic missile gyroscope guidance technology. Just gave it to them because liberals couldn't stand the fact that the US was the world's lone super power at the time. China's missiles couldn't reach orbit. Clinton moved the gyro technology from Defense to the Commerce department, and put a CIA satellite on a Chinese rocket. And when that rocket crashed, the Chi Coms sifted the wreckage and reverse engineered our gyros. When Clinton took office, China had zero (0) nuclear missiles capable of hitting the US mainland. When he left office, they had 20. //
Dieter Schultz stickdude90
6 hours ago edited
Remind me again why we spend so much blood and treasure to protect these blowhards...
I think you might be looking at the US being forward deployed and allied with nations around the world... through the wrong lens.
Yes we're spending money stationing forces around the world and, yes, some... maybe a lot of these countries... don't appreciate or deserve our protection but... look at it from the point of view of avoided costs.
But, we can't understand avoided costs unless we consider what isolationism might really cost us in the bigger scheme of things.
We were, mostly, isolationists between 1910 and 1940... not spending money with alliances and forward deploying our forces. Because of that the bad guys in the world didn't believe we'd respond as they gobbled up other countries. What they did believe, and what Churchill said so elegantly in some of his writing, was that if the US allowed its natural allies to fall, the position that the US would be in, strategically, would be difficult in the extreme.
So we stayed out of the areas but, when we were finally forced to act the costs in treasure and lives of our youth was great... far, far greater than they would have been if the Germans and Japanese really believed we would fight to stop them.
Since the end of WWII we've made a lot of mistakes and many of those mistakes have cost us 10s of thousands of our youth and untold treasures but, even with Russia's aggressive moves in the world, we haven't had a repeat of the carnage, loss of life, and expenditures of the country's treasures.
But, we should ask ourselves, even if we've helped protect people that didn't seem to appreciate and value our sacrifice, if, like happened to us leading up to WWI and WWII, would we have likely gotten sucked into another one of the continent's or world's battles and cost ourselves 10 or 100 times the loss of carnage, loss of life, and expenditures of our treasure anyway?
I see the discussions about forward deploying our forces around the world much like the Chesterton's Fence and we should ask ourselves, why that fence was needed in the first place?
Many in this country just want to tear down that fence but, as Chesterton might see it: "If you don’t see the use of it, I certainly won’t let you clear it away. Go away and think. Then, when you can come back and tell me that you do see the use of it, I may allow you to destroy it.’”
Thierry Breton @ThierryBreton
·
Welcome to Europe VP @JDVance.
With all due respect, in 🇪🇺, freedom of speech is a core value of our democracy — it is non-negotiable. Never was and never will be.
Proof? Even fake news are allowed (sadly, sometimes echoed by top US officials) :
EU/DSA has never canceled… Show more
6:02 PM · Feb 14, 2025. //
Visegrád 24 @visegrad24
·
Former European Commissioner Thierry Breton says the EU has mechanisms to nullify a potential election victory of the AfD:
”We did it in Romania and we will obviously do it in Germany if necessary”
11:32 PM · Jan 10, 2025
Vice President JD Vance appeared in Germany on Friday for the annual Munich Security Conference and didn't hold back against America's ostensible allies. In a blistering speech that drew groans from the crowd, Vance ripped European hypocrisy on democracy and freedom of expression, pleading with them to get their houses in order.
Greg Price @greg_price11
·
JD Vance went to the Munich Security Conference and roasted the entire continent of Europe for being petty tyrants and criminalizing freedom of speech, including a British man arrested for praying at an abortion clinic.
2:02 PM · Feb 14, 2025. //
VANCE: I'm here today not just with an observation but with an offer. Just as the Biden administration seemed desperate to silence people for speaking their minds so the Trump administration will do precisely the opposite and I hope that we can work together on that. In Washington, there is a new sheriff in town, and under Donald Trump's leadership we may disagree with your views but we will fight to defend your right to offer it in the public square, agree or disagree.
Germany: The Christmas markets are besieged by Syrian Islamists. They are demonstrating where Christianity is celebrated. Random choice of location or deliberate demonstration of power?
The latter. There is nothing random about this. The Christmas markets are seen by the Syrians as an overt celebration of a Christian tradition - which it is - and therefore cannot be tolerated, and must be interfered with or broken up if possible. These are not tolerant people, these are not people who are accepting of dissenting views, especially where religion is concerned; they are viciously intolerant and unforgiving, and it's important to note that they were imported to Germany from lands with Bronze-Age sensibilities. As long as they are allowed to remain in Europe, these things will only get worse - not better. //
Most of the nations of Western Europe are committing suicide on the installment plan. All we can do is watch - and hopefully learn from Europe's mistakes.
Thomas Hornall
@Thomashornall
I’m British.
I recently spent 10 days in the USA for business.
And discovered the ocean between us isn't water.
It's mindset.
7 uncomfortable truths about US v UK culture:
Multiple outlets are reporting that anti-Israel mobs are chasing down Israelis and savagely beating them on the streets of Amsterdam Thursday following a soccer game between Maccabi Tel Aviv FC and Amsterdam's Ajax.
As of this writing, dozens of extremely disturbing videos are being posted to X depicting violent beatings as individuals are surrounded and then pummeled. //
Dildr Swaggins
9 hours ago
Remember, the P in Islam stands for peace.
End Wokeness
@EndWokeness
·
Follow
HOLY SH*T.
Macron just announced that he will hold an election in July after his CRUSHING defeat tonight.
The election was supposed to be in 2027.
Readers added context
Macron announced the dissolution of the National Assembly, not an early presidential election. He remains president until 2027. Dissolving the Assembly triggers new legislative elections, allowing for potential changes in parliament without affecting his presidential term.
shorturl.at/FWRjr
shorturl.at/3jzYS
Context is written by people who use X, and appears when rated helpful by others.
3:13 PM · Jun 9, 2024 //
The call for elections highlights the transforming politics in Europe as opinions are increasingly against the left. Macron is, not surprisingly unhappy, with that:
“The rise of nationalists and demagogues is a danger for our nation and for Europe,” Mr. Macron said. “After this day I cannot go on as though nothing has happened.”
The French leader has always been a passionate supporter of the 27-nation European Union, seeing in it the sole means for Europe to count in the world and calling on it to achieve “strategic autonomy” through ever greater integration. But the political winds have turned in favor of less Europe, not more. //
Richard Grenell @RichardGrenell
·
Europe moves Right.
The Progressive Left is being rejected.
PeterSweden @PeterSweden7
BREAKING: The right-wing Parties are set to make MASSIVE gains all over Europe in the EU elections.
3:26 PM · Jun 9, 2024
The results in both France and Belgium indicate a growing political move in Europe toward the right as economic issues, unfettered immigration, and other concerns are turning off voters: //
Oli London
@OliLondonTV
·
Follow
Belgian Prime Minister appears to be on the verge of TEARS after his liberal party suffered a staggering defeat in the EU elections.
Alexander De Croo, who is vocally anti-Israel, RESIGNED after his party received just 5.8% of the votes.
6:04 PM · Jun 9, 2024 //
End Wokeness
@EndWokeness
·
Follow
Today is the start of a new era in Europe:
🇫🇷 France: National Rally wins a historic 31.5% of the EU vote, forcing Macron to dissolve the national parliament.
🇩🇪 Germany: AfD surges to become the 2nd largest party, liberal parties tank.
🇧🇪 Belgium: Prime Minister resigns after his crushing defeat against the right.
Italy: Meloni's Brother of Italy wins in a historic landslide
Austria: FPÖ doubles their seats and becomes the largest party in the nation.
Spain: Right beating the left by 10%.
Luxemburg: First ever seat for ADR.
Apple's browser engine concession isn't entirely without barbs. As Mozilla has observed, it doesn't apply to iPadOS and so Mozilla needs to bear the cost of maintaining two versions of Firefox in the EU.
While legal experts expect the EU to challenge Apple's insincere compliance with the DMA, developers should take this opportunity to rethink their native app serfdom. They should push web apps to their limits and then demand further platform improvement.
The web doesn't require commission payments, technology fees based on usage, or permission from platform rentseekers. The web can set the iPhone free, even if Apple won't. ®
"The impression that someone is organizing and regulating things on the Russian side is probably true; it is quite obvious that activity like this is a managed effort.”
The new deluge of immigrants is particularly suspicious because they are arriving at the border crossing on new Russian-made Stels bicycles...in Finland...in the winter. //
This is very much in line with Russia's policy of trying to destabilize eastern European countries. It has pushed a refugee stream through Russia and into Belarus in an attempt to swarm Poland with illegal immigrants (Putin's War, Week 35. The Lull Before the Next Storm – RedState). This has resulted in the Poles building a fence...imagine that...and moving about one-third of their army to the Belarus frontier, so backstop the border police.
Lithuania has been under a similar assault and militarized its frontier with Belarus.
Russia doesn't understand why they should come under suspicion when a previously quiet border area became inundated with Third World refugees who had to pass through Russia.
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