What was supposed to happen was that Merkel opening the gates for migrants would lead to a huge far right surge in the short term and create a voter base for left-wing parties in the longer term. Neither appears to be happening.
Right, Canada too. There are examples all over the world of immigrant communities being successfully assimilated and embracing traditional values, which is why the hysterical reaction to the influx of the mid-2010s was so weird.
Had cause to revisit this piece I wrote for the @Independent in 2012 on how I deal with suicidal ideation. Since then, I've found a more stable medication regime and dealt with some of my issues, so I no longer experience such catastrophic troughs. independent.co.uk/voices/comment…
That doesn't mean I don't get suicidal thoughts, they're just more abstract. When I get piled onto by far left Twitter over some of my unwise past tweets, for instance, the thought of ending it all instantly occurs, but not with enough reality to start going through with it.
I'm also a coward: when my thoughts get as far as picturing myself taking a load of pills or lying down on a railway track, I stop short and snap out of it. I suppose that in itself shows it's not as bad as it could be, if I were truly suicidal, the means wouldn't be a deterrent.
It's sounding like the impeachment trial is becoming a rolling political - and moral - catastrophe for Republicans. They'll still vote to acquit him, they've no choice, but their whole movement will be exposed as the crypto-fascist nihilist enterprise it is.
I say "crypto-fascist", as Dave Spart-like a term as it is, because calling the GOP straightforwardly fascist always starts arguments.
But it's all there, isn't it? The flags, the racism, the ultra-nationalism, the leader worship, the promises to rescue the country from traitors and deliver a brave new era of national renewal. There aren't uniforms, but then this is a more individualistic age than the 1930s.
OK, I'm done with Oz K*t*rj* now. I'm not saying I'll never RT him again when he's right, but the respect is gone. If you can't see that men using "fishy" to mean "womanly" is extremely problematic, then you're blinded by your own misogyny.
His logic seems to be that it can't be misogynist because it's applied to drag queens, not women. So if I call someone's outfit "a bit g*ppo", that isn't antiziganist because I'm not applying it to an actual Romani person?
"Don't Jew me on the interest rate", etc. etc. etc.
It pains me that Roger Waters was undeniably Pink Floyd's strongest songwriter because he probably has the worst politics of any rock star, at least now that Cat Stevens has calmed down a bit. This is a shocking thread, not surprising but still incredibly grim.
Don't try telling me Syd was the best, by the way, that won't wash. He was the main writer on one classic but flawed album, whereas Waters carried them through a decade and a half of smash hits.
I can see the genius of The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, but I don't actually enjoy listening to it very much. It's very dated, and has a kind of cloying quality I don't get along with.
This is true. However, for what it's worth, I thought Sarkar's thread dealing with David Baddiel's characterisation of her views was thoughtful, productive and also went out of its way to discourage a pile-on, which felt like progress to me.
Very few people are totally irredeemable. I'd like it if @AyoCaesar and Owen Jones dealt a lot more forthrightly with their history of offending the Jewish community, but it's still wrong to put them in the same category as someone like Ken Loach, who is genuinely unteachable.
Like I say, I do think @AyoCaesar has points to address. But it's a start.