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[Aimless]

Really just so sorry to hear this We read about the fire and I was wondering if you were in there, so I'm glad to know you were physically unharmed at least

[Patrick]

Wow, that's some real-ass shit. I'm sorry Kris. On the upside, misery is notorious for breeding great art. You'll be able to bounce back from losing your work. As for your bag, well, aren't the contents of that replaceable? Stay positive

[Metope]

Great news! All of my work is completely intact! I've seen pictures of my room and it's all fine. One half of the building is not affected at all, and some of the rooms on the other side are fine too. Some students lost everything, some don't know yet, but the overall damage is a lot less extensive than we thought. The library is completely gone, which is the worst part, but the irreplaceable archives of everything important are intact as well. So some bad news, but a lot less bad news than expected, and we'll be fine.

[Thrillho]

That's great. I know that you losing your other stuff in that theft was fucking awful, but all I could think of was that stuff is at least replaceable one way or another while your art isn't.

[GarandMarine]

I'm glad to hear that Metope, any word on your tutor's office?

[Metope]

All of the tutors lost everything, if you've seen the pictures from the worst time of the fire, the top floor is ablaze and that's where most of the the staff offices were located. I talked to the head of the fine art department today and he was devastated, he's lost several years of work stored in his office. He's worked there for 20 years. Lots of sad stories around 

[Akima]

  I'm so sorry to hear about this, Metope.

[GarandMarine]

Those rare Japanese prints! Agh! Not to mention your tutor's painting from his passed friend...

[Pilchard123]

That's fantastic!

Your work, not the other losses, but still...

[Masterpiece]

To all my fellow Europeans, PLEASE VOTE TODAY.

[snalin]

Some of us are not in your stupid Union!

[pwhodges]

Some of us already voted on Thursday!

[ankhtahr]

Seriously, I'm too scared of the AfD (very young, covert nationalist party, pretending to just be a conservative, anti EU party) getting many votes to not go to the election.

Oh, and also we have our city council election today as well.

[Akima]

Some of us are not in your stupid Union!

Some of use are not on your stupid continent!

Speaking of stupid continents, we have compulsory voting, with turnouts routinely in the 90+%, but we still managed to saddle ourselves with Tony Abbott. So much for the wisdom of the crowds.

[Thrillho]

Is it not possible that compulsory turnout is part of the reason why you have Tony Abbott? I've always felt that compulsory turnout is the best way to get people voting for shit out of spite or without thinking.

[snalin]

Some of us are not in your stupid Union!

Some of use are not on your stupid continent!

It was a comment on "to all of our fellow Europeans". The Union is probably the worst thing that's happened to Europe since WW2, and I don't like having my continent conflated with the destruction of democracy that is the Technocratic bullshit the EU represents. There's at least four countries in Europe that's realized how shit of an idea being ruled from Berlin is, and I'm sad that there's not more of them.

Like, by all means vote to keep fascists out of the European central government, but that you actually have to vote to make that happen - and that there's probably going to be fascists in there - is kind of a huge problem in the first place.

[ankhtahr]

I voted! Yay!

The city council elections here are complicated… In Kiel you just check, which party you want to vote in your district. Here you have a list of all candidates of all parties, and then you can assign 0 - 3 votes for each, with a limit of 48 votes in total.

snalin: the AfD (Alternative für Deutschland) is the only anti-EU party around. The reason they get relatively many votes (for being such a young party) is that they are against spending money for other EU countries. I still say, if we had allowed Greece to cut their debts instead of pumping billions there, somehow trying to stop the collapse from happening, it'd have ended better. Just look at Iceland. They're relatively well again, and their troubles started around the same time as Greece's. Now it might sound like the AfD would be the right choice for me. But that's the problem with them. They're like a canvas on which everybody projects their own wishes and ideas. What many people don't realise apparently is that in the background they're openly racist and xenophobic. Here're some quotes from leading officials of the AfD:

"Other parties just want immigration, so the Germans merge in a European pulp"
"The problem are rather marginalised groups like Sinte and Romani people, which come in great numbers and are unable to integrate"
And one about denying Turkey to become part of the EU, which is so bad I don't dare to quote it

[snalin]

Well, they're denying Turkey from being able to make a horrible decision which will decimate their hopes of becoming a proper democracy, so that's not so bad, is it? I'm kidding, though, it's a genuine problem that the only people you can vote for that's against giving more power to the EU is also kinda racist.

The EU's treatment of Greece - using economic pressure to set aside their democratically elected government and setting in their own technocrats to ruin their economy and destroy their public institutions - is precisely the fate that any other EU country can expect if their economy goes down the drain. Your population wanted something to the left of Laissez-faire? Well, tough luck, shitbags, here's a dude from the IMF that will run your economy now!

[GarandMarine]

Hey look! Snalin and I agree on something again!

[Aimless]

Just voted. It took all of ten minutes including the walk there and back decided to change my vote about a week ago, to my own surprise. This is the first time I've voted for the "Feminist Initiative"! I won't be voting for them in the national election however.

[idontunderstand]

I voted for the uh.. environmental party, like I do most of the time. It's basically the only issue I find relevant nowadays. So I guess I'm either bitter or naive, or both.

[Masterpiece]

Well I voted for the Green party -the proto environmentalist party - because to me they seem to be the only party which has a somewhat decent vision for Europe, is openly anti xenophobic and isn't full of liars paid off by the arms companies.

[ankhtahr]

I voted three ways (I had to vote in the election for the European parliament, for the city council and the district council). For the European parliament I voted for the pirate party. They might have had some fuck ups, but I still think they could manage some good things in the EU. For the district council I voted for the green party (as there were few other choices), and for the city council I voted for the PARTEI. The PARTEI (literally "the party", short for "Partei für Arbeit, Rechtsstaat, Tierschutz, Elitenförderung und basisdemokratische Initiative") is strongly linked with the satirical magazine "Titanic", and not too serious. I consider voting for the PARTEI to be a good way to show that you're unhappy with every other choice, without giving your vote to the extremists who manage to make all their peers vote. Also I feel like they could do some good things if they actually managed to get a seat.

I was strongly considering to vote for the Left party, but they had no candidates for the district council (so I couldn't vote for them), and I wasn't sure about them in the European parliament.

[Welu]

Not even officially done with our course and my partner and I have started roughing out the story for a feature film. I feel productive and terrified.

[cesium133]

Okay, so I read this thing describing how the EU elections work, and, well, I don't think Europeans should be allowed to complain about how confusing the U.S.'s electoral college system is anymore. 

[GarandMarine]

When you get back home, tell them for us and say, "For your tomorrow, we gave our today"

Now some poetry, because I'm too worn down to really write something for Memorial day this year.

Oorah to Ashes

Stuck out all alone
trapped inside his head
young vet losing his cool
may as well be dead

Oorah to ashes
he still has his pride
but his hands keeps twitching
with no rifle at his side
keeps seeing the faces
of the brothers he lost
can't comprehend the cost

Oorah to ashes
A broken man's mourning cry
in his fitful sleep he sighs
tears pouring down from his eyes
as a gun salute takes to the skies
for yet another vet who died
in his cold, lonely, grave he lies

Oorah to ashes
The nightmares come again
against the horrors he fends
all of his dreams it rend
with his past battles to face
He feels like he lives in disgrace
Stuck alone in a hopeless place

Oorah to ashes
Leave no man behind
This lost brother we have to find
His clock is running out of time
the flow of pain, we have to stymie
Patch up the wounds
Get a Casevac, nine lines to shine.

Stuck out all alone
trapped inside his head
young vet losing his cool
may as well be dead

The Non-Combat Veteran's Lament

another set of rifle shots
echo in my heart
a salute comes up
as the casket lowers down

another folded flag
in to a grieving widow's arms
the sound of taps echoes
as the bugler begins to mourn

another brother fallen
in the thick of the fight
blood on the sands
in the dark of the night

men torn and mangled
by the bloody course of war
families destroyed and shredded
devastated ever more

I sometimes turn on myself
in the darkness of my mind
why was I so lucky?
simply to have survived?

my brothers lost and scattered
but my ticket never came
my rotation never happened
so now I sit in shame

I feel my honor is diminished
for not taking the same risks as they
a coward not a warrior
for not having the chance to stand

I accept the cast of fate
no matter what the cost
and in my survival know I must
forever remember the lost

over three thousand of my brothers
sent to their eternal sleep
I ask a god I don't believe in
for their souls to keep

I'll remember if no one else
the sacrifices made
which is why I stand here
at this unmourned grave

this is the task I set myself
to be a survivor with out shame
to tell the stories of the fallen
and share their immortal fame

[pwhodges]

Okay, so I read this thing describing how the EU elections work, and, well, I don't think Europeans should be allowed to complain about how confusing the U.S.'s electoral college system is anymore. 

Oh, it's not so bad, really; we don't have the second-level disconnect that the use of an electoral college creates.  It amuses me that the UK uses two different types of PR within the one "country".

Major depression time, though, when UKIP gets the largest party representation from the UK and the NF gets the largest vote in France.  This is seriously bad, especially for the effect on British politics, with a general election coming up in just a year.

[Barmymoo]

I voted Green for the EU too - but as Paul says, the racists have done pretty well out of this election

[Valdís]

Just voted. It took all of ten minutes including the walk there and back decided to change my vote about a week ago, to my own surprise. This is the first time I've voted for the "Feminist Initiative"!

Fuck yeah! 5.3% and off Soraya Post goes! ^_^

I'm medlemsansvarig in Kalmar Län n' stuff. Was at our valvaka yesterday and the celebration in the city today (Fi balloons, party brochures, icecream). I'll throw up some pictures in the Photo-thread when I get a neat one Oskar took today!

I won't be voting for them in the national election however.

Here's hoping you surprise yourself for a second time by then! <3

I voted for the uh.. environmental party, like I do most of the time. It's basically the only issue I find relevant nowadays. So I guess I'm either bitter or naive, or both.

Congratulations on your party's success! Here's to a Red-Green-Pink coalition this autumn!

[Barmymoo]

Despite the depressing headline news of UKIP's blaze of glory, I'm encouraged by the fact that the Labour party weren't far behind and the Greens gained a seat. Since UKIP doesn't have a hope in the general election (I really, really need this to be true anyway), it bodes a little better for the future of our public services than I thought.

[GarandMarine]

Is the pirate party still a thing?

[cesium133]

Sort of.

[Skewbrow]

I often vote for Greens in EU elections and (what passes for) Conservatives (in these parts) in local/national elections. It makes sense to me somehow. This time my candidate had no chance. I picked her partly because she's local, but mostly because she singled me out from the crowd walking by the booths the various parties had set up downtown (basically to hand out leaflets to passers by). May be I looked in their general direction for too long? We had an ok discussion about environmental politics for may be ten minutes. Since the person I voted in the previous election was going to be a shoe-in, I decided to give this candidate my support.

Usually my missus is less likely to vote for a conservative candidate, but this time we swapped roles. Her candidate was elected, too.

[Akima]

I voted Green for the EU too - but as Paul says, the racists have done pretty well out of this election

In Australia, you don't have to vote for a fringe party to express your racism; we have a racist as our Prime Minister. And if you're sexist and/or homophobic, Tony's got that covered too; he's the complete package.

[BeoPuppy]

What a wonderfully efficient system.

[ankhtahr]

Beo, your signature makes this post…

[GarandMarine]

I'd vote for Akima for any number of geo-political leadership positions.

[GarandMarine]

http://www.duffelblog.com/2014/05/memorial-day-sale/#!Q2jf7

This basically sums up how we (veterans) feel about the commercialization of Memorial Day.

[The Seldom Killer]

Some good non-mainstream analysis of the European and Local elections in this blog here: http://anotherangryvoice.blogspot.co.uk/

Not unbiased but pretty decent collection of facts and conclusions.

[GarandMarine]

Could we migrate all these to the Euro voting thread?

[pwhodges]

Fun for all the family!

It has just come to light that while I was away, the person tasked with the slightly technical job of updating file permissions on the file server that holds all the individual, personnel, and trial files for the Medical Oncology clinical trials group made a little slip - she set all the files on the server to universal read/write, and also removed all trace of the previous settings.  Now I have to recreate from scratch the entire security structure of the whole file server - in a highly sensitive environment.

[Masterpiece]

Wow. I'd be somewhat pissed if someone did that to me.

[pwhodges]

This is my pissed face, as represented by my current avatar on another forum:



(It's Shinji, crossed-over with Harry Potter, making a face like Kyon when he's annoyed.)

[Loki]

I am at the conference and I think I can see Ankh :3

[ev4n]

Morpork too?

[Loki]

...
No.
I talked to Ankh a bit, and it was nice :3

[ev4n]

Wait, are we cutting peoples names in half now, Lo?

(I am no longer confused!)

[Loki]

I have been referring to ankhtahr as Ankh forever.

[Barmymoo]

Having performed a systematic analysis of all Loki's posts in 2014 I can confirm that this is indeed the truth.

[Aimless]

It has just come to light that while I was away, the person tasked with the slightly technical job of updating file permissions on the file server that holds all the individual, personnel, and trial files for the Medical Oncology clinical trials group made a little slip - she set all the files on the server to universal read/write, and also removed all trace of the previous settings.  Now I have to recreate from scratch the entire security structure of the whole file server - in a highly sensitive environment.

First, change HER permissions