Fallout 4 map:

Spoiler

Also a funny webm of a cutscene.

Spoiler

http://i.4cdn.org/v/1446586203329.webm

that world space looks nice and big

Quote from: SoporificSlash on November 03, 2015, 12:50:41 PM

(Also I really welcome some criticism if I made any mistakes, namely Flee, because while I've done quite a lot of reading on this I still feel weak on the subject.

Seems about right to me. Many have noticed more right leaning parties on the rise in Europe. I doubt that it's lasting, though. This isn't the first time that the right wing parties rose in response to increased immigration, leftist economic policies and EU bureaucracy. No way of telling what this will turn into, but I believe you're right in thinking that this does not mark the return of fascism.

Also worth noting is that European right and American right are not exactly the same. Most of these parties are still pretty socially progressive on most issues. They are just generally more anti-immigration and more fiscally conservative than the left leaning parties.

In my research I noticed that Belgium is one of the few countries that doesn't have a sizable right wing party. The closest thing you have to such is Vlaams Belang who seem to only have the goal of Flemish independence and don't seem to have any goals in mind beyond that; though they do share the common trait of anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant, and even antisemitism of other far right parties. However like I said they seem to be extremely unpopular unanimously throughout the country even in the Flanders region. Just an observation I made that Belgium is somewhat unique in that the far right seems to be nearly extinct and not rising in response to recent immigration issues.

I'll leave when the site dies.

Although I'm getting so close to 117 days online

I can smell the custom title

are you the guy int he Trivago commercials?

2

sell a kidney

Yeah probably if Taco Bell cares at all about their public image.

As far as I know there isn't any kind of voting going on today in Oklahoma

Quote from: SoporificSlash on November 03, 2015, 01:20:16 PM

this thread will end well

I dunno why or where I heard it said before.

But I can't see your name as anything else but SoporificAss.

Just thought I'd let you know.

that's CockorificAss to you Mr. Sandtrap

fuck you

Quote from: SoporificSlash on November 03, 2015, 12:55:48 PM

Quote from: Flee on November 03, 2015, 12:50:56 PM

Encryption, anonimity and nemo tenetur in criminal (procedural) law.
The effects of gun control in the Western developed world from a legal perspective.
The legal protection of open source software in Belgian and Western European Law.
(In progress:) Human Rights in the law as an obstacle to the efficient combating of cybercrime.

Take your pick.

How long did those end up being? Page-wise I suppose

Never gotten the chance to read a thesis.

Encryption and gun control were rather short, sitting only at about 60 pages.
Open source software was considerably longer, coming in at around a 110 pages (not including annex and bibliography).
Human rights and cybercrime is still in its early fases (read: a random bunch of sources compiled) but it's probably going to be around a 100 too.

Unfortunately none of that large font size, spacing or double sized gaps in between lines. Times New Roman size 12, 1.5 interline with a few hundred footnotes (that don't count for word count, unfortunately).

My god I couldn't imagine writing something that long.

Do you  plan on publishing anything later in life, whether it be for Academia or your own personal interest?

Quote from: SoporificSlash on November 03, 2015, 01:00:26 PM

Quote from: Mordo on November 03, 2015, 12:58:55 PM

They're pretty much just protest parties in response to the rigidity of the EU, much like UKIP was. It's the equivalent of a teenager throwing a strop towards his parents about his living conditions. It wont achieve much.

Many of these parties have existed long before the EU and the poll numbers show that it's a little bit more than just a adolescent temper tantrum.

I'm referring to their resurgence, not just their existence as a party. They've pretty much maintained the same level of popularity until recently.

I just think brushing off their resurgence in popularity is a bit dangerous. I think they should be taken as seriously as they take themselves. I don't want to draw a Nazi comparison here because it is indeed weak but no one took them seriously in the beginning and that didn't turn out very well.

Encryption, anonimity and nemo tenetur in criminal (procedural) law.
The effects of gun control in the Western developed world from a legal perspective.
The legal protection of open source software in Belgian and Western European Law.
(In progress:) Human Rights in the law as an obstacle to the efficient combating of cybercrime.

Take your pick.

How long did those end up being? Page-wise I suppose

Never gotten the chance to read a thesis.

I've been doing a lot of reading on this lately and I suppose its relevant to current events those being the mass influx of immigrants to Europe from the war torn Middle East. It seems this is causing a lot of nationalist far right political parties to become increasingly popular.

The National Front in France which is one of the most prominent far right parties in Europe is becoming increasingly popular and is predicted to lead the first round of 2017 presidential elections. They also won 24 or France's 47 seats in the 2014 European Parliament election. A far right win for a country that is a leader in the EU could be troubling and cause more far right parties to win in other countries.

Some of the stances of the NF:

In 2002, Jean-Marie Le Pen campaigned on the law and order policies of "zero tolerance", harsher sentencing, increased prison capacity, as well as a referendum on re-introducing the death penalty. In its 2001 program, the party linked the breakdown of law and order to immigration, deeming immigration a "mortal threat to civil peace in France."

Under her leadership, Marine Le Pen has been more clear in her support for protectionism, while she has criticised globalism and capitalism for certain industries. She has been characterized as a proponent of letting the government take care of health, education, transportation, banking and energy.

---

Another example of far right parties finding success in Europe is Poland's Law and Justice party winning just last month. The party is extremely anti-immigrant while remaining pro-EU on the terms that it benefits Poland rather than Poland benefiting the EU. Some of PiS's policies could also be considered authoritarian in nature as seen here:

PiS is critical of Poland’s current liberal-democratic model of government and its 2010 draft of a new constitution envisions changes that would strengthen the presidency, erode checks and balances (including ability of the Constitutional Tribunal to declare laws unconstitutional), weaken independence of the judiciary and the central bank, and introduce various populist, plebiscitarian elements (e.g., president-initiated referendums that could be used to strike down legislation passed by parliament).

---

It doesn't stop there. Hungary's current party in power, Fidesz, led by Viktor Orbán is what many would consider far right in nature. Although Jobbik is recognized as the far right party in Hungary Fidesz probably has a more radical discourse (though not ideology) than Jobbik.

Over the past few years, Orbán has made many high-profile statements that go well beyond contemporary European conservatism. For example, earlier this year he called for the reintroduction of the death penalty and for the building of “work camps” for immigrants. And his words are often followed by equally controversial actions. For instance, Hungary has started building a fence with Serbia to keep immigrants out.

---

Still there are many other examples of far right parties just narrowly losing in recent elections in various countries and their popularity is on the rise.

The Freedom Party in Austria, led by the controversial former dentist Heinz-Christian Strache, won a considerable 32 percent of the vote in regional elections.

Earlier this year in Denmark the DPP (Danish People's Party took more than 21% of the vote and 37 seats in the country’s 179-seat parliament.

Greece's neo-fascist party, Golden Dawn, came in third in general elections earlier this year with 7% of the vote. Sure that sounds like a small percentage but that amounts to 500,000 voters and 18 MP seats. That kind of support for one of Europe's most violent far right groups is alarming indeed.

Sweden, one of Europe's most pro-immigrant countries, is also seeing a rise in popularity of their own far-right party the Sweden Democrats. The Sweden Democrats have surged in the polls from 5.7 per cent in 2010 to 12.9 per cent at last year’s elections and a poll by Sentio Research this month put the party at 26.5 per cent.

---

The causes of all this rise in popularity for the far right isn't just the immigration crisis though it is by far the primary. The sanctions by the EU and US against Russia are hurting Europe economically, much more than the US. Russia is America’s 23rd largest trade partner, but Europe’s third. Die Welt reports that sanctions on Russia could eventually cost Europe $114 billion and up to 2 million jobs. Putin has been playing this factor very well by his current involvement in Syria. Of course he wants to assert a presence in the Middle East but also he wants to show Europeans that Russia can help stabilize Syria, halting the flow of refugees into Europe. All Putin needs is one far-right party to assume power and decide that their country’s economic well-being is more important than punishing Russia. Not all far right parties are pro-Russian necessarily. For instance France's NF is very pro-Russian while Poland's PiS is very ant-Russian. It's a sentiment shared by many but not all far right parties.

Now many of these far right parties aren't necessarily worthy of that very scary "fascist" label. While they do support staunch anti-immigration policies, protective tariffs, some very un-European policies like the death penalty, and for some even radical policies like immigrant work camps they still lack many of the authoritarian aspects synonymous of fascism. So I don't want anyone to walk away from this thinking that there are several Nazi type dictatorships on the rise in Europe. That doesn't really appear to be the case at all. While all fascists are nationalists, not all nationalists are fascists and that's an important thing to remember.

So in light of these statistics are we in danger of seeing the far right take over in Europe? I feel like they are and a lot of people are ignoring it. I simply think the issue needs more attention on the world stage.

(Also I really welcome some criticism if I made any mistakes, namely Flee, because while I've done quite a lot of reading on this I still feel weak on the subject.)

Why are we arguing about cartography tbh