Off topic - whats on your mind?

In 2024, 8.5% of the EU population were unable to afford a meal containing meat, fish or a vegetarian equivalent every second day. 🍽

Highest shares in:

Bulgaria (18.7%)

Slovakia (17.1%)

Romania (16.3%)

Lowest in:

Cyprus (1.2%)

Ireland (1.8%)

Portugal (2.5%)

For those who follow political events in Bulgaria (hopefully all of us) here's a little rundown on why you may see more people than usual out and about tomorrow:

https://tinyurl.com/4wx2er7y

@JimJ

This being the Balkans, the region where World Wars literally ignite over not very much at all, it's rather hard to see what could possibly be "off-topic" when it comes to talking about Bulgarian politics.  Still, what do I know? 😎

Russia-aligned Rumen Radev set to win Bulgarian election

Well I have come to the conclusion that it does seem pointless voting in any election these days when whatever the people choose then the other parties collaborate against it.

If Radev wins which is looking most likely so far then Borissov has said he will form a coalition so again we get nowhere.

A world without a political system sounds much better to me 🤣

Russia-aligned Rumen Radev set to win Bulgarian election - @SimCityAT

Excellent!

Democracy in action

Excellent! Democracy in action - @Fred

Only if you're a lemming.....or Uncle Vlad! 👎

Excellent! Democracy in action  - @Fred
Only if you're a lemming.....or Uncle Vlad! 👎 - @JimJ

Many people confuse democracy with what they believe should be democracy - that being their preferred candidate winning.

They complained about how unfair elections are, but only when their man loses. If he wins, as we just saw in Hungary,  the rigged election was fine.

The new guy immediately announces how he's going to ban all the (now) opposition press - applause from the anti-Orban lot who complained how the previous leader took away press freedom.

Excellent! Democracy in action - @Fred
Only if you're a lemming.....or Uncle Vlad! 👎 - @JimJ
Many people confuse democracy with what they believe should be democracy - that being their preferred candidate winning.
They complained about how unfair elections are, but only when their man loses. If he wins, as we just saw in Hungary, the rigged election was fine.
The new guy immediately announces how he's going to ban all the (now) opposition press - applause from the anti-Orban lot who complained how the previous leader took away press freedom. - @Fred

I'm not sure what relevance that has to the situation in Bulgaria, apart from the prospective new Prime Minister being an Orban-clone..

Excellent! Democracy in action - @Fred
Only if you're a lemming.....or Uncle Vlad! 👎 - @JimJ
Many people confuse democracy with what they believe should be democracy - that being their preferred candidate winning.
They complained about how unfair elections are, but only when their man loses. If he wins, as we just saw in Hungary, the rigged election was fine.
The new guy immediately announces how he's going to ban all the (now) opposition press - applause from the anti-Orban lot who complained how the previous leader took away press freedom. - @Fred
I'm not sure what relevance that has to the situation in Bulgaria, apart from the prospective new Prime Minister being an Orban-clone..
- @JimJ

It's a shame BG has decided to go backwards and elect an Orban cum Fico clone. 

As I posted over in the HU forum, when it came down to the electorate (or party proferred) choice between the Kremlin or EU, the electorate chose the EU.    It's a process that BG will have to - apparently - go through.   We've seen the same in PL. 

And the UK went utterly mad and left the EU which looking back, has proved to be bordering on insanity.  Radev will - no doubt - want to try and avoid the same mistakes. 

Some posters offer trolling opinions on political situations in HU, BG, PL and EU  and elsewhere and they have no knowledge of the day to day political situation on the ground.   They know who they are.  Best not to engage.

Some posters offer trolling opinions on political situations in HU, BG, PL and EU and elsewhere and they have no knowledge of the day to day political situation on the ground. They know who they are. Best not to engage. - @fluffy2560

Why not engage? We're in the Balkans and  everyone has at least one favourite party axe to grind, even if they have only the vaguest notion of what, if anything, the party leader stands for (more often than not, simply feathering his/her own nest).

Radev's already had a shot at being a manipulative puppet-master, and that back-fired spectcularly on the country: any idiots who voted for him this time round need to have their bumps felt, preferably with a rubber truncheon...

Some posters offer trolling opinions on political situations in HU, BG, PL and EU and elsewhere and they have no knowledge of the day to day political situation on the ground. They know who they are. Best not to engage. - @fluffy2560
Why not engage? We're in the Balkans and everyone has at least one favourite party axe to grind, even if they have only the vaguest notion of what, if anything, the party leader stands for (more often than not, simply feathering his/her own nest).
Radev's already had a shot at being a manipulative puppet-master, and that back-fired spectcularly on the country: any idiots who voted for him this time round need to have their bumps felt, preferably with a rubber truncheon... - @JimJ

Don't engage because it's unreasonable conduct.  And it's not discourse or any kind of reasoned arguments put forward to promote a hypothesis.   Usually the troll resorts to personal attacks in order to get a rise out of the person who put forward a more reasoned argument.  In the end it looks like the troll is ranting.  Moreover, the ranting goes across many forums, not just here in BG.  Thing I really dislike is the cherry picking of various websites with "homework".  I don't do homework and I rarely read the trolls posts.  Everything I post is original work. 

We put up with it in HU forum "International Relations".   We just don't respond because it's some kind of troll oxygen.  It's clearly a mental health condition.  I tend to imagine an uneducated bitter young or old man lonely in his mother's basement.

I personally would kick the troll out.  Numerous times complaints have been made but no action has been taken.  Usually the worst that happens is that posts get blocked.  I've been in these forums for some years and I've only known one person to be actually kicked out of the entire site.   

@fluffy2560

I'm not sure what to say: sometimes one man's attempt to start up a discussion about a topic is viewed by another as "trolling"; just as "Hate" on the internet often seems to mean "expressing a view that doesn't happen to suit me".  Likewise, "demonstrable proof" to me might be akin to a conspiracy theory to someone not prepared to examine that proof. 

Either way, a good old ding-dong about more or less any topic is usually an enjoyable way to spend an otherwise boring evening....or maybe not? 😎

@fluffy2560
I'm not sure what to say: sometimes one man's attempt to start up a discussion about a topic is viewed by another as "trolling"; just as "Hate" on the internet often seems to mean "expressing a view that doesn't happen to suit me". Likewise, "demonstrable proof" to me might be akin to a conspiracy theory to someone not prepared to examine that proof.
Either way, a good old ding-dong about more or less any topic is usually an enjoyable way to spend an otherwise boring evening....or maybe not? 😎 - @JimJ

It gets really boring with engaging with the troll.   I usually want a serious discussion with hopefully a bit of humour thrown in but I don't get it from the troll.   Just repeats the same unproven and unprovable points, ignoring history and fantasising someone is actually interested in some random points and links to further YouTube wasters.  The troll in question knows nothing about what is going on in-country and what the issues are.  Complete waste of everyone's time.  If you fancy an argument with a asinine troll cum  robot from Asia, please feel free to engage over at Hungary and the "International Relations" thread.  More inputs welcome.

@fluffy2560

If I were to stick my oar in there then I'd be the troll: I know sweet FA about the realities of life and politics in Hungary or how much of a "reformer" Magyar really is... 🙂

@fluffy2560 If I were to stick my oar in there then I'd be the troll: I know sweet FA about the realities of life and politics in Hungary or how much of a "reformer" Magyar really is... 🙂 - @JimJ

Come on over and say your piece.   Contributors will judge. We're a broad church.

We're all aware here in HU of the potential for Magyar to be Fidesz/Orban-lite.

The troll on the other hand definitely knows FA about it but it doesn't stop the troll proselytizing nutjob conspiracy theories repeatedly like a kind of verbal diarrhea.