Following their victory in February’s federal elections, Germany’s Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) under Friedrich Merz just reached a deal with the Social Democrats (SPD) to form a coalition to govern the country. The far-right group Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) finished second at 20.8% with a massive gain of 10.3 from the previous election; the SPD finished third …
by Calvin Mouw 
Recently, I was handed a series of cards by a cultural association to give to individuals instructing them on what to do if they are confronted with an immigration official or officer. This is what is on the card: I do not wish to speak with you, answer your questions, or sign or hand you …
by Calvin Mouw 
The historic votes are in. On October 20, 2024 the EU referendum vote in Moldova passed by the exceptionally thin margin of 50.35% to 49.65%. On November 3, 2024, Maia Sandu won reelection to the presidency, defeating Aleksandr Stoianoglo in the runoff by a margin of 55.35% to 44.67%. Both of these are of great …
by Calvin Mouw 
“What makes people rebel against suffering is not really suffering itself but the senselessness of suffering.†Friedrich Nietzsche, On the Genealogy of Morality: A Polemic “Divisiveness affirms things in people.†Consuela Hendricks, People Matter 1919 Chicago Demographics were changing quickly in Chicago as blacks were streaming in from the South; 50,000 in a period of …
by Calvin Mouw 
Women and families from states with abortion restrictions, including Hadley Duvall, right, speak during the first evening of the Democratic National Convention on Monday in Chicago. (Melina Mara/The Washington Post) Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/2024/08/21/abortion-ivf-dnc/ In the past one always got the impression that the Democratic Party’s message on reproductive rights was a bit muted. Now it appears …
by Calvin Mouw 
That education and exposure to various ideas expand one’s view and teach them to think critically and independently is already well understood. Â Award-winning journalist and a Europe’s Futures Fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna, Amanda Coakley explains how a new approach to education in Romania affords students a better understanding of why …
by Roxana Cazan 
How the Far Right Shield Themselves from Reality  It’s always a puzzle when you see people supporting candidates and parties that logic dictates, they should not. France just had legislative elections on Sunday, July 7, and the New Popular Front left coalition in France finished first, President Emmanual Macron’s center coalition finished second, and the far-right National …
by Calvin Mouw 
“The French language, like Paris, has attempted, through its Academy, to retain its purity, to fight the advancing tides of Franglais and international prefabrication. English, by comparison, is a shameless whore.†― Stephen Fry, The Ode Less Travelled: Unlocking the Poet Within “In Paris they just simply opened their eyes and stared when we spoke …
by Calvin Mouw 
When I go to work out (be kind), I walk past a house where an excerpt from this quote below is painted on a chair in the front yard. The quote is from Kurt Vonnegut’s fifth novel, God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater. Eliot Rosewater is talking to his wife Sylvia about how he must baptize …
by Calvin Mouw