5 ms·

It only became apparent to me yesterday on another forum how much central Europeans, especially Germans, seem to quite dislike von der Leyen!

Semaphor 6y ago
She did a lot of dumb shit while we still had her in Germany.
- KingOfCoders 6y ago
  Not a fan of her, but can you name 10 things ("lot of") that are "dumb shit" that she did?
  - diffeomorphism 6y ago
    "zensursula" is quite well-known. "Accidently" erasing her phone and destroying files during an investigation. Several scandals and affairs in relation to the Bundeswehr. Not ten, but these immediately come to mind.
    - the-dude 6y ago
      Didn't she lie about her education?
    - KingOfCoders 6y ago
      The introduction of her PhD didn't contain enough footnotes.
      - cygx 6y ago
        Cf Wikipedia[1]: According to the investigation by the university, about 20% of her work suffered from missing or incorrect citations, including 3 'grave errors'. However, there was no evidence of fraud, merely sloppiness, and she got to keep her 'Dr. med'. [1] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ursula_von_der_Leyen#Plagiate_in_der_Dissertation https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ursula_von_der_Leyen#Plagiate_...
  - KingOfCoders 6y ago
    She did not "accidentally" erase her phone, it was someone else. The one she erased was not accidentally but on purpose (when there were no laws or guidance I erased also my phones before I got them back to my former employer, so we differe here on what "dumb shit" is). So we have two, black lists for websites and spending millions on consultants while choosing Accenture and McKinsey instead of some other charlatans. The problem here is obviously not how the companies were chosen but that millions were given to consulting companies with no clue. I might add "throwing away a rather good gun" - others would debate this. So we might have three. Lots of? And I'd only really consider black lists as "dumb shit" but YMMV. But we may vary on "lots of". If someone says "I have lots of beer at home" I would be rather dissapointed if in the end it were three beer (1.5 for each of us! ;-)
    - Semaphor 6y ago
      She said and did several dumb to horrific things during her Zensursula time, I do not feel like dragging all the quotes out of the depth of 2009/10
mtgx 6y ago
She only became president because Merkel forced the issue. I think Frans Timmermans (an excellent option!) had a chance to win it before that, as well as Vestager (the antitrust champion in the previous EC). They gave Vestager the VP job to pacify her and her allies. Also, somehow, Vera Jourova, which has been absolutely terrible in her job in the previous EC, especially with the terrible Privacy Shield she negotiated with the US gov (which has now been invalidated - again - by the CJEU) got the VP role, too, in the new EC. Germans need to get rid of Merkel already. She's been terrible in the past 2 mandates, even doing stuff like protecting the coal industry as as well the diesel/gasoline car industry against new EU pollution norms. She also continued to push for new mass surveillance laws, even as the previous ones were being declared unconstitutional by the German courts. I'm almost convinced the only reason she won again last time was because the US/global media kept propping her up as the "world's savior against Trump" - whatever that means. So I'm sure that had an effect at home, too, possibly giving her the edge. I know she was starting to be hated due to the all the local immigration issues prior to that.
- simcup 6y ago
  Merkel was reelected because there was no feasible Alternative. She is a good politican with proper experience and Connections especially on the international stage, But her politics is as shit AS the rest. One of the reasons why right wing parties are on the up. Think of her as the equivalent to biden. The only thing she has going is that one can assume with certainty she is not gonna fuck shit up so hard, but there are certainly better ways. Fun fact: merkel actually announced she would not be up for re-election in 2021.
- rusticpenn 6y ago
  She was pushed out, so that she cannot succeed Merkel. She was promoted out of her target job.
ricohboy 6y ago
Is Germany considered central Europe? I had always put them as Western, besides maybe the eastern most parts?
- cygx 6y ago
  Yes[1], but this can depend on context (eg Western vs Eastern Bloc). [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Grossgliederung_Europas-en.svg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Grossgliederung_Europas-e...

Semaphor 6y ago

She did a lot of dumb shit while we still had her in Germany.

KingOfCoders 6y ago
Not a fan of her, but can you name 10 things ("lot of") that are "dumb shit" that she did?
- diffeomorphism 6y ago
  "zensursula" is quite well-known. "Accidently" erasing her phone and destroying files during an investigation. Several scandals and affairs in relation to the Bundeswehr. Not ten, but these immediately come to mind.
  - the-dude 6y ago
    Didn't she lie about her education?
  - KingOfCoders 6y ago
    The introduction of her PhD didn't contain enough footnotes.
    - cygx 6y ago
      Cf Wikipedia[1]: According to the investigation by the university, about 20% of her work suffered from missing or incorrect citations, including 3 'grave errors'. However, there was no evidence of fraud, merely sloppiness, and she got to keep her 'Dr. med'. [1] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ursula_von_der_Leyen#Plagiate_in_der_Dissertation https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ursula_von_der_Leyen#Plagiate_...
- KingOfCoders 6y ago
  She did not "accidentally" erase her phone, it was someone else. The one she erased was not accidentally but on purpose (when there were no laws or guidance I erased also my phones before I got them back to my former employer, so we differe here on what "dumb shit" is). So we have two, black lists for websites and spending millions on consultants while choosing Accenture and McKinsey instead of some other charlatans. The problem here is obviously not how the companies were chosen but that millions were given to consulting companies with no clue. I might add "throwing away a rather good gun" - others would debate this. So we might have three. Lots of? And I'd only really consider black lists as "dumb shit" but YMMV. But we may vary on "lots of". If someone says "I have lots of beer at home" I would be rather dissapointed if in the end it were three beer (1.5 for each of us! ;-)
  - Semaphor 6y ago
    She said and did several dumb to horrific things during her Zensursula time, I do not feel like dragging all the quotes out of the depth of 2009/10

mtgx 6y ago

She only became president because Merkel forced the issue. I think Frans Timmermans (an excellent option!) had a chance to win it before that, as well as Vestager (the antitrust champion in the previous EC). They gave Vestager the VP job to pacify her and her allies. Also, somehow, Vera Jourova, which has been absolutely terrible in her job in the previous EC, especially with the terrible Privacy Shield she negotiated with the US gov (which has now been invalidated - again - by the CJEU) got the VP role, too, in the new EC. Germans need to get rid of Merkel already. She's been terrible in the past 2 mandates, even doing stuff like protecting the coal industry as as well the diesel/gasoline car industry against new EU pollution norms. She also continued to push for new mass surveillance laws, even as the previous ones were being declared unconstitutional by the German courts. I'm almost convinced the only reason she won again last time was because the US/global media kept propping her up as the "world's savior against Trump" - whatever that means. So I'm sure that had an effect at home, too, possibly giving her the edge. I know she was starting to be hated due to the all the local immigration issues prior to that.

simcup 6y ago
Merkel was reelected because there was no feasible Alternative. She is a good politican with proper experience and Connections especially on the international stage, But her politics is as shit AS the rest. One of the reasons why right wing parties are on the up. Think of her as the equivalent to biden. The only thing she has going is that one can assume with certainty she is not gonna fuck shit up so hard, but there are certainly better ways. Fun fact: merkel actually announced she would not be up for re-election in 2021.
rusticpenn 6y ago
She was pushed out, so that she cannot succeed Merkel. She was promoted out of her target job.

ricohboy 6y ago

Is Germany considered central Europe? I had always put them as Western, besides maybe the eastern most parts?

cygx 6y ago
Yes[1], but this can depend on context (eg Western vs Eastern Bloc). [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Grossgliederung_Europas-en.svg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Grossgliederung_Europas-e...