#More news

[beardedmrbean]

MEPs approved new fiscal rules for the EU during a plenary session on Tuesday despite an ongoing campaign by trade unions to prevent "austerity 2.0" from passing through.

"This reform constitutes a fresh start and a return to fiscal responsibility," said co-rapporteur Makrus Ferber (EPP – Germany). "The new framework will be simpler, more predictable and more pragmatic. However, the new rules can only become a success if properly implemented by the Commission."

The regulation passed with 359 votes in favour, 166 against and 61 abstentions, with conservatives, liberals and socialist groups helping to get the text over the line.

Advocates of the reform say it heralds a return to fiscal control after a more lax approach during the Covid-19 pandemic. Member States will now be required to keep budget deficits at less than 3% of national GDP. In addition, countries with excessive debt will be required to reduce it on average by 1% per year if their debt is above 90% of GDP, and by 0.5% per year on average if it is between 60% and 90%.

'Straitjacket'

European and Belgian trade unions have led a long campaign denouncing the reforms as a "Europe-wide return to austerity".

According to ETUC General Secretary Esther Lynch, 18 Member States including Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Poland would be unable to meet the required minimum level of investment in housing, healthcare and education under the new rules. In addition, only three Member States – Sweden, Ireland and Denmark – will be able to meet the social and climate investments required of them.

"This agreement, forced by the austerity approach of some European capitals, will require member states to reduce their debts rapidly and in ways that are economically and socially unsustainable," ETUC stated on the eve of the vote. "This will mark a return to austerity. At the same time, the new rules will also act as a disincentive to invest towards the social and climate objectives EU member states have agreed upon, by limiting the marge of manoeuvre of public deficit."

Similarly, Belgian MEP and President of the European Greens/EFA group Philippe Lamberts (Ecolo) drew attention to the social and environmental cost of tighter economic measures. "These new budgetary rules will impose a straitjacket on all EU Member States," he said on Monday. "It will deprive governments of the financial resources needed to guarantee a thriving economy, social services and climate action."

Other political groups in the European Parliament acknowledge that the reforms are imperfect, but necessary nonetheless. "There is no doubt that this deal is much better than no deal and going back to the old rules or having no rules at all," said co-rapporteur Margarida Marques (S&D – Portugal).

Right-wing and far-right political groups welcome a more stringent approach to EU budgetary rules. "There are a number of Member States who have gone too far in debt financing and this is a potential danger which can't be justified nationally or EU-wide," said MEP Johan Van Overtveldt (ECR/N-VA – Belgium). This echoes positions of "frugal" countries such as Germany, who fear another bail-out in the worst-case scenario.

Tax the rich

Tuesday's vote has not stopped the opposition campaign in its tracks. ETUC, the trade union leading the fight, has now emphasised the need to "tax the rich" as a solution to the EU's budgetary difficulties.

"Working people who have suffered a historic drop in living standards as a result of the pandemic and cost-of-living crisis simply don’t have anything left for politicians to take," stated Lynch in a press release published in the wake of the vote. "Instead politicians who supported these fiscal rules should have the decency to meet them through taxes on the corporations which registered record breaking profits which fueled inflation."

The vote on the budgetary reforms is one of almost 90 to take place during the Strasbourg plenary this week. This is the last time MEPs will convene before the end of the mandate and there is a palpable sense of urgency to deliver to voters before European elections on 9 June.

[multikore]

M’kay, I might like- throw the Abyss’s Stare at a story board planning or lore clean up bc tbh I kinda just made a lot of it on the spot and haven’t checked for stuff really- so more delay even though it’s probably going to be barely out AT ALL-

[sarahvilelaheart]

This is art of various power-ups (blue, yellow, green, red and purple Wonder Flowers; blue and yellow Wonder Seeds; Elephant Fruit, Flower Coin and 10-Flower Coin), from the upcoming game Super Mario Bros. Wonder, revealing that yesterday (August 31, 2023), the Nintendo Direct live premiered more news from that same upcoming game (fourth wall breaking). So enjoy! 🙂

[luthienne]

i wake up thirsty and i think of palestine. i go to the doctor’s office and i think of palestine. a sign in the corner of the waiting room says ‘this is a place of healing, disruptive behavior will not be tolerated’ and i think of palestine. they probably weren’t thinking of bombs and snipers and mass graves in parking lots. i call my parents and i think of palestine. i drive to the grocery store and i think of palestine. i look at the clear blue sky and i think of palestine. i put the dishes away and i think of palestine. i feed my cat and i think of palestine. i listen to music and i think of palestine. i read poetry and i think of palestine. i text my friends and i think of palestine. i think of palestine and i think of palestine and i think of palestine

[nipuni]

the snake of eden 🥰

[violetsandshrikes]

watching people on tiktok consume borax is uh. something.

[yourangle-yuordevil]

That time in ancient Greece when Aziraphale needed a speedy horse and accidentally invented the pegasus

VS.

Whatever Crowley had going on in medieval times

[mamawasatesttube]

BTW... PSA.... even if we arent mutuals if youre in my notes regularly theres a Very high chance i am still fond of you. yes im vaguing someones tags on the compliment the person u rbed this from post. but like. positive vaguing? THE POINT IS im weird abt following ppl but IM STILL SENDING U FOND VIBES...

[bigolialragu]

dungeon meshi as my favorite new girl scenes (and i change drawing process halfway through sshhh dont be scared its normal i swear)

[todoroki-tina]

Imagine being such a pathetic incel loser you are being roasted in multiple languages.

[tacosransi]

one cannot resist moth wife

[panthermouthh]

“Accursed creator! Why did you form a monster so hideous that even you turned from me in disgust?”

[keets-writing-corner]

Thinking a LOT about Lucifer in the latest Hazbin episode. Idk what I was expecting but not this??

As I was watching my immediate thought was just "huh... Lucifer is kinda of weird..." but as the episode went on I realized the issue

the dude is off the chain depressed, like he says it as a joke but holy cow it is SO BAD

He's manically just creating rubber ducks cuz his daughter really like it that one time but it's empty, it's never good enough but he keeps doing it, maybe cuz he doesn't know how to pass the time otherwise.

like I get the feeling he HAS better things he SHOULD be doing than making rubber duck after rubber duck. At first I was like, "Bruh why isn't the king of hell doing anything?" aaaaand then it became clear...

The dude is disassociating so bad he can barely hold a conversation let alone remember information. He clearly WANTS to, he wants to be involved with his daughter so bad, he wants to care about the things she's doing so bad, but his depression keeps interfering. It's like he can only hear every other word and he grasps onto the ones he does hear semi-out of context. Like you can see every time he catches something that he hadn't before and he just "well shit I didn't catch that part"

and that's why he reacts so weird when people talk to him. He is struggling so bad to engage with the conversation he's only getting 50% of it

does that look like the face of a man who knows what the hell the conversation is even about??? he is STRUGGLING

like Charlie spent so long telling him about the hotel, and he STILL didn't understand what she wanted. Yeah it comes off as ditzy but literally I've been in that position where your brain just "nope, not doing this right now" and nerfs your conversation comprehension. So as someone who's BEEN in that position, to me it feels exactly like what he's dealing with. He's sorta engaged with the conversation, but only as much as his brain will allow

For example, when I'm dealing with this, this is what someone talking to me feels like this where the crossed out parts are what I missed and bold is what I catch, "Hey! You know I was thinking for dinner we could either make some chicken with rice? But if you don't feel like cooking, pasta is super easy and you love that right? What do you want to do?" you can kinda get that someone is trying to talk to you about dinner, and towards the end you get the impression that they asked something that needs your input so you can decently put 2 and 2 together and try and pass off, but crucial bits were left out, I would have no idea that either chicken or pasta is in the conversation only having heard "rice". When someone is just talking at me, I can decently pass off as being engaged but the second I'm required to participate in the conversation I'm screwed. Seem familiar? At which point I have 2 options, try to give a bullshit answer, or admit that I missed what they were saying and ask them to repeat

Lucifer, unfortunately, is trying so damn hard to hide that he's dealing with like 24/7 dissociation, so he can't admit that he's missing entire chunks of the conversation, hence his really weird replies. He does eventually get the full picture and then he and Charlie start having the real conversation

Also, the Alastor/Lucifer rivalry was hilarious but also really indicative of more of what Lucifer is dealing with

Alastor is, unfortunately, really good at picking up people's insecurities, and thanks to Charlie's description earlier and watching Lucifer clearly trying to overcompensate, he immediately picks up on the fact that Lucifer KNOWS he struggles to be a good dad (we know cuz it's cuz of the depression, hard to be engaged when your brain keeps turning off) and decides to rub salt in the wound by pretending he's been acting as a surrogate father to Charlie. Now why Alastor decided to pick a fight with the king of hell is beyond me, I do not understand Alastor (and I LIKE IT) (maybe it's cuz Alastor thinks he's hot shit and was expecting Lucifer to at least have heard of him but Lucifer just treats him like a nobody? who knows)(why would Lucifer listen to radio anyways when he can't even pay attention to a conversation it'd just be white noise)

But yeah I just was expecting someone who oozed either charisma or presence and instead I got a depressed dad who's dissociating so bad he can barely function and be present in his life. The only thing it seems he CAN do is make rubber ducks cuz his daughter really liked it that one time

Idk Lucifer is tragic to me. Whatever the full details of what heavan did to him absolutely broke him and he can't deal with it. He's aware of it, and he doesn't know how to fix it, so he tries to over compensate and sorta makes an ass out of himself but no one says or does anything cuz this guy is supposed to be THE king of hell

Suddenly it's making a lot more sense why he just rolls over and lets heaven do what it wants and even told Charlie to go in his place the start of the show. He's not in any headspace to hold a basic conversation let alone negotiate! He didn't even know who Alastor was, he's been so out of touch

idk I like him, he seems sweet, I hope Charlie brings some light back into his life. He really needs to get out of that rubber duck room

[setaflow]

Gay pride happens in June and gay wrath happens whenever hbomberguy drops a 3+ hour video essay about a specific topic

[spicybeefu]

What if Pokemon & Animal crossing had a crossover game?! #5 Made in Blender, with ACNL assets.

[ravennowithtea]

Tumblr Top 3 for 2023

Links to original posts:

Three Panel Comic - Breakfast [link]

Happy Longest Night [link]

Gale & Tara [link]