The Off Topic Topic

[The Brain]

There's no way in hell I'm clicking that.

[Admiral Yi]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obTpWaOI0jc

Many delightful outfits worn by climate change activists at G7 meeting.

[DGuller]

There's no way in hell I'm clicking that.

I clicked that.  It's just a comedy sketch. 

[Eddie Teach]

It's "humour".

[jimmy olsen]

My wife was playing a 60s playlist last night.  I asked her "Hey, man, is that Freedom Rock?"  She didn't get it.   

I played the ad for CB last night.  She asked me if it was a real ad or a parody.

All great songs

[The Larch]

From last night twitter, Romans were big softie pet owners:



Pet dogs in Ancient Rome (includes an incredibly tear-jerkery section on epitaphs from ancient dog graves): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vxlci1d2rOg

Random animal stories from Ancient Rome, including Augustus' fondness for "talking birds", Horme, the philosopher's dog, and bears being used as counter-siege measures: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDh2zGgVZzM

[Josquius]

Weren't Romans big on eating horse?

But ja. I remember the dog poem from Pompei

[The Larch]

Weren't Romans big on eating horse?

Not really. Meat was a luxury product in ancient Roman times, and apparently the most popular sources of meat was pork, followed by poultry, game and seafood.

[Syt]

Austria has one of the most restrictive laws for naturalizing immigrants in Europe. The social democrats have suggested a reform, which is 95% the same as Sebastian Kurz suggested when he was state secretary for integration of immigrants (e.g. possibility to get citizenship after 6 instead of 10 years).

Reaction from the ÖVP: "Leftist parties want to mass-naturalize 500,000 foreigners to change election outcomes!"

About 30% of adults in Vienna are not eligible to vote in federal and state elections because they're foreigners.

Currently you need 10 years of uninterrupted residency in Austria - 5 years for citizens of the EEC - plus the usual stuff (proof you can support yourself financially, proof you're well integrated, no criminal record etc.) then the immigration office can decide at their discretion to naturalize you. You're entitled to citizenship if you have 15 years (6 years for EEC citizens) of uninterrupted residency (plus the additional requirements). There are no fast tracks for children of foreigners born in Austria.

Recently a young woman had her citizenship application rejected. She was born in Austria (her parents are Serbian i.e. non-EEC), went to school here and university. She's a German teacher at a middle school. However, she spent a semester in Berlin, so her 10 year period reset. (In hindsight she should have applied for citizenship before going abroad, but it still seems silly esp. as the office questioned whether she was at all "well integrated".)

[Josquius]

Sounds like Switzerland.
My girlfriend's dad was born and raised in Switzerland to Italian parents. It wasn't until his 40s that he was able to get Swiss citizenship and then merely through being married to a Swiss citizen.
I used to work with a guy who was the same but with Spanish parents. The guy is Swiss.... but not.

They've been making some moves to change it in certain cantons but it remains dumb.
Luckily Switzerland doesn't do the reset if you leave the country thing and these days counts time when you're a kid as double.

[Syt]

Well, Switzerland is a bit more hardcore. IIRC some cantons have public municipal votes on awarding citizenship to people?

[Sheilbh]

Well, Switzerland is a bit more hardcore. IIRC some cantons have public municipal votes on awarding citizenship to people?

Didn't some woman get rejected because she was an animal rights activist who complained about cowbells or something?

[Josquius]

Yeah, there's that too.
You don't actually get Swiss citizenship when you nationalise. Rather you get citizenship of your municipality- which happens to carry the canton and thus Switzerland with it.
As I've posted before lots of the citizenship questions tend to be on super local stuff. A German guy I know was quizzed on what was written on the back of the village clock....

[DGuller]

The concept of not being a citizen of the country you were born in does sound strange to me, but apart from that, I think countries should have wide latitude on deciding how one joins the club (obviously unconscionable discrimination aside).  If you moved to the country as an immigrant, you knew the rules and chose to accept them.  The new club members will get to decide how the club is run, so it's reasonable for the existing club members to have a say without moral recriminations on how one goes about joining the ranks.

[The Larch]

Not giving citizenship to somebody born and raised in the country seems very unfair to me, it basically creates an underclass of non citizens that have artificial barriers to full citizenship set upon them. Regarding Switzerland, I read many years ago how their very restrictive process for achieving citizenship has not just 2nd generation but even 3rd generation inmigrants still not eligible for citizenship or not able to get it, which is ludicrous.