The Off Topic Topic

[Ed Anger]

I'm taking a health related break. Be back....whenever.

[Valmy]

I'm taking a health related break. Be back....whenever.

Get better pal.

[Barrister]

I'm taking a health related break. Be back....whenever.

Don`t die on us Monkeybutt.

[Syt]

Take good care of yourself, Ed! 

[Syt]

https://yougov.co.uk/news/2016/11/16/trump-brexit-front-national-afd-branches-same-tree/

[Duque de Bragança]

I did not know that Marine had 63 % of votes. 

[Richard Hakluyt]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/nov/20/denmark--dark-side-of-hygge-trolls-killers

What's happening with hygge over there? Now 'uhygge' is the buzz word of the week. Krølle Bølle.

Nothing is happening re hygge at all in the real world as far as I know 

Just the usual media nonsense I suspect, maybe bearded hipster types in London go on about hygge.

[celedhring]

The Pope has authorized Catholic priests to give absolution to people involved in an abortion. (This was already in force for this year, but has now been made permanent).

I like this guy.

[Liep]

The Pope has authorized Catholic priests to give absolution to people involved in an abortion. (This was already in force for this year, but has now been made permanent).

I like this guy.

Mike Pence is going to instruct the CIA to fund a Vatican revolution.

[Zanza]

Drove this today, both on the autobahn and some hairpin curves in the Swabian Jura. 382 hp, race start function, cool engine sound. It's a silly poser car, but it's fun to have for a day. It was limited at 145 mph though due to winter tyres.

[Syt]

Christmas season has started, and with it, countless Christmas markets. After our office relocation the one at St. Charles Churchnext to the subway, which is one of the larger and nicer ones, is conveniently on our way after leaving work.

I went with colleagues today - I had a Glühwein, half a cheese bratwurst with bread, bread with Styrian bacon and hot raclette cheese ( ) and a fatty, freshly made pastry, all from different stands and for the low price of EUR 20.-

And I'm still hungry.

[Eddie Teach]

Random thought I had- could the Arab Spring be seen as a partial vindication of domino theory? 

[Zanza]

Germany's highest court has decided that the government must do everything to allow Edward Snowdon to safely stand as a witness in a parliamentarian committee that investigates the espionage against Germany by the Five Eyes participants. I wonder if they'll comply and if so, what they'll do in case Snowdon then does not want to leave...

[Duque de Bragança]

More fun with German Courts

http://www.expatica.com/de/news/German-court-acquits-sharia-police-members_836367.html

A German court on Monday ruled that a group of Islamists did not break the law in forming "sharia police" street patrols and telling people to stop drinking, gambling and listening to music.

The ultra-conservative Muslim group around German Salafist convert Sven Lau sparked public outrage with their vigilante patrols in the western city of Wuppertal in 2014, but prosecutors have struggled to build a case against them.

The city's district court ruled that the seven accused members of the group did not breach a ban on political uniforms when they approached people while wearing orange vests bearing the words "Sharia Police".

Judges said there could only be a violation of the law -- originally aimed against street movements such as the early Nazi party -- if the uniforms were "suggestively militant or intimidating", a court spokesman said.

In this case, they found that the vests were not threatening and noted that one witness said he thought the men were part of a bachelor party.

The same court had already thrown out the case last year, but was overruled on appeal by a higher court which agreed with prosecutors that the ban on uniforms could be applied in this case.

Monday's verdict is not yet final and may still be appealed.

The "sharia police" members walked the streets of Wuppertal in September 2014, telling nightclub-goers to refrain from drinking alcohol and listening to music, and arcade customers not to play games for money.

Lau, the organiser, is one of Germany's most controversial and best known Islamist preachers. He is currently on trial in a separate case on charges of backing "a terrorist group" fighting in Syria.

So-called "sharia patrols" by sometimes violent radical young Salafists have also been seen in other European cities such as London, Copenhagen and Hamburg.

[Admiral Yi]

Fucking Iowa state liquor distributor has no Calvados this year.