People would think that people learn from mistakes. People are mistaken.
About an hour ago, the Socialist Party’s head Gusenbauer announced the finalization of coalition talks with the People’s Party. Even though the SPÖ had the majority after last year’s elections, they have now handed over all the key resorts to the election losers headed by legendary mute chancellor Schüssel.
Key issues like free access to Austrian higher education and the anullement of the Eurofighter contract, as demanded by the SPÖ, have been either watered down to just about no change at all or have now miraculously disappeared from the coalition papers.
Oh well, goes to show that it’s really quite useless to vote for anything else than the Greens.
I don’t know about you, but I’d be hard pressed to find better things to do on the 1st of November than hanging out with friends at the cemetery and then devouring a gargantuan Schnitzel at one of the best places for that sort of activity here in Vienna.
So, that’s why I’m again posting pictures of gravestones and tombs, so you too can see that Vienna’s central cemetery holds enough photo ops for a lifetime (looming pun intended).
Click here for the whole set of pictures.
Well, here’s to me, and all the other people whose final votes brought the Greens to third place. Read all about it here (if you know German…if you don’t, look at the pictures, they tell the story too).
There are still enough people who voted for the far-right, but knowing that for the first time in history the Greens are third, right after the two major parties, really makes up for that. A bit.
So, here we are. The hegemony of the People’s Party is finally over. Yesterday more people voted for the social democrats than for Chancellor Schüssel and his unrelenting neo-liberal stooges. Which is a good thing.
Unfortunately, there is no such thing as a good thing without a bad thing. Ever. The Green party, which is basically the only sound party in this country, still only came in fourth after the deranged right-wingers of the Freedom party. More bad things even: the equally deranged and xenophobic, dysfunctional BZÖ has raked in enough votes to probably get into our parliament.
Why anyone would still vote for them is beyond me. Well, it’s not beyond me really. Knowing how much they manipulate by spreading fear and promising things like shooting every single foreigner who as much as farts in the presence of a genuine Austrian into outer space, probably turns some people’s brains into mush. And sends them voting.
Today was exceptionally sunny, unfortunately I missed half of that exception by sleeping well into the afternoon. That’s the sacrifice for depriving my body of sleep during most of the week.
I took a few pictures of my parents’ sunshine induced garden. Click here to see proof that I do in fact appreciate life out here in the provinces of our great little empire.
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