…in the year of election – what happens?


hillarytrump

Each year, on the Tuesday after the first Monday of November, The Americans elect their public officials. However, upcoming Tuesday 8 November is a special Election Day. Not only will the next President of the United States be elected, but also the new Members of the House of Representatives as well as one third of the Senators. Due to different election methods however, the party who wins the presidential elections does not automatically gains a majority in the two houses. This is what happens.

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Son of a bitch! – Virtue in politics (and the role of the media)

detarte

Recently, the headlines of the news have been dominated by all kinds of remarkable details regarding our politicians. However, they usually are not about the political ideas of the politicians or the party they represent, but rather about funny details and edgy characteristics. For instance, why is it so important that Hillary Clinton’s best friend was in a relation with a pervert? And why does Donald Trump keep emphasizing how successful and rich he is as a businessman? And why is the sexual orientation of the Dutch President more important than his liberal ideas on business? And how come that the news regarding the latest AESEAN summit was dominated by a silly remark of the President of the Philippines on Barack Obama, instead of the more pressing issues such as climate change and North Korea’s latest nuclear tests?

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Pikachu, get out of my garden! – can a virtual reality be the cause for damage compensation?

Picatchu

The worldwide phenomenon that is called Pokémon Go is not only an interesting hype from a sociological perspective, but also from a legal point of view. The virtual reality game seems innocent at first glance: people are trying to catch Pokémon on a sunny Sunday afternoon, and get some fresh air as a side effect. However, due to the fact that the players only pay attention to their smartphone, and not to their surroundings, some serious things have happened. These include traffic jams, car crashes, and even the loss of life. It is only a mater of time before the first court cases against the creators of Pokémon Go are filed.

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