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flatdawgs

Certifiably Surly
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Posts posted by flatdawgs

  1. Portuguese elections are also tomorrow, although unlike in Romania and possibly Poland, there is no chance that the far right Chega (Enough) party will take power. This is a reprise of last year's election where the center-right coalition led by the PSD - Partido Social Democrata - is likely to retain power, perhaps with a gain of a seat or two at the expense of the center-left PS (Partido Socialista)* . This will likely result, again, in a minority government as the PSD will not go into coalition with Chega, who is expected to garner about 20% of the vote.

    Until recently, Portugal has resisted the authoritarian movements seen here and in much of Europe, but Chega has grown in strength and now can keep either major party from an outright majority, forcing minority coalition governments that are inherently less stable than what the country has seen in the 50 years since the fall of the clerico-fascist Salazar dictatorship. Even more alarming is the fact that amongst young voters, Chega leads. This trend is certainly not seen only in the US; it's becoming rampant in Europe as well.

    * - Despite the names, the PSD (Social Democrats) is center-right and the Socialists are center-left, and between the two have run the country since the Estado Novo dictatorship fell. The PSD is the only European party to still use the anti-fascist 3 Arrows symbol common among social democrats in the 1920s and 30s, despite now not being a social democratic party.

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  2. This is what I love about Surly... an old comment, question asked and answered three years later within an hour (and the pancakes sound great).

    OTOH, though I didn't know him personally, reading through this thread made me miss Lobo (and Anthony Bourdain). Plus we don't have Waffle House here and now I miss the one down the street from where I used to live in South Carolina, fondly and somewhat accurately called the Awful House. 

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  3. Returned home from sane Portugal* yesterday, and catching up with F1 from this past weekend saw a freaking ad with noted harridan and puppy killer Kristi Noem extolling ICE raids and the deportation of "100,000 criminals and terrorists" (sic) making us safer again under the enlightened leadership of Dear Leader. Dafuq? This looked like a fucking campaign ad but was directly from DHS. Our tax dollars hard at work, right, Elon? Fucking hell. If it wasn't Seattle I was returning to I'd have stayed in Tavira.

    *elections upcoming on the 18th; Chega - think MAGA, Reform UK, AfD - has banners up everywhere so we'll see

  4. On 4/30/2025 at 10:00 PM, Vegas64 said:

    I just went to the website cited and it looks like they are citing this, which seems to be to your point, not the same thing as citizenship:

    image.thumb.png.c104bbda4fa0857cdbc641ca1b07c876.png

    I'm very familiar with this process and have a Portuguese immigration attorney (and am actually in Portugal at the moment). First, residency indeed does not equal citizenship; you must be resident in Portugal, under the residency terms of the visa, for five years before either applying for permanent residency or for citizenship. Obtaining citizenship requires passing a proficiency exam in the Portuguese language. The benefit of the Golden Visa is that you are only required to be in country 7 days a year. If you can be in the country long enough to be a "tax resident" (183 days, I believe) then a visa like the digital nomad or passive income visas are far cheaper and faster to obtain.

    Second, Golden Visa investment requirements used to vary based on where the investment is made or to be used. Lisbon, Porto, and the Algarve, amongst other high-demand locales, required the maximum €500k whilst more rural areas allowed investments as low as €330k (IIRC; actually lower than that for some qualifying real estate investments for properties of a certain age). Now, real estate investments are basically out, including funds - as is the direct capital transfer option. You can still invest €500k in other types of funds or scientific research, or create a business employing 10 full-time people for a minimum of 5 years. The cheapest option is a donation of €250k into an approved arts program - but this is a donation, not an investment. I think only a handful of people have gone this route.

    If you're actually planning to move to Portugal, the Golden Visa probably wouldn't have been the best route anyway - it's really best for those who want to start the process but can't yet relocate.

    Boa sorte na sua busca! 

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  5. 2 hours ago, ztejas said:

    So it was a Monday as usual in Southern Europe. 

    that's why I'm here

     

    2 hours ago, Larry T. Spider said:

    Heaven?

    Close as I'll ever get....

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  6. Am in Tavira (southeastern Portugal), power went out about 11:30 am local and came back on about 45 minutes ago. Tavira is chill; some restaurants stayed open until it got too dark in the kitchens; other than that everyone just sat around outside drinking beer and wine (can't let it go bad, ya know). Local loja (bodega) run by Indian dudes had candles everywhere and a big sack of money to make change. As I mentioned, Tavira is pretty chill. Whole town cheered when the power came back on.

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  7. 2 hours ago, Underdog said:

    If you’re walking around without $3k cash on your person, how are you even allowed to post on Surly? 

    We have people for that. 

    1 hour ago, Prepuce of Doom said:

    Markwayne. 

    Get the fuck out of her with that cop-out of a name.

    Michaeljeff. Stuartkeith. Curtisfrank. 

    Truly a tragedeigh. 

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  8. 9 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

    Just noting the dollar continuing its free-fall.  It's now up to $1.33 to buy a GBP.

    Yes, for a dumbass like me that considered moving enough money for a home purchase to my account in Portugal in January when the Euro was $1.03 but wasn't quite ready, I'm reaaaaally enjoying seeing it close today at $1.14. I guess we're collateral damage at the leopard feast, but I can live with that as long as they keep feasting on all the deserving juicy faces they need to get through.

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  9. 8 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

    The difference being that UT is getting it from both Trump and state government.

    I'm not sure what legal remedies universities have against this, if any.  I'm not reading much about legal pushback on this.

    I thought about mentioning the state's role in this, but figured everyone here was already aware of that (and I'm certain it is a major factor - and it is definitely a difference between the two situations). That said, telling her that no other research university would be likely to interview her goes above and beyond what UT can or cannot do itself - at least for now.

    I've been curious about what can or can't be done legally in this matter as well, and also have heard very little around here about what the universities are trying to or can do. One thing they can avoid doing is kowtowing, since Columbia has shown us that bending the knee gets you nothing but a slightly delayed kick in the balls.

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  10. 43 minutes ago, Valmy77 said:

    I think they need to appeal to the people by calling for policies that better their lives. Those may just happen to be left wing ones.

    There are actually states in this country that have enacted many of those policies, have robust economic sectors from tech to ag to manufacturing to services, have some of the top performing economies in the nation, and whose voters continue time after time to elect members of the party that bring them that. Some even vote in these policies via the public. While none of them are perfect by any means, I don't know, maybe go to those places and find out how and why that's working?

    Or, ya know, I suppose we could just go back and talk to voters in some diner in Fail State about failure.

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  11. 6 minutes ago, Hank_Hill said:

    Yea the colonizers are just jealous the colonized are now the more wealthy country and that Brazilian pop culture dominates the Portuguese yutes. Mostly because their bundas aren’t as big tho. 

    Portuguese women are just fine, believe me... but daaaaamn, those bundas brasileiras!

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  12. 6 minutes ago, Hank_Hill said:

    Appreciate the sympathy. This is minor compared to what others (including yourself) are going through, but still sucks. She literally chose me over moving to Portugal in 2020 so hoping that doesn’t turn out to be the worst decision she ever made, ol fuckstain is making that look like a possibility.

    Nah, you're the better choice. The Portuguese like to make fun of Brazilians (probably jealous that Brazilian Portuguese sounds much better/more lyrical than European Portuguese). Even speaking my terrible Brazilian Portuguese in Portugal, I always get the "you speak Portuguese very well... for a Brazilian!" followed by peals of laughter. Of course, Portuguese people are great and it's all good-natured....

    (seriously, though, I hope for the best for you both and agree that right now might not be the best time for her to leave here) 🤬

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  13. 2 hours ago, Napoleon said:

    Good to know. 

    I am looking to get a Eurail pass tonight while they are still 15% off and need to figure out if I get a pass for 10 or 15 days over a 2 month period or just buy a full month or 2 month unlimited. The plan is to also visit a bit of Germany and then hopefully some Spain and dip into Portugal and France from there. 

    Big eyes, limited plans for now. 

    "Dipping into Portugal" by train is extremely challenging and has been since Covid, when both overnight trains from Spain (one from Madrid to Lisboa, the other from Hendaye at the French-Spanish border to Porto) were discontinued by the Spanish rail operator RENFE. You can still travel between the two countries but it takes multiple trains, some of them local services, either from Madrid via Badajoz to Lisboa or from the north via Vigo to Porto (normally requires an overnight in Vigo). Alternatively, there's a bus service (2 hours or so) from the Sevilla train station to Tavira and Faro in the Algarve, where you can connect by rail to the rest of Portugal. All of these are doable and fun if you love trains, but will take a bite out of your rail pass days. You'd probably want the unlimited pass to do that.

    Unfortunately, there is no longer Wrexham - Portugal direct service either, although one hopes this will change once the Premier League is attained.

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