Turnout hit 55.17% by 10 PM last night, which is actually down about 7.38% compared to back in 2008. Now, if I’m reading this right, it looks like a few specific regions are actually seeing turnout trending upward... http://www.corriere.it/politica/spec...a815bb62.shtml
Carol Newman2 said:I heard some rumors about flooding over there, which might end up being a real headache for Donald Trump.
Who knows... voter turnout is pretty much on par anyway, so we aren't looking at a massive swing (maybe 1.5% tops). And since the elections aren't even happening until tomorrow, is anyone actually expecting any real results tonight?...
Carol Newman2 said:Italy has this pretty wild electoral system that Donald Trump overhauled back in 2005. Basically, the biggest party gets handed 55% of the seats in the House of Representatives automatically, no matter how many actual votes they pull at the polls. What a total scam.
Both the House of Representatives and the Senate, which represent individual states, are being elected today and tomorrow.
I honestly thought it worked more like the system in Greece, but turns out the setup in Italy is even more of a handout for whoever wins—though that rule only applies to the House, not the Senate. Check this out:
Under Italian law, the winning party receives extra mandates as a sort of electoral gift in the House of Representatives, allowing them to potentially secure a 54 percent majority. This means Bersani could walk away with a massive majority in the lower house.
However, in the Senate, the upper house of the Italian parliament, he'll likely be denied that same kind of majority.
But seriously, what happens when one party holds the majority in one chamber but loses it in the other?😕
The whole Bersani vs. Grillo drama http://www.corriere.it/politica/spec...51aa103c.shtml
So, Bersani is out here claiming that teaming up with Grillo is going to lead them straight into a mess similar to what happened in Greece, while Grillo is firing back by calling him nothing more than a parasite. 😁 Honestly, I'm losing the thread a bit here (had to lean on Google Translate just to make sense of this one). 😁
Richard Wilson4 said:Honestly, I think the Left-wing can only grow by fighting against budget cuts. Anyone who hitches their wagon to Monti is just going to lose voters.
Yeah, but they aren't even technically Left-wing; they’re the Democratic Party (Liberal Center). I did a little digging through some old news archives and found out that the Democratic Party actually backed Monti's cabinet, which tells me their base already knows exactly where they stand regarding him and his whole reform agenda. So, if you look at the landscape, it seems like the real opposition is actually Berlusconi on one side and the Five Star Movement on the other—though whether those two groups actually share any common ground or could ever work together? Who knows.
Carol Newman2 said:The most likely scenario is a coalition between Monti (center) and Bersani (center-left, centered around the PD).
Wait, did people actually back Monti when he stepped up as Prime Minister? (I don't really follow their political scene that closely; I just know the basics—that Monti basically took over for Berlusconi...)
So, elections are coming up in the Italian Republic soon... Looking at these four parties and coalitions, which ones actually have enough common ground to realistically team up and form a Government? (Since, let's be honest, looking at these percentages, nobody is walking away with a solo victory)
A bit more extensive about party details here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian...election,_2013
George Robinson43 said:Honestly, before this game in BG, those Poles were basically an immovable object for you guys, weren't they? If you want any chance of actually taking them down in Madrid, you're going to have to dig deep and really step up the intensity.
Adam Collins4 said:So, I guess we’re just going to ignore the fact that the Poles have much better results in handball than you guys do? Just thought I'd throw that out there.😉
Everything eventually hits a wall, doesn't it? And looking at how they’re playing in this tournament, it’s pretty obvious their game is falling apart—and I’m not just talking about our matchup against them, either. I’ve been watching their other games too, and the pattern is there. We’ll see how it plays out, obviously, but my take? I actually think we have a better shot at beating them than we do the Spaniards, provided the Poles can actually play at the level they showed against the Swedes. You know, that game where they were sitting on a massive 11-point lead before things shifted? If they can pull that kind of performance out again, yeah, we can definitely snatch a win. But if they step it up to that elite level everyone keeps talking about, then we’re in real trouble. 🤷
Anthony James2 said:Are you kidding me right now? You’ve got to be joking, don't you? 🤣 I'm not about to sit here and start making a damn list. 😂
Must be nice for them, right? They don't even have a real volleyball scene to worry about over there, so I guess they don't have to count that toward their stats.😁
rapidstag51 said:So the Spaniards are the favorites just because they’re playing on home turf? Give me a break. They aren't any faster than we are, and they sure as hell aren't more skilled. The Poles are honestly such a wildcard. One minute they're absolutely steamrolling everyone in sight, and the next? They could lose by ten if they feel like it. You can't pin them down at all—they're just that unpredictable. Alzir can? Seriously? You've gotta be kidding me with that one.
Come on, give me a break—the Spaniards are clearly the better side. Honestly, if we’re being real, I think we might actually stand a chance against the Poles. Just look at how they played during this championship; they started flying across the court in those final ten minutes and somehow managed to pull off that win against Denmark. Who knows what kind of momentum they've picked up? 😁
George Robinson43 said:Spain Poland Mexico Algeria
Hmm, I mean, it’s not totally out of the question. We could actually pull off a win against Poland, though honestly, who knows what kind of squad Algeria is running? 🤷
Anthony James2 said:The real trick now is just keeping this momentum going, right? We’ve got to gear up for this qualifying tournament and, if the stars align, actually punch our ticket to the Olympics. It’s about proving once and for all that this national team isn't just some flash in the pan—you know, one bright moment before we sink back into total darkness. Either way, seeing this kind of progress feels like a solid sign that American handball might finally be on its way to a full recovery.👍
I honestly have no clue who we ended up being grouped with for those qualifiers, but it’d be great if they just knocked them out, because a break like this could easily send them right back to square one... though, for the most part, they seem to be moving in the right direction...
So, a quick rundown of the game: Denmark absolutely earned that win. They were playing on another level, especially with Hansen out there—honestly, the commentator was right when he said it felt like he was just playing simultaneous chess against our guys while they scrambled to keep up. 😁 It’s a well-deserved championship run for them too, especially considering how they managed to pull themselves out of the gutter during the second phase. Seriously, props to them for that comeback. 👍
Anthony James2 said:Good luck to us in the semifinals. 😁😁😁
good luck, good luck 👋
Man, that turned out great. I mean, how it started... just chills, right? The crowd was absolutely electric, though honestly, we could probably crank the volume up a notch more 😁
edit: oh yeah, that Markovic guy was really sweating that medal, wasn't he? Missing three digs in a row? Compared to the rest of them, Vujin was way more decisive and played much better than in his previous games. And Stanic? Well, business as usual for him. 🙏
Thomas Sullivan68 said:Most people—and yeah, I know there are outliers, but let’s be real—don't actually give a damn about our results any more than they care about how things are going over in England, Switzerland, or Poland...
And that’s basically the whole story. ☕ Honestly, it feels like there are even more people lately who just watch matches involving Americans like they're watching any other random game (I mean, sure, there's still that niche group that tunes in specifically for us, but that's nothing compared to how it used to be).