Forgotten Hope Public Forum
Off-Topic => Off-Topic => Topic started by: Korsakov829 on 23-08-2013, 04:08:24
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Let's be honest here, the forum needs a news discussion thread otherwise it'll just end up where it doesn't really belong and spawn dozens of dedicated threads. Local, global, politics, conflicts, science, gardening, economics, whatever.
Starting off:
A cat in New Zealand needed a immediate blood transfusion, so it was donated by a dog on the spot.
http://www.khaleejtimes.ae/kt-article-display-1.asp?xfile=/data/international/2013/August/international_August435.xml§ion=international
Huge chemical attack in Syria, real game changer here.
WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES
http://gulfnews.com/news/region/syria/strong-indications-syria-government-behind-attack-1.1223114
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCVRhbNQ4nc
(Note: Kavkaz Center is a extremist website, but still a news site)
http://www.kavkazcenter.com/eng/content/2013/08/22/18193.shtml
The last of the Nixon tapes (that are known to exist) have recently been released.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323665504579026862918203726.html
Google's new gadget, FBI claims the key players of the group Anonymous have been taken down, and emoticons on Twitter are used to map happiness.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHIGLN8ggl4
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Wow, Syria is really bad guys VS. bad guys, and these images are so sad. But I still support Assad, he's the less worse one, and him staying on charge would be better for my country.
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It's been speculated that the cause was from the shelling of a chemical weapons depot of the sort, but there's no proof. I'm not glad it happened, I wish it didn't, but somebody is in trouble. New estimates of the dead are coming in, at about 1,700, the UN was also denied access to the site despite it practically being in view from where they're staying at. It'd be nice if the rest of the world got rid of Assad and the rebels.
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I really cant depict any future for Syria right now. Its really blurry, the future. Was it FSA or SA?
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US intelligence recently reported the Syrian chemical weapons sites (It's inhumane for them to exist in the first place and their existence is denied by the Syrian government) were busy before the attack. The area was heavily bombarded after the attack (Maybe to destroy evidence?) as well. The Syrian government is blaming the rebels and the rebels are blaming the government, most of the world blames the government and the rest blames the rebels. It was said that after this a diplomatic solution would be impossible.
But hey, the buildings damaged in this war means more room for oil fields at the end of it, eh?
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IDS HABBENINK
US says chemical weapons were "undeniably" used in Syria, al-Assad regime is "culpable" for this "moral obscenity", and White House is "considering a response".
Remove Bashar in 3... 2... 1...
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Yeah.. say hello to Islamic "Republic" of Syria.
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More jihadists, yeah, sure, why not.
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Yeah.. say hello to Islamic "Republic" of Syria.
Can´t believe that the people the West fought and still fights in other countries, like Iraq and Afghanistan, are being hailed as heroes and freedom fighters by us in Syria.
If we´ll get into this mess it´ll bite us back into our own asses in the near future. Especially with a growing numbers of "European" volunteers fighting together with thugs like the Al-Nusra Brigade and other Jihadi units. We should stay the hell out of this religiously justified proxy war between the Sunni Gulf States and Shia Iran. It´s their fight, not ours.
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Yeah.. say hello to Islamic "Republic" of Syria.
Can´t believe that the people the West fought and still fights in other countries, like Iraq and Afghanistan, are being hailed as heroes and freedom fighters by us in Syria.
If we´ll get into this mess it´ll bite us back into our own asses in the near future. Especially with a growing numbers of "European" volunteers fighting together with thugs like the Al-Nusra Brigade and other Jihadi units. We should stay the hell out of this religiously justified proxy war between the Sunni Gulf States and Shia Iran. It´s their fight, not ours.
Well said.
After Assad has been cleared out of the way by an intervention, those jihadi's will start fighting the "liberators" because they "occupy" their country. This will probably spark off a wave of terrorism attacks in pretty much every country in Europe and America. It might even come to an all-out civil war. All because Obama and Cameron couldn't keep their warmongering paws off.
World police, my arse! >:(
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Yeah.. say hello to Islamic "Republic" of Syria.
The "Islamic Republic" (Iran) supported the Assad regime, a fellow Shiite but a bit more secular because of their Ba'athist background. The other Shiite party in this is Hezballah which is nesting in Lebanon and quite fundamentalist. The rebel supported by US is Sunni, the majority of the populace. Some of which are die-hard fanatics.
Overturning the balance? When in Iraq, US toppled a secular Arab nationalist Sunni-government (also a Ba'athist) with unclear current Shiite-dominated government.
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Yeah.. say hello to Islamic "Republic" of Syria.
Hello
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The "Islamic Republic" (Iran) supported the Assad regime, a fellow Shiite but a bit more secular because of their Ba'athist background. The other Shiite party in this is Hezballah which is nesting in Lebanon and quite fundamentalist. The rebel supported by US is Sunni, the majority of the populace. Some of which are die-hard fanatics.
Overturning the balance? When in Iraq, US toppled a secular Arab nationalist Sunni-government (also a Ba'athist) with unclear current Shiite-dominated government.
Are you implying that Shiites can´t run a country without said country turning into an extremist cesspool?
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It is actually quite the contrary, and depends on how you look at it. But I am saying that you got to look at the geopolitical map of the region and understand which country support each other:
Saudi Arabia: a Sunni-dominated kingdom, very strict with Islamic codes, a lot of restrictions for non-Muslim and woman alike. They are very troublesome, but is a very close USA ally.
Iran: a Shiite ruled theological Republic, Islam is the main ideology of the country, however there is much more freedom for women and non-Muslim, including Iranian Jews (which get reserved seat in the parliament). However, they are much hated by USA.
Iraq, Syria, and Bahrain is quite an irony. The natural balance in Iraq has been restored by US invasion, so the Shi'a majority now rules the country. Syria is on the wait. While Bahrain, the Shi'a dominated country, but under Sunni rule, is still unknown. The last major protest was violently silenced with the help of Saudi Arabia.
Now about the Sunni-Shi'a thing. I never knew they were such a serious issue to predominantly Sunni Indonesia until I saw and heard it on my own. So my typically liberal best friend, who is a Muslim and have a quite deep knowledge in it, but love anything hipster and somehow enjoys pork chops. He has a seemingly bitter view of Shi'a scholar views. I can't really fathom that even the most liberals of Sunni people can reserve such hatred towards seemingly bunch of innocent people.
The problem mainly lies in one of the five pillars of Islam itself: that you have to testify that Prophet Mohammad is the last Prophet of God, and there is nobody else. In Shi'a, this confession sentence is added with reference to Imam Ali, one of the first Caliphs, cousin of Mohammad, which married one of Mohammad's daughter and according to Shi'a disciples, are the legitimate Imam (spiritual leader) of all Muslims. So much praise goes to Imam Ali, that many Muslims questioned whether the Shiites worship this figure, which an act of heresy in Islam teaching.
Many regular Muslims doesn't want the Shiite to refer themselves as Muslims, since the Sunnis regard that the Shi'a teachings are misleading. Last year, there was a riot in one of Indonesia's remote village. The target was a Shi'a mosque, razed and burned to the ground, because they are accused of spreading false Islamic teachings.
Recently on my Facebook page, some of my friends started to discuss about Shi'a teachings spreading to Indonesia, due to our ignorance with Iran's seemingly defiant attitude towards Western hegemony. They talk a lot of how Shi'a followers tried to blend-in in regular mosque and how their prayer book contains no reference at all to Mohammad (as the last Prophet), but only to Ali and his family. And about how they avoid discussion by being taqiya (pretending to conform).
I never regard the conflict seriously, since I never experience it life, but when I saw one Shia family house being surrounded by angry mobs, now I realised. Probably it is not just the Syrian people unleashing whatever they hate about Al Assad, but probably their religious fervor as well.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hk35suofbYQ
What in the name of all the gods... damn the CIA! Once again they've messed the world up beyond that of which I originally thought they already did.
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Man, thing in syria are pretty fucked (Worse than i imagined)
Video released by the rebels shows a attack on a antiaircraft battery. (No gore/blood video)
The Video (http://terratv.terra.com.br/Default.aspx?cid=483445)
Roughly translated by me bitches
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The "Islamic Republic" (Iran) supported the Assad regime, a fellow Shiite but a bit more secular because of their Ba'athist background. The other Shiite party in this is Hezballah which is nesting in Lebanon and quite fundamentalist. The rebel supported by US is Sunni, the majority of the populace. Some of which are die-hard fanatics.
Overturning the balance? When in Iraq, US toppled a secular Arab nationalist Sunni-government (also a Ba'athist) with unclear current Shiite-dominated government.
Are you implying that Shiites* can´t run a country without said country turning into an extremist cesspool?
* Shiites funded and armed by Al-Quaeda and other terrorrist groups
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* Shiites funded and armed by Al-Quaeda and other terrorrist groups
That´s funny. Al-Qaeda is a Sunni organisation. Why would they support a Shia insurgency, especially when AQI is known to target and kill Shiites?
These guys are also fighting in Syria as part of the "opposition" right now, together with their "brothers" of the Jabhat Al-Nusra Brigade and other hardcore Salafi and even Djihadi fighters whose goal is a pure Sunni "Caliphate" where there´s no place for apostates and other infidels....just pointing that out...
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Yes, everybody must know that Al-Qaeda and all of its operatives are hardcore Sunnis. While in the other hand, the Hezbollah is Shia. One is a perfect terrorist organization, the other is armed organized military thugs nesting in somebody's country (Lebanon). The Lebanese government are practically powerless.
These guys are also fighting in Syria as part of the "opposition" right now, together with their "brothers" of the Jabhat Al-Nusra Brigade and other hardcore Salafi and even Djihadi fighters whose goal is a pure Sunni "Caliphate" where there´s no place for apostates and other infidels....just pointing that out...
Yeah, but how big are the Salafist and Wahabs compared to the "normal" FSA guys in composition?
Are you seriously counting on the 12% Alawites (including the Assads family), which according to even most pork-eating liberal Sunnis are already heretic? Syria is Sunni-dominated country just like Iraq is Shia-dominated country.
I don't really want the rebel to win that bad or the government too. But after US handed over Iraq to the Shiite, now to please the rest of their Arabian peninsula allies, they could undo the mistake by let the numbers play: let the dominant rules, means give the Syria to the Sunnis.
It is just a speculation. But Iran won't stay quiet when they are losing allies. Bahrain, which is only 10% Sunni (and ruling) might be raised by Iran.
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Man, thing in syria are pretty fucked (Worse than i imagined)
Video released by the rebels shows a attack on a antiaircraft battery. (No gore/blood video)
The Video (http://terratv.terra.com.br/Default.aspx?cid=483445)
Roughly translated by me bitches
Damn the guy with the big-ass afro of hair at the end looked right at the missile.......
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Yeah, but how big are the Salafist and Wahabs compared to the "normal" FSA guys in composition?
Big enough to not only pose a threat to the people they´ve "liberated", but also big enough to become a potential danger for the West. Hence my hesitations to support these "rebels". What they´re aiming for is not a multi-cultural Syria where you´ve got different religions and peoples living in one state as it has been before, but a Sunni Shariah ruled pseudo-caliphate that also serves as training ground for homegrown western Djihadists. Already there´s a big number of these people gaining combat experiences. Imagine a Mumbai-2008 scenario, comitted by these veterans in any major western town...
I don't really want the rebel to win that bad or the government too. But after US handed over Iraq to the Shiite, now to please the rest of their Arabian peninsula allies, they could undo the mistake by let the numbers play: let the dominant rules, means give the Syria to the Sunnis.
That´s not how politics should work.I agree, Iraq has been a major fuck-up but sacrificing another countries minorities to appease to a local majority can´t be the solution we´re looking for. Feels pretty Treaty-of-Lausanne-like to me and it honestly gives me the shivers to think that you want to justify the murder and displacement of people who follow the "wrong" teachings and at the same time calling that "undoing mistakes".
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I don't really want the rebel to win that bad or the government too. But after US handed over Iraq to the Shiite, now to please the rest of their Arabian peninsula allies, they could undo the mistake by let the numbers play: let the dominant rules, means give the Syria to the Sunnis.
That´s not how politics should work.I agree, Iraq has been a major fuck-up but sacrificing another countries minorities to appease to a local majority can´t be the solution we´re looking for. Feels pretty Treaty-of-Lausanne-like to me and it honestly gives me the shivers to think that you want to justify the murder and displacement of people who follow the "wrong" teachings and at the same time calling that "undoing mistakes".
And, vice versa, how about the killings of the majority of the people who oppose the regime? You are just speaking from the standpoint of "security of the Wests." Most of these peace-loving Shiites will probably find refuge in many western countries I am sure.
My take on this conflict is: It is internal conflict, let them sort it out for themselves. And let their coward neighbouring Arabian peninsula countries swallow all the bitter pills.
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I personally feel that no matter what a nation or its people have done they should all be helped, bystanders should not have to suffer for what people do to each other, that includes the USA if anything bad should ever happen to their people.
More news:
Newly declassified CIA files show that the US government of the time gave Saddam Hussein's Iraq information on Iranian troop movements, completely aware that chemical weapons would be used on the Iranians in 1988.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2402174/CIA-helped-Saddam-Hussein-make-chemical-weapons-attack-Iran-1988-Ronald-Reagan.html
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/08/cia-files-us-aided-iraq-with-iran-gas-attacks.html
Domestic violence in Saudi Arabia has finally been outlawed.
http://www.france24.com/en/20130829-saudi-arabia-outlaws-domestic-abuse-women-violence
Being impoverished may actually decrease concentration, etc.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/08/130829145125.htm
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I personally feel that no matter what a nation or its people have done they should all be helped, bystanders should not have to suffer for what people do to each other, that includes the USA if anything bad should ever happen to their people.
Agreed on that. But, quoting one Syrian woman who is taking refuge in Lebanon: "We already received enough bombings, now USA wants to bomb us too?"
Are they seriously thinking about raining down more explosives on the "targeted" military installments will serve as effective punishment to the Syrian regime for their use of chemical weapons?
If the rebel wins, what will happen to the civilian of Shia minorities? If the government wins, the same question goes to the rebels and Sunni majorities. What we need right now is to stop the violence and harbor peaceful negotiations, force them to find diplomatic resolution.
But it seems that they throwing fuel into the fire here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-22906965
More news:
Newly declassified CIA files show that the US government of the time gave Saddam Hussein's Iraq information on Iranian troop movements, completely aware that chemical weapons would be used on the Iranians in 1988.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2402174/CIA-helped-Saddam-Hussein-make-chemical-weapons-attack-Iran-1988-Ronald-Reagan.html
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/08/cia-files-us-aided-iraq-with-iran-gas-attacks.html
Nothing new, but has just become relevant because of Syrian chemical attacks.
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My take on this conflict is: It is internal conflict, let them sort it out for themselves. And let their coward neighbouring Arabian peninsula countries swallow all the bitter pills.
100% agreement here. I just can´t see any "good" way of sorting out this conflict, tbh. Both extreme alternatives, either a rebel or a government victory, will mean more victims, more refugees, more destruction and more discontent. Syria and its people is being torn apart by the two big players, Shia Iran and Sunni Saudi-Arabia/UAE/Qatar etc. and except for taking care of those who were displaced I can´t think of anything the West could do to improve the situation of those involved.
It just really, really sucks...
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Yea. How is a religious as well as politically motivated war like that gonna end? It does not matter what kind of government gets maybe established in some years, there will be a huge part of the population aggressively against it anyway. I currently just don't see how that civil war is going to stop anytime soon as there seems to be no way to find something they agree on. And now so many are dead and there are so many stories of people who have lost their friends and relatives who are full of hate now. Stuff like the 1300 years old Sunni mosque being destroyed in Aleppo by Assad troops just does not make things better and the hate between Shiite and Sunni might be on this level it now is for decades in Syria.
Therefore I don't even understand what Western countries want to achieve in Syria. An additional party would join the war and suffer nothing but unnecessary casualties. What do you guys think, do the Western countries really push on finally getting involved into the war, or do they actually try make the strike short and then are fine with getting out of it as fast as possible again?
I see it might be beneficial to establish an unagressive and stable neighbour for Israel, but I don't even think that is possible on the military way right now anyway. The only thing that would make a little sense to me would be UN peacekeeper troops that stabilize the situation, because if anyone it's them who might get somewhat respected by the parties, but even that is probably way too late now and not possible anyway.
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Send in peacekeepers? No, it's way, way, waaaay beyond that point now. The western world should keep their hands well off, I agree. Military intervention is useless anyway. They can't attack the chemical weapons facilities, because the gases would kill anyone in a five-mile radius, any military installation, like mobile command posts, can and probably will be replaced by the Russians for (very nearly) free if any are destroyed.
A 1300 year old conflict turned the middle East into a smoking shithole. Keep out. Just keep out.
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The King Solomon's wisdom.
The west did that a lot. Kosovo-Serbia, Montenegro-Serbia, Pakistan-India, East-West German, etc.
So create one Syria for Sunnis and another Syria for the Shiites.
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http://www.examiner.com/article/breaking-news-rebels-admit-gas-attack-result-of-mishandling-chemical-weapons
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http://www.examiner.com/article/breaking-news-rebels-admit-gas-attack-result-of-mishandling-chemical-weapons
Well, maybe the interview is fake! Even so, it was an accident.
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Moscow mayoral election, 33% turnout. Sobyanin 51.37%, Navalny 27.24%, Melnikov 10.69%, Mitrokhin 3.51%, Levichev 2.79%, Degtyaryov 2.68%.
Have to agree with Navalny though, 51% with inconsistencies is quite commonplace for rigged elections.
It's somewhat funny and I've noticed it for some time, some 60%+ of Melnikov's voters are older than 40.
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Barely passing... but you got to scratch that itch.
I don't understand Russian politics, but it seemed that quite a number of people hated Putin, but not strong enough to actually depose him from elections.
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Putin does have a few genuine supporters. Since not many people went to vote though, you can tell they saw how it would end. I was really hoping for a change because there's supposed to be a motion of no confidence going down against the state, and if half the State Duma (226 of 450) passes it (twice if need be) then it'll be the end of Putin, Medvedev, and all their lot. Economic policies haven't really changed in 10 years, state property is going to foreigners, the sciences are in decline, corruption is spreading, freedom is being limited. Yet since it was the KPRF (Communist Party of the Russian Federation) that started this initiative it's being shot down despite necessity, and you don't even hear of these things in mainstream news which is heavily controlled.
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The mainstream news (CNN, NBC, Bloomberg, and all that western hemisphere shits) tell me that: Russia is now at semi-ultranationalistic state. Putin allying with the Orthodox Church has caused a lot of repression and "freedom."
No mention regarding properties going to foreigners, though. But that's how it's always been, even in Indonesia, or even in United States (everything is like made in China there), or even Britain (look at their car industries), the Finns finally tasted it when Nokia is taken over by US software giant Microsoft. To mention this as your own problem is kinda narrow-viewed. It is a global problem of criss-crossing ownership of something.
All in all, I believe the mainstream media is pretty much saying what you said, since my sources (BBC, Reuters, even the most hated Time-CNN) agreed. Even this NY Times opinion column is too strong worded for me: http://latitude.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/09/russias-rigged-election-game/?_r=0
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(https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc3/1175305_563596243690161_788789152_n.jpg)
People in Damascus celebrating Al-Assad's birthday.
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Well I guess some people are crazy enough to be fine with 40+ years of leadership under the Assad family. Not many people smiling though, looks more like an unpleasant chore.
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Human chain of more than one million people in Catalonia who want independence from Spain.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/09/us-spain-catalonia-idUSBRE9880H320130909
Never expected something like this to come from Spain of all places.
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Well I guess some people are crazy enough to be fine with 40+ years of leadership under the Assad family. Not many people smiling though, looks more like an unpleasant chore.
I guess many just do because they are supposed to do and because they fear being suspected to be a rebel supporter. And then there are people who earn good money in Assads regime.
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Add to that 12% of Syria's Alawite minority who feared of backlash, which can be followed by religious persecution against these "heretics".
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Human chain of more than one million people in Catalonia who want independence from Spain.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/09/us-spain-catalonia-idUSBRE9880H320130909
Never expected something like this to come from Spain of all places.
I hate it wen there are independences like this... its like everywone whana make their own independent country...
Maybe in the future, people will own like 10 metters of territory, and will start to beatup eachother´s 10 metters to they may build territory (im beind superficial of course)
Its ridiculous eigther way :-\
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Did your brain do a sound when it broke?
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It must have sounded like this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBlbMCW1US0
Anyway, small countries are quite silly, there is no doubt of that fact. If substantial autonomy can be applied, it should be preferable in lieu of smaller countries.
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Did anyone else get the news that they found plague in a village in Kazakhstan?
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Did anyone else get the news that they found plague in a village in Kazakhstan?
People die of the plague all the time still, nothing special.
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So "Black Death" didnt end?
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Actually plague is not a "glamourous" disease anymore. That spot has been taken up By AIDs, Ebola and the like. It is still a large killer in many, many parts of the world, especially in areas without good sanitation and/or pest control.
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It's no surprise the plague is still going on in central Asia, just a few months ago it was reported in Dagestan.
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A new island off the coast of Pakistan.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YodY1V0VBM
(Urdu)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-24272552
(English)
I felt the earthquake that caused it, things started shaking, building was evacuated.
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Just wow. :o
I mean, how to find an appropriate headline for this? It could be like 'bikers beat family father into coma for nothing'.
Move along if this is old news for you, but for me it wasn't.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2438620/Shocking-video-Range-Rover-crashing-bikers-surround-vehicle-annual-street-ride.html (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2438620/Shocking-video-Range-Rover-crashing-bikers-surround-vehicle-annual-street-ride.html)
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=319_1380522846 (http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=319_1380522846)
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Yes I had heard of it, they slashed him in the face. To be honest it's the bikers fault the range rover hit their bike, that's just what happens when you drive 3m in front of a vehicle and slow down.
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one does not simply run away from a Street bike on highway...
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-24365639
other news, from the Simpsons this time
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I wonder who it will be.
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I saw that.Hope it's not Krusty,Mr Burns or Grandpa.
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Ouch.
Oregon State Trooper Shooting: Deadly Police Shootout on Busy Highway Oregon State Police Shooting (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-L8wPiUxVU0)
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Guantánamo Bay: The Hunger Strikes - video animation (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmquIsGON80)
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Banksy stall sells art works for $60 in New York (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-24518315)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zX54DIpacNE (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zX54DIpacNE)
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What Banksy did was inspiring.
Also funny how people can't see through the disguise of thousands of pounds/dollars.
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Also funny how people can't see through the disguise of thousands of pounds/dollars.
To be honest, i think most corner artists their work is a lot nicer than what i saw in modern-art musea. For example a Mondriaan, i don't get why it would be worth millions of euros by the looks. In my opinion, you can't see the value of art, it's just what the "artspecialists" often make of it that makes the valuable. ofc i know very little about art, so you can probably see some differences if u kno a lot about art, but i don't think Average Joe does. I love banksy, but i don't think people would pay thousands of dollars for his work if he wasn't known on the internet and in the media.
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Art appraisal is very complex, there are many factors but quality of the work itself is rarely one of them. It's more about age of the piece, popularity and demand, the price of other pieces at auction of similar topics or styles, and so much more. Liquidity is important. Because of what Banksy has now done he has made his original and authentic work much easier to get a hold of, therefor the laws of valuation kick in, the price of pieces by him and similar genres and styles of his work has probably by now taken a hit. If you ask me he has inadvertently angered some people trying to make money even though he doesn't have any direct connections to such people. If he sees what he has done, the smart thing for him to do right now is just stop trying to sell his work for a time then the price should gradually return to normal. This is why it's important news in the art world, it causes a chain reaction.
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Brazil, full video.Thief shot trying to steal motorcycle. (http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=06f_1381668990)
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I guess the kid got what he was asking for.
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Indeed, I can't feel sorry for that thief at all. Pwned.
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Karma.
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http://news.yahoo.com/former-nsa-chief-caught-spilling-secrets-on-amtrak-212959722.html (http://news.yahoo.com/former-nsa-chief-caught-spilling-secrets-on-amtrak-212959722.html)
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At least 2 killed in shooting outside Athens Golden Dawn office (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4448367,00.html)
Well Civil war here we go...
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Bah, fascists had it coming.
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New Blackbird coming :D
http://rt.com/usa/lockheed-announces-sr72-spy-drone-112/
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Chinese products found in russia containing wlan hardware to infect PCs in unprotected wlans nearby.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-24707337
http://www.rosbalt.ru/piter/2013/10/22/1190990.html
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(http://www.titanic-magazin.de/uploads/pics/131104_Kristall.jpg)
Sauna until midnight with romantic candlelight ambience.
Might sound good, but doing a "Kristallnacht" event on the ninth of november is not the most sensible thing a german could do. :-\
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kristallnacht (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kristallnacht)
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I bet that company gets a lot of love letters.
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Finally some good news from the Congo
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-24826258
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Good for the Congo, bad for neighboring countries.
Damned proxy wars...
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http://kotaku.com/the-sun-sets-for-good-on-the-blockbuster-night-1459698265
Like blockbuster is gone, yo
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http://www.salon.com/2013/11/04/potential_senate_candidate_david_barton_explains_how_abortion_caused_climate_change/
..together, the two worked out this basic sequence of events to explain their alternative theory of climate change:
1. America voted in politicians who support abortion rights.
2. In so doing, we “opened the door to the curse,” which includes floods, tornadoes, murder and pedophilia.
words fail to describe the stupidity. :-\
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http://www.salon.com/2013/11/04/potential_senate_candidate_david_barton_explains_how_abortion_caused_climate_change/
..together, the two worked out this basic sequence of events to explain their alternative theory of climate change:
1. America voted in politicians who support abortion rights.
2. In so doing, we “opened the door to the curse,” which includes floods, tornadoes, murder and pedophilia.
words fail to describe the stupidity. :-\
Basically he wants to increase efforts on praying and worshipping god in order to solve mundane problems. This isn't really new. Critics say that many muslim societies have been stuck in their cultural development due to this for hundreds of years.
If this principle is about to be implemented onto a country, its society will severely suffer. Thus he obviously wants to harm his society deliberately. People that deliberately want to harm societies are considered terrorists. Thus he is a terrorist and requires detention in Guantanamo Bay. Case solved. Thanks for your attention.
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B.b..b.b...but where is that "two swords" doctrine?
Are they real Christians or just "my own interpretation smartass Christians? They need to be labelled heretic and put into detention. You have failed big time 'Murica!
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fERbEUG01Uw
America, always pissing me off first thing in the morning! It's times like this when I wish I had left the computer off for a single day.
Can't say how credible the story is though since it's coming from RT.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fERbEUG01Uw
America, always pissing me off first thing in the morning! It's times like this when I wish I had left the computer off for a single day.
Can't say how credible the story is though since it's coming from RT.
It is just Kaspersky telling people a funny story on a press conference. The story is about virus distribution at extraordinary places. Such as the Stuxnet in an offline russian nuclear powerplant or W32.Gammima.AG on the ISS. I think it is not really considered a malicious attack by the USA on Russia.
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Well, the infection on the ISS was already reported in 2008. http://www.universetoday.com/17326/has-the-first-extraterrestrial-computer-virus-been-discovered-on-the-space-station/
And I also don´t think the infected nuclear plant in russia was a deliberate attack by USA towards russia. More likely, they just lost control over stuxnet right from the start. I would expect it to get a problem for US based industry as well sooner or later. Of course, darpa or whoever created it, could provide instructions to local insustries to protect against it. But thanks to capitalism, a whole lot of them won´t put any money into early prevention, even if they could, so yeah, they pretty much screwed themselves as well.
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So, apparently Best Korea continues its unpredictable antics and arrested a 85-year old American war veteran on a tourist visit just minutes before he managed to leave the country. If they wanted to turn the US popular opinion even more against them, they could not have picked a better target (except killing a puppy in a live broadcast).
FREEDOM INTENSIFIES when?
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So, the recent blow up of Australian spying incident has come to this:
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/1472034_10151836035978212_1414306579_n.jpg)
SBY: I will report this to UN! Abbott: Doesn't matter
SBY: I will tell USA! Abbott: Whatever! That's my ally anyway!
SBY: Hello Nusakambangan Prison, quickly release Abubakar Ba'asyir! Abbott: Slow down sir, we'll talk through this nicely.
News:
Tony Abbott braces for Indonesia Spy Row to Spread to Other Asian Nations (http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/policy/tony-abbott-braces-for-indonesia-spy-row-to-spread-to-other-asian-nations/story-fn59nm2j-1226766467143#mm-premium)
Who hasn't spied on us? It is just the parliament making a big fuss of it. I've always thought that the US, UK, China, India, Japan, or maybe Russia are constantly voyeuring on us. So Snowden's revelation is nothing new to me.
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Is it true Angola actually banned Islam?
oh my god and I thought there was no country worse than Turkey xD
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China unilaterally declares that its air defence zone extends to Senkaku Islands (which have been claimed by Japan since 1895, PRC recognized them as part of Japanese territory in the 70's, which prompted ROC to troll them by declaring the islands belonging to Taiwan instead). US promptly trolls China by sending B-52's for an unannounced visit in the contested airspace.
IDS HABBENINK 2.0: Electric Boogaloo when?
A cynic would say that this is just PRC government trying to set a favourable precedent to back China's much more shaky claims in the Spratly Islands, possibly also to attract the Chinese people's attention away from domestic issues. However, we are talking about the country that had regimental-level clashes with another nuclear power (Soviet Union) over some frakking semi-submerged sandbanks in the middle of the Ussuri river...
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Is it true Angola actually banned Islam?
oh my god and I thought there was no country worse than Turkey xD
I don't see that exactly as bad. Here in Czech Republic, we have rather small muslim community. Very few mosques. Yet there are already leaked videos from half of the mosques about local immams preaching hate. I have yet to see/hear about at least one good thing within Islam. But i hear/read about bad stuff done by muslims every day.
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Not only hate towards others, but amongst themselves as well.
In the tip of Indonesia's northwestern most province, we have Aceh, now an autonomous region of provincial level. This is a massively fundamentalist society, the only province to exclusively ditch our national ideology and used Shari'a doctrine instead. There are many news and stories amongst Muslims about life there, we are not yet touching the fanatic part, but a regular mosque.
The use of loudspeaker to broadcast call to prayer, sermons, syi'ar, and Quran verse reading are getting out of hand here. It wasn't part of religious activity until the invention of amplifier and speaker, a technology that was non-existent back in the Prophet's time (should be considered heretic, fundamentally). So they were recently installing and pointing this speaker at the direction of an eldery Hajj's house, in some Acehnese village. He is suffering from heart disease. He can't get enough rest as his doctor had prescribed him. He politely requested the volume to be turned down or the direction of the speaker to be changed. All of his requests were refused, so he complained to the council backed with many religious reasons (the use of loud speaker is not mandatory). But the council refused, because of pressure from the groups.
One day, he had enough and arbitrarily change the direction of the speaker by himself. Later, he was visited by mobs of regular disciples from that mosque. It did not escalate into violence but the mob was already very aggressive towards the Hajj and his family. Witness reported one voice chanting "kill!" That was a reaction from religious people who studied his religion deeply. The Imam did nothing besides reinforcing their protests.
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China unilaterally declares that its air defence zone extends to Senkaku Islands (which have been claimed by Japan since 1895, PRC recognized them as part of Japanese territory in the 70's, which prompted ROC to troll them by declaring the islands belonging to Taiwan instead). US promptly trolls China by sending B-52's for an unannounced visit in the contested airspace.
IDS HABBENINK 2.0: Electric Boogaloo when?
A cynic would say that this is just PRC government trying to set a favourable precedent to back China's much more shaky claims in the Spratly Islands, possibly also to attract the Chinese people's attention away from domestic issues. However, we are talking about the country that had regimental-level clashes with another nuclear power (Soviet Union) over some frakking semi-submerged sandbanks in the middle of the Ussuri river...
The plots sounds familiar ... hmmm lemme think... yes I got it ==> Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising (2009), replace Russia with Japan.
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^ That game felt awkward. The handling was neither ArmA nor FPS but some strange mixture. Story line seems legit though ;D
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http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/german-police-develop-app-to-curb-neonazi-music-a-936711.html
Oh Germany...
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Brazil decided to choose for Saabs
http://rt.com/news/brazil-nsa-defense-contract-454/
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Sign language interpreter at Nelson Mandela's memorial was a fake.
The man stood on stage with nearly 100 heads of state, including President Barack Obama, who all gave speeches to honor Mandela, and was actually interpreting nothing, making unintelligible signs.
It's still unclear how the unidentified man was able to get on the memorial's stage and begin his translation charade. Druchen notes that the same man has been caught doing this before. According to the AP, sign language frauds are common in South Africa. People who know a few signs try to pass themselves off as professionals to make some quick cash, and those who are hiring interpreters usually don't know sign themselves, so they are unable to detect a fake from a professional.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpPvGP_GUXs
Incredible. Apparently McDonalds performs more in-depth background checks than South Africa.
::)
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South Africa is a backwater place now. No different than other unsafe place you can think of in African continent. I think Kenya is way better.
So, my colleague's friend, a Taiwanese, just landed in Joburg, board his pick up service and onto the highway. Suddenly, the car experienced a problem and the driver pulled into emergency lane. So, they get out from the car, while his girlfriend trying to hitchhike a ride. One van stopped, pulled her in, and dashed away. It is a human trafficking syndicate. He lost his girlfriend forever, the police still couldn't find her after 2 years, maybe she was sold to some other African countries already. It was back in 2009. People suspected that they have been spied once they arrived in the departure hall. The gangs spotted unwary tourists and followed them, waiting to catch them off-guard.
South African highway has a lot of carjackers as well, people lining up in the roadside pretending to catch a ride carries weapons that they will use to hijack your car. So my boss' friends went on safari trip. His van experienced a tire blow out, but the driver keep on. Worried, he asked him to stop, but the driver, being experienced told him that if he stop, they will be immediately mugged by those roadside bandits.
I think we easily overlooked all these problems because deep in the American-liberal side of ourselves, we all want to support the popular Politically Correct cause that South Africa has been fighting. This problems will give the troubled rainbow nation bad rep and potentially set back that dream. Keep in mind, most of the crime victims are black and Asians (people of Indian descent), since whites are minority there. I think, the most impoverished indigenous people there would dare to speak "back then in the apartheid era..." same like Indonesians lamented about the dictatorship regime seeing the rampant corruption nowadays, "back then in the Soeharto era..." It is even sadder that Nelson Mandela has gone away, and Desmond Tutu seemed to have retired.
No wonder Jacob Zuma (who is under investigation over corruption allegation) is booed in the funeral.
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http://edition.cnn.com/2013/12/17/politics/india-us-diplomat/index.html?hpt=hp_t2 (http://edition.cnn.com/2013/12/17/politics/india-us-diplomat/index.html?hpt=hp_t2)
Such nice
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(http://imageshack.us/a/img850/4929/0y6n.png)
Oh look, a presidential decree. Khodorkovsky has been pardoned.
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Reminds me to Berlin 1936. The laws against jews persisted, but the implementation was paused by decree.
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I like that nuclear technology is getting mainstream:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-25855041
But I am more worried about cocaine addicts operating a nuclear power plant.
Yeah, sovereignty is everyone's right, but that doesn't mean it's okay to poison other people to take revenge on what they have done in the past (American soft imperialism) to your people. It is time for these people to enlarge their asshole (a Japanese urban idiom), and move on, embrace the current situation with level head. So, if Bolivia could advance with high tech such as this along with their victimisation attitude, I'm very happy.
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(http://imageshack.us/a/img850/4929/0y6n.png)
Oh look, a presidential decree. Khodorkovsky has been pardoned.
What does it say?
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Meanwhile, about 3 weeks in Jakarta, the situation has been like this:
http://rt.com/op-edge/indonesia-flooding-natural-disaster-414/?fb_action_ids=10151928116679013&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_ref=.Uu8uAcA2mhY.like&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=[699705810052513]&action_type_map=[%22og.likes%22]&action_ref_map=[%22.Uu8uAcA2mhY.like%22]
I am glad RT Andre Vltchek has given heavy-handed opinion about the real situation in Indonesia. Yes, we elected new "heroic" governor for Surabaya and Jakarta a year ago. The western media is overly excited about it. But it has come to no effect if the "monkeys" are still rampant here and everywhere. It is too difficult to implement change to human, let alone monkeys.
Meanwhile, on the other side of RT, being Russian and under Putin that is:
http://rt.com/op-edge/ukraine-police-brutality-force-529/
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Since when is RT talking about disasters with such florid expressions like 'nature strikes back' and 'mother nature', like they give a damned about nature in russia themselves?
And then, about the Ukraine: They glorify the restraint of the police, comparing it with the deadly force US officers would use. I mean, why don't they compare the reaction with syrian police officers instead? Bad comparison, ehh?
I tell you why the cops don't do anything. There is unrest in 23 of 25 provinces in the Ukraine, while the cops got carted from the provinces into the capital to protect it. The cops are done and tired, they cannot control the crowd nor deal the unreast without political concessions to calm the rioters.
And the loyality of some police units might be questionable, just like the loyality of the army, some parts might defect as well.
So, if they call in the army, it is civil war in the Ukraine.
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Since when is RT talking about disasters with such florid expressions like 'nature strikes back' and 'mother nature', like they give a damned about nature in russia themselves?
Well in Soviet Russia.... anyway,
If you read the article carefully, you can clearly picture that their motive is to dispel all the "western media propaganda" about their excitement on Indonesia. Yes we are growing economy, but hold your horses. We do it by really exploiting rising commodity prices. Crude Palm Oil (CPO) and low calorific value coal exports are our main business. 5 years ago everyone was a sudden business experts and get their own mining permits (or land permits, if you are thuggish enough to fight with local thugs, since they own land by claiming it like thugs) and start doing business irresponsibly. By 2010's projection, Indonesia's coal deposit will run out in 11 years if we didn't dig deeper (which costs outweigh the benefits due to our cheapass low calorific coal). The government just don't care and join the "economic success" bandwagon just because they want to get popularity without having any idea what caused the success.
The thing is, the article has some bits of truths in it. I can safely say, we are more capitalistic than USA. Picture this: you can own a mega corporation, murder competitions, get away with violating law, and well ignore environmental conditions, then proceed with profits. Let's see how those greedy property developer/multi-conglomeration reclaims a lot of land on top of protective mangrove forests? They can pretty much bullshit about "going green" and donate money to Buddhist organization doing recycling and other miniscule environmental skits, but it won't undo the damage they done to Jakarta's coastline. Since 1985, that Mangrove forest area is now mostly gone, so no more breakwater for Jakarta's coastline, no more water absorption. So the RT's article title is pretty much accurate.
http://www.antaranews.com/video/6936/reklamasi-teluk-jakarta-rusak-hutan-mangrove (video in Indonesia, but you just need to see the images)
Indonesia is one of the countries in the world where the people only cares about their personal image, rather than doing something to earn it, and Jakarta is the ultimate poser's city. So you just need to project big poster saying "going green" and liking so many environmentally concerned Facebook pages to strike a good image. It happens with a lot of unused ad spaces that already ruin the city's scenery. Most of which aren't really safe and dominated by cigarette ads.
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YOqSkjVM5Bg/URs22tAIyYI/AAAAAAAAS9M/GbDy633-dpI/s640/billboard-miring.jpg)
(http://media.viva.co.id/thumbs2/2012/01/06/138938_akibat-hujan-deras-melanda-jakarta_663_382.jpg)
(http://yustisi.com/wp-content/woo_custom/10928-rob.jpg)
And then, about the Ukraine: They glorify the restraint of the police, comparing it with the deadly force US officers would use. I mean, why don't they compare the reaction with syrian police officers instead? Bad comparison, ehh?
Well, I know you don't like Russia. But calm down a bit. Let's compare to how Russian police handle protest about the last election eh..? Silence? Restraint? Check!
But behind all that: mysterious kidnapping, random missing person, torture, coercion, etc. You just don't see that. We Indonesians are all well too familiar with regime of terror, unlike most fluent RT readers probably. So, every time I see freedom fighters trying to defend their rights and bla-bla-bla, and the opposition says otherwise and tries to badmouth the demonstrators... well, there is always the back alley where they secretly settle the scores. And this is usually very bad for the innocents.
From what we have seen, is pretty clear: Eastern Europe is not ready for democracy. They need to calm down. And until they can safely chow down more alcohol without resorting to violence, then we can call on democracy.
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Since when is RT talking about disasters with such florid expressions like 'nature strikes back' and 'mother nature', like they give a damned about nature in russia themselves?
Well that is a general problem these days, people talk about nature like it is a thing. Many have this idea that we humans "upset the balance" of things, which strikes me as an extraordinarily stupid thing to say. It reminds me of primitive paganism, where priests looked for clues about the god's will in nature. Nature never was and never will be in "balance". Nature is chaos, nature is struggle, nature is extinction. I think we should not worry about nature, but about humanity at this point.
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Le Post.
Most of the people are extremely critical of India, both here and abroad, especially our "free" media. My father spent a few years in SA and Ethiopia, and he always said that there is way too much negativity about India and self flagellation by a large section of our middle class, but compared to many other countries it is much, much better.
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Since when is RT talking about disasters with such florid expressions like 'nature strikes back' and 'mother nature', like they give a damned about nature in russia themselves?
Well that is a general problem these days, people talk about nature like it is a thing. Many have this idea that we humans "upset the balance" of things, which strikes me as an extraordinarily stupid thing to say. It reminds me of primitive paganism, where priests looked for clues about the god's will in nature. Nature never was and never will be in "balance". Nature is chaos, nature is struggle, nature is extinction. I think we should not worry about nature, but about humanity at this point.
The great prophet George Carlin pretty much sums it up.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7W33HRc1A6c
Although we fuck up much things IMO
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Microsoft got a new boss.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-25973762
He is Satya Nadella, head of Cloud and Enterprise in Microsoft. Well, something new. I hope he won't continue the path of stupid Windows 8. We need serious computing, not dumbed down interface!
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Head of Cloud Services? Grab as many Win7 OEM keys as you can (as retail is not sold anymore), because that sounds like dire news for the direction of future versions of Windows. You thought Win8 was worse than Vista? What if Win9 by default saves everything into cloud and even runs partially off cloud? (*projectile vomit*)
Yah, I know, Linux, but every distro I've seen in action is (compared to Win7 - I ain't touching 8 with a hundred-metre pole) still too clumsy/too much 80's/too original for its own good/requires too much effort/all of the above (plus not running all Windows games and progs even through Wine, and not having as much or as good native software - no, clumsily disguised command line program is not a replacement for GUI in the 2010's). That the user community STILL has the "RTFM" attitude, and considers everyone who doesn't want to learn hundred rows of command line syntax a lamer, doesn't make it any more enticing.
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Head of Cloud Services? Grab as many Win7 OEM keys as you can (as retail is not sold anymore), because that sounds like dire news for the direction of future versions of Windows. You thought Win8 was worse than Vista? What if Win9 by default saves everything into cloud and even runs partially off cloud? (*projectile vomit*)
Yah, I know, Linux, but every distro I've seen in action is (compared to Win7 - I ain't touching 8 with a hundred-metre pole) still too clumsy/too much 80's/too original for its own good/requires too much effort/all of the above (plus not running all Windows games and progs even through Wine, and not having as much or as good native software - no, clumsily disguised command line program is not a replacement for GUI in the 2010's). That the user community STILL has the "RTFM" attitude, and considers everyone who doesn't want to learn hundred rows of command line syntax a lamer, doesn't make it any more enticing.
Cloud services are pretty ok actually, especially if you can get a real SaaS solution. Why would I want to pay for infrastructure anyway. If Onlive would have worked I wouldn't have pay so much for new PC's every few years.
And nothing wrong with having a backup "Online"
Data security is a joke as we know so don't let that stop you from putting it in a cloud.
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1) So my game performance is not reliant on someone else's hardware
2) So my ability to do anything isn't reliant on someone else (what? I can't play me games because your servers are down? wtf)
3) Because it absolutely kills modding, and ability to "tweak" games in any way (changing FOV in confing files, etc.)
Sure, that relates more to gaming, but point stands. Cloud Services? Kinda cool, but no thanks.
If it's an option then whatevs.
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Head of Cloud Services? Grab as many Win7 OEM keys as you can (as retail is not sold anymore), because that sounds like dire news for the direction of future versions of Windows. You thought Win8 was worse than Vista? What if Win9 by default saves everything into cloud and even runs partially off cloud? (*projectile vomit*)
Yah, I know, Linux, but every distro I've seen in action is (compared to Win7 - I ain't touching 8 with a hundred-metre pole) still too clumsy/too much 80's/too original for its own good/requires too much effort/all of the above (plus not running all Windows games and progs even through Wine, and not having as much or as good native software - no, clumsily disguised command line program is not a replacement for GUI in the 2010's). That the user community STILL has the "RTFM" attitude, and considers everyone who doesn't want to learn hundred rows of command line syntax a lamer, doesn't make it any more enticing.
Cloud services are pretty ok actually, especially if you can get a real SaaS solution. Why would I want to pay for infrastructure anyway. If Onlive would have worked I wouldn't have pay so much for new PC's every few years.
And nothing wrong with having a backup "Online"
Data security is a joke as we know so don't let that stop you from putting it in a cloud.
What if you don't have ability to get on the internet? Can happen quite often.
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Once data is in a cloud, the NSA is on it. That might not be of any danger when it comes to games, but any porn collection already feeds them with data for blackmail. Not even to speak about getting info about your usage patterns and your whereabout. If they know when you're at home, they can intrude when you're not.
But maybe you're giving all this info already away on facebook, then you probably won't care at all. But I do.
http://putlocker.bz/watch-the-lives-of-others-online-free-putlocker.html (http://putlocker.bz/watch-the-lives-of-others-online-free-putlocker.html)
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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-12/england-floods-blame-indonesia.html
Well, Indonesia happens to be in that place of planet earth.
Plus, we are not that advanced that we can design the pattern of perturbations to the upper tropospheric jet stream.
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CLANK THE CLANK aka IBS HABBENINK in Kiev, Ukraine.
Will the sane minds prevail or will the country collapse in a civil war? People throwing Molotovs at APC's and 14 18 dead in this round (so far) seem to me a speedy progress towards the latter.
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The Ukraine simply lacks any democratic culture like many eastern european countries. Once one side has gotten power, they use it to take vengeance on their political opponents.
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Sorry to ignore the ukraine topic, but let´s look at expectations about Safe and Clean Nuclear Technology vs Reality for a moment.
There is this News from a year ago about leaking radioactive waste at Hanford Nuclear Facility, USA:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/02/24/at-the-hanford-nuclear-reservation-a-steady-drip-of-toxic-trouble.html
A year later, news about a unexplainable significant raised amount of birth defects in Yakima, Washington State, just ~50 miles from the Hanford site.
http://www.nbcnews.com/health/kids-health/bizarre-cluster-severe-birth-defects-haunts-health-experts-n24986
They are actually stating that they cant figure out a reason what could cause this abnormal increase in birth defects.
Well, it´s not like the rest of the world is doing any better.
Even in Germany, the people responsible for safety in nuclear reactors, don´t seem to care about preventing trouble early, so they ignore the issues we have until it gets really nasty and absurdely expensiv. http://www.ndr.de/regional/schleswig-holstein/brunsbuettel299.html
I think the only real "safe" thing in nuclear technology is the fact that the people responsible for solving such issues ignore them until it´s their successors problem.
I also recommend anyone to see this ARTE Docu about the 1957 incident near Majak, Ural, Russia, which is the highest contaminated area on the world since then, and how it affects the people there to this day. http://www.arte.tv/guide/de/050781-000/metamorphosen?autoplay=1 (german only)
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Alarmist article is alarmist.
"Zero non-threshold linear model" which is used by alarmists to predict the amount of cancers from minuscule radiation (such as the Hanford leak) is total bogus. Even its creators admit that it was purposeful, misleading, and only aimed to scare people instead of being based on facts, because the authors wanted to encourage nuclear disarmament and thought that scaring people by wildly exaggerating the consequences of radiation (a likely byproduct of a nuclear war) was the way to achieve this. Empirical evidence and later research points to that low to moderate levels of radiation decrease mortality and cancer incidence; radiation tends to destabilize very small malignant tumours and generally boosts immune system. You would basically have to get radiation poisoning in order to cause the risk of malignancies to grow.
When news report that OMFG RADIOACTIVE WATER LEAKING FROM FUKUSHIMA WERE ALL GUNNA DIE the raw numbers say that it's often less radioactive than perfectly drinkable well water is naturally in Finland. But Japan being exceptionally poor of uranium ore (thus having nonexistent background radiation) and having been nuked twice, they panic at readings which would be completely normal elsewhere. If the radiation limits around Fukushima were followed here, for example most of Finland should be evacuated.
As for the common argument, "nuclear waste is highly radioactive for hundreds of thousands of years", that is an outright lie. A substance can be "highly radioactive" only for a short period of time or low active for a long period. Nuclear waste is lethally radioactive for the first hundred years or so, but after a thousand years it cannot be distinguished from background radiation. "Hundreds of thousands of years" would be when there are no radioactive isotopes left. Of course, using fast breeder reactors nearly 100% of current nuclear waste could be reused as fuel (leaving behind several orders of magnitude less waste that is actually non-radioactive on top of that), but FBR's have not been developed much, because MUH NON-PROLIFERATION TREATY (FBR converts uranium into plutonium, making it attractive tech for Young General and the like) and because uranium is one of the most common elements on the planet - it is so plentiful that at the moment it is not profitable to look for it or open new mines. Curiously enough, the same companies that supply nuclear powerplants are also responsible for prospecting for uranium and run the uranium mines. I wonder why it is in their interest that 98% of the "fuel" is wasted...?
To date, a few hundred people at most have died due to Chernobyl which was INTENTIONALLY CAUSED - an experiment breaking all the safety rules, gone just as wrong as was to be expected, impossible to reproduce with modern reactors. EVERY YEAR, hundreds of thousands of people in Europe alone die due to respiratory illnesses arising from fossil fuels.
Nuclear power is the most efficient and safe form of energy, too bad people are basing the energy decisions on irrational fears rather than hard facts.
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"But muh renewables", no, they are not enough to maintain Western lifestyle even with improving energy efficiency. Rivers that can be dammed mostly have been already. Very few areas have strong enough tide for tidal power. Geothermal energy is mostly available at fault lines. "But muh windpower and solar power available errywhere", welcome to Finland in winter to witness how well solar power works without sunlight, or how well wind power works without wind (when the frost is at its highest, it's deadly calm). Solar panels basically have negative EROI (energy return on investment) north of the Tropic of Cancer and south of the Tropic of Capricorn, the farther from the equator the smaller the EROI. As for wind, eg. in the Canary Isles (smack in the middle of ocean, where there's always wind) they are in use for about 20% of the time. In less windy areas, they would also have negative EROI. Wind and solar power are profitable money-wise only because of massive subsidies, and because they are MUH GREEN ENERGY nobody dares to question the EROI.
And no, hydrogen is not an energy source, because it doesn't exist in free form on Earth. It must be "made" with electricity which always takes more energy than you would get by burning the refined "pure" hydrogen.
Now, peat might be the only sensible renewable energy source. When it decomposes, it produces methane, which, according to climate alarmists, is 25 times more potent greenhouse gas than the abominable carbon dioxide. If you burn it, it woud produce CO2 instead, so if you believe in the ManBearPig, you should rationally burn it. Oh, but countries that dried out all their swamps centuries ago say it's a fossil fuel and don't allow its use. Hello reality, it's slowly renewable (about 100 years versus 100 million years for oil and natural gas) so could be utilized given enough swamps. Here in Finland, a frakking third of our land area is some sort of swamp, so 1% of that used annually in energy production would actually be quite a source of energy. But no, Central Europeans say that swamps are so rare that they must be protected for protection's sake.
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Regarding Mayhemic's mention of Mayak, I think even "better" prove of soviet ruthlessness that knew no limits is Semipalatinsk.
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The issue is not ionizing radiation, but the radioactive isotopes. You can get contaminated by digesting or breathing some of those particles. If you get them inside your organism, the radiation problem really starts.
My point is that nuclear energy might be handled safely in theory, sure, but even the high tech nations like USA, Japan, Russia, Germany fail sooner or later for the most stupid human reasons, as you can see by the lots of accidents already.
And please, look at the Hanford wiki page. I don´t think just some "miniscule radiation" would cause the US government to consider spending $13.4 billion on cleaning up the area. And all that mess is not even because of an accident.
The most significant challenge at Hanford is stabilizing the 53 million U.S. gallons (204,000 m3) of high-level radioactive waste stored in 177 underground tanks. About a third of these tanks have leaked waste into the soil and groundwater.[66] As of 2008, most of the liquid waste has been transferred to more secure double-shelled tanks; however, 2.8 million U.S. gallons (10,600 m3) of liquid waste, together with 27 million U.S. gallons (100,000 m3) of salt cake and sludge, remains in the single-shelled tanks.[5] That waste was originally scheduled to be removed by 2018. The revised deadline is 2040.[64] Nearby aquifers contain an estimated 270 billion U.S. gallons (1 billion m3) of contaminated groundwater as a result of the leaks.[67] As of 2008, 1 million U.S. gallons (4,000 m3) of highly[clarification needed] radioactive waste is traveling through the groundwater toward the Columbia River. This waste is expected to reach the river in 12 to 50 years if cleanup does not proceed on schedule.[5] The site also includes 25 million cubic feet (710,000 m3) of solid radioactive waste.[67]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanford_Site#Cleanup_era
Also you should reconsider calling any water from fukushima safe to drink, if you base your judgement on tepco radiation level recordings. Tepco admitted that they measured 5 times to low. I really do not think that your Finnish drinking water has 5 million becquerels per liter.
http://japandailypress.com/tepco-admits-to-record-levels-of-strontium-90-in-fukushima-water-last-july-0743829/
And there are now record level groundwater contamination there, just a few days later:
http://rt.com/news/fukushima-record-level-cesium-067/
And you call that the most safe form of energy? seriously?
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Kelmola,
If there is a radioactive material somewhere in the environment, it adds the number of those dangerous tiny particles (alpha, beta, gamma, and the likes) from the background radiation, not:
"cannot be distinguished from background radiation"
Maybe it is done in controlled environment. But we have yearly dosage of radiation particles, more than that, there will be high chance that we develop sickness or averse effects on our health.
But I agree on the ridiculousness of environmental protectionism. These people doesn't look at the simple truth, but just the "inconvenient truth," sensationalist, loud, and overblown facts. Carbon dioxide is greenhouse gas, no denying on that. But Methane and its longer carbon chain cousins are even more dangerous than Carbon dioxide in producing greenhouse effects. They naturally occur from decomposing organic materials like peat, bacterial secretions (e.g. those Methane produced by farm animals), and many more. It is even campaigned by oil company that damming river for "clean, renewable energy" produce Methane, because the still water that it creates become an ideal habitat for Methane-secreting bacteria.
I am all in for Biogas and Biofuel. There is a controversial aspect of it that we might potentially compete with internal combustion engines for food. But those food sources turned into biofuel are non-food grade harvest. But then again, we are competing for land space to grow the harvests for biofuel.
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I see Ukraine is chugging along to a Syrian-style civil war nicely:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DxkDiAcSF8
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Is it true Angola actually banned Islam?
oh my god and I thought there was no country worse than Turkey xD
I don't see that exactly as bad. Here in Czech Republic, we have rather small muslim community. Very few mosques. Yet there are already leaked videos from half of the mosques about local immams preaching hate. I have yet to see/hear about at least one good thing within Islam. But i hear/read about bad stuff done by muslims every day.
Maybe you should try, you know, educating yourself on the religion before spewing your own hatred.
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I see Ukraine is chugging along to a Syrian-style civil war nicely:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DxkDiAcSF8
Well, it really follows the syrian pattern.
There are open firefights, and the opposition takes policemen as prisoners/hostages. Some police units in the provinces have defected to the opposition. Meanwhile the City of Lviv declared independence from the Ukraine.
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Saw more than one report that neonazis are making a huge bunch on the ukranian opposition.
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Saw more than one report that the role of neonazis is overrated in the ukrainian uprising. Though I agree that they are there and form probably the most militant force.
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That's a general problem in Europe atm. The collapse of the Soviet Union discredited most leftist parties, leaving the right the only political force catering to the lower classes.
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http://edition.cnn.com/2014/02/27/world/europe/ukraine-politics/index.html?hpt=hp_t1
Getting ready for gorilla warfare up in the mountains with my fathers K98. Ready to hunt russians #WWIII
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Looks like the ukrainian police keeps the russians in check. :P
Ukrainian Road Police stops Russian Armored Vehicles near Simferopol in Crimea (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mf5HChDXVSc)
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Yahoo webcam images from millions of users intercepted by GCHQ (http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/27/gchq-nsa-webcam-images-internet-yahoo)
So the british secret service GCHQ stored millions of webcam pictures from Yahoo chat users. I really laughed about the statement in an internal document regarding the content and the nature of these webcam pictures:
"One of the greatest hindrances to exploiting video data is the fact that the vast majority of videos received have no intelligence value whatsoever, such as pornography, commercials, movie clips and family home movies." [...] "Unfortunately … it would appear that a surprising number of people use webcam conversations to show intimate parts of their body to the other person."
Yo really, must have been a huge disappointment to find out that most online users are not into terrorism but into cybersex. Such an impudence. They spend millions on surveillance and people gave a damn, talking about sex instead of blowing up Buckingham Palace.
::)
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or they "accidentally" used some wrong keyword search terms
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One word for these archaic bureaucrats: follow trends! Especially amongst groups that you are targeting.
Those descriptions confirms my sentiment about Yahoo! users. Generally better than most noobs but definitely not better than Google users.
If internet is a "pool" of information. Yahoo! is like the old swimming pool complex that is part of a larger theme park. It is dirty, rusty, yet still offers some fun you can't get anywhere else.
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About Ukraine, it's beginning to feel like 2008 all over again. Ethnic Russian majority, military drills close to the border, I would not be surprised if a secession war soon follows. The USA is giving us warnings not to get involved which means next to nothing coming from people with a record of intervening.
Damn the American who ever coined the term "cold war", he was probably a greedy bastard who put personal gain over diplomatic relations and the well-being of people of his country and others. I'm sick of hearing it, I grew up without worrying about a nuclear attack or invasion but it was the opposite with the fear-mongers over there who happen to be the politicians of today who've been threatening us.
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Why the Slavs fight with each other? I also don't understand the Balkan people.
Are you guys easily get pissed off by the slightest means, e.g. like walking in front of you when you are in bad mood?
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Intolerance towards minorities is something ultra-hip in eastern europe, fueled by the highest authorities. So, in eastern europe you don't want to be part of any minority, no matter whether it is about art, sex, religion, ethnic roots or your taste in sweets.
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(http://i.imgur.com/8IfPLdf.png)
Russia got some advice from his old self.
Welcome to the new Iron Curtain. 8)
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJgDYdA8dio
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Why the Slavs fight with each other? I also don't understand the Balkan people.
Are you guys easily get pissed off by the slightest means, e.g. like walking in front of you when you are in bad mood?
The problem is that each Slav nation wants to be obviously independent, but there are many controversial regions where different nations live together and each nation wants to have that region for their country. Crimea is best example. Obviously the source of the evil there are usually Russians - this time they want some regions back which were taken from them after Soviet Union fall...
However I'm neutral on this chaos in Ukraine. Remember what they did to Poles on Wołyń in 1943 - they murdered in a way which even nazists didn't think of...
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http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26400035
Putin seeks Ukraine troop deployment
That's the title. So, they already deployed 6,000 troops in Crimean peninsula. Is this the full scale invasion?
I mean, I can comment on that, since practically that's what the US has done in Iraq. But it is still not right.
Anyway, what's with the Ukrainian neo-nazi harassing ethnic Russians? And why the nazi reference? I still vividly remember that Himmler first uttered the phrase "untermensch" when he reviewed Ukrainian Soviet POWs after the fall of Kiev. What an irony, but well, these kinds of people are usually not bright either.
Why the Slavs fight with each other? I also don't understand the Balkan people.
Are you guys easily get pissed off by the slightest means, e.g. like walking in front of you when you are in bad mood?
The problem is that each Slav nation wants to be obviously independent, but there are many controversial regions where different nations live together and each nation wants to have that region for their country. Crimea is best example. Obviously the source of the evil there are usually Russians - this time they want some regions back which were taken from them after Soviet Union fall...
However I'm neutral on this chaos in Ukraine. Remember what they did to Poles on Wołyń in 1943 - they murdered in a way which even nazists didn't think of...
If I read the story correctly, the Russians agreed to give the Crimean peninsula, excluding their prized Black Sea fleet naval base in Sevastopol to Ukrainians. I was surprised, until last year, I still thought that Sevastopol (the city) still belonged to Russia (thanks to my poor Geography skills).
So, these were like Americans in Guantanamo strolling to nearby Cuban town of Caimanera or Boqueron with full battle gear intending to "secure" the American interest in the region.
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Russian tanks have crossed into ukraine according to various new sites
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Bah, it is only to discourage rioters from attacking our bases, nothing more. There is no invasion.
First time on the forums in almost 24 hours and I'm flooded with pictures on the topic.
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Guys, to clear the status of Sevastopol for you, let me quote Wikipedia:
"The city continues to be the home of the Russian—formerly Soviet—Black Sea Fleet, and is now home to a Ukrainian naval base and has Russian naval facilities leased from Ukraine through 2042."
So the presence of Russian military there doesn't mean that some kind of "Normandy landings" took place in Sevastopol.
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Does anybody have an idea what type of tanks are being used??
T72's probaly and T80's.
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T-90's are also a possibility. It would be stupid if russians doesnt use their advanced MBT atm. Maybe they are not deployed to crimea but I would think that they are close to the Ukraine-Russia border.
Ukraine has large number of T-72's and -64's and some T-80's of their own.
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Yep, the whole situation is escalating pretty quickly. let's just hope it won't end up in a war...
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It is not an amphibious landing invasion yes, but a troop crossing the border is still an invasion, like SEAL or Green Berets stationed at your nearby American embassy walked out and secured Eiffel Tower or those Americans at Rammstein suddenly spread out to Kaiserslautern and secured the Hauptbahnhof train station.
It is still an extraordinary event.
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Bah, it is only to discourage rioters from attacking our bases, nothing more. There is no invasion.
Ahh yes, the rioters in front of russian bases in the Crimea. So strong in numbers, so dangerous. How can you stand the pressure knowing that they outnumber your soldiers 10:1?
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3517/3708309411_960f888eba_o.jpg)
Honestly, after Georgia and Syria, this is the latest punch into the face of the international community. Putin is isolating Russia, asking for the next cold war. And right now my heating is pouring money towards Russia for that natural gas for them to continue their wars. I'm so pissed.
Unfortunately, if I get my gas from elsewhere, others will buy that russian gas in return. That's no solution.
(http://sd.keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk/i/putin-fuck-you.png)
Edit://
(http://www.kyivpost.com/media/images/2014/03/02/p18i1juscf10oj580p45ofm1phn7/big.jpg)
Ukrainian volunteers being drafted for the ukrainian army. Kiev today.
Edit:///
RT today reports about 675.000 people having fled from fascist hords in Ukraine into Russia. I just wish I'd see pictures. Then I'd take my hat off to the russians, serving 675.000 people without a single gym being converted to dormrooms.
http://rt.com/news/ukrainians-leave-russia-border-452
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So it seems that Crimea is already lost... I wonder if Putin will grab his hands also for Eastern Ukraine. There wom't be war against NATO - there won't be any reaction from Western countries, nobody will risk cutting off Russian gas... There can be only local war between Russia and Ukraine. But if there will be, the question is where Russian army will stop? USA also will do nothing - they have weak president...
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So it seems that Crimea is already lost... I wonder if Putin will grab his hands also for Eastern Ukraine. There wom't be war against NATO - there won't be any reaction from Western countries, nobody will risk cutting off Russian gas... There can be only local war between Russia and Ukraine. But if there will be, the question is where Russian army will stop? USA also will do nothing - they have weak president...
So, the options are either a war between NATO and Russia or a war between Ukraine and Russia? Sure, let's bomb Russia and cause a global war that causes death and destruction. Because that surely is a better alternative to just splitting Ukraine into two parts ::).
Warmongering isn't the answer to warmongering.
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So it seems that Crimea is already lost... I wonder if Putin will grab his hands also for Eastern Ukraine. There wom't be war against NATO - there won't be any reaction from Western countries, nobody will risk cutting off Russian gas... There can be only local war between Russia and Ukraine. But if there will be, the question is where Russian army will stop? USA also will do nothing - they have weak president...
So, the options are either a war between NATO and Russia or a war between Ukraine and Russia? Sure, let's bomb Russia and cause a global war that causes death and destruction. Because that surely is a better alternative to just splitting Ukraine into two parts ::).
Warmongering isn't the answer to warmongering.
So, you've just confirmed my statement! ;)
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Yeah sure just let any nation fuck another nation in half and live our lives happily ever after right ? Worked before WW2, worked in Korea, worked in Cyprus. Just because we do not want to be bothered we will let someone else get stuffed. Let the Ukrainians solve their problems on their own and if not I wouldn't mind gearing up for WW3. It's been 100 years since the first one after all.
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If not for the nukes and the nato pact we'd already have a war.
And Bouras why exactly should anyone play the role of the world's policeman?
Also ww3 will suck balls, as there is no final goal for either "side" (anyone)
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"WW3 will suck balls" - Panzerknacker 2014. I somehow found this very funny. :D
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At least Switzerland would have one hell of a show!
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Indeed a great quote.
Same reason someone should mingle with a neighbor nation on the brink of civil war. But to be honest i just want a simple "fuck you" to those who think can fuck with everyone and get away with it. Still I would be more than glad if all this could be avoided and we don't have to break death toll records again.
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At least Switzerland would have one hell of a show!
......again!
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USA also will do nothing - they have weak president...
On the contrary the USA will do everything to do nothing. Legally the USA, Britain, and Russia must go to war with whatever nation attempts to take Ukrainian territory.
Fortunately we're not trying to annex any part of the Ukraine.
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Evening gents. Just checking in like I do when I can find the time. Just to clarify something that was said on the last page, there are no Russian tanks in Ukraine. Hell not even the Ukrainians have deployed tanks. The Ruski's at most have their GAZ Tigr or whatchamacall it light armored APC's.
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USA also will do nothing - they have weak president...
On the contrary the USA will do everything to do nothing. Legally the USA, Britain, and Russia must go to war with whatever nation attempts to take Ukrainian territory.
Fortunately we're not trying to annex any part of the Ukraine.
Make them independent and become a vassal of Russia. Eastern parts of Ukraine and Crimea. The Turks and the Russians have gone to war numerous times before for Crimea. It is not surprising that they do want that now.
Also, I never know that sphere of influence is that important for Russia. But for my sentiments, I am sad that the Swedish lost against Russia, and Germans lost Prussian territory. I can imagine those people will be living in higher standards than they are now. Yes sure, nowadays, you can create more Russian-influenced territory for weird "in Soviet Russia" ironic reality, dash cam cars, and oligarchs to have their way. Logically, I can't be in favour of Russia.
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Same reason someone should mingle with a neighbor nation on the brink of civil war. But to be honest i just want a simple "fuck you" to those who think can fuck with everyone and get away with it. Still I would be more than glad if all this could be avoided and we don't have to break death toll records again.
Λεωνίδης, is that you? ;D
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"...Oh i've chosen my words carefully Putin. Perhaps you should have done the same."
And its Λεωνίδας but you were close enough ;)
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Russia launches 'propaganda' war over Ukraine
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iQ0Vv5asE1UygqkvSECv9LqRKF-g?docId=549b435a-9010-416c-9253-2743cfadd20d&hl=en
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Hollywood and gaming industry has more reason to portray Russians as the bad guys now. ;D
This is getting more like LockOn: Modern Air Combat's theme. A conflict in Ukraine over ultra-nationalist politics.
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Call of Duty: Fall of Chernobyl Part II: Putin's Revenge
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"...Oh i've chosen my words carefully Putin. Perhaps you should have done the same."
And its Λεωνίδας but you were close enough ;)
Ah, Doric, Ionic, got it mixed up ;D
Call of Duty: Fall of Chernobyl Part II: Putin's Revenge
Lol :-X
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Just in: Russia demands surrender of Ukraine's Crimea forces
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26424738
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Call of Duty: Fall of Chernobyl Part II: Putin's Revenge
Or next BF4 DLC: "Crimea Border"... :P
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I guess the Point of Existence mod just picked the wrong opponents for the Ukraine.
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http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/04/world/europe/ukraine-russia-tensions/
The majority of Russian forces were ordered back to their bases after the "training session" Yet many remain around Crimea and lots of people is defecting.
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Ukranian troops marched on a Russian-held airbase. Russians fired warning shots into the air.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26430846 (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26430846)
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Yes, that is a funny story. The russian unmarked forces occupied Belbek airbase over night and the very next morning about 300 unarmed ground staff members want to return to their work. *trollface*
(http://images.scribblelive.com/2014/3/4/cabcb284-cabc-4d0e-adb0-a4a7346dc784.jpg)
And then, this was funny as well:
Russia Today anchor Abby Martin speaks out against Russian invasion of Crimea 3/3/2014 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZolXrjGIBJs)
Meanwhile in Simferopol:
(http://www.tagesschau.de/multimedia/bilder/simferopol108~_v-videowebl.jpg)
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Does anyone know how the Tatars are doing? What are their reaction on the invasion?
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Does anyone know how the Tatars are doing? What are their reaction on the invasion?
They are pro Maidan and against Russians.
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Does anyone know how the Tatars are doing? What are their reaction on the invasion?
Finnish state news are reporting that some of them are leaving Crimea for safety. They are afraid of what happened to them last time the Russian state was involved.
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Meanwhile,
Shit is also getting serious in Venezuela.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-26335287
Let's not forget that Maduro always blame foreign hegemony of interfering with his government. We know Venezuela probably has the richest oil deposits in the world after recent discoveries, so he got more reason to. But judging from their incompetence and ignorance, it turns serious matter like managing a country into laughing stock. So disregard! And stay on with Ukraine-Russia pls.
If you want socialism, make it for the whole country, involving every citizens of the country, not just a populism show-off. These days, they are all about groupies, gangs, and mobs. The poorer and stupider the country, the worse these narrow collectivism attitude. They are watching too much American politics.
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Does anyone know how the Tatars are doing? What are their reaction on the invasion?
The leader of the Crimean Tatars said he was assured by Turkish officials that if something happened to the Tatars, Turkey would intervene.
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Does anyone know how the Tatars are doing? What are their reaction on the invasion?
The leader of the Crimean Tatars said he was assured by Turkish officials that if something happened to the Tatars, Turkey would intervene.
I wouldnt want Turkey to get in a war, because it is the last thing we need right now, but oh well, if needed, we'll surely go.
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Does anyone know how the Tatars are doing? What are their reaction on the invasion?
The leader of the Crimean Tatars said he was assured by Turkish officials that if something happened to the Tatars, Turkey would intervene.
I wouldnt want Turkey to get in a war, because it is the last thing we need right now, but oh well, if needed, we'll surely go.
I don't think they mean war, I think what they mean is the Turkish Navy and Navy SF evacuating Crimean Tatar's and bringing them to Turkey just like we did with EU/Turkish citizens in Libya and Lebanon.
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How come Putin is portrayed as the bad guy here. The EU/US did agree to a temporarily Ukr. government that included Yanukovych. Now the government only consist of the former opposition making it a coup d'état after the fact.
The US/UN has started war on shakier grounds than that (Fuzzy pictures with make believe WMD's storage location).
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How come Putin is portrayed as the bad guy here. The EU/US did agree to a temporarily Ukr. government that included Yanukovych. Now the government only consist of the former opposition making it a coup d'état after the fact.
The US/UN has started war on shakier grounds than that (Fuzzy pictures with make believe WMD's storage location).
Actually you have to give credit to Putin/Russians where its due. They haven't really shown any hostile intent (soldiers without ammo, the "polite" troops not keeping a magazine in their weapons to avoid being seen as hostile etc) nor did they show any intention that they'll be occupying indefinitely. Its a better occupation than NATO could have dreamed of, if we'd done the same there would've been shootouts at one point sooner or later.
I'm pretty sure this will all be over sooner or later, a post modern "bloodless" coup. The Poles and whatnot with their troop movements are just overreacting. Russia has no intention to have a stand-off with a NATO member. To me it seems like some countries are just trying to poke Russia.
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As citizen of Russian Federation, I can be preconceived. But... I will not choose side in that socalled "conflict of interests". All I understand, politics (US, EU, Russian) still measure whose cock is longer. It was and always be. For random ppl, as me, these event means two things: ruble is (our currency) falling, food prices getting higher.
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How come Putin is portrayed as the bad guy here. The EU/US did agree to a temporarily Ukr. government that included Yanukovych. Now the government only consist of the former opposition making it a coup d'état after the fact.
The US/UN has started war on shakier grounds than that (Fuzzy pictures with make believe WMD's storage location).
Actually you have to give credit to Putin/Russians where its due. They haven't really shown any hostile intent (soldiers without ammo, the "polite" troops not keeping a magazine in their weapons to avoid being seen as hostile etc) nor did they show any intention that they'll be occupying indefinitely. Its a better occupation than NATO could have dreamed of, if we'd done the same there would've been shootouts at one point sooner or later.
I'm pretty sure this will all be over sooner or later, a post modern "bloodless" coup. The Poles and whatnot with their troop movements are just overreacting. Russia has no intention to have a stand-off with a NATO member. To me it seems like some countries are just trying to poke Russia.
Is it okay to send troops into a sovereign country as long as you don't have your guns loaded?
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How come Putin is portrayed as the bad guy here. The EU/US did agree to a temporarily Ukr. government that included Yanukovych. Now the government only consist of the former opposition making it a coup d'état after the fact.
The US/UN has started war on shakier grounds than that (Fuzzy pictures with make believe WMD's storage location).
Actually you have to give credit to Putin/Russians where its due. They haven't really shown any hostile intent (soldiers without ammo, the "polite" troops not keeping a magazine in their weapons to avoid being seen as hostile etc) nor did they show any intention that they'll be occupying indefinitely. Its a better occupation than NATO could have dreamed of, if we'd done the same there would've been shootouts at one point sooner or later.
I'm pretty sure this will all be over sooner or later, a post modern "bloodless" coup. The Poles and whatnot with their troop movements are just overreacting. Russia has no intention to have a stand-off with a NATO member. To me it seems like some countries are just trying to poke Russia.
Is it okay to send troops into a sovereign country as long as you don't have your guns loaded?
The fact that unmarked gunmen were able to take a whole area over night, without any reaction from any Ukrainian law enforcement or military outfit really says just how careless everyone was in Kiev. You think a military that has its shit together would let men with no form of identification take over something as big as Crimea? Sure the Government collapsed, but the military is supposed to step in during that time, the Ukrainian military did not, and the Russian did.
I'm not exactly supporting the occupation but I think this story is more about the incompetence of Ukrainians officials getting caught with their pants down rather than the big bad Russians. Imagine if an area within a NATO country was occupied so easily, without a shot. That country would have some explaining to do.
EDIT: I don't know, maybe I'm thinking too "Turkish" (Turkish tanks and APC's would secure every street corner in the country within 24 hours of a Government collapse) when it comes to these ex-USSR states, I could be very wrong but at least I know the rights a military has and what rights they don't have. The Ukrainian's did two mistakes, one is they used local conscripts to man the bases in Crimea. Locals will always have problems performing their duties when it comes to their own neighborhoods and streets, the second mistake precedes the first and is just as important. Ukrainian military should have sent out patrols and secured airports, Government buildings and Police headquarters/stations the second the Government collapses, and should've responded immediately to reports of masked gunmen taking important landmarks in the area. Had they responded faster, they wouldn't have been in the corner they're in now. The law is on their side, not only do they have the right to reinforce public order but it is also their duty once the civilian leadership collapses.
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Listen to the majority of people in Crimea!!
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26465962#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa
They want to join Russia.
According to Ukraine's interim government:
Ukraine's new interim government does not recognise the leadership in Crimea - which was sworn in at an emergency session while the building was under siege from pro-Russian armed men last week.
A spokeswoman for Acting President Olexander Turchynov said those in charge in Crimea "are forced to work under the barrel of a gun and all their decisions are dictated by fear and are illegal".
Anyway, regarding pretenses, I agree with neutral position here. Speaking about the Ukraine alone, both sides are dicks. It is okay to protest things loudly. But they did staged a coup IMO, the police in Kiev was fed up and let go the security of the MP building, and some of the protesters entered the building, then probably (speculating) under the threat of Maidan most brazen protesters, they yielded to their demands and ousted the Yanukovich regime.
Crimea and most of the Eastern parts of Ukraine probably also faced the same problem: They were under heavy Russian influence and tribalism attitude forced them to lean on Russian authorities. But I would see their voice, despite using similar heavy handed tactics, are as legitimate as Ukraine's current interim government. Moreover, the land has been historically tied to the Tatars and Don Cossacks, and then Russia, and then given to the Ukrainian, just recently. The tribalism attitude however, doesn't really help the image of Russian immigrants everywhere.
Speaking about Russia, they are dicks, just like what US did to Iraq. But I see that Russia is concerned about Russian speaking people there, which is quite a legitimate concern. Moreover, it has a military base there, which could face serious reprisal if anarchist branch of Euro Maidan protesters reach Crimean region.
I can imagine American military personnel doing the same in their foreign military bases, when facing similar situation, but with much less welcome. Basically, what they did in Crimea was like what if Hawaii was given to Japan, and then something went wrong with Japanese politics, so US Navy troops in Pearl Harbour fanned out to Honolulu and other towns in Oahu to secure the situation. From what I see in photographs, Russian's Sevastopol base is unlike Guantanamo, it is not a maximum security prison-style enclave, but more like integrated military base within the city.
Aaaanyway, my American boss is a former member of National Guard, he was stationed in Okinawa. CNN covered an anti-US base demonstration of local residents. They showed violent scenes of protesters throwing paints, rocking the perimeter fences. He got a call from his mom, with worried voice. In reality, he said that the protesters were really polite. They did threw paint on the guard post, but they clean it before leaving. The CNN didn't show the protesters sweeping and wiping still-wet paint from US military base's guard post building.
In printed edition of our biggest newspaper, Kompas, showed Ukrainian soldier playing football in front of the Russian on watch. Here is other source:
http://knlive.ctvnews.ca/soccer-diffuses-tense-standoff-between-russian-ukrainian-troops-1.1714095
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This is still strange. Who in the world wants to belong to Russia? As far as I remember the tenor was always like this: everybody run, the Russians are coming!
I always thought even the Russians would prefer not to be russian.
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This is still strange. Who in the world wants to belong to Russia? As far as I remember the tenor was always like this: everybody run, the Russians are coming!
I always thought even the Russians would prefer not to be russian.
Pretty much every ex-USSR state afaik has a large Russian speaking minority that want to be with Russia again. My fiancee is Estonian and she runs into them everyday, most of them are Estonian citizens and don't even speak the language.
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That is like North-Koreans asking for a quick return, once they escaped to South-Korea, aint it? ;D
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This is still strange. Who in the world wants to belong to Russia? As far as I remember the tenor was always like this: everybody run, the Russians are coming!
I always thought even the Russians would prefer not to be russian.
The conquest of the crimea is, together with the conquest of st Petersburg, the most important russian achievement of the 18th century. Both of them have technically stayed Russian since that period. As long as the Ukraine was a satellite state of russia, that was no problem. Now ofcourse Russia's position is threatened it has to act to defend it's price, and the strategic position of the black sea fleet ..
Russia's reaction is logical
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What marks me more here is than no one gave a single fuck wen the ucranian civil war broke out... no one showed to be hostile to the "new ucranian goverment" who just got the lead by the worst method: force (wich is totaly against democracy at all)
And you know what? U.S.A., Europe, and other "civilized and normal" nations ACTUALLY HELP the new GOVERMENT IN UCRANIE!
So that means i can ALSO do the same on my country! (yeah: i got my own plans for it) AND no one will sent troops there or make anything against whatever internal war happens if i just get my legions on a siege to the TV stations, Radio stations, and Goverment Stations! :D
(good news for me ;D )
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(http://galeri3.uludagsozluk.com/138/facepalm_227785.jpg)
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What marks me more here is than no one gave a single fuck wen the ucranian civil war broke out... no one showed to be hostile to the "new ucranian goverment" who just got the lead by the worst method: force (wich is totaly against democracy at all)
And you know what? U.S.A., Europe, and other "civilized and normal" nations ACTUALLY HELP the new GOVERMENT IN UCRANIE!
So that means i can ALSO do the same on my country! (yeah: i got my own plans for it) AND no one will sent troops there or make anything against whatever internal war happens if i just get my legions on a siege to the TV stations, Radio stations, and Goverment Stations! :D
(good news for me ;D )
Well? What are you waiting for? get to work.
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What marks me more here is than no one gave a single fuck wen the ucranian civil war broke out... no one showed to be hostile to the "new ucranian goverment" who just got the lead by the worst method: force (wich is totaly against democracy at all)
And you know what? U.S.A., Europe, and other "civilized and normal" nations ACTUALLY HELP the new GOVERMENT IN UCRANIE!
So that means i can ALSO do the same on my country! (yeah: i got my own plans for it) AND no one will sent troops there or make anything against whatever internal war happens if i just get my legions on a siege to the TV stations, Radio stations, and Goverment Stations! :D
(good news for me ;D )
Well? What are you waiting for? get to work.
He has issues even making proper friends, leave alone guiding half a nation to do his will. Really Damaso seek some help, you seem to take to much for granted.
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Guys, guys, c'mon, he can do it, I believe in that. Just have a little hope :D
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Well? What are you waiting for? get to work.
http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uppvigling
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Here we go again! I miss the old times when we fought about what piece of equipment was our favorite, rather than talking about some kids plans to take over his country.
(http://s2.quickmeme.com/img/ca/ca1e82814fbabf4703590d43509c7f4c2c1ce2403a1e634162043cef0a894c7f.jpg)
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This is still strange. Who in the world wants to belong to Russia? As far as I remember the tenor was always like this: everybody run, the Russians are coming!
I always thought even the Russians would prefer not to be russian.
The conquest of the crimea is, together with the conquest of st Petersburg, the most important russian achievement of the 18th century. Both of them have technically stayed Russian since that period. As long as the Ukraine was a satellite state of russia, that was no problem. Now ofcourse Russia's position is threatened it has to act to defend it's price, and the strategic position of the black sea fleet ..
Russia's reaction is logical
Of Crimea, surely they (Russia) improved the standards of living from the previous rule of Tatary Khanates and Cossacks and Roma travellers, back then.
But Tolga said about Estonia, the previous land of the Swedes, Kalmar Union, and Prussia. Probably have been brainwashed for a half century by rampant communism. And I also read that Koenigsberg was completely cleaned out from the Germans. I hope they still maintain high living standards there.
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This is still strange. Who in the world wants to belong to Russia? As far as I remember the tenor was always like this: everybody run, the Russians are coming!
I always thought even the Russians would prefer not to be russian.
I thought it is more like "Well, come on, then before "zee" Germans get here" (Snatch, 2000)
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Well what the Russians will bring? I like their military hardwares though.
Meanwhile the Germans can bring in:
Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, Porsche, reliable Siemens electric, cheap Continental tires, gorgeous MAN trucks, Deutz-Fahr tractors, state-of-the-art Krauss-Maffei/Weggman machineries, world-famous Voith engineering, Paulanner beers, frankfurters, bratwursts, pork knuckles, high quality chemicals like BASF..., Evonik..., sophisticated SAP ERP software..., Zyklon B...
wait I should have stopped
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reliable Siemens electrics?
Well, I read the new Siemens trains we have in Belgium are the ones that fail far more than the older Belgian ones. And from my experience so far when sitting on those trains, i have to say that most times, 1 or more doors don't even work on those trains. However, i may be wrong in this. Siben will probably have a better view on this.
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Yeah, the doors where a problem, a few causes to this where that the dust and small pebles that people bring on the train collect near the edges blocking the doors so that they dont ant to open. The tolerances are very small there in order to make the door as sound and airproof as possible. Another problem is that it are electric engines that power it the door, and that the tolerance on the focre needed to open them automaticly in case somebody gets stuck in between them was to narrow, causing them to refuse to close when again there was to much dirt under it.
Also the grears bringing the power from the engin to the doors are a bit to weak.
all three of these problems have been repaired/improved.
Also, those trains run on a whole network controled with windows 3.11 :)
State of the art siemens electronics huh, sure....
(http://imgup.com/data/images/12741.jpg)
I would not say the old ones are better. They have heating that only knows 1 setting, Sauna. The doors close no matter what, and they hurt like a bitch when you get stuck between them. Also, when they are closed and you push the right spot you can open them with 1 hand. Also no airco in summer.
There is even a model where the doors just slam shut with barely a warning, dangerous and anoying. Have seen people get hit by those since the time between warning and closing was less then the time needed to get out of the doors there way.
And the only thing i have to say about electronics, they are all made by underpaid underage chinese working 80 hours and more a week. It shows in the quality.
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Siemens electric = those applications in electric panel like you find in high voltage distribution transformer, fuse boxes, etc.
If we are talking about German trains, hmmm... Krupp Spoorbau perhaps?
Yeah, the doors where a problem, a few causes to this where that the dust and small pebles that people bring on the train collect near the edges blocking the doors so that they dont ant to open. The tolerances are very small there in order to make the door as sound and airproof as possible. Another problem is that it are electric engines that power it the door, and that the tolerance on the focre needed to open them automaticly in case somebody gets stuck in between them was to narrow, causing them to refuse to close when again there was to much dirt under it.
Also the grears bringing the power from the engin to the doors are a bit to weak.
Is this Siemens Velaro model that you are talking here? Or just inter-city train/subway model?
For Subway, this is exactly the same problem with Singapore's Hitachi MRT. Chewing gums, bread crumbles, spilling waters will jam the doors and sensors, hence you are not allowed to eat/drink/smoke inside. The whole nation banned chewing gums, because it jammed the doors once and shut down the entire network.
Also, those trains run on a whole network controled with windows 3.11 :)
State of the art siemens electronics huh, sure....
(http://imgup.com/data/images/12741.jpg)
As an IT guy, I have to trade-in between performance and reliability. Sure you can have the beloved Windows XP that attracts tons of virus or the still buggy but supported Windows 7 that put too much toll on the computing resources. Or the practically useless Windows 8. Or you can have Linux, another reliable setting.
For application in industry where safety is number one, reliability should be prioritized, hence the use of older, rugged, proven, and not fanci-fied systems. Even in planes as sophisticated as Boeing 777, the processor they used to calculate fuel is still Intel Pentium 2 grade in terms of speed (in Mhz).
Same goes for F-16's fly-by-wire computer (FLCC, as shown in the MFD), which if you read the references, gives correction input to control surfaces (aileron, elevator, rudder) in thousands times per second. So the plane keeps flying straight and level without pilot's input. It needs to correctly read the input from sensors (pitot tube, g-meter, inertial reference unit consisting of accelerometers and gyroscopes, etc) and then translate it into the correct electric signal to the control surfaces, so it will make appropriate movement to counter the inherent flight instability characteristics.
It doesn't take an Apple iPhone's processor to do this. Yes, it is old fashioned, but it keeps the plane from constantly crashing (albeit some software errors has caused the plane to crash).
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So far in the last few weeks, Russian and US Navy ships have been passing by my ferry on my way to work every morning... What the hell is happening in the Black Sea, I've seen more than a dozen foreign ships by now...
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And the only thing i have to say about electronics, they are all made by underpaid underage chinese working 80 hours and more a week. It shows in the quality.
compoments compoments,american compoments russian compoments!!
ALL MADE IN TAIWAN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEkOT3IngMQ
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(http://d24w6bsrhbeh9d.cloudfront.net/photo/a44qPxQ_700b.jpg)
Sorry for the 9gag.
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@zoologic: It is the Siemens Desiro ML, MR08 variant.
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j0iMrIi95ro/TNh9E3tV9RI/AAAAAAAAAx4/1b4DejMiXDg/s1600/5159342020_201195556d_b.jpg)
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American gang members in Syria:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trfEc5VN-9I#t=50
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American gang members in Syria:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trfEc5VN-9I#t=50
Umm, who, uhhh ???
I don't speak gangbang but is there a reason they're over there?
or are they just trying to be tough?
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My guess: converted to Islam, possibly in prison. Muslim gangs are not unheard of in the san francisco area.
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American gang members in Syria:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trfEc5VN-9I#t=50
What the fuck? ???
Yo homies, i think you both are faaaaaaaaaar away from tha hood
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American gang members in Syria:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trfEc5VN-9I#t=50
So many homies... ::)
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My guess: converted to Islam, possibly in prison. Muslim gangs are not unheard of in the san francisco area.
I thought MS-13, the Vatos, homies, are all ardent Catholics because of their Latin American upbringing? What's up with the Santo Muerte?
Now they are joining the Shi'a? That's pretty weird.
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I read an article sometime back that Latin Americans were increasingly converting into islam.
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Its an Armenian and latino that where deported from the us long time ago and are now apparently fighting for hezbollah. came from LA indeed according to the news here.
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^Thta´s what I heard, too. US-Armenians fighting for the Assad regime. Interesting, how the opposition against militant Sunnis can unite the most opposed groups...
Anyway, if you haven´t seen it, yet, I can recommend watching the Vice News Dispatches (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNKsLlK52ss&list=PLw613M86o5o7DfgzuUCd_PVwbOCDO472B&index=5) about the Crimean conflict. Their reporter has a serious pair of balls and gives an interesting insight into the whole situation. Their whole channel is really good, btw, so if you have a lazy Sunday and want to watch some good docus, check them out.
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Honestly, i had to laugh wen they told something like:
"yo yo nigga hommie look to those mothafukars! (shoots AK-74 randomly on a hole in a wall) yeah! kill those bitches! OH LOOK! let me kill this mothafuka here! (shoots)"
I mean seriously: was it even somewone over that field? because i believe if it was, they would get shooted first... i think this guys only whana make the world think they arre tough.
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i think these guys only wanna make the world think they are tough.
like 99% of gangbangin' gangstas
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I mean seriously: was it even somewone over that field? because i believe if it was, they would get shooted first... i think this guys only whana make the world think they arre tough.
Why do you think they were identified as Americans? :P
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@hOMEr_jAy Really nice footage he put together. Indeed, this reporter has guts. What struck me most were those pesky civilian activists.
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http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/09/us/band-of-brothers-veteran-dies/
William "Wild Bill" Guarnere died 15 hours ago. Another Band of Brothers veteran died. May he RIP.
At ease trooper.
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http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/09/us/band-of-brothers-veteran-dies/
William "Wild Bill" Guarnere died 15 hours ago. Another Band of Brothers veteran died. May he RIP.
At ease trooper.
i was watching BoB when this happend. RIP
So Belgium and Boeing have gone into talks for aquiring the F-18F super hornet for replacing the current belgian F-16 fleet. Most likely over half of the jets will be build in Belgium as we have done so in the past.
http://www.demorgen.be/dm/nl/989/Binnenland/article/detail/1810530/2014/03/12/Wordt-dit-de-vervanger-van-de-Belgische-F-16-s.dhtml
I am very relieved, because Minister of defense, De crem, wanted to buy the F-35 JSF.
There are other competitors tough. The F-16 Block 52 for example, the JAS Gripen (because of very efficient fuel economy), Rafale and the Eurofighter, altough the eurofighter has fallen out of favour, aswel as the F35.
http://www.demorgen.be/dm/nl/989/Binnenland/article/detail/1810530/2014/03/12/Wordt-dit-de-vervanger-van-de-Belgische-F-16-s.dhtml
I can only say: Go F-18!
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I'd say, the wisest choice will be the Grippen or the F-16.
Don't think the Super bug (F-18E/F) will solve your problems. It is called the "Super bug" by the US Navy pilots for a thing. It is buggy. Less maneuverable than the F/A-18C, lost most of F/A-18s' aerodynamic goodness, bigger than F/A-18s, completely different than the rest of F/A-18s (unlike F-16's variants), slower acceleration than the F/A-18s. But they carry better electronics and more bombs. Yeah, it is for invasion-minded forces, who will just need to bully their way in an air space without fighting for air superiority.
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Don't get me started on Norway's fighter replacements. We somehow (with a lot of trickery and lobbyism) chose the American F-35 to replace the F-16's. They lied about the price and they will arrive much later than they promised. Gripen is more than enough. By choosing Gripen we could have created a more healthy cooperation between the Nordic countries.
The dream is to have the Finns on the ground, Swedes in the air and Norwegians at sea. Unbeatable combo.
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i think these guys only wanna make the world think they are tough.
like 99% of gangbangin' gangstas
I'm going to go out on a limb and say that gangsters from the street are probably tougher than you. Living in abject poverty does that to you.
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I'm going to go out on a limb and say that gangsters from the street are probably tougher than you. Living in abject poverty does that to you.
Talking to me or damaso though? If to me No. They might have that special "hunger" that drives them to do stuff more viciously but tougher than me no.
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Well you are the closest we have to a hollywood hero, a natl. level martial artist. I myself can use my big body quite well. 6'1" and 81 Kgs of Tankbuster will give anyone a pause.
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About the Crimea crisis:
http://youtu.be/_Q5Roqrmblg?t=51s
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Why has the Eurofighter fallen out of favour? It's still my favourite plane of the moment i guess
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It is expensive?
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compared to F-35 and F-22 it is ok in price i think. I also read about an exercise in Alaska where German Eurofighter pilots were spotted with multiple F-22 killmarkings, so they can be compared i guess.
If it was up to me to decide the planes, i'd modernise a few F-16 so we could still deliver the nukes if needed, and add a few Eurofighters for air superiority roles.
I do like the Gripen, but i thought i read somewhere that it wasn't capable of delivering nukes.
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i think these guys only wanna make the world think they are tough.
like 99% of gangbangin' gangstas
I'm going to go out on a limb and say that gangsters from the street are probably tougher than you. Living in abject poverty does that to you.
Yes, they must be tougher than me..
But the problem here is not how much they are tough compared to other people - the problem is than they did all this shit just for us to think they can beat the shit out of everyone.
But sometimes, they born that way... because capitalism educated them that way... to get well in live, you need to be strong, figth, and dont care about what the others think of you - if you are an tough gangsa, keep doing it! nobody gives a single fuck... people can bitch, but nothing can be done because capitalism will always raise people like this in their society...
Indeed i would get my ass kicked of if one of those aproached me... but ey, we can always change atitude, i can be an "polite" gangster rigth? (i guess?)
Anyway, put your faults in capitalism.
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If F-22 didn't suffer from teething problems like Oxygen supply system, I think F-22A is no match for any fighters in production as of today. I am saying this as an American hater.
Pretty sure, the 2012 Red Flag results (Eurofighter Typhoon got 'kill lock' on F-22 during dog fight), and many other anecdotes are just people pissing on F-22A's somewhat bloated reputation. But frankly, in real combat, F-22 is like the Koenigstiger, nearly invincible but not without flaws. For instance, unlike the Typhoon, the Raptor is stealth from ground up. It's radar is far more capable in air superiority role than Typhoon's Captor-E. The only thing that Typhoon clealry win is ground attack capability.
About the price, in 2006's USD, approximately, F-22A was around 178 million. Typhoon was 74 million, F-35A (at that time) was 45 million, now it is more than 100 million. Rafale-C was 117 million, Super Hornet was 55 million, and lastly, Grippen was 40 million. The quoted sum was approximate flyaway cost, not an actual price tag.
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Yes, they must be tougher than me..
But the problem here is not how much they are tough compared to other people - the problem is than they did all this shit just for us to think they can beat the shit out of everyone.
But sometimes, they born that way... because capitalism educated them that way... to get well in live, you need to be strong, figth, and dont care about what the others think of you - if you are an tough gangsa, keep doing it! nobody gives a single fuck... people can bitch, but nothing can be done because capitalism will always raise people like this in their society...
Indeed i would get my ass kicked of if one of those aproached me... but ey, we can always change atitude, i can be an "polite" gangster rigth? (i guess?)
Anyway, put your faults in capitalism.
Yes, capitalism invented street thugs. Nice one kid.
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compared to F-35 and F-22 it is ok in price i think. I also read about an exercise in Alaska where German Eurofighter pilots were spotted with multiple F-22 killmarkings, so they can be compared i guess.
If it was up to me to decide the planes, i'd modernise a few F-16 so we could still deliver the nukes if needed, and add a few Eurofighters for air superiority roles.
I do like the Gripen, but i thought i read somewhere that it wasn't capable of delivering nukes.
Well the Eurofighter came up short against the Rafale during the MMRCA trials because the french could lower the price. Pissed Britan off to no end.
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Why has the Eurofighter fallen out of favour? It's still my favourite plane of the moment i guess
Well the Eurofighter came up short against the Rafale during the MMRCA trials because the french could lower the price. Pissed Britan off to no end.
Thats why. The swedish and French are currently offering great prices aswel, so they arent out of the competition. I think the biggest problem would be that the Americans allow licensed production, wich the swedes/french are not so fond off.
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Yes, they must be tougher than me..
But the problem here is not how much they are tough compared to other people - the problem is than they did all this shit just for us to think they can beat the shit out of everyone.
But sometimes, they born that way... because capitalism educated them that way... to get well in live, you need to be strong, figth, and dont care about what the others think of you - if you are an tough gangsa, keep doing it! nobody gives a single fuck... people can bitch, but nothing can be done because capitalism will always raise people like this in their society...
Indeed i would get my ass kicked of if one of those aproached me... but ey, we can always change atitude, i can be an "polite" gangster rigth? (i guess?)
Anyway, put your faults in capitalism.
Yes, capitalism invented street thugs. Nice one kid.
Not necesseraly invented but it did help in creating them.
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NYTimes: If History Is a Guide, Crimeans’ Celebration May Be Short-Lived (http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/03/19/world/europe/south-ossetia-crimea.html?hp&_r=0&referrer=)
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Yes, they must be tougher than me..
But the problem here is not how much they are tough compared to other people - the problem is than they did all this shit just for us to think they can beat the shit out of everyone.
But sometimes, they born that way... because capitalism educated them that way... to get well in live, you need to be strong, figth, and dont care about what the others think of you - if you are an tough gangsa, keep doing it! nobody gives a single fuck... people can bitch, but nothing can be done because capitalism will always raise people like this in their society...
Indeed i would get my ass kicked of if one of those aproached me... but ey, we can always change atitude, i can be an "polite" gangster rigth? (i guess?)
Anyway, put your faults in capitalism.
Yes, capitalism invented street thugs. Nice one kid.
Not necesseraly invented but it did help in creating them.
Capitalism, no not really, but the American system did. People born on the streets of B-More or the Bronx or wherever have absolutely no opportunities. I hope not to sound condescending, but these poor and mainly black people don't have the chance to go to university or get a stable job like you or I do. Is there any surprise that so many people have to turn to dealing drugs to get by? That situation means you have to be tough - I would still think that they are tougher than you. Looking down upon them as "street thugs" is just as much a part of the problem. It smacks of racism and condescension. They're people too. I highly suggest you watch the HBO series The Wire, it does a much better job arguing this than me. As Marcus Aurelius said, poverty is the mother of crime. It's not the other way around.
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Actually capitalism is much more complicated, and most people completely have no idea about it.
So we are arguing from the stand point of "starting difficulty." Some people are born with "insane level" pre-selected for their game of life. Some people are born on "easy" setting, born to the wealthy family or an heir to power. I hate it when people try to justify their bad behavior based on their own perspective. So here are components of Capitalism:
The Chiefs
Many corporate leaders don't really work from the bottom. They just move around after messing about in the previous company. They never own business, or start it from ground up and making an actual contribution to the economy system instead of turning it into a very complex and inefficient machine by creating elaborate management structure that costs more than making the actual goods. Well, maybe because they care more about making good show than good products.
The Capitalists
Then there is this thing called investors, who can become your stakeholders. The way I see it, they should be the one providing the cash needed to feed all the workers, to buy them new tools, and to keep the factory running, and that's it! They will get their money back, as much as they contribute, and all they need to do is wish the team all the best. But in our capitalism, these people also have the loudest voice, and granted, the voice must be heard. Capitalism worship this idea, because it is the essence of it. While in reality, all they can say is "why Yahoo! no make social media? It's their mistake, no wonder their stock is falling!" "why Nokia no make iPhone! No wonder they lose competition!" "why Microsoft no make Apple? That's why they lose the consumer market!" Basically, they are the every reason why the world today is lack of innovation and stopped being creative. All they want is quick money and then out! Sucking the juices dry. "To hell with long-term investment!" "To hell with sustainable growth!"
The Preachers
Steve Jobs, being a well-known douchebag himself, was very combative towards these loud investors, that's why Apple was quite hip back then, and the whole Wall Street fat cats shut the hell up and started singing his tunes. The consumer market was already 6 years ahead of all those so-called expert financial analysts and stock brokers in worshiping whatever Apple put on their stores. All because, like my brother put it: "analysts got the job because the market is inefficient, meaning that the flow of information is not balanced." He added "so, in order to make the job more lucrative, analysts tend to create the misinformation, or deliberately make the situation more complicated than it actually is." And some just totally refuse to believe that they have been beaten by the market force itself.
The Workers
Then there is what they call "labours." Equally self-serving as the chiefs and as narrow-minded as how much tool set they get to learn. The workers has every reason to be paid attention to by the management. After all, they are where most of the value creation lies. And a good business strategy is the one that increase the values, all in a while, increasing stakeholder's value too, the very goal of capitalism. But sadly, it never worked that way. Some workers are just plain leech, no productivity, just latching into a host and dies away on its own. But if the lessons from the downfall of communism and Lee Harvey Oswald's experience might say, can the labours lead by the labours?
Well, Karl Marx imagined that labours are intellect, passionate, and hard working people. But many who jump into politics, organise strikes, and form unions (and be the union bosses), are the leeches. Like the Comintern, they lack credibility other than kissing each other's ass. They can't get out from their comfortable shell. Like Viktor Chernomyrdin, Russian ex-president said: "Whatever organisation we try to create, it always ends up looking like the Communist Party."
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If F-22 didn't suffer from teething problems like Oxygen supply system, I think F-22A is no match for any fighters in production as of today. I am saying this as an American hater.
Pretty sure, the 2012 Red Flag results (Eurofighter Typhoon got 'kill lock' on F-22 during dog fight), and many other anecdotes are just people pissing on F-22A's somewhat bloated reputation. But frankly, in real combat, F-22 is like the Koenigstiger, nearly invincible but not without flaws. For instance, unlike the Typhoon, the Raptor is stealth from ground up. It's radar is far more capable in air superiority role than Typhoon's Captor-E. The only thing that Typhoon clealry win is ground attack capability.
About the price, in 2006's USD, approximately, F-22A was around 178 million. Typhoon was 74 million, F-35A (at that time) was 45 million, now it is more than 100 million. Rafale-C was 117 million, Super Hornet was 55 million, and lastly, Grippen was 40 million. The quoted sum was approximate flyaway cost, not an actual price tag.
That's why everyone should get F-16's on steroids :D The Block 50/52+'s or the Block 60's with the AESA radars, JHMCS compatibility, conformal fuel tanks and the AIM-9X's to pair up with the AIM-120C7's. Pretty effective force with much less money spent. Plus when you compare an F-16's cost per flight hour compared to many others, its cheaper on that end too. :D
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Or souped up MiG 21s. The F16 was judged somewhat crappier than the souped up MiG during the AMCA trials.
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Or souped up MiG 21s. The F16 was judged somewhat crappier than the souped up MiG during the AMCA trials.
The MiG 21 is still produced? :o And if it is, which version was tested in AMCA? From what I remember the IAF (Indian) had horrible experiences with their MiG 21's constantly crashing, although that doesn't necessarily mean it was the planes fault, if the Indian's weren't maintaining it properly.
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MiG-21 is surprisingly, a very upgradable aircraft..
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Or souped up MiG 21s. The F16 was judged somewhat crappier than the souped up MiG during the AMCA trials.
The MiG 21 is still produced? :o And if it is, which version was tested in AMCA? From what I remember the IAF (Indian) had horrible experiences with their MiG 21's constantly crashing, although that doesn't necessarily mean it was the planes fault, if the Indian's weren't maintaining it properly.
No, Our Media likes to constantly cry about it too. The Germans lost far more Starfighters than we lost MiGs, but idiots will howl like they must. The MiG has only recently been stopped upgrading, and has been replaced with the LCA, it is small and stealthy. The current MiGs with the ELTA pods didn't show up on AESA radars.
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Well, some Indian in Cracked tell us a story about his father, a MiG-21 pilot. The plane is called the "widow maker" for a reason. His father ejected twice, and on both occasion, he has to fly deadheading and cleared from any wrongdoings. So, after the 2nd ejection, his backbone compacted, and now relegated into flying cargo planes.
http://www.cracked.com/article_20991_5-reasons-flying-fighter-jet-way-crazier-than-top-gun.html
We also have MiG-21, a beautiful sleek-looking plane. But their small wings, mean that they have a very very low wing loading, and that semi-delta wing also means they are not particularly easy to control during tight turns. What our Air Force veterans say is that it is obviously very fast (clean aerodynamics), but not very good at controls, it easily spin out of control. MiG-17 is deemed far more agile and more controllable, but very slow.
Maybe the Indian Air Force is looking for interceptor. In that case, the MiG-21 shines more than F-16, because it has one of the fastest acceleration to Mach 2.0, behind English Electric Lightning and the famous Concorde passenger jet. Yes, not even the famed F-15 or MiG-29 or Su-27 can catch them when they dash for it. Or maybe, they just hate the F-16 because Pakistani is using it. LOL
BTW, I was quoting the cost for Eurofighter Typhoon Tranche 1, the Tranche 2 version is probably very similar to Rafale-C's current price. I haven't seen any data for the new flyaway costs.
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The MiG isn't only used as an Interceptor, it is used for multiple roles, but has been slowly but steadily phased out, especially as the Russians are gigantic pricks whens ToT is concerned. Therefore it will eventually phased out by the LCA. I wonder how sooper awesome the American Stealth Fighters are, considering that they are stealthy because they don't carry missiles. I wonder how they would do against a souped up MiG.
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Well, our Air Force has recently acquired new Russian hardware. So, to compare both planes (F-16 vs. Su-27 and Su-30), they say Russian planes are quite a pain to maintain.
For every 1 hour flight, F-16 needs 3-4 hours of maintenance, the Su-27 is so "reliable", the figure even exceeds the 2-engined F/A-18 (about 8 hours/1 hour flight), like 10-12 hours per 1 hour flight. Engine wise: GE F-110 lasts about 22,000 hours. Saturn AL-31F can churn 8,000 hours on average.
No wonder Russian SAMs are scary. We are acquiring S-300 systems while getting upgraded F-16CJs for cheap from US excess inventory.
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On top of that, the engines have to be sent Back to Russia for repairing. The Ruskies love their engines, especially since the Chinese have been trying to 'acquire' engines for their planes.
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I wonder how sooper awesome the American Stealth Fighters are, considering that they are stealthy because they don't carry missiles. I wonder how they would do against a souped up MiG.
They carry missiles and other ordnance in their weapon bays. Not sure where you got the notion they weren't carrying missiles.
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Most modern stealthy planes are like that:
F-22A
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/F-22_Raptor_Internal_Weapons_Bay.jpg)
In addition to that, they also now plug the wings to carry external fuel tanks and some more extra missiles when stealth is not required.
F-35
(http://www.hightech-edge.com/wp-content/uploads/f-35-lightning-ii-hidden-weapons-bay.jpg)
This thing also able to carry extra weight on wings.
T-50
(http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/4529/46059428034168603277917.jpg)
Even the Russians did it too. Rumors say they also able to carry load using underwing pylons.
J-20
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-26CbiC4FJMU/UdVRARaNkMI/AAAAAAAAa0Q/EYWQi7uu7HM/s425/PL-12+PL-10+PL-15+J-20+Mighty+Dragon++Chengdu+J-20+fifth+generation+stealth%252C+twin-engine+fighter+aircraft+prototype+People%2527s+Liberation+Army+Air+Force++OPERATIONAL+weapons+aam+bvr+missile+ls+pgm+gps+plaaf+%25286%2529.jpg)
The Chinese too!
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But they cannot carry as many as conventional fighters, W/O external hardpoints. Unless stealth missiles have been developed that don't leave heat signatures, the weapons themselves would be visible on Radar.
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Well, some Indian in Cracked tell us a story about his father, a MiG-21 pilot. The plane is called the "widow maker" for a reason. His father ejected twice, and on both occasion, he has to fly deadheading and cleared from any wrongdoings. So, after the 2nd ejection, his backbone compacted, and now relegated into flying cargo planes.
http://www.cracked.com/article_20991_5-reasons-flying-fighter-jet-way-crazier-than-top-gun.html
We also have MiG-21, a beautiful sleek-looking plane. But their small wings, mean that they have a very very low wing loading, and that semi-delta wing also means they are not particularly easy to control during tight turns. What our Air Force veterans say is that it is obviously very fast (clean aerodynamics), but not very good at controls, it easily spin out of control. MiG-17 is deemed far more agile and more controllable, but very slow.
Maybe the Indian Air Force is looking for interceptor. In that case, the MiG-21 shines more than F-16, because it has one of the fastest acceleration to Mach 2.0, behind English Electric Lightning and the famous Concorde passenger jet. Yes, not even the famed F-15 or MiG-29 or Su-27 can catch them when they dash for it. Or maybe, they just hate the F-16 because Pakistani is using it. LOL
BTW, I was quoting the cost for Eurofighter Typhoon Tranche 1, the Tranche 2 version is probably very similar to Rafale-C's current price. I haven't seen any data for the new flyaway costs.
From what I remember it was the Starfighter they called a widow maker, we personally called them flying coffins. :D
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Widow maker is indeed pilot's term instead of real nickname.
F-104, MiG-21, F-4U Cutlass, Dc-10 etc... all were named widow maker once.
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I loved "Sargfighter" the most ;D
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Racism and anti-racism in "minority" countries:
http://tokyodesu.com/2014/03/17/pictures-ultra-nationalist-demonstrators-overwhelmed-by-anti-racist-counter-protest/
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I guess these fellows dont know how things have escalated in westren europe. Oh wait, i'm not allow to say that.
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Well, unlike Germany, these little people don't have big enough heart to admit their wrongdoings in the past. That's why they never really dominate us, the other Asians, unlike how Germans dominate the other Europeans. They are not big enough to carry that burden, that weight to become an example to lead us through perilous, dirty, and cruel world. Their economic and industrial reign was rather short, like their WW2 achievements.
If one would recommend the leader of the world. I would say, the Chinese has the most experience, but sadly their current heading was rather shoddy and their vision is too blurred. Probably, the US is the best of the worst choice as of now. I would recommend the Brits too. But they are all suffering from one big problem as a leader of the diverse world.
Clearly, the west still suffer from that "double standard" issues. Take a look at Ukraine for example. This potential ally was in turmoil, and those Russians in Crimea and Eastern Ukraine don't want to be part of that deal, so they chose to secede. They simply won because their overwhelming numbers in the population. I have to admit that Russia is quite an asshole by moving in first. It is an illegal act, but the Crimean people's choice is theirs. You can say they were voting under gun totting ethnic Russian mobs and Russian Navy personnel, but if you look at the composition of population, you'll see that holding a fair referendum there isn't the best interest for Ukraine and the west be it without Russian intervention.
So what's the deal with Ukraine' territorial integrity. The Chinese was once stripped of Xinjiang, Tibet, and many other Central Asian countries, including Russian-Manchurian borders along its course of history. Clearly, the Han Chinese were minority there. But why they were supported to secede? Especially those who were part of China in 1949? Then the independence of East Timor, which Indonesians still try to reason on why these Portuguese-speaking fellas don't feel that 1945 spirit. We try to justify that being occupied by Portugal isn't like being occupied by the Dutch (like the rest of Indonesia), they just don't share that 1945 feeling, and them being close to communism, was just like us before 1966.
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I guess these fellows dont know how things have escalated in westren europe. Oh wait, i'm not allow to say that.
Huh? I don't get it. Which fellows don't know what exactly?
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Clearly, the west still suffer from that "double standard" issues. Take a look at Ukraine for example. This potential ally was in turmoil, and those Russians in Crimea and Eastern Ukraine don't want to be part of that deal, so they chose to secede. They simply won because their overwhelming numbers in the population. I have to admit that Russia is quite an asshole by moving in first. It is an illegal act, but the Crimean people's choice is theirs. You can say they were voting under gun totting ethnic Russian mobs and Russian Navy personnel, but if you look at the composition of population, you'll see that holding a fair referendum there isn't the best interest for Ukraine and the west be it without Russian intervention.
We, in the european west, believe that it is no good idea to further segment the world into inefficient sovereignties. The world is already fully segmented into sovereignities. Each place on earth got a government and can be adressed. Minorities should no longer receive protection by creating their own nations, but by granting them the required rights in the those existing nations.
Accordingly our priorities are these:- Create democratic governments where no governments exists or support revolutions where governments are undemocratic.
- Protect minorities and civil rights by influencing the existing governments to do so.
- Return to step #1 and create 2 different countries, only if influencing the government fails hard (genocide etc.).
If you countercheck some major conflicts of the past and today, this guideline fits well.
- Yogoslavia saw a genocide (thus new nations were created).
- Iraq had an undemocratic regime.
- Tunesia had an undemocratic regime.
- Libya had an undemocratic regime.
- Egypt had an undemocratic regime.
- Syria has an undemocratic regime.
- Ukraine had a rather democratic regime, but can be considered a special case. The country is a rather instable nation, with previous regime changes. In this case we prefer presence of any (democratic) order over lack of any governance (unrest).
- Crimea saw no genocide.
I don't really see the double standard here on the first glimpse. As long as you don't blame us for cooperating with undemocratic regimes during times when there is no significant opposition to support.
I guess these fellows dont know how things have escalated in westren europe. Oh wait, i'm not allow to say that.
Huh? I don't get it. Which fellows don't know what exactly?
For some reason THeTA0123 managed to find an neighbourhood in Belgium compareable to Compton, with him being the only white person within one squaremile.
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So Theta lives in the Belgian Bradford?
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So Theta lives in the Belgian Bradford?
No, the Belgian Bradford is either Borgerhout, or the Brussels Capital Region.
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If you countercheck some major conflicts of the past and today, this guideline fits well.
- Yogoslavia saw a genocide (thus new nations were created).
- Iraq had an undemocratic regime.
- Tunesia had an undemocratic regime.
- Libya had an undemocratic regime.
- Egypt had an undemocratic regime.
- Syria has an undemocratic regime.
- Ukraine had a rather democratic regime, but can be considered a special case. The country is a rather instable nation, with previous regime changes. In this case we prefer presence of any (democratic) order over lack of any governance (unrest).
- Crimea saw no genocide.
I accept this reasoning. It is quite fair and square. I don't care about anti-interventionist opinion or possible unfavourable outcomes, but principle is a principle.
But this happens without "ultranationalist" Ukrainian committing violence towards ethnic Russians who elected Yanukovich to office. The Russians acted preemptively on that allegation, if their concern were correct.
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We, in the european west, believe that it is no good idea to further segment the world into inefficient sovereignties. The world is already fully segmented into sovereignities. Each place on earth got a government and can be adressed. Minorities should no longer receive protection by creating their own nations, but by granting them the required rights in the those existing nations.
Accordingly our priorities are these:- Create democratic governments where no governments exists or support revolutions where governments are undemocratic.
- Protect minorities and civil rights by influencing the existing governments to do so.
- Return to step #1 and create 2 different countries, only if influencing the government fails hard (genocide etc.).
If you countercheck some major conflicts of the past and today, this guideline fits well.
- Yugoslavia saw a genocide (thus new nations were created).
- Iraq had an undemocratic regime.
- Tunesia had an undemocratic regime.
- Libya had an undemocratic regime.
- Egypt had an undemocratic regime.
- Syria has an undemocratic regime.
- Ukraine had a rather democratic regime, but can be considered a special case. The country is a rather instable nation, with previous regime changes. In this case we prefer presence of any (democratic) order over lack of any governance (unrest).
- Crimea saw no genocide.
Who is to determine if a minority doesn't deserve its own state? Are you saying that the Scots and Basques don't get to make their own rules?
And another thing, you are hugely mistaken regarding Yugoslavia.
To shorten the wall of text which I could spew out as a reaction to what you've said, I'll just phrase it this way:
Yugoslavia was a federation, and the republics were partially sovereign but some republics had bigger influence in the federation and oppresed the others (very complicated).
In 1991 Yugoslavia fell apart and ceased to exist. Serbia tried to occupy as much territory with or without Serbs as a majority, and subsequently failed, with the war ending in 1995.
Genocide occured in Bosnia and Croatia, where Serbs cleansed the areas of other ethnicities and religions.
It culminated in 1995 but started out in as early as 1991.
In other words, new nations were NOT created because genocides occured, but because of their internationally recognized right to become independent. Genocide followed as part of the Serb plan to create the Greater Serbia, and not a general plan of all the republics in former Yugoslavia, since Slovenia experienced some 2 weeks of sporadic combat against the Serb-controlled Yugoslav Army, and Macedonia gained independece without a shot fired.
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Macedonia was free since we liberated Thessaloniki from the turks in the first Balkan war.
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This is yugoslav business, keep your gyros out of here. Greece of irrelevant!
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Iraq had an undemocratic regime.
Tunesia had an undemocratic regime.
Libya had an undemocratic regime.
Egypt had an undemocratic regime.
Syria has an undemocratic regime.
Ukraine had a rather democratic regime, but can be considered a special case. The country is a rather instable nation, with previous regime changes. In this case we prefer presence of any (democratic) order over lack of any governance (unrest).
Libya is currently controlled by undemocratic local warlords
Egypt is currently controlled by undemocratic army officials
Syria is under siege by international terrorists
Iraq is in effect a puppet state of the USA
The EU is recognising an undemocratic elected government in the Ukraine because it supports the interests of the EU rather then that of Russia. If it would have been the other way around, the actions would have been condemned, and sanctions would have been taken (look at the Crimea).
The west does have double standards, because it still thinks that the ways of the west are the best. Everything build around the idea's of international law and universal human rights are written from a western point of view. As such, they do not always "comprehend" the actions that are taken by non-western people. The west often remains closed-minded.
The actions taken by Russia where logical and predictable. One of the greatest accomplishments of the Russian territorial expansions could never be given to the lap of the EU without any effort to keep it. The Crimea is defacto Russian since the 18th century and home basis of the important black sea fleet. just giving that up because of a illegitimate coup would be rather foolish. Yes, trade might suffer, stocks might lose their value, but when the crisis fades away, cash will once more flow towards Moscou, and it will still have it's precious black sea fleet..
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Looks like Turkey just shot down a Syrian Mig-23. About 3 and a half hours ago.
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luftwaffe, all of the results are known because we have the benefit of hindsight.
Also Crimea was given by Kruschev to Ukraine in 1954. He was quite crazy IMO, but my opinion is irrelevant. Historically, it has been Russia, and it has its own parliament since the beginning.
BTW, yeah, Macedonia the real one, the birth place of Alexander the Great, not F.Y.R.O. is indeed in Greece. The wannabes of ex-Yugoslavian states, well, I don't know, but let them be. With population under 1 million, let's see if they don't cry foul over being totally overpowered economically.
Independence doesn't come cheap. When some guy want to do business with the European countries, they need easy access and less bureaucratic hassle. OK, let's see if I want to import beers. Where do I start? Czech Republic? Ireland? Belgium? Denmark? the Netherlands? Germany? OK, then I also need machinery, and trucks, that will come from Finland and Sweden perhaps? But since Sweden here is stubbornly different and means more paperworks, Volvo and Scania need to work more in order to prove that the extra hassle their government imposed, worth the cost over DAF or MAN or Mercedes Trucks. Now to ship it here, the Greeks has the sea-faring fleet, contracted by the Danes. So there my money goes. Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Denmark, and Greece.
Good thing that Crimea elected to join another country instead of being stubbornly independent.
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Libya is currently controlled by undemocratic local warlords
Egypt is currently controlled by undemocratic army officials
Syria is under siege by international terrorists
Iraq is in effect a puppet state of the USA
Libya - if you only count Cyrenaica - is currently controlled by undemocratic local warlords that at least have some sort of popular support, unlike our dear Colonel who did not need to bother himself with such trivialities. Let's forget that the western parts of the country have at least some sort of democratic and relatively stable regime, and let's forget that the civil war did not extend to years and years, causing hundreds of thousands of dead, unlike in, say, Syria.
Egypt is currently controlled by undemocratic army officials, after a brief period of being controlled by undemocratic Islamist extremists determined to turn it into Saudi Arabia as far as human rights are concerned. But of course, Iran under Shah and pre-Taliban Afghanistan were so much more terrible compared to the glorious FREEDOM that came afterwards.
Syria gets a free pass to commit genocide by conventional weapons (chemical weapons are bad, mmmkay, but anything else is A-OK!), because Obama made a strategic blunder and wouldn't stand up to the dictator's Russian friends. That Al-Qaeda hangarounds flock into any conflict that has Muslims as one of the parties is a given, but that could have been avoided if certain dictator had given up or had been ousted earlier.
The US influence in Iraq is by and large limited to the fortified embassy district nowadays. Militarily, they have no control (as is evident from the new government losing territory to Sunni militants & AQ, plus the new government's rather adventurous forays into the Syrian civil war on Assad's side). Politically, the US has very little relevance, and as for MUH PETRODOLLAR WARFARE oil drilling rights are mostly held by French and Russian companies - both countries that were protesting against the 2003 invasion rather loudly.
0/10, made me reply.
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I find it hilarious that in the West there are many people to whom any kind of dictator - no matter how brutal - is a glorious freedom fighter and stalwart defender of his people against the international conspiracy of bankers and megacorporations, just as long as he has anti-Western agenda.
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Democratic traditions, corruption-free administration, insert virtue of government here, do not mature overnight and will not - cannot - appear out of nowhere as soon as there is a change of regime. Every nation has to start to build those traditions from zero, if they have not had previous experience. Expecting a country to be a perfectly honest democracy with zero corruption a year, five years, or even a decade after the end of dictatorship is wishful thinking at best, ludicrous delusions at worst. But at least there is the possibility to develop towards those goals.
However, democracy will not necessarily result in tolerance and inviolate human rights if most of the voters are illiterate, uneducated, and as such, can be manipulated by religious or other extremists. There are actually people who sincerely believe that freedom of speech, equality, secularism, sexual freedom, minorities' rights, freedom of religion (especially freedom to abandon one's faith!), etc. are BAD. There is no easy solution to the dilemma how to advance both democracy AND human rights in such countries.
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there would now be evidence that MH370 crashed in the Southern Indian ocean
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-26716572
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So Theta lives in the Belgian Bradford?
No, the Belgian Bradford is either Borgerhout, or the Brussels Capital Region.
Beringen, wich is the borgerhout of Limburg :D
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Ah, TheTA, now that you're back, maybe you can find some time to enlighten me:
I guess these fellows dont know how things have escalated in westren europe. Oh wait, i'm not allow to say that.
Huh? I don't get it. Which fellows don't know what exactly?
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There is a shooting at US Army's Fort Hood base in Texas
3 April 2014 Last updated at 03:19
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-26863033
It is sad to see these people suffer. They have sacrificed a lot of things to serve their country, getting shot at, and receive unequal amount of hate for what they done overseas. Yeah, everybody signed up knowing to obey whatever orders given. But not from incompetent foreign policy makers, right? And the saddest thing is that, they can't even find safety and security back at home.
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Maybe a couple of bucks of those annual 600 billion spend on defense should be spend on veterans and their mental problems after they have given their sanity for their country.
Curretly it seems to be capitalism at its best: Take it, use it, squeeze it, dispose when broken. Just that some of the waste is toxic, firing back at its environment after disposal.
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They need to take long term rather than short term approach. It is exactly capitalism killing itself slowly.
Plus, why the American public are so overly sensitive about their military brass and seemingly worship them? The way they spent money for ludicrous projects like F-35 is mind blowing. Are the whole western civilization supposed to rely on that limited capability shit to defend their existence? It is now about to approach F-22's price tag. Why the hell not continue their production? Now that the brass decided to plug its wings to carry external weapons. You can now bomb a civilization back to stone age with that F-22 strike version. If they are citing maintenance bills, aren't F-35 supposed to have more newer parts? Also its stealthy features, does it need specially built hangar? Good luck on those fools committing themselves on the project. It is the ultimate budget sinkhole and Pentagon at its post-WW2, post-Cold war best.