World Affairs

[cmdp123789 710]

It's awful down there.. That's what pisses me off... They managed to ruin a country in 50 years... Argentina went from being one of the top 5 five to something that people don't even recognize anymore...

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

I suspect that corrupt politicians have run the country into bankruptcy.  They've been using conflicts with the UK to keep the people quiet and entertained.  Cry for yourself, Argentina.

[cmdp123789 710]

Yup, that's pretty much what they've been doing for the last 30 years. The funny thing is that the conflict with the UK is so silly. I mean, I respect both sides' casualties, and of course, I show the same respect for my people as for the british, but come on! I have a friend, he is British, we went to school together, and he joined the army, and he is still my best friend, which is something great because we get to sometimes learn from each other's perspective on the same thing... Lastly, those little islands that we fight about have absolutely nothing! there is no oil, no gold... nothing.. and the people living there are actually happy being British citizens (to be honest I dont see great benefits of being Argentine for the moment). Moving on, Venezuela is out on strike again.. President Maduro failed to present real facts about inflation and a plan for 2015. Of course, it is not a surprise anymore, but just to keep you guys posted. People are on the street, with the Latin's favorite, the cacerolazo, which is basically people going on a strike with their pans and/or any cookware you have at home =P Finally, it seems that there are pictures around the web that prove that one of the two Japanese hostages (ISIS) has been decapitated. The government is still trying to confirm it, but it would seem the confirmation is already there with a picture published this morning by one of the hostages holding a picture of the other person already dead.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

South America was a pretty good place before the end of WW II.  The countries down there managed to stay pretty much out of it, and were largely neutral, but some of them offered asylum to some of the worst NAZIs, which wasn't a good thing for them to do, but that was really between them and the Zionist movement.  Somehow, a general malaise and corruption has crept in, probably due to promptings from American advertisers which always causes unrest in populations that just can't afford the things being pushed at them.  It is really too bad that the conquistadors influence was so strong there, and after the destruction of the rapacious Spanish/Portuguese empires things did not much improve. 

 

At one point most of the beef eaten around the world came from the Argentine, and I suppose it still produces a considerable amount.  The gaucho on the pampas used to be a romantic figure, but I suspect that has all gone away.

 

Of late, we are seeing a great deal of produce from Chile, but that story is across the western cordillera, and is perhaps a little different.  Chile makes some pretty nice wines, too.

[LexusInfernus 908]

So This just happened over here in the Netherlands. 

 

Thankfully no one was hurt. 

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

One disturbed person.  Any evidence he belongs to some group?

[LexusInfernus 908]

He claimed he was part of some hackers collective. But I dont know if thats true or just a bluff. I mean, he also said there are 5 other attackers, had a small army of hackers standing by to begin a large scale cyber attack and that they had placed a number of dirty bombs around the country. No evidence of any of that yet. 

 

I suppose we will hear more as the police does its investigation and uncovers more facts. 

[jmsepe 2,038]

A short news recap of the 2015 Mamasapano Clash in the Island of Mindanao, Philippines

 

Amid the current peace talks between the Government of the Philippines and the Muslim people in Mindanao, a clash between the Philippine National Police and the Muslim rebels just this week led to deaths of 44 police. It is a sad and disappointing event especially that I myself live in the island of Mindanao. Now, the hearing of the peace talks is suspended and most senators have already withdrawn their support for the framework.Yesterday, the bodies of the 44 policemen arrived at the Villamor Airbase for honors and proper funeral. Despite the magnitude of this event and the critics of the incompetence of our president, without delicadeza, he was a no show at the ceremony on the arrival of the bodies and instead attended an opening of a new automobile factory. Our president also gave a speech 3 days after the incident. Government officials and former officials continues to point finger for the one greatly responsible.More blaming as to why the Secretary of Interior Government (Police is under his department) don't have any idea of the the operation. 

 

January 30 is declared as a national day of mourning for the Philippines.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

The whole Russian/Ukraine fiasco reminds me of the complacency in Europe in the 1930s.  Next stop, WW III.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Mexico arrests a drug lord.

 

The question is how long he will stay arrested.

[JP Schriefer 5,590]

Brazilians are returning to the streets this March 15. This time it is expected that the protests are greater than those of 2013, it means more then 1,5 million people, and this time are all asking for the impeachment of the current President Dilma Rousseff due to the Petrobras crises - Brazil's largest company - caused by the corruption of Rousseff's allies. Also due to high inflation (7.7%), the dollar overvaluation (U$ 1.00 = R$ 3.24) and the recession in the country because the GDP is shrinking more and more.

 

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/16/world/anger-bubbles-up-against-brazilian-president.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=photo-spot-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Iran: Oh, sure we will reduce our enriched uranium production.

 

And if you believe this, I have a bridge in New York over the East River you can purchase, too.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Kenya/Somalia conflict.

 

The surprise is that Kenya tolerated this nonsense for a long time.  Hitting them where it hurts.  Ex-pat Somalis need to show a clean set of hands here.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan) cleans dirty laundry.

 

This could be an object lesson for the leaders of ISIS.  If you commit atrocities and win, retribution will still catch up to you.

[unnamed 174]

The centennial of the Armenian genocide is coming up, the Armenian gov't and others believe that the increase in military instability in the Artsakh is tied to the 100th year of remembrance. Turkey is doing everything in its power to steer attention away from the centennial, such as rescheduling the battle of gallipoli anniversary to April 24, the day that the world remembers the genocide. 

 

http://qz.com/379556/us-leaders-would-rather-keep-turkey-happy-than-recognize-the-armenian-genocide/

 

http://www.latimes.com/nation/politics/la-na-armenian-resolution-20150410-story.html

 

http://asbarez.com/133921/escalation-of-violence-in-artsakh-%E2%80%98linked-to-genocide-centennial%E2%80%99/

[SharkSark 397]

India agrees to buy 36 Rafale fighters finally the deadlock is over.

 

http://in.reuters.com/article/2015/04/10/india-france-rafale-idINKBN0N10OL20150410

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Syria: The Assad Government.  Chlorine attack?!

 

Does anyone except the government of Syria fly choppers there?  If this can be hung on the Assad government, then it is time for a black operation to take him out.  Dragging him off to the world court would be a good thing.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Australia: getting tough on home grown jihadis.

 

The question is whether this amendment will get passed into law.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

U.K. to tighten up on misfeasance in the markets.

 

The Governor of the Bank of England and his governmental counterparts have stated that they are undertaking an overhaul of the stuffy rules governing the highest levels of financial governance in the U.K.  Mr. Carney is a Canadian and was Governor of the Bank of Canada for several years.  He was especially critical of the years 2007-2008 under his predecessor.  In Canada he was instrumental in helping us to weather that storm.

[Ocram's Razr 963]

http://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2015/apr/16/venezuela-economy-black-market-milk-and-toilet-paper

It is so sad how the civilians of Venezuela are suffering so much at the hands of their corrupt and incompetent government. The price controls have made shortages common and the economy is so bad that a default on the national debt is likely to occur this year. I hope things get resolved peacefully and prosperity can be brought back to Venezuela but I predict chaos.

--Ocram

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

It is tragic.  Price controls always cause a depression in the economy, and it is sort of the last gasp of a government of a failed state.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Finns might write excellent games, but they also produce underage hackers that do a lot of damage.

An AV system maker should hire this guy, and put all that talent to useful work.

[CapTon 592]

Does Mr. Obama like setting up the U.S. for failure?

Expect Iranian-based terror coming soon. And then when it all goes down, and Obama and his colleagues see their mistakes, they will go and point the finger at Mr. Bush, and everyone will believe them.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Fox news is not the most unbiased source for anything.  Why would Iranians want to attack the U.S.?  They have enough problems at home, being a religious state (Shi'a at that), pretty much in a pool of Sunni states.  If sanctions are lifted as a result of this agreement, Iran can become what it once was, a model of civilization.  Remember the language there is Farsi and not Arabic.  Iranians have little to do with the sons of Abraham from the wrong side of the blanket.  Here is a more balanced perspective on all the propaganda  .

BBC Headline Report.

Read between the lines, and see if things will be quieter in the Levant now, or not.

[Odainsaker 2,134]

While Americans were largely dismayed by scenes of jubilant Iranians celebrating last month's announcement of a nuclear deal, The Atlantic today offers this perspective:

"What the Iran-Deal Debate Is Like in Iran"

Perhaps we can take heart that while many critics in the U.S. are deriding Obama and Kerry for being completely outmaneuvered by the Iranians and selling out Israel, hardline critics in Iran are convinced it was actually their fellow Iranians who were completely outmaneuvered by Obama and Kerry and who had instead sold out Iran's Islamic Revolution.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

^ In general, I believe the hard liners in the U.S. are the usual set of war mongers.  The celebration in Iran, in spite of their hard liners, were that there was a slight relaxation of the strict religious regime that always does what it damn pleases.

Ex-pat Iranians I have known were usually on a proscription list.  Overall, they are nice people and long to return home but can't.

[Odainsaker 2,134]

On the heels of the first Republican Primary debate on Fox, where we saw two fuming hordes of angry candidates and one Mad Hatter hyperbolically denouncing all that naïve Obama has done and what she-devil Hillary may yet do to Surrender and Destroy America's Place In the World, Fareed Zakaria in The Washington Post opined last week that maybe things are not all so impossibly gloomy after all:

"Why the United States can be optimistic about the Middle East"

It sounds reasonable and I wish he expanded more, but, sadly, there is no place for reasonableness in a soundbite election campaign.

 

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Every once in a while, the U.S. gets a little shock and it upsets their complacency.  Most Americans think like members of the Roman empire of some 2000 years past.  In those days the phrase "Civis Romanus sum." (I'm a Roman citizen) got you out of almost any problem with the locals.

Well, my dear Yankees (in the Dutch sense), you had better think again.  You are not the wonder of the world.  You are mostly a set of selfish, bigoted jingoists who wouldn't know an international news items if it leaped up and hit you in the face.  The present stance of the so-called candidates for your crown (oh, excuse me, presidency) make it rather clear that even the "so aware" politicians can't tell a camel from a handsaw.

While many of you are arguably very nice people, most of you are gun-obsessed, brainwashed tools of the military/industrial complex and are so steeped in this "culture" that you are not even aware of your status as clients.  You've never stopped fighting the war between the states, and I seriously doubt you ever will.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Bomb attack in central Bangkok.

This whole scenario is starting to look like the Anarchist movement of the 1920s and 1930s.  I don't know how most people feel, but I am sick to death of idiots running around blowing other people up.  They are cowards or suicides (the ultimate cowardice), worse than poisoners.  I was reading a novel the other day where the punishment for this kind of treason was to be fired off the muzzle of a cannon.  Thought provoking but too barbaric for our times.

IMHO, acts like this should be considered high treason and acts of war.  The perpetrators, when caught, should be treated accordingly including any mouth-pieces they have.  Preaching treason or advocating treason is treason.  The euphemism 'terrorism' if exactly that.  An attempt by some to soften the idea of treason.

[matias93 7,535]

Every once in a while, the U.S. gets a little shock and it upsets their complacency.  Most Americans think like members of the Roman empire of some 2000 years past.  In those days the phrase "Civis Romanus sum." (I'm a Roman citizen) got you out of almost any problem with the locals.

Well, my dear Yankees (in the Dutch sense), you had better think again.  You are not the wonder of the world.  You are mostly a set of selfish, bigoted jingoists who wouldn't know an international news items if it leaped up and hit you in the face.  The present stance of the so-called candidates for your crown (oh, excuse me, presidency) make it rather clear that even the "so aware" politicians can't tell a camel from a handsaw.

While many of you are arguably very nice people, most of you are gun-obsessed, brainwashed tools of the military/industrial complex and are so steeped in this "culture" that you are not even aware of your status as clients.  You've never stopped fighting the war between the states, and I seriously doubt you ever will.

Well, imperial behaviour and its consequences are known almost since the dawn of the civilizations. Thucydides, citing an athenian legation (which was negotiating the unconditional rendition of an island's peoples), wrote: "We [the Athenians] have done nothing extraordinary, nothing contrary to human nature in accepting an empire when it was offered to us and then in refusing to give it up". After, he explains that empires are forced, by its power, to keep conquering and fighthing to delay destruction, which is an unavoidable consecuence of imperialism.

Of course, destruction is meant in political terms, so most people in the empire could trust themselves or their descendants to be alive to survive it. Their power position won't be as resistant, though.