Welcome to European Tribune. It's gone a bit quiet around here these days, but it's still going.

1 - 6 January 2019

by Bjinse Sun Dec 30th, 2018 at 10:19:20 PM EST

Your take on this week's news

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Display:
1 - 6 January 2019 | 138 comments (138 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)
Europe (none / 0)
EUROPE
by Bjinse on Sun Dec 30th, 2018 at 10:29:03 PM EST
Re: Europe (none / 1)
Larry Elliot in the Guardian, not all Europe but this bit is on target : A period of above-trend economic growth engineered by the European Central Bank has run its course. Activity is slowing and there is an acute awareness that the weaknesses in the architecture of monetary union exposed by the last crisis have not been rectified.

To do so would involve Germany agreeing to plans for a European finance minister overseeing a pan-European fiscal policy that would raise taxes from the richer parts of the eurozone to increase spending in struggling countries. But taxpayers in Germany have no desire to write cheques for less prosperous countries and Emmanuel Macron, the politician keenest on pushing ahead with the integrationist project, is a busted flush.



I used to be afew. I'm still not many.
by john_evans (john(dot)evans(dot)et(at)gmail(dot)com) on Mon Dec 31st, 2018 at 10:40:35 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Europe (none / 1)
That would require a federalisation that has been resisted time after time. Of course, the UK was the primary problem in any moves in such a direction, but not the only ones by a long way.

keep to the Fen Causeway
by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Wed Jan 2nd, 2019 at 08:17:56 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Europe (none / 1)
'I Don't Care About Europe': Trump Says He's Cool With Losing Support in EU
"When they say I'm not popular in Europe, I shouldn't be popular in Europe", Trump told reporters on Wednesday. "If I was popular in Europe, I wouldn't be doing my job."
Weber: If Trump treats Europe as an enemy, we'll defend our industry
"Spitzenkandidaten process" inaugural stump speech

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.
by Cat on Thu Jan 3rd, 2019 at 03:11:23 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Europe (none / 0)



Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.
by Cat on Fri Jan 4th, 2019 at 04:50:31 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Europe (4.00 / 2)
Talking about "leaders" of the Gilets Jaunes is really missing the point. This is a movement which has no ideology of its own, which is based on a (justified) indignation with being unrepresented and defenceless. Its "spokespeople" are, by definition, self-appointed, and tend to have previous (as is the case of Drouet), i.e. they are opportunists riding the movement.

Arresting him for organising an unauthorised demonstration is a fair cop. "Spontaneous" unorganised démonstrations are one thing; this guy announced that he was organising it.


It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II

by eurogreen on Fri Jan 4th, 2019 at 01:24:41 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Europe (none / 1)
Before Drouet's FB page calling for demonstrations last November, there was the petition on change.org by Priscillia Ludovsky, back in March. Both Ludovsky and Drouet had a meeting with the minister of Environment about a month ago.
by Bernard (bernard) on Fri Jan 4th, 2019 at 09:02:22 PM EST
[ Parent ]
< wipes tears > (none / 0)
a fascination rebuke of "protocol", "legitimacy", and of course "unauthorised", "unorganized but permissible "self-organized" protest against state policy-making.

Tell me, has Mme Ludosky been detained, too?

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Sat Jan 5th, 2019 at 04:18:19 PM EST
[ Parent ]
< wipes tears > (none / 0)
Why France's Yellow Vest Protests Are Ignored by "The Resistance"in the U.S.
"The rich are only defeated when running for their lives."

archived property
The amateur nature of the protests
Never, ever besmirch the property.
Is the UK about to have a radical Brexiteer regime?
C.L.R. James predicted Europe would turn "capitalism" on itself. And so it is, fighting over surplus.

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Sat Jan 5th, 2019 at 06:27:28 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Ludovsky (4.00 / 3)
No. Among the dozen or so of people presented by the media as "leaders" or "spokepersons" of the gilets jaunes, only Eric Drouet has been arrested (he's been released since then). He reportedly wrote on FB that he hoped to be arrested, to ensure that his name would be all over the place on BFM-TV (the non-stop news channel the gilets jaunes love to hate).

Obviously, it worked. Not only in the French media, but everywhere. He is now routinely presented in foreign media as "the main leader" of the movement, even though other people (P.Ludosky, Maxime Nicolle, Jacline Mouraud) have helped starting the protests last November.

by Bernard (bernard) on Sat Jan 5th, 2019 at 06:49:51 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Ludosky (4.00 / 2)
Adding: one of the main reasons E.Drouet is the one having been arrested is that P.Ludovsky, M.Nicolle or J.Mouraud call for developing protests outside of Paris, whereas E.Drouet's has always wanted to focus on Paris (he mentioned storming the Elysée palace).
by Bernard (bernard) on Sat Jan 5th, 2019 at 06:55:36 PM EST
[ Parent ]
uh oh (none / 0)



Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.
by Cat on Sat Jan 5th, 2019 at 10:40:39 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: uh oh (none / 1)
When it bleeds, it leads.
And when a car burns, it draws the camera lenses to it, away from the still ongoing simmering resentment and the struggle of many people to make both ends meet.
by Bernard (bernard) on Sun Jan 6th, 2019 at 12:46:30 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Europe (none / 0)
Is Sweden a European nation? Why do I ask?
Class War in Sweden

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.
by Cat on Fri Jan 4th, 2019 at 04:40:36 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Europe (none / 1)
EU Border Agency Says Migrant Border Crossings at 5-Year Low
"but that migrant entries into Spain via the Mediterranean continue to climb"

Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard

To help identify migratory patterns as well as trends in cross-border criminal activities, Frontex analyses data related to the situation at and beyond EU's external borders. It monitors the situation at the borders and helps border authorities to share information with Member States. The agency also carries out vulnerability assessments to evaluate the capacity and readiness of each Member State to face challenges at its external borders, including migratory pressure.
[...]
Council Regulation (EC) 2007/2004 of 26 October 2004 led to the establishment of the European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of the Member States of the European Union (Frontex).

This Regulation was repealed by Regulation (EU) 2016/1624 of 14 September 2016, establishing Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency.



Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.
by Cat on Fri Jan 4th, 2019 at 05:07:42 PM EST
[ Parent ]
The UK joins Eurail (4.00 / 3)
Seat 61
Eurostar joined the Eurail & InterRail scheme last year, accepting Eurail & InterRail passes with a €30 passholder fare with great availability.  The UK has always been part of the InterRail scheme for European residents, but earth-shattering news this year is that finally after 59 years, the UK joins the Eurail scheme too!
So much for Brexit.
by gk (gk (gk quattro due due sette @gmail.com)) on Sat Jan 5th, 2019 at 07:56:48 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: The UK joins Eurail (none / 0)
I fear there are people this side who'd really like to brick the Tunnel up

keep to the Fen Causeway
by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Mon Jan 7th, 2019 at 06:34:59 PM EST
[ Parent ]
wut (none / 1)
Personal data hack of 100s of German politicians, celebs
Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said an initial analysis suggests that the material was obtained from cloud services, email accounts or social networks. He said there was no indication that federal government or parliament computer systems were compromised.
[...]
"This hack clearly isn't about extortion or financially-motivated. This is about attempting to destabilise Germany society," British security expert Graham Cluley blogged.
[...]
Tom Kellermann, the chief cybersecurity officer of Carbon Black, was among analysts saying the hack had all the hallmarks of Russian state-backed hackers.

He said it made perfect sense that none of the targets in this hacking campaign was from Germany's far right [AfD], and that it appeared aimed at "undermining the German political process and essentially stoking fires of the mob."

not The Mob, the other mob
It's in Russia's best interests for the far-right politicians to be successful," Kellermann added.


Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.
by Cat on Sat Jan 5th, 2019 at 03:51:55 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Old News (none / 0)
We've discussed the lack of computer security to death-by-boredom here.  

Until the chumps Get Real about the incompetence of the existing computer industry and the need to Do Things Different this kind of thing will keep happening.  

Personally, I'm not holding my breath.

She believed in nothing; only her skepticism kept her from being an atheist. -- Jean-Paul Sartre

by ATinNM on Sat Jan 5th, 2019 at 08:20:08 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Old News (none / 0)
You know that's right.

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.
by Cat on Sat Jan 5th, 2019 at 08:44:39 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Old News (none / 0)
Obviously the Russians so you can't really blame anyone.
by generic on Sat Jan 5th, 2019 at 11:39:41 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Old News (4.00 / 2)
Don't worry: NSA to the rescue.

German politicians' data published online in massive breach - Reuter

Bild newspaper reported that German authorities had asked the U.S. spy agency NSA for assistance.

In other news: Fox called in to investigate hen-house break-in.

by Bernard (bernard) on Sun Jan 6th, 2019 at 01:45:21 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Good grief (4.00 / 2)
Considering what the Snowden files have revealed on NSA-spying in Germany (including tapping Merkel's phone) that is quite the head-desk-banging move....
by Bjinse on Sun Jan 6th, 2019 at 02:01:28 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Europe (none / 0)
Germany 'won't support Brexit which results in hard border'
So yeah, an entirely rhetorical answer to an entirely rhetorical question that only concerns Tory gov ..."backstop" teh UNION of Sammy Wilson mendacity in the *Sea.

Every EU version of the withdrawal agreement, to which Tory gov has not agreed and the NEW! ones with the concessions which Tory gov will never get, requires UK observe open IE-NI border, under the GFA. So yeah, first principles: Ima file this item in MENTAL DISORDER IS A COMMUNICABLE DISEASE.

<pick teeth, suck vigorously>
Call for medicines not to be STOCKPILEed in advance of Brexit
"According to the association, up to 70% of medicines on the Irish market either come from or transit the UK." The future of this racket is ahh precarious.

archived import/export banking
last known address


Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Tue Jan 8th, 2019 at 05:56:15 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Europe (none / 0)
Craig Murray has been rather busy taking names.

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.
by Cat on Tue Jan 8th, 2019 at 08:55:22 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Europe BONUS (none / 0)
Murray explains, why the world will not be hearing from Scottish parliament on the issue of A.50 or much of anything else

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.
by Cat on Tue Jan 8th, 2019 at 09:14:09 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Europe OMG! (none / 0)
Verdi is at it again, just when Jeff Bezos has announced divorce. From his spouse. Lo, models of amicable separation between civilized people can be found everywhere.
Union calls strike by security staff at 3 German airports
The union wants hourly pay for all workers conducting security checks to rise to 20 ($22.81) euros. The employers association BDLS says this could amount to an increase of 30 percent in some cases.


Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.
by Cat on Wed Jan 9th, 2019 at 06:48:42 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Brexit (none / 0)
BREXIT
by Bjinse on Sun Dec 30th, 2018 at 10:29:05 PM EST
Re: Brexit MSM (none / 1)
Labour party members pressure Corbyn to seek a second Brexit referendum, poll result
"What we will do is vote against having no deal, we'll vote against Theresa May's deal; at that point, she should go back to Brussels and say this is not acceptable to Britain and renegotiate a customs union, form a customs union with the EU to secure trade," Corbyn said.
Ireland will seek EU aid to support livestock in case of hard Brexit
surprising no one

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.
by Cat on Thu Jan 3rd, 2019 at 03:02:58 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Brexit MSM (none / 0)

"I spent a year working, saving all my money, just thought I was gonna go on a two month road trip from Seattle to New York and I thought, you know what? I'm gonna stay and work for the Bernie Sanders campaign," Bracey-Lane told a reporter for AFP on January 27, 2016.

He said that after he decided to work for Bernie, he first went to England to "get a visa and get everything legal," then came back to join the campaign in earnest.

Bracey-Lane also claimed to AFP, "I'm not sure there's a place for me in British politics... I've never been struck by an urge to work in my own political system."

However, a February 1, 2016 profile of Bracey-Lane by Buzzfeed's Jim Waterson said the Brit-for-Bernie "was inspired to rejoin the Labour party in September [2015] when Corbyn was elected leader. But by that point, he was already in the US on holiday."
[...]
An Institute for Statecraft document on "roles and relevant experience" of the outfit's "expert team" notes that Bracey-Lane conducted a "special study of Russian interference in the US electoral process." The document does not make clear when that study was conducted, however, it is listed directly next to its author's history of work with the Bernie campaign.

archived
Hybrid Warfare: Statecraft Integrity Initiative"
cry me a river
18 USC 2,371,2349,2028A
I'm nearly certain in a year I will revisit these notes.

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Thu Jan 3rd, 2019 at 10:10:30 PM EST
[ Parent ]
source (none / 0)
Inside the Temple of Covert Propaganda: The Integrity Initiative and the UK's Scandalous Information War

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.
by Cat on Thu Jan 3rd, 2019 at 10:13:21 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Brexit MSM (none / 0)
[US] Feds Want US Broadcaster to Register as Russian Agent
RM initiated the federal court case in October, seeking relief from the Department of Justice's demands that it register under FARA, the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938.

The company describes itself as a Florida broadcasting firm owned by a Bronx-raised broadcast industry veteran. It says its business model involves buying up and reselling airtime to clients.
[...]
For the purposes of lobbying, political activity and other covered conduct, FARA defines the term "foreign agent" in general as "any person who acts as an agent, representative, employee, or servant, or any person who acts in any other capacity at the order, request, or under the direction or control, of a foreign principal" or of foreign principal's representatives.

archived
free speech
free trade

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Fri Jan 4th, 2019 at 05:15:55 PM EST
[ Parent ]
uh oh (4.00 / 3)



Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.
by Cat on Sun Jan 6th, 2019 at 04:34:16 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: uh oh (4.00 / 2)

A free association moment. Don't mind me.

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.
by Cat on Sun Jan 6th, 2019 at 04:47:19 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: uh oh (none / 1)
It'll be WWII all over again. Fishing boats evacuating UK nationals from Dunkuerque. Dig for Victory.

It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II
by eurogreen on Mon Jan 7th, 2019 at 04:35:20 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: uh oh (none / 1)
Just reminds me of media silence over #DroneGate ... London AirPorts now ordening Israeli build #DroneRadar 😁 similar to the ones bought by UK Armed Forces.

#Marketing

Hasbara is a dead language

by Oui (Oui) on Sun Jan 6th, 2019 at 12:33:29 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: uh oh (none / 1)
○ UK Ministry of Defense is Rafael's first customer for the system.
○ UK army said to use Israeli-made system to end drone chaos at London airport

the phantom drone sightings @ Gatwick airport ...

Hasbara is a dead language

by Oui (Oui) on Sun Jan 6th, 2019 at 03:54:33 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: uh oh (none / 0)
Even better, of the 3 directors, one is french and 2 live in France. A British company. All 3 seem to have records of being involved in maritime scam companies

keep to the Fen Causeway
by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Mon Jan 7th, 2019 at 06:58:54 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: uh oh (none / 0)
But they know a sucker in Whitehall when they see one, obviously.
by Bernard (bernard) on Mon Jan 7th, 2019 at 09:29:53 PM EST
[ Parent ]
< pick teeth, suck vigorously > (none / 1)
Remember: 98% of voters chose REMAIN
As Brexit MoUs are published, UK confirms Gibraltar's primary role
The text [of a Concordat, agreed by Prime Minister Theresa May and Chief Minister Fabian Picardo] dispels any suggestion that the Brexit divorce arrangements relating to Gibraltar were agreed bilaterally by Spain and the UK.
[...]
The four Memorandums of Understanding are the product of months of intense negotiation between the governments of Gibraltar, the UK and Spain. They provide a time-limited framework for cooperation with Spain on issues including citizens' rights, tobacco, the environment and police and customs matters. Importantly, they state explicitly that nothing in the agreements modifies in any way the positions of each party on the issue of sovereignty.
[...]
The MoUs and the tax deal will only come into effect if the Withdrawal Agreement is approved in December by the House of Commons, where Mrs May faces stiff resistance from both her own Conservative Party and the opposition benches.
[...]
But Gibraltar itself cannot sign international agreements and yesterday, Mr Picardo wrote to Mrs May telling her that his government had approved the application to Gibraltar of the protocol within the Withdrawal Agreement.
Check [UK] passports ahead of Brexit deadline, Govt says
"In the event of a no deal Brexit the use of Gibraltar ID cards, for EU travel purposes, may no longer be allowed, the Gibraltar Government said."

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.
by Cat on Sun Jan 6th, 2019 at 05:47:00 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Brexit .eu (none / 0)
Attention all British .eu owners: Buy dotcom domains and prepare to sue, says UK govt
Third-country rick-roll over: €-denominated income from on EU27 postal box rental set to rise.

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.
by Cat on Wed Jan 9th, 2019 at 12:23:08 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Trump (none / 0)
TRUMP
by Bjinse on Sun Dec 30th, 2018 at 10:29:08 PM EST
Re: Trump (none / 0)
Too much honor for this man. Suggestion to either delete section or name a section to space exploration or all matters extraterrestial?

Hasbara is a dead language
by Oui (Oui) on Thu Jan 3rd, 2019 at 10:44:40 AM EST
[ Parent ]
TRUXIT (none / 1)
?

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.
by Cat on Thu Jan 3rd, 2019 at 12:09:31 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: TRUXIT (none / 0)
Quite elegant!

I saw it used more often as TrUxit® for his ego in withdrawal ...

Personality alone? Paris Climate Accord - Nuclear Deal with Iran - Threat on NATO - Syria and Afghanistan - building his Fort America on the Southern frontier.

Later I was thinking if it has to be about the America's, perhaps ...

"Red v Blue"  or  "White over Coloured"

Returning to your linked article, I came across an interview where two American writers were mentioned:

○ Ta-Nehisis Coates: We Were Eight Years in Power
○ Brit Bennett on Her Buzzed-About Debut Novel, The Mothers

Hasbara is a dead language

by Oui (Oui) on Thu Jan 3rd, 2019 at 12:52:32 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: TRUXIT (none / 1)
I've yet to encounter this expression "TrUxit®" in my daily walkabout. Thank you for this information.

My intuition sought a portmanteau, combining tropes TRUMP and BREXIT, attributes for which some innerboob correspondents purport contempt. These are the "leaves".

My categorical or, dare I say, curatorial preference is to restore the root of capitalist incentives, ECONOMICS & FINANCE, which motivate a significant proportion of world "productivity" and culture in action: the perils of the Enlightenment. Examination of current events, relating such values to government by people, ought never become unfashionable prompts for "the conversation" about how, somehow, evolution might systematically relieve grievances of "the marginalized".

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Thu Jan 3rd, 2019 at 01:58:25 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: TRUXIT (4.00 / 2)
To points on fictional and actual exemplars of democratic faction buried by USA hagiography, a "political prisoner" perseveres.
Mumia Abu-Jamal Wins Major Court Victory

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.
by Cat on Thu Jan 3rd, 2019 at 02:36:33 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Trump (none / 0)
Sanders Campaign Responds to Sexual Harassment Allegations
NY Yellow Cake investigative reporting

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.
by Cat on Thu Jan 3rd, 2019 at 03:36:49 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Trump (none / 1)
possibly related ... rites of passage w/o 31 Dec 2019
Washington [state] Raises Age to 21 [!] to Buy [semi-automatic] Assault [!] Rifles
Hawaii, Illinois, Vermont and New York prohibit anyone [!] under 21 [!] from buying all [!] firearms.
Pelosi to Become House Speaker, Making History [!] Again [?!]
"None of us is indispensable, but I do know that I'm very good at what I do."

Which is?

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Thu Jan 3rd, 2019 at 03:54:32 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Trump (none / 0)
Don't 5-year olds have 2nd Amendment rights as well? I don't remember any age restriction in it.
by gk (gk (gk quattro due due sette @gmail.com)) on Thu Jan 3rd, 2019 at 09:10:34 PM EST
[ Parent ]
touché (none / 0)
2nd Amd. in its entirety
"A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed."
for homicidal maniacs of the misyogynist, racist, corporatist, religionist, agist, enablist, anti-semitic, nationalist and nativist, democratic and republican, or capitalist persuasions

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.
by Cat on Thu Jan 3rd, 2019 at 10:23:46 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: touché (none / 0)
Yeah but there is also a question of age and ethnicity and gender and citizenship and wealth related to all of these "rights."
by asdf on Fri Jan 4th, 2019 at 01:00:33 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: touché (none / 0)
Thank you for playing Misplaced Precision.
Would you like to play Thermonuclear War?

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.
by Cat on Fri Jan 4th, 2019 at 01:41:59 AM EST
[ Parent ]
"violence is morally complex" (none / 0)
Rather than viewing immigrants as seeking something that we [?], [US] Americans, have a moral right [?] to withhold from them, we [?] ought to begin by acknowledging that none of us who were born here did anything to deserve [?] our citizenship, and yet all of us -- no matter where we were born -- deserve compassion and basic human rights [?].

It's tempting to imagine that our position as gatekeepers is morally sound -- since we're frequently reminded that "all nations have a right to defend their borders" -- but our relationship to those who are fleeing poverty and violence is morally complex. Not only does birthright [!] citizenship bestow upon us a privileged status [?] that we haven't earned [?]; our nation's unparalleled wealth and power, as well as our actual borders, lack a sturdy moral foundation. But for [!] slavery, genocide and colonization, we [?] would not be the wealthiest, most powerful nation in the world -- in fact, our nation would not even exist.

An astounding series of non sequiturs bestowed by ... accident? Fortuna? Draft? Genetic drift? Sloth?

archived moral authority du jour
FBI Director Christopher Wray

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Fri Jan 4th, 2019 at 03:55:30 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: "violence is morally complex" (none / 0)
bag o' human "rights" paradoxes tied by a Cecil Rhodes bow
Dreamer Fears He Can't Return to US

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.
by Cat on Fri Jan 4th, 2019 at 05:34:54 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Trump (none / 0)
House Passes 'Paygo' Rule Over Objections of Left-Wing Dissenters

archived June 2018
GOTV! Dem leaders embrace pay-go
"Pelosi, who adopted "pay-go" rules when she held the Speaker's gavel more than a decade ago, says she'll push to do it again if the Democrats win the House in November's midterm elections."

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Fri Jan 4th, 2019 at 05:00:09 AM EST
[ Parent ]
ouch (none / 0)
Alexandria in Pelosistan

archived praxis
The Green New Deal will convert the decaying fossil fuel economy
(Yes, I voted to elect Stein/Baraka 2016, and I am an unaffilated/independent registered voter. What was your "revealed" preference?)
Nash equilibrium

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Sat Jan 5th, 2019 at 05:54:05 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Why "Russia" invaded Afghanistan (4.00 / 3)
Trump
"Russia used to be the Soviet Union. Afghanistan made it Russia, because they went bankrupt fighting in Afghanistan. Russia. ... The reason Russia was in Afghanistan was because terrorists were going into Russia. They were right to be there. The problem is, it was a tough fight. And literally they went bankrupt; they went into being called Russia again, as opposed to the Soviet Union. You know, a lot of these places you're reading about now are no longer part of Russia, because of Afghanistan."
by gk (gk (gk quattro due due sette @gmail.com)) on Sat Jan 5th, 2019 at 12:31:02 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Why "Russia" invaded Afghanistan (4.00 / 3)
The United Soviets should have built a wall to keep all the terrists out, that way they wouldn't have gone back to being called Russia.

This why we have to build a wall with Mexico, else the United States of America will go back to being called Russia. Or whatever we used to be called.

[In fact, Trump rolls out perfect story-telling for zero-information cretins, the great historical question being what proportion of the American electorate falls into that category?]

I used to be afew. I'm still not many.

by john_evans (john(dot)evans(dot)et(at)gmail(dot)com) on Sat Jan 5th, 2019 at 12:53:10 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Why "Russia" invaded Afghanistan (none / 0)
I think, you spelled Israel rong.

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.
by Cat on Sat Jan 5th, 2019 at 01:53:11 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Why "Russia" invaded Afghanistan (none / 0)
Oh right, Israle.

I used to be afew. I'm still not many.
by john_evans (john(dot)evans(dot)et(at)gmail(dot)com) on Sat Jan 5th, 2019 at 02:54:31 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Why "Russia" invaded Afghanistan (none / 0)
isRail

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.
by Cat on Sat Jan 5th, 2019 at 03:17:07 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Why "Russia" invaded Afghanistan (none / 1)
Problem with your scenario is that a lot of what the US used to be called is "Mexico."
by asdf on Sat Jan 5th, 2019 at 05:46:04 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Why "Russia" invaded Afghanistan (4.00 / 3)
No, it was simply mislabeled until we exercised our divine right and grabbed it.  One of my favorite troll stunts here is to point out that the original illegal immigrants in Utah were the Mormon pioneers.
by rifek on Sat Jan 5th, 2019 at 08:27:33 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Not Mexico (none / 1)
Nueva Espana sorry no tilde.

Along the same lines, La Louisiane.

I used to be afew. I'm still not many.

by john_evans (john(dot)evans(dot)et(at)gmail(dot)com) on Sun Jan 6th, 2019 at 08:52:08 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Trump (none / 0)
What to expect from the second half of Donald Trump's first term - The Economist


What marks out Mr Trump's first two years is his irrepressible instinct to act as a wrecker. His destructive tactics were supposed to topple a self-serving Washington elite, but the president's bullying, lying and sleaze have filled the swamp faster than it has drained. Where he has been at his most Trumpish--on immigration, North Korea, NATO--the knocking down has yet to lead to much renewal. Mr Trump came to office with a mandate to rewrite America's immigration rules and make them merit-based, as in Canada. Yet because he and his staff are ham-fisted with Congress, that chance is now gone. Kim Jong Un still has his weapons programme and, having conceded nothing, now demands a reward from America. Europeans may pay more into their defence budgets at the president's urging. But America has spent half a century and billions of dollars building its relations with Europe. In just two years Mr Trump has taken a sledgehammer to them.

The next two years could be worse. For a start, Mr Trump's luck may be about to turn. In the first half of his term he has been fortunate. He was not faced by any shock of the sort his two predecessors had to deal with: 9/11, Afghanistan, Iraq, the financial crisis, Syria. Electoral triumph, a roaring economy and surging financial markets gave him an air of invulnerability.

Even without a shock, the weather has changed. Although the economy is still fairly strong, the sugar-high from the tax cut is fading and growth is slowing in China and Europe. Markets, which Mr Trump heralds as a proxy for economic success, are volatile (see article). Republicans were trounced in the House in the mid-terms. The new Democratic majority will investigate the president's conduct, and at some point Robert Mueller, the special counsel, will complete his report on links between Russia and the Trump campaign.

by Bjinse on Sat Jan 5th, 2019 at 10:09:52 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Trump (none / 0)
He has yet to face the shock of starting a war like Afghanistan, Iraq or Syria? Or is it the shock of not being greeted as liberators?
by fjallstrom on Sat Jan 5th, 2019 at 11:07:46 PM EST
[ Parent ]
FIFTH WAVE (none / 1)
Congratufuckinglations!
You got SCALE!

archived
this.empowerment

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Sun Jan 6th, 2019 at 03:43:19 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: FIFTH WAVE (none / 0)
Power of women's deception ... I knew it, I knew it all along!  ;)

Hasbara is a dead language
by Oui (Oui) on Sun Jan 6th, 2019 at 03:56:28 PM EST
[ Parent ]
< wipes tears > (none / 0)
I. can't. even. ...

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.
by Cat on Sun Jan 6th, 2019 at 04:49:53 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: FIFTH WAVE (none / 0)


Hasbara is a dead language
by Oui (Oui) on Mon Jan 7th, 2019 at 02:22:56 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: FIFTH WAVE (none / 0)
Popcorn, anyone?
by das monde on Mon Jan 7th, 2019 at 02:54:16 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: FIFTH WAVE (none / 0)
AHA.

You smiled.

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Tue Jan 8th, 2019 at 03:33:55 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: FIFTH WAVE (none / 0)
A fairly large number of big American corporations have female CEOs. One wonders how many of them fall into the "progressive" or "liberal" or "Demcratic" categories...
by asdf on Mon Jan 7th, 2019 at 03:14:42 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: FIFTH WAVE (none / 0)
According to RT (yes, I know...)
Russia tops the list of countries with the highest number of female board members, says a new report by a US-based audit firm. While Baltic states show similar stats, in G7 countries some 40 percent of businesses have no women in senior positions at all.
by gk (gk (gk quattro due due sette @gmail.com)) on Mon Jan 7th, 2019 at 04:15:47 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: FIFTH WAVE (none / 0)
There is some global study of that-or-other-gender discrimination:
*
  • Men are disadvantaged in 91 countries compared to 43 nations for women  
  • The UK, the US and Australia all discriminate against men more, a study claims
  • Italy, Israel and China are harder environments for women,  researchers say

[...] The index is based on three factors: educational opportunities, healthy life expectancy and overall life satisfaction [...]

Researchers found the most developed countries in the world come closest to achieving true gender equality but there was a slight advantage for women.

Inequality was more significant in the least developed countries, with Chad the lowest ranked nation.  

Women in these nations are at a more significant disadvantage than the men in the more developed nations where women have the edge.

Saudi Arabia is the third most equal! It must be really harsh there for men outside the royal family.
by das monde on Mon Jan 7th, 2019 at 04:50:06 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: FIFTH WAVE (4.00 / 2)
From that study
The UK, the US and Australia all discriminate against men more whereas Italy, Israel and China are harder environments for women, according to the study.

Researchers say this is due to men receiving harsher punishments for the same crime, compulsory military service and more occupational deaths than women.

Unlike RT, the Daily Mail can't even be bothered to make their propaganda plausible.
by gk (gk (gk quattro due due sette @gmail.com)) on Tue Jan 8th, 2019 at 10:16:53 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: FIFTH WAVE (none / 0)
We have female presidents (thus army leaders), CIA directors, CEOs in the military complex, and much talk about gender equality in the army. Then why not? It is a part of quality of life.

Where else (beside this exclusivity to young male bodies) literal gender equality does not apply?

by das monde on Tue Jan 8th, 2019 at 11:05:15 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: FIFTH WAVE (none / 0)
compulsory military service ...
to a "nation" ...
personified by a relatively tiny portion of "citizens" ...
who define and control the means to reward obedience and punish disobedience ...
with the "consent" of some folks:

Instruments which provide selection criteria ("discrimination") for conditions of life called "hardship" --ignorance, criminal prosecution, labor) or death by [INSERT AGENT OF VIOLENCE]--are all around us. Equality of livelihood among people is not the objective of any hierarchical organization.

Setting aside innumerable disposition of either "gender" attributable to warfare through the ages, consider just two recent counterfactuals of discriminatory "oppression" in an era of "peace":  

  1. World Female Imprisonment List (fourth edition): "there are more black males incarcerated in the United States than all women imprisoned globally" [wikiwtf wants a calculator]; there are more "men" (of any race or ethnicity) than women (of any race or ethnicity) imprisoned globally.
  2. Yellow-Vest Women Stake Their Claim to the Movement: "'Clauss earns 1,500 euros, or about $1700 a month and her husband is currently drawing unemployment benefits of about $900. She said she is anxious about her dwindling purchasing power."

Actually, the UN Declaration of Human "Rights" codifies selection of human attributes by state functionaries in case there's any "meaningful" confusion about who is human or which human attributes supposed either to be inalienable and universal or valuable for purposes of trade by "everyone", or "all". Cui bono?

How one comes to overweening "respect" for that categorical condition by "sexual division of labor" having never systematically identified AGENTS of so-called social norms --human purposes, "meaning"-- which replicate rule by a minority homicidal maniacs "self-identifying" with any gender is both comical and pathetic. Ima call this simulation of human intelligence The Steve Hawking Theory of Everything But.

archived
bounded rationality

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Wed Jan 9th, 2019 at 04:46:19 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: FIFTH WAVE (none / 0)
uh oh. I see gendered people without yellow vests everywhere.
Bangladesh police, garment workers clash in protests
Bangladesh's garment industry generates around $30 billion in exports a year, making it the second largest in the world after China. It makes products for big-name fashion retailers including Zara, H&M and Uniqlo.
Amateurs! Have they no celebrity victims, no Google solidarity leaders to give voice to their confusion?


Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.
by Cat on Wed Jan 9th, 2019 at 06:38:07 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: FIFTH WAVE (none / 0)
India establishes job quotas for POOR upper caste members
The Congress party and other opposition parties supported the legislation, but criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government for getting it approved just months before the national elections, in an effort the opposition claimed was aimed at winning votes.
[...]
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the job quota for upper castes would not be affected by any court restrictions because it was introduced because of an economic need.

Critics have said the lower castes should be strengthened through education rather than quotas because many jobs and university spots that have been reserved for them remain empty.

discrimination to bolster ranks of hereditary "elite" status (Brahmin)

History of British India
Lecture 11, "Reservations" (equal opportunity quota by caste), "Sanskritization" or emulation, shift from status to contract, enforceable property relations

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Wed Jan 9th, 2019 at 09:49:11 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: FIFTH WAVE (none / 1)
Although the headline shrieks only of "discrimination", they spill the beans in the second paragraph :

A method that assesses the forms of hardship and discrimination facing men and women has revealed males have it harder in 91 countries out of 134.

It turns out that of the three criteria used, only one appears to offer any scope for meaningful talk of discrimination :

The index is based on three factors: educational opportunities, healthy life expectancy and overall life satisfaction.

Perhaps women are favoured over men by the education systems of developed countries [discuss], but it seems less plausible that life expectancy and satisfaction should be due to specific discriminations rather than individual choices.

Governments spend a lot of effort and money to dissuade men from doing stupid things (and on repairing the damage). Not enough, evidently.

It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II

by eurogreen on Wed Jan 9th, 2019 at 11:37:54 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: FIFTH WAVE (none / 0)
"Individual choices" have to be forgotten in the Wage Gap discussions, no? Where do you draw that line?

And sure, governments will know best how not to do stupid things. Right... Knowing-it-all becomes genocidally toxic sometimes.

American Psychological Association Declares Masculinity "Psychologically Harmful"

For the original, see here.

by das monde on Wed Jan 9th, 2019 at 12:15:02 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: FIFTH WAVE (none / 0)
Well, if it is axiomatic that "boys will be boys", then male death rates will continue to be higher, and health poorer. Proving that men are discriminated against... QED

It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II
by eurogreen on Wed Jan 9th, 2019 at 03:59:38 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: FIFTH WAVE (none / 0)
And women will drop their lawyer careers in their 30s. So yeah.
by das monde on Wed Jan 9th, 2019 at 04:13:40 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: FIFTH WAVE (none / 1)
This, like toxic masculinity, is about social conditioning. Also, agency.

From your first link :

What is known is that women do not leave the law disproportionally at a specific time in their lives or careers. The analysis of ALM's Rival Edge database below reveals that women trickle out of Big Law by a few percentage points per year of age. The analysis shows that among 30-year-old lawyers at Big Law firms, women comprise 45%. Among lawyers who are 40 years old, however, women only comprise 41%, a decrease of 4  percentage points. By age 50, women only make up 27% of the lawyers, a change of 14 percentage points.

It seems plausible that high-earning women are more inclined to drop out of toxic high-pressure working environments than their male peers. Because they can.

This tiny sample in no way accounts for pay disparities between men and women. In IT in France, for example, where nobody works more than 45 hours these days (excluding start-ups, which are on another planet), it is a fact that women are paid 20% less than men for a given profile.

Why do employers pay women less? Because they can.


It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II

by eurogreen on Wed Jan 9th, 2019 at 05:05:37 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: FIFTH WAVE (none / 0)
Actually, the discussed BIGI method is a wonderful example of self-fulfilling prophecy :

Professor David Geary, from the Department of Psychological Sciences at the University of Missouri in the United States, added: 'We sought to correct the bias towards women's issues within existing measures and at the same time develop a simple measure that is useful in any country in the world, regardless of their level of economic development.'

i.e. these dudes, faced with the fact that existing indicators show that women suffer from discrimination everywhere in the world, which clearly didn't suit their worldview, created a new Indicator "proving" that the chicks have it sweet in the developed world... And then they claim that it is universally applicable :

The top ranked nation to favour women over men is claimed to be Saudi Arabia, with a score of -0.001554.

This hilarious result is the illustration of what usually happens when you extrapolate from a curve-fitting exercise.


It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II

by eurogreen on Wed Jan 9th, 2019 at 04:06:35 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: FIFTH WAVE (none / 0)
The meaning "top ranked" for Saudi Arabia (and mention of Italy, Israel) are not that meaningful as lazily reported. Those 3 countries have closest to the balanced score, thus their misogyny or misandry are least significant. Saudi Arabia's position is surprising. But having a very small group of uber-privileged males, then all ladies (variably content or entitled), and then the rest of male chumps at the bottom is not that different from what transpires in post-socialist countries. In terms of John Rawls' original position thought experiment, would you rather be born a male or female in today's Russia or Poland?
by das monde on Wed Jan 9th, 2019 at 04:36:47 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: FIFTH WAVE (none / 0)
Would I prefer to be male or female in Saudi?

No, thanks.

The men are obliged to pretend to work. That's stressful, I suppose. The women are forbidden from working. Which is nice and relaxing.

It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II

by eurogreen on Wed Jan 9th, 2019 at 05:08:59 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: FIFTH WAVE (none / 0)
What message are you attempting to communicate?
Is that gender dysphoria is an inexplicable, acquired taste for a certain social construct, inevitable political oppression, futile biological "self-actualization", or all of the above conditions of involuntary servitude?

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.
by Cat on Wed Jan 9th, 2019 at 05:52:50 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: FIFTH WAVE (none / 1)
Not sure if your question is relevant to what I was trying to say. I think you are over-reading me (I'm really quite simple and obvious). Gender dysphoria does not feature in the discussion, unless in some subconscious way.

The discussion was about M/F discrimination, male privilege, and lying with statistics. My message is that the dudes-on-top activists (among them, Geary and Das Monde) are reduced to making arguments which are ridiculous on their face, rather like climate change deniers.

It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II

by eurogreen on Thu Jan 10th, 2019 at 01:47:11 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Justice in Russia (none / 1)
by das monde on Tue Jan 8th, 2019 at 10:10:32 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: FIFTH WAVE (none / 0)


Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.
by Cat on Tue Jan 8th, 2019 at 01:16:45 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Trump (none / 1)
Analysts Confirm: Israel Used Civilian Airliners as Cover in Christmas Day Airstrikes in Syria
Syrian anti-aircraft crews did manage to intercept and shoot down fourteen of the sixteen incoming missiles that were launched by six Israeli F-16 warplanes using US-made GPS-guided GBU-39 Small Diameter Bombs (SDBs). If the Syrian air defenses had been more reckless and gone after the F-16s themselves, they might have hit an airliner by mistake and hundreds of lives could have been lost.
[...]
As Israel is not at war with Iran or Syria or Lebanon and it persists in attacking targets in Syria based on its own perception of threats, it meets the United Nations definition of an aggressor. And its violation of Lebanese airspace to stage the attack on Syria was also an act of aggression. Both would normally be condemned in the UN Security Council but for the American veto protecting Israel.
BOLTON THREATENS SYRIA: US TROOP WITHDRAWAL "ON HOLD". PERMANENT US MILITARY BASE ON SYRIA-IRAQI BORDER

archived israil
The Generals v the Commander-In-Chief, Dec
We have defeated ISIS
Fucking Israelis Stirring Up Big Trouble [Update], Sep
point of order

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Tue Jan 8th, 2019 at 07:27:53 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Trump (none / 1)

Washington's backfiring bombing

archived precision
"violence is morally complex"
...analysing refugee flows...

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Tue Jan 8th, 2019 at 07:39:18 PM EST
[ Parent ]
World (none / 0)
 WORLD 
by Bjinse on Sun Dec 30th, 2018 at 10:29:11 PM EST
Re: World (none / 1)
India exempts rupee payments for Iran oil from hefty taxes - government order

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.
by Cat on Mon Dec 31st, 2018 at 04:57:52 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: World (none / 0)
that's a very interesting move. I wonder if, by the by, this suggests increased closeness with Beijing

keep to the Fen Causeway
by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Wed Jan 2nd, 2019 at 08:19:52 PM EST
[ Parent ]
"increased closeness with Beijing " (none / 0)
I'm inclined to interpret the measure as expressing further alienation from Washington rather than rapprochement with China. The measure primarily expresses current economic priorities of the Modi government. Manic focus on Trump-US withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and TPP to spite Obama-US obscures alternative agreements.

Coincidentally, Modi inherited prior commitment to the BRICS pact which his administration appears either unwilling or unable to exploit through development of ASEAN, Eurasia Union, or 'One Belt' finance. Decoupling from petrodollar-- bi-lateral currency pair trading-- has been theory much longer than practice. Anglo-american press coverage of relatively recent, counter-cultural policy implementation by 'global south' is deliberately weak.

archived unitisation
ChrisCook

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Thu Jan 3rd, 2019 at 07:24:30 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: "increased closeness with Beijing " (none / 1)
Madame Lagarde visits Pretoria 17 Dec
Explained Earthlife Africa protester Makoma Lekalakala, co-winner of the 2018 Goldman Environmental Prize as Africa's leading activist this year, "Both Eskom and Transnet are under scrutiny for corruption and mismanagement. No due diligence was done on the Transnet loan. If this is how the [BRICS] bank operates, we have to brace ourselves for accelerated environmental degradation for the pursuit of profit."

But the ["]Bretton Woods Institutions["] are no better, and just over a year ago, Ramaphosa offered a scathing critique of Washington's bias: "We should not go to the IMF because once we do we are on a downward path, we will be sacrificing our independence in terms of governing our country and sacrificing our sovereignty." He cited the risk of imposed "cuts in social spending" what with anticipated IMF orders to Eskom "to do away with free electricity quotas for the poor and indigent."

Ramaphosa repeatedly denies that the ["]Bretton Woods Institutions["] will bail out South Africa: "IMF, no, we're not looking at the IMF. The New Development Bank has a facility that could be made available to us. And we are exploring that as well. And we want to do it in a way that does not require a sovereign guarantee." Actually, Ramaphosa probably didn't mean the BRICS NDB, which makes project-specific loans, but instead its US $100 billion [BRICS NDB] Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA), which offers a US $3 billion credit line for South Africa to immediately draw upon, in the event of a balance-of-payments emergency deficit.

archived
Finally
South African police raid properties of President Jacob Zuma's associates Gupta brothers
South Africa: Parliament Elects Cyril Ramaphosa As President

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Fri Jan 4th, 2019 at 02:04:47 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: World (none / 0)
CSPAN | Why does the US need immigrants?, A/V (EN) 28 Nov 2018
running time 1:38:18
Pubic intellectuals, employed by The American Conservative and The Nation, at George Washington University demonstrate trade their rhetorical disabilities. Aged US American "news" presenter Judy Woodruff hosts this "debate" resolution by leading, inexplicably, with results of an indpendent poll, conducted by the university. (spoiler: respondents agreed with The American Conservative team.)

@00:50:00
Moderator opens the floor to audience questions. The first speaker is a French-American migrant/immigrant (est'd. 1980) armed with gilet jaunes/yellow vest and fist of fury. Further disorderly commentary on proceedings, personal testimony, and declarations by "guests" ensues.

## Sociopaths teaching sociopaths manners.

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Wed Jan 2nd, 2019 at 12:12:35 AM EST
[ Parent ]
DICTION CORNER (none / 0)
respondeat superior
Corporations are people.
Erin Sheley on Corporate Crime and the Collective Negligence Standard
Sheley argues that criminal respondeat superior should apply only where the government can show that a crime occurred, regardless of whether or not any individual employee had the intent to benefit the corporation, show an omission by the corporation to take reasonable steps to prevent the crime, and show that the substantial risk of such a crime was objectively foreseeable to a reasonable person undertaking the corporation's enterprise.


Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.
by Cat on Thu Jan 3rd, 2019 at 06:43:20 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: World (none / 1)
["]Forced labor victims["] move ahead to seizing Nippon Steel's S. Korean assets
WWII reparation claim

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.
by Cat on Thu Jan 3rd, 2019 at 06:00:24 PM EST
[ Parent ]
uh oh (none / 0)
S. Korea orders seizure of Japan assets over ["]forced labor["]
"Japanese officials said they could take the issue to the International Court of Justice."

Law of War vindication of "Allied" deal-making on behalf of known, unknown, undefined or unacknowledged Korean POWs forthcoming...

Daegu District Court approves seizure of Nippon Steel's S. Korean assets

A South Korean government official predicted that Japan would be "sending official notice shortly to request diplomatic discussions in accordance with the South Korea-Japan Claims Settlement Agreement."

"Once we have received the notice, we plan to examine it and inform [Japan] of our position," the official added.

[Editorial] Kim Jong-un's China visit hopefully leads to breakthrough in N. Korea-US negotiations

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.
by Cat on Wed Jan 9th, 2019 at 06:25:30 PM EST
[ Parent ]
ebola marketing UPDATE (none / 0)
Swedish hospital isolates patient amid Ebola suspicion

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.
by Cat on Fri Jan 4th, 2019 at 04:45:13 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: ebola marketing UPDATE (none / 0)
Sweden: No Ebola virus detected in hospital patient
inconceivable

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.
by Cat on Sat Jan 5th, 2019 at 03:25:09 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: ebola marketing UPDATE (none / 0)
US sends troops ahead of possible Congo election protests to "Gabon, Congo or neighboring Republic of Congo"
.
.
.
coincidentally

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.
by Cat on Sat Jan 5th, 2019 at 03:29:26 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: ebola marketing ARCHIVE (none / 0)
2014, Liberia suspends elections due to Ebola outbreak

2014, U.S. Ebola fighters head to Africa, but will the military and civilian effort be enough?
2015, Obama to Recall Military Personnel From Ebola Zone, Officials Say
"All but 100 of the 3,000 armed forces"

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Sat Jan 5th, 2019 at 08:39:09 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: ebola marketing ARCHIVE (none / 0)
oooooo, Twitter's in trouble...


Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.
by Cat on Sun Jan 6th, 2019 at 03:34:12 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: ebola marketing UPDATE (none / 0)
Pressure mounts on DR Congo over election outcome
Twenty-one candidates ran in the election to succeed Kabila, who has ruled the vast conflict-ridden country for almost 18 years.
< pick teeth, suck vigorously >

It is not clear at this time whether or not the government's computational model used to produce a statistical description of women and minority voters is the cause for delay.

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Tue Jan 8th, 2019 at 03:41:58 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Living Off the Planet (none / 0)
LIVING OFF THE PLANET
Environment, Energy, Agriculture, Food
by Bjinse on Sun Dec 30th, 2018 at 10:29:35 PM EST
wut (none / 0)
EC Warned to Do More on ["]Desertification["]
December report by the European Court of Auditors, European Environment Agency:
For the past decade, Europe has seen an increasing number of people from Africa and Asia seek entry into Europe as refugees and asylum-seekers, often because they are fleeing places hit hard by climate change and increasing heat, experts say.

"Desertification can bring about poverty, health problems due to wind-blown dust, and a decline in biodiversity. It can also have demographic and economic consequences, forcing people to migrate away from affected areas," [auditor Phil Wynn] Owen said.

1996 UN Convention to Combat Desertification: 13 EU-member petitioners
The countries that have declared desertification a problem are Bulgaria, Greece, Spain, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Hungary, Malta, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia.


Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.
by Cat on Thu Jan 3rd, 2019 at 03:34:30 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Living Off the Planet (none / 0)
China Lands Craft on "so-called dark" Side of Moon in World First
on the "'far side' ... 'This probe can fill the gap of low-frequency observation in radio astronomy and will provide important information for studying the origin of stars and nebula evolution.'"

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.
by Cat on Fri Jan 4th, 2019 at 05:22:47 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Living Off the Planet (none / 0)
m'k. Lyin' Liars "Oversight" Marathon in USA is off to a flying F start. I'll skip the schedule of Trump vs DCCC broadcast messages to teh nation + LaLaLa boycotts, forthcoming.

Walk with me.
Dems introduce bills to block offshore drilling
10-year moratorium in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Arctic oceans and eastern Gulf of Mexico
(hmmm. Obama opens/closes/opens drilling, 2015-2016)
House energy committee chair: Banning donations from fossil fuel companies 'wrong way to go'
"Where do you draw the line?"

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Wed Jan 9th, 2019 at 12:15:54 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Living On the Planet (none / 0)
 LIVING ON THE PLANET 
 Society, Culture, History, Information 
by Bjinse on Sun Dec 30th, 2018 at 10:29:46 PM EST
Re: Living On the Planet (none / 1)
Monbiot in the Guardian: The purpose of this brain hacking is to create more effective platforms for advertising. But the effort is wasted if we retain our ability to resist it. Facebook, according to a leaked report, carried out research - shared with an advertiser - to determine when teenagers using its network feel insecure, worthless or stressed. These appear to be the optimum moments for hitting them with a micro-targeted promotion. Facebook denied that it offered "tools to target people based on their emotional state".

We can expect commercial enterprises to attempt whatever lawful ruses they can pull off. It is up to society, represented by government, to stop them, through the kind of regulation that has so far been lacking. But what puzzles and disgusts me even more than this failure is the willingness of universities to host research that helps advertisers hack our minds. The Enlightenment ideal, which all universities claim to endorse, is that everyone should think for themselves. So why do they run departments in which researchers explore new means of blocking this capacity?



I used to be afew. I'm still not many.
by john_evans (john(dot)evans(dot)et(at)gmail(dot)com) on Mon Dec 31st, 2018 at 10:31:55 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Living On the Planet (none / 1)
So why do ... [universities] ... run departments in which researchers explore new means of blocking this capacity?

Because they get funded to do it.

SATSQ

She believed in nothing; only her skepticism kept her from being an atheist. -- Jean-Paul Sartre

by ATinNM on Mon Dec 31st, 2018 at 04:35:33 PM EST
[ Parent ]
information (none / 0)
WebAIM | Survey of Users with Low Vision #2 Results
not encouraging feedback for UX/UI sector of the AI industry, sorry

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.
by Cat on Tue Jan 1st, 2019 at 11:34:57 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: information VISONARY (none / 0)
Earliest known photos of an Apple iPad prototype, Retinal Display!!

Huawei confirms the Mate 20 isn't coming to the U.S., 7.2-inch HDR display!!
Huawei is continuing its drive toward an A.I.-powered future, and has included two neural processing units (NPUs) inside the heart of the Kirin 980.

archived
gendered LEGOs

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Sat Jan 5th, 2019 at 07:46:12 PM EST
[ Parent ]
culture (none / 1)
Reversing the Descent of Man

##Sociopaths teaching sociopaths manners


Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Tue Jan 1st, 2019 at 11:42:06 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: culture (none / 1)
Placed my comment in a new diary - Perils of the Enlightenment - 250 Years Later .

Hasbara is a dead language
by Oui (Oui) on Thu Jan 3rd, 2019 at 12:56:01 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Living On the Planet (none / 0)
Interesting read ...

Reset to frontpage from the archives, thus less visible ...

RIP: Finbarr Flood 1938-2016

○ Obituary: Finbarr Flood, former Shelbourne FC player and chairman

Thanks Frank for reposting!

Hasbara is a dead language

by Oui (Oui) on Fri Jan 4th, 2019 at 11:46:59 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Living On the Planet (none / 0)
I harbor a fondness for this author. He is the only person who I've found through the innerboobs to recognize --explicitly state-- the inherent fallacy in "income equality" polemic (balanced equation) dependent on the expression P > R - C , also symbolized by the figures, * inflation rate : the conclusion does not follow from the premise.

Here, again, he extends the logic of prudential capitalism to unrequited love of democratic society ( 1 = 1 ).
Capitalism and Race Redux  

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Fri Jan 4th, 2019 at 06:10:34 PM EST
[ Parent ]
industry and culture (none / 0)
"It would be possible, the argument goes, to end sexist and racist discrimination and still be left with vast inequalities in wealth and power--a rainbow capitalist society that affords a more diverse group of people the opportunity to dominate and exploit others."

< wipes tears >

archived object permanance
and trust
and category error


Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Sat Jan 5th, 2019 at 05:28:40 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Not Jiminy But Caribbean Cricket! (none / 0)
I truly love this story ... will Trumpie undo the extra sanctions he put on Cuba? Idiots! Or is it one of his election promises ...

○ Brain abnormalities found in victims of US embassy attack in Cuba | The Guardian - Dec. 6, 2017 |

○ What Americans Heard in Cuba Attacks: The Sound | AP - Oct. 2017 |

'Sonic attack' on US diplomats in Cuba was just a very loud cricket, scientists say

Two scientists presented evidence that those sounds were not so mysterious after all. They were made by crickets, the researchers concluded. The scientists did not rule out that the diplomats had been attacked - only that the recording is not of a sonic weapon, as had been suggested.

Alexander Stubbs of the University of California, Berkeley, and Fernando Montealegre-Z of the University of Lincoln in England studied a recording of the sounds made by diplomats and published by the Associated Press (AP) .

"There's plenty of debate in the medical community over what, if any, physical damage there is to these individuals," said Stubbs in a phone interview. "All I can say fairly definitively is that the AP-released recording is of a cricket, and we think we know what species it is."

○ 'Sonic attack' on US embassy in Havana could have been crickets, say scientists | The Guardian - Jan. 6, 2019 |

Hasbara is a dead language

by Oui (Oui) on Tue Jan 8th, 2019 at 11:43:22 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Living On the Planet (4.00 / 3)
CES 2019: The day a self-driving car killed a robot | Electronics360
The robot, called Promobot, was going to be on display at the annual tradeshow to showcase how robots can work as hosts in museums, hotels, banks, shopping and business centers. Promobot can maneuver around obstacles, move both its head and arms and has a display to interact with people and give them information.

According to the company, all of its robots were moving in a line but one veered off course and into the street where it was hit by the Tesla. The passenger in the car decided to try self-driving mode in the Tesla, Promobot said.

by generic on Tue Jan 8th, 2019 at 09:19:57 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Living On the Planet (none / 0)
Asimov never saw that one coming. And neither did the promobot

keep to the Fen Causeway
by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Wed Jan 9th, 2019 at 08:12:10 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Living On the Planet (none / 0)
Lame PR stunt.
by asdf on Wed Jan 9th, 2019 at 08:37:04 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Living On the Planet (none / 0)
Another day in the tech industry.

CES Revoked an Award for a Female Pleasure Device for Being 'Immoral' - Motherboard

A sex tech company won an award for innovation in robotics from the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), the organization that produces CES--and then it took it back, deeming the women's pleasure product too "immoral, obscene, indecent, [or] profane" for its tastes.
Try as it might to separate itself from adult industry consumerism, CES was founded alongside--if not thanks to--the sex tech industry. From the 90's until 2012, CES coincided with the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo in Las Vegas, and the two shows grew up together as consumer tech like home video cassette recorders and displays developed with an evolving porn production industry in the 90s, and attendees to CES wandering over to meet porn stars at the Adult Entertainment Expo. Since its beginnings, companies showcasing wares at CES also often showcased "booth babes," scantily-clad women hired to show off the products.
by Bernard (bernard) on Wed Jan 9th, 2019 at 09:08:08 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Living On the Planet (none / 0)
if it had been pneumatic pleasure-bots for guys, they'd have been carried around the exhibition in triumph and garlanded with roses

keep to the Fen Causeway
by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Thu Jan 10th, 2019 at 07:52:00 PM EST
[ Parent ]
On This Date (none / 0)
ON THIS DATE
by Bjinse on Sun Dec 30th, 2018 at 10:30:00 PM EST
Re: On This Date DETAIL (none / 0)
Today -100: January 8, 1919: The German menace is still there
Whatever, right? Bob LaFollette (R-Wisconsin) and destined-to-fade-to-ignominy Claude Swanson (D-Virginia) debate teh Bolshiviki Teuton Menace.

LaFollette will cap his political legacy collaborating with Bob Wagner (D-New York) in posthumous draft and enactment of first federal labor relations act (FDR admin, 2nd 'New Deal', 1935).

Inadvertently (d. 1925) opened a seat for the cretin McCarthy.

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Tue Jan 8th, 2019 at 06:41:32 PM EST
[ Parent ]
People & Klatsch (none / 0)
 PEOPLE AND KLATSCH 
by Bjinse on Sun Dec 30th, 2018 at 10:30:14 PM EST
Re: People &amp; Klatsch (none / 1)
Annual Bonfire: pallet structure contest
.
Exchanging the old for the new ... a structure 48m high with a strong Western wind inland:

Put the old fishing village of Scheveningen with its shops in danger ... more video's Telegraaf.nl

Hasbara is a dead language

by Oui (Oui) on Tue Jan 1st, 2019 at 01:23:18 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: People &amp;amp; Klatsch (none / 1)
It's almost as if someone didn't quite think this through.
by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Tue Jan 1st, 2019 at 05:05:03 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: People &amp;amp;amp; Klatsch (4.00 / 2)
But that is nothing compared to what goes on in Malta.


She believed in nothing; only her skepticism kept her from being an atheist. -- Jean-Paul Sartre
by ATinNM on Tue Jan 1st, 2019 at 07:28:13 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: People &amp;amp; Klatsch (4.00 / 3)
Was the North wind blowing?

This lesser-known Brel song (but one of his best imo) offers a neat twist to Brexit in the lines about Bruges.

London's no more than a suburb of Bruges, lost at sea, lost at sea...

(And that, goddamn it, blinds me with angry tears)

I used to be afew. I'm still not many.

by john_evans (john(dot)evans(dot)et(at)gmail(dot)com) on Wed Jan 2nd, 2019 at 09:52:02 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: People &amp; Klatsch (none / 0)

"A devastating tragedy in Koszalin. The five joyful young girls at dawn of life, so abruptly torn away from all of us. May God take care of their parents and loved ones. RIP"

Teenagers die in fire at 'Escape Room' game venue in Poland

Hasbara is a dead language

by Oui (Oui) on Sat Jan 5th, 2019 at 09:05:16 PM EST
[ Parent ]
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