Author Topic: National news.  (Read 154693 times)

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Offline Markus

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Re: National news.
« Reply #100 on: December 20, 2010, 11:49:51 pm »
Now, that's indeed something to be proud of! :thumbup:

That's like everybody giving one buck or a little more - something almost everybody can afford, and yet so much good can be done with this contribution!

You really did well, Luthy! That reminds that I haven't donated yet this year, but I promise to follow your example and to give some money to a good cause, too.

Cheers!

Markus
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Offline Persephone

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Re: National news.
« Reply #101 on: December 21, 2010, 12:42:36 am »
Wow - that's really big counting.  :blink:

Congratulations! And may the research will be successful in any way!  :pop:
But then again, who does.

Offline Markus

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Re: National news.
« Reply #102 on: February 17, 2011, 11:26:26 am »
Hey folks,

for many weeks our national news were only about the weather. First along the lines of "Emergency! It's winter and there's snow outside - what are we gonna do now?!" ( :roll-eyes: :fish:), then it was about the floodwater many rivers were bringing. The latter was somewhat more serious, but still made me wonder what they're actually hiding from us... :ninja:

Right now the big topics are the amount of welfare aids the government should pay (the discussion has been running for ages and the deciders are ridiculously incapable of finding an agreement) and - new since yesterday - an accusation of plagiarism against our minister of defense. Mr. von Guttenberg was celebrated like a messiah but now it turns out that parts of his doctor thesis are copied from other authors but not marked so. :disgust:

But what I'm really wondering about is the international news, the situation in North Africa. This might be a really historic change that is going to alter the political maps for decades to come. I'm especially curious what our agent in Kuwait has found out. Jorge, what is the situation there? How is the development reflected in the local media?

Cheers!

Markus
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Offline Lady Sa'iltu

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Re: National news.
« Reply #103 on: February 17, 2011, 06:28:46 pm »
I'd also wish to know what's happening in Kuwait...
Something must change! More than in North Africa, I think, in the whole world...
"Die gewöhnlichsten Irrschlüsse der Menschen sind diese: eine Sache existiert, also hat sie ein Recht." (F. Nietzsche)

Offline The One

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Re: National news.
« Reply #104 on: February 18, 2011, 12:25:35 am »
Well, with Mubarak's current resignation, all the Egyptians are extremely happy. They have yet another reason to be proud of their country (some actually acquired a newfound faith in it). As for Kuwait, it's congratulating the Egyptian people, celebrating 50 years of independence from the Brits, 20 years since the liberation from Iraqi occupation and 5 years of rule under the current Emir. Every Kuwaiti citizen (not the expatriates like myself or my family) is getting 1000 KD (the equivalent of 3500 USD) as part of the celebrations.
I don't think there'll be any revolutions here any time soon. When the oil runs out, that'll be another question. :ninja:
"All men are intellectuals, but not all men in society have the function of intellectuals" -Antonio Gramsci

Offline saphira

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Re: National news.
« Reply #105 on: February 18, 2011, 08:44:56 am »
I'm dissapointed at Egiptians.. and I don't support their cause anymore.. because not all of them are happy.. for example more 80% of the women who have been sexualy molested, raped, etc... where's the happines for them??? And most of these terrible things happend right in the middle of the protest and they want democracy.. They don't deserve one!  :bawl:
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Offline Markus

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Re: National news.
« Reply #106 on: February 18, 2011, 11:57:30 am »
Hey folks,

Saphi, still this may be a move towards the better. We can't expect them to remove all injustice at once. If we did so, neither your country nor mine would deserve democracy, but we do - everybody does. Democracy doesn't doesn't mean that everything is alright but that all wrongs things may be tackled and changed, don't you think?

From the little I've heard the situation of Egyptian women has improved over the past few years already (much less genital mutilation on women, for instance), and they put a lot of hope in the revolution.

Jorge, thank you for the insight! Well, free money dramatically reduces revolution probability, of course. :lol3: Unless comrade :cht: would... but that's another story. :ninja:

Cheers!

Markus
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Offline Lady Sa'iltu

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Re: National news.
« Reply #107 on: February 18, 2011, 09:21:33 pm »
I'm dissapointed at Egiptians.. and I don't support their cause anymore.. because not all of them are happy.. for example more 80% of the women who have been sexualy molested, raped, etc... where's the happines for them??? And most of these terrible things happend right in the middle of the protest and they want democracy.. They don't deserve one!  :bawl:

Any kind of revolution, unfortunately, brings unjustified violence, rape and so on :-[. People are people. :wacko:
"Die gewöhnlichsten Irrschlüsse der Menschen sind diese: eine Sache existiert, also hat sie ein Recht." (F. Nietzsche)

Offline The One

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Re: National news.
« Reply #108 on: February 18, 2011, 09:26:28 pm »
There's hope for the Egyptians.
The only byproduct of this uprising that's pissing me off are the looters, who everybody claims were supported by the Mubarak government. They broke into the Egyptian Museum and stole/damaged some of the world's most unique artifacts! That's a huge shame for anyone who has not seen them!

In other news, in Jahra, Kuwait, nation-less Bedouins demand Kuwaiti citizenship... While everyone else is off partying.
"All men are intellectuals, but not all men in society have the function of intellectuals" -Antonio Gramsci

Offline Lasse

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Re: National news.
« Reply #109 on: February 19, 2011, 02:53:57 am »

Any kind of revolution, unfortunately, brings unjustified violence, rape and so on :-[. People are people. :wacko:

That's not neccesarily true, we had 3 revolutions in the past century (together with many other Central-European countries), and such incidents were completely unheard of (at least from our side). I don't want to draw any conclusions, just to state it as a fact.

However romantic and uplifing it might be to hear about people rising against dictators, I am pretty worried by this "we weren't always friends with Israel" attitude. Honestly, I've never seen anything good come out of any governmental system that was based on Islam religious leaders and the military.

Okay, let's just forget the politically correct bulshitting, I can't imagine anything sensible happening in these Middle-Eastern Islam countries anytime soon with their societies stuck in about hundreds of years ago regarding women, civil rights, secularism, freedom of speech, and democracy. Call me intolerant. :nana:

Though I wish I wasn't right on this one, I hope they'll prove me wrong.
« Last Edit: February 19, 2011, 02:58:16 am by Lasse »
Kék hajnal kihasad, feltör, kék ingem kiszabom az égből, kék ingem lobogó, s nézd csak - kék erdőn korona a harmat.

Offline The One

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Re: National news.
« Reply #110 on: February 19, 2011, 09:53:50 am »
Egypt is aiming for a real Western-style democracy. Or that's what they say at least.
The Muslim Brotherhood, the biggest organization in Egypt that practices political Islamic fundamentalism (an offshoot of them assassinated Anwar Sadat, the previous president), has explicitly stated that it will not participate in the elections and will not attempt to take power. Egypt will not be a second Iran. Besides, there's no Ayatollah Khomeini figure anywhere to be seen anyway - so there's no risk for another Islamic "Republic".

And I know what you mean when we're talking politically correct bullshit Lasse, by Western standards, many Middle-Eastern countries are somewhat backwards in comparison to Europe; however, these standards that they have are standards they implemented themselves. There are riots all over the place now because they are apparently wanting rights closer to those of citizens in Western countries - because Western hegemony makes it seem as if democratic rule is the best thing that was ever made since sliced bread. Democracy really is a horrible thing, but it's the best that we've come up with. Egypt, although corrupt as hell, impoverishing and just plain nasty (politically speaking) was stable throughout the thirty years Mubarak reigned. And as crazily conservative as it may be, Saudi has also been pretty stable over the 80 or so many years it's existed. Sure, Saudi suffers from actually having fanatic scholars in the government, and it's an absolute monarchy with laws that border those of the Middle Ages, but it's still somewhat politically stable.

There's a lot of factors leading up to these things, and it's way too complex for me to put it in one post.
« Last Edit: February 19, 2011, 10:02:57 am by The One »
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Offline Markus

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Re: National news.
« Reply #111 on: February 19, 2011, 02:28:35 pm »
Hey folks,

I would always go for a benevolent dictatorship (i.e. by me). But people tend to disagree with my plans and ideas - perfect as they may be - so they fail to see the benefits of my absolute rule. As long as this is, we'll have to go for the second best form of government, which, alas! is Western style democracy.

This democracy cannot be brought by bombs and guns but it can be brought through the lure of freedom and prosperity. This might be happening once more, right now in the North of Africa. I certainly hope so.

Jorge, thank you again for the insight. If you feel like, do tell us more!

Cheers!

Markus
« Last Edit: February 19, 2011, 02:32:26 pm by Markus »
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Offline Lasse

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Re: National news.
« Reply #112 on: February 20, 2011, 01:50:00 pm »
And as crazily conservative as it may be, Saudi has also been pretty stable over the 80 or so many years it's existed. Sure, Saudi suffers from actually having fanatic scholars in the government, and it's an absolute monarchy with laws that border those of the Middle Ages, but it's still somewhat politically stable.

Well, in that case political stability is something that was bought for money - IMHO it's really not that difficult to make citizens content when money just flies in the window and you don't really have to do anything for it. I wonder what would happen without the oil, the only thing that's making this crazy insane richness possible over there.

I just wish all the best for the Egyptians. :)
Kék hajnal kihasad, feltör, kék ingem kiszabom az égből, kék ingem lobogó, s nézd csak - kék erdőn korona a harmat.

Offline The One

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Re: National news.
« Reply #113 on: February 20, 2011, 06:16:33 pm »
And as crazily conservative as it may be, Saudi has also been pretty stable over the 80 or so many years it's existed. Sure, Saudi suffers from actually having fanatic scholars in the government, and it's an absolute monarchy with laws that border those of the Middle Ages, but it's still somewhat politically stable.

Well, in that case political stability is something that was bought for money - IMHO it's really not that difficult to make citizens content when money just flies in the window and you don't really have to do anything for it. I wonder what would happen without the oil, the only thing that's making this crazy insane richness possible over there.

I just wish all the best for the Egyptians. :)
Well, the question is pretty much the same here in Kuwait.
....Although recently there have been more demonstrations by Bedouins demanding the Kuwaiti nationality; it means there is some discontent.

As for the Egyptians, all the ones I know are pretty damn happy right now about their country.
"All men are intellectuals, but not all men in society have the function of intellectuals" -Antonio Gramsci

Offline saphira

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Re: National news.
« Reply #114 on: February 21, 2011, 08:37:29 am »
Ok, fine.. I believe  that things that happened during their protest were just a side affect... but this does not excuse them for what they did. And it is not a step forward because the culture they live in is violent just like ours.. and in the key moment when they should prove they deserve support from other countries they didn't do so with breaking basic human rights.. and this protest is not a step forward because no one will punish them at all, not even one of them, for what they did to those poor woman... so no, I see no progress.. men will think that in democracy they can treat  women like they did before.. because not one of them will pay and no one is gonna talk about it.. here at least every now and than we manage to get them in prison or whatever..

I expect progress on other areas..
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Offline Lady Sa'iltu

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Re: National news.
« Reply #115 on: March 14, 2011, 07:51:10 pm »
Does anyone have friends/relatives in Japan?
Monade, what are you told? You're not far away from Japan.
We are told there's a little radiation poisoning in the air but it doesn't harm a lot yet. But the eastern part of our country is under radiation control.
We are also told that these earthquakes are going to endure.
"Die gewöhnlichsten Irrschlüsse der Menschen sind diese: eine Sache existiert, also hat sie ein Recht." (F. Nietzsche)

Offline Markus

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Re: National news.
« Reply #116 on: March 14, 2011, 09:01:08 pm »
Hey Siren,

yeah, it's just plain awful what's going on over there. Our news are full of it, and people here are seriously shocked.

You're not directly affected, are you? Except for the Easternmost part of Russia, radioactivity can hardly reach you, at least not in dangerous levels. And you don't feel anything of the earthquakes, do you? Terrible as this triple desaster is, we're pretty safe over here.

Let's hope all the best for the Japanese.

Best regards

Markus
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Offline Lady Sa'iltu

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Re: National news.
« Reply #117 on: March 14, 2011, 09:50:24 pm »
Yes, it doesn't reach us.
And, yeah, our news are also full of it, but I think what they say differs from what happens in reality.
In the news there was a picture of a little Japanese girl. She was sitting under a desk. I think I'll never forget her eyes! They were full of fear and despair. This girl is always on my mind.
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I hope so much it won't be one more Chernobyl!!!
"Die gewöhnlichsten Irrschlüsse der Menschen sind diese: eine Sache existiert, also hat sie ein Recht." (F. Nietzsche)

Offline Markus

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Re: National news.
« Reply #118 on: March 15, 2011, 01:24:19 am »
Hey Siren,

I hope so much it won't be one more Chernobyl!!!

probably it won't, from what the (independent) experts are saying. Still it's bad enough, even as it is. As if this country had not enough to suffer from the quake itself and the following tsunami.

Oh, and just like you I don't trust the information from the Japanese government. I can well imagine that they're trying to hide facts in order not to lose their face.

I don't know what it's like in Russia, but the nuclear disaster in Japan has once more fueled the discussion about the future of nuclear power in Germany. You have to know that a previous federal government has started a plan to abandon nuclear power but that the recent federal government has greatly increased the remaining run time of the nuclear power plants. But looking at the recent catastrophe we have to recognise once more that there is always a case you haven't thought of, so there always remains a certain risk, small as it may be. Considering the terrible consequences of a severe nuclear accident - should we be taking any risk at all?

Seems our federal government starts to react. Could that be because there are going to be elections in three of our federal states soon? :tongue: :chair:

Best regards

Markus
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Offline TheOFFman

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Re: National news.
« Reply #119 on: March 15, 2011, 01:42:08 pm »
Could that be because there are going to be elections in three of our federal states soon? :tongue: :chair:


If you lived in Croatia that and only that would be the reason.