World Politics

[ramjambunath]

Pitchforks

 

[rhubroma]

Well...atleast an Italian politician is the boss in India, dare i say the most powerful woman in the world.

Yep, I hear ya...as I sip my nice glass of Vino Nobile di Montepulciano 2007.

 

[oldborn]

Croatia: War crimes general's birthday marked

56 torches were lit at midnight at Knin Fortress on Tuesday to mark former Croat General Ante Gotovina’s 56th birthday.

Gotovina was convicted by the Hague Tribunal for committing war crimes during the Croat military Operation Storm in 1995, which targeted the country's ethnic Serb population.

“This is a joint greeting of the Croat defenders and all our friends, especially fan groups from all parts of Croatia. We want to wish a happy birthday to our hero General Ante Gotovina from a place where Croatian flag was raised as a symbol of victory,” said head of Zavet veterans’ association Zadar office Boris Mužanović.

According to the local media, the torches were mostly lit by Gotovina’s fellow combatants. Knin Mayor and Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) official Josipa Rimac was among them.

The celebration was organized by the Defenders Portal and Zadar Munipality defenders’ associations.

Reading of patriotic poems dubbed “We are thinking about you general” was announced for Wednesday evening in Zadar and a music and poetry night will be held in Split.

Right-wing Croatian Party of Rights publicly sent a birthday greeting to Gotovina.

The Hague Tribunal sentenced Gotovina to 24 years and General Mladen Markač to 18 years in prison in mid-April for their involvement in a joint criminal enterprise aimed at forcefully and permanently removing the Serbian population from the Krajina region during the Operation Storm.

The third indictee, General Ivan Čermak, was acquitted.

http://www.b92.net/eng/news/comments.php?nav_id=76817

Ironically, the day after Serbia's conditional recommendation this galling thing happens. The EC should make some sort of statement about this.

What sort of statement? I am sick and tired of EU statements
Funny that news source is Serbian one, we do not look at those things that way.

Afterall this is not non-appealable judgment. Process is still going on and IMHO they will be free, but that is just me.

"criminal enterprise aimed at forcefully and permanently removing the Serbian population from the Krajina region during the Operation Storm", they fled before our forces even able to reach them, and there is documents, plans etc.

IMHO I am glad that their leave Croatia, much easier now. If we can not live together at peace, why force it anyway?
Why should we pretend about those things. Ask every Brit about ****stan people, ask Germans about Turks etc.
As Angela Merkel point out "Mutikulti" thing in Germany is dead.

That swear filter really sucks, I wrote ****stani not intend to calling names here.

 

[oldborn]

Serbia recommended for EU candidate status

The European Commission has recommended Serbia for EU candidate status but said talks could only start after it normalised ties with Kosovo.

Belgrade refuses to recognise the territory's self-declared independence and tension involving Kosovo's ethnic Serbs sparked violence this summer.

The Commission also recommended opening accession talks with Montenegro.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15277402

This is just a disaster waiting to happen but equally, I think it is politically motivated.

Croatia and Bosnia are waiting on their EU membership and once they get their economies sorted they are shoo ins into the EU. There surely has to be some resentment in Serbia when Karadzic and Mladic are treated as butchers (rightly so) while Naser Oric, who was no less a monster (I remember him boasting in an NYT report about him annihilating a Serbian village), was convicted of violations of laws of war and not genocide. Same case with Croatia where 250000 Krajina Serbs were ethnically cleansed.

Politically, with elections coming in March-May in Serbia the EU would want a pro western leader (which Boris Tadic is) so delivering a promise would bolster his chances in them.

Boris Tadic's reaction

Again Serbian propaganda dude, they are so good at that

 

[blutto]

I've also read the Communist Manifesto, Mein Kampf and Dr Seuss.

...well golly gee whiz youse dun gone out and read some books...congratulations!....unfortunately judging from your input in this thread you didn't seem to understand them....

Cheers

blutto

 

[ramjambunath]

Again Serbian propaganda dude, they are so good at that

Okay, I will not dispute a person from the region itself. Just spotted it and thought it was ironic.

 

[oldborn]

Okay, I will not dispute a person from the region itself. Just spotted it and thought it was ironic.

No problem at all dude as I mention that is just me, ask any Serb you will get another story

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

...I have some very very bad news...our dear friend SoCal, has admitted to reading Ayn Rand...

I've probably read more of her work than he has. I think I've read over 95% of everything she wrote. What does that prove? The depth of her writings stretches way beyond politics, and those that don't think so either have not read much of her writing, or are doing themselves a disservice. I recommend people pick up the Ayn Rand Lexicon, which is an excellent reference to her Objectivist philosophy. And pick up The Passion of Ayn Rand, written by a former disciple, Barbara Brandon, who left Rand's circle, but doesn't really have an axe to grind, and dissects the social impact of Rand's thinking very deftly.

People like Paul Ryan or Rand Paul who espouse her as their hero, then proceed to warp her political philosophy into twisted dogma is shameful, and I can assure you if she were alive today she would take them to the cleaners.

Regarding GW:

Ok, let's say you are 100% correct. You want to go full force to conservation and green renewables. No nuclear. Wind, solar and conservation.

What will happen if we do that (we can't because wind and solar isn't ready for prime time) in the US when China and India won't? There's no global consensus on any of this. The technology isn't ready... so what exactly should we do?

Finally, someone addressing the questions I ask. And I agree that GW exists and we should try to do at least something, but Scott is right. What action do we take? How? What about the rest of the countries on the planet? Especially large industrial polluters like China and India? And this shows again why - and I'll explain the details if need be - I am pro nuclear power. Even post Fukushima.

 

[Anonymous]

I've also read the Communist Manifesto, Mein Kampf and Dr Seuss.

...well golly gee whiz youse dun gone out and read some books...congratulations!....unfortunately judging from your input in this thread you didn't seem to understand them....

Cheers

blutto

Gosh, that hurts me....

Especially considering the amout of respect I have for you.

 

[VeloCity]

I said Horner was probably more qualified than you and by that measure Gore would be as well. Is Horner more qualified than Gore? It's debatable.

You're the one who brought up both Gore and Horner, not me. I keep telling you to bypass the filters and go read the primary literature.

You had limited this conversation to climatologists earlier.

Nope, I said that the evidence for climate change is derived from a number of fields. Climatologists are the ones with the expertise to put all the data together and construct appropriate models.

But I agree, there are many that are connected to this field that should be listened to. And by that standard there is diverse opinion.

When there are 97-98% in agreement and 2-3% in dissent, that is not "diverse opinion", that's a few on the fringe nibbling at the edges. And those on the fringe are the ones that conservatives have largely decided are telling the truth while the 97-98% are liars, corrupt, part of a hoax, incompetent, etc etc etc.

New information comes to light everyday. Should we ignore it?

No, you do whats always been done when new information comes to light - it's analyzed, dissected, discussed, and should it be considered of value, incorporated into (or even replace) existing theory. And if it's shown to be garbage, it's tossed aside.

So Spencer's theory on the PDO is meritless?

A very good example of the above - analyzed, dissected, discussed, and shown to be garbage. Btw it's not only meritless, it was quite likely meant to be deliberately misleading.

You want to go full force to conservation and green renewables. No nuclear. Wind, solar and conservation.

You're still not getting this. It has nothing to do with what I or anyone else wants, it's what we are going to have to do. What I or you or anyone wants is entirely irrelevant.

What will happen if we do that (we can't because wind and solar isn't ready for prime time) in the US when China and India won't? There's no global consensus on any of this. The technology isn't ready... so what exactly should we do?

Then we're basically screwed. And I'm not being in the least bit facetious. Also not sure why (a) you're looking to me for answers and (b) why you think there are any easy answers to begin with. There aren't. It's going to be a very bumpy ride.

Our government can't support the investment required.

Then we'll need to re-prioritize our spending.

Our economy is dependent upon energy and will collapse without it.

Then we damn well better start figuring out how to transition away from fossil fuels.

Look, this isn't a choice - it's not like we're saying, hey, we can continue on the way we're going OR swap over to alternatives. The only choice we have is how smoothly we're going to manage that transition.

If you are correct, what's in motion will take generations to slow down, much less stop and anything we do now will amount to putting a band-aid on a spurting artery.

Oh it's probably already far too late to avoid major environmental, economic, and social disruption in the future. What came as quite a shock to climatologists is that their models are turning out to be too conservative - turns out climate change is occurring FAR more quickly than most models predicted, most likely due to unforeseen or under-acknowledged feedbacks.

Isn't this really about additional streams of taxation for governments on a global basis? there's no getting away from fossil fuels now or anytime in the near future.

No, this is really about trying to find a way to mitigate the environmental, economic, cultural, and social impacts that are going to result from climate change, and the sooner your side starts to understand that and stops being children ("but...but Al Gore's house!"), the sooner we can get on with it. And "mitigate" as opposed to "avoid" is probably the best we can hope for now.

EDIT: And the production of co2 is not the only issue... there's the whole methane issue (cow flatulence, rice production, et al... how do we deal with that?)

We do what conservatives propose we do, just ignore it and hope it goes away.

 

[Cobblestones]

We do what conservatives propose we do, just ignore it and hope it goes away.

About methane: methane clathrates might release methane gas (a far more efficient climate gas than CO2) in vast quantities, once temperatures rise. That's going to be a much larger problem than cow farts.

 

[rhubroma]

...

Finally, someone addressing the questions I ask. And I agree that GW exists and we should try to do at least something, but Scott is right. What action do we take? How? What about the rest of the countries on the planet? Especially large industrial polluters like China and India? And this shows again why - and I'll explain the details if need be - I am pro nuclear power. Even post Fukushima.

It could be like the fossilized political situation, in which no matter who you vote for means nothing. So we proceed on blind faith I suppose.

Only Nature operates by slightly different laws than human vicissitudes.

If climate change is immanent, let's say, then the future course of civilization is set by a higher power. Even the material incentives that necessitate the political and economic imperatives are of no concern before extinction in the end. What then will all this science have served? The left or the right? Post Fukushima.

 

[blutto]

Gosh, that hurts me....

Especially considering the amout of respect I have for you.

....whatever...

Cheers

blutto

 

[VeloCity]

About methane: methane clathrates might release methane gas (a far more efficient climate gas than CO2) in vast quantities, once temperatures rise. That's going to be a much larger problem than cow farts.

Potentially it is, but there's some evidence that suggests that methane outgassing from submarine and peat permafrost (ie released as permafrost melts) is not occurring as quickly as initially projected. Not to say that it's not happening - it is. Just that it's not happening as quickly as some thought it might.

But in worst-case scenario, there's about 1500 gigatons of methane stored in Arctic permafrost, either seabed or terrestrial. If even a fraction of that is released, atmospheric methane concentration would increase significantly, and considering that it's about 25 times more "effective" as a GHG than is CO2, well...basically, it'd be game over, as such extreme amplification would cause feedbacks to run amok. There will be no adapting to that.

 

[blutto]

I've probably read more of her work than he has. I think I've read over 95% of everything she wrote. What does that prove? The depth of her writings stretches way beyond politics, and those that don't think so either have not read much of her writing, or are doing themselves a disservice. I recommend people pick up the Ayn Rand Lexicon, which is an excellent reference to her Objectivist philosophy. And pick up The Passion of Ayn Rand, written by a former disciple, Barbara Brandon, who left Rand's circle, but doesn't really have an axe to grind, and dissects the social impact of Rand's thinking very deftly.

People like Paul Ryan or Rand Paul who espouse her as their hero, then proceed to warp her political philosophy into twisted dogma is shameful, and I can assure you if she were alive today she would take them to the cleaners.

.........well truth be known I've also read most of Rand's work though I will admit it was a long long time ago in graduate school....and sure her work has a depth that detractors who haven't actually read her would be surprised at....but then the tradition she is more or less transcribing is centuries old and history has a way of depositing depth on any stuff it touches...there is nothing extraordinary or novel in Rand....its an old story dressed up in a new suit, and a rather a cheap one at that...

...but there was nothing I read then or have run across since that draws me to her work....a friend summed up Rand and her ilk thus...these people come from a tradition of thinkers that believes we left behind the monkeys to become humans thru the development of semantics when in reality it was syntax...and another came up with this...Rand is to political philosophy what Isaac Asimov is to science fiction...not exactly picture perfect analogies but I'm sure you get the point...

Cheers

blutto

 

[redtreviso]

People like Paul Ryan or Rand Paul who espouse her as their hero, then proceed to warp her political philosophy into twisted dogma is shameful, and I can assure you if she were alive today she would take them to the cleaners.

.........well truth be known I've also read most of Rand's work though I will admit it was a long long time ago in graduate school....and sure her work has a depth that detractors who haven't actually read her would be surprised at....but then the tradition she is more or less transcribing is centuries old and history has a way of depositing depth on any stuff it touches...there is nothing extraordinary or novel in Rand....its an old story dressed up in a new suit, and a rather a cheap one at that...

...but there was nothing I read then or have run across since that draws me to her work....a friend summed up Rand and her ilk thus...these people come from a tradition of thinkers that believes we left behind the monkeys to become humans thru the development of semantics when in reality it was syntax...and another came up with this...Rand is to political philosophy what Isaac Asimov is to science fiction...not exactly picture perfect analogies but I'm sure you get the point...

Cheers

blutto

Ryan and Paul espousing Rand is just brownnosing..It is the Greenspans and others in the highest positions of the financial world who cite Rand's work as an economic philosophy that is so stupid,evil and pathetic.. In the field of economic science there were and are brilliant people to learn from. Ayn Rand deserves no mention at ALL..

 

[Amsterhammer]

I was an Ayn Rand 'fan' for a while after reading her novels as a teenager. I grew out of it.

 

[redtreviso]

Tea Party member's truck??

 

[Anonymous]

I was an Ayn Rand 'fan' for a while after reading her novels as a teenager. I grew out of it.

And your heart grew 3 sizes that day.

 

[Anonymous]

Tea Party member's truck??

Dude, either learn to re-size pictures or quit posting them. I don't mind scrolling down, but having to scroll right is really annoying when I am trying to read people's posts.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

I resized it.

 

[Anonymous]

Tea Party member's truck??

So I now see what your post is about, and you are a ****ing *******. That man's slaughter of 8 people has about as much to do with the Tea Party as my **** has to do with your mouth. You are one serious ***.

 

[usedtobefast]

http://ferrada-noli.blogspot.com/

wikileaks info

 

[redtreviso]

Tea Party Lic plate..

http://i467.photobucket.com/albums/rr38/dennisdonovan/shooter.jpg

 

[Anonymous]

Tea Party Lic plate..

http://i467.photobucket.com/albums/rr38/dennisdonovan/shooter.jpg

Sorry, I meant "insufferable ***." Off to ignore land forever as you are a waste of oxygen and water.