What's in the news?

[gaggedLouise]

Turns out China IS helping victims of the earthquake. They got a tent camp set up in the south east of China for the people.

Just when you thought you'd seen it all...

And they only have to march fifteen hundred miles to get there, right? Across the highest mountain range on the planet (to begin with)?  ::)

[Dashenka]

The fact that they're at least showing their goodwill is more than had expected :)

[TheGlyphstone]

The fact that they're at least showing their goodwill is more than had expected :)

I think the question GL was indirectly asking was if they were also providing free transportation to said tent city. Because otherwise it's not goodwill, just an empty PR stunt on a typically Chinese grand scale. If they are, it might be genuine (still a PR stunt, but if the refugees actually benefit, they deserve the good PR that results).

[gaggedLouise]

Yeah, if the camp had been anywhere near the border with Nepal it might have been useful too, but said border is more or less identical with the middle stretch of the Himalayas, and it's quite a bit on the Chinese (Tibetan) side before you even get out of the alpine zone. If the tent camp isn't even in Tibet and they won't provide free journeys there, then it is more of a showpiece.

Modern roads are really rare in the Himalayas and some of those that exist may have been wrecked by the earthquake.

[Valerian]

According to articles like this one, it looks like China is genuinely trying to help... though they have ulterior motives.  India and Nepal used to be very closely allied, but less so the last several years, and China seems to be trying to extend their political influence in Nepal by winning over the Nepali people.  As mentioned, if it gets the victims the help they need, not a bad thing, but it could have a serious effect on the balance of power in that part of the world later on.

[gaggedLouise]

According to articles like this one, it looks like China is genuinely trying to help... though they have ulterior motives.  India and Nepal used to be very closely allied, but less so the last several years, and China seems to be trying to extend their political influence in Nepal by winning over the Nepali people.  As mentioned, if it gets the victims the help they need, not a bad thing, but it could have a serious effect on the balance of power in that part of the world later on.

I think the guerrilla in Nepal that put an end to the (absolute and personal) rule of the king a couple of years ago was Maoist - but then China itself is hardly Maoist anymore. There was a long and bitter civil war that ended around ten years ago.

[Mikem]

If there is one form of punishment I would like to see reinstated is all looters being shot. All too often I have heard it is alright for looters, and arsonists to do what they do when there are riots. That needs to be stomped on HARD. If rioters and looters knew they'd be killed if they started doing anything out of the law, they would be far less inclined to do that kind of stuff.

Okay. Now that's going far. Looting is just another form of robbery, and most of the time they're not armed, they just run in, take and run out. I do want a harsher response to looting, but execution without trial for theft? What is this Medieval Europe? If you think the police should be able to fire upon looters there are plenty of non-lethal methods. Bean bags, rubber bullets, water cannons ect.

Most of these people are just stupid people having made a stupid decision in the heat of the moment. I don't think that warrants them losing their life.

[Bloodied Porcelain]

Okay. Now that's going far. Looting is just another form of robbery, and most of the time they're not armed, they just run in, take and run out. I do want a harsher response to looting, but execution without trial for theft? What is this Medieval Europe? If you think the police should be able to fire upon looters there are plenty of non-lethal methods. Bean bags, rubber bullets, water cannons ect.

Most of these people are just stupid people having made a stupid decision in the heat of the moment. I don't think that warrants them losing their life.

Further, most of the reports coming out are saying that a huge bulk of the rioters and looters, especially early on, were minors. Meeting violence with violence isn't a great idea to begin with, but watch the craziness that would ensue if police started shooting kids because they were robbing stores.

[Zakharra]

Okay. Now that's going far. Looting is just another form of robbery, and most of the time they're not armed, they just run in, take and run out. I do want a harsher response to looting, but execution without trial for theft? What is this Medieval Europe? If you think the police should be able to fire upon looters there are plenty of non-lethal methods. Bean bags, rubber bullets, water cannons ect.

Most of these people are just stupid people having made a stupid decision in the heat of the moment. I don't think that warrants them losing their life.

I don't care. I know some people might not like that idea, but rioters, those who burn and loot SHOULD be shot as far as I am concerned. Letting them get away with it under the guise of 'civil disturbance' is, bluntly, asinine. I have absolutely no problem with people marching in protest, but once it turns violent (hopefully not by the police. If the police start it, yeah, go ahead) then lethal force absolutely should be used. And I know this is going to anger a lot of people here, even if they are minors, blow their asses away. -No one-. Absolutely NO ONE has the right to riot (engage in violence to burn and loot), to steal and/or burn down someone else's livelihood just because that story/house has something the rioters want. The majority of riots end up hurting businesses and people who have -nothing- to do with what the protest is about.  They are hurting their own fellow citizens rather than the ones they are, or were, protesting against.

If people want to protest, do it peacefully. The moment it turns violent, I lose all sympathy for the protestors (or the rioters in this case).  The stupid decision as you call it, is someone's livelihood and home/shop/story that is looted or burnt to the ground. If it takes a few rioters bleeding out on the ground because they tried to steal and/or burn some place, I'm for it. Peaceful protest and marches is what I support. Not semi disorganized looting and burning disguised as civil disobedience.

[Mikem]

The stupid decision as you call it, is someone's livelihood and home/shop/story that is looted or burnt to the ground. If it takes a few rioters bleeding out on the ground because they tried to steal and/or burn some place, I'm for it.

The victim loses their job/home/belongings/business. All of those are replaceable. The other person loses their life. That's a permanent loss and the family of that person who weren't a part of the crime now have to live with the loss.

I understand where you're coming from. But that's terrible logic.

[Zakharra]

 The one whose house/business was stolen from  and/or burnt down might have also been hurt and/or killed in the theft/fire. If someone is stupid enough to steal and/or try to burn someone's home/business down because of a riot in progress, they should be shot. For stupidity at least. The rioters right to protest are not a carte blanche to loot and burn. Their right to do so stops the moment they engage in illegal activity. I have absolutely no sympathy for people such as those. If they get killed while trying to burn and loot, all for the better. They should know better than to be doing that. It's hurting someone else, often driving that person into bankruptcy. Loosing a business from fire and looting is not something many small to medium sized businesses can recover from. And since most looters seem to be able to get away with that sort of thing, I'm willing to make the penalty rather high for engaging in such stupid activities. You don't want to get shot? Don't riot (burning and looting and causing destruction). It is as simple as that.

That being said, I would have that only for looters, arsonists and people destroying property. Anyone not doing that shouldn't be shot.

[la dame en noir]

Looting/riots have been a long time go to when people felt unheard or mistreated. You can read about any of this in the history books. So why are we saying this now like its something new? And why are we so worried about it now, but not worried about it when sports fans riot and destroy shit after their team loses or game?

Explain?

Cause I really don't understand.

[Lustful Bride]

And why are we so worried about it now, but not worried about it when sports fans riot and destroy shit after their team loses or game?

Explain?

Cause I really don't understand.

I never go to sporting events for that reason, plus the one time I ever went to a baseball game people around me were animals, shouting, cursing and just ruining thru experience.

[Cycle]

I think there is a lesson to be learned by comparing the response to Freddie Gray's death and Walter Scott's. 

The response by the authorities, that is.

In Scott case, the authorities addressed the problem and there was minimal protesting and no rioting.  In the Gray case, the authorities still have offered no explanation for how 80% of a man's spinal cord was severed during his 30 minutes in custody.

Shield walls and curfews can address the rioting, and that helps.  But they do nothing to solve the real problem.

[Dimir]

It seems like the majority of the "protesters" in Baltimore are hard-working, honest people who just want to see change in their community. Where you get problems is from the gangs, career-criminals and troublesome teenagers who just want to cause havoc and appear on television. I can't see the impoverished population in that particular neighbourhood supporting the destruction of the CVS pharmacy that was the only decent place of employment there.

[la dame en noir]

It seems like the majority of the "protesters" in Baltimore are hard-working, honest people who just want to see change in their community. Where you get problems is from the gangs, career-criminals and troublesome teenagers who just want to cause havoc and appear on television. I can't see the impoverished population in that particular neighbourhood supporting the destruction of the CVS pharmacy that was the only decent place of employment there.

There are actually plenty of gang members are trying to do good by this. Something the media won't show.

[Dimir]

There are actually plenty of gang members are trying to do good by this. Something the media won't show.

I actually went and looked it up and came across this local report. Thank you for informing me as I found it quite interesting.

http://touch.baltimoresun.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-83406209/

[TheGlyphstone]

And it makes a lot of sense too - a big part of gang culture is your 'turf', your territory. Letting people (who aren't you) cause violence and mayhem in your territory is a huge loss of face, so the gangs have a vested self-interest in quelling riots that might spill over into areas of the city they consider to be proprietary.

[Dimir]

An African-American Georgia woman was arrested after threatening on Facebook to kill every white police officer that she saw. Local authorities, the FBI and Homeland Security responded to this threat, not wanting to take any chances.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/30/us/georgia-woman-facebook-antipolice-post/index.html

Yeah, Ebony Dickens is not helping current police misconduct issues. *sigh*

[Lustful Bride]

New 'Tesla' battery opens up new possibilities with solar panels.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/new-tesla-battery-could-end-electricity-bills/ar-BBiU7fs?ocid=iehp

This is a good step I think to helping decrease the harm we do to the environment. I'm glad to see people still working on technologies such as this.

[Dashenka]

Yes cause the harm we do to the environment by making those things is minimal.....  ::)


Oh wait, batteries grow on trees, I forgot..

[TheGlyphstone]

Yes cause the harm we do to the environment by making those things is minimal.....  ::)


Oh wait, batteries grow on trees, I forgot..

She said decrease, not eliminate.

[Dashenka]

I know but there is nothing to decrease...

But that's for a different topic..

[Mikem]

A woman in her 20's traveling on Virgin airways from London to Las Vegas was caught in the plane's bathroom having sex with the man who'd been sitting next to her. Attendants heard "loud sex noises" coming from the room and, after being ignored to have the door opened, busted it down. The woman, after throwing a few "choice words" at the attendants was handcuffed to her seat for the rest of the flight and let off with a warning.

The best part. Her parents were on the flight as well.

You know, under those kinds of conditions, and even knowing her parents were with her. That must have been one horny girl to just do some guy on the plane.

[Oniya]

Or just trying to join the 'Mile High Club'.

Just found this out.

RPG Drive Thru is doing two different charity Bundles to help send relief to Nepal.  Seriously reasonable prices for tabletop RPG stuff here:

http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/148437?src=news4/30/15_scottsdesk_nepal
http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/148298?src=news4/30/15_scottsdesk_nepal