What's in the news?

Started by Beorning, September 21, 2014, 07:02:11 AM

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Caehlim

Quote from: Slywyn on December 10, 2014, 03:26:15 PMThe Pirate Bay in Sweden was apparently raided and shut down.

Apparently it's already back up: http://rt.com/news/212911-pirate-bay-police-raid/
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TheGlyphstone

Quote from: Caehlim on December 10, 2014, 06:44:27 PM
Apparently it's already back up: http://rt.com/news/212911-pirate-bay-police-raid/

That's just a mirror. It has no content, because it draws from the main .SE site. The article explaining this is on Torrentfreak, but I won't link it directly for uncertainty about E-rules. Hyperlinked from the first google result for Pirate Bay though.

Caehlim

#252
Quote from: TheGlyphstone on December 10, 2014, 06:49:53 PMThat's just a mirror. It has no content, because it draws from the main .SE site.

Oh, okay. I was just going from what I saw in the news.

That reminds me though, there's been a lot of articles about piracy in the Australian news at the moment.

The government is currently planning to crackdown on online piracy.

Although as it has been pointed out, it's not actually illegal in Australia to download movies.
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Warlock

Piratebay is tenacious, Swedish police have been at it for years with only little or temporary success and I expect something similar this time too. Like Superheroes Piratebay does not die, it gets rebooted.

In other news: Russia keeps flying their military hardware around the Scandinavian region, and the sky is still blue. There's also been a report about a politican speak about his experience as an agent for the KGB during the Soviet era. So there's been a general Russian theme in the news over the past months, previously about alleged Russian submarie, counter-espionage measures, increasing defense and NATO membership.

consortium11

Delilah, the Tom Jones song, has long been an unofficial anthem for Welsh rugby for years in much the same way Swing Low, Sweet Chariot and Jerusalem are for English rugby.

There have now been calls for supporters to not sing the song anymore on the basis that it trivializes and celebrates murdering women.

Lustful Bride


Beorning

These days, we're having some depressing and scary news back here... Also, some ongoing political ruckus. Nothing that I'd consider worth sharing...

Something positive, though: Ida, a relatively recent Polish movie, is gathering more and more raving reviews and awards abroad. It's actually been nominated for Golden Globe. And there's some talk of Oscars, too..?

I'm a bit ashamed to admit that I haven't seen it...

Beorning

I wanted to ask about the news I heard yesterday: it seems that the States and Cuba are going to resume normal relations after all these years?

I'm curious: what do Americans think about it?

TheGlyphstone

Meh. Freezing relations for Cuba this long was just politics anyways, we were buddies with people way worse than Fidel Castro for a long time. But Florida's whopping 29 electoral votes and our winner-take-all election system meant riling up the Cuban exile population in Florida was political suicide.

Avis habilis


Lustful Bride

For some reason it left me wondering when Puerto Rico could finally become a state. *shrug*

Zakharra

Quote from: Beorning on December 18, 2014, 01:23:43 PM
I wanted to ask about the news I heard yesterday: it seems that the States and Cuba are going to resume normal relations after all these years?

I'm curious: what do Americans think about it?

I would rather keep relations as they are. We're allies to/have diplomatic ties with enough jackass nations with dictatorial leaders, let's add to the number we have no ties with like Cuba. Unless we invade and kick the Castro regime and their lackeys out there isn't anything we can do economically or diplomatically that will change the lives of the citizens of that nation. So if no invasion, let Cuba rot.

Apple of Eris

Engaging Cuba is a good thing, even if only because it improves our relations with other Latin American states. Too many times when the US has tried to engage other nations about Cuba the conversation is stuck on US policy towards Cuba instead of Cuban policies. Now we can move past that hurdle, and what many Latin Americans feel is a policy that is a remnant of the era of American imperialism.

It's also clear that the embargo hasn't worked. We gave it 50 years, and it didn't do a thing except drive Cuba straight into the arms of the United States' strategic opponents.

Will it change things quickly? No. But I think we'll accomplish far more via engagement rather than stuffing fingers in our ears and pretending cuba doesn't exist.
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Cassandra LeMay

One thing that's been in the news in Germany constantly lately are demonstrations against the "Islamization" of Germany. Personally I find it all a bit ridiculous, as I don't see mosques springing up like mushrooms or veils becoming a common sight. It's pretty difficult to determine if this heralds a shift to the right in German politics, or if it will be a short-lived movement. The whole thing seems to be a mix of right-wing politicians and people who are in the "middle" of society and feel somehow disenfranchised or just plain fear foreigners.

Deutsche Welle has some articles on it, for those who want to do some reading: http://www.dw.de/search/english/pegida/category/9097/
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Inkidu

Quote from: Apple of Eris on December 18, 2014, 11:14:25 PM
Engaging Cuba is a good thing, even if only because it improves our relations with other Latin American states. Too many times when the US has tried to engage other nations about Cuba the conversation is stuck on US policy towards Cuba instead of Cuban policies. Now we can move past that hurdle, and what many Latin Americans feel is a policy that is a remnant of the era of American imperialism.

It's also clear that the embargo hasn't worked. We gave it 50 years, and it didn't do a thing except drive Cuba straight into the arms of the United States' strategic opponents.

Will it change things quickly? No. But I think we'll accomplish far more via engagement rather than stuffing fingers in our ears and pretending cuba doesn't exist.
Actually asking the average Cuban citizen they said the embargo hurt a lot. I can't help but be optimistic about the news though. Raul Castro probably thinks (well, most definitely thinks) this is getting the US to bow to his demands, but if we're playing the long-game here it's basically going to be the start of a regime change. So if it were the ultimate ass-bite I would just find that beautifully ironic.

Plus, you know, I always wanted to visit Cuba. :)
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Zakharra

Quote from: Inkidu on December 19, 2014, 07:24:04 AM
Actually asking the average Cuban citizen they said the embargo hurt a lot. I can't help but be optimistic about the news though. Raul Castro probably thinks (well, most definitely thinks) this is getting the US to bow to his demands, but if we're playing the long-game here it's basically going to be the start of a regime change. So if it were the ultimate ass-bite I would just find that beautifully ironic.

Plus, you know, I always wanted to visit Cuba. :)

I'm actually curious now as to how they think it hurt their nation a lot when Cuba has been open to the entire rest of the world for trade purposes. As far as I know, it is only the US that didn't have diplomatic or trade ties with Cuba. The lack of trade with just one nation, no matter how rich, and trade with the other 192 or so other nations of the world shouldn't have that much of an effect on a nation's economy. Unless there's something about with their government that is preventing said world trade from positively affecting their economy.

Ephiral

Quote from: Zakharra on December 19, 2014, 08:30:20 AM
I'm actually curious now as to how they think it hurt their nation a lot when Cuba has been open to the entire rest of the world for trade purposes. As far as I know, it is only the US that didn't have diplomatic or trade ties with Cuba. The lack of trade with just one nation, no matter how rich, and trade with the other 192 or so other nations of the world shouldn't have that much of an effect on a nation's economy. Unless there's something about with their government that is preventing said world trade from positively affecting their economy.
Short version: The US is the 800-pound gorilla of North American trade. It can, in fact, have that huge an impact. To put it in perspective, Canada's a much bigger and better-equipped nation than Cuba - and we would be devastated economically if the US cut off trade.

Inkidu

Quote from: Ephiral on December 19, 2014, 08:37:28 AM
Short version: The US is the 800-pound gorilla of North American trade. It can, in fact, have that huge an impact. To put it in perspective, Canada's a much bigger and better-equipped nation than Cuba - and we would be devastated economically if the US cut off trade.
This. I'm not one to tout American exceptionalism (though on the whole we're pretty okay despite some public blunders) but we are a big trading partner, and we're like 90 miles from Cuba, proximity and bulk are the two big factors here.

A NOLA-Havana trade route would be pretty good for Cuba. Plus there's the Tourism bucks Cuba's been missing out on for the last half century.
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Zakharra

Quote from: Ephiral on December 19, 2014, 08:37:28 AM
Short version: The US is the 800-pound gorilla of North American trade. It can, in fact, have that huge an impact. To put it in perspective, Canada's a much bigger and better-equipped nation than Cuba - and we would be devastated economically if the US cut off trade.

I don't doubt the US could have a large impact economically, but I am saying that right now, if Cuba's economy is crappy, it's not the US's fault because Cuba has access to the rest of the world. If the US had had Cuba under a naval blockade prohibiting any ships from coming or leaving, then yes the US would be responsible, but since we haven't and Cuba can trade with the rest of the world, Cuba's economy isn't our concern, and in the end, it is up to the Cuban government to what it allows inside the island nation. If they restrict what we could trade, that means its their fault for any remaining crappyness of the Cuban economy.

Quote from: Inkidu on December 19, 2014, 09:49:03 AM
This. I'm not one to tout American exceptionalism (though on the whole we're pretty okay despite some public blunders) but we are a big trading partner, and we're like 90 miles from Cuba, proximity and bulk are the two big factors here.

A NOLA-Havana trade route would be pretty good for Cuba. Plus there's the Tourism bucks Cuba's been missing out on for the last half century.

*nods* Still, it's the Cuban government that is pulling the strings in this situation. I am just very distrustful of that government and of our own current administration and of the party that fawns all over communist dictator types.

Inkidu

True, I used to have a neighbor who (and sadly he never went into details) either his dad was run out, or he got out, but he says Raul Castro is a monster in no uncertain terms, but like I said I'm hoping this move is a big backfire for him. America needs to play the long-game on this one.
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Ephiral

Quote from: Zakharra on December 19, 2014, 10:08:21 AM*nods* Still, it's the Cuban government that is pulling the strings in this situation. I am just very distrustful of that government and of our own current administration and of the party that fawns all over communist dictator types.
"Fawns all over", or "admits that this method has failed so thoroughly that it no longer actually is pressure in any meaningful sense, and it also screens off all other means of applying pressure to"?

Zakharra

Quote from: Ephiral on December 19, 2014, 01:54:18 PM
"Fawns all over", or "admits that this method has failed so thoroughly that it no longer actually is pressure in any meaningful sense, and it also screens off all other means of applying pressure to"?


What pressure? There was no real pressure put on Cuba diplomatically or economically. 'We won't trade with you' isn't a valid or credible threat when you can trade with the rest of the world.

By fawning, I meant that there is a disturbing number of Americans of a political leaning (and party) that like the communist/dictator types. They praise and say all sorts of good things about that style of government and regimes and such, on how that kind of governance is better than what we have and how it's something to emulate. They would rather we be like that communist style nation, not realizing (or ignoring) that under said nation they would be the first ones taken out and shot. To those people, Cuba is paradise. The USSR was practically paradise, it just needed a little help to get things right.  When I think of people who believe that I am reminded of a saying I heard decades ago: 'It's not a dictatorship if the right people are in charge.' They think they would be in charge and would know how to rule better while under a dictatorial governmental system.

Avis habilis

Quote from: Zakharra on December 19, 2014, 02:48:24 PM
By fawning, I meant that there is a disturbing number of Americans of a political leaning (and party) that like the communist/dictator types.

No kidding. This Fox News hero worship of Putin is getting old.

Inkidu

Honestly, as much as the Democrats and Republicans are down in their trenches I'd love some kind of third and fourth party just so compromise has to be made. :P
If you're searching the lines for a point, well you've probably missed it; there was never anything there in the first place.

Apple of Eris

Quote from: Avis habilis on December 19, 2014, 03:01:09 PM
No kidding. This Fox News hero worship of Putin is getting old.

LOL!
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