[News] Around The Rest of World

A posting place for news from places around the globe, outside of the US/Europe.

sonny615 wrote:

No Israeli strategy towards Gaza lead to these 'rounds' and escalations.

So a complete blockade of the territory doesn't count as a strategy? And the promises to loosen the blockade that weren't kept?

Once again, it's entirely possible for both sides to be the bad guys in a conflict. Until Israel lifts the blockade or razes Gaza to the ground and kills everyone, this is going to continue.

National Security Advisor, and Imperial Officer Who Gets Force Choked by Lord Vader in Ep. 4, John Bolton released a press release announcing the mobilization of a carrier battle group and strategic bombers to Mideast because something something Iran.

That’s f*cking bizarre because usually such announcements are made by the Pentagon or White House.

I guess that whole Venezuela coup thing didn’t work out for our chickenhawk regime so it’s back to basics.

Reaper81 wrote:

National Security Advisor, and Imperial Officer Who Gets Force Choked by Lord Vader in Ep. 4, John Bolton released a press release announcing the mobilization of a carrier battle group and strategic bombers to Mideast because something something Iran.

That’s f*cking bizarre because usually such announcements are made by the Pentagon or White House.

I guess that whole Venezuela coup thing didn’t work out for our chickenhawk regime so it’s back to basics.

The announcement was made by the Navy on April 8th. Which makes the whole hullabaloo a bit weird now. But hey, Bolton is this close to getting that war he's been wanting for his whole career.

Aetius wrote:
sonny615 wrote:

No Israeli strategy towards Gaza lead to these 'rounds' and escalations.

So a complete blockade of the territory doesn't count as a strategy? And the promises to loosen the blockade that weren't kept?

Once again, it's entirely possible for both sides to be the bad guys in a conflict. Until Israel lifts the blockade or razes Gaza to the ground and kills everyone, this is going to continue.

The blockade was a reaction to Hamas taking over Gaza, no country should open its border to a terror organization openly seeking its destruction (btw, Egypt is doing the same but no complaints there. how come?). Also, considering that despite the terrorism coming out of Gaza, Gazans are still being medically treated in Israel, get water, electricity and goods from it, this is very far from a "complete" blockade.
You could call the blockade a strategy if the aim is to keep Israelis safe (or at least safer...) but when it comes to solving the Gaza problem by making peace or eliminating Hamas this isn't a strategy at all.

There were very specific points agreed in the previous cease fire as far as easing the blockade goes (such as expanding the fishing radius, opening crossings, allowing Qatar to transfer money, etc) and Israel fulfilled those points. One can argue if those were effective or if more could have been done but claiming Israel didn't keep its promises is simply a lie.

There were reports that Hamas started the current round of violence because it didn't receive an installment of the Qatari money they were supposed to get. The Qatari representative found himself in USA for some personal reason and the money didn't come on time. Nothing to do with Israel but why miss an opportunity to shoot at civilians anyway?

Basically, it looks like Hamas and Likud both benefit from extending the violence and murdering civilians. There's plenty of awful to go around in both groups, and it's only going to get worse as the US emboldens the most violent to keep killing.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018%E...

Tanglebones wrote:

Basically, it looks like Hamas and Likud both benefit from extending the violence and murdering civilians. There's plenty of awful to go around in both groups, and it's only going to get worse as the US emboldens the most violent to keep killing.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018%E...

I don't think Likud is such a great party but I also wouldn't compare it to a terror organization, light years difference.

Anyway, Qatar to transfer half a billion (!) dollars to the Palestinians. Surely this time they will spend it on infrastructure, healthcare and education rather than rockets, terror tunnels and weapons ...right?

sonny615 wrote:

Anyway, Qatar to transfer half a billion (!) dollars to the Palestinians. Surely this time they will spend it on infrastructure, healthcare and education rather than rockets, terror tunnels and weapons ...right?

America's transferred well over $3 billion to Israel this year and every single dollar was for buying military equipment. In fact, America's now on the hook to transfer $38 billion to Israel through 2029. And all $38 billion will spent on military equipment, which will then be used on Palestinians.

And since 1946 America's transferred $135 billion to Israel, $100 billion of which was military "aid."

OG_slinger wrote:
sonny615 wrote:

Anyway, Qatar to transfer half a billion (!) dollars to the Palestinians. Surely this time they will spend it on infrastructure, healthcare and education rather than rockets, terror tunnels and weapons ...right?

America's transferred well over $3 billion to Israel this year and every single dollar was for buying military equipment. In fact, America's now on the hook to transfer $38 billion to Israel through 2029. And all $38 billion will spent on military equipment, which will then be used on Palestinians.

And since 1946 America's transferred $135 billion to Israel, $100 billion of which was military "aid."

...and?

Israel has a necessary large defense budget but it doesn't come at the cost of its civilians. It doesn't steal from its own population. Hamas takes money (and goods) intended for Palestinian civilians in Gaza and uses that money for terrorism.

To be fair, most of the infrastructure in Gaza is targeted for attacks by Israel, so I'm not sure how wise an investment it seems

Tanglebones wrote:

To be fair, most of the infrastructure in Gaza is targeted for attacks by Israel, so I'm not sure how wise an investment it seems

Most infrastructure? Really?
I wouldn't call that a fair statement at all.

Anyway, in other news, China continues to detain as much as 1 million Muslims in secret 're-education' camps but for some reason there is no outrage in the Muslim countries, no radical left protest, no boycott movements and as far as I know, no UN condemnation or even an investigation. I wonder why.

Why is there no outrage from "freedom loving" Americans? That feels like a much, much more important question

The fact that the many in the "greatest country ever" don't give two sh*ts that their luxury means millions suffer to support it seems like a bigger deal.

^ I agree.

Quite an amazing timing but CNN just posted a front page article about the same topic.
Security cameras and barbed wire: Living amid fear and oppression in Xinjiang.
I don't recall that much mainstream media on this topic in the past (although it could be that I'm wrong). Anyway, a positive step.

Philippines voters back Duterte and his drug war as he closes in on midterms victory

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s allies were poised for victory in midterm polls, according to unofficial results on Tuesday, signalling firm approval of his policies and clearing a path for his most controversial plans.

Duterte’s deadly drug war has drawn international censure, but is central to the populist appeal that has buoyed his remarkable popularity among Filipinos since taking the presidency in 2016.

In Monday’s vote, administration loyalist candidates for the Senate were headed for a resounding election win, according to data released by the PPCRV, a Catholic-run poll monitor accredited by the government to tally votes.

With 94% of ballots counted early on Tuesday, Duterte allies were on track to take nine of 12 open seats in the upper house, which has been a bulwark against some of the president’s most controversial proposals.

Official, complete results from the nation’s elections commission are expected in the coming days.

Historically, the nation’s 24 senators – who serve six-year terms – have had a reputation for being more independent-minded than the lower house.

As part of his drug crackdown that has killed more than 5,000 people, Duterte has pledged to bring back the death penalty and lower the age of criminal responsibility from 15 to 12.

The Philippines outlawed capital punishment in 1987, reinstated it six years later and then abolished it again in 2006.

He also promised to rewrite the nation’s constitution to create a federal republic where regions would be given more power to tackle the nation’s deep rooted poverty.

However, opponents see those plans as an effort to extend his hold on power or weaken the nation’s democratic institutions.

Prederick wrote:

Philippines voters back Duterte and his drug war as he closes in on midterms victory

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s allies were poised for victory in midterm polls, according to unofficial results on Tuesday, signalling firm approval of his policies and clearing a path for his most controversial plans.

Duterte’s deadly drug war has drawn international censure, but is central to the populist appeal that has buoyed his remarkable popularity among Filipinos since taking the presidency in 2016.

In Monday’s vote, administration loyalist candidates for the Senate were headed for a resounding election win, according to data released by the PPCRV, a Catholic-run poll monitor accredited by the government to tally votes.

With 94% of ballots counted early on Tuesday, Duterte allies were on track to take nine of 12 open seats in the upper house, which has been a bulwark against some of the president’s most controversial proposals.

Official, complete results from the nation’s elections commission are expected in the coming days.

Historically, the nation’s 24 senators – who serve six-year terms – have had a reputation for being more independent-minded than the lower house.

As part of his drug crackdown that has killed more than 5,000 people, Duterte has pledged to bring back the death penalty and lower the age of criminal responsibility from 15 to 12.

The Philippines outlawed capital punishment in 1987, reinstated it six years later and then abolished it again in 2006.

He also promised to rewrite the nation’s constitution to create a federal republic where regions would be given more power to tackle the nation’s deep rooted poverty.

However, opponents see those plans as an effort to extend his hold on power or weaken the nation’s democratic institutions.

I didn't vote in the elections. I have long since lost faith that our electoral process is legitimate. None of you should. Vote buying has always been rampant, but it was especially bad this time around, and that's aside from the "political machinery" of politicians literally trucking people in to vote for them. Nationally, you don't need to truck people in, but when your family is the defacto warlord leader of what amounts to a feudal fiefdom, most people don't have a choice on whom to vote and whether their vote even remains confidential. That's even before we get to the numerous anomalies surrounding the national counting machines and Comelec itself.

So yeah. It's like that.

It's less the voice of the people, and more of an expression of just how much the elite have hijacked existing institutions. It'll get worse before it gets better.

Election day in Australia.

Our elections run pretty well, with the Australian Electoral Commission having a mandate to make sure every single vote is taken and as an independent body they define the boundaries of electorates, not the parties.

If you have any Aussies in your social media feed then you will be inundated with sausage pictures. The Aussie tradition is for the local school, community centre etc. that is hosting the polling place will be running fundraiser stalls and the most popular will be selling a sausage in a slice of bread.

Yeah, I never really realised how much I took for granted our whole election process until learning about how things are done elsewhere. Sure it's not perfect, but I do feel lucky that it's as good as it is.

Also here in WA, the sausage usually goes in a bun, not a slice of bread. An important cultural distinction!

I'm kind of shocked to see the vote leaning so hard to the Coalition plus the gains One Nation and UAP are making. Been a while since I've lived there but I assumed Labour were pretty much guaranteed this time round. What a world...

That was my assumption too. Can't say I'm feeling to positive right now.

halfwaywrong wrote:

That was my assumption too. Can't say I'm feeling to positive right now.

I'm honestly a bit devastated by the news so far. It hurt the last couple of times when the Coalition won, but I half expected those results and had mentally prepared myself. This time I was expecting the pendulum to swing back and it seemingly isn't going to. What an awful result.

Maybe New Zealand can take over and we can welcome our new overlord Jacinda.

More seriously though, what was the factor that torpedoed Labour this time? I gather the policy on franking credits was an issue but how selfish would you have to be to base your vote on that.

Retirees and Boomers (fast becoming a single demographic) came out in force to protect their own interests and dismiss climate change. I live in the electorate next to Dutton's stronghold and was reaaaaally hoping he lost out, but his fearmongering came through in the end. The almost across-the-board increase in One Nation voters is infuriating, especially with the LNP preferencing. I am once again very sorry for Queensland

Mr GT Chris wrote:

More seriously though, what was the factor that torpedoed Labour this time? I gather the policy on franking credits was an issue but how selfish would you have to be to base your vote on that.

Think there were a couple of issues. A big part IMO was Labor ran an downright awful campaign from a messaging point of view. They bounced around between a bunch of policies without particularly selling any of them - seemed like they were campaigning to the people who were going to vote for them anyway rather than people who who were undecided, unengaged or could be swayed from the coalition. Didn't really do much to gain them votes and provided plenty of targets to attack.

Another aspect was the leaders themselves. I disagree with most of ScoMo's positions but he's effective at playing the political game, while Shorten has all the charisma of a piece of stale bread (I may still be biased against him from his role in the Rudd-Gillard shenanigans). With our political system we're meant to be voting for the party rather than the leader, but I think the individual is still a factor in practice.

I feel like the danger of falling for the figurehead vs understanding the party was perfectly represented by Turnbull, the poster boy for the futility of the 'but he can change them!' catchcry...

The really odd thing about the election was the way embattled parliamentarians somehow increased their primary vote.

Joyce and Taylor, both heavily involved in the water buyback debacle with more than a whiff of corruption or at the very least jobs for mates with no scrutiny - increased primary vote.

Christenson, the member for the Phillipines, increased primary vote.

How?

My uncharitable gut tells me because the Trump effect mixed with more than a little bit of underdog syndrome. I really hate to say it but politics here is like it is in every other anglo-centric society at the moment, i.e., completely f*cking broken. We're on the long, slow slide as well, just waiting for an A-grade demagogue to come along and strip the veneer of civilisation off good and proper.

Surprised at myself for not posting anything about the biggest exercise in Democracy in the world right now.

India elections 2019: Voters to find out if Modi returns as PM

Indians will finally find out on Thursday who won the general election after a long and bitter campaign.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stormed to power in 2014, campaigned hard to retain his commanding majority.

He was up against the resurgent main opposition Congress party and powerful regional rivals across the country.

Exit polls have predicted a win for Mr Modi, but analysts warn they have often been wrong in the past.

The last of seven rounds of voting over six weeks ended on Sunday and the counting of the stored ballots begins at 08:00 local time (02.30GMT.)

This election is seen as a referendum on Mr Modi, a polarising figure adored by many but also blamed for increasing divisions in India.

A party or coalition needs at last 272 seats to secure a majority in the 543-member lower house of parliament, or Lok Sabha.

In 2014, the BJP captured 282 seats - the biggest victory by any party in 30 years. The Congress, which won just 44, suffered its worst defeat.

This year, there were 900 million voters eligible to take part, making it the largest election the world had ever seen.

Modi wins!

And by a lot, too.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has secured another five-year term after winning a landslide general election victory.

Results so far show his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is set to win about 300 of the 543 seats in parliament.

The main opposition alliance, which is headed by Rahul Gandhi's Congress party, has admitted defeat.

The vote had been widely viewed as a referendum on the prime minister's Hindu nationalist politics.

^ So glad to hear about Modi.

Theresa May resigns

It’s finally happened. Theresa May has announced her departure from 10 Downing Street. In a speech this morning following a meeting with Sir Graham Brady, the chair of the 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers, the prime minister said she would stand aside on Friday 7 June, with the process to select a new Conservative party leader starting the following week. Fighting back tears, she said:
I will shortly leave the job that it has been the honour of my life to hold. The second female prime minister but certainly not the last. I do so with no ill will, but with enormous and enduring gratitude to have had the opportunity to serve the country I love."

I really hope this doesn't pave the way for Jeremy Corbyn to be elected. What a disaster that would be.

My shocked face at Sonny supporting the election of an anti-muslim nationalist.