News Stories

[ganbaru]

Europe drawn back to its first problem: Greece
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...87Q08P20120827
To help or to let go.

[Zakoo]

> Growth
> Greece

It should become impossible to put those two words in the same sentence.

[ganbaru]

Originally Posted by Zakoo

> Growth
> Greece

It should become impossible to put those two words in the same sentence.

You could always try to say the the issue is growing.

[SeijiSensei]

The Economist has a proposal for the Senkakus

As for the Senkakus themselves, Mr Noda’s proposal to buy them would have value if accompanied by a commitment to leave them unvisited. And it would be easier to face down the nationalists if America acknowledged its own past role in sweeping competing claims over the Senkakus under the carpet. Our own suggestion is for governments to agree to turn the Senkakus and the seas round them—along with other rocks contested by Japan and South Korea—into pioneering marine protected areas. As well as preventing war between humans, it would help other species. Thanks to decades of overfishing, too few fish swim in those waters anyway.

[Ridwan]

^Too bad we can't trust China to follow that proposal.

[Xellos-_^]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

The Economist has a proposal for the Senkakus

I like how the Economist used the word "absorb" instead of conqueror, so bloodless. Sound so much like a corporate merge then a Rape, Pillage and kill issue.

Originally Posted by Aegir

^Too bad we can't trust China to follow that proposal.

You think Korea would be ok with essentially leaving its disputed islands in Japanese hands?

That is essentially what the Proposal means, leaving the disputed islands in Japanese hands. Which is exactly the cause of the current problem. The article would be taken more seriously if the author had advance that the islands be turn into a UN admin area with representatives form all 3 country.

[SeijiSensei]

The editorial does use the word "governments" which suggests the author expected that the proposed reserve would be managed by some sort of international body.

That said, it's seems pretty much like "pie in the sky" to me. It's probably not as unlikely as international jurisdiction over Jerusalem, though, which I have believed for years to be the only resolution for that dispute.

[DonQuigleone]

Originally Posted by Xellos-_^

I like how the Economist used the word "absorb" instead of conqueror, so bloodless. Sound so much like a corporate merge then a Rape, Pillage and kill issue.

The Ryukyu Kingdom was a vassal of Satsuma domain, and was indeed "absorbed" into Japan, along with the rest of Satsuma. It was rather bloodless, last time I checked. It had long since de facto been ruled by Japan anyway. It's independence was a useful fiction for trading with the Qing.

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by Zakoo

> Growth
> Greece

It should become impossible to put those two words in the same sentence.

The growth of unrest.
The growth of debt.
The growth of inequity.
The growth of complacency.
The growth of corruption.

So why not?

Originally Posted by DonQuigleone

It's not really "Rape, Pillage and Kill" when the islands are unoccupied.

Not when you can invent some folk tale about how those islands are a goddess' body parts; then rape can come into the issue. [/sarcasm]

[Ridwan]

Originally Posted by Xellos-_^

You think Korea would be ok with essentially leaving its disputed islands in Japanese hands?

I just experienced a sleepyness-induced de-focus and english malfunction when reading that, my bad.

Oh and anyway EU should let Turkey re-annex Greece as part of Neo-Ottoman Rebuilding Project

[AnimeFan188]

Where the Mob Keeps Its Money:

"THE global financial crisis has been a blessing for organized crime. A series of
recent scandals have exposed the connection between some of the biggest
global banks and the seamy underworld of mobsters, smugglers, drug traffickers
and arms dealers. American banks have profited from money laundering by Latin
American drug cartels, while the European debt crisis has strengthened the grip
of the loan sharks and speculators who control the vast underground economies
in countries like Spain and Greece.:

"In 2009, Antonio Maria Costa, an Italian economist who then led the United
Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, told the British newspaper The Observer
that “in many instances, the money from drugs was the only liquid investment
capital” available to some banks at the height of the crisis. “Interbank loans were
funded by money that originated from the drugs trade and other illegal activities,”
he said. “There were signs that some banks were rescued that way.” The United
Nations estimated that $1.6 trillion was laundered globally in 2009, of which
about $580 billion was related to drug trafficking and other forms of organized
crime."

See:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/26/op...pagewanted=all

[Roger Rambo]

The fact that organized crime could end up getting tied so close financially with high level financial firms is rather terrifying.

[Xellos-_^]

Originally Posted by Roger Rambo

The fact that organized crime could end up getting tied so close financially with high level financial firms is rather terrifying.

but shouldn't really be a surprise.

[killer3000ad]

New Zealand soldiers stage mass haka farewell to three comrades killed by IED in Afghanistan.

[sa547]

Originally Posted by Zakoo

> Growth
> Greece

It should become impossible to put those two words in the same sentence.

More like a skidding slippery downhill.

[AnimeFan188]

Originally Posted by Xellos-_^

but shouldn't really be a surprise.

"It’s easy to see why the crooks do so well. They don’t pay income taxes and are
largely unencumbered by regulation. The rules are for chumps. People on the
inside track have special friends. Most importantly criminal syndicates provide a
route to getting something done in a system increasingly paralyzed by red tape.
There is now a kind of Prohibition in effect on legitimate economic activity. Play by
the rules and get hit by the book. Under those circumstances the underground
economy because the new speakeasy for all kinds of transactions."

See:

http://pjmedia.com/richardfernandez/...re-here-again/

[ganbaru]

Exclusive: New Egypt leader steps out on world stage seeking "balance"
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...87Q18Z20120827
How many did try and failed ?

Edit: A little text ( in french ) by Pierre Foglia about the latest event with Lance Amstrong, if someone is interested:
Touche pas à mon héros
http://www.lapresse.ca/debats/chroni...-mon-heros.php

[Cosmic Eagle]

Originally Posted by Xellos-_^

I like how the Economist used the word "absorb" instead of conqueror, so bloodless. Sound so much like a corporate merge then a Rape, Pillage and kill issue.

Satsuma's annexation of the Ryukyus was far more peaceful that the expansion of Chinese territory under various emperors just for the record...

[Xellos-_^]

Originally Posted by Cosmic Eagle

Satsuma's annexation of the Ryukyus was far more peaceful that the expansion of Chinese territory under various emperors just for the record...

i will give that the annexation in 1879 was "peaceful" but the invasion in the 1609 was also peaceful?

[ganbaru]

Analysis: China's aircraft carrier: in name only
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...87R15X20120828