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[GundamFan0083]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

Iran's conflict is unavoidable. The pessimistic side of me thinks that they will form some sort of coalition with North Korea, subvert Iraq, take over Pakistan and Kuwait then try to conquer Saudi Arabia. Iran probably has the most powerful and advanced military in the Mideast in terms of brute force and strength in numbers, so I don't see why they don't snap and whack when they are pushed into a corner.

And North Korea will probably form some sort of Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact with China, overrun SK, and while China stalls the 7th Fleet they make a trip to Japan.

It is only this time round's nuclear war, Iran will be wiped off the face of the Earth alongside Afghanistan and Iraq as world powers become desperate in stopping the conflict.

As much as I hate to say it, I am inclined to agree with you SaintessHeart.
The Obama administration's foreign policy is just a continuation of George Bush's, and that is infuriating to me.
It shows that--as you pointed out--a war with Iran is coming and I wish Americans would wake up and realize that it doesn't have to be this way.
However, if we get too entangled in that region, we will be in a world of hurt because I don't see other countries with interests in Syria and Iran just sitting by and letting the United States invade those two countries.
The business interests on both sides of this issue need to be denied their desire to attack Syria and Iran.
Don't ask me how, other than trying to get statesmen and women elected to the congress (doesn't matter which party) who will put a stop to this.
Failing that I fear we are looking at the potential for a major conflict: though I won't go so far as to call it a world war.

Reminds me of this video made by an Iraq War protestor years ago (love the song also ).

Originally Posted by konart

We also have a naval facility in Syria.
via wiki

Thank you for that information Konart.
That clarifies a great many things about why the Russian navy has warships there.
So besides the business interests, Russia also a military interest in Syria.
The US needs to get it's nose (meaning the CIA) out of that country right now.

I believe it was George Washington who said "Beware of Entangling Alliances" and he was right.

[ganbaru]

China, Russia, U.S. raise Mediterranean naval focus
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/...90N0F920130124

Egypt has seen no shortage of empires come and go, from its own ancient civilizations to those of Greece, Rome, Britain and France. Now, it is among the outposts of the latest Mediterranean power: China.
Situated at the northern end of the Suez Canal, the Port Said Container Terminal is one of the busiest in the region, vital for shipments not only to Egypt but also much of Europe and the Middle East.
Like several other key ports in the region - including Piraeus in Greece and Naples in Italy - it is now partially owned by China. The state-owned Cosco Pacific holds 20 percent the terminal, helping make it one of the dominant - if not the dominant - Mediterranean port operators.

[Terrestrial Dream]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

Even US had pulled out of Iraq, the lives of the people had changed little - people still store AK-47s under their carpets and mattresses as a form of insurance, and the people who hole themselves up in the US Embassy go out there only to cut oil deals.

It is a pity Kuwait still hold some form of animosity towards Iraq thanks to the war 2 decades ago; otherwise they would have evened the economic scale through an oil-producing coalition with Iraq against Saudi Arabia.

Iran's conflict is unavoidable. The pessimistic side of me thinks that they will form some sort of coalition with North Korea, subvert Iraq, take over Pakistan and Kuwait then try to conquer Saudi Arabia. Iran probably has the most powerful and advanced military in the Mideast in terms of brute force and strength in numbers, so I don't see why they don't snap and whack when they are pushed into a corner.

And North Korea will probably form some sort of Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact with China, overrun SK, and while China stalls the 7th Fleet they make a trip to Japan.

It is only this time round's nuclear war, Iran will be wiped off the face of the Earth alongside Afghanistan and Iraq as world powers become desperate in stopping the conflict.

I just can't see China doing something like that. War between two Korea will lead to China to deal with the inevitable refuge crisis. I would like to believe that China will do everything in its power to avoid a war and maintain the status quo. If a war do breakout at most North Korea will just keep on supplying Iran with weapons.

I do see a conflict coming though between US and Iran. Vilifying Iran has been going on for while now.

[Ithekro]

Vilifying Iran only got a break when Saddam was the big news form 1991 - 2003 or so. But aside from that, Iran's been one of the prime targets since 1979.

Too bag too in some cases. I wonder how the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan would have looked if Iran was still a US ally at in 1980.

[Xacual]

Originally Posted by Vexx

Well, what I meant about the accountants taking over was that people who weren't engineers swamped the management ranks and all they see is cost. They don't want to train a tech person how to write assembly, let some other company do that. They don't want to have to train a EE how to read high power circuit diagrams unique to their sector, let the "other companies" do that.

Almost all companies are perfectly willing to take you if you're willing to be a non paid intern though. Of course this isn't an option someone can take if they need a working salary to start paying off their school debts or just one to survive on.

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by Xacual

Almost all companies are perfectly willing to take you if you're willing to be a non paid intern though. Of course this isn't an option someone can take if they need a working salary to start paying off their school debts or just one to survive on.

Actually ... no, they aren't all willing. Sometimes it is something as simple as they don't have procedures for it. In my case, there have been a few times I've offered myself as unpaid intern as a trial run and you can watch their brains lock up. It just "isn't done". Of course, I have a growing suspicion there's age discrimination and "overqualified" issues at work. Heck, I've been turned down because my prior salary was higher, because I've worked contract or consulted before (e.g not always been a corporate serf).

[Anh_Minh]

Well, yeah, but young graduates don't have that problem. What they do have is the problem of going from "underpaid intern" to "employee paid at least minimum wage" instead of being thrown away and replaced by another intern.

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by Vexx

Actually ... no, they aren't all willing. Sometimes it is something as simple as they don't have procedures for it. In my case, there have been a few times I've offered myself as unpaid intern as a trial run and you can watch their brains lock up. It just "isn't done". Of course, I have a growing suspicion there's age discrimination and "overqualified" issues at work. Heck, I've been turned down because my prior salary was higher, because I've worked contract or consulted before (e.g not always been a corporate serf).

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

Well, yeah, but young graduates don't have that problem. What they do have is the problem of going from "underpaid intern" to "employee paid at least minimum wage" instead of being thrown away and replaced by another intern.

I agree with Vexx actually. Having been working contracts and freelance since I was 16, and I have to trim my resume to "officially start work part-time" at 18 in order to land a full-time job, even as an administrative clerk for the technicians.

When I am in there I ended up having to advise my manager on how to use refurbishing (running diagnostics then just replacing the spoiled part instead of throwing everything out) to save on corporate costs. I refuse to extend after my probation because the HR simply don't understand that the real cause of the low KPI is the excessive outsourcing of sales personnel, resulting in the call-in tech and engineers (who are also contract workers) to be completely clueless about the exact nature of the system resold to the client and having ridiculously high amount of OT claimed.

Originally Posted by GundamFan0083

As much as I hate to say it, I am inclined to agree with you SaintessHeart.
The Obama administration's foreign policy is just a continuation of George Bush's, and that is infuriating to me.
It shows that--as you pointed out--a war with Iran is coming and I wish Americans would wake up and realize that it doesn't have to be this way.
However, if we get too entangled in that region, we will be in a world of hurt because I don't see other countries with interests in Syria and Iran just sitting by and letting the United States invade those two countries.
The business interests on both sides of this issue need to be denied their desire to attack Syria and Iran.
Don't ask me how, other than trying to get statesmen and women elected to the congress (doesn't matter which party) who will put a stop to this.
Failing that I fear we are looking at the potential for a major conflict: though I won't go so far as to call it a world war.

Originally Posted by Terrestrial Dream

I do see a conflict coming though between US and Iran. Vilifying Iran has been going on for while now.

Although I wonder how US is going to fight Iran with their significantly burned out war machine. We could see a replay of the Spanish Civil War > WWII transition, though I don't know how much US actually expended in the Spanish Civil War.

Thai takeover opens exit door for coveted F&N chairman Lee

While there have been hoots around how this is going to end the Lee dynasty and corporate control in Singapore and South East Asia, one thing to note is that LHY is in fact, a very good CEO who actually is able to balance the shareholder expectations and the problems the frontline of the company (customer-service crews, negotiators, etc) faces. He is shrewd enough to do acquisitions of foreign pies to bolster the company profits while maintaining some sort of standard in the local market.

A certain pattern is that the company usually falls into disarray (or at least their local operations) after he leaves. Will F&N start using HFCS instead of sugar after he leaves? I don't know, though with the new CEO, one thing I don't mind looking forward to is that they start lacing soft drinks with alcohol for lolis - *IS SHOT*

Exclusive: Bank probes find manipulation in Singapore's offshore FX market - source

Can you Americans stop exporting your corporate culture here.

Joking. Actually this news has been very late, for maybe almost a decade. Such a thing has already been so since the 1990s, it is just that with the advent of technology and widespread use of email, evidence becomes easier to collect.

[DonQuigleone]

I don't think the Obama foreign policy is a continuation of the Bush Foreign Policy. It's not totally different, but Obama is more "subtle". For instance Obama would never say "You're either with us or against us", and Obama still hasn't mounted a full on invasion and occupation of a country to achieve his policy goals. he is not averse to armed interventions, but armed interventions are a lot more reasonable then full on invasions/occupations "Bush Style". As an example, the Libyan intervention, despite it's fault, was a far more successful exercise then Iraq or Afghanistan, even though Libya is not much smaller then either, in that the same goals were achieved in Libya as in Iraq (installing a "democratic" government), with much lower costs in $ and American soldiers.

Now the goals of Obama's foreign policy are not radically different from Bush's, that is true, but Bush's foreign policy goals were not radically different from Clinton's, Bush Senior or Reagan either. What is in the United State's interests do not change depending on who happens to be sitting in the Oval Office.

[Tom Bombadil]

Originally Posted by DonQuigleone

I don't think the Obama foreign policy is a continuation of the Bush Foreign Policy. It's not totally different, but Obama is more "subtle". For instance Obama would never say "You're either with us or against us", and Obama still hasn't mounted a full on invasion and occupation of a country to achieve his policy goals. he is not averse to armed interventions, but armed interventions are a lot more reasonable then full on invasions/occupations "Bush Style". As an example, the Libyan intervention, despite it's fault, was a far more successful exercise then Iraq or Afghanistan, even though Libya is not much smaller then either, in that the same goals were achieved in Libya as in Iraq (installing a "democratic" government), with much lower costs in $ and American soldiers.

I don't think such comparison are fair, today's US and world situation is quite different from 10 years ago. It is not at all obvious that the policy change results from the different in the characters of the leader or the difference of the situation. Yes, Bush Jr. is dumb to say what he said, but it also reflects that unchallengeable position (or so perceived) that US enjoyed at that time. In other words, it should never been said on the international stage, but the gist of it existed in many Americans at that time post Sep 11.

[ganbaru]

Senators Offer a New Blueprint for Immigration
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/28/us...migration.html

“We on the Democratic side have said that we are flexible and we want to get a bill,” Mr. Schumer told reporters in New York on Sunday. “But there’s a bottom line, and that’s a path to citizenship for the 11 or so million people who qualify. We’ve made great, great progress with our Republican colleagues.”
Under the senators’ plan, most illegal immigrants would be able to apply to become permanent residents — a crucial first step toward citizenship — but only after certain border enforcement measures had been accomplished.

[RRW]

Please don't come to Britain – it rains and the jobs are scarce and low-paid. Ministers are considering launching a negative advertising campaign in Bulgaria and Romania to persuade potential immigrants to stay away from the UK.

The plan, which would focus on the downsides of British life, is one of a range of potential measures to stem immigration to Britain next year when curbs imposed on both country's citizens living and working in the UK will expire.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/ja...aria-ministers

[konart]

Iran has launched monkey into space, claims news agency
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013...key-into-space

Fars said the monkey was launched into space on a Kavoshgar rocket. The rocket reached a height of more than 75 miles (120km) and "returned its shipment intact", Fars reported.

Iran delivers

[Der Langrisser]

French seal off Mali's Timbuktu, rebels torch library

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/...90O0C720130128

[KiraYamatoFan]

Of all the buildings they could destroy in their escape, they really had to burn down the library. WTF?

[ganbaru]

Originally Posted by KiraYamatoFan

Of all the buildings they could destroy in their escape, they really had to burn down the library. WTF?

Don't ask me why they would do such stupid thing. There would probably have more strategic thing to destroy than a library, no ?

[RRW]

Probably the library have Super-Secret-Book that contain info about magical/acient WMD

[AnimeFan188]

Originally Posted by KiraYamatoFan

Of all the buildings they could destroy in their escape, they really had to burn down the library. WTF?

They'd do it for the same reason they blew up the Bhudda statues in Afghanistan.

It doesn't agree with their religious views, therefore it must be destroyed!

[SeijiSensei]

Reminds me of the Taliban's destruction of the centuries-old Buddhas in Afghanistan. In that case, though, a fatwah by Mullah Omar called the statues "the gods of the infidels." In the case of Timbuktu, the documents stored in the library were Islamic manuscripts. Perhaps there is a Sunni/Shia aspect to this? The library itself was built only recently by the South Africans. Perhaps that made it illegitimate in the eyes of the Malian Islamists? The linked Reuters article includes this comment:

Marie Rodet, an African history lecturer at Britain's School of Oriental and African Studies, said Timbuktu held one of the greatest libraries of Islamic manuscripts in the world.

"It's pure retaliation. They (the Islamist militant rebels) knew they were losing the battle and they hit where it really hurts," Rodet told Reuters. "These people are not interested in any intellectual debate. They are anti-intellectual."

Sounds like spite may have played a role as well as anything having to do with politics or religion.

[AnimeFan188]

North Koreans Reportedly Turn to Cannibalism Due to 'Hidden Famine':

"News out of North Korean in notorious unreliable, but food shortages in the
country have gotten so bad and people so desperate that there are now reports
of men murdering their own children for food. These startling reports were
compiled by independent reporters commissioned by Asia Press, a independent
press agency focusing on Asia, and were published by the Sunday Times."

See:

http://news.yahoo.com/north-koreans-...122128957.html