News Stories

[MrTerrorist]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

Some of the more extreme hatred of "liberals" is rooted in racism. Complaints about how liberals and Democrats use redistributive policies to benefit the "undeserving poor" often derive from an unspoken belief that African-Americans are lazy, shiftless, etc. Having a black President has only exacerbated this problem. Gingrich's comments about Obama being the "food-stamp" President appeal directly to racist attitudes. The entire question about Obama's birth certificate and thus his legitimacy to hold office also has racist roots. These opinions are hardly limited to the South. I remember standing in a clubhouse at a golf course in your own state of New Hampshire and hearing someone expound on the intrinsic failings of black Americans.

Republican strategists, starting with the Nixon administration, embarked on a "Southern strategy" designed to carve off the white working-class Democrats in the South and move them into the Republican column. The 1964 Civil Rights Act and other reforms during the Johnson years split the ruling Democratic coalition that had once encompassed both segregationist southern whites and northern liberals. The Republicans realized that if they could shift the agenda from redistributive politics on which the New Deal was founded to cultural politics based on race hatred, they could forge a new winning coalition. That's been the primary alignment in American politics for the past forty years or so. Other target groups -- gays, women, abortionists, Muslims -- have been added to the list over time, but it was race that began the realignment process.

Originally Posted by Urzu 7

Thus a big reason why I think the democratic side is the lesser of two evils. Boosting your political prowess on the factors of hate and bigotry? I hate that. Conservatism is really low nowadays. My father was a republican voter since the early 70s. He was not far off from a die-hard republican. However, nowadays, he is registered as independent and finds much dissatisfaction with the republican party. I think there are many like him from his generation; those that have gone from republican to independent. I have liberal and conservative values, and I agree with some things from both when it comes to political issues. Liberalism can be a problem when extreme, but I'm sick of seeing violent mentalities and attitudes with anti-liberal folk, or sometimes violent actions (such as the jerks who killed a person's cat and scrawled the word "Liberal" on it). And that stuff is very scary. There are a lot of those people that would love to put liberals, gays, feminists, etc., six feet under. It really is scary that there are Americans like that.

In my opinion, the GOP has an identity crisis that it has split the party into either moderates, conservative christians or anti-government libertarians as this article explains.

[SaintessHeart]

Exclusive: Germany wants Greece to give up budget control

(Reuters) - Germany is pushing for Greece to relinquish control over its budget policy to European institutions as part of discussions over a second rescue package, a European source told Reuters on Friday.

"There are internal discussions within the Euro group and proposals, one of which comes from Germany, on how to constructively treat country aid programs that are continuously off track, whether this can simply be ignored or whether we say that's enough," the source said.

The source added that under the proposals European institutions already operating in Greece should be given "certain decision-making powers" over fiscal policy.

"This could be carried out even more stringently through external expertise," the source said.

The Financial Times said it had obtained a copy of the proposal showing Germany wants a new euro zone "budget commissioner" to have the power to veto budget decisions taken by the Greek government if they are not in line with targets set by international lenders.

"Given the disappointing compliance so far, Greece has to accept shifting budgetary sovereignty to the European level for a certain period of time," the document said.

Under the German plan, Athens would only be allowed to carry out normal state spending after servicing its debt, the FT said.

"If a future (bail-out) tranche is not disbursed, Greece cannot threaten its lenders with a default, but will instead have to accept further cuts in primary expenditures as the only possible consequence of any non-disbursement," the FT quoted the document as saying.

The German demands for greater control over Greek budget policy come amid intense talks to finalize a second 130 billion-euro rescue package for Greece, which has repeatedly failed to meet the fiscal targets set out for it by its international lenders.

CHAOTIC DEFAULT THREAT

Greece needs to strike a deal with creditors in the next couple of days to unlock its next aid package in order to avoid a chaotic default.

"No country has put forward such a proposal at the Eurogroup," a Greek finance ministry official said on condition of anonymity, adding that the government would not formally comment on reports based on unnamed sources.

The German demands are likely to prompt a strong reaction in Athens ahead of elections expected to take place in April.

"One of the ideas being discussed is to set up a clearly defined priorities on reducing deficits through legally binding guidelines," the European source said.

He added that in Greece the problem is that a lot of the budget-making process is done in a decentralized manner.

"Clearly defined, legally binding guidelines on that could lead to more coherence and make it easier to take decisions - and that would contribute to give a whole new dynamic to efforts to implement the program," the source said.

"It is clear that talks on how to help Greece get back on the right track are continuing," the source said. "We're all striving to achieve a lasting stabilization of Greece," he said. "That's the focus of what all of us in Europe are working on right now."

Let's see which statesman will start the ball rolling on "Fourth Reich" jokes. *sarcastic*

[ganbaru]

Syria violence kills over 40
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...8041A820120128
Since the start of the violence, the number of killed passed over 5000.

[sa547]

Originally Posted by ganbaru

Syria violence kills over 40
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...8041A820120128
Since the start of the violence, the number of killed passed over 5000.

All the wrist-wringing and hesitation by politicians isn't helping those people there, it's almost like Bosnia as Al-Assad is clearly becoming a monster in a three-piece suit.

[NoemiChan]

I just passed by this part of the web until I stumble for another shock of our lives right after Megaupload's shutdown. Sometime ago two famous file sharing icons just removed their "file sharing thingi"


http://venturebeat.com/2012/01/23/fi...-yank-sharing/

[bladeofdarkness]

Originally Posted by sa547

All the wrist-wringing and hesitation by politicians isn't helping those people there, it's almost like Bosnia as Al-Assad is clearly becoming a monster in a three-piece suit.

Becoming ?
when wasn't he one ?

as for the wrist-wringing and hesitation, what would you have them do ?
Syria is Russia's pet.

[sneaker]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

Exclusive: Germany wants Greece to give up budget control

Already posted by ganbaru a few posts before.

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

Let's see which statesman will start the ball rolling on "Fourth Reich" jokes. *sarcastic*

The hate against Germany is on an all time high at the moment in southern Europe. But Merkel will keep increasing the stakes without any doubt. Soon the ESM will be installed and Germany will be in even more shit.
Meanwhile Greece and others will continue to blame Germany for their problems, and after a Greece haircut other countries like Italy will demand the same, calling for "solidarity" yet again. Currently Italy (through Prime Minister Monti) and France (through IMF president Lagarde), along with Portugal (Barroso), are more than ever pressuring Germany to finally give in to Euro bonds.
Meanwhile the ECB is buying bonds illegally under its Italian President and its PIIGS majority, like always. Currently the ECB is still objecting to participate in the haircut, but it will eventually.

[sa547]

Originally Posted by bladeofdarkness

Becoming ?
when wasn't he one ?

as for the wrist-wringing and hesitation, what would you have them do ?
Syria is Russia's pet.

That might change soon, what with most Russians unhappy with the rigged elections.

[Solafighter]

Megaupload was first. Then Fileserve and Filesonic switched their download options to private. I guess some more sites will be effected, and some wont. A few popular file sharing websites are not down(yet/,maybe will never go offliner).

[SeijiSensei]

Is it me, or did the title of this thread suddenly lose an "s"?

[sneaker]

hmmm

[relentlessflame]

Yes, sorry -- the thread got merged with another one the wrong way, but everything should be fine now. Please carry on...

[bladeofdarkness]

Originally Posted by sa547

That might change soon, what with most Russians unhappy with the rigged elections.

I wouldn't hold my breath.

[aohige]

Originally Posted by Xion Valkyrie

People want translated manga on the same day it's released in Japan. Scanlators provide that service right now

Actually, for the most popular titles, you guys get the scanlation BEFORE the Japanese release.

Popular Jump titles for example, like Naruto and One Piece, comes out on Wednesday-Thursday the week before the following Monday, which is when it hits the shelves in Japan.

This has always been a problem the fandom tends to look the other way.

Also, your proposal to make the industry entirely digital is completely unrealistic, and shows you know nothing of how it works in Japan. Vast chunk of income the publishing industry (and many other magazines) gets are from Kiosk stands near or on train stations.
So people going to work or school can pick up the magazines. People are NOT going to force themselves into entirely digital medium only option and abandon the perfectly working, convenient system that's already in place.

The biggest misconception in fandom, and this doesn't just pertain to you, is that people outside of Japan that are exposed to manga in the form of digital scans through computer, completely neglects to realize that their lifestyle has nothing to do with the industry, and how its clients market behavior. You are NOT the norm.

[Xellos-_^]

Originally Posted by aohige

Actually, for the most popular titles, you guys get the scanlation BEFORE the Japanese release.

Popular Jump titles for example, like Naruto and One Piece, comes out on Wednesday-Thursday the week before the following Monday, which is when it hits the shelves in Japan.

This has always been a problem the fandom tends to look the other way.

they probably won't but Jump should put up their own website with multi languages. They can charge both a monthly subscription fee and make additional revenue form ads.

[aohige]

Originally Posted by Xellos-_^

they probably won't but Jump should put up their own website with multi languages. They can charge both a monthly subscription fee and make additional revenue form ads.

Having digital publishing as an alternate source is welcomed, much like how TV and newspaper have developed the same.
But I don't think "multi-language" option is going to be viable, the time and effort it takes isn't worth the income other than English.
Only realistic option I can see is having just alternate English service.

They are most definitively far behind on the digital age, but you also have to realize overseas is not a major client. The potential of clientele I think is majorly overestimated (in comparison to their ACTUAL clientele).


Oh, and also Xellos, the digital option isn't going to solve the problem of "scanlations before publish date".
People are still going to leak out raws they obtained before publish date to their scanlation group, and they're still going to continue to exploit it long before the publish date. I realize most people are "thankful" for scanlation groups, but this is the biggest reason why I don't like them. There's a line that shouldn't be crossed, and many old fansub groups used to honor that line, that these scums overstep without even thinking about it.

Only way to combat this issue would be for WSJ to also publish its digital content before the magazine shelf date.
But that would be a suicide, and major breach of code.

[Anh_Minh]

Originally Posted by aohige

Actually, for the most popular titles, you guys get the scanlation BEFORE the Japanese release.

Popular Jump titles for example, like Naruto and One Piece, comes out on Wednesday-Thursday the week before the following Monday, which is when it hits the shelves in Japan.

This has always been a problem the fandom tends to look the other way.

Also, your proposal to make the industry entirely digital is completely unrealistic, and shows you know nothing of how it works in Japan. Vast chunk of income the publishing industry (and many other magazines) gets are from Kiosk stands near or on train stations.
So people going to work or school can pick up the magazines. People are NOT going to force themselves into entirely digital medium only option and abandon the perfectly working, convenient system that's already in place.

Yes, but one could say the same thing about newspapers, and yet they're dying. It won't happen today or tomorrow, but they are on the decline. I suppose manga magazines are protected by the importance of art as opposed to raw information, but for how long?

[aohige]

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

Yes, but one could say the same thing about newspapers, and yet they're dying. It won't happen today or tomorrow, but they are on the decline. I suppose manga magazines are protected by the importance of art as opposed to raw information, but for how long?

Anh. Japan is not USA.

You're comparing apples and oranges.

Japan is not inhabited by majority auto drivers for commute, you completely neglect the fact the vast majority of commuters in Japan use train stations. The convenience factor of kiosk is not even remotely the same.

Likewise, Japan's decrease of newspaper sales is much less than USA.

Due to the commute infrastructure of Japan, even though digital publishing does influence paper medium negatively like anywhere else in the world, there is a safe threshold of demand that it will never go below of. America (and many other nations) do not have that safety net.

[Anh_Minh]

I'm French. We commute by rail (and bus) a lot, too. And our newspapers are still dying.

Kiosks are convenient, but are they more convenient than phones? How much farther will technology - and technology penetration - go?

I have a kindle. I can safely say I wouldn't want to read manga on it. But I'm pretty sure that in 20 years, they'll have something faster, prettier. What then? What if such a device became standard issue for school kids and desk workers, to replace all that weighty paper?

[aohige]

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

I'm French. We commute by rail a lot, too. And our newspapers are still dying.

Kiosks are convenient, but are they more convenient than phones? How much farther will technology - and technology penetration - go?

I have a kindle. I can safely say I wouldn't want to read manga on it. But I'm pretty sure that in 20 years, they'll have something faster, prettier. What then? What if such a device became standard issue for school kids and desk workers, to replace all that weighty paper?

First of all, I seriously doubt France's rail situation is anything like Japan, the biggest most used, and most complicated rail system in the world. We literally have train stations apart within walking distances of each other.
You realize train as form of commute is the majority.
There's a HUGE difference between "a lot of people" and "vast majority".
To put it to simpler terms, if you live in a Japanese city, you use the train. Well over 99% the people do.

Well, 20 years.... is a LONG time in any industry.
I don't think you can predict accurately two decades in advance, and I'm sure by then the medium difference would be vast.

I'm not discussing digital publishing twenty years from now, I'm talking about TODAY, bro.