News Stories

[Lord of Fire]

Originally Posted by ganbaru

Ammonium nitrate was trigger for Texas blast, state agency says
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/...9460GP20130507

Gee, why am I not surprised?

[AnimeFan188]

New jihadi magazine appeals for help against drones:

"A new jihadi magazine set up by militants in Afghanistan and Pakistan has
appealed to Muslims around the world to come up with technology to hack into or
manipulate drones, describing this as one of their most important priorities."

See:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/...9450M620130506

[ganbaru]

Originally Posted by AnimeFan188

New jihadi magazine appeals for help against drones:

"A new jihadi magazine set up by militants in Afghanistan and Pakistan has
appealed to Muslims around the world to come up with technology to hack into or
manipulate drones, describing this as one of their most important priorities."

See:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/...9450M620130506

I guess than they haven't asked Iran yet.

[Xellos-_^]

Originally Posted by ganbaru

I guess than they haven't asked Iran yet.

Sunni vs Shiite

[ArchmageXin]

Originally Posted by Lord of Fire

Gee, why am I not surprised?

And we have to pickup the tab...because the owner of the corp only has 1 million on liability and property dmg alone is 100 million.

[Kyuu]

I never heard of this story until today... but man, it's weird:

Women missing for over 10 years.

Spoiler:

And more...

Spoiler:

This is one messed up story. And sexual abuse? Extremely likely.

[ganbaru]

Video game maker drops gun makers, not their guns
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/...9460U720130507

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by ganbaru

Video game maker drops gun makers, not their guns
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/...9460U720130507

Spare the gamers and the gaming companies please.

[Kyuu]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

Spare the gamers and the gaming companies please.

Meh. Gimme futuristic guns instead.

[TinyRedLeaf]

It's getting very hard not to see China as anything but an increasingly assertive bully.

China scholars call Okinawa's ownership into question

Beijing (May 8, Wed): Two scholars from an official Chinese research centre has suggested re-examining the ownership of a Japanese island chain that includes Okinawa, adding to tensions over a separate territorial dispute.

Agreements reached between Allied forces during World War II mean the ownership of the Ryukyu Islands may be in question, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences researchers said in a commentary in the People's Daily, the Communist Party's main newspaper.

Japan's loss in the war nullified an 1895 treaty in which China ceded territory to Japan, they said.

"It may be time to revisit the unresolved historical issue of the Ryukyu Islands," Mr Zhang Haipeng and Mr Li Guoqiang wrote in the commentary.

A move to reconsider ownership of the Ryukyus would add to strains as China and Japan each assert their claims over a group of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea.

The Japanese government's decision last year to purchase those islands, called Diaoyu in Chinese and Senkaku in Japanese, sparked protests across China and harmed a US$340b annual trade relationship that has yet to recover.

Separately, China on Monday (May 6) sent a large fishing fleet into the hotly disputed Spratly Islands, which are claimed by other countries including Vietnam and the Philippines.

BLOOMBERG, AFP

[SaintessHeart]

TRL : You are Chinese! You are not supposed to talk bad about China!

[kyp275]

Originally Posted by TinyRedLeaf

It's getting very hard not to see China as anything but an increasingly assertive bully.

Well, because that's exactly what they are.

That said, this is so outlandish that it's lulz-inducing. Trying to dispute Japanese ownership of Okinawa based on ancient political ties between entities that no longer exists would be about as ridiculous as the Dutch claiming north america since some vikings got there awhile back

[ganbaru]

AP Exclusive: Air Force sidelines 17 ICBM officers
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...05-08-03-13-34

China and India's rivalry extends to the Arctic
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...05-08-04-47-18

[Tom Bombadil]

Originally Posted by TinyRedLeaf

It's getting very hard not to see China as anything but an increasingly assertive bully.

China scholars call Okinawa's ownership into question

Well, with western nations making whole lot of noise about Tibet, there can't be anything said about Okinawa?

[Terrestrial Dream]

It should be about what people want though. I do not believe there are any strong Ryuku independent movements in Okinawa compare to Tibet.

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by Terrestrial Dream

It should be about what people want though. I do not believe there are any strong Ryuku independent movements in Okinawa compare to Tibet.

To be serious, I agree with TD. I say we smuggle both small (assault rifles, light/medium machine guns) and heavy arms (grenade/rocket launchers) into both areas and see what happens. Will the residents turn over the arms to the authorities, or use it against them?

I don't mind being the lord of war in this though. With the crisis in Syria and the possible spilling out into the neighbouring states, there will be much money to be made in the latter case. [/sarcasm]

[Xellos-_^]

Originally Posted by Terrestrial Dream

It should be about what people want though. I do not believe there are any strong Ryuku independent movements in Okinawa compare to Tibet.

isn't that because Japanese government has done abetter job at eliminating the Ryuku culture and language?

[Terrestrial Dream]

Originally Posted by Xellos-_^

isn't that because Japanese government has done abetter job at eliminating the Ryuku culture and language?

Sort of. It is true that Japanese put considerable effort to eliminate the language after the annexation. But during the occupation by US most Ryukyuan decided to stick with Japanese. From what I understand, US tried to turn Ryuku as its own independent nation rather than turning it towards the Japanese. So the US tried to promote Ryukuan identity to the people. But most Ryukyuan's perception of American was negative, with military bases and all. So most of them decided to resist the American effort and turned towards Japanese.

So basically the argument is that the US occupation made the Ryukyuan choose the Japanese on their own.

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by Terrestrial Dream

Sort of. It is true that Japanese put considerable effort to eliminate the language after the annexation. But during the occupation by US most Ryukyuan decided to stick with Japanese. From what I understand, US tried to turn Ryuku as its own independent nation rather than turning it towards the Japanese. So the US tried to promote Ryukuan identity to the people. But most Ryukyuan's perception of American was negative, with military bases and all. So most of them decided to resist the American effort and turned towards Japanese.

So basically the argument is that the US occupation made the Ryukyuan choose the Japanese on their own.

And there is anime, manga, maids, pretty lolis girls........

Let's face it, we Chinese, or rather, everyone else in this world, are just there for the lolis girls because Russia was rather asinine during the Cold War and refuses to share their lolis girls to us, thus Japan is the source of sweet lolis girls with a open heart and mind to funky ideas. Over time, Japanese lolis girls > Russian lolis girls.

In short, Japan just exposed the fact that there is no shortage of perverts in this world. Plus they redefined an attractive girl does have to be pretty, all she needs to be cute as a child. Hence the term lolis.

[Sumeragi]

Originally Posted by TinyRedLeaf

It's getting very hard not to see China as anything but an increasingly assertive bully.

China scholars call Okinawa's ownership into question

The most pathetic thing about that argument is that the Ryukyus were never part of China in the first place. What is China going to do, support independence of the Ryukyu Kingdom?

Originally Posted by Tom Bombadil

Well, with western nations making whole lot of noise about Tibet, there can't be anything said about Okinawa?

Because Tibet was an independent nation conquered. Ryukyu agreed to join Japan.

Originally Posted by Xellos-_^

isn't that because Japanese government has done abetter job at eliminating the Ryuku culture and language?

Terrestrial Dream is correct.