International Politics Thread - Disease and Disaster

[team filler]

[benjipwns]

https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/27/tech/zuckerberg-contempt-canada/

Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg will not attend a hearing in Ottawa later this week, despite receiving summonses from the Canadian parliament, Facebook confirmed on Monday.

The decision could result in the executives being held in contempt of parliament, the senior Canadian politician who sent the summons told CNN.

Both executives received formal requests from the Canadian Parliament earlier this month tied to a gathering of an international committee examining Silicon Valley's impact on privacy and democracy. Zuckerberg and Sandberg have testified before the United States Congress on the subject.

Facebook said is it sending Kevin Chan, its head of public policy for Facebook Canada, and Neil Potts, its director of public policy, to the meeting instead.

lol they think they're a real country

[Brehvolution]

Canada should ban facebook until they show. Then ban it anyway.

[Tripon]

https://twitter.com/CNN/status/1133599123616223232

(CNN)An African man has been found crammed behind the glove box of a car in a bid to get to Europe -- one of four people spotted in vehicles on the same day by authorities in Morocco and the Spanish enclave of Melilla, in north Africa.

An African migrant squeezed inside a compartment built behind a car dashboard.
An African migrant squeezed inside a compartment built behind a car dashboard.
Two hid in special compartments behind the dashboard and a third was under a rear seat, images taken by Spain's Civil Guard show. Two were treated by medics for asphyxia, disorientation and joint pain.
A fourth person was also found on May 24 under a truck in the Melilla port.

[BIONIC]

Shit should be in the bad vibes thread

[Nintex]

France and Greece voiced their support for Timmermans over Weber. There's a chance we will not act like a German province and also back Timmermans dividing the otherwise strong northern aliance.
We've come at a point where Frans Timmermans could actually become the new leader of the European Union.

 

[benjipwns]

Two hid in special compartments behind the dashboard and a third was under a rear seat

This should satisfy any kinds of questions about what skills and abilities they have to offer their new country.

Immigration Status: Approved.

[team filler]

[Tripon]

https://twitter.com/NPR/status/1133887004591230981

New Elections in Israel.

[benjipwns]

I really knew that there were absolutely no standards whatsoever for hosting a show on Fox Business News.

Just because you don't agree with them doesn't mean they don't exist.

[benjipwns]

[benjipwns]

saw The Oreo White Case listed as one of the Chinese Stealing IP examples and said "no...it couldn't be"

but yep:

A California engineer has been found guilty of stealing DuPont's recipe for producing white pigment and selling it to a state-owned Chinese company. As Bloomberg News reports, a federal jury in San Francisco this week found consultant Martin Liew guilty of 22 counts of economic espionage, trade-secret theft, witness tampering, and making false statements. Liew, 56, was found guilty of selling the secrets to Pangang Group, a China-based company that is building a new plant to produce titanium dioxide — a white pigment used in a wide range of products, including paper, whitening chemicals, and Oreo filling.

Former DuPont engineer Robert Maegerle was also convicted Wednesday on similar charges, with prosecutors saying he helped obtain the Delaware-based company's secrets. Each man could now face at least 15 years in prison and hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines, in what prosecutors said is the first federal jury conviction under the Economic Espionage Act of 1996. The US Justice Department has sought to crack down on China-related espionage cases in recent years, with the Obama administration claiming that Chinese spy agencies are targeting American telecommunication and technology industries.

"As today’s verdict demonstrates, foreign governments threaten our economic and national security by engaging in aggressive and determined efforts to steal US intellectual property," US attorney Melinda Haag said in a statement.

[curly]

we need to stop doing interviews with the Chinese before they realize how dumb we are

[Nintex]

The Brotherhood of NOD vibes in that Fox News set are off the charts.

Anyhow, time to escalate this war and have Tucker do the next interview with the Chinese.
This diplomatic effort by the Trump Administration Fox News clearly ain't working.

[Nintex]

The only way the Tories can get out of this bind is to deliver Brexit. 
https://twitter.com/britainelects/status/1134207549249654786

[Momo]

Journalism.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-usa-purge/north-korea-executes-envoys-in-a-purge-after-failed-summit-south-korean-newspaper-idUSKCN1T02PD

Headline - North Korea executes envoy in a purge after failed U.S. summit: media

Body -  Reuters was unable to independently confirm the report. Previously, some North Korean officials have reportedly been executed or purged only to reappear with a new title.


U.S. State Department officials said they had no information to confirm the report.


A spokeswoman at South Korea’s Unification Ministry declined to comment. An official at the presidential Blue House in Seoul said it was inappropriate to comment on an issue that should first be verified.


A diplomatic source told Reuters there were signs Kim Hyok Chol and other officials were punished for the breakdown of the summit, such as by being sent to a labor camp for reeducation, but there was no evidence they were executed.

[Joe Molotov]

I got a gay fevah and the only cure....is more cock.

[BisMarckie]

Hates Canada and denies his own homosexuality. Checking all the right boxes for the Bire voting bloc.

[Mr Gilhaney]

https://twitter.com/Newsweek/status/1134426820701544449

God I want to live in the Philippines again

[Nintex]

https://twitter.com/britainelects/status/1134897907319132160

Are you ready for Prime Minister Farage. 

[team filler]

https://twitter.com/mimosa_daddy/status/1134500566242091010

[curly]

https://twitter.com/Swamy39/status/1134356510253785089

[BIONIC]

https://twitter.com/Swamy39/status/1134356510253785089

https://twitter.com/bananapeppersx3/status/1134495449056985088

[Tripon]

Anime is literally hot.

Japan's heatwave in July 2018 could not have happened without climate change. The July 2018 heatwave, which killed 1,032 people, saw temperatures reach 41.1C (106F), the highest temperature ever recorded in the country. Penned by the Meteorological Society of Japan, the study is the first to establish that some aspects of the international heatwave could not have occurred in the absence of global warming.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/m/ed83b592-af4c-3563-a18c-8252094a44f3/japan%E2%80%99s-deadly-heatwave-would.html

[Nintex]

https://twitter.com/BBCPolitics/status/1135118137987223554

What do the tories think selling the NHS to Trump and frens would mean for their election chances. 

[Tripon]

https://twitter.com/BBCPolitics/status/1135118137987223554

What do the tories think selling the NHS to Trump and frens would mean for their election chances. 

I don't get how a domestic issue (NHS, healthcare) is going to be part of trade discussions. The U.S. going to argue that American health companies need to be able to compete in England somehow?

[VomKriege]

Any pretext to undermine it, even if it has no relevance to it, seems to be a major boner for Tories.

[Raist]

Can't wait for the US / healthcare version of this

[Nintex]

https://twitter.com/BBCPolitics/status/1135118137987223554

What do the tories think selling the NHS to Trump and frens would mean for their election chances. 

I don't get how a domestic issue (NHS, healthcare) is going to be part of trade discussions. The U.S. going to argue that American health companies need to be able to compete in England somehow?

Everything is going to be on the table. By the end of the "negotiations" the UK will have to buy a massive ammount of US military equipment, the royal family has to apologize to Trump, the Trump organization owns the Falklands and UK branches of US corporations pay 0 taxes. Oh and prescription drugs no longer provided by the EU will have to be bought from the US. 

[curly]

Journalism.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-usa-purge/north-korea-executes-envoys-in-a-purge-after-failed-summit-south-korean-newspaper-idUSKCN1T02PD

Headline - North Korea executes envoy in a purge after failed U.S. summit: media

Body -  Reuters was unable to independently confirm the report. Previously, some North Korean officials have reportedly been executed or purged only to reappear with a new title.


U.S. State Department officials said they had no information to confirm the report.


A spokeswoman at South Korea’s Unification Ministry declined to comment. An official at the presidential Blue House in Seoul said it was inappropriate to comment on an issue that should first be verified.


A diplomatic source told Reuters there were signs Kim Hyok Chol and other officials were punished for the breakdown of the summit, such as by being sent to a labor camp for reeducation, but there was no evidence they were executed.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/north-korean-official-kim-yong-chol-reappears-after-purge-report-n1013011

[Momo]

Journalism.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-usa-purge/north-korea-executes-envoys-in-a-purge-after-failed-summit-south-korean-newspaper-idUSKCN1T02PD

Headline - North Korea executes envoy in a purge after failed U.S. summit: media

Body -  Reuters was unable to independently confirm the report. Previously, some North Korean officials have reportedly been executed or purged only to reappear with a new title.


U.S. State Department officials said they had no information to confirm the report.


A spokeswoman at South Korea’s Unification Ministry declined to comment. An official at the presidential Blue House in Seoul said it was inappropriate to comment on an issue that should first be verified.


A diplomatic source told Reuters there were signs Kim Hyok Chol and other officials were punished for the breakdown of the summit, such as by being sent to a labor camp for reeducation, but there was no evidence they were executed.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/north-korean-official-kim-yong-chol-reappears-after-purge-report-n1013011

lmao, I actually kinda suspected this one to at least be eventually true

[Great Rumbler]

It's best to be skeptical of nearly every report that comes out of North Korea. Almost always it starts as a sketchy report in some South Korea newspaper with minimal, or none, backing, that gets picked up and then broadcast as 100% truth by western outlets.

On the other hand, it could be a body double that they trotted out, like Trump does with Melania.

[curly]

It's best to be skeptical of nearly every report that comes out of North Korea. Almost always it starts as a sketchy report in some South Korea newspaper with minimal, or none, backing, that gets picked up and then broadcast as 100% truth by western outlets.

On the other hand, it could be a body double that they trotted out, like Trump does with Melania.

https://twitter.com/adamjohnsonNYC/status/1135763951478853633

[Raist]

Jesus the queen talking about her first state visit to the US being in 1944 and meeting Eisenhower....then raising a toast to Donald J. Trump


RETIRE BITCH

[VomKriege]

The French Prime Minister is saying that the destruction of a variety of unsold but otherwise unused & non perishable products -notably clothes and sanitary towels- will be forbidden (through regulations probably). Retailers would have to donate or recycle those.

Also French arms exports still soaring, biggest clients being Gulf states / Near East / Middle East (and a deal with Belgium for armoured vehicles). But don't you worry, there's been plenty of verbal agreements that those are not used in places like Yemen or repression.

[Momo]

It's best to be skeptical of nearly every report that comes out of North Korea. Almost always it starts as a sketchy report in some South Korea newspaper with minimal, or none, backing, that gets picked up and then broadcast as 100% truth by western outlets.

On the other hand, it could be a body double that they trotted out, like Trump does with Melania.

https://twitter.com/adamjohnsonNYC/status/1135763951478853633

this stuff genuinely upsets me because it sets the tone for conversations at an already flawed baseline. It upsets me mostly when an entity like BBC does it as they have no financial pressure to be first yet they're constantly out there with bullshit.

[VomKriege]

It's not entirely true that the BBC is free from commercial pressure though, is it ? It's a bit of a soft target for politicians to push the same kind of narrative "need more efficiency" than on NHS or every public service they'd like to put in the chopping block. And like most public broadcasting I'm aware of in Europe, the main channels- are expected to "compete" with private networks (offering similar programming, etc...). But yeah, it's a shame and incredibly short sighted to squander what is arguably one of the most potent remaining British soft power card.

[team filler]

[Nintex]

https://twitter.com/Independent/status/1135918881107795974

The US makes a trade deal with the UK colorized 

[Nintex]

It appears Pierce called Kushner. 
https://twitter.com/piersmorgan/status/1136016905708482560

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Because Donald spoiled the plan

[close]

[Great Rumbler]

It's obvious he had no idea what it even was.

[Tripon]

https://twitter.com/Independent/status/1135918881107795974

The US makes a trade deal with the UK colorized 

This is sort of an amazing turn since Brexit was partially promised on protecting the NHS.

[benjipwns]

https://twitter.com/BillNeelyNBC/status/1135864159046967296

[VomKriege]

The Fiat-Chrysler proposal to merge with Renault has been suspended probably indefinitely. French state representatives on the board asked for more delays, as the French Ministry of Economy wanted to have more talks with Nissan to pacify them (as the alliance would suddenly shift balance and make them a minority partner) and was looking for more guarantees to safeguard their prerogatives. The union representative in the board voted against the project while everyone else was in favour. This was too much for Fiat-Chrysler apparently.

After the drama over the naval yards in St Nazaire, it's another Franco-Italian venture project going down the drain because of the French state involvement being an hurdle. There's also the matter of the high speed railway connection between Lyon and Torino being blocked by Italian cabinet politics (Salvini is for, 5 Stelle against) or the spat between Vivendi and Mediaset. Apparently there's some disgruntlement in Italia over industrial and capital penetration only going one way with regards to France on top of political grudges of the same order (by the admission of some French politicians or diplomats, France has been negligent in condescending for a long time, only remembering Italy is a thing when they had issues with Germany).

[benjipwns]

the Danes just had an election, their eurosceptic anti-immigrant, etc. party got smashed hard from 21% and 37 seats to 9% and 16 seats... I think the center-right liberals gained the advantage but don't quote me on that, it'll be a broad coalition no matter what like usual

Sunday is the first presidential election in Kazakhstan without Nursultan Nazarbayev

Guatemala and Greece are up next, so many elections being moved into this year after it was looking so barren at the start

clearly trying to get things done before Beast Mode Trump next year /nintex

[jorma]

the Danes just had an election, their eurosceptic anti-immigrant, etc. party got smashed hard from 21% and 37 seats to 9% and 16 seats... I think the center-right liberals gained the advantage but don't quote me on that, it'll be a broad coalition no matter what like usual

No, the ruling center right liberals gained quite a bit, but they still lost the election because their right wing allies cratered, and the party leader turned in his resignation to the queen.
The social democrats (center left) will most likely form the next government. But as i understand it it's going to be tough, because the soc dems have promised to keep immigration at a minimum, but that's not gonna sit well with the supporting leftie parties needed to form a majority in the parliament.

[benjipwns]

I was going off the seat numbers, it didn't really seem like any set of "natural coalition" had an obvious path, maybe something with social dems in top positions but lots of liberals and their center-right allies across the cabinet. I'm not as familiar with Danish politics to know if that's a common thing as it can be in some neighbors.

[jorma]

I was going off the seat numbers, it didn't really seem like any set of "natural coalition" had an obvious path, maybe something with social dems in top positions but lots of liberals and their center-right allies across the cabinet. I'm not as familiar with Danish politics to know if that's a common thing as it can be in some neighbors.

The prospective PM has already ruled out a coalition with Venstre (which confusingly enough is the center right party). That doesn't mean it's not gonna happen obviously, but she's going to try to form a government with the left block first as i understand it. I don't really follow danish politics that closely either so i don't know how likely it is that she'll succeed.

[benjipwns]

oh, I had overlooked the Social Liberals completely by accident, that puts them over a majority after all

[Great Rumbler]

The Chinese president arrived on Wednesday and later gave a press conference where he said he had a "deep personal friendship" with his Russian counterpart.

"In the past six years, we have met nearly 30 times. Russia is the country that I have visited the most times, and President Putin is my best friend and colleague," Mr Xi said.

Friendship with Trump ended
Now Putin is my best friend

[Rufus]

Vote green. Got it. 👍

[Joe Molotov]

(Image removed from quote.)

oppai party

[Occam]

https://mobile.twitter.com/itvnews/status/1136610824762601473

(54% pro Brexit voters.)

[BisMarckie]

Brexit is just a convenient excuse for Ford to close down a plant.

The European Union and its free movement is just a way for capitalists to undermine collective bargaining agreements and other forms of organized labor.
Brexit can also be interpreted as the working class trying to escape from this race to the bottom.

It's probably easier though to follow the neolib narrative that people voted Brexit because of racism.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

playing devil's advocate,or am I?

[close]

[Occam]

spoiler (click to show/hide)

playing devil's advocate,or am I?

[close]

Or you forgot to take your brain medication today.

[BisMarckie]

Forum poster Occam unaware of stances and policies that Marxist-Leninist parties have argued for.

[Kara]

Forum poster Occam unaware of stances and policies that Marxist-Leninist parties have argued for.

[Kara]

is this the dialectic

[Nintex]

Quite shitty for the workers and all.
BUT closing a car plant is VERY GOOD to combat climate change because the plant won't pollute anymore and the workers won't be able to consume as much as before on government welfare.

[Kara]

This is more of a post for the LF thread but whatever, we've already gone down the rabbit hole of Perfidious Albion's cursed political landscape.

New Labour Twitter (which inexplicably persists in 2019 and I inexplicably find myself among in 2019) was hot and bothered the other day by a December 2018 tweet from Aaron Bastani (one of the founders of Novara) that said, (paraphrasing) "When I saw all the Lehman Brothers traders carrying out their stuff in 2008 I laughed at the scene and it was then that I realized whose side I was on."

Now you could attack this tweet on "common decency" grounds, to be certain. What about the cleaning, maintenance, and support staffs when the comically evil investment bank collapsed, for example? What about all the tertiary employment in the illegal drugs and sex trafficking industries that was impacted by the sudden unemployment of desk traders? Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. We live in a society, bottom text.

*Stephen A.* BUT the tweet that kicked this display off was instead someone posting a screen shot of the tweet and going, (paraphrasing) "I eschew Corbynistas because even though they claim to speak 'for the many' they just really, really hate people." AND a councilor with Change UK - the Independently Wealthy Group replied saying, (paraphrasing) "[isn't the point of Labour] to keep people employed?" Not when it's at the comically evil investment bank, Subject-Councilor!

No one likes these fucking dipshits and this is why.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

When I mentioned this to a pom they didn't really know about Lehman Brothers so I suspect there may be some ignorance to blame for this scene but, like, it's 2019. Use a search engine, lickspittles.

[close]