Random Thoughts (Political Edition)

[nomix]

Well, it doesn't really. I was just being silly and going on the whole commercialization of that image and its use as a generic thing to have at any protest about anything ever.

see: trustafarian douchebag

I get that. Though, even if mr. Che was a bastard in many respects, he's still seen as something of a freedom fighter by many people, standing up for the little guy and so on. I don't say I completely agree, I just think it's important to keep that in mind. If that's what you remember Che for, then that be it. I hope they remember the not-so rosey parts as well, though.

Edit: For those who haven't watched it, Jon Stewart had Gordon Brown in his studio last night. First interview of Gordon I've seen in ages where he seems like a nice chap, and I think he's making some sense at least. Worth a watch.

Daily show interview with Gordon Brown pt. 1 & pt. 2

And a Bonus: Moment of Zen - Vladimir Putin Sings Blueberry hill

 

[Plissken]

Handy identifier, though!

I've been massively disappointed with the BBC over this issue. They said that the LibDems had "been accused of reneging on their promise" after they had actually done so. You don't accuse someone of a fact!

This is a good blog entry about the BBC coverage.

 

[wooflepoof]

Of course, I just wanted to make sure you weren't labeling them all "trustafarian douchebags" because of one Che flag. :lol:

heh, of course not, but I get reminded of this article whenever i see him on a shirt

 

[jmsprovan]

Handy identifier, though!

I've been massively disappointed with the BBC over this issue. They said that the LibDems had "been accused of reneging on their promise" after they had actually done so. You don't accuse someone of a fact!

This is a good blog entry about the BBC coverage.

people shouldn't force their views on the BBC, public opinion does not negate their duty to impartiality.

 

[Firecat]

Shooting at a school board meeting in Florida. The guy paints a "V" on the wall (V for Vendetta kinda V), a lady tries to hit the gun out of his hand with a purse (and fails). He fires a shot at the superintendent, looks like he was hit...but wasn't. After being shot by security or something, the guy ends up shooting himself in the head (that part not on the video)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQjQOlJvMzE[/youtube]

 

[Plissken]

people shouldn't force their views on the BBC, public opinion does not negate their duty to impartiality.

Difference between being impartial and being deferential. They have avoided certain facts which have been inconvenient to the Government or the police and taken what they have said as gospel despite the evidence from their own reporters. Their own reporter was saying he was in the middle of the kettle and the guy in the studio tells him he is not because the police said so. And then an hour later the police say, yes it is a kettle and no-one says "hold on, you said it wasn't an hour ago".

 

[ioynerien]

Quote taken from this article on Sri Lanka scrapping the Tamil version of their National anthem.



Ummmmm what?

lol, in Belgium we have 3 official languages therefore we have 3 official versions of our National anthem.
However the most used version is the hummed version (non-official) - since noone actually knows the lyrics (in either language)
I actually prefer the hummed version, it overrules the language barriers and unites all inhabitants (humming = lingua universalis)

 

[nomix]

As for language, there's a fantastic Norwegian charicaturist, Ragnvald Blix (also known as Stig H??k during the war). Back in 1917-20, I can't remember the exact year, he draws the Norwegian class strugle with baricades and fighting. A bolchevik from Russia comes over and askes "How's the revolution going?", to which the reply is "We're still deciding on how to spell it!", which sort of summs up the language conflict within Norwegian society for ages. What's quite funny is that the two languages in question are so similar, they are probably more similar than English with a Geordie accent and English with a Glaswegian accent. Different, but very alike.

It all started back in the 1840s and 1850s when nationalism started to emerge in most European nations. German nationalism is a great example, but Norway wasn't far behind. While painters drew up a national romantic image of the sober farmer, self reliant, strong, pure, christian and humble (absolute codwollop, as far from the mark as you could come, we drank like Dickensian alcoholics), but as the national identity started to develop under Swedish rule, the language became key to national identity, as is so often the issue.

In Norway's case, we ended up with two major camps, one working with making the Danish language (the written language of Norway for hundereds of years), while some chap called Ivar Aasen traveled through the land writing down dialects. He made a new written language from scratch, and it became more and more popular. Heard of Ibsen? He was a fan of Riksmaal, which was based on Danish. Probably the only Norwegian from the 19th century you've heard about. Perhaps Bj?rnson, Kielland and Lie as well. Don't remember about the two latter, but I believe Bj?rnson was also in favor of Riksmaal. And so were Hamsun, if I'm not mistaken.

Anyway. Today, we've got two legally equal written languages. Most people use bokm?l (developed from Riksmaal), while about 15-20 % use nynorsk (new Norwegian, Ivar Aasen's language), any letter written to a public service in Norway in any of two said languages most get a reply in said language. This means that most letters in New Norwegian are written very badly. Added to that, the national broadcaster, NRK, have to have 20 % content in New Norwegian. They manage this by texting a lot in New Norwegian. Those who remember the Soap parody Soaps, it was texted in New Norwegian. Added to that, every student in schools in Norway must learn both languages (they have a main language, and a second language, their proficiancy in the second doesn't need to be as good, but should be quite good).

Not that I really care. We understand each other perfectly. Those who say they don't understand New Norwegian just don't want to understand it. I'm a bokm?l user, though.

I think the best example is the Balkans. Serbs, Bosniaks and Croats all speak the same language. They say they don't understand each other, but it's hogwash, it's just a matter of not wanting to understand for ideological reasons.

Language. And we say religion leads to conflict?

 

[AiR]

You norwegians are strange, inventing new dialects instead of trying to exterminate the ones that already exist. Weird.

Anyway, let's instead do more meaningful things and point our finger at Sudan because it's a utterly despicable place where Sharia law rules.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/bab...horities-investigate-whipped-woman-video.html

As we know sudanese president Omar Al-Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court and should have been arrested ages ago, but the corrupt african leadership does not care about human rights and al-bashir have been able to tour africa and the middle east freely.

Now I'm going to predict the future, in less than a month the south, where the people are christian and where all the oil is, will have a vote on declaring independence, which they would be stupid to say no to. Then, the north will no doubt attack, and the international community (as in the west, I have no faith in the AU or AL to accomplish anything) will have to step in to fix things, eliminating the northern leadership in the process.

Unrelated: Times elects Zuckerberg as person of the year, total loss of credibility completes papers transformation into Pravda.

 

[AiR]

 

[marcos_eirik]

As for language, there's a fantastic Norwegian charicaturist, Ragnvald Blix (also known as Stig H??k during the war). Back in 1917-20, I can't remember the exact year, he draws the Norwegian class strugle with baricades and fighting. A bolchevik from Russia comes over and askes "How's the revolution going?", to which the reply is "We're still deciding on how to spell it!", which sort of summs up the language conflict within Norwegian society for ages. What's quite funny is that the two languages in question are so similar, they are probably more similar than English with a Geordie accent and English with a Glaswegian accent. Different, but very alike.

It all started back in the 1840s and 1850s when nationalism started to emerge in most European nations. German nationalism is a great example, but Norway wasn't far behind. While painters drew up a national romantic image of the sober farmer, self reliant, strong, pure, christian and humble (absolute codwollop, as far from the mark as you could come, we drank like Dickensian alcoholics), but as the national identity started to develop under Swedish rule, the language became key to national identity, as is so often the issue.

In Norway's case, we ended up with two major camps, one working with making the Danish language (the written language of Norway for hundereds of years), while some chap called Ivar Aasen traveled through the land writing down dialects. He made a new written language from scratch, and it became more and more popular. Heard of Ibsen? He was a fan of Riksmaal, which was based on Danish. Probably the only Norwegian from the 19th century you've heard about. Perhaps Bj?rnson, Kielland and Lie as well. Don't remember about the two latter, but I believe Bj?rnson was also in favor of Riksmaal. And so were Hamsun, if I'm not mistaken.

Anyway. Today, we've got two legally equal written languages. Most people use bokm?l (developed from Riksmaal), while about 15-20 % use nynorsk (new Norwegian, Ivar Aasen's language), any letter written to a public service in Norway in any of two said languages most get a reply in said language. This means that most letters in New Norwegian are written very badly. Added to that, the national broadcaster, NRK, have to have 20 % content in New Norwegian. They manage this by texting a lot in New Norwegian. Those who remember the Soap parody Soaps, it was texted in New Norwegian. Added to that, every student in schools in Norway must learn both languages (they have a main language, and a second language, their proficiancy in the second doesn't need to be as good, but should be quite good).

Not that I really care. We understand each other perfectly. Those who say they don't understand New Norwegian just don't want to understand it. I'm a bokm?l user, though.

I think the best example is the Balkans. Serbs, Bosniaks and Croats all speak the same language. They say they don't understand each other, but it's hogwash, it's just a matter of not wanting to understand for ideological reasons.

Language. And we say religion leads to conflict?

I have great difficulty putting into words how silly I think it is that we have to be able to read and write two very similar (written) languages. I despise that language with a passion. I can understand the value of being able to read and understand it, but demanding us to be able to write it grammatically correct is just stupid, especially when the differences are so small (Enough to cause confusion)

The reason why we still have it is based on a (badly) outdated resolution from 1885. That time around there were actually someone who used it (about 40 %); today there are about 7 % who use Nynorsk only, then another 5 % who use it in addition to Bokm?l. So I'd say don't bother the huge majority of Norwegian school pupils with it. It played it's role in creating a Norwegian national identity, but today it's a meaningless waste of time teaching it in schools. While the law might say you'd have to reply in Nynorsk on any kind written request, in practice nobody can be arsed to do it. If some idiot protests, and tries to run a case on it for the courts, then the Nynorsk resolution is destined to be dissolved, just like the blasphemy article in the Criminal Law. It's a "sleeping article"... By the way; Here's the truth about nynorsk (NRK, Norwegian only)

Now, get rid of it...

 

[nomix]

BBC: Copenhagen police detained climate protesters illegally

Some protesters had their hands tied and had to sit on a cold road for hours

A court in Denmark has ordered police to pay compensation to 250 protesters who were arrested during last year's UN climate change summit in Copenhagen.

The court said they were entitled to between 5,000 (?569) and 9,000 kroner (?1,025) for "illegal deprivations of liberty" and "inhumane" treatment.

A lawyer for the Copenhagen Police Department said it would appeal.

Some 1,900 people were detained during the large-scale demonstrations, 250 of whom then sued for wrongful arrest.

Many were among the 905 people taken into custody on 12 December, after a group of black-clad protesters threw stones at police officers and public buildings during a march attended by up to 100,000 people.

They had their hands tied behind their backs and were forced to sit on a road for hours in cold weather, with virtually no access to drinking water or toilet facilities, before being transported to a temporary jail.

At the time, the police said that after a so-called "black bloc" had put on masks - an illegal action at a demonstration in Denmark - they had decided to "seal off" a group of protesters from the march.

The mass arrests had "produced a huge amount of pressure" on officers responsible for transporting and receiving detainees, they added.

The City Court of Copenhagen said the police department had been right to arrest troublemakers, but that there was no proof that 178 of the plaintiffs were among them or posed a risk.

"The court found that the conditions of the deprivation of liberty were degrading and therefore violated the European Convention on Human Rights," it said, adding that they would receive 9,000 kroner.

The remaining 72 plaintiffs were wrongfully arrested between 11 December and 16 December, and were awarded 5,000 kroner.

Finally, justice prevails. Fuck it, you don't arrest a thousand people on a blank charge for the actions of a few. There's also a leaked sound clip that's supposedly from the Danish police's leader at said place, in which he states that the press is to be battered with truncheons.

So let's get this straight. If you're in a place and someone starts throwing stones, that justifies:

1. Detention without grounds for hours, despickable, inhumane and probably unhealthy treatment
2. Assault by police on anyone in said place
3. Attacks by the police on THE PRESS!

I said this was unacceptable at the time, I am very happy to see that police are not alloved to act as brutal as they obviously want to. And I hope the police leader quoted as ordering the attack on the press gets thrown out of the fucking force, if you order attacks on press, you have nothing to do in the police service, it is utterly despickable, and utterly unacceptable.

I have great difficulty putting into words how silly I think it is that we have to be able to read and write two very similar (written) languages. I despise that language with a passion. I can understand the value of being able to read and understand it, but demanding us to be able to write it grammatically correct is just stupid, especially when the differences are so small (Enough to cause confusion)

The reason why we still have it is based on a (badly) outdated resolution from 1885. That time around there were actually someone who used it (about 40 %); today there are about 7 % who use Nynorsk only, then another 5 % who use it in addition to Bokm?l. So I'd say don't bother the huge majority of Norwegian school pupils with it. It played it's role in creating a Norwegian national identity, but today it's a meaningless waste of time teaching it in schools. While the law might say you'd have to reply in Nynorsk on any kind written request, in practice nobody can be arsed to do it. If some idiot protests, and tries to run a case on it for the courts, then the Nynorsk resolution is destined to be dissolved, just like the blasphemy article in the Criminal Law. It's a "sleeping article"... By the way; Here's the truth about nynorsk (NRK, Norwegian only)

Now, get rid of it...

I agree. Generally speaking, I like nynorsk. I think it's a very smooth language, and it's just a little more poetic. However, it's stupid to force it onto people. I guess I think pupils should be able to read it (but that's easy, anyone can do it, if they say otherwise, it's just a lie), but learning to write it doesn't make sense.

 

[GRtak]

Amen brother, amen.


EDIT:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/uk...UxESqXRLSeUDBTJw?docId=B39208111292330372A000

Legal challenge to police 'kettling'
(UKPA) ? 2 days ago

The police tactic of "kettling" to confine protesters during public demonstrations, such as those in London last week, is to be challenged at the High Court.

Leading the challenge is Bethany Shiner, daughter of a high-profile human rights lawyer, who was kettled during tuition fee protests last week.

Ms Shiner is launching proceedings against the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police after being detained on Thursday in Trafalgar Square.

She is the 23-year-old elder daughter of Public Interest Lawyers (PIL) solicitor Phil Shiner. Ms Shiner and four sixth-form students, one of whom is a minor, are seeking a ruling that the use of kettling "as a standard response to protests" is unlawful.

They complain they were detained for hours in sub-zero temperatures and not released until 7pm. Birmingham-based PIL is applying for judicial review on their behalf, saying their treatment was "a matter of serious concern". Mr Shiner said: "Because I was in London I was able to advise Bethany and get her sorted so that she could eventually get out of the kettle."

The concern was that the Metropolitan Police "are now using kettling as a stock response to all public protests and appear to have authorised kettling in advance of this particular protest".

He said: "The police are required to have a range of lawful responses to different scenarios and not just resort to the most coercive tactics at the first sign of trouble. The policy on kettling needs to be stuck down."

Ms Shiner said: "I was with a group of young people who behaved at all times perfectly properly and lawfully. We then found ourselves kettled in sub-zero temperatures. I managed to get out only because I went to the rescue of a young man who had a head wound after being hit with a police baton. It is outrageous that the police should resort to such tactics against all protesters, most of whom were acting peacefully."

PIL has written to the Commissioner warning they will argue in court that the police are using kettling in a way that involves multiple breaches of the European Convention on Human Rights. These include a breach of Article 5 - the right not to be unlawfully detained; Article 10 - the right to freedom of expression; and Article 11 - the right to freedom of assembly.

At the heart of the challenge are allegations that, on Thursday, the police knew in advance all about the protest. They had previously used kettling on other recent occasions, including against student protesters in London on November 24, and appeared now to be using it as a standard response to public protests.

Copyright ? 2010 The Press Association. All rights reserved.

 

[GRtak]

http://www.insidecostarica.com/dailynews/2010/december/16/costarica10121603.htm

US Military Presence in Costa Rica Rejected

Costa Rican opposition parties expressed their rejection to the entry of more soldiers, ships and helicopters from the US to Costa Rica, on a pretext to fight drug trafficking.

The Costa Rican Legislative Assembly is analyzing a new authorization for the arrival, stay in port and landing of war ships, helicopters and US Marines between January 1st and June 30.

"We are quite much worried with such an excessive military force to fight drug trafficking," said Victor Emilio Granados, from Partido Accesibilidad sin Exclusion (PASE) - Accessibility without Exclusion Party.

Granados said the permission should be analyzed carefully, and will generate polemics at the local Congress.

The US naval force will operate in exclusively economic zones of Costa Rica, in the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.

In the middle of this year, the Costa Rican Parliament authorized the arrival of 7,000 soldiers, 46 war ships, more than 200 helicopters, 10 Harrier planes and two submarines.

The permission provoked the rejection of opposition parties and social sectors, regarding it as anti-constitutional, and something violating the national sovereignty.

Costa Rican deputy Luis Fishman, from the Social Christian Unity Party, presented a protest before the Constitutional Court, considering that the drug trafficking fighting agreement invoked to give the authorization did not include authorization for foreign military forces entering the national territory.

Other parties such as Frente Amplio and Accion Cuidadana also rejected the US military presence.

Civil society organizations convoked for a protest in front of the host building of the Parliament Monday at 3 P.M. local time, when the Legislative Assembly session began.

The authorization if part of the Programa de Patrullaje Conjunto (Joint Patrol) which exists since 1999.

That is probably a larger military force than they have in their own country.

 

[Crazyjeeper]

That is probably a larger military force than they have in their own country.

It isn't very hard to have a military larger than one that doesn't exist. It was abolished on December 1, 1948. Costa Rica only maintains a small national guard.

 

[phuckingduck]

http://capitolhill.komonews.com/content/fake-gang-rape-signs-showing-metro-buses

Offensive signs have been showing on some King County Metro buses.

The signs, which look official and cite state code, warn passengers that ?Gang rape is strictly prohibited.?

King County Metro?s Linda Thielke is aware of the signs and says the county has nothing to do with them.

According to Thielke, the signs are likely the work of a prankster with a computer design program and too much time on their hands.

The signs have been spotted on several buses. If you see one on your bus, let the driver know and it will be taken down.

 

[GRtak]

It isn't very hard to have a military larger than one that doesn't exist. It was abolished on December 1, 1948. Costa Rica only maintains a small national guard.

The National Guard is not a military? Thanks for proving my point.

 

[Crazyjeeper]

The National Guard is not a military? Thanks for proving my point.

Well, it is actually an extension of the regular police force. The police perform ground security, law enforcement, counter-narcotics and border patrol. So I would say that is more of a national police force than a military.

 

[syncview]

I can't seem to figure out where this should go

I can't seem to figure out where this should go

All the credit goes to the pakwheels member 'ToofaneBatameezi'.

Posted it here because it doesn't deserve a new thread.

 

[nomix]

What about the.. well.. Wikileaks thread?