Phx-Suns.Net

Indy wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 14, 2021 3:04 pm

Are you sure the US involvement didn't embolden China more, and create the super restrictive regime that NK is now?

And wasn't the same thing said about Viet Nam?

Oh -- think I have to disagree on this one.

I have studied the Korean war some and mostly know about the war. I don’t know much about the lead up to war and how involved China was in planning and financing the N Koreans if at all. I always assumed China had a lot to do financing the N Korean effort.

After WWII the US military was kind of mothballed. When the Korean war started the US was very unprepared. Soldiers trained with wooden guns. We entered the war and got pushed back South almost to the bottom of the country. General McArthur saved the war by his end around water landing at Seoul and cutting off the North’s supply chain, which allowed the US time to get their act together. The Chinese didn’t actually enter the war until the Americans pushed the N Koreans North all the way to the Chinese border. Then the Chinese joined the effort and pushed the Americans back to the 38th parallel where we have remained technically at war but, with a truce since 1953.

I know even less about the Vietnam war. I was always taught that we are a Democracy and the Communists (China and Russia)were spreading Communism by force and America was trying to stop it to preserve our way of life. Here we are 70 years later with Communism (China and Russia) our arch rivals and still threatening each other still.

Ukraine warns of a 'bloody massacre' and five million refugees fleeing into Europe if Russia invades, as Kremlin says escalating tensions are 'off the scale'
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... Putin.html
Satellite images have revealed huge new camps of Russian troops, tanks and artillery along the border as Putin continues massing his forces on Europe's doorstep.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov told CNN there would be a 'really bloody massacre' if Russia invaded Ukraine and warned that 'Russian guys also will come back in coffins'.

Biden and Putin are expected to hold a key video conference today amid fears over the build-up of troops in Ukraine.

The US President plans to warn Putin of severe economic consequences if Russia invades neighbouring Ukraine in an effort to gain a diplomatic solution to deal with the tens of thousands of Russian troops at the border.

The UK has also joined Western leaders in vowing to form a 'united front' over Russian hostility toward Ukraine, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson vowing to use all 'economic and diplomatic tools at the UK's disposal'.

Apple made secret 5-year $275B deal with Chinese government
https://appleinsider.com/articles/21/12 ... government

The deal would have Apple working to improve China's economy and technological profile with investments, training up its workforce, and various beneficial business deals. It is alleged that the total value of the five-year agreement was worth $275 billion.

At the time, Apple was viewed by Chinese officials as not doing enough to help the local economy, internal documents supposedly state. With regulatory scrutiny at an all-time high, Apple executives were having trouble trying to turn the Chinese opinion of the company around.

Over multiple visits, Cook is said to have lobbied officials on behalf of Apple, as well as signing the deal with a Chinese government agency. The lobbying against various threats hat would've affected the App Store, Apple Pay, and other products was mostly successful, if unreported at the time.

The deal was kept secret both by the company's own culture and by the opaque workings of the Chinese government, and was politically wise according to political economist Victor Shih. It is thought that as Apple has to appease China as both a major market and a manufacturing base, it had to keep the government happy while also not appearing to other countries as appeasing China.

"Apple likely wanted to avoid the optics of groveling to the Chinese government," said Shih.

New Zealand to ban cigarettes for future generations
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-59589775
New Zealand will ban the sale of tobacco to its next generation, in a bid to eventually phase out smoking.
Anyone born after 2008 will not be able to buy cigarettes or tobacco products in their lifetime, under a law expected to be enacted next year.

I don't smoke - either cigarettes or weed - but on my birthday a few months back my dutch friend really wanted to smoke pot, so I did .. I went and bought a pouch of rolling tobacco and just slapped the card on the machine without checking the price.

$60 fucking dollars ($42 USD), not a millimetre of the packaging was dedicated to branding, instead there was just a giant image of a pair of cancer riddled lungs.

Most expensive joint ever, the pouch is now sitting in my freezer and I'm seriously weighing up listing it on Facebook Marketplace.

*that's a tiny 25g pouch, not a big one.

Meanwhile a pack of cigarettes in Korea is about $4 USD, which is up from about $2.50 USD a decade ago.

I have to add that I'm not sure I agree with NZ and Australia's positions.

If people want to do something they're going to do it, whether it's illegal or not, and I generally take the view it's better that the government make an industry legal but tax it (just not as high as Australia does).

Cigarettes aren't good for you but neither is alcohol which kills more people and has a greater societal cost (drink driving, domestic abuse etc) and if someone wants to do something they should be able to do it if it doesn't hurt anyone else.

Europe / Asia - cigarette smoking is a way of life over there, and a cigarette with a beer feels fucking great (from when I did used to smoke socially back in the day).

For me it's more unnecessary nanny state-ism that is sadly everywhere over here.

Thinking through it, so long as vaping stays legal (and assuming it’s safer than burning tobacco) I think I could get behind the ban.

There is debate on just how safe vaping is. There was a rash of deaths a few years back but I think it was due to unprofessionals making them from questionable ingredients.

I was in favor of banning cigarettes in public places like airplanes and bars. Having to smell and breath other people’s smoke sucks. I do agree that an outright ban on cigarettes seems harsh. Just like pot, alcohol, cigarettes, abortions, etc., people are going to do what they want. Banning it means they get it from questionable places, which increases the chances of a harmful product.

Flagrant Fowl wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 09, 2021 1:30 pm

Meanwhile a pack of cigarettes in Korea is about $4 USD, which is up from about $2.50 USD a decade ago.

I think that is similar here, depending on the brand. Like I think a pack of marlboro is close to $5 in AZ, probably closer to 8 in LA/NY.

Kazakhstan in flames as three cops found BEHEADED in bloody uprising & Putin flies in tanks to crush fuel-price riots
https://www.the-sun.com/news/4406595/ka ... -uprising/
Russian "peacekeeping" tanks and troops are now being sent into the former Soviet state by Kremlin hardman Vladimir Putin to help crush the protests - which began on Sunday over a sharp rise in the price of fuel.

Another post-Soviet ‘ruler for life’ faces upheaval, as enormous protests sweep Kazakhstan
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/an ... ar-AAStVO3
As the Soviet Union crumbled in 1990, Kazakhstan declared independence. A 51-year-old former steelworker, Nursultan Nazarbayev, would become the new nation’s first president. Despite being a former Communist Party figure, Nazarbayev promised a bright new future for the country, telling The Washington Post ahead of the 1994 elections that the nation could become a “proving ground for democracy and a market economy.”

Though Nazarbayev, 81, formally stepped down as president three years ago, he has become a target of demonstrators who are saying: “Old man, go away!”

That slogan has become a rallying cry for protesters, many of whom are angered at Nazarbayev’s lingering role as a de facto ruler for life. Social media is flooded with footage of a statue of Nazarbayev being pulled down, while a presidential palace was reportedly stormed in Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest city.

Hearing from those closer to the situation on the ground that the claim that the stuff in Kazakhstan started over doubling in gas prices is absolutely false. It's over the vaccine mandates and green passes that the government was trying to force on the citizens.

Interesting notes, Iran was trying to get uranium from Kazakhstan to help with their nuclear program. It's also home to what is supposed to be one of the capitals of the NWO in the near future, Astana, Kazakhstan.

I thought this was kind of crazy, certainly really hard to believe, but interesting.
https://epochtimes.today/270-million-ye ... -perishes/

The protests seem to be about multiple things. One big thing is that while they are supposed to be a democracy, their leader has been in office for 30 years and won't leave office, so the people are mad that he has become basically a dictator. They are also mad about prices of important goods like gas. I read they are also mad that Russia is encroaching on their country and sending in troops and so on. And now their president is telling the police to use force against the protestors or shoot them, according to the article I read. They have a lot to be upset about.

I haven't found any reputable source saying it is about vaccine or mask mandates. Honestly In2, your media sources are such garbage. Epoch Times? Worthless. You just believe that because you are an anti-vaxxer and it confirms your biases.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/20 ... v-protest/

You can believe whatever you want, but I'm telling you that's what I'm hearing from those that are talking to people close to the situation on the ground. I don't have any reason to lie to you, and I actually think that lying tears at your soul and is not worth it.

Mori Chu wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 07, 2022 3:32 am

The protests seem to be about multiple things. One big thing is that while they are supposed to be a democracy, their leader has been in office for 30 years and won't leave office, so the people are mad that he has become basically a dictator. They are also mad about prices of important goods like gas. I read they are also mad that Russia is encroaching on their country and sending in troops and so on. And now their president is telling the police to use force against the protestors or shoot them, according to the article I read. They have a lot to be upset about.

I haven't found any reputable source saying it is about vaccine or mask mandates. Honestly In2, your media sources are such garbage. Epoch Times? Worthless. You just believe that because you are an anti-vaxxer and it confirms your biases.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/20 ... v-protest/

Is this better for you? I just thought it was interesting, and didn't vouch for it's authenticity.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hidden_character_stone

This can't be good in the middle of winter. Didn’t they just shut down their last 6 nuclear power plants?

UPDATE - 90,000 Berlin households without hot water and heating. At first, 370,000 affected households were reported by local media. The problem should be resolved within the next hours, according to a spokesman (Focus)

Maybe it was the windmills.