kissdbyfire Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 A spot of good news: Greece becomes first Orthodox Christian country to legalise same-sex marriage https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/15/greece-becomes-first-orthodox-christian-country-to-legalise-same-sex-marriage Erik of Hazelfield, Luzifer's right hand, Craving Peaches and 9 others 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ran Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 Yulia Navalnya, addressing a security conference hours after word of her husband's death: Crixus and Tears of Lys 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kissdbyfire Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 Ugh another nasty authoritarian leader and his nasty authoritarian moves. Too many of these types around, sadly. Venezuela orders UN human rights office to close, accusing it of anti-government activity https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-un-human-rights-ordered-closed-baea877b4ab2cf2891d8c5743fb2e3ed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DireWolfSpirit Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 On 2/15/2024 at 5:26 PM, The Anti-Targ said: Never! Not until Australia concedes flat whites and pavlovas, and takes back all it's unwanted immigrants ruining our country (possums and wallabies). I think a possum invasion is as good a reason as any to fight and die for! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bironic Posted February 17 Share Posted February 17 (edited) On 2/16/2024 at 12:46 AM, Padraig said: Yes. Interesting election. One of the economic success stories in recent years, while embracing democracy, which seems to be rare these days. The other interesting election recently was in El Salvador. The implications there seem more ominous, beyond just El Salvador too. Educated myself a bit on the Subianto. Nasty man tbh, certainly a war criminal due to his career in the indonesian military dictatorship under Suharto, including invasion of east timor etc., Son in law of Suharto, made a deal with Jokowi to secure the presidency. Quite Pro western and anti-chinese given his career. Agreed that indonesia seems to have an overall more stable and freer democracy than other countries in the region (Philippines, Malaysia, Cambodia, Singapur, Thailand, etc.)... 13 hours ago, DireWolfSpirit said: I think a possum invasion is as good a reason as any to fight and die for! As cute as these animals are they are a danger to the native fauna & flora of new Zealand, they should expect no more mercy than the tribbles received by the Klingons Edited February 17 by Bironic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Padraig Posted February 17 Share Posted February 17 30 minutes ago, Bironic said: Educated myself a bit on the Subianto. Nasty man tbh, certainly a war criminal due to his career in the indonesian military dictatorship under Suharto, including invasion of east timor etc., Son in law of Suharto, made a deal with Jokowi to secure the presidency. Quite Pro western and anti-chinese given his career. Yes. He and the new Vice President are not the most reassuring choices but hopefully it will be ok. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DireWolfSpirit Posted February 17 Share Posted February 17 (edited) 7 hours ago, Bironic said: As cute as these animals are Aussie and NZ possums must look different than the ferral, godzilla hissing, N.E. Wisconsin possums which are also pests to pets, garages, etc. and by no stretch cute. Edited February 17 by DireWolfSpirit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Impmk2 Posted February 17 Share Posted February 17 29 minutes ago, DireWolfSpirit said: Aussie and NZ possums must look different than the ferral, godzilla hissing, N.E. Wisconsin possums which are also pests to pets, garages, etc. and by no stretch cute. They do. First time I saw a possum in the US I thought it was a giant rat. Australian possums look like this. They do still hiss and bite though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kissdbyfire Posted February 17 Share Posted February 17 Come on, this is the international events thread, not the “diss and badmouth other species” thread. I’ll take a possum, regardless of nationality, over… not gonna give a number so as to not shock anyone, but let’s just say over a fair amount of humans. Underfoot 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tears of Lys Posted February 19 Share Posted February 19 I don't know how this thread devolved into talking about possums when Navalny died! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polishgenius Posted February 19 Share Posted February 19 I get that (1) you can be a bad person and still be making a brave, important stand and (2) Navalny was an important symbolic presence against Putin both in Russia and beyond so I understand the outpouring over his death, but I wish we wouldn't fall over ourselves to lionise a racist Russian nationalist whose main claim to morality was that maybe he wouldn't actually have invaded Ukraine (but he still used 'we are one nation' rhetoric back in the day about Ukraine and Belarus). Larry of the Lawn and Erik of Hazelfield 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ran Posted February 19 Share Posted February 19 2 hours ago, polishgenius said: whose main claim to morality Is that in fact his main claim to morality? Not his crusade against corruption, his repeated efforts to extoll democracy, his support for same-sex marriage? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyoshi Posted February 19 Share Posted February 19 Trial against Israel on its apartheid regime/occupation starts. straits 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polishgenius Posted February 19 Share Posted February 19 2 hours ago, Ran said: Is that in fact his main claim to morality? Not his crusade against corruption, his repeated efforts to extoll democracy, his support for same-sex marriage? Support for same-sex marriage is obviously good, but it doesn't seem to have been like a major position for him? The rest, I dunno if it definitely counts as a moral position or if it was about him getting into power, especially when at least some of his anti-corruption position was also based on white-russian nationalism (stop funding the outlying, non-ethnic-Russian, regions because they're corrupt). Like I say, someone can be brave and important and still not a good guy. We can remember him, but also maybe consider why the main opponent to Putin was a guy like that. Not that we can really do anything about it, but I don't think it's helpful to flatten the discussion into 'Putin opponent- must be decent' either. Larry of the Lawn and Kyoshi 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyoshi Posted February 19 Share Posted February 19 ^The points you're making highlight one of the biggest problems I have with Western media as a whole. Its all a script and the heroes and villains are decided by the geopolitical interest of the USA, UK, France etc. No nuance whatsoever, unless of course they want us to shut up about issues they don't want us paying too much attention to, in which case we get told, "that's such a complex issue." Larry of the Lawn, Rippounet, Prince of the North and 3 others 5 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heartofice Posted February 19 Share Posted February 19 1 hour ago, polishgenius said: Support for same-sex marriage is obviously good, but it doesn't seem to have been like a major position for him? The rest, I dunno if it definitely counts as a moral position or if it was about him getting into power, especially when at least some of his anti-corruption position was also based on white-russian nationalism (stop funding the outlying, non-ethnic-Russian, regions because they're corrupt). Like I say, someone can be brave and important and still not a good guy. We can remember him, but also maybe consider why the main opponent to Putin was a guy like that. Not that we can really do anything about it, but I don't think it's helpful to flatten the discussion into 'Putin opponent- must be decent' either. While I agree, I also think there is a tendency to not being able to see the wood for the trees with some of these issues. Navalny might have had some opinions we would not have agreed with, but at the same time the whole point is he was someone who stood up to the Putin dictatorship and lost his life because of it. Really, that is the key point to keep in mind. Sometimes it's too easy to get mired down in the complexities of these situations and it just creates a state of inaction. There is a usefulness in creating the simpler story sometimes. On the same note, Zelensky might not be a great guy, and Ukraine are not 100% blameless in the war either, but actually does it matter all that much, when the key point is that Russia invaded a sovereign country. Ran and Tears of Lys 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zorral Posted February 19 Share Posted February 19 "Christian" family moves to Russia to escape LGBTQ, and now can't wait to leave their living hell https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/2/18/2224293/--Christian-family-moves-to-Russia-to-escape-LGBTQ-and-now-can-t-get-out-of-their-living-hell? kissdbyfire, Kyoshi, Bironic and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kissdbyfire Posted February 19 Share Posted February 19 25 minutes ago, Zorral said: "Christian" family moves to Russia to escape LGBTQ, and now can't wait to leave their living hell https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/2/18/2224293/--Christian-family-moves-to-Russia-to-escape-LGBTQ-and-now-can-t-get-out-of-their-living-hell? Careful what you wish for… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kissdbyfire Posted February 19 Share Posted February 19 I'm utterly shocked. /s https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/17/senior-pakistan-official-admits-election-rigging-as-protests-grip-country A senior official in Pakistan has admitted to election rigging amid protests breaking out across the country over claims that its general election results were unfair. The confessional statement throws further questions over the legitimacy of the 8 February elections, which were marred by controversies and allegations of rigging in Pakistan. Commissioner Rawalpindi Liaqat Ali Chatta told reporters that authorities in Rawalpindi, Punjab province, changed the results of independent candidates – referring to candidates backed by the former prime minister Imran Khan’s party – who were leading with a margin of more than 70,000 votes. Chatta said there was so much “pressure” on him that he contemplated suicide, but that he then decided to make a public confession. “I take responsibility for the wrong in Rawalpindi. I should be punished for my crimes and other people involved in this crime should be punished.” Crixus 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polishgenius Posted February 19 Share Posted February 19 8 hours ago, Heartofice said: While I agree, I also think there is a tendency to not being able to see the wood for the trees with some of these issues. Navalny might have had some opinions we would not have agreed with, but at the same time the whole point is he was someone who stood up to the Putin dictatorship and lost his life because of it. I think this is fair to a point -which is also why I didn't make a big fuss about it immediately on seeing the news, only after ToL's questioning of people in this thread dicking around after he died. But I think you can focus on the simpler story and still have the more complicated one in mind. Like obviously us on this board aren't going to influence who the resistance is going to focus around now he's gone. But somebody somewhere should be thinking about that and whether maybe it can be someone who isn't just as nationalist as Putin, just less convinced that war is the way for Russia to do it. Because that's... better than Putin, sure, but why not aim higher? Larry of the Lawn and Heartofice 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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