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http://ytchannelembed.com/videos/watch/n4unEJSWaUI#.VH8M2zGG-Sr more dope commentary on ukraine and what is next
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Dec 3, 2014 15:38
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OddObserver posted:They did get a shipment of coal from S. Africa, apparently at very good price, too --- well, at least it was cheaper than domestic coal from the currently occupied areas --- (which is partly because the latter is "pay people to work" subsidy with oligarchs skimming a huge portion off top). Unfortunately there was some political insanity involved for unclear reasons, so I am not sure if it will continue. On the bright side, Ukraine is one of the few countries on target to meeting their Kyoto Protocol goals!
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Dec 3, 2014 15:53
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Flaky posted:http://ytchannelembed.com/videos/watch/n4unEJSWaUI#.VH8M2zGG-Sr Why are they using a bluescreen? It looks really skeevy. Edit: nevermind, when he sits down for the Q&A things look real, maybe it was just the blue lighting and the close up lens. Mc Do Well fucked around with this message at 17:17 on Dec 3, 2014 |
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Dec 3, 2014 16:21
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OddObserver posted:This actually happened yesterday, FWIW, at least ~20 hours ago, so it's probably nothing too serious since the Western press would be all over it if it were. Following up on this, it looks like the issue was actually a transformer fault. They cold shutdown the reactor for the time being but it should be back up by the weekend, apparently. Pretty minor problem, all considered.
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Dec 3, 2014 19:07
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Cuntpunch posted:Following up on this, it looks like the issue was actually a transformer fault. They cold shutdown the reactor for the time being but it should be back up by the weekend, apparently. Pretty minor problem, all considered. System functioned as advertised. Nothing to see. This happened recently at Sequoyah nuclear plant as well, the system detected a sensor error and shutdown the reactor. People freaked out, but in reality the emergency system functioned as expected.
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Dec 3, 2014 19:12
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I don't know that I've seen it discussed even in passing, but I'd assume that Chernobyl acts, oddly enough, as a giant sovereignty protection for Ukraine. It's still a catastrophic site to deal with, and is still costing money for ongoing work on the new containment structure and ecological concerns - I can't imagine any country wanting to assume that burden.
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Dec 3, 2014 19:59
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Russia would just let it decay. Because Russia is a pathetic shithole state.
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Dec 3, 2014 20:05
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latvian_politics.jpg
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Dec 3, 2014 20:07
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"The birth rate is falling. It must be due to a lack of heterosexual intercourse" thinks person in the 21st century, somehow.
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Dec 3, 2014 20:12
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Best Friends posted:"The birth rate is falling. It must be due to a lack of heterosexual intercourse" thinks person in the 21st century, somehow. Take 4 guys, 4 girls. If 2 guys are homosexuals, 2 girls have nobody to give birth from. 50% birth rate. 
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Dec 3, 2014 20:16
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If there is one thing younger generations are known for it's that they don't have enough sex.
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Dec 3, 2014 20:23
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kalstrams posted:Well, easy mathematics. They do know there's such modern reproductive concepts such as surrogates and in-vitro fertilization that allow gays and lesbians to procreate?
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Dec 3, 2014 20:25
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Young Freud posted:They do know there's such modern reproductive concepts such as surrogates and in-vitro fertilization that allow gays and lesbians to procreate?
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Dec 3, 2014 20:32
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Clearly Inga should make up the difference by having more children herself.
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Dec 3, 2014 20:32
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Young Freud posted:They do know there's such modern reproductive concepts such as surrogates and in-vitro fertilization that allow gays and lesbians to procreate? If it's not done in the back of a Volvo, it didn't count.
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Dec 3, 2014 20:36
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Cuntpunch posted:I don't know that I've seen it discussed even in passing, but I'd assume that Chernobyl acts, oddly enough, as a giant sovereignty protection for Ukraine. It's still a catastrophic site to deal with, and is still costing money for ongoing work on the new containment structure and ecological concerns - I can't imagine any country wanting to assume that burden. Huh. The cost of maintaining Chernobyl is miniscule compared to eg. the cost of transforming Crimea into a Russian governorate (infrastructure, subsidies, defense, final solution to the Tatar problem etc.), which again is peanuts compared to the total cost of invading and occupying a country as big as Ukraine (which would also bring in some tax revenue, and whatever else you can steal). And if Ukraine was occupied then I think that the international community would still chip in for ecological and humanitarian reasons. The Buddhas of Bamiyan come to mind - Taliban ended up blowing up the statues despite UNESCO footing the bill for maintaining them and Indian government even offering to purchase them and have them moved to India.
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Dec 3, 2014 20:37
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alex314 posted:We're talking about long term government level contracts here, not free market pricing. In theory they could buy CNG on free market, but that would require infrastructure to transfer and store it. They'd also have to pay a lot above market since there's this nagging risk of "unknown attackers" blowing up a tanker. Or they'd have to pay huge logistical costs to have tanker unloaded in one of few ports capable of such operations and using railroads from as far as Germany or Italy to ship it. Russia is the biggest supplier of CNG too, so good luck finding enough of free CNG for your needs.. Ukraine has been receiving gas in part from Poland, Hungary and Slovakia would have reversed the flows of their lines, it most likely isn't a permanent measure though. One issue with Ukraine is that their district heating is a fairly rigid Soviet era system that is designed to function in only one way, it can be improved but only at high capital cost. Basically they need gas and a lot of it to function, but it looks like the EU will at least in part provide it.
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Dec 3, 2014 20:40
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A Pale Horse posted:Poland has a lot of delicious brown coal, I'm sure we could part with some for a fair price. If they try building an LNG terminal in Odessa I could easily see it becoming an integral part of Novorossiya all of a sudden. You don't just flip a switch - switching to something like coal would easily be a decade long undertaking or more. As far as I can tell they don't even have a coal power plant. It's also why arguments about the % of dependence can be misleading- even if you only rely on Russia for even just 10% of __thing__ it can be incredibly difficult to replace just that small % because there's enormous amounts of infrastructure involved, inertia, contractual agreements, and so on. tsa fucked around with this message at 21:09 on Dec 3, 2014 |
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Dec 3, 2014 21:05
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chitoryu12 posted:If it's not done in the back of a vulva, it didn't count. Fixed.
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Dec 3, 2014 21:08
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http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-30318898 Oh that John.
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Dec 3, 2014 21:57
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A Pale Horse posted:Poland has a lot of delicious brown coal, I'm sure we could part with some for a fair price. This stage in past.  Poles just don't understand features of Ukrainian business.http://www.vremia.ua/news/2507.php The folk proverb: "When hohol was born, Jew wept", has a reason 
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Dec 3, 2014 21:59
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John McCain has called Viktor Orban a 'neo-fascist dictator' in a senate hearing on Obama's ambassador candidate (she contributed $800k to Obama's campaign)quote:"I am not against political appointees," the senator said. "I understand how the game is played, but here we are, a nation on the verge of ceding its sovereignty to a neo-fascist dictator, getting in bed with Vladimir Putin, and we're going to send the producer of The Bold and The Beautiful as our ambassador." apparently Dear Leader is not pleased http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-30318898
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Dec 3, 2014 22:02
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He's not wrong, lol. Orban is certainly the farthest right of any leader in the EU currently although neo-fascist might be a bit hyperbolic and a TV producer who's sole asset appears to be bundling money for the president is probably a terrible choice for ambassador to such a country. Like if he made her ambassador to Tuvalu or Bahamas or something, fine, but Hungary?
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Dec 3, 2014 22:06
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Could at least have chosen Ken Corday.
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Dec 3, 2014 22:18
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A Pale Horse posted:He's not wrong, lol. Orban is certainly the farthest right of any leader in the EU currently although neo-fascist might be a bit hyperbolic and a TV producer who's sole asset appears to be bundling money for the president is probably a terrible choice for ambassador to such a country. Like if he made her ambassador to Tuvalu or Bahamas or something, fine, but Hungary? Sending someone unimportant shows Hungary that if they are going to elect people like Orban we aren't going to be that friendly with them. If Hungary wants to be on Putin's side, let it - that is the EU's problem imo.
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Dec 3, 2014 22:22
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McDowell posted:Sending someone unimportant shows Hungary that if they are going to elect people like Orban we aren't going to be that friendly with them. If Hungary wants to be on Putin's side, let it - that is the EU's problem imo. Issue: Bell may not be that well positioned to coordinate counter-neo-facsist coup in Hungary, and McCain is thinking about running for 2016. Hungary is as important as will impact the next round of elections in America. Labeling it as "less important" ignores the subjective values of American politics; it doesn't matter who is important, it matters if people will perceive the narrative built or reinforced with an issue as one they should vote for. My Imaginary GF fucked around with this message at 22:27 on Dec 3, 2014 |
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Dec 3, 2014 22:25
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It's a bigger issue than that.quote:Russia has always taken diplomacy and its diplomats seriously. America, on the other hand, does not. Of this country’s 28 diplomatic missions in NATO capitals (of which 26 are either currently filled by an ambassador or have nominees waiting to be confirmed), 16 are, or will be, headed by political appointees; only one ambassador to a major NATO ally, Turkey, is a career diplomat. Fourteen ambassadors got their jobs in return for raising big money for President Obama’s election campaigns, or worked as his aides.
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Dec 3, 2014 22:32
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Pycckuu posted:It's a bigger issue than that. Two of my professors are collaborating on a research project that examines US ambassador appointments, the amount donated needed to land certain posts, and performances of political vs career appointees. You can read their working paper here: http://sia.psu.edu/news/ambassadorial_postings A cool $3.1 million personal donation to land Luxembourg unless of course the Senate never approves your appointment lol
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Dec 3, 2014 22:41
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McDowell posted:Sending someone unimportant shows Hungary that if they are going to elect people like Orban we aren't going to be that friendly with them. If Hungary wants to be on Putin's side, let it - that is the EU's problem imo. You can afford to send a diplomatic newbie to a friendly place with little importance like Finland, not to a country that is in the process of becoming an ally to your main foe. In a place like that you'd prefer a veteran diplomat who knows the local conditions, preferably is fluent in the language, and knows how to lead an embassy, how to make useful connections and what to report back to home. What it comes down to is whether Orban's Hungary really is a reliable democratic NATO ally or a possible future troublemaker. Even then it's not like Orban is worse than Erdogan, but Turkey is actually strategically important to USA so McCain wouldn't use similar language there.
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Dec 3, 2014 22:43
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Shes Not Impressed posted:Two of my professors are collaborating on a research project that examines US ambassador appointments, the amount donated needed to land certain posts, and performances of political vs career appointees. You can read their working paper here: http://sia.psu.edu/news/ambassadorial_postings That's pretty unfortunate because it can do a lot to harm America's reputation abroad. Political appointees can say a lot of inflammatory stuff or get misunderstood by the locals because they are not professional diplomats. We are all used to John McCain and Lindsay Graham saying dumb poo poo on the senate floor, but its a bit different when the ambassador does it in a foreign country. Now, who wants to give me 3.1 million so I can
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Dec 3, 2014 23:33
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As far as I know during Bush era they had plenty of those amateur diplomats too. Looks like just two ambassadors to Estonia were political appointees and that was in 2004-2009, and the rest are career diplomats. We're quite irrelevant so it looks like a waste of perfectly good diplomats :P
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Dec 3, 2014 23:56
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Bloomberg's headline today.  Bloomberg posted:Oil, the Ruble and Putin Are All Headed for 63. A Russian Joke -- for the Moment
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Dec 3, 2014 23:59
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Pycckuu posted:That's pretty unfortunate because it can do a lot to harm America's reputation abroad. Political appointees can say a lot of inflammatory stuff or get misunderstood by the locals because they are not professional diplomats. We are all used to John McCain and Lindsay Graham saying dumb poo poo on the senate floor, but its a bit different when the ambassador does it in a foreign country. I remember ambassador Benson Whitney saying a lot of stupid poo poo here in Norway. Didn't get any better when Wikileaks released his transcripts of reports to Bush, where he always bitched about how no one listened to him. Though his predecessor was not any better, as he warned about how our refusal to get involved in Iraq meant that our "friendship" would be ruined. Turned out he had making threats without any backing, making him look like a buffoon. Rincewinds fucked around with this message at 00:11 on Dec 4, 2014 |
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Dec 4, 2014 00:03
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Pycckuu posted:That's pretty unfortunate because it can do a lot to harm America's reputation abroad. Political appointees can say a lot of inflammatory stuff or get misunderstood by the locals because they are not professional diplomats. We are all used to John McCain and Lindsay Graham saying dumb poo poo on the senate floor, but its a bit different when the ambassador does it in a foreign country. I long for the days when Thomas Jefferson threw away all ambassadorial decorum and answered foreign diplomats in a bathrobe. Then the mighty Putin would think twice about challenging the US. Then again if you pay $3.1 million to go live in Luxembourg as an ambassador maybe you deserve all the banks and cows.
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Dec 4, 2014 00:12
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Nenonen posted:John McCain has called Viktor Orban a 'neo-fascist dictator' in a senate hearing on Obama's ambassador candidate (she contributed $800k to Obama's campaign) quote:The former The Bold and The Beautiful producer, he said on Tuesday, was a political appointee who had contributed $800,000 (£510,000; €650,000) to President Barack Obama's last election campaign. This is stopped clock territory because it is completely true that Obama loves appointing fundraisers and democratic money insiders to actually important ambassadorial roles. Obama is pretty garbage as far as appointments in general, and I'm an Obama supporter.
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Dec 4, 2014 00:13
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Then again, 90% of politics is theater so maybe a soap opera producer will be more effective at managing Hungary's drama. She can go to cafepress and make an inside-joke tshirt about the Treaty of Trianon to really get them on her side.
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Dec 4, 2014 00:19
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Best Friends posted:This is stopped clock territory because it is completely true that Obama loves appointing fundraisers and democratic money insiders to actually important ambassadorial roles. Obama is pretty garbage as far as appointments in general, and I'm an Obama supporter. Except that every president ever has rewarded contributors with ambassadorships. It's standard protocol. If Obama hadn't done it they would have been pissed. Actual diplomacy is handled by careerists. The ambassador position itself is largely ceremonial.
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Dec 4, 2014 00:21
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Iran blows the lid off of the truth about the homonazi junta once and for all with a news article about the shocking FSB report with intelligence from Edward Snowden! The US is actually run by a shadow government of Nazi space aliens! Russia has proof and it's all in their very true and factual report. http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13921021000393
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Dec 4, 2014 00:27
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HUGE PUBES A PLUS posted:Iran blows the lid off of the truth about the homonazi junta once and for all with a news article about the shocking FSB report with intelligence from Edward Snowden! The US is actually run by a shadow government of Nazi space aliens! Russia has proof and it's all in their very true and factual report. Holy poo poo please tell me the Russian government is this dumb 
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Dec 4, 2014 00:37
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Gen. Ripper posted:Holy poo poo please tell me the Russian government is this dumb Who knows? But Fars is semi-official news for Iran.
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Dec 4, 2014 00:44
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