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Holy poo poo, I just found out that Pompeo, the incoming US Secretary of State who's going to have to negotiate delicate situations with Turkey, tagged Erdogan on twitter and called him a totalitarian Islamist dictator after the coup attempt. That's a pretty bad starting point!
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Mar 21, 2018 15:08
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Pompeo is a known Islamophobe. Of course he is correct about Erdogan. Broken clock ect.
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Mar 21, 2018 15:18
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Totalitarian is a bit much. I wouldn't even call Putin that. Plus while he is an Islamist, I think calling him an Islamist dictator is misleading since his dictatorial instincts seem to have more to do with his personal power than turning Turkey into an Islamist state (which he obviously would like on some level, but he's not going to turn the country into Iran). Speaking of Putin, Russia seems to have bombed a school in Idlib today, and then the shelter the kids evacuated to after that bombing. Dr Kool-AIDS fucked around with this message at 15:27 on Mar 21, 2018 |
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Mar 21, 2018 15:21
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Sinteres posted:Holy poo poo, I just found out that Pompeo, the incoming US Secretary of State who's going to have to negotiate delicate situations with Turkey, tagged Erdogan on twitter and called him a totalitarian Islamist dictator after the coup attempt. That's a pretty bad starting point! * Possibly exaggerating a bit though. Collateral Damage fucked around with this message at 15:35 on Mar 21, 2018 |
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Mar 21, 2018 15:32
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A Buttery Pastry posted:The empire bit comes from the territories/countries it controls but which have no ability to influence back in the way states/people within the US can. Like Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, Canada, Mexico, the European Union....
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Mar 21, 2018 15:56
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I don't thinkanybody is denying the US is externally an empire.
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Mar 21, 2018 16:08
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Cat Mattress posted:Like Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, Canada, Mexico, the European Union.... More or less all of these people are being asked once in a while and are cool with this.
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Mar 21, 2018 16:26
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fafish posted:More or less all of these people are being asked once in a while and are cool with this.
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Mar 21, 2018 17:11
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CrazyLoon posted:Or it could just be people mixing up the terms 'empire' and 'imperialism' willy nilly. I meant authority not 'territory.' The difference for between "empire" and "state" is that a state's authority is territorially bounded, empire's claim authority over all. It's the same reason states didn't really exist in europe until the church was reined in, the church was functionally bounded, not territorially.
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Mar 21, 2018 18:19
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Neat: https://twitter.com/IraqiExpat/status/976150223604125698 quote:First Iraqi Arab leader to ever address Kurds in their own language. Abadi congratulates Iraqi Kurds on the occasion of Newroz.
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Mar 21, 2018 22:04
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Looks like the Saudis and UAE didn't appreciate Tillerson not backing the insane position they got Trump/Kushner to push on Qatar. https://twitter.com/ryangrim/status/976510102025965568
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Mar 21, 2018 23:00
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https://www.la-croix.com/Monde/Moyen-Orient/chute-dAfrin-derniers-yezidis-Syrie-disparaissent-2018-03-21-1200923351 The last Yezidi community in Syria disappeared with the fall of Afrin. 50 000 people have fled to Sinjar in Iraq, and they do not think they'll ever be able to return. The jihadists backed by Syria have destroyed Yezidi mausoleums and temples as they captured villages and looted everything they could. In total, 150 000 people have been evacuated from Afrin by Kurdish authorities before it fell, a number of which were already refugees who had found shelter in Afrin after fleeing Daesh elsewhere.
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Mar 22, 2018 00:38
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This Kushner poo poo looks really bad. https://twitter.com/Ali_Gharib/status/976582963025637377
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Mar 22, 2018 01:31
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https://twitter.com/DionNissenbaum/status/976672026151792640 a strange coincidence  e: Also, ex-prez Sarkozy sees this Kushner catastrophe and says hold my bière http://www.france24.com/en/20180321-sarkozy-placed-under-formal-investigation-illegal-campaign-financing-libya-gaddafi Bohemian Nights fucked around with this message at 06:59 on Mar 22, 2018 |
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Mar 22, 2018 06:45
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Speaking of which, has the government been cracking down on the Kurds after they ousted Barzani and independence supporters, or are things peaceful?
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Mar 22, 2018 09:34
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I watched that video and it's all in Arabic except for the broken part from 0:27 to the end. I guess it's a nice gesture, but obvious he's reading some phonetic set of words that he hasn't even memorized or practiced enough to say fluidly. I guess it's a nice gesture though, like Kennedy's "Ick been ain bear leaner"
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Mar 22, 2018 09:40
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steinrokkan posted:Speaking of which, has the government been cracking down on the Kurds after they ousted Barzani and independence supporters, or are things peaceful? Was there an ouster? I thought he just put his son in charge because he was old as gently caress
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Mar 22, 2018 12:18
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Saladman posted:I watched that video and it's all in Arabic except for the broken part from 0:27 to the end. I guess it's a nice gesture, but obvious he's reading some phonetic set of words that he hasn't even memorized or practiced enough to say fluidly. It's an urban legend... but I want to believe.
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Mar 22, 2018 14:16
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CherryCola posted:Was there an ouster? I thought he just put his son in charge because he was old as gently caress Well, he resigned as Iraqi tanks were rolling through Kirkuk, I'd say that qualifies, but OTOH he was apparently planning to retire anyway 
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Mar 22, 2018 14:51
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So tons of offices and schools are getting a full week of holiday next week in Cairo (probably other cities too) for the election in Egypt. Kind of surprising as it seems like that would push voting numbers down even further as tons of people will go on holiday to the coasts, but what do I know. I guess one benefit is that it pushes the mood more towards festivity than apprehension, which might be the idea? Getting holidays way outweighs the small risk of a terrorist attack. I wonder how long all the posters will stay up everywhere. Probably until next election.
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Mar 22, 2018 18:30
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Cable Guy posted:"I am a donut." Sadly, this legend is totally unbelievable if you even know a tiny bit about Germany. As a German, I can't even find this funny, just incomprehensible.
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Mar 22, 2018 18:49
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Libluini posted:Sadly, this legend is totally unbelievable if you even know a tiny bit about Germany. As a German, I can't even find this funny
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Mar 22, 2018 18:52
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Libluini posted:Sadly, this legend is totally unbelievable if you even know a tiny bit about Germany. As a German, I can't even find this funny, just incomprehensible. Americans also like to joke about how Germans have no sense of humor.
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Mar 22, 2018 18:55
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Cable Guy posted:"I am a donut." I don't think anyone in Germany itself has ever even heard of this urban legend (I personally never have). "Ich bin ein Berliner" is completely grammatically correct.
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Mar 22, 2018 18:57
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Deteriorata posted:Americans also like to joke about how Germans have no sense of humor. gently caress. Well, I walked straight into this and after so many years on an American forum, I only have myself to blame for not remembering
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Mar 22, 2018 19:15
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Laurenz posted:I don't think anyone in Germany itself has ever even heard of this urban legend (I personally never have). "Ich bin ein Berliner" is completely grammatically correct.
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Mar 22, 2018 19:15
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A Buttery Pastry posted:Not surprising, given how insular German culture is. German culture is a lot like yogurt. As in, it's good for you but not appealing to everyone.
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Mar 22, 2018 19:24
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Sinteres posted:Holy poo poo, I just found out that Pompeo, the incoming US Secretary of State who's going to have to negotiate delicate situations with Turkey, tagged Erdogan on twitter and called him a totalitarian Islamist dictator after the coup attempt. That's a pretty bad starting point! I'm Greek myself, and things are getting to poo poo with Turkey this year (we really expect something bad happening in Cyprus/Aegean before the year is out). I cannot for the life of me think of Erdogan as a totalitarian Islamist dictator though. He is definitely an authoritative entity, and maybe wants/dreams of complete and total consolidation of power in the future. He is also using the nostalgic allure of the Ottoman Empire as a counter to the embedded Kemalist secularism that Turkey followed for 80 years (and most of his enemies also followed, both in the Army and elsewhere). But an Islamist dictator? Too strong a characterization..at least for now. I'm definitely not one of his fans though..
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Mar 22, 2018 19:36
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Dante80 posted:I'm Greek myself, and things are getting to poo poo with Turkey this year (we really expect something bad happening in Cyprus/Aegean before the year is out). Why? How? 
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Mar 22, 2018 19:42
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MiddleOne posted:Why? How? There's been a lot of incidents between Turkey and Greece, as well as between Turkey and Cyprus. https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Turkeys-Navy-Threatens-To-Sink-Eni-Drilling-Ship-Offshore-Cyprus.html https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2018-03-02/the-latest-report-2-greek-soldiers-arrested-in-turkey http://greece.greekreporter.com/2018/02/21/are-greece-and-turkey-really-on-the-verge-of-war/
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Mar 22, 2018 20:12
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Cat Mattress posted:There's been a lot of incidents between Turkey and Greece, as well as between Turkey and Cyprus. How have I heard literally nothing about this before now.
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Mar 22, 2018 20:20
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MiddleOne posted:How have I heard literally nothing about this before now. Nobody cares really, but we've been having things like mock dogfights and ship chases for decades with Turkey (we share a number of problems or "problems" stretching from the borders to grey zones to the Aegean EEZ to Cyprus to..you name it). The last time we were very close to actual war was back in 1995, during the Imia (Kardak for Turkey) crisis, but things have not really calmed since then, if you know what I mean...
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Mar 22, 2018 20:29
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Yeah, there's a lot of brinkmanship in the area. Also, the whole Cyprus thing came close to a solution recently but then greek Cyprus was like "Yo dudes, we are going to start exploiting this gas reserves without your input, gently caress you!" and the chance was lost. Turkish warships have circled the area. So who knows what will happen. To be completely clear, those gas reserves are in Greek-Cypriot territorial waters, but Turkey asked for development to wait until the political situation was resolved.
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Mar 22, 2018 20:32
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Super cool that the EU is letting one of their member states be bullied by a hostile foreign power. Maybe letting Cyprus in the EU with an ongoing crisis (and as a destination for corrupt Russian money) was a bad idea in the first place, but having allowed them entry, you'd think there might at least be economic consequences for loving with them.
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Mar 22, 2018 21:00
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In regards to the subject at hand, I am thoroughly biased so I'd be the last to comment on the actual dispute. I do have to say though that the whole thing is utterly ridiculous. The Greek and Turkish people have absolutely nothing against each other, and during the last 20 years or so there have been a poo poo-ton of opportunities to get over this nationalist roller-coaster and actually work together in peace for mutual assured benefit. Instead of that, we are moving closer and closer to mutual assured destruction.
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Mar 22, 2018 21:02
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Sinteres posted:Super cool that the EU is letting one of their member states be bullied by a hostile foreign power. Maybe letting Cyprus in the EU with an ongoing crisis (and as a destination for corrupt Russian money) was a bad idea in the first place, but having allowed them entry, you'd think there might at least be economic consequences for loving with them.
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Mar 22, 2018 21:03
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Rent-A-Cop posted:The EU is a joke. Anything that isn't profitable for German banks isn't gonna happen The EU has been insanely profitable for Germany, so ensuring its long term stability by not allowing its weaker members to be picked off by outsiders seems kind of important. I get that appeasing Turkey in the short term so they don't get hit with a flood of refugees that threaten the internal stability of a lot of their states (if for no other reason than because it provokes a xenophobic and anti-European backlash) is also kind of important though. It'll be interesting to see if they take a harder line with Turkey once they start resettling refugees in northern Syria.
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Mar 22, 2018 21:07
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Sinteres posted:The EU has been insanely profitable for Germany, so ensuring its long term stability by not allowing its weaker members to be picked off by outsiders seems kind of important. They added "Ia! Ia! Schwarze-Nullgurath!" as a postscript, before ritually sacrificing a debtor on an altar made of Volkswagen diesel engines.
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Mar 22, 2018 21:30
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I just want F-16s to fight each other. An actual shooting war between NATO members would really release some pent up steam in the alliance.
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Mar 22, 2018 21:31
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