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Saladman posted:E: Wait wait, I just actually read that National Interest article. "Switzerland—that liberal beacon at the heart of Europe." What? Switzerland is and has always been a mix of extremely conservative and quite liberal policies... but it's definitely not a beacon and trendsetter. most likely talking about liberal as in democratic, not the modern meaning. switzerland transitioned to a democracy particularly early for a non-french european state, mostly skipping the stage where the aristocracy dug their heels in and killed lots of people to retain their privileges.
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Jun 8, 2021 08:06
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Saladman posted:Well, I mean it's worked for Belgium for nearly 200 years, and they fabricated the royalty and the nation out of the blue for that one. Maybe Libya can be the Belgium of North Africa -- a terrible mess but somehow kept together.
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Jun 8, 2021 10:30
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Additionally Belgium has for the last decade+ been facing regular political/constitutional/demographic crises and division.
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Jun 8, 2021 11:13
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^^^^ That was the point. Still better than current Libya.CSM posted:Belgium wasn't fabricated 'out of the blue', and the Belgian king nearly broke the country at one point, so uh not sure that's a good example. As far as I can tell, their royal family was fabricated almost out of the blue after they got independence? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarchy_of_Belgium#Origins Some committee just seems to have selected some random noble. I guess Jordan was the same way, and Iraq back when they had a royal family. Probably other countries too. Not that I really know much about it, but I was always under the impression that the Belgian royal family was even more vestigial than your average royal family.
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Jun 8, 2021 13:10
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Saladman posted:Some committee just seems to have selected some random noble. 
Toplowtech fucked around with this message at 15:46 on Jun 8, 2021 |
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Jun 8, 2021 15:43
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Toplowtech posted:Some nobody from the house of House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Famously known thanks to Shakespear's The Merry Wives of Windsor and marying those idiots from that "little state of Prussia". Totally random. This thread.
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Jun 8, 2021 17:21
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Toplowtech posted:Some nobody from the house of House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Famously known thanks to Shakespear's The Merry Wives of Windsor and marying those idiots from that "little state of Prussia". Totally random. This thread. Lol, I have no idea who either of those families is. Also from that Wikipedia it sounds like he was their third choice, so even at the time it didn't seem like he was particularly high on their list of wanted national CEOs. Oh, apparently it's one family. I have never even heard of a single one of these people or places ( the castles that belong to the family; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Saxe-Coburg_and_Gotha ). And the duchy that they ruled was at the time like half the size of modern Luxembourg with a whopping population of 257k people by 1914. And it looks like they spawned two other short-lived imported monarchies, besides marrying into the British family, all of which happened after they selected some guy to be king of Belgium. After flipping through this Wikipedia article they seem even more irrelevant circa 1831 when they selected him than I would have figured. The first person even mentioned on their family Wikipedia page started his rule in 1826, and even their family tree only stretches back to 1750. I mean all royals are bullshit but this one seems to take the cake. Like seriously look at their family's wikipedia page, not even a single highlighted person on it predating the guy they selected to be the Belgian king. Really though lol at your social circles if you think that is even remotely common knowledge. Maybe some British people and Belgians know. Saladman fucked around with this message at 17:48 on Jun 8, 2021 |
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Jun 8, 2021 17:35
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IIRC the fact they were a super obscure house was the whole point of selecting one of them to be the king of Belgium. Couldn't have something crazy like a republic but there's no way in hell the great powers would agree if the new king was related to the royal houses of France/Netherlands/whoever. Apparently he was offered the position of King of Greece first but he turned it down because it seemed to precarious lol.
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Jun 8, 2021 18:09
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putting together a shopping list of obscure german nobles to offer the crown to was standard procedure for newly-carved-out states at the time
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Jun 8, 2021 18:19
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https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/ethiopia-finally-set-vote-pm-vows-1st-fair-78352736?cid=social_twitter_abcn Ethiopia to have elections on Monday. Major opposition leaders have all been arrested and many parties are boycotting the elections.He's also banning the vote in the places you have no chance in hell of winning. In some places the vote will be competitive: notably Addis Ababa, the capital, and parts of Amhara, the second-most populous region. But the overall result is not in doubt. For Abiy, who has said his mother prophesied that he would one day be king, it is less an election than a coronation. About 15% of constituencies will not take part at all on June 21st. This includes all of Tigray, a northern region in the midst of a devastating civil war. Fighting between the central government’s forces and those allied with the region’s former ruling party, the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), is far from over. Indeed, it may well be intensifying. Moreover, millions of people are at risk of starving to death in Tigray because forces allied to the government are not allowing enough lorries carrying aid to pass their checkpoints. Where it is not so safe is in parts of western and southern Oromia, which are racked by armed insurgency. Fierce fighting in these places, as well as in the neighbouring region of Benishangul-Gumuz, has scotched any hope of voting there proceeding on schedule “This time [violence] will not be about ‘My party didn’t win’,” predicts a Western diplomat. “It’s about discrediting the whole thing.” Rebels have attacked electoral posts and assassinated officials from the ruling party. In reply local security forces have unleashed terror on civilians. Many have been arrested or killed. In May police tied up and beat a teenage boy in broad daylight—and then publicly murdered him. “There’s no mercy at all now,” says Ashenafi Dhabate, an opposition supporter in the western Oromo town of Ambo.
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Jun 19, 2021 08:35
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Abiy could you have at least waited to dethrone regional actors until your Renaissance Dam was finished?
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Jun 19, 2021 08:42
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Pffffffhhahahahquote:Russians Detained in Chad Desert Say They Are Tourists
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Jun 24, 2021 16:07
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KOTEX GOD OF BLOOD posted:Pffffffhhahahah We are very interested in both natural beauty and world industry. Bridges, ports, rail lines, roads about tank width and larger, escarpments, mountain passes, you know, that sort of stuff.
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Jun 24, 2021 16:40
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I still don't know why Peter the Great thought colonizing Malagasy was feasible in any fashion.
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Jun 24, 2021 17:21
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I mean, it's a lot more plausible than tourists going to Salisbury.
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Jun 24, 2021 18:28
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piL posted:We are very interested in both natural beauty and world industry. Bridges, ports, rail lines, roads about tank width and larger, escarpments, mountain passes, you know, that sort of stuff. I'm interested in these things irl and I think it could get me in trouble someday when I get caught with binoculars looking at a port in a foreign country.
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Jun 24, 2021 18:54
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Were they wearing traditional Russian green tourist outfits?
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Jun 24, 2021 21:05
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I'd love to see a group photo of these tourists.
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Jun 24, 2021 21:47
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Jun 24, 2021 21:50
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https://twitter.com/MapEthiopia/status/1408309149469925383 https://twitter.com/MapEthiopia/status/1408329569560580099 https://twitter.com/Conflicts/status/1408089531648118786 PawParole fucked around with this message at 10:42 on Jun 25, 2021 |
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Jun 25, 2021 10:37
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And of course there's Tigrayan music playing in the background. 
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Jun 26, 2021 01:55
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Count Roland posted:I'm interested in these things irl and I think it could get me in trouble someday when I get caught with binoculars looking at a port in a foreign country. If I recall, some people who work on the Arma videogames got arrested in Cyprus because they were taking pictures of Turkish Cyprus for their military game and that seemed like a terrible excuse to the cops that captured them.
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Jun 26, 2021 19:03
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Mans posted:If I recall, some people who work on the Arma videogames got arrested in Cyprus because they were taking pictures of Turkish Cyprus for their military game and that seemed like a terrible excuse to the cops that captured them. Not even Cyprus, Lemnos.
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Jun 27, 2021 05:29
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Ethiopian Election Results are expected to be announced before the 28th, almost a week after voting. Abiy is expected to dominate USA and EU are saying election was not credible. AU disagrees. The WHO lead by Tigrayan physician Ghebreyesus is accusing The Ethiopian Armyof hampering medical aid to Tigray. https://twitter.com/Yonigussie/stat...%5Es1_&ref_url= Oromo ethno-nationalist parties boycotted the election, probably a mistake, and The Ethiopian Army cracked down on them. Now, Oromo Liberation Army are alleging Eritrean troops are in Oromia. It might be because of degraded Ethiopian Army capacity from Tigray war. The economy is in freefall as prominent economist Steve Hanke reports https://twitter.com/steve_hanke/sta...%5Es1_&ref_url= We already know what to expect in the election (Abiy Winning) The Ethiopian Army is engaged in a war in Tigray and Oromia, and Tigray elections are indefinitely cancelled. The question is does Abiy need Eritrean troops to suppress Oromia rebels Amhara news network EBC reporting on election. AU observers start sanctifying the election around 12:00 mark. NEBE chairwoman Midkesa speaks after 21:00 mark https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCPjcb9tApg elections are also cancelled in Harari and Somali regions, and everywhere else Abiy has a zero chance of winning or rigging. https://twitter.com/addisstandard/s...%5Es1_&ref_url=
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Jun 28, 2021 04:19
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PawParole posted:The Ethiopian Army is engaged in a war in Tigray and Oromia, and Tigray elections are indefinitely cancelled. The question is does Abiy need Eritrean troops to suppress Oromia rebels Because the Ethiopians aren't doing too well. https://twitter.com/SeifGebre/status/1409564994170069002
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Jun 28, 2021 18:40
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Well that escalated quickly
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Jun 28, 2021 19:44
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Morrow posted:Because the Ethiopians aren't doing too well. https://apnews.com/article/ethiopia...aign=SocialFlow Ethiopia declares immediate, unilateral cease-fire in Tigray Abiy in an interview aired last week alarmed observers by recalling that aid to Tigray during Ethiopia’s devastating 1980s famine had bolstered the Tigray fighters who eventually overthrew the ruling regime. Such a thing will “never happen” now, he said. Monday’s cease-fire declaration signaled a new approach, at least for a while. The cease-fire “will enable farmers to till their land, aid groups to operate without any military movement around and engage with remnants (of Tigray’s former ruling party) who seek peace,” Ethiopia’s statement said, adding that efforts to bring Tigray’s former leaders “to justice” continue.
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Jun 29, 2021 00:19
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Ah, the last thing I'd heard was that pro-government troops were decisively winning and that the remnants of the Tigray rebel forces were being ruthlessly hunted down. I thought it was all going suspiciously smoothly for the government.
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Jun 29, 2021 05:00
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https://twitter.com/SABCNews/status/1409632863687876609?s=19
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Jun 29, 2021 08:03
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If that monarchy fucks off forever that would be grand. That monarchy, as the vast majority of other, did seem to be a giant untenable poo poo show.
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Jun 29, 2021 08:21
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Pistol_Pete posted:Ah, the last thing I'd heard was that pro-government troops were decisively winning and that the remnants of the Tigray rebel forces were being ruthlessly hunted down. The ENDF and various militia still control large swaths of what used to be Tigray. The TPLF might not be able to take back Welkait (i.e. losing access to Sudan) and potentially also the area further south near Alamata/Korem. Maybe it could all collapse, but if it holds roughly like it is now (but with TPLF taking back major Tigrayan population centers like Axum, Mekelle, Adigrat, Shire) and the TPLF agrees to the ceasefire that would still be a 'win' for Abiy. Also the TPLF still has to get the Eritreans out, who seem to be more entrenched and willing to steal things and murder everyone.
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Jun 29, 2021 08:46
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https://twitter.com/EswatiniGovern1/status/1409790156853366785?s=19 Official denial the king has fled - chatter the army is being called in
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Jun 29, 2021 10:25
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For some context.swazimedia.blogspot.com posted:Monday, 28 June 2021
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Jun 29, 2021 11:13
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https://twitter.com/MapEthiopia/status/1409887059800739841
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Jun 29, 2021 16:05
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PawParole posted:USA and EU are saying election was not credible.
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Jun 29, 2021 20:25
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https://twitter.com/addisstandard/status/1409904132748677124 https://twitter.com/addisstandard/status/1409904652125192194
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Jun 30, 2021 09:39
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Has the international community or AU done anything about the civil war in Ethiopia? Abiy seems to be facing basically no consequences.
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Jun 30, 2021 21:20
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Vivian Darkbloom posted:Has the international community or AU done anything about the civil war in Ethiopia? Abiy seems to be facing basically no consequences. Hasn't Ethiopia contributed most of the troops to the AU for over a decade now? I doubt they'd do much. And I think the Eritrean troops present muddles the "civil war" designation somewhat.
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Jun 30, 2021 23:11
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Vivian Darkbloom posted:Has the international community or AU done anything about the civil war in Ethiopia? Abiy seems to be facing basically no consequences. the AU was founded by Ethiopia and is basically an Ethiopian puppet.
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Jul 1, 2021 06:13
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map of tigray
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Jul 2, 2021 09:50
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