Maedhros
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Posts posted by Maedhros
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1 hour ago, Guard Dog said:
In other news. Remember when Bernie Sanders was praising Mauduro and saying the "American Dream" was more likely to be realized in Venezuela? Well, Venezuela, the country with the worlds largest oil reserves, has run out of gasoline: https://www.greenwichtime.com/news/article/Oil-rich-Venezuela-is-running-out-of-gas-15204464.php
Hooray socialism! I remember when the Soviet Union was the worlds largest producer AND importer of wheat and there still wasn't enough bread to go around.
What's your take on the most socialist countries in the West are always topping democracy and happiness indexes? Not meant sarcastically btw, serious question. How do you explain socialism "bad", when countries that are the most socialist (within a capitalistic system) do so well?
Would we do even better if we abandoned our system and became "mini-USAs"?
https://www.eiu.com/topic/democracy-index
In before Skarpen "but barnevernet"
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18 hours ago, majestic said:
But Jimmy being threatened is boring, and a full episode with him and Mike hiking through the desert? Nah, count me out. Jonathan Bank's age also has beomce a huge crack in my suspension of disbelief.
I agree, I was surprised to see how beloved that episode was. I saw people claiming it was one of the best episodes of TV ever, which surprised me considering Breaking Bad (and other shows, like The Sopranos) already had similar types of "lost in the wilderness" episodes.
Looking forward to watching the newly released episode though. Very curious about what will happen to Kim in the end.
Also, seconding Zoraptor's Dark recommendation.
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I think Sanders has more positives than negatives. I think he identifies your problems more clearly than most other politicians over there. Then again, most Western-Europeans are gonna think that as he's pretty the "European-style" candidate.
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Wonder if Trump or Biden will change some of their stances now to pick up voters from the Sanders-base.
Bernie live on twitch: https://live.berniesanders.com/
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Anyone seen The Plot Against America yet? I love much of David Simon's stuff (The Wire, Generation Kill, Show me a Hero), but have found some of his shows kind of hard to get into (Treme and The Deuce). Should probably give it a chance.
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I checked my imdb ratings, and the only film there that I've given 9/10 or higher that isn't widely known is The Twilight Samurai from 2002.
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21 minutes ago, Volourn said:
And, unlike the US, our PM *is* no doubt a racist
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racial_views_of_Donald_Trump
What doubt? Trump is racist.
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It's kind of weird with the popularity of guys like Sanders and Trump that a representative 3rd party hasn't arrived already. Sanders especially should've started a "Social Democrat" party a long time ago.
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3 hours ago, Skarpen said:
I heard about the child abuses by barnevernet from time to time in the past couple of years, but got interested after they expelled Poland's ambassador for trying to stop them from kidnapping a Polish couple's child. Many immigrants children are being targeted, especially if they look "norwegia" i.e. blond with blue eyes. Barnevernet steals children and give them up to Norwegian families. Gruesome stuff. Glad that European Court of Human Rights took notice.
Yes...all part of our übermensch-plan. No one can withstand our blonde blue-eyed nation!!
You make it seem like there's this big conspiracy to recruit future "Norwegians", but it's more about people not doing their job properly. There's nothing wrong with the guidelines, or the idea behind Barnevernet - it's just that way too many of the people who work there lack the relevant skills and education to do so. That being said, I wouldn't be surprised if barnevernet were more lenient with African immigrants. I often meet attitudes of "they don't know any better, we need to help them" in my line of work when it comes to African parents, while more is expected of our Eastern european immigrants. Maybe that could be how that "we only kidnap Norwegian-looking children" story originated. In any case, conspiracy theories like that are silly.
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1 hour ago, Skarpen said:
How does having an government agency involved in child trafficking and human rights violations reflects on people of Norway then?
I'd imagine it reflects well on a country that it takes children's welfare seriously. There are other things I'm more embarrassed about when it comes to Norway.
The "scandals" have led to huge discussions about how Barnevernet should be reformed, and what can be improved. There's no doubt the children's welfare institution in the country have been understaffed and lacked the competence to do their jobs properly, but the controversy is gonna lead to (hopefully) positive change, without abandoning the principle of prioritizing children's rights. One suggestion is to increase the % (from 8 to 80)of workers with Master's degree, making it obligatory to have competent people working in the sector in the long run. There have been to many social workers without proper education manning the sector.
@Guard Dog Long story short...the children's welfare service here have been overly zealous in taking children away from their allegedly abusive parents. Some of the cases have been justified, some have not. Norway has stricter laws than most countries when it comes to a child's welfare (even spanking is illegal here), so that leads to more cases of potential abuse than in other countries. Norway lost several cases in European courts. Half of us think that doesn't matter because we're better equipped to deal with what's right or wrong than a court in Strasbourg, and the other half wants a huge revamp of the sector.
Edit: and just for the record. You won't have your child taken away if you spank them. In 99% of the cases the Children's welfare services offer guidance and help.
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No elephants poached for a whole year in African park:
https://www.fauna-flora.org/news/zero-no-elephants-poached-whole-year-african-park
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The government reflects the people in the country. You get the government you deserve. If you don't fight for a good government, you won't get it. I agree that it's better to have a "weak" government rather than a strong one if that's the case.
My government doesn't love me, but the opportunities it gives derives from the people. The people here WANT to pay more taxes so that everyone gets the same benefits. Free healthcare, education, longer paid holidays, paid sick leave etc. If any government tried to do something about that, they'd simply lose the next election, which is why the system is intact. Even the rightwingers that has been in power now for a long time know better than to meddle with the system. Which is how it should be - the government should fear its people, not the other way around.
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Is this not insider trading? Why do I have a feeling nothing's gonna happen here?
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Watched the Castlevania series on Netflix. Pretty entertaining, if you can force your brain not to care too much about the dumb stuff.
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Trump doesn't want voting to be easy:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/mar/30/trump-republican-party-voting-reform-coronavirus
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5 hours ago, Volourn said:
P.S. That guy is a coward. He didn't care about anyone but himself. I feel bad for his family and friends, and feel pity for him but he was a coward who gave up - the definition of cowardice.
You could also flip it around. Cowardice is when fear prevents you from making a decision, but he went through with it. A coward wouldn't have the guts to kill themselves. But that's also a simplification.
Generally I don't believe it's either brave or cowardly, it's usually just a result of mental illness. People killing themselves often think they're doing the ones around them a favour, or that people won't care that they're gone. Can't speak for this case in particular as I didn't read the article.
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Going to be interesting to see the results in Sweden. They seem to be hinging it all on Tegnell's strategy.
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The importance of (great) music.
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Be appreciative, and don't complain - or you won't get any help.
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Ozon layer repairing itself:
https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/as-ozone-layer-repairs-itself-global-wind-trends-are-reversing/
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I'm with Sanders here.
Incidentally, Joseph Grogan, member of the Coronavirus task force, was "Head of Federal Affairs" for Gilead Sciences 2011-2017.
Draining the swamp!
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Governments should not pay a dime to companies who do huge shareholder payouts in these times.
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I laughed out loud at the guy asking about recess all the time.
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Yeah Nynaeve actually gets better along the way, and is even somewhat sympathetic.
Two predictions:
1. Rosamund Pike will do well as Moiraine.
2. They'll misunderstand what makes Mat funny, and make him into a generic comic relief character with "funny" oneliners all the time (and people will love it).
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Politics XXXV (Life in the Vault is about to change)
in Way Off-Topic
Posted · Edited by Maedhros
No country is perfect (or even close to perfect), but there's a reason the same ones continously top all indexes no matter the positive criteria (democracy, happiness, least corrupt, you name it).
Also, pretty sure Sweden isn't actually the "rape capitol" of Europe. They're superfeminist, so the term "rape" has a far wider definition there than elsewhere, and the women there are also far more likely to report them than in other countries (more faith in the justice system).
I can ask you the same question I asked GD - why do you think those countries always top happiness indexes (and alike) despite being the most socialistic ones?