What is going on in the Eurasian continent (and attached islands and colonies) and with the Eurasian people, culture, history, and maps?
We're doing great! :hat:
I've got two bad teeth plugged.
Things are just great in Crimea! And the Eurasian plate is moving away from the North American plate, so I'm farther away from Belfrager today than I was yesterday. :hat:
That movement is just swinging. In a hundred million years they collide back. And you know what? New York will be crushed! :lol:
I've been chewing sweet-sweet cookies with my newly plugged teeth, now I'm going to (https://www.smileyfaze.tk/slides/cigar.gif).:cool:?
[The damn cheap cigar has happened to have a prickle near to the "user" end:irked: Forced to hold a finger on: :hat:.]
I've broken a tooth. Another one...:mad:
Things are just great in Crimea! And the Eurasian plate is moving away from the North American plate, so I'm farther away from Belfrager today than I was yesterday. :hat:
It's a round world... :zzz:
It's also a big, big world.
[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpkS2DU_qMs[/video]
It's a round world... :zzz:
(https://www.smileyfaze.tk/slides/awright005.gif)
I've broken a tooth. Another one...:mad:
I've run up to the near dentistry and made them remove the piece, though it occurred I need to pull the roots yet.
Frans, I like - have you done something to the "Quote"?:up:
I haven't got the time to. Why?
It's a round world... :zzz:
Spherical.
(https://dndsanctuary.eu/imagecache.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.bbcimg.co.uk%2Fmedia%2Fimages%2F77660000%2Fjpg%2F_77660223_77660222.jpg&hash=15c486c2f8e53e2d97a0d06ebd0bf05c" rel="cached" data-hash="15c486c2f8e53e2d97a0d06ebd0bf05c" data-warn="External image, click here to view original" data-url="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/77660000/jpg/_77660223_77660222.jpg)
Leaders of China and India meet (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-29249268)
India and China have signed 12 agreements in Delhi, one of which will see China investing $20bn (£12.2bn) in India's infrastructure over five years.
At a news conference with Chinese President Xi Jinping, India's PM Narendra Modi said "peace on the border" was important for progress.
Talks came as India accused China of fresh territorial incursions in Ladakh.
China is one of India's top trading partners but they vie for regional influence and dispute their border.
One of the most intriguing is the movie industry. India is the greatest movie producer in the world, and China is the greatest movie consumer.
Now, India-China joint venture in films (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Now-India-China-joint-venture-in-films/articleshow/42843048.cms)
NEW DELHI: Bollywood is not even a blip on the film market in China that is adding 10-11 movie halls every day to its 22,000 screens (India has 11,000). That could be about to change with the two nations signing up for joint ventures.
PM Modi's pitch for joint ventures between the leading Indian movie industry and its Chinese counterpart is significant as China allows only 34 foreign movies annually to be screened in the country — and it's mostly Hollywood fare. Joint ventures aren't considered foreign movies: making space for Bollywood.
Buzz is that the pitch followed on a cue from Xi's wife Peng Liyuan. Modi told Xi that Peng shared with him how much she liked watching Raj Kapoor's classic Awaara and that the Bollywood following in China was growing. Of late "3 Idiots" and "Dhoom 3" have been rare box office successes in Chinese, but that's about it.
And India is growing up with the Internet
[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2amt0OJL_4[/video]
Great!
What India and China have to do with Eurasia?
Eurasia starts in Portugal and finishes in... er... somewhere... the Urals or something like that. Ok, a little bit more for being also Asia, draw a vertical line when Turkey finishes.
Well India and China are in the "Asia" bit.
China planning eastern Europe transport hub (http://)Chinese leaders are visiting Belgrade to advance projects such as their plan to turn Greece's port of Piraeus into a hub for China's trade with Europe. The talks involve 16 heads of central and eastern European nations.
(https://dndsanctuary.eu/imagecache.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dw.de%2Fimage%2F0%2C%2C18135205_303%2C00.jpg&hash=a217d1bbeb695d7231218d818318558b" rel="cached" data-hash="a217d1bbeb695d7231218d818318558b" data-warn="External image, click here to view original" data-url="http://www.dw.de/image/0,,18135205_303,00.jpg)
Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang began a rare visit to Serbia on Tuesday for a two-day regional summit to finalize plans for a new transport and shipping hub on Europe's eastern flank.
His visit coincides with economic troubles for Russia, the Balkan's traditional power broker, stemming partly from Western sanctions over Moscow's role in Ukraine.
Traveling with Li are 200 Chinese business executives. Another summit item is to be the signing of a deal for a high-speed train link between Budapest and Belgrade.
Among the European leaders who met Li was Slovenian Prime Minister Miro Cerar (pictured with Li, above).
China seeks 'rapid' route
Ahead of the summit Li told Serbian media that the concept was a "rapid land and maritime route" (http://www.dw.de/china-wants-greek-port-of-piraeus-to-become-its-gateway-to-europe/a-17723942) created by expanding Piraeus' port facilities and linking it by railroad.
"We will set a mid-term agenda to define our future cooperation and present financial measures that will facilitate it," Li said referring to China's abundant cash reserves.
The Chinese shipping giant Cosco has a 35-year concession to expand two container terminals at Piraeus.
Greece, despite its deep economic crisis, retains one of the world's largest merchant marine fleets, with China being one of its key customers.
Belgrade-Budapest railway-related agreements signed (http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics.php?yyyy=2014&mm=12&dd=17&nav_id=92602)BELGRADE -- Two agreements on cooperation between the Serbian and Hungarian railways and customs authorities were signed on Wednesday in Belgrade.
The agreements are part of a deal to modernize the Belgrade-Budapest railway and were signed in the presence of prime ministers of China, Serbia, Hungary and Macedonia.
The prime ministers told a joint press conference that they were glad about the high-speed railway project "now being certain," adding that it would benefit the countries of central and eastern Europe, the EU, and overall cooperation between China and this part of the world.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang expects that the railway will be completed in two years and that it will prove to be of benefit to both China and the countries of central and eastern Europe and the EU.
Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said that it was an important day for Serbia, which would contribute not only to the development of industry and railways, but also enable greater connectivity with Hungary, Macedonia, and far faster transportation of passengers and goods.
The Serbian prime minister said that the travel time would be shortened from eight to 2.4 hours and that the great infrastructure project would bring new jobs.
The Serbian prime minister thanked his counterparts for the understanding and cooperation they were showing, stressing that everything would be done to have the project realized in time and as soon as possible.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that it was a lucky day for Hungary and that the project would enable the country to use the potentials of its "positive geographical position."
He said that the railway would prove of great importance to the countries of central and eastern Europe, adding that he was confident that cooperation between China and Europe was progressing.
Maybe the new world currency should be the Yen....?
It's thirty years since the Japanese took over the world. Then again the Japanese yen, Chinese yuán and Korean won are at root the same word.
Xi Jinping defends 'one-China' principle during Macau visit (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-30559769)
(https://dndsanctuary.eu/imagecache.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.bbcimg.co.uk%2Fmedia%2Fimages%2F79858000%2Fjpg%2F_79858945_79858944.jpg&hash=d1fa26b99a2ff261cbea4d898c42772d" rel="cached" data-hash="d1fa26b99a2ff261cbea4d898c42772d" data-warn="External image, click here to view original" data-url="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/79858000/jpg/_79858945_79858944.jpg)
Chinese President Xi Jinping is visiting Macau to mark the 15th anniversary of the former Portuguese colony's return to China.
He urged people in the territory to respect the "one-China" principle.
Like neighbouring Hong Kong, Macau is a special autonomous region and has experienced protests by pro-democracy activists this year.
Correspondents say officials in Beijing do not want to the territories to become hotbeds of dissent.
"We must both adhere to the 'one China' principle and respect the difference of the two systems," Mr Xi said at the inauguration of Macau's Chief Executive Fernando Chui.
"This is the only way leading to sound and steady progress," Mr Xi added. "Otherwise a misguided approach from the beginning, just like putting one's left foot into the right shoe, would lead us nowhere."
Ground-breaking ceremony for Beijing's future Daxing airport, to open in 2018. It would be the world's biggest airport (the existing Capital Airport is second most busy) if Dubai hadn't decided to build an even bigger one (http://www.mnn.com/green-tech/transportation/stories/dubai-reaches-for-worlds-largest-airport-crown).
(https://dndsanctuary.eu/imagecache.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.xinhuanet.com%2Fenglish%2Fphoto%2F2014-12%2F26%2F133880632_14195742148461n.jpg&hash=666e70f47a7ed9dac4a9a9e77f252c45" rel="cached" data-hash="666e70f47a7ed9dac4a9a9e77f252c45" data-warn="External image, click here to view original" data-url="http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/photo/2014-12/26/133880632_14195742148461n.jpg)
It's been a busy couple weeks in China for infrastructure (https://dndsanctuary.eu/index.php?topic=334.0).
There is opening 8 more metro lines, and an interesting overture for a railroad to Nepal (http://www.ekantipur.com/2014/12/28/editors-pick/china-assures-rail-link-with-nepal/399603.html) (the mountainous country between China and India), we might take the train to Mount Everest soon, starting that airport, making an agreement on a railroad between Hungary and Greece, or Serbia for now.
They have also opened three long high-speed railroads into the more geographically challenging (and poorer) parts of the country in the same day, totalling 3210 km, more than the national network of any other country on the planet (a couple other lines were opened as well, but not on the same day).
The one going to Urumqi, on the Silk Road 1/3 of the way to Moscow, I've already mentioned.
(https://dndsanctuary.eu/imagecache.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hq.xinhuanet.com%2Fphoto%2F2014-12%2F26%2F1113790568_14195765169791n.jpg&hash=e7399dbba5f18f500b56775a385897f8" rel="cached" data-hash="e7399dbba5f18f500b56775a385897f8" data-warn="External image, click here to view original" data-url="http://www.hq.xinhuanet.com/photo/2014-12/26/1113790568_14195765169791n.jpg)
There are also two lines going from Guangzhou (Canton). One to Nanning, near Hanoi/the Vietnamese border.
(https://dndsanctuary.eu/imagecache.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.highestbridges.com%2Fwiki%2Fimages%2Fthumb%2F6%2F6b%2F1NanpanjiangBridge.jpg%2F750px-1NanpanjiangBridge.jpg&hash=c38fffc784e1cee95bca34e152eb9ba9" rel="cached" data-hash="c38fffc784e1cee95bca34e152eb9ba9" data-warn="External image, click here to view original" data-url="http://www.highestbridges.com/wiki/images/thumb/6/6b/1NanpanjiangBridge.jpg/750px-1NanpanjiangBridge.jpg)
The other to Guiyang, halfway to Burma, through a region with plenty of wild in their wilderness.
(https://dndsanctuary.eu/imagecache.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi57.tinypic.com%2F11vmbv5.jpg&hash=e27270ee06a2b984de901ea5137b4502" rel="cached" data-hash="e27270ee06a2b984de901ea5137b4502" data-warn="External image, click here to view original" data-url="http://i57.tinypic.com/11vmbv5.jpg)
Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah dies (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-30945324)
Abdullah bin Abdulaziz (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-10214554) was the fifth of his brothers to take the throne and became king in 2005, reports Caroline Hawley
Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz has died in hospital, royal officials have announced.
A statement early on Friday said his half brother, Salman, had become king (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-30945925).
Before the announcement, Saudi television cut to Koranic verses, which often signifies the death of a senior royal.
King Abdullah, who was said to be aged about 90, had been in hospital for several weeks suffering from a lung infection.
Abdullah came to the throne in 2005 but had suffered frequent bouts of ill health in recent years.
(https://dndsanctuary.eu/imagecache.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.bbcimg.co.uk%2Fmedia%2Fimages%2F73886000%2Fjpg%2F_73886791_3d5f2387-062f-4f1b-ad5a-9ffccc26963b.jpg&hash=b194d9e8edd734e342e599b738ad765d" rel="cached" data-hash="b194d9e8edd734e342e599b738ad765d" data-warn="External image, click here to view original" data-url="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/73886000/jpg/_73886791_3d5f2387-062f-4f1b-ad5a-9ffccc26963b.jpg)
It won't make a difference to a dictatorial hell-hole that we in the West always support. Shameful
Eurasia getting more connected, Yemen crisis: China evacuates citizens and foreigners from Aden (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-32173811)
China's navy has evacuated 225 foreign nationals and almost 600 Chinese citizens from Yemen's southern port of Aden, amid fierce fighting there.
China says it is the first time its military has rescued foreign nationals from a danger zone.
Houthi rebels in the city have been fighting troops loyal to ousted Yemeni President, Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi.
On Friday, the rebels withdrew from the presidential palace, following Saudi-led air strikes.
(https://dndsanctuary.eu/imagecache.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fichef.bbci.co.uk%2Fnews%2F625%2Fmedia%2Fimages%2F82107000%2Fjpg%2F_82107029_chinesecheckreut.jpg&hash=9bb1e45b6b59af64afcd0e80296970cd" rel="cached" data-hash="9bb1e45b6b59af64afcd0e80296970cd" data-warn="External image, click here to view original" data-url="http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/625/media/images/82107000/jpg/_82107029_chinesecheckreut.jpg)
Chinese naval frigates were carrying out anti-piracy patrols off the coast of Somalia when they were diverted to Yemen to evacuate people trapped by the fighting.
The evacuees were taken by naval frigates across the Red Sea to Djibouti, to take flights home.
The non-Chinese evacuees included 176 people from Pakistan, said Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying. There were smaller numbers from other countries, including Ethiopia, Singapore, the UK, Italy and Germany.
And note that those wonderful democrats the Saudis refused to allow a Russian plane to uplift their Consul staff to safety.
the Saudis refused to allow a Russian plane to uplift their Consul staff to safety.
After bombing 'by mistake' the Russian consulate in Yemen.
Such 'mistakes' seem to be usual. Last time it was China's Belgrade embassy in Yugoslavia which get bombed by US-led NATO forces.
source (https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2015/04/02/18770711.php)
Yep, too true.
Mumbai attack suspect Lakhvi released on bail in Pakistan (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-32250763)
(https://dndsanctuary.eu/imagecache.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fichef.bbci.co.uk%2Fnews%2F624%2Fmedia%2Fimages%2F82227000%2Fjpg%2F_82227693_82227687.jpg&hash=d7da17f4c9e0f2c2387a510f97216d66" rel="cached" data-hash="d7da17f4c9e0f2c2387a510f97216d66" data-warn="External image, click here to view original" data-url="http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/624/media/images/82227000/jpg/_82227693_82227687.jpg)
The suspected mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, has been released on bail from a Pakistani jail, officials say.
Jail officials in Rawalpindi said Mr Lakhvi was released on Friday morning.
India's Home Minister Rajnath Singh has called the release "unfortunate and disappointing", Indian media reports say.
Mr Lakhvi had been granted bail in December, but was kept in detention under public order legislation.
That detention was declared void by the High Court, which ordered his release.
Mr Lakhvi still faces trial - along with six other suspects - over the attacks, which left 166 people dead and damaged peace efforts between the two countries.
It is a banana republic type place and can see it from many who live here. :irked:
In Korea, it would seem they stick cycling lanes in the middle of expressways. I'm not entirely sure what to think of it, but the combination of cover and solar power is something I've long wondered why it isn't being done more often. Admittedly, it's only in recent years that the cost of solar power dropped significantly.
[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuYsYLqjUtU[/video]
Sounds utterly daft to me . Hey jimbro you were there years ago so hope you were not responsible?
Bicycle is new to me. I have heard of/seen using the motorway middle for metro, train, or on viaduct BRT, monorail, high-speed rail. There are also too few bicycle bridges, like the one in Copenhagen, North-West Eurasia:
[video]https://youtu.be/FRX9C0J9XhE[/video]
I have heard of/seen using the motorway middle for metro, train, or on viaduct BRT, monorail, high-speed rail.
Which makes much more sense given how you don't have all (or as much) of the bothersome car noise and particles, although it seems much more usual to me for those to be on the side insofar as they line up.
I imagined this discussion at the planners/retrofitters:
—Our lawnmower man has retired, but I have a great idea, let's build a tram line there instead!
—But there is no space for a tram!
—There isn't? Nevermind, bicycle path then.
Bicycle is new to me.
Always suspected that you couldn't even ride a bicycle.
The one that can ride a bicycle never needs a map.
In the line of what went on in Eurasia, it's a century since the breakup of the Ottoman empire and the 1915 genocides.
”They were all Christians and therefore had to die” (http://mobil.svd.se/kultur/svep/se-bilder-fran-platserna-dar-dramat-utspelade-sig_svd-4511234/they-were-all-christians-and-therefore-had-to-die_svd-4510132)
100 years ago today a genocide was initiated in the disintegrating Ottoman Empire. Anders Q Björkman of the Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet tells the story how his family was saved because of a small village that took to arms and defended itself.
(https://dndsanctuary.eu/imagecache.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.svd.se%2FBilder%2FArtikelbilder%2F4474475.svd%2Frepresentations%2Fmobile-article%2FFolkmord3.jpg%3F1428656035000&hash=c8298df2262338fd9d9eda1ad1d613bb" rel="cached" data-hash="c8298df2262338fd9d9eda1ad1d613bb" data-warn="External image, click here to view original" data-url="http://www.svd.se/Bilder/Artikelbilder/4474475.svd/representations/mobile-article/Folkmord3.jpg?1428656035000)
The girl was 12 years old. On a spring day 1975 she started a bus journey together with parents and siblings: 1 550 kilometers, from their home town of Midyat in southeastern Turkey to the metropole Istanbul in the other end of the country. They spent one night in the bus and then slept the following night in Istanbul. From there by train, via West Germany, all the way to Stockholm, Sweden. For thousands of years their roots had been firmly grounded in the red soil of the region around Midyat. Now the family was to take root in another part of the world. Both the mother and the father had already found employment at the truck manufacturer Scania in Södertälje, just south of the Swedish capital Stockholm. They left their old lives as housewife and silversmith in their home country and overnight the family of nine persons became immigrants.
But that was 40 years ago.
Now we’re instead travelling in the opposite direction: from Stockholm to Midyat, situated in Turabdin, ”The mountain of God’s servants”, heartland for Christian Assyrians/Syriacs in southeastern Turkey.
The girl has grown up and has become the mother of my three daughters. We’re going back to her history, to the house she once lived in, to the churches of Midyat, to the 1 618 years old monastery Mor Gabriel outside the town. We visit the village of Hah where, according to the legend, The three wise men raised a monument in honor of Mary on their way from Bethlehem. Today there’s a church here, sometimes said to be the world’s oldest. By the river of Tigris we find Hasankeyf, a place where humans have been living for 12 000 years and that, alas, soon will disappear under water if a planned dam construction will actually be initiated. We travel to the town of Mardin, where we find the Zafaran monastery, older than Christianity – in its basement you’ll find remnants of a sun worshipping religion.
This several thousand years old cultural heritage is overwhelming, especially for our daughters who realize that this rich history is also theirs. Their grandfather – jiddo in Assyrian/Syriac – has passed away shortly before our trip and the need to understand their own background has begun to grow within them. Here in Turabdin my daughters’ Assyrian/Syriac history has a great depth. In Sweden it starts in the 1970s in public housing areas in the southern suburbs of Stockholm. In Mesopotamia between the rivers of Tigris and Euphrates it starts several thousands years ago. (Jiddo always preferred the word Syriac rather than Assyrian, and therefore I will use that denomination of the people from now on).
Most of all we are touched by the visit to the church in the little village of Ayn-Wardo. It is situated on a hill and the church stands like a little fortress on the top of the hill. We’re shown around by a young man who tells us what happened here 100 years ago, the summer of 1915, when Sayfo took place. Sayfo means The Sword and is the Syriac name for the genocide of Christians that occured in the Ottoman Empire during the first world war. In most villages and towns of Turabdin the Christian population were not able to defend themselves. They were not prepared and couldn't imagine that their neighbors would kill them and plunder their homes. So they didn’t have a chance when the killing started.
But in Ayn-Wardo the villagers planned for defense from within the church’s thick walls right from the start. To this place many from Midyat fled for their lives one night a 100 years ago.
Our guide gestures towards us and says:
”None of you would exist if the people of this village hadn’t taken to arms and defended themselves”.
And he points at me:
”None, except you”.
it is odd in a way that only selected atrocities get the front line. It has been said that the Turkish killing campaign took up to nearly one and a half million then there was Cambodia another 7 figure one.
it is odd in a way that only selected atrocities get the front line.
Are you still mad at the Vikings, for their depredations?
What Andrew Jackson (…no relation) did to the Sioux was unconscionable. (We'll ignore the Meso-American pre-Columbus antics…) What Great Britain (…hey, didn't that
include Scotland?) did in India was pretty bad. Not to say other countries weren't as bad or worse.
(And we won't mention what the British -presumably, including the Scots- did to Ireland.)
Recently… Stalin, Hitler, Stalin again; Mao, Pol Pot. More recently (in much lesser numbers, because they're incompetents), various religious zealots — mostly, Islamic fundamentalists.
And of course there's the Jews! (Isn't this where "Aye!
There's the rub" for you? :) ) Six million, or perhaps less… Would you laugh it off, if it were only one million? I do believe you'd try!
What the Armenians want is — well, I don't know. But I'm pretty sure I know what the Kurds want.
Please consider: What the Ottoman Empire did to Christians and all non-Mohammedans, the Japanese did to whatever people they conquered… I'm sorry, if you find this an uncomfortable fact. But fact it is!
What you and I would call barbaric were commonplace and respected attitudes, for most of recorded history and for most historical "civilizations"…
What bothers me is your attitude.
Will you make your case, that Scots are an oppressed minority, already? :) Then, you can get in the queue for your "specialness" medals!
(You yourself could easily qualify for the Intellectual Special Olympics…)
it is odd in a way that only selected atrocities get the front line.
BTW: You thought 50 years was significant. But 100 years isn't?
The Armenian/Greek/Assyrian genocides are generally considered the first "modern" genocides, but that puts an artificial line between modern and non-modern, and there is a similar line between genocides and other atrocities. "Genocide" is a legal term, even though it wasn't a century ago, and if I were a lawyer or politician I might have to be more circumspect of "organised mass killings having the hallmarks of and commonly referred to as genocide".
But here my interest was in the atrocity itself, not the name nor the cause. The modernity was in the creation of the modern Turkish national state from the pre-modern Ottoman empire, but whether this is considered a nationalist atrocity, a religious one, a Turkish one, all of the above, and/or others, it merits attention. Sure, that which happened in Europe (and later also North America) gets more of that than that which happened elsewhere, but it doesn't make what happened in Europe less substantial. Neither does that it has reverberations to the European and American here and now.
Kim Kardashian calls on Obama to label Armenian massacre 'genocide' (http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/240041-kim-kardashian-calls-on-obama-to-label-armenian-massacre-genocide)
(https://dndsanctuary.eu/imagecache.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fthehill.com%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2Ffiles%2Fstyles%2Farticle_full%2Fpublic%2Fblogs%2Fkimkardashian_051514getty.jpg%3Fitok%3DMxk2Q136&hash=b981d7646690ce2bbebe45dc70412877" rel="cached" data-hash="b981d7646690ce2bbebe45dc70412877" data-warn="External image, click here to view original" data-url="http://thehill.com/sites/default/files/styles/article_full/public/blogs/kimkardashian_051514getty.jpg?itok=Mxk2Q136)
Well now Oakdale we had the Armenian terror, Cambodia, Soviet massacres and that of the Jews. However the others get put into the pale behind the Jews which could be thought as odd. But the Jews have a great involvement in the media, corporate world, etc so makes it easy for them. As for 6 million Jews done in that is rubbish. That figure was dished out in 1945 by a Red Army general who had no damn idea of figures whatsover. World Jewry used that 6 figure as far back as after WW1 and purely guess work. Even that terrible place Auschwitz has had the claimed numbers by the authorities reduced and reduced and very greatly.
We know Jews suffered but so too did the Armenians and Cambodians in 7 figures. In the USSR nearly 5 million starved to death around Ukraine a million died being forced to build canals, many more in their own terrible concentration camps so why do the Jews always get the priority? Do try using your brain properly while slumped in the chair or get out for a walk. You love to mouth off words rather than have a life as it no doubt makes you feel "good".
This little snippet of nighttime Asia is of a nation more wanting than most. This image of N. Korea says it all. Lordy, the Chinese have attempted to block the border to keep defectors out.
(https://cdn.urbantimes.co/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/northkoreamap_620x350-840x550.jpg)
You love to mouth off words […]
RJ, you
only know me from words on a
forum! What senseless blather you make…
Go back to your telly, where your rants are better appreciated! :)
And how daft are you showing yourself to be Oakdale. Maybe I should add that only know me from the forum but then you are a Yank and think you are almost divinely inspired. Have made allowances for the system that brought you up boy so maybe you might even see my point! :D
In one week a million Chinese travellers will arrive in Bangkok. Me, I'm getting out of here. A most auspicious year of the fire monkey to you all.
And how daft are you showing yourself to be Oakdale. Maybe I should add that only know me from the forum but then you are a Yank and think you are almost divinely inspired.
Got that, Rj. We're all divinely inspired. Used to be that Brits thought themselves ordained to rule, but now it's Rule America!
Rule, Britannia! Britannia, rule the waves:
Britons never will be slaves.
**********************************
Rule, America! America, rule the waves:
Americans will never be slaves.
(https://dndsanctuary.eu/imagecache.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.eutypon.gr%2Fimages%2Fus-uk-flag.gif&hash=3ae7f7e48fae9ada0091c007ef6c50be" rel="cached" data-hash="3ae7f7e48fae9ada0091c007ef6c50be" data-warn="External image, click here to view original" data-url="http://www.eutypon.gr/images/us-uk-flag.gif)
Unfortunately dear man, Americans are slaves and to the money barons where bits of democracy are used to fool people. It is an area that I am afraid to say many are fooled by and have an intellectual ignorance. Last night I watched a funny tv item where people in the street (America of course!) were asked if they would sign a petition of support. The sheet was to support Saunders for President and for him to get hold of Karl Marx to be the Vice-President candidate. What stunned were the people who agreed with such a move and would even sign the sheet. You have a problem jimbro. :o :D
Unfortunately dear man, Americans are slaves and to the money barons where bits of democracy are used to fool people.
Where have I heard that over, and over, and over....
I live in a very nice residence, eat nice meals, dine out regularly, have a nice family. Some kind of slavery. My guess is that I'm doing at least as well as my Scottish friend.
(https://dndsanctuary.eu/avs/avatar_35_1393905738.png)
I suspect that if Bernie could resurrect Karl he'd gladly accept him as a running-mate… :)
Well the television show that had Americans signing a street petition for Bernieaunders to invite Karl Marx to come along and be in his team is woeful. It shows how little the many people really know and apart from being funny was in a way, sad.
You are cumfy jimbro and I cannot fault you for that at all as you worked long in an area of need and entitled to what you have. However it is a bit stretched to try and cover the general truth that tens of millions are on stamps and millions losing homes in the "world's greatest country" and so on.
What is going on in the Eurasian continent (and attached islands and colonies) and with the Eurasian people, culture, history, and maps?
I's all Marco Polo's fault.
In Japan, this is going on:
https://vimeo.com/167217111
1 killed as armed group seizes police HQ in Armenian capital, demands release of opposition head (https://www.rt.com/news/351668-yerevan-police-gunmen-hostage/)
One more such news and it can be said that it's the high season of putsches.
I would like to know what happened in Turkey.
It's clear that no one knows.
It's clear that Atatürk is rolling over in his grave…
Jakarta is thinking about building a Great Garuda (mythical bird) shaped dike.
http://www.kennislink.nl/publicaties/jakarta-vecht-tegen-het-water
(https://dndsanctuary.eu/imagecache.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fassets.kennislink.nl%2Fsystem%2Ffiles%2F000%2F240%2F157%2Flarge%2FJakarta_Sea_Wall_%2528Kuipercompagnons%2529.jpg%3F1468610074&hash=3a7d58b2c2ad31c29dd9de15f6dac1dd" rel="cached" data-hash="3a7d58b2c2ad31c29dd9de15f6dac1dd" data-warn="External image, click here to view original" data-url="http://assets.kennislink.nl/system/files/000/240/157/large/Jakarta_Sea_Wall_%28Kuipercompagnons%29.jpg?1468610074)
That Great Garuda design is amazing, but it's not clear to me how it will survive a few major typhoons.
I found extremely interesting this article about what's happening in Turkey and beyond.
Fethullah Gülen is not a “who” but, rather, it is a “what.” The what is one of the most extensive and elaborate surrogate warfare networks ever created by the United States intelligence community, spanning countless nations including the United States and Germany, as well as the historic Turkic regions of Central Asia from Turkey up to the Uyghur peoples of China’s oil-rich Xinjiang Autonomous Province.
http://journal-neo.org/2016/07/25/what-is-fethullah-gulen/
You still believe the CIA supported, funded and equipped Al Qaeda? :) What you seem to find "interesting" is the same sort of stuff Howie does…
You still believe the CIA supported, funded and equipped Al Qaeda? :) What you seem to find "interesting" is the same sort of stuff Howie does…
I still believe, until evidence in contrary, that the CIA does a lot against Europe. The difference regarding Howie is that I also believe the KGB does the same.
As for the Eurasia scenario, you should read your enemies Oakdale, not just your side's propaganda. Compare both and you'll learn a lot, including that Putin has been much more skillful than your side.
You still believe the CIA supported, funded and equipped Al Qaeda? :) What you seem to find "interesting" is the same sort of stuff Howie does…
Are you talking about something else than what is commonly known (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Cyclone)?
I read part of the Wiki article, Frenzie… But I'm quite sure that the Al Qaeda group was dissed by everyone! Go figure.
Bin Laden was not respected, by anyone. And the CIA never financed them… But, of course, there's a "narrative" that needs to be maintained.
Oops! NATO should have been dissolved more than 20 years ago. Europe should have been dissolved 400 years ago… :)
Probably Oakdale keeps to this information:
A photograph purportedly showing Ronald Reagan meeting with the Taliban at the White House has been shared for many years, along with a quote about the group supposedly from the former President: "These Gentlemen are the moral equivalents of America's Founding Fathers."
This enduring meme is wrong on more than one account.... While the Reagan administration did help fund and equip the Mujahideen in Afghanistan (and rebel groups elsewhere) so that they could fight against the Soviet occupation, it is inaccurate to say that the former president met with the Taliban, as at that point they did not exist....
So, even though Operation Cyclone happened, it was not bad at all. At that time things looked good and therefore all is still well!
I read part of the Wiki article, Frenzie... But I'm quite sure that the Al Qaeda group was dissed by everyone! Go figure.
Bin Laden was not respected, by anyone. And the CIA never financed them... But, of course, there's a "narrative" that needs to be maintained.
You still haven't clarified what you're talking about. You've only thrown up more questions. What narrative by whom needs to be maintained? What
is the narrative? The regular "narrative" is that Operation Cyclone likely contributed to the creation or at least the strength of Al Qaeda. I suppose some kind of Chomskyites might wish to entertain a delusion where Bin Laden was some kind of poetic justice, but I shouldn't think that hinges on such meaningless specifics.
Oakdale is the only American that loves decadence.
Like some of us Europeans he needs to balance between the dreams of a failed empire and the dissolute pleasure of ending in style.
Unfortunately, there's no place for him at the European Grand Hotel, there's no place for him at the Road 66 Motel.
Like some of us Europeans he needs to balance between the dreams of a failed empire and the dissolute pleasure of ending in style.
Between your
ennui and your realism, I can't decide what you actually mean. Of course, when you say "balance" I immediately think of equilibrating — to me, that means rope-walking. Do you think I can do that? :)
This video is a bit slow, but the technology is neat.
https://vimeo.com/175578404
Between your ennui and your realism, I can't decide what you actually mean. Of course, when you say "balance" I immediately think of equilibrating -- to me, that means rope-walking. Do you think I can do that? :)
No you can't. That's a good thing but it will assure you no place in civilization.
Civilization is all about rope-walking.
You had the dream about building a civilization far beyond the European's errors and, having all the time, all the power, all the military, all the money, you just made an anecdote.
Just an anecdote with the worst consequences the world has ever seen.
You'll never survive too much long than your brief two centuries.
And such a waste of over 2 centuries!
You'll never survive too much long than your brief two centuries.
Me, personally — probably not…
And such a waste of over 2 centuries!
I know: If only we could have degenerated like the Scots and the Portuguese! :)
Judging by the millions in jail, wide variety of horrible executions, violent police, murders and violence, creating wars how could you miss the self degeneration?? ???
Judging by [what I see on my telly, and Russian Times — if it agrees with my prejudices…]
:) You gave up on your own country (…is it still one?) long ago, but you dare not vent your spleen at them: Unlike
us geographically-challenged Yanks,
they know where you live… :)
BTW: Orange is just Red, mixed with Yellow!
Now you make up things I have not said Oakdale?? However you have shown some practical progress in that you have managed to work out what red and yellow makes. Now that is practical progress so well done.
Ah! The symbolism escapes you… :)
Orange is just Red, mixed with Yellow!
Soviet communists and Chinese communists.
Can someone back me up and assure Belfrager that the USSR is long ago history....... :irked:
Well, if it helps any, I meant Scottish Socialists… :)
Minority and lost all their seats in the Scottish parliament ages ago so you are well out of date boy.
assure Belfrager that the USSR is long ago history....... :irked:
Is that your justification for falling in love for KGB agents?
I could understand it if for some Russian beauty strip teaser dancer, but for a naked Putin riding bears???
You disappoint me Orange man. Not surprisingly.
Like the USSR the KGB is history too dear unfortunate man (don't have what is needed to be an Orangeman!). I have well shown the intelligence and intelligence of Putin that you choose to avoid because it doesn't suit. Maybe your nation should go back to being a one-party State again as it did last an awful long time. Losing your Royals did you no favours at all.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llS8qtvFSPA
China may put renewed pressure on India to join Belt and Road Initiative (http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/brics-china-may-put-renewed-pressure-on-india-to-join-belt-and-road-initiative/story-fHAHyQ9XppIxulbyGdO3VN.html)
(https://dndsanctuary.eu/imagecache.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hindustantimes.com%2Frf%2Fimage_size_640x362%2FHT%2Fp2%2F2016%2F10%2F15%2FPictures%2Fleaders-meet-ahead-hangzhou-the-g20-summit_06321d78-9294-11e6-ab84-dfe1f1607a79.jpg&hash=e47177356b5a171205a361ac86e9c31a" rel="cached" data-hash="e47177356b5a171205a361ac86e9c31a" data-warn="External image, click here to view original" data-url="http://www.hindustantimes.com/rf/image_size_640x362/HT/p2/2016/10/15/Pictures/leaders-meet-ahead-hangzhou-the-g20-summit_06321d78-9294-11e6-ab84-dfe1f1607a79.jpg)
China is likely to further press upon India to join the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which aims to connect the east Asian country with Eurasia through a network of infrastructure projects, with Bangladesh apparently keen to be a part of President Xi Jinping’s ambitious initiative.
Xi is reaching Goa on Saturday morning fairly fresh from a day in Dhaka where he is said to have pledged some $24 billion in various projects in the densely populated country.
The Chinese president will surely take the opportunity of his interactions during the BRICS summit to impress upon India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi that by not joining the BRI, New Delhi is missing out an opportunity for economic development.
And, especially because most of India’s neighbours in south Asia are falling in line with the BRI – Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Minority and lost all their seats in the Scottish parliament ages ago
In name only… :)
When you catch up on what democracy is Oaky I will say "good for you." (!) :D
I know well what democracy is, RJ. I'm against it! :) (You are too; you're just not honest about it…)
Hhmmm. Had a notion when young of being a graceful dictator Oakdale.
Nope. But it is telling, that the only alternatives you admit are the tyranny of the majority or dictatorship… No wonder you don't understand constitutional republics.
Oh I do know very well about so-called 'constitutional republics' and the most obvious one is a joke.
Russian ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov shot dead in Ankara (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-38369962)
Strange killing that one.. a security guard kills the ambassador and Russians thanks very much to Turkey.
At the good old times, that would be a war declaration.
Well I fact he was a policeman but it shows that even people like an officer you think might be intelligent are influenced by daft stuff. Personally I wouldn't want turkey in the EU but there are again being a Brexit man I am not too bothered!
but there are again being a Brexit man I am not too bothered!
You were most certainly not, before the vote!
Only Turkey can stop and protect Europe from the waves created by American actions.
Turkey doesn't need (and probably they don't even want) to join the EU, they just want to be paid for their job. It's fair.
Europe has a long tradition in using mercenaries for all our internal wars as well for protect our borders. Even the Pope has been using Swiss mercenaries for long. :)
China and Norway: Unpacking the Deal (http://thediplomat.com/2016/12/china-and-norway-unpacking-the-deal/)The normalization of the relationship between China and Norway (http://thediplomat.com/2016/01/towards-the-thaw-seeking-clarity-in-sino-norwegian-relations/) last week brought an abrupt end to the freeze of political ties imposed by China after the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo in 2010. Donald Trump’s impending presidency, and signs of considerable change in U.S. China policy, are likely to have been contributing geopolitical factors prompting Beijing to seek a solution. However, as both Chinese and Norwegian officials, including Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg, noted (https://www.nrk.no/norge/_-full-normalisering-i-forholdet-med-kina-1.13282574), the normalization was mainly the result of years of painstaking diplomatic negotiations, in the form of a series of low-level meetings.
During the years after 2010, not only were bilateral government contacts suspended, but many business ties and joint research and academic relationships also suffered, and a free trade agreement which was being negotiated starting in 2008 was also placed on hold. All of this changed when Norwegian Foreign Minister Børge Brende quietly met with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Foreign Minister Wang Yi to finalize a four-point agreement (https://www.regjeringen.no/globalassets/departementene/ud/vedlegg/statement_kina.pdf) this month, resulting in the restoration of full relations. Very shortly after the deal was announced, it was reported that restarting the FTA talks (https://www.ft.com/content/2161aefe-c5d1-11e6-8f29-9445cac8966f) would be a priority, and that a Norwegian government delegation would return to Beijing this spring.
Turkey Parliament Triggers Referendum on Presidential System (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-01-21/turkey-parliament-triggers-referendum-on-presidential-system-iy6kd8n6)
As lawmakers from the ruling AK Party declared victory, legislators from opposition parties CHP and HDP warned that the attempt to transform Turkey’s government has polarized the nation. Erdogan’s supporters say it’s needed to overcome deepening security and economic challenges, while critics warn the overhaul would concentrate a dangerous amount of power in a single authority who has already embarked on a crackdown on political opponents, journalists, academics and activists.
“Turkey’s drift toward authoritarianism will accelerate in 2017 and the odds that President Erdogan will be able to achieve a formal, full executive presidency through a referendum on a new constitution are favorable,” Anthony Skinner, a director with U.K.-based forecasting company Verisk Maplecroft, said in a report published earlier this week. “This is partly a by-product of the nationalist fervor Erdogan has drummed up in the aftermath of a failed coup to unseat him in July 2016.”
While the AK Party lacks enough seats to carry parliament alone, the package was approved with backing from the nationalist MHP. Yildirim said Jan. 17 that his party was making the changes together with MHP. “We have no hesitation about the referendum,” the prime minister said.
Turkey is no longer a Western or European country: It is Arabian Islamic.
What is the purpose of NATO, again? Just the outlines, please.
Hey, European "nations," please explain what you and we agree to defend…
What is the purpose of NATO, again? Just the outlines, please.
US made NATO. Basically, you are slowly arriving at the conclusion that US is acting purposelessly.
The defeat of Europe made Nato.
Americans acts as colonizers and they still do.
Not regarding southern Europe where Americans aren't allowed.
Germans are the ones to blame.
The defeat of Europe made Nato.
Aren't you cute?! Nazi Germany was all that was left of Europe, eh?
Was there a time after WW II that European nations didn't fear the USSR? Was there a time that European nations were willing to pay for their own security?
Bel, I appreciate your sheep-fucking philosophy. But there are still wolves out there…
This episode of Karambolage contains an analysis of three embraces between French and German leaders: http://www.arte.tv/guide/fr/072310-003-A/karambolage
Since there's no thread about North Korea in this bourgeois forum, the half brother of the beloved leader was killed by two misterious North Korean sexy agents with a a needle while trying to fly to the Portuguese colony of Macau.
Only North Korea keeps on following 007 methods..
Diamonds are forever.
while trying to fly to the Portuguese colony of Macau.
By "Portuguese colony" you probably mean the Região Administrativa Especial de Macau da República Popular da China. ;)
The First Brother (and Disneyland aficionado) and his family has supposedly been under Chinese protection, not that it helped him much in that Kuala Lumpur airport. Now the the attention will go to the First Nephew, who can expect little nepotism from the regime (http://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2017/02/15/concerns-rising-over-safety-of-kim-jong-nam-son/).
This episode of Karambolage contains an analysis of three embraces between French and German leaders: http://www.arte.tv/guide/fr/072310-003-A/karambolage (http://www.arte.tv/guide/fr/072310-003-A/karambolage)
Nice video. The folks who are interviewed are as up to date on the issue as I am!
(https://dndsanctuary.eu/imagecache.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fmedia2.giphy.com%2Fmedia%2FebcEdgAJNhpYI%2F200w.gif&hash=db01394ec73c06c8c3e98e94a8c16a92" rel="cached" data-hash="db01394ec73c06c8c3e98e94a8c16a92" data-warn="External image, click here to view original" data-url="http://media2.giphy.com/media/ebcEdgAJNhpYI/200w.gif)
By "Portuguese colony" you probably mean the Região Administrativa Especial de Macau da República Popular da China. ;)
Nope, neiher colony nor administrative region, Macau was a gift forever from China. You don't take a gift back, do you Krake boy? tss tss... :irked:
The status of Macau had nothing in common with Hong Kong.
Krake boy? tss tss...
Reminds me of a regular of these forums whom I'm missing lately.
BTW, did you start learning Glaswegian? :lol:
This episode of Karambolage contains an analysis of three embraces between French and German leaders
One more recent one. Not strictly related, no embracement, just a warm handshake and on a less serious note. :)
[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIQGCqWe6KY[/video]
Ah could help yese an awfy loat fur tryin tae learn Glaswegian. Nae midden or stoatin' aboot or stoatin' aboot like a heid the baw. :whistle:
You don't take a gift back, do you Krake boy? tss tss
You've never heard of an Indian giver…? :)
(BTW: Have Scots never learned of the letter 'K'?
Bel is your friend and certain ideological compatriot; but he nor you know what you mean… Or do they
all have lisps… :) Of course, Portuguese are still trying to deal with Brazilians — they speak Portuguese, and write it. But they're only -what, 3/4 of the Portuguese speaking population of the world: They must be wrong! Because the few people left in Portugal are
special! :) )
"Special" must be a minority, anyway.
Have Scots never learned of the letter 'K'?
K,W and Y don't exist in the Latin alphabet, useless letters with no meaning or necessity but maybe to express anglo saxon's primitive gaggling.
As for the Portuguese language, dear Oakdale, it is defined by... the Portuguese.
Since this is an Eurasia thread, interesting to know how much Portuguese turned part of Asian languages. As in "arigato", the Japanese atempt to say "obrigado". Before we arrived they simply had no word for thank you... :devil:
As for the Portuguese language, dear Oakdale, it is defined by... the Portuguese.
Nonsense! Brazil makes Portugal unnecessary…
As in "arigato", the Japanese atempt to say "obrigado". Before we arrived they simply had no word for thank you... :devil:
I'd say "pussy-gall" is what it is, in your country; and it persists in the world at large as a usable language. But as I said above, it has little or nothing to do with your country: Your country is -except for you- irrelevant.
(That's not necessarily a bad thing… :) )
BTW: Liked the way you denigrated the U.S. and English speakers in general for being "proto-Nazi language fascists" while at the same time insisting that most of the people who speak "your" language are "doing it wrong!" :)
Europeans have had a rather long history of ignoring reality…
Unbelievable!
Someone living in the control freakery of the ex-colonies accusing someone else of ignoring reality?? :faint:
Someone living in the control freakery of the ex-colonies accusing someone else of ignoring reality?? :faint:
Oakdale is playing the swain chant. Not even the other Americans believe on him.
Someone living in the control freakery of the ex-colonies accusing someone else of ignoring reality??
I take it,
RJ, that you thought Brexit foolish! :)
You know I am a Brexit man (and a Scottish Unionist) and that WAS democracy. Try and see if a State in nutjobland would get a referendum on being independent and see what happens. Practical rights re only for the cumfy off over the pond.
Nope. Our nation was founded upon principles, rather than "factions"…
Something you'll never understand.
Founded on principles? Your attempt to be clever and be satirical are a mess boy.
- You kept slavery longer. At the Civil war you lot went mouthy on the Southerners yet the slaves usually came in via Northern
ports.
- Blacks not allowed to vote in the country with the wonderful constitution. They also got attacked, hung or beaten to death. Even
up
to the 1960's places they could not vote.
- In the 2nd World War you organised an apartheid army as whites would not want to be with black soliders. Bit odd fighting the
racist Nazis when you practiced such yourselves.
- Bum about that constitution yet still fighting over it.
- Those that caused the Boston tea Party were middle class monied people and many were Freemasons hence their symbols on
your banknotes.
- After the initial 1917 Russian Revolution later when the Reds started a fight to take over you had troops stationed there as we
did but kept out the fighting. Yet behind our back you lot were having a secret liaison with those Communist gits over trade.
- Financially supported the military regimes in South America for an awful long time.
- Helped in the assassination of a South Vietnam President so a puppet of yours would be in.
- That disgraceful Agent Orange on legions of innocents.
- Senator McCarthy's encouraged pogroms.
- Interfering in countries all over the world if they don't agree with you.
- Many city police forces like bully boys.
- Political system rigged to suit the big two.
- Lack of ordinary people on the Hill (60% lower house and 40% Senate multi-millionaires)
- So principled that would rather spend half the world military bill tan help the 40 plus million poor you have.
- People on death row for even up to 10 years and more. You can be shot, hung, electrocuted, pilled to death.
- Need 16 costly spy agencies to look after your people? (Mean control them).
- Gun mad population and using the late 18th and early 19th centuries as a reason.
- Corruption in many States is till there and interesting links on the net.
- Creating conflicts all over the world for decades and often leaving a mess. :down:
Just some passing items but internationally as principled as nothing. The constitution is always yakked up time after time and fights over things. Indeed that bit of paper certainly does sound fine but in hard practiced millions of Americans have found a different thing altogether. It was created by the monied power class of the time and how the country is run is very different from what is written down. Plenty of decent people in the States of course and aware of that but regular dictatorships had decent people too!
You talk about principles but the practice of them depends on who you are and your background. Oh Belfrager, spot on! I rest my case!
Eurasia is on the rise. Will the US be left on the sidelines? (https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2017/04/09/eurasia-rise-will-left-sidelines/RjCjzDf8edwngjWoMfzL6M/story.html)
(https://c.o0bg.com/rf/image_960w/Boston/2011-2020/2017/04/07/BostonGlobe.com/EditorialOpinion/Images/Eurasia%20Final.jpg)
The world’s biggest geopolitical trend today is not America First, or the global war on terror, or Brexit, or the renewed Cold War with Russia. It is the economic integration of Europe with Asia, especially the European Union with China. Europe and Asia co-inhabit the world’s largest landmass, Eurasia. They are increasingly connected economically as well. Trump’s protectionism and bellicosity will speed up the integration of Europe and Asia, and threaten to leave the United States on the sidelines. ...
China has not only put forward this new infrastructure vision, but has also put forward new institutional mechanisms to finance it. The most important of these is the new Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, or AIIB, established by China to co-finance Asia’s infrastructure, and capitalized by the bank members at $100 billion. Fifty-two countries, including countries of both Europe and Asia, have become members of the bank and another 18 are in the queue to join. The United States and Japan have held back, but this hasn’t slowed the rest of Europe and Asia (and recently Canada) from signing up. In 2014, China also invested $40 billion into a Silk Road Fund dedicated to financing One Belt, One Road projects (https://dndsanctuary.eu/index.php?topic=334.msg68447#msg68447).
While China-EU is an obvious connection, it is probably not the one most impacted by infrastructure investment and barrier removals, but the other Eurasian regions,
Europe and the Middle East, Russia and Central Asia, South Asia (particularly India), South-East Asia (ASEAN), East Asia (including China).
https://youtu.be/NnI844THpfM
About Eurasia, there's not Marco Polos anymore these days.
There's no Eurasia as a togetherness.
https://youtu.be/u-ybBZgN154
Edit: Above missing video may have been this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qd8juCdTkA
CNA (Singapore) has a series of their own, like:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkqFwJ-eBrA
A far more realistic observation, unfortunately
The materialistic United States, which Rifkin expected to be eclipsed by Europe, was better able to weather the financial crisis. [...] The error was not Europe’s, but Rifkin’s. Europe was not, and is not, bound to succeed. In fact, as 2019 comes to a close, the European Union is seemingly helpless and resigned in the face of its most important challenges: completing the economic and political integration of the bloc, creating a common defense policy, and even safeguarding basic standards of the rule of law.
Poland’s government, for example, is responding to a European Court of Justice decision regarding violations of judicial independence by introducing legislation that would allow the country’s judges to be removed for criticizing violations of the Polish constitution. When leaders of Poland’s ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party proclaim that “this caste must be disciplined,” what can the EU do?
[...] China['s] emergence as a global leader is displacing not the United States, but Europe. China is now the world’s largest exporter, and, as the biggest producer of electric cars, it may soon overtake Germany to become the global leader in the automobile industry. America’s position as the world’s leading military, financial, and innovation power is not threatened for now. The US withstood previous challenges from Germany and Japan in each of those areas, and very likely will resist China’s competitive threat, too. But Europe very likely will not.
In fact, we are witnessing a great reversal of roles between Europe and China compared to the nineteenth century. For China, the 1800s were the “age of humiliation,” a period when it was infiltrated by the French, British, and German empires, as well as by Russia and the US. These foreign powers imposed humiliating trade treaties, subordinated and exploited China economically, and controlled it politically.
Today, the EU increasingly resembles nineteenth-century China: a still-rich empire that cannot be occupied by others, but is weak enough to be infiltrated and exploited. China, meanwhile, has assumed Europe’s former role, with its companies and investors increasingly penetrating the European economy and extending their influence.
Singapore in 2022. A lot of post-covid.
https://youtu.be/oMWhlxREQkU
Lots of innovative adaptation... Thanks for posting!