Re: #93 - Main news thread - conflicts, terrorism, crisis from around the globe

[der_mick]

Guys, does anyone have an idea why the Russians would carry crematoriums with them to the war?



Edit: Nevermind I found it. Those are pictures that "The Telegraph" distributed and claimed that they were current. But they are from Russia in 2013.

https://www.france24.com/en/tv-shows/truth-or-fake/20220228-are-russians-using-mobile-crematoriums-in-ukraine

[刘汉]

Imo, China could have continued to effectively control covid and do the zero covid thing with the older variants, and it resulted in only very short term restrictions on freedom every once in a while, which could have been sustainable. But nowadays the variants such as Omicron are probably just too contagious for zero-covid policy to be enforceable in China.

I think part of the thinking is the China govt saw a really high covid death rate in Hong Kong last month and the government think that scenes like that could be repeated across mainland China if nothing is done to stop the spread. The real problem they have is most vaccinateds in China/Hong Kong were vaccinated with the Chinese vax (Sinovac/Sinopharm) and from the Hong Kong experience last month it would appear those vax were not effective against Omicron. Unlike where other countries are more happy to just let Omicron rip because different vacs have been effective in preventing deaths. What say you, 刘汉?

(Disclaimer: Not saying vacs should be forced, or vacs are all good because it is not as simple as that, but it does seem like it might have prevented many deaths in the west when comparing with Hong Kong, either that or post-infection immunity is more effective than vax immunity against covid, where the west has much more of that compared to China.)

I just woke up. Until now, China had this zero-politics and it was no problem, because, there were nearly no cases. The Chinese vax is a traditional flu-vax. Now something changed. The cases in Shanghai and Jilin province (Changchun and Jilin city) exploded. Maybe it is the Omicron-variant or there was a mismanagement in the provincial or municipial administration in Changchun and Jilin (there are hints to both possibilities). Beijing saw, that Changchun and Jilin are unable to handle this problem, sent their own people and pushed the local people aside and reorganized the whole reporting system. For some days there was complete chaos (connected to the Covid-cases is a shortage in vegetables and fruits, that has a negative effect on the vitamin C supply). Now the number of cases is going down (in Changchun and Jilin) and the number of test is going down (lol). I have no idea about Shanghai. Hongkong is a special case, because the Health administration is separated from Beijing. I don‘t know, whether they are allowed to use Western vaccines and I don't know, how they are doing the testing there. Maybe Beijing doesn't dare to overrule the Health administration in Hongkong as they are doing it in Jilin province.

[Tonterias]

CHEAP! Flights from Tel Aviv, Israel to SRI LANKA from €144 https://t.co/6UcKquT3Wy

— TravelFree (@travelfree_info) April 6, 2022

First prize 1 week in Sri Lanka
Second prize 2 weeks in Sri Lanka

Not the place to go at the moment riots,food shortages etc

Thats definetly wrong, there are power shortages, but no riots, no food shortage.
India delivered 40.000 tons of fuel this week.
A good friend of mine is there, we speak each other day.

[der_mick]

Imo, China could have continued to effectively control covid and do the zero covid thing with the older variants, and it resulted in only very short term restrictions on freedom every once in a while, which could have been sustainable. But nowadays the variants such as Omicron are probably just too contagious for zero-covid policy to be enforceable in China.

I think part of the thinking is the China govt saw a really high covid death rate in Hong Kong last month and the government think that scenes like that could be repeated across mainland China if nothing is done to stop the spread. The real problem they have is most vaccinateds in China/Hong Kong were vaccinated with the Chinese vax (Sinovac/Sinopharm) and from the Hong Kong experience last month it would appear those vax were not effective against Omicron. Unlike where other countries are more happy to just let Omicron rip because different vacs have been effective in preventing deaths. What say you, 刘汉?

(Disclaimer: Not saying vacs should be forced, or vacs are all good because it is not as simple as that, but it does seem like it might have prevented many deaths in the west when comparing with Hong Kong, either that or post-infection immunity is more effective than vax immunity against covid, where the west has much more of that compared to China.)

I just woke up. Until now, China had this zero-politics and it was no problem, because, there were nearly no cases. The Chinese vax is a traditional flu-vax. Now something changed. The cases in Shanghai and Jilin province (Changchun and Jilin city) exploded. Maybe it is the Omicron-variant or there was a mismanagement in the provincial or municipial administration in Changchun and Jilin (there are hints to both possibilities). Beijing saw, that Changchun and Jilin are unable to handle this problem, sent their own people and pushed the local people aside and reorganized the whole reporting system. For some days there was complete chaos (connected to the Covid-cases is a shortage in vegetables and fruits, that has a negative effect on the vitamin C supply). Now the number of cases is going down (in Changchun and Jilin) and the number of test is going down (lol). I have no idea about Shanghai. Hongkong is a special case, because the Health administration is separated from Beijing. I don‘t know, whether they are allowed to use Western vaccines and I don't know, how they are doing the testing there. Maybe Beijing doesn't dare to overrule the Health administration in Hongkong as they are doing it in Jilin province.

What I don't get is: Everyone is talking about "cases" sometimes even "asymptomatic cases". If we suppose that Omicron is even less lethal than the normal flu, then i can not understand the overreaction. Ok, if there would be a huge amount of deaths I'd see the point. But "cases" doesn't make sense at all to me.

[刘汉]

Imo, China could have continued to effectively control covid and do the zero covid thing with the older variants, and it resulted in only very short term restrictions on freedom every once in a while, which could have been sustainable. But nowadays the variants such as Omicron are probably just too contagious for zero-covid policy to be enforceable in China.

I think part of the thinking is the China govt saw a really high covid death rate in Hong Kong last month and the government think that scenes like that could be repeated across mainland China if nothing is done to stop the spread. The real problem they have is most vaccinateds in China/Hong Kong were vaccinated with the Chinese vax (Sinovac/Sinopharm) and from the Hong Kong experience last month it would appear those vax were not effective against Omicron. Unlike where other countries are more happy to just let Omicron rip because different vacs have been effective in preventing deaths. What say you, 刘汉?

(Disclaimer: Not saying vacs should be forced, or vacs are all good because it is not as simple as that, but it does seem like it might have prevented many deaths in the west when comparing with Hong Kong, either that or post-infection immunity is more effective than vax immunity against covid, where the west has much more of that compared to China.)

I just woke up. Until now, China had this zero-politics and it was no problem, because, there were nearly no cases. The Chinese vax is a traditional flu-vax. Now something changed. The cases in Shanghai and Jilin province (Changchun and Jilin city) exploded. Maybe it is the Omicron-variant or there was a mismanagement in the provincial or municipial administration in Changchun and Jilin (there are hints to both possibilities). Beijing saw, that Changchun and Jilin are unable to handle this problem, sent their own people and pushed the local people aside and reorganized the whole reporting system. For some days there was complete chaos (connected to the Covid-cases is a shortage in vegetables and fruits, that has a negative effect on the vitamin C supply). Now the number of cases is going down (in Changchun and Jilin) and the number of test is going down (lol). I have no idea about Shanghai. Hongkong is a special case, because the Health administration is separated from Beijing. I don‘t know, whether they are allowed to use Western vaccines and I don't know, how they are doing the testing there. Maybe Beijing doesn't dare to overrule the Health administration in Hongkong as they are doing it in Jilin province.

What I don't get is: Everyone is talking about "cases" sometimes even "asymptomatic cases". If we suppose that Omicron is even less lethal than the normal flu, then i can not understand the overreaction. Ok, if there would be a huge amount of deaths I'd see the point. But "cases" doesn't make sense at all to me.

As Oasis said, if the administration is treating  the new omicron cases the same way as the old cases, than this is an overreaction. Maybe Beijing is changing this now. We have reduced the number of tests now, consequently the number of known cases is going down. If they are going down this speed, next week, there will be no new case anymore.

Maybe you should understand one thing about Chinese administration: There is only one working brain in Beijing, all other Chinese switch off their brains, when they start working in the morning. This does not mean, they don't have a brain, but they don't use it for working and studying. They follow orders mindlessly, they don't put orders in context. I know this from daily experience. If you don't understand an order and ask about it, it's useless. You need to complain to the highest level, you can reach, there are working brains. This could explain, what is happening now in Changchun and Jilin. Beijing got aggressive, that Changchun and Jilin are unable to implement their orders.

[der_mick]

>>> Shortened <<<


As Oasis said, if the administration is treating  the new omicron cases the same way as the old cases, than this is an overreaction. Maybe Beijing is changing this now. We have reduced the number of tests now, consequently the number of known cases is going down. If they are going down this speed, next week, there will be no new case anymore.

Maybe you should understand one thing about Chinese administration: There is only one working brain in Beijing, all other Chinese switch off their brains, when they start working in the morning. This does not mean, they don't  have a brain, but they don't use it for working and studying. They follow orders mindlessly, they don't put orders in context. I know this from daily experience. If you don't understand an order and ask about it, it's useless. You need to complain to the highest level, you can reach, there are working brains. This could explain, what is happening now in Changchun and Jilin. Beijing got aggressive, that Changchun and Jilin are unable to implement their orders.

Thanks for the clarification. I get it now.

To me this sounds kind of sad. If that's so, then the Chinese have a problem I guess
I mean, with that mindset they'll never be able to ascend to be a super-power, let alone a Hegemony.

[刘汉]

>>> Shortened <<<


As Oasis said, if the administration is treating  the new omicron cases the same way as the old cases, than this is an overreaction. Maybe Beijing is changing this now. We have reduced the number of tests now, consequently the number of known cases is going down. If they are going down this speed, next week, there will be no new case anymore.

Maybe you should understand one thing about Chinese administration: There is only one working brain in Beijing, all other Chinese switch off their brains, when they start working in the morning. This does not mean, they don't  have a brain, but they don't use it for working and studying. They follow orders mindlessly, they don't put orders in context. I know this from daily experience. If you don't understand an order and ask about it, it's useless. You need to complain to the highest level, you can reach, there are working brains. This could explain, what is happening now in Changchun and Jilin. Beijing got aggressive, that Changchun and Jilin are unable to implement their orders.

Thanks for the clarification. I get it now.

To me this sounds kind of sad. If that's so, then the Chinese have a problem I guess
I mean, with that mindset they'll never be able to ascend to be a super-power, let alone a Hegemony.

History proves the opposite. Under the Song, Ming and early Qing dynasties China was economically far ahead of all other countries, with exactly this mindset. The Chinese thinking is: We have far more people, than all the other nations and it is enough, if one has the idea and the rest is using this idea. The only problem is, to select these creative people and put them in the right places. And this really seems to work. In a class of 30 students, one is successful. That's enough.

[Tonterias]

Twitter bans

Ritter got his account reopened:
 https://twitter.com/RealScottRitter

[der_mick]

>>> Shortened <<<


As Oasis said, if the administration is treating  the new omicron cases the same way as the old cases, than this is an overreaction. Maybe Beijing is changing this now. We have reduced the number of tests now, consequently the number of known cases is going down. If they are going down this speed, next week, there will be no new case anymore.

Maybe you should understand one thing about Chinese administration: There is only one working brain in Beijing, all other Chinese switch off their brains, when they start working in the morning. This does not mean, they don't  have a brain, but they don't use it for working and studying. They follow orders mindlessly, they don't put orders in context. I know this from daily experience. If you don't understand an order and ask about it, it's useless. You need to complain to the highest level, you can reach, there are working brains. This could explain, what is happening now in Changchun and Jilin. Beijing got aggressive, that Changchun and Jilin are unable to implement their orders.

Thanks for the clarification. I get it now.

To me this sounds kind of sad. If that's so, then the Chinese have a problem I guess
I mean, with that mindset they'll never be able to ascend to be a super-power, let alone a Hegemony.

History proves the opposite. Under the Song, Ming and early Qing dynasties China was economically far ahead of all other countries, with exactly this mindset. The Chinese thinking is: We have far more people, than all the other nations and it is enough, if one has the idea and the rest is using this idea. The only problem is, to select these creative people and put them in the right places. And this really seems to work. In a class of 30 students, one is successful. That's enough.

Sure but we live in the age of science and technology. Most of the success of a country depends on other traits than those that were needed some hundred years ago. You need soft-skills. You need teams of scientists. Some years ago inventions were made by one man. Today you need labs and many scientists and tools worth millions to find anything new. I still think that this is a huge drawback for a modern society.

[KneelB4Zod!]

Levi
@Levi_godman
·
1h
Bloomberg reports that China has already begun to pay for Russian goods in yuan. Including coal, and Oil

[KneelB4Zod!]

First Squawk
@FirstSquawk
·
4h
RUBLE TRADING AT $76.54; NEAR 52 WEEKS HIGH

Not exactly as planned...

[KneelB4Zod!]

Kevork Almassian
@KevorkAlmassian
·
8m
THE GERMAN BUNDESTAG VOTED AGAINST MANDATORY VACCINATION.

[KneelB4Zod!]

“Baffled”

Really?

FFS ‍� https://t.co/rqoriORtWz

— Sarahjane - I Do Not Assent (@SarahJaneguru) April 7, 2022

[KneelB4Zod!]

From Russian Ministry of Defense pic.twitter.com/AebI3ngy7w

— Donbass Devushka 🅉 (@meatballsubzero) April 7, 2022

Kiev Region. Tank duel T-80BV 40th OBrMP against T-64BV APU. The duel wasn't long. After being hit with a shell, the T-64BV ammunition detonated. pic.twitter.com/CbKR0MeYGc

— Donbass Devushka 🅉 (@meatballsubzero) April 7, 2022

Kherson Oblast, Russian artillery battery takes fire while setting up. Ukrainian fire looks to be spotted by a drone. pic.twitter.com/PZX7pFPj4z

— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) April 7, 2022

[刘汉]

Sure but we live in the age of science and technology. Most of the success of a country depends on other traits than those that were needed some hundred years ago. You need soft-skills. You need teams of scientists. Some years ago inventions were made by one man. Today you need labs and many scientists and tools worth millions to find anything new. I still think that this is a huge drawback for a modern society.

I agree and I disagree at the same time.

Yes, Chinese people cannot cooperate. In our office, one colleague does not know, what the other colleague on the next desk is doing and he is not interested. They have zero curiosity. Personally, I call it an "Autistic culture", the same as Ancient Egyptian culture (there are many similarities between both cultures). They don't understand, what context is. They cannot imagine, what something means for another person. This is not just against Western foreigners, this is also among themselves. There are many misconceptions about this in the West, because we read Ancient Chinese philosophers and think, that all Asian cultures are non-individualistic cultures. But this is, because the Ancient philosophers have recognized, that the Chinese people need to be forced to cooperate. When Confucius is talking about the duty, a son has against his father, he is not describing reality, he is describing, how reality should be. That's why Chinese people hate Confucius, because he tries to force them to cooperate. That's why China needs a strict government. Without such a government, they would kill each other.

No, science and technology has brought us, where we are now. We are too dependent already on technology. Technology should be a tool, but it is dominating our lives. This is very fragile. It can breakdown immediately. We have destroyed the substance. If this is breaking down now - and I see the risk, that this crisis can grow and take down the West completely - then it would take centuries to recover. This science and technology is connected to the special form of economy the West has developped during the last three centuries. This economy is based on interest rates. There is a reason, why interest rates were outlawed before. This "growth" on the one side is eating away everything on the other side. This needs to be stopped. We had this before in history and it always ended badly.

Because I am not interested in technology, I don't know, what Huawei is doing, but they have reached a level, that they have outperformed the West already. I don't know, how they are doing this.

[Zambeezi]

European Parliament demands complete embargo on Russian imports of oil, coal, nuclear fuel, gas
https://archive.ph/5Fo93
https://news.am/eng/news/695511.html

MEPs demand a complete embargo on Russian imports of oil, coal, nuclear fuel and gas, the European Parliament said in a statement.
Resolution passed on Thursday by 513 votes to 22 with 19 abstentions.

They call on EU leaders to exclude Russia from the G20 and other multilateral organizations
such as the UNHRC, Interpol, the World Trade Organization, UNESCO and others.

[KneelB4Zod!]

Guy Elster
@guyelster
·
4m
#BREAKING NATO will expand support for Ukraine, Georgia and Bosnia: Stoltenberg

[der_mick]

Sure but we live in the age of science and technology. Most of the success of a country depends on other traits than those that were needed some hundred years ago. You need soft-skills. You need teams of scientists. Some years ago inventions were made by one man. Today you need labs and many scientists and tools worth millions to find anything new. I still think that this is a huge drawback for a modern society.

I agree and I disagree at the same time.

Yes, Chinese people cannot cooperate. In our office, one colleague does not know, what the other colleague on the next desk is doing and he is not interested. They have zero curiosity. Personally, I call it an "Autistic culture", the same as Ancient Egyptian culture (there are many similarities between both cultures). They don't understand, what context is. They cannot imagine, what something means for another person. This is not just against Western foreigners, this is also among themselves. There are many misconceptions about this in the West, because we read Ancient Chinese philosophers and think, that all Asian cultures are non-individualistic cultures. But this is, because the Ancient philosophers have recognized, that the Chinese people need to be forced to cooperate. When Confucius is talking about the duty, a son has against his father, he is not describing reality, he is describing, how reality should be. That's why Chinese people hate Confucius, because he tries to force them to cooperate. That's why China needs a strict government. Without such a government, they would kill each other.

No, science and technology has brought us, where we are now. We are too dependent already on technology. Technology should be a tool, but it is dominating our lives. This is very fragile. It can breakdown immediately. We have destroyed the substance. If this is breaking down now - and I see the risk, that this crisis can grow and take down the West completely - then it would take centuries to recover. This science and technology is connected to the special form of economy the West has developped during the last three centuries. This economy is based on interest rates. There is a reason, why interest rates were outlawed before. This "growth" on the one side is eating away everything on the other side. This needs to be stopped. We had this before in history and it always ended badly.

Because I am not interested in technology, I don't know, what Huawei is doing, but they have reached a level, that they have outperformed the West already. I don't know, how they are doing this.

Wow, ok I didn't know that. But it sounds logical and makes sense. If they really are as you say, I can see why the government is like that. But I would guess that this is a cultural thing, not something in their DNA. I mean, maybe they just need some opening up to be able to develop a different mindset/behavior (takes long time of course). But people and cultures can change.

As to the technology part. I agree, that we're too dependent but on the other hand there is good reason to still push for scientific breakthroughs, while controlling the downsides (e.g. they have a law that prohibits children from playing online games for more than 3 hours per week, which is good). As Putin once said convincingly: "Those who will discover true artificial intelligence first will be the masters of the world". I guess he doesn't like that thought but it is still true.

Progress in science and technology do doesn't have to be connected to a special form of economy. It's just that it has been until now but there is no natural law that dictates it. I think the big challenge for future generations will be do find some kind of balance/harmony on managing these problems. Just imagine how much more productive the Chinese could be if there wasn't just one creative mind in a group of a thousand people but every third one or so. The difference would be huge.

Anyway, thanks for the insight!

[Zambeezi]

Sure but we live in the age of science and technology. Most of the success of a country depends on other traits than those that were needed some hundred years ago. You need soft-skills. You need teams of scientists. Some years ago inventions were made by one man. Today you need labs and many scientists and tools worth millions to find anything new. I still think that this is a huge drawback for a modern society.

I agree and I disagree at the same time.

Yes, Chinese people cannot cooperate. In our office, one colleague does not know, what the other colleague on the next desk is doing and he is not interested. They have zero curiosity. Personally, I call it an "Autistic culture", the same as Ancient Egyptian culture (there are many similarities between both cultures). They don't understand, what context is. They cannot imagine, what something means for another person. This is not just against Western foreigners, this is also among themselves. There are many misconceptions about this in the West, because we read Ancient Chinese philosophers and think, that all Asian cultures are non-individualistic cultures. But this is, because the Ancient philosophers have recognized, that the Chinese people need to be forced to cooperate. When Confucius is talking about the duty, a son has against his father, he is not describing reality, he is describing, how reality should be. That's why Chinese people hate Confucius, because he tries to force them to cooperate. That's why China needs a strict government. Without such a government, they would kill each other.

No, science and technology has brought us, where we are now. We are too dependent already on technology. Technology should be a tool, but it is dominating our lives. This is very fragile. It can breakdown immediately. We have destroyed the substance. If this is breaking down now - and I see the risk, that this crisis can grow and take down the West completely - then it would take centuries to recover. This science and technology is connected to the special form of economy the West has developped during the last three centuries. This economy is based on interest rates. There is a reason, why interest rates were outlawed before. This "growth" on the one side is eating away everything on the other side. This needs to be stopped. We had this before in history and it always ended badly.

Because I am not interested in technology, I don't know, what Huawei is doing, but they have reached a level, that they have outperformed the West already. I don't know, how they are doing this.

excellent insights and well expressed... the essence of the 'free assembly' of ideas and discourse in Zodland.
everything you said^^^ may or may not all be true
but I enjoy contemplating and weighing your ideas.
good stuff!

[Zambeezi]

[Zambeezi]

First Squawk
@FirstSquawk
RUBLE TRADING AT $76.54; NEAR 52 WEEKS HIGH
Not exactly as planned...

[der_mick]

https://twitter.com/Gilgame24951658/status/1511832692312182785

https://twitter.com/HaagsHoppie69/status/1511825687203786754

https://twitter.com/oneness2_0/status/1511836306069934082

[der_mick]

https://twitter.com/cwt_news/status/1510947191795376130

https://twitter.com/songpinganq/status/1475024741937610755

https://twitter.com/songpinganq/status/1475025499869302787

https://twitter.com/songpinganq/status/1475587936758681600

[khnum]

CHEAP! Flights from Tel Aviv, Israel to SRI LANKA from €144 https://t.co/6UcKquT3Wy

— TravelFree (@travelfree_info) April 6, 2022

First prize 1 week in Sri Lanka
Second prize 2 weeks in Sri Lanka

Not the place to go at the moment riots,food shortages etc

Thats definetly wrong, there are power shortages, but no riots, no food shortage.
India delivered 40.000 tons of fuel this week.
A good friend of mine is there, we speak each other day.

So these were peaceful protests like BLM

[刘汉]

excellent insights and well expressed... the essence of the 'free assembly' of ideas and discourse in Zodland.
everything you said^^^ may or may not all be true
but I enjoy contemplating and weighing your ideas.
good stuff!

Thanks, this is just my opinion.

The US State Department approved the sale of air defense support to #Taiwan.

— 🅻🅴🆁🆃 🅲🅷🅽🅽🅴🅻 (@AlertChannel) April 6, 2022

Bad idea.

Just one more hint: Under the Ming- and Qing-dynasties, the Chinese saw, that the West was focusing on technology, but they just didn't like it. Now they know, why they have lost the Opium wars and they teach the students in class. They will find a way, how to balance this.

New order is coming in: The number of tests will be reduced to one every other day. We started with two per day two weeks ago.

[KneelB4Zod!]

Ragıp Soylu
@ragipsoylu
·
26m
BREAKING — UN general assembly suspends Russia from Human Rights Council with 93 yes votes, 24 no votes and 58 abstentions

[KneelB4Zod!]

Michael McFaul
@McFaul
·
43m
The ruble has not "recovered" !  It is being artificially supported by government interventions, especially currency controls, Economists I trust estimate that the real exchange rate is 200 rubles to the dollar.

[刘汉]

https://twitter.com/cwt_news/status/1510947191795376130

https://twitter.com/songpinganq/status/1475024741937610755

https://twitter.com/songpinganq/status/1475025499869302787

https://twitter.com/songpinganq/status/1475587936758681600

These pictures are from last year. Normally you never see armed police. These lockdowns last year were short and focused on specific points. The lockdowns this year are different, because they are longer, maybe an overreaction to Omicron.
Yes, Changchun is under Martial Law. Nobody is allowed to wander in the streets. Food delivery is difficult, but possible. First the delivery was not possible at all, until Beijing took over. Punishment is traditionally extreme. Paying a fine is not enough, the rich will just pay and go on, the poor cannot pay. The only real punishment is to publish the pictures from the CCTVs, so that all people can see, who has violated a law. There is nothing more shameful than being exposed. I don't care, if I think, I am right, all the world can see, not so the Chinese.
At the moment we are locked in at the campus. The campus is large enough to have daily walks. We have everything we need on campus. Only the students are locked in their dormitories for more than two weeks now.

[KneelB4Zod!]

zerohedge
@zerohedge
·
5m
*U.S. CONGRESS VOTES TO REVOKE NORMAL TRADE STATUS WITH RUSSIA

[KneelB4Zod!]

-- GEROMAN -- -
@GeromanAT
·
9m
#Russia #Ruble 75