Russia (and their puppy Belarus) are literally importing people from middle east and tell them they can live there, once they are there they get shipped to the border to Poland…
No. They were in a country considered safe for civilians. There is no active war in Belarus. EU does not have to take anyone, we still do for endangered people, if we back down on that line there it will only get worse and the right wing people will get even more ground.
Nope, absolutely disagree. People were being used as pawns and pushed towards the border by Belarus, where they were freezing and Poland would not let humanitarian aid or journalists reach them. Neither country’s government gave a shit about the value of human life.
But that would require a small amount of effort. Seriously though I get some cities aren’t bike friendly (they could be though) but worked in a city that was pretty great for bikes. Small/medium sized manufacturing plant with a bunch of rednecks and almost all of them lived within 5 miles. Of course they were crying like hell when gas skyrocketed and other than me there was 2 people that biked. I think the best part is a good chunk drove gigantic trucks.
Yes but not everyone lives in a flatland like the dutch do, I believe I could fully transition to a bicycle if cars weren’t the top priority on my city, but I know many friends that live in parts of the city that are basically mountains.
Ebikes are definitely the answer. Much easier to ride up hills and very accessible for regular people to start riding. Plus they are significantly cheaper than cars when you account for insurance and registration and maintenance, etc.
Bicycle theft is also a problem in the Netherlands, but they still do it. There are also lots of people not in the Netherlands who bike to work and don’t have their bikes stolen.
That’s not the problem. The problem is car culture.
In the Netherlands they have functional bike parking, which makes it a lot harder to steal bikes. They also use wheel locks, which are much harder to cut without damaging the bike. There are also sites like bike index that let you track your bike serial number in case it gets stolen. If you use bike index and your bike is stolen there’s actually a pretty good chance it will be returned. Also, if you buy a bike check it on bike index first to see if it’s stolen.
I’ve heard this song and dance for a decade now. There will be a skirmish, folks will be killed, the US will be “concerned”, and then the cycle would repeat.
At this point, what action would need to happen for Israel to stop expanding/encroaching (pick your connotation based on your leaning) and maintain the current boundary lines?
what action would need to happen for Israel to stop expanding/encroaching (pick your connotation based on your leaning) and maintain the current boundary lines?
Make U.S. aid to Israel conditional on Israel stopping the “settlement” of Palestinian areas.
Apartheid. Nothing will happen because USA needs them as a middle man in the middle east to control Iran and in ways Saudi Arabia. There are a lot of weapon deals involved and it won’t happen. Money is more important than lives or livelihood of people.
China seems incapable of reading the room/learning from recent geopolitical events. There is no turning back once economies are decoupled and bridges are burnt. It’s almost as if Xi is high on his own propaganda and forgot he has to rely on the world economy to get his fiefdom beyond the middle income trap and through the crises (demographic, environmental, economic) to come. If Europeans are willing to pay double their heating bill so not to rely on Russian gas, there’s no reason not to consider alternative producers of rare earth, which are literally everywhere.
I was surprised by how overwhelmingly positive support was, I mean, you don’t need too much brain to understand the geopolitical context and motivation behind it. What’s left of your economy, and by extend, job, lifestyle, if a single bad-faith actor can put your factory out of business? Or threatens to let you freeze to death in the middle of the winter?
It was fun to see even the far left/right parties over here (who have open ties and funding from Russia) refuse to contest that. Complaints I’ve seen were within the “I get my facts from Facebook” crowds, who also happen to be incapable of understanding their energy bills and are oblivious to the subsidized/capped prices their governments applied to them (often to a greater extent due to their unfavorable financial situation, how ironic).
That’s interesting, the only support I’ve seen for it amongst regular citizens of Europe is from people that both:
Are well-off enough to be able to take in the price increase without seeing their quality of life impacted
Wanted to inflict economic hardship on Russian citizens through sanctions as a form of punishment for Putin’s policies
Even though I wasn’t very much affected by the inflation, I understand the reasons those sanctions aren’t supported by the majority of people here in Europe, and I sympathize with the hardship of people who already before that were struggling to make ends meet and feed their family, and weren’t able to heat their home last winter.
You can categorize me with the humanitarians. And I already know where to categorize you.
From what I can tell a majority of Europeans DO support sanctions. Do you have anything other than your personal anecdotal evidence to counter this data?
Are well-off enough to be able to take in the price increase without seeing their quality of life impacted
How much of this is perception vs facts, though? Most/all EU countries implemented some kind of subsidy or price capping to protect its more vulnerable population.
Wanted to inflict economic hardship on Russian citizens
Seems improbable, considering that one thing has nothing to do with the other. On the subject of decoupling, Russia is the only one to blame, for losing its bet that the EU would back-off under the threat of energy scarcity during winter. It was Putin’s plan, and it was miscalculated to say the least. On the topic of hardship of the Russian population, believe it or not, there is a large Russian diaspora in Europe, and people are generally quite sympathetic and supportive with the normal people. Also, the hardship is not the result of energy decoupling but that of the sanctions, and yep, it sucks to be living under a tyrant’s rule in a late-stage oligarchy, and even more so when the whole world is trying to find peaceful means to reduce its warmongering potential.
You can categorize me with the humanitarians. And I already know where to categorize you.
I don’t dare pretending to know you, which may be the higher humanitarian ground in this discussion, believe it or not.
Yes you are so right. It’s very unfortunate dictator Xi Jinping is doing this out of nowhere based on no past events whatsoever. It’s really a shame we live in an acausal world.
I appreciate your sarcasm, though, I didn’t imply this comes out of nowhere. This escalation has been brewing for decades and is only exacerbated by Xi’s agressive doctrine.
Like for all authoritarianisms, the leader gets to score some short term points and everyone else loses. In this instance, China will lose more (practically speaking, its position as the largest exporter of some rare earth)
Belarus has been condemned by the Nations for its catastrophic human rights situation.
The report by the UN Human Rights Council was actually a follow-up to a previous report from September 2020, which had also highlighted serious concerns about the human rights situation in Belarus. The new report was based on information gathered between September 2020 and May 2021, and it found that the situation had continued to deteriorate.
Some of the specific human rights abuses that the report documented include:
The use of torture and other forms of ill-treatment against detainees, including beatings, electric shocks, and sexual violence. The report noted that these abuses were often carried out with impunity, and that victims had little recourse to justice.
The arbitrary arrest and detention of thousands of people, including journalists, opposition figures, and peaceful protesters. The report expressed concern about the use of administrative detention, which allows authorities to detain people for up to 30 days without charge or trial.
Restrictions on freedom of expression and assembly, including the targeting of independent media outlets and the use of excessive force to disperse peaceful protests. The report noted that these restrictions had intensified in the wake of the disputed presidential election in August 2020.
Concerns about the government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, including reports of inadequate access to healthcare and the politicization of the pandemic response. The report also criticized the government’s decision to hold an in-person Victory Day parade in May 2021, despite the high risk of COVID-19 transmission.
The UN called on Belarus to immediately release all political prisoners and to take steps to address the human rights abuses. The Belarusian government has rejected the report, calling it politically motivated and accusing the UN of interfering in the country’s internal affairs.
I hope that when Putin falls so does the Potato Prince.
Whilst the chances are that Russia will continue with another flavour of far right/facist leader who grabs the power, there is actually quite a strong sentiment against the Luka regime as I understand it. Supposedly they’re not too keen on Russia at the moment. So with hope there may be a chance for the people of Belarus to get a taste of European democracy when he topples.
History has shown that you don't need to be in a war torn country to have an oppressive right-wing dictatorship.
Belarus seems to be speedrunning the Nazi playbook. Dissolving Trade Unions, attacking and shuttering the press, and punishing children for voicing opinions not sanctioned by the State.
euronews.com
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