Don't you wonder what is happening in the world?

[ideologyhunter]

Disagree. It wasn't easy to customize/radicalize your information stream 30 years ago & earlier. Today it's as easy as a keystroke.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

I've tried posting things about the rest of the world, but I rarely get more than a few replies.

Agreed. I have had the same experience here. I used to start threads about events elsewhere in the world but they were never the ones that got replies. I accepted a while back that this is an American board and Americans are insular.

Yeah, like five of them.

 

[Don2 (Don1 Revised)]

Does it make sense to *bump* this thread?

 

[southernhybrid]

Does it make sense to *bump* this thread?

Sure, why not.

Here's some good news. /s

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/01/world/asia/delhi-pollution-health-emergency.html

NEW DELHI — A toxic, throat-burning cloud has settled over India’s capital, swallowing national monuments, sending people to emergency rooms and prompting officials on Friday to declare a public health emergency and close schools for days.

Air quality in parts of New Delhi rose to levels around 20 times what the World Health Organization considers safe. By Friday afternoon, officials in the capital region had halted all construction projects, planned to limit the number of vehicles on roads, urged people to stay inside and shut several thousand primary schools until Tuesday.

“We are in trouble,” said Dr. G.C. Khilnani, a pulmonologist in the city.

Every winter, as wind speeds slow and farmers burn their crops to make room for a new harvest, dirty air settles over India’s cities, putting hundreds of millions at risk. Adding to it, pollution in New Delhi got even worse after weekend celebrations of Diwali, the Hindu festival of light, when families set off fireworks despite government warnings against it.

India has struggled to get in front of its pollution crisis. Reports have found that the country’s children may be facing permanent brain damage from poisonous air and that millions of Indians have already died from health problems connected to living in polluted cities.

 

[southernhybrid]

How about this one.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/31/world/europe/migrants-greece-aegean-islands.html

ATHENS — Life in the overcrowded migrant camps on Greek islands “has dramatically worsened” in the past year, with thousands of refugees fighting to meet their most basic needs, Europe’s top human rights official warned on Thursday.

“It is an explosive situation,” the official, Dunja Mijatovic, the human rights commissioner of the Council of Europe, said after going to several camps. For many people in the camps, she said, “this has become a struggle for survival.”

The Greek Parliament was expected to adopt a bill later Thursday aimed at easing crowding in the camps. But that plan could simply substitute one set of problems for another, Ms. Mijatovic suggested.

“There is a desperate lack of medical care and sanitation in the vastly overcrowded camps I have visited,” she said at a news conference in Athens. “People queue for hours to get food and to go to bathrooms, when these are available.”

 

[Don2 (Don1 Revised)]

How about this one.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/31/world/europe/migrants-greece-aegean-islands.html

ATHENS — Life in the overcrowded migrant camps on Greek islands “has dramatically worsened” in the past year, with thousands of refugees fighting to meet their most basic needs, Europe’s top human rights official warned on Thursday.

“It is an explosive situation,” the official, Dunja Mijatovic, the human rights commissioner of the Council of Europe, said after going to several camps. For many people in the camps, she said, “this has become a struggle for survival.”

The Greek Parliament was expected to adopt a bill later Thursday aimed at easing crowding in the camps. But that plan could simply substitute one set of problems for another, Ms. Mijatovic suggested.

“There is a desperate lack of medical care and sanitation in the vastly overcrowded camps I have visited,” she said at a news conference in Athens. “People queue for hours to get food and to go to bathrooms, when these are available.”

from earlier article in October:

With a crackdown on migrants in Turkey and tough immigration policies elsewhere in Europe, the number of people fleeing to Lesbos by sea has soared to more than 16,000 this year, according to the U.N. That's the biggest influx since 2016.

…

One Afghan man said that he made the treacherous journey across the sea so that his children could have a future. With tears in his eyes, he said he can't believe he made it to Europe alive.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/greece...year-only-one-humanitarian-boat-left-to-help/

In the op, I had posted some statistics about deaths in Afghan and Syria wars. Since that time, Afghan deaths have gone up about 10K in that short time...

 

[southernhybrid]

Things are only going to get a lot worse when it comes to refugees and climate change among other things. The words to an old jazzy, soul song keep coming to mind, "The World is a Ghetto". Sometimes you have to detach yourself from what's going on or you'll go nuts! It's quite devastating.

 

[southernhybrid]

Here's another sad story about immigrants looking for a better life.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/01/world/europe/vietnamese-migrants-europe.html

LONDON — Vietnamese smugglers call it the “CO2” route: a poorly ventilated, oxygen-deficient trip across the English Channel in shipping containers or trailers piled high with pallets of merchandise, the last leg of a perilous, 6,000-mile trek across Asia and into Western Europe.

Compared to the other path — the “V.I.P. route,” with its brief hotel stay and seat in a truck driver’s cab — the trip in a stuffy container can be brutal for what some Vietnamese refer to as “box people,” successors to the “boat people” who left after the Vietnam War ended in 1975.

Vietnamese migrants often wait for months in roadside camps in northern France before being sneaked into a truck trailer. Snakeheads, as the smugglers are known, beat men and sexually assault women, aid groups, lawyers and the migrants themselves say. People cocoon themselves in aluminum bags and endure hours in refrigerated units to reduce the risk of detection.

That journey proved fatal last week for 39 people, many of them believed to be Vietnamese, who were found dead in a refrigerated truck container in southeastern England.

One thing that you come to realize by reading the world news, is that the US isn't the only Westernized country that makes it very difficult for immigrants from poor countries to enter.

 

[Derec]

How about this one.

ATHENS — Life in the overcrowded migrant camps on Greek islands “has dramatically worsened” in the past year, with thousands of refugees fighting to meet their most basic needs, Europe’s top human rights official warned on Thursday.

Yeah, how about it?
First, calling these people "refugees" is an insult to real refugees. Vast majority, if not all are economic migrants. Young adult men and older teenagers, whose families sell land or gold to finance the thousands of dollars it takes for the illegal migration to Europe in the hopes that the return on investment (money these young men are supposed to send home) will be very good.
Take the case of "Khasim", a young Afghan who was working as a sex worker in Athens until he took $1,700 from EU to voluntarily go back home. Of course, now that he is home his family (who do not - at least officially - know how he made money in Athens) want him to go back.

Opting for the United Nations-operated Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration program was a big decision. Khasim had spent more than $11,000 of his family’s money to get to Europe, including payments to smugglers.
[..]
“They ask, ‘why did you come back to Afghanistan, to no jobs,’” he said, explaining that his mother needs him to contribute to pay their rent and look after his younger siblings. “‘The life of people in Europe is better, there is no Taliban in Europe,’” he added, mimicking his mother's lectures.
Khasim concedes his mother is right.
“If you work one month in Afghanistan, it’s 100 euros ($114), if you work in Europe its 1,000 euros ($1,140) or 700 euros ($797),” he said.
[..]
Liza Schuster, an expert on return migrations to Afghanistan at City, University of London, said families often will have made a significant financial sacrifice to send someone to Europe and can be angry if they later show up on the doorstep.
“You can find two, three, four, five, very angry brothers saying, 'We’ve put all of this together to save you and now not only are you not safe ... but we’ve got no future, we have nothing,'” she said.
Khasim says he hopes to leave again for Europe as soon as he has the money to pay the smugglers.
This time, he hopes to reach Germany so that he can go and live with his brother in Munich.
He is certain that he does not want to return to Greece.“My family will sell some gold so I can go again,” he said. “They say I must go again.”

Why do they want him to go back? Because it's a business. Because having family members in the West is extremely lucrative, especially if they make it to the Schlaraffenland Germany. They are not seeking to send most vulnerable family members to Europe, as you would expect if migration pressure was due to safety, but those most likely to earn money to send back home. They are economic migrants, not refugees.

“It is an explosive situation,” the official, Dunja Mijatovic, the human rights commissioner of the Council of Europe, said after going to several camps. For many people in the camps, she said, “this has become a struggle for survival.”

The only solution is to start deporting these people back home en masse, and not dozen or so at a time a few times a year. If they see they have no hope of staying, there will be fewer paying thousands to smugglers to get there in the first place. As long as migrants keep making it to mainland, and from there to Germany and Sweden etc., there will be inward migration pressure from hundreds of thousands of young men who want the same for themselves.

 

[Derec]

One thing that you come to realize by reading the world news, is that the US isn't the only Westernized country that makes it very difficult for immigrants from poor countries to enter.

The numbers of mass migrants who want to come to US and EU from 3rd world countries is so high that it would be suicidal not to make it very difficult.
However, in both EU and US it is still way too easy to come illegally. You just have to claim "asylum" and it becomes very difficult to deport you even if you are really an economic migrant.
Left-wing media is not helping matters either by referring to every migrant as "refugee". Even these Vietnamese migrants were called "refugees" in some media even though the Vietnam war ended over 40 years ago. What exactly are they fleeing from? Seeking economic opportunities (either benefits or work or a combination of the two) is not a valid grounds for asylum!

 

[Derec]

One Afghan man said that he made the treacherous journey across the sea so that his children could have a future. With tears in his eyes, he said he can't believe he made it to Europe alive.

Sounds to me like another economic migrant. There is no need to go 4,000 miles to have physical safety - many areas in Afghanistan are safe for example, and one can migrate internally, rather than go 4,000 miles to Europe. You only need to go 4,000 miles if you desire economic benefits of illegally migrating to Europe.

In the op, I had posted some statistics about deaths in Afghan and Syria wars. Since that time, Afghan deaths have gone up about 10K in that short time...

To put this in perspective, Afghanistan has 30,000,000 people, and not all regions are dangerous. Same goes for Syria. Assad-held regions are quite peaceful. No reason for Syrians not to go there instead of to Europe. And then you have mass migrants washing up on Lesbos from countries where there is no war at all such as Pakistan, Bangladesh, Iran.

 

[Jolly_Penguin]

I think we'd gain greatly by deporting some home born and trading them out for some hard working immigrants.

 

[Derec]

Does it make sense to *bump* this thread?

Sure, why not.

Here's some good news. /s

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/01/world/asia/delhi-pollution-health-emergency.html

Main cause of this is overpopulation. Sure, one could make this better by requiring cleaner vehicles and industry and maybe expand the New Delhi Metro.
But the main issue is that in India you have over four times the US population squeezed into about a third of the area, with population still growing exponentially.

 

[Derec]

I think we'd gain greatly by deporting some home born and trading them out for some hard working immigrants.

It is this sort of platitude that makes serious discussion impossible. The issue is not about not having any immigration, but about not allowing unrestricted mass migration like what is happening in Lesbos or via these trucks into UK.

The issue is not binary - either no immigrants at all, or letting everybody in.

 

[Don2 (Don1 Revised)]

unrestricted mass migration is a red herring.

thousands of people are dying in wars and people are fleeing.

if you care about human life, stop whining and bitching about petty shit.

 

[southernhybrid]

Obviously, I disagree with Derec. Since the West has damaged so many parts of the world with our endless wars, ecological damage, over use of carbon based fuels, etc., it seems only fair that we would be willing to take in more refugees. And, when you consider our declining birth rate here, it only makes sense to take in more people. We are already having difficult filling jobs, and considering my generation is rapidly retiring, this will only continue. People talk about automation decreasing jobs but we are a long way from the point where people in most fields might be replaced by robots. But, I didn't really want to argue in this thread. It's more about what's going on in the world outside of the US.

 

[southernhybrid]

And, have we discussed China? There are so many things going on in China and Hong Kong.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/02/world/asia/hong-kong-protests.html

Police officers in Hong Kong on Saturday fired tear gas and clashed with protesters around the city, capping 21 weeks of antigovernment demonstrations that have convulsed this international financial hub and helped to sink it into a recession.

In scenes throughout the night that have become part of the new normal in Hong Kong, the city’s central financial district and several dense commercial neighborhoods were enveloped in shrouds of tear gas as riot police battled with protesters, who wore masks in defiance of a ban on face coverings enacted last month. Earlier in the afternoon, police shut down two rallies in the Central district that had received official authorization, citing the clashes elsewhere.

The day began when several thousand protesters turned out for a rally at Victoria Park in Causeway Bay. It had been billed as a campaign event for Hong Kong’s upcoming district council elections, after the police rejected the organizers’ initial application to hold a demonstration. (Police permission is not always required for election events.)

 

[southernhybrid]

I'm learning that we have a lot more in common with Australia than I had thought.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2019/11/01/australias-prime-minister-pledges-outlaw-climate-boycotts-arguing-they-threaten-economy/

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison railed against environmental protesters in a lunchtime speech on Friday, warning of a “new breed of radical activism” that was “apocalyptic in tone” and pledging to outlaw boycott campaigns that he argued could hurt the country’s mining industry.
The remarks were made to an audience at the Queensland Resources Council, an organization that represents peak mining interests in the northeastern Australian state. The proposed limits on protest quickly drew condemnation from human rights groups and activists.
“From ending slavery to stopping apartheid, boycott campaigns have played a critical role in achieving many social advances that we now take for granted,” Hugh de Kretser, executive director of the Human Rights Law Center, said in a statement.
Morrison, an evangelical Christian and a vocal supporter of President Trump, finds himself aligned with the U.S. leader on support for the coal industry. Australia is one of the largest coal producers on earth, with the industry supplying roughly 50,000 jobs but disproportionately responsible for greenhouse gas emissions.

Boycotts of businesses are one of many tactics used in the environmental movement. Prominent figures such as South Africa’s Archbishop Desmond Tutu are among those who have urged consumers to stop giving money to companies that contribute to climate change.
But Morrison’s surprise victory in Australia’s general election in May shows support for anti-activist policies, too. The incumbent prime minister, dogged by controversy and poor polling numbers, managed to cling to power, in part by portraying himself as a pro-business, center-right ally of Australia’s coal industry.

Anybody from Australia want to give your perspective on what's going on in your country?

 

[Patooka]

I'm learning that we have a lot more in common with Australia than I had thought.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2019/11/01/australias-prime-minister-pledges-outlaw-climate-boycotts-arguing-they-threaten-economy/

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison railed against environmental protesters in a lunchtime speech on Friday, warning of a “new breed of radical activism” that was “apocalyptic in tone” and pledging to outlaw boycott campaigns that he argued could hurt the country’s mining industry.
The remarks were made to an audience at the Queensland Resources Council, an organization that represents peak mining interests in the northeastern Australian state. The proposed limits on protest quickly drew condemnation from human rights groups and activists.
“From ending slavery to stopping apartheid, boycott campaigns have played a critical role in achieving many social advances that we now take for granted,” Hugh de Kretser, executive director of the Human Rights Law Center, said in a statement.
Morrison, an evangelical Christian and a vocal supporter of President Trump, finds himself aligned with the U.S. leader on support for the coal industry. Australia is one of the largest coal producers on earth, with the industry supplying roughly 50,000 jobs but disproportionately responsible for greenhouse gas emissions.

Boycotts of businesses are one of many tactics used in the environmental movement. Prominent figures such as South Africa’s Archbishop Desmond Tutu are among those who have urged consumers to stop giving money to companies that contribute to climate change.
But Morrison’s surprise victory in Australia’s general election in May shows support for anti-activist policies, too. The incumbent prime minister, dogged by controversy and poor polling numbers, managed to cling to power, in part by portraying himself as a pro-business, center-right ally of Australia’s coal industry.

Anybody from Australia want to give your perspective on what's going on in your country?

Wish I could tell you, but Christian fundies are now a thing in Australian politics and I'm buggered if I know why. They used to represent a minor third party like Fundamentalist First or Fred Nile's Worship Me Party, but they became mainstream in less than twelve months. The scary thing is it could be worse. This cunt was in the running for Prime Minister last year. If you want an American comparison, imagine Stephen Miller with 18 years of federal political experience.

 

[southernhybrid]

Thanks for your opinion. I really didn't know things had gotten quite that bad for Australia. Stephen Miller! Ouch! It don't get much worse that that.