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Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: June 15th, 2023

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  • I don’t think this is limited to just France.

    We’re semi-regular visitors to the wonderful nation of Canada. We’ve really only been to two or three places that might be off the beaten path instead visiting mostly bigger cities regularly. I really like getting in conversations with the locals wherever we go to learn about life in that particular city or region. Just recently when one local was asking where else we’d been in Canada, I rattled off a list of Canadian places we’d visited and they paused for a moment and they said “You’ve seen more of Canada than most Canadians.” That made me sad actually, and a bit ashamed. I wasn’t meaning it to rub it in, but just wanted to share how much we appreciate the natural beauty and the people of the country.


  • Palestinian scholarship students with places at Irish universities and processed visas remain trapped in Gaza as the Irish government refuses to evacuate Palestinians who aren’t on “official government scholarships”.

    At least 20—but possibly up to 40—Palestinian students have been accepted to Irish universities with full tuition and accommodation waivers. The Irish embassy in Tel Aviv has confirmed their visa applications meet all requirements for approval.

    They are however still in Gaza. The Department of Foreign Affairs has said, “Those students who have not been awarded a government scholarship do not meet the current criteria for assistance,” in a response health minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill forwarded to student advocates.

    What are the scholarships these students have that are not “official government scholarships”? The article doesn’t explain. Are these scholarships from private organizations or individuals?


  • I am asking because without reading the article it seems like the only interested people would be Indians.

    You’re coming to a community called “World News” and complaining about getting stories of * checks notes * World News?

    What exactly do you think World News is? I come to World News to read stories just like this that are happening on the other side of the world from me.

    India is the most populous country in the world. It, along with a handful of others will likely rise in dominance in the next 100 years if nothing else because their population isn’t declining. Seeing this window on development in India is seeing a prequel to a future superpower. I find it fascinating to see how they choose to go about it.


  • Fact:

    Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to European diplomats: “China cannot afford a Russian defeat in Ukraine”.

    Supposition:

    The reason? Beijing reportedly fears that a vanquished Russia would allow the United States to shift its entire strategic focus onto China, a fear which is probably not unfounded given US President Trump’s openly anti-China rhetoric and policies.

    I fully support Ukraine, but I don’t agree with their guess at a reason for the statement from Minister Wang Yi. I’m thinking that China needs to cement the legitimacy of invading sovereign territories with ethnically similar populations so that China can get political cover when it wants to invade Taiwan. If China is successful in getting the world to accept some or all of Ukraine being held by Russia, then there will be no grounds for the world to oppose the invasion and capture of Taiwan by China.





  • “The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, officially the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics,[1][2] and also known as the Hitler–Stalin Pact[3][4] and the Nazi–Soviet Pact,[5] was a non-aggression pact between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, with a secret protocol establishing Soviet and German spheres of influence across Eastern Europe.[6] The pact was signed in Moscow on 24 August 1939 (backdated 23 August 1939[7][8]) by Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov and German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop.[9]” source


  • Long ago I ran a Windows Media Center PC in the living room and used the hell out of it. When WMC finally went EOL, I look for alternatives and found Plex. I never got around to setting up a Plex box, and now I see it too is ready for the scrap heap. I think this is what getting old is. You plan on doing something and never get around to it. Time passes much faster up here in age.






  • No, I wouldn’t call that diplomacy.

    This is why you and I aren’t diplomats.

    If the head of NATO is dependent upon the USA for lots of support to NATO, then it is in NATO’s interest for the head of the USA to like NATO. If you know the head of the USA is incredibly shallow and you can achieve that support simply by sending an email/text message which requires zero dollars, and at best, a bit of political capital, then its a good deal for the NATO head to do that.

    This is what is both fascinating and horrible about diplomacy and geopolitics. Its not about being “right” or “moral” in the moment. Its about getting what you want hopefully in service of the overall goal of of your interests. Sometimes that overall goal is “right” and “moral” in the case of NATO usually.




  • assuming I’m worried about a smash and grab

    For your specific use case, how about this:

    Get a cheap USB thumb drive and a long USB cable. Put your disk unlock password on that thumb drive, and semi-permanently affix the USB drive to your building. You said you’re in a basement. Put it on top of a rafter with a metal fitting that would keep the drive from being taken without removing the screws. Run the long USB cable from the thumb driving in your rafter to the USB port on the machine. Alter your startup script to mount the thumb drive read the password from the thumb drive to unlock your main disk. Don’t forget to immediately unmount the thumbdrive in the OS after the disk is unlocked for extra safety.

    If someone is doing a smash and grab, they’ll unplug all the cables (including this USB cable going to the thumb drive) and take your machine leaving the disk encryption password behind on the USB thumb drive.