VK538FY

11 ms·

91.
by VK538FY 3y ago
Very interesting. I was not aware of this part of Portuguese history. Thank you.
92.
by VK538FY 3y ago
It's also an open secret at this point that American atomic gravity bombs are stored in bases in Italy, Belgium, UK and Germany. The current Polish government doesn't seem to be opposed to doing the same in Poland. Plans to mainta
93.
by VK538FY 3y ago
Really? I was under the impression that Poland wanted the US to establish permanent bases on its territory and that they would make most of the American presence in Germany superfluous. (The Russians do not like this at all and the outcome
94.
by VK538FY 3y ago
And the madness of WWII was in no small way related to the oddly inequitable treaty of Versailles formulated to reflect French and British demands.
95.
by VK538FY 3y ago
The French revolution took place at the end of the 18th century and I'm sure that a lot of churches in Paris (or any French city) were demolished in a big FU to God. I can't recall something similar having taken place in Portugal
96.
by VK538FY 3y ago
I don't have the statistics at hand but I remember a study about road degradation based on vehicle type. The difference between industrial vehicles and passenger vehicles (including pickup trucks) was enormously skewed so that industri
97.
by VK538FY 3y ago
Essentially the problem when one respects sensible security distances. Others just move in. Even when you want to roll faster on say a 2 lane motorway but can't without compromising that distance.
98.
by VK538FY 4y ago
Thank you for your comment with relevant citations. The dominant version of the story in western circles is too often accepted uncritically. There are many other elements to consider. Same for many stories regarding China.
99.
by VK538FY 4y ago
The relatively high fees on French autoroutes are offset by the good quality, yes. But the principal objection may be the way in which said autoroutes were privatized after being built with public money, no?
100.
by VK538FY 4y ago
That's a bit disingenuous regarding Russia. It's true that hydrocarbons are the lion's share but take a look at this list for example. https://tradingeconomics.com/russia/exports I'm often surprised
101.
by VK538FY 4y ago
Good point. The Aussiedler represent some big numbers, are foreign born, but can loosely be considered German. I've known a lot and while not entirely representative, the criteria were loose: only adoptive father of German ancestry, l
102.
by VK538FY 4y ago
Sure, I won't argue semantics. I and many others don't want a democracy that relegates us to an anachronistic minority.
103.
by VK538FY 4y ago
In the case of my small example: I am the rural vote so I don't see our collective force as tyranny of course. As long as basic rights are respected. Ours is a case of a region with specific identity and interests not shared by the sin
104.
by VK538FY 4y ago
I appreciate your suggestions but would really need to see some simulations to digest the potential effects. Not that my opinion counts for much but it's always good to suggest alternatives when one criticizes. That said, the duopoly
105.
by VK538FY 4y ago
Germany is half-half. Open to immigrants because a/ its economy is an electromagnet that needs foreign talent and b/ its post war doctrine makes it imagine itself as America but with better beer. Foolish but true. Closed to immigr
106.
by VK538FY 4y ago
I understand your point. 'First past the post' may not be ideal for your country. For other countries, it is appreciated despite its inconveniences. Example: Québec. We inherited 'first past the post' from England. The
107.
by VK538FY 4y ago
I will read the white paper to which you link because it looks interesting and it's important to obtain information from the source. (Can't digest it before I respond to you here.) I have read about the positive aspects of the Chi
108.
by VK538FY 4y ago
I'd encourage you to study the difference between (a) the Chinese political system and (b) the Chinese model for international co-operation. The first is hard for me to accept, as a Westerner attached to direct democracy, but I recogni
109.
by VK538FY 4y ago
I go to Italy every few months and buy a few bottles of generic balsamico for cooking. Cost about 1.20 EUR per 700 mL bottle at Coop. No caramel or funny ingredients. Surely not aged like the expensive stuff but it performs its job well in
110.
by VK538FY 4y ago
If I understand correctly: Grey-Poupon started in Dijon and the Reitzel brothers in Switzerland first imported it. Then they started to make it in Aigle (Vaud), Switzerland, and the French company kind of disappeared. Not sure, but Grey-Pou
111.
by VK538FY 7y ago
A semi-secret war? Surely a very mysterious war, at least to me because conventional reasoning does not allow me to understand why western governments encouraged putches that destroyed stable governments (imperfect but far, far superior to
112.
by VK538FY 7y ago
To clarify. A free press writes what it likes and the act of writing a newspaper article of any sort is not an act of 'foreign intervention'. We probably agree on that. I have a problem with the fairly homogeneous discourse that I
113.
by VK538FY 7y ago
I agree partially. The limits of 'acceptable' foreign intervention are not black and white. My feeling, based on what I observe, is that western intelligence services are all over this. Foreign intervention in Syria and Lybia star
114.
by VK538FY 7y ago
Yes, I think that that is the case, based on the following elements. 1. Contacts between US consular staff and HK opposition leaders. 2. Funding by the US 'National Endowment for Democracy' of several Hong Kong groups. 3. My obser
115.
by VK538FY 7y ago
I'm probably a bigger fan of self-determination than you: if the people of HK, Catalonia or California wish to follow their own road, I support them, but they need to work that out on their own. When those movements are even partly the
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by VK538FY 7y ago
The people of whom you speak would need to be gifted communicators. I'm sure that there are some smart, well informed and well intentioned people on Hacker News that could argue for realistic, multipolar solutions. That said, it's
117.
by VK538FY 7y ago
Sure, but the guy to whom we are responding suggests implicitely that some hypothetical political meddling is an act of war that requires a war-like response -- twice with an identical comment, in fact. I don't think that I am poorly i
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by VK538FY 7y ago
I believe that the grandparent poster could be qualified as rather 'hawkish'. I hope truly that cooler heads are at the helm of international politics.
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by VK538FY 7y ago
Responding to myself since I first wanted to note the irony of the submitted article. Now I'll talk about this. First, the US has many times interferred in Russian elections. I will not mention the interference in those of Russia'
120.
by VK538FY 7y ago
In the country in which I live, what I fear the most is Brussels meddling in the democractic process. Although an immigrant, I have become very attached to the institutions and culture of my host country. Every move closer to the EU, of whi

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