_djo_

107 ms·

1141.
by _djo_ 16y ago
The South Korean car industry has improved by leaps and bounds over the past fifteen years. The difference between a Kia or Hyundai in '96 and today is massive. It's really worth taking another look at Kia's products, I think you'll be plea
1142.
by _djo_ 16y ago
Still no evidence of direct Western funding of the Iraqi military, 'entirely' or otherwise. Again, selling Iraq weaponry, turning a blind eye to its actions and providing it with intelligence information are all not the same thing as direct
1143.
by _djo_ 16y ago
I think you're missing the point. The only thing I have questioned is a very specific claim that you made in your original post, which was: Saddam Hussein's Iraq, whose military was entirely funded by Western powers All I've asked for is
1144.
by _djo_ 16y ago
Neither of those sources contains a claim that Western states directly funded Iraq's military, so they don't represent a citation for the claim that you made. As I mentioned before, the fact that Western countries and the Soviet bloc happil
1145.
by _djo_ 16y ago
It would be a weak case, as then by definition any trade with a country could be regarded as directly funding its military (and the rest of its state functions).
1146.
by _djo_ 16y ago
Do you have a citation for the claim that Saddam's military was 'entirely funded by Western powers'? To my knowledge there was never any direct funding of Iraq's military by any Western state during the Saddam era. The West was certainly no
1147.
by _djo_ 16y ago
Steering locks only engage when the key is removed from the ignition, not when the engine is merely turned off.
1148.
by _djo_ 16y ago
That would be the smartest thing that they could possibly do, especially if they take the opportunity to define a constitution with strong protections for negative rights. With enough care they'll constrain any future government, protect fu
1149.
by _djo_ 16y ago
The positions are not fundamentally opposed. You can believe that people have the right to choose their own leaders while also believing both that they should be accountable for that choice and that those leaders can be ignored or shunned i
1150.
by _djo_ 16y ago
Halting or redirecting the military aid would be the worst thing the US could do, because it would force the military (the guys who are actually in charge now) into a corner, remove any hope of being able to co-operate with it and undermine
1151.
by _djo_ 16y ago
If you don't mind me asking, I'm curious about what alternative medicine you used.
1152.
by _djo_ 16y ago
Atomic Web Browser, Mercury Web Browser, iCab Mobile, Terra and Opera Mini are some examples of alternative browsers that have additional features to the standard iPad Safari install. There are many others. Not that an alternative browser w
1153.
by _djo_ 16y ago
It's worth noting that M-PESA is spreading outside of Kenya. Last year it had a highly-publicised launch in South Africa, backed by the country's largest mobile operator and fourth-largest bank. While the country has a well-developed and hi
1154.
by _djo_ 16y ago
Only in the US, to my knowledge.
1155.
by _djo_ 16y ago
All countries lie, it's part and parcel of diplomacy. Expecting otherwise is to naively anthropomorphise states. And while Israel does have a covert nuclear program that's more or less an open secret these days, it's not directly comparable
1156.
by _djo_ 16y ago
The last time they pursued this the Israelis at some point bombed their reactor. That was Iraq, at Osirak. But your larger point is correct. Nobody in foreign policy circles takes Iran's claims about having only a peaceful nuclear program
1157.
by _djo_ 16y ago
Just to clarify, I am not the author, I just came across the opinion piece and thought it was an interesting perspective. I also don't know if the author has an account on HN, but he probably does not.
1158.
One day, we'll all hate WikiLeaks(thedailymaverick.co.za)
23 points by _djo_ 16y ago|45 comments
1159.
by _djo_ 16y ago
Confidentiality has always been a necessary element of diplomacy. There is nothing inherently sinister about that. So far I have seen very little in the released cables that can legitimately be said was in the public interest.
1160.
by _djo_ 16y ago
It's not only about their own populations, it will also have a detrimental effect on world leaders' willingness to discuss other countries, especially their neighbours, with US diplomats. The end result of the Wikileaks cable dump is that i
1161.
by _djo_ 16y ago
Not really, as there are surely equally impressive startups from countries like Egypt, Kenya and South Africa. The difference between this being the most impressive Nigerian startup the author has ever seen and it being the most impressive
1162.
by _djo_ 16y ago
Bear in mind that this is only a very early media preview of OS X Lion and that Apple does not traditionally reveal all the juicy details of its new OS X releases this far in advance. So there's no doubt more to come. For instance, Jobs hin
1163.
by _djo_ 16y ago
DARPA had two follow-on challenges, a second Grand Challenge in 2005 that five vehicles successfully completed and the 2007 Urban Challenge in which vehicles had to autonomously navigate closed-off urban area, obey traffic rules, merge into
1164.
by _djo_ 16y ago
I am open to correction, but as I understand it the $44 billion figure is a calculated estimate of the money being spent in total by any and all government institutions in the US, including that spent by local and state police departments a