partial_accumen

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.

There are troubles in Russo-Armenian relations, but there’s no details of Azerbaijan distancing themselves from Russia. If anyone knows more, please let me know.

There’s a good chunk of evidence of Azerbaijan distancing themselves from Russia. This doesn’t necessarily mean that Azerbaijan is equally embracing the West though. source

This is heartwarming news that two nations which have been such bitter enemies are looking to a long term peaceful coexistence. This can only benefit both nations and their citizens.

“allows”

“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

Overcorrection in policy is not uncommon in authoritarian regimes. I’d imagine because policy carries the threat of imprisonment, not just guidance.

“The Chinese government wants to promote traditional family values and liking danmei novels is seen as a factor in making women less willing to have children,” Dr Ge explains.

You skipped the “mass market” part.

Those advancements were made possible by the Roadster, which was the true pioneering product that made EVs cool again. A car that was dreamed up and invented by Martin Eberhard, and would go on to be built by someone else that gave him the shittiest end of the most shit-covered stick there ever was.

All credit due to Eberhard and Tarpenning for the idea and some of the initial development of the BMS, but its not like they had a full car ready to sell and before Musk came in. Tesla was established as a company in 2003, Musk was brought in (with his money) in 2004. The first Roadster sold in 2008. Now stop making me say anything positive about Musk just to set the record straight. Its making me sick to talk about him positively after what he’s become and how much harm he has caused human society.

It’s not rare for the first company to bring a product to market to not be the top dog once other companies get involved.

Except Tesla wasn’t the first mass market EV. It wasn’t even the second. The first would be the GM EV1 in 1997:

Many would argue that the EV1 doesn’t count because it was on old technology. Fine then, the Nissan Leaf from 2009 then sporting its lithium battery:

Tesla Model S brought performance, range and styling that both of those were missing. However, we don’t need Tesla anymore in the world if Musk is still benefiting from it.

I’d trade Ukraine getting NATO membership if it means Hungary loses it.

If I understand the explanation, its like when an author (or their proxies) buys thousands (millions) of copies of their own book to make them “sold” so that they can raise their standing on the “Best Seller’s List”.

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.

Iran, take a good look at the amount of military support Armenia received when reached out to Putin after an attack by Azerbaijan:

"Despite Armenia’s appeals for assistance from the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) and Russia during Azerbaijan’s incursions in May 2021 and September 2022, both entities declined to assist, leaving Armenia on its own.[62][63] "

source

And Armenia was a signatory on a mutual defense agreement CSTO. Iran isn’t.

Tangentially, I was chatting with the owner of my local pub in Boston recently, and apparently it’s become something of a game (?!?!?!?!?) to try to slip people mickeys around here.

In some time periods in some places in the world, getting a hand cut off was punishment for theft. While that is a bit extreme, maybe assholes convicted of this should lose the final knuckle of their pinky finger as punishment for drugging people at bars.

I’ve never felt like I’ve been able to “afford” a vacation in my entire adult life.

I’m interested in this thread of conversation if you’re willing. If not, no worries.

You have a vision of a vacation in your mind. How much does that theoretical vacation cost? We can even put upper and lower bounds on it. What dollar figure do you think you’d need for the entire vacation (travel, lodging, food, expenses)?

When you remove the “landlords” from your statement, the tourist blame doesn’t make much sense:

Think about it: who are all these tourists [snip], and why are they able to afford to outcompete the locals for the properties in the first place?

Because a tourist only need the housing for a few days at exorbitant prices and the locals need it for 365 days?

I depends. How much of a bribe are you willing to pay to trump’s personal bank accounts?

However critics complain that while buyers for western markets only want to buy certified tea they rarely offer to pay a premium for it. While UK consumers are happy to splurge on coffee, the same is not true of tea. The average price of a teabag is “just 2 or 3p” despite the fact that the cost to grow and pick tea is increasing, according to a recent Fairtrade Foundation report on the subject.

I’m going to need more info on these’ critics argument, because these statements by themselves don’t pass the “sniff test”. A company buying tea for resale won’t pay anything more than they need to. If their customers are demanding certified sourced tea, then the company will source that. The way customer demand this is if they stop buying your tea because it doesn’t have certified sources.

If a tea company could make just as much money buying cheaper non-certified tea and they’d retain all their customers and continue with their projected growth, they wouldn’t buy certified tea.