Discussion and Debate Community Thread

[Surgeon]

So while this whole virus thing is going on, seems some news is getting overlooked: a bad heart surgery left Kim Jong Un in critical condition and he may now in fact be dead.

Who's the heir apparent, his sister? Wonder what sort of power struggles might be in the works, especially now that China may be set to lose foreign influence and want to consolidate power in the region. Also the virus might put a damper on negotiations.

Sucks to be the heart surgeon.

[Sar1n]

So while this whole virus thing is going on, seems some news is getting overlooked: a bad heart surgery left Kim Jong Un in critical condition and he may now in fact be dead.

Who's the heir apparent, his sister? Wonder what sort of power struggles might be in the works, especially now that China may be set to lose foreign influence and want to consolidate power in the region. Also the virus might put a damper on negotiations.

Sucks to be the heart surgeon.

Kim Yo Jong, the sis, is in charge of NK propaganda machine, among other things. I've heard she had fingers in the recent (year or two) murder of their rogue relative, and in the infamous NK labor camps.

If she got so high in the mysogynistic NK culture, she's gotta be smart and tough. In other words...it's going to be a huge problem for everyone.

[Prodromos]

The Kremlin Faces Setbacks in the Balkans

Key Takeaway: The Kremlin is losing initiative and influence in several Balkan states. North Macedonia joined NATO despite Russia’s efforts to prevent it. Russia’s strategic partner Serbia is increasingly vocal about its aspirations to join the EU. Balkan states are curbing the influence of Russian energy and the Russian Orthodox Church in their countries. The Kremlin is attempting to counteract these potential influence losses by exploiting its connections to Serbia’s defense establishment to prevent Serbia from deepening ties with the EU. The West should keep the Kremlin on the defensive in Europe by supporting ongoing EU and NATO efforts to integrate the Western Balkans.

Some good news for our resident eeyore @Legio

[Lord Thesaurian]

The Kremlin Faces Setbacks in the Balkans

Some good news for our resident eeyore @Legio

Crashing oil prices ftw. I don’t see it having a sustained impact on Russia’s domestic politics though, meaning the regime and its influence aren’t going anywhere. The EU, on the other hand.....

So while this whole virus thing is going on, seems some news is getting overlooked: a bad heart surgery left Kim Jong Un in critical condition and he may now in fact be dead.

Who's the heir apparent, his sister? Wonder what sort of power struggles might be in the works, especially now that China may be set to lose foreign influence and want to consolidate power in the region. Also the virus might put a damper on negotiations.

Sucks to be the heart surgeon.

If the rumors are true and Kim is either dead or out of commission long term, I think it presents a great opportunity for the Politburo to render NK a de facto occupied province, and once again menace the entire peninsula. They’ve already sent in a team of “experts” led by senior CCP officials to “consult” on Kim’s health, and enjoy relatively exclusive access to the Kim regime due to the latter’s status as an economic and political vassal. With the US effectively afk, we’ll see just how independently oriented the hermit kingdom really is - or isn’t. Luckily there’s already a movie about it, sort of.

[Abdülmecid I]

The quality of journalism about North Korea is atrocious, so I would take any exaggerated rumour with a pinch of salt. The problem is that many western newspapers and media repeat dubious stories coming from anonymous sources and cited by South Korean tabloids. There are quite a few Pyongyang officials and Kim dynasty members, who were apparently resurrected from the dead, after the chubby dictator fed them to the dogs or blew them up with anti-aircraft artillery...

Crashing oil prices ftw. I don’t see it having a sustained impact on Russia’s domestic politics though, meaning the regime and its influence isn’t going anywhere. The EU, on the other hand...

The erosion of Russian influence in the Balkans long predates the current decline of the oil prices and can be considered to have started at least since the collapse of the Warsaw Pact. The specific case of North Macedonia is pretty interesting actually: The small country has always been an ally of the United States, since the disintegration of Yugoslavia, but its integration to the European Union was always undermined by its corruption the reigning kleptocracy. In 2008, the country was expected to join NATO, but Greece vetoed the decision, because of the name dispute and despite the previously signed interim-accord. Then, the right-wing government of Gruevski, who ruled the country for ten years, also approached Russia, agreeing to the construction of the Turkish Stream pipeline, in an effort to profit from the antagonism between Washington and Moscow. Unfortunately for him, his game failed, as he lost power, due to scandals about corruption and a bloody terrorist attack in Kumanovo, orchestrated by Albanian ultra-nationalists. His successor, the center-left Zaev, abandoned the Turkish Stream project and finally solved the controversy with his southern neighbor, by negotiating the compromise of North Macedonia, which resulted into his country's admission to NATO without being obstructed by any objections from Athens.

[Prodromos]

"During the primary elections between Roosevelt and Taft, their supporters got so violent at state conventions that there were brawls, dynamite explosions, and one man held a gun to the head of the chair of Taft's delegation to make sure nothing fishy happened." - Derek Rishmawy

"By my count more than 50% of US elections before 1900 had some degree of reported election violence in this database too. And there's more low-level political assassinations than I realized. Being a county judge was dangerous!" - Lyman Stone

Those were the days

[Love Mountain]

That's pretty fascinating actually, Podromos. I like information that so easily contradicts the "good ol' days" mentality that's espoused so commonly by nostalgic political pundits and voters alike.

[Aexodus]

What they mean is the 90s and 80s when there was less hyper-partisanship in politics. Though if someone thinks the 1800s were the 'good old days' then you should definitely show them this aha.

[Prodromos]

Guys, the Postal Service is in trouble again

https://fortune.com/2020/04/27/usps-...t-biden-trump/

The U.S. Postal Service has made it explicitly clear: Without a Hail Mary pass from Congress, it will likely run out of money before September of this year.

In order to stay afloat, advocates for the Postal Service are asking Congress for $25 billion in immediate assistance, a $25 billion modernization grant to overhaul infrastructure, and $14 billion in debt forgiveness. ...

In a briefing with members of Congress earlier this month, Postmaster General Megan Brennan outlined the full extent of the problem. While the Postal Service was losing money at an unsustainable pace before the COVID-19 crisis, it has seen an insuperable and precipitous drop in mail volume since.

[Aexodus]

Seems to be similar problems to the Royal Mail. However, there is a greater need for a US public postal service due to the service it provides to extremely remote areas, Britain doesn't have anywhere near the same problem.

[Love Mountain]

What's wrong with subsidizing mail service?

[Morifea]

What's wrong with subsidizing mail service?

Its communism, dont you know? ;-)

[sumskilz]

What's wrong with subsidizing mail service?

Assuming you're referring to the USPS, I'm having trouble coming up with a reason why anyone would want to. Do they serve a function other than wasting resources and everyone's time?

[Aexodus]

What's wrong with subsidizing mail service?

Absolutely nothing.

Due to EU directive 2008/6/EC, the Royal Mail had to be fully open to competition by 2012. This set off a chain of events that led to the government selling 60% of it’s 90% stake.

[Cope]

Absolutely nothing.

Due to EU directive 2008/6/EC, the Royal Mail had to be fully open to competition by 2012. This set off a chain of events that led to the government selling 60% of it’s 90% stake.

This reminds me of people like Alastair Campbell prattling on about the referendum result being a reflection of Tory neoliberalism while ignoring the institutionalized neoliberalism of the EU. Here's another directive concerning rail privatization.

[Aexodus]

Once we leave the EU, we can have as many industries private or public as we want. We can save steel manufacturers, shipbuilding, list goes on, where otherwise state intervention would have been illegal.

[Morifea]

Absolutely nothing.

Due to EU directive 2008/6/EC, the Royal Mail had to be fully open to competition by 2012. This set off a chain of events that led to the government selling 60% of it’s 90% stake.

Well the "Deutsche Post" ist also fully open to competition and its running very profitable (it also gives me some nice Dividends). So the EU is not generally to blame here, maybe you Britons just didn`t do well.

[Cope]

Once we leave the EU, we can have as many industries private or public as we want. We can save steel manufacturers, shipbuilding, list goes on, where otherwise state intervention would have been illegal.

We have left the EU. Don't you remember my chauvinistic post from Jan 31st?

[PointOfViewGun]

Once we leave the EU, we can have as many industries private or public as we want. We can save steel manufacturers, shipbuilding, list goes on, where otherwise state intervention would have been illegal.

Nope.

What are the EU rules about state aid?

State aid is financial assistance given by the government to companies or other organisations that has the potential to distort market competition.

The aid can be in the form of direct cash grants or indirect aid - such as preferential borrowing rates or tax credits.

Under EU rules, member-state governments are allowed to provide state aid only with approval from the European Commission.

For example, in 2015 the UK government submitted plans to provide a subsidy to Drax power station to convert one of its units from coal to biomass fuel.

Following an investigation, the commission ruled in favour of the scheme.

There are exceptions to the rules. For example, governments can provide aid for broadband infrastructure without prior approval. And aid worth less than 200,000 euros (£175,000) over three years is exempt.

[Cope]

To the surprise of no one, the BBC has been accused of political bias after presenting Labour Party activists as impartial NHS commentators in a Panorama investigation.