astebbin

5 ms·

1.
by astebbin 8y ago
I'd love to know why the parent has been downvoted. Further evidence, if any is needed: "The use of lethal force on the Berlin Wall was an integral part of the East German state's policy towards its border system." &quot
2.
by astebbin 8y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_Peter_Fechter Many similar cases.
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by astebbin 8y ago
“The first thing you notice is the quiet. Then the white strips of paper stretched diagonally across the front doors of stores that look like they were vacated in a hurry. Once you get close enough, you can read the painted serial numbers o
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by astebbin 8y ago
Local laws in East Berlin sanctioned the murder of Germans who sought to escape. Local laws in Vichy France required people to report hidden Jews to the police. Local laws in America under Jim Crow forbade interracial marriage, and denied B
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by astebbin 8y ago
I don't know what America has to do with anything, but China's income inequality is also worse than America's, so there's that. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_income_eq...
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by astebbin 8y ago
The one-child policy also resulted in the worst gender imbalance in the world, which "could lead to instability as more men remain unmarried, raising the risks of anti-social and violent behavior." https://www.scientifi
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by astebbin 8y ago
If this were true, surely it would be in China's best interest to cease its many protectionist trade policies immediately. On the contrary, protectionism seems to work well when other countries are willing to put up with it, either for
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by astebbin 8y ago
“At first, Bekali did not want the AP to publish his account for fear that his sister and mother in China would be detained and sent to re-education. But on March 10, back in China, the police took his sister, Adila Bekali. A week later, on
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by astebbin 8y ago
It denies them in kind, in intent, and in scope and scale. “Six million Jews have been relocated by the German government for the purpose of poverty reduction.”
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by astebbin 8y ago
The takeaway quote from your link: "Authorities in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in Northwest China relocated 461,000 poverty-ridden residents to work in other parts of the region during the first quarter of the year, in what a
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by astebbin 8y ago
There is relevance to state-of-the-art surveillance technologies deployed in Xinjiang: http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/china-s-xinjiang-p...
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by astebbin 8y ago
Hypothetical: as the cost of mass storage continues to plunge, why wouldn’t less-scrupulous states gather as much dirt as possible on anyone of even the remotest national interest (through intermediaries, of course), in case it ever becomes
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by astebbin 8y ago
This gun-drone is real, however, and may have already been deployed in Israel: https://youtu.be/VaTW8uAo_6s It carries a stripped-down AR-style carbine, and makes shots at what looks like 50-100 yards with sufficient accura
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by astebbin 8y ago
I imagine a scaled-down version of the U.S. Army’s C-RAM, or Israel’s Trophy system, could work quite well for VIPs. Some drones can be VERY fast (think hobby-sized jet engine fast), so you’d need active radar and full automation to stand a
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by astebbin 8y ago
China's government of that same period was hardly innocent, committing numerous genocidal wars of territorial expansion [0][1]. Hardly useful to compare either side of that historical situation to the present. Multi-generational assign
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by astebbin 8y ago
Yes, that’s also a good example of obfuscated racial preference in college admissions (assuming the case has merit, and looking at the numbers I’m under the strong impression that it does).
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by astebbin 8y ago
Yes, but not with modified test scores, as that is explicitly illegal. Instead, schools consider softer criteria which leave wiggle room for race to be de facto weighted as a factor: https://www.npr.org/2015/06/23&
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by astebbin 8y ago
As I understand it, an enormous percentage of global trade sails through the South China Sea. From a pragmatic standpoint, it behooves American interests to support the Vietnamese and Philippine territorial claims so that one nation (China)
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by astebbin 8y ago
It’s also life-shortening to suddenly and unexpectedly lost your job, especially when you’re over 40 and “retraining” isn’t really an option, or when all the other jobs have been automated away.
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by astebbin 8y ago
>I think many Americans are hoping China tries to take a leadership role in Asia and near neighbors Could you elaborate on this? My impression was that China has recently been bullying its neighbors, particularly Vietnam and to some exte
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by astebbin 8y ago
I’m struck by the apparent no-warning nature of the firing. Were internal expectations clearly set for how employees should behave when interacting with fans and customers? Do companies like ArenaNet with especially vocal fan communitiecs g
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by astebbin 8y ago
I can’t tell if this comment is sincere or sarcastic. Poe’s Law in full effect: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poe's_law
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by astebbin 8y ago
Snowden has certainly paid a price for his leaks. However, the Washington Post, New York Times, and others were not punished for re-publishing or discussing the content of these leaks. Historically, American papers have successfully defende
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by astebbin 8y ago
Relative to income, it may be true that most people can now buy cheaper, better TVs (for example). This is small consolation if most people are also paying more for less in terms of housing, healthcare, and education. These costs also dwarf
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by astebbin 8y ago
If we assume your hypothesis is correct, wouldn’t this research still be useful in the context of a particular mouse? I imagine researchers could identify specialized brain areas first, and then dissect that particular mouse’s brain to see
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by astebbin 8y ago
Monero has tried something along these lines: https://www.coindesk.com/crypto-kill-switch-monero-going-war...
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by astebbin 8y ago
>They are not internationally reviewed and approved Devil's advocate: what makes ROE any better if they're approved by China, Iran, and Saudi Arabia, for example? Western European-descendent values and cultural norms are a glob
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by astebbin 8y ago
It’s how dealers drum up new business. When one customer ODs, other customers flock to the dealer whose product just proved its potency.
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by astebbin 8y ago
Gas allows for more precise and responsive heat control per burner. To the average homeowner, this doesn’t make much of a difference, but I understand it to be of great importance for professional chefs and passionate hobbyists.
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by astebbin 8y ago
Isn't this comparison a little disingenuous? The scale, scope, and legality of government surveillance (not to mention censorship) in the U.S. absolutely pales in comparison to the situation in China. If all Chinese people developed a

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