HowRu68

HowRu68 OP , vor einem Monat

Of Israeli Jews alive today, 80% were born in Israel. A majority of Israel’s Jews are not descended from Europe but rather from Arab nations, including from the parcel of land known today as modern Israel. Known as Mizrachim in Hebrew, they hail from Iraq, Iran, Morocco, Yemen, Egypt, Tunisia, Syria and Algeria, as well as from the Asian caucus region of the former Soviet Union. Those Israelis who are Ashkenazi, the Israeli term for Jews of European descent, are increasingly the minority inside Israel.

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HowRu68 OP , vor einem Monat

Yeah sure but they just don't realize how bad the situation is.

I guess you must be right. Probably, outsiders ( like me) can't phantom what's really going on..

HowRu68 OP , vor einem Monat

Russia has used a similar law to silence public figures and organisations that disagree with or deviate from the Kremlin’s views. Georgian society is widely anti-Kremlin. Georgia’s bid for membership of the EU and NATO is enshrined in its constitution and—according to opinion polls—supported by a majority of the population.

HowRu68 OP , vor einem Monat (Bearbeitet vor einem Monat)

Not even curb really, just make transparent when NGOs are getting foreign funding.

Problem being with the BILL , is that's a copypaste Russian Law from Putins desk. And everyone saw what happened there when several 10th of thousands were arrested for protesting, ngos, newspapers were found illegal. Yip, democracic citizen etc were labelled as foreign influence, and handled as traitors . something like this doesn't bode Well for freedom and democracies.

This is about a (pro Ruzz?) actors in Georgian Government pushing a Bill without any democratic support. Nobody wants it.

HowRu68 , vor einem Monat

Sounds horrible..

HowRu68 , vor einem Monat

FYI: The " FT exclusive" reference in this article is here

HowRu68 OP , vor einem Monat

Trying to upload another link. But it got hung up. "Are you a bot" message is annoying me^^

HowRu68 , vor einem Monat (Bearbeitet vor einem Monat)

Imo it will fist get worse in the years to come, as decoupling has somewhat started where possible.
Also I don't expect any major changes from Xi Jiping or the CCP, in his (strict) policies in the foreseeable future.

HowRu68 , vor einem Monat (Bearbeitet vor einem Monat)

I wonder how they are going to concretely translate this issue into legislation or praxis..

• Some actors of far-right parties have been proven to be hostile to their own countries and to democracy.

• On the otherhand these parties were officially democratically elected by voters.

• And finally, why the heck are these poltician and or parties still not sanctioned, after breaking their freely taken oath to protect democracy and the interests of its respective constituents.

• I hope our politician and the legislation proves adaptable enough to counter this new dangers, without loosing their core democratic mandate.

HowRu68 , vor 2 Monaten (Bearbeitet vor 2 Monaten)

Best buddies, agreeing on the absence of free press,absolute control and stealing and skimming money from people. They'll probably just compare their bankaccounts and tip each other off for new" business ventures/ annexations, and how to farm the world of its resources in 80 days" idk. Got carried away.

HowRu68 OP , vor 2 Monaten

The dog actually barked at him, is that tagging? Anyhow, great instincts.

HowRu68 , vor 2 Monaten

Seems this Georgian billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili has it's own ( and or pro-Putin) agenda. Here's some background Meduza' feature article

In other words, [ some criticis find] that, while outward signs indicate a sudden pro-Russian shift, the reality is more complex than manichean geopolitics would suggest. “I don’t really agree with the assessment that [Ivanishvili is] pro-Russian, or that he gets directions from Putin,” Kakabadze says. “He cares about himself most of all — his interests, his security, his money.”

HowRu68 OP , vor 2 Monaten

"Media ownership concentration remained high in Croatia, France, Hungary, Poland, the Netherlands and Slovakia, with many media companies owned by just a few individuals, threatening the diversity of media voices and increasing the risk of bias.
In Slovakia, the populist prime minister, Robert Fico, has “cut off all communication” with four media outlets accused of “openly displaying hostile attitudes”. His government this month approved a controversial bill to overhaul the public broadcaster RTVS.

In Hungary, public service media was already “so completely under the yoke of the government” that its output was “characterised by biased and one-sided reporting that is always in line with the interests of the ruling Fidesz party”, Liberties said.

HowRu68 OP , vor 2 Monaten

Ukraine is also busy cleaning their house.

HowRu68 OP , vor 2 Monaten

Wishing Ukraine a good ( spring ) cleanup, though it's a hard & difficult job to do. And as long as they don't forget to throw the garbage out, it will be nice and shiny once again.

HowRu68 OP , vor 2 Monaten

Afaik, there ECB was and is trying to lower /cap inflation. The logic being that the (pandemic) inflation ( and interest) rate was too high , and to avoid a living cost/ wage spiral.

There will be many more expendirures to come due to, the energy transition, failing international trade, political instability, wars, climate catastrophe, migration, new virus problems, etc. If I were them, I'd up my budget reservation for " unforseen costs " to a 20% to be safe. It doesn't hurt to build some fat before difficult years.

But, how do modern economics see this?

HowRu68 OP , vor 2 Monaten (Bearbeitet vor 2 Monaten)

Tbx for sharing MMT economics, sounds reasonable enough. I'm no economic expert btw ;)

For sure I agree that in these time, major Investments are the only reasonable way forward, especially now. And, like you said, it's now or never.

Add NB: The viewpoint of more domestic spending is also adhered by Mario Draghi, as seen per his speech recently. (Link Speech multilingual )

At the same time, as long as we remain critical to these gvement expenditures, thus procurement, methods and goals, and watch out for corruption, mismanagement, incorrect allocations etc, we should be ok.

Besides our own immediate motives, we don't live in an isolated world; problem being that in our strategic choices as EU & memberstates we must consider the times & geopolitical tides. We must consider the actions of surrounding superpowers ( superstates and superconglomerates) ; which aren't in free-trade; are being creative by falsifying economic data, or stealing IP, have been influencing the market malevolently; are extremely subsidising their own products, but issuing tariffs to imports. Also, unlike the US ,which can issue extra" free "money, we as EU cannot.
I surely hope, that the EU guidelines, offer more choices and leeway then the old ones. For example, there's been the internal discussion of issuing EU bonds for specific goals. They are establishing and expanding funds, for future investments. How that will workout as to membership loan/GDP ratio, depends on then chosen configuration, I reckon.

HowRu68 OP , vor 2 Monaten

Energy dependency ( and competitiveness) paragraph P 62.:

True, energy costs in Europe remain higher than those of its major competitors. During the energy crisis, the EU, as other regions relying on imported fossil gas (UK, Japan, South Korea) has witnessed a trend of increased price differentials with other parts of the world. Gas prices were 3 to 6 times higher than those in the U.S, compared to 2-3 times historically and are still significantly higher today. EU electricity industrial retail prices are close to 2 times the US prices and are becoming progressively higher than in China. Such a situation will persist until the marginal price is predominantly determined by renewable and low-carbon electricity sources rather than gas. The continent's limited self-sufficiency in energy also heightens its vulnerability to sudden price shocks. In 2021, the EU's dependency on energy imports was high: 91.7% for oil, 83.4% for gas, and 37.5% for solid fossil fuels, contributing to an overall energy dependency rate of approximately 55.5%. In 2022 alone, Europe's bill for importing fossil fuels amounted to €640 billion, approximately 4.1% of its GDP. In 2023, even with lower prices, it remained close to 2.4% of the EU's GDP.

HowRu68 , vor 2 Monaten (Bearbeitet vor 2 Monaten)

"It also suggests that Chinese universities play a vital intelligence-gathering role, noting that [Chinese] scientists employed by western companies often work for China’s security services and state companies."

Unfortunately, academics whom work in collaboration with China scientists in projects, have claimed similar experiences as to IP theft etc.

You can leave the CCP, but the CCP never leaves you, it seems.

HowRu68 OP , vor 2 Monaten

really hope this will be taken more seriously from now on..

There's been imo much news lately about this stuff. Sometimes it feels as if it keeps "hanging " for a long time, and then there is an investigation , and suddenly, arrests.

If this news has been only " the tip of the iceberg " (in Germany and probably all of Europe), like what this expert is saying, then how big is the iceberg?

HowRu68 OP , vor 2 Monaten

"Official Chinese figures show 12,000 repatriation cases from more than 120 countries as a result of the two main repatriation campaigns. These are often touted by Beijing as a major success.
It is not clear exactly how much of this is propaganda and how much is real data. To give a sense of the scale, a few years ago China managed to persuade 230,000 people to return to China in just one year as part of a special campaign in which the threat of collective punishment was also used as a means of persuasion."

So basically Chinese refuges or expats resident have never been safe. Its not something recent .And apperantly the Chinese Gvement isn't respecting the sovereignty of other countries at all.
It's a wakeupcall, our territories are "infiltrated and not safe", and now with the upcoming collaboration between Hungary and China, it will only get worse; if we don't change our ways soon.

HowRu68 OP , vor 3 Monaten

Some more background from this article :
"Magyar has pitched himself as a centrist, focusing on domestic issues – combating corruption, improving healthcare, modernising the education system and aiming to unite Hungary’s highly polarised society.
Magyar, by contrast, has said he is in favour of a foreign policy that protects Hungary’s sovereignty while maintaining a constructive relationship with the EU and Nato."