apie Taivanį

Puikus leidinys "The Economist" turi gerą straipsnelį apie Taivanį (nuoroda čia) kuris vadinasi "Kodėl Taivanis praradinėja draugus". 

Straipsnelio esmė yra ta, kad Taivanis ir Kinija papirkinėja kitas šalis apmokėdami įvairių biurokratų vaikų mokslą ar duodami metines išmokas tai šaliai kuri duoda diplomatinę paramą. Gana paprastai viskas veikia, kaip pagalvoji. Jokių kalbų apie vertybes, daroma tas kas veikia. Ir sumos ne tokios mažos.

 Cituoju:

"Taivanis irgi nevengia paskatų naudojimo. 2023 kovą jis pažadėjo Mikronezijai $50milijonų dovaną ir $15m metines išmokas kad draugautų su juo, o ne Kinija. Wikileaks rodo kad JAV diplomatai mano kad Taivanis už paramą mokėjo mažulytės Ramiojo vandenyno salos Nauru biurokratams mėnesinę stipendiją. Kaip ir Kinija, Taivanis duoda užsienio šalių įtakingų politikų vaikams stipedijas savo universitetuose."

"Taiwan is not averse to using carrots of its own. In March 2023 it promised Micronesia a $50m gift, plus annual payments of $15m, to switch allegiances. American diplomatic messages revealed by Wikileaks allege that Taiwan paid government officials from Nauru, a tiny Pacific island, a monthly stipend in exchange for support. And like China, Taiwan offers the children of foreign leaders scholarships at its universities."

Aš visiškai remiu Taivanio laisvės siekį, bet painus tas politikų pasaulis ;/ 

mintis šiai dienai

"Kaltojo atleidimas nuo kaltės yra žiaurumas prieš nekaltą" 

“Mercy to the guilty is cruelty to the innocent” 

— Adam Smith 

The EU and Hungary

Hungary is a special case within the EU. It has a long and glorious history, and for quite some time it was one of the "better" countries of Central Europe. But for quite some time now, the situation has changed. This started when a former youth and anti-Soviet activist V. Orban and his party Fidesz, came to lead this small Central European nation. 

To consolidate the power, there have been instances when independent judiciary and the free press were suppressed, which of course led to warnings from the EU regulatory bodies. Nevertheless, nationalist, strong-handed politics found a lot of supporters. One of the stronger signs that Hungary is willing to break ranks with other members of the EU was the migrant crisis of 2015, when Hungary in effect declined to take part in joint efforts to distribute and take care of refugees. Multi-millionaire investor G. Soros- backed Central European University was forced out for supposedly being too critical of the situation there. 

At the same time, Hungary was increasing its co-operation with China and Russia. It has been receiving all kinds of investments from these countries and in 2021 it signed an agreement with China to open a Chinese University in Hungary. 

The last indication of Hungary's direction is the announcement that they will not arrest Mr. Putin despite of the International Criminal Court case against him. This of course came after a series of statements by V. Orban that Russia will win in Ukraine and that resistance is futile. 

One can only wonder why they are doing this when people are killed, maimed, injured and property is destroyed in Ukraine. 

Perhaps they are doing this to keep good relations with China? This allows them to benefit from the EU common trade area and at the same time to receive all kinds of trade benefits from China and Russia.  But at the same time, are they not breaking the ranks of the organizations that they are a part of for personal profit at the expense of everybody else?

Somehow, I do feel that we have an enemy in our midst. Of course, I mean not the Hungarian people, but the government of Hungary and the European project.  

 Am I mistaken? 

Šis dronas pakeis viską

 Youtube turi video, kuris per pirmas kelias valandas surinko per 2 milijonus peržiūrų. Video yra apie startuolį kuris vadinasi "Zipline". Šis startuolis jau 6 metai kaip dirba Ruandoje, daromi galutiniai testai JAV. 

Panašu kad proveržis smulkių siuntinių pristatyme dronais artėja ;)

Stephen Hicks apie nacizmo atsiradimą ir kitus labai įdomius dalykus

Rockfordo universiteto filosofijos profesorius pasakoja apie nacizmo atsiradimą, jų filosofiją, panašumus su komunistais, panašumus su šiandiena (identiteto politika) ir kitas įdomybes. Labai rekomenduoju.

muzika šiai dienai

 

Puikūs pašnekovai, puikus pokalbis

 D. Gordon kalbina Emanuelį Zingerį.

Pokalbio stenograma pateikta čia. 

mintis šiai dienai - labai žinoma turkų patarlė

The forest was shrinking but the trees kept voting for the axe, for the axe was clever and convinced the trees that because his handle was made of wood he was one of them. 

- Turkish proverb

Miškas nyko bet medžiai vis balsavo už kirvį, nes kirvis buvo gudrus ir įtikino medžius kad jis vienas iš jų, nes jo kotas iš medžio.

- Turkų patarlė