Recent comments in /f/worldnews

_Svankensen_ t1_jeahaia wrote

Reply to comment by The_Humble_Frank in 'A win of epic proportions': World's highest court can set out countries' climate obligations after Vanuatu secures historic UN vote by lurker_bee

We hit +1°C in 2017. We are above that already. So, yes, going back to +1°C would indeed be reversing it a bit. And you got shared a scenario already. "I have worked with climate scientists" is the most pathetic appeal to authority I have seen. I am an environmental scientist. It doesn't give me authority to override facts or to make shit up.

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The_Humble_Frank t1_jeaggac wrote

Reply to comment by _Svankensen_ in 'A win of epic proportions': World's highest court can set out countries' climate obligations after Vanuatu secures historic UN vote by lurker_bee

Adding one to anything, does not make it less. the average global temperature heating at a lesser rate, does not mean warming goes away, it means its still getting warmer, just not as fast as it would at a higher rate.

I have actually worked with climate scientists, there is no accepted scenario, given technology that actually exists, where things get cooler.

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Bring_Bring_Duh_Ello t1_jeag7yb wrote

Reply to comment by Elsewhere3000 in Brazil, China strike trade deal agreement to ditch US dollar by loggiews

  1. To be clear the yuan is not even among the top 4 reserve currencies which are USD, Euro, Pound and Swiss franc.

  2. Government transparency - how many people truly understand the dynamics behind the Yuan? Maybe 35 members on the China State Council (if that). The lack of transparency will be a major drawback against the Yaun.

  3. As Chinese middle class expands more Chinese are likely to spend in the worlds number one economy, or the US. Which will in turn result in US companies selling more to China. These demographics and economic factors only add, not subtract, from the strength of the USD.

  4. The USD stands on solid bedrock of the 310M population whereas the Yuan is spread across 1.3B Chinese who are not only aging as a population but will begin to demand more rights. Social unrest and political pressure are coming in the mid to near term

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readytostart1234 t1_jeafyqf wrote

Reply to comment by droplivefred in Russia detains WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich on espionage charges by jack_lafouine

He was working on a story in Ekaterinburg. Story was about Wagner military group and how normal Russians feel about their recruitment tactics. He was writing for WSJ, so not live reporting. His family is originally from Odessa Ukraine, and according to people that knew him, he was obsessed with Russia and Russian language and have spent nearly 6 years there.

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MortWellian t1_jeafq1m wrote

Reply to ‘Vulkan files’ leak reveals Putin’s global and domestic cyberwarfare tactics by pipsdontsqueak

Good thread with more coverage of the Vulkan Files

Edit: On a side note, with Twitter only putting "Twitter Blue" users in the "For You" tab, it's likely turning into an easily accessible vector for spreading disinfo, as long as Elmo gets his monthly payment.

> Russian Propagandists Are Using Paid Twitter Blue Checks to Spread Disinformation

Edit 2: Since this is under the Rus/Ukr tag, I might as well add this

> [The Same Russian Agents Who Meddled In US Politics Set The Stage For Ukraine Invasion] (https://talkingpointsmemo.com/prime/the-same-russian-agents-who-meddled-in-us-politics-set-the-stage-for-ukraine-invasion)

And the report the article above is based on

> Preliminary Lessons from Russia’s Unconventional Operations During the Russo- Ukrainian War, February 2022–February 2023 - Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies (pdf)

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cookingboy t1_jeafg0l wrote

Reply to comment by Oxon_Daddy in Taiwan's Tsai arrives in US to warnings from China of 'serious confrontation' by benh999

> The US and its allies continue to support Taiwan because it is a vibrant democratic state with liberal values

I agree with almost everything you said except the above. The biggest reason of supporting Taiwan is because it’s a strategic counter-balance against China.

The U.S has supported Taiwan ever since 1949, but Taiwan was a brutal military dictatorship back then ruled by KMT. We supported them because it was the Cold War and they were anti-Communists.

Taiwan didn’t have their first democratic presidential election until the 90s.

Same for South Korea. We supported them because they were anti-Communists, not because they were a liberal democracy. SK didn’t become democratic until much later after the Korean War.

Now Taiwan being a liberal democracy gives us one more reason to support them, but it wasn’t the original driving factor.

Things like “we support democracy” is what the US government uses to sell our policies to the public, but history shows that we care most and foremost for American interests. Afterall we’ve overthrown democracies to install pro-US dictatorships and even today we are ally with countries like Saudi Arabia.

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Elsewhere3000 t1_jeaep0i wrote

Reply to comment by Bring_Bring_Duh_Ello in Brazil, China strike trade deal agreement to ditch US dollar by loggiews

Over the past 2 weeks:

  1. Saudi is considering using Yuan for petrol. USD is backed by oil. Not gold.
  2. China and France complete the first transaction for LNG (gas) using the Yuan with no intermediary.
  3. Russia considers using the Yuan as a reserve currency.
  4. Saudi partners with China to build oil refineries for 83.7 billion Yuan ($12 billion USD).
  5. China and Brazil which we are talking about here.

The percentage of global USD reserves is down from %72 in 1999 to %59 today.

It’s happening. Slowly but it’s happening.

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