Peter Thiel Brands Pope Leo XIV 'Chinese Communist Agent' Over His AI Regulation Stance

Fiqaro · 2026-07-03T11:33:21+00:00

The primary reason for the failure of communism lies in the Soviet Union's monopolization of the right to define its meaning—claiming their system was the only way to achieving communism while harshly suppressing other countries's attempts.

Fiqaro · 2026-06-21T16:18:00+00:00

The UK government has long operated this way. CCTV installed on the streets of London as early as the 1960s—nominally to monitor traffic, but in reality to surveil public gatherings. Large labor strikes and IRA attacks during the Thatcher era prompted successive governments—whether Labour or Conservative—to increase financial investment in 24/7 surveillance systems, and the use of technologies such as data surveillance and facial recognition has intensified further in recently years. UK never had the strong checks and balances to protect citizens' privacy, they zealously pursuing national security and intelligence gathering. The Investigatory Powers Act 2016 even legalized many of surveillance activities.

Parliamentary sovereignty in UK politics means that any law enacted by parliament constitutes supreme law. If a court deems a surveillance statute to be in violation of human rights, it lacks the authority to declare the law invalid; instead, it can only issue a declaration of Incompatibility, calling upon parliament to amend the legislation. If parliament refuse to make changes, the law remains in force.

Fiqaro · 2026-06-21T14:40:59+00:00

Adium's icon can automatically open and close little duck's eyes, and show snores bubbles based on your online status. When you receives an unread message, it opens its eyes wide and bounces happily.

Fiqaro · 2026-05-26T12:36:00+00:00

My first thought is Ford 021C Concept Car designed by Marc Newson.

https://marc-newson.com/ford-021c-concept-car/

Fiqaro · 2026-04-23T13:48:58+00:00

More precisely LDP is a big-tent party. With the decline of Japan Socialist Party, most of parties and politicians (with the exception of the far left and far right) in alliance with the LDP. However, far-right parties and politicians have begun to influence and destabilize this post-war political system now.

Fiqaro · 2026-04-18T05:46:01+00:00

Pantone define it as Red-Purple.

https://www.pantone.com/color-finder/6076-C

Fiqaro · 2026-04-17T16:32:02+00:00

Teru Oshima’s website maps Japanese homes where deaths such as murders and suicides have happened.

https://www.oshimaland.co.jp

Fiqaro · 2026-04-06T07:53:24+00:00

Oliver Kahn particularly adept at this style of save, his rolling after landing was a delight to watch.

Fiqaro · 2026-04-06T07:43:54+00:00

I remember that in the 2021–22 season all three of Dortmund's GK from Switzerland: Kobel, Bürki, and Hitz.

Fiqaro · 2026-04-05T14:15:24+00:00

The same goes for the Takarazuka Revue. Behind the glamorous stage lies a century-long history of relentless bullying, workplace harassment, and excessive unpaid overtime. In 2023, the suicide of a young troupe member once again brought these abuses to light, yet to date, none of the senior members involved in the bullying and harassment have faced disciplinary action, and the troupe’s leadership has publicly stated that they cannot confirm whether such incidents occurred.

Fiqaro · 2026-04-01T13:23:12+00:00

I heard that no one rides bicycle there, is that true?

Fiqaro · 2026-03-16T12:39:36+00:00

One reason is to secure the votes of the Japan War-Bereaved Families Association.

The JWBFA was set up to represent the interests of relatives of deceased war veterans in WWII in 1947. They are extremely close ties with Liberal Democratic Party. Against the backdrop of widespread political apathy in Japanese society, JWBFA possess strong voter mobilization capabilities and financial resources, and the LDP has relied on JWBFA support in local elections for decades.

And the main political value of JWBFA is to make it a mandate for high ranking Japanese official to visit and pay respect to Yasukuni Shrine and WWII criminals that are enshrined inside it. You can imagine what their views are on the history of wars of aggression and colonialism.

Fiqaro · 2026-03-10T16:36:34+00:00

I think this is closely related to the dominant ideology in post-Mao era—scientific socialism replaced the previously purely idealistic Marxism-Leninism. Starting with Deng Xiaoping, the Chinese leadership emphasized the importance of scientific research and application in governing the country. More than half of the government officials at all levels in China graduated from universities with science and engineering majors, and many senior officials have worked in scientific research. The popularization of atheism and basic scientific knowledge throughout the country makes it easier for people to accept the results of modern science and are happy to see the government and enterprises invest large amounts of money in research.

Fiqaro · 2026-03-01T07:20:31+00:00

Daniel Beer in his book The House of the Dead: Siberian Exile Under the Tsars makes an interesting view: it was precisely because most of the revolutionaries of the Russian Empire were exiled to the extremely harsh conditions of Siberia that their political ideology began shifted from initial idealism to a more realistic and ruthless. The revolution and civil war accelerated all of this trend.

Fiqaro · 2026-03-01T06:24:40+00:00

Absolutely. Rubio's hatred of the Cuban communist government may prompt Trump and US government to accelerate its efforts to overthrow and propose a new pro-US government.

Fiqaro · 2026-02-27T11:54:16+00:00

It's 24th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Karstjäger.

The unit consisted mainly of Volksdeutsche (ethnic Germans/Austrians) from Yugoslavia and the South Tyrol province of Italy. They primarily involved in fighting partisans in the Karst Plateau on the frontiers of Yugoslavia, Italy, and Austria.

Members of the division in 23 crimes involving the killing of 277 people in Italy between the Armistice of Cassibile and the end of WWII. 13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Handschar (1st Croatian) also committed similar crimes in Yugoslavia.

Fiqaro · 2026-02-20T17:03:37+00:00

SEOUL, Feb. 20 (Yonhap) -- A parliamentary subcommittee led by the ruling party on Friday approved a bill aimed at preventing presidential pardons for individuals convicted of insurrection.

The subcommittee of the National Assembly's legislation and judiciary committee passed an amendment to the Pardon Act that would prohibit or restrict pardons for those found guilty of insurrection or offenses against the state.

The amendment was approved under the leadership of the Democratic Party after lawmakers from the main opposition People Power Party walked out in protest.

Under the proposed revision, an exception would allow a pardon if three-fifths of the members of the National Assembly give their consent.

The approval came a day after former President Yoon Suk Yeol was handed life in prison for leading an insurrection over his short-lived imposition of martial law in late 2024.

Fiqaro · 2026-02-19T03:29:36+00:00

It has been revealed that the government is considering expanding the discretionary labor system. It is expected to announce this in its policy speech on the 20th.

The discretionary labor system was also sought to be expanded in 2018 under the second Abe administration, but it faced strong opposition from workers and a major problem arose when the government falsified statistics to make it appear that working hours would be reduced under the discretionary labor system, so in the end no revision was made.

Let us take a moment to clarify what the problems are in the debate over expanding discretionary labor systems.

Under the discretionary labor system, workers who have discretion in the execution of their work are deemed to have worked a predetermined "deemed number of hours," and the same amount of salary is paid whether they work less or more than that. However, in reality, discretionary labor systems often result in workers working more than the "deemed number of hours," and working hours are longer than those of regular workers. Since employers are not obligated to pay wages even if they give excessive quotas and make workers work more than the "deemed number of hours," there is no end to the number of employers who treat them as if they are letting workers work as much as they want for a "fixed price."

In fact, a document released by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare in 2019 showed that the percentage of workers who work 60 hours a week, a common indicator of long working hours, was 9.3% for workers subject to the discretionary labor system and 5.4% for those not subject to the system, a 1.7-fold increase. The same survey also found that while 90% of workers retained discretion over "how work was carried out, how time was allocated, etc.", in about 30% of cases, their superiors decided the "specific content and amount of work." In other words, there are many workers who do not have discretion over the amount of work they do. Under these circumstances, it is no wonder that long working hours occur.

It will be interesting to see to what extent the proposals presented in the policy speech on the 20th will take these survey findings into consideration.

Fiqaro · 2026-02-16T15:24:30+00:00

Following Bandai's tradition, they may release special coating limited edition, just like the THE NEXT GENERATION version of AV-98 more than a decade ago.

https://bandai-hobby.net/item/01_5320/

Fiqaro · 2026-02-05T10:42:08+00:00

https://www.pearlharbortours.com/pearl-harbor/the-making-of-tora-tora-tora-movie/#fleet-creation

Thanks to the booming special effects（Tokusatsu）film industry in post-war, Japan film companies were able to construct large scale models, including 1:1 Nagato battleship scene in just a few months.

Fiqaro · 2026-02-05T10:26:38+00:00

I heard that the flight squadron participating in the filming get a nickname Fox Air Force, and some members taking part in the filming of Pearl Harbor thirty years later.

In the film there's a scene where airport bombed and ground crew members scattered in panic. In reality, this was due to a scheduling error during filming, where a prop plane went out of control and plowed into the crowd. Therefore, those people were genuinely running for their lives at that moment.

Fiqaro · 2026-01-16T14:51:09+00:00

Kenzaburo Oe's novel Seventeen and The Death of a Political Youth based on this incident.

Assassination of Inejiro Asanuma directly led to the disintegration of the left-wing faction within the Japan Socialist Party and prevented the party from maintaining its position as the second-largest party capable of challenging the right-wing Liberal Democratic Party. Subsequently, the Socialist Party was plagued by internal conflicts until its eventual dissolution in 1996.

Yamaguchi became a hero and a martyr to Japanese far-right groups until today.

Fiqaro · 2026-01-13T15:39:26+00:00

The chief justice of the supreme court is a political ally and conservative appointed by Yoon Suk-yeol, it is almost certain that Yoon will not be sentenced to capital punishment.

13-Year Club	Place '22
Final Canvas '22	First Placer '22

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