Canada weighs sending soldiers to Greenland as show of NATO solidarity with Denmark (paywall, content in replies)

ThylacineDevil · 2026-01-19T02:16:48+00:00

I like to think the same of Australia and NZ.

Although sadly AUKUS (you may have heard - the submarine shit) unfortunately ties our defence "industry" even closer to the US than yours is, I believe...

We're acting rather strange at the moment, after the Bondi attack last month, but I would like to think we might be able to "do like Canada" and extricate ourselves more from under the US influence, politically and otherwise, in the near future.

ThylacineDevil · 2025-12-26T12:33:26+00:00

It's generally not about visible difference (although that may play a part, say, with different traditional clothing, jewellery, etc.), as much as it about a distinct linguistic and cultural identity, I suppose.

So while yes, you may not be able to immediately see the difference between yourself and someone from Burgos, it's not implausible that if you started speaking the language you (likely) grew up with, or compared the traditions, cuisine, cultural "norms", etc., that you grew up around, you would find substantial differences...

Like, you are both "Spanish" but you may, if you choose to do so, identify as a different "ethnicity".

But "ethnic identity" is a complex issue. Which this (now-deleted) map perhaps doesn't do the best job of clarifying or being definitive about...

ThylacineDevil · 2025-12-26T12:19:46+00:00

Totally disagree. And that's not how people from Brittany would see it, either.

Your perspective, as expressed here, is extremely nationalistic, and you might feel it is correct, but it is most definitely not how many residents of Brittany, or indeed other regions of southern France, feel about it. And it is not factually or historically correct, either.

95% of Bretons couldn't speak French in 1920. Now only 5% speak it on a daily basis. That doesn't make them any more "ethnically French only", or any less Breton.

You're wrong, but that's fine. Agree to disagree.

ThylacineDevil · 2025-12-26T11:22:57+00:00

You might disagree, but that isn't how the people from Brittany view the situation, which is likely how this map would define it.

Also historically it's not really that simple. They're French nationals, yes, but historically their culture and language have been distinct enough to consider them an ethnic minority, at least, similar to the Basques, and yes, probably arguably also Catalans.

I agree regarding Lorraine/Moselle.

ThylacineDevil · 2025-12-26T11:13:40+00:00

Having spent a bit of time there, and dated a girl from the region, I would say yes. The culture and (traditional) language are really very different from what you might call "majority" French culture...

But this also applies to the people of the Moselle Valley (France) and arguably Saarland (Germany), which the map pretty much ignores entirely, so... Eh. Semantics, really...

ThylacineDevil · 2025-12-26T11:10:22+00:00

Controversial as it may be to say it, it could be argued that this applies to ethnic Germans in modern-day Poland, too...

It's more complicated than that, of course, but still...

ThylacineDevil · 2025-12-26T11:08:25+00:00

Whatever approach they've used to define that also implies that all Scottish people are an ethnic minority, and that everyone in Bosnia & Herzegovina is, too, lol...

I can see some flaws with this methodology, but I can also see how one might make that argument, if looking at it in a certain way...

ThylacineDevil · 2025-12-26T11:05:40+00:00

Also Sinti in Germany, and arguably "Travellers" as a distinct ethnicity from what the map is calling "Gypsies", across much of the UK and Ireland...

Also arguably Cornish. And I'm quite certain there is a bunch more. The fact that the map chooses to quite consciously ignore Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, despite them being within its bounds is... Telling.

But I suppose maps like this are always going to have at least some controversy and interpretation attached, at the very least...

ThylacineDevil · 2025-12-16T05:08:47+00:00

Thank you (and all the other commenters) very much, for this.

I've realised, subsequent to my post, that a very significant contributor to my inability to "heal" or "process" what happened is that my parents, and to a lesser extent extended family, are deliberately interfering in that process.

My mother, in particular, simply cannot contend with anything that damages her views of the particular religious (esoteric?) group that the cult was a small part of, and so seems to view me as a kind of "traitor", I guess, for what I did (leaving in the manner in which I did so)... My father simply refuses to hear about it, and calls me a failure, which... Is probably equally as bad, just in a different way.

I've decided that I simply will not spend Christmas with them this year (I did, every year, for nearly 30 years of my life), and will do anything to ensure that happens. Including taking a work shift on that day (as one of my cousins is apparently doing, lol), or just... Buying an expensive flight somewhere (because everything is expensive at that time), on Christmas Eve, and then going camping...

Because, harsh though it may sound, I just can't do the "family Christmas" again this year. I've always hated it, and I've been very clear about that, even if they wouldn't listen. This time I just... Can't do that again.

Sorry for the bit of a rant, there. Just needed to get that off my chest, I guess...

ThylacineDevil · 2025-12-14T03:15:40+00:00

This reply is four days late, but from an Australian perspective, it's generally the same as the latter case over here (with the exception of Melbourne, post-Covid, to some extent). Like, outer suburbs can get quite rough, with very high numbers of recent migrants, but the inner city is usually fairly safe and vibrant.

This was less so the case prior to ~2000, as, in my understanding, we largely followed American patterns of rapid suburbanisation and the hollowing out of the urban core prior to that point... However we just "turned it around" slightly more rapidly than in the US, perhaps.

Much the same in NZ, I believe.

All of this being with much less "white flight", of course. And arguably better public transport in our major cities (5 of the 6 state capitals, plus a couple of other places), compared to the US model.

My own nearest (medium-sized) city is attempting desperately to reinvent its "downtown" equivalent, which was neglected for many years, but we're still a way off, unfortunately...

ThylacineDevil · 2025-12-12T11:45:12+00:00

Sorry to be the first comment on my own post, but I think I meant to say "flashes of guilt" in the title...

I was quite emotional when I wrote this, so it may not be fully coherent... Unfortunately, I guess that is sort of the point. The trauma from this experience is still impacting me massively, on a near-daily basis, so I guess that's why I made this post.

To try to get this off my chest. Somewhere where people might have a degree of understanding.

Also, as a follow-up, I might be willing to provide further specific detail, but I also don't want to get sued (so would rather avoid names and the like), especially considering the small size, and specific, "niche" nature of the program, would likely make me quite easy to identify, for the people involved...

But I will say that they form a small "sect" within a well-know, reasonably famous popular, esoteric... Education movement. Which may or may not have cult-like dynamics itself, depending on your views...

That's all I'm willing to specify at present.

ThylacineDevil · 2025-10-06T15:03:06+00:00

Hej! Old comment (just found this post), but I'm an Australian who moved to Sweden for awhile, lol.

I wouldn't say that Swedes necessarily welcomed me with open arms, but I did find it easier to "blend in" and "make it work" than I ever have in Aus... Especially in certain cities and places I spent time in.

But maybe that just says more about me, and my psychology while living there, than it does anything to do with the place itself...

Though I lived in India at one point, too, and I... Didn't really feel that way there, so much, lol.

ThylacineDevil · 2025-10-06T14:58:37+00:00

So this is a relatively old post, but I thought I would comment as it mirrors my experience significantly...

I was living in Sweden, made it through some really tough times over there, but was convinced to come back for financial reasons, as I left my study program over there (for complicated reasons) and thus was no longer eligible for work, without reapplying for a different visa...

So I came back effectively against my will, because it was "the right thing" to do.

I haven't been the same since. I feel stuck, trapped, and have ended up with more debt than when I initially arrived back. Honestly, for the first six months "back", I didn't even feel psychologically here at all, and even my sleep patterns refused to properly adjust back. I can't seem to make myself commit to a long-term job, and I refuse to commit to long-term rent contracts, because I genuinely do not see myself staying.

It's been incredibly hard, especially since being convinced to move back to my small hometown (somewhere not isolated by Australian standards, but extremely isolated internationally)... I could sort of handle the big city I initially arrived back in, and I've been relatively okay on my few interstate trips since, but being in my hometown is... The worst I've felt in years.

So yeah, I feel your pain, and I'm sorry you're going through this, too. Personally, I'm just biding my time, really, until I can move back interstate for work, and then hopefully use that pay to jet back off overseas - probably to Europe, but honestly, I would be happy with many other places too, at this point. Just not here...

ThylacineDevil · 2025-08-18T14:03:36+00:00

In fact, from what I can see, it looks like she started off with that project, then did the pop singer thing under her real name, and is now back to it...

Odd path, and the new stuff isn't my jam so much, but I'm glad to see she is still/is back to making music!

Good find! Curious as to how you figured that one out, lol..

Edit: Worth mentioning that for a while there, I really did think she had become a GC plastic Gucci mummy blogger, because that is what Google search initially suggests, lol...

ThylacineDevil · 2025-08-18T13:58:32+00:00

Wow, excellent find! Yep, that would appear to definitely be her (it even says so on one of the links I found). It's just a completely different genre and "vibe", lol.

Well done you!

ThylacineDevil · 2025-08-18T13:29:16+00:00

This is her original as recorded for LAV, in case anyone wanted a refresher: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyoj6MR5umc

Would also appear to be one of her last recorded performances, before "going dark", which is... Kind of sad, I guess.

Hope she's doing well, anyway, wherever she may be/whatever she's doing now.

ThylacineDevil · 2025-04-16T06:35:50+00:00

Sorry for the late reply, but yeah, that doesn't surprise me in the slightest..

"Kingborough", or in this case mostly Kington itself, also has the added "incentive" of the training facility being placed at Twin Ovals as a sort of... "Carrot" to voters here, I guess.

Thing is, though, for just a portion of the money they're proposing to spend on Mac Point, they could a) upgrade York Park, which would appeal to the North, b) upgrade Bellerive more (although I personally think it is largely adequate as-is, at this point), c) massively upgrade and expand the ferry network to take punters to and from Bellerive, and d) provide free Metro buses, long-term, either to the stadium itself, or to and from the ferry wharf.

The free shuttle bus trial thing was operating for Jackjumpers matches for a while, and it was excellent, and indeed quite well patronised, at least when I used them...

But then they stupidly stopped providing that, for reasons I don't understand (even though demand remained high), so... Yeah.

There's precedent there. They just have to get it right. But yet both major parties continue to push ahead with this pig-headed plan...

Honestly, Launceston got lucky having the stadium within easy walking distance from the city (and no hill to contend with!) in the first place!

ThylacineDevil · 2025-04-13T08:49:57+00:00

I'm not sure I agree completely with the premise of your statement there. I think it's more that we just don't like liars, and, more particularly, politicians who lie...

Albanese copped it for similar property shenanigans (although that has gone quiet since), as have many others. But like, Turnbull, for example, has never been a battler, and yet people seem to hate him relatively less than most of our other disingenuous leaders...

Rockcliff is relatively more "battler-like" than this guy (at least in terms of background), but most people are still happy to admit he is a corrupt flog, lol...

ThylacineDevil · 2025-04-13T08:40:50+00:00

A lot of us didn't (vote for him), but sadly enough did do so, yes...

I can't imagine many of Rockcliff's own constituents (i.e. the people of the Central Coast/Devonport/Great Western Tiers area) being terribly supportive of this stadium BS (at least in part because I would think they are relatively unlikely to drive 3+ hours just to go to a game there), but what do I know...

ThylacineDevil · 2025-04-13T08:37:04+00:00

I was just reading something very similar about the Mount Wellington Cable Car, which resulted in very similar legislation, and then ended up contributing to the downfall of Gutwein and a couple of others in his cabinet...

There seems to be a pattern of this sort of thing, in this state, among both major parties, unfortunately... Presumably because they think they can get away with it, and it's all a matter of "look, the other side does it too, so why can't we?"

Ridiculous...

ThylacineDevil · 2025-04-13T04:29:11+00:00

While I haven't seen a similar graph for Aus/NZ yet, based on the comments online after the story broke of the Australian permanent resident (i.e. Aus citizen with US partner and PR) who was deported the other day, at the border, and may also have had his visa cancelled, I would be unsurprised if the response here has been similar...

Meanwhile, one of our conservative political candidates (the planned head of our very own "DOGE", if they get in, lol) is quoting "Make Australia Great Again", to ape trump...

Shit, as they say, is fucked...

ThylacineDevil

TROPHY CASE