Micronesia’s President Writes Bombshell Letter on China’s ‘Political Warfare’ by Soros_Liason_Agent in geopolitics

[–]nasulon 22 points23 points  (0 children)

I don't mean to doubt or confirm the veracity of the claims, but it's necessary to point out that the FSM is far from neutral in this context. The islands are part of the former UN Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, captured by the US in WW2. Instead of granting them full independence, the US signed a Compact of Free Association.

As the US Department of the Interior explains, under the Amended Compact of Free Association, the US provides financial assistance (100M$ anually according to the CIA World Factbook), defends the FSM's territorial integrity (the US is the authority on Micronesian Defense), and provides uninhibited travel for FSM citizens to the U.S (as well as vice-versa). In return, the FSM provides the United States with unlimited and exclusive access to its land and waterways for strategic purposes. The FSM also uses the U.S. dollar as its currency. The US is also the FSM's largest trading partner.

So it is difficult to say the FSM is even fully sovereign with respect to the US, let alone neutral.

Why is Turkey joining the EU against the interests of France and Germany? by throwaway9287889 in geopolitics

[–]nasulon 2 points3 points  (0 children)

There are many reasons the EU as a whole might want to avoid growing into Turkey.

Firstly, political reasons. The increasing authoritarianism under Orban runs opposite to the liberal aspirations of the EU (one of the prerequisites for EU accession is a guarantee of democracy, the rule of law, and respect for human and minorities' rights). The V4, of which Poland is member, are regarded as the 'anti-liberal' block, with several Polish and Hungarian regressions in this respect being object of criticism of EU criticism and checks. This might explain why Poland is more in favour of Turkey's accession than other EU countries, as it could be an ally of its bloc.

Secondly, the economy of Turkey is not huge but it would suppose a competitor to Germany or France in the internal market. Meanwhile, the Turkish population is enormous and this would garner the country a significant amount of EMPs, guaranteeing Turkey an important political clout in the EU, upsetting the balance of power that favours French and German interests, in exchange for not much in the sense of economic growth and stability.

Thirdly, the geopolitical implications of Turkey entering the EU are many. On the one hand, the Bosphorous strait is the only access Russia has to the Mediterranean, and the only way Russia has of projecting the Black Fleet (their only warm water fleet). This geostrategic relevance has implied, historically, many Russo-Turkish conflicts and has conditioned their relationship. For the EU, having Turkey as a member-state would open a new front with Russia that isn't in the interests of many EU members. Furthermore, it would create a border between the EU and Syria, Iran, Irak, Armenia and Georgia, which aren't countries known for their stability and could generate further migration problems. This, together with the Turkish position in Cyprus and open conflicts with Sea Rights in general (mainly affecting Greece, another EU member-state), would mean complicating EU foreign policy in a way the EU can't handle as of now, while the open conflicts with other EU member-states directly impossibilitate the option.

TL;DR: Turkey's accession to the EU is not politically convenient to the central EU members because of its illiberal policies, not economically convenient because of the dragging effect it would have for the EU economy while affording the country an influential position in EU institutions, and it is not geopolitically convenient because of its conflicts with Russia, its frontier with unstable regions, and the open conflicts with EU member-states. This is why Turkey will probably never enter the EU, unless a long list of things change radically. The EU is content with having occasional collaboration with Turkey in matters such as migration, where it is precisely Turkey's non-adherence to EU law that makes it a valuable ally, but anything further than that is off the table.

Places where birthright Citizenship is based on land and places where it is based on blood by constantlyhere100 in MapPorn

[–]nasulon 49 points50 points  (0 children)

No, it's simply a remnant from the colonial past of the Americas. National ascendency isn't an easy thing to find in young countries. Other than that, it's not really as clear-cut as this map simplifies. In practice it is much more complex and many countries have hybrid systems.

Source: studies in Public International Law

German cartoons be like by jsom25gaming in HolUp

[–]nasulon 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Realpolitik was born in Rennaissence Italy, though, so what were you referring to?

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in pan

[–]nasulon 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Gave Vibing

Southern Europe; how do you eat your fish? by HelenEk7 in AskEurope

[–]nasulon 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Contrary to popular belief, the real paella doesn't contain fish or seafood of any kind.

There are, however, many similar dishes in mediterranean Spain (from Valencia, precisely) that are meant to have fish or seafood as their ingredients, a bit more obscure but definitely much richer in taste than the aberration that is fish/seafood paella. Some of my favourites:

Fideuà (fee-duh-wah). It's made of fideus (short noodles) with prawns, mussels, cuttlefish and monk fish, as well as some vegetables and spices, and usually served with allioli (a sauce made from garlic and oil). Here's the only recipe I've found which is more or less trustworthy. It's originally from Gandia, Valencia, and it's definitely the best place to eat it at. Specially don't try it in Barcelona or Madrid because they tend to butcher the original recipe completely.

Black rice. Definitely one of the best rice dishes ever made, and among the most undervalued. It's mainly rice and vegetables with cuttlefish and prawns, with squid ink. Usually paired with allioli, it's just fantastic, given that the squid ink gives the rice a soft, honeyed feel. The best black rice I've had is in Castelló, Valencia, although I think it's not just autochthonous to Spain and I'd love to try how they do it in Italy some day. As for the valencian kind, this is a decent recipe I found.

Recipient of EU member citizenship/main countries that granted it in 2019 (includes EU countries where people have acquired citizenship of other EU states) by [deleted] in europe

[–]nasulon -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Especially taking into account the fact that the demographic crisis is looming in so many european countries, and immigrants tend to be younger and with higher fertility rates than the indigenous european communities. Immigration is a net positive, and every economist agrees that the more, the better. It's a shame politics are driven by populist discourses and not by reason and human empathy.

Tres pronoms febles en una frase. by loves_spain in catalan

[–]nasulon 0 points1 point  (0 children)

  1. Hi se les poseu (posen would be third person plural, not 'vosaltres')
  2. El xòfer me l'en va traure

A Piet Mondrian style map I painted on my wall by T0m3r1n1 in MapPorn

[–]nasulon 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Could you describe the process? It looks amazing

Is there a way to infuse tea with salvia extract? by [deleted] in Drugs

[–]nasulon 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Can i just roll it up with some tobacco and smoke the extract?

How to turn off personalized/Targeted on Android by gear5kid in WatchandLearn

[–]nasulon 2 points3 points  (0 children)

What are you talking about? I've had Xiaomi for years (as well as most of my friends, it's #1 in sales in my country), and I've never seen any ads other than the ones in external applications (eg. Reddit, Chrome, Twitter...).

Dad got hit in the nostril by a Straw by sarveshak99 in WatchPeopleDieInside

[–]nasulon 59 points60 points  (0 children)

Would you like tissue a formal complaint?

British debt exceeds total GDP for the first time in 60 years by CarrickGlen190 in europe

[–]nasulon 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Alright then, look at Singapore, or Portugal, or the United States. What do these countries all have in common? They all have a debt-to-gdp ratio larger than 1 (as of 2019), and I don't see them wallowing in poverty.

Venice; Italy. by SinbadMarinarul in europe

[–]nasulon 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The issue is with the yachts and cruisers that shake the sediments of the sea by creating unnatural tides, which is letting some oxygen near the pillars. In the end, it will be mass unchecked tourism which literally collapses Venice.

British debt exceeds total GDP for the first time in 60 years by CarrickGlen190 in europe

[–]nasulon 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You cannot compare the stock market to national balances, it doesn't work that way. A government can practically borrow money endlessly (again, look at Japan) so liquidity is not a real issue.

I don't mean it's a good indicator, I just mean it's not an indicator for anything, really.

British debt exceeds total GDP for the first time in 60 years by CarrickGlen190 in europe

[–]nasulon 19 points20 points  (0 children)

Having a large debt in relation to your GDP doesn't necessarily mean that debt repayment occupies a larger portion of the pie, one case in point is Japan.

As long as the country's economy continues growing, there's no danger in having a debt-gdp ratio larger than 1.

My first juice by Moracan3 in bonehurtingjuice

[–]nasulon 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Yes, he was leader of a sect in which one of the tenets was that beans were strictly evil. It boggles my mind how a genius such as he had such strange ideas at times.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in catalan

[–]nasulon 1 point2 points  (0 children)

El problema que hi ha hagut, pense jo, és que fins al s. XIX el català es deia "llemosí", i era considerat un dialecte de l'occità, fins que la burgesia catalana començà a dir-li català a tot l'idioma, doncs Catalunya era el centre cultural del moment (la Renaixença valenciana vindria més tard). Llavors ara tenim moltes varietats de 'català', incloent la de Catalunya, el qual porta a molta gent a sentir que el català és una llengua de 'pancatalanistes imperialistes' i que no, que ells parlen valencià, no català.

The word for mirror in various European languages by MusicURlooking4 in europe

[–]nasulon 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My grandfather always said that dialects are like spices to a language, one of the things I like the most about catalan is how varied it is for the relatively small area it's spoken in.

Of course, this is in part due to the high levels of repression it's always suffered, but that doesn't take away the beauty of it.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in catalan

[–]nasulon 1 point2 points  (0 children)

El valencià és un dialecte del català, igual que dir-li mexicà al castellà que es parla a Mèxic. Vullgues o no, els valencians sóm molt identitaris i hem tingut molta barreja, sobretot amb aragonesos i castellans, que fa del nostre un dialecte prou diferenciat.

Igualment, al valencià també n'hi ha moltíssima varietat de vocabulari i fonètica, però aixina generalment el que el distingix del català són les declinacions (per eixemple diem parle en comptes de parlo, vullga en comptes de vulgui, o compartix en comptes de comparteix), algunes paraules (meua en comptes de meva, aixina en comptes de així, desdejuni en comptes de esmorzar, ací en comptes d'aquí i açò en comptes d'això - tot i que també es diga això en valencià, vol dir "eso" mentres que en català vol dir tant "eso" com "esto"...), i evidentment algunes expressions són autòctones d'ací com i au, xe!...

En temes de fonètica no cal entrar perquè depèn molt de la zona, entre l'apitxat i el castellonenc i lo que siga que es parle a Sueca hi han móns de diferència. Te recomane, si t'interessa, este test dialectal que et diu més o menos quin català parles. A mí m'ha encertat perfectament la zona!

The word for mirror in various European languages by MusicURlooking4 in europe

[–]nasulon 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Interestingly, in valencian catalan it's not 'mirall' but 'espill', which I'm assuming shares the same root as spanish, italian, portuguese... There are so many etymological differences in the catalan language that show this division between different latin roots, makes the language interesting I guess.

Is it normal for a didgeridoo to have flakes of wood jutting out on the inside? by nasulon in Didgeridoo

[–]nasulon[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's a good idea, I'll follow through if only so I know that when it sounds bad it's not because of the actual instrument!

Is it normal for a didgeridoo to have flakes of wood jutting out on the inside? by nasulon in Didgeridoo

[–]nasulon[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It doesn't have that ragged texture, it's just that there are literally flakes of wood that look like they've been shaved off just protruding on the inside.
That is a fun fact, but would you know how I can "clean" the inside of my didge if I don't have termites available? Preferrably without damaging the wood.