The World Events Thread

[Nuxfanabroad]

1 minute ago, gurn said:

I've been there for awhile, but had to re join, under a different name after a computer problem. Might have been able to figure it out, but I had accidentally joined a tournament and when I tried to exit, I took a 20 game loss streak to do it. Meh, start again.

 

Ditto for me(next month is a decade)..got a thing for LIVE 960 chess - I'm too lazy to study/memorize openings, so prefer 960 chess.

[Gurn]

4 minutes ago, Nuxfanabroad said:

Ditto for me(next month is a decade)..got a thing for LIVE 960 chess - I'm too lazy to study/memorize openings, so prefer 960 chess.

Studying and memorization are exactly the reasons I'm not better than I am.

I got too wrapped up in "Am I even playing, or am I just repeating moves that occurred in a game between GM's from years past.?"

I gave it up for some time, never wanted to play the first 9 moves of any opening, by some one else's book.

[6of1_halfdozenofother]

Spoiler

Quote

Flooding in B.C. led to fry shortage at McDonald's in Japan, company says

Port of Vancouver — one of North America's largest shipping hubs — still working its way through cargo backlog

Gillian Wheatley · CBC News · Posted: Dec 21, 2021 1:46 PM ET | Last Updated: 2 hours ago

 

A McDonald's restaurant is seen in Tokyo. The company has announced it will pause selling medium and large-sized french fries as of this Friday. (Reuters)

 

Japan's McDonald's stores are set to put a pause on medium and large orders of fries this Friday, saying B.C. flooding contributed to potato supply-chain issues.

 

In a statement to announce it would begin selling only small orders of fries in response to bottlenecks caused by the pandemic, the fast food chain specifically pointed to flooding at the Port of Vancouver as the culprit. 

 

"Import delays have occurred for potatoes imported from North America due to the effects of a large-scale flood near the Port of Vancouver, Canada — which is a transit point for shipping services," the company said in a translated release.

 

The Port of Vancouver, one of North America's largest shipping hubs, is still working its way through a backlog of built-up cargo after November flooding forced thousands of people from their homes and stalled truck and train access to the port. 

 

In a written statement to CBC, the port authority says the recovery phase is well underway to stabilize the supply chain.

 

"B.C.'s recent flood-event exacerbated supply-chain challenges already occurring on the west coast of North America," the statement said. "Today, both CP and CN rail operations are consistently operating between Vancouver and Kamloops as significant repair and restoration activities have been undertaken in the impacted areas." 

 

McDonald's Japan said it would begin selling only small orders of fries on Friday and plans for larger-size fry sales to resume in the new year.

 

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/small-fries-japan-mcdonalds-flooding-1.6293768

 

Our misfortune is probably a blessing in disguise for them.  

[RUPERTKBD]

On 12/16/2021 at 5:26 PM, gurn said:

I've been there for awhile, but had to re join, under a different name after a computer problem. Might have been able to figure it out, but I had accidentally joined a tournament and when I tried to exit, I took a 20 game loss streak to do it. Meh, start again.

 

Always prudent to have a separate machine for porn....that way you don't mess up any other accounts....

 

....or so I'm told....

[Gurn]

4 minutes ago, RUPERTKBD said:

Always prudent to have a separate machine for porn....that way you don't mess up any other accounts....

 

....or so I'm told....

No worries, the situation is, well in hand.   

[RUPERTKBD]

Just now, gurn said:

No worries, the situation is, well in hand.   

Good to hear. Sounds like you took a real spanking in that match....

[4petesake]

28 minutes ago, gurn said:

No worries, the situation is, well in hand.   

 

[Gurn]

[Kurgom]

https://www.newsweek.com/united-nations-giving-names-uyghur-dissidents-china-opinion-1649060?s=09

 

This is why people hate the UN now. This is why no one trusts the WHO. It's a broken organization that is only used by authoritarian regimes as a propaganda arm now.

Edited December 31, 2021 by Kurgom

[RUPERTKBD]

It's somewhat of a holiday miracle that no deaths have been reported due to the Colorado wildfires. 500 homes destroyed, 35,000 people evacuated, but nobody killed....

 

Here's hoping it stays that way.

[Ilunga]

7 minutes ago, RUPERTKBD said:

It's somewhat of a holiday miracle that no deaths have been reported due to the Colorado wildfires. 500 homes destroyed, 35,000 people evacuated, but nobody killed....

 

Here's hoping it stays that way.

Was going to post this  article about those fires in this thread yesterday 

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-12-31/colorado-wildfires-denver-evacuations/100733646

 

Middle of winter almost.

The state that is home to some of the "premier" ski destinations for the rich and famous,Vail and Aspen. 

 

Climate Change ?

 

Pfffft !

[Ilunga]

 

@$$hole 

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-04/tesla-elon-musk-criticised-after-opening-china-showroom-xinjiang/100738192

 

 

[Gnarcore]

On 12/31/2021 at 2:57 PM, Ilunga said:

Was going to post this  article about those fires in this thread yesterday 

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-12-31/colorado-wildfires-denver-evacuations/100733646

 

Middle of winter almost.

The state that is home to some of the "premier" ski destinations for the rich and famous,Vail and Aspen. 

 

Climate Change ?

 

Pfffft !

Vail can go &^@# themselves. They have absolutely ruined Whistler & Blackcomb. Hope the place burns down. 

[RUPERTKBD]

Two off-duty cops from Austria take care of an unruly passenger on a flight to Canada:

 

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/off-duty-police-officers-flying-to-canada-on-vacation-restrain-passenger-who-uttered-threats/ar-AASqIXy?li=AAggNb9

 

Quote

Two off-duty police officers who were heading on vacation to Canada stepped in to restrain a passenger who was "endangering the safety of the plane."

Austria’s Interior Ministry said the couple was on a Lufthansa flight to Vancouver International Airport from Frankfurt, Germany when the incident unfolded two hours into the flight.

A passenger is alleged to have started uttering threats. The police officers had a discreet conversation with the pilot and crew before subduing the man with "techniques that have been tried and tested by the Austrian Federal Police."

Austria's Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said, "Every disruptive passenger can seriously endanger the safety of a flight. I am proud of our two servants — their intervention was bold, intelligent and courageous.

"This intervention shows once again how professional and committed the police officers are in Austria, even when they are off duty and on vacation."

The passenger was handed over to Canadian authorities after the plane landed, the ministry said.

Gotta hand it to them....they didn't even hold a grudge after the beat down we gave them at the World Juniors....

[Gurn]

It happened again, but not in Australia, but rather in Spain.

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/girl-dies-8-children-injured-after-wind-gust-lifts-bouncy-castle-in-spain/ar-AASt78b?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531

"A young girl has died and eight other children were injured after a strong wind picked up a bouncy castle at a fair in eastern Spain.

 

The accident took place Tuesday night at the fairgrounds in Mislata, a city on the outskirts of Valencia.

Nearby fairgoers watched in horror as the structure was lifted up into the air and several children fell to the ground.

All of a sudden I saw it rise into the air,” one witness told the Guardian. “I saw the kids that were in the air, I think they fell onto another inflatable structure. There was a young girl on the floor, unconscious.”

Video posted by the Provincial Firefighters Consortium of Valencia shows firefighters checking under the deflated structure to make sure no more children were trapped.

mmediately following the incident, nine children were rushed to La Fe University and Polytechnic Hospital in Valencia. An eight-year-old girl died about 12 hours after she arrived, reports ABC News. Another four-year-old girl remains hospitalized.

The town hall of Mislata said it was holding a minute of silence to honour the victim of the accident. It also announced it would cancel all remaining holiday celebrations, including Wednesday's Three Kings parade.

The mayor of Mislata, Carlos Fernandez Bielsa, tweeted his condolences.

"There are no words of comfort, a real drama. A very sad day for Mislata. All the support and encouragement to the families," he wrote.

The tragedy comes less than a month after several children were killed in a similar incident in Australia. The school-age kids had been celebrating the final day of school when a gust of wind lifted a bouncy castle 10 metres into the air.

 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well past time that laws are passed requiring these 'castles' to be anchored to the ground.

[CBH1926]

Things are heating up in Kazakhstan, I wonder what will Vlad do?

 

https://www.rt.com/russia/545259-kazakh-fuel-riots-videos/

[4petesake]

33 minutes ago, CBH1926 said:

Things are heating up in Kazakhstan, I wonder what will Vlad do?

 

https://www.rt.com/russia/545259-kazakh-fuel-riots-videos/

This will come as no surprise…”peacekeepers.”

 

 

 

[Gurn]

On 1/5/2022 at 8:49 PM, CBH1926 said:

Things are heating up in Kazakhstan, I wonder what will Vlad do?

 

https://www.rt.com/russia/545259-kazakh-fuel-riots-videos/

Kill order issued by leader of Kazakhstan

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/kazakhstan-leader-gives-kill-without-warning-order-as-bodies-lie-in-the-streets/ar-AASwMXX?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531

Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has ordered security forces to "kill without warning" to crush the violent protests that have paralyzed the former Soviet republic and reportedly left dozens dead.

 

n a defiant public address Friday, Tokayev claimed the unrest, which began earlier this week as protests against rising fuel prices, had been masterminded by well-trained "terrorist bandits" from both inside and outside the country.

 

Kazakh state media reported Friday that 18 security personnel and 26 "armed criminals" had been killed in violent protests. More than 3,000 people have been detained.

In Almaty, the country's largest city, several dead bodies riddled with bullets lay in the streets and the air was repeatedly filled with gunfire, according to a journalist in the area

An internet outage has knocked out ATM machines and at least one gun store appeared to have been ransacked, said the journalist, whom CNN has agreed not to name over fears for their safety.

Tokayev said the situation had "stabilized" in Almaty, and that the "introduction of a state of emergency is yielding results."

"But terrorists continue to damage state and private property and use weapons against citizens," he said. "I gave the order to law enforcement agencies and the army to open fire to kill without warning."

The government has control over the center of Almaty near the president's residence and mayor's office, and three large military checkpoints have been set up, the journalist told CNN. If anyone goes near the checkpoints, military forces shoot into the air. It is not clear whether they are shooting live or rubber rounds, the journalist said.

Tokayev's speech attempted to undermine the narrative that the demonstrations were a product of popular unrest that turned increasingly destructive and deadly. He said the violence was the product of a well-organized enemy, armed with sleeper cells carrying out "terrorist attacks" and "specialists trained in ideological sabotage, skillfully using disinformation or 'fakes' and capable of manipulating people's moods."

"Their actions showed the presence of a clear plan of attacks on military, administrative and social facilities in almost all areas, coherent coordination of actions, high combat readiness and bestial cruelty," Tokayev said. "They need to be destroyed."

However, several protesters who spoke to international media rejected that characterization.

"We are neither thugs nor terrorists," one woman said. "The only thing flourishing here is corruption"

Another man told CNN that people "want the truth," adding: "The government is rich, but all of these people here have loans to pay. We have our pain, and we want to share it."

The demonstrations are the biggest challenge yet to the autocrat's rule, with initial public anger over a rise in fuel prices expanding to wider discontent with the government over corruption, living standards, poverty and unemployment in the oil-rich nation -- all of which has been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, experts say.

"This is a government that is highly detached from the reality of what happens on the ground. It's a country where there are no institutions through which to protest; the only route is on the streets," Paul Stronski of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace told CNN.

Protesters in Almaty reportedly stormed the airport, forcibly entered government buildings, and set fire to the city's main administration office, local media reported. Dozens were reported killed and hundreds more injured in clashes there Thursday. There were also reports of a nationwide internet blackout and damage in other major cities, though Tokayev said internet was gradually being restored as the situation stabilizes. Authorities had previously declared a nationwide state of emergency with a curfew and movement restrictions until January 19, according to local media.

Almaty International Airport will be closed until January 9, Kazakhstan's Ministry of Industry and Infrastructural Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan said, according to state-run broadcaster Khabar 24. More than 20 international flights have so far been canceled.

Flights to and from the capital, Nursultan, have been restored, Khabar 24 reported.

In his address, Tokayev highlighted that peaceful assembly was legalized in 2020 to promote democracy. However he said calls from abroad to find a peaceful solution were "nonsense."

"What kind of negotiations can there be with criminals, murderers?" Tokayev added.

Tokayev said a contingent of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a Russian-led military alliance made up of former Soviet states, has arrived in the country "for a short period of time" to carry out the functions of defense and support. The organization's secretary-general, Stanislav Zas, told Russia's state-run English language Sputnik news agency that about 3,600 CSTO personnel would be deployed to Kazakhstan to protect government and strategic facilities and help maintain public order. Russian state news agency TASS reported that a brigade of airborne forces had arrived in Kazakhstan.

A contingent of 70 IL-76 and five AN-124 transport aircraft have been delivering military personnel and equipment to CSTO forces "around the clock," the Russian Defense ministry said in a statement Friday.

Tokayev thanked the heads of CSTO countries for their support and expressed "special gratitude" to Russian President Vladimir Putin for "very promptly and, most importantly, in a friendly manner reacted warmly to my appeal" for a CSTO contingent.

 

The Kazakh leader also thanked Chinese President Xi Jinping, the presidents of the other CSTO member countries, the presidents of Uzbekistan, Turkey and "the leaders of the UN and other international organizations for their words of support."

Putin spoke by phone with CSTO leaders Thursday and Friday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Friday, according to Russian state media.

Kazakhstan, the world's ninth-largest nation by landmass and Central Asia's the largest economy, has often boasted of its stability in a region that has seen its share of conflict.

Even before its independence in 1991, the country's political scene was dominated by one man -- Nursultan Nazarbayev. The longtime president and former Communist Party official ruled for almost three decades before stepping down in 2019. His autocratic method of governance sparked international concern and saw authorities harshly crack down on protests, jail critics and stifle press freedoms, according to global rights groups. Critics accused Nazarbayev of appointing family members and allies to key jobs in government and his family is believed to control much of the Kazakh economy, Reuters reported.

Nazarbayev was best known in the West for renouncing nuclear weaponry and his relocation of the capital to the futuristic city of Astana -- which was later renamed Nur-Sultan, after himself.

Amnesty International said the protests are "a direct consequence of the authorities' widespread repression of basic human rights."

"For years, the government has relentlessly persecuted peaceful dissent, leaving the Kazakhstani people in a state of agitation and despair," said Marie Struthers, Amnesty's director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia in a statement.

[Gurn]

Dear leader of Kazakhstan, making Sasha Baron Cohen's Borat character look like an intellectual genius in comparison.

[Bure_of_94]

On 1/5/2022 at 8:49 PM, CBH1926 said:

Things are heating up in Kazakhstan, I wonder what will Vlad do?

 

https://www.rt.com/russia/545259-kazakh-fuel-riots-videos/

That’s what a REAL insurrection looks like. They were literally beheading police and security in the streets. Of course North American news isn’t picking the full story up as they wouldn’t want the blissfully ignorant here to be able to differentiate between the two.