The unimportant news thread

[Todd]

Pentagon likely to acknowledge 2,000 U.S. troops in Syria: U.S. officials

I mean, if the Pentagon lies about civilians killed in the War on Terror, it only makes sense that it would lie about troop levels in Syria.  It's not like it's a hot spot, or anything.  The Pentagon apparently also has to lie about troop levels in Iraq.  Better up its budget again next year.

[Jo498]

Did anyone ever seriously expect them NOT to lie about such things? O.k., I get why it is "unimportant news"...

[Todd]

Amazon, in Hunt for Lower Prices, Recruits Indian Merchants

Funny, this story didn't run in AmPo.

[Todd]

Belgian prince says proposed pay cut would breach his human rights.

IOW, white trash bitches about welfare cut.

[Florestan]

King Mihai (Michael) of Romania has died today, aged 96. As a great-great-grandson of Queen Victoria, through both of his parents, Michael was a third cousin of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, King Harald V of Norway, King Juan Carlos I of Spain, King Carl XVI Gustav of Sweden and Queen Elizabeth II.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_I_of_Romania



October 25, 1921 - December 5, 2017

RIP.

[Todd]

Academics and Artists Weigh In on Controversial City Monuments

"The letter singles out the Christopher Columbus monument at Columbus circle, the statue of President Theodore Roosevelt outside of the American Museum of Natural History, the Dr. J. Marion Sims statue in Central Park, and two commemorative markers bearing the names of Philippe Pétain and Pierre Laval."

Columbus is old hat now, and frankly I'm surprised to learn that lefties have not expunged all record of his existence in NYC, while Sims was a bad dude, and who gives a rip about monuments to two Frenchies stateside, but TR?  In New York?

[Todd]

Russia election: Putin to run again for president


Somewhat surprising, really.  He's received a lot of bad press lately.  I just don't know if he can eke out a win.

[Brian]

This guy isn't going to win the Texas governor's race, but his campaign intro video might change political ads forever.

Or maybe I'm just hoping that that video will change political ads forever. Yeah, okay, I'm definitely just hoping that.

[Spineur]

Greece and Turkey trade accusations at the start of Erdogan visit

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-greece-turkey-erdogan/greece-and-turkey-trade-accusations-at-start-of-erdogan-visit-idUSKBN1E10S9

Where is the surprise

[bwv 1080]

The best human-trained chess program in the world was just beat by a neural network that trained itself for only a couple of hours.  Unlike older chess programs where humans gave it basic strategy, Deep Mind was just given the rules of the game and taught itself through repeated games:

https://www.theverge.com/2017/12/6/16741106/deepmind-ai-chess-alphazero-shogi-go

[Turner]

"Tough on crime" policy:
"Man jailed for 15 years for hate crimes after leaving bacon in mosque"

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/muslim-hate-crime-bacon-mosque-man-jailed-15-years-michael-wolfe-florida-a8098926.html

(admittedly there was a bit more vandalism too)

[Ken B]

"Tough on crime" policy:
"Man jailed for 15 years for hate crimes after leaving bacon in mosque"

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/muslim-hate-crime-bacon-mosque-man-jailed-15-years-michael-wolfe-florida-a8098926.html

(admittedly there was a bit more vandalism too)

Compare and contrast

https://abc10up.com/2017/06/28/prison-sentence-handed-man-kidnapped-woman/

[Karl Henning]

A $52.4 billion merger

[Ken B]

A $52.4 billion merger

Two words: Auntie. Trust.

[Florestan]

King Mihai I of Romania lying in state at the Royal Palace in Bucharest. I queued up for 9 (nine!) hours to pay him my homage.

[Turner]

Russia election: Putin to run again for president


Somewhat surprising, really.  He's received a lot of bad press lately.  I just don't know if he can eke out a win.

It has now been decided to hold those elections on the anniversary day of the Russian annexation of Crimea.

[kishnevi]

King Mihai I of Romania lying in state at the Royal Palace in Bucharest. I queued up for 9 (nine!) hours to pay him my homage.

Nine hours!
There are probably not that many who can remember back to the time when he actually was King.  But he must be a powerful symbol for the Romanian people.

[Florestan]

Nine hours!

I took my place in line at 16:00 and I left the Royal Palace at 24:50. At that time there were still thousands of people in the queue.

There are probably not that many who can remember back to the time when he actually was King.  But he must be a powerful symbol for the Romanian people.

He is indeed the powerful symbol of the traditional Romania and of what we might have been had the communism not taken us over. And the contrast (in character, morality, thought, speech and behavior) between him and the present political establishment is enormous. Ninety-nine percent of the latter are not even fit to polish his shoes.

[zamyrabyrd]

He is indeed the powerful symbol of the traditional Romania and of what we might have been had the communism not taken us over. And the contrast (in character, morality, thought, speech and behavior) between him and the present political establishment is enormous. Ninety-nine percent of the latter are not even fit to polish his shoes.

I saw part of the procession on TV, very impressive. With more coverage and airing out of communist fallacies, who knows, maybe a return to an enlighted monarchy might be in the cards?  There are still models and precedents in Europe and Britain that can be emulated.

[Florestan]

I saw part of the procession on TV, very impressive.

We watched it all (we were away from Bucharest) and at some point drove 45 minutes to a railway station to see the funeral train passing by (it went slowly so the crowd could see the coffin and the royal family; the atmosphere was unbelievably solemn and impressive). The King was buried in Curtea de Argeș, the first capital of Wallachia and the official funeral site of the Romanian kings. Now all four of them lay there. It was a very long day and probably the most impressive and heartfelt state funeral Romania has, or will, ever seen.

I don't know what the future will be, but I will always remember December 16, 2017, the day when I saw history passing by in front of me. King Mihai I of Romania is the man who at the tender age of 23 defied Hitler by taking Romania out the military alliance with Nazi Germany and ordering the Romanian Army to fight against the former ally (not a single officer or soldier disobeyed this order) thus shortening WWII by at least six or seven months. He tried his best to oppose the USSR-backed communist takeover of Romania and was forced to abdicate at a gunpoint and a blackmail. Also, he was contemporary with 16 USA presidents, 8 popes and 4 UK kings. A remarkable statesman, a true gentleman, a devout Orthodox Christian and a genial, amiable and modest person. Requiescat in pace.

With more coverage and airing out of communist fallacies, who knows, maybe a return to an enlighted monarchy might be in the cards?

There is very, very little chance but one can never say never. If God wills it, it will be. We can only hope and pray.