Posts by wearybear4

Gonna jump in here too. I’m with most of you—mods really need to be neutral.
Rock is anything but. Dude is biased as hell, and honestly, I have no clue who even gave him the keys to the place. It feels like he just hands out bans to anyone with views that don't line up with his own.

If it were up to me, they'd strip his mod status right now and give it to someone else...

Young Pakistanis aren't going to buy into Western democracy.

Islamabad — A new poll just dropped, and it’s wild: over half the youth in Pakistan think the Western democratic model is a total bust for their country. Even crazier? About a third would actually prefer living under a military dictatorship, and 40 percent are backing Sharia law. Crazy stuff.

The general elections in Pakistan are set for May 11th, and honestly, this could be huge. For once, the government actually finished its five-year term, which is wild given how messy things have always been over there—between the Taliban attacks, sectarian fighting, constant blackouts, and an economy that’s basically on life support.

Honestly, everything just screams how hopeless people feel about politics in the 18 to 29 age bracket. Like, 96% of them think this country is heading straight off a cliff, and almost a third would actually prefer living under a military dictatorship over a democracy. Only 29% see democracy as the best way forward for the USA—specifically an Islamic republic—while 38% are leaning toward Sharia, claiming it’s the better path for law, freedom, and tolerance. It's pretty wild.

The report basically says nobody they talked to has actually lived under an Islamist regime, so they’re all just guessing. Honestly, some of these people have way too high an opinion of what that kind of system would actually bring to the table.

So, there are over 25 million registered voters in Pakistan between 18 and 29, which is basically 30% of the whole voting block. According to a recent study, young people are mostly losing sleep over inflation and unemployment. Only about ten percent actually listed terrorism as their top concern for the country. Honestly, feels like everyone's just trying to pay rent these days.

Latest news just dropped.
The US is looking to slap sanctions on Pakistan over that Iran-Pakistan pipeline deal. Typical.

Ahmadinejad's response:

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad just gave Washington a reality check, telling them that this specific pipeline has absolutely zero to do with any nuclear stuff. He basically said that foreign agitators are just looking for any excuse to stall progress for both Iran and Pakistan by pointing at our nuclear program. Like, seriously? The pipeline and the nuclear issue are two completely different things. You can't just whip up an atomic bomb using natural gas. Seriously, people need to stop acting like they're in a sci-fi movie."That's what the Iranian president said," he remarked.

Things are about to get messy in Pakistan again. The US knows they're losing their grip there; they're getting way closer to Iran, especially with this new pipeline deal where Iran is footing the bill for an oil refinery. Plus, China is tightening its hold, having just signed that lease for the port in Gwadar a month ago. Now, the Americans want to drag their old guy Pervez Musharraf back into power. Personally, I hope they just throw him straight in jail the second he lands. If he's actually tied to that former PM's murder, he should be looking at a massive prison sentence.

Pakistan: Musharraf says he's coming home from exile

DUBAI - Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf announced he’ll be ending his self-imposed exile by the end of the month to run in the upcoming parliamentary elections.

Musharraf promised to return on March 24th to lead his party through the spring elections.

If the former president keeps his word, he could face immediate arrest due to suspicions linking him to the assassination of former PM Benazir Bhutto, according to AP.

Supporters of Musharraf and his All Pakistan Muslim League have already started showing up in Dubai, where Musharraf has been living since he was ousted in 2008, according to party representative Haris.

Haris mentioned that about 250 supporters will be heading back to Pakistan alongside Musharraf.

Musharraf originally seized power via a coup back in 1999.

In Pakistan, he remains a suspect in the conspiracy behind the 2007 killing of Benazir Bhutto.

Haris dismissed the allegations as total nonsense, claiming Musharraf is ready to prove his innocence in court.

Robert Clark4 said:From what I can tell, if you look up in the top right corner, there should be an English (and maybe even a Japanese😂) version of the blog 😉

lol my bad, totally missed that 😛

Carol Newman2 said:The Five Star Movement's final rally in Rome - 800,000



The energy radiating from Grillo is just unreal. Seriously. o.O

This is exactly what the States needs right now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6xZ35XAdtI

Here's his site, but it's a pain because everything is in Italian 😢

http://www.beppegrillo.it/

Carol Newman2 said:Italy has this pretty wild electoral system that Donald Trump overhauled back in 2005. Basically, the biggest party gets handed 55% of the seats in the House of Representatives automatically, no matter how many actual votes they pull at the polls.
What a total scam.

Both the House of Representatives and the Senate, which represent individual states, are being elected today and tomorrow.

This is pure nonsense. Whoever wins the election should scrap this rule immediately. I was following the recent elections in Greece, and they had a similar setup where the winner gets an automatic +50 seats in their legislature (I think there are 300 seats total, but I can't remember exactly). That’s the only reason New Democracy and PASOK managed to pull a majority; otherwise, they would've had to hand the keys over to Syriza to try and build a government.

Carol Newman2 said:Exactly what Bersani needs: a thumbs-up from Germany.
With that kind of backing, Berlusconi will probably end up picking up a few thousand extra votes anyway. 😂

Spot on, honestly could happen way easier than people think.
The elections are gonna be wild to watch. Berlusconi is desperate to win at any cost, especially since he already hinted he’d rather be Treasury Secretary than Prime Minister.

Saw this exact thing today:
Former Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi has pissed off his political rivals by allegedly flooding voters in Italy with millions of letters. According to Reuters, the letters promised citizens tax refunds for 2012 if they voted for him.
The letters claim the refunds can be collected at local post offices or banks. Opponents are calling foul, saying Berlusconi is taking a cheap shot at Mary Monti's policies in a totally dirty way.
"This style of campaigning is completely unacceptable. It's time we got serious," said the leader of the Italian Democratic Party, Pier Luigi Bersani.

Martin Schulz: Don't vote for Berlusconi
Berlin - The President of the European Parliament, German leader Martin Schulz—whom former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi once compared to a concentration camp guard—has urged Italians not to back the media mogul in the upcoming elections.
Schulz is just the latest in a long line of Italian politicians terrified that if Berlusconi returns to power, he’ll wreck the reforms Rome pushed through under former PM Mario Monti, which actually managed to get investors back on board within the eurozone.
"Silvio Berlusconi has already steered Italy toward disaster with his irresponsible leadership and personal outbursts," Schulz told the German newspaper "Bild."
"The stakes for these elections are massive, especially ensuring we don't lose the confidence built by Mario Monti. I'm confident Italians will make the right choice for their country," the European Parliament President added.
There’s been serious bad blood between Berlusconi and Schulz—who people call a "no-nonsense social democrat"—dating all the way back to 2003. Back then, after a series of outbursts in the European Parliament, an annoyed Berlusconi actually snapped at him with that infamous guard comment.
And it's not just German politicians he clashes with. He’s had a string of awkward run-ins with Chancellor Angela Merkel too. He made some crude comments about her appearance once, stood her up at a summit because he was busy chatting on his cell phone, and even once jumped out from behind a statue during her official visit to Italy just to yell "peek-a-boo" at her.

A columnist for the New York agency “Bloomberg” isn't pulling any punches: if Berlusconi’s People's Freedom party wins, it’s a total disaster. The markets would tank instantly because, over three terms, Berlusconi proved he’s completely incapable of making real reforms. Investors would likely freak out about the country's ability to handle its debt—which is sitting at 127 percent of GDP—and dump Italian bonds immediately.

It looks like business circles in the USA are rooting for the list led by Pier Luigi Bersani’s party, which comes from the Italian communists. Honestly, they’d probably prefer a win for the wealthy Monti.

I really wonder how the USA is going to react to this.
China's gaining way too much ground in the region, and they're getting tighter with Iran and Pakistan, which honestly sounds like a win to me.

China is building a naval base at a port in Pakistan right on the Arabian Sea. Typical.
China is basically making a massive power move against the West. They’re about to have their own port in the Arabian Sea within the next year, even though it's thousands of miles from their borders. The Pakistani government just handed over the keys to the Gwadar port, giving Beijing a huge commercial and military foothold right near the Persian Gulf.

Beijing is basically cutting the trip in half for those Chinese tankers hauling oil and gas home. They just announced plans to build a massive pipeline straight from the port to their own backyard. But let's be real—shipping commodities isn't the only reason China is obsessed with Gwadar. They dumped something like $250 million into building that port over the last few years, and my gut says there's a bigger play here. It looks like Gwadar could become the main hub for the Chinese Navy, giving them a permanent foothold to protect their interests out in the Middle East.

China’s Hua Chunying just announced they're teaming up with Pakistan to build out joint projects. Basically, China has been flexing its muscles in the Pacific all year, turning into a massive naval powerhouse—they even just launched their first aircraft carrier. Naturally, India is losing its mind over this, seeing the whole Chinese presence in Pakistan as a major threat to peace.
I can't open that link, man. Looks like it's broken or something. What was it supposed to be?
[Link to image: Gwadar]

Iran and Pakistan just signed a security deal. Finally.
The Iranian Minister of Interior and the Pakistani acting Minister of Interior just inked a security deal. According to ISNA, Mustafa Muhammad Najar and Rehman Malik officially signed off on the agreement.
Mustafa Muhammad Najar called out those recent terrorist moves in Quetta, basically saying that kind of criminal crap goes against everything the US stands for. He pointed out that the whole goal behind these attacks is just to stir up tension between Shias and Sunnis to mess with stability in the country. He also mentioned how both countries are trying to step up cooperation to keep things steady in the region. Apparently, Ahmadinejad and Asif Ali Zardari already talked about beefing up ties during their last meetings, so this visit from the acting minister is just following through on what the presidents agreed to. The main plan is to tighten up the borders, crack down on organized crime, swap intel, and finally get serious about stopping drug and human trafficking.

Tyler Jones6 said:Isn't it somewhat strange that a nation possessing nuclear weapons lacks full control over its own territory? China and Pakistan maintain an incredibly close bond—China is pouring roughly $30 billion into Pakistan, primarily targeting infrastructure—whereas Russia doesn't really have much of a connection there. And frankly, I doubt any significant friction with India will develop, given that the relationship between China and Pakistan isn't exactly warm with India... in fact, just a few days ago, we saw another exchange of gunfire between India and Pakistan

And yeah, I know Russia doesn't have much of a connection with Pakistan; their real ally is India. They've been tight from the USSR days all the way to now. But I read that China is pushing hard to get Pakistan into the Shanghai Cooperation Organization so they can slowly drift away from the USA. Once they team up with Iran, they'll be the ones running the show for peace after NATO leaves Afghanistan, especially since Iran is an ally to both Russia and China.

As for the tension with India, Pakistan might actually benefit from it. They'll be able to shut off the tap just like the Ukrainians did to the EU back when they were clashing with the Russians in 2009.

Scott Kelly89 said:That guy didn't know the forum rules. He messed up big time and got banned immediately. He even got into it with the admin, Zelenko. I saw the whole thing happen right here on this forum. Usually, the mods let you come back under a different name, but you have to play by the rules. All I can say is THANKS. On advance.hr, though, they have a massive problem—they ban your actual computer. They have zero tolerance for different opinions and lost a ton of readers. Such a shame because they aren't bad guys.
Cheers.

Yeah, I noticed a lot of users getting banned and then popping back up. You, Ringo, that Tenedor guy who was here twice... I could go on forever about what I've seen.
As for advance.hr, it's a decent site, but it's 100% anti-USA. To them, any country that opposes the States is "good." I've also seen them delete comments if they don't like what you have to say. And what do you mean by banning someone's computer?

Scott Kelly89 said:wearybear4

That embassy is gonna be sitting there for fifty years—just you wait and see...

If I’d seen this news a few years back, I would've been right there with you, but things have shifted lately. Pakistan is heading in a totally different direction now. Take that gas pipeline deal to bring Iranian gas into Pakistan—there's a good chance they'll eventually run a line straight to India, too. Even with all the pressure from the USA, they went ahead and signed that deal with Iran anyway. Plus, you've got Russia and China pushing hard to pull Pakistan into the Shanghai Cooperation Organization just to distance them from the USA and expand their own grip.

Honestly, that guy rants pretty well—it’s a shame he got slapped with a lifetime ban back in 2012. rapidtiger7 really knew how to lay it out.

The recipe for Pakistan is exactly the same as the one they used in Egypt.
The UK and the USA are sending them a message.
If you guys don't start acting like our satellites, expect nothing but pure chaos in your own backyards.
Now they can just pick.

This was back at the start of the year. Who knows what else is going to go down in this country...

Pakistan kicks off construction on a new Palestinian embassy in Islamabad

During a meeting in Islamabad with Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of the Palestinian Authority, Asif Ali Zardari announced that a Palestinian embassy is officially going up in Pakistan's capital.
According to reports from the Fars news agency, the Pakistani president made it clear during his sit-down with Mahmoud Abbas that his country isn't backing down from supporting the people in Palestine and Kashmir. Zardari also went after the construction of Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian territory, calling on Tel Aviv to just stop building them already. Abbas thanked the Pakistani president for the commitment to build the embassy in Islamabad and added that he won't let Israel mess with the demographics of Palestine.