the dynamite politics thread

[Villain]

Thanks for the lengthy explanation. I now get your point about the severity of the mafia-connection. It was the whole changing laws to avoid being sued without someone interfering part that made me feel the system was horribly corrupted, but I can now see the Italian justice system probably had some much more important issues at hand, so it's kind of excusable.

Nevertheless, I'm fairly certain it couldn't work in Finland: if a legislator here tried the same thing, the justice system would simply stop him.

-Villain

 

[hyena]

unfortunately, not very respectful of personal freedom (a ban is maybe a bit too much), but this is the BEST IDEA EVAH and should be applied anywhere, not limited to professional life. i have to write an email of congratulations and offer undying devotion to this man.

MOSCOW - The mayor of a Siberian oil town has ordered his bureaucrats to stop using expressions such as "I don't know" and "I can't." Or look for another job.

Alexander Kuzmin, the 33-year-old mayor of Megion, has banned these and 25 other phrases as a way to make his administration more efficient, his spokeswoman said Tuesday.

"It's a suggestion to the staff that they should think before saying something," Oksana Shestakova said by telephone. "To say `I don't know' is the same as admitting your helplessness."

To reinforce the ban, a framed list of the banned expressions has been hanging on the wall next to Kuzmin's office for the past two weeks, Shestakova said.

Some of the other prohibited phrases are "What can we do?" "It's not my job," "It's impossible," "I'm having lunch," "There is no money," and "I was away/sick/on vacation."

Kuzmin, a businessman who was elected mayor 1 1/2 years ago, wants to "shake things up" in Megion, a town of 54,000 in the Khanty-Mansiisk region, the spokeswoman said.

The region, located some 1,500 miles northeast of Moscow, produces more oil than the rest of Russia combined. As world oil prices have risen sharply in recent years, the region has flourished, and in stark contrast to the rest of the country its population has grown at the rapid rate of more than 7 percent annually.

But construction has not kept pace, and the lack of adequate housing is one of the town's most serious problems, Shestakova said.

"Town authorities are there to make town residents' life comfortable and prosperous," Kuzmin, a trained oil engineer who studied business administration in Canada, said in a statement posted on the town Web site. "Town officials must work out mechanisms to solve and remove problems, not to avoid them."

Officials who disobey the ban while in the mayor's office "will near the moment of their departure," the statement said.

Providing the mayor with wrong or incomplete information, or being late in reporting important information will be considered an attempt to undermine his work, it said.

Anna Borovikova, the mayor's chief of staff, said the novel approach has improved discipline.

"Before, it was so easy to say `I don't know.' Now before reporting to the mayor we prepare several proposals on how one or another problem can be solved," Borovikova said.

At first it was hard to remember not to use the banned expressions, she said, and they "slipped in sometimes."

 

[Dark_Silence]

this guy is crazy :zombie:

 

[hyena]

@d_s: and why? if i could, say, jail all people who told me "i can't" when they really meant "i have no fucking intention to", both at work and otherwise, justice would triumph.

 

[Dark_Silence]

because it sounds like he takes the freedom of his employees

 

[Siren]

If the same ban were to be enforced in Greece, there's 3 possible scenarios that could take place:
a) we would finally progress as a nation.
b) there would be a revolution and the guy would be forced to quit.
c) everyone would ignore it and things would go about as usual.

Bottom line: The guy is a mad genius, but the people who accept it have their share of responsibility in this.

This whole ban thing can be very useful, but it sounds a bit harsh, what if something really can't be done, and what if he starts asking for crazy things? There needs to be balance between discipline and elasticity.

 

[QRV]

Then there should be a corollary to the new law: anyone who uses those phrases should be able to fully explain them and prove they're not half-assed excuses for not doing his job correctly. If he fails to do so, then he shall be subjected to a public spanking while wearing big donkey ears.

Seriously, we need more forms of punishment that involve public humiliation.

 

[rahvin]

because it sounds like he takes the freedom of his employees

Well, most laws take away part of our freedom. That's not unfair in itself, unless you're an anarchist. If you were stressing the fact that it's him taking that freedom away, I guess the article implies he had a law or public ordinance passed, concerning certain public employees. It is queer that the ban would be enforced only "in the mayor's office", but I assume the journalist took his "artistic" liberties writing that piece, as journalists often do.

 

[hyena]

@rahvin: seconded. after all, i don't think it would be ok to complain because i am forbidden to smoke at work, which could certainly be construed as a limitation to my freedom.

speaking of politics: chinese in trade schools, yes or no? i think it would be such a great idea.

 

[Taliesin]

speaking of politics: chinese in trade schools, yes or no? i think it would be such a great idea.

As an option? Sure, why not. I think China as a market is totally overrated. Of course there are huge possibilities, but also great risks. It seems to me that China is possessed by the idea of becoming the world's number one country as soon as possible, no matter what it takes.
Take the regulations about foreign factories in China for example, they always need a chinese company for a co-operative use of the factory. The goal? Steal western technology. Mercedes and BMW built factories in China and they saw copies of the cars produced there only weeks after the factory was opened. Entire CARS copied, I mean wtf?
Airbus is building a factory in China as well, with the chinese aviation industry being on the rise I think this is one of the worst ideas ever. I bet it'll take them less than 5 years to copy the first plane.
Siemens opened a factory there a few months back, emphasising that no know-how whatsoever was to be found there, Im not sure what good it'll do them.

 

[hyena]

This is mainly for Hiljainen. I just found this soundbite, dating back to the eighties, attributed to a journalist on the subject of our beloved Craxxy:

Brandiva il microfono come un mazzo di broccoli.

(for the foreigners: this sounds like "he brandished the microphone like a bunch of broccoli". and Bettino Craxi seriously was one of the most influential Italian politicians of the 80s.)

I so want to go down in history like that.

 

[QRV]

Meh, nobody ever considers my ideas on punishing criminals (specially politicians) by humiliating them publicly. It used to work rather well in the old centuries, anyway. Granted, today with mass media and all that it could result on some really serious psychological trauma, but at least that way people might think it twice or thrice before actually commiting a crime.

Those sissies at Human Rights Watch would not like it, but fuck them, we need solutions that work. Massive condemnations of criminal actions could do the right trick.

 

[loveMikael]

As an option? Sure, why not. I think China as a market is totally overrated. Of course there are huge possibilities, but also great risks. It seems to me that China is possessed by the idea of becoming the world's number one country as soon as possible, no matter what it takes.
Take the regulations about foreign factories in China for example, they always need a chinese company for a co-operative use of the factory. The goal? Steal western technology. Mercedes and BMW built factories in China and they saw copies of the cars produced there only weeks after the factory was opened. Entire CARS copied, I mean wtf?
Airbus is building a factory in China as well, with the chinese aviation industry being on the rise I think this is one of the worst ideas ever. I bet it'll take them less than 5 years to copy the first plane.
Siemens opened a factory there a few months back, emphasising that no know-how whatsoever was to be found there, Im not sure what good it'll do them.

These pointviews I should say:
Take the regulations about foreign factories in China for example, they always need a chinese company for a co-operative use of the factory. The goal? Steal western technology.

Thank you,do you know the true meaning of co-operative?From your words,I only see,the foreign factories are stupid,their number-years technology were stolen,pity on them.But I really think the overall-design director of these company are much more Professonal than you.hopefully,these companies would realize that investing in china and finding "co-operative" is dangerous to them,cause we would steal "western technology".

they need to find co-operative ones.because they want to produce and sell their products in my country,with building factories in China.Why they need to find co-operative ?because they don't have the enough money to build a totally new one and really need the manpower in the local place.Here comes what you so-called" steal western technology:we produce their stuff ,they provide the technology,we get paid,they sell the products and get the benefits.It's really fair,and simple.here my question is what do you mean by stealing???

Stoping playing dumb mate.From your listing examples, there weren't anything about steal "western technology".Cars shape,airplane shape,is that what you called"western technology".Again don't see Airbus as stupid,they know how to keep the commercial secrets.At the last,I think only God could bless Siemens.AMEN....

 

[Dark_Silence]

an example of stealing:
There are been numerous copies of fake "made in China" Gibson Guitars sold on ebay. They would fool someone who is not a Gibson connoisseur. They even have "made in USA" and the name Gibson printed on them, and serial numbers that imitate real ones.
They were probabily made by people who work for Epiphone(a brand owned by Gibson, used for cheap versions of their own product) in China (they have a fabric in Quingdao).

In this case, you have to admit it is stealing, dont you?

 

[marduk1507]

These pointviews I should say:
Take the regulations about foreign factories in China for example, they always need a chinese company for a co-operative use of the factory. The goal? Steal western technology.

Thank you,do you know the true meaning of co-operative?From your words,I only see,the foreign factories are stupid,their number-years technology were stolen,pity on them.But I really think the overall-design director of these company are much more Professonal than you.hopefully,these companies would realize that investing in china and finding "co-operative" is dangerous to them,cause we would steal "western technology".

they need to find co-operative ones.because they want to produce and sell their products in my country,with building factories in China.Why they need to find co-operative ?because they don't have the enough money to build a totally new one and really need the manpower in the local place.Here comes what you so-called" steal western technology:we produce their stuff ,they provide the technology,we get paid,they sell the products and get the benefits.It's really fair,and simple.here my question is what do you mean by stealing???

Stoping playing dumb mate.From your listing examples, there weren't anything about steal "western technology".Cars shape,airplane shape,is that what you called"western technology".Again don't see Airbus as stupid,they know how to keep the commercial secrets.At the last,I think only God could bless Siemens.AMEN....

Did you google all this? Do you have free access to all the necessary info?

I understand your feelings, and it really is not your fault, but China has been notorious for "copying" (just an euphemism for stealing) any technology it could lay its hands on. It is also referred to as "gigantic copymachine". It is a fact, no matter how upset it makes you feel. The only reason why all these companies go to China is the multitude of cheap and hard-working labour and huge market.

 

[Taliesin]

Why they need to find co-operative ?because they don't have the enough money to build a totally new one and really need the manpower in the local place.Here comes what you so-called" steal western technology:we produce their stuff ,they provide the technology,we get paid,they sell the products and get the benefits.It's really fair,and simple.here my question is what do you mean by stealing???

If only it were so, but China is the only country in the world with such regulations.
You think it's because Mercedes doesnt have enough money to build their own factories? They bought Chrysler for 36 billion dollars back in 1998, does this say enough?
There are copies of every car that was "co-operatively" made in China, the Mercedes C-class, the Smart car, the BMW X5.. the list goes on. And it's not just the shape, it's everything else as well. What else but stealing would this be? Maybe you are the one who should stop playing dumb.

 

[firewindraging]

<check your code>

george carlin has really hit the nail on the head about politics (especially American)

 

[loveMikael]

If only it were so, but China is the only country in the world with such regulations.
You think it's because Mercedes doesnt have enough money to build their own factories? They bought Chrysler for 36 billion dollars back in 1998, does this say enough?
There are copies of every car that was "co-operatively" made in China, the Mercedes C-class, the Smart car, the BMW X5.. the list goes on. And it's not just the shape, it's everything else as well. What else but stealing would this be? Maybe you are the one who should stop playing dumb.

do you know what? these Mercedes C-class the BMW X5 whatever you could listing,were built in the name of Mercedes.It's still Mercedes company products.The company sell these cars in China,they get the money.they provide the TechnologY.Believe me,they never tell anyone about their core-TechnologY.

They built co-operative factories was not because they didn't have money,just because they want to low their budget.I'm sorry I was wrong.

 

[loveMikael]

Did you google all this? Do you have free access to all the necessary info?

I understand your feelings, and it really is not your fault, but China has been notorious for "copying" (just an euphemism for stealing) any technology it could lay its hands on. It is also referred to as "gigantic copymachine". It is a fact, no matter how upset it makes you feel. The only reason why all these companies go to China is the multitude of cheap and hard-working labour and huge market.

No,I didn't google about all the info.I just tell him about the car-productions.It's really hurt that some people say "stealing".It's shame things.

Agreed,numbers of "copying" products in my country,from software to cds,from cloth to ....,anyway there are many many many many......Shame on me.It's big problems.Maybe because the law is not so strict,maybe the we aren't as rich as people from devoloped countries.I don't know.

Yes,it's the fact,I feel very upset.

 

[rahvin]

Yes,it's the fact,I feel very upset.

But you shouldn't. I'm sure that even if people criticize or doubt your country's economy and politics, they're well aware you're not head of state or directly responsible. They don't mean to offend.