Miscellaneous News

Lethe · Nov 21, 2023

azn_cyniq said:
Why are you guys so good at cricket? Is cricket really popular in Australia? Australia won 6 out of 13 World Cups and was the runner up in 2 other World Cups. That's straight-up dominance.

I already replied to this earlier, but I recently encountered a pair of articles by Osman Samiuddin, written before and after the final against India respectively, that speak to this:

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In the simple, inarguable fact of Australia making the final of this World Cup, this has been a very Australian campaign. They have been here seven times before after all, and are arriving on the back of an eight-game winning streak. For anyone with even passing interest in this sport, this is familiar territory. Australia? Where else would you expect them to be right now?

But it has been a very Australian campaign not in the way of the best-remembered Australian surges. Sure, they have won eight on the trot, but it's not been with the aura of their dominant, flawless campaigns of 2003 or 2007. No, this run has highlighted that other Australianism, that thing that reminds you of German football teams of the past; the thing for which there absolutely must be a long German word that describes the ingrained refusal to lose a game, to never knowingly be beaten until the last wicket has been taken, ingrained so deep that it turns a loss inside out into a win.

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They were absolute underdogs, perhaps for the first time in a modern World Cup final, against an [Indian] team that had dominated a tournament in the way Australia have dominated two World Cups this century. That side [India] was playing at home, in front of over 90,000 fans, almost all of whom were their own, in conditions in which they commanded impenetrable mastery. In conditions - a slow pitch, with little bounce, taking turn - which may as well have been designed to douse Australian strengths.

India threw their greatest ODI side ever at Australia in Ahmedabad. Just as Pakistan had thrown their greatest ODI side ever at Australia at Lord's in 1999. Just as Sri Lanka had thrown their greatest ODI side ever at Australia at Bridgetown in 2007. Just as New Zealand had thrown their greatest ODI side ever at Australia in 2015. What have we learnt happens when you throw your greatest ever side at Australia in a World Cup final? And is it ever even close?

Ahead of the final, I had searched for the German word that perfectly describes Australia turning up for World Cup finals time and again. A word that holds true no matter the state of Australian cricket, no matter the style of it, no matter the quality of their players, no matter their form, or the way they made it to the final. With some help I found one which has been applied to Bayern Munich's dominance of the German Bundesliga. Turns out it isn't very long and actually has a direct, one-word English translation. It's unvermeidlich. It means inevitable.

As in, Australia, world champions, inevitably.

If an Australian had written this one would of course feel rather embarrassed. Fortunately Osman Samiuddin is of Pakistani background and grew up in Saudi Arabia, so instead one can just laugh and enjoy the superlative praise.

While we are here, it occurs to me that the idea of Australia being a "sporting nation" is quite an old one. Here is English journalist W.T. Stead (who died in the sinking of the Titanic!) writing on Australian culture in his 1901 book 'The Americanisation of the World: The Trend of the 20th Century' in which he predicted (amongst many other things) that Australia would over time draw increasing inspiration from the United States rather than from England:

In the whole of their history the Australians have never passed through the hard experiences which discipline nations. They have been the spoiled children of the human race. War, pestilence and famine, the three scourges of mankind, have never compelled them to realize the sterner realities of existence [....] They are splendid cricketers, matchless horsemen, and devoted to all manner of sport. Sport, indeed, may be said to be the Australian religion, and with them the chief end of man is for him to have a good time. A self-indulgent and undisciplined race which is suddenly called upon to cope with the delicate and dangerous problems of international policy is certain to be wilful, impulsive, impetuous, not to say reckless in the pursuit of its ideals.

Whatever the original seeds of truth (or lack thereof) behind this narrative of Australia being a particularly sporting nation, I suspect that one significant consequence of our embracing this narrative has been a greater level of institutional support for the development of amateur and professional sport, including cricket. That is to say, to a certain extent it has become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

manqiangrexue · Nov 21, 2023

Maikeru said:
Not a completely stupid idea from BRICS pov. If there was one major western power that could be 'flipped', it would be France. From China's pov France would be a better member than Argentina (or India).

They're not going to be "flipped"; they're going to be the little SOB spy+monkey-wrench-in-your-fine-machinery type for the West to try its best to slow and sabotage BRICS.

Biscuits said:
Just let them do it. They're less disgraceful than Argentina.

Letting someone join is easy but kicking someone out is next to impossible, as we see with India. Argentina reflexively quitting without asking its masters whether they wanted it to enter BRICS to basically shit everywhere and roll around like a hog to disrupt every meeting was one lucky godsend in China's way. Adding nations must be done carefully and with long-term strategic vision. The investment in trust must not be taken lightly or on a whim of the current situation. We must remember, it's not that we need to pick one from either France or Argentina; neither is a perfectly good option.

Overbom · Nov 21, 2023

Maikeru said:
Not a completely stupid idea from BRICS pov. If there was one major western power that could be 'flipped', it would be France. From China's pov France would be a better member than Argentina (or India).

Non. You know how France will behave.

It will start its "human rights" and "Ukraine war" bs, and thus start derailing the BRICS discussions.

Plus Global South needs a true Global South forum to communicate with each other without having to suffer through France's delusions.

Finally, the optics would be much bad with admitting France, a colonial country, to BRICS. The African continent wouldn't be pleased with watching BRICS cheering up their new colonial state buddy.

victoon · Nov 21, 2023

Maikeru said:
Not a completely stupid idea from BRICS pov. If there was one major western power that could be 'flipped', it would be France. From China's pov France would be a better member than Argentina (or India).

I agree. I think of BRICS as a commodity backed financial system that is an alternative to $ hegemony. France (very different from every other European countries) has a solid history of resisting US hegemony. Plus, I personally think it's a good thing to hear different voices and make it somewhat representative of all major continents.

quim · Nov 21, 2023

ansy1968 said:
The curse of being a catholic country, what the Spaniards leave us is an oligarchic society where they select who to run and to support. Of course they want to convert their currency to dollar so that they can launder their money and leave the shithole they created.

Argentina is a liberal country governed by liberal or right-wing political lackeys of the US since its independence from the Spanish Empire in the 19th century, supported by the US Monroe Doctrine to dominate the Americas and suppress any European or Asian influence in the region.

Why are you blaming the Catholics or the Spaniards? The world is no longer in the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church has been nothing for a long time, it no longer has any power or influence anywhere, not even in its European birthplace like Italy and France.

So you are just reproducing Anglo-Saxon propaganda of blaming past enemies for everything negative and not blaming present Anglo-Saxon interference and liberal order for maintaining the current problems.

coolgod · Nov 21, 2023

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1726975727202082824

Where is the vishwaguru Modi

TK3600 · Nov 21, 2023

Overbom said:
Non. You know how France will behave.

It will start its "human rights" and "Ukraine war" bs, and thus start derailing the BRICS discussions.

Plus Global South needs a true Global South forum to communicate with each other without having to suffer through France's delusions.

Finally, the optics would be much bad with admitting France, a colonial country, to BRICS. The African continent wouldn't be pleased with watching BRICS cheering up their new colonial state buddy.

Just give France observer status and no permanent status. Something like France even pretending to flip is embarassing enough. Kicking them out again is double the fun.

Stierlitz · Nov 21, 2023

Overbom said:
Non. You know how France will behave.

It will start its "human rights" and "Ukraine war" bs, and thus start derailing the BRICS discussions.

Plus Global South needs a true Global South forum to communicate with each other without having to suffer through France's delusions.

Finally, the optics would be much bad with admitting France, a colonial country, to BRICS. The African continent wouldn't be pleased with watching BRICS cheering up their new colonial state buddy.

Agree with everything you've written. France is an American trojan horse. Accepting them into BRICS would be an epic own goal.

FriedButter · Nov 21, 2023

The French plays the role of the “good cop” in the bad cop relation. They act as the public PR punching bag for the west like they did when Macron used his acting skills to play the “mediator role” during talks with the Russians. It would have stayed on if public pressure wasn’t so severe to the point where they had to drop their mask. Behind the public screen they will continue pushing the US agenda.

gpt · Nov 21, 2023

North Korea claims it has successfully placed its first spy satellite into orbit

The US and its allies strongly condemned North Korea over the launch:
- The White House called it a “brazen violation” of United Nations resolutions.
- The launch “raises tensions and risks destabilizing the security situation in the region and beyond”, US National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement.
- Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said he condemned the launch “in the strongest possible terms”.

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Lethe

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manqiangrexue

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Overbom

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victoon

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quim

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coolgod

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TK3600

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Stierlitz

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FriedButter

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gpt

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