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Mali Ripped Apart By Tuareg Rebellion

Started by jimmy olsen, March 21, 2012, 12:51:42 AM

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Barrister

A defence lawyer made a joke about 'where is Timbuktu'.  I replied that I thought it was in Mali.

He was stunned.  He didn't realize Timbuktu was a real place.

:huh:
Posts here are my own private opinions.  I do not speak for my employer.

DGuller

Quote from: Barrister on March 21, 2012, 09:47:06 PM
A defence lawyer made a joke about 'where is Timbuktu'.  I replied that I thought it was in Mali.

He was stunned.  He didn't realize Timbuktu was a real place.

:huh:
:XD: Canadian education.  :lol:

Razgovory

Quote from: KRonn on March 21, 2012, 08:25:05 PM
Quote from: Razgovory on March 21, 2012, 07:52:04 PM
Quote from: Ed Anger on March 21, 2012, 07:32:36 PM
My wife had one of those new beetles. Until the engine turned into a potato. No more VW's. EVER.

The old VW's weren't bad.  Unless it was cold outside.  Or you like moving very quickly.  And you were very short.  I also know from personal experience that they don't deflect arrows worth a damn.
Had trouble with some Injun tribes, did ya?   :hmm:

People are always trying to kill me.  I'm just that type of guy, I suppose.
I've given it serious thought. I must scorn the ways of my family, and seek a Japanese woman to yield me my progeny. He shall live in the lands of the east, and be well tutored in his sacred trust to weave the best traditions of Japan and the Sacred South together, until such time as he (or, indeed his house, which will periodically require infusion of both Southern and Japanese bloodlines of note) can deliver to the South it's independence, either in this world or in space.  -Lettow April of 2011

Raz is right. -MadImmortalMan March of 2017

jimmy olsen

Quote from: Razgovory on March 21, 2012, 07:52:04 PM
Quote from: Ed Anger on March 21, 2012, 07:32:36 PM
My wife had one of those new beetles. Until the engine turned into a potato. No more VW's. EVER.

The old VW's weren't bad.  Unless it was cold outside.  Or you like moving very quickly.  And you were very short.  I also know from personal experience that they don't deflect arrows worth a damn.
Really now?  :hmm:
It is far better for the truth to tear my flesh to pieces, then for my soul to wander through darkness in eternal damnation.

Jet: So what kind of woman is she? What's Julia like?
Faye: Ordinary. The kind of beautiful, dangerous ordinary that you just can't leave alone.
Jet: I see.
Faye: Like an angel from the underworld. Or a devil from Paradise.
--------------------------------------------
1 Karma Chameleon point

Eddie Teach

If the arrow is stuck in the car and not your hide, that's worthwhile deflective ability.
To sleep, perchance to dream. But in that sleep of death, what dreams may come?

jimmy olsen

Coup attempt by soldiers dissatisfied with government leadership in this conflict!?

video after the link
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17470950
QuoteTroops in Mali have attacked the presidential palace in the capital Bamako hours after staging a mutiny.

The renegade troops traded gunfire with soldiers loyal to the government.

The mutineers say the government is not giving them enough arms to battle a rebellion by ethnic Tuaregs.

There has been heavy gunfire in Bamako and armoured vehicles have moved in to protect the presidential palace.

Martin Vogl is in Bamako.
It is far better for the truth to tear my flesh to pieces, then for my soul to wander through darkness in eternal damnation.

Jet: So what kind of woman is she? What's Julia like?
Faye: Ordinary. The kind of beautiful, dangerous ordinary that you just can't leave alone.
Jet: I see.
Faye: Like an angel from the underworld. Or a devil from Paradise.
--------------------------------------------
1 Karma Chameleon point

Valmy

#36
President Toure has long been a hero of mine but I have to admit I had not checked up on things in Mali lately.  A coup attempt?  Holy shit.  Some things I am reading say he is already overthrown.

Ah well it was not like that country ever had a chance with their poverty and lack of natural resources and diverse population and troublesome neighborhood.  But I always hoped.  A 21 year old democracy in Africa is coming apart, and rare functional democracy in a very impoverished country.
Quote"This is a Russian warship. I propose you lay down arms and surrender to avoid bloodshed & unnecessary victims. Otherwise, you'll be bombed."

Zmiinyi defenders: "Russian warship, go fuck yourself."

Valmy

#37
Quote from: derspiess on March 21, 2012, 06:06:30 PM
What music?  And from what I've seen, Tmbuktu is a shithole without much to see.

Well it is not going to blow anybody away, Mali is among the poorest countries in the world.

But seeing what remains of what once a great thriving city and cultural center from centuries ago is sorta cool even so.
Quote"This is a Russian warship. I propose you lay down arms and surrender to avoid bloodshed & unnecessary victims. Otherwise, you'll be bombed."

Zmiinyi defenders: "Russian warship, go fuck yourself."

jimmy olsen

Quote from: Valmy on March 22, 2012, 12:30:57 AM
President Toure has long been a hero of mine but I have to admit I had not checked up on things in Mali lately.


21 year old democracy in Africa is coming apart, and rare functional democracy in a very impoverished country.

Really why?

How well functioning was their democracy if they've had three ethnic driven civil wars (before the current one)?
It is far better for the truth to tear my flesh to pieces, then for my soul to wander through darkness in eternal damnation.

Jet: So what kind of woman is she? What's Julia like?
Faye: Ordinary. The kind of beautiful, dangerous ordinary that you just can't leave alone.
Jet: I see.
Faye: Like an angel from the underworld. Or a devil from Paradise.
--------------------------------------------
1 Karma Chameleon point

Phillip V

The coup in Mali was successful.

'Mutinous troops were reported to have overturned the government, chased the president from his hilltop palace, imposed a curfew, and declared on state television that they had dissolved state institutions and suspended the constitution.'

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/23/world/africa/mali-coup-france-calls-for-elections.html

Valmy

#40
Quote from: jimmy olsen on March 22, 2012, 01:04:23 AM
Really why?

How well functioning was their democracy if they've had three ethnic driven civil wars (before the current one)?

Primarily because he overthrew the last of a series of dictators that had ruled the country since independence in 1991, installed a Democratic constitution and then resigned to private life.  He later came back and ran for President in 2002 and easily won re-election but all that is over now.  It was probably a mistake for him to come back.

It was impressively well functioning.  It was always rated as one of the most transparent and free countries in the third world.  Freedom of the press, fair elections, and so forth were always extremely high both de jure and de facto.  But ethnic tensions have nothing to do with that, especially when you have a nomadic group that moves around among Mali's perenially unstable neighbors.  It was the very fact that this state was doing what it was doing with such incredible adversity that made it such a fascination of mine.  But with that coup it is probably all over.  But it is all the more tragic because President Toure had just a few months left in office before retirement.  Sad ending for a great leader but I guess most of Africa's finest have unfortunate epilogues.
Quote"This is a Russian warship. I propose you lay down arms and surrender to avoid bloodshed & unnecessary victims. Otherwise, you'll be bombed."

Zmiinyi defenders: "Russian warship, go fuck yourself."

The Brain

Quote from: Barrister on March 21, 2012, 09:47:06 PM
A defence lawyer made a joke about 'where is Timbuktu'.  I replied that I thought it was in Mali.

He was stunned.  He didn't realize Timbuktu was a real place.

:huh:

:wacko:
Women want me. Men want to be with me.

Razgovory

Quote from: Peter Wiggin on March 21, 2012, 11:25:10 PM
If the arrow is stuck in the car and not your hide, that's worthwhile deflective ability.

The first two are not mutually exclusive.  You can have an arrow stuck in a car and your hide.  And for it to deflect it means it bounces off.  And the arrow wasn't even that sharp!  And it was shot by some kid!  From a over 200 yards away!
I've given it serious thought. I must scorn the ways of my family, and seek a Japanese woman to yield me my progeny. He shall live in the lands of the east, and be well tutored in his sacred trust to weave the best traditions of Japan and the Sacred South together, until such time as he (or, indeed his house, which will periodically require infusion of both Southern and Japanese bloodlines of note) can deliver to the South it's independence, either in this world or in space.  -Lettow April of 2011

Raz is right. -MadImmortalMan March of 2017

derspiess

Quote from: Barrister on March 21, 2012, 09:47:06 PM
A defence lawyer made a joke about 'where is Timbuktu'.  I replied that I thought it was in Mali.

He was stunned.  He didn't realize Timbuktu was a real place.

:huh:

According to Wiki:

QuoteNowadays Timbuktu is, before all, a place that bears with it a sense of mystery: a 2006 survey of 150 young Britons found 34% did not believe the town existed, while the other 66% considered it "a mythical place". This sense has been acknowledged in literature describing African history and African-European relations.
"If you can play a guitar and harmonica at the same time, like Bob Dylan or Neil Young, you're a genius. But make that extra bit of effort and strap some cymbals to your knees, suddenly people want to get the hell away from you."  --Rich Hall

Valmy

Wait so every single Briton either thought it did not exist or was mythical?  Not sure I get the difference.
Quote"This is a Russian warship. I propose you lay down arms and surrender to avoid bloodshed & unnecessary victims. Otherwise, you'll be bombed."

Zmiinyi defenders: "Russian warship, go fuck yourself."