The Off Topic Topic

[Josquius]

Are any of you following the current drama in the chess world?

You should mention it includes rumours of use of anal beads for cheating purposes. 

Really?
I had heard a little of it but maybe I stopped reading too early.

[Josquius]

What's up with Nicaragua?

Apparently they were on the shit list for the queen's funeral and are supporting Russia at the UN.

Not a nation you ever hear anything about. They're a dictatorship now?

[Barrister]

What's up with Nicaragua?

Apparently they were on the shit list for the queen's funeral and are supporting Russia at the UN.

Not a nation you ever hear anything about. They're a dictatorship now?

Basically.

Do you remember the whole Iran-Contra scandal from the 1980s?  Uf was selling weapons t the Iranians in order to fund the contras, a rebel group in Nicaragua.  Anyways the contras were fighting the Sandanista government led by a guy named Daniel Ortega.  The Sandanistas were socialists and aligned with Cuba and the USSR.

Anyways (and I'm doing this from memory) I think after the fall of the USSR the Sandanistas relented, allowed free and fair elections.  Nicaragua puttered along, not really getting much better a place to live.

So about 10 years ago or so they voted in the same Daniel Ortega again.  He promptly cozied up with Cuba and Venezuela and worked away at democracy there. following the Venezuelan model of autocracy.

[The Larch]

Nicaragua is more or less a sham democracy at this point and a thinly disguised Sandinista autocracy. Ortega was elected back in 2006 fair and square, apparently, and since then he has strengthened his grip on power at the expense of having a working democracy. He has won election after election by ever widening margins and with more and more objections from observers, to the point that the last elections last year were openly branded as a farce by most international organisations. I had a vague memory of the country being recently kicked out of some international organisation because of this slip into autocracy but I can't find anything at the moment, I might have confused some kind of reprimend with something more.

Internationally speaking, Nicaragua is indeed firmly in the Cuba - Venezuela Bolivarian family, basically replacing Bolivia as the third point of their particular axis. This translates into being in the Russian orbit and following its lead in most international initiatives. For instance, they're one of the few countries that recognize South Ossetia and Abkhazia as proper countries, and it wouldn't surprise me to know that they recognize the DPR and LPR as well.

[DGuller]

Are any of you following the current drama in the chess world?

Been hearing about it, I'm wondering how can one cheat at a live chess event?

It's pretty easy with an accomplice, absent stringent security measures.  If you're a grandmaster level chess player, you only need a hint here and there from a computer engine.  Just some kind of a signal for "look closer, there are winning tactics available" is enough.  It could just be someone coughing at the right time, or putting themselves into the pre-arranged place, or sending a signal to your ass via beads.

[Admiral Yi]

Do other countries have the right to represent oneself at trial?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYPz2_BHsyY

Question came from watching this.

[crazy canuck]

This seems to be about his capacity rather than his right.

[Grey Fox]

Story coming out of Quebec this morning.

A German national this week got to meet Justin Trudeau & dine with the German ambassador to Canada all because about 3 years ago he donated stem cells to someone who turned out to be one of our Federal Minister. Quite the butterfly effect from a simple cheek DNA swab from a random school day for the kid. Also a great example of international cooperation.

But you know, the post-war order collapsed.

[celedhring]

Do other countries have the right to represent oneself at trial?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYPz2_BHsyY

Question came from watching this.

In Spain, yes in some limited cases (you don't need to hire a lawyer to represent yourself for i.e. minor traffic offences or minor debts). IIRC you can also always rep yourself if you're a lawyer.

The underlying idea is that access to actual legal knowledge is part of the right to defence and you can't willingly give it up.

[Syt]

[Josquius]

Looks like they're targeting quality employees with that message too.

This nobody wants to work thing is funny. I saw a image recently with snippets of people moaning the same every decade of the last century.

[Syt]

Black magic fuckery. A black and white photo with color grids laid onto them:



Large image: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Fd7U667WAAwCP3L?format=jpg&name=large

[mongers]

Black magic fuckery. A black and white photo with color grids laid onto them:
...

Rather cool if I've seen what's happening correctly.

[garbon]

That is really cool.

[grumbler]

Is that shirt gold, or black?