Russian aggression

[Anotherkiwi]

With apologies to those who consider this series of posts a bit of a derailment from the real questions posed by the thread.

 

However, Wikipedia thinks Maoris are indigenous:

"The Māori (Māori pronunciation: [ˈmaːɔɾi], About this sound listen; Eng. pron. [ˈmaʊri]; N.Z. Eng. [ˈmaori], [ˈmæuri], [ˈmari], [ˈmɒəri])[6] are the indigenous Polynesian people of New Zealand."
 
from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C4%81ori_people

And how many times have people posted on here that you should not always believe Wikipedia? 

That seems so long ago as to be considered indigenous, certainly many centuries before the white skinned round eyes arrived.    No offence intended, this sounds like the same rationale the whites used in South Africa to claim those lands as theirs. 

Before you say it, I admit the US policy was to kill by disease or war its indigenous people and confine the remainder to small enclaves.

I don't think that the 19th century British had any intention of using this particular rationale, despite the fact that James Cook had claimed the country for King George III in 1769.  However, the advent of the white man certainly brought a terrifying reduction in the number of Maori, due mainly to diseases which had never previously been encountered in this part of the world.  The Land Wars of the mid-19th century also cost many lives.  By the 1890s it was fairly widely believed amongst the white inhabitants that the Maori were dying out.  However, they proved rather more resilient than expected, and today the Maori population is around 15-20% of the total.

With much inter-marriage over the years, it would be pretty safe to say that there are no full-blooded Maori left, even in the remoter areas of the eastern North Island which were the final strongholds of the various nationalist (for want of a better term) movements.  The Tuhoe people of this region are probably the closest we have to pure Maori.

By the way, who are the indigenous people of NZ?  I have not read of any accounts of a human species evolving in NZ, so someone had to migrate from somewhere.   You are called Kiwis, so maybe the Kiwi are the indigenous people of NZ. 

You're right about the evolutionary highway.  When the Maori arrived, they found that another Polynesian tribe, the Moriori, had already settled here.  The Moriori, from all accounts, were the most peaceful people that ever existed, and they were easy prey for the more warlike Maori.  The Moriori eventually retreated to the Chatham Islands (east of the two main islands), but they were still subject to Maori raiding parties right through into the late 19th century.  Tommy Solomon, the man regarded as the last full-blooded Moriori, died in 1933.

There are certain scholars who reject the idea of the Moriori being a separate race, pointing to the similarities between their language and South Island Maori.  However, there are also similarities between Chinese and Maori languages and, even though the Maori may have originated in China many millennia ago, nobody today would class them as the same race.  It's yet another interesting puzzle that will only be solved when a Tardis is available to anthropological and archaeological researchers. 

[Muzh]

Okaaay, back to the topic.


Putin’s Expansionism Tests Military to the Limit

The deadlock in Donbas was successfully camouflaged with the Syrian adventure, but in the near future this new quagmire might need another distraction. Georgia might be chosen again as a target of convenience, but the fact of the matter is that there are fewer and fewer uncommitted military capabilities to wield.

The bottom line is that, for the sake of regime survival, Putin has fallen back to the “safe” position of military confrontation. But the Russian military is not able to prevail in that confrontation and the Russian economy cannot possibly sustain it.

http://www.newsweek.com/putins-expansionism-tests-military-limit-393153?source=email-story?source=email

[AkMike]

from Ukraine's Ambassador to Austria:

Imagine...

that terrorists attack not one, but hundreds cities,
that they come not in dozens, but in thousands,
that they have not only Kalashnikovs, but tanks and rockets,
that their battle ships drop anchor in your ports,
that they shell you from civilian areas with schools, hospitals and kindergartens,
that they claim your nation doesn't exist and your land is, in fact theirs.
Imagine that the world actually buys that!
Imagine that these terrorists have veto right in the United Nations!

Imagine all that - and you'll feel what Ukrainians have been through in the last 1.5 years!...

[Boethius]

Really bad form, particularly by a diplomat!

[JayH]

Really bad form, particularly by a diplomat!

Bad form it may be for a "diplomat"--but-I can't say it is wrong to point it out.

I posted--
http://www.russianwomendiscussion.com/index.php?topic=20281.msg418193#msg418193

Re: Islamic terrorists murder at least 153 in Paris today
« Reply #12 on: November 15, 2015, 02:10:26 AM »
Quote
Quote from: BillyB on November 14, 2015, 09:21:26 PM

Not to diminish what happened in France, what happens in the Middle East is far worse.


http://news.yahoo.com/mass-grave-found-iraqs-sinjar-kurds-clear-bombs-180044620.html?nf=1


----JayH--replied---Any loss of life of innocent people anywhere is to be mourned--there is no measure of "worse".

But-in saying that- the question  arises on the value put on lives.
Last year I was often asked why western countries showed such concern over the deaths on MH17-yet remained passive about Ukrainian deaths and injuries in Eastern Ukraine(in fact-the Russian terrorism all over Ukraine)-it was/is a very hard question to answer.Once again-it arises.

Will France follow its advice to Ukraine?

I trust that France will now follow the advice it has given Ukraine. That it will begin negotiations with the terrorists ( preferably somewhere in Great Britain), that it will offer them territory in the Alps, elections, amnesty. That would be so European.

Personally I condemn all manifestations of terrorism, extremism, violence, swearing, and loud (Sergey) Shnurov music (Russian ska-punk musician — Ed.)

However, it is important to avoid taking any extreme action. Isis must be heard!

I propose that President Hollande should sit at the negotiating table with the fighters, even though it would be more ethical to call them militias. Britain could be the third party in the negotiations.

It is important to avoid inciting further conflict. Otherwise, the responsibility for additional victims may well rest with the French government.

At present, we cannot confirm this was any specific aggression. More likely this was civil war on the territory of Paris, where ignored segments of the population are attempting to make themselves heard by the government.

I think it might even be a good idea to give Paris special status and to hold special elections there immediately.

Afterwards, negotiations could be held regarding a simplified visa policy for French citizens visiting the Carpathian mountains. If the conflict intensifies, Ukraine will be ready to provide aid to France in the form of 200 rubber bullet firearms and a trainer in combat dancing.

http://euromaidanpress.com/2015/11/14/will-france-follow-its-advice-to-ukraine/#arvlbdata

[AkMike]

Really bad form, particularly by a diplomat!

Possibly bad form but 110% correct.