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GOCE Satellite Burned Up Over Falkland Islands
An anonymous reader writes with an update on the fate of the GOCE satellite. From the article: "The mystery of GOCE's re-entry has now been solved — the one-ton satellite came down over the Falkland Islands, a British overseas territory 300 miles east of the Patagonian coast in the South Atlantic Ocean."
I dont think that's what they meant when they said they wanted Satellite TV.
Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
I hope that it did not suffer too much.
Just because you are paranoid does not mean that no-one is out to get you.
"As if millions of sheep suddenly cried out in terror, and were suddenly turned into lamb chops."
"That said, the land should belong to Argentina."
If it was an occupation I would agree wholeheartedly. However if what I am reading is correct the people (mostly of European decent) currently living there have been doing so for around 200 years. Even the first known settlement, around 323 years ago, was of English origin. A referendum held in march of this year had a 99.8% vote to remain a colony of the UK. People should have the ability to associate with others based on their own determination, not geographic location.
...Argentina immediately claimed that the satellite was, in fact, theirs.
-Styopa
I have to point out that, unless you've been handed that tinfoil hat from your great-grandfather, you're likely wearing aluminum foil. Brain waves are actually transparent to Aluminum foil and essentially make it easier for Them to hear, whereas Tin foil shields your brain-waves from Them. I don't mean to scare you or anything, but I figured that if you really value your privacy you ought to know.
---jstlook ---For that is the way of Elves, for they say both yes AND no, and mean every word of it. --- J.R.R.T.
"But still, Argentina has the right to ask to have them back."
Besides being close geographically what claim does Argentina have to the Falklands? At least from what I can find the only time that its population was primarily Argentinian was back around 1774-1811 when the British and Spanish (originally French) settlements were temporarily abandoned (fear of war?) until roughly the 1840s when the British settlements were reestablished. Before the Europeans colonized the islands there may have been some prehistoric settlements and a very short lived occupation by the a Buenos Aires garrison back in 1832 that ended in mutiny but not much else.
Exactly. And as "dfk" says, it's a universal government tactic.
I'm form Argentina and I've got to say it's insulting the way they use this. They not only just focuses on the target for a few months (furiously I may say) but appeal on feelings like patriotism, because the target ALWAYS want to destroy the country and the democracy. (resemble other country of America?)
The worst of all is.. a lot of people buy it.
So moronic.
Because the island were taken by force by the british before.
Back in 1766? When MacBride attacked those penguins?
The Falklands have had been British for at least 170 years.
When the Argentinians return Argentina to the control of the natives they took Argentina from by force, then perhaps they might have a point (and not a very good one - who did the British take the Falklands from by force? No one actually lived on those islands when the British first settled there). The Falklands haven't ever been Argentinian, and furthermore the Spanish name for them (Las Malvinas) isn't even Spanish, it's derived from French (the French explorer Louis Antoine de Bougainville gave them the name îles Malouines derived from the name Saint-Malo in France, which became Las Malvinas in Spanish).
Saying Argentina should have them because they are close to Argentina is like saying Puerto Rico should be given to Cuba because it's closer to Cuba than the USA.
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Why should it belong to Argentina? No Argentinians live there. Just because it's close to Argentina isn't a justification (or perhaps the US should give Puerto Rico to Cuba because PR is closer to Cuba than it is to the USA). What's important is the population, now established for a couple of centuries, is British and wants to remain that way. They have the right to self-determination.
The Spanish name (Las Malvinas) isn't even Spanish, it's actually derived from French. A French sailor named the islands after the port of Saint Malo in France.
If the Argentinans want to argue that the British originally took it by force (from whom? no one was living there) then they need to return Argentina back to the native people they took Argentina from before taking that particular "moral high ground".
Oolite: Elite-like game. For Mac, Linux and Windows
"Saying Argentina should have them because they are close to Argentina is like saying Puerto Rico should be given to Cuba because it's closer to Cuba than the USA."
Or Alaska given to Canada/Russia, or Ireland be put back wholly under British control, or the Chinese claim to the likes of Tibet, Taiwan and so forth formalised and accepted internationally.
You're exactly right and this highlights why the geographical argument is utter nonsense.
Beyond that the other arguments just don't go in Argentina's favour - the citizenship obviously don't want to be Argentinian, the "who got there first" argument goes entirely against Argentina because it was the British or the French, and France supports Britain's claim and beyond that it's back to "But the Spanish gave it to us!" - yes, except it wasn't Spain's to give because Spain did to the British there exactly what Argentina is claiming the British did to them so by their own logic if you follow the who took it from who argument back to square one then you just return to "who got there first" which makes it firmly an Anglo-French affair.
But the bigger problem for Argentina is that there have been times in the past where the British have been willing to work with Argentina on the islands - joint exploration with Anglo-Argentinian participation in oil exploration for example but every time Argentina gets into a crisis it's inept leadership decides to play hardball to try and bolster their image at home and it goes tits up. If Argentina behaved itself, was constructive, and could run it's own country successfully without going bankrupt the chances are the populace of the Falklands would've been willing to voluntarily go under Argentinian control by now simply because it'd be far more practical for them to do so.
So they shoot themselves in the foot entirely by being combative and by using it as their favourite political scapegoat every time they fuck up.
If Argentina wants the Falklands there's a simple solution - stop being a bunch of dicks, be nice to the islanders and give them a reason to want to be Argentinian. The very fact they don't do this shows how much Argentina's interest in the Falklands is about resorting to populism in the face of political ineptitude rather than absolutely anything else.
As an aside, I also firmly believe this is where the US went wrong with Cuba. Rather then perpetuating the embargo they have on Cuba put in place since the Cuban missile crisis I'd wager that after the fall of the soviet union that if the US had free trade with Cuba it'd be so westernised right now with millions of American tourists and imports that it'd probably be racing against Puerto Rico for 51st state status and would likely be a thriving democracy.
It may sound wishy washy but the reality is if you want something from someone it's generally better to not try and play the bully towards them. Especially so when they have a brother that can be a far bigger bully than you are looking over them.
I don't think anyone in the UK really gives a shit if the Falklands want to go under Argentinian control voluntarily, but we're not going to put up with them being bullied into it. Argentinians need to think about the alternative and see how they'd feel if we resolved the proximity argument by just taking over Argentina and making them British by force instead - sound like a horrible, unfair, frustrating, anger-inducing idea? It should, that's how you make the Falklanders feel each time you open your mouths on the issue.