World Politics

Political discussion here. Any reasonable opinion is welcome, but due to the sensitive nature of the topic area, please be nice and respectful to others. No flaming or trolling, please. And please keep political commentary out of the other board areas and confine it to this area. Thanks!
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Indy
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Re: World Politics

Post by Indy »

3rdside wrote:
Wed Oct 13, 2021 5:20 pm
I found this in one of my folders looking for something else - a list of all the interventions by the USA in foreign countries.

The list is, how do you say it .... long as f*** - so long I had to split it into two posts:
Long AF for sure. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

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Nodack
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Re: World Politics

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Sounds like we like to keep our boys busy to justify their existence. On the other hand when we have been unprepared we have gotten bit.

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Indy
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Re: World Politics

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Nodack wrote:
Wed Oct 13, 2021 9:15 pm
Sounds like we like to keep our boys busy to justify their existence. On the other hand when we have been unprepared we have gotten bit.
We keep our boys busy to justify paying trillions to defense contractors and warmongers. And that is why we lose these 'wars.' It doesn't matter if we win to them, as long as we keep fighting. Just like Gillette, they don't make money when they sell you a tool that works great and doesn't get used up. They need to sell you the same thing millions of times over, then have slight improvements every 5-10 years.

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Nodack
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Re: World Politics

Post by Nodack »

Indy wrote:
Wed Oct 13, 2021 9:19 pm
Nodack wrote:
Wed Oct 13, 2021 9:15 pm
Sounds like we like to keep our boys busy to justify their existence. On the other hand when we have been unprepared we have gotten bit.
We keep our boys busy to justify paying trillions to defense contractors and warmongers. And that is why we lose these 'wars.' It doesn't matter if we win to them, as long as we keep fighting. Just like Gillette, they don't make money when they sell you a tool that works great and doesn't get used up. They need to sell you the same thing millions of times over, then have slight improvements every 5-10 years.
You got to keep up with the Jones’s. :) I see it from your side totally. I also see it from the other side. We are still a super power and there are rivals seeking to dethrone us at all times, namely China and Russia and a couple rogue nations like NK and Iran who don’t really like us. China is building like crazy right now and just about to unseat us in Naval ships and has been threatening Taiwan more and more each passing day. We can’t let our guard down. We let our military get defunded after WWII and when the Korean war started we had crap for an army and no weapons. The Americans were pushed back to the bottom tip of Korea militarily. We eventually got it together thanks to MacArthur’s sneaky move that cut off the country in the middle and then we pushed them all the way back to China, who stormed across the border and pushed us all the way back to the 38th parallel where they called a truce.

My point I guess is stay prepared but don’t start needless wars. Contractors will want them to upgrade everything all the time so they can keep making money and pay their employees. If they have to shut down because the US isn’t buying enough stuff that could have an effect on our readiness in the future when they are out of business. The military is Socialism. The military suppliers are private but we can’t afford to let the big ones fail so, we are always buying new stuff sort of subsidizing their existence.

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Indy
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Re: World Politics

Post by Indy »

Nodack wrote:
Wed Oct 13, 2021 9:54 pm
Indy wrote:
Wed Oct 13, 2021 9:19 pm
Nodack wrote:
Wed Oct 13, 2021 9:15 pm
Sounds like we like to keep our boys busy to justify their existence. On the other hand when we have been unprepared we have gotten bit.
We keep our boys busy to justify paying trillions to defense contractors and warmongers. And that is why we lose these 'wars.' It doesn't matter if we win to them, as long as we keep fighting. Just like Gillette, they don't make money when they sell you a tool that works great and doesn't get used up. They need to sell you the same thing millions of times over, then have slight improvements every 5-10 years.
You got to keep up with the Jones’s. :) I see it from your side totally. I also see it from the other side. We are still a super power and there are rivals seeking to dethrone us at all times, namely China and Russia and a couple rogue nations like NK and Iran who don’t really like us. China is building like crazy right now and just about to unseat us in Naval ships and has been threatening Taiwan more and more each passing day. We can’t let our guard down. We let our military get defunded after WWII and when the Korean war started we had crap for an army and no weapons. The Americans were pushed back to the bottom tip of Korea militarily. We eventually got it together thanks to MacArthur’s sneaky move that cut off the country in the middle and then we pushed them all the way back to China, who stormed across the border and pushed us all the way back to the 38th parallel where they called a truce.

My point I guess is stay prepared but don’t start needless wars. Contractors will want them to upgrade everything all the time so they can keep making money and pay their employees. If they have to shut down because the US isn’t buying enough stuff that could have an effect on our readiness in the future when they are out of business. The military is Socialism. The military suppliers are private but we can’t afford to let the big ones fail so, we are always buying new stuff sort of subsidizing their existence.
How many on that list above were needed?

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Nodack
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Re: World Politics

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All wars are dumb and not needed. They still happen. If we didn’t intervene in Korea there would be no N Korea or S Korea, there would just be Korea that would be the N Korea version.

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Indy
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Re: World Politics

Post by Indy »

Are you sure the US involvement didn't embolden China more, and create the super restrictive regime that NK is now?

And wasn't the same thing said about Viet Nam?

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In2ition
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Re: World Politics

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"When we all think alike, nobody is thinking" - Walter Lippmann
"Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have the exact measure of the injustice and wrong which will be imposed on them." ~ Frederick Douglass

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Mori Chu
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Re: World Politics

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Just awful. British politicians make themselves available to their constituents much more than US ones, but they shouldn't be be to feel threatened at every public assistance. Do they yet know the motives of the killer?

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In2ition
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Re: World Politics

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Not that I could find. Being an MP seems a bit dangerous. 6 have been killed since WWII.
"When we all think alike, nobody is thinking" - Walter Lippmann
"Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have the exact measure of the injustice and wrong which will be imposed on them." ~ Frederick Douglass

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Nodack
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Re: World Politics

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PM urged to enact ‘David’s law’ against social media abuse after Amess’s death
Calls for crackdown on threats to public figures and an end to online anonymity
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/202 ... esss-death
Boris Johnson is facing calls to enact “David’s law” to crack down on social media abuse of public figures and end online anonymity in the wake of the killing of Sir David Amess.

Campaigners have warned, however, that ending online anonymity could put whistleblowers and pro-democracy campaigners in authoritarian regimes at risk. Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, told the Commons that “civility in politics matters” but “we must not lose sight of the fact that David’s killing was an [alleged] act of terror on the streets of our country”.

Mark Francois, who described Amess as one of his closest friends and his political mentor, vowed he would dedicate his time in parliament to overhauling the rules governing social media.

Francois told the Commons he was “minded to drag Mark Zuckerberg [CEO of Facebook] and Jack Dorsey [CEO of Twitter] to the bar of the house … if necessary kicking and screaming so they can look us all in the eye and account for their actions or rather their inactions that make them even richer than they already are”.

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In2ition
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Re: World Politics

Post by In2ition »

"When we all think alike, nobody is thinking" - Walter Lippmann
"Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have the exact measure of the injustice and wrong which will be imposed on them." ~ Frederick Douglass

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In2ition
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Re: World Politics

Post by In2ition »

Just saw this. Weren't there a couple resignations recently over corruption? This definitely sounds ominous.


Australia's NSW state premier resigns over corruption probe amid COVID-19 battle
By Kirsty Needham

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-paci ... 021-10-01/

SYDNEY, Oct 1 (Reuters) - The premier of Australia's biggest state economy New South Wales (NSW), Gladys Berejiklian, resigned on Friday after a corruption watchdog said it was investigating whether she was involved in conduct that "constituted or involved a breach of public trust".

Berejiklian's shock resignation comes as the state, which has an economy larger than Singapore, Thailand or Malaysia, battles the biggest COVID-19 outbreak in the country and is poised to begin ending months-long lockdowns as Australia sets to reopen international borders in November. read more
"When we all think alike, nobody is thinking" - Walter Lippmann
"Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have the exact measure of the injustice and wrong which will be imposed on them." ~ Frederick Douglass

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3rdside
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Re: World Politics

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The biggest outbreak in the country peaked at 1,500 cases a day and about 11 deaths.

We’re down to 300 cases a day and 5 deaths and lockdown is fully over here for the double vaccinated.

Gladys has definitely done wrong, and she had to go - from what I can tell - but I think feelings were the culprit (falling for a slightly corrupt other politician) rather than anything intentionally malicious from the outset…

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In2ition
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Re: World Politics

Post by In2ition »

I've only half kept an eye on Australia, but I did see this too. I don't know how much fire is from this smoke, but it is curious.
"When we all think alike, nobody is thinking" - Walter Lippmann
"Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have the exact measure of the injustice and wrong which will be imposed on them." ~ Frederick Douglass

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3rdside
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Re: World Politics

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Haven’t got time to watch atm, but that’s not to say there isn’t a slightly uncomfortable feeling of right wing corruption and police state-y ness over here, arguably facilitated by the excessive penetration of Murdoch media.

I’ve been pulled over or lectured by the cops five times in just over a year, bouncers seem to love telling me I can’t go into the bar, and even the lifeguards are constantly telling everyone what they can’t do, with their microphones on the beach in Bondi.

“They” would argue it’s the price you pay for having the highest living standards in the world, but I strongly disagree with that.

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Nodack
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Re: World Politics

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Is Russia about to make a 'serious mistake' in Ukraine?
https://thehill.com/opinion/internation ... in-ukraine
On Nov. 1, Politico reported that satellite images showed a “buildup of armored units, tanks and self-propelled artillery” in Russia near Belarus, and a relocation of tanks from near Moscow to Ukraine's border. President Biden’s security advisor, Jake Sullivan, said the U.S. was consulting with allies and partners.

Now is probably not the best time to be breathless about the risk of increased Russian threats in Ukraine. This may, or may not, be Moscow’s purpose. But the West will be watching.

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Nodack
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Re: World Politics

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China THREATENS Australia with a 'heavy attack' and warns allied forces 'better be prepared to sacrifice' in defence of Taiwan after Peter Dutton confirmed we would join the US in protecting the island
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... utton.html

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3rdside
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Re: World Politics

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eh, it's the Global Times .. No doubt the Chinese will be eyeing up our natural resources strategically, but they would likely have to attack Japan and India, amongst others, first before getting here.

Good luck with that.

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Nodack
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Re: World Politics

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U.S. huddles with allies over possible Russian invasion of Ukraine
The uptick in American concern, confirmed by two U.S. officials, indicates that President Joe Biden’s efforts to reach some sort of equilibrium with Putin are running out of steam.
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/11/1 ... tin-521139

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