Play Nice Random Chat Thread V

[ChoppyGun]

"Sometimes the complaints will be false".....haha

 

[muttley45]

Good skills here :

 

[ferball]

Call it a coincidence that they were there, who cares. It’s pretty insulting to the marines that fought for us.

Spose no country can 100% trust another country but I’m glad their our allies and not our enemies that’s for sure. I’m much more comfortable on this side with America and Britain etc then I would be if we were relying on China. Those sneaky fu**s treat their own people like sh*t, fu** knows what they’d do to other countries people.

America treat their own people like shit too. That is the thing. There are no good guys in this. The Americans and British did all sorts of horrible things to their most vulnerable citizens, as did we to a point. The British Military used our soldiers as guinea pigs when they tested nuclear weapons here. They don't give a **** about us.

And Americans are one thing.

The United States, ie their Federal Gov, or more to the point their ruling class/elite is something else entirely. Do you think if Japan hadn't bombed Pearl Harbour the US would have intervened to stop them? There is still debate today that the US allowed the Pearl Harbour attacks specifically to have an excuse to enter the war because some people in the US (including the Presdent and some military) were so opposed to it. Some of them were doing good business out of the Germans.

Dont get me wrong, China are ****ed. They are far worse, cos they are a one party dictatorship. They have no limits on power. The only thing that stops countries like the US and empires like the UK from being as bad is the democratic institutions that specifically limit the power of the state. The seperation of powers, everything to do with fair trials and transperancy, the seperation of church and state and military and state. There are a raft of things that are built into the structure of governement (ie via constitutions) that limit state power even without any specific Bill of Rghts. Tho one of them would be a massive improvement here.

So yeah for those reason alone we are better off being allied with the States, but dont think they are our "friends" whatever our personal relationships with individual people. The US as an entity would drop us in an instant if it would benefit more than it would lose.

 

[Themanbun]

America treat their own people like sh*t too. That is the thing. There are no good guys in this. The Americans and British did all sorts of horrible things to their most vulnerable citizens, as did we to a point. The British Military used our soldiers as guinea pigs when they tested nuclear weapons here. They don't give a fu** about us.

And Americans are one thing.

The United States, ie their Federal Gov, or more to the point their ruling class/elite is something else entirely. Do you think if Japan hadn't bombed Pearl Harbour the US would have intervened to stop them? There is still debate today that the US allowed the Pearl Harbour attacks specifically to have an excuse to enter the war because some people in the US (including the Presdent and some military) were so opposed to it. Some of them were doing good business out of the Germans.

Dont get me wrong, China are f’ed. They are far worse, cos they are a one party dictatorship. They have no limits on power. The only thing that stops countries like the US and empires like the UK from being as bad is the democratic institutions that specifically limit the power of the state. The seperation of powers, everything to do with fair trials and transperancy, the seperation of church and state and military and state. There are a raft of things that are built into the structure of governement (ie via constitutions) that limit state power even without any specific Bill of Rghts. Tho one of them would be a massive improvement here.

So yeah for those reason alone we are better off being allied with the States, but dont think they are our "friends" whatever our personal relationships with individual people. The US as an entity would drop us in an instant if it would benefit more than it would lose.

“The United States is also a one-party state but, with typical American extravagance, they have two of them.” - Julius Nyerere.

And sure, America has constitutional protections on speech and political beliefd. Unless you were a socialist destroyed by the HUAC, or whistleblowing war crimes, or you say something your company disagrees with, or...
[insert anything that might result in anything remotely resembling actual change].

I know people who lived in the eastern bloc. Ordinary farmers. They feel that within the 'one party' that governed them, that in some ways it was actually easier to effect or ask for change than it is currently. They live there still and are happy, although far more detached from politics than they were during the warsaw pact days. Obviously life wasn't perfect, but I don't really abide by western exceptionalism which paves over rampant corruption, abuse by authorities, mass poverty, threats of force and starvation for people who dissent, war crimes abroad, illegal international invasions, etc. We'll call a country corrupt because an old lady attempted to bribe her way out of a speeding ticket with a chicken or something, as we watch our governments hand our hundreds of millions of public funds to their mates (e.g. the Great Barrier Reef debacle), and not even consider that foreign media could paint us as we paint them.

I just can't help but see hypocrisy when I witness an American company, acting within American political interests by banning all of its suppliers and business associates across the world from buying or selling to any country they deem on a blacklist, labelled as just a 'private company free from politics,' yet a Chinese company trying to make a buck through free trade is automatically an 'organ of the CCP'.

Or when we accuse them of political maneuvring because they capture export markets through cheap goods...completely oblivious to the fact that the only reason our living standards improve when our wages and remuneration for our labour output doesn't match the cost price of goods here (e.g. you get paid $30 to make one unit of something that costs you $40 off the shelf) is because of these developing countries who we can take advantage of their cheap labour costs and foreign exchange. We've profited from that 'political maneuvring' as much as they have.

Almost everything I've seen us accuse them of, we've done the same, similar, or a light version. It's all pretty nauseating.

I don't think there's any 'better' side to saddle up with. This shouldn't be taken as a defence of China, by any means. They don't run their country in a way that I think is good...but we seem oblivious to the fact that much of the world thinks the same about Western countries.

All we can really do is strengthen our economy, try to improve the living standards of the average person, try to gain a semblance of economic independence and then we can talk about picking and choosing our mates and trade partners.

 

[krakouers]

Just curious, anyone got a Financial Review subscription?

Why China can't grow without Australian iron ore

Worried that China might soon stop buying Australian iron ore? Experts reckon the Asian giant couldn't kick the habit by 2030 if it tried.

www.afr.com

 

[ferball]

“The United States is also a one-party state but, with typical American extravagance, they have two of them.” - Julius Nyerere.

And sure, America has constitutional protections on speech and political beliefd. Unless you were a socialist destroyed by the HUAC, or whistleblowing war crimes, or you say something your company disagrees with, or...
[insert anything that might result in anything remotely resembling actual change].

I know people who lived in the eastern bloc. Ordinary farmers. They feel that within the 'one party' that governed them, that in some ways it was actually easier to effect or ask for change than it is currently. They live there still and are happy, although far more detached from politics than they were during the warsaw pact days. Obviously life wasn't perfect, but I don't really abide by western exceptionalism which paves over rampant corruption, abuse by authorities, mass poverty, threats of force and starvation for people who dissent, war crimes abroad, illegal international invasions, etc. We'll call a country corrupt because an old lady attempted to bribe her way out of a speeding ticket with a chicken or something, as we watch our governments hand our hundreds of millions of public funds to their mates (e.g. the Great Barrier Reef debacle), and not even consider that foreign media could paint us as we paint them.

I just can't help but see hypocrisy when I witness an American company, acting within American political interests by banning all of its suppliers and business associates across the world from buying or selling to any country they deem on a blacklist, labelled as just a 'private company free from politics,' yet a Chinese company trying to make a buck through free trade is automatically an 'organ of the CCP'.

Or when we accuse them of political maneuvring because they capture export markets through cheap goods...completely oblivious to the fact that the only reason our living standards improve when our wages and remuneration for our labour output doesn't match the cost price of goods here (e.g. you get paid $30 to make one unit of something that costs you $40 off the shelf) is because of these developing countries who we can take advantage of their cheap labour costs and foreign exchange. We've profited from that 'political maneuvring' as much as they have.

Almost everything I've seen us accuse them of, we've done the same, similar, or a light version. It's all pretty nauseating.

I don't think there's any 'better' side to saddle up with. This shouldn't be taken as a defence of China, by any means. They don't run their country in a way that I think is good...but we seem oblivious to the fact that much of the world thinks the same about Western countries.

All we can really do is strengthen our economy, try to improve the living standards of the average person, try to gain a semblance of economic independence and then we can talk about picking and choosing our mates and trade partners.

My point is simply this. Democratic protections are better than not having them.

Every system will be corrupt, and no matter how good it will be corrupted but I'd rather live here than China (or large sections of the US for that matter) cos if nothing else if I get locked up in Gitmo I wont have my organs cut out and sold to rich campaigners. And I'd rather we had the wherewithal to stand on our two feet and use our resources for our own benefit.

As far as systems go that is.

In terms of the people and whats happening right now - Neo Liberalism is a crock of shit. May as well be called neo feudalism (sounding like a broken record no doubt.) We were better off when religions dominated our society. Its better to worship a sky fairy than the so called invisible hand of the free market (and what a crock of shit that is) cos at least the sky fairy can't actually **** peoples lives up in real time. Despite all this its still not that easy for those neo liberal ruling class campaigners to reintroduce slavery here but we still get heaps of products made by people who may as well be slaves.

And I would argue that we havent necessarily profitted from that. Some individuals might have but they have screwed their societies in the process. At the moment we get cheap shit. Cheap throw away shit that has to be replaced every few years. But we dont have an automated industrial base to fund a nation of dole bludgers on 5k a week and realistically (lol) we should by now.

The only reason I'd prefer common law based systems is because its easier for people like me to protect our interests but its still possible for ridiculous corruption.

 

[Val Keating]

America treat their own people like sh*t too. That is the thing. There are no good guys in this. The Americans and British did all sorts of horrible things to their most vulnerable citizens, as did we to a point. The British Military used our soldiers as guinea pigs when they tested nuclear weapons here. They don't give a fu** about us.

And Americans are one thing.

The United States, ie their Federal Gov, or more to the point their ruling class/elite is something else entirely. Do you think if Japan hadn't bombed Pearl Harbour the US would have intervened to stop them? There is still debate today that the US allowed the Pearl Harbour attacks specifically to have an excuse to enter the war because some people in the US (including the Presdent and some military) were so opposed to it. Some of them were doing good business out of the Germans.

Dont get me wrong, China are f’ed. They are far worse, cos they are a one party dictatorship. They have no limits on power. The only thing that stops countries like the US and empires like the UK from being as bad is the democratic institutions that specifically limit the power of the state. The seperation of powers, everything to do with fair trials and transperancy, the seperation of church and state and military and state. There are a raft of things that are built into the structure of governement (ie via constitutions) that limit state power even without any specific Bill of Rghts. Tho one of them would be a massive improvement here.

So yeah for those reason alone we are better off being allied with the States, but dont think they are our "friends" whatever our personal relationships with individual people. The US as an entity would drop us in an instant if it would benefit more than it would lose.

Be that as it may, the states aren’t currently engaging us in an economic war, China is. We can talk shit all day about our enemies and friendnemies and war history, even whose to benefiting out of this bullshit, but at the end of the day we’re in a economic war with China. China are trying to intimidate us into bending to their will....and for what? Dare to question their motives, keep them honest?

China is trying, and succeeding at using their economic policies and power to create a pro CCP narrative. Their influence is massive. They’ve influenced Hollywood to change blockbuster movies so they align with the CCP’s narrative. The shit with the NBA and Hong Kong was on the nose.

Cant even respect them because they’re not straight up about what they want. Shifty ****s

 

[ferball]

I was referring to people on the ground that were willing to die so that Australia wasn’t invaded while our main troops were fighting the Nazis in Europe.

When did that happen?

 

[ferball]

Good point, and many African leaders have demonstrated in the past they are quite happy to sign deals where the benefits to the greater populations net benefit is negative if it keeps them and their cronies at the wheel.

Good thing that stuff doesnt happen here.

 

[ferball]

Be that as it may, the states aren’t currently engaging us in an economic war, China is. We can talk sh*t all day about our enemies and friendnemies and war history, even whose to benefiting out of this bullshit, but at the end of the day we’re in a economic war with China. China are trying to intimidate us into bending to their will....and for what? Dare to question their motives, keep them honest?

China is trying, and succeeding at using their economic policies and power to create a pro CCP narrative. Their influence is massive. They’ve influenced Hollywood to change blockbuster movies so they align with the CCP’s narrative. The sh*t with the NBA and Hong Kong was on the nose.

Cant even respect them because they’re not straight up about what they want. Shifty fu**s

The US has done all that. All around the world forever but also to us since WW2. We are always subservient to their interests these days so they dont need to wage economic war on us. We behave toward the US the way China is trying to bully us into behaving to them.

What happened to Whitlam? Hawke and other ALP stooges spying for the US at the time, then Hawke is suddenly PM and we have the wages accord and Reaganomics lite. It might be argued Whitlam was trying to make us as independent as he could.

Frankly on the descriptions you provide both countries are almost the same but we just happen to be copping China's bullshit at the moment. Because we are a vassal state of one place and the other wants to push us around so they can make us their vassal state instead.

 

[Val Keating]

When did that happen?

When the Japanese army was making its way down.

 

[Val Keating]

The US has done all that. All around the world forever but also to us since WW2. We are always subservient to their interests these days so they dont need to wage economic war on us. We behave toward the US the way China is trying to bully us into behaving to them.

What happened to Whitlam? Hawke and other ALP stooges spying for the US at the time, then Hawke is suddenly PM and we have the wages accord and Reaganomics lite. It might be argued Whitlam was trying to make us as independent as he could.

Frankly on the descriptions you provide both countries are almost the same but we just happen to be copping China's bullshit at the moment. Because we are a vassal state of one place and the other wants to push us around so they can make us their vassal state instead.

I’m not some American flag waver, it’s just as you stated, we’re currently in some sort of weird situation with China. So they’re my focus at the moment

 

[Val Keating]

This UFO stuff is really ramping up.

Confirmed: Navy's previously unreported 2019 Triangle UFO incident

On Wednesday, The Debrief’s Tim McMillan gave us the most detailed look yet at the Pentagon’s ongoing research of unidentified flying objects, UFOs, or

www.washingtonexaminer.com

Leaked reports from Pentagon UFO task force discuss 'non-human technology,' mysterious objects

Two classified reports from the Pentagon's task force used to "detect, analyze and catalog" UFOs have been leaked, one of which includes a photo of an unidentified silver “cube-shaped” object.

www.foxnews.com

Details of leaked Pentagon reports mention ‘unidentified’ UFOs

Details from two allegedly classified intelligence reports from the Pentagon on apparent UFOs have been leaked, including photos of purported “unidentified aerial phenomena.” The Web site TheDeBrie…

nypost.com

Buckle up

 

[Val Keating]

This is the leaked picture

 

[Sopwiths North]

Looks as though their ship design is modelled on the flying squirrel. Must be the arts degree aliens.

 

[LuvtheKangas]

Looks like a flying map of Tasmania to me.

 

[Sopwiths North]

In more earthly news, not sure if anyone on here has seen this pic of Kavaan the elephant, rescued from a life of solitude after 35 years at the Islamabad Zoo, after it was recently shut down due to inhumane conditions. This is his first contact with his new elephant friends at the Kulen Prum Tep Wildlife Sanctuary in Cambodia. Kavaan is the trunk on the left.






This is Kavaan previously, at the Islamabad Zoo, where he's spent the last 8 of his 35 years there all alone, and often chained. Blessings to those who've given him a better life now.

 

[Scallop Industry Thug]

Just a weather balloon. Move along.

 

[rickety]

Footy training back this morning .....omg I so need a nap

 

[Ry009]

In more earthly news, not sure if anyone on here has seen this pic of Kavaan the elephant, rescued from a life of solitude after 35 years at the Islamabad Zoo, after it was recently shut down due to inhumane conditions. This is his first contact with his new elephant friends at the Kulen Prum Tep Wildlife Sanctuary in Cambodia. Kavaan is the trunk on the left.


View attachment 1023541



This is Kavaan previously, at the Islamabad Zoo, where he's spent the last 8 of his 35 years there all alone, and often chained. Blessings to those who've given him a better life now.

View attachment 1023545

We're an average species sometimes.

Great to hear this story had a heart warming ending though.

 

[ferball]

When the Japanese army was making its way down.

I don't think marines saved Australia. Ie fought in any battles that mattered specifically from our pov.

Some may say the US didnt even save us, ie we'd have been okay anyway. The whole argument is more complex and nuanced than that tho. Their resources helped. The Battle of the Coral Sea probably clinched the deal, ie made certain Australia was okay. But really any land army invading mainland Australia in the 40s would have its work cut out. Think about how hard it was for the Germans in North Africa which was next door comparatively to SE Australia - where everything important was - from Japan.

 

[Hojuman]

This UFO stuff is really ramping up.

Confirmed: Navy's previously unreported 2019 Triangle UFO incident

On Wednesday, The Debrief’s Tim McMillan gave us the most detailed look yet at the Pentagon’s ongoing research of unidentified flying objects, UFOs, or

www.washingtonexaminer.com

Leaked reports from Pentagon UFO task force discuss 'non-human technology,' mysterious objects

Two classified reports from the Pentagon's task force used to "detect, analyze and catalog" UFOs have been leaked, one of which includes a photo of an unidentified silver “cube-shaped” object.

www.foxnews.com

Details of leaked Pentagon reports mention ‘unidentified’ UFOs

Details from two allegedly classified intelligence reports from the Pentagon on apparent UFOs have been leaked, including photos of purported “unidentified aerial phenomena.” The Web site TheDeBrie…

nypost.com

Buckle up

Not with the U.F.O.' s, please.

 

[Themanbun]

I don't think marines saved Australia. Ie fought in any battles that mattered specifically from our pov.

Some may say the US didnt even save us, ie we'd have been okay anyway. The whole argument is more complex and nuanced than that tho. Their resources helped. The Battle of the Coral Sea probably clinched the deal, ie made certain Australia was okay. But really any land army invading mainland Australia in the 40s would have its work cut out. Think about how hard it was for the Germans in North Africa which was next door comparatively to SE Australia - where everything important was - from Japan.

Wasn't the Japanese plan to ride pushbikes from FNQ southwards as they did on the Malay Peninsula?

 

[D23D]

Looks like a flying map of Tasmania to me.

Just needs a razor guided missile to make it disappear

 

[DesertRoo]

Cartel project is coming up tomorrow..

if you’re unfamiliar with forbidden stories, it’s started after journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was assassinated, a group of fallow journalists, picked up where she left off to finish the story.
Cartel Project is picking up after 119 journalist have been lost in Mexico.

Cartel Project - Forbidden Stories

The Cartel Project Inside the Mexican drug cartels Since 2000, 119 journalists have been killed in Mexico, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, making the country the most dangerous place in the world for members of the press. This year, 60 journalists from 25 international media...

forbiddenstories.org