The United States(!) of A
sypkan wrote:in terms of australia...
albo and co. are making exactly the same mistakes
(mistakes is too kind a word...)
the not listening especially
I know jd vance's speech will be dismissed by many people...
but he's spot on!
no one voted for this shit
the mass migration
censorship
trans / wokester nuttery
and it's the machine that is trying to shut down the very tools that make democracy work
labor is as guilty as the EU in this regard
and will probably be rewarded commensurately
which is a real shame...
as dutton's got nothing
he's not even close to offering what people see as the problem
he's a fraud
much like albo...
white cop can't trump!
Cute that you invoked JD Vance, like he and the maga units have the tools to make democracy work, or even want to.
JD's a lovely fellow! He and Elon are backing an upper-class lesbian with a Sri Lankan film-maker partner and two adopted sons who lives in Switzerland to be a future German Chancellor.. she must have some progressive ideals, right? (30min listen): https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2025/feb/03/alice-weidel-the-far-...
cute, that you think his opponents are 'saving democracy'
or even want to...
Hot off the press!well I read it on social media,so it must be true....
Trump and Putin were at the negotiating table when there was a knock at the door.
Knock,knock!
Trump and Putin both respond,"who's there?"
From behind the door they hear a reply,"Europe."
The two mighty leaders look at each other with a puzzled shrug of the shoulders reply,"Europe who?"
"...upper-class lesbian with a Sri Lankan film-maker partner and two adopted sons..."
cool...
'diversity is our strength'
no more?
maga stole that one too?
maga stole what? haha, I don't think anything... not my country..
(other than being cognisant of some startling german inlaw quips through the decades..)
I am aussie though, so fucked if i'm gonna be guilted for hanging stick on pollies.
I have zero tolerance re demonising or dehumanising based on race or religion though.
you don't find Alice W interesting? i find that oddly disingenuous @syp..
sypkan wrote:cute, that you think his opponents are 'saving democracy'
or even want to...
Oh yeah, cos that's what I said. ffs
Hiccups wrote:sypkan wrote:cute, that you think his opponents are 'saving democracy'
or even want to...
Oh yeah, cos that's what I said. ffs
ummmmm, that's exactly what you were insinuating.
maga also stole...
'diversity is our strength'
sure looks that way
along with just about everything else the left once stood for...
"you don't find Alice W interesting?"
I do
along with the guardian's uncontrollable urge to portray her as 'far right'...
when even a commenter on the abc said this morning she's not that at all
maybe she can pull those nasty lesbo hating nazi's into line?
interesting she takes the 'progreesive' view of advocating for gay rights...
against the backdrop of a loopy 'left' that would rather appease religious extremist (conservative) views
yet more proof politics is all over the shop
my abc must be different to yours @syp.. she is right-wing. how far is up to you.
https://www.foxnews.com/world/right-wing-party-allegedly-discussed-depor...
well, I guess you could say she's right wing on economy... being a banker and all...
but then sees herself as advocating for gay rights...
my point was the guardian portray her as ' far right' in their headline
" Alice Weidel: the far-right banker Elon Musk wants as German chancellor - podcast"
that's her! ...the person...
not even just trying to align her with the party...
I don't know anything about her, but I'd hazard a guess she was an all in EU globalist but for a few years ago...
and this is the real story
who and why so many people feel the need to turn to the afd...
(and how desperate and obvious the EU's 'reactionary' ŕesponse is...)
Germany and the rest of Europe are going through a massive crisis. Migrant related murders and gang violence is terrifying. One below is very recent. Judge for yourself. I literally just returned from Europe today. I went to the UK and France for work. On the positive, London is a spectacular city. It truly is. On the negative, Paris would put a lot of US cities to shame when it comes to homelessness. Tourist hotspots/old city are not too bad but travel outside a bit and you’ll be shocked. Unfortunately, they let this go on for too long and the response might just be more extremism being voted in.
‘ Joachim Herrmann, Bavaria's interior minister, said the suspect was previously detained at least three times for violent behaviour, but was released after he had psychiatric treatment. He was due to return to Afghanistan after his claim for asylum was rejected.’
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c70k6x1x67ro
So, this guy was roaming freely and eventually committed murder. System failed to protect its citizens. There is just no way to rationalise it.
I had noticed quite a few related news stories lately.
Both stories from a week ago.
"Austria attack that killed teen linked to IS, officials say
A 23-year-old Syrian asylum seeker, who was detained at the scene, has been charged with murder and attempted murder."
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjw4jj0p5jdo
"A 24-year-old Afghan asylum seeker drove a car into a crowd in the German city of Munich on Thursday, injuring at least 30 people, police have said." https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdry8xd47ylo
(It ended up being 39 injured and a mother and child ended up dying in hospital)
"Unfortunately, they let this go on for too long and the response might just be more extremism being voted in."
that's seem pretty obvious to just about anyone...
the question is... why?
it's nothing short of suicidal
as a society...
yet certain forces seem plainly in denial
still...
and yes, the response will be more extremism getting voted in
and, their response to that...
more denial, blame, and name calling
it's a death spiral
if the so called 'left'... (ie. anyone who's calling everyone 'far right') ...really wants to stem so called extremism...
then you've got a hell of a lot of acceptance to work your way through!!
and that's just the starting point...
flollo wrote:Germany and the rest of Europe are going through a massive crisis. Migrant related murders and gang violence is terrifying. One below is very recent. Judge for yourself. I literally just returned from Europe today. I went to the UK and France for work. On the positive, London is a spectacular city. It truly is. On the negative, Paris would put a lot of US cities to shame when it comes to homelessness. Tourist hotspots/old city are not too bad but travel outside a bit and you’ll be shocked. Unfortunately, they let this go on for too long and the response might just be more extremism being voted in.
‘ Joachim Herrmann, Bavaria's interior minister, said the suspect was previously detained at least three times for violent behaviour, but was released after he had psychiatric treatment. He was due to return to Afghanistan after his claim for asylum was rejected.’
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c70k6x1x67ro
So, this guy was roaming freely and eventually committed murder. System failed to protect its citizens. There is just no way to rationalise it.
Missed this news story yesterday, but another one happened yesterday in Germany just before they go to an election.
"Suspect in stabbing at Berlin's Holocaust Memorial is Syrian refugee, police say"
https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2025/02/22/suspect-in-stabbing-at-ber...
https://m.
^^ great video clip
GuySmiley wrote:^^ great video clip
Trump posted a section of one of his clips leading up to election re Bibi.
Hope Trump still listening..
Elons just been given another $300 million contract, while busily firing and cutting everyone else.
MAGA federal employees, who voted for Trump , thought that they would be helping to cut the deficit and “ corruption “ , not be fired
from their own federal jobs.
Confusion wrote:Elons just been given another $300 million contract, while busily firing and cutting everyone else.
MAGA federal employees, who voted for Trump , thought that they would be helping to cut the deficit and “ corruption “ , not be fired
from their own federal jobs.
He would have those contracts either way.
burleigh wrote:Confusion wrote:Elons just been given another $300 million contract, while busily firing and cutting everyone else.
MAGA federal employees, who voted for Trump , thought that they would be helping to cut the deficit and “ corruption “ , not be fired
from their own federal jobs.He would have those contracts either way.
Didn’t the 400 million contract that Biden gave him get canceled ? By Trump ? Small change to a bloke that’s worth 400 billion +
burleigh wrote:Confusion wrote:Elons just been given another $300 million contract, while busily firing and cutting everyone else.
MAGA federal employees, who voted for Trump , thought that they would be helping to cut the deficit and “ corruption “ , not be fired
from their own federal jobs.He would have those contracts either way.
So would a lot of other people and organisations who had their contracts and employment indiscriminately terminated by Musks Doge , like USAid should be still feeding starving children and Ebola victims around the world and the CFPB should be still helping consumers fight big business fraud and the FAA shouldn’t have had its Air Taffic Controllers cut back , causing many plane crashes since Trumps inauguration.
Which the families are now going to sue The government for this negligence, costing a lot more money.
I smell jeffy .
Who wouldn’t trust an Argentinian dictator and a Ketamine addicted,nazi saluting , billionaire.
?si=4WF1ghvBv1pU2jJ- which is your favourite David Bowie duet @Confusion?
basesix wrote:which is your favourite David Bowie duet @Confusion?
The relatively unknown “Chainsaw Blues”
haha. how about a duet sans reznor-sharp nails?
Confusion wrote:basesix wrote:which is your favourite David Bowie duet @Confusion?
The relatively unknown “Chainsaw Blues”
hey UTTER, in case you forgot the words
Confusion wrote:burleigh wrote:Confusion wrote:Elons just been given another $300 million contract, while busily firing and cutting everyone else.
MAGA federal employees, who voted for Trump , thought that they would be helping to cut the deficit and “ corruption “ , not be fired
from their own federal jobs.He would have those contracts either way.
So would a lot of other people and organisations who had their contracts and employment indiscriminately terminated by Musks Doge , like USAid should be still feeding starving children and Ebola victims around the world and the CFPB should be still helping consumers fight big business fraud and the FAA shouldn’t have had its Air Taffic Controllers cut back , causing many plane crashes since Trumps inauguration.
Which the families are now going to sue The government for this negligence, costing a lot more money.
Hey Jeff
He surely cant be back.
@indo, @burleigh.
As the days roll by, you're both glaringly showing yourselves to be supporters of the systematic, ruthless dismantling of a democracy that has been built upon for hundreds, if not thousands of years, starting with the great Greek philosophers.
You stand separately now, and represent a section of society that is either mind numbingly stupid, or are so enraptured by cartoonish words and actions, that you've outed yourselves for the gullible fools you are..or in Burleiighs case at least, just a troll that serves no function other than to disrupt serious discussion at a serious time.
cue....3,...2...1....'@burleigh wrote 'been drinking again @southern?'....'
And on annnnd on........
indo-dreaming wrote:He surely cant be back.
Sadly it seems so.
Any odds on for how long?
I'm not a betting man, but give it a week max.
southernraw wrote:@indo, @burleigh.
As the days roll by, you're both glaringly showing yourselves to be supporters of the systematic, ruthless dismantling of a democracy that has been built upon for hundreds, if not thousands of years, starting with the great Greek philosophers.
You stand separately now, and represent a section of society that is either mind numbingly stupid, or are so enraptured by cartoonish words and actions, that you've outed yourselves for the gullible fools you are..or in Burleiighs case at least, just a troll that serves no function other than to disrupt serious discussion at a serious time.
How so?
Democracy basically is the people voting in the leaders and policy that the majority support.
That's what happened on election day, and even recent polls have shown that Trumps approval rating is high, the things that you might not like that Trump is doing, is the things he promised to do and that people voted for.
So how is that undemocratic?
Not every single thing he has done or said I agree with (some things around climate change i dont) and i do worry maybe he is trying to do too much too quickly, but generally speaking i agree with most of the thing's he is doing. (but not always saying, but thats politics)
So no i still 100% support democracy.
Id honestly love to hear why or how you think he is dismantling democracy since being elected?
To me that claim makes no sense at all.
southernraw wrote:@indo, @burleigh.
As the days roll by, you're both glaringly showing yourselves to be supporters of the systematic, ruthless dismantling of a democracy that has been built upon for hundreds, if not thousands of years, starting with the great Greek philosophers.
You stand separately now, and represent a section of society that is either mind numbingly stupid, or are so enraptured by cartoonish words and actions, that you've outed yourselves for the gullible fools you are..or in Burleiighs case at least, just a troll that serves no function other than to disrupt serious discussion at a serious time.
Southern, this makes zero sense buddy.
I'm with you southernraw.
What trump is doing is straight from the authoritarian handbook.
Democracy's delicate balancing act is under serious pressure.
The separation of executive, judiciary and legislative powers ensures democratic govt's remain loyal to the law and the constitution and not just to the leader.
It's a fine line that allows checks and balances to create conditions for democracy and freedom to exist.
Replacing bureaucrats and whole departments with unqualified loyalists is the first step to challenging the principle that the courts are the supreme arbiters of the law, and that congress gets to define those laws and that civil servants get to enact them.
To say that he was democratically elected so can do what he likes is laughable.
indo-dreaming wrote:southernraw wrote:@indo, @burleigh. .
How so?
That's what happened on election day, and even recent polls have shown that Trumps approval rating is high, the things that you might not like that Trump is doing, is the things he promised to do and that people voted for.
So how is that undemocratic?
So no i still 100% support democracy.
Id honestly love to hear why or how you think he is dismantling democracy since being elected?
To me that claim makes no sense at all.
More Americans have an unfavourable opinion of DJT than positive Indo. How do you reconcile this fact with your comments above?
etarip wrote:indo-dreaming wrote:southernraw wrote:@indo, @burleigh. .
How so?
That's what happened on election day, and even recent polls have shown that Trumps approval rating is high, the things that you might not like that Trump is doing, is the things he promised to do and that people voted for.
So how is that undemocratic?
So no i still 100% support democracy.
Id honestly love to hear why or how you think he is dismantling democracy since being elected?
To me that claim makes no sense at all.
More Americans have an unfavourable opinion of DJT than positive Indo. How do you reconcile this fact with your comments above?
And you know this how?
As per the latest polls Trump's approval rating is around 50%. Biden's was similar in the beginning and then it dropped to high 30s/low 40s for most of his term. He was on 37% towards the end. I believe Trump will be the same. I think that most people in the US are overworked, tired and sick. And whoever is in will be unpopular. It's a reflection of fatigue and complete distrust in the political establishment. Americans need to see meaningful change and better standard of living. They need significant time off work and an ability to get health treatments that don't send them bankrupt. Neither Trump or especially Musk will bring that. Musk is an asshole. Yes he created some amazing things but imagine how many people he burned in the process? His ethos of 'sleeping in the office' is sickening.
Fortunately there is a long established process for gauging public opinion, burleigh.
538
https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/favorability/donald-trump/
Gallup
https://news.gallup.com/poll/203198/presidential-approval-ratings-donald...
Politico
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/02/20/cnn-washington-post-polls-trump...
https://www.ipsos.com/en-us/support-mixed-trump-administrations-executiv...
Yeah; so, there’s that.
etarip wrote:Fortunately there is a long established process for gauging public opinion, burleigh.
538
https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/favorability/donald-trump/Gallup
https://news.gallup.com/poll/203198/presidential-approval-ratings-donald...Politico
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/02/20/cnn-washington-post-polls-trump...
https://www.ipsos.com/en-us/support-mixed-trump-administrations-executiv...
Yeah; so, there’s that.
Are these the same process they use to predict the presidents? How has that need working out for ya?
Burleigh, a lot of these polls were predicting that Trump would win. 538 is an aggregator and their forecast was spot on.
flollo wrote:Burleigh, a lot of these polls were predicting that Trump would win. 538 is an aggregator and their forecast was spot on.
A lot? We both know that’s not true.
Well, this is why I look at 538 which produces a score across all the polls that were taken. Some polls do show biases. This one shows Trump's approval rating at 53%. It's a Rasmussen backed poll. This is not a very reputable pollster. Some others will show it at 10% below that. 538 will take them all into consideration and produce a score. It is currently at 48.5% on Trump which is not that bad actually. Biden was no better than this, it's more or less the continuation of the same with switched sides.
https://napolitannews.org/posts/president-trump-job-approval-53-percent-...
Both 538 and politico had the election as ‘too close to call’, from memory. And, despite the spread of those votes giving a clear EC margin, DJT did not receive a majority of votes cast.
Burleigh. I know that you’re a full-time Trump cock-rider. That’s OK, your choice and all that. But at least try and manage your bias when faced with data.
old-dog wrote:I'm with you southernraw.
What trump is doing is straight from the authoritarian handbook.
Democracy's delicate balancing act is under serious pressure.
The separation of executive, judiciary and legislative powers ensures democratic govt's remain loyal to the law and the constitution and not just to the leader.
It's a fine line that allows checks and balances to create conditions for democracy and freedom to exist.
Replacing bureaucrats and whole departments with unqualified loyalists is the first step to challenging the principle that the courts are the supreme arbiters of the law, and that congress gets to define those laws and that civil servants get to enact them.
To say that he was democratically elected so can do what he likes is laughable.
This.
Democracy does not mean electing your chosen dictator.
The problem of how to keep powerful people from abusing their power is one we have struggled with since the start. The only workable solution we have had is to create a system that is bigger than any one person and which restrains them with tools such as separation of powers, checks and balances, term limits, an adherence to objectivity and an equal democratic voice.
We spent *thousands of years* pledging our loyalty to one powerful person after another only to have them fuck us over or convince us to butcher each other for their self interest before we figured out a better way! It was hard-won, blood-soaked knowledge, and the documents and institutions we built on the back of the Magna Carta, America's Constitution, French Revolution, and the victories of two world wars were meant to be the bulwark to prevent us sliding back into the yawning abyss of oppression.
I really hate to be alarmist. So much of the news cycle is a daily attempt to trigger you into the latest crisis or culture war that is not worth worrying about. But Trump's actions are ones we've seen before, and we know where they lead. First there is a manufactured crisis ("They're eating the dogs!"). There is always a scapegoat (Ukraine took $350B from us!). There is always a purge, where loyalty replaces principles, where compliance trumps freedom of thought (DOGE). There are always uneasy alliances with undemocratic states which will break down at the slightest chance to stab each others' backs (Russia, North Korea). And there is always a Big Lie, although in Trump's case they are too numerous to count.
Meanwhile in Australia, the government seems to be strangely silent about all this. I can't tell whether it's fear, complacency, or a mix of both, but it if we take our political institutions for granted, don't teach their history and value in our schools, and simply let our kid's minds get infiltrated with a thirst for charismatic fuckwits served up by American algorithms, there's only one place that will lead.
Septic Tanks are going to Septic Tank