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Messages - PaulP

2
Blah-Blah Bar / Re: G mail and outlook
I've had good success on the Whirlpool forums asking computer / tech questions, so if you don't get any joy on here, that might be an option.
4
Blah-Blah Bar / Re: Trumpled (Alternative Leading)
Mr Shano, we could keep boxing on till doomsday.

The CCP has done fantastically well for China. They went from being among the poorest countries in the world pre 1949 to being a powerhouse that as you say, is second behind the US and will overtake them pretty soon. Despite the communist fear spread by dimwits, China has always been "open for business" under the pinks. They are the textbook example of state capitalism. Clearly they've paid a price, but their economic growth would be the envy of every country on the planet. They have always encouraged foreign investment, and with a population that is highly educated, hard working, disciplined, obedient, and most of all cheap, the attraction for overseas companies is obvious. Unfortunately that new found wealth isn't being shared fairly (workers employed by Apple and many others are basically slave labour with lousy conditions), but that's another story.
5
Blah-Blah Bar / Re: IT Question: External HD Recovery
1. Is the drive making any noises, either the typical noises it makes or atypical, e.g the so called Click Of Death ? I assume it's a mechanical and not SSD drive.
2. If you have different cables or different computers, try those.
3. One thing that worked for me a few years back is dropping the drive onto carpet from about 10cm height, no more than that.

If you do get it working, get the information off and onto something else.
6
Blah-Blah Bar / Re: Trumpled (Alternative Leading)
Quote from: Baggers on
Your first paragraph - exactly right... Balme may well have put the finishing touches (100th monkey effect?) on what Peggy and Brendan were doing but it was leadership from one or three people who created change. It was the direction and influence of leadership that changed the direction of the Tiggers (ditto Pussycats). Effective leadership can change things, quickly. This is my central point. Effective, visionary and courageous leadership can change the direction of clubs, businesses and governments very quickly.

Just look through corporations and nations that have changed for the better and you'll find new leadership steering a new course and managing the, sometimes significant, changes. The history books are full of such examples. And the reverse is also true... look at the history books for the numerous examples of an individual who steered their club, company or nation to destruction.

As I mentioned earlier, it's not an either/or situation. We minimise poor and dangerous leadership from any individual at our peril - regardless of where it resides. Just look at the dreadful examples the Orangutan is providing to future leaders. The only favour the Orangutan has provided to the US is to show, clearly, the inherit flaws in their political system (that have existed for many years).

Mr Shano, all that may well be true, but I would argue that Trump, Reagan, Obama, Biden etc. are not there to lead. They are there to deliver the lines others have prepared for them, act out the role of leader, and distract the population with everything from debased, low level trash talk (Trump), to feel good, social platitudes (most Democrats) and everything in between. You can only lead if you have power to lead, and in my opinion, these types don't have that, which is exactly the way the corporate elites have arranged it.
7
Blah-Blah Bar / Re: Trumpled (Alternative Leading)
@ Baggers, Balme didn't just apparate at the Tigers out of thin air . Peggy O'Neal, Gale, and I'm sure others worked as a team to get good people to fill important positions, worked as a team to identify problems, didn't just panic like sh1t clubs do, and made good decisions as a result.

There are some dubious types who like to believe that corporate, capitalist America is the end of history. But many empires have come and gone - Greek, Roman, Ottoman, British empires (to name a few), all had their moment and then they die. America is next.

Chris Hedges believes (and I agree with him) that there is no way out through the election system. If folks want genuine change, we need to use the only bargaining chip we have, which is numbers. Non violent, worldwide, mass civil disobedience that disrupts and cripples the system is the only hope we have of effecting change, and even that may not work. Meaningful change won't come from the inside, you can be quite certain of that.

@ Tragic - nice post. I agree.
8
Blah-Blah Bar / Re: Trumpled (Alternative Leading)
Quote from: Baggers on
The US, Pauly, has had deep divisions since the Civil War and hence major problems have become a way of life for most. And their decline has been steady for a couple of decades now.

I disagree totally with you however when suggesting that whatever problems the Orangutan creates pale next to the bigger picture. I don't see them as mutually exclusive. And I don't underestimate the importance of courageous leadership, visionary leadership... leadership that encourages and creates inclusiveness. Trumps leadership (**cough, splutter, gag **) is totally Machiavellian and exploits, manipulates and feeds the dysfunction and fears of the bigger picture you mention, of a fractured system, a system in crisis with the worst possible buffoon in charge.

Never underestimate the power of great leadership and its ability to affect meaningful change. There is evidence of this in other countries but the US is going to have to come up with someone, and quickly, to pull together a crumbling empire. .......................................

Your belief in the one man / great leader theory is one that I simply do not share. This difference of opinion is what caused our big blue on the senior coach issue, and I see little value in returning to the scene of the crime. Trump, Biden, Obama etc. have as much power as they're allowed to have, and whilst I'm not suggesting that Trump has no power or that he's harmless, I stand by my original statement - his power is not nearly as great as the corporate right wing oligarchs who really run the show.

Trump is not Machiavellian - he has no ideology except narcissism. He's not dumb, but he's a undisciplined, blatant, loose cannon, and has amazingly convinced the US population that he's an outsider just like them. The office of President means nothing to him IMO, which is why he treats it like trash.
9
Blah-Blah Bar / Re: Trumpled (Alternative Leading)
Quote from: capcom on
Like hell it isn't.  I'm married to one and know hundreds more.  Baggers was correct.  At the core, they are an extremely welcoming bunch and hopelessly polite ... almost too much so.

They can effect change.  They should.

But they are equally fearfully ignorant of the world outside their borders.  Forget the personalities holding government (that's rubbish), it is the system is broken.  Very badly.

I know the system is broken, which has been my point for a few pages. Trump is vulgar and frankly beneath contempt, but whatever problems he creates pale in comparison to the bigger picture.

The people you and others know may be the loveliest people on earth, but that's not the point. The holistic view, the numbers, facts etc. point to an empire in deep decline, and a society with deep divisions, and major problems.


10
Blah-Blah Bar / Re: Trumpled (Alternative Leading)
The pleasantness or otherwise of US folks at the micro / individual level is not really the point, nor the opinions of the ever dwindling and dubiously appointed liberal class. Taking a big picture / broader view, consider this random collection of fun facts, bearing in mind this is currently the wealthiest country on earth :

- Trump should have been impeached on the first day he took office, via the Emoluments Clause. He wasn't. Breakdown
               of the rule of law, or selective appliaction of the law ? You decide.
- the gap between rich and poor has never been higher in the US than now
- they have the most expensive healthcare in the developed world, with the worst health outcomes
- real wages have stagnated or declined over the last 30-35 years
- facts such as unemployment rates are presented in a way that conceals the real numbers. E.g,
                   if you work 1 hour/week, you're considered employed.
                   if you work 28 hrs/week at Walmart, it puts you below the poverty line
                   if you stop looking for work after 4 weeks of searching, you are automatically erased from the
                       unemployment numbers
                   unemployment numbers don't count students, don't count prisoners, don't count retired people who have
                   gone back to doing temp work to make ends meet etc.
- the US has the highest number of guns in civilian ownership in the world, both per capita and in total
- among the highest suicide rate in the developed world
- they have reached the highest level of recorded debt in history
-they have the highest number of prisoners of any country, both per capita and in total. Half of US prison population
               never harmed another person. 94% never get a jury trial. They have 25% of the world’s prison population, yet
               5% of the world’s population - mostly people of colour.
- there is a clear push to roll back civil liberties, following a very hard right, fundamentalist Christian agenda, as exemplified by the appointment of Brett Kavanaugh - one of his main orders of business is to overturn the landmark Roe v Wade case from 1973.

Consider yourselves warned.
11
Blah-Blah Bar / Re: Trumpled (Alternative Leading)
Quote from: DJC on
...
I’m not entirely sure that Paul’s assessment of US democracy is accurate but I think that it is clear that it is struggling under the constraints of an 18th century constitution.  Our 19th century version doesn’t do us any favours either.


You can listen to guys like Chris Hedges, Chomsky and maybe Richard Wolff, and form your own conclusions.
12
Blah-Blah Bar / Re: Trumpled (Alternative Leading)
Quote from: cookie2 on
Anyone who doesn't primarily represent the interests of one or another section of the US billionaire class is very very unlikely to ever get to be POTUS.

Yes, and also very unlikely to get even close to being in influential positions in either party. I don't think either of them functions as a traditional party. The base has no power or relevance. You can't even get on the DNC unless you're a "super delegate", which basically means a lobbyist or similar. You need bucket loads of money to run for Pres.

Interesting to note that both parties agree on about 90% of proposed legislation, and in order to stimulate the idea that genuine choice exists, Fox News etc. has to stoke the fire of nothing issues under the broad umbrella of the Culture Wars i.e, same sex marriage, should we have a black / female / gay president etc. It's crazy stuff.
13
Blah-Blah Bar / Re: Trumpled (Alternative Leading)
Anti establishment figures like Trump will always appeal when the establishment lets people down. Both the Democrats and Republicans have left common folk for dead, and its been happening for decades. Along comes a figure like Trump who has no allegiance to anything expect himself, and portrays himself as a person who won't be told what to do by anyone, dances to his own tune, will fix the country, the Democrats, the Republicans and everything in between. Add in nonsense like making America great again, and the usual scapegoating of minorities, and his appeal to a disenfranchised and ill informed body politic becomes obvious. It's happened often enough throughout history.

But focusing on him rather than the system is a waste of time.