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22
Blah-Blah Bar / Re: Trumpled (Alternative Leading)
Last post by tonyo -
Quote from: ElwoodBlues1 – on
Didnt see Albo and crew volunteering to cut the fuel excise to help Australians or say they would return all that extra GST they will make on inflated petroleum product prices to farmers and the agriculture sector etc...Trump isnt the only one who can exploit or take advantage when it suits...

It's worth reading about (and there's a few good articles) what cutting the fuel excise now would do.  The net effect would be to send inflation northward at an alarming rate, and lead to far greater pain for a much longer time.  Economic times now are very different to those that prevailed when the excise was cut during Covid.

Of course, that doesn't stop opportunistic populist w***ers like Hanson, Joyce et al who claim that it shows the Government doesn't care about struggling Australians.  Cheap punchlines with little or no credibility in terms of actual decision-making.  
   
23
Blah-Blah Bar / Re: Iran, I ran so far away - flock of seagulls
Last post by DJC -
According to Taco, Iran "gave us a present, and the present arrived today. It was a very big present, worth a tremendous amount of money.  I'm not going to tell you what the present is, but it was a very significant prize."

He then revealed “They said to show you the fact that we're real and solid, and we're going to let you have eight boats (sic) of oil, eight boats, eight big boats of oil. This was two days ago, and they'll sail up tomorrow.”

He provided more clarification, "They said, to show you the fact that we're real and solid and we're there, we're going to let you have eight boats of oil, eight boats, eight big boats of oil. I guess they were right, and they were real, and I think they were Pakistani-flagged... It ended up being 10 boats."  He said that the two additional boats sent by Iran were "to apologise for something they said."

Unfortunately, shipping data for the Strait of Hormuz shows that five vessels have passed through the Strait since 23 March. Not ten, not eight, just five. And none of them are headed to the USA. Three are sailing to India, one is going to China, and the fifth is destined for Singapore.

If you're going to tell porkies, it's best if you don't embellish the story as you go and it's essential that they're not easily fact-checked.

With that in mind, cast your mind back to 4 March when Taco announced that the US International Development Finance Corporation would offer insurance “at a very reasonable price” for tankers and other ships in the Persian Gulf. He also said, “if necessary, the United States Navy will begin escorting tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, as soon as possible”.  And, with his trademark caps lock, posted on social media, “No matter what, the United States will ensure the FREE FLOW of ENERGY to the WORLD.”

It must be difficult to be the Bone Spurs in Chief of a complex military campaign with global implications when you have trouble understanding anything more complicated than a real estate transaction and find it hard to know what's real and what's imaginary.
24
Blah-Blah Bar / Re: General Discussions
Last post by PaulP -
I should also add that I would not take much from the position of the UK and Australian governments. They are both totally spineless. I don't have much interest in the UK (a very tatty, declining, 3rd world country IMO), but I'm pretty disappointed with the Aus Labor mob. They have a significant majority, and have done nothing. As if somehow they believe that if you do nothing, you can't be accused of doing something wrong. I've no idea what's behind it.
25
Blah-Blah Bar / Re: General Discussions
Last post by PaulP -
Quote from: DJC – on
I'm not sure that it's quite so clear cut, and that's why I don't think that a hierarchy is appropriate.

It's estimated that at least 10% and probably as much as 25% of the Scandinavian population were slaves during the Viking age and the vast majority of those captured by the Vikings were sold on to slave traders from the Middle East.  Mitochondrial DNA studies of the Icelandic population indicate that more than 60% of the initial colonising female population were Gaelic and most likely slaves.  Then there's the Arab or Trans-Saharan slave trade that endured from the 7th to the 20th century and involved the enslavement of an estimated 9M Africans in the Middle East.

I don't want to get caught up in this jockeying for pole position in the Suffering F1. I feel quite comfortable with the reading I've done and I'll leave it there. Trying to compete wrt who suffered the most does the cause more harm than good, and ends up a kind of self-cannibalism, that dilutes the message rather than keeping it sharp and focussed.

Whether they named this or something else is of secondary importance. If the final aims of this process are achieved, it creates momentum, precedent and potential for others to follow. Future groups will be able to analyze what worked, what did not etc., and be in a better position as a result. It could also splinter off into related histories, such as our own First Nations peoples, who whilst not enslaved as such, have suffered immensely, certainly deserve a lot more than they have received thus far.
26
Blah-Blah Bar / Re: Trumpled (Alternative Leading)
Last post by Gointocarlton -
Quote from: PaulP – on
Quote from: Gointocarlton – on
What humour? I have never seen two bigger morons than Albanese and Allan. I doubt they would lie any straighter in bed than Trump. Same crap different size bucket.

I think if you were to tally up the sins of the Trump administration and then do the same for Albanese and Jacinta Allan, you may surprise yourself. My personal feeling is that you are exaggerating the sins of the group you don’t like in order to cast the sins of your preferred group in a more favourable light.

Best you all stick to discussing the great US of A and Ill just disappear from this thread.
Apologies for side tracking the topic.
27
Blah-Blah Bar / Re: General Discussions
Last post by Lods -
Quote from: LP – on
Quote from: PaulP – on

In scope, duration, contemporaneous and enduring trauma and devastation caused, and a whole bunch of other effects, the Euro American slave trade is without equal.
Rome wasn't built in a day, nor the pyramids.

I can't think of a Spanish equivalent, or Portuguese, but I'm sure they exist.

What is the cut-off date for the awakening?

A slave in the Aztec empire didn't have a lot of longevity.

But if you take in the European actions in Africa (Belgians in the Congo was particularly harsh) and add it to the Transatlantic trade (many didn't even make it through the voyage) you can probably make a fair case for effects that are still impacting today.
29
Blah-Blah Bar / Re: Trumpled (Alternative Leading)
Last post by LP -
I'm shocked to hear it, but it appears RedTrump's government has inadvertently been reporting dodgy figures, who'd have thunk it?

Where would they have got that idea, fake news?

It seems under audit, the real growth figure was less than half the originally reported figure, a 50% error! Horrendous given that much of the growth reported was from tariffs that now must be refunded, which they do not want to do, well it seems they can't because they are technical broke! :o Quantitive easing anyone?

Even worse news, despite the best efforts of The DOGEy Brothers, the cost to the US Economy actually went up, somebody has a bank balance that is bursting! I wonder who? Guess what the tabulation error was, 50%, what a coincidence, easy to remember though! ::)

Haff, Dubble, Haff, Dubble ..................

Growth down, costs up, profit a loss, maybe they are getting ready for a big tax deduction! :D

Perhaps RedTrump can write the US a cheque(loan), what interest rate will he charge?

They could appoint an experience corporate type to run the joint, someone with first class experience saving a flagging global enterprise. Ivana, ............... too soon?
30
Blah-Blah Bar / Re: General Discussions
Last post by DJC -
Quote from: PaulP – on
Quote from: DJC – on
...............................................

Australia was one of the 52 nations that abstained and that has drawn criticism from the left.  However, I think that there's merit in Britain's argument that it is wrong to "create a hierarchy of historical atrocities"...............................

I think we need to be wary, as per the Trump/Jacinta/Albanese comparison, of falling into the trap of false equivalence. The list of atrocities by humans is seemingly endless, but some are indisputable worse than others. The point that "all slavery is bad, why should slave trade x get the attention", has been discussed a lot. In scope, duration, contemporaneous and enduring trauma and devastation caused, and a whole bunch of other effects, the Euro American slave trade is without equal.

I'm not sure that it's quite so clear cut, and that's why I don't think that a hierarchy is appropriate.

It's estimated that at least 10% and probably as much as 25% of the Scandinavian population were slaves during the Viking age and the vast majority of those captured by the Vikings were sold on to slave traders from the Middle East.  Mitochondrial DNA studies of the Icelandic population indicate that more than 60% of the initial colonising female population were Gaelic and most likely slaves.  Then there's the Arab or Trans-Saharan slave trade that endured from the 7th to the 20th century and involved the enslavement of an estimated 9M Africans in the Middle East.