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looker-on said:
have I been talking to ex-servicemen or did both of you not serve in the armed forces
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Not me. Just missed having to serve in Vietnam. Literally dodged a bullet or bullets, grenades etc. My father also just missed serving in WW2.
 
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looker-on said:
I wish that were true but the reality looks grim.
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Some 100,000 Nato troops conducted major war games from January to May, Steadfast Defender 2024 was its largest exercise since the Cold War and other than the troops which came from 32 Nato member states, it comprised 50 ships, over 100 aircraft and 1,100 combat vehicles. So I'd say the west is prepared.
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looker-on said:
Incidentally, have I been talking to ex-servicemen or did both of you not serve in the armed forces? If yes, where did you serve?
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Hi Thomas,
My grandfather, father and uncle were military officers in the British army, navy and air force.
Party to avoid my mother's wish for me to enter the priesthood I was happy for my father to push me into the armed forces. I applied for officer training in Australia's Army and Navy at Duntroon and Portsea. I passed all the criteria except fitness as 4 years prior I had major heart surgery which excluded me. It didn't matter I was fit as a fiddle playing high grade soccer.

In hindsight I too dodged a bullet as in recent decades the culture of the armed forces has been very toxic at times. Bullying, sexual aggressiveness, ... ,war crimes, hazing, ...thuggishness, ...
One Major in our Army called out the war crimes in Afghanistan and got put in prison for 5 years for his whistleblowing.
To that end the armed forces here have difficulty attracting recruits. In desperation we have invited Brits, New Zealanders and Canadians to sign up in our armed forces.
 
looker-on said:
Was it possible to object
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It was but you were made a pariah from society. For me , out of pure luck, I avoided being conscripted when our newly elected Labor government abolished conscription. Had they not I'd not have served anyway as the war ended only months later. As for my father he was a trained pilot and joined the Australian Air Force. Before he was due to be sent to join an active fighter squadron, again the end of the war intervened.
 
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Grier said:
In hindsight I too dodged a bullet as in recent decades the culture of the armed forces has been very toxic at times. Bullying, sexual aggressiveness, ... ,war crimes, hazing, ...thuggishness, ...
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Not be surprised that this goes on in most western armed forces Terry. There was an American movie I recall that covered this very theme. Just forgotten the name for the moment.
 
Grier said:
In desperation we have invited Brits, New Zealanders and Canadians to sign up in our armed forces.
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If there is a war the govt of the day will no doubt reintroduce conscription which will boost our forces exponentially. I dread that one enlistment will be my 40 year old son.
 
Richie said:
If there is a war the govt of the day will no doubt reintroduce conscription which will boost our forces exponentially. I dread that one enlistment will be my 40 year old son.
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He might be lucky aged 40. I'm not sure.
I was too young for Vietnam and felt awful thinking what those guys went through. As you know, these poor shell shocked return soldiers got spat on by ignorant twerps.
Despite that, our Diggers performed superbly well in that stupid war.
Even in recent decades we're at last addressing the PTSD scourge causing an unforgivable number of suicides.
That's an issue I agree with Tasmanian senator Jackie Lamby, ex army. Sorry to digress but she, like others, encourage my faith in Democracy. Even Pauline "please explain" Hanson.
Twenty years in Afghanistan left many bitter legacies for our Diggers.
 
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As expected Trump is currently constructing his cabinet of henchmen and women.
Some like Rubio are happy and nicely deserving. Likewise others, but not all. How about his pick for Attorney General Matt Watts who was once up on child sex trafficking charges, led by the department/s he's now in charge of! 🤯
Actor Robert Deniro once called Trump a gangster, who is now forming his happy mob. "You're Fired" will be at hand.
Think how many of his past mob turned on him later on. Karma.
Pity about being a convicted felon still up on other charges like insurrection, ... electoral fraud, stealing and concealing top secret documents and flashing them around.
Apparantly there's no archaic law that says a President can't govern from jail. I'd like to see that. 🤣
Will and can Trump pardon himself? He's promised to and can pardon all the capitol rioters. Some doubt he can pardon himself as it's never been done before. Unprecedented even!
Unfortunately, Trump can only pardon federal crimes, not state crimes which is happening now in the big apple, the town that never sleeps and loves to hate TRump.

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It suits him
 
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Germany Closes Its Ports to Russian Gas Tankers​

Germany has instructed its state-operated gas import terminals such as its Deutsche Energy import facility at Brunsbuttel to not accept any Russian cargo of liquefied natural gas.

Germany was Europe’s biggest importer of Russian gas before Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. When Putin cut gas supplied via pipelines to Germany and other European countries, the government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz raced to find alternatives and built LNG terminals to receive gas shipments by sea.

Well done Germany. Hopefully this is a major setback to Putin's war chest and that other EU nations are doing the same.
 
Richie said:

Germany Closes Its Ports to Russian Gas Tankers​

Germany has instructed its state-operated gas import terminals such as its Deutsche Energy import facility at Brunsbuttel to not accept any Russian cargo of liquefied natural gas.

Germany was Europe’s biggest importer of Russian gas before Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. When Putin cut gas supplied via pipelines to Germany and other European countries, the government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz raced to find alternatives and built LNG terminals to receive gas shipments by sea.

Well done Germany. Hopefully this is a major setback to Putin's war chest and that other EU nations are doing the same.
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Australia found many alternative markets for our exports when China put all those huge tarriffs on us, thanks to ex PM Morrison's big mouth.
Regardless, diversifying has ended up making us more secure without the need for China's trade on many goods.
Eventually China realised it had shot itself in the foot and so paddled backwards. We won't forget their bullying.
So this is a bit like Russia's karma biteback!
 
This is a horror read of Trump's pick of Bobby Kennedy as chief of US health.

President-elect Donald Trump 's plan to appoint Robert F. Kennedy Jr., to lead the Health and Human Services Department will put a prominent vaccine skeptic at the helm of the nation's sprawling public health apparatus.

A scion of a famous Democratic dynasty, Kennedy made a name in his own right as an environmental attorney who successfully took on large corporations including DuPont and Monsanto.

But over the past two decades, he's increasingly devoted his energy to promoting claims about vaccines that contradict the overwhelming consensus of scientists.

Trump would have Kennedy lead a massive Cabinet agency that oversees everything from drug, vaccine and food safety to medical research and the social safety net programs Medicare and Medicaid. He said before the election he would give Kennedy free rein over health policy.

Here's a look at Kennedy and the agency he'll be tasked with leading:

He took over the anti-vaccine group Children's Health Defense and built it into a juggernaut during the pandemic. His activism helped him build a loyal following that he's leveraged in his political pursuits.

Kennedy insists he is not anti-vaccine and claims he has never told the public to avoid vaccination. But he has repeatedly made his opposition to vaccines clear. He said on a podcast “there’s no vaccine that is safe and effective” and has urged people to resist CDC guidelines on when kids should get vaccinated.

While there are rare instances when people have severe reactions to vaccines, the billions of doses administered globally provide real-world evidence that they are safe. The World Health Organization says vaccines prevent as many as 5 million deaths each year.

He wants to eliminate liability protections for drug companies.

Even before Trump was elected, Kennedy said he would recommend water agencies stop adding fluoride to drinking water. Fluoride strengthens teeth and is viewed as one of the biggest public health successes of the past century.
 
Grier said:
This is a horror read of Trump's pick of Bobby Kennedy as chief of US health.
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People saying there are other horror reads with his other cabinet picks too.

Meet Donald Trump’s Brick-Shittingly Scary New Cabinet, and Everyone Else Advising Him in a Second Term.​

Stephen Miller at the border. Matt Gaetz running the DOJ. A Fox News host as Secretary of Defense. Welcome to the Trump administration 2.0. ​

(Vanity Fair)🤪​

​

​

 
Richie said:

Germany Closes Its Ports to Russian Gas Tankers​

Germany has instructed its state-operated gas import terminals such as its Deutsche Energy import facility at Brunsbuttel to not accept any Russian cargo of liquefied natural gas.

Germany was Europe’s biggest importer of Russian gas before Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. When Putin cut gas supplied via pipelines to Germany and other European countries, the government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz raced to find alternatives and built LNG terminals to receive gas shipments by sea.

Well done Germany. Hopefully this is a major setback to Putin's war chest and that other EU nations are doing the same.
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The move had been discussed for a long time and it was sickening that Putin had benefited from gas and oil bought via international trade platforms. I'm glad that we're now in such a position to give him a punch without having to freeze in our homes as a consequence. Good news, too, that the Russian oligarchs are paying for their own war since the interest on their investments in Europe is being used for that.
 
looker-on said:
Good news, too, that the Russian oligarchs are paying for their own war since the interest on their investments in Europe is being used for that.
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I heard about that Thomas and other freezes of Russian monies held abroad, and using that money to aid Ukraine I think? Something like that.
No doubt the Oiligarch mob bosses are not happy. 😄

Good to hear Germany's got clout Thomas. 😊 Stay warm.
 
Richie said:
Not me. Just missed having to serve in Vietnam. Literally dodged a bullet or bullets, grenades etc. My father also just missed serving in WW2.
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I was asking the two of you out of curiosity because you did have a choice as a younger me would also have today. The choice wouldn't have been easy for me, though. I had to serve with health issues I had back then which would prevent me from military service today. My choice in East Germany was between 18 months service or spending the same time in prison.
I guess I'd object today for the reasons Terry's listed. The culture of the armed forces is very off-putting.
 
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