The Serious Discussion Thread.

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Richie said:
Thomas hearing Germany is planning hosting up to 800,000 allied troops plus a massive arsenal should Putin stupidly start a European war. Is this foolish given your nation will then be a prime target for Mad Vlad and his missiles. Be better to spread the troops across all other strong nations such as France, Poland, Italy and Germany. Yes, no?
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Answer coming up soon.
 
Grier said:
lso friendly Western partners like my Australia 🦘would help,
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If the conflict moves to the Pacific region I'd prefer our troops were here to protect us Terry. The Yanks will always assist us. Our govt needs to rush delivery of the ATCM missiles we have ordered and building the factories that will produce our own missiles even the latest hypersonics, in which Australia plays a significant role.
Jeez we are talking about a possible WW3 guys. No. It cant come to this. Someone needs to infiltrate the Kremlin and kill Putin and his hawkes.
 
looker-on said:
Interesting that Merkel is stirring so much interest in AUS. Why is that?

I'd really like to talk to her today. I found myself defending her and explaining her moves to lots of people from the West both orally and in writing.

Merkel is a complex personality who, as long as she was in office had cut ties to her old companions, which I'd probably have done, too. Her classmates complained about her not attending class reunions. But what did they expect? Merkel knew that she was criticised by a lot of East-Germans for not vigorously defending the case of East Germany in a reunified country. Women wanted her to beat the big drum for women's rights. Many of them blamed her for pursuing a policy that allegedly had led to mass unemployment in the East making their lives miserable. It simply was beyond their grasp that Merkel was not a chancellor of East Germany but of both parts of the country. If you'd known that your presence at such a gathering would ruffle a few feathers, would you have been keen on attending just to meet their expectations and contribute to them having an enjoyable and pleasant evening? That was the situation in East Germany.

It was even more complicated in the Western part where she was stigmatised for not being catholic, for being a woman, and for being socialised in East Germany. She didn't let it show but she smarted under it which was exemplified by the fact that she started commenting on it only as it was clear that she would leave office soon. Up until then she hadn't wanted to be perceived as an East German. Her critics have published numerous biographies. Remarkably, they were all written by West Germans who obviously didn't understand life in a dictatorship and failed to do justice to her. There were embarrassing misjudgements as well as ill-intentioned attributions.

Now they seem to expect her to call her political decisions into doubt without saying which of the former chancellors had done the same. I agreed with most of her political decisions, notably with her stance on how the Ukraine conflict could be settled as I didn't see any feasible alternative to the Minsk agreement . You were saying, with hindsight. Exactly. In 2014, no one in the West wanted to support Ukraine militarily in the way it is being done now. There were the vested interests of German companies both consuming oil and gas, and importing it. There were the German consumers of cheap energy generated from Russian oil and gas, which they didn't want to do without. Consequently, she wanted to maintain the status quo for them, you might say.

As for immigration, her decision to let those immigrants from Hungary in without consulting with the EU member states is objectionable. I also thought that she'd done a bad job as minister of the environment before she became chancellor. I'd have expected a firmer stance from a natural scientist. That said, it must have been extremely hard to call for environmental protection 25 years ago given the fact that such a policy is not even wanted today, when the signs on the wall are much clearer. When it comes to economic policy I sometimes wonder what someone, who is not a natural scientist would have done. Her decision to break even whatever it takes is questionable. Her economic advisors should have explained the alternative and the consequences to her. Now we have a rotten infrastructure with bridges collapsing, an alarming lack of daycare units and run-down schools and universities. Our armed forces are also in a sorry state. Craig, this runs counter to making Germany a strategic logistic hub in a war against Russia. I'll enlarge on that shortly. And only now she says that the "national debt brake" should be revised, i.e., the debt limit lifted. Why not while she was in office?

On the positive side, she did an excellent job in managing the Corona crisis and her performance in saving the Euro and forming an alliance against Trump was also good.

I'd also be interested to know how she'd assess her early decision to go for Russian as a foreign language. Due to that she'd been struggling with English throughout her political life. It is no coincidence that she was never shown on TV even reading a text in English let alone speaking without notes. There must have been a tacit agreement with the media not to show her in such a situation.

It was often mentioned that she would tackle problems from the perspective of a natural scientist. Fair enough, considering that we've had enough lawyers in parliament and in top positions. I wonder, though, if an economist would have done the same standing in her shoes.

What becomes clear is that she's way more ambitious than me and she is power-hungry which surprised me since it's not a characteristic researchers commonly have. She kept being industrious throughout her life and took efforts to keep up in a field where she had had no background knowledge. That's her.
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Very comprehensive perspectives Thomas, thanks for sharing.
With all the societal forces tugging her one way and another, I am even more in awe of such a great leader in Angela Merkel.
 
My local discussion group's next topic is about "Leadership". Our convener is a German lady Psychologist whose motorbike is a big tourer. My very elderly mate going too was born an East German. I'll definitely mention Angela Merkel as an excellent leader. Then, on the flip side, I'll mention Trump! 😄
 
Australia's Reserve Bank Govenor Michele Bullock has been doing a fine job managing our inflation, I feel, even though its rate of decrease seems slow compared to other like nations.
I think Bullock is strong also explaining the numbers of underlying real inflation given benign assistances to those struggling. The real numbets are higher but she was sympathetic to assistance schemes. 👍
Expectation is a quarter point drop not until mid 2025, given of course Trump and growing Global tensions. 🙁

Recently a mate's well to do fifo mechanic son was having a whine about bank rates, house prices, ... until me and his Dad regaled him about the 17% rates we had when he was just a twinkle in his Dad's eye. 😉
Newspaper on windows and bare concrete floors. One income.
I helped assuage his selfguilt of not following my and his Dad's advice to buy into the housing market several years ago by telling him how almost everyone didn't see the inflationary affect of the Covid pandemic. I didn't, who has a crystal ball? Still, a lesson to be learned if the doomsayers are right predicting more pandemics in future. That sounds highly plasible. 😟
 
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Grier said:
My local discussion group's next topic is about "Leadership". Our convener is a German lady Psychologist whose motorbike is a big tourer. My very elderly mate going too was born an East German. I'll definitely mention Angela Merkel as an excellent leader. Then, on the flip side, I'll mention Trump! 😄
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Merkel definitely had a certain standing at home and world-wide. If she'd been a flop, she wouldn't have been chosen as a candidate for the chancellorship for three federal elections by her own party and hadn't won them. That's what she says herself if challenged by critics. Have a nice evening, Terry.
 
looker-on said:
Merkel definitely had a certain standing at home and world-wide. If she'd been a flop, she wouldn't have been chosen as a candidate for the chancellorship for three federal elections by her own party and hadn't won them. That's what she says herself if challenged by critics. Have a nice evening, Terry.
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👏 Here is to Angela. Germany's Iron Lady. Prob her biggest faux pas was bringing in too many refugees. You agree Thomas?
 
Richie said:
👏 Here is to Angela. Germany's Iron Lady. Prob her biggest faux pas was bringing in too many refugees. You agree Thomas?
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I agree too, but she was a moral iron lady with a conscience. That's forgivable surely? Certainly considering the cruel and paranoid xenophopes like Trump.
 
A catch cry about Austrailia currently in response to the serious and growing youth crime rates is "Adult crime, adult time!"

Most of the wild youth crimes disproportiately come from Aboriginals in our northern states like WA's north, NT and QLD. The crimes are serious indeed like murders, ramming police cars with stolen vehicles, home invasions, rapes, ...

So what's the solution? Rates of recitivisim are 90% + in the worst places and intense intervernion is very costly.

Even today I read again about the growing drug use issues in our remote communities. An ABC article.
Apparently Meth amphetamine is consumed at high rates as it's cheaper than booze or cannibis.
A horrifying stat I heard is that our Northern Territory has the worst global record for domestic violence. I know a little about the causes and nothing much about a solution. 🙁
 
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The expected chaos has started as expected with Trump and Mexico's president having different memories regarding their chat on their border. 🙃
Trump's memories seem selectively edited to assauge his top heavy ego... Dunning Kruger syndrome mixed up with narrissism and stupidity.🤪

Still, I've listened more about how the Dems lost their way turning a blind eye to their once blue collar supporter base. Silly Dems, I accept their intellectual elitism but not for losing sight of their average Joe or Joan. 😩

I give little credence to all the Deep State conspiracy theories attributed to the commie lefties.🤔
Another fantism from the Republicans imo.🥸😧
 
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Richie said:
Thomas hearing Germany is planning hosting up to 800,000 allied troops plus a massive arsenal should Putin stupidly start a European war. Is this foolish given your nation will then be a prime target for Mad Vlad and his missiles. Be better to spread the troops across all other strong nations such as France, Poland, Italy and Germany. Yes, no?
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I haven't heard that precise figure yet but it's clear that in such a case NATO troops would have to be moved to its eastern flank very quickly. The geopolitical location in the middle of Europe and the allegedly well-developed highway and rail network give Germany a special role in the logistics of troops and equipment. Unfortunately, Germany has always been such a hub with the US air base in Ramstein being the biggest one in Europe.You referred to the Steadfast NATO manoeuvre. The biggest challenge was to find coherent routes along predetermined corridors for transporting US equipment and personnel which would be strong enough to allow heavy machinery rolling over them. This fact alone speaks volumes showing how dilapidated roads and bridges are.
You're right, Craig, NATO can't pursue the same strategy as in Afghanistan and Iraq where large logistics bases were attacked and destroyed very early on in the conflict. Since Ukraine is also suffering greatly from Russian long-range missile attacks on its logistical systems, Nato would be well-advised to pre-empt this and consider alternatives in Italy, Greece, Turkey and Norway.
What is the alternative to deploying missiles in Germany that is threatened by Russian missiles in Kaliningrad which could be in Berlin within some minutes? The latter is the reason why medium-range missiles will have to be deployed in Germany. In contrast to the NATO Double-Track Decision of the eighties we're not talking about nuclear missiles -- yet.This is in line with our chancellor's repeated promise to support Ukraine with weapons but exclude the much-wanted Taurus air-launched cruise missiles on which Scholz is consistent.
 
looker-on said:
Kaliningrad
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This tiny Russian enclave may play a vital role if war does come. As it is surrounded by NATO countries it is well armed but as it is so small any major western attack would obliterate this arsenal quite quickly. I hope it does not come to this as a good proportion of their population want to live in peace. I know a kind lady, who you and Terry will also know, whose family lives there.

looker-on said:
.This is in line with our chancellor's repeated promise to support Ukraine with weapons but exclude the much-wanted Taurus air-launched cruise missiles on which Scholz is consistent.
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Is Scholz likely to change his mind given the Yanks have now permitted the use of their long range missiles to target Russia territory. France and the UK are also close to following suit.
looker-on said:
Unfortunately, Germany has always been such a hub with the US air base in Ramstein being the biggest one in Europe.
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If push comes to shove every German will be glad this is the case. Unless the unpredictable Trump closes the base.
 
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Richie said:
I know a kind lady, who you will also know, whose family lives there.
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Being who?


Richie said:
Is Scholz likely to change his mind given the Yanks have now permitted the use of their long range missiles to target Russia territory. France and the UK are also close to following suit.
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Not him but as he'll be history in February his successor may have a different view. Yet that's a risky one as he could go down in history as the man who plunge Germany into war.
 
Here'sa good read about Trump:

Donald Trump Is the Worst Person in the World: A Book on Donald Trump.​


Author Tedd Levy’s first book takes a direct, harsh, truthful look at the evil that is Donald Trump. It’s a bumpy ride, but one full of insight, logic, candor, and just a little humor. Tedd’s unique style, tone, and personal voice makes his book an interesting read. Tedd frames and presents his examination of Donald Trump as no one else has.

From the book: “According to his first wife, Ivana, Donald Trump was never keen on bequeathing his name to anybody. It was Ivana who wanted to call their newborn Donald Junior. ‘You can't do that!’ Trump is quoted as saying in Ivana's memoir, Raising Trump. ‘What if he's a loser?’”

“To compare the Trump Foundation to the foundations of other wealthy business leaders is like comparing Mother Theresa to a pick pocket. Donald Trump is a high-tech pick pocket.”

“ Trump’s conduct is on display to America and to America’s children. When we assume the crucial task of building healthy children, we look to foster positive values. We teach our children to be honest—but Trump is deceitful, to be modest—but Trump is egotistical, to be kind—but Trump is cruel, to be generous—but Trump is greedy, to be respectful—but Trump is insolent, to be fair—but Trump is partial, to be compassionate—but Trump is coldhearted.”

“Let me see if I have this right. Trump says he kisses women without their consent. Several women say he kissed them without their consent. Trump says the women are lying. Got it.” “Several other sources affiliated with The Celebrity Apprentice said during [Marlee] Matlin’s appearance on the show, Donald Trump mocked her hearing loss and speech pattern and seemed to get a real kick out of doing so. They said Trump would regularly ridicule and disrespect the actress. He is reported to have repeatedly called her retarded because of her deafness and deaf accent. Pure, unadulterated, unbelievable, cruel, medieval ignorance.”

“Trump is said to have had a passion for Princess Diana. In 1995, Trump offered Diana complimentary membership in his Mar-a-Lago Club (she declined). After her divorce, Trump sent her massive bouquets of flowers. TV journalist Selina Scott, a friend of Lady Di, has since revealed that Diana had said that she felt stalked by Trump and that he gave her the creeps. In 1997 on his radio show, Howard Stern asked Trump, ‘You could’ve nailed her, right?’ Trump responded, ‘I think I could’ve.’”

Table of Contents: 1. Trump the Liar, 2. Trump the Bigot, 3. Trump the Hypocrite, 4. Trump the Bully, 5. Trump the Thief, 6. Trump the Braggart, 7. Trump the Crude, 8. Trump the Ignorant, 9. Trump the Religious Charlatan, 10. Trump the Philanthropic Phony, 11. Trump the Lewd, 12. Trump the Bizarre, 13. Trump the Ad Hominem King, 14 Trump the Narcissist, 15. Trump the Terrible, 16. Explaining Trump, 17. Colin, 18. Malala, 19. Marwa, 20. Miscellany, 21. Endnotes.
 
Grier said:
Here'sa good read about Trump:

Donald Trump Is the Worst Person in the World: A Book on Donald Trump.​


Author Tedd Levy’s first book takes a direct, harsh, truthful look at the evil that is Donald Trump. It’s a bumpy ride, but one full of insight, logic, candor, and just a little humor. Tedd’s unique style, tone, and personal voice makes his book an interesting read. Tedd frames and presents his examination of Donald Trump as no one else has.

From the book: “According to his first wife, Ivana, Donald Trump was never keen on bequeathing his name to anybody. It was Ivana who wanted to call their newborn Donald Junior. ‘You can't do that!’ Trump is quoted as saying in Ivana's memoir, Raising Trump. ‘What if he's a loser?’”

“To compare the Trump Foundation to the foundations of other wealthy business leaders is like comparing Mother Theresa to a pick pocket. Donald Trump is a high-tech pick pocket.”

“ Trump’s conduct is on display to America and to America’s children. When we assume the crucial task of building healthy children, we look to foster positive values. We teach our children to be honest—but Trump is deceitful, to be modest—but Trump is egotistical, to be kind—but Trump is cruel, to be generous—but Trump is greedy, to be respectful—but Trump is insolent, to be fair—but Trump is partial, to be compassionate—but Trump is coldhearted.”

“Let me see if I have this right. Trump says he kisses women without their consent. Several women say he kissed them without their consent. Trump says the women are lying. Got it.” “Several other sources affiliated with The Celebrity Apprentice said during [Marlee] Matlin’s appearance on the show, Donald Trump mocked her hearing loss and speech pattern and seemed to get a real kick out of doing so. They said Trump would regularly ridicule and disrespect the actress. He is reported to have repeatedly called her retarded because of her deafness and deaf accent. Pure, unadulterated, unbelievable, cruel, medieval ignorance.”

“Trump is said to have had a passion for Princess Diana. In 1995, Trump offered Diana complimentary membership in his Mar-a-Lago Club (she declined). After her divorce, Trump sent her massive bouquets of flowers. TV journalist Selina Scott, a friend of Lady Di, has since revealed that Diana had said that she felt stalked by Trump and that he gave her the creeps. In 1997 on his radio show, Howard Stern asked Trump, ‘You could’ve nailed her, right?’ Trump responded, ‘I think I could’ve.’”

Table of Contents: 1. Trump the Liar, 2. Trump the Bigot, 3. Trump the Hypocrite, 4. Trump the Bully, 5. Trump the Thief, 6. Trump the Braggart, 7. Trump the Crude, 8. Trump the Ignorant, 9. Trump the Religious Charlatan, 10. Trump the Philanthropic Phony, 11. Trump the Lewd, 12. Trump the Bizarre, 13. Trump the Ad Hominem King, 14 Trump the Narcissist, 15. Trump the Terrible, 16. Explaining Trump, 17. Colin, 18. Malala, 19. Marwa, 20. Miscellany, 21. Endnotes.
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Worst person on earth says it all but that Russian guy beats him.
 
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