Lucky Dips

[Paddo Colt 61]

Let me see, I’m pretty sure you may have lectured me a few time in the past with a sprinkle of misogyny added.

But in any case maybe next time I should just say America is like the schoolyard bully or question if it has any semblance of democracy left in its own backyard.

I seldom "lecture" MR. I prefer to think of of it as "pointing the way" more than anything else.

I recently saw a doco on the homeless situation in San Fran which contrasted starkly with an SBS doco "The Silk Road from Above" (see it on On Demand, it's well worth it). The overall achievement of the BRI is indisputable and a testament to China's commitment to lead world morally and economically. Like the US, the business of China is also business but unlike the US there is a commitment to humanity.

[Random Rooster]

Sal,

It would be ideal if it was as simple as removing Hamas and solving the situation. It wont be the case. Instead, existing and new terror cells will emerge throughout the Middle East, ready to take their place. An additional issue will be the children and teenagers left behind, most of whom having lost relatives and friends and witnessed the tragedy firsthand, ready to be recruited by external and internal terrorist groups.

Regarding the hostages, the Israeli government must accept responsibility for the catastrophic security blunder on October 7th. The government should return them to their families via negotiations, because blasting your way to get Hamas to free them has not succeeded. In fact, the IDF shot three hostages themselves, all of whom wore no shirts and waved white flags. The families of these hostages have gone through enough. Netanyahu appears more interested on showing strength, with an eye on getting re-elected, and another eye on avoiding corruption allegations.

So, because Hitler/Himmler allegedly stated some wonderful things about Islam, you feel there is a Palestinian Nazi element that needs to be eliminated....and what connects them is that they both despise Jews? Does this mean that all Muslims are Nazis? What about Orthodox Jews who do not believe in Zionism or accept Israel as a country? Are they Nazis?

I believe the world can agree on one thing: Nazi Germany was evil. So, if you're going to war against Nazis, it can only be good--just ask Putin, who can justify the Ukraine invasion by claiming that they need to eliminate the Nazi elements of the Ukrainian government who are persecuting Russian . As I previously stated, Hitler saw the Arabs, and any other country for that matter, for what they might contribute to serve his cause—then they were toast.

[mightyrooster]

I seldom "lecture" MR. I prefer to think of of it as "pointing the way" more than anything else.

I recently saw a doco on the homeless situation in San Fran which contrasted starkly with an SBS doco "The Silk Road from Above" (see it on On Demand, it's well worth it). The overall achievement of the BRI is indisputable and a testament to China's commitment to lead world morally and economically. Like the US, the business of China is also business but unlike the US there is a commitment to humanity.

Lol, so much to unpack here.

Your pointing the way can be felt as lecturing since it is often done in a condescending fashion. But at least you are ‘fair’ and ’offer your direction’ to everyone who disagrees with you rather than being selective and picking and choosing who will be made an example of.

I will reiterate that America is the schoolyard bully.

Finally, your comments on China gave me a really good laugh, which I needed since it hasn’t been the greatest day today so far.

My biggest fear is we are heading full circle on the global front and gradually paving the way for another world war. But I’m sure you can point me in the right direction.

[Paddo Colt 61]

Why the China stuff would give you a "good laugh" escapes me because, with the exception of your Putin ideas, you seem to be thoughtful an d reasoned on most things. Is it the ingrained bias that has been inculcated since the Gold Rushes or just a common or garden susceptibility to msm propaganda?

Menadue has a piece on the latest death sentence of an "Aussie" in China. We get no background info from our msm - "death sentence" suffices to reinforce our prejudice, but the article by Percy Allen (former NSW Head of Treasury) shows a fanciful Don Quixote character, not unlike Davis Hicks. A nuisance really but one with a sizeable on line following in China. He was given a zillion chances but persisted seeing himself as inviolable.

[King Salvo]

I seldom "lecture" MR. I prefer to think of of it as "pointing the way" more than anything else.

I recently saw a doco on the homeless situation in San Fran which contrasted starkly with an SBS doco "The Silk Road from Above" (see it on On Demand, it's well worth it). The overall achievement of the BRI is indisputable and a testament to China's commitment to lead world morally and economically. Like the US, the business of China is also business but unlike the US there is a commitment to humanity.

China with a commitment to humanity is interesting, as I wonder what the Tibetans and Chinese Muslims would think about that. - Chickens for KFC or Gays for Palestine

[mightyrooster]

Why the China stuff would give you a "good laugh" escapes me because, with the exception of your Putin ideas, you seem to be thoughtful an d reasoned on most things. Is it the ingrained bias that has been inculcated since the Gold Rushes or just a common or garden susceptibility to msm propaganda?

Menadue has a piece on the latest death sentence of an "Aussie" in China. We get no background info from our msm - "death sentence" suffices to reinforce our prejudice, but the article by Percy Allen (former NSW Head of Treasury) shows a fanciful Don Quixote character, not unlike Davis Hicks. A nuisance really but one with a sizeable on line following in China. He was given a zillion chances but persisted seeing himself as inviolable.

I deplore racism so no it’s not that at all. I get accused of being woke when I start going on about racism. Maybe there is a bit of subliminal brain conditioning there. I guess my first thought was Covid and the reports that they tried to cover up the outbreak in the lab in Wuhan, but I guess the source of those reports was? I’m still skeptical about the whole covid thing though. But I guess I don’t see China as any more or less caring about humanity than any other nation really. To say the US does not care about humanity at all, despite its faults, is also wrong.

[Andrew Walker]

I’m looking forward to the Tucker Carlson interview with Putin

[Random Rooster]

I’m looking forward to the Tucker Carlson interview with Putin

I've mentioned a few times how Paddo's pro-Putin beliefs parallel those of Tucker Carlson.....so yes i was looking forward to the interview too!

Well i wish i had the 2 hours back. Putin was rambling on and on....Tucker hardly spoke and seemed to get into a trance. I think the end summoned it up.....after Putin was going on about how the Ukrainian soldiers actually believe they are Russian ( or something like that!) Putin finally stopped and there was this awkward pause....Tucker looked like he was in a coma and Putin said " shall we end here or is there anything else?" and there was another pause and Tucker said "no i think thats great".....even Tucker had enough!!

Paddo really should have been doing the interview to give it a bit of zest!

What did you think of the interview Andy? Anyone else here have an opinion?

[Paddo Colt 61]

I didn't see the interview and don't know if I will bother as I don't really know Carlson but I assume that his seeming pro Putin position is is just Republican isolationism - don't get involved in Europe has always been a solid plank in US conservative thought.

I did, however, like the interviews with Oliver Stone some time back. They are on Youtube still.

[Andrew Walker]

I've mentioned a few times how Paddo's pro-Putin beliefs parallel those of Tucker Carlson.....so yes i was looking forward to the interview too!

Well i wish i had the 2 hours back. Putin was rambling on and on....Tucker hardly spoke and seemed to get into a trance. I think the end summoned it up.....after Putin was going on about how the Ukrainian soldiers actually believe they are Russian ( or something like that!) Putin finally stopped and there was this awkward pause....Tucker looked like he was in a coma and Putin said " shall we end here or is there anything else?" and there was another pause and Tucker said "no i think thats great".....even Tucker had enough!!

Paddo really should have been doing the interview to give it a bit of zest!

What did you think of the interview Andy? Anyone else here have an opinion?

I have been so busy with work I have not had a chance to watch it in full as yet. Hoping to do so either tonight or tomorrow night.

[A Country Member]

I didn't see the interview and don't know if I will bother as I don't really know Carlson but I assume that his seeming pro Putin position is is just Republican isolationism - don't get involved in Europe has always been a solid plank in US conservative thought.

I did, however, like the interviews with Oliver Stone some time back. They are on Youtube still.

Speaking of Oliver Stone, here is an excerpt from an interview with the league loving and company man, Peter FitzSimons in todays SMH.


Fitz: Another surprising turn that you took, at least for me, were your interviews with Vladimir Putin, in The Putin Interviews. I take your point that he’s not just a cartoon character dictator, but a man of flesh and blood beset by forces that are around him, navigating the best he can. Nevertheless, are you shocked, as I’m shocked, by the brutality in the invasion of Ukraine, with Putin at the base of it?

OS: I’m sorry, there has been a great deal of awful new propaganda about Russia ever since the turn of this century. It’s coming from a neoconservative Washington, which is seeking to destroy the so-called Russian Empire and use it as a rich base of natural resources to be exploited by the West. We’ve made Putin into the major villain of our time because he’s invaded Ukraine, whereas the United States – with NATO – illegally invaded Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria with impunity. This is a war that’s been very misunderstood, especially the stakes. If you remember correctly, the United States staged a coup in Ukraine in 2014, which exiled the elected president and brought in a vehement and strongly anti-Russian government. They have a long history in Eastern Europe of fighting Russia. Donbas, which is the eastern, Russian-minority part of Ukraine, never joined this new government, nor did Crimea, and they were identified as “terrorists” by the government. The Russians, however, saw them as “separatists” who wanted no part of this unelected government.

While pretending to follow a peace process in Minsk I and Minsk II, the US and European Union betrayed Russia, significantly building up the Ukrainian army from 2016 on. One hundred thousand of these troops were poised to retake Donbas in February 2022. At the same time, the Ukrainian government was making quite a bit of noise about getting nuclear weapons into Ukraine. This was a huge issue for the Russians because, as you may remember, Gorbachev, Reagan and Bush negotiated in the 1980s and ’90s for a new, peaceful Europe. East Germany was reunited with West Germany on the basis that NATO would not move beyond Germany one inch to the east. That vow was broken repeatedly by the United States. NATO, with our blessing, added 13 countries to its treaty, and grew into a monster on the borders of Russia in a major movement to supposedly “contain” Russia.

There’s no point going into the history of this enormous violation to Russian national security, but it would be similar to Mexico or Canada suddenly declaring they have put a hostile army on the Mexican or Canadian border of the United States, and were, with nuclear weapons, minutes from all our major industrial centres. Nor should it be forgotten that it was the United States who reignited the Cold War in 2002 when Bush abruptly abrogated the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. So, between using NATO to expand and breaking several other nuclear agreements, the United States and NATO began the process of encircling Russia, which became increasingly suspicious of the motives of the West.

To put it in another way, if Putin had not reacted to the build-up on his borders by invading Donbas and annexing Crimea (which occurred, interestingly, without violence, because most of the population was pro-Russian), he would have lost the trust of the Russian people, who were not blind to what was going on. That’s when Putin, after giving us several warnings about the West crossing Russian red lines, reacted and sent some 120,000 Russian troops into Donbas, which had already become a bloody war by 2022 with some 7000 to 8000 “separatists” murdered by the illegal Kyiv gangster government. It was certainly not in Putin’s interest to destroy the Donbas. To the contrary, he wants to have it back in the Russian sphere of interest and keep it productive, which it once was. So one wonders where all this alleged brutality propaganda is coming from? Motive is necessary, and perhaps when this war is over, there’ll be a more rational reporting of the news.

Fitz: We can talk about this one for three hours, and I’d love to, but I’m aware of your time restrictions.


Fitz: Last question, if I may. Most of us in Australia don’t understand Trump. We sort of understand how he might have been elected once, but after everything that happened, finishing with January 6, we cannot understand how Americans could look at him and go, “Yeah, let’s have four more years of that.”

OS: And if you look at the Biden administration, you can say the same thing. It has gotten America into three wars, if you really think about it: (1) Ukraine, which is really a proxy war to weaken or destroy Russia, which is the most extreme strategy any American president has ever attempted; (2) the Middle East war continued in Israel, with America’s full support of Israel; and (3) now we’re bombing Yemen ourselves.

Biden is a simple-minded, old-fashioned Cold Warrior of the first degree. As mad as [WWII US Air Force] General Curtis LeMay was in his way. He’s extremely dangerous. Trump might not be a solution to this madness, but he’s nothing compared to Biden or to the damage that George W. Bush did to my country by declaring the “War on Terror”, which was wholly unnecessary. He provoked this new world that we’re living in of extreme violence and militarism.

From Bush, it grows to where we are now in a most dangerous position. Obama, then Trump, now Biden, have provoked China as well by declaring a “pivot to Asia” and sending American marines and so forth to Australia, building up the Pacific Fleet … The US is brokering a major war in the Pacific. This is a very incendiary position. I hardly see what’s so wonderful about Biden.

Fitz: He is not Trump, is the first thing that’s wonderful about Biden!

OS: That’s your way of putting it, but I don’t think you fully understand that Biden has truly split the world into two scared camps and abides by the outdated imperial notion that the US can still dominate the world. It cannot. It must accept a multipolar world that can exist economically without war.

Fitz: OK, thanks. It has been one of the privileges of my professional life to speak to you and I seriously thank you.

[Random Rooster]

And speaking of Oliver Stone again..... here's the full text of Stone’s Facebook post in March in 2022 :


Although the United States has many wars of aggression on its conscience, it doesn’t justify Mr. Putin’s aggression in Ukraine. A dozen wrongs don’t make a right. Russia was wrong to invade. It has made too many mistakes — 1) underestimating Ukrainian resistance, 2) overestimating the military’s ability to achieve its objective, 3) underestimating Europe’s reaction, especially Germany upping its military contribution to NATO, which they’ve resisted for some 20 years; even Switzerland has joined the cause. Russia will be more isolated than ever from the West. 4) underestimating the enhanced power of NATO, which will now put more pressure on Russia’s borders, 5) probably putting Ukraine into NATO, 6) underestimating the damage to its own economy and certainly creating more internal resistance in Russia, 7) creating a major readjustment of power in its oligarch class, 8 ) putting cluster and vacuum bombs into play, 9) and underestimating the power of social media worldwide.


But we must wonder, how could Putin have saved the Russian-speaking people of Donetsk and Luhansk? No doubt his Government could’ve done a better job of showing the world the eight years of suffering of those people and their refugees — as well as highlighting the Ukrainian buildup of 110,000 soldiers on the Donetsk-Luhansk borders, which was occurring essentially before the Russian buildup. But the West has far stronger public relations than the Russians.

Or perhaps Putin should’ve surrendered the two holdout provinces and offered 1-3 million people help to relocate in Russia. The world might’ve understood better the aggression of the Ukrainian Government. But then again, I’m not sure.

But now, it’s too late. Putin has allowed himself to be baited and fallen into the trap set by the U.S. and has committed his military, empowering the worst conclusions the West can make. He probably, I think, has given up on the West, and this brings us closer than ever to a Final Confrontation. There seems to be no road back. The only ones happy about this are Russian nationalists and the legion of Russian haters, who finally got what they’ve been dreaming of for years, i.e. Biden, Pentagon, CIA, EU, NATO, mainstream media — and don’t overlook Nuland and her sinister neocon gang in D.C. This will significantly vindicate the uber hawks in public eyes. Pointing out the toxicity of their policies (Yugoslavia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, NATO expansion, breaking nuclear treaties, censoring and omitting crucial facts from the news, etc.) will be next to impossible. Pointing out Western double standards, including Kyiv and Zelenskyy’s bad behavior, will likewise fall on deaf ears as we again draw the wrong conclusions.


It’s easier now to smear those of us who tried to understand the Russian position through these last two decades. We tried. But now is the time, as JFK and Khrushchev faced down the perilous situation in Cuba in October 1962, for the two nuclear powers to walk this back from the abyss. Both sides need to save face.

This isn’t a moment for the U.S. to gloat. As a Vietnam War veteran and as a man who’s witnessed the endless antagonism of the Cold War, demonizing and humiliating foreign leaders is not a policy that can succeed. It only makes the situation worse. Back-channel negotiations are necessary, because whatever happens in the next few days or weeks, the specter of a final war must be realistically accepted and brokered. Who can do that? Are there real statesmen among us? Perhaps, I pray, Macron. Bring us the likes of Metternich, Talleyrand, Averell Harriman, George Shultz, James Baker, and Mikhail Gorbachev.

The great unseen tragedy at the heart of this history of our times is the loss of a true peaceful partnership between Russia and the U.S. — with, yes, potentially China, no reason why not except America’s desire for dominance. The idiots who kept provoking Russia after the Cold War ended in 1991 have committed a terrible crime against humanity and the future. Together, our countries could’ve been natural allies in the biggest battle of all against climate change. In its technical achievements alone, in large scale science, in its rocketry, heavy industries, and its most modern, clean nuclear energy reactors, Russia has been a great friend to man. Alas, in our century so far, man has failed to see or reach for the stars.

[mightyrooster]

Very interesting reads the last two posts.

[King Salvo]

Putin thinks the Soviet Union still exists, and somehow it's Moscow's right to pick and choose the governments of other countries. He doesn't comprehend that these countries, as sovereign states, have the right to apply to join any organisation they so wish, whether it be NATO or the EU.

Spent 30 minutes rambling on about the so called history of Russia or more accurately his take.

He virtually denounced Lenin, even saying he betrayed Russia and Russian troops in World War I, and also blamed Lenin for the creation of Ukraine, which he says is a fabricated country and the provision allowing countries to leave the Soviet Union which they did on mass in 1991. . - It was the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic from 1917 to 1991.

I wonder if Lenin will finally be buried then - outwardly there is not much of the real Lenin Left - mostly plastic designer skin.

All this is straight out of Putin's play book which we have seen before in Chechnya ( 2 Wars ) , Georgia and Tajikistan- Interesting his belated response to whether he would invade Poland - The Soviet Union invaded Poland from the East Previously under the Molotov–Ribbentrop so called Non Aggression Pact - carve up of Europe.

Russia started the war even after Putin stated they had no intention of invading Ukraine, despite the build-up of 200,000 Russian troops on the Ukraine. -Russia Border. Thought it would take a few days and Ukraine would be defeated.

The problem is unless Putin is voted out or taken out he will be President of Russia until 2036.

[A Country Member]

If Vlad makes 2036, he’ll best your authoritative term Marshall