Interesting stuff

Do you mean Seaton in the National party electorate, or the one in the Labor one?

Sorry, the Sweden reference, amongst others, escapes me.

you seriously not getting this?

no point doing a pitch to voters for a pompous sophisticated swedish angenda when your voters are the dregs of seaton

these are the people you need to appeal to

these are the people you need on side, the ones who will/should/did vote for you. belittling, ridiculing, and offering them nothing to vote for will not win elections, or keep you in power, no matter how good your intentions

labor are the labour party, or were...

why the fuck would these people vote for you when all you offer them are increasing prices, taxes, property prices, and competition for the shit jobs that are available?

that's without even considering the outright contempt you display for these people

a 'winning' formula ....not!

seaton, the shithole suburb in port adelaide

you know seaton, you grew up near it!

enough with the playing dumb facto

Confusing. In this mystical Seaton, be there monsters?

Sorry to be glib, but you sound like you don't like the place or its voters. Is that because it's a Labor seat?

Then again, the one in Gippsland is held by the Nats.

As I said, confusing.

ok, I'll continue the charade...

being from a southern shithole, very close to, and even in, the one the media referred as 'the bronx' for a period, I barely knew where seaton was, just somewhere 'over the hill' amongst 'the flatlanders' and west was all I knew...

until I recently worked there, helping a young aboriginal boy, classic little dude, lined up to play for little port, or whatever it is. I don't follow footy, too bogan for me, anyway...

having previously only frequented fulham gardens in that area... for it's skate park, 30 or so years ago, always at night, and usually half drunk, because that's how we rolled, back in the day, when it was the only one, or one of... I thought the whole area was a bit nice, a bit upper class if you will.

fulham is flash one a.,, a nice suburb, big houses, big woggy houses, complete with columns out front, and concrete gardens. nice infrastructure...

seaton, not so much... quite the contrast really, for a neighbouring suburb, surprised me, shocked me even. but nah, no issue with seaton, felt right at home actually...

so nah, no monsters, just telling it how it is

....nice skate bowls though, someone did a fantastic finish on that concrete garden...

OK, so Seaton in South Australia. Got it. I don't personally know it at all, but I know it's in a Labor electorate, because I looked it up. I remain confused though why you think the "dregs" of this "shithole" suburb (as you described it and its inhabitants) vote Labor? Don't vote Liberal??

They're simply confused or you are?

I know I am right now.

facto facto facto....

give it up mate, if your writing wasn't enough to give you up, that little thumb nail photo was, quite reckless of you really...

but we'll carry on

I was being facetious

they'd be fools to vote liberal, just as the people from the shithole suburb I grew up in would be, but things are heading that way...

it's the edge of the dreggy suburbs you need to worry about, the swingers. you are offending and isolating all of these groups of people, but carry on...

" I remain confused though why you think the "dregs" of this "shithole" suburb (as you described it and its inhabitants) vote Labor? Don't vote Liberal??"

you are really not making much sense there ...for a writer...

but I guess that's part of your new schtick, your new 5th personality, or are we up to six or seven now?

OK, another interesting and idiosyncratic opinion piece, Sypkhan. Thanks.

But I'm still confused by a few things.

When you write 'you', do you mean me personally, or some other general grouping? As in your sentence about the people in the "dreggy" suburbs, and this 'you' that is isolating and offending them.

And all that facts stuff.

Facts? No facts?? Facto???

I don't understand.

Bear with me now.

So your "dreggy" suburb, as you describe it, voted Labor, but will soon join the historical majority, go with the flow and vote Liberal?

And this is bad?

It obviously makes you mad.

Australia seems like an easygoing nation, mainly. If I could vote, I'd go with the flow too I reckon.

Don't worry, be happy, Sypkhan.

Be thankful we're here in Australia. Imagine being back in the States. How was that Iowa fiasco? And the impeachment enquiry, of course.

Back to practicalities, and referring to Sypkhan's interesting post above again, maybe being in a marginal or swinging seat isn't a bad thing?

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-02-07/government-cash-splash-swimming-p...

Sypkan i dont think he is Facto.

His attention span is way to long he can actually hold a conversation and has thoughts and ideas.

Facto just cuts and paste obscure articles from obscure websites, post lame memes and just attacks people in short sentences and never address them by their real profile names.

If im wrong, well i prefer his new profile/handle personality and approach.

"...and never address them by their real profile names."

Sypkhan?

I might be being a bit sensitive about my name, but...

I agree, I'll take this twisted formed facto anyday, aside from giving nothing of the self, and just repeating the same old shit, again and again and... (very facto) ...at least he's civil...

Quick aside, South African orcas still laying down the law:

https://www.news.com.au/technology/science/animals/killer-whales-surroun...

Meanwhile in Japan.

(not sure how long this has been planned but only reported in news this week)

Japan Races to Build New Coal-Burning Power Plants, Despite the Climate Risks

(22 of them )

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/03/climate/japan-coal-fukushima.html

shaking head in disbelief,when will humans ever learn ........

We will not, as we think we already know everything.......

https://fukushima-diary.com/breaking-news/

dunno if this one has been shut down/silenced recently? Anyway, news from alternate sources.

Thanks for posting VJ
This is always getting hidden

This will be the new global fuel source and everyone seems to be working on it. A good way to phase out oil.

"How good is Australia"

You can use $250 mil of taxpayers money to fund an election campaign...........brilliant.

Just when you thought sanity may return to the Climate Debate in Australia up pops serial idiot and moron, Malcolm Roberts.

Under Parliamentary Privilege in the Senate, this complete fuckwit, defames and insults climate scientist, Prof Michael Mann, who appeared on QandA alongside Jim Molan last Monday. I would like to see Mann take up his offer of a debate, just to show what a fool Roberts is.

You can watch the speech here :

Warning: It is five minutes of your life you will never get back though.

"Over 60 cities totalling 400 Million people have now been quarantined in China.

W . T . F ?!?!"

those scenes of empty streets and freeways are bloody spooky to say the least...

good on em for finally taking shit seriously, but, too little too late?

you can guarentee we are barely getting half the story, if that...

it's been pretty much four years now of trumpy, trumpism and all things trumpy

and four long years of denial...

tradgedy and denial are a weird process. irrational behaviour that is sometimes very difficult to understand for outside observers, but you give them space, and you give them time... it's all you can do... a year or two is usually more than enough...

certain media outlets have been calling trump derangement syndrome (TDS) for pretty much all of that period,

whilst the usual suspect media outlets just continued to dismiss and deny...

finally an old stalwart of the democrats has made the call

"we are losing our minds"

better late than never I guess...

and has also made a call that the democrats need to be 'relevant'. a call that could apply to much of the left of politics across the world

as the news guy says in the vid...

'no point offering a whole foods menu when you are a campbells soup nation'

...now where have I heard words to that effect before?

dunno if smoko was oz labor's 'iowa moment', or if we still have a long way to go... but please please oz labor...

bloody get on with it!

https://www.msnbc.com/the-beat-with-ari/watch/-wake-up-dem-vet-calls-for...

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/2/7/21123518/trump-2020-ele...

"You don’t shut down the lives and economic productivity of 400 million people over 700 deaths."

Yep!

"And China is desperate to export its tragedy. They’ll shut down cities but moan when other countries try and slow the spread themselves :"

and yep!!

...and the gimps at the abc and the guardian will call "racism!!"

it's literally all they know

it'd be hilarious if it wasn't so tragic...

The Americans like Trump and that's their business. We shouldn't get all worked up about it. The Democrats are behaving like babies and have done themselves in trying to Impeach him on the grounds of wanting to know about an opponent who's family was in a corrupt business which happened to be true anyway. I sure would like to know about that if I were him. The American economy is up. Nearly 300,000 new jobs last year and the stock market at all time highs. China got put back in their box with tariffs as they were out of control global bullies. People are manufacturing again and believing in themselves. Pulling the troops out of Islamic countries. Shaking hands with North Korea on their turf. You don't have to like the trumpy loose cannon but give him a little respect. I thought his last UN address was exceptional, not written down either,straight off the cuff and if you haven't watched it you should. He virtually said he's sick of being the world police and everyone should stay home, mind their own business, get on with making their own country great, practice their religion and beliefs in their own borders. Trade fairly, stop fighting and all learn to respect each other and get on. Didn't sound like the ramblings of an idiot to me.
Regarding Labor in Australia, I'm a conservative voter who would like to see Scomo get it together and plant a real lot of trees and I also think Anthony Albo is a real good bloke and genuine. Unfortunately, Shorten and his old guard are still there in the shadows looking over his shoulder and if Albo can get rid of them all, he will do really well and I for one would like to see him do well as I think he is an asset. Who knows , if he has a good vision for Australia and a new team I may even vote for him.

Trump is the US unmasked or reality TV, he is exacerbating the movement of wealth from lower and middle classes to the top 1%, debasing conventions, US institutions and the very core on US democracy.

Add to this unfunded tax cuts that is adding trillions to the US debt burden that company execs used to buy back shares to boost stock prices giving themselves big bonuses............ reality TV.

From what I've read and heard on radio etc it seems like he has actually done a pretty decent job, even those financial guys on ABC radio have been giving him half positive praise, and you can actually hear their pain in their voices having to give him praise.

The feeling i get is even the haters are having trouble putting negative spin on things, odds seem pretty good that he will get reelected.

But that said without compulsory voting in the USA it's a bit unpredictable, if people think he has it in the bag, maybe all the Trump haters will be motivated to vote and those in support might be lazy to make the effort to vote thinking their vote isn't needed..

Glad we have compulsory voting in Australia for these types of reasons.

"Unemployment is at record lows; this year the number of job openings outnumbered the unemployed workers to fill them by the widest gap ever; wages are rising, and low-wage workers are experiencing the fastest pay increases. Fifty-seven percent of Americans say they are better off financially since Trump took office."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/12/26/best-things-trump-has...

Trumps a genus adding over a trillion dollars a year to US Gov deficit who is going to pay for that?

"I'm a conservative voter who would like to see Scomo get it together and plant a real lot of trees"

Being more accountable and showing some integrity would be a good start as well

Lot of money, but seems it's not that unusual for USA seems Obama deficit increase rate was even higher, but too be fair difference though is he was in bad times Trump is in good times, you would hope in his next term, he starts reducing it.

I just think people like you that would hate on him no matter what he did, we all thought he would fail as president, re read the comments from when he was elected and even i was kind of scared, but like it or not he has overall been quite successful even with so many trying to pull him down.

https://www.businessinsider.com.au/national-debt-deficit-trump-how-it-co...

BTW Optimist there is the 20 million tree planting program run by the government, probably need to make a new one for 20 billion trees after those fires though.

http://www.nrm.gov.au/national/20-million-trees

That's great Indo, I didn't know they were on to it, cheers for that. Your right, another 20 million trees please and some new groups to plant them. Re green the deserts would also change everything regarding carbon reduction and creating more inland rainfall and its easy too. Ive posted this video before. Australia can do this just using good ol farmers and a basic tractor tool.

Trump is also rolling back environmental protections pretty hard. He is the last ditch by the fossil fuel and arms industry’s to extract wealth. And all at the expense of the working class as it’s thier taxes that repay those huge debts as they increasingly lose funding for public services. Much like what’s happening in Australia under the liberals and Scummo.

It’d be really handy if some of you conservatives could read between the lines a bit.

Maybe the world wouldn’t have so many shit Cunts in power doing cunty stuff. As most of the LNP are exposing themselves to be.

The thing about Trump is that it’s always been clear that he’s one of the elites, and he was always going to represent the big end of town, no matter what anyone thought.

But the thing that’s confused me is that if he’s yet another stooge for the military industrial complex, how does that reconcile with his relatively dove-ish efforts internationally?

What have I missed?
Or are those efforts yet another reason he’s been mercilessly pilloried by the neoliberal/industrial media?

Read this if you can bear it -
an effort to summarize LNP
shit-cuntery, though it barely scratches the surface.

https://mobile.twitter.com/realCarrickRyan/status/1220952835665227777?re...

"But the thing that’s confused me is that if he’s yet another stooge for the military industrial complex, how does that reconcile with his relatively dove-ish efforts internationally?"
He has a history of voicing publicly AGAINST the USA's foreign policy of war mongering. It is why some people voted for him over Hillary Clinton (who's record is one of war mongering).

"Or are those efforts yet another reason he’s been mercilessly pilloried by the neoliberal/industrial media?"
Yes it appears to be so, Democrats were openly appalled when he wanted to pull troops out of Syria and when he engaged in talks with North Korea.

ID it has nothing to do with "hate", if your best defence of Trump and his excesses is that those who point out the facts of his obvious failings (let's face it he is a reality TV personality) are haters then you do not have a defence.

Note hate is a far rights tool of political attack.

Maybe you could defend Trump by saying "Hillary would have been far worse"

And agree Trump's highlight is not starting another pointless war killing 100,00s.

Andy I think you might be missing the truth in the actions (so far). Lots of noise, no new wars. It's been a bit of reality TV in how the negotiations are done! Trump v Kim was pretty surreal to watch. Missiles fired, loud noises, no war. Syria: cruise missiles fired, no war, ISIS mopped up. Iran: general taken out, no war so far.

Trump is at the same time very much in favour of building a strong military, notice the increases in funding. The purpose of this is the rise of a near-peer power and the reality it may have to be engaged in an old style 'great powers' conflict in future whether the US wants it or not.

As he withdraws from quagmires in the ME that just cost money and blood (he also put allies on notice they'd have to pay for their protection, with some success) - power abhors a vacuum and so Russia and China will move into that area and include it in their sphere of influence. Strategically the US might not want that, just as we might not want Chinese deepwater ports along the LA-Pearl-Brisbane line of supply. So he may be advised to keep a presence in certain areas, and bolster others.

Also, if he only represents the big end of town (doing fine with all time high indexes and QE/Repo fiat printing, tax cuts helped them but also the economy) - he also represents the working class who had their jobs shipped offshore after disastrous trade agreements in the 90's and beyond. He is very popular with them, and listening to (all of) his SOTU speech, you will see he points out again and again, how many new manufacturing jobs, new factories, stories of working people coming off drugs or unemployment and being able to build their own future. The strategy here is to take the working class base of the Democrat party and keep it for a generation - all racial groups - as Steve Bannon pointed out a couple of years ago in an interview. It's working. The left has gone so far left with its identity politics and PC and open borders, they've stopped representing their traditional core and it's just been nicked (in UK as the red wall fell and Aus in QLD's coal basin as well). It was the opportunity of a lifetime. Trump is an economic nationalist first and foremost - he wants the people of his country getting ahead - this explains the energy sufficiency they've developed (and Tesla popping to the moon, as they are planning beyond oil as well), this explains the military, the revitalisation of NASA, the Space Force; this explains the willingness to take on the debt to fire the economy. He's been remarkably consistent over his lifetime, here he is in 1980:

Finding the 2020 SOTU speech is a little harder. A search brings up a large number of links explaining what was wrong with it, or how you should correctly interpret it, or fact checking of it provided by bodies of dubious origin. No, I want the original speech. Here it is:

So basically Trump’s a divisive, grubby, populist dog whistler whose stance on human rights is dodgy and who appears to have little regard for environmental issues.
On the positive side, he’s backing out of the U.S playing international cop and has built bridges with some old foes who in the past have been subject to some pretty transparent and unnecessary U.S. propaganda.

On balance, not a very good Prez and not much of a leader.

Anyone know if he’s done anything positive for US based manufacturing?