looker-on
aka Thomas the Kraut
How did you do it? Was it possible to object or didn't they just draft you?
The Serious Discussion Thread.
- Thread starter Richie
- Start date
looker-on
aka Thomas the Kraut
I wish that were true but reality looks grim.
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Richie
Well-Known Member
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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Grier
Well-Known Member
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.
Richie
Well-Known Member
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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Richie
Well-Known Member
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.
Richie
Well-Known Member
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.
Grier
Well-Known Member
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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Grier
Well-Known Member
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.
It suits him
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.
It suits him
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Richie
Well-Known Member
Yeh sickened me.
Richie
Well-Known Member
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.
Grier
Well-Known Member
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!
Grier
Well-Known Member
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.
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.
Richie
Well-Known Member
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)
looker-on
aka Thomas the Kraut
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.
Grier
Well-Known Member
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.
looker-on
aka Thomas the Kraut
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.
Richie
Well-Known Member
Yes Terry the West froze all Russian monetary assets in western banks when it invaded Ukraine. In the interum the value of the funds have grown with added interest, some Euro35b of which is to be handed to Ukraine or has already been. Not sure if it is a gift or a loan. This will ensure Ukraine can continue its war with Russia. Also there has been some 'Trump proofing' behind the scenes by the EU in the eventuality Trump won and cut Ukraine funding, which appears inevitable.
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Richie
Well-Known Member
The prospect of Trump unchecked is not merely an offense to abstract notions of democracy. It poses multiple dangers, all of them clear and present. To take just one, there is nothing to stop the old-new president making good on his promise (has now done) to put the anti-vax fanatic and conspiracy theorist Robert F Kennedy Jr in charge of public health. . If that happens, there are already warnings that polio or measles could return to afflict America’s children.
Or consider the climate. In Salem, Virginia, last weekend, I heard Trump hail the glories of “liquid gold”, meaning oil, leading the crowd in a chant of “Drill, baby, drill”. He promised to extract oil from the last pristine wilderness in North America, Alaska’s Arctic national wildlife refuge. Joe Biden had moved to preserve it; Trump will send in the rigs. That will accelerate yet further the climate breakdown, a crisis that was unmistakable that day in Salem, where the temperature reached a weird 26C in November.
Trump is now free to abandon Ukraine to Vladimir Putin’s wolves, free to make Nato a dead letter – which it will be the day Trump is sworn in on 20 January. We know that Trump has contempt for Nato’s core principle of mutual defence. Without that, the alliance falls apart. Yet there is no one to stop him.
We know how Trump wants to rule because he has said so, telling a Fox News interviewer he would be a dictator “on day one”. We know which leaders he admires because of the way he gushes over Putin, Xi Jinping and Kim Jong-un. The assumption had always been that these fantasies of his would remain just that, because of the institutional checks and balances that fetter an American president. But when Trump renews his oath on 20 January, those restraints will look either badly frayed or entirely absent. He will be Trump unbound, free to do his worst. (The Guardian)
Or consider the climate. In Salem, Virginia, last weekend, I heard Trump hail the glories of “liquid gold”, meaning oil, leading the crowd in a chant of “Drill, baby, drill”. He promised to extract oil from the last pristine wilderness in North America, Alaska’s Arctic national wildlife refuge. Joe Biden had moved to preserve it; Trump will send in the rigs. That will accelerate yet further the climate breakdown, a crisis that was unmistakable that day in Salem, where the temperature reached a weird 26C in November.
Trump is now free to abandon Ukraine to Vladimir Putin’s wolves, free to make Nato a dead letter – which it will be the day Trump is sworn in on 20 January. We know that Trump has contempt for Nato’s core principle of mutual defence. Without that, the alliance falls apart. Yet there is no one to stop him.
We know how Trump wants to rule because he has said so, telling a Fox News interviewer he would be a dictator “on day one”. We know which leaders he admires because of the way he gushes over Putin, Xi Jinping and Kim Jong-un. The assumption had always been that these fantasies of his would remain just that, because of the institutional checks and balances that fetter an American president. But when Trump renews his oath on 20 January, those restraints will look either badly frayed or entirely absent. He will be Trump unbound, free to do his worst. (The Guardian)
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looker-on
aka Thomas the Kraut
That's part of the grim-looking reality despite the big manoeuvre you mentioned.