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notices and features - Date published:
5:30 pm, August 30th, 2019 - 59 comments
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The current rise of populism challenges the way we think about people’s relationship to the economy.We seem to be entering an era of populism, in which leadership in a democracy is based on preferences of the population which do not seem entirely rational nor serving their longer interests. ...
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is it controversial to note that trump has invaded no other country – yet..
whereas by this stage in his presidency obama was full tilt into turning the most progressive country in the arab world – libya – into a fundamentalist hellhole..
not to mention all the libyan men/women/children he killed..
i repeat – so far trump has killed nobody/bombed nobody..
Trump Drops the Mother of All Bombs on Afghanistan
Eight-year-old American girl 'killed in Yemen raid approved by Trump'
American woman in Syria posts emotional video pleading with Trump to stop civilian deaths
You repeat – mistruths
the point is that trump has not invaded anyone..(syria is a proxy-war..)
yet obama – viewed by so many as some sort of saint – is a fucken war-criminal…
the point is that trump has not invaded anyone..
As rhetorical sleight-of-hand goes, that's a pathetic effort. Obama didn't invade Libya (or anywhere else, from memory). Certainly dropped bombs on people, although not "the mother of all bombs" like Trump did, as pointed out above. This peddling of Trump as some kind of pacifist is just obnoxious.
'Obama didn't invade Libya'..(!)
heh..!..w.t.f. are you smoking..?
can i have the number of yr dealer..?
Very convincing.
using yr criterea – i guess we cd also claim the shrub didn't invade iraq – it was 'the coalition of the willing'…that dun it..
It looks like you don't know what the word 'invasion' means. As usual, Wikipedia can help you with that, but the tl:dr version is there's a bit more to it than dropping some bombs or firing some missiles.
i am not peddling that orange p.o.s. trump as a pacifist – i am shining a light on obama – as an unindicted war-criminal..
and going: 'ironic – eh..?'…
and tho' the orange ball of pus is not (yet) a war-criminal…
he sure as hell is indicted…
i was reminded the other day that new york state has sealed grand jury indictments for trump..
on ricoh charges (which is racketeering – which is trump as gangster..which is big sentences..)
i understand they are to do with his laundering of russian mob money – using real estate – since the 1990's..
i think donnie's going down..
how sweet that will be..
and funny story..!
trump had russian mobsters scattered thruout trump tower..
(his in-house coke dealer lived on the 24th floor..)
and helen clark used to live in the trump tower..
it’s a small world – isn’t it..?
Did Trump tell you that?
no – the facts of the matter told me that…
… most progressive country in the arab world – libya …
I s'pose you could somehow define progressive in a way that made that true, but it would still be an extremely low bar.
If you value the idea of a people's right to self-determination, then the way that a people's uprising was well underway to rid themselves of that POS Gaddafi long before the UN, european forces and then the US got involved should give you a clue that the simple "Obama blew Libyans up" picture you've tried to paint is a smear.
But if you're of a mindset to go all gooey-eyed over nasty authoritarian dictators, then I wouldn't expect you to understand why people oppressed by them aren't quite so enthusiastic.
the citizens of libya had free education to post-graduate level
free healthcare for all..
women free to work etc..total equality in education..
subsidised housing..
free state-provided childcare..
when a couple married – they received u.s. fifty thousand dollars from the govt – to help them get started in life..
obama turned all of this into a fundamentalist hellhole..
Funny how the wonderful progressive lifestyle that Gaddafi enforced in Libya led to a mass uprising, huh? Some people just got no gratitude.
drank and swallowed the kool-ade….didya..?
that 'mass-uprising' was the army of mercenaries funded/set up by cia..
you really believed all their war-propaganda/bullshit..at the time – did you..?
i didn't…
You ever visit Libya during the Gaddafi years? Or Syria during Bashar's reign? If you had, you might have some understanding of why the natives were restless.
and you clearly believed all the pre-invasion bullshit you were fed..eh..?
are you saying those rights i cited citizens as having were not happening..?
I have direct personal experience of Syria under Bashar, and have had conversations with people I trust that visited Libya during the noughties.
I fully understand why people of those nations wanted to rid themselves of those dictators, and believe a people's right to self-determination means they deserved support. That their efforts to free themselves devolved into a horrible free-for-all with all kinds of vicious opportunists making a bad situation worse doesn't change what the starting situations were.
All the gifts in the world don't make up for them being delivered by a nasty authoritarian dictator that brutally crushes dissent.
a potted history lesson for ya..
gaddaffi was overthrown because he was financing/setting up a new pan-arab/pan-african banking system/hub..
aimed at snaring all the bucks going to the u.s./european banksters..
and they were having none of that..
as always..follow the money..
and of course – they got to carve up all those luverly libyan oilfields..
y'know..!..what gaddaffi used to give his citizens so much – in a material sense..
A potty history lesson, prehaps. Did you even read what Andre said?
@ sacha..
yeah..that was all the pre-invasion black-propaganda..
he was clearly an enthusiastic customer/consumer at the time..
i wasn't…
i think i was maybe paying a bit more attention..
with bullshit-detectors on full-alert..
and – did you even read what i said..?
"I have direct personal experience"
of syria….yes..?..
i have direct experience of nz..
that is as bloody relevant..
Since the obvious relevance escapes you, I'll spell it out:
The same collection of fuckwits that tell us how wonderful Gaddafi was also tell us how wonderful Assad is, and spin the same stories about how the CIA stirred up unrest out of nothing in those countries.
I know from direct personal experience of Syria that's not accurate, that people in Syria had very good reason to take up arms to rid themselves of Assad. I have had direct reports, from sources known to me to be reliable, that the same was true in Libya.
Therefore, from sources independent of competing media voices, I can reliably conclude that those spinning stories like you're doing here have fully bought into one side's propaganda and are completely unable to see aspects of the situation that don't align with a predetermined worldview..
i have experience in nz – shall i tell you all about australia..?
(and from what i can garner about assad – he is a total p.o.s..)
you are talking apples and oranges..
and thus making no sense at all..
libya and syria both have short names that end in ‘a’..
that is about the only valid comparison of the two…
"I have direct personal experience of Syria under Bashar"
Could you be more specific? Where were you living, why were you there – work or holiday? What event that involved you personally, caused you to form your opinion of the Syrian government?
UN Security Council Resolution 1973 was passed in March 17 2011 authorising member nations to use necessary force to protect civilians. The vote was 10 – 0, with 5 abstentions. NATO got militarily involved 19 March.
But Obama is the only one responsible?
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-12782972
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libya#2011_Civil_War
would you believe obama..?
he has said his biggest mistake was no plan for after overthrowing gaddaffi..
(c.f…’fundamentalist hellhole’.).
Obama is the only one responsible for the outcome of UN and NATO actions?
now that's a knee-slapper…!
once again – will you believe obama..?
Correct yet again Phil, thank you. The neoliberals don't like you telling it like it is….
chrs..
what is mildly amusing is that they are defending what obama no longer does..
It's true that Trump doesn't invade (except Somalia, which apparently doesn't count) but the most liberal Arab nation was surely Tunisia, which started the whole Arab spring thing without external prompting.
in the sense of universal support for citizens – i dunno if tunisia matched up to libya..
and i agree there are the somalias's going on..but nothing that comes near to what obama did..
Still over a year to go in Trump's first term – give it time.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/apr/12/barack-obama-says-libya-was-worst-mistake-of-his-presidency
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_military_intervention_in_Libya
Good God!
🙄
In the meantime: "Defying Congress, Trump sets $8 billion-plus in weapons sales to Saudi Arabia, UAE"
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-saudi-arms/defying-congress-trump-sets-8-billion-plus-in-weapons-sales-to-saudi-arabia-uae-idUSKCN1SU25R
He may not be sending troops – just helping his buddies cash in on killing a few million people in Yemen.
obama also sold bulk arms to despots..
yr point..?
So what philip, it still doesn't make it right.
What is your point philip?
have you read the thread – ?
i am unable to make sense of yr question..
feel free to try again..
but my overall ‘point’..
is that obama – viewed as a saint by so many – is a war-criminal..
and what he did to libys – underlines that..
If you have a close look at the number sequence above…..
Macro commented @ 1.5
You replied to Marco's comment @ 1.5.1
I replied to your reply to Macro's comment @ 1.5.1.1.1
And it appears that your overall point is to point the finger at what happened in the past, which can’t be changed. Rather than what is happening now and in the possible future, which can be changed.
Should you be confused again about one of my comments, please let me know, I’m very helpful and happy to explain when required.
fine – (am still no clearer) – but carry on..!
Sweet as, if you are still having difficulties with comprehending the above, this time tomorrow, please let me know and I shall go through it slowly with you.
i'll note that in my diary..
Good thinking batman Beautiful day out there, have a good one.
will do – you too..
A measles outbreak in NZ in 2019…
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12263572
Please please please vaccinate.
Yes, its always great advice.
Of course , catching measles will then give give you immunity. So eventually if nothing is done, after 5,000, 25,000 or what ever the number is, people have had measles the epidemic will abate.
And if, in this latest outbreak, only 25,000 NZers become infected with the measles virus, it's unlikely that the death toll would exceed 25; ~5 deaths much more likely.
I thought the death rate was 1 in 10,000, therefore in 25,000 folk that would be 2.5 deaths.
Google is saying 1 in 1,000. Which seems high.
It's a worse disease than we have come to believe.
The annual death rate from measles in developed countries jumps around fair bit now that the incidence of infection is so low, due to vaccination programmes.
I did a little research in response to a suggestion from Rosemary McDonald – seems like 1 death in 5000 cases is about right, although it was 1 in 1000 during NZ's last measles epidemic (7 deaths from 7000 cases, in 1991), and was almost 1 in 800 in the UK in 1999 (3 deaths from 2438 cases).
There have been no deaths attributed to measles in NZ since the 1991 epidemic – long may that continue.
Measles was declared eradicated from NZ in 2012 – given the number of cases so far this year, it’s probably back 🙁
http://www.thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-10-08-2019/#comment-1645175
Its an eye opener to what it could be like if another deadly flu epidemic strikes- hundreds of serious cases and a far higher death rate.
However I believe the deaths from flu every year is far higher , but because more catch flu the death rate is lower.
Simon and Gerry have departed for India and China.
In India they will be accompanied by MP Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi. In China they will be with MP Jian Yang.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1908/S00288/bridges-and-brownlee-to-visit-india-and-china.htm
Donations are welcome and appreciated. Shell companies and multiple cheques can be arranged. List MP nominations will be considered ($).
Indians will have to donate twice as much!
"Why comparisons between Boris Johnson and Charles 1 are not empty rhetoric"
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/aug/29/boris-johnson-charles-i-king
Forgot to mention this today, 20yrs ago today the people of Timor-Leste voted for its independence from Indonesia, in which the people of Timor-Leste voted yes for independence. But it took the pollies and the UN to get their act together for another 19 days in which give the TNI and it’s militia forces another 19days of killing, rape etc and, adopt a scorch earth policy that would’ve made Herr Hitler, Stalin and Pol Pot smile with envy before the first of the INTERFET Troops arrived sometime of the early hrs of the 19th of September.
I arrived in Timor-Leste in the early hrs of the 20 Sept with No2 Airfield Defence SQN of the RAAF, where I had just joined the SQN some 2wks prior after graduating from ADG basic cse which was 3 and a bit mths of hell, but it never really prepared me for what I was about to encounter.
If you think War is hell and waste time and money? Then Peacekeeping is at whole different level/ ball game and far worse than War (done to 2 tours to the Greater Middle East Region).
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Force_East_Timor
It was eerily quiet in '73. Too quiet ..