Adam The God

Well, what do you know. Close. Not Lewis, Viney and Jones to lead. Very good. Makes sense.

Haha, Biffen asking for stats, sources and facts? Never thought I'd see the day. I don't think I've seen you cite a single source in any of your rantings thus far.

I haven't changed my stance here at all. I actually believe in the Third Way, but I put people first. If the leaders of the Third Way abandon people, I'll continue to put other human beings first and back further Left parties like the Greens or the Sex Party. The other thing I want to make clear if it was missed in my last post, is that border protection should never be against a certain group of people. You clearly think it should be, so not sure we're on the same ground here.

He'll certainly speed up the rising American underclass. A team of billionaires. My poor American friends.

I meant more that we actually had access to top end talent. Their picks were often not in the top 5. We've had so many top 5 picks, they're coming out of our ears. And we all know that the top 5 is where the cream usually sits, not always, but usually.

The difference is hows is top end talent. There's isn't. Particularly, in the midfield.

Welcome Billy. I'll be really interested to see how Goodwin plans for this. It's a fascinating first duel for him. His defensive set up was badly exposed on both occasions last year, so it'll be be telling what tinkers and tweaks he's made. The closer we get to the season proper, the more exited I am that we're playing first up at Etihad - a ground I despise. It's the perfect test to see where we're at and our credentials for September. Have we shed the soft underbelly or do we remain mentally susceptible? We'll know a lot by the end of Round 1. Which is great. Little room for [censored] teasing. As for the Saints, they've actually got some pretty impressive KP stocks nowadays, but their midfield going forward remains a liability. One or two do a lot of heavy lifting in the engine room and make the rest look a lot better than they are.

I believe the Third Way can work, but not neoliberalism. Unfortunately, the Third Way has unintentionally ushered in the rise of the Hard Right though, so it's not perfect. And Trump attacked the financial elites multiple times and you know it. He spent months telling everyone that Clinton spoke at a Goldman Sachs function and now he's hired someone from Goldman Sachs to be his economic advisor. #headinthesand

I mean I can get behind strict border protection as an unfortunate byproduct of 9/11, but I think vetting shouldn't target any one people(s). But having said that, the vetting should be vigorous, as it clearly is, and I don't think there should be restrictions on anyone who wants to settle peacefully. I'm not sure about numbers for an adequate target, but it should be based on identifiable evidence. We're not in a situation like Europe, fortunately, so we have no excuse not to have higher targets than many European countries. The most important thing when talking about resettlement is the potential for jobs and community. Jobs for livelihoods and community to keep one grounded, accountable and their mental health in check. Lastly, the processing conditions on which asylum seekers and anyone awaiting entry to the country for permanent residence experience, should be humane, access to proper health and care should be provided and it should most certainly be based on shore. We have a long way to go with our foreign policy and relations in particular with Indonesia, who we should be working with rigorously, to ensure we cut off the people smugglers before they even step foot inside a boat. That may require a joint financial contribution by both nations to programs and education that will deter, but in the long run, it will help stop the boats. Don't just tell them that they're taking the asylum seekers. That's arrogant and not good enough. Not only that, if our processing is humane, it decreases the chances of desperate people trying to get in boats and risking their lives because the alternative is potentially worse.

Agree that he's certainly not explosive, but he's dominant in the clinches like they were. Perhaps, I'm too young to remember just how good Williams was, but from my recollection, he didn't dominate clearances like Cripps does. Or like Judd did. Or like Ablett did. But I could be wrong.

No. The rise of the Hard Right is exstricably linked to three men's thirst for power in the wake of 9/11 and how they manipulated facts in order to keep themselves in power. Howard, Bush and Blair were each struggling in their electorates until 9/11 happened. They harnessed this fear and ramped it up 200 times and the world has never been the same since. Those three went to war in Iraq based on 'evidence' that was given to them by a member of the intelligence services, who described the alleged WMD as the unrealistic biological weapons used in the film THE ROCK. Want to know why they were so keen to go to Iraq? Because they were all struggling domestically, just as they had been in the lead up to 9/11. The important thing to remember about Howard, with the exception of his gun control laws (his shining achievement amongat a sea of excrement), was that he was a very poor domestic politician, as the polls showed prior to 9/11. Even the mood between the US administration and Howard's government was described as cool in the late 90s. But as soon as the 9/11 attacks came, he enacted the ANZUS treaty and transformed himself into solid, stable hand old Johnny. A politician that suddenly stood for something internationally. It gave he and his government a vision, a purpose that they played very effectively for 3-4 years, before Australians tired of him once more and finally voted him out. By this stage, the fear mongering and propaganda of these three men had left a lasting impact on Western politics. It lead to a stasis between progressive and conservative governments (progressive governments had to take traditionally conservative measures on border protection). The traditional Left had moved so Centre-Right, it meant that two major parties occupied the same space, hence the rise of a fringe movement on the Right. These pockets on the Right were galvanised and fed by a hungry Murdoch media machine that insisted that all Muslims were out to threaten Western democracy and by extension Christianity and our way of life. This campaign sowed seeds of division and eventually foreshadowed BREXIT, Trump's racist anti-immigration platform (remember, all Mexicans are rapists, apparently) and the multitude of Far Right European politicians who were now all of a sudden legitimised and empowered by an easy to adopt policy of fear. So no, we are mostly here because of those three opportunistic men and how they acted over the course of 6-7 years. And you want to "push [Islam] back to the desert" because you're afraid of it. Haha, there's no other reason. If you weren't afraid of it, you'd be happy to live alongside it. Pretty simple really. And I love that someone who says he's met a couple of gay people in his life as if that's some sort of achievement, crucifies Muslims for being homophobic.

Judd wasn't a great kick either, especially for goal, but he would just keep winning clearances. So dod Ablett in his prime. Cripps is the same IMO.

You are aware of the rise of the Hard Right in Europe, right? Been going on almost a decade. An anti-immigration platform has multiple country's scared and hard right loonies on the cusp of power. BREXIT impacts Trump, Trump and BREXIT impact on the National Front in France, all of a sudden three of the world's biggest forces are Hard Right. If that's not a threat to Western civilisation (and indeed all of civilisation), I don't know what is. The dominos are lined up and ready to fall. And you're incessantly blabbering on about radical Islam. My God. See the real threat when it's kicking you in the balls, already. ISIS and their 20 supporters would be rubbing their hands together. Division and fear is exactly what they want and you and many others are their chumps.

I certainly can't debate us being lead by America's dick into Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. I guess what I'm trying to say is that the Americans barely question authority. We questioned Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. The American people seemed to question Iraq and Syria.

Cripps, every day of the week. Best kid in the league. Favourite non-MFC player. He's got that Ablett or Judd about him. He's practically unstoppable in the clinches. I hope he goes back to WA. I've already planted the seed in my Carlton mates head and he's already folded and said Cripps is gone. Haha. Hopeless. I think he'll stay at Carlton for the duration of his current contract, but if they continue to stagnate, a big club or WA will come knocking.

Oh, no, Steve. Haha. Enough said.

Americans let religion lead them around by their dicks. Pretty much everyone outside of Cali and NY aren't great at questioning authority at all, otherwise they would have realised how absurd Christianity is. Although nice in parts, it has no use in politics and IMO no use in the modern Western world. When people were dumber, less knowledgable and before much of science, it made more sense to be god-fearing. These days they may as well believe in flying pigs. Australians are a lot better at questioning authority though and it's why we have such a great history of political subversion in this country. We don't take [censored] for long and it's something our liberal friends in America are finally exercising.

The likes of the UN, NATO and the EU, despite what Trump thinks, are what has held Europe and the Americas together since the Second World War. You start pulling out of these and there will be absolutely no safeguards/accountability. There is barely any accountability as it is and there'll be absolutely none if these partnerships are dissolved. Turkey is a dictatorship. France could well soon become one. The domino effect is a distinct possibility in Europe. If Trump had his way, it'd be the United States of Trump. These instances are all a threat to democracy, a system that is by no means perfect, but the best framework man/woman has ever invented to govern and live by.

I studied film at University, so you got something right in this thread. I read and consume as much mainstream media as possible (despite its standards dropping in the past 10-15 years), as well as conservative medias like FOX News, just so I have an understanding of what the other side is thinking. But I don't go as far down the loony right wing conspiracy theory lines of the INFOWARS and Breitbart, because they're simply conspiracy theorists. I'm not fearful of hearing the other side, but I will vigorously debate you if I disagree with you. It seems you subscribe to the lunatic fringe and are very stuck in some old, outdated ideas and will never be swayed. I see that. That's conservatism. Fortunately, your types are nowhere near as common as you might think. And I believe humanity is intrinsically geared towards doing good, despite the selfishness inherent in all of us. So I subscribe to a worldview that is fundamentally optimistic. You fringers on the Right can call me whatever you want, luvvy, cuck etc, go for it (despite you and others like you, tearing up when someone calls you a racist), but humanity on the whole has a much greater capacity to continue to better itself than you seem to think and therefore we need progress, not conservatism. Progress is forward, conservatism is hiding in the past. I understand there are some that are afraid of what comes next so they cling to their religious texts, old ideas and made up facts, such as your embarrassing 'figures' borrowed from the Oxford earlier on. You are challenged by anything that you do not understand and when faced with facts and science, you bury your head in the sand. Just look at what Trump is trying to do to journalist's and scientists. And look at what the Liberal government did to CSIRO. And finally, I've always found the complaint that 'the Left puts people in boxes' to be nonsensical. The Right does exactly the same thing. Only the Right are hateful about it and therefore a lot more corrosive and dangerous to a sense of democratic social cohesion.

Why? The Right talks about The Welfare State and people leaching off hand outs etc. Trump is a person, despite all the money that was handed to him by his own father, who lived off government grants. He was in the right place at the right time. NYC was crumbling and the State of NY had to allow him to buy up random lots of land as the banks would no longer lend to the State. He was a leach and made his personal fortune (money that wasn't purely his father's) by sneaking in and being granted the biggest tax break in NY's history. And how do you propose he stimulates the US economy? * By keeping Ford in the country? So there are jobs there, but what happens when Ford hike the price of their vehicles to cover having to pay American labor costs? Americans then have to pay more for American made vehicles. Something the ever widening underclass can ill afford. * What happens if he goes to war? The economy always takes a hit during a war, but the private sector booms with private contracts dealt out to military contractors. So maybe. Hardly going to help Middle America who are looking to him for answers though. * Building a wall? Jobs. Pffh. They don't need a wall. The border security on the southern border is close to impregnable. He actually doesn't have any solutions to any problems. He just plays on peoples fears and outside of the wall, banning Muslims and forcing Ford to stay, he actually has no plan for the future of the US. Not for its economy anyway. As for draining the swamp? He continues to put GOP and corporate cronies in top positions of power. He knows he can't drain the swamp, nor does he want to. He just used it to get into power. See video above in post #36.

And further on my earlier point... http://www.lbc.co.uk/radio/presenters/james-obrien/james-obrien-merkels-refugee-policy-isis/

So you're pulling these stats out of your arse then? What Oxford debate and show me the figures otherwise it's just meaningless jabbering. This is what the Right are doing. There's a distinct lack of care for the truth. Just make it up as you go along. Where the news is whatever you want it to be, it means the facts amount to nothing and you end up with fascism or communism. Whatever side of the coin you what to read.

Lol. Where are you pulling these stats from?

What are you basing this on? Fear and emotion? Sounds like your MO, old chap.

Yeah, because that's always been the argument, hasn't it, Ethan. Here we go. Let's try this. Radicalised Muslims (tiny minority), peaceful Muslims (vast majority). You won't find many people/anyone arguing that fundamentalist Islam is a good thing. But what also happens when you blindly go into countries and bomb them, is that they tend to lead to proving what the fundamentalists are saying about the war-mongering Americans and the West. It creates radicalised pockets of the Muslim world that wouldn't be otherwise and the killing and terror continues. Not to mention that every time, historically, forces have invaded the Middle East, it has created a vacuum for a much more radical Islam. When Reagan had the CIA operating in Afghanistan and helping the resistance to overthrow the Russian occupation, as soon as the Russians left, the same forces that the Americans had trained formed the Taliban and came back to get the Americans. Every time you bomb places mindlessly, you create more terrorists. It's actually that simple. It's the major reason why the Right kept saying Clinton was going to cause World War 3, because she had a fascination with bringing down the al-Assad regime in Syria. He, by the way, is a bloodthirsty tyrant, as bad, if not worse than Saddam. As was his father. Anyhow, the Americans under Obama fought Syria by proxy, but even if they'd overthrown al-Assad, that would only have created a vacuum for ISIS to take control. But now that Trump's in power, everyone on the Right is okay with an invasion in the Middle East or a war in the South China Sea. Hypocrisy central. Oh and Trump cosying up to the Russians is insane, as they've been backing al-Assad's regime in Syria and Syria's mortal enemy is Saudi Arabia, who is probably America's closest ally in the Middle East. It is not going to end well.