nigel99

Did I mention Australia has a far right/Maga problem? A local politician has legally changed his name to Austin Trump, because he likes Trump’s ideology. The real kicker - he’s got 35 charges of domestic violence and is a lawyer. https://www.watoday.com.au/national/wa-politician-changes-name-to-aussie-trump-20250206-p5la2h.html

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/february-4-2025 https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com/ By the way, these two sources appear to capture events fairly concisely and factually. Heather Cox Richardson is a historian and seems to be driven by a desire to have a factual record of current events, rather than a specific political agenda.

Trump called for Jordan, Egypt and other Arab states to take in Palestinians from Gaza, who he said had no alternative but to abandon the coastal strip, which must be rebuilt after nearly 16 months of a devastating war between Israel and Hamas militants. He said he would support resettling Palestinians “permanently”, going beyond his previous suggestions that Arab leaders have already steadfastly rejected. - From the Guardian, but I’ve seen it elsewhere. Honestly, I feel fucked regarding the news. First off I’m not in the US, so technically it isn’t my problem. I’ve got sucked into watching it and delving into the truth behind the statements (because the media always spins it). If I continue to watch it, I am setting myself up for 4 years of anxiety and anger. But I can’t shake the feeling that sticking my head in the sand is a huge mistake. Not only does US policy affect the rest of the world, but Australia is one step behind. It’s exhausting trying to figure out the right way forward.

I won’t touch X and haven’t for a long time;) Maybe we read that article very differently, but my take is that it’s a political move to shut Trump up and is unlikely to make much difference in real terms. Not only that but it undermines the Mexican PMs efforts to address the cartels and murders by diverting resources. I get that there is a drug problem in the US and the southern border is a problem. My problem isn’t with making changes, but using bullying and manipulation to do it, coupled with lies. By the way, Australia is not a signatory to the UN human rights charter and we frequently get chastised. We probably treat illegal immigrants worse the US does. But it’s not enough for our right wing politicians, and the last 5-10 days there has been a surge in anti immigration against legal migrants - especially non white people.

You saw the comments where he said all the Palestinians must leave though?

It’s strange to see some people’s logic. Last night talking to someone and he was raving how clever and strategic Trump is. This guys a successful and now retired businessman. I wish people would stop bowing to the bully and his lies. The whole tariff worked smoke screen is a recent example. Turns out that all/most of the things Canada and Mexico said they would do, they are already doing! I imagine the conversation with Mexican president. “I’ll tariff you till you stop the drugs” “Si Senor Trump, what if we send 10000 troops?” Trump “Ok, but do it quickly, I want them there like yesterday” “Yes no problem, we will do it quicker than yesterday, we will do it in 2021!

The dude is hopefully about 200 years late to the party with wanting to take over countries. Canada, Greenland, Panama and now Gaza (although no brown people are allowed to stay).

Adding to the relevant thread, the post by Trump’s Secretary of State appointee.

Mexico had already sent troops in 2021 https://newrepublic.com/post/191081/jd-vance-fact-check-trump-mexico-tariffs I get that it’s frustrating when you see crime go up in your area, and I believe you that it’s from illegal immigrants. I doubt they were from Canada though. I doubt you agree with the sentiment expressed by Trumps Secretary of State, but now white men are in charge it will all be ok (tweet attached is a real tweet he put out last year).

He’s a school bully. Fuck Trump dictating other sovereign nations actions. I doubt Canada and Mexico were sitting on their arses doing nothing. So now they increase border security with their troops etc.

He really seems motivated by Putin and has implied/said over the weekend that the only way to end tariffs is to give up their sovereignty. I liked the proposal of one of your politicians to implement 100% tariffs on Tesla’s.

The last couple of weeks have shifted the US well into ‘rogue state’ dysfunctional government. Take this purge of the FBI and DOJ as an example. https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/31/politics/fbi-agents-who-investigated-january-6-fired?cid=ios_app We have federal elections coming up in 6 weeks. Talking to people, a significant factor influencing our votes is to distance ourselves from the US. Ideally I’d like to see us take a more neutral stance and one of those steps would be to stop the US having a military presence in Aus. It’s a bit concerning as the leader of our opposition has been nicknamed ‘Temu Trump’ and has adopted MAGA. We’ve also seen a significant increase in neo nazi and far right extremism. ASIO (our spy agency), recently said that extremist teenage boys were our biggest security threat. Edit to add: Think this is a good example of dealing with the US elite. A Canadian politician suggesting 100% tariffs of Tesla’s as a targeted approach. https://insideevs.com/news/749279/tesla-tariffs-canada-musk-freeland/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR1gTylM_SzeGw6mnYQet7kG4yWp7WUQtDsJAMScNQm9fBEuu70Ikhul1e8_aem_8ufhPSkkGVWcin1bn5IJMg#

Science is for losers, even Elon posted earlier this week that Uni turns people into woke mind virus zombies.

1kg of the finest Colombian produce for Don jnr 4 yrs free supply of adderral, ghb and viagra for Don Snr

My understanding is that the count is at 3 within a week. 2 jailed for crimes and serving long sentences 1 shot dead at a traffic stop. 1497 to go :)

Can’t believe that Trump politicised a plane crash while recovery efforts were underway. He’s a despicable excuse of a person. Not even to mention that he had fired aviation safety officials less than a week before, because Elon complained they were too strict and hampering Space X with their safety requirements.

Barely on FB anymore, but a few friends in the US who are normally silent on politics are posting lots of concerning stuff. One in particular works for the CDC and has been posting the impacts of the funding and policy changes. She’s an expert in vaccines, so has been pretty hard hit by it all

I’ve seen that before. I believe it’s probably already there technically, perhaps just the legal issues stopping it.

In my wildest dreams I could never have imagined a first world country losing the rule of law so quickly. I would have estimated 10-20 years if you had asked me. What is scary is that we are right behind you, the leader of our opposition has been nicknamed Temu Trump.

Jan 6 rioter shot by police Not sure if this counts, but being pardoned and then shot dead by police a week later sucks. Not that I feel sorry for him.

This is incredible considering the mythology behind goats in Christianity.

Completely agree with you on the danger, and don’t agree with him. By the way, you have to vote in Australia or you get fined. Initially I hated the concept, but it does mean that voter turnout out is very high.

The White House removed the Spanish language version on the Whitehouse website and initially the link for page not found had a button that said “Go Home” , although that has since been changed. https://apnews.com/article/trump-white-house-spanish-language-website-62224890c5b05c8ce0878358ba4a5266 A friend of mine works for the CDC and has been posting a lot about the sustained and aggressive attack on the CDC and science community, undoing decades of progress. At face value itself seems that Trump 2.0 has learned a valuable lesson from their first term. Go hard and fast and take as much ground as possible, don’t negotiate. Then even if you lose some ground, you’ve moved the line. Seems like Trump and Co have been getting private tuition lessons from Putin.

Yesterday I asked about getting more involved politically. I caught up with a friend who is very politically active and we always have interesting discussions, despite him being a hardcore Trump/Elon advocate and believing Trump is uncorrupted by political power. We both agree the political system is broken (here in Australia). His view is that to enact change we must all vote for the extreme far right to break the stranglehold of the two main parties and that the extreme right ‘will never win’. I wonder if the next 4 years is going to show that the extremists are able to beat the checks and balances in the US, or if they are able to successfully overcome them? It’s good that the judge has placed a hold, I hope it stays.

Absolutely not. But a few things I have learned over the years. You can’t trust what the media/politicians say that the intelligence services said. Every time I’ve read the actual report that gets made available it’s been spun heavily (WMD in Iraq report by Dr David Kelly in the Uk). Also, Colin Powell/George Bush with WMD. The intelligence community is largely non partisan, but can have a well meaning but distorted and overly patriotic view of the world. All countries interfere or at least attempt to in other countries affairs. It’s for the good of the people when US/UK interfere in Russia or Iraq but bad when they do it to us. The vast majority of politicians are self serving and corrupt to some extent, very few are actually ‘public servants’. Many politicians families financially benefit from their family connections, it may be legal but questionable morally. When Trumps lips move he’s lying. Secondly, Trump is vindictive and motivated by hatred and self serving agenda and there is no morality or concern for ‘the people’ in any of his actions.