The US Pentagon has failed its 6th consecutive audit. Nothing inspires confidence quite like pouring more and more and more money into a department that can't keep track of its expenses. Where does all that money go?

Who cares, let's put yet more money into it! 

The US spends ABSURD amounts of taxpayer dollars on its military and its shockingly inefficient programs. Programs like the F-35. I'm too lazy to look it up, but I wouldn't be surprised if the F-35 was the most expensive piece of military equipment ever made. What do we have to show for all that money spent? Less than a thousand jets produced and they're not even particularly good jets. Sure, the F-35 can be deployed in many roles, but it's not very good at any one of them. Oh, and also it may just fly off on its own. 🤣

There's CLEARLY a huge amount of corruption in the department of defense. While I have no proof, it's highly likely money is being skimmed and contracts are being handed out on the basis of favors and campaign contributions rather than value for the money. Seems to me that it would be imperative to clean this up so that we can get value for the money we spend. Instead, the plan seems to be turn a blind eye to the obvious corruption and pour more money into it. In my mind, that's a terrible strategy, but what do I know?

Edited November 24, 20232 yr by Keyrock

12 hours ago, Gorth said:

Global warming is real...

 

 

 

the silver lining o' global warming? am glad to see @Gorthis an optimist.

personal, am getting fatigued by climate change.

https://weatherspark.com/y/1157/Average-Weather-in-Sacramento-California-United-States-Year-Round

says average summer highs is 34C. not the last few years. even when temps ain't terrible, chances are you gotta deal with legit deadly levels o' wildfire smoke. technical Gromnir is foothills just east o' sacramento, but that means we get half a degree less hot but more wildfire smoke.

converse, 

https://weatherspark.com/y/310/Average-Weather-in-Arcata-California-United-States-Year-Round

am personal needing only concern our self with the next three decades o' climate change, so...

https://www.zillow.com/homes/95521_rb/

the lot for $800k is giving us the bali ha'i treatment.

edit:

Eric Swalwell Fact-Checks 3 Republicans Over Bridge Crash Misinformation

and

whether it's a "terrorist attack" at the rainbow bridge, hospital airstrikes in gaza or police shootings in sheboygan, it behooves you to wait for reliable info before proselytizing. 

HA! Good Fun!

Edited November 24, 20232 yr by Gromnir

6 hours ago, Keyrock said:

The US spends ABSURD amounts of taxpayer dollars on its military and its shockingly inefficient programs. Programs like the F-35.

The F35 is not that bad. It's certainly an inefficient program and the first time a 'replacement' 'fighter' is worse than what it's replacing (F22, and yeah, in certain scenarios, even the F16) but it will likely brute force profitability.

OTOH, can I introduce you to the Zumwalt class destroyer: per unit program price 7bn USD, nearly three times that of a Virginia class sub (!), and with two 6" guns that can't be fired because the ammo is literally too expensive- 1mn USD per unit- to make?

5 hours ago, Gromnir said:

the silver lining o' global warming? am glad to see @Gorthis an optimist.

personal, am getting fatigued by climate change.

https://weatherspark.com/y/1157/Average-Weather-in-Sacramento-California-United-States-Year-Round

says average summer highs is 34C. not the last few years. even when temps ain't terrible, chances are you gotta deal with legit deadly levels o' wildfire smoke. technical Gromnir is foothills just east o' sacramento, but that means we get half a degree less hot but more wildfire smoke.

converse, 

https://weatherspark.com/y/310/Average-Weather-in-Arcata-California-United-States-Year-Round

am personal needing only concern our self with the next three decades o' climate change, so...

https://www.zillow.com/homes/95521_rb/

the lot for $800k is giving us the bali ha'i treatment.

edit:

Eric Swalwell Fact-Checks 3 Republicans Over Bridge Crash Misinformation

and

whether it's a "terrorist attack" at the rainbow bridge, hospital airstrikes in gaza or police shootings in sheboygan, it behooves you to wait for reliable info before proselytizing. 

HA! Good Fun!

Yeah. I'd probably actually vote for Chris Christie if he had any chance of winning the nomination. He tends to be a fairly reasonable voice. But that won't get him out of the primaries.

today, being reasonable works against republican aspirants to the presidential nomination. 

also, this moment...

is what convinced christie that trump were unfit. 

...

if you didn't see a trump problem until november 4, 2020, then am questioning your reasonableness, but am s'posing a whole lotta republicans decided it were better to be complicit than to put clinton in office or to make a biden win possible. 'cause at least with trump in office, conservatives were getting textualist Justices for SCOTUS as well as aileen canon and matthew j. kacsmaryk for the fed bench. even so, keep in mind that nov 4 were after trump asked christie to lie about his covid scare. 

anybody who ever unironic complained 'bout libs and the media indulging in trump derangement syndrome needs to reassess life choices.

tangential relevant:

peter meijer

HA! Good Fun!

 

Continued from previous thread....

https://forums.obsidian.net/topic/132278-the-all-things-political-topic-politics-is-the-entertainment-division-of-the-military-industrial-complex/

 

The beauty of a two party system... other countries may be in the same situation

 

5 hours ago, Gorth said:

Continued from previous thread....

https://forums.obsidian.net/topic/132278-the-all-things-political-topic-politics-is-the-entertainment-division-of-the-military-industrial-complex/

 

The beauty of a two party system... other countries may be in the same situation

 

Great video as usual but of there  is another side to the  inefficiencies  and corruption with  having lots of  smaller parties that end up with some sort of  small  representation in  parliament. They  can  also get captured  by special interest groups, banal political views or radical policies that dont  benefit the country

We seeing this in SA, this is the registration process in SA for  a new  party

• An application for registration (Annexure 1 of the Regulations), fully completed;
• The name (not more than sixty (60) letters) of the party;
• The abbreviated name, if any, (not more than eight (8) letters) of the party;
• A High resolution party logo or symbol in colour, this can be submitted separately as a .PNG or .JPG file;
• A copy of the party's constitution;
• A Deed of Foundation signed by 1 000 registered voters who support the founding of the party (see Annexure 6 of the Regulations);
• R5 000 registration fee; and
• A hard copy of the Government Gazette in which your notice appears (see Annexure 2 of the Regulations).

So this created  this absurd reality where  in our last national election we had over 50 parties contesting the last election,  90% of them didnt get the required  40K-50k votes for a single  seat (you need 0.25% of   the total votes to get   a  seat in parliament )

https://businesstech.co.za/news/government/315570/this-is-how-many-votes-a-party-needs-for-a-single-member-to-grab-a-r92000-per-month-salary/

But we still ended  up with about 7-8  new parties  that dont offer or provide  anything new and they don't  do  anything to change peoples lives 

So the solution to current unhappiness with established parties is  not necessarily new parties

 

 

 

Edited November 26, 20232 yr by BruceVC

I know Germany and Denmark (at least used to) have some other minimum requirements like 5% and 2% respectively of the votes in order to get seats. Bar some constitutional exceptions for ethic minorities that is. Lots of parties, but not just “frivolous” in nature 

 

edit: doesn’t that there isn’t a lot of small parties, but they need to get enough votes to get parliamentary representation. In Germany you usually have 4-5 parties with seats (decades old info, someone please correct me). Denmark had half a dozen parties in parliament  give or take a few 

 

In Finland there is no minimum required amount of votes for party to get seat in parliament, but we have 13 electoral districts, switch have certain amount seat based on population of the district and seat per district are divided between parties using D'Hondt method, which causes that party needs ~3% of all the votes in district in order to get 1 seat in parliament, which means that small parties almost never get even 1 seat.

In last election we had 16 parties, from which 8 have been in parliament now for 30 years or more. These main parties again took 199 of 200 seat and 8 other parties got 1 and it went to billionaire business man that left one of the main parties and formed own party. And even from that starting point winning that 1 seat very difficult. Usually in elections parties outside of main 8 don't get any seats. This is because parties in the parliament have supreme advantage of getting all press time before the election and almost all the press time during election, so building voter base is expensive and  difficult process that can take decades, which usually lead parties breaking because of infighting before they have even one member in parliament.

Also main parties are supported by fact that government's funding for parties is divided between parties based on how many members they have in parliament and that election advertisement is only allowed from couple months before election to election day. Which has caused that almost all the viable candidates will register themselves one of the main parties list instead of trying to fight almost unbeatable fight to get one seat for minor party, as even with that one seat you need to do cooperate with main eight in order to get anything to done.

15 hours ago, Gorth said:

Continued from previous thread....

https://forums.obsidian.net/topic/132278-the-all-things-political-topic-politics-is-the-entertainment-division-of-the-military-industrial-complex/

 

The beauty of a two party system... other countries may be in the same situation

 

It's amazing how you could apply this "ad" almost word for word to Murica. Just swap out the names of the parties and the giant corporations running the show and you're all set. Crony capitalism, get the sensation!

10 hours ago, Gorth said:

I know Germany and Denmark (at least used to) have some other minimum requirements like 5% and 2% respectively of the votes in order to get seats. Bar some constitutional exceptions for ethic minorities that is. Lots of parties, but not just “frivolous” in nature

5% and coattail rule for Germany unless it's changed, since we 'borrowed' their system wholesale back in the 90s when we went for MMP*. So if you get an electorate MP you bring in any extra seats your proportion entitles you to even if lower than the threshold. Or you get an overhang parliament if a party wins more electorate seats than their proportion entitles them to- which is what we got a few months ago, think there will be 123 MPs this term instead of 120.

*Should have gone for Multi Member STV (ie, what I voted for). Less electoral manipulation like the Epsom Pity Party (ACT) staying in parliament because National refused to run a candidate and far more chance of good local candidates getting elected even if they weren't members of Labour or National.

20 hours ago, Gorth said:

 

 

The beauty of a two party system... other countries may be in the same situation

people like simple. people like brevity. in 2023, too many people get their news and info single-serving sized and then think they is educated on issues.

we like honest government ad, but it is single-serving fare and relying on it is gonna lead to misunderstandings in a few cases. extrapolating to apply to other situations and nations is even more dangerous.

example: in the land o' the free and the home o' the brave, we fixed (HA!) honest ad "sum up" problems two and three way back in 2009. 

heck, the US mostly addressed honest ad spending concerns back in 1976 with another case, buckley v. valeo. while citizens united deserved gets much attention, buckley is where our campaign finance issues exploded.  yeah, 'cause there weren't much money involved in being an elected official pre 1976, only wealthy old guys ran for political office and they all too frequent turned to graft to make dough while in office. opening up the political spending spigot didn't reduce corruption and we still got an old man issue... but those is tangential issues, right? *chuckle*  regardless, does it look as if more money flowing into the electoral process resulted in more equitable voting outcomes for the US?  take as a warning: (paraphrase) those the gods choose to destroy, to them they grant wishes. 

in other words, is so not the same situation for the US even if at first glance it might look and feel same.

honest ad is funny and we enjoy, but they tend to oversimplify and they frequent promote questionable conclusions based on suspect evidence, which is ok 'cause they is doing for laughs and hopeful trying to get people to further educate selves. unfortunate, all too often am suspecting honest ad, daily show, fox news and other comedy news sources is ends rather than starting points for those wishing to be educated on the important issues o' the day.

and yeah, we get the irony o' trying to explain the honest ad extrapolation problem with a single-serving video, but trying to combat endemic ignorance o' the electorate via a game message board is sisyphean.  

HA! Good Fun!

 

Edited November 26, 20232 yr by Gromnir

9 hours ago, Zoraptor said:

5% and coattail rule for Germany unless it's changed, since we 'borrowed' their system wholesale back in the 90s when we went for MMP*. So if you get an electorate MP you bring in any extra seats your proportion entitles you to even if lower than the threshold.

Sounds like when I left the region...

Should've added to my original post, the exceptions I remember from top of my head are, the Danish minority and their regional party (SSW) in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein is exempt from the 5% rule and in Denmark, the Faeroe Islands and Greenland are guaranteed 2 seats each in the parliament in Copenhagen. Maybe they learned a thing or two from the British?

10 hours ago, Gromnir said:

honest ad, daily show, fox news and other comedy news sources

What you did there, I see it.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-67504272

So Wilders has won in the Netherlands, I remember when he  was  arrested and charged  for inciting hatred back in 2011,  I would have never  predicted  in 13 years he would  make a comeback

Another victory for a  right-wing politician and its mostly about the unpopular and failed  Dutch   immigration policies?

I have said this before  and I will say it again, when are liberals and the left going to learn? When people have valid and understandable concerns  about illegal or uncontrolled immigration to ignore  this and call  them " racist, fascist or Nazi" doesnt help 

The greatest friend to the far-right in the EU is ineffective immigration policies and ignoring the public sentiment around this 

 

@HoonDing

Anything you want to add?

 

 

The Netherlands allocates 42% of there GDP on social benefits and scored in the top 10 in Healthcare, Education and Judiciary (gov-at-a-glance-2021-netherlands.pdf (oecd.org)). So surely they can absorb unlimited immigration?

Pence told Jan. 6 special counsel harrowing details about 2020 aftermath, warnings to Trump: Sources

But, the sources said, with the pressure on Pence mounting, he concluded on Christmas Eve -- just for a moment -- that he would follow Trump's suggestion and let someone else preside over the proceedings on Jan. 6, writing in his notes that doing otherwise would be "too hurtful to my friend."

"Not feeling like I should attend electoral count," Pence wrote in his notes in late December. "Too many questions, too many doubts, too hurtful to my friend. Therefore I'm not going to participate in certification of election."

Then, sitting across the table from his son, a Marine, while on vacation in Colorado, his son said to him, "Dad, you took the same oath I took" -- it was "an oath to support and defend the Constitution," Pence recalled to Smith's investigators, sources said.

That's when Pence decided he would be at the Capitol on Jan. 6 after all, according to the sources.

and so once again we see america relying on the marines to save democracy. 

HA! Good Fun!

3 hours ago, Gfted1 said:

The Netherlands allocates 42% of there GDP on social benefits and scored in the top 10 in Healthcare, Education and Judiciary (gov-at-a-glance-2021-netherlands.pdf (oecd.org)). So surely they can absorb unlimited immigration?

"unlimited immigration "  

Every country has  limited resources  and the BBC article mentions  a massive housing shortage 

 

 

9 minutes ago, BruceVC said:

Every country has  limited resources  and the BBC article mentions  a massive housing shortage

Im a bit confused. If a country cant accept unlimited immigration, and also cant consolidate the immigrants into concentration camps while they figure out what to do with them, then what is the solution?

32 minutes ago, Gfted1 said:

Im a bit confused. If a country cant accept unlimited immigration, and also cant consolidate the immigrants into concentration camps while they figure out what to do with them, then what is the solution?

That is a valid question, what do countries do about  persistent  illegal immigration?

It  depends on the type of illegal  immigration. If people are fleeing active wars then you can create refugee camps  funded by the UN. Thats common in Africa and the ME.  Sometimes  people live in them  for years and they absolutely not considered concentration camps 

https://www.unrefugees.org/news/refugee-camps-explained/

If they economic refugees you can deport them which is fairly  common, SA has started doing that. But its not a great reality to deal with.  The long-term solution is finding ways that governments are stable and people dont want to leave but  this applies  to  economic refugees 

And then you look at each country on a per case basis to understand why the governments are failing and who takes  responsibility for that.  I just know the solution cant be "  countries must just accept all illegal immigrants "  ...thats  not sustainable and eventually leads  to massive pushback from most  citizens 

 

 

On 11/28/2023 at 6:14 AM, BruceVC said:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-67504272

So Wilders has won in the Netherlands, I remember when he  was  arrested and charged  for inciting hatred back in 2011,  I would have never  predicted  in 13 years he would  make a comeback

Another victory for a  right-wing politician and its mostly about the unpopular and failed  Dutch   immigration policies?

I have said this before  and I will say it again, when are liberals and the left going to learn? When people have valid and understandable concerns  about illegal or uncontrolled immigration to ignore  this and call  them " racist, fascist or Nazi" doesnt help 

The greatest friend to the far-right in the EU is ineffective immigration policies and ignoring the public sentiment around this 

 

@HoonDing

Anything you want to add?

 

 

I hope Geert starts a referendum on NeXit as soon as possible.

People are sick of paying for climate change, immigration and ****hole countries.

I didn't expect good news today, but today is a good day.

everyone is paying for global warming right now 

the less everyone willing to pay the more everyone have to pay

sustainable is such a nice fear mongering word

when was last time sustainable massive city ever exist

1 hour ago, Pidesco said:

I didn't expect good news today, but today is a good day.

Good to hear, are  you not going to share?

Henry Kissinger is finally where he belongs. What a day.