China has infiltrated the federal government

[Nationalist]

1 hour ago, eyeball said:

Common to what or who?

Grown ups.

[eyeball]

9 minutes ago, Nationalist said:

No...i meant endless failure.

It should be quite clear I think Trudeau is a failure too so...we must be agreeing on something here.

[Nationalist]

2 hours ago, eyeball said:

It should be quite clear I think Trudeau is a failure too so...we must be agreeing on something here.

Yes perhaps.

[I am Groot]

20 hours ago, eyeball said:

Like I said their sacrifice fell short but all the same even then they knew appeasing tyranny was the wrong path to take.

When it threatened them, yes. But you might take a small glance at how the US treated the third world countries in this era, particularly those in Latin America. And I seem to recall Trudeau the elder's favorite guy was Fidel Castro. During the cold war it was all about the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

20 hours ago, eyeball said:

That our stated principles are our only real safeguard is made more obvious as the shitty world we inherited just keeps getting shittier.

Stated principles are nice, but not as effective as tanks, fighters, missiles, and a first class military.

[I am Groot]

4 hours ago, Michael Hardner said:

I don't know if that's true, but I do think that patriotism is a morality and that generation had it in spades.

Nowadays they call you a white supremacist if you demonstrate any love or pride in country.

[eyeball]

1 hour ago, I am Groot said:

When it threatened them, yes. But you might take a small glance at how the US treated the third world countries in this era, particularly those in Latin America.

Yeah well everything was fair game after having just knocked off a democracy in Iran.  AFAIC it was the practice of installing dictators in the places America diddled with that has resulted in a world now infested with dictatorships.  What on Earth was the Shiniest Beacon for Democracy and Liberty in the known galaxy thinking?

Quote

And I seem to recall Trudeau the elder's favorite guy was Fidel Castro.

It's a wonder we weren't carpet-bombed ourselves for being so friendly with the enemy.  Heck there's people around here who think Trudeau the junior is actually Castro and Margaret's love child.

Quote

During the cold war it was all about the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

And nowadays we have the consequences of things that were done under that paradigm to deal with.

Quote

Stated principles are nice, but not as effective as tanks, fighters, missiles, and a first class military.

These things are more effective at undermining principles than upholding them.  They're clearly no good at establishing them given the failure of two world wars to do so.  Who knows maybe the 3rd times the charm. 

 

 

Edited November 20, 2022 by eyeball

[Michael Hardner]

2 hours ago, I am Groot said:

Nowadays they call you a white supremacist if you demonstrate any love or pride in country.

Some people call you a Marxist for getting the vaccine too.

 

My advice is that adults should ignore what THEY say.

[WestCanMan]

9 minutes ago, Michael Hardner said:

Some people call you a Marxist for getting the vaccine too.

There's nothing wrong with getting the jab.

I'd even argue that it was extremely important for some people to get the jab, otherwise we'd never know if it worked. 

It was never ok to join in the mob mentality of using words like anti-vaxer, shame people for their choice, show tacit support for vax mandates by carrying a vax passport, to openly advocate for the vax passport, to support the gov't's decision to force people to vax, or to lie about the success of the jabs.  

I wish that it was never reasonable to use words like vax-Nazi, but it was a pretty obvious choice. 

[herbie]

On 11/18/2022 at 6:41 PM, I am Groot said:

not to demean them in any way but they don't fight the Germans just because it was the moral thing to do. 

You just did. Demeaned them.

[cougar]

On 11/7/2022 at 3:48 PM, Moonlight Graham said:

So what are the feds doing about this?  Where is the legislation?  Are foreign agents being removed from these legislator offices?

They promote multiculturalism , so the Chinese agents are nicely balanced with agents from India, the Philippines and all other countries imaginable.🤣

[I am Groot]

This isn't from Canada, but it demonstrates the weakness of the West in dealing with autocratic governments like China. The weakness is called 'greed' and China influences western countries not just through buying off their political leadership but by buying off their corporate leaders, as well. These, in turn, do their best to influence political leaders in the direction China wants.

The example of today is Michael Bloomberg, former mayor of New York city and former presidential primary candidate. The other day he made a public apology at a business conference the Bloomberg group sponsored because UK ex-PM Boris Johnson said bad things about China. Bloomberg is one of the richest and most powerful men in the world, with an estimated net worth of over $75 billion. But terror of giving offense to China still robs him of anything resembling a spine or any shadow of morality.

"Some may have been insulted or offended last night by parts of the speaker’s remarks referencing certain countries and their duly elected leaders," Bloomberg said in remarks posted on Twitter.

Referring to Johnson, Bloomberg said: "Those were his thoughts and his thoughts alone, not cleared in advance by anyone or shared with me personally... To those of you who were upset and concerned by what the speaker said, you have my apologies."

Imagine apologizing to the 'duly elected' leaders of China! And to think this guy ran for president. It just goes to show that it doesn't matter how much money you have. You can still be captive to special interests and still be greedy beyond measure. And if Bloomberg can be bought and paid for imagine how responsive the corporate honchos and political operators in Canada are!

There is a quote variously attributed to Marx, Lenin and Stalin that sums up men like Bloomberg: "The Capitalists will sell us the rope we use to hang them."

https://www.reuters.com/world/michael-bloomberg-apologises-boris-johnson-speech-criticising-china-2022-11-20/?utm_source=ground.news&utm_medium=referral

 

[eyeball]

13 hours ago, WestCanMan said:

There's nothing wrong with getting the jab.

🙄

[eyeball]

8 minutes ago, I am Groot said:

There is a quote variously attributed to Marx, Lenin and Stalin that sums up men like Bloomberg: "The Capitalists will sell us the rope we use to hang them.

I bet you've rolled your eyes every time a lefty has pointed this out in the past.

I doubt a woke right-wing is going to be much use to anyone at this point. 

[WestCanMan]

https://www.covidvaccineinjuries.com/covid-vaccine-stories/george-watts-jr-24-year-old-died-from-vaccine-induced-myocarditis-from-pfizer-covid-vaccine/

This guy lost out on the 40-50 best years of his life. His death is equal to the deaths of about a hundred 85 year-olds imo. 

If I live to be 85 I won't value my life above those of 20 yr olds.

Edited November 20, 2022 by WestCanMan

[I am Groot]

2 hours ago, eyeball said:

I bet you've rolled your eyes every time a lefty has pointed this out in the past.

You'd lose that bet.

I've long been an advocate for distancing ourselves from China and against their attempts to control western media, academics and politicians.

2 hours ago, eyeball said:

I doubt a woke right-wing is going to be much use to anyone at this point. 

There's no such thing as a woke right wing. We're too sensible to be woke.

[SpankyMcFarland]

I was pleased to see Trudeau making Xi’s day a little less comfortable but we should be realistic about how much our PMs can influence the most powerful man in the world given that they seem to have no sway over the families who run our own telecom industry. The tyrannical regime in Beijing rightly feels threatened by freedom anywhere and will work tirelessly to undermine it. 

Edited November 20, 2022 by SpankyMcFarland

[Contrarian]

7 hours ago, SpankyMcFarland said:

I was pleased to see Trudeau making Xi’s day a little less comfortable but we should be  realistic about how much our PMs can influence the most powerful man in the world given that they seem to have no sway over the families who run our own telecom industry. The tyrants who rule China rightly feel threatened by freedom anywhere and will work tirelessly to undermine it. 

The power of that image when Trudeau stood his ground will wash some of his garbage along the years:

Edited November 21, 2022 by Contrarian

[eyeball]

1 hour ago, I am Groot said:

You'd lose that bet.

I've long been an advocate for distancing ourselves from China and against their attempts to control western media, academics and politicians.

There's no such thing as a woke right wing. We're too sensible to be woke.

Really? Sure seems to me like much of the right wing can't say enough bad things about big bad corporations and greedy people theses days.

You must long be used to being labeled a commie for your views.  That's all I've ever had thrown in my face when advocating for greater distance between us and China and just about every other dictatorship too. It must have been when I suggest we also need sanction our allies for their coziness with dictators.

Edited November 20, 2022 by eyeball

[I am Groot]

1 hour ago, eyeball said:

Really? Sure seems to me like much of the right wing can't say enough bad things about big bad corporations and greedy people theses days.

You must long be used to being labeled a commie for your views.  That's all I've ever had thrown in my face when advocating for greater distance between us and China and just about every other dictatorship too. It must have been when I suggest we also need sanction our allies for their coziness with dictators.

What you seem to lack is any sense of realpolitik. There are things we can do without hurting ourselves - much and there are things we can't. I am not for harming ourselves over what will mostly be nothing more than a symbolic act.

Distancing ourselves from China would hurt more but China is an existential threat to our freedom and democracy. It also cheats at trade and any other agreements it makes. The more trade you have with them the more opportunity they have to blackmail you. And they will use it at every opportunity shamelessly, brazenly not caring who knows it.

[eyeball]

31 minutes ago, I am Groot said:

What you seem to lack is any sense of realpolitik.

No it's my lack of desire to cave and my impatience with the typical blah blah blah about left-wing naivete and right-wing practicality.

I have no issue whatsoever giving our civilization a well deserved smack up side it's stupid head.

I'm simply combining the sentiment of the tough love page from the right wing book on discipline and the ancient observation that the path to enlightenment is painful.

I simply don't give a f*** anymore when it comes to geopolitics and feel more like these guys.

Edited November 20, 2022 by eyeball

[Contrarian]

3 hours ago, eyeball said:

No it's my lack of desire to cave and my impatience with the typical blah blah blah about left-wing naivete and right-wing practicality.

I have no issue whatsoever giving our civilization a well deserved smack up side it's stupid head.

I'm simply combining the sentiment of the tough love page from the right wing book on discipline and the ancient observation that the path to enlightenment is painful.

I simply don't give a f*** anymore when it comes to geopolitics and feel more like these guys.

Mr. Trudeau the real people are with you = )

[Contrarian]

14 hours ago, eyeball said:

Really? Sure seems to me like much of the right wing can't say enough bad things about big bad corporations and greedy people theses days.

You must long be used to being labeled a commie for your views.  That's all I've ever had thrown in my face when advocating for greater distance between us and China and just about every other dictatorship too. It must have been when I suggest we also need sanction our allies for their coziness with dictators.

 f the CCP.

Edited November 21, 2022 by Contrarian

[Army Guy]

10 hours ago, eyeball said:

I bet you've rolled your eyes every time a lefty has pointed this out in the past.

I doubt a woke right-wing is going to be much use to anyone at this point. 

Can we get an example of the woke right?

[Army Guy]

21 minutes ago, Contrarian said:

and f u and the CCP. You robbed people's lives. So f u and the FSB.

Tell us what you really think, 

[Contrarian]

= )

Edited November 21, 2022 by Contrarian