nigel99

Perhaps for the same reason people don't admit to watching porn at a church service. He feels a bit dirty admitting his voting choice in public? Alternatively in the same way as many homophobics are secretly gay, his anti Biden rhetoric is just cover and he's going to be voting for Biden

Incredible and very sad. I've not looked at a map recently, but if you managed to get to the UK from Rwanda by boat you deserve to stay.

It would be interesting to send him a revised tax bill based on being worth 100 x what it was assessed as.

Very interesting talk by Tony Blair on politics. I like the quote about how politics is the only job where you are completely unqualified.

Probably a sensitive topic in here, as quite a few posters probably see people in their 50's and 60's as young and immature! As we age we lose physical and cognitive ability, and I believe that people above retirement age should be excluded from running from leadership positions in government. Listening to the debate in the US between Biden and Trump highlights the issue, but they are not the exception. Interestingly, countries that are less free tend to have older leaders. I got curious as to what the average age of world leaders is and according to Pew Research it is around 62 years old. "Countries that are less free tend to have older leaders. In countries that Freedom House classifies as not free, the median age of the national leader is 69, compared with 61 in countries that are classified as partly free and 58 in countries classified as free. The United States is one of only two countries that are classified as free and have a leader in their 80s or older"

My son and I are worlds apart in terms of religious beliefs, he's a devout christian and I'm best described as Pagan. One thing that we both agree on is that hypocrisy is both lazy and weak. Secondly, the inability to apply critical thinking seems to be a pandemic these days. The blinkered my guys are saints and yours are sinners attitude harks back to the dawn of time. I'm pretty sure if Jesus was in the US, the vast majority of republicans would want him shot and deported back to Mexico.

I contemplated voting no, because in reality this is a symbolic gesture that doesn't actually change much. Ultimately my daughter (who works in remote Aboriginal communities) and a talk by an Aboriginal Professor changed my mind in that it is better to vote yes for a small step forward than vote no in the hope of sparking more debate. It has certainly drawn out people's views though, and it is surprising how comfortable people have become in expressing racist views.

Tomorrow in Australia we have a referendum to amend the constitution with the intent to recognise Aboriginal Australians. It gives them no more power or special rights. It looks like it will be defeated and yet in 1967 a referendum to give Aboriginals citizenship got a 91% yes vote. I'm too young to know what the 60's and 70's were like, but it seems globally we are going backwards and rapidly becoming more divided and prejudiced.

The Georgia judge has a sense of humour, quoting Monty Python when knocking back a silly argument. https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/judge-in-trump-rico-case-appears-to-invoke-monty-python-in-rejecting-co-defendants-parrot-of-a-motion/

Hey John, Not expecting it. Just observing the absurdity of the argument. I find it very interesting how people can be so ignorant.

I had hoped that by making the distinction of MAGA it was clear that I didn't mean all conservatives, but rather the lunatic fringe. I think you restated my argument though. Belief does not equal facts or logic and my argument is that the belief that you could rise up against the US military and Law enforcement is in my opinion misguided. We will always have extremists whose beliefs and dedication to their cause outweigh logic and would sacrifice themselves for the cause. Usually these people are in small minorities luckily. My key point is that haven't current circumstances shown that the resistance to changing gun laws based on the 2nd amendment argument been proven a fallacy? Ironically because this is such an ingrained belief, any government that attempted to implement reforms at this stage would probably coalesce support against them, because as you say "don't confuse facts with logic"

I find it interesting that so many Americans state that the 2nd amendment is to prevent a tyrannical government. Since that appears that a large part of MAGA believe that the current government is Tyrannical, it seems that they should be exercising their 2nd amendment rights. I have always found it to be a misguided belief and pretty ineffective. As shown by the insurrection charges the state has many tools at it's disposal. I don't believe the US military and law enforcement would cave into a truly Tyrannical government. If they would then they might have supported Trump in his efforts on Jan 6th for example. As the military, law enforcement and courts are at least in principle independent from politics, they would presumably step in should politicians give illegal orders. Presumably if people felt it appropriate to exercise their 2nd amendment rights against law enforcement and military I can't see how they could win. The only possible way to be effective would be to adopt terrorist type tactics, which clearly fall outside the law and so would be up against the legal system. In summary it seems the tyrannical government argument has been proven to be a false premise. I'm not against guns, in fact despite Australian gun laws are quite tight and often derided our attitude is entirely different and guns are for hunting, target shooting and pest control. My son has 5 guns here in Australia including 2 high powered rifles and a hand gun, all legal and sanctioned.

It doesn't appear to have fit the US news that I see, but sadly an Osprey with 23 marines crashed in Australia with 3 fatalities. Not meant to be a political post, but being military I put it in SC

Wow 12 years later and thread still going!

I have a feeling that the US justice system is going to fail to provide justice in this case. The fact that Trump is discussing it all in the media and people are analysing it and passing judgement could play out in his favour. How much is the jury going to be told is inadmissible or needs to be disregarded as it has been discussed in the media? It seems that most high profile or emotive crimes have gag orders in place to reduce that risk.

The US has a long history of tampering in other countries affairs and something like this is quite conceivable.

Well for once I agree with Trump. When the US elected Trump the USA effectively became a banana republic. If the US doesn't want to be a banana republic then Trump should be tried for his alleged crime and if found guilty jailed. Failure to hold politicians to account is the sign kf a corrupt system.

It's a really good question and highlights the complexity of 'treating' criminals rather than relying on punishment. Playing devils advocate you could say that as a hired killer was paid and therefore financially motivated a suitable punishment is to fine them more than they are paid. Whereas a guy with anger issues may never truly get his anger under control. My question is what do we do about people who for whatever reason are not able to be rehabilitated or reformed? A specific example, in Western Australia we have an arsonist who has been active for over 50 years. He is high risk, as every time he is released from prison he re-offends.He is putting lives in danger, and I would argue that if he has not changed in 50 years he is unlikely to ever do so.

I always thought flat earth was nothing more than an online tongue in cheek trolling topic. This weekend I met a guy who passionately believes it and was giving his 'evidence'. Western civilisation is doomed!

I agree, murder is typically driven by emotion and I'm not sure that severity of punishment plays much of a part in deterring murders. I believe that capital punishment should be reserved for individuals where there is no hope of rehabilitation. Less focus on the crime and more on the person and what circumstances surrounded the crime. We had a local skydiver in the news about 2 years ago. he shot and killed a bike gang leader at a crowded sporting event, it was a hired hit with no emotion involved. That is a far cry from a man or woman who is in severe distress emotionally in a relationship breakdown and 'loses it'

It's an interesting topic. The last couple of years I've been doing a psychology degree with a minor in criminal psychology and as a result some of my views have changed. I think that we should be trying to rehabilitate people and from what I can see there is very little evidence that prisons work. In cases where there is no chance of rehabilitation I think it should be an option. However the US legal system appears to be totally dysfunctional and I'm not sure that it could be trusted to not have significant bias. A system that has the power to take life should be fair and get the same results regardless of wealth or race. It amazes me that politicians and policy makers disregard the scientific evidence regarding the treatment of crime and the causes of crime in order to appease public opinion. I can only speak for Western Australia, but our premier routinely brings out policy that the science shows is counter productive.

I have a bet going that Trump will win the election. There are lots of stupid people out there and Murdoch and co. have far less sway in a digital world. In fact the more the main stream media vilify him the more his followers will circle the wagon.

actually they are far more effective than traditional anti depressants. But it doesn't mean recreational use is healthy.

No just tattoo 666 on the forehead or implant a micro chip

I don't disagree with their views. I just found the completely different viewpoint amusing and also how strongly they felt about it. Especially that almost everyone celebrating that day is using it as an excuse to party and have a few drinks. I will admit that prior to the people getting really upset about it, I hadn't ever read up the story behind it. I've never dressed up or partied for St Patricks day, guess next year I will go to something as a snake :)