OT: Current Affairs and Politics

[The Silverdale Phantom]

Value of something is pointless unless selling. And the if bought somewhere else either probably increased.

We don't hear much about the war. Who knows what's going on over there or when it will end.

But Putin knew what he was doing was going to have consequences against him. He isn't a fool so the question must be asked why he still went in knowing this?

If he went in to try to distance the Ukraine from the USA and the West, yeah, it’s been a total catastrophic failure.

But I think you’re think right. There’s a lot more going on underneath. Whatever that be.

Maybe he wants a couple of those provinces?

Noam Chomsky if you Google him on the issue, he’s usually close to the money.

 

[strider]

Probably need better skills than mine to answer that one, but a good question.

But if you’re living in it, you are still getting the benefit of if and if you plan to stay in it for ages, you could tough it out.

Just think the longer term.

A lot of People who went hard with the investment housing got caught last time. 20% interest rates, wipe out.

It wasn’t unusual to hear of prices falling by 30% in the shorter term- a couple of years even. But living in the house is a bit different,

When the politicians talk about “ soft” or “ hard” landing there’s a recession statement.

This is a bit different from the last recession due to the external factors.

But keep an eye on it. So says my dodgy overpriced accountant and a lawyer I know.

They are both expecting trouble of some kind.

are you talking about the 80s?

I recall bank acoount interest was about 14% then - and home low interest would have been high (I don't recall cos I was too young to care)

 

[strider]

If he went in to try to distance the Ukraine from the USA and the West, yeah, it’s been a total catastrophic failure.

But I think you’re think right. There’s a lot more going on underneath. Whatever that be.

Maybe he wants a couple of those provinces?

Noam Chomsky if you Google him on the issue, he’s usually close to the money.

View attachment 61029

the yanks are just using the ukraine as a proxy to pretend they are not involved ..... they are bankrolling the thing ..... they commit 10s of billions a week to it and a fair chunk is officially weapons and stuff (who knows how much else is) ..... wars are good business for the yanks

 

[Gronk]

Talked to dad.

He said if Albo gets in god help us we'll all be f**ked.

My Dad would say that Morrison couldn’t organise a root in a brothel.

 

[Happy MEel]

My dad would say they can all go and get f**ked.

 

[The Silverdale Phantom]

are you talking about the 80s?

I recall bank acoount interest was about 14% then - and home low interest would have been high (I don't recall cos I was too young to care)

Circa 1990-1991.

RBA plus the bank margin:



Source: https://australianpolitics.com/topics/rba/interest-rates-since-1990

So the property market collapsed, more in some areas, less in others.

Maybe another thing I’m a bit concerned about is the co vid spending, the drop in fuel excise ( which I benefit from directly) a heap of people cashed in their super and now this new Solomon Islands defence thing. That could be very costly. Aging population etc to care for….

Now it’s important for government to break the old cheque book out when we need to, but it’s got to be paid for and then it’s “hello taxpayer” because it’s our cash.

We get the Peoples Republic offside too much and we start losing tax dollars in exports.

So with these acute dilemmas and shifts, it’s going to be long term pain.

I was looking at the redundancies in the essential goods, we are hopeless. A couple of weeks of supplies left. That’s how we operate. That’s normal and look at our natural disaster response this year.

When the s**t hit the fan, the government and the decrepit insurance industry ran for cover.

So I’m just speculating, but I think it’s a prudent measure if Hindy tried to put something away…if he can.

Because during the recession, cash was king (Gutho!).

Any of the party’s could raise the gst, snouts back into our super and go harder on the cash economy, halve our tax returns etc or even death taxes.

If there’s a basic bi lateral agreement between liberal and labour about some of these measures, there’s no choice.

And the IPC issued another emergency report on the global environment. 20 years left or something. That threatens our coal etc. Maybe it needs to, Im not a climate expert.

 

[The Silverdale Phantom]

the yanks are just using the ukraine as a proxy to pretend they are not involved ..... they are bankrolling the thing ..... they commit 10s of billions a week to it and a fair chunk is officially weapons and stuff (who knows how much else is) ..... wars are good business for the yanks

Yeah I take the point, it’s well made too.

Here’s the official, supporting your thesis:



Source: The White House.

The economic winners might be the shareholders or owners of big arms manufacturers.

The invasion itself was illegal and has brought about significant death and destruction.

Trump wants negotiations (so do i) but as far as I am aware, he is still managing the Republican Party and they still subscribe to strange beliefs. As do the democrats.

The death of the American middle class will probably seal our if not the worlds fate.

A land of extremes.

Chomsky said the pentagon was standing in the way of congress and their rhetorical call for a no fly zone.

Because no fly zones by nato mean Ruskie missiles, based in Russia, go operational, then such ground bases would have to be attacked.

Attacking Russia directly, notches up the old stakes, possibly a nuclear response somewhere. Then who knows?

So the pentagon ( a public service) is saving the world as we type.

So it’s all messed up.

All the grandstanding hasn’t done anything as we predicted. Putin is ordinary but a lot of people are being sucked into the vortex. Australia included, but we may need the yanks. Hopefully the pentagon is there for us!

The mere mention of nuclear weapons anywhere s very very ordinary. No environment to worry about then, except for the bugs who can survive it.

 

[crocodile]

are you talking about the 80s?

I recall bank acoount interest was about 14% then - and home low interest would have been high (I don't recall cos I was too young to care)

Late '70s and early '80s the cash rate was consistently high. Mortgage rates were held at 13.5% when Fraser capped the rate that banks could charge. The policy made it difficult to get housing loans and many bank managers had their arses kissed. The policy made PLs and business loans very costly. From this, building societies and credit unions began as an alternative to banks. Eventually Keating deregulated the banking sector and the nonsense came to an end.

 

[The Silverdale Phantom]

I was going to say, insects and bugs are the most common kind of animal life, by far.

Based on sheer number, a visiting alien might want to communicate with them not us.

In the event of a nuclear war, with the long radiation nuclear winter, there won’t be much choice for the strange visitor.

 

[strider]

Yeah I take the point, it’s well made too.

Here’s the official, supporting your thesis:

View attachment 61033

Source: The White House.

The economic winners might be the shareholders or owners of big arms manufacturers.

The invasion itself was illegal and has brought about significant death and destruction.

Trump wants negotiations (so do i) but as far as I am aware, he is still managing the Republican Party and they still subscribe to strange beliefs. As do the democrats.

The death of the American middle class will probably seal our if not the worlds fate.

A land of extremes.

Chomsky said the pentagon was standing in the way of congress and their rhetorical call for a no fly zone.

Because no fly zones by nato mean Ruskie missiles, based in Russia, go operational, then such ground bases would have to be attacked.

Attacking Russia directly, notches up the old stakes, possibly a nuclear response somewhere. Then who knows?

So the pentagon ( a public service) is saving the world as we type.

So it’s all messed up.

All the grandstanding hasn’t done anything as we predicted. Putin is ordinary but a lot of people are being sucked into the vortex. Australia included, but we may need the yanks. Hopefully the pentagon is there for us!

The mere mention of nuclear weapons anywhere s very very ordinary. No environment to worry about then, except for the bugs who can survive it.

I feel like i genuinely dont know what to believe about the war. I believe Putin is a bad f**ker. But from stuff i see its not roses and unicorns on the ukraine side.

Ive heard much about the neo- nazis in ukraine. I saw a video from 2018 about the ukrainian military becoming about 40% formed from malitia by necessity and that those f**kers are bad news. Saw a video of zalensky arguing with some in the field. The merkins just laughed in his face, zero respect. That there is a ukrainian secret service type group, i think called the SUB, that the yanks have identified as bad for years, who just kill anyone that speaks against govt shit that happen in eastern ukraine.

Have seen a fair bit of stuff about eastern ukraine regions which are autonomous mostly russians who have been terrorised for 8 years. Reportedly the ukrainian military bomb the civilians there endlessly. They inhabit the civilin buildings and keep some civilians there as cover, wont let em leave ... and of course it gets blown to pieces. That the russians actually bring aid to the people after the fighting moves through.

Have seen reports about the current thing with ukrainian army held up inside a steelworks with thousands of civilians is actually a case of them holding them as human shields. ... and it kinda makes some sense. If it was otherwise the russians would have just killed em all and given no f**ks right?

This is all in the east where there is a large russian population. The rest of ukraine, i dunno much about. Putin can only claim to be freeing those in the east. Theres obviously alot more to it - nato etc etc.

The yanks have a loooong history of backing bad guys to do their dirty business around the world. The thing you cited there is old, early March. 4billion in "military aid", which i believe was part of about 13billion overall. They are now proposing 33billion, 20billion of which is military. They are just paying for a war which they are letting the ukrainians fight. And i think the yanks need other countries to all pile in with support to hide them being the main funder of war ... like australias boat load of coal that will never get there or the military trucks that will be canon foddler.

I watched a bit of the 60 minutes thing on Sunday night. It was a zelensky love fest. Why wouldnt 60 minutes also be interested in mentioning that the ukrainian military has a high amount of malitia and neo nazis? Its not a lie. Are they suddenly goodies? Why do the western media not mention that ukranian military bomb civilians too?

propaganda all over the place. Govts who give no f**ks. Media who happily play a role in the propaganda. And poor people who just wanna live their lives getting f**ked over by it all.

 

[hindy111]

I didn't realise how small Zelensky was. You could fit him in a matchbox car

 

[Twizzle]

Late '70s and early '80s the cash rate was consistently high. Mortgage rates were held at 13.5% when Fraser capped the rate that banks could charge. The policy made it difficult to get housing loans and many bank managers had their arses kissed. The policy made PLs and business loans very costly. From this, building societies and credit unions began as an alternative to banks. Eventually Keating deregulated the banking sector and the nonsense came to an end.

I bought a property in Victoria in the 80s and as it was a second property, I paid 18%

 

[Gronk]

I didn't realise how small Zelensky was. You could fit him in a matchbox car

Well he is a comedian by trade.

 

[The Silverdale Phantom]

I feel like i genuinely dont know what to believe about the war. I believe Putin is a bad f**ker. But from stuff i see its not roses and unicorns on the ukraine side.

Ive heard much about the neo- nazis in ukraine. I saw a video from 2018 about the ukrainian military becoming about 40% formed from malitia by necessity and that those f**kers are bad news. Saw a video of zalensky arguing with some in the field. The merkins just laughed in his face, zero respect. That there is a ukrainian secret service type group, i think called the SUB, that the yanks have identified as bad for years, who just kill anyone that speaks against govt shit that happen in eastern ukraine.

Have seen a fair bit of stuff about eastern ukraine regions which are autonomous mostly russians who have been terrorised for 8 years. Reportedly the ukrainian military bomb the civilians there endlessly. They inhabit the civilin buildings and keep some civilians there as cover, wont let em leave ... and of course it gets blown to pieces. That the russians actually bring aid to the people after the fighting moves through.

Have seen reports about the current thing with ukrainian army held up inside a steelworks with thousands of civilians is actually a case of them holding them as human shields. ... and it kinda makes some sense. If it was otherwise the russians would have just killed em all and given no f**ks right?

This is all in the east where there is a large russian population. The rest of ukraine, i dunno much about. Putin can only claim to be freeing those in the east. Theres obviously alot more to it - nato etc etc.

The yanks have a loooong history of backing bad guys to do their dirty business around the world. The thing you cited there is old, early March. 4billion in "military aid", which i believe was part of about 13billion overall. They are now proposing 33billion, 20billion of which is military. They are just paying for a war which they are letting the ukrainians fight. And i think the yanks need other countries to all pile in with support to hide them being the main funder of war ... like australias boat load of coal that will never get there or the military trucks that will be canon foddler.

I watched a bit of the 60 minutes thing on Sunday night. It was a zelensky love fest. Why wouldnt 60 minutes also be interested in mentioning that the ukrainian military has a high amount of malitia and neo nazis? Its not a lie. Are they suddenly goodies? Why do the western media not mention that ukranian military bomb civilians too?

propaganda all over the place. Govts who give no f**ks. Media who happily play a role in the propaganda. And poor people who just wanna live their lives getting f**ked over by it all.

Well it’s the decision then followed by the justifications, I’m not sure if you do pro’s and cons list.

To be fair, the Americans have done some good things too. A lot of lives and resources spent on helping us in WW2.

I prefer to look at each issue and event in its own right according to what I hear and read, which as hindy postulated is at best only a slice of the whole explanation.

The invasion is unjustified on many levels and if there are nazis there, you might not want to invade and kill tens of thousands of non nazis to be rid of them.

Russia has security concerns if the Ukraine joined NATO, which was being discussed, but maybe sanctions and other non lethal penalties would have sufficed.

Now they’ve pretty much delivered a lot of the Ukkies to the west anyway. That kind of raises the stakes in terms of demands and extracting concessions from them, if they survive. More ukkies hate the Russians than ever before, therefore if they win, a lot more of them will fall under our western influence.

So far as I am aware, we haven’t really seen the Russian military in full swing. If it ramped up, even their conventional weapons are absolutely deadly.

Plenty of lies and many more civilian casualties to come, because the powerful have lost their heads.

But if Chomsky is right, the USA armed forces are now engaged in their most important mission, saving the world from a Nuclear Holocaust and that’s very meaningful and impressive. I support their efforts.

 

[Gronk]

Oh dear

 

[The Silverdale Phantom]

We kind of predicted that interest rate thing happening, yesterday. Kudos eels lu.

So every notch up, hundreds or thousands of people can’t afford the mortgages.

The houses hit the market and prices can come down.

Apart from homelessness the sad thing about this whammy is that the inflationary pressures seem to come from factors outside of people control.

Hindy didn’t start covid and hates the war, but he’s going to pay for it. So less cash for food and essentials and stuff, more stress and anxiety over the next few years. Petrol is still high. That’s not fair.

And there is a million more Hindys out there.

In terms of the housing, I think we need more regulation to help people into their own homes and to help them stay in it with less reliance on interest rates.

 

[Gronk]

So every notch up, hundreds or thousands of people can’t afford the mortgages.

Did you know that banks have been stress testing mortgagors for the past 5 years ? If you don’t know what that means, look it up.

 

[hindy111]

Did you know that banks have been stress testing mortgagors for the past 5 years ? If you don’t know what that means, look it up.

Sure. But I know how much the banks offered some people I know. Most didn't accept. I do know of people who mixed out what could get. We are talking 1.1-1.2 mill dollar loans. And purchased at the peak.
I can't imagine ever borrowing anything near that sort of money. Its fine while works good but if lost job or in my case work become quiet you would go tits up fast.

 

[hindy111]

My high profile lawyer mate said he doesn't understand how the USA could just change a law cause they do not like it. In Australia for this to happen there would have to be a case which tests the LAW. Reckons the US SUPREME court sounds seriously flawed for this to just happen.

 

[Suitman]

Sure. But I know how much the banks offered some people I know. Most didn't accept. I do know of people who mixed out what could get. We are talking 1.1-1.2 mill dollar loans. And purchased at the peak.
I can't imagine ever borrowing anything near that sort of money. Its fine while works good but if lost job or in my case work become quiet you would go tits up fast.

People who borrowed obscene amounts of money without the ability to pay it back not taking into account future interest rate rises were just dumb and deserve what they get.
0.1% was pretty much as low as it gets. Even today, now at 0.35% is obscenely low. Reserve Bank rates I know, so mortgage rates are around 3 - 4 %

Try paying 17.5% or 18% like I was in the late 80's - early 90's. I never thought I'd be able to pay it off.