Who knew?

[willedoo]

2 hours ago, facthunter said:

Gerard Depardieu clapping in the audience. He moved to Russia because of the High French taxes. Nev

13% flat tax in Russia; quite a saving for him.

[old man emu]

3 hours ago, willedoo said:

13% flat tax in Russia;

Isn't it strange how some countries can get along quite happily with a low rate of taxation. I'm guessing that in Russia you pay 13% of your income, with no deductions allowed. Sounds fair to me. I never had the negative gearing and a myriad of allowable deductions to reduce my PAYE tax. 

 

I didn't complain about the Medicare Levy, because that was a reasonable rate. I'd love to know who owns the Private Health Funds which annually cry "Poor!" to get increases in premiums that take affordable health insurance premiums out of the reach of low income recipients. I seem to recall that our major Health Insurers are owned by American insurance companies.

[facthunter]

IF you have Bu##er all taxes you get the same amount of services. The ordinary Russian lives a pretty ordinary life. Russia gets most of it's revenue from OIL. Their economy isn't strong. 

 IF anyone's on welfare here they are really doing of tough  especially considering WE are considered RICH amongst the worlds nations. We shouldn't have homeless and people who have to beg in the streets. The rich want to be here as they've become rich here but with them "too much is never enough".  IF they go through a red light the fine is small change. For a pensioner it's a near disaster.. It's supposed to be a PENALTY. Should hurt all equally.  Lose a few Points ?Get one of your workers to say they were driving the car. IF he wants to keep his job.  You pay the fine like the worthy fellow you are.. Nev

[Bruce Tuncks]

Yes Nev, but I need to know that their problems dd not arise from drugs. That is why I support the idea of credit-card welfare. The cards would not be able to buy drugs or gambling.

I sure hate it that  non-drug people are homeless....  how could we be so awful?

 

Edited January 10, 2021 by Bruce Tuncks

[facthunter]

Well quite simply, we haven't invested in that area for years. That doesn't happen by accident . It has to be a policy. 

  In the lower socio economic suburbs, there are more gambling  facilities and  liquor stores. What a co incidence.. The rich have the money and the poor have debt. People are encouraged to buy what they can't possibly afford. Buy some thing on the never never and get cash back. Pokies that take your pension check off you in two hours. and the proprietors are well aware of it.." Clubs Australia" have a lot of election clout. Big effect in TASSIE in the last few..  Nev

[spacesailor]

" I sure hate it that  non-drug people are homeless....  how could we be so awful? ".

Single mothers with a couple of kids, she had, to get that Baby Bonus, that seemed so great at the time. 

Now lives in Poverty, on that single parent Poverty pension.

AND 

Those kids, depictured on the TV's Begging sites, are pretty normal, in the Bogan suburbs.

nothing to do as too broke to go to the flicks. 

spacesailor

 

[Marty_d]

Why do we have to split the unemployed into "deserving" and "non-deserving"?  That's a classic LNP tactic.  Distract from the massive inequalities they all face by turning the spotlight on their addictions or lack of.

 

Drug addiction should be treated as a medical problem, not a legal one.  I've said this elsewhere but if you really want to fix the drug problem, start by taking the criminal element out of it.  No one is going to pay $50 for a badly-cut dose of street drug when they can get a purer source from the local pharmacy for $10.  Decriminalise and spend all that money that you no longer need in the justice system on programs to actually help people improve their lives and recover from the addiction.

We all have the potential to become "legal" addicts, there's nothing stopping me from legally pouring a bottle of vodka down my neck every day.  But I don't, because I'm lucky enough to have a loving family and a pretty good career, as well as interests to keep me off the streets.   If we apply that logic to people addicted to drugs (whether legal or not) then maybe we should spend the money on improving their chances at having a decent life rather than the endless game of busting them for possession.

 

[spacesailor]

I had a Drug problem after leaving hospital.

none were available, SO get over it and on with life.

Even if I couldn't be in the RAF because of that medical history.

The same goes for Smoking. you want to stop. put a note in that Last packet you bought.  read your note and make your choice.

 

NO problems !.   except, I don't get along with people. antisocial ?.

How about letting the neighbours take our drug problem people . Almost guaranteed to cure or Kill them !. much cheaper than using our over crowded prisons.

 

spacesailor

 

Edited January 10, 2021 by spacesailor
added more

[willedoo]

7 hours ago, old man emu said:

Isn't it strange how some countries can get along quite happily with a low rate of taxation. I'm guessing that in Russia you pay 13% of your income, with no deductions allowed.

It's just that they're less reliant than us on personal income tax to balance the budget. Probably a hangover from the socialist days, but the government has large shareholdings in a lot of the companies that earn the money, like energy, manufacturing, banking, aircraft and arms etc.. Companies like the United Aircraft Corporation for example, which makes Sukhoi, MiG, Tupolev, Ilyushin and Yakolev aircraft and is majority government owned. Our government owns almost nothing, wheras the Russian government has it's fingers in a lot of pies.

[onetrack]

Getting back to the origins of the thread - Who knew, that the British, during WW2, did some artful modification to a photo of Hitler - showing him with his dick out, and holding it in his hand! - then produced the photo as a postcard, and then air-dropped it all over Germany!

 

The stunt was pulled by the British Political Warfare Executive (PWE), a clandestine unit put together to produce material designed to damage enemy morale. The PWE engaged in a wide range of propaganda production, some of which was quite controversial.

 

Possibly the most controversial was the exercise where the PWE sent food parcels to the parents of deceased German soldiers, with false pacifist messages, reportedly from their deceased sons!

 

But overall, the PWE operations were quite clever, with clandestine fraudulent German radio stations broadcasting demoralising information, air-dropping leaflets that sowed distrust, creating forgeries of every kind, initiating and promoting demoralising rumours, and running underground newspapers. They really were the original "fake news" merchants!

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_Warfare_Executive#:~:text=During World War II%2C the,or allied with Nazi Germany.

 

https://www.leverhulme.ac.uk/research-project-grants/political-warfare-executive-covert-propaganda-and-british-culture

 

https://www.psywar.org/psywar/reproductions/day.pdf

 

The Hitler photo comes from the book, “Hitler and Churchill: Secrets of Leadership”, by Andrew Roberts.

 

The translation of the German is literally, "What we have, we hold".

 

 

 

 

[Bruce Tuncks]

Good pic onetrack, it would have fooled me for sure. But getting back to the off-topic, I would certainly vote for drug policies like Marty expounds. In fact, I reckon most people would...  so why are we doing the opposite? 

[facthunter]

Good  onya Marty . You are spot on there.  Addict are vilified. That doesn't help find a proper solution. The addict and people  they affect  can't fix, or cope with it on their own. The "system" needs to provide support of the right kind. Save a lot of money and lives in the long run. Prohibition only ups the price and lowers the quality.. Alcohol abuse is in there with the others.. Nev

[old man emu]

People tend to become addicted to what we consider vices often through inactivity. People on social service benefits become addicted to substances, both legal and illegal mainly as a result of inactivity. How can you face day after day of nothing useful to do and manage to avoid using substances to transport you from reality?

 

42 minutes ago, facthunter said:

The "system" needs to provide support of the right kind.

I'd say the right kind of support is employment in worthwhile activities. Not mundane labouring jobs like keeping the country clean and tidy, or reclaiming the environments damaged by exotic flora and fauna. Those tasks have an importance, but doing them day after day after day is not much better that doing nothing each day. What is required is work that produces something tangible, so that once the job is done the worker can have some pride in what has been done.

 

To that end, the Government, because that's who we expect to do these things, should start stimulating the manufacturing industries in order to create jobs. At the same time, there should be a premium on manufacturing education. Forget about sending everyone to university where a lot spend three or more years doing Mickey Mouse courses and come out at the end unemployable. Send people to universities of applied technology and turn out people capable of making things of high quality. It seems that it takes no brain, only brawn to make flat pack melamine furniture that has a low value. It takes brains to make high value furniture from real wood. You can provide your own examples of things made with brains are much more valuable than things made with brawn.

 

The Government should introduce tariffs of those things that could be made in Australia, and use the income from those tariffs to finance manufacturing development and technical education. Until the 1980s, Australia was able to produce that the majority of the population wanted. The Private Sector has made the annual nett profit more important than long term sustainability and growth.

 

Only a Government that honestly has the good of the majority at heart will make the hard decisions to turn our consumer economy around into a producer economy. But there I go, dreaming of living in Cloud Cuckoo Land.

[willedoo]

59 minutes ago, old man emu said:

People tend to become addicted to what we consider vices often through inactivity. People on social service benefits become addicted to substances, both legal and illegal mainly as a result of inactivity. How can you face day after day of nothing useful to do and manage to avoid using substances to transport you from reality?

Probably true to some very small degree, but it's far from the main causes of drug addiction. One of the main causes is having an addictive personality. The theory is a bit back to front.

 

To be sure, there's an element in society that have never worked much and are addicted to drugs. But it's not boredom doing it; they would be doing drugs whether or not they had a job. Most people aren't on drugs because they're on the dole. A lot are on the dole because their life has taken a downward spiral after becoming addicted when they had a good job and money to fund their habit. I've come across a lot of druggies in my life and never once met one who did it because they were bored.

 

One of the worst examples is an addictive personality combined with a rampant fragile ego. That's a textbook formula for drug addiction. It would be interesting to ever see some real honest drug usage stats. My money would be on higher numbers of users that wear a tie to work than those receiving the dole.

Edited January 11, 2021 by willedoo

[nomadpete]

Sure, Willie, nobody counts the number of employed, otherwise stable recreational drug users.

 

If the drug dealers had to rely solely on unemployed dropouts for all their sales, they'd go out of business.

 

Just look at the hints of how massive the hauls of meth/MDMA/etc pills that are rounded up by the coppers. Supposing they only catch a percentage of what's actually going onto the streets, that means there are many thousands popping these potentially addictive pills every Friday and Saturday night when they hit the town for a night out. Nowadays the clubs charge so much for alcohol, most young people find it cheaper to pop a pill. The rest of the week, they just go to work like everyone else.

[spacesailor]

Tell me TRUE !.

How do you cure the addict ?.

When you supply them with whatever their addiction needs.

Booze for the alcoholic.

Tobacco for the cronic smoker.

Methadone AND free needles for the druggie.

And for the Gambler,s out there, they give you the world.

AND this government reeps all that 10 % tax.

spacesailor

[facthunter]

From what I've seen, working on real environmental projects is the most satisfying thing you can do. Care for the land and environment is basic to aboriginal culture. Not saying it's relevant to suburban activities and influences. Nev

[Marty_d]

18 hours ago, onetrack said:

Getting back to the origins of the thread - Who knew, that the British, during WW2, did some artful modification to a photo of Hitler - showing him with his dick out, and holding it in his hand! - then produced the photo as a postcard, and then air-dropped it all over Germany!

 

The stunt was pulled by the British Political Warfare Executive (PWE), a clandestine unit put together to produce material designed to damage enemy morale. The PWE engaged in a wide range of propaganda production, some of which was quite controversial.

 

Possibly the most controversial was the exercise where the PWE sent food parcels to the parents of deceased German soldiers, with false pacifist messages, reportedly from their deceased sons!

 

But overall, the PWE operations were quite clever, with clandestine fraudulent German radio stations broadcasting demoralising information, air-dropping leaflets that sowed distrust, creating forgeries of every kind, initiating and promoting demoralising rumours, and running underground newspapers. They really were the original "fake news" merchants!

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_Warfare_Executive#:~:text=During World War II%2C the,or allied with Nazi Germany.

 

https://www.leverhulme.ac.uk/research-project-grants/political-warfare-executive-covert-propaganda-and-british-culture

 

https://www.psywar.org/psywar/reproductions/day.pdf

 

The Hitler photo comes from the book, “Hitler and Churchill: Secrets of Leadership”, by Andrew Roberts.

 

The translation of the German is literally, "What we have, we hold".

 

 

 

 

 

I notice that although the twig is showing, the giggleberries remain hidden - is that because the old song is right?

[red750]

We've all heard how Donald owns this and Donald owns that. Take a look at this collection.

 

[old man emu]

15 hours ago, Marty_d said:

is that because the old song is right?

It wasn't Adolf who had the empty nut bag. It was supposed to be Goebbels who "had no *alls at all"

[willedoo]

Didn't Hitler have only one left ball?

[nomadpete]

Himmler had something similar....

[old man emu]

But, Goebbels had no balls at all.

[Bruce Tuncks]

At Monarto zoo, there is the most advanced chimpanzee enclosure anywhere. The keepers go to great lengths to keep their mental health ok.  They hide their bananas up the hill for example. Gosh I wish something similar was done for the unemployed.Of course, they should be doing stuff that gives them pride but anything is better than nothing.

The Snowtown murderers were a good example of idle people finding a bad pastime.

 

[Yenn]

I have only got one left ball. Does that mean that I am like Hitler.