Miscellaneous News

solarz said:

So Trudeau called a snap election just two years after the last one, and ended up with the same minority government.

What a waste of taxpayer money.

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The federal election apparently costs $600 Million. I was f..ng shocked to learn just how much expensive the election has gotten since the campaigning was only done in a couple of weeks not years like in the U.S. and according to a CBC article, the conservatives are ready for the next election that may or could happen in 2023. So you're looking at another $600-700 million election spending. That's insane amount of money that could have been better spent on that country's people.

escobar said:

US global military dominance is trough its "alliances". That is how US constraint its adversaries, and PLA hate it.
Then saying alliance is a rubbish strategy because alliance could always be destroyed is not what RU and PLA experiment daily.

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The Russian-Chinese relationship is best described as an "Axis of Convenience" rather than any genuine alliance of mutual ideological or political system doctrines. The bonding glue is anti-US or anti-West hegemony, mutual respect, and multi-polarity, BUT....after Putin dies and Russia-US relations normalize with Putin's successor and China becomes too strong, just watch. The pendulum can swing in the other direction, Nixon-style to Russia.

Bellum_Romanum said:

I don't think @escobar is inherently anti-China or pro-China or even pro-west/America on this great game currently unfolding. Perhaps we should ask @escobar what actions he would have preferred China taken giving the current circumstances the country is dealing with and why his policy recommendations and actions have the probability of attaining the desired effect that in his mind China has failed or continuously failed to capitalize and pounce on to create the desired outcome.

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It's not pro-China or anti-China as such. He post some good stuff, and some bad (mainly without comments).

I don't mind if it's anti-China, but it got to based on facts. But this sxxt storm is over nothing. I believe he mis-spoke. But on internet, people can only reply based on what you wrote, as they can't see what you mean through your persona.

But instead of saying this is what I meant, he went off in one and having a go at all and sundries. Gee.

BoraTas said:

India's relations to the US are not comparable to Australia's relations at all. Australia and the US are de facto allies since Australia was a dominion. They fought together in countless conflicts. Just as important as this they speak the same language and have very similar cultures. India has no such relations with the USA. It doesn't have even a formal security treaty with the US. It still buys S-400s and leases Russian submarines. Only the Indian media could ask that why the US didn't share SSN tech with India. The USA doesn't share even a lot less secretive tech with NATO members.

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All very true, but I think you missed my point. And that is India is feeling pretty raw at the moment, as they have been jilted once again.

solarz said:

So Trudeau called a snap election just two years after the last one, and ended up with the same minority government.

What a waste of taxpayer money.

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Trudeau junior, is nothing his father was. He needs some backbone. This is a dash and run election because he thinks he can win .

Phead128 said:

The Russian-Chinese relationship is best described as an "Axis of Convenience" rather than any genuine alliance of mutual ideological or political system doctrines. The bonding glue is anti-US or anti-West hegemony, mutual respect, and multi-polarity, BUT....after Putin dies and Russia-US relations normalize with Putin's successor and China becomes too strong, just watch. The pendulum can swing in the other direction, Nixon-style to Russia.

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Well, could be possible but the rapprochement started before Putin. Sino-Russian rapprochement over the past three decades doesn’t merely reflect the policies of any particular national leader, but structural realism.

Phead128 said:

The Russian-Chinese relationship is best described as an "Axis of Convenience" rather than any genuine alliance of mutual ideological or political system doctrines. The bonding glue is anti-US or anti-West hegemony, mutual respect, and multi-polarity, BUT....after Putin dies and Russia-US relations normalize with Putin's successor and China becomes too strong, just watch. The pendulum can swing in the other direction, Nixon-style to Russia.

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I see the counterveiling points below.

The issue is that the European Union and NATO are next to the core heartlands of European Russia where the vast majority of the population and economic activity reside. It's only 500km from Ukraine to Moscow, so there's no strategic depth if a few battles are lost.

At the same time, the EU comprises a much larger economic bloc. If the EU expands to the Russian border, Russia faces the prospect of being a resource appendage and being dependent on EU trade whilst the reverse is not true. That will keep the disputes in Ukraine and the Baltic States alive.

In comparison, China can grow as large as it wants, because the Chinese-Russia border is sparsely populated which limits the amount of economic interaction and dependency, particularly since the majority of the Russian population and industry is in European Russia. From a military perspective, because Russia and China share a land border and both have nukes, there also isn't any ambiguity about the effects of a war between them.

Bellum_Romanum said:

The federal election apparently costs $600 Million. I was f..ng shocked to learn just how much expensive the election has gotten since the campaigning was only done in a couple of weeks not years like in the U.S. and according to a CBC article, the conservatives are ready for the next election that may or could happen in 2023. So you're looking at another $600-700 million election spending. That's insane amount of money that could have been better spent on that country's people.

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$600 million? Bloody disgusting!

solarz said:

$600 million? Bloody disgusting!

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Yep. After a 36-day campaign and a $600-million election, the final seat tally doesn't look very different from the composition of the House of Commons when it was dissolved in early August — prompting even more questions about why a vote was called during a fourth wave of the pandemic in the first place.

Phead128 said:

The Russian-Chinese relationship is best described as an "Axis of Convenience" rather than any genuine alliance of mutual ideological or political system doctrines. The bonding glue is anti-US or anti-West hegemony, mutual respect, and multi-polarity, BUT....after Putin dies and Russia-US relations normalize with Putin's successor and China becomes too strong, just watch. The pendulum can swing in the other direction, Nixon-style to Russia.

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The Nixon swing was because of USA being under tremendous pressure from USSR, so was China. Now and in the future, it is USA under Russian and Chinese pressure, and Russia benefits from partnering with China, while USA has nothing better to offer Russia, why would Russia take the swing from USA? China is getting stronger and stronger, but why does it have to be a bad thing for Russia, or anyone for that matter? What is the point to swing to a weaker partner without any advantage?

Example, USA became stronger and dominant since WWII, but UK never swung to USSR like you would have suggested. It was interest that kept them together. The common interest that bounds China and Russia (and anyone) is what China is kept promoting, "Common Prosperity" and "Community of Shared Future".

ACY Securities chief economist Clifford Bennett warned “This will be worse in Australia than anywhere else. We are in recession that could stretch in to quarter one of 2022” ! PS. And Scotty has only exacerbate Aust's economic environment

Bellum_Romanum said:

Yep. After a 36-day campaign and a $600-million election, the final seat tally doesn't look very different from the composition of the House of Commons when it was dissolved in early August — prompting even more questions about why a vote was called during a fourth wave of the pandemic in the first place.

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Ever heard this line - impression is very crucial

“Western democracies are ossified bastions of self-perpetuating interest groups, aided and abetted and legitimatised by the ritualised spectacle that we call elections”