Boris Johnson

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Jun

Re: Boris Johnson

Post by Jun »

fountainhall wrote: Thu Jul 25, 2019 5:17 pm I do not believe those over 65 should be in any position to influence the future direction of a country to such a massive extent.
Why should the over 65s who have paid taxes for over 40 years and have seen many governments have any less influence than some 18 year old who might not have paid any taxes, has no clue about economic policy and might not even read anything of quality ?

If you are going to disenfranchise a part of the electorate, it is probably better to do it the other way around & cut out the younger voters.

Also, the idea that the younger voters might be more inclined to fix the environment is a fantasy. Look at France. The government proposes fuel taxes, which is the best way of cutting fuel use in vehicles. Then a huge number of mostly younger people are out on the streets protesting at this tax. I don't see many over 65s participating.
firecat69

Re: Boris Johnson

Post by firecat69 »

Jun wrote: Thu Jul 25, 2019 4:47 pm
firecat69 wrote: Thu Jul 25, 2019 2:57 pm Gee maybe the US should have stayed out of Hitler taking over Europe or the Soviet Union after that .

The US did stay out of the war until the Japanese forced the issue with Pearl Harbour. Since then, the US has kindly stepped up to the plate when required, but European leaders should sill recognise the risks of relying on another state for defence.
Well that's just not true. As Gaybutton has pointed out it had nothing to do with Pearl Harbor but the Declaration of War by Hitler on the US.

The US was already providing massive help to Britain By giving them Billions of Dollars in military equipment on credit and certainly Churchill was working tirelessly to bring the US into the War and I'm not sure any historian thinks that the US would not have gotten into the War regardless of Pearl Harbor attack.

If anything the Pearl Harbor attack might have delayed the US entry into the European war since Hitler at that moment posed no threat to the US and Japan had actually sneak attacked the US .

Of course I was not yet born at the time and I marvel at the ability of the US to enter 2 Wars thousands of miles apart at the same time.
Jun

Re: Boris Johnson

Post by Jun »

Well, I don't think many of us were around at the time and old enough to remember it.

However, as I understand the situation from various documentaries & reading, Roosevelt was keen to join the war, but US public opinion and congress were not in favour of this. So even though the war in Europe started in 1939, the US did not participate at the time.

The US Congress agreed to join in the war shortly after Pearl Harbour & not before. ie 1941.

Since WW2, the US has been quite generous in propping up the inadequate defences of Europe & commendably restrained in how it utilises military superiority. Particularly if we compare with other powers in history.

We shouldn't count on such restraint if another country is the number 1 military power in 50 years time.

Also, it's highly unwise of Europe to count on continuing US generosity in propping up NATO & compensating for inadequate European defence spending. Trump has correctly raised the issue & I believe Bernie Sanders has done so too.

If current European politicians had a better grasp of history, perhaps they would be spending more on defence. Germany currently has a totally dysfunctional military.
firecat69

Re: Boris Johnson

Post by firecat69 »

Here is a chart of Military Spending by Country.

Might surprise some , I know it did me!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_c ... penditures
firecat69

Re: Boris Johnson

Post by firecat69 »

This chart might surprise some, I know it did me!

https://www.nationalww2museum.org/stude ... -world-war
firecat69

Re: Boris Johnson

Post by firecat69 »

And WW1 What a monstrous time to be alive 1915-1945.

http://www.100letprve.si/en/world_war_1 ... index.html
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Re: Boris Johnson

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Jun wrote: Thu Jul 25, 2019 9:30 pm The US Congress agreed to join in the war shortly after Pearl Harbour & not before. ie 1941.


The vote to declare war on Japan was almost unanimous, but one Congresswoman, Jeanette Rankin of Montana, voted no. "On December 8, Rankin was the only member of either house of Congress to vote against the declaration of war on Japan. Hisses could be heard in the gallery as she cast her vote; several colleagues, including Rep. (later Senator) Everett Dirksen, asked her to change it to make the resolution unanimous—or at very least, to abstain—but she refused. "As a woman I can't go to war," she said, "and I refuse to send anyone else."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeannette_Rankin
Jun

Re: Boris Johnson

Post by Jun »

"As a woman I can't go to war," she said, "and I refuse to send anyone else."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeannette_Rankin
An extremely misguided view. Thankfully some women have more sense.
For example, one of Boris Johnson's predecessors had the right idea on that.

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Re: Boris Johnson

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firecat69 wrote: Thu Jul 25, 2019 2:57 pm Just Plain Ridiculous!!
I'm not being ridiculous. Your response is completely wrong in respect of what I argued. Hitler was interfering in other countries and was intent in going further. Of course action had to be taken against him. However if you are going to argue everyone was right to invade Iraq or that we are all in Syria "to help their people" then I believe you'd be wrong.

You also cannot just take examples of "mistakes" by the US and dismiss them with a virtual 'Oops!'.

These big brave, oh so virtuous politicians who would declare war against this or that leader in another country do so for their own selfish reasons. Let's take Syria. Our lot will say "Oh but Assad was gassing tens of thousands of his own people so we need to stand up for these poor Syrian folks and help them get rid of this despot". Ok very noble I'm sure, but what if Xi Jinping gassed a million of his people? Everyone ready to invade China? Doubtful in the extreme. Which means we are either hypocrites just or plain flat track bullies who don't have the guts to take on someone who can fight back.

Or indeed, why are we not all in North Korea helping out people who are being starved by their own nutball? How about going to Ukraine to aid their fight against Putin? Are they not worthy of our assistance? Or are we cowards who are afraid of Russia?

At the same time as being outraged by some atrocities in various parts of the world we are best of friends with the Saudis whose human rights violations are well enough known.

I could go on but it's all bullshit as is the assertion that this particular idiot would rather be ruled by Hitler or the likes.

gera wrote: Thu Jul 25, 2019 3:38 pm Is Boris Johnson British Trump? Evidence suggests otherwise.
The guy is a serial liar, like Trump. The guy is racist, like Trump. The guy has no morals or ethics, like Trump. He is completely egocentric, like Trump. The main difference between them is that Johnson is highly intelligent. We have a UK PM who has called Commonwealth country citizens "flag waving piccaninnies". That single comment alone without going into his myriad of insults against other groups makes him 100% unsuitable to be leader of this country. He's a racist but that's ok with folk who eagerly await their tax cut. That makes it all ok in the end.
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Re: Boris Johnson

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Captain Kirk wrote: Fri Jul 26, 2019 7:10 am The guy is a serial liar, like Trump. The guy is racist, like Trump. The guy has no morals or ethics, like Trump. He is completely egocentric, like Trump.
What gets me upset is that enough people accept politicians who know how to tell them what they want to hear, even if the people know it's all a bunch of lies and bullshit. As long as it's what they want to hear, they seem to just disregard the rest. In my opinion that explains how so many total scums became leaders of their countries throughout history.

Even though thousands of years of this crap has been taking place, I don't see much of a difference in today's world.
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