Grumpy Old Nasho

US citizens do what ever work they can get. They need the money.

Fair enough Trump's czar Homan has removed hundreds of illegal immigrants in the last few days.

Quite, yes it did, but the "No profit - No tax" system, continued on merrily. When the Fed politicians took up the issue decades later and tried to get some tax out of the companies, it was only for public consumption, following demands for the companies to pay more tax. There was really nothing they could do. The only way to stop the rort would have been to send them packing, or demand a high percentage of Australian equity in those companies, we're talking about all the large mining companies and value-adding companies that had a finger in the pie of the "No profit - No tax" operations. Also trying to force them to move their headquarters to Australia. I'm not sure how it all panned out in the end, there has been so much hidden from us, it would take a real indepth study by 4Corners to reveal it all to us. Employment provided by these companies has always been the driving factor for the politicians, so it's a waste of time crying "Pay more tax", or "Pay your fair share of tax". If we keep voting (exclude me) in the two major parties, don't complain about "Cost-Toll", no tax operations. It's a issue you'll just have to live with, like a lot of other issues you don't like, but live with. Change your vote if you think "no tax" is wrong. I did my bit years ago, over a span of about 2 years, I don't know how many letters I sent, a fair few I remember. Each answer told me to mind my own business, we know what we're doing Squirt.

As did Malcolm Fraser and civilized politicians around the world. Well then, it seems that Musk has precedents set for him. That's all he's doing, following in the footsteps of past interfering figures.

"The problem is that Musk IS a fan of the far right and seeks to interfere in other countries' politics. but perhaps you are OK with that." Bob Hawk interfered in South Africa's politics. And nearly all our politicians interfered in Vietnam's politics, so much so they even committed troops over there to join in that so-called policing action, why did they do that when in the end they became very good friends with them and eventually doing lots of trade? Who was OK with those? A majority of Australia's voting public.

You still only had to go to 2.58mins in the vid to view them, and they are exactly the same as what you just posted, except there was only 3 in that Newsweek fact check .... the vid had 8. The vid is where I first saw the pics.

Yes we know Joh he was somewhat brash and determined to have his way. However I mentioned that his wife Flo was on the Senate committee's inquiry.

You only had to go to 2.58 mins to see the salutes displayed by 8 other prominent figures, which is what you asked me to post. In our old age we all have short memories, I understand that.

Go straight to 2.58mins

With the movement of the plates, unearthed cold nuggets would be glittering in the sunlight, just a matter of poking them out and off to the dealer.

No 4 is an issue I wrote to politicians about, hand written letters sent by snail mail in those days (70's), talking about "Thin Capitalism" and "Transfer Pricing" in regards to global foreign multinationals mining and value adding our minerals predominately for export - no profit made in Australia, therefore no tax here from any profit. The profits made overseas remained overseas in headquarters accounts and they were cancelled out by large borrowings which kept the Australian plants producing more to sell overseas. The politicians answers were, you guessed it, "They provide employment that outweighs any anomalies in their business models", a Senate inquiry determined, Flo Bejelke Peterson was on it. They are called "Cost-Toll" operations, and the ATO turns which ever direction the political wind is blowing.

All I said was "don't take anything for granted". That can fit into a multitude of contexts.

That was a "my heart goes out to you" gesture, mixed with a snipe at political correctness. A vid I viewed yesterday had about 8 prominent politicians etc performing the same salute, they included Joe Biden.

Oops, I should have clicked on "Agree" OME Nev, don't take anything for granted.

He's a genius who knows how to work the system, gotta give him that ... however I would discourage him from attempting to colonize Mars, that's a bit ambitious. He needs to sort out his driverless Teslas first, here on Earth.

Nev changed the subject from politics to which country I'd rather reside in. Myself and others I know have been asked that question often, so often I now consider it as a generic cliche. Australia is bigger than any political party, and anything a government gives to it's citizens, it can also take away from it's citizens. Always think in terms of "temporary". Where would you yourself go if there was a complete collapse of the economy and the relative stable society disintegrated? I'd stay right here because I have bush and survival skills, I'd still be happy. When I was a kid, many times mum could only rustle up a boiled egg or a banana for an evening meal, I never forgot that and none of us complained. It's not political parties, their ideologies, their socialism or capitalism that keeps me in Australia, it's the island we live on that keeps me here, and taking an interest in it, which includes an interest in the history of the Aboriginal population, multiculturalism aside.

Perhaps you don't fully understand why it exists.

That's another one that's morphed into a cliché. Some Americans invited me to move to the US and I had to explain that I'm getting too old to move anywhere at all, and that I'm fifth generation, 1819 was the start of my ancestors here when there was no political parties, so I don't identify with modern day shenanigans, all that will pass given time. My political disposition is an overall outlook, studying the past, trying to fathom the present, and perceiving the future. Accordingly, I have often written letters to politicians to gauge their attitudes and mental stability on a number of different issues. Their answers gave me enough insight to make a tentative judgement on the precariousness of Australia's future in the long term if the current philosophical trend of arguing in Parliament makes for a better democracy. Some people say that it does. I'm not so sure going forward. Arguing (two party system) is actually setting a bad example in this day and age. My opinion is that the future won't stand for it. One conclusion I've come to is that Australia needs a complete overhaul of politics, integrating or overlapping of all the sub-ideologies, while retaining our main Aussie culture and characteristic Aussie spirit of work ethic that we've always had, but fast losing. Not to mention our fascination with all things foreign. We find it almost impossible, for various reason, to imagine we can do anything, or make anything for ourselves. Can you name the two US corporations, whose combined worth is nearly three times Australia's total GDP? ............................ Apple and Microsoft ........... just two US private entities. While it would be a stretch for us to expect to have large firms like that, we hardly even try to make a simple widget. Another: We need in my opinion, to have a non-political president, or a head or state removed from the workings of Parliament, and has the power to keep Australia on track, and on the straight and narrow, and generally encourage politicians and citizens to be Australian first and leave old foreign gripes behind where they first started festering, usually on the other side of the world somewhere, far removed from Australia. With all that in mind, we need to draft up a new constitution, one that is more for the people rather than the politicians, which is how it is, still now, given it was conceived by subjects under British rule, and authoritarianism was slyly built into it .... "Democracy must be made safe for the World", English lords thought. In our case, Australia. The thinking was the opposite to President Wilson's, who some years later said: "The World must be made safe for democracy". Can you tell the difference? I reckon neither is reassuring, and that's why the Electoral College in the US is able to disregard a popular vote and basically place the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence before all else. In the case of the Presidential contest just gone, they've decided that Donald Trump was the most suitable person to be President, with all his faults, to keep the United States on an even keel, and most importantly, to protect the States from undue foreign influence detrimental to their law and order on all fronts, and also any attempt to de-unify the States, these are what Trump is resisting, and if it wasn't him doing the resisting, it would be someone else finding themselves with that inevitable task in the near future, either that, or massive riots in the streets causing chaos and demands for strict adherence to the basic interpretation of laws, instead of interpreting laws based on emotion and feelings. We all have different emotions and feelings, but a law is a law, for everyone, that's the purpose of a law. Law isn't confetti, sprinkling a handful on this person, then sprinkling two handfuls on another person. We need to make big changes in Australia IMO, and where and when I can, I put forth my suggestions and ideas, for Australia only, and I need to be in Australia to help out. Bring on the Republic, with a non-political President and much less squabbling from politicians - be fair dinkum Aussies.

1960's American and Aussie conscripts fared little better. Johnson, Nixon, Menzies, Holt ... all Nazi leaders.

How could we forget it? A terrible crime committed by a bloke who emerged from mainstream Aussie society bringing shame on us when we have always considered ourselves to be peaceful and non-violent. Similarly, Islamists have emerged from the mainstream Muslim community here and committed their violent deeds, randomly killing and injuring innocent people in crowded CBD's and other places. In both of these traumatic ideological cases, radicalization, I believe, is to blame. So if we can find a way to minimize the chance to become radicalized, less attacks will occur in a given time span, or none at all, but that would be optimistic. The AFP is working on it, and Imams are now moderating themselves, speaking from pulpits, in the case of Muslims.

And the difference is?

You can believe it, I just wasn't born either way, and never in my life have I rushed off to vote for the major parties, in fact I've never voted for them. As Don Chipp advised us to do: "Keep the bastards honest". When I did vote, I'd vote for anyone, anyone at all, bar the ALP and the Coalition. I know what they are like, I've had dealings with them over the years, and they are true bastards, and if you vote for them, you are placing yourself in the same category ... stop doing it, give yourself a break, vote for anyone but those deceptive shysters.

" .... Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security." It's not in the Constitution, it's in the Declaration of Independence. Nevertheless, I didn't agree with the protestors' actions, remember though, it started peacefully, but there were some stirrers among them.

I reckon he pardoned them because it comes under the clause: "It is the duty of citizens to change the Govt if it becomes unconstitutional". There many red flags of socialism creeping in and freedoms being eroded.

Penny didn't say, we don't know what she meant, do you? Yes, I personally think Trump is quite different to past presidents. For a start, he wants the Ukraine war to stop and negotiations to get underway. He wants all immigration to be legal. He's the best president the United States has had for many decades, he's a US Constitutionalist, not an international progressive destroying the United States.