More serious issues than direction of travel in car parks

Byron from Hikurangi Coastal

I agree with this recent reply to this issue.  But "start up a thread detailing those important matters", might not be the answer. I think this is not the forum for them.

I tried for a while to introduce some. Also dropped in the occasional URL where 'meaty' topics are discussed and commented on.

I thought this was a serious matter that very few people new about: www.neighbourly.co.nz...
It was read/skimmed/noticed by at least two people, (probably 'Leads') Generated no replies.

It was too long. We have become hooked on the 'Sound bite' and read only the headline. Probably all suffering 'Information Overload' and just don't have the time to read in depth, as we once did. I think this trend is quite dangerous, part of the dumbing down of the populace. If you're going to take over the world, start with the means of communication. That's well in hand. Ignorant = Compliant = Good

I suggest we all review our reading/TV habits. Prune hard. Do you really need to know which famous for being famous celebrity is doing what to whom? A lot of it is 'Clickbait' - some of the stuff I've fallen for wasn't even related to the original bait that caught me. Scam me once - shame on you. Scam me twice - shame on me.

The practice of rich countries dumping their rubbish in poor countries because it's cheaper than doing it at home, brings to mind that phrase of Edward Heath:
"The unacceptable face of capitalism"

There is a good paper about this practice. Paste this whole line into Google:
Decreasing Dirty Dumping - A Reevaluation of Toxic Waste Colonialism and the Global Management of Transboundary Hazardous Waste by Laura A. Pratt

The only thing these people fear but don't get is jail. William K Black a banking regulator at the time of the S&L crisis, said he jailed 1000 bankers as a result. And as a result of these jailings the rules were changed, and prosecutions from the 2008 banking scams were not possible. That's what you get when the public doesn't follow politics. www.democraticunderground.com...

"Apparently modern financial regulators are vastly more sophisticated than we were as financial regulators 25 years ago - because we had never figured out that the key
to financial stability was leaving felons in charge of the largest financial institutions in the world." - William K Black.

The 0.1% know we are too busy working and easily distracted with sport and trivia and probably think we deserve to be screwed at every opportunity.
When they're caught out, they pay the lawyers, pay the PR spin doctors, pay the fine, keep the profits, and move on to their next project.
I think they're right. If we are too lazy/stupid to pay attention to the important goings on, we deserve what ever they dish out. Politics may be dull, but it's important.

I was heartened to hear Theresa May last week: "The days of Britain and America intervening in sovereign countries in an attempt to remake the world in our own image are over" But then she added "(except) when it is in our own interests to intervene." We were not informed what these "interests" might be, but can assume they would include business interests. eg "Your country doesn't want to sell us your xxxx? Oh, I'm sorry, we'll have to replace your government with one that will"

I thought President Trump got off to a bad start with most of his appointments. The only good thing I see so far, is it has finally occurred to someone that the world
might be safer if two super powers, Russia & USA, were working closer together, not further apart as Hillary wanted.

But some experts say this is just to isolate China. And a few shrinks have suggested he is a psychopath.    He received five Draft Deferments from the Vietnam war. The first was for his feet, the others were for education. Some former class mates at the prestigious collage he attended say they don't remember him at all, let alone as top of the class. He has refused to release his college transcripts. Is this the "Birther" problem he promoted against Obama coming around to him? Karma.

Romney hid behind his religion and cheered on the war from another country.
www.rollingstone.com...
But avoiding the draft was top priority for most politicians and celebrities. What's the point of being rich if you can't arrange the world to how you want it?

Worth reading:
www.wikileaks.com...
www.publicintegrity.org... (very US centric)
www.propublica.org...
www.reddit.com...
werewolf.co.nz...
And plenty more where you can post your opinion. You will be challenged and have to defend it. You'll learn a lot. But it's time consuming, and hard work. I guess thats why trivia is so popular.