full
Episode 418 - Stories of Deception
Topics:
(05:52) Misleading Headlines
(07:16) UK Tories Clip To Mislead
(13:01) Navalny Murdered?
(19:06) Confiscate Russian Assets
(22:16) Assange Art Ransom
(27:24) Nuclear Support Is Low
(30:05) Dr Yang Hengjun
(34:01) Indian Uniform Code
(36:43) Trump Update
(45:51) UK Youth
(55:11) Analysts Say ...
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Transcript
Suburban Eastern Australia, an environment that has, over time,
Speaker:evolved some extraordinarily unique groups of Homo sapiens.
Speaker:But today, we observe a small tribe akin to a group of meerkats that
Speaker:gather together atop a small mound to watch, question and discuss the
Speaker:current events of their city, their country and their world at large.
Speaker:Let's listen keenly and observe this group fondly known as the
Speaker:Iron Fist and the Velvet Glove.
Speaker:Ah, we're already getting some tough chat in the chat room.
Speaker:John says we're 63 seconds late.
Speaker:Watley's there, meerkatting patiently.
Speaker:That's what you need to do, John.
Speaker:Meerkatting patiently.
Speaker:Alright, maybe we were 63 seconds late, but we're, you
Speaker:know, better late than never.
Speaker:Here we are.
Speaker:The Iron Fist, the Velvet Glove and Joe the Tech Guy.
Speaker:Doing a podcast where we talk about news and politics and sex and religion on a
Speaker:Monday night, eight o'clock Brisbane time.
Speaker:I'm in Brisbane, Joe's in Brisbane, and Scott, you're in regional Queensland.
Speaker:How are you, Scott?
Speaker:I'm good, thanks.
Speaker:Trevor, and yourself?
Speaker:I am well.
Speaker:I'm a little bit sore, but I am well.
Speaker:You're a little bit sore?
Speaker:What have you done to yourself?
Speaker:I was in a squash competition, a masters squash competition over the weekend and I
Speaker:had four very, very hard games of squash.
Speaker:I could barely walk on Monday morning.
Speaker:Getting down the stairs, but it was enjoyable.
Speaker:How'd you go?
Speaker:I came second in Division 1.
Speaker:I was pretty good.
Speaker:Yeah, I was pretty pleased with that.
Speaker:So, um, you tell people that you're a squash player and they go, What?
Speaker:Do they still play squash?
Speaker:Yeah, so, some old people still do.
Speaker:Joe, the tech guy, how are you?
Speaker:I'm good.
Speaker:That's good.
Speaker:John has, uh, joined us or yeah, John and Watley are there, so it's good.
Speaker:Uh, got your message, John.
Speaker:Yes, um, last week, I think I mentioned about Joe Biden and how he
Speaker:was escaping liability for having a stash of classified documents on the
Speaker:basis of being so senile, nobody would believe that he intended to do it.
Speaker:And the guys at, uh, the Planet Extra podcast did an exhaustive, lengthy,
Speaker:forensic examination of the report, which in the end says there's a lot more
Speaker:to it than that, in fact, proving even had control of documents the way it was
Speaker:alleged was in doubt, so there's a lot more to it than what I said, and if you
Speaker:want to know the full story Go and watch that Planet Extra podcast, but, uh Well,
Speaker:and of course, his bribes he was taking.
Speaker:The witness to taking the bribes apparently has now been charged
Speaker:with bearing false witness.
Speaker:Oh, okay.
Speaker:By the FBI.
Speaker:I see, I haven't got to that part.
Speaker:So, yeah, if you're at a dinner party on that particular topic, dear listener,
Speaker:and you just say, oh, it was all about his senility And, uh, proving his
Speaker:intent, uh, is a lot more than that.
Speaker:So don't rely on the Iron Fist, Velvet Glove facts for that.
Speaker:But, uh, on most things we've been pretty good, but that one, maybe just, um, change
Speaker:your thoughts on that one a little bit.
Speaker:Um, guys, next week, one of the things they do on the PEP sort of podcast, is
Speaker:they kick off with what they're grateful for, just as a way of getting some
Speaker:positive, good vibes at the beginning.
Speaker:Because invariably They, and we, head down a track of just bemoaning
Speaker:what's going on in the world.
Speaker:So maybe next week, if we could be prepared to have something you're
Speaker:grateful for, it could be personal.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:It could be baby Jesus, it could be something on a worldwide scale, or
Speaker:something on a very minuscule scale where you happen to have a fine cup of
Speaker:coffee presented to you that morning.
Speaker:I don't care, but let's just try and have something positive for next time, so.
Speaker:So there we go.
Speaker:Essential Lord Don is in the chat room as well.
Speaker:Well, what are we going to talk about, uh, on this episode?
Speaker:Kind of following on the theme of previous episodes, just looking a little
Speaker:bit at how the public is misled, either by the media or by political parties.
Speaker:Um, we've got Navalny.
Speaker:Um, was he murdered?
Speaker:We'll talk about that.
Speaker:Um.
Speaker:Apparently there was a window that he fell out of.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Julian Assange, uh, support for nuclear power.
Speaker:That might interest you, John Simmons.
Speaker:Um, bit about China.
Speaker:Um, bit about Muslims in India.
Speaker:A bit about the cases that Trump is facing and just the sort of timetable on those.
Speaker:Joe found an article about why UK youth are so disgruntled and disenchanted with
Speaker:life, and particularly political leaders.
Speaker:And I came across from an article from the ABC, which is really about China
Speaker:setting up some humble research stations on Antarctica and just beaten up.
Speaker:Into a potential, this is how they're going to control the world.
Speaker:Watch out for those nasty Chinese.
Speaker:They're taking over Antarctica because of a terrible plot against
Speaker:Western civilization, sort of story.
Speaker:Anyway, we'll get to that one.
Speaker:Yeah, see how we go.
Speaker:So that's on the agenda.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Just on the media, and we've mentioned, it might have been last week or
Speaker:the week before, just about how The media has used different words
Speaker:when describing Israel's actions as opposed to the Palestinian actions.
Speaker:You might remember that, you know, massacre and, and, um, uh, harsh
Speaker:words like that were reserved for what had been done to Israel.
Speaker:And much softer words were used, um, People's, um, people were found dead, um,
Speaker:when it came to what Israelis had done to Palestinians, whereas Palestinians
Speaker:were actually murdering people.
Speaker:Like the nature of the, sort of, words were different.
Speaker:And there was just Uh, an article in the Washington Post, the headline
Speaker:was, Four Fragile Lives Found Ended in Evacuated Gaza Hospital.
Speaker:Um, apparently they changed that headline not long after it was
Speaker:originally printed, but, uh, yeah.
Speaker:Instead of saying four young kids murdered by Israeli bombs,
Speaker:it was, Four Fragile Lives Found Ended in Evacuated Gaza Hospital.
Speaker:So, that's the sort of subtle Sort of, um, thought massaging that just goes
Speaker:on if you're not on the lookout for it.
Speaker:Um, another type of thought massaging.
Speaker:This one was from the UK.
Speaker:So, Joe, Conservatives are really on the nose over there in the UK.
Speaker:You don't have to be there, I guess, to know that's the case.
Speaker:So I just saw a Jonathan Pie today that was saying Rishi
Speaker:Senak, telling everyone he's, he's delivering, uh, but delivering what?
Speaker:And the answer is a recession.
Speaker:Apparently the UK is now in recession.
Speaker:After 14 years of Conservative government.
Speaker:Is Jonathan Pye still doing stuff, is he?
Speaker:He is, yes.
Speaker:Oh, I haven't seen any for ages.
Speaker:Somehow I must have slipped off his page, because, yeah.
Speaker:So, so there's a Tory, the Tory chairman is Richard Holden, and he
Speaker:defended a misleading video that the Tory party had put on there.
Speaker:X account, their Twitter account, and it was a clip by, um, it
Speaker:was a clip involving Sadiq Khan.
Speaker:Sadiq Khan.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:He's the Mayor of London.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:And, um, he said in the, sort of an interview, he said, quote, As
Speaker:far as I'm concerned, that sort of language isn't acceptable, and it
Speaker:certainly shouldn't be accepted in a party like mine that is proud to be
Speaker:both anti racist and anti Semitic.
Speaker:And so, of course, he misspoke by saying that his party is
Speaker:proud to be anti Semitic.
Speaker:And he straight away quickly corrected himself and said, I beg
Speaker:your pardon, tackling anti Semitism.
Speaker:So, it was to say, I mean, I've done a lot on this podcast where I've referred
Speaker:to the wrong thing, the complete opposite to what I meant to say.
Speaker:And he kind of, dear listener, cut me some slack and go, uh, he was actually
Speaker:referring to this rather than that, you know, it was just a A mistake.
Speaker:People make them.
Speaker:But the goddamn Conservative Tory Party clipped the part where he said his party
Speaker:is proud to be anti racist and anti Semitic, chopped it off there and ran,
Speaker:um, you know, a tweet, um, uh, basically to demonstrate that the Labor Party has
Speaker:a, has a problem when it comes to Jews.
Speaker:Completely misleading people as to what the guy was actually saying.
Speaker:And the chairman, when pulled up by reporters, was saying, Oh, you
Speaker:know, it was edited, but we didn't rearrange anything, he actually said
Speaker:those things, so, it's all good.
Speaker:This is the level.
Speaker:This isn't some crazy two bit party of wacky Well, you say that.
Speaker:Well, yeah.
Speaker:LAUGHS That's what they They are now.
Speaker:Like, this is not a legitimate, serious Group anymore.
Speaker:The, you know, the UK Tory party is prepared to do
Speaker:something as misleading of that.
Speaker:You can't trust anything they say about anybody.
Speaker:I'm shocked, I tell you.
Speaker:Oh, either I am like, that's just so cheap and so open to ridicule.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I mean, yeah, apparently.
Speaker:No, I don't blame you.
Speaker:But by the same token, I'm not surprised that that sort of
Speaker:shit has started to happen.
Speaker:I don't know that this is necessarily a new thing, taking people out
Speaker:of context or misquoting them.
Speaker:No, but they've actually gone and doctored a video and that sort
Speaker:of stuff and then re released it.
Speaker:Yeah, and they say it wasn't doctored because they just Cut it off at that
Speaker:point and didn't rearrange any of the words, but by taking it out of the
Speaker:context Yeah, so many things in life that we examine on this podcast dear
Speaker:listener You need to know some of the background context to sort of understand
Speaker:where you're at and why things have happened, some of the historical context.
Speaker:In that case, it was just a context about communication and, um, very, very
Speaker:misleading by the Conservative Party.
Speaker:And, um, James O'Brien, I was going to play the clip, but it's a bit long.
Speaker:He found one where, um, Ritchie, Ritchie Soonak was with a group
Speaker:of schoolboys and they were obviously referring to soft drink.
Speaker:But he said to the schoolboys, yes, I'm addicted to coke.
Speaker:Totally addicted to coke.
Speaker:James O'Brien was saying, well there you go, he's a drug
Speaker:addict, he's addicted to coke.
Speaker:What more do you need to know?
Speaker:Like, we could just be running ads saying that, if what you've said is acceptable.
Speaker:And there were other examples where people had made So had
Speaker:he put this to the MP involved?
Speaker:A reporter did, to the chairman of the Tory party.
Speaker:And, um, and said, it's misinformation.
Speaker:It portrays something inaccurate to people online.
Speaker:And the guy replied, it highlights an issue of anti Semitism at the
Speaker:heart of the Labor Party and it's not been edited, it's been clipped.
Speaker:And the reporter said, that's exactly the same thing.
Speaker:And the chairman said, no, it's actually quite different.
Speaker:And, um, and he just fobbed it off.
Speaker:Hmm.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Yeah, we, we've never been at war with Eurasia.
Speaker:Yes, indeed.
Speaker:1984, we've up to the, uh, yes.
Speaker:40th anniversary.
Speaker:I think it was this week.
Speaker:Something like that.
Speaker:Oh yeah, of course.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Navalny, that guy had a death wish, didn't he?
Speaker:Going back to Russia.
Speaker:It was, with the benefit of hindsight, a foolish thing for him to do.
Speaker:You know, he went back there with a former KGB agent and
Speaker:that sort of stuff as president.
Speaker:I just think to myself he was probably asking for it.
Speaker:You know, he was arrested when he returned and that sort of thing
Speaker:and then they got him in prison.
Speaker:And now he's suddenly collapsed and died.
Speaker:You know, and I bet you bottom dollar there'll be no
Speaker:autopsy or anything like that.
Speaker:He's probably already been cremated.
Speaker:Well, yeah, the family have been searching for his body and his body has disappeared
Speaker:and nobody's quite sure where it's got to.
Speaker:So he's been cremated for us.
Speaker:Just, you know, he was alive and living in a different country
Speaker:and he voluntarily went back.
Speaker:I know.
Speaker:Immediately arrested and thrown into jail.
Speaker:He went back allegedly because he loved his country.
Speaker:And he wanted to rescue his country from the groups of Vladimir Putin.
Speaker:Yeah, I don't know if he'd do it from in the country.
Speaker:No, it's one of those things, because anyone that comes along that's going to
Speaker:be a credible threat to Vladimir Putin is going to find himself in prison.
Speaker:Yeah, it's been very brave, or very stupid, or both, but um I
Speaker:think he's probably very crazy brave, you know, doing it.
Speaker:I have some close friends who are from Iran, I'm glad they got out.
Speaker:Yeah, exactly.
Speaker:You know, it's one of those things, it's, um, I wouldn't want to be
Speaker:still living there, you know?
Speaker:I'm not sure that Navalny was, um, a saint either, like, he just read
Speaker:different things, his association with Nazis and stuff, he knows where
Speaker:the truth lies in all that stuff, but he had some unsavoury incidents.
Speaker:Probably, if he's human, he's almost certainly, but Yeah, I mean
Speaker:Who hasn't had a dinner party with a group of Nazis and, you know.
Speaker:Yeah, but when you're, when you're, when you are Russian and that sort of
Speaker:thing, you've got to realize that, um, your democracy is only as old as Russia
Speaker:itself, which is what, 20 or 30 years or something like that since the, um,
Speaker:end of the, end of the, uh, Cold War.
Speaker:Democracy was there for about five years before it disappeared.
Speaker:Yeah, I know it was, and it's just one of those things.
Speaker:It's, um, democracy's overrated.
Speaker:So it's, no, it's not overrated.
Speaker:I, I think there's, there's levels isn't there?
Speaker:Mm-Hmm.
Speaker:. Yeah.
Speaker:There's, there's Julian Assange who is in Bell Marsh Prison, who is about to be put
Speaker:in a show trial, and then there's Navalny who was taken off to the Arctic Circle
Speaker:and then died in mysterious circumstances.
Speaker:Mm-Hmm mm-Hmm.
Speaker:I, I, I think there are levels.
Speaker:Neither are good.
Speaker:But I would suggest that Russia is considerably worse.
Speaker:Who was the American guy who, um, was involved with all the celebrities
Speaker:with, um, sex with underage girls, who was in America and died of
Speaker:suicide in strange circumstances?
Speaker:Who was that?
Speaker:Epstein.
Speaker:Epstein.
Speaker:So, you know, a lot of people said about that.
Speaker:Did he really commit suicide?
Speaker:You know, it was very convenient for a lot of people that he died.
Speaker:It was very convenient for a lot of senior people, yes.
Speaker:What would you think has been the case with him?
Speaker:With Epstein.
Speaker:Epstein, Epstein, whatever.
Speaker:You know, there's a fair chance he was bumped off by powerful people as well.
Speaker:Yeah, there was.
Speaker:So, you know, and that was in a democracy.
Speaker:Yeah, but, so, even Donald Trump, would he be that stupid to do something like that?
Speaker:Potentially.
Speaker:It's a pretty strong chance that something happened to him.
Speaker:Yes, but is Donald Trump in prison currently on Trump, on
Speaker:Trump charges and likely to die under mysterious circumstances?
Speaker:No, he's not.
Speaker:Webstein wasn't the opposition, wasn't the opposition leader.
Speaker:Exactly.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:But he was a person who was uncomfortable for a number of
Speaker:powerful people to have alive.
Speaker:And it would be very easy in a prison.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So all I'm doing is just pointing out that we can sit here and go, oh, you know,
Speaker:those Russians who don't have democracies allowing this sort of shit to happen.
Speaker:And we really, you know, you don't have to look too far and
Speaker:you find something similar.
Speaker:I think it's a different level.
Speaker:Yeah, I agree.
Speaker:It's one of those things.
Speaker:It's just, um, it is a very different thing that's happening
Speaker:No, Assange is being treated very badly But there's no chance of him.
Speaker:There's no chance of him dying other than by his own hand What about Epstein?
Speaker:Well Epstein, I don't know.
Speaker:It's one of those things Was he actually murdered?
Speaker:Potentially.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Do I actually believe that the royal family had anything to do with it?
Speaker:No, I don't you know So, I think if another prisoner had arranged
Speaker:it, they would, quite possibly.
Speaker:Sorry, you just faded out a bit there.
Speaker:I said if another prisoner in Epstein's prison had caused an accident, then
Speaker:I think they'd be rather well off.
Speaker:Hmm.
Speaker:I think there were a lot of vested interests who might well
Speaker:have been willing to pay money.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Whether that happened or not, I don't know, but Yeah.
Speaker:It would certainly have been convenient.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So I guess it might have been another prisoner who bumped off
Speaker:Navalny, like you never know.
Speaker:Oh, well, Navalny was obviously poisoned, you know, so, all right,
Speaker:uh, that's Navalny murdered, almost certainly, one would think, but, um.
Speaker:Still on Russia, um, there's talk about a growing push amongst some
Speaker:Western nations, including the U.
Speaker:S., to use Russian assets that they froze at the beginning of the war
Speaker:to fund Ukraine's military, and there's a plan circulating that
Speaker:could see around, uh, 300 billion U.
Speaker:S.
Speaker:dollars worth of Russian assets currently frozen in the West being
Speaker:seized and handed over to Ukraine.
Speaker:That's the talk.
Speaker:That be a good idea, Scott?
Speaker:Ah, no, because I think Russia would seize assets that belong to Western governments
Speaker:and that sort of stuff in Russia.
Speaker:Yes, that's true.
Speaker:So I just think to myself that the payback wouldn't be worth it.
Speaker:I read something that said something like that, that uh, there's probably
Speaker:an equivalent amount of Western assets in Russia that they would
Speaker:simply then say, Ah, all this handy mining equipment and whatever you've
Speaker:got here and other industrial stuff.
Speaker:We'll seize that.
Speaker:Thank you very much.
Speaker:So, uh, so that could happen.
Speaker:Um, uh, Russia will just become more self reliant.
Speaker:And the other thing, of course, is that other countries will
Speaker:lose faith in things like U.
Speaker:S.
Speaker:bonds and other investments that the U.
Speaker:S.
Speaker:could confiscate.
Speaker:So, um, the way Venezuela's assets were seized.
Speaker:Certainly scared off a number of people, and I think the Germans, who
Speaker:owned gold in, um, Is it Fort Knox?
Speaker:I would have thought so, that's where their main gold reserves are.
Speaker:Countries like Germany said You know that gold that we've got in America, we should
Speaker:probably bring it back over here just in case we do something they don't like
Speaker:and they decide to confiscate our gold.
Speaker:So I think, um, I think it'd be a risky move in that other countries will
Speaker:start to worry about investing in U.
Speaker:S.
Speaker:fishery bonds and other things.
Speaker:It sounds like a very good idea when you first read it, but then you've actually
Speaker:got to think about it and think, well, Russia could then Pinch everything that
Speaker:belongs to us over there, you know, it's, yeah, I don't think it's, I don't,
Speaker:I honestly think it's probably in a half a thought bubble that a Republican
Speaker:has dreamed up and that sort of stuff because he doesn't want to spend any
Speaker:US dollars on the um, Reparation War.
Speaker:Reparations are not something new.
Speaker:Germany was crippled with reparations.
Speaker:And that led to the Second World War.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Apparently the guy pushing the idea is the guy who pushed for the Majinsky, um,
Speaker:laws, which were the ones where, say, Western governments could, um, basically,
Speaker:Confiscate the assets of, of leading players in totalitarian governments and
Speaker:seize their personal assets and not allow them to travel and things like that.
Speaker:So, it was the guy behind promoting those laws that is promoting this
Speaker:idea of seizing Russian assets.
Speaker:Anyway, uh, skipping back to Julian Assange.
Speaker:So, this one came from you, uh, Joe, is that right?
Speaker:You want to tell people what that guy's idea is?
Speaker:Sorry, which one?
Speaker:The, the guy with the, the artist.
Speaker:The artist in France.
Speaker:Oh, I see, yeah.
Speaker:Sorry, I hadn't realised that I had shared it.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um, so an artist has decided to lock up a bunch of, uh, fairly
Speaker:valuable paintings in a safe.
Speaker:Along with some acid.
Speaker:And, um, if Assange dies in prison, generally under mysterious circumstances,
Speaker:the paintings that are in that safe will be destroyed by acid.
Speaker:Hmm.
Speaker:So He says this is trying to reflect on people that a human life is
Speaker:worth more than this valuable art.
Speaker:We get so upset at the thought of the art being destroyed.
Speaker:Um, but really, not, not just a human life.
Speaker:I, I did have a big discussion with an online group who Were,
Speaker:he's a rapist, he deserves anything that comes to him, fuck him.
Speaker:Uh, without realising that this is actually quite an important precedence
Speaker:around the freedom of the press.
Speaker:And I think that's the important point here, is whatever you think of him as
Speaker:a human being, it's a scary thought as far as press freedoms are concerned.
Speaker:Yeah, so apparently he claims to have 45 million dollars worth of art, and
Speaker:um, yeah, there's a dead man's switch.
Speaker:So, there's a 24 hour countdown timer, which gets reset before it reaches
Speaker:zero to prevent the corrosive substance from being released into the vault.
Speaker:And the timer is reset when someone close to Assange confirms he is
Speaker:still alive in prison each day.
Speaker:So Does sound very Bond esque, doesn't it?
Speaker:It does, doesn't it?
Speaker:It really sounds like something out of a No doubt inspired by a movie, but the
Speaker:idea that this clock is just ticking down and somebody has to get in and say, yes,
Speaker:he's still alive and then it resets and that's going to be done every 24 hours.
Speaker:And apparently some significant artwork, um, artwork by Rembrandt,
Speaker:Picasso and Andy Warhol.
Speaker:And, uh, it's been donated by different people who have, uh, a few of whom
Speaker:have confirmed, yes, I've donated.
Speaker:Rembrandt, and I'm not telling you which one it was, but he does, he does have it.
Speaker:So, seems legit.
Speaker:Interesting.
Speaker:Sounds legit and that sort of stuff.
Speaker:It's just one of those things.
Speaker:It's, um, you know, if we can take it back and everything like that, he
Speaker:was originally arrested for, well, he was originally facing extradition to
Speaker:Sweden, but the reason why he ducked into the, um, Ecuadorian Embassy was
Speaker:because Sweden wouldn't guarantee that he wouldn't be sent to the U.
Speaker:S.
Speaker:Which, I don't know, it's one of those things that those original charges were
Speaker:quite vile and all that sort of stuff.
Speaker:So, yeah.
Speaker:Anyway, I just think to myself, if he hadn't have actually interfered in the
Speaker:US elections and all that sort of stuff, if he hadn't have, if he hadn't have
Speaker:released all those emails and everything else that, um, Hillary had, then he
Speaker:probably wouldn't have, he probably wouldn't have attracted so much attention.
Speaker:Because, you know, you've got the Republicans that want to
Speaker:hang him, and then you've got the Democrats also want to hang him.
Speaker:Although, bizarrely, it was under Trump.
Speaker:Sorry?
Speaker:It was under Trump that the Extradition was ordered and, um, that was after
Speaker:Trump benefited from those emails.
Speaker:Yeah, I know, which doesn't make a hell of sense to me.
Speaker:It's just one of those things that one would hope that, um, they will see
Speaker:sense and that they will actually call off the dogs and that sort of stuff.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:It's one of those things.
Speaker:He has been awarded a, um some type of award for his journalism
Speaker:and that sort of stuff.
Speaker:Yeah, he won a major Australian journalism award.
Speaker:He's definitely a journalist.
Speaker:Yeah, I know.
Speaker:It's one of those things.
Speaker:It's just that, um, I would have thought that that should be enough
Speaker:that the Yanks would actually have to back down because he was a journalist.
Speaker:Well, the fact that, uh, some valuable artwork is facing, um, destruction.
Speaker:I don't think, I don't think it's going to worry the people who are
Speaker:actually making the decisions.
Speaker:So, um, but an interesting, um, arrangement there.
Speaker:It's almost Landon Hardbottom would be, would be proud of it.
Speaker:I would have thought.
Speaker:I don't know that.
Speaker:It's going to change minds, um, in senior decision making.
Speaker:I think it might bring some public attention to the fact.
Speaker:I can't imagine it getting a heck of a lot of extra people out there in the
Speaker:streets protesting because of their love of art, and they're suddenly
Speaker:then going to protest to save it.
Speaker:This doesn't make a lot of sense.
Speaker:Ah, moving on.
Speaker:There was an essential report, but you know what?
Speaker:There was nothing particularly interesting in it, so I'm
Speaker:just going to let that one go.
Speaker:Um, so there was that one.
Speaker:Um, did come across one about support for, um, the different energy sources.
Speaker:This is Australia, and it was an Australian Financial Review
Speaker:poll, and sample size was 1, 000, so that's good enough.
Speaker:And people are asked, um, their support for energy sources, and 84 percent support
Speaker:solar, 61 percent support onshore wind, only 58 percent support offshore wind.
Speaker:Can you think of a reason why anyone would I can't understand why wouldn't,
Speaker:why wouldn't you be more supportive of offshore wind as opposed to onshore wind?
Speaker:That's what I would have thought.
Speaker:Because offshore wind, I think, is possibly a little more jarring,
Speaker:assuming it's visible from the coast.
Speaker:There's something about looking out to sea and seeing a great big field
Speaker:of windmills sitting out there.
Speaker:See, I've got a friend of mine that lives in Wales and she reckons there
Speaker:is a noise from those wind turbines.
Speaker:It's not that bad, but it's something that does, if it goes on overnight
Speaker:and all that sort of stuff, it possibly would irritate you overnight.
Speaker:So I can understand why you'd want offshore wind as opposed to onshore wind.
Speaker:Just surprises me that there'd be a difference between the two.
Speaker:Uh, ly 56% support natural gas, 47% hydrogen only, 35%.
Speaker:John support nuclear and 33% support coal.
Speaker:So, uh, I did see a conversation article talking about, um, hydrogen mm-Hmm.
Speaker:as a possible fuel source and asking people whether they supported
Speaker:green hydrogen or blue hydrogen.
Speaker:Mm-Hmm, the ancy.
Speaker:Um, and they, rather than talking about colors, explain the difference.
Speaker:Basically, green hydrogen is used, is, is breaking down water into hydrogen
Speaker:and oxygen, using excess electricity, and blue hydrogen is using hydrocarbons,
Speaker:which gives a high, um, carbon dioxide.
Speaker:Yep.
Speaker:So, it's still a polluter of fossil.
Speaker:Yeah, that's why if you, if you're going to talk about hydrogen,
Speaker:you'd have to, you'd have to actually talk about green hydrogen.
Speaker:Good point.
Speaker:And I think they're saying a lot of people are amenable to starting on blue
Speaker:hydrogen and moving to green hydrogen.
Speaker:You just cut out again a bit then, Joe, for some reason.
Speaker:Don't I?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Might have been your internet or something, so.
Speaker:Just the last few words.
Speaker:So yeah, that was that.
Speaker:Um, then speaking of, you know, political prisoners or people in totalitarian
Speaker:regimes being punished like it would never happen in a democracy, uh, we had
Speaker:Um, and Australia's outcry at China's death sentence for Yang Hanzhong.
Speaker:And um, so, a suspended death sentence was handed out to Australian Chinese
Speaker:pro democracy writer Yang Hanzhong.
Speaker:H E N G J U N, however that's pronounced.
Speaker:How would you pronounce that, Joe?
Speaker:Oh, I don't know.
Speaker:Hung John?
Speaker:Something like that?
Speaker:I don't know.
Speaker:Let's just call him Yang.
Speaker:Yeah, that's probably his surname, isn't it?
Speaker:Yang?
Speaker:Yeah, we'll just call him Yang because that's easy.
Speaker:Um, so it was a secret trial in China in May 2021.
Speaker:And, um, so it's a 5 year wait for the sentence, it's illustrated the opacity
Speaker:of the Chinese justice system, um, Penny Wong has indicated, um, well, according
Speaker:to this article, what's this article from?
Speaker:Oh, I didn't say where it was from, but, um, Penny Wong has indicated the
Speaker:hypocrisy Or, at least, the fatal lack of self awareness of the Australian
Speaker:Government, because she described the sentence as appalling and harrowing,
Speaker:saying the Government would be communicating its response to Beijing
Speaker:in the strongest terms, and that the Chinese ambassador to Australia has
Speaker:been summoned by the Department of Foreign Affairs, and there's speculation
Speaker:in this article that the particular ambassador is not shy, and he might
Speaker:mention to the Australian authorities.
Speaker:Whistleblowers like David McBride, left with no choice than to plead guilty
Speaker:to leaking classified information.
Speaker:Richard Boyle, who awaits trial.
Speaker:Julian Assange, of course, in Belmarsh.
Speaker:And former pilot Daniel Duggan, who's been locked up in solitary confinement
Speaker:for 15 months at the behest of the US over accusations of providing
Speaker:military training to Chinese pilots.
Speaker:So, it's just an example where, okay, doesn't sound
Speaker:great what's happened to Yang.
Speaker:But then, people in glasshouses should be careful about throwing
Speaker:stones, or at least be aware of their own misdemeanours when they do.
Speaker:So, kind of matches up with what we were saying earlier about Epstein and Navalny.
Speaker:Hmm.
Speaker:Hmm.
Speaker:Um, Joe.
Speaker:What was he originally sentenced for?
Speaker:Which one?
Speaker:Yang, what was he originally sentenced for?
Speaker:Uh, supposedly working against, for being a spy, I think,
Speaker:working against China as a spy.
Speaker:So he was a Chinese spy and he was very outspoken.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Overseas, and I think.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And he started writing fictional novels, which involved a character
Speaker:that seemed a lot like himself.
Speaker:Yeah, um, another guy with a death wish, because he was not in
Speaker:China, and he went back to China after all that and got arrested.
Speaker:Yeah, so apparently his wife and child were getting their visas renewed.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:And they had to leave the country, I think.
Speaker:And he went back with them, even though he was an Australian
Speaker:citizen and didn't have to.
Speaker:Right, so his wife and child were going back to China to get their visas
Speaker:renewed for Australia, were they?
Speaker:Uh, something like that, I guess.
Speaker:Well, he lived in the US, but Yeah, and he didn't have to, but he went
Speaker:voluntarily, and just like that, he got swooped up upon arrival.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um, religion.
Speaker:So, we haven't spoken about India much lately, but, uh, a bill has
Speaker:been Um, drafted, which, um, will impose a common law on all Indians
Speaker:that's particularly aimed at Muslims.
Speaker:That's what the critics say.
Speaker:So the Uniform Civil Code, um, from Modi's Hindu government is going to force
Speaker:Indians of all faiths to subscribe to the same laws on marriage, divorce and
Speaker:inheritance, banning polygamy and giving women and men equal rights to inherit.
Speaker:Opponents of the law say it targets the 200 million Muslims in India.
Speaker:Since independence, India has allowed religious communities to follow
Speaker:their own laws on issues such as divorce, marriage, property rights,
Speaker:inheritance and child custody.
Speaker:And for the Muslim communities, this is governed by Sharia or Islamic law.
Speaker:So the bill would ban a Muslim practice called Halalah, in which a Muslim woman
Speaker:who has been divorced by her husband must marry another man, have sexual relations
Speaker:with him, and then divorce him if she wishes to remarry her first husband.
Speaker:Sharia allows a Muslim man to have more than one wife, so
Speaker:he may do so under Indian law.
Speaker:If a Hindu or Christian man takes a second wife, he is guilty of adultery.
Speaker:So, um, so there we go, India forcing Muslims to abide by a common set of laws.
Speaker:Gentlemen, your thoughts?
Speaker:I've got absolutely no problem with that at all.
Speaker:It's almost certainly driven by the BJP.
Speaker:Yeah, it is.
Speaker:Of Islam.
Speaker:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker:But I have no problems with, I mean, it should never have
Speaker:happened in the first place.
Speaker:Mm-Hmm.
Speaker:That different groups of people have different sets of rules.
Speaker:Mm-Hmm.
Speaker:There should be a, a uniform set of laws for everybody.
Speaker:Exactly.
Speaker:Um, because the people I feel for are the apostates, the people who don't
Speaker:want to live under Islamic law, but are deemed Muslims and are apostates
Speaker:and are, um, under the death sentence.
Speaker:If they say, well actually I don't like these laws and I
Speaker:don't want to be part of them.
Speaker:We're all in agreement on that one.
Speaker:Mm.
Speaker:The motivations may be sketchy.
Speaker:The motivations are entirely the principles is what they've
Speaker:actually arrived on is fine.
Speaker:But the motivations for it are, I think it's, it's a stopped clock, isn't it?
Speaker:Mm-Hmm.
Speaker:It happens to be right twice a day.
Speaker:There we go.
Speaker:Got a fun clip here.
Speaker:This one.
Speaker:I will grab this one 'cause I, um, this was one where I bookmarked it and
Speaker:thought, I think this one will be good.
Speaker:But I never actually listened to it until this afternoon, and I
Speaker:was quite pleased with the ending.
Speaker:The ending on this is a cracker.
Speaker:So, um, we're moving on to Trump now, and, you know, just, it's Teflon
Speaker:coated for so many Republicans.
Speaker:Have a listen to this.
Speaker:What are your thoughts about the Trump indictment?
Speaker:It's probably garbage.
Speaker:Probably garbage?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Did you read it?
Speaker:No.
Speaker:Okay, and then what about the audio recording that got released?
Speaker:Probably garbage.
Speaker:You didn't listen to it?
Speaker:How would you know it's garbage if you don't even look into it?
Speaker:Some serious things are being, uh, accused here.
Speaker:Like, tell me what it is.
Speaker:Mishandling and, uh, classified documents.
Speaker:Holding on to them when he wasn't supposed to have them.
Speaker:Uh, violating a subpoena.
Speaker:Lying to federal authorities.
Speaker:Obstructing an investigation.
Speaker:Conspiring with other staffers to move around documents to keep federal
Speaker:authorities from getting them.
Speaker:Eh Sounds, uh, sounds pretty serious but
Speaker:Doesn't everybody do that?
Speaker:I love that last bit.
Speaker:Doesn't everybody do that?
Speaker:Look, I could be wrong with my memory, but um, when Boogie Board Girl got caught
Speaker:with the marijuana in Indonesia Dad was being interviewed about how, no they
Speaker:weren't honestly a problem with the law I mean, sure he's got a few drink driving,
Speaker:but Uh, offences, but doesn't everybody?
Speaker:Yeah, that's I was just remembering that interview.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I love that.
Speaker:Yeah, doesn't everybody do that?
Speaker:Well, yeah.
Speaker:Isn't everybody a criminal?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Apparently so.
Speaker:Now, where are we at with the, uh, with the Trump stuff?
Speaker:So, um Um, well, before we get onto that, we're going to talk about what
Speaker:the different cases are that he's facing, but just briefly, there was that
Speaker:ruling, um, about how he had, uh, lied as to the valuation of his properties,
Speaker:which enabled him then to get loans and get cheaper interest rates and, um,
Speaker:Uh, so a judge has come down with an extremely hefty penalty on that one.
Speaker:I don't think I've got it written down here for some reason.
Speaker:353 million dollars.
Speaker:Enormous sum and banned from being involved in companies
Speaker:and also his sons in New York.
Speaker:They, yeah, they wanted to, but they got overturned.
Speaker:He has to be supervised.
Speaker:Ah, okay.
Speaker:So the supervisor stays in place, because there is a supervisor at the
Speaker:moment, which annoys the heck out of him.
Speaker:So, the supervisor looks at the, uh, things that they're running and,
Speaker:and, uh, keeps an eye on things.
Speaker:So, um, uh, just re So yeah, so when, when we're just looking at one with,
Speaker:what is a Trump supporter thing?
Speaker:Well, you know, doesn't everybody do that?
Speaker:And in relation to this sort of property valuation fraud, um, issue, I was just
Speaker:reading a tweet by this guy, Simon, somebody, who said, um, Judge Angoran
Speaker:is expected to rule against Trump any moment now for something really bizarre.
Speaker:He got the loans from the banks, he repaid them with interest, nobody complained.
Speaker:Ahead of the presidential election, Newell charged him with allegedly inflating
Speaker:his assets to get favourable loans.
Speaker:Going by that logic, most business people in America would be in prison.
Speaker:All business people claim they are worth more than they really are, and
Speaker:it's the job of the bank to verify any information before granting loans.
Speaker:For those who are celebrating this, or are claiming that this is not politically
Speaker:motivated, ask yourself this question.
Speaker:How many top businessmen and women are in prison in New York for getting loans, and
Speaker:then paying back their loans in full, and with interest, paying all their taxes,
Speaker:and the salaries of all their employees?
Speaker:If you find some, I'd like to interview them.
Speaker:So, you know, again, this will just be the reaction of a lot of Trump supporters.
Speaker:Um, it was a victimless paper type crime.
Speaker:He paid his money.
Speaker:You're all picking on him.
Speaker:Yeah, I know that, but apparently I saw something on Instagram, I think, where it
Speaker:said that, um, what he actually claimed the valuation of Mar a Lago was 1.
Speaker:5 million dollars.
Speaker:No, 1.
Speaker:5 billion dollars, I think it was.
Speaker:And they then went and had a look at the tallest building in,
Speaker:what's the capital of the UAE?
Speaker:Dubai.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Yeah, Dubai.
Speaker:And they said this cost 1.
Speaker:5 billion dollars to build at the time.
Speaker:So then they said, who honestly believes that um, Mar a Lago is worth 1.
Speaker:5 billion dollars compared to this building?
Speaker:Yeah, I think there's similar comparisons with Buckingham Palace and, and just,
Speaker:you know, it had been valued on the basis that it was X number of square
Speaker:metres, when in fact it was about, you know, a tenth of that size, so.
Speaker:Yeah, a whole bunch of things.
Speaker:But, yeah, I guess the thing is, just the way people will find an
Speaker:excuse for anything that he does.
Speaker:If you have the motivated reasoning to do it.
Speaker:And the smarter you are, the better reasons you'll come up with and the
Speaker:better you'll be able to articulate them.
Speaker:So, essentially he's got four Cases that he's still dealing with, which is, um,
Speaker:a federal case related to his efforts to retain power after the election and
Speaker:the January 6th attack on the Capitol.
Speaker:So, charges have been filed, no trial date.
Speaker:There's, um, a Georgia election case relating to, um, Trump's efforts to
Speaker:reverse the election loss in Georgia.
Speaker:Again, charges filed, no court date.
Speaker:We've got the Classified Documents case, so this relates
Speaker:to the documents at Mar a Lago.
Speaker:In the toilet?
Speaker:Stored in the toilet, famously, as we saw.
Speaker:That one has a trial date set, and that is set for Um, May 20th, so that's coming up.
Speaker:Bearing in mind the election is in November, so the Classified Documents
Speaker:case trial has been set for May.
Speaker:Election in November.
Speaker:And there's another one which is the Manhattan Hush Money case, relating
Speaker:to payments to cover up a sex scandal.
Speaker:I think that must be Stormy Daniels.
Speaker:I would have thought so, yeah.
Speaker:Again, trial date set.
Speaker:And that one is set for March, coming up soon.
Speaker:So, two trials set, two of them still not set, but at least we'll, yeah,
Speaker:see how those pan out for the Don.
Speaker:Any thoughts on Donald Trump in the election, while I get
Speaker:some, um, PowerPoint ready?
Speaker:Um, he could actually win it, you know, um, Joe Biden is far too old to
Speaker:be running, but anyway, he's running.
Speaker:It's one of those things, it looks like Joe Biden has been overcome
Speaker:with a sense of hubris and that sort of stuff, thinking that he's
Speaker:the only one that can defeat Trump.
Speaker:defeat Donald Trump.
Speaker:Now, I would have had a hell of a lot more respect for him had he actually
Speaker:done what he originally said, which was he said that he's got to, um, that
Speaker:he's got to be the, uh, bridging gap.
Speaker:You know, he was just going to bridge that gap between the next generation.
Speaker:Had he actually done that, I'd have a hell of a lot more respect for
Speaker:him, but the fact that he's sticking around for another tilt at it.
Speaker:It's one of those things I just think to myself that the whole thing
Speaker:could come crashing down around it.
Speaker:I did see an article saying comparing him to Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Speaker:Absolutely.
Speaker:And saying that she stuck around too long when she Oh, she did stick around
Speaker:too long, and you know, I loved a hell of a lot of what she ruled and
Speaker:that sort of stuff, but bloody hell.
Speaker:You know, she's got to understand she's mortal.
Speaker:She's going to die at some point.
Speaker:And that she just stuck around, and she died while Donald Trump was
Speaker:in office, so he was able to put in that Amy Coney Barrett bitch.
Speaker:You know?
Speaker:Yep, so, uh, anyway, so that's Donald Trump, and Joe, you came
Speaker:across something with, uh, UK youth.
Speaker:And a guy called John Byrne Murdoch?
Speaker:Yeah, he's the Financial Times data scientist.
Speaker:And I thought it was going to be very right wing and it wasn't.
Speaker:It was quite fascinating.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So, talking about UK youth and their views of the world.
Speaker:And, um, so, he says We often talk about an age divide in
Speaker:politics with young people much less conservative than the old.
Speaker:Um, he says this is much more of a British phenomenon than a global one.
Speaker:40 percent of young Americans voted for Trump, but only 10 percent
Speaker:of UKs under 30s support the conservatives, and he's asking why.
Speaker:And there's a chart on the screen, UK are on the left.
Speaker:And, um, so the lower age groups in the 20 to 30s, the support for conservatives is
Speaker:way down at the 10 percent level, and it's a red line there if you're able to see it.
Speaker:In terms of the other countries, they have a much higher
Speaker:support at the 20 to 30 mark.
Speaker:And so, yes, based on that chart, the youth of the UK really hate the
Speaker:Conservatives much more than the youth in other countries such as
Speaker:the US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Spain or the Netherlands do.
Speaker:So, you know, the other countries generally speaking, show people getting
Speaker:more conservative as they get older, but they don't have the complete
Speaker:abandonment of conservative people in that 20 to 30 year age group.
Speaker:No.
Speaker:So, um, the next chart shows that this wasn't always the case.
Speaker:So same sort of data, but going back to 2015 and, um.
Speaker:You see that the red line for opinion was much more in line with other countries.
Speaker:So, this move in the 20 to 30 year age group in the UK against
Speaker:the Conservative Party has really happened in the last nine years.
Speaker:So, um, so that was that one.
Speaker:Why would that be the case?
Speaker:And he's, um, suggesting, well one reason would be housing, and young
Speaker:people are struggling to get onto the housing ladder in many countries, but
Speaker:the crisis is especially deep in Britain.
Speaker:So, there is a chart showing young adult home ownership rates collapsing
Speaker:in the UK, um, a much greater rate than in the US, Germany and France, so that
Speaker:could be a reason of disenchantment by people, um, uh, so, and of course the
Speaker:Tories have been in power, so the young people would be blaming the Tories for
Speaker:the fact that their home ownership has deteriorated because they've actually
Speaker:been in power during that time.
Speaker:Whereas in other countries, for example, uh, there might have
Speaker:been a mixture of left and right wing governments during that time.
Speaker:Um, so he compares then with Canada and showing that the Canadian Tories
Speaker:have made huge gains with young adults.
Speaker:And he shows a chart, um, pointing that out and Really suggesting that that is
Speaker:possibly, possibly off the back of some ambitious house building proposals.
Speaker:So, the Canadian Conservative Party has actually come up with different policies
Speaker:on house building proposals which might have meant that their young people are
Speaker:favour with the Conservatives in Canada.
Speaker:And, uh, he talks about incomes in the UK for young people being worse
Speaker:than incomes for young people in other countries, um, British youth, uh, less
Speaker:faith in upward mobility compared to other countries, and, um, what else does he say?
Speaker:A couple of other factors, he says that, um, it's often underappreciated
Speaker:how much faster and bigger the expansion of university education
Speaker:has been in the UK versus elsewhere.
Speaker:And today, considerably more Brits are graduates than young Americans, and
Speaker:if you're a graduate of a university, education is a big factor, of course, in
Speaker:whether you are left or right these days.
Speaker:And, um, and of course, incumbency.
Speaker:The Tories have been in power for 14 years, and a lot of bad stuff
Speaker:has happened to the UK in that time.
Speaker:And therefore, they could be blamed for it because they've been the ones in power.
Speaker:Joe, as our man on the ground in the UK, as our UK correspondent.
Speaker:Did that match your sense on the ground, or you just didn't
Speaker:meet any young people at all?
Speaker:No, no, I met lots of young people, and they're certainly struggling
Speaker:to buy houses, I know that.
Speaker:Hmm.
Speaker:Um, and certainly in the big cities, uh, house prices are
Speaker:ridiculous compared to income.
Speaker:Mm hmm.
Speaker:Um, and, yeah, I think, um, the Conservatives, having been in power
Speaker:for the last 14 years, have basically cut the guts out of social services.
Speaker:In order to deliver tax cuts to the better off.
Speaker:And so a lot of young people are feeling very aggrieved at the income disparity.
Speaker:If they should.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um, now Velvet Glove, you mentioned before about Trump winning and John in the chat
Speaker:room says, I still think there's a 50 50 chance that neither Trump or Biden will
Speaker:be healthy enough to see the election.
Speaker:I agree with you, John.
Speaker:Just have a feeling that, um, whichever one wins, anything
Speaker:could happen and one of these vice presidents could end up in power.
Speaker:You know, um, who's the lady who's sort of staying in the running in
Speaker:the Republican race, um, Nikki Haley?
Speaker:Nikki Haley.
Speaker:Nikki Haley?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:You know, if you're a bit of a gambler, you'd think, look,
Speaker:I've got no chance of winning.
Speaker:But gee, you know, surely there's a rough chance that Trump will just
Speaker:keel over in the next six months.
Speaker:And if I'm the only one still in the race, other than Trump, you know, Then
Speaker:she automatically gets the inside running and you'd get the, you'd get the show,
Speaker:like, that would be part of your thinking if you're someone like, like her.
Speaker:I would have thought, just think, the guy could be dead within six months.
Speaker:He really wouldn't surprise me.
Speaker:And, um, if all the other candidates have dropped out of the race and
Speaker:you're the only one there, then you'd be An awful lot of prize.
Speaker:An awful lot of presidents being vice presidents before, so.
Speaker:Mmm.
Speaker:It's, it's not an unusual career path towards being vice president.
Speaker:I mean, Joe Biden for a start.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:You know, then you've also got, um, MTG?
Speaker:Sorry?
Speaker:Is it not Marjorie Taylor Greene?
Speaker:Yeah, but she's not.
Speaker:She's not.
Speaker:Sorry, who's the Democrat?
Speaker:Look, um, uh, Alexandra Ocasio Cortez.
Speaker:AOC, yes.
Speaker:Yeah, she's, um, in the House of Representatives, isn't she?
Speaker:Don't know.
Speaker:Is she even old enough yet?
Speaker:AOC?
Speaker:Oh, yeah, she needs to be 35, doesn't she?
Speaker:Yeah, she might only just not quite be old enough, but, uh.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Anyway, no bad strategy to, to be in a hopeless position as, um, second.
Speaker:Uh, and hope doing like a Steve Bradbury, where the leader falls over and you just
Speaker:coast through to the finish line because you're the only one left standing.
Speaker:Well, that could actually happen.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:You know, it could actually happen and that's going to make Biden
Speaker:look ridiculously old compared to his much younger opposition.
Speaker:And it could happen on the other side.
Speaker:And a non Trump, and a non Trump person.
Speaker:You know, it's one of those things, I think the Democrats
Speaker:have really made the, made a very big mistake by sticking with Joe.
Speaker:And, you know, he could keel over any time.
Speaker:Or he'd attract it any time, yeah.
Speaker:Yeah, so, maybe not a bad idea running against him.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So that you've got some profile and if he, you know, you could do a
Speaker:Bradbury on that side of politics.
Speaker:Anyway, we'll see.
Speaker:Nothing would surprise.
Speaker:Finally, last topic.
Speaker:Um, I saw this article on the ABC online news.
Speaker:Analysts say Australia is asleep at the wheel as China ramps
Speaker:up its presence in Antarctica.
Speaker:Analysts say Australia is asleep at the wheel.
Speaker:And, um, so, you need to hear just the wording used in this article.
Speaker:Dear listener, essentially China's building some research
Speaker:stations on Antarctica.
Speaker:But, um, here's how the article opens.
Speaker:When China in the ABC.
Speaker:It's not like the Australian or Courier Mail.
Speaker:When China opened its fifth research station in Antarctica this month,
Speaker:analysts sounded alarm bells about potential security threats
Speaker:on Australia's southern doorstep.
Speaker:Experts warned that China's expanding activity in Antarctica,
Speaker:combined with Australia's inaction, And a lack of funding could lead
Speaker:to Beijing's increased strategic presence in the frozen continent.
Speaker:The new Qinling base could also improve China's surveillance capabilities and
Speaker:give it more control over transport routes to exploit resources, they say.
Speaker:That's the opening three paragraphs, and then we get, However, a Chinese
Speaker:foreign ministry spokesperson insisted the news station would be
Speaker:used to provide a platform for joint scientific exploration and cooperation
Speaker:between China and other countries and help advance peace and sustainable
Speaker:development in the region, end quote.
Speaker:See, the first three paragraphs are, ooh, boogie man.
Speaker:Fourth paragraph is, however China says, nothing to see.
Speaker:And then we get, Ah, who are these experts and analysts?
Speaker:Then we get Elizabeth Buchanan from the Australian National University's
Speaker:National Security College.
Speaker:She said that the Chinese government had a remarkable
Speaker:ability to plan for the long term.
Speaker:Quote, so they may not be looking to utilise this research station for
Speaker:anything other than collaborative international research for the
Speaker:next 20 years, Dr Buchanan said.
Speaker:All of a sudden, it's a staging platform to strike, to facilitate
Speaker:war, if that day ever came.
Speaker:So, what, they reckon that you're going to sail the Armada from the
Speaker:southern, from the Antarctic, do they?
Speaker:It's, it's like an admission by her to say, well, it might be a research
Speaker:station at the moment, but those sneaky Chinese, give them another 20 years
Speaker:and it's a staging platform to strike.
Speaker:Goes on, she goes on.
Speaker:I think it's ridiculous.
Speaker:China's positioning on Qinling is covering another part of the
Speaker:Antarctic quadrant of the landmass.
Speaker:Presence is power.
Speaker:Another location means better for launching satellites.
Speaker:Yeah, I thought you'd launch satellites from the equator, not from Yeah, exactly.
Speaker:At this point, I think I then went, who is Elizabeth Buchanan?
Speaker:What is the Australian National University's National Security College?
Speaker:And It turns out that the National Security College is a college within
Speaker:the ANU basically designed for people in defence and security to go
Speaker:and get qualifications and so it's just full of defence types and it's
Speaker:funded by the government, which I assume means the Defence Department.
Speaker:So, um, so that's what we're getting when the headline says.
Speaker:Analysts say Australia is asleep at the wheel, is we're
Speaker:getting this defence funded.
Speaker:I assume it's defence funded.
Speaker:Um, Department with ANU that is predisposed to, to gathering a
Speaker:whole bunch of defence people and giving them qualifications.
Speaker:Actually what um, let me find this.
Speaker:Kevin Rudd actually launched the institution back in 2010 and he
Speaker:said it was to provide postgraduate level national security courses to
Speaker:government personnel and the public.
Speaker:And, uh, it aimed to enhance Australia's defence capability through
Speaker:a range of academic, executive and professional development courses.
Speaker:And, um, courses would be led by ANU academics as well as external
Speaker:practitioners and think tanks.
Speaker:Providing leadership programs and collaborative opportunities for
Speaker:senior national security officials.
Speaker:Just imagine that group if you were to go in there and say, well,
Speaker:you know, it's just a research station, nothing to worry about.
Speaker:Probably not the crowd who's going to like that.
Speaker:And if you were to beef it up as something that required attention from
Speaker:our defence force, you'd probably find that that's more attractive to that crowd.
Speaker:I thought the Antarctic Division were quite interesting.
Speaker:Basically saying, well, yes, we are underfunding.
Speaker:Our Antarctic Division, because all scientists always need more funding.
Speaker:Yes, so a bit later on the article, let me go back to it here, um, so, so
Speaker:after all that sort of boogeyman stuff from, um, from Elizabeth Buchanan of
Speaker:the ANU, the article then goes on to say that there is the Drake Passage,
Speaker:which is the body of water between South America in a Chinese Great Wall
Speaker:sort of research station in Antarctica.
Speaker:And basically says that because of problems with the sewers and Panama
Speaker:Canal with water levels, ships might, you know, be increasing shipping trade
Speaker:going around that part of the world.
Speaker:Buchanan says China had spent 10 years building infrastructure in Chile and
Speaker:parts of Argentina which had given it the ability to control the passage.
Speaker:They could cut off the trade passage in all sorts of ways, she said.
Speaker:They, China, could make that passage difficult to pass and control
Speaker:shipping, or by having more boats to be able to monitor and block
Speaker:the passage with their own boats.
Speaker:Goes on, no, but then, sorry, what you were about to say, Joe, was that the
Speaker:former head of Australian Antarctic Division, Tony Press, who I think is
Speaker:just a science guy, he says he does not believe the new Quinling base will
Speaker:pose an increased surveillance risk.
Speaker:Because China already has surveillance operations in other parts of the world, he
Speaker:says China's construction of the station met the fundamental obligations of the
Speaker:Antarctic Treaty for peaceful use and non militarisation as per Australia's
Speaker:inspection of the station in 2020.
Speaker:And he said what was alarming was Australia's under investment in Antarctica
Speaker:for science and logistic capabilities.
Speaker:And, um, there's more to it.
Speaker:And they said, basically, we don't have the ability to go and inspect
Speaker:stations in the middle of winter.
Speaker:And if you were really serious about this, you'd give us some capabilities,
Speaker:so that we could do a sneak inspection on China's stations in the middle of winter.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:It's just such a beat up.
Speaker:And this is by the ABC.
Speaker:And, you know, people could read this stuff and go, Goddamn Chinese again.
Speaker:You know.
Speaker:We end up in a fucking war with China.
Speaker:It's because of articles like this that just add to the beating of the drums
Speaker:because they've just built a goddamn research station in Antarctica and I
Speaker:find it incredibly frustrating and I would expect that sort of shit from
Speaker:shit rag of the Murdoch Empire and We get it from the ABC and okay In the
Speaker:middle of the article, they'll throw in some alternative view from the
Speaker:researcher, but just the whole idea of the article is one of China bashing
Speaker:over a threat, quoting people whose motivations are that they are part of the
Speaker:established wider defence force family.
Speaker:And of course they're going to beat up threats, because Um.
Speaker:More funding for them.
Speaker:Exactly.
Speaker:There we go, I found that one very frustrating.
Speaker:Sounds like you guys did too.
Speaker:It wasn't just me.
Speaker:It's one of those things, you know, I read it with an open mind and all
Speaker:that sort of stuff, but the time I got down to where the woman was
Speaker:talking and that sort of stuff, I thought to myself, she's on something.
Speaker:You know, I just thought to myself, she's been smoking too much wacky
Speaker:tobaccy, but it's you know, when you look at the original map and
Speaker:that sort of stuff, you've got three stations with the Australian flag
Speaker:on it, one, two, three, four, five stations with the Chinese flag on it.
Speaker:And you think to yourself, if you look at that, and you'd think
Speaker:the Chinese are taking over.
Speaker:Well, they're not.
Speaker:They're just expanding their research facilities down there.
Speaker:At this point, yes.
Speaker:You know, and if it came to them actually militarizing the Quindling Station, which
Speaker:I don't think they would, but if they did, then the Australians would retreat
Speaker:from that and that sort of stuff, so then they'd be left with a position of, we
Speaker:would have to send our own military down there to liquidate the Quindling Station.
Speaker:You know, but if it's any other country Putting Reece, you know, America, any
Speaker:other Western liberal democracy, it wouldn't be even talked about, no,
Speaker:then they'd be going, isn't that great?
Speaker:Wonder what they'll discover in that icy environment and what
Speaker:great new things will come of it.
Speaker:But no, it's all a threat to you.
Speaker:Western Civilization, because the Chinese have done it.
Speaker:For goodness sake.
Speaker:It's just pathetic.
Speaker:So, um, Let me see.
Speaker:I mentioned we're going to go through the chat and see what people have said.
Speaker:There were hellos from Watley and Don and Essential and John.
Speaker:Who says he's grateful that he lasted another day, and, um, John says whether
Speaker:he was murdered or not is immaterial.
Speaker:We believe he was murdered.
Speaker:It's talking about Navalny, so, yes, that would be true, doesn't
Speaker:matter, it's the perception.
Speaker:Um, so, yes, I haven't seen Jonathan Pye, and John says YouTube will
Speaker:unsubscribe you from things occasionally.
Speaker:That might be what's happened.
Speaker:Alison was there, good on you, Alison.
Speaker:Um, let's see, uh,
Speaker:maybe if Sweden had guaranteed not to extradite, we may have
Speaker:seen a resolution to the charges?
Speaker:That's true?
Speaker:Well, it's probably true, but, you know, it's just one of those things.
Speaker:He did go into that, he did go into that, um, embassy fairly early on when
Speaker:it was only the rape case and everything that was being brought against him.
Speaker:I did read the book, um, on Julian Assange and I should reread it
Speaker:or at least read my notes on it.
Speaker:I've been reading bits of it.
Speaker:Have you?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So, um, I'll do that before the next episode because obviously
Speaker:we're going to hear more about him.
Speaker:So we'll do that because Alison asks, was he even charged though by Sweden?
Speaker:Long story short, he grew up as a child of DV, being stalked by his stepfather,
Speaker:and there is a concern, there is a suspicion that he has a paranoia that
Speaker:has come from that, and so he was paranoid even before, um, so when he
Speaker:was effectively charged, I think he had to be charged to be extradited.
Speaker:Um, so, he was paranoid about being extradited onwards to the US.
Speaker:Yeah, so there's there's a lot of questions about his
Speaker:sanity prior to all of this.
Speaker:Yeah I think good topics next week a bit of a review on Julian Assange I think he
Speaker:always he has always looked just a little unhinged Hmm because I remember arguing
Speaker:with the 12th man because the 12th man was talking about people whose lives
Speaker:had been lost or damaged or injured as a result of The leaking of the material by
Speaker:WikiLeaks and, um, the US Department of something or other, in one of the trials,
Speaker:um, basically admitted that nobody was actually injured as a result of WikiLeaks.
Speaker:So, there were just facts like that that people need to know.
Speaker:So, that's what we'll do.
Speaker:Refresh ourselves on Julian Assange.
Speaker:Ready for next week.
Speaker:So, and have something positive, something to be grateful for.
Speaker:Big or small, for next week, gentlemen.
Speaker:That's right.
Speaker:This, uh, is my last podcast, hopefully, with, uh, glasses.
Speaker:So Why?
Speaker:What are you doing?
Speaker:You're going in for laser surgery, aren't you?
Speaker:I'm getting intraocular lenses inserted.
Speaker:On Wednesday and Thursday.
Speaker:So next week you'll be blind?
Speaker:Could be.
Speaker:Could be.
Speaker:Thanks Joe.
Speaker:How long are you the invisible man?
Speaker:So, apparently, so one eye gets done on Wednesday, the other eye on Thursday, and
Speaker:apparently I'm able to drive on Friday.
Speaker:They reckon.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So, I'm really keen that I can see distance and keep playing
Speaker:squash and see the ball well without glasses would be great.
Speaker:Uh, wouldn't worry me if I need slight reading glasses at the end of it.
Speaker:So, but we'll see how that pans out.
Speaker:So if it's not a perfect, maybe actually, and it will take a while to settle down.
Speaker:So maybe next week I might need some light glasses because it
Speaker:takes a while to settle down.
Speaker:But anyway, that will be interesting.
Speaker:You've been dared to read out the discussion about bears.
Speaker:I didn't understand it.
Speaker:Did you understand it?
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:It was a discussion between a couple of them, that sort of stuff, to say, won't
Speaker:somebody think about the polar bears?
Speaker:And then it was a discussion about whether the polar bears were in the
Speaker:Antarctic or were they only in the Arctic?
Speaker:Ah, yes.
Speaker:And then someone said, well, they could be dressed up as penguins.
Speaker:Ah, that's it.
Speaker:At that point, I just That's right, because there are no bears in Antarctica.
Speaker:Yes, exactly.
Speaker:Yeah, but there are penguins, aren't there?
Speaker:There are shitload of penguins.
Speaker:Right, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker:Right, well, you've had fun in the chat room.
Speaker:That's good.
Speaker:I hope you've had fun listening.
Speaker:We'll be back next week.
Speaker:Talk to you then.
Speaker:Bye for now.
Speaker:Yeah, and it's a good night from me.
Speaker:And it's a good night from him.
Speaker:Good night.
