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[Dead Man]

Because there'd be no people? The Mongols weren't exactly nice guys. Also, Europe would be speaking Mongolian or Chinese now.

The world ended up much the same, just the fights were indifferent areas.

 

[Omikron]

Another one, but has an 'authorised by' in the corner.

 

[shanshan310]

 

[Yagharek]

Because there'd be no people? The Mongols weren't exactly nice guys. Also, Europe would be speaking Mongolian or Chinese now.

How does that differ from the status quo, or rather, what did happen? I'd argue a Mongolian empire may have been better than the worst aspects of Christian and Islamic expansion throughout the gulf, NE africa, the crusades, and so on.

In the end you are only ever choosing between baddies and baddies, to borrow a phrase.

 

[Box of Bunnies]

I wonder if those "I need my mum and dad" people will be rounding up single parent families and relocating the children.

 

[EatChildren]

I wonder if those "I need my mum and dad" people will be rounding up single parent families and relocating the children.

Maybe they'll relocate them to Indonesia.

 

[Elaugaufein]

Another one, but has an 'authorised by' in the corner.

No one has told me about any plans to kidnap children from heterosexual couples and give them to people who get same-sex married. Are you guys holding out on me ? Am I not Leftist enough ? Feeling deeply disappointed here. I haven't got my Mind Shackle spell or coven initiation either, and I've been DMing D&D for 15 years now.

 

[Yagharek]

No one has told me about any plans to kidnap children from heterosexual couples and give them to people who get same-sex married. Are you guys holding out on me ? Am I not Leftist enough ? Feeling deeply disappointed here. I haven't got my Mind Shackle spell or coven initiation either, and I've been DMing D&D for 15 years now.

I think only the Socialist Alliance know about the plans for now.

 

[viciouskillersquirrel]

How does that differ from the status quo, or rather, what did happen? I'd argue a Mongolian empire may have been better than the worst aspects of Christian and Islamic expansion throughout the gulf, NE africa, the crusades, and so on.

In the end you are only ever choosing between baddies and baddies, to borrow a phrase.

Crusaders and Jihadis were pretty ineffective at genocide. It's all I'm saying. Not to further Godwin the thread, but if Hitler won, a thousand years from now, there would be peace in the Middle East.

 

[roosters93]

Rumours are still floating around and have been for months now that Abbott's pick for GG is John Howard.

wut

Doesn't the GG have to be like impartial or something

fake edit: Oh I see Bill Hayden was GG

I mean we lost a war with emus.

wut


So trawling VICE after seeing the abbot vitriol post on fb I found this Anon Australian Navy sailor interviewing a refugee and talking about asylum seeker policy.

The Guardian journo interviewing western sydney folk]

 

[Yagharek]

Crusaders and Jihadis were pretty ineffective at genocide. It's all I'm saying. Not to further Godwin the thread, but if Hitler won, a thousand years from now, there would be peace in the Middle East.

I just don't see a wide gulf separating the aims of people like Genghis Khan from, say, Alexander the Great, Napoleon Bonaparte, Mohammed, and no doubt many others who over the course of history won vast empires through strategic intelligence, formidable armies and charisma. No doubt they all did some very nasty things that people from the time could tell us of if they had a voice in history.

Luckily, people like Hitler and Stalin existed at a time where we could reliably record their atrocities and hopefully they will never be romanticised (though its possible 1000 years hence they may well be, in the same way I'm no doubt ignorantly romanticising Genghis Khan for the sake of discussion here).

That said, I do doubt your claim there would be peace in the Middle East. It is a region chock full of strongly held beliefs no conquest could ever erase.

 

[bobnowhere]

Another one, but has an 'authorised by' in the corner.

I'm sure I've heard/seen "Authorised by G. Flood Canberra" before at previous elections. I want to say in connection with the Libs, but I could be wrong. Anyway, I can't imagine anyone anyone a Liberal HQ would want to be connected to a grubby campaign like this. I imagine it's a dirty tricks campaign, but by who and to what purpose, I have no idea.

Or maybe I'm just crazy.

 

[viciouskillersquirrel]

I just don't see a wide gulf separating the aims of people like Genghis Khan from, say, Alexander the Great, Napoleon Bonaparte, Mohammed, and no doubt many others who over the course of history won vast empires through strategic intelligence, formidable armies and charisma. No doubt they all did some very nasty things that people from the time could tell us of if they had a voice in history.

Luckily, people like Hitler and Stalin existed at a time where we could reliably record their atrocities and hopefully they will never be romanticised (though its possible 1000 years hence they may well be, in the same way I'm no doubt ignorantly romanticising Genghis Khan for the sake of discussion here).

That said, I do doubt your claim there would be peace in the Middle East. It is a region chock full of strongly held beliefs no conquest could ever erase.

Genghis Khan destroyed Baghdad Chinese cities and moved on, but after a day sent a group of riders to double back and exterminate the survivors who happened to have escaped or hid in the rubble. That's not just conquest, it's emptying a land of its people.

50 million people died at Mongol hands at a time when the world population was a fraction of what it is now. They literally created a wasteland and called it peace.

That's what the Hitler comment is about. Emptying Eastern Europe of its people was his actual plan.

EDIT: Wrong Khan

 

[Elaugaufein]

I just don't see a wide gulf separating the aims of people like Genghis Khan from, say, Alexander the Great, Napoleon Bonaparte, Mohammed, and no doubt many others who over the course of history won vast empires through strategic intelligence, formidable armies and charisma. No doubt they all did some very nasty things that people from the time could tell us of if they had a voice in history.

Luckily, people like Hitler and Stalin existed at a time where we could reliably record their atrocities and hopefully they will never be romanticised (though its possible 1000 years hence they may well be, in the same way I'm no doubt ignorantly romanticising Genghis Khan for the sake of discussion here).

That said, I do doubt your claim there would be peace in the Middle East. It is a region chock full of strongly held beliefs no conquest could ever erase.

We do sort of brush over Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which are from the same period (except done by the winners). Some of the things done to Germany were pretty questionable in terms of what we consider the Rules of War today too. And even now we have "enhanced interrogation techniques" and "extraordinary rendition", though at least there's debate about it. So it's not like we're perfect ourselves.

 

[Bulbagarden]

I voted Pirate above the line for the Senate. I had a look at their preferences and decided it was close enough to mine as to not be worth filling out a bajillion boxes , so I didn't look too closely at the specific flavour of suck for every party this year. Did that last federal election and again at State (lost a considerable amount of faith in humanity as a result).

Thank you very much for your vote. =)

I'm thinking I'll just vote above the line for either the pirate party or the secular party. Way too many candidates in Victoria to vote below the line.

Could I perhaps sway you and other gamers on the fence by mentioning that a vote for the Pirates is a vote for (amongst other things) the abolition of the Refused Classification (RC) rating from the classification system?

 

[Jintor]

wut

No joke.

Other names: Great Emu War

Participants: Emus, Sir George Pearce, Major G.P.W. Meredith, Royal Australian Artillery

It used to have a casualties thing on Wiki but that seems to have been removed

 

[Elaugaufein]

Could I perhaps sway you and other gamers on the fence by mentioning that a vote for the Pirates is a vote for (amongst other things) the abolition of the Refused Classification (RC) rating from the classification system?

I'd settle for a Classification Board that was even vaguely demographically representative of gamers. My head still hurts trying to work out how Atelier Totori Plus managed R18+ (which makes it a illegal for me to play it in a public space) while Atelier Meruru Plus managed MA15+.

 

[viciouskillersquirrel]

I'd settle for a Classification Board that was even vaguely demographically representative of gamers. My head still hurts trying to work out how Atelier Totori Plus managed R18+ (which makes it a illegal for me to play it in a public space) while Atelier Meruru Plus managed MA15+.

wat

Is that true?

 

[Yagharek]

Genghis Khan destroyed Baghdad Chinese cities and moved on, but after a day sent a group of riders to double back and exterminate the survivors who happened to have escaped or hid in the rubble. That's not just conquest, it's emptying a land of its people.

That kind of tactic happened in the bible too

 

[Elaugaufein]

wat

Is that true?

Looks like I was wrong. Its only X18+ that is explicitly an offence. MA15+ and R18+ have the distinction of not being allowed to exhibit them to people under the age , while people under the appropriate age can't view them. I'm not sure how that works.

 

[Shaneus]

just....wow....

Jesus christ. That's just... fuck.


PS. Guys, worst comes to worst, don't fuckin' blame me if that cunt Abbott gets in.

 

[markot]

Serious political parties dont call themselves 'pirate party'.

Sorry bulbasaur.

 

[Dead Man]

So trawling VICE after seeing the abbot vitriol post on fb I found this Anon Australian Navy sailor interviewing a refugee and talking about asylum seeker policy.

Not sure I like the headline, but the interview is definitely worth reading.

This is a fairly typical story. No plan, just a lot of desperation. The most you could probably say is with all the uncertainty a trip like this entails, asylum seekers can finally be sure of something. Whatever it is they’re running from, they’re officially not welcome in Australia.

 

[Bulbagarden]

Serious political parties dont call themselves 'pirate party'.

Sorry bulbasaur.

Falkvinge, the founder of the original Swedish Pirate Party which started this whole movement, explains the rationale behind the name on his website.

That's a bit TL;DR though, so here's a much shorter version from our website's FAQ.

Are you a joke party?

Not at all! We’re a formally registered party with the Australian Electoral Commission.
Then why call yourselves the Pirate Party?

Our name might seem silly at first, but you have to remember everyone has been called a “pirate” for the last few decades. The movie studios and recording companies have placed their propaganda in front of every DVD you’ve legitimately purchased or movie you’ve watched at the cinemas. We’ve been told over and over that home taping on to cassettes would kill the radio, that recording a TV show on to the VCR would bring an end to free-to-air TV or sharing an MP3 music song with a friend will cause the end of musician’s careers, the list goes on, but the truth is we were misled.

We in the Pirate Party have simply decided that if sharing a love for culture, knowledge and information with our friends and family makes us pirates, then that’s what we are and we’re proud of it. We’ve adopted the very term intended to demonise an entire generation for the completely natural impulse to share discoveries with those around us. We’ve claimed the pirate name in the fight for a free, open and renewed democracy in Australia, we hope you’ll join us.

If that's still TL;DR...ask yourself this. Does "Pirate Party" really all that bad a name, compared to narcissistic parties named after their own founder?

 

[markot]

Names matter, it doesnt matter why you call yourself to yourself. What matters is perception.

You are percieved as a joke party and always will be.

Fact, Pirates suck.

Palmers party is a joke party too, just one with more money.

Greens? Green movement, environment.

Liberals? Liberal economics.

Labor? Party of the workers.

Pirate? Joke, let me vote for the srs candidates.

 

[Dead Man]

Falkvinge, the founder of the original Swedish Pirate Party which started this whole movement, explains the rationale behind the name on his website.

That's a bit TL;DR though, so here's a much shorter version from our website's FAQ.



If that's still TL;DR...ask yourself this. Does "Pirate Party" really all that bad a name, compared to narcissistic parties named after their own founder?

I appreciate you making the effort, and realise you are probably bound to by virtue of being a public representative of the party, but markot is not worth typing that much info up for Snide retorts are what he feeds off, it keeps him satiated and quiet.

Edit: Ah, I was too slow.

 

[Jintor]

Holy shit.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/sp...-on-asylum-boats/story-fnho52jj-1226709828599

Coalition to impose blackout on asylum boats

A COALITION government will impose a blackout on asylum-seeker boat arrivals or turn-arounds unless defence chiefs give their approvals shadow immigration minister Scott Morrison said today.

Mr Morrison said today the information should not be "put in the hands of politicians" and would be released by the Coalition's proposed Operation Sovereign Border which would be headed by a three-star general.

He confirmed the clamp-down on arrivals details, which under the Labor government are released for every boat arrival, during a National Press Club debate with Immigration Minister Tony Burke.

Mr Morrison also indicated a measured implementation of the Coalition's asylum seeker policy, which has been second only to attacks on carbon pricing for prominence in the election campaign of Liberal leader Tony Abbott, because he didn't want to match Labor's "rush to failure".

But as soon as possible the overall management of the issue, including release of data on attempts to reach Australia and actual arrivals by boat people, will be controlled as "an operational decision'' by the Operation Sovereign Borders, the co-ordination of 12 agencies dealing with asylum seekers.

"I don't think those decisions should be put in the hands of politicians to use as this Government has on occasions," Mr Morrison told the NPC.

To recap:

• Asylum seekers shouldn't be able to appeal to the courts
• Legal aid for Asylum Seekers shouldn't get funding
• Asylum seekers cannot talk to the press (to be fair, that's Labor's view too)
• No one should even know they fucking exist when they drown or get turned back or arrive

Astounding. Absolutely astounding.

 

[Dead Man]

Holy shit.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/sp...-on-asylum-boats/story-fnho52jj-1226709828599



To recap:

• Asylum seekers shouldn't be able to appeal to the courts
• Asylum seekers shouldn't get legal aid
• Asylum seekers cannot talk to the press (to be fair, that's Labor's view too)
• No one should even know they fucking exist when they drown or get turned back or arrive

Astounding. Absolutely astounding.

Fuck this country. Just... fuck.

 

[Bulbagarden]

I appreciate you making the effort, and realise you are probably bound to by virtue of being a public representative of the party, but markot is not worth typing that much info up for Snide retorts are what he feeds off, it keeps him satiated and quiet.

Oh, don't worry, I just copy/pasted that from a text file I keep handy for exactly that kind of comment. It was no effort.

 

[Shandy]

To recap:

• Asylum seekers shouldn't be able to appeal to the courts
• Legal aid for Asylum Seekers shouldn't get funding
• Asylum seekers cannot talk to the press (to be fair, that's Labor's view too)
• No one should even know they fucking exist when they drown or get turned back or arrive

Let's just Putin it - promoting asylum is a criminal act.

 

[roosters93]

No joke.



It used to have a casualties thing on Wiki but that seems to have been removed

wow

Summarizing the culls, ornithologist Dominic Serventy commented:
“ The machine-gunners' dreams of point blank fire into serried masses of Emus were soon dissipated. The Emu command had evidently ordered guerrilla tactics, and its unwieldy army soon split up into innumerable small units that made use of the military equipment uneconomic.

awesome

 

[bobnowhere]

Clive Palmer should do his random idea ads while riding on the back of one of his dinosaurs, I'd vote for that.

Holy shit.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/sp...-on-asylum-boats/story-fnho52jj-1226709828599



To recap:

• Asylum seekers shouldn't be able to appeal to the courts
• Legal aid for Asylum Seekers shouldn't get funding
• Asylum seekers cannot talk to the press (to be fair, that's Labor's view too)
• No one should even know they fucking exist when they drown or get turned back or arrive

Astounding. Absolutely astounding.

I would imagine as soon as this is implemented, and quite frankly I can't imagine they would, every self-respecting news outlet would station a journo outside of the front gates of Manus and Nauru and just count the buses. Unless they found a gulag in the Antarctic or somewhere else they would get found out and made to look pretty stupid quite quickly.

I suppose all of this depends on who is the next Labor leader. Rudd can't possibly stay, so I imagine it's between Albo, Shorten and maybe Tanya Plibersek. Albo and Tanya will take it to the Tories but shorten will likely just play the centre-right populist line, back down on everything and entrench the view that the labor party really has no soul left..

 

[CrazedProfessional]

No joke.



It used to have a casualties thing on Wiki but that seems to have been removed

It cracks me up everytime.

 

[TriangleOfCorruption]

I suppose all of this depends on who is the next Labor leader. Rudd can't possibly stay, so I imagine it's between Albo, Shorten and maybe Tanya Plibersek. Albo and Tanya will take it to the Tories but shorten will likely just play the centre-right populist line, back down on everything and entrench the view that the labor party really has no soul left..

Modern Labor leaders normally come from the right, Gillard was the exception. I can't imagine they'll draw from the left so Albo and Plibersek are unlikely in my completely uninformed opinion.

I guess Shorten's the obvious choice. I mean who else have they got? Burke and Bowen? Quite a few of the old hands you might have expected to take charge after a drubbing are gone.

 

[paile]

An emu was about to charge at me once till the guy who owned it scared it off by beating the ground with a stick.

Scary things they are.

 

[Shaneus]

No joke.



It used to have a casualties thing on Wiki but that seems to have been removed

Holy shit, amazing:

If we had a military division with the bullet-carrying capacity of these birds it would face any army in the world...They can face machine guns with the invulnerability of tanks. They are like Zulus whom even dum-dum bullets could not stop.

An ARMY MAJOR said that. Fuck me, that's hilarious.

 

[Shaneus]

I suppose all of this depends on who is the next Labor leader. Rudd can't possibly stay, so I imagine it's between Albo, Shorten and maybe Tanya Plibersek. Albo and Tanya will take it to the Tories but shorten will likely just play the centre-right populist line, back down on everything and entrench the view that the labor party really has no soul left..

I may or may not be alone in this, but I wouldn't mind seeing this fucker back:

Right now I'd kill for a PM that has balls and presence like he did.

 

[Jintor]

Is he still US Ambassador? I lost track.

 

[hirokazu]

Got a book(s) I should read VKS?

The Bible is preeeetty slow going. I'm at 9% according to Kindle.

I read most of the Old Testament expecting love and enlightenment and thought holy shit, this is really awful! The God portrayed is a terrible person who doesn't deserve respect and any religion that teaches this stuff is awful. Also that Deuteronomy chapter that so just about how big the altar has to be and all that was the most boring thing I've ever read.

Sorry that probably doesnt belong in here. I should get around to reading the New Testament some time though.

 

[markot]

Religion as a source of morality is like a Duck as a source for Chicken eggs.

 

[Shaneus]

Is he still US Ambassador? I lost track.

Yerp. Dunno if that means he's out of the question, but I'm just sick of political leaders who look like they would (and often do) bend and break at the slightest bit of public pressure, as stupid as it can be (and often is).

 

[hirokazu]

Names matter, it doesnt matter why you call yourself to yourself. What matters is perception.

You are percieved as a joke party and always will be.

Fact, Pirates suck.

Palmers party is a joke party too, just one with more money.

Greens? Green movement, environment.

Liberals? Liberal economics.

Labor? Party of the workers.

Pirate? Joke, let me vote for the srs candidates.

What, pirates are cool, yarr.

 

[TriangleOfCorruption]

Yerp. Dunno if that means he's out of the question, but I'm just sick of political leaders who look like they would (and often do) bend and break at the slightest bit of public pressure, as stupid as it can be (and often is).

Beazley's reaction to Tampa left a hell of a lot to be desired.

 

[viciouskillersquirrel]

It's just too depressing. Abbott is trying to make it so that the boat arrivals issue cannot be used against him if and when his plan fails to actually stop any boats. He's preemptively controlling that meme.

That kind of tactic happened in the bible too

I said that in my long rant. I have no doubt that it happened, just not on the scale claimed (that was "Don't mess with us" type propaganda). Think the Assyrians rather than the Mongols. The scale of the thing is what I'm pointing out.

 

[hirokazu]

Well if Western Sydney stops hearing about boats because he censors the info, then for all their intents and purposes, there are no more boats.

 

[wonzo]

I may or may not be alone in this, but I wouldn't mind seeing this fucker back:

Right now I'd kill for a PM that has balls and presence like he did.

thanks for the laugh

 

[DrSlek]

 

[Yagharek]

I read most of the Old Testament expecting love and enlightenment and thought holy shit, this is really awful! The God portrayed is a terrible person who doesn't deserve respect and any religion that teaches this stuff is awful. Also that Deuteronomy chapter that so just about how big the altar has to be and all that was the most boring thing I've ever read.

Sorry that probably doesnt belong in here. I should get around to reading the New Testament some time though.

You will probably learn more useful lessons reading The Iliad and Odyssey instead. Odysseus was a self absorbed brat, but Greek gods at least attempted a semblance of rational behaviour.

 

[A More Normal Bird]

Hahaha

...

sigh.

Spoiler

Also I'm stealing this.

 

[hirokazu]

You will probably learn more useful lessons reading The Iliad and Odyssey instead. Odysseus was a self absorbed brat, but Greek gods at least attempted a semblance of rational behaviour.

The Odyssey was a pretty good story. I like the classical Greek gods because they're not supposed to be perfect and merciful, they just do whatever the heck they want. Whereas the Judeo-Christian one is supposed to be the definition of perfection and all that but the texts are completely contradictory to that.