First they came for conservatives...

[noddy]

their is a certain point where you have paved the entire country in grain crops or suburbs and land no longer remains cheap.

you guys dont have alot that isnt desert or a million miles from opportunity.

(playing devils advocate)

[NapLajoieonSteroids]

ok, mexico was perhaps a bad example.. my wider point was that the problems facing people who arent service industry or tech industry is much bigger than china stealing the bottom end of town.

even they dont have enough work to get more than 40% of the population working in cities.

none of our societies are dealing with it very well, i think australia is failing more than america, its almost compulsory to be middle class over here with huge costs of living and the death of labouring/manual work and the decrease in paper shuffling work is hitting hard.

I don't have the books and articles in front of me. But around 60-something% is what the US economy has done since industrial maturation. I am convinced gauging by that metric is not really telling us a whole lot.

[NapLajoieonSteroids]

their is a certain point where you have paved the entire country in grain crops or suburbs and land no longer remains cheap.

you guys dont have alot that isnt desert or a million miles from opportunity.

(playing devils advocate)

Well, the Chinese are so good at selling us globalism; if the sand ever becomes useful, they'll convince us that we're running out of it- so we better hand it over!

[noddy]

we actually *are* running out of sand, its a big export from australia

most of the worlds sand is too dusty and cant be used in structural concrete, you need nice clean, solid gritty sand.

[NapLajoieonSteroids]

their is a certain point where you have paved the entire country in grain crops or suburbs and land no longer remains cheap.

you guys dont have alot that isnt desert or a million miles from opportunity.

(playing devils advocate)

We do have cheap, developed land.

But you can split our two omnibus parties down the line of "cheap" land areas and "expensive" areas.

The only people making money in San Francisco right now are landowners...

You have people living paycheck to paycheck on six figure salaries...these are not good signs

[noddy]

The only people making money are landowners...

You have people living paycheck to paycheck on six figure salaries...these are not good signs

aaah, welcome to australia

high immigration, environmental protection and high minimum standards for construction that maintain gentrification.

thats not foreign conspiracies.

its baby boomers.

[NapLajoieonSteroids]

The only people making money are landowners...

You have people living paycheck to paycheck on six figure salaries...these are not good signs

aaah, welcome to australia

While in London, I was paying 2000 US Dollars a month for a two-room box that I don't even think was legal.

Then I went to visit a friend at Dartmouth in New Hampshire...he was renting a whole house for himself and his wife for 350 plus an office for 40 bucks.

I was very...very tempted to move.

Of course, that night at the one bar in town- there was a room for the bohemians and a room for the rednecks. The bohemians quietly played their art music in fear of the rough and tumble real honest-to-goodness rednecks blasting some really gritty country music.

Both groups, besides looking and acting so vastly different I'm tempted to make a "I was observing two different tribes" comment; both existed in bubbles where they would pretend the other group simply didn't exist.

It was rather uncomfortable. I also recognized that I didn't fit in with either, such as it was composed. It was very different.

[noddy]

house appreciation is the last wealth making mechanism left in most of the west - the last mechanism by which the dream of being independently wealthy can come true. (*)

everything else is wage slavery, with varying qualities of zoo keeper.

(*) yeh yeh, their will be 1% examples of some lucky bastard being in the right place at the right time for a flash in the pan industry.

[noddy]

I was very...very tempted to move.

Of course, that night at the one bar in town- there was a room for the bohemians and a room for the rednecks. The bohemians quietly played their art music in fear of the rough and tumble real honest-to-goodness rednecks blasting some really gritty country music.

hah.

some of the wheatbelt towns here are almost giving houses away, but the cost matches the potential incomes :/

It was rather uncomfortable. I also recognized that I didn't fit in with either, such as it was composed. It was very different.

and that.

[NapLajoieonSteroids]

house appreciation is the last wealth making mechanism left in most of the west - the last mechanism by which the dream of being independently wealthy can come true. (*)

everything else is wage slavery, with varying qualities of zoo keeper.

(*) yeh yeh, their will be 1% examples of some lucky bastard being in the right place at the right time for a flash in the pan industry.

I do not begrudge anyone making railroad-money but it usually comes with shell-game costs and market inefficiency.

[NapLajoieonSteroids]

The only people making money are landowners...

You have people living paycheck to paycheck on six figure salaries...these are not good signs

aaah, welcome to australia

high immigration, environmental protection and high minimum standards for construction that maintain gentrification.

thats not foreign conspiracies.

its baby boomers.

Which is the point. You're the one champin' the bit to bring the whole world into it.

As some sort of perpetual fog.

[noddy]

The only people making money are landowners...

You have people living paycheck to paycheck on six figure salaries...these are not good signs

aaah, welcome to australia

high immigration, environmental protection and high minimum standards for construction that maintain gentrification.

thats not foreign conspiracies.

its baby boomers.

Which is the point. You're the one champin' the bit to bring the whole world into it.

As some sort of perpetual fog.

huh ?

i rarely say want I actually *want*, I try and discuss what i think is actually happening, which has never been what i wanted.

what i want is less than irrelevant, none of the big players ask me for an opinion, i want 6 billion humans to be elsewhere and leave me in a semi paradise.

i dont consider ranting on this forum a political action, i just enjoy getting different perspectives on what other people think is happening.

whether you like reality or dont like reality isnt my concern, my opinions are more than enough problem for me.
----

"hey, san francisco, stop doing stuff that makes houses more expensive"

[NapLajoieonSteroids]

The only people making money are landowners...

You have people living paycheck to paycheck on six figure salaries...these are not good signs

aaah, welcome to australia

high immigration, environmental protection and high minimum standards for construction that maintain gentrification.

thats not foreign conspiracies.

its baby boomers.

Which is the point. You're the one champin' the bit to bring the whole world into it.

As some sort of perpetual fog.

huh ?

...

I think there is some mix up here.

I meant that tongue firmly in cheek - I never know which emoji to use to express that so I just sort of rotate through the first three smirk-smiley ones*, or if I should leave it be and let it be read that way, hopefully...

*the one with the tongue would work but it's just not my thing.

Though, with you seclusion stance, maybe pro-fog is not too far off.

[noddy]

furry muff.

i mostly think we are payin the price for the sins of our fathers - earlier rants on slavery and empire and a lack of ability to own them like, ermm, real men.

eg: the chinese say the tibetans are backward and repressed and need a good ramming of superiour culture to improve themselves.

imagine us having that civilisational confidence, that hasnt existed since the victorian era.

thusly we live in a post civilisational .. fog.. and call our selves multicultural immigrant countries... wavy hands.

[noddy]

for all he got wrong, azari got all those bits right.

america was the global capitalist beacon, it did set the rules, these are now the consequences of those rules.

we are now strangers in our own countries and the global market is more important to many of our companies than the home market.

especially when it comes to the core cultural soft power of media and communications.

[NapLajoieonSteroids]

Which brings to mind Pierre Manet and his

Democracy Without Nations
(the above is an essay adapted from the book)

and his article on the different forms of human organization:

City, Empire, Church, Nation

[noddy]

i only skim read the latter one but it does appear to get into the meat of the situation we are living.

the city/nation split is core right now, as is the will of the periphery as to its choice to support that city or nation .. or both.

reminds me furthur of the revisionist history of the roman empire which claims that it wasnt fiddling nero's nor barbarians that destroyed the empire, it was all the supporting periphery deciding the taxes outgrew the benefits.

democracy as rule of the majority is only fun when you are the majority, theories and rules about minority rights are but words.

[NapLajoieonSteroids]

i only skim read the latter one but it does appear to get into the meat of the situation we are living.

the city/nation split is core right now, as is the will of the periphery as to its choice to support that city or nation .. or both.

reminds me furthur of the revisionist history of the roman empire which claims that it wasnt fiddling nero's nor barbarians that destroyed the roman empire, it was all the supporting periphery deciding the taxes outgrew the benefits.

Right, and the idea that the western empire could've survived if only the last emperors were a wee bit more competent.

But that's the problem with imperators, they can command you right off a cliff.

[noddy]

right now, in places like australia, the american empires taxes are copy right protections, trade agreements and patent laws, the things you use to protect your tech and entertainment global complex.

we enforce your law, to protect your business because we believe you will protect global trade and a healthy market.

this is the kind of thing Trump is , ermm, not being as appropriate as he could be about in regards his trade war rants.

[NapLajoieonSteroids]

A number of Republican Senators have been doxxed in the middle of the hearing, this afternoon.

On Wikipedia. This wasn't some pastebin job where people have to search for the info.

The doxxer was someone in Congress- probably someone working for a congressman but who knows at this point?

Keep in mind, just last year we had some nut attempt to shoot up the Republican softball team.

----------------------------------------------------------

Does this pass the freight train standard?

[noddy]

no doubting a significant portion of the loony liberals think they are bravely fighting the new facists and thusly all behaviours are justified.

I can only be greatful its not quite that bad here yet, tho its also the mixed blessing of australians lack of carefactor aswell.

[Doc]

A number of Republican Senators have been doxxed in the middle of the hearing, this afternoon.

On Wikipedia. This wasn't some pastebin job where people have to search for the info.

The doxxer was someone in Congress- probably someone working for a congressman but who knows at this point?

Keep in mind, just last year we had some nut attempt to shoot up the Republican softball team.

----------------------------------------------------------

Does this pass the freight train standard?

Oh it is full nut season today. I have seen numerous threats on twitter "If Kavanaugh gets confirmed."

[Doc]

https://pjmedia.com/trending/hate-group ... is-coming/

'Hate Group' Lawsuit Clears Hurdle, Judeo-Christian Group Warns SPLC 'Day of Reckoning' Is Coming
By Tyler O'Neil January 21, 2020
chat comments
The 2018 SPLC hate map.

While America was distracted with impeachment and the 2020 Democrats last week, a monumental lawsuit against Orwellian government surveillance cleared a major hurdle in a Michigan district court. The case, American Freedom Law Center (AFLC) v. Nessel, involves the defense of free speech against government surveillance based on the far-left smear factory the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and its allegedly defamatory "hate group" accusations.

"This is George Orwell, 1984, the thought police, watching over us," AFLC co-founder and Senior Counsel Robert Muise told PJ Media on Tuesday. Michigan Attorney General "Dana Nessel keeping a watchful eye on all these SPLC-designated 'hate groups' has a chilling effect on speech and expressive association."

Last Wednesday, federal district judge Paul Maloney agreed that the AFLC has a powerful case against Nessel and former Michigan Department of Civil Rights (MDCR) Executive Director Agustin Arbulu. He denied Nessel's and Arbulu's motions to dismiss the lawsuit, allowing the case to proceed to discovery. This means AFLC will be able to request all documents showing communication involving Nessel, Arbulu, and the SPLC.

"The SPLC can't violate our constitutional rights — unless they're working with the government as a joint actor," Muise argued. He described Nessel as "a hard-core left-wing progressive. I wouldn't be surprised to find some connections" between her and the left-wing smear factory. "We intend, through discovery, to disclose any connections that the Michigan attorney general and the SPLC had. If there's enough joint action so that the SPLC could be considered a state actor, then we will consider adding them to the lawsuit."

In a statement following Maloney's order, Muise insisted that this ruling should terrify the SPLC.

"The judge’s powerful and exceedingly favorable decision should send a strong message to the Michigan attorney general that she will not be allowed to weaponize her office to target political opponents. It should also send a strong message to government officials who side with the George Soros-funded and radically partisan SPLC that their day of reckoning is coming. Know this: We will not allow you to trample on our constitutional rights," he said.

Judeo-Christian Group Sues Michigan for 'Orwellian' Witch Hunt Based on SPLC Labels

The lawsuit revolves around a "hate-crimes unit" that Nessel and Arbulu launched last February. In the press release for the new unit, both officials effectively endorsed the SPLC's "hate group" accusation. Arbulu went so far as to name a geographic region of the state — a region that includes AFLC's headquarters. "Particularly of concern, over one half [sic] of the identified groups are located east of US-23 between Flint and Ann Arbor," the MDCR director said.

"According to the SPLC report relied upon by Defendants, Plaintiff is identified as a 'hate' group because it is allegedly 'anti-Muslim,' and according to SPLC’s 'Hate Map,' Plaintiff is located in the Ann Arbor area," the lawsuit claims. "Consequently, Plaintiff is one of the very groups that Defendants referred to in their public announcement as an 'extremist and hate organization in Michigan.'"

In his ruling, Maloney laid out AFLC's three claims against Michigan's attorney general: that the officials violated the group's free speech as protected by the First and Fourteenth Amendments; that they violated AFLC's right to expressive association, which is also protected by those amendments; and that "by targeting AFLC for disfavored treatment based on its political viewpoints, Defendants have deprived AFLC of the equal protection of the law, which is protected by Fourteenth Amendment."

Maloney also cited AFLC co-founder and Senior Counsel David Yerushalmi, who explained how the SPLC's "hate group" accusation damaged his organization. "AFLC has to expend resources to combat the label and bolster its reputation. The government’s endorsement of the label makes that job more difficult. Although AFLC was not specifically mentioned in the Press Release, it received media inquiries following the Press Release. The government designation thus injures AFLC both reputationally and financially," the judge wrote.

While Nessel and Arbulu "cannot control who SPLC labels a hate group," their action of "referencing SPLC’s reports as the justification for the Policy Directive" places the government's imprimatur on the SPLC's "hate group" accusations inside the state of Michigan. "Notably, AFLC contends it does not engage in any criminal activity and further contends it has been placed on SPLC’s list of hate groups because of its constitutionally-protected activities."

"AFLC has established both a harm to its reputation and a credible fear that it will be targeted by the State of Michigan under the Policy Directive," Maloney noted. "As pled, AFLC reasonably fears that it will be a target for investigation and surveillance."

AFLC claims the SPLC accuses them of being a "hate group" due to the organization's conservative political positions. The far-left group gained credibility by suing the Ku Klux Klan into bankruptcy, but in recent decades it has expanded the monitoring of "hate groups" to include ever more mainstream conservative and Christian organizations.

As documented in my book Making Hate Pay: The Corruption of the Southern Poverty Law Center, a devastating racial discrimination and sexual harassment scandal last March led the SPLC to "clean house at the top," firing its co-founder and seeing the resignation of many other leading figures. After this scandal, employees came clean about being "part of the con," exaggerating hate by padding the "hate group" list and "bilking northern liberals" into cutting big checks. The SPLC has millions in offshore bank accounts in the Cayman Islands.

NY Times Slapped With $5M Lawsuit For Citing SPLC, Branding Immigration Hawk a 'White Nationalist'

The "hate group" accusations are also politically motivated. The list includes mainstream conservative groups like ACT for America, the Center for Security Policy, the Family Research Council, and Alliance Defending Freedom. Former SPLC spokesman Mark Potok declared that the SPLC's "aim in life is to destroy these groups, completely destroy them."

AFLC v. Nessel is not the only lawsuit centered on the SPLC's "hate group" accusations. The Christian ministry D. James Kennedy Ministries filed a lawsuit against Amazon and the SPLC after it was booted from the AmazonSmile program. A judge granted the SPLC's motion to dismiss, but DJKM filed an appeal last October.

The far-left group accused Maajid Nawaz, an anti-terror Muslim reformer, of being an "anti-Muslim extremist." Nawaz sued and the SPLC settled, offering a very public apology and paying $3.375 million to his nonprofit. In addition to DJKM and Nawaz, the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes, Baltimore lawyer Glen Keith Allen, and former heroin addict Craig Nelsen have sued the SPLC for defamation and various other claims. The CIS lawsuit was struck down because it attempted to shoehorn a defamation claim into racketeering, but it will likely be re-filed. Peter Brimelow, the editor of VDare, sued The New York Times for branding him a "white nationalist" while citing the SPLC.

In the Nelsen case, a judge allowed the plaintiff to enter the discovery process, giving the former heroin addict access to the organization's documents. The SPLC had falsely claimed that Nelsen "wasn't convincing anyone" that his drug recovery program was open to men of all races.

Mat Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel, a Christian nonprofit branded a "hate group" by the SPLC, told PJ Media that more than 60 organizations are considering their own lawsuits against the SPLC.

AFLC may have the strongest argument because their case involves a state government endorsing the far-left smears, enforcing them with threats of government surveillance. It is indeed Orwellian.