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bouncebrigade

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Posts posted by bouncebrigade

  1. In order to squash ISIS we would need to do several things that are against the financial interests of the very wealthy. US and UK relations with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Israel would have to change significantly.

     

    A shitstorm of proxy wars and various seemingly conflicting national interests stirred by rich cunts.

     

    It would seem Turkey has a lot to answer for as well.

  2. Cut our losses and run.  He's a load of wank.  Has the physical attributes to be a world beater but the mentality of a crippled lemming.  How he ended up here I'll never know.  A few mates said he'd be class, the Kop loves an idol etc etc.  I wasn't having it then and I'm not now either.

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  3. I was fully with you until the last line.

     

    As for going to war with 'them', well, that's an issue. Bush tried it, and it has made the problem much worse. There is no real 'them'. There's just pockets of people with the media pushing forward a 'them'.

     

    Is there not 50,00 of them, well armed and organised and controlling a couple of hundred thousand square kilometers of Iraq and Syria?

     

    I agree with you regarding Bush, but unfortunately we can't turn back the clock on that imbecile's mistakes.

     

    As with Al Qaeda, IS has in part become a concept and an ideology and it's very hard to crush an ideology.  There will always be lone wolf attacks.

     

    The West could arm the Iraqi army better than they are doing but it's very hard because it seems to be the Iranian backed Shias doing all the dirty work thereby fueling resentment from the Sunnis and pushing them ever closer to ISIS.

  4. The Irish were my generation's bogeymen, the fact you can't see the irony of what you're posting is mindblowing. 

     

    I respect that you don't resort to name calling.  And I can also see why you draw a tenuous link between the two.  I'm just afraid I can't make the connection in the same way you do.

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  5. I have absolutely no time for Israel but do people in general ever consider Israel beyond their shambolic treatment of Palestine?

     

    For example, what are their economic policies?  How do they treat LGBTs?  Etc, etc.

     

    Because for all their shithousery, I get the impression that, domestically, they are quite a progressive, liberal nation.

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  6. Yeah, think we're done. You've gone full Tory. Never go full Tory.

     

    "loony left wingers" "I work my bollocks off" "It's back of a cigarette packet economics" "ridiculous benefits" "this is simple Maths."

     

    Pretty much how all your type go when there is some facts laid in front of you.

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  7. I gave you some facts as well. 

     

    What does the government deserve credit for? How exactly are the majority of people benefiting from austerity? What has improved for the majority of people to describe the last few years as "it certainly was in a fucking stinking hell hole of a place that it has thankfully emerged from"? Have public services improved? Have wages increased?

     

    Your last line sounds like something David Cameron would say. Pretending that you're even heading in the right direction.

     

    You describe "austerity" as if it is the only thing that is happening here.  It is a nice catchy buzzword that all the loony left wingers like to use over here.  The problem with these people is they have no solution other than to bang their hands and talk about wealth taxes and the like.  It's back of a cigarette packet economics and I'm grateful that they aren't in power.  They refuse to acknowledge any good that is done.  I work my bollocks off and they would tax me even more - even though workers already pay a marginal tax rate of 50/51%.  It is a fact in Ireland that a sizeable minority of people don't need to work because of the ridiculous benefits they can claim.  The left want to increase these even more at the expense of the working man.

     

    As a country, in the mid- to late- 00s we were spending way beyond our means.  Something had to give.  This was nothing to do with the EU, this is simple Maths.  Our public sector pay and welfare rates were through the roof when the crash happened.  Granted the bank guarantee and subsequent bailout (which were European led) clearly exacerbated the problem but even way before that we had serious issues as a result of a clueless administration who were buying votes with ludicrous concessions and were wholly reliant on property based taxes to fund the economy.

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  8. As it was 10, 20, 30, 40, etc years ago. Being in a better place than Greece seems a rather pathetic defence of austerity measures in Ireland.

     

    Yes, there are some good stories for the rich. They have remained rich. Whilst -

     

    http://www.thejournal.ie/ireland-has-a-lot-of-low-paying-jobs-1696421-Oct2014/

     

    The poor will pay the price as they always do. Greece have decided they've had enough of this fucking horrible neo-colonialism, hopefully Spain follow their lead later this year.

     

    I never defended austerity in Ireland, but for a non-rabble rouser like me I give credit to the government for the actions they have taken (or not taken).

     

    You clearly have issues with the EU but people in Ireland have short memories regarding the amount of money that we have received from this project over the years.  It is run by a bunch of cunts for sure, but nothing's perfect is it.

     

    You are very good at selecting depressing stories from a country you don't live in.  But I could do a random Google search and find some equally uplifting ones.

     

    Anyway, this never started as a defence of austerity on my behalf so I don't want the conversation being steered that way.

     

    Regarding another point you make, I'm not sure if Ireland was in a better place than Greece seven years ago but it certainly was in a fucking stinking hell hole of a place that it has thankfully emerged from.  However, there is still a lot more to do (people on hospital trolleys, child poverty etc).

  9. Austerity is, of course, shit.  And there are plenty of stories like the one mentioned above.  But there are also some good stories in Ireland and it is undeniably in a better place than Greece.  So in that respect "slow and steady" beats "banging your hand on the table".

     

    It is difficult to compare the peripheral countries in the Eurozone as they are all very different with different underlying reasons for their problems.  My only argument with Greece is that blatant corruption and evasion seems to be the root cause of their problems.  Try and get your head around the following:

     

    "In 2010, the estimated tax evasion costs for the Greek government amounted to well over $20 billion per year."

     

    But there are some people who think they shouldn't have to pay any price for this.

  10. Syriza have been an unmitigated disaster for the Greek people.

     

    Elected on a populist platform they have done nothing they promised.

     

    That twat, Yanis Varoufakis, wrote a column in the Irish Times at the weekend pretty much slagging Ireland off for having come through the worst of the recession.

     

    Nobody likes to see people suffer, particularly not those from a great country and one of the oldest civilisations on earth.  But Greece needs to take a long hard look at itself.  Widescale tax evasion and bribery and corruption as the norm, it can't all be Europe's fault.  Add to this the fact that they conceivably cooked the books when applying for EU membership and sympathy runs even drier.  I have no great love for the unelected bureaucrats running the show but I understand why they are taking a hard line with the Greeks.

     

    Since Syriza came to power there have been billions of deposits withdrawn from banks and Greece has gone back into full scale recession, having briefly emerged last year.

     

    Frankly, they would be no loss to the eurozone/EU.

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