ralnorthedegenerate-blog

[ralnorthedegenerate-blog]

Considering the damage the previous Trump administration did to Health, the removal of the Pandemic Response Unit put in place under Obama and the hundreds of thousands of deaths in America during Covid that were 'PREVENTABLE', it seems to me that this eventuality should have been the crux against a second term.

But alas, with misinformation and partizan patriotism rampant in American politics as well as the encapsulation of right-wing ideology via conspiracy, anti-science / academic sentimentality, any conversation about pandemics or public health measures will ultimately lead to vaccines causing neurodivergence, contact tracing and logging equated to concentration camps, or the mandated use of masks an infringement of the 39th and a half amendment or some shit…

Archaic and batshittery claims that directly impact the efficacy of public health are a danger to everyone and it is in the interest of public safety that these types of claims be silenced; through litigation and judicial means, improvement in education around health and science for all age groups and the slow claw back of trust in the health system by establishing medical care for all, would assist in countering this narrative that gets the ill-informed and under-educated people, killed…

From both a moral and economic standpoint, this idea that you can make it all go away by neglecting health measures, refusal to log and initiate wide spread testing, promoting deliberate misinformation and denouncing and demonizing health expert's recommendations as some affront to your world view- is just wrong.

The damage this causes the economy in lost productivity is something that rampant capitalism (in all its double edged glory) should be rallying behind to prevent. And while I hate having to make the argument, with what should be a simple: DON'T LET PEOPLE GET KILLED DO YOUR DUTY! instead I find myself needing to make it about monetary loss to system that is actively leading to the destruction of our society and our planet because what better way to see results, than to show that this negatively impacts your share price…

The enemy of my enemy is still my enemy, but we are on this sinking ship together and the life boats take two to man…

But above all this, there is a problem of who this impacts. Who is hurt the most from this lax approach to a fundamental human right?

Oh of course, its the low socioeconomic bracket!

Because it always is… Because they are always the first in the fucking firing line…

We saw in the pandemic how badly it affected the ability for people living paycheck to paycheck to meet their basic needs, how terrible it was for thousands of people who had no choice but to either work through sickness, or take leave without compensation, or who had entire workplaces shut down because of the economic impact of the pandemic or through mass infection of the location, forcing them out of employment with no lifelines.

We saw how people that did not have health cover, couldn't access basic health requirements, could not afford the overnight stay in the hospital that could save their lives. The very thing that an expanded and subsidized health care system would solve, impacted millions of Americans.

We also saw small rural communities that depend on tourism and/or delivery logistics to survive, become isolated without health assistance. We saw ghetto's and low socioeconomic areas become hotbeds of infection, not because they are 'unclean' or whatever else the reason Fox gives, but because they had no choice, because there was no support available to them. (and the systemic problems they face also factored into not being able to get support because thanks racism and classism… BECAUSE ITS ALWAYS FUCKING RACISM AND CLASSISM!)

We saw super spreader events at Trump rallies…

WE SAW SPREADER EVENTS AT SANCTIONED RALLIES! PLURAL! BY THE THEN GOVERNMENT!

That alone should tell you how little of a fuck these people give to the safety of others, where they will blatantly disregard the recommendations by people who spent their entire lives, dedicated to understanding disease and how to combat it, advising the government that maybe, just maybe- wearing a mask doesn't turn you into wool bearing ruminant mammal!

And of course, by now you should know the reason why…

Why this is the current course of the Trump administration.

Its simple. He fucked up, he got people killed because he doesn't understand how a pandemic works, and he didn't care to understand.

The only way for him to salvage this, is for the facets of public health to be demonized, that it is some Chinese conspiracy virus that the communists unleashed, that the people who were giving health advice were giving the wrong advice deliberately to weaken pure blooded Americans, that actually they wanted to turn all of the patriots in to femboys that buy model trains and Lego sets. That heard immunity is a good thing, and that it will weed out the weak and meek, leaving behind those of only good, god fearing genes so that they can continue to make America gullible again.

He is deliberately going to get people that he is sworn to protect, killed because of his narcissism.

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The famous Vader quote springs to mind here. "I am altering the deal, pray I do not alter it further"

Its frustrating to watch this poisoned chalice be imbibed by imbeciles, after being told time and time again that we as citizens did not want this, nor wanted $300B of additional spending on security assets that wouldn't be in service till the next ice age…

Considering that one side can just choose to 'Not' deliver what was agreed on or alter the terms and arrangements, seems like it was always a one sided deal and not something a government that takes its role as custodian and protector seriously, should have ever acknowledged but here we are…

The timeline for construction considering; the manufacturing issues within the US, its own defense requirements, and the fact that- oh I don't know- the current administration is sparking a civil conflict, just might raise some concerns in Canberra that we, like our fascinations with Nuclear power, will not be able to see it deployed until 2040-50 if we even see it at all. And even then, it is becoming increasingly likely that instead of a sovereign capability in our ports, we will instead have subs for hire, paying for both the construction and prolonged MLM scheme to even have them in our country, let alone the costs to run them.

Art of the deal I guess…

But I want to delve a bit deeper here.

Why are we doing this?

It is clear as day that this deal doesn't stack up for Australia so why bother? Considering the possible cost blowouts, timeline delays, and host of other vendors we could have approached for this- it seems like we chose the worst option, the highest price and longest wait.

Australia is (and pardon my use of the severely overstated trope line) in a 'unique' position.

More than anything, as an island nation, we require a navy to both secure our waters and our trade routes. "Against what" you might ask, well China of course… And if the irony isn't lost on you there, congratulations!

But to be fair, we have seen a build up of key indo-asia specific regional players and both their defense asset deployment and rhetoric. This was clear a few months ago from this post's date, when a Chinese Navy flotilla navigated the international water boarder around Australia. And being fair yet again, we do this as well and in the ever prolonged dick waving that is the flexing of military might, this hardly qualifies as a reason to spend on its own.

But since we have also seen a use of military to posture around Taiwan and Indonesia, as well as a large effort to procure deals with our surrounding neighbors through gifts or funds for infrastructure, we are becoming increasingly worried about their force projection into Oceania, and in this context, it makes sense that Australia would want to make sure one of our key components in our Naval defense doctrine is top of the line, and readily available.

But there in lies a problem- we need it now, not in decades- now. So cutting the deal with the French made the delay even greater, and we still had to pay them for the contract breach, which absolutely should be added onto the final cost of this deal, as it was part of what we had to initially pay for something we never even got.

Thanks conservatives…

So why go with the US option?

America is our closest defense partner, and has been for decades. The information and tech we share is akin to America/Canada, as is befitting a country that holds the same values of democratic rule (e.g a slow decent into autocracy and the death of the utopic ideal) So it does make sense to go with them when it comes to arms and equipment, both because of the aforementioned defense ties and large scale production of quality defense products.

You could buy 100 T-90s, or 10 Abrams, And in every situation, you buy 10 Abrams, because they are that fucking good. American military industrial complex?

I find it rather simple.

But that doesn't extend to all facets of military production, especially when it comes to ship building. The US is lagging behind on its own capabilities, and without investment into this sector from the current administration (who are much to busy golfing, leaking classified information to our enemies and imprisoning and deporting toddlers to worry about such things) it will continue to decline and both ours and America's capabilities will not meet required targets.

And this hasn't been a recent issue, this was an issue for years prior the Aukus arrangement, we knew about it and one of the requirements under Biden and now Trump, was an increased spending in ship building sectors to help meet demand. But this has not happened, and now we are in this position where we have to continue to fund the creation of subs that do not have the capacity to be created yet.

So again, to summarize; The subs will not be built on time, for a huge cost, will most likely not be ours should they arrive, or could not be built at all and we will have no recourse to claim that money back, due to the current administrations aversion to taking responsibility.

Why then do we persist in this funding folly?

To answer that, we must return to our old friend of rhetorical affirmation…

"What do you think will happen, when we pull out of a multi-billion dollar pay check for America under the worlds most egotistical topee?"

The retaliation for what will, it absolutely will, be seen as a betrayal if Australia removes itself from the deal will be catastrophic, especially so if we think we don't need to pay a cent afterwards.

If we decided today, that we didn't want to spend anymore on this clown car of developmental woes, we would be raked over the coals by the current administration through both economic and diplomatic means. Because that is how the current Trump admin operates when it comes to those it deems bad, and I don't think I need to point to anywhere as an example, because 'everywhere' is a fucking example at this point.

And if we don't affirm a change to the deal that would, as previously mentioned, reduce our naval capacity to a subscription to OnlySubs- the same result would be on the table, just with more whining from Mr.Art Deal.

Now, under Biden, this deal still wasn't great- the same issues just without the whole fascism stuff going on. But since in the last 4 years, global politics has shifted dramatically, we are now in an even worse position, still holding the chalice.

So what are our options now?

We can choose to go down the path of divestiture, which would pretty much spell out martyr in bright green and gold letters for the world to see, this will greatly impact Australia, especially for lower and middle class, who will have to bare the brunt of another sharp cost of living rise, should America demand its dues through economic strangleholds.

We have the option of simply paying off the debt using defense spending, but that is political suicide. To do it twice for the same capability is insane and will just mean that the conservatives will return to power again sooner, as they 'love' pointing out the center parties budget blowouts, even when they are the ones that orchestrated them… And then the problems with the rise of fascism in the west will continue to grow here.

We can continue to pay into the scheme, until the administration changes in… Oh god 4 fucking years, ITS ONLY BEEN 5 MONTHS WHAT THE FUCK…. Which again is not really a solution either, as we are basically throwing money into a high risk, low reward investment portfolio that can be audited at any time.

None of these options are good for Australia.

But that is the point of a poisoned chalice after all…

So who do we blame?

Oh that one is easy.

It is former disgraced Prime Minister: Scott Shitshimself Morrison seen here at Trump's inauguration party.

(First time putting an image in a tumblr post mid text so if it doesn't format correct, I blame me)

He is currently advocating that we should keep the deal, because of course he his- its his deal and it enriches America at a time where it needs a lot of money extorted from its allies to fund all the state sponsored kidnapping and military birthday parades.

He is also on Trumps shortlist for ambassador to Australia, not that it his choice, ousting the current Kevin Rudd, who has been tirelessly fighting against right wing propaganda here and abroad, while navigating the collective interests of both countries and has been doing this for years since leaving the PM's office.

I could go on for hours about how slimy this man is, but for my own sanity, I will refrain.

(ok I won't for a second because I feel like some context for sliminess is needed, umm- he tried to be a king… No I'm not kidding- he swore himself into multiple ministries in secret to hoard power under the guise of Covid measures, which is something you should not be able to do, then lied about how many portfolios he undertook from his other ministers. Basically, the PM can't just snap his fingers and order things, doesn't work like that, we have ministers who are the heads of departments and make decisions, so he was able to go over their heads and veto what they try to do without them knowing until the decision is finalized and no one could tell him he can't because he is technically the minister for that department. He is a slimy piece of power hungry shit, he's also a member of Hillsong and dear god that should speak volumes about the type of religious man he is(n't) )

He is the reason we are in this position in the first place and all valid criticism of his actions should be placed squarely at his feet. So the fact that he can be asked without a hint of irony about the taste of the poison he so kindly left us with, is fucking wild to me.

And if you ever see him in public, please tell him he is a cunt.

So what now?

Get up and start calling your local members, tell them you don't want this.

Make yourself heard on online platforms.

Advocate for the divestiture, tell people about it-

Yes its hard, some people do not either understand the ramifications of this deal and some people switch off of politics all together but doing nothing at all, results in nothing.

The standard you walk past is the standard you accept.

And while I do understand that it shouldn't be up to us to do all this…

I turn once again to rhetorical affirmation…

"Who else will?"

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happy pride month from auspol

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Less "How dare you sacrifice yourself for us!" More "How dare you send us away, then have a 1v1 against both the embodiment of universal decay, and the worlds most angriest twank"

My fave thing abt the scions is how they yell at WoL when WoL sacrifices themself once (1) as if each and every single one of them hadn't sacrificed themselves several times before. 1 hour ago even!!

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Happy pride day! Super Destroyer Pride of Pride will be flying the required flags alongside Super Earth's.

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The irony that the CEO of a major Australian Gas generator is gaslighting the youth for acting on their basic consumer needs would be comical if it weren't so indicative of a much deeper issue with the upper class. You can't berate people for making a choice to buy a crock-pot, then saying that the creation of crock-pots has a negative impact on environment and therefore you should shut up when it comes to your "ZEALOUS" views on 'our' emissions because you a clearly a hypocrite. People require consumer goods, just like people require basic needs and services. To say that its 'our' fault for seeking these goods that we need, and that 'we' are the ones to blame is not only the weakest gaslight since 1816's Preston, but just a shit take in general that doesn't surprise me in the slightest. Furthermore, Australia is in a cost of living crisis, as a lot of other places in the developed world are, predominantly due to a lack of wage increases, inflation, global trade issues and a myriad of smaller supply issues and costs. And again, consumer goods are a requirement. People need them for various reasons, sometimes its buying a new heater for the winter, or treating yourself to a nice pair of jeans or- hell I could use a new trowel for planting in my veggie patch... We still require them to be met, regardless of economic stability. So what do you think people will gravitate towards when they have less money? They still need to get those goods from time to time, so naturally the answer would be the cheaper goods. And this is exactly what we see in consumer habits. And a point can be raised that awareness on the emissions impact of goods should be on packaging, which for some goods, are a thing. We have emissions standards for white goods and electronics, fuel efficiency standards for cars... We have consumer information for some but not all of our goods and a case can be made that we should have more on a lot of products that are sold here to better inform the public. But that isn't what the question is here. The question is on Woodside's ability to meet emissions standards, and the issue with non-renewable energy still making up a large portion of our energy grid, despite the majority being in favor of divestiture from fossil fuels and a similar majority being against nuclear power in this country. But instead of addressing the concern, they are trying to shift the blame on to the blameless, people who do not have the power to stop companies from producing products overseas and selling them on the global market due to the deregulation of manufacturing and production other than to simply 'Not buy those products'. And while that is an option for some people who are well off or don't require some goods... That is not the case for everyone. Cheap goods are useful for those that can't afford the pricey, bourgeoisie ones, and the emissions from those goods are from energy usage in foreign manufacturing, which, in the developing nations that we seem to love abusing for this, IS MAJORITY FOSSIL FUEL BASE GENERATION. And yet in the same breath that the CEO of Woodside, besmirches and blathers, about how its the youth of today's fault for the problems with emissions. That we are ideologically challenged when it comes to buying things we need against the values we hold in wanting a better world for everyone through the measures we advocator for, while refusing to admit that it is 'her' industry that consistently damages our attempts at this through; lobbying against emissions regulation, attacking grassroots movements against the construction new fossil fuel power stations, and comments like the very same one here, that say that if we even look at some plastic containers to keep our leftovers in- we should not be allowed to have an opinion... What a crock-pot of shit.

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From a centrist (No, not the "both sides bad" kind, but the; "Hey we need proper social and health care, good government oversight and impartiality, and strong consumer protections, ect, ect, non-exaustive list of 'left' wing things because our Overton Window was not properly installed and has been consistently sagging towards the Hitler Museum next door…)

Yes its really funny that Albo won again, despite the absolutely stacked deck. I mean, the Right stacked it with jokers but… still.

Yes it is VERY funny that Dutton lost his seat, and I salute each and every person who has signified this landmark moment with the best political satire memes I've seen in a decade. My hat goes off to you...

And it is so… FUCKING FUNNY- that the Octogenarian Oligarchical Orchestra… Split. The. Fuck. Up. Over their absolute thrashing, and/or mountain of cultural, personal, ideological differences that a; Historically corrupt party for large business and pro-monarchy/christian theocracy has vs Historically corrupt party that fucks with funding for farmers and embezzles millions of tax dollars into their own private accounts has…

Which, if it sounds like they would get along… I'd say swimmingly but they sold off our water rights so ironically, I can't... That is because they did! Which is why this is so funny! I did have a point about how we as centrists and leftists (as much as I hate using the terms) still cannot be complacent in advocating and holding our leaders to account. But after remembering that Dutton's starchy, tuber temples, who was deliberately responsible for some of the worst policy, ministerial direction and 'HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS' from the previous decade of conservative governance, LOST HIS FUCKING SAFE SEAT OF 20+ YEARS BECAUSE HE WAS FINALLY SHOWN TO THEM ALL TO BE A CONTEMPTIBLE PIECE OF RACIST FUCKING GARBAGE. That point didn't seem to matter as much, compared aforementioned loss of both chair and hair. In short, we still face an uphill battle, but at least we planted some potatos on the way up to keep us sustained for the march ahead.

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And for my first trick- My home on Mateus. Goblet Ward 13 Plot 51

I was planning to put this up on Housing Snap like my older builds but I want to just slap it down here. At least here I can post without having to translate the pages... As with anything I make and post into the future- Ask away! This was supposed to just be a small 100 slot apartment room that ballooned into a multi-year long project for my main house that boasts constant updates. Everything is is mostly functional and scaled down to Lala size, however in keeping with the building code, the door must be accessible for all races as per section 12.c on Entry and accessibility requirements, 'Not' because I'm cheap and bought one from Eorzean Bunnings in a two for one domicile door deal. While it is a far cry from what I consider finished (Oh god there is so many things I want to do when we get an extra 100+ slots) I'm proud of it.

And for anyone starting their decorating journey... Scrolling through tumblr or blue sky... Keep at it. Housing design is a skill and you can only get better through repeated use and research. And please, use designs and tricks from other people, emulate them and just- throw things together to see what they look like. That is how I learned. And that is how you can learn. I want to see more people do this, because, as a creative outlet this is really cool and build on our world of Eorzea just that little bit at a time.

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I rarely use Gpose, but here is an image of me. I've been playing this game at least since AAR and pre-heavensward patches on and off- but really came back just before Shadowbringers and boy, its been a wild ride. Maybe some day I'll write up WoL backstory. It ain't much, but enjoy some simple WoL posting.

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Coalition, more like Noalition

Is this how Tubumbler works again?