Jeff Venom Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 Should Scotland ever be on the receiving end of a "special operation" by our larger nextdoor neighbour I just hope the corruption transparency index is front and centre of the decision making process, militarily on the ground, sky, and sea, and morally in the internet bunkers hooked up to football websites. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 (edited) On the corruption discussion, it's possible these all-powerful multinationals fund this "monitoring" because corruption is bad for them. Then in nations where these multinationals have a firmer grip, corruption may be lower because those governments prioritise clamping down on it (at the behest of the companies). I remembered this Chomsky quote which although very old now, from 1996, might still be relevant. Spoiler "Big business is not in favour of corruption, you know, and if the press focuses on corruption, Fortune Magazine will be quite happy. They (big business) don’t want the society to be corrupt, they want it to be run in their interest. That’s a different thing. Corruption interferes with that. So for example, when I was, I just happened to come back from India, the Bank of India released an estimate, economists there tell me its low, that a third of the economy is black, meaning mostly rich business men not paying their taxes. Well that makes the press because, in fact, certainly transnationals don’t like it. They want the system to be run without corruption, robbery, bribes, and so on, just pouring money into their pockets". Edit: Should maybe elaborate a bit on the Chomsky quote there. A common misunderstanding of neoliberalism is that its "free market" capitalism. It's not. Neoliberalism is using the state to fix markets in favour of the largest corporations. We see this best in USA where untold amounts of taxpayers' dollars are funnelled into private corporations; defence contractors, military hardware manufacturers, Tesla getting constant state funding, financial institutions receiving state bailouts, are some examples. A state functioning as efficiently as possible within the neoliberal model is best for these corporations, hence they're against corruption. I think that's what Chomsky was meaning. Well in Ukraine perhaps these companies are less invested and that's one of the reasons corruption is higher. Edited February 27, 2023 by FreedomFarter 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikingTON Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 2 hours ago, TxRover said: OK, so you can make an unsubstantiated statement alleging the rankings are biased, but when asked for the evidence, you don’t have any. Makes sense. Says the chump who was just recently accusing other posters of being Russian spy bots, for not signing up to your thick as mince agenda. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Other Foot Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 (edited) 21 minutes ago, virginton said: Says the chump who was just recently accusing other posters of being Russian spy bots, for not signing up to your thick as mince agenda. ^^^ P&B’s resident quisling once again being a nasty shit. Edited February 27, 2023 by The Other Foot 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikingTON Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 Cute to see the other member of the brains' trust arriving to defend the group's honour. -1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moomintroll Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 9 minutes ago, The Other Foot said: ^^^ P&B’s resident quisling once again being a nasty shit. Stop quoting the fucker though, some of us live in the bliss of improving our forum experience. -1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Other Foot Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 1 minute ago, Moomintroll said: Stop quoting the fucker though, some of us live in the bliss of improving our forum experience. Fair play, though his posts are a wee bit entertaining. In the same way that the comments section on the Daily Mail website is entertaining -2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hillonearth Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 18 minutes ago, The Other Foot said: ^^^ P&B’s resident quisling once again being a nasty shit. VidkunTON? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmic Joe Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 47 minutes ago, virginton said: Says the chump who was just recently accusing other posters of being Russian spy bots, for not signing up to your thick as mince agenda. Are you as unpleasant to others as this in real life? You can't seem to help yourself -1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sergeant Wilson Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 Putin. "How come these c***s no' 'hings before a dae". 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TxRover Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 22 minutes ago, Cosmic Joe said: Are you as unpleasant to others as this in real life? You can't seem to help yourself You have to want help to get it… 1 hour ago, virginton said: Says the chump who was just recently accusing other posters of being Russian spy bots, for not signing up to your thick as mince agenda. I suspect you’re making your mince wrong. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welshbairn Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 25 minutes ago, Cosmic Joe said: Are you as unpleasant to others as this in real life? You can't seem to help yourself He was just being factual on this occasion. It's annoying when people pile on because of who the poster is without checking what's been written. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TxRover Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 31 minutes ago, welshbairn said: He was just being factual on this occasion. It's annoying when people pile on because of who the poster is without checking what's been written. Factual, after the fact that I had corrected that overreaction of mine? OK. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welshbairn Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 5 minutes ago, TxRover said: Factual, after the fact that I had corrected that overreaction of mine? OK. You also previously said you wanted the Russian Federation to be taken part bit by bit and the constituent parts being invited to join NATO as I remember it, with Kaliningrad being invited first. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Other Foot Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 48 minutes ago, welshbairn said: You also previously said you wanted the Russian Federation to be taken part bit by bit and the constituent parts being invited to join NATO as I remember it, with Kaliningrad being invited first. That’s a fucking fantastic idea. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welshbairn Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 23 minutes ago, The Other Foot said: That’s a fucking fantastic idea. The Kremlin propaganda department are grateful for your contribution. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TxRover Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 3 hours ago, welshbairn said: You also previously said you wanted the Russian Federation to be taken part bit by bit and the constituent parts being invited to join NATO as I remember it, with Kaliningrad being invited first. I suggested it was a likely result, and Kaliningrad would be likely split by Poland and Lithuania. I didn’t advocate, just said I could easily see it happening with a Russian defeat. It would be Yugoslavia all over, with nukes available…not pretty. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoBNob Posted February 28, 2023 Share Posted February 28, 2023 On 26/02/2023 at 18:01, Bairnardo said: Same energy as when folk say "fapp". Makes me fucking shudder to even type it. For all practical purpose? Absolutely lost with that one. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Other Foot Posted February 28, 2023 Share Posted February 28, 2023 11 hours ago, welshbairn said: He was just being factual on this occasion. It's annoying when people pile on because of who the poster is without checking what's been written. He might have been factual, but that’s hardly my point. He cannot help himself insulting people whenever he issues a retort, which is a real shame as he shows a really sophisticated level of debate in every other sense. Constant namecalling is the sign of a shit. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikingTON Posted February 28, 2023 Share Posted February 28, 2023 9 hours ago, TxRover said: I suggested it was a likely result, and Kaliningrad would be likely split by Poland and Lithuania. There is absolutely zero chance of that ever happening. There's really no point in tip-toeing around this level of stupidity over literally hundreds of pages. Your 'contributions' should just be automatically filtered and sent to a forum bin where they belong. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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