Artwork for podcast The Iron Fist and the Velvet Glove
Episode 418 - Stories of Deception
19th February 2024 • The Iron Fist and the Velvet Glove • The Iron Fist and the Velvet Glove
00:00:00 01:10:45

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Topics:

(05:52) Misleading Headlines

(07:16) UK Tories Clip To Mislead

(13:01) Navalny Murdered?

(19:06) Confiscate Russian Assets

(22:16) Assange Art Ransom

(27:24) Nuclear Support Is Low

(30:05) Dr Yang Hengjun

(34:01) Indian Uniform Code

(36:43) Trump Update

(45:51) UK Youth

(55:11) Analysts Say ...

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Transcripts started in episode 324. You can use this link to search our transcripts. Type "iron fist velvet glove" into the search directory, click on our podcast and then do a word search. It even has a player which will play the relevant section. It is incredibly quick.

Transcripts

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Suburban Eastern Australia, an environment that has, over time,

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evolved some extraordinarily unique groups of Homo sapiens.

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But today, we observe a small tribe akin to a group of meerkats that

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gather together atop a small mound to watch, question and discuss the

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current events of their city, their country and their world at large.

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Let's listen keenly and observe this group fondly known as the

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Iron Fist and the Velvet Glove.

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Ah, we're already getting some tough chat in the chat room.

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John says we're 63 seconds late.

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Watley's there, meerkatting patiently.

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That's what you need to do, John.

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Meerkatting patiently.

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Alright, maybe we were 63 seconds late, but we're, you

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know, better late than never.

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Here we are.

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The Iron Fist, the Velvet Glove and Joe the Tech Guy.

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Doing a podcast where we talk about news and politics and sex and religion on a

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Monday night, eight o'clock Brisbane time.

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I'm in Brisbane, Joe's in Brisbane, and Scott, you're in regional Queensland.

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How are you, Scott?

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I'm good, thanks.

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Trevor, and yourself?

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I am well.

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I'm a little bit sore, but I am well.

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You're a little bit sore?

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What have you done to yourself?

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I was in a squash competition, a masters squash competition over the weekend and I

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had four very, very hard games of squash.

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I could barely walk on Monday morning.

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Getting down the stairs, but it was enjoyable.

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How'd you go?

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I came second in Division 1.

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I was pretty good.

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Yeah, I was pretty pleased with that.

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So, um, you tell people that you're a squash player and they go, What?

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Do they still play squash?

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Yeah, so, some old people still do.

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Joe, the tech guy, how are you?

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I'm good.

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That's good.

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John has, uh, joined us or yeah, John and Watley are there, so it's good.

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Uh, got your message, John.

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Yes, um, last week, I think I mentioned about Joe Biden and how he

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was escaping liability for having a stash of classified documents on the

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basis of being so senile, nobody would believe that he intended to do it.

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And the guys at, uh, the Planet Extra podcast did an exhaustive, lengthy,

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forensic examination of the report, which in the end says there's a lot more

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to it than that, in fact, proving even had control of documents the way it was

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alleged was in doubt, so there's a lot more to it than what I said, and if you

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want to know the full story Go and watch that Planet Extra podcast, but, uh Well,

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and of course, his bribes he was taking.

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The witness to taking the bribes apparently has now been charged

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with bearing false witness.

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Oh, okay.

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By the FBI.

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I see, I haven't got to that part.

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So, yeah, if you're at a dinner party on that particular topic, dear listener,

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and you just say, oh, it was all about his senility And, uh, proving his

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intent, uh, is a lot more than that.

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So don't rely on the Iron Fist, Velvet Glove facts for that.

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But, uh, on most things we've been pretty good, but that one, maybe just, um, change

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your thoughts on that one a little bit.

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Um, guys, next week, one of the things they do on the PEP sort of podcast, is

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they kick off with what they're grateful for, just as a way of getting some

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positive, good vibes at the beginning.

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Because invariably They, and we, head down a track of just bemoaning

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what's going on in the world.

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So maybe next week, if we could be prepared to have something you're

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grateful for, it could be personal.

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Yes.

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It could be baby Jesus, it could be something on a worldwide scale, or

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something on a very minuscule scale where you happen to have a fine cup of

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coffee presented to you that morning.

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I don't care, but let's just try and have something positive for next time, so.

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So there we go.

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Essential Lord Don is in the chat room as well.

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Well, what are we going to talk about, uh, on this episode?

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Kind of following on the theme of previous episodes, just looking a little

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bit at how the public is misled, either by the media or by political parties.

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Um, we've got Navalny.

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Um, was he murdered?

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We'll talk about that.

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Um.

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Apparently there was a window that he fell out of.

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Yeah.

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Julian Assange, uh, support for nuclear power.

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That might interest you, John Simmons.

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Um, bit about China.

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Um, bit about Muslims in India.

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A bit about the cases that Trump is facing and just the sort of timetable on those.

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Joe found an article about why UK youth are so disgruntled and disenchanted with

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life, and particularly political leaders.

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And I came across from an article from the ABC, which is really about China

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setting up some humble research stations on Antarctica and just beaten up.

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Into a potential, this is how they're going to control the world.

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Watch out for those nasty Chinese.

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They're taking over Antarctica because of a terrible plot against

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Western civilization, sort of story.

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Anyway, we'll get to that one.

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Yeah, see how we go.

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So that's on the agenda.

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Right.

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Just on the media, and we've mentioned, it might have been last week or

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the week before, just about how The media has used different words

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when describing Israel's actions as opposed to the Palestinian actions.

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You might remember that, you know, massacre and, and, um, uh, harsh

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words like that were reserved for what had been done to Israel.

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And much softer words were used, um, People's, um, people were found dead, um,

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when it came to what Israelis had done to Palestinians, whereas Palestinians

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were actually murdering people.

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Like the nature of the, sort of, words were different.

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And there was just Uh, an article in the Washington Post, the headline

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was, Four Fragile Lives Found Ended in Evacuated Gaza Hospital.

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Um, apparently they changed that headline not long after it was

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originally printed, but, uh, yeah.

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Instead of saying four young kids murdered by Israeli bombs,

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it was, Four Fragile Lives Found Ended in Evacuated Gaza Hospital.

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So, that's the sort of subtle Sort of, um, thought massaging that just goes

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on if you're not on the lookout for it.

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Um, another type of thought massaging.

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This one was from the UK.

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So, Joe, Conservatives are really on the nose over there in the UK.

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You don't have to be there, I guess, to know that's the case.

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So I just saw a Jonathan Pie today that was saying Rishi

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Senak, telling everyone he's, he's delivering, uh, but delivering what?

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And the answer is a recession.

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Apparently the UK is now in recession.

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After 14 years of Conservative government.

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Is Jonathan Pye still doing stuff, is he?

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He is, yes.

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Oh, I haven't seen any for ages.

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Somehow I must have slipped off his page, because, yeah.

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So, so there's a Tory, the Tory chairman is Richard Holden, and he

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defended a misleading video that the Tory party had put on there.

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X account, their Twitter account, and it was a clip by, um, it

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was a clip involving Sadiq Khan.

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Sadiq Khan.

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Yes.

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He's the Mayor of London.

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Yes.

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And, um, he said in the, sort of an interview, he said, quote, As

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far as I'm concerned, that sort of language isn't acceptable, and it

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certainly shouldn't be accepted in a party like mine that is proud to be

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both anti racist and anti Semitic.

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And so, of course, he misspoke by saying that his party is

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proud to be anti Semitic.

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And he straight away quickly corrected himself and said, I beg

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your pardon, tackling anti Semitism.

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So, it was to say, I mean, I've done a lot on this podcast where I've referred

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to the wrong thing, the complete opposite to what I meant to say.

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And he kind of, dear listener, cut me some slack and go, uh, he was actually

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referring to this rather than that, you know, it was just a A mistake.

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People make them.

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But the goddamn Conservative Tory Party clipped the part where he said his party

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is proud to be anti racist and anti Semitic, chopped it off there and ran,

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um, you know, a tweet, um, uh, basically to demonstrate that the Labor Party has

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a, has a problem when it comes to Jews.

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Completely misleading people as to what the guy was actually saying.

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And the chairman, when pulled up by reporters, was saying, Oh, you

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know, it was edited, but we didn't rearrange anything, he actually said

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those things, so, it's all good.

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This is the level.

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This isn't some crazy two bit party of wacky Well, you say that.

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Well, yeah.

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LAUGHS That's what they They are now.

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Like, this is not a legitimate, serious Group anymore.

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The, you know, the UK Tory party is prepared to do

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something as misleading of that.

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You can't trust anything they say about anybody.

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I'm shocked, I tell you.

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Oh, either I am like, that's just so cheap and so open to ridicule.

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Yeah.

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I mean, yeah, apparently.

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No, I don't blame you.

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But by the same token, I'm not surprised that that sort of

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shit has started to happen.

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I don't know that this is necessarily a new thing, taking people out

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of context or misquoting them.

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No, but they've actually gone and doctored a video and that sort

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of stuff and then re released it.

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Yeah, and they say it wasn't doctored because they just Cut it off at that

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point and didn't rearrange any of the words, but by taking it out of the

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context Yeah, so many things in life that we examine on this podcast dear

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listener You need to know some of the background context to sort of understand

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where you're at and why things have happened, some of the historical context.

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In that case, it was just a context about communication and, um, very, very

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misleading by the Conservative Party.

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And, um, James O'Brien, I was going to play the clip, but it's a bit long.

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He found one where, um, Ritchie, Ritchie Soonak was with a group

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of schoolboys and they were obviously referring to soft drink.

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But he said to the schoolboys, yes, I'm addicted to coke.

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Totally addicted to coke.

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James O'Brien was saying, well there you go, he's a drug

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addict, he's addicted to coke.

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What more do you need to know?

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Like, we could just be running ads saying that, if what you've said is acceptable.

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And there were other examples where people had made So had

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he put this to the MP involved?

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A reporter did, to the chairman of the Tory party.

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And, um, and said, it's misinformation.

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It portrays something inaccurate to people online.

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And the guy replied, it highlights an issue of anti Semitism at the

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heart of the Labor Party and it's not been edited, it's been clipped.

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And the reporter said, that's exactly the same thing.

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And the chairman said, no, it's actually quite different.

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And, um, and he just fobbed it off.

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Hmm.

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Yes.

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Yeah, we, we've never been at war with Eurasia.

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Yes, indeed.

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1984, we've up to the, uh, yes.

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40th anniversary.

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I think it was this week.

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Something like that.

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Oh yeah, of course.

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Yeah.

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Navalny, that guy had a death wish, didn't he?

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Going back to Russia.

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It was, with the benefit of hindsight, a foolish thing for him to do.

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You know, he went back there with a former KGB agent and

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that sort of stuff as president.

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I just think to myself he was probably asking for it.

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You know, he was arrested when he returned and that sort of thing

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and then they got him in prison.

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And now he's suddenly collapsed and died.

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You know, and I bet you bottom dollar there'll be no

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autopsy or anything like that.

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He's probably already been cremated.

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Well, yeah, the family have been searching for his body and his body has disappeared

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and nobody's quite sure where it's got to.

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So he's been cremated for us.

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Just, you know, he was alive and living in a different country

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and he voluntarily went back.

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I know.

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Immediately arrested and thrown into jail.

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He went back allegedly because he loved his country.

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And he wanted to rescue his country from the groups of Vladimir Putin.

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Yeah, I don't know if he'd do it from in the country.

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No, it's one of those things, because anyone that comes along that's going to

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be a credible threat to Vladimir Putin is going to find himself in prison.

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Yeah, it's been very brave, or very stupid, or both, but um I

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think he's probably very crazy brave, you know, doing it.

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I have some close friends who are from Iran, I'm glad they got out.

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Yeah, exactly.

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You know, it's one of those things, it's, um, I wouldn't want to be

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still living there, you know?

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I'm not sure that Navalny was, um, a saint either, like, he just read

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different things, his association with Nazis and stuff, he knows where

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the truth lies in all that stuff, but he had some unsavoury incidents.

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Probably, if he's human, he's almost certainly, but Yeah, I mean

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Who hasn't had a dinner party with a group of Nazis and, you know.

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Yeah, but when you're, when you're, when you are Russian and that sort of

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thing, you've got to realize that, um, your democracy is only as old as Russia

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itself, which is what, 20 or 30 years or something like that since the, um,

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end of the, end of the, uh, Cold War.

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Democracy was there for about five years before it disappeared.

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Yeah, I know it was, and it's just one of those things.

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It's, um, democracy's overrated.

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So it's, no, it's not overrated.

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I, I think there's, there's levels isn't there?

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Mm-Hmm.

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. Yeah.

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There's, there's Julian Assange who is in Bell Marsh Prison, who is about to be put

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in a show trial, and then there's Navalny who was taken off to the Arctic Circle

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and then died in mysterious circumstances.

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Mm-Hmm mm-Hmm.

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I, I, I think there are levels.

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Neither are good.

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But I would suggest that Russia is considerably worse.

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Who was the American guy who, um, was involved with all the celebrities

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with, um, sex with underage girls, who was in America and died of

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suicide in strange circumstances?

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Who was that?

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Epstein.

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Epstein.

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So, you know, a lot of people said about that.

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Did he really commit suicide?

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You know, it was very convenient for a lot of people that he died.

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It was very convenient for a lot of senior people, yes.

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What would you think has been the case with him?

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With Epstein.

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Epstein, Epstein, whatever.

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You know, there's a fair chance he was bumped off by powerful people as well.

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Yeah, there was.

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So, you know, and that was in a democracy.

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Yeah, but, so, even Donald Trump, would he be that stupid to do something like that?

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Potentially.

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It's a pretty strong chance that something happened to him.

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Yes, but is Donald Trump in prison currently on Trump, on

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Trump charges and likely to die under mysterious circumstances?

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No, he's not.

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Webstein wasn't the opposition, wasn't the opposition leader.

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Exactly.

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Yeah.

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But he was a person who was uncomfortable for a number of

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powerful people to have alive.

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And it would be very easy in a prison.

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Yeah.

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So all I'm doing is just pointing out that we can sit here and go, oh, you know,

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those Russians who don't have democracies allowing this sort of shit to happen.

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And we really, you know, you don't have to look too far and

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you find something similar.

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I think it's a different level.

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Yeah, I agree.

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It's one of those things.

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It's just, um, it is a very different thing that's happening

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No, Assange is being treated very badly But there's no chance of him.

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There's no chance of him dying other than by his own hand What about Epstein?

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Well Epstein, I don't know.

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It's one of those things Was he actually murdered?

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Potentially.

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Yeah.

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Do I actually believe that the royal family had anything to do with it?

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No, I don't you know So, I think if another prisoner had arranged

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it, they would, quite possibly.

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Sorry, you just faded out a bit there.

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I said if another prisoner in Epstein's prison had caused an accident, then

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I think they'd be rather well off.

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Hmm.

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I think there were a lot of vested interests who might well

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have been willing to pay money.

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Yeah.

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Whether that happened or not, I don't know, but Yeah.

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It would certainly have been convenient.

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Yeah.

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So I guess it might have been another prisoner who bumped off

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Navalny, like you never know.

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Oh, well, Navalny was obviously poisoned, you know, so, all right,

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uh, that's Navalny murdered, almost certainly, one would think, but, um.

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Still on Russia, um, there's talk about a growing push amongst some

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Western nations, including the U.

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S., to use Russian assets that they froze at the beginning of the war

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to fund Ukraine's military, and there's a plan circulating that

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could see around, uh, 300 billion U.

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S.

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dollars worth of Russian assets currently frozen in the West being

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seized and handed over to Ukraine.

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That's the talk.

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That be a good idea, Scott?

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Ah, no, because I think Russia would seize assets that belong to Western governments

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and that sort of stuff in Russia.

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Yes, that's true.

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So I just think to myself that the payback wouldn't be worth it.

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I read something that said something like that, that uh, there's probably

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an equivalent amount of Western assets in Russia that they would

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simply then say, Ah, all this handy mining equipment and whatever you've

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got here and other industrial stuff.

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We'll seize that.

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Thank you very much.

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So, uh, so that could happen.

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Um, uh, Russia will just become more self reliant.

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And the other thing, of course, is that other countries will

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lose faith in things like U.

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S.

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bonds and other investments that the U.

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S.

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could confiscate.

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So, um, the way Venezuela's assets were seized.

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Certainly scared off a number of people, and I think the Germans, who

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owned gold in, um, Is it Fort Knox?

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I would have thought so, that's where their main gold reserves are.

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Countries like Germany said You know that gold that we've got in America, we should

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probably bring it back over here just in case we do something they don't like

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and they decide to confiscate our gold.

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So I think, um, I think it'd be a risky move in that other countries will

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start to worry about investing in U.

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S.

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fishery bonds and other things.

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It sounds like a very good idea when you first read it, but then you've actually

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got to think about it and think, well, Russia could then Pinch everything that

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belongs to us over there, you know, it's, yeah, I don't think it's, I don't,

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I honestly think it's probably in a half a thought bubble that a Republican

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has dreamed up and that sort of stuff because he doesn't want to spend any

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US dollars on the um, Reparation War.

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Reparations are not something new.

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Germany was crippled with reparations.

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And that led to the Second World War.

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Yes.

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Yeah.

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Apparently the guy pushing the idea is the guy who pushed for the Majinsky, um,

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laws, which were the ones where, say, Western governments could, um, basically,

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Confiscate the assets of, of leading players in totalitarian governments and

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seize their personal assets and not allow them to travel and things like that.

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So, it was the guy behind promoting those laws that is promoting this

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idea of seizing Russian assets.

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Anyway, uh, skipping back to Julian Assange.

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So, this one came from you, uh, Joe, is that right?

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You want to tell people what that guy's idea is?

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Sorry, which one?

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The, the guy with the, the artist.

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The artist in France.

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Oh, I see, yeah.

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Sorry, I hadn't realised that I had shared it.

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Yeah.

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Um, so an artist has decided to lock up a bunch of, uh, fairly

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valuable paintings in a safe.

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Along with some acid.

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And, um, if Assange dies in prison, generally under mysterious circumstances,

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the paintings that are in that safe will be destroyed by acid.

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Hmm.

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So He says this is trying to reflect on people that a human life is

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worth more than this valuable art.

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We get so upset at the thought of the art being destroyed.

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Um, but really, not, not just a human life.

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I, I did have a big discussion with an online group who Were,

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he's a rapist, he deserves anything that comes to him, fuck him.

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Uh, without realising that this is actually quite an important precedence

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around the freedom of the press.

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And I think that's the important point here, is whatever you think of him as

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a human being, it's a scary thought as far as press freedoms are concerned.

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Yeah, so apparently he claims to have 45 million dollars worth of art, and

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um, yeah, there's a dead man's switch.

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So, there's a 24 hour countdown timer, which gets reset before it reaches

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zero to prevent the corrosive substance from being released into the vault.

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And the timer is reset when someone close to Assange confirms he is

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still alive in prison each day.

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So Does sound very Bond esque, doesn't it?

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It does, doesn't it?

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It really sounds like something out of a No doubt inspired by a movie, but the

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idea that this clock is just ticking down and somebody has to get in and say, yes,

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he's still alive and then it resets and that's going to be done every 24 hours.

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And apparently some significant artwork, um, artwork by Rembrandt,

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Picasso and Andy Warhol.

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And, uh, it's been donated by different people who have, uh, a few of whom

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have confirmed, yes, I've donated.

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Rembrandt, and I'm not telling you which one it was, but he does, he does have it.

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So, seems legit.

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Interesting.

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Sounds legit and that sort of stuff.

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It's just one of those things.

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It's, um, you know, if we can take it back and everything like that, he

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was originally arrested for, well, he was originally facing extradition to

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Sweden, but the reason why he ducked into the, um, Ecuadorian Embassy was

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because Sweden wouldn't guarantee that he wouldn't be sent to the U.

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S.

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Which, I don't know, it's one of those things that those original charges were

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quite vile and all that sort of stuff.

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So, yeah.

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Anyway, I just think to myself, if he hadn't have actually interfered in the

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US elections and all that sort of stuff, if he hadn't have, if he hadn't have

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released all those emails and everything else that, um, Hillary had, then he

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probably wouldn't have, he probably wouldn't have attracted so much attention.

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Because, you know, you've got the Republicans that want to

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hang him, and then you've got the Democrats also want to hang him.

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Although, bizarrely, it was under Trump.

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Sorry?

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It was under Trump that the Extradition was ordered and, um, that was after

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Trump benefited from those emails.

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Yeah, I know, which doesn't make a hell of sense to me.

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It's just one of those things that one would hope that, um, they will see

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sense and that they will actually call off the dogs and that sort of stuff.

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Yeah.

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It's one of those things.

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He has been awarded a, um some type of award for his journalism

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and that sort of stuff.

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Yeah, he won a major Australian journalism award.

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He's definitely a journalist.

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Yeah, I know.

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It's one of those things.

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It's just that, um, I would have thought that that should be enough

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that the Yanks would actually have to back down because he was a journalist.

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Well, the fact that, uh, some valuable artwork is facing, um, destruction.

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I don't think, I don't think it's going to worry the people who are

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actually making the decisions.

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So, um, but an interesting, um, arrangement there.

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It's almost Landon Hardbottom would be, would be proud of it.

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I would have thought.

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I don't know that.

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It's going to change minds, um, in senior decision making.

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I think it might bring some public attention to the fact.

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I can't imagine it getting a heck of a lot of extra people out there in the

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streets protesting because of their love of art, and they're suddenly

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then going to protest to save it.

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This doesn't make a lot of sense.

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Ah, moving on.

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There was an essential report, but you know what?

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There was nothing particularly interesting in it, so I'm

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just going to let that one go.

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Um, so there was that one.

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Um, did come across one about support for, um, the different energy sources.

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This is Australia, and it was an Australian Financial Review

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poll, and sample size was 1, 000, so that's good enough.

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And people are asked, um, their support for energy sources, and 84 percent support

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solar, 61 percent support onshore wind, only 58 percent support offshore wind.

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Can you think of a reason why anyone would I can't understand why wouldn't,

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why wouldn't you be more supportive of offshore wind as opposed to onshore wind?

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That's what I would have thought.

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Because offshore wind, I think, is possibly a little more jarring,

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assuming it's visible from the coast.

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There's something about looking out to sea and seeing a great big field

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of windmills sitting out there.

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See, I've got a friend of mine that lives in Wales and she reckons there

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is a noise from those wind turbines.

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It's not that bad, but it's something that does, if it goes on overnight

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and all that sort of stuff, it possibly would irritate you overnight.

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So I can understand why you'd want offshore wind as opposed to onshore wind.

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Just surprises me that there'd be a difference between the two.

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Uh, ly 56% support natural gas, 47% hydrogen only, 35%.

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John support nuclear and 33% support coal.

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So, uh, I did see a conversation article talking about, um, hydrogen mm-Hmm.

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as a possible fuel source and asking people whether they supported

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green hydrogen or blue hydrogen.

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Mm-Hmm, the ancy.

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Um, and they, rather than talking about colors, explain the difference.

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Basically, green hydrogen is used, is, is breaking down water into hydrogen

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and oxygen, using excess electricity, and blue hydrogen is using hydrocarbons,

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which gives a high, um, carbon dioxide.

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Yep.

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So, it's still a polluter of fossil.

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Yeah, that's why if you, if you're going to talk about hydrogen,

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you'd have to, you'd have to actually talk about green hydrogen.

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Good point.

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And I think they're saying a lot of people are amenable to starting on blue

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hydrogen and moving to green hydrogen.

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You just cut out again a bit then, Joe, for some reason.

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Don't I?

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Yeah.

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Might have been your internet or something, so.

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Just the last few words.

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So yeah, that was that.

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Um, then speaking of, you know, political prisoners or people in totalitarian

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regimes being punished like it would never happen in a democracy, uh, we had

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Um, and Australia's outcry at China's death sentence for Yang Hanzhong.

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And um, so, a suspended death sentence was handed out to Australian Chinese

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pro democracy writer Yang Hanzhong.

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H E N G J U N, however that's pronounced.

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How would you pronounce that, Joe?

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Oh, I don't know.

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Hung John?

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Something like that?

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I don't know.

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Let's just call him Yang.

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Yeah, that's probably his surname, isn't it?

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Yang?

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Yeah, we'll just call him Yang because that's easy.

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Um, so it was a secret trial in China in May 2021.

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And, um, so it's a 5 year wait for the sentence, it's illustrated the opacity

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of the Chinese justice system, um, Penny Wong has indicated, um, well, according

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to this article, what's this article from?

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Oh, I didn't say where it was from, but, um, Penny Wong has indicated the

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hypocrisy Or, at least, the fatal lack of self awareness of the Australian

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Government, because she described the sentence as appalling and harrowing,

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saying the Government would be communicating its response to Beijing

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in the strongest terms, and that the Chinese ambassador to Australia has

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been summoned by the Department of Foreign Affairs, and there's speculation

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in this article that the particular ambassador is not shy, and he might

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mention to the Australian authorities.

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Whistleblowers like David McBride, left with no choice than to plead guilty

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to leaking classified information.

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Richard Boyle, who awaits trial.

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Julian Assange, of course, in Belmarsh.

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And former pilot Daniel Duggan, who's been locked up in solitary confinement

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for 15 months at the behest of the US over accusations of providing

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military training to Chinese pilots.

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So, it's just an example where, okay, doesn't sound

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great what's happened to Yang.

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But then, people in glasshouses should be careful about throwing

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stones, or at least be aware of their own misdemeanours when they do.

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So, kind of matches up with what we were saying earlier about Epstein and Navalny.

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Hmm.

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Hmm.

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Um, Joe.

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What was he originally sentenced for?

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Which one?

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Yang, what was he originally sentenced for?

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Uh, supposedly working against, for being a spy, I think,

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working against China as a spy.

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So he was a Chinese spy and he was very outspoken.

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Yeah.

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Overseas, and I think.

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Yeah.

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And he started writing fictional novels, which involved a character

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that seemed a lot like himself.

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Yeah, um, another guy with a death wish, because he was not in

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China, and he went back to China after all that and got arrested.

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Yeah, so apparently his wife and child were getting their visas renewed.

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Yes.

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And they had to leave the country, I think.

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And he went back with them, even though he was an Australian

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citizen and didn't have to.

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Right, so his wife and child were going back to China to get their visas

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renewed for Australia, were they?

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Uh, something like that, I guess.

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Well, he lived in the US, but Yeah, and he didn't have to, but he went

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voluntarily, and just like that, he got swooped up upon arrival.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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Um, religion.

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So, we haven't spoken about India much lately, but, uh, a bill has

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been Um, drafted, which, um, will impose a common law on all Indians

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that's particularly aimed at Muslims.

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That's what the critics say.

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So the Uniform Civil Code, um, from Modi's Hindu government is going to force

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Indians of all faiths to subscribe to the same laws on marriage, divorce and

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inheritance, banning polygamy and giving women and men equal rights to inherit.

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Opponents of the law say it targets the 200 million Muslims in India.

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Since independence, India has allowed religious communities to follow

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their own laws on issues such as divorce, marriage, property rights,

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inheritance and child custody.

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And for the Muslim communities, this is governed by Sharia or Islamic law.

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So the bill would ban a Muslim practice called Halalah, in which a Muslim woman

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who has been divorced by her husband must marry another man, have sexual relations

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with him, and then divorce him if she wishes to remarry her first husband.

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Sharia allows a Muslim man to have more than one wife, so

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he may do so under Indian law.

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If a Hindu or Christian man takes a second wife, he is guilty of adultery.

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So, um, so there we go, India forcing Muslims to abide by a common set of laws.

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Gentlemen, your thoughts?

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I've got absolutely no problem with that at all.

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It's almost certainly driven by the BJP.

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Yeah, it is.

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Of Islam.

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Yeah, absolutely.

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But I have no problems with, I mean, it should never have

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happened in the first place.

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Mm-Hmm.

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That different groups of people have different sets of rules.

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Mm-Hmm.

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There should be a, a uniform set of laws for everybody.

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Exactly.

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Um, because the people I feel for are the apostates, the people who don't

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want to live under Islamic law, but are deemed Muslims and are apostates

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and are, um, under the death sentence.

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If they say, well actually I don't like these laws and I

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don't want to be part of them.

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We're all in agreement on that one.

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Mm.

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The motivations may be sketchy.

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The motivations are entirely the principles is what they've

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actually arrived on is fine.

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But the motivations for it are, I think it's, it's a stopped clock, isn't it?

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Mm-Hmm.

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It happens to be right twice a day.

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There we go.

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Got a fun clip here.

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This one.

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I will grab this one 'cause I, um, this was one where I bookmarked it and

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thought, I think this one will be good.

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But I never actually listened to it until this afternoon, and I

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was quite pleased with the ending.

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The ending on this is a cracker.

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So, um, we're moving on to Trump now, and, you know, just, it's Teflon

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coated for so many Republicans.

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Have a listen to this.

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What are your thoughts about the Trump indictment?

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It's probably garbage.

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Probably garbage?

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Yeah.

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Did you read it?

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No.

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Okay, and then what about the audio recording that got released?

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Probably garbage.

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You didn't listen to it?

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How would you know it's garbage if you don't even look into it?

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Some serious things are being, uh, accused here.

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Like, tell me what it is.

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Mishandling and, uh, classified documents.

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Holding on to them when he wasn't supposed to have them.

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Uh, violating a subpoena.

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Lying to federal authorities.

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Obstructing an investigation.

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Conspiring with other staffers to move around documents to keep federal

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authorities from getting them.

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Eh Sounds, uh, sounds pretty serious but

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Doesn't everybody do that?

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I love that last bit.

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Doesn't everybody do that?

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Look, I could be wrong with my memory, but um, when Boogie Board Girl got caught

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with the marijuana in Indonesia Dad was being interviewed about how, no they

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weren't honestly a problem with the law I mean, sure he's got a few drink driving,

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but Uh, offences, but doesn't everybody?

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Yeah, that's I was just remembering that interview.

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Yeah.

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I love that.

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Yeah, doesn't everybody do that?

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Well, yeah.

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Isn't everybody a criminal?

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Yeah.

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Apparently so.

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Now, where are we at with the, uh, with the Trump stuff?

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So, um Um, well, before we get onto that, we're going to talk about what

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the different cases are that he's facing, but just briefly, there was that

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ruling, um, about how he had, uh, lied as to the valuation of his properties,

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which enabled him then to get loans and get cheaper interest rates and, um,

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Uh, so a judge has come down with an extremely hefty penalty on that one.

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I don't think I've got it written down here for some reason.

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353 million dollars.

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Enormous sum and banned from being involved in companies

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and also his sons in New York.

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They, yeah, they wanted to, but they got overturned.

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He has to be supervised.

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Ah, okay.

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So the supervisor stays in place, because there is a supervisor at the

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moment, which annoys the heck out of him.

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So, the supervisor looks at the, uh, things that they're running and,

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and, uh, keeps an eye on things.

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So, um, uh, just re So yeah, so when, when we're just looking at one with,

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what is a Trump supporter thing?

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Well, you know, doesn't everybody do that?

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And in relation to this sort of property valuation fraud, um, issue, I was just

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reading a tweet by this guy, Simon, somebody, who said, um, Judge Angoran

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is expected to rule against Trump any moment now for something really bizarre.

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He got the loans from the banks, he repaid them with interest, nobody complained.

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Ahead of the presidential election, Newell charged him with allegedly inflating

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his assets to get favourable loans.

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Going by that logic, most business people in America would be in prison.

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All business people claim they are worth more than they really are, and

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it's the job of the bank to verify any information before granting loans.

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For those who are celebrating this, or are claiming that this is not politically

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motivated, ask yourself this question.

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How many top businessmen and women are in prison in New York for getting loans, and

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then paying back their loans in full, and with interest, paying all their taxes,

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and the salaries of all their employees?

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If you find some, I'd like to interview them.

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So, you know, again, this will just be the reaction of a lot of Trump supporters.

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Um, it was a victimless paper type crime.

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He paid his money.

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You're all picking on him.

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Yeah, I know that, but apparently I saw something on Instagram, I think, where it

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said that, um, what he actually claimed the valuation of Mar a Lago was 1.

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5 million dollars.

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No, 1.

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5 billion dollars, I think it was.

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And they then went and had a look at the tallest building in,

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what's the capital of the UAE?

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Dubai.

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Yes.

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Yeah, Dubai.

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And they said this cost 1.

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5 billion dollars to build at the time.

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So then they said, who honestly believes that um, Mar a Lago is worth 1.

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5 billion dollars compared to this building?

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Yeah, I think there's similar comparisons with Buckingham Palace and, and just,

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you know, it had been valued on the basis that it was X number of square

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metres, when in fact it was about, you know, a tenth of that size, so.

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Yeah, a whole bunch of things.

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But, yeah, I guess the thing is, just the way people will find an

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excuse for anything that he does.

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If you have the motivated reasoning to do it.

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And the smarter you are, the better reasons you'll come up with and the

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better you'll be able to articulate them.

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So, essentially he's got four Cases that he's still dealing with, which is, um,

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a federal case related to his efforts to retain power after the election and

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the January 6th attack on the Capitol.

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So, charges have been filed, no trial date.

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There's, um, a Georgia election case relating to, um, Trump's efforts to

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reverse the election loss in Georgia.

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Again, charges filed, no court date.

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We've got the Classified Documents case, so this relates

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to the documents at Mar a Lago.

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In the toilet?

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Stored in the toilet, famously, as we saw.

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That one has a trial date set, and that is set for Um, May 20th, so that's coming up.

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Bearing in mind the election is in November, so the Classified Documents

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case trial has been set for May.

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Election in November.

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And there's another one which is the Manhattan Hush Money case, relating

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to payments to cover up a sex scandal.

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I think that must be Stormy Daniels.

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I would have thought so, yeah.

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Again, trial date set.

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And that one is set for March, coming up soon.

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So, two trials set, two of them still not set, but at least we'll, yeah,

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see how those pan out for the Don.

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Any thoughts on Donald Trump in the election, while I get

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some, um, PowerPoint ready?

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Um, he could actually win it, you know, um, Joe Biden is far too old to

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be running, but anyway, he's running.

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It's one of those things, it looks like Joe Biden has been overcome

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with a sense of hubris and that sort of stuff, thinking that he's

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the only one that can defeat Trump.

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defeat Donald Trump.

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Now, I would have had a hell of a lot more respect for him had he actually

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done what he originally said, which was he said that he's got to, um, that

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he's got to be the, uh, bridging gap.

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You know, he was just going to bridge that gap between the next generation.

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Had he actually done that, I'd have a hell of a lot more respect for

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him, but the fact that he's sticking around for another tilt at it.

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It's one of those things I just think to myself that the whole thing

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could come crashing down around it.

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I did see an article saying comparing him to Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

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Absolutely.

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And saying that she stuck around too long when she Oh, she did stick around

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too long, and you know, I loved a hell of a lot of what she ruled and

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that sort of stuff, but bloody hell.

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You know, she's got to understand she's mortal.

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She's going to die at some point.

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And that she just stuck around, and she died while Donald Trump was

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in office, so he was able to put in that Amy Coney Barrett bitch.

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You know?

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Yep, so, uh, anyway, so that's Donald Trump, and Joe, you came

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across something with, uh, UK youth.

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And a guy called John Byrne Murdoch?

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Yeah, he's the Financial Times data scientist.

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And I thought it was going to be very right wing and it wasn't.

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It was quite fascinating.

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Yeah.

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So, talking about UK youth and their views of the world.

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And, um, so, he says We often talk about an age divide in

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politics with young people much less conservative than the old.

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Um, he says this is much more of a British phenomenon than a global one.

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40 percent of young Americans voted for Trump, but only 10 percent

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of UKs under 30s support the conservatives, and he's asking why.

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And there's a chart on the screen, UK are on the left.

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And, um, so the lower age groups in the 20 to 30s, the support for conservatives is

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way down at the 10 percent level, and it's a red line there if you're able to see it.

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In terms of the other countries, they have a much higher

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support at the 20 to 30 mark.

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And so, yes, based on that chart, the youth of the UK really hate the

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Conservatives much more than the youth in other countries such as

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the US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Spain or the Netherlands do.

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So, you know, the other countries generally speaking, show people getting

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more conservative as they get older, but they don't have the complete

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abandonment of conservative people in that 20 to 30 year age group.

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No.

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So, um, the next chart shows that this wasn't always the case.

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So same sort of data, but going back to 2015 and, um.

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You see that the red line for opinion was much more in line with other countries.

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So, this move in the 20 to 30 year age group in the UK against

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the Conservative Party has really happened in the last nine years.

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So, um, so that was that one.

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Why would that be the case?

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And he's, um, suggesting, well one reason would be housing, and young

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people are struggling to get onto the housing ladder in many countries, but

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the crisis is especially deep in Britain.

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So, there is a chart showing young adult home ownership rates collapsing

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in the UK, um, a much greater rate than in the US, Germany and France, so that

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could be a reason of disenchantment by people, um, uh, so, and of course the

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Tories have been in power, so the young people would be blaming the Tories for

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the fact that their home ownership has deteriorated because they've actually

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been in power during that time.

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Whereas in other countries, for example, uh, there might have

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been a mixture of left and right wing governments during that time.

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Um, so he compares then with Canada and showing that the Canadian Tories

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have made huge gains with young adults.

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And he shows a chart, um, pointing that out and Really suggesting that that is

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possibly, possibly off the back of some ambitious house building proposals.

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So, the Canadian Conservative Party has actually come up with different policies

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on house building proposals which might have meant that their young people are

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favour with the Conservatives in Canada.

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And, uh, he talks about incomes in the UK for young people being worse

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than incomes for young people in other countries, um, British youth, uh, less

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faith in upward mobility compared to other countries, and, um, what else does he say?

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A couple of other factors, he says that, um, it's often underappreciated

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how much faster and bigger the expansion of university education

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has been in the UK versus elsewhere.

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And today, considerably more Brits are graduates than young Americans, and

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if you're a graduate of a university, education is a big factor, of course, in

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whether you are left or right these days.

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And, um, and of course, incumbency.

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The Tories have been in power for 14 years, and a lot of bad stuff

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has happened to the UK in that time.

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And therefore, they could be blamed for it because they've been the ones in power.

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Joe, as our man on the ground in the UK, as our UK correspondent.

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Did that match your sense on the ground, or you just didn't

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meet any young people at all?

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No, no, I met lots of young people, and they're certainly struggling

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to buy houses, I know that.

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Hmm.

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Um, and certainly in the big cities, uh, house prices are

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ridiculous compared to income.

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Mm hmm.

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Um, and, yeah, I think, um, the Conservatives, having been in power

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for the last 14 years, have basically cut the guts out of social services.

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In order to deliver tax cuts to the better off.

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And so a lot of young people are feeling very aggrieved at the income disparity.

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If they should.

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Yeah.

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Um, now Velvet Glove, you mentioned before about Trump winning and John in the chat

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room says, I still think there's a 50 50 chance that neither Trump or Biden will

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be healthy enough to see the election.

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I agree with you, John.

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Just have a feeling that, um, whichever one wins, anything

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could happen and one of these vice presidents could end up in power.

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You know, um, who's the lady who's sort of staying in the running in

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the Republican race, um, Nikki Haley?

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Nikki Haley.

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Nikki Haley?

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Yeah.

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You know, if you're a bit of a gambler, you'd think, look,

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I've got no chance of winning.

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But gee, you know, surely there's a rough chance that Trump will just

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keel over in the next six months.

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And if I'm the only one still in the race, other than Trump, you know, Then

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she automatically gets the inside running and you'd get the, you'd get the show,

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like, that would be part of your thinking if you're someone like, like her.

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I would have thought, just think, the guy could be dead within six months.

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He really wouldn't surprise me.

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And, um, if all the other candidates have dropped out of the race and

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you're the only one there, then you'd be An awful lot of prize.

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An awful lot of presidents being vice presidents before, so.

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Mmm.

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It's, it's not an unusual career path towards being vice president.

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I mean, Joe Biden for a start.

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Yeah.

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You know, then you've also got, um, MTG?

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Sorry?

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Is it not Marjorie Taylor Greene?

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Yeah, but she's not.

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She's not.

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Sorry, who's the Democrat?

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Look, um, uh, Alexandra Ocasio Cortez.

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AOC, yes.

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Yeah, she's, um, in the House of Representatives, isn't she?

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Don't know.

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Is she even old enough yet?

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AOC?

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Oh, yeah, she needs to be 35, doesn't she?

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Yeah, she might only just not quite be old enough, but, uh.

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Yeah.

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Anyway, no bad strategy to, to be in a hopeless position as, um, second.

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Uh, and hope doing like a Steve Bradbury, where the leader falls over and you just

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coast through to the finish line because you're the only one left standing.

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Well, that could actually happen.

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Yeah.

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You know, it could actually happen and that's going to make Biden

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look ridiculously old compared to his much younger opposition.

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And it could happen on the other side.

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And a non Trump, and a non Trump person.

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You know, it's one of those things, I think the Democrats

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have really made the, made a very big mistake by sticking with Joe.

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And, you know, he could keel over any time.

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Or he'd attract it any time, yeah.

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Yeah, so, maybe not a bad idea running against him.

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Yeah.

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So that you've got some profile and if he, you know, you could do a

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Bradbury on that side of politics.

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Anyway, we'll see.

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Nothing would surprise.

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Finally, last topic.

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Um, I saw this article on the ABC online news.

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Analysts say Australia is asleep at the wheel as China ramps

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up its presence in Antarctica.

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Analysts say Australia is asleep at the wheel.

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And, um, so, you need to hear just the wording used in this article.

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Dear listener, essentially China's building some research

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stations on Antarctica.

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But, um, here's how the article opens.

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When China in the ABC.

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It's not like the Australian or Courier Mail.

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When China opened its fifth research station in Antarctica this month,

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analysts sounded alarm bells about potential security threats

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on Australia's southern doorstep.

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Experts warned that China's expanding activity in Antarctica,

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combined with Australia's inaction, And a lack of funding could lead

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to Beijing's increased strategic presence in the frozen continent.

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The new Qinling base could also improve China's surveillance capabilities and

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give it more control over transport routes to exploit resources, they say.

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That's the opening three paragraphs, and then we get, However, a Chinese

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foreign ministry spokesperson insisted the news station would be

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used to provide a platform for joint scientific exploration and cooperation

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between China and other countries and help advance peace and sustainable

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development in the region, end quote.

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See, the first three paragraphs are, ooh, boogie man.

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Fourth paragraph is, however China says, nothing to see.

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And then we get, Ah, who are these experts and analysts?

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Then we get Elizabeth Buchanan from the Australian National University's

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National Security College.

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She said that the Chinese government had a remarkable

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ability to plan for the long term.

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Quote, so they may not be looking to utilise this research station for

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anything other than collaborative international research for the

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next 20 years, Dr Buchanan said.

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All of a sudden, it's a staging platform to strike, to facilitate

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war, if that day ever came.

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So, what, they reckon that you're going to sail the Armada from the

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southern, from the Antarctic, do they?

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It's, it's like an admission by her to say, well, it might be a research

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station at the moment, but those sneaky Chinese, give them another 20 years

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and it's a staging platform to strike.

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Goes on, she goes on.

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I think it's ridiculous.

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China's positioning on Qinling is covering another part of the

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Antarctic quadrant of the landmass.

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Presence is power.

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Another location means better for launching satellites.

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Yeah, I thought you'd launch satellites from the equator, not from Yeah, exactly.

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At this point, I think I then went, who is Elizabeth Buchanan?

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What is the Australian National University's National Security College?

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And It turns out that the National Security College is a college within

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the ANU basically designed for people in defence and security to go

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and get qualifications and so it's just full of defence types and it's

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funded by the government, which I assume means the Defence Department.

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So, um, so that's what we're getting when the headline says.

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Analysts say Australia is asleep at the wheel, is we're

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getting this defence funded.

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I assume it's defence funded.

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Um, Department with ANU that is predisposed to, to gathering a

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whole bunch of defence people and giving them qualifications.

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Actually what um, let me find this.

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Kevin Rudd actually launched the institution back in 2010 and he

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said it was to provide postgraduate level national security courses to

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government personnel and the public.

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And, uh, it aimed to enhance Australia's defence capability through

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a range of academic, executive and professional development courses.

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And, um, courses would be led by ANU academics as well as external

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practitioners and think tanks.

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Providing leadership programs and collaborative opportunities for

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senior national security officials.

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Just imagine that group if you were to go in there and say, well,

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you know, it's just a research station, nothing to worry about.

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Probably not the crowd who's going to like that.

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And if you were to beef it up as something that required attention from

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our defence force, you'd probably find that that's more attractive to that crowd.

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I thought the Antarctic Division were quite interesting.

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Basically saying, well, yes, we are underfunding.

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Our Antarctic Division, because all scientists always need more funding.

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Yes, so a bit later on the article, let me go back to it here, um, so, so

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after all that sort of boogeyman stuff from, um, from Elizabeth Buchanan of

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the ANU, the article then goes on to say that there is the Drake Passage,

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which is the body of water between South America in a Chinese Great Wall

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sort of research station in Antarctica.

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And basically says that because of problems with the sewers and Panama

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Canal with water levels, ships might, you know, be increasing shipping trade

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going around that part of the world.

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Buchanan says China had spent 10 years building infrastructure in Chile and

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parts of Argentina which had given it the ability to control the passage.

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They could cut off the trade passage in all sorts of ways, she said.

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They, China, could make that passage difficult to pass and control

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shipping, or by having more boats to be able to monitor and block

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the passage with their own boats.

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Goes on, no, but then, sorry, what you were about to say, Joe, was that the

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former head of Australian Antarctic Division, Tony Press, who I think is

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just a science guy, he says he does not believe the new Quinling base will

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pose an increased surveillance risk.

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Because China already has surveillance operations in other parts of the world, he

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says China's construction of the station met the fundamental obligations of the

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Antarctic Treaty for peaceful use and non militarisation as per Australia's

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inspection of the station in 2020.

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And he said what was alarming was Australia's under investment in Antarctica

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for science and logistic capabilities.

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And, um, there's more to it.

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And they said, basically, we don't have the ability to go and inspect

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stations in the middle of winter.

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And if you were really serious about this, you'd give us some capabilities,

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so that we could do a sneak inspection on China's stations in the middle of winter.

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Yeah.

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It's just such a beat up.

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And this is by the ABC.

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And, you know, people could read this stuff and go, Goddamn Chinese again.

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You know.

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We end up in a fucking war with China.

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It's because of articles like this that just add to the beating of the drums

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because they've just built a goddamn research station in Antarctica and I

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find it incredibly frustrating and I would expect that sort of shit from

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shit rag of the Murdoch Empire and We get it from the ABC and okay In the

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middle of the article, they'll throw in some alternative view from the

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researcher, but just the whole idea of the article is one of China bashing

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over a threat, quoting people whose motivations are that they are part of the

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established wider defence force family.

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And of course they're going to beat up threats, because Um.

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More funding for them.

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Exactly.

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There we go, I found that one very frustrating.

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Sounds like you guys did too.

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It wasn't just me.

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It's one of those things, you know, I read it with an open mind and all

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that sort of stuff, but the time I got down to where the woman was

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talking and that sort of stuff, I thought to myself, she's on something.

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You know, I just thought to myself, she's been smoking too much wacky

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tobaccy, but it's you know, when you look at the original map and

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that sort of stuff, you've got three stations with the Australian flag

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on it, one, two, three, four, five stations with the Chinese flag on it.

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And you think to yourself, if you look at that, and you'd think

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the Chinese are taking over.

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Well, they're not.

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They're just expanding their research facilities down there.

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At this point, yes.

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You know, and if it came to them actually militarizing the Quindling Station, which

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I don't think they would, but if they did, then the Australians would retreat

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from that and that sort of stuff, so then they'd be left with a position of, we

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would have to send our own military down there to liquidate the Quindling Station.

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You know, but if it's any other country Putting Reece, you know, America, any

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other Western liberal democracy, it wouldn't be even talked about, no,

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then they'd be going, isn't that great?

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Wonder what they'll discover in that icy environment and what

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great new things will come of it.

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But no, it's all a threat to you.

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Western Civilization, because the Chinese have done it.

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For goodness sake.

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It's just pathetic.

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So, um, Let me see.

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I mentioned we're going to go through the chat and see what people have said.

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There were hellos from Watley and Don and Essential and John.

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Who says he's grateful that he lasted another day, and, um, John says whether

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he was murdered or not is immaterial.

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We believe he was murdered.

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It's talking about Navalny, so, yes, that would be true, doesn't

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matter, it's the perception.

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Um, so, yes, I haven't seen Jonathan Pye, and John says YouTube will

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unsubscribe you from things occasionally.

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That might be what's happened.

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Alison was there, good on you, Alison.

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Um, let's see, uh,

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maybe if Sweden had guaranteed not to extradite, we may have

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seen a resolution to the charges?

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That's true?

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Well, it's probably true, but, you know, it's just one of those things.

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He did go into that, he did go into that, um, embassy fairly early on when

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it was only the rape case and everything that was being brought against him.

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I did read the book, um, on Julian Assange and I should reread it

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or at least read my notes on it.

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I've been reading bits of it.

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Have you?

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Yeah.

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So, um, I'll do that before the next episode because obviously

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we're going to hear more about him.

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So we'll do that because Alison asks, was he even charged though by Sweden?

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Long story short, he grew up as a child of DV, being stalked by his stepfather,

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and there is a concern, there is a suspicion that he has a paranoia that

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has come from that, and so he was paranoid even before, um, so when he

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was effectively charged, I think he had to be charged to be extradited.

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Um, so, he was paranoid about being extradited onwards to the US.

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Yeah, so there's there's a lot of questions about his

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sanity prior to all of this.

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Yeah I think good topics next week a bit of a review on Julian Assange I think he

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always he has always looked just a little unhinged Hmm because I remember arguing

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with the 12th man because the 12th man was talking about people whose lives

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had been lost or damaged or injured as a result of The leaking of the material by

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WikiLeaks and, um, the US Department of something or other, in one of the trials,

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um, basically admitted that nobody was actually injured as a result of WikiLeaks.

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So, there were just facts like that that people need to know.

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So, that's what we'll do.

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Refresh ourselves on Julian Assange.

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Ready for next week.

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So, and have something positive, something to be grateful for.

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Big or small, for next week, gentlemen.

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That's right.

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This, uh, is my last podcast, hopefully, with, uh, glasses.

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So Why?

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What are you doing?

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You're going in for laser surgery, aren't you?

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I'm getting intraocular lenses inserted.

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On Wednesday and Thursday.

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So next week you'll be blind?

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Could be.

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Could be.

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Thanks Joe.

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How long are you the invisible man?

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So, apparently, so one eye gets done on Wednesday, the other eye on Thursday, and

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apparently I'm able to drive on Friday.

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They reckon.

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Yeah.

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So, I'm really keen that I can see distance and keep playing

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squash and see the ball well without glasses would be great.

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Uh, wouldn't worry me if I need slight reading glasses at the end of it.

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So, but we'll see how that pans out.

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So if it's not a perfect, maybe actually, and it will take a while to settle down.

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So maybe next week I might need some light glasses because it

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takes a while to settle down.

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But anyway, that will be interesting.

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You've been dared to read out the discussion about bears.

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I didn't understand it.

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Did you understand it?

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Yes.

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It was a discussion between a couple of them, that sort of stuff, to say, won't

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somebody think about the polar bears?

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And then it was a discussion about whether the polar bears were in the

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Antarctic or were they only in the Arctic?

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Ah, yes.

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And then someone said, well, they could be dressed up as penguins.

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Ah, that's it.

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At that point, I just That's right, because there are no bears in Antarctica.

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Yes, exactly.

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Yeah, but there are penguins, aren't there?

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There are shitload of penguins.

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Right, yeah, yeah, yeah.

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Right, well, you've had fun in the chat room.

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That's good.

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I hope you've had fun listening.

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We'll be back next week.

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Talk to you then.

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Bye for now.

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Yeah, and it's a good night from me.

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And it's a good night from him.

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Good night.

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