On 3/20/2020 at 3:54 PM, flatpackhamster said:

Well quite. The number of people who uncritically parrot the press releases from the Chinese State Media and then turn around and say "You can't trust anything our politicians say" is mind boggling. Everything about the communist system is built on a lie. The system lies, the media lies, and people lie to each other and themselves every day.

while the US president has an unprecedented record of lies, daily.

but I guess they are just benign. And the US president trusts China particularly, often enough.

the fact that this president lies so much WITHIN the system the US has is way more depressing than what you decry about how it is in a communist dictatorship.

Guys. Seriously just stop. This is an Armada forum.

3 hours ago, Ginkapo said:

Guys. Seriously just stop. This is an Armada forum.

If you don’t want to be in the politics thread, nobody’s keeping you here.

5 hours ago, NebulonB said:

while the US president has an unprecedented record of lies, daily.

but I guess they are just benign. And the US president trusts China particularly, often enough.

the fact that this president lies so much WITHIN the system the US has is way more depressing than what you decry about how it is in a communist dictatorship.

In my eyes this kind of statement in a thread called "Some Good News" is kind a misleading in a 1984 sort of way ...

Where's the good? What's new? Is it just some ...?

6 hours ago, NebulonB said:

while the US president has an unprecedented record of lies, daily.

but I guess they are just benign. And the US president trusts China particularly, often enough.

the fact that this president lies so much WITHIN the system the US has is way more depressing than what you decry about how it is in a communist dictatorship.

I don't think that they are benign and I didn't say that. I don't know how old you are but if you are my age you might recall Bill Clinton swearing under oath that he hadn't given one to Monika Lewinsky. And there was Nixon and Watergate. Trump isn't anything new in that regard.

My point is that presidents specifically and politicians generally lie and yet the system continues because of the people prepared to tell the truth when others lie. And the world continues. Did America collapse after Watergate or Slick Willy's misadventures? No. And Trump won't bring it down either because the system is strong enough to make sure he ends his term of office.

There's no secret police noting down that you're writing this and carton you off to a re education camp. The press is free to tell the truth or lie or give their opinion. Nobody is incarcerated for wrong think. Don't imagine for a minute that it's remotely comparable to what you're have in the US and we have in the UK. And if you want to know more about Communism, and you should, I highly recommend The Black Book of Communism, which will give you an idea of the scale of wickedness those systems will go to to maintain a grip on power.

Good article on the BBC about how Iran has been covering up its outbreak:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-51930856

I for one am pleased with the emperor's solid and proactive plan of planatary sterilization to prevent further outbreaks. Case in point: alderan recently sterilized. No more conformed cases!!

10 hours ago, Ginkapo said:

Guys. Seriously just stop. This is an Armada forum.

Moderation? We don’t need no steeeeenking moderation!

So we are stopping the conversation at planetary sterilisation.......

5 minutes ago, player3691565 said:

So we are stopping the conversation at planetary sterilisation.......

Yes, because nobody has been forum banned for that.

5 hours ago, flatpackhamster said:

I don't think that they are benign and I didn't say that. I don't know how old you are but if you are my age you might recall Bill Clinton swearing under oath that he hadn't given one to Monika Lewinsky. And there was Nixon and Watergate. Trump isn't anything new in that regard.

My point is that presidents specifically and politicians generally lie and yet the system continues because of the people prepared to tell the truth when others lie. And the world continues. Did America collapse after Watergate or Slick Willy's misadventures? No. And Trump won't bring it down either because the system is strong enough to make sure he ends his term of office.

There's no secret police noting down that you're writing this and carton you off to a re education camp. The press is free to tell the truth or lie or give their opinion. Nobody is incarcerated for wrong think. Don't imagine for a minute that it's remotely comparable to what you're have in the US and we have in the UK. And if you want to know more about Communism, and you should, I highly recommend The Black Book of Communism, which will give you an idea of the scale of wickedness those systems will go to to maintain a grip on power.

Trump IS something new, in that he doesn’t tell specific lies to cover state secrets or the occasional fib to minimize a mistake or lapse of judgment. It’s not even that he has orchestrated a web of interconnected lies to cover something the size of Watergate (though he’s also done that, in regards to the election tampering). It’s that practically everything he says is a casual lie. Every time he or one of his cronies opens their mouths, they’re basically telling Americans that the administration feels zero obligation to even try to be truthful. “We owe you nothing, we don’t serve you. We serve ourselves, and our own interests, and you aren’t entitled to the basic courtesy of us even agreeing that the sky is blue. The truth is meaningless, and as far as the people are concerned, unknowable.”

It’s no way to run a democratic government. And the people who ought to be holding him responsible for that inexcusable behavior... congress... have totally abdicated responsibility.

As to your assertion that the system is strong enough to stop him? I hope you’re right, but Mitch McConnell and Barr have already derailed that process a couple of times. And as for the upcoming election? I personally am not certain it will be held. I would not put it past Trump to attempt to cancel or postpone the elections for the duration of whatever emergency he decides exists, or whatever emergency he chooses to create. Covid 19 might be just what he needs. And if the elections are held, I don’t know if we have a system that’s strong enough to guarantee he won’t simply steal it, or just refuse to leave office. And I don’t know that the Supreme Court would stop him, now that the Republicans have stacked the court, nor that anyone would actually attempt to remove him if he tried something like this.

American democracy is close to collapse, and I really don’t think this is paranoia talking.

Returning to the original topic about the Chinese government claiming there were no new cases of COVID-19, leaked reports have revealed those were false. Shocker.

On March 14th, the Chinese government claimed there were only 4 new cases of COVID-19, but the true number reported by the Wuhan Health Commission the same day was 91. The Chinese government also claimed only 4 new cases were reported the next day, March 15th. (I wonder if it's a coincidence that the number 4 is bad luck in Chinese culture, which could explain why the Chinese government arbitrarily chose it as the number to report.)

If there was any doubt before, it's obvious now that no one can trust anything reported by the Chinese government. There are also reports that the death toll in China from COVID-19 is 4 times greater than what the Chinese government has admitted.

So much for "good news".

38 minutes ago, Reavern said:

Returning to the original topic about the Chinese government claiming there were no new cases of COVID-19, leaked reports have revealed those were false. Shocker.

On March 14th, the Chinese government claimed there were only 4 new cases of COVID-19, but the true number reported by the Wuhan Health Commission the same day was 91. The Chinese government also claimed only 4 new cases were reported the next day, March 15th. (I wonder if it's a coincidence that the number 4 is bad luck in Chinese culture, which could explain why the Chinese government arbitrarily chose it as the number to report.)

If there was any doubt before, it's obvious now that no one can trust anything reported by the Chinese government. There are also reports that the death toll in China from COVID-19 is 4 times greater than what the Chinese government has admitted.

So much for "good news".

And further, there's no way it's only in Wuhan. If it's spread to Hong Kong and Macao (and it has) then it's spread right through China. We aren't being given figures for Shanghai and Beijing and there's no news coming out of them. I simply don't believe that 1.2 billion Chinese will have a lower total death toll than 60 million Italians. That's the kind of lie that nobody except the ideologically possessed would be prepared to swallow.

1 hour ago, Cpt ObVus said:

Trump IS something new, in that he doesn’t tell specific lies to cover state secrets or the occasional fib to minimize a mistake or lapse of judgment. It’s not even that he has orchestrated a web of interconnected lies to cover something the size of Watergate (though he’s also done that, in regards to the election tampering). It’s that practically everything he says is a casual lie. Every time he or one of his cronies opens their mouths, they’re basically telling Americans that the administration feels zero obligation to even try to be truthful. “We owe you nothing, we don’t serve you. We serve ourselves, and our own interests, and you aren’t entitled to the basic courtesy of us even agreeing that the sky is blue. The truth is meaningless, and as far as the people are concerned, unknowable.”

It’s no way to run a democratic government. And the people who ought to be holding him responsible for that inexcusable behavior... congress... have totally abdicated responsibility.

As to your assertion that the system is strong enough to stop him? I hope you’re right, but Mitch McConnell and Barr have already derailed that process a couple of times. And as for the upcoming election? I personally am not certain it will be held. I would not put it past Trump to attempt to cancel or postpone the elections for the duration of whatever emergency he decides exists, or whatever emergency he chooses to create. Covid 19 might be just what he needs. And if the elections are held, I don’t know if we have a system that’s strong enough to guarantee he won’t simply steal it, or just refuse to leave office. And I don’t know that the Supreme Court would stop him, now that the Republicans have stacked the court, nor that anyone would actually attempt to remove him if he tried something like this.

American democracy is close to collapse, and I really don’t think this is paranoia talking.

Sadly if our system and checks and balances actually worked, The senate would have upheld his impeachment. Trump is proof that our democracy is on the brink of dying. Even his poor handling of protecting the country from this disease doesn’t seem to be enough to persuade the spineless republican senate to even criticize him.

6 hours ago, ninclouse2000 said:

Sadly if our system and checks and balances actually worked, The senate would have upheld his impeachment. Trump is proof that our democracy is on the brink of dying. Even his poor handling of protecting the country from this disease doesn’t seem to be enough to persuade the spineless republican senate to even criticize him.

It’s not a politics thread. Everyone else gets it. Can you try and display some maturity and decorum please?

Dont say I didnt tell you all to stop. This is the internet

Wisdom is justified by all her children, Ginkapo.

6 hours ago, scipio83 said:

It’s not a politics thread. Everyone else gets it. Can you try and display some maturity and decorum please?

Who is everyone? Seems there are plenty of people discussing politics in this thread. Perhaps you can try to be mature and simply avoid this thread if you dislike the discussion. I simply stated my opinion on current affairs as others are doing. I don’t think there is anything immature about disliking our current predicament.

37 minutes ago, ninclouse2000 said:

Who is everyone? Seems there are plenty of people discussing politics in this thread. Perhaps you can try to be mature and simply avoid this thread if you dislike the discussion. I simply stated my opinion on current affairs as others are doing. I don’t think there is anything immature about disliking our current predicament.

No. You don’t get to come in here and derail the purpose of the forum (you were the first person to bring politics into this thread) and then tell others to “leave if they don’t like it.” Your team lost the 2016 election - grow up and get over it and quit ruining our hobby by sticking your Trump Derangement Syndrome in it.

The forum moderators must be in quarantine because threads like this normally would have been shut down a page and a half ago. The initial premise of the op was reasonable and positive, the rest of this nonsense needs to go somewhere else. Other than the Imperial cleanliness program on Alderaan, the majority of this thread has nothing to do with Armada. The only reason I have followed this thread was to see what finally got it shut down. Personally, I would rather read discussions in an ARMADA chat room that pertains to ARMADA. Thanks to the OP for trying to bring something positive to the Armada fans.

1 hour ago, Grand Admiral Buford said:

The forum moderators must be in quarantine because threads like this normally would have been shut down a page and a half ago. The initial premise of the op was reasonable and positive, the rest of this nonsense needs to go somewhere else. Other than the Imperial cleanliness program on Alderaan, the majority of this thread has nothing to do with Armada. The only reason I have followed this thread was to see what finally got it shut down. Personally, I would rather read discussions in an ARMADA chat room that pertains to ARMADA. Thanks to the OP for trying to bring something positive to the Armada fans.

Thanks Grand Admiral. I understand I was naive to trust certain statements but what I above all else wanted was something positive to share with people who I thought like myself are going through tough times. Alas, there are three things I've learned never to bring up on the internet: religion, politics, and the great pumpkin.

Fake news.

1 hour ago, Battlefleet 01 Studios said:

Thanks Grand Admiral. I understand I was naive to trust certain statements but what I above all else wanted was something positive to share with people who I thought like myself are going through tough times. Alas, there are three things I've learned never to bring up on the internet: religion, politics, and the great pumpkin.

There is some possible good news - Italy may have peaked in terms of infections and deaths.

I thought the discussion was pretty civil, and that's a good thing. I remember a game forum I was on where the mods shut down all non-game discussion after 9/11 . It poisoned the well of conversation in a way I never imagined possible.

The other thing I want to share is another book. Like me lots of people are probably thinking "How in the name of the Emperor can anyone think like that?" when they read something on a forum, or even in a newspaper.

Well if you do think that then you should read "The Righteous Mind" by Jonathan Haidt. If like me you're interested in human psychology it's invaluable. Even if you aren't it helps you to understand that THEY aren't stupid, or evil, or corrupt (necessarily), they're wired at a neurological level to view the world differently. Remarkable book, changed me completely.

Hopefully for the better.

29 minutes ago, flatpackhamster said:

There is some possible good news - Italy may have peaked in terms of infections and deaths.

Unfortunately the civil protection chief Angelo Borrelli said "It is credible to estimate that there are 10 positive cases for every one officially reported."

https://www.rt.com/news/483956-coronavirus-italy-death-pandemic/