Politics

[Big Dog RJ]

Yep! Here come the bots with their AI and all the tools to wreck havoc. The way in which the world is heading, especially with all this tech and those billionaire bullies like Mr. E Musky... they all lack common sense pretty much.

Apart from AI, I actually prefer Actual Intelligence!

Keep it simple maties, the fine tunes are clearer.
Cheers, RJ

[AnotherJohnson]

The way in which the world is heading, especially with all this tech and those billionaire bullies like Mr. E Musky... they all lack common sense pretty much.

What on earth does an Australian have against Elon Musk?
Aside from stabilizing the grid in your southern region so that you could use so-called green energy, he’s done just about nothing, and certainly nothing negative.

When he was identified on the left, the left loved everything about him and his businesses. After he figured out where the lunacy really resides and started trying to bring the US back on the keel, the left hated him and all of his businesses.

Let’s try to keep CJO apolitical.

[Big Dog RJ]

The way in which the world is heading, especially with all this tech and those billionaire bullies like Mr. E Musky... they all lack common sense pretty much.

What on earth does an Australian have against Elon Musk?
Aside from stabilizing the grid in your southern region so that you could use so-called green energy, he’s done just about nothing, and certainly nothing negative.

When he was identified on the left, the left loved everything about him and his businesses. After he figured out where the lunacy really resides and started trying to bring the US back on the keel, the left hated him and all of his businesses.

Let’s try to keep CJO apolitical.

Yes understood and points noted.
This is coming more from few mates based in the US who lost their jobs do to Musk's DOGE...
Another family friend is leaving the US (they've lived there for nearly 25yrs, and have never experienced things this bad). **obviously there are quite a number who aren't affected... so for that group it's business as usual**
Also have a scientist cousin, from the UK, their division was shut down due to cessation of funding. Trump wanted it shut down along with a host of other research depts that were critical to scientific purposes. He didn't see the good or benefit they were doing. Cousin is also heading back to UK.
They say things are pretty bad out there and some of the things done are quite shocking, and have not addressed the basic ethics... rather just harsh decisions taken, no questions asked.

AJ mate, I'll leave it at that because like you said, no point in debating this topic on CJO. It doesn't belong here. I don't mind it if Admin were to delete these messages. Also, I'm not going to debate this any further here nor on PM. Not a fan of any of these guys, may god & humanity help them if possible.
Peace out & keep safe all, RJ

[AnotherJohnson]

Yes understood and points noted.
This is coming more from few mates based in the US who lost their jobs do to Musk's DOGE...
Another family friend is leaving the US (they've lived there for nearly 25yrs, and have never experienced things this bad). **obviously there are quite a number who aren't affected... so for that group it's business as usual**
Also have a scientist cousin, from the UK, their division was shut down due to cessation of funding. Trump wanted it shut down along with a host of other research depts that were critical to scientific purposes. He didn't see the good or benefit they were doing. Cousin is also heading back to UK.
They say things are pretty bad out there and some of the things done are quite shocking, and have not addressed the basic ethics... rather just harsh decisions taken, no questions asked.

AJ mate, I'll leave it at that because like you said, no point in debating this topic on CJO. It doesn't belong here. I don't mind it if Admin were to delete these messages. Also, I'm not going to debate this any further here nor on PM. Not a fan of any of these guys, may god & humanity help them if possible.
Peace out & keep safe all, RJ

From where I’m sitting, the view is very different. I take your second hand anecdotes as evidence that even more should be done.

I spent 40 years dealing with government funding of so called critical studies. Most (seriously, not exaggerating) most of the money spent by the US Treasury is wasted. Today it has been reported that trillions a year have been spent without the traceable accounting codes that would allow you to easily know what category it fell into.

Your so called billionaire bullies may be the last best hope for salvation of the western world. Naturally people who are sucking at the government teat will be affected and angry.

In academe I watched the landscape change from a focus on scholarship (up to 1970) to a focus on dollarship. The data are fudged, the analyses are skewed, conclusions based on crude stochastic models are taken as deterministic and 100% true. The pendulum needs to be pushed back.

If Musk and Trump offend you, as little as you actually know about them from personal first hand experience, you might want to wonder whether your own compass pointing true.

I agree with the idea that this is an inappropriate redirection of this thread. I hope admin will edit it, but your ad hominem attacks on guys who are trying to fix a very broken system are too much to bear.

[admin]

I split this discussion as probably better to talk about politics here than in the website's technical status forum.

I don't censor any discussion or topics here on CJO, but I will just remind everybody that our only rule here on CJO is that we respect each other. I just mention it as I know opinions and views surrounding controversial topics such as politics can sometimes lead to heated debate.

Site Rules: https://www.conradjohnsonowners.com/viewtopic.php?t=2

[AnotherJohnson]

I think it would be wiser to abandon political content. Surely it ads nothing to any of the goals you’ve set for your forum.

In the spirit of my suggestion, I will leave this thread. I can’t imagine anything good to come from denigrating politicians based on third party anecdotes in another country.

[Big Dog RJ]

There's a doco that comes up every night, right after DW News live (telecast from Berlin), hosted by some well respected chaps (so they claim). The other night, they had Sen Bernie Sanders. He does make some fantastic points, I'm hoping they are factual though. Then just after him, was another American Lady Sen, who said this, "currently the US is run by a Narcissist Attention Junkie, along with a Chaos Monkey at the top," and that's all she wrote!

I will say this though, if anyone, don't really care who it is (Mr T, Donald duck, mickey mouse or superman...) can continuously negotiate with Putin & Netanyahu to stop their madness... that is the ultimate leadership! Regardless of the person's character. Absolute suffering and to no point whatsoever. It is sometimes quite difficult to view those images on tele and then be able to sit down at the dinner table and pour a glass of wine or even listen to music on high-end playback systems for that matter. These wars and unnecessary wiping out of certain social & ethnic groups is just looney. Even so to such an extent, it's also hit us quite badly here. Just yesterday, we had another racially motivated attack between rival gangs in a popular shopping mall. They were swinging wildly at each other for no good reason with machetes. We used to visit this Mall often when we were living in that quiet area for nearly 15yrs renting out a little shoebox/unit. Now that we've moved, our new area is rather peaceful but I'm really not sure for how long. It's just gone bonkers just about anywhere. Really had enough of this and fed up!

Why can't we all just live in peace and harmony, like a beautiful marine fish tank! Those fishies don't go biting each other. I'm thinking perhaps it's the music! Maybe people aren't enjoying their music. After all, it does have healing powers.
Agree?
Now sit back and do Enjoy those fine tunes! That's about all I can really say at this stage.
Peace out maties, RJ

[Joe Appierto]

With the possible exception of Roberto. I may be the oldest on this forum. I'm 74. One thing I remember from times past is that there were two things not to discuss during polite/regular conversations: religion and poltics. It's good that admin opened this topic for those who want but I can't help but think that it isn't gonna lead to anything productive. Folks have made their minds up, drawn sides and what anyone says of a differing opinion will evoke nothing but a contrary opinion.

Just my 2¢

[Big Dog RJ]

With the possible exception of Roberto. I may be the oldest on this forum. I'm 74. One thing I remember from times past is that there were two things not to discuss during polite/regular conversations: religion and poltics. It's good that admin opened this topic for those who want but I can't help but think that it isn't gonna lead to anything productive. Folks have made their minds up, drawn sides and what anyone says of a differing opinion will evoke nothing but a contrary opinion.

Just my 2¢

110% agreed!
Cheers matey, to a few good men.

[Truth71]

I thought this was a Conrad Johnson forum, not a Political One. I for one will delete if Politics were to infect this site.

[admin]

Maybe it's time to make rule #2,... "no politics?"

[Joe Appierto]

This is a thorny issue. In principle I'm against censorship. That having been said, perhaps to ensure some harmony in our community politics might be a topic better left out of here.

[admin]

This is a thorny issue. In principle I'm against censorship. That having been said, perhaps to ensure some harmony in our community politics might be a topic better left out of here.

I feel the same. That is why I'm not sure what to do. I think I'll leave this thread open for now and see if there is consensus amongst the users.

[Big Dog RJ]

My good mate Admin,

I've always admired your sincere humbleness and a true gentleman, without a doubt! This, I / we respect to you mate!

There's no doubt I do tend to say a few things that might offend others... honestly no harm intended really, just woof'n around. After all, that's what big dogs do when there are no tooons.

I also admire the very fact that somehow you tolerate certain members who've always comment highly negative things about CJ. This is a site dedicated to CJO and yet those members who've had bad experiences with CJ gear... (btw we've all had our fair share with tooobs & CJ's quirky charms...) just can't seem to move along and enjoy their music. And yet, they're still here on CJO! Casting those same negative comments...
They don't own any CJ gear for that matter and have made claims , such as "I'll never buy or use another CJ product..." and yet they boldly post here like none of the negativity ever happened. AND the most ironic thing is, they're so upset about some silly remarks I said about American polly's...??? My remarks are too much yo bare.../ degrading! Right... so slamming CJ in the mud is fairly OK vs silly remarks on Trump & Musk... c'mon seriously mate???

Anyway, at the end of day, I just laugh it out and listen to tunes. I'm not yet 60 but fairly close though, although the wifey does say I'm getting like a grumpy old man, but that's only if and when I'm not listening to tooons! Other than that, most of the time 99.99% I'm a furry happy doggy! Tail wagging wildly, woof!

I'm not sure if those members I've offended politically have taken my views the wrong way. That was not my intention. However, constantly downgrading CJ gear in general and warning people who are present owners of CJ...! To tread cautiously before buying CJ!.., is just plain ridiculous. At first I was a bit offended, mainly because those remarks have always been highlighted by these words "skin in the game..." that's not on!

At the end of the day, I really don't care what type of skin is in this particular game they're referring to, whether it's outer skin or foreskin, who the heck cares!

All I can say is that CJ is a superb product! Since its very inception and now with the new ownership under JF, who is a legend in tube design (has been called a bottle washer, one man wizard behind the curtain... and all sorts of really dumb labels). JF knows his stuff and knows how to build top quality tube gear, CJ will always remain on the podium of SOTA, as long as JF's legacy continues. And I/ we will always support him. I think that's the main reason why most of us on CJO actually happen to own CJ!

Once again, allowing those degrading comments on CJ in general and yet the membership on CJO continues... that's something to admire! Respect again to you Admin mate.

*Note * terribly sorry if I ever offended someone close to Trump or Musk, that wasn't ever my intentions. I have made a note of that and won't do that again.

Just enjoy those finest tunes at the highest level possible from the great systems that you've put together over the years. After all, the enjoyment of recorded music is the main thing.
CJ will continue to strive towards SOTA, without a doubt! Even if it's just delivered from one wizard!

Woof! RJ
Tail still wagging...

[admin]

After deep thought and consideration, I have decided that it is probably best to keep political discussions off CJO. These can often become heated debates and can lead to resentment and negative feelings. Also, it doesn't really add anything to discussion of audio.

So for these reasons, I am going to lock this thread and make a 2nd rule that political discussions are best had on other forums/sites.

I hope everybody understands and shares the view that we want to keep CJO positive and focused on positive topics.

Thank you all members for understanding.

I have updated the rules page: https://www.conradjohnsonowners.com/vie ... php?p=2#p2