Statistics are numbers.
Numbers are like words in that they can describe and clarify a situation, or they can muddy the waters.
Like tools they can be used for good or for ill.
As we need to look carefully at exactly what is being said and determine the truth of words, we also need to look carefully at any statistics and see what they really mean.
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87.54% of stats are false anyway.
I know what you said however my comment about gdp was in response to what dennisjavelin was saying.
You said tailing off. Which means gradually reducing aka tappering off not the cliff edge i showed.
Gdp of one country compared to another is a very rough guide. No on expects a poorer country to pay as much as a larger country. The point i made was that the us increased its spending while the uk reduced its spending significantly.
Gdp of a simgle country fluctuates so to measure spending of that single country on a particular service in this case defense is meaningless as said. If i earn 100 a day and i save 10% of that then i get a wage increase bringing my daily wage to 200 a day and i save 5% am i saving less? Saying the percentage has halfed so i must of spent less is meaningless.
I disagree. % of GDP is not meaningless. It is very significant. It shows the commitment of a country in balancing defence against other expenses.
Generally a country does not ask the forces how much money they would like, we all kniow how that end up! They commit to an amount of the GDP.
They do not always honour that commitement but no surprises there.
Not perfect, but do you know of a better one? We can only use the tools we have.
No one said that. You seem to be setting up straw men everywhere.
Percentages and actual amounts are clearly different. No one is saying they are the same.
Then do not deliberately write false quotes.
Thank you.
The Jupiter missiles were not obsolete in their destructive power. I never said that in my post so please do not make things up when replying to me. They were obsolete in that the Russians had the means to intercept them. The missiles that Russia put in Cuba were their R12 systems. The US only had one missile defence system at that time, the Nike-Zeus, which was seriously flawed at that time. Despite the limited range of the R12 (1500km) it was still a frightening weapon to have on your doorstep. The Americans knew that they couldn’t adequately defend against them so they had to be removed. Krushchev originally agreed to remove them without conditions but at the last minute asked for the Jupiter’s to be removed - most probably in an effort to save his position at home. It would not be unreasonable to think that the Americans were happy for him to stay as the leader so, in order for him to be able to show the Politburo that he had got something out of the deal, they agreed, but it had to be kept secret. I don’t think for a moment that this was to save Kennedy’s ass. Didn’t help Krushchev either.
What is undeniable is that the Russians backed down (and also in 1969).
You really have no idea about the relationship that existed between Russia and China then, do you?
" The Soviet Border Service started to report an intensifying Chinese military activity in the region in the early 1960s. Tensions at first built slowly, but the Cultural Revolution made them rise much faster. The number of troops on both sides of the Sino-Soviet border increased dramatically after 1964. Militarily, in 1961, the Soviets had 225,000 men and 200 aircraft at the border." One helluva lot of men and aircraft to have facing your friend.
I think that Andrew Neil has got a handle on the current state of play.
Meanwhile, Gaza is being starved by another of Trump’s best buddies.
quote Franglais
Meanwhile, Gaza is being starved by another of Trump’s best buddies.
Best join the rest of your Lefty clowns then and get the Palestine terrorist regime flag flying in your back yard in protest
It will do the power of good.
I hear there are some nasty people in Carlisle. Should we surround the place and starve all the inhabitants? Women and children as well as the guilty?
Have you heard of guilt by association?
Have you ever heard of collective pinishment and why the civilised world is against it?
Tell us exactly who armed and supplied those Chinese forces ?.Exactly where did China get its nuclear capability from and obviously not aimed at Russia.
Why did Russia support China in both the Korean and Vietnam wars.
If you’re going to create a Communist alliance against the west it would be beneficial to pretend that it’s not one.
In this case the TSENTR exercises are the relevant reference and the laughably obvious keenness of Socialists here to deliver our forces on a plate up to those opposing forces, on those opposing forces’ terms and turf, not the Cuban Missile Crisis.
It’s obvious that the Ukraine show is part of a Commy plot and pretext to enable the TSENTR plan.Bearing in mind that Zalensky is as much a friend of China as Putin is.
What else would those exercises have been rehearsing against who and what and why ?.Other than the pre planned sacrifice and internment of NATO’s forces.But first they have to get them there somehow.
Tell us exactly what technology Russia or anyone else had had to ‘intercept’ ballistic missiles in 1963 ?.
Both sides already had the ability to effectively wipe out the Northern Hemisphere why would they have been bothered about these systems specifically other than the destabilising effect, that their respective location and the motivation for it, had on the Cold War balance of power ?.
The Jupiter and Cuban systems were both perceived by the respective militaries and governments as a credible threat to that balance of power and were both prepared to go for mutually assured destruction over them.
It’s not even worth typing a reply to you so I’ll just leave you with these
Afaik yet no nutters in Carlisle (of which there are many) have ran amok with automatic weapons killing innocent people…then bleating on how badly they have ben done to after a reaction to it…then being supported by deluded clowns.
If they do I’ll let ya know whilst you (as ever) stick to the narrative.
Have you heard of ‘Dont bite off more than you can chew’
Have YOU ever heard of …'Reap what you sow.
Photo of Hamas fighters taking delivery of weapons of war. https://www.rollingstone.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Yasser_Qudih_MEI_240224_131923_Gaza_UNOCHA.jpg
So are you now saying that Hamas is not terrorist based? 
Hardly surprising for 3 reasons…
1.The official political line by those who regularly tell you what to think says so.
- It’s up there with the exact same concept of you believing the derisory version of criminal freeloaders in 4 star hotels are genuine refugees.
3.The good old BBC have adapted the line of purposely stopping referring to them as terrorists.
I’ll leave it there shall I.
on the basis there is no such thing as a stupid question
No I am not saying that.
I am also not saying the moon is made of blue cheese.
Them? Hamas? Gazans?
Are some Gazans Hamas supporters? Yes.
Are all Gazans Hamas supporters? No.
Are some Hamas supporters terrorists? Yes.
Does that mean all Hamas supporters are terrorists? No.
Most definitely not all Gazans are terrorits and the babies aren’t.
–.–.–.
Apart from being arguably a genicidal act, a war crime, why starve the innocents in Gaza?
It only creates more martyrs, and more anger, and more terrorists, inside Gaza and from those who see the current hard line Israeli regime as a problem.
I do not say all Israelis in the same way that I try to avoid saying all Gazans or all anyone else.
A difficult concept for some, but I try to stick to it.
Yep… just you keep trying to stick to it mate you are doing a good job…as usual.
But remember to keep checking for updates on the official narrative, the last thing you want is to make yourself look totally ridiculous to people on here.
Oh hang on a minute, that particular ship sailed a while ago on here.
Just been dipping into some news item,.an official US White House bod or another in a press conference on Sky
He said (along the lines of) …
‘‘Those who enter our country illegally,.especially those who commit crimes, have to be sent the message that they are not immune to our laws just because they have got here, and will be deported immediately’’
Jeezus I’d love if we had someone like this in our derisory joke of a govt.