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Everything posted by bannork
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Musically - Is this as good as it gets?
bannork replied to Don Giovanni's topic in ASEAN NOW Community Pub
Most moving Most something or other -
Musically - Is this as good as it gets?
bannork replied to Don Giovanni's topic in ASEAN NOW Community Pub
Sexiest singer Absolutely ageless song -
Musically - Is this as good as it gets?
bannork replied to Don Giovanni's topic in ASEAN NOW Community Pub
Most uplifting song Most un-uplifting song -
Musically - Is this as good as it gets?
bannork replied to Don Giovanni's topic in ASEAN NOW Community Pub
Perfect execution, rock blues: Space rock -
Musically - Is this as good as it gets?
bannork replied to Don Giovanni's topic in ASEAN NOW Community Pub
I'll bite Perfect male voice imo. Perfect female voice -
Journalist James Surowiecki observed Wednesday evening that the president's sweeping worldwide tariffs seemed to be based on a simplistic formula, which takes the U.S. trade deficit with an individual nation and divides that number by its exports to the U.S. Surowiecki posted on X. "They didn't actually calculate tariff rates + non-tariff barriers, as they say they did. Instead, for every country, they just took our trade deficit with that country and divided it by the country's exports to us. So we have a $17.9 billion trade deficit with Indonesia. Its exports to us are $28 billion. $17.9/$28 = 64%, which Trump claims is the tariff rate Indonesia charges us. What extraordinary nonsense this is." However because Trump claims to be 'nice' he then divides the figure by half! In a final flourish, if US trade deficit/imports with a country is less than 10%, or the US has a trade surplus with a country, Trump then slaps a flat 10% tariff on that country. 'Truly amazing': Journalist slaps down White House aide's attempted fact check
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On Tuesday, the Trump regime targeted Harvard University, threatening to withdraw about $9 billion in contracts and multiyear grants unless Harvard capitulates to unspecified demands. Last week, Trump targeted major Washington law firms, threatening to cut off their access to government buildings and government contracts unless they agreed to various ultimatums. Yesterday, the regime placed 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico and “reciprocal” tariffs on imports from all other nations. Some governments say they’ll retaliate. Others, Israel and Vietnam, for example, are responding by rolling back their own tariffs. Trump says he’ll continue to raise tariffs until other countries capitulate to various unspecified demands. What do all these have in common? Trump’s unquenchable thirst for power, dominance, and intimidation. Here are 8 rules for dealing with this. 1. Don't believe his said reasons for action. He'll use whatever pretext he can find to issue demands and get universities, for example, to capitulate. 2. Don't assume that Trump is concerned about other nations’ “unfair” trade practices or illegal immigration. These, too, are pretexts. He is using tariffs, immigration, and every tool at his command to force them to cave in to his demands. 3. Surrender and domination are the goals: whether a university, a large law firm, a big non-profit organisation, even a Democratic state like California. Surrender is the point. 4. Each capitulation confirms the narrative that Trump is all-powerful, invincible, and able to get every person, institution, and country to prostrate themselves before him. 5. Each submission fuels his lust for dominance and attempt to create an image of absolute power, King Trump. 6. It’s vitally important, therefore, that institutions and countries join together to fight this systemic intimidation. University faculties must united under the American Association of University Professors to speak out against Trump’s assault on free speech and debate at universities, sue the Trump administration for violating their rights under the First Amendment, and develop a media strategy to alert the public to the demagogue's threats. 7. Canada, Mexico, Japan, and the European Union must unite to create a special trade zone that bars the United States. They should threaten to curtail American banks’ access to their public procurement markets, limit the large figures their citizens invest in American companies annually, and increase tax and regulatory pressure on American digital platforms. 8. The media should highlight institutions that are standing up to Trump (such as the Jenner & Block law firm, Canada, and Mexico) and condemn those that are surrendering to him ( Columbia University, the Paul Weiss law firm, and Israel and Vietnam on tariffs). This is all about Trump’s thirst for power, transforming the United States into a dictatorship. The only way to deal with Trump's demands for capitulation | Opinion .
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Blast from the Past - 60's, 70's, 80's,90's Music (2025)
bannork replied to CharlieH's topic in Entertainment
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Paul Krugman's views: "The EU, like the United States, has generally low tariffs; the average tariff it charges on US goods is less than 3 percent. So where does this 39 percent number come from? I have no idea. Many people speculated that Trump would count value-added taxes as tariffs, even though they aren’t — European producers selling to the EU market pay the same VAT as US producers, so it doesn’t discriminate and therefore isn’t protectionist. But even if you get that wrong, EU VAT rates are in the vicinity of 20 percent, so you still can’t get anywhere close to 39 percent." Trump falsehoods according to Krugman: " Trump is still claiming that we’re subsidizing Canada by $200 billion a year. Aside from the basic mistake of claiming that a Canadian trade surplus means that we’re somehow subsidizing Canada, he’s inflating the actual trade surplus by a factor of three. Many, many people have pointed out the error, but Trump is sticking with it, the same way Musk is sticking with the millions of dead Social Security beneficiaries thing." 'Full-on crazy': Nobel-winning economist aghast at Trump's tariffs and wildly false claims
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Israel Hamas War the Widening Middle East Conflict
bannork replied to Social Media's topic in The War in Israel
Gaza ambulance 'crushed' by IDF as aid attacks increase On Sunday, a mass grave containing the bodies of 15 first responders was unearthed in Gaza. Sky News investigates how their final moments unfolded. The group had disappeared during a rescue mission one week earlier. -
The administration of US President Donald Trump has begun mass layoffs of 10,000 employees at healthcare institutions as part of a campaign to reduce federal employees. Security prevented some employees from entering the building a few hours after they received notice of their dismissal. The layoffs affected several well-known agencies within the US Department of Health and Human Services, including the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The layoffs included dismissal of leading scientists overseeing public health, cancer research, and vaccine and drug approval. This raises concerns about how the US will respond to ongoing emergencies - such as the measles outbreak and the spread of bird flu. ''The FDA as we've known it is finished, with most of the leaders with institutional knowledge and a deep understanding of product development and safety no longer employed," former Commissioner Robert Califf wrote in a LinkedIn post. "I believe that history will see this a huge mistake," he wrote. "It will be interesting to hear from the new leadership how they plan to put 'Humpty Dumpty' back together again." Mass layoffs in US healthcare sector
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Some Palestinians are ignoring the latest evacuation orders — even if it means risking their lives. “After one year and a half of war that has exhausted everyone, children and their parents, too, are just worn out physically and mentally,” said Rosalia Bollen, UNICEF’s communication specialist. For the past month, Israel has blocked all food, fuel and supplies from entering Gaza, and aid groups say there are no more tents or other shelter supplies to help the newly displaced. On Tuesday, the World Food Program shut down all its bakeries in Gaza, on which hundreds of thousands rely for bread, because it had run out of flour. https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/as-israel-advances-in-gaza-many-exhausted-families-flee-again-some-can-t-bear-it/ar-AA1C7D9L?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=EDGEXST&
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Israel Hamas War the Widening Middle East Conflict
bannork replied to Social Media's topic in The War in Israel
Unfortunately Israel will not allow any foreign journalists into Gaza to verify reports of deaths. Obviously Jewish supporters such as Aizenberg are keen to downplay civilian casualties, however widespread bombing as conducted by Israel on Gaza will inevitably lead to heavy loss of civilian life. I quote the BBC: Unicef uses figures released by Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry - figures which Israel has consistently disputed. The figures are seen by the UN and other international institutions as being reliable. International journalists, including the BBC, are blocked by Israel from entering Gaza independently, so are unable to verify figures from either side. -
Israel Hamas War the Widening Middle East Conflict
bannork replied to Social Media's topic in The War in Israel
"Over 300 children killed since Israel's new Gaza offensive, Unicef says - BBC News" https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0r5827dke1o The United Nations agency for children says that at least 322 children are reported to have been killed since Israel launched a renewed offensive in Gaza two weeks ago. Unicef said at least 609 other children were reportedly wounded during the same period. "The ceasefire in Gaza provided a desperately needed lifeline for Gaza's children and hope for a path to recovery," said Unicef Executive Director Catherine Russell. "But children have again been plunged into a cycle of deadly violence and deprivation." -
An efficiency drive is a nice cover story but the real reason Musk, etc want to cripple federal government and return power to the states is their fear of anti trust legislation. The government could break their powers of monopoly over data, and hence their immense wealth. Fear of a revival of legislation of regulatory reforms and anti trust prosecutions as started under Biden, and previously successfully conducted by Teddy Roosevelt against monopolistic practices, gives the tech bros sleepless nights. Wake up America and topple the barons.
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Israel Hamas War the Widening Middle East Conflict
bannork replied to Social Media's topic in The War in Israel
Israel killed 15 Palestinian paramedics and rescue workers one by one, says UN | Israel-Gaza war | The Guardian -
If you are listening to music - What's Playing ? (2025)
bannork replied to CharlieH's topic in Entertainment
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Does the U.S. Even Have Real Allies Anymore Under Trump 2.0?
bannork replied to Terrance8812's topic in Political Soapbox
Vance, a man without charm. https://www.msn.com/en-gb/video/news/danish-first-minister-responds-after-vance-stakes-us-claim-for-greenland-we-dont-appreciate-your-tone/vi-AA1BTqHc?ocid=socialshare&t=58 -
Israel Hamas War the Widening Middle East Conflict
bannork replied to Social Media's topic in The War in Israel
The Gaza protests: a mixture of anti Hamas, anti Israeli blockade of aid and food. https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/video/gaza-protests-explained/vi-AA1BLRSh?ocid=socialshare&pc=EDGEXST&cvid=972401311d174c5aedfa111d4172395f&ei=48 -
Does the U.S. Even Have Real Allies Anymore Under Trump 2.0?
bannork replied to Terrance8812's topic in Political Soapbox
Folks should watch this video to see the damage Vance is doing to the US image/ foreign relationships, in this case, with Denmark. -
On Wall Street, there is talk that Trump's tariff policy's aim is to make world leaders build factories in the US and strengthen their own currencies to help US manufacturing. In 1985, Washington persuaded Japan, Germany, Britain and France to coordinate on devaluing the dollar in the Plaza Accord. The White House thinks it can leverage threats of tariffs and withdrawn US security guarantees to dictate terms. But Europe is rearming by building up its own defence base rather than buying US-made weapons, and longstanding US allies are planning independent nuclear deterrents. Rather than bow to Trump, the global response “has been to look for alternatives”. China, which is already struggling with sluggish demand, also has no interest in doing a deal that harms its own exporters, says Neil Shearing of Capital Economics. With foreigners buying large amounts of dollar-denominated assets, Americans can consume more than they produce. One way to fix this would be to limit those inflows by imposing capital controls, but that would lower US living standards and damage the dollar’s status as the global reserve currency. George Saravelos of Deutsche Bank argues, “There is a fundamental inconsistency” between Trump’s desire “to maintain dollar reserve status” and many of the proposals currently floating around for engineering a weaker dollar.'' Talk of a Mar-a-Lago deal rests on a “misidentification” of the true sources of imbalanced global trade, namely very large fiscal deficits in the US and a very high savings rate in China. What is the Mar-a-Lago Accord and why is it getting attention from Wall Street?
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Edward Coristine, known as "Big Balls," and a member of the Government Efficiency Department (DOGE), has been reported to have provided technical services to the cybercriminal group EGodly. In 2022, Big Balls ran a company called DiamondCDN that provided network services. Among his clients was the website of the group EGodly, active on Telegram, which boasted about stealing data, including phone numbers, and stealing cryptocurrencies, and hacking into email accounts of justice authorities. They also disseminated private data of an FBI agent who was conducting an investigation against them. Reuters was unable to verify the truth of these boasts, but an FBI agent confirmed that the group was suspected of making false reports. Musk advisor linked to cybercriminal group sparks security concerns
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The world, including its left wingers, was laughing about Biden, obviously senile, being in charge of the US. Couldn't a country of 340 million people find someone better to be in charge? But no! He's replaced by an egomaniac, narcissistic idiot whose sole criteria for service in his admin is undying loyalty to him whatever lies and lunacy he sprouts. Low, low quality all round in this current US admin.