John Drake

You lift up a rock and all sorts of creepy crawly multi-legged things scurry out and try to find another place to hide.

It's clear. Look at the list. Southeast Asia is the target. Central and South America essentially got a pass. So did Mexico, Canada, Australia, UK, and New Zealand. I expect in those latter instances that negotiations will quickly lower them to negligible amounts.

During his tariff announcement Trump specifically mentioned Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia as tariff abusers. He is targeting Southeast Asia. To the extent he is doing that and not going after Canada and Mexico and most of Central/South America, I support this idea.

I don't think Thailand wants this particular reciprocal effect. There are far more Thais in the US than Americans in Thailand, and, of course, many of those Thais own a great deal of property, which Thailand denies to Americans in Thailand.

The list so far is interesting. Canada and Mexico got zip. UK, Australia, New Zealand, and most of Central and South America got 10 percent. Trump is creating a hemispheric + Anglosphere zone. I imagine that most of these 10 percenters can and will be quickly negotiated down to 0 or just a bit above. Who got hit? Asia, especially Southeast Asia. And that is well deserved. Vietnam, Thailand, and Malaysia have been allowing Chinese products and companies to skirt existing US sanctions and tariffs. They have it coming.

Robots and AI coming.

Should have bought the F16s. But enjoy your Gripens.

I just read that Vietnam today announced it is cutting its tariffs on US goods to zero. I don't think "negotiations" are what the US has in mind. https://en.vietnamplus.vn/vietnam-cuts-import-taxes-on-key-goods-ahead-of-us-tariff-announcement-post312690.vnp

The horse has already bolted from the barn, and the train is off the track.

Wasn't Schimel anti-abortion? The more of these people Republicans put up, the more they'll lose. I see the voter ID law passed easily. So it was the anti-abortion stance that got him.

Should have gone to a cash heavy position. That's what Warren Buffet did. Everybody knew Trump would make a catastrophe out of this. He did the last time, too.

Musk was likely a negative influence on his candidate for the court. People are not only sick of him, they're beginning to be fearful of him. His narcissism wouldn't allow him to try and affect the election behind the scenes. He had to be up front and in the eye of the camera, just like his partner in the White House.

The thing is I don't know if I can last. I'm already exhausted from the non-stop craziness, and I haven't even been back to the US in 13 years. Since December, I've been saying that Trump will screw up things so badly that AOC will be elected president in 2028.

Yes. It's one of the first things you're advised to cut if you have inner ear problems.

Better than an increase or no change. I'll take it.

It's the domestic policies that got him elected, not Ukraine, not threatening Canada, not occupying Greenland. The worst thing will be that all these wacky war and blanket tariffs policies will discredit the domestic issues that got him in the White House. The man is an utter fool, an incompetent.

So the law is a suicide pact?

He still doesn't know what he's going to do. Talking up 20 percent "blanket tariff" now, which would be the worst of all worlds.

He'll fold on the tariffs tomorrow. It'll be a squeak, not a roar.

No, I just feel 125

It does make me wonder. This wasn't the Immigration building, I gather, but had it been . . . ? What if an emergency evacuation had occurred in the Immigration building while you were waiting for Immigration to return your bank book and passport???

Was this then a pilot project, with many more Chinese projects to come? Or are there several completed already?

I realize you haven't got much to do with your life other than hang out on this forum and try to pick fights, but be aware at least that the term, "tofu" applied to Chinese construction, comes from the Chinese themselves. In fact, it was a former Chinese premier who coined it.

Oh, and Mr. Genius, how many high rises in Bangkok have been built by the Chinese? Maybe the other buildings are still standing because the Chinese didn't have a hand in their construction.

Trying to sell your condos, eh?