MicroB

How did the US get on in Iraq in 2003, population about 27 million? Or Vietnam, population in 1968 about 40 million. You might win a war, but you wouldn't win a peace. There are about 1.2 million US troops in the Continental US, facing about 100,000. If the poll on this forum is to be believed, 43% of the US miitary would switch sides in the event of hostilities (in the assumption that it is the US that is the hostile country). An attacking enemy, to be successful, is generally assumed to need a 3-4x numerical advantage. The US military has struggled against non-peer militaries (suffering losses against Panama and Greneda, heavy losses in Vietnam/Iraq/Afghanistan. I suspect if your leader chose to declare ware on essentially kith and kin, then the effective civil war would lead to sharp division within the US, leading to portions attempting to secede, leading to life imitating art. Of the poll is a nonsense. The notion is ridiculous, Your wetdream is ridiculous.

Thailand doesn't sell any cars in the US. The biggest automotive export is car tires I believe. Plus American car makers, with the exception of few, don't make RHD cars, except for mail delivery drivers. The Americans can try all they like to sell LHD Ford Rangers made in Michigan, but few Thais will bite when they can buy a cheaper RHD Rayong Ranger instead. And Ford will want them to keep buying the Thai Rangers because of the immense margin being made on those vehicles compared to the Seppo versions. Is the US government going to ban US firms from investing overseas next? I doubt they will shut down Ford Europe for a start. They didn't even shutdown Ford Germany when they were fighting the Naazis.

They love KFC though

He said he wasn't going to carry out the Heritage 2025 plan. But he is. And no, its not a big surprise as he lurches to Dark MAGA. Given the vast numbers of sacked bureaucrats, who's going to do the negotiating? 56 countries, some with more complex trading arrangements than others? He's gotten rid of thousands of bureaucrats, just to create a new bureaucracy. The US Customs and Border Protection is actually responsible for collecting these tariffs. About half of the CBP are involved in physical inspection of cargos etc. Probably their jobs are safe. But there are several thousand in the revenue collecting department, the sort who go around bothering companies with forms and other paperwork. They're the ones asked recently to justify their jobs to DOGE. No company, importer, is going to voluntarily pay the correct tariff. They will try tariff efficiency, some will try tariff evasion. That container of sneakers; were they really made in 10% Maldives, or 46% Vietnam. Expect the Irish border to get extremely fuzzy as to whether something is from the UK or from the Irish Republic. All this running around means extra cost, probably more hold-ups at ports, not just finished goods, but the supply chain. Pharmaceuticals are, for the moment, exempt, because the 47th President doesn't want someone dying because they can't get that excellent German made drug. But Medical devices are not exempt. Sorry, that pacemaker is costing 25% more because its all made in Germany. If you are a diabetic, the insulin you get is a tariff-free medicine, great. But the delivery device is not. That's now gone up in price. And the American supplier of the insulin can't just shift production of their pump or whatever, to the US, because they don't actually make it, because they don't know how to make it, so they went to someone, in Europe, but also in Asia, who does know how to make drug delivery devices. Ok, so they somehow find an American supplier of a device that can deliver the insulin. American company found, can design it. But what, the FDA says that's a new device. You need 5 years of clinical trials plus 18 months approvals to get that to the US market. Oh, and in the interests of government efficiency, there's a bit of a backlog on approvals. But don't worry, the boss says red tape will be cut. Insurance companies, who pay for these things, will step in say no way they are going to pay for shonky devices that they could get sued over. So now they will develop their own tech assessment processes to cover the lack of oversight the FDA is now carrying out, in the interests of government efficiency. Diabetics can always go back to needles and syringes, and insulin thats only works 50% of the time because its gotten too warm, or its contaminated due to a torn septum. They won't even need the Chinese CGMs; Indians do just fine by sensing when they are about to go into a coma, when they need their next shot. Of course, by that time, they've gone blind, and they don't have any fingers left due to the amputations. But its America First, right.

So US mechanised and genetically enhanced rice puts the Thai rice growers out of business. US cannibis already dominates the Thai market. His objective is to line his own pockets. His personal horizon is probably 5 years, because he knows either in 5 years he;s dead anyhow, and not in jail, or he'll be like his daddy, drooling, and not knowing when to go to the toilet, so who cares. He'll make sure, as the Mooch said, that the penguins are no longer ripping off America. The paranoid though will think of Dark MAGA, which fits in with Musk's Technocracy ideology. Tariffs replace Taxes, right? The US was founded on No Taxation without Representation. But if you don't have any taxes, then you don't need Representation, right? You don't need elections. Trust the bosses, they know best. And eventually that's trust AI. AI will make correct, infallible decisions for us, with zero payroll costs. This is going to end in war. Just like the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act set us up for WW2.

Its not just about cost of manufacturter. Something might be made elsewhere, wholly, or in part, due to IP (know how). The younger Trump wanted a Lamborghini sports car. he obviously couldn;t find an American made Lamborghini, so he settled for an Italian one. I doubt he considered cross shopping for a Firebird. He alsom wanted an American Rolls Royce. There actually used to be American Rolls Royces in the 1930s; they were made from kits. But now, he has to buy those blasted British ones. I doubt a Towncar was considered. I've looked at about 5000 US companies selling into the US. 1000 of these have product that are wholly US made. 800 have products wholly or partly made in APAC. 600 have products wholly or partly made in Europe. When the price of medical devices shot up in Russia, Putin challenged his best scientists and engineers to come up with Russian replacements. After all, they are a nuclear power, put a man into space etc. Should be able to make an ultrasound machine. The response was, no boss, we can't do it. I expect imaginative ways around the tariffs for manufacturers. Tariffs are being charged on car spare parts for instance. When does a car become spare parts? When you take the wheels off? The engine out, d oors off. Its a tactic to get around import tariffs in Thailand (BMW, Mercedes, Toyota etc). You import the cars as SKD, CKDs, pay a bit of tariff on whatever value you assign a pile of bits. Employ some low skill grunts to screw the thing together. If you are lucky, local government might even build the factory for you because you are bringing in "jobs". Of course, all the profits will continue to come to you. India and Thailand use huge tariffs to protect their workforce. The results of Indian and Thai ingenuity: Tariffs are a brilliant way to deliver a coup de grace to a car industry. Ask the UK or Russia. Take away competition, force people to buy cars merely on patriotic grounds, which is a blank cheque for manufacturers to make crap. Encourage transplant factories, who don't make crap. And you'll end up with the Australian car industry. Factories that shutter as soon as the exhange rate becomes unfavourable.

Or rumours being discussed about declaring US earnings by illegal immigrants to be declared illicit and open to seizure by the federal authorities, in the same manner earnings by organised crime can be seized. Individuals raising investments on the basis of misrepresenting immigration status may be open to law suits. This is how it works in Russia. An Oligarch can be made a non-Oligarch overnight, and the key thrown away following a "trial". The World's richest man can be rendered the World's least richest man (ie the biggliest debts ever seen, mostly owed to Saudis).

It doesn't exist. Posting nonsense like this is cruel.

It doesn't exist.

Which Putin? Vladimir or Yevgeny?

It was supposed to buy Stormy Daniel's silence on the mushoom. While Nielsen won the vote, to form a government, he needs to form a coaltion. Greenland is traditionally viewed in Denmark as quite "red", which is why Nielsen's win was a surprise; he is socially liberal but business friendly. He became party leader following a 2021 election that was driven by splits over the Kvanefjeldsmine mining project. This is a uranium-rare earths project, run by an Australian company with a Chinese shareholder. Nielsen was supportive of this, but the outgoing going government was opposed to such mining activities. He has to form a coalition, likely with the Naleraq Party, which is described as the most pro-American Greenland party. Nielsen's party favours a slow road to independance, but Naleraq favours a faster route. Nalaraq favours Free Association with Denmark, and is opposed to talks with the Americans over sovereignty

Since you asked: 2017: https://edition.cnn.com/2017/02/15/politics/trump-crimea-russia-twitter-obama/index.html https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/feb/20/ukraine-ambassador-attacks-trump-aides-secret-peace-plan https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-40350065 https://theintercept.com/2017/08/03/trumps-objections-russia-sanctions-law-suggest-might-trade-crimea-away/ https://www.rferl.org/a/trump-poroshenko-ukraine-good-progress-un-russia/28749439.html https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-presented-47m-deal-arm-ukraine-russia/story?id=51235203 2018 https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/fact-check-administration-actions-russia-tougher-trumps-words/story?id=53223453 https://ru.usembassy.gov/statement-by-secretary-pompeo-crimea-declaration/ https://rollcall.com/2018/08/14/trump-wont-follow-congressional-directives-on-russia-and-crimea/ https://www.rferl.org/a/trump-blames-obama-regime-for-ukraine-s-loss-of-crimea/29588249.html 2019 https://www.defenseone.com/threats/2019/09/pentagon-caught-middle-trump-ukraine-scandal/160188/ https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2019-10-16/as-ukraine-waited-for-u-s-assistance-death-toll-on-eastern-front-line-grew https://publicintegrity.org/national-security/trump-administration-officials-worried-ukraine-aid-halt-violated-spending-law/ 2020 https://www.courthousenews.com/independent-audit-says-trump-freeze-on-ukraine-aid-was-illegal/ https://www.rferl.org/a/trump-fire-vindman-sondland-after-impeachment-inquiry-testimony/30423541.html https://archive.kyivpost.com/ukraine-politics/bolton-memoir-trump-talks-profanely-about-ukraine-zelensky.html https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-52885178 https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/10/26/putin-rejects-donald-trumps-criticism-of-biden-family-business In 4 years, the 45th President's action on Ukraine appears to be authorizing a recommendation to send Javelins, then trying to block that. Then trying to get sanctions dropped against Russia as well as reversing long standing US government policy on recognition of conquered territories. A $45m transfer that included Javelins would have shipped a maximum of 200 systems, more likely 100 systems. About 50 of those would have been used in training.

If Putin agrees to a 30 day ceasefire, of course both sides will take the opportunity to re-equip. I have no doubt Putin will seek to break it. Since 2014, there have been 25 ceasefires between Ukraine and Russia, and 25 times Russia has broken those ceasefires. Details of 20 of those Ceasefires https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1XdWtEbmvYH6BIQaqQ29kAhZDyQNs6HCf0uTqk7der6I/edit?pli=1&gid=0#gid=0

Nate Vance (ex-marine, JD Vance's cousin) shares his thoughts.

This is rewriting history isn't it? Don't like a hiring policy, so not only change the policy, but pretend it never happened. Burn the Books. I always thought it was ridiculous for a double amputee war veteran to get a leg up in life.

Someone on this forum suggested the US should buy aluminium from Russia as its better quality and cheaper than from Canada.

It was plagiarized. https://gilbertdoctorow.com/2025/03/09/trumps-supposedly-one-sided-support-for-russia-over-ukraine/ https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Gilbert_Doctorow https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Committee_for_East–West_Accord https://molfar.com/en/foreign-propagandists

Its a skit. "He's" a chicken salesman Farm bumpkin Janitor/toilet cleaner

The "West" whatever that is, didn't want a collapse of the Russian State, with 6500 weapons falling into the hands of fruitloops we know about like Kadyrov, and fruitloops we don't know about. But it was a natural reaction to the previous 2 decades, where the same Russophile mob would have been whinging about "Neocons". The alternative was to have done nothing. I don't think that could have been an option. The result would have been Russia closer to the Nato "border", an enormous West European refugee crisis, and, given the tenacity of the Ukrainians (borne of their Grandads in WW2), Russia being involved in an increasingly brutal counter-insurgency. Clearly, Ukraine is a different kettle of fish compared to Georgia in 2008, which seemed so far away. From 2008; captured USMC Humvee being carted off by Russia (never returned to the US) https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/02/26/georgian-region-shows-perils-of-ceding-land-to-moscow/

But the West can make sure he can't profit from it, and that the ruined occupied areas become a drag on the Russian state. Mechanisms can be put in place to make it extemely unattractive for any company to invest in it The population of Luhansk-Donetsk has declined by about 5-10% since Putin's war. Reportedly, he's been bussing in Russians, and selling them cut price new housing, and barring the people of Luhansk and Donetsk from buying property. This is obviously a hugely expensive operation to change the demographic facts on the ground. https://cepa.org/article/behind-the-lines-ethnic-cleansing-by-home-loan/

I know he likes to cake on the spray tan, but was he a heavy user of tanning beds, and this is the result. But its probably a photo with the contrast etc turned right up. The Omega Man for some reason comes to mind. Good film, mind.

NATO is, to all intents of purposes, over, in terms of a functional body that can coordinate action. I can imagine the corridors at Allied Command Operations in Belgium are now unusually quiet. Allied Command Transformation is based in Virginia. The US has now pulled out of all planning for exercises. Inter-operability will quickly degrade if troops don't train together, learn together. Putin won't be attacking NATO or the EU. He'll pick Estonia first, a lightening grab because his generals tell him they have the kit, because they have the receipts. His reading will be that his forces can swiftly take Tallin before NATO can react. Probably smash the place up. The EU will be a disorganised mess about how to react, so he thinks. He thinks NATO, without US heavy lift into Latvia and Lithuania, cannot respond. He swftly takes Latvia and Lithuania without a shot being fired, because they don't want to end up like Estonia. Simultaneously, the Slovakian and Hungarian Prime Ministers invite Russian troops to set up bases, citing security concerns, following the withdrawal of US troops, and the need to support and expand the refugee camps springing up on their Eastern borders with Ukraine. This doesn't mean how it is. But what Putin thinks. Wars start because of misunderstandings and miscalculations. He's counting on European countries being picked off one by one, or governments falling to populist wingnuts, and becoming basically ungovernable , and therefore of no interest to Russia.

They didn't win, were mistreated by Tsarist officers, were starved, and then the Tsar asked to to fire on protestors. Petrograd saw soldiers mutiny and join factory workers on strike. Within a month, Tsar had lost all authority and the Romanov dynasty was no more. It started on the front, when soldiers refused to build more trenches, started selling off clothing supplies. Order No 1 of the Petrograd Soviet established Soldiers Committees in every unit. Opposition to Putin has been growing everyyear; whatever support for him is paperthin. The Russian Army in 2021 had a significant professional element. That element has literally all gone. There are no proverbial homes fit for heroes. Even the bonuses are not being paid. Afghanistan tipped the Soviet regime. The Falklands tipped Galtieri. And Hitler was a disgruntled Corporal.

A very Glaswegian looking face. Make it a pint of 80 shilling and a wee pie.

Why are American executives buying BMWs, Mercedes Benz, Bentleys, Rolls Royces and not American made Cadillacs and Lincolns? Its not because the Cadillacs and Lincolns are too expensive. What American cars are Europeans not buying because they are taxed too much. Cars like the Corvette and Mustang are cheaper in Europe than their peers. Why did the American President buy himself an Italian sportscar and not a Pontiac Fiero? American not good enough?