MicroB

A deliberate misrepresentation of the media. The clips most commonly circulated show her speaking for between 3:50 and 3:59 minutes. I expect you to issue a retraction covering your error.

I wouldn't bother with this individual. He or she is constantly posting in support of Putin's genocidal war that includes rape as a weapon. Odious individual.

The fireworks would have been sourced pre-tariffs, or at least orders placed. I assume the supply contracts from the US government would have included force majeure covering tariffs. Smaller 4th July events in 2025 are likely to be impacted by increased costs, or even shortages. Larger, public, events less so. Typically, orders for fireworks for retailers major events, are placed 12 months before. At the moment the US 250th Birthday in 2026 may well be impacted, and some events may have to switch to alternative displays. https://www.americanpyro.com/assets/2025/2025Advisories/APA - NFA April 2025 Letter Post Tariff 4.3.25.pdf https://news.wgcu.org/culture-and-connections/2025-04-14/fireworks-for-2025-likely-wont-fizzle-from-145-percent-tariff-on-china-but-wait-until-next-year

I believe the shipment was symbolic, in the week that Europe delivered 6 million shells, and the UK developed a new artillery shell propellant, whch replaces nitrocellulose and nitroglycerine; significant because both these materials are in short supply globally, and Europe was largely dependant US supplies. The deal assures Ukraine's financial future, and, in principle, allows it to finance its own defence, rather than being dependent on the fickle largesse of Western powers. Economically, Russia is kaput. Its kleptocratic government has financed the war through debt that it can't pay back. If you lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas. The recent US announcement on talks is also an attempt to exert pressure on Russia. Ukraine is free to buy arms on a lend lease basis now. And the difference is rather than before getting whatever they can, now they can buy what they need. In the Vietnam War, there were apothrical tails of disillusioned troops "fragging" their officers. In Russia, the officers frag their own men. https://militarnyi.com/en/news/russian-officer-kills-three-own-soldiers-with-grenade-in-donbas/ The Russian Army has changed from a military with a substantive professional core, to a largely reluctant citizen army interspersed with convicts

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/05/01/tables-have-suddenly-turned-putin-russia-dire-trouble/

The parade will actually be the 250th Anniversary of the US Army. His birthday is coincidental https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy9vzrxxjdwo Scrapping Memorial day, replacing with 2 days dedicated only to WW1 and WW2. Korean War, Vietnam War, Gulf War 1/2, Afghanistan veterans didn't win enough I suppose. His statement pointedly insults the dead of the British Commonwealth, France, the Netherlands, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Norway, and many other nations, and trivialises their sacrifice. An ignorant man, grandson of a coward.

https://www.cheshire.police.uk/news/cheshire/news/articles/2025/4/prolific-sex-offender-jailed-after-almost-three-decades-on-the-run/

Not the same political system. Judging from your avatar you are a Seppo.

I remember it was much the same talk about the SDP. At least that was a Gang of Four. Reform is still a One Man Band.

Theatre for the masses. There are countries with the death penalty for murder. Murders still occur. Some have the death penalty for adultery. Adultery occurs. As does thieving despite amputaton. It costs El Salvador $2000 per annum to house a convict. The are charging $20,000 per prisoner for the first 300 transferred from the US. That's an ongoing cost. There are 400,000 more to go. There are claims this is cheaper than costs in the US. But this is not true, because there are additional costs when you ship violent prisoners to another country. First there is the issue of the transport. So far, they have used US Air Force transport to take prisoners to El Salvador. In the future, its likely the Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System (JPATS), aka "Con Air". They have a fleet of 4 aircraft (2x737-400 and 1 each of 737-700 and -800. These 4 aircraft transport 300,000 prisoners a year within the US. Typically, the flights are 200 prisoners, with 12 marshals (https://www.justice.gov/d9/pages/attachments/2020/02/10/usms_fy_2021_pb_narrative_-_jpats_-_200207_final.pdf) 2021 budget was $70m, probably $100m plus now To expand this to include long haul flights for 400,000, the fleet will likely need to triple in size. And that will also see a big uplift in budget. There are actually prison airports in the US. Going to need a few more of those, to use as reception centers. The analogy is Prison Transports by the UK. When a convict was sentenced to transportation, he wasn't sent down, put on a boat, and away he goes to Australia. What actually happened if he would wait on a prison hulk for upto 7 years, essentially so a convict ship could be fully filled before setting sail All these costs add to the costs per prisoner sent into effective exile (if its expanded to include US citizens). Receiving countries will be compensated on an annual basis, likely consisting of a standing charge, then some calculation based on headcount. How would the US know they are not paying for prisners who have died or have been released, but still claimed for? So they need to set up a system for inspection. But there is a huge potential, over a 20-30 year period, the US will get scammed.

Many years ago I attended the University of Tennessee, and as an overseas student, I attended a briefing from the campus police. The officer wanted to assure the students of the professionalism of the department, which had more stringent enntry requirements than Knoxville police, which was pretty much a high school leaving certificate.

The President's wife was an illegal immigrant, and a communist. When is she being deported? Her Slovenian-speaking son can choose for himself to stay with his mother. Elon Musk also broke immigration rules by using a student visa as a way to illicitly immigrate into the US. Vance's Indian wife certainly need checking to make sure she fully complied, and that she, a Hindu, didn't just marry a strict Christian out of convenience. Question marks over Trump's own mother; a penniless, illiterate Scot, who suddenly found the money to engage in multiple trans Atlantic cruises during a Great Depression, and who made sure she was at all the New York high society parties.

You can Google to find examples of MS-13 tattoos that they use in prosecutions Interesting. Los Angeles gang member plays cricket. But are these tattoos meant to be a proud announcement of your affiliation, or some sort of Mason-like secret sign. ie. if you are caught by a MS-13 gang member, accused of being a member of a rival gang, then, as they start to cut your head off try to explain the cleverness of your knuckle tattoos, and no, its not a cabbage on your fingers, but marijuana, and no, we don't count the ear holes or the nasal septum on a skull as holes, and no, that Cross is supposed to represent 1, not "i" or "t"/

So not serving the Motherland, and letting your fellow citizens do all the dying. How does one renew a Russian passport when one is evading mobilisation?

What do you care, as a Russian? Sort out your own illegal immigration, what with those North Koreans taking the jobs of Russians. I bet none of them have visas. And please define a "legal gang member"; is this a uniquely Russian concept, that in your case you call the President?

The C919 won't be cleared for the EU until at least 2028. To be fair, O'Leary is a troll extraordinaire, a master at the art. Vance should take notes. He's pushing for the rejected Chinese Boeings with a big discount.

Maybe this is what he calls the Colours. Or the Black and White Minstrels.

Since you have the stats at your finger tips: 1. Number of skilled Russians wishing to emigrate to the US 2. Number of skilled Indians wishing to emigrate to the US 3. Number of skilled Chinese wishing to emigrate to the US Who knows why those South Africans want to leave. Jobs and prospects is probably the main reason, in common with the majority of emigrants anywhere in the world. About 5 million Americans choose to not live in America. Why is that? If we are taking a survey of people who "want" to emigrate (as opposed to actually do it), also discuss a similar shonkey survey; https://iasservices.org.uk/the-donald-dash-1-in-4-americans-weigh-emigration-after-trumps-2024-comeback/ 67,000 sounds like a big number, consider the Freedom Front Plus Party, the Afrikaner successor to Volksfront, picked up 220,000 votes at the last election. There are 4.5 million white South Africans. Your anonymous survey indicates 1.5% of White South Africans are thinking about emigration. which in reality means less than 0.5% will follow though. Unless you truely believe 25% of Americans are about to emigrate, Remarkably, the same is quoted for Brits; 23% say wouldn't mind emigrating (https://ifamagazine.com/23-of-brits-plan-to-move-abroad-heres-where-their-money-goes-furthest/). 70% of young Irish want to go (https://www.agriland.ie/farming-news/research-70-of-young-irish-people-contemplate-emigrating/) In a Gallup survey, 16% of the globe believe the grass is greener on the other side. In some cases, it is. https://news.gallup.com/poll/652748/desire-migrate-remains-record-high.aspx Of course, the percentages are fairly meaningless, except to indicate that there is a natural human desire to be dissatisfied with their lot. Most on this forum, if not all, fall into that Lot. As do you. If you are a South African, American, Canadian, Australian, New Zealander, in all likelyhood, by current definitions, your ancestors might have been illegal immigrants someplace.

Who are they?

FDA cancels, without notice, critical meeting to select flu serotypes for next season's vaccines. https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2025-02-28/health-experts-sound-alarm-as-fda-cancels-key-vaccine-meeting

In the first quarter of this year, for the first time, China exported more medical instruments to the US, than it imported from the US. Yes, China has been, until recently, a new importer of US medical equipment. Hospitals do need to be buy new stuff. Lots of if, all the time. In manufacturing, the Japanese Just-in-time approach is pretty much universally adopted. US factories have finely tuned supply chains, based on years of trust between companies, where the selection of suppliers is really driven by the needs of the shareholders for a return on their investment. Supply chains cannot be be updated overnight. Ask the Brits about how Brexit worked out, with MINI, Ineos, Honda production. And now Nissan's Sunderland plant is called, by Nissan, no economically viable, largely because of the overnight tariffs that came in during 20-21. Globalisation existed 1870-1913. pax Britannica kept a lid on anything major. John Bull's Britain became an imporrer of Argentinian beef. The decent kids toys were made in Germany. 1914-1945, the world went Protectionist. There was no Pax. Since 1945, the world went back to being globalist, with China and India joining in in the 1970s. Pax Americana kept a lid of anything big. The war in Ukraine is a reminder that all the little conflicts 1945-2020 involving the West were comparatively skirmishes, 20th/21st Century equivalents of taking on the Fuzzy Wuzzies at Omderman. 21st Century war can get a LOT bigger. Now we are all going protectionist again. Imagine being middle aged in 1914, and not knowing then that pretty much your entire life is ruined. Your sons might be off to war, never coming back, your lifelong savings wiped out. Of course you didn't know the future in 1914. All you knew was how good life had been for the last 20-30 years, and be thinking why would anyone want to change that.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/30/trump-100-days-reaction-responses?CMP=share_btn_url

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/29/world/americas/family-deported-trump-venezuela-el-salvador.html Dad deported to El Savadorean Concentration Camp on the basis of skin art, mum sent to Venezuela, daughter somewhere in the US. https://kfor.com/news/local/were-citizens-oklahoma-city-family-traumatized-after-ice-raids-home-but-they-werent-suspects/ ICE agents raid a house, turf out the family in their underwear. Turned out the family were all Americans and not the aliens they were looking for. https://calmatters.org/justice/2025/04/border-patrol-injunction/ Border Patrol rounding up people in a Home Depot carpark. Not far from a Papiere Bitte culture. Corporate pushback: https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-new-order-sparks-martial-law-concerns-2065618 The British know, from bitter experience, that the Army is not best placed to do the job of the Police.

https://www.jalopnik.com/1845467/west-coast-port-shipping-declining-tariffs/ West Coast shipping from down 45% Firework orders for next year are being placed now. Next year is the USA's 250th Anniversary. Shortages in stores like Walmart and Target are not only likely but positively baked in. Even if the US and China reached a fantastical agreement tomorrow. Container ships from China take 80 days. This year, kids at Christmas might have to be content with corn dollies and wooden things.

Freudian slip on Truth Social The President's oldest son seem determined to make a fortune; https://www.politico.com/news/2025/04/26/donald-trump-washington-club-00311720 I know Lobbying is very different in the US. In England, this practice is known as Cash for Questions.