spidermike007

I completely agree, and I think that the world should stand up in mutual defiance of Trump. He is a blazing idiot, he is an absolute fool, he is incredibly ignorant, and he should be defied at every single opportunity. The world absolutely has to speak out and let them know that the creeps antics and stupidity will not be tolerated. Trump's arrogance knows no bounds, the US under his guidance is completely out of control, their influence is declining by the day, and Trump needs to be taught a very painful and very powerful lesson.

Israel does not want a solution to this problem, if they did one would have happened a long time ago. Neither does the US, apparently.

They won't come out and admit it and when the Palestinians are persecuted they will scream and rant about it. But, how many countries are offering to take in people from Palestine? How many offers have you seen so far to embrace the Gaza refugees? Zero. That is how beloved they are in the Arab world.

It’s a total mess. As the Ford Motor chief executive Jim Farley courageously (compared to other chief executives) pointed out, “Let’s be real honest: Long term, a 25 percent tariff across the Mexico and Canada borders would blow a hole in the U.S. industry that we’ve never seen.” So, either Trump wants to blow that hole, or he’s bluffing, or he is clueless. If it is the latter, Trump is going to get a crash course in the hard realities of the global economy as it really is — not how he imagines it. Ecosystems? Listen a bit to Beinhocker, who is also the executive director of the Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School. In the real world, he argues, “There is no such thing as the American economy anymore that you can identify in any real, tangible way. There’s just this accounting fiction that we call U.S. G.D.P.” To be sure, he says, “There are American interests in the economy. There are American workers. There are American consumers. There are firms based in America. But there is no American economy in that isolated sense.” The old days, he added, “where you made wine and I made cheese, and you had everything you needed to make wine and I had everything I needed to make cheese and so we traded with each other — which made us both better off, as Adam Smith taught — those days are long gone.” Except in Trump’s head. Instead, there is a global web of commercial, manufacturing, services and trading “ecosystems,” explains Beinhocker. “There is an automobile ecosystem. There’s an A.I. ecosystem. There’s a smartphone ecosystem. There’s a drug development ecosystem. There is the chip-making ecosystem.” And the people, parts and knowledge that make up those ecosystems all move back and forth across many economies. As NPR noted in a recent story about the auto industry, “carmakers have built a vast, complicated supply chain that spans North America, with parts crossing back and forth across borders throughout the auto manufacturing process. … Some parts cross borders multiple times — like, say, a wire that is manufactured in the U.S., sent to Mexico to be bundled into a group of wires, and then back to the U.S. for installation into a bigger piece of a car, like a seat.” Trump just waves off all of this. He told reporters that the U.S. is not reliant on Canada. “We don’t need them to make our cars,” he said. Actually, we do. And thank goodness for that. It not only enables us to make cars cheaper, but also better. All that a Model T did was get you from point to point faster than a horse, but today’s cars offer you heating and cooling and entertainment from the internet and satellites. They will navigate for you and even drive for you — and they’re much safer. When we can combine more complex knowledge and complex parts to solve complex problems, our quality of life soars. But here’s the catch. You cannot make complex stuff alone anymore. It’s too complex. And if you are not part of these ecosystems, your country will not thrive.” And trust is the essential ingredient that makes these ecosystems work and grow, Beinhocker adds. Trust acts as both glue and grease. It glues together bonds of cooperation, while at the same time it greases the flows of people, products, capital and ideas from one country to the next. Remove trust and the ecosystems start to collapse. Trust, though, is built by good rules and healthy relationships, and Trump is trampling on both. The result: If he goes down this road, Trump will make America and the world poorer. Mr. President, do your homework.

Apparently this extremely weak, highly unstable and very fickle man has backed down on Canada tariffs after the stock market tanks for Just 2 days. Is it possible that this unskilled, unintelligent, badly informed man is actually getting the message that tariffs have the potential to destroy the economy? Does he have the potential to learn anything? Is he capable of learning? Does he have anyone that even resembles a smart advisor? Maybe. Just maybe.

Anytime we see something that resembles forward progress in Thailand it's cause for celebration, it's a truly astonishing development. Thailand is moving into the 21st century, the level of surprise boggles the mind.

None of this really means anything, since Egypt is not prepared to take in any Palestinians, nor is Jordan or any other country for that matter, since they are universally disliked throughout the Arab world. Trump is just making noise, throwing out garbage proposals, and kissing Bibi's butt, as usual.

Canada is presently in the process of building massive ports to accommodate a huge flow of oil, and natural gas to the EU and beyond. If the US loses access to Canadian oil or natural gas it will be a huge problem for the US. It WILL increase costs. There are at least a dozen ways this entire plan could implode and bite the US really hard and very painfully. Expect a big spike in inflation soon. Trump is a goon, he's a nitwit, a terrible negotiator, and he is playing with fire.

Yes exactly, but criticism of Musk is forbidden within the GOP, the same applies to criticism of Trump. It is run like the opposite of a democracy.

It is always very refreshing when we agree on something. I could not possibly agree with you more on this particular topic.

The reality is that in Florida many retirees that own their condominiums free and clear and thought that they were set for life, are now paying $2,000 a month or more for homeowners association fees and insurance due to skyrocking costs. Many homeowners are stuck with rising taxes and skyrocketing insurance rates due to natural disasters and voracious insurance companies that are run more like mafias. Many are having to give up their homes and moving to their cars.

I completely agree, a lot of disinformation is taking place, and a lot of details are being omitted. The US could barely exist without Canada, Mexico and China.

I go back to the US two or three times a year, and the quality of life there has diminished to such a dramatic extent. Costs keep on skyrocketing, wages are not keeping up, and unless you own a home free and clear you are completely screwed. There's a reason why there's now up to 5 million Americans who are considered houseless this is not the same as homeless, these are people who have chosen to leave their homes or apartments that they did not own, and live in their vehicle. They did this by choice, they prefer this over paying $2,000 to $4,000 a month for an apartment or a house. And nobody knows how many are now homeless. The America that I once knew is gone baby gone, and it will never even be improved much less be made great again. That's just a lie and a fairy tale and unfortunately way too many people are buying into that nonsense.

He could have just slapped the guy and he likely would have stopped at that, anytime you knock somebody to the pavement, you run a huge risk of killing them.

The US buys nearly half of its imported oil from Canada and 90% of its imported natural gas from Canada, the nation that they're cutting off by imposing huge tariffs on. Trump - dumb and dumber.

100 minutes of insane ranting, pure lies and absolute nonsense to a completely sycophantic and compliant Congress. Trump is a plague. That much is a apparent by now.

And why would those with Danish citizenship give up free Healthcare, and a safety net for seniors? A friend of mine from Holland just recently put his mother in a rather luxurious nursing home, he said it's the equivalent of many five-star hotels that he's been to. She has a large, luxurious room with a private balcony overlooking the river. His total outlay per month is 900 euros month. A trashy facility in the US is $9,000 a month and a nice facility is $15,000 a month and up. I know couples who spend $2000 to $3,000 a month on health insurance alone, in the US. It is an unregulated mafia. Just another reason why Greenland and Canada would never choose to be a part of the US. In the process their quality of life would diminished dramatically. In Denmark, the welfare state is characterised by an extensive social security system and a high degree of income equality. All Danish citizens have equal access to education and health care regardless of their social and financial background. Similarly, every citizen is entitled to a limited compensation for loss of income due to unemployment, disability, or illness – just to name a few of the public services that the welfare system provides. The welfare system does indeed benefit each individual citizen but the main purpose of the Danish welfare model is to ensure healthcare and education for all citizens in order to provide high quality human capital/first class employees of great benefit to the taxpaying companies and hence to the Danish economy. https://denmark.dk/society-and-business/the-danish-welfare-state In other words, the polar opposite of the US, where if an older couple does not have hugely expensive health care, they could lose everything with one illness. So, why would any Dane choose to be American? A land owned and controlled by Big pharma, corrupt lobbyists, greedy out of control corporations and a highly dysfunctional government. They would have to be insane.

This man looked entirely unhinged during his hundred minute rant, he said nothing new, he just reiterated oodles and oodles of nonsense, and he simply repeated one lie after another. The bottom line is his poll numbers are declining, his support is declining, people are figuring out who he truly is, and the world is realizing this guy is a monster, with evil intentions, a terrible negotiator, and bent upon preventing world peace with his destruction of alliances, bent upon making sure that the economy does not improve, with his crazy dumb tariff policies, and bent upon collapsing America. That's the only reasonable explanation for his policies and his bizarre antics.

Thailand's government has defended the move, claiming it was legal and aligned with their human rights policies. What these numbskulls meant to say is that since Thailand does not have a human rights policy. It was not against any of it this, because there is none of this. This is really a bad look for Thailand, considering the fact that multiple nations offered asylum. What this essentially means is that they would rather send these people back to have their organs harvested, and in the process obey their masters in China. The world knows Thailand is not a democracy and the world knows that the extremely toxic army still has a tremendous amount of influence here, even though they have been completely useless for decades now.

There is no question that the Saudis were responsible for 9/11, and they're likely continuing to sponsor terror to this day. If you want to single out enemies of many states, certainly Saudi Arabia is one of them. And not only is their brand of Wahhabism completely repulsive, nobody should ever be allowed to migrate, if they are a Saudi national, unless they can prove no adherence to that violent and extremist faith.

A security guard or a bouncer working at one of these clubs should be highly trained in the art of de-escalation. They can certainly afford to do so and to not do so is negligent and bordering on belligerent. Also when one acts up and engages in assault, not only should the guard be held responsible but the owner of the club should be too.

A very long prison term, or decades in a penal colony would do this creep some good.

Canada is a great nation. A gorgeous nation. The 10th largest economy in the world. Very vibrant. Very productive. It has its share of problems, but all countries do. For Americans to be lecturing Canadians about the greatness of the US, and the sad state of Canada, at this stage of the game is a bit sad and pathetic.

Though I agree with your sentiment 100%, the US currently has the great misfortune of having this absolute goon representing them around the world, so in essence the US is the big problem, until we can figure out a way to get rid of him.

This sums him up perfectly: Someone asked "Why do some British people not like Donald Trump?" Nate White, an articulate and witty writer from England, wrote this magnificent response: "A few things spring to mind. Trump lacks certain qualities which the British traditionally esteem. For instance, he has no class, no charm, no coolness, no credibility, no compassion, no wit, no warmth, no wisdom, no subtlety, no sensitivity, no self-awareness, no humility, no honour and no grace - all qualities, funnily enough, with which his predecessor Mr. Obama was generously blessed. So for us, the stark contrast does rather throw Trump’s limitations into embarrassingly sharp relief. Plus, we like a laugh. And while Trump may be laughable, he has never once said anything wry, witty or even faintly amusing - not once, ever. I don’t say that rhetorically, I mean it quite literally: not once, not ever. And that fact is particularly disturbing to the British sensibility - for us, to lack humour is almost inhuman. But with Trump, it’s a fact. He doesn’t even seem to understand what a joke is - his idea of a joke is a crass comment, an illiterate insult, a casual act of cruelty.Trump is a troll. And like all trolls, he is never funny and he never laughs; he only crows or jeers. And scarily, he doesn’t just talk in crude, witless insults - he actually thinks in them. His mind is a simple bot-like algorithm of petty prejudices and knee-jerk nastiness. There is never any under-layer of irony, complexity, nuance or depth. It’s all surface. Some Americans might see this as refreshingly upfront. Well, we don’t. We see it as having no inner world, no soul. And in Britain we traditionally side with David, not Goliath. All our heroes are plucky underdogs: Robin Hood, Dick Whittington, Oliver Twist. Trump is neither plucky, nor an underdog. He is the exact opposite of that. He’s not even a spoiled rich-boy, or a greedy fat-cat. He’s more a fat white slug. A Jabba the Hutt of privilege. And worse, he is that most unforgivable of all things to the British: a bully. That is, except when he is among bullies; then he suddenly transforms into a snivelling sidekick instead. There are unspoken rules to this stuff - the Queensberry rules of basic decency - and he breaks them all. He punches downwards - which a gentleman should, would, could never do - and every blow he aims is below the belt. He particularly likes to kick the vulnerable or voiceless - and he kicks them when they are down. So the fact that a significant minority - perhaps a third - of Americans look at what he does, listen to what he says, and then think 'Yeah, he seems like my kind of guy’ is a matter of some confusion and no little distress to British people, given that:* Americans are supposed to be nicer than us, and mostly are.* You don't need a particularly keen eye for detail to spot a few flaws in the man. This last point is what especially confuses and dismays British people, and many other people too; his faults seem pretty bloody hard to miss. After all, it’s impossible to read a single tweet, or hear him speak a sentence or two, without staring deep into the abyss. He turns being artless into an art form; he is a Picasso of pettiness; a Shakespeare of bull<deleted>. His faults are fractal: even his flaws have flaws, and so on ad infinitum. God knows there have always been stupid people in the world, and plenty of nasty people too. But rarely has stupidity been so nasty, or nastiness so stupid.