He couldn’t give a rat’s arse. He continues down this path for his own gain and not because he cares about all of his “blind” supporters. 
Bring on the mid-terms. 

8 hours ago, Gecko123 said:

 

 

In giving Israel a carte blanche to commit genocide in the Gaza, Trump has engendered hatred for the US and support for terrorist organizations throughout the Middle East which will last for generations to come.

.

 

 

 

Not genocide.

25 minutes ago, Zack61 said:

He couldn’t give a rat’s arse. He continues down this path for his own gain and not because he cares about all of his “blind” supporters. 
Bring on the mid-terms. 

The left claimed there would be no more elections if Trump was elected. 

From the Financial Times, “The Costly End of the EU’s ‘Peace Dividend’”:

Europe enjoyed its years of low military spending thanks to a prolonged period of protection from the US, allowing it to build one of the most generous social security systems in the world… Across the EU, social protection has grown as a share of total government spending, rising from 36.6 per cent in 1995 to 41.4 per cent on the eve of the pandemic… While higher borrowing can cover some initial outlays… the cost of rearmament will ultimately be shouldered by taxpayers and beneficiaries of the continent’s social security nets.

On 3/18/2025 at 6:19 PM, JAG said:

Teslas for example - hang about, aren't they made in Shanghai?

I believe the name has been changed by Trump to Tesler.

6 hours ago, GammaGlobulin said:

Canada needs Trump

Nobody needs Trump and few outside of the US want him around, except of course Russia, China, Iran etc.

11 hours ago, frank83628 said:

'Unfortunately it seems many Americans think aggressive nationalism is the solution to their issues which will bite them in the arse'

 

Why as an AUSTRALIAN NON AMREICAN do you think you speak for actual Americans? You speak for nobody but yourself.

Stop the projection ., you are obessed by the Orange man who is NOT your President 

 

Again read the forum rules, your repetition of uninformed views are tedious. What goes  on in USA, even domestically, can flow through to international policy decisions. I I am concerned US domestic policy decisions are setting very poor examples for Western democracies with the creeping authoritarian trends in the US.

8 hours ago, GammaGlobulin said:

 

Trump does not need Canada.

 

However, even the Canadians know, Canada needs Trump.

 

 

Canada supplies 50% of America's oil. All the electricity for the north-eastern corridor, including New York.

 

What have you been smoking?

3 hours ago, Lacessit said:

Canada supplies 50% of America's oil. All the electricity for the north-eastern corridor, including New York.

 

What have you been smoking?

 

Fungible.

I have been smoking "oil is fungible".

Try some...

Some time...

 

 

3 hours ago, Lacessit said:

Canada supplies 50% of America's oil. All the electricity for the north-eastern corridor, including New York.

 

What have you been smoking?

 

If price of oil rises due to some cut-off of Canadian oil to the USA, then this will be a very good thing for America and the World.

Let the Canadians keep their shale, which is the dirtiest among hydrocarbons.

 

And, America needs to stop using Canada's oil...like...

TOMORROW...

Duh...

 

Americans still don't understand this key point.

 

US stocks and funds in a deep drop after January meanwhile Europeans are going through the roof. I will avoid investing in America for the next four years.

1 hour ago, GammaGlobulin said:

 

If price of oil rises due to some cut-off of Canadian oil to the USA, then this will be a very good thing for America and the World.

Let the Canadians keep their shale, which is the dirtiest among hydrocarbons.

 

And, America needs to stop using Canada's oil...like...

TOMORROW...

Duh...

 

Americans still don't understand this key point.

 

Canada has oil sands and shale. The oil sands are Canada's most prolific source of oil.

 

America has shale.

 

Weaning America off oil is like taking a baby's pacifier.

1 hour ago, GammaGlobulin said:

 

Fungible.

I have been smoking "oil is fungible".

Try some...

Some time...

 

 

CBD oil and THC does nothing for me.

Bye Bye My Cheetos

On 3/18/2025 at 6:20 PM, rough diamond said:

Try and buy American tech products that do not have Chinese components.

As a high tech purchasig manager for 45 years Asian manufactures have all the chips

 

Boycott American made and boycott Tesla.   I'll drink to that   

On 3/18/2025 at 9:28 PM, TedG said:

The brits did invent the internet.  They invented the www part, which runs on the internet. 

 

You can have BK and Wendy's.

• ARPANET (1960s):

  The US government's Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) developed ARPANET, which was the first operational packet-switching network and the precursor to the global internet. 

   

  World Wide Web (1989):

  Tim Berners-Lee, a British scientist working at CERN, invented the World Wide Web (WWW) in 1989, which made it easier for people to access and share information online. 

Just so you folks don't get me wrong ......  

 

I love America and I love American people, I have a two American friends who I have a beer with. 

 

But I don't like American Trump and some of the things he's implemented.

And I certainly don't like Musk or Tesla cars. 

 

I love you guys but it is what it is for now anyway ....   

 

cheers   !

i'm on my 4th bottle ... Lol

1 hour ago, Lacessit said:

Canada has oil sands and shale. The oil sands are Canada's most prolific source of oil.

 

America has shale.

 

Weaning America off oil is like taking a baby's pacifier.

 

Easy.

Just give it a slap across the face.

 

Yes.

Oil Sands.

Should have said oil sands.

But too lazy to spell the extra word.

Thought nobody would notice.

Both dirty, however.

And highly polluting to extract.

Human Beings are complete and utter FOOLS.

So...then...Die.

Haha.

We will probably all go due to Space Wars, anyway.

Nukes in Space is not a good idea.

Militarization of space is a worse idea.

Humans will never learn, and this is what makes this species so dangerous.

Once they have killed almost everything, and nothing much left to kill, then...

They just begin killing themselves.

 

Evolved this way, of course.

1 hour ago, sharot724 said:

Bye Bye My Cheetos

 

Go with God, My Son.

I'm American and considering the Putin loving fascist government in D.C. (freely elected or not) the time has come for Americans to need to feel the pain of their horrific mistake in order for there to be any hope at all at recovering. 

American products and services most vulnerable to consumer boycott:

 

fast food restaurant chains, junk food brands, beverages, cars and trucks, car parts (i.e., tires), home appliances and electronics, cell phones, watches, hotel chains, airlines, social media, internet retailers, big box retailers, banks, American stocks, bonds, securities.

 

Somewhat shielded from boycott out of necessity, but still vulnerable to consumers curtailing purchases: clothing and footwear manufacturers and retailers. 

 

Anyone who can help flesh out this list, is more than welcome to do so.

 

 

 

This is a great thing and as an American I totally support this kind of action, the US needs to be put in its place and Trump needs to be taught that US influence is nowhere near what it used to be, it has been declining for decades and he is doing nothing but precipitating the decline. 

 

Though he has no interest in education, reading or learning, it would really be beneficial for him and his administration if they knew even just a small amount of information about globalization and the inherent ecosystems required. 

 

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.

 

 

 

 

 

28 minutes ago, Gecko123 said:

American products and services most vulnerable to consumer boycott:

 

fast food restaurant chains, junk food brands, beverages, cars and trucks, car parts (i.e., tires), home appliances and electronics, cell phones, watches, hotel chains, airlines, social media, internet retailers, big box retailers, banks, American stocks, bonds, securities.

 

Somewhat shielded from boycott out of necessity, but still vulnerable to consumers curtailing purchases: clothing and footwear manufacturers and retailers. 

 

Anyone who can help flesh out this list, is more than welcome to do so.

 

 

AN members who are MAGAs!

On 3/18/2025 at 9:14 PM, LiamB80 said:

Real Americans don’t care. I got your boycott right here. We’re focused on fixing America. If you don’t like us anymore thats fine. President Trump’s popularity is as high as it’s ever been and i’m happy with my vote for him and what he’s accomplished so far. He’s doing everything i voted for. He was given the biggest mandate in US history with a landslide election win over crooked Joe Biden. He also won in 2020 and that was a stolen election. It worked out better this way anyway. God deflected that bullet that was meant for his head too. 

Non Americans just can’t seem to grasp that their opinion of our president means nothing to us, not when we look around our country and see things need fixing everywhere. Fake friends and allies to begin with. 

 

Stupid people elect stupid presidents - the rule of logic.

3 hours ago, rabang said:

US stocks and funds in a deep drop after January meanwhile Europeans are going through the roof. I will avoid investing in America for the next four years.

 I think that, in retrospect, you're going to look back and find out that that was a rather poor decision.  Brainwashing works well, I guess. 

 

The EU economy is on life support, as is the UK economy.  Without the US subsidizing them as they have in the past, there's no way their industrial base survives.  Consider Germany.  Once a great powerhouse, now falling apart under the weight of expensive energy and idiotic immigration choices.  They're not going to turn that around anytime soon.

 

Granted, much of the US manufacturing capacity has been moved offshore, but that will reverse rather quickly. The US has a good economy compared to many parts of the world, and is certainly more resilient.  US consumers buy what the rest of the world makes.  Tariffs might make that more expensive, but it'll work itself out over time.  And the Fed has Trump's back.  They won't allow a collapse. 

 

Still, I wouldn't invest blindly in the US market.  There will be winners and losers, as always, and we'll see sector rotation, as always.  

 

The big caveat is the bond market.  If the world's financial system collapses, all bets are off.  

 

The other big caveat: War. Specifically, the war in the Middle East that the Neocons are now so desperately trying to start.

 

Again, such an event could spread quickly and sink markets around the world, including those outside the USA, 

38 minutes ago, Gecko123 said:

American products and services most vulnerable to consumer boycott:

 

Why don't you just shoot yourself in the foot ?

Even if you think the Trump tariffs are unjust  and they maybe in certain circumstances why the hell do you want to inflict more hardship by doing virtually the same thing to American companies ?  perhaps because there is no hardship to yourself ?  or is it just total hatred of anything Trump ?

 

20 hours ago, GammaGlobulin said:

 

PhDs payback to society, to America, FAR more than we invest in them.

If you do not understand how this works...then....

No further meaningful discussion can be possible.

 

Of course, I prefer the Natural Sciences.

And, even grad-research in medicine.

 

If a grad student wants to be funded for pursing a PhD in lip-reading, then OK, I would not fund them.

 

However, funding super-smart students towards helping them to pursue degrees which are so obviously beneficial to society as a whole....

One would be CRAZY to oppose such a concept.

 

I know you are NOT crazy....

Correct?

 

 

For every PhD in physics, there are twenty in ethic or gender studies, or “education”. 

 

Government money just drives the cost up. Way too many people getting useless degrees. 

 

Brilliant kids have not had any difficulty getting scholarships in my lifetime. 

On 3/19/2025 at 6:11 PM, Gecko123 said:

in giving Israel a carte blanche to commit genocide in the Gaza, Trump has engendered hatred for the US and support for terrorist organizations throughout the Middle East which will last for generations to come.

 

I can agree with this bit.