3 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

Trump is destroying or degrading virtually anything he touches, and his second term has been an absolute disaster on so many different levels.

The problem is you people are like crybabies. You want candy and you want it now and if you don't get it you will start crying.

Extracting the Venezuelan oil will take years, not days. It's a massive undertaking and it will affect the US economy in a positive way. Again, I'm not a fan of exploiting others. Trump promises the Venezuelans will be taken care of.

But no one has the faintest idea of the massive long-term future implications of some of these things Trump is doing.

Politics is not "everything gets fixed overnight with the snap of a finger".

Why don't you go get some soapy massages and learn some patience?

https://www.forbes.com/sites/arielcohen/2026/02/26/the-us-takeover-of-venezuelan-oil-wont-move-the-global-market/

As it stands, decades of mismanagement, lagging investment, and political purges in PDVSA have effectively disconnected Venezuela from the global oil market. Any effort to rebuild its industry will take years and billions of dollars of investment.

15 hours ago, BLMFem said:

John Cleese has always made a lot of sense.

I remember quite well, just before the ":Excursion" was launched, that there were ongoing negotiations between the US and Iran and that a report came out that the Iranians agreed to giving up on a nuke weapon but then of course Israel launched so Trump launched too and I don't know whether to believe this or earlier reports. I see that Trump's 15 desires on his side was rejected and lowered to 5 on the Iranian side. IMHO they will not give up on management of the Hormuz strait.

15 hours ago, Yagoda said:

Well thats an easy vote

Yup, you didn’t have to engage your brain.

This one is hard for me to say - as I think it’s much more nuanced.

As said earlier, I think for me I have to look at it from a domestic and foreign perspective. But I recognize that the two do not exist in their own wholly independent universes.

On the domestic side, I am more “yes” than “no”.. but here too, I’m not a whole hearted yes nor no. I am strongly “yes” for support tough, fair and consistent enforcement of immigration laws.. If society doesn’t like those laws, then the onus is on the legislative side to pass law accordingly. I do however think some of the actions taken by enforcement has only fed into the democratic narrative and to that end, I think maybe a rethink of the strategy may be warranted - but not the overall mission of tough enforcement.

On the economic front (again recognizing that foreign issues can have an impact on domestic issues) I’m far less “yes” than “no”, only because I would have hoped he would have spent more time addressing cost-of-living issues like food prices, etc. Things that the base population faces daily..

On the foreign side.. Of course, the Iran issue. I do think Iran is a risk for the US.. but I think we really needed to have better “buy in” from our regional partners before taking action. This also means addressing issues such as troop loss, timeline and preventing a drawn out conflict. So as far as yes no goes, I’d be a more “no” vote than yes- it again, not total no either.

1 hour ago, Hanaguma said:

I may not know much, but I do know that my investment portfolio is up 28.7% since the Bad Orange Man was elected. That is good enough for me.

You seem to have done better than the market. The S&P 500 is up about 10% since he took office. It was up a lot higher prior to the Iran war.

I don't know what currency your portfolio is in but mine is in USDs and the drop in the USD offsets a lot of the gain in my portfolio if I take that into consideration.

I am still happy with my portfolio under Trump and my gains have out placed my spending but I think I had higher gains in the Biden years. How did your portfolio preform under Biden?

2 hours ago, save the frogs said:

mainstream media is poisoning your mind.

you dont even have a clue what he's doing.

2 hours ago, save the frogs said:

mainstream media is poisoning your mind.

you dont even have a clue what he's doing.

I challenge you to back up your verbal diarrhea. I dont follow mainbstream media so the balls in your court. Go for it and tell me what i dont know or have wrong

2 hours ago, save the frogs said:

The problem is you people are like crybabies. You want candy and you want it now and if you don't get it you will start crying.

Extracting the Venezuelan oil will take years, not days. It's a massive undertaking and it will affect the US economy in a positive way. Again, I'm not a fan of exploiting others. Trump promises the Venezuelans will be taken care of.

But no one has the faintest idea of the massive long-term future implications of some of these things Trump is doing.

Politics is not "everything gets fixed overnight with the snap of a finger".

Why don't you go get some soapy massages and learn some patience?

https://www.forbes.com/sites/arielcohen/2026/02/26/the-us-takeover-of-venezuelan-oil-wont-move-the-global-market/

As it stands, decades of mismanagement, lagging investment, and political purges in PDVSA have effectively disconnected Venezuela from the global oil market. Any effort to rebuild its industry will take years and billions of dollars of investment.

Based on his history of pathological deceit and decades of crime, if there's one thing that is certain it is that if he does have some success in extracting Venezuelan oil it will not be a fair deal for the local people, and they will be worse off than they were under Maduro. That's just how the man rolls.

1 hour ago, biervoormij said:

You seem to have done better than the market. The S&P 500 is up about 10% since he took office. It was up a lot higher prior to the Iran war.

I don't know what currency your portfolio is in but mine is in USDs and the drop in the USD offsets a lot of the gain in my portfolio if I take that into consideration.

I am still happy with my portfolio under Trump and my gains have out placed my spending but I think I had higher gains in the Biden years. How did your portfolio preform under Biden?

I am about half in the S and P, and half in the TSX (Toronto exchange). In the States, mostly ETFs, one that is broad based, one energy, and one tech. The energy and tech are outperforming the market. Same in Toronto, but a few lucky choices on specific stocks have helped- one oil, one copper, one resources in general, one bank. All are 40% plus this past year.

He's a <deleted>, by any metric. Perhaps a few more affairs with Stormy's co-stars would keep him out of trouble for the next four years.

7 hours ago, shdmn said:

Perhaps this will answer your question.
https://goppredators.wordpress.com/

1534 as of March 21, 2026.

https://goppredators.wordpress.com/2026/03/21/1534-harvey-lee-west/

The one I just posted about hasn't been added yet so that would make it 1535.

You've truly engaged him with that authoritative post from a blog site. Great job! Keep up the excellent work!

3 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

Carney has consistently outsmarted Trump on so many different levels

Carney's job is different than Trumps. And perhaps a lot simpler.

The US is mixed up with the Middle East, policing the world, worrying about China asserting its dominance ....

Canada does not have to worry about these issues.

2 minutes ago, save the frogs said:

Carney's job is different than Trumps. And perhaps a lot simpler.

The US is mixed up with the Middle East, policing the world, worrying about China asserting its dominance ....

Canada does not have to worry about these issues.

Carney is PM of a country that is threatened and blackmailed by its much larger neighbour, led by a convicted criminal traitor, a pedophile rapist. Simple, you say?

The US is "mixed up" in the Middle East because it chooses the be mixed up in the Middle East.

Hope this helps!

1 hour ago, save the frogs said:

Carney's job is different than Trumps. And perhaps a lot simpler.

The US is mixed up with the Middle East, policing the world, worrying about China asserting its dominance ....

Canada does not have to worry about these issues.

I agree with you about that but Trump promised that he would not start any new wars, do you by any chance remember that? That was a major campaign promise that has been broken a few times already.

Trump also promised that the US was going to stop policing the world and yet he's been the most aggressive president in my lifetime. So what gives, maybe as a Trump supporter you have some sort of explanation?

5 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

Trump also promised that the US was going to stop policing the world and yet he's been the most aggressive president in my lifetime. So what gives, maybe as a Trump supporter you have some sort of explanation?

According to this, it's a stepping stone. They need to neutralize countries that are not co-operating and that may destabilize and undermine -- Iran, maybe Syria ...

https://thesoufancenter.org/intelbrief-2025-december-10/

The opening paragraph of the Middle East section in the Trump administration’s National Security Strategy 2025 (NSS), released last week, asserts that Trump intends, as have his past few predecessors, to pivot the focus of U.S. policy from the Middle East to other national security threats. Laying out Trump’s case for de-emphasizing the region, the document states: “For half a century at least, American foreign policy has prioritized the Middle East above all other regions. The reasons are obvious: the Middle East was for decades the world’s most important supplier of energy, was a prime theater of superpower competition, and was rife with conflict that threatened to spill into the wider world and even to our own shores. Today, at least two of those dynamics no longer hold. Energy supplies have diversified greatly, with the United States once again a net energy exporter.

According to the document, “Syria remains a potential problem, but with American, Arab, Israeli, and Turkish support, may stabilize and reassume its rightful place as an integral, positive player in the region.”

According to the strategy: “…the days in which the Middle East dominated American foreign policy in both long-term planning and day-to-day execution are thankfully over — not because the Middle East no longer matters, but because it is no longer the constant irritant, and potential source of imminent catastrophe, that it once was.”

1 minute ago, save the frogs said:

According to this, it's a stepping stone. They need to neutralize countries that are not co-operating -- Iran, maybe Syria ...

https://thesoufancenter.org/intelbrief-2025-december-10/

The opening paragraph of the Middle East section in the Trump administration’s National Security Strategy 2025 (NSS), released last week, asserts that Trump intends, as have his past few predecessors, to pivot the focus of U.S. policy from the Middle East to other national security threats. Laying out Trump’s case for de-emphasizing the region, the document states: “For half a century at least, American foreign policy has prioritized the Middle East above all other regions. The reasons are obvious: the Middle East was for decades the world’s most important supplier of energy, was a prime theater of superpower competition, and was rife with conflict that threatened to spill into the wider world and even to our own shores. Today, at least two of those dynamics no longer hold. Energy supplies have diversified greatly, with the United States once again a net energy exporter.

According to the document, “Syria remains a potential problem, but with American, Arab, Israeli, and Turkish support, may stabilize and reassume its rightful place as an integral, positive player in the region.”

According to the strategy: “…the days in which the Middle East dominated American foreign policy in both long-term planning and day-to-day execution are thankfully over — not because the Middle East no longer matters, but because it is no longer the constant irritant, and potential source of imminent catastrophe, that it once was.”

One could truly make an argument that Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are the biggest problems, certainly not Iran.

23 hours ago, gargamon said:

Me supporting trump? I don't think so. Provide 1 link to a post.

So sorry, I confused your name with another member's name. I will not name him.

On 3/25/2026 at 5:44 PM, connda said:

Do you approve or disapprove of Trump's handling of affairs

I reckon he is doing ok.

A post with unattributed content and the replies have been removed as there was no valid link provided to the source of information.

Posts with content from unapproved social media sources have been removed.

Offensive posts and replies advocating violence/death have been removed. Other posts of a trolling nature have been removed.

16 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

So sorry, I confused your name with another member's name. I will not name him.

gamma gobulin?

1 hour ago, spidermike007 said:

One could truly make an argument that Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are the biggest problems, certainly not Iran.

sorry, i dunno.

above my pay grade.

that's why hegseth doesn't return my calls.

feel free to elaborate.