2018 American Political Scene

[antimony]

You're placing too much on the man. Whatever reputation or goodwill Trump burned will be start anew with the next administration. The damange will not survive Trump.

You are thinking only in terms of what other countries, in their self-interest, will or will not do in the military sphere. That may or may not be true. However, that does not apply to international agreements, like the decision to ditch TTP and Paris Climate accord or any movements around the Iran nuclear treaty. If the US loses any advantage there by making any stupid moves, the world is not going to forget everything simply when a new President is sworn in. Similarly, any trade war with China will haunt the US and the world, over years to come. What is also true that Trump is burning through many of the hard fought environmental, consumer protection, labor rights and banking related regulations, which will also come back to haunt us.

Therefore, forget sending troops here and there for the moment, think trade. If I am a nation that has cobbled together a trade agreement with the help of the US and other partners, which the US then ditched, I am not going to smile and let the US in at a later point of time, if that affects my relative advantage.

[Officer of Engineers]

You are thinking only in terms of what other countries, in their self-interest, will or will not do in the military sphere. That may or may not be true. However, that does not apply to international agreements, like the decision to ditch TTP and Paris Climate accord or any movements around the Iran nuclear treaty.

The Paris Climate Accord was completely idiotic. You're allowed to write what you're going to do. You can say you don't need to do anything and you met your goal. Obama written extremely stringent demands on the US and basically demanded the US to meet Obama's visions. No one is allowed to place restriction on other country's requirements. Good for Trump.

The TTP I'm not worried about. At the end of the day, the US is still the dominant trading power. Ignore her at your peril.

The Iran nuclear deal? I want Iran to live up to her NPT agreement and destroy her zero yield test devices.

If the US loses any advantage there by making any stupid moves, the world is not going to forget everything simply when a new President is sworn in. Similarly, any trade war with China will haunt the US and the world, over years to come. What is also true that Trump is burning through many of the hard fought environmental, consumer protection, labor rights and banking related regulations, which will also come back to haunt us.

The US makes stupid moves all the time. So do we all. The question is can you correct your mistakes. But it's completely idiotic that I have to pay a carbon tax just because my horses fart.

Therefore, forget sending troops here and there for the moment, think trade. If I am a nation that has cobbled together a trade agreement with the help of the US and other partners, which the US then ditched, I am not going to smile and let the US in at a later point of time, if that affects my relative advantage.

Good. Stop relying on the US for protection and pay for your share.

[antimony]

the paris climate accord was completely idiotic. You're allowed to write what you're going to do. You can say you don't need to do anything and you met your goal. Obama written extremely stringent demands on the us and basically demanded the us to meet obama's visions. No one is allowed to place restriction on other country's requirements. Good for trump.

Who is stopping you, Canada, from writing your own standards?

The ttp i'm not worried about. At the end of the day, the us is still the dominant trading power. Ignore her at your peril.

Then why is he tryng to crawl back, and failing at that ? BTW, I am not the one shitting my pants, the farmers in North Dakota, who elected him, are.

The iran nuclear deal? I want iran to live up to her not agreement and destroy her zero yield test devices.

The us makes stupid moves all the time. So do we all. The question is can you correct your mistakes.

Sometimes these mistake costs you decades of lost opportunity and ruined competitive positioning. Today the US is being left behind in everything from green energy research & investments, healthcare to education, while others surge ahead. What use is being the largest trading power now if down the line you have lost your comeptitiveness? Sure, US private investors would have fared well because they would have moved their moeny around, the regular joe would have been left holding the bag. Tell me, what investments exactly is the US making to combat the big automation wave that is coming through? Who in the government is thinking along those lines while everyone is reduced to reacting to Spanky's latest tweets?

[Officer of Engineers]

Who is stopping you, Canada, from writing your own standards?

Ottawa is writing her standards. We in the real world call it a tax grab. My horses don't stop farting.

Then why is he tryng to crawl back, and failing at that ? BTW, I am not the one shitting my pants, the farmers in North Dakota, who elected him, are.

If they're farmers, they will weather it. They go through crop failures a lot worst than market fluctuations. Besides, just because China raised tarrifs does not mean the rest of the world can replace US volume instantly. The demand will not go down. The prices will just go up.

Sometimes these mistake costs you decades of lost opportunity and ruined competitive positioning. Today the US is being left behind in everything from green energy research & investments, healthcare to education, while others surge ahead. What use is being the largest trading power now if down the line you have lost your comeptitiveness?

If you want that, then I strongly suggest getting a work ethic back into the next generation. That more than anything else is the key to competitiveness.

Sure, US private investors would have fared well because they would have moved their moeny around, the regular joe would have been left holding the bag. Tell me, what investments exactly is the US making to combat the big automation wave that is coming through? Who in the government is thinking along those lines while everyone is reduced to reacting to Spanky's latest tweets?

I believe an old quote that I heard back 20 years ago. We make money the old fashion way. We earned it.

[astralis]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opini...98b_story.html

Nikki Haley was confused, all right

President Trump with Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, at the White House in July. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

By Dana Milbank Opinion writer April 18 at 7:49 PM Email the author

Nikki Haley thought she knew what President Trump was going to do. Now she looks like a dupe.

What makes Republicans in Congress think their trust in Trump will work out any better for them?

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Tuesday that he won’t take up legislation blocking Trump from firing special counsel Robert S. Mueller III. Why? “I don’t think he’s going to” sack Mueller, McConnell told Fox News.

House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) expressed similar faith that Trump wouldn’t sack Mueller: “I have no reason to believe that that’s going to happen” because “I have assurances that it’s not.”

Courting disaster because of what they “think” and “believe” the erratic president will do? You may think your toddler won’t wander into traffic. You may even have her assurances. But that doesn’t mean you leave her in the front yard unattended.
1:35
Nikki Haley says she’s not ‘confused’

U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley announced sanctions against Russia on April 15, but the White House said the announcement was made in error. (Victoria Walker/The Washington Post)

When I followed the Clinton, George W. Bush and Obama administrations, it was often possible to predict presidential actions based on patterns: Clinton’s split-the-difference style, Bush’s verbal signaling, Obama’s caution. But here’s a handy rule of thumb for this administration: Those who claim to know what Trump is going to do are making it up. Nobody truly knows, because Trump himself often doesn’t know what he’s going to do before the moment he does it. Decisions are impulsive, the product not of reason but of the brain’s cortisol levels. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

This is some of what we have learned lately from the Trump administration:

We are imposing new sanctions on Russia. We are not imposing new sanctions on Russia.

China isn’t manipulating its currency. China is manipulating its currency.

We’re getting out of Syria. We aren’t getting out of Syria.

We’ll decide about bombing Syria in 24 to 48 hours. We might not bomb Syria for a long time. We bombed Syria.

The bombing of Syria will be sustained. The Syria bombing was a one-time shot.

Trump will be talking to Kim Jong Un. Trump may not be talking to Kim.

Trump fired James B. Comey because of the Russia investigation. Trump did not fire Comey because of the Russia investigation.

We are leaving the Trans-Pacific Partnership. We may rejoin the TPP. We are not rejoining the TPP.

Poor Haley had no reason to think the president would change his mind. Yet Trump made the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations look like a fool.

After a meeting on Friday about Russia sanctions, Haley went on “CBS Sunday Morning” and said the treasury secretary “will be announcing those on Monday, if he hasn’t already.”

This was consistent with talking points distributed on Saturday by the Republican National Committee, saying America intends “to impose specific additional sanctions against Russia.”

But some synapse misfired in the presidential amygdala, and what Haley thought she knew was no longer the case. Trump economic adviser Larry Kudlow said Haley had “some momentary confusion.”

Retorted Haley: “I don’t get confused.”

But she was confused: She believed assurances that Trump would do as expected.

Last Friday, Trump’s Treasury Department put out a report saying, “The Chinese currency generally moved against the dollar in a direction that should, all else equal, help reduce China’s trade surplus with the United States.” This is true: The dollar has fallen nearly 10 percent against the yuan since Trump took office.

But on Monday, Trump took the opposite position. “Russia and China are playing the Currency Devaluation game as the U.S. keeps raising interest rates. Not acceptable!” he tweeted.

Last month, Trump announced, “We’ll be coming out of Syria, like, very soon.” Now the White House was back to saying there was no timetable for an American withdrawal.

Last week, Trump signaled an imminent missile attack in Syria, saying via Twitter that Russia should “get ready” to shoot down “nice and new and ‘smart’ ” missiles. Criticized for telegraphing the strike, he then said the attack might be “not so soon at all” — a day before the attack. He said he was “prepared to sustain this response,” but Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said it was a “one-time shot.”

The president has similarly reversed or contradicted himself this week on quitting the TPP trade pact and his justification for firing Comey. On North Korea, he said he would meet with Kim and raised the possibility he wouldn’t — in the same passage.

Now, Republicans in Congress are risking a constitutional crisis because of their “belief” that Trump won’t fire Mueller:

Sen. Joni Ernst (Iowa): “I don’t think he would.”

Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (Utah): “I do not believe the president would.”

Sen. John Cornyn (Tex.): “I don’t think that’s going to happen.”

They think they know Trump’s mind, huh? So did Nikki Haley.

[antimony]

Ottawa is writing her standards. We in the real world call it a tax grab. My horses don't stop farting.

In the "real world", the big engines now fart far less.

If they're farmers, they will weather it. They go through crop failures a lot worst than market fluctuations. Besides, just because China raised tarrifs does not mean the rest of the world can replace US volume instantly. The demand will not go down. The prices will just go up.

So Trump's antics are justified just because farmers will "weather it"

If you want that, then I strongly suggest getting a work ethic back into the next generation. That more than anything else is the key to competitiveness.

I believe an old quote that I heard back 20 years ago. We make money the old fashion way. We earned it.

Who told you that the current generation does not have a work ethic? Is it because they snapchat?

And if you think "work ethic" or whatever can make you competitive, you are way, way, way behind. Many factory jobs now can be automated, it is a question of cost. I just visited a high end truck factory, where the cab assembly, one of the most involved set of jobs there, has been completely taken over by industrial robots. Nearby there were a bunch of workers performing essentially the same job on cabs of an older design, which were too low volume (and therefore costly) to be automated. But technology will catch up and these jobs will go.

And don't for a moment think that this will not impact high-end engineering jobs. Companies like Microsoft have already eliminated large batches of software testing jobs, by automating them. High end SDETs who were working on gaming platforms a few years back, now don't have a job.

Even very high end design engineering jobs are going to go. Auto and equipment mfg. companies are working on programs to automate parts optimization at the design stage and layoffs will happen if they succeed. The company where I work is designing crewless cargoships that can be controlled remotely.

How does Trump prepare for all this? By opening coal mines

[Double Edge]

You are thinking only in terms of what other countries, in their self-interest, will or will not do in the military sphere. That may or may not be true. However, that does not apply to international agreements, like the decision to ditch TTP and Paris Climate accord or any movements around the Iran nuclear treaty. If the US loses any advantage there by making any stupid moves, the world is not going to forget everything simply when a new President is sworn in. Similarly, any trade war with China will haunt the US and the world, over years to come. What is also true that Trump is burning through many of the hard fought environmental, consumer protection, labor rights and banking related regulations, which will also come back to haunt us.

Therefore, forget sending troops here and there for the moment, think trade. If I am a nation that has cobbled together a trade agreement with the help of the US and other partners, which the US then ditched, I am not going to smile and let the US in at a later point of time, if that affects my relative advantage.

What did taking out Gaddafi do for western credibility ? Are countries more likely to trust the west after that or less.

It seems memories are very short when it comes to international affairs

Who else are people going to ally with ? China !?!

[TopHatter]

Nikki Haley thought she knew what President Trump was going to do. Now she looks like a dupe.

What makes Republicans in Congress think their trust in Trump will work out any better for them?

They think they know Trump’s mind, huh? So did Nikki Haley.

Anybody who trusts anything coming out of Trump's mouth is a complete and utter fool.

[astralis]

Anybody who trusts anything coming out of Trump's mouth is a complete and utter fool.

yes, certainly.

and that also applies to KJU.

so...what happens when those two get together???? :mind blown:

[Double Edge]

so...what happens when those two get together???? :mind blown:

Big party : D : D

Meeting of minds

[Officer of Engineers]

In the "real world", the big engines now fart far less.

Yeah, in the real world, when a government cannot get its revenue because consumption is down, they come up with new taxes. Electricity consumption is down all across Canada but electric bills have gone up because of carbon and recovery tax.

So Trump's antics are justified just because farmers will "weather it"

Trump's antics are hiccups for farmers. This year's contracts are set. Demand will not go down and the one pocketting the diffrerence is Beijing.

Who told you that the current generation does not have a work ethic? Is it because they snapchat?

Simply looking at jobs that pays $20+ per hour. Plumbers, concrete pourers, construction, the jobs that require people to get their hands dirty. Also, there are a number of surveys that states young people will not take jobs without access to personal social media.

And if you think "work ethic" or whatever can make you competitive, you are way, way, way behind.

You may not get rich with a work ethic but you certainly will not without one. Ever noticed that there are no Social Justice Warriors at Trade schools?

Many factory jobs now can be automated, it is a question of cost. I just visited a high end truck factory, where the cab assembly, one of the most involved set of jobs there, has been completely taken over by industrial robots. Nearby there were a bunch of workers performing essentially the same job on cabs of an older design, which were too low volume (and therefore costly) to be automated. But technology will catch up and these jobs will go.

I have yet to see robots that can survey roads, tear up dirt, paved roads, pour concrete, install machinery, and do quality assurance.

And don't for a moment think that this will not impact high-end engineering jobs. Companies like Microsoft have already eliminated large batches of software testing jobs, by automating them. High end SDETs who were working on gaming platforms a few years back, now don't have a job.

Jobs that don't require you to get your hands dirty. That has been the case for decades. It used to be I need to be able to read my CO's handwriting to relay his orders. Now, I can laser out my orders so that there are no misunderstanding but in either case, the orders need to be carried out by men.

Even very high end design engineering jobs are going to go. Auto and equipment mfg. companies are working on programs to automate parts optimization at the design stage and layoffs will happen if they succeed. The company where I work is designing crewless cargoships that can be controlled remotely.

Yeah, good luck with that.

1) Situational awareness is far more limited
2) When the company that makes the software no longer supports the software or hardware, they force you to rip out both to install new modules, adding expense that you do not need. JOHN DEERE is not very popular in Canada right now because of this reason. Farmers are not allowed to make changes to the computer hardware and software, requiring them to transport the equipment to a depot at $6000 a shot before the repair bill. JOHN DEERE no longer support the old module requiring the farmers to spend $25,000 to replace it with a model they do support.

Farmers turned to East European hacks to fix their own machines. JOHN DEERE has taken them to court for violating copyrights. Farmers are responding that they have a right to do their own repairs.

3) When USN Warships are still crashing into things, you have a long way to go before you get everything down to even acceptable levels.

How does Trump prepare for all this? By opening coal mines

Trump is right. Energy demands will not go down and despite what everyone else is saying, coal is cheap.

[GVChamp]

What did taking out Gaddafi do for western credibility ? Are countries more likely to trust the west after that or less.

It seems memories are very short when it comes to international affairs

Who else are people going to ally with ? China !?!

Simple answer, ally with America. America is a dependable ally. Libya was not a US ally, it was a partner with European nations on some issues, which is an entirely different story.

You still gotta have something we want, though!

[TopHatter]

Trump is right. Energy demands will not go down and despite what everyone else is saying, coal is cheap.

Trump is wrong. Energy demands have gone down. Energy efficiencies are making their mark.
That's why my local power company is demolishing a coal-fired 1200-megawatt plant decades ahead of its projected service life.

Incidentally, after demolition, the property will be held for a possible future natural gas plant.

This is hardly the only one either.

Coal is cheap but its also filthy and outdated and on its way out the door.

[Red Team]

.
Simply looking at jobs that pays $20+ per hour. Plumbers, concrete pourers, construction, the jobs that require people to get their hands dirty. Also, there are a number of surveys that states young people will not take jobs without access to personal social media.

You may not get rich with a work ethic but you certainly will not without one. Ever noticed that there are no Social Justice Warriors at Trade schools?

Col,

I don't associate the shortage of people in my generation going into the trades for "lower work ethic", it's more an indictment on how we were groomed by the educational system, popular culture, and our parents to go to college to be successful. The trades were shown to us to be unglamorous, dispassionate, and a sign of complacency in a world where we were all somehow expected to be doctors, lawyers, and CEOs. Instead, many of my friends who were unable to break into academia and the high professions find themselves scrambling between multiple jobs to pay off student loans and picking up additional credentials for alternate professions.

I'd argue my generation is just as hard working, if not moreso, than previous ones. We just also happen to be the most misdirected.

[Officer of Engineers]

Col,

I don't associate the shortage of people in my generation going into the trades for "lower work ethic", it's more an indictment on how we were groomed by the educational system, popular culture, and our parents to go to college to be successful. The trades were shown to us to be unglamorous, dispassionate, and a sign of complacency in a world where we were all somehow expected to be doctors, lawyers, and CEOs. Instead, many of my friends who were unable to break into academia and the high professions find themselves scrambling between multiple jobs to pay off student loans and picking up additional credentials for alternate professions.

Exactly what I'm talking about. Pick something. Stick with it. There is absolutely nothing wrong with just paying the bills. We have Doctors from India driving cabs in NYC because for whatever reason, they could not get a license to practise in the US. But they're paying the bills just so their kids have a chance at something better. IT DOES NOT MEAN THEIR KIDS WILL BE BETTER BUT THEY HAVE THAT CHANCE. Just a chance. That kind of sacrafice and ethics I don't see with this generation as they deemed having personal social media access as a job prequesit.

At the end of the day, everyone of us just wants to put food on the table and a roof over our heads for our families. That's what is important, not being a CEO of the next big thing.