Politics Thread!
Re: Politics Thread!
The Worlds foremost international economics expert is now threatening an additional 50% tariff on goods from China unless China drops its retaliatory tariffs on the US. If you would like to know the point at which economic warfare becomes actual warfare, you could try Imperial Japan circa mid-1941.
"Stars don't twinkle in space." - Char Aznable.
Re: Politics Thread!
There will be no meaningful midterms. We are 3 months in. The date for the midterms is 19 months away.KlaxonCow wrote:Let them fall into an economic slump that might hopefully make the American people rise up - at the midterms, in protest, in defiance.
"massive retard™", "full of shit™", "tiny bitch™", "retarted™", "a bit of a one trick pony™", "petty™", "simple minded idealistic twat™", "miserable humourless fucker™"
Re: Politics Thread!
Japan and South Korea have decided to go with China.
https://www.reuters.com/world/china-jap ... 025-03-31/
Like, it's not as if they have ever liked China but, right now, it's the reasonable and responsible party here. The Devil you know and can predict.
Canada has already been looking for alternative supplies in Europe. The EU is going to cooperatively resist. And, again, both these parties might not be China's greatest fan but America's being so reckless here that China is the reliable party. You order something from China, they're going to deliver it, without putting silly tariffs on you.
It's already happening, and Starmer's "Trump whispering" has resulted in no preferential treatment whatsoever. America's given out its formula for calculating these tariffs and the UK exactly has, like every other country (save the anomaly of Russia and North Korea, who received nothing whatsoever, despite being the aggressors in Ukraine), received what the formula dictates. Nothing Starmer has done has actually altered our fate in any way whatsoever.
The world is following that path of least resistance. Cut America out, and find alternative arrangements with nations that don't have tariffs (or, well, the world always has some kind of strategic tariffs going on, but they're targeted and modest and you can work with them, not this bizarre blanket universal tariff on everyone simultaneously).
Jaguar Land Rover has already said "nope" to moving manufacturing in America, for much the reasons I've mentioned. It doesn't work unless you can shift every part of your manufacture inside America, or you're still paying a tariff on some part or another. Like, not even Tesla is 100% "Made in America" and it imports certain things from elsewhere.
And it's a big "nope" because what's the incentive to make a massive investment in moving your manufacturing to a country that's currently wilfully destroying the stock market, is headed for a recession where consumer spending is going to dry up, is behaving irrationally and randomly, where - presuming the natural order of things - the Democrats could well be in power in 4 years and reverses the entire thing (and if the Democrats are not in power in 4 years because "King" Trump has suspended democracy and is refusing to leave office then, yeah, no fucking way are we moving our operations into the exclusive "kingdom" of an orange madman).
Other corporations are going to follow suit, even if they might not have the balls to state these things out loud where the orange man can hear them. But, as America economically implodes and gets cut out of global trade, businesses are not only going to be saying "are you fucking kidding me?" to the idea of moving exclusively into American manufacture, the businesses that are already there will be looking at ways to actually move out of America, to be able to operate freely outside this madman's sphere of influence. Like, not necessarily completely fleeing America, but setting up an "EU office" and then finding that their "backup plan" is actually doing better numbers outside the US than inside, where it's catering only to a domestic audience that has no fucking money to buy anything.
It's the new MAGA hat joke: "Make America Great Depression Again".
https://www.reuters.com/world/china-jap ... 025-03-31/
Like, it's not as if they have ever liked China but, right now, it's the reasonable and responsible party here. The Devil you know and can predict.
Canada has already been looking for alternative supplies in Europe. The EU is going to cooperatively resist. And, again, both these parties might not be China's greatest fan but America's being so reckless here that China is the reliable party. You order something from China, they're going to deliver it, without putting silly tariffs on you.
It's already happening, and Starmer's "Trump whispering" has resulted in no preferential treatment whatsoever. America's given out its formula for calculating these tariffs and the UK exactly has, like every other country (save the anomaly of Russia and North Korea, who received nothing whatsoever, despite being the aggressors in Ukraine), received what the formula dictates. Nothing Starmer has done has actually altered our fate in any way whatsoever.
The world is following that path of least resistance. Cut America out, and find alternative arrangements with nations that don't have tariffs (or, well, the world always has some kind of strategic tariffs going on, but they're targeted and modest and you can work with them, not this bizarre blanket universal tariff on everyone simultaneously).
Jaguar Land Rover has already said "nope" to moving manufacturing in America, for much the reasons I've mentioned. It doesn't work unless you can shift every part of your manufacture inside America, or you're still paying a tariff on some part or another. Like, not even Tesla is 100% "Made in America" and it imports certain things from elsewhere.
And it's a big "nope" because what's the incentive to make a massive investment in moving your manufacturing to a country that's currently wilfully destroying the stock market, is headed for a recession where consumer spending is going to dry up, is behaving irrationally and randomly, where - presuming the natural order of things - the Democrats could well be in power in 4 years and reverses the entire thing (and if the Democrats are not in power in 4 years because "King" Trump has suspended democracy and is refusing to leave office then, yeah, no fucking way are we moving our operations into the exclusive "kingdom" of an orange madman).
Other corporations are going to follow suit, even if they might not have the balls to state these things out loud where the orange man can hear them. But, as America economically implodes and gets cut out of global trade, businesses are not only going to be saying "are you fucking kidding me?" to the idea of moving exclusively into American manufacture, the businesses that are already there will be looking at ways to actually move out of America, to be able to operate freely outside this madman's sphere of influence. Like, not necessarily completely fleeing America, but setting up an "EU office" and then finding that their "backup plan" is actually doing better numbers outside the US than inside, where it's catering only to a domestic audience that has no fucking money to buy anything.
It's the new MAGA hat joke: "Make America Great Depression Again".
"Words ought to be a little wild - for they are assaults of thought on the unthinking."
- John Maynard Keynes
- John Maynard Keynes
Re: Politics Thread!
100% accurate recreation of Trump this morning in the Oval Office:
Remember, folks, don't be weak. Don't be a PANICAN. Only the weak will fail.
Another nugget of wisdom from the guy who gave us "covfefe".
Remember, folks, don't be weak. Don't be a PANICAN. Only the weak will fail.
Another nugget of wisdom from the guy who gave us "covfefe".
"Words ought to be a little wild - for they are assaults of thought on the unthinking."
- John Maynard Keynes
- John Maynard Keynes
Re: Politics Thread!
Meanwhile, the administration whose leader is absolutely not balls deep in a memecoin has gutted the bit of the FBI which investigates and enforces cryptocurrency crimes.
"massive retard™", "full of shit™", "tiny bitch™", "retarted™", "a bit of a one trick pony™", "petty™", "simple minded idealistic twat™", "miserable humourless fucker™"
Re: Politics Thread!
There is the theory that Trump's breaking America deliberately.tufty wrote:Meanwhile, the administration whose leader is absolutely not balls deep in a memecoin has gutted the bit of the FBI which investigates and enforces cryptocurrency crimes.
He's gutting out the government, and making it incapable of response, through DOGE. And now he's ruining the economy deliberately.
Because he and his Russian oligarch friends can pilfer the ruins of a failed United States for cheap assets, just as they've previously done with the assets of a failed Soviet Union.
This is a conspiracy theory that depends on you believing that Trump actually knows what he's doing and is pretending to be an idiot, rather than that he is just an idiot, though. But, in fairness, he can remain an idiot that's just being directed by those behind "Project 2025" to do the clever things.
But, again, the sole exceptions to Trump's tariff regime - even including uninhabited penguin islands - are Russia and their paid ally North Korea. So he's exactly opening up America for this - disabling its government, disabling its judiciary, ruining its value and essentially breaking the nation as quickly as he can.
Return it to the Wild West once more, then let the multi-billionaires plunder the ruins for bargains and control of it all.
"Words ought to be a little wild - for they are assaults of thought on the unthinking."
- John Maynard Keynes
- John Maynard Keynes
Re: Politics Thread!
The Chinese Embassy has tweeted a Reagan speech against the use of tariffs.
https://x.com/ChineseEmbinUS/status/1909243694336581747
China is quoting Reagan, while Trump has been quoting Kremlin propaganda word-for-word about Ukraine.
This is Bizarro world. Everything's turned upside down.
https://x.com/ChineseEmbinUS/status/1909243694336581747
China is quoting Reagan, while Trump has been quoting Kremlin propaganda word-for-word about Ukraine.
This is Bizarro world. Everything's turned upside down.
"Words ought to be a little wild - for they are assaults of thought on the unthinking."
- John Maynard Keynes
- John Maynard Keynes
Re: Politics Thread!
"This is a GREAT time to move your COMPANY into the United States of America."
"ZERO TARIFFS, and almost immediate Electrical/Energy hook ups and approvals. No Environmental Delays. DON’T WAIT, DO IT NOW!"
I was recently watching a video [1] on the development of the A-26 Invader, a twin-engined World War II bomber (This is what I do for fun. Invite me to your parties!). It’s production was held up for a time due to a lack of wing spars; the company that made it had its own factories but was dependent on other companies to make the spars, who in turn were relying on yet more companies to make the machines that made the spars in the first place. And they were slammed with war work.
Bear in mind this was back in the early 1940s when everything was made of string and raw iron, the US had essentially an infinite cheat code as far as resources went and everything was made in the US, and you could go from “Hmm, what happens if I bang this little thing into this little thing?” to OMDs most well known hit in less than five years. And they still had trouble building infrastructure of national importance.
How much harder thats going to be when everything is like a drunken spider-web of international dependencies and is made of nano-clouds and meta-plastic is something these people probably have virtually no concept of…
[1] “Not A Pound For Air to Ground” on YouTube, for everything you never wanted to know about the Grumman F-9 Cougar.
"ZERO TARIFFS, and almost immediate Electrical/Energy hook ups and approvals. No Environmental Delays. DON’T WAIT, DO IT NOW!"
I was recently watching a video [1] on the development of the A-26 Invader, a twin-engined World War II bomber (This is what I do for fun. Invite me to your parties!). It’s production was held up for a time due to a lack of wing spars; the company that made it had its own factories but was dependent on other companies to make the spars, who in turn were relying on yet more companies to make the machines that made the spars in the first place. And they were slammed with war work.
Bear in mind this was back in the early 1940s when everything was made of string and raw iron, the US had essentially an infinite cheat code as far as resources went and everything was made in the US, and you could go from “Hmm, what happens if I bang this little thing into this little thing?” to OMDs most well known hit in less than five years. And they still had trouble building infrastructure of national importance.
How much harder thats going to be when everything is like a drunken spider-web of international dependencies and is made of nano-clouds and meta-plastic is something these people probably have virtually no concept of…
[1] “Not A Pound For Air to Ground” on YouTube, for everything you never wanted to know about the Grumman F-9 Cougar.
"Stars don't twinkle in space." - Char Aznable.
Re: Politics Thread!
Trump put tariffs on France of 20% within the EU, but some of the French colonies have 10% tariffs, even though they are technically part of France.
So I was thinking that France can simply officially route stuff through one of these colonies and get an instant 10% discount.
But then it dawned on me. The UK has the lowest 10% tariff.
Okay, EU, send everything to us. We'll deliver it to America on your behalf and it'll only incur a 10% tariff. We'll help you cheat Trump's pointless tax.
The world should all work together and send everything to America via only 10% tariff countries. Hey, China, send it through us and you can have an instant 94% discount.
Then point at Trump and laugh. You fucking moron, didn't think of that, did you?
As Sesame Street once told me in my childhood: "CO-OP-ER-ATION!"
(I would do it all for free, just for the shits and giggles. But, like, we can offer to do it for 2%. The EU sends us stuff and pays a 12% tariff - we keep the 2% and America gets the 10%. That's still an 8% discount and we can actually profit off of it at the same time. Win / win for everyone.)
So I was thinking that France can simply officially route stuff through one of these colonies and get an instant 10% discount.
But then it dawned on me. The UK has the lowest 10% tariff.
Okay, EU, send everything to us. We'll deliver it to America on your behalf and it'll only incur a 10% tariff. We'll help you cheat Trump's pointless tax.
The world should all work together and send everything to America via only 10% tariff countries. Hey, China, send it through us and you can have an instant 94% discount.
Then point at Trump and laugh. You fucking moron, didn't think of that, did you?
As Sesame Street once told me in my childhood: "CO-OP-ER-ATION!"
(I would do it all for free, just for the shits and giggles. But, like, we can offer to do it for 2%. The EU sends us stuff and pays a 12% tariff - we keep the 2% and America gets the 10%. That's still an 8% discount and we can actually profit off of it at the same time. Win / win for everyone.)
"Words ought to be a little wild - for they are assaults of thought on the unthinking."
- John Maynard Keynes
- John Maynard Keynes
-
Harlequin
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Re: Politics Thread!
I tend to think the Don is far too effective a con artist to be a true idiot. His heart too easily overrides his head, however, and that heart is narcissistic in its fragilityKlaxonCow wrote:This is a conspiracy theory that depends on you believing that Trump actually knows what he's doing and is pretending to be an idiot, rather than that he is just an idiot, though.
Until, of course, huge tariffs are imposed upon any country that permits that.KlaxonCow wrote:The world should all work together and send everything to America via only 10% tariff countries. Hey, China, send it through us and you can have an instant 94% discount.
What would that have been, then?F-ZeroOne wrote:… OMDs most well known hit …
Emoticon and contraction free since... quite a while ago.
Re: Politics Thread!
Should have seen this coming after he tried the same trick on Canada and Mexico.
Trump has declared a 90 pause on tariffs and a lowered reciprocal rate of 10% for all countries except China, who now face a 125% tariff for showing him disrespect.
After 90 days, I'm sure he'll threaten this all again. Wait for the world to ask for negotiations, provide concessions and gifts to "the King of the World" and then he'll rinse and repeat, squeezing out as much free concessions to the US as he can.
Basically, the trick worked with Canada and Mexico, who came to plead with him. So now he reckons he can use this gangster "protection racket" on the entire planet simultaneously.
Fuck him. Cut America out of global trade and proceed to find alternatives to American supply. It's only a 90 day reprieve to milk concessions out of the countries of the world, then he'll do it again. And again. And again.
"Bring gifts and tithe to the King of the World, you peasants. Or else."
Don't fall for it. Continue with "plan B" in the background, and set things up ready to continue without America. It's already proved itself unreliable and no trust should be placed on Trump's "mercy". Because he's just shaking everyone down for their pocket money, like a schoolyard bully.
Trump has declared a 90 pause on tariffs and a lowered reciprocal rate of 10% for all countries except China, who now face a 125% tariff for showing him disrespect.
After 90 days, I'm sure he'll threaten this all again. Wait for the world to ask for negotiations, provide concessions and gifts to "the King of the World" and then he'll rinse and repeat, squeezing out as much free concessions to the US as he can.
Basically, the trick worked with Canada and Mexico, who came to plead with him. So now he reckons he can use this gangster "protection racket" on the entire planet simultaneously.
Fuck him. Cut America out of global trade and proceed to find alternatives to American supply. It's only a 90 day reprieve to milk concessions out of the countries of the world, then he'll do it again. And again. And again.
"Bring gifts and tithe to the King of the World, you peasants. Or else."
Don't fall for it. Continue with "plan B" in the background, and set things up ready to continue without America. It's already proved itself unreliable and no trust should be placed on Trump's "mercy". Because he's just shaking everyone down for their pocket money, like a schoolyard bully.
"Words ought to be a little wild - for they are assaults of thought on the unthinking."
- John Maynard Keynes
- John Maynard Keynes
Re: Politics Thread!
“Enola They’re Just Really Happy”? (Though I should point out that in the US their biggest hit was “If You Leave”, which seems to be almost unknown here - I’ve been hearing “Enola Gay” since I was a child and while I’m not a big music person, I didn’t know “If You Leave” existed until a couple years ago).Harlequin wrote:What would that have been, then?F-ZeroOne wrote:… OMDs most well known hit …
This flip-flopping is certainly making it pretty difficult for businesses to actually plan things - not only Ninendo cancelling Switch 2 pre-orders in the US (which is also affecting Canada) but Razer have just announced a pause on shipments of their gaming laptops and components to the US.
"Stars don't twinkle in space." - Char Aznable.
Re: Politics Thread!
Remains to be seen what the EU decide to do. They're supposed to be rolling out 25% tariffs on a number of US products starting next week. That will probably be scaled back somewhat, but they don't seem to be willing to let it lie.
Companies like Apple are fucked, of course. The price of an iPhone in the US is gonna triple at least. Trump seems to think the US can make iPhones tariff-free, but they can't, at least not on a financially viable scale. Foxconn aren't moving manufacturing to the US any time soon.
Way I see it, either someone has managed to point out to Trump that he's started an unwinnable trade war of the US vs the rest of the world, or they've pointed out that he now has not only powerful groups within the US, but also nation-state level groups, who might consider it worthwhile to remove his golfing privileges in a permanent manner.
Companies like Apple are fucked, of course. The price of an iPhone in the US is gonna triple at least. Trump seems to think the US can make iPhones tariff-free, but they can't, at least not on a financially viable scale. Foxconn aren't moving manufacturing to the US any time soon.
Way I see it, either someone has managed to point out to Trump that he's started an unwinnable trade war of the US vs the rest of the world, or they've pointed out that he now has not only powerful groups within the US, but also nation-state level groups, who might consider it worthwhile to remove his golfing privileges in a permanent manner.
"massive retard™", "full of shit™", "tiny bitch™", "retarted™", "a bit of a one trick pony™", "petty™", "simple minded idealistic twat™", "miserable humourless fucker™"
Re: Politics Thread!
Radio 5 was in the middle of interviewing a pro-tariff American who insisted Trump wasn't stupid, but this was a brilliant move to take back control of the US' economy. They cut away from him for the breaking news that he was going back on it all and came back for a comment afterwards and he went something like "Well... yes, now we do look like idiots".
Re: Politics Thread!
It's not even a cheat if you just send it to Norn Iron first.KlaxonCow wrote:But then it dawned on me. The UK has the lowest 10% tariff.
Okay, EU, send everything to us. We'll deliver it to America on your behalf and it'll only incur a 10% tariff. We'll help you cheat Trump's pointless tax.