American Politics 4.0 - Orangeyou Glad He’s Back?

[Paulie Walnuts]

It’s a minor thing happening but the idiots who vote for Trump it’s a big issue. If he can swing people his way no big deal because it’s most likely not his view anyways as most politicians are liars.

If you need to lie and cheat to keep Musk and Trump on the sidelines who cares honestly.

As Michelle Obama once said when they go low go we go high. That doesn’t work with the US voters.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

It's such a minor issue involving so few people that has been weaponized, and y'all fall for it. Any time you give them an inch on these things, you validate their positions and help them progress down the field. Go ahead and have an opinion, but don't pretend that it's some politics level issue that needs solving. This has been, and should continue to be managed at the sport governing body level. And unless it's Super A Plus Tier high school sport or above, none of it should register on the radar. Let the kids play, don't make is so fricken' serious.

So please, stop validating their positions. This is how they got where they are. People gave Trumps birth certificate BS air, and allowed for room for doubt about Obama, and looked how that turned out. You stop this #### now, or you lose complete control. Even if you don't feel 150% comfortable for whatever reason. It's not worth it.

It's like that for all those individual niche issues. Unfortunately, the Republicans have shown that if you throw enough of those into the platform, you can pry a lot of votes away.

The number of people who say they didn't necessarily like Trump but agreed with one issue and voted for him, seems to be pretty big. I don't like Trump, but I don't want to be taxed on my tips. I don't like Trump, but I agree with the trans things. I don't like Trump, but I want free IVF. I don't like Trump, but I also don't like abortion. And so on.

I agree they are distractions most of the time, but they add up. The Democrats tried to ignore or playdown those types of issues during the election, but whether we like it or not, they probably made a difference in the results.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

It's like that for all those individual niche issues. Unfortunately, the Republicans have shown that if you throw enough of those into the platform, you can pry a lot of votes away.

The number of people who say they didn't necessarily like Trump but agreed with one issue and voted for him, seems to be pretty big. I don't like Trump, but I don't want to be taxed on my tips. I don't like Trump, but I agree with the trans things. I don't like Trump, but I want free IVF. I don't like Trump, but I also don't like abortion. And so on.

I agree they are distractions most of the time, but they add up. The Democrats tried to ignore or playdown those types of issues during the election, but whether we like it or not, they probably made a difference in the results.

The only response those issues deserve when they come up is to be relentlessly mocked. Make them look like the petty creepy ones.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

How long before a new Trump post where he accuses Carney of being an unelected dictator?

[direwolf]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

How long before a new Trump post where he accuses Carney of being an unelected dictator?

No doubt he’ll try and take credit for Trudeau stepping down, probably saying something along the lines of Trudeau is a wimp and gave up because Trump is such a tough guy, and Justin couldn’t handle it.

[Locke]

[GGG]

The trans athelete question is so dumb because it focuses on 10 elite athletes instead of a group of kids being excluded.

A 14 year old person should just play at the tier of skill level they belong with the gender they identify with. Start your thoughts on sports there instead of NCAA and Olympics.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by GGG

The trans athelete question is so dumb because it focuses on 10 elite athletes instead of a group of kids being excluded.

A 14 year old person should just play at the tier of skill level they belong with the gender they identify with. Start your thoughts on sports there instead of NCAA and Olympics.

It's probably the same mechanism that has people not wanting to tax billionaires, because they too might be a billionaire one day real soon. Well someone they know, or their children might become elite athletes, and it would be a tragedy for a man to beat their neighbour's daughter at the Olympics in wrestling. People are really good at imagining things with exceedingly low odds happening to them.

[nfotiu]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

It's probably the same mechanism that has people not wanting to tax billionaires, because they too might be a billionaire one day real soon. Well someone they know, or their children might become elite athletes, and it would be a tragedy for a man to beat their neighbour's daughter at the Olympics in wrestling. People are really good at imagining things with exceedingly low odds happening to them.

I don't really see it that way. It's more akin to the immigration crime issue, where people believe it is far more prevalent than it is and are imagining girl's sports over-run with boys pretending to be girls.

They become trap issues for the Democrats, and Republicans are getting pretty good at working the strategy. Republicans will forward a bill to ban all trans-gendered athletes from competing at any level, and Democrats will vote against it. Then we see non stop TV commercials with some ridiculously hairy 6'6 man in girl's uniform saying that radical liberal Democrats want men to play against your girls. Who's going to protect our girls?

It's ####ty politics, but it works.

[Firebot]

Stock market (more specifically NASDAQ at almost 3% down right now) appears to be in a free fall this morning with TSLA shaving off another 8% and falling fast.

I moved most of my funds to cash last week and the rest to European markets looking to avoid the US market completely and minimize exposure until something breaks and reevaluate. Probably many doing the same. How long until companies knock at Trump's door to stop the bleeding?

Frankly I feel the market is just hoping somehow things will be alright...somehow and that Trump isn't completely sabotaging the economy. I don't think this will last long and it will give out (versus Trump suddenly not being insane).

TSLA now down 40% YTD

[ResAlien]

https://apnews.com/article/columbia-...704d5acdcae7a8

NEW YORK (AP) — Federal immigration authorities arrested a Palestinian activist Saturday who played a prominent role in Columbia University’s protests against Israel, a significant escalation in the Trump administration’s pledge to detain and deport student activists.

Mahmoud Khalil, a graduate student at Columbia until this past December, was inside his university-owned apartment Saturday night when several Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents entered and took him into custody, his attorney, Amy Greer, told The Associated Press.

Greer said she spoke by phone with one of the ICE agents during the arrest, who said they were acting on State Department orders to revoke Khalil’s student visa. Informed by the attorney that Khalil was in the United States as a permanent resident with a green card, the agent said they were revoking that instead, according to the lawyer.

It's probably fine that they're arresting protestors and revoking green cards right?

[MrButtons]

Bit late to the party but I'd encourage y'all to look at this letter the Gov from Utah wrote back in 2022.

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022...-ban-veto.html

Finally, there is one more important reason for this veto. I must admit, I am not an expert on transgenderism. I struggle to understand so much of it and the science is conflicting. When in doubt however, I always try to err on the side of kindness, mercy and compassion. I also try to get proximate and I am learning so much from our transgender community. They are great kids who face enormous struggles. Here are the numbers that have most impacted my decision: 75,000, 4, 1, 86 and 56.

● 75,000 high school kids participating in high school sports in Utah.

● 4 transgender kids playing high school sports in Utah.

● 1 transgender student playing girls sports.

● 86% of trans youth reporting suicidality.

● 56% of trans youth having attempted suicide

Four kids and only one of them playing girls sports. That’s what all of this is about. Four kids who aren’t dominating or winning trophies or taking scholarships. Four kids who are just trying to find some friends and feel like they are a part of something. Four kids trying to get through each day. Rarely has so much fear and anger been directed at so few. I don’t understand what they are going through or why they feel the way they do. But I want them to live. And all the research shows that even a little acceptance and connection can reduce suicidality significantly.

[nfotiu]

Originally Posted by Firebot

Stock market (more specifically NASDAQ at almost 3% down right now) appears to be in a free fall this morning with TSLA shaving off another 8% and falling fast.

I moved most of my funds to cash last week and the rest to European markets looking to avoid the US market completely and minimize exposure until something breaks and reevaluate. Probably many doing the same. How long until companies knock at Trump's door to stop the bleeding?

Frankly I feel the market is just hoping somehow things will be alright...somehow and that Trump isn't completely sabotaging the economy. I don't think this will last long and it will give out (versus Trump suddenly not being insane).

TSLA now down 40% YTD

It's rare that a president can have such immediate and dramatic affects on the economy and stock market. Normally, the impacts of government's actions are seen a year or two down the road.

He's actually managing to shrink the economy and increase inflation simultaneously with all of his policies.

I don't spend much time looking at Project 2025, but I guess one outcome they are trying for is to destroy everything and try to build it back up the way they want it.

The only plausible explanations for what he's doing is to purposely destroy everything, or just gross incompetence.

[Sidney Crosby's Hat]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

How long before a new Trump post where he accuses Carney of being an unelected dictator?

I'll take that over "governor."

[Drak]

Originally Posted by nfotiu

It's rare that a president can have such immediate and dramatic affects on the economy and stock market. Normally, the impacts of government's actions are seen a year or two down the road.

He's actually managing to shrink the economy and increase inflation simultaneously with all of his policies.

I don't spend much time looking at Project 2025, but I guess one outcome they are trying for is to destroy everything and try to build it back up the way they want it.

The only plausible explanations for what he's doing is to purposely destroy everything, or just gross incompetence.

Or he’s a Russian asset purposely destroying America from within.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Originally Posted by Sidney Crosby's Hat

I'll take that over "governor."

Bad news: he's definitely going to keep doing that at the same time as he suggests we've been taken over by some evil menace.

[pseudoreality]

Originally Posted by Firebot

I moved most of my funds to cash last week and the rest to European markets looking to avoid the US market completely and minimize exposure until something breaks and reevaluate. Probably many doing the same.

I don't think that is the best strategy. Just stay invested in a diversified portfolio and ignore the noise. It will balance out over time. The last thing you want to do is try to time the market.

[Fuzz]

Uh, ya, but when you see a train wreck coming, you get out of the way. You can argue aa train wreck isn't coming, but that argument is getting harder to defend.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Originally Posted by pseudoreality

I don't think that is the best strategy. Just stay invested in a diversified portfolio and ignore the noise. It will balance out over time. The last thing you want to do is try to time the market.

Yup... Seems to me that if you're under 50 (and even more so the younger you are) and you're saving for retirement by just buying into it for the same every month whether up or down, you'll be in good shape in a couple decades when you're ready to start taking money out of the RRSP. That's been my approach, anyway. Same amount goes in every month. You start trying to tweak things and make little adjustments based on week-to-week trends, you end up like a pilot flying out of cloud cover completely upside down.

That's just how I see it though, maybe that doesn't reflect the common wisdom.

[Lubicon]

Originally Posted by Mr.Coffee

Couple awesome quotes coming out of Singapore today, from Zakaria’s “Fareed Takes” today who continues to be one of the most reliable news voices out there IMO.

Singapore Defense Minister Eng Hen in reference to the US:
“…has changed from liberator to great disrupter to a landlord seeking rent…”

Singapore Senior Minister Hsien Loong:
“The US is no longer prepared to underwrite the global order. This makes the international environment far less orderly and predictable.”

So true and the US is going to give up enormous international presence and reliability.

The world hates a vacuum. The US had better be prepared for the consequences of their actions, other countries are going to step in and fill whatever vacuum is left when the US departs. They won't like who that will likely be.