Greenland and the NATO/EU/UN

[Word]

Greenland doesn't matter that much to Putin and Xi. It's a pawn. Putin probably told Trump he can have Greenland if Russia can have Ukraine, and Xi can have Taiwan. At the same time they provoke the NATO military around the world in every way so that Trump feels obliged to show military strength, which he does anyway. China and Russia will continue to support anti-democratic movements in the West so that the remaining trust into the institutions erodes faster and further than a democracy, by definition vulnerable, manages to do on its own. They split capitalist societies by empowering nazis and they split international organizations by turning allies against each other, i. e. by enticing to Trump to break norms and the law and threatening Denmark and the EU, all of which never meant anything to him anyhow, so it's not even that hard. Also, I'm pretty sure that 50 years from now, maybe earlier or later, we'll learn that there are lots of Russian sleeper agents in these Republican circles.

[kyle]

All Trump is really doing is trying to expand the US military presence there and potentially secure a deal for Rare-earth elements. It's part of his game-plan, try for something large,a and settle for something less, TACO, but TACO always gains soemthing

[Z-Man]

All Trump is really doing...

He is openly contemplating military action against a NATO ally. Given his history, that has to be considered a threat. No, you can't normalize that with "All he is doing". This is not normal. I mean, very little of the other stuff is normal, but this is especially not normal in the context of international relations. Between allies. Do yourself a favor and don't try to defend it.

(Dammit. He just walked away from that threat. But it was true when kyle wrote his post, so my response stands.)

[sinewav]

...trying to expand the US military presence there and potentially secure a deal for Rare-earth elements.

The administration can do all of this without the public ever knowing about it, that's what the ******* State Department is for. I guess Rubio is inept or something? If you are concerned about the stability of the dollar then the last thing you want is a leader who creates uncertainty. Words have meaning. Of course, it's widely believed that Trump is manipulating the stock market to enrich himself and his inner circle, which is pretty horrible on top of everything else horrible this pedophile does.

[kyle]

Do yourself a favor and don't try to defend it.

Not trying to defend it, just saying what was clearly going on

(Dammit. He just walked away from that threat. But it was true when kyle wrote his post, so my response stands.)

I wrote my post knowing that was going to happen, Trump is predictable, he threatens all kinds of stuff, then backs down as he inches closer to a deal, then when he backs off, if things go the wrong way, he threatens again, until he eventually gets what he wants. It's an effective negotiating tactic and has been working.

The administration can do all of this without the public ever knowing about it, that's what the ******* State Department is for.

True, but the excess fear trump adds to the people, who irrationally sell stocks because of the "fear" making the market fall, adds more pressure to come to some sort of a deal.

Of course, it's widely believed that Trump is manipulating the stock market to enrich himself and his inner circle,

not finance advice but, Lesson number one of investing in the stock market, Buy on Red days, anyone smart enough knows that you don't sell while it is falling.

If you are concerned about the stability of the dollar then the last thing you want is a leader who creates uncertainty.

Very true, but most of the volatility lasts a week or two at most


All in all like it or not Trump is a businessman, and he knows how to use fear to get the results he wants, that's exactly what he is doing on a much larger scale.

Also I think it is worth saying, I don't agree with his wants to expand military bases at Greenland, This is literally the way Republicans funnel money via "war" efforts, and I believe that is more the driver of this than, actually needing a larger base there for "protection"

[Z-Man]

Do yourself a favor and don't try to defend it.

Not trying to defend it, just saying what was clearly going on
...
I wrote my post knowing that was going to happen, Trump is predictable, he threatens all kinds of stuff, then backs down as he inches closer to a deal, then when he backs off, if things go the wrong way, he threatens again, until he eventually gets what he wants. It's an effective negotiating tactic and has been working.

Dunno, that sounds very much like defending his actions to me, using "The Ends justify the Means" logic. Problem is, that's not a universally true statement, it depends on the Ends and Means, and in this case, the Means, threatening allied states unprovoked, are simply unjustifiable. And the Ends, whatever they may be (best theory I heard is that Trump wants it to be part of his legacy that he expanded US territory), don't justify any action that would harm any other nation.
When someone gets mugged, you don't go "Yeah, sure, he pointed a gun at you and threatened to shoot you, but it was an effective negotiation tactic because he got your wallet that way", do you?

[sinewav]

I just want to reiterate what's been said: using the threat of violence, economic or otherwise, is not negotiating, it's bullying. It shouldn't be tolerated, ever, by anyone.

[kyle]

Dunno, that sounds very much like defending his actions to me

Maybe to you, but to explain what he does, you still have to understand the motives and actions enough whether right or wrong, to be able to detail what he did

best theory I heard is that Trump wants it to be part of his legacy that he expanded US territory

potentially true, but I still stand by he wanted to set-up more money funnelling via military base expansion

The finny thing is, if any potential expansions he wants did become states, they would all likely vote in favour of Democrats, making it vastly harder for republicans to win.


But overall both parties have so much fraud involved with them it's time for new parties, to actually remove the fraud. The problem with that is they have created an election system that can basically rig it against any other party. With that said, I'll double down on this, even with all the verbal chaos he causes around the world, I'd still support the good things he has done over the bad stuff Biden and Kamala did. I found I can't be happy with either party, but I'd rather have rules that matter, that trying to guess wtf rules matter or don't matter, or how they are going to bias decisions. And from what i'm hearing crime went down significantly over the last year. Empathy for lifetime criminals is idiotic.

Unfortunately the way Trump has been preserved here, continues to add to the Republicans or Democrats being the only 2 viable parties to actually elect. Republicans still protect my interests the best, yes I'd love to see climate change action happening more, but I'd rather have meaningful laws, even if some of them have flows.

[sinewav]

...but I'd rather have rules that matter...

You're kidding right? It's more than a month past the deadline to release everything related to the Epstein case. Of is it you are happy with laws being broken if you think it's for the greater good in your eyes? Or you like the idea of a two-tier justice system that seems to only affect your out-group?

[Word]

from what i'm hearing crime went down significantly over the last year.

But what you're hearing is said while law enforcement agencies just fired and continue to fire lots of their people for not being perceived as pro-Trump enough. The people who were supposed to keep track of anything were probably among the first who had to go. Meanwhile ICE roams the streets like it's the SA (Gestapo is a little inaccurate imo).

[Z-Man]

Word: I've seen people compare ICE more to Slave Patrols, and yeah, that fits.

...but I'd rather have rules that matter...

You're kidding right? It's more than a month past the deadline to release everything related to the Epstein case. Of is it you are happy with laws being broken if you think it's for the greater good in your eyes? Or you like the idea of a two-tier justice system that seems to only affect your out-group?

That's also why the DOJ has been instructed to go full force against Trump's perceived enemies, which is everyone who does not immediately fall over backwards to fulfill his every wish, most recently Fed boss Jerome Powell, while officers who kill civilians don't even get an internal investigation.

Kyle:
And you don't have to EXPLAIN to us how Trump operates. We know. What you need to understand is that his behavior patterns isolate the US internationally. You don't hear this in your bubble, I bet, but everywhere people are preparing for a world where the USA are no longer a reliable partner, no longer a friend. Even after Trump is gone, the systems that helped him rise in power are still there. You are right that your entire system could use a reform. It is great that it is the oldest democratic system in existence. But its age shows. Starting from voting day being Tuesday, which made sense two hundred years ago when people had to travel a day or two to get to the place where they could vote and needed to be back home on market day (whenever that was). First past the post voting simplified collecting the results greatly back then, but even without anything else, it solidifies a two party system with all its problems (the other extreme, pure proportional voting, is equally bad as we learned the very hard way with Weimar). Letting the current government define the voting districts worked for a tiny while... until Elbridge Thomas Gerry got an idea, and now you're stuck with it. It's OK to have the President elected directly, but runoff voting would help keep populist extremists out of office (as seen in France time and time again), because the Parliaments are supposed to keep the Presidents in check... except when they don't. None of the other voting systems is perfect; but at least they don't completely fall apart when one party goes completely bananas.

And, repeating, most of the horrible things you think Democrats are doing/would be doing are fabrications. Or Good Things, Actually.

[Word]

@Z-Man: Yeah that's more exact. Whatever the most appropriate historical parallel is, most of them are ******* racist goons.

[kyle]

And, repeating, most of the horrible things you think Democrats are doing/would be doing are fabrications. Or Good Things, Actually.

There is a big difference between good ideas, and good execution, The Democrats idea's are generally good, but they execution of the ideas are terrible at best. Why does California continue to spend vast amount of money to "solve" homelessness but continue to fall further behind? The incentives is to capture the money, and not actually let it get to the people who need it. In addition to that, they want an elevated level of housing costs, so permits take years to get. Take a look at the fire that destroyed parts of LA, first of all why were the reserve waters for fires empty before the fires began? But still to this day many properties have not been rebuilt on because of lack of a ability to get permits. This along with incentivising illegal immigrants to move their, only makes home prices even less affordable. With every problem they tend do everything counter productive, or at the very least to make the funds for what looks like homelessness to explode. Society has to have workers, and the people working should not be forced to pay taxes to support large sums of people who do not work.

Do this across many other programs that look great on the surface, like subsidizing daycares, or shall I say learing centres, that don't actually have any kids enrolled in them, is beyond insane.

What you need to understand is that his behavior patterns isolate the US internationally. You don't hear this in your bubble, I bet, but everywhere people are preparing for a world where the USA are no longer a reliable partner, no longer a friend. Even after Trump is gone, the systems that helped him rise in power are still there.

This I do agree with, but when other nations are following the same corruptions, sometimes it is best to isolate from them until they realize how bad their system has become. It sucks that inflation will likely go sky high if we cannot fix that dollar, but high inflation post-covid started the ball rolling on that much faster, and the longer inflation was elevated, this made the fed raise rates, which in effect started crippling some of the economies around the world that depended on the dollar. They started to answer this by ditching their US dollar reserves, and buying up gold and silver, this definitely was in combat with Trumps international policies, but it also started before that, when Biden was pumping in immigrants to the US, that was directly keeping inflation high, weakening the dollar. Just to emphasise it, the banks were collapsing under Biden, he was the one who signed the order to send out one last stimulus check, that was only needed, because he could not let Trump out buy the American people from him.

The people who were supposed to keep track of anything were probably among the first who had to go.

Likely Not the case, when you actually have something supporting law enforcement, laws actually get enforced and recorded, Under Biden, they were being under-reported in California, because they did not give a F about what was going in, and in many cases didn't even show up when called.

While I don't fully agree with everything ICE is doing, It has always operated under all past presidents, sending illegals back, I also did not put myself at risk by coming here illegally and ignoring warnings to go home and come back legally. Despite that the person killed by an ICE agent, although not illegal, was directed to make poor chooses by her dictator governor Walz, When law enforcement is involved you Don't mess around, unfortunately she though she had to try to kill them, rather than take the quick and easier way of due process. I don't think they would have arrested her, had she simply cooperated and shown then she was not an illegal immigrant, but instead she had the hard lesson from not cooperating.

You're kidding right? It's more than a month past the deadline to release everything related to the Epstein case. Of is it you are happy with laws being broken if you think it's for the greater good in your eyes? Or you like the idea of a two-tier justice system that seems to only affect your out-group?

Those should be out, but I believe both parties are in cahoots on keeping it out of the hands of people, despite signing that it needs to be released. I don't believe either side is innocent when it comes to epstine, and even if everything is released, we probably still won't know the truth anyway.

Main point, either way America is ******, buy continuing the same powers in charge, years after years has proven that it is not good, look at Delaware, they have been in control by democrats for the last 20 or so years, they've went from a lawful land, to a land where corrupt judges, placed there by the democrats, try to make judgement calls. In effect, even though the DE supreme court is overturning the judgement rulings, many companies have left, making their income stream less and less, making the citizens have to pay more and more because the companies left. This is why it is important to not let one part become too complacent and in power for too long, their greed will corrupt the nation.

[Z-Man]

Man, your zone is truly flooded with shit. I'm not going through all of it (again? can't remember) Just picking cherries.

Take a look at the fire that destroyed parts of LA, first of all why were the reserve waters for fires empty before the fires began?

Research this yourself, and start with whether the premise of the question was true in the first place. Then come back. There is likely to be a lesson on propaganda waiting.

While I don't fully agree with everything ICE is doing,..

Dunno if it is just me, but that sentence structure is beginning to sound a lot like "I'm not racist, but...".

...It has always operated under all past presidents,

Always? Both ICE and Homeland Security are from this century, created under Bush Junior.

Despite that the person killed by an ICE agent, although not illegal, was directed to make poor chooses by her dictator governor Walz, When law enforcement is involved you Don't mess around, unfortunately she though she had to try to kill them, rather than take the quick and easier way of due process. I don't think they would have arrested her, had she simply cooperated and shown then she was not an illegal immigrant, but instead she had the hard lesson from not cooperating.

DICTATOR? Seriously? (Every accusation is a confession...)
And... I don't know how to start this... I don't... I don't think the incident you are describing matches any I know of, not even considering your perspective. I wasn't aware of any deaths of suspected illegal immigrants during arrests, only those who died while in custody. Which, you know, makes "cooperate and you'll be fine" not 100% good advice. And "due process"? Many of the arrested people do not get access to a lawyer. Or even contact to their family. They do not get due process under ICE.
ICE is supposed to catch illegal immigrants. Fine, assume we accept that. But not bank-robbers, kidnappers, or terrorists. What they are fighting, is not, a priori, a violent crime. The tolerable number of people to be killed in that context is exactly zero. Sure, accidents happen, and sometimes suspects turn violent and dangerous despite best efforts to deescalate... but every incident should trigger an investigation. Agents should not get automatic immunity.

(intentionally snipping away the accusational bit, and you complained about this before... sorry for exploding in advance. Well, I write this after exploding.)

...judges ... make judgement calls

THAT IS THEIR ******* JOB. IT IS LITERALLY IN THE LANGUAGE (well, the 'judgement calls' are called 'verdicts', but no matter). THAT IS THEIR ROLE IN THE SYSTEM. LAWMAKERS MAKE LAWS, JUDGES INTERPRET LAWS. THAT IS THE BASIS OF THE RULE OF LAW.

[Word]

While I don't fully agree with everything ICE is doing,..

Dunno if it is just me, but that sentence structure is beginning to sound a lot like "I'm not racist, but...".

@Z-Man: I was gonna write a long-ass reply myself but now can sincerely thank you for saving me tons of time.

@kyle: You don't fully agree with US citizens getting shot in cold blood? How kind of you. Good and Pretti both were Americans. Everyone saw the videos from multiple angles. These were executions. Good was blocking the street with her car. If she had wanted to run someone over then why didn't she and turned away instead? I don't know what is officially (read: in your bubble) considered "peaceful protest"/"civil disobedience" in the US right now and what warrants four shots in the face even if you're unarmed, but consider this: Her wife was with her for christ's sake. If you ever commit suicide by cop, do you wanna get shot in your face, while your partner is watching? Take a long hard look at that and what Z-Man said.