American Politics

[SubCmdr]

Democrats better stop engaging in Dick Politics and find a candidate for the people. I like AOC!

[EihTooms]

Thanks, Joe.

'Their Brutal Ordeal Is Over.' Biden Announces Release of Americans in Russia Prisoner Swap.
Aug. 1, 2024

https://time.com/7006616/biden-priso...ovich-remarks/

President Joe Biden on Thursday announced that Russian authorities have released Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich along with two other American citizens and an American green-card holder as part of a sweeping prisoner swap.

The historic swap, involving seven countries and over 20 prisoners total, marks a significant diplomatic achievement for Biden and a rare moment of cooperation amid deepening global tensions. Now their brutal ordeal is over, and theyre free, Biden said, flanked by 11 family members of the released prisoners.

The President continued: For anyone who questions whether allies matterthey do. Today is a powerful example of why it's vital to have friends in this world, friends you can trust, work with and depend upon, especially on matters of great consequence and sensitivity like this. Our alliances make our people safer.

Gershkovich, who had been detained in Russia on false charges of espionage, was released along with Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine also detained on spying charges widely viewed as spurious, and Alsu Kurmasheva, a Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist detained for spreading false information about the Russian military. They touched down in Ankara, Turkey on Thursday morning following their release from Russian custody.

Imagine that. A President of the United States of America managed to get 3 Americans released from Russia without kissing Putin's butt publicly or privately or claiming to be that murderous authoritarian dictator's "friend" but rather due to the true and far more important friendship among our allies.

[SubCmdr]

When you really drive, EVs are not best adapted for more than going buying bread.

When you are really poor you can only afford on vehicle. I have many vehicles. Just like in my tool box I have many different tools for different purposes. Argue all you want about range. I don't have a EV where I can even drive 1000 KM or would want to. So, why would I be concerned about that?

You are saying The United States of America made money on World War II? France cannot defend itself. That is why it is part on NATO. History taught them a lesson.

The stupidest comment I have read in this thread is attaching credit for movement of markets to who is POTUS. ALL MARKETS!. Presidents don't move them. The market participants move them. I am surprised to see such stupidity proffered in order to forward a political cause that is lost for the next 4 year. I've written that Democrats are sore losers. Even the ones that don't even live in The United States of America.

If a man lives in the land of smiles from reading his posts I do not see any signs of it. Plus he does not know the law in the county now calls home.

[EihTooms]

I suppose the Bitcoiners here will rush in to tell me I just don't understand their Love, how it manifests itself in unconventional ways, that a down line on an historic chart is "good" and an up one is "bad" and all that.

But is this what supposed "winning" looks like in Bitcoin World under Trump vs the supposed "losing" it suffered under Biden?

Just asking.

The screenshots of charts below show what happened with the price of Bitcoin all during Trump's 1st so-called presidential term, after Biden was elected in 2020, since Trump was elected for his 2nd so-called presidential term in November 2024, on Biden's last day in office on January 19 and since then.

Oh and as a bonus I threw in a screenshot for the average price of a gallon of regular gasoline because it was handy.

As a reminder, for over a year under Bidenomics and before President-elect Musk's assistant Trump launched into his constant blather about increasing Trump Tariff Taxes on the American Working Men and Women Consumer, the average price of a gallon of regular gasoline had been steadily declining to within about a dime above where it was in mid 2019, right before Trump's historically disastrous economic and national security decisions laid the groundwork for, ushered in and exacerbated Trump's Pandemic and all of the hyper-inflation and skyrocketing prices for everything that followed.

Again, I suppose the Trumpsters here will rush in to assure me that steadily rising prices for gasoline under Trump's economic stewardship is "good" while those steadily declining prices we were seeing under Biden was "bad". For sure a plurality or majority of those latest CBS poll respondents would see it as great that Trump "kept his promise" to increase prices on almost everything for Americans with his across-the-board Trump Tariff Taxes blather.

[Sirioja]

I live in the here and the now. Can France defend itself alone? The answer is no. Otherwise they would not be in NATO. Countries in NATO want BIG DADDY USA to come sailing across to ocean to save their asses once things go kinetic.


I disagree with you. That might be the solution I use for transport in the Dominican Republic. My concern is the battery packs. I will do a deep dive into the long term ownership costs of EV's. The only thing that matters to me is the cost per mile of moving down the road. I have long since lost my love for driving. I cannot wait for self driving cars to get here. I'll by a van. Set it up as an office. And post up in the back seat. While my AI driver takes me down the road. If that is not the hight of decadence I simply do not know what is.

EV's verses Carbon Based engines is not the answer. Hydrogen seems like a much better solution. But Green Hydrogen is hard to produce. The idea that fuel produced from vegetation ignores the amount of petroleum used during production. Don't try to go toe to toe with me on energy issues. I power my entire business with solar. I designed, procured and install the components myself. One of the advantages of me using a EV might be because I can easily set up a charging station at my business and modern EV's have plenty of range for round trip travel. On top of that, most of my destinations have charging stations available.

At this point it is really a matter of personal preferences. On a long trip it depends entirely on the infrastructure of the charging stations along your route. Takes a bit more planning that driving a petrol car. Filling up that Audi V8 is easy with stations everywhere. LOL!

USA always made good money business from wars, even when they lost, when your crazy elected by no brained Trump is lightning fire everywhere and will kill many of your citizens. Funny, many Europeans are writing on their Tesla: I bought before Musk went crazy. About EV, did you ever drive 3000 kms from Thursday evening to Monday morning, try with your EV, when I m used to drive more than 1000 kms each week end. When can t trust lying China, Toyota I rank higher than chinese cars, guarantie for 10 years, but only 185000 kms, meaning less than 3 years driving for me. When you really drive, EVs are not best adapted for more than going buying bread.

[EihTooms]

How many millions of tax-payer dollars were spent so Trump could get boo'd at the Super Bowl, fall asleep and then leave early in humiliation when his team and that quarterback he lied about got slaughtered?

How many more millions of tax-payer dollars has Trump been blowing in order to fly fewer undocumented immigrants back to their home country per flight than Obama and Biden did?

President Musk has surely placed those at the top of his list for citing Waste, Fraud and Abuse of American Tax-Payer Dollars, right?

And this must REALLY piss off President Musk and his assistant Trump:

S&P 500 is little changed as Powell comments, trade tensions weigh on market.

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/02/10/stoc...ndroidappshare

"With our policy stance now significantly less restrictive than it had been and the economy remaining strong, we do not need to be in a hurry to adjust our policy stance, Powell said in his first of two appearances this week on Capitol Hill. The central bank leader called the economy strong overall with a solid labor market, and said inflation is easing but remains above the Feds 2% goal.

How do we know that accurate assessment REALLY pisses them off?

Because they are choosing to do this:

Trump on Monday signed new tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports to the U.S. The European Union responded by saying it would retaliate with levies of its own if the U.S. tacks on tariffs against products from the country bloc.

And this:

Ford CEO says Trump's tariffs are causing 'chaos' in auto industry.

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/02/11/ford...ndroidappshare

Farley described announced 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum as well as threatened levies on Mexico and Canada as currently adding a lot of cost and a lot of chaos to the industry.

Meanwhile, how are the prices for eggs, groceries, damn I'm glad Trump invented that word, gas, rent, Mortgage loan rates, etc doing lately?

Has Trump ended the Russia-Ukraine War yet? A lot of "24 hours" have passed by since the election.

As a landlord, I have yet to get a terse memo or audio recording of Trump's hilariously "menacing" monotone voice demanding I reduce the rent for my tenants. So I guess I won't.

And why are there so many deadly aircraft crashes since President Musk demanded the head of the FAA resign? Just another wild coincidences I suppose.

[Xpartan]

1) I don't give a damn what consenting ADULTS want to do their bodies unless they want me to pay for their operations with my hard-earned tax dollars. But you are avoiding the main issue: WHEN ADULTS MUTILATE A CHILDS BODY! Duh! The thing about children is that they are innocent beings and will believe what adults tell them. So, it is very, very wrong (fascistic) and a form of child abuse to "groom" children. "Leave our kids alone!" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qs35t2xFqdU&t=154s.

2) You are absolutely out of your fucking mind if you think it is alright for men to compete in women's sports at any level or share bathrooms with underage high school girls. What the fuck is wrong with you? Any third rate male boxer will destroy even the best female boxer. DUH!

3) This is exactly the hypocrisy that I am pointing out. One's real politics is not found in the stupid shit people say, but in how they live their lives. BKK Bob will bore you to death with his left-wing BS pendantory, but he lives his life financially speaking as Capitalist and socially as a Libertarian. This is complete hypocrisy. You ever hear the expression "Do As I Say, Not As I Do"? If you need help understanding this, it means: that a spih are referred to as "Newhalfs". So, if trannys want to compete in sporting events no one is preventing them from organizing their own leagues and competing amoung themselves. If people want to watch them compete in these sporting events these leagues will prosper. That is the American way! Duh.

Well, I can see how you're not holding back your emotions. The only thing left now is to back up all these kooky allegations with facts from REPUTABLE SOURES (and no, that doesn't include Youtube).

Who mutilated, who was mutilated, what sport events were ever destroyed or results influenced by transsexual athletes, etc. Should be easy-peasy to find since you're talking about it as a widespread abuse.

Come on Man.

Don't insult us moderates and centrists by calling yourself and writing shit like this.

Thanks, got a smile out of me again.

Pizza gate was not a conspiracy theory it was about Bill Clinton and Bill Gates et al.

Looks like you might've had one too many. The Pizzagate was about the prostitution ring that Hillary was running out of the DC pizzeria basement. Remember that pizzeria a MAGA kook shot up?

He was shot and killed by the police a month ago, by the way. Yes, that Pizzagate.

[Axel Heyst]

This is what winning looks like:

Did you guys see Trump's reception at Super Bowl LIX? Has it not yet dawned on you lefties that the man you have vilified since 2015 is genuinely popular among the American people? If you still don't get it, you should take a look at the latest polls.

The Rasmussen Daily Presidential Tracking Poll for this Monday shows that 52% of LIKEKY USA Voters approve of President Trump's job performance. Forty-five percent (45%) disapprove.

I know Rasmussen is BAD BAD BAD. Ok, then check out the latest CBS News / YouGov poll conducted from Feb. 5 to Feb. 7, especially the under-30 numbers which show a majority are behind the president.

1) 53% of respondents signaled approval for the job Trump is doing the highest approval rating for Trump in a CBS News poll EVER.

2) Broke down by age if they approved or disapproved of the way Trump was handling his job as president, 50% of respondents 65 and older, 56% of Americans ages 45 to 64,52% of Americans ages 30 to 44, and 55% of Americans under 30 said YES!

3) The CBS poll further indicated that Trump continues to have far greater popularity among men (surprise surprise), with 60% approval, and 47% favorability among woman.

4) And regardless of whether respondents approved of Trump or not, 70% of respondents indicated that Trump was fulfilling the promises he made during his campaign. And 49% of respondents admitted that Trump has done more than they expected he would do in his first weeks in office. 61% said of respondents said the actions taken so far are mostly things they like.

5) And the further the bad news for Democrats still smarting from Nov. 5, 69% of respondents described Trump as "tough"; 63% described him as "energetic"; 60% described him as "focused"; and 58% described him as "effective. ".

6) And when asked about the Trump's administration's program to deport illegal aliens, 59% of respondents signaled approval. And an overwhelming 64% of respondents supported Trump's deployment of American troops to the southern border.

Now back to the youth vote: the Economist / YouGov poll conducted from Nov. 17-19 found that 57% of respondents ages 18 to 29 said they had a favorable view of Trump. This is huge! It portends a major sea change in future elections for a generation or longer.

So, I honestly hope the Wokes keep fighting the trend. It is really too bad from my perspective that Maxine Waters and her crew did not successfully break into the USAID office. I would pay good money to see that "person" escorted to jail in hand cuffs. And I can't wait to see which Democrat Mayor decides to stand up and get in the way of ICE and their roundup of criminal illegal aliens. I personally hope it is the incompetent mayor of Chicago.

The smart thing, of course, would be for moderates to take back the party and work with the Trump administration on some of these issues like cutting the bloat out of Federal spending and balancing the budget like President Clinton did with Newt Gingrich in the 90's, but that would mean working with Musk and Doge, so that ain't going to happen anytime soon. HAHAHA. Oh well. The truth is we don't need the Woke Dems, so my message to then is keep doing what you are doing.

Personally I don't think the average voting person in the United States of America could give a fuck about dick politics. I think they care about housing, feeding and clothing themselves. Something the current Plutocracy does not give a fuck about because they have theirs. When the three richest men in the United States of America has the POTUS' back, it does not bode well my fellow citizens.

You have a point there, but every so often the Plutocrats and their paid politician lackeys fuck up and the American people get fed up and say shit no, we have had enough of your BS, go fuck yourselves. I think that is what happened in the last election. The people refused to get in line and do the proscribed thing. I could be wrong. But Trump won the election and is out of the starting gate faster than the speed of light this time around and he is doing exactly what he said he was going to do. Hence his popularity is rising as I post this.

But it is way, way too early to call his 2nd term a success when it has barely begun. The Republican majority in both chambers of Congress better get their act together and pass a real spending bill with as many if not all of Trump's campaign promises in it, and soon, by May at the latest. Because and to your point, Trump HAS to get the economy booming again and raise real after inflation wages. Then he has get the street crime rate under control, and improve the public education system in America which is currently failing out kids even though the country spends more per capita on education than any other technically advanced country in the world. The people need good paying jobs, safe neighborhoods, quality education for their children, and the end to the illegal alien mess. If, in the next few years Trump can accomplish most of this or at least a substantial part of this and convince the people that the USA is indeed back heading in the right direction, you can say goodbye to the Woke crew forever.

So. Let's see what happens. I am somewhat optimistic. But I won't be that surprised if the train goes off the tracks. Anything can happen in the next 4 years. "It is going to be a bumpy ride". -Betty Davis.

A. H.

[SubCmdr]

Do You always live in 80 years ago?

I live in the here and the now. Can France defend itself alone? The answer is no. Otherwise they would not be in NATO. Countries in NATO want BIG DADDY USA to come sailing across to ocean to save their asses once things go kinetic.

France will reach NATO defense spending target in 2024

France will reach NATO's target of spending 2 percent of GDP on defense in 2024, hitting the goal earlier than previously forecast, French Armed Forces Minister Sbastien Lecornu announced today.

Paris is dramatically increasing spending. In 2017, France spent 30 billion on its military but it "will eventually reach 69 billion, which allows me to confirm that France will meet the 2 percent target set by NATO this year," he said, speaking ahead of a NATO defense ministers meeting in Brussels.

The French defense budget this year is 47.2 billion and is expected to steadily increase in the next years under the country's seven-year military planning law.

According to previous forecasts, France was initially slated to spend 1.94 percent of GDP in its defense budget in 2024 and wasn't expected to reach the 2 percent figure before 2025 at the earliest.

On Wednesday, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg announced that 18 NATO member countries are on track to reach the alliance's spending target. He called on the 13 others to help achieve a "fair" burden sharing with the U.S.

Lecornu said that earmarking 2 percent of GDP for defense is not enough, as that money also has to be directed toward buying more kit. NATO has a target of 20 percent of defense funds going for that purpose while France already spends 30 percent.

"We need to look at the actual share of investment in equipment," Lecornu said.

I don t think electric cars are a good solution, out of towns.

I disagree with you. That might be the solution I use for transport in the Dominican Republic. My concern is the battery packs. I will do a deep dive into the long term ownership costs of EV's. The only thing that matters to me is the cost per mile of moving down the road. I have long since lost my love for driving. I cannot wait for self driving cars to get here. I'll by a van. Set it up as an office. And post up in the back seat. While my AI driver takes me down the road. If that is not the hight of decadence I simply do not know what is.

EV's verses Carbon Based engines is not the answer. Hydrogen seems like a much better solution. But Green Hydrogen is hard to produce. The idea that fuel produced from vegetation ignores the amount of petroleum used during production. Don't try to go toe to toe with me on energy issues. I power my entire business with solar. I designed, procured and install the components myself. One of the advantages of me using a EV might be because I can easily set up a charging station at my business and modern EV's have plenty of range for round trip travel. On top of that, most of my destinations have charging stations available.

At this point it is really a matter of personal preferences. On a long trip it depends entirely on the infrastructure of the charging stations along your route. Takes a bit more planning that driving a petrol car. Filling up that Audi V8 is easy with stations everywhere. LOL!

[Axel Heyst]

Is China a capitalist country? I would argue yes! Is their political system free and open? Not from what I understand.

Yes, China is a very interesting case. Their economic success began with the Nixon / Kissinger trade opening and has been nothing less than amazing and yet they are a totalitarian regime. Their handling of the Tiananmen Square protests, their methods used against the Uyghurs, and their takeover of HKG proved this beyond a shadow of a doubt, but interestingly from a monger's point of view, it was not until very recently when Xi Jinping began cracking down on China's p4 p industry that most mongers, who never previously gave it a 2nd thought, felt the sting. I was lucky enough to visit ChangPing during its last year of greatness and man was it great! Shanghai used to have a very viable and popular FL bar scene too and I used to love HKG when I used to fly the trans-pacific route from Florida to BKK and always laid over in HKG for a few days to enjoy the Wanchai bars which are now total BS thanks to Xi's crackdown. What a loss to humanity and our favorite pastime!

But currently China are the USA are locked into some kind of spiral death match. We buy a ton of China's manufactured goods and they buy our Gov't Treasury bonds to finance our purchases. Neither country can afford to let go of the other because that would lead to mutual economic disaster. In other words, we need each other. So, it is going to be interesting to see how President Trump's tariff strategy works out. I think both sides will eventually cave a little.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irYD_xIV_TQ&t=21s

[Sirioja]

Oh Really?...Well, NOT according the the latest sales figures for Germany, in Jan 2025.

BEVs were the best-performing powertrain in January 2025 (beating Petrol & Diesel), in terms of growth. Registrations jumped 53.5% (yoY), reaching 34,498 units, without gov't consumer subsides. This marked an increase of 12,024 deliveries from 12 months ago.

Yes, EV sales in Germany plummeted by 27.4% in 2024, with only 381,000 EVs (YoY) were registered in Germany. The decline in 2024 that you talk about, only happened after FIVE (5) years of strong EV registration growth, but yes with gov't consumer subsides.

But you also failed to mention that Petrol and diesel car sales also dropped significantly in 2024 and still lost market share to EVs.

So far in 2025, EVs are on pace for another great year of sales, while Petrol and diesel car sales are slowing and plummeting.

You don t know yet for whole 2025 , when Niagara fall for Tesla, when many Europeans feel shameful because of what is Musk. EV are not real cars, when You love cars, and they also pollute with batteries. My choice is a very noble great engine in a really beautiful car, Audi S5 V8 with white leather, same like a beautiful woman, I powered with gas made from agriculture, when I m not just a follower, but prefer to think and use my brain. For sure, with AI, people won t think much nor train their brain and some will play with no brained, like Putin or Musk or tok tok use to do.

[Spidy]

Same right-wing QAnon/MAGA zealots, that brought you imbecilic "culture wars" on purple dinosaurs, purple teletube babies and ban dictionaries, are same ideological gun-toting fascists, that support the Nazi-whitewashing of Jewish and Holocaust history (like Musk recently was doing in Germany, with outside interference, supporting the far right AfD), and are trying to do the same thing with U.S. American Black/Slavery history.

Buying into all those right-wing idiotic and imbecilic "culture war" ideologies...hook, line and sinker, really only plays into their overlords, billionaire buddies and robber baron's hands. This is just all perfect subterfuge and a pretext, while they blindly pick their pockets clean, while their gullible masses, blind themselves, with all their hate, misogyny, homophobia, fear mongering and racist platitudes and proclivities, against their fellow Americans.

The REAL hypocrisy is...how the right, are "so concerned", "livid" and "get fired-up", when family members or individuals, who have the right, to do "untold harm" themselves if they wish; but somehow, when a right-wing Incel, QAnon/MAGA AR-15 gun-toting extremists, mow-down, murder and kill, countless kids, women and men on mass,...not a peep to ban such automatic weapons of destruction from civilian use, but instead rally to support their use.

• So while "woke" may have morphed and weaponized into something else, by both left and right (mostly) and it is (I think) primarily now in a twisted way, used to mean, "where COMMON SENSE goes to die", it should be be noted, that while there's a lot of truth to that, unequivocally, we all know "COMMON SENSE" died a long time ago, on the right! (...kkkk!)

[Spidy]

... In Germany, when administration support fell for electric cars, Germans then buy much less electric cars, showing they only buy when not expensive, otherwise they prefer thermic cars. ...

Oh Really?...Well, NOT according the the latest sales figures for Germany, in Jan 2025.

BEVs were the best-performing powertrain in January 2025 (beating Petrol & Diesel), in terms of growth. Registrations jumped 53.5% (yoY), reaching 34,498 units, without gov't consumer subsides. This marked an increase of 12,024 deliveries from 12 months ago.

Yes, EV sales in Germany plummeted by 27.4% in 2024, with only 381,000 EVs (YoY) were registered in Germany. The decline in 2024 that you talk about, only happened after FIVE (5) years of strong EV registration growth, but yes with gov't consumer subsides.

But you also failed to mention that Petrol and diesel car sales also dropped significantly in 2024 and still lost market share to EVs.

So far in 2025, EVs are on pace for another great year of sales, while Petrol and diesel car sales are slowing and plummeting.

[SubCmdr]

Have you ever been to Thailand? Katoeys have been in the royal court for a thousand years or longer. I think the Thais have a firmer grip on reality than idiot leftwingers in the USA. Go to Soi Sukhumvit on any night and talk to some Ladyboy SW's. They won't bite unless you want them to. Ask them if they are girls or not. Their almost universal answer to that question should enlighten you. The Japanese have it straight too. Ha Ha, pun intended. Ladyboys in Japan are referred to as "Newhalfs". So, if trannys want to compete in sporting events no one is preventing them from organizing their own leagues and competing amoung themselves. If people want to watch them compete in these sporting events these leagues will prosper. That is the American way! Duh.

There is a beauty contest in Thailand each year for Ladyboys. In western countries they be trippin.

Personally I don't think the average voting person in the United States of America could give a fuck about dick politics. I think they care about housing, feeding and clothing themselves. Something the current Plutocracy does not give a fuck about because they have theirs. When the three richest men in the United States of America has the POTUS' back, it does not bode well my fellow citizens.

[Sirioja]

Would this be the same French Government that underspends on its military to the point that it could defend itself against another aggressor nation without the help of United States of America. Didn't they learn anything from World War II?

Do You always live in 80 years ago? I don t think electric cars are a good solution, out of towns.