In the light of the arguments happening in comments, now about who was worse, Obama or Trump, or who got a majority, I don't really care. In a country without an independent electoral commission that sets the ridings and counts the vote like we have in Canada I am not sure you can trust any vote. I care about Canada and our relationship with the USA, nothing else. Much of this discussion is peripheral to that issue, it is alienating readers and inhibiting comments (I often don't want to read them myself.) I have determined that I will be deleting comments and blocking commenters who are doing this.
Peter Navarro says Canada is run by drug cartels. Kevin Hassett says ", I’ve seen photographs of fentanyl labs in Canada that the law enforcement folks were leaving alone." Trump says he wants to abrogate treaties, erase the border and take our water.
I don't have the time or the headspace to deal with internal debates about US politics. We are pretty much at war. read more:
Dear fellow Americans who thinks Lloyd is overreacting: YOU ARE THE PROBLEM. Get your head out of your ass and get your ass onto the streets. Democracy is ending here. (Any semblance of sanity ended waaay back.)
Dead wrong - what's your proof? Simply that you don't like the duly elected, by a majority of Americans, the current President who CAMPAIGNED on these things.
He won the Electoral College vote 312 to 226. That's a big majority in the only race that counts Constitutionally.
As an aside, he also won the majority of the overall popular vote (which means nothing other than he also got more Americans to vote for him than she did - a majority).
And to forestall your next argument, those Americans that refused / failed to vote made themselves irrelevant. That's how elections work.
So because you decided to use "it", I'll just note, therefore, that Kackles therefore lost twice.
I admit, I could be wrong. I understood that adding together all votes for Harris and all votes for other candidates other than $Rump were more than votes for $Rump.
In this, you are wrong as I quoted the actual numbers. No other candidate received an Electoral College vote (again, the only race, that of the 50 individual states, that counts).
>> "I understood that adding together all votes for Harris and all votes for other candidates other than $Rump were more than votes for $Rump"
Really? Do you know what the vote totals were for him and her? And exactly how many votes were cast that were not for him or her that would put her total vote + those totals to be more than his??
I try hard and word to get actual fact-based factoid correct. Thus I am challenging you to do the same; what is that difference that you brought up?
I'm honest enough to admit when I'm wrong and I'm very doubtful there is such a vote sum to prove you right. Thus, as my teachers and professors once demanded of me, and I, in turn, demanded of my students: "Please show all your work in arriving at your answer".
- grocery prices would go down on day one thanks to his plan
- the Ukraine war would end on day one thanks to his pull and diplomatic brilliance
- he knew nothing about Project 2025 and it wasn't the blueprint for a future Trump administration
- he would be the MAGA crowd's "retribution"
- etc., etc.
He was honest on one of these points: he is harming people the MAGA folks hate, which resembles retribution except the part where the punishment is in response to some injustice.
Democracy as people understand it is not choosing the most flagrant liar. And when that liar proceeds to punish dissent* -- something he lied and said happened to him, a lie that presupposes this is a bad thing to do -- democracy is dying.
If you ignore the laws of the government you were elected to lead, as Trump is doing, democracy is well nigh dead. Those laws were the product of democracy. They were enacted by democratically elected representatives, senators, and a president. To disregard them is to disregard democracy itself.
* Footnote: if you commit a crime and are then prosecuted for this act, it is not an infringement of free speech or criminalization of thought. It is the enforcement of a pre-existing law saying, in Trump's case, you cannot sexually assault someone, steal and vend state secrets, cheat on your taxes, sell products you do not have to sell, and so forth.
>> Democracy as people understand it is not choosing the most flagrant liar.
No, the democratic process is having the opportunity to run for office, to vote for those you believe should be in those offices, that the Rule of Law applies to everyone equally (and no, that seems to no longer universal because of politicization; wish it weren't but here we are).
Remember, I used "blowhard" with respect to Doug Ford but also said that most politicians are from time to time - self-PR promotion. Trump does more than his fair share. A quite a bit of what he said during the campaign was that.
That said, inflation, at least this month, came down. Egg prices (I can't believe that the nation is all a-gaga over it) have started to come down - one of my local grocery store actually ran a sale on them).
What seemed to be an intractable 3-year war (I have issues with "stand-still" wars; in this case, let all those Ukranians die simply to attrit Russia to keep it weak vis-a-vis Europe) certainly didn't end the first day. However, we are seeing, hopefully, a change. Even a proposed ceasefire wasn't on the table and now it is.
I can't read Trump's mind (I'm studying him simply because his methods are unconventional) so I have no idea if he knew about P2025 beforehand. Yet, Vought is in his Administration but he was during his first term as well. I will tell you, however, that just like the Left loved the Obama Agenda, conservatives are returning the favor with the Trump agenda. That's just politics.
And as far as "punishing" is concerned, you do remember Obama relieving almost 200 flag officers at the beginning of his Presidency? Ditto US district attorneys? Almost all of the political appointed office holders? That's a constant in a turnaround of Parties.
Retribution? Sure. It's up there with Obama's "In 5 days we will begin the fundamental transformation of America". Again, it's politics, like it or not.
Ignoring the Law? Bush 1 had a couple of notable court slappdowns, II had a singleton number of SCOTUS losses.
Then litigation started to ramp up. Obama was the start of the State AG's suing but also lost a notable number of SCOTUS decisions (3-5) and 30-40 losses over "bending the Law" (think NFIB, DACA, other immigration, WOTUS (I think), and Obamacare). Trump had lots of court actions as the state AG lawfare ramped up quickly (138), 3-4 SCOTUS loses and 50-60 losses. Biden saw fewer litigation efforts but still had 2-5 SCOTUS losses (WOTUS, EPA, NOAA, student debt, affirmative action.
Moral and takeaway: our political environment is so polarized and toxic that almost ANYTHING tried by one side is going to be legally challenged by the other. Also, the modern era of Presidents are pushing their executive powers to the max (e.g., Biden just got slapped down by Kentucky and Tennessee district courts for attempting to rewrite Title IX congressional law by executive fiat/E.O)
Frankly, I wish they'd all stop trying to be Presidents trying to assume or override the Legislative branch - on this, we agree.
Maybe this quote about Trump will help people to understand how Trump operates a bit more.
From Salena Zito (a long term journalist): "take him seriously but not literally" as she noted that most other journalists were turning it around and then not understanding what he was doing.
"Day One" - not literally. That's a Shiny Object in the air. However, watch what he is doing - he takes his promises very seriously and accomplishes them. See the Shiny Object for what it is but ask yourself - what is the policy beneath what is attracting your attention.
With both Canada and Mexico, the Shiny Object was tariffs. The Policy, however, is reducing both illegal immigration and drugs. The associated policy below that is to destroy the cartels coming across both borders - that is what is really in play.
Tariffs highly visible and uppermost. The REAL policy is to secure the borders using the latter (which is already being achieved) is a bit less visible now as a the secondary policy.,
And how many folks caught the declaration of the cartels being foreign terrorist organizations? This is the hammer that will achieve the secondary.
EVERYTHING is multi-level operational cadence with Trump and those working for him. And this is the easy case.
I don't write this as a "Trumper" (a considerable pejorative) nor as a Trump apologist but in order to, hopefully, to get folks to see that if you REALLY want to know what his real goals are, you have to be willing to look hard below the surface.
Lloyd, I am asking you to block GraniteGrok here. He is clearly not arguing in good faith here and he never does. He brings nothing to the conversation and I always worry about you shutting down the comments because of his petty aggravations. And I encourage others here to speak up or like my post if you feel the same way.
It is a tough one. I really don’t think we should be entirely in our own bubble and he often makes good points. Not today on this post where he is being a straight-on Trumper in a crowd that clearly is not interested. I blocked his buddy because he was attacking other commenters instead of commenting on the post itself, which I consider the line. He is doing that here, I will think about it.
There is a whole side to the USA that I don’t see or know, so when someone from that side has something to say I want to hear it. If it attacks my post, I can take that. If it attacks other commenters, I will block. I will monitor closely.
Remember Lloyd as I mentioned to you when we met. If you allow some commentators to mess up the comments on a post the result is that other commentators with just as valid points of view are driven away.
I would point out that the comments happening below about voting numbers are an example of this. They have absoultly nothing to do with the subject of the post and are completely off topic.
I have seen so many sites that were once good which have allowed loud commntators to drive quiet occasional ones away resulting in the eventual collapse of the site.
I do acknowledge that the problem is hard to solve - where do you draw the line.
Okay. I just ask that if you feel like turning off comments because of him that you block him instead so the rest of us can continue to have interesting, productive and supportive dialogue with each other and with you. Thanks for all the great reading!
And I am here in good faith to show that there are certainly other points of views that are opposed to the majority view here. Mostly, to show that there are a lot of things to be considered that most here would never otherwise consider. Echo chambers are never a public good.
And no, I'm not a Trumper - which shows an absence of knowledge on the folks here. Rather, I'm a Constitutional Conservatarian.
"This is an international site not a USA fixacted one..."
Normally yes, but in the last month or so, this site has been fixated on the US. And for this site and people for a good cause in their beliefs and judgement.
Regardless of whether you've deleted the comment or not, now I know where I stand. Others here have either outright or insinuated the same simply because I disagree with the majority view here.
I've seen this before.
Like back in the TEA Party days here in the US that. If you didn't agree completely with the Left, you were automatically called a TEA (Taxed Enough Already) partier as a pejorative whether or not you supported that movement or not.
It didn't matter if one was one or not - you were called it simply to Otherize you. I watched quite a few people that I would NEVER call them a TEA Partier be called exactly that by mobs of people on the Left. It was meant to denigrate a whole class of people simply over political disagreements.
And now "TEA Partier" (and yes, there have been other names used in the intervening years) has morphed to to "Trumper". "Everyone not "me" is now a Trumper and since Trump is Hitler, and Hitler is a Nazi, and Nazis must be destroyed, anything goes.
Doubt me? Study carefully.
Lloyd has demanded civility from us all from time to time - has his instructions always been followed? If you are honest with yourself, reread what you have written. Read again what others have written even in this post. Are you raising the political temperature or trying to cool it down?
Bob, this is a non-US site but there are a lot of Americans here. It goes to show that there are issues, big issues, that know no boundaries.
The solution to bad speech is never to cut off speech. Instead, the answer should always be MORE speech. Engage, challenge, debate.
You might be surprised at what you learn. Me, too!
Please know, however that the commenters here, even if guilty of this, are MUCH better and classier than other sites' commenters (try Gizmodo for one and that's still rather high-brow compared to others). But in the wild, not so much.
This situation is being replicated all sorts of places.
Supply chains that were built solely on cost decisions are proving to be very vulnerable to disruptions. Betting you business on something being supplied from another country via a long chain turns out to be a very unwise business decission.
It's a shame the independent microbrews I prefer are pretty much only sold in aluminum cans, and the bottles are mostly restricted to the big watery macros. I think bottling lines are very expensive, and glass is heavier to ship.
Well considering that he was born in 1946, the year after the war ended, what is your point? So what war did you fight in? I am assuming you haven't since most people who have fought in wars try not to judge others for not doing so.
Furthermore, no, I did not fight in the military, because my brother who was in Vietnam, did not want me to fight because he said he did all the fighting, and we lost the Vietnam war just like we lost Korean war, which was not a war Vietnam was a police action and it wasn’t because America didn’t support. The troops is because old women and long-haired warrior kicked our ass.!
No, he was born in 1925 and he was a Nixon Republican in California, which is pro EPA and coastal commission. Where I’m getting out is white conservative Christian males that vote for Trump are idiots. Furthermore, my wife and I go to Memorial Day events in Orange County California, which is heavily conservative and Trump stirs. They don’t show up I do my wife’s family is 100% military and so is mine so basically to shut your mouth up you idiot
UniParty States and monoculture clusters are never a recipe for success.
Jack, speaking of California, it is going to be absolutely HILARIOUS to watch Newsom trying to remake himself over the next 4 years as he readies himself to run for Prez.
After all, in his new podcast (organized and done during his "Governor working time during the day", I observe - nice use of taxpayer dollars), he already trying to have people think that his past Governor's actions and history never existed.
He's going to have an awful time campaigning, given all of the oppo research he's basically handed over to his opposition.
Lloyd, you are NOT over-reacting. At worst, drump is deliberately tanking USA relations worldwide, and doing so in a way that funnels wealth to his closest friends. AND possibly doing so aligned with direction from Putin (one of his dearest buds).
At best (and how sad is this) he’s an idiot messing with systems and contexts beyond his “I want this the way I want it” entitled tirades, and his mess will ripple for decades.
I think she forgot about the Abraham Accord Agreement from his first term.
- He's also got a win in Panama vs the Chinese and their Belt and Road stranglehold on Panama (and the Canal)
- The China - Taiwan situation is starting to coalesce a number of the Asian countries together and looking to the US to be a backstop.
He has moved the dime on the Hamas-Israel war and broadening the talks about how to move forward amongst the EMA countries (really, Jordon, that hates Palestinians with a passion, is taking in Palestinian kids for health treatment??? Who had THAT on their bingo card?).
- He help to continue to broker the ceasefire between Israel / Hamas to the point where the Houthis are standing down (at least for now).
- Zelensky has agreed, in principle, that a ceasefire is now a thing to pursue.
- Over $2Trillion USD has been pledged for investment into the US that didn't exist before.
And best of all, the Europeans are now starting to realize that THEY need to start defending themselves as they properly should (via Trump's needling, to be sure). After all, Ukraine is European - and so is the threat in Russia). Or as a wag said, "why are 500 million people beseeching 300 million people to defend them against 40 million people?". And another wag said it better: "Why is an $18 Trillion economy begging for help against a $2 Trillion one?"
All this in less than a month and a half.
No, I'm not defending or boasting about Trump - all I'm doing here is listing what has happened as often, context matters.
Also, at the late Queen Victoria's funeral in Westminster Abbey, did you see all the heads of State come to greet him EVEN BEFORE his inauguration? There's a word I have in mind that describes those reactions to his attendance and respect given to Queen Victoria.
And there has been no shortage of heads of State coming to either the White House or Maro-Lago to visit.
So a question for Lloyd. In previous posts, you railed against Doug Ford with the object of your ire primarily being him fulfilling his campaign promises to remove the bike lanes, building auto tunnels, and other sundry items.
Then Ford, going all blowhard towards Trump (almost ALL politicians have blowhard moments from time to time - self-organized PR stunts), decided to pitch into the fray and put a 25% outbound tariff on electricity going to Minnesota, Michigan, and New York thinking that would make Trump back down. You admitted that it did make you like him a bit more (a variation of the enemies of my enemies schtick). As I had surmised it would have.
Then it came out that the actual amount of Canadian electricity under tariff was miniscule. The amounts only amounted to about 1%, 2%, and 4.4% in those States. And Trump doubled the steel and aluminum tariffs in reaction - and Ford folded faster than a cardboard suit in a tsunami as he realized that he never had any cards to play from the get-go. A complete bluff from a practical standpoint.
So, in your eyes (and perhaps others), does Ford return to his earlier "Lloyd status (hated)", status quo after his tariff announcement (his newer Lloyd status), or better for having tried his bluff (an even higher Lloyd status)?
I thought his tax on electricity was silly, this is the excess stuff that we almost give away in the middle of the night. It was performative and dangerous, since we should be working collectively in Canada and not have individual provinces doing this.
One would also state that "the various States" should also be working collectively. However, that rarely ever works out due to political philosophies - our "50 laboratories of Democracy" competing with our Republic.
Canadians, best of luck to you. Please recognize that a majority of Americans, unfortunately not voters in the last election, think Agent Orange (an appropriate term for our poisonous President) is a deranged, narcissistic, sociopath with Machiavellian characteristics without any real comprehension of the damage he is causing to you or us. Most of the damage will happen on the south side of the border. Just remember, that every word out of agent orange's mouth is likely a lie, and the small truths that accidentally emerge are twisted. The problem we are facing is that congress got caught up in the web of distortions and Republicans will not "do the right thing" and impeach the (insert nasty word here). Ultimately someone sane will restore our healthy relationship, and perhaps deal with problems like pollution, overharvesting of natural resources, and elimination of fossil fuels. But until that day, we are distracted fighting this monstrous excuse for a leadership team. Keep well.
Don’t stop there, please. Many Dems in service have commented, waved paddles, and griped, but have not defended democracy as strongly as I, personally, believe they must if they are to hold to the terms of office.
I politely ask, Jodi, "what does defend democracy" mean to you? What isn't being defended? What constitutional norms have been voided that would bring you to say that?
There is an alternative to Google searches. It is ECOSIA and they plant trees with their profits! Make it your default search engine. It does require an extra click, but it’s worth it!
I looked at Ecosia, it gets its results from Google and Bing. "The search results and search related ads on Ecosia come from our search partners Microsoft Bing and Google. Which partner your search results come from depends on your geographical location, the type of device you are using and which permissions you have given for setting cookies. "
Question about bottle weights and shipping: have you figured that into the carbon equation? I was a big fan of Busch Light, cheapest tall cans in these parts. Across the board beer prices at the grocery store went up 20+% last week. Gouging.
In the light of the arguments happening in comments, now about who was worse, Obama or Trump, or who got a majority, I don't really care. In a country without an independent electoral commission that sets the ridings and counts the vote like we have in Canada I am not sure you can trust any vote. I care about Canada and our relationship with the USA, nothing else. Much of this discussion is peripheral to that issue, it is alienating readers and inhibiting comments (I often don't want to read them myself.) I have determined that I will be deleting comments and blocking commenters who are doing this.
Peter Navarro says Canada is run by drug cartels. Kevin Hassett says ", I’ve seen photographs of fentanyl labs in Canada that the law enforcement folks were leaving alone." Trump says he wants to abrogate treaties, erase the border and take our water.
I don't have the time or the headspace to deal with internal debates about US politics. We are pretty much at war. read more:
https://malcolmnance.substack.com/p/urgent-warning-trump-is-planning?r=w1io&utm_medium=ios&triedRedirect=true
https://charlieangus.substack.com/p/canada-is-ukraine
Dear fellow Americans who thinks Lloyd is overreacting: YOU ARE THE PROBLEM. Get your head out of your ass and get your ass onto the streets. Democracy is ending here. (Any semblance of sanity ended waaay back.)
As an American, I endorse this comment. What we are doing to our former friends and allies and ourselves is shameful.
(Full disclosure: I am married to p.j. I would endorse her comment, regardless.)
Extra love for that last bit…
>> Democracy is ending here.
Dead wrong - what's your proof? Simply that you don't like the duly elected, by a majority of Americans, the current President who CAMPAIGNED on these things.
It wasn't elected by a majority of Americans.
He won the Electoral College vote 312 to 226. That's a big majority in the only race that counts Constitutionally.
As an aside, he also won the majority of the overall popular vote (which means nothing other than he also got more Americans to vote for him than she did - a majority).
And to forestall your next argument, those Americans that refused / failed to vote made themselves irrelevant. That's how elections work.
So because you decided to use "it", I'll just note, therefore, that Kackles therefore lost twice.
I admit, I could be wrong. I understood that adding together all votes for Harris and all votes for other candidates other than $Rump were more than votes for $Rump.
In this, you are wrong as I quoted the actual numbers. No other candidate received an Electoral College vote (again, the only race, that of the 50 individual states, that counts).
>> "I understood that adding together all votes for Harris and all votes for other candidates other than $Rump were more than votes for $Rump"
Really? Do you know what the vote totals were for him and her? And exactly how many votes were cast that were not for him or her that would put her total vote + those totals to be more than his??
I try hard and word to get actual fact-based factoid correct. Thus I am challenging you to do the same; what is that difference that you brought up?
I'm honest enough to admit when I'm wrong and I'm very doubtful there is such a vote sum to prove you right. Thus, as my teachers and professors once demanded of me, and I, in turn, demanded of my students: "Please show all your work in arriving at your answer".
Here is what I found:
Trump 77,303,568 49.81%
Harris 75,019,230 48.34%
Other 2,878,359 1.85%
Total Harris and Other = 77,897,589 50.19%
Source: The American Presidency Project
presidency.ucsb.edu
Granted, "other" got no electoral votes, but combining votes for Harris and "other" yields more votes than Trump.
"It" ?
DTS in play, Coj1.
Trump campaigned on lots of stuff:
- grocery prices would go down on day one thanks to his plan
- the Ukraine war would end on day one thanks to his pull and diplomatic brilliance
- he knew nothing about Project 2025 and it wasn't the blueprint for a future Trump administration
- he would be the MAGA crowd's "retribution"
- etc., etc.
He was honest on one of these points: he is harming people the MAGA folks hate, which resembles retribution except the part where the punishment is in response to some injustice.
Democracy as people understand it is not choosing the most flagrant liar. And when that liar proceeds to punish dissent* -- something he lied and said happened to him, a lie that presupposes this is a bad thing to do -- democracy is dying.
If you ignore the laws of the government you were elected to lead, as Trump is doing, democracy is well nigh dead. Those laws were the product of democracy. They were enacted by democratically elected representatives, senators, and a president. To disregard them is to disregard democracy itself.
* Footnote: if you commit a crime and are then prosecuted for this act, it is not an infringement of free speech or criminalization of thought. It is the enforcement of a pre-existing law saying, in Trump's case, you cannot sexually assault someone, steal and vend state secrets, cheat on your taxes, sell products you do not have to sell, and so forth.
>> Democracy as people understand it is not choosing the most flagrant liar.
No, the democratic process is having the opportunity to run for office, to vote for those you believe should be in those offices, that the Rule of Law applies to everyone equally (and no, that seems to no longer universal because of politicization; wish it weren't but here we are).
Remember, I used "blowhard" with respect to Doug Ford but also said that most politicians are from time to time - self-PR promotion. Trump does more than his fair share. A quite a bit of what he said during the campaign was that.
That said, inflation, at least this month, came down. Egg prices (I can't believe that the nation is all a-gaga over it) have started to come down - one of my local grocery store actually ran a sale on them).
What seemed to be an intractable 3-year war (I have issues with "stand-still" wars; in this case, let all those Ukranians die simply to attrit Russia to keep it weak vis-a-vis Europe) certainly didn't end the first day. However, we are seeing, hopefully, a change. Even a proposed ceasefire wasn't on the table and now it is.
I can't read Trump's mind (I'm studying him simply because his methods are unconventional) so I have no idea if he knew about P2025 beforehand. Yet, Vought is in his Administration but he was during his first term as well. I will tell you, however, that just like the Left loved the Obama Agenda, conservatives are returning the favor with the Trump agenda. That's just politics.
And as far as "punishing" is concerned, you do remember Obama relieving almost 200 flag officers at the beginning of his Presidency? Ditto US district attorneys? Almost all of the political appointed office holders? That's a constant in a turnaround of Parties.
Retribution? Sure. It's up there with Obama's "In 5 days we will begin the fundamental transformation of America". Again, it's politics, like it or not.
Ignoring the Law? Bush 1 had a couple of notable court slappdowns, II had a singleton number of SCOTUS losses.
Then litigation started to ramp up. Obama was the start of the State AG's suing but also lost a notable number of SCOTUS decisions (3-5) and 30-40 losses over "bending the Law" (think NFIB, DACA, other immigration, WOTUS (I think), and Obamacare). Trump had lots of court actions as the state AG lawfare ramped up quickly (138), 3-4 SCOTUS loses and 50-60 losses. Biden saw fewer litigation efforts but still had 2-5 SCOTUS losses (WOTUS, EPA, NOAA, student debt, affirmative action.
Moral and takeaway: our political environment is so polarized and toxic that almost ANYTHING tried by one side is going to be legally challenged by the other. Also, the modern era of Presidents are pushing their executive powers to the max (e.g., Biden just got slapped down by Kentucky and Tennessee district courts for attempting to rewrite Title IX congressional law by executive fiat/E.O)
Frankly, I wish they'd all stop trying to be Presidents trying to assume or override the Legislative branch - on this, we agree.
Maybe this quote about Trump will help people to understand how Trump operates a bit more.
From Salena Zito (a long term journalist): "take him seriously but not literally" as she noted that most other journalists were turning it around and then not understanding what he was doing.
"Day One" - not literally. That's a Shiny Object in the air. However, watch what he is doing - he takes his promises very seriously and accomplishes them. See the Shiny Object for what it is but ask yourself - what is the policy beneath what is attracting your attention.
With both Canada and Mexico, the Shiny Object was tariffs. The Policy, however, is reducing both illegal immigration and drugs. The associated policy below that is to destroy the cartels coming across both borders - that is what is really in play.
Tariffs highly visible and uppermost. The REAL policy is to secure the borders using the latter (which is already being achieved) is a bit less visible now as a the secondary policy.,
And how many folks caught the declaration of the cartels being foreign terrorist organizations? This is the hammer that will achieve the secondary.
EVERYTHING is multi-level operational cadence with Trump and those working for him. And this is the easy case.
I don't write this as a "Trumper" (a considerable pejorative) nor as a Trump apologist but in order to, hopefully, to get folks to see that if you REALLY want to know what his real goals are, you have to be willing to look hard below the surface.
This is all such bullshit he wants our country. It has nothing to do with drugs because they come north, not south. I am done with this.
https://charlieangus.substack.com/p/canada-is-ukraine
Lloyd, I am asking you to block GraniteGrok here. He is clearly not arguing in good faith here and he never does. He brings nothing to the conversation and I always worry about you shutting down the comments because of his petty aggravations. And I encourage others here to speak up or like my post if you feel the same way.
It is a tough one. I really don’t think we should be entirely in our own bubble and he often makes good points. Not today on this post where he is being a straight-on Trumper in a crowd that clearly is not interested. I blocked his buddy because he was attacking other commenters instead of commenting on the post itself, which I consider the line. He is doing that here, I will think about it.
There is a whole side to the USA that I don’t see or know, so when someone from that side has something to say I want to hear it. If it attacks my post, I can take that. If it attacks other commenters, I will block. I will monitor closely.
Remember Lloyd as I mentioned to you when we met. If you allow some commentators to mess up the comments on a post the result is that other commentators with just as valid points of view are driven away.
I would point out that the comments happening below about voting numbers are an example of this. They have absoultly nothing to do with the subject of the post and are completely off topic.
I have seen so many sites that were once good which have allowed loud commntators to drive quiet occasional ones away resulting in the eventual collapse of the site.
I do acknowledge that the problem is hard to solve - where do you draw the line.
Okay. I just ask that if you feel like turning off comments because of him that you block him instead so the rest of us can continue to have interesting, productive and supportive dialogue with each other and with you. Thanks for all the great reading!
Who would be next?
Thanks Lloyd.
And I am here in good faith to show that there are certainly other points of views that are opposed to the majority view here. Mostly, to show that there are a lot of things to be considered that most here would never otherwise consider. Echo chambers are never a public good.
And no, I'm not a Trumper - which shows an absence of knowledge on the folks here. Rather, I'm a Constitutional Conservatarian.
OK, define, in cogent terms, what a Trumper is. Take into account my past writings at TH as well.
But first, do you know what a Constitutional Conservatarian is?
"Constitutional Conservatarian is?"
No one on here cares - including me as it has absoutly nothing to do with either Lloyds writings or the subject of this comment thread.
This is an international site not a USA fixacted one - you have your own website - go there if you want to shout at people about that sort of stuff.
Note that I deleted my previious comment as it could be construed as being both off topic and a personal attack.
"This is an international site not a USA fixacted one..."
Normally yes, but in the last month or so, this site has been fixated on the US. And for this site and people for a good cause in their beliefs and judgement.
Regardless of whether you've deleted the comment or not, now I know where I stand. Others here have either outright or insinuated the same simply because I disagree with the majority view here.
I've seen this before.
Like back in the TEA Party days here in the US that. If you didn't agree completely with the Left, you were automatically called a TEA (Taxed Enough Already) partier as a pejorative whether or not you supported that movement or not.
It didn't matter if one was one or not - you were called it simply to Otherize you. I watched quite a few people that I would NEVER call them a TEA Partier be called exactly that by mobs of people on the Left. It was meant to denigrate a whole class of people simply over political disagreements.
And now "TEA Partier" (and yes, there have been other names used in the intervening years) has morphed to to "Trumper". "Everyone not "me" is now a Trumper and since Trump is Hitler, and Hitler is a Nazi, and Nazis must be destroyed, anything goes.
Doubt me? Study carefully.
Lloyd has demanded civility from us all from time to time - has his instructions always been followed? If you are honest with yourself, reread what you have written. Read again what others have written even in this post. Are you raising the political temperature or trying to cool it down?
Bob, this is a non-US site but there are a lot of Americans here. It goes to show that there are issues, big issues, that know no boundaries.
The solution to bad speech is never to cut off speech. Instead, the answer should always be MORE speech. Engage, challenge, debate.
You might be surprised at what you learn. Me, too!
Please know, however that the commenters here, even if guilty of this, are MUCH better and classier than other sites' commenters (try Gizmodo for one and that's still rather high-brow compared to others). But in the wild, not so much.
True democracy?
I agree.
Lloyd, you are not overreacting. Plenty of us are disgusted by this stupidity. Elections can't come soon enough.
Apologies for the madness. He’s off his rocker.
This American does not think you are over-reacting at all. Keep doing what you do, Lloyd.
This situation is being replicated all sorts of places.
Supply chains that were built solely on cost decisions are proving to be very vulnerable to disruptions. Betting you business on something being supplied from another country via a long chain turns out to be a very unwise business decission.
True - and that lesson first surfaced during COVID but is still being learned today.
It's a shame the independent microbrews I prefer are pretty much only sold in aluminum cans, and the bottles are mostly restricted to the big watery macros. I think bottling lines are very expensive, and glass is heavier to ship.
Hi all, my uncles fought for Canada and America in WWII. Trump is as 5 deferment coward. Enough said.
Well considering that he was born in 1946, the year after the war ended, what is your point? So what war did you fight in? I am assuming you haven't since most people who have fought in wars try not to judge others for not doing so.
Furthermore, no, I did not fight in the military, because my brother who was in Vietnam, did not want me to fight because he said he did all the fighting, and we lost the Vietnam war just like we lost Korean war, which was not a war Vietnam was a police action and it wasn’t because America didn’t support. The troops is because old women and long-haired warrior kicked our ass.!
Basically, this is my statement. Fuck America. Fuck the flag fuck Trump, and fuck Elon and fuck anyone who supports these assholes…
No, he was born in 1925 and he was a Nixon Republican in California, which is pro EPA and coastal commission. Where I’m getting out is white conservative Christian males that vote for Trump are idiots. Furthermore, my wife and I go to Memorial Day events in Orange County California, which is heavily conservative and Trump stirs. They don’t show up I do my wife’s family is 100% military and so is mine so basically to shut your mouth up you idiot
If you think this ends democracy, come visit the left coast and see non-democracy in action.
And when you do, be careful, as constitutional rights no longer applies to these states.
UniParty States and monoculture clusters are never a recipe for success.
Jack, speaking of California, it is going to be absolutely HILARIOUS to watch Newsom trying to remake himself over the next 4 years as he readies himself to run for Prez.
After all, in his new podcast (organized and done during his "Governor working time during the day", I observe - nice use of taxpayer dollars), he already trying to have people think that his past Governor's actions and history never existed.
He's going to have an awful time campaigning, given all of the oppo research he's basically handed over to his opposition.
Amazon should be one of the first things to drop. Besos is another billionaire backing Trump.
Lloyd, you are NOT over-reacting. At worst, drump is deliberately tanking USA relations worldwide, and doing so in a way that funnels wealth to his closest friends. AND possibly doing so aligned with direction from Putin (one of his dearest buds).
At best (and how sad is this) he’s an idiot messing with systems and contexts beyond his “I want this the way I want it” entitled tirades, and his mess will ripple for decades.
Can you give us some examples of what you are talking about, especially in your 1st paragraph?
I think she forgot about the Abraham Accord Agreement from his first term.
- He's also got a win in Panama vs the Chinese and their Belt and Road stranglehold on Panama (and the Canal)
- The China - Taiwan situation is starting to coalesce a number of the Asian countries together and looking to the US to be a backstop.
He has moved the dime on the Hamas-Israel war and broadening the talks about how to move forward amongst the EMA countries (really, Jordon, that hates Palestinians with a passion, is taking in Palestinian kids for health treatment??? Who had THAT on their bingo card?).
- He help to continue to broker the ceasefire between Israel / Hamas to the point where the Houthis are standing down (at least for now).
- Zelensky has agreed, in principle, that a ceasefire is now a thing to pursue.
- Over $2Trillion USD has been pledged for investment into the US that didn't exist before.
And best of all, the Europeans are now starting to realize that THEY need to start defending themselves as they properly should (via Trump's needling, to be sure). After all, Ukraine is European - and so is the threat in Russia). Or as a wag said, "why are 500 million people beseeching 300 million people to defend them against 40 million people?". And another wag said it better: "Why is an $18 Trillion economy begging for help against a $2 Trillion one?"
All this in less than a month and a half.
No, I'm not defending or boasting about Trump - all I'm doing here is listing what has happened as often, context matters.
Also, at the late Queen Victoria's funeral in Westminster Abbey, did you see all the heads of State come to greet him EVEN BEFORE his inauguration? There's a word I have in mind that describes those reactions to his attendance and respect given to Queen Victoria.
And there has been no shortage of heads of State coming to either the White House or Maro-Lago to visit.
So a question for Lloyd. In previous posts, you railed against Doug Ford with the object of your ire primarily being him fulfilling his campaign promises to remove the bike lanes, building auto tunnels, and other sundry items.
Then Ford, going all blowhard towards Trump (almost ALL politicians have blowhard moments from time to time - self-organized PR stunts), decided to pitch into the fray and put a 25% outbound tariff on electricity going to Minnesota, Michigan, and New York thinking that would make Trump back down. You admitted that it did make you like him a bit more (a variation of the enemies of my enemies schtick). As I had surmised it would have.
Then it came out that the actual amount of Canadian electricity under tariff was miniscule. The amounts only amounted to about 1%, 2%, and 4.4% in those States. And Trump doubled the steel and aluminum tariffs in reaction - and Ford folded faster than a cardboard suit in a tsunami as he realized that he never had any cards to play from the get-go. A complete bluff from a practical standpoint.
So, in your eyes (and perhaps others), does Ford return to his earlier "Lloyd status (hated)", status quo after his tariff announcement (his newer Lloyd status), or better for having tried his bluff (an even higher Lloyd status)?
I thought his tax on electricity was silly, this is the excess stuff that we almost give away in the middle of the night. It was performative and dangerous, since we should be working collectively in Canada and not have individual provinces doing this.
One would also state that "the various States" should also be working collectively. However, that rarely ever works out due to political philosophies - our "50 laboratories of Democracy" competing with our Republic.
So you are no longer giving him kudos for at least trying? Reset to Status 1?
And no, at the time, I didn't realize how little his tariff covered.
Canadians, best of luck to you. Please recognize that a majority of Americans, unfortunately not voters in the last election, think Agent Orange (an appropriate term for our poisonous President) is a deranged, narcissistic, sociopath with Machiavellian characteristics without any real comprehension of the damage he is causing to you or us. Most of the damage will happen on the south side of the border. Just remember, that every word out of agent orange's mouth is likely a lie, and the small truths that accidentally emerge are twisted. The problem we are facing is that congress got caught up in the web of distortions and Republicans will not "do the right thing" and impeach the (insert nasty word here). Ultimately someone sane will restore our healthy relationship, and perhaps deal with problems like pollution, overharvesting of natural resources, and elimination of fossil fuels. But until that day, we are distracted fighting this monstrous excuse for a leadership team. Keep well.
Don’t stop there, please. Many Dems in service have commented, waved paddles, and griped, but have not defended democracy as strongly as I, personally, believe they must if they are to hold to the terms of office.
I politely ask, Jodi, "what does defend democracy" mean to you? What isn't being defended? What constitutional norms have been voided that would bring you to say that?
I duly note, Dr. Teel, that you are leaving out a LOT of actions where he has gained traction. Even handed much? "Web of distortions" much?
There is an alternative to Google searches. It is ECOSIA and they plant trees with their profits! Make it your default search engine. It does require an extra click, but it’s worth it!
I looked at Ecosia, it gets its results from Google and Bing. "The search results and search related ads on Ecosia come from our search partners Microsoft Bing and Google. Which partner your search results come from depends on your geographical location, the type of device you are using and which permissions you have given for setting cookies. "
Some others:
- China: Baidu, Youdao, Qihoo360, Sogou
- Czech Republic: Seznam
- Germany: MetaGer
- Russia: Yandex
- South Korea: Naver
- Europe: Qwant
- Swiss: Swisscows
There are a lot of other US based SEs but I'm thinking they wouldn't get much play here at this time.
Question about bottle weights and shipping: have you figured that into the carbon equation? I was a big fan of Busch Light, cheapest tall cans in these parts. Across the board beer prices at the grocery store went up 20+% last week. Gouging.
I'm thinking brewing your own beer is probably the lowest footprint.
I brought that up a while ago. Now add in the water used and the energy to "reprocess" them to be able to reuse them to the total.