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11th May 2018, 09:27 AM | #81 |
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11th May 2018, 09:36 AM | #82 |
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“Don’t blame me. I voted for Kodos.” |
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11th May 2018, 10:39 AM | #83 |
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Reminds of this David Brooks piece:
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11th May 2018, 10:41 AM | #84 |
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Yup. More and more, Trump is isolating the U.S. and weakening its influence in the world.
China will pick up influence in areas the U.S. is neglecting, in places like Iran (where the U.S. will probably go it alone on sanctions), or in countries where U.S. foreign aid is being cut. Traditional allies and trading partners that Trump is in the habit of dumping on will search elsewhere for alliances and trading deals. (For example, pulling out of the TPP didn't end the deal; instead, it went ahead without the U.S. That's millions in potential trade that the U.S. is neglecting.) Trump's economic policies will end up harming its economy long term, so it won't have the economic impact in a decade that it does now. Immigration policies will mean a lower growth rate. |
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11th May 2018, 10:59 AM | #85 |
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That was at a Whitehouse Lunch for military spouses. Ronald Klain tweeted US armed forces are 40% non-white. The odds that a group of 52 random military spouses would contain no people of color are lower than 100 trillion to 1. So... https://t.co/zi6XzmzYBd |
11th May 2018, 11:00 AM | #86 |
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11th May 2018, 11:09 AM | #87 |
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You might be a dinosaur but I believe you have a better handle on the future than the current occupant of the White House.
China's global influence has been growing for some years now and this decision by Trump (and Bolton?) will only help increase that influence even more. Does he want to push the EU, never mind all those Asia-Pacific countries into closer ties with China? At the moment, between the US and China, which country has apparently the more rational and stable leadership? |
11th May 2018, 11:10 AM | #88 |
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Caption from and old New Yorker cartoon - Why am I shouting? Because I'm wrong!" |
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11th May 2018, 11:22 AM | #89 |
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11th May 2018, 11:43 AM | #90 |
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11th May 2018, 11:43 AM | #91 |
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It is hilarious that you think these countries would drop the United States for the stupid decision to trade with China.
The reason this decision isn’t so easy for these countries is because China, Russia, Iran, and many others are corrupt. It’s going to be very difficult for these countries to just ignore what we want. Trump knows this and unlike the sissy wimp democrats, he will use it to our advantage. |
11th May 2018, 11:44 AM | #92 |
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11th May 2018, 11:45 AM | #93 |
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From the link this appears to be a photo of Air Force officers' wives, and that Air Force officers are predominantly white. If that's the case, and on the same assumption that racial inter-marriage is still not common in the US, the photo's not that remarkable. I'm sure it'll still do some small damage, though, which is fine.
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11th May 2018, 12:44 PM | #94 |
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11th May 2018, 12:53 PM | #95 |
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I'm not laughing, it's not what I want to see. Although there is a sort of grim amusement here if you think that Trump is capable of out manoeuvering the Chinese. They're playing the long game; Trump can hardly think to the end of his next sentence.
Also, the UK and the rest of the EU are sick to the back teeth of Putin's Russia so I expect we'll leave any cosying up to that bunch of gangsters to the Trump administration. They have a head start anyway, what with all those "back channels". |
11th May 2018, 12:53 PM | #96 |
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11th May 2018, 01:02 PM | #97 |
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Pacifism is a shifty doctrine under which a man accepts the benefits of the social group without being willing to pay - and claims a halo for his dishonesty. Robert Heinlein. |
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11th May 2018, 01:06 PM | #98 |
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Pacifism is a shifty doctrine under which a man accepts the benefits of the social group without being willing to pay - and claims a halo for his dishonesty. Robert Heinlein. |
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11th May 2018, 01:07 PM | #99 |
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11th May 2018, 01:09 PM | #100 |
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Pacifism is a shifty doctrine under which a man accepts the benefits of the social group without being willing to pay - and claims a halo for his dishonesty. Robert Heinlein. |
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11th May 2018, 01:17 PM | #101 |
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Trump has taken lying to a whole new level. While I think it's true that all politicians tell some lies, most put some kind of effort into making the lies believable. Trump, OTOH, is the only politician I have ever seen tell three conflicting lies in the same day, and habitually tell lies that can be refuted with about two minutes of checking. He is not only a habitual liar, he is spectacularly bad at it.
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11th May 2018, 01:27 PM | #102 |
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11th May 2018, 01:27 PM | #103 |
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ANd that is what gets to me about Trump. He is such an inept liar. it not a calculated act with him,it compulsive. He lies in situations were most politicians would not bother to. He lies without giving it any thought or consideration.
He is making Baron Munchausen roll over in his grave. |
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Pacifism is a shifty doctrine under which a man accepts the benefits of the social group without being willing to pay - and claims a halo for his dishonesty. Robert Heinlein. |
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11th May 2018, 01:32 PM | #104 |
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And another thing... most people usually lie when it is to their advantage. Trump lies when there is no need to lie. Heck, he sometimes even lies when it actually puts him at a disadvantage.
Take for example his claim that on his inauguration day it didn't rain until after his speech. We know that's not the case, that it rained during his speech. So why would he bother to lie about such a mundane thing? Does he really have a lot of supporters who think he's a wizard who's capable of controlling the weather? He could have told the truth... even made jokes about it. Heck, he could have even benefitted by using the rain as an excuse for the smaller crowds. |
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11th May 2018, 01:54 PM | #105 |
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Trump on Healthcare
"The American people deserve a healthcare system that takes care of them – not one that takes advantage of them. We will work every day to ensure all Americans have access to the quality, affordable medication they need and deserve. We will not rest until the job is done!" |
11th May 2018, 01:56 PM | #106 |
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Quote:
Yes folks, you are reading that right. The rest of the worlds needs to pay more just so the poor, downtrodden folks in America can get said medicine cheaper (because presumably those Pharmaceutical corporations would lower their prices, simply out of the kindness in their hearts). Besides, no one is forcing American drug companies to sell their medicaments to the rest of the world at "unfair prices", right? It seems to me that US pharmaceutical companies are perfectly fine with selling their life-saving medicine cheaper to the rest of the world, while Americans become diseased and die only because their government doesn't want to reign in excessive profit-maximization. I say we let them. That's freedom baby! Freedumb!! |
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11th May 2018, 02:00 PM | #107 |
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Among your many failures appears to be a lack of understanding of a simple concept: That international relations (including trade, diplomacy, and military cooperation) exist in a binary, all-or-nothing state.
The fact is, things are a lot more complex, and a country can be harmed (through reduced trade, or reduced diplomatic support) even if the country is not 'dropped'. Instead, what you get are a steady stream of small negative impacts which end up causing significant damage at the end. So, the U.S. pulled out of the TPP. Does it mean all countries involved in the TPP stop trading with the U.S.? No, but it means it makes it harder for U.S. producers to sell stuff overseas. Your U.S. farmers and manufacturers will have less cash coming in because the market for their products will favor suppliers from Canada or Australia. So the U.S. pulled out of the Iranian nuclear deal. China, France (and probably other EU members) plan to continue trading with Iran. Does that mean all U.S. trade is dead? No, but it means that many possible business deals are. Boeing was set to sell over 100 passenger jets to Iran. According to Boeing, it would have supported ~100,000 jobs. And now those orders may end up going to go to Airbus, or to China. Do you think the loss of those jobs will be GOOD for the U.S.?
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Why would a country bother trying to find favor with the U.S.? They aren't interested in providing foreign aid (which means poorer countries won't have much interest in what the U.S. wants). Their protectionist trade policies will mean rich countries won't have much use for dealing with them. They can't be trusted to stay in deals that they sign. So why shouldn't countries ignore what the U.S. wants? |
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11th May 2018, 02:09 PM | #108 |
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11th May 2018, 02:17 PM | #109 |
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Drug pricing and manufacturing are...weird. Its easy to condemn drug manufacturers (Look! Charging hundreds of dollars for a pill that costs pennies to make). And the industry does make very large profit margins.
But drug companies DO have very high research costs, and the cost to bring new drugs to market (assuming the drug actually works) can easily costs millions. Its a high-risk/high-reward situation. (And many drug companies DO end up going out of business. See: https://www.the-scientist.com/?artic...s-that-Failed/) Because of the high risks, I have no problem with drug companies earning high profit margins, because I recognize that without the possibility of high profits people may decide to invest their money in less risky ventures (thus the possibility of new drugs in the future goes down). Now, many other countries do have lower drug costs than the U.S. I think what's happening is that the U.S. is the primary market (where drug makers can justify the risk of developing new drugs with higher prices), whereas sales to other countries such as Canada (where the government limits prices) end up being the 'gravy'. |
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11th May 2018, 02:18 PM | #110 |
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Among my many failures, lol. Are you incapable of silly personal attacks
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This has all been said before and time after time it shows we come out on top every time. |
11th May 2018, 02:20 PM | #111 |
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Gunter Haas, the 'leading British expert,' was a graphologist who advised couples, based on their handwriting characteristics, if they were compatible for marriage. I would submit that couples idiotic enough to do this are probably quite suitable for each other. It's nice when stupid people find love. - Ludovic Kennedy |
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11th May 2018, 02:23 PM | #112 |
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What is amusing about logger is he is a perfect example of what Orwell called "Duckspeak" pushing out slogans and ideological garbage without stopping to think about what he is saying ,just like a duck quacks.
That his duckspeak often clashes with what Trump says makes it more amusing. Logger describesd (quite correctly) the Russian government as corrupt, ignoring the fact that Trump seems hellbent on being good buddies with Putin and protecting Russia's interest at the expense of America's. |
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Pacifism is a shifty doctrine under which a man accepts the benefits of the social group without being willing to pay - and claims a halo for his dishonesty. Robert Heinlein. |
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11th May 2018, 02:25 PM | #113 |
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It’s exciting to see where this goes with respect to NAFTA
https://theconservativetreehouse.com...n/#more-149147 |
11th May 2018, 02:26 PM | #114 |
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11th May 2018, 02:26 PM | #115 |
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Pacifism is a shifty doctrine under which a man accepts the benefits of the social group without being willing to pay - and claims a halo for his dishonesty. Robert Heinlein. |
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11th May 2018, 02:27 PM | #116 |
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Pacifism is a shifty doctrine under which a man accepts the benefits of the social group without being willing to pay - and claims a halo for his dishonesty. Robert Heinlein. |
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11th May 2018, 02:28 PM | #117 |
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Pacifism is a shifty doctrine under which a man accepts the benefits of the social group without being willing to pay - and claims a halo for his dishonesty. Robert Heinlein. |
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11th May 2018, 02:33 PM | #118 |
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We would be a lot safer if the Government would take its money out of science and put it into astrology and the reading of palms. Only in superstition is there hope. - Kurt Vonnegut Jr And no, Cuba is not a brutal and corrupt dictatorship, and it's definitely less so than Sweden. - dann |
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11th May 2018, 02:41 PM | #119 |
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I'm not really sure how much of that was meant to be sarcasm. If it was actually meant to be a serious comment, then I don't think it was a deliberate "sacrifice", just the way things evolved over time.
Keep in mind that I'm in Canada (where we supposedly benefit from similar low drug prices, possibly fueled by research paid for by American sales.) So to anyone who thinks "drug companies are greedy"... I have 2 questions: 1) What do you think their profit margins should actually be, 2) If manufacturing drugs is such an easy process, why aren't there more companies doing it? After all, there are some pretty big drug companies but if getting rich by pushing pills is so easy why aren't there more multi-billion dollar drug companies? |
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11th May 2018, 02:55 PM | #120 |
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