sunnykerr

There's also an update on this moronic metal tariffs stupidty: US metal tariffs: Mexico and Canada may be exempt, White House says In contrast, our economy minister is saying that the only way that tariff nonsense passes is if Canada is exempt. Because, obviously, it would harm U.S. interests if we weren't. It took a couple of days, but I'm glad to see the White House may be waking up to that fact.

It's still a really, really stoopid idea, though.

California's governor seems really unimpressed with this war on California's sanctuary's status. If it wasn't so dangerous for them, I would suggest that all undocumented immigrants in the United States stop showing up for work for, like, two days. Just to drive home how much of the economy relies on their work. I just saw an episode of Anthony Bourdain's show on CNN in which he mentioned (I assume the figure was verified but, in case it wasn't, I'm telling you that's where I got it) that one in 10 Los Angeles resident is undocumented. Can you imagine what would happen to the U.S. economy if 10% of the workforce in Los Angeles stopped working or was deported?

In the same episode, someone joked that they can't deport all "Mexicans," because who's gonna built the wall then? You need that workforce!

I can't get around this notion that a government gets to decide who comes and goes on land that doesn't belong to it. I mean, again, I'm not completely naive or irrational. Someone commits an actual crime without having their residency or citizenship, then by all means, send them home. But, aside from that? Who are we to dictate who has a right to be anywhere?

There You'll Be

Yeah, the Senate has stood up to Trump, on this issue only. They postponed his announcement on it today. How long, we'll see. He's basically offering Canada and Mexico exemption, if they cave to his desired agreement on NAFTA. So, extortion really.

I didn't realize the number was that high, in LA alone. Yeah, if it wouldn't hurt the workers, I'd like to see them not show up for work, too. ICE is still collecting people in California. it's just people are being warned more when they're going to be in the area. Trump is headed out there next week-hes' going to get a horrible welcome, and protests, so I guess he's only going so he can pretend he's trying to make an effort.

about who will build the wall. He's got a valid point there, though it is funny.

We don't have a right to decide. If this president weren't a white supremecist, we wouldn't be having this problem. Also, if he hadn't chosen to end DACA, knowing he'd refuse any agreement that would come to him. It's infuriating to me. Also making more mad every day.

He's still insisting on having his military parade, on Veteran's day, rather than, you know-taking care of the veterans. He just wants to be able to say "Look, MY parade is bigger than YOUR parade."

Ropetuned

They may very well have found Amelia Earhart's skeletal remains!

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/worl...icle-1.3861346
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...ays/404452002/

Trump is a white supremacist now? GMAFB For being one, he's got an awful lot of support from bi-racial folks who go to great lengths to support him. But that's what you get for watching networks like CNN.

So what if he wants to have a parade? I don't recall our previous administration ever trying to help our vets and not only that but they were defunding our military while he was sitting cushy. Getting support for our vets doesn't help over night and it's going to take years if the liberal democrats refuse to work with and make Trump look good, he's had to do that on his own and will have to continue to do so. But like I said, the "trump is evil" crowd is just hilarious.

sunnykerr

One guy thinks he's found a way in which a set of bones that's long been lost was probably the remains of Amelia Earhart. I'm not entirely sure what that is supposed to change about anything. And that's assuming he's right, which no one can prove or disprove at this point.

And no one's a mind reader, of course, but I'd find it harder to try and argue that Trump isn't at the very least racist. It's just a hop and a skip from there to white supremacist, if you look at his professional history and his own words since taking office. Of course, the only show on CNN that I watch is that Anthony Bourdain travel one, and they don't mention him much on there, one way or the other. But, yeah, apparently, it's 10% of Los Angeles. Which makes sense, geographically and demographically speaking.

Something like 60% of white women voted for Trump in the last election. Doesn't mean I don't believe he behaves the way he himself said he does when he's alone with one of them. Sometimes people support ideas and people that/who are bad for them. The fact that they support it doesn't mean it's suddenly good for them.

Me, I'm lucky: Canada and 10 other nations sign TPP as Trump plans U.S. tariffs I'm probably going to be alright, when this mess is all over.

To be fair, no administration has ever done nearly enough for Veterans since the Civil War. Not Obama's, not George W. Bush's before him, not Clinton's before that, Not George H. W. Bush's that, etc. But I'd very much like to hear how the Democrats are getting anything stopped or stalled or undone or anything, really, when the GOP has the majority it needs to carry the House, the Senate and, of course, the Oval Office. Oh, and SCOTUS, too.

There You'll Be

I don't turn on CNN, so...

That's would make a big difference if that 10% stopped showing up for work.

Yep, and the trade world moves on without us. I didn't realize that it would discriminate against the US. but that makes logical sense. It's only going to hurt us to not be a part of it. The fact that it's been said we've taken advantage of, had been more than disproved. We should have been a part of it. I'm glad you guys are a part of that. It can only help you, along with all of the countries involved.

EU wants exclusion from the Tariffs US steel tariffs: Germany's Merkel calls for EU exemption - BBC News. The tariffs being another way the US is only hurting itself, and it's own industries.

The Democrats have zero power over the government at the moment. Only the GOP and president are responsible for anything going on in the US, or involving the US.

Obamas 'in talks to make Netflix shows' - BBC News The Obamas are possibly in talks with Netflix to tell uplifting stories, though Netflix isn't commenting on it, so we'll see.

The Winter Paralympics held it's opening ceremonies Winter Paralympics in Pyeongchang officially begin with colourful opening ceremony - BBC Sport It's an amazing way to tell their stories, and to showcase what they are all capable of.

Sunrise at Midnight

what does GMAFB stand for? never mind it was explained to me , I'm just slow on the pick up



So Trump is gonna meet with Kim Jong Un...for some reason the gummy bear commercial comes to mind when I try to picture this

I'll try to find the clip.

Edited to add



In all seriousness though, hopefully its a good meeting and good things come from it.

sunnykerr

If the EU isn't excluded from the tariffs, there are plenty of alternatives for it elsewhere, I should think. Of course, if they are excluded from the tariffs, you start to wonder what the point of them are... well, except for blackmailing the U.S.'s allies and neighbours into getting screwed even more than we usually are in NAFTA. So, yeah, if the EU is excluded, I guess we know that the only reason the tariffs were invented was to screw over Canada and Mexico. Again.

I would like to see those Obama shows, but not enough to get Netflix.

And the Paralympics never get nearly enough attention, as far as I'm concerned. I hope I can track down The Last Leg online, because they always cover them in the funniest way.

Meanwhile: DR Congo signs new mining law despite companies' opposition So, the DRC, which is a pretty unstable country to begin with, is enacting laws that will give more money from the mines to the government. I don't know if you've all followed the emerging controversy over child exploitation in cobalt mines, but the DRC is the world's largest producer of cobalt. So these laws have just said that the government gets to keep twice as much of the mines' revenue as it did before, but mention nothing about workers' rights or preventing child labour in mines.

Now, I know that's not a simple issue. In such a depressed economy, if you force a child to go to school, the short term result could be starvation in his family. I'm just saying that the country is, like I said, incredibly unstable as it is. And now these laws are putting the screws on one of its largest (if not its largest full stop) industries, and in a way that will probably impact the workers's salaries and possibly even their safety...

So that can't be good.

canflam

Yeah. I don't have Netflix either. If I'm interested in a show of theirs I'll check it out on DVD likely. I haven't seen much of theirs. Just ''Orange is the New Black'' & ''House of Cards''.

There You'll Be

I'm sure that's what the Tariffs are for-extorting Canada and Mexico, and screwing other countries. Australia has already been excluded. Mexico is already fulfilling a lot of their agricultural needs elsewhere. Do you know if Canada is also already importing from other places?

I already have Netflix, so, if the show does materialize, I'll talk about the episodes on the TV thread, if you guys can't find places to read about it.

Thanks for the article on what's happening with mining and exports in the Congo. Thanks also for bringing to light, for me, about the children being used in mines there, and every worker not getting rights, or being protected. Have governments virtually everywhere always been this corrupt? Or, there, is it because it's such a financially precarious position in their country? I get what you say about children having to contribute to their families financially, but are they getting even more screwed because they are children, and no one is standing up for them?

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-c...-idUSKCN1GN07E I guess it works for China, having a leader for life, but, not a majority of China's people, though they're unwilling to speak out publicly. They have controlled online dissent. Xi...well, I don't know enough to comment on the way he rules.

POTUS has been floating around the idea for the US, since he first heard about it. They are a huge minority here, but the government seems to be acting without impunity here right now, and I don't know if it could possibly happen here. I still don't know enough about US politics to know.

Deep divide between anti- and pro-pipeline rallies in Metro Vancouver | The Province I had no idea this pipeline was even a consideration in Canada. Of course, I come down on the side of the environment (even though the US is currently actively engaged in destroying it), though I see the worries about the economy, too. From what I just read, people seem mostly against the pipeline, but that doesn't seem to matter. Do you know any more about it?

sunnykerr

A lot of agricultural imports seem to be from the United States and, you know, that makes sense in terms of proximity. But, if our back is pushed against a wall, I'm sure we'll find alternatives. We're already developing alternative forms of agriculture that can work year-round, be it hydroponic or in hot houses.

The thing about African countries is that they're in a crappy position. Most of the countries have only had their independence since the 1960s and, so, their only model of government is still colonialism, meaning not a democratic one. That's a generalization, of course, but it helps me understand what seems to be pretty systemic problems with corruption. Plus, when the colonial powers left, they'd pretty much taken everything those countries had to give in terms of resources already. And now we have economic colonialism, too.

Because cobalt is mostly used in elecronics. Smart phones and computers and such. That's why it's such big business. That's why the government wants a piece of the pie.

I don't know that a President for Life is a good idea for China, to be honest. It worked when they were operating under communism, in which government was the one business in the country. They've made a lot of strides towards capitalism. A lot of strides. It's a bit like Russia. If you're super rich and have a lot of power through your businesses, you don't necessarily tolerate a government that feels it can do whatever it wants. And that's how you get dissidents and political assassinations.

About the pipeline... You have to understand that you read an article from Vancouver, so on the British Columbia side of that debate. Is Portland as "liberal, tree hugging" a city as I think it is? Well, let's say it is. British Columbia is like Portland, only it's a province and not just a city. Alberta, which is next door (on the other side of the Rockies, but still, next door) is pretty much Texas. But with more oil. So, if you read an article from the Alberta side of the debate, I think you'd find a lot more people arguing in favour of the pipeline.

Oil is big business in Canada, and most of it comes out of Alberta. Our former prime minister, Stephen Harper, was also from Alberta. So there's been a shift in power in Canada over the last 15 years. Alberta, oil and its economic importance... they've become very big players.

Meanwhile, B.C. is next door, with its wine country, its eco-friendly fruit and vegetable farms, its massive Asian population, its huge entertainment industry... There is an absolute clash of culture there, for sure.

There You'll Be

That's really cool that you're developing your own way to grow and supply your own agricultural needs. It's also very smart, since we're trying to extort an agreement from you.

Yeah, when your only means of real support is stolen from your "government" when they bail on you, you really don't have any options. That's smart of them to want their own piece of the income.

Even the people of China, in their government, who speak only on means of anonymity, believe it's going to cause an uprising there, as it did in the past.

I see that now-that I read one side of the disagreement about the pipeline. Both sides make sense, for where they are, and what their businesses/main income is from and for.

Putin Says That Jews 'With Russian Citizenship' May be Behind U.S. Election Meddling So, not surprisingly, the major 2 players in the corruption of our elections (Putin and Trump) aren't admitting any part in it. What I didn't see coming, was Russia/Putin blaming the Jews. That comes entirely out of left field for me, so obviously I've been missing something on the Russian side.

This, from the woman who is in charge of the Educational system in the US Education Secretary DeVos gives cringeworthy interview to '60 Minutes' - Business Insider .

I'm not even going to post the link to the articles coming out of more corruption names in the WH. They're on to Don Jr. now. I think we know everyone in the family is buried in dirt.

sunnykerr

There is a lot of agriculture all over Canada and, with the colder climate, I'm almost completely certain that looking for alternative routes has nothing to do with Trump and his tarifs. It's just good business for the farmers, you know? Agriculture is always going to be seasonal, but there are ways to maximize the yield... and also reduce the negative impact on the environment.

I got a cold chill down my spine when I read today that Putin was blaming "the Jews" for meddling with the U.S. election. Can you say shades of World War II? You don't ever go there. That's just not acceptable language from a person nowadays, let alone an elected leader of such a powerful country. What is he playing at?

canflam

House GOP say investigation found no evidence of Russia-Trump collusion

Stormy Daniels approaches Trump with a new proposition

I almost feel bad for Melania, but she should have known what she was getting herself into buy marrying this guy.

There You'll Be

It it is smart to look for alternatives for farmers. I just feel like hot houses is incredibly smart. It may happen here, I just don't know anything about that. What is "hydroponic"? I've never heard of that.

We've had our share of blaming Jews for the holocaust-saying "If they had guns, they wouldn't have ended up there". It is horrid to blame Jews for anything and everything that happened to them, or is happening in the world now. I just can't shake that feeling.

I don't understand the GOP gloating about that decision. It was a one page report on the GOP investigation-while saying the entire House Intel agreed with that. It goes against the 17 different assessments of the Intelligence community. The president got on Twitter, and in all capital letters gloated about it.

Whichever way the truth falls, I just want the truth to come out. I don't believe we'll ever know the depth of the corruption by the government, and it's frightening to me the lengths the rest of the GOP will go to cover it up. They work for us, not the POTUS. It's their job to protect the US from all enemies-foreign and domestic, and they've willfully failed, on both counts.

There is no way out for him on the Stormy Daniels front now-he either admits to paying her off, or takes the money back. Either way, it won't matter to the GOP, or his base. As for Meliana, she IS Stormy Daniels-except she got paid much better.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/12/t...mm-merger.html Trump blocks this merger based on "security concerns", which is beyond laughable.

Fitbit Launches Ace Fitness Tracker for Kids | Time Fitbit has created a fitness tracker, just for kids. I am both for, and against this.

canflam

Yeah & also they didn't even interview people such as Paul Manafort, Mike Flynn, & George Papadopolous if I'm not mistaken. Anyway that charade in the House is over & lots of news today.

Tillerson sacking: Where it went wrong for Rex - BBC News

Rex Tillerson was an unlikely fit as Secretary of State to begin with, so in a way it's surprising he lasted as long that he did. He does seem like a nice guy, but it was clear it wasn't going to work out I think. Now Trump has 1 less person around that thinks getting rid of the Iran nuclear deal is a bad idea. For someone like Trump who claimed to have the best people, almost all of em seem to be leaving or are already out of the White House.

Federal judge: Paul Manafort faces 'very real possibility' of spending rest of life in prison -