I keep hearing that this winter will be bad for manufacturing in Europe.

[Hobby Shop]

That's probably because the folks that actually remember what the ussr was, are all dead, or in memory care.

These days it is an unpopular thing to actually say that wars are for land. Many elected officials think that this simply does not happen in modern times.

The Rus halve been doing this shit for thousands of years. It's their natural state of mind. The Vikings were probably mostly Rus.

Until you have a LEADER that will do the things required, we'll have to deal with the russians, the chicoms, and the iranians.

Thank god we still have the Isrealis on our side(mostly).

They know how get the intell, and how to act on it. And then afterwards, SHUT UP!

Rant off.

Try telling the Sailors and Marines aboard the USS Liberty the Israelis are our friends.
34 dead and 171 wounded Americans by the state of Israel.

 

[SeymourDumore]

I wonder if you guys didnt study world history and geography in school. Way back in the sixties, my teachers explained it to me like this- NATO is a treaty organization between North America (Canada, and the USA) and European nations.

Ries, I think you may want to re-read your first post and either re word it or explain it better.

My view is that your teacher is correct, and the agreement is between North America and Europe.
IOW the North Atlantic ( The NA in NATO ) is simply the name and does not refer to anything more, just as the "Warsaw Pact" wasn't about Poland.

 

[Thunderjet]

Try telling the Sailors and Marines aboard the USS Liberty the Israelis are our friends.
34 dead and 171 wounded Americans by the state of Israel.

So, One friendly fire incident, 55 years ago, makes the IDF our enemy?

Way to anti Semite there Hobby dude.

FWIW, I would WAY rather have them on our side than the other way around.

But, You do you.

 

[john.k]

The war (SMO) takes an interesting turn ...US fund BlackRock is to invest billions in Ukraine on special terms ,and coincidentally ,Ukraine is now to recieve Abrams tanks ,on top of UK and German tanks........could all this be coincidence ?

 

[Bill D]

Anyone care to jump in and tell us why Switzerland has a navy?
Remember russia was paid with a check that bounced for their land in California. They are fully entitled to get it back from the USA who stole it. Why shouldn't they be allowed to claim the area of the russian river?
Bill D

 

[Freedommachine]

The war (SMO) takes an interesting turn ...US fund BlackRock is to invest billions in Ukraine on special terms ,and coincidentally ,Ukraine is now to recieve Abrams tanks ,on top of UK and German tanks........could all this be coincidence ?

Sure, coincidence lol.


Good ol' Larry Fink is finally starting to get the attention he deserves...

BlackRock’s Fink says climate and ESG-investing attacks getting ugly, personal

‘We are trying to address the misconceptions [of ESG investing]. It’s hard because it’s not business any more, they’re doing it in a personal way. And for the first time in my professional career, attacks are now personal. They’re trying to demonize the issues.’​

“Let’s be clear, the narrative is ugly, the narrative is creating this huge polarization. If you really read the CEO letters that I’ve written in the past I talk about a transition” to new forms of energy or addressing fresh demand from younger investors who care about social issues, Fink said in an interview with Bloomberg TV at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

"The narrative is ugly and creating polarization"... that's elite speak for; "oh shit guys, the plebes are starting to wake up!"

If these dicks are left to do what they wish without restraint, by 2035, we will be going cashless. We will be eating nothing but GMO crops and synthetic meat. We will be riding around in autonomous vehicles owned by a "management agency for the stakeholders" and we will not be buying fossil fuels with plenty more they haven't thought up yet.

 

[Ries]

Ries, I think you may want to re-read your first post and either re word it or explain it better.

My view is that your teacher is correct, and the agreement is between North America and Europe.
IOW the North Atlantic ( The NA in NATO ) is simply the name and does not refer to anything more, just as the "Warsaw Pact" wasn't about Poland.

You are right. The words “North Atlantic” are meaningless in terms of the actual terms of the nato treaty. Hence my mentioning of original members from 1949 on the Med and Baltic seas.

 

[michiganbuck]

Nato countries join and support Nato... I thought.
So not just the countries we like IMHO.

 

[standardparts]

not quite that simple- there were a variety of Ukranian forces in WW2, ranging from fascist to communist to jewish. plus some other ethnic groups. Kind of like in Yugoslavia, where Tito came out on top in the end, but there were pro-nazi fascist, anti nazi right wing monarchists who wanted the king back, socialists, communists, christians, muslims, greeks, albanians, and a few more armed groups who sometimes fought together against the nazis, sometimes allied with the nazis against their own enemies, and sometimes ignored both the nazis and the russians and just fought each other...

"Kind of like in Yugoslavia" Don't know about the "kind of like". But I guess NATO ended up bringing peace(?) to Bosnia/Serbia/Hersogovina/Yugoslavia and now everything is all just fine. Just a little bit of violence and genocide so be careful when nation building or bringing closure to unsettled issues.

But.....Having been "adapted" by some Yugos many years ago, due to the massive amounts of booze, beer, and second hand smoke I doubt I could tell you much of anything about the political motivation of the people who landed in SE Wisconsin other than the factories were hiring back then, they were hard workers, and they were on the wrong side political or religion wise in their home country.

In any event...the old man of the group made it to the U.S. after WW2 having been left in Egypt by his captors. Since he was aligned with King Peter he never went back until he passed and is buried in his home country. The rest of the family and friends likely had some reason to have left but it never came up. Think most of them were Serb Croats. A few from Montenegro. Likely Serb Orthodox religion wise.

Never developed a taste for Slivovitz (AKA Yugoslavian Rocket Fuel) but at the time there was some Yugo beer that was not too bad. The old man drank Seagrams whiskey--1/2 bottle a day and smoked 3 packs of cigs until he passed in his 90s. They all smoked non-stop, kept the beer on the warm back porch and the booze in the fridge.

Wonderful people. I was proud to have ate and drank with them. like many in Easter Europe or former Soviet controlled countries the break from Russia did not necessarly bring peace.

Anyway---Back to manufacturing in America and Europe.......Considering the lack of blue color jobs in manufacturing it's doubtful most of those that came into the U.S. in the 1980/1990 time frame would even be able to find jobs that would them a shot at a middle class lifestyle.
Good times-Good memories.

 

[Hobby Shop]

So, One friendly fire incident, 55 years ago, makes the IDF our enemy?

Way to anti Semite there Hobby dude.

FWIW, I would WAY rather have them on our side than the other way around.

But, You do you.

You gotta be kidding me. Friendly fire my ass. You’re saying the IAF bombed a U.S. flagged ship for over 2hrs by accident? It’s typical of people like you to cast that label because someone disagrees with your view.

I don’t entirely agree with what’s going on in Ukraine but you’d think the country that receives the most US welfare would be on the same page with its donor.

The Israeli regime and most of the Middle East regimes have yet to publicly condemn the Russians for the invasion of Ukraine. I say cut them off from all US military aide. Maybe they’d have a change of heart if Iranian Shahed drones fell on Tel Aviv or Riyadh.

From day one I was against the US unprovoked invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan that lasted 20yrs. I don’t care what happens in the Middle East just like I don’t care what happens with Taiwan. Its none of our business and more of the same failed US foreign policy.

 

[john.k]

According to the telly,BlackRocks method of green transition is to buy up all the US trailer parks ,evict long term residents ,and raise rents ,thereby making more homeless.........and more money for Larry

 

[jim rozen]

"just like I don’t care what happens with Taiwan."

The enemy of our enemy is our friend.

 

[Freedommachine]

According to the telly,BlackRocks method of green transition is to buy up all the US trailer parks ,evict long term residents ,and raise rents ,thereby making more homeless.........and more money for Larry

They have been buying up trailer parks, single family homes and even entire housing developments. The same thing is happening in Canada and UK. (Not necessarily BR but other investment firms as well)

When I looked into this awhile back, I was surprised to discover that I couldn't find any information about investment firms buying single family homes in Australia. There were articles about foreigners buying up homes, but nothing on investment firms.

BlackRock's main method is not SFD's or trailer parks though. Their real weapon to push the green agenda is using ESG scoring to determine which companies they invest with and how much money they get.

Watch a few youtube videos on ESG. It's a brilliant plan, or at least it was until people started catching on.

 

[michiganbuck]

QT: (They have been buying up trailer parks, single-family homes and even entire housing developments. The same thing is happening in Canada and UK. (Not necessarily BR but other investment firms as well)

We need to start kicking USA homeowners out of their homes by raising taxes..so we can provide free housing for the illegals.

 

[Bill D]

You have to realize that Israel shares a long border with Syria and the Syrian dictator is propped up by russia in exchange for a warm water port. So Israel has to be careful not to get russia too mad at them by supporting Ukraine beyond humanitarian aide..
BilLD

 

[jim rozen]

"We need to start kicking USA homeowners out of their homes by raising taxes..so we can provide free housing for the illegals."

AGAIN with the tax blubbering. WHAT will satisfy you? OK, how about the republican idea to eliminate income tax and have a simple 30 percent national sales tax? It's your own guy's idea, right? You should LOVE such a simple idea. Only a libtard would oppose it, eh?

A National Sales Tax Is a Terrible Idea

A handful of House Republicans want to force a vote on it. That’s just a free gift to Democrats.

www.theatlantic.com

"

 

[Bill D]

To get Social security back in the black is very simple. Just tax all incomes equal for social security including the income above $150,000. I think elon musk should pay more to SS then a city cop does. Just keep the payout limit the same. They charge mansions more for property tax don't they? After all why should license fees be higher for a Ferrari or Rolls Royce then a twenty year old Ford. Seems unfair to charge more for what is basically the same thing.
Bill D

 

[Freedommachine]

eliminate income tax and have a simple 30 percent national sales tax?

It's still early in the year. I agree, let's get all the bad ideas out of the way now.

To get Social security back in the black is very simple.

Yes sir! Very simple, abolish it.

If every American paid into a simple mutual fund as much as they pay into social security from age 18 until retirement, we would all retire as multi millionaires AND an early death would mean that your wealth gets passed on to your beneficiaries as if you were collecting it yourself.

Social security is extortion - the largest ponzi scheme in history, only worse. If you refuse to pay, if you resist every attempt to collect payment from - or carry out punishment to - you; the result will be execution.

Prove me wrong...

 

[john.k]

In a lot of the Eurozone ,VAT (sales tax) is at a 20-25% rate,and the governments still needs lots of extra taxes like heavy gasoline excise,alcohol taxes of up to 100%,gambling tax etc ,etc,and cant make do with that ,and so income tax and inheritance tax at high rates is also added to the revenue. .....makes a 30 % sales tax look like gimme.

 

[standardparts]

Oh say it ain't so....more manufacturing flees California.
"The state’s complicated cannabis regulations and high taxes add costs to legal operators, while widespread illegal farms and retailers undercuts legitimate companies"

Sounds like the same problems facing job shops...high taxes and "race to the bottom" shops cutting prices.

'A lot of people are leaving': California sees cannabis exodus

“This was a hard decision for them, they love California.”

www.sfgate.com