...Still literally nothing from the Trump administration about the launch.
This is some mix of weird, expected and a little bit scary. Pyongyang probably wanted to know what the executive's response time looks like while the PotUS has fucked-off to a resort, and the answer was, 'basically non-existent'.
Letting Kim Jong Un confirm for himself that the current American President is not only stupid & lazy, but too stupid & lazy to care about missile tests, is pretty dangerous.
As a reminder, North Korea had some 20-odd missile tests last year.
Their typical MO is to try to ratchet up tensions, then to eventually offer to negotiate some sort of agreement that will offer them something they want, whether international aid, food that they can sell, whatever. Then they delay holding up their end of the deal, the deal is cancelled, and they just keep whatever goodies they got and prepare to go through the whole song and dance again.
It's why the international community is refusing to ratchet up tensions over yet another missile test, because we know that North Korea is mostly full of shit. The North Korean leadership is not actually insane, they just go to great effort to appear so. They know full well just how fucked they would be if a shooting war actually broke out.
Trump doing nothing is a GOOD thing, far better that then he decide he's gonna be the tough man in the room on the issue. Sure it doesn't match his rhetoric, and yeah the back-patting by his aides on how STRONG he is by shaking hands with Abe is ridiculous, but it's a hell of a lot better than the alternative. Let's be grateful and hope he doesn't try to actually be tough instead of just talking tough.
Kana on
A trap is for fish: when you've got the fish, you can forget the trap. A snare is for rabbits: when you've got the rabbit, you can forget the snare. Words are for meaning: when you've got the meaning, you can forget the words.
As a reminder, North Korea had some 20-odd missile tests last year.
Their typical MO is to try to ratchet up tensions, then to eventually offer to negotiate some sort of agreement that will offer them something they want, whether international aid, food that they can sell, whatever. Then they delay holding up their end of the deal, the deal is cancelled, and they just keep whatever goodies they got and prepare to go through the whole song and dance again.
It's why the international community is refusing to ratchet up tensions over yet another missile test, because we know that North Korea is mostly full of shit. The North Korean leadership is not actually insane, they just go to great effort to appear so. They know full well just how fucked they would be if a shooting war actually broke out.
Trump doing nothing is a GOOD thing, far better that then he decide he's gonna be the tough man in the room on the issue. Sure it doesn't match his rhetoric, and yeah the back-patting by his aides on how STRONG he is by shaking hands with Abe is ridiculous, but it's a hell of a lot better than the alternative. Let's be grateful and hope he doesn't try to actually be tough instead of just talking tough.
The Obama administration condemned every single test. That has been status quo for some time. I agree that it is a good thing Trump didn't take to twitter and start insulting the Kims, but saying nothing is also fairly problematic.
There has been a slow but steady escalation in activities from the DPRK; they had 20 missile tests last year, yes, and that was a dramatic uptick from previous years (particularly if you consider the number of failed launches vs successful ones - they are not only ramping-up the volume of rockets, they are actively working to improve the technology and making surprisingly swift strides). The volume of nuclear warhead tests follows a similar trend line, with detonations occurring more frequently every couple of years until they set two off in 2016. I suspect we'll see 2-3 again this year, assuming we remain in a peacetime environment.
I don't like to assume that someone who is constantly raising the stakes is always bluffing, particularly when - crazy or not - they have not demonstrated themselves to have the best judgement, are increasingly seen being drunk while making high level state decisions & when their mode of government is known to be completely unstable.
What does the instability of NK's government entail? If it broke, how would it break? I can't imagine a revolutionary movement could easily form and take power, but maybe some kind of coup or other split within the state? If it descends into civil war, or multiple rival warlords, who controls the nukes? Does China invade, or a US/South Korean force?
I've watched plenty of states fall apart, but no nuclear armed ones, so I don't know how the world responds in that sort of situation. North Korea sort of sits in the background of the rest of our geopolitical crises, only becoming more terrifying over time.
Kaputa on
+1
Options
HonkHonk is this poster.Registered User, __BANNED USERSregular
edited February 2017
So uh he took Abe to Mar a Lago?
Why is the president not working out of the WH anymore? Bad weather?
What does the instability of NK's government entail? If it broke, how would it break? I can't imagine a revolutionary movement could easily form and take power, but maybe some kind of coup or other split within the state? If it descends into civil war, or multiple rival warlords, who controls the nukes? Does China invade, or a US/South Korean force?
I've watched plenty of states fall apart, but no nuclear armed ones, so I don't know how the world responds in that sort of situation. North Korea sort of sits in the background of the rest of our geopolitical crises, only becoming more terrifying over time.
In my ideal universe, North Korea's life as a state ends when some future heir to the throne decides they do not wish to be king and enters into negotiations with Seoul. That would be a long time coming, but isn't completely outside the realm of possibility.
I fundamentally agree with @Kana that the DPRK is bluffing... but you can see the bluff becoming more daring every year. That's the factor of instability. You have two states sharing a border with each other that are hostile, and one of them likes to fire a shot into the ceiling every now and then. When the other side doesn't blink, they lower the gun just a little bit and fire again. The longer the stand-off goes, the more frequently the DPRK has decided to test its opponent like this.
It's a game with a pretty obvious & awful conclusion to it that the rest of the world has to actively stop from happening with talks, incentives, condemnations, sanctions, etc, to try and run out the clock until some future Kim comes to their senses and/or the DPRK's military branch has had enough. Trump (and by extension, the U.S.) not wanting to be bothered with this effort bumps up the chances that North Korea will go too far and/or South Korea will decide it has put up with the game for long enough and must protect its own interests because NATO has an unsure future.
And yet, even that (lack of) response is probably better than the probable alternative, which is threats and bluster and maybe actual ships, troops, etc deployed to the region.
This administration doesn't do "nuance."
So, Trump has the answer to getting kicked out of the British Parliament, hold a rally!
Trump shrugs off Bercow's rant: US President plans spectacular UK rally to help veterans
DONALD TRUMP will snub Parliament and “speak to the people” at a stadium rally on his UK visit, with the proceeds going to the Poppy appeal.
The US President hopes a sell-out arena address will celebrate the special relationship during his state visit to Britain later this year.
Plans are under discussion with Whitehall officials to stage the event and the £10 ticket sales will be donated to Britain’s war veterans.
Last week Commons Speaker John Bercow said he would try to block Doanld Trump addressing Parliament but insiders say the President has shrugged off the apparent snub and wants to “speak to the people, not politicians”.
The Speaker is facing a no-confidence motion following his announcement with MPs complaining that he had “overstepped the mark”.
But a source close to the President said: “Trump never asked to address Parliament in the first place.
“The idea that is being discussed is to hire a major stadium in Birmingham, Cardiff or even Wembley and to bring everyone together in a massive rally to celebrate the special relationship between the US and the UK.
The source added: “Trump is a huge supporter of the military so the plan would be to charge people £10 to attend with all the proceeds going to the Poppy appeal.
“It would be a triple win. Trump loves rallies; it would be a win for the British public and a win for the Royal British Legion, of which the Queen is patron.
“The only person who gets screwed is the Speaker of the House of Commons.” Insiders say Mr Bercow may have orchestrated the row to keep him in the post until 2020 by currying favour with the Left by vetoing a speech in Westminster Hall.
Work has yet to get underway to find the venue which his team hopes will accommodate tens of thousands.
It has been suggested his visit could coincide with the G7 meeting in Italy at the end of May. The start of June has also been mooted, although it is looking increasingly likely the visit could be delayed until the start of September and may coincide with the G20 meeting in Germany.
Look, if I was on the UK, I would be 100% for the Trump deal, since an US/UK trade deal is one of the few ways that Brexit happens and the UK economy doesn't take a dive for losing access to the single market. "But Brexit shouldn't happen". Well, too late for that. And a repeat of the Greek crisis simply doesn't benefit anybody.
I can't believe this would happen. I'd hope the Poppy appeal would tell Trump to fuck off for one, if not for his political views but for the likelihood of never seeing that money.
I can't imagine either London or Birmingham would want to a Trump event either considers the demographics of those cites.
Plus you know the logistics of a stadium being free or organising such a thing on such short notice ....
I think the aristocracy has forgotten they're speaking the same language as the servants, so no, in fact they can't make their plans while being served while still being in complete secrecy.
Well, Abe's people aren't. Probably.
Abe's people in the U.S. probably end up talking to americans.
0
Options
FencingsaxIt is difficult to get a man to understand, when his salary depends upon his not understandingGNU Terry PratchettRegistered Userregular
I think the aristocracy has forgotten they're speaking the same language as the servants, so no, in fact they can't make their plans while being served while still being in complete secrecy.
Well, Abe's people aren't. Probably.
Abe's people in the U.S. probably end up talking to americans.
Right, but specifically there, they weren't speaking English.
I think the aristocracy has forgotten they're speaking the same language as the servants, so no, in fact they can't make their plans while being served while still being in complete secrecy.
Well, Abe's people aren't. Probably.
Abe's people in the U.S. probably end up talking to americans.
Right, but specifically there, they weren't speaking English.
"¡No hablo inglés!" And the inner circle that rules the nation will eat it right up.
So, Trump has the answer to getting kicked out of the British Parliament, hold a rally!
Trump shrugs off Bercow's rant: US President plans spectacular UK rally to help veterans
DONALD TRUMP will snub Parliament and “speak to the people” at a stadium rally on his UK visit, with the proceeds going to the Poppy appeal.
The US President hopes a sell-out arena address will celebrate the special relationship during his state visit to Britain later this year.
Plans are under discussion with Whitehall officials to stage the event and the £10 ticket sales will be donated to Britain’s war veterans.
Last week Commons Speaker John Bercow said he would try to block Doanld Trump addressing Parliament but insiders say the President has shrugged off the apparent snub and wants to “speak to the people, not politicians”.
The Speaker is facing a no-confidence motion following his announcement with MPs complaining that he had “overstepped the mark”.
But a source close to the President said: “Trump never asked to address Parliament in the first place.
“The idea that is being discussed is to hire a major stadium in Birmingham, Cardiff or even Wembley and to bring everyone together in a massive rally to celebrate the special relationship between the US and the UK.
The source added: “Trump is a huge supporter of the military so the plan would be to charge people £10 to attend with all the proceeds going to the Poppy appeal.
“It would be a triple win. Trump loves rallies; it would be a win for the British public and a win for the Royal British Legion, of which the Queen is patron.
“The only person who gets screwed is the Speaker of the House of Commons.” Insiders say Mr Bercow may have orchestrated the row to keep him in the post until 2020 by currying favour with the Left by vetoing a speech in Westminster Hall.
Work has yet to get underway to find the venue which his team hopes will accommodate tens of thousands.
It has been suggested his visit could coincide with the G7 meeting in Italy at the end of May. The start of June has also been mooted, although it is looking increasingly likely the visit could be delayed until the start of September and may coincide with the G20 meeting in Germany.
Look, if I was on the UK, I would be 100% for the Trump deal, since an US/UK trade deal is one of the few ways that Brexit happens and the UK economy doesn't take a dive for losing access to the single market. "But Brexit shouldn't happen". Well, too late for that. And a repeat of the Greek crisis simply doesn't benefit anybody.
I can't believe this would happen. I'd hope the Poppy appeal would tell Trump to fuck off for one, if not for his political views but for the likelihood of never seeing that money.
I can't imagine either London or Birmingham would want to a Trump event either considers the demographics of those cites.
Plus you know the logistics of a stadium being free or organising such a thing on such short notice ....
I mean, it's not unheard of for a US President to hold a public speech in a foreign country. "Inch bein ein Berliner" and "tear down this wall" (heh) both come from such speeches. Heck, Obama gave a speech to the Irish Public in Dame Street in Dublin. I was there. It was awesome. But it also cost the Gardai (police) a fortune and they never recouped that money from the Government when it was promised they would, plus both the public speech and the visit in general meant I spent days in the city having to walk miles out of my way to get a bus, not being able to cross certain roads and dealing with a boatload of disruption. (It didn't help that we'd just finished dealing with the same stuff for a state visit by Queen Elizabeth II just days before.)
Both visits went smoothly, including the protests against the Queen's visit by hardline Republicans which going by memory all passed off peacefully, but the vast majority of people in Dublin were quite happy for both visits to take place, even a bit excited about it all. I don't think an Obama "rally" would have gone down quite so well, but I can't quite put my finger on why since I suppose you could call the event in Dame Street a rally if you pushed it. Charging us admission? I think most people would have laughed and decided to watch on TV, myself included. I mean I like Obama and all but, come on. If I'm going to fork out money for tickets to watch him speak I want to be somewhere indoors with a seat and at least a complimentary cup of tea.
The same event held with Trump? Would have been an unholy mess. About 5,000 of us marched in Dublin the day after his inauguration, with another few hundred marching in Galway. I can't even imagine how many would show up to protest if he came here in person.
...which I guess brings me to the crux of the this-is-a-bad-ideaness. How many people marched in British cities for the women's march, or to protest the Muslim ban? I mean off the top of my head I know there were Muslim ban protests in London, Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow, Cardiff, Liverpool, Edinburgh... Is there any major city in the UK that hasn't seen protests before all this talk of him showing up in person to hold a rally?
So President Trump's rally in the U.K. is different from candidate Obama's rally in Germany because...
One of them was only a Senator at the time?
One of them was free?
One of them is liked by us?
I'll agree, the Trump one seems off to me. But everything he does seems off. If he'd announce a plan to give puppies and ice cream to everyone, I'd probably assume the people he hates most that day are allergic and lactose intolerant. When the Obama thing comes up as an argument, what's the proper counter?
He was a candidate for office, not holding the office. They were speeches that happened to draw large crowds rather than being declared "rallies" in a different country (and again, after campaigning finished) that require admission. He also wasn't specifically barred from addressing Parliament and so had to come up with a back door address.
Kennedy and Reagan had major addresses at the Brandenburg Gate that drew huge crowds. They weren't rallies, they were addresses. I don't think the Trump administration understands the distinction, and the content will likely reinforce that point.
Side note: Germany is currently dealing with a banking crisis. German banks have a lot of money tied up in shipping companies which have for decades been the stalwart old reliables of finance, and which have been suffering financially and shutting down at unprecedented rates recently, reducing most investments to mush.
It's gotten next to no media attention (even within Germany) because the detail behind it all is very complicated and Germany's banks have been dealing with it all quietly and cautiously in a very practical, stereotypically German manner. Still, if you throw in the fact that a dip in shipping usually means a global recession is on the way, Brexit, ongoing financial issues within some EU economies, a growing suspicion that China's economic stability is based on fiction and various other financial horror stories around the world, it adds to the picture that the global economy is a tinderbox and nobody wants to stand to close to the global equivalent of the weird kid playing with matches.
Side note: Germany is currently dealing with a banking crisis. German banks have a lot of money tied up in shipping companies which have for decades been the stalwart old reliables of finance, and which have been suffering financially and shutting down at unprecedented rates recently, reducing most investments to mush.
It's gotten next to no media attention (even within Germany) because the detail behind it all is very complicated and Germany's banks have been dealing with it all quietly and cautiously in a very practical, stereotypically German manner. Still, if you throw in the fact that a dip in shipping usually means a global recession is on the way, Brexit, ongoing financial issues within some EU economies, a growing suspicion that China's economic stability is based on fiction and various other financial horror stories around the world, it adds to the picture that the global economy is a tinderbox and nobody wants to stand to close to the global equivalent of the weird kid playing with matches.
Given that German bank also still give loans to Trump; their limited aversion to risk wrt these shipping companies does not come as surprise.
Who would even meet with him? The L. L. Bean lady?
Female executives from the United States and Canada are expected for the round table, including General Electric Canada CEO Elyse Allan, TransAlta Corp. CEO Dawn Farrell, Linamar Corp. CEO Linda Hasenfratz, T&T Supermarket Inc. Tina Lee and Schnitzer Steel Industries CEO Tamara Lundgren.
Also expected are Julie Sweet, CEO-North America for Accenture, NRStor CEO Annette Verschuren, Monique Leroux, chair of the board of directors for Investissement Québec. Carol Stephenson, of the board of directors for General Motors Co. will attend in place of the GM CEO.
Additionally, the meeting will include Katie Telford, Trudeau's chief of staff, Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland and Dina Powell, assistant to the president and senior counselor for economic initiatives. Powell, Telford and Freeland were involved in setting up the council and recruiting the CEOS.
So, Trump has the answer to getting kicked out of the British Parliament, hold a rally!
Trump shrugs off Bercow's rant: US President plans spectacular UK rally to help veterans
DONALD TRUMP will snub Parliament and “speak to the people” at a stadium rally on his UK visit, with the proceeds going to the Poppy appeal.
The US President hopes a sell-out arena address will celebrate the special relationship during his state visit to Britain later this year.
Plans are under discussion with Whitehall officials to stage the event and the £10 ticket sales will be donated to Britain’s war veterans.
Last week Commons Speaker John Bercow said he would try to block Doanld Trump addressing Parliament but insiders say the President has shrugged off the apparent snub and wants to “speak to the people, not politicians”.
The Speaker is facing a no-confidence motion following his announcement with MPs complaining that he had “overstepped the mark”.
But a source close to the President said: “Trump never asked to address Parliament in the first place.
“The idea that is being discussed is to hire a major stadium in Birmingham, Cardiff or even Wembley and to bring everyone together in a massive rally to celebrate the special relationship between the US and the UK.
The source added: “Trump is a huge supporter of the military so the plan would be to charge people £10 to attend with all the proceeds going to the Poppy appeal.
“It would be a triple win. Trump loves rallies; it would be a win for the British public and a win for the Royal British Legion, of which the Queen is patron.
“The only person who gets screwed is the Speaker of the House of Commons.” Insiders say Mr Bercow may have orchestrated the row to keep him in the post until 2020 by currying favour with the Left by vetoing a speech in Westminster Hall.
Work has yet to get underway to find the venue which his team hopes will accommodate tens of thousands.
It has been suggested his visit could coincide with the G7 meeting in Italy at the end of May. The start of June has also been mooted, although it is looking increasingly likely the visit could be delayed until the start of September and may coincide with the G20 meeting in Germany.
Look, if I was on the UK, I would be 100% for the Trump deal, since an US/UK trade deal is one of the few ways that Brexit happens and the UK economy doesn't take a dive for losing access to the single market. "But Brexit shouldn't happen". Well, too late for that. And a repeat of the Greek crisis simply doesn't benefit anybody.
I can't believe this would happen. I'd hope the Poppy appeal would tell Trump to fuck off for one, if not for his political views but for the likelihood of never seeing that money.
I can't imagine either London or Birmingham would want to a Trump event either considers the demographics of those cites.
Plus you know the logistics of a stadium being free or organising such a thing on such short notice ....
The poppy appeal would have to 100% tell him to goose off. The poppy appeal has done an ADMIRABLE job for more than a century of positioning itself as an apolitical, imbiased organization which simply exists to raise money for those who have served, or serve in the British Armed Forces. Which itself has done an excellent job of avoiding even the appearance of any political bias. Hosting a rally for Trump would destroy that overnight. I for one would never respect the organization again.
Side note: Germany is currently dealing with a banking crisis. German banks have a lot of money tied up in shipping companies which have for decades been the stalwart old reliables of finance, and which have been suffering financially and shutting down at unprecedented rates recently, reducing most investments to mush.
It's gotten next to no media attention (even within Germany) because the detail behind it all is very complicated and Germany's banks have been dealing with it all quietly and cautiously in a very practical, stereotypically German manner. Still, if you throw in the fact that a dip in shipping usually means a global recession is on the way, Brexit, ongoing financial issues within some EU economies, a growing suspicion that China's economic stability is based on fiction and various other financial horror stories around the world, it adds to the picture that the global economy is a tinderbox and nobody wants to stand to close to the global equivalent of the weird kid playing with matches.
The problem is that there is a glut of shipping capacity available, driving the price down to basically cost or even lower in some cases if fuel fluctuates too much. The index that tracks this was at an all-time high in 2008 and post-recession financing was cheap so everybody built ships. So it's not a lack of things being shipped that's causing it, we just have too many ships so there's always another ship that will take your cargo for less
The golfing at Mar-o-Lago with Shinzo Abe really pisses me off.
I think we all know that this president will take a record amount of vacations and play an absurd amounts of golf.
And Pubs already have the excuses ready just like with Bush 2
"He does business while he golfs so it's different than Obama."
"He owns the places he vacations to so the tax payers don't eat the bill (nvm that it's security and travel that cost the most.)
WASHINGTON (AP) — AP sources: Trump administration to sanction Venezuela's vice president, accuses him of being drug kingpin.
Well, the Chavistas can't hate us more and the accusation is probably true.
The VP of Venezuela might be the next President until at least 2019.
President Nicolas Maduro appointed El Aissami as Vice-President on 4 January 2017.[7][21] Due to controversy surrounding El Aissimi, the appointment was contentious; if a recall election were to occur in 2017, he would become the President of Venezuela until 2019.[12] According to the publication El País, El Aissami is so despised by the opposition that his appointment is seen as a way to dissuade a recall movement against President Maduro.[22] Following El Aissami's appointment, The Wall Street Journal argued in its article "Venezuela Tees Up Its Next Dictator" that Venezuelans considering to hold a presidential recall election "will now have to decide which tyrant they’d prefer to live under".[20]
So, Trump has the answer to getting kicked out of the British Parliament, hold a rally!
Trump shrugs off Bercow's rant: US President plans spectacular UK rally to help veterans
DONALD TRUMP will snub Parliament and “speak to the people” at a stadium rally on his UK visit, with the proceeds going to the Poppy appeal.
The US President hopes a sell-out arena address will celebrate the special relationship during his state visit to Britain later this year.
Plans are under discussion with Whitehall officials to stage the event and the £10 ticket sales will be donated to Britain’s war veterans.
Last week Commons Speaker John Bercow said he would try to block Doanld Trump addressing Parliament but insiders say the President has shrugged off the apparent snub and wants to “speak to the people, not politicians”.
The Speaker is facing a no-confidence motion following his announcement with MPs complaining that he had “overstepped the mark”.
But a source close to the President said: “Trump never asked to address Parliament in the first place.
“The idea that is being discussed is to hire a major stadium in Birmingham, Cardiff or even Wembley and to bring everyone together in a massive rally to celebrate the special relationship between the US and the UK.
The source added: “Trump is a huge supporter of the military so the plan would be to charge people £10 to attend with all the proceeds going to the Poppy appeal.
“It would be a triple win. Trump loves rallies; it would be a win for the British public and a win for the Royal British Legion, of which the Queen is patron.
“The only person who gets screwed is the Speaker of the House of Commons.” Insiders say Mr Bercow may have orchestrated the row to keep him in the post until 2020 by currying favour with the Left by vetoing a speech in Westminster Hall.
Work has yet to get underway to find the venue which his team hopes will accommodate tens of thousands.
It has been suggested his visit could coincide with the G7 meeting in Italy at the end of May. The start of June has also been mooted, although it is looking increasingly likely the visit could be delayed until the start of September and may coincide with the G20 meeting in Germany.
Look, if I was on the UK, I would be 100% for the Trump deal, since an US/UK trade deal is one of the few ways that Brexit happens and the UK economy doesn't take a dive for losing access to the single market. "But Brexit shouldn't happen". Well, too late for that. And a repeat of the Greek crisis simply doesn't benefit anybody.
I can't believe this would happen. I'd hope the Poppy appeal would tell Trump to fuck off for one, if not for his political views but for the likelihood of never seeing that money.
I can't imagine either London or Birmingham would want to a Trump event either considers the demographics of those cites.
Plus you know the logistics of a stadium being free or organising such a thing on such short notice ....
I mean, it's not unheard of for a US President to hold a public speech in a foreign country. "Inch bein ein Berliner" and "tear down this wall" (heh) both come from such speeches. Heck, Obama gave a speech to the Irish Public in Dame Street in Dublin. I was there. It was awesome. But it also cost the Gardai (police) a fortune and they never recouped that money from the Government when it was promised they would, plus both the public speech and the visit in general meant I spent days in the city having to walk miles out of my way to get a bus, not being able to cross certain roads and dealing with a boatload of disruption. (It didn't help that we'd just finished dealing with the same stuff for a state visit by Queen Elizabeth II just days before.)
Both visits went smoothly, including the protests against the Queen's visit by hardline Republicans which going by memory all passed off peacefully, but the vast majority of people in Dublin were quite happy for both visits to take place, even a bit excited about it all. I don't think an Obama "rally" would have gone down quite so well, but I can't quite put my finger on why since I suppose you could call the event in Dame Street a rally if you pushed it. Charging us admission? I think most people would have laughed and decided to watch on TV, myself included. I mean I like Obama and all but, come on. If I'm going to fork out money for tickets to watch him speak I want to be somewhere indoors with a seat and at least a complimentary cup of tea.
The same event held with Trump? Would have been an unholy mess. About 5,000 of us marched in Dublin the day after his inauguration, with another few hundred marching in Galway. I can't even imagine how many would show up to protest if he came here in person.
...which I guess brings me to the crux of the this-is-a-bad-ideaness. How many people marched in British cities for the women's march, or to protest the Muslim ban? I mean off the top of my head I know there were Muslim ban protests in London, Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow, Cardiff, Liverpool, Edinburgh... Is there any major city in the UK that hasn't seen protests before all this talk of him showing up in person to hold a rally?
I've heard Trump's trying to move the rally/grift out to a rural venue to avoid protestors.
So Mexico is threatening to import corn from Brazil instead of the U.S.
Good, fuckin do it.
Maybe we'll produce less fuckin corn.
Pretty sure US corn production right now is completely untethered from demand for US corn. Hell, isn't the problem been finding ways for demand to match supply?
Posts
This is some mix of weird, expected and a little bit scary. Pyongyang probably wanted to know what the executive's response time looks like while the PotUS has fucked-off to a resort, and the answer was, 'basically non-existent'.
Letting Kim Jong Un confirm for himself that the current American President is not only stupid & lazy, but too stupid & lazy to care about missile tests, is pretty dangerous.
Abe was kissing up. There are a number of internal and external reasons for him to do so. Plus it's not like he loses hearing this info.
Their typical MO is to try to ratchet up tensions, then to eventually offer to negotiate some sort of agreement that will offer them something they want, whether international aid, food that they can sell, whatever. Then they delay holding up their end of the deal, the deal is cancelled, and they just keep whatever goodies they got and prepare to go through the whole song and dance again.
It's why the international community is refusing to ratchet up tensions over yet another missile test, because we know that North Korea is mostly full of shit. The North Korean leadership is not actually insane, they just go to great effort to appear so. They know full well just how fucked they would be if a shooting war actually broke out.
Trump doing nothing is a GOOD thing, far better that then he decide he's gonna be the tough man in the room on the issue. Sure it doesn't match his rhetoric, and yeah the back-patting by his aides on how STRONG he is by shaking hands with Abe is ridiculous, but it's a hell of a lot better than the alternative. Let's be grateful and hope he doesn't try to actually be tough instead of just talking tough.
The Obama administration condemned every single test. That has been status quo for some time. I agree that it is a good thing Trump didn't take to twitter and start insulting the Kims, but saying nothing is also fairly problematic.
There has been a slow but steady escalation in activities from the DPRK; they had 20 missile tests last year, yes, and that was a dramatic uptick from previous years (particularly if you consider the number of failed launches vs successful ones - they are not only ramping-up the volume of rockets, they are actively working to improve the technology and making surprisingly swift strides). The volume of nuclear warhead tests follows a similar trend line, with detonations occurring more frequently every couple of years until they set two off in 2016. I suspect we'll see 2-3 again this year, assuming we remain in a peacetime environment.
I don't like to assume that someone who is constantly raising the stakes is always bluffing, particularly when - crazy or not - they have not demonstrated themselves to have the best judgement, are increasingly seen being drunk while making high level state decisions & when their mode of government is known to be completely unstable.
I've watched plenty of states fall apart, but no nuclear armed ones, so I don't know how the world responds in that sort of situation. North Korea sort of sits in the background of the rest of our geopolitical crises, only becoming more terrifying over time.
Why is the president not working out of the WH anymore? Bad weather?
Because of course you need a winter palace white house, if you're going to host a Versailles party
In my ideal universe, North Korea's life as a state ends when some future heir to the throne decides they do not wish to be king and enters into negotiations with Seoul. That would be a long time coming, but isn't completely outside the realm of possibility.
I fundamentally agree with @Kana that the DPRK is bluffing... but you can see the bluff becoming more daring every year. That's the factor of instability. You have two states sharing a border with each other that are hostile, and one of them likes to fire a shot into the ceiling every now and then. When the other side doesn't blink, they lower the gun just a little bit and fire again. The longer the stand-off goes, the more frequently the DPRK has decided to test its opponent like this.
It's a game with a pretty obvious & awful conclusion to it that the rest of the world has to actively stop from happening with talks, incentives, condemnations, sanctions, etc, to try and run out the clock until some future Kim comes to their senses and/or the DPRK's military branch has had enough. Trump (and by extension, the U.S.) not wanting to be bothered with this effort bumps up the chances that North Korea will go too far and/or South Korea will decide it has put up with the game for long enough and must protect its own interests because NATO has an unsure future.
This administration doesn't do "nuance."
I can't believe this would happen. I'd hope the Poppy appeal would tell Trump to fuck off for one, if not for his political views but for the likelihood of never seeing that money.
I can't imagine either London or Birmingham would want to a Trump event either considers the demographics of those cites.
Plus you know the logistics of a stadium being free or organising such a thing on such short notice ....
Well we're currently being run by a guy that never pays his debts.
I wouldn't lend us money either
Abe's people in the U.S. probably end up talking to americans.
Right, but specifically there, they weren't speaking English.
Also, Trump just repealed the regulations that were put in place to prevent another financial crisis.
Might have something to do with it, too.
I mean, it's not unheard of for a US President to hold a public speech in a foreign country. "Inch bein ein Berliner" and "tear down this wall" (heh) both come from such speeches. Heck, Obama gave a speech to the Irish Public in Dame Street in Dublin. I was there. It was awesome. But it also cost the Gardai (police) a fortune and they never recouped that money from the Government when it was promised they would, plus both the public speech and the visit in general meant I spent days in the city having to walk miles out of my way to get a bus, not being able to cross certain roads and dealing with a boatload of disruption. (It didn't help that we'd just finished dealing with the same stuff for a state visit by Queen Elizabeth II just days before.)
Both visits went smoothly, including the protests against the Queen's visit by hardline Republicans which going by memory all passed off peacefully, but the vast majority of people in Dublin were quite happy for both visits to take place, even a bit excited about it all. I don't think an Obama "rally" would have gone down quite so well, but I can't quite put my finger on why since I suppose you could call the event in Dame Street a rally if you pushed it. Charging us admission? I think most people would have laughed and decided to watch on TV, myself included. I mean I like Obama and all but, come on. If I'm going to fork out money for tickets to watch him speak I want to be somewhere indoors with a seat and at least a complimentary cup of tea.
The same event held with Trump? Would have been an unholy mess. About 5,000 of us marched in Dublin the day after his inauguration, with another few hundred marching in Galway. I can't even imagine how many would show up to protest if he came here in person.
...which I guess brings me to the crux of the this-is-a-bad-ideaness. How many people marched in British cities for the women's march, or to protest the Muslim ban? I mean off the top of my head I know there were Muslim ban protests in London, Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow, Cardiff, Liverpool, Edinburgh... Is there any major city in the UK that hasn't seen protests before all this talk of him showing up in person to hold a rally?
He was a candidate for office, not holding the office. They were speeches that happened to draw large crowds rather than being declared "rallies" in a different country (and again, after campaigning finished) that require admission. He also wasn't specifically barred from addressing Parliament and so had to come up with a back door address.
Kennedy and Reagan had major addresses at the Brandenburg Gate that drew huge crowds. They weren't rallies, they were addresses. I don't think the Trump administration understands the distinction, and the content will likely reinforce that point.
I know the security in Ireland when Obama came to visit was straight up insane. I don't imagine security for Trump in the UK would be any less.
It was 1:30 on a friday you don't expect him to stay in the office right?
But they're gonna bow their heads and make the proper vassal state choice.
It's gotten next to no media attention (even within Germany) because the detail behind it all is very complicated and Germany's banks have been dealing with it all quietly and cautiously in a very practical, stereotypically German manner. Still, if you throw in the fact that a dip in shipping usually means a global recession is on the way, Brexit, ongoing financial issues within some EU economies, a growing suspicion that China's economic stability is based on fiction and various other financial horror stories around the world, it adds to the picture that the global economy is a tinderbox and nobody wants to stand to close to the global equivalent of the weird kid playing with matches.
How many weekends has he actually spent at the White House?
Rock Band DLC | GW:OttW - arrcd | WLD - Thortar
Given that German bank also still give loans to Trump; their limited aversion to risk wrt these shipping companies does not come as surprise.
Oh boy.
Female executives from the United States and Canada are expected for the round table, including General Electric Canada CEO Elyse Allan, TransAlta Corp. CEO Dawn Farrell, Linamar Corp. CEO Linda Hasenfratz, T&T Supermarket Inc. Tina Lee and Schnitzer Steel Industries CEO Tamara Lundgren.
Also expected are Julie Sweet, CEO-North America for Accenture, NRStor CEO Annette Verschuren, Monique Leroux, chair of the board of directors for Investissement Québec. Carol Stephenson, of the board of directors for General Motors Co. will attend in place of the GM CEO.
Additionally, the meeting will include Katie Telford, Trudeau's chief of staff, Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland and Dina Powell, assistant to the president and senior counselor for economic initiatives. Powell, Telford and Freeland were involved in setting up the council and recruiting the CEOS.
The poppy appeal would have to 100% tell him to goose off. The poppy appeal has done an ADMIRABLE job for more than a century of positioning itself as an apolitical, imbiased organization which simply exists to raise money for those who have served, or serve in the British Armed Forces. Which itself has done an excellent job of avoiding even the appearance of any political bias. Hosting a rally for Trump would destroy that overnight. I for one would never respect the organization again.
One of the first three. But Obama golfing was history's greatest crime other than of course the e-mails and Benghazi.
The problem is that there is a glut of shipping capacity available, driving the price down to basically cost or even lower in some cases if fuel fluctuates too much. The index that tracks this was at an all-time high in 2008 and post-recession financing was cheap so everybody built ships. So it's not a lack of things being shipped that's causing it, we just have too many ships so there's always another ship that will take your cargo for less
I think we all know that this president will take a record amount of vacations and play an absurd amounts of golf.
And Pubs already have the excuses ready just like with Bush 2
"He does business while he golfs so it's different than Obama."
"He owns the places he vacations to so the tax payers don't eat the bill (nvm that it's security and travel that cost the most.)
The VP of Venezuela might be the next President until at least 2019.
Good, fuckin do it.
Maybe we'll produce less fuckin corn.
I've heard Trump's trying to move the rally/grift out to a rural venue to avoid protestors.
Pretty sure US corn production right now is completely untethered from demand for US corn. Hell, isn't the problem been finding ways for demand to match supply?