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I personally think Safari's will be minimally effected by all the factors you mention, as will most 'genuine' luxury stuff. What (IMO) will be impacted is the aspirational, fake luxury stuff that young, poor people buy on credit to try and get laid. Apple products, fancy TVs, entry level luxury...

I'm of the opinion that Turkey might join the EU... eventually. They've been trying to join for at least 30 years, they've been a candidate nation since 1999. They were going to join in 2016, but got vetoed on concerns around their democracy and human rights issues. I don't think they'll get...

Looping back to the Iran topic for a moment. I can't help but think that this is an excellent case study on the importance of US 'soft power', and why it matters. The US wants to stop Iran from being a problem. The US has some military options to do so, but as I dug into in post #31,243 in...

This is actually true, however, it's not the full story. April 2025 was 46% improved over March 2025, however, that puts us back to where we were before Trump got in (more or less). The trade deficit has jumped massively since December as businesses ordered inventory to try and avoid tariffs...

Yes, an insightful take on an interesting topic for sure. I see quite a lot of parallels to what he discusses on the internet these days. There's a couple more in-depth interviews on the topic on the Triggernometry site with a few guests (mostly right leaning types, but some left leaning...

Thank you for perfectly proving my point Brent.

Honestly Brent, this really does show quite a shocking lack of self-awareness. I don't say that to insult. Just as a statement of fact. To demonstrate that, here's a thought exercise for you. You don't have to follow my suggestion of course, but it might be illuminating. Have a look back over...

I am currently enjoying Octomore 14.3 which sits firmly in this camp. Very, very heavily peated, very smoky. However, to me, it leans towards beech wood smoker, smoked ham, BBQ, bacon notes, plus some gentle oaky / cask notes. Compared to the harsher 'oak on an open fire / cold oak ash / burnt...

Sorry Vertigo, I missed this earlier in the week. This is an option, but I think it's a little too regressive an incentive plan to be truly effective. The simple truth is, that for high income earners, a lot of them are having kids and are hitting replacement rates. It's a luxury they can...

I very much like the idea of an honest, reliable, no-frills double. Something in the spirit of the old 'Army&Navy' contract stuff the British makers used to do. Maybe it's an entry into the space, maybe it's a back up gun you can use for practice instead of adding wear to your 'fancy' one...

To jump into an ongoing discussion, I think where you and I differ mdwest, is that I am much more confident that Trump's... personality IS a major issue to policy, and IS highly likely to push the D's into power. Now on the one hand, you're right. My personal opinion that he's an uncouth...

A few notes for us all on AI / photoshop pics, based on the posted up picture form the OP. 1. Lighting. In the example above, lighting is constant across all elements. If you're taking your pictures in a studio, you can do that. If it's a real person doing it at home, you cannot. It's almost...

Yeah, another effort from Trump to solve a genuine problem in the most brain dead (but public and quick) way possible. The pros: The US is in a bit of a demographic crisis, and we're not hitting replacement rates. Doing something about that ain't a bad idea if you don't want to be dealing with...

I mean, that was fairly inevitable, right? Gas tax funds the road infrastructure. Now you're not only using that infrastructure, but doing so in a car that's 30% heavier than an ICE vehicle, with commensurately more wear. Whilst you're trying to get people to adopt the new 'better' (not...

It's purely a personal preference thing, but I must admit that I'm not a fan of the split wood thing on bolt guns. I like it on a double or a shotgun because it's an essential design element. It must be there, the stock must have a break, the gun must open. Function over form, the purest...

I think the issue with this idea is that for 'people who have a pick up but don't need a pick up' (i.e 99% of urban buyers), the truck is a status symbol. It's the Porsche for those who enjoy rural cosplay, effectively. As an urbanite who commutes into downtown to work, I see a lot of these...

Within 300yds, I don't see much benefit in going above an 8-10x top end. Not really necessary. For the bottom end, I personally want a true 1x. Big FOV, easy mount, no oddness when shooting both eyes open, or when doing moving target stuff. I think therefore a 1-8 is probably about as...

Yeah, just glanced at the s&p, assumed something had kicked off. Good lord, the entire us economy trading like a penny stock. Hope you all loaded up on the dip.

That's a bit more meaningful, but still not enough imo. Add in all the other commonwealth nations, maybe you're getting close enough to economic MAD for the US to take note. India being the important one, of course. It's also a real shame that the UK doesn't come with lots of influence in the...

Eh, not nearly influential enough to matter. Canada, UK, EU, maybe. If you can pull Japan, S. Korea, Australia, NZ, India in as well, sure. China joining would also change the calculus. But with the best will in the World, Canada and the UK are bit players, there's no way that the US is going...

Point. I think Japan and the EU are likely to be the most likely to pull that trigger. Likely the EU, primarily. I bet the UK is a bit sad to have Brexited now. Heavy tariffs on US financial services could have been great for London...

Further context on this. 47% of jp Morgan's revenue comes from overseas. 50% of microsoft's revenue comes from overseas. 67% of Apple's does. 71% of Google's does. 90% of Facebook users are outside the US and canada. There's lots and lots of scope to bleed the US if other countries wish...

Informally it's a risk to doing business in China yes. But it's it's formal policy? No tech firm could operate there at all. So, so much lost ad revenue.

Worth remembering that the US is not an economy based on tangible goods. It is an economy based primarily on services, and intangible goods, and IP. The stuff that has fuelled the US economy ever since someone thought that 'the internet' might be a good idea. Trump has focused on goods for a...

Considering the parent case, and the ballistics, the 9.3Parabola seems appropriate.

Huh, you're right. Getting bites really is easy with the right bait! I'd point out that you probably post on this thread just as much as I. I'm merely suggesting that if you choose to do so, at least make the post factual, supported, and able to add something to the conversation. Doesn't mean...

I guess it is. Personally, I live in hope that one day you'll actually contribute something of value to the thread if I call out your posts enough. Based on your response here, it seems that today ain't the day though! I also see some value in presenting some objective sources and facts to all...

The RMG Research poll, I'm assuming? The only poll out of the 4 completed in April to show a positive approval rating. I guess that one got cherry picked and shared around MAGAland then? I'd also notice that even the RMG polls have moved from a +10 on 3/6-3/13, to +7 on 3/18-3/27, to a +4 on...

I (not at all an expert) don't see a reason why the tarrifs couldn't be used to justify say income tax tax cuts tbf. It's just one tax revenue source vs another. If the true 'tax take' from tariffs really is 600bn though, it'd have to be quite the tax cut. 600bn = $1700 a year in tax increase...

I tend to agree. I also can't help but think that if Harris had got in, and done exactly the same thing as Trump is currently doing on economic issues the headlines on Fox would be "The administration introduces the largest tax increase on US consumers since ww2. The economy tanks". All the...

Hmm, then I'm stumped!

Might just be a 'long action receiver' designation then. Thinking about it, that makes more sense as I guess they just make job lots of long or short actions, stamp them during the machining process, then mate them up to barrel and stock to define a specific 'grade' and 'type' later in...

My old Safari Express was 35AZH096xx, and was a 2010's production CRF model. It was a solid gun, it was very well made and it worked flawlessly. Not the best surface finish, but 'good enough' for the price point. Looks like the one you are looking at is a similar vintage. I'd have no...

Already down 2.1% in after hours trading, so I think we know what the response is...

Yet in both cases the company doing the selling pockets $100. The revenue stream for the company reads $100. The profit margin for the company is the same. The company has the same amount of money available to pay wages, or invest in expansion, or spend on advertising. The trade balance...

Sigh. Do I have to go into this again? I did it twice already. Did pretty excel tables and everything. No, it is not making US widgets less competitive. Widgets in country x, no matter if there's made in the us, or the home country, or on freaking Jupiter. Will ALL have VAT assigned to them...

That argument ignores a few things. Firstly, company FFF isn't paying a penny in VAT. The consumer pays the VAT, not the company. Not a single dollar of it flows from company FFF to country X. It is not a production cost, it is not a cost of doing business, it is a cost associated with the end...

On this, we totally agree. 5% in the US is bad enough, but I do not miss VAT at all. If the average EU citizen wants to suck it up, then I guess it'll stay though. The purpose of my post was to clarify what it is and how it is applied, in response to a suggestion that it was somehow 'doubling...

Reading back, this post isn't very clear, so here's a simplified example. At the top, we see the process for making beer in the UK. Step 1. A seed distributor. They (in this example) are a primary producer. They, as far as the government is concerned, make money out of nothing. None of their...

I'm sure you're aware of this, but at least for the EU, if you're an enterprise, you can reclaim VAT on all inputs, including goods or services paid for in the production of your own product. As a general explanation: "Here are the different types of VAT businesses must collect, pay, and...

Maybe, I'm no expert and I certainly don't claim to have a crystal ball. To know if the right move right now to respond to a possible (likely?) China decline at some unspecified point in the future is on-shoring, or off-shoring, or a move to production in India, or a move to production in...

I have nothing against them at all. In fact, I rather like them. Solid workhorses, reasonable price, great writers, reliable, well made. Very popular in the US fountain pen community. Just not what I tend to reach for or purchase at this point in my life. I think fountain pens generally are...

You can't do cursive drawing only down or across. you can't really do calligraphy either. If you're doing copperplate calligraphy, then the pen shouldn't leave the page from start of the word to the end and obviously that requires upstrokes. Gothic is obviously different, as is foundational, or...

The beauty of a fountain pen, is that it requires absolutely no pressure beyond its own weight to write. Relax the hand, lower the angle, let it glide. It's built for cursive, just let it do its thing. If you're destroying nibs or digging into the page on upstrokes then you're pressing far too...

I have a 2000 as well. Lovely pens and I do like the timeless Bauhaus design philosophy. Very much a workhorse, although they don't do well with flights, lots of ink splatter in the cap. Great nib though, and good for meeting notes with the hooded design and the pull cap. Easy to disassemble...

If the argument now is that VAT leads to lower corporation taxes, and lower income taxes on labor, then you clearly haven't been to Europe. They have both higher sales taxes AND higher corporation taxes AND higher income taxes. In fact, if that is the argument, then Trump should be applying...

Yes, that is Trumps goal, and to be fair to him, tariffs might do that, if at the expense of US consumers. I think it might ultimately be a wash for the middle class though. More jobs for some, higher prices for all. As for if it's 'the long term' I'm not so sure. Trump is out in 2028. Who...

It doesnt have to be complicated. You have universal taxes on all goods, and targeted taxes on specific goods, or goods from specific places. Simple enough. A VAT is applied to all products, foreign and domestic, and hence is not a barrier to trade at all. If all goods from all places are more...

That's clearly wrong. In your example, the 7.5% delta is valid, but vat clearly and evidently has no impact. The US company isn't paying vat, the Polish consumer is. They have to do so no matter if they buy an American car, or a Polish car, or a German car, so it's not barrier to US trade as...

Thus I think is a very pertinent question, and one not considered often enough. Most people think that there's some magic button businesses can press and suddenly change up their entire supply chain, but it's not true. Stuff takes time. As an interesting case study, Hyundai recently opened a...