Politics

[Tundra Tiger]

I agree that he is honestly trying to do what’s best for the country but i can do without all of the bloviating. Not one reason in the world talking about a third term or taking over Canada and Greenland.

I agree with most of that. I might even be willing to concede he is doing what his ego thinks is best, even if it's not actually what’s best for our country.

Not that the orange man bad club around here would ever acknowledge that fact.

Orange man bad club... I know you mean that in a derogatory way, but there is some truth to how you word it, like "Sky is Blue Club". And from where I am, it seems like there is decidedly an "Orange Man Brown Nose Club" too. Truthfully, how can you see anything but his ass cheeks with your nose so far up his bum? You must have constant black eyes from his cheeks slapping against them.

 

[Wheels]

Good short video on how illegals cross border, get set up with Social Security numbers, get on medicaid, get registered to vote and vote.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1906526419079082173

 

[WAB]

Charles Koch is the smartest man I’ve ever met. I had the honor of working in his organization, and many times directly with him, for a number of years. When pressed by a reporter to indicate his preference between Trump and Hillary, his response was ‘you’re asking me to choose between cancer and a heart attack’.

Mr Koch is a brilliant economist and businessman. Trump’s foreign policy moves fly directly in the face of free market economics and global wealth creation. Isolationism will negatively impact the standard of living of every person participating in this forum. Think very carefully before you get too gleeful about these moves.

 

[Brent in Az]

I can see the annoying little Tsetse fly is trying to antagonize me with insults like a childish little schoolgirl.
One of RL's forum lickspittles.

 

[Red Leg]

You should run for president. Show us all how it should be done.

That is a typically solid, thoughtful, and well reasoned defense of his actions to date.

As I have noted before, my vote is a decision to hire someone to manage the country's interests. Thus far, with the partial exception of immigration, that hire is looking very questionable as we alienate allies, cozy up to traditional adversaries, and create conditions for a potentially serious economic slowdown.

What frustrates me the most is that this frenetic Foosball approach to governance has the real potential to not merely damage our economic and international interests in the short term, but more concerningly, open the door for a democrat resurgence next year. Should that happen, we can all put paid to our hopes for an end of the woke agenda and a permanent closure of the southern floodgates.

Feel free to offer another pithy response, or resort to name calling. Neither will alter those facts.

 

[Red Leg]

Wow. As I am typing, gold is trading at $3,139 an ounce probably on its way to $3300. That too is not exactly a strong vote of confidence in the economy.

 

[Tubby’s Canteen]

Opening statements in the below video... "Trump is a symptom of our problem"... "Trump is not the problem" (referencing the Canadian economy)..

This seems to be the only guy that "gets it" to me that's been on CBC recently..

Trump is an asshole.. no doubt about it.. Trump is playing very hard, loose, and fast when it comes to a potential "trade war" with Canada.. no doubt about that either..

But Trump alone lacks the ability to create the Canadian economic quandy.. he is merely exploiting it (not saying that a good thing or even supporting it.. simply saying if there wasn't a Canadian economic problem to begin with, Trump wouldn't be in the position he currently is to do the things he is doing)..

Jordan peterson and Jim Balsillie had an interesting discussion on that very subject

 

[1dirthawker]

Good short video on how illegals cross border, get set up with Social Security numbers, get on medicaid, get registered to vote and vote.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1906526419079082173

they should put this on every news channel as a commercial, all the MSM, on the radio, on podcasts. just get the word out!

 

[Russ16]

Trump could run as Vance's VP....

There isn’t 100% agreement on that.

 

[mdwest]

It doesnt appear that all of the banter about how the EU and NATO is going to run away from the US defense industrial complex and only rely own its own manufacturing capability is holding much water..

Denmark (despite the current "Greenland" issue) is looking to buy MORE F35's (not less)..

Denmark Ready To Buy New US F-35 Jets

Denmark said Wednesday that it planned to buy more US F-35 fighter jets despite strained relations with Donald Trump, who wants to annex its autonomous territory of Greenland.

www.barrons.com

Furthermore, 52% of all European NATO countries defense purchases were made from US manufacturers from 2015-2019... From 2020-present purchasing from US manufacturers is now at 64%..

US dominates European weapons purchases: report

European NATO members have become even more dependent on U.S. weapons than before, according to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) released Monday. European ar…

www.politico.eu

And you have most of the largest purchasers (Germany, Holland, Poland, etc) committing to not only continued purchasing from the US, but further increasing their purchasing, despite France clammoring for a reduction..

The EU wants to break its security dependency on the US and buy more European weapons

The European Union has announced a new drive to break its security dependency on the United States. The 27-nation bloc is urged to buy defense equipment in Europe.

apnews.com

From what I can tell, what it comes down to is Europe (and Canada) simply cannot ramp up their manufacturing capability fast enough to meet their own internal needs, plus the need to support Ukraine.. whether they want to buy F35's, patriots, etc or not has nothing to do with it.. they don't have other reasonable options.. they cant make enough fast enough on their own..

So people can bitch and complain and declare "we'll never buy another US warplane! we cant trust Americans!"... but that is clearly a lie... not only will European governments buy more, they are actively doing it RIGHT NOW.. and once you own those platforms, you are locked in for decades of continued purchases to support those platforms..

Europe may well decide over the next 10 years to ramp up its defense manufacturing capabilities.. and then in the next 20-30 years may begin to be able to ween itself off the defense tit of the US..

but it appears doubtful that much is going to change anytime in the near future..

and by the time change is even remotely possible Trump will have long since left office and the "problem" that everyone wants to scream about but not actually do anything over or accept any personal responsibility over will have long been forgotten..

 

[gbflyer]

They can’t even build a car over there that makes sense. No way they are building modern fighter aircraft.

 

[deewayne2003]

Jordan peterson and Jim Balsillie had an interesting discussion on that very subject

Glad you brought up Jordan Peterson, he was so disgusted with Canada that he immigrated to the USA.

This wasn't a knee jerk reaction, he had been speaking out about the Canadian government for years, so I would like the people of Canada to watch this video from 3 years ago........

Maybe if Canadian had seized the day as he said none of this would have happened.

 

[mdwest]

There are a number of things the Europeans build that are very good, and frankly are often less expensive than the US option.. The leopard 2 tank is exceptional.. and the challenger 2 isn't a chump (although most armor guys I know think the challenger is a bit over hyped)..

The Eurofighter is excellent.. but its definitely not a Gen 5 aircraft.. The Gripen is very solid as well and has some unique cold weather capabilities.. but again, not Gen 5..

The Finn Patria and German Boxer APCs are very good..

@Red Leg would know better than I, but my understanding is german artillery is among the best in the world..

The point is, it doesn't matter..

If you don't have the manufacturing capability to meet your needs... you're going to have to buy something else from someone else..

and since pretty much ALL of Europe is way behind and trying to play catch up.. their only real option is the US..

they could try to lean on some other markets.. Israel, Korea, etc also produce some stuff worth having..

but Israel cant really produce much quantity beyond their own needs, the Koreans don't have the sort of capacity the US has, etc.. etc..

So.. if you're Poland.. or Denmark.. or the Netherlands, etc.. and you need 100 main battle tanks... where are you going to go? and what are you going to do?

Germany is busy buying all the Leopard II's it can produce on its own.. Current facilities can produce about 50 a year, and "modernize" another 50-60 per year.. that's it..

With current production lines, 20 Eurofighters can be produced a year.. you're going to be waiting a very long time to get some Eurofighters if that's the path you want to take.. Currently Airbus is scheduled to deliver Eurofighters ordered in 2020 between 2025-2030... and that's before any increase in orders happens.. imagine if suddenly they got an order for 200 more Eurofighters... you'd be looking at taking delivery on the last bird sometime around 2040 in a best case scenario..

That hardly helps you in 2025 if you're needing to re-arm and also assist the Ukrainians today..

etc..etc..

 

[KJE81]

South Korea seem to be able to deliver quite a lot of tanks and self propelled artillery aswell, If I recall correctly both Finland and Poland has bought a lot of K9 Thunder self propelled artillery and K2 tanks. Unsure about the quality of those but I would guess they are on parity with european and american alternatives. Perhaps they can handle some of the backlog.

 

[deewayne2003]

South Korea seem to be able to deliver quite a lot of tanks and self propelled artillery aswell, If I recall correctly both Finland and Poland has bought a lot of K9 Thunder self propelled artillery and K2 tanks. Unsure about the quality of those but I would guess they are on parity with european and american alternatives. Perhaps they can handle some of the backlog.

You made me curious, so it appears that South Korea just recently filled a 180 tank order for Poland that placed in 2022.

South Korea to Triple Tank Deliveries to Poland: 96 K2s Incoming in 2025 Production Surge

The Polish Army is scheduled to receive 96 K2 Black Panther main battle tanks from South Korea in 2025, completing a $3.4 billion order placed in August 2022 for 180 of

militarywatchmagazine.com

So if Germany can produce 50 per year & South Korea can produce 60 per year.....

With your plan, maybe in 20 years the EU can finally have all the tanks on hand that they should have had in inventory 5 years ago; that's not a comforting thought with Putin waving hello from your neighbors living room.

That's just tanks though; not including artillery, armored personnel carriers & rocket systems.

Much love to Poland though, they are are getting more tanks ordered in 2026 to bring their total to 1,000 so Poland will be second only to the USA in fighting ability in NATO.

"Warsaw has effectively resisted pressure from other members of the European Union to acquire European produced equipment, such as German Leopard 2A8 tanks, which has allowed it to build up a highly potent ground force much faster, using much more modern equipment, and at a significantly lower cost. South Korea’s defense sector is seen to have significant cost effectiveness advantages over those in Europe, with major contracts with Poland signed from 2022 marking a significant and long awaited breakthrough into European markets."

 

[Altitude sickness]

Bodies of three out of four missing US soldiers whose vehicle was found submerged in Lithuania are recovered

The soldiers and vehicle, an M88 Hercules, have been missing since the early morning of March 25 when they were conducting a maintenance training mission, recovering another US vehicle in a Lithuan…

www.mercurynews.com

 

[Houston Bill]

Good short video on how illegals cross border, get set up with Social Security numbers, get on medicaid, get registered to vote and vote.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1906526419079082173

Now we know why the Dems are fighting so hard against DOGE, the scams that they have been perpetrating on the American people are finally being exposed with facts.

 

[Brent in Az]

Elon Musk wants to know how many D.C politicians became wealthy while earning a modest salary.
DOGE is going to investigate it.

 

[Opposite Pole]

Are there any updates on the allision of the Russian skippered Solong with Stena Immaculate carrying JetA1 fuel for US military? Last information I read was that the skipper has been arrested.

 

[mdwest]

South Korea seem to be able to deliver quite a lot of tanks and self propelled artillery aswell, If I recall correctly both Finland and Poland has bought a lot of K9 Thunder self propelled artillery and K2 tanks. Unsure about the quality of those but I would guess they are on parity with european and american alternatives. Perhaps they can handle some of the backlog.

Technology wise I think the korean options are a little bit behind the US and European options (from what I have been told and have read), but from a quality and reliability standpoint, I believe they are supposed to be pretty good (and fairly affordable) options..

And truthfully, when compared to Russian and Chinese military equipment that they would likely be fielded against, even being one step behind the US and European options still likely places them a step or two ahead of their adversary.. so Korean tanks and artillery might be a good choice for some European countries to consider..

but once again, the problem becomes production capability...

Using the K2 tank as an example.. Poland ordered 183 K2 tanks (order later reduced to 150) in 2022..

Korea will just deliver the first batch of those tanks this year.. and wont complete the delivery of all of the order until 2028..

The K9 Thunder is actually one of the most popular artillery pieces in the world (50% of the worlds self propelled howitzer sales over the last few years have been for the K9)..

Current Hanwah (the manufacturer) production lines can produce +/- 50 K9's a year... and they only export 30 of those units (they keep the other 30 for themselves).. and they are already back ordered for the next 5 years..

So if someone wants to buy K9's.. the absolute earliest you're going to get them is 2030.. and you're only getting 30 of them a year...

and then once you have your K9, what are you going to feed it with? Korea produces about 200,000 155mm rounds per year..

Rheinmetal, which is FAR AND AWAY the biggest producer of 155mm shells in Europe produces 700,000 and supplies most of the EU and European NATO countries..

the US produces 1.2M shells a year... and can fairly easily ramp up to 2M shells per year..

So, even if you buy Korean tanks and artillery.. you're still buying ammo to support those platforms from the US..

Europe simply doesn't have the manufacturing base to support its needs right now..

In 10 years maybe that changes..

but 10 years is a very long time if everyone is legitimately worried about Putins motivations and/or the current war in Ukraine...

Europe may hate that it is going to have to remain reliant on US defense products for the next decade or two (and again, if you're buying US armor, aircraft, missile defense, etc.. you're really signing up for a 20-40 year dependence).. but it really doesn't have another option right now..

Everyone can claim they are going to buy Leopards, and Eurofighters and K9s, etc..

But there simply arent enough to go around.. and the factories cant increase their outputs to meet the needs in a timely manner... its going to be decades before needs can be met by Europe internally.. and by then all of the platforms we're talking about are going to be "last generation"..