Politics

[Altitude sickness]

Tanks, I think woman are often better wired to be pilots than men. All through flight school you learn all the traits that make up a dangerous pilot. Many of these traits are usually found in young males. Of course there are no absolutes.

 

[mdwest]

Actually this will hurt South Africans including the whites regardless what the context is.
Rand lost %2 after he made the comment.
On a side note there's a party in the South African government coalition supported by whites first time since the apartheid ended.

I think that’s an incredibly premature assessment.. completely unsupported by any facts or evidence..

the Rand is a volatile currency that rises and drops all the time over the slightest of issues… the fact it dropped 2 points hardly constitutes damage or harm to the South African people…

 

[CJW]

I’ve heard she only had 500 hours. That is considered a learner permit category for pilots. They all have to learn and be thrown to the wolves sometime. So no shade being thrown.

Yes that is considered low hours. Yet I've seen and heard her referred to as a long time and very experienced aviator. IMO she didn't belong in that airspace with so few hours. The other pilot only had 1000 or so.
Maybe that's just ignorance on the media's part. I've also heard military pilot's say she wasn't qualified to fly such a route. Will be interesting to find out the details and decision making of everything about this flight. For all we know the height deviation could be nothing more than an altimeter problem.

 

[Doubleplay]

It appears to be working for now..

Every country he has threatened with tarrifs at this point has come straight to the negotiating table and started to back off their positions on other issues in order to avoid the tariff…

Not sure how long this angle of attack will work.. but he seems to be getting what he really wants for now (fair trade as opposed to an actual tariff)…

Tariffs never worked and never will.
Nobody wins in a tariff war.
This will cause irreversible damage , higher inflation and everyone will pay more.
Once they get a hit in their wallets and retirement accounts public sentiment will change quick.
This is a dumb move specifically against Canada but some who can't fault anything Trump does will still defend it.
Time will prove them wrong.

 

[Doubleplay]

I think that’s an incredibly premature assessment.. completely unsupported by any facts or evidence..

the Rand is a volatile currency that rises and drops all the time over the slightest of issues… the fact it dropped 2 points hardly constitutes damage or harm to the South African people…

Rand is actually have been a pretty stable currency for the last 2-3 years and with the exception of our ambassador accusing South Africa selling weapons to Russia about two years ago and doesn't move much.
There's no benefit to South Africans including whites who has a party in the government coalition.
Great way to push them more towards Russia and China.
You'll see the facts and evidence soon if this doesn't get reversed.

 

[mdwest]

Tariffs never worked and never will.
Nobody wins in a tariff war.
This will cause irreversible damage , higher inflation and everyone will pay more.
Once they get a hit in their wallets and retirement accounts public sentiment will change quick.
This is a dumb move specifically against Canada but some who can't fault anything Trump does will still defend it.
Time will prove them wrong.

reading is fundamental..

no one said tariffs are good..

what has been said is the threat of tariffs is working for the moment..

every single country threatened with a tariff at this point has come to the negotiating table immediately and been willing to give something up..

as to whether or not it will cause higher inflation or irreversible damage.. I guess that depends on which economist you speak with..

historically, high tariffs have caused drops in the cost of living in developed countries.. developing countries that are either non market or hold dualistic markets are where you see huge spikes in inflation.. the US is a developed country..

To say they never work is frankly ridiculous and shows a complete lack of research or understanding of the issue.. China has held tariffs on US goods for decades.. guess what.. their economy grew 5% last year.. ours grew 2.4%..

Russia tariffs US goods between 11-15%

Brazil tariffs US goods between 10-35%

and the list goes on and on and on... MOST developed or semi developed countries on the planet tariff US goods.. and have for a very long time... and their economies arent falling apart (as a result of tariffs)...

So why exactly is it harmful for the US to simply turn the same screws on them.. and tariff their goods in an effort to get them to either reduce or remove their tariffs?

I'd recommend a little research that stretches beyond the BS you see in the MSM.. Rachael Maddow and Jim Cramer arent reliable sources..

 

[mdwest]

Rand is actually have been a pretty stable currency for the last 2-3 years and with the exception of our ambassador accusing South Africa selling weapons to Russia about two years ago and doesn't move much.
There's no benefit to South Africans including whites who has a party in the government coalition.
Great way to push them more towards Russia and China.
You'll see the facts and evidence soon if this doesn't get reversed.

Really.. its been stable?

Thats the Rand against the US Dollar from 2011-2025..

In 2022 when I was in SA the Rand was trading about 14:1 against the dollar.. when I was there in July of last year it was closer to 18:1...

2% is a bullshit immaterial value when you look at the stability of the currency..

 

[Brent in Az]

Trump is a negotiator. The use of tariffs is a bargaining chip against Canada and Mexico, to force both countries to start being accountable for illegal immigration, drug smuggling, and fairness.
The USA subsidized Canada to the tune of $200 billion.
There maybe short term pains in this trade war, but it will work itself out. the very same anti Trumpers who are wailing and gnashing their teeth across the spectrum of social media, didn't say jack squat about Biden created inflation.

 

[YancyW]

Tariffs never worked and never will.
Nobody wins in a tariff war.
This will cause irreversible damage , higher inflation and everyone will pay more.
Once they get a hit in their wallets and retirement accounts public sentiment will change quick.
This is a dumb move specifically against Canada but some who can't fault anything Trump does will still defend it.
Time will prove them wrong.

That is just silly. For over a 1/3 of our country's existence tariffs accounted for the vast majority of total federal government revenue.

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

Tariffs never worked and never will.

Then it should be no problem for our trading partners to drop the tariffs they have in place for US goods.

 

[Tanks]

Yes that is considered low hours. Yet I've seen and heard her referred to as a long time and very experienced aviator. IMO she didn't belong in that airspace with so few hours. The other pilot only had 1000 or so.
...

The other pilot had about 2,000 hours and considering average trip is about 2 hours, that is a fair amount of experience.
She was the trainee, and the other pilot was the pilot in command that was evaluating her.
More facts coming soon.

 

[mdwest]

2000 hours is actually A LOT of experience..

I know General Officers that spent 30+ years in the military.. with 20+ of those years in the cockpit.. that retired with 3000 hours..

Ive got a close friend that was a KC135 pilot (long flights, transatlantic all the time, etc..etc.. that got out after 10 years that only had about 1800 hours when he left the USAF..

Its not uncommon for civilian pilots that either fly rotary wing (air ambulance, etc) or small prop aircraft to retire at 2000 hours..


you also have to take the word "trainee" with a grain of salt.. whenever a pilot switches airframes or even models of the same airframe, they have to conduct a certain amount of training to be certified in that new aircraft.. its entirely possible for a pilot with 2000 or more hours of experience to be a "trainee"... an example would be another friend of mine that flew A10's for most of his career.. he transitioned to HH60's as a LT COL with over 2000 hours under his belt.. he then had to go through an extensive training process to fly the HH60 (all while he was the actual commander of the unit he was flying for).. he then retired as an O6 and started flying for FedX... he amassed a ton of hours as the pilot in command of a L1011 (wide body jumbo).. but after almost 10 years with FedX had to transition to the 777 and spent several months as a "trainee" while he got certified on that airframe..

 

[Beaufort]

Interesting article on tariffs - https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2025/02/trump_s_tariff_war.html

 

[WAB]

Rand is actually have been a pretty stable currency for the last 2-3 years and with the exception of our ambassador accusing South Africa selling weapons to Russia about two years ago and doesn't move much.
There's no benefit to South Africans including whites who has a party in the government coalition.
Great way to push them more towards Russia and China.
You'll see the facts and evidence soon if this doesn't get reversed.

You’re missing the point. Our friends are under constant threat of attack on their farms. Many have been killed. Their government, if not complicit, doesn’t seem to give a damn. I am absolutely certain that they support our move to try to bring pressure to bear to end this travesty.

 

[Beaufort]

Tariffs never worked and never will.
Nobody wins in a tariff war.
This will cause irreversible damage , higher inflation and everyone will pay more.
Once they get a hit in their wallets and retirement accounts public sentiment will change quick.
This is a dumb move specifically against Canada but some who can't fault anything Trump does will still defend it.
Time will prove them wrong.

Canada is not our friend.

Here are tariffs Canada levies on American goods: Milk: 270% Cheese: 245% Butter: 298% Chicken: 238% Sausages: 69.9% Barley seed: 57.8% Bovine/meat: 26.5% Cars: 25% HVAC: 45% Vacuums: 35% Cable boxes: 35% TVs: 45% Steel: 25% Aluminum: 45% Copper: 48%.

And you’re worried about us placing a 25% tariff on Canadian goods? Please.

 

[Mort Hill]

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Very similar to landing at Tegucigalpa’s International Airport. Definitely requires a special qualifications.

Been there, done that as passenger many times. Very high pucker factor!!

 

[YancyW]

And Mexico caves....

 

[mdwest]

And Mexico caves....

Yep...

Trump Tariffs Live Updates: Mexico Says It Reached Deal to Delay Tariffs

President Claudia Sheinbaum said her country struck a deal to put the tariffs on hold for a month, but levies on Canada and China were still set to take effect on Tuesday. U.S. shares fell at the opening bell, following drops in Asian and European markets, amid fears of a trade war.

www.nytimes.com

Canada will be very close behind..

77% of all Canadian goods sold abroad are sold in the US... a tariff will DESTROY their economy as they don't have other buyers lined up to purchase those goods.. while there would be limited impact to the US economy (there are plenty of global suppliers for much of what we buy from Canada)..

Trueadu and the Canadian parliament have very little option unless they expect to start doing significantly more trade with China and think the Chinese will be better trading partners (the Chinese have proven over and over again they are great at selling you their stuff, but not so great at buying your stuff unless its raw materials they need for making their stuff that they are ultimately going to sell back to you.. )..

 

[YancyW]

 

[John Wasmuth]

Funny how that works……..