BruceVC

I'm pretty sure Google, Apple, all the movies studios, HP, Tesla, etc. are not owned by the US in any way. That would kind of violate the entire model of capitalism. And considering a lot of these tech companies make their stuff in China, an independent California would probably have no trouble negotiating trade deals. Plus the port of LA is the largest trade port in terms of dollars in the world. Basically it would be a major loss for the US, but it doesn't really matter because it isn't going to happen. Anyone who wants it is delusional and is too caught up in political rhetoric to recognize basic economics. California loves the idea though, like a scorned wife that keep saying that she'll leave. Even if they are a big producer without a market they can't make profits and the US is a large consumer market. I would argue states like Texas play the old " I want to secede from the USA card " more regularly than Cali ?

From my point of view, it's the source of all of US's political problems, or most of them anyway. It was fine when it was Republican, or even a swing state, but now it's an evil, lawless Democrat empire. WOD you cant use such hyperbole.......you must be using certain just to tease the guys who live in California For example how is California evil or lawless ? Neither of those words can be used to reasonably describe any state in the USA

As usual you make excellent points I tell what I think might be a necessary outcome to this whole Mexico contention ....because of the culture of " alternative facts " and " post-truth " rhetoric Trump sometimes uses its very difficult to convince people to agree to your point The only way we may get agreement about this type of event is for the USA to have this trade war with Mexico and then after 12 months or so the US citizens can see for themselves what the outcome is ...will it be good for the USA or detrimental ? I firmly believe it will hurt the US economy but then Trump will negotiate again with Mexico and things can stabilize What amazes me is there are very educated and intelligent people around Trump who must understand the importance of trade with Mexico yet no one says anything. I can only assume its because this is more about the campaign promise to " build the wall " so now Trump is going a more strategic path so his supporters dont think he is a hypocrite ?

Is it though? Mexico is our 3rd biggest trading partner and they are in the hole of 60 billion towards us....by those numbers, it sounds like we are better to not trade towards them if we are in the hole and trying to get out. What's the point of trading if the other one is paying and instead putting it on a tab. I also realize the irony since we are trillions in the whole with china. Maybe it's best of China did the same towards us. Mexico pays what they owe and USA pays what we owe to china and we stop borrowing. If u ain't got the money then don't spend. That goes towards us as well. Im glad you asking these questions, there is a misunderstanding about this $ 60 billion apparent " debt " Its not debt, its the trade deficit. What this simply means is Mexico has sold the USA $ 60 Billion more goods than the USA has sold to Mexico This is very important and its fundamental to the argument., All countries export and import goods to each other but some countries are able to export goods globally cheaper than other countries, like China So this $60 billion trade deficit is not the fault of Mexico ....there are ways to increase the USA exports to Mexico but its unreasonable to expect Mexico to now be punished for simply tapping into the USA consumer market http://www.politifact.com/florida/statements/2016/jan/26/donald-trump/donald-trump-says-course-mexico-can-pay-wall-becau/

Sorry, all my family live in London

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/steve-bannon-donald-trump-war-media-transparency-liberal-elite-interview-new-york-times-a7548406.html See how populist Bannon is , he really loves to pander to that " you cannot trust the media " group within the Trump support base

http://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/mexican-president-cancels-meeting-with-trump-after-wall-order/ar-AAmhvNh?li=BBoPRmx The Mexican PM has cancelled his trip to see Trump, you guys realize Mexico is the US third largest trading partner....you want to avoid some idiotic and unnecessary trade war that will hurt the US economy

Also its not going to be a solid wall of concrete, there will be " virtual parts of the wall " but things like drones, satellites, infrared, different barriers and increased patrols will protect these parts of the wall

Yes, it's going to cost more than the entire highway budget. Trump always brings his projects in ahead of time and under budget. This figure is relatively accurate WOD, you better prepare yourself Estimated cost $10 billion and some people predict it will double to $20 billion

In SA white people generally never march or protest, its not our culture But for me people must protest in the interests of a progressive, open society around whatever they want if that is what they believe in, I support many protests in spirit ....I just wont actually participate unless it was very important to me on a personal level. And I have to be honest I have never attended any march in 42 years

This is so important, the whole " GG is going to lead to real changes in.....gaming journalism " to " you cant trust ANY media " to " alternative facts" is a huge concern to me as in many cases this leads to people believing comments on social media and unquestioningly following Breitbart opinion or other similar websites It can cause unnecessary invective and controversy around public commentary by people, we lose the ability to use objective reasoning and formulate opinions based on facts as we become selective around what parts of a story we dont like or we just believe what someone says on Twitter I am very supportive of this march, I wish I could attend

what Obama tried to do was take away the states right to chose to do or not something they had the right to decide. Sanctuary cities on the other hand is something a state does not have power to have and it goes against Federal law. Obama tried to force states to do things they had the right to chose to do. Trump is trying to force states to stop doing something they do NOT have the right to do. States dont have right to receive degrees of Federal funding and Trump has a right to just take it away? Did you read the link I posted? What you saying is not what New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman says " he said in a statement that Trump lacked the authority to take away funding from cities and states " There is a whole section underneath this in the article that clarifies this that I cant paste , please read the link below so you are familiar with the point. https://twitter.com/AGSchneiderman/status/824362523529007104/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.za/entry/donald-trump-border-wall_us_5888a9c3e4b0441a8f71f08e Im confused and I need our American members to explain this. For years I have heard endless criticism how Obama overreached in the affairs of the various states through numerous Federal initiatives Now Trump is threatening to hold back Federal funding to any city that doesnt support his immigration policies, these cities have been " sanctuary cities " How is what Trump is threatening to do not interfering in the affairs of the states? This seems very inconsistent and reeks of double standards

Cool, can you do Bolivia now please. For some reason potted rants about the evils of socialism never address Bolivia and I'm wondering why. I wait, with 'bated breath. Technically "he" could, since it's straight from the CIA World Factbook. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ve.html https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/bo.html I thought it was Harvard or bust. Is CIA an accredited academic institution now? So its irrelevant where he got this information from, the assessment of state of the Venezuelan economy is 100 % correct

Nope. what 'bout the numerous "pretty ladies" who were groped/assaulted by trump? doesn't seem fair to exclude 'em if ivanka is okie dokie fodder... though Gromnir is not actual advocating such. quite the opposite. Gromnir we dont want this thread to turn into some depraved and profoundly iniquitous sexual den of licentiousness and turpitude with inappropriate pictures of women ..its all about our moral compass

Not your sources, BVC, its you yourself! I frequently scour the forums with the search function just to find your pearls of wisdom to impart onto others. You funny... " scour the forums "

Thats also what Breitbert wants you to think! They have their fingers in everything and if something doesnt fit someones narrative, its all Breitberts fault. Im pretty sure their server is maintained by the Antichrist under the Vatican. Obviously, I'm greatly entertained by the back-and-forth pissing contests of who's source is "better". Internet, you never let me down. Gfted1 wouldn't you agree with all your years on this forum and everything you have seen you can objectively say my sources of information are the most accurate?

Like you don't know that here is massive difference in elected president claiming things in official setting compared to private citizens whining about something. Also there was provable case of hacking and leaking information during elections, as we all were able to see those leaked emails, even if people that did hack and leak can't be identified for sure, where any proof that even singular people are voting illegally is nearly non-existent and there isn't anything that even remotely suggest thousands let alone millions of people are voting illegally in US. But world where everything that you claim is just alternative fact there seems to be no need for any proof and if such behavior is accepted for president and his advisory then it is accepted to everybody else. volo I have to say Elerond is 100 % correct in this post, I would strongly suggest you heed his wise words

Well thank you good sir. And the phone is second hand. Besides, look at Engels and tell me that only workers can be socialists Bennie everyone wants you to join there side, young people are the ideological political and social future of all these different movements and views we have around systems of government I want you to join me, I recognize and support the ONLY system that has guaranteed the happiest and overall wealthiest countries in the world in the last 500 years . Bennie I represent a world of progress and economic sustainability. Join me....join the world of Responsible Capitalism....it offers real advantages to uplift people Marx was an idealist, human beings are not equal and we should not be seen as equal as we define our own destinies and some people for a variety of reasons will achieve more than others. One of the best ways to motivate people is to incentivise them Read this on Responsible Capitalism http://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathanrefoy/2014/09/25/delivering-responsible-capitalism-the-growth-of-employee-ownership/#302359113653

I'll be honest, I didn't read the link. I've stopped clicking CNN stuff so i don't help them with amount of clicks something gets. What I will say is that I agree with ur sentiment, one of the biggest problems we had in obama and during the election was having is the "alternate facts" shoved as "actual facts". The way I could see Trump actually succeeding better is to actually use "actual facts" instead of alternate facts. It would be easier to show if anything being manipulated and even give him an extra "I don't give a **** if u get offended" vibe that a lot of people like and on top of that would make the media look even worse if they continued on. Accept ur flaws and defeats (ur in office so **** them) and be proud of ur achievements that ARE achievements. Him and his people being honest and straight forward will indeed continue to piss people off BUT just maybe just maybe, this could be a way to reign in and force the media to use more blunt and honest tactics. Because who would want evidence that Trump was more "honorable" than they are? Lol I think I like this post but I need to read it a bit later when I'm not so stoned so I can comment objectively

What, just because she's a woman she can't be incompetent? Coddle women much? Better don your white knight armour. She's not going to sleep with you, you know. Such an SJW sentiment yadda yadda blah blah sorry, my heart's not into it today. Either way, if someone's not doing their job right their gender doesn't matter. This is a good post, the gender of a person doesnt mean they cant be corrupt, inept or uninformed Volo you need to understand this, it doesnt help the cause of gender equality if you think women are perfect and cant do anything wrong. I appreciate your commitment to feminism but your post is unhelpful

http://money.cnn.com/2017/01/22/media/alternative-facts-donald-trump/index.html The sooner Kellyanne Conway gets fired the better for the future of the Trump presidency, she literally creates her own terms and words when she defends certain controversial statements that Trump or Spicer make There is no such thing as " alternative facts ", there are the facts and then there is fiction or hyperbole. The new world of post-truth, you have to love it and be concerned I don't predict this culture of various Trump spokesmen happily feeding the post-truth narrative can sustain itself longer than 18 months or so

Yes I'm soviet worshipping capitalist. You're a joke on top of everything else. Baro is right sharp_one , Soviet programming can take generations to go away You may not even realize it ?

Populated with conservatives, libertarians, crypto-fascists and a cartoonish personification of neo-liberalism. Oh Baro.....you make me laugh What a way to end the notion of the " beautiful board " Where do I fit into your definitions in your opinion?

KP it seems like you being negative ? You will never address global poverty if thats your attitude