Borders, Trade and International Developments

[Carborendum]

OK, so here's an interesting correction.

WHAT HE DID NOT DO/SAY:

Trump didn't originate the idea that he could run for a third term.  And he never said he was going to violate the Constitution to do so.  And AFAIK, he never actually said he was going to run a third term.

WHAT HE DID DO/SAY:

He said that some people were telling him that there is some loophole or other that could allow him to run for a third term.  But he didn't know the details of it because he isn't a lawyer.  Later on he flat out quashed that notion.  He publicly stated that he had no intention of running again.  But it was fun to speculate.  He repeated what he heard as if it were a subject of conjecture.  It was fun to talk about at parties.  That was about it.

The loophole is about using the role of Speaker of the House to allow himself to become President by succession.  I doubt that would pass SCOTUS review.  I am not aware of any time when Trump described the details of this method.

So, if people are saying that he's violating the Constitution because of this, they just don't know the facts.

[Traveler]

I listened carefully to the announcement made by the White House today about the US trade deal with the UK – with the UK ambassador to the US present.  Hopefully @HaggisShuu  can give us some across the pond point of view.  The new deal sounded terrific and an opening for prosperity for behalf of both countries. 

I believe that such trade deals make better allies and promote peace.  The old “global” initiative looked very scare to me and a quick and easy means for a single entity to make a global power grab.  This new kind of trade agreement allows so many countries to participate in trade with lessor fears of threating interests.  It will be interesting to me to see how those involved in secret combinations respond.  

 

The Traveler

[Carborendum]

From a recently released hostage from Gaza.

Quote

Dear Members of the @PulitzerPrizes board, My name is Emily Damari.  I was held hostage in Gaza for over 500 days. On the morning of October 7, I was at home in my small studio apartment in Kibbutz Kfar Aza when Hamas terrorists burst in, shot me and dragged me across the border into Gaza. I was one of 251 men, women, children, and elderly people kidnapped that day from their beds, their homes, and a music festival.

For almost 500 days I lived in terror. I was starved, abused, and treated like I was less than human. I watched friends suffer. I watched hope dim. And even now, after returning home, I carry that darkness with me — because my best friends, Gali and Ziv Berman are still being held in the Hamas terror tunnels.

(turned to address Toha and the prize he’d been awarded)

So imagine my shock and pain when I saw that you awarded a Pulitzer Prize to Mosab Abu Toha. This is a man who, in January, questioned the very fact of my captivity. He posted about me on Facebook and asked, ‘How on earth is this girl called a hostage?’ He has denied the murder of the Bibas family. He has questioned whether Agam Berger was truly a hostage.

These are not word games — they are outright denials of documented atrocities. You claim to honor journalism that upholds truth, democracy, and human dignity. And yet you have chosen to elevate a voice that denies truth, erases victims, and desecrates the memory of the murdered. Do you not see what this means? Mosab Abu Toha is not a courageous writer. He is the modern-day equivalent of a Holocaust denier. And by honoring him, you have joined him in the shadows of denia.  This is not a question of politics. This is a question of humanity. And today, you have failed it.

Damari lost two fingers on her left hand when her kidnappers shot her as they dragged her out of her apartment in southern Israel, and for months in captivity the wound did not heal due to the conditions in which she was kept. She was also shot in the leg, and the only medical treatment she was given was an expired bottle of iodine.

What propriety prevents her from saying is that when she says she was "abused" she means she was sexually assaulted and/or raped.

Edited May 9 by Carborendum

[HaggisShuu]

21 hours ago, Traveler said:

I listened carefully to the announcement made by the White House today about the US trade deal with the UK – with the UK ambassador to the US present.  Hopefully @HaggisShuu  can give us some across the pond point of view.  The new deal sounded terrific and an opening for prosperity for behalf of both countries. 

I believe that such trade deals make better allies and promote peace.  The old “global” initiative looked very scare to me and a quick and easy means for a single entity to make a global power grab.  This new kind of trade agreement allows so many countries to participate in trade with lessor fears of threating interests.  It will be interesting to me to see how those involved in secret combinations respond.  

 

The Traveler

It sounds like a win. 
America is the UKs biggest trading partner so a trade deal is definitely a good thing. However, at the same time, I am upset about the timing of it. Any wins being attributed to the labour government is a terrible sign, because it's gives them credibility with the public, and Labour needs ousting at the next election. I don't know if anybody has been bothering to follow UK politics, but Reform UK ( a fairly recent, anti-establishment party) trounced both Labour and Conservative parties in elections for local council earlier this month. Recent polling shows if a general election were to be held now, Reform would have a supermajority, the Conservative Party would be left with 12 parliamentary seats (out of 650) and Labour would be replaced as the opposition by the Liberal Democrats. I am desperate for this outcome, I despise labour and the Tory's. 

So I'm grateful for the win, I'm sad it's labour who got it. In other news, the Labour government just signed a trade deal with India. And it sucks. The trade deal lined up to bring in £5 billion over several years (essentially nothing in government spending terms), allows for Indian nationals to settle in the UK and not have to pay national insurance (a form of income tax which is used to pay for the NHS). Employers also have to pay some national insurance on behalf on their employees. So what this boils down to is that, Indian nationals are now cheaper to hire, and now pay less tax than actual British citizens. And because India is part of the commonwealth of nations, Indians living in our country get to vote in our elections. 

Superb deal if you are in Indian citizen looking to move to the UK. Horrific deal if you already live in the UK. 

With this in mind, when I first saw the announcements about the US trade deal, I expected it to be just as awful, because Labour clearly can't negotiate a good deal. 

[Carborendum]

The US has sent mediators to Pakistan and India, attempting to end the war before it goes much further.  India and Pakistan have agreed to a ceasefire.

They seem to be fighting over water rights.  Yeah.  It's that simple.  When you have a population almost as big as the USA against another population as big as China, that's an awful lot of mouths that need feeding via irrigated crops.  The borders between the nations have been disputed for some time.

The recent hostilities are much more serious than we may think.  If it turned out to be full out war, it would be the first time two nuclear powers would be at a fully declared war.

India's policy is against first launch.  Pakistan's policy has not been made public.  But they have given warning that they might use them if (such and such) enemy measures went too far.

Even with the ceasefire agreement, there are still small military actions taking place.  It may be that communications are not reaching the front lines.  It may be that some of the forces are going rogue.  It may be that a "ceasefire" means something different to them than it does to us.

But we hope that cooler heads will prevail. 

As for now, it is about as effective as the ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia.  It is tenuous.

[NeuroTypical]

Watching T at the Saudi Investment forum is interesting.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVCvibkzbfk

He's introduced and stands there while they play Lee Greenwood's God Bless the USA.   

Representative quote:   "I believe it is God's job to sit in judgment, my job to defend America and to promote the fundamental interests of stability, prosperity, and peace.   I will never hesitate to wield American power if it is necessary to defend the United States, or to help defend our allies. [gestures at the Saudi prince]  And there will be no mercy for any foe who tries to do us or them harm.  

He badmouths the Iranians and Houthis, begs the Syrians to get their affairs in order and stop letting evil murderous dictators run their beautiful country, unapologetically claims the US is the greatest nation on earth, talks about all the money we'll make together, and then they play the Village People's YMCA.   

I've never seen anything like it. The casual off-the-cuff way he gave his speech to Arab leaders, just like what we've come to expect in his executive order signing press conferences.

[LDSGator]

48 minutes ago, NeuroTypical said:

unapologetically claims the US is the greatest nation on earth

He’s absolutely right about that one.