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It's Europe's time to step up. We seriously have to reconsider both AUKUS (Awkers) and the 5 eyes partnership. What point is intelligence sharing with the US when we have a dictator-lovin' Putin puppet in charge? Plus his cabinet is comprised of arse licking sycophants. Definitely not trustworthy people. I think the global West has to face the sad fact that the USA is no longer a trustworthy partner.

Back to the original thread subject - here's my "positive" report for this week. (SWMBO says I've been too grumbly and short-tempered this week. Might be, because I'm fighting to finish several projects). Thursday night, we went to the W.A. Gravity Discovery Centre, located about an hour N of Perth in the Yeal Nature Reserve, which is halfway between the coastal City of Yanchep, and the rural inland town of Gingin. The night Observatory tour we went on, is called the Adults Only Stargazing Date Night. The tour included dinner, and about 2.5 hrs of stellar and sky discussion and learning. We got there at 6:30PM for a supposedly 7:00PM dinner time, but we were told some people were running a little late, so the dinner start was put back to 7:15PM. We spent 45 minutes checking out some of the site attractions, such as the informative galleries. The whole setup is owned by the University of W.A. and comprises several display galleries as well as a "leaning tower", and the GDC Observatory - which is a retractable roof building housing several large telescopes - which we all got to peer through, to view some of the planets, and some of the more prominent and well-known stars. There were only 5 couples in the tour, and we got a nice meal from the little cafe, with the (pre-ordered) choice of chicken or steak, followed by cheescake dessert. Then we headed off into the darkness (aided by the tour speakers small red light, to ensure our night vision was preserved), to view stars and planets from the Observatory. He had a big green laser pointer which he used sparingly to point out the various celestial bodies of interest, and he waxed on comically for about a couple of hours, talking about star formations and collapses, the various features of planets, the research on Gravity Waves, and a host of other celestial and physics of the Universe that left our heads spinning. He reckoned he'd been doing this for 30 years, so he knew astronomy inside-out! Someone asked a question about satellites and how they affected sky-viewing. He got quite animated about this subject, and especially about Musks Starlink satellites (and he constantly referred to Musk as "Mush"! 😄 ) He talked about how he'd set up cameras to take dozens and even hundreds of shots of the night sky - only to find in the morning, that his sky shots were criss-crossed with satellite trails! - which left criss-cross lines all over his great photos! He said, "about then, you start having homicidal thoughts (about Musk)". 😞 I was staggered to find out, that there's now around NINETY THOUSAND satellites in low Earth orbit! - as against perhaps only a couple of hundred, say 30 years ago. We had an absolutely PERFECT night - a perfectly clear sky, cool to the point of being chilly, no moon (moonrise was around 10:00PM as we finished up), and as dark as we could get, allowing for the fact we were just 70kms out of Perth. Naturally, the City lights glow was still pretty visible on the Southern horizon. All in all, we had a very enjoyable evening, doing something a little different. The Adults Only Stargazing Date Night is currently unavailable, we got the last booking date for the event, for the time being. I'm not sure when there will be another repeat of this event, they might be struggling to get staff to run it, as it appears they rely a lot on volunteers. https://gravitycentre.com.au/

COMMENT by AMBROSE EVANS-PRITCHARD. SMH, 20 March 2025. Donald Trump has inflicted enormous long-term damage on America’s defence export industry, a lucrative earner worth $US320 billion ($500 billion) a year in all its forms. Foreign defence sales are 10 times greater than US exports of liquefied natural gas. First in line for collective repudiation is Lockheed Martin’s F-35 fighter jet. Mark Carney ordered a review of Canada’s order for 72 of these advanced aircraft within hours of becoming prime minister. It will determine whether ‘‘other options could better meet Canada’s needs’’. Nuno Melo, Portugal’s conservative defence minister, says the F-35 is no longer considered a safe choice to replace his country’s ageing F-16s. ‘‘We have to know that an ally will be on our side whatever the circumstances,’’ he told Publico. ‘‘The world has changed. This ally of ours, so predictable over the decades, could limit the use, maintenance, components, and everything needed to ensure that the aircraft are operational in all scenarios,’’ he said. Portugal is looking at a European alternative. Germany may be next. ‘‘Nobody needs to buy an F-35,’’ said Tom Enders, ex-Airbus chief and now head of the German Council on Foreign Relations. He said Germany’s contract for these fighters was a misguided attempt by Angela Merkel to ‘‘appease’’ Trump during his first term. It should be cancelled forthwith. Europe does not strictly need the US Patriot missile defence system either. The upgraded Franco-Italian SAMP/T rival is more or less ‘‘equivalent’’. ‘‘It is absolutely imperative that we free ourselves of dependence on US systems as far and as quickly as possible. We can’t simply close our eyes to the fact that this American government has become an adversary,’’ Enders said in an explosive interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine. He said Trump was likely to blackmail and coerce Europe in much the same way as he has coerced Ukraine. ‘‘No one believes any more that he will stand by Article 5 if Putin invades the Suwa›ki Gap,’’ he said. One should be cautious of reading too much into share price movements. But it is striking that Lockheed Martin’s stock has dropped 23 per cent since late October, while Dassault Aviation has almost doubled in dollar terms on talk of more orders for the Rafale fighter aircraft. French missile maker Thales is up 90 per cent. The European defence sector has seen an explosive rise over the last month, pushed even higher by Germany’s coalition deal for €1 trillion ($1.7 trillion) of rearmament and infrastructure – to be ratified this week by a constitutional amendment to the debt brake. Enders, a no-nonsense parachute officer and former head of European defence group EADS said the US has access to the operating system of F-35s. ‘‘We know the Americans can shut the thing down whenever they want. We are totally dependent,’’ he said. Experts disagree over what the Pentagon can or cannot do remotely to paralyse an F-35. ‘‘There is no explicit kill switch. It’s not something that can be turned off on any given day,’’ said Justin Bronk, an aviation specialist at the Royal United Services Institute. But the fact that this discussion is even going on in the highest circles of European defence and foreign policy exposes the complete collapse of confidence in the US military alliance. In my view, it is irreversible. Enders has just launched Germany’s ‘‘Sparta’’ project, drafted by leading figures calling for immediate and massive German rearmament. It clearly has the backing of incoming chancellor Friedrich Merz. Rather than trying to catch up with Russia in tanks and aircraft, Germany and Europe should together seek ‘‘asymmetric superiority’’ by building a drone wall on NATO’s eastern flank, according to Enders. This could be done very quickly and at a fraction of the cost. ‘‘We need tens of thousands of smart robots on the battlefield,’’ he said. A few dozen people can make 1000 combat drones for less than it costs to make a Leopard 2 tank shell. ‘‘These drones can knock out enemy systems that cost several million with great precision,’’ he said. Europe should also move fast to escape the clutches of Elon Musk’s Starlink. Enders said Eutelsat’s OneWeb could do much of the job if buttressed by the medium-orbit satellites of SES. The focus should be on the ‘‘sharp end’’ of defence. Some of the weapons should be in the field in six to 12 months, but none beyond five years. ‘‘We’re not interested in a new arms system that takes 20 years,’’ he said. Sparta includes a dash for ‘‘cloud-combat’’ hypersonic weapons, a European missile shield, as well as a joint nuclear deterrent in co-ordination with France and the UK that span the escalation ladder from tactical nukes to strategic missiles. There have always been restrictions on how US weapon exports can be deployed, but the rules were clear. Trump has turned every form of vulnerability into a means of extortion. He has shown that he will not hesitate to cut rough with military kit to get his way – in Ukraine’s case to force capitulation on Kremlin terms – or ‘‘dividing up certain assets’’ as he put it. Those terms will probably be close to the Istanbul Protocol: neutrality, a skeleton military like Germany in the 1920s, Russian control over four annexed (but unconquered) oblasts, cultural re-Russification of Ukraine, plus a Vidkun Quisling-like figure to replace Volodymyr Zelensky. Europe faces serious dangers trying to extricate itself from US dependency. ‘‘If European politicians provoke Trump, we could get into an even more precarious position, setting off a vicious cycle,’’ said one expert from a NATO state helping the Ukrainian military. But it cannot go on as before either. ‘‘The US has complete lockdown and ownership of our security architecture. Long-range fires and potentially the Patriot missiles and some intelligence systems could stop working if somebody in Florida or Washington presses ‘‘no’’ on a computer. You couldn’t keep the show on the road,’’ he said. The Stockholm Institute says the US cornered 43 per cent of global weapons exports over the past five years. This cannot last. Japan, India, Latin America, and the Middle East will all be wary of locking into complex defence systems that could be used as leverage by the White House at any time and for any purpose. It is no protection if suppliers are private companies: Trump compels corporate leaders to kiss the ring and execute his agenda. He is proactively imposing his ideology on capitalist America. Even the Washington Post has bowed to pressure, refusing to publish views that flout MAGA nostrums. Two of the irresistible selling points of US arms exporters have long been that a) the dependency would not be abused and b) countries were implicitly coming under the US security umbrella by aligning their fortunes with America. Neither has currency in Trump’s Hobbesian world. The Telegraph, London

How do we treat the US? From my understanding: We allow them t have their bases here. We historically have a large trade deficit with them (in other words, they have a large trade surplus). That has only changed this year because their ultra wealthy see the writing ont he wall with Chump's policies and are going to a safe asset - gold - and are importing it from all over the world like crazy. We sell them aliminium that they did ot impose tariffs on previously.. but it was not dumped - it was sold at wither prevailing spot price or in accordance with futures or forward contracts (Vance lied when he said we sold subsidised goods); Unti Abbot clamped down on the car industry, we allowed the US car mnanufacturers to claim the 150% R&D tax deduction through transfer pricing R&D and not carrying out anywhere near as much as they claimed they did. Oracle, a large software company still claim their R&D centre in Aus, yet they don't do that much development there. AUKUS. Australia has signed up to $380Bn purchase of something like 8 subs, but have committed soemthing like 8bn just to prop up their ship building industry and we can't get anything back even if the US decide they don't want to supply us.. Most of our defence procurement is spent on the US We have sent troops to fight US wars that have no impact on Australia, and little in local geopolitics We have far more people move to the US for work - called the brain drain - we pay to educate them and the US gets the benefit of that education. And with all of this, we have lost our self-sufficiency in many ways. What does Australia get out of it? A promise (and increasingly unlikely to be honoured) promise that should Australia be invaded, the US may come to our rescue... So, tell me what else do we get from the US and what else do we do to treat the US so badly? So, I would argue we treat them very, very well.. using Chump's vernacular, we treat the US beautifully.. don't we? And they stick it up our arse.

Let's get back to the POSITIVE additions to this thread, shall we? Trump has his own thread. For last weeks and this weeks positive addition, SWMBO and I went to a couple of shows put on by the W.A. Museum and the W.A. Maritime Museum. The W.A. Museum show was "The Kimberley Experience", and the Maritime Museum show was "Empress Josephines Garden". The best part was, both shows were FREE admission! The Kimberley Experience was all about viewing the Kimberley's tourist places, without the need to actually travel there - and the Empress Josphines Garden show was all about the early French explorers of the W.A. coastline, and how they took home large amounts of W.A. flora and fauna to the Empress and Napoleon, which flora and fauna Josephine nurtured, and expanded to many other places in France. The French took home marsupials and emus, and W.A.'s Black Swans, which all survived for some time, it appears. Both shows were "immersive" experiences, where you were surrounded by big screens - and in the case of the W.A. Museum Kimberley show, we actually wore VR headsets, the first time I've ever done so. The VR headsets take you right to the camera lens view from drones and cameras fixed to choppers, and it was startling to look down with the headsets, and to suddenly feel like you were hanging in space over gorges and rivers. Both shows were very enjoyable and it's good to be out and about and socialising, which SWMBO believes is very important for your mental health, as you get older.

I wonder if the organisers will be able to pull it off.

Let me say again... there are no rare earth reserves in Ukraine. Reporting of mineral reserves is internationally governed by the Committee for Mineral Reserves International Reporting Standards. See The International Reporting Template - Crirsco . I have lectured about this in Moscow a couple of decades ago. The Russians in Ukraine had speculative estimates of what might be there but nothing upon which a commercial contact could be arranged. The whole minerals thing is a Trump smoke screen for political agreements that will not stand public scrutiny.

Today is the eleventh anniversary of my cancer operation. 04/03/2014.

The hypocrisy is mind blowing. Musk never wears a suit in the Oval Office.

Do you believe in common decency and the right to NOT be invaded GON? The war is supposed to end with Russia withdrawing to it's OWN territory and paying reparations to Ukraine for the loss of lives and property. Any other way, and Putin will just do it again. To put it simply. Putin is that horrible bully who beats up other kids and steals their lunch money. Ukraine has stood up to him and punched him in the nose. The bully is surprised but still trying to use his bigger size to beat up Ukraine and not only steal its lunch money but also its bike. The other neighbourhood kids are standing round watching. Some, like Orban and now Trump, see personal gain in the bully winning. Other, more decent and intelligent kids, know that if the bully wins here then he's going to steal their lunch money eventually. The ONLY way they are all safe is to stand together against that bully, but Trump for base personal gain (and spite for Zelenskyy not doing him a grubby personal favour last time) has walked away from the other kids and is trying to help the bully win. Let me know if this is too complicated.

Mrs Octave and I went on an enjoyable hike this morning. We are getting fit for our upcoming NZ trip. Day-to-day life is pretty good, isn't it?

My positive of the week..... I have been reluctant to confess to the forum (you lot might be critical). My motorcycle has been trapped in the shed for 4 or 5 years due to unfinished heavy stuff awaiting major repair. Note that my dearest never mentioned its inactivity - she probably hoped I'd forget all about it. (Sensible girl, that one. But oh, so wrong). Anyway I recently had old mates visit and we got those big jobs fixed. Of course I hadn't forgotten the bike. Cleaned it up, serviced it, new battery.... and got it going. Then dread.... am I too old to ride? Have I lost the awareness needed on 2 wheels? Well after a few tentative brief laps of the paddock, I gave it a go. Absolute heaven! Now I have been out for a cruise into town every day this week! The awareness of surroundings - the scents, the wind, sights are all sharpened. Absolute delight! PS: I do know I'm no longer the same bulletproof rider I once was. But you can't wipe the silly grin off my dial.

Beautiful day in the passage, my mate Michele went sailing with tourists and on cue the dolphins arrived, they think she has a secret button 😄. The pods rarely leave the port. This afternoon I swapped the 3.3 hp for the 9.9hp 👍. Runs super smooth but does need a proper tune and a few little bits to tidy up. Very pleased, starts real easy but a few minor adjustments to make- not opening throttle fully. Also the idle and low speed mix for trolling Will sort it properly, but all looks positive. So far 10 knts but should get at least 15knts, the Tintanic is a very heavy build with four floatation cell seats and runabout steering. Not normal for 12 ft 6", sometimes I want a smaller, lighter boat. But it's a solid vintage Savage from 90's like the motor. Great having reverse again. Discovered it has a lighting/ electrical output, that's cool as can charge a battery and run lights. Most motors this size do not have this and often a $500 option. I may need to add a regulator as some pump AC instead of DC. A simple eBay will be fine. It's a two stroke but very smooth and fairly quiet. I will eventually add sound shield matting under the cover to make it even quieter. Will also add a water/fuel separator/ filter unit for guaranteed clean fuel. The carb has no drain plug so this is essential. 112 psi both cylinders, pretty good for 35 years of regular use. 120psi would be ideal but that's new. No crabs in the pot but the beers cold.

Off topic just for a moment. My Dad's prototype soldering iron, and put to use to do his radio repair work. It was rescued after he passed in the Ninties, along with other stuff. Not long before he died, he showed me the patent certificate. In the early fifties, Sherline in South Australia asked him, by letter, if they could manufacture it. He never replied, I'm not sure why, but knowing Dad, he just got lazy. Sherline waited the sixteen years and claimed the right to make the soldering iron. Other interesting facts about my Dad is he had one of the very rare VW Kombi Microbuses with split front seats. And he made an electronic ignition in the mid Sixties before they became common. It was a hobby project, but he fitted it to a customer's/friend's truck and that truck went many miles before Dad removed it and reinstalled the old contact distributor points. In other words, his electronic ignition worked a beauty.

Re the U.S. Subs - we urgently need to re-assess this dreadful purchase. It's a mind-boggling cost, with no guarantee they'll be delivered - ever - and trying to equip submarines with crews is a costly and difficult task. But we have the modern answer to subs - and it blows U.S. Nuclear subs out of the water, so to speak. And the answer is an Australian invention! - the Ghost Shark autonomous submarine! This thing has a massive depth ability increase over regular subs, and no need to risk any crew lives to operate it! Regular subs will become obsolete in the near future, exactly as tanks have become obsolete, due to the massive advances in drones and guided munitions. https://www.eurasiantimes.com/australias-silent-predator-ghost-shark-xl-uuv-a-game-changer/

Nurses and Doctors are some of the smartest and nicest people I've ever known. I've seen Plenty of extremely RUDE patients they HAVE to put up with. Spent today doing a CT scan in Melbourne. Nev

Trump's stupidity impacts the wider world outside of the USA (not that they're aware of its existence). We shouldn't have to "roll with the punches". We should do everything possible to make the US pay for his actions. Ian's decision to decouple the Rec Flying site from the US where possible is an admirable one, and I've made a donation to him because of it. In broader terms we should be doing all those things people are talking about - withdraw from AUKUS, reconsider any other military purchases (F35s for example), start charging massive rents for US bases and ensure all US equipment meets Australian standards.

We should first look at what industries we could either start or expand. I reckon we should look at value-adding to our minerals and agricultural products.

True, But all people with severe mental illness are banned from driving. Would you feel safe with him behind the wheel? Wouldn't let him near a kids Tonka truck.

Maybe building a storm bunker will have to be added to the jobs list. First cyclone down this way in 50 years but dodged a bullet where I am; not enough rain to wet the rain gauge and very little wind. The attached radar map was 1 to 2am this morning. Moreton and Stradbroke Islands acted as a buffer and knocked the pace off it. It's now a low off Bribie Island slowly headed this way. There's still up to 500mm of rain predicted but that will mostly be on the the more southern side of the low. Even though we didn't cop the wind here, it's still good to have made the preps. Everything is charged, water containers filled, food stocked, concrete block baffle barriers across the driveway and I bought a generator and a phone charger that plugs into the car. Gravity fed water and a gas stove helps. It started as a Cat 2 cyclone and one of the lady presenters on ABC radio made the joke that in NQ they don't even bother to take the washing off the clothesline for a Cat 2. 150kph gusts can still do some damage though. My little old shack is built to 43 metres/sec. wind rating, about 155kph, but I've built in extra bracing and tie down on top of that. One advantage I have is a 38 degree cathedral exposed beam ceiling with a plywood ceiling. The ply sheets are 3 metres long so completely cover the internal area without joins. To cut a long story short, I could lose the tin roof but the ply screwed to the rafters with battens over that would hold and would still repel water for a sustained period. My brother has a tile roof so if they blow off and the blue paper rips, the gyprock ceiling turns to porridge. The 38 degree roof pitch requires more wall bracing and less tie down than a lower pitch roof, but I doubled most of the triple-grip tie down anyway. Stump to bearer tie down is double requirements and there's a ton of cyclone rods and bracing ply panels. The biggest blow I've had here was probably about 60 knots and the shack didn't budge, so hopefully it would stand a cat 2 cyclone it's rated for. The last cyclone I experienced here was 1974 where it crossed just north of us. I was renting an old cane cutter's barracks right on the riverbank and it was shaking and rattling so much that I slept with the full face motorbike helmet on. It goes without saying I had that same helmet parked beside the bed last night just in case, or maybe just for good luck. In the '74 cyclone I woke up to knee deep water in the kitchen, waist deep at it's peak. Having breakfast, the water was just lapping the bottom of the table but didn't go too much higher. In a previous cyclone, that place had only six inches of the roof peak sticking out of the water.

Marjorie Taylor Greene's partner has proved his lack of judgement by who he's partnered with. Seems to escape these idiots notice that Zelenskyy is a REAL president unlike that clown they chose, and he's wearing the clothes he does in solidarity with the men and women fighting for his country. They don't want some suit wearing blowhard.

Somewhere this morning I read that this is the first time in world history that you could put up a sign saying, "He's an idiot" and everyone would know who you meant.

The Ukrainians ARE fighting to restore and maintain their autonomy after Russia launched an unprovoked invasion the intention of which was to wrest the autonomy of Ukrainian lands from the people. There are no ifs or buts or maybes. Russia attacked and Ukraine defends until it can repel. Hey Fellas! GON has just given us carte blanche to enter his home and take whatever we want from it. He'll even let us throw him out on the street.

Which ones? Those crossing into Canada?

Blimey - when I saw the thread title, I tought it was about MAS - Middle Aged Spread....

I had flashbacks to that scene in "There's something about Mary".

America has the same problem as all drmocracies...... The electorate vote for the shark, but they have the memory of a goldfish.

Whoa!! - Metric?? That rotten simplified measurement system invented by the FRENCH?? It can't be any good, because it wasn't invented in America!

What's the bet that a ceasefire would only be acceptable to Poo Tin if Russia gets to keep all the land they've invaded, take no responsibility for starting the war, no reparations, and agreement from NATO that Ukraine never be admitted. He would actually try to get Ukraine to pay reparations to Russia. Then, even if all this were agreed to by Ukraine, in a year or two he'd invade again anyway. Anyone who thinks Putin can be appeased is a total fool.

My wife and I decided we don't want children. It was a difficult decision, but we're telling them tonight.

Just go outside and view the Lightning. Better than any TV show.. Very impressive HERE last night. Nev

Your arguments or position doesn't make sense.. Wars of the Putin type are, let's face it, forced immigration. Yet you are dead against immigration (way back you mentione about needing a far right minister to quash immigration). So, on the one hand you don't want legal immigration, or as is often incorrectly assertted illegal immigration of refugees, but on the other hand you will roll over for forced immigration. Work that out, because I can't And then, the liogic would be if those Chinese ships that ammassed in the Tasman sea decided to invade, you would just hand your land over without a fight.. And then you say OME's assertion that you are OK to do away with democracy [and the rule of law] meaning you are happy for people to take whatthey want from you is wrong? I am totally confused.. what do you actually stand for?

All the 'money' for aid to Ukraine is actually spent here in Oz to build the weapons we send. That's Aussie jobs, taxes etc additionally we send old gear to them and build new ones to keep the production going. The vast majority of money stays local and Ukraine gets world class gear. Do you really think the defence budget gets spent on roads? Wake up

GON, Anyone to the left of Attila the Hun can see it's a huge problem.

I've talked about this for decades to anyone who'd listen. Becoming a politician is the only job in the world where you have no need to present or produce any skills or qualifications records, or job history record, to get the political seat. The only major requirement is to be able to suck up to the unelected powerbrokers who control nearly everything behind the scenes, with their money and status.

I haven't been near the U toob lately but last night was surprised at the huge number of US based news, public information organisations, celebrities etc tearing in to trump like there is no tomorrow, correcting the lies and disinformation from his mob.. Some of them fear there may not be a tomorrow if the current debacle continues. After Vance got into Zelenskyy he went on vacation in Vermont only to be met with heaps of protesters waving Ukraine flags and protest banners. He'd have been mobbed in to submission if it wasn't for the secret service. It is good to see that there is a large number of good Americans who know the truth & I am pretty sure there are a lot who voted for him and now wish they hadn't. Apart from tariffs, his bullying and declarations of acquisition of countries & territories, changing place names and supposedly stopping illegal immigration nothing material has happened. Stopping the war in 1 day went to 100 days and then as soon as possible & then to a diversionary attack on Zelenskyy which has only hardened the resolve of the rest of the West to continue support. Europe has already started ramping up its defence industries & while the US has the biggest, the UKs BAE systems is the 6th or 7th largest worldwide. Add Airbus & Thales and others in Europe & the dependence on US suppliers will be heading South. The trouble is all the bluff and bluster, insults and the like as he said "makes great television" all it does is increase opposition to him and damages the reputation of the US from its already low point to an even lower point.

Zelenskyy wants Trump to guarantee that when Putin inevitably breaks whatever agreement they eventually sign up to (as he has done with past agreements), the US will stand with NATO and other allies including Australia, and defend Ukraine against Putin's treachery. That might mean providing more arms and ammunition, cash and possibly to participate in supplying peacekeeping forces. The problem is that Trump is on Putin's side, so it's not going to happen. The end result of the war was supposed to be to get the Russians out of Ukraine, which doesn't seem like a lot to ask for provided your name isn't Putin. Unlike Biden, Trump is not interested in making sure the war ends in Ukraine's favour. He wants Putin to come out ahead because he wants to do deals with Russia. As far as Trump is concerned Ukraine is just a roadblock that he wants to get out of the way.

A month in to this despots 4 year term and the entire world now knows what they already knew but seemed a bit afraid to admit. Trump is a clown, a complete f#$kwit, a malignant narcissist, 100% untrustworthy, a pathalogical liar, an ignoramus & got voted in by 33% of the eligible voters in the US. It will take some time but the US will become isolated if its once allies move away to form their own security pacts and alliances. Nato will morph into a European alliance and US bases in Europe and probably many countries around the globe will begin to disappear. Trumps policies will increase inflation for the US populous and only the Billionaires will benefit. Bullying tactics and threats only work for a while and statements like acquiring Greenland, Canada & Panama & turning the Gaza strip into Trump land will be forgotten. It will take some time but some of the cracks already evident will widen and fester and eventually there will not be enough new theatrical insulting performances to stop the rot and even though Trumps rusted on support base will keep the faith, mostly due to them being fed a diet of only Trump positive information through the right wing US media, it will not be enough. Bear in mind that he got in with a very small margin much less than Bidens over him after the first term and the mid terms only 2 years away may see a shift in the senate and congress.

A secondary advantage of the disappearing bonnet ornament might be the prevention of it theft, but I would say that the primary reason is to prevent injury to a pedestrians when you "run over the bastards".

What a pack of American thugs and bully boys, and greed merchants! I'm glad to see Zelinsky tell Trump and Vance where to shove their ideas of peace, and walk out. Now, all that needs to be done is to double the rent on American military facilities in every foreign country, using Trumps bully-boy methods. Tell Trump he can pay double the rent, or piss off! - because your bases are obviously zero value, when it comes to the protection of the country they're in! The only thing they are there for now is protecting Trumps personal interests. I can see a major market developing for "GO HOME YANKS" banners! The problem is, that Trump and Vance are so thick, they don't see that they've emboldened Putin and Kim Jong-il to advance their warmongering plans and schemes, and that they're boosting the Russian and Nth Korean economies with their love of dictators.

Something that is being missed by most people is that Trump is NOT conservative, he is radical. Consider the separation of powers. We have the Legislative branch (Congress etc.) The Executive (President and Cabinet) and the Judicial. These checks and balances have pretty much always been respected. Vance has openly stated that the trump administration may just ignore the courts. As well as this Trump is removing anyone he deems not to be loyal enough (not to the Constitution but to him) This is terrifying. it is basically a coup. We have seen this before in other countries and it never ends well.