Don't get me wrong here, But I LIKE Donald Trump.

[willedoo]

5 hours ago, red750 said:

That reminds me of a woman I know. Quite a few years ago she was in a pub and some drunken idiot was trying to hit on her. He'd come up with the old corny line about wanting to get into her knickers, and she shot straight back with " I've already got one ars*hole in them; I don't need another one." It got rid of him.

[Yenn]

About 4 days ago Trump said that he had covid under control, now he is wearing a mask, or at least suggesting it would be good for others to wear a mask.

He is also asking Yanks to donate $1000000 by midnight USA time to his re election campaign. He has no idea what to do, except ensure that he will be re elected. Not that he has much opposition as Biden doesn't come over as being any good and cannot counter Trumps poison campaign.

[willedoo]

1 hour ago, Yenn said:

Not that he has much opposition as Biden doesn't come over as being any good and cannot counter Trumps poison campaign.

Sad but true. The stupidity of the Democrats is mind boggling. last election, they chose a poor candidate and lost. You would think they'd learn, but they've done the exact same thing again. I still think Biden's choice as VP running mate will be critical to their chances. This thing swings to and fro, but at this point I'm tipping a Trump win. That might change later down the track if they let Joe out of the basement and he has a capable running mate with the gift of the gab.

[old man emu]

It seems that four out of five suggested running mates for Biden are women and at least three of those are not WASPs. The women on the suggested list have had, or have notable lives in the public sphere, so are worthy candidates in themselves. One thing that Biden's mob must keep in mind is that he is 77 years-old and has a higher chance dying than, say, a 55 year-old. If he was the POTUS and died in Office, then the Vice-President would have to step up. In the current political climate, that V-P would have to be something special. 

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

Meanwhile, the moral grub has been sending Federal troops into Democrat-governed states to arrest "criminals" who protest in the streets about police brutality against blacks. This same President has openly encouraged gun-toting right-wing mobs to take over Democrat-held cities. 

 

As Joe Biden is telling the electorate, Trump has quit on them over the pandemic; In his efforts to repair his polling figures, he is stirring up the seeds of civil strife across America.

[kgwilson]

Biden may be old and a bit doddery but at least he has empathy and when he does make a statement it is delivered with reasonable intellect. He has hardly been seen but has led the polls by between 10 and 15 points for months and the elction campaign hasn't started yet. Trump continues to rage and cry woe is me with the latest "I am the greatest" claim being passing a simple cognitive test aimed at establishing the early onset on dementia. He has continued to bragg about it even after being told it is a simple test saying the last 5 questions are hard. One of the last 5 questions is deduct 7 from 100. I can believe that would be hard for Trump. His neice summed him up well. He is a malignant nacissist, a mysoginist, a racist, a comulsive liar, a con man, theif and a 6 times bankrupt. Who could be better qualified to run the disunited states of America. 

[onetrack]

I find it funny that Kellyanne Conways hubby has started a campaign to remove Trump from office, citing him as being unfit for office. Trump is just not unfit, he's using the office to abuse and belittle anyone who opposes him.

I'm waiting for the avalanche of anti-Trump feeling that will be unleashed from those he's sacked, abused and belittled, once the tide turns against him. But no doubt, he will come back with more belittling abuse and vengefulness, if that happens.

The simple fact of the matter is, there's no-one of any outstanding personal qualities who could possibly lead America out of the mess it's in - and if there was, the people with vast sums of money will ensure they don't win.

Because elections in America are all about, "he who has the most money, wins".

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-07-25/the-lincoln-project-is-trying-to-troll-donald-trump/12488902

 

[kgwilson]

Trump has often complained about vote rigging especially postal voting although all the evidence is to the contrary. Many think this is one of his strategies to refuse to leave office if he loses the election. If he loses most of his supporters in the white house will likely fade away and the men in white coats will come and take him away. When asked about this some months ago Biden said the appropriate authorities will remove him with "Great Dispatch". He is slowly losing his marbles & he didn't have many to begin with. It is very interesting to watch from the sidelines. The disintegration of the wordls biggest economy. China is laughing all the way to the bank.

[willedoo]

Biden might not be much chop, but with a good running mate and the party behind him, he still would have to be a much better president than the current comedian. If Biden gets in he will have a big job to start the repair process. Domestically, there's a lot of work to be done and internationally, a long way to go to regain trust and respect. Things are bad when former staunch allies like Germany are on the brink of turning their back on the U.S.. In reality, I think we are seeing the beginning of the end of the American empire. One more term of Trump and a lot of countries will have had time to learn how to get by without them. By then a lot of the world may never swing back to the Americans. If Biden wins this time, he might be able to stem a bit of the bleeding.

Edited July 25, 2020 by willedoo

[pmccarthy]

Reagan has lost most of his marbles by the end but had the insight to deflect all questions to his well- informed advisors.

[old man emu]

The political leader of a country does not have to be in the front lines of its battles. The last English king to die on a battlefield was Richard lll in 1485. A country's leader in our times needs to be a CEO, or Chair of the Board. Queen Elizabeth is a Chair of he Board, and look at how she is personally respected throughout the World. The same should apply to the POTUS. These politicians who claim business and entrepreneurial success as cornerstones of their leadership applications should look back to the big entrepreneurs of the 19th and early 20th Centuries. Henry Ford acknowledged that he did not have high academic ability, but he had the ability to hire the right man to complete a project.

 

Harvard School of Business was a great one for insisting that a good manager was a good delegater.  You don't need to be a rocket scientist to light the blue touch paper.

[pmccarthy]

Clive of India was perhaps the most successful entrepreneur in history and he cut his own throat aged 49.

[Marty_d]

On 25/07/2020 at 4:58 PM, pmccarthy said:

Clive of India was perhaps the most successful entrepreneur in history and he cut his own throat aged 49.

He may be about 25 years too late, but can Trump please follow his example?

 

[willedoo]

On 25/07/2020 at 4:58 PM, pmccarthy said:

Clive of India was perhaps the most successful entrepreneur in history and he cut his own throat aged 49.

I wonder if our star entrepreneur, Clive of Queensland, is related?

Edited July 27, 2020 by willedoo

[Yenn]

Someone on this forum posted something from Brietbank news or a name like that. I have looked at that news site and find the comments by other readers to be interesting.

Mostly they seem to be of the poisom pen variety, directed against any Democrat and Jo Biden in particular. As far as being a news site, the other day they could not even spell Biden correctly. I read the article to find out who the similarly named person was.

Trump is reported as saying that if he loses he will not quit. I wonder where he gets the idea that the polls could be rigged even before they occur. According to the tipsters Biden is about 40% ahead in the polls, but where was Hillary Clinton?

Really the whole USA political system is in disarray. Democrats have gone with the least disliked has been and Republicans will not give up on a winner. Rather as Aussie Liberals were with John Howard. Could Maxine run for US president?

Edited July 27, 2020 by Yenn
Spelling

[willedoo]

On 27/07/2020 at 4:26 PM, Yenn said:

Could Maxine run for US president?

Who's Maxine?

[pmccarthy]

Is it Karen's sister?

[Yenn]

Maxine Mc Que or something like that. She opposed John Howard in his electorate when he was the PM and beat him. Only did one term in parliament.

[willedoo]

That's right. I think she was an ex journalist.

[willedoo]

No wonder the Donald and his mates are getting cranky. i was just reading the latest trade figures between Russia and China. Both those countries and others have been talking about de-dollarizing their economies for some time, but Russia and China's figures are starting to show how serious it is. Four years ago the U.S. petrodollar accounted for over 90 percent of their currency settlements in trade with each other. For the first quarter of this year, it's fallen below 50% for the first time, at 46%. The non dollar trade is made up of 30% Euro, 17% Yuan and 7% Ruble. Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov called the rejection of the dollar "an objective response to the unpredictability of US economic policy and the outright abuse by Washington of the dollar's status as a world reserve currency."

 

Add to that the move in those countries and others away from holding U.S. debt as an investment and you can see the shine of the dollar starting to dim. The big problem for the Americans is that the less reliant other countries are on the U.S. dollar and financial system, the less vulnerable those countries are to punitive economic sanctions imposed by the U.S.. The less other countries have to fear, the less power the U.S. has.

[old man emu]

AUD is up to US72 cents today.

[Marty_d]

Great, when we get beyond parity I'll put in a big order with Aircraft Spruce.

 

3 or 4 years ago we got to $1 AUD = $1.10 USD.  That'd be nice, it's not like we're going to be getting the tourist dollar anyway.

[Jerry_Atrick]

Nope - tourists dollars will be far and few between. However, you may want it to remail lower for a bit longer. The transition arrangement for Brexit looks like it will still happen on 31/1/21. The government is pinning its hopes on rapid trade deals with Canada and Australia to help plug the gap. I am closely watching it as I want to import decent Aussie wine - if we go to WTO with Europe (unlikely), and there is a free trade deal that includes wine, it will be very competitive to get the good stuff here (and leave enough for you guys to drink at home, too!). There is a small wine industry here, but the amount of French carp that sells for a small fortune in the UK will easily be overtaken by decent Aussie (and NZ) wines

[Marty_d]

Funny, when we go to Europe I'm always amazed at how cheap grog is.  In France, bottles of decent red are only a few euro each, and don't get me started on how cheap beer and spirits are in German supermarkets.

[Jerry_Atrick]

Yes - Britain is a cash cow for the European drinks industry... My in-laws go to Calais with their car and have it almost at the axles it is so heavy fuill of wine coming back... This is it and I notice they have Hardys Crest Sparking Pinot Noir at £1.99 from £4.99. I see that Wolf Blass std price for Yellow Label Shiraz is £5.99 - standard price here is £8 - £8.99 and rarely see it below £6.50 on sale.. As you can see from the warehouse, you aren't going to get decent Aussie wines in supermarkets in France: https://www.calaiswine.co.uk/wine/country/australian-wine.

 

Europe obviously has some great wines, but for too long, the average British consumer has been pedaled their crap. France does truly only export its rubbish; Don't see too many German wines except for Blue Nun and Liebrfaumilch, which is really not able to be described without being landed in court. Italian wines are OK in Britain. WhenI first arrvied in the UK, there was a plethora of decent Aussie wines from many regions that would be in today's money about £30 - not for everyday drinking but on the special occasion in, a worthwhile tipple. Today, there is not much - Biri Biri and some Penfolds and that's about it.. That price also doesn't guarantee any decent Frenchies and it is too cheap for the speciality wine merchants who treat Grange as supermarket wine. The great thing is that Aussie winemakers have their distinctive styles - Stoniers on the Mornington Peninsula used to make a Semillon thate had a very distinctive, grassy flavour... was really nice... Europeans still stick to their traditions and are not as adventurous.

 

[edit]

One of the benefits of being a pilot here (when I am flying) is that from Dunkeswell, Cherboug is an hour away and Le Touquet is 1.5 hours away... Great places for a lunch and a spot of decent French wine (of course, if I am not flying or if I am on an overnighter).

 

Edited July 31, 2020 by Jerry_Atrick