General chat room

[Vasudev]

This is the first time in Amerca's country's history that opinion polls failed miserably. Nobody -- not even Trump himself -- expected to win. That's why he kept screaming the election was rigged.

Not to be overly optimistic, but almost always candidates who have promised something have been unable to carry out their promises once they have access to top secret information. Obama promised to close Guantanamo. Jimmy Carter promised to publicize all classified information on UFO's. Hopefully something similar will happen with this guy.

As Mahatma Ghandi used to say, "people who elect a moron are well represented".

@humbert: Its Gandhi,  What do you think about Trump winning is it accidental? Will the US triumph under him as claimed?

[scarface]

Some people like shadows.97 told us that the election of Donald trump was rigged. That’s why I’m going to hold a conference today, to return to this subject.

First and foremost, some of you may not know the new President. Here we can see him with his double. Since the vast majority of the users of the forum doesn’t come from the US (but probably from Asia), I precise Trump is on the left of the photo, whereas Donald Tramp is on the right.


Secondly, the results of this election were foreseeable since the Simpsons Predicted Donald Trump's Presidential Win 16 Years Ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0JCszBmHm8


More seriously, and let it be said straight away, according to the famous economist Piketty, Trump's victory is due above all to the explosion of economic and territorial inequalities in the United States for several decades and to the inability of successive governments to cope with them.
The Clinton and Obama administrations often merely accompanied the movement of liberalization and sacralization of the market launched under Reagan, then Bush father and son, when they themselves did not exacerbate it, as with financial and commercial deregulation conducted under Clinton. The suspicions of proximity to finance and the inability of the elite to learn from these lessons did the rest.
Hillary Clinton won the popular vote and yet lost the electoral college and thus the White House (60.1 million votes against Trump's 59.8 million for a total adult population of 240 million), but the participation of the young and most modest was far too low to enable her to win the key states.
The sad thing is that Trump's program is likely to reinforce broader social inequalities.: he is about to remove medicare, laboriously granted to poor employees under Obama, and launch his country into a headlong rush in tax dumping , With a 35% to 15% reduction in the federal corporate income tax rate, whereas the United States had resisted this endless chase from Europe so far.


As far as Trump’s program is concerned, here are the key points:

Mexico
Donald Trump’s vow to build a wall along the border with Mexico, to make Mexico pay for it and to achieve iron-fisted control over illegal immigration stands as his leading promise, one that rang from the rafters countless times. But he owes his supporters â€" and now the country â€" much more than that.
While a lot of his agenda will be a hard sell, he won’t have the excuse used by many presidents whose promises have fallen short â€" a Congress in the hands of the opposing party. Trump will take office with a unified government, both the Senate and House under Republican control.

Child care
Trump promises six weeks of leave for new mothers, with the government paying wages equivalent to unemployment benefits. His plan also provides for a new income tax deduction for child care expenses, other tax benefits and a new rebate or tax credit for low-income families.

Education
Trump promises to spend $20 billion during his first year to help states expand school choice programs. He wants states to divert an additional $110 billion of their own education money to help parents who want their children to go to other schools.
And he owes college students a big, and expensive, leg up. He says he will cap student loan payments at 12.5 percent of a borrower’s income, with loan forgiveness if they make payments for 15 years.

Climate
Trump vows to cut regulations as part of his effort to “unleash American energy.” This means allowing unfettered production of oil, clean coal, natural gas and other sources to push the U.S. toward energy independence and create jobs. In particular, he owes coal miners a revival of their livelihood, even though the industry’s decline is in large measure due to the rise of natural gas, which he also supports. He pledges to rescind the Clean Power Plan, a key element of President Barack Obama’s strategy to fight climate change.

Foreign policy
Trump’s “America first” ethos means alliances and coalitions will not pass muster with him unless they produce a net benefit to the U.S. He speaks of a less interventionist approach to crises abroad â€" with the exception of his vow to crush the Islamic State group. Yet he also promises to spend much more to restore what he sees as depleted armed forces.

Health care
He’s vowed to repeal Obama’s health care law and replace it with something more affordable. With a Republican Congress, the pressure will be on to do so. It remains to be seen how far lawmakers and the president will actually go to untangle a law that has sunk some roots, and Democrats won’t be voiceless on this or other issues.

Immigration
One paradox of the campaign is the lack of clarity about Trump’s intentions on an issue that defined him out of the gate. He clearly promises to stop the influx of Syrian refugees into the U.S., and somehow to help them overseas. He vows to deport people convicted of serious crimes who are in the U.S. illegally. And there’s that wall, which Mexicans insist they won’t pay for. But the fate of millions of people who are in the country illegally is a gray area â€" he’s not promising to deport them but also not saying he would give them legal status. He’d ban immigration of people from areas prone to extremism, but how that would be defined is unclear.

Infrastructure
Trump vowed to double rival Hillary Clinton’s proposed spending on infrastructure. Taking him literally, that means a staggering $500 billion over five years.

Iran
Trump promises to renegotiate or withdraw from the multilateral deal that eased sanctions on Iran in return for controls on its nuclear program.
Minimum wage
He expressed support for $10 an hour, while saying states should “really call the shots.” It’s $7.25 now.

Social Security
Trump has promised not to cut Social Security.

Supreme Court
Trump promised to nominate justices who are open to overturning the legal right to abortion and who support Second Amendment gun rights.

Taxes
He owes Americans big tax cuts. He says he’ll collapse the current seven income tax brackets, which peak at 39.6 percent, into just three tiers with a top rate of 33 percent, slice the corporate income tax and eliminate the estate tax. Although analysts said the wealthy would benefit disproportionately, middle income people are promised a hefty reduction.
In his most recent plan, Trump proposed cutting taxes by $6.2 trillion over 10 years, according to Tax Policy Center estimates. That’s twice the size of the House Republican plan. And it would cut taxes by 2.6 percent of Gross Domestic Product, second only to Ronald Reagan’s 1981 tax cut as the largest in modern US history.  Including added interest and the macroeconomic effects, Trump’s tax cut would increase the national debt by $7 trillion over the next decade and by $20 trillion over two decades. With the Congressional Budget office projecting an annual deficit under current law of $1.3 trillion, or 4.9 percent of GDP, in 2026, it is hard to imagine Congress accepting a plan even approaching the size of the new president’s proposal.

Trade
Trump promises to renegotiate or withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement. He also vows to oppose the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal and to slap stinging tariffs on countries that the U.S. judges to be trading unfairly. China faces the risk of steep penalties â€" and U.S. consumers would pay higher prices as a result â€" if his vow is carried through.

Veterans
Trump promises to expand programs that allow veterans to choose their doctors â€" regardless of whether they’re affiliated with the VA â€" and still receive government-paid medical care. He’s pledged to fire or discipline VA employees who fail veterans or breach the public trust. He also would increase the number of mental health professionals and create a “White House hotline” dedicated to veterans. If a valid complaint is not addressed, “I will pick up the phone and fix it myself if I have to,” Trump pledged.





Helmut Fritz - Metro boulot disco
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27hHLN5NZIY

La Roux â€" Bulletproof (Gretina Club Remix)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCxQ1kdIVn4

WILLY WILLIAM - Ego
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOxzG3jjFkY

[Shadow.97]

Some people like shadows.97 told us that the election of Donald trump was rigged. That’s why I’m going to hold a conference today, to return to this subject.

It was moslty put as a joke, but it's ironic how the person who screamed "Rigged" ended up winning

The election will put Sweden in a little bit of a "rough situation" because apparently we now need our own military force and cant rely on the US. WHOA! Haha

[humbert]

Keep in mind there are usually big differences in what politicians promise and what they can or will deliver. Presidents are not dictators and do not rule by decree.

There is no question the reason Trump won is because the people are fed up with establishment politicians and are venting their anger. Many voted for him not because of some of his crazy ideas, but rather despite those wierd opinions. What shocked me most of all was how wrong the polls were. The lastest one just a few hours before election day gave Hillary a 71% chance. No wonder Trump kept saying the system was "rigged" - he himself believed he could not pull this off.

Be that as it may, relax -- the world will not end and life will continue.

@Shadow -> You brought up and interesting point regarding Sweden's military. Let me ask: why do you guys need military forces? Sweden is a neutral country that has no quarrel with anyone. You don't even have internal enemies and, if anything should happen internally, the police would take are of it. How long has it been since Sweden has actually fought a war? I'm thinking since when you guys were occupying Finland.

[Shadow.97]

Keep in mind there are usually big differences in what politicians promise and what they can or will deliver. Presidents are not dictators and do not rule by decree.

There is no question the reason Trump won is because the people are fed up with establishment politicians and are venting their anger. Many voted for him not because of some of his crazy ideas, but rather despite those wierd opinions. What shocked me most of all was how wrong the polls were. The lastest one just a few hours before election day gave Hillary a 71% chance. No wonder Trump kept saying the system was "rigged" - he himself believed he could not pull this off.

Be that as it may, relax -- the world will not end and life will continue.

@Shadow -> You brought up and interesting point regarding Sweden's military. Let me ask: why do you guys need military forces? Sweden is a neutral country that has no quarrel with anyone. You don't even have internal enemies and, if anything should happen internally, the police would take are of it. How long has it been since Sweden has actually fought a war? I'm thinking since when you guys were occupying Finland.

Well. Truth be told, we are far from Neutral. Havnt been since ages ago. During WW2, we were on the "winners side" all the time. First, when we thought Germany would win, we traded away alot of trains for dirt cheap (in return of gold harvested from jewish rings, a majority of which we never actually got). We let them transport jews through sweden, and german soldiers to norway or finland. Can't remember. When we traded oil with the US for their airforce, we took parts of the oil and gave to germany. Almost like a tax.

Personally, I am for having a defence of some kind. But the threat I see is "war" within the country which can't be won by the police(Although not likely at all). Where the police needs reinformcements of people who are trained for such duties. Lets pretend that gang criminality in Malmö increases, and it becomes a lesser "country" ran by criminals. The police force who is already too weak, would not be able to pull an operation like that off. (To combat such criminality). We would most likely get assistance from Denmark if such a thing happened in Malmö (Because it's so close to Denmark)
We do not need a military force against Russia, or NATO. Those aren't threats in the same way. Because there is little to no benefit of "ruling" over Sweden in the short term. It would cause alot of tension between Russia and NATO if any side attacks us.
I guess the REAL reason we need a military is to participate in wars in different countries, or to do organized attacks at i.e ISIS together with NATO or Russia.
Swedish military currently has the goal of holding ground for 7 days. But, according to almost everyone, including the military we would absolutely max be able to hold for 5 days.
Personally, I think they'll be all over in 2 days. We have too much border, and a tiny weeny military to protect such area.
This year the country opened a phoneline you can call if you see suspicious activity that could be of interest for the military. A few days ago someone of foreign nationality was arrested because of repeatedly going to "No photo areas" owned by the military.
The main area we need military control over is Gotland. It is the strongest strategical place in Sweden that could be of use for Russia(To control the Baltic Sea). NATO is all around us anyway, so they dont have alot of benefits of controlling Sweden.

Humbert, who did you vote for, or did you skip voting? My friends in the US living in bigger cities voted for Killary, while the people on the countryside voted for Dump. And my friends who are overly obsessed with Weed voted *drumroll* Gary Johnson!

[humbert]

Your explanation of why you believe Sweden needs military forces. Basically it boils down to be ready for all sorts of scenarios that *might* happen, even though it appears they're highly unlikely. I had no idea Sweden was passively helping Germany at the start of WW2. Clearly they did the right thing - it kept the country out of war.

What is in Gotland that may interest a foreign country in occupying it? Are there important natural resources or something? Certainly the island's location isn't much of a problem when you consider the Baltic bottleneck that is Denmark, not to mention other nations in that immediate area.

Is there military conscription in Sweden? If so, could you be drafted?

As for who I voted for, I have voted in ages. Why? I believe politicians will always be politicians - all they care about is getting into power and enriching themselves with very little interest in benefitting their constituents. My lady voted for Hillary Clinton.

[Shadow.97]

Your explanation of why you believe Sweden needs military forces. Basically it boils down to be ready for all sorts of scenarios that *might* happen, even though it appears they're highly unlikely. I had no idea Sweden was passively helping Germany at the start of WW2. Clearly they did the right thing - it kept the country out of war.

What is in Gotland that may interest a foreign country in occupying it? Are there important natural resources or something? Certainly the island's location isn't much of a problem when you consider the Baltic bottleneck that is Denmark, not to mention other nations in that immediate area.

Is there military conscription in Sweden? If so, could you be drafted?

As for who I voted for, I have voted in ages. Why? I believe politicians will always be politicians - all they care about is getting into power and enriching themselves with very little interest in benefitting their constituents. My lady voted for Hillary Clinton.

Honestly, i dont know alot about the situation. This is what others have told me. I can just imagine it would be a good place for missiles, and ships etc.
We do currently not have military conscription, from what I am aware of. If I was drafted, i would Never allow myself to be put out in the field. I could do "behind the scenes" work. But I do not believe i would have the capacity of getting myself back on my feet if I saw people die right infront of me. I've seen a person die, and it was quite nervewrecking.
Hope you had a fantastic Thanksgiving, and a happy blackfriday. Two holidays that to me, seem like two opposites. One to be thankful, and the other.. well I have no words for it! :p

[scarface]

In this topic, we talked a lot about Donald Trump, a great opportunity for America. Let's hope he will implement his national programme of action for the US.
Kansas, a state which entered into recession lately, approved a series of measures to decrease tax rates, and we can bet the new hero of the United States is going to boost the economy with the same remedies.

In 2012, voters in California approved a measure to raise taxes on millionaires, bringing their top state income tax rate to 13.3 percent, the highest in the nation. Conservative economists predicted calamity, or at least a big slowdown in growth. Also that year, the governor of Kansas signed a series of changes to the state's tax code, including reducing income and sales tax rates. Conservative economists predicted a boom.

Neither of those predictions came true. Not right away -- California grew just fine in the year the tax hikes took effect -- and especially not in the medium term, as new economic data showed this week.

Now, correlation does not, as they say, equal causation, and two examples are but a small sample. But the divergent experiences of California and Kansas run counter to a popular view, particularly among conservative economists, that tax cuts tend to supercharge growth and tax increases chill it.

California's economy grew by 4.1 percent in 2015, according to new numbers from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, tying it with Oregon for the fastest state growth of the year. That was up from 3.1 percent growth for the Golden State in 2014, which was near the top of the national pack.

The Kansas economy, on the other hand, grew 0.2 percent in 2015. That's down from 1.2 percent in 2014, and below neighboring states such as Nebraska (2.1 percent) and Missouri (1.2 percent). Kansas ended the year with two consecutive quarters of negative growth -- a shrinking economy. By a common definition of the term, the state entered 2016 in recession.




Tonight, I also want to talk about another politician, a woman known for her lucidity in 2008 when she was stating "it's not a crash", Christine lagarde, the current managing director of the IMF.
A petition calling for "a true trial for Christine Lagarde", found guilty of negligence in the case of the Tapie arbitration but exempt from punishment, collected more than 210,000 signatures.



Considering this judgment as "unbearable" and "dangerous to social peace," Julien Cristofoli, a school teacher at Le Mans, launched a petition on Change.org.

"On May 13, a 18-year-old homeless person who had entered a house in Figeac to steal rice and pasta out of necessity was sentenced to two months in prison by the Correctional court of Cahors ", begins the presentation of the petition. "On December 19, 2016, Mrs. Christine Lagarde has just been found guilty by the Court of Justice of the Republic while being exempted from punishment," he continues.

"Now, the powerful are exempt from ordinary justice, and especially from its sanctions!" Indignant, the 35-year-old teacher, asked the President of the Republic, the Assembly And the Senate to demand that Mrs. Lagarde respond "in her actions before an ordinary criminal court" and that the Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR) be abolished.

Democratic Crisis
Launched on 19 December, the petition received more than 210,000 signatures. "It is not a question of governing with petitions, but it is clear that there is a democratic crisis behind the fact that this petition is working as well," remarked Cristofoli.

The CJR, composed of three professional magistrates and twelve parliamentarians, found nothing to reproach the former Minister of the Economy with the launch in 2007 of an arbitration procedure to solve an old dispute between Bernard Tapie and Crédit Lyonnais.

But the CJR considered that by failing to appeal against the arbitration award in 2008, the Minister had shown "negligence" and "made inevitable the appropriation by the spouse of Tapie of a sum of 45 million euros ". However, the CJR considered that the "personality" of the boss of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the fact that she was fighting against an "international financial crisis" at the time, pleaded in her favor and justified the exemption from punishment.
If you want to sign the petition, you can go here: https://www.change.org/p/un-vrai-procès-pour-christine-lagarde

[humbert]

I have a hard time believing you think a Trump presidency will be a great for America. This is an arrogant man whose ideas are so far off the norm it's ridiculous. I can write example after example. The only reason he won is because this country continues to use the 18th Century electoral college system.

I should mention that history professor Alan Lichtman, who predicted Trump would win as early as a year ago AND correctly called every US election since 1984, is now predicting Trump will be impeached. Let's hope he's right once again.

[scarface]

I have a hard time believing you think a Trump presidency will be a great for America

You probably did not understand my remarks were sarcastic. The only state which « applied » a soft version of the Trump program during the Obama mandate, that’s to say Kansas, is now in recession and has obtained the worst results in the US. But politicians throughout the world have the same methods. When something does not work, they continue. It’s the same thing in Japan with the Abbenomics, they keep printing money year after year, the debt is soaring, but they did find anything better.

A good picture to understand that a bunch of old moguls are now running the US (click on it, it doesn't fit the screen)





Yesterday I was watching this video, and I was imagining humbert vs (a blackened) Maher
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zSkyHIQEZA