The United States(!) of A
a guy I know called Alfred could bring you back a blue 'freak' daily from Indo this winter @blackers, bagus sekali - murah!
(not too hilly where you are.?)
@ Salty Dog, thanks for the kind words of wisdom. Wish I had done the same. Our financial advisor always just says hold tight and ride it out, but this could ugly. All the best mate.
old-dog wrote:@ Salty Dog, thanks for the kind words of wisdom. Wish I had done the same. Our financial advisor always just says hold tight and ride it out, but this could ugly. All the best mate.
Changing the subject
Are you guys related?
At least you’re not being crucified in a
Monty Python movie!
old-dog wrote:@ Salty Dog, thanks for the kind words of wisdom. Wish I had done the same. Our financial advisor always just says hold tight and ride it out, but this could ugly. All the best mate.
Salty Dog. My brother who is smarter than myself, once engaged with a financial advisor, didn’t go so well.
The best financial advice he stated was to never get a financial advisor. Himself and myself know plenty who have discovered that many financial advisors have hidden agendas like referring you to programs or schemes that belong to mates or friends and always something coming back their way behind closed doors.
Keep it under your mattress I reckon. AW
@Jeffy
"The new head of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Peter Marocco, has reportedly expressed bewilderment over some of the agency's spending that he is considering sending criminal referrals to the Justice Department for potential misuse of taxpayer dollars."
Confusion wrote:old-dog wrote:@ Salty Dog, thanks for the kind words of wisdom. Wish I had done the same. Our financial advisor always just says hold tight and ride it out, but this could ugly. All the best mate.
Changing the subject
Are you guys related?
At least you’re not being crucified in a
Monty Python movie!
Related? Not that I’m aware of.
But it is a small world!
A Salty Dog wrote:mick66 wrote:A Salty Dog wrote:mick66 wrote:A Salty Dog wrote:indo-dreaming wrote:Hmm. i dont know you read so many different views even from so called experts on this topic.
It just seems crazy that we have these free trade agreement's with places like China import all this cheap stuff and have zero chance of manufacturing anything in Australia even just sending mineral's to China instead of processing here and adding value.
Selected tariffs to me make's sense to wind things back or try to diversify and not be so reliant on China, for USA with such a big population it make's even more sense.
Covid i thought was a wake up call, to try to bring some manufacturing back to the West.
I think there is a bit of a if Trump says black, we say white thing with this topic though.
Trumps not silly he is doing something even if it's just a way to negotiate different things through tarrifs
I think it was you who said the other week he is smarter than people think, the way he has managed Israel and Ukraine to just get thing's moving in different direction's.
Forget the lobsters Indo, look at car manufacturing.
Trump has a plan to apply 25% tariffs to automotive components. What he didn’t realise was these components can cross the Canadian and Mexican borders up to seven times before being assembled into the finished vehicle.
This article from the Cato Institute (of all people!) explains the application of tariffs in detail.
https://www.cato.org/blog/seven-charts-show-how-us-tariffs-would-harm-am...
Now Trump has given the local manufacturers a few weeks to relocate all their component suppliers inside US borders. Should be easy.
Ultimately this will add thousands to the cost of a US manufactured vehicle and every car buyer will feel it.
Trump and his “advisors” clearly have no idea how international trade works and the finer points of “Comparative Advantage”. He believes a country of 20 million should have “balanced” trade with a country of 300 million. He is a complete simpleton masquerading as a bully.
One more thing, while it is my opinion stock markets are populated with con men, shonks and shysters, the markets do act as a barometer for a countries economy. They thrive on prosperous profitable industry but above all on certainty.
Now look at what has happened to markets since Trump started to “even things up” with tariffs. Tariffs applied one day are postponed the next, and no one knows what is going on.
The markets don’t like all this indecision, not to mention the inflationary implications of tariffs. Check how your Super balance has dropped in the last six weeks, to see how it’s affected you: it’s cost me a fair slab of money.
This whole Trump thing will in my opinion, end in disaster.
More and more Americans are now realising they have elected an idiot.
In regards to your last sentence, I had interesting conversations today with 2 acquaintances who voted for Trump. The one says he's barely slept in weeks and feels incredibly guilty for voting for him. The other thinks he's intentionally trying to crater the economy to precipatate riots that will give him an excuse to declare martial law.
Not sure if this will sound believable, but I've spoken to a half dozen people in the last week who are trying to find a country they can emigrate to. None of whom had any interest in leaving the country previously.
Friends of mine who are from Latin America (here legally) say they have adjusted shopping habits. No more Walmart, as rumors are that immigration authorities are posting up there. They work, then go home. One family member goes shopping once a week, to minimize the chance of being detained.Today Senator (and combat veteran) Mark Kelly gave his post-visit assessment of the situation in Ukraine. Musk immediately labeled him a "Traitor."
His first presidency seemed like a tiresome reality show. I imagine this is how it felt in 1922 Italy.
Hi mick66,
I formed that opinion from numerous you tube videos posted by disillusioned individuals: farmers who had lost their income due to USAID cuts and others whose positions had been terminated or who had lost social service benefits. Clearly the feelings are widespread.
I cannot imagine how your friends feel, having to minimise your public exposure for fear of being detained simply because of your appearance. That is a terrible situation to be in.
I read Kelly's assessment of the Ukraine situation. Given his service history I accept it as accurate and honest. Yet to be called a "traitor" by an unelected bureaucrat who has milked the American taxpayer for billions, is an egregious insult to a man who has devoted much of his life to the service of his country.
As for people emigrating from the US, I used to work at a public waste facility, and came into contact with thousands of people. What astounded me was the number of expat Americans who had moved here to live, ultimately took up citizenship and now called Australia home. And that was 15 years ago, when things appeared to be much better!
We are all in uncharted waters with this current plague of madness.
I wish you all well.
Regards.
Thanks for the well wishes!
re: Americans who emigrated to Australia, yes I've known a few. We had started the process many years back, but seemed like we were always just shy on the points scale. On the brightside, 2 of my daughters are putting the wheels in motion. Should be visiting again in July/August for a surf trip/more recon, and looking forward to that.Are your daughters coming here on an extended working holiday or are they looking at a permanent move? Either way they will love it.
Our daughter worked in the US for about three years in the mid 2000's : Peterborough in New Hampshire, Vermont, Minnesota (in winter!!!)and a stint at a lodge in the Denali National Park and had an absolutely fantastic time.
The Aussie Dollar is cheap at present, only US63 cents, so your cash will go a long way. Hopefully you can meet up with some of us Swellnutters !!
Cheers!!
Re: The USD's strength, that may not last for long. As you may know, Trump is a big fan of a weak dollar as he feels it will boost exports while making imports more expensive and thus causing a shift to buying domestically) but of course there are many, many downsides to a weak currency. Just read an article yesterday in which one of his advisers stated they would like to see it weaken by 20% to 25%. oof.
Glad your daughter enjoyed her time here. Vermont, in particular, is really beautiful.
As for my daughters, yes they are looking to move permanently. Both will have vocations on the Skills in Demand (482) list, though I'm quite worried Dutton would roll that visa back, should he win the election. I know he's stated he wants a reduced quota on annual immigration, even if to my knowledge there hasn't been anything said specifically about that particular visa program.
AlfredWallace wrote:old-dog wrote:@ Salty Dog, thanks for the kind words of wisdom. Wish I had done the same. Our financial advisor always just says hold tight and ride it out, but this could ugly. All the best mate.
Salty Dog. My brother who is smarter than myself, once engaged with a financial advisor, didn’t go so well.
The best financial advice he stated was to never get a financial advisor. Himself and myself know plenty who have discovered that many financial advisors have hidden agendas like referring you to programs or schemes that belong to mates or friends and always something coming back their way behind closed doors.
Keep it under your mattress I reckon. AW
Hi AW!
I did try the Stock Market for a while, with mixed results.
They don’t call it a casino for nothing. Too many con men shonks and shysters and the bots and algos are used to deceive. Then there are the short sellers; ready to spread bullshit about their next target.
Took some time to learn the basics about what moves the stock market and why. Not an expert by any means and still learning. So I switch my super investments around based on my conservative judgement, try to avoid negative returns and don’t get greedy! If things do go pear shaped then there is only me to blame.
Cheers!
indo-dreaming wrote:@Jeffy
"The new head of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Peter Marocco, has reportedly expressed bewilderment over some of the agency's spending that he is considering sending criminal referrals to the Justice Department for potential misuse of taxpayer dollars."
The new head for USAid
Yeah right, who appointed the new head, and we can definitely believe anything that administration says ,
That’s why our Superannuation is dropping because die hards like you keep believing everything that’s shoveled into you by the ultimate hypocritical liars,
How do you explain Trump spending most of his time playing golf at Mar a Lago
And it costs $10 million per weekend for that not to mention Musks latest billion dollar contract.
Explain hypocritical ostrich syndrome.
mick66 wrote:A Salty Dog wrote:mick66 wrote:A Salty Dog wrote:mick66 wrote:A Salty Dog wrote:indo-dreaming wrote:Hmm. i dont know you read so many different views even from so called experts on this topic.
It just seems crazy that we have these free trade agreement's with places like China import all this cheap stuff and have zero chance of manufacturing anything in Australia even just sending mineral's to China instead of processing here and adding value.
Selected tariffs to me make's sense to wind things back or try to diversify and not be so reliant on China, for USA with such a big population it make's even more sense.
Covid i thought was a wake up call, to try to bring some manufacturing back to the West.
I think there is a bit of a if Trump says black, we say white thing with this topic though.
Trumps not silly he is doing something even if it's just a way to negotiate different things through tarrifs
I think it was you who said the other week he is smarter than people think, the way he has managed Israel and Ukraine to just get thing's moving in different direction's.
Forget the lobsters Indo, look at car manufacturing.
Trump has a plan to apply 25% tariffs to automotive components. What he didn’t realise was these components can cross the Canadian and Mexican borders up to seven times before being assembled into the finished vehicle.
This article from the Cato Institute (of all people!) explains the application of tariffs in detail.
https://www.cato.org/blog/seven-charts-show-how-us-tariffs-would-harm-am...
Now Trump has given the local manufacturers a few weeks to relocate all their component suppliers inside US borders. Should be easy.
Ultimately this will add thousands to the cost of a US manufactured vehicle and every car buyer will feel it.
Trump and his “advisors” clearly have no idea how international trade works and the finer points of “Comparative Advantage”. He believes a country of 20 million should have “balanced” trade with a country of 300 million. He is a complete simpleton masquerading as a bully.
One more thing, while it is my opinion stock markets are populated with con men, shonks and shysters, the markets do act as a barometer for a countries economy. They thrive on prosperous profitable industry but above all on certainty.
Now look at what has happened to markets since Trump started to “even things up” with tariffs. Tariffs applied one day are postponed the next, and no one knows what is going on.
The markets don’t like all this indecision, not to mention the inflationary implications of tariffs. Check how your Super balance has dropped in the last six weeks, to see how it’s affected you: it’s cost me a fair slab of money.
This whole Trump thing will in my opinion, end in disaster.
More and more Americans are now realising they have elected an idiot.
In regards to your last sentence, I had interesting conversations today with 2 acquaintances who voted for Trump. The one says he's barely slept in weeks and feels incredibly guilty for voting for him. The other thinks he's intentionally trying to crater the economy to precipatate riots that will give him an excuse to declare martial law.
Not sure if this will sound believable, but I've spoken to a half dozen people in the last week who are trying to find a country they can emigrate to. None of whom had any interest in leaving the country previously.
Friends of mine who are from Latin America (here legally) say they have adjusted shopping habits. No more Walmart, as rumors are that immigration authorities are posting up there. They work, then go home. One family member goes shopping once a week, to minimize the chance of being detained.Today Senator (and combat veteran) Mark Kelly gave his post-visit assessment of the situation in Ukraine. Musk immediately labeled him a "Traitor."
His first presidency seemed like a tiresome reality show. I imagine this is how it felt in 1922 Italy.
Hi mick66,
I formed that opinion from numerous you tube videos posted by disillusioned individuals: farmers who had lost their income due to USAID cuts and others whose positions had been terminated or who had lost social service benefits. Clearly the feelings are widespread.
I cannot imagine how your friends feel, having to minimise your public exposure for fear of being detained simply because of your appearance. That is a terrible situation to be in.
I read Kelly's assessment of the Ukraine situation. Given his service history I accept it as accurate and honest. Yet to be called a "traitor" by an unelected bureaucrat who has milked the American taxpayer for billions, is an egregious insult to a man who has devoted much of his life to the service of his country.
As for people emigrating from the US, I used to work at a public waste facility, and came into contact with thousands of people. What astounded me was the number of expat Americans who had moved here to live, ultimately took up citizenship and now called Australia home. And that was 15 years ago, when things appeared to be much better!
We are all in uncharted waters with this current plague of madness.
I wish you all well.
Regards.
Thanks for the well wishes!
re: Americans who emigrated to Australia, yes I've known a few. We had started the process many years back, but seemed like we were always just shy on the points scale. On the brightside, 2 of my daughters are putting the wheels in motion. Should be visiting again in July/August for a surf trip/more recon, and looking forward to that.Are your daughters coming here on an extended working holiday or are they looking at a permanent move? Either way they will love it.
Our daughter worked in the US for about three years in the mid 2000's : Peterborough in New Hampshire, Vermont, Minnesota (in winter!!!)and a stint at a lodge in the Denali National Park and had an absolutely fantastic time.
The Aussie Dollar is cheap at present, only US63 cents, so your cash will go a long way. Hopefully you can meet up with some of us Swellnutters !!
Cheers!!
Re: The USD's strength, that may not last for long. As you may know, Trump is a big fan of a weak dollar as he feels it will boost exports while making imports more expensive and thus causing a shift to buying domestically) but of course there are many, many downsides to a weak currency. Just read an article yesterday in which one of his advisers stated they would like to see it weaken by 20% to 25%. oof.
Glad your daughter enjoyed her time here. Vermont, in particular, is really beautiful.
As for my daughters, yes they are looking to move permanently. Both will have vocations on the Skills in Demand (482) list, though I'm quite worried Dutton would roll that visa back, should he win the election. I know he's stated he wants a reduced quota on annual immigration, even if to my knowledge there hasn't been anything said specifically about that particular visa program.
That’s a big call to drop the USD by 25%. Some of the major currency players might have something to say about that!
We’ve been to New York twice and stayed at one of the camps where she was working. Travelled around the New England region and it is spectacular scenery. Boston reminded me very much of Melbourne. We also did a side trip to Nova Scotia and thoroughly enjoyed it. I have to commend the patience of your motorists there: I found it difficult to say the least, adjusting to driving on the right hand side of the road!
The forthcoming election will be held sometime in May. I doubt that Dutton will go into that level of detail for visas in policy releases in the election campaign. He has in the past made announcements regarding immigration changes which never eventuated. While the election will be close the most likely result will be an ALP minority Government so things should remain as they are.
Cheers!
US aid document burn...
nothing suss here
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/03/11/usaid-official-tells-remaining-...
Septic Tanks are going to Septic Tank