Bear Pit: now the sole domicile of politics at LuLa

[Robert Roaldi]

On Earth 1, this is what China said this week ( Chinese Embassy in the U.S. said in a post on X on Wednesday, signaling an increasingly aggressive stance toward the U.S.):

Granted, but the EU and Canada haven't been shy lately either. Seems like everyone has decided that meek acquiescence would not work with Trump.

[digitaldog]

But Chris, Trump told us Obama was born outside the US and he served two terms, Musk has a chance here… 🥳

[Robert Roaldi]

Rubio declared the South African ambassador persona non grata because he was disrespectful towards Trump. That's hilarious. Aside from the fact that Trump insults people all the time with his childish name-calling, Rubio himself again addressed the Canada-as-51st-state idea at the G7 meeting yesterday, which is being held on Canadian soil, no less. Talk about being disrespectful. That ship sailed a while ago, Marco. The US ambassador to Canada had the temerity to refer to Canada as a sovereign country while Musk declared that Canada was not a "real" country.

An idea is being floated in the last while about how the USA-imposed tariffs with their economic consequences are part of a "de-toxification" of the US economy. WTF is that supposed to mean, does anyone know.

This funny story emerged last week about Michael Johnson's DC living arrangements, https://www.propublica.org/article/mike-johnson-evangelical-pastor-steve-berger-roommates. He's rooming with an evangelical influencer. Maybe the rent is cheap. Good for him, can't be easy finding accommodation in DC. Mind you, with the economy tanking there may be a lot of cheap apartments available soon. I hope cable and wi-fi is included. I thought that the reporting about pyjama bottoms was unnecessary. Who doesn't dress down when at home.

A former spiritual advisor to Prez Trump was indicted on child abuse charges in Texas, https://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/12/robert-morris-texas-megachurch-indicted-sexual-abuse/. It's difficult to imagine Trump having a spiritual advisor. I wonder if Trump sought religious guidance from this guy or someone else on how to best obtain redemption for the Tate brothers.

I think it's funny that Democratic leaders are offering to conduct town hall meetings in those red states where Republican officials have curtailed their public appearances. I saw a report online about the good attendance at Sanders's meetings, but that the "corporate media" is not reporting on those. I have no idea how true that is.

Elon cried during an interview. I didn't watch it. Maybe the stress of firing all those people without cause is getting to him. I suggest a religious retreat to recuperate, and I'm sure Trump can suggest a suitable preacher.

[kers]

 Canada and portugal think about cancelling orders of the F35 jet .
Portugal is afraid that the jet may lack
  US support in situations

[Robert Roaldi]

Canada and portugal think about cancelling orders of the F35 jet .
Portugal is afraid that the jet may lack
  US support in situations

I can see where that would be a concern. At the very least, buyers would have to worry about random surcharges.

In Trump's first term when Covid hit, he tried to cancel a Canadian order of PPE from 3M on the presumption of PPE being a strategic resource. The inventory shortfall was soon rectified, assuming it actually existed that is. But parts for fighter jets might be a different story. One good thing is that at least the F35 is not a Boeing product.

[Robert Roaldi]

About a month ago Patrick Boyle released this video on trade wars and tariffs, 30 minutes long, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbn_5Klmagw. He discusses the current status of trade deficits between various countries and what tariffs can and cannot accomplish and under what conditions. Since it's a month old it does take into account the most recent developments but that does not affect the discussion. As per his style, he pokes some fun here and there.

[Robert Roaldi]

The US detained and are in the process of deporting a guy who was working in the country legally because he supported Hamas. It was reported that he had "flattering" photos of Hamas leaders on his phone. I see two issues here. The first is the decision to detain and deport without process someone who had committed no crime, but that's being normalized these days. I haven't been keeping up, don't know where he is at the moment. The second point is I don't think they credited the photographer who took the photos. There might be a press photographer here who is not getting his due. Typical. So far as I can tell, what that guy really did wrong was to work at a university, that's unforgivable. I don't know what his field of study was, I wonder if he was conducting experiments on transgendered mice, or maybe even transgenic ones.

At the same time though, the US administration brought the Tate brothers back to the USA. Given what they were accused of, I would have thought that leaving them in Romania made more sense. But I may be getting the wrong end of the stick here, maybe the Romanians wanted rid of the siblings. Maybe Romanian taxpayers were sick of paying good money to keep them watered and fed.

[Robert Roaldi]

The thought police are getting nearer and nearer, French scientist denied entry, https://www.yahoo.com/news/french-scientist-denied-us-entry-214155243.html . I guess anyone entering the USA has to be careful not to be critical of the "leader". You don't want criticism, oh no, can't have that.

I bet a lot of Americans would prefer to go back to when all they had to worry about was the woke trans mind virus. Good thing Trump is such an astute businessman or the economy wouldn't be doing so well. I suppose the christian nationalists think that this is all part of god's plan.

[Robert Roaldi]

The Commerce Secretary believes that only fraudsters will miss their social security cheques if they're late https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5208187-commerce-secretary-social-security-fraud/. As an example he used his mother-in-law, saying that she'd be ok if her cheque was late. Bully for her, I'm glad to hear it. Being the mother in law of a rich person helps a bit, I'd imagine, but that just demonstrates shrewd planning on her part. Poor people on a fixed income have only themselves to blame, they should have married their daughters off to rich people, what were they thinking.

I see that Lutnick and others in the administration are recommending that people buy Tesla stock. No conflict of interest there, no sirree. The government is always handing out free financial advice to citizens. What could go wrong. Conservatives have long preached that the government should stay out of people's lives, so I guess they've had a rethink. 

Micheal Lewis's new book is about important jobs in the federal civil service. He gave an interview where he discusses the book and how the stupid and thoughtless actions by the Trump administration are threatening important departments, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbGq0KEiPNg. Later on in the video, they touch on the risks of attaching the real economy too closely to crypto. But the Prez issued meme coins, how dangerous can crypto be? He's only ever thinking of the welfare others, bless him.

How is the president's coin doing, btw? Come to think of it, did people finally receive their Trump sneakers and guitars last year, how did that all work out? I don't remember seeing any follow-up.

I saw a short bit of a clip in which Elon Musk states that he cannot understand the animosity shown towards him. I'm sure it's true that he doesn't understand it.  There has been a large recall of Cybertrucks, but I didn't read the details so I don't know what's wrong with them this time. I saw one on the road here last week, my first live sighting. It can proudly take its place among all the other needlessly oversized vehicles on the road that people will be making payments on for many years to come. I also saw that he's having an online feud with his daughter. Now there's a good use of the information highway. He should find a way to monetize that.  Is Musk heading to Mars soon or what.

The most uplifting story this week was about how Ohio police are protecting Americans from Canadian folk singers, https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/halifax-musicians-pulled-over-asked-canada-or-us-1.7488950. They were asked to state their political allegiance. The best explanation I can come up with is that those officers were lonely and were just hitting on the two singers, but that they're just not very good at it. OTOH, we only have one side of the story so far. If there is a follow-up to the story, it will almost certainly be lost in the avalanche.

[Rhossydd]

There has been a large recall of Cybertrucks, but I didn't read the details so I don't know what's wrong with them this time.

The shiny bits on the outside are only glued on and the glue is failing, so the bits are falling off.
We're fortunate here in the UK to have regulations about what's allowed to be used on our roads, the Cybertruck doesn't meet safety requirements so we don't have to see it.

It's bizarre to see Trump ranting about 'unelected bureaucrats' then allowing an unelected immigrant unlimited access to the USA's government and allow him to tear it apart.

[Robert Roaldi]

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It's bizarre to see Trump ranting about 'unelected bureaucrats' then allowing an unelected immigrant unlimited access to the USA's government and allow him to tear it apart.

Careful, you'll be accused of TDS.

[digitaldog]

Careful, you'll be accused of TDS.

The accuser isn't a serious person.

[Rhossydd]

Careful, you'll be accused of TDS.

I have no idea what that is.

[Robert Roaldi]

I have no idea what that is.

My apologies, I should have included that TDS is shorthand for Trump Derangement Syndrome. I hear/read it so much that I assume it's a widely known acronym. It's MAGA gaslighting.

[Robert Roaldi]

I watched a youtube short of John Oliver poking fun at those Republican town hall meetings that are going wrong. He showed one Congressman who criticized the audience for being rude while they were yelling at him for not listening to them. Another guy was even funnier. He asked people to please be patient, there are jobs out there for them and that this was all part of god’s plan. He was not hit by lightning.

My wife heard of another district where the congressman only invited Republicans to the town hall meeting. Which makes it NOT a town hall meeting. But these days black is white, up is down, Canada is a nasty enemy of the US, Trump is an astute businessman and it's only a coincidence that Musk is attacking federal agencies that were investigating him.

In a recent Making Sense podcast episode, Sam Harris meets with Jonah Goldberg, who used an apt metaphor. He likened the Trump administration as government rule by a mob boss. Link to the preview https://www.samharris.org/podcasts/making-sense-episodes/403-sanity-check-on-trump-2-0, as it's behind a paywall. Their intro blurb,

"Sam Harris speaks with Jonah Goldberg about the damage Trump is doing domestically and abroad. They discuss Trump’s tariffs, Curtis Yarvin and the Tech Right, threats against Republicans who criticize Trump, why the arguments Republicans are using to defend Trump’s position on Ukraine are flawed, America’s deteriorating moral standing on the global stage, the recklessness of DOGE, why so many CEOs bent the knee to Trump, antisemitism on the Right, Trump’s plan for Gaza, worst case scenarios for Trump 2.0, and other topics."

[Robert Roaldi]

The shiny bits on the outside are only glued on and the glue is failing, so the bits are falling off.
We're fortunate here in the UK to have regulations about what's allowed to be used on our roads, the Cybertruck doesn't meet safety requirements so we don't have to see it.

It's bizarre to see Trump ranting about 'unelected bureaucrats' then allowing an unelected immigrant unlimited access to the USA's government and allow him to tear it apart.

I finally saw a bit about the front panels falling off Cybertrucks. They are made of stainless steel, aren't they? That can't be good. I had seen other reports about how the front fascia assembly is disastrous for pedestrians and cyclists. But pedestrian and cyclist deaths have been increasing significantly for a few years now with the advent of overly large consumer trucks and SUVs, but no one seems very concerned. The way public health seems to work in the USA is that unless there's a lawsuit that might cost someone money, there is no problem to worry about. For years here in Canada there has been a steady movement to align with the US when it came to matters of road safety. Friends who worked in federal compliance agencies here have been complaining about that for a long time. Where our regs interfered with US manufacturer desires, we have tended to "align" with US safeguards to our detriment. This gained momentum after adoption of free trade. Given that free trade is now binned, we should stop that.

[kers]

My news paper reports a decrease in the tourist flow going to the US from Europe. One reason is the dislike of US policies at the moment and an othe, more practical, is the increased hassle many tourist get into when they try to enter the US. Some are held for days at the border without significant reason. The US isolates itself more and more and has become an unreliable partner; US-citizen will find out how well they were before Trump-II.

[Robert Roaldi]

Musk destroyed Twitter/X, he is currently destroying Tesla, Trump is destroying the US economy. Why do some still think they are astute business leaders. In a normal publicly held corporation, the Board would have tossed out a CEO who acted like Musk a long time ago. There is something obviously not ok in the way which Tesla leadership is structured. If it continues its descent, lots of decent people are going to lose their jobs and we might lose an automobile brand that did some good things. Not exactly a ringing endorsement of late stage "free market" capitalism, is it? I mean, things used to be run much better than this.

[Rhossydd]

But pedestrian and cyclist deaths have been increasing significantly for a few years now ......but no one seems very concerned.

I get the impression that as a country the USA doesn't really care much about the health and welfare of it's citizens. Not just road safety, but product safety and working practices generally, not to mention allowing gun ownership and the lack of public health care.

[Rhossydd]

My news paper reports a decrease in the tourist flow going to the US from Europe. One reason is the dislike of US policies at the moment and an othe, more practical, is the increased hassle many tourist get into when they try to enter the US.

Absolutely right.
The staggering cost of travel insurance doesn't help either. In the UK general international travel has two rates: USA and rest of the world. USA is usually two or three times the cost.