(04-15-2017 01:45 PM)Samseau Wrote:  More on China's currency.

https://www.bloomberg.com/quote/USDCNY:CUR

Switch to 5-year view. Notice since 2014 China has used big currency devaluations represented by the big vertical lines going up?

Now, notice how since Jan 21st, there are no more vertical lines? It's because China has been very careful not to fuck with their currency since Trump took office.

However, this has worked out for China because the dollar has been having a massive rally fueled by Trump's confidence. So China's currency has been weakened naturally and no need for artifical devaluations have arisen. Additionally, China is happy not to get crushed on trade by throwing North Korea under the bus.

Still, Trump has put China in a tight spot. They have basically agreed that as long as there aren't more artificial devaluations, Trump will not punish them as currency manipulators. What China does not realize is that due to the high amount of exports and value they bring to the world, it's only a matter of time before their currency rises in value again.

China will be tempted to devalue, but now they know Trump is watching. Are they willing to test Trump?

(The above is why the average Trump hater right now has no clue how the world works, and Trump has put America in a winning position.)

Excellent points here brother Samseau. Anyone who thinks Trump "flip flopped" on labeling China a currency manipulator needs to read this.

Besides, it wasn't the right time for the president to go down that road. He was in the middle of a supremely important negotiation with the Chinese over the lunatic North Koreans. Referring to them as currency manipulators would have derailed those talks.

I'm totally on board with people who believe in a healthy dose of skepticism. We should absolutely hold Trump's feet to the fire, but the sky is not falling - we're winning on a lot of fronts.

(04-15-2017 09:07 AM)Edmund Ironside Wrote:  

(04-15-2017 01:48 AM)BrewDog Wrote:  I think perhaps it's wise that we create another Trump thread where dissent is allowed. The rah rah Trump people can post only nice things in here, and in the other thread, the rest of us can have honest debates about his mistakes without hearing about 5D chess.

I was thinking that part of the issue is that some of us measure success by implementation of policies we support and some want to measure success by ... some other means that is tied directly to Trump the person. So since this is the Trump thread ... if we support policies that Trump abandons,

Policies such as...?

More Trump hate, zero reasons given.

(04-15-2017 03:27 AM)Fisto Wrote:  Beating up a 50 year old new balance wearing schlub is not my style.

In his defense, the CEO of New Balance is a Trump supporter
http://archive.is/f1W9s

I don't have a problem with bombs being dropped on ISIS or NUSRA, peace with Russia and a smack to the head of China. I knew Trump would be good for the US and its economy, he will deal with illegals and make sure those slimey fuckers down south pay for it.

I can't wait for his plans about the cartels and drug trade. Just imagining the US military going after those terrorists fills me with a pseudo wet dream. The CIA will be put on notice too.

What I won't tag along with like some cultist is the bombing of Syria and escalation with Russia in that area. I've followed that mess of a war since its inception and the only people wanting Assad to go and for NATO and the US to go in raw are the globalist fanatics that powered Bill Clinton, Bush Jnr and Obama. This doesn't include the potential fall out from Turkey and the Kurds should the latter claim territory.

We also haven't seen the Syrian government tackle its neighbours having free reign over its borders. I'm sure Trump will sort them out but will he get Israel to fuck off back voer their borders? Its a hard sell.

Last but not least, McMaster. This man is bad news and has power. I'm sure Trump knows what he is and his history so why he is even in the White House is still puzzling, except for maybe offering an olive brance to said globalists but that is a dangerous game to play.

This Syria thing isn't going away.

(04-15-2017 01:45 PM)Samseau Wrote:  More on China's currency.

https://www.bloomberg.com/quote/USDCNY:CUR

Switch to 5-year view. Notice since 2014 China has used big currency devaluations represented by the big vertical lines going up?

Now, notice how since Jan 21st, there are no more vertical lines? It's because China has been very careful not to fuck with their currency since Trump took office.

Still, Trump has put China in a tight spot. They have basically agreed that as long as there aren't more artificial devaluations, Trump will not punish them as currency manipulators. What China does not realize is that due to the high amount of exports and value they bring to the world, it's only a matter of time before their currency rises in value again.

I'm not sure that China has stopped artificially pegging their currency at a rate relative to the United States dollar. From what I can tell, those vertical lines do not signify whether or not China is feeding the market yuan at X rate in order to keep it artificially low relative to the US dollar. The vertical lines may signify random shifts in what the Chinese government was doing to control the value of the yuan.

Also, Trump signalled that he still believes that China is still fucking with their currency:

Quote:You know, it’s very, very hard to compete when you have a strong dollar and the other guy — other countries are devaluing the currency. It’s very hard for our manufacturers to compete.

Earlier in this article he explains why he adopted a shift on policy:

Quote:We have tremendous trade deficits with everybody, but the big one is with China. It’s hundreds of billions of dollars of year for many many years. And I told them. I said you know, we’re not going to let that go ahead. Now, I did say — but you want to make a great deal? Solve the problem in North Korea. That’s worth having deficits. And that’s worth having not as good a trade deal as I would normally be able to make. OK, I’ll make great deals.

…

You cannot allow a country like that [North Korea] to have nuclear power, nuclear weapons. That’s mass destruction. And he doesn’t have the delivery systems yet, but he — you know he will.

https://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2017/04/1...re-bannon/

Here's the archive.is versions since the article is actually worth a read: http://archive.is/wUGah. The article is a stream of consciousness, so you can get a sense of where Trump's head is at.

Stopping North Korea from developing a delivery system where they can blow up random cities across South East Asia takes precedence over balancing trade with China. Both Japan and South Korea are our allies in the region and our trade with them is very beneficial to our economy, so I do agree that protecting our allies first takes precedence over unfucking these BS trade practices that China likes to engage in.

Edmund Ironside Wrote:I was thinking that part of the issue is that some of us measure success by implementation of policies we support and some want to measure success by ... some other means that is tied directly to Trump the person

And I have thought, multiple times in multiple posts, that we should measure the success of war maneuvers involving at least three countries after at least three months, rather than complaining about them after three days. This entirely reasonable point hasn't been addressed, let alone refuted, by the likes of you and Teuatis.

Foolsgold Wrote:What I won't tag along with like some cultist is the bombing of Syria and escalation with Russia in that area.

The dissenting opinion from Scott Adams is that the relationship between Russia and America has never been better, despite the missile strike.

President Trump has a powerful incentive to portray that relationship as terrible: the "Trump is a Russian puppet" criticism. Putin also has a powerful incentive to portray that relationship as terrible: the "You're letting the US push you around!" criticism.

If both people know this, they'll simultaneously pretend using words alone that things are horrible. But when time passes, and the reality of the good relationship between the two countries kicks in, both can take credit for the "improvement" - by doing absolutely nothing.

Sorry to say this but Trump administration brings in slightly more Islamic refugees than Obama.

Also the deal where the US takes in Australia's rejects is still valid:

https://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/201...han-obama/


https://refugeeresettlementwatch.wordpre...dumb-deal/

Quote:Trump Administration proceeding with Obama’s Australian “dumb deal”

Quote:President Donald Trump called Syrian refugees a “great Trojan horse” during the 2016 campaign, but his administration has resettled them in a quicker pace than President Barack Obama did.

Since Trump was inaugurated, 1,401 Syrian refugees have been resettled, State Department figures as of Wednesday reveal. This is more than double the 625 Syrian refugees resettled under President Obama in the same time frame last year.

The enrichment must flow.

At least the fight of high-T shitlords vs low-T Antifa scum has resulted in a Berkeley street fight win:

(04-15-2017 04:20 PM)Zelcorpion Wrote:  Sorry to say this but Trump administration brings in slightly more Islamic refugees than Obama.

Also the deal where the US takes in Australia's rejects is still valid:

https://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/201...han-obama/


https://refugeeresettlementwatch.wordpre...dumb-deal/

Quote:Trump Administration proceeding with Obama’s Australian “dumb deal”

Quote:President Donald Trump called Syrian refugees a “great Trojan horse” during the 2016 campaign, but his administration has resettled them in a quicker pace than President Barack Obama did.

Since Trump was inaugurated, 1,401 Syrian refugees have been resettled, State Department figures as of Wednesday reveal. This is more than double the 625 Syrian refugees resettled under President Obama in the same time frame last year.

The enrichment must flow.

Why did you leave out this paragraph?

Quote:The president has admitted about a third fewer refugees from all nations than Obama’s State Department did in this time span, as he has resettled 10,565 refugees so far and Obama resettled 14,841. Syrian refugees, however, were a particular focus of President Trump’s when he was running for office.

Trump has let in 4,276 less refugees, a huge decrease.

Also, where is your source that those Syrians are all Muslim?

From Jan. 27th: "Trump says Syrian Christians will be given priority when applying for refugee status in the US"

http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-syr...-us-2017-1

Not to mention that these refugee arrangements take longer than 3 months. A lot of the refugees brought in since January 20th were likely already set in motion during the mad push Obama made before he left office.

(04-15-2017 04:30 PM)Zelcorpion Wrote:  At least the fight of high-T shitlords vs low-T Antifa scum has resulted in a Berkeley street fight win:

(04-15-2017 04:35 PM)Enigma Wrote:  Why did you leave out this paragraph?

Quote:The president has admitted about a third fewer refugees from all nations than Obama’s State Department did in this time span, as he has resettled 10,565 refugees so far and Obama resettled 14,841. Syrian refugees, however, were a particular focus of President Trump’s when he was running for office.

Trump has let in 4,276 less refugees, a huge decrease.

Also, where is your source that those Syrians are all Muslim?

From Jan. 27th: "Trump says Syrian Christians will be given priority when applying for refugee status in the US"

http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-syr...-us-2017-1

Not to mention that these refugee arrangements take longer than 3 months. A lot of the refugees brought in since January 20th were likely already set in motion during the mad push Obama made before he left office.

I left it out, because the Trump "Muslim" ban of several countries ran out and thus lowered the numbers.

Don't believe that Christians will get priority treatments - those are just words, but zero indications that this will happen. The selection of those refugees are mostly done by NGOs and not even state officials.

We will talk in a year - and frankly you can hardly get decent numbers - they usually turn up to be much higher than expected.

For my first post in politics, I have some general thoughts about the approach I feel Trump supporters need to take towards the administration to avoid falling to the divide and conquer strategy being played out right now. The schism that forum members note obviously extends well beyond, to every pro-Trump venue in which I've been active online over the past two years.

I think to begin with it's important to acknowledge that it wasn't all that unreasonable for many of the prominent Alt-Lite and Alt-Right personalities to feel the way they initially did based on what was ultimately just the appearance of betrayal on the issue of Syria and foreign intervention. There were a number of seeming establishment wins (blocking the travel ban, ryancare, removal of Flynn, addition of McMaster) that made the symbolic Tomahawk strike feel like a tipping point that pushed people over the edge.

However, now that the dust has settled it seems eminently clear that those who kept cooler heads and waited to assess the aftermath were in the right. Ultimately, the establishment was given a symbolic strike to act as a carrot to appease them for a time while no meaningful change has occurred on the ground in Syria or in Trump's stated view on using force to remove Assad (i.e. he's not going to do it).

There are some important lessons here for all of us about the way things are going to be going forward.

Politics as 4G Warfare
The most important thing to remember is that in today's media era, the appearance of action is just as important to the public as true action. This is most clearly demonstrated in the MSM's russia hoax, where millions of people believe in a nonsensical fan fiction about foreign espionage affecting the election based entirely on disinformation distributed by the establishment.

What we need to remember is that this fact is not lost on any player, major or minor; as much energy is expended engineering the appearance of action and targeting public perception as there is ever spent on the true action (e.g. media messaging on Syrian strike vs operational planning of Syrian strike). This engineering of social perception is being carried out daily on a competitive basis by every competing faction on the right and the left.

Now that Trump is in office, we have to understand a two ways that this dynamic is going to play out differently than it did during the campaign:

1) Increased layers of complexity
The campaign was ultimately a simple affair. Everything is distilled down to the layer of public perception. The only points that the candidates can effectively campaign on are ones that are built on facts that are available to the public. Further, the messaging can be idealistic, because the realities of getting various legislation passed don't truly get considered on the emotional level on which people vote. Trump could tweet about everything because it was all information available to private citizens. His camp could speak about everything for the same reasons. Now, we're dealing with information that is limited by security clearance, or for pragmatic reasons hidden so as not to reveal congressional or geopolitical or media strategy. We elected Trump to make deals on our behalf, but we are not privy to most of the information traded in those deals - this makes it more difficult to maintain morale.

2) Inevitably less party unity
During the campaign, everyone was beholden to the cause; elect Trump, keep out Hillary. Individual and group considerations came second to this goal. Within the online sphere we see this - RVF's base is different than Milo's base is different than Infowars' base TRS's base is different than MPC's base is different than /pol/'s base is different than the The Donald's base, etc. This lends us vulnerable to divide and conquer tactics as we saw last week. Groups can be pulled from the whole by attacking particular issues that are important to them e.g. noninterventionism vs. suspending legal immigration vs. economic platform etc.

Understanding that, what do we need to consider?

NEVER trust the fake news media.
For the last year I've seen Trump supporters in all venues that I follow successfully repel fake news stories whether it was about Gloria Alfred's parade of false rape charges or talks of chaos in the transition team. However, last week I saw Trump supporters unironically distributing MSM stories about Syria, Mcmaster's role, Kushner vs. Bannon and all manner of divisive stories. These people have NEVER reported honestly on ANYTHING related to Trump. You have to remember, even when what they right appears to fit a narrative that you're worried about (e.g. neocon takeover) that you cannot, under any circumstances take the opposition media seriously. They understand better than we do the operating layer of perception vs. reality and you better believe they're going to exploit it to divide Trump's base.

Take your time to form judgments about current events
The problems Trump is dealing with are not simple ones like how to get the work out about HRC's various misdeeds during the campaign or how to manage the PR aftermath of the Pussy tape. We are not privy to even a thousandth of the information and variables informing geopolitical decisions - as we're seeing in the days after the Syria strike, Trump is attempting to thread a fine needle involving dozens of moving parts affecting military and economic policy vis a vis the middle east, China, NK, Russia, Syria, and competing interests at home.

And remember, those are only the elements that we can see that appear to be moving. The nature of modern politics with its 24/7 disinformation campaigns is that what appears to be a detente with China may really be a feint by both parties en route to other geopolitical goals. It's going to take time to understand both what is happening, and what the long term effects of Trump's decisions are. There is no value in being emotional or coming to snap judgements as much of Trump's online base did on the night of the tomahawk strike.

Recognize both the strengths and weaknesses of the Alt Media
People like Mike Cernovich, PJW, Milo, Alex Jones, Molyneux, Vox Day, Bill Mitchell, etc. have obviously been massively helpful to the cause throughout the campaign. They are able to provide a somewhat coordinated front for the massive groundswell of community energy represented by communities like /pol/ or The Donald or the pro-Trump twitterverse. They're able to cut through MSM media and reach millions of potential voters. I don't mean to take anything away from these guys.

However, the things that make these people useful (organic base, small individual operations, not beholden to special interests, decentralized and therefore difficult to combat, etc). also define their limits. I get that people like Cernovich or Milo (until recently) have been acquiring more legit sources. But it's all relative - they may know more than us, but they don't know that much more.

We aren't talking about the MSM during the Obama era whose leadership were donors for or literally had family members in the administration and received all of the information that Obama's team wanted out there. Their information thus far has been limited to relatively small leaks and is vulnerable to the same type of multilayered disinformation efforts that we all are. Their sources might believe they're telling them the truth or they might not; their sources like don't know the full truth and context of what's going on. And because these are one person operations, they're vulnerable to the emotional variability that all individuals are. We saw this with PJW losing his mind with the Syria attack. That's why its important to take what they say with a grain of salt especially if something they're saying is particularly black pilled or morale-deflating. These people are good at synthesizing and packaging the information swirling around us but they're still primarily dealing with the information available to all of us.

Trust Trump
This man just spent two years smashing establishment candidates and obstacles. He's shifted the overton window on immigration to a place where I would have never thought possible two years ago. Border crossings are way down. Deportations are up. Self deporations are up. Sessions is AG. TPP was scrapped. We have a conservative SC judge, and hopefully more to come. Despite everything, we are 1000x closer to detente with Russia than we would have been under Hillary. Discussions are still ongoing for an obamacare repeal. The EPA is getting cut. NATO countries are moving to pay their financial obligations after years of dereliction. Federal overreach on education (including the Trans lawsuits against NC) looks poised to come to an end. We may be able to get rid of common core. We get a 4 year respite from government backing of SJW madness. We're not talking about amnesty for >11 million people in a move that would destroy this country forever. That's an agenda you know the Dems would pursue if they had full control over the executive and legislative branches once more.

The positives just go on and on and on. Think about the absolute nightmare we'd be heading towards if Hillary were president. We are truly blessed to have been given an alternative like Donald Trump. Donald Trump deserves our trust until he definitively proves otherwise.

As Vox likes to say, we are responsible for our own morale. This is an existential battle. There is plenty of time to fight over the differences we have on the right once we stave off the complete destruction of western civilization by the left.

More specifically on Syria, I felt the same way as many here when it appeared that Trump was pivoting on the idea of regime change. I am unequivocally opposed to any military action against the Syrian Govt which inevitably ends up favouring Al Qaeda/ISIS, Israel, and the Sunni axis of shit countries (Saudi, Turkey, etc). It's important to me that the religious minorities in Syria don't get wiped out within a decade because the McCain and the neocons want a Sunni govt in Syria.

However, people shouldn't be so attached to the idea of Bashar Assad remaining in power. There is a legitimate argument that the man is completely counterproductive to the dream of a peaceful and united Syria. Is it really realistic to believe that the Sunni majority is going to ever bend the knee to this man again after years of fighting?

The Alawite faction is really the only one large enough and well positioned enough to rule the country while also ensuring the protection of Syrian Shia, Christians, and Kurds. However, if Assad has to step aside as part of a political solution in favour of one of the Alawite generals who has become a war hero then its no skin off my back. If Russia gets to keep their base, I doubt they'd care. If the pipeline from Qatar ends up happening and Russia is butthurt about it, are we supposed to care?

It's important to separate the big picture (us not wasting money and lives fighting the legitimate govt of Syria) from the microscope (Assad specifically staying in power).

(04-15-2017 01:45 PM)Samseau Wrote:  More on China's currency.

https://www.bloomberg.com/quote/USDCNY:CUR

Switch to 5-year view. Notice since 2014 China has used big currency devaluations represented by the big vertical lines going up?

Now, notice how since Jan 21st, there are no more vertical lines? It's because China has been very careful not to fuck with their currency since Trump took office.

However, this has worked out for China because the dollar has been having a massive rally fueled by Trump's confidence. So China's currency has been weakened naturally and no need for artifical devaluations have arisen. Additionally, China is happy not to get crushed on trade by throwing North Korea under the bus.

Still, Trump has put China in a tight spot. They have basically agreed that as long as there aren't more artificial devaluations, Trump will not punish them as currency manipulators. What China does not realize is that due to the high amount of exports and value they bring to the world, it's only a matter of time before their currency rises in value again.

China will be tempted to devalue, but now they know Trump is watching. Are they willing to test Trump?

(The above is why the average Trump hater right now has no clue how the world works, and Trump has put America in a winning position.)

Besides, NK is a big liability, is just a time bomb waiting to happens, China knows the big problem it would have in its hands if NK decides to attack SK or any other country, USA would have to step in and China does not wants to be in the crossfire, USA could put mayor sanctions against China during a war that could destroy China economy. A nuclear war is a scary thing nobody want it to happens, Xi and the Chinese are smart enough to let Kim to his own demise rather than try to play chicken with America.

Kim cannot show weakness among North Koreans people since they believe the propaganda they are the stronger and most advance military on the planet.

(04-15-2017 05:41 PM)Extinguished Light Wrote:  More specifically on Syria, I felt the same way as many here when it appeared that Trump was pivoting on the idea of regime change. I am unequivocally opposed to any military action against the Syrian Govt which inevitably ends up favouring Al Qaeda/ISIS, Israel, and the Sunni axis of shit countries (Saudi, Turkey, etc). It's important to me that the religious minorities in Syria don't get wiped out within a decade because the McCain and the neocons want a Sunni govt in Syria.

However, people shouldn't be so attached to the idea of Bashar Assad remaining in power. There is a legitimate argument that the man is completely counterproductive to the dream of a peaceful and united Syria. Is it really realistic to believe that the Sunni majority is going to ever bend the knee to this man again after years of fighting?

The Alawite faction is really the only one large enough and well positioned enough to rule the country while also ensuring the protection of Syrian Shia, Christians, and Kurds. However, if Assad has to step aside as part of a political solution in favour of one of the Alawite generals who has become a war hero then its no skin off my back. If Russia gets to keep their base, I doubt they'd care. If the pipeline from Qatar ends up happening and Russia is butthurt about it, are we supposed to care?

It's important to separate the big picture (us not wasting money and lives fighting the legitimate govt of Syria) from the microscope (Assad specifically staying in power).

Or...well, I think the more reasonable way to look at this is that anything Trump SAYS means jack shit. Anyone who was familiar with him before the campaign knows that is extremely cagey and uses strategic ambiguity to his advantage.

The practical effect is that we don't have any way of knowing whether he's been co-opted, whether he's trying to score political points, or whether some deal has been cut behind the scenes that involves Russia allow Assad to be replaced in exchange for a concession elsewhere.

Personally my impression so far is that this was an international relations mistake while being a political winner, but let's wait and see. The current political climate is such that nothing gets the morons happy faster than dropping bombs on brown people does....which is ironic given that one of those moron segments ( Democrat loyalists) love to cry crocodile tears for Muslims.

Quote:The current political climate is such that nothing gets the morons happy faster than dropping bombs on brown people does....which is ironic given that one of those moron segments ( Democrat loyalists) love to cry crocodile tears for Muslims.

The political climate we find ourselves is pretty much as absurd as it gets.

(04-15-2017 04:20 PM)Zelcorpion Wrote:  Sorry to say this but Trump administration brings in slightly more Islamic refugees than Obama.

Also the deal where the US takes in Australia's rejects is still valid:

...

I just want to say that nobody should overreact to this right now. We really ought to wait to see how it plays out for a few years...

An interesting thing about modern liberalism that I am witnessing from the left is that few seem to legitimately support the ideology.

It is like modern liberalism evolved out of the Civil Rights era, but over time came to be a thinly veiled facade through which the left could grab power. Now that the facade is no longer an effective vehicle for getting power, no one seems to actually give a shit about the ideals espoused in modern liberalism anymore.

Any time the left refers to someone as non-partisan or above reproach you can be sure that person is a leftist operative.

(06-08-2017 03:35 PM)Zelcorpion Wrote:  

You could caption that as a picture from election day. The salt is somewhat the same!