The fed lowered interest rates today. What that means is that all of you folks who predicted calamity from the trade war were just wrong. Things have gone pretty much the way Trump predicted: American demand is being redirected to either domestic suppliers or countries with favored trade status.

The psychological oddity is the degree to which people allow anger and disdain to blind then to facts straight in front of them.

The fed lowered interest rates today. What that means is that all of you folks who predicted calamity from the trade war were just wrong. Things have gone pretty much the way Trump predicted: American demand is being redirected to either domestic suppliers or countries with favored trade status. — frank

The fed cuts rates when things slow down. In other words demand has been stifled, not redirected.

The fed cuts rates when things slow down. In other words demand has been stifled, not redirected. — Metaphysician Undercover

No.

Spying on your political opponents in a fishing-expedition to find evidence of criminal activity, because there was no probable cause to justify the spying in the first place, is anti-Trumpism manifest. Trump and his ilk are such obvious criminals that we must corruptly abuse the justice system in order to find the crimes, which in the end we couldn’t. All the usual corrupt rogues are of course present in this ever-growing scandal.

Jan. 6 probe potentially investigated over 150 Republicans, documents show

https://www.axios.com/2025/10/29/trump-january-6-republican-senators-fbi-arctic-frost

Spying on your political opponents... — NOS4A2

There's nothing wrong with spying. It's how we find out what those who are not forthcoming in their admissions, are really up to. Probable cause is not necessary, because spying is how we determine probable cause, therefore prior to it. Those who have nothing to hide don't worry about the spies.

There's nothing wrong with spying. — Metaphysician Undercover

You've always been a man of mystery, MU! Thankfully one fact has been brought to light. You're clearly not a minor, one responsible for one, a female, or a minority.

Because otherwise, yeah. Spying is a form of harassment and mental assault on a person's human rights. It is akin to stalking, threatening without threatening. Restricting their movements, patterns, habits, and even thoughts. Presenting an unknown danger and essentially constantly tickling the "fight or flight" part of the brain with a feather. Or jagged piece of metal.

Those who have nothing to hide don't worry about the spies. — Metaphysician Undercover

This is also not true. You assume people who live lives of deceit are for some reason moral people who would never lie, commit sabotage, or plant evidence that would hinder people of another "team" or race or ethnic group or religion or what have you. That people wouldn't do things at the expense of another to get ahead or further either one's individual or collective interest(s). This is sheer ignorance of the global community and basic history (as well as human nature).

Come on, man, you're slipping! :razz:

This is of course, completely fake; but keep smiling.

There are many here among us,
Who feel that life is but a joke. — Bob Dylan

Trump backed down in his standoff against China. Indeed all Trumps antics have strengthened China and weakened the US on the world stage. China had already won the trade war, before Trump was elected to office. They must be taking him for a chump now.

Trump backed down in his standoff against China. Indeed all Trumps antics have strengthened China and weakened the US on the world stage. China had already won the trade war, before Trump was elected to office. They must be taking him for a chump now. — Punshhh

Ok? Trump doesn't care much how the US appears to the rest of the world. In large part, the standing of the US is something the rest of the world created in the first place. It's been clear that Trump is isolationist for the thousands of years he's been on world stage. Seems like thousands, anyway.

Point is: whether they take him for a chump is their problem. Not his. Or mine.

Gift link to NY Times editorial - The 12 ways in which Trump is eroding democracy/ moving towards authoritarianism. (The first graphic is a video of the arrest of Rumeysa Öztürk, which was particularly chilling - being stopped on the street by masked, plainclothes ICE officers, for writing a pro-palestinian article in a student newspaper. 'Orwellian' is over-used for MAGA, but it really is. Rumeysa Öztürk was eventually released and is pursuing a wrongful arrest claim through the legal system.)

There's nothing wrong with spying.

Good lord.

Why is everyone around here so strongly against spying? Have you succumbed to paranoia? If you want to find out what someone is up to, you spy on them. How is there anything wrong with that?

Who have you spied on?

Other than checking the whereabouts of my kids on the phone app, I don't get the urge to spy. However, I accept it as a reasonable and legitimate way of checking up on someone whom you suspect.

They are children and you are their father. The claim “there is nothing wrong with spying” pertains to all those who “get the urge to spy”, who “want to find out what someone is up to“. Are you fine with them checking up on the whereabouts of your children?

They are children and you are their father. The claim “there is nothing wrong with spying” pertains to all those who “get the urge to spy”, who “want to find out what someone is up to“. Are you fine with them checking up on the whereabouts of your children? — NOS4A2

Sure, why would I not be fine with it? It's just a natural and acceptable part of our society. It's sometimes required and useful for identifying wrong doers. If someone (my children, or even myself) is suspected, then that person will be checked up on. And the thing is, that the spying is required before knowing whether the person is a wrong doer or not, it's based on suspicion.

I mean I wouldn't disown my society just because people have the right, and will, to spy on others within it. No, I understand the reasons why people spy, and I accept it as an unavoidable, natural, and rational thing for human beings to do. This is because many human beings are inclined toward bad deeds, and to avoid being prevented from carrying them out, or being punished for carrying them out, they attempt to hide this inclination. Therefore they must be watched when they think no one is watching (spied on), to identify that inclination toward bad deeds.

However, if the spiers fabricate evidence, or do other dishonest things, then that's a different story. But that's not a faultiness of spying in specific.

Sure, why would I not be fine with it? — Metaphysician Undercover

Why would you not be fine with strangers tracking your children?! Are you serious? What an absolutely mad question to even ask!
And you’re comfortable with just anyone making a decision about what is suspicious or not? Or is it just the organizations that can enforce through violence?
Should we all spy on each other? Make sure no one we know is doing anything they aren’t supposed to?
Your position is utterly baffling to me, what am I not understanding?