Politics

[Newboomer]

Cockroaches don't like it when a light is shined on them

I doubt a law like that would hold up in the Supreme Court.

Not much of anything corruptifornicate does can stand the light.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

Well technically yes, anyone can declare a blockade at any time. Just like one can declare a war at any time. In fact a blockade is very specifically an act in furtherance of an armed conflict (ie war).

Doing either is a serious matter and it is usually only done within the context of a real shooting war.

Keep in mind you have to blockade some country, it is not just about grabbing ships on the high seas, it is about stopping a specific nation you are at war with from receiving and shipping goods. You can think of it like sanctions on steroids.

There is plenty about Trump's international policy I don't like, but this blockade is something I cannot criticize at all.

I see. The US enforced the blockade against Venezuela by taking oil tankers on the high seas, sometimes chasing them down halfway across the world. I didn't hear anyone screaming that was piracy. But was it a legal blockade? From what I'm reading in the news the Trump administration plans to employ the same strategy waiting for ships to get out on the high seas before stopping them. This blockade will not be at the entrance to Iranian ports or even in the Strait of Hormuz. Did I not read that US warships have been withdrawn to Indian Ocean?

 

[Altitude sickness]

As left leaning source that still has the facts correct.

 

[AJ Peacock]

Presumably then, if other members of the international community do not recognize a proclaimed blockade, then they can proclaim their own blockades and start grabbing retaliatory cargo/ships on the high seas or in port? I guess if the US can do it anyone else can do it too, right. Just broadcast their own deadline first etc. Like I said, the US Navy is great but it can't cover the entire globe at once. And how would the markets react to the prospects of a blockade wars situation? I shudder to think. But that's the problem. No one is thinking. Jesus Trump has clearly lost touch with reality. Congress is trying to make sense out of chaos ... on too many fronts. The collection of incompetents transiting in and out of cabinet is not making their job any easier. To make matters even more complicated they have to deal with elections in a couple of months. How will Trump react when the inevitable happens and GOP gets crushed? Mark my words, Trump will come completely unhinged. He's obviously close to it now. His total focus will return to hunting down imaginary enemies for the next two years. That's how he will make America great again. The guy is easier to read than a third grade textbook.

OK, @Ontario Hunter , given the current situation. What would you do? Would you allow Iran to continue to mine the strait and charge tolls on international waters? Would you continue helping Venezuala get their oil industry back into good graces with the worlds economies? Would you continue trying to free Cuba? Would you continue to push for Voter ID for Federal elections? (IIRC Canada requires proof of citizenship to vote). Would you continue to use your strength to force a free and FAIR trade environment by using everything you could? Would you try to get your allies to support and invest in your policies? Would you push against the Chinese attempt to do currency manipulation?

I can actually see how all of these items are connected. Maybe you just see them as a bunch of random incoherent actions.

Who are these 'imaginary enemies'? The ones that tried to put him and his family in jail on bogus charges? The ones that tried to bankrupt him with false estimates of his real estate worth?

AJ

 

[Wheels]

I was unaware that David Axelrod met with the Pope prior to the Pope’s statement and the 60 Minutes interview with the three Cardinals.

https://twitter.com/x/status/2044060601102807187

 

[Tanks]

I doubt a law like that would hold up in the Supreme Court.

 

[mdwest]

Hoping some of the oil trade guys that are more savvyy on the subject than I am can shed a little light on the 121 tankers that are now headed to US ports to load up on US crude story thats being talked about on the more right wing media outlets..

on the surface that seems like a huge win (or at least the way its being reported seems like a huge win).. and from what I can tell the US typically fills between 40-50 oil tankers weekly in the Gulf of America.. so this appears to be a pretty significant uptick in business...

but.. in the scope and scale of things.. my understanding is that there are between 8000-9000 oil tankers of various sizes globally.. and that on any given day there are about 4100 of them actively reporting positions while in transit around the globe..

So.. 121 tankers out of 9000 doesnt seem to be all that much honestly (even if its double the amount the US typically sees in those same ports.. )...

 

[fourfive8]

I just noticed that FIFA wants Trump to pause ICE during World Cup. Are you kidding me! If anything ICE needs to ramp up during World Cup.

 

[AJ Peacock]

Hoping some of the oil trade guys that are more savvyy on the subject than I am can shed a little light on the 121 tankers that are now headed to US ports to load up on US crude story thats being talked about on the more right wing media outlets..

on the surface that seems like a huge win (or at least the way its being reported seems like a huge win).. and from what I can tell the US typically fills between 40-50 oil tankers weekly in the Gulf of America.. so this appears to be a pretty significant uptick in business...

but.. in the scope and scale of things.. my understanding is that there are between 8000-9000 oil tankers of various sizes globally.. and that on any given day there are about 4100 of them actively reporting positions while in transit around the globe..

So.. 121 tankers out of 9000 doesnt seem to be all that much honestly (even if its double the amount the US typically sees in those same ports.. )...

I wonder if the 121 are just those that would have filled at Iranian ports. I saw that the non-Iranian ports are still open in the Strait.

AJ

 

[Tanks]

I just noticed that FIFA wants Trump to pause ICE during World Cup. Are you kidding me! If anything ICE needs to ramp up during World Cup.

Hotel workers' union in LA threatened strikes if FIFA does not ask ICE to pause. So, I think this is just pro-forma on the part of FIFA to placate the union. Then. they can say they tried.

 

[mdwest]

I wonder if the 121 are just those that would have filled at Iranian ports. I saw that the non-Iranian ports are still open in the Strait.

AJ

i think its probably more than that..

from what I can tell, prior to the war, Iran was filling about a dozen tankers +/- a week..

somewhere between 50-100 tankers passed through the straits weekly.. the rest were hitting Kuwait, Saudi, etc. ports..

not sure how accurate that info is though.. thats just based on some very limited research and reading Ive been doing for the last couple of days...

 

[mdwest]

Hotel workers' union in LA threatened strikes if FIFA does not ask ICE to pause. So, I think this is just pro-forma on the part of FIFA to placate the union. Then. they can say they tried.

The problem is there are plenty of other locations that could handle the LA FIFA games (and would love to) even with very late notice..

So.. LA strikes.. FIFA moves... and LA loses tons and tons and tons of revenue..

and the union screws itself in the process and NONE of their workers get paid..

FIFA is already in 11 different cities this year.. all of them have ability to take on a little more capacity if they have to (and would love to)..

There were another 6 cities that were considered, that have ample facilities, that were ultimately not selected..

So take the LA matches.. spread them out to the 11 cities where FIFA already has infrastructure and agreements in place.. and if there is still more to go around, put a few matches in a couple of the other cities that have already been surveyed and have already been in different levels of negotiation with FIFA..

Problem solved in less than a work week..

 

[Brent in Az]

Presumably then, if other members of the international community do not recognize a proclaimed blockade, then they can proclaim their own blockades and start grabbing retaliatory cargo/ships on the high seas or in port? I guess if the US can do it anyone else can do it too, right. Just broadcast their own deadline first etc. Like I said, the US Navy is great but it can't cover the entire globe at once. And how would the markets react to the prospects of a blockade wars situation? I shudder to think. But that's the problem. No one is thinking. Jesus Trump has clearly lost touch with reality. Congress is trying to make sense out of chaos ... on too many fronts. The collection of incompetents transiting in and out of cabinet is not making their job any easier. To make matters even more complicated they have to deal with elections in a couple of months. How will Trump react when the inevitable happens and GOP gets crushed? Mark my words, Trump will come completely unhinged. He's obviously close to it now. His total focus will return to hunting down imaginary enemies for the next two years. That's how he will make America great again. The guy is easier to read than a third grade textbook.

Wait....what? You can actually read at the 3rd grade level?
You are certainly moving up.

 

[Brent in Az]

US is not an Islamic totalitarian regime. Just has an elected president who now thinks he's God incarnate. I guess there's a line between the two but it's a little fuzzy.

Sure thing, terrorist sympathizer.

 

[deewayne2003]

Hotel workers' union in LA threatened strikes if FIFA does not ask ICE to pause. So, I think this is just pro-forma on the part of FIFA to placate the union. Then. they can say they tried.

Funny, I thought unions were designed to protect the wages of citizens against the devaluation of labor by illegal immigrants…….

 

[Tanks]

Funny, I thought unions were designed to protect the wages of citizens against the devaluation of labor by illegal immigrants…….

I’d submit that most hotel workers in LA are illegals or here on Biden asylum.

 

[mdwest]

I’d submit that most hotel workers in LA are illegals or here on Biden asylum.

For the hourly / labor type employees the same is true in the DFW area.. most of the housekeepers, kitchen staff, etc.. come from staffing agencies.. the hotels cant find enough legals to hire onto their own staff.. and the staffing agencies are taking the obvious risks bringing on people without legal status to work..

The hotels know the people the staffing agencies are hiring arent likely legals.. but the liability is removed because the staffing agencies assure them that everyone is indeed "legal", etc..

 

[deewayne2003]

I’d submit that most hotel workers in LA are illegals or here on Biden asylum.

Yes I'm aware, it's shameful that people illegally in this country have union protection and as a result they will have political connections.

FYI - The farm workers union was started by Cesar Chavez so that LEGAL immigrants working on visas could have collective bargaining. Chavez HATED illegal immigrants and launched......

"Operation Wet Back"

Which consisted of Chavez's followers going to the border to beat illegals crossing the river with logging chains.

When you hear his own words about illegal immigration, it should become clear as to why recent allegations have been made against him; because the farm workers union is solely about protecting the rights of illegal immigrants today.

Notice his own words "We want to protect and help the LEGAL ones, we don't want Mexico exporting it's poverty to America."

Remember the woman making the 40yo allegations against Chavez was calling him the
"Dalai Lama of Latinos" just a couple of years ago before the truth of Chavez's attitude towards illegals inconveniently resurfaced.

 

[Brent in Az]

A media source stated that the Naval blockade could cost Iran $450m a day in lost revenue, and the Iranian economy would start to crumble within 2-3 weeks.

 

[deewayne2003]

For the hourly / labor type employees the same is true in the DFW area.. most of the housekeepers, kitchen staff, etc.. come from staffing agencies.. the hotels cant find enough legals to hire onto their own staff.. and the staffing agencies are taking the obvious risks bringing on people without legal status to work..

The hotels know the people the staffing agencies are hiring arent likely legals.. but the liability is removed because the staffing agencies assure them that everyone is indeed "legal", etc..

Same as construction labor contractors.... If you pay one of these labor contractors you are dealing with the closest thing to a slave trader that exists in America today.

One of their illegal employees kills someone on a jobsite, good luck getting a judgement or insurance - by design the only assets the LLC owns is a lap top computer, filing cabinet & cellphone.