Illurion

Millions would die in a nuclear war.. both back then, and now....... The difference is that back then, the Chinese did not have MIRV's.... We did..... Back then, had the war occurred, China would have been knocked back to the stone age... The USA would have been damaged less, and been able to recover sooner... That is no longer the case... ps: I loved Nixon back then. still do...

It reminds me of the movie "CONTACT". "Small Steps" is what the alien at the end of the trip said. It will take many "small steps" to nudge Kim away from the Chinese.. I believe Kim has made his choice. He is with us. But i believe the Chinese will not let NK go free... It is more valuable to China as a thorn in our side.

I disagree... What he did was the BIG PICTURE rationale at the time... But since the war never actually started, we will never know... You are correct that Nixon only opened the door, and that it was later Presidents that screwed the pooch... Nonetheless, i still believe that if Nixon were alive today, he would regret "opening the door" because he would see that what he did has resulted in destabilizing our American ability to win. China is far more dangerous now than it was then, after all, back then, if there had been war, the USA would have won.. That is no longer the case... ps: it is good to debate with you again.

I believe that there is a great mis-impression of how Trump operates. In many ways, Trump is like Reagan was, Reagan had CLEAR CORE BELIEFS...... He knew what he wanted to do, and he HIRED PEOPLE TO DO THOSE THINGS........ In other words, he DELEGATED.... Trump is the same way, BUT, Trump has a problem that Reagan did not have..... That problem is the DEEP STATE.......... Trump makes decisions, and gives orders, AND THE DEEP STATE REFUSES TO CARRY OUT HIS ORDERS, OR PERVERTS THOSE ORDERS IN SUCH A WAY THAT THEY DO NOT REACH THEIR GOAL....

The USA did very little trade with the USSR or China until Nixon opened China, and the USSR fell and became Russia... We started trade under the premise that "they would change"... They didn't...... So Trump has begun the process of "closing the door" on trade with the above two. What happens with NK is unpredictable at this time. I think Kim wants to make peace, but the Chinese will not let him. In the end, who Kim fears the most, will win. As for Ross Perot, he was a good man, i voted for him twice, and was a county officer for his Reform Party. Ross believed in TARIFFS... He said they were the WALL THAT PROTECTED THE AMERICAN DREAM... Trump is trying to resurrect those walls....the Tariff walls, and the Physical wall on the Mexican Border. Both are absolutely needed. I also like Pat, and was a county officer for him when he ran in the Presidential Primary so long ago. But Pat has different beliefs than Ross. Pat is an isolationist...

A good video. Bannon is so sharp. He has a way of succinctly explaining things with few big words, step, by step, by step. Painting the picture. All the while, he never bores you, or loses your attention... Al Haig was that way to... Of particular interest to me from the Bannon video is the part where he discusses the importance of getting Russia on OUR SIDE against the Chinese global plans, which does not appear to be happening. For example, just a week or so ago, both China and Russia flew a joint-flight of bombers and support aircraft over South Korean controlled air-space... I believe that was done to "explain" to us that our attempts to separate the Russians from the Chinese isn't happening... But then what do i know.

I believe that Trump is doing the right thing trying to end the war, and make a peace that removes NK as an enemy, and could perhaps even result in a reunification of Korea. BUT... Remember, that all through the 1940's, 50's, 60's, and early 70's, CHINA was the CLOSED OFF country, and it was NIXON "opening up" CHINA that has put us where we are now.... What Nixon started, was followed by us allowing China into the IMF and WTO, etc., AND THAT HAS NOT WORKED OUT VERY WELL FOR THE USA.... If Nixon were alive today, i believe he would regret what he started with China. But NK is NOT China.... If peace with NK is achieved, i believe a future historian will not look back at it as having been an event that made things worse.

Hello Tom: It has been a while since i could use my computer, much less log in and comment.... Of the ongoing discussions on the site, this one i find the most interesting at the moment. I have read the whole thread, and will now come back and make a few comments... But first, i would like to state that i like your new avatar photo... Not that there was anything wrong withe the old photo. This new one of you is more formal, and looks good. As for what you wrote above, i agree with you 100% about FOX.... I watch none of the fake news outlets that are collectively called the msm, and i consider FOX to be one of them. I stopped watching FOX during the summer of 2016 when it became apparent that they were anti-Trump, and pro-Cruz. I very much like the Conservative Tree House, as they give a more in-depth explanation on things... They don't just say WHAT they believe, they say WHY they believe it.... And i have found their general reasoning to be sound.

update: 3 days ago, on 3/27/2019, the price of gasoline, which had dropped from $2.59 on 3/12/2019 to $2.47 by 3/26/2019, suddenly rose overnight to $2.71 per gallon here in North Florida.... That was a .24 cents per gallon jump in less than an hour. The WTI price was $60.05 per barrel, while Brent was $67.50..... For some reason, the spread between Brent and WTI, which is usually around $10.00 per barrel, has narrowed to only around $7.50 per barrel.... In the last 3 weeks..... The price of WTI has gone up by over $3.50 per barrel, while Brent has only gone up by $1.00 per barrel....... This makes no sense given that WTI production has been increasing..... Unless "price manipulation" is occurring.......

Tesla... not TELSA in the thread name..........

I am an ex-finance guy who worked in a number of industries, though mostly for national banks, and such... One of those exception companies i once worked for was Exxon..... Despite my time with Exxon, unlike normal banking, i never developed a clear understanding of the whole financing undercarriage of the oil industry........ The Oil Industry stood alone from me........ Everything was extremely convoluted, and often contradictory........... In the end, ONE THING I DID LEARN ABOUT THE OIL INDUSTRY IS THAT IT IS VERY MUCH LIKE THE CREDIT CARD INDUSTRY.......... ie: it runs in up and down cycles............ a continuing cycle of booms followed by busts followed by booms, etc............ And in the oil industry, BUSTS ARE GREAT OPPORTUNITIES TO PICK UP ASSETS CHEAPLY.......... EXAMPLE: So Producer number 1 takes out loans to buy the land, build the infrastructure, drill the wells, and sell the oil until he cannot pay his loans for whatever reason.............. Then Producer number 1 goes belly up, and is replaced by Producer number 2, who bought the assets of Producer number 1 for pennies on the dollar........... Then Producer number 2, owning the same assets as Producer number 1, but OWING MUCH LESS ON THEM, CAN PRODUCE THE SAME PRODUCTION LEVEL AS Producer number 1, BUT HAS A MUCH SMALLER COST OF GOODS SOLD, AND BREAK-EVEN POINT.... ....................................... As far as shale is concerned on the forum, we have two groups with different views of the future over the next 48 to 72 months or so... Group one says: that everything is fine, and that new technologies and economies of scale, added to the overseas disarray of OPEC mean that the break-even on shale WILL EITHER REMAIN STABLE, OR CONTINUE TO DROP, AND THAT WE ARE NOT APPROACHING A PRICE COLLAPSE...... This group points to the recent announcements of two well-financed Oil Giants moving big-time into shale supports their view...... Group two says: that the amount of shale oil that can be actually produced will peak in the next 48 to 72 months, and that the resulting drop in production WILL CAUSE A COLLAPSE OF FINANCING FOR THE INDUSTRY, THAT WILL LEAD TO AN IMMINENT BANKRUPTCY FOR MANY, IF NOT MOST OF THE DRILLERS..... ......................................... In conclusion, just my view, and no doubt many of you will disagree, is that EITHER ONE MAY HAPPEN SEPARATELY.............. But i believe it will be A LITTLE BIT OF BOTH......... I believe that GROUP ONE IS CORRECT THAT ADEQUATE SHALE OIL WILL CONTINUE TO BE AVAILABLE... But i believe that GROUP TWO IS CORRECT THAT THE MARKET WILL COLLAPSE DUE TO THE FINANCING IMBALANCE... BUT, IF THE COLLAPSE DOES HAPPEN............... THAT IS NOT A BAD THING, AS SOMEONE ELSE WILL STEP IN TO CHEAPLY BUY UP THE ASSETS OF THOSE THAT GO UNDER, AND WILL RESUME FULL PRODUCTION WITH A MUCH SMALLER PRODUCTION COST AND BREAK-EVEN POINT...... ps: i believe that the two well financed OIL GIANTS that just announced their expansion plans into shale agree with me, and are setting themselves up as the ones that will be purchasing all of those assets on the cheap when the collapse happens....... They believe they are so well financed, that the collapse will not affect them........ So it is kind of like them playing poker, and BUYING THE POT......... but then what do i know...........

I collided with a deer once........ Long ago back in early 1970's....... I was a Monorail Pilot for Disney World during the day, and also drove Shuttle Buses to Fort Wilderness as a second-shift at night... I was driving tourists back from Fort Wilderness one night when a doe ran out in front of me and bounced off my bumper... It lived, and ran off into the woods.......

So you are saying we should keep growing soybeans in order to ferment them into ethanol to be used as a replacement for winter road salt... cool........

? I am not sure what you are trying to say.

I agree with a lot of what you said....... Except that while there were no wars fought BY Carter, his "CARTER DOCTRINE" started wars in Iran, Iraq, El Salvador, etc......... The Europeans, with the exception of Poland, Hungary, and the Czech & Slovakian republics, take the USA for granted.......... We should remove most of our bases from Europe.... Keep what bases we DO keep only in the 4 nations i just mentioned, AND WE SHOULD DISSOLVE NATO............ Let the Europeans take care of themselves......... No more money from us for bases, and all that our troops spend in their economy, etc...... Dissolve NATO to keep our military equipment and secrets from falling into the wrong hands......... Within a year, they will be BEGGING THE RUSSIANS TO INVADE THEM........ But the Russians are too smart......... And we have no reason to go back......... By 2050, based on what we are seeing, Europe will be a Muslim majority area, and the remaining White, Christians, in Europe will be begging to be allowed to immigrate to the USA or Russia.......