Is California becoming a National Security Risk to the U.S.?

[Tom Kirkman + 8,860]

1 minute ago, Marco Kobelt said:

You realize that the middle class is much larger in Europe, where the difference between the rich and the poor is much smaller. 

Every time I visit the US I am shocked by the sheer number of homeless people 

Your perception is obviously different than my perception.

[Marco Kobelt + 12]

The biggest national security risk are the current economic policies of its federal government. Increasing the fiscal deficit in times of absolute boom to 3.5% while total deficit is already above 100% is nothing short of reckless. Next crisis and the deficit will easily jump above 10% and the total debt above 150% reaching a level of Greece. 

The sad thing is that is a very rational decision of Trump who very well knows that he needs a booming economy to win the next election. Who cares that it's based on debt that will destroy the country few years after 

[Marco Kobelt + 12]

4 minutes ago, Tom Kirkman said:

Your perception is obviously different than my perception.

The difference is that I am talking about facts and you about perception. Just Google Gini coefficients and you will see that the difference between rich and poor is among the highest in the US. 

Or to give you a more practical example. I am from Switzerland where a person at the counter of a supermarket earns $3-4k monthly and a teacher's starting salary is $6-7k monthly. Our CEOs however earn less than in the US

[jaycee + 348]

3 hours ago, Marco Kobelt said:

The biggest national security risk are the current economic policies of its federal government. Increasing the fiscal deficit in times of absolute boom to 3.5% while total deficit is already above 100% is nothing short of reckless. Next crisis and the deficit will easily jump above 10% and the total debt above 150% reaching a level of Greece. 

The sad thing is that is a very rational decision of Trump who very well knows that he needs a booming economy to win the next election. Who cares that it's based on debt that will destroy the country few years after 

You miss out the bigger issue with Tump's policies and the US debt pile. By unilaterally imposing sanctions and policing them via the US banking system and the $ many major countries in the world are now openly considering using other currencies for trade especially in oil, witness the major European countries trying to bypass Iranian sanctions by not using $s and Russia writing oil contracts that state in the event of US sanctions the contract will revert to other currencies. If this trend ramps up then less people will be forced to buy $s to trade and the price of US debt will rocket.
Practically all Trump's policies are leading to short term gains at the wrong point in the economic cycle which will magnify the very serious long term consequences.

[Marco Kobelt + 12]

That's a good point @jaycee Adds on top of what I mentioned. Russian oil and gas suppliers are forcing European to do the contracts in Euros. It's kind of ironic when the seller is so insistent to get the buyers currency and not dollars. Doesn't bode well for the power of the dollar, which is basically the main thing helping the US with it's debt pile

[Ronald Stein + 23]

I live in California.

[Ronald Stein + 23]

14 hours ago, Janet Alderton said:

Ronald Stein,

There are no pipelines over the Sierra Nevada Mountains, but Albertan crude is arriving in California via tankers from Burnaby. The attached article states, 

"But recent shipping data suggests demand from California for Canadian crude is rising, and experts say that state could end up taking up to half of the new export capacity from an expanded Trans Mountain.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has tried to sell the pipeline to a divided public as a crucial link to Asia, amid domestic concerns over the mounting trade tussle with the United States.

Just days after Trudeau’s government agreed to buy the project, an Aframax tanker carrying more than 500,000 barrels of heavy crude left Kinder Morgan’s Westridge Marine Terminal and traveled to Long Beach, California, one of eight shipments to California in May.

 

Canadian crude exports from Westridge topped 2.5 million barrels that month, with every last drop shipped to California refineries, according to Reuters Eikon data. So far this year, 72.8 percent of Westridge crude exports have gone to California."

Canada dreams of oil exports to Asia, but California beckons | Reuters.pdf

Yes, CA "could" take capacity from Alberta if that pipeline ever gets built!

[Jan van Eck + 7,558]

6 hours ago, Marco Kobelt said:

You realize that the middle class is much larger in Europe, where the difference between the rich and the poor is much smaller. 

Every time I visit the US I am shocked by the sheer number of homeless people 

That is an interesting comment from someone in Switzerland.  Take a look at your immediate neighbors.  How many homeless in Germany; are they up to a million ("refugees migrants")?  How about France:  Perhaps 1,500,000?  Yes, the USA has a homeless problem, in very large part fuelled by the thieves on Wall Street who are busy stealing homes with phony so-called "Trusts," and yes, the government has done nothing to arrest any of them, so the society has that glaring fault, but the ordinary folks are attempting to make a dent in it, with local community projects including specifically (retired President) Jimmy Carter and Habitat for Humanity, where President Carter himself goes out to lead by example, hammer in hand, to pound nails into planks to build another home. 

In all candor, I don't see Angela Merkel out there with a hammer in her hand. 

Europe's leftist governments do a lousy job, and take away personal freedoms in their quest for "compliance" with an essentially authoritarian State. Let's keep that in mind, folks.

[Brian Flippo + 4]

On 11/14/2018 at 10:59 PM, DA? said:

Maybe they left to go to all that cheap renewable energy that's been made in Texas. Although Tesla (have you seen how well they are doing compared to other manufactures) seems to be investing large amounts of money in California and other large companies.

The jury's still out on Tesla, partner... I wouldn't bang that drum yet, it just makes you look like you've been drinking the Kool-Aid. 

[Doktor No + 2]

The one and only security risk to the US is the orange moron in DC. Secure phone system? Naaa doesn't know how to work it.

Edited November 21, 2018 by Doktor No

[Rasmus Jorgensen + 1,169]

1 hour ago, Jan van Eck said:

That is an interesting comment from someone in Switzerland.  Take a look at your immediate neighbors.  How many homeless in Germany; are they up to a million ("refugees migrants")?  How about France:  Perhaps 1,500,000?  Yes, the USA has a homeless problem, in very large part fuelled by the thieves on Wall Street who are busy stealing homes with phony so-called "Trusts," and yes, the government has done nothing to arrest any of them, so the society has that glaring fault, but the ordinary folks are attempting to make a dent in it, with local community projects including specifically (retired President) Jimmy Carter and Habitat for Humanity, where President Carter himself goes out to lead by example, hammer in hand, to pound nails into planks to build another home. 

In all candor, I don't see Angela Merkel out there with a hammer in her hand. 

Europe's leftist governments do a lousy job, and take away personal freedoms in their quest for "compliance" with an essentially authoritarian State. Let's keep that in mind, folks.

Jan, 

Can you elaborate a little on this and also back it up with facts? Not the habitat for humanity pres Carter stuff (who in fairness didn't do habitat for humanity was he active as president), but all the other stuff. Specifically, the stuff about Europe. 

[DA? + 301]

7 hours ago, mthebold said:

Source?

err, really you don't believe they are building a new factory or whatever that vast thing going up just east across the hill from their big car plant?

[Rasmus Jorgensen + 1,169]

4 hours ago, jaycee said:

You miss out the bigger issue with Tump's policies and the US debt pile. By unilaterally imposing sanctions and policing them via the US banking system and the $ many major countries in the world are now openly considering using other currencies for trade especially in oil, witness the major European countries trying to bypass Iranian sanctions by not using $s and Russia writing oil contracts that state in the event of US sanctions the contract will revert to other currencies. If this trend ramps up then less people will be forced to buy $s to trade and the price of US debt will rocket.
Practically all Trump's policies are leading to short term gains at the wrong point in the economic cycle which will magnify the very serious long term consequences.

So nice with some sanity here. 

[DA? + 301]

1 hour ago, Brian Flippo said:

The jury's still out on Tesla, partner... I wouldn't bang that drum yet, it just makes you look like you've been drinking the Kool-Aid. 

Look I am behind what Tesla and Musk are trying to do, which is make a better place for my son to grow up in. Tesla seems to be doing fine financially, even that die hard short came round the other day. Their sales have been fantastic, production and such seem to be going well now. Here in Europe lines of people waiting just to see the model 3, more products coming soon. I would love to see Tesla take on more debt to increase the speed of this transition.

I hope anyone that has shorted Tesla gets burnt hard, as they are trying to slow down the process of changing our shitty dirty ways of doing things to something more sustainable. Anyone that does this really needs to invest in some morals.

If that makes me sound like I'm "drinking the Kool-Aid", then that's what I'm doing, trying to be a decent human. If you are against this change to improve the world you may have been sniffing to much dinosaur juice.

[Dan Warnick + 6,100]

8 minutes ago, DA? said:

Look I am behind what Tesla and Musk are trying to do, which is make a better place for my son to grow up in. Tesla seems to be doing fine financially, even that die hard short came round the other day. Their sales have been fantastic, production and such seem to be going well now. Here in Europe lines of people waiting just to see the model 3, more products coming soon. I would love to see Tesla take on more debt to increase the speed of this transition.

I hope anyone that has shorted Tesla gets burnt hard, as they are trying to slow down the process of changing our shitty dirty ways of doing things to something more sustainable. Anyone that does this really needs to invest in some morals.

If that makes me sound like I'm "drinking the Kool-Aid", then that's what I'm doing, trying to be a decent human. If you are against this change to improve the world you may have been sniffing to much dinosaur juice.

Good one!

[Marco Kobelt + 12]

2 hours ago, Jan van Eck said:

That is an interesting comment from someone in Switzerland.  Take a look at your immediate neighbors.  How many homeless in Germany; are they up to a million ("refugees migrants")?  How about France:  Perhaps 1,500,000?  Yes, the USA has a homeless problem, in very large part fuelled by the thieves on Wall Street who are busy stealing homes with phony so-called "Trusts," and yes, the government has done nothing to arrest any of them, so the society has that glaring fault, but the ordinary folks are attempting to make a dent in it, with local community projects including specifically (retired President) Jimmy Carter and Habitat for Humanity, where President Carter himself goes out to lead by example, hammer in hand, to pound nails into planks to build another home. 

In all candor, I don't see Angela Merkel out there with a hammer in her hand. 

Europe's leftist governments do a lousy job, and take away personal freedoms in their quest for "compliance" with an essentially authoritarian State. Let's keep that in mind, folks.

The refugees are not homeless. They get assigned housing facilities and later integrated into the job market. Germany has a 3% unemployment rate. Walking through Berlin and walking through Los Angeles or Vegas or SF, you see like 10 to 50x more homeless in the US. 

Switzerland BTW. is more strict on immigration which I support. However the picture painted in right wing us media about our French, German or UK neighbors is just absurd and very far from reality 

One more thing that never gets mentioned in right wing US media. Immigration into Europe has slowed down a lot in the last years. 

 

Edited November 21, 2018 by Marco Kobelt

[DA? + 301]

1 hour ago, Marco Kobelt said:

How about France:  Perhaps 1,500,000?

Nope. Not denying France like just about everywhere has homelessness and loads of other social issues, but 1,500,000 come on.

[Jan van Eck + 7,558]

25 minutes ago, Rasmus Jorgensen said:

Jan, 

Can you elaborate a little on this and also back it up with facts? Not the habitat for humanity pres Carter stuff (who in fairness didn't do habitat for humanity was he active as president), but all the other stuff. Specifically, the stuff about Europe. 

Assuming you are conversant in French, here you go:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKAQX74yRyc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGqwE72NPl0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4APllZaY4y4

1,200 women victims of sex assault done by 2,000 men on New Year's Eve Koln:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hl04r1OjRQs

And it just goes on and on:  no-go areas where police dare not venture, where firemen are attacked, where guns rule.  

[Jan van Eck + 7,558]

1 hour ago, Marco Kobelt said:

The refugees are not homeless. They get assigned housing facilities and later integrated into the job market. Germany has a 3% unemployment rate. Walking through Berlin and walking through Los Angeles or Vegas or SF, you see like 10 to 50x more homeless in the US. 

Switzerland BTW. is more strict on immigration which I support. However the picture painted in right wing us media about our French, German or UK neighbors is just absurd and very far from reality 

One more thing that never gets mentioned in right wing US media. Immigration into Europe has slowed down a lot in the last years. 

 

Tell it to the Greeks, and the 850,000 immigrants that have flowed into Greece, the thousands living in plastic tarp shacks in the port of PEtra's, the thousand living on the streets of Athens, and on Kos....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YBAojcDfmY

[SERWIN + 749]

3 hours ago, Doktor No said:

The one and only security risk to the US is the orange moron in DC. Secure phone system? Naaa doesn't know how to work it.

What about the white female moron, how many thousands of e-mails did that dumb ass send over an unsecured server, secure server, nah, doesn't care, and she's still not in jail....And the moron that was her boss. The only people that I have found that liked him were people getting free health insurance from the government and the Dumbocrats. Worst president in the history of the United States. Even Hoover did better and he was dealing with a world wide depression.

[Eric Staib + 21]

On 11/15/2018 at 7:46 AM, John Gammage said:

...And another gripe about California (along with Oregon and Washington states) these three western coastal states do not allow the passage of coal from the likes of Wyoming and Montana to their ports to be exported across the Pacific to Asian countries who want to buy that product. How right is it that American business can be held to ransom like this? The alternative route, say through Houston, is going to involve far more energy expenditure to reach its final goal. 

Lol, posting literal "fake news" that fits your worldview. A 2-second google revealed what a load of hot shit your claim is. One city, Oakland, passed a ban on moving Coal through their port, which was thrown out by a judge.

On 11/15/2018 at 8:01 AM, SERWIN said:

...And another gripe about California (along with Oregon and Washington states) these three western coastal states do not allow the passage of coal from the likes of Wyoming and Montana to their ports to be exported across the Pacific to Asian countries who want to buy that product. How right is it that American business can be held to ransom like this? The alternative route, say through Houston, is going to involve far more energy expenditure to reach its final goal. 

 

Unless that is some new regulation that I haven't heard of, I have driven through California many times, and you can see the cloud of dust that those coal trains make when they are moving, you can see it for miles before you get to them. And I mean within the last year or so....I don't know about Washington or Oregon

 

Yeah, it's not. Took less than 10 seconds to find out he's repeating a nonsense lie he probably heard through a far-right blog or talk radio. This is what the far right does; it takes a kernel of something true and adds layers of exaggeration, so that when the BS claim is pointed out to a neutral observer, it seems like the original bullshitter was just a bit fuzzy on the details. 

But it's not an innocent mistake: the right makes their living exaggerating how endangered America is and how much of a problem the govt is in our lives. STOKE FEAR above all else. That's the only way they can still play the victim and cry like snowflakes while controlling the White House, Senate, Supreme Court, and a large majority of state governorships, courts, and legislatures, and living in one of the richest, safest societies the world has ever known.

Why the hell Oil folks are always cheering for Coal is beyond me, anyway. Coal is in direct competition with our natural gas, and losing. Good riddance to a filthy energy.

Edited November 21, 2018 by Eric Staib

[Eric Staib + 21]

1 hour ago, SERWIN said:

What about the white female moron, how many thousands of e-mails did that dumb ass send over an unsecured server, secure server, nah, doesn't care, and she's still not in jail....And the moron that was her boss. The only people that I have found that liked him were people getting free health insurance from the government and the Dumbocrats. Worst president in the history of the United States. Even Hoover did better and he was dealing with a world wide depression.

I'm sure you're equally outraged over Ivanka's use of a private email account and Trump's use of an insecure phone, right? No? Go ahead and spit your stupid excuse and playground insults. (Dumb-ocrats? Come up with that yourself, bright one?)

 

Also, it's quite pathetic that the best you lot can come up with is WHATABOUTism. Okay, what about Hillary? 

The idea that two wrongs don't make a right should have been covered at some point for you in kindergarten.
 

Edited November 21, 2018 by Eric Staib

[DA? + 301]

1 hour ago, SERWIN said:

What about the white female moron, how many thousands of e-mails did that dumb ass send over an unsecured server, secure server, nah, doesn't care, and she's still not in jail....And the moron that was her boss.

Are you talking about Ivanka with her emails and tRump? Are we still calling out "Lock her up" for this sort of thing?

[DDube + 1]

 

Quote

the process of changing our shitty dirty ways of doing things to something more sustainable. Anyone that does this really needs to invest in some morals. If that makes me sound like I'm "drinking the Kool-Aid", then that's what I'm doing, trying to be a decent human...

I saw my first Tesla in my town of 35,000 people the other day. It was a model X. I remarked to a friend (who has recently bought a Leaf? or another one of the more modest EVs) wow, it's big! Like an SUV. And I added, Ah well, I'm never going to spend 100K on a new car. Obviously I am way behind the times as he said, "nah, more like 250,000." 

Wow. This is in NZD but you get the picure. So I've just Googled it before posting this and am reading an article on nzautocar. Model S, based on battery pack. $126,000-$150,000. Model X - 75kWh to 100kWh is $145,000 to $224,000.

So I ask you Is this really "changing our shitty dirty ways of doing things to something more sustainable."??

Or is it just more shitty ways of doing things, wrapped in a vanity project for its creator and purchasers? I'd suggest you need to think again before preaching about morals.

Edited November 21, 2018 by DDube

[Enthalpic + 1,496]

7 hours ago, Ronald Stein said:

Yes, CA "could" take capacity from Alberta if that pipeline ever gets built!

It will.  But for now

NEB reports crude-by-rail exports rose to a record 269,829 bpd in September

https://app.tmxmoney.com/news/cpnews/article?locale=EN&newsid=21ross7&mobile=false