Danish Royal Palace ‘Surprised’ By Trump Canceling Trip

[Jan van Eck + 7,558]

On 8/25/2019 at 12:04 AM, ronwagn said:

I actually think that Greenland would do far better with help from America than with Denmark. I think that is hard to refute logically. Thanks for explaining the protocol and laws involved. 

The Americans have this large presence in the Thule Air Force Base up at the northern end of the island.  That got built with these radar domes  ("radomes") built to detect Russian missiles and bomber airplanes coming in towards the USA.  At one time there was a string of such radome bases across  Northern Canada, called the "Distant Early Warning System," or DEW Line.  Probably still there for all I know. The USA wants to keep that base up in Thule, as they consider the Russians an existential threat.  the Danes have been accommodating since WWII.  The USA also built the airstrip at Narsarsuaq, and an air base, for aircraft refuelling on the Atlantic Ferry Hop  (also to go chase German submarines),  where the barracks today are converted to a hotel  (no changes since 1945) and the barracks canteen is today the restaurant  (no changes since 1945).  You can see the installation in the attached video here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7ZWneRdu6M         approach into Suaq is at about the 22 minute mark.  

These pilots are American 747 pilots on their day job, ferrying an old DC-3 to the D-Day celebrations this summer.  In 1943 their predecessors flew this exact plane over this exact route to use as a glider tow plane and paratrooper drop plane in Normandy. Lots of avgas got tankered to Suaq, that's for sure. 

On 8/25/2019 at 12:04 AM, ronwagn said:

The left wing leaders of Europe are losing touch with the people IMHO. They may be losing more power and control of the people in the near future. I cannot see how Europeans could possibly be happy with the trend Europe is heading toward. I lived in Europe for 26 months and it seems like it has become far worse than it was in 1965 when I came home. 

Those are Parliamentary systems of government.  In that system, the opposition can bring in a Motion of No Confidence and the government, if passed, falls.  A new election must be held.  Not like the American system where it just goes on and on. The Members of Parliament are quite close to the population.  I would say that it is the population itself that does not really know what it wants, except that it does not much want "outsiders" including both the USA and the Russians. It is a sad day when the USA is lumped in there with the Russian Federation. 

Ironically, one of the things that has made it "worse" is the collapse of the USSR, of COMECON, and the removal of the Iron Curtain.  That has allowed criminals from Eastern Europe and Russia to enter and leave Europe.  Large amounts of European crime is done and controlled by Russian gangsters.  They bring the guns, they control the brothels, they enslave the girls, they steal the cars (and re-sell in Russia). The reason you have these ignition locks that will not let the engine start unless the original key is used is because of Russian auto theft. You cannot get car insurance there without that lock feature. All those cars now have that "Engine Control Module" because of the Russian criminal gangs.  So, they do have their influence!  

Edited September 10, 2019 by Jan van Eck

[ronwagn + 6,290]

13 hours ago, Jan van Eck said:

The Americans have this large presence in the Thule Air Force Base up at the northern end of the island.  That got built with these radar domes  ("radomes") built to detect Russian missiles and bomber airplanes coming in towards the USA.  At one time there was a string of such radome bases across  Northern Canada, called the "Distant Early Warning System," or DEW Line.  Probably still there for all I know. The USA wants to keep that base up in Thule, as they consider the Russians an existential threat.  the Danes have been accommodating since WWII.  The USA also built the airstrip at Narsarsuaq, and an air base, for aircraft refuelling on the Atlantic Ferry Hop  (also to go chase German submarines),  where the barracks today are converted to a hotel  (no changes since 1945) and the barracks canteen is today the restaurant  (no changes since 1945).  You can see the installation in the attached video here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7ZWneRdu6M         approach into Suaq is at about the 22 minute mark.  

These pilots are American 747 pilots on their day job, ferrying an old DC-3 to the D-Day celebrations this summer.  In 1943 their predecessors flew this exact plane over this exact route to use as a glider tow plane and paratrooper drop plane in Normandy. Lots of avgas got tankered to Suaq, that's for sure. 

Those are Parliamentary systems of government.  In that system, the opposition can bring in a Motion of No Confidence and the government, if passed, falls.  A new election must be held.  Not like the American system where it just goes on and on. The Members of Parliament are quite close to the population.  I would say that it is the population itself that does not really know what it wants, except that it does not much want "outsiders" including both the USA and the Russians. It is a sad day when the USA is lumped in there with the Russian Federation. 

P.S. Thanks for the information about the U.S. military activity in Greenland etc. 

Ironically, one of the things that has made it "worse" is the collapse of the USSR, of COMECON, and the removal of the Iron Curtain.  That has allowed criminals from Eastern Europe and Russia to enter and leave Europe.  Large amounts of European crime is done and controlled by Russian gangsters.  They bring the guns, they control the brothels, the enslave the girls, they steal the cars (and re-sell in Russia). The reason you have these ignition locks that will not let the engine start unless the original key is used is because of Russian auto theft. You cannot get car insurance there without that lock feature. All those cars now have that "Engine Control Module" because of the Russian criminal gangs.  So, they do have their influence!  

There were plenty of Russian criminals and their East German communist and criminal cohorts in Western Europe after the Second World War. They always had an active presence. It was well known in the sixties when I was there. They have always played an active role behind the scenes. They have always been in the United States also. They became more active and open after the Soviet Union collapsed because they had more freedom of movement. My stepfather was a communist. He was careful to keep it on the down low. He was Anglo, but after I got out of the army he let it slip that he spoke fairly fluent German (He grew up with a lot of Germans around in northern Minnesota). When I was in grade school he threw a fit because they allowed a Christian class outside of the school grounds. When I was in High School, he was upset because they didn't offer Russian. I could tell you a lot of similar tidbits that gave him away. My mother was a moderate Republican and castigated him about his politics. They divorced before I went into the army. 

Edited August 25, 2019 by ronwagn
addition

[ronwagn + 6,290]

19 hours ago, John Foote said:

I for one will be slightly surprised if Trump doesn't win reelection.

If he somehow loses, it will be his ability to galvanize opposition, couple with some serious hubris, that costs him the election. 

Ask yourself how he won the election. Lots of opposition and lots of Hubris. I agree he has motivated his opposition. They didn't take him seriously enough. Their voter turnout was excellent. So much so that many voted more than once, especially with absentee ballots. Absentee ballots are the Democrats favorite way of voting twice. There is little or no enforcement of voting laws. Illegal immigrant voting is another issue. Some of them will be highly motivated also. Arizona and Nevada hang in the balance. Considering all the big government aligned voters, I find it a true miracle that Trump won. Reelection would be another such miracle. My biggest hope is that there exists a larger "silent majority" than my mortal mind is sure of. Faith is needed when 90% of the media, establishment, academia, Silicon Valley, etc all root for liberals and actively seek to shut down freedom of speech on the part of conservatives. 

[ronwagn + 6,290]

The population of Greenland" https://www.livepopulation.com/country/greenland.html 

 

Ethnic groups Name	Percents	Number
Inuit	89%	51,378 people
Danish and other	11%	6,350 people

Lets offer $500,000 per person and then have a vote. I am only half kidding. 

News from Greenland in English https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/Greenland

Their biggest concern seems to be losing Ice per The Independent in England.

Edited August 25, 2019 by ronwagn
addition

[Jan van Eck + 7,558]

8 minutes ago, ronwagn said:

Lets offer $500,000 per person and then have a vote. I am only half kidding.

Risky business.  That is only $30 billion. You will get outbid by the Chinese.

[ronwagn + 6,290]

4 minutes ago, Jan van Eck said:

Risky business.  That is only $30 billion. You will get outbid by the Chinese.

I thought of that Jan. I wonder if they would prefer to be run by the Chinese. Maybe so. I don't know any Inuits. I guess they could afford to move to Canada, I am sure they would find it familiar in the far north. 

[Jan van Eck + 7,558]

14 minutes ago, ronwagn said:

I thought of that Jan. I wonder if they would prefer to be run by the Chinese. Maybe so. I don't know any Inuits. I guess they could afford to move to Canada, I am sure they would find it familiar in the far north. 

If you are going to hand some Inuit a million bucks, and now he does not have to go live in the cold and eat seal blubber, why  would he stay up there?  For a million bucks, he can go live in some palace in Quebec, and enjoy central heating and hot running water.  Even a flush toilet.  His wife can have a maid. If seal meat is craved, he can charter a plane to fly in a fresh batch.  Hey, why not? 

[Jan van Eck + 7,558]

8 hours ago, ronwagn said:

My stepfather was a communist. He was careful to keep it on the down low.

That's OK, I think I would have enjoyed his company.  I am on a campaign to remove the recital of the Pledge of Allegiance before every and any meeting, including the Library Board and the Village Select Board. The "Pledge" was actually written by a communist, a Bostonian named Francis Bellamy  (who papered it over by calling himself a "Socialist") for use by the Boy Scouts to advance the sales of flags. What had happened was that a publisher of a faltering magazine, called "Boys' Companion"  (apparently the forerunner of the current "Boys' Life" associated with the Boy Scouts)  was running out of cash and was looking around for a new source of revenue.  He hit upon having the Boy Scouts sell flags, and needed a slogan to advance the cause.  So the publisher hired Bellamy to go write something.  The Pledge was the result. Of course, the Pledge was inextricably interwoven with white nationalism and against Slavs, Jews, and Italians  (the immigrant groups of the day that were despised). 

And the "Salute" was that developed by the National Socialist German Workers Party salute; and here you have America's youth (and their teachers) inextricably intertwined with the Nazis:

this photo was taken in 1941.  In 1942 Congress, embarrassed by the forerunner to Hitler, abolished the stiff-arm salute and adopted the milder "hand over heart" idea. But don't kid yourself how all this got started. Gotta watch out for those German communists.  Next thing you know, they will have everyone doing those Salutes to the Flag!

[Tom Kirkman + 8,860]

On 8/25/2019 at 12:58 PM, Jan van Eck said:

Large amounts of European crime is done and controlled by Russian gangsters.  They bring the guns, they control the brothels, the enslave the girls, they steal the cars (and re-sell in Russia).

(Relax, it's just a bit of absurdist humor)

[John Foote + 1,135]

On 8/24/2019 at 6:14 PM, Jan van Eck said:

Great analysis, John.  But let's remember that the Democrats may well become irrelevant to this.  If the Republican Party ends up with a solid, serious challenger to Trump in the primaries, I predict Trump will lose there.  It won't even make it to the General Election. 

"Trump" is a phenomenon.  Nobody expected him to win in the Electoral College.  He lost because the Democrats ran the absolute worst possible candidate - Clinton.  The Dems could have run the town clerk of Hoboken, New Jersey and cleaned up.  Instead the Party surrendered to the Clintonites and you see how that went.  

Lots of people voted "Anybody but Clinton."  This time around, lots will vote "Anybody but Trump."  Especially suburban moms, the ultimate voter demographic that much prefers milder politics. Does not matter what Party.  A lot will be "Anybody but..." voting. 

Thanks for the kind words, but too many do a disservice to Trump. The folks that voted for him, many will again. Trump's issue isn't losing those, they'll vote for him again, it's the folks who couldn't hold their nose and vote for Hillary, the many of which stayed home. 

Some of Trump's core issues are spot on. Unless someone addresses those issues that elected Trump, they are begging to lose. And most voters are interests in thoughtful policy wonk answers.

Ann Richards was a successful governor in Texas and famously said, if you have to educate the voter on your position, you've lost. A lot of truth to that.

[Guest]

On 8/25/2019 at 2:35 AM, Douglas Buckland said:

Funny how the thread went from Trump trying to buy Greenland, with many comments based on what can all agree is the 'less than accurate' mainstream media reporting, to a discussion on the next US Presidential election...

Hell, when you start a thread about Trump winning next year it somehow turns into 16 inch cocks...

Thankyou @Jan van Eck     

[Jan van Eck + 7,558]

11 hours ago, DayTrader said:

Hell, when you start a thread about Trump winning next year it somehow turns into 16 inch cocks...

Thankyou @Jan van Eck     

Well, he was the guy who started that bragging session on national television about having big hands... 

Then he masterfully led the entire platform of some dozen candidates in a debate about who had Big Hands.  Trump has this ability to jerk the strings of just about anybody, making him the Grandmaster Puppeteer.  He knocked all those other guys off the podium; Trump was literally the Last Man Standing.  Amazing stuff, now that you think about it. 

Not one of those candidates took the high ground and declared:  "I am a Candidate for the Office of the President.  I decline to engage in discussions about male genitalia size.", and then walk off the platform, then take the moral high ground outside the stadium hall before the assembled press (which would have left that candidate in the winning position).  I don't think these guys play much chess.  Bobby Fischer would crush them.