Communicating with Trump Fans

 

How anyone can look at that travesty and see a hero is beyond me.  But recently I've been interacting with a couple of Trump fans.  They're still "all-in" on their orange god.  I guess if you were already so brain-damaged as to have been captivated by him in the first place, the fact that he has betrayed them on the Epstein files (he was going to expose the Democratic child-molesting/eating cabal remember); that he betrayed them on stopping the "Forever Wars,"; that he has shown callous indifference to the sufferings of non-rich people from the price inflation that his own bungling stupidity has caused; and he spends the rest of his time making an ass of himself with the various monuments and institutions in Washington DC (from the reflecting pool to the Kennedy Centre), ... well, none of that is going to alter these shit-heads' belief system.

Even as Canadians, in a country being economically attacked by the imbecile (who stupidly claims that we've been "ripping off" the USA through unfair trade deals and practices) they're incapable of pulling their heads from their shit-filled asses.

Conservatives of this stripe have an astonishing ability to attach all manner of nefarious traits to their designated enemies and to transform them into something like Emmanuel Goldstein of 1984's "two-minute hate" infamy.  In this case, the torch has been passed by the pretty-boy-faggot-traitor Justin Trudeau, to the faggot-traitor Mark Carney.  And all sorts of cataclysmic horrors will happen if their political opponents win an election.  (Starting with the other side's victory being based on fraud by definition.)  Because "liberals" and "socialists" (they're the same thing really) are deranged, perverted, totally incompetent, hateful monsters.*

 Let's start with the latest thing I heard.  I mentioned needing a raise to deal with the rising cost of living.  The Trump fan blamed the current inflation on Mark Carney and "all his spending."  Off-balance, and seeking to enter into an actual debate with the fuckhead, I said "Well, whatever.  I'm not getting any of his spending" and extracted myself from the situation.

The thing about these lunatics is that their hatred of Carney is so disconnected from reality, and so totally based on willfully fraudulent premises, that even I, who despises Carney, finds myself defending him (sort of).

The whole world is dealing with inflation.  The Pandemic (and the price-gouging that corrupt oligarchic firms used it as an excuse for) way back in 2020, were followed by the removal of Russian fuel from world markets and the loss of fertilizers and grains caused by the NATO-Ukraine proxy war against Russia.  As well, the trillions and trillions of dollars pumped into the economy since 2008 ("Quantitative Easing" and other bail-outs) has helped the oligarchy to buy-up assets of all sorts, including housing.

Canada's inflation is worse than other G-7 countries.  But none of those lying assholes in the right-wing media would dare point their fingers at our oligopolistic sectors like groceries and telecoms.  If Carney is to be blamed for anything it's for continuing to coddle and enable those parasites.

Next, I was treated to a video of some boorish asshole fishing in a river saying that Canadians need to remember that Trump isn't their president.  They live in Canada.  And they should expunge the notion that the deranged leader of the super-power to our south has been slapping us with tariffs and threats of more tariffs, oh, and threats of annexation.  Yes (says the arrogant fuck), all Trump has done is expose Canada's vulnerability.  The evil, stupid Liberals got us into this mess by having put all Canada's eggs in the US-American basket.  Perhaps the dunce is too young to know that it was the conservative Brian Mulroney who got the first Free Trade deal done.  The whole thing has been a bipartisan, Liberal-Conservative affair, backed by all the business groups and the corporate media.  It's only CONSISTENTLY been resisted by leftists.  But now, it seems, a few delusional, ignorant conservatives are claiming the prescience to see that diversifying our trading partners and developing some economic autonomy are good things.

Also, apparently the whole trade-war thing is entirely Carney's fault.  He's manufactured it out of whole-cloth to hoodwink the Canadian sheeple into supporting him.  Carney (the Machiavellian) is making the innocent lamb Trump the scapegoat to brainwash us into trusting him.  [That is some metaphor mixing I just did there!  Making a lamb a goat!]

I was shown a video of the piece-of-shit whoever that Trump had negotiating with Canada, saying (without evidence) that the Canadians, at the last minute, out-of-the-blue, came out with all sorts of brazen new demands.  In the comments section, a gathering of the usual human garbage were spewing nonsense about forcing Carney to show the proof of his own claims of US-American last-minute additions.  They typed this drivel, obviously sitting in their own shit in front of their computers, blissfully oblivious to the fact that the God-Emperor Trump's negotiator wasn't showing any evidence for his claims.

The fact that Carney had made numerous concessions to Trump (including cancelling plans to tax internet media companies like Meta and "X" and Google) and agreeing to his insane demands for spending 5% of GDP on weapons, ... all down the memory-hole.

Carney is a socialist.  Carney who is privatizing our airports and other public infrastructure, lowing corporate taxes to 6%, pretty much removing all environmental restrictions on the fossil-fuels sector, and gutting First Nations' right to approval over projects on their lands.

"Intelligence" and "stupidity" are amorphous concepts.  Some people can possess great quantities of both.  Most people have more of the former and less of the latter.  But some people are, overall, stupid.  You can tell just by listening to them.  And humans exist on a spectrum from essentially stupid to sort of genius.  And we will never be rid of the sorts of mistakes of nature that in this day and age look at a fat, deranged, pedophile-rapist, psychopathic, ego-maniacal degenerate like Trump and see GOD.  At one time these pieces of human garbage were politically marginal.  Now, as society decays, they are more abundant.  

 

*Here in Toronto, Olivia Chow stands for all that is bad and deceitful, and stupid, and gay, and incompetent, and etc.,  Olivia Chow is the worst mayor in the history of mayors anywhere.  She has DESTROYED this city.  In my opinion, Chow is a VERY dim light bulb who has something of a kindly nature and has decent advisors.  She's done some quite good things for Toronto and some quite bad things.  And I take the opinions about her from stupid assholes who still revere the memory of international laughingstock, lazy, stupid, drunken, lying, shit-fuck Rob Ford, with all the respect that they are due. 

Two Disagreements

 

Yesterday I happened to read two articles that I disagreed with.  The first one, was a little difficult for me.  It was written by a Palestinian and it was how they said we shouldn't use the word "terrorist" against the Netanyahu government or the "settlers" illegally pushing West Bank Palestinians off their land.

Settler colonial violence is, of course, real and terrifying, but “terrorism” is the wrong framework for understanding and confronting it, because it was designed to serve imperial designs and make settler violence look like an aberration. In this way, the label of “Israeli terrorism” often misleadingly characterizes settler violence as confined to the Israeli far right, even though it’s the product of a broad Israeli consensus and a systemic feature of Israel’s colonial regime.

...

The terrorism framework did not emerge from positive or emancipatory values, but has been exclusively weaponized against oppressed and marginalized peoples in the service of imperial agendas. While in the 1960s, the terrorism framing was used by western imperial interests against anti-colonial struggles (Algeria, South Africa, Vietnam, to name a few), the post 9/11 global “terrorism” narrative shifted to focus on a new “global enemy” — Islamic fundamentalism — and used to justify military occupations and atrocities across the world under the banner of the “War on Terror.” More dangerously, it was used to build a legal arsenal encroaching on people’s rights and freedoms, undermining the rule of law and peoples’ sovereignty under the cover of legality. 

...

There is a reason why terrorism has no agreed-upon definition under international law. It is a political tool whose meaning has been shaped by those with the power to wield it. A framework built and weaponized by imperial powers against colonized peoples cannot become the tool through which we dismantle colonial violence.

Another danger of embracing the “terrorism” label for settlers is that it exceptionalizes their violence, turning masked settlers who kill Palestinians, burn their homes, and attack their villages into a violent fringe — “bad apples” supposedly detached from an otherwise legitimate Israeli state and Zionist establishment.

...

The inconvenient reality is that decades of international impunity are the central reason why the colonial settlers’ movement has reached such levels of unleashed violence today. Calling settlers “terrorists” offers another escape from that accountability: it isolates individual perpetrators while leaving intact the system that arms, protects, and enables them.

I believe the “terrorism” label should not be used for any group, globally. West Bank settler violence is state-backed settler colonial violence. It is part and parcel of a century-long Zionist settler colonial project. Confronting this violence means confronting the institutions, policies, and structures that produce it — not simply the individuals who carry it out. Call it what it is.

 

Some valid points.  But I disagree.  Yes, "terrorism" is an amorphous, politically subjective term.  But it's also a powerful one.  It has penetrated the psyche of Western consciousness.  And if it can be thrown back in the faces of those who cynically employed it in the first place, then we should do so.  Especially since, while there might not be a genuine, legal definition of "terrorism" there are serviceable definitions of the word:

Concepts of political discourse are hardly models of clarity, but there is general agreement as to what constitutes terrorism. As a point of departure we may take the official United States Code:

 

“act of terrorism” means an activity that — (A) involves a violent act or an act dangerous to human life that is a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or any State, or that would be a criminal violation if committed within the jurisdiction of the United States or of any State; and (B) appears to be intended (i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or (iii) to affect the conduct of a government by assassination or kidnapping.³

The concept is not precisely delimited. First, the boundary between international terrorism and aggression is not always clear. On this matter, let us give the benefit of the doubt to the United States and its clients: if they reject the charge of aggression in the case of some act of international violence, we will take it to fall under the lesser crime of terrorism. There is also disagreement over the distinction between terrorism and retaliation or legitimate resistance, to which we return.

US sources also provide more succinct definitions of “terrorism.” A US Army manual on countering terrorism defines it as “the calculated use of violence or threat of violence to attain goals that are political, religious or ideological in nature. This is done through intimidation, coercion, or instilling fear.”

And, it requires no stretch of the imagination to see how Israeli behaviour aligns with this definition.  I said that the writer had some good, valid points.  But there's something to be said for the opposite position and I think there are better uses of anti-genocide people's time than debating the terminology to describe zio-nazi behaviour.

 

The other article employs Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) to attempt to debunk the idea that rising yields in the bond market signify the weakness of the Trump regime's erratic political-economic policies and that these higher yields will put some sort of break on Trump's mismanagement of the world system.

Commentators point to large federal deficits, growing public debt, and the volume of Treasury securities coming onto the market. From this perspective, higher yields are the market’s response to excessive government borrowing, and the Trump administration’s policy amounts to fiscal recklessness. This interpretation rests on an old and misleading conception of financial markets. It treats government and private borrowers as competing for a limited pool of savings, so that larger deficits necessarily drive interest rates upward. But interest rates in a modern monetary economy are not determined in this way. The Federal Reserve (Fed) directly sets the short-term policy rate and strongly influences the entire yield curve through changes in the composition and size of its balance sheet and through expectations about future rates.

The current rise in long-term rates is better understood from this monetary perspective. Inflation remains above the Fed’s 2 percent target, and the energy shock associated with the Iran war has reinforced fears that inflation will persist. These fears are exaggerated. Inflation above 2 percent is not, by itself, evidence of an inflationary crisis, particularly when there is no distributive conflict capable of generating a self-sustaining wage-price spiral. The deeper problem is the Fed’s commitment to an excessively low inflation target.

This goes against the argument of Jack Rasmus (same thing here or here) which is that the bond markets are genuinely worried about the over-extension of the US dollar and that the nation's ability to raise funds without simply printing it is going to limit Trump's ability to continue his wars and for the USA as a whole to maintain its standard of living as a devalued dollar makes imports more expensive.

 

The US has continued to run massive budget deficits averaging more than $2 trillion a year since 2020. In past decades before 2000, the US used to cover its deficits with economic growth and tax revenues. But growth has slowed sharply since 2020, on average barely 2% per year, and tax cuts for corporations and investors have accelerated. So Sales of US Treasuries have been key to financing the annual $2 trillion plus US budget deficit.

Should foreign buyers of Treasuries continue to buy fewer Treasuries, like China has been doing, or worse, start selling off their Treasuries—how will the US finance its annual $2 trillion and rising budget deficit?

The US will have to either cut spending, raise taxes, or sell more Treasuries to domestic US buyers. But to sell more domestically, it will have to entice US domestic buyers to do so. How? By increasing the interest rate on the Treasuries it will pay them if they buy more.

Which brings us back to the recent events regarding Japan, its Yen, and its increasingly competitive Japan government bond rates that offer interest rates to buyers nearly equivalent to US Treasury bond rates.

Japan is about to sharply reduce its purchases of US Treasuries. That means less global demand for US Treasuries. At the same time, Japan has started selling off some of its $1.1 trillion hoard of Treasuries. That increases the supply of Treasuries globally. Lower demand higher supply both mean falling prices for US Treasuries and, in turn, rising long term US bond interest rates.

...

To assist Japan—and discourage it from selling even more US Treasuries—US Treasury Secretary Bessent last month intervened in global currency markets and started buying Yen to assist Japan trying to prop up the value (price) of its Yen.  But that’s just the appearance. The real Bessent objective is to assist Japan to prevent it from selling off even more US Treasuries.

In an interesting twist, Bessent didn’t enter the global currency market to buy Yen with dollars. He used the US Treasury’s stock of Euros currency to buy Yen. That may have temporarily helped Japan, but it undermined the value of the Euro and European economies. That did not make the Europeans too happy.

On August 30, 2026 Bessent bragged the US action had stabilized the Yen. But evidence suggests otherwise. The Yen is likely to continue to fall below the benchmark Yen-Dollar exchange of 160 to the $1.  When it does, Japan will likely dump (sell) more of its US Treasury holdings in order to buy more of its currency to prop it up. That means Japan, like China, will reduce its holdings of US securities well below the $90 billion it already expended since July. If it’s selling Treasuries it’s certainly not going to buy more. So both Japan’s demand and supply of Treasuries will push up US long term Treasury bond interest rates.  US long bond rates are already at 5.3%! They’ll likely go higher now.

That will pull up US mortgage rates. So US consumers can forget about US housing affordability before the US November elections. It’ll get worse, not better. It’s already happening.

 

Rasmus says more about various countries pulling out of US Treasuries, as well as the enormous financial appetite of the AI debacle.  Obviously, the financial markets aren't thinking of MMT, and neither do any Western governments.  Whether they did or not is irrelevant.  They don't have the well-being of ordinary people at heart.  It's "heads they win, tails we lose" as usual. 

Canada-USA trade at the end of European Imperialism

 

I don't know why anybody was bothering trying to seal a deal with Trump since his solemn word isn't worth air it's spoken on.  But Trump apparently demanded some last minute surrenders of essential national sovereignty and even the lickspittle Carney was forced to stand up to him.

I'm not a big fan of Canada, but it's a tad better than the USA, so I'm opposed to assimilation.  I suspect the vast majority of Canadians are too.  Whether US-Americans have the stomach for the conquest and extended occupation of Canada is also an open question.

Whether members of the US military would want to attack Canada, ... in their eyes a loyal, but sovereign ally, is also questionable.

Canada is only a tenth the size of the USA economically.  So Trump's 50% tariffs are going to hurt.  But they're also going to hurt US-American consumers.  Canada is the USA's third-biggest trading partner and they don't buy our resources out of the goodness of their hearts.  On top of the rising cost of oil and everything dependent upon oil (including diesel for food delivery) there's all the other brainless sanctions Trump is applying on other countries around the world.  US-American citizens/consumers/households are going to be pissed.

Trump's idiocy occurs as he refuses to admit defeat against Iran in West Asia.  As the rest of the US ruling class refuses to admit defeat everywhere.  As their selfish schemes and corruption destroy the foundations of the very society their wealth is based upon.  As their delusional economic political-economic theories become less and less capable of disguising their failure.  As Russia pushes the Ukraine (and NATO) to the breaking point.  As China passes the USA in economic, military and "soft" diplomatic power.  As they expose their total moral bankruptcy in supporting Israel's nazi-genocidal policies.

Obviously what Carney needs to do is employ some Modern Monetary Theory and spend money employing Canadians whilst (in congruence with MMT) taxing the wealthy to limit inflation.  I doubt Carney will do this.  He will try (and fail) to sell militarism and austerity.

The bond markets are giving their verdict and someone other than Trump would be toast.  But Trump is one of the most unhinged megalomaniacs to ever occupy the Oval Office.  Plus, he's building an entire infrastructure to carry out a detailed, ruthless plan of election-stealing.

Late-capitalism is showing itself for what it really is. 

How Do Stupid People React When They're Abused By the System?

U.S. Senate kills bail-out of autos, 2009 rather than 2011, $9 billion, $9 billion a day in Iraq no prob, trillions for financial sector w/out really blinking, ... Dems don't force them to filibuster. 60 now mandatory to pass anything in Senate? bullshit. One of biggest causes of US auto ind.crisis is health insu. obligations, not union wages.

ldrs fucking them over to kill the union.

Just like the ruling class in Fr. Rev. kept pushing till their own system collapsed, U.S., world corp.elite det'd to destroy themslvs

Keep piling it on fuckheads.

But, rev. not guaranteed (even Rev don't turn out way s'posed to) because, people don't seem to know what to do.

Stupefying pol. culture, mass ignorance, delusion, + stupidity and cowardice.

The majority when faced with powerful adversaries tend to turn on weaker/weakest minority scapegoats. Taking on the system takes brains and courage, bashing immigrants, unemployed, prostitutes much easier.

What happens when economy collapses? Many turn to crime, and victims (rightously) turn to law n' order and vigilantiism and sometimes fascism (pseudo-populist demagogues), instead of organization and demand for respect for all human beings, short-term calculations and living for self, family, friends, world can fuck itself.

That appears to be where canada will go.

Trump, Epstein, Israel

 

Just have time for a quick thought: I will continue to maintain that Trump was blackmailed into attacking Iran by Israel, which has compromising evidence of Trump abusing adolescent girls at Jeffrey Epstein's properties.

All this talk about continuities of US policy towards Iran, and the maintenance of the petro-dollar, and etc., do not take away from the fact that Trump's belligerence is unprecedented.  Other US presidents (for all the continuities of policy) did not go to war against Iran.

Furthermore, there is evidence that Trump was reluctant to go to war against Iran.  NOT because he was the "America First" hero who truly wanted to end the neo-cons' "Forever Wars."  (Trump recognized in 2015 --at least-- that those stupid wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were stupid.  And he saw that opposition to them polled well with his voting demographic.  That's it.  That's all.  He's not a man of principle.  He genuinely believed that the neo-cons' wars were stupid, but if he needed to play along to get along, he would.)

No. Trump was opposed to war with Iran because he knew Iran would be a difficult job for the US military.  It would lead to unforeseen consequences.  As it was, as it has.

"Head-Waiter to the Provinces"

 

That's how Pierre Trudeau derisively described the role of the federal government in Ottawa according to the desires of provincial premiers. (Actually, I don't know what vision P.E.T. was denigrating, but you get the point.)

For a long time I haven't known how to think about this debate.  But now, it seems to me, that a weaker national government gives capitalists more opportunities to exploit weaknesses.  

I think debates between national and sub-national governments should continue and that they should be decided by what is best for the vast majority of people. 

It's Tough Being a Deluded Servant of Oligarchy

 

So, global warming denier Donald Trump is blaming Canada for somehow not "managing" its 3.69 million square kilometres of forest and thereby allowing giant wildfires to spread which causes smoke to fill the skies of various states along the Canada-USA border.  As if we're supposed to have armies of people wandering around the Canadian Shield putting dried twigs into garbage bags.  It's a moronic accusation that doesn't warrant a response.

But notice how Carney's options for rebuttal are limited because he can't point to the obvious role of global warming due to the burning of fossil fuels as the real culprit behind these fires.  (These fires have, obviously, become the "new normal" for most humans who now have to deal with them.  I'll bet at least 75% of the people in Toronto, where I live, have forgotten all about them.  It's sickening what we're prepared to put up with in order to avoid the struggle of having to adjust to reality.)

Carney can't blame global warming because he's a craven servant of the oil sector and he's committed to extracting and having burn even more petroleum than ever.

Every day the man comes up with more reason to be contemptuous of him.