Trump admin freaks out over mere suggestion Amazon was going to show tariff impact on prices On Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt denounced Amazon after it was reported the tech giant intended to show how much President Trump's import tariffs would inflate the price of stuff sold through its internet souk. "This is a hostile and political act by Amazon," Leavitt said, noting she had just spoken to …
"This is a hostile and political act by Amazon,"
It seems Mad King Orange I is not only going to war with all of American's allies, but also with the American people.
The American Chavez truly is following in the footsteps of his role models Hugo Chavez and Nicolás Maduro. And the American economy is showing the first signs of following the great example of Venezuela.*
* Fun fact: Venezuela too is supported by Putin.
"A man who took a prosperous country and singlehandedly destroyed it's economy and drove away half it's population."
It does make one wonder if Mexico and Canada ought to be planning for the future and building some very big walls of their own (and sending the bill to Trump!)
Accidental Dihydrogen Monoxide overdose kills more than 4000 Americans each year. Recreational use of Dihydrogen Monoxide funds a large industry in America and is a cause of many of these ODs.
Read about The Truth about DIHYDROGEN MONOXIDE.
You can't include that one about a profitable industry in the US. That might outweigh anything else in the list. No, to really clinch it, you have to report that nearly a billion dollars per year is used to import DHMO products and Canada is a source of the raw substance and partially regulates the US's use of it. That should be enough.
Dihydrogen Monoxide isn't that scary, wait until you hear about hydroxyl hydride, That hydroxyl group is nasty:
When biological systems are exposed to hydroxyl radicals, they can cause damage to cells, including those in humans, where they can react with DNA, lipids, and proteins
citation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydroxy_group#:~:text=In%20chemistry%2C%20a%20hydroxy%20or,one%20or%20more%20hydroxy%20groups.
It took more than a decade for Putin to dismantle democracy in Russia. There were hundreds of changes of law here and there, before all protections removed. His people installed here and there. Surprisingly he seeks legality in his actions: that is, everything is justified by some law.
In the legal profession, one refers to "Rule By Law" as opposed to "Rule of Law." In "Rule By Law," the government has the power to create and enforce laws arbitrarily. This is exemplified by what the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has done in Hong Kong and what Vladimir Putin has done in Russia. For instance, Russia has implemented a law prohibiting individuals convicted of crimes from running for office. They then created vague and arbitrary criminal laws, which they used to arrest and convict political opposition, rendering them ineligible to run for office.
I take it you're not either not well acquainted with the history of the US or are under the impression the crimes of the US Government are somehow not crimes.
The US is geographically in the Global south and has poor infrastructure, poor governance and is openly perpetrating multiple crimes against humanity.
The US is the poster child for having criminals in government, which is why your last president pardoned his criminal fraternity as did this one, while US is currently committing a Genocide.
The US does not have that at the Federal level specifically because it's so easy to weaponize. At the State level, it varies all over the place. The Collateral Consequences Resource Center keeps a 50-state database on this kind of thing. https://ccresourcecenter.org/
I thought this practice was common in Europe -- Romania, Moldovia, even Germany. Oh, and don't forget what happened when Catalan separatists tried to hold and election. All very tidy and constitutional, I was told.
We're not immune here in the US, either. Here's just a taste:-
https://www.npr.org/2025/04/29/nx-s1-5327518/donald-trump-100-days-retribution-threats
Can you hear yourself, He doesn't break the law of the country instead passing legislation through the political system of the county where it can be scrutinised and challenged, unlike a real Trump style leader.
And you object to this because it makes the US look bad ?
He doesn't break the law of the country instead passing legislation through the political system of the county where it can be scrutinised and challenged
Pray tell us how many times the Duma in Russia has objected to a law recently? Versus how many times they've rubber stamped whatever is put in front of them - yes they may discuss it, but how many potential laws have been actively blocked?
Explain with Diagrams as appropriate, your analogy to the US, and how you feel the US comes off better in any evidenced comparison.
Delusional - The US empire is engaged in wars of aggression and facilitating a Genocide. You have no standing to critique any country's political system.
I'm from England, the deluded fuckstick in charge here is a Vassal of the US empire - elected on a lowest vote share, with lowest turn out, without any mandate.
Apply that to Russia, and ask how many people want deluded racists to enslave them, - not many - they see the Racist shite you pump out day after day, and they want nothing from the US, or us living in the wider Imperial core.
We're stuck watching racist cunts rob us, and parrot the same - evidence free bilge - you've convinced yourself that you've some credibility and standing to demand others account to you, for your delusional position which you advanced without a shred of evidence - because you're arguing "Russia Bad".
Deluded - either repudiate with evidence something you disagree with, or remain silent you credulous racist simpleton.
Yes - he stopped the US looting of the country.
Improved Life expectancy https://www.statista.com/statistics/1090507/life-expectancy-at-birth-in-russia-by-area/
Improved GDP https://www.statista.com/statistics/263772/gross-domestic-product-gdp-in-russia/
Improved PPP https://tradingeconomics.com/russia/gdp-per-capita-ppp
More importantly at the ICJ Russia was on the side of international Law and Justice, while the USA was arguing US Backed Zionist State Terror group was entitled to murder children and starve Millions of People. https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/us-defends-israeli-use-of-starvation-as-weapon-of-war-before
Living though it is holy hell. Every time the orange-turd start braying about the last perceived transgression that crossed his feeble mind, America (and Canada, Greenland, and the rest of the free world) cringes and just hopes the next 1,361 days pass swiftly, oh so swiftly. I strongly suspect this will be a lesson not easily forgotten, nor should it be.
On a serious note, this should serve as a cautionary tale about the dangers of letting the right-wing camel get it nose under the proverbial political tent. It soon metastasizes and overtakes the political party that lifted the edge of the tent. Democracy and its hard won freedoms must be guarded and nurtured by all. As a parent, the damage done to my children's generation will take a lifetime to repair. As a student of history, I'm just glad the the majority of the greatest generation have already passed on to their final reward and are spared the shame brought about by those that failed to learn the lessons history has to teach.
Were I a more cynical person I may even be tempted to think that what we see may be intentionally brought about by those who understand the lessons well but who are willing to exploit the circumstance for personal gain. There should be a special place for those involved if my cynicism turns out to be something more than the suspicions of an old attorney. Time will tell.
The real acronym of these asshats is MAHA: Make America Hate Again.
They do however have a strongly developed sense of irony. Asshats is a term of endearment now, is it? Or perhaps you mean that people who voted Trump just provide the TDS sufferers with an excuse to get their hate on.. Not that the LWNJ's usually need much excuse. If only they'd read, and understood what Popper was trying to say..
Oh, and ps..
...was adopted by the British after the Napoleonic wars. Presumably the Navy found scanned foods useful.
Took quite a while after the Napoleonic wars for bar codes (and more recently QR codes) to be a thing on ship's stores. Spelling you say?
We went through this with Brexit. International laughing stock. Billions in self-harm. Industries screwed. Massive inflation. Empty spaces on the shelves. Uni budgets crippled.
There is no upside, and it may not even be possible to recover generationally after it happens. It's the same thing - nationalist pricks burning their own house down as they don't like the wallpaper. It is just bigger all ways in America.
As for covering up the taxiff costs, none of the mainstream media in the UK dared blame anything on Brexit and it still doesn't. They blamed it all on Putin and Covid. Lying by omission.
We went through this with Brexit.
And clearly some are still going through it. 23 June 2016. The day the UK regained independence.
..nationalist pricks burning their own house down as they don't like the wallpaper. It is just bigger all ways in America.
But of course! Although they celebrate 4th July rather than 23rd of June. If the UK picked 23rd June, that might be a bit mean-
1812 – War of 1812: Great Britain revokes the restrictions on American commerce, thus eliminating one of the chief reasons for going to war.
Ah, tariffs. Always fun. As is America's choice of the 1812 Overture to accompany 4th July Fireworks. Written to celebrate Russia's defeat of the French, but presumably also because it was the year the US declared war on Great Britain. Sorry about the sack of Washington. Friends now, right?
As for covering up the taxiff costs, none of the mainstream media in the UK dared blame anything on Brexit and it still doesn't. They blamed it all on Putin and Covid. Lying by omission.
Huh? The Bbc blamed anything and everything on Brexit, and 9yrs later, they're still doing it. UK economy growing faster than the Eurozone! Brexit! No, wait.. But it looks like Starmer's trying to sneak us back into the EU without anyone noticiing. Also odd the way there's a commonality between people who hate Brexit and hate Trump. Maybe there's a word for it? Ah.. losers..
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> UK economy growing faster than the Eurozone!
Maybe over there in the land of fiction.
Per our own parliament the Eurozone's GDP is up 4.9% from pre-pandemic levels*. The UK's is up 3.4%.
Even if the OECD forecasts for 2025 play out as per the linked article — 1.4% growth for the UK versus 1.1% for the Eurozone — the UK will still be behind.
* since we left the EU on the 31st of January 2020, immediately before the pandemic, this feels like a fair point of comparison.
> Cherries are great, aren't they?
As per the linked document (and notably you're unable to provide any source for your own claims): measuring from when the UK left the EU to now, the UK has grown more slowly than the Eurozone.
So if you define cherry picking to be "starting at the date at which the UK left the EU and continuing until the end of the data" then, ummm, yeah? I mean, most people wouldn't define "using every single quarter of data that's available" to be cherry picking but I guess most people aren't working backwards from the conclusion they want to reach.
I also apologise that "Even if the OECD forecasts for 2025 play out as per the linked article — 1.4% growth for the UK versus 1.1% for the Eurozone — the UK will still be behind" seems to have gone over your head. To repeat: including all the available data plus current OECD forecasts as far as they go still leaves the UK behind the Eurozone in growth since leaving the EU.
As per the linked document (and notably you're unable to provide any source for your own claims): measuring from when the UK left the EU to now, the UK has grown more slowly than the Eurozone.
Previously, you said..
Per our own parliament the Eurozone's GDP is up 4.9% from pre-pandemic levels*. The UK's is up 3.4%.Even if the OECD forecasts for 2025 play out as per the linked article — 1.4% growth for the UK versus 1.1% for the Eurozone — the UK will still be behind.
Again, my source was your link. If you read it, you'd have seen a table under this text-
In Q4 2024, UK GDP grew by 0.1% compared with the previous quarter (Q3 2024), following no growth (0.0%) in Q3. GDP in the Eurozone was up by 0.2% in Q4 2024, while US GDP rose by 0.6% over the quarter.
Which shows UK GDP growing faster than the Eurozone for every quarter bar Q3 & Q4 2024 as a percentage on previous quarter, but outperformed the Eurozone every quarter when compared to the previous year. The joy of stats.
I also apologise that "Even if the OECD forecasts for 2025 play out as per the linked article — 1.4% growth for the UK versus 1.1% for the Eurozone — the UK will still be behind" seems to have gone over your head.
No need to apologise, you just seem to have been hit on the head by too many cherries. So ''% change on a year ago" shows UK outperforming the Eurozone. The other tables, ie IMF and OECD forecasts showing UK growing faster than the Eurozone. Then there's this bit-
UK GDP in Q4 2024 was 3.4% above its pre-pandemic level of Q4 2019. This compares with Eurozone GDP being 4.9% higher, with GDP in Germany 0.1% lower. The US had the highest GDP growth among G7 economies over this period at 12.2%.
And then the IMF & OECD forecasts, including revisions. So UK & Eurozone got downgraded due to tariffs. UK is sovereign and can negotiate independently of the EU's collective bargaining agreement where the EU has exclusive (in)competence for trade negotiations. The UK can act in it's own interests, the EU has to balance competing and often conflicting demands from its consituents, who have very different economies and interests.
Often that's what Germany wants, Germany gets because Germany is the 'economic powerhouse' of the Eurozone. But Germany's economy has contracted, mainly due to deindustrialisation caused by EU and German energy policies. It will also be hardest hit by tariffs imposed by the US on the EU as collective punishment. Trump wants Americans buying American cars, not Mercs, Audis, BMWs etc. That's kinda bad for Germany, especially after the EU sanctioned German automakers and prevented them from flogging cars to Russians, which had been a large export market for Germany. But those sanctions are another issue. They've massively increased Eurozone energy costs, and Spain's just demonstrated what happens when you hit 'Net Zero' ahead of schedule.
And then there's some other economic warfare that will affect the Eurozone's future. So Trump (and Rutte) wants NATO members to increase defence spending to 5% of GDP. Some EU members, notably France want to create a Pan-European Defence Organisation, or the EU Army that Remnants said would never happen and was just a conspiracy theory.. Even though it was an obvious next step for a Federal EU. EU economy is around $20tn, so $1tn a year on defence is obviously attractive to the US given NATO is dominated by the US defence businesses. Which will also probably be part of the trade negotiations.
Don't develop a Eurofighter replacement, buy the SLUF.. I mean F-35 instead. Lock in to Lockheed! It can fly, sometimes, and has had more recalls than a Tesla. And like many things American, the F-35 has a bit of an obesity problem and is getting too fat to fly. Or just can't generate enough power to support the feature creep imposed on that system. And then of course there's Ukraine. The US seems to want out of that sh1tshow and wants to hand that problem over to the EU to feed. Currently the EU seems fine with this idea, and is proposing an extra $1tn or so a year to support that proxy war and build up EU defence businesses. Rutte, the CEO of NATO is, of course fine with this idea. Bombs, not benefits. The EU just needs to cut social spending by a lot to kill Ukrianians and Russians instead.
So the future isn't looking too bright for the Eurozone (unless things go nuclear) with a lot of planned spending, and contracting economies. Ursula is, of course fine because she just loves massive funds and doling out cash. That the cash isn't there isn't a problem, because the ECB can just print more, and the debt can just be loaded onto the EU members. Of course printing money is just a tad inflationary, but increasing the cost of living is great, because inflation is a cheap way to also inflate GDP. Isn't economics wonderful?
Except of course for the inevitable stagflation. High inflation, low (real) economic growth, high unemployment. Bad. And happening in a Europe near you, right now! Businesses closing due to energy policy costs, Rachel from accounts increasing taxes on businesses etc etc. But at least the UK is sovereign now, so in theory can opt out of the EU's economic miracles, or wishful thinking.
You're clearly desperate to dig your own hole.
My statements that the UK has grown less than the Eurozone since leaving the EU are both consistent and proven by the data.
Your response: "but the UK beat the Eurozone in three particular quarters, so haha, you're cherry picking" is nonsensical.
Or are you the sort of cowards that catcall from the back without owning your idiocy ?
There are a lot of cowards who will use downvotes as a way of demonstrating their idiocy. I even have one who's scripted the process. No need to strain their poor brain actually reading my posts, because their bot means they don't have to risk harm to what few braincells they have left. They also proudly boasted about their killfile script, which means I can take the pish out of them without them knowing. But votes:
a) don't matter
b) show that I'm on target
c) I use when I think someone is posting something idiotic, juvenile, evidence of end-stage TDS
"strain their poor brain " -- please, do expand on this.
Not sure what you need expanding? As they're so neatly demonstating how easy it can be to abuse electronic voting systems, it should be pretty obvious. They have a bot doing the work so their brain doesn't have to think, let alone try to construct any kind of rational rebuttal.
"America (and Canada, Greenland, and the rest of the free world) cringes and just hopes the next 1,361 days pass swiftly"
Trouble is, what happens on day 1,362? There are so many systemic flaws in the American media and election system that Republicans are almost guaranteed to retain enough power in Congress to stifle any Democratic president that replaces Trump. Problems will fester, blame will shift to the new administration, and memories will fade. So in eight years, there is a good chance that the USA could elect another far right populist to the presidency.
The world knows this risk, which is a big reason why they're writing the USA off.
@drankinatty
"letting the right-wing camel get it nose under the proverbial political tent"
Though to me, both major US parties are right wing anyway, just slight variation in how far right (similar in UK, although "top 2" parties may change as the party of Trump pal Farage is surging high and Lab / Con (the established "big 2") fighting for 2nd place in popular polls currently)
The TEA party is old news. They were a bunch of crazies who got started in 2007 and gained traction in 2010 when they found a home in the Republican party. The name is effectively dead but most of the ideas remain and are being implemented right now. The only real change is that the TEA party wanted to reduce the budget deficit (by reducing taxes) while the current strategy is to grow deficit bigly.
> "The name is effectively dead but most of the ideas remain and are being implemented right now."
Well, isn't that the point? If the Tea Party is no longer the distinct or newsworthy faction it was fifteen years ago, isn't that- to a large extent- simply a reflection of the fact that they'd largely succeeded in taking over as the dominant force within the Republican party anyway?
The TEA party is old news.
The Sarah Palinesque† Tea Party took its name and supposedly inspiration from the Boston Tea Party which interestingly was in response to a British tariff on tea imports into the colonies but was probably a pretext for the colonial opportunists scenting the profits that conflict could bring them.
Nothing new under the sun, I suppose.
† Does anyone else have the sense that Trump is a defrocked version of Palin remodelled with a couple of whacks from the ugly stick?
The enemy of my enemy is my enemy's enemy.†
"The enemy of my enemy is not the enemy of my friend." (Speaking for a friend you understand. ;)
It's always been the case that you were always pretty certain about your enemies, not so much about your friends.
† The two ways of expressing the genitive in English so syntactically a tautology I suppose.
I mean, really: Amazon are the good guys now?
Err, nope. Problem with this 'article' starts with three simple words. Accoding to CNN. Then people pick up some non-news and run with it. So the story goes that someone at Amazon decided it would be a neat political protest to include tariffs in the displayed price. That idea was quickly shot down, so then presumably leaked to CNN, who like El Reg, are always looking for 'news' to bash the current administration.
Amazon should be firing whoever proposed and leaked this genius idea because they're f'ng idiots who obviously don't understand business. So assuming this 'idea' was actually implemented, all it would have done is reveal the tat flinger's margins and some internal costs. Widget is on sale or $19,95. Tariff 'tax' was $1,45. So widget actually cost Amazon $1 because tariffs are applied to the landed cost. So Amazon would be making $17,50 on that sale. Minus some other internal costs, like shipping, picking & packing etc.
Brilliant idea. Publish Amazon's cost. Can't think why Amazon rejected this idea. Much easier to understand why the losers club picked it up, ran with it and even created some conspiracy theories around it.
... with a side benefit of showing the American people that the administration knows they're fucking over the average person.
If the average person hadn't figured that out already, they probably shouldn't be allowed to vote. Then again, there still seems to be a lot of people thinking tariffs are applied to price rather than cost. But I had a long argument here with a person (probably an AC) who just couldn't grasp that prices & costs can be different (or the same) thing, depending on where in the transaction you're sitting.
The average person doesn't appear to have a clue... which may be why Trump managed to get elected,
Quite true. It's just the clueless voted for Harris, and not enough of them. And boy are they bitter about that. Much like they were the last time around when they spent 4+ years ranting about Trump instead of coming up with solutions.. Which is again why Harris lost.
Biden threw the election rather than stop the Genocide, because Genocide Joe Biden is a racist. He came into office campaigning for Apartheid in America Biden said black students would turn schools into "a jungle… a racial jungle" https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/biden-racial-jungle-quote/
He armed and funded a Genocide that decent people wouldn't vote for, if you voted for Genocide Joe or Drunk Momula you voted for Genocide just like Trump voters did. only they at least got a ceasefire which Genocide Joe and Drunk Momula has no intention of demanding - https://foreignpolicy.com/2024/11/26/gaza-ceasefire-israel-biden-netanyahu-hamas-us-diplomacy/
It's something deeply corrosive the ability to support a Genocide and pretend you are supporting the lesser evil, or even a sensible principled choice.
You voted for someone who lied to reporters day in and day out, they are just more socially acceptable crooks. https://husseini.substack.com/p/the-us-government-is-using-ceasefire
Trump is continuing much of Biden's policy, and was smoothly integrated into the US establishment exactly and precisely because the direction of Travel hasn't changed.
You get to feel superior while the Mango moron plays the stock market, but the Foreign policy is still the same, the lack of due process is still the same, the lack of healthcare for citizens is still there.
But keep telling yourself, you live in a democracy,
I called you a credulous simpleton, who should either repudiate with evidence something you disagree with or remain silent, it seems you're unable to find any.
I'm disinclined to look at life through the eyes of the casually racist empire friendly moron. The US is engaged in Genocide, has a long history of dark racist manipulations.
"John Smith 19" is a name that sounds like you rolled of a bot assembly line with a model number not a name. Moron.
You - Thinking - don't flatter yourself.
I was cited by El-Reg - here https://www.theregister.com/2021/06/25/containers_vs_vms_debate_result/
That comment attributed to me by El-Reg - here shows in the CMS as AC - see what the citing article calls my account.
Coming from a Unixy background, it seems scarcely credible,” commented a reader named Sed Gawk.
https://forums.theregister.com/forum/all/2021/06/21/containers_vs_vm_for_mon/#c_4279211
So when I said take a guess, it's hardly a coded message - you doubled down on your bigotry.
And again, you are actually talking sense, you've got to stop doing this or it might become a habit.
Serious though, the majority of voters either don't believe their vote matters, believe the comfortable lies their candidate tells, are stupid enough to think that their preferred party won't eat their face etc. and those are the people who need reality slapping them in the face day after day with companies like Amazon doing stuff like this.
A simple statement across all items explaining they've gone up in price because of tariffs should suffice.
"If the average person hadn't figured that out already,"
The 'average person" is led around by the ring in their nose. The narrative has been that giant monolithic corporations will have to pay the tariffs (out of their own pockets). Politics has only a passing acquaintance with reality. Sound bites and spin, baby.
That would include nearly everyone who voted for the FOCF.
They could not figure it out for themselves and believed his BS that "The foreign government will pay the tariff."
Yet you seem to rather like the FOCF. Doesn't your position shoot yourself in the foot?
Unless you do this just for the trolling and have no real belief in anything?
As I understand it..
The proposal was for their Haul site, which is largely wholesale? The costs are fairly transparent there. Haul is in response to Temu - which now quite openly states tariffs on its receipts (to the shock of US customers).
So (a) it was likely suggested in response to Temu getting publicity and
(b) they need to explain to frustrated users why all their prices are going up somehow
And Jellied Eel
Huh? Where do you see me panicing? I'm working on selling peril sensitive sunglasses to lefties with TDS. Plus seeing if there's a way to fast-track becoming a Cardinal. Places like Andorra and Monaco get the usual 10% for EU, but Vatican City is zero rated. So ship via Vatican, apply a value added blessing for only 5% and then ship on to the US. A very indulgent way to save 5%.
"all it would have done is reveal the tat flinger's margins and some internal costs"
FFS, can't believe I'm actually agreeing with something Jellied Eel said. (Even if its partisan motivation was the usual anti-anti-Trumpism.)
Yes, exactly.
Regardless of whether or not Amazon would have implemented the idea otherwise- and been willing to risk incurring the wrath of that vindictive bully- they were never going to do something that would reveal costs- a fundamental business secret- to their rivals and make obvious to their customers how much money they're making on their imported tat.
"That idea was quickly shot down, so then presumably leaked to CNN, who like El Reg, are always looking for 'news' to bash the current administration."
I found it a great idea. Just like posting the taxes included in the price when buying petrol. On my leccy bill they break down all of the taxes, fees, etc aside from what I'm being charged for the power and delivery. I might start putting that into a spreadsheet to graph it as a percentage of the bill. As I work to be more efficient and save energy, it will likely turn out that the taxes and fees become a bigger percentage of the bill.
always looking for 'news' to bash the current administration.
You wouldn't need to be a card carrying cynic to observe the media wouldn't need a search party to find such news as it is pretty much ladled out every time Trump and his legion of minions speak or post.
Probably pretty pointless as the MAGA and fellow Trump travellers would read or watch that media and even if they did there is no chance of their changing their ideas in the face of the most rational, conclusive and factual argument.
More a case of having the opposition maintain their rage and hopefully start to organise better to present a coherent less fragmented vision for the future. I personally wouldn't hold my breath.
Probably pretty pointless as the MAGA and fellow Trump travellers would read or watch that media and even if they did there is no chance of their changing their ideas in the face of the most rational, conclusive and factual argument.
Well, it's easy to say the same thing about the Donkeys and TDS sufferers. This story all started with CNN reporting on a non-story, and then the TDS sufferers picking that up and running with it. Some idiot at Amazon figured it'd be a genius move to reveal price-sensitive information for political reasons. Amazon, for reasons best known to sane, rational business types said 'No!'. Which is where this story should have ended.
Businesses, should, of course be free to behave like TDS sufferers and publish their costs for their competitors to see. But most don't, because that is (or should be) a very bad idea. There might also be some legal stuff around how prices are being presented but again, sane businesses aren't going to do this. So landed cost $1, tariff applied $1.45, your price only $19.95! Or maybe only $24.95 because why not take the opportunity to jack the price up even higher and blame that increase on tariffs. Plus there's a bunch of other trade-related charges that have also been applied, like a per-ship and per-container unloading fee.
What might be a good idea is if regulators monitor and act against price gouging.
But your problem is what you think might be 'rational, conclusive and factual arguments' are actually irrational, inclusive and far from factual.. And often just opinions, and often of course politically motivated. Kinda why a lot of people don't trust MSM outfits like CNN, and why their ratings have been falling off a cliff.
More a case of having the opposition maintain their rage and hopefully start to organise better to present a coherent less fragmented vision for the future. I personally wouldn't hold my breath.
Yep, because rage (and <cough> rage baiting) is well known to produce rational outcomes. But enraging useful idiots was great TV during those 'firey, but mostly peaceful' protests that caused billions in damage. Assorted Demorats have been calling for a repeat. Trump is evil, burn & loot stuff! Musk is evil! Firebomb a Tesla! and as the weather is improving, so we're moving in to protest season. But then the Demorats spent over 8yrs ranting and raving against Trump, 'Extreme MAGA Republicans' and how Trump is the greatest threat to Democratcy since they last started a civil war.
If they'd presented a coherent, less fragmented vision for the future.. They may actually have won the election. But they didn't so they lost. Bigly. If the DNC can get it's sh1t together before the mid-terms, they might just manage to get some control of Congress, but while they carry on ranting, I also won't be holding my breath.
Amazon are the good guys now?
They could be. I saw an interesting video the other day with a story about how Trump has sent Amazon a list of books that he want them to stop selling, because they're critical of him. The message being, if you keep selling these books, then I'll cancel all of AWS's government contracts. So far as I'm aware, Amazon haven't complied.
They would be the good guys if they had the bottle to follow through with it.
But no, they've said they were never going to do it. So it's the same old shit. Disappointing on one hand but then par of the course with a faceless entity that doesn't give two shits about the world it exists in.
.... a hostile and political act. Apparently even stating facts gets you in the shit list now America, you're fucked
It isn't just the US. In the UK, you are not allowed to print prices showing ex-VAT* and ex-Duty or subsidies because that would show how much goverment is screwing consumers. So there have been repeated suggestions that energy bills should be broken down to show all the subsidies that are applied to them. Government says 'nope' because that would let customers see how much they're being charged to prop up 'Net Zero'.
Or when I was a smoker, I thought it'd be fun to launch a new brand. No traditional white bit for the baccy and brown filter. Color the white bit with one ring to show VAT, then most of the rest would be duty. Then a small ring of traditional white paper to show the actual cost/price. Simple and effective way to show how much you're giving the Treasury with every drag. But sadly illegal, and would have had to change the paper design once or twice a year to show duty increases every budget.
*OK, some prices are shown inc- or ex-VAT because businesses can recover VAT. Some receipts don't show it, which makes keeping the bean counters happy FUN!. Or the US kinda does the opposite with prices being displayed ex-Sales Tax. Not sure why this is still a thing, but I guess it gets Americans used to doing some mental arithmetic to work out how much their shopping is going to cost them when they get to the till.
>>Americans used to doing some mental arithmetic to work out how much their shopping is going to cost them when they get to the till.
Once upon a time, not too long ago, Legoland (Windsor) used to display all prices in the internal stores/food outlets ex VAT with no warning... so UK customers tended to be pretty surprised when 17.5% (VAT at the time) was added at the till. It surprised me, anyway, and made the bank manager cry somewhat.
There was a bit of a public kerfuffle about the matter shortly after my enlightening (of mind and bank balance) visit and the party line was, iirc, "Tax is not included in the displayed prices so as not to confuse our international customers"
"I would definitely try make them give me back the difference, basically here in Germany and Norway it counts as false advertising"
In the US, false advertising is the norm. I've had my antennae up for a Chevy Bolt and I constantly see a disclaimer on ads "Advertised price includes a potential $4,000 Federal tax credit". That's one of the things He who must be Orange has said was going to be cut. So it's a big question whether the credit will be available on the day of purchase. I'd hate to get to next year's tax prep and find it had been removed and, tough luck, I can't claim it. It's a credit against any tax liability so you have to owe at least that much tax in the year the car was purchased. The credit does not carry over to subsequent years.
I just need to get my grouch bag well stuffed with groats so at the point I need to replace my current car and won't just be swapping in a new engine, I'll be able to buy something privately without all the games.
There was a bit of a public kerfuffle about the matter shortly after my enlightening (of mind and bank balance) visit and the party line was, iirc, "Tax is not included in the displayed prices so as not to confuse our international customers"
Yep. A friend explained it (or tried to) once and the rules seem mostly to be HMRCs, and being HMRC, pretty complicated, especially around things like 'duty free' shopping. But still kinda common in some posh shops, so the types that don't display prices because if you have to ask.. ISTR rules might have changed recently so tourists pay VAT, then are supposed to reclaim it when they leave the country. Which then probably means making that process long & painful so tourists are 'encouraged' via lots of paperwork and long queues not to bother*.
Also from my time in the US, was suprising how quickly I got used to it, so from the intial 'Huh? WTF?' to just keeping a running total. Maybe I should go back to Vegas and try card counting? But Vegas has it's own 'tariffs' now. $300 room? Great! Plus $50 'resort' fees, plus whatever else the casinos can tack on, and of course plus sales tax.
*the process to take money is naturally quicker and faster. Plus the zeal with which some customs people try to take money. I used to have fun pre-Brexit and while I smoked being stopped with say, 5kg of rolling tobacco and them arguing it was above my 'allowance' and couldn't possibly be for personal use. Then pointing out it was bought duty paid in the EU, so go swivel. Plus if it'd been a particularly stressful job abroad, showing nicotine stained fingers in the traditional 'archers salute' could be fun. I did almost get in trouble when customs asked me to show I could roll a cigarette, and then lighting it up and smoking it. The lack of coughing & spluttering is probably a much better way to show that someone is a smoker, but bureaucracy says 'no'.
Complete bullshit. UK VAT / sales tax is not protected from being displayed /communicated in any way.
In fact you can demand the details on any invoice or receipt of VAT has been applied, with the vendor VAT registration number for traceability and recovery.
The 5% rated amount is clearly shown on energy bills.
What you smoking or have you never been here?
What you smoking or have you never been here?
Nope. All the maps I have just show warnings like 'Here be dragons'. But whatever you have been smoking, I suggest you stop as it seems to have affected your ability to read, or comprehend. Or maybe it's just the way cannabis psychosis amplifies the effects of TDS..
"All the maps I have just show warnings like 'Here be dragons'."
Some of mine didn't have that noted so I filled it in with a marker pen where I knew there were.
I'm not really joking. I have paper maps where I marked freeway off-ramps not to use as they'd drop me right into a rough neighborhood and circles around other DNG areas. It would be nice to do that digitally. I've also found routes that appear to be the shortest distance between two points, but it's faster to go the long way on freeways as the surface streets are always a mess. I have a job next week where the routing on Google Maps sends me on a very curvy canyon road that often has accidents to save 4 miles of distance. I expect that road costs me more money in brake pads than petrol and the constant speed up and slow down isn't good for efficiency in a petrol car. One of these days I'll try it in an EV and see how much better it is with that.
> Complete bullshit. UK VAT / sales tax is not protected from being displayed /communicated in any way.
Totally agree, nearly every item I buy that gives me an invoice has the non-vat and VAT items broken out - just look at your Amazon order details for example, VAT is broken out
"It isn't just the US. In the UK, you are not allowed to print prices showing ex-VAT* and ex-Duty or subsidies because that would show how much goverment is screwing consumers"
Appears to be wrong, though I guess you'll just shift the goal posts and claim you meant "final price" or some such.
"On bills and receipts
Sometimes VAT is shown on a separate line. This does not mean you’re paying extra - it just shows how much tax is included in the price.
Invoices from suppliers like builders, painters and decorators must show a separate amount for VAT and their VAT registration number."
From https://www.gov.uk/tax-on-shopping/where-you-see-vat#:~:text=On%20bills%20and%20receipts&text=This%20does%20not%20mean%20you,and%20their%20VAT%20registration%20number.
Appears to be wrong, though I guess you'll just shift the goal posts and claim you meant "final price" or some such.
Net, tovarishch, ty zabyl posledovat' za zvezdoy. A ya lyublyu zvuk vzryvayushchikhsya golov po utram.
*OK, some prices are shown inc- or ex-VAT because businesses can recover VAT. Some receipts don't show it, which makes keeping the bean counters happy FUN!
"OK..."
Good to see you did the goal post shifting as expected. You basically made up a story and when shown to be wrong went "look over here".
Your substantive point was that the UK government didn't allow VAT to be broken out so as to hide the tax component. That was demodulated to be false.
Why not just apologise? Why are modern day conservatives so casual about the truth?
"No tricks to make one look cheaper."
Different games have to be employed. I have yet to sort out if one pack of bog rolls is cheaper via any meaningful metric. One will have a unit price in squares, another in sqft and yet another in units of one roll. Packages that do have unit price in the same units will be different products (single vs 2-ply, for instance).
"Or the US kinda does the opposite with prices being displayed ex-Sales Tax."
With the way sales taxes work in the US, they can be a certain percentage on one side of the street and different on the other. It would be difficult to advertise prices if they had to include applicable tax over an area larger than one city. Some states don't have a sales tax.
a few years back when the CCP-China tariffs began, Digikey posted the tariff impact on components. Since I was procuring parts for a new product, I went for the parts from Taiwan (and other places) with NO tariff [which became less expensive on the BOM] whenever I could. The boards were being made in the USA.
So THANKS Amazon, we really do NOT need to prop up the CCP-China regime that engages in IP theft, industrial espionage, "4th shift" copyright and patent violations, and underhanded business practices (like slave-wage labor and "dumping") to deliberately WIPE OUT the competition.
@Jellied Eel
I live in the UK & it really is up to the business how they deal with VAT display.
Most businesses that serve "the general public" (e.g. High St. shops) will typically show prices VAT inclusive, so what you see is what you pay & it avoids confusion
However, if you go to somewhere where most customers are "businesses" (even if businesses are often a "one man band" i.e. sole traders) e.g. builders merchants where you will get sole trader plumbers, sparkies, chippies etc visiting in addition to people working for larger "building trade" companies, then often prices are shown ex VAT... Which can be confusing to
In UK, most receipts will show VAT amount if you look at them (as plenty of people need to claim VAT on a surprising variety of things for business use.
In some cases will always be present e.g. I have never yet seen a petrol receipt that does not show the VAT amount as many people can reclaim VAT on petrol for business use
Isn't this an attack on free speech by the supposed proponents of free speech. Why shouldn't Amazon list taxes? If I could choose all retailers in the UK would show total tax. That would wake a lot of people up to how mcuh tax they're paying. I don't think people realise the total load. It is though a political act, that is true.
Nearly all UK retailers do show Value Added Tax on the receipts every time, even though it's only required for sales to VAT registered businesses.
When I buy stuff from abroad, the tariffs I have to pay turn up on those invoices too.
The seller usually won't tell me what they are up-front, because they could change while the product is on the water. Even more so now.
Nearly all UK retailers do show Value Added Tax on the receipts
I think it's the same in AU where the receipt must show the GST† inclusive price and the amount of GST included. Supermarkets typically tag the GST items with a % to distinguish them from the exempt items (mostly fresh food.)
Advertised prices must be GST inclusive but the GST exclusive price is easily calculated as 10/11 × inclusive price.
Amazon.com.au complies with these requirements within AU.
† 10%
Why do people feel the need to make abusive and childish remarks against Trump and friends? Because the socialist media or some opposing politicians showed it was ok? 90% aren't even funny. I am not on Trump's side on many issues but I don't oppose politics based on what a biased media or opponent says. The other thing that needs to be factored is the previous administration was destroying the US on purpose. They wanted to end American dominance and success. No one with good intent runs up such debts, weaponises the reserve currency, has open borders, promotes people on colour or sexual orientation, ignores sex and child traffiking, promotes colour revolutions around the world to suppress nations from developing and suppresses free speech.
Specifically on this issue, it should be Amazon's choice if it publicises tariffs, it's free speech.
Oh and if you think socialism and communism sounds nice go look at what happened in the Soviet Union and China. There will be no utopian left wing system until humanity changes its inherent nature and the 3% of the population that are psychopaths stop being produced. Note that this 3% are usually the people that get themselves into positions of power. They see us as cattle. That's not just Trump or Biden but huge swathes of governing institutions and media. The only way it works out well is if we watch them closely, based on evidence and outcomes, and say no.
Sadly, nearly everything in your post is an easily proven lie.
You might want to think about who told you those lies, and why.
The US was objectively doing really well under Biden. His administration did a huge amount to fix things - although not everywhere - until the midterms when the Republican Congress stopped everything. And unlike Trump, he respects the Constitution and Congress' part of it.
Trump's smashing everything this time - he is a nearly perfect example of that "3% are psychopaths" you posit.
Norway is a socialist state, from an US perspective even communist (even most right wing parties in Europe would be considered progressive in the US...). So - nah.
Socialism or socialism influenced systems are not dead - we are moving ever more far away from that ideal, but basic things - like pensions, health care, unemployment benefits etc. we still have.
Oh, and looking from the outside: Trump has either no clue what he does or he wants to screw the US citizens (at least those that are not filthy rich). The checks and balances have been all but dismantled, the whole thing is heading in a direction we saw about 100 years ago in Europe as well. (then they - ok, probably we - blew up a munitions ship and destroyed our tower).
It's kind of weird that capitalist-socialist states tend to be the ones with the happiest citizens. Communists states, dictator states, fascist states not so much. I just wish the capitalists with all the capital in the US would quit trying so hard to get more.
A somewhat paraphrased version on my favorite scene in Key Largo:
What do you want Rocky?
I don't know.
You want more don't you?
Yea, that's it I want more.
Will you ever get enough?
Well I haven't so far.
Yes socialism is halfway to communism.
Socialism is an economic and political philosophy, doctrine, or system characterized by social ownership or collective control of the means of production, distribution, and exchange, as opposed to private ownership. The means of production include factories, machinery, and resources used to create goods and services. Under socialism, these are owned or controlled by the public, the state, the community, or cooperatives, rather than by individual capitalists or private entities
Who ends up controlling the public owned resources? Not the public but a few bureaucrats and psychopaths attracted to the roles. It soon becomes communism where tyrants rule.
"The other thing that needs to be factored is the previous administration was destroying the US on purpose. They wanted to end American dominance and success. No one with good intent runs up such debts, weaponises the reserve currency, has open borders, promotes people on colour or sexual orientation, ignores sex and child traffiking, promotes colour revolutions around the world to suppress nations from developing and suppresses free speech."
Every criticism a confession. How is tariff chaos with our largest trading partners, slashing research budgets, and questioning our commitments to our allies among other things helping American dominace?
Trump and Elon are gutting the federal government, including the IRS, so they can give a tax cut to billionaires that will add 5 trillion to the debt. It's estimated that diminished enforcement could cost billions in tax revenue.
As for free speech, Trump's FCC is literally threatening journalist for their coverage of him. His press secretary has threated judges with arrest, including the Supreme Court. His immigrating czar has threaten AOC for informing people of their rights. It's been suggested telling people they have rights is aiding abetting a terrorist group.
Why do people feel the need to make abusive and childish remarks against Trump and friends?
Because they're sore losers and can't come up with rational arguments. Or often even creative insults. They're really keen on diversity though, unless it's conservatives or libertarians. Then the angry thumbs come out. Orange man bad! Only about 3.5yrs of basking in their tears before the next election, assuming the Demorats don't implode by then. Mid-terms should be fun, and then it might be clearer who the candidates will be for the next election.
(and on t'other side of the pond, local elections and if Labour will get hammered)
"Why do people feel the need to make abusive and childish remarks against Trump and friends?"
How to respond to a clown act?
With funny remarks. Clowns are regularly admired for their comical performances, not so much for their construction work during their performances.
You voted in a reality show clown. Now enjoy the show. Don't complain when others make fun of the clowns.
"Because they're sore losers and can't come up with rational arguments. Or often even creative insults. "
And you think Trump can? This is just one example of and almost endless supply of Trump's diarrhea of words and constipation of ideas:
Donald Trump was asked today if he would commit to prioritizing legislation to make childcare affordable, and if so, what specific legislation he would advance.
This is an unedited transcript of his response:
"Well, I would do that, and we're sitting down, and I was, somebody, we had Senator Marco Rubio, and my daughter Ivanka was so, uh, impactful on that issue. It's a very important issue. But I think when you talk about the kind of numbers that I'm talking about, that, because, look, child care is child care is. Couldn't, you know, there's something, you have to have it – in this country you have to have it.
But when you talk about those numbers compared to the kind of numbers that I'm talking about by taxing foreign nations at levels that they're not used to — but they'll get used to it very quickly – and it's not gonna stop them from doing business with us, but they'll have a very substantial tax when they send product into our country. Uh, those numbers are so much bigger than any numbers that we're talking about, including child care, that it's going to take care.
We're gonna have - I, I look forward to having no deficits within a fairly short period of time, coupled with, uh, the reductions that I told you about on waste and fraud and all of the other things that are going on in our country, because I have to stay with child care. I want to stay with child care, but those numbers are small relative to the kind of economic numbers that I'm talking about, including growth,
but growth also headed up by what the plan is that I just, uh, that I just told you about.
We're gonna be taking in trillions of dollars, and as much as child care, uh, is talked about as being expensive, it's, relatively speaking, not very expensive compared to the kind of numbers we'll be taking in. We're going to make this into an incredible country that can afford to take care of its people, and then we'll worry about the rest of the world. Let's help other people, but we're going to take
care of our country first. This is about America first. It's about Make America Great Again, we have to do it because right now we're a failing nation, so we'll take care of it. Thank you. Very good question.
Thank you."
Can this man think and orate or what? /s
"Orange man bad! "
Why do you feel the need to state the obvious?
This word salad is not different from his answer to the same question during the election campaign.
To summarize both salads:
Tariff taxing will deliver more than enough revenue to pay for it. But we have no plans to actually spend anything on affordable, high-quality child care for American families.
And you think Trump can? This is just one example of and almost endless supply of Trump's diarrhea of words and constipation of ideas:
But just consider the alternatives. Here's Harris
In her address to the musical's cast, shared on X, Harris stated: "When we think about these moments where we see things that are being taken, but also let's see it, you know, nature abhors a vacuum."
Which is presumably why nature fills her brain with word salad. Then of course there was Biden. He, of course spent most of his 4yrs avoiding speaking to the press. Can't think why-
https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2024/02/06/biden-confuses-macron-with-dead-french-president-mitterrand_6498094_4.html
"And Mitterrand, from Germany – I mean, from France – looked at me and said, said 'You know, what – why – how long you back for?'" Biden said. Mitterrand was French president from 1981 to 1995, and died in 1996
He sees dead people. Of course this was the Biden that was also as 'sharp as a tack'. Until he suffered a rapid and mysterious cognitive decline following that fateful debate, and Harris became the nominee. Poor Americans. Maybe Trump got too hung up on parasocial media and padding content out to that magic 10m30s, or maybe next election there'll be candidates who've mastered the art of creating a pithy soundbite.
> But just consider the alternatives. Here's Harris
Why? Why consider Harris at all?
They are not in power, Trump is in power.
Or Biden. Irrelevant. It would be just as useful* to rant about something that Calvin Coolidge said or the despicable way that Andew Jackson caused the start of the Democratic Party. None of that is of any value at all when dealing with what is going on now and in the (very) near future.
* i.e. not at all, except to let you practice on the keyboard
Look you stupid cretin. Harris is NOT in power, Biden is NOT in power. Trump is in power, and he is a useless bag of shit on a massive power trip. That is clearly obvious from the complete fucking up of the world economy, and the shafting of HIS OWN PEOPLE - which include YOU! It will take the US decades to recover from the mess he will leave it in.
It clear from the outside looking in that he does not give a SINGLE SHIT about the man on the street in the States. It's also clear he is mentally incapable of doing the job people like you voted him into.
"We're gonna be taking in trillions of dollars, and as much as child care"
I hate the child-care arguments. If a couple make the decision to have children, they also need to figure out if they are in a position to raise them as well. I don't see the point to having children, putting them in the care of somebody else at the cost of one the couples annual salary. I also don't see where it's the business of government to step in and pay for it either.
Yes, there are instances where somebody with a child isn't in a relationship with the other parent due to abandonment, one of them died, is incarcerated or incapacitated. That's a different set of arguments.
The cost of child care isn't an issue if a couple has the ability to live for a while on one income which will typically be the father working and the mother staying home. Once the baby is on solids, the roles become easier to swap if the woman wants to see daylight again or happens to be the one with better earning potential. Instead of the government subsidizing child care, they can work to create an economy where two incomes aren't required to survive. There's also some reality that needs to be acknowledged. Some places have a very high cost of living and many people may not be able to raise a family if they want to remain there. The first house I lived in is off the hook money or anywhere in that neighborhood/city. As a recovering rocket engineer, I could not live there again even at peak salary. I'm very happy I own a house now, since the prices for a home/rent are skyrocketing where I live and I'd have to be able to work much harder or need to move on again to someplace less expensive. Working harder isn't an option, but I could pivot to other work that pays more, but isn't as interesting.
The transcript of his "milestone" 100 days in the job interview is an - interesting - read.
The best bits (as an outside observer) is when Moran says a few things that he probably ought to have said a little more sotto voce, because Moran is the one that drew the short straw:
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: -- he-- hey, they're givin' you the big break of a lifetime. You know, you're doin' the interview. I picked you because -- frankly I never heard of you, but that's okay --
TERRY MORAN: This -- I knew this would come --
----
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Oh, and you think it was Photoshop. Well --
TERRY MORAN: Here we go. Here we go.
----
TERRY MORAN: I guess the question out of that is the concern that people have: Are -- are you using your powers as president to get personal revenge?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: No. I'll tell you what -- I tell you what you sh -- not -- you're really not asking and you should be asking.
----
Trump really needs to cut his words off just a little faster, the sh
Almost as good as the clip where Trump clearly says "I am the law"!
Why do people feel the need to make abusive and childish remarks against Trump and friends? Because the socialist media [etc]
I'm not a big fan of the some of the more childish names used for Trump here. But that's only because there are countless other equally insulting but more substantial monikers one can use for Trump. Ones that can't be dismissed as easily because they reference any one of his countless hypocrisies and/or failings as a human being, alleged businessman and/or politician and remind people of that every time they're used.
But, yeah, that's not the problem *you* have here, is it?
You gave yourself away as soon as you got to that "socialist media" bit. (Yep, that decades-old right-wing talking-point lie that "the media is left-wing/liberal-biased" (*)- the lie that becomes a truth if you repeat it enough- extended to social media (**)).
So yeah, standard "I don't agree with everything Trump says *but* blah blah blah...."
--
(*) The media that vast swathes of have been controlled by Rupert Murdoch- including Fox News- and other right-wing types for decades? (The greatest trick Fox News pulled off was somehow managing not to be counted as part of the "mainstream media" even though it's the epitome of that term. But maybe it doesn't count as "MSM" if it's right-wing rather than a strawman "liberal" source?)
(**) The same social media like Twitter that was used successfully by Trump first time round even before that white supremacist Nazi sympathiser bought it over? Same Facebook run by that sociopath Zuckerberg who paid lip service and made token gestures towards political and consumer pressure towards social responsibility while doing little of substance and allowing his platform to be used/abused by far-right causes so long as it promoted engagement, then who pivoted towards MAGA-supporting Trumpism as soon as it suited him to do so?
The owners of that media may not be socialist but a great many of the journalists are and even some of the owners. The owners are not actually socialist in terms of wanting the public to really own and have a say in things. They understand that the controlling government bureaucrats are easily bought and therefore the "owners" or super-rich actually get control and more money and power. I'm not sure how that sits with the central bankers and BIS who are gleefully looking foreward to CBDC so they don't have to deceive, persuade or psyop people, they can just force. Maybe they're working together or competing, no idea. People have been convinced that being nice and liberal means doing really dumb things such as having no border or allowing their children to be sexualised.
In what way is China worse than the path Trump is taking us down?
China is bad because they have an unaccountable dictator who rules without any checks from other branches of government. Trump is halfway there with the spineless republicans who let him usurp their power to tariff, set budgets and so forth, and is doing his best to bully the courts into similar submission. If he's successful he's Xi on that front.
The government also seeks to control what its citizen are allowed to post etc. boiled down into a "social credit score", where the biggest "thoughtcrimes" can result in you disappearing for re-education. That's already true if you are here legally on a student visa, and Trump is talking about going after "internal" threats next. That means citizens. But Trump isn't interested in re-education, just the disappearing part.
There's no equivalent of the social credit score yet, and the MAGA nutjobs will claim that will never happen here. But if (I daresay when) Trump institutes some sort of state monitoring of social media postings and the like with the result that your government services get cut off if you don't toe the line those same nutjobs will cheer Trump on and say what he's doing is not only legal but right.
In some ways we're ALREADY worse than China. China puts its undesirables like ethnic minorities in work/reeducation camps. Trump has ICE officers in plainclothes wearing masks grab people off the street, threaten to prosecute people who record them doing so and demand their identities or credentials (to, you know, prove it isn't some sort of gangland kidnapping which it would appear to be to anyone before Trump has the government doing it) Those people aren't sent to a work camp or whatever, they are sent to a third world hellhole prison, in a country they have zero connection to, where Trump is paying them to house these people - presumably permanently since there is no due process and no sentence and no access to legal counsel so it sure sounds like the only way you get out is by dying! Today they are people legally here on student visas who commit the terrible "crime" of not blindly supjporting Netanyahu's genocide. Tomorrow it might be me, for the same "crime".
So go ahead, try and defend why Trump is better than Xi. You can't, especially given that he's still going down the path of gathering more power for himself so if he isn't stopped he will be WAY WORSE than Xi and may eventually compete with his idol whose speeches he kept by his bedside for a little light reading at night.
"Why do people feel the need to make abusive and childish remarks against Trump and friends?"
Because he started it. All you have to do is actually listen to his publicly televised speeches going back to when he first decided to get into politics to see his childishness. And no, I don't mean selectively edited highlights either, since they can often be twisted to show any point of view, pro or against. Even better, watch any of his upcoming live interactions with TV media and it will all become plain to you.
I buy for US Amazon fairly often to import into my own country, and Amazon has always shown the shipping and additional taxes/duties as a separated calculation added to the price. Does this mean I'll also no longer see that?
I would have though, as far as the US goes, that displaying price breakdowns is a form of free speech protected by law? It is much like donating money to political campaigns is free speech. Why would price breakdowns be any different.
Such rhetoric might be written off as political posturing but for the fact that former government officials like Chris Krebs are being probed by Trump allies. According to NPR, more than 100 political opponents have been targeted by the administration for retribution.
So, we are just one step away from the Brown Shirts then?
So, we are just one step away from the Brown Shirts then?
Nope, they lost..
According to NPR, more than 100 political opponents have been targeted by the administration for retribution.
NPR also lost a lot of funding, so I can't imagine why they might be a bit bitter and butthurt. Or glossing over the 1,500 or so political protestors the last administration locked up. Or the way the same administration went after Trump supporters, or invented new laws, or modified laws to go after Trump.
The Krebs thing is interesting because it's kind of a trial by media. He might be guilty of something, he might not. Not much evidence has been presented for or against, yet. If people participated in illegal activity during the last administration, or even the previous one to that then shouldn't they be brought to justice? After all, Biden once said that 'nobody is above the law!', except of course is family and friends, who got get-out-of-jail free cards.. Which doesn't stop them from being investigated either, it just means they can't take the 5th..
What is interresting is that to his supporters Trump can do no harm , even when he's chased by the courts alal over for his illegal doings. MAGA's God can do no harm in their minds. All of a sudden to realise Trump is lying to them , breaks the law or uses the Justice department to go after the people who's job it is to jail criminals , it's too big for them to admit. Their god failed them. Poor men . I am dang glad not to live in the USA. It's full of people that have been brainwashed and for which Trump is a god that cannot fail . He failed , he lied and the beliefs of his followers are based on lies and disinformation. They need to seek professional help. They cannot admit their god is a false god. They been had.
I doubt they think he can do no harm so much as your guy is exactly the same, and a smug sanctimonious hypocrite in debt to his bookie and the local brothel.
I.e. A man with all the same flaws and hypocrite to boot.
The US didn't lose a single democratic value, because it never had any, It's an apartheid regime which funds Nazis, supports Terrorists, and advocates starving millions of people to death to the ICJ.
you are confronted with someone who is not well versed enough in establishment/deep state/old money to hide the disdain for the population behind some nonsense about democracy or human rights, or the nation's interests or some other shite.
I understand that if you bought into all this stuff, it must feel quite insulting, but try to let reason, not pride, do the talking. Trump is a putz, he's been in office for a hundred days, where did all the legislation to allow him to do this come from? Where did the prisons come from? Where is all the infrastructure of oppression from?
Are you really suggesting he provided it all, or it was there all along being used against people that you neither know nor care to know about.
He's a symptom of Genocide Joe's democratic disdain, but his handlers are smoother, despite the public seeing that Weekend at Biden's charade from day one.
So why did they support him, because Genocide Joe is not running the Show, give Don Tariff a shot. So far he's continuity Biden, Bombing Yemen to no avail, supporting US backed Zionist State Terror group Genocide of Palestine and using CocaineSky to extract money from Ukraine. He did screw up and get a Ceasefire and has now recognised reality with Russia, and make it clear that the US is the US, which the public at large, and even on here seems charmingly resistant to the idea, the US are cunts, worse than literally everybody including US backed Zionist State Terror group behind almost all evil armed conflicts globally.
Jellied Eel» ...Or glossing over the 1,500 or so political protestors the last administration locked up...
These wouldn't happened to be the brave patriots who turned up on January 6, 2021, had a nice walk around the Capitol and then went home having had a thoroughly satisfying day out, would they?
I did hear about these fine, white folk on NPR, oddly enough.
It seemed then that you couldn't even commit crimes without the authorities getting all uppity about it.
Thankfully that has all come to an end now.
That's what Bezos does best. The Washington Post , instructed to do so by Bezos himself , caved in and refused to take a stand during the last election loosing tens of thousands of subscribers a day for a few weeks .. That's what Bezos does , he caves in. You can bet he caved in again and kissed Trump's " ring " again on this one. Doing the reasonable thing and standing up to a dictator is way past Jeff's abilities. We all know Americans are paying the price for electing a known criminal and 6 times bankrupt senile old wanna be dictator. The USA is so screwed .. their vote , their call. Enjoy the next 4 years.
"Jeff Bezo’s job is not to please you. His job is to do whatever is best for Amazon"
It's odd that so many people don't realize that Jeff left the CEO role a few years ago and only chairs the board of directors. He's pretty much out of day to day workings of the company and only focusing on big picture items. I expect he takes notice of big news things, but whether pricing will show an estimate of what's going to tariffs wasn't going to be passed across his desk until there was the big kerfuffle.
They will show the actual cost of a beer.
Currently if it's 5 dollars on the menu it gets to be about 12 on the bill after they add tourist, city, state and service charges ... Then aggressively ask for a tip.
Maybe Amazon should advertise stuff minus the tarrifs and add them in at the checkout. It seems to be the American way.
"Currently if it's 5 dollars on the menu it gets to be about 12 on the bill after they add tourist, city, state and service charges"
I recently saw a band I like is on tour and it's been some years since I've seen them live so I thought look into tickets. A $49 face value ticket pushes $98 at checkout with all of the fees and seems to get worse with wanting better seats. Couple that with $14 for a nasty Budweiser, $23 parking and the travel cost to get to the venue and it's a once in a year excursion. I think I know why all the fees are tacked on and that's due to it not being included in the cut the band gets which is limited to a percentage of the ticket's face value. Some bands are posting discount QR codes at their merch booth so people can order online if they don't want something to have signed or might only be available as a show perk as some venues demand a cut of the revenue or will charge a fee.
It's almost impossible to not pay a "resort fee" within 100 miles of Las Vegas. I've looked into booking a hotel room outside of the city when attending a trade show where I only expect to be there the one day. I'd stay within striking distance of up to two hours driving, visit the show and usually be able to drive far enough after to be well out of Nevada when I find a place to crash for the night.
The 50% alienated Merkins still have to pay more now for Chinese goods, sometimes twice as much. In their imagination prices would stay the same with tariffs. Some extra stupid ones even believed tariffs would make their purchases cheaper because now China would have to pay them to buy Chinese goods. These total idiots are rare fortunately.
"The 50% alienated Merkins still have to pay more now for Chinese goods"
It's way more than just Chinese tat. The price of Guinness has shot up too. The last multi-pack of Heinz beans I got (in the US) has me rationing them for special occasions. Yes, special occasions. No longer can a random craving for beans on toast be satiated without thinking. Eccles cakes? At the price I've seen, they should be layered in gold leaf. I know the importers are charging all the market will bear, but holy cow! If I ever visit again, I'm going to need an extra sheet up paper to fill out the declarations form properly and will probably have to do a lot of dancing to not get classed as a commercial importer.
It's way more than just Chinese tat. The price of Guinness has shot up too. The last multi-pack of Heinz beans I got (in the US) has me rationing them for special occasions. Yes, special occasions. No longer can a random craving for beans on toast be satiated without thinking.
How much have they gone up? For comparison (and I've just finished an 8-pack of Guiness)
Guinness Draught Stout Beer Cans 4x440ml is £5.75 or $7.66
Heinz Baked Beans in a Rich Tomato Sauce 4 x 415g is £3.75 or $5
But agree on beans*. Also there's been the usual shrinkflation and I'm fairly sure a standard can used to be larger. But also back to Trump's plan. He wants this stuff made in the USA! But wait, what is this I see-
https://www.guinnessbrewerybaltimore.com/
And of course the US invented baked beans, Heinz is a US company, and the US grows a lot of haricot beans. So now I'm kinda wondering if UK canneries import US beans, then sends them back instead of Heinz just opening a US cannery instead. But I suspect you're right that it's mostly just price gouging because that's the way of capitalism. The beans seem a bit strange, and might be a US version of sending coal to Newcastle. But ever tried making them? Easy enough to make and can**, plus I had some awesome home maked baked beans in the US. Possibly because they were cooked up with some bacon, and everything tastes better with bacon.
*According to wiki "A standard 415g can will contain an average of 465 beans". Bean counters really do exist. And I'm guessing especially at Kraft who probably know the exact margin changes by varying the bean-sauce ratio by 5 beans or less.
**Another curious Americanism where canning = preserving foods in kilner or mason jars. Two great nations, divided by a common language..
canning = preserving foods in kilner or mason jars
Unless you were thinking of "caning†," the sense of canning meaning to stop or lay aside is likely derived from the process while originally French was adopted by the British after the Napoleonic wars. Presumably the Navy found scanned foods useful.
"Canning" food (normally stone fruit) in glass jars in my childhood was called "bottling" in our parts and possibly in the rest of the British Commonwealth.
† six of the best in the best Tom Brown public schooldays tradition.
Unless you were thinking of "caning†,
Not until the weekend. But it did make me think of a story I read about how NYC sold vastly more riding crops than there were convenient horses..
the sense of canning meaning to stop or lay aside is likely derived from the process while originally French was adopted by the British after the Napoleonic wars. Presumably the Navy found scanned foods useful.
Yep. Food preservation methods are one of those great inventions of our time. But still kinda strange the way it became part of our language. So per wiki, there seems to have been parallel development with the French bottling it (naturally) and the UK developing a method using an actual can. And then being a great idea, we now have Spam and Frey Bentos tinned pies.
"Canning" food (normally stone fruit) in glass jars in my childhood was called "bottling" in our parts and possibly in the rest of the British Commonwealth.
Thinking back, it's something my parents and grandparents used to do a lot, and I still do sometimes. But I think we always just called it 'preserving'. Good fun though, and I still make pickles, relishes and sauces sometimes so I can use my own blend of pickling herbs & spices. Less fun cleaning up after jars explode, but that's my fault for not doing it right. Plus other oddities. Like 'May the Lord preserve us!', which we kinda did with Napoleon..
"Thinking back, it's something my parents and grandparents used to do a lot, and I still do sometimes. But I think we always just called it 'preserving'. Good fun though, and I still make pickles, relishes and sauces sometimes so I can use my own blend of pickling herbs & spices."
I learned preserving from gran, but lost the knowledge after moving out on my own. In these later years, I find it fun and also a great way to save loads of money by buying cheap at the peak of a season and being able to store food away to enjoy all year. The downside is stuff like my strawberry preserves won't last the balance of the year. They are much cheaper than store bought and contain 3 ingredients: Strawberries, sugar and apple (for the pectin). I'll be doing more bread and butter pickles once the garden provides. The co-op grocery (not the Co-op company) has a pickling spice blend that is magic.
I'm finding more and more Youtube "homesteading" channels with lots of great food preservation and "canning" information. There seems to be something of a resurgence as more people want to eat healthier and prices in the shops keep skyrocketing. A 20lb bag of potatoes is cheap, but what the heck to you do with 20lbs of freakin' potatoes before they go off? The answers are out there.... lots and lots. I've been getting into canned ready meals and components. I spend a Sunday in the kitchen and can build 50 meals ready to cook. Cornbread is a fav and I make my own mix measured to fill my cast iron skillet. I add buttermilk, eggs and butter in a bowl to the jar of dry ingredients, give it stir and have it in the oven in 5 minutes with not much clean up. I list the measures for the wet ingredients on the lid so I don't forget. Of course, I could just sit in front of the TV and eat ready-meals instead.
They are much cheaper than store bought and contain 3 ingredients: Strawberries, sugar and apple (for the pectin). I'll be doing more bread and butter pickles once the garden provides. The co-op grocery (not the Co-op company) has a pickling spice blend that is magic.
Pickled bread and butter? Not sure about that one.. :p But this was also another Americanism I discovered, ie jelly is made from fruit juice, jam from whole fruit. And making your own is pretty easy and avoids a lot of the chemicals added in commercial products. Main thing for any preserving is being careful with sterilising everything and picking the right sized jar. Home-made won't last as long as shelf-stablilised & preserved preserves, especially after opening, but it will last a good while. And taste a lot better. So a jar of strawberry jam can contain >1 strawberry.
I'm finding more and more Youtube "homesteading" channels with lots of great food preservation and "canning" information. There seems to be something of a resurgence as more people want to eat healthier and prices in the shops keep skyrocketing.
Indeed, and it can be fun. Plus there are 'back to the future' aspects. So Spain and their power outage leading to panic buying and a realisation of how dependent we are on electricity for our food and other creature comforts. Downside is modern homes aren't built with traditional things like root cellars or pantries, so having a cool, dry, dark place for preserves isn't always possible. But something I keep meaning to try is cheese making. YT's great for knowledge sharing, but I haven't got around to making my own cheddar, yet.
A 20lb bag of potatoes is cheap, but what the heck to you do with 20lbs of freakin' potatoes before they go off? The answers are out there.... lots and lots.
Ancestral knowledge ftw!-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chu%C3%B1o
Along with ancient military technology that drove/was empowered by food preservation techniques, so armies were less reliant on foraging. I made Chuño once and results were.. interesting. But dehyrating or freeze drying can also be fun. I've made my own instant potato, but dehydrating fruit can be great. Made awesome cookies with dehydrated black cherries, strawberries etc. But I think it's also where costs come in. So the humble potato made a huge impact on Western diets, but also relatively cheap. I like tinned new potatos, but at <50p a can, makes it hard to justify time & space to make my own. But I think they're great to make a fast corned beef hash. Tin of spuds, tin of beef, add fried onions, fry and enjoy.
Of course, I could just sit in front of the TV and eat ready-meals instead.
Yep. A depressing number of people don't seem to know how to cook even the most basic meals, rely on takeouts or read-meals, and complain about not having money. Then again food service companies like HelloFresh kinda help, but also take the pish. The Tasting History channel did a sponsored read for them and their meal was a grilled cheese sandwich. Good for their profits I guess.
"Pickled bread and butter? Not sure about that one
You've never had "bread and butter" pickles? It's a sweet brine/solution rather than the more common dill.
Not sure if it's true, but the term may be from people eating sandwiches made from buttered bread and pickles during the US depression of the 1930's. I make my version with onions and peppers as well as only cucumbers.
"Guinness Draught Stout Beer Cans 4x440ml is £5.75 or $7.66
Heinz Baked Beans in a Rich Tomato Sauce 4 x 415g is £3.75 or $5"
The Guinness was $9.99 for a four-pack.
A 6-pack of Heinz beans was $21 (maybe $18, I can't remember) The Indian spice shop carries them and I tend to give them a bunch of my money.
Molson Brewery used to serve the US market with Guinness. It's brewed under license all over the world. I can taste the difference, but it's not so far off as to be an issue. Given the choice, I'll take the stuff produced in Dublin.
Baked beans in the US are good, but there are times when I must have the ones out of the can with the blue label. It seems like everything in US shops, no matter the brand, is tangy where the Heinz is less so which makes them taste sweeter. Breakfast food!
I make and can my own beans at home for the most part in a few varieties, though none with bacon. I reserve the bacon I get for enjoyment not crowded with all of the stuff in the bean's recipe. I'm going to play some more this year trying to get a good approximation of the Heinz. I do a tangy-sweet BBQ bean recipe and one with smoked/dried jalapeno powder that's a tad spicy (tame with the Guinness as required).
“ The last multi-pack of Heinz beans I got (in the US) has me rationing them for special occasions. Yes, special occasions. No longer can a random craving for beans on toast be satiated without thinking.”
In the UK, a large can of Marks and Spencer own brand, much preferable to Heinz, was 45p. So what are you paying?
We are already doing this. If you are in America and have an item with an origin country of China, HK and Macau we will warn you that there will be tariffs added at checkout.
That's pretty cool actually. As it's 'we' doing this, I'm assuming you know what percentage is added to the customer's bill? Do share..
No bad reactions, but don't think Tango would buy from us anyway.
Tango was a fictional detective in a 1989 movie, so I wouldn't expect him to be shopping with you. Other customers might have a bad reaction, if they realise it's just being used as an excuse to jack prices up.
The Term Banana Republic comes from the United Fruit company, where a Powerful Company got someone senior into office and started murdering people with US Weapons for Private Profit.
https://www.biggerlifeadventures.com/chiquita-bananas-cia-funded-coups-and-colombian-hit-squads/
1954 was 71 years ago, and this could have written about Ukraine of 2014 with the resulting fallout now. Face facts, not a democracy, has different legal systems depending on the Race of Victim and Perpetrator ( admittedly restricted to Native American Tribal lands, but still it's a thing), openly fascistic with deeply propagandised population with the worlds most well funded propaganda apparatus being Hollywood's Military connections.
https://www.npr.org/2024/02/20/1232366074/fentanyl-tribes-prosecute-drug-cases-non-indian-suspects https://themeliorist.ca/2022/11/27/killing-them-softly-war-propaganda/
The multinational United Fruit Company, which later became known as Chiquita Brands International, was involved in a controversial operation to overthrow the Guatemalan government in 1954 with the help of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
In the early 20th century, the United Fruit Company had significant economic and political power in Central America, where it controlled large swaths of land and employed thousands of workers. The company’s influence extended to the Guatemalan government, which was friendly to U.S. interests and supportive of United Fruit’s operations.
However, in the 1940s and 1950s, a social reform movement emerged in Guatemala that sought to redistribute land and wealth, improve workers’ rights, and challenge the dominance of foreign corporations like United Fruit. The movement was led by President Jacobo Árbenz, who was elected in 1950 and implemented land reform policies that threatened the interests of United Fruit.
In response, United Fruit lobbied the U.S. government to take action against Árbenz, arguing that his government was Communist and posed a threat to U.S. interests in the region. The CIA was tasked with carrying out a covert operation to overthrow Árbenz and install a government more friendly to American interests.
The CIA operation, known as Operation PBSUCCESS, involved a propaganda campaign to discredit Árbenz and financial support for a rebel army led by a former Guatemalan military officer named Carlos Castillo Armas. United Fruit played a key role in the operation, providing logistical support, intelligence, and lobbying efforts in Washington.
In 1954, the CIA-backed rebels launched a successful coup against Árbenz, who was forced to flee the country. Castillo Armas was installed as the new president, and the U.S. government recognized his government as legitimate.
The coup had devastating consequences for Guatemala, as it led to decades of political instability, repression, and violence. The new government reversed many of Árbenz’s reforms and cracked down on political dissidents and labor activists. The legacy of the coup continues to shape Guatemalan politics and society to this day.
The United Fruit Company’s involvement in the coup, along with the U.S. government’s role in supporting it, has been widely criticized as a violation of international law and an example of U.S. imperialism in the region. It has also raised questions about the responsibility of corporations like United Fruit for contributing to political instability and human rights abuses in the countries where they operate.
https://www.biggerlifeadventures.com/chiquita-bananas-cia-funded-coups-and-colombian-hit-squads/
... for all authoritarian governments. In Washington state, we can neither see a breakout of our Climate Commitment Act fees charged for each product. Nor can we audit the program to see exactly where the funds are going. Or if they got there.
I just finished re-watching Chernobyl. This line came to mind:
"But it is my experience that when the people ask questions that are not in their own best interest, they should simply be told to keep their minds on their labor and leave matters of the State to the State." - Zharkov
They all do it.
Sure. More UK content:
Blair has his head so far up his ass he is beginning to look like Trump.
What is with sad sack British leaders wanting to emulate their Merkin counterparts?
Remember when George Michael made that precious video of Tony blowing George; and then a hookup-sting against Mr Michael.
Does the UK want to be the US, or what?
Thankfully Canada just voted against tyranny. You are welcome, please keep up.
I remember when this was an apolitical (mostly) British tech site. Now it's becoming a California leftist bash Trump site. How about we get back to Britspeak about tech issues? Bring the COLOUR back to the site!
Yep. I'm thinking it might be time for a rebrand. Replace the vulture with a donkey. Cynic that I am though, I wonder if it's just a way to drive 'engagement'. The political articles seem to generate a lot more clicks and impressions than the straight tech ones, so more money from advertisers. Damn the content, serve the clickbait..
Who's bashing Trump - He's the first honest US President and is dedicated to continuing Biden's policies. What's not to love for a supporter of Genocide, who love to go back to pretending the extraction of 2% of GDP in Tribute is some alliance.
The US used to do evil stuff and say "We couldn't comment on matters of National Security" now, they do evil stuff, and openly advocate it. The difference is merely optics, not reality.
The World cannot tell the difference between Biden, Obama, Trump, Bush, Regan, Clinton. They are externally the same dishonest people involved in the mass slaughter of innocents in pursuit of Colonial Domination.
Trump is willing to Publish his threats online, while usually this takes place in more polite circles but the messaging and manner are much the same. Trump is exceptional in that, he enjoys embarrassing his
vassals, revelling in their subservience to his venality. The others are well advised to not undercut the Vassals public status, preferring to instead commit acts of Ecological and Economic Terrorism, and then bill us for the privilege. https://seymourhersh.substack.com/p/how-america-took-out-the-nord-stream
"I remember when this was an apolitical (mostly) British tech site."
And now it's an amalgam of people from many different places that can spot the Monty Python, Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett references that might also work in the tech industry (or used to, in my case).
It's important to have a broad interest in the doings of the world. I could bang on all day long about my approach to selecting passive electronic components for high quality audio circuits, but I think all but one or two people would be yawing almost immediately. Where those components come from and how badly the politicians are screwing up my cheap access to them is a bigger issue that more are going to get onboard with.
When I heard this was happening I thought about time americans see the harsh reality of a trump presidency. Then Amazon U-turned on it! What a shame!!!! Maybe Jeff Bezos and co should do this, it would open americans eyes to the shower of s*** coming out of the white house right now
What would it take for Amazon to move to the EU? I mean that seriously. Granted, the EU has a lot of rules, which don't always make sense.
Lawyers, and Amazon has those. Plus many of it's EU transactions are already routed via Amazon sarl, which is based in Luxembourg, and is a convenient tax haven.. So Amazon's presence there (along with a lot of other businesses) is often just a nameplate. It's the EU's version of Delaware corporations. But the EU has been cracking down (or trying to) on artificial structures created purely to avoid tax. So transactions now get taxed at point of sale, which made life more complicated for smaller online sellers.
But it wouldn't help Amazon avoid tariffs given they're applied when goods land in the US, and based on country of origin. So Amazon couldn't re-route cargo to an EU freeport, then re-export to the US. I think it might be possible to ship to a bonded facility and park cargo there in the hope tariffs change. There would be fees for storage though, and Amazon imports a lot of tat.
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