Parsad

I have no problem with these threads...people want to talk about it, and as long as most people are civil, I think they serve a purpose. At some point though, I do lock them and we are nearly at that point. Have at it till midnight! Cheers!

Been there, done that! Ended up with Buddha kicking Jesus in the nuts, while Allah sat on a bean bag chair and laughed his ass off. The Pope was busy on the internet looking up "Dakota Fanning", Krishana was cooking a steak, and five rabbis were kvetching in the kitchen about how they didn't have any good mustard for their corn beef and rye sandwiches! Cheers!

Agreed! I think everyone has vented enough for whatever it's worth. Feel free to vent until midnight PST. I will lock it thereafter. Cheers!

Assume you are correct on all points...even though hundreds of thousands of protesters disagree with you, including a number of Republican party members, supporters and well-known Conservatives. You are telling me that this President's conduct so far, his compulsive tweeting, choice of words when characterising those that disagree with him, and the ridiculously inane and incompetent way he has executed this travel ban, doesn't worry you in the slightest? Top brass at the borders, Department of Homeland Security, foreign embassies, travel bureaus, you name it...had no idea what this ban meant and how to enforce it. Citizens, green card holders, children, etc were held at borders or denied entry. This was a major f**k up. Sears executes their retail business with more competency! Cheers! George Bush, Obama and Hillary's State Department bomb and kill thousands of Muslims with unprecedented drone strikes, destroy entire countries, slaughter people in Iraq, create starvation in Yemen, and create this entire refugee crisis to begin with, and yet I don't recall any mass protests about that . . . But now your main worry is about how a travel ban was implemented. Do you not see that perhaps your moral compass is a little askew? There were mass protests against the Iraq war. Secondly, how do you know Parsad wasn't bothered by all those wars and bombs? Correct! I was one of the few people who disagreed with going into Iraq...feel free to go back and look at old posts on the Motley Fool BRK Board. Almost no one wanted to say anything about it then. I had no problem with Afghanistan after 9/11, but I said going to Iraq was going to be a mistake. I've had alot of issues with U.S. policy in the Middle East over the last 15 years, and Trump isn't about to make it better...it's just that he's also finally making it worse at home as well! Cheers!

Assume you are correct on all points...even though hundreds of thousands of protesters disagree with you, including a number of Republican party members, supporters and well-known Conservatives. You are telling me that this President's conduct so far, his compulsive tweeting, choice of words when characterising those that disagree with him, and the ridiculously inane and incompetent way he has executed this travel ban, doesn't worry you in the slightest? Top brass at the borders, Department of Homeland Security, foreign embassies, travel bureaus, you name it...had no idea what this ban meant and how to enforce it. Citizens, green card holders, children, etc were held at borders or denied entry. This was a major f**k up. Sears executes their retail business with more competency! Cheers!

@No_free_lunch Finally some interesting news, Trump fired Acting Attorney General Sally Yate @ DOJ. Cheers! Because she wouldn't defend the travel ban. Cheers!

No one is saying that the U.S. is bad. People are saying that some of the governing President's actions and behaviors are bad, and they don't represent all of the qualities and values that make people want to clamour and fight to live in the U.S. Cheers!

What are the chances of being killed by an AR-15? I don't know, but 49 people were killed by an AR-15 in one night last year at Pulse nightclub. That's a lot more than were killed by refugees all year. Cheers!

Chances of being killed by a refugee: http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/30/politics/immigration-stats-by-the-numbers-trnd/index.html Cheers!

The way I distinguish between the two is that a "terrorist" attack is a broad attack against a country's entire population and ideology...not a specific group. A "hate" crime is a narrow attack against a very specific subsection/group of a country's population. Cheers!

More inclined to entrust him into the gentle care of the men in red serge. People are dead, & one of the gunmen turned him/her self in right after the shooting; implying that he/she was coerced. Perhaps a conversation that needs to happen. SD This wasn't a terrorist attack, but a hate crime. The shooter is French-Canadian and killed six innocent Muslim mosque parishioners. But of course, Spicer jumped on this before this came to light and used it to support Trump's policies. Cheers!

I respect Trump for this change today. He's not a thoughtful guy, so everyone should expect many mistakes from him in one of the most complicated jobs in the world. But in this case, he could have remained rigid and let the courts fight about it for months. Instead, he recognized the mistake and wasn't to proud to correct it. That's much more than I expected from him. Well done, Trump. Just a few hours earlier, Spicer was not apologetic about this at all on "Meet the Press". Whether it's a Liberal leader like Obama or a right-wing conservative like Trump...such ineptitude in how they planned and executed this whole thing simply was stupid! When you are blind because of your ideology (Liberal or Conservative) you are going to make stupid decisions. This was simply just an idiotic, xenophobic idea, supported by very poor execution. Not some grand observance that they mistakenly included "green card holders". The original intent was obviously to include them. Early on, I viewed this administration as something akin to the "Abbott & Costello" of politics and governance. Funny, very disrespectful, but harmless to the U.S. and world at large. Might even create some positive changes in business. I was wrong! When you get this type of blind faith in a world view, combined with executive choices with unintended consequences, you have a very dangerous man. The leash gets shorter and shorter every day! Cheers!

The headline should be: "Buffett attacks his self-created strawman." I've never met a serious person who is against legal immigration. Well, the new executive order on travel restrictions also includes green card holders for now. So those that have already gone through the legal immigration vetting process are now being held at gates and borders. Cheers! "...for now." A temporary measure until vetting system is put in place. Unfair you say? Remember, Obama did the same with Iraq refugees in 2011. Media outrage at the time = zero. http://thefederalist.com/2015/11/18/the-obama-administration-stopped-processing-iraq-refugee-requests-for-6-months-in-2011/ Obama didn't ban green card holders, so your point is irrelevant. Too bad this guy didn't have a green card. From 2011: "One Iraqi who had aided American troops was assassinated before his refugee application could be processed, because of the immigration delays, two U.S. officials said." Media outrage then, zero. Media today, hair-on-fire. And Trump's policies would have sped this up? Cheers!

it would allow trump to say that mexico is paying for it. which, i think, is all that he cares about. I think you will see some serious inflation either over the next four years, or in the ensuing years as a result of some of the policies that are going to be implemented. Alot of cash is going to flow into assets over the next few years from reduced taxes, repatriation, etc. Combine this with tariffs on imported goods, increasing national debt due to a lack of tax revenue and increased infrastructure expenditure, and you could see hyper-inflation at some point. Cheers! How does it result in inflation? How are Trumps policies different from Japan's. If inflation can be controlled through fiscal policy then why is the global economy stuck in the current funk. Trumps policies will strengthen the USD but I fail to see how inflation occurs. Thoughts? If corporate tax rates drop from 35% to 15% as he plans, where do you think that money is going to go? There is nearly $2T of offshore money...if he provides the one-time tax penalty of 10% and even half of that is repatriated back, where is it going to go? Currently, you have Ford, GM, Softbank and Carrier guaranteeing keeping jobs, adding jobs or investing capital into the U.S. under nominal pressure...where is it going to go? You are going to have enormous amounts of new capital chasing the same assets, including institutions, pension funds, private equity firms, hedge funds and family offices that are already reaching for yield. Combine that with increased debt from infrastructure spending and a reduction in corporate tax revenues...there is a reasonable chance you will see U.S. debt/GDP continue to increase. Massive amounts of capital chasing the same assets or businesses, combined with the U.S. supporting the dollar with higher rates as debt increases, means you could see substantial inflation long-term if tax revenues don't increase. Cheers!

You're correct. O'Leary is nothing like Trump...he even made that distinction almost immediately. Even he wanted to make clear...uh no, I'm not that guy! Cheers!

The headline should be: "Buffett attacks his self-created strawman." I've never met a serious person who is against legal immigration. Well, the new executive order on travel restrictions also includes green card holders for now. So those that have already gone through the legal immigration vetting process are now being held at gates and borders. Cheers!

I can't speak for all of Canada, BC or even Vancouver. What I can tell you is that all my cousins and their children, as well as my brother and sister-in-law, and myself, have it better than my parents or their parents did. We all have better and nicer homes, multiple cars, better jobs, better access to food, better healthcare, more technological resources, better access to information, etc. There are two significant areas that are different...yes, housing is expensive and elementary/high schools are more crowded. I'm sure people could find other differences given enough time and thought, but there is no denying that quality of life overall is as good or better than previous generations. And this isn't true only for them. Most of their friends, my friends, and associates are much better. Like every generation, there will be a different set of challenges...but that's part of life. The number and acceptance of blended marriages/relationships is something that wasn't even totally acceptable just one generation ago. Today, in my family and extended family alone, we are essentially a United Nations coalition! This would have had challenges in my mother and father's generation, and would not have been acceptable in my grandparent's generation. There are always going to be people who look at the glass as half-empty...these are the Trumps of the world. There have been a number of stories in Vancouver about refugee families who have come here...muslim and non-muslim. Some of their experiences resonated with what my father, mother and their families went through as immigrant families. I watched with repulsion...a very, deep sickening feeling...as Donald Trump banned immigrants/refugees from several pre-dominantly muslim countries. Yet, he will speed up the process of Christian refugees attempting to emigrate to the United States. Blatant religious persecution...they have become their enemy. I cannot imagine Canada ever becoming a melting-pot like the United States, rather than the multi-cultural nation it is. For much of my life, and I think many Canadians have felt this way...that their country always played second-fiddle or was lacking relative to the United States. I don't think Canadians feel that way anymore! Cheers!

Buffett on immigration...but what does he know...not like he's given this much thought! Cheers! https://finance.yahoo.com/news/buffett-what-i-tell-people-who-are-anti-immigration-224409573.html

it would allow trump to say that mexico is paying for it. which, i think, is all that he cares about. I think you will see some serious inflation either over the next four years, or in the ensuing years as a result of some of the policies that are going to be implemented. Alot of cash is going to flow into assets over the next few years from reduced taxes, repatriation, etc. Combine this with tariffs on imported goods, increasing national debt due to a lack of tax revenue and increased infrastructure expenditure, and you could see hyper-inflation at some point. Cheers!

Eloquently put! Cheers!

How many people were hurt, had their rights infringed, or were killed in 2015 or 2016 by these illegals? Compare that number to how many were hurt, had their rights infringed, or were killed in 2015 or 2016 by guns? Restricting illegals or firearms...which would have more impact on the safety, livelihood and freedoms of Americans? I'm also guessing restrictions on firearms would be far cheaper than the $25B that is going to be spent on a wall! Cheers!

Haha! That's hilarious! Don't tell anyone, otherwise Trump's going to build a wall along Canada's border, and make us pay for it!

Cardboard, have you been to China in the last few years? It's nothing like you are saying or imagining. They've embraced capitalism in such a way, that it would make Adam Smith blush. I saw as many people suffering there, as I do in Canada or the United States...and the prosperity was equal as well. In terms of the deception, control, restriction of freedoms and rights, etc, it's probably no better or worse than any Western democracy. I would say that such behavior will become part of this new U.S. administration rather quickly as well...both driving the capitalist engine and censoring the press, freedoms, rights and deception is already part of their manifesto. Cheers! Sunrider, I did not mean to offend yours or anyone else's sensibilities, especially your experiences. My point was that China today, contrary to Western opinion, isn't the same Communist regime as history, or your past experience, remembers. Any government, when given too much power, can infringe on the people's rights...even one that espouses democracy. India is a democracy...that doesn't mean people have it better than they do in China presently. Doesn't mean corruption isn't as rampant, or property rights aren't trampled. I think we all know that Germany was a republic at one time. But changes in ideology take hold due to economic circumstances...we are witnessing something similar, hopefully to a far lesser degree, globally. The only way to protect a democracy is to never let that type of ideology take hold. Once half the population starts to buy the propaganda, the half truths, alternative facts...well, you have a problem. Again, I am not discounting your experiences or anyone else's under a communist regime. I'm just saying what I witnessed in China, and only as a visiting tourist, was not completely accurate based on everything we read here. Cheers!

+1. Criticize the things he does, not the things you dream up in your imagination that he might do. I'm sure he's going to do a ton of things which I will absolutely hate, but on day two: so far so good. He's continuing the drone war which I am not happy about, but Hillary would have done that as well. He signed a few executive orders which I think don't go anywhere near far enough (defunding foreign aid for abortions, for example. I'd like to see all foreign aid eliminated), but small steps in the right direction are still steps in the right direction. I wouldn't expect to agree with almost anything Hillary did. I agree...in terms of business and the economy, so far so good. I just wish he would worry about that more than how he is portrayed, or crowd size, etc. I'm also terribly worried that this administration will take women's rights backwards a couple of decades. I don't have any children of my own, but I do have cousins and nieces in the U.S. We will watch and see! Cheers!

Yes, when presented as "alternative facts"! ;D Cheers!