Politics Japan and Trump 2.0

A very interesting analysis of the 'deal' Trump is steering by two very experienced, retired politicians.Their conclusion is that Trump essentially doesn't care about Ukrainian sovereignty, he's increasingly siding with Putin. European leaders could see this coming which is why they high-tailed it to the White House to try and quash Trump's ideas.

 
A very interesting analysis of the 'deal' Trump is steering by two very experienced, retired politicians.Their conclusion is that Trump essentially doesn't care about Ukrainian sovereignty, he's increasingly siding with Putin. European leaders could see this coming which is why they high-tailed it to the White House to try and quash Trump's ideas.


In other words, no change.
 
Rory Stewart is an interesting person.

Stewart was on a political comedy panel show once ('Have I Got News for You', yes we have those in Britain) when editor of 'Private Eye', a satirical political publication and thorn in the side of slimey politicians, Ian Hislop, began quizzing Rory. He asked if was true that Rory had recently locked himself out of his 11th floor office in a tower block. "Yes" he replied with that toothy grin of his. He asked if it was true that Rory had been seen by many people in the busy London street scaling up the outside of the tower block in his dress shoes and suit, reach his tiny office window and squeeze through it into his office. "Oh well…err…yes, the janitor was busy." replied Rory. Hislop then asked if it was true that he spoke seven languages including Arabic and Afghanistani? "Errr yes I do…where's this going?" <toothy grin> Hislop continued with the statement to the studio audience, that Rory's father was once head of MI6! Then he came out with it, "You were a spy, weren't you, Rory?" "Oh no, no, no I wasn't" as he tried to laugh it off and the studio audience howled with laughter at him being caught out!

Rory Stewart's geeky look and unassuming ordinariness would've made him the perfect spy…
 
To make sure everyone knows https://www.npr.org/2025/08/23/nx-s1-5513936/dhl-parcel-tariffs
This means as I understand even family care packages from Japan to the US will be affected. If you send via Japan Post until March it will be a special high fee per item, it will be 15% like DHL or other carriers starting in March. Of course payment is set by the reciever. https://www.post.japanpost.jp/int/information/2025/0819_01_en.html


 
It seems Trump is doing the sort of thing Putin might do, but in Denmark and with regards to Greenland! 🙄
 
NewUS.webp I for one would love to have dracuella as a fellow citizen , LOL.
 
They call themselves a "British Overseas Territory," close enough in my book. :)
Well, now I know this, I will 'fight them on the beaches', if Trumpty-Trump-Trump tries to invade.

Now Japan Post to the USA has been suspended, because of the abolishment of de minimis tarrif exceptions, will US citizens begin to feel the pinch? It seems Trump's barrage of tariffs have done nothing to upset the US economy regardless of expert's predictions. Or has it?
 
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I've heard that new construction starts are slowing down, but I don't think we'll really start to notice the effects of the tariffs until the Christmas season. The effect of tariffs take some time to wind through the supply chain as old inventory is sold. However by the Christmas season, the effects should be evident, in price as well as supply. Word is that a lot of toy companies specifically are really struggling with the tariffs, as practically all toys are made overseas.
 
Now Japan Post to the USA has been suspended, because of the abolishment of de minimis tarrif exceptions, will US citizens begin to feel the pinch? It seems Trump's barrage of tariffs have done nothing to upset the US economy regardless of expert's predictions. Or has it?
Nothing has really hit the end consumer significantly as far as I can tell. Many were already struggling due to inflation so it's difficult to see tariff's contribution.
Plus he kept delaying the implementation of them so the effects are delayed as well. Also a lot of businesses and maybe some consumers pulled their purchasing forward in anticipation of price increases. So that may be providing a short-term economic boost. (In fact I just bought a new car in part because of uncertainty about the future.) Prices in general are crazy though. Now I empathize with what my parents or grandparents must have felt like when they saw the price of a restaurant meal go from $1 or $2 to $10 or $20. Will a meal cost $200 by the time my kids are elderly?
 
Many of the tariffs are now on shaky ground after today's ruling by the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

We are not addressing whether the President's actions should have been taken as a matter of policy. Nor are we deciding whether IEEPA authorizes any tariffs at all. Ra- ther, the only issue we resolve on appeal is whether the Trafficking Tariffs and Reciprocal Tariffs imposed by the Challenged Executive Orders are authorized by IEEPA. We conclude they are not.

 
It's been a perfect storm in the USA, that has allowed Trump to become elected and then increasingly dictatorial; a combination of poor critical thinking skills on the part of the electorate caused by unsatisfactory education which is partly due to the influence of fundamental Christianity upon education (they don't want you to be able to think otherwise nobody would believe that stuff!). Then there's an economy, increasingly in disarray, in part due to Putin's stupidity in Ukraine and the the residual effects of the pandemic. When some sort of monkey (no offense to my simian cousins) comes along and says he can solve difficult problems in 24 hours, and do 'deals', the now feeble-minded electorate believe it without asking "How?" and vote him an into office. Now he's using his 'gestapo' to intimidate those who oppose him in a manner that is reminiscent of a distant country, at a distant time.

Japan really needs to think about spreading their reliance on the resources to other countries, so no single nation can push them around as the US is, currently. They need to 'diversify their portfolio' which is difficult to achieve and once Trump's regime is dead and buried, and a proper government is back and in charge, Japan mustn't slip back into lazy monocultural trade agreements with the USA.

勝て甲の緒をしめよ (Katte kara kabuto no o wo shime yo - After victory, tighten your helmet straps!)
 
I just hope and pray our "checks and balances" somehow work. This whole nightmare makes it very clear how fragile and easy it is to destroy Democracy. Once the Supreme Court becomes a puppet, it's game over. And there many examples of how it can happen from Hungary to various South Amerian countries.
 
Bummer is that Japan and other countries depend on the US a lot particularly for defence and trade so if US has trouble it can affect Japan and other nations. If US pulled back too much it can embolden China, Russia and others leading to a less peaceful age.
 
Now, Trump's chaotic, unpredictable foreign policies are pushing Eastern countries toward an alliance with China, India especially! 😳
 
The tariff delays have run dry, and as of the 29th, EMS no longer ships to the US.

At least three of my clients are heavily impacted by this stupid policy, and we've had to enact emergency measures. One company is switching to a more expensive courier like DHL, Fedex or Yamato, and increasing our shipping rates for US customers (no other country is impacted by this). Another is trying to ship inventory directly to me for me to run distribution for a while, but we'll still have to pay the tariffs to get the products into the country, and will likely need to pass that on to the customers. A third has stopped shipping to the US altogether for the time being.

GOOD JOB MR. PRESIDENT, ******* idiot.
 
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