Australian Atheists Forum

Perhaps we're approaching a breaking point? The tariff chaos is approaching a comedic point, i know that for certain.

Refuse to comply with a supreme court ruling? Well, obviously they'll just say they 'want' to comply but it's out of their hands now.

What next? Tariffs on the supreme court, i'd suggest. Make it 50%...so you only half to half comply, or comply half the time, either or as required. It's just common sense.

pipbarber wrote: ↑Mon Apr 14, 2025 3:16 pmRefuse to comply with a supreme court ruling? Well, obviously they'll just say they 'want' to comply but it's out of their hands now.

This is essentially the test case the Trump Admin is using to determine whether or not the Supreme Court has any power left or can essentially be ignored, whether the Supreme Court realises that or not. If the Supreme Court has ruled against them 9/0, and they can ignore that order, it means they can ignore any future order, the Supreme Court and the nations judiciary has become powerless. The Trump admin can simply let them take it to the Supreme Court if they want, there will be no power left to compel them to obey. It's the final step in rendering the Judicial Branch of the state powerless, it removes that checking power.

Getting boring this, why don't they just send every visitor back on the same plane they arrive on? Just turn it right around and send it back to where it came from, would save a lot of time and effort:

The Australian says he was detained and deported when returning from the memorial in March, despite holding a working visa still valid for more than a year. He has been living on the US east coast for the better part of a decade – where his American partner, apartment, work studio and clients remain.

The US? Just, don't go!

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... d-deported

On the same theme...

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-n ... ps-america

That's March! April will surely be fewer still.

Makes you wonder what businesses in the US that rely on international tourism are thinking.

Anyway the concern would be, with fewer people arriving, the chances of being 'examined' by Trump's immigration goons increases. Canada looks welcoming though.

pipbarber wrote: ↑Tue Apr 15, 2025 7:39 am On the same theme...

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-n ... ps-america

That's March! April will surely be fewer still.

Makes you wonder what businesses in the US that rely on international tourism are thinking.

Anyway the concern would be, with fewer people arriving, the chances of being 'examined' by Trump's immigration goons increases. Canada looks welcoming though.

Adding up the damage caused by Trump unchained: tourism devastated; manufacturing using imported materials hit by tariffs; integrated global supply chains like the car industry hit by tariffs; retailers of imported goods hit by tariffs; inflation-sensitive sectors under pressure; job losses resulting from all of the above; job losses from the DOGE carnage; business competence impaired by the destruction of government services and regulation they depended on; decreases in productivity due to worsening health impacts on workers and their families; further job losses as a recession bites and the chaos feeds on itself. Have I left out any big ones? Probably.

A lot of these effects will not be felt for a few months. I don't have the data or the expertise to quantify the combined effect. I don't think anything like it has ever happened before has it? Is it enough to cause an economic and societal collapse? I can't rule it out. Or is it just my anticipation of an entertaining real-life disaster movie firing up my imagination a bit too much?

What are the chances that any negative impacts will be blamed, not on the Orange Looney but on enemies both external and within. The siege mentality is already rock solid for the MAGA barnacles. In fact any negative impacts might be declared proof of the enemies wicked conspiring.

Are there enough Republican (relative) "moderates" who are game enough to call it out. Any John McCains, (or even a Mitt RomneyI)? I notice that Ben Shapiro, isn't feeling quite so sanguine about the tariff nonsense - (and Ben is hardly a moderate. It'd be hilarious if he were "an enemy within").

I'm with Hanrahan. We'll all be rooned.

Well this is just verging on the loony now, tariffs on, tariffs off, exempt on, exempt off, now a national security investigation into the supply chain. Look big companies go to manufacture where they can make the best profit, he's trying to turn these decisions now into national security threats, next up will be the government taking control over large companies like Nvidia, Apple and Intel and telling them what to do instead of trying to encourage them to do what they want them to do!

The 78-year-old then announced a national security investigation into the electronics supply chain, signalling that the exclusions granted just 48 hours earlier may have been more stopgap than strategy.

“We are taking a look at Semiconductors and the WHOLE ELECTRONICS SUPPLY CHAIN,” he wrote on social media, in characteristic block caps.

The decision to exempt smartphones and computers from his sweeping reciprocal tariffs sparked modest optimism in the tech sector. But Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick clarified on Sunday that those items, along with semiconductors and pharmaceuticals, will be captured under a separate tariff “bucket” in the coming months.

https://www.news.com.au/world/north-ame ... 1d8d11e4e6

Ah yes, that's not authoritarian at all right?

Donald Trump has called for a major US TV network to lose its licence after it aired two news segments he disagreed with.

The US version of 60 Minutes aired an interview with Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday night. On the program, Mr Zelensky invited his US counterpart to visit Ukraine and he suggested that “Russian narratives are prevailing in the US”.

The show also aired a segment talking to Greenlanders about their thoughts on US moves to acquire the island.

“Almost every week, 60 Minutes, which is being sued for Billions of Dollars for the fraud they committed in the 2024 Presidential Election mentions the name “TRUMP” in a derogatory and defamatory way, but this Weekend’s “BROADCAST” tops them all,” Mr Trump said on Truth Social.

Remove their license because they aired articles he disagrees with or doesn't like or talks bad about him, lets see if the FCC kowtows to him and tries to, could be another Supreme Court order for Trump to ignore! This is clearly a constitutional crisis....sorry another constitutional crisis, they seem to be coming about once a week these days.

https://www.news.com.au/world/north-ame ... 3e21a2f58f

Ah yes, that's the way, be like the Germans in WW2, ignore the rise of fascism, we know how well that worked out for everyone!

He says travellers should also work to maintain political "neutrality" before heading to the US.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-04-15/ ... /105124236

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... nistration

A couple of weeks ago, after Colombia Uni caved in to maga madness, i suggested that Harvard were wealthy enough to resist the threat to cut federal funding, but with a long history of churning out republican lawyers/judges and conservative leaning professionals i doubted they'd bother looking for the backbone that was somewhere down in the basement. But i'm happy and surprised to have been proven wrong!

This really is an excellent development. It is resistance at an institutional level. It's also wise because when maga is shamed into non-existence and people start asking 'what did you do to resist,' Harvard have a ready made response.

They are stupidly wealthy though, they may have to dig into their money pot to cover costs, but they've ensured their own long (unless the whole country collapses into a furnace) and profitable future with this, and maybe others will follow. So a tick for Harvard.