Personal Finance Topics / Macroeconomic Trends and Risks
No. of Recommendations: 7
...dictator, with delusions of God-hood
On the way home from the post office, stopped at Tim's for lunch. They had the TV going in the dining room, with the tail end of the discussion of this afternoon's presser.
They mentioned this bit, and I fell over laffing.
Trump claims America ‘won’ against Iran and will charge tolls in the Strait of Hormuz: Live updates
President Trump said he believes God supports the war with Iran and suggested he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize
President Donald Trump asserted the U.S. would charge a toll for passage through the Strait of Hormuz because it had “won” the war in Iran, despite his threats to continue bombing the country’s infrastructure if they do not reach a deal soon.
“Why shouldn’t we? We won,” Trump said of the toll-charging “concept” during Monday’s press conference.https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/...The bullying. The extortion. The self-entitlement. Just like the "JCs" at the pump seal company.
They were saying it out loud, at the convention in the summer of 24 "energy domination". And Trump the Conqueror has the full military might of the US to back up his attempt to monopolize the oil market.
Steve
No. of Recommendations: 2
President Donald Trump asserted the U.S. would charge a toll for passage through the Strait of Hormuz because it had “won” the war in Iran, despite his threats to continue bombing the country’s infrastructure if they do not reach a deal soon.
Gee, I wonder where he got the toll idea? </sarcasm>
But seriously, how exactly is HE going to get anyone to pay?
No. of Recommendations: 1
But seriously, how exactly is HE going to get anyone to pay?
Hold them at gunpoint, like a common highwayman? How does Iran enforce it's tolls?
Steve...he is the Pirate King
No. of Recommendations: 0
Hold them at gunpoint, like a common highwayman? How does Iran enforce it's tolls?
I'd guess they do it by first making the blanket statement that any ship that hasn't paid the toll will get bombed/mined/fired-upon/droned. Surely all the ships passing through the strait are radar and radio monitored? Though that would imply that Iran still has that capability, which I'd bet they still do: Trump hasn't bombed them back to the "stone ages" quite yet.
Unless the U.S. does indeed start threatening any transiting ships with attack as well, I see no other way. Oops - other than increased tariffs on the parent country!
No. of Recommendations: 1
...dictator, with delusions of God-hood
Rec for the TOS reference. :-)
(Even if it was a Klingon saying it.)
No. of Recommendations: 2
Rec for the TOS reference. :-)
Nice. I didn't catch that reference! Had to find the original longer, more descriptive quote:
Korax: Though... I just remembered. There is one Earth man who doesn't remind me of a Regulan bloodworm. That's Kirk. A Regulan bloodworm is soft, and shapeless. But Kirk isn't soft. Kirk may be a swaggering, overbearing, tin-plated dictator with delusions of godhood. But he's not soft.
Trump, however, is extremely soft. And pasty. And fat. A far cry from Captain James Tiberius Kirk!
No. of Recommendations: 1
Though that would imply that Iran still has that capability,
There is always the Mk I eyeball.
What Iran may lack, but the US has, is a deepwater Navy to chase down and seize ships that don't pay the toll....more money in the Pirate King's pockets.
Steve
No. of Recommendations: 12
Hold them at gunpoint, like a common highwayman? How does Iran enforce it's tolls?
They’ve set up a virtual tollbooth…. And an exit pathway that takes ships directly past the “tollbooth” (an Iranian island in the gulf, just inside the strait).
Ships are ordered to follow the path directly to the island, and after the ship’s identity is verified and the electronic transmission of the toll is received, they are allowed to leave. Failure to comply with all instructions may result in a bad hair day for the ship.
Currently, there are no American warships in the gulf. Too dangerous…. Not only from missiles and drones, but also mines.
Pete Hegseth, in his infinite wisdom, didn’t think to include minesweepers in his plans for the day after hostilities started. In fact, he decommissioned the only four minesweepers that were stationed in the Persian Gulf- last year. Now he’s trying to play catch up.
Between them, our “allies” have 150 minesweepers. Trump said today that he didn’t need any help, not that he would have received it.
NATO is a DEFENSE PACT. It wasn’t designed to be invoked by a partner nation deciding to attack another nation.
Nope. Trump is stuck… with no good options
No. of Recommendations: 6
In fact, he decommissioned the only four minesweepers that were stationed in the Persian Gulf- last year.
Between them, our “allies” have 150 minesweepers. Trump said today that he didn’t need any help, not that he would have received it.The British Navy pulled it's last minesweeper out of the Gulf only a few months ago too.
Royal Navy's last Gulf minesweeper brought home days before Iran 'mined Hormuz shipping lane'
Battered and unseaworthy, HMS Middleton was dragged by tugs into Portsmouth naval base on Sunday.
The Hunt class mine countermeasures vessel (MCMV) returned to the home of the Royal Navy on March 8 after being brought back from the Gulf by a heavy-lift ship.https://www.msn.com/en-in/news/world/royal-navy-s-...It's almost as if Trump the Conqueror waited until all the minesweepers were removed from the Gulf, before giving Iran a motive to mine the Gulf.
Steve
No. of Recommendations: 2
It's almost as if Trump the Conqueror waited until all the minesweepers were removed from the Gulf, before giving Iran a motive to mine the Gulf.
Must be 4-D chess...
No. of Recommendations: 1
Must be 4-D chess...
Start adding it up:
-ordering increased production of interceptor missiles, last year.
-increasing the FY 2027 military budget by enough to fund the Iran war for a year, in early January.
-pulling all the mine sweepers out of the Gulf, months before the war.
-knocking over Venezuela, a month before the war, so the US can control/profiteer off Venezuelan production.
Anyone *really* think this is all a coincidence?
They said it out loud, at the convention in summer of 2024: "energy domination".
Steve
