Originally about tariffs and watches ... now just political rambling

Posts
21,859
Likes
49,587
Could this forum suck any worse? Come on guys! Why this thread has gotten the oxygen it has sucked out of this forum, I will never know! I come here because I want to get away from all of the political garbage out there. I want to talk about and learn more about Omega watches…and watches in general. I wish you guys would put this much passion into the other threads. Are the moderators asleep at the switch? WTF?
Now the hissing can commence!
Feel free to start your own thread about watches, I'm sure many members will be happy to contribute. And ignore this one.
 
Posts
28,124
Likes
71,901
Feel free to start your own thread about watches, I'm sure many members will be happy to contribute. And ignore this one.
It’s always interesting when someone gives oxygen to a thread by coming into it and complaining that it’s sucking out all the oxygen…
 
Posts
3,241
Likes
6,532
Could this forum suck any worse? Come on guys! Why this thread has gotten the oxygen it has sucked out of this forum, I will never know! I come here because I want to get away from all of the political garbage out there. I want to talk about and learn more about Omega watches…and watches in general. I wish you guys would put this much passion into the other threads. Are the moderators asleep at the switch? WTF?
Now the hissing can commence!

In many ways, I find it refreshing. I have the opposite experience- that almost all of the political conversation elsewhere on the Internet is garbage, and there is a refreshing amount of thought and respect to many of the comments here. Not to mention, I've gotten to know so many of these people in a way that means I actually have respect for them as individuals. Generally, that's not something that's present on social media sites like Reddit or Twitter. Really only a few posters have followed the Circa 2025 internet standard for approaching this conversation.

That said- I totally understand why you don't like it, so make sure to unfollow.

 
Posts
12,806
Likes
17,432
Yep, that's happening as well. Countries around the world are aggressively recruiting American talent. For generations, the talent came to the US following opportunities ... now it is starting to leave.
Because Trump loves the uneducated.

And the educated are finding better opportunities.

Making America Great Again?
gatorcpa
 
Posts
2,201
Likes
2,666
Could this forum suck any worse? Come on guys! Why this thread has gotten the oxygen it has sucked out of this forum, I will never know! I come here because I want to get away from all of the political garbage out there. I want to talk about and learn more about Omega watches…and watches in general. I wish you guys would put this much passion into the other threads. Are the moderators asleep at the switch? WTF?
Now the hissing can commence!
I’d personally prefer not to have political topics at all. But with the tariff policies and other current events, removing them would mean deleting a significant portion of member posts, which is far from ideal.

People are clearly fired up about this, as it directly impacts their hobby. Letting members speak their minds and hoping they don’t tear each other apart felt like the lesser of two evils. We'll happily listen to any ideas on how to handle things better.
 
Posts
3,422
Likes
22,792
Back to Tariffs: Agent Orange just ordered 100 % Tariffs on foreign Movies. That will improve the life of his Followers. Brilliant Move !

I'd love to see the workflow for this one. It's true that production costs have sent lots of work overseas, making it tough for below the line crew in LA, NYC, Atlanta, etc.

But, it's American studios choosing to film abroad. So, what's the operation here if they're using tariffs? Wait for the movie to be done, assess if too high a % of the movie was made overseas (not sure how do that math, exactly), and then charge the company 2X their production costs to release it?

Y'all, my head hurts.

Edit: ok, I took some acetaminophen and thought about this more and regret doing so: tariffs are handled by customs. There's no mechanism for customs to process digital files being sent to a distribution platform. Am I losing my mind or is there no way to address the issue of foreign films with a tariff?

American friends, what are we doing here? Seriously, can anyone see this latest news and still think this is a 4d chess gambit underway to juice up trade negotiations?
Edited:
 
Posts
2,201
Likes
2,666
...
But boy that Kamala gave some really bad interviews…

::facepalm1::
Isn't it an important part of her role to consistently perform well in interviews and public discourse? Just look at Obama, a clear example of how much stronger Democratic candidates used to be. If they can’t learn from their mistakes and adapt, they’re doomed to repeat the same failures. I hope they’ve made significant changes and restructuring, because a strong Democratic Party is important for American democracy and the country as a whole.
 
Posts
5,420
Likes
18,906
Could this forum suck any worse? Come on guys! Why this thread has gotten the oxygen it has sucked out of this forum, I will never know! I come here because I want to get away from all of the political garbage out there. I want to talk about and learn more about Omega watches…and watches in general. I wish you guys would put this much passion into the other threads. Are the moderators asleep at the switch? WTF?
Now the hissing can commence!
You're not wrong. I'm guilty of pissing in the pot and it's depressing.

Many of the people here on both sides of the political spectrum have contributed immensely to other threads. It's an indication of how bad things really are now in the outside world.
 
Posts
28,124
Likes
71,901
Isn't it an important part of her role to consistently perform well in interviews and public discourse? Just look at Obama, a clear example of how much stronger Democratic candidates used to be. If they can’t learn from their mistakes and adapt, they’re doomed to repeat the same failures. I hope they’ve made significant changes and restructuring, because a strong Democratic Party is important for American democracy and the country as a whole.
It’s more important (at least in my view) that the US president follows the law and upholds the constitution.

Was she an ideal candidate? No. If you prefer Trump that’s fine…we will agree to disagree on that one.
 
Posts
2,201
Likes
2,666
Was she an ideal candidate? No. If you prefer Trump that’s fine…we will agree to disagree on that one.
I didn't intend to imply that I did.
 
Posts
314
Likes
267
I decided to contribute to this thread from a personal perspective, with watch collecting content to start us off.

I’m Canadian. Thanks to Trump, I have a very lightly used bright red Omega ball cap that I can only wear in my backyard, not in public.

I’m not attending this year’s NAWCC eastern states regional event in upstate New York. For the first time in many years, and even though the event is co-sponsored by the NAWCC Toronto chapter.

I’ve bought vintage watches from US sellers many times. Not now; not a chance.

Since the US leadership started talking about taking over our country, I haven’t bought any US groceries. Haven’t done without anything (thank you, Mexico).

I like the USA, even with its obvious failures compared to most other civilized countries. Take your pick.

This guy is a maniac. If my elderly uncle seriously posted a picture of himself as the next Pope, our family would get him off to a doctor.

The clear evidence that most of the world thinks he’s an idiot (a view shared by uncountable Americans) should tell you folks that something is drastically wrong with your country and needs to be fixed.
 
Posts
28,124
Likes
71,901
Yes. I have friends and colleagues in health care and medical research. The cuts have been arbitrary, devastating, and reckless. Making America great again doesn’t mean adopting practices from the 1800’s…
Former National Weather Service officials are saying that with the deep cuts made to the service across the country, they will no longer to be able to track severe weather events in the same way as they did before. In areas subject to severe storms this puts citizens at risk.

There are a pile of cuts like this that people will only notice when it’s too late…
 
Posts
360
Likes
409
I think it's possible some of the people posting in this thread don't understand just how incredibly damaging the "defund the police" movement was among certain voters. I realize that the reality is largely that it was a fringe portion of the left, and not a Democratic Party ideal, but it was allowed to have way too much voice. There should have been a concerted response from the Democratic Party that encouraged Law and Order and reform. It's my sincere hope that all of us encourage our Representatives along this line of reasoning for the future.
Sorry but your wrong on this. The only people who gave it too much voice was republicans who kept make false accusations of this person or that person wanting to defund the police. Remember when republicans added an amendment to a spending bill withholding federal funds for places that defunded the police as a gotcha for democrats? Every single democrat voted in support of it. Cory Booker was jumping for joy as it was now officially on the record in black and white that they were not for defunding.

In fact it was republican Tim Scott who introduced a bill that would defund police departments that didn't ban choke holds. That bill didn't go anywhere.

Later Tim Scott and Cory Booker spent months working on a bipartisan police reform bill. Scott told Booker the only way to get the bill to pass was to get police support for it. Booker took the bill to two major police orginzations and got their support for it. Suddenly another police orginzation comes out of left field saying they are againt the bill. Scott jumps on this as an excuse to kill the bill. He then goes around saying he did so because the democrats wanted to "defund the police".
 
Posts
360
Likes
409
Former National Weather Service officials are saying that with the deep cuts made to the service across the country, they will no longer to be able to track severe weather events in the same way as they did before. In areas subject to severe storms this puts citizens at risk.

There are a pile of cuts like this that people will only notice when it’s too late…
And the cuts to FEMA will effect the responce when those severe weather events happen. It's a ticking time bomb.
 
Posts
764
Likes
1,419
In areas subject to severe storms this puts citizens at risk.
But from a MAGA point of view, just how many hurricanes have ever developed in the Gulf of America?

[Sorry Al, I seem to be being a prize cockeral in response to more of your posts than anyone else. Absolutely nothing personal.]
 
Posts
3,241
Likes
6,532
Sorry but your wrong on this. The only people who gave it too much voice was republicans who kept make false accusations of this person or that person wanting to defund the police. Remember when republicans added an amendment to a spending bill withholding federal funds for places that defunded the police as a gotcha for democrats? Every single democrat voted in support of it. Cory Booker was jumping for joy as it was now officially on the record in black and white that they were not for defunding.

In fact it was republican Tim Scott who introduced a bill that would defund police departments that didn't ban choke holds. That bill didn't go anywhere.

Later Tim Scott and Cory Booker spent months working on a bipartisan police reform bill. Scott told Booker the only way to get the bill to pass was to get police support for it. Booker took the bill to two major police orginzations and got their support for it. Suddenly another police orginzation comes out of left field saying they are againt the bill. Scott jumps on this as an excuse to kill the bill. He then goes around saying he did so because the democrats wanted to "defund the police".

Glow- I'm not saying it was any major political portion of the democratic party, and essentially you're echoing the greater concern over the whole situation. Both parties amplify minor things to give them major platform; what I am saying is it is/was absolutely the responsibility of the Democratic party to hit back on "defund" and say "hey, we're actually not doing that."

Consider some of the Harris/Walz speeches where they're talking about police/and or gun rights- that's finally a major party candidate giving serious voice to some of these issues. A major voice.

It's, perhaps unfortunately not about bills passed, it's about perception.

I think generally I've been... leaning into this idea that there are definitely groups demanding reason while offering none. If we're consistently seeing concerns that "the left" is defunding the police (even if it isn't true) the answer is absolutely not to allow it to go unaddressed "because it's not true." vocal opposition might have been helpful.

You can tell me I'm wrong, but please consider that it's the middle voters' perceptions- the ones that aren't going to seriously parse for truth but need to see the loud headlines- that both parties should be catering to. I'll hunt down data on my own, as will you, clearly. Quite frankly- FOX is doing one thing exceptionally well, and that's specific and targeted messaging from many of their... hosts, anchors, and reporters.
 
Posts
17,785
Likes
26,954
Finally a thread about politics
Don’t think I’ll contribute
Tis obvious my views if you know me.
 
Posts
2,058
Likes
8,091
Could this forum suck any worse? Come on guys! Why this thread has gotten the oxygen it has sucked out of this forum, I will never know! I come here because I want to get away from all of the political garbage out there. I want to talk about and learn more about Omega watches…and watches in general. I wish you guys would put this much passion into the other threads. Are the moderators asleep at the switch? WTF?
Now the hissing can commence!
You joined less than three weeks ago.

If you don’t like the thread, don’t read it.

I appreciate the discourse.
Edited:
 
Posts
360
Likes
409
Glow- I'm not saying it was any major political portion of the democratic party, and essentially you're echoing the greater concern over the whole situation. Both parties amplify minor things to give them major platform; what I am saying is it is/was absolutely the responsibility of the Democratic party to hit back on "defund" and say "hey, we're actually not doing that."

Consider some of the Harris/Walz speeches where they're talking about police/and or gun rights- that's finally a major party candidate giving serious voice to some of these issues. A major voice.

It's, perhaps unfortunately not about bills passed, it's about perception.

I think generally I've been... leaning into this idea that there are definitely groups demanding reason while offering none. If we're consistently seeing concerns that "the left" is defunding the police (even if it isn't true) the answer is absolutely not to allow it to go unaddressed "because it's not true." vocal opposition might have been helpful.

You can tell me I'm wrong, but please consider that it's the middle voters' perceptions- the ones that aren't going to seriously parse for truth but need to see the loud headlines- that both parties should be catering to. I'll hunt down data on my own, as will you, clearly. Quite frankly- FOX is doing one thing exceptionally well, and that's specific and targeted messaging from many of their... hosts, anchors, and reporters.
Plenty of them did hit back but after a while it just becomes a game of wack a mole with things getting spun or outright lies.
Examples here https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/23/politics/fact-check-defund-the-police-ads-2022-midterms
Unfortunately the denials never get the same attention as the accusations. You risk always being on the defense and losing opportunities to get your message out.