Interesting stats. Thanks for the link. So much for out energy independence!
Ahhā¦ cannot figure why but glad he didnāt get called it when he was over here last year.
Now here is a video from the worldās best singer ( well second best if you include Rod Stewart) and there is much truth in the lyrics.
If only the world was so simple.
How about we leave the troops were they are, and spend the āsingle digit billionsā itās going to cost to move them and give that to the most in need in the US? This moving of troops is all about baby-man not getting his way and having a woman upstage him.
Trump reality - āGermany not paying itās 2%? Take the troops. Bring them home. Simpleā
The real world - āTake a 1/3 of troops in Germany, half go to the US, the other half go to two European countries spending even less than 2% of GDP on NATO obligations, at the moving cost of only $1-9 BILLION. Move troops, family, infrastructure, civilian workers, not simple.ā
Sound judgement. 
The US needs bases in Europe. Where else would it run itās drone program from, and stage military action into Africa and the ME? German bases arenāt going away completely. But if the troops are moving, theyāre going to Italy or Belgium or Poland.
The US has already drawn down troop levels by almost half since it started in 2006, even doing so while Trump has been in office. (And adding some, too, at Trumpās approval)
file:///C:/Users/Stan/Downloads/chart.pdf
US Exports v Imports. I feel a little betterā¦
Aye - that is good - like i say, itās an open market, mostly the US imports crude - reason is the refineries close to the ports.
Guess where itās exported to ā¦ well the two largest markets are to the North and the South. - thatās good business - the easiest route - keep it simple.
I agree with his sentiments - NATO has committed to the 2% expenditure target, every country should honour this commitment or face consequences.
Whether withdrawing US troops from Germany is the way to achieve this or a good way to achieve something else is a question. Then again, no politician ever did anything that wasnāt also good for themselves in some way so Trump isnāt automatically a villain because of this.
But I fear that less US involvement in global situations, including military, is bad for everyone.
Many years ago i got off the school bus - there were 3 of us, best buddies.
Soon we became cowards, hiding behind a high wall, each looking out for themselves, the notion of friendship long gone.
What happened was that as we got of the bus there were soldiers in armoured cars with machine guns on top - we were amazed at this scene and went to investigate.
The soldiers peeking out of the armour were eating sandwiches and speaking in French, then within minutes they disappeared, hatches drawn to the roar of helicopters and grenades.
Whilst I watched the one thing that struck me - the little holes in the barrel of the machine guns were red hot.
We thought that war had broken out, the soviets had invaded - turned out it was a NATO exercise.
Now, in the 21st century, the soviets are not the threat, the need for US troops in Germany is not what it was when I was a kid - look East and spend your money.
Absolutely. With an agreement for that to happen by 2024.
As for NATO direct spending, a new sharing agreement was published last year. Contributions to NATO would be the same between the US and Germany. Germany spends an additional ā¬33M starting 2021, and US saving something like $120M, each sharing 15-16% each of the total budget.
The 2% GDP expenditure on defense will be even harder to attain in the next few years by member states, because of the pandemic, and the focus on social and stimulus expenses/payments. I know locals donāt want to see the US troops go, but ironically, increasing defense spending isnāt something the majority of Germans are screaming for. But the country knows they must spend.
I recently read that Germany is/has development plans for a quasi-EU army, where itās already integrated military units from various smaller countries into itās own Bundeswehr, and vice versa. I see that happening moreso than Germany growing itās own forces at a crazy rate.
Received this link from a friend. If any of this comes true in the next 6 to 8 months, it will make me ecstatic. Iāve heard similar stuff before and nothing has transpired as predicted, so Iām not holding my breath but Iām forever hopeful.
While researching some of the stuff from the video I posted above, I came across this explosive information. This video was posted to YouTube 2 hours ago! See it before itās taken down.
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If you guys want the US to be the world police force then be prepared to pay for it, I think enough to give all Americans free healthcare is a fair deal.
Also a little support in the UN would be welcome too.
But if you would like to put on your big boy pants and start providing your own security, the average American would love to see all our troops brought home
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I see Lewis Hamilton has joined the BLM
Has no one told him that he drives for Mercedes-Benz ? A company founded on slave labour during WW2 as was the entire German automobile industry.
Did you see the race today ? - He won it with a flat tyre ! - SADLY !
Verstappen was second after he did a tyre change to get the single point for fastest lap - Else he would have won it !
Great race - sadly the fool disowns his own WHITE mother and claims āvictim statusā after nothing but Affirmative action - PLUS a lot of ability - A lot of pwople here in uk have lost all respect for the āmanā.
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Correction, of course Mercedes were founded earlier than WW2, but it was Hitler who wanted domination of motor racing through Auto-Union (now Audi). But the German car industry in general thrived on slave labour.
Yes, I do agree. I understand that a lot of money was put into this boy, to develop his ability.
I know black people who find BLM embarrassingly patronising.
The PC Wokes always screw their own causes up.
Morgan Freeman had the right idea - āThe only way to stop racism, is to stop talking about it.ā
@Falstaff, Huge F1 fan hereā¦ Gave away 7 points to get the 1ā¦ RedBullās Race Engineer should be spankedā¦ Bottas complained of vibration with 3 laps to goā¦ anyone with racing knowledge knows this indicates tire delaminationā¦ Mercās ran too much negative camberā¦ adds gripā¦ and tire degradationā¦
BLM and Lewisā¦ Not a huge fan of LH, but he will no doubt end up being the GOAT of F1 in the next few years and rightly soā¦ did all the hard yards early in his F1 careerā¦ now all just a bit of a cruise for him.
@Johnny1974, The reason that LH is making a scene with this kneeling rubbish at every event is he is looking for a life after F1 in the fashion and music businessesā¦ he is already closely connected with āiconsā in each of these genres. You have to be seen to be on āthat sideā of the political spectrum if you want to raise your value with these people to even be able to move inside their circle.
The F1 Drivers that didnāt kneel (6-7) just donāt want to bring these outside politics into the sportā¦ F1 is political enough for most of themā¦ And they definitely donāt like being told what they should believe by someone who supports such a controversial causeā¦
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Writing āBlack Preborn Lives Matterā With Sidewalk Chalk
Gets Two Pro-Lifers Arrested
But then ā
Washington, D.C.'s Sorry-Excuse-for-a-Mayor Muriel Bowser
gets a message (and a lawsuit) from Students for Life ā
āMayor Bowser, youāre about to get woke on Planned Parenthoodās racist past and present.
Youāre about to get woke on the violence of abortion. Youāre about to get woke on the First Amendment.ā
Hamilton is an idiotic wannabe black. Heās mixed race.
In 2018 when accepting the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award, he said succeeding in F1 had been his dream āto do something different, to get out of the slums.ā He was actually raised in Stevenage. He wouldnāt know a slum if it fell on him.
As for being photographed making gang hand signs, thatās just hypocritical and cynical at the same time.
The only thing in his favour is that heās too dim (or too busy) to know what Black Lives Matter stands for.
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