Sadly they won't let me on the plane with a 300 win mag, so i guess it's these hands vs baguette/white flag dual wielding.

the problem with your 'argument', dear am-poo, is that i already agreed we probably should be paying more - but i also stated that a fix percentage of GDP target is a very idiotic and american way to go about it since it prioritises a budget goal over achieving strategic requirements. i also criticised that much of the real and perceived threats to NATO stem from america's aggressive world policing and war mongering, hence they should not complain about the financial burden that comes with it. after all, it is THEIR companies (mainly fossil fuel / mining / 'defence') that reap the main benefits of it. again, it's not europe's fault that americans keep electing politicians owned by the industries that push for military conflicts. just consider this: due to our geographical situation and the fact that america just closes its borders, WE have to deal with the waves of immigrants, so where is our compensation for that? i don't see you or any other member of the trump cult complaining about the financial drawbacks of that, and how the lack of american solidarity is endangering our alliance. strange...

you correctly mentioned that this has been a source of conflict and negotiations for quite a while now - and if you were able to see the world a bit more nuanced you'd realise that many, if not most people aren't saying 'but... but trump is wrong, europe shouldn't pay more', but rather that trump's bull in a china shop behaviour is entirely counter-productive and completely inadequate. if you really think that his retarded accusations loaded with falsehoods, lies, propaganda, and the financial interests of his donors are somehow magically solving the issue and stabilising the alliance you're not only mistaken but probably not completely sane anymore. putin is probably celebrating right now about the massive division in our trans-atlantic partnership, and only a complete fool would claim this is europe's fault, that it's europe that has been antagonising america every possible way...

how could an even halfway reasonable person claim the real problem threatening nato is that many european members are somewhat hesitant with their military budget (after all we have populations that are a bit more civilised, we like our healthcare and affordable college, and we don't just support every war), but trump publicly and aggressively attacking his closest allies and questioning nato's relevance is completely fine? i get that uninformed simpletons who grew up in a borderline jingoistic society over there would fall for such narratives, but europeans living in free and enlightened societies? this really is a cult, there is no way around it...

just to clean out the trash of this topic:



so they can fuck off im fine with it.

This post was edited by Saucisson6000 on Jul 12 2018 01:52pm

Is chicken really meat?

This post was edited by Scaly on Jul 12 2018 01:52pm

Inferior meat, but meat all the same. Fish on the other hand, is basically a vegetable.

trying to break into a new market ...with, as you correctly stated in your opening post, a more expensive product...

so what you're saying is that Germany/western europe should pay a higher price for their gas than necessary (by importing the more expensive american LNG instead of cheap russian gas), to further the american geopolitical agenda?
and what you're saying also implies that you want to use state/political interventions into a market to force customers to buy the less competitive product, doesnt it? how does that fit together with the free market doctrine?


----

in the end, both trump and merkel are right on one point and wrong on another one:

trump is right that Germany should spend 2% of its GDP on its - already underfinanced and broken down - military, as agreed upon with the NATO and as is necessary so that Germany carries its weight in the NATO.
merkel is right that Germany is a sovereign country and can and will buy its gas from whoever the fuck it wants.

This post was edited by Black XistenZ on Jul 12 2018 02:27pm

also, lets not forget that the economic sanctions imposed on russia in response to the annexation of crimea are hitting the western european economies a lot harder than the north american ones. same goes for the iran sanctions. merkel has been one of the key players in europe in keeping the sanction regime intact.

so let's not pretend like we are freeloaders through and through - due to these sanctions, Germany (and western europe in general) is already hurting itself economically to promote geostrategic goals. In dealing with Russia and Iran, western europe has already been taking one for the team for years compared to the U.S. and Canada.

This post was edited by Black XistenZ on Jul 12 2018 02:36pm

Just had fish n chips for dinner. Bloody lovely.

I agree with you in some instances. But it really does depend on the fish and how it's cooked/served. Tuna salad? Yea. Tuna steak? No.
I just had a side of haddock and it was very meaty. Super tasty.

This post was edited by Scaly on Jul 12 2018 02:35pm

To be honest im ready to have my country to pay 4% gdp for military, but certainly not with USA@Nato.
The "new and real" world order is to switch between china/russia/usa as a third party and taking advantage of it, end of story.