The Donald said he was going to do it and now he is.
The Great Wall of the Rio Grande, the Trump Wall will stretch almost 2,000 miles (3,100kms) from the Pacific to the Gulf of Mexico, putting a gleam in the eye of graffiti artists everywhere. Banksy is said to be drooling in anticipation.
The estimated cost of this stunning feat of architecture is anywhere between $10 and $20 billion depending on who you listen to. Construction time is also a bit of a back-of-the-envelope exercise but by the time an exhausted bricklayer slaps the last bit of mortar on it, it is probable Donald Trump will be around 90 years of age.
In centuries to come anthropologists will marvel at it and wonder what far-sighted genius brought it into existence. Maybe even an old shyster like Erich Von Daniken will propose some unlikely theory that the Trump Wall was built by God who arrived by spaceship with the blueprint and a couple of trillion tons of prefabricated concrete.
Full column here.
The office bully, on a world scale. Because he can.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-immigration-chaos-idUSKBN15C0LD
So why not Saudis you big sh*thead?
Language, Mr Baptiste, there are most likely innocents reading this blog. Again my dear dinosaur and relic of the past POTUS Trump is doing what he said he would do to the letter. I know you are likely used to your pollies promising one thing and doing another but on the “Trump Starship” things are done differently. Seize this moment in history my dear fellow to drag yourself into the present and enjoy the “view” along with POTUS Trump and he takes us to new heights of hope, something denied us for so long. Look to the heavens dear chaps that’s where the Stars are!
Syria, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Yemen, Sudan, and Somalia.
Failed, failing states and the State Department’s biggest state sponsor of terrorism.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Fragile_States_Index
https://www.state.gov/j/ct/list/c14151.htm
And this: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Terrorism_Index
Basically, places that don’t have/won’t share good info.
Refugees often come from failed or failing states, Dwight. Let me ask you, what would you say to the Yazidi survivors of Islamic States outrages who until yesterday had been given green cards after being vetted for entry to the US as refugees?
Exactly. And according to the Cato risk-analysis I cited a moment ago, “the chance of an American being murdered in a terrorist attack caused by a refugee is 1 in 3.64 billion per year”. There is simply no rational basis for this order, and the human consequences will be appalling.
The Yazidis are exempted. Trump made that explicit, that persecuted religious minorities were not covered by the bans.
No, that is for subsequent refugee applications, Dwigyt. Yazidis from Iraq will have to wait at least 120 days, visa entry has been cancelled and those from Syria are banned from entry for an indefinite period.
Dwight, I’m a bit confused that Trump hasn’t banned citizens from Saudi Arabia, when you consider that most of the 9/11 terrorists came from there….oh and I think one was from Egypt……not banned either. None were from Syria nor the other 6 “failing” states. Not sure I would call Iran a failed state either.
Could I be cynical and suspect it has more to do with the fact that Trump has business interests in both Saudi Arabia and Egypt?
Already the conflicts of interest begin. The swamp only gets deeper.
JOH, TV, JS and Razor, I really try to keep my feelings about Saudi Arabia on an even keel, but just can’t. They are quite simply loathsome people. However I have to (obviously) rein those feelings in when I have Saudi students. I have taught quite a few both face to face and online and they are actually good people on an individual basis, but are totally and utterly screwed by their government, such as it is and their Wahhabism.
I live in hope that it will come crashing down soon and put them back to where they really belong in the state of the world, but as long as the US, the UK, France etc. keep giving them relevance things won’t change. And I guess if I can ever be called a racist, it’s because of this mob.
Penny,
Do the students you teach seem to understand what is happening in their country or are they too scared to say anything?
Penny, the Saudis have been spreading militant Islam for 3+ decades. The current troubles in Indonesia can be traced back to that bunch of clowns.
The ruling crowd need the religious crowd to give themselves legitimacy. It return of that favour, the petro-dollars are spread liberally in building mosques, funding Islamic schools in all sorts of places and, in doing so, spread the extreme form of Islam , Wahhabism .
The key is “petro-dollars”. If the oil trade suddenly used a different currency, the US would be stuffed.
So the Saudis keep on doing what they have been doing for decades.
As to Egypt, the Russians are hovering and Egypt is one of the last “friends” the US have in the Arab world.
It’s all part of the big-power game that has been going on for the last 3 centuries – morals never come into it.
I guess Trump has been corrupted by the Washington elites already.
Yep, he’s finding out what he can and cannot do. I assume that he must have a good idea before this week too.
JS,
I suspect you are correct but it still sticks in the gut!
Penny,
You could be called cynical by some, for your comments on our beloved Saudis, but as you are well aware I’d consider your comments bloody spot on! Why we carry on and on about terrorism and extreme Islam yet give the country who has the most extreme Islamic culture in the world a free pass is indefensible.
JS, I agree with you totally. Saudi Arabia as far as I am concerned is the very worst example of Islam. And I might add loathed and detested by their so-called brothers in the Arab world. It seems however that they are untouchable, for the very reasons you stated.
cui bono….eeerrrm GOP?
Trump hasn’t banned any citizens from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan or Afghanistan.
http://nypost.com/2017/01/28/trump-left-countries-with-high-terror-risk-off-his-banned-list/
Perhaps he’s suddenly been ‘advised’ who he can mess with & those he, well, can’t.
Has Trump been questioned on this publicly or is it an accepted no-go zone for the media?
Regards, Bella
Not sure if he has been questioned on it Bella but he should be.
Get off the grass Dwight.
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/hillary-clinton-wikileaks-email-isis-saudi-arabia-qatar-us-allies-funding-barack-obama-knew-all-a7362071.html
My question exactly! I sometimes think your conspiracy theories are rubbish. Then other times……….
This is a death sentence for many would-be refugees, and also very sad for all the people separated from families, jobs, houses, studies. And just to assuage the misdirected bloodlust of ignorant AWMs and most importantly of all, piss off the Left. As far a s security goes, utterly pointless:
https://www.cato.org/publications/policy-analysis/terrorism-immigration-risk-analysis
The conclusion: ‘From 1975 through 2015, the average chance of dying in an attack by a foreign-born terrorist on U.S. soil was 1 in 3,609,709 a year … large policy changes like an immigration or tourist moratorium would impose far greater costs than benefits. ‘
John, tolerance and generosity are function of a rich, confident society.
A vast percentage of the US population feel that they are no longer rich, no longer have a prosperous future and indeed fear for their children’s future.
It does not make it right but it explains it.
Blackly funny watching the T-team trying to paint this as the keeping of the promise to ban Muslim migration, while simultaneously insisting it is not a ban on Muslim migration, because that would be unconstitutional.
For Trump himself, this kind of dissonance is way of life and never troubles him. A 1997 New Yorker profile said that Trump “had aspired to and achieved the ultimate luxury, an existence unmolested by the rumbling of a soul”. Some of his hirelings are yet to attain that exalted state and still squirm a little. Amateurs.
As a further demonstration of this, an amusing tale of Trump retweeting made-up tweets attributed to him, because he thought they were so good he must have really said them:
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/06/donald-trump-retweets-fake-donald-trump-quote-making-fun-of-donald-trump/372523/
$$$$
Has Malcolm been hitting the hard stuff again?
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/in-depth/us-politics/trump-signs-new-vetting-measures-to-keep-out-radical-islamic-terrorists/news-story/85067892b45ae95d67a4c78ab40468f3
Ive seen some pictures of the existing Mexican wall. That looks suspiciously like a fence. Will this end up as the Great Fence of Mexico?
Seems like there are many taking great ‘O’ fence at that idea Darren
JTI this caught my eye. “Australia has the highest rate of private incarceration per capita of any country in the world. We imprison more people now than in any time in history.”
Good business this “law and Order” stuff eh??
https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/private-prisons-tisa-and-the-human-services-privatisation-creep,9970
Independent Australia? That site is if not fake news then so horrifically slanted it is unreadable.
Shazaaaam!
JTI. I was looking for you to offer some guidance on the assertion of the incarceration rate? I thought you might have had some information on this?
Australia’s incareceration rate is nowhere near the world leader, the US, although the rate in the NT is higher than the US average.
Oh and I read numerous sites to get different viewpoints due to Newscorp becoming the mouthpiece for the conservative group think outrage society. The Australian no longer offers Australians a balanced analysis. You may not like people saying it but that has become the case.
That is your perception. I work for the company and can only repeat what I have said many times before. I am not told what to right about let alone what particular emphasis or slant I should attach to my articles. You may not like to gear that but it’s a fact and has been in my case for almost ten years.
JTI I was not referring to your writings, your work. I am actually surprised you have this long without being “counselled” MegaG moved on and Peter Brent gone ( I think I saw an article from him on the independent site) who I believe were down the middle and called it like they see it. Your work is also of a different class to that which is propagated daily in the Australian. It is a great shame the publication has been turned into a mouthpiece instead of presenting information for people to consume and decide for themselves.
Spot on Jack.
Out of inquisitiveness I had a look at the article Dismayed linked. A ridiculous grab bag of mixed metaphors. I doubt he reads past the headline. The lead comment he quotes says it all, two unrelated pieces of information combined to create one monumental misrepresentation. Since when did the amount of “private incarceration” have anything to do with how many people are imprisoned?
Have the privateers got press gangs rounding up innocents to lock up out of view of th unsuspecting public? Maybe he should go watch Soylent Green, and find out where all those disappearing bodies end up. Pure fiction of course.
John Hurt leaves us in 1984.
https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/-trump-refracted-through-nineteen-eighty-four,9965
Wow, talk about building a wall Jack, how about the effort of the Scorchers in the Big Bash.
Three wins out of five finals, and there only been six in the tournament. How good to see Mitch Johnson relaxed and enjoying cricket after all the crap he’s had to endure in his life. You’d have to think there’s a bigger role for Langer going forward in coaching in the game.
To think they were struggling to get a crowd in Perth for a test match. Wait till they fill the new stadium for one of these matches.
Emblematic of how much of a bubble politicians live in:
Democrats hold lessons on how to talk to real people
http://www.politico.com/story/2017/01/democrats-real-people-lessons-234198
They need a map and a compass first.
Meh. There’s no connection between the negative headline and the content of that article, which actually sounds like a fairly constructive response to their election loss. Another demonstration of the empty rhetoric that some people are more “real” than others.
Dwight, John – the headline on the article should have been “How to Talk to Deplorables” .
Real people are those who are in the middle demographic. Remember those fringes you posted about the other day?
Maxi Klinger continues to lead from the front averaging over 38 in T20 cricket is very good. FC average has dropped to 40 scoring a 50 or more each 4 innings and list A /Domestic 50 over cricket average 48+ scoring a 50 or more each 2.8 innings. never played for Australia. So many being given caps with no where near the consistency of performance Klinger has shown since his debut in 1998/99. Well done Maxi.
Oh and SOS Mitch Johnson your country could use you. Johnson has been top shelf this season. The other young WA quickie Richardson continues to do the job.
Heck of a tennis match!
Talking about the girls Dwight? I watched, but didn’t think either of them reached great heights.
Hopefully the men tonight will be a zinger.
When the Williams sisters have to play against each other I sometimes wonder – which is unfair of me, because if they knock out the opposition then all they have left is to play each other! Serena was going for a record tis time around. She had to win.
JB..02:15pm
Not sure JB if other blog went through, did not indicate .You are not the cheeky one you warrior at large , keep it up chief!