I expect used items of all types are going to increase - clothes, appliances, toys, etc. Goodwill and other thrift shops are about to have the biggest boom period of their history.
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Somewhat, mostly strings. Most of the rest is just adjustments, using tools I already have. I still have a fair stock of strings, but I was thinking of buying a bunch more to hold me over for a while.
Cleaning is also a big part, but that's easy.
I suppose if it gets bad, and I need to buy tuners and bridges, etc., I can buy a few junk guitars, and cannibalize them for parts.
America has officially entered the list of shithole countries. Our infamous American arrogance will not help us. No country is going to want our refugees unless they are wealthy or have an in-demand skill. Even then, they will only want to cherry pick the best of the best.
In addition, we will be 2nd class citizens in any country we land in, and will be treated with the same disdain, discrimination, and abuse as immigrants are treated in America.
Better to stay here, and use your energy to fight to take our nation back. Fascism has generally turned out to be unsustainable in the long term, but it requires constant, sustained resitance to dislodge.
The silver lining is that fascist leaders usually face an ignominious, violent end. Let that be your motivation to resist.
Ive been stockpiling canned proteins like tuna, chicken, clams, oysters, etc. even Spam. They may not be trustworthy in the future, but they are right now, so stack them up.
I can make a cheap but killer soup with a can of chicken, some ramen, and herbs, and i can even grow the herbs myself.
They'll say it, but they won't truly believe it. They'll know the truth, or at least those that still possess some human awareness. There will always be those that are irredeemable, you can't worry about them, they're just lost.
Cargo container bookings are down 60%. 60%! Thats an incredible drop, and it really hasn't even started yet.
I'm ready for a "Hot Tariff Summer."
I've been on a no-purchase kick for a while now, even before HitlerPig was elected. We have become such a culture of consumerism that it had started to disgust me. I've embraced the "re-use, repair, re-sell, recycle" philosophy. If i need something, i try to buy it used.
I'm a guitarist, so I buy used guitars when i get a good deal, clean them up, fix them, and re-sell them at a small profit. It puts a beautiful instrument back into service, allows a poor or new musician an opportunity to have an inexpensive but quality instrument, and its music makes the world a slightly more beautiful place.
I even went on a much-needed diet (down 80 pounds so far, and still going), and decreasing my consumption, and spending less money with evil corporations, is a primary motivation.
So let the shelves be empty of cheap Chinese-made consumer goods, i don't need them, despite how much advertising and marketing tells me i do.
The silver lining is that if tariffs become a longterm thing, people will be forced to come around to my way of thinking, and when the tariffs finally end, corporations may be surprised to find that nobody needs their shiny crap any more.
That's a very valid perspective, i agree.
But it seems like if someone is going to be inspired by a diamond-encrusted swatika to commit hate crimes, they were already pretty far down that path anyway. I don't think the jeweler who is trying feed his family is at fault.
I agree, I'd refuse it, but I can't judge someone who is self-employed, and needs to keep the money rolling in. Traditionally, artists have had to work for wealthy patrons they havent cared for, but that's the flip side of being an artist, and why the dream is always artistic independence.
No, he was already rich and famous, before all this (although he was always a bit loopy).
If anything, all this political and Nazi nonsense has whittled away at his fame and acceptance, and each time he opens his mouth, he loses far more fans than he gains, and the fans he gains are poor quality ones.
As for the money, he was already a billionaire, which is fairly difficult to lose once you have it. He has lost some of the endorsement deals that made him wealthy in the first place, but those are gone, so he isn't stacking up cash any longer, just draining it. Its just that with billions to start with, it will take a while for it to get low enough to feel it.
Bottom line: Every time he pulls a stunt like this, its a net loss for him, not a gain.
Last month, West made a video featuring him posing in a diamond-encrusted swastika necklace next to infamous white supremacist Nick Fuentes.
I have a good friend who is a jeweler, and loves getting an expensive custom job, which this had to be. You dont just pick up a "diamond-encrusted swastika" at Jared. I wondered what my buddy would do if he was offered such a commission.
And I realized that he'd take it, not because his politics (or musical taste) are in alignment, but I know that he would say "If he wants to pay me a ridiculous amount of money to help him make an idiot of himself in front of the entire world, who am I to deny him?"
Salt on watermelon, and salt on pineapple.
Also, cayenne pepper on anything chocolate - brownies, ice cream, etc.
You and me, brother, we could be friends.
Or that Ball Park Hot Dog Oligarch DINO Elissa Slotkin, who gave the Democratic response to HitlerPig's SOTU address, and started by trying to sell the concept that there were millions of people who voted a straight Democratic ticket, except for HitlerPig at the top.
Sure, there were probably a few, but they are as rare as white squirrels. She was the water carrier for the weak Democratic excuse that HitlerPig win "fair & square," so they could act smug about their "peaceful transfer of power" to literal Nazis. Something to really be proud of, assholes.
Anyhoo, she came out this week and said that they should stop attacking the "Oligarchy," basically saying that people are too stupid to understand what the word oligarchy means. Of course she thinks that, she's a Sociopathic Oligarch herself, a DINO at best, and a MAGA Oligarch Mole at worst. Remember that she was previously a CIA analyst, so she comes from a world where lies and duplicity are a valued skill.
She's a snake, and I hope she gets successfully primaried for reelection.
Thats not true. Partisans don't understand how true Independents think about politics. Often they think Indies are Centrists, or wishy washy Conservatives or Democrats. I've been an Unafilliated Independent since I first registered to vote in 1977. I have voted Republican, Democratic, and 3rd party, but I have always voted. Being an Unafilliated Independent means that I have ALWAYS had to choose the lesser of two evils.
I don't choose my positions on issues based on my party affiliation, like party members do. I choose my positions based on my research, and my determination as to the best solution to solve the problem, no matter which side of the spectrum that falls. Sometimes its on the right (death penalty, guns, etc.), and sometimes its on the left (abortion, social safety nets, etc.).
Most often, including the issues I just mentioned, I am somewhere in a grey area, supporting positions that aren't even on the table, but would make more sense that those that the parties supports, which tend to be based more on whatever will attract votes, rather than whatever will work best.
For instance, I think we should preserve the Death Penalty, but it should be extremely rare, and used only for the most heinous crimes, such a serial murderers or child torture murderers, and even then, only when the guilt is not in dispute in any way. It should be used only a handful of times a decade. Guns should be legal, but have guardrails like a 21 yo ownership age, training for concealed carry, and limitations on military style weapons, high capacity magazines, etc. Abortion should be easily available in the first trimester, and very difficult in the final trimester.
Its hard to occupy positions outside of the mainstream, because its much harder to navigate nuance, and many people dont have the Critical Thinking Skills to have confidence in their own decisions. Its much easier to listen to what your party wants, and choose to adopt their position.
Overall, I make my choice for President (and other offices) based on which candidate I believe is going to be a move America in a Constructive direction, which is why I often refer to myself as a Constructive Unafilliated Independent. These days, I am only voting for Democrats, because there is no Republican Party, and the MAGA Party is the most treasonous, seditious, corrupt, most Destructive party in American history, and I will not vote for anyone who supports them in the slightest way, and that includes weak-willed Democrats who vote for MAGA legislation or appointments.
And now all those fired people can be recruited by the Resistance.
I've heard people ask why we aren't hearing from ex-presidents and ex-military leaders. Do you think they are just sitting on the veranda drinking ice tea and watching the sun set before Jeopardy comes on, as the greatest military in history, which they helped build, is dismantled, and being readied to be used against American citizens? The rank & file may be trained to be autonomous drones, but the leadership aren't, and most won't illegally follow illegal orders from Nazis, whom they take great pride in already defeating once.
When they defeat them a second time, they won't make the mistake of leaving a pulse.
Every time he fires knowledgable, experienced, competent people, and replaces them with people whose primary qualification is loyalty and sycophancy, he weakens his side, and strengthens the Resistance.
When the Tipping Point comes, and whatever pops off happens, his hand-picked loyalists won't know how to properly respond, although they will absolutely refuse to believe that (Frequently wrong, Never in doubt). The commanders and soldiers who are ordered to attack American citizens wont respond reliably, with many refusing, with massive defections to the Resistance, with their weapons. The Resistance will have experienced, knowledgable military leaders who know how to lead, and will command the respect of their troops.
The enormous might of the American military has shown on many occasions that they are very vulnerable to an insurgency, and have little to no defense against that strategy, especially with leadership that is breath-takingly corrupt.
Conservative media environment?
Its called the Conservative Propaganda Machine, and it exists by design. Dick Cheney and Roger Ailes created it in the wake of Watergate, because they felt like the Republican party had no allies in the mainstream media to defend Nixon, so they decided to create an alternative media that would be on their side.
Ailes gets credit for it for creating Fox News in 1996, but it started long before that, with Rush Limbaugh and the enormous number of conservative radio talk shows that exploded after Reagan abolished the Fairness Doctrine in 1987.
Today we have families that have grown up with three generations steeped in concervative propaganda, discussing "politics" over the kitchen table that are nothing more than deliberate lies. They think they live in a world where Blue state schools have litterboxes for students who identify as Furries.
I agree, and I dont advocate for copying most of their unethical, illegal, and unconstitutional methods. But if something works, without stepping over that line, we should definitely adopt it. We shouldn't limit our selves from successful options just because Reps did it first. Democrats are way too good at shooting themselves in the foot that way.
Telling insipid weenie Dems that they better pick up their game or we'll find someone who will, should not be off the table simply because Reps employ it. Thats just good politics that strengthens your party.
You are 100% correct, that is definitely the plan. Have the RedHats instigate violence, then call in the military to quell the violence with even more ferocious violence, and Hegseth will definitely give the order to fire on American citizens. It will be like Tiananmen Square, but in cities all over America. Once he has declared Martial Law, he can suspend elections until peace is restored, and since he will control the peace.
The 2026 midterms are shaping up to be a bloodbath, and he can't afford to lost one or both chambers to the Democrats, where they can have control of investigative committees, with subpoena and arrest powers.
So he has to time it right, so the courts and SCOTUS wont have time to react before election day. That means next summer/fall. By then, Luigi's trial will be in play, many more activities will be criminalized, he will have sent Americans to El Salvador, the first stage of the 30,000 bed facility in Gitmo may be open (or soon), he will have imprisoned political opponents, store shelves will be empty, other goods will be tripled in price, we'll be in a deep recession, there will be food shortages, etc. Anything is possible, but it will all add up to public outrage like we have never seen, and he will take full advantage of it to end our system of government, and become a one more incompetent Dictator.
Then it's on.