Back to a point I made earlier on the impact on kitesurfing and other leisure activities. Trek and Specialized (big US brands) have just announced price increases for their bikes etc.
We have a ways to fall yet.
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Gerry Connoly, 75, is being forced to step down from his position as senior Dem on the House Oversight Committee after winning a high profile leadership contest against AOC for the role only 4 months ago. The reason he is stepping down - the cancer he already had and was already dealing with.
Every member of the caucus who voted for him should be absolutely ashamed
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And Carney and the Liberals say âThank you,Donaldâ.
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Buy British!!!
Fairlight do an amazing job.
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Whatâs the point? The Republicans werenât annihilated as a party, thereâs nothing to learn from this except to gerrymander harder.
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Not sure if itâs a slip or not, but âI [âŚ] will be making a fortune, very soonâ
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A little easier with bikes admittedly. Kitesurfing Kites a bit tougher although there are European brands which Iâll look at.
The concern is what it does to the sport and the associated watersports overall. Its roots are from Hawaii and those initial brands are still cornerstones of the industry. They are potentially at risk now, in a sport which is likely shrinking.
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I wonder how long itâll take for them to move out of the country instead.
Thatâs feasible for some for sure. One brand gets the materials from China and assembles in the US. Real problem for them.
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Ignoring what anyone thinks our approach to immigration should be, the big limitations to being able to implement a quick and effective deportation policy is the complexity of the law administrations have been held to and the lack of immigration judges who are required to oversee these cases.
Republicans have already refused to push through updates to the laws that would modernize the rules for enforcement to reflect the number of âOther Than Mexicanâ cases our system was not designed to address. But now Trump is removing immigration judges and the GOP are pushing budgets that further cut the court system and massively expand ICE resources
https://www.npr.org/2025/04/22/nx-s1-5372681/trump-immigration-judges-fired
https://x.com/ReichlinMelnick/status/1917044510301032525
You only expand ICE resources while cutting budgets and personnel in the courts if you intend to employ an extra judicial policy of removal.
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I went for a walk on my lunch yesterday, drove down to the car park by the State House building here and down onto the river walk. Came back about 20 minutes later and could see from a distance that my car had been blocked in by a police car that was just sitting directly behind my rear bumper. For a moment I had a very cold shiver down my spine that they were there to challenge me on my legality of being in the USA (for anyone who doesnât know I am a US Citizen initially gaining residency status through marriage and now citizensip through military service).
As it happens the police had no interest in me they were just eating in their car and moved when they saw me getting into my driverâs seat so I could get out of the spot. But the fear was there even if I donât really believe that I am the profile of person they are targetting.
Iâm also now worried about my soccer team. I know one of the playersâ parents have questionable legal status, how am I to respond if some police or ICE turn up at my soccer practice or a game and demand to take her away? I tell myself now that I wonât let it happen but then I also have three kids and a wife - would standing up to them put their eyes on me?
Itâs not a good time. Itâs also exactly what most people predicted would happen and were told we were being dramatic, including in this forum. People who suddenly seem to have lost interest in this thread by the way.
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Itâs really grim, my commiserations. Nobody should live in fear of the authorities. In a democracy, the authorities serve the people, not the other way round.
When you are at that stage of fear, you have to start considering the option of moving away imo.
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