Said the same thing.

But he's certainly right.

We are all looking forward to the day when all these thugs are gone.

FIFA should pull out completely.

Wouldn't be in this mess right now.

I understand individuals boycotting America because of President Sociopath, but expecting an organization as corrupt as FIFA to take a moral stand and upend this tournament at the last second is just whistling Dixie.

The tickets are all sold to scalper/resellers already. Most diehard fans willing to travel for the WC and pay those prices won't be dissuaded. The games are all in large Liberal cities where foreigners are welcome.

Trump's been given his bribe; expect ICE/CBP to lay off the WC crowds.

As you pointed out, there's nothing in it for them. The logistics of pulling out and rescheduling such major events at what amounts to the last minute are nothing to sneeze at, and it would no doubt cost them a lot of money to do so. They'd have to care A LOT about things they don't give a skinny rat's ass about to even be willing to try. So here we sre.

Thanks for the story.

My boss, a valued employee with 12 years at the company, was working from Ontario and quit her job rather than have to spend time travelling in the US.

I don't trust our gov't. under this regime. If I can't drive where I need to go then I don't need to be there.

Used to go up and down the East Coast and a lot of driving in the west. If it ain't necessary, not going to happen.

Cui bono?

On Monday, my wife, a German, flew over to NYC to be with my sister for her 70th birthday. She will see our NY-based daughter and grandsons while she is there. She went because she wanted to and could. I was just in the States for a month, and cannot spare more free time. My friend from Stuttgart has no personal ties to the USA beyond business, and he was not dependent on the business he would have done there, so he decided against the trip. He wasn't going to spend a cent of his money there. My wife won't be bringing a Euro cent to spend, either. The money that she has with her is in dollars that I already earned in the USA and paid taxes on in the USA.

Chacun à son goût.

Although, that part of Massachusetts is not home to a large number of Hispanic immigrants, and the Cape takes in a large number of Eastern European students (Romanians, Bulgarians, Tsrna Gora, Lithuanians, Turks, even the odd Russian or two) to work summer jobs. We expected their numbers to be way down last year, but they weren't at all. I make it a point to speak Russian to the few Russian students I run into, and be friendly to them, letting them know they are welcome, and we don't blame them for everything their government does. Putin won't like the message they bring back home with them, but that's my whole idea in the first place.

The so-called Internet Research Agency at Ulitsa Savushkina 55 in SPB was under the control of his rival, and has since been dismantled, but cyber disinformation units of the GRU, such directorates 74455 and 26165, are certainly going full blast. Especially for one busy fighting a hot war on one border, it is not remotely feasible economically for Putin to consider a shooting war elsewhere for the moment. A cyber campaign, especially if augmented with an infusion of cash here and there, is a very economical way to wage combat without risking losses or detection. When I get the chance, I read the comments section of a few US sources like the Washington Post, and there are always dozens or more pro-Trump/Anti-Democratic posts by oddball names who leave out articles (i.e. a, an, the), or don't use the verb "to be" in the present tense, or forget to say "of" when it's warranted, such as "basket full apples" instead of "basket full OF apples&quot . These are hallmarks of Russian, and are among the most common mistakes Russians make when trying to write in English.

I have to think they are involved in planting other stories/movements, such as Pizzagate, or Brexit. They serve no one, and are negative to everyone. Very cost efficient--lots of damage at virtually no cost. Let the gullibility of the population do the rest of the work for you. It's what I would do in Putin's shoes, and just what a wily ex-КГБ officer would dream up.

Do we do something similar to them? Malcolm Nance indicated that we do and we're really good at it.

Tulsi Gabbard, Director of National Intelligence

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/tulsi-gabbard-russian-connection-dni-trump-syria-b2692244.html

https://www.schiff.senate.gov/news/press-releases/watch-sen-schiff-warns-of-tulsi-gabbards-ties-to-dictators-her-complete-unfitness-for-the-role-of-director-of-national-intelligence/

He said: “We Will Bury You.”
They just sat back and waited for Trump, and Putin did the rest.
And it came, as the Prophesy said, “Wrapped in the Flag and Singing a Hymn”.

All the beach condos' business models are structured around these 4 months - being rented by Canadians. The 3 I'm familiar with are all vacant. Some were rented by the same families for decades. So unnecessary.

Both to the State government as well as the Federal government.

When I was in New York, the place still seemed to be jammed. I was supposed to be in Florida for a week, but my mom-in-law died, and I flew back to Germany for the funeral during the week I was supposed to be in Florida, and thus got no first-hand look this year. DC was full, too, but that massive winter storm was just hitting DC as I left, and the airports were crammed with people trying to leave. I got the last seat on my Air Chance flight back over here.

Ha!

A couple of decades ago, someone revealed a secret to them: keep your passengers happy, and they’ll fly with you more. Around the same time, British Airways discovered the same secret, while Lufthansa forgot it completely.

My college GF owns a restaurant down there and she became a Republic...

to hold anti Epstein, anti Tariffman, anti American rallies so huge our news media would cover it.
Let MAGAts see the world is not happy with what's going on in this Country.

It's just that our M$M chooses not to show them.

The media in the USA is short-changing its public when it suppresses these stories.

Yup!

And with them going door to door , I hope they never come to my town. It went for trump so there could be a chance they don't come here. But they have at least 3 years left yet.

I'm not Hispanic, but I have business and personal contacts in Spain, where I once lived and went to school. I sometimes get phone calls from Spain when I am in the States, and I cannot count on ignorant ICE thugs to be able to distinguish between the Spanish of Latin America and the Spanish of Spain. When I'm in the States with my wife, we speak German together, as we always have since the day we met (almost 52 years ago now). No ICE goons would have legal grounds for grabbing us off the street, but from what I can see, that goes for over half the people they are grabbing off the street already (when they are not killing them outright).

His friend who is American and lives there said “Now I know how Russians feel when everyone hates them.”

I shudder to imagine what internal horrors face us once we are truly isolated from international diplomacy and journalism.

I was supposed to go to visit my aunt who is 96 and in a nursing home.
But it is 12 hours away and too many ICE agents in big cities on the way.

It was a very stressful time and I can't imagine how much worse it would have been if I had to worry about dodging ice.

The younger members of my family have given me strict orders
never to be anywhere near ICE officials.

They know how I feel about the gd Nazi bastards and I will speak my mind.

But I would like to see my aunt.
She is still of sound mind, though body is not so great.

One of the younger people in the family is a crackerjack attorney.
Maybe I will drag her along. She will handcuff me to the car if need be.

Fortunately I live in Los Angeles and it's not some southern place.

Driving isn't much of an option.

Too many horror stories of legal travelers being hassled or worse, to say nothing of all the other shit going on.

I suspect the only thing that could move her to go would be if my Mom passed away. I'd have to go to get her affairs in order and I doubt my wife would be content to let me make that journey alone.

But if she doesn't feel safe I wouldn't want to put her in that position, either. It really sucks that this is where we are.

I live in tourist land (Florida Keys) and our tourism from Europe and Canada is almost nonexistent. Lots of businesses hurting and home rentals sit empty. My kids in Fort Myers and Clearwater report the same. Yup, things just get greater and greater each day.

We visited my relatives in Denmark last summer. They told us that they wouldn't be coming to the U.S. as long as he was president. I don't want them to. It's too unsafe here for anyone from another country to visit the U.S. People kept asking us, "What is going on in America?" One guy asked us which state we were from. We said, "California" and he said, "Ah, the sane state." Unfortunately, we have our fair share of racist, hateful MAGAs, even in the Bay Area. Luckily, they are in the minority though.

and the question keeps coming up, Should we plan a trip to the states so the kids can see their grandparents?
Should I go to so-and-so's wedding, funeral, olympics? They are all terrified even with US passports.

Non-citizen spouses are refusing to come here. I don't blame them.

I'm so grateful that my spouse became a citizen under Obama. He has a US passport and is quite confident that he'll be fine traveling from CH to the US. He doesn't have social media so he is oblivious to the danger we see on our feeds every day. I'm the one panicking when he travels back and forth.

She just left yesterday for a week in New York City for my sister’s 70th birthday and a visit with our US based daughter and our grandsons.

She didn’t get to see any of them in January because her mom died, and she had to rush back to Germany on Dec. 31. This is sort of a make-up time trip. I was in the US for almost all of January, and can’t get away again so soon. So, she made the trip by herself. She’s a big girl now (will be 74 in June), and has managed just fine on her own so far.

My nephews - two of whom are dual citizens (US and Italy) are not coming for the world cup this year. The four guys were coming to stay with us for a few of the games at Metlife and the July 4th game in Philly.

All four have canceled. I do NOT want them coming here right now. It's too dangerous. They wanted to do something special with Zio Gio - but not this year. Not this Regime.

Unfortunately, nothing copmes to mind at the moment. Mi dispiace, Zio.

He’s been living there about 7 years now. He said he doesn’t want to spend big bucks to come back for a visit to a place that is being run into the ground by Trump and the lumps of dog sh*t who work for him. He’s concerned he might be hassled by the New American Gestapo, and I think he’s wise to feel that way. My wife, needless to say, is deeply saddened but understands the wisdom of his decision.

from anywhere ELSE in the world, if they have 2 brain cells to rub together....



And YES, I couldn't consider it 'safe' either,
for any U.S. citizen who resides in U.S. territories (Puerto Rico, Guam, WHATEVER)
to visit any of the 50 United States---

--since U.S. citizens are being shot here!




WELL, I'LL BE DAMNED----

I wouldn't consider it 'safe' either,
for ANY citizens of the 50 U.S. states to return here, either,
if they are currently in some other country---- see the reason above!



Pretend-President DrippyAss has been VERY SUCCESSFUL
in making it SUCK to be an American just now--- or anybody IN America,
SO that explains why practically nobody is trying to come here over the past year!



(Meanwhile, many farms can't get labor, and food prices will continue to rise!)

She was blown away by the price of food there. Food is very expensive here in Euro-land, but it seems that Manhattan has left most of the EU in the dust with respect to advances in food prices. Of course, if the farms can't find any labor, that should come as no surprise.

This weekend, I have to run down briefly to Switzerland, which does not use the Euro, and has food (and everything else!) prices that can compete with Manhattan.

and 'High-Chair Hitler' certainly hasn't been improving that economy...


I spent some time in various areas of New York state,
on a family camping-travel vacation in the mid-1970's in my youth...

We visited various historical battlefields and venues,
Gettysburg PA, Independence Hall in Philadelphia PA,
Jamestown, colonial Williamsburg, Yorktown and Richmond VA---
(where I was still wearing my 'Union Army" cap purchased in Gettysburg,
and sundry southerners asked me "are you a Yankee?"
when it should have been obvious! LOL)

((and now it seems that this question was meant to intimidate me,
but I was too young to discern that properly, about 11 years old but already a fan of U.S. history,
and merely answered honestly, 'yes I guess I am'! ))

Anyway, back to New York City---
I guess we viewed it from across the river,
but both of my parents said,
'we can't drive into that city while pulling a popup-camper trailer'!

LOL

We did camp in the 'Finger Lakes' region, as I recall....

Also visited 'Fort Niagara' in the westernmost portion of the state---
which also has one of the oldest surviving buildings in North America,
originally build by the French I think--- the barracks building of the fort!
(sometime around 1703 as I recall it as it was taught to me---)

ANYWAY, that was a GREAT TRIP---
although my slightly older sister did not enjoy it AT ALL---
except for the part where she carried our pet miniature schnauzer
onto a subway from New Jersey to Philadelphia,
in a backpack!

Think that whole vacation was in 1974