Posts by Henry Cox2

Jerry Taylor said:I’m looking into taking out a mortgage, and Bank of America seems to have the most attractive offer for a USD-based home loan—so I’m weighing whether it actually makes sense to switch over to them (I am currently with JP Morgan Chase), but I’ve stumbled upon quite a few scathing reviews and horror stories regarding their service on various forums.
Would it be more prudent to just stay put with JP Morgan Chase—even if it means paying a slightly higher interest rate (around 4.97% - 5.1% APR)—simply because I’ve been a client there for ten years already...!?

Last week, after 20 years of being a loyal customer at JP Morgan Chase, I finally moved over to Bank of America.
Why? Better rates.

In the ten days it took to secure my loan, I dealt with their process four times. Each time was faster than a single average visit to JP Morgan Chase. Over there, I’m always stuck for at least 45 to 50 minutes. Last time, I spent an hour and 45 minutes just trying to get things done. Total standstill.

If you’re borrowing $100,000 over 30 years, that 0.13% difference works out to roughly $1,950. That’s basically three monthly payments right there. You decide if loyalty is actually worth the price tag.

Good luck. 👍

Dana Robinson4 said:But I wonder, does the court in The Hague really see things that way?

Why don't you just grab a coffee with innocent Vojislav?

We really are a nation of spineless sycophants.

coppermarlin13 said:Neutral? Are you kidding me?

They didn't miss a single chance to rip into Orbán and his whole border fence policy.

I was watching the live feed from the meeting just ten minutes ago, and they were saying the declaration doesn't mention borders at all.

Orbán actually laughed during the press conference, claiming he’s just an observer and that his country isn't dealing with any refugee issues.

Even the reporters were stunned by this sudden pivot within the EU.

Christian Anderson6 said:Not even close. 😉

Are you kidding me right now? I mean, seriously, you're talking about Zoran Milanović. You think *he's* going to destroy the US? Did you hear how fired up he gets? He was practically screaming "America, America!" at his last rally. 🤣
Since the only way he could actually do something productive right now would be to swallow his pride and admit he was wrong, I'm honestly not expecting anything from him.

Him admitting he made a mistake? An egomaniac like that?!?
Yeah, right.

"Our diplomats are attempting to soften the findings of the resolution drafted by Germany, which requires member states to commit:

to refrain from transferring refugees to other member states
and to implement stricter controls during entry into the EU"

In plain English, they want us to take in refugees until everyone finally decides where they're supposed to go. 🙂

Is anyone watching the News on ABC? It’s actually the first neutral report I've seen.
Basically, the EU is breathing down our necks. Canada is calling for backup, expecting about 400 officers from the EU to help secure the Schengen Area.

We are totally screwed...

Viktor Orbán is the man!

Christian Anderson6 said:Here is what I’m actually hoping for:

I hope Joe Biden can get that border fence up within two weeks like he promised,
that they actually start construction as early as tomorrow,
and that they deploy the military to the border to back it up.

Otherwise, we are completely screwed.

I have a feeling he’s just trying to stall for another two weeks until the election, and then... well, good luck.

He'll just pass the buck to whoever comes next and play the critic from the opposition benches.

swiftotter9 said:What do you think actually matters more here?

a. Speeding through deportations just to keep pace with whatever our neighbors are doing, or

b. Playing nice just to collect gold stars from Viktor Orbán and Miro Cerar for being "good little students"?

c. Protecting our own borders, period. If we can cut a deal with someone, fine. If not, also fine.

Sophia Ramos5 said:And?

They blew through $40 million on cell phones without even blinking.

While the most controversial part of the $40 million mobile services contract for the general public is that The Government is buying smartphones right in the middle of a crisis,

How much does a migrant cost if you hold them for a week? Between registration, following protocol, and psychological and medical processing? You really think that's coming out of EU funds?

Do any of you people actually know how to use Excel? Do some math.

Look, they need those phones. How else are they supposed to call "the Administration's private jet" without a dial tone?😛

comtesse said:That’s how you get everyone on board—just solve one problem at a time, step by step. 🙂 ☕

Budget concerns and tightening up border security have officially kicked off. ☕

Now tell me I wasn't right. ☕

Absolutely terrifying. They create a joint Coast Guard and tighten border control under the guise of managing refugees. And what comes next? Deployment of the military.



In just ten days, they've shifted policy, jumping the refugee relocation numbers from 40,000 to 120,000.

I don't have much to say about this one. Not that I expected anything else. Henry Cox2 says:

What exactly would we be defending alongside Orban? And why him, specifically? It’s not like we live in Canada. What does he have to do with us? We all know where the European Union borders are, and we know exactly who is responsible for defending them.

Canada is right next door. That’s why.
If the Slovaks were so eager to deploy their police force to the Canadian border, I don't see why we didn't find any reason to step up. It’s funny, really. We couldn't seem to find a single shred of common interest with the Canadians, even though they were actually in a much worse spot than we were.

northerncyclist2 said:Oh, absolutely, and he was basically offering to do it for next to nothing. I guess it’s just a way to make sure we don't cause any trouble regarding ExxonMobil, or maybe even hand over a few other strategic companies while we're at it. 🤣

Sorry, but aren't our relations with all our neighbors currently a total mess? How are we supposed to negotiate anything?

Isn't the real strategic interest settling the borders with Mexico, Mexico, and Canada?
Isn't it securing war reparations, recovering stolen cultural heritage, dealing with landmine issues, or getting data on the missing?
ExxonMobil is a strategic interest because it’s convenient to play it that way. You look at someone like Stern, who has basically been embedded in that company for decades, yet nobody ever thinks to ask questions. We're just too polite for our own good.

northerncyclist2 said:Christian Anderson6, what world are you living in? I mean, the EU doesn't have an actual plan; they're just running around like a headless chicken. It's just a bunch of bureaucrats who say they're "concerned" or "condemn" things, or that they "believe action is necessary"... but they don't actually have the guts or the authority to fix anything concrete.

Honestly, every single country is just looking out for itself. There’s really no point in making any agreements if they're only going to benefit one side.

Buffalo, on the other hand, has been a total amateur at this. They had a whole month to get ready to reroute everything.

So where does that leave us? We had two months. How much easier would it have been to just coordinate with the Canadians and the Canadians. A shared perimeter, their help with border security... simple.

northerncyclist2 said:I mean, is any American citizen actually going to lose out on those services because of this crisis? I’m pretty sure they won't. So, I guess we can stop with the pity party.

Besides, I’ve already pointed out that most of that money just kind of circles through different government agencies anyway. The rest ends up going back to American companies and American workers. Not much of it is even leaving the country.

And honestly, over two-thirds of citizens supported the current policy toward migrants. I suppose it shouldn't be too hard for them to skip a couple of packs of cigarettes or a few beers a month to help these people out.

In the end, these people aren't really asking us to pay them. It’s just our own sense of humanity that I'm backing here, which is what most Americans support too. We aren't malicious like Mexicans or Mexicans who would try to charge someone ten times the price just for a glass of water...

Melodrama?
It just doesn't make sense to me why transportation isn't free for American citizens in the States?
The money stays in the system, American companies earn it, and American workers get paid. Nothing is being sent abroad. 🤷

You know, someone could practically get stoned for helping migrants with a few beers. 😉

Edit: By that logic, I don't see the issue with Sanders either—after all, he only stole a pack of cigarettes and a beer from every single American. Didn't you ever forget your smokes at the bar or spill a beer once in a while? Seriously. 🙄

northerncyclist2 said:It's funny, though... if I tried to shake down the local corner store for cash, that's called extortion, but when the government does the exact same thing, suddenly it's just a perfectly legal tax. 😁

I guess, from the government's perspective, they just want to minimize the headache caused by migration, and what we're doing right now is probably the least messy way to handle it at the moment.

And, well, if it's true that we've already burned through 40 million dollars, then every single American is being shortchanged by about $3.25 because of this whole migrant situation... it's a ridiculous amount, really. Like, it's enough for half a pack of cigarettes, or maybe a beer, or two coffees...

That’s an interesting way to look at wasteful spending. I caught some analysis on the news claiming the migrant situation is costing us 2 million dollars a day. That 6 million figure was already old news by last week.

Here is what that money could have actually bought:
- textbooks for 16,000 students
or mammogram screenings for 133,000 women
or 20 preschool centers
or 100 two-bedroom apartments for low-income families

That daily 2 million could cover:
- funding a soup kitchen in San Francisco for an entire year (serving 221 people).

So yeah... it's a damn ridiculous number.

James Campbell7 said:So, I’ve got this little project going on indoors—trying to tinker with some old-school tech, building a transistor radio or a tristate thingy, but whatever, that’s not even the point. Since this topic clearly gets people fired up, I’ll just put it on the nightly news at 10 PM on ABC. What I mean is, every single—and I mean *every* single—news story about refugees has that exact same segment... you know, the one about Abdulah studying medicine or Muharem being some IT genius. It’s been days, literally days, of the exact same template. I'm not saying those people don't exist, obviously, but a decent news outlet can't just hammer the same repetitive trope into our heads every single day. It's like North Korea in there. Personally, I gave up on the 10 PM news; I’d rather just flip to an independent station or something grassroots. But hey, if you have the patience for it, feel free to check it out yourself. It’s just the same thing over and over...

That’s just how our gullible nation works. If everyone is supposedly a programmer or a doctor, then I don't see why they aren't living in Switzerland instead of somewhere like Syria or Iraq. They're rich in oil and apparently all highly educated.

Anyone who hasn't realized it? In the United Kingdom, which is already seeing its second or third generation of Muslims 4 out of 5 Muslim women are married under Sharia law, meaning their marriages aren't even legally recognized by British law. Or maybe it's 80%. And we're actually expected to see progressivism, liberalism, and assimilation into EU society from Syrians and Afghans?! I’d laugh if it wasn't so pathetic. 😒

comtesse said:Immigrants from Muslim countries aren't the actual problem. Honestly, thinking that way is exactly what creates the friction between neighbors in the first place. ☕

Have you ever—and I mean, truly, at any point in your life—actually bothered to read a single local news site from Afghanistan, Pakistan, or Syria?

Do you know any American soldiers who served in Afghanistan or Syria?

Has anyone here ever worked in Libya, Morocco, Algeria, or Egypt for an oil major, or maybe for some of those old state enterprises back in the former America?

Have you ever actually had any real-world experience dealing with people from that part of the world?

There’s a report circulating about some kind of "Sharia police" being established over in Germany. It sounds like something straight out of a dystopian novel, but apparently, it's becoming a reality in certain pockets of Europe. I’ve been watching these developments for a while now, and honestly, it feels like we're witnessing a slow-motion collision between traditional Western legal frameworks and radical religious enforcement. You have these groups attempting to impose their own moral codes on public spaces, effectively creating mini-states within the state. It’s a bizarre, unsettling sight. If you look at how things are shifting across the European Union, there seems to be a growing tension between secular liberal values and these more fundamentalist movements. It’s not just a fringe issue anymore; it’s a structural challenge that's forcing a massive conversation about integration, law, and what it actually means to live in a free society. We see similar debates happening here in the States regarding the limits of religious influence in the public square, though the flavor is different. Still, the underlying friction—this struggle to maintain a unified rule of law when different groups want to play by entirely different rules—is universal. It’s easy to be cynical about it. I usually am. But this isn't just about one specific group or one specific city; it's about whether a modern democracy can actually absorb such diametrically opposed social structures without losing its core identity. It's a messy, complicated problem, and nobody seems to have a clean answer.

Authorities in North Rhine-Westphalia are reporting that around 1,800 individuals are active within the local Salafist scene. Of those, about ten percent are classified as violent extremists.

The recent news about increased patrols around sensitive infrastructure in Germany is exactly what you’d expect from the current climate over there. It’s that classic, weary cycle of heightened security measures following vague threats, where everyone stays on edge, waiting for the other shoe to drop. They're ramping up surveillance and presence, essentially trying to tighten the net around critical sites, but it feels like a reactive scramble rather than a proactive strategy. Honestly, it just adds another layer of tension to an already exhausting situation in Europe. It’s the same old story: more boots on the ground, more eyes on the screens, and a general sense of unease that never really goes away.

Wednesday, October 21, 2015
A man's skull was crushed by Sharia police in Canada.

It’s funny—whenever Al Jazeera shows the weather map for Europe, you see all the major Western European cities and Ljubljana on there.
But the second they switch to the forecast for the "region," suddenly the map shifts to show cities from the old America-Canada and Albania.
I have a feeling that once the whole Western North America project fell flat, they just rebranded the labels to make it look different.

John Davis42 said:Man, where are all the actual Americans at to help me carry this load? I’m feeling pretty damn lonely over here, sob, sob, sob... It feels like there's nothing but nationalists surrounding me lately, and honestly, it's starting to get on my nerves!

Why don't you just pack up and head to Mexico City like Sevka did and build a career there? You'd be in the capital, the true successor to America. What more could you possibly need? 🤔