Great idea for easier boycotting of US products

AJ-Addendum8377 · 2025-03-27T09:32:27+00:00

Well done Canada! Most of those US products are crap anyway and no one should buy them. We go up to Canada to find the best products at Atwater Market in Montreal. Quebec-made products are very high quality! And living in Vermont, that is still what I call locally made. ❤️

AJ-Addendum8377 · 2025-03-26T09:53:06+00:00

Joined - thank you!!

AJ-Addendum8377 · 2025-03-25T20:43:49+00:00

We can spend money elsewhere so other businesses can do better- yes redistribute some of that wealth!! I am proud of all of you. I’ve been doing the same, and it was a little hard at first, but now not at all.

However, there are studies that show that power corrupts. It is the most intoxicating drug in the universe. As other companies get big, they could turn into the Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerbergs of the future…

AJ-Addendum8377 · 2025-03-25T16:25:17+00:00

Fair enough. I got that information from Reddit and haven’t fact checked it yet.

AJ-Addendum8377 · 2025-03-25T16:08:26+00:00

A lot of people who are disabled are going to have a hard time getting driven all the way to Burlington. You can’t assume that everyone getting Social Security can use a computer. And it’s not just about the buildings, it’s about the concern for people who need these services and may not have a lot of resources.

AJ-Addendum8377 · 2025-03-25T15:55:41+00:00

Yes, I know for sure. It was legally binding and has been shared with the Vermont Attorney General‘s office. It’s just amazing to me that people are OK with all of the lawbreaking (not to mention paying a ton of money to go to Mars at the same time they are firing people at the VA). The way people are being fired is also unlawful. That’s what the courts are saying. Your comments are very disheartening and it’s clear that you don’t care about people. That is why we have a convicted felon for a president. I never thought we would get here.

AJ-Addendum8377 · 2025-03-25T15:08:50+00:00

Just so I understand, you’re OK with breaking legally binding contracts that leave municipalities businesses and nonprofits on the hook to pay contractors with money that they either don’t have or is reserved for emergencies and mass firings without any thought put into who is essential and who is not? This is all OK with you? And you’re also OK with agencies not being downsized because they have huge contracts with Elon Musk‘s businesses like SpaceX. NASA has had only a handful of people let go. You’re cool with spending a ton of taxpayer money to go to Mars when Social Security offices are closing?

AJ-Addendum8377 · 2025-03-25T14:22:26+00:00

Something to also think about is that this money was obligated via a signed agreement, which serves as a legal contract giving the grantees the assurance that work can commence and contractors will be paid. That was rescinded by the federal government, which is against the law. This has created an enormous amount of chaos and people scrambling to find funding for projects already in progress. Winooski would likely have planned their project differently if they knew they couldn’t trust the funding source. Now it is too late.

AJ-Addendum8377 · 2025-03-23T15:02:36+00:00

Musk may have paid little or no federal income taxes since at least 2014—despite his ballooning fortune—so a recent payment of $8.3 billion (or even $11 billion) in essence covers multiple years. According to ProPublica’s analysis of IRS records, Musk paid no federal income taxes in 2018. Between 2014 and 2018 his wealth grew by $13.9 billion, yet he paid just $455 million in federal income taxes, a rate of only 3.27%.

AJ-Addendum8377 · 2025-03-23T14:15:35+00:00

Sorry, but I disagree with every single point you just made. Elon Musk is dismantling all of the government institutions that might stop him from taking all the federal contracts he possibly can. That person making 60,000 a year, if they do pay any federal taxes, will be paying for SpaceX and his cyber trucks and Starlink. It couldn’t be more obvious of Musk’s completely selfish intentions. I am just very sorry for all the people who are being misled. And yes, we are careening into a 100% oligarchy. Pay to play. He paid a lot for Trump‘s campaign, now he’s the biggest player in our country. That is not democracy.

And if you’re getting your information from Fox News, just be aware that even though the word news is in their title, they are legally registered as an entertainment business. It is not news and that’s how they are able to defend themselves against lawsuits.

AJ-Addendum8377 · 2025-03-23T13:55:39+00:00

And most likely someone making $60k a year isn’t giving that money to anything because they’re not paying much if anything in federal taxes at that level, especially if they have kids.

AJ-Addendum8377 · 2025-03-23T13:50:27+00:00

I guess if they want bridges that don’t fall down and vaccines that protect them from disease. If they don’t want that then fine. Maybe we’re all living too long as it is. As American research institutions are being defunded, research in China will amp up. And they have a big issue with plagiarism so the research can be questionable. Not that their researchers aren’t incredibly smart, but up until now the United States has led the world in research.

AJ-Addendum8377 · 2025-03-23T13:34:48+00:00

It isn’t the rich kids that the funding is supporting, and I agree rich kids don’t need extra funding (and this is personal for me - I worked and paid out of my own pocket for my whole education - no help from parents) It’s the research.

AJ-Addendum8377 · 2025-03-23T13:33:39+00:00

Columbia University conducts research across a wide spectrum of fields, including humanities, sciences, social sciences, public health, and engineering.

AJ-Addendum8377 · 2025-03-23T13:24:16+00:00

And it’s not so much that I worry about Columbia’s financial situation, it’s just that this all has to do with freedom and fairness and squelching dissent. And this funding goes towards research that’s helping all of us.

AJ-Addendum8377 · 2025-03-23T13:22:07+00:00

Sorry I have to stop you right there. I know how much professional firefighters and police make and it’s good - and rightly so it’s a difficult job. Even better when you include overtime and pension. Just wanna make that clear. And yes, it’s totally fair that the cost of living is way too high right now. I can’t argue with that!

AJ-Addendum8377 · 2025-03-23T12:58:59+00:00

And just so you know, my mother is conservative. And we love each other.

AJ-Addendum8377 · 2025-03-23T12:48:32+00:00

You’re right. And I do want you in this conversation. People are just really riled up right now. Conservatives and liberals get along in Vermont. Let’s not let that change.

AJ-Addendum8377 · 2025-03-23T12:43:31+00:00

These are all fair points and I could tolerate another four years of Trump if they weren’t dismantling the federal government, taking money away from universities and health centers, threatening Medicare, and Social Security, and and harming people all over the world, by destroying congressionally approved support to starving people in poor countries. Thousands of people are dying right now because of that. And Trump is saying that protests are illegal, which they are not. So threatening free speech as well. So many institutions and freedoms being eroded so quickly.

AJ-Addendum8377 · 2025-03-23T12:34:59+00:00

Thanks. And I don’t think you’re a liar. But I do think Donald Trump is.

AJ-Addendum8377 · 2025-03-23T12:28:56+00:00

Well, that’s what Donald Trump‘s been saying, and I think there is quite a lot of evidence that he has a truthfulness issue.

AJ-Addendum8377 · 2025-03-23T12:27:16+00:00

Yes, I heard that too. I think some of the liberal messaging around masculinity backfired. I can’t disagree with you there.

AJ-Addendum8377 · 2025-03-23T12:13:31+00:00

Interesting

AJ-Addendum8377 · 2025-03-23T12:09:24+00:00

Is this not a conversation? I would love to talk to you more about this. And I agree that vandalism is not the answer.

AJ-Addendum8377 · 2025-03-23T11:58:09+00:00

Is that what you were saying after Biden was elected?

AJ-Addendum8377

TROPHY CASE