Would you visit USA in the current climate?

No but it has nothing to do with the climate or Trump or whatever. I have been there a few times and just have no real desire to go back.

I couldn't afford it anyway. I will be lucky if I can get away for a short European break this year.

…budget surpluses arent exactly what we believe them to be, its actually a government removing money from the economy, its argued, and i have to somewhat agree with such arguments, governments should in fact be running slight deficits, particularly in advanced economies such as ireland, we ve convinced ourselves, and possible mislabeled such, i.e. the word deficit has negative connotations, when in fact it can be and possible is a positive….

…the dollar is also the global reserve, so in order for our global monetary system to function, it must be in deficit, virtually all the time, or we re all screwed, america has tried paying down its debts a couple of times in its past, resulting in severe recessions….

…but this admins approach could set all of this into a tail spin, as its quickly becoming a pariah, resulting in bond yields slowly rising, due to the induced uncertainties

I’d go this afternoon if someone paid for my flights

hawaii is worth it, stunning place, only reason i truly want to go back

…and if you re into volcanoes, kilauea is putting on an incredible weekly show at the moment!

…currently not erupting, but….

…just wait till next week!

One of my very best friends, who is originally a native of Chicago, and her husband, acquired Canadian citizenship last year. They are very happy they did so. She is now trying to convince her mother to move to Canada to live with her and her husband, but her mother is elderly and so far is resisting! Two of her children are in college in Chicago, and she can't wait for them to graduate and come home.

So you are going to deny yourself the opportunity to see one of the greatest wonders of the world (I've been there, it's truly jaw dropping) because you don't agree with the policies of a government of a country you don't live in and that really have little effect on you.

Seriously, get a f**kin life.

We had a ban on abortion in this country until recently, did you encourage people not to visit Ireland as a result ?

Irish people murdered British children in UK cities with bombs back in the day, would you have discouraged people to come to Ireland as a result ?

As I always say on these threads America is a big place, with different laws and attitudes in different states, even in different parts of the same state.

You should go to Massachusetts, they have strict gun laws and there are no school shootings, abortion laws are liberal, they have for decades voted Democrat in elections by massive margins, but they are racist as f**k, so I suppose you can't have it every way.

Right. This is similar to what we experienced in the Viet Nam war era, where fifty thousand or more draft dodgers fled to Canada. Mind you, there were large numbers of young Canadians joining the US armed forces at that time. I once worked for a guy who was originally from Chicago and fled to Montreal in the seventies for that reason.

It's pretty obvious to me that life is a lot less hectic in the sense of trying to make ends meet, and dealing with violence, and disparities in Canada vs the US. The United States have a higher productivity, but there is the grind of people holding down two or three gigs to eke out a living and pay for outrageous health insurance fees, when not covered by company benefits, etc…

Canadians decided that the dog eat dog wasn't for them, and I believe things are simpler, but now the future seems uncertain as far as access to social services. If Pilièvre, the Conservative Party leader wins, we will be more aligned with Chump. If Carney wins, there should be more resistance to giving up our hard earned independence in these matters…

No different? Have you seen the growing list of travel advisories from countries warning their citizens about going there?

Denmark, the United Kingdom, Germany, Finland, Canada and New Zealand.

I challenge anyone to read this account in full and then go book a trip to the US:

Anyone who who couldn't get their story out to people with the drive and pull to get things escalated to having politicians pleading on their behalf is fecked.

Agree 100%

Imagine turning up at an immigration office at an international airport in the US, refusing to identify yourself, having flushed all your ID documents down the toilet, refuse to identify your country of origin and demand asylum/refugee status and expect to be given 5 star treatment in some top hotel, medical card, social welfare etc. etc. !!! This is a regular occurrence at Dublin airport and no one is being turned away…we urgently need a Trump on this side of the Atlantic.