He means the government shutdown in China for the Chinese New Year.

I recall in primary school, circa 1970, a teacher telling us that in the future we would only work 4 days a week. Here I am 2 years short of retiring and still waiting for my 4 day working week...

When I see trump creating such headlines through outrageous actions my first thought is what is other news he is trying to bury? Recently it has been stuff about him and Epstein but maybe there is something else new he doesn't want leading the news cycle?

So that would be every country on the planet, except the USA and maybe Russia?

What?

Maybe corporate media were worried about ratings? Transcripts are less painful and easier to look away from. When I hear trump's voice I am left wondering how soon will it go away. It is a unique combination of hate, lies and disinformation delivered with the vocabulary and grammar of a pre-teen child and the coherence of a dementia suffer.

No, my country does a pretty good job of boarder security. We understand the importance of tourists and make entry into our country as fast and easy as possible while still keeping the country safe. We do that by employing quality border staff with a functioning brain. New staff are paired with experienced staff and are taught what are red flags to screen a traveler for further checks. Those check will be similar to the ones the USA does but the difference is we don't treat everyone like that, there needs to be something that catches the eye of the experienced staff.

And no, we are not going to change the way we do things to match the mess you have. We are not going to do additional screening of people from the USA, we will treat them as valued guests, just like everyone else. What we have changed is the way we travel, the USA is now just another of those countries you don't travel to without a good reason. If doing a long haul flight make sure it doesn't refuel in the USA. Our national carrier recently polled frequent travelers with a list of alternative countries to stop over at instead of the USA to see what flyers preferred. They understand business and know I won't book a flight with them if it has a stop in the USA.

No, the increased scrutiny covers far more that H-1B, it now covers tourist and business travelers from what use to be visa free allies. The first time I traveled to the USA all I need was a current passport. They they introduced the ESTA system which was a bit of a hassle. Now I am expected to give them deep access to my social media and contacts for who know what reason. Even if I do that you still don't know if I will be allowed access until I arrive in the USA, after I have spent thousands of dollars on flights and flown for 12+ hours.

You are not alone in that view. The social media thing is a hard no for me too. Who knows WTF will trigger them? They could interpret a recipe for chocolate cake as coded call for Antifa violence? Then again you don't need to interpret my views on their POTUS, whom I have called an asshole and a moron etc. As I understand things currently free speech in the USA doesn't apply if are giving an honest option of their dear leader.

That is a fair assumption, but if some other location can gain traction as a replacement then the slide into irrelevance could happen quicker than you expect.

As I post further down I cancelled my plans to go to CES in 2025 basically because it felt too high risk for the return. The thing about CES is it is an expensive exercise so the money lost for each foreign CES tourist is probably more that the money lost from an average tourist. Money aside the non-attendance is also a reflection of the loss of status and reputation that the USA once held.

I had been planning to go to CES in 2025 and catch up with people I had worked with in the US in the past. However even back in late 2024 I didn't like the vibes coming out of the USA, so went to Japan instead. In hindsight the best travel decision I made recently. I wonder if I will ever visit the USA again, certainly not at my own expense, and I would probably need a really good reason.

Also it's a one off thing. Next time you buy house there is fair chance it will already have a charger.

It may not be ideal, but is a reasonable start. If they are using the EV as the daily driver and leaving the ICEV in the garage for 'exceptions' it will be reducing pollution. In some case they will find that actually they haven't used the ICEV in ages and wonder why they are keeping it.

The big risk for some tourists is the traffic is going the wrong way if you normally drive on the other side of the road, so you tend to look the wrong way first when stepping off the curb.