Apps, streaming services, maps, whatever you can do. Look for alternatives.
Apple and Google have capitulated to the orange idiot by renaming Lake Ontario on their map apps. While it’s difficult or impossible to avoid these huge corporations completely, MapQuest can be used for navigation, I thought Waze was another option but apparently owned by Google (who knew?)
Don’t drink US alcohol, find alternatives to Netflix, Amazon etc. wherever possible. There needs to be a worldwide movement against these dangerous morons. Few reminders:
1. ICE
2. Iran war
3. Threatening to invade Greenland
4. Unprovoked trade war with Canada
5. Saying North Korea is a good friend
6. Sucking up to Putin
etc etc
Every little bit helps.
Also, don’t go on vacation there
Wise words. Why anyone would choose to set foot in the place currently, for any reason, is beyond me.
Yes me too. I’ve had some great holidays there but not now. In fact I feel different about the US on a more fundamental level. They elected him twice….
He got a fraction under half of the popular vote. There are a great many US nationals who are deeply opposed to him.
A friend of mine from my hometown has lived in the Detroit area for more than 30 years. His wife is a fairly high flying lawyer, she told me she came from a Republican family that had consistently voted Republican all her life. She detests him
I hope they come out and vote in the mid terms.
Trump was sucking Putin?
Who knew?
I wrote “sucking up to”
I know you did – it was a joke. You’ve been living in Canada too long
(That’s a joke too)
It’s bad. We do some Airbnb, and have just had a couple from Texas to stay. He has lived his life in the US, but is of Mexican heritage. She says she keeps having to remind him not to go to Home Depot in ‘work’ clothes, as that’s where ICE agents hang around to round up, as she describes it, brown people.
It is difficult to avoid the vast corporate entities that support him until it prudent to drop him, but, yeah, having, when we first got together, wanted to take Mrs Path to various US destinations, now, no way do either of us wish to set foot there. US food and drink? No, ta, likewise most other purchases. I can’t help still liking much American music, but the artists I like tend to be no fan of the mandarin mandarin.
Happily, for no overarching reasons, my musical tastes in rock, folk and jazz have always been overwhelmingly European. With just a small handful of exceptions – and aside from an interest in the history of blues and jazz – I don’t ‘care’ for the music made by Americans.
Just seen on Bluesky.
https://teenlibrarian.co.uk/2025/02/13/degoogleing-your-life/
Not seeking to excuse Google’s sycophancy but it remains Lake Ontario when I look, because of my UK IP address. My cheap n cheerful VPN doesn’t provoke a change if I set it to Canada or even the USA; from what I’ve read it’s only the latter that sees Lake America but maybe my VPN isn’t up to it.
Just seen someone joking that Lake Superior is named after Obama.
Turned up on some official Canadian maps too but officially restricted to US, but it’s the principle of these high tech firms not standing up to him because they are only interested in making more billions. If, say, everybody outside the US uninstalls Apple Maps then they would feel it financially as they would lose advertising income
On my Google maps it’s got Lake America in brackets. Duck Duck Go maps has its proper name as does the Samsung browser.
The tech bro I really can’t stand is Zuckerberg. Everyone give up What’s App. No? I tried to get my mates onto Signal – three actually did.
Same experience with me re. WhatsApp->Signal. People are stuck on that horrible green app with a stupid name. Having worked in that industry for most of my career, I can tell you that you absolutely cannot trust that lot. Actually Google are better (but still not great) and Apple have let themselves get sucked into the data business, but do not perform bad deeds with your data (yet).
I was able to take action in my last job (just before I left) that was able to inflict a fairly significant setback to the communications of some US-based nut jobs.
@Leffe Gin Was it shit on the desk?
(at 2’08”)
I was a remote worker, so I had to send them one in the post.
Technology spoils it for everyone. The office photocopier had been replaced by a multi-function printer/scanner. At the Christmas party, instead of leaving a few prints of my arse in the paper tray, it emailed a scan to all employees. Which, it turns out, is a sackable offence.
I’m in the process of moving from gmail to proton mail. But it’s a pain in the arse, and my free quota was full up after about 5 minutes.
I’m far too heavily invested in the Apple universe to do a flounce, so I’m just going to hope they see the error of their ways. Cook was doing way too much arse-licking, but he’s going. And I feel that in the league table of insane Trump fuckwittery Lake of America is pretty far down. It’ll just revert once he’s gone. And I’m certainly not ditching AppleTV until Ted Lasso’s over.
I don’t buy American food or drink though. I haven’t been to the States since George Dubya was president, and my social meedja (including here) is way too inflammatory for me to risk going.
Important not to throw the baby out with the bathwater, though. My guitars are all American, and so are Bruce Springsteen and George Saunders.
It’s pretty easy to boycott the US&A in terms of actual (as opposed to virtual, online) product, because they don’t manufacture or produce anything worth having or consuming that’s not made better somewhere else in the world (including guitars). Their “iconic” brands (Levis, Harley Davidson – big fucking deal) are made outside the US anyway. It’s a shithole nation, and I wouldn’t give a toss for how shitty it is but for its global influence, which is as malign and destructive as it is within its own borders.
The USA pretty much led the world in the arts, pop culture, and technology back in the 20c, but that was a long time ago. Ancient history.
Is there any US alcohol that’s even worth drinking anyway ?
I’ve never really got into Bourbon, even though I’m a big fan of whisky (maybe that’s because I have not really tried the small independent ones).
Commercial US beer struggles to even meet the definition of beer. I will concur that some of the independent craft beers / IPAs in the US are not bad – but my impression from past trips there are that the brewers of those would be very anti Trump anyway.
There are undoubtedly some good wines coming out of Napa and Oregon, but most of those are “Bordeaux blends” (Napa) or Pinot (Oregon) which can easily be covered by France, or even down the Pacific Coast in Chile.
Is there anything else ?
Bourbon I find to be a little too sweet so not a favourite. The casks though are pretty useful to the proper “grown-up” whisky industry. I can’t remember the last time I drank American beer, awful tasteless mouthwash @Beany would characterise it as “cooking lager”. I don’t drink wine as a rule anymore. I am partial to a big glass of chilled Vino Verde on hot days though I must admit. Big and bold reds don’t do it for me. Too butch.
Plenty of excellent US craft beers but we are fine for that with our own Canadian brews, personally I have only bought local Ontario beers for the last decade or so
I’m going to avoid buying guns. That’ll show ’em.
Arf!
Boom boom!
Been there twice…New York in 1998 and Washington in 2011. Clearly nowhere near enough to have much of a view on the wider country, but it’ll do for me until someone at least vaguely and recognisably human is back in charge again.
Lived there for 2 years in the 2000s (New York State), Obama became president while I was there. My daughter spent most of her first 3 years on this planet in the US. Have been located 45 minutes away since and probably crossed the border 5 or 6 times a year for various reasons until 2024. Haven’t been there for over 2 years now
Unless I really have to, I don’t intend to go back until he’s gone. I am worried about his last two years. I don’t think he cares at all about the mid-terms. He’ll carry on doing what he’s doing regardless.
It will end.
It’ll take years (and gazillions of $$) to undo the damage.
I’ve never been to the US and now that they have a president who’s an ignorant c**t and a government of lunatic acolytes put in power by a seemingly unhinged electorate I have no desire to do so.
But they did invent rock’n’roll without which the popular music from Britain and elsewhere would probably sound much different. American roots-based music of all colours is still my go-to music of choice, although I find myself increasingly making judgments on its listenability based on the known politics of its creators. I’m still putting my hard earned cash into the voluminous pockets of Mr Bezos and I’m still a user of Apple products. Corruption, criminality and greed exists everywhere and is not exclusive to American companies or their government. It’s no excuse I’m well aware, but at my age life really is too short.
Boycotting countries where they have “ a president who’s an ignorant c**t and a government of lunatic acolytes put in power by a seemingly unhinged electorate” leaves out quite a bit of the globe.
Back in my student days in the early 90s, I spent a few months travelling round the US, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Exciting, interesting cities (particularly Miami, New York, and San Francisco), and generally nice and positive people who would hear my British accent and want to either regale me with some story about the UK (e.g. “I’ve got a friend in London – do you know him?”) or tell me something good about their homeland. It seemed to be a country on top of the world where life was really buzzing, with lots of reasons for people to move there.
Now? It’s a pariah for countless nations, ruled (and that definitely seems to be the appropriate word, given DJT’s monarch-like behaviour) by a lunatic who has no idea of how much he is hated by countless millions of people, and he’s a laughing stock to many more. Even if he goes, due to an election, incapacity, or death, his ghastly lackeys and their ideas seem to be fully entrenched, and it will probably take years to repair the damage that’s been done.
I’d always hoped to go back to the States to retrace some of my footsteps and also see places I didn’t get to on my first tour. Sadly, I’ve no desire to do so until the MAGA cult is long gone, and I doubt that will happen in my lifetime, if at all.
I don’t know enough about US politics and society to understand why millions of people could vote for Trump (twice!!!), but surely large numbers of them must be having second thoughts. If the Democrats don’t get back into power soon, the US is doomed, and maybe all of us along with it.
Trouble is the Democrats are in a mess. They are also in bed with huge corporations and their stance on e.g. Israel is basically the same as the Republicans. There are some leftish elements making progress, and while there will surely be some sort of backlash against the Republicans in the mid terms, I think the chances of the Democrats coming up with a viable, electable candidate in 2028 is not that high. Running against JD Vance presumably, or maybe the elderly orange twat fancies a 3rd term?
I’m a dual citizen – UK/US. We live in Texas because that’s where my aging in-laws are. Traditional GOP voting base, who now are not.
It’s easy to condemn USA writ large – but only about 33, 34% of the population actually voted for him.
The maps thing is US-specific; Apple and Google say that they follow U.S. Geographic Names Information System, which strikes me as eminently sensible rather than sycophantic.
I’m not entirely sure who the “dangerous morons” are as you’re incredibly vague about it. I’m sure it can’t be my wife and I, who have consistently voted Blue; or my friend who was once on the Starr inquiry and now foams at the mouth at the mention of Trump. Or the 33% who voted against him. So are you really tarnishing an entire company based on the actions of one hard core group of voters?
Boycotts are already taking place internally. Lists are published of GOP-funders, those firms who have capitulated to Trump speeches. Take out a membership of Costco – they’re standing up and are ethical employers…
My point? It’s a complex situation. The actual running of government is at risk – my wife retired in December after lengthy Federal service, and we have yet to see a cent from her retirement pension.
And just to land a counter punch. Any country that enabled Brexit, mishandled the Brexit process so badly, has Farage perilously close to No 10, has Truss and Johnson as PMs, did the Windrush thing…well, if I came from that country, I’d be careful about the bombast I used about other countries.
Dangerous morons = The Trump administration
I am also a dual citizen, Canada and UK too, but I had nothing to do with Brexit etc and don’t hold that or any of that other stuff to anybody as being a good example of the country of my birth. And there are also many Canadians who I am not fond of, supporters of Poilievre and Alberta separatists amongst them
I have nothing against your average American citizen who didn’t vote for Trump and the same applies to the UK regarding Brexit/Farage
I’m with you but have deep contempt but only for T voters but also those who didn’t vote against him, knowing perfectly well what he’s like and said he would do.
That NOT only… Bloody auto correct.
It’s actually sort of funny that the list of evils for the UK above is really not that bad in the grand scheme of things, and certainly feels like small beer compared to the current US administration.
But it wouldn’t matter even if it was much worse. People are free to criticise crap government with as much or little bombast as they like. When the Brexit vote happened we had several years of our continental cousins letting us politely know what a bunch of morons we were for having taken such a misstep, and most of us – I’m sure – took it on the chin in good spirits. There were no exemptions because we’re lovely individuals, or we didn’t personally vote for it, or because our critics lived in countries that were also imperfect. It’s just one of those things – there’s no point in counter punches, because the one thing worse than having your homeland slagged off is getting into a shitfight about whose homeland is worse with someone whose point you essentially agree with anyway.
Personally, I love America and I love Americans. Highly doubt I’ll be visiting under the present administration, but I’ll be back as soon as the madness is over, which I suspect will be sooner than many here seem to expect. I do think we should avoid absorbing America’s political culture though, partly because it’s quite site-specific and partly because it’s so plainly unhealthy for everyone involved in it.
I’m taking some heart in the state of his current polling. It seems about 60% and rising of the population, Reps and Dems, think he’s doing a terrible job/is insane/is a piece of shit. So I don’t buy that Americans are all bad and stupid.
They all need to say so though. At a ballot box in November in numbers that are undeniably overwhelming to the insane piece of shit doing the terrible job.
I want to take our daughter to New York at least once. Manhattan and all the boroughs. It’s a world of its own hanging off the edge of the continent and not red-hatted in any degree. Even so neither of us want to do so until he’s dead.
I follow a lot of liberal American commentators. They pump out the content however it’s all the same words in a different order until the mid-term results give them a new angle to pump. One of them said something along the lines of when the next Democrat President is sworn in on Inauguration Day, the grinding noise that will be heard one second after the oath has been taken will be of the bulldozers pulverising the ballroom.
I’d like that.
Trump is that very rare thing – a genuinely repulsive human being. And the way that the legal apparatus seems willing to obey him, rather than the impartial exercise of justice, is a chilling echo of 1930s Germany. It is without doubt a dangerous historical moment and that certainly puts me off travelling there.
However, I’m not about to give up my subscriptions to Dave’s Picks, the New Yorker or The Onion – all of which are American to the core. There’s still a lot to love there and I hope and trust this nonsense will end in a collective facepalm by the Republicans.
The Curate’s Egg approach – parts of it are excellent – is the charitable, even reasonable approach to America(ns), but nations are defined by their leadership, not by the good people suffering under that leadership. America behaves, as a character in the world stage drama, exactly as Trump dictates. A Bad Actor, and a danger to everybody everywhere. Other nations are equally “evil”, of course, but America is unique in that we’ve witnessed its catastrophic and dizzyingly sudden decline. And it’s impossible to apply the Curate’s Egg comfort to Trump – he is absolutely, irredeemably rotten to the core.
Rotten to the core literally as well as metaphorically, by all accounts.
I missed this at the time, but suddenly it’s all over t’internet. I wouldn’t have believed it, but the clip proves it. Irony is dead. https://www.flickr.com/photos/154577622@N05/55506787386/in/dateposted-public/
The entire world does a facepalm.
I sometimes get the odd feeling that Trump is actually an Ali G-style comedian, and he’s ‘avin’ a larf at everyone’s expense.
The list of things (some handily summarised in the OP) that Trump has done in this administration is either to make himself or his family richer or to distract from the Epstein files. Yes, even starting a war.
I never used to lean toward ridiculous conspiracy theories but he really is that empty of virtue and empathy, so I can believe this one.
Trump isn’t even the most important aspect of the Epstein Files.
This substack: https://alisav.substack.com/ reveals the incredible military-grade connections between the “Zorro” ranch and Israeli intelligence, and a lot more. It’s not tin-hat conspiracy ranting; she has a propensity to brag herself up, but her research is impeccable (and cited) and she paints a big and detailed picture of Epstein’s surprisingly central role in deep state politics. You’ll have do some digging yourself to get to the start of her exposé, there’s masses of wordage.
This substack: https://lastpagefirst.substack.com/ covers much the same ground. Basically, digging up Epstein’s unspeakably sordid network of abuse is also giving glimpses of what’s buried beneath that, and it is chilling.
And it all started, more or less, with the Fabulous Dulles brothers – David Talbot’s “The Devil’s Chessboard” takes you down that rabbit hole.
(The Seymore Hersh piece, top right as of today, is a good introduction to the Alisa substack, should you be interested.)
I’ve read and donated, thanks