The Trump administration’s trade war against the world has taken another twist, with two US courts declaring Trump’s tariff taxes illegal in the last two days.
The impact of the new taxes has been felt hard in the world of synths and electronic music gear, as so many instruments are either made in China, or made in the US using Chinese components.
In February, the National Association Of Music Merchants warned that Trump’s tariffs would raise instrument prices and hurt US manufacturers.
The Association’s warning has proven to be accurate, as prices on synths have gone up, in some cases more than doubling. And some US companies have put new instruments on hold, waiting to see where tariff rates ultimately land.
On Wed, a three-judge panel at the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) ruled that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) did not grant the president authority to bypass Congress’ control over economic policy and commerce. The 1977 law has been used by Trump as justification for the majority of his tariff tax hikes.
“The court does not read IEEPA to confer such unbounded authority and sets aside the challenged tariffs imposed thereunder,” they ruled.
A second federal court also blocked the bulk of President Trump’s tariffs on Thursday, ruling he cannot claim unilateral authority to impose them by declaring emergencies over trade deficits and fentanyl.
The administration is challenging both rulings. An appeals court has paused the first ruling, and ordered both sides to provide written arguments on the issue by early next month.
If The Trump Tariffs Are Illegal, Do We Get Our Money Back?
It’s estimated that Americans have already paid more than 10 billion dollars in additional taxes because of the administration’s tariffs. The court’s decisions would require the administration to refund this money.
It’s unlikely that consumers will get any of this money back, though. Tariffs are generally paid by importers and manufacturers, and then passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices. So, unless you directly paid the tariff, it’s unlikely you’ll see any refund.
And it will take months, if not years, for the constitutional questions the administration’s policies have raised to work their way through the court system.
Is US economic policy making you put off gear purchases? Share your thoughts in the comments!
Does this mean Moog will lower the price of the Messenger? Apparently, you can buy it in China for $699. USA is $899. I mean, if you’re gonna move to China and not give us lower prices, I’d rather buy a Behringer.
I wouldn’t hold your breath for ANY companies to lower prices until the administration gets its shit together.
Trump is trying to shift taxes from the rich to average Americans, so if the current tariffs get blocked, he’ll just come up with another way to do it.
“the administration gets its shit together.” While applying this sentence to any other western democratic leadership would imply that they’d improve theyre work for the betterment of the peoples they represent, sadly the only way it can be interpreted here, is that they finally figure out how to full game the system & cease total control her all mechanisms of governance, while removing any leverage points of losing that power (killing free & fair elections).
This will all lead to something far worse than more expensive gear, as sadly the Americans have decided once again, that finding out is the only way forward…
The retail price of the Massanger in China is still higher at around $1K. It’s a sale only at the new Moog store in China until the 18th of June ( June 18th – 618 is the second largest shopping day in China after Singles Day) to celebrate the official opening, since it was absent from the Chinese market.
But you don’t see them crying about it or about the retail price.
There are no words to describe the boundless idiocy of this administration.
Actually, “boundless idiocy” is a pretty good two-word description.
LOL. Don’t hold anything back. Tell us what you really think.
Unless you do a poor job at handling your money, you are doing better now than you did under President Biden. And no, that’s not because President Trump inherited a great situation from President Biden (if Biden was great, Trump would not have won the popular vote, the Electoral College points, and all seven swing states).
With all due respect, do yourself a favor; let go of the hate. We US citizens are all in this together. Hating your president due to your ideological differences isn’t going to help you or anyone else.
The admin had challenged the ruling. It’ll probably go to the Supreme Court. We will see. In the meantime FUCK TRUMP
Here’s an idea for an animated Roger Waters show moment. A Messenger flies up president rump’s backside so hard that his toupee flies off, his eyes bug out and he makes a sound that sets off all of the dogs in the area. Crossfade neatly into a segment of “Dogs” and a flagon of bloody Watney’s Red Barrel. That feels like a good start to the weekend.
“Trump is trying to shift taxes from the rich to average Americans, so if the current tariffs get blocked, he’ll just come up with another way to do it.:
Yes – exactly.
Trying to push the pain onto average / lower class citizens, to make up for revenue which should have come from the pockets of the rich big-end of town.
By reducing social services etc. (DOGE).
Common sense says ‘why not simply increase taxes on the rich?’ and keep a happy status-quo with the rest of our worl.
“Trump is trying to shift taxes from the rich to average Americans, so if the current tariffs get blocked, he’ll just come up with another way to do it.:
Yes – exactly.
Trying to make up for nationals deficits by pushing the pain onto average / lower class citizens (through tarrifs on common goods), to make up for revenue which should have come from the pockets of the rich big-end of town.
And by cutting critical social services etc. (DOGE) making life for the above hurt more.
Common sense says ‘why not simply increase taxes on the rich’ and keep a happy status-quo with the rest of our world?
Adopting that gold plane gift is a slap in the faces of lower citizens *_*
The crazy part is that it doesn’t even do that. Unless he were to cut the military in half, raise taxes on three upper class and corporations or chomp into social security it actually doesn’t do anything to address the debt. Doge’ing people in the long run costs money to the government because it is both illegal and they will pay down the line and causing issues that will cost the taxpayer later and the damage already done to the economy with the tariffs whether they get overturned or not is going to last.
Hi:
I don’t normally ask questions on bulletin boards, nor do I follow politics. Music is my life, and my only interest on the China Tariff is due to the fact I buy musical equipment, and most of it is made in China.
Today, I received a Behringer RD 8 which I purchased last week. That drum machine was originally priced at $359, and over the last few months the price came down to $319. I bought it last week for $319 minus the memorial day discount for a really good price (I really did not need another drum machine). So basically the tariff issue has had no effect.
So what am I missing? Will someone who understands, please educate me. Do you know for a fact that the RD 8 will now become prohibitively expensive, or are you just extrapolating a cost based on possible worse case scenario for an ongoing negotiation? If the latter, Synthtopia is doing a disservice to me for printing this article. I read your website for education AND relaxation, not to be stressed out over ongoings which may or may not occur.
I read about Trump’s reasoning for the tariff, and as I understand, he is using the exorbitant number as a starting point for negotiations.
Can someone explain to me what I am missing? I don’t want to read about Trump, tariffs, and crap of this sort on Synthtopia. If or when this becomes real issue for me as a consumer of musical instruments, AND I can do something about it, THEN I want to know the facts. I usually avoid watching the news and I def don’t want to come to Synthopia for unsubstantiated opinions.
One more thing, music equipment price goes up all the time and the manufacturers are always using one excuse or another. Any time a new item comes out the price has been higher than the previous version, specially if it is in high demand. I believe that once the price goes up, they don’t come down unless the item is being discontinued.
Thanks,
Al
The tariffs will affect new shipments, not items that are currently in-stock in the U.S. So perhaps the prices won’t instantly rise in all situations. But it will have ripple effects.
It’s nice that we can focus on music, but I want to gently challenge us to look out our metaphorical windows and participate in our world as much as we can tolerate. to make positive change.
You are missing the fact that goods often sit in warehouses and stockrooms for weeks or months before being sold, so what you find on the shelf at your local retailer may have been imported months earlier. Less time in a low margin/high volume retailer like walmart, more time in a low volume/high margin specialty retailre like a music store. Exceptions will always apply for items that are new, fashionable, or subject to some demand fad.
Add to this retailers will generally avoid applying fees like tariffs to goods for as long as possible because consumers who encounter the elevated price are likely to anchor on it if it seems too high, which may result in less traffic untilt he next sale period.
Hi Al. Retailers have stock on hand right now that are already within the states, so they don’t need to jack the prices up yet. Once the import cost goes up for them, then the prices will surely go up.
If you like music gear, sorry, Trump and his tariffs are a relevant topic. Earthquaker Devices have testified before congress, explaining that small business like themselves are losing 15%~30% if their average revenue month to month. They explain they would like to release new products but don’t know how to price them because the tariffs are so wildly inconsistent and all over the place that it makes it impossible to figure out what number makes the most sense, so guess what happens? Those releases don’t happen.
This is going to be a topic for a long time, sorry, you’re gonna have to deal with it.
Glad you like the RD8 though, I’ve wanted one of those for a bit.
“Can someone explain to me what I am missing? I don’t want to read about Trump, tariffs, and crap of this sort on Synthtopia. If or when this becomes real issue for me as a consumer of musical instruments, AND I can do something about it, THEN I want to know the facts. I usually avoid watching the news and I def don’t want to come to Synthopia for unsubstantiated opinions.”
Feel free to put your head in the sand, but when Trump puts a 145% tax on gear from China, you’re going to pay for it eventually.
The reason you got a good price on the RD8 is that companies tried to stock up before the new taxes went into effect. Trump actually holds the honor of increasing the trade deficit to a record high in March, because companies were trying to import stuff ahead of when the tariffs went into effect.
The impact of these tariffs HAS been all over the place, though, because Trump keeps flip-flopping on how big the tariffs are going to be, and that makes it impossible for US companies to make long-term plans. It’s not because Trump is making deals – he has made zero deals, because all the other countries in the world are happy to stand back and laugh at the US shooting itself in the foot.
And now the courts are ruling that what Trump is doing isn’t even legal. It’s the job of congress to make the laws and control the budget, and the President is just supposed to execute on them. So pretty much everything Trump is doing is illegal and will eventually get rolled back. In the meantime, though, he’s doing a lot of damage to American companies and the economy.
It’s not because Trump is making deals – he has made zero deals…
Zero deals?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/05/07/uk-trump-trade-deal
Trade talks are complex and take time. Others are in various stages of discussion, like this one:
https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/as-india-us-close-in-on-mega-trade-deal-a-look-at-its-immediate-impact-8576998
TimS – thanks for confirming the fact that Trump has made zero trade deals.
The links you shared aren’t trade deals. LOL. The UK news is an “agreement in principle”. The India announcement isn’t a deal yet, either.
Zero deals.
So the question is whether you are intentionally lying or just ignorant, TimS. Which is it?
My guess is that you’ll just try to change the subject like a MAGA cult member, instead of having the balls to answer this question. Prove me wrong!
How about awe stick to synths and avoid politics.
cmon man, extrapolate a LITTLE here, we’re not THAT reactionary, are we?
Tarriffs are political.
tarriffs affect the price of synths.
Ergo; synths are political (and they always were, but that’s a different discussion)
This is such a weird and common response. Everything is political whether u.ike it or not.sorry if its inconvenient for you to think about but you might want to esp if you live in the us, cause we are cooked.
The face he’s making in that photo, well, it looks like the face he’d make while taking a rough and tough poop. There, I said it.
You try living on McDonalds and well done steaks and see what that does to your turds. Of course, he’s proud of his turds. No one stools like him. Big and beautiful….
LOL
As always, wait a few days for higher courts to swat the lower courts on the nose and stop them from engaging in insurrection. I might not always like what the administration is doing, but the idea that it’s “illegal” is absurd.
You Trumpers are utterly absurd. It always makes me laugh when you say “I might not like everything he does” as if it paints you as somehow moderate.
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Admin: Personal attack deleted (name-calling).
Keep comments on topic and don’t waste the admin’s time.
How does explaining that negotiating international trade deals is in the legal purview of the Executive Branch, even when I don’t agree with the deals, make me immoderate exactly? LOL
Accusing district courts of insurrection = the bait
Adopting a stance of high-minded constitutionalism = the switch
Understand troll tactics and minimize engagement folks
What actually IS “absurd” is after taking the oath of office not once but twice, he was asked point blank…
as president doesn’t he need to uphold the constitution?, and he replied “I don’t know….” followed by some typical Trump lawyer vague gibber jabber word salad nonsense..
I could list another 100 examples of him being “absurd” but even his own goofy words and deeds mean little to the die-hard MAGA cultists.
The US Court of International Trade literally ruled that they’re illegal.
Trump is claiming he has the power under the International Economic Emergency Powers Act of 1977, an act written to restrict a President’s powers during times of national emergency, to impose tariffs to redress perceived trade imbalances with over a hundred countries, and the Court ruled that the Act was not intended for that purpose, which means what he is doing is illegal.
The law in question: “The authorities granted to the President by section 1702 of this title may only be exercised to deal with an unusual and extraordinary threat with respect to which a national emergency has been declared for purposes of this chapter and may not be exercised for any other purpose.”
Are you an expert in trade, international, and Constitutional law? Maybe stick to music.
“I might not always like what the administration is doing, but the idea that it’s “illegal” is absurd.”
You must have skipped US Government in high school, because pretty much everything the administration is doing is unconstitutional/illegal.
You wouldn’t know it if you watch Fox News, but the judges that declared Trump’s tariffs illegal were Trump’s own appointees. He’s an incompetent clown!
Before I go off on a tangent, Analog Fire, I think your two descriptive words says it perfectly. I’ve been wanting to buy a 16 voice REV2 since it came out. But the price skyrocketed recently – and even more so recently. So as for now I’m just focusing intensely on the gear I have. I think it’s likely that tons of exciting new gear will be released once Rump leaves office.
Cheers. The REV2 is one of my favorite instruments of all time. Best of luck with the hunt. I did notice the price has gone up on them quite a bit.
Great, let’s keep shipping jobs and IP to other countries for slave labor rates that gutted the middle class. Follow the money, it was Wall St, Clinton and Bush that caused this mess (WTO,MFN).
You propose that we continue to let the CCP control manufacturing of materials, pharmaceuticals and IP theft so they can cut us off at will so you don’t have to pay a few hundred dollars more for a synth?!
https://x.com/WarlordDilley/status/1906866174539031021
You act like tariffs will across l boost manufacturing in the US but that is not the case. Companies have already crunched the numbers and there’s is no sustainable way that they can survive doing it so when tariffs kicked in many companies just moved operations to slightly less tariffed countries and raised prices rather than triple the price of products by moving operations to the US
You are completely detached from reality if you believe the US can build factories within a few months, manufacture as cheaply, and get the manufacturing expertise from a populace of very poorly educated Americans (consistently poor scores over the last few decades).
But what else can we expect from the members of this cult?
But this is not what this is about. This is simply a grift of the psychopath-class. A wealth transfer to the already ultra-wealthy from everyone else. Including yourself. You just don’t realize it yet.
And the guy who sells $400 made-in-China sneakers and $600 made-in-China (and worth maybe $50) watches to his frothing-at-the-mouth fans is just the guy to fix it!
Fun fact: Under Biden, the US transitioned from relying on imports of solar panels from China to producing all it needs domestically. The US was also well on the way to doing the same with computer CPUs. Trump has ended both programs.
Who is the gonna build all the factories in the US? Who is going to work at those factories for min wage? Even then, in 4 years, a president can reverse it and people who built the factories would have to compete with other countries again and go bankrupt lol
Keep coping.
Where did you get the notion that factories only pay minimum wage?
Where did you get the notion that newly built factories won’t try to maximize their profits to pay for the newly built factories which will include lobbying the government, you know, which all businesses have already been doing? Take a look at farming and ranching, the govt looks the other way when illegals work there. Won’t be hard to claim “we need to have lower wages to recoup the initial investments mr president sir!!!”
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Admin: Comment deleted (personal attack).
TimS – you’ve made multiple personal attacks in your comments on this post, and have a long history of wasting the admin’s time.
Synthtopia encourages readers to share any perspective they have about both the news that we share and our coverage. You can do this without making personal attacks.
Going forward, Synthopia is going to simply delete any personal attacks that you make, to minimize the admin overhead that you are creating. If you continue to waste the admin’s time, your comments will be treated as spam.
Trump is such an embarrassment
Why is that? Because President Trump is trying to help USA based businesses instead of China?
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/10/business/economy/trump-tariff-supporters.html
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-manufacturing-domestic-tariffs/
https://apnews.com/article/trump-tariffs-fishing-shrimp-gulf-c1f76a11ec1f9921e8c893b109e121b5
The embarrassment was President Biden. President Biden was a laughingstock worldwide. Here he was mocked on Italian television: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wso4sTKT6jw
I don’t know about you, but my family is doing well now. The US based Fortune 500 company that I work for is doing well. My 401(k) is way up from the downturn earlier this year (and I bought on the dip); it’s at an all-time high for me.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/2025/05/four-year-low-prices-for-essentials-fall-as-workers-see-relief-in-president-trumps-economy/
The USA and USA businesses are being prioritized over foreign countries and foreign manufacturing. ILLEGAL immigration is being cracked down on. What is wrong with prioritizing the USA and US citizens and LEGAL immigrants?
Trump IS an embarrassment because he is so weak politically that he can’t get ANY of his agenda through Congress.
Literally everything he’s done in his second administration has been by executive order, and most of it is already getting reversed, because it’s illegal executive overreach.
It’s like you quoting government propaganda to make a case for Trump’s policies – your case is so weak that you can’t cite legitimate sources.
The world is laughing at Trump administration. Even Trump trolls know this.
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boycott U.S. goods
Admin: Comment deleted, personal attack (name-calling).
Enjoy what you voted
US National Depts are at round about $323.000 per tax payer. Round about $103.000 per citizen.
The most people are not getting, what is coming. A little bit more expensive synth will be the smallest problem in their life.
10 billion dollars in additional taxes are like nothing in contrast to $36.919.747.000.000 of debts.
People, who don’t get it, should continue following the mass media and complain more about Trump. At the moment the US government is trying to save the $. I think it is already to late.
I don’t understand your dollar amounts, did you make a typo?
I think Geo is trying to make a point about the US national debt, which is important, but irrelevant to this discussion. The national debt isn’t going to raise synth prices in the US like a tax hike of 145%. And tariffs will never pay off the national debt.
The national debt is a direct result of the US prioritizing huge tax cuts to billionaires over a balanced budget. No amount of spending cuts can fix this.
If MAGA types really wanted to make America great, we’d go back to taxing corporations and the super-rich the way the country did in its post-war heyday, when American had world-leading schools, infrastructure, business growth, power, etc.
Why doesn’t the National Association Of Music Merchants openly bribe Trump for a tariff exemption? It’s not like he’ll refuse.
This is the most realistic solution I’ve read so far, until and unless the courts shut this nonsense down for good and the incompetence of this administration can be focused elsewhere.
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These are very bad people. So bad. What we need to do is send them to CHINA. Or put them in a room with a very bright light. That’s how we stop GERMS. And that’s how we stopped COVID. But look at where that came from – China. And that’s how America will be great again, we need to stop these people from eating cats by building a big wall. And who invented big walls? China!! So sad.
The more absurd thing is that this is considered news on a synth gear site. Sure, the admins are free to post whatever they want, but there are also repercussions. Of the top 4 gear news sites, this is the only site carrying on about an update on tariffs and things not gear related…
Seriously, this is a 100% political opinion story. Gear-related…Sorry, it is very, very loosely gear-related at this point and old news. We already know about the tariffs. The whole point of the tariff reporting in the beginning was to warn that prices may go up. By the way, they have not from every manufacturer either. It all depends if the manufacturer absorbs the cost or passes it on – it is not automatic as people keep repeating.
Also, do we actually believe tariffs are centered around our gear prices? Try again. Clothes, food, anything is affected. And again, there is no new news to report here. Sometimes I am amazed at how childish and narrow-minded we have become with honestly first world problems and then fixating on them. Feel free to call me names as you see fit, but my post has nothing to do with which side of politics that I sit or anyone else does. It is just pure facts.
Frankly, I don’t even care what side people are on. I do not pick my friends or associations based on that. To do so, would limit my experiences in life. Life is way too short for that. Besides, imagine if we all believed and liked the same. Yeah, no thanks. I love when my friends have a different opinion than me. I respect them for that. That is why they are my friends after all. We are supposed to be a community – wouldn’t the same concepts apply? They do for me…
Tariffs are not synth news anymore no matter how much people want to defend it. I would argue that when they first were proposed, it would be appropriate to report on it, but going on and on is like following a C-SPAN story here. Honestly, look at the nearest 100 neighbors to you. Less that 5% (probably closer to maybe 1%) are even affected by our gear prices. They don’t even have this as a hobby or a job. They are much more concerned about clothing and what-not affected.
I do not mean this to be an insult, but – Isn’t this site about primarily reporting synth news. If so, respectfully, maybe stick to that. Not doing so will only taint your vision of what you are trying to do here. Or maybe have an opinion section or something so that these types of posts are presented there. I mention this as I come here for the news, not debate on opinions. I am a long-time visitor and look forward to the way that the gear news has been historically presented here. My hope is that continues…
Thanks for your feedback, and congratulations on making your first comment on the site!
“Of the top 4 gear news sites, this is the only site carrying on about an update on tariffs and things not gear related…”
The topic of tariffs is relevant enough to musicians that this article already has 50 comments on it.
Long-time readers know that Synthtopia does not censor our coverage to avoid topics that are controversial. We make our editorial decisions based on what’s relevant to readers.
We have data to back up these decisions, and we’ve used the same approach for more than two decades.
The administration’s tariffs are newsworthy to musicians because they are directly impacting the prices you have to pay for electronic music gear. They are also impacting the options you have for gear.
When the cool and fun instruments we play on suddenly get like 50% more expensive, it affects everyone who wants to buy the cool and fun instruments. It’s news because I have held off on purchases I wanted because the prices have increased. I have no problem waiting 4 years for the prices to be eventually reverted and when that news comes out, synthtopia will let me know and I can go buy the cool and fun instruments.
As someone working in the music tech industry, this is highly relevant to me and all my colleagues. Sales are plummeting, businesses are closing, and people are losing their jobs. Nothing has impacted the industry like this since the pandemic. How could a gear site not report on this? If you don’t care and instead read other news, they are still here. For those of us who are professionally affected by the situation, it is a valuable news source.
A lot of TDS.
How do you expect these tarrifs to unfold? What will be the positive and negative consequences?
Just be glad Trump hasnt put a tariff on VSTs yet. As far as hardware…. its a blessing in disguise if you have used gear to sell. 🙂
It’s possible he will tarrif foreign software (and multi-media) next!
Grabs popcorn. Gets comfy.
Geo said: US National Debts are at round about $323.000 per tax payer. Round about $103.000 per citizen.
Me? I’m going to spend $103 on Spitfire’s new pipe organ. Screw the national debt (over which I have zero control) and screw my own debt. First things first.
To Synthtopia,
So what exactly is it you are trying to accomplish here ? If it is to pin your viewers against each other, congratulations you have succeeded. You knew this when you hit the post button. There are a cajillion other places to read and comment on politics. Get back on topic, synths. WTF?!?!
Anthony – thanks for your feedback, and congratulations on being a first-time commenter.
“There are a cajillion other places to read and comment on politics. Get back on topic, synths. WTF?!?!”
It sounds like you take offense at Synthtopia covering news that impacts readers when it has to do with politics.
We think readers should be well-informed about ANY news that significantly impacts the world of synths and electronic musicians. We cover this news in a dispassionate way, and let readers make their own decisions about what to think.
If the Trump administration’s tax hikes on imports are sound policy, they will stand up to discussion.
Sure, some of the comments on this post have veered off (TimS might as well change his handle to “####################”), but the bottom line is if you’re discussing how synth prices are going up because of political decisions made by gov’t leaders and politicians, it will reasonably touch on politics.
To NOT talk about rising synth prices merely because it’s linked back to some decision a politician made does NOT make sense. Unless, of course, you’re a fan of said politician and his/her policies, and if you’re overly sensitive to criticism of said politician, then I guess you might see it differently.
Love this take. We’re never going to all agree on politics. And, normally, politics doesn’t really have much with our little world of synths.
But, when Trump puts a tax hike of 145% on imports from China, that more than doubles the prices we pay. Some readers and manufacturers have already been hit with this and, in some cases, they didn’t find out about the tax hit until long after they ordered it.
And the way he’s been flip-flopping on the tax hikes screws up the ability for manufacturers to plan for the future.
You can argue about the merits of Trump’s tax hikes, but that’s what people think is irrelevant and annoying to see on Synthtopia. We are not here to debate politics, our hobbies are an escape from all that BS! But there’s really no debate that Trump’s tax hikes DO impact us and manufacturers.
Its a shame we can’t cuss here. The news has led me to a meaningful stash of improperly colorful thoughts that could make Howard Stern flinch. Its not exactly X-rated material, but its such a hard R, you couldn’t see the difference.
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Admin: Comment deleted, personal attack (name-calling).
Also, you are using multiple names to comment with (jack, joe), which results in your comments being flagged as spam.
Keep comments on topic and constructive.