User-Supported News Commentary Hosted by Craig Crawford
Breaking The China
Finally, a president (elect) willing to challenge China. Could be a horrible mistake. But how interesting to find out what comes of this. If it is a mistake we are a super-less power.
Author: craigcrawford
Trail Mix Host. Lapsed journalist, author & retired pundit happily promoting nothing but the truth for Social Security checks.
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beware the bull in the china shop. warning: chipped china cut tongues at the most inconvenient times and places. back in September it was reported at usgovinfo: According to the Treasury, the largest foreign holder of U.S. debt is China, which owns more than $1.24 trillion in bills, notes, and bonds or about 30% of the over $4 trillion in Treasury bills, notes, and bonds held by foreign countries. In total, China owns about 10% of publicly held U.S. debt. Of all the holders of U.S. debt China is the third-largest, behind only the Social Security Trust Fund‘s holdings of nearly $3 trillion and the Federal Reserve‘s nearly $2 trillion holdings in Treasury investments, purchased as part of its quantitative easing program to boost the economy. [….] China is especially attracted to U.S. bills, notes, and bonds due to our annual $350 billion trade deficit we have with them. U.S. trade partner nations like China are anxious to lend the U.S. money so that we will continue to buy the goods and services they export. Indeed, foreign investment in the U.S. debt is one factor that helped us survive the recession. To put its ownership of U.S. debt in perspective, China’s holding of $1.24 trillion is even larger than the amount owned by American households. U.S. citizens hold only about $959 billion in U.S. debt, according to the Federal Reserve. Other large foreign holders of U.S. debt include Japan, which owns $912 billion; the United Kingdom, which owns $347 billion; Brazil, which… Read more »
I was just curious if this dramatic upswing in spending is local or national. This is more than the usual Yuletide spending – I’m a veteran of 35 Christmas seasons; this is bigger than any November/December in the past. September/October were strangely flat (in comparison to other years) then after the Election … boom! We got caught short as did other retailers in the area.
My fear is that this is a Coolidge wave soon crashing onto a Hoover shore. WNY went bigtime for the President-elect; local Congressman Chris Collins was the first member of Congress to endorse him. Voters may be expecting goodies heading this way. If they don’t, won’t be pretty. Memories last.
On the subject of China, our local Universities & Colleges have a very large enrollment of Chinese students. The administrations go above & beyond to recruit & welcome them. They are good for our economy & generally respectful guests. They made the effort to learn, speak, write English. Would or more importantly could we do the same if roles were reversed?
On the flip side, I live not far from the Niagara River. It is beautiful & historic. It is also deadly with many currents & at places rapids. Every year it is reported that bodies of Chinese people who were trying to swim or row across the River from Canada are found. Whatever possessed them to attempt this & escape where they came from was worth the risk in their minds.
And in honor of Mr. Secretary-nominee Tillerson, the next thread topic should be:
“Russian Dressing.”
Finally, a president (elect) willing to snuggle up with Russia. Could be a horrible mistake. But how interesting to find out what comes of this. If it is a mistake we are a super-less power.
SJ, WNY isn’t likely to be one of the areas drumpf economic policies will benefit bigly. Growth there has been a little above the national average since the recession and wages have been less. This WNY economic report from Canisius College kinda sums it up for Erie County (which has had better growth than Niagra County.
The revised CES employment data, released in March 2016, suggested that the Buffalo MSA was not growing as quickly as pre-revised data made it appear. Current data for the MSA, as well as Erie County, show that the region has been growing. The decline in employment noted last summer has been reversed. The metropolitan area has finally eclipsed the level of employment from before both the 2001 and the 2008 recessions. Employment is growing in most industries. With a 1.9% growth in nominal average annual earnings in 2015, while increasing, wages are not approaching the national average with any degree of rapidity.
yesterday’s comments grumbling about a dem political relative made me wonder why not the equivalent outrage about ivanka and hubby? same thing goes for all that grumping about Hillary’s lack of press conferences but nothing of same high dudgeon about drumpf not holding them since july.
nor is there an uproar about his not releasing taxes and exposing conflicts yet still grousing about Clinton crimes and conflicts. why?
I live here. Lots of Help Wanted signs on fast food establishments 😉 Want to get truly depressed head 100 miles south to the Pennsylvania border area where I grew up. Why do folks want fracking there? Because there is nothing else other than incredible beauty & solitude. Oh & oodles of meth labs. I never would have left if I didn’t have to but I would be dead or wishing daily that I was. It is that bad. Four of my classmates committed suicide by the age of 20; lost a few more to drug overdoses, alcoholism or obesity related disease. However horrible the President-elect is he offered them a sense of pride & a glimmer of hope. This can’t be discounted. Easy to mock but walk a mile in their shoes. I have.
As for industrial jobs around Buffalo, Governor Cuomo has a scandal ridden bag of cronies’ goodies called the Buffalo Billion. Want a giganticus white elephant built by graft? Got one! We’re going to save the area by building …. solar panels. Considering the amount of tax payers’ dollars spent on this thing I hope it pays off. Not holding my breath though. And apparently the hourly wages to be paid at the facility are about $14/hr.
Has anyone seen the seal that drumpf had designed for the president elect? Preibus was standing in front of it on MoJo (I sinned and tuned in for a few minutes) and it is ridiculous.
I’ve always believed that China is terrified of a “Cold War” with their “Sugar Daddy”. Their economy would collapse within hours. In my opinion, that’s a damn big stick we’re carrying. No mistake.
I saw Tweety petting The Condom. What kind of “ball” is he playing now…certainly not hardball because every word out of her mouth is a lie. I heard she is the Phyllis Schafley lady in politics of the year.
And KelleyAnn you did not win because your candidate had a better message – you won because as you have proven in other campaigns you will tell any lies and defend them with enthusiasm and a kind of meth driven charm. But based on your religious beliefs (self-stated) and your immoral behavior you will be in hell with your face planted in Donald Trump’s ass for eternity I hope the money is worth it,
A ruptured pipeline has spilled more than 176,000 gallons of crude oil into a hillside and a Little Missouri River tributary about 150 miles west of Cannon Ball, N.D., where thousands of activists have spent months fighting construction of the Dakota Access oil pipeline, state officials said Monday.
SJ, I don’t have to go to PA to see that – Western PA & WV are like peas in a pod. Fracking and meth are all the rage here, and aside for CDL drivers for water trucks, the fracking provides jobs for folks from TX, OK & MT. Some landowners get royalties – although around here, oil companies own most of the minerals – but the biggest effects are truck traffic and torn up roads, inflated rental prices, etc.
I don’t work in retail but Mr. Cracker and I went shopping yesterday and every where we went it was jammed. We were in a bookstore and a toy store and a wine shop and ordering sour dough bread from Boudin (we had lunch too) But it was crowded. Not so you didn’t have to wait but a few minutes for a parking spot or in line to check out. It was kind of fun. Although everything seemed more than last year,
If we got in a fight with China about Taiwan – isn’t China more likely to take it out on Taiwan as in occupying it and what is Trump going to do about that One China policy .
Pat & others, I think the Journal‘s page one feature ‘Antidote to Malaise: College Towns’ offers a really important analysis on how college towns, especially those with land-grant charters, provide exceptional resilience in the face of lost factory jobs because of production movement overseas.
If a non-subscriber can provide a link to the article, it would provide a real service.
Katherine, I believe Peking will take revenge by mounting attacks on Matsu and Quemoy as they did in decades past. The U.S. is still quite capable of mounting crippling attacks from Guam and other locations.
I have a big problem with that approach and anything that might lead to it. If China invades Taiwan because of Donald Trump, he will have started a war before he even got into office.
I don’t think it makes me proud that we could mount crippling attacks it makes me very afraid.
I loathe fracking. Most of my Mother’s ancestors settled in Tioga & Bradford Counties, Pennsylvania. Still have a gracious plenty of cousins there. This is beautiful land. Fracking is ugly, destructive, self defeating to those who live where it takes place. However if you live on a tight income, have a hardscrabble farm, $ looks mighty good. I don’t condemn anyone who chooses it. I wish they didn’t but I understand why.
New York State has not allowed fracking – yet. I hope it does not. My heart belongs in Allegany County, where I grew up. How I miss the misty hilltops & deep valleys. Loved exploring the woods as a kid. The soil is rocky. It’s a hundred miles from anywhere. It also has the oldest known oil discovery in America: the Seneca Oil Springs. The indigenous people of the area were called the Wenrohronons: People of the Place of the Floating Scum, i.e. petroleum. If fracking is allowed, it will come to Allegany County. Big time.
Our ability to mount crippling attacks on China has served the greater good in the Far East since Mao decided he wanted to eliminate the Nationalist Chinese completely.
I have a cold and my head is fuzzy. Talking/reading/thinking about trump and the crap that’s going on right now makes me feel worse.
Here’s an interesting article from someone who is not political 🙂 I’ve been following Bob Rankin for almost as long as I’ve had a computer. He’s a tech guru and I still learn from his newsletter all the time. This week he delved into the fake news issue and, as usual he has some tips for dealing with it. Thought I’d share: Stopping Fake News
I do want to add one small note about Hillary. Many people have commented on how voters seem to dislike her and can’t really articulate why. The human brain is a pretty amazing organ. When we are bombarded day after day with negative, malicious and mostly false or misleading headlines our brain takes it all in. Unless we stop each time and “tell” our brain that what we’re seeing is BS, our brain just takes it in unedited. Thousands of messages later we aren’t sure why we believe certain things but our gut tightens up and we find ourselves feeling one way or the other unconsciously. It’s called brain washing! It was used very effectively in this election…and probably started years ago.
As for China/Russia…I think we will see another great war in my lifetime and that definitely doesn’t make me feel better 🙁
Going to lie down now and watch a Christmas movie.
Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani ordered scientists on Tuesday to start developing systems for nuclear-powered boats, in reaction to what he called the United States’ violation of a global atomic deal.
The announcement marked Iran’s first concrete response to a U.S. Congress decision last month to extend legislation making it easier for Washington to reimpose sanctions on Tehran.
Greater good? – don’t you mean greater good as defined by the US policy – which now has changed.
I guess we will see who’s willing to back up their tough talk – I hope this does not end up like the Carrier deal – or we will all be learning to speak Chinese.
Where is Skinny Dennis and the Department of Peace when you need him.?
Scientists are frantically copying U.S. climate data, fearing it might vanish under Trump
Alarmed that decades of crucial climate measurements could vanish under a hostile Trump administration, scientists have begun a feverish attempt to copy reams of government data onto independent servers in hopes of safeguarding it from any political interference.
The efforts include a “guerrilla archiving” event in Toronto, where experts will copy irreplaceable public data, meetings at the University of Pennsylvania focused on how to download as much federal data as possible in the coming weeks, and a collaboration of scientists and database experts who are compiling an online site to harbor scientific information.
“Something that seemed a little paranoid to me before all of a sudden seems potentially realistic, or at least something you’d want to hedge against,” said Nick Santos, an environmental researcher at the University of California at Davis, who over the weekend began copying government climate data onto a nongovernment server, where it will remain available to the public. “Doing this can only be a good thing. Hopefully they leave everything in place. But if not, we’re planning for that.”
Jon Huntsman seemed to think it was OK to flirt with Taiwan. Of course, he thought he might get to be SOS that week, but if anyone should understand China, he’s probably the one.
The thing about Trump is that he has had some unorthodox ideas about things…and he’s been correct.
I wonder how Huntsman would feel if he knew how much personal business Trump conducted in the phone call and others.
China’s economy is kind of in the dumper and a war might be a booster as it has for other economies.
When has Trump been right about a public policy
climate change denier?
workers are overpaid?
Immigrants are responsible for job loss?
blacks live in permanent despair?
trickle down economics works?
the police are never wrong
patd, the way I heard that old saying is “Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get you.” In this case a little paranoia is probably helpful.
pogo, yeah, that article Jamie linked on naming names is a bit of a hint hint, don’t look behind you, keep your back to the wall and say nothing. i’m even beginning to worry about our blog here. is granny really a mumantoog? are bid and bronc really blue? is this a trail full of trolls phishing for phishy comrades? and you, pogo, a possum from ‘bama living in w va? hah!
Avoiding floater news so this is brief. Today a co-worker asked why the Soviets Russians are invading Syria. I pulled up a map of the region to show Syria, Turkey and the Black Sea. It also showed much of the Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan with other -stans. She only had to look at it to understand why the Soviets Russians are taking the region.
Putin is KGB and the Soviet Union is his goal, with expansion into Iran and Turkey. KGB/FSB/SVR are becoming a nuisance.
Pat: Thanks for the sweet picture. I watched a lovely special Christmas (movie length) episode of a show I enjoy. It was Murdoch Mysteries which is a great Canadian tv show. The first 7 or 8 seasons are on Netflix. It’s in season 10 now so to catch up you’ll have to have access to some streaming Internet sources. You can read about it on IMDB. I watch a lot of Canadian, British and Australian tv shows. Murdoch is one of the best because it combines several things I love…mystery, history, science, police procedural circa end of 19th/beginning of 20th centuries. Then it also adds humor and romance…in other words it has everything.
Long story short long…It was a really enjoyable Christmas story 😀
Cabinet starting to resemble the branding of football stadiums. – Cap’n Crawford
2018 NEWS ITEM :
Tonight the Exxon (XOM-NYSE) State Department announced that United Brands and Ford Motors will be bringing you the Third Gulf War, to be shown exclusively here on Fox.
From late last thread (too late) :
1. Clinton won at least 487 counties. More than twice 57 in the confederate states alone.
2. Carter lost because of his ill thought out raid to free hostages, and the well-deserved public rebuke by the SoS, whom Carter had cut out of the loop, that followed the failure of that raid. Dammit, the Dope-in-Chief had 1 year and 2.5 months to plan the rescue. Between that and his anti-labor position he deserved to lose.
The fact that Clinton won 8 1/2 times as many counties as the rip up licanthrope lie maintains, does NOT mitigate the Clinton campaign failures in MI, WI, FL, NC, and PA.
Murdoch Mysteries is on ACORN. You can subscribe direct or as an add on to Amazon Prime. I’m watching a lot of Canadian & Australian series as an escape from the majority of US programming. Current ACORN favorite is a Place To Call Home which is also on PBS but I’m into season 4 binge and waiting on season 5.
I’ve been voting since 1965 (you had to be 21 then). I’ve voted for Democrats and Republicans. Locally voted a lot of non partisan, Independent, and Third Party. There were candidates who won that didn’t please me or whose positions I didn’t support. This is the first time I have felt beyond a shadow of a doubt that the man assuming the Presidency was totally unfit for the office and even worse his appointments were dangerous.
O Canada…..What a cabinet:Minister of Health is a doctor.Minister of Transport is an astronaut.Minister of National Defense is a Sikh Veteran.Minister of Youth is under the age of 45.
Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food is a former farmer.
Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness was a Scout.
Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development was a financial analyst.
Minister of Finance is a successful businessman.
Minister of Justice was a crown prosecutor and is a First Nations leader.
Minister of Sport, and Persons with Disabilities is a visually impaired Paralympian.
Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, and Canadian Coastguard is Inuit.
Minister of Science is a medical geographer with a PhD.
New titles include
Minister of Immigration, Citizenship and Refugees was an Immigration critic.
There are scientists in the cabinet, and it is made up of 50% women.
beware the bull in the china shop. warning: chipped china cut tongues at the most inconvenient times and places. back in September it was reported at usgovinfo: According to the Treasury, the largest foreign holder of U.S. debt is China, which owns more than $1.24 trillion in bills, notes, and bonds or about 30% of the over $4 trillion in Treasury bills, notes, and bonds held by foreign countries. In total, China owns about 10% of publicly held U.S. debt. Of all the holders of U.S. debt China is the third-largest, behind only the Social Security Trust Fund‘s holdings of nearly $3 trillion and the Federal Reserve‘s nearly $2 trillion holdings in Treasury investments, purchased as part of its quantitative easing program to boost the economy. [….] China is especially attracted to U.S. bills, notes, and bonds due to our annual $350 billion trade deficit we have with them. U.S. trade partner nations like China are anxious to lend the U.S. money so that we will continue to buy the goods and services they export. Indeed, foreign investment in the U.S. debt is one factor that helped us survive the recession. To put its ownership of U.S. debt in perspective, China’s holding of $1.24 trillion is even larger than the amount owned by American households. U.S. citizens hold only about $959 billion in U.S. debt, according to the Federal Reserve. Other large foreign holders of U.S. debt include Japan, which owns $912 billion; the United Kingdom, which owns $347 billion; Brazil, which… Read more »
off subject, but 2 interesting reads just out from new yorker
Gawker’s Demise and the Trump-Era Threat to the First Amendment by toobin
and Rex Tillerson, from a Corporate Oil Sovereign to the State Department by coll
Hi Blue Bronc,
I was just curious if this dramatic upswing in spending is local or national. This is more than the usual Yuletide spending – I’m a veteran of 35 Christmas seasons; this is bigger than any November/December in the past. September/October were strangely flat (in comparison to other years) then after the Election … boom! We got caught short as did other retailers in the area.
My fear is that this is a Coolidge wave soon crashing onto a Hoover shore. WNY went bigtime for the President-elect; local Congressman Chris Collins was the first member of Congress to endorse him. Voters may be expecting goodies heading this way. If they don’t, won’t be pretty. Memories last.
On the subject of China, our local Universities & Colleges have a very large enrollment of Chinese students. The administrations go above & beyond to recruit & welcome them. They are good for our economy & generally respectful guests. They made the effort to learn, speak, write English. Would or more importantly could we do the same if roles were reversed?
On the flip side, I live not far from the Niagara River. It is beautiful & historic. It is also deadly with many currents & at places rapids. Every year it is reported that bodies of Chinese people who were trying to swim or row across the River from Canada are found. Whatever possessed them to attempt this & escape where they came from was worth the risk in their minds.
And in honor of Mr. Secretary-nominee Tillerson, the next thread topic should be:
Pogo,
Reading your comment makes me think of Alan Arkin. Wonder why? 😉
pogo, in other words
Not as funny, after January 20th the President’s home could be referred to as The (White) House of Special Purpose.
SJ, WNY isn’t likely to be one of the areas drumpf economic policies will benefit bigly. Growth there has been a little above the national average since the recession and wages have been less. This WNY economic report from Canisius College kinda sums it up for Erie County (which has had better growth than Niagra County.
Jamie: “Cacti and bison can’t vote”
Patd: “Jamie, but if they form corporations, they can make campaign donations and run ads”
Jamie – Then the rutabaga believe everything they are sold.
yesterday’s comments grumbling about a dem political relative made me wonder why not the equivalent outrage about ivanka and hubby? same thing goes for all that grumping about Hillary’s lack of press conferences but nothing of same high dudgeon about drumpf not holding them since july.
nor is there an uproar about his not releasing taxes and exposing conflicts yet still grousing about Clinton crimes and conflicts. why?
Pat
iidiyar (it is different if you are republican}
Just a basic fact of life it is only fun if they squirm, Democrats do, Republicans don’t.
Jack
Pogo,
I live here. Lots of Help Wanted signs on fast food establishments 😉 Want to get truly depressed head 100 miles south to the Pennsylvania border area where I grew up. Why do folks want fracking there? Because there is nothing else other than incredible beauty & solitude. Oh & oodles of meth labs. I never would have left if I didn’t have to but I would be dead or wishing daily that I was. It is that bad. Four of my classmates committed suicide by the age of 20; lost a few more to drug overdoses, alcoholism or obesity related disease. However horrible the President-elect is he offered them a sense of pride & a glimmer of hope. This can’t be discounted. Easy to mock but walk a mile in their shoes. I have.
As for industrial jobs around Buffalo, Governor Cuomo has a scandal ridden bag of cronies’ goodies called the Buffalo Billion. Want a giganticus white elephant built by graft? Got one! We’re going to save the area by building …. solar panels. Considering the amount of tax payers’ dollars spent on this thing I hope it pays off. Not holding my breath though. And apparently the hourly wages to be paid at the facility are about $14/hr.
On the subject of the day. Putting a little pressure on China is OK if you have clue as to what you are doing.
IMO they have been gaming the US for far too long.
But notice that big word I used, (if).
It makes all the difference and so far Trump hasn’t demonstrated any competence to ease our worries.
Jack
Has anyone seen the seal that drumpf had designed for the president elect? Preibus was standing in front of it on MoJo (I sinned and tuned in for a few minutes) and it is ridiculous.
I’ve always believed that China is terrified of a “Cold War” with their “Sugar Daddy”. Their economy would collapse within hours. In my opinion, that’s a damn big stick we’re carrying. No mistake.
An acquaintance mentioned that ironically the first woman President won’t be Hillary Clinton but will be Ivanka Trump. Oooooohh… Ouch.
conservative joe walsh: silence tantamount to treason
https://youtu.be/vBNor5NSMUo
SJWNY
Cities and States Lead on Climate Change
Advances in clean energy across heartland to advanced to be reversed by Trump. Let us hope similar activities might assist your home area.
Trump Towers Taiwan important because that is where Melanoma will be living
I saw Tweety petting The Condom. What kind of “ball” is he playing now…certainly not hardball because every word out of her mouth is a lie. I heard she is the Phyllis Schafley lady in politics of the year.
And KelleyAnn you did not win because your candidate had a better message – you won because as you have proven in other campaigns you will tell any lies and defend them with enthusiasm and a kind of meth driven charm. But based on your religious beliefs (self-stated) and your immoral behavior you will be in hell with your face planted in Donald Trump’s ass for eternity I hope the money is worth it,
I hear your older children have asked for divorce
is this an “oops” or a “we told you so” moment?
A ruptured pipeline has spilled more than 176,000 gallons of crude oil into a hillside and a Little Missouri River tributary about 150 miles west of Cannon Ball, N.D., where thousands of activists have spent months fighting construction of the Dakota Access oil pipeline, state officials said Monday.
SJ, I don’t have to go to PA to see that – Western PA & WV are like peas in a pod. Fracking and meth are all the rage here, and aside for CDL drivers for water trucks, the fracking provides jobs for folks from TX, OK & MT. Some landowners get royalties – although around here, oil companies own most of the minerals – but the biggest effects are truck traffic and torn up roads, inflated rental prices, etc.
Jamie, this morning’s Journal has a significant article on the Pegasus World Cup. Page A14.
patd, “whoops” on the company’s side, “we told you so” on the other sides.
I don’t work in retail but Mr. Cracker and I went shopping yesterday and every where we went it was jammed. We were in a bookstore and a toy store and a wine shop and ordering sour dough bread from Boudin (we had lunch too) But it was crowded. Not so you didn’t have to wait but a few minutes for a parking spot or in line to check out. It was kind of fun. Although everything seemed more than last year,
If we got in a fight with China about Taiwan – isn’t China more likely to take it out on Taiwan as in occupying it and what is Trump going to do about that One China policy .
Pat & others, I think the Journal‘s page one feature ‘Antidote to Malaise: College Towns’ offers a really important analysis on how college towns, especially those with land-grant charters, provide exceptional resilience in the face of lost factory jobs because of production movement overseas.
If a non-subscriber can provide a link to the article, it would provide a real service.
Katherine, I believe Peking will take revenge by mounting attacks on Matsu and Quemoy as they did in decades past. The U.S. is still quite capable of mounting crippling attacks from Guam and other locations.
Flatus
I have a big problem with that approach and anything that might lead to it. If China invades Taiwan because of Donald Trump, he will have started a war before he even got into office.
I don’t think it makes me proud that we could mount crippling attacks it makes me very afraid.
I loathe fracking. Most of my Mother’s ancestors settled in Tioga & Bradford Counties, Pennsylvania. Still have a gracious plenty of cousins there. This is beautiful land. Fracking is ugly, destructive, self defeating to those who live where it takes place. However if you live on a tight income, have a hardscrabble farm, $ looks mighty good. I don’t condemn anyone who chooses it. I wish they didn’t but I understand why.
New York State has not allowed fracking – yet. I hope it does not. My heart belongs in Allegany County, where I grew up. How I miss the misty hilltops & deep valleys. Loved exploring the woods as a kid. The soil is rocky. It’s a hundred miles from anywhere. It also has the oldest known oil discovery in America: the Seneca Oil Springs. The indigenous people of the area were called the Wenrohronons: People of the Place of the Floating Scum, i.e. petroleum. If fracking is allowed, it will come to Allegany County. Big time.
Our ability to mount crippling attacks on China has served the greater good in the Far East since Mao decided he wanted to eliminate the Nationalist Chinese completely.
I have a cold and my head is fuzzy. Talking/reading/thinking about trump and the crap that’s going on right now makes me feel worse.
Here’s an interesting article from someone who is not political 🙂 I’ve been following Bob Rankin for almost as long as I’ve had a computer. He’s a tech guru and I still learn from his newsletter all the time. This week he delved into the fake news issue and, as usual he has some tips for dealing with it. Thought I’d share: Stopping Fake News
I do want to add one small note about Hillary. Many people have commented on how voters seem to dislike her and can’t really articulate why. The human brain is a pretty amazing organ. When we are bombarded day after day with negative, malicious and mostly false or misleading headlines our brain takes it all in. Unless we stop each time and “tell” our brain that what we’re seeing is BS, our brain just takes it in unedited. Thousands of messages later we aren’t sure why we believe certain things but our gut tightens up and we find ourselves feeling one way or the other unconsciously. It’s called brain washing! It was used very effectively in this election…and probably started years ago.
As for China/Russia…I think we will see another great war in my lifetime and that definitely doesn’t make me feel better 🙁
Going to lie down now and watch a Christmas movie.
flatus, hope this is what you wanted linked and hope all of it shows up… sometimes they just give a teaser.
wall st journal
There’s an Antidote to America’s Long Economic Malaise: College Towns
“Going to lie down now and watch a Christmas movie.”
granny, many dreams of sugar plums and such.
re Christmas flicks, stay away from Grinch and bad santa movies…too much like present day politics.
now what stupid snark will the twit tweet and cause even more a mess than the critters did
reuters:
Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani ordered scientists on Tuesday to start developing systems for nuclear-powered boats, in reaction to what he called the United States’ violation of a global atomic deal.
The announcement marked Iran’s first concrete response to a U.S. Congress decision last month to extend legislation making it easier for Washington to reimpose sanctions on Tehran.
Greater good? – don’t you mean greater good as defined by the US policy – which now has changed.
I guess we will see who’s willing to back up their tough talk – I hope this does not end up like the Carrier deal – or we will all be learning to speak Chinese.
Where is Skinny Dennis and the Department of Peace when you need him.?
garrison Keillor:
He promised the swamp would be drained,
Was elected, said “Rain!” and it rained
And the old crocodiles
Wore flesh-eating smiles
And the turtles were well entertained.
god help us, what have we wrought? reminds me of old quote: it’s not paranoia if it’s true
wapo:
Scientists are frantically copying U.S. climate data, fearing it might vanish under Trump
Alarmed that decades of crucial climate measurements could vanish under a hostile Trump administration, scientists have begun a feverish attempt to copy reams of government data onto independent servers in hopes of safeguarding it from any political interference.
The efforts include a “guerrilla archiving” event in Toronto, where experts will copy irreplaceable public data, meetings at the University of Pennsylvania focused on how to download as much federal data as possible in the coming weeks, and a collaboration of scientists and database experts who are compiling an online site to harbor scientific information.
“Something that seemed a little paranoid to me before all of a sudden seems potentially realistic, or at least something you’d want to hedge against,” said Nick Santos, an environmental researcher at the University of California at Davis, who over the weekend began copying government climate data onto a nongovernment server, where it will remain available to the public. “Doing this can only be a good thing. Hopefully they leave everything in place. But if not, we’re planning for that.”
Energy Department refuses to go along with Trump’s witch hunt
Refused to cooperate with the “naming of names” for staffers who worked on environmental/climate change programs.
Thank you Pat. Your link captured the article in all its glory
Trump lines up endorsement for Tillerson
Fails to mention most of them work for Tillerson or companies that work with Tillerson
The Benghazi Committee files final report and shuts down.
In totally unrelated snarky news, Hillary Clinton no longer running for President.
NAS Video mapping Carbon Dioxide movement around the globe
Jon Huntsman seemed to think it was OK to flirt with Taiwan. Of course, he thought he might get to be SOS that week, but if anyone should understand China, he’s probably the one.
The thing about Trump is that he has had some unorthodox ideas about things…and he’s been correct.
Here’s hoping this is another one of those times.
I wonder how Huntsman would feel if he knew how much personal business Trump conducted in the phone call and others.
China’s economy is kind of in the dumper and a war might be a booster as it has for other economies.
Basically, Trump is forming a coalition with other countries with intemperate assholes as presidents
When has Trump been right about a public policy
climate change denier?
workers are overpaid?
Immigrants are responsible for job loss?
blacks live in permanent despair?
trickle down economics works?
the police are never wrong
patd, the way I heard that old saying is “Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get you.” In this case a little paranoia is probably helpful.
pogo, yeah, that article Jamie linked on naming names is a bit of a hint hint, don’t look behind you, keep your back to the wall and say nothing. i’m even beginning to worry about our blog here. is granny really a mumantoog? are bid and bronc really blue? is this a trail full of trolls phishing for phishy comrades? and you, pogo, a possum from ‘bama living in w va? hah!
https://youtu.be/mSb-eHbNjrQ
Fat assholes writing checks 18 year old kids will have to cash.
All over the world creepy leaders are working on their Trump strategery
Avoiding floater news so this is brief. Today a co-worker asked why the
SovietsRussians are invading Syria. I pulled up a map of the region to show Syria, Turkey and the Black Sea. It also showed much of the Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan with other -stans. She only had to look at it to understand why theSovietsRussians are taking the region.Putin is KGB and the Soviet Union is his goal, with expansion into Iran and Turkey. KGB/FSB/SVR are becoming a nuisance.
Pat: Thanks for the sweet picture. I watched a lovely special Christmas (movie length) episode of a show I enjoy. It was Murdoch Mysteries which is a great Canadian tv show. The first 7 or 8 seasons are on Netflix. It’s in season 10 now so to catch up you’ll have to have access to some streaming Internet sources. You can read about it on IMDB. I watch a lot of Canadian, British and Australian tv shows. Murdoch is one of the best because it combines several things I love…mystery, history, science, police procedural circa end of 19th/beginning of 20th centuries. Then it also adds humor and romance…in other words it has everything.
Long story
shortlong…It was a really enjoyable Christmas story 😀Cabinet starting to resemble the branding of football stadiums. – Cap’n Crawford
2018 NEWS ITEM :
Tonight the Exxon (XOM-NYSE) State Department announced that United Brands and Ford Motors will be bringing you the Third Gulf War, to be shown exclusively here on Fox.
From late last thread (too late) :
1. Clinton won at least 487 counties. More than twice 57 in the confederate states alone.
2. Carter lost because of his ill thought out raid to free hostages, and the well-deserved public rebuke by the SoS, whom Carter had cut out of the loop, that followed the failure of that raid. Dammit, the Dope-in-Chief had 1 year and 2.5 months to plan the rescue. Between that and his anti-labor position he deserved to lose.
Also:
The fact that Clinton won 8 1/2 times as many counties as the rip up licanthrope lie maintains, does NOT mitigate the Clinton campaign failures in MI, WI, FL, NC, and PA.
This year is positively grim.
Alan Thicke deceased at 69
Granny et Al
Murdoch Mysteries is on ACORN. You can subscribe direct or as an add on to Amazon Prime. I’m watching a lot of Canadian & Australian series as an escape from the majority of US programming. Current ACORN favorite is a Place To Call Home which is also on PBS but I’m into season 4 binge and waiting on season 5.
I’ve been voting since 1965 (you had to be 21 then). I’ve voted for Democrats and Republicans. Locally voted a lot of non partisan, Independent, and Third Party. There were candidates who won that didn’t please me or whose positions I didn’t support. This is the first time I have felt beyond a shadow of a doubt that the man assuming the Presidency was totally unfit for the office and even worse his appointments were dangerous.
And the new Canadian cabinet:
O Canada…..What a cabinet:Minister of Health is a doctor.Minister of Transport is an astronaut.Minister of National Defense is a Sikh Veteran.Minister of Youth is under the age of 45.
Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food is a former farmer.
Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness was a Scout.
Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development was a financial analyst.
Minister of Finance is a successful businessman.
Minister of Justice was a crown prosecutor and is a First Nations leader.
Minister of Sport, and Persons with Disabilities is a visually impaired Paralympian.
Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, and Canadian Coastguard is Inuit.
Minister of Science is a medical geographer with a PhD.
New titles include
Minister of Immigration, Citizenship and Refugees was an Immigration critic.
There are scientists in the cabinet, and it is made up of 50% women.
Sorry to hear that Alan Thicke died. Very likable guy.
Jamie, you aren’t drawing a contrast between Canada’s apparently qualified cabinet and the ideological political hacks drumpf has picked are you?