Good morning on Sunday. We have 2 inches of snow and it's still coming down! That made driving to church out in the country an "interesting" experience
It was merely interesting, not terrifying. And while I'm perfectly capable on driving on 2 inches of unplowed snow, there are plenty of idiots out there who don't, and might cause me problems if they run into me (perhaps literally).
The majority of idiots around these parts don't even come out for anything short of 6 to 8 inches. But when it comes to the morons, that's a whole different story.
Plácido Domingo from Charleston, where it's dark. Highlights of the Southeast Wildlife Expo included very many pretty dogs, some of whom caught Frisbees. Also art.
In the past month I've had an EEG and MRI, both of which showed *my* brain is "working". Which should be pretty clear proof that "working brain" isn't that much of a standard in at least some cases. 🤔
Thanks. When the EEG was over, me being my usual clever self, I told the tec guy who'd done the test that while I understood he couldn't comment on any of the results he saw (up to the neurologist to do that), I wondered if there were at least signs of life?
"Depends", he said as he was gathering up the leads and putting things away.
"Intelligent?", he asked as he went about his business without looking up.
Well, the docs are trying. I give 'em an A for effort. But they aren't coming up with any answers. Which may not really be all that bad of a thing in some ways. But thanks for the positive thought. Appreciate it.
Or maybe they are getting larger because they are endangered, because the other fish who would eat that food have been captured? Sort of like going to Golden Corral when no one else is. nom nom nom.
In other news, I was named the Preble County YMCA volunteer of the year! I get a free meal in March to celebrate!😀 I walk 2-3x daily (just once on Sundays).
The meal is a dinner, provided by the greater YMCA of Dayton. Katie plans to attend as well.
It should be fun. I'm trying to decide if I should wear my track walking shoes or not. I wear black on black Hoka (I'm a Hokamaniac, brutha!) with pretty much everything...
I have it on good authority that Karoline Leavitt will be announcing the official premier performance of DT and The VP at the Kennedy Center soon.
Speaking of VPs... JD was really excited when he first heard of plans for the show, but was disappointed to discover which VP would actually be a headliner. And word is he may or may not get a significant part. He's still working on his moves, and some feel he isn't quite there yet...
Good morning from Tucson. 42F earlier. 0.04 inches in my official NOAA/NWS 4" wide rain gage. These have a 1" column inside that measures by scale, in 0.01" increments. The column holds 1.0" and has slot overflows spilling into the 4" column. If Greater than 1.0", empty column and pour the overflow into the column.
That makes 0.85" since August 15th.
The drops are still hanging like Swarovski diamond like crystals. Thousands of bright little starsnon my dozens of Giant Saguaro. Also on the Palo Verde and Mesquite trees.
The jumping Cholla (and or the Teddy Bear Cholla) are beautifully sparkling.
The also have seriously bad fishhook spikey needles. Sometimes requiring pliers to extract!!
Every time I pass a crowd of funeral duds on the way to the Cathedral, I,m taken aback by how great they all look. My standards are so low at this point, anything north of a track suit is good, if it fits and is clean and put together with just a tiny bit of care.
Went to Shenzhen and then to Hong Kong. Oh my.... Shenzhen is absolutely amazing. The train station is literally an entire underground city, so big words can't describe it. It must be hundreds of acres.
I spent a day in Shenzhen about 20 years ago, for a few business meetings. It was a day trip from Hong Kong where I stayed for a few days. I didn’t get to see much but remember it felt like new buildings were going up everywhere. We hired a car so I didn’t get to see the train station. I try to imagine what the city looks like now.
I think you can argue against the general utility and many individual efforts of USAID and also say this disorganized mess inflicted by Trump is a disorganized mess.
“At my direction, we are going to make the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., GREAT AGAIN. I have decided to immediately terminate multiple individuals from the Board of Trustees, including the Chairman, who do not share our Vision for a Golden Age in Arts and Culture,” Trump wrote on his social media website.
“We will soon announce a new Board, with an amazing Chairman, DONALD J. TRUMP!”
Amazing! Trump's gone to war against woke culture in a venue in which he's never even set foot one single time! And there's now much anxious speculation that there will be serious run-on effects as to how other art and cultural venues run their own affairs, fearing garnering an unfavorable review from the newly minted Chairman, CEO and Critic in Chief of American Arts, Culture & Entertainment.
For the many fans of cancel culture, this should cancel enough of it to last a good long time.
I laughed - maybe the wrong reaction? I think/hope the angst is overblown. Right now, it's the artists cancelling themselves, a very foolish move imo.
Drag Queen “art” isn,t suitable for the Kennedy Center atrium - which is open public space for box office activity and tourist families. I'm really sick and tired of the progressives shoving their culture wars down my throat. If they and their children want to gawk at drag queens reading stories, their choice entirely, but not in public spaces on the public dime.
The word "reality" there was just my snarky word play off of "The Apprentice" having been a so-called *reality* TV show. But it is indeed a true statement in some respects, though I was going for a chuckle there more so than any *truth*. But you are right about our making and enabling our "own" reality in many ways.
Unless, of course, you throw in with some of the Big Brained physics aficionados I've seen here and there who believe that because of some as yet incompletely understood invisible forces acting at a sub-sub-atomic level throughout the universe, *free will* is just an illusion we kid ourselves about and everything that's ever going to happen is already programmed in and waiting its turn to manifest itself both to us and through us. Or something like that.
I've tried to understand what they're talking about a few different times, but I guess it's just my predetermined fate to get a headache each time I try.
Tbh, I have my doubts that what they’re doing right now is for much more than show. It’s a lot of snap and crackle to rally the MAGA foot soldiers.
I’m waiting to see if any of leadership so much as talks about instituting permanent checks on the federal bureaucracy’s power and authority. Until they do that, the whole thing is just going to be an exercise in changing team logos and jerseys on the existing structures.
"Immediately terminate multiple individuals" is sort of a tell. That's his idea of sophisticated language, and also his notion that such language can legitimize anything at all. In a way, it even reminds me of those scam e-mails that rest on such appearances to con the gullible.
"... waiting to see if any of leadership so much as talks about instituting *permanent checks on the federal bureaucracy's power and authority*."
Hmmm...
You probably mean like that SCOTUS thing limiting the president's power and authority by giving him all but absolutely complete immunity from criminal prosecution for anything he does under the color of authority.
Might not want to hold your breath while waiting, unless you think blue and purple is an attractive look.
What I hope is that these people will be absorbed by an expanded private economy. Presumably, govt employees have useful skills. They live and work in the nation's capitol, hardly the mountains of Appalachia.
I was actually thinking govt contract work. I've been wondering if the contractors might prosper, doing govt work more efficiently than the govt could manage. Any necessary work will still have to be done, one way or another. I live in the homeland of govt contractors and I have yet to hear from any that govt employees are a joy to work with, whether under or over.
I heard an interesting commentary (can't remember where) that tariffs are cold war leftovers.
Maybe you could explain (I don’t understand) why our allies can impose tariffs on us but we can,t reciprocate. I understand that prices would be very unstable for a time. Is free world trade something to work for, or not?
Regarding the government workers, I've been thinking more about what's going on and I have mixed feelings about it. I completely understand why a lot of Americans aren't upset about seeing the government radically downsized. If I look at the Canadian government, which has increased in size drastically over the past decade, it probably wouldn't upset me too much to see someone take a (figurative) axe to the payroll and make substantial reductions.
However, there's a reason why this kind of thing is never done in the manner that Musk and his team are doing them. It's one thing to work systematically over time to identify areas where work should be outsourced and then doing it. It's another thing entirely to just decide that entire departments are superfluous and anyone working in that department should be terminated (and then doing it overnight).
Putting a million people out on the street immediately may make sense from the perspective of reducing the government payroll. However, that same government then has to deal with the problem that it now has another million people out of work (this would be equivalent to having all of the major automobile manufacturers suddenly collapse). Although many of these people likely live and work in Washington, many of them don't (the US government, like most other governments, has distributed its work across the country - often placing portions of government functions in areas where there isn't much other work available as a means to keep those areas economically sound). There are parts of Mississippi, Kentucky, and West Virginia that have a high concentration of government jobs. What happens to the economies of those (heavily Trump-voting) areas if those jobs are suddenly eliminated?
Let's start with that last thing. Trump doesn't understand tariffs and he has a completely miguided notion of their purpose.
A tariff is a tax that governments place on an imported product. That tax is paid by the importer. Generally, the purpose is to make that product more expensive, so that it will be less desirable to buy than a domestic product. If an American manufacturer makes widgets that sell for $10 and a Chinese manufacturer makes widgets that can be imported for $8, by making the importer (an American) pay a $3 tariff, it makes the domestic product more appealing. However, it also means that Americans pay $2 more for that widget than they would if the tariff wasn't in place.
American tariffs are taxes on Americans. They make products more expensive in America overall. They also provide a level of protection for domestic manufacturers by shutting out external competitors and removing the incentive for the domestic manufacturer to increase their own productivity or compete more effectively in the world market. Quite often, the effect is to make domestic manufacturers more complacent because they have a protected domestic market. Unfortunately, this often makes them much less competitive internationally, which reduces potential exports.
They are a useful tool if a country's goal is to protect a domestic market or product for a national purpose. They are also an irritant to other countries, who then retaliate by making it less desirable for their own citizens to buy American products. Back in the 19th Century (a period that Trump and his people are fascinated with) they were also a useful tool for the government to raise revenue from its own citizens. However, this was before there was an income tax or before most sales taxes were in place.
Trump believes that foreigners pay tariffs. He is wrong.
As for the reciprocal piece of this, Trump is distorting that argument. The US has had tariffs in place (as have most other countries) under every other President. Part of the normal "business as usual" discussions between countries involves negotations around any barriers that are in place and works to remove them to each parties' satisfaction. For the most part, trade between the US and most countries has been functioning well. However, because Americans consume more than they produce (and import more than they export), Trump believes that the rest of the world is "being unfair" and "taking advantage" of the United States. Thus, any perceived slight or any difference in economic policies (he's now pointing to Europe's across-the-board sales taxes as a "trade barrier) or even foreign policies is now an excuse for Trump to raise the domestic price on foreign products.
The US has a comprehensive agreement in place with Canada and Mexico that goes into deep detail about all aspects of trade between the three countries. All three countries have been adhering to that agreeement, which comes up for negotiation next year. Trump has unilaterally decided to just blow it up immediately. If he follows through on that threat, why would any country trust him to adhere to any agreement he makes?
I know how much you like snow, since it facilitates one of your favorite activities. So, since you're headed back east this weekend anyway, why not stop by here on the way and pick up some extra to take home with you, just in case you need more later. I'll happily let you have every bit of it that's now falling heavily and steadily into the driveways and barn lot that I spent three hours plowing and snow-blowing out less than 48 hours ago. I mean, that's what friends are for, right?
I don't know what the weather is, here. Kind of dim? This trip is being plagued by auto issues, but I still have hope that we'll have a nice day of wildlife things.
My longest streak is 112. My Wheaton, DTS smarter younger bro was over 500
Good morning on Sunday. We have 2 inches of snow and it's still coming down! That made driving to church out in the country an "interesting" experience
If 2 inches is interesting for you, you'd probably be absolutely fascinated with what's going on around here...
It was merely interesting, not terrifying. And while I'm perfectly capable on driving on 2 inches of unplowed snow, there are plenty of idiots out there who don't, and might cause me problems if they run into me (perhaps literally).
The majority of idiots around these parts don't even come out for anything short of 6 to 8 inches. But when it comes to the morons, that's a whole different story.
And then, of course, there are the imbeciles. 🤣
🤩🤩🤩
Plácido Domingo from Charleston, where it's dark. Highlights of the Southeast Wildlife Expo included very many pretty dogs, some of whom caught Frisbees. Also art.
Happy Sunday.
Sounds like fun. Looks like it, too:
https://www.sewe.com/
It's a really nice event. We had tickets just for Saturday and are going home today. F and D want to do it again next year.
My Wordle streak is up to 28 days, 91% success. Can I put that on a resume?
Depends on the requirements of whatever job you're applying for.
Congratulations! It shows your brain is working.
In the past month I've had an EEG and MRI, both of which showed *my* brain is "working". Which should be pretty clear proof that "working brain" isn't that much of a standard in at least some cases. 🤔
Diagnoses- Read more Greek classics
See. I'm smart!
Hope your youthful practice of friendly head butting hasn’t caused lasting damage.
Seriously, though: Here’s hoping it’s nothing…uh…serious.
Thanks. When the EEG was over, me being my usual clever self, I told the tec guy who'd done the test that while I understood he couldn't comment on any of the results he saw (up to the neurologist to do that), I wondered if there were at least signs of life?
"Depends", he said as he was gathering up the leads and putting things away.
"Intelligent?", he asked as he went about his business without looking up.
Guy would have fit right in around here.
I hope the tests will result in something positive.
Well, the docs are trying. I give 'em an A for effort. But they aren't coming up with any answers. Which may not really be all that bad of a thing in some ways. But thanks for the positive thought. Appreciate it.
OK...Someday when I have to submit a resume, this goes in.
And more, so much more...she did it her way !!!
❤️
OKaaay, where did that Sinatra reference come from?
🎉🎉🪅🎼🎼🎼🎶🎶🎶
Or maybe they are getting larger because they are endangered, because the other fish who would eat that food have been captured? Sort of like going to Golden Corral when no one else is. nom nom nom.
In other news, I was named the Preble County YMCA volunteer of the year! I get a free meal in March to celebrate!😀 I walk 2-3x daily (just once on Sundays).
Consider going for supper—there’s no such thing as a free lunch, after all.
The meal is a dinner, provided by the greater YMCA of Dayton. Katie plans to attend as well.
It should be fun. I'm trying to decide if I should wear my track walking shoes or not. I wear black on black Hoka (I'm a Hokamaniac, brutha!) with pretty much everything...
I, too, wear black-on-black Hokas. I need to get a new pair. I think my current ones are at least two years old.
And congratulations, Jay. I'm sure you deserve it.
Will there be entertainment?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CS9OO0S5w2k
Or maybe this guy...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zph7YXfjMhg
Better yet...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlyNgBqyV3U
I have it on good authority that Karoline Leavitt will be announcing the official premier performance of DT and The VP at the Kennedy Center soon.
Speaking of VPs... JD was really excited when he first heard of plans for the show, but was disappointed to discover which VP would actually be a headliner. And word is he may or may not get a significant part. He's still working on his moves, and some feel he isn't quite there yet...
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/wSN8RSAYUvo
But he's really workin' hard with the rest of the cast on his part in the big finale...
(Fair warning... once having viewed the following, you may not be able to unsee it for a while. So proceed at your own risk.)
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/jQciukgd0Gs
Good morning from Tucson. 42F earlier. 0.04 inches in my official NOAA/NWS 4" wide rain gage. These have a 1" column inside that measures by scale, in 0.01" increments. The column holds 1.0" and has slot overflows spilling into the 4" column. If Greater than 1.0", empty column and pour the overflow into the column.
That makes 0.85" since August 15th.
The drops are still hanging like Swarovski diamond like crystals. Thousands of bright little starsnon my dozens of Giant Saguaro. Also on the Palo Verde and Mesquite trees.
The jumping Cholla (and or the Teddy Bear Cholla) are beautifully sparkling.
The also have seriously bad fishhook spikey needles. Sometimes requiring pliers to extract!!
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cylindropuntia_fulgida
Every time I pass a crowd of funeral duds on the way to the Cathedral, I,m taken aback by how great they all look. My standards are so low at this point, anything north of a track suit is good, if it fits and is clean and put together with just a tiny bit of care.
Had to look up the jumping cholla—iHay, Caramba!
I wonder if he’d still remember me…
I brushed up against one while hiking and was reminded of that encounter for a few weeks.
Her good taste has clearly rubbed off on you!
A well-dressed man is a thing of beauty!
Almost every guy looks sharp in a quality tux.
Ms. Pinki, kindly suggested not. TUX, but Dinner Suits
https://a.co/d/dvvpgS6
Not so much! ;)
I agree. I used to keep a picture of Scott Glenn in a $10,000 suit (from a Forbes ad) at my desk at the insurance company.
Was that because that, aside from that suit, he had the right stuff?
He was a looker
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wRHBLwpASw
Dang! Is that Doug?
I'm cool !!
Dunno, ask ZZ Top!
Fortune is with me as Ms. Pinki, bride of 48 years, is a fashion designer and got me right!
A scientist-poet - that is the best!
Though Jay is a scholar-athlete and that is pretty fine too!
Jay is a cool professor of business!
Yes, with an award from the YMCA. He is thinking of wearing his track shoes to his award dinner!
I see professorial light camel brown or maybe green fine knit sweater and soft corduroy Jacket.
Not a cat. Not even a catfish.
Nope, but like catfish, they grow to enormous size.
Went to Shenzhen and then to Hong Kong. Oh my.... Shenzhen is absolutely amazing. The train station is literally an entire underground city, so big words can't describe it. It must be hundreds of acres.
Shenzen is cool. But Hong Kong forever in my heart
Something about Hong Kong... I don't know where to start talking about it.
https://images.app.goo.gl/6FdKSkzPWLJnW1CC9
Many memories of Hong Kong. Especially Kai Tek approaches thru apartment laundry
I spent a day in Shenzhen about 20 years ago, for a few business meetings. It was a day trip from Hong Kong where I stayed for a few days. I didn’t get to see much but remember it felt like new buildings were going up everywhere. We hired a car so I didn’t get to see the train station. I try to imagine what the city looks like now.
Good morning. 32 here. Light snow which is supposed to turn to rain shortly. Dire predictions of ice have not materialized.
I noticed that the video showing the release of a giant stingray was produced in part by USAID.
My imagination is very adaptable but the rest of me isn't at all. I,d probably not have survived long back in the day.
I really like this comment (yours).
I think you can argue against the general utility and many individual efforts of USAID and also say this disorganized mess inflicted by Trump is a disorganized mess.
Trump is a bull in the cluttered china shop that is our overgrown Federal government.
We really are in a veritable golden age of unlimited government…
RE: Golden Ages, veritable or otherwise
“At my direction, we are going to make the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., GREAT AGAIN. I have decided to immediately terminate multiple individuals from the Board of Trustees, including the Chairman, who do not share our Vision for a Golden Age in Arts and Culture,” Trump wrote on his social media website.
“We will soon announce a new Board, with an amazing Chairman, DONALD J. TRUMP!”
https://apnews.com/article/trump-kennedy-center-board-chairman-firings-21cd0018c6e9f591d59becea8573d8c0
Amazing! Trump's gone to war against woke culture in a venue in which he's never even set foot one single time! And there's now much anxious speculation that there will be serious run-on effects as to how other art and cultural venues run their own affairs, fearing garnering an unfavorable review from the newly minted Chairman, CEO and Critic in Chief of American Arts, Culture & Entertainment.
For the many fans of cancel culture, this should cancel enough of it to last a good long time.
It's almost as if being POTUS wasn't a full time job.
I laughed - maybe the wrong reaction? I think/hope the angst is overblown. Right now, it's the artists cancelling themselves, a very foolish move imo.
Drag Queen “art” isn,t suitable for the Kennedy Center atrium - which is open public space for box office activity and tourist families. I'm really sick and tired of the progressives shoving their culture wars down my throat. If they and their children want to gawk at drag queens reading stories, their choice entirely, but not in public spaces on the public dime.
Ironic laugh here. Tragedy plus time = comedy.
I dunno, Kurt. This line seems timeless to me, a comedy classic:
“We will soon announce a new Board, with an amazing Chairman, DONALD J. TRUMP!”
I'm open to all interpretations. I read this stuff and I'm through the looking glass.
It’s gonna be scripted dramas based on the hit TV show “The Apprentice “ as far as the eye can see…
Yeah, that's just the reality of the world we live in now...
Well, that's just like your opinion, man... The Dude
Sorry, but you've lost me on this one, Kurt. Not that that's all that hard to do.
"The Dude"? What am I missing here?
This is true, but in many ways we make and enable our own reality.
The word "reality" there was just my snarky word play off of "The Apprentice" having been a so-called *reality* TV show. But it is indeed a true statement in some respects, though I was going for a chuckle there more so than any *truth*. But you are right about our making and enabling our "own" reality in many ways.
Unless, of course, you throw in with some of the Big Brained physics aficionados I've seen here and there who believe that because of some as yet incompletely understood invisible forces acting at a sub-sub-atomic level throughout the universe, *free will* is just an illusion we kid ourselves about and everything that's ever going to happen is already programmed in and waiting its turn to manifest itself both to us and through us. Or something like that.
I've tried to understand what they're talking about a few different times, but I guess it's just my predetermined fate to get a headache each time I try.
I wouldn't describe it that way. Idiotic overgrown government certainly. Unlimited...it's being limited right now.
Stupefied scalpel. Idiots
Tbh, I have my doubts that what they’re doing right now is for much more than show. It’s a lot of snap and crackle to rally the MAGA foot soldiers.
I’m waiting to see if any of leadership so much as talks about instituting permanent checks on the federal bureaucracy’s power and authority. Until they do that, the whole thing is just going to be an exercise in changing team logos and jerseys on the existing structures.
That's going to have to happen through Congress - and Congressional disfunction is how we ended up here in the first place.
Precisely.
"Immediately terminate multiple individuals" is sort of a tell. That's his idea of sophisticated language, and also his notion that such language can legitimize anything at all. In a way, it even reminds me of those scam e-mails that rest on such appearances to con the gullible.
"... waiting to see if any of leadership so much as talks about instituting *permanent checks on the federal bureaucracy's power and authority*."
Hmmm...
You probably mean like that SCOTUS thing limiting the president's power and authority by giving him all but absolutely complete immunity from criminal prosecution for anything he does under the color of authority.
Might not want to hold your breath while waiting, unless you think blue and purple is an attractive look.
Former USAID workers might have a different opinion.
What I hope is that these people will be absorbed by an expanded private economy. Presumably, govt employees have useful skills. They live and work in the nation's capitol, hardly the mountains of Appalachia.
Perhaps they'll be able to find jobs in export-related industries fostering positive trade relationships with American allies?
I was actually thinking govt contract work. I've been wondering if the contractors might prosper, doing govt work more efficiently than the govt could manage. Any necessary work will still have to be done, one way or another. I live in the homeland of govt contractors and I have yet to hear from any that govt employees are a joy to work with, whether under or over.
I heard an interesting commentary (can't remember where) that tariffs are cold war leftovers.
Maybe you could explain (I don’t understand) why our allies can impose tariffs on us but we can,t reciprocate. I understand that prices would be very unstable for a time. Is free world trade something to work for, or not?
Regarding the government workers, I've been thinking more about what's going on and I have mixed feelings about it. I completely understand why a lot of Americans aren't upset about seeing the government radically downsized. If I look at the Canadian government, which has increased in size drastically over the past decade, it probably wouldn't upset me too much to see someone take a (figurative) axe to the payroll and make substantial reductions.
However, there's a reason why this kind of thing is never done in the manner that Musk and his team are doing them. It's one thing to work systematically over time to identify areas where work should be outsourced and then doing it. It's another thing entirely to just decide that entire departments are superfluous and anyone working in that department should be terminated (and then doing it overnight).
Putting a million people out on the street immediately may make sense from the perspective of reducing the government payroll. However, that same government then has to deal with the problem that it now has another million people out of work (this would be equivalent to having all of the major automobile manufacturers suddenly collapse). Although many of these people likely live and work in Washington, many of them don't (the US government, like most other governments, has distributed its work across the country - often placing portions of government functions in areas where there isn't much other work available as a means to keep those areas economically sound). There are parts of Mississippi, Kentucky, and West Virginia that have a high concentration of government jobs. What happens to the economies of those (heavily Trump-voting) areas if those jobs are suddenly eliminated?
Let's start with that last thing. Trump doesn't understand tariffs and he has a completely miguided notion of their purpose.
A tariff is a tax that governments place on an imported product. That tax is paid by the importer. Generally, the purpose is to make that product more expensive, so that it will be less desirable to buy than a domestic product. If an American manufacturer makes widgets that sell for $10 and a Chinese manufacturer makes widgets that can be imported for $8, by making the importer (an American) pay a $3 tariff, it makes the domestic product more appealing. However, it also means that Americans pay $2 more for that widget than they would if the tariff wasn't in place.
American tariffs are taxes on Americans. They make products more expensive in America overall. They also provide a level of protection for domestic manufacturers by shutting out external competitors and removing the incentive for the domestic manufacturer to increase their own productivity or compete more effectively in the world market. Quite often, the effect is to make domestic manufacturers more complacent because they have a protected domestic market. Unfortunately, this often makes them much less competitive internationally, which reduces potential exports.
They are a useful tool if a country's goal is to protect a domestic market or product for a national purpose. They are also an irritant to other countries, who then retaliate by making it less desirable for their own citizens to buy American products. Back in the 19th Century (a period that Trump and his people are fascinated with) they were also a useful tool for the government to raise revenue from its own citizens. However, this was before there was an income tax or before most sales taxes were in place.
Trump believes that foreigners pay tariffs. He is wrong.
As for the reciprocal piece of this, Trump is distorting that argument. The US has had tariffs in place (as have most other countries) under every other President. Part of the normal "business as usual" discussions between countries involves negotations around any barriers that are in place and works to remove them to each parties' satisfaction. For the most part, trade between the US and most countries has been functioning well. However, because Americans consume more than they produce (and import more than they export), Trump believes that the rest of the world is "being unfair" and "taking advantage" of the United States. Thus, any perceived slight or any difference in economic policies (he's now pointing to Europe's across-the-board sales taxes as a "trade barrier) or even foreign policies is now an excuse for Trump to raise the domestic price on foreign products.
The US has a comprehensive agreement in place with Canada and Mexico that goes into deep detail about all aspects of trade between the three countries. All three countries have been adhering to that agreeement, which comes up for negotiation next year. Trump has unilaterally decided to just blow it up immediately. If he follows through on that threat, why would any country trust him to adhere to any agreement he makes?
Good morning. Down from the mountains and at ski buddy’s house in Longmont. Headed back east this weekend. Lotsa snow both here and there.
I know how much you like snow, since it facilitates one of your favorite activities. So, since you're headed back east this weekend anyway, why not stop by here on the way and pick up some extra to take home with you, just in case you need more later. I'll happily let you have every bit of it that's now falling heavily and steadily into the driveways and barn lot that I spent three hours plowing and snow-blowing out less than 48 hours ago. I mean, that's what friends are for, right?
I would, but I can only have 1 carry-on bag.
Why do I get the idea that you're just snow-blowing me off here?
Moi?
Yes toi.
Or as a New Yorker cartoon said: whom meem?
You should take up the hobby of ice sculpting, it occurs to me now.
I would probably injure myself.
Good morning. Visiting a friend in the city. Snow gone for now but cold/wet/grey. Dogs are in their puffy coats.
Good morning from Charleston.
Morning. In West Virginia, we can offer you a Charleston *and* a Charles Town. All with the same crap weather…
I don't know what the weather is, here. Kind of dim? This trip is being plagued by auto issues, but I still have hope that we'll have a nice day of wildlife things.
Fingers crossed!