Friday, April 14, 2017

Friday Night Open Thread

So. Let's talk about the current political situation.


Right. Bad idea, huh. Because where do you even start?
[Not that that's ever stopped us! 😎 ]

21 comments:

  1. Ha the comment jinn finally caught up to me and I just lost a big one.

    I know why, too. No bugs. I killed the tab by mistake, because I am a klutz.

    Anyway - read this about the "China currency manipulator" flap. Very informative.

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  2. I have written and shit-canned a dozen posts because events change so quickly that I'm left with whiplash. Sheesh!

    I'm about to crawl into bed after a VERY long shift with a very sick munchkin. I'll read your link tonight lewy darling.

    Happy Easter dear friends. Or Pesach. Or spring! It's all good. :)

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    1. Grumpy feral buddhist here completely forgot what day it was.

      My sincere apologies for posting the provocative pic. There was a day for it, but it probably wasn't today.

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  3. I click the link and it brings me back to this page. Hmmm.

    Sometimes when I write posts I do it more from an historical perspective because, as Lady Red says, things change so fast I can't keep up.

    But if you are looking for a good read, then try this.

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    1. Sorry about the link - the story is here on zero hedge.

      Thanks for that link! That's awesome - I loved the end!

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    2. Even the activists are beginning to see that activism itself has been coopted.

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    3. The trade imbalance with China is a heckuva bargaining chip for Trump. I don't know why China gives a fig about being labeled a "currency manipulator" but they do, so...whatever works, I guess. I'm very interested to hear your view lewy, because some this goes straight over my head. Swoosh! :)

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    4. Matt, from your link: By traditional metrics, Donald Trump is what a democrat used to be.

      Absolutely.

      Also from the article: When a high school teacher tells you that Shakespeare and Descartes are the enemy, you are no longer dealing with a high school teacher. When a feminist says a burqa is liberation, you are no longer dealing with a feminist. When a gay rights activist lays down on an airport floor in solidarity with foreigners whose culture demands he be killed for being gay, you are no longer dealing with a gay rights activist. When a socialist favors outsourcing your job to another country, because not to do so is racist, you are no longer dealing with a socialist. These are not partisan opponents. This is not partisan politics. This is a completely different animal. This is the New Left. And they have gone to war against western civilization itself.

      Hence the alt-right. Great article Matt. He articulated things that have been bouncing around my overloaded brain.

      Here is another good read, from James Kirkpatrick at The Unz Review: The Battle(s) of Berkeley.

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  4. I read Lewy's first post. I think I got the gist of it. It almost seems counterintuitive that a country is better off with a somewhat weak currency, but it makes sense when you think about it. The Great White North was in a bit of a bind when they loonie was about par with the US dollar.

    Now onto the second.

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    1. YES! EXACTLY!

      There is a "goldielocks" aspect to currency: weaken too fast and you get Weimar Germany or Zimbabwe.

      Strengthen too much, and domestic jobs and domestic manufacturers are priced out of the global market.

      Up there in $C-loony land, I'm sure you get it - and I'm sure Fay can explain. ;)

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    2. Up there in $C-loony land, I'm sure you get it

      Very punny Lewy!

      and I'm sure Fay can explain

      I can indeed. Having previously worked in a natural resource sector (forestry)for 24 years I saw the effect a strong C$ had on the industry and it was anything but good. Add to that the US protectionism under our so called free trade agreement (NAFTA) the BC forest industry was bought close to its knees on occasion.

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  5. Second article: I think the whole Antifa thing is in line with the gun control movement; let us take away the right of the average citizen to protect himself but by passing more and more laws, but the government won't use existing laws to combat the real source of trouble.

    That photo of the Berkely police was chilling. Now all we need is Sheriff Clark and his dogs to come after the nationalists. At least then they won't be getting assaulted by Antifa.

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    1. Classic line:

      "...somehow people who can’t manage to make Assistant Manager at Best Buy have the wherewithal to form a completely new society?"

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    2. "Sick Burn" direct hit confirmed via satellite imaging. Target destroyed.

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    3. However, it occurs to me: I have a kind of rejoinder of my own to that observation, which, on its face, seems like the height of sensibility.

      But there is a key presumption: that achieving the rank of Assistant Manager at Best Buy in some way measures one's objectively having acquired some rudimentary social skills: how to deal with customers, employees, upper management, suppliers, regulators (inspectors), etc... in other words, like, how to business, even, as the kids might well be saying...

      ...but think about what a Best Buy Assistant Manager actually becomes competent at these days: a kind of learned sliminess to know where everybody stands and what can be gotten away with.

      I'd be naive to suppose that this was never there, but these days it seems to dominate in too much of commerce. And if any friend of mine could not put up with that kind of poison in their working life it would not (by itself) detract from my opinion of them.

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    4. My impression of middle management is that is exists to keep upper management from actually knowing what happens in the trenches.

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  6. Of course, look what Trump has gotten in return for NOT naming China as a currency manipulator.

    China has turned back Nork coal ships and bought from US Mines.

    China has publicly stated the Korean peninsula must be Nuke free.

    China has also (by some reports) moved a large number of troops to the Nork border, though their purpose is as yet unknown

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    1. The Russians have also moved troops to the border. The conjecture I have read is both China and Russia are there to keep Norkies from storming across the border if the fit really hits the shan.

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    2. China would grab a chunk of the peninsula and likely keep it - this is what I'm recalling from the deeper reads I did the last time this mess was on the table (1994). Shoulda dealt with it then. Fuck Carter.

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    3. The Russians and Chinese should have dealt with the Norkies years ago, and I'm happy to let them do so now. And as for Carter: well, you saw how he "handled" Iran. Yikes.

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