Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[Dr. Strangelove]

William Barr got his pound of flesh for Trump. For being Trump's fixer he gets results.

Nah, not on this one. Shep's spokesman said he left on his own terms. Sounded like it had to do mainly with the increasingly bad atmosphere at Fox, where the opinion hosts have free rein to bash the news people and the news people more or less are ham-stringed in return.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Trump has announced a "phase 1 trade deal" with the Chinese what ever that means. Details were sketchy but China will buy more ag products from the US in exchange for elimination of the tariffs scheduled to go into affect next week. December planned tariffs are still on the table. Some Huwawei sanctions have been eliminated too. China has apparently agreed to some kind of restriction to currency shenanigans they pull. The deal also includes something in the technology transfer sphere but none of that has yet been disclosed.

It's something, I guess but it's not a complete victory. Pundits on Trump's favorites list will claim it is though. Without the details of the current deal and without a pathway for the next set of negotiations, if there are to be any, this is pretty much of a noting burger.

Predictably stocks soared. By late afternoon, the DJIA was up over 400 points. It gave up 100 points - most likely on machine trading - just before the close at around 300. Other new worthy events will affect the global markets going forward. Maybe Iran and oil prices will come back into the picture.

BTW, I don't think the outrage of "abandoning" the Kurds is going to continue to get much traction. Next week we'll shift to the continuing saga of Donald Trump's impeachment with the walls around his fortress Trump's bluster being penetrated by the facts. I'm waiting for Giuliani to crack under pressure ..... again ..... this time real pressure from the Justice Department, not some media talking head and say or do something stupid. That will also get some press.

For sure, Trump won't resign like Nixon did. This is going to be fun to watch because it will be such a circus. My fears of an impeachment being bad for the country basically gone because reality is a butt kicker and Trump should be gone.

Gets bags of popcorn at the ready.

Trump's "partial deal" doesn't even exist on paper yet. He said it'll take weeks for that to happen.

I'd note the October tariffs would've raised levels from 25% to 30%. No tariffs have been lifted. Just delayed, more or less.

Nothing on IP theft. Nothing about the Chinese government giving huge subsidies to state-owned companies. As you say, zero detail on technology transfer.

But they'll be buying soybeans again!! Biggest trade win ever, per MAGA-land!

[froot loops]

Nah, not on this one. Shep's spokesman said he left on his own terms. Sounded like it had to do mainly with the increasingly bad atmosphere at Fox, where the opinion hosts have free rein to bash the news people and the news people more or less are ham-stringed in return.

Must have been a coincidence then.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Jeff, I'm skeptical this is blowing over. Military people are leaking like crazy. They aren't happy.

[froot loops]

McAleenan is the latest cabinet secretary to be future endeavoured.

[froot loops]

[Dr. Strangelove]

Uh, maybe Kevin McAleenan is the next (Acting) Cabinet member to go bye-bye.

Here he is, openly complaining to the Washington Post that much of the Department's power has been turned over to people who are his subordinates in name only. Guys who are closer to Trump on immigration and who he likes seeing on tv.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/immig...2d2_story.html

Not saying I called it...but...

I called it

[Dr. Strangelove]

Also, being DHS Secretary in this Administration is like being the drummer in Spinal Tap

[Dr. Strangelove]

[Jeff Buchanan]

I'm going to take a contrarian position on the situation in NE Syria because I like being a contrarian and this place need not be an echo chamber. TBH, I really don't know but, as I've said, I don't think we are getting all the facts.

First, the geography. Khobani is very near the Turkish Syrian boarder and it is within the objective area that Tureky wants to secure; per my comments up thread, given the Turkish position vis-a-vis the Kurds, whom they consider terrorists and, historically, for justifiable reasons, this would seem to be a reasonabal military objective for the Turks.

Next the politics: Kobani was the last stronghold of ISIS. ISIS was driven out of Kobani by a coalition of Arab militias, including the Kurds, that was supported by the US and other NATO allies.The battle of Kobani is considered to be the seminal one that marked the end of the ISIS goal to establish a Caliphate. Erdogan has long been suspicious of the Kurds establishing a stronghold in NE Syria from the city of Kobani as ISIS was defeated on the ground. So, their desire to clear that area of Kurdish forces can be understood in that context. As well, I can see issues with the over-all security in Kobani and the plight of innocent civilians where authority and control of the city is split between a number of militias with competing interests. having the Turkish military establish military control of the city does not seem to be a bad thing.

I don't know who Ensor and Dwyer - the tweets that DSL posted are or what their political agendas are but what does Ensor mean by saying, "it's all over if the Turks seize Kobani." What's all over? The threat of a hostile force on the Turkish boarder is over? Dwyer tweets that ISIS prisoners previously held in Kobani ostensibly by the Kurds are "breaching (the prison walls)," of course, implying that global terrorist activities will increase and we are all threatened by these very bad dudes. He could be right but I'm skeptical of the accuracy of his tweet. I am also skeptical of unsourced reports that the Turks are shelling US position on purpose "to get us to leave." Are these reports from officers in command positions who are authorized to talk about the current situation on the ground or is this a hot and tired Lance Corporal venting his personal frustrations to reporters/observers who lap this kind of stuff up and then report it as facts from US command authorities in Kobani.

Moreover, I can guarantee you that Turkey wants to prevent the regrouping of ISIS as much as any coalition partner who participated in defeating them. ISIS prisoners are way better off with Kurdish captors than they will be with Turkish captors who have no compassion for terrorists of any color and could care less about the Geneva Conventions that the US has probably instilled in the Kurds who currently hold them in their advisory capacity to the Kurdish militias.

I could be wrong about the circumstances and my skepticism about what is really going down on the ground. I fully admit that but it's way too early to be concluding that the shit-storm that is being reported to us as consumers of the news is not some alternate reality that produces the click bate that news outlets are hoping for.

[Jeff Buchanan]

...... I'd add that since we can't trust what's coming out of the mouths of Donald Trump or any of his cabinet members or their spokespeople, a good source of accurate news may be the BBC or Al Jezzera.

[Jeff Buchanan]

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[Jeff Buchanan]

In this Al Jezeera update on the Turkish military operations there's a link to an article that reports the stated positions of a list of countries that have chimed in. It's clear that no one thinks the Turkish military operation is a "good idea." No surprise there. What I don't get is the fear of "destabilizing" the region. WTF? This region is totally unstable with Russians in a position to essentailly run Syria and dictate to Assad how he is to do that. The region is crying for a strong military force to go in and impose some degree of control that isn't Russian. The Turkish military fits the bill. One could speculate that Erdogan and Trump agreed that Turkey - a NATO and US Allie - is an excellent counter force against Rusian adventurism in Syria. Already a very real concern.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/10/turkey-military-operation-syria-latest-updates-191011060434166.html

[Dr. Strangelove]

Interesting theory...except that Russia is the only Security Council member besides the US to block a condemnation of Turkey at the UN

[Dr. Strangelove]

Wow....hahaha