Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[Jeff Buchanan]

......I see a lot of you guys lying to yourselves. Scared to face what is really happening to the average American. You are the first to believe the news and our government. You really believe the news and government have our best interest at heart. Wake up.

I'd take issue with the part of your post that opines that "you guys" don't understand what's happening to the "average American." I believe I do and, while I can only speak for myself, the posts that come from the regulars here indicate a keen sense of what's going on in this country to the average American.

I also believe that there is a segment of Americans looking up from the lower rungs of the ladder that want to take responsibility for themselves and climb up to a better life. There's also a segment that blames those up the ladder for their place in life and expects government to remove obstacles to their ascent often at the expense of those on higher rungs. TBC, I believe their are obstacles to that ascent in the form of institutional bias, that term carefully selected and with the widest application. But for those looking up, it's over-played at the expense of taking responsibility for themselves while expecting government to do most of the heavy lifting to get them where they think they should be.

On your point about people not voting ........ at this point in American history, there may be no more important right than to vote. I mean at every level for what might appear to be the least important offices. For example and at the grass-roots level, local law enforcement offices, mayors, prosecutors and judges, state legislature reps, school board and county commission members have significant impact on the critical issues facing America's states and cities going forward. If the folks choose not to understand the views of the candidates and vote for the ones that have views consistent with their's on policing and law enforcement, adjudication of civil and criminal matters, budgeting priorities, operations of schools and public services, I don't want to later hear them bitching about what's going on in their states, counties, cities and courtrooms.

Pass that on, foxhopper, to the people you know that are among the group you have defined as the ones who, "Most probably won't get out and vote. They live for "now:". They don't put a whole lot of serious thought in to the future." I'd suspect the regular posters here are voting in an informed fashion with an eye toward a future while taking responsibility for where they are now in life and where they want to be.

[iam416]

BLM Seattle: Gentrifiers -- give us back our land!

https://hotair.com/archives/john-s-2...le-back-homes/

Ah, the empty slogans. Before you know it you're on the same side of folks who want forcible dispossess people of their homes.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Nothing will come of this but the GAO has concluded that Acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf, Acting DHS Deputy Ken Cuccinelli, and Kevin McAleenan before them were all wrongly appointed to their positions and are ineligible to serve. Basically once Kirstjen Nielsen resigned, Trump ignored the actual line of succession and declared McAleenan as Acting Secretary instead. Who then in turn altered the succession rules so that Wolf and Cuccinelli could serve in their current roles.

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/0...ble-dhs-395222

[iam416]

I'm not sure if DSL mentioned it or not, but the UAE-Israel deal is actually big news. Credit where credit is due on this one -- PDJT and....Kushner???!??

Tom Friedman of all people wrote a column applauding it. But, it's paywalled NYT stuff.

I think this is a pretty accurate take: https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/...le-east-peace/

In particular, I think it's spot on when it analyzes "neutral arbiter" vs "underwriter of Isareli risk" approaches. IMO, Obama's approach was a total failure. Unless you're Iran.

[lineygoblue]

IMO, Obama's approach was a total failure. Unless you're Iran.

Of particular note was John Kerry's speech/swan song as Secretary of State at the end of Obama's term. He pretty much laid all of the blame for the Israeli/Arab/Palestinian conflict at the feet of Israel, and in particular Netanyahu.

IMO, I give Israel tons of credit for showing tremendous restraint. They have the toughest, most advanced military in the entire Middle East, and could easily wipe out all of their enemies in the area within months, if they so desired. I remember the 1967 war, and Israel had all of their neighbors' armies in full retreat mode, and could have occupied Damascus, Beirut, Amman, and even Cairo if they wanted. They could still be occupying Sinai and Gaza if they wanted, but they made peace with Egypt and gave back the Sinai. They voluntarily left Gaza, after which Hamas and Hezbollah moved in, so they could lob rockets into Israel with impunity, and build terror tunnels out of the building supplies that are supposed to be used to build houses, schools and hospitals. That's the thanks they get when they "give land for peace". They could have wiped out the PLO and Yasser Arafat when they had them trapped in Beirut many years ago, but held short, and restrained themselves at the urging of the US.

Bottom line, the problems in the Middle East may be "about" Israel, but they're not Israel's fault. John Kerry and Barack Obama did more harm to Middle East peace then they ever did to advance it. Trump's actions haven't been perfect, but they've made more progress than any other president since Jimmy Carter.

[Ghengis Jon]

The UAE is publicly saying that the Kushner abomination is dead with this accord and Israel is saying well, maybe we'll only postpone the annexation. Bottom line is it's good that Israel and UAE are on full speaking terms now.

With America's Shitstain® on the way out, I don't know if Israel won't wait until after the election before deciding on the Kushner "do whatever you damn well please" document. I'd say it's headed to the same ashcan as Trump. Which is fine. The rest of the Arab world is responsible for the Palestinian predicament, let them fix the problem.

[lineygoblue]

The UAE is publicly saying that the Kushner abomination is dead with this accord and Israel is saying well, maybe we'll only postpone the annexation. Bottom line is it's good that Israel and UAE are on full speaking terms now.

I don't think that the Trump/Kushner plan is going very far either, unless somehow Trump pulls the upcoming election out of his arse. The Democrats could still blow this thing. They've done it before.

As far as UAE and Israel making peace, I'm always in favor of countries making peace rather than war. Obama had 8 years and a Muslim heritage to use in his favor, to get the Arab nations in the area to make peace with Israel, and all he did was isolate Israel more than any President in US history. So he whiffed completely. At least UAE and Israel will be living peacefully and not talking war anymore. I don't see anything wrong with that.

[Dr. Strangelove]

The Israeli-UAE agreement is a big deal. In some ways formalizing a relationship that existed behind the scenes but very big symbolically and a message to the Palestinians. I'm a little surprised the Saudis weren't involved too but maybe they were too uncomfortable with how their populace would react.

[iam416]

Yep. It's a big deal and important step.

Unfortunately, President Biden will be like President Obama and side with the Arabs or, at a minimum, not side with the Israelis. PDJT and Kushner understood the value of confronting Iran and being a strong ally to Israel.

In a way, Israel was probably motivated to get this done because they know the next administration is going to assfuck them and return to fucking up shit in the Middle East.

[Jeff Buchanan]

I'm not sure if DSL mentioned it or not, but the UAE-Israel deal is actually big news. .......

He didn't. In fact, this is getting little press coverage, a stark reminder that anything the Trump administration does that is good isn't getting reported.

There are a couple of other things going on in the world that EU media covers better than the US media - obsessed with Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, dirty tricks, the "failure' of school openings, and any scary COVID data.

The Trump administration has made it hard for the Chinese to get the materials they need to advance their semiconductor industry. Huawei is part of this and there's no question that company ought to be knee-capped for its spying but there are dozens of other big companies, mostly state controlled, that are in the same business as Huawei. There are similar efforts to curtail China's ability to make moves in the banking and financial sectors easily. China's tech sector is a key part of President Xi's economic goals for China and the banking and financial sectors at home and abroad are keys to advancing those goals.

There is some debate about whether this is good strategy or not. The debate centers around the harm this does to the US tech sector that relies on Chinese semiconductors in the absence of robust enough industries in Vietnam, Taiwan, SK and India to support demand in the US tech sector. As well, there is battle royal being waged to keep the entire Chinese tech sector from dominating the market place of AI, jet engine and aircraft software and hardware controls, alternate forms of energy production, electric vehicles. A lot of this battle centers around intellectual property rights and patents which the WTO has already fingered China for trade violations but won't enforce their rulings. The US has already taken action in accordance with the rulings, has some international support but other countries are more interested in sustaining free trade with China to benefit their own country's economic growth.

In the banking and financial sectors, China has been very good at making end runs to US dollar pegged transactions allowing China to deal with the debt accumulation that is fueling economic growth.

Very little of this very important stuff gets covered by the press. First, reporting about it is not amenable to one line shock headlines and second, most of it hard to explain in a a short article or news segment and is even harder to understand. But make no mistake, this administration is taking a very tough stand v. the PRC's goals on the banking, financial, trade and economic development front. Xi has embarked upon a broad program of expanding state ownership of what is a pretty active private sector. What's going on in Hong Kong is an interesting look into Xi's programs and goals. The goal is to demonstrate that the PRC's version of communism is capable of allocating resources efficiently and where they are needed the most. The allocation occurs at the state level and with typical communist party principals embedded in both state and private companies. Obviously the PRC believes that it does this much better than free market capitalism in democratic nations currently hobbled by political partisanship.

There's no denying that in the last 5 years, China's economy has grown under Xi's programs and threatens to grow to the worlds best by mid-2025 (His made In China 2025 Economic Growth Program). Xi and his communist cronies could care less what the world in general thinks about the Uyghars. When Biden is elected, saving some miracle return of US employment and GDP to near pre-COVID numbers and I won't rule that out, we're going to see a softening of the US position on China and Iran something that, IMO, are singular successes of Trump's administration. YMMV.

[iam416]

There's zero doubt that in 5 months we'll return to an absolute appeasement/John Lennon's Imagine foreign policy. None.

[Dr. Strangelove]

TPP would've been a trade alliance that encircled China like a noose.

To her shame Hillary didn't defend it as she got heat from the far Left and as Trump furiously railed against it.

[Jeff Buchanan]

DSL, there was the TPP but I'm not as convinced as others that the partnership would put a "noose" around China's trade and economic growth aspirations. I'll do a little study as I'm not as familiar with the TTP as I should be.

[Dr. Strangelove]

We have to cast everything in the most extreme terms around here, Jeff. You know that.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Trump says Bob Woodward's upcoming book is FAKE....lol...Trump gave Woodward over a dozen interviews and ordered staff to participate.