Friday’s Forum
Steven L. Taylor
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Friday, May 9, 2025
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61 comments
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About Steven L. Taylor
Steven L. Taylor is a retired Professor of Political Science and former College of Arts and Sciences Dean. His main areas of expertise include parties, elections, and the institutional design of democracies. His most recent book is the co-authored
A Different Democracy: American Government in a 31-Country Perspective. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas and his BA from the University of California, Irvine. He has been blogging since 2003 (originally at the now defunct Poliblog).
Follow Steven on
Twitter and/or
BlueSky.
Dear Wife is disappointed Cardinal Tagle wasn’t elected Pope. On the other hand she and five of her living siblings are also Leos. Leo, Leonita*, Leonilo, Leonido, Leoncio, Leonette,
*- Dear Wife
The runner-up* headline of the day- Enthusiastic child accidentally orders 70,000 Dum-Dum lollipops
*- Because this headline is as almost impossible to beat as it is to believe.
Two anecdotes from the failing Trump economy:
Talked to our sister-in-law. She owns a small toy store in a population 50K college town. Just had to cancel an large order due to a 40% increase in price. To survive, she is setting aside part of her store for consignment sales. Her business survived COVID through creativity. Hope this works as well.
My son, an engineer, who works oil and gas equipment sales can see the orders start to stall. Gas is good and holding up but oil is not. Daughter in law, also an engineer, prepares bid packages for flow control business (mostly water but some oil and gas) has had to pull packages back and rebid them due to both price increases and risk adjustment.
One thought. This country has so much stuff in business and homes that the resale business may be getting a boost. As it is, the number of Goodwill and Salvation Army resale stores has grown tremendously. And the quality has increased. As well as the number of free stuff sites like Buy Nothing, Sell Nothing.
Question: Has anyone put up a Trump Family corruption website yet? If not, why not?
BTW, I’m still pissed that Dick Durbin, when he was head of the Senate Judiciary Committee, did nothing on this front. It is a much richer target environment than Hunter Biden and look what the Republicans did there.
@Scott: As is the case with his daily incoherence, the media seem to have accepted Trump’s astounding corruption as not newsworthy. “The Biden crime family,” and “Crooked Joe” was, and continues to be, projection.
@Scott:
I truly think this is a huge story. The corruption is overt. And the same applies to Musk as well.
@Charley in Cleveland: It is not the media’s fault; it is the Democrats fault. They don’t push it out there. Or if they do, it is not consistent or loud. Republicans are always good at pushing the 3-4 bad things and pushing them often and loud until they become stuck in the public’s mind.
@Scott: Point taken. Dems need to ring the bell, and it cannot be Schumer *reading* his outrage.
Interesting thought that has potential impact on Trump’s Global Tariff efforts:
Recently CNN’s Dr Gupta was asked why is the US just now banning petroleum based food dyes when they have been banned in Europe for years. His answer was the Europe has a different philosophy regarding food additives. While the US relies on data (often supplied by manufacturers) to persuade the FDA that food additives that have been added to improve marketability (i.e. color) are safe. Many other countries have the philosophy that if an food additive (that is, something added to the “natural” product) is put into a product simply to improve sales perhaps they should wait to see if the US’s experiment with a specific food additives is safe.
So the EU approach of “unless there is a compelling need”, lets not allow manufacturer’s adulterate food products. While the US approach, let manufacturers adulterate food to increase productivity (hormones) or Marketability (color/texture) if their data persuades the FDA that current manufacturer’s studies currently show no ill impact on health.
There’s no doubt that Brit’s would eat GMO or hormone ladened beef, IF it’s sale were authorized. So what is the impact of agreeing to the importation of GMO beef as a bargaining point in trade negotiations,,,,,,,,,,,, IF IT CAN”T BE SOLD TO CONSUMERS ?
@Scott:
What are flow control packages? I know what flowmeters and control valves are, is this something more complex?
I don’t know of any sites totally dedicated to Trump scams, but they do get lots of online attention, for example:
“Krugman”
“Atrupar“
@charontwo: That is basically it. The engineering, as I understand it, is ensuring compatibility of the hardware with the specs and requirements, other control devices, software, etc. Any more than that I would be faking it.
This has been a hot topic in my paralegal group for several days due to ongoing litigation in EU courts (well, and because this shirt is just TOO funny), but for the rest of the world, prepare for the penultimate use of AI.
I present…the…Autoblow AI Ultra!
It must be true, because fiction has to make sense.
ETA I have to admit I was convinced this was an elaborate hoax when it first came up in the paralegal group. I am SO glad I’m not involved in the discovery on the EU litigation.
@Bobert:
GMOs are permitted to be sold in the UK on a limited basis if the nutritional value is the same as a non-GMO product, IIRC. It’s the EU that has basically banned them.
Justice Souter has passed away.
@Flat Earth Luddite:
I clicked your link.
Of course it was.
@Bobert:
I don’t know about that. My understanding, and maybe JohnSF can double check me, is that this is a fairly big no in both the UK and EU. Like, massive no. My understanding of the “Chlorine Chicken” issue is that it’s so deeply embedded people would be pissed
We’re Number 1! We’re Number 1! We’re Number 1!
I think it was Krugman that called it “harm reduction” for Starmer, but I just tend to think that Starmer isn’t very bright.
Many of these UK car brands are popular with Trump’s financially endowed supporters. Let’s see what he does for the German car manufacturers, and then vis a vis those from Japan.
Testable hypothesis: American movies which portray US spies or military in any sort of positive light will die in Europe, the UK, and around the world. It’s not a perfect test case but the new Mission Impossible might be interesting to watch. Not the movie itself, but sales.
@Scott:
I have seen none, but here is a WaPo piece mostly about corruption:
“WaPo Gift”
more in the link
This commenter got it right —
Public education with real facts! What a concept!
@Scott:
And in other news…………4 out of 5 of our portfolio companies are experiencing almost record demand. Board debates center around investment in expansion. Lines of business:
Concrete for bridge construction.
Titanium fasteners
Metalforming equipment
Aluminum cans
HVAC installation and service
@Connor: Yep, I’m sure there are a lot of stories out there. That’s why they are anecdotes. At some point, there will be enough data to discern trends.
@charontwo:
All the “packages” means is a comprehensive set of valves, pumps, meters, filters and electronic controls. A better term might be “systems,” not packages.
@Connor: And 4 out of 5 dentists recommend sugarless gum for their patients who chew gum.
Link?
I am going to be that pedantic writer who points out that the phrase “center around” makes NO SENSE.
It’s either “centers on” or “revolves around.”
@Jen:
Well, you’re very centered. 😀
BART Shuts Down All Train Service Due to ‘Computer Networking Problem’
@CSK:..centered…
Is that the same as being grounded?
@Jen:
“Centers around” literally means “centers outside the center.” It’s a bit like saying something is precisely located somewhere within a large area, or that the answer is exactly between 1 and 1,000,000,000,000.
Or any other use of words without regard to their actual meaning.
Yesterday I posted that my brother had told me that the new Pope is a Cubs fan. Turns out that he was dealing in misinformation. However to his credit he sent me a text late last night stating that Pope Leo’s brother was on the record that his entire family was split between the Chicago White Sox and the Cubs and that Pope Leo is a White Sox fan.
My dad took me and my brother and sister to old Comisky Park a few times in the early, mid 1960s. I remember one night game was against the New York Yankees. The Sox lost and I was disappointed since I did not see any fireworks from the exploding scoreboard. Another “ahead of it’s time” innovation was the “picnic area”, created by replacing portions of the left field walls (the side of the field not facing the setting sun) with screens and setting up picnic tables under the seating areas. We would sit there and eat hot dogs and watch the game only a few yards behind home plate.
@Jen:
As a source I was using food.gov.uk (sent there by Copilot). Copilot states that there are no GMO beef products authorized for import or sale in the UK, a claim that seems supported by the UK government site that does not list beef at all in it registry of authorized (GMO) products.
Perhaps, JohnSF can further enlighten us – bring us up-to-date.
@Mister Bluster: That was the era of owner Bill Veeck, who was an innovator (and a character in his own right) in the running of a sports franchise. I remember reading his autobiography, Veeck: As in Wreck which was a best seller.
@Scott: @Connor: @charontwo: To clarify my botched description, a bid package is prepared in response to a buyer’s requirement or specification. It includes the parts, labor, services and price required to accomplish the job. Sometimes you are competing for the job, sometimes you are in a sole source situation. Parts can be whole systems. Services can be simple assembly or may include more intensive engineering services.
@Mister Bluster:
This may address your query:
http://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-empowerment-diary/202002/what-is-centering-what-is-grounding
@Bobert: Ah…okay.
It wouldn’t surprise me if beef products are treated differently. UK had issues with mad cow disease well into the 90s (my husband still is not allowed to donate blood, having lived in the UK in the late 90s).
ETA: By GMO beef, I believe what we are talking about is beef that is fed GMO grain. I don’t think anyone is modifying the genetic makeup of cattle (other than breed selection).
This is a new one: airline demonstrator flights.
It’s a bit odd, insofar as it’s rather well known airlines can fly between cities. The piece linked contains not a word about the plane’s interior. Seating options, meaning premium class seats and service, are about the biggest area of airline competition these days.
What I find more remarkable is that a completely orthodox airline business model thought up by amateurs looks rather likely to actually fly. twice. that’s more than most such airlines ever accomplish.
I’ve my won amateurish plan thought up: flying all-premium economy A321XLRs between Mexico and Central America to Europe, with refueling stops in Canada. It would be a spectacular failure if it ever launched.
@drj:
Yes, but they also offer a variety of other models. Personally, as a Luddite who grew up on a dairy farm with vacuum milking equipment, all I can say is “uh, no way!”
@Mister Bluster:
According to this book, it was Bill Veeck’s son Mike who was the brains behind disco demolition night.
@Mister Bluster:
I’m not a White Sox fan but being a baseball buff Strat-0-Matic past season replayer*, I know them very well
Off the top of my head Al Lopez and the go go Sox, Eddie Stanky and the hitless wonders, Billy Pierce, Nellie Fox, Sherm Lollar, Jim Landis, Gerry Staley, Pete Ward, Tommy McCraw, Gary Peters, Joel Horlen, Wilbur Wood, Bill Melton, Carlton Fisk, Lamarr Hoyt, Harold Baines, Ozzie Guillen, Wilson Alvarez, Ron Karkovice.
* Every season from 52 to 69 plus 75, 77, 83, 85, 91, and 93. Years I have finished- 55 to 57 and 60 to 62.
Encore, the sister casino/hotel to Wynn, just put a 200 million dollar renovation on hold because of Trump’s tariffs.
I’ll take the over on a billion dollars’ worth of work in Vegas either paused or killed outright thanks to Trump.
@Scott:
American men’s Democrat Derangement Syndrome knows no bounds.
The media has no agency, only Democrats. So reporters’ choices are Democrats’ fault.
Voters have no agency, only democrats. So voters’ choices, are Democrats fault.
Apparently every problem with America is not the fault of the people actually causing the problem, but based on what Democrats did and didn’t do. No American adult is responsible for their own choices: Democrats made them do it.
As a former Republican, my view is Americans who’ve made smearing, trashing, and blaming Democrats their entire personality are insane. And if you ask me, America’s issues are their fault.
@Charley in Cleveland:
Are Americans’ ears broken? Like, are y’alls heads buried in sand or something? Is everyone except black and LGBT voters blind and deaf, or what is actually going on with y’all?
Democrats (and, point of fact, many non-Democrats) have been ringing the bell about Trump’s dishonesty, corruption and extremism for a decade.
This idiocracy-level pretense that Trump’s amorality and incompetence are some great big hidden mystery is amusing. As is the motion that Amerikkka is suddenly going to start listening to Democrats now.
Democrats ran three whole national years-long campaigns against Trump and MAGA. Who are y’all kidding? Blue Steel? Ferrari? Le Tigre? They’re the same face. Doesn’t anybody notice this? I feel like I’m taking crazy pills.
Some of the 400 jobs that were cut at the FAA helped support air safety, a union says (AP)
Helpful reminder, as the incompetent Trump regime tries to wiggle out of responsibility for ATC chaos.
@Kathy:..
@DK:..
@Beth:
The “chlorine washed chicken” issue is liable to be massively controversial.
The British middle class are rather keen on healty eating, and on animal welfare.
And the bacteria levels in much US poultry indicate very poor animal welfare standards, and “battery farming”.
(I wouldn’t buy it.)
Also a lot of Labour supporters and “middle ground” voters really dislike the idea of bowing to Trump.
I also think Starmer made the best of a bad position: by getting tariffs on cars, steel alloys, and steel/aluminium products, he’s saved a large chunk of British industry from possible collapse.
Starmer is, imo, reasoanbly smaert.
You don’t get to be a top-level barrister, and a pretty effictrive Director of Public Prosecutions, by being a dimwit.
His problem lies in the political constraints he accepted because he thought them vital to win: promises not to raise taxes, and also (to avoid Truss Mk2) to not rely on increased debt to fund cuurent (as opposed to capital) spending.
Also on some aspects of relations with the EU, and migration.
@Bobert:
tbh I’m not in any way an expert on the details of food regualtions.
But one key point is: the UK wants at least a limited deal with Trump, to avoid hits to shaky industrial sectors, and potentially to the City and UK media/entertainment sector.
otoh a deal with the EU on a trading “reset” is even more important, which means the UK cannot risk being seen as a “Trojan Horse” for US foodstuffs that don’t meet EU standards.
Ther really interesting negotiations are going to be when the EU sits down with the US.
Because the EU has far more firepower re trade leverage than does the UK; indicating why the pro-Brexit camp bigging up the UK/US deal as a “benefit of Brexit” is so mistaken.
I seriously doubt the EU will settle for a 10% tariff on all goods without imposing countervailing.
We shall see.
Though it looks like any such negotiations are not going to be till after the upcoming NATO summit in late June.
The Europeans seem to want to avoid trade disputes provoking a toddler tantrum over defence.
Trump says Biden’s high-speed internet program is racist and unconstitutional.
http://www.thehill.com/policy/technology/5291913-trump-biden-high-speed-internet-program-racist-unconstitutional/
@CSK: I can’t find much about the act. Newsweek says “It was written to help many groups, including older people, veterans, people with disabilities, individuals with a language barrier, and those who are part of a “racial or ethnic minority group.”” If so, Trump’s statement is consistent with the administration’s interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment.
@Mister Bluster: Well, there goes my pet theory. Remember who coached the Cubs from 1966 to 1972? Mr. Durocher, Mr. Leo Durocher. His Holiness was born in 1955 and would have been in his formative years then.
@Slugger:
Just before Durocher, there was this Cubs player.
@Mister Bluster:
Dear Wife are flying to Seattle in a little over a week because we’re taking an Alaskan cruise. We’re crossing our fingers for that trip.
Interesting noises coming out of Ukraine and Hungary.
Ukraine has rolled up a Hungarian espionage operation.
And disclosures relating to war plans
Also opposition publication of alleged info on this.
This seems to confirm what has long been suspected: Orban was planning on seizing Transcarpathian Ukraine in the wake of an anticipated Russian victory in early 2022.
What remains to be seen: did he actaully have a covert understanding with Putin on this?
If this develops to show Orban actively engaged with Putin over the invasion, it could precipitate EU action.
And also play into the 2026 Hungarian elections.
@DK:
I’m sure the “break things” part of the oligarch ethos does not mean one’s things.
@Mister Bluster:
A few aviation blogs are praising the rapist’s Faux news transportation secretary for a proposal to upgrade ATC. they completely overlook the GQP opposition in Biden’s term to do this, not to mention the inability of the felon’s prior so-called administration to even try.
@JohnSF:
Can Hungary be expelled from the EU?
@Kathy:
No, is the short answer.
There are no procedures under the treaties for expelling a member.
BUT there are procedures for “suspension”
The question would be, does Hungary meet the legal tests?
And are the votes there, given Slovakia and Austria?
I suspect more likely might be majority votes to block funds transfers.
(Needs an expert on EU admin law to say how possible this is; ie not me.)
Same applies to NATO: the founding treaties drafters never really considerd the contingency.
Rhetorical question warning:
When is it a good idea to make concessions before talks get started?
Granted an 80% import tax on Chinese goods is still insane and unsustainable. But if the rapist is pre-caving in advance of talks, I expect China to press matters more aggressively.
@JohnSF:
It’s understandable there’d be no mechanism for expulsion, but it’s also a pity. Often the threat of dire consequences is enough to get someone to stop making trouble. Also, expulsions can be temporary, or at least with a provision for readmission given certain conditions.
Wish me luck tomorrow, friends. Cooking for 60, I think.
Don’t burn Fortune too much while I’m gone. 😉
@Jax:
Barn raising?
Nevermind, just enjoy yourself and we’ll talk again Sunday.
But watching them twist in the wind is so entertaining!
@Flat Earth Luddite: I wish you would join our Signal chat! We have OTB Cool Kids that Beth started. We can post pictures there. 😉
@Connor:
“I am doing well so that means everything is ok and others having problems isn’t real” is so incredibly on brand for you.