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Saturday’s Forum
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14 responses to “Saturday’s Forum”
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Imagine an airport at a small city suddenly gets flights from a major airline. You’d think the management and officials would be happy about it, no?
Well, no.
Turns out in Republiqan Vero Beach, Florida, government grants are preferred to the increased economic activity JetBlue might bring in.
Thing is JetBlue will likely make the airport at Vero Beach pass 100,000 passengers per year, and that will result in a reduction of money from the state government.
By now, pointing out Republiqan hypocrisy is on a par with pointing out water is wet or El Taco is in the Epstein files.
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I was browsing through Prime streaming service to see if there was anything new and interesting to watch when on came an ad for Speed Racer. I immediately experience a surge of joy go through me as the theme music started and a clip played. It was unexpected as I was transported back to my early pre teen days. It is interesting how nostalgia works at a deep level beyond the intellectual.
My wife and I decided to take a flyer and use a free 7 day trial period for BritBox. Her sister recommended Outrageous which was about the Mitford sisters in 1930s Britain. Another timely show about the rise of fascism especially in Great Britain. It seemed tonally all over the place alternating an almost goofy, jazzy feeling about the family with an increasing dread as some of the sisters dabbled in fascism, another in communism, and the continuing need of an aristocratic family to find funds to continue their lifestyle. Reinforced my opinion that income inequality leads to a bad end in societies.
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While we know that “countries” don’t pay the Taco tariffs, it would make little difference if they did.
Say a widget made in China costs $10 wholesale and including shipping, and is resold in the US at $14. Next say “China” pays the 30% tariff. What would this mean?
To begin with, who is “China”? The Chinese government, the Communist Party, the distributor, or the manufacturer?
Either way, whoever pays $3 on each widget is either out $3, or will try to make up the money by charging it to someone else. So let’s say of the above entities, the distributor who exports Chinese products to the US is the one who pays the tariff (somehow).
What would they do? They could absorb the extra cost, which would effectively mean they get paid $7 instead of $10. They could ask the manufacturer for a discount, but then it’s the latter who has the problem. They could increase the widget price to $13, leaving the importer with the extra cost.
The first law of thermodynamics can be succinctly expressed as “everything goes somewhere.” So it is with adding costs: everything has to come from somewhere. Money won’t materialize as if by magic, no matter how much El Taco wishes it. It has to come from somewhere.
As per Kathy’s First Law, nothing is ever that simple. So rather than just passing on the tariff costs, we’ll see a mix of alternatives. Some manufacturers will offer discounts to partially offset them, some of the extra costs will be absorbed, and some will be passed on.
There may be some more of the latter than the other two for one obvious reason: the end consumer is at the end; they can’t directly pass on the cost to someone else. They can reduce or eliminate their consumption, though.
Therefore, send not to know
For whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee. -
On rather irrelevant matters, I’ve found a way to kind of game two rewards programs. in a very small way.
One, I managed to finally get the Starbucks app working, using a Proton mail account. So now I can get points from their rewards program, chintzy as it is.
Two, my debit card offers a 2% rebate on purchases at restaurants. This includes any money paid to Starbucks for some reason (it’s not a real restaurant or even a fast food joint).
I wonder why I bother, Starbucks hasn’t gotten any better. In fact, it’s worse than ti was pre-pandemic. Their one virtue was the ground cinnamon shaker at the condiment bar, and that’s absent most of the time now.
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Apparently the new White House ballroom won’t be ready by then.
Trump will host cage match at the White House
The UFC fight will take place on the White House lawn on July 4, 2026, to celebrate the 250th anniversary of America’s independence. [..]
Beyond the UFC, [CEO Dana] White “used his connections to leverage appearances for Trump on friendly, right-leaning podcasts with millions of young listeners.” White said the podcasts gave young voters a chance to “see who Donald Trump really is… [n]ot the bullshit you hear from the far-left media.” [..]
After the election, Trump invited White on stage during his victory speech. He not only thanked White but also several of the right-wing podcasters that he met through White. “Donald Trump is tougher and more badass than anybody,” White told the New Yorker last November.
In return for White’s loyalty, Trump is turning the 250th anniversary of America’s independence into a promotional event for the UFC. The marketing value of such an event is incalcuable — the White House is normally not available for rent. But White himself has described the White House fight as “a one-of-one event.” [..]
If Trump were considered a federal government employee, hosting a UFC fight at the White House would be impermissible. [..]
The president, however, is exempt from federal ethics rules. Most presidents attempt to comply with these rules anyway. Trump does not.
https://popular.info/p/trump-will-host-cage-match-at-the?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
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@Rob1:
Any chance of getting Donald in the cage?
Two men enter, one man leaves!
lol -
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@CSK:
Thank you!
Hope you are feeling better, and out and about soon. -
@JohnSF:
Any chance of getting Donald in the cage?
The cowardly Taco in a cage match?
Never.
It would take someone smarter, richer, with a much hotter daughter, and not on the Epstein files to dare something that brave.
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@Kathy:
Are weaponized walking sticks permitted?
If so, I winz.
