James Joyner is a Professor of Security Studies. He's a former Army officer and Desert Storm veteran. Views expressed here are his own. Follow James on Twitter @DrJJoyner.
Starting from comment #72 onward, there is some discussion, with numbers, of the Chinese economy, trade, payments etc. Short version, imports from China are more important to the U.S. than exports to the U.S. are to China.
So my read is that Trump put his 34% tariff on China thinking he has the upper hand, his usual bullying/dominance thing. China’s retaliatory tariff is to demonstrate to the world China not being pushed around.
Trump and his sycophants, IMO, think China will at some point back down, enabling Trump to brag about Xi kissing his ass, IMO a misreading of who holds the cards.
From BJ comments:
If anyone’s is interested in how the PRC government views the escalated trade war, & where the PRC’s leverage points might be, it has published a White Paper on the Sino-us economic relations, helpfully in English (clearly intended for US & international audiences):
Going to be off grid for much of the day, but just a light note.
While driving through PDX yesterday, Luddite noticed that the local strip club (featuring gluten-free lap dances for those suffering from celiac disease) has changed their business hours to noon to 2:30 a.m.
No reports in local media on which (if any) clubs are still open for the breakfast trade.
Continuing my read of the white paper … this document is also information-heavy.
First, despite all the pessimism and negativity, it’s worth highlighting that China clearly views trade with the U.S. as win-win and if anything it’s preference is to maintain direct relationship.
The opening chapter to the white paper clearly states this:
(Link has screenshot)
…
Table 1 lays out the top 10 categories of goods in the US-China trade, which provides a comprehensive snapshot of the bilateral relationship.
Beijing emphasizes that trade is not just goods, but services and the MNC trade as well (discussed above) where China runs deficits that offset the goods surplus.
Here are two nice charts that break out the components of the services trade. Travel is the biggest category.
(with more screenshots)
Following many more posts with screenshots and discussion.
We learned yesterday that visas have been revoked for an unstated number of international students at our local university and at the university down the highway. Our university has stated its intention to support its students whatever that might mean.
Not to lose sight of the international students who are the real victims here, I suspect our local economy – a significant chunk of which is built around and for those exchange students – is about to learn what it means to be viewed as an unfriendly or unsafe place to send your students, especially if the masked thugs start showing up to disappear them.
I made some pupusas this week. Salvadoran street food. Basically a filled masa pancake. I think the norm is refried beans and cheese, maybe some pork, and the dough is versatile and stupidly easy. Tastes like a crispy tamale. I filled mine with smoked fresh mozzarella and spicy refried black beans.
Next up, vetkoek, a South African filled fry bread.
Comfort food comes in every language.
I got some authentic Oaxaca cheese*, so I’m making migas for breakfast Saturday. This is scrambled eggs with lightly fried tortilla bits, minced and sauteed serrano pepper, and Oaxaca cheese. I like adding sauteed onions as well.
*In Oaxaca, it’s called fresh cheese (queso fresco) or quesillo (small cheese). Everywhere else, it’s Oaxaca cheese.
Trump ignites ‘insider trading’ accusations after global tariffs U-turn
Trump does not usually sign off his post with his initials. Those letters happen to be the same as the ticker for Trump Media & Technology Group, the business that controls Truth Social, whose stock shot up by 22% on Wednesday.
The timing of the US president’s posts and subsequent huge share jumps has sparked accusations of market manipulation.
Via Radley Balko. Thought it was from the Onion at first. Hope he doesnt mind copying a bit here.
“In a surprise move this week, President Trump signed an executive order granting himself the power of prima nocta.
The Latin term refers to the (likely apocryphal) medieval tradition in which a king or lord could sleep with any underling’s wife. Perhaps anticipating a legal challenge, the order cited “centuries of tradition in classical Western civilizations, from ancient Greece and Rome through the European Renaissance.” The directive gives Trump the power to engage in carnal relations with the wife of any White House staffer, political appointee, senator, or member of Congress.
In a now-familiar pattern, Trump’s supporters in Congress, cable news, and on social media found themselves scrambling to publicly show their support for a policy that in any other era would have been indefensible.
Within 24 hours of the signing ceremony, Trump’s advisers were able to cite legal scholarship in support of the policy. In an article quickly published online by the Claremont-VDARE Journal of Law and Physiognomy, academics Randy Barnett, Ilan Wurman, and Kurt Lash made the case that “history and tradition” supported the new policy. “The doctrine of droit du seigneur or ‘right of the lord’ is mentioned throughout the Western canon, from the Talmud, to Herodotus, to medieval Europe,” the three scholars wrote. “We’d also recommend the president adopt the medieval policy of of merchet — or the marriage fine — which was sometimes paid to a lord in lieu of letting him sleep with a fresh bride. This would make the prima nocta policy more palatable to the public. It would also allow the president to politely decline conjugation with unattractive wives. Finally, even a man as virile, robust, and genetically gifted as the president might find it physically taxing to bed every subordinate’s wife.”
@steve:
A MAGA Senator, Congressman, or average nutcase, would happily loan his wife or daughter to Trump for a night and consider himself honored. That’s not a joke, they would, absolutely.
@becca:
I find the MAGA obsession with Alphas and Cucks amusing. The thing is that if you think you’re an Alpha, you accept that you exist within a hierarchy. Some people are below you, some people are above you. IOW, every Alpha is also a Cuck. It is in the nature of things that you cannot have people beneath you, unless you, yourself, submit to another. And, if your underlings are also your supporters it means that you are supported by people you despise. Which is an odd position to be proud of, to say the least.
It actually took me a while to realize why I have always been uncomfortable having subordinates. Back in restaurant days where I was always one of the newer employees, I would actively subvert management and then, being surprisingly competent, I’d find myself as a manager or headwaiter. And then I wouldn’t be able to stand it, and I’d walk. There was no world in which I could have subordinates without acknowledging that I, too, was someone’s subordinate.
So I reject all hierarchies. As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master.* I can have colleagues, but within the context of equals working toward a common goal. The instant someone gives me an order, I’m out.** Fortunately I married someone with the same mentality. When you have zero Alphas, you also have zero Cucks.
* Not my line. Can you imagine a time when we had a president that coherent?
** And yet there was a point where my Dad thought about getting me into West Point. That would not have gone well.
Hell Week may finally be abating (fingers crossed). This means I’ll quit waiting and begin to stream season 2 of Severance (finally). And just in time. Spoilers are beginning to circulate widely..
I’ve developed the habit of watching one ep of a series each day, if they are all available. Per my other habit, I should drop one of the other subscription services. I think this means Prime Video this time, as I’m done with the latest season of Invincible, and there may be more I want to watch on Apple anyway…
If we don’t leave too late today, I’ll re-subscribe to Apple this evening.
Well, our local food bank has to cut some programs due to budget cuts. One program allowed the county to buy high quality meat from local farms to provide to low-income locals. Gone. Another program cut helped seniors get healthy meals. That’s dead too.
I checked our vote results from last November. Oddly, the county as a whole went blue on account of our college town. The rest of the county’s small towns all leaned heavily red. SO lucky them getting what they voted for, I suppose.
Balloon Juice did a post on tariffs last evening that had some interesting discussion in the comments.
“BJ”
Starting from comment #72 onward, there is some discussion, with numbers, of the Chinese economy, trade, payments etc. Short version, imports from China are more important to the U.S. than exports to the U.S. are to China.
So my read is that Trump put his 34% tariff on China thinking he has the upper hand, his usual bullying/dominance thing. China’s retaliatory tariff is to demonstrate to the world China not being pushed around.
Trump and his sycophants, IMO, think China will at some point back down, enabling Trump to brag about Xi kissing his ass, IMO a misreading of who holds the cards.
From BJ comments:
If anyone’s is interested in how the PRC government views the escalated trade war, & where the PRC’s leverage points might be, it has published a White Paper on the Sino-us economic relations, helpfully in English (clearly intended for US & international audiences):
PRC white paper
“PRC”
Probably heavy reading, but here is a thread from Glenn Luk with some analysis:
“Twitter“
Going to be off grid for much of the day, but just a light note.
While driving through PDX yesterday, Luddite noticed that the local strip club (featuring gluten-free lap dances for those suffering from celiac disease) has changed their business hours to noon to 2:30 a.m.
No reports in local media on which (if any) clubs are still open for the breakfast trade.
Good luck everyone, and thanks for all the fish!
From the twitter thread in my previous post, some excerpts:
“Twitter”
…
Following many more posts with screenshots and discussion.
We learned yesterday that visas have been revoked for an unstated number of international students at our local university and at the university down the highway. Our university has stated its intention to support its students whatever that might mean.
Not to lose sight of the international students who are the real victims here, I suspect our local economy – a significant chunk of which is built around and for those exchange students – is about to learn what it means to be viewed as an unfriendly or unsafe place to send your students, especially if the masked thugs start showing up to disappear them.
I made some pupusas this week. Salvadoran street food. Basically a filled masa pancake. I think the norm is refried beans and cheese, maybe some pork, and the dough is versatile and stupidly easy. Tastes like a crispy tamale. I filled mine with smoked fresh mozzarella and spicy refried black beans.
Next up, vetkoek, a South African filled fry bread.
Comfort food comes in every language.
@becca:
I got some authentic Oaxaca cheese*, so I’m making migas for breakfast Saturday. This is scrambled eggs with lightly fried tortilla bits, minced and sauteed serrano pepper, and Oaxaca cheese. I like adding sauteed onions as well.
*In Oaxaca, it’s called fresh cheese (queso fresco) or quesillo (small cheese). Everywhere else, it’s Oaxaca cheese.
Trump, ever ready to “game” the margins of decency. Imagine what he was like as a kid, as he learned his “craft.”
Via Radley Balko. Thought it was from the Onion at first. Hope he doesnt mind copying a bit here.
“In a surprise move this week, President Trump signed an executive order granting himself the power of prima nocta.
The Latin term refers to the (likely apocryphal) medieval tradition in which a king or lord could sleep with any underling’s wife. Perhaps anticipating a legal challenge, the order cited “centuries of tradition in classical Western civilizations, from ancient Greece and Rome through the European Renaissance.” The directive gives Trump the power to engage in carnal relations with the wife of any White House staffer, political appointee, senator, or member of Congress.
In a now-familiar pattern, Trump’s supporters in Congress, cable news, and on social media found themselves scrambling to publicly show their support for a policy that in any other era would have been indefensible.
Within 24 hours of the signing ceremony, Trump’s advisers were able to cite legal scholarship in support of the policy. In an article quickly published online by the Claremont-VDARE Journal of Law and Physiognomy, academics Randy Barnett, Ilan Wurman, and Kurt Lash made the case that “history and tradition” supported the new policy. “The doctrine of droit du seigneur or ‘right of the lord’ is mentioned throughout the Western canon, from the Talmud, to Herodotus, to medieval Europe,” the three scholars wrote. “We’d also recommend the president adopt the medieval policy of of merchet — or the marriage fine — which was sometimes paid to a lord in lieu of letting him sleep with a fresh bride. This would make the prima nocta policy more palatable to the public. It would also allow the president to politely decline conjugation with unattractive wives. Finally, even a man as virile, robust, and genetically gifted as the president might find it physically taxing to bed every subordinate’s wife.”
Steve
@steve:
A MAGA Senator, Congressman, or average nutcase, would happily loan his wife or daughter to Trump for a night and consider himself honored. That’s not a joke, they would, absolutely.
@Michael Reynolds: So we can fairly call male trump supporters cuck?
@steve:
Modern day Jonathan Swift, that Radley. Smart to publish 9 days after April 1.
@becca:
I find the MAGA obsession with Alphas and Cucks amusing. The thing is that if you think you’re an Alpha, you accept that you exist within a hierarchy. Some people are below you, some people are above you. IOW, every Alpha is also a Cuck. It is in the nature of things that you cannot have people beneath you, unless you, yourself, submit to another. And, if your underlings are also your supporters it means that you are supported by people you despise. Which is an odd position to be proud of, to say the least.
It actually took me a while to realize why I have always been uncomfortable having subordinates. Back in restaurant days where I was always one of the newer employees, I would actively subvert management and then, being surprisingly competent, I’d find myself as a manager or headwaiter. And then I wouldn’t be able to stand it, and I’d walk. There was no world in which I could have subordinates without acknowledging that I, too, was someone’s subordinate.
So I reject all hierarchies. As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master.* I can have colleagues, but within the context of equals working toward a common goal. The instant someone gives me an order, I’m out.** Fortunately I married someone with the same mentality. When you have zero Alphas, you also have zero Cucks.
* Not my line. Can you imagine a time when we had a president that coherent?
** And yet there was a point where my Dad thought about getting me into West Point. That would not have gone well.
@Kathy:
What’s your take on how Mexico will react if the US starts hitting cartels without prior permission from the Mexican government?
Performing for the Trump cult:
https://x.com/micah_erfan/status/1909761165623771215
https://x.com/V_Horabuena/status/1884659909629010104
@Michael Reynolds:
When you’re right, and gross, it’s a terrible thing.
@steve: @Michael Reynolds: @becca: @Kurtz:
Droit du seigneur is old French for “grab ’em by the pussy.”
@Michael Reynolds:
Beyond complaining, I see nothing that could be done.
@steve: And half the Republican wives would regard it as an acceptable price to pay to support their husband’s careers.
However, given Trump’s age, physical condition, and lack of evidence of recent activity, I wonder if this isn’t a theoretical discussion.
@Kathy:
Fallujah II: Tejano Boogaloo…
Also, I’m pretty sure if the U.S. starts shooting missiles into Mexico the Canadians are going to burn the White House down again.
@gVOR10:
Modern medical science is full of horrors…
@Beth:
The thought of Trump in the nude turns my stomach. I can’t stand the sight of him fully dressed.
RFK Jr. says that he’ll know by September what causes autism.
@Jen:
September of what year?
@Beth:
I don’t see why Canada would lift a finger, again beyond complaining and condemning the felon’s actions along with most every other country.
The cartels, though, would do something. I just don’t know what.
Hell Week may finally be abating (fingers crossed). This means I’ll quit waiting and begin to stream season 2 of Severance (finally). And just in time. Spoilers are beginning to circulate widely..
I’ve developed the habit of watching one ep of a series each day, if they are all available. Per my other habit, I should drop one of the other subscription services. I think this means Prime Video this time, as I’m done with the latest season of Invincible, and there may be more I want to watch on Apple anyway…
If we don’t leave too late today, I’ll re-subscribe to Apple this evening.
Well, our local food bank has to cut some programs due to budget cuts. One program allowed the county to buy high quality meat from local farms to provide to low-income locals. Gone. Another program cut helped seniors get healthy meals. That’s dead too.
I checked our vote results from last November. Oddly, the county as a whole went blue on account of our college town. The rest of the county’s small towns all leaned heavily red. SO lucky them getting what they voted for, I suppose.
After incurring how many hundred of billion dollars of inefficiency? And lost economic vitality? Maybe a trillion dollars. More?
Freakin’ Bozo.
About that “insider trading” —-
Buying into the upside of human misery aided by a lack of propriety.