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yallerdawg
yallerdawg's Journal
yallerdawg's Journal
June 16, 2018
Trump is betting American families are willing to pay for his trade war
Source: WaPo. by Heather Long
*****
All of Trumps tariffs so far — on China, on steel and aluminum, on washing machines and on solar panels — will end up costing the average U.S. family $80 a year, Moody's Analytics estimates in a report to be released next week. If Trump continues to pile tariffs on China (he has threatened to do another $100 billion) and China retaliates, then the cost to the average family would rise to $210, according to Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics. Wall Street bank Goldman Sachs has also forecast rising prices from the tariffs.
*****
The reality is every family isn't going to pay $80. Some families are likely to pay hundreds or thousands or be the ones losing jobs and livelihoods, while most others probably won't notice the price increases.
For example, “laundry equipment” prices have shot up 17 percent since Trump put tariffs on washing machines in January. Families that are buying a new washing machine now probably aren't happy, but the majority of Americans aren't shopping for a new washing machine and may not care much.
*****
China, Canada and the E.U. have targeted politically vulnerable parts of America with their retaliatory tariffs. It's another reason many Republicans are urging Trump to back down. They also say that growth, which is picking up after the Republican tax cut and extra government spending, is now in doubt because of the tariffs.
*****
Read it all at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/06/15/trump-is-betting-american-families-are-willing-to-pay-for-his-trade-war/
June 15, 2018
Source: AL.com, by JaBoyd
*****
The show, which explores the various subcultures which make our "Great American Melting Pot" so great, will be making a stop through South Alabama on Sunday, June 17, in order to "debunk some of the myths about the South", as one CNN staffer puts it.
*****
Read it all at: https://www.al.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2018/06/cnns_united_shades_of_america.html
CNN's 'United Shades of America' episode explores South Alabama
First airing on CNN, Sunday, June 17, at 9 p.m. CT.Source: AL.com, by JaBoyd
*****
The show, which explores the various subcultures which make our "Great American Melting Pot" so great, will be making a stop through South Alabama on Sunday, June 17, in order to "debunk some of the myths about the South", as one CNN staffer puts it.
*****
Read it all at: https://www.al.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2018/06/cnns_united_shades_of_america.html
June 14, 2018
Source: HuffPo, by Rebecca Shapiro
Read it all at: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/haim-fired-agent-male-artist-paid-10-times-more_us_5b21aab0e4b09d7a3d7a03c6
HAIM Fired Agent After Finding Out A Male Artist At Same Fest Was Paid 10 Times More
Danielle: "It’s so hard to check: everything’s so secretive about how much people are getting paid, and that’s bullshit."Source: HuffPo, by Rebecca Shapiro
“We had been told that our fee was very low because you played at the festival in the hope that you’d get played on the radio,” Danielle said. But they were paid 10 times less, which prompted them to fire their agent over the discrepancy.
“It’s fucked up not even to be paid half the same amount. But to be paid a tenth of that amount of money? It was insane,” Alana added.
“It’s fucked up not even to be paid half the same amount. But to be paid a tenth of that amount of money? It was insane,” Alana added.
HAIM’s concerns are valid. When a British law required companies of more than 250 employees to reveal internal data on their gender pay gaps, Universal, Sony and Warner’s UK reported women working at the music labels earned significantly less than their male counterparts (22.7 percent at Sony, 29.8 percent at Universal and 49 percent at Warner, according to Variety). Additionally, top leadership roles were overwhelmingly occupied by men.
“Women are rarely credited as the creative force behind popular music,” Stacy L. Smith, author of the study and think tank leader, said at the time the research was released. “The lack of female songwriters and producers means that the epidemic of invisibility we have catalogued for women in key creative roles in film and television extends to music. These agenda-setting songs are like so many other forms of entertainment — reflective of a largely male perspective.”
Read it all at: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/haim-fired-agent-male-artist-paid-10-times-more_us_5b21aab0e4b09d7a3d7a03c6
June 13, 2018
Source: Vox, by Todd VanDerWerff
*****
"I didn’t get a chance to talk about my beautiful boy Wags (David Costabile, left) in this article, so I’ll at least put him in a photo."
Read it all at: https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/6/12/17451298/billions-season-3-finale-recap-showtime-explained
How Showtime's 'Billions' went from dull to dazzling (*spoilers welcome*)
Improbably, a series seemingly about rich white guys measuring their dicks is an essential show of our era. (Okay, maybe not that improbably.)Source: Vox, by Todd VanDerWerff
*****
The original premise of Billions was probably unsustainable. It centered on Chuck Rhoades (Paul Giamatti), a US attorney for the Southern District of New York, who grew tired of prosecuting small-time crimes and decided to take down Bobby Axelrod (Damian Lewis), a titan of finance he knew was crooked. Chuck’s wife, Wendy (Maggie Siff), worked for Bobby and thus became an unlikely figure in both men’s games.
The second season concluded with a series of revelations that showed just how long of a game the series could play and substantially muddied its ethical waters. The question wasn’t whether to root for Chuck or Bobby; instead, the question was figuring out a way to tear down the entire system they existed within. The show still had the gleam associated with wealth and power, but it was interested in questions beyond its central battle. When it finally moved past it in the middle of season three, there was a wealth of other stories waiting to be told, including...
Much has been made of how Asia Kate Dillon’s Taylor Mason, a promising new employee of Bobby Axelrod’s company, Axelrod Capital, is almost certainly the first nonbinary regular character on a major American TV show. (Both Taylor and Dillon use they/them pronouns.)
"I didn’t get a chance to talk about my beautiful boy Wags (David Costabile, left) in this article, so I’ll at least put him in a photo."
By wedding its larger concerns to the sheer, propulsive fun of the business thriller, Billions found a way to serve the audience its cake, then keep serving them so much cake they wondered where all the cake came from and desperately wanted to stop eating it. That makes Billions, at times, a show where it’s hard to find someone to “root” for, but the series is canny enough to know that’s the whole point.
We’re not damned; we’re already in hell, and we need to find a way to pull it down around our ears to make something better. But good fucking luck with that.
We’re not damned; we’re already in hell, and we need to find a way to pull it down around our ears to make something better. But good fucking luck with that.
Read it all at: https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/6/12/17451298/billions-season-3-finale-recap-showtime-explained
June 7, 2018
Source: Vox, by Zack Beauchamp
****
“Strzok-Page, the incompetent & corrupt FBI lovers, have texts referring to a counter-intelligence operation into the Trump Campaign dating way back to December, 2015,” the president wrote. “SPYGATE is in full force!”
*****
The problem is that, as far as we know, none of those texts mentioned anything about there being a counterintelligence operation against the Trump campaign as early as December 2015. So where the hell did the president come up with that idea?
*****
So what happened, it seems, is that a conspiratorial interpretation of texts between two FBI employees, one entirely unfounded in the actual evidence, got laundered from the fringe right-wing media to the right-wing mainstream through Fox News personalities — and eventually reached up to a member of Congress and the president of the United States.
This says something profound about the way the country is broken today — about how Trump and the conservative media have combined forces to warp the way millions of Americans understand the world around them.
*****
Read it all and much more at: https://www.vox.com/world/2018/6/6/17433876/trump-spygate-fox-twitter
Trump, Fox News, and Twitter have created a dangerous conspiracy theory loop
The president tweeted literal “fake news” about the so-called “Spygate” controversy. The story behind the tweet is revealing — and scary.Source: Vox, by Zack Beauchamp
****
“Strzok-Page, the incompetent & corrupt FBI lovers, have texts referring to a counter-intelligence operation into the Trump Campaign dating way back to December, 2015,” the president wrote. “SPYGATE is in full force!”
*****
The problem is that, as far as we know, none of those texts mentioned anything about there being a counterintelligence operation against the Trump campaign as early as December 2015. So where the hell did the president come up with that idea?
*****
So what happened, it seems, is that a conspiratorial interpretation of texts between two FBI employees, one entirely unfounded in the actual evidence, got laundered from the fringe right-wing media to the right-wing mainstream through Fox News personalities — and eventually reached up to a member of Congress and the president of the United States.
This says something profound about the way the country is broken today — about how Trump and the conservative media have combined forces to warp the way millions of Americans understand the world around them.
*****
Read it all and much more at: https://www.vox.com/world/2018/6/6/17433876/trump-spygate-fox-twitter
June 6, 2018
*****
President Ronald Reagan's Office of Management and Budget director blames a bull market that's getting longer in the tooth — paired with headwinds ranging from President Donald Trump's leadership to fiscal policy decisions to questionable earnings.
"I call this a daredevil market. It's all risk and very little reward in the path ahead," Stockman said Tuesday on CNBC's "Futures Now." "This market is just way, way over-priced for reality."
*****
"The S&P 500 could easily drop to 1,600 because earnings could drop to $75 a share the next time we have a recession," Stockman warned. "We're about eight or nine years into this expansion. Everything is crazily priced. I mean the S&P 500 at 24 times at the end, tippy top of a business cycle."
One of his biggest gripes with the bulls is the notion that President Donald Trump's tax cuts are providing a fundamental lift to stocks.
"These tax cuts are going to add to the deficit in the 10th year of an expansion. It's just irresponsible crazy," he said. "It's all going to stock buybacks and M&A deals anyway. That doesn't cause the economy to grow. It's just a short-term boost to the stock market that doesn't last.
*****
Just in case you're feeling really good today (for some reason)...
David Stockman: Stocks will plunge 50% in this 'daredevil market'*****
President Ronald Reagan's Office of Management and Budget director blames a bull market that's getting longer in the tooth — paired with headwinds ranging from President Donald Trump's leadership to fiscal policy decisions to questionable earnings.
"I call this a daredevil market. It's all risk and very little reward in the path ahead," Stockman said Tuesday on CNBC's "Futures Now." "This market is just way, way over-priced for reality."
*****
"The S&P 500 could easily drop to 1,600 because earnings could drop to $75 a share the next time we have a recession," Stockman warned. "We're about eight or nine years into this expansion. Everything is crazily priced. I mean the S&P 500 at 24 times at the end, tippy top of a business cycle."
One of his biggest gripes with the bulls is the notion that President Donald Trump's tax cuts are providing a fundamental lift to stocks.
"These tax cuts are going to add to the deficit in the 10th year of an expansion. It's just irresponsible crazy," he said. "It's all going to stock buybacks and M&A deals anyway. That doesn't cause the economy to grow. It's just a short-term boost to the stock market that doesn't last.
*****
June 6, 2018
News reports source of Melanie Fake News stories!
June 6, 2018
Source: PoliticusUSA, by Leo Vidal
*****
“Why are you making an issue of potential use of pardons for crimes in New York state that have not been yet charged, let alone convicted?” Melber asked.
“Well, in this past week, Donald Trump and his lawyers have made a series of claims, essentially saying they’re above the law,” Teachout replied. “What we need to make very clear, is that a presidential pardon of federal crimes will not cover all state crimes, that those associates would still be vulnerable to prosecution under New York state law.”
“There’s reason to believe that there would be, for many of his associates, a lot of separate New York crimes,” she continued. “New York has very extensive, powerful bank fraud laws, money laundering laws, bribery and larceny laws.”
The President of the United States has expansive ability to pardon those convicted of federal crimes, but the pardon power for state convictions lies with the governor. Therefore if the state of New York aggressively pursues criminal charges against the president and his associates then justice will be served despite Trump pardons of federal criminal convictions.
Read it all at: https://www.politicususa.com/2018/06/06/n-y-ag-candidate-i-will-sue-trump-in-new-york-to-thwart-pardons.html
N.Y. AG Candidate: 'I Will Sue Trump in New York to Thwart Pardons'
Fordham law professor Zephyr Teachout launched her Democratic campaign for New York attorney general outside Trump Tower on Tuesday with a promise to crack down on potential conflicts of interest in President Donald Trump's sprawling business empire.Source: PoliticusUSA, by Leo Vidal
*****
“Why are you making an issue of potential use of pardons for crimes in New York state that have not been yet charged, let alone convicted?” Melber asked.
“Well, in this past week, Donald Trump and his lawyers have made a series of claims, essentially saying they’re above the law,” Teachout replied. “What we need to make very clear, is that a presidential pardon of federal crimes will not cover all state crimes, that those associates would still be vulnerable to prosecution under New York state law.”
“There’s reason to believe that there would be, for many of his associates, a lot of separate New York crimes,” she continued. “New York has very extensive, powerful bank fraud laws, money laundering laws, bribery and larceny laws.”
The President of the United States has expansive ability to pardon those convicted of federal crimes, but the pardon power for state convictions lies with the governor. Therefore if the state of New York aggressively pursues criminal charges against the president and his associates then justice will be served despite Trump pardons of federal criminal convictions.
Read it all at: https://www.politicususa.com/2018/06/06/n-y-ag-candidate-i-will-sue-trump-in-new-york-to-thwart-pardons.html
June 6, 2018
Our choice? Democratic nominee Walt Maddox!
The Alabama Democratic Conference has endorsed Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox for governor.
He also received the endorsement of the New South Coalition, one of the state's most visible and powerful black political organizations, which includes prominent state legislators.
"Together, we will tear down the obstacles at the ballot box. You can't call yourself a patriot if you're afraid of democracy."
https://www.al.com/#/0
In November, Alabama Democrats need to remember:
Our choice? Democratic nominee Walt Maddox!
The Alabama Democratic Conference has endorsed Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox for governor.
He also received the endorsement of the New South Coalition, one of the state's most visible and powerful black political organizations, which includes prominent state legislators.
"Together, we will tear down the obstacles at the ballot box. You can't call yourself a patriot if you're afraid of democracy."
https://www.al.com/#/0
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