Did Donald Trump just engineer a masterstroke by first questioning the one-China policy and then affirming it.
The news in China has turned very positive after having been extremely negative.
China.org
Trump right to reaffirm US' commitment to one China
Shen Dingli | China Daily
It's hard for a President to maintain a focus on domestic affairs when he is the head of state, but I just hope he keeps harmonious, prosperous relations where possible and pressures the bad actors like Germany that create regional instability while fomenting war on its borders.
ReplyDeleteThe domestic issues are very pressing though. After 40 years of spending exactly $0.00 on water infrastructure and then only minimal amounts on maintenance, California has issued an emergency evacuation order downstream of the nations tallest dam this evening, for all residents to leave within 60 minutes.
Fighting climate change and "The Resistance!" while ignoring the systems that governments are supposed to provide is a big theme in the United States. I don't know if Trump's team understands enough to be an FDR. He would need a Mosler, Norman, Wray or Kelton to be on his team.
Right, the question is whether DJT could be a foreign policy genius, or is really like "Chauncey Gardiner" (really Chance, the gardener) from "Being There."
ReplyDeletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Being_There
Anyway, his recent China policy is sending shares up in the Asian markets after recently rattling markets with this bellicosity.
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ReplyDelete"California has issued an emergency evacuation order downstream of the nations tallest dam this evening, for all residents to leave within 60 minutes."
ReplyDeleteWTF??????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
At the same time the USAF is going gaga over new generation Star Wars-style lasers for its fighters and bombers...
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ReplyDeleteFighting climate change and "The Resistance!" while ignoring the systems that governments are supposed to provide is a big theme in the United States.
ReplyDeleteAND
The domestic issues are very pressing though. After 40 years of spending exactly $0.00 on water infrastructure and then only minimal amounts on maintenance,
Calm down. It hasn’t been 40 years, only since Earth Day in the early 70s, or late 60s.
California was assiduous since 1924 in appropriating their water. They have FAILED in the last four decades. it’s their fucking fault.
Interesting and proof that no one knows wtf is going on his head with all the mixed signals. This can be good or bad.
ReplyDeleteSo far we have had: tough stance (but nothing concretely except a couple failed covert ops which were probably underway already before he took presidency) against Shia regimes, kowtowing to S.A. and Israel regional policy. Business interests from Trump may be a big deal on this (same with Russia). Peaceful approach towards Russia (nothing strange here given previous declarations), and mixed policy against China.
On China he is 'negotiating' indirectly, giving them enough rope to not threat their national unity (not direct attacks) while strengthening relations with Japan (probably we will see lift of Japan military bans in the future) to counter them as a regional hegemony.
Europe is all about "the moneh" right now, "give me the NATO moneh", he doesn't need to do much against a self-destructing force like the EU and Germany ordoliberal leadership, he will break them if he constraints trade so Germany cannot run huge surplus.
On the national policy he seems to be the master of smoke and mirrors: much ado about nothing, if he keeps promoting 'balanced budget' zealots in key positions this will deteriorate fast and is were he could lose fast as he won't have policy space to do anything in practice. (No, only kids would believe that Mexico will "pay for it".)
Maybe all the estrogen surplus SJWs they have been training out there will suggest putting tampons in the holes in the dam?
ReplyDeleteDan, right on the money again. Trump is clueless. People can call it whatever "chess" they want. There's really none with this guy. He makes up crap on the spot it seems.
ReplyDeleteTrumps MO is to simply make every statement with certainty, no nuance. He can make contradictory statements and then claim later, whichever way it turns out, that he said so. He positions himself rhetorically so the whatever happens he can claim credit for knowing it, predicting it, understanding it better than everyone else.
ReplyDeleteHe's a carnival barker
"California was assiduous since 1924 in appropriating their water. They have FAILED in the last four decades. it’s their fucking fault."
ReplyDeleteYes! The sorry state of California's infrastructure is mind boggling compared to the pristine infrastructure in the other 49 states. Hopefully your neoliberal heroes will someday work their magic in the rest of the USA, MRW! You are so smart!
Describing a blunder and reversal as a 'masterstroke', LOL.
ReplyDeleteThey also call this kind of thing backpedalling. Wink, wink.
ReplyDeletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_US_arms_sales_to_Taiwan
ReplyDeleteFree trade ;)
Thanks for the laugh, Matt. @February 13, 2017 at 7:48 AM.
ReplyDeletePenguin pop, if "Trump is clueless," then being clueless is how you win presidencies when you're not a politician, when you come from nowhere and beat all seasoned politicans. No bad, if you can pull off your cluelessness.
ReplyDeleteWhen the public deems "experts" clueless, then being plainspoken is an advantage. DJT exploited that advantage along with the public being fed up with PC, and he still exploiting that advantage. And the "experts" are still clueless, while the opposition is having fainting spells over his political incorrectness.
ReplyDeleteIt's laughable — as we expected. More popcorn, please.
Read up, Six: "The Scorching of California. http://www.city-journal.org/2015/25_1_california-drought.html.
ReplyDeleteOr you can listen to this podcast: "Victor Davis Hanson discusses "The Scorching of California" with Ben Boychuk. https://www.city-journal.org/html/victor-davis-hanson-discusses-scorching-california-ben-boychuk-14133.html. [Whoops. I listened to it at the time, but this version cuts off and reverts to the beginning. Maybe it's my browser?]
Here is Victor Davis Hanson’s September 2016 article on the drought. (In addition to his tremendous scholarly CV, Hanson has lived his entire life on a ten-acre farm in the Cali Central Valley area below Fresno, and knows the issue well.)
Oops, forgot the link: The Underbelly Of The California Drought. http://www.hoover.org/research/underbelly-california-drought
ReplyDeleteAnd it 2015, not 2016 for the last link.
ReplyDeleteTom, agree with you. @February 13, 2017 at 3:04 PM. Listen to this recent Victor Davis Hanson podcast, which discusses this as well. "Trump, the Elites, and the Deplorables." Feb 1, 2017. On iTunes podcasts for City Journal 10 Block podcasts. It's the latest one. https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/city-journals-10-blocks-podcast/id273130612?mt=2. Take a look at their reviews.
ReplyDelete"Penguin pop, if "Trump is clueless," then being clueless is how you win presidencies when you're not a politician, when you come from nowhere and beat all seasoned politicans. No bad, if you can pull off your cluelessness."
ReplyDeleteWell when you put it that way, there was that appeal to some that he wasn't as much of an insider compared to the status quo. I will give you that much. I should have really said incompetent, but that same criticism can go for so many others in Washington, especially the "running out of money" crowd. He's just made it that much more noticeable with what he does on a daily basis.
Six. Another fucking typo. Hanson lives on a 40-acre farm in a house his great-great-grandmother built in the Central Valley.
ReplyDeletePenguin pop, listen to the podcast I suggest to Tom @February 13, 2017 at 3:40 PM.
ReplyDeleteIn California, they don't listen to the experts.
ReplyDeleteIn California, they don't listen to the experts.
ReplyDeleteIn California, everyone is an expert. Manhattan, too. :)
Lot of armchair manufacturers in Manhattan?
ReplyDeleteMRW,
ReplyDeleteWe are screwed for a while... we just dont have people qualified in these infrastructure disciplines.... its gonna take 5-10 years to re-train enough people...
Water shed systems management? forget it...
5' tall human vagina costumes? we've got that covered...
We've really f-ed up... the academe is garbage....
We're having our own troubles here:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/blizzard-winter-storm-weather-closures-1.3979687
California or bust!
We are screwed for a while... we just dont have people qualified in these infrastructure disciplines.... its gonna take 5-10 years to re-train enough people...
ReplyDeleteI seriously doubt that, Matt. There are most likely plenty of qualified people available, but "we can't afford to hire them."
5' tall human vagina costumes? ✔✔✔
ReplyDeleteI seriously doubt that, Matt. There are most likely plenty of qualified people available. Uhhh. No. Read Victor Davis Hanson.
ReplyDeleteThe issue is the Greenies who took over in the 1970s in CA. This is the problem that beset Santa Barbara at the time. They instituted such draconian measures--cutting back--that the price of available water soared. To impossible levels. Instead of asking citizens to reduce water usage by 10%, which experts subsequently said would have worked, they chose another level (draconian, forget the percentage), and it caused the opposite effect: increased drought and available water priced out of all sane limits. Thinking Greenies can't make a logical mistake is a desultory delusion. They did, and they fucked things up royally.
ReplyDeleteAnd the Greenies did NOT have proven hydrologist expertise. They were just hyperventilating activists, who relied upon emotional arguments that the ignorati bought wholesale.
ReplyDeleteOroville Dam: Feds and state officials ignored warnings 12 years ago http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/02/12/oroville-dam-feds-and-state-officials-ignored-warnings-12-years-ago/
ReplyDelete"Oroville Dam: Feds and state officials ignored warnings 12 years ago http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/02/12/oroville-dam-feds-and-state-officials-ignored-warnings-12-years-ago/"
ReplyDeleteThis article seems to indicate that the "greenies" wanted the dam reinforced 12 years ago.
"Penguin pop, listen to the podcast I suggest to Tom @February 13, 2017 at 3:40 PM."
ReplyDeleteI'll check it out. Thanks. I want to still be optimistic about what's to come, but Matt brought some nice dose of reality to the table.
Six, it's not a Greenies vs non-Greenies issue circa 2005. It's what was neglected in the 70s. You might be too young to remember. Maybe you weren't born then. I was. I remember it. And I remember the Santa Barbara water problem that defied all logic. Who would have thought that not reducing water usage was the key instead of what they did do: drastically reduce water usage. In fect, mandate it, and fine people. And it made things worse, exacerbated the problem.That's what happens, imo, when you don't calmly assess consequences accurately and long-term. Made an indelible impression on me.
ReplyDeleteBob, do you live in Nova Scotia? I was there once in the summertime. GREAT motherfucking seafood. The absolute best. God, I want to go back one weekend and eat 1-lb lobsters with butter from Friday night until the plane leaves Sunday eve. Arrrrgh.
ReplyDeleteYes, I live in Nova Scotia. Our seafood is the best (Maine lobster fans may object) although I'm not a lobster aficionado. Spending a day alone by the ocean on one of the many sandy beaches is my idea of fun.
ReplyDeleteWinters here are mild compared to my native Quebec. Nevertheless, I still long for warmer climes... California dreaming...
Your lobster is the best.
ReplyDeleteEt je parle joual. Or did.
ReplyDeleteHouston, very humid in summer, is cheapest city in USA. Bake all you want. Air conditioning is cheap. $150,000 can buy you a house that would cost $400,000 in Vegas and $1.2 million+ in California.
ReplyDeleteAnd Vegas is relatively cheap. At least for Canadians.
ReplyDeleteThis is where you can get one of those $150,000 homes: http://www.thewoodlands.com. P.S> I don't live in Houston.
ReplyDeleteOuais, a Montreal ca fait frette en tabouette :)
ReplyDeleteI grew up in the Laurentians, 90 minutes or so north of Montreal. Same humid continental climate. It's slightly worse for Montreal during the winter because they're on the St. Lawrence (river). Not uncommon for both sides of the windshield to frost over every morning.
Cheap real estate is what brought me to Nova Scotia. Manitoba was another option, but its colder there than in Quebec.
Humid Houston may be affordable, but what about the dry in Arizona or New Mexico? I lived in Kamloops, BC for awhile and found their dry summers more comfortable. Its a friendly working class town. Riding the bus in Kamloops is like being in an airplane, it is that scenic :) Wicked cold and windy during the winter though.
BC is beautiful but expensive. A northern version of California perhaps. BC politics are... different, to put it politely. BC drivers are psychotic. The Wet Coast of BC is insanely overpriced given the weather for most of the year. I don't like the cold but I'm not a mushroom!