honest.abe
honest.abe's JournalChina may dump U.S. Treasuries as Sino-U.S. tensions flare - Global Times
Source: Yahoo Finance
SHANGHAI, Sept 4 (Reuters) - China may gradually cut its holdings of U.S. Treasury bonds and notes, in light of rising tensions between Beijing and Washington, state-backed newspaper Global Times cited experts as saying.
With Sino-U.S. relations deteriorating over various issues including coronavirus, trade and technology, global financial markets are increasingly worried if China would sell the U.S. government debt it holds as a weapon to counter rising U.S. pressure.
"China will gradually decrease its holdings of U.S. debt to about $800 billion under normal circumstances," Xi Junyang, a professor at the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, was quoted as saying on Thursday, without giving a detailed timeframe.
Read more: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/china-may-dump-u-treasuries-084840501.html
China has us by the short hairs. Trump, the supposed business/economic genius, has done nothing in 4 years to solve this problem... in fact he has made it worse.
Fox News: Jeff Flake joins over 24 former GOP members of Congress to launch 'Republicans for Biden'
A bit remarkable Fox posted this on their website but here it is:
The announcement comes on the first day of the Republican National Convention, as delegates prepare to formally re-nominate President Trump on Monday.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/jeff-flake-former-gop-congress-biden
First time I have ever posted a link from Fox News. Although its pro-Biden it still feels icky.
I am concerned many people are confused about whether to vote in person or by mail.
What if the virus picks up just before election day? Will people be afraid to go? But then it will be too late to order a ballot. Right?
Should we go ahead and order a ballot just in case? But then if you change you mind and vote in person I think you can only vote provisional, which is a hassle. Its a tough call.
I think we need more official guidance on how to make this decision.
Selecting Harris really throws cold water on any kind of last minute GOP ticket shakeup.
Many have been speculating that Trump might dump Pence and pick someone like Nikki Halley as VP. I kind of doubt Halley would take it even if asked but with Biden selecting Harris that seems much less likely since it wouldn't carry as much excitement as it would if Biden had selected a man or non-minority woman.
We are in a very strong position now with Biden/Harris. I suspect the Trump campaign has no idea on what to do to change the direction this election is heading.
I think it's going to be a blowout in November.
K-Pop Fans Sabotaged Trump's Under-Attended Tulsa Rally
Source: consequenceofsound.net
Coming into Saturday’s campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Donald Trump proudly boasted that over one million people had signed up for tickets. But when the day actually came, there were plenty of empty seats to be found inside the arena, and literally not one person showed up for the outdoor events. Trump’s campaign blamed the low attendance on protestors who blocked the entrance to the arena. However, as the New York Times reports, the inflated ticket requests may have been the direct result of a prank carried out by K-pop fans.
K-pop fans, along with their allies on TikTok, worked together to register potentially hundreds of thousands of fake ticket requests as a prank. One of the organizers behind the prank, a YouTube host named Elijah Daniel, told the Times that “It spread mostly through Alt TikTok — we kept it on the quiet side where people do pranks and a lot of activism. K-pop Twitter and Alt TikTok have a good alliance where they spread information amongst each other very quickly. They all know the algorithms and how they can boost videos to get where they want.”
Several young activists created video encouraging other K-pop fans and TikTok users to request tickets using fake names and phone numbers, and even offered instructions on how to generate phone numbers using Google Voice and other internet-connected phone services.
“We all know the Trump campaign feeds on data, they are constantly mining these rallies for data,” Mary Jo Laupp, a former employee of Pete Buttigieg’s campaign for president, told the Times. “Feeding them false data was a bonus. The data they think they have, the data they are collecting from this rally, isn’t accurate.”
Read more: https://consequenceofsound.net/2020/06/k-pop-fans-may-have-sabotaged-trumps-under-attended-tulsa-rally/
I just love this! Well done!
Bolton: Trump's not 'fit for office,' doesn't have 'competence to carry out the job'
In an explosive new book about his 17 months at the White House, Bolton characterizes Trump as "stunningly uninformed," ignorant of basic facts and easily manipulated by foreign adversaries.
But his assessment that Trump is not "fit" to be president is among the most stunning indictments of a sitting president by one of their own top advisers in American history.
https://news.yahoo.com/bolton-trumps-not-fit-office-doesnt-competence-carry-100155284--abc-news-topstories.html
Wow.
Rubin (WP): Why Democrats have an extraordinary opening (filibuster, reforms, etc)
Republicans have actually grown their advantage among white voters who do not have a college degree. They now hold a 24-point party ID edge with that group. In 2015, the GOP held a 21-point lead with them.
But among whites with a college degree, the numbers have moved sharply in the other direction. Democrats and Republicans drew equal support among that group in 2015, 47 percent identified with each party. But in the latest data whites with a college degree leaned Democratic by 12 points.
Many of those college-educated voters are the “suburban white women” you keep hearing about, who voted overwhelmingly for Democrats in 2018. That gender gap has widened into a canyon. (In 2015, Democrats had a 12-point advantage with women; now Democrats have a 18-point lead.) Simply put, the anti-science, white grievance, bully-boy politics of the Republican Party under President Trump turns off people who do not want to be viewed as uneducated, racist or mean. It turns out that is a very broad coalition.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/06/15/why-democrats-have-an-extraordinary-opening/
I know Rubin is a conservative but I think this article is spot on.
I do wonder if Democrats will actually nuke the filibuster. That would be remarkable.
We went to a park today in Maryland to get some fresh air and have a picnic... BAD IDEA.
The picnic tables areas were all roped off and any other tables not inside the picnic area were turned upside down. Ok, so we had a blanket in the car and decided to just have a picnic in the grass. Nope... that was forbidden also. Not entirely sure the logic of that as there were all sorts of other folks there fishing and lounging around and kids playing. How could having a family picnic be more of a risk that all the other activities going on there??
The park ranger said we had to eat in our car. Ugh.
Maryland Gov. Hogan announces closure of non-essential businesses due to coronavirus pandemic
Source: Baltimore Sun
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan announced Monday he was ordering closed all non-essential businesses in the state, including retail stores that had been allowed to remain open.
Hogan said the additional step was necessary to "slow the spread of COVID-19 in Maryland." The order, which takes effect at 5 p.m. today, does not include essential or critical industries as defined by the federal government: health care, law enforcement, emergency workers, food, energy, water, transportation, public works, communications, government, critical manufacturing, financial services, chemicals and defense. Liquor stores are exempted from the order. Daycare centers are not required to close.
Big box stores will remain open, but Hogan said he has asked local law enforcement to help those retailers deal with crowd control.
Read more: https://www.baltimoresun.com/coronavirus/bs-md-pol-hogan-nonessential-businesses-20200323-mb5ltcvsjvbu3ihp236por2xvq-story.html
This affects both my office and my wife's office. This is getting real.
WP: "economic decline will be sharper and more painful than during the 2008 financial crisis"
From the Washington Post..
In a single 24-hour period, governors of three of the largest states — California, New York and Illinois — ordered residents to stay home except to buy food and medicine, while the governor of Pennsylvania ordered the closure of nonessential businesses. Across the globe, health officials are struggling to cope with the growing number of patients, with the World Health Organization noting that while it required three months to reach 100,000 cases, it took only 12 days to hit another 100,000.
The resulting economic meltdown, which is sending several million workers streaming into the unemployment line, is outpacing the federal government’s efforts to respond. As the Senate on Friday raced to complete work on a financial rescue package, the White House and key lawmakers were dramatically expanding its scope, pushing the legislation far beyond the original $1 trillion price tag.
With each day, an unprecedented stoppage gathers force as restaurants, movie theaters, sports arenas and offices close to shield themselves from the disease. Already, it is clear that the initial economic decline will be sharper and more painful than during the 2008 financial crisis.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/03/20/us-economy-deteriorating-faster-than-anticipated-80-million-americans-forced-stay-home/
It starting to feel like the cure might be worse than the disease. Seems like we lose no matter what.
I think our leadership needs to assemble the smartest people in the country (from both sides of the isle) to figure out how best to deal with this extraordinary situation. If this isnt handled correctly we could be headed for disaster. I hope Joe Biden will take the lead on this since the Idiot in the WH is hopeless.
NOTE: This article is behind WP paywall. I was able to access using incognito mode in Chrome.
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Member since: Sun Dec 3, 2017, 10:40 AMNumber of posts: 8,678
