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Tuesday, May 06, 2025

President Donald Trump lashed out at a Wall Street Journal reporter who was asking about his talks with Russia's Vladimir Putin on Sunday. The tense exchange happened on board Air Force One -- where the president held a brief gaggle with reporters. The footage (via CSPAN Networks) shows an unnamed reporter asking Trump a question that wasn't picked up by the network's microphone. But Trump clearly was put off by what the reporter was asking.


Archaeologists have discovered a hilltop in western Hungary that contains a vast hoard of ancient treasure dating back more than 3,000 years. The volcanic butte and its buried riches aren't protected by a fire-breathing dragon, but the discovery does feel like a story straight out of mythology.


The Trump administration is "decommissioning" a Department of Justice unit that has long been at the center of dismantling transnational organized crime networks, drug cartels and human trafficking rings.


Mehmet Oz, the US Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services leader, suggested he supports reducing federal Medicaid funding for the millions of people who gained access to the program through the Affordable Care Act.


Monday, May 05, 2025

The recent COVID-19 pandemic disrupted economies around the world, leading to labor shortages across many industries. As the health crisis subsided, most labor markets returned to normal, with some exceptions, notably the agricultural sector. While this industry had already been dealing with limited labor availability for decades, the COVID-19 crisis brought the issue to public notice. Farmworkers were among the first to be declared essential, and immigrant farmworkers were still allowed into the United States despite restrictive immigration policies that closed the country almost entirely to newcomers.


Comments

OpEd: Why Zelensky -- not Trump -- may have won' the US-Ukraine minerals deal
theconversation.com

... Last week, the Trump administration signed a deal with Ukraine that gives it privileged access to Ukraine's natural resources.

Some news outlets described the deal as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky "caving" to US President Donald Trump's demands.

But we see the agreement as the result of clever bargaining on the part of Ukraine's war-time president.

So, what does the deal mean for Ukraine? And will this help strengthen America's mineral supply chains?

Ukraine's natural resource wealth

Ukraine is home to 5% of the world's critical mineral wealth, including 22 of the 34 minerals identified by the European Union as vital for defence, construction and high-tech manufacturing.

However, there's a big difference between resources (what's in the ground) and reserves (what can be commercially exploited). Ukraine's proven mineral reserves are limited.

Further, Ukraine has an estimated mineral wealth of around US$14.8 trillion (A$23 trillion), but more than half of this is in territories currently occupied by Russia. ...


@#1 ... The list of things that are not a "National Security threat" is getting pretty short. ...

Yup.

Pres Trump seems to be using the "National Security threat" aspect a lot.

But then there is TikTok.

A Chinese company he has said he has a warm spot for. But why?

President Trump vows to extend Tik Tok' ban deadline until a deal is struck
www.foxbusiness.com

... 'Perhaps I shouldn't say this, but I have a little warm spot in my heart for TikTok,"'Trump said Sunday ...

So, TikTok, which was said to be a National Security issue for the US by a law passed by Congress and signed by fmr Pres Biden, so, a law in effect now ...

And Pres Trump seems to be ignoring that law because he has a "little warm spot" in his heart?


OK, let me ask this, if I want to ro a bank because I have "a little warm spot" in my heart about robbing that bank.

Does that make my crime of robbing that bank any less illegal?


So, taking a step back and looking at this ...

Pres Trump really does not seem to care one iota about "National Security threat."

He just seems to want to do what he wants to do.

@#21 ... and the economy has been doing well. ... inheriting another good economy, ...

OK, imo, your comment understates to economy that fmr Pres Biden passed on to Pres Trump.


OpEd: The Economy Has Been Great Under Biden. That's Why Trump Won. (November 2024)
www.chicagobooth.edu

... The economy under President Joe Biden was remarkably strong, so why did Biden lose? The White House released a brief on October 30, just days before the election, touting the latest quarterly data. Under the Biden administration, real GDP rose 12.6 percent, rightly cheered in the report as "a historically robust expansion" that repeatedly defied forecasts.

Since the pandemic, economic growth in the US has far outpaced that of our peer nations. Business investment is up; unemployment is low.

The consensus in the media seems to be that even though the economy is strong, people see it differently. Voters, burned by the rising price of groceries, felt pinched and demanded change. This story surely describes some voters, but we find it hard to believe that Americans elected Trump because they are confused about the economy.

Our research tells a different story, in which nobody is confused. Before the 2016 election, we wrote a simple economic model to explain the interplay between stock market returns and presidential elections. We then conducted an empirical analysis using 89 years of data. What we find challenges the notion that voters simply reward incumbents for strong economies and punish them for weak ones. While this narrative carries a fair amount of truth, it does not paint the full picture. The economy affects election outcomes in more than one way. It is not enough to say that a strong economy favors the incumbent.

Our main thesis is that a strong economy favors Republicans, and a weak economy favors Democrats, regardless of the incumbent. ...


Interesting OpEd....


Gun Deaths per Capita by State 2025
worldpopulationreview.com

...
Mississippi 29.6
Louisiana 28.2
New Mexico 27.3
Alabama 25.5
Missouri 24.2
Montana 23.9
Alaska 22.4
Arkansas 21.9
District of Columbia 21.4
South Carolina 20.8
Tennessee 20.5
Wyoming 20.4
Arizona 20.1
Oklahoma 19.8
Georgia 19.7
Nevada 18.9
Kentucky 18.8
Indiana 17.4
Colorado 17.1
Idaho 17.0
Kansas 16.8
...

... What eventually occurs is: First, homegrown industries start relying on government protection in the form of high tariffs. They stop competing and stop making the innovative management and technological changes they need to succeed in world markets.

And then, while all this is going on, something even worse occurs. High tariffs inevitably lead to retaliation by foreign countries and the triggering of fierce trade wars. The result is more and more tariffs, higher and higher trade barriers, and less and less competition.

So, soon, because of the prices made artificially high by tariffs that subsidize inefficiency and poor management, people stop buying. Then the worst happens: Markets shrink and collapse; businesses and industries shut down; and millions of people lose their jobs.

The memory of all this occurring back in the thirties made me determined when I came to Washington to spare the American people the protectionist legislation that destroys prosperity.

Now, it hasn't always been easy. There are those in this Congress, just as there were back in the thirties, who want to go for the quick political advantage, who will risk America's prosperity for the sake of a short-term appeal to some special interest group, who forget that more than 5 million American jobs are directly tied to the foreign export business and additional millions are tied to imports.

Well, I've never forgotten those jobs. And on trade issues, by and large, we've done well. In certain select cases, like the Japanese semiconductors, we've taken steps to stop unfair practices against American products, but we've still maintained our basic, long-term commitment to free trade and economic growth.

So, with my meeting with Prime Minister Nakasone and the Venice economic summit coming up, it's terribly important not to restrict a President's options in such trade dealings with foreign governments. Unfortunately, some in the Congress are trying to do exactly that. I'll keep you informed on this dangerous legislation, because it's just another form of protectionism and I may need your help to stop it. Remember, America's jobs and growth are at stake.

Until next week, thanks for listening, and God bless you. ...


Good citation.

There's this ...

Radio Address to the Nation on Free and Fair Trade (1987)
www.reaganlibrary.gov

... My fellow Americans:

Prime Minister Nakasone of Japan will be visiting me here at the White House next week. It's an important visit, because while I expect to take up our relations with our good friend Japan, which overall remain excellent, recent disagreements between our two countries on the issue of trade will also be high on our agenda.

As perhaps you've heard, last week I placed new duties on some Japanese products in response to Japan's inability to enforce their trade agreement with us on electronic devices called semiconductors. Now, imposing such tariffs or trade barriers and restrictions of any kind are steps that I am loath to take. And in a moment I'll mention the sound economic reasons for this: that over the long run such trade barriers hurt every American worker and consumer. But the Japanese semiconductors were a special case. We had clear evidence that Japanese companies were engaging in unfair trade practices that violated an agreement between Japan and the United States. We expect our trading partners to live up to their agreements. As I've often said: Our commitment to free trade is also a commitment to fair trade.

But you know, in imposing these tariffs we were just trying to deal with a particular problem, not begin a trade war. So, next week I'll be giving Prime Minister Nakasone this same message: We want to continue to work cooperatively on trade problems and want very much to lift these trade restrictions as soon as evidence permits. We want to do this, because we feel both Japan and the United States have an obligation to promote the prosperity and economic development that only free trade can bring.

Now, that message of free trade is one I conveyed to Canada's leaders a few weeks ago, and it was warmly received there. Indeed, throughout the world there's a growing realization that the way to prosperity for all nations is rejecting protectionist legislation and promoting fair and free competition. Now, there are sound historical reasons for this. For those of us who lived through the Great Depression, the memory of the suffering it caused is deep and searing. And today many economic analysts and historians argue that high tariff legislation passed back in that period called the Smoot-Hawley tariff greatly deepened the depression and prevented economic recovery.

You see, at first, when someone says, ``Let's impose tariffs on foreign imports,'' it looks like they're doing the patriotic thing by protecting American products and jobs.

And sometimes for a short while it works -- but only for a short time.

...



Trump Ambassador Jon Voight Unveils His Plan to "Make Hollywood Great Again"
www.hollywoodreporter.com

... The Midnight Cowboy' and Heat' actor " also a "special ambassador" to the entertainment industry for the White House -- presented a plan to return more production to U.S. shores after meeting with industry stakeholders. ...

So, Pres Trump's apparent latest BFF has a plan?

Yet Pres Trump has not been able to describe his plan to substantiate the tariffs?


An actor seems to have bested Pres Trump in planning?

More from the OpEd ...

... In 1943, Abraham H. Maslow revolutionized our understanding of human needs by organizing them into a pyramid, with the most essential at the base and higher-order needs at the top.[1] At the foundation of this hierarchy lie the most fundamental human necessities: food and water.

This underscores the significance of agriculture, a cornerstone of societies throughout the history of civilization. For thousands of years, agriculture was a primary human activity -- however, the advent of the Industrial Revolution transformed this landscape, turning it into a more specialized activity. Gradually, the workforce shifted away from farming, becoming less agricultural and more urban in character.

Today, most Americans live in cities and are largely disconnected from the labor-intensive processes that bring food to their tables. Urban dwellers would be hard-pressed to answer questions such as:

- - - Whose hands are harvesting fresh produce in the U.S.?

- - - Where do they come from?

- - - What paths do they take to get there?

This paper explores these and other questions and explains the huge role played by immigrants in the U.S. agricultural sector.

It begins by describing the problem of farmworker shortages. It then analyzes the role that different kinds of workers play in agricultural production -- from foreign farm laborers, both undocumented and legal, to highly skilled foreign workers -- and the available visas.

It also outlines the rise in food imports from Mexico. Finally, the paper concludes with a general reflection on the consequences of ignoring the deepening agricultural labor shortages and the threats they pose to the nation as well as the need for immigration policy reform to sustain agriculture in the U.S. ...



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