snafu

I’m sure there are differences between today and 1930’s Japan, but there certainly are similarities. Japan was already in China for a long time before we said enough and cut oil and froze all Japanese assets in the US. China keeps prodding their borders in an expansionist way. I think those actions the US took against Japan pushed Japan to seek resources elsewhere in Asia and so they branched out in a violent and comprehensive way. China is setting itself up to do the same thing in several areas of the globe. Don’t underestimate the usefulness of the Chinese yellow slave labor to the CCP’ economic machine. And when the shooting starts, don’t underestimate their usefulness as nominally effective cannon fodder. The Australians have been harassed by the Chinese for years, too, for their natural resources. I think there would be a lot of pushback in the South China Sea from several countries who are fed up with the bullying.

What you describe sounds a lot like Tibet in the ‘50s and ‘60s and ‘80s and early this Century. Our response was always to protest the abuses of China vs. the Tibetans. Perhaps international protestation toward China worked to save Tibetans from the Uyghur’s fate. China never had the available “excuse” of dealing with Muslim extremists when dealing with Tibet. China doesn’t really get targeted by militant islamists that anyone ever hears of, but they use that as a very thin justification. Do you mean economically more painful for the CCP to continue their actions? China needs to be called out by any country that has a voice to do so. Is seems trite, but China is always prickly about its international reputation because it needs to be seen as a good trade partner. The CCP wants to have China be seen as the better alternative to US international influence. That reputation/goal is fading fast in light of countries’ reactions to their belt-and-road soverignity grab around the world. As well as in reaction to their treaty breaking in Hong Kong, their push against the disputed border with India, and the South China Sea grab (another broken treaty). Problem with China it that they’re not going to back off the Uyghurs until they are satisfied with the result. They just won’t. They didn’t in Tibet. They didn’t in Hong Kong. When it comes around to Taiwan they probably won’t stop, either. I wouldn’t expect to see a UN coalition anywhere near China since they’ve got veto power (not that the UN is willing to do anything in any event). I’m not sure whether China could be expelled from the WTO or not (and I don’t know what that would mean). There needs to be regional pushback against The CCP’s actions as well as international voices. The 5 Stan countries are only just beginning to organize into a loose regional group to discuss trade and mutual regional problems and solutions. I believe that Kyrgyzstan is refusing to return Uyghurs who fled China in spite of Chinese demands to do so. There must be more of this, if possible. The South China Sea countries have coalesced against China. Any country that provides raw materials and food to China should be in their face about human rights abuses and territory grabs. The CCP must feed and employ over a billion people. Reducing trade in basic staples will pressurize the CCP from within. it is a super tight balancing act because China will lash out militarily if pushed too hard. Their economy can’t be tanked because it would be a repeat of Japan in the late 1930’s. If there are debates, yes, for sure. They should both be hawks about this. And they should do their best to rally allies and foes alike to this problem.

You complain that Trump is ineffective; and at the same time complain that the Federal government should have had a comprehensive plan that covered every state. On top of that, you say that Trump’s criminality/craziness hampers his own administration’s effectiveness. But others can’t process information and facts. Okay. The only thing I’m processing here is the fact that you can’t be objective and you contradict yourself. Our ineffective, criminal, liar, do nothing President didn’t help Cuomo and deBlasio enough and that’s why Cuomo and deBlasio suck. Got it. Cuomo and deBlasio are worse at their jobs than an ineffective, criminal, liar, do nothing President. The only way Cuomo and deBlasio would have done better is if we had a good President who usurped the function of State and local government.

I don't mind being wrong.

At this point, I think it is as much in the bag as HRClinton was 4 years ago. I think Biden has a real shot. Something unthinkable four months ago.

I’ve said it before, the “center” pole got abruptly picked up and moved several paces to the left about a decade ago. This had an instant effect of re-labeling everyone. The media has been the mouthpiece for this shift, first focusing on social issues and now more obviously combining that with political stances. I don’t think it was a thought out plan. I think it is a progression that the media obviously believes sells clicks and newspapers. They keep doing it because people “vote” for money-making things with their pocketbook. And the more they do it, the more normalized this re-labeling becomes. And here we are today, with “centrists” being called “Nazis”. I think a lot of what the Times has done to try to stay relevant online is to make splashy headlines that try to tell the entire message of an article. The story in the body of the article is usually a different thing, and doesn’t support the headline. They need to do this because of their online model has to compete with “free” online press. Grab them with a headline and then block the story behind a subscription request. They know that the result is that most people only read the headline. The headline is usually some inflammatory claim against the administration that they don’t need to back up in their articles, because their readership has become the “choir”. The Times, especially, gets away with it because they still ride their reputation. I think they’re throwing their reputation away — whether on purpose or by accident, I don’t know (they started awhile ago, but it has accelerated much more recently). The Times is in serious danger of dying completely once Trump goes away, IMO.

I stopped reading the NYT a long time ago. I suspect that it has long ago completed its transition to a one-sided outlet for news and opinions. This is a resignation letter from Bari Weiss, who was their OpEd “centrist”. It is worth a read. Maybe she’s got sour grapes, but what she describes sounds a lot like a description of my suspicions. If true, I’m glad I stopped reading the NYT and I wish they’d open themselves back up to competing points of view. https://www.bariweiss.com/resignation-letter My own forays into Wrongthink have made me the subject of constant bullying by colleagues who disagree with my views. They have called me a Nazi and a racist; I have learned to brush off comments about how I’m “writing about the Jews again.” Several colleagues perceived to be friendly with me were badgered by coworkers. My work and my character are openly demeaned on company-wide Slack channels where masthead editors regularly weigh in. There, some coworkers insist I need to be rooted out if this company is to be a truly “inclusive” one, while others post ax emojis next to my name. Still other New York Times employees publicly smear me as a liar and a bigot on Twitter with no fear that harassing me will be met with appropriate action. They never are. ... I do not understand how you have allowed this kind of behavior to go on inside your company in full view of the paper’s entire staff and the public. And I certainly can’t square how you and other Times leaders have stood by while simultaneously praising me in private for my courage. Showing up for work as a centrist at an American newspaper should not require bravery. ... Part of me wishes I could say that my experience was unique. But the truth is that intellectual curiosity—let alone risk-taking—is now a liability at The Times. Why edit something challenging to our readers, or write something bold only to go through the numbing process of making it ideologically kosher, when we can assure ourselves of job security (and clicks) by publishing our 4000th op-ed arguing that Donald Trump is a unique danger to the country and the world? And so self-censorship has become the norm.

Hey, why have ANY elected officials other than President, right? Why have any Administrative office heads, right? Or that's the only person you can think of -- ever. I'm sure you knew how governments worked at some point in your life. You don't seem to care about local-state-federal at this point. You don't seem to care about how the government works at an executive level.

Shut up, Trumptard... Oh, wait.

I said: a lot of people made bad mistakes. You reply: Trump is a liar. I think Trump made that statement (lie, stupid comment, whatever) in early February. I can cherrypick quotes, too. Here is an article laying out “stupid lies” by NYC health officials, Barbot and Levine, and Cuomo. Here is this Cuomo quote from early MARCH: “Excuse our arrogance as New Yorkers — I speak for the mayor also on this one — we think we have the best health care system on the planet right here in New York,” Cuomo said. “So, when you’re saying, what happened in other countries versus what happened here, we don’t even think it’s going to be as bad as it was in other countries.” https://www.nationalreview.com/news/new-york-city-officials-were-slow-to-take-coronavirus-seriously/ Here is DeBlasio (MARCH 13): "We want people to go about their lives," he said on March 13. "We want people to rest assured that a lot is being done to protect them." https://www.axios.com/new-york-city-de-blasio-coronavirus-comments-34cf5a9b-9b5d-4987-97d6-e9fd3ba03e24.html As I said, a lot of people made bad mistakes. Like usual, you want to focus solely on one person. That’s your hate talking. I only bring up these quotes as an example of things that shouldn’t have been said — like Trump’s quote. I’m not going to classify them as stupid or lies, just because of the speaker’s party or their personality.

Phil McCracken

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Not only that, but they could have used these facilities and kept a couple hospitals covid-free in order to deal with other health matters and even elective surgeries.

NYS is abiding by CDC guidelines for reopening. It says it right in the NYS Forward materials. The CDC is a Federal Agency last I checked. Cuomo publicly thanked the Administration a few times during the worst of the NYS outbreak. Are you sure that you're not overstating things? Pretty much everyone made some big mistakes when little was known and everyone was panicked. Whether the mistakes get repeated or continue is worthy of criticism.

Then the headline should preview the content of the article and mention $$; not leave people who breeze through to think the “troubling” part has anything to do with kids getting sick.

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Why do you always make it about her? Can't you get over her once and for all?

I watched the video. Definite yes!

Wow. That Epstein settlement gets worse and worse. I’d think the government must believe that they can get her on her own and not as a co-conspirator. Or else maybe the case against Maxwell wasn’t covered in Epstein’s original charges?

It proved to me that he provided what he was legally required to provide — a certified statement of what he owns and what income he makes. It is pretty detailed. I’m guessing you didn’t bother to look at it, like you won’t look at his tax returns, like you’ve never looked at any candidate’s returns. Releasing tax returns is optional. See the difference there? I underlined words to help you. Again, you said you want to see the tax returns to see if Trump is worth what he claims. I responded that income taxes don’t show that. They show income, not net worth. I gave you a way to find out what Trump, himself, owns and what he claims to earn. Your response is: “that’s supposed to prove something?” Really, think about your response.

And I want you to be my latex salesman?

Hey, someone should tells BillStime that people read your schittt. ?

If we are still in masks and distancing when flu season 2020 comes around, I wonder whether it will be a lighter load. I’d say yes, probably.

I think the virus is flaring up regionally at this point ) maybe it has always been that way). My comment on States was applicable to fans in the stadiums. They’d know locally whether it is a good idea or not. I really couldn’t care less about that aspect, to tell the truth.