Trump's Trade War

What benefit is there to Russia from it? Certainly, the Euros and the U.S. fighting a trade war has political benefits for Russia, as anything that puts the NATO European nations and the United States at odds works in Moscow's interests.

Also, the Russians may have vetoed Mitt Romney as Secretary of State:

One subject that Steele is believed to have discussed with Mueller’s investigators is a memo that he wrote in late November, 2016, after his contract with Fusion had ended. This memo, which did not surface publicly with the others, is shorter than the rest, and is based on one source, described as “a senior Russian official.” The official said that he was merely relaying talk circulating in the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but what he’d heard was astonishing: people were saying that the Kremlin had intervened to block Trump’s initial choice for Secretary of State, Mitt Romney. (During Romney’s run for the White House in 2012, he was notably hawkish on Russia, calling it the single greatest threat to the U.S.) The memo said that the Kremlin, through unspecified channels, had asked Trump to appoint someone who would be prepared to lift Ukraine-related sanctions, and who would coöperate on security issues of interest to Russia, such as the conflict in Syria. If what the source heard was true, then a foreign power was exercising pivotal influence over U.S. foreign policy—and an incoming President.

And then the Kremlin got a guy that they wanted in the job.

The Kitten-Torturers Go Away

(Earlier posts)

[Asswipe #1] was sentenced to serve consecutive terms of four years for animal abuse and three years of armed criminal action in the Missouri Department of Corrections.

[Asswipe #2] was sentenced to four years in state prison for animal abuse.

Asswipe #1 also got five years consecutive for making a shank.

They had pled guilty earlier.

Asswipe #1 apparently didn't make bail, so he'll probably get credit for time served. If I had to guess, he made a shank because other inmates in the county jail had expressed disapproval of his crime. They probably all moved away from him on the Group W bench.

Your Sunday Morning Prop Noise

"Spitfire 944"

Not a lot of airplane noise, but still fascinating.

And Here We Go

President* Donald Trump says the U.S. “will simply apply a TAX” on cars made in Europe if the European Union retaliates against the trade penalties he’s seeking on imports of steel and aluminum.

The EU is promising retaliation against American exports if Trump follows through — as he says he will next week.

Here’s what the president* is saying on Twitter: “If the E.U. wants to further increase their already massive tariffs and barriers on U.S. companies doing business there, we will simply apply a Tax on their Cars which freely pour into the U.S. They make it impossible for our cars (and more) to sell there. Big trade imbalance!”

If trade wars were such a good idea and "easy to win", as Trump seems to think, then why are they so rare?

But don't worry: In a few years, they'll be calling the encampments "Trumpvilles".

Meanwhile, this looks a little suspicious:

Billionaire investor Carl Icahn sold nearly 1 million shares of stock in a company tied to the steel industry leading up to President* Donald Trump’s decision to impose costly tariffs on steel and aluminum imported into the U.S.

Icahn also has ties to Trump; he was an unpaid adviser to the president* before resigning last August.

The SEC will be looking into that any day, now, ya, sure, you betcha.

Not an Evil Black Rifle

Because a SKS doesn't have a detachable magazine.

The insanity of the "assault rifle" frenzy is that it is all a matter of cosmetics. The "we gotta get ridda them" folks focus on rifles that have one or more "military features": A threaded barrel, a bayonet mount or a pistol grip.

This is a Ruger Ranch Rifle:

It's a .223 rifle that does accept detachable magazines. It doesn't have any of the evil military cosmetic features, so it's generally OK everywhere. But in function, there's no difference.

Not counting Ruger Ranch Rifles and Mini-30s, there's probably somewhere between six to ten million AR-patterned rifles out there, which doesn't count other types, like AKs or AUGs or FALs or G3s. All those would have to be bought back at well above market rates in order to survive a 5th Amendment challenge. (You might recall that when Prohibition was enacted, possessing alcohol was not made illegal.) Twenty to thirty billion, or so, maybe?

So ditch the threaded barrel (even though suppressors are legal in most states), grind off the bayonet mount and replace the pistol grip and buttstock with a thumbhole-buttstock and voila! Not an assault rifle. Child's play to do.

On another note, I heard an interview with a teacher who was against arming teachers because this one teacher couldn't envision the concept that, in engaging an active school shooter, that one or more kids might get killed in the crossfire.

That, Gentle Reader, is the old Trolley Problem. Failing to act is a choice: The shooter continues to kill kids. So the teacher's choice to not have blood on their hands is to put one's self in a position of not being able to make a choice. Which is like removing the track-switch lever and throwing it out of reach.

Caturday

Chip gets the low-down on another cat that had been in my lap.

Don't You Love the Smell of Corruption in the Morning?

The Securities and Exchange Commission late last year dropped its inquiry into a financial company that a month earlier had given White House adviser Jared Kushner’s family real estate firm a $180 million loan.

Yep, nothing untoward or unethical, here.

Maybe that's why Donnie the Deranged is picking a fight with Alec Baldwin.

Because It's Friday

Erie steam shovel:

No, it's not Mr. Mulligan.

Our Microcephalic-in-Chief and Trade Wars

President* Donald Trump on Friday insisted “trade wars are good, and easy to win,” a bold claim that prompted pushback from a Nebraska Republican who quipped “kooky 18th century protectionism will jack up prices on American families.”

Trump has declared that the U.S. will impose punishing tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, escalating tensions with China and other trading partners and raising the prospect of higher prices for American consumers and companies.

Right. Trade wars are so good that we see them breaking out all over the world, all of the time.

One of the dumbest reactions came from Paul Ryan:

House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said through a spokesman he hoped Trump would “consider the unintended consequences of this idea and look at other approaches before moving forward.”

In what alternative reality has Ryan been residing? Trump doesn't consider unintended consequences. Trump doesn't consider anything at all. If there's something he can do on his own authority, then he can and has do it on a whim.

If Obama was playing 3-D chess, then by comparison, Trump is chewing on the checker pieces.

Farewell to Icelandic?

The digital world may tromp the Icelandic language out of existence, much like a tank running over a squirrel.

A lot of other languages may go the same way, for the same reason. If everyone will have to know one of a handful of languages in order to function in an interconnected world, then what future is there for other languages?