America

[Which Tyler]

Oh dear gods....

[Son of Mathonwy]

Oh dear gods....

I'm not sure 90 minutes in the company of young, keen, MAGAites is good for me right now. Do they debate which period from US history they're aiming for because it was so 'great'?

[Which Tyler]

No, but there's a fair bit of "what's wrong with being a xenophobic, white-christian nationalist?"

I'm taking it in bite-sized chunks - I doubt that I'll have the fortitude to finish it

[Son of Mathonwy]

No, but there's a fair bit of "what's wrong with being a xenophobic, white-christian nationalist?"

I'm taking it in bite-sized chunks - I doubt that I'll have the fortitude to finish it

I watched the first couple of minutes. That could have done with facts and stats. Its:
MAGA - I don't like this sort of DEI (ie quotas and Kamala)
Progressive - DEI is actually all about making sure that everyone has access
MAGA - well I don't like the DEI I don't like
No one is convinced

But I'm trying to recover from the flu so have limited stamina.

Although if someone can get me an audience with Trump I'll breathe all over him for ya.

[Which Tyler]

‘Boycott USA’ : Consumer revolt spreads across Europe

I'm in - wherever reasonably possible.
Mains one are Qwant instead of google as default search engine; using Amazon the way I used to - to find a product that I'd then buy elsewhere; and switching away from using Morrisons as supermarket-of-choice
I will also look at brands of stuff I regularly buy - but that's getting more intricate and will take a bit longer to enact.
Obviously, these all require sacrifices, mostly of convenience.

[Son of Mathonwy]

‘Boycott USA’ : Consumer revolt spreads across Europe

I'm in - wherever reasonably possible.
Mains one are Qwant instead of google as default search engine; using Amazon the way I used to - to find a product that I'd then buy elsewhere; and switching away from using Morrisons as supermarket-of-choice
I will also look at brands of stuff I regularly buy - but that's getting more intricate and will take a bit longer to enact.
Obviously, these all require sacrifices, mostly of convenience.

Thanks for reminding me the Morrison's are US-owned now. An alternative-ish to Amazon might be Tesco Marketplace. I think Tesco is a fairly evil, massive corporate but, yeah, it's British and it's less evil than Amazon.

[Puja]

Comedy from Republicans in Congress:



Basically, Trump is allowed to impose and withdraw tariffs unilaterally because he declared a "National Emergency" on some bullshit grounds which gives him additional powers. Now, this is allowed by The National Emergencies Act, which also states that it can be ended with a simple majority vote in Congress and that anyone can call for this vote and then it must be voted on in 15 days, without anyone being able to block it.

So, the Democrats have called for a vote on ending the emergency, to give Republican Senators and Congressmen the choice between either voting No and taking ownership of the financial chaos and economic damage, or voting Yes and going against God-Emperor Trump, knowing that they want neither of those options.

To get out of it, the Republican party have successfully passed a measure that redefines time itself. The law says that a vote must be held within 15 days, but a new law has come in that defines a "day", as it relates to the National Emergency Act, to be the period of the current Congress, ie. a calendar year.

To reiterate, Republican politicians have chosen to change the definition of what "a day" is, rather than go on the record as to whether they support Trump's tariffs or not. How does The Onion even survive when this is real life?

Puja

[Son of Mathonwy]

Comedy from Republicans in Congress:



Basically, Trump is allowed to impose and withdraw tariffs unilaterally because he declared a "National Emergency" on some bullshit grounds which gives him additional powers. Now, this is allowed by The National Emergencies Act, which also states that it can be ended with a simple majority vote in Congress and that anyone can call for this vote and then it must be voted on in 15 days, without anyone being able to block it.

So, the Democrats have called for a vote on ending the emergency, to give Republican Senators and Congressmen the choice between either voting No and taking ownership of the financial chaos and economic damage, or voting Yes and going against God-Emperor Trump, knowing that they want neither of those options.

To get out of it, the Republican party have successfully passed a measure that redefines time itself. The law says that a vote must be held within 15 days, but a new law has come in that defines a "day", as it relates to the National Emergency Act, to be the period of the current Congress, ie. a calendar year.

To reiterate, Republican politicians have chosen to change the definition of what "a day" is, rather than go on the record as to whether they support Trump's tariffs or not. How does The Onion even survive when this is real life?

Puja

This reminds me of the legislation that defined Rwanda as a safe country regardless of any facts whatsoever. I'm no lawyer but I feel there ought to be some meta-law or principal that prevents this kind of obviously mendacious legislation.

Similar-ish to the way the Supreme Court decided that they didn't need to follow precedent in Roe vs Wade. Or the way climate activists in the UK are not allowed to truthfully answer questions in court about their motivations. It ought to be against the law.

[Mikey Brown]

This must be reassuring. More 4D chess from Trump I supppose.

[Son of Mathonwy]

This must be reassuring. More 4D chess from Trump I supppose.

Ah, don't believe it. You can always make some theory like this but Trump's an idiot makes more sense.

Anyway, remember Truss? Having a mad person running the country doesn't usually have a positive impact on bond prices (ie a negative impact on yields). And would Trump really want to preside over the kind of deeply unpopular economic carnage of a stock market crash? That's not to say that he isn't making it happen (he is pushing it that way) but I don't think he actually wants it.

[Which Tyler]

Short term pain for long term gain - and Trump - don't make good bedfellows

[Puja]

This must be reassuring. More 4D chess from Trump I supppose.

"Bond prices rise, yields fall, making it cheaper to refinance," is a complete misunderstanding of what bonds are, isn't it? They're being wrong with such confidence that it's making me doubt myself, but as far as I understand it, "yields" doesn't mean the amount of interest that the government has to pay on the bond, it's the interest as a fraction of the purchase price. So when "yields fall", it doesn't mean it's less expensive for the government, it means the investor is getting less bang for their buck because the price is higher.

The only way to make it cheaper for the government to refinance is by reducing interest rates, which is certainly possible by fucking the stock market and the economy, but there's also the issue that screwing the economy is going to make fewer people want to buy into America from the outside (especially since the dollar's movement is limited because it's used as a reserve currency, so the market wouldn't devalue the currency by much, as it would with £ or € which would make outside investment more attractive). So that would drive bond values down as there's less demand.

Incidentally, I have now discovered that, if you start searching for "How much of the US government debt is..." on google, as I just did when looking for how much was bonds, it helpfully tries to finish the sentence with "...owned by Jews". So that's great. That's not worrying at all. I'm not alarmed by what MAGA's response to a stock-market meltdown would be, in the slightest.

Puja

[Son of Mathonwy]

This must be reassuring. More 4D chess from Trump I supppose.

"Bond prices rise, yields fall, making it cheaper to refinance," is a complete misunderstanding of what bonds are, isn't it? They're being wrong with such confidence that it's making me doubt myself, but as far as I understand it, "yields" doesn't mean the amount of interest that the government has to pay on the bond, it's the interest as a fraction of the purchase price. So when "yields fall", it doesn't mean it's less expensive for the government, it means the investor is getting less bang for their buck because the price is higher.

The only way to make it cheaper for the government to refinance is by reducing interest rates, which is certainly possible by fucking the stock market and the economy, but there's also the issue that screwing the economy is going to make fewer people want to buy into America from the outside (especially since the dollar's movement is limited because it's used as a reserve currency, so the market wouldn't devalue the currency by much, as it would with £ or € which would make outside investment more attractive). So that would drive bond values down as there's less demand.

Incidentally, I have now discovered that, if you start searching for "How much of the US government debt is..." on google, as I just did when looking for how much was bonds, it helpfully tries to finish the sentence with "...owned by Jews". So that's great. That's not worrying at all. I'm not alarmed by what MAGA's response to a stock-market meltdown would be, in the slightest.

Puja

Sorry Puja, you're not correct on this. Yields are the interest on a bond as a fraction of the price, but this is a useful measure because the interest rate (coupon) on a bond is fixed (once the bond is issued). From this point only the price can change implying a yield (interest rate/current price). The yield is important because it's the rate of interest the market currently thinks is fair for a bond of a certain maturity. Thus, if a new bond is issued, its interest rate needs to be approximately equal to the current yield, otherwise it won't sell.

So yields are a good guide to the cost of government finance.

The problem here is the assumption that shares and bonds are always negatively correlated. It's not a bad rule of thumb that when the stock market looks too risky, money flees to safer places like bonds. But a country being badly run will make both shares and bonds of that country more risky. Money will then be more likely to flee to commodities or other financial assets overseas.

Trump is busy adding a 'moron premium' to the required interest rate for US assets.

[cashead]

[Puja]

This must be reassuring. More 4D chess from Trump I supppose.

"Bond prices rise, yields fall, making it cheaper to refinance," is a complete misunderstanding of what bonds are, isn't it? They're being wrong with such confidence that it's making me doubt myself, but as far as I understand it, "yields" doesn't mean the amount of interest that the government has to pay on the bond, it's the interest as a fraction of the purchase price. So when "yields fall", it doesn't mean it's less expensive for the government, it means the investor is getting less bang for their buck because the price is higher.

The only way to make it cheaper for the government to refinance is by reducing interest rates, which is certainly possible by fucking the stock market and the economy, but there's also the issue that screwing the economy is going to make fewer people want to buy into America from the outside (especially since the dollar's movement is limited because it's used as a reserve currency, so the market wouldn't devalue the currency by much, as it would with £ or € which would make outside investment more attractive). So that would drive bond values down as there's less demand.

Incidentally, I have now discovered that, if you start searching for "How much of the US government debt is..." on google, as I just did when looking for how much was bonds, it helpfully tries to finish the sentence with "...owned by Jews". So that's great. That's not worrying at all. I'm not alarmed by what MAGA's response to a stock-market meltdown would be, in the slightest.

Puja

Sorry Puja, you're not correct on this. Yields are the interest on a bond as a fraction of the price, but this is a useful measure because the interest rate (coupon) on a bond is fixed (once the bond is issued). From this point only the price can change implying a yield (interest rate/current price). The yield is important because it's the rate of interest the market currently thinks is fair for a bond of a certain maturity. Thus, if a new bond is issued, its interest rate needs to be approximately equal to the current yield, otherwise it won't sell.

So yields are a good guide to the cost of government finance.

The problem here is the assumption that shares and bonds are always negatively correlated. It's not a bad rule of thumb that when the stock market looks too risky, money flees to safer places like bonds. But a country being badly run will make both shares and bonds of that country more risky. Money will then be more likely to flee to commodities or other financial assets overseas.

Trump is busy adding a 'moron premium' to the required interest rate for US assets.

Huh, interesting. Thanks for taking the time to educate me on that.

Puja

[Son of Mathonwy]

Trump's government willfully disobey Judges' orders, twice. The USA is lawless.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... ed-lebanon

[morepork]

Trump's government willfully disobey Judges' orders, twice. The USA is lawless.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... ed-lebanon

No it isn't. The executive branch is off the leash right now, but will be appropriately tethered in time. Civil rights advocacy on the ground here is off the scale (it kind of has to be, just as it had to be pre-1964). Don't underestimate the capacity of public service here to respond to civil rights violation. Some of us will get beaten up in that fight, but we shall overcome.

[Son of Mathonwy]

Trump's government willfully disobey Judges' orders, twice. The USA is lawless.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... ed-lebanon

No it isn't. The executive branch is off the leash right now, but will be appropriately tethered in time. Civil rights advocacy on the ground here is off the scale (it kind of has to be, just as it had to be pre-1964). Don't underestimate the capacity of public service here to respond to civil rights violation. Some of us will get beaten up in that fight, but we shall overcome.

Great to hear from you, and some optimism from the ground, USA. Keep fighting!

[Son of Mathonwy]

(From a few days ago... ) With the Democrats folding to Trump like this, the Republicans might not even need to rig the election to win next time.

https://time.com/7268499/senate-democrats-budget-vote/

[Which Tyler]

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video ... llies.html

DONALD TRUMP: It will ensure the USA continues to dominate the skies. We have given in order for a lot. We cannot tell you the price because it would give away some of the technology and sizable planes—a good-sized plane. This contract also represents an historic investment in our defense industrial base, helping keep America at the cutting edge of technology. Our allies are calling constantly—they want to buy them also. Certain allies, we will be selling them, perhaps, a toned-down version. We like to tone it down about 10%, which probably makes sense, because maybe some of them are not our allies, right?

[Son of Mathonwy]

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video ... llies.html

DONALD TRUMP: It will ensure the USA continues to dominate the skies. We have given in order for a lot. We cannot tell you the price because it would give away some of the technology and sizable planes—a good-sized plane. This contract also represents an historic investment in our defense industrial base, helping keep America at the cutting edge of technology. Our allies are calling constantly—they want to buy them also. Certain allies, we will be selling them, perhaps, a toned-down version. We like to tone it down about 10%, which probably makes sense, because maybe some of them are not our allies, right?

They're not going to sell too many of these. Who would buy them? Only Israel, the only real ally they have left.

Okay, the UK probably will because we're such pathetic bootlickers. But anyone who wants planes they can rely on would be mad. Everyone's building '6th generation' aircraft right now, it's just the next gen.

[Mikey Brown]

I’d missed this whole signal chat thing. Incredible. Just saw the clip of Tulsi Gabbard refusing to even say whether she was part of the group.

It’s a shame this won’t matter in the slightest, but it’s sort of funny for the whole crowd on the right who happily dismiss all the MAGA culture/character stuff, because the economy and national security are the only things that really matter.

[Son of Mathonwy]

While the news is full of the Signal chat, Trump signs a largely illegal executive order to increase voter suppression (in part through UK style ID requirements). This is just the beginning.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... mmigration

[morepork]

Good job USandA. You've got the idiots you voted for in charge, and how well that is going. Fuck you for shitting on a generation of social and scientific innovation in the course of a few months. Fuck you Troglodytes and may you reap what you sow. I've given everything I have to science, health, community, and camaraderie, but I'm all out of fucks to give. I hope the real Americans that were here before you will laugh at your pathetic mewlings in years to come and you do harm only to yourselves. Fuck right off.


Peace

[Which Tyler]

Apparently, this is how you go about arresting small female students who think that genocide is bad - if you're the secret police
https://bsky.app/profile/pplscitycounci ... ccrxc6nk2v