The real reason the U.S. is pushing tariffs; it's not just Trump.

I thought I'd shared this before but I cannot find it.  This video is a MUST watch. It explains completely why the U.S. is focused on tariffs. It's not just Trump.

How is the EU coping with the Trump deal?

First, a hot take on how one-sided the US-EU deal actually is, via Dave Rubin.  Followed by a Michael Heaver take on the EU impact.

She says this while living in the U.S.

This woman might be the dumbest person on the internet. "Stay in your country"? Wow.

Some interesting parallels between Canada and the U.S. here

 That guy in the U.S. get berated in New Jersey:

Meanwhile on the campaign trail in Canada, Justin Trudeau actually gets rocks thrown at him.  While I do not condone violence, it's a bit ironic to see the guy who legalized marijuana in Canada nationally getting stoned:

 

China-Iran unholy alliance developing

Some China news, including flooding and more importantly a trade and military deal between China and Iran (starting at 17:17).

U.S. China trade war explained

Patrick Bet-David offers a primer on the U.S. China trade war:

The U.S.-China trade war is not new, and it's not going away

Hunker down, this trade war is not going away.  In fact, it's been around for a long time already.  China became a member of the World Trade Organization in 2001 and while getting the benefits from being a member (indeed special consideration as a result of being classified a developing country), they have hardly played by the rules - unfairly protecting their markets, stealing intellectual property and manipulating their currency.  They have become rich not only at the expense of America but of many countries around the world.  They've leveraged that growth to expand their hegemony at home and abroad.

For decades no one stood up to them.  Abroad no country had the strength to do it alone, and without leadership from America, why would they try?  But prior presidents - Clinton, Bush or Obama - either ignored or outright facilitated China's rise.

China's government is communist. They are not good guys.  They are evil. They are preying upon foreign weakness and hoping to not have to deal with an America that stands up to them.  Enter Donald Trump.  He's breaking the Chinese domination model like a fever that has gone on for too long.  

It won't be easy.  It would have been a lot easier 5, 10 or 20 years ago but nothing was done.  President Trump is the literal bull in the China shop.  He's making the tough decisions about things like banning Huawei , which is clearly an espionage agent for the Chinese government.  He's in it for America for the long haul instead of a managed decline and ceding international superpower leadership to the Chinese.

Yes, tariffs hurt American consumers and producers.  They do the same in China.  But in the long run they help fairer trade and prevent China from breaking all the rules and not being called out for it.

I say that last part because I think even if president Trump gets a really good trade deal for America, China is going to cheat.  They're cheaters and they have been doing so since the communists took power.

The fact the the New York Times, South Korea and Breitbart all seem to be landing on the same page really says something important.  It says that this is a generational issue that really needs to be met head on, and now.   It's no time to be weak, because with each passing day that nothing is done, it gets harder to confront the Chinese government effectively.

The trade war, even if a deal gets signed and appeases the stock market, will continue.  It will continue as a cold economic war because it has to.  To not confront it is to abdicate our responsibility and to abdicate the future to a totalitarian, aggressive and corrupt China.

Saturday Learning Series - Why the U.S. military made GPS free to the public

Without going into whether the decision was the correct one or not, this video explains the GPS satellite network and why it was made available to the public and for commercial use, for free.  An interesting watch.

Mew

France and Russia have promised Holy Hell in retaliation for the terrorist events that affected their nations. Russia probably will back up it's tough talk (so I'll exempt Russia from the remainder of this commentary).  France is flying sorties and bombing ISIS camps. Weak tea, but still it's something.  Britain and the U.S. have denounced ISIS, using ramped-up stern language.  Canada's new Prime Minister is sticking to his election promise of stopping flying sorties in support of combating ISIS and instead will up our training contingent who are training Iraqi's.  Even if we double that effort it's still likely less than 200 boots on the ground, nowhere near combat if they can help it.

Oh and Obama is doubling down on closing Gitmo. 

Bunch of pussy cats.

Oh Crap! China takes top spot.

Everyone had a sense that this was coming.  According to FT, China is set to overtake the United States as the world's largest economy this year.  That`s 5 years ahead of most predictions.  While there are plenty of reasons to question the validity of the unexpected news, it should still serve as a wake up call for a country whose economy has been the world`s largest since 1872.

First the bad news:

The US is on the brink of losing its status as the world’s largest economy, and is likely to slip behind China this year, sooner than widely anticipated, according to the world’s leading statistical agencies.

The US has been the global leader since overtaking the UK in 1872. Most economists previously thought China would pull ahead in 2019.

But there are reasons to doubt the veracity of the numbers. Firsty, the calculation has changed - the goal posts have moved;

After extensive research on the prices of goods and services, the ICP concluded that money goes further in poorer countries than it previously thought, prompting it to increase the relative size of emerging market economies.

The estimates of the real cost of living, known as purchasing power parity or PPPs, are recognised as the best way to compare the size of economies rather than using volatile exchange rates, which rarely reflect the true cost of goods and services: on this measure the IMF put US GDP in 2012 at $16.2tn, and China’s at $8.2tn.

In 2005, the ICP thought China’s economy was less than half the size of the US, accounting for only 43 per cent of America’s total. Because of the new methodology – and the fact that China’s economy has grown much more quickly – the research placed China’s GDP at 87 per cent of the US in 2011.

Dumbing down the numbers by using PPP as a medium doesn`t really reflect the true picture. It`s like saying their economy is bigger because stuff is cheaper there. It does incorporate the idea of wealth vs. money which I applaud, but comparing a middle class or poorer class person in China to a middle class or poorer class person in America is not apples to apples. Poverty in the U.S. is not the same as abject poverty in China. That`s where PPP falls apart as a comparative when it comes to GDP.

But there are other reasons to doubt the strength of the Chinese economy.  For example, China very well could be misreporting its GDP numbers. It could be experiencing it`s own economic bubble.  China  still suffers from infrastructure problems and a communist leadership.  They benefit from a preferred trading partner status and lower than acceptable wages to which internal pressures must eventually force a stop.  And of course they benefit from an exchange rate that is unsustainable.

Nonetheless, the U.S. economy is not where it should be.  Growth is anemic, and it should be robust.  Current trends holding true, China will overtake the U.S. economy.  The United States, in particular its leadership, should not be managing the decline of American preeminence, it should be fostering continued economic might and innovation.  It should be protecting American economic might while fostering capitalism abroad.  The two goals are not mutually exclusive and do not represent a zero sum game.  Both can be accomplished simultaneously.  Not to be overlooked is the prospect of the United Stats becoming an energy exporter rather than an importer.  Increasing domestic energy production would create exports, jobs and boost the GDP of the U.S.

Unfortunately, while the present administration focuses on solar panels and income inequality, the boat is full of leaks that need to be patched.  The usual suspects need to be addressed - business and personal taxation, inappropriate incentives for businesses to outsource or offshore, individual freedom to create, the burden of intrusive government regulation and lack of support for small business are some examples.  Germany, it should be noted, has no minimum wage yet the exploitation of employees is no worse than in overly socialist France.  The progressivist tropes in America have taken everyone's eyes of the economic ball. For now.  Perhaps the reality of China overtaking the U.S. in terms of economic might, will shame America into action.