China Trade: We are calling it Phase One and the Chinese media are calling it a pause in the trade war. Both of those work for me. We will see if the 2nd phase yields fruit like, a halt to enforced technology transfer in joint ventures, but the present deal has a couple of important things in it. 1. The 40 billion dollar commitment to agricultural purchases in the US will bolster Trump's political support in flyover country and the red parts of blue states. 2. After 1 January, 2020 there will not be a requirement for US companies setting up subsidiaries in China to have a Chinese partner who holds 51% of the stock in the company. I used to work for a company that had parts of the group in a variety of Persian Gulf states. In all these we were required to have 51% local ownership (mostly princes) and it was a royal pain in the ass as these fellows sometimes wanted to interfere in the business. They were no more knowledgeable of the business than was Biden fils in his business adventures. Not to have that problem would be a great blessing.
Trials in the US Senate We should remember that quite a lot of people have been tried in the senate after impeachment in the House of Representatives. Judges, etc. are subject to this process from time to time. Conviction requires 66% of those senators present. Presumably, senators will be dragged or carried in to make this vote if necessary. The Chief Justice of SCOTUS presides at the trial. Four Democratic senators are running for president in primaries for the purpose of opposing Trump in the general election. As an interested citizen, I think that the majority (McConnell) could appeal to SCOTUS for a ruling as to whether or not these four senators are so compromised by their stated desire for the ejection of the president from office that they are disqualified from voting on the issue of his removal from office. We are on new ground in this matter and my opinion is probably as good as anyone's. If Trump were somehow convicted in the senate, he would immediately be removed from office. There is no appeal possible. A second vote would then be possible but not required as to whether or not Trump should be forever barred from holding any federal government office. Conviction on that issue would require a simple majority of those senators present. Is that important? Yes. If he were not barred from office, he could be nominated at the Republican Convention and run for president in 2020.
California Burning In addition to its transformation into a refuge for illegal immigrants and a camp ground for free defecating vagrants camped on its city streets, California is once again burning in its wooded and brushy parts. Perennial drought brings this on in a largely semi-desert part of the US, BUT, pilgrims, there has also been the effect of decades of effective eco-freak opposition to cutting combustibles back from power line right of ways in order to protect Bambi's habitat. So, when Governor Gavin Newsom says that the electric company (PG&E) CAUSED this through greed and negligence, I call that trash talk.
Shephard Smith got fired So what! This guy has been an unrelenting opponent of Trump forever. The Left has a stranglehold on what is laughably called the Main Stream Media; CNN, MSNBC, NBC, CBS, ABC, The Washington Post, NY Times, etc., ad nauseam. In that context the existence of Fox News as a standard bearer for conservative, i.e., Deplorable values does not seem excessive to me. There are a few more liberal/lefties who are tolerated in Fox News/Fox Business News to provide opposing views for contemplation. Chris Wallace, Juan Williams, Arthel Neville are all names that come to mind as the resident "resistance." Do these people go over the line into unproductive argument? Maybe so. pl
Lars
Not an evangelical preacher? "real estate deals and betrayals." Maybe your mother would punish you for this but these are not impeachable offenses. Ah, I forget the Democrats are going to impeach whether or not it is justified by anything other than their political ambition.
Posted by: turcopolier | 13 October 2019 at 07:38 PM
"In the long term, leaving forests overgrown and prone to unnaturally destructive wildfires means there will be significantly less biomass on the ground, and more greenhouse gases in the atmosphere."
https://www.forbes.com/sites/chuckdevore/2018/07/30/californias-devastating-fires-are-man-caused-but-not-in-the-way-they-tell-us/#3242fe4570af
I don't think climate pattern change is the biggest factor with the wild fires. Nor do I think it is the homeless or someone lower on the totem pole.
Posted by: Terence Gore | 13 October 2019 at 10:07 PM
https://www.iawfonline.org/article/assessing-high-cost-wildfires-in-relation-to-the-natural-distribution-of-ponderosa-pine-in-the-eleven-western-states-2000-2017/
"This assessment found that, from 2000 and 2017, there have been 187 wildfires having reported suppression costs greater than $20 million in the eleven Western states. Most of these incidents cost much more than $20 million to control. In all, the total suppression costs, alone, exceeded $8 billion for these 187 incidents.:::
California had the greatest number of reported high-cost incidents; 97 out of the 187 (52%). Of these 97 incidents, 59 were within Little’s natural range of ponderosa pine (60.82%)."
Posted by: Terence Gore | 13 October 2019 at 10:26 PM
The “eco-hippies” I knew in the forests of Mendocino in the ‘70’s built homes and cleared under growth as specified by best forestry practices to reduce fire and maximize timber production. These were the civilized people I knew. Retired military folks, Easterners and Californians in their 30’s. Smart people. Hard working. This whole condemnation of “eco hippies” to define wildfire ignition is a lazy assed canard by people who should know better. California population has doubled in 50 yrs. That puts more people and more fuel and ignition sources into a bounded geography. I would wager there are more suburban and city idiots of any political stripe causing wildfires than there are “eco-hippies”, ie Americans, in the hills.
Posted by: Lee | 13 October 2019 at 10:30 PM
Maybe the decades of heavy Southern California smog kept the ambient air temperatures lower in LA. LA is now a "climate change" victim of cleaner air if you claim it is now registering higher temperatures ?
Suggestions have been made to shoot sun-blocking particles in to the air as a global cooling attempt. Therefore, smog causing cooler LA ground temperatures therefore is not outside the realm of possibility.
Did the air temperatures of London also rise when they got rid of their "heavy fogs". (dirty coal smoke pollution blocking out the sun)
Posted by: Factotum | 14 October 2019 at 01:11 AM
I doubt any evangelical church would want this old Norse heathen to preach to them, even if they could benefit from it. I am a builder and have been one since about age 5, so I know the essence of building, which is the creative use of tension to override the force of gravity. DJT brags about being one, but I have my doubts. I do think that he is about to realize how strong that gravity can be, even meta formally.
Posted by: Lars | 14 October 2019 at 08:27 AM
Lee,
If only the people of noble diversity were as capable as eco boomer people of the 1970s. Best forest practices have changed quite a bit since then. Humanity hasn't.
Posted by: Fred | 14 October 2019 at 09:13 AM
If Trump had taken the seed capital he borrowed from his father, used it to buy shares in an S&P 500 Index Fund and reinvested most of the proceeds, he would be far richer than he is today.
Posted by: prawnik | 14 October 2019 at 11:40 AM
TINA is always evil if the other side does.
Posted by: charly | 14 October 2019 at 03:34 PM
His charity was an obvious tax scam. I don't think anybody gave money to it who wasn't in on the scam.
Posted by: charly | 14 October 2019 at 06:10 PM
Far left perspective on Trump.
I prefer him over quite a number of alternatives. He is actually quite honest about what he is (an Oligarch essentially). This is preferable to those "leftists" like Obama (zero Banksters imprisoned, thousands of Nazis armed, oh yeah, he "Obamacare" is a wet dream for insurance lobbyists, on top of that his undue love affair with reactionary Islamists add in the number of destroyed countries for mostly no reason).
Now the US fake left tries to impeach him because he was maybe willing to not arm Ukrainian Nazis.
Posted by: A.I.S. | 15 October 2019 at 07:40 PM