More Linky Links

More tuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- A simple policy to reduce food prices. Repeal the biofuel requirements. They make no sense. If you want ethanol allow sugar cane stalks from Brazil instead of wasting good edible corn. (HT Cultural Offering)

- The reality underlying Mexico. He's not wrong but as President Bukele of El Salvador has shown there is a way.

- From the archives: The application of knowledge is hard work.

- Drones change everything about combined arms combat.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- 26 useful concepts for 2026. Couple of months old but new to me.

- Gravitational time dilation. Not going to lie - both time and relativity give me mental fits.

- 7 big steps to foil organizational ambushes.

- Mexican army kills cartel leader. Is it bad I want these reports to become as common as the drug boat bombings were? 

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Sam Altman on Productivity. Good advice but remember it's not a one size fits all.

- Was it a shock that most of the fraud came from California, New York, and Massachusetts?

- About that Mexico-US treaty. Is this a negotiation tool by Trump to get Mexico to agree to drones to monitor the water (that also search for armed cartel members).

- Excellent look at some of the strategy and history behind the Trump Tariffs.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Jackie Gleeson's UFO house (as mentioned in the Joe Rogan podcast).

- Tulsi Gabbard's opening statement in her confirmation hearing. She is taking no prisoners. If you vote "No" on her - you are in fact voting in favor of one of the things she just listed.

- VDH on Mexico: Friend, Enemy, or Something Else? I'd also support anyone found smuggling fentanyl to be charged with attempted murder and shipped to Guantanamo Bay. 

- Cyan Bannister on Optimism and Pessimism. She went from homeless to a billionaire so it would be wise to listen to her.

Linky Links

 Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Government is a primary reason NYC's economy is a mess. Let's not forget that woke politicians like AOC also helped chase away 21,000 jobs Amazon was going to bring to the Bronx. 

- Mark Zuckerberg warned his staff about unknown dangers about mRNA vaccines. Remember these social media moguls also don't let their own kids use their platforms because they know how bad they are for kids.

- A sitting President, an incoming President, and two future Presidents. And the last inauguration where people wore top hats.

- Mexico's great pyramid of Cholula.

GM's $1 Billion EV Investment in Mexico

GM is investing $1 billion in a new Chevy Blazer EV plant in Mexico - not the United States. GM can do what they like but to me this is wrong. That investment should be made in the US for US jobs.

I agree with UAW Vice President Terry Dittes:

"At a a time when General Motors is asking for significant investment by the U.S. government in subsidizing electric vehicles, this is a slap in the face not only for UAW members and their families but also for U.S. taxpayers and the American workforce."

Tesla has shown that EV's can be made in the US. I hope the Tesla Cybertruck sales wipe the floor with the Chevy Blazer EV. And I'm sure it will.

Cortes and Mexico

On the 500th anniversary of the Spanish conquest of Mexico, people from Mexico's smallest state Tlaxcala say their ancestors were liberators.

Some historians are revisiting "the accusation of treachery, arguing that Tlaxcalans and other city states were in fact fighting a war of liberation against the oppressive Mexica (as the Aztecs were known)." Interesting history. 

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Can we stop describing something as a "War on" (Drugs, Terror, etc.) or describing something as an "Apocalypse"  (remember the recent Bee Apocalypse?). Things described thusly always seem misguided or flat out wrong... In the Seven Years War, for every man who died in battle for England, an incredible 87 died of disease. If only General Fauci had been there and ordered them to wear masks!... Who had Mexico emerging as the voice of reason?... People tend to forget that India is a nuclear power and Beijing is well within range of New Delhi's missiles... It's been a year - wonder how Jeremy Roenick's lawsuit against NBC for wrongful termination is progressing?...  North Carolina also has a voice of reason... Analysis true: "It started out as a virus and mutated into an IQ test"...  

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Think one of the major reasons the interest in the Grammys was so low (TV ratings half of what they were last year) is because nobody has seen any live music for over 12-months now. It is the concerts and seeing performances in person that drives interest in albums and artists. That was completely missing this year... Night Soil would be a hilarious name for a cover band that was intentionally bad. Very few would get the joke... No doubt in my mind whatsoever that the virus originated in the Wuhan Institute of Virology... Correct me if I'm wrong but we still don't know the name of the Disney Executive who fired Gina Carano yet do we? Cowardice... UAW says Ford will move new production line out of Ohio and to Mexico instead. This will be interesting to watch. If Ford reverses course then it will be claimed as a victory for the Biden Administration. If the move to Mexico happens - the media will somehow try to blame Trump...  

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- How does your brain respond when you hold your breath?

- Largest armies in the world 1816-2020

- China: Submit or suffer. China doesn't know how to be a "friend." Only a bully.

- Heh Heh

- Life Lessons

- Mexico's President still refuses to acknowledge Biden's "win"

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Army Ranger School is a laboratory of human endurance. Long read but well worth it. This aside jumped out at me, "'That's why I carry a gun. The average human is only three missed meals away from becoming a savage.'"

- Apple likely planning 2020 iPhone SE assembly in Brazil. But if it is still being assembled by Foxconn it is really decoupling?

- The Short, Violent Oil War of 2020.  Article is just a week old and may already be in need of an update. Just as an aside I think the US, Mexico and Canada should ban any imports of oil or natural gas as a way to insulate our economies from such future gamesmanship.

- Nixon Opened China. It's Time to Close It. Won't quibble over the historical reasons Nixon opened China but I do agree with this statement 100%, "It took decades to truly open China and it will take years to close them back off. But we should start now."

- Richard Branson's heart seems to be in the right place. (And the cynic in me acknowledges that Branson's PR instincts have always been strong.)

- "Cartels are scrambling:" Virus snarls global drug trade. Even the drug kingpins are looking to decouple from China.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Net Neutrality defeated at Federal level but court says States free to act on their own.

- Where does Mexico get its guns? Interesting Fox News article seems to give a plausible justification for the Obama Administration's Operation Fast and Furious but also suggesting the border wall could stem the tide of illegal immigrants coming to the US AND illegal guns into Mexico.

- I did not know this.

- Speaking of exercise - How to work out like Tom Brady

- Good question - why hasn't the FDA made Naloxone available over the counter as a measure to help fight the damage cause by fentanyl?

- It's been 2-years since the passing of Tom Petty. Rolling Stone put together a list of what they consider his top 50 songs to mark the anniversary.

- Journal Nature retracts ocean-warming study. Because of bad math. On a related note - Michael Crichton was a very smart man.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Interesting long read on what drives Marvel's movie blockbuster machine from Harvard Business Review

- Never thought of it that way

- Apple weighs 15-30% capacity shift out of China amid trade war. Apple is not alone in looking to possibly make changes on relying on China based production.

- Heh Heh (Lakers joke)

- The idea that the shooting of David Ortiz was a case of mistaken identity is more than a little fishy to me

- This was a nice story. Alex Trebek is a North American treasure.

- Mexico becomes first country to ratify the new USMCA trade deal.

Greenland

Greenland is 2,166,086 sq km in area (making it slightly bigger than three times the size of Texas). But when you look at many maps or globes - Greenland appears to be bigger than Australia which is in fact more than 3.5 times larger than Greenland.

Greenland is just slightly bigger than Mexico (but with a slightly different climate).

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- A 92-year old woman has been buried in Nebraska with full British military honors for a secret she held for decades - her role as a German code breaker during WWII. Such a great story.

- Heh heh - the fireworks were the climax of the evening

- How great that this exists - James Brown, Michael Jackson and Prince all on the same stage

- US-Mexico trade deal could be released Friday.

- Heh Heh

- Ha - awesome!

- And what about Canada and NAFTA?

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Why Saudi Arabia would want to invest in Elon Musk and Tesla

- The official announcement of the PawSox coming to Worcester. And what the new ballpark will look like.

- Trump Administration could be nearing a new NAFTA deal with Mexico

- Mysterious X-37B military space plane nears one-year in orbit. Do we already have a Space Force?

- Interesting interview with Tao of Poker founder Pauly McGuire. (Long read)

- So Colin Kaepernick turned down a chance to play for the Broncos. Anyone who feels sorry for Kaepernick is a sap.

- Things that make you say WTF!?!?

The G7 and NAFTA

Pardon me while I speculate.

I find it hard to believe that President Trump doesn't know that economically tariffs are bad and protectionist policies are worse. But I think we can all agree that Donald Trump is a man of tremendous ego and nothing probably bothers him more than the idea of someone (or some nation) getting the better of him in a deal. America has gotten itself into a series of one sided deals over the decades and Donald Trump sees himself as the man who can fix this. I believe all of the above to be true.

Donald Trump is using tariffs as his cudgel to fix our trade deal with Canada. He will divide and conquer Canada with tariffs first on steel and aluminum then next on car imports to the US from Canada. A lot of "car jobs" flowed not just south to Mexico after the passage of NAFTA but also north to Canada. Those jobs left the US (the target market) because of lower labor costs but if the saving in labor were negated by import tariffs then GM and others would all have to rethink the utility of manufacturing in Canada (or Mexico),

Justin Trudeau has an election in a year's time and I think Trump is betting Trudeau will not sacrifice the Canadian economy (and Trudeau's election possibilities) in order to protect dairy farmers in Quebec.

Most people probably thought that with the passage of NAFTA there was true free trade between the US, Canada and Mexico. But that's not the case. Canada still protects some of their industries - most notably dairy and lumber - making those markets all but closed to US producers. With NAFTA expired I think Trump will offer Trudeau a deal of true free trade between the US and Canada without any tariffs or protections on any products. If he doesn't sign the deal then Canada gets tariffs instead with the hard to argue point of what's good for the goose is good for the gander and if there's one people who get geese metaphors...

A true free trade agreement between the US and Canada is a win-win-win-win situation. Most of Canada will see the price of their dairy products drop substantially and no longer have to worry about losing their jobs in an uncertain economy. This will help Trudeau (or whoever replaces Trudeau if he waits too long to act or if Canadians are put off by eye-browgate). Dairy farmers in the Midwest will all profit from all the new customers north of the border. And this will help Trump in his 2020 re-election campaign.

That leaves Mexico who it should be pointed out is not a G7 nation. I think NAFTA is dead and that the US will end up signing a separate deal with Canada. I fear that Mexico may be the next Venezuela if they move too far left in the next elections.

And remember how Trump promised Mexico would end up paying for the wall? That's what the tariffs are for.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

If (and when) Donald Trump loses this election - it would be cool if he and his wife did a re-make of Green Acres. It would be a perfect fit!... David Ortiz is just one of four players in baseball history to have 500+ home runs and three World Series rings. The others are Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, and Reggie Jackson... College football announcers who say "true freshman" should also be forced to say "true sophomore", "true junior" and "true senior" as well... RIP Marine... Metabolic Cascades of Dysfunction would be a good name for a fantasy football team. It's also a fancy way to say "concussions"... If Hillary Clinton were a Harry Potter character there's no doubt that she'd be Dolores Umbridge... Just a reminder - house centipedes are your friends... Would like to see Shia LeBeouf get a role in the next Star Wars movie as just some random guy who gets killed in first few minutes of the movie... Did Money Monster really already come and go from movie theaters? Is George Clooney still considered a movie star?... Sangria Law would be a great name for a bar that had bacon as a staple bar snack... Sam Bradford reached his perihelion under Chip Kelley (just wanted to use that word)... Growing up we were all told that the big danger from Mexico was killer bees. Now it's taco trucks on every corner? I call that progress!...

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Awesome time-lapse video of the sky and clouds over a volcanic island.

- Is Joseph Gordon-Levitt going to be the "new" Batman? Cool.

- Fireman Ed is a joke. The Jets should replace him with Lindsey Lohan.

- The Onion names Kim Jong Eun Sexiest Man Alive and China's propaganda organ believes them!

- If each state in the US waged war against each other state - who would win?

- Comparing the murder rates in Mexican states versus various countries.

- Combining two of my favorite things - science and beer: Niels Bohr was given a lifetime supply of beer after winning the Nobel Prize.