53 thoughts on “News/Politics 4-10-25

  1. It’s always beneficial to bargain so that someone does not lose face. Otherwise, they can act even against their own interests to save face. That includes the leaders of countries.

    I can’t help but wonder what Chuck Colson would think about the US sending anyone to those horrible sounding prisons.

    Compassion is important, whether in dealing with crime issues or money issues. Justice also must be upheld as well as safety for citizens, which is a main job of government. How sad we let these people into our country in the first place!

    As far as those close to retirement, they do not need to take all their money out of their 401Ks or other retirement accounts immediately. It is never pleasant to see such accounts lose money, but it is a reality of the market.

    What a job to consider all the ramifications of your actions when you are in a position of power in a city, state or nation! What a reminder to pray for those in office.

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  2. Kathaleena, I think of Colson, too. He had the courage, following his conversion, to “see” politics in a new light. His book “Born Again” is still worth reading, perhaps especially now.

    Some of this is starting to feel similar to the Nixon years.

    Those closer to retirement are concerned because their accounts could crash and not have time to recover. No, they’re not taking it “all” our (many rules prevent that frankly). But, again, this market drop was different in that it was self-inflicted by an American president. Trump may have thought it worth a shot to try — and I’m glad he “blinked” and pulled back — but as things were spiraling they caused some legitimate concerns among some of our fellow Americans, especially considering why it happened.

    • dj

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  3. A good read.

    https://x.com/DougBillings/status/1910358532949512378?t=W123dwr-sVfyGY-EI_ExLg&s=19

    “A long post, but worth the read. Here is my assessment why China will lose against the U.S. and why Trump’s tariffs will bring Xi to the negotiating table:The U.S. holds several economic advantages over China that could contribute to a favorable outcome in the ongoing trade and tariff disputes as of April 10, 2025. These advantages stem from differences in economic structure, market dynamics, and strategic leverage, though the situation remains complex and evolving.

    First, the U.S. has a larger and more diversified economy. With a GDP significantly higher than China’s—estimated at around $28 trillion for the U.S. versus $18 trillion for China in nominal terms—the U.S. has a broader base of domestic consumption and production to cushion against trade disruptions. The U.S. is less reliant on exports overall, with exports accounting for about 11% of its GDP, compared to roughly 20% for China.

    This lower dependence means tariffs have a less severe impact on the U.S. economy as a whole, giving it greater resilience in a prolonged trade conflict.

    Second, the U.S. is a critical market for Chinese exports, providing significant leverage. China sends approximately $440 billion in goods annually to the U.S., representing about 16% of its total exports.

    In contrast, U.S. exports to China are around $150 billion, or roughly 7% of total U.S. exports. This asymmetry means China has more to lose if trade flows are disrupted. The U.S. can impose high tariffs—currently averaging 125% on Chinese goods following recent escalations—knowing that China’s retaliatory tariffs, now at 84% on U.S. goods, hit a smaller volume of trade and thus have a less pronounced effect on the U.S. economy.”

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  4. Correct!

    https://x.com/AuronMacintyre/status/1910347347449495684?t=OddObvEomP2vNz1ujNgXqQ&s=19

    “The critical reveal of Covid was not that the experts were wrong about the disease, but that their entrenched ideology and interests allowed that one failure to cascade into every aspect of society

    Experts are in charge of every aspect of our society and only listen to other experts, so one failure in the chain at the medical level causes a failure at the political, economic, and even spiritual level (check out the number it did on the church)”

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  5. Re cheap (for some, simply affordable for many others) goods – From a conservative (Christian) writer:

    ~ I feel a degree of moral kinship with critics of free markets on the left and the right. I share many of their cultural values and cultural concerns.

    I do not, however, share their belief that the government should limit my economic opportunities for my own good. ~

    • dj

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  6. ” … Deriding cheap goods is a luxury belief. Standards of living don’t just rise when wages increase. They also rise when prices decrease. A working-class American now possesses goods that would be completely out of reach if they were manufactured in American factories paying American wages.”

    • dj

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  7. Quality of goods from China. I do not think I have ever been disappointed by the quality of goods received. They seem to do what I want how I want. Having known a number of Chinese people and seen their work ethic and interest in gizmos, not surprised. I am hesitant to buy from China as I do not know the treatment of the worker producing the product.

    That is true of many countries but I am fairly confident manufacturers here are not sweat shops.

    mumsee

    Liked by 1 person

  8. iPhones will soon be out of the range for most of us. And many other goods.

    And our longshore workers (and so many others whose jobs are tied to the big ports in our neck of the woods) will sure feel the employment hit in the very near future …

    • dj

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  9. “Welcome my son

    Welcome to the machine

    Where have you been?

    It’s all right, we know where you’ve been”

    https://x.com/realchrisrufo/status/1910366763591913574?t=Vvoxv0wsfHkkj3EkSv7cFQ&s=19

    “EXCLUSIVE: @DaveReaboi and I do a deep dive into the strategy behind the Tesla Takedown. Left-wing networks are using a sophisticated “diversity of tactics” approach to mobilize their protest network and inspire decentralized acts of violence.

    Here’s how:”

    —-

    https://x.com/davereaboi/status/1910374274721886530?t=WiyWJ5qt7tWVhW-sN4Fi1w&s=19

    “Folks on the intellectual Right have spent a lot of time over the last few decades trying to understand the intellectual Left, because it was something they could wrap their heads around.

    But almost no effort has been put into serious, systematic study of the Left’s methods of organizing, with the tactics and strategies they’ve spent 100 years refining and perfecting. “

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  10. From Tangle today:

    ~ … I am a political moderate. My political ideology is drawn from a wide range of thinkers across the classical liberal, progressive, conservative, and Trumpist ideologies. I like some of what Trump does. I do not like some of what Trump does. I am not a sycophant. I am not a hater. So I want to be as clear as I can: Criticizing the absurdity of the last week is absolutely essential for anyone who values intellectual honesty. We should plainly and repeatedly call out the stupidity we’ve seen unfold over the past several days with clarity and consistency. Doing this does not make you a partisan hack. It does not mean you have Trump Derangement Syndrome. In the insanity of this information cesspool we all live in, it has been a very embarrassing, contradictory, nonsensical, and unproductive week for the Trump administration. We should all be able to call that out without fear of criticism or accusations of partisanship — otherwise, this great big wild nation might completely and utterly lose its collective mind.

    I think, maybe, nothing was accomplished? What deal did we make? What did we win? …

    • dj

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  11. (cont’d):

    Things are still not great! The market rallied yesterday, but that did not make up the ground from the major sell-off that preceded it. Any middle-class American with a stock portfolio or 401k has probably seen something in the ballpark of a 10% shave off their investments over the last week or two for no good reason. We also know, from a rare moment of clarity from the administration provided by Scott Bessent, that one key objective of high tariffs was bringing down the yield on Treasury notes. Instead, yields kept climbing until Trump paused the tariffs.  

    So they got the opposite result they had hoped for, and we still can’t expect Treasury yields or the Federal Reserve’s interest rate to come down. We still have massive tariffs on China, Mexico and Canada, and a flat tariff for the rest of the world, which are likely to stymie growth and increase prices in the coming months. Also, these “reciprocal” tariffs aren’t gone but paused for 90 days, a pause Trump can undo at any moment, which creates a great deal of uncertainty. Small businesses are still scrambling amid the volatility, l some manufacturers have already canceled huge contracts, and who’s to say whether they can trust the future and come back to the U.S.?

    Are we all comfortable with one person having this kind of power? Does Congress have any interest in wresting its constitutional power of the purse back from the executive? I’m really asking. Some random X account with “Bloomberg” in its name moved trillions of dollars of market wealth earlier this week with an inaccurate tweet that Trump was going to back off the tariffs. Then, when Trump actually did post a tweet backing off the tariffs, the market absolutely exploded. How comfortable are you with any one person with an iPhone being able to impact the economy this way?  …

    https://www.readtangle.com/trump-reverses-pauses-tariffs/?ref=tangle-newsletter

    • dj

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    1. I am glad no one else has ordered shoddy products made in China. I am more than happy for you. I have had quite a few, but also have had some high quality things, too.

      I have never owned an iPhone. I don’t buy the China made products as much as I used to. I just don’t want to waste my time and money on them. I did buy some bear claw back scratchers made in China at Christmas and they do look cute and work well. They are a simple gadget. It is the more precision things that are lacking from what I have seen.

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    2. Debra they are expensive. And they’re soon to be even (way) more expensive. As are many other smart photos and pieces of technology we use in the US.

      Just saying …

      • dj

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    3. And, ps, most of us buy older-model iPhones, the prices drop once new versions come out — waiting 2-3 versions is the trick many of us have learned. It still works — for now.

      Of course, there are also the shoes, clothing, small appliances, computers, TVs, we all purchase …

      • dj

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    4. It’s great to see this “far right” administration act with sensible policies that greatly benefit American citizens.

      “Wisdom is enshrined in the hearts of men of common sense, but it must shout loudly before fools will hear it.” Prov. 14:33

      Liked by 1 person

    5. And Amazon customer reviews are always helpful (necessary really) when considering buying something online, whether from China or Mexico or Vietnam or the US.

      • dj

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    6. Ty, we (all of us) need to always be careful of our own political viewpoints clouding what is actually going on around us.

      • dj

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    7. I don’t see a lot of that going on here often on most days. It’s pretty one-sided …

      I think we all need to see and consider other sides of issues as well (I just see that very rarely here, some of us have somewhat abandoned this particular thread on most days as a result).

      None of us is immune to seeing things through our own lenses without hearing other views. When we do that, we will indeed fall into “foolish” territory.

      • dj

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    8. “The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny.” — James Madison

      I would (humbly) modify that somewhat — it doesn’t “have” to become or end up as tyranny — but the danger is clearly there.

      • dj

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    9. I am old enough to have listened to, and in some cases believed, the arguments for why we should produce elsewhere–China in particular. What I see now are mostly regurgitated versions of the same.

      Liked by 1 person

    10. Tyranny?? If the Senate is ready to put on their big boy pants and take on all their constitutuonal responsibilities, I’m all for it. But they better be ready to take on ALL their responsibilities, or they’ll be outting themselves as unserious political subversives just trying to put a roadblock in front of the President for their own ends.

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    11. Well, the bad news Debra is many android phones also are made in China.

      Including those from Samsung, Xiaomi, Huawei, all manufactured in China …

      Mobile phones account for largest category of goods manufactured in China and sold in the U.S.

      • dj

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    12. For now, Trump has had to back off seeing all the fallout … We’ll see if it lasts. He changes his mind on a dime.

      The market dove back down again today.

      • dj

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    13. We might have to start being whole people again. What if we were not constantly demeaned as “consumer”? What if companies and organizations had to think of us again as people? Isn’t “person” closer to the concept of “image bearer” than a mere consumer?

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    14. Leftists know all they need to do is plant a word, an idea and so many will latch on… tyrant=trump!

      If cell phones are a major import from China it is high time we get with it and develop them here! I doubt we will steal their technology though…China is well known to steal from others.,

      A wonderful artist in NC made wrought iron trays, candle holders, trivets etc and she showed her wares at the merchants show in Atlanta every year. My friend purchased them wholesale to sell at the shoppe. Well one year they showed up in a trade catalog “made in China” cheap and cheaply made. They copied/stole her design. We see it all the time. And that artist…she closed her shoppe🥲nj

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    15. But mumsee, is there really “a plan?”

      I rather doubt it … seems like flying by the seat of … well, you know the rest.

      We’re all just kind of trying to keep up.

      Market closed low again. We’re very possibly in for a quite a ride (both in the economy, inflation – and the polling numbers).

      • dj

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    16. Debra @4:51. lol

      Well, it’ll certainly shake up our politics for the next election and perhaps beyond for a while again — but that probably won’t be to the far-right’s liking.

      Me, I’m in the middle just shaking my head at all of this. …

      It’s why I’ve always cautioned – always keep politicians, even the ones you may like, at an arm’s length. Otherwise, you (inevitably at some point) wind up trying to defend the indefensible.

      • dj

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    17. Dj, I know that is the concern of those with retirement funds. However, just because the market goes down now, does not mean it will never go back up or recover. If you are only taking out so much a month (or if you can afford to let it sit) it usually will go up at some point. Nothing is guaranteed, of course. It never was. We all hate to see it fall.

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    18. Re: 12:08. In actuality, many of us do care quite a bit about that matter. I see the concern every year, especially with the “spring forward” time change.

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    19. My point is that at this point it is not something to panic about. If people have been investing for all their work lives, (we didn’t have that opportunity until the end of my husband’s work, but most do) then the money they have in their accounts is far above what they invested.

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    20. My theory is you invest a small amount. When it doubles, you take the initial investment out and keep investing the play money. No way you can get mad with ups and downs if you are not counting on it.

      mumsee

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    21. Yes, in our lifetimes the stock market has always eventually gone back up. However, many people lost just about everything in the Great Depression, and there were a lot of suicides. There is no guarantee, and stocks can become worthless overnight. Market volatility, and unpredictability, is bad for a lot of businesses.

      And I’d love to see daylight savings time eliminated. That too is actually a life-and-death issue for some–they say death rates go up at both time changes every year, and it’s a pointless exercise. We didn’t have daylight savings time in Arizona (except one year, accidentally, according to my parents) and no one ever expressed a wish for it, that I ever heard.

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