Qatar just gave Donald Trump a $400 million plane. Uh, what? 💸 | Chris C...

The Air Force One in the Reagan Library was replaced by Boeing for $1. Nothing about this is news. Dive deeper. Also, the Foreign Gifts and Decorations Act is a system by which all officials can accept foreign gifts and surrender them to the United States. The press pool would also love to ride in this plane - as well as staff.

About the tax cuts...

I read the Tax Policy Center summary on the tax cuts. The ones we really hated on the left are actually permanent (the business cuts that made firing people a good business decision). None of what is expiring is particularly weighted toward the wealthy. Tax reform is needed to get a unified rate for business income tax (unless it is abolished and replaced with a subtraction VAT), pass through tax, dividend, interest and capital gains taxes (which should be an Asset VAT).

The tariffs, when fully analyzed, could be done sanely. Simply match the VAT rate of countries that zero rated their VAT at export. Then we are on an even keel. While a higher rate for China and Vietnam sound like social justice for Chinese workers - none of the proceeds would do them any good - it would just bring pain to American consumers.

Ideally, Chinese workers would have the same standard of living as American workers - whether supply chain or American subsidiary. A tariff may help American workers - but that should not be the only goal. I suspect that any number we have on Chinese GDP - even with PPP adjustments - is wrong because the data in China is bad - both on output and population. Most serious analysts say that, pre-COVID, the number of people was more like 800M, and that COVID may have killed half their population. Remember, people were given 24 hours to leave Wuhan (taking COVID with them) before the city was sealed off. In northern China, the number of dead were ten times what is normal during the pandemic. Xi may have wanted a trade embargo to clean up the mess while saving face. In the end, their rate should be 13% - unless we impose a higher rate until their workers have standards of living equal to our own - a provision which automatically gives workers an even shake.

The DOGE and immigration provisions that are so obnoxious and crypto-fascist are all being overturned by the judicial system. The Heritage Foundation can no longer be considered a serious think tank, given how badly their work on Project 25 failed.

That leaves Ukraine. Trump backed the wrong horse. Hegshead's pro-Russia actions are traitorous, but Russia is no longer much of a threat. The fact that Putin is now making noises that he wants to settle means he is losing. Let him. Pete should be fired, but his, Gabbard's and Trump's affection for Putin is no more damaging that Jill Stein's. 

It looks like we will survive as a nation - given the help of the Court system to overturn the worst instincts of Steven Miller and Elon Musk. 

It is almost time to start bipartisan talks on dealing with the tax cuts, as long as both sides deal in good faith. Again, even though it is outside what is required, a 26% tax on business returns is as reasonable a compromise now as it was when I suggested it in 2017.

We can even compromise on abortion. Allow abortion until a child can be delivered and then, from that point until 26 weeks, allow and encourage fetal hospice - including in Catholic hospitals. No one has a right to not be born or to expect extraordinary measures when they are.

Doing these things will destroy fundraising. I suspect that many who voted for the President would not think that this would be a bad thing.

So, if anyone wants to share this video with Fox News....

The United Kingdom, After America || Peter Zeihan

Given the new trade (framework) with the U.S., for me this is 20-20 hindsight.

There is only one way the US and Canada can mix their fortunes. First, the US needs to regionalize, with a VP and House and Senate caucus for each region (with each region getting 3 votes - one from each of these - as a new electoral college). Regions would have same number of EVs and could bloc vote by either compact or amendment - although the latter is needed to let caucuses cast votes rather than it being winner take all. This would end the ability for someone like Trump to be elected.

Crossing the northern border could be done in two ways. Provinces could request statehood OR we could rejoin a newly drafted commonwealth - one that has Canada, Australia, the US, UK and Ireland as members - with a Windsor monarch but the kind of regions outlined above. The Ireland, Wales and Scotland would form a region, England would be another, Australia (maybe with NZ) another and 7 from North America. They would select a head of government as above with an Electoral College of 30, with 16 required to elect. If worse comes to worse, the Crown could break ties.

Many Thoughts About The New Pope

Leo won't back track from Francis on blessing gay unions or those who married without an annulment. On the prior, he was "in the room." He was also a registered Republican from 2012 to 2016. Who he voted on in the 2016 primary can be guessed. 

He cannot be "woke" because his mother was a person of color - as they say in Louisiana where she is from. This is likely why he lived on the south side of Chicago. The city was segregated then and has not changed much since. I would assume he has no room for White Supremacy, since he isn't what they would consider White. Indeed, if someone is a Republican who likes Leo, they are, by definition, woke.

Michael Watkins: You can’t afford to be a dinosaur | Big Think+

Jung identified four cognitive functions: thinking (reasoning to make decisions) feeling (decisions on values), intuition (group agreement on concepts or values - and creativity) and sensory (individual perception). AI needs to have at least three of these working together, with thinking doing non-creative fact checking, feeling is a reaction to sensory information and seeks authenticity - deliberate bias where norms can be programmed - but must be able to change based on both individual sensory information and group intuition/creativity, sensory is easy for external input - but it is blind to personal sensation other than diagnostics, while intuition is where generative AI comes in. 

These functions exist in combination - and also include internal and external foci.

 For example, thinking/creating is a group activity with organized and specialized knowledge. When one of these functions is extraverted, the other is introverted. For example, intuitive thinking (deep dive into problems) is paired in humans with external intuition - contributing creativity to the larger system. It can also have a broad base of knowledge for the purpose of imposing a plan (rather than offering solutions).  Knowing a lot and offering a lot of options is socially inconvenient - and is the problem with current generative AI. Internal analysis for internal aggrandizement is Skynet.

Thinking can also be paired with sensing. For example, seeking reasons and storing the information (in order to offer options to clients or other machines), or seeking sensory input from the outside to take a deep dive in solving problems (and then coming up with a single answer).

Individual feeling is based on morality - and is paired with extraverted sensing - either hedonistically or by drawing from a range of data points in order to provide a single answer to the group based on a broad set of facts. External feeling is reading the room and is paired introverted sensing - recording group values in memory (and using these to solve problems with focus).

Sixteen profiles are based on having one ability be strong and its ability week, with the other two balancing and the prime function being either internal or external.

The beauty of machines is that you can have all four functions balanced, so there can be two basic functional sets depending on whether senses are for external use to yield on answer for the group or storage of data to provide a variety of options.

Did you know Pope Leo XIV has roots in New Orleans?

Our first Creole pope. This shows why he was born on the South side. In other words, he knew the sting of racism as a child.

We have a Pope!

There are American bishops who were not made cardinals or archbishops by Francis who were waiting for Francis to die and be replaced by a pope that would vindicate them. They are the ones who did not want to give Biden Communion.  Their hopes have now been dashed. Blessed be God!

Regarding union with Canada - God Save the King

If the United States were to divide into regions, I can definitely see how BC would join Oregon, Washington and Idaho to form Cascadia, Yukon, Alaska, the northern territories, other western provinces and Montana, Wyoming, Minnesota and the Dakotas could be a First Nations territory - with Greenland as a part. Ontario could join with Wisconsin, Michigan and Ohio, with New England, Quebec and the Maritime provinces joining as well.

There is only one condition to make this happen. Membership in the British Commonwealth. Then, each region could have a PM, rather than a regional vice president, Scotland, Ireland and Wales and England would each be regions in the empire - with each regional PM electing a unified head of government whose name could never be Trump.

We could even make Harry the governor general - or the King! Anytime Trump bloviates about making Canada the 51st state, throw joining the Commonwealth in his face. Bullies need to be put in their place.

China’s population is just a fraction of 1.4 billion

This is very scary, if true. Maybe the trade embargo is a cover story. I have seen such schemes before. Does anyone have the straight dope on this? Anyone been to China lately?

The REAL Reason Americans Feel So Poor (even when they aren’t)

WAGES are incremented for inflation on an equal percentage basis for median workers, but not at all for minimum wage workers and their immediate supervisors. Prices increase by the inflation rate at the 90th percentile - the median DOLLAR. THAT is why we are worse off, both comparatively and absolutely - although overseas workers are even worse off, as you say, so that most people get cheaper stuff - with these costs driven down accordingly on lower quality goods and imported foods.

Trump's goal (and those of his voters) are to upend the global neoliberal regime. A feature, not a flaw. Tariffs based on comparative GDP help American workers (but not consumers or business owners), although those tariffs should, in part, be used for human capital improvement projects in our overseas supply chain. I do not expect that from Trump.

The real question is comparative power, not comparative well being (which is a distraction from the former - see Marx on commodity fetishism). 

Justice Barrett SHOCK Recusal BACKFIRES on MAGA?!?

Espinoza v Montana is the ruling precedent. I doubt that the school you mentioned will use funds to do catechism.  The reality is that the Blaine Amendments that are falling one after the other were the result of anti-Catholicism. It is bias against Catholics and deserved to fall. The reason anti-Catholicism is a thing now is because these schools don't won't let in unions because of their support of legal abortion.   

Supporting the history of anti-Catholicism is not a good look for your channel. You are siding with protestant bigots. They preached Protestantism is public schools - part of which was stopping the funding of parish schools. You are siding with the Know-Nothings. Again, not a good look.

Espinoza will remain ruling law - this case is just extending that decision. The Court is hearing this because states have not complied with Espinoza. The Supremes will keep going until states get the hint that Know-Nothing Protestantism is bigotry.

Every school that can get regional accreditation should be funded (save for their religious education activities). In DC, there are already Catholic Charter schools - or rather, former parish schools that are now chartered to serve neighborhood kids. 

The reason there is a home school movement is because schools that teach "creation science" cannot be accredited. That is the correct filter.  There are not enough Wiccans or Satanists to have schools. Regardless, Satanism is a form of deprogramming, not the actual worship of the devil. Satanists don't actually believe a devil exists.

The key fact in this analysis has to be the anti-immigrant, anti-Catholic origins of the Blaine Amendments that are still on the books, including in Oklahoma, even after Espinoza - which overturned Montana's Blaine Amendment and its prohibition on public funding of scholarships for students in Catholic schools. As the name suggests, Latino students.

The Blaine Amendments are part of the America First movement that gave us Trumpism. Which side are you on?  And yes, Hebrew Schools should get education funding. They do good work. My wife's cousin's kids went there in Maryland and got great educations. David could afford the tuition with no problem, but not all Jewish kids are rich.

The reason for the separation of church and state rulings was because public schools started out as hegemonically protestant. Kudos to the Jewish and Atheist parents using the ACLU to break that monopoly - but funding high quality schools with a parish sponsor - most often run by a parental school board - not the clergy - is no danger to "religious freedom." The context and history are important.

Want a Ukraine Deal to stop the fighting? NATO membership

When the war was about to begin, I sent President Biden a message that the way to stop Russian aggression was NATO membership in exchange for disputed land. This is still true. Indeed, once Ukraine is in NATO, it will have to stop fighting because it is doctrine not to invade Russia. Zalensky's best move is to fight to gain back land until membership is achieved. Especially because he is outlasting Russia (whose nukes have no hope of working). 

The only reason for the doctrine to not invade Russia is that, if NATO takes it, NATO has to fix it. No, thank you. Their security services will either resist or we will have to protect them from the public at large. We lose either way.

White Shirt Video - More on Tariffs

Over the past few weeks, I have been writing about the tax aspects of tariff policy - how because we do not have a Value Added Tax, we need either a generalized tariff based on the amount of VAT that is zero rated by exporting countries or a specific tariff to match the rates our trading partners have. Germany has a 13% VAT, so we need a 13% tariff to establish equivalency.

To make VAT, Carbon taxes and tariffs available, as well as life in general, we need a subtraction VAT on employers which they can offset by paying $700 or so per child or non-working parent per month - or more (whatever amount they pay to Social Security dependents - with wages or on top of any basic benefits paid by government (from UI to a potential long term UI that is no fault and would replace disability insurance and would be equal 75% of full-time minimum wage work -which also needs to be raised to $13/hour).

There is another reason to do tariffs. It is because standards of living vary for workers from country to country. In many cases, comparative advantage is really comparative slavery. This gives us a hint as to why we have a trade surplus with Europe. Their standard of living for workers is better than ours - much better if you include social benefits. They give us Euros to get stuff made by our workers.

In a cooperative economy, employee-owned firms would pay all workers the same wage in terms of standard living, even if they take a loss on the transfer price. This is probably illegal now, because it trades worker justice for fiduciary gain.

The tariff, therefore, must provide overseas workers and suppliers with the same standard of living overall - as productivity differences between goods should even out. If they do not, the tariff must fill in the gap.

This type of adjustment is what Donald Trump is unconsciously attempting, although if he thought it through, he would see it as socialist (because it is socialist - or at least anti-capitalist. This type of tariff adjustment is the ultimate cure for the neo-liberalism that populists hate. 

Let's do it - and if we don't do it, we should at least calculate and publish the difference between standards of living of workers in similar jobs and how that calculation interfaces with both tariffs and currency prices.

White T Shirt Video - Food Insecurity

First of all, food stamps and social security benefits are too low. Indeed, if you get the latter, you likely need the former. Even then, it's not enough. I need a secondary source of credit - an Amazon store card - to have access to Whole Foods when the money runs out (at almost 30% interest - hello trap). Safeway does not even have store credit - just discounts. Note to Albertsons - you need to provide this service.

Second, aside from increasing benefits, stores could - through either discount cards or store cards - provide an extra subsidy to those of us who use SNAP (and Toilet Paper should be payable with stamps). These would be funded by private contributions from other shoppers and as part of the general charitable work of the company.

Of course, there is a moral hazard - not so much that people are less likely to work (of course they are), but that the government will take advantage of the existence of private charity to cut benefits. Conservatives are worse freeloaders than poor people.

The other moral hazard is the perpetuation of racism. Food deserts go hand in hand with historic discrimination in housing (redlining) and because in some neighborhoods, teenage boys really do rob people - whether out of economic or social needs (gang membership). White kids do burglary, not robbery and all sell drugs if they use them - more often the White ones. Solving the food desert problem needs to go hand in hand with giving extra funds to poor shoppers. Note that this will also decrease theft for economic reasons (although entitled White kids with issues still shoplift).

Now that we know how to do more - it is now up to the food chains to actually do more.

Steve Kornacki: Pope will be chosen by secret vote. Here's what we know.

The next pope, if Malachy is to be believed, will be Peter the Roman (since Francis was a substitute for Benedict - the Glory of the Olive). We have 3 in the top tier. Spooky.

Montgomery County Schools Parental Rights Case

I am no fan of large school systems when school based parent-teacher boards may be better at these decisions.

We need to teach more civics - but not in a way that people who find it hard shy away from voting - because sometimes they fight back. It is why we have Trumpism and calls for parental rights.

Rights and power are two different things. When the powerful demand rights, something is going wrong. This leads to dangerous moral attitudes, like original sin, vengeful gods and honor killings.

There is no need to worry about educating young kids, but in middle school (which I would have be from grades 5 through 7 - with high school 8 - 10 followed by associates degree and vocational programs) and after, tolerance needs to be taught - regardless of parental opinions. Why do teachers want to go there?

Because kids who are rejected by moralistic parents or bullied at school sometimes kill themselves. It is the most likely cause of death for this age group. Parents may or may not face this - or have their friends face this. A teacher at this level is almost assured of exposure to such circumstances. 

They need to be given the power to care and have that seen as a good thing.

Gulf of America - It's for Real

I looked up the Trump order (really a memo) on the Gulf of America naming (I would prefer the Gulf of Louisiana because it is the major water source), and all the correct agencies and legal authorities were referenced.

For those that don't know, the U.S. Board on Geographic Names is now the point of contact on this. It will take time to coordinate, but it will happen - unless someone cares to stop it. The people who do this work have an annual conference. This year it is in August in Golden Colorado. Here are the links to both:

https://www.usgs.gov/us-board-on-geographic-names/geographic-names-faqs

https://cogna50usa.org/