There is much debate over the negative effects of massive trade deficits, and what the best strategy for correcting them might be, but it’s hard to deny the U.S. trade deficit with China is staggering in scale … and it got that way after just a few decades of old-school “free trade” orthodoxy.
Raul Amoros of HowMuch.net puts the issue in perspective:
The start couldn’t be more balanced: in 1985, the U.S. exported $3.9 billion to China, and imported goods and services for the exact same amount. But by 2015, there was a staggering imbalance, to China’s advantage, of $365.7 billion – an all-time record, not just for U.S.-China trade, but for any bilateral trade, ever.
It’s not that U.S. exports to China haven’t increased. They have, and by a lot. America exported an impressive $116.2 billion into China last year, 30 times more than in 1985. That makes China the U.S.’s third-biggest export market, nearly twice as important as Japan ($62.5 billion), in fourth place. But that’s still a lot less than U.S. exports to Canada ($280.3 billion) or Mexico ($236.4 billion). Meanwhile, Chinese exports to the U.S. have exploded. In 2015, China exported $481.9 billion to the U.S. – an amazing 123 times more than in 1985.
Amoros illustrated this with an animated GIF that shows billion-dollar blocks building into towers of trade for the U.S. and China. The American side of the graph rolls in and out like the tide a few times, while the Chinese tower climbs relentlessly upward to four times the American size. (Read more from “30 Years of ‘Free Trade’ Brings 400% Trade Deficit With China” HERE)
00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2016-03-31 01:37:352016-04-11 10:50:5630 Years of ‘Free Trade’ Brings 400% Trade Deficit With China
Donald Trump sparked a firestorm on Wednesday when he said women should be punished for getting illegal abortions.
“There has to be some form of punishment,” the GOP presidential front-runner told MSNBC’s Chris Matthews during a combative interview.
Matthews had asked Trump whether he would seek to ban abortion and how he would enforce such a policy.
“The answer is that there has to be some form of punishment,” Trump said in the interview taped for a town hall forum airing later Wednesday . . .
Asked what a ban on abortion would entail, Trump said: “Well you know you’ll go back to a position like they had, where people will perhaps go to illegal places, but you have to ban it.” (Read more from “This Is What Trump Suggests Should Happen to Women Who Get Illegal Abortions” HERE)
00kathleenhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngkathleen2016-03-31 01:37:172016-04-11 10:50:56This Is What Trump Suggests Should Happen to Women Who Get Illegal Abortions
Insurance premiums could rise after scientists teamed up with the insurance industry to create an algorithm which will predict when customers will die.
The University of East Anglia is launching a four year study using huge databases of medical data to determine life expectancy and long-term illness.
The four-year project is being funded by a £800,000 grant from the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA) and is using experts from insurance giant Aviva.
“People around the world are living longer,” said lead researcher Prof Elena Kulinskaya from UEA’s School of Computing Sciences.
“We want to develop software tools that use Big Data routinely collected by healthcare providers to forecast longevity. (Read more from “Scientists and Insurers Develop ‘Death Clock’ to Predict When Customers Will Die” HERE)
00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2016-03-31 01:36:542016-04-11 10:50:56Scientists and Insurers Develop ‘Death Clock’ to Predict When Customers Will Die
Columnist and Fox News contributor Kirsten Powers threw cold water this weekend on speculation that Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump was the source for a National Equirer report accusing Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, of having multiple affairs.
When the story broke Friday, Cruz blamed Trump, who is friends with David Pecker, CEO of American Media, the company that publishes the Enquirer. Cruz has denied the allegations. Powers discussed the story’s origins over the weekend.
“The Daily Beast reported that it was shopped around by two — reporters by somebody who was a pro-Rubio person,” she said.
“I also happen to know that one of the people who was shopping the story around very aggressively was somebody who was completely anti-Trump, and was anti-Cruz also … but who was not a person who in anyway was supportive of Trump,” Powers added.
The Daily Beast had reported that, “A half-dozen GOP operatives and media figures tell that Cruz’s opponents have been pushing charges of adultery for at least six months now—and that allies of former GOP presidential hopeful Marco Rubio were involved in spreading the smears.” It reported that Breitbart News was shown some video, but declined to pursue the story on the grounds that the video was inconclusive . . .
“I knew nothing about it, I know nothing about it, ,” [Trump] said Monday on Fox and Friends. “I have no idea whether or not it’s true, but it’s likely he should try and blame me because he’s losing by a lot. I mean, I have many, many more delegates than him. I have millions of more votes than him in the primary. He’s losing by a lot, so he’s not going to blame Rubio, because Rubio’s out.” (Read more from “Fox News Guest Reveals Origin of Cruz Sex Scandal Story” HERE)
00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2016-03-30 00:49:482016-04-11 10:50:56Fox News Guest Reveals Origin of Cruz Sex Scandal Story [+video]
With the increasing propaganda wars, we thought a reminder of just how naive many Westerners are when it comes to their news-feed. As Arjun Walia, of GlobalResearch.ca, notes, Dr. Ulfkotte went on public television stating that he was forced to publish the works of intelligence agents under his own name, also adding that noncompliance with these orders would result in him losing his job.
He recently made an appearance on RT news to share these facts:
I’ve been a journalist for about 25 years, and I was educated to lie, to betray, and not to tell the truth to the public.
But seeing right now within the last months how the German and American media tries to bring war to the people in Europe, to bring war to Russia — this is a point of no return and I’m going to stand up and say it is not right what I have done in the past, to manipulate people, to make propaganda against Russia, and it is not right what my colleagues do and have done in the past because they are bribed to betray the people, not only in Germany, all over Europe.
(Editor’s note: Keep in mind, “RT News” is a Russian-government influenced – some say “controlled” – news network.)
It’s important to keep in mind that Dr. Ulfkotte is not the only person making these claims; multiple reporters have done the same and this kind of truthfulness is something the world needs more of.
(Read more from “Top Journalist Admits Mainstream Media Is Completely Fake: ‘We All Lie for the CIA'” HERE)
00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2016-03-30 00:49:172016-04-11 10:50:56Top Journalist Admits Mainstream Media Is Completely Fake: ‘We All Lie for the CIA’ [+video]
The FBI on Tuesday continued to investigate an incident in which 17 men were detained for reportedly firing off hundreds of rounds in a remote part of Apple Valley.
San Bernardino County Sheriff’s deputies and an FBI agent responded to the scene Sunday morning and detained the men – reportedly all of Middle Eastern descent – who were camping out in the Deep Creek Hot Springs area Sunday morning, authorities said.
Feds & local law enforcement investigating after 17 men, reportedly Middle Eastern, fired 100s of rounds in Apple Valley. @KNX1070
A 911 caller reported hearing over 100 shots fired and seeing five to seven men wearing turbans and shooting “assault rifles, handguns, and shotguns,” according to a Sheriff’s Department statement…
Police scanner traffic posted online by the Victor Valley News Group described “a large group of subjects wearing turbans and chanting” at the scene.
“They were up all night chanting ‘Allah akbar’-type stuff,” an unidentified officer is heard saying on the audio recording. (Read more from “FBI Investigating Reports of 17 Men Chanting, Firing off Shots in California” HERE)
00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2016-03-30 00:48:472016-04-11 10:50:57FBI Investigating Reports of 17 Men Chanting, Firing off Shots in California
It may be a matter of some interest to you that the American left is now openly declaring its intention to shutdown your church and outlaw your religious expression entirely. If you’ve been paying attention, you won’t be terribly shocked by this revelation. They plan to come after the churches. That’s what they’ve always wanted, and now they intend to do it.
The hysterical reaction to Georgia’s religious liberty bill can be interpreted no other way. Gov. Nathan Deal has now decided — just one day after Easter, no less — to veto the bill because the outrage was so severe, and because he has the resiliency and backbone of a dead slug melting in the sun. In his statement explaining his decision, Deal insisted that religious liberty doesn’t include the right to “discriminate against anyone.” He took a steadfast and courageous posture, declaring that he refuses to be intimidated by “insults and threats” from pastors, nuns, and his local baptist church. On the other hand, for gay groups and large progressive corporations, he will fall to his knees in trembling submission and polish their boots after they finish kicking him repeatedly in the ribs.
On a day when we hear reports of a Catholic priest being literally crucified by Islamic State because he refused to abandon his faith, perhaps we might hope Christians in this country could at least withstand mean insults and online petitions. But we’ve learned not to expect anything — not even one minuscule, microscopic shred of bravery — from Christians like Deal. They will surrender every time, without fail.
And that’s not to downplay the pressure he faced. It was substantial, though not enough to justify his shameful capitulation. Hollywood was leading the charge, with heavy hitters like Disney, Time Warner, Starz, The Weinstein Company, AMC, Viacom, Marvel, CBS, MGM, NBC and other companies threatening to boycott if the bill passed. (Read more from “Pay Attention, Christians. They’re Coming After the Churches Now.” HERE)
Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Mike Lee of Utah are accusing the Justice Department of pursuing “frivolous prosecutions” against the pro-life movement and having, according to the senators’ offices, “what appears to be an exceptionally heavy bias” in favor of abortion clinics over houses of worship in a letter sent to U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch Tuesday.
The letter concerns the Justice Department’s enforcement of the 1994 Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, a law that prohibits any use or threat of force and physical obstruction outside abortion clinics and places of religious worship. The law, however, does not criminalize peaceful protests or other First Amendment-protected activities outside abortion facilities or places of worship.
In the letter, obtained by The Daily Signal, the Republican senators write:
The [Justice Department’s] brazen pursuit (and subsequent online promotion) of—at best—frivolous prosecutions in the abortion context, combined with its failure to list any prosecutions or enforcement activities in the religious worship context, gives the distinct impression of a warped and biased enforcement of FACE by the [Justice Department].
Cruz and Lee reference the Civil Rights Division’s web page, which cites “more than 15 FACE actions in more than a dozen states” that the Justice Department has filed. The website also notes “ongoing investigations in other states,” along with “several FACE cases and settlement agreements concerning abortion clinic workers or abortion facilities.”
“Interestingly, it does not list a single case concerning the freedom of religious exercise at houses of worship,” Cruz and Lee write.
To further investigate the alleged double standard, Cruz and Lee are demanding that Lynch hand over a broad range of documents pertaining to the FACE Act dating back to January 2009.
For example, the senators requested that the Justice Department “identify the number of matters the [Justice Department] has investigated, looked into, or reviewed concerning potential FACE enforcement” with regard to access to both abortion facilities and houses of worship.
They are also seeking information about whether or not the Justice Department coordinated or closely communicated with abortion facilities or houses of worship in any of its investigations. Another request, for example, states:
Identify by date, location, and name of organization, every discussion, conference, or meeting (whether by e-mail, text message, phone, video or in person) between the DOJ and any abortion clinic or facility, abortion provider, parent organization or affiliate, concerning FACE enforcement with regard to access to abortion facilities.
According to the FBI, the U.S. experienced a “dramatic escalation in the number of acts of violence and harassment directed towards reproductive health care providers and clinics” in the mid-1980s. Since the passage of the 1994 FACE Act, “the number of violent crimes committed against reproductive health care providers and facilities has dramatically decreased.”
Most recently, Robert Lewis Dear Jr. was charged for attacking the Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood clinic on Nov. 27, 2015. The attacks left a police officer and two civilians dead.
Hans von Spakovsky, a legal expert at The Heritage Foundation who co-authored a book that discussed cases involving the 1994 FACE Act, said he has “not seen any evidence that there are more problems with violence at abortion clinics than at churches.”
“Look at the church burnings that have occurred in the past two decades,” he said. “The idea that one’s not more important than the other, I think, is not correct. And second, a number of the cases [the Justice Department] has filed have been clearly frivolous and meritless cases.”
Last year, The Daily Signal reported on several black churches in the South that have been affected by serious fires.
In their letter, Cruz and Lee specifically ask Lynch to state whether or not the Justice Department investigated, or will investigate, “the blocking of the entrance to, and interference with the religious exercise of members of the Los Angeles, Calif. house of worship shown in this video, particularly beginning at the 5:08 mark.”
According to the Catholic News Agency, the video depicts “violent assaults from opponents protesting the passage of the ballot proposal [Proposition 8] which rescinded a California Supreme Court decision that imposed same-sex marriage on the state.” The protests reportedly occurred at Mormon temples and Catholic churches.
The senators requested that the Justice Department provide the expected information no later than April 11. (For more from the author of “Sens. Cruz, Lee Accuse Justice Department of Favoring Abortion Clinics Over Churches” please click HERE)
00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2016-03-30 00:47:142016-04-11 10:50:57Sens. Cruz, Lee Accuse Justice Department of Favoring Abortion Clinics Over Churches
Ted Cruz declined to answer a question on Monday about whether he has ever been unfaithful to his wife Heidi.
‘Senator Cruz,’ DailyMail.com asked him, ‘can you please swat down more definitively this National Enquirer piece by telling us on the record that you’ve never been unfaithful to your wife?’
The National Enquirer published a story last Wednesday that speculated about five women with whom the Republican presidential candidate was rumored to have had extramarital affairs . . .
But instead of making a blanket declaration that he has been faithful during the entirety of his 14-year marriage – a move that would effectively end the vicious news cycle – Cruz stood silently as campaign surrogate Carly Fiorina leapt in to intercept the question and change the subject . . .
‘In a week when we have had a terrorist attack in Brussels, a shooting on Capitol Hill, the president of the United States in the baseball stands with Raul Castro, and insisting that he be photographed in front of a portrait of Che Guevara with the two Castro brothers, we are talking about a scurrilous, ridiculous piece in the National Enquirer?’ (Read more from “Ted Cruz Just Dodged a Huge Question About His Marriage… People Aren’t Going to Like This” HERE)
00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2016-03-30 00:46:522016-04-11 10:50:57Ted Cruz Just Dodged a Huge Question About His Marriage… People Aren’t Going to Like This
People have long made fun of me for treating my beagles like humans — feeding them wild salmon, taking them to top-line doctors, getting them ultrasounds and liver meds, buffalo treats and gator meat and letting them sleep in bed. To which I’ve always answered, “It’s my money. Go get a job and earn your own.”
But of course I don’t treat my dogs exactly as if they were human. When Franz Josef got sick with bladder cancer, and the medicine stopped working, I agonized for days, said my goodbyes, then slowly fed him a whole rack of barbecued ribs. I took him to the vet, where I stroked his velvet head as the medicine smoothed his path to dreamless sleep.
That is not how I treated my parents when each of them died of cancer. Instead, I sat with them as they agonized, prayed with them, and brought the priest to help them repent for all their sins. Some would say that Franzi got off easy, that people should be treated as “mercifully” as animals, and “granted” quick, painless deaths. Since cancer strikes everyone in my family, it will surely claim me some day, so I am tempted to agree.
But I can’t, as a Christian, admit that human beings should be treated the same as pets, intentionally killed to spare them needless, useless suffering. Because we know that human suffering isn’t necessarily useless. Jesus’ pains on the cross were not a meaningless tragedy, and if we unite ours with his, they aren’t either. We should diminish them all we can, and accept what is left as the price of human dignity, the tax we pay for sin — our own, or other people’s. It’s a mind-tangling mystery, but it’s better than the alternative.
Here’s the alternative, as described by author Richard Weikart in his powerful new book The Death of Humanity:
The University of Chicago evolutionary biologist Jerry Coyne has stated, “Although it’s seen by nearly everyone as humane — and even moral — to end the life of our terminally ill pets, it’s regarded as murder to make the same decision for ourselves.”
He scoffs at the idea that humans are qualitatively different from, or have greater value than, animals. However, if you read more of Coyne, you find that he embraces many moral stances typical of many American progressives. He would be horrified if I suggested that we round up all the homeless people in a city, sterilize them, imprison them until someone comes to take them home with them, and if no one comes for them, euthanize them. Yet this is how we treat stray dogs.
And it’s how too many Christians, including some of our leaders, are treating Muslim immigrants. We linger over pictures of cute little Arab kids, or carefully posed shots of exotic women in beautiful headscarves — and avert our eyes from angry, self-righteous mobs of military-age men thronging radical mosques in London, Brussels, Paris, Frankfurt. We suppress the obvious questions: “What on earth are those people doing there?” “What reckless fools let them in?” And (most important): “How can we make them go back where they belong?”
Instead, we focus on the brown, puppy eyes of the children, the sad faces of the women, the anecdotes of good, decent Muslims — like the store owner in Glasgow, who said “Happy Easter” to his Christian customers on Facebook. We don’t read the sequel, which reports that this gesture got him stabbed to death by a man from the local mosque.
We want to feel good about ourselves. We want to be congratulated as “tolerant,” “open” and “cosmopolitan.” We don’t want to be labeled, judged, maybe even harassed by our “tolerant” governments. We want to bask in the fuzzy, cozy, pseudo-Christian sentiment that all religions are at root the same, once you bat down the “extremists.”
Now, all dogs are at root basically the same. The behavioral differences between a Basset Hound and a German Short-Haired Pointer are finally superficial. Virtually all dogs, if they’re raised well, if they’re not abused, will respond with warmth and gratitude. It’s the humanitarian heresy that pretends that humans are just like dogs.
Regardless of what they say they believe, of the habits their cultures encourage, of the actual, literal words of the sacred texts of their religion…. We Westerners know better. A radicalized Muslim — that is, one who reads the Koran and takes it at face value — may say that he thinks that Jews are descended from monkeys and pigs. He may even believe that he believes it’s right to stone homosexuals to death, or marry girls at the age of nine, or “kill the unbeliever wherever you find him.”
But surely he doesn’t really think that, the progressive thinking goes. Not really. A few years of Western welfare checks, some shiny community centers paid for by local taxpayers, and a police force that firmly punishes native citizens if they complain about immigration, and just you wait and see! Those “angry” Muslims will be smiling, wagging their little tails and eating right out of your hand.
How fitting that elites in Belgium treat religious people this way, since their country is one of the euthanasia capitals of the world. They see every person as a pet.
I have distilled here the whole theory, in all its sophistication, that underlies Western multiculturalism and “Christian” support for mass immigration into a welfare state. That’s it, folks.
Are there useful things Christians and the West can do for Muslims back in their own troubled countries? Yes indeed. But only if we take them seriously as fellow human beings — which means that when they threaten or denounce us, we stand up and guard against them. (For more from the author of “How Liberal ‘Christian’ Immigration Policies Dehumanize EVERYONE” please click HERE)
