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Listening to a tariff call with Dr. David Kelly, chief global strategist, with JP Morgan. 
 

In nice terms he explained the process of how they calculated the tariff rates for each individual country was idiotic. 

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12 minutes ago, Gourmand said:

They were forced out of that location years ago iirc and relocated to Burnet just south of the Allandale HEB.

last I went by there it's still empty. not sure if they're waiting to redevelop or what

 

2 minutes ago, Firemans4Horn said:

Listening to a tariff call with Dr. David Kelly, chief global strategist, with JP Morgan. 
 

In nice terms he explained the process of how they calculated the tariff rates for each individual country was idiotic. 

to me this is still couched language. these people only know plain language. start saying shit "dangerously idiotic" or "massively moronic" or "fucking stupid". they're not going to respond to anything else

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Maybe stop using nice terms. We need rich people explaining how fucking stupid these guys are. All the fucking rubes idolize rich people. 

Just now, Huckleberry said:

Maybe stop using nice terms. We need rich people explaining how fucking stupid these guys are. All the fucking rubes idolize rich people. 

seth meyers wtf GIF by Late Night with Seth Meyers

3 hours ago, Captainant said:

Ya know, I think I'm finally coming to understand why you tolerate so many trolls on surly. You think it's mutually exclusive to be either an idiot, or to be a cruel and awful person. There tends to be a lot of overlap in that venn diagram, home skillet

I don't, I think being incredibly stupid often coincides with having opinions that are extremely short sighted, myopic and self centered because stupid people aren't able to see beyond their immediate sphere of view or thought. Some people think this is cruelty, but really it's just stupidity. Being stupid doesn't make you a good or bad person, but stupid people do more bad shit because they legitimately do not know any better or understand the results of their actions. 

An evil genius wanting to eradicate people looks like Kissinger. There are people who have systemically and using incredible strategy done evil things, these are not those people. 

 

today might be a good day to remind everyone the Boston Tea Party was in response to tariffs. good times.

1 hour ago, 'stache said:

Is it seriously the policy now that the US exports to Cambodia should equal imports from Cambodia? Is the US supposed to start making cheap t-shirts at slave wages instead of just buying them from overseas? Is the republican party now against free trade? I seriously cannot comprehend the party from top to bottom just going along with this after decades of being full blown proponents of globalization. 

Um.  Look.  Republicans have always had only 2 coherent strategies beyond each voting cycle.  The first one was to stay in power and rig the system to their advantage and the other was to enrich the rich to an oligarchic status.   Beyond that everything else was flexible.  

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1 hour ago, Doc Sam Beckett said:

It's important to remember, in this situation, that unions built the middle class, and now we hate them. 

 

THIS GUY KNEW

American folk musician Woody Guthrie with an anti-fascist message on his guitar

11 minutes ago, Longhorn_Fan68 said:

last I went by there it's still empty. not sure if they're waiting to redevelop or what

 

to me this is still couched language. these people only know plain language. start saying shit "dangerously idiotic" or "massively moronic" or "fucking stupid". they're not going to respond to anything else

I did just get out of a partners meeting that had a few old-school Reagan types, and when the question of whether we should hire more associates in one of the groups came up, one of them shouted “We better not! We’re about to tip into a recession because of these fucking, god-damn moronic tariffs!” Everyone in the room then laughed and nodded along.

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1 hour ago, Doc Sam Beckett said:

It's important to remember, in this situation, that unions built the middle class, and now we hate them. 

Just another reason why Ronald Reagan is arguably the worst president in American history.

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Just now, David Dennison said:

Just another reason why Ronald Reagan is arguably the worst president in American history.

Oh, that title is 100% taken now.

9 minutes ago, immamac said:

I don't, I think being incredibly stupid often coincides with having opinions that are extremely short sighted, myopic and self centered because stupid people aren't able to see beyond their immediate sphere of view or thought. Some people think this is cruelty, but really it's just stupidity. Being stupid doesn't make you a good or bad person, but stupid people do more bad shit because they legitimately do not know any better or understand the results of their actions. 

giphy.gif

16 minutes ago, Huckleberry said:

Maybe stop using nice terms. We need rich people explaining how fucking stupid these guys are. All the fucking rubes idolize rich people. 

In times like these it's good to remember the iconic tale about the value of honesty from one of our great founding fathers and first President of this once-great nation....

Per biographer Mason Locke Weems, via the New York Times circa 1806:

"I cannot tell a falsehood, I did cut it with my hatchet."

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3 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

The dollar is taking a big shit, too.  Yesterday, I could buy a GBP for $1.29, today it's $1.31 and climbing.

My kid came home from Spain last week with around 200 Euros. I haven't had a chance to get them converted back to USD, but now I'm thinking we should hold onto them and it can be our new retirement plan. Well that and the two dozen eggs we have in the fridge.

Was looking at buying this shirt last night Screenshot_20250403_140002.thumb.jpg.2e36e3519ff7095031368f42dad11b06.jpg

22 minutes ago, Al Bundy's Napoleon Hand said:

Toy Joy is on 2nd Street where Liberty Lunch used to be.

yep, four locations. downtown, Allandale, Thinkery, and Bergrstrom IA

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This unvarnished take/news alert just popped up on my screen:
 
8a7d8b810f6d79a4932e3a0b2ab7ce9b.jpg

Some gem quotes from the article:

Quote
IF YOU failed to spot America being “looted, pillaged, raped and plundered by nations near and far” or it being cruelly denied a “turn to prosper”, then congratulations: you have a firmer grip on reality than the president of the United States. It’s hard to know which is more unsettling: that the leader of the free world could spout complete drivel about its most successful and admired economy. Or the fact that on April 2nd, spurred on by his delusions, Donald Trump announced the biggest break in America’s trade policy in over a century—and committed the most profound, harmful and unnecessary economic error in the modern era.

Almost everything Mr Trump said this week—on history, economics and the technicalities of trade—was utterly deluded. His reading of history is upside down. He has long glorified the high-tariff, low-income-tax era of the late-19th century. In fact, the best scholarship shows that tariffs impeded the economy back then. He has now added the bizarre claim that lifting tariffs caused the Depression of the 1930s and that the Smoot-Hawley tariffs were too late to rescue the situation. The reality is that tariffs made the Depression much worse, just as they will harm all economies today.

On economics Mr Trump’s assertions are flat-out nonsense. The president says tariffs are needed to close America’s trade deficit, which he sees as a transfer of wealth to foreigners. Yet as any of the president’s economists could have told him, this overall deficit arises because Americans choose to save less than their country invests—and, crucially, this long-running reality has not stopped its economy from outpacing the rest of the G7 for over three decades. There is no reason why his extra tariffs should eliminate the deficit. Insisting on balanced trade with every trading partner individually is bonkers—like suggesting that Texas would be richer if it insisted on balanced trade with each of the other 49 states, or asking a company to ensure that each of its suppliers is also a customer.

And Mr Trump’s grasp of the technicalities was pathetic. He suggested that the new tariffs were based on an assessment of a country’s tariffs against America, plus currency manipulation and other supposed distortions, such as value-added tax. But it looks as if officials set the tariffs using a formula that takes America’s bilateral trade deficit as a share of goods imported from each country and halves it—which is almost as random as taxing you on the number of vowels in your name.

This catalogue of foolishness will bring needless harm to America. Consumers will pay more and have less choice. Raising the price of parts for America’s manufacturers while relieving them of the discipline of foreign competition will make them flabby. As stockmarket futures tumbled, shares in Nike, which has factories in Vietnam (tariff: 46%) fell by 7%. Does Mr Trump really think Americans would be better off if only they sewed their own running shoes?

Governments should focus on increasing trade flows among themselves, especially in the services that power the 21st-century economy. With a share of final demand for imports of only 15%, America does not dominate global trade the way it does global finance or military spending. Even if it halted imports entirely, on current trends 100 of its trading partners would have recovered all their lost exports within just five years, calculates Global Trade Alert, a think-tank. The eu, the 12 members of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), South Korea and small open economies like Norway account for 34% of global demand for imports.

"Profound, harmful, and unnecessary."  "Deluded." "Flat-out nonsense."  "Pathetic."  "Catalogue of foolishness."


THAT is how you journalism.


But also look at the last paragraph, which is more matter-of-fact.  It offers the rather obvious strategy for every other player in the game: start playing the game by treating the US as a relatively minor player (which, on a global scale, it is).  Within 5 years, the rest of the world can undo the damage done to THEM, and be well on their way to a prosperity that really doesn't depend on the US at all.  What Lord Dumbass doesn't realize is that another way for the other parties to deal with the new "trade balance" where Trump wants a big F you to all of them, we will buy ZERO from you....is for them to buy ZERO from us.
We are not going to see increases of US exports to "make things even" with the (former) level of imports from other countries.  Instead, as his policies result in lowering imports from other countries, we will reach a new balance (a low one) because we will also see drastically lower EXPORTS to those countries.  Bottom line, to the extent that elements of our economy are driven by selling things to other countries....be prepared for that to dry the fuck up.


Like a kid on the playground who screams and hollers and smears shit everywhere if he doesn't get his way, the best and most obvious path forward for the other kids is to just go play without us.  Sure, we sneer and say "but we have the best toys, and now you can't play with them."  The other kids shrug, gather up the toys they do have, and leave us the fuck behind.  Because we're a little fucking spoiled asshole, and literally everyone else on the playground will be better off to leave us to stew in our own shit rather than have to deal with us any longer.

Edited by Brisketexan

1 minute ago, Horn Under a Bad Sign said:

If only Trump had seen Ferris Bueller this whole thing could have been avoided!

 

 

 

I'd give my left nut for national leadership as wise and measured as Simone:

sddefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCIAFEOAD8quKqQ

1 minute ago, Brisketexan said:

I'd give my left nut for national leadership as wise and measured as Simone:

sddefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCIAFEOAD8quKqQ

Except Swanson is a magat.

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1 minute ago, Brisketexan said:

I'd give my left nut for national leadership as wise and measured as Simone:

I mean, the chain of information security from 31 Flavors to Simone can't be any worse than this administration.

Just now, Brisketexan said:

I'd give my left nut for national leadership as wise and measured as Simone:

sddefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCIAFEOAD8quKqQ

No you wouldn't - not if she ended up like Kristy ...

GScs_r3W0AAP9Ee?format=jpg&name=900x900

(And fuck Ben Stein too.)

 

10 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

I'd give my left nut for national leadership as wise and measured as Simone:

sddefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCIAFEOAD8quKqQ

trump-hiss.gif

7 minutes ago, Huckleberry said:

Except Swanson is a magat.

Yes, the actress is.  But not the character of Simone.  Simone is pure, she is the perfect well-meaning vacuous 80s bimbo.  I believe in characters, man.  Envelope yourself in the mystery of movie magic, amigos.  Next thing you know, you're gonna tell me that Matthew Broderick isn't REALLY as cool as Ferris.  Fucking buzzkills, all of ya!

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Gamers (and those of us with kids who are gamers) who are aware of yesterday's Nintendo Switch 2 console unveiling ($449) will understand

 

Screenshot2025-04-03153401.png.99a6d84c0029223a5d5520b5092f2765.png

23 minutes ago, Ted Lange said:

 

 

But some cunt in Kentucky thinks it’s funny when Donnie trolls Canada.

59 minutes ago, Firemans4Horn said:

 

that-scene-in-a-beautiful-mind-read-the-

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This is what happens when you stupid country ass idiots vote for a brilliant businessman who bankrupted a casino where they print money.  I mean, literally all a casino has to do is be open 24 hours a day and be near human beings.  And this fatass chunk of shit couldn't keep that going.  And y'all voted for him.  For the stock market.  For the economy.  You stupid god damned fools.

 

2 hours ago, Francisco 2.0 said:

 

 

The amazing thing here is that for elasticity they basically wrote “this would ordinarily be  2, maybe 3, but we are just gonna go with 4.” 

SIAP. There's a possibility that he used ChatGPT to determine his tariffs strategy. Makes sense since the dipshit admininistration including an island inhabited by penguins on the list.

https://www.latintimes.com/trump-accused-using-chatgpt-create-tariff-plan-after-ai-leads-users-same-formula-so-ai-579899

The theory was first floated by Destiny, a popular political commentator. He accused the administration of using ChatGPT to calculate the tariffs the U.S. is charged by other countries, "which is why the tariffs make absolutely no fucking sense."

"They're simply dividing the trade deficit we have with a country with our imports from that country, or using 10%, whichever is greater," Destiny, who goes by @TheOmniLiberal on X, shared in a post on Wednesday.

He attached a screenshot of his exchange with the AI bot. He started by asking ChatGPT, "What would be an easy way to calculate the tariffs that should be imposed on other countries so that the US is on even-playing fields when it comes to trade deficit? Set minimum at 10%."

"To calculate tariffs that help level the playing field in terms of trade deficits (with a minimum tariff of 10%), you can use a proportional tariff formula based on the trade deficit with each country. The idea is to impose higher tariffs on countries with which the U.S. has larger trade deficits, thus incentivizing more balanced trade," the bot responded, along with a formula to use.

John Aravosis, an influencer with a background in law and journalism, shared a TikTok video that then outlined how each tariff was calculated; by essentially taking the U.S. trade deficit with the country divided by the total imports from that country to the U.S.

https://surlyx.com/TheOmniLiberal/status/1907556054868578341

I saw an incredulous Rachel Maddow whining last night about how the wealthy (attorneys, etc.) are bending to kiss the ring.  "How could they do that?  They have plenty of money!"

They have money they can lose.  The rank and file has no money, these policies (while damaging to them) are too difficult to comprehend.  I expected more from her.  The wealthy are always the first to line up and bow to the king.

"Sure, I'm driving this goddamn train off a cliff. But you have to trust me. There will be some suffering in the short term but there will be a bigly pay off in the end."
 

---- train conductor who has already driven multiple trains off a cliff   

3 hours ago, David Dennison said:

Just another reason why Ronald Reagan is arguably the worst president in American history.

Every year I am alive, I get closer to agreeing with you.  Just a no fun having, missed out on the fun part of the 60s, racist, cynical asshole 

3 hours ago, HornOnTheBayou said:

My kid came home from Spain last week with around 200 Euros. 

Your kid does not party.

New business model 

Step 1. Go to Japan 

Step 2. Buy Nintendo Switch 2s 

Step 3. Smuggle them in my ass back into the U.S. 

Step 4. Profit.

My kid came home from Spain last week with around 200 Euros. I haven't had a chance to get them converted back to USD, but now I'm thinking we should hold onto them and it can be our new retirement plan. Well that and the two dozen eggs we have in the fridge.
How much you want for them eggs?
2 minutes ago, Not a Sock said:

New business model 

Step 1. Go to Japan 

Step 2. Buy Nintendo Switch 2s 

Step 3. Smuggle them in my ass back into the U.S. 

Step 4. Profit.

Your going to turn your asshole into a pink sock doing that, then your handle is going to be less accurate.

6 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

The dollar is taking a big shit, too.  Yesterday, I could buy a GBP for $1.29, today it's $1.31 and climbing.

Aw come on. As if you could do anything with a British pound. What ya gonna do, put on your Peeky Blinders flat cap, slide in all subtle into The Crown and Anchor, say "Ey oop Govnah" and give em the knowing wink that means you'll have a pint of the old Minkspunk Royal Stout? As if they have time for your play-acting? How do you even think up these bizarre scenarios, you twisted freak?

13 minutes ago, RDCanecutter said:

Aw come on. As if you could do anything with a British pound. What ya gonna do, put on your Peeky Blinders flat cap, slide in all subtle into The Crown and Anchor, say "Ey oop Govnah" and give em the knowing wink that means you'll have a pint of the old Minkspunk Royal Stout? As if they have time for your play-acting? How do you even think up these bizarre scenarios, you twisted freak?

GET OUT OF MY HEAD!

36 minutes ago, Not a Sock said:

New business model 

Step 1. Go to Japan 

Step 2. Buy Nintendo Switch 2s 

Step 3. Smuggle them in my ass back into the U.S. 

Step 4. Profit.

Are you only selling to people who speak Japanese?  It said they were region locked, so I'm assuming they only play games designed for Japan.

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4 hours ago, Hank Kingsley said:

giphy.gif

 

IMG_3064.jpeg

13 minutes ago, DixonHur said:

Are you only selling to people who speak Japanese?  It said they were region locked, so I'm assuming they only play games designed for Japan.

Was at an art/book/whatever show and one vendor there was reselling Japanese snacks with flavors only found in Japan for a crazy markup, like 20 bucks for a bag of chips.

I have no doubt that there is someone who would pay what you ask for a Japanese thingamabob.

18 minutes ago, DixonHur said:

Are you only selling to people who speak Japanese?  It said they were region locked, so I'm assuming they only play games designed for Japan.

Buddy are you not aware of the crazy markup on Japanese items being resold in the U.S.? 

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