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Thursday, April 14. 2022

Thursday morning links

 The Costs and Benefits of Tribalism—A Roundtable


People are better at "reading" tribal members 


Chronicle:  What’s Going On at Yale Law School? A Lot of Drama


 Study Finds Florida Handled COVID Lockdowns Better Than New York And California


 Masking Is Back, and Democrats Will Regret It


 CNN+: A BOMB OF EPIC PROPORTIONS


Bill Maher: Dems are going to get their asses kicked because they've given up on common sense


 Biden's next plan for high fuel prices: Crappy gas


Made of food 


 Finland's official finding: NATO membership would enhance our security


On my nickel 


 This Is the War’s Decisive Moment. The United States and its allies can tip the balance between a costly success and a calamity.

Posted by Bird Dog in Hot News & Misc. Short Subjects at 07:08 | Comments (34) | Trackbacks (0)

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The Finns and Swedes would make a positive contribution to NATO. They have taken their own defense seriously for a long time. That said, I can't help think that all the Eastern European countries would be better to ditch NATO and form their own defensive alliance without Germany, France or the US.
#1 John Fisher on 2022-04-14 08:00 (Reply)
From what I understand, Special Forces are especially good in those countries.

I dislike the type of foreign policy, left or right, that says "Oh, but we shouldn't do anything that would make the Russians mad." In the short run that is usually wise, in the long run usually stupid.
#1.1 Assistant Village Idiot on 2022-04-14 10:33 (Reply)
NATO is not Europe's friend any longer...even the French are beginning to figure that out.
#1.2 indyjonesouthere on 2022-04-14 10:44 (Reply)
'Biden's next plan for high fuel prices: Crappy gas

Made of food'

Food that we might need if things keep going the way they are.
#2 Maniac on 2022-04-14 08:17 (Reply)
...and indirectly, a continuation of the attack on the automobile. E85 gasoline, 15% ethanol, is not only guaranteed to give you crappy mileage and poor power performance, it will actively, irrevocably damage older vehicles that are not built of materials designed to withstand its chemistry. This gasoline attacks aluminum components, for one thing, which make up many intake assemblies (the assemblies that mix gasoline with air for combustion) on older vehicles. Don't use the E85 unless your car is rated for it. Better yet, tell your Congressmen to explain to you why it makes sense to subsidize turning food into fuel at a higher cost.
#2.1 Aggie on 2022-04-14 09:53 (Reply)
If anything the addition of the courageous prime ministers of Finland and Sweden, combined with last year's departure of the craven Angela Merkel, would certainly improve the tenor if not the optics of the NATO head of governments meetings.
#3 Anonymous Mike on 2022-04-14 08:26 (Reply)
Musk made them an offer.
#4 Christopher B on 2022-04-14 08:31 (Reply)
I’m hoping Musk has his way with Twitter. I found the 420 reference, hilarious.
#4.1 B. Hammer on 2022-04-14 10:26 (Reply)
Apparently Brandon is nervous about Musk taking over Twitter.
QUOTE:
Tesla's billionaire CEO was late in filing notice of his purchase of a sizable share of Twitter's stock and initially submitted the wrong form, according to experts. Those potential securities law violations may seem technical, but they've set up yet another clash between the Wall Street regulator and the world's wealthiest man. They also raise questions about how the SEC might hold Musk accountable.

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/04/12/sec-elon-musk-twitter-00024667
#4.1.1 Zachinoff on 2022-04-14 19:28 (Reply)
Is there any part of the federal government, that hasn’t been corrupted by the left? It doesn’t look like it.
#4.1.1.1 B. Hammer on 2022-04-14 21:04 (Reply)
That article by Cohen epitomizes the thinking of the Inside-the-Beltway crowd, and their assumptions about us. The Ukrainians are Heros of the Moment, the Russians are Evil, the Americans inept. So many big, emotional, heroic words on joining the Good Fight. "The Free World Must Stop It! Forward Troops! Into Battle and Glory!". And all that stem-winding without even having to leave his armchair.
#5 Aggie on 2022-04-14 10:04 (Reply)
That article by Cohen epitomizes the thinking of the Inside-the-Beltway crowd, and their assumptions about us. The Ukrainians are Heros of the Moment, the Russians are Evil, the Americans inept.

Yes. Well said.

The value of the article is in the insight it provides for the thinking of those who want us more involved in the war with Ukraine.

It was interesting that while the author considered the possibility of the Russians using chemical weapons, no mention was made of Russia using tactical nukes and what our response to THAT might be.
#5.1 feeblemind on 2022-04-14 10:59 (Reply)
The Atlantic and Cohen both see Russia from the Khrushchev years. Neither Russia nor the US politics is anything close to that era. Zelensky leadership is the result of US political leadership helping oust a legally elected government for one that would do the bidding of the US government. That government has attacked Ukrainians since 2014 with artillery, missiles, and ground troops. To think the Russians would accept NATO membership in Ukraine and more assaults on Ukraine citizens is not rational. The evidence for neutralizing the Ukraine is overwhelming.
#5.2 indyjonesouthere on 2022-04-14 11:00 (Reply)
Thanks for the comments, gave up reading the Cohen/Atlantic piece after "most consequential war of our lifetime", not sure how my Vietnam War vet would feel about that or the Gulf War vet I was talking with yesterday. By the way where are all the peacemakers and dealmakers in this. So far only the Arms makers seem to be talking.
#5.3 grant1863 on 2022-04-14 14:56 (Reply)
I had the same reaction, but I kept reading. Korea and Vietnam were pretty consequential, and Eliot A. Cohen looks old enough to know better. We, sadly, live in a time where their is no historical perspective. Every day is the most consequential of humanity; we are the narcissists that we have been waiting for.
#5.3.1 B. Hammer on 2022-04-14 15:38 (Reply)
The Biden administration, will do just about anything to stem the tide of their disastrous, self inflicted energy crisis, except the very thing that will cure it: domestic crude production. Corn to ethanol has been a bad idea since its inception. Corn is a high water usage crop. I’m no farmer, but I understand that corn sucks the nutrients right out of the soil. Just what we don’t need right now is a crop that needs more fertilizer. One of the biggest producers of fertilizer is involved in a war with Russia.
*emphasis mine.
You’ll need to read all the way to the second to the last paragraph, in The Atlantic piece, to find why America’s Ukraine policy, is as hapless as the domestic energy policy. I was surprised to find the many criticisms of the Obama foreign policies in that article. This sentence pretty much sums it up:
QUOTE:
The Obama administration, many of whose veterans serve in this White House, failed wretchedly when it declared a red line over the use of chemical weapons in Syria and then walked away from it.
#6 B. Hammer on 2022-04-14 10:22 (Reply)
Another fine mess that the neocons have gotten us into.

https://tomluongo.me/2022/04/13/paris-karachi-regime-change-in-the-air/

Or go over to westernrifleshooter.us for today's post.
#6.1 indyjonesouthere on 2022-04-14 12:00 (Reply)
re Biden's next plan for high fuel prices: Crappy gas

And it makes our energy problem worse as it takes more energy to raise the corn and distill the grain than what there is in the product, ethanol.

It's crazy, and always has been.
#7 feeblemind on 2022-04-14 10:35 (Reply)
And along with everything else, it will drive the price of bourbon up. That IS serious!
#7.1 John Fisher on 2022-04-14 12:37 (Reply)
Subway shooter was on FBI watch list. One has to wonder if the FBI could have stopped this if they hadn't diverted so much assets to attacking mothers of school children and framing J6 peaceful protestors. Why do we have an FBI? Is it time to get rid of it?
#8 JustMe on 2022-04-14 10:50 (Reply)
Gov Abbot may have exposed the solution to homelessness. Abbot began bussing illegal invaders to DC. Why not do the same with the homeless?
#9 George on 2022-04-14 11:04 (Reply)
Since the homeless are largely a problem in blue states and cities, a homeless bus caravan to DC is unlikely.
#9.1 John Fisher on 2022-04-14 12:39 (Reply)
"Largely" a problem in blue states but still many cities in red states have the drug/alcohol/ACLU problem of homelessness.
#9.1.1 George on 2022-04-14 16:28 (Reply)
Mark Meadows is in trouble Because he is a Trump supporter, OPPS I mean because he owns a trailer in NC and votes there but the state says he doesn't actually live there. Hmmm! Oregon Senator Ron Wyden has lived in NY for the last ten years, this seems a little more serious than the trumped up charge against Mark Meadows.
#10 OneGuy on 2022-04-14 11:38 (Reply)
"Dems are going to get their asses kicked because they've given up on common sense" But they've perfected voter fraud to a science. We still have Dominion machines, drop boxes, ballot harvesting, and vote by mail. Nothing has changed since 2020.
#11 snopercod on 2022-04-14 12:02 (Reply)
True the Vote needs to set up trail cameras at drop boxes. Make sure that the camera can capture the face of the "voters" and what they have in their hands.
#11.1 Anon on 2022-04-14 14:24 (Reply)
Food blips with be the death of millions. But POS green libs dont care.
#12 Joe B. on 2022-04-14 12:38 (Reply)
BREAKING: Twitter responds to Elon Musk's offer to buy Twitter, take company private

In a nutshell they say they will "review" the proposal.

https://thepostmillennial.com/breaking-twitter-responds-to-elon-musks-offer-to-buy-twitter-take-company-private

question for anyone who knows SEC rules and regs

Elon Musk has bought 9% of Twitter.

If the stock has surged on the offer to buy Twitter outright, could Musk dump his 9% stake at a profit and withdraw his offer to buy the company?

Is that kind of stock price manipulation legal?

I am NOT saying that Musk wants to do this, I am just wondering if he can?
#13 feeblemind on 2022-04-14 14:22 (Reply)
feeblemind: Is that kind of stock price manipulation legal?

Musk isn't manipulating the stock price, the market is.
Musk can legally sell his shares at any time he wishes.
Musk may also withdraw his offer if he so wishes if a deal hasn't been established.

Nothing illegal or underhanded is going on here.
#13.1 Zachinoff on 2022-04-14 15:43 (Reply)
I don't think you can just sell without announcing that you've withdrawn your offer first.

And selling 9% will take time, the markets will adjust to such a sell off before you can make a ton of money.

Pump and dump can work in some instances, but I don't think that's plausible here.
#13.2 DrTorch (Link) on 2022-04-14 18:11 (Reply)
Somehow I doubt that's the strategy of the richest man in the world..

Just answering feeb's hypothetical.
#13.2.1 Zachinoff on 2022-04-14 19:00 (Reply)
feeblemind: Elon Musk has bought 9% of Twitter.

There are a number of regulations which govern tender offers, under the Exchange Act, mostly governing disclosure. First, anyone acquiring more than 5% has to file a Schedule 13D with the SEC. Someone offering to buy a majority of stocks has to file a Schedule TO and notify stockholders. The offer has to be credible, provide accurate information, and has to be open for at least 20 days. The target has to file a Schedule 14D-9 within 10 days providing its position on the tender offer.

The board of directors can implement a number of countermeasures, including poison pill provisions that can be used to stimy the a hostile takeover attempt.
#13.3 Zachriel on 2022-04-15 07:42 (Reply)
Ahhhh, The ATLANTIC!! I gave up on it yearrrrrrrrrs ago.
#14 Sam L. on 2022-04-14 15:00 (Reply)
re Finland's official finding: NATO membership would enhance our security

Finland and Sweden: Reinforcing NATO Northern Flank

Here's the thinking for adding another NATO nation to Russia's border. YMMV

QUOTE:
So, in essence NATO gets ~another Netherlands. More important that that is – as always – geography.

NATO’s northern flank is now more secure – even though we now have a much longer border with Russia. Finland and Sweden will be less subject to bullying. Central and Western Europe – with the exception of those quirky mountain folk in the center, some fussy Balkan bits etc – is more united with most of North America against Russia.

Remember, win or lose, at the end of this Russia will still be Russia. The Steppes will still be The Steppes.

You should all know that history. A militarily united Europe, spot-welded to Anglospheric North America, is a recipe for security and peace for all.

If not that, a recipe for a better chance to defeat an enemy on the march.

Take the “W.”

https://cdrsalamander.blogspot.com/2022/04/finland-and-sweden-reinforcing-nato.html
#15 feeblemind on 2022-04-14 22:22 (Reply)

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