Politics

[Tubby’s Canteen]

Fortunately the retaliatory tariffs with Canada and the restrictions on Ukraine military aid and intel cooperation were both resolved this afternoon. I suspect Ukraine has a pretty good list of targets to quickly service with ATACMS, SCALP, and Storm Shadow before any ceasefire goes into effect.

Ball is in the Russian court now and they have been very vocal what they will not do. Let's see if Trump's word is good with respect to their intransigence.

Ford didn’t do himself any favours by taking a hard stance and then blinking first.

 

[Fastrig]

Fortunately the retaliatory tariffs with Canada and the restrictions on Ukraine military aid and intel cooperation were both resolved this afternoon. I suspect Ukraine has a pretty good list of targets to quickly service with ATACMS, SCALP, and Storm Shadow before any ceasefire goes into effect.

Ball is in the Russian court now and they have been very vocal what they will not do. Let's see if Trump's word is good with respect to their intransigence.

I hope they refrain from doing so, that's if they want a cease fire....not for too long, but give this a chance to get put in front of the Russians and give them a chance to agree. They attacked with drones already, give it a rest into Russia proper, for now. On the front lines, that's open game, IMO, until the Russians respond with a Yes.

 

[mdwest]

Ford didn’t do himself any favours by taking a hard stance and then blinking first.

There is really no reason for Canadians and Americans (the general populace) to have animosity…

What all of this really amounts to is American politicians failed the American people for decades… and Canadian politicians have spent most of the Trudeau years doing their best to catch up in failing their people at an increasing rate..

Our countries are now at impasse on trade.. and the US President drives a very hard bargain in an unorthodox (and often ridiculous) manner that Canadas leadership is unprepared to deal with..

Everyone would be far better off if Trudeau and Ford sat down and shut up and let the new Canadian PM take over… and if Trump would stay off social media and let Lutnick do the job he was hired to do (he’s one of the best in the entire world at it)..

 

[Tubby’s Canteen]

There is really no reason for Canadians and Americans (the general populace) to have animosity…

What all of this really amounts to is American politicians failed the American people for decades… and Canadian politicians have spent most of the Trudeau years doing their best to catch up in failing their people at an increasing rate..

Our countries are now at impasse on trade.. and the US President drives a very hard bargain in an unorthodox (and often ridiculous) manner that Canadas leadership is unprepared to deal with..

Everyone would be far better off if Trudeau and Ford sat down and shut up and let the new Canadian PM take over… and if Trump would stay off social media and let Lutnick do the job he was hired to do (he’s one of the best in the entire world at it)..

Couldn’t agree more @mdwest well said.

 

[Scott CWO]

Alarm bells started to ring for the administration along with Musk and Tesla.
Markets don't like uncertainty like the one Trump creating with his tariffs on tariffs off, thinking, maybe, etc..
He has no idea what he's doing and still his followers eating it up as a negotiating tactic.
Couple more days like yesterday will cause great damage.

A great time to buy. Sold about 1/3 after December 31st. Went back in today.

 

[MauserM03Blog]

There really is no point in further discussion. I have a relatively strong background in science, having been responsible for large research groups. I am convinced that the scientific community has compromised itself on this issue, you are insistent that we believe them whether they have compromised their
principles or not. On that basis, we are
Simply going to have to agree to disagree.

Hi WAB.

There's that word 'believe' again. You won't hear me using 'believe' with respect to consuming scientific reporting.

I accept that you've had an unsatisfactory experience with some aspects of science on the climate issue. I believe that you feel the way you've described. However, putting up the shutters is not the way to ensure you're as well informed as you would want to be. You know that science is not a 'one and done' process. It's iterative. It takes a growing body of research to form clearer views, particularly when studying dynamic and complex subjects.

I'm confident that your strong background in science causes you to remain more open minded than you suggest. For my part, I will keep looking at the research on climate as it builds our knowledge and understanding. Trust me, I would like nothing more than to see a trend in results showing that temperatures are remaining relatively stable and that the 'blip' we're experiencing is not anthropogenic.

 

[Scott CWO]

I am rather startled by this interview. Cuomo was on point, and made Carlson look like a fairly uninformed purveyor of misinformation - and judging by my "expertise" in body language, and ever more uncomfortable purveyor of nonsense. Loved the you were the only journalist allowed into Russia inconvenient fact.

I'll have to look up the whole conversation to see if Cuomo tries to address the "not our fight" misconception with him.

The facts that NATO is a defensive alliance and that nobody in the USA or NATO or Ukraine covets Russian land is lost on Tucker. Even Cuomo didn’t mention it. Russia doesn’t want its neighbors in NATO because that limits Russian expansion. Plain and simple.

 

[Scott CWO]

Hi WAB.

There's that word 'believe' again. You won't hear me using 'believe' with respect to consuming scientific reporting.

I accept that you've had an unsatisfactory experience with some aspects of science on the climate issue. I believe that you feel the way you've described. However, putting up the shutters is not the way to ensure you're as well informed as you would want to be. You know that science is not a 'one and done' process. It's iterative. It takes a growing body of research to form clearer views, particularly when studying dynamic and complex subjects.

I'm confident that your strong background in science causes you to remain more open minded than you suggest. For my part, I will keep looking at the research on climate as it builds our knowledge and understanding. Trust me, I would like nothing more than to see a trend in results showing that temperatures are remaining relatively stable and that the 'blip' we're experiencing is not anthropogenic.

You still haven’t answered why warming is perceived and assumed to be ALL bad. I know why you won’t address it - because it doesn’t fit the narrative you believe.

For every problem with warming, there are organisms and animals that are helped. It has been occurring since the earth became habitable. Ebb and flow back and forth. Even if changes are occurring, it is irresponsible to just point out things that might be affected negatively without balancing the positives and talking about both.

 

[MauserM03Blog]

They are not controlled burns done by the Forest Service! Lol. People use a cigarette lighter and just walk away. Saw this happen hundreds of times during my two weeks in Cameroon last month and on every other trip. You haven’t been to Africa. The skies are full of smoke for thousands of miles.

It's the same here in Australia. Cool season burns are effective at reducing fuel loads, so that wildfires in hot and/or dry seasons are less likely and damaging. The cool season burns also rejuvenate the bush and support wildlife. So, the same.

Aborigines used cool season burning very effectively for tens of thousands of years. They weren't an organised Forest Service either. The bush doesn't know who started the fire. What's important is that it's done at the right time of year, in the right weather conditions.

It looks like you haven't been to Australia. But that doesn't matter. You've seen the same methods being used in Africa. It sounds like we agree about the benefits of cool season burning.

 

[Scott CWO]

Yes SKY is falling for all of investors..
President Donald Trump's tariffs have spooked investors, with fears of an economic downturn driving a stock market sell-off that has wiped out $4 trillion from the S&P 500's peak last month, when Wall Street was cheering much of Trump's agenda.
You think this is chunk change?

You really think it won’t go back up???

 

[MauserM03Blog]

Ukraine has nothing to do with burning in Africa. Can you concentrate!

I imagine you'll provide the same advice to Elon Musk.

Have you seen what his lack of control has done to Tesla sales figures? That's one dude I would not want to have in a hunting party.

 

[Scott CWO]

He should be SecDef.

 

[Fastrig]

I imagine you'll provide the same advice to Elon Musk.

Have you seen what his lack of control has done to Tesla sales figures? That's one dude I would not want to have in a hunting party.

EVs have lost a lot of enthusiasm...expensive, expensive to fix, lack of charging places, low resale, big 3 losing billions on them, etc. Take gooberment mandates and funding crap away and they will fall even more. They were never and never will be the answer...

 

[Wishfulthinker580]

He should be SecDef.

I think he would be a great one.

 

[Aaron N]

What is the 24,000 per head number? I have zero dairy experience, but plenty with cattle, I but can't figure out what you are talking about. I would guess 200 head is an average size, so that there is some added cost of 4,800,000, for what?

In Canada the dairy farmers have a set quota for daily production of “butter fat” that they have paid for. Apparently in tubbys neck of the woods right not one kg of butter fat a day quota is worth $24000. A good buddy of mine milks 130 head two miles north, I’m not sure what quota is worth here.

 

[Red Leg]

He should be SecDef.

YES!

 

[Tubby’s Canteen]

In Canada the dairy farmers have a set quota for daily production of “butter fat” that they have paid for. Apparently in tubbys neck of the woods right not one kg of butter fat a day quota is worth $24000. A good buddy of mine milks 130 head two miles north, I’m not sure what quota is worth here.

The last farm focus I read put it in the 45000-48000 range in the west per kg.

 

[Scott CWO]

It's the same here in Australia. Cool season burns are effective at reducing fuel loads, so that wildfires in hot and/or dry seasons are less likely and damaging. The cool season burns also rejuvenate the bush and support wildlife. So, the same.

Aborigines used cool season burning very effectively for tens of thousands of years. They weren't an organised Forest Service either. The bush doesn't know who started the fire. What's important is that it's done at the right time of year, in the right weather conditions.

It looks like you haven't been to Australia. But that doesn't matter. You've seen the same methods being used in Africa. It sounds like we agree about the benefits of cool season burning.

Sure puts a lot of CO2 in the air when it is so widespread in Africa! Not to mention millions of vehicles with no emissions controls. But hey, let’s just keep passing onerous regulations on ourselves in the developed world and hamstring our people and businesses due to our guilt while the rest of the world could care less! Stupid.

 

[Tanks]

I imagine you'll provide the same advice to Elon Musk.

Have you seen what his lack of control has done to Tesla sales figures? That's one dude I would not want to have in a hunting party.

I am fine with it. On Jan. 24th I placed 60 day puts on Tesla stock in mid six figures. Should pay for a big tusker in Botswana and a full bag Tanzania hunt if trend continues. Wish I had done it in 7 figures.

 

[shootist~]

1970 dairy quota was imposed in Canada. The original crop of quota was free for dairy farmers at the time. The current price of 24000 per kg of bf (butter fat). One kg of quota allows a dairy farmer to sell all the whole milk it takes to equal 1 kg of bf. Approximately the equivalent of the milk produced by one cow per day. The average Canadian dairy farm milks 73 cows. 98 percent of Canadian dairy farms are still family owned.

Farms that are in the same family as 1970 have on average increased in equity by 1752000$ due to the value quota places on the market share controlled by the farm. The implementation of quota allowed for dairy farmers to have a value on their farms beyond the infrastructure and herds.

When a farmer is ready to retire he can sell his farm outright and the future owner can take over his operations. Alternatively he can sell his quota back to the dairy board who will then find a buyer at the market price currently 24000. The dairy board is made up of dairy producers marketers and the dairy commission. They are responsible for screening and selling the quota. They also keep the quota out of the hands of corporate farms.

There have been times when the dairy quota has been expanded crossed the board meet an increase of need in the market. Otherwise if a dairy farmer wants to expand they have to purchase quota from the dairy board at the market price provided there is quota to buy. Also a farmer can be penalized for not filling quota they own. So that a farmer can’t sit on quota to effect the market price.

Through this quota system milk prices are regulated high enough to keep the farmers in business while still low enough for the consumer to afford.

Now onto how this effects trade, how could a Canadian dairy farmer who is working under the above conditions compete with a U.S. dairy farmer that is operating in a free market where he/she could expand at will. A dairy farmer which is also being subsidized by the U.S. government. U.S. dairy is subsidized to the tune of 15-19 billion annually. 2015 the highest year on record was 22.2 billion. The Canadian government allows for a percentage of U.S. milk on the market and once that quota is met only then is a tariff applied. The current tariff on U.S. milk is 215%.

I finally see the light.

In the early 1970s* both the US and (apparently) Canada both sought to improve the boom/bust cycles in the dairy industry. Prior to this, excess supply during good times led to low raw milk prices which led to bankrupt farmers, reduced herds and then milk shortages. Then the cycle started over with the survivors building herds and supply.

*I was the part-time college student doing the plant-floor bookkeeping at a small Class I milk processing facility when we went to the FMO (Federal Milk Order) program.

The USDA / FMMO (Federal Milk Marketing Program) sought to provide a stable and adequate supply of raw milk to the dairy industry through mandatory minimum (support) prices to the dairy farmer. In my experience this program tended to award the more efficient dairy farmers. It's still a tough business. Not all good - the larger well run outfits have he advantage over the traditional smaller farms.

From what I see the Canadian program did similar by establishing a quota system to limit supply, and thereby protect the dairy farms in existence at that time.

Two peas from very different pods and both the result of federal laws. One to subsidize, when necessary, by buying surplus butter, cheese and NFDM. The other designed to guarantee stable (and higher) raw milk prices without direct or indirect subsidies - and also protect the small dairy farmer.