THE MORNING RANT: “Free Trade” and the Importation of Chinese Garlic Grown in Human Sewage and Processed by Slave Labor

In the weekly Food Thread here at Ace of Spades HQ blog, Mr. CBD frequently alludes to the filthy food products imported from China. I will not eat any seafood that comes from China, and I clearly need to check the provenance of the garlic I buy too.

Senator Rick Scott (R – FL) is requesting that government agencies responsible for food safety investigate China’s abhorrent agricultural practices involving garlic.

“Sen. Rick Scott to Biden Admin: Garlic Grown in Communist China Poses Major Threat to Security & Food Safety” [12/10/2024]

Senator Rick Scott sent letters to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), United States Trade Representative (USTR) and Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB) to investigate the food safety of garlic grown in Communist China following reports that the garlic is being grown in human sewage, then bleached and harvested in abhorrent conditions often involving slave and child labor.

Why would Americans buy garlic grown in sewage and processed by child slaves rather than buy American-grown garlic? The reason, of course, is that garlic grown in sewage by slave labor is cheaper than domestic garlic, even after being shipped across the Pacific Ocean.

An obvious way to address the problem is with tariffs that take away the cost advantage of China’s sewage garlic. But tariffs are deeply offensive to the Principled Free Traders who are constantly reminding us that “tariffs are a tax on consumers.”

“Blocking the import of Chinese garlic grown in human sewage and processed with slave labor is a tax on consumers.” - Principled Free Traders https://t.co/nvQjYQhMZF
— Buck Throckmorton (@BuckThrockmort) December 10, 2024

Donald Trump is aggressively promoting tariffs, while those who advocate for surrender to foreign mercantilism (e.g. allowing tariff-free imports from countries that don’t reciprocate) in the name of “free trade” are desperately advocating for submission to China and the like.

David Harsanyi speaks for many Principled Free Traders in this Washington Examiner piece from a few weeks ago, “Trump’s Tariffs Would Put US Last”

Now, I realize that some of the dead-eyed partisan zombies in the GOP will just repeat whatever Trump says, but this is idiocy. For one thing, tariffs are literally a tax, as they are paid by U.S. corporations and consumers. Secondly, the difference between the price of goods today and the price added by a tariff is called “tax incidence” or “the let’s screw consumers surcharge.” Sooner or later, consumers pay every tax.

There is not even a pretense among Principled Free Traders that trade should be fair. In addition, they’ll argue that the exploitation of foreign labor not subject to American labor standards is a beautiful thing, because it reduces prices for American consumers and allows their paychecks to go further…at least for those who didn’t lose their paychecks by having their jobs offshored.

However, Trump is right about one thing: Trade isn’t fair. Americans should pray it never gets fair. I’m sure the billions of people in developing nations who work tedious menial labor jobs probably don’t find it “fair” that Americans use the savings found in trade to help build unprecedented wealth.

Interestingly, the same Principled Free Traders who rejoice about working-class Americans losing their jobs to foreign slaves, claim to also be advocating for the economic interests of those same working-class Americans they seek to put out of work. In fact, Harsanyi claims that putting a working-class American out of work is a good thing, because he will now be able to go get a “better job.”

Trade allows average working-class Americans to buy all kinds of things they could not otherwise afford because of trade. Forcing working-class Americans to make things foreigners or machines can make cheaper only undermines the creation of better jobs for them and their children.

If tariffs on Chinese garlic grown in sewage and produced by slave labor results in a “tax on consumers,” then the abolition of U.S. slavery was a “tax on consumers” buying cotton products. I am proud to state that in the trade-off of higher prices versus the perpetuation of foreign slavery, I will risk the wrath of the Principled Free Traders and oppose slavery.

*****

My latest piece has been published at The Blaze in which I take a look at the destruction wrought by Stellantis’ just-departed CEO, who less than a year ago accepted a $39MM compensation package for short term machinations that resulted in a global sales collapse and rapid degradation of the Dodge, Jeep, Ram, and Chrysler brands in the United States, and similar damage to its European brands, including Fiat and Peugeot. Amidst the global revenue collapse that Carlos Tavares engineered, he remained committed to EVs and the European emission goals, despite the collapse of the EV bubble.

It's behind a paywall, but if you have a Blaze subscription, I’d be honored if you’d give it a read.

My latest at The Blaze discusses the damage wrought by Stellantis' departed CEO, who lavishly compensated himself while causing a catastrophic sales collapse, all while remaining committed to an EV future that consumers have rejected. https://t.co/e7N6mCYFZt
— Buck Throckmorton (@BuckThrockmort) December 15, 2024

[buck.throckmorton at protonmail dot com]

Posted by: Buck Throckmorton at 11:00 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 1

Posted by: Skip at December 16, 2024 11:00 AM (AYz4A)

2 Free Trade started as a reasonable idea but the scammers and Marxists trashed it quickly.

Posted by: Skip at December 16, 2024 11:02 AM (AYz4A)

3 Fun factoid:

the Chinese actually sent honeypots to the USA in the 1990s to begin their takeover of the produce market, even the lowly garlic. Especially the lowly garlic, as it is the foundation of so many staple dishes.

My friend told me how a local garlic importer got stung by this tactic..and by importer, I mean he got the garlic from Cali.

Posted by: kallisto at December 16, 2024 11:02 AM (dCxaZ)

4 Mon key!

How's my French?

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at December 16, 2024 11:03 AM (RVkKz)

5 Turd garlic, that's gross.

Posted by: Chinese sewer oil at December 16, 2024 11:03 AM (OA79/)

6 A different kind of Christmas music.

https://is.gd/3ERuj3

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Peppermint Mocha! at December 16, 2024 11:04 AM (L/fGl)

7 Slave labor is hard to compete with- that is why it is a very pernicious bitch to stamp out. Plus, some people just love the power.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at December 16, 2024 11:04 AM (bss/y)

8 how to tell if the garlic is from CHY-na (if country of origin is not marked)

if there's no stalk, or even a stub of a stalk, it's Chinese.

They cut the stalks off to save on shipping costs, given the huge quantities of garlic they are exporting.

Garlic with stalk still attached is very likely not from China

Posted by: kallisto at December 16, 2024 11:04 AM (dCxaZ)

9 Gilroy, California, bills itself as the Garlic Capital of the World, or at least used to.

I hope that's still the case.

Posted by: Bulg at December 16, 2024 11:05 AM (v6JzV)

10 I agree that tariffs are a tax. In fact it is what (in addition to taxing remittances) funded the US until 1913. We have given income tax a good attempt at proving it is superior and it has failed. Time to go back to what worked.

Posted by: scruboak at December 16, 2024 11:05 AM (Bd5dd)

11 China is at war with the U.S. while we pretend otherwise.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at December 16, 2024 11:05 AM (RIvkX)

12 "Now, I realize that some of the dead-eyed partisan zombies in the GOP will just repeat whatever Trump says, but this is idiocy."

When someone who is ostensibly intelligent and trying to persuade opens with this trying-too-hard cheap shot -- and really shitty, lazy metaphor -- you know that whatever follows is steaming bullshit and can risklessly be ignored.

It's guys like this shitheel who are "dead-eyed partisan zombies," not us. They got their NPC programming from globalist scum, and they're running it step-by-step.

Posted by: Elric The Blade at December 16, 2024 11:05 AM (iFTx/)

13 What's a little e-coli if it saves me fitty cents?

Posted by: Bottom Line Bill at December 16, 2024 11:06 AM (G5+As)

14 fairly early in

Posted by: DanMan at December 16, 2024 11:06 AM (8uzBS)

15 Does it smell like pre eaten or post eaten garlic.

Posted by: Chinese sewer oil at December 16, 2024 11:06 AM (OA79/)

16 Garlic with stalk still attached is very likely not from China

I'm not sure I've ever seen a bulb of garlic with a stalk attached. Nevertheless, I'll look.

Posted by: Archimedes at December 16, 2024 11:06 AM (xCA6C)

17 America must close the garlic gap.

Posted by: Archimedes at December 16, 2024 11:07 AM (xCA6C)

18 This argument has also led to a near evaporation of our manufacturing base- which is a national security risk.

We are not even close to self sufficient as things stand now. Could be changed, but too many people are dipping their wicks.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at December 16, 2024 11:07 AM (bss/y)

19 Uh, oh. I love garlic and use an awful lot of it. Bulbs piled up in bins at the store. Heaven knows where it comes from.

Maybe time to start growing my own.

Posted by: Zombie Robbo the Llama Butcher at December 16, 2024 11:07 AM (LxER7)

20 Is NAFTA still a thing?

Posted by: BignJames at December 16, 2024 11:07 AM (Yj6Os)

21 Harsanyi can suck a big bag of hairy balls

Posted by: Elric The Blade at December 16, 2024 11:07 AM (iFTx/)

22 My latest piece has been published at The Blaze in which I take a look at the destruction wrought by Stellantis’ just-departed CEO, who less than a year ago accepted a $39MM compensation package for short term machinations that resulted in a global sales collapse and rapid degradation

Another data point to support the Meritocracy is Bullshit™ thesis.

Posted by: I'll fuck it up for half the money at December 16, 2024 11:07 AM (olf63)

23 If it's unfit for human consumption, why can't it be banned based on that alone? Why bother with a tariff? Doesn't a tariff kind of imply we're ok with feeding Americans sewage-food, as long as it's more expensive? Where's the FDA in all this?

Posted by: Tinfoil Dispenser at December 16, 2024 11:08 AM (Ij2uN)

24 America must close the garlic gap.
Posted by: Archimedes

We need commonsense garlic control.

Posted by: Bulg at December 16, 2024 11:08 AM (v6JzV)

25 my cousin grows garlic, imma start making trips out to Central PA to harvest some

he grows different varieties. Some red, some Spanish. I don't care, as long as they aren't grown in raw waste

Posted by: kallisto at December 16, 2024 11:08 AM (dCxaZ)

26 The Chinese put plastics in pet food, why would you trust them for anything?

Posted by: Skip at December 16, 2024 11:08 AM (AYz4A)

27 Now, I realize that some of the dead-eyed partisan zombies in the GOP will just repeat whatever Trump says, but this is idiocy. For one thing,tariffs are literally a tax, as they are paid by U.S. corporations and consumers. Secondly, the difference between the price of goods today and the price added by a tariff is called “tax incidence” or “the let’s screw consumers surcharge.” Sooner or later, consumers pay every tax.

He's not wrong. Putting a tariff on Chinese garlic WILL raise the price to the consumer. What he ignores is that there are often other considerations. This guy is one of the "spherical cow" school of economists.

Posted by: Archimedes at December 16, 2024 11:08 AM (xCA6C)

28 Harsanyi believes the American consumer should subsidize the creation of jobs in other countries? Well, why not? We're already subsidizing defense and health care in other countries.

Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing (tT6L1) at December 16, 2024 11:08 AM (tT6L1)

29 Drones delivering garlic to whole foods under cover of the night.

Posted by: Chinese sewer oil at December 16, 2024 11:09 AM (OA79/)

30 seed garlic for California is grown in the Willamette Valley. The soil here darkens the skins, where in CA it grows a more salable product, so to maximize growth for sale, the "seed" cloves are grown up here for planting the second year.

Posted by: Kindltot at December 16, 2024 11:09 AM (D7oie)

31 Raw oysters...nope, nope, nope and nope.

Posted by: BignJames at December 16, 2024 11:09 AM (Yj6Os)

32 SCJ KBJ. Nebech:

https://tinyurl.com/36s9eptp

Do better, DC.

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at December 16, 2024 11:09 AM (RVkKz)

33 I'm not sure I've ever seen a bulb of garlic with a stalk attached. Nevertheless, I'll look.

Posted by: Archimedes at December 16, 2024 11:06 AM (xCA6C)

when I refer to stalk, it's just the nub. It's not six inches long

Posted by: kallisto at December 16, 2024 11:09 AM (dCxaZ)

34 Americans wouldn't pick garlic even if you paid them $50 an hour!

Posted by: John McCain's zombie funeral at December 16, 2024 11:09 AM (olf63)

35 Fast on his feet.

https://is.gd/ZTG1J4

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Peppermint Mocha! at December 16, 2024 11:10 AM (L/fGl)

36 Do not pluck my garlic,
Nor the stalk, which hangs beneath.
Leave it instead,
At the side of my bed,
In the glass where,
I keep my false teeth.

Posted by: Gumby at December 16, 2024 11:10 AM (G5+As)

37 If it's unfit for human consumption, why can't it be banned based on that alone? Why bother with a tariff? Doesn't a tariff kind of imply we're ok with feeding Americans sewage-food, as long as it's more expensive? Where's the FDA in all this?
Posted by: Tinfoil Dispenser at December 16, 2024 11:08 AM (Ij2uN)

I would have no problem with banning or placing punishing tariffs on products made or grown by slave or peonage labor forces.

Posted by: Kindltot at December 16, 2024 11:10 AM (D7oie)

38 21 Harsanyi can suck a big bag of hairy balls
Posted by: Elric The Blade at December 16, 2024 11:07 AM (iFTx/)

Bet it tastes like chynaise garlic.

Posted by: Chinese sewer oil at December 16, 2024 11:10 AM (OA79/)

39 when I refer to stalk, it's just the nub. It's not six inches long

That's what she said.

Posted by: Archimedes at December 16, 2024 11:10 AM (xCA6C)

40 "Harsanyi --- For one thing, tariffs are literally a tax, as they are paid by U.S. corporations and consumers."

FALSE ... the tariff is paid by the company importing goods. They may or may not pass that cost on to consumers.

If they have a big enough margin, and/or want to maintain market share, they might not pass any of the tariff cost on to consumers. I believe they did NOT pass most of those tariff costs on in earlier Trump tariff times.

Posted by: illiniwek at December 16, 2024 11:10 AM (Cus5s)

41 5 Turd garlic, that's gross.
Posted by: Chinese sewer oil
=======
There is also the risk of heavy metal and organic chemicals being absorbed. That being said, nightsoil is often the fertilizer of choice for any produce not produced in the US or the First World.

That includes a lot of the veggies being packaged and sold from Central and South America.

You do get animal wastes often used in US organic produce as well from grazing animals and chickens. Dunno about pig manure.

Wash your produce folks.

Posted by: whig at December 16, 2024 11:11 AM (ctrM5)

42 This garlic is the shit!

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory, red heifer owner at December 16, 2024 11:11 AM (SxfqT)

43 How dare you question Chinese garlic growing methods? Remember all cultures are equal. H8er!

Posted by: Its Go Time Donald at December 16, 2024 11:11 AM (i+Y/j)

44 so how/where should I get the good garlic?

Posted by: Don Black. Message: what drone? at December 16, 2024 11:12 AM (/7KEl)

45 so we have a lot of control over how and where we purchase garlic bulbs, but we don't know the source of the garlic that is packaged and processed, such as in garlic paste, etc.

Posted by: kallisto at December 16, 2024 11:12 AM (dCxaZ)

46 17 America must close the garlic gap.
Posted by: Archimedes at December 16, 2024 11:07 AM (xCA6C)

Wipe it off the map.

Posted by: Roy at December 16, 2024 11:12 AM (z+ik4)

47 There is also the risk of heavy metal and organic chemicals being absorbed. That being said, nightsoil is often the fertilizer of choice for any produce not produced in the US or the First World.

I imagine the biggest risk is the transmission of various types of worms, especially tapeworms. Washing won't get rid of the eggs.

Posted by: Archimedes at December 16, 2024 11:12 AM (xCA6C)

48 It's guys like this shitheel who are "dead-eyed partisan zombies," not us. They got their NPC programming from globalist scum, and they're running it step-by-step.
Posted by: Elric The Blade at December 16, 2024 11:05 AM (iFTx/)

I have tried to avoid the 'I have problems with Trump' or 'Say what you want about Trump' or 'I dislike the guy personally' because I started to notice about 3-5 years ago that everyone was doing it- and most of all known douchebags who were in the process of being douchebags. The qualification, even when agreeing with something he had done, and the fact that everyone felt the need to do it, made me realize it was social protection/shorthand.

It's a learned behavior. Like saying 'Say what you want about the Nazis, but they had snazzy uniforms.' WTF do you need to say that? If you like black, silver and red, does that mean you are down with genocide? It's a protection against lazy thinking that people indulge in all to often- including myself. Lazy thinkers are their own punishment.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at December 16, 2024 11:12 AM (bss/y)

49 5 Turd garlic, that's gross.

pretty sure "turd garlic" was w's nickname for one of his campaign managers.

Posted by: anachronda at December 16, 2024 11:12 AM (v3pYe)

50 39 when I refer to stalk, it's just the nub. It's not six inches long

That's what she said.
Posted by: Archimedes at December 16, 2024 11:10 AM (xCA6C)

I just got out of the pool!

Posted by: Chynaise turd garlic at December 16, 2024 11:13 AM (OA79/)

51 The hysterical opposition to RFK Jr is part of this globalist "free trade" RICO enterprise.

You might wonder why the establishment screeches so loudly at RFK's dastardly plan to ... make food safer or at least have a real conversation about whether food can be made safer. The RICO enterprise does not want anyone looking closely at the source and quality of our foods. Garlic made in sewage by slave labor probably won't make the "safer food" cut.

The same people screeching against RFK's push for safer food are those pushing hard to jack up little kids on sex-change hormones and eventually lop off their boobs and dicks.

Posted by: Elric The Blade at December 16, 2024 11:13 AM (iFTx/)

52 44 so how/where should I get the good garlic?

Posted by: Don Black. Message: what drone? at December 16, 2024 11:12 AM (/7KEl)

good garlic is readily available in my AO

the sources around here are usually South America but I actually purchased a rope of garlic bulbs at ACME that were from Florida

Posted by: kallisto at December 16, 2024 11:13 AM (dCxaZ)

53 China sewage garlic war.

The cloves are off.

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at December 16, 2024 11:13 AM (RVkKz)

54 "Principles free traders" need to understand that "ceteris paribus" is an assumption needed to make models understandable, but DOES NOT REPRESENT REALITY.

Ceteris Paribus, free trade is a net gain. But other things aren't equal and free men can't compete on price* with slave labor.

*(They can compete on quality, but entire industries can be destroyed before people realize that cheaper goods might be much worse goods, leaving no option for "higher quality".)

Posted by: Formerly Virginian at December 16, 2024 11:13 AM (N1DT3)

55 Funny thing about "garlic." It's an Anglo-Saxon word. But wasn't used much, if at all, in traditional English "cuisine."

Posted by: Bulg at December 16, 2024 11:13 AM (v6JzV)

56 Maybe time to start growing my own.
Posted by: Zombie Robbo the Llama Butcher at December 16, 2024 11:07 AM (LxER7)

Probably would taste a lot better. Chinese soil is horrific for growing crops. Very nutrient poor as well (connection.) I sometimes wonder if it is my aging taste buds or this for why everything seems to taste bland as hell these days.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at December 16, 2024 11:14 AM (bss/y)

57 Turd Ferguson>>>Turd Garlic

Posted by: Pug Mahon, Needs theme music at December 16, 2024 11:14 AM (xPJvm)

58 ted wealth.
Interestingly, the same Principled Free Traders who rejoice about working-class Americans losing their jobs to foreign slaves, claim to also be advocating for the economic interests of those same working-class Americans they seek to put out of work. In fact, Harsanyi claims that putting a working-class American out of work is a good thing, because he will now be able to go get a “better job.”

—

This is the Econ theory bullshit these people peddle. Yes in a perfect world the guy whose job is sent to China would get a job as a software engineer we at Google. But in reality that doesn’t happen. At least not directly. And according to the free traders at any cost of that guy”s life is ruined oh well fuck him.

Posted by: Its Go Time Donald at December 16, 2024 11:14 AM (i+Y/j)

59 37 If it's unfit for human consumption, why can't it be banned based on that alone? Why bother with a tariff? Doesn't a tariff kind of imply we're ok with feeding Americans sewage-food, as long as it's more expensive? Where's the FDA in all this?
Posted by: Tinfoil Dispenser

FDA is AWOL. Reports have had shrimp laden with antibiotics to disguise the decomposition repeatedly being refused entry in the US until inspectors admit them at another port.

Simply put, the degree of food imports have overwhelmed the system. Europe, for all its problems, has a better approach to food safety including better labeling laws and stricter standards of quality on food imports. Not always, but mostly.

Posted by: whig at December 16, 2024 11:15 AM (ctrM5)

60 It's a learned behavior. Like saying 'Say what you want about the Nazis, but they had snazzy uniforms.' WTF do you need to say that? If you like black, silver and red, does that mean you are down with genocide? It's a protection against lazy thinking that people indulge in all to often- including myself. Lazy thinkers are their own punishment.
Posted by: Aetius451AD at December 16, 2024 11:12 AM (bss/y)

The uniforms were quite sharp.

Posted by: Achtung, baby! at December 16, 2024 11:15 AM (olf63)

61 the sources around here are usually South America but I actually purchased a rope of garlic bulbs at ACME that were from Florida
Posted by: kallisto

A rope of garlic bulbs is not a good way to catch the Roadrunner.

Posted by: Bulg at December 16, 2024 11:15 AM (v6JzV)

62 I had my septic tank pumped out recently and asked the driver how they dispose of the waste. It is dumped on land, allowed to compost for a year, then cattle feed on the grasses. Never done on cropland for human consumption.

Posted by: Up Schitt's Creek at December 16, 2024 11:15 AM (G5+As)

63 If only Trump had been president before and used the exact same policies ....

The entire point of tariffs, dumbass, is to change behavior. And it works.

Ask Joe Biden why he kept Trump's tariffs on China.

Posted by: JackStraw at December 16, 2024 11:15 AM (LkLld)

64 55 Funny thing about "garlic." It's an Anglo-Saxon word. But wasn't used much, if at all, in traditional English "cuisine."
Posted by: Bulg at December 16, 2024 11:13 AM (v6JzV)

English cuisine would use turd garlic as a main staple.

Posted by: Roy at December 16, 2024 11:15 AM (z+ik4)

65 Garlic, like boobs and saucy ladies who have them, is wonderful and a sign God loves us.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at December 16, 2024 11:15 AM (bss/y)

66 There might be a case for one sided trade if there were a history of the beneficiary countries becoming wonderful places.

Not sure if such countries exist. China, obviously, isn't abandoning its uglier traits.

Posted by: 2009Refugee at December 16, 2024 11:16 AM (8AONa)

67 thinkers are their own punishment.
Posted by: Aetius451AD at December 16, 2024 11:12 AM (bss/y)

The uniforms were quite sharp.
Posted by: Achtung, baby! at December 16, 2024 11:15 AM (olf63)

The pants were creased.

Posted by: Cuthbert the Witless at December 16, 2024 11:16 AM (OA79/)

68 Left: I only eat non gmo organically grown food.

Also left: Trunp is a fascist because he wants to ban garlic grown in shit and chemically treated with bleach.

Posted by: Its Go Time Donald at December 16, 2024 11:16 AM (i+Y/j)

69 The gutting of the Dodge Challenger was criminal. That car was straight-line magic, even if it remained way too heavy to handle properly.

Posted by: Crusader at December 16, 2024 11:16 AM (TN0g+)

70 Free Trade is an area where my current self would not even recognize self from the 1980s.

Posted by: Grump928(C) at December 16, 2024 11:17 AM (aD39U)

71 Sewage garlic? Please tell me 'taint so.

Posted by: jim (in hospital in Kalifornia) at December 16, 2024 11:17 AM (SSBCb)

72 Gun control activist David Hogg is running for the position of vice chair of the Democrat National Committee.

Posted by: SMOD at December 16, 2024 11:17 AM (RHGPo)

73 With all the screeching about tariffs, does anyone not remember the Japan/US trade war of the Carter administration?

I seem to recall Carter slapped some stiff tariffs on Japanese imports, because the Japanese government was accused of subsidizing their auto industry, thereby enabling them to see at a much lower cost.

The Japanese, not wanting to pay the tariffs, got around the problem by setting up factories here.*

*disclaimer: My memory is foggy on this as I was definitely well under 29 during this period of history.

Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing (tT6L1) at December 16, 2024 11:17 AM (tT6L1)

74 wealth.
Interestingly, the same Principled Free Traders who rejoice about working-class Americans losing their jobs to foreign slaves, claim to also be advocating for the economic interests of those same working-class Americans they seek to put out of work. In fact, Harsanyi claims that putting a working-class American out of work is a good thing, because he will now be able to go get a “better job.”

======
Harsanyi and the rest are basically paid whores to the oligarchs that proclaim their fealty to the world while shitting on their own fellow countrymen.

We have shifted from a country that makes things to a country that relies on financialization and services instead.

Posted by: whig at December 16, 2024 11:18 AM (ctrM5)

75 Supposedly, if garlic has the "roots" still on it, it's US grown. If the bulbs are smooth on the bottom, it's imported.

Posted by: rickb223 Gold & Silver Spot Prices at December 16, 2024 11:18 AM (AhvDO)

76 China sewage garlic war.

The cloves are off.

I don't have the thyme for this nonsense.

Posted by: Archimedes at December 16, 2024 11:18 AM (xCA6C)

77 ESPN commentator expressed his displeasure with Democrats for making President-elect Donald Trump “seem right” by constantly suppressing the truth.

Smith was reacting to a recent report from the Justice Department that said the FBI had as many as 26 confidential informants on the ground during the January 6 Capitol Hill riot. While the report did not say that FBI informants perpetuated the riot, it did admit that “4 entered the Capitol during the riot” while “an additional 13 entered the restricted area around the Capitol, which was a security perimeter established in preparation for the January 6 Electoral Certification.”

Stephen A. Smith quoted Vice President-elect JD Vance, who wrote on X, “For those keeping score at home, this was labeled a dangerous conspiracy theory months ago.”

Posted by: SMOD at December 16, 2024 11:18 AM (RHGPo)

78 The CEO of Softbank is at Mar A Lago today to announce that Softbank will be investing $100 Billion in the US over the next 4 years to generate as many as 100,000 jobs in AI.

But Trump doesn't know business.

Posted by: JackStraw at December 16, 2024 11:19 AM (LkLld)

79 Bernie Sanders:

"Murder is terrible - BUT..."

https://tinyurl.com/2s395cfr

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at December 16, 2024 11:19 AM (RVkKz)

80 Gives new (eeeew?) meaning to the phrase "garlic breath."

Posted by: ShainS -- Could the drones be holographic projections? at December 16, 2024 11:19 AM (8Usj3)

81

The head of Japan's SoftBank is set to announce plans on Monday to invest $100 billion in the United States over the next four years, a spokesperson for US President-elect Donald Trump's transition team told AFP.

SoftBank's billionaire chief executive Masayoshi Son and Trump are expected to jointly announce the planned investment at the president-elect's Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida later in the day, according to US media reports.

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at December 16, 2024 11:19 AM (63Dwl)

82 53 China sewage garlic war.

The cloves are off.

smell the clove

Posted by: rare edition of spinal tap with a typo at December 16, 2024 11:19 AM (v3pYe)

83 70 Free Trade is an area where my current self would not even recognize self from the 1980s.
Posted by: Grump928(C) at December 16, 2024 11:17 AM (aD39U)

Same. Although the 2000s for me. I’m ashamed to admit I ever bought into all the nonsnese. See also taxes.

Posted by: Its Go Time Donald at December 16, 2024 11:19 AM (i+Y/j)

84 71 Sewage garlic? Please tell me 'taint so.
Posted by: jim (in hospital in Kalifornia) at December 16, 2024 11:17 AM (SSBCb)

Brings new meaning to take the paper off your garlic.

Posted by: Cuthbert the Witless at December 16, 2024 11:19 AM (OA79/)

85
Probably would taste a lot better. Chinese soil is horrific for growing crops. Very nutrient poor as well (connection.) I sometimes wonder if it is my aging taste buds or this for why everything seems to taste bland as hell these days.
Posted by: Aetius451AD at December 16, 2024 11:14 AM (bss/y)

Our sense of taste does start to fade as we get older, but everything does seem to be continually homogenized, cheapened, diluted, and reduced to the lowest common denominator. Seems to go for everything: food, manufactured goods, services. There's a race to the bottom so the oligarchs can make more money. We plebes can just suck it.

Posted by: Shit products + poor wages = C suite bonus! at December 16, 2024 11:19 AM (olf63)

86 We have shifted from a country that makes things to a country that relies on financialization and services instead.
Posted by: whig at December 16, 2024 11:18 AM (ctrM5)

We can't live by just taking in each other's laundry.

Posted by: Grump928(C) at December 16, 2024 11:19 AM (aD39U)

87 Turd garlic.

Civet coffee beans.

You humans eat the weirdest shit.

Posted by: Aromara, from Tau Ceti at December 16, 2024 11:20 AM (Aqu9a)

88 Oh oh oh!!! A tax on consumers!!! Well tell you the fu k what, you can cut income taxes and counter the tariffs and help american workers. But some f king how you never get around to squaring that circle.

Posted by: Over educated idiots are the problem at December 16, 2024 11:20 AM (csTh4)

89 I don't have the thyme for this nonsense.
Posted by: Archimedes at December 16, 2024 11:18 AM (xCA6C)
-

I'm Jewish and I need to remind you that 'tis the season?

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at December 16, 2024 11:20 AM (RVkKz)

90 69 The gutting of the Dodge Challenger was criminal. That car was straight-line magic, even if it remained way too heavy to handle properly.
Posted by: Crusader at December 16, 2024 11:16 AM (TN0g+)

It was kind of ponderous. One thing I do not like about the mustang is that, even with the insane power on tap, it feels boatish. It is weird. The first time I got it a miata, it just felt different. Firstly because it felt like you were putting the car on like a pair of tight gloves, but also how tight it felt. Responsive. Like you could sneeze and change lanes (actually true.) It may have only had the power of a large lawnmower, but it also weighed about 1000lbs less than the mustang (I think it is like 1200lb difference.)

Posted by: Aetius451AD at December 16, 2024 11:20 AM (bss/y)

91 I'm beginning to think that some CEO's are hired to destroy companies, not make money with them or provide needed services and products. I'm also beginning to think that CEO's educated in our academic institutions are stupid and communist.

Neither bodes well for our economy.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at December 16, 2024 11:20 AM (Q4IgG)

92 >>>ESPN commentator expressed his displeasure with Democrats for making President-elect Donald Trump “seem right” by constantly suppressing the truth.

Stephen finally notices that his girlfriend is a cheap slut whore.

Posted by: Roy at December 16, 2024 11:20 AM (z+ik4)

93 "Interestingly, the same Principled Free Traders who rejoice about working-class Americans losing their jobs to foreign slaves, claim to also be advocating for the economic interests of those same working-class Americans they seek to put out of work. In fact, Harsanyi claims that putting a working-class American out of work is a good thing, because he will now be able to go get a “better job.”

—

This is the Econ theory bullshit these people peddle. Yes in a perfect world the guy whose job is sent to China would get a job as a software engineer we at Google. But in reality that doesn’t happen. At least not directly. And according to the free traders at any cost of that guy”s life is ruined oh well fuck him."

Every single bit of the above is true. But at the same time I don't want us to abandon (as if it ever became common knowledge) basic economic theory, because it surely has a place in discussions of this type. It is undeniably true that tariffs affect supply and demand curves. What we're really advocating in THIS thread is that some issues are more meaningful than their direct economic impact.

Posted by: Crusader at December 16, 2024 11:20 AM (TN0g+)

94 *reads title*
*throws up*

Posted by: vmom deport deport deport at December 16, 2024 11:21 AM (6U1c2)

95 Off topic but Horde related. A YT channel, craftswithhannie, deals with conservative points of view. The young woman is starting a conservative book discussion as part of her channel. The title is "Books for Deplorables".

Just made me smile.

Posted by: JTB at December 16, 2024 11:21 AM (yTvNw)

96 The Miata was born to have a two rotor Wankel.

Posted by: Grump928(C) at December 16, 2024 11:21 AM (aD39U)

97 I actually saw Chinese Turd Garlic open up for the Harsanyi Cucks at the Electric Factory in Philly in 1996.

Posted by: Cu'chullainn at December 16, 2024 11:21 AM (70sKL)

98 The Japanese, not wanting to pay the tariffs, got around the problem by setting up factories here.*

*disclaimer: My memory is foggy on this as I was definitely well under 29 during this period of history.
Posted by: blake
========
May have started under Carter but Reagan was more effective at the strategy. NUMMI was a joint California auto plant reopened to teach American auto makers how to make cars the Japanese way (made Corollas and some GM badged ones from my memory). Then the focus shifted to US assembling parts made abroad at first by Japanese automakers and then by US automakers.

Our ability to make whole cars including components has withered as many of the components needed to make a car operate come from near and far--Mexico, Malaysia, Vietnam, and a lot from China.

Posted by: whig at December 16, 2024 11:22 AM (ctrM5)

99 Re:$100B investment

These announcements are usually just PR stuff. That $100B figure is like an NFL contract. So an so signs $100M contract but none of that is guaranteed. It could be anywhere between $1M and $100M. Or it could be $0 if he’s injured.

Same with these grandiose investment announcements. Foxconn was supposed to invest a bunch of billions in Wisconsin. Never actually happened.

Posted by: Its Go Time Donald at December 16, 2024 11:22 AM (i+Y/j)

100 What comes from Garlic grown in Human Sewage: “Thass’ a Spicy Meatball!”

Posted by: Tom Servo at December 16, 2024 11:22 AM (wyMQY)

101 I have not been able to find non-Chinese garlic in the grocery stores. I would love to buy an alternative. I hear they grow nice garlic in California.

Posted by: Emmie at December 16, 2024 11:22 AM (Sf2cq)

102 It is undeniably true that tariffs affect supply and demand curves. What we're really advocating in THIS thread is that some issues are more meaningful than their direct economic impact.

IMHO, tariffs are a tool, to be used to achieve a desired goal, and then abandoned as quickly as it is feasible. I have no love for bloated union salaries, which is why tariffs are problematic.

Posted by: Archimedes at December 16, 2024 11:22 AM (xCA6C)

103 What we're really advocating in THIS thread is that some issues are more meaningful than their direct economic impact.
Posted by: Crusader at December 16, 2024 11:20 AM (TN0g+)

Global Trade may help most people but the one's it hurts it hurts catastrophically.

Posted by: Grump928(C) at December 16, 2024 11:22 AM (aD39U)

104 Spice puns

I don't think we've seen that before

Posted by: Don Black. Message: what drone? at December 16, 2024 11:23 AM (/7KEl)

105 The Chinese garlic is trimmed flat, so there are no roots. Some American garlic may be trimmed that way, but it is a good way to begin selecting 1st world food.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at December 16, 2024 11:23 AM (d9fT1)

106 Import tainted dental floss from China is hurting Montana's economy bigly. Hard to be a tycoon under these conditions.

Posted by: Zoot Allures! at December 16, 2024 11:23 AM (G5+As)

107 76 China sewage garlic war.

The cloves are off.

I don't have the thyme for this nonsense.
Posted by: Archimedes at December 16, 2024 11:18 AM (xCA6C)

You might just have to let that stew.

Posted by: jim (in hospital in Kalifornia) at December 16, 2024 11:23 AM (SSBCb)

108 101 I have not been able to find non-Chinese garlic in the grocery stores. I would love to buy an alternative. I hear they grow nice garlic in California.
Posted by: Emmie at December 16, 2024 11:22 AM (Sf2cq)

It's exported from CA on electric trucks. You might see it in the stores by 2028.

Posted by: Roy at December 16, 2024 11:23 AM (z+ik4)

109 I'm going to H-Mart today, and will check for non-Chinese garlic. I really hope they have it.

Posted by: Archimedes at December 16, 2024 11:24 AM (xCA6C)

110 We have shifted from a country that makes things to a country that relies on financialization and services instead.

Posted by: whig at December 16, 2024 11:18 AM (ctrM5)

----------------

Economic (Especially Manufacturing) Security == National Security

Posted by: ShainS -- Could the drones be holographic projections? at December 16, 2024 11:24 AM (8Usj3)

111 Wait so taxes on consumers is a bad thing? OK. Then I expect every Democrat to immediately push for the abolition of all sales taxes.

Posted by: Its Go Time Donald at December 16, 2024 11:24 AM (i+Y/j)

112 The Israeli embassy in Dublin has been closed.

Eylon Levy
@EylonALevy
·
Follow
Ireland has sided with Hamas. You don’t get to falsely accuse us of the worst crime imaginable, lobby for a UN agency whose staff slaughtered Israelis on 10/7, order Israel at the UN to abandon the hostages and expect us to take it sitting down. Now go and repent.

Simon Harris TD
@SimonHarrisTD
Replying to @SimonHarrisTD
Ireland wants a two state solution and for Israel and Palestine to live in peace and security. Ireland will always speak up for human rights and international law. Nothing will distract from that.

====
Fvck off.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at December 16, 2024 11:24 AM (RIvkX)

113 Harsanyi is obviously still peddling the lie, "Everyone needs to go to college."

No, numbnuts, not everyone is geared to go to college. Blue collar skilled tradespeople are still needed. And, the boring repetitive jobs will give a decent living to someone who doesn't aspire to do anything more than put in his or her 8 and go home. There is something to be said for having a job that allows one to leave work at work.

Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing (tT6L1) at December 16, 2024 11:25 AM (tT6L1)

114 We have shifted from a country that makes things to a country that relies on financialization and services instead.
Posted by: whig at December 16, 2024 11:18 AM (ctrM5)

I was just watching a video about manufacturing companies fucking over end users by maintaining a monopoly on service and repair, and making it basically impossible to work on the machine or item THAT YOU OWN, BOUGHT AND PAID FOR, without paying exorbitant fees to their exclusive service providers. I've been aware of the issue for some time but it made it very timely. This is something the Antitrust Division should go after with guns a blazing.

Posted by: It's seriously fucked up at December 16, 2024 11:25 AM (olf63)

115 Spice puns

I don't think we've seen that before
Posted by: Don Black

They've been in abayance for a while.

Posted by: Bulg at December 16, 2024 11:25 AM (v6JzV)

116 We grow garlic here, in Gilroy, CA "Garlic Capitol of the World." Why do we need to import Chinese garlic grown in human waste?

Seems.... sub-optimal all round.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at December 16, 2024 11:25 AM (Q4IgG)

117 I have not been able to find non-Chinese garlic in the grocery stores. I would love to buy an alternative.

Posted by: Emmie at December 16, 2024 11:22 AM (Sf2cq)

Do an internet search for "Gilroy Garlic." That's where a lot of CA garlic is grown, and there are mail order places that will send you nice clean California garlic.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at December 16, 2024 11:25 AM (d9fT1)

118 104 Spice puns

I don't think we've seen that before

gotta be careful, though. spice is a well-known mutagen

Posted by: third-stage guild navigator at December 16, 2024 11:25 AM (v3pYe)

119 It's a learned behavior. Like saying 'Say what you want about the Nazis, but they had snazzy uniforms.' WTF do you need to say that? If you like black, silver and red, does that mean you are down with genocide? It's a protection against lazy thinking that people indulge in all to often- including myself. Lazy thinkers are their own punishment.
Posted by: Aetius451AD at December 16, 2024 11:12 AM (bss/y)

The uniforms were quite sharp.
Posted by: Achtung, baby! at December 16, 2024 11:15 AM (olf63)

_______________

Norman Spinrad wrote at least one sci-fi novel "written" by an alternate-universe Adolf Hitler and it correctly fetished the snazzy uniforms. I read the book as a kid. Thought it was good.

Posted by: Elric The Blade at December 16, 2024 11:25 AM (iFTx/)

120 I used to run a large hydroponic system. I'm looking seriously into setting up a smaller one for my family's vegetable needs in my basement, and maybe tearing up some more of the hillside for root vegetables.

I'm figuring on a combination of an ebb & flow system with rockwool & pebble substrates for the deeper rooted veggies, and an NFT rail setup for the leafy greens and herbs and shallow rooted things. Probably also some orchids for year round tropical flowers in the house.

I've drawn up the schematics for the NFT part. That took a minute. The ebb & flow design should be easier. Then it's just about saving the money I need to construct this boondoggle.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at December 16, 2024 11:26 AM (BI5O2)

121 Every single bit of the above is true. But at the same time I don't want us to abandon (as if it ever became common knowledge) basic economic theory, because it surely has a place in discussions of this type. It is undeniably true that tariffs affect supply and demand curves. What we're really advocating in THIS thread is that some issues are more meaningful than their direct economic impact.
Posted by: Crusader
==========
That is not really the discussion. It is more about how 'free traders' ignore that economics does not happen in a vacuum and trade should always be to the aggregate advantage of the US society rather than a relative few.

I say that as someone with a degree, albeit rusty, and some graduate study in economics.

Real world experience always trumps philosophical musings of elites because principles do not run the world but humans do.

Posted by: whig at December 16, 2024 11:26 AM (ctrM5)

122 96 The Miata was born to have a two rotor Wankel.
Posted by: Grump928(C) at December 16, 2024 11:21 AM (aD39U)

RX-7. Actually had similar looks but without the gaping mouth air intake in front. I think I like the ass end of the Miata better as well, but it is still gorgeous. I'd buy one if I also owned stock in an oil company.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at December 16, 2024 11:26 AM (bss/y)

123 114 I was just watching a video about manufacturing companies fucking over end users by maintaining a monopoly on service and repair, and making it basically impossible to work on the machine or item THAT YOU OWN, BOUGHT AND PAID FOR, without paying exorbitant fees to their exclusive service providers.

this is about me, isn't it?

Posted by: mcdonalds ice cream machine at December 16, 2024 11:26 AM (v3pYe)

124 114 I was just watching a video about manufacturing companies fucking over end users by maintaining a monopoly on service and repair, and making it basically impossible to work on the machine or item THAT YOU OWN, BOUGHT AND PAID FOR, without paying exorbitant fees to their exclusive service providers. I've been aware of the issue for some time but it made it very timely. This is something the Antitrust Division should go after with guns a blazing.
Posted by: It's seriously fucked up at December 16, 2024 11:25 AM (olf63)

Wasn't there just a lawsuit about this, centering around the ice cream machines at fast food places?

Posted by: XTC at December 16, 2024 11:26 AM (UnA8+)

125 Everything from china is shit.

Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division at December 16, 2024 11:27 AM (VwHCD)

126 Saul Sadka
Dec 15, 2024

Follow
If Ireland wants relations with a Jewish State, they should start by coming to terms with their collaborationist past, and taking down the statue of Nazi they proudly display in their capital, Dublin.

Also fine if not. They're far away, have a small economy, and no real army.
Image

Rachel Moiselle
@RachelMoiselle
Hello, all. Breaking news from Ireland.

Israel will be shutting down its embassy here due to ‘the government’s extreme anti-Israel policies’. FM Saar has accused Ireland of ‘antisemitic acts and rhetoric…delegitimization, demonization and double standards’.

@Saul_Sadka

I mean this as a matter of principle: Israel does not need to be friends with nations that honor Nazis. This is quite apart from all the ongoing antisemitism against the tiny number of Jews that remain, and their obsession with the world's only Jewish state.
6:48 AM · Dec 15, 2024
====

No Irish.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at December 16, 2024 11:27 AM (RIvkX)

127 Trump talking about the border wall, and concrete.

Slamming Biden.

Posted by: Deplorable Ian Galt at December 16, 2024 11:27 AM (ufFY8)

128 Do an internet search for "Gilroy Garlic." That's where a lot of CA garlic is grown, and there are mail order places that will send you nice clean California garlic.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo

Gilroy used to bill itself as the Garlic Capital of the World, and would hold an annual garlic festival.

I went to it one year when I was in Monterey. They offered all kinds of garlic dishes, even garlic ice cream.

Posted by: Bulg at December 16, 2024 11:27 AM (v6JzV)

129 To my mind, in an absolutely perfect world, we'd have free trade with everybody. But in such a perfect world, we'd all share the same values and also everybody else would be doing the free trade bit. This will never, ever happen, so trade should at least generally be reciprocal, and yeah, if other countries are using slave labor and shitting on food, then screw 'em.

Posted by: Andy_in_Colorado at December 16, 2024 11:28 AM (tBHkr)

130 I used to run a large hydroponic system. I'm looking seriously into setting up a smaller one for my family's vegetable needs in my basement, and maybe tearing up some more of the hillside for root vegetables.

Dang, that sounds very spendy. Wouldn't the power bill alone make it infeasible except for some very, errrr, specific crops?

Posted by: Archimedes at December 16, 2024 11:28 AM (xCA6C)

131 Our ability to make whole cars including components has withered as many of the components needed to make a car operate come from near and far--Mexico, Malaysia, Vietnam, and a lot from China.
Posted by: whig at December 16, 2024 11:22 AM (ctrM5)
-------------

Hey, whig, hope you're doing well. It didn't surprise me one bit you'd have additional information on this topic.

Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing (tT6L1) at December 16, 2024 11:28 AM (tT6L1)

132 Spice Puns > Spice Girls

Posted by: ShainS -- Could the drones be holographic projections? at December 16, 2024 11:28 AM (He5TQ)

133 I was just watching a video about manufacturing companies fucking over end users by maintaining a monopoly on service and repair, and making it basically impossible to work on the machine or item THAT YOU OWN, BOUGHT AND PAID FOR, without paying exorbitant fees to their exclusive service providers. I've been aware of the issue for some time but it made it very timely. This is something the Antitrust Division should go after with guns a blazing.
Posted by: It's seriously fucked up

Yep. Service economy where hardware is cheap but keeping what you have running is expensive. IBM is one of the companies that pioneered that approach--sell the hardware relatively cheap and make it up via servicing the computer systems and charging fees.

Posted by: whig at December 16, 2024 11:28 AM (ctrM5)

134 Gun control activist David Hogg is running for the position of vice chair of the Democrat National Committee.

Posted by: SMOD at December 16, 2024 11:17 AM (RHGPo)

Local "news" channel going on about "ghost guns"...was Looeegee's piece home made?

Posted by: BignJames at December 16, 2024 11:28 AM (Yj6Os)

135 104 Spice puns

I don't think we've seen that before

gotta be careful, though. spice is a well-known mutagen
Posted by: third-stage guild navigator at December 16, 2024 11:25 AM (v3pYe)

Well, there's Ginger spice, Sporty spice, Scary spice, Posh spice, and Baby spice. That's about it.

It's a '90s thing. You youngsters wouldn't understand.

Posted by: Bubba at December 16, 2024 11:28 AM (Aqu9a)

136 25
‘ my cousin grows garlic, imma start making trips out to Central PA to harvest some
’

Come for the garlic. Stay for the beets.

Posted by: Dwight Shrute. Shrute Family Farms at December 16, 2024 11:28 AM (jbnUc)

137 >>Real world experience always trumps philosophical musings of elites because principles do not run the world but humans do.

Free market economics requires that all partners are operating openly and fairly using the same rules. They don't.

It's a nice academic exercise but it doesn't exist in the real world.

Posted by: JackStraw at December 16, 2024 11:29 AM (LkLld)

138 Au revoir potato-eaters.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at December 16, 2024 11:29 AM (RIvkX)

139 . I think I like the ass end of the Miata better as well, but it is still gorgeous.

No wonder you have to Wankel.

Posted by: anchorbabe fashion cop at December 16, 2024 11:29 AM (ufFY8)

140 Do an internet search for "Gilroy Garlic." That's where a lot of CA garlic is grown, and there are mail order places that will send you nice clean California garlic.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at December 16, 2024 11:25 AM (d9fT1)
--------------

Been through there during harvest. The smell overwhelms the feedlots in the area.

Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing (tT6L1) at December 16, 2024 11:30 AM (tT6L1)

141 Do an internet search for "Gilroy Garlic." That's where a lot of CA garlic is grown, and there are mail order places that will send you nice clean California garlic.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at December 16, 2024 11:25 AM (d9fT1

Shipping costs are an issue. That's why I am looking for garlic in stores where the good stuff might only cost twice as much as Chinese.

Posted by: Emmie at December 16, 2024 11:30 AM (Sf2cq)

142 I went to it one year when I was in Monterey. They offered all kinds of garlic dishes, even garlic ice cream.
Posted by: Bulg at December 16, 2024 11:27 AM (v6JzV)
====

I think the pandemic killed the Garlic Festival.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at December 16, 2024 11:30 AM (RIvkX)

143 Hey, whig, hope you're doing well. It didn't surprise me one bit you'd have additional information on this topic.
Posted by: blake
=====
I was studying economics at college when the shift began to occur and could see it in real life during the 70's and 80's.

Thanks for the kind thoughts. Recovering from an operation in November.

Posted by: whig at December 16, 2024 11:30 AM (ctrM5)

144 Aforementioned RX-7:

https://tinyurl.com/33kxd93a

My miata was a 2001 SE, so, same color, but had polished aluminum wheel and walnut steering wheel, dash bits and gear shift with brown leather seats.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at December 16, 2024 11:30 AM (bss/y)

145 I would love to hear Harsanyi discuss externalized costs.

If the goal of classic liberalism is human flourishing and human liberty, how does free trade with a economic group that extorts and steals labor from its citizens to undercut the productivity of ours promote human flourishing and liberty?

Posted by: Kindltot at December 16, 2024 11:30 AM (D7oie)

146 JTB-
I didn't see your request for chocolate info until later last night.

Here is the place in Occoquan.

https://www.nazbro.com/

Posted by: Archimedes at December 16, 2024 11:31 AM (xCA6C)

147 Turd garlic.

Civet coffee beans.

You humans eat the weirdest shit.

Posted by: Aromara, from Tau Ceti at December 16, 2024

***
Your envoys tried to keep it a secret, but we know you like our carrots in chili. Don't you? DON'T YOU?

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 16, 2024 11:31 AM (J2vNu)

148 I used to run a large hydroponic system. I'm looking seriously into setting up a smaller one for my family's vegetable needs in my basement, and maybe tearing up some more of the hillside for root vegetables.

Dang, that sounds very spendy. Wouldn't the power bill alone make it infeasible except for some very, errrr, specific crops?

Posted by: Archimedes at December 16, 2024 11:28 AM (xCA6C)

Sounds like an invite for DEA.

Posted by: BignJames at December 16, 2024 11:31 AM (Yj6Os)

149 139 . I think I like the ass end of the Miata better as well, but it is still gorgeous.

No wonder you have to Wankel.
Posted by: anchorbabe fashion cop at December 16, 2024 11:29 AM (ufFY

IT'S FUNNY BECAUSE THE WANKEL IS A TYPE OF ENGINE BUT THE FIRST SYLLABLE IS "WANK," A SLANG TERM REFERRING TO MASTURBATION.

Posted by: BEN ROETHLISBERGER at December 16, 2024 11:31 AM (olf63)

150 Is it OK to by Italian olive oil?

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at December 16, 2024 11:32 AM (63Dwl)

151 Nancy Pelosi is likely through as a political force.

https://is.gd/sn21MJ

Posted by: Archimedes at December 16, 2024 11:32 AM (xCA6C)

152 Another view of an RX-7, head on:

https://tinyurl.com/v3uevdst

Posted by: Aetius451AD at December 16, 2024 11:33 AM (bss/y)

153 I have purchased precisely one Chinese product that wasn't substandard, at least in terms of quality. They always win on price.

It's a set of Cangshan cooking knives. They're well made, and they retain a nice edge for a long time between sharpenings, and they sharpen easily when needed. I've been using them for years, I still love them.

But that's it. It's the only high quality, low priced Chinese product I've ever encountered. And it's not *that* low priced, and they use German stock for the blades they make. I think most of the cost is made up on cheap labor alone.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at December 16, 2024 11:33 AM (BI5O2)

154 Same with these grandiose investment announcements. Foxconn was supposed to invest a bunch of billions in Wisconsin. Never actually happened.

Posted by: Its Go Time Donald at December 16, 2024 11:22 AM (i+Y/j)

-----------------

With a name like like FoxConn ...

Posted by: ShainS -- Could the drones be holographic projections? at December 16, 2024 11:33 AM (WoCBj)

155 They pay me to not grow corn.

Posted by: ... at December 16, 2024 11:33 AM (mBGwz)

156 Blue collar skilled tradespeople are still needed.

the BF enjoys quite a nest egg, he never went to college and worked blue collar jobs his whole life

it helped that he worked for companies whose stock multiplied over time, and that he never married/had children.
All that money that didn't go to redecorating the house every other year or trying to outdo the sister-in-law's vacation...it just kept growing and growing and growing

Posted by: kallisto at December 16, 2024 11:34 AM (dCxaZ)

157 Dear Lord, they are going for like 30-60k on autotrader.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at December 16, 2024 11:34 AM (bss/y)

158 I hope the Wicked Witch of the West is done for, I am sure she had a big hand in the 2016 Coup D'etat

Posted by: Skip at December 16, 2024 11:35 AM (AYz4A)

159 I hope the Wicked Witch of the West is done for, I am sure she had a big hand in the 2016 Coup D'etat
Posted by: Skip

You mean 2020?

Posted by: Bulg at December 16, 2024 11:35 AM (v6JzV)

160 Nancy Pelosi is likely through as a political force.

-------------

Force, Farce ... TohMAYtoh TahMAHtoh.

Posted by: ShainS -- Could the drones be holographic projections? at December 16, 2024 11:36 AM (WoCBj)

161 Free market economics requires that all partners are operating openly and fairly using the same rules. They don't.

It's a nice academic exercise but it doesn't exist in the real world.
Posted by: JackStraw
====
There is that but even in the individual matters, during the 18th Century, it was known that Chinese manufacturers followed a process where their initial products were great quality but once the trade had been established, the Chinese then watered down the quality until it was barely tolerable.

Most people distort Adam Smith anyway having never actually read what he wrote in the Wealth of Nations, nor did they ever tie it in with his much less well known earlier work, "A Theory of Moral Sentiments". Unlike people who use his name to propose things that Smith would never agree with, Smith had a balanced and nuanced understanding of international trade including the need for national security.

It was a reaction to the widespread mercantilism school of his time which in a similar way can impoverish countries in the end just as 'free' trade can. Comparative advantage came later from David Ricardo and has been demonstrated to have flawed foundations.

Posted by: whig at December 16, 2024 11:36 AM (ctrM5)

162 "Free Trade" for Americans, with each other, is a good idea. Letting other countries flood our country with shoddy goods, not so much.

Also, it's easy to grow your own garlic, and then to store it for the year. If you have a backyard, please do it. IT'S SO EASY.
https://tinyurl.com/4c7b4c6k

If you don't have a backyard: https://tinyurl.com/2mp9fdut

Posted by: Question Authority bumper sticker at December 16, 2024 11:36 AM (Rbu5d)

163 >>These announcements are usually just PR stuff. That $100B figure is like an NFL contract. So an so signs $100M contract but none of that is guaranteed. It could be anywhere between $1M and $100M. Or it could be $0 if he’s injured.

You know this is the 2nd time Son has made an announcement like this, right? First time was in 2017 when he pledged to invest $50 billion. He did.

He sounds pretty committed to me.

https://tinyurl.com/4d27nuzn

Posted by: JackStraw at December 16, 2024 11:37 AM (LkLld)

164 I cannot remember the last time I bought garlic in the grocery store. Never got in the habit of using it. If the price went up by a factor of ten, it would not bother me one bit.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at December 16, 2024 11:37 AM (8zz6B)

165 I hope the Wicked Witch of the West is done for,

Pelosi is now hip to be rare.

Posted by: The news from H. Lewis at December 16, 2024 11:37 AM (ufFY8)

166 150 Is it OK to by Italian olive oil?

this is a loaded question

many of the legit Italian brands use olives from Spain and Greece, which is fine, because you know...they're all still Mediterranean.

you can get olive oil that is pressed from Italian olives from a website "Olive Oils of Italy"

Posted by: kallisto at December 16, 2024 11:37 AM (dCxaZ)

167 An obvious way to address the problem is with tariffs that take away the cost advantage of China’s sewage garlic. But tariffs are deeply offensive to the Principled Free Traders who are constantly reminding us that “tariffs are a tax on consumers.”

As long as the government spends money, it needs to take money from its citizens.

A tariff splits the cost between domestic consumers and foreign producers.

Our current taxes penalize you for working and investing.

There is no way in which a tariff isn't better in all objective ways, then an income or capital gains tax

Posted by: 18-1 at December 16, 2024 11:38 AM (oZhjI)

168 Excellent.
---
The FDA & USDA appeared to be at least 10 times better - until O&Joe allowed the bloat, overreach and volumes of incomprehensible & dumb laws 'on the books.'

And, extended 'working from home.

>Lets not forget the children's applesauce -
The Examination dot org: 'How lead-tainted applesauce pouches ended up in US stores' Investigations by The Examination, The New York Times and El Universo uncovered food safety lapses that caused hundreds of children to be poisoned by cinnamon that went from Sri Lanka to Ecuador to the United States. By Will Fitzgibbon, February 29, 2024

>Today, 'Why are there so many food recalls right now? Experts share tips to stay safe.' A surge of food recalls linked to outbreaks of E. coli, listeria and salmonella have consumers on high alert. Experts discuss recent recalls and how to stay safe. Oct. 31, 2024

"Our food industry is relying on way more global sourcing of ingredients, so you're increasing the chances for issues,"

>Even internally, though Food Processing positions are growing in the USA, Prevention, 'Why Are There So Many Food Recalls Lately?' Food safety experts break it down. By Korin Miller Published: Dec 12, 2024

Posted by: L - Rooster one day, Feather duster another at December 16, 2024 11:38 AM (NFX2v)

169 I try to get produce, fruits that are locally grown in Texas. Luckily my local HEB has local stuff proudly identified to make it easier for me. Fuck China crap.

Posted by: IC - Cope Harder, Liberals at December 16, 2024 11:38 AM (DJ7uY)

170 Dang, that sounds very spendy. Wouldn't the power bill alone make it infeasible except for some very, errrr, specific crops?

Posted by: Archimedes at December 16, 2024 11:28 AM (xCA6C)

Even for those it's usually spendy. But Ive learned some ways to reduce the costs. The biggest one is a larger number of 400W, metal halide, HPS switchable ballasts instead of the smaller number of 1000W. It's cheaper upfront and over the long run, unless you're looking to grow really tall plants.

If you're careful, you can do this for a similar cost to soil agriculture, for higher yields.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at December 16, 2024 11:38 AM (BI5O2)

171 146 ... Archimedes,

Thanks for the Nazbro chocolate name. Haven't been to Occoquan for many years, since the Lynn fly tying store closed its doors.

Posted by: JTB at December 16, 2024 11:38 AM (yTvNw)

172 That being said, nightsoil is often the fertilizer of choice for any produce not produced in the US or the First World.

I don't really have a problem with that PROVIDED it is properly composted or otherwise sterilized.

I mean, heck, Milorganite fertilizer is the composted and processed solids from ... Milwaukee's?... municipal waste plant.

But because China likes to cut corners wherever they can get away with it, I'm sure theirs is raw sawage.

Posted by: FeatherBlade at December 16, 2024 11:38 AM (hB7mE)

173 Wait until you learn the environment in which Shiitake mushrooms are grown.

Posted by: one hour sober at December 16, 2024 11:38 AM (Y1sOo)

174 It's time for common sense garlic control laws.

Posted by: Your local neighborhood Karen at December 16, 2024 11:38 AM (dg+HA)

175 It was a reaction to the widespread mercantilism school of his time which in a similar way can impoverish countries in the end just as 'free' trade can. Comparative advantage came later from David Ricardo and has been demonstrated to have flawed foundations.
Posted by: whig at December 16, 2024 11:36 AM (ctrM5)

How do you feel about marginal utility?

Posted by: Kindltot at December 16, 2024 11:39 AM (D7oie)

176 I have long been a wary consumer of garlic..... the biggest distributer of both domestically grown and Chinese garlic is Christopher Ranch..... and while jarred garlic sometimes states the country of origin, grocery stores NEVER list the country of origin of garlic bulbs in the produce department...... and many of them are also coming from China.....I really do hope the Trump administration looks at the issue of all the awful foodstuffs the Chinese export to the US

Posted by: Monica at December 16, 2024 11:39 AM (kfQcw)

177 136 25
‘ my cousin grows garlic, imma start making trips out to Central PA to harvest some
’

Come for the garlic. Stay for the beets.
Posted by: Dwight Shrute. Shrute Family Farms at December 16, 2024 11:28 AM (jbnUc)

Avondale PA. Mushroom capital of the Universe.

Posted by: XTC at December 16, 2024 11:39 AM (UnA8+)

178
Yum, yum! Melamine, the new superfood. China technology incredible! US backward.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at December 16, 2024 11:40 AM (6ljK1)

179 72
‘ David Hogg is running for the position of vice chair’

I wish there were a way I could vote for him. Several times. And electronically adjust the vote count in his favor. Anonymously.

Posted by: Dwight Shrute. Shrute Family Farms at December 16, 2024 11:40 AM (jbnUc)

180 Nancy Pelosi is likely through as a political force.

https://is.gd/sn21MJ
Posted by: Archimedes at December 16, 2024 11:32 AM (xCA6C)
-

We were unfortunate enough to know her when she was hip.

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at December 16, 2024 11:40 AM (RVkKz)

181 I use garlic in practically everything. I also have a garlic press which I do like a great deal after years of manually preparing.

Posted by: ... at December 16, 2024 11:40 AM (mBGwz)

182 One clove a month ought to be enough for anybody.

Posted by: Your local neighborhood Karen at December 16, 2024 11:40 AM (dg+HA)

183 I've been in a pretty unforgiving mood with the likes of Pelosi so I'm ambivalent about her ills and if her injury leads to her demise, good.

But, I'd rather seen her in prison first.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at December 16, 2024 11:40 AM (Q4IgG)

184 Spice puns

I don't think we've seen that before
Posted by: Don Black. Message: what drone? at December 16, 2024 11:23 AM (/7KEl)

Yup - and they're cumin along just fine!

Posted by: Doof at December 16, 2024 11:40 AM (jgdZo)

185 Tens of thousands of corpses discovered at Mt Mezzeh in Damascus.

https://tinyurl.com/58vwn3t3

Posted by: San Franpsycho at December 16, 2024 11:40 AM (RIvkX)

186 The Japanese, not wanting to pay the tariffs, got around the problem by setting up factories here.*

*disclaimer: My memory is foggy on this as I was definitely well under 29 during this period of history.
Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing

And that, children, is why Toyota and Subaru are more American manufacturers than Ford.

Posted by: FeatherBlade at December 16, 2024 11:41 AM (hB7mE)

187 151 Nancy Pelosi is likely through as a political force.

https://is.gd/sn21MJ
Posted by: Archimedes at December 16, 2024 11:32 AM (xCA6C)

That article accused Pelosi of having pointy elbows and she could tear a phone book in half.

Posted by: Cuthbert the Witless at December 16, 2024 11:41 AM (OA79/)

188 Mustard everything devolve into silly puns?

Posted by: ... at December 16, 2024 11:41 AM (mBGwz)

189 "asked the driver how they dispose of the waste. It is dumped on land, allowed to compost for a year, then cattle feed on the grasses. Never done on cropland for human consumption."

Sewage treatment plants do put their "sludge" or whatever it is called, on fields for corn, soybeans, etc. It is injected under ground, and is not the same as raw sewage ... but is probably not anywhere close to "sterile" either.

Posted by: illiniwek at December 16, 2024 11:41 AM (Cus5s)

190 How do you feel about marginal utility?
Posted by: Kindltot at December 16, 2024 11:39 AM (D7oie)
====

Marginally more satified.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at December 16, 2024 11:42 AM (RIvkX)

191 Getting a little spicy in here.

Posted by: Oh, no. at December 16, 2024 11:42 AM (dg+HA)

192 Whatever happened with that meat company that had the listeria problem? Were there any repercussions for that?

Posted by: Bulg at December 16, 2024 11:42 AM (v6JzV)

193
Mustard everything devolve into silly puns?
Posted by: ... at December 16, 2024 11:41 AM (mBGwz)

_________

Sage advice.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at December 16, 2024 11:42 AM (6ljK1)

194 Stephen A. Smith quoted Vice President-elect JD Vance, who wrote on X, “For those keeping score at home, this was labeled a dangerous conspiracy theory months ago.”
Posted by: SMOD
___________

You'd think that other shit would start leaking out before Trump comes in so they can put the best possible spin on it, and then call it old news. I mean shit they won't be able to destroy all the evidence on before then.

Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at December 16, 2024 11:43 AM (Dm8we)

195 Wait until you learn the environment in which Shiitake mushrooms are grown.
Posted by: one hour sober at December 16, 2024

***
The name alone warms me to stay far far away.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 16, 2024 11:43 AM (J2vNu)

196 One of the very first things Congress did after being created was to pass the Tariff Act of 1789. It was the 2nd bill Washington signed.

The federal government was financed and built by tariffs and it allowed our manufacturing base to become the most powerful in the world.

Now we just tax ourselves to death.

Posted by: JackStraw at December 16, 2024 11:44 AM (LkLld)

197 Mustard everything devolve into silly puns?
Posted by: ... at December 16, 2024

***
Love goes where my rosemary grows

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 16, 2024 11:44 AM (J2vNu)

198
The biggest one is a larger number of 400W, metal halide, HPS switchable ballasts instead of the smaller number of 1000W. It's cheaper upfront and over the long run, unless you're looking to grow really tall plants.

If you're careful, you can do this for a similar cost to soil agriculture, for higher yields.
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice

How about LED lighting?

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at December 16, 2024 11:44 AM (63Dwl)

199 You can buy California garlic from Gilroy at numerous places online, including Amazon. Christopher Ranch seems to be the big grower that also ships..

Posted by: Jen the original at December 16, 2024 11:45 AM (dqwaj)

200 These puns are thymeless.

Posted by: Groan at December 16, 2024 11:45 AM (dg+HA)

201 Wait until you learn the environment in which Shiitake mushrooms are grown.
Posted by: one hour sober at December 16, 2024

***
The name alone warms me to stay far far away.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 16, 2024 11:43 AM (J2vNu)
-

Yet until now you were fine with "mush rooms"?

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at December 16, 2024 11:45 AM (RVkKz)

202 What gets lost in these conversations is usually the tariff just ends up being a threat and the country in question suddenly finds religion, buys more USA, and now we put the tariff threat away.

Posted by: Leupold at December 16, 2024 11:45 AM (4pwAx)

203 These puns are thymeless.
Posted by: Groan at December 16, 2024 11:45 AM (dg+HA)

--------------

Sage observation.

Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing (tT6L1) at December 16, 2024 11:45 AM (tT6L1)

204 145 I would love to hear Harsanyi discuss externalized costs.

If the goal of classic liberalism is human flourishing and human liberty, how does free trade with a economic group that extorts and steals labor from its citizens to undercut the productivity of ours promote human flourishing and liberty?
Posted by: Kindltot

Even if Harsanyi was an empirical econometrics type, as a practical matter, most studies rely on determining direct effects because it becomes very very difficult to figure out lagging variables (independent variable effects out of sequence with the main dependent variable ) and latent variables (2nd and third order effects etc). Becomes a horrific analysis where you are basically guessing at the proper relationships between your dependent variable and the various independent variables in your analysis.

Posted by: whig at December 16, 2024 11:46 AM (ctrM5)

205 Gotta go, doc appt awaits.

Posted by: whig at December 16, 2024 11:46 AM (ctrM5)

206 Human waste as fertilizer. Wasn't that a plot instrument used in "The Martian "?

Posted by: Archer at December 16, 2024 11:46 AM (IDphi)

207 Garlic was the first food I ever remembered seeing with the "origin: China" on it. Yeah stay away.

The most recent one this thanks giving was canned pumpkin. Walmart brand is from China. Again, stay away. Eat American pumpkin.

Posted by: brak at December 16, 2024 11:47 AM (jGJov)

208 These puns are thymeless.
Posted by: Groan at December 16, 2024 11:45 AM (dg+HA)
-

There comes a point where they begin to a salt one's intelligence.

That's my oponion.

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at December 16, 2024 11:47 AM (RVkKz)

209 Whatever happened with that meat company that had the listeria problem? Were there any repercussions for that?
Posted by: Bulg at December 16, 2024 11:42 AM (v6JzV)

I am told that listeria contamination is due to contaminated water supplies, usually from runoff or leaking roofs or materials brought in from outside the processing area. It is what happens when there is a non cleaned area, or that gets contaminated

"[Listeria] can be found in moist environments, soil, water, decaying vegetation and animals, and can survive and even grow under refrigeration and other food preservation measures"

Posted by: Kindltot at December 16, 2024 11:47 AM (D7oie)

210

Chas loved Chinese garlic!

It made his dick fall off!

Posted by: Peter Bootygig at December 16, 2024 11:47 AM (MlzUl)

211 It's science!

Posted by: Archer at December 16, 2024 11:47 AM (IDphi)

212 Forcing working-class Americans to make things foreigners or machines can make cheaper only undermines the creation of better jobs for them and their children.

Nice conflation. Nobody is against using machines to make stuff in the US. (I mean, union bosses probably are, but that’s not the argument being made about garlic here).

Posted by: Ian S. at December 16, 2024 11:48 AM (3cXfB)

213 Thx Buck. Chinese garlic grown in human poo, cobalt mined by Congo slave children for lithium ion batteries. The Dems sure like them some slaves

Posted by: Smell the Glove at December 16, 2024 11:48 AM (qK9lf)

214 Trump just announced he is going to slap a restraining order on Biden to get him to stop selling off pieces of the wall for pennies on the dollar.

This could get spicy.

Posted by: JackStraw at December 16, 2024 11:48 AM (LkLld)

215 I'm not a fan of bans, etc..... however, I am a fan of full disclosure - Companies are welcome to sell their products, however they must provide full disclosure on how it's grown and who is doing the labor.

Posted by: 2nd Amendment Mother at December 16, 2024 11:48 AM (3aOHH)

216 These puns are thymeless.
Posted by: Groan

All spice puns are.

Posted by: Bulg at December 16, 2024 11:48 AM (v6JzV)

217 To the extent possible, we have cut Chinese products out of our life. Garlic may top the list but any food products, including pet food. Chinese made Schrade pocket knives suck compared to the old American models. We paid comparatively big bucks for a new Lodge USA Enamel dutch oven even though their Chinese version is a quarter of the price. You can extrapolate from there. And any American company that moved their production to China is part of our boycott.

Posted by: JTB at December 16, 2024 11:49 AM (yTvNw)

218 Becomes a horrific analysis where you are basically guessing at the proper relationships between your dependent variable and the various independent variables in your analysis.
Posted by: whig at December 16, 2024 11:46 AM (ctrM5)

which is why most professional economists use "proxies" to draw their conclusions.

Posted by: Kindltot at December 16, 2024 11:49 AM (D7oie)

219 Hard to come up with puns all the time. It's a grind.

Posted by: ... at December 16, 2024 11:49 AM (mBGwz)

220 To bolster the security of the monetary system, the Bureau of Engraving, the Secret Service, and the Advanced Counterfeit Deterrence (ACD) Steering Committee have implemented an initiative to stop U.S. retailers, banks, and ATMs from accepting specific banknotes.

Reports indicate that the dollar bills set to be rejected include those classified as “mutilated” — with cuts, damaged edges, or discoloration. This policy applies to stores and supermarkets such as Target, Walmart, Dollar Tree, Costco, and others.

Currently, the Federal Reserve issues dollar bills in seven denominations: $1, $2, $5, $10, $20, $50, and $100. While $500, $1,000, and $10,000 bills are no longer produced, they remain in circulation. However, these high-denomination notes can be rejected if they meet the “mutilated” criteria, just like any other bill.

Posted by: SMOD at December 16, 2024 11:49 AM (RHGPo)

221 I hear bars are starting to check the IDs of women who are old enoujgh to have children, but look much younger.

The program is called "Card-a-Mom."

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 16, 2024 11:49 AM (J2vNu)

222 Let's reopen the garlic mines of Montana.

Posted by: Grump928(C) at December 16, 2024 11:49 AM (aD39U)

223 it reduces prices for American consumers and allows their paychecks to go further…at least for those who didn’t lose their paychecks by having their jobs offshored.
=
This is what the retarded free traders expect, but they don't bother accounting for the people they put out of work. Those people don't magically get 'better jobs' out of the ether. And they don't magically disappear.

A lot of them go on welfare, and then vote for whoever will 'take care' of them. And then everyone pays for them through income taxes, as much as we would have if we'd bought products of their labor, except that no one has anything to show for it.

So your paycheck doesn't actually go farther, in the long run.

Posted by: Methos at December 16, 2024 11:49 AM (Dnobf)

224 These puns are thymeless.
Posted by: Groan
*
All spice puns are.
Posted by: Bulg at December 16, 2024

***
The spice (puns) must flow

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 16, 2024 11:49 AM (J2vNu)

225 I use garlic often. Might hit the farmers market and see if I can get a braid of garlic grown in Texas. ..

Posted by: lin-duh at December 16, 2024 11:50 AM (WnEm5)

226 Prisoner CNN helped free from Syrian prison was actually notorious Assad regime torturer: report

The prisoner CNN helped free from a secret facility in Syria was actually a notorious member of Bashar al-Assad’s forces known to torture those who refused to pay him off, according to a shocking local fact check.

The network went viral last week with footage of the startled prisoner being led from the prison by journalist Clarissa Ward, who called it “one of the most extraordinary moments I have witnessed” in her 20 years of reporting.

But “independent and unbiased” fact-checkers Verify-Sy published a detailed report Sunday saying that the seemingly innocent prisoner was actually Salama Mohammad Salama — a first lieutenant in Syrian air force intelligence with a long history of alleged war crimes.

Posted by: SMOD at December 16, 2024 11:50 AM (RHGPo)

227 Ha, Trump talking about primary-ing people who are being 'stupid', lol.

Posted by: Deplorable Ian Galt at December 16, 2024 11:50 AM (ufFY8)

228 Chas loved Chinese garlic!

It made his dick fall off!

Posted by: Peter Bootygig at December 16, 2024 11:47 AM (MlzUl)

----------------

Chest-fed babies hardest hit ..

Posted by: ShainS -- Could the drones be holographic projections? at December 16, 2024 11:50 AM (WBPXJ)

229 Let's reopen the garlic mines of Montana.
Posted by: Grump928(C)

The Nez Perce used every part of the garlic plant.

Posted by: Bulg at December 16, 2024 11:50 AM (v6JzV)

230 Thyme is Tight!

Posted by: Booker T at December 16, 2024 11:51 AM (G5+As)

231 These puns are thymeless.
Posted by: Groan

All spice puns are.
Posted by: Bulg at December 16, 2024 11:48 AM (v6JzV)

They must flow.

Posted by: Deplorable Ian Galt at December 16, 2024 11:51 AM (ufFY8)

232 Scientists Say Our Sun Could Release a Deadly ‘Superflare’ At Any Moment

... you COULD also get a bad case of hemorrhoids

Posted by: SMOD at December 16, 2024 11:52 AM (RHGPo)

233 They must flow.
Posted by: Deplorable Ian Galt at December 16, 2024 11:51 AM (ufFY

Good grief, I Amy Schumeted.

Posted by: Deplorable Ian Galt at December 16, 2024 11:52 AM (ufFY8)

234 The press look like a bunch of camels at an oasis after crossing the Sahara desert at Trump's press conference. They haven't gotten to ask questions in years.

I love them calling out "Mr. President! Mr. President"

Posted by: Roy at December 16, 2024 11:52 AM (z+ik4)

235 repost from tech thread, because yours truly wasn't paying attention:

he life expectancy of someone who suffers a serious hip fracture at Nancy's age is about 1 year. Granted, this doesn't take into account the "sold her soul to Satan" codicil she signed a few decades ago...

Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing (tT6L1) at December 16, 2024 07:44 AM (tT6L1

Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing (tT6L1) at December 16, 2024 11:53 AM (tT6L1)

236 How much gar could a garlic lick,
If a garlic could lick gar?

Posted by: Bulg at December 16, 2024 11:53 AM (v6JzV)

237 Prisoner CNN helped free from Syrian prison was actually notorious Assad regime torturer: report

---------------

Has The Junta hired him yet to work in The Garland Archipelago?

Posted by: ShainS -- Could the drones be holographic projections? at December 16, 2024 11:53 AM (WBPXJ)

238 Same folks told us we should have a service economy. Only an "expert" would think that would work.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at December 16, 2024 11:54 AM (NQtI0)

239 Let's reopen the garlic mines of Montana.
Posted by: Grump928(C)
*
The Nez Perce used every part of the garlic plant.
Posted by: Bulg at December 16, 2024

***
They didn't really pierce their noses, as their French name implies. The women, on the other hand, *were* fond of certain piercings. . . .

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 16, 2024 11:54 AM (J2vNu)

240 It amazes me that corporations lack emergency brakes that allow CEOs to destroy businesses that they didn't create through fantasies, misguided policies that are based on drug induced dreams and hallucinations of greatness. Seldom have I seen so many corporations embrace policies like DEI that are guaranteed to destroy a business or homosexuality. The entire climate change bs is the fever dream of the woke, after 50 years not one prediction has come to pass yet the cretins are still braying. I just wish they'd all drink the Kool Aid and leave us alone.

Posted by: TJ Jackson at December 16, 2024 11:55 AM (bXvrr)

241 I saw "Deadly Super Flare" open for "Black Sabbath" in Sun City, AZ back when.

The show was lights out.

Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing (tT6L1) at December 16, 2024 11:55 AM (tT6L1)

242 Trump is riffing and bragging and telling stories.
Awesome.

Posted by: Deplorable Ian Galt at December 16, 2024 11:56 AM (ufFY8)

243 They didn't really pierce their noses, as their French name implies. The women, on the other hand, *were* fond of certain piercings. . . .
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius

They were originally called the Pince-Nezzes, 'cause they were snooty snobs who wore those things to the rain dances.

Posted by: Bulg at December 16, 2024 11:56 AM (v6JzV)

244 1,300,000,000+ people. Really, how much excess waste could there be?

Posted by: Up To Here at December 16, 2024 11:56 AM (G5+As)

245 How much gar could a garlic lick,
If a garlic could lick gar?
Posted by: Bulg at December 16, 2024 11:53 AM (v6JzV)

Teri Garr?

RIP.

Posted by: anchorbabe fashion cop at December 16, 2024 11:57 AM (ufFY8)

246 Good thing that I hate garlic.

Posted by: Mister Scott (Formerly GWS) at December 16, 2024 11:57 AM (Rcnd3)

247 They didn't really pierce their noses, as their French name implies. The women, on the other hand, *were* fond of certain piercings. . . .
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius
___________

Why did pince-nez go out of style? Need a comeback.

Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at December 16, 2024 11:57 AM (Dm8we)

248 It's simple. An idiot can understand it. When two high-skilled, well-paid workforces make trade deals that play to their unique comparative advantages, both profit over the long run.

When they make deals with low skilled, poorly paid workforces that play to the poor countries' bog standard absolute advantages, those more advanced countries lose, and often lose even in the short run.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at December 16, 2024 11:57 AM (BI5O2)

249 FIRST!!!!!

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at December 16, 2024 11:57 AM (9gDA7)

250 Good thing that I hate garlic.
Posted by: Mister Scott (Formerly GWS) at December 16, 2024 11:57 AM (Rcnd3)
--------------

Chorus: "That's because you've not had garlic the way we serve garlic!"

Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing (tT6L1) at December 16, 2024 11:58 AM (tT6L1)

251 So how can you tell if a display case of garlic is from China or not?

Posted by: Advo at December 16, 2024 11:58 AM (jO4mz)

252 Trump just announced he is going to slap a restraining order on Biden to get him to stop selling off pieces of the wall for pennies on the dollar.

This could get spicy.
Posted by: JackStraw

===

Can't Elon also just buy all of it, then sell back to USA?

pennies on the dollar, might make a great profit.

I seriously doubt any judge will move fast enough to stop Biden in a few weeks time.

Posted by: Leupold at December 16, 2024 11:58 AM (4pwAx)

253 Trump re:drones

Our government and military knows, but they want to keep the people in suspense. They should tell the people.

Posted by: Deplorable Ian Galt at December 16, 2024 11:59 AM (ufFY8)

254 Why did pince-nez go out of style? Need a comeback.
Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at December 16, 2024

***
Seconded!

Posted by: The Young Ellery Queen, ca. 1932 at December 16, 2024 11:59 AM (J2vNu)

255 "Why would Americans buy garlic grown in sewage and processed by child slaves rather than buy American-grown garlic? The reason, of course, is that garlic grown in sewage by slave labor is cheaper than domestic garlic, even after being shipped across the Pacific Ocean. "

This is literally the end state of globalism.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at December 16, 2024 11:59 AM (lTGtQ)

256 Place tariffs on all red chinese imports until they recognize the right of the Republic of China to exist, cease their support of the illegal regime in Pyongyang and free Tibet.

Posted by: Zombie Gen. Douglas MacArthur, Incompetent Boob at December 16, 2024 11:59 AM (Jq+og)

257 It's a TAX!!!!!

I love this mentality.

"It will cost BILLIONS to deport all the illegals!!!"

Oh, so we just leave everything the f*ck alone and continue to spiral down the damn drain?

F*CK OFF. It's going to be painful to fix this shit the Dems and RINO's created. The longer we wait, the more painful it becomes.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at December 16, 2024 11:59 AM (9gDA7)

258 So how can you tell if a display case of garlic is from China or not?
Posted by: Advo at December 16, 2024 11:58 AM (jO4mz)

Look at nearby Italians. If they're coughing uncontrollably, you'll know.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at December 16, 2024 12:00 PM (BI5O2)

259 So how can you tell if a display case of garlic is from China or not?
Posted by: Advo

Easy. The Chinese cloves mix up their l's and their r's.

Posted by: Bulg at December 16, 2024 12:00 PM (v6JzV)

260 Good thing that I hate garlic.
Posted by: Mister Scott (Formerly GWS) at December 16, 2024
--------------

Chorus: "That's because you've not had garlic the way we serve garlic!"
Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing (tT6L1) at December 16, 2024

***
There was a restaurant in the Bonnie Brae neighborhood of Denver, east of downtown, that actually said on the canopy outside the front door: "If You Don't Like Garlic, Stay Home!"

They were very proud that Elvis ate there when he was in town doing a show.

Posted by: The Young Ellery Queen, ca. 1932 at December 16, 2024 12:01 PM (J2vNu)

261 and free Tibet

With purchase of a Tibet of equal or greater value.

Posted by: Bulg at December 16, 2024 12:01 PM (v6JzV)

262 My garlic tastes like shit!

Posted by: pudinhead at December 16, 2024 12:02 PM (jFCkp)

263 free Tibet
-----
"Hello, China? I have something you want. But it's going to cost ALL the tea."

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at December 16, 2024 12:02 PM (BI5O2)

264 257 It's a TAX!!!!!

I love this mentality.

"It will cost BILLIONS to deport all the illegals!!!"

Oh, so we just leave everything the f*ck alone and continue to spiral down the damn drain?

F*CK OFF. It's going to be painful to fix this shit the Dems and RINO's created. The longer we wait, the more painful it becomes.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at December 16, 2024 11:59 AM (9gDA7)

========

"We can't spend money we don't have!"
-Democrats, who want to pay for sex change surgeries of illegal immigrants

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, trying to figure out Joel Schumacher at December 16, 2024 12:04 PM (GBKbO)

265 261 and free Tibet

With purchase of a Tibet of equal or greater value.
---------------
Watch out, the mob in Hollywood will put gerbils up your butt - or allege that you put gerbils up your butt.

Posted by: pudinhead at December 16, 2024 12:04 PM (jFCkp)

266 So...some asshole murders a CEO and not a peep from the left about gun control.
Hmmmmm

Posted by: Diogenes at December 16, 2024 12:04 PM (W/lyH)

267 I think it has to be US garlic tumeric serious consideration

Posted by: Don Black. Message: what drone? at December 16, 2024 12:04 PM (/7KEl)

268 Watch out, the mob in Hollywood will put gerbils up your butt - or allege that you put gerbils up your butt.
Posted by: pudinhead at December 16, 2024 12:04 PM (jFCkp)

Tell me about it.

Posted by: Dicky Gere at December 16, 2024 12:05 PM (ufFY8)

269 >and free Tibet

With purchase of a Tibet of equal or greater value.

But wait! There's more...

Posted by: Don Black. Message: what drone? at December 16, 2024 12:06 PM (/7KEl)

270 "David Ricardo and has been demonstrated to have flawed foundations."

This article shows that Ricardo himself recognized a lot of the "flaws" (assumptions), and noted them. But his details were ignored in the lust for cheap labor and in finding places that were free from US standards (pollution, labor, safety, etc.).

"This theory is not a blank check for free trade, but a conditional theory that depends on certain assumptions that may or may not hold."

https://tinyurl.com/4424333b

Posted by: illiniwek at December 16, 2024 12:06 PM (Cus5s)

271 If memory serves, Texas grows a shit ton of garlic. Dittos - California.

Posted by: pudinhead at December 16, 2024 12:07 PM (jFCkp)

272 I want the two chicks in front to bikini-jello wrestle for the privilege of asking Trump the next question.

Posted by: anchorbabe fashion cop at December 16, 2024 12:07 PM (ufFY8)

273 "This theory is not a blank check for free trade, but a conditional theory that depends on certain assumptions that may or may not hold."

https://tinyurl.com/4424333b
Posted by: illiniwek at December 16, 2024 12:06 PM (Cus5s)
------------

Regulation off shored pollution which is now being imported back to the US via food.

Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing (tT6L1) at December 16, 2024 12:08 PM (tT6L1)

274 But wait! There's more...
Posted by: Don Black

Operators are standing by! Call before midnight tomorrow!

Posted by: Bulg at December 16, 2024 12:08 PM (v6JzV)

275 266 So...some asshole murders a CEO and not a peep from the left about gun control.
Hmmmmm
Posted by: Diogenes at December 16, 2024 12:04 PM (W/lyH)

=======

I definitely saw some, but it was effectively background noise.

The focus is very much on celebrating the death of a member of the most powerful ally class the left has.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, trying to figure out Joel Schumacher at December 16, 2024 12:08 PM (GBKbO)

276 Gilroy, California, bills itself as the Garlic Capital of the World, or at least used to.

I hope that's still the case.
Posted by: Bulg at December 16, 2024 11:05 AM (v6JzV)
***

Welcrum to Geeroy! Garick Capitar of World!
Ahhh...you surprize I speak yur ranguage! Study tree year, OooSeeRelRay!

Posted by: Diogenes at December 16, 2024 12:08 PM (W/lyH)

277 240
‘ Seldom have I seen so many corporations embrace policies like DEI that are guaranteed to destroy a business or homosexuality‘

DEI can destroy homosexuality? But I thought they were born that way.

Posted by: Dr. Claw at December 16, 2024 12:08 PM (jbnUc)

278 I want the two chicks in front to bikini-jello wrestle for the privilege of asking Trump the next question.
Posted by: anchorbabe fashion cop

Sorry, big boy. Too late.
-- Zombie Helen Thomas

Posted by: Bulg at December 16, 2024 12:09 PM (v6JzV)

279 277 DEI can destroy homosexuality? But I thought they were born that way.
Posted by: Dr. Claw at December 16, 2024 12:08 PM (jbnUc)

===

"That's our story."
-Groomers

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, trying to figure out Joel Schumacher at December 16, 2024 12:09 PM (GBKbO)

280 Trump slamming CA for still counting votes.

Posted by: Deplorable Ian Galt at December 16, 2024 12:10 PM (ufFY8)

281 280 Trump slamming CA for still counting votes.

Posted by: Deplorable Ian Galt at December 16, 2024 12:10 PM (ufFY

Think they finally finished, like last Friday. Ridiculous.

Posted by: IC - Cope Harder, Liberals at December 16, 2024 12:10 PM (DJ7uY)

282 Canadian Federal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland resigns on the day of giving the Economic Update in Parliament.

Apparently Trudeau approached her on Friday wanting her out of this cabinet position and offered her another. Instead, she chose today to resign and drop a few political bombs on his head in her statement.

Oh, and she did this while another federal minister (Housing) was about to make his statement to the press that he was also resigning from the cabinet.

It's a gong show up here!

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at December 16, 2024 12:10 PM (O7YUW)

283 "Trump slamming CA for still counting votes."

they had to wait until all the watchers went home.

Posted by: illiniwek at December 16, 2024 12:12 PM (Cus5s)

284 Aren't the chicoms already putting their stinky garlic in that Chinese drywall?

Posted by: Rex B at December 16, 2024 12:12 PM (PT7Bh)

285 In the tone of the end of the movie "Hunt for Red October":
https://youtu.be/HCHGFkhxInM?t=85

"Justin, you've lost another cabinet minister?"

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at December 16, 2024 12:13 PM (O7YUW)

286 Why should CA still be counting votes? It's a one party dictatorship. They could just say "Gavin Newsome won every election in the state; he's our governor and all our Mayors and representatives and senators, all hail Gavin, Gavin is life."

Why the pretense?

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at December 16, 2024 12:13 PM (BI5O2)

287 It's a gong show up here!
Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at December 16, 2024 12:10 PM (O7YUW)

You need gong?
We sell you.

Posted by: CCP Gong, Inc. at December 16, 2024 12:13 PM (ufFY8)

288 Posted by: JTB at December 16, 2024 11:49 AM (yTvNw)

same with Le Creuset

their cookware was exclusively French (or at least european made), then at some point they struck a deal with the devil. Their made in China product generates a shit ton of complaints about defects and wear...but they still offer French made product, at a price.

Posted by: kallisto at December 16, 2024 12:13 PM (dCxaZ)

289 Speaking of Chinese . . .

https://is.gd/RjyFnt

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Peppermint Mocha! at December 16, 2024 12:13 PM (L/fGl)

290 286 Why should CA still be counting votes? It's a one party dictatorship. They could just say "Gavin Newsome won every election in the state; he's our governor and all our Mayors and representatives and senators, all hail Gavin, Gavin is life."

Why the pretense?
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at December 16, 2024 12:13 PM (BI5O2)

=======

Because the Soviet Union still had elections.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, trying to figure out Joel Schumacher at December 16, 2024 12:13 PM (GBKbO)

291 Why the pretense?

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at December 16, 2024 12:13 PM (BI5O2)

It's a sexual kink

Posted by: kallisto at December 16, 2024 12:13 PM (dCxaZ)

292 )

284 Aren't the chicoms already putting their stinky garlic in that Chinese drywall?
Posted by: Rex B at December 16, 2024 12:12 PM (PT7Bh)

It's a cement substitute in concrete mix.

Posted by: Cuthbert the Witless at December 16, 2024 12:16 PM (OA79/)

293 It's a cement substitute in concrete mix.
Posted by: Cuthbert the Witless at December 16, 2024 12:16 PM (OA79/)
-------------

Binder in floor tiles.

Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing (tT6L1) at December 16, 2024 12:17 PM (tT6L1)

294 And speaking of food, I'm pretty sure this is racist.

https://is.gd/DMVgnd

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Peppermint Mocha! at December 16, 2024 12:17 PM (L/fGl)

295 Noodus ace CNN

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 16, 2024 12:18 PM (J2vNu)

296 NetFlix Documentary ROTTEN, Prisoners in China peel garlic with their teeth because their fingernails fell off peeling garlic for so long.

Posted by: Patrick From Ohio at December 16, 2024 12:18 PM (FCrpy)

297 It's an Anglo-Saxon word. But wasn't used much, if at all, in traditional English "cuisine."
--
I'll take "beef wellington" over Gefilte fish.

Posted by: Golan Heights at December 16, 2024 12:18 PM (shXco)

298 Why should CA still be counting votes? It's a one party dictatorship. They could just say "Gavin Newsome won every election in the state; he's our governor and all our Mayors and representatives and senators, all hail Gavin, Gavin is life."
Why the pretense?
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at December 16, 2024 12:13 PM (BI5O2)

Because California is a stupid State full of stupid people who do a lot of stupid things.

Posted by: Arnold Schwantznegger, who fucked the maid at December 16, 2024 12:19 PM (Jq+og)

299 " I’m sure the billions of people in developing nations who work tedious menial labor jobs probably don’t find it “fair” that Americans use the savings found in trade to help build unprecedented wealth."

Fuck 'em. They and their ancestors had as much chance to build a society that wasn't based on dirt farming in mud huts and humping livestock and eating each other, and blew it. I don't owe them shit.

Posted by: heya at December 16, 2024 12:19 PM (zmRIu)

300 271 If memory serves, Texas grows a shit ton of garlic. Dittos - California.
Posted by: pudinhead at December 16, 2024 12:07 PM (jFCkp)

Oddly enough the shitton is the Chinese measuring unit of garlic production.

Posted by: Cuthbert the Witless at December 16, 2024 12:19 PM (OA79/)

301 The panic over tariffs tells me that the proceeds are collected by a parasite-free agency.

Posted by: t-bird at December 16, 2024 12:20 PM (OqC0L)

302 >>> FDA is AWOL. Reports have had shrimp laden with antibiotics to disguise the decomposition repeatedly being refused entry in the US until inspectors admit them at another port.

This is my point. To me, using a tariff to solve a food safety problem is like telling someone to get more sleep when they've got cancer.

Fix the root cause.

Posted by: Tinfoil Dispenser at December 16, 2024 12:20 PM (Ij2uN)

303 @294/Anonosaurus Wrecks: That man just made Leroy Jenkins very proud.

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at December 16, 2024 12:20 PM (O7YUW)

304 Speaking of racist . . .

https://is.gd/uDHk8u

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Peppermint Mocha! at December 16, 2024 12:20 PM (L/fGl)

305 296 NetFlix Documentary ROTTEN, Prisoners in China peel garlic with their teeth because their fingernails fell off peeling garlic for so long.
Posted by: Patrick From Ohio at December 16, 2024 12:18 PM (FCrpy)

From the you didn't think it could get worse file.

Posted by: Cuthbert the Witless at December 16, 2024 12:21 PM (OA79/)

306 "Justin, you've lost another cabinet minister?"
Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at December 16, 2024 12:13 PM (O7YUW)

Rats leaving a sinking ship. Liberals are all scum.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at December 16, 2024 12:22 PM (8zz6B)

307
Back in the comms?

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM)[/b at December 16, 2024 12:22 PM (xG4kz)

308 Shoppers from all over the Bay Arwa go to Berkeley Bowl, because it is (by some measures) the largest produce store in the entire USA, with the widest selection of fruits and vegetables. I myself even go there sometimes. I buy every ___ainable kind of produce there - EXCEPT GARLIC. Why not? Because they sell evil Chiense garlic? N! Quite the opposite. In fact, due to pressure from their shoppers, they refuse to sell any Chinese garlic, and will only sell organic garlic grown in California, "to support local farmers."

Sounds good, right?

Well, it's good to the tune of $6 per head of garlic.

Are tbey f'in serious?

Meanwhule down at the Mexican grocery store, you can get a 4-pack of garklic heads for $1.49. For all I know, it's probably grown in China.

So, there's principles, and then there are principles. I hate Communist China, but not to the tune of $6 per head of garlic. I'd rather live a garlic-free lifestyle than pay that much.

Posted by: zombie at December 16, 2024 12:25 PM (pMi6S)

309
Hey Round Eyes -- you lost sight of China's Miracle Chemical, MELAMINE!

Coming soon in foodstuffs to you!

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM)[/b at December 16, 2024 12:26 PM (xG4kz)

310 You drank too much anti-freedom kool-aid.

There are two ways to evening trade, not just the 'raise tariffs" side. Government could also cut regulation (I.e., cost) on the domestic side. Why is it that you never suggest that?!

Of course, cutting regulation (think occupational licensing, and IRS depreciation rules) would diminish government control over the plebes, while imposing tariffs increases government -- is that why you're such a tariff advocate?

Let's not be libertarian about it! More government is always the first answer, right?

Posted by: One-Eye at December 16, 2024 12:27 PM (oE25o)

311 So, there's principles, and then there are principles. I hate Communist China, but not to the tune of $6 per head of garlic. I'd rather live a garlic-free lifestyle than pay that much.
Posted by: zombie at December 16, 2024 12:25 PM (pMi6S)

Your points are well taken. But, in a garlic desert, I'd pay one of my fingers for a bulb of the stuff. It's an inelastic good, AFAIC.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at December 16, 2024 12:29 PM (BI5O2)

312 I do import export for a living.

Some comments on free trade.

1) Communist China is a foreign enemy. Every factory they have may become unavailable during a conflict.
2) They don't free trade.
3) Tariffs now push people to leave China - I am making my products in Vietnam. Chinese factories are moving to mexico. (This is the No. 1 goal - every Chinese factory in Mexico would be available during a war)
4) Inside China, consumers are very cautious about food quality - they especially worry about "out of province" products...if they worry, you'd be a fool to not worry,too.

Posted by: Harun at December 16, 2024 12:30 PM (IuIym)

313 I forgot my main point, but someone else made it:

"There are two ways to evening trade, not just the 'raise tariffs" side. Government could also cut regulation (I.e., cost) on the domestic side. Why is it that you never suggest that?!"

We need to be really careful about relying on tariffs.

Because a lot of our "expense" is government and regulations. Not "high labor"

China has robots now - more than you can imagine...don't think China is poor peasants doing hand work...that's vietnam now.

china has metal press factories that have robots and far fewer workers. America needs to be importing Chinese robots

Posted by: Harun at December 16, 2024 12:33 PM (IuIym)

314 "Tariffs are taxes on consumers" is both true and used disingenuously. The people making that claim usually ignore any other costs/taxes that could be potentially impacted.

Personally, I don't like tariffs as an economic policy, but they are a necessary component of diplomatic policy. Just the THREAT of a broad-bases tariff on goods from Mexico and Canada have both of those countries scrambling to figure out how to comply with the "or else" demands that go along with those proposals.

Our markets are generally better when they're free, but we should also reserve the right to close or limit those markets to anyone acting against our national interest.

Posted by: can of spam at December 16, 2024 12:34 PM (7oNMO)

315 So my argument would be:

Tariff to move production out of China for natsec reasons, but also because China is weird and distorts trade in artificial ways, and they don't allow our products in anymore...6 movies a year...for example.

Then deregulate so some capital comes back to America.

Then stop the deficit spending.

Posted by: Harun at December 16, 2024 12:35 PM (IuIym)

316 But what if other countries just make products cheaper, without using human sewage or slave labor?

Posted by: Kimo Loka at December 16, 2024 12:59 PM (rbcSc)

317 If tariffs were actually a tax, as opposed to mechanisms that acted like a tax, then Democrats would love them. But the attacks on tariffs is simply another move by Democrats to continue outsourcing jobs to other countries. There is no need for the US to be importing garlic from other countries, no matter how much Democrats love fudge.

Posted by: wferrin at December 16, 2024 02:48 PM (GH8cq)

318 About the garlic, if the roots are attached, US product. No roots it’s imported

Posted by: BigG at December 16, 2024 03:05 PM (dhVjM)

319 Just where is the UN Human Rights Commission? Hiding away from the World

Posted by: Tamaa the Drongo Bird at December 16, 2024 05:41 PM (FLiOE)

320 How will ther FJB admin dodge when it is conclusively shown they knew exactly what the drone attack was and promoted it to destabilize the constitution?
Huh???

SOUNDS LIKE, SMELLS LIKE, WALKS LIKE AND TALKS LIKE TREASON full stop.

Posted by: Ray at December 16, 2024 06:29 PM (5wLuE)

321 I voted for Rick Scott and posted his sign on my front lawn for the last four weeks of the campaign. He may be right about the garlic, but what I get at the local Hispanic produce market is far superior and cheaper than that sold at the supermarkets here.

Been using it for over two years with no visible aftereffects. Cloves are large throughout--not just on the outside of the head, and easy to peel and chop. Makes my life a lot easier.

Posted by: Please listen carefully as our menu options have changed at December 16, 2024 08:44 PM (kvDvI)

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