International Economics 101
What do you think of when you hear the term “trade war”?
The costs and benefits to society are very similar to traditional warfare.
1) Financial Cost. A war is expensive. In a trade war, huge tariffs are placed on the purchase of imports. A tariff is a sales tax paid for by the citizen. Quite often this tax can be as high as 45% or the product even banned altogether. The tax is paid by the citizen to their government. The financial loss from the in-efficiency of paying large taxes is a tremendous burden on the country’s own citizens. In addition, there are usually large costs to the private sector. These costs can include high interest rates, inflation and loss of value to liquid assets. The standard of living declines.
2) Casualties / Loss Of Life. Millions of people are maimed or die in a trade war. The easiest examples in recent history would be the impacts on baby formula or pharmaceuticals. Hundreds-of-thousands of children, as well as, adults in need of medication died because these items were targeted in trade wars. Another example is maiming children by targeting vitamin A (causing childhood blindness.) Typically, trade wars impact the most vulnerable first — babies, the sick and the elderly.
The field of consumer behavior is a social science that studies the psychology of consumerism. There are five basic psychological tactics to marketing:
* emotional and psychological appeals
* optimize credibility by highlighting your flaws
* re-position your competition
* promote exclusivity
* introduce fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD)
Fear is very powerful in marketing. An example of fear advertising happened when Lyndon Johnson ran against Barry Goldwater in 1964. Johnson wanted to stoke public fear that Goldwater would cause a nuclear war. The “Daisy ad” or “Peace, Little Girl” ran only one time. It showed a little girl picking petals from a daisy, followed by a nuclear explosion and Johnson ominously stating, “These are the stakes. To make a world in which all of God’s children can live, or to go into the dark.” Johnson won, carried 44 states, and took 61% of the vote in a landslide victory.
One of the first companies to use FUD as its business model is Tupperware. They pioneered the direct marketing strategy made famous by the Tupperware party. “A Tupperware party is run by a Tupperware ‘consultant’ for a host who invites friends and neighbors into his or her home to see the product line. Tupperware hosts are rewarded with free products based on the level of sales made at their party. Parties also take place in workplaces, schools, and other community groups.”
When friends and neighbors attend a Tupperware party, the host introduces fear, uncertainty, and doubt to the participants. The consumer is made to worry what their friends and neighbors will think of them if they don’t make a purchase. There is fear of being publicly humiliated and doubt whether you will be un-friended.
The most disturbing use of FUD is Donald J. Trump. The Donald has used every trick in the book when it comes to using fear, uncertainty and doubt to motivate people. The current atmosphere makes one wonder — “Has America turned into a giant Tupperware party?”
France said the number of cyber attacks against the defence ministry have doubled each year. 24,000 attacks had been thwarted in 2016.
Security services have warded off attacks aimed at “tarnishing the image of the ministry as well as strategic attacks – harassment, surveillance, espionage – and even attempts to disrupt our drone systems,” Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said. “Thankfully, our defences were sufficient and none of these attacks were successful.”
“France reserves the right to respond by all means it deems appropriate,” he said. “That could be through the cyber arsenal at our disposal but also by conventional means. Everything would depend on the effects of the attack.”
“If there was an attempt to influence or manipulate the US presidential election, it would be a very serious incident. If it were led by a state government, it would be an intolerable interference. Targeting a country’s electoral process is an attack on its democratic foundations and its sovereignty, he added. Of course our services have discussed the issue, if only to learn lessons for the future,” said Le Drian
France plans to deploy 2,600 “digital soldiers” by 2019.
On March 10, 1945, the United States sent 334 B-29 bombers to raid Japan with 279 of the planes dropping 1,665 tons of bombs on Tokyo. Approximately 15.8 square miles of the city was destroyed and some 100,000 people are estimated to have died.
Operation Meetinghouse — “The bombs were mostly the 500-pound E-46 cluster bombs which released 38 napalm-carrying M-69 incendiary bomblets at an altitude of 2,000–2,500 ft. The M-69s punched through thin roofing material or landed on the ground; in either case they ignited 3–5 seconds later, throwing out a jet of flaming napalm globs.” (Wikipedia)
Though copyrights and patents are generally thought to protect the creator from the public, sometimes they may be thought to protect the public from the creator.
A copyright offers protection to literary and musical works. In the United States a copyright’s duration is usually for the life of the author plus 70 years. The laws vary from country to country. Mein Kampf is a book written by Adolf Hitler while he was in prison. When Hitler died, the rights passed to the Bavarian authorities. Some people consider Mein Kampf to be the most dangerous book ever written. The expiration of the copyright is in December 2015. “The Bavarians have used copyright to control republication of Mein Kampf but that control is coming to an end – what happens next? This is still a dangerous book – there are issues with neo-Nazis, and a danger of people misinterpreting it if it’s not put into context,” says John Murphy, whose grandfather translated the first unabridged English language version in 1936.
In the United States, a utility patents’ term is 20 years. Monsanto says, “The first-generation Roundup Ready® soybean trait – the world’s most widely adopted biotech trait, planted by farmers on billions of acres since 1996 — comes off patent in 2015.”
The United States’ Senate Intelligence Committee released a 6,000 page report detailing how the CIA tortured prisoners at Bagram, Guantanamo Bay, and Abu Ghraib. A 480 page summary gives a troubling overview. The BBC reports:
Were the interrogation methods – torture if you like – more extensive and more brutal than previously admitted? It looks like the conclusion is “Yes”
Did these interrogation techniques deliver life-saving intelligence to the US? That answer appears to be “No”
Were CIA officials at the time honest with the White House about the program? Again, “No”
Dianne Feinstein, who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, referred to “Enhanced Interrogation Techniques” as torture.
Richard was born in 1452 at Fotheringhay Castle in Northamptonshire
His coronation took place in Westminster Abbey in 1483
Richard had one of the shortest reigns in British history – 26 months
He was the last English king to die in battle, killed at Bosworth in 1485
King Richard III was probably killed by two blows to the head during a “sustained attack”, according to new scientific research. Forensic teams studied the skeleton to determine the nature of the injuries and weapons that were used.
The English king was killed at the Battle of Bosworth on 22 August, 1485.
Forensic teams at the University of Leicester have now revealed he suffered at least 11 injuries, some possibly inflicted after death.
CT scans were used on his 500-year-old skeleton to help determine his injuries and the medieval weapons used.
His remains were found under a car park in Leicester in 2012.
The results of forensic analysis, published in The Lancet, show he had nine wounds to the skull and two to the postcranial skeleton.
Researchers said three of these “had the potential to cause death quickly”.
Wounds To The Head
Sarah Hainsworth, study author and professor of materials engineering, said: “Richard’s injuries represent a sustained attack or an attack by several assailants with weapons from the later medieval period.
“Wounds to the skull suggest he was not wearing a helmet, and the absence of defensive wounds on his arms and hands indicate he was still armoured at the time of his death.”
Guy Rutty, from the East Midlands pathology unit, said the two fatal injuries to the skull were likely to have been caused by a sword, a staff weapon such as halberd or bill, or the tip of an edged weapon.
He said: “Richard’s head injuries are consistent with some near-contemporary accounts of the battle, which suggest Richard abandoned his horse after it became stuck in a mire and was killed while fighting his enemies.”
Investigators said they believed damage to the pelvis was caused by a thin dagger stabbed into the buttocks. While this injury could in theory have caused fatal bleeding, it was unlikely to have been the cause of death as Richard’s armour would have protected this part of the body.
They suggested this wound, along with another to a rib, was likely to have been inflicted after death, possibly when the body was slung over a horse.
Researchers said there could have been more wounds to soft tissue which left no trace on the skeleton.
King Richard’s skeleton is due to be reinterred at Leicester Cathedral in March.
Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated on June 28, 1914. Franz Ferdinand was the heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne. His assassination started the chain of events that led to World War I.
His assassination in Sarajevo precipitated Austria-Hungary’s declaration of war against Serbia. This caused the Central Powers (including Germany and Austria-Hungary) and the Allies of World War I (countries allied with Serbia or Serbia’s allies) to declare war on each other, starting World War I.
— Wikipedia
World War I lasted until November 11, 1918. 9 million soldiers died in the war.
In 2002, a Scottish Indie band was formed that took the name Franz Ferdinand. “Mainly we just liked the way it sounded,” says Bob Hardy (bass guitar). “We liked the alliteration.” “He was an incredible figure as well,” continues Alex Kapranos (lead vocals). “His life, or at least the ending of it, was the catalyst for the complete transformation of the world and that is what we want our music to be. But I don’t want to over-intellectualize the name thing. Basically a name should just sound good … like music.” Paul Thomson (drums) offered, “I like the idea that, if we become popular, maybe the words Franz Ferdinand will make people think of the band instead of the historical figure”
