gehringer_2

Where the US has lost it's way on international trade and tariffs is not on the issue of tariffs per se - they are just a means to some particular end in a given situation. The paradigm error has been the belief in the myth of 'comparative advantage,' which has led the US to be far too sanguine about ceding away economic capacity in far too many spheres. Comparative advantage is a myth for much of the world's GDP activity. Sure, Chile may have copper and Ukraine may have rich soil, but there are virtually no significant innate geographical or resource advantages in the vast majority of the production cases that generate wealth around today's world economy. The real drivers of what we often accepted as 'comparative advantage' has in many cases been one of two things: active industrial policies on the part of the nations we compete with and the offshoring of environmental and pollution hazards to countries more willing to subject their citizens to the risks. But for much of the modern tech economy, nations can become 'comparatively' efficient producers of most anything they *choose* to. And this can hold even in cases where one might think geographic or resources comparative advantage should come into play. For instance, even when the US was importing a high percentage of our oil supplies, we had one of the worlds more efficient (i.e. "advantaged") refining industries. To come full circle, tariffs have been the tool of choice for US competitors to create much of the 'comparative' advantage that mushy brained US economic leaders have rolled over for as inevitabilities.

At least from the Clinton "New Democrats" movement the Dems have been big time globalists and Biden is the 1st Democratic President to push back against that in any serious way so I wouldn't say it is accurate to say "Dems love tariffs" is applicable to much recent history. They may not have been as radically globalist as some in the GOP, but there was very little dissent from free-trade conventional wisdom from either party for 30 yrs or more.

If the rest doesn't work, can we at least move Veleno? A bag of FoxTrax pucks maybe?

I can't speak to Putin's mind, but consider that he's putting a fair effort into making Navalny suffer not in the least for exposing Putin's wealth. Maybe it's part of the whole doublethink process. Maybe to openly flaunt something while repressing any discussion about it as though it didn't exist is part of the overall operant conditioning to produce intellectual immobility and political passivity.

Yeah - his logs don't show any career games anywhere other than 1B, RF, LF. Was also curious why he would project Meadows as a platoon OF when so far he is showing no platoon split against LHP over the last year at all. Not a huge sample yet but enough that one would maybe wait and see instead of just assuming conventional wisdom that lefties can't hit lefties. He might not hit enough period, but L/R isn't an apparent issue.

Spare us Monty. Killian Hayes has already been paid $24M for being possibly the least productive regular player in the NBA. No one needs to cry for him if you outright cut him not only because of that but also because he'll likely go back to Europe and make nice bit more pocket change.

But one other question does merit being raised - why at this point in history? Power has swung back and forth between liberal and conservative forces before (and at least since 1863) without either side deciding they had to take their ball and go home. I can only conclude that the problem this time is the people on the other side look less alike than they used to. When one group of white fraternity bros from Yale was losing to another maybe from State U, that was all in the family. But when the folks on the other side don't like your churches, tell you your ideas about human sexuality are anchored in ancient prejudices and on top of it all, they are so many different skin colors, then it all becomes too much.

But it's not because they think an election was stolen, it's exactly because they do know after all that is wasn't. The US actually does need a new Constitutional convention because the existing setup one has produced a government that has become strongly unbalanced in an anti-democratic direction - but it's to the advantage of the Reds. So for them reform toward more democracy is a losing proposition and they know it. That's why the specter of Strong Man/Fascist government doesn't move them to fear, they know if that figure comes in the name of protecting their prerogatives they will not be worse off than if the proper voting power were actually to flow the majority of people, who don't share their politics, and they lose their position of minority control or at least outsized minority leverage. It's actually rational behavior not based on a false premise but the real situation. The false premise is just the cover - a way to justify refusing to keep playing the democracy game if it means they will be the ones losing elections.

Nope. But I don't even want another forward - I want an upgrade on D. They are already scoring plenty of goals and Kane has only played in 19.

Pretty terrible defensive effort the whole game. Sens should have scored about 5.

On a related note I hadn't seen until the Lions played SF that old friend Brian Griese had gone into coaching and was now Brock Purdy's quarterback whisperer.

they all look the same....

Just looked at the 1st round of the 2018 draft. Pretty terrible year. Mize won't have to do a lot to still end up the best player taken.

Well, QB is certainly up there, but even a great QB won't help you if your GM can't draft. Have to have both. Our very own Lions have proven that with the coaching carousel Stafford played for when he was here.

Exactly. Lindsay has plenty of talent and more than enough smarts, just zero courage.

Harris did leave the door slightly ajar for the future - I took that to mean that if down the road (as in maybe next year) Keith's shoulder health proves out the fact that he can play 3B comes back into the mix. But my take would be that if can manage 2b at all reasonably, they want to protect his arm for at least this season.

A GM would have to be as bad as Weaver to even think about trading for Hayes. That's a high bar.

He'd not only not run a program, he had no college coaching (read recruiting) experience of any kind. No less In the era of 'one and done' when you need to rebuild the team virtually every year.

..and she has bigger hands than Trump.

There are guys who are sort of born fielders - and I don't mean in the sense of necessarily being all-stars but just in the sense that they have the instincts to make the right play the right way and for them moving from one position to another doesn't really phase them - then there are the guys that have to work at it - who have to learn what they have to do at each spot on the field. When Keith talks about fielding he sounds like he's in the second group. When Jung talks about it it sounds like he's in the 1st.

Sportrac says we have him through next year. https://www.spotrac.com/nhl/detroit-red-wings/alex-lyon-18903/

No doubt. And it's too bad because I think he could be more of an offensive force if allowed, but right now the Wings don't need that from him. Yzerman is being more patient that I could be in his shoes. I want to see if Edvinsson can cut it now and if not get a deal made to bring in another top half Dman. Other than the goal tending that's what can cement their playoff chances.

And then still didn't do the right thing. I think it was obvious from pretty much day one that Willi wasn't a MLB middle IF. If they had sent him straight to LF they might have gotten more of the production out him the Twins did last year.

There is more in the Freep story today about a labrum taking 'years' to heal completely.

To me they are both still big question marks; Lyon because he hasn't done it long enough to start believing he's improved that much from his career norm, Husso because he wasn't playing that well before he went down.