July 11 Open Thread: Everything Falls Apart

Filed in Featured, National by on July 11, 2018

Trump trashes Germany and NATO in his opening salvo at the NATO summit in Brussels:

“Germany, as far as I’m concerned, is captive to Russia because it’s getting so much of its energy from Russia,” Trump told NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, in a fiery on-camera exchange that was nearly without precedent in the history of the post-World War II alliance.

“We have to talk about the billions and billions of dollars that’s being paid to the country we’re supposed to be protecting you against,” Trump said, referring to European purchases of Russian natural gas.

That boy ain’t right.

It’s a DAIRY DISASTA! Not my words, the words of a Veep with the National Chamber of Commerce.  Thanks to Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminum, Mexico has imposed 25% tariffs on American cheese and dairy products. This will not, um, play well in the midwest. The grim statistics:

How significant are U.S. cheese exports to Mexico? Check out these facts from USDEC:

  • Mexico is the No. 1  U.S. cheese export market.
  • In 2017, the United States held a 75% share of Mexico’s cheese import market.
  • U.S. cheese shipments to Mexico were valued at $391 million last year.
  • Last year’s U.S. cheese exports to Mexico increased 8% in value over 2016.
  • Mexico accounts for 28% of total U.S. cheese exports.
  • U.S. suppliers shipped 96,413 tons of cheese to Mexico in 2017.
  • Over the last decade, both the volume and value of U.S. cheese exports to Mexico have nearly tripled.

All of this is in jeopardy due to Trump’s tariffs on Mexico. Somewhere, Vlad the Impaler smiles.

Here’s what Obama has been doing, and will be doing, throughout the election season.

Trump Vs. The Breast-Feeders: Part Deux.

Trump To Immigrant Moms: Pay for DNA tests or you’ll never see your kids again.

Finally, as an antidote to this relentless depressing litany, .the article you didn’t know you wanted to read. Yes, I must be speaking, of course, about the origin story of one of music’s greatest guilty pleasures, that ode to ‘nooners’, ‘Afternoon Delight’ by the Starland Vocal Band.  Oh, and to send you off humming that tune and perhaps providing some inspiration for later on, here is one of my fave bands providing their interpretation:

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  1. puck says:

    It occurs to me that Trump’s blustering and threatening to pull out of alliances and cut off funding is exactly how the hard left wants to treat Israel.

  2. True Blue says:

    My sister is a dairy farmer in PA, the farm is in it’s third generation and they just lost it.

  3. RE Vanella says:

    Israel is an Apartheid state whose ethnic and religious separation is violently enforced.

    That’s an important detail.

    They’re settling the West Bank and implementing a blockade of Gaza.

    Drawing a simple parallel is silly.

  4. bamboozer says:

    Love Lake Street Dive, killer harmonies go along way towards blocking out the cringe worthy original. As for the cringe worthy Trump imagine sitting at the table while he dishes out his daily dose of madness. (insert shudder emoji here).

  5. RE Vanella says:

    Missus & I saw Lake Street Dive at Union Transfer. Good stuff.

  6. RE Vanella says:

    Especially for Mitch. Just ran across this photo.

    “Stonewall means Fight Back!”

    https://mobile.twitter.com/meakoopa/status/903814666870251520/photo/1

  7. RE Vanella says:

    Come on, England. It’s coming home.

  8. mouse says:

    It’s mostly religious nuts obsessed with Israel and when the Jews don’t convert at the Christian nut party, they are condemned to hell. It’s fake support based on fanaticism

  9. This is amazing in Spanish. Don’t know what they’re saying, but they sure are excited.

  10. RE Vanella says:

    Great tournament. Underrated.

  11. RE Vanella says:

    Ahhh… Maybe not. Great match

  12. GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL! CROATIA!

    Gotta say, England looked a little disorganized the last few minutes. Not that I know anything about futbol.

  13. RE Vanella says:

    Without knowing anything, you’ve sorted it out.

    Great match.

  14. SussexWatcher says:

    Carper is trumpeting that he got the state party endorsement.

  15. Another Mike says:

    England did not capitalize on all those opportunities in the first half.

    And I’m going to see Lake Street Dive this fall, and I can’t wait. They go down smooth.

  16. Jason330 says:

    “Democrats in Delaware soon will be seeing Facebook ads attacking Sen. Tom Carper for his past votes on U.S. Supreme Court nominees.

    The ads are being paid for by the Working Families Party, a New York-based coalition of unions and activists that will announce Thursday its endorsement of Carper’s primary opponent Kerri Harris – an insurgent progressive and political newcomer from Dover.”

    Fuck yeah! Keep ignoring us Tom. That works.