Today the family headed out to enjoy one of the last few days of summer with a picnic in the sunshine. We headed to Marie Curtis Park so the kids could enjoy the splash pad and wading pool, while Melissa and I enjoyed the sun. It was a great afternoon and it's sad to think that there are so few days like this left, before school starts again in the fall. I have lots more pictures, I'm just trying to figure out how best to share them. Stay Tuned.


text:
Car News, Electric vehicles
DeLorean Motor Company is back with an all-new electric car
The maker of the iconic Time Machine from the Back To The Future franchise makes a comeback with an EV version of the famous car.
Teaser for DeLorean's new car. Image by: DeLorean Motor Company
The Texas based manufacturer announced their return to building cars in a tweet, stating the following: "You asked. We listened. We're counting down to the first complete look of the all-new DeLorean. Sign up for exclusive early access on http://Delorean.com to see the car 24 hours before the general public on May 31st. #DeloreanEVolved".
Countdown for early access on DeLorean's website. Image by: DeLorean Motor Company
The company plans to show its new car at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance 2022 automotive show on August 21st .
Whilst being a completely new design, the 2022 edition will feature many of the design elements of the original model seen in Back To The Future, such as the gullwing doors and the same silver paintwork.
DeLorean teased the return of the iconic DMC-12 last year with a poster by Italdesign:
Poster by Italdesign.
The company also published a teaser trailer, titled: 'New Day New Energy' on YouTube:
Are you looking forward to the new DeLorean?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


g77 doesn't accept `PARAMETER I=1'. Supporting this obsolete form of the PARAMETER statement would not be particularly hard, as most of the parsing code is already in place and working.
Until time/money is spent implementing it, you might as well fix your code to use the standard form, `PARAMETER (I=1)' (possibly needing `INTEGER I' preceding the PARAMETER statement as well, otherwise, in the obsolete form of PARAMETER, the type of the variable is set from the type of the constant being assigned to it).


text:
require "rails_helper"

describe GithubAuth do
  describe ".login" do
    let(:auth) { GithubAuth.new(request) }
    let(:request) do
      double(
        headers: {
          "HTTP_X_GITHUB_TOKEN" => "github-token"
        },
        params: {
        }
      )
    end
    subject { auth.login }

    let(:github_client) do
      double(user_teams: github_teams, user: double(login: "k2nr"))
    end

    context "when teams are specified" do
      before do
        allow(Octokit::Client).to receive(:new) { github_client }
        stub_env('GITHUB_ORGANIZATION', 'degica')
        stub_env('GITHUB_DEVELOPER_TEAM', 'developers')
        stub_env('GITHUB_ADMIN_TEAM', 'Admin developers')
      end

      context "when a user belongs to a github admin team" do
        let(:github_teams) do
          [
            double(name: "Admin developers", organization: double(login: "degica"))
          ]
        end
        its(:roles) { is_expected.to eq ["admin"] }
        its(:token) { is_expected.to be_present }
      end

      context "when a user belongs to a github developers team" do
        let(:github_teams) do
          [
            double(name: "developers", organization: double(login: "degica"))
          ]
        end
        its(:roles) { is_expected.to eq ["developer"] }
        its(:token) { is_expected.to be_present }
      end

      context "when a user doesn't belong to allowed github teams" do
        let(:github_teams) do
          [
            double(name: "reviewers", organization: double(login: "degica"))
          ]
        end
        it { is_expected.to be_nil }
      end

      context "when a user doesn't belong to the organization" do
        let(:github_teams) do
          [
            double(name: "Admin developers", organization: double(login: "other_org"))
          ]
        end

        it { is_expected.to be_nil }
      end
    end

    context "when teams are not specified" do
      before do
        allow(Octokit::Client).to receive(:new) { github_client }
        stub_env('GITHUB_ORGANIZATION', 'degica')
        stub_env('GITHUB_DEVELOPER_TEAM', nil)
        stub_env('GITHUB_ADMIN_TEAM', nil)
      end

      let(:github_teams) do
        [
          double(name: "reviewers",  organization: double(login: "degica")),
          double(name: "developers", organization: double(login: "degica"))
        ]
      end

      its(:roles) { is_expected.to eq ["developer", "admin"] }
      its(:token) { is_expected.to be_present }

      context "when a user doesn't belong to the organization" do
        let(:github_teams) do
          [
            double(name: "Admin developers", organization: double(login: "other_org"))
          ]
        end

        it { is_expected.to be_nil }
      end

      context "pick the correct user even if the user already exists in deferent auth" do
        before do
          vault_user = User.create!(
            name: 'someuniquename',
            auth: 'vault',
            token: 'defg',
            roles: []
          )

          vault_user = User.create!(
            name: 'someuniquename',
            auth: 'github',
            token: 'token',
            roles: []
          )
        end

        its(:auth) { is_expected.to eq nil }
        its(:token) { is_expected.to be_present }
      end
    end
  end
end

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
The modern constellation Reticulum is not included in the Three Enclosures and Twenty-Eight Mansions system of traditional Chinese uranography because its stars are too far south for observers in China to know about them prior to the introduction of Western star charts. Based on the work of Xu Guangqi and the German Jesuit missionary Johann Adam Schall von Bell in the late Ming Dynasty, this constellation has been classified as two of the 23 Southern Asterisms (近南極星區, Jìnnánjíxīngōu) under the name Snake's Head (蛇首, Shéshǒu) and White Patches Attached (夾白, Jiābái).

The name of the western constellation in modern Chinese is 網罟座 (wǎng gǔ zuò), meaning "net for birds or fish constellation".

Stars
The map of Chinese constellation in constellation Reticulum area consists of:

See also
Chinese astronomy
Traditional Chinese star names
Chinese constellations

References

Astronomy in China
Reticulum (constellation)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


HOT 97.1 SVG » 10 Years on Top » Common And Oprah Will Make Appearances In Season 2 Of Empire!
Common And Oprah Will Make Appearances In Season 2 Of Empire!
Don't know much about Season 2 of Empire, other than it's definitely happening, and Common and Oprah will both make appearances on Fox's smash hit series.
Lee Daniels told Access Hollywood this week that the Oscar-winning rapper and the media mogul would both guest star on the series he co-created when it returns next season.
"Yes. Yeah. She's gonna be on it," Daniels told Access of Oprah, and "Oh yeah, for sure. For absolutely sure. We're gonna have a good time," he said of Common.
Daniels had previously said he wanted Oprah, who starred in his movie The Butler, on the show. And Common has publicly said he'd like to appear on Empire, which films in his native Chicago. And now it's all happening.
When you've got people winning Oscars and creating massive hit TV shows and generally winning at life, things just seem to fall into place like that.
Empire's two-hour season finale airs March 18.
Jamaican Dancer, Marvin The Beast, Breaks Leg While Dancing To Brand New Spice!
Chris Brown Battery Charges Dropped.
Tommy Lee Sparta Makes Billboard Debut With New Creator!


text:
Q: Navigation Button not working CSS My navigation button is not working. (Menu is not opening).
I have included bootstrap js file too, but then also it is not working.
See the Demo

A:
I suggest you to make change the following script source :
<script src="vendor/jquery/jquery.min.js"></script>
<script src="vendor/bootstrap/js/bootstrap.bundle.min.js"></script>

Change it to  -
<script src="/index/vendor/jquery/jquery.min.js"></script>
<script src="/index/vendor/bootstrap/js/bootstrap.bundle.min.js">

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Discussion in 'Women's Basketball' started by BoxsterCy, Feb 13, 2019.
Running out of chances to see Bridget Carleton. Also a chance to see if Kristen Scott can remain so hot from the field and if the Cyclones can get one of the road wins they are going to need to keep their projected #4 seed and a chance to open the NCAA's in Hilton.
Sorry,you posted whilst I was typing.
Given that TCU is in 5th place with a winning conference record, I expect this to be closer than the 40 point beatdown in Hilton. TCU has a good inside game that can give our girls fits. They are only 1 game behind us in their overall record and actually played Baylor pretty close at Baylor. We should be fine If we keep to our game plan and our girls don't get into foul trouble.
Update: ISU 25 Frogs 19 Closed with a 7 - 0 run.
Carleton with 15 pts on 6-9 shooting.
Finally figured out that I needed to disable my ad blocker in order to see any video. Kind of funny to watch the student activities (wheelbarrow races and shooting baskets) during the break on the livestream.
The scores are all over the place though. Game stats summary was ahead of the livestream which was behind the score on the banner across the livestream. As long as we stay ahead, it's fine. 27-21 right now.
It would be nice if they didn't mask the Iowa State end with the huge defense graphics!
It's their scoreboard video feed so you're going to get that.
Amazing what home court can do. We destroyed them in Hilton.
But many here are used to the way that cyclonestv operates which above and beyond these other big 12 schools do.
Down 40 - 35 qt half. the last five minutes with Carleton on the bench with two fouls was not pretty.
Froggies hanging tough. The sisters better not let this one get away. There's a couple of tougher ones coming up.
Frogs playing aggressive defense, not something we always respond to well on the road. Joens and Middleton aren't handling it that well IMHO. Wise only attempted on shot in 12 minutes. TCU also with five big blocks and six steals.
Someone is going to have to help Carleton and Scott in the 2nd half.
Yeah, WTF is that. It's unwatchable.
Too many possessions here in 4th without Carleton even touching the ball. It's not like she can score all of our points but she needs touches.
This feels like the WVU road game all over again.


text:
A visit to a stately home was one of the requests when my parents joined us in the UK for a holiday earlier this year. We were doing a 'tasting tour' of Britain for a couple of weeks and as we were headed to York for a night, Castle Howard seemed like a good place to visit. My Lonely Planet 'Discover Great Britain' had given it a great wrap, so off we went to check it out for ourselves.
Located just 15 miles from York, Castle Howard is set amongst lush rolling farmland and our first impression was WOW!! The 18th century baroque house is set in 1,000 acres of woodland and gardens, including two lakes, and really makes a statement the minute you set eyes on it.
Castle Howard has been home to the Howard family for over 300 years, originally built for the 3rd Earl of Carlisle by architects Sir John Vanbrugh and Nicholas Hawksmoor. Today, the Hon. Simon Howard and his wife and family live in the house (one wing is open to the public) and its popularity stems from its starring role in the Brideshead Revisted TV series and movie.
The interior of the 'grand country house' is spectacular - I can see why Lonely Planet named it as 'One of the World's Top Ten Greatest Mansions and Grand Houses'. The wing that is open to the public is furnished as it would have been in the 17th century and the walls are lined with original paintings and art.
One of the things that impressed me about Castle Howard were the 'guides' that waited in each room. They were extremely knowledgeable and were happy to answer any questions we had about the house and the family. Unlike visits to other stately homes and palaces, there was no well-rehearsed spiel that every visitor got - these guides answered the questions that interested us and really made our visit more personal.
There aren't too many houses that can boast their own cupola and chapel, but Castle Howard can. The central cupola with its beautiful frescoes is stunning, and the small chapel with its Pre-Raphaelite stained glass windows must be a calming place to worship. One corridor connecting two wings of the house was lined with classical antique busts and an impromptu concert was being performed in the Great Hall when we visited.
Outside the house there is plenty to see and do. We visited on a grey, rainy day so unfortunately we didn't spend very long in the gardens. What we did see, though, was great! The 18th century walled garden houses the vegetable and flower gardens and the acres and acres of parkland and woodland are perfect for the many regular concerts and weddings that are held in the grounds.
Castle Howard offers plenty of 'foodie' experiences, too. We enjoyed a delicious lunch at the Courtyard Cafe in the old stables but you can also dine at the Boathouse Cafe and the Coffee Shop or bring your own picnic - there are plenty of places to sit and enjoy the breathtaking landscape whilst you eat. A farm shop, also located in the Courtyard, offers fresh, local produce with everything from fruit and vegetables to meat and bread on sale.
If you find yourself in Yorkshire, I'd highly recommend a visit to Castle Howard.
Entry fee - GBP14 per adult, GPB12 per senior (admission to house and grounds)
Opening times for the house - late March to late December (Check website for full details)


text:
Facing skills gap, employers send workers to college
Amy Scott Feb 28, 2017
https://www.marketplace.org/2017/02/28/facing-skills-gap-company-sends-workers-college/
Daniel Waller (left) is manager of maintenance systems at Cambridge-Lee Industries in Reading, Pa. With more employees like Waller, 63, nearing retirement, the company is training workers like Alexander Jones, 23, to replace them. Amy Scott/Marketplace
Inside a cavernous building, solid bars of copper are heated and stretched into miles and miles of shiny tubing. This is Cambridge-Lee Industries, in Reading, Pennsylvania. For nearly 75 years, this plant on the Schuylkill River has produced copper tubing, mostly for plumbing, heating and refrigeration.
"Across the United States, Cambridge-Lee copper tubing's in just about one of every four homes," said Mike Fischetti, the company's new vice president of human resources.
Fischetti is facing a challenge a lot of manufacturers in the area have: an aging workforce. During the long manufacturing downturn in the 1990s and 2000s, the factories that survived had no trouble finding skilled workers, he said, and many didn't invest in training younger ones.
"Over time that has now hurt our organization, where we have a population that are very far along in their career that are really good," he said, "but we have this population that we recruited but we never developed."
With the economy growing and about a quarter of the area's manufacturing workforce set to retire in the next 10 years, employers like Cambridge-Lee now find themselves scrambling for skilled workers. At the same time, manufacturing technology has become more sophisticated, requiring more advanced skills. According to the National Skills Coalition, about half of jobs today require education beyond high school but less than a four-year degree.
Before Fischetti arrived, Cambridge-Lee did offer help with training, he said, if employees wanted to do it on their own.
"We said, 'If you want to increase your skillset, pick a class, pay for it, go to it. If you pass, we'll reimburse you,'" he said. "So I asked, 'How effective was that? How many people did that?' And the answer was none."
Why would they go to class in their spare time, he said, when they were working 60 or 70 hours a week? So Fischetti started a new program to send workers to Reading Area Community College. One day a week, they work a half shift and then spend the rest of the day in class, learning how to troubleshoot and repair mechanical breakdowns. The company pays them for their time and travel, and covers the tuition.
In one of the plant's newer buildings, workers unspool shiny copper tubing from giant coils and cut it into long sections. One of the trainees, Alexander Jones, 23, is in charge of making sure the machines keep running properly.
"Today I've been called over here twice already, for just little stuff," he said. "With the add-on of this machine, it's going to be a little different."
The new machine he mentioned will cut sections of tubing automatically to more precise lengths. That takes more sophisticated skills to maintain. In class, Jones is learning how mechanical and hydraulic systems work.
"Now I'm able to understand it a lot quicker and diagnose the issues a lot quicker, which, you know, relates to less downtime for machines," he said.
Those skills could also lead to a few dollars an hour more in pay. The training isn't cheap. It'll cost about $62,000 for the first crop of 16 workers, but Cambridge-Lee will be reimbursed more than half of that with state and federal funds. The company is one of about 20 local employers receiving funding through the Berks County Workforce Development Board to train existing workers.
For most companies, their workers' skills are their most important asset, said Fred Dedrick, CEO of the National Fund for Workforce Solutions, which promotes partnerships between industry and educators.
"Without them being highly skilled, they will go out of business," he said. "That's what's different about advanced manufacturing. You cannot be successful unless you have highly skilled employees."
There's always a risk those skills will walk out the door. But Cambridge-Lee's Mike Fischetti said he believes investing in workers will make them want to stay. And just in case, he has an insurance policy. If workers pass the training and leave within two years, they're on the hook for some of the cost.
Manufacturers seeking workers face competition for talent and an image problem
Forecast is sunny for business
Inside one highly automated Chinese factory
Georgia embraces Germany's apprenticeship model
Not enough skilled factory workers — really?
Manufacturing needs workers. Chicago has plenty. Where's the disconnect?
Middle skills


text:
Hurricane faces Desert Hills in dire rivalry game
Richard Briggs
rbriggs@thespectrum.com
The Hurricane Tigers put it all on the line Wednesday night at home against the Desert Hills Thunder.
Still playing without a region win as the first half of the league schedule comes to a close, the Tigers have the state tournament slipping from their grasp. On the flip side, the Thunder are riding high with a 12-3 record — unbeaten at 5-0 in Region 9.
If there was ever a time for Hurricane to get a big rivalry game victory, this is it.
Opposite Directions
Since Hurricane beat Desert Hills in the 2012 state championship game, the Thunder are undefeated at 4-0 against the Tigers. They won those four games by an average of 13.5 points per game. The Tigers forced overtime on Jan. 31, 2014, and the Thunder outscored them 13-2. Hurricane also missed the playoffs the last two seasons.
Quincy Mathews is having one of those kinds of seasons — a fast track toward Player of the Year. But keep an eye on the recent defensive play from Austin Adams, who made crucial blocks and drew charges to help the Thunder take down the Pine View Panthers.
It could be a rough day for Hurricane's Austen Beatty and James Bennion if Adams protects the paint as well as he has been the last two weeks.
Follow Richard Briggs on Twitter, @BriggsRich.


Home » What is restless legs syndrome?
Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a sensorimotor disorder characterized by a complaint of a strong, nearly irresistible urge to move the limbs. RLS is very common, with around one in six people reporting that they get restless legs symptoms on a reasonably regular basis and most pregnant ladies experiencing restless legs at some stage during the pregnancy, often in the second and third trimester. The diagnosis of restless legs syndrome is made on the basis of symptoms rather than blood tests or other investigations.
What are restless legs symptoms?
Early-onset RLS (prior to age 45 years) is usually more familial and associated with slower progression than late-onset RLS. Some people call this 'primary' RLS. When RLS symptoms come on later in life or during pregnancy they most commonly are 'secondary' to another condition such as iron deficiency, chronic renal failure, medications, peripheral neuropathy or nerve compression.
What should I do if I have RLS?
Many people have RLS symptoms, but often it's just something they notice occasionally and doesn't cause them particular problems. In that case nothing needs to be done. However, if RLS are disturbing, occurring most days, or disrupting sleep, it's worth discussing them with your doctor or health professional.
Your health professional, who knows your clinical history, will look at your overall health to see if there are factors that may be predisposing you to RLS and need to be addressed. It's also important to conduct a neurological examination of the legs to check for neuropathy or nerve compression, and I would also usually check iron levels, as low iron stores (ferritin levels) are associated with RLS symptoms. That requires a blood test.
I also find completing a restless legs severity rating scale helpful as an initial measurement. It helps determine the severity of RLS symptoms and also gives a baseline that can be re-checked to see how people respond to treatment.
A range of treatments for RLS are available, both non-drug and drug-based strategies, that are discussed in this post.


text:
This is Engineering at Canva
March 24, 2015 Josh Graham
When I think about world-class software development teams, I think about shipping, surety, and scale. Approaching software as a craft enables developers to build something that delivers value, has a sense of quality and is aesthetically pleasing (both on the surface and in the code itself), and is able to adapt to the success of the business.
Welcome to Engineering at Canva, our engineering team blog. At Canva, we are lucky enough to not only deal with craft in the way we approach building the software, but also in the care put into the user experience that makes it amazingly simple to create great graphic designs, where craft then blends into art.
In its first 14 months, Canva's user base grew from 1 user to 1 million users, mostly through the word-of-mouth of excited users, helped along by our chief evangelist – the legendary Guy Kawasaki.
This wonderful new application is democratizing graphic design and making it easy for anyone to make stunning designs. Behind the scenes is a team of high quality, passionate software developers. With credentials from other world-class engineering organizations like Google, VMWare, ThoughtWorks, and Atlassian, the Canva engineering team is making our company's vision a reality.
Having benefited from other technologists who go out of their way to share what they've learned with the community, we've prepared some of the stories that have happened along the way and are looking forward to sharing more insights as we scale from 1 million users to 100 million (and beyond). We'll geek out with plenty of code examples…
@Example
class Engineering extends Welcome {
private final Company company = new Company("canva", "Canva", "www.canva.com");
private final Greeting greeting = new Greeting("Welcome to ", company.name, " Engineering");
public Greeting greet() {
return greeting;
…and tips and tricks for you to try out in your own contexts.
The first post will be from the initial member of the engineering team, Dave Hearnden, showing how he overcame one of the challenges he faced building a cloud-based application when he was building Canva from scratch.
We know that most technologists are dedicated and passionate like us – continually researching, learning, and honing our craft. I hope you'll benefit from the glimpses behind the curtain of Engineering at Canva as we show you how we build Canva, so it can be empowering the world to design. If you'd like to join us, why not…


text:
South Circular Road In Dublin Worst For Clamping
Kim Buckley
7:19 AM - 29 Jan 2019
The South Circular Road is the worst blackspot for illegal parking in Dublin.
It's taken over Mespil Road as the location with the greatest number of clamped vehicles.
New figures released by Dublin City Council in The Times Ireland show 799 vehicles were clamped on the South Circular Road last year.
Other high risk areas included Waterloo Road, Merrion Square and Lower Gardiner Street.
Overall the number of vehicles clamped is down 23 per cent - the total figure was just over 43 thousand.
That's being put down to more people taking public transport due to the storms and improved driver behaviour.
However the number of parking tickets issued in other parts of the city has risen, with 1,715 tickets issued on Main Street in Lucan.
Clamping Dublin Dublin City Council South Circular Road
Clamping To Begin Again For Hospital Staff In Dublin
Parking Fines Could Be A Thing Of The Past Under New Proposals
The Coombe Hospital Gave Leftover Vaccines To Family Members
Coronavirus: 13 Further Deaths And 2,944 New Cases In Ireland
Solskjær 'We can play better, but to come away with a point shows how far we've come'
Liverpool v Man Utd | Here are the player ratings from Anfield


text:
Globalized Corporations and the Erosion of State Power
By Brendan Stone
Global Research, May 16, 2007
Today, many academics believe that "transnational forces," especially TNCs, 1 are eroding state power. Embong argues that, "globalization has reconfigured class relations transnationally," and that "sociological analysis that confines itself to single societies is becoming increasingly archaic."2 Sklair has risen to the forefront of a movement in academia postulating that a "trans-national capitalist class" is increasingly assuming control over a global capitalism. Under these circumstances, promoters of this thesis suggest that politicians can only adapt to the convergence of the ascendant supra-state entities that manifest increasing power over society.3
The "rise" of the TNCC is predicated on two basic ideas. First, as Sklair and Robinson postulate, "globalization" is a new process that has internationalized capitalist production and markets to the point where the nation-state is increasingly obsolete.4 Second, the private interests of transnational corporations, which form the basis of capitalist globalization, extend beyond nation states. According to Sklair, TNCs may be situated in a specific country but "citizens of any country" can control them. Their priority is not to enrich or privilege a specific locality, but rather to return profits to shareholders, wherever they may be.5 The writings of Doremus et. al., Gritsch, Weiss, and others, however, suggest an alternative portrait of the world economy. This essay will review some immediate problems with Sklair's concept of the TNCC, followed by some difficulties with the conception of globalization as a qualitatively new process. It will then examine how TNCs are in fact nationally-situated. Presenting a conception of the world of competing capitalist states, dominated by a limited set of AICs, this essay will demonstrate that conceptions of regionalism or state monopoly capitalism are more attractive models for explaining the global economy. These models preclude the development of a TNCC. Fundamentally, the debate traces its roots to a century-old debate among socialists.
Conceptions of and Problems with the TNCC
According to Sklair, a "transnational capitalist class," through the vehicle of transnational corporations, drives the "globalizing project" of capitalism.6 Sklair's definition of the TNCC incorporates corporate CEOs, "globalizing bureaucrats" who facilitate capitalist globalization at all levels of government, politicians and technocrats who serve capitalist globalization, and "consumerist elites" in the sales and media sectors who also further the process.7 Controlling most of the planet's means of production, the TNCC's interests are "globally-linked" rather than national. It is based in global market, and its actions cause further spread of "globalized" capital.8
Some criticisms of Sklair's analysis can be immediately derived from his analysis. Embong voices the most apparent critique, which is that Sklair's definition of the TNCC as four distinct groups is too broad, and unwieldy. Embong has difficulty in classifying the various managers, politicians, and ad-men who play a parasitic role in the production process and assist in the organization of capital as "transnational capitalists."9 In Sklair's definition, the hangers-on of capitalist globalization as well as the capitalists themselves are afforded a class-in-itself. Indeed, class-consciousness presents another problem for Embong. He asks whether all the different managerial, economic, and political members of the TNCC possess the same values, world-view, and goals. Embong points out that elites in Japan and the Scandinavian countries may well wish to provide a "human face" for capitalism, while others lack this desire.10 As Carroll states, it is not clear in Sklair's formulation whether all of these diverse groups have truly "disengaged from their national embeddedness."11
A more contentious aspect of Sklair's definition of the TNCC is that this new capitalist class is not based in the means of production. Sklair justifies this departure from classical political economy by claiming that ownership of "political, organizational, cultural, and knowledge capital" is just as important.12 In fact, Sklair claims that, "direct ownership or control of the means of production is no longer the exclusive criterion for serving the interests of capital."13 Yet ownership of production remains important. As Embong points out, the CEO of Microsoft may enjoy different power relations than a municipal official. Sklair ignores "the most important criterion he himself uses ie a strong economic base and the ability to wield power globally."14 Not all members of Sklair's TNCC, then, are created equal.
The Nature of Globalization
These surface criticisms, however, conceal the deeper underlying problem with Sklair's work, not addressed by Embong's corrections. A key assumption by Sklair, his supporters, and Robinson, is that globalization represents a new stage in capitalism, and a new process of transnational enterprise and production.15 A main opposing view, argued by world-systems theorists, among others, is that capitalist globalization has occurred since circa-1500,16 and transnational corporations and international class actors have always played a significant economic, and sometimes political, role. The British and Dutch East India corporations, for example, possessed a transnational economic basis and heavily influenced state affairs. Critics point out that the best of modern TNCs do not wield as much clout as these old trading companies. "And observe carefully what happened to them," argues Doremus, "when their corporate interests came into conflict with the states in which they were ultimately based."17
Sklair and Robinson argue, as a response, that the globalization of production and new advances in transportation and communications are a separate new process that allows a transnational-capital or a TNCC to predominate. However, Karl Marx identified in 1848 many of the emergent processes of "globalization," and how they were intensified in his era by the industrial revolution: improved communication, faster means of transit, and integrated markets.18 Marx further argued that, "the need of a constantly expanding market for its products chases the bourgeoisie over the whole surface of the globe. It must nestle everywhere, settle everywhere, establish connexions [sic] everywhere."19 There, Marx described not only the tendency of capital to smash through economic barriers and penetrate every country, but also the increased integration of markets. This brings into question Sklair's belief that in the industrial era, "much of the globe was of little interest to capitalists," whereas contemporary capitalists see the exploitation potential for the entire world.20
The example of the wheat trade also demonstrates the early existence of truly global corporations using technology and finance to integrate markets and establish a cross-Atlantic distribution system. [See Appendix A] Examples such as the wheat trade bring into question whether the late twentieth-century quantitative acceleration of the nineteenth-century processes of globalizing capitalism identified by Marx truly led to a qualitative change. Further, the current intensification of trade may not represent a new development so much as a return to the old. International capital flows have increased – or more accurately, returned to something resembling pre-1914 levels. This may be a result of the relief of "autarkic tendencies" caused by the Depression, the world wars, and Fordist Keynesianism,21 and not necessarily a qualitative leap caused by globalization.
Robinson nevertheless attempts to demonstrate that globalization is a qualitatively new process. His main argument in favour of this analysis is that the world has moved from diverse markets connected and integrated by capitalism, to the "globalization" of the capitalist production process itself. Social life, politics, cultures, and institutions, become increasingly undifferentiated across the globe.22 Again, this does not conflict with Marx's earlier analysis that, "all old-established national industries have been destroyed or are daily being destroyed"23 by new capitalist methods of production. Thus, there may not be any sufficient reason to overturn the current understanding of nation-state based capitalism. Marx himself even asserted that production and consumption have increasingly been given a "cosmopolitan"1 character.24 Again, this is something that Robinson believes is new.
While truly globalized corporations have proven to be an attractive idea for academics, these chimaeric corporations have in the past failed to manifest themselves to their prophets. The idea of stateless global corporations gained popularity in the 1960s among theorists such as George Ball, who defined a "cosmocorp" that eschewed economic nationalism. However, with the OPEC crisis of the 1970s and subsequent return to importance of national borders and nationalization, government fiscal and monetary policy, subsidies and protection, and bailouts, caused his idea to fall temporarily into decline.25 There existed also a number of attempts at bi-national corporations in the 1960s and 1970s, however none survived the 1980s. Carroll concludes that transnational corporations, then, are not a historical inevitability under capitalism.26
An alternate vision: Competing blocs of nationally-situated capitalists
National Influences on Corporate Development and The Emerging Regionalism
Rather than the vision shared by Robinson and Sklair of world-spanning transnational corporations harnessed by an intrepid new generation of "outward looking"27 transnational capitalists, Doremus et. al. present a vision of MNCs who structure, and are structured by, the traditions and aims of their home-states. Doremus' analysis posits terms of trade not only where the nation-state is a relevant influence, but also an active promoter of industrial policy that advantages "home" MNCs at the expense of "rival" enterprises. Through their analysis of lead firms, Doremus et. al. demonstrate that the U.S., Germany, and Japan remain home states for the leading MNCs, and present several reasons why these MNCs are "not converging toward global behavioural norms."28
First, MNCs are structurally influenced by the legal climate of their home states. MNCs in Japan, Germany, and the U.S. all differ in their degree of independence from shareholders, merger procedures, and the power of individual shareholders. Further, corporate supervisory boards (with varying degrees of bank control) exist in Germany, and are relatively powerful in Japan, but do not exist in the same capacity in the United States.29 This relates in part to differing goals among national MNCs, where short-term shareholder returns in the U.S., for example, are valued more highly than quality products or employment generation in Germany or the U.S.30 Doremus' findings are congruent with Carroll's, who also found a "contrast between Anglo-American and European business systems."31
Second, Robinson and Sklair give a great deal of emphasis to the role of technology in reshaping international trade and production. However, technological innovation itself continues to require heavy capital investment, often by states. Different states invest in different key sectors (military, science, etc…), whereas others leave it to the free market. Not only does this demonstrate national variation in innovation strategies, but it also affects the nature of MNCs based within those countries.32 For example, Germany and Japan emphasize technological diffusion throughout lower levels of industry in order to assist export manufacturing and subcontracting operations. This diffusion also helps maintain Germany's national plan to train a large number of skilled workers. The U.S., France, and the U.K. tend to focus more on "mission-oriented" technological breakthroughs.33 Significantly, R&D within the MNCs, so crucial to the modern "global" economy, also tends to be concentrated in home AICs. [See Appendix B]
Already, the national deviations focused upon by Doremus et. al. contradicts Sklair, who asserted that the TNCC's interests are "globally-linked" rather than national. To support his contention, Sklair had provided an example of a Philadelphia business school where up to forty percent of graduates were from outside the U.S. "We want to be a school of management for of the world," said a representative, "that just happens to be headquartered in Philadelphia."34 Sklair also used the example of Rupert Murdoch, who changed his Australian nationality to participate in global media.35 As Carroll indicates, Sklair tends to focus on the "self-image" of leading capitalists, who prefer to see themselves as above nation-states.36 In this way, Sklair is committing the elementary error of analyzing classes based on what they say about themselves, and not what they actually are.
While Robinson argues that the interpenetration of FDI between the triad regions (U.S./EU/Japan) serves as an example against regionalism,37 a third major argument by Doremus et. al. is that FDI flows indicate a national or regional investment approach by major powers. Most FDI flows originate from AICs belonging to the OECD countries. These flows vary in direction and intensity. For example, Japan invests more heavily in the U.S. than vice-versa. Conversely, investment between the U.S. and Europe is increasing. In this way, Doremus has referred to "distinctive national styles" of FDI.38 Japan, in this respect, is an interesting counter-example to Sklair and Robinson, because its participation in the global economy has been referred to as a "one-way globalization." There is up to a 20-1 difference in Japan's outward relative to inward investment. Foreign firms employ a miniscule part of Japan's labour force, and account for less than two-percent of sales and total assets.39 Most Japanese mergers are between Japanese companies. Japan's government also rarely prosecutes its own monopolies and, through legal and regulatory mechanisms, excludes foreign competition in markets where Japanese firms are weak.40 In Germany, inward FDI is not as low as in Japan. However, German corporations in conjunction with German banks are able to impede unwanted hostile takeovers, thus preserving German ownership over its industrial base. Doremus also Japanese auto manufacturers' limited ability to penetrate Germany's markets, relative to the United States. European Union rules also can serve to limit inward FDI.41
National Monopolies and the Management of Competition
The auto example, above, is interesting because Robinson writes of the disappearance of national automobile industries. "By the 1990s it was impossible to speak of "US" and "Japanese" auto companies."42 In his view, regional competition between automakers had disappeared, replaced by a "transnational spider's web" in which national identity had lost all meaning.43 However, the above examples demonstrated by Doremus indicate that regionalism is alive and well. While Robinson sees transnationalism evident in TNC investment policy, Doremus et. al. see a national character. What Robinson does not explain is how the solitary vertical integration of nearby developing countries into regional centres through FDI, while the centres themselves attempt to interpenetrate one another – a fact Robinson acknowledges44 – is evidence not of regional competition, but of a transnational capitalism. The contradictions in Robinson's own interpretation of empirical evidence reveal the existence of a different underlying model of global production.
Gowan describes this alternate global production regime in the context of national monopolies. The high organic concentration of capital in AICs, he argues, leads to the need for controlled prices and greater market share, as well as the blocking of new entrants to markets, among the monopolies. Internationally, this translates into the desire for cheap labour, external markets, and strategic materials – all areas in which the state can, and does, aid the monopolies upon which it relies for its wealth.45
While state pursuit of the national capitalist interest can theoretically lead to intense international competition, the fact that national monopolies are not present in every sector, results in decreased levels of direct competition. For example, Britain has been willing to give up on its struggle for a potential leading auto sector against countries such as Germany, who have specialized and become dominant in that area. Britain cedes auto dominance on the assumption that it can find a "champion" in a different key sector of the economy.46
The search for key sector dominance in national monopolies can be understood in the context of regional blocs such as the EU. While superficially the EU's Single Market was presented as an "attempt to break down barriers to international competition within the EU," Gowan argues its real purpose was to find a harmony between the different "national champions." The EU appeals to European national capitals because the EU can exercise protectionism, threaten to exclude other protectionist states from the EU market, and conduct national export promotion.47
While Robinson argues that "the material basis for the nation-state is presently being superseded by globalization,"48 and downplays the role of international competition, Gritsch and Weiss have supported Gowan's analysis by bringing forth further attention to the twin phenomena of regionalism and state-driven globalization. The Advanced Industrialized Countries, suggest their works, structure trade agreements to gain advantages in an environment characterized by competition between nation-states. Gritsch investigated how a select group consisting of the U.S. and G7 nations are responsible for most current important economic agreements.49 She refers to state action, such as national labour policy, federal legal structures, subsidies, technical assistance, loans, tariff control, dispute regulation mechanisms, and "intervention in capital/labour conflicts,"50 as evidence that the state is still very much a required actor that plays an important role in fostering international trade.
National borders have not lost their import. Weiss explains that the TRIPS and TRIMS rules of the GATT allows states to place "national security controls" on key trade in a vague and unspecified manner, ultimately allowing subsidies to selected industries. States can protect home markets by ordering their own MNCs to export some of their goods. They can maintain local ownership requirements, allowing domestic capital to keep some equity. They can even negotiate the nature of foreign trade imports, both by controlling whether or not foreign MNCs establish some production within their state borders, and by requiring a portion of R&D investment to be situated locally.51 The ability to subsidize exports also continues under the WTO. [See Appendix C]
High-tech industry promotion is considered acceptable under the OECD and WTO rules. It is only subsidies for expansion of productive industries "such as shipbuilding or steel" that are prohibited in AICs.52 Thanks to the shaping of these rules, AIC leaders such as Japan, the U.S., and the U.K. have been able to pursue strategic state activism in biotech, nanotechnology, pharmaceuticals, IT, electronics, advanced materials, health research, and the automobile industry.53 States, including the U.K. and the U.S., are also highly involved in venture capital promotion. The Korean government controls 52% of shares in VC firms. "Thus, unlike Silicon Valley, where venture capital arose largely from market forces, in Korea, the industry has emerged from state initiative."54 Weiss also provides evidence that government procurement, and "dedicated export promotion finance and infrastructure" also remain levers of state activism.55
Inter-Capitalist Competition
The above evidence suggests that the AICs have structured themselves to compete in a world market, possessing for themselves superiority in the presumed lucrative high-tech industries, while locking NICs into what are seen as less profitable manufacturing and resource extraction. The precedent for this system of international relations is known as monopoly capitalism. Popularized initially by Lenin, it is the stage of capitalism Robinson believes we have surpassed. While some may consider references to Lenin as a 'rehashing' of warmed-over socialist theory, the debates he participated in continue to bear relevance for social scientists attempting to interpret global political economy today. As Gill indicates, the idea of capitalists co-operating across nation-states, potentially in the context of a decreasingly stratified or combative array of nation states, is itself derived from early socialists such as Kautsky, and the theory of "ultra-imperialism."56 The question is over which theory best describes the present situation. Gritsch's research appears to support Lenin's thesis.
As Gritsch states, "While most FDI occurs to directly access consumer markets, a portion involves advanced states' manufacturing in lower-cost, more politically tractable sites (typically in less advanced states), for export to home nation or global markets."57 This aspect of "globalization" allows nationally-based AIC firms to enhance their capital accumulation and low-cost vertical integration. Moreover, through NAFTA, "U.S. investors gained access to Mexico's previously protected banking and financial services sectors and to its newly privatized transportation infrastructures." Mexico cannot emulate this behaviour, because of "restrictive U.S. regulations." Instead, the credit and interest rate restriction imposed by NAFTA limit the liquidity of Mexican capital, and its ability to compete with the developed world. Japanese GDP, meanwhile, flows to wherever labour is cheapest, from South Korea to, more recently, China.58
Not only do AICs dominate developing countries' economies, but their capital interpenetration, an issue struggled over by Robinson and Doremus, truly represents an attempt to infiltrate competing markets. Gritsch argues that one cause of the decline in trade barriers is states' desire to open competing foreign markets for penetration, while at the same time themselves erecting protectionist barriers, or repudiating international agreements. The U.S. for example, is non-compliant with multiple WTO resolutions, and has subsidized its own exporters. Japan refused to tear down protectionist barriers during its 1998-2003 WTO negotiations, limits foreign access to its government sectors, and has erected severe tariffs on certain raw materials and low-intensity manufacturing products. English and Irish governments reclassified U.S. computer technology as "telecommunications" in order to increase tariffs, causing U.S. firms to lose $50 million. The U.S. successfully contested this action.59
It is not the basis for nation-state governments that is in decline, but rather the basis for the imaginary transnational capitalist class. Transnational corporations are structured by their nation-state environments, and as national "champions," work with their national government to promote the interests of their state. Aspects of globalization said to modify the international 'playing field' have in fact existed throughout the growth of national capitalism, and were identified by Marx more than a century prior to the collapse of Keynesian Welfare State protectionism. The alleged unity of capitalists across national borders is a fiction. Sklair and Robinson confuse multilateral trade agreements, which are themselves heavily-structured by states, for the actions of a unified ruling class. In reality, these agreements and trade pacts are merely the result of competing national capitalists reaching tenuous agreements on how to structure trade.
In Lenin's critique of Kautsky's theory, Lenin agreed that various groups of national capitalists could form alliances with one another. He used the examples of military alliances, and also the division of China between leading capitalist powers. However, Lenin stressed the temporary or situational nature of these alliances.60 The same logic applies today. Authors such as Davis argue that, in the post World War II environment of competition between capitalism and socialism, the U.S. led an organic alliance of other capitalist powers with the purpose of preserving capitalism against alternate systems of competition.61
Today, Gill states, with the end of the Soviet Union, it is arguable that the U.S. co-operates less with its capitalist allies than it did in the cold war period.62 With the United States creating rifts between Europe and Japan over its wars of conquest in Central Asia, and competing with China for influence in South America and Africa, it is likely that the future will hold increasing inter-capitalist rivalry across nation-states, rather than a move towards unification.
1 What Marx meant by "cosmopolitan" is that in every country, elements from other nations and cultures influence production methods, and the demand for products, and that people distributed throughout the world increasingly consume elements of other cultures.
1 Sklair, Leslie, The Transnational Capitalist Class, Malden: Blackwell, 2001, p. 2.
2Embong, Abdul R., "Globalization and Transnational Class Relations: Some Problems of Conceptualization," Third World Quarterly 21 (2000): pp. 990, 992.
3Doremus, Paul, William Keller, Louis Pauly, and Simon Reich, The Myth of the Global Corporation, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1998, p. 3.
4 Robinson, William I., Transnational Conflicts : Central America, Social Change, and Globalization, New York: Verso, 2003, pp. 10-12, and Sklair (2001), pp. 2-4.
5 Sklair (2001), pp. 2, 4.
6 Ibid, pp. 1-2, 5.
7 Embong (2000), p. 993, and Sklair (2001), pp. 4, 17.
8 Sklair (2001), pp. 16-18.
9 Embong (2000), pp. 993-994.
11Carroll, William K., and Meindert Fennema, "Is There a Transnational Business Community?" International Sociology 17 (2002): 396.
12 Sklair (2001), p. 17.
13 Embong (2000), p. 993, and Sklair (2001), p. 17.
14 Embong (2000), p. 994.
15 Embong (2000), p. 990, and Robinson (2003), p. 10. Sklair has described a "Global Systems Theory" that privileges modern globalization as a distinct process and as a transformation of capitalism. [Sklair (2001), p. 4.] As Embong states, "globalization is a new phase in the development of finance capital in particular." [Embong (2000), p. 990.] While Sklair acknowledges that previously, capitalism and imperialism used to be directed by nation states, transnational forces now drive capitalist globalization. In this context, nation-states are, in many cases, no longer "the most important parts of the world," and instead, "private rather than national interests prevail across borders." [Sklair (2001), pp. 2-3.]
16 Robinson (2003), pp. 11-12.
17 Doremus et. al. (1998), p. 19.
18 "Modern industry has established the world market, for which the discovery of America paved the way. This market has given an immense development to commerce, to navigation, to communication by land. This development has, in its turn, reacted on the extension of industry; and in proportion as industry, commerce, navigation, railways extended, in the same proportion the bourgeoisie developed, increased its capital, and pushed into the background every class handed down from the Middle Ages." [Marx, Karl, & Engels, Frederick, "Manifesto of the Communist Party," Karl Marx and Frederick Engels Selected Works, Vol 1, Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1973, p. 32.]
19 Ibid, p. 35.
21 Carroll and Fennema (2002), pp. 395-396.
23 Marx (1973), p. 35. Marx even stated, "the bourgeoisie, by the rapid improvement of all instruments of production, by the immensely facilitated means of communication, draws all, even the most barbarian, nations into civilization." [Ibid, p. 36.]
25 Doremus et. al. (1998), pp. 11-12.
26 Carroll and Fennema (2002), p. 395.
27 Sklair (2001), pp. 20-21.
28 Doremus et. al. (1998), pp. 3-4.
29 Doremus et. al. (1998), pp.23-34, and Carroll and Fennema (2002), p. 399.
30 Doremus et. al. (1998), pp. 53-4.
33 Ibid, pp. 62-74.
34 Sklair (2001), pp. 18, 20.
37 Robinson (2003), p. 27.
41 Ibid, pp. 76-8.
45Gowan, Peter, The Global Gamble: Washington's Faustian Bid for World Dominance, New York: Verso, 1999, pp. 63-65.
49 Gritsch, Maria, "The Nation-State and Economic Globalization: Soft Geopolitics and Increased State Autonomy?" Review of International Political Economy 12:1 (2005): pp. 2-3, 5-6.
50 Ibid, pp. 8, 15-16.
51 Weiss, Linda, "Global Governance, National Strategies: How Industrialized States Make Room to Move Under the WTO," Review of International Political Economy 12:5 (2005): pp. 726-7.
53 Ibid, pp. 732-34.
55 Ibid, pp. 736-739.
56 Gill, Stephen, Power and Resistance in the New World Order, New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003, p. 77.
57 Gritsch (2005), pp. 8-9.
60 Lenin, V.I., "Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism," Lenin Selected Works, Vol 1, Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1973, p. 115.
61 Gill (2003), p. 83.
AICs – Advanced Industrialized Countries
G7/G8 – The Group of Seven/Eight is an official organization composed primarily of the most economically-significant industrialized democracies that represent most of the world economy.
FDI – Foreign Direct Investment
GDP – Gross Domestic Product
NICs – Newly Industrialized Countries
NAFTA – North American Free Trade Agreement
OECD – Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development
OPEC – Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Companies
UK – United Kingdom
US – United States of America
MNCs – Multi-National Corporations. The term is used in reference to corporations that conduct and manage business, for example, through subsidiaries or branch operations, in more than one country.
TNCs – Trans-National Corporations. The term is the same as MNCs, but usually used in reference to the idea of truly "trans-national" corporations in conjunction with the Robinson and Sklair theses.
In other words, the terms MNC and TNC refer to the same type of organization, but the term TNC is more commonly used in association with the idea of transnational capital, whereas MNC is typically used in denial of the idea of transnational capital.
TNCC – Trans-National Capitalist Class
Copyright © Brendan Stone, Global Research, 2007
Articles by: Brendan Stone


Steven A. Riley attended law school and graduated from Vanderbilt University Law School in 1978.
Steven Riley is an attorney at Riley Warnock & Jacobson, PLC, helping people with Business Litigation issues. Riley Warnock & Jacobson, PLC has an office in Nashville, Tennessee, serving the local community.
Steven Riley was selected to Super Lawyers for 2006 - 2018. Super Lawyers is an exclusive list of top-rated attorneys in specific practice areas who were chosen after thorough evaluation of numerous criteria.
In addition to addressing Business Litigation legal needs, he also assists clients with Securities Litigation and General Litigation issues.


INAA took the chance to set up this forum the day before Absoluce's annual meeting, allowing our French members to easily attend the event.
Special thanks to the Absoluce team, who made this possible, and invited Nadège to present INAA to all of their members on Thursday.
Following the success of the first edition in Amsterdam last year, the first day was dedicated to English courses with experienced language tutors. 14 attendees enjoyed this opportunity, coming from France, Italy, Poland, Spain and the Netherlands, and were really enthusiastic about this session.
After the entire day in face-to-face learning they were offered a 3 months membership to a very efficient e-learning tool: 7Speaking to help them progress further with their learning.
Almost 50 delegates and staff members attended this Tax & Audit Forum in the lovely city of Lyon, with really high level presentations! You will find below a short summary, as well as the links to download the slides. Feel free to share this really interesting content with your staff! The links contain all of the information necessary for those who were unfortunate enough to miss the event this year.
The rules of evaluation of companies in France and how the evaluating barometer can help you?


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TQ White II
Pelosi State of the Union Reply
Since our new hero, Nancy Pelosi, trolled Fuckface about the State of the Union, I ended up thinking about the democratic response and how they would utter dumb platitudes. So I wrote a better speech. Perhaps you will like it...
LAST NOVEMBER, the American people, for the second time, voted for Democrats. In 2016, a bizarre fluke in our Constitution managed to give the Presidency to Donald Trump anyway. This time, an overwhelming majority voted for Democrats with the clear intent, if polls are to be believed, that we act as a counterweight to the psychotic pull of Donald Trump's personality.
The State of the Union is dire in many ways. In a normal year, I would talk to you about climate change, DACA and economic stimulus. This year, only one thing matters: Our government is being destroyed.
In case you missed it, let me be clear about what happened. Donald Trump said, Give me $5.7 billion for a wall. We made a counteroffer. We said, we hate the wall but we will give you $1.6 billion. Donald agreed and a deal was made.
Then Laura Ingraham, Rush Limbaugh and Tucker Carlsen were mean to Donald and he reneged.
Since then, we've been waiting for a counteroffer. He's says $5.7. We said $1.6, he says… Crickets.
So we wait. Lately people have been saying that Democrats should say what their affirmative border security policy is. This is it: DACA. Otherwise, there is no emergency. Illegal immigration is at historic lows. Undocumented immigrants are not rampaging the landscape with hammers. They continue to commit crimes, especially violent ones, at lower rates than other Americans.
Yes. I know. Donald told us several nasty stories this January but, my fellow Americans, anecdotes are not data. A guy in Wisconsin killed two people, kidnapped their daughter and held her captive. You don't see me saying we should kick out all uneducated white men.
The truth is that there is no need for a wall. The President is lying when he says it is essential. We have lived for hundreds of years without one and America still stands. It is economically unwise. It is terrible for the environment. It is an awful contradiction to America's self-image. It is pointless except as an exercise to inflate Donald Trump's ego. If you want to control illegal immigration, put walls around airports where all the science says illegal immigration really happens.
If the President gets over his ego and makes a reasonable offer, we will make a reasonable counteroffer and get the government back to business. We have already made one counteroffer. We passed bills allowing him to open the non-immigration parts of the government. His response, also crickets.
So much for the master dealmaker. He's figuring that Democrats will cave to his tantrum as public opinion forces our hand. The polls show that the American people are smarter than that. They heard him say he wanted a shutdown. He's got it. Apparently he likes holding government employees hostage.
I want to add that Mitch McConnell has shown himself to be an awful wimp and has betrayed his oath of office. He is a Senator. There is absolutely nothing in that job description that talks about being the President's legislative director. He has an obligation to the country. HIs failure to allow voting on the bills the House has passed is nothing short of un-American.
I am under no illusion that either Mitch or Donald will cooperate with us. Democrats will continue to act as responsible legislators. We will understand the problems in our society and look for solutions. We will pass bills that are well considered and practical. They will not become law but will serve as evidence that the American people can use to imagine a decent future as they make their electoral choices in the next election.
What Democrats will not do is submit to the nasty impulses of the nutcase in the Oval Office. He cannot be trusted and just giving him what we wants, especially when it's stupid will only encourage future tantrums. Do us all a favor and picket the White House and the State houses of Republican governors. Tell them that you understand that Donald Trump is playing with the lives of 800,000 people in order to try to bully me. Tell them that you understand that I have had many men try to bully me in my life. It won't work.
Then donate to Democratic candidates A dollar for a Democrat is a vote for sanity.
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Tag: European Union
How will Tusk's re-appointment affect Polish politics?
Poland's right-wing government suffered its most high profile defeat to date when it failed to prevent the re-appointment of Donald Tusk, whom it accused of interfering in Polish domestic politics, as European Council president, raising concerns that the country was becoming isolated on the European Union's periphery. Opinion polls show a slump in the ruling party's lead and boost for the main opposition grouping but it is unclear whether this is a political turning point or short-term blip.
April 7, 2017 - Aleks Szczerbiak
The European quandary of Tusk's re-election
On March 9th, Donald Tusk was re-elected as the President of the European Council for the second time despite the opposition of his home country, Poland. His candidacy and eventual reappointment for a second term has been challenged by the Polish government led by Prime Minister Beata Szydło. He will hold the position until the end of 2019.
March 21, 2017 - Antonio Scancariello
Georgia: Unpicking the Soviet past
Georgia is among those few former Soviet countries that fought for independence. The euphoric sense of freedom in the wake of the dissolution of the Soviet Union, however, started to slip away soon as the disturbing reality of the Soviet legacy took over before Georgians' eyes. Living for nearly 70 years under the Russian yoke had completely incapacitated their ability to self-govern. Inexperienced in how to build up state institutions from scratch in a way which would safeguard the inclusivity and diversity of their traditionally heterogeneous society, Georgians became embroiled in a string of ethnic and civil wars throughout the 1990s. The initial attempt to embrace freedom of expression, market economy and other western values, so alien to the Soviet system, backfired as Georgia slowly descended into poverty and chaos.
March 16, 2017 - Shalva Dzidziguri
Civil society in Ukraine: A sled dog, not a watchdog
Ukraine: The European frontier - a blog curated by Valerii Pekar.
March 6, 2017 - Valerii Pekar
Energy union. Time for delivery
If the European Union's ambition is to attain secure, sustainable, competitive and affordable energy for every European, member states should agree on how, when, and to what extent they would be ready to ensure energy solidarity and transparency among them. In the case of natural gas, this could well require strengthening the European Commission's supervisory powers, at least for some time, in order to accelerate completion of the internal energy market and improving coordination of interactions with third countries, such as LNG exporters.
July 18, 2016 - Jarosław Ćwiek-Karpowicz
The future of Ukraine is the future of Europe
I often say that what happened in Polish-Ukrainian relations after the fall of the Berlin Wall was a geopolitical revolution. I compare it to the French and German reconciliation in the 1950s. While that laid the foundation for a new post-war Europe, a Polish-Ukrainian reconciliation creates the possibility of this construction extending further East. Moreover, the stakes in Polish-Ukrainian relations always were, and indeed continue to be, about more than just Poland and Ukraine.
July 13, 2016 - Yaroslav Hrytsak
EU Association Agreements can become engines of change, even if they do not lead to membership
An interview with Barbara Lippert, Director of Research in the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP). Interviewer: Agnieszka Pikulicka-Wilczewska.
July 6, 2016 - Barbara Lippert
Resolving borders and building bridges
When we think back to June 1991, we see great value in the treaty between Poland and Germany. It was a new beginning in relations between the two states. Yet, the treaty was more than bilateral, it was also a building bloc in the construction of a new Europe, without which there would be no united Germany, NATO or the European Union. Every time I cross the Polish-German border, which nowadays is merely a formal line, seeing as there are no controls or checkpoints, I feel like a free European. I feel the positive aspect of history and the great decisions that led us here. I write this because as a teenager, I experienced a completely different reality, a continent divided by the iron curtain. Even in the 1990s, a time when Poland was already free and Germany had united, cross-border travel was not as pleasant an experience as it is today, because the Oder and Nysa rivers marked the periphery of the European Union. At that time, we still had to wait at the border and go through border control.
June 16, 2016 - Basil Kerski
Equal partners in a united Europe
Interview with Hans Gert Pöttering, President of the European Parliament ret. and Chairman of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung. Interviewer: Maciej Makulski MACIEJ MAKULSKI: Can we, as Europeans, be proud citizens of the European Union these days? HANS GERT PÖTTERING: I can only give you an answer from my own political experience. When I was elected to the European […]
June 5, 2016 - Maciej Makulski
Bulgaria on course to diversify gas supply
Bulgaria has recently moved closer to diversifying its sources of natural gas supply. This time, it seems it may be happening with less geopolitical grandeur and fanfare. After years of flirting with Russia over its monster pipeline projects on the Balkans, a 182km long gas interconnector link with Greece may do the trick. The source? Most probably Azerbaijani gas.
June 2, 2016 - Kamen Kraev
EU-Ukraine Trade Agreement. Challenges and Opportunities
In April 2015 Ukraine was granted free access to the European Union's internal market due to the EU's unilateral elimination of both tariff and non-tariff barriers. In 2015, 98.1 per cent of EU's tariff duties were cancelled under the provisions of the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (DCFTA) with Ukraine. In practice this means that Ukrainian producers can now sell their products to EU customers without paying custom tariffs on most goods. Apart from simple trade liberalisation through the removal of custom tariffs, the DCFTA also introduced the reduction or removal of non-tariff barriers, the liberalisation of an investment regime, the liberalisation of trade in services and the harmonisation and mutual recognition of regulative and institutional frameworks related to trade and investment.
May 30, 2016 - Maryna Kornilova
Russia, Ukraine and European energy security
An interview with Natalia Slobodian, a National Centre for Strategic Studies energy expert living in Kyiv. Interviewer: Wojciech Jakóbik
May 26, 2016 - Nataliia Slobodian
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