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To: Winfastorlose who wrote (1200115)	2/9/2020 4:15:28 PM
From: FJB	1 Recommendation Recommended By locogringo Respond to of 1573899

Nine in 10 Americans are satisfied with the way things are going in their personal life, a new high in Gallup’s four-decade trend. Nine in 10 Americans are satisfied with the way things are going in their personal life, a new high in Gallup’s four-decade trend. https://t.co/BNybDmrtw3 — GallupNews (@GallupNews) February 6, 2020

To: Winfastorlose who wrote (1200115)	2/9/2020 5:35:50 PM
From: sylvester80	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1573899

ANTARCTICA HITS 65 DEGREES, HIGHEST TEMPERATURE EVER RECORDED ON CONTINENT huffpost.com Cracks in the Pine Island Glacier have “grown rapidly” in just the last few days, reports the World Meteorological Organization. By Mary Papenfuss In a rattling new development, a research station in Antarctica registered the highest temperature ever recorded on the icy continent: 64.9 degrees Fahrenheit. Argentina’s Esperanza Base on the northern edge of Antarctica’s Trinity Peninsula marked the high (18.3 Celsius) on Thursday. The previous record was 63.5 degrees on March 24, 2015. The United Nations’ World Meteorological Organization is organizing a panel of experts to verify the finding. But a WMO statement noted: “Everything we have seen thus far indicates a likely legitimate record.” The record is startling because the last one was set just five years ago, and the new one is almost 1 degree higher, climate scientist James Renwick of Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand told The Guardian. “To have a new record set that quickly is surprising — but who knows how long that will last? Possibly not that long at all,” warned Renwick, who has helped verify other records in the past. More extreme warmth is likely in the area in the next few days with temperatures as high as 50 degrees above normal predicted by some weather models. The Antarctic Peninsula is among the fastest-warming regions of the planet, according to the WMO. Average temperatures have soared 5 degrees in just 50 years, threatening the ice shelf and glaciers, which can catastrophically increase sea levels as they melt. The amount of ice lost annually from the continent’s ice sheet increased at least sixfold from 1979 to 2017. Cracks in the massive Pine Island Glacier “have been growing rapidly” in the last few days, as shown on satellite images, according to the WMO. Thursday’s record high follows Earth’s warmest January on record. Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) called the new high temperature “insane.” Others on Twitter had similar reactions. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer quipped to readers that if they needed a break from chilly city weather, they could head to Antarctica. Twitter responses also noted it was warmer in Antarctica than in New Orleans, San Diego and Los Angeles. This New World The current capitalist system is broken. Get updates on our progress toward building a fairer world.

To: Winfastorlose who wrote (1200115)	2/9/2020 5:44:50 PM
From: sylvester80	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1573899

THE LOSS OF U.S. MANUFACTURING JOBS IS ACCELERATING UNDER LIAR tRump... The myth of the manufacturing jobs renaissance By Kate Trafecante, CNN Business Updated 3:12 PM ET, Sun February 9, 2020 cnn.com New York (CNN Business)US manufacturing jobs have disappeared. They won't be coming back. The Trump administration wants voters to believe in a US manufacturing renaissance -- proof of economic success as America barrels toward election day. President Trump in his State of the Union address Tuesday once again took credit for "restoring our Nation's manufacturing," claiming that the United States "has gained 12,000 new factories under my administration, with thousands upon thousands of plants and factories being planned or built. We have created over half a million new manufacturing jobs." Those numbers are largely accurate, and US factory activity expanded in January. But the manufacturing industry is hemorrhaging jobs, losing more than 4 million over the past twenty years. The problem is growth is concentrated in a few outlier industries -- pharmaceuticals, computers, semiconductors -- that boost output while employing only a fraction of the workers in traditional factories. Those jobs aren't coming back Despite the White House's promises, nothing will restore a 1960s-style mass employment on the assembly lines. The new manufacturing reality is an industry of specialized high-tech work that requires less manpower, or lower paid, non-union jobs. The jobs growth Trump cites is coming from emerging US industries -- such as American shale -- or were sparked by a post-recession shopping-spree for items already produced domestically, like cars. Other industries are hurting. "Most companies are in wait and see mode," says Sree Ramaswamy, Partner at McKinsey & Company, citing a decade old economic expansion and slowing global growth. And with tariff costs and uncertain demand, "most companies are not in a hurry to open a new factory or add a new product line." Decades of decline The manufacturing industry has been in a steady decline for the past two decades. A strong US dollar in the late 1990s made foreign goods cheaper just as costs rose, demand dried up and trade deals opened up global competition. Domestic manufacturing firms cut costs, and that often meant finding cheap labor overseas. That's when, according to Susan Houseman, Director of Research at Upjohn Institute, manufacturing jobs fell off a cliff. "Before the early 2000s, any decline always bounced back," Houseman said. "This is the first time it kept going down." Even with the Trump administration's tariffs and heated rhetoric, that trend is not course-correcting, says Robert Scott, director of Trade and Manufacturing Policy Research at the Economic Policy Institute. "Frankly, Trump is bad for manufacturing. Since he took office, the deficit in goods is up 15%," according to Scott. A trade deficit occurs when a country buys more products then it sells. Scott says that Trump's trade deals -- the USMCA and the "phase one" deal with China -- fail to address the structural issues that fix long-term trade imbalances, and therefore, help workers. "His policies haven't helped change anything -- they keep the status quo." Where new jobs are coming from Most of the half-million new manufacturing jobs over the past three years are in the Sun Belt or around Silicon Valley. Meanwhile job losses in the Rust Belt are accelerating. That could be key to the 2020 race. Trump won Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin in 2016, promising working-class voters he would revive US manufacturing. But all four states have lost more than 16,000 factory jobs in the past year alone. And many new production jobs are non-union with lower pay, according to Pew Research. That translates to the loss of good wages for Americans without a college degree, the majority of which voted Trump into office. In 2019, production workers earned 20% below the national average, a UC Berkeley study found. A third of manufacturing employees rely on food stamps or other federal assistance programs to make ends meet. "Trump told people that he understood their pain, promising to do something different about it," Scott says. "He has done something different, but it hasn't worked." Is there any hope? Despite the doom and gloom, continued erosion of the industry is not a foregone conclusion, says Ramaswamy. There are changes the United States can make, but it means revitalizing what has been neglected for two decades, and understanding that the manufacturing workforce of the future looks different from that of the past. Companies need to spend on new technology and training programs for workers. The United States should invest in infrastructure, and introduce policies to ensure countries like China don't devalue their currency. Fighting currency manipulation, Scott says, keeps US products competitive -- the best way to preserve American manufacturing for the future. "We are standing on the precipice, hanging on the edge of a recession," Scott says. "If nothing is done to our overvalued currency, we will see continued erosion in manufacturing over time."

To: Winfastorlose who wrote (1200115)	2/9/2020 5:47:20 PM
From: sylvester80	1 Recommendation Recommended By pocotrader Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1573899

TRUMP's TRADE WAR WILL COST AVERAGE FAMILY $1,277 THIS YEAR, BUDGET OFFICE REVEALS huffpost.com The extra costs will effectively wipe out savings from the president’s tax cuts. By Mary Papenfuss President Donald Trump’s ongoing trade wars are expected to cost the average American family $1,277 this year, according to a study by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. The figure is based on the negative impact of tariffs on economic growth, as well as higher prices to consumers as American manufacturers and retailers are forced to pay tariffs on imports. Trump has boasted that trade wars are “easy to win,” and has repeatedly falsely insisted that China is paying tariffs directly into the U.S. Treasury. In fact, American companies importing goods or supplies pay tariffs enacted by Trump, and typically pass on those costs to consumers. In addition, U.S. industries are hurt by retaliatory tariffs enacted by other nations when American companies try to sell their products abroad. The CBO also warns in its report that uncertainty about the future and trading relationships can cause companies to delay or drop investments in their operations, further dampening American economic growth. “Tariffs are expected to reduce the level of real GDP by roughly 0.5 percent and raise consumer prices by 0.5 percent in 2020,” the report says. “As a result, tariffs are also projected to reduce average real household income by $1,277 (in 2019 dollars) in 2020.” The extra costs would effectively wipe out savings from Trump’s tax cut enacted in 2017 for the average taxpayer, estimated by JP Morgan as $1,300 a year. The U.S. and China signed a Phase One deal in their trade war in January, but many of the tariffs are expected to remain in place until a final agreement is reached.

To: Winfastorlose who wrote (1200115)	2/9/2020 6:00:05 PM
From: sylvester80	1 Recommendation Recommended By pocotrader Respond to of 1573899

TRUMP's COVERUP ACQUITTAL SHOWS GOP SENATE ACTS LIKE A CULT huffpost.com Republican senators blocked evidence and used lies, conspiracy theories and convoluted arguments to defend their leader. By Angelina Chapin President Donald Trump stood in front of a microphone Thursday, gloating about his impeachment trial acquittal and showering his biggest advocates with praise. After entering the White House East Room to the tune of “Hail to the Chief,” he called Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) an “incredible guy,” told Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) he did a “great job” and led a standing ovation for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). Trump had good reason to dole out the back slaps. Since he was charged in December with pressuring Ukraine to help sabotage his political rivals and blocking the House’s attempt to investigate the issue, Republican senators have rallied around him like a fortress wall. They blocked witnesses from testifying at the Senate trial and used lies, conspiracy theories and acrobatic logic to try to prove his innocence. Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), the only Republican in the Senate to vote for Trump’s removal from office, has been skewered by the president and some members of the GOP over the past few days. On Friday, Trump dismissed two House impeachment witnesses, saying he was “not happy” with them. And though this behavior might seem like dirty politics as usual, psychologists and professors say the extreme measures Republicans took to defend Trump resemble a more sinister phenomenon: the mentality of cult members. “They’ve just refused to entertain any ideas that go against their leader,” said Janja Lalich, a sociology professor at California State University, Chico, who studies cults and extremist groups. “That kind of closed-mindedness is just so typical of cult members.” Many experts and politicians have made the comparison between Trumpism and cults. Lev Parnas, an associate of Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, said there was a “cult-like” atmosphere around the president, as did Anthony Scaramucci, Trump’s former communications director. Joe Walsh, the former Illinois congressman who launched a failed bid to challenge Trump’s nomination, said point-blank: “My Republican Party isn’t a party. It’s a cult.” Though some professors who study groups think this description is overly simplistic, psychology experts say Trump’s narcissistic qualities, us-vs.-them mentality and lead-by-fear approach is straight from the textbook of history’s most notorious cults. Republican senators were scared that if they voted to convict Trump of the impeachment charges, he would attack them with nasty nicknames and launch campaigns to discredit them, according to Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), who wrote an op-ed for The New York Times. And they have good reason to worry. In his speech Thursday, Trump referred to the Democrats who tried to remove him from office as “dirty cops,” “leakers” and “liars.” He insulted Romney, saying the senator failed “so badly when running for president,” and he tweeted a video that called him a “Democrat secret asset.” “They’re afraid to get on his bad side,” said Lalich of Republican senators. “That very much parallels what we see in cults where people are terrified of, you know, being caught out in any kind of expression of doubt or mistrust of the leader.” Protecting Their Leader With Lies And Mental Gymnastics Of course, it’s normal for party members to try and keep their leader in power. The political futures of many Republicans are tied to Trump and they will do whatever it takes to protect their careers, said Timothy Miller, a religious studies professor at the University of Kansas who studies group-think. He points out that during President Bill Clinton’s impeachment trial, no Democrats voted against the president. But there are some key differences as to how senators handled the two impeachments. Democrats didn’t deny what Clinton had done ? they argued that his affair with Monica Lewinsky didn’t merit being kicked out of the White House and proposed that he should instead be censured. While some Republicans have acknowledged, in the face of overwhelming evidence, that Trump is guilty of offering the Ukrainian government a quid pro quo to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, others have denied that reality. Before the trial even started, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said he had already decided the president was not guilty: “I’m not trying to pretend to be a fair juror here,” he told CNN. Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-Ariz.) denied that Trump asked the Ukrainian president to investigate Biden, his political rival, and Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) said there was “no evidence of a quid pro quo.” This type of denial and close-minded attitude mimics how cult members blindly follow their leaders after being indoctrinated. Trump thinks he is above the law said Steven Hassan, a mental health counselor and author of “The Cult of Trump.” “If says ‘I did nothing wrong,’ everyone should accept that.” Cult members experience cognitive dissonance when presented with facts that contradict their beliefs, said Lalich. If Republican senators believe that Trump is good for America, they will work hard to ignore information that would shatter their worldview. “They’ll shut out whatever’s happening in reality,” she said, “to keep themselves safe within this little cocoon that they’ve built around themselves.” It’s common for members to use outright lies and mental gymnastics to protect their leader, and themselves. The mentality is that the “end justifies the means,” according to Daniel Shaw, a psychotherapist who specializes in cults. For Republicans, that means keeping Trump in power at all costs. “Scientology operates in the same way,” he said. “Members are immediately dispersed to deny any wrongdoing and to make false claims.” They create alternate realities to discredit any narrative that attacks a leader. Republican attorney Steve Castor, for example, repeatedly parroted a debunked conspiracy theory that the Ukrainian government had interfered with the 2016 presidential election to stop Trump’s victory, and Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) insisted that the claim was true. Multiple Republican congressmen said Biden could not be considered a political opponent, which is obviously false. Despite the fact that the Constitution addresses why foreign interference is an impeachable offense, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) said, “This is exactly the sort of thing the American people elected President Trump to do.” Once the trial was done, Trump attacked his opponents and Romney in a way that resembles how cult leaders pit their members against everyone else, said Lalich. This divisive mentality helps bind group members together and makes everything on the outside seem “horrifying and evil.” “A healthy organization needs to allow for dissent and for asking questions,” said Hassan. “When any organization treats people like traitors for following their conscience or following an oath, that to me is a telltale sign of a mind control cult.”