sell! sell! sell!

[tiznow]

the fiscal hypocracy of the right is truly amazing the minute they get full control it's time to be as liberal economically as possible..

but all part of the one party system of big government create two groups and make them think they different

no different than the sunnis and shia in the ME.. divide and conquer as the rulers ownpretty much everything..

 

[PatsFan1283]

If deficits didn't matter then you could just finance the government with deficit spending and cut taxes significantly. No need to have taxpayers finance the federal government. Just print money.

The deficits/debt don't matter as long as you can always grow your way out of them. But we never had the most populous generation getting this much in entitlements before.

Maybe you won't need as much austerity as people think, but you will need some.

Another problem with stimulus/gov't spending is it's like a heroin addict, you always need more and more to get high. Big reason Obama's 800B didn't even make a dent (among other reasons)

 

[tiznow]

Don't worry when the republicans do it ..it will be sunshine and unicorns just like during the dubya years which ended in a mega bubble.. corporations will take all this saved tax money and reinvest it in the business.. and invest in people and job creation!

The last thing the soulless megacorporations are gonna do is use it to finance more m&a/pseudo monopoly creation which leads to lots of good paying jobs getting axed.. and they would never spend it on share buybacks to fluff next quarters numbers either! Use the tax savings to increase dividend payments to help keep stock afloat and ship more dollars to the elite which own pretty much all the equities.. never!

 

[tiznow]

One of my favorite libertarians...

-------------

Penn Jillette: Why we burned the flag for freedom

(CNN)At the beginning of this century, Teller and I made a TV show in which we traveled around the world watching street magicians. These weren't conjurers who worked for tourists, but the magicians who performed for locals. We spent the nights in fairly nice hotels, but the days we spent on the streets in real Egypt, real China and real India.

Before this trip, we'd never considered ourselves overly patriotic; we never really thought about it. But we landed back in the USA feeling that John Wayne was a bit too hippie for our taste. Nothing can make you love the USA more than overseas travel.
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[/COLOR]

When we got back to doing our own magic show at our own theater in Las Vegas, we wanted to do a new magic trick that would express our newly-understood patriotism. We wanted to publicly salute the American flag and the republic for which it stands.
Overseas, we saw poverty, disease and injustice, but what really struck us, what made us kiss the ground at McCarran airport in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States of America, was freedom. Freedom was what those other countries were so sorely lacking -- freedom that we must never take for granted.
We decided to do a magic trick that would celebrate the freedoms we could now taste so intensely. One of the standard plots in magic is a restoration. You rip, cut, tear or burn something and restore it into one piece.
Usually a restoration means nothing but sleight of hand skill. You borrow a handkerchief, put in a rolled up piece of paper, burn it up, and then "abracadabra" it's back! It's a miracle for no reason.

But what if instead of a handkerchief that meant nothing, we used a piece of cloth that was nothing but meaning? What if we used the flag of the United States of America? And what if instead of a meaningless piece of paper to wrap it in, we wrapped it in first 10 amendments to the Constitution of the United States of America, the Bill of Rights?
What if, instead of "abracadabra," we used a verse of "The Star Spangled Banner," and what if the magic power the audience would cheer for was the freedom to burn the very flag that we loved so dearly? What if the magic of freedom restored the burnt flag?
Every night in our show we burned an American flag and then, with the celebration of freedom of speech, we made it reappear, whole, waving high on its flagpole. We did that trick thousands of times live for a couple million people, and every performance my eyes teared up just a little bit.
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[/COLOR]

Many veterans and other patriots told us after the show it was their favorite magic trick. We didn't kid ourselves; carny trash like Penn & Teller don't deserve that kind of reaction. These people were cheering freedom.
Without the right to burn the flag, without that freedom of expression, the flag is just a piece of cloth. It means nothing. With that freedom, with our Bill of Rights, it's the greatest symbol on earth. It's magic.
For the TV show "The West Wing" we performed our flag burning trick at the fictional first daughter's birthday party. Within the plot of the show, some people didn't understand our passionate magic trick. They didn't understand that it was a celebration of freedom, and they demanded to know whether we'd burned a flag in the White House.
The fictional president stuck up for us and explained that the Supreme Court and the Founding Fathers knew that for the flag to be revered, it must stand for real freedom.
Do we really burn a flag in that trick? Do we symbolically burn the flag? Or do we vanish the flag in a patriotic flash of fireworks? It doesn't matter at all. The flag burning trick is a celebration of American freedom any way you look at it.
Maybe some people don't understand what really makes this country great. Maybe they think it's a crime if Penn & Teller burned a flag on national TV. Maybe some people will think that we should go to jail, or lose our citizenship, for a patriotic magic trick.
I sure hope no one misunderstands our simple message because I promise you that although many other Americans love this country as much as I do -- no one loves it more. America has always been great.

 

[tiznow]

Don't worry when the republicans do it ..it will be sunshine and unicorns just like during the dubya years which ended in a mega bubble.. corporations will take all this saved tax money and reinvest it in the business.. and invest in people and job creation!

The last thing the soulless megacorporations are gonna do is use it to finance more m&a/pseudo monopoly creation which leads to lots of good paying jobs getting axed.. and they would never spend it on share buybacks to fluff next quarters numbers either! Use the tax savings to increase dividend payments to help keep stock afloat and ship more dollars to the elite which own pretty much all the equities.. never!

Actually on 2nd thought corporations have been piling up debt as much as possible with it being so cheap for so long.. bulk of the tax savings if trump and company get them pushed through will likely go towards repaying their debt in a rising rate environmemt.. regardless very little will go towards r&d organic growth etc..

 

[eek.]

It's not really America which is great, it's the American Constitution which is great, and that makes America great

The founding fathers got a leg up from being within the British "democratic" system, saw it's flaws and weaknesses and didn't want the same level of bullshit holding them back or blighting their new nation
Plus The Bill of Rights strengthened the power of the individual vs the state, basically it helps to hold the power crazed assholes at bay

The Constitution is the only thing standing between America and the human conditions which blight humanity

 

[tiznow]

[h=1]Trump Risks Major Diplomatic Scandal With China Following Taiwan Phone Call[/h]Ever since the US adopted a “One China” policy after the 1972 Nixon-Mao meetings, followed by President Carter formally recognizing Beijing as the sole government of China in 1978 leading to the closure of the US embassy in Taipei one year later and cutting off relations with Taiwan, when it comes to US-China diplomacy Washington has maintained a steady posture when it comes to Taiwan: non-recognition.
That changed today, when as the Trump team reported, following nearly four decades of diplomatic non-contact, the president-elect held a phone conversation with the president of Taiwan, Tsai Ing-wen, who offered Trump her congratulations, and during which "they noted the close economic, political and security ties" that exist between Taiwan and the United States.

Oops.
Perhaps Trump was confused, and thought he was chatting with the president of the People's Republic of China, also known as China, instead of the Republic of China, better known as Taiwan, but whatever the reason, Trump now risks a major diplomatic scandal with China - before he has even been inaugurated - as a result of his phone call with the president of Taiwan, which China regards as a renegade province. As the FT accurately notes, "although it is not clear if the Trump transition team intended the conversation to signal a broader change in US policy towards Taiwan, the call is likely to infuriate Beijing."

Quoted by the FT, Evan Medeiros, former Asia director at the White House national security council said that “the Chinese leadership will see this as a highly provocative action, of historic proportions."
“Regardless if it was deliberate or accidental, this phone call will fundamentally change China’s perceptions of Trump’s strategic intentions for the negative. With this kind of move, Trump is setting a foundation of enduring mistrust and strategic competition for US-China relations.”
The phone call prompted a quick reaction, for now domestically (China is sleeping at this moment), with Sen. Chris Murphy taking to Twitter to say that "It's probably time we get a Secretary of State nominee on board. Preferably w experience. Like, really really soon."




* * *
In a separate diplomatic snafu, Trump invited Philippines leader Rodrigo Duterte to the White House next year during a "very engaging, animated" phone conversation, an aide to president Duterte said on Friday, amid rocky relations between their two countries.
Acording to the Trump team read-out of the conversation, the two leaders "noted the long history of friendship and cooperation between the two nations, and agreed that the two governments would continue to work closely on matters of shared interest and concern."
There was no mention that in virtually every public appearance by Duterte in recent months, he has attcked either the US, or Obama, repeatedly calling the former "son of a bitch", occasionally calling him "son of a whore."
Trump's brief chat with the firebrand Philippine president comes during a period of uncertainty about one of Washington's most important Asian alliances, stoked by Duterte's unrelenting hostility toward the United States and his repeated threats to sever decades-old defense ties. The call lasted just over seven minutes, Duterte's special advisor, Christopher Go, said in a short text message to media, which gave few details. Trump's transition team had no immediate comment.
As Reuters summarizes, in his five months in office, the volatile Duterte has upended Philippine foreign policy by berating the United States, making overtures toward historic rival China and pursuing a new alliance with Russia. His diplomacy has created jitters among some Asian countries, wary about Beijing's rising influence and Washington's staying power as a regional counterbalance.

The maverick former mayor has praised China and told U.S. President Barack Obama to "go to hell" and called him a "son of a bitch" whom he would humiliate if he visited the Philippines.
The anger was unleashed after Obama expressed concern about possible human rights abuses in Duterte's war on drugs, during which over 2,000 people have been killed.
Duterte had initially expressed optimism about having Trump in the Oval Office, saying he no longer wanted quarrels. But it has not tempered his rhetoric and he has continued to rail at what he calls U.S. "hypocrisy" and "bullying".
​

In an interview with Reuters during the election campaign, Trump said Duterte's comments showed "a lack of respect for our country." However said lack of respect appears to not have been sufficient to snub the Philippino leader, sometimes referred to as the "Trump of the East" due to his "brash, mercurial ways."
Duterte has threatened repeatedly to sever defense ties between the two allies, saying he "hates" having foreign soldiers in his country. Joint military exercises look set to be scaled back next year, as Duterte demanded, including the number of U.S. troops involved.

 

[PatsFan1283]

https://www.quora.com/Does-the-U-S-public-national-debt-matter

A lot of good analysis about debt/deficit levels here.

 

[tiznow]

https://www.quora.com/Does-the-U-S-public-national-debt-matter

A lot of good analysis about debt/deficit levels here.

Yeah and notice where debt/GDP as when Reagan and dubya entered office .. at the low points.. completely different situation now.. much harder for GOP to write blank checks this time...

 

[tiznow]

Lol this guy just keeps getting better...

Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump
Just tried watching Saturday Night Live - unwatchable! Totally biased, not funny and the Baldwin impersonation just can't get any worse. Sad

 

[tiznow]

Obama says have fun Donnie... he owns stock in the pipeline company too.. what fun!

--------

Army Blocks Drilling of Dakota Access Oil Pipeline

December 4, 2016


CANNON BALL, N.D. — The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe won a major victory on Sunday in its battle to block an oil pipeline being built near its reservation when the Department of the Army announced that it would not allow the pipeline to be drilled under a dammed section of the Missouri River.
The Army said it would look for alternative routes for the $3.7 billion Dakota Access pipeline. Construction of the route a half-mile from the Standing Rock Sioux reservation has become a global flash point for environmental and indigenous activism, drawing thousands of people out here to a sprawling prairie camp of tents, tepees and yurts.
“The best way to complete that work responsibly and expeditiously is to explore alternate routes for the pipeline crossing,” Jo-Ellen Darcy, the Army’s assistant secretary for civil works, said in a statement. The move could presage a lengthy environmental review that has the potential to block the pipeline’s construction for months or years.
But it was unclear how durable the government’s decision would be. Sunday’s announcement came in the dwindling days of the Obama administration, which revealed in November that the Army Corps of Engineers was considering an alternative route. The Corps of Engineers is part of the Department of the Army.
President-elect Donald J. Trump, however, has taken a different view of the project and said as recently as last week that he supported finishing the 1,170-mile pipeline, which crosses four states and is almost complete.
Though the Army’s decision calls for an environmental study of alternative routes, the Trump administration could ultimately decide to allow the original, contested route. Representatives for Mr. Trump’s transition team did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Mr. Trump owns stock in the company building the pipeline, Energy Transfer Partners, but he has said that his support has nothing to do with his investment.
There was no immediate response from Energy Transfer Partners, but its chief executive, Kelcy Warren, has said that the company was unwilling to reroute the pipeline, which is intended to transport as much as 550,000 barrels of oil a day from the oil fields of western North Dakota to a terminal in Illinois.
Reaction was swift on both sides, with environmental groups like Greenpeace praising the decision. “The water protectors have done it,” a Greenpeace spokeswoman, Lilian Molina, said. “This is a monumental victory in the fight to protect indigenous rights and sovereignty.”
But Craig Stevens, a spokesman for the MAIN Coalition, a pro-infrastructure group, condemned the move as “a purely political decision that flies in the face of common sense and the rule of law.”
“Unfortunately, it’s not surprising that the president would, again, use executive fiat in an attempt to enhance his legacy among the extreme left,” Mr. Stevens said in a statement. “With President-elect Trump set to take office in 47 days, we are hopeful that this is not the final word on the Dakota Access Pipeline.”
Representative Kevin Cramer, Republican of North Dakota and a Trump supporter, called Sunday’s decision a “chilling signal to others who want to build infrastructure in this country.”
“I can’t wait for the adults to be in charge on Jan. 20,” Mr. Cramer said, referring to Mr. Trump’s inauguration.
Map | The Conflicts Along 1,172 Miles of the Dakota Access Pipeline A detailed map showing the Dakota Access Pipeline that has led to months of clashes near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota.


Still, the announcement set off whoops of joy inside the Oceti Sakowin camp. Tribal members paraded through the camp on horseback, jubilantly beating drums and gathering around a fire at the center of the camp. Tribal elders celebrated what they said was the validation of months of prayer and protest.
“It’s wonderful,” Dave Archambault II, the Standing Rock tribal chairman, told cheering supporters who stood in the melting snow on a mild North Dakota afternoon. “You all did that. Your presence has brought the attention of the world.”
The decision, he said, meant that people no longer had to stay at the camp during North Dakota’s brutal winter. The Corps of Engineers, which manages the land, had ordered it to be closed, but the thousands of protesters had built yurts, tepees and bunkhouses and vowed to hunker down.
“It’s time now that we move forward,” Mr. Archambault said. “We don’t have to stand and endure this hard winter. We can spend the winter with our families.”
Law enforcement officials and non-Native ranchers in this conservative, heavily white part of North Dakota would like little more than to see the thousands of protesters return home. The sheriff has called the demonstrations an unlawful protest, and officials have characterized the demonstrators as rioters who have intimidated ranchers and threatened and attacked law enforcement — charges that protest leaders deny.
But on Sunday, several campers said they were not going anywhere. They said that there were too many uncertainties surrounding the Army’s decision, and that they had dedicated too much time and emotion to this fight to leave now.
Federal and state regulators had issued the pipeline the necessary permits to proceed, but the Corps of Engineers had not yet granted it a final easement to drill under a stretch of the Missouri River called Lake Oahe.
The Standing Rock Sioux had objected to the pipeline’s path so close to the source of their drinking water, and said any spill could poison water supplies for them and other reservations and cities downstream. They also said the pipeline’s route through what are now privately owned ranches bordering the river crossed through sacred ancestral lands.
News of the government’s denial came after the size of the camp had swelled with hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Native and non-Native veterans who had arrived to support the tribe. As word spread, people who had camped out here for months, sometimes in bitterly cold temperatures, and who had clashed violently with local law enforcement, linked arms and cheered and cried.
They screamed, “Mni wiconi!” — the movement’s rallying cry — which means “Water is life.”
Jon Eagle Sr., a member of the Standing Rock Tribe, said the announcement was a vindication for the thousands who had traveled here, and for the multitudes who had rallied to the tribe’s fight on social media or donated. Millions of dollars in donations and goods have flowed into the camps for months as the tribe’s fight and the scenes of protesters being tear-gassed and sprayed with freezing water stirred outrage on social media. (Law enforcement officials have insisted the entire time that they have acted responsibly and with restraint.)
“I don’t know quite how to put into words how proud I am of our people,” Mr. Eagle said. “And I mean our people. I don’t just mean the indigenous people of this continent. I mean all the people who came to stand with us. And it’s a beautiful day. It’s a powerful day.”
Ken Many Wounds, who has served as a tribal liaison to express concerns and questions to law enforcement, said he had been standing by the camp’s main fire — one that is tended constantly — when he heard the news from the tribal chairman’s wife. He said he did not believe it at first.
“I hugged her, I cried,” he said. “Our prayers have been answered. A lot of people didn’t believe that prayer was going to be the answer. But our people stayed together. In our hearts, we knew.”

 

[tiznow]

Trump now twitter ranting at china unbelievable...

-------

[h=1]Trump attacks China in Twitter outburst[/h]

AFP/Getty ImagesMr Trump spoke directly with Taiwan's president last weekUS President-elect Donald Trump has posted a series of tweets criticising China for its monetary policy and its operations in the South China Sea.
"Did China ask us if it was OK to devalue their currency" and "build a massive military complex?" he asked. "I don't think so!"
China said both sides should "stick to basic principles" of the relationship.
Last week Mr Trump risked a diplomatic rift with China by speaking directly with Taiwan's president.
The highly unusual move saw China lodge a complaint with the US.
In response to the latest tweets, without directly referring to them, the Chinese foreign ministry said the US and China have long had "highly mutually beneficial" relations.
A spokesperson declined to comment on "he and his team's method and what's the thinking behind it", referring to Mr Trump.

• Trump-Taiwan call: Why China lodged its protest
• Carrie Gracie: Trump's Taiwan call will stun Beijing
• What's behind the China-Taiwan divide?

Twitter / Donald J. Trump

Twitter / Donald J. TrumpThe US has previously criticised China's yuan devaluation, saying it unfairly favours Chinese exporters.
It has also told Beijing to stop reclaiming land around islands and reefs which are claimed by multiple countries in the South China Sea, and has sent US Navy ships to the area. Both sides have accused each other of "militarising" the region.

• Why is the South China Sea contentious?
• Why China devalues the yuan

The US currently imposes tariffs on some Chinese imports, such as steel and tyres. Mr Trump has previously threatened to impose a 45% tariff on Chinese goods.

---

[h=2]Can Donald Trump continue his Twitter diplomacy? - Jonathan Marcus, BBC Diplomatic Correspondent[/h]Donald Trump's Twitter outburst along with his telephone call with the Taiwanese president has sent an emphatic signal to Beijing that the new US administration's Asia policy may not be business as usual.
We don't know if the tweets will continue when Mr Trump enters the White House. But if they do, they threaten not just to ruffle feathers abroad but also to sow uncertainty within his own administration.
The president may be the ultimate arbiter but once in office he cannot risk publicly second-guessing his key cabinet appointments. But there's another problem too. The tweet, as a medium, is by definition short and off-the-cuff.
Policymaking, by contrast, requires coolness, deliberation and a weighing up of options. The danger is that Twitter diplomacy, for all its honesty, could exacerbate crisis instead of resolving it.

---

Mr Trump's phone call with Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen was thought to be the first time a US leader or leader-in waiting has spoken to a Taiwanese leader since 1979, the year formal ties were severed.
The White House has said the phone call did not signal a shift in its decades-long "One China" policy stance, which does not recognise Taiwan as an independent sovereign state but also does not recognise Beijing's claim over Taiwan.
Vice President-elect Mike Pence has tried to downplay the call, saying it was a "tempest in a teapot" and "a moment of courtesy".
Beijing lodged a "solemn representation" with Washington, where it urged the US to "cautiously and properly handle" the issue of Taiwan, according to Chinese state media.
Beijing sees Taiwan as a province and aims to deny it any of the trappings of an independent state. It has threatened to use force if Taiwan formally declares independence.

 

[tiznow]

Bezos says what ya gonna do about it Donnie!

http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-go-grocery-store-future-photos-video-2016-12

----------

[h=1]This is Amazon's grocery store of the future: No cashiers, no registers, and no lines[/h]

Amazon
AMZN Amazon.Com
757.95
17.60 (+2.40 %)


Disclaimer More AMZN on Markets Insider »



Amazon is breaking into physical retail in a new way.
The online retail giant revealed a new kind of physical store concept in a video published on Monday.
The store, called Amazon Go, doesn't work like a typical Walmart or supermarket — instead, shoppers use an app, also called Amazon Go, to automatically add the products they plan to buy to a digital shopping cart, then they can walk out of the building without waiting in a a checkout line.
The idea is that Amazon's machine learning technology can automatically identify when a product is added to your cart, so you don't have to do it yourself. When you leave the store, Amazon automatically charges your Amazon account.
The stores will sell ready-made food, staples like bread and milk, and other grocery products. Amazon says their stores are about 1,800 square feet, so they are relatively small compared to big supermarkets.
Amazon internal plans show it could build 2000 groceries across the US in the next decade, Business Insider previously reported.
The first Amazon Go store is located in Seattle, Washington, and it will open to the public in early 2017.
Here's what it's like to shop in one:

 

[PatsFan1283]

Ivanka meeting with Al Gore of all people lol

 

[tiznow]

Little doubt ivanka will run for POTUS at some point in the future.. gotta keep that one party system of big government sham humming along..

--------

[h=1]Ivanka Trump, climate czar?[/h][h=2]The first daughter aims to use the first lady’s lectern to champion liberal causes.[/h]By Annie Karni
12/01/16 05:12 AM EST

Ivanka Trump wants to make climate change one of her signature issues, a source close to her told POLITICO | AP Photo
In September, as Donald Trump railed against the media and sold himself as the candidate of the forgotten man, Ivanka Trump ventured into the lair of the liberal media and power elite that was laughing at her father.
She jetted off to Aspen with her husband, Jared Kushner, to attend “Weekend with Charlie Rose,” an off-the-record gathering at which 90 percent of invitees were Trump haters.
Story Continued Below
The annual event is typically filled with Nobel laureates, former government officials, royalty from abroad, business moguls and celebrity chefs who engage in intimate foreign- and economic-policy discussions, coupled with outdoor bonding activities like tennis and fly fishing. Harvey Weinstein, who hosts the Clintons in the Hamptons, added a Hollywood touch this year.
Google’s Eric Schmidt — who helped design the Democratic data systems meant to defeat Trump — typically serves as a co-host.
If there were any question whether Ivanka’s deep involvement in her father’s divisive campaign would ruin her social standing among liberals, here was her answer: Less than two months before Election Day, she was still a member of the club — albeit with a full security detail keeping her at a slight remove.
Ivanka, 35, Trump’s avatar among the moneyed left-wing elite, is now poised to be the first “first daughter” in modern history to play a larger public role than the first lady. And she’s positioning herself exactly as she did that weekend — as a bridge to moderates and liberals disgusted and depressed with the tone and tenor of the new leader of the free world.
And the ambitious daughter, who once plotted her career around international brand domination, is planning to take on an even heavier lift. Ivanka wants to make climate change — which her father has called a hoax perpetuated by the Chinese — one of her signature issues, a source close to her told Politico. The source said Ivanka is in the early stages of exploring how to use her spotlight to speak out on the issue.
If she can pull it off, her advocacy could come as a bit of solace to fearful Americans. Over the past week, New Yorkers concerned about Trump’s election have posted “Dear Ivanka” letters on social media and outside the Puck Building in lower Manhattan, which is owned by her husband. One theme of the letters is a fear that Trump will dismantle the Obama administration’s signature climate change policies.
Advocating opposition to CO[SUB]2[/SUB] emissions and fossil fuels will inevitably create another warring sphere of influence in Trump’s orbit: Incoming Chief of staff Reince Priebus has clarified in recent days that Trump’s “default position” on climate change is that “most of it is a bunch of bunk.”
But no one is closer to Trump than his eldest daughter, and it would not be the first traditionally liberal position she has tried preaching to conservatives. At the Republican National Convention in July, Ivanka championed pay equity and parental leave, family issues she intends to continue pushing from what will likely be a unique platform that represents her role as an adviser, a surrogate and functional first lady.
“The issues she’s talking about are ones she’s always talked about,” said a source close to Ivanka. “These are totally consistent with what she’s developed with her brand. She is playing a critical role in being able to have issues that moderate and liberal women care about — and creating a bridge to the other side.”
Ivanka is not currently expected to leave Manhattan for Washington. But she is searching for a chief of staff and other hires to help shape her new role.

Ivanka Trump is now poised to be the first first daughter in modern history to play a larger public role than the first lady. | Getty


“Certainly this is unprecedented in the modern era,” said Katherine Jellison, an expert in first lady studies at Ohio University. “There’s been nothing like this since World War I.”
Trump’s third wife, Melania, has made no public appearances or statements since Election Day, save for the family’s joint “60 Minutes” interview. (The Slovenian-born former model has been spotted outside of her home in Trump Tower only twice — dining privately and silently at 21 and at Serafina with family members).
Instead, it’s Ivanka’s expressionless exterior — and continued comfort and acceptance in the social circles that recoil at Trump pére — that are gelling into the lead family role for the most temperamental and mercurial incoming president in the country’s history.
But as Trump seeks to avoid business conflicts, Ivanka is also expected to increase her responsibilities running the family company — and it is unclear how she will advocate for policy positions while overseeing the international real estate and branding organization.
“It becomes a conflict if she is in a policymaking or advising role,” said Jellison. “If she were able to play White House hostess only, and very much delineate that is her sole role in the White House, then she would be on much safer ground. At any point if people see her sliding onto the policymaking and advising side, there would be charges of conflict of interest.”
For now, as a family accustomed to using itself to promote its many brands muddles through the inevitable conflicts of interest, Ivanka appears to be slowly discovering the limits imposed by her new position.
Earlier this month, she sat in on Trump’s first face-to-face meeting with a foreign leader, Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, renewing questions about conflicts of interest between government and private business-related activity.
“This has been very much a family business,” the source close to Ivanka explained of the meeting. “Part of it is adjusting from that collaborative mentality. Strong consideration is being given to how to address those responsibilities going forward.”
Since her eponymous jewelry company tried to promote a $10,800 gold bangle she wore during a “60 Minutes” interview, the Trump team has blamed the snafu on a “junior-level person” who sent out the promotion from a “third-party vendor.”
Insiders maintain that these are merely growing pains. Last week, Ivanka separated her personal social media accounts from those promoting her fashion brands. But old habits are hard to break: She continues to retweet links promoting her apparel line.
And even the testimonial videos on her website promoting “Women Who Work” — the basis for what she wants to advocate from her new, more public post — is in many ways a dressed-up marketing opportunity. For instance, the site features Emily Heller,an advanced-placement English teacher from Alabama, talking about her work — and simultaneously serves as a vehicle to sell Ivanka’s clothing line. (Links underneath the video of Heller discussing her passion for teaching guide viewers to “shop Emily’s looks,” which are all Ivanka Trump-branded clothes.)
Ivanka’s greatest strength in the spotlight as she seeks to moderate her father while promoting the family brand is her unflappability. She never raises her voice. She never criticizes a family member in public. As one former colleague put it, “she’s the most on-message human being I’ve ever seen. Even when she’s angry, she’s a model of composure. It is one of the most incredible feats of self-will I’ve ever seen.”
“She always take the time to send a quick note right after an event or a big project, recognizing and expressing her appreciation for our hard work,” said Amanda Miller, vice president of marketing at the Trump Organization, who got hooked on the family brand when she was 15 and worked at a Trump golf course. “That is what makes you want to come to work everyday.”
But as the president-elect transitions into a more demanding governing role, those same Democrats who accepted Ivanka when they dismissed her father are now wondering how long she can pirouette through the muck without sullying her own brand.
“It’ll be interesting to see how it unfolds now,” said one Aspen attendee.
Ivanka is already trying out her ceremonial role, at least. She served pre-Thanksgiving meals at UJA-Federation of New York with her 2-year-old son in tow and visited Success Academy in Harlem, where she spent about 90 minutes touring seven classrooms and grilling the principal about the makeup of the student body, how the charter school recruits teachers and listening to stories from parents, whom she charmed.
“I just love your shoes!” exclaimed one Harlem mother. Ivanka posted photos of the visit on social media.
On Monday, she tweeted that she was “sending love and prayers to the Ohio State University campus and community,” after a student drove a car into a crowd of pedestrians and then stabbed people with a butcher knife.
According to former colleagues, Ivanka takes her role seriously and sees herself as a steadying hand in her father’s gonzo and divided orbit.
It’s a big adjustment for a new first daughter who has devoted her life to becoming a one-name international fashion and lifestyle brand. But one thing she has in her favor: Most of her potential mistakes are likely to be self-inflicted. She keeps such a tightly guarded circle of work and family that there are few channels privy to anything other than her carefully curated public persona. Even her licensing deals are kept close to the vest. She licenses her shoe line through Marc Fisher — a tenant of Trump Tower.
Before the election, Ivanka spent hours with consultants discussing how to expand her personal brand to include books, home decor, luxury accessories. That plan is now on hold.
Instead, she will be in uncharted territory. “Margaret Truman sometimes took her mother’s place at ceremonial events,” said Jellison. “Pat Nixon’s younger daughter, Julie, would fill in for her sometimes. But here in the last century, we haven’t seen something like this where the first lady wants to live in an entirely different city and let the first daughter take that larger role.”
For now, Ivanka plans to focus on making a positive case about issues she wants to make her own and stay silent on all the rest — she sees herself as a distinct, sometimes liberal voice, in her father’s orbit. It remains to be seen how long she can keep it up. In Aspen, it took a bloodless professional comic to cut through the gauze of bonhomie.
"My only problem with your dad," said Hasan Minhaj of "The Daily Show," an Indian-American, during an awkward public roast before a room of a few hundred high-powered business leaders and former government officials, in the recollection of two attendees, "is that he wants to send my dad out of the country." It was a moment somewhat reminiscent of the Donald Trump's more public 2011 skewering by President Barack Obama at the White House Correspondents dinner, where Trump grimaced through the jokes on his behalf.
But the Republican nominee's daughter was unruffled - she smiled graciously and took the hit.
[h=6]Authors:[/h]
Show Comments

 

[tiznow]

When is trump gonna wake up and realize this isn't another episode of celbrity apprentice..

such a whiner my god..

Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump
If the press would cover me accurately & honorably, I would have far less reason to "tweet." Sadly, I don't know if that will ever happen!

 

[PatsFan1283]

Trump met with Gore himself damn

Sounds like Ivanka getting on his ass about climate change

 

[tiznow]

What about all the coal miners that voted for him to save their jobs!

climate change is a hoax! We should go back in time and use the dirtiest energy source known to man.. who gives a shit that we now have ways to harness to suns power..

 

[tiznow]

That said natty gas may have bottomed out long term... us quietly starting to export more and more liquified natty gas.. with time it will likely become a global commodity like oil..

------------

Trump’s Empty Promise to Coal Country

With his upset victory last week, the president-elect now must make good on what many energy experts always saw as an empty promise—or, far more likely, explain in four years why he couldn’t.
Few doubt the Trump administration will move swiftly to unravel environmental rules that are wildly unpopular across the fossil fuel industry, allowing a dangerous rise in greenhouse gas emissions. But observers say no amount of regulatory rollbacks can bring the coal sector roaring back at this point.
That’s because regulations aren’t the industry’s real problem—market forces are. Coal’s true rival is cheap natural gas, which was freed in soaring volumes during the last decade through fracking. Coal’s economics meant it simply couldn’t compete.
Meanwhile, mining jobs have been in decline since a boom in the 1970s, falling even while production climbed, largely due to shifts toward highly mechanized and less labor-intensive methods like mountaintop removal and strip mining. There were more than a quarter of a million U.S. coal mining jobs in 1979. As of October, there were fewer than 54,000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Of course, none of this fits with the coal industry’s preferred narrative, which is that battered companies and miners are victims of the Obama administration’s environmentally obsessed “war on coal.”
“If the industry had spent more time trying to innovate and solve their problems, instead of shaking their fist at the EPA, they might be in a better position to compete,” says James Van Nostrand, director of the Center for Energy and Sustainable Development at the West Virginia University College of Law.
Despite growing global demand for cleaner energy sources, the coal sector has so far made precious few research investments into the carbon capture and storage technologies necessary to make “clean coal” more than an empty slogan.
None of this is to say that a Trump administration won’t make a show of trying to help the coal industry, as part of its broader ideologically driven push to deregulate energy. Trump said that climate change is a hoax perpetuated by China, vowed to back out of the landmark Paris climate agreement, argued foreliminating the Environmental Protection Agency, and promised to kill the Clean Power Plan. His campaign energy positions call for ending President Obama’s moratorium on new coal leases and unleashing “hundreds of years in clean coal reserves,” presumably by loosening restrictions on potential mining sites.
To be sure, some of these policy shifts could help maintain coal extraction and energy generation levels, and may even protect a limited number of jobs. In particular, the now endangered Clean Power Plan, which would require states to cut energy sector emissions, was expected to substantially reduce coal production and accelerate closures of coal-fired plants, according to an Energy Information Administration analysis.
But all of Trump’s potential changes would still do little to stimulate new demand for coal given that natural gas is expected to remain cheap and plentiful for the foreseeable future. After all, Trump has also promised to ease regulations on fracking.
At best, the president-elect’s policies may help slow the coal sector’s decline, but they won’t return it to growth at this stage, says Chiza Vitta, a mining analyst with credit ratings firm Standard & Poor's.
Critically, even if all these efforts fail to revitalize the coal industry, they would still exact an enormous toll. Trump’s energy policies may allow billions of tonsof additional emissions, narrowing already low odds that the globe will avoid critical warming thresholds that could lock in a cascading series of environmental disasters.

 

[eek.]

Twitter is all he's got, you can't trust the press to put his stuff out properly

With twitter he bypasses the entire media propaganda machine and gets straight to the voters