Friday, August 2, 2019

EOC400.3010--California a "Disgrace"--(THE PARADISE FIRE & GDP THE EXCEPTIONS)

EOC400.3010
J. L'Angelle
Univ of Nevada, Reno
Fall 2019

(KB, Lake Tahoe)-- Gavin Newsom, the new California governor, just signed legislation that requires candidates for US president to release tax forms, which the current President has steadfastly refused to do;
     “ 'As one of the largest economies in the world and home to one in nine Americans eligible to vote, California has a special responsibility to require this information of presidential and gubernatorial candidates,' Newsom said." (The Guardian)
In retaliation, the President followed a predictable pattern of reprisal by hurling insults, this time not at a "squad" of newcomer congresswomen, not at an eastern seaboard city, but at an entire state, California;
     “Look at Los Angeles with the tents, and the horrible, horrible disgusting conditions. Look at San Francisco, look at some of your other cities.” (SJ Mercury)




  Other cities the President must be referring to are ones like Paradise, that went up in a fireball late last summer, forcing thousands to live in tents at nearby Wal Marts, having lost everything, many including their pets. (USA Today) As he calls it, a "disgrace."



Just a few weeks ago, the President offered aid in the aftershock of a series of earthquakes that struck the central eastern part of the state;
     "LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Latest on earthquakes in Southern California (all times local):
8:15 p.m.   President Donald Trump has declared an emergency for California after two major earthquakes and thousands of aftershocks.
Monday’s declaration paves the way for federal aid to help those hard-hit by the quakes.
The declaration authorizes the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate disaster relief efforts in Kern and San Bernardino counties. " (KUSI/SD)
Policy seems to shift with the sands out on the desert at Ridgecrest but one thing remains for certain, the economic contribution to the Gross Domestic Product by the state of California.


     The official Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) report for 2019 ranks the Golden State as the number one contributor to the economy;
     "SACRAMENTO, Calif. – California’s economy has surpassed that of the United Kingdom to become the world’s fifth largest, according to new federal data made public Friday.
California’s gross domestic product rose by $127 billion from 2016 to 2017, surpassing $2.7 trillion, the data said. Meanwhile, the UK’s economic output slightly shrunk over that time when measured in U.S. dollars, due in part to exchange rate fluctuations." (Jonathan Cooper, AP/USA Today)
Political capital might mean a great deal to the President when he badmouths the Left Coast at a Cincinnati rally, but economic capital is what runs the federal budget although it doesn't seem to matter much if he has the opportunity to trash yet another American icon, whether it be a congressional rep, a city, or now, a state.


Works Cited
Taxes, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jul/30/california-governor-signs-law-that-would-require-trump-to-release-tax-returns
Diamond, J., CNN via SJ Merc, Tents, https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/08/02/trump-california-a-disgrace-to-our-country/
Fireball, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/07/11/paradise-california-population-camp-fire-california-wildfire-fund/1710525001/
Tent city photo, Sacramento Bee.
Quake, https://www.kusi.com/president-trump-declares-emergency-for-ca-after-recent-earthquakes/
Cooper, J., Economy, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2018/05/05/california-now-worlds-5th-largest-economy-beating-out-uk/583508002/
GDP, https://apps.bea.gov/itable/drilldown.cfm?reqid=70&stepnum=40&Major_Area=3&State=06000&Area=XX&TableId=526&Statistic=2&Year=2019:Q1&YearBegin=-1&Year_End=-1&Unit_Of_Measure=Levels&Rank=1&Drill=1&nRange=5

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RED FLAG
Checkpoint Charlie: NATO, Article 5 and the Berlin Wall

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Red Flag: The U.S.-Japan Security Pact of 1960
The recent statement by the White House concerning a “bilateral” treaty between the United States and Japan from 1960 raised the issue of the former’s lack of a security-military commitment, with the latter doing the heavy lifting. It comes as no surprise in light of other treaties such as NATO in Europe with the U.S. again carrying The Weight.
Part and parcel to how it all unfolded had to do with certain ambiguous positions by the two nations coupled with the American public not totally informed of the agreement. The situation was quite different in Japan. (09 March 2025)

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BORDERLANDS
Ukraine: The Art of the (Peace) Deal
Nations are big on treaties, enforcing them is another matter. This paper traces some of the more recent, failed and otherwise, then takes a close look at one of the most controversial in history, The Versailles Treaty at the end of World War One. (09 March 2025)

Ukraine and The Rubio Doctrine The purpose of this report is to test the secretary’s three core principles against the Ukraine conflict to see if they are viable and would have been if he became president in the 2015 election. (09 March 2025)

Ukraine Betrayed: American Robber Barons to Steal Rare Minerals
Ukraine possesses significant reserves of rare earth minerals and other critical raw materials that are essential for modern technology and industry. According to reports, Ukraine has deposits of 22 out of 34 minerals identified as critical by the European Union. (09 March 2025)

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MOONDUNES
Space Station Freedom 1993: The “Fiscal Black Hole"

Space Station Freedom was a NASA-led initiative proposed in the 1980s aimed at creating a permanently crewed space station in low Earth orbit. The project was initially announced by President Ronald Reagan in his 1984 State of the Union Address, highlighting its potential as a platform for scientific research and international collaboration in space exploration. (09 March 2025)