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1) Something I discovered about my headaches is that I can often deal with them more effectively if I have music on that I like. So what do I read about in a news story? Listening to music can lessen pain, anxiety. Heh.
2) On the trade dispute front...It seems Canada will be adding a surtax to some US goods. It's about time they did something. This comes from that nifty little thing the US has called the Byrd Amendment. You know the one....the one that says it's okay to steal money from foreign companies. Yeah I have issues with it. What really bugs me about it is the response from a spokesman for the Office of the United States Trade Representative:
"We're disappointed that this step is being taken," said Richard Mills, spokesman for the Office of the United States Trade Representative.
"The United States is working to comply with the WTO decision regarding the Byrd Amendment," Mills said.
Starts off saying they are not happy and then says they are trying to fix the situation....and yet the US government continues to be using it to steal more money from other companies. It's one thing to support your position, but to lie about how you are trying to fix the problem is another. Clearly if you are still using it, you are not trying to fix the situation.
3) Another trade item. US cites 58 countries for unfair trade barriers. One would expect certain countries to show up, like China and such and they do. But other large sections are taken up by virtually every other major trading partner the US has. It seems they don't like any type of trade barriers to any US goods. An interesting stance to take, but alas, it's another 'do as I say, not as I do' stance because the US uses trade barriers ALL THE DAMN TIME to ensure their people get as much of their domestic markets as possible. But when they want to go to another country, we can't have the same systems in place. Yep, that's fair. Oh, and apparently they get upset if they import more from your country than you import from them. Yeah you want it another way round, but to say it's our fault is another.
For instance: The report said Canada closely restricts imports of certain domestic "supply-managed" agricultural products such as dairy products, eggs and poultry through the use of tariff rate quotas, or TRQs. Anything related to agriculture bugs me. How many times have their been international negotiations to remove all tariffs, taxes, etc that stop the flow of such things which would really help some poor countries and who is one of the biggest roadblocks in that process? The US. Canada is usually (but not always) in favour of removing the blocks. Go figure.
2) On the trade dispute front...It seems Canada will be adding a surtax to some US goods. It's about time they did something. This comes from that nifty little thing the US has called the Byrd Amendment. You know the one....the one that says it's okay to steal money from foreign companies. Yeah I have issues with it. What really bugs me about it is the response from a spokesman for the Office of the United States Trade Representative:
"We're disappointed that this step is being taken," said Richard Mills, spokesman for the Office of the United States Trade Representative.
"The United States is working to comply with the WTO decision regarding the Byrd Amendment," Mills said.
Starts off saying they are not happy and then says they are trying to fix the situation....and yet the US government continues to be using it to steal more money from other companies. It's one thing to support your position, but to lie about how you are trying to fix the problem is another. Clearly if you are still using it, you are not trying to fix the situation.
3) Another trade item. US cites 58 countries for unfair trade barriers. One would expect certain countries to show up, like China and such and they do. But other large sections are taken up by virtually every other major trading partner the US has. It seems they don't like any type of trade barriers to any US goods. An interesting stance to take, but alas, it's another 'do as I say, not as I do' stance because the US uses trade barriers ALL THE DAMN TIME to ensure their people get as much of their domestic markets as possible. But when they want to go to another country, we can't have the same systems in place. Yep, that's fair. Oh, and apparently they get upset if they import more from your country than you import from them. Yeah you want it another way round, but to say it's our fault is another.
For instance: The report said Canada closely restricts imports of certain domestic "supply-managed" agricultural products such as dairy products, eggs and poultry through the use of tariff rate quotas, or TRQs. Anything related to agriculture bugs me. How many times have their been international negotiations to remove all tariffs, taxes, etc that stop the flow of such things which would really help some poor countries and who is one of the biggest roadblocks in that process? The US. Canada is usually (but not always) in favour of removing the blocks. Go figure.
