In this special edition of MashTalk, Mashable met with Ring CEO Jamie Siminoff on the floor of CES 2019 to catch up with the company’s latest release of products.
New Orleans Pelicans star Anthony Davis could return to game action as soon as next week as he works his way back from a finger injury, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Wojnarowski noted that Davis suffered a volar plate avulsion fracture on his left index finger.
“It’s a better outcome than we originally feared,” Davis’ agent Rich Paul said, per Wojnarowski. “It’s more of an injury of pain tolerance. They need to see the swelling go down and the range of motion increase.”
Davis will be “re-evaluated every 48 to 72 hours” after Friday, per Wojnarowski.
Since being drafted No. 1 overall in 2012, the 6’10”, 253-pound big man has had some trouble staying on the court throughout his career. He averaged just 65 games through the first four seasons of his career, never making more than 68 appearances during that span.
He has, however, maintained relatively good health recently, making 75 appearances in each of the past two seasons.
Even with the injuries, Davis has still been performing at an MVP-caliber level this season. He is averaging 29.3points, 13.3rebounds and 2.6blocks per game this season.
There is no question New Orleans needs a healthy Davis in order to make some noise in the playoffs. The five-time All-Star is a force on both ends of the court, and his presence cannot be easily replaced. When he’s sidelined, the onus falls on Nikola Mirotic and Julius Randle to carry the load in the frontcourt. Former No. 3 overall pick Jahlil Okafor could see more playing time when Davis is out.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has blocked Trump’s annual SOTO speech for time being [File: Yuri Gripas/Reuters]
US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday informed President Donald Trump that he will not be allowed to deliver an annual State of the Union address in the House chamber until a partial government shutdown ends.
In a letter to Trump, Pelosi said: “I am writing to inform you that the House of Representatives will not consider a concurrent resolution authorising the president’s State of the Union address in the House chamber until government has opened.”
Passage of such a resolution is required before the president can speak in the House.
The speech had been set for January 29.
Trump had said earlier on Wednesday he plans to deliver the State of the Union address in the House chamber as scheduled on January 29, rejecting Pelosi’s request that he delay it.
In an escalation of rhetoric that essentially dared Pelosi to uninvite him, Trump told her in a letter, which the White House released earlier Wednesday, that he was “looking forward” to giving the speech, an annual event in American politics.
“It would be so very sad for our Country if the State of the Union were not delivered on time, on schedule, and very importantly, on location!” Trump wrote.
Longest shutdown in history
The ongoing partial government shutdown, the longest of its type in US history, came into effect over Trump’s demand for billions of dollars in funding to erect a wall on the US-Mexico border.
Entering into its 33rd day on Wednesday, furloughed federal employees, unions and others have expressed anger over being forced to work without pay or not being permitted to work at all.
On Saturday, Trump offered to temporarily extend protections for young undocumented individuals brought to the country as children, as well as that of Temporary Protection Status holders in exchange for border wall funding.
Before the plan is officially announced, Democrats decried it as “unacceptable” and “inadequate”, calling it “a compilation of several previously rejected initiatives”.
Conducted between January 18 and 22, a Politico/Morning Consult poll found that only seven percent of voters support “dedicating funding to a border wall if it was the only way to end the government shutdown”.
MuchDank found its muse in Tekashi 6ix9ine. The 22-year-old rapper, who is currently behind bars and facing in life in federal prison on racketeering and firearms charges, and in 2015 pled guilty for use of a child in a sexual performance, came with an explosive combination of ingredients. A catalogue of testy interviews with The Breakfast Club. A Gushers-dyed perm. A peppering of dadaist ink. These pointed to a desperate, uniquely millennial thirst for a very specific type of depressing viral fame. So, as Tekashi scaled the mountain, and made his enemies, and mustered a Trumpian refusal to ever back down, (even as they were hauling him off to court), MuchDank enjoyed an incredible 2019. The YouTube channel currently stands at over one million subscribers, a lot of which is built on the transformative power of making fun of 6ix9ine.
For the uninitiated, the MuchDank methodology is simple: They morph the hottest tracks in our current wave of SoundCloud rap into a lightheaded slurry, laying bare the fundamental absurdity of the bars. Here, for instance, is 6ix9ine’s “BILLY,” with the “RRRAH-RRRAH-RRRAH” part stretched out into apocalyptic extremes. Here is the “FEFE” video, with uncomfortably realistic ice cream sound effects dubbed over the feast. Here is that famous grilling on Hot 97’s infamous Breakfast Club morning show, made even more hallucinogenic by MuchDank’s careful editing. (“I LET MY NUTS HANG.”) If the music industry feels particularly delirious right now, take some solace in knowing that, at the very least, MuchDank is in on the joke.
“[6ix9ine] knew to succeed at the level he is at, he needed to embody the meme he was,” says one of the principle members who makes MuchDank’s videos over email. (To this day, they remain completely anonymous.) “The hair, the tattoos, his humor, and the image he portrayed has made him such a memorable character and it seems that he knew this so he continued to push this to the absolute limit. And, obviously, it worked.”
Two years ago, MuchDank barely existed. The channel was one of the many ghost ships bobbing around YouTube’s crowded seas with a scant 27 subscribers. That changed after they became fascinated by a painfully awkward interaction between Joe Budden, then a host of Complex’s Everyday Struggle, and the Migos. The clip in question is an all-timer, especially if you’re a connoisseur of obtuse rap interviews. The three of them sit on a BET Awards red carpet, shades on, full-drip, while DJ Akademiks is left lost-in-translation as he questions Takeoff about why he didn’t appear on the group’s trajectory-altering hit “Bad & Boujee.” (“Say again? What’d you say?”) But it touched on a fundamental truth: interviewing Migos is a hard job. That was MuchDank’s eureka moment, and they got to work fleshing out a prehistoric incarnation of their craft. The MuchDank-ified version of the exchange was hilarious and weird, and 1.2 million views later, the team had a directive.
“From there we wanted to capitalize on the views and popularity that video gained by creating similar content and gradually adding our own twist with each upload,” he says. “In all honesty, we think this brand of humor resonated with us because we just like stupid shit.”
In the years since, MuchDank has gotten odder and more esoteric — recent highlights include this expert flip of Post Malone’s “Psycho,” and a tribute to Drake’s instant-mantra verse on Travis Scott’s “Sicko Mode” — but by and large, the success of the channel is attached at the hip with the strange arc of SoundCloud rap as a whole. We live in a world of superstars like Lil Pump, 6ix9ine, Smokepurpp, and Sheck Wes — authentic, mealy-mouthed misfits who are radically redefining what hip-hop is. As the MuchDank creator tells it, a guy like 6ix9ine clearly understood the currency in reforming oneself as a human meme, and in a world where an established star like Kanye is dressing up like a water bottle on SNL and making a regrettable, (but highly bloggable) Trump turn, it certainly feels like that nihilistic ethos has infected the rest of the culture. No one can prove definitively that “Mo Bamba’s” immediately iconic “HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOES,” or “Gucci Gang’s” titular brain-melting refrain were put on this Earth to be memed, but there’s no way that’s not part of the calculus. MuchDank is a necessary reciprocation. The sole force contextualizing the absurdity in the way it ought to be: memes in the time of Lil Xan.
“Memes follow culture, not matter how obscure that culture is. Hip-Hop is now the most-listened to genre of music. Memes are now such a big part of the internet. So it only makes sense to put these two things together,” says the MuchDank creator. “Rappers are definitely starting to notice it. But it’s hard to know how many of these music memes are intentional, by the artist and label, and how many are made on social media by a random person. 6ix9ine for example, was definitely both. He was a meme, but random people also made memes based on his music, appearance & personality. That was probably the key to his success.”
The MuchDank team says they never make videos to “hate on” anyone, and they’ve never received any explicitly negative feedback from any of the rappers they’ve poked fun at. (If anything, the responses have been mostly positive.) The creator tells me that one notable fan the channel has is Logic, which was a relief, because a number of MuchDank videos focus on Logic’s biracial identity and “could be easily taken the wrong way.” But in a recent interview Logic clarified his status: “I love MuchDank dog, I fuck with you MuchDank, you’re hilarious.” This was a relief for the crew. “We’re pleased to hear we didn’t offend him,” he says. “Because that wasn’t the intention.”
“We try to not prey on the person but more so make the situation weird and awkward or perpetuate an existing joke,” explains MuchDank further. “With the Logic video we were attempting to take the meme that Logic always talks about his race and push it to the point of absurdity. The joke was never about what Logic’s race is.”
In fact, the MuchDank creator tells me that occasionally they’ve been contacted by various labels and PR firms looking to have their artists featured in one of their videos. Generally, MuchDank declines those opportunities, but they’ll sometimes accept if they think the “video they’re proposing has the potential to be cool,” and also because it means they won’t have to worry about any copyright issues with the source material for the clip. (They also tell me that they never accept payment for any of these collaborations: “I’m not really sure why we don’t. But I think a big factor is that we come from a time on YouTube when making money and ‘selling out’ just wasn’t cool.”)
It is strange to think that music industry executives would look to a meme channel — which has built an entire empire on making rappers look silly — as a way to elevate the stature of their clients, but MuchDank tells me that that’s never been a concern for the label heads that reach out. “They’ve never straight up mentioned if they like or want their clients to be memed on,” he says. “But they’ve never been against, so I guess that’s what they’re looking for.”
The music industry is a fossil that’s never been able to keep up with the internet; independent rappers have clearly realized this, and creators like MuchDank have stepped up to provide a madcap commentary that follows a certain demented logic in the millennium’s frazzled state of being. In 2019, the only way to stay on top is to make sure you’re being made fun of the most.
This might make you just melt into the floor out of sheer secondhand embarrassment.
Laura MacLean, a 21-year-old student studying management and marketing in the UK, was exceptionally prepared for a job interview with Microsoft. She had an outfit ready, research done, and practice interviews with friends and family completed, according to BuzzFeed.
She was so prepared, in fact, that she showed up to the Skype interview a full month early.
“I didn’t want to mess up my one chance,” MacLean told BuzzFeed. “And these types of chances don’t come around often with big tech companies like Microsoft.”
When she didn’t receive the scheduled 11 a.m. call, she reached out to her recruiter to ask if everything was alright.
all dressed up ready n freaking out for my big skype interview with Microsoft and this happens. possibly the biggest noob on this planet hahahahaha if you don’t laugh you’ll cry pic.twitter.com/OKn2n8i39z
In an email, the recruiter reminded her that their interview was the 18th of February. But MacLean was so eager for the opportunity, the month went over her head.
“It is the 18th of February and it was scheduled for 11am,” she responded to the recruiter, on Jan. 18. “Sorry for the inconvenience, I am just slightly confused.”
The recruiter promptly explained that it was still January, and that “February is next month.”
Yikes.
“When the team emailed back reminding me it was in fact January and February was the next month, I quite frankly wanted to disappear into thin air,” she told BuzzFeed.
After her tweet about the embarrassing exchange went viral, though, Microsoft recruiters reassured her with “Don’t worry some mistakes just happen,” and even added a cheery smiley face.
Twitter users voicing their support pointed out that even if clueless, MacLean was more than punctual.
Yeah, she showed some intense dedication to punctuality
Another joked that she seemed to forget her own birthday.
On the plus side, even Microsoft seemed to get a kick out of it. The company’s Head of Global Talent Acquisition, Chuck Edward, wished MacLean “the best of luck” on her upcoming interview.
In a statement to BuzzFeed, he said Microsoft is “always looking for candidates who have a growth mindset,” adding that it means “taking initiative, leaning into uncertainty, looking for solutions, and recognizing our own mistakes.”
Hopefully she can stay this prepared for the weeks leading up to Feb. 18!
Mashable has reached out to MacLean for additional comments, and we’ll update this post when we hear back.
It hasn’t been that long since fans said goodbye to The Office, but it’s been long enough to make us wonder where the characters are now (and not-so-secretly hope for a revival). In a new interview with Variety, Office alum Mindy Kaling discussed where she thinks Kelly Kapoor would be now and how she feels about an Office
“There’s not an insignificant part of me that thinks that Kelly might be in jail; a crime of passion,” Kaling said in a video. “The character just kept getting a little bit more and more unhinged. I don’t want to say that she murdered Ryan but like I’m also not convinced that he’s still alive in the world of The Office.”
“Would I be open to an Office reboot?” Kaling asked herself. “I think that anything that Greg [Daniels, executive producer] decided to do, I would watch and love and want to help him with.”
Athens, Greece – On Thursday night, Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) are due to put to rest a 27-year dispute over the latter country’s name. Following months of heated debate, the Greek parliament is scheduled to ratify the Prespes Agreement reached last June.
FYROM agrees to abandon “Republic of Macedonia” – the name it chose for itself when it declared independence from Yugoslavia in 1991 – and call itself North Macedonia. Greece agrees to lift its veto to North Macedonia’s membership in NATO and the European Union. A source of instability and ill feeling in southeast Europe is thus removed.
To the casual observer, an incomprehensible dispute has been resolved. Yet the compromise has brought political turmoil in both capitals.
In Skopje, social-democrat Zoran Zaev was soundly beaten in a referendum on the deal; he ratified it in parliament by luring eight MPs from the nationalist VMRO party across the aisle.
In Athens, the agreement has triggered two votes of confidence in the government over seven months and cost Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras his junior coalition partner, the Independent Greeks party.
His Syriza party is now a minority government, but the wily Tsipras is surviving by coaxing MPs out of small parties unlikely to return to the legislature should he fall and trigger a general election. He hopes for a larger majority on Thursday, but if necessary will use that precarious majority of 151 in the 300-seat chamber to ratify the deal.
A demonstrator holds a banner demanding Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to step down during a rally in Athens [Thanassis Stavrakis/AP Photo]
So widespread is opprobrium over the Macedonia deal that few Greeks believe Tsipras will be able to rule until his term ends in October. Syriza is expected to receive a thrashing in European Parliament and local elections in May.
Identity crisis
The problems on both sides revolve around identity, and how it may affect future security.
“The key position of the Greek state for many, many years — not since 1991 when this state was created but long before — was that we do not want any of the states of the area to monopolise the word Macedonia or Macedonian,” says Angelos Syrigos, professor of international law and foreign policy at Panteion University.
That is why Greece insisted that its neighbour qualify the term Macedonia with an adjective. Last year, both sides agreed to “Severna Makedonja”, or “Northern Macedonia”.
However, the same qualifier does not carry over to state attributes such as nationality and language. These remain “Macedonian”, and that has upset the Greeks.
“If you give nationality, if you give the language, this is called identity. And we do not want to open the door to one of the states to have the right to monopolise the Macedonian identity,” says Syrigos. The Greek position is that once established, such an identity can create a basis for territorial claims.
Naum Stoilkovski, VMRO spokesman, sees the identity issue in reverse. “You can’t rename all of Macedonia’s institutions, you can’t erase all that is truly Macedonian,” he tells Al Jazeera.
“By this agreement, I couldn’t talk about Macedonian theatre. I need to talk about theatre of the Republic of North Macedonia. You can’t talk about Macedonia’s army. You have to talk about the army of the Republic of North Macedonia,. etc. That’s identity.”
The Prespes Agreement successfully adjudicated the naming of the state, which lies within the competence of international law; but questions regarding identity, which are a matter of individual conscience, lie outside its purview.
Those in favour of the agreement on both sides admit that its success largely depends on good faith.
“There is no better way to secure that they won’t become a pawn of foreign powers – Turkey or whoever – than to ensure that they become a very close ally and partner to Greece,” Says Ioannis Armakolas, professor of comparative politics in southeast Europe at the University of Macedonia in Greece.
The agreement on Macedonia’s new name was signed in the village of Psarades, Prespes Greece in June [Yorgos Karahalis/AP Photo]
“We will allow this country into NATO and we will help them join the EU and through this process we’ll become best friends. This is how you resolve problems. You don’t just become defensive when you are the biggest economic and political power in the region.”
Rooted in history
The previous, hardline administration in Skopje claimed ancient Macedonian heritage and erected gigantic statues to Alexander the Great and his parents, Philip II and Olympias. This alienated Greeks, who see ancient Hellenism as a key constituent of their modern history and nationhood.
Zaev denounces that policy, and has gone to great lengths to separate Greek and Slav Macedonian identities in the Prespes agreement.
“Everyone here is against [the statues], if for no other reason, because they cost $1bn,” Zaev recently told a Greek newspaper. “We are a poor country. $1bn! Moreover, it provoked the Greek side. We did not need this… We’ve learned from the past, and we certainly won’t repeat the same mistakes.”
Today’s Balkan borders were largely set in 1912-13, when Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria fought the dying Ottoman Empire for its European possessions. In the Treaty of Bucharest, Greece got 51% of geographic Macedonia, Serbia 39% and Bulgaria 10%.
In the years following, only Greece used the term Macedonia for its territory. Bulgaria called its part Pirin, and Serbia called its part South Serbia.
Not until 1946, when the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was formed, was Serbia’s south named Makedonija, and it assumed a Stalinist ambition, articulated at the seventh Communist International in 1934, to create a “unified and independent Macedonian nation” by reuniting the Greek, Bulgarian and Serb territories carved up in 1913.
Greece’s Communist party vigorously supported the idea. During the 1946-49 Greek Civil War, Yugoslavia supported Greek communists with arms and materiel in return for a promise that Greek Macedonia would be annexed to Yugoslav Macedonia.
US Secretary of State Edward Stettinius had recognised the communist threat in 1944. In a telegram to US diplomatic missions, he wrote, “This Government considers talk of ‘Macedonian nation’, ‘Macedonia Fatherland’, or ‘Macedonian national consciousness’ to be unjustified demagoguery representing no ethnic or political reality, and sees in its present revival a possible cloak for aggressive intentions against Greece.”
Many Greeks believe that Tito weaponised Slav Macedonian identity as justification for expansionist designs and that this mentality cannot be erased from the new state’s DNA.
It is easy to see why, when Yugoslavia broke up and the Republic of Macedonia was proclaimed, Greeks viewed the entire project as the reincarnation of Communist hegemony.
If the naysayers are right, the agreement will collapse in mutual mistrust. If Tsipras and Zaev are right, friendship will become self-reinforcing, Greeks and Slavs will develop their separate identities, and the ghosts of the past will be laid to rest.
Tsipras and his Macedonian counterpart Zoran Zaev [Yorgos Karahalis/AP Photo]
Some say the most the two sides can achieve in the near term is a “mini-deal” that would keep current duties in place while negotiations continue. | Andrew Harnik/AP Photo
This story is part of an ongoing series on U.S.-China relations, jointly produced by the South China Morning Post and POLITICO.
The United States and China have just five weeks to come up with a deal that both nations can hail as “wins” in their closely watched trade war, and they’re each asking the other for major concessions heading into the next round of talks in Washington next week.
Story Continued Below
But what does “winning” actually look like for President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping — assuming neither leader gets everything he wants?
For Trump to declare victory by the goals he set for himself, he needs China to further open its market to American exports, especially the agricultural goods hit hard in the trade war. He also is pushing to stop China from forcing U.S. companies to hand over valuable technology, but such moves would require drastic changes on the part of Beijing.
For his part, Xi mainly needs Trump to eliminate or sharply reduce the tariffs the United States has imposed on $250 billion worth of Chinese goods. Such moves would help restore badly shaken confidence in the U.S.-China trade relationship at a time when China’s economic fundamentals are deteriorating.
The United States also wants the agreement to include provisions to ensure that China honors its commitments. Depending on how far China is willing to go, that could be a point of compromise that paves the way for the U.S. to back off some of its more difficult demands.
Some say the most the two sides can achieve in the near term is a “mini-deal” that would keep current duties in place while negotiations continue.
“My baseline assumption is that very close to the deadline, we will come up with a deal that certainly will not be comprehensive, durable and long-lasting by any means but at least allows both sides some breathing room by de-escalating hostilities or at least a cessation of future hostilities,” Eswar Prasad, former China director at the International Monetary Fund, said last week in a speech in Washington.
Face-to-face trade talks between the world’s two largest economies will resume on Jan. 30, when Chinese Vice Premier Liu He is scheduled to go to Washington for two days of meetings with a team of U.S. officials led by Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.
Whether the next set of talks will lead to a real deal is uncertain, in part because of Trump’s erratic personality and penchant for making unpredictable commentary via Twitter.
Stocks tumbled Tuesday after The Financial Times reported that the United States had rejected China’s offer of new, in-person, lower-level talks to be held this week because of a lack of progress on some of the main U.S. demands. But China watchers said such cancellations were normal, and face-to-face consultations were not necessary for Liu’s coming visit.
White House chief economic adviser Larry Kudlow, in an interview with CNBC on Tuesday, denied any meeting was ever scheduled for this week. He added the two countries remain in “constant communication” ahead of the Liu-Lighthizer meeting next week.
Kudlow also emphasized the United States still has big goals for the talks.
“I acknowledge the degree of difficulty, but it is a crucial point for the United States side,” Kudlow said. “We have got to deal with these vexing problems of [intellectual property] theft and the forced transfer of technology, the lack of American ownership of its own companies in China, cyber interference with various corporations, along with various tariff and non-tariff barriers.”
Looming economic worries
At the same time, both countries are staring down tough economic outlooks. Trump is in the grips of a monthlong government shutdown triggered by his demand for border wall funding that has diminished his approval ratings and risks causing long-term damage to the U.S. government and its economy.
Xi is overseeing a drastic slowdown in China’s economic growth, which adds pressure on him to find a quick end to the trade war. In the last quarter of 2018, China reported the slowest growth rate since its government began publishing quarterly figures in 1992.
The two sides are trying to reach a deal before March 2, when Trump says he’ll order his government to increase duties on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods to 25 percent, a sharp rise from 10 percent currently.
A simple win could involve commitments from China to purchase specified amounts of U.S. goods by certain target dates. On China’s side, anything that lifts some or all of the tariffs on its exports to the U.S. would be a victory.
Some analysts have speculated that Trump — faced with a jittery stock market and concerns that the government shutdown could help nudge the U.S. economy into recession — will settle for “a light deal” consisting mainly of Chinese purchases and vague promises.
In response, two influential business groups, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the American Chamber of Commerce in China, are urging Trump to stand by his pledge to press for meaningful reforms.
“While reducing the trade deficit and purchases of U.S. exports may be one aspect of the negotiations, we urge the U.S. government to prioritize outcomes that address structural challenges posed by China’s economic policies and practices,” the groups said in a report released this week.
Trump is soon going to focus his attention on his 2020 reelection campaign, and he will be motivated to rapidly shrink the U.S. trade deficit with China to fulfill a core promise he made during his 2016 campaign. That, however, is easier said than done.
The U.S. exported only $130 billion worth of goods to China in 2017. So either the U.S. has to exponentially grow its manufacturing capacity in a few short years, or China has to stop exporting as much to the U.S.
Final figures for 2018 are expected to show the U.S. deficit in goods trade with China set a new record of more than $400 billion.
In addition, simple export gains are not likely to go over well after Trump’s team laid out long-standing grievances that are rooted in how Beijing runs the nation’s economy.
Among the biggest issues the U.S. has raised is getting China to address allegations that it has aggressively supported investment by state-owned or state-directed companies in the United States to secure access to cutting-edge technology in sectors such as aviation, integrated circuits, information technology, biotechnology, industrial machinery, renewable energy and automobiles.
In another big salvo, Trump’s trade office has accused Beijing of conducting and supporting cyberattacks on U.S. company computers in order to acquire valuable intellectual property and other sensitive commercial information.
The U.S. stepped up its action against China on this front last year, when the Justice Department announced an initiative to “identify priority Chinese trade theft cases, ensure that we have enough resources dedicated to them and make sure that we bring them to an appropriate conclusion quickly and effectively.”
Last year, after an investigation into China’s practices, Trump initially imposed a 25 percent duty on $50 billion worth of Chinese exports, which the U.S. trade office judged to be “appropriate” given the level of damage done to the U.S. economy.
However, when China retaliated by imposing duties on $50 billion worth of U.S. exports, Trump upped the ante by imposing a 10 percent tariff on another $200 billion worth of Chinese goods. China has retaliated in kind, imposing tariffs on about 85 percent of all goods it imports from the U.S.
Seeking wholesale changes in China
A leaked document from a round of talks last May in Beijing showed the United States has a bigger agenda aimed at cutting the U.S. trade deficit with China in half by 2020. To achieve that, the Trump administration asked China to set “targets” for Chinese firms to buy hundreds of billions of dollars more of American goods.
While the deep-rooted issues could take years, perhaps even decades, for China to properly address, some trade experts theorize that there could be some partial wins to be had in the short time remaining before the March deadline.
Apart from Beijing’s pledges to purchase more American products, a deal could also include commitments to more quickly remove equity caps or joint venture requirements in some sectors in China.
The country could also easily beef up enforcement of intellectual property rights and make a “structured agreement to keep talking about more intractable issues such as technology transfer,” said Arthur Kroeber, head of research with China-focused Gavekal Dragonomics.
“USTR Robert Lighthizer and the trade and security hardliners could probably live with a restricted deal so long as it offered enough space for the U.S. to keep using investment restrictions, export controls and sanctions, and provided a window for more tariffs to be imposed if China fails to make what the U.S. defines as progress,” Kroeber said.
He added that Lighthizer would want to keep the existing tariffs in place and use the threat of additional levies as his bargaining chip. But China wouldn’t want to accept such a deal unless the U.S. gave up something — most likely a reduction of current tariffs.
China watchers also said the leadership in Beijing is very much concerned about keeping economic risks under control.
“China is interested in seeing the removal of tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese products, and it is trying to get the original tariffs on $50 billion removed as well, which would be a major win from the Chinese perspective,” one source briefed on the U.S. side ofthe negotiations said.
Given the extent of the reforms the United States is demanding, a second source following the talks from the Chinese side played down the likelihood of a final deal by the deadline.
“The best outcome for China is to suspend tariffs and have time and room to address other issues,” the source said. “The problem is not whether we have to change or not, but how and when.”
Those systemic changes will require a real commitment from “the top leadership,” the source noted.
Lu Xiang, a researcher on China-U.S. relations with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, expected any deal would be centered on addressing trade imbalance.
“China will respond to U.S. concerns, but it can’t be like a bottomless pit to satisfy U.S. demands, otherwise it would hurt China’s economy,” said Lu.
Discussions slog along
Earlier this month, the countries held talks in Beijing at the vice ministerial level. That meeting, originally scheduled for two days, stretched into a third, in what some saw as a sign the two sides were making progress toward a final agreement.
However, the sources close to the governments cautioned against an overly optimistic reading of the extension. Rather, the third day was added because China was moving slowly through the list of agenda issues and avoided difficult discussions on structural issues, such as market access and intellectual property, the source briefed on the U.S.-side of the negotiations said.
China “has offered very few commitments on structural changes, but continued to focus on buying American goods to reduce the deficit,” the source briefed on the negotiations said. “The U.S. told China this is not going to end with a positive negotiation outcome.”
Members of Congress, too, said they were informed that little progress had been made. Senate Finance Chairman Chuck Grassley conveyed to reporters that Lighthizer told him earlier this month no progress had been made on the structural overhaul the U.S. is seeking.
In addition, the United States is expected to insist that any agreement contain robust monitoring and enforcement that could reinstate any tariffs that are lifted as part of the deal.
While China might be willing to agree to an enforcement mechanism as part of the deal, they “probably don’t want the United States to be judge and jury” of whether they have faithfully implemented the pact, said Scott Kennedy, a China expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
A more attractive alternative for Beijing would be for the agreement to be enforced through the World Trade Organization. But the United States might not be willing to accept that because the WTO dispute settlement process is notoriously slow.
Still, neither side has an incentive to wrap up the talks until shortly before the March deadline.
For the United States, there is benefit in holding on to the threat of increased tariffs as long as possible to maximize leverage. For China, there is an advantage in waiting to see if Trump’s price for reaching a deal goes down because of concern about his political future, Kennedy said.
“I think it’s nowhere near decided that the U.S. is going to settle for less. I still think the U.S. raising tariffs on March 2nd is the mostly likely outcome,” Kennedy said.
Lindsey Muller, an attack helicopter pilot and chief warrant officer, has spent nearly 19 years in the Army. Muller’s career has included deployments to combat zones, where she’s been shot at by forces intent on bringing her plane down.
But Muller, who is transgender, said the biggest fight of her life is at home. After President Trump announced a ban on transgender people in the military last year, it wasn’t clear how much longer she’d be permitted to serve. Muller’s situation grew even more uncertain Tuesday when the Supreme Court decided to let the legal battle over Trump’s policy play out in lower courts but also allowed the Department of Defense to implement the ban in the meantime.
Muller, who planned to file her retirement paperwork in just a few months, now has no idea if she’ll be booted from an organization she calls “one of the best in the world.” The Supreme Court’s decision put Muller’s career at risk — and as a result, her retirement and pension — a fate shared by an estimated 15,500 transgender service members.
“I’m still trying to process it actually,” Muller said. “It’s discouraging, disheartening, and painful. But nonetheless, the fight continues to go on.”
That fight will take place in the court system as federal judges continue to hear arguments in related lawsuits against the Trump administration. Muller is a plaintiff in one of those suits, Karnoski v. Trump, and is represented by Lambda Legal, a nonprofit organization that advocates for the civil rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people.
Peter Renn, counsel for Lambda Legal in Karnoski, said the decision issued by the Supreme Court is not a ruling on the merits of the case itself. In fact, several preliminary rulings from federal courts around the country have already found the ban unconstitutional, and Renn is optimistic that the lower courts will ultimately come to the same conclusion.
“The vast majority of courts have seen the ban for what it is: irrational, rank discrimination,” said Renn.
The Supreme Court weighed different factors in choosing to let the government implement the ban, a decision that was supported by the five conservative justices and opposed by the four liberals. The variables included what Renn described as the “balancing of hardships between the sides andwhether or not one side might suffer irreparable harm.”
“The vast majority of courts have seen the ban for what it is: irrational, rank discrimination.”
“From our perspective, this is only going to cause harm to transgender people who are serving, and the military itself,” Renn said.
The administration’s policy includes a grandfather clause for people like Muller who transitioned before the ban’s implementation, but the government made that clause reversible, meaning it can revoke it under certain circumstances.
Pending a decision in a related case in Maryland district court, the Department of Defense will be able to proceed with implementing the ban but has yet to announce how it will begin putting it into action.
Muller said the limbo has left transgender service members anxious about their careers and lives. She added that for soldiers who pride themselves on “initiative-driven performance,” it’s devastating to feel disavowed by the government because of their gender identity.
For Conner Callahan, the Supreme Court decision threatens to put his dream of enlisting in the Air Force Reserve even further out of reach. Callahan, who is also a plaintiff in Karnoski, saw the breaking news story while at the gym, where he swims, lifts weights, and runs to stay in “excellent, ready-for-duty shape.”
Callahan said he’s been working with recruiters to enlist for years. He’s collected hundreds of pages of medical records related to his transition to give to recruiters. He’s also studying for the military’s equivalent of the SATs, and hopes to one day work in explosive ordnance disposal. In civilian terms, that means he wants to diffuse bombs.
“It is really hard to wake up every day and not know what’s going to happen and to try to keep your faith and keep your hope,” said Callahan. “All I can hope is that eventually I will be accepted.”
Muller said her faith comes from the people she serves with, many of whom reached out Tuesday to see how she was handling the news. While she’s motivated by their support, she’s also acutely aware that, if it were up to the Trump administration, no transgender person would serve in the military.
“Their service should be rewarded, applauded, and respected, not vilified,” she said.
“We’ve proven our worth, but under certain political tensions we’re seen as a threat or some sort hindrance,” Muller added. “I cannot agree with that.”
Our political system may be crumbling, but at least federal workers who can’t pay for medical marijuana during the government shutdown can get it for free!
Called the “Craigslist of weed,” BudTrader is a massive pot-trading marketplace that allows users to buy and sell grow supplies, bud, and paraphernalia. As we continue to endure the longest government shutdown in history, the company wants to help federal employees who have gone without pay for 33 days.
“I don’t think federal employees are getting enough love and support,” BudTrader CEO Brad McLaughlin said in a statement to the Hill. “In these tough times, we want to extend the offer of a donation of medical cannabis to any federal worker affected by the shutdown.”
Pledging to give the “maximum legal allowable amount of cannabis” to federal workers, BudTrader will also ensure that all weed donations are “confidential and compliant with the California Cannabis adult use laws and regulations.”
In a Facebook post on Monday, BudTrader assured cannabis users that they wouldn’t have to worry about anyone finding out.
“God Bless all Federal Employees, God Bless the Cannabis Community, and God Bless the United States of America,” the company said in the post.
This gesture is one of many from companies and celebrities who are offering donations and aid to struggling federal employees.
![Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has blocked Trump's annual SOTO speech for time being [File: Yuri Gripas/Reuters]](https://i0.wp.com/www.aljazeera.com/mritems/imagecache/mbdxxlarge/mritems/Images/2019/1/17/7673e515c13642b88671665ea8733263_18.jpg "Pelosi blocks Trump's annual address until US gov't shutdown ends")
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