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Un bolero sexual (e industrial)

El éxito de "El bolero" sorprendió a Maurice Ravel. Lo había compuesto diez años antes de morirse en la cima de su carrera y de su vida, pero nunca concibió la partitura como una obra maestra, ni puede que tuviera en cuenta la proyección coreográfica.




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Mercadona, Inditex o Apple: así se vuelcan las empresas con los afectados por la DANA

Compañías de todos los sectores han mostrado su apoyo a través de donaciones de dinero, alimentos y materiales Leer



  • Artículos Gabriela Galarza

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Economía y Unespa firman un acuerdo para agilizar la tramitación de expedientes de los afectados de la DANA

El convenio busca proceder con más rapidez en la valoración de los siniestros y e el cobro de las indemnizaciones por parte de los asegurados Leer




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El sexo y la vicepresidenta

Mi señora Carmen Calvo es mujer de mucho anglicanismo. Lo digo porque sus últimas incursiones en el Código Penal y la Ley de Enjuiciamiento Criminal para proponer cambios en ambos textos que lleven a considerar violación toda relación sexual que no vaya precedida por el sí de las niñas que diría Leandro Fernández de Moratín, me han traído a la memoria una divertida comedia de Cliff Owen, "Sexo no, por favor, somos británicos". Mi egabrense preferida ha dicho textualmente: "si una mujer no da un 'sí' expreso todo lo demás es no".




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Trinos y rebuznos/Carmen Calvo lo explica

La vicepresidenta Calvo es mujer que se expresa en tuits, unidad infinitesimal del pensamiento que prodiga en toda entrevista, declaración o canutazo y cuyo requisito mínimo es ser capaz de sustentar un titular. El periodismo de hoy está a su altura y se expresa en titulares. Hay en ella una cierta cualidad de aquel personaje caótico que encarnaba Katharine Hepburn en 'La fiera de mi niña', tal como explicaba su abogado: "nunca entenderemos nada mientras ella se empeñe en explicarlo todo".




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Valencia pidió a Madrid consejo por WhatsApp sobre el texto literal de la alerta de la DANA y tardó dos horas en enviarla

El 29 de octubre en torno a las 18.00 horas la Generalitat ya pidió a la Comunidad de Madrid la textualidad del mensaje ES-Alert enviado a la población madrileña el 3 de septiembre de 2023 Leer




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Se entrega una semana después de matar a su ex mujer en Pontevedra tras esconderse en el mismo pueblo del crimen

Los investigadores sospechan que estuvo escondido en zonas de bosque. Él mismo explicó al llamar a la Guardia Civil que no podía soportar la presión de la búsqueda Leer




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El PP Europeo impone dos condiciones para no tumbar a Ribera: dar explicaciones en el Congreso y dimitir si la imputan por la gestión de la DANA

La candidata española ya ha pedido comparecer la próxima semana, por lo que hasta entonces no habrá acuerdo en el nombramiento de vicepresidentes de la Comisión, según explican los 'populares' Leer




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Metsola asegura que la Eurocámara está dispuesta a ayudar a Valencia "como sea", incluyendo "mayor flexibilidad para la asistencia financiera"

Minuto de silencio en el Parlamento Europeo en memoria de las víctimas de las inundaciones Leer




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18 trillones de estrellas para explorar

Hemos probado No Man's Sky, el juego de exploración espacial para Playstation 4. Un título que nos coloca frente a un universo casi infinito de posibilidades.




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La sangre y las manos mexicanas salvaron a José Tomás

José Tomás tenía sangre mexicana antes y después de la trágica corrida del sábado. La llevaba antes de enfrentarse a 'Navegante' después de que una grave cogida, precisamente en Aguascalientes cuando tenía 18 años, le uniera definitivamente a esta tierra gracias a la sangre azteca que corría por sus venas y de la que siempre presumía.




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Gafas sexy

El potencial erótico de una cara con gafas no sólo lo supieron explotar los organizadores del concurso de belleza Miss Guapa con Gafas (una cosa que se hacía antes, en serio) o Chicho Ibáñez Serrador a través de las célebres azafatas del ‘Un, dos, tres’. También los japoneses, unos auténticos degustadores de ‘delicatessen’ parafílicas, han aportado su granito de arena a la hora de hacer de las gafas un objeto sexy y de elevado voltaje sensual, sobre todo de un tiempo a esta parte. 




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El luchador Conor McGregor afirma que mantuvo sexo "consentido, vigoroso y enérgico" con la mujer que le acusa de violación

En su primera declaración por la demanda civil contra él, Conor Mc Gregor admite que consumió alcohol y cocaína pero asegura que la demandante, al abandonar el hotel, no estaba afectada ni presentaba lesiones Leer




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¿Lex?

Miguel Riopa/AFP

Un tribunal ha determinado que en este hecho no tiene culpables. Un bello artesonado sirve de marco a la situación. 




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Fotógrafos en la revuelta de Ucrania: Alexey Furman

Es el fotógrafo de los escenarios cinematográficos. Sus imágenes podrían podrían estar tomadas en un decorado de película bélica. Si no fuera porque sabemos que esto está ocurriendo de una forma real, podríamos pensar que es un director de cine. 




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Perplexity AI Is Testing Ads In Search With Brands Indeed and Whole Foods Market

Artificial intelligence startup Perplexity AI is officially moving forward with previously announced plans to begin testing ads within its search results. Initial agency and brand partners include Indeed, PMG, Universal McCann, and Whole Foods Market. The company said in a blog post announcing the move, "To fully deliver on our mission to spark the world's...




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Adam McKay-Produced Documentary ‘You Need This’ From Banijay’s Scenery Probes Hyper-Consumerism (EXCLUSIVE)

After tackling climate change in his Oscar-nominated political satire “Don’t Look Up,” filmmaker Adam McKay has produced “You Need This,” a thought-provoking documentary tackling consumerism and hyper-capitalism. Directed by Ryan Andrej Lough (“Entertainment”), “You Need This” is produced by McKay via Yellow Dot Studios; Isidoor Roebers and Lea Fels at Scenery, a joint venture with Banijay […]




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The Tech Show adds a big gaming element to its lineup as it moves to Singapore Expo

Come down to The Tech Show at Singapore Expo and compete in an eSports extravaganza! #thetechshow #techshowportal2024




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Niger expels French aid group as ties with the West deteriorate

Niger expels French aid group as ties with the West deteriorate




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Biden sending aid for Ukraine to keep fighting next year, Blinken says

Biden sending aid for Ukraine to keep fighting next year, Blinken says




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Why Rexas Finance (RXS) Could Lead The 2025 Altcoin Bull Run?

With the broader crypto market poised for a new bull run, large-cap investors are looking for emerging cryptocurrency projects that could beat popular altcoin frontrunners like Shiba Inu (SHIB) or Dogecoin (DOGE).  Rexas Finance is an up-and-coming crypto project that focuses on the tokenization of real-world assets (RWA) – from real estate and art to [...]




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Westchester School District sued after former teacher charged with sexually abusing student




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Experienced Structures Technician Seasonal Contractor

Aurora, OR United States - Description Performs structural (sheet metal) maintenance and alterations; will also fabricate structural parts as part of the parts manufacturing process and/or performs aircraft maintenance preventive maintenance complete aircraft teardown and assembly to include all air... View




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DNA analysis identifies long-lost remains of executed 1916 rebel, Thomas Kent

The long lost remains of Thomas Kent, one of the 16 men executed in 1916 following the Easter Rising, have been identified by scientific DNA analysis...




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Thune to succeed McConnell as next Senate GOP leader

Sen. John Thune (R-SD) has been elected the next GOP leader in the Senate, ushering in a new generation of leadership after nearly two decades of Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) running the conference. A majority of GOP senators supported Thune, currently the Senate minority whip, in a secret ballot held weeks before Republicans take control […]




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Transit Diehard King County Council Member Claudia Balducci Is Running for King County Executive

On Wednesday, King County Council Member Claudia Balducci announced her candidacy for King County Executive. Her announcement came the morning after current Executive Dow Constantine announced he would not seek reelection. by Ashley Nerbovig

On Wednesday, King County Council Member Claudia Balducci announced her candidacy for King County Executive. Her announcement came the morning after current Executive Dow Constantine announced he would not seek reelection.

Thirty-ish years ago, Balducci moved from New York into a house in Bellevue’s Lake Hills neighborhood with her then-boyfriend, now husband. She’s stayed right there ever since, not counting a brief return to New York for law school. 

Her political career began at the Bellevue City Council. She served as mayor of that mall town from 2014 to 2016. Voters elected her to the King County Council in 2016. Throughout that time, she advocated for more housing density, defended Sound Transit’s East Link extension, and pushed for improvements to the criminal legal system.

She considers housing, transit, and public safety the pillars of her campaign for King County Executive. Plus, she supports finding progressive revenue streams for the county. When we asked her if, as someone from the Eastside, she felt additional pressure from big business to oppose legislation such as a payroll tax, she responded: “No more so than somebody from Seattle.” Touche, Balducci.

Balducci views herself as a coalition-builder, someone who reaches across the aisle. The biggest difference she sees between herself and her would-be predecessor, Constantine, is her approach: Rather than solely focusing on rallying advocates to push an idea across the finish line, she believes in sitting down with people who disagree with her to reach consensus. 

“You might come out with something that's a little different than what you thought, but hopefully we start to build deeper and more lasting support, not just for that thing, but for all of government,” Balducci said.

If elected as County Executive, Balducci says her first four years in office would focus on addressing the human suffering and disorder in King County’s downtown cores without increasing the jail population. She wants to ensure that people have the services they need to help them address substance abuse, their mental health, and maintain housing. Though she headed up the King County Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention, she was not a “lock-them-up sort of person,” though she did say she’d like to see crime go down in city centers.

She also wants to focus on delivering light rail expansion projects in a reasonable amount of time. 

A Yimby Year One

Balducci found her YIMBY calling in the early 2000s, when the owners of her neighborhood shopping center, Lake Hills Village, sought to redevelop the mall due to a lack of business and businesses. But as the property owners pushed to change zoning requirements to allow a mixed-use, multistory complex Balducci says many of her neighbors came out to oppose the redevelopment. She readily supported the idea and said so in front of her neighbors. Standing up in those meetings almost two decades ago launched her political career, she says. 

On Tuesday ahead of her campaign launch, she showed The Stranger around the redeveloped lot. Shops now fill the storefronts, and the Village houses a branch of the King County Library along with a community space. The large apartments attached to the complex–many three or four bedrooms–are some of the largest in the area. None are “deeply affordable, but they're not outrageously expensive either.” Balducci’s only regret is that the property couldn’t also connect to the light rail. The complex’s large parking lot in the center makes it clear the Lake Hills community still has a car-centric, commuter mindset.

Lake Hills was the first stop on Balducci’s Bellevue Accomplishments Tour. As we drove to our next stop, she chatted about the County’s need to build more housing and Eastside developers’ need to build more townhomes on single lots instead of the giant homes she often sees built in her neighborhood. (She acknowledged those townhomes would be expensive.)

A Defender of Transit

From Lake Hills Village, Balducci whisked us off to Wilburton Station, which she reluctantly called her favorite while saying, “It’s like my children, I love them all equally.” Balducci came alive as she talked about the importance of light rail planning, and how building along the freeway can limit how much density can pop up around a station. She pointed out The Spring District, which happened to be at the end of a rainbow that appeared as the rain slowed to a drizzle. The Spring District is a sort of evolved version of what Balducci did for Lake Hill Village. A developer turned an area of Bellevue made up mostly of warehouses and parking lots and turned it into a housing, shopping, and business core, complete with a light rail station right in the center that had support from private investors. Again, Balducci acknowledged the housing in Spring District probably wouldn’t be something anyone could afford, with the cost of a cheap studio hovering around $1,994, but the project brought more housing and more jobs, all made possible because of the light rail.

Balducci explained how unlike in Seattle, many people in Bellevue vehemently opposed light rail. She fought for years to bring the option to the Eastside as a member of the Bellevue City Council, fighting not only against her fellow council members, but also those who challenged it in court. She came from a city where you could survive without a car and saw the benefit and importance of a reliable transportation system. She called building the Eastline a labor of love. 

As King County Executive, she’d have a huge say in how light rail expanded, because not only would she become a member of the Sound Transit Board, but she’d have the ability to appoint another nine members to the 18 member board. Much of her political life has been dedicated to the issue of improving and expanding transit, and as King County Executive, she says, she’d throw herself into delivering the light rail the county promised to voters as quickly and efficiently as she can.

Not Zero Youth Detention, but Less Youth Detention

Balducci has never styled herself as an abolitionist. She’s a reformer, someone who helped to change conditions at the King County Jail after the US Department of Justice found that the facility had violated people’s constitutional rights by failing to adequately protect them from harm. When the issue of the new youth jail came up, Balducci said she saw a need for an improved youth jail, a smaller one, that could be refitted as the county worked to reduce the number of kids in lock up. But she never saw the existence of the building as a problem, it's more about how the county manages the building and treats the people inside. She also stressed she supports diversion programs and upstream investments to help reduce the number of kids who find themselves on the path to prison. She said she believes in community-based diversion programs and has supported increasing funding to them.

Final Stop

Balducci ended the tour at Porchlight, a men’s shelter in Bellevue that she helped establish during her time as Mayor. The whole process involved a lot of planning, funding, and dealing with community pushback, but it resulted in a 100-bed shelter and the first permanent shelter for men in all of East King County. From there, Bellevue wanted to expand the site, eventually purchasing the property from the county and expanding it to create permanent supportive housing as well as 300 units of family housing, Balducci said. She acknowledged that this particular project may not be the best example of the coalition style governance she wants to represent as King County Executive — a lot of neighbors still had issues with the project — but in the end, many came around. 

Balducci sees herself as somebody who fights Nimby-ism wherever it sprouts. With the drop from her colleague King County Councilmember Girmay Zahilay Tuesday night, announcing he also planned to “strongly consider” a run for King County Executive, Balducci probably won’t end up the most outwardly progressive candidate in the race. However, given Zahilay’s recent retreat on criminal legal system issues, Balducci may be able to style herself as a more consistent, left voice who delivers on her promises. Plus, she’d be the county’s first woman King County Executive in the position’s 56-year history. Wild we haven’t managed to elect one of those yet.




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New Product Spotlight: Aeriz, Copperstate Farms revisit the old while exploring the new

Award-winning cannabis cultivator Aeriz has debuted a carefully crafted lineup of four new cannabis strains…



  • News & Opinion/Cannabis

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Art from Scratch: Creative Cathy Sheeter exhibits at museum

Sometimes it’s difficult to discern the difference between scratchboard art and photography…



  • Arts & Culture/Arts: Feature

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Piccadily Agro to invest Rs 1000 crore in capacity expansion; new distillery in Scotland also lined up

The expansions are expected to be completed over the next 24 months, with phase 1 of the total expansion at Indri plant of malt and ethanol reaching completion in early 2025. At its Indri plant, the company is expanding its warehousing infrastructure to accommodate over 1 lakh barrels.




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Gokaldas Exports Q2 Results: Net profit rises 18% to Rs 28 crore

Apparel exporter Gokaldas Exports posted an 18.77% rise in consolidated profit at Rs 28.16 crore for the quarter ended September 30, mainly led by exports. The company had posted a net profit of Rs 23.71 crore for the same quarter a year ago.




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India's smartphone market to exit 2024 with single-digit annual growth

India's smartphone market is expected to exit 2024 with a low single-digit annual growth, as Apple posted its largest-ever quarterly shipment in India with 4 million units in the third quarter (Q3), according to a new report.




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HOLYMAMI shares her inner mythical beast with explosive new single "Centaur"

HOLYMAMI is back with her new song, "Centaur," celebrating her Sagittarius spirit. Known for her unique mix of music styles, HOLYMAMI combines punk rock's powerful sounds with catchy rap and…




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Services to aid in becoming an expat?

I know this topic is going to be coming up more and more, but I haven't found much information on my own. Are there reputable companies that help US citizens in all aspects of becoming expats in Europe?

From the initial research we've done, the road to becoming an expat is long and difficult. There are so many things to consider, from the types of Visas necessary to the logistics of the actual move, and all the bureaucracy in the middle. Certainly, there must be companies whose specialty is guiding Americans through it all. I'm guessing we will see a lot of scammy ones pop up, too.

Please let us know if anyone here has found and used such a (reputable) service!




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Does this book exist?

So, in a recent question, someone used ChatGPT to identify someone's 'remember this book' and I thought 'huh, I wonder if ChatGPT can identify my so-far-unsolved remember this book?' So I threw in the text from my previous Ask and ChatGPT came up with a plausible sounding response -- "The Road to Rio: A Journey Across the Americas" by Australian journalist and author, John A. Lee -- but now I can't find any evidence that that person or that book exists. Is it a hallucination or can you help me find it?

Here's the full text of the ChatGPT response:

It sounds like you're recalling "The Road to Rio: A Journey Across the Americas" by Australian journalist and author, John A. Lee. The book is a travelogue that covers Lee's hitchhiking journey across both North and South America, in the post-World War II era. While the exact dates are not always clear, the references to events like the opening of the Alaska Highway strongly suggest a timeframe that fits the 1940s, with a focus on the era immediately following the war. The connection to Prince George, British Columbia, in the narrative also helps to date the book as being closely tied to the time when the Alaska Highway was opened, which makes sense given the events you've described.

As for the mention of a dog and the author's travels through various parts of the Americas, including the Darien Gap and eventually reaching Brazil, this sounds like it aligns with the broader scope of Lee's journey and the adventures he experienced during his time on the road.

This book, while not as widely known today, was quite popular when it was first published and is still cherished by those interested in mid-20th-century travel writing, particularly for its unique perspective from an Australian author exploring the Americas. Your memory of finding it at the University and its plain orange binding might indicate it was a reprint or an edition from the 1950s or 60s. Does this sound like the book you're thinking of?


When I asked it where I could find the book, it told me that it might have been wrong and just gave me general ideas for searching. I tried WorldCat and couldn't find it. Can you? Or is ChatGPT wrong?




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php-static-analysis/phpstan-extension: PHPStan extension to read static analysis attributes




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NLnet; ZeroPhone Next




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John Krasinski is People’s Sexiest Man Alive: Here's how to watch his hottest movie and TV roles




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In 3 stappen je employee experience optimaliseren

Je wil een probleem voor je medewerkers oplossen. Maar, doorloop je wel de juiste stappen hiervoor? Op één of andere manier krijgen we het niet altijd voor elkaar om te onderzoeken, klein te beginnen en de doelgroep te betrekken. Tijdens Employee Experience Event kwamen diverse diciplines bij elkaar: HRM-, ICT-, UX- en marketingprofessionals. Ik bezocht […]




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Bermuda Stock Exchange Report: Nov 12 2024

November 12 saw 10,150 shares trade on the Bermuda Stock Exchange, valued at $370,475.00 BD. 10,150 shares were traded by Bank of N.T. Butterfield Ltd, closing up even at $36.50 per share. The BSX finished at 2,526.08, even on the day. There were 0 advances, 0 declines, and 53 remained unchanged. The full report for […]




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Hero Nominations Deadline Extended To Nov 15

The deadline for nominations for Bermuda’s next National Hero has been extended to Friday, November 15th. A Government spokesperson said, “The public is advised that the nomination deadline to choose Bermuda’s next National Hero has been extended to Friday, November 15, 2024. “The public can visit: https://forms.gov.bm/Bermuda-National-Hero-Nomination to submit their recommendation. “The public will be […]




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Pritzker: I'll Protect Illegal Immigrants, It Was a 'Problem' When Texas Sent Us Migrants

On Wednesday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “The ReidOut,” Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) vowed to “do everything that I can to protect our undocumented immigrants.” But also stated that the state “had the problem of the very inhumane shipping of migrants”

The post Pritzker: I’ll Protect Illegal Immigrants, It Was a ‘Problem’ When Texas Sent Us Migrants appeared first on Breitbart.




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Senate Majority Leader-Elect Thune: Senate Republicans ‘Excited’ to Put Trump’s Agenda into Action

Senate Majority Leader-elect John Thune (R-SD) said Senate Republicans "are excited" to enact President-elect Donald Trump's agenda.

The post Senate Majority Leader-Elect Thune: Senate Republicans ‘Excited’ to Put Trump’s Agenda into Action appeared first on Breitbart.




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Alex Marlow: Trump Crushing Deep State with Cabinet Picks

On “The Alex Marlow Show” on Wednesday, Breitbart Editor-in-Chief and host Alex Marlow praised the pick of Pete Hegseth to be Defense Secretary. Marlow said, “We don’t want Deep Staters. We don’t want people who came from the board of

The post Alex Marlow: Trump Crushing Deep State with Cabinet Picks appeared first on Breitbart.




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Trump’s proposed tariffs, especially on China and Mexico, could hit California hard

By Levi Sumagaysay, CalMatters

Welcome to CalMatters, the only nonprofit newsroom devoted solely to covering issues that affect all Californians. Sign up for WhatMatters to receive the latest news and commentary on the most important issues in the Golden State.

A range of experts, from Nobel Prize-winning economists to an internet-famous menswear writer, have a message for Americans who voted for Donald Trump based on his promises to bring down prices: This likely won’t go how you want. 

Some voters cited the cost of living as a factor in their decision to elect Trump to a second term as president. But with inflation actually starting to ease, his proposed tariffs, which the president-elect has called the “most beautiful word in the dictionary,” could actually raise prices again.

While some experts don’t think more tariffs are a bad idea, the majority of economists and other experts who spoke with CalMatters echoed 23 Nobel laureates who warned that Trump’s policies would be worse for the economy than the ones proposed by Vice President Kamala Harris. Those economists wrote a letter last month calling Harris’ economic agenda “vastly superior” to Trump’s, and mentioned tariffs as one reason.

“His policies, including high tariffs even on goods from our friends and allies and regressive tax cuts for corporations and individuals, will lead to higher prices, larger deficits, and greater inequality,” the economists wrote.

Businesses that import goods into the country must pay the tariffs. They tend to pass on their increased costs to consumers, with some executives recently promising to do just that during their earnings calls. So economists largely view tariffs as a tax, especially on the lowest- and middle-income families in the nation. 

While tariffs could raise prices for all U.S. consumers, California could feel the brunt of the impact in part because of the countries Trump singled out during his campaign: China and Mexico. Those two countries accounted for 40% of the state’s imports in 2023.

“The port and logistics complex in Southern California is a very important part of the economy, and directly tied to the countries he threatened,” said Stephen Levy, an economist and director of the Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy, an independent, private research organization in Silicon Valley. 

Trump imposed tariffs during his first presidential term, and President Joe Biden maintained some of them. During his campaign this time around, Trump said he intends to impose tariffs of 10% to 20% on all imports, and has mentioned even higher tariffs on goods from China (60%) and Mexico (100% to 200% on cars). 

Such tariffs could exacerbate California’s already high cost of living and raise the prices of cars, technology and electronic products, medical devices, groceries and more. Also, as the state saw during Trump’s first term — which included a trade war, with countries retaliating with their own tariffs on U.S. exports — California’s agricultural industry is likely to feel the effects. Trump’s proposed tariffs could also have an adverse effect on the state’s ports, which are among the nation’s busiest. 

And all of those outcomes could have a ripple effect on jobs in the state, including those in agriculture, trade and manufacturing.

What the state’s ports expect

Trade experts say it’s too early to tell how the state’s ports could be affected, though some of them also said they expect a near-term surge in activity as businesses brace themselves for tariffs by importing more goods now. 

“Long Beach and Los Angeles are two of the largest ports in the U.S.,” said Jonathan Aronson, a professor of communication and international relations at the University of Southern California, who studies trade and the international political economy. “Their traffic would presumably slow in both directions” if Trump imposes tariffs, Aronson said. Like other experts, though, he wondered if the president-elect is using the threat of tariffs as a negotiating tactic — say, to pressure Mexico into doing more to limit immigration into the United States. 

The most recent available data for the Port of Los Angeles, which is the busiest in North America and handles nearly 10% of all U.S. imports, shows that trade activity rose nearly 19% at the port in September from the same month a year ago. September imports totaled $27.9 billion, a 20% increase year over year. There’s a chance those numbers could head the opposite direction as a result of tariffs.

“Significant increases in tariffs, and the possibility of retaliatory tariffs, could have a significant impact on traffic — and jobs — at the port,” said Phillip Sanfield, a spokesperson. “We’re monitoring developments closely.”

The Port of Los Angeles says nearly 1 million California jobs are related to trade at that port.

The Port of Long Beach handles about 3% of all U.S. imports and has about 575,000 Southern California jobs tied to trade. Chief Executive Mario Cordero said, through a spokesperson, that he is waiting to see what trade policies Trump actually will adopt: “At this point we expect that strong consumer demand will continue to drive cargo shipments upward in the near term.” 

The Port of Oakland, whose trade-related jobs at both the airport and seaport number about 98,000, also expects a traffic boost at first. Spokesperson Robert Bernardo: “As a West Coast seaport, our primary trading partner is Asia, and what’s happening right now is that retailers are expecting a short-term shipping surge in advance of new tariffs.” 

Mike Jacob is the president of the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association, a not-for-profit maritime trade association whose members facilitate trade. They include ocean carriers, marine terminal operators and more. 

Jacob, too, said he is expecting trade activity to pick up ahead of whatever tariffs Trump imposes: “Given the lack of understanding of the timing, scope and scale (of the tariffs), you’re more likely than not to move cargo earlier.”

As a result of tariffs during Trump’s first term, Jacob said there was “a small bump in cargo back in 2019 that resulted in additional impacts on our logistics chain.” He said after that experience, which was then followed by pandemic-related chaos, the industry might be a little more prepared to deal with possible supply-chain disruptions.

Possible effects on manufacturing

The San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce is worried about potential tariffs on goods from Mexico. Kenia Zamarripa, a spokesperson for the group, said the CaliBaja region — which includes San Diego and Imperial counties and the Mexican state of Baja California — is interconnected, with a multibillion-dollar supply chain. The region’s logistics facilitate 80% of the trade between California and Mexico, she said.

The nation’s top imports from Mexico in September — worth at least $2 billion for each category — were petroleum and coal products, computer equipment and motor vehicle parts, according to the most recent statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Some specific products that are imported into the U.S. from Mexico through California include the Toyota Tacoma. The truck and its components are made in Baja California and elsewhere in Mexico. “Imagine taxing each component before it goes to Mexico and back,” Zamarripa said. 

She added that the region also leads in producing medical devices, and that the importance of that became apparent during the beginning of the pandemic when “a bunch of companies shut down, not knowing that a little metal piece they were producing was a vital part of a heart monitor, for example.”

Mexico’s economy minister, Marcelo Ebrard, said this week that he would hit the U.S. with tariffs if Trump imposes tariffs, though President Claudia Sheinbaum has seemed more open to negotiations.  

Lance Hastings, chief executive of the California Manufacturers & Technology Association, said he’s well aware of the disruption tariffs can cause. When Trump put tariffs on aluminum and steel imports, aluminum prices rose at least 25%, Hastings said. “I was in the beer industry when it was put in, and we felt it,” he added.

Hastings also said the anxiety around Trump’s proposed tariffs stem in part from the fact that “we’re still trying to get the supply chain back to normal” after the pandemic. Because “California is the gateway to Asia, the state would feel the impact of more tariffs first and more than everybody else,” he said.

Made in the USA

Yet there is a bit of optimism among those who think some tariffs could actually help California manufacturers. 

Sanjiv Malhotra, founder and CEO of Sparkz, a maker of lithium batteries, said tariffs could benefit his company and the rest of the domestic battery industry amid the increasing popularity of electric vehicles. 

Sparkz, which will get its materials from West Virginia and make batteries at a plant in Sacramento, “is all U.S.-sourced. Nothing is coming in from China,” Malhotra said.

During his campaign, Trump indicated he would try to roll back emission-reduction rules and said he would oppose banning gas-powered vehicles. But Malhotra, who served in the U.S. Energy Department under the first Trump administration, said that as demand for lithium batteries grows, he believes Trump’s incoming administration will understand that they “need to be made here in the U.S. so we are not dependent on China for batteries.”

Kate Gordon, CEO of California Forward, a nonprofit organization that focuses on the state’s economy, said that while it’s important to get back some of “what we’ve lost over the past couple of decades” — the nation once led in solar panels — it “needs to happen deliberately and with attention to where we’re really competitive.”

“What would be terrible would be tariffs on things where we’re no longer competitive, like parts of the solar supply chain, which have been held by China for a long time,” she said. All that would do is drive up prices, Gordon said.

Americans may say they want things to be made in the USA, but they also don’t want to pay higher prices for them, said Derek Guy, a menswear writer based in San Francisco who has covered the clothing industry for more than a decade. A few years ago, Guy wrote about American Apparel, under new ownership, offering U.S. consumers the option of paying a little bit more for clothing made here vs. similar pieces made overseas. 

“Even based on a few dollars, when someone wasn’t looking over (their) shoulder, people chose the foreign version,” Guy said. 

“A lot of manufacturing in the U.S. has long shifted toward the higher-end,” Guy said. “The kind of cheaper clothes we’re talking about (what most Americans buy) are made elsewhere.” Tariffs would raise those prices.

The price of almonds

California’s top agricultural exports include almonds, wine, dairy products, pistachios and other nuts.

During Trump’s first term as China imposed retaliatory tariffs on the U.S., California exports of wine, walnuts, oranges and table grapes to China fell, according to the University of California Giannini Foundation of Agricultural Economics.

In addition, almond prices sank, with the foundation’s researchers saying prices fell from $2.50 a pound to $1.40 a pound in 2018. That had a negative impact on an industry that generates $4 billion to $5 billion a year and employs about 110,000 people, according to the website of lobbying group Almond Alliance. 

Amanda Russell, a spokesperson for the Almond Alliance, said in an emailed statement: “In previous trade negotiations, President Trump demonstrated a commitment to supporting agriculture, and we are optimistic about continuing this partnership to address the challenges and opportunities facing our growers and stakeholders.”

Besides tariffs, another likely action by Trump that could affect the state’s agriculture industry is mass deportations — a threat that has immigrants and advocates on edge

“I can’t see any benefit to California if he goes through with mass deportation,” said Levy, the economist in Silicon Valley. “Even the threat of deportation will affect the labor pool.”







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Excellence In Jazz Playlist, November 13, 2024

All the colors of jazz!




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Blake Shelton To Take Fans to 'Texas' On Jimmy Kimmel Live

Country superstar Blake Shelton is set to release his new single, 'Texas,' on November 15