Thoughts for the Day, May 12, 2025: Where has the ethics gone?
Tariffs
A temporary reprieve from the insanity of 145% tariffs on goods from China for 90 days received a positive response from the stock market. The S&P went up 3.26% for the day.
Trade talks between the U.S and China in Geneva this weekend concluded with an agreement to reduce stiff levies on each other’s products by more than many analysts had anticipated. Chinese imports will face a minimum tax of 30 percent, down from 145 percent. China will lower its import duty on American goods to 10 percent from 125 percent. The two countries also agreed to hold talks to stabilize the relationship.
It remains to be seen what agreements can be reached in future negotiations. Businesses throughout the world are waiting for some stability between the U.S. and China. The tariff war is unsustainable for both parties.
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Throw out the rules
“I think it’s a great gesture from Qatar. I appreciate it very much,” President Trump said. “I would never be one to turn down that kind of an offer. I mean, I could be a stupid person say, ‘No, we don’t want a free, very expensive airplane.’ But it was — I thought it was a great gesture.”
“You should be embarrassed asking that question,” Mr. Trump told an ABC News reporter who pressed him on the issue. “They’re giving us a free jet. I could say, ‘No, no, no, don’t give us. I want to pay you a billion or $400 million, or whatever it is.’ Or I could say, ‘Thank you very much.’”
In 2017, President Trump called Qatar a sponsor of terrorism and voiced support for a Saudi-led regional economic and diplomatic blockade of the nation, an important military outpost for the United States in the Middle East. That blockade ended just as Trump left office in January 2021.
Per the NY Times: President Trump announced last month that leading buyers of a digital coin his family is marketing would be rewarded with a private dinner with him at one of his golf courses and that the very top bidders would win a tour of the White House.
The auction, which ends Monday, has set off a spectacle that has drawn bipartisan criticism, triggered a suspicious trading pattern, and left a sitting United States president wide open to attempts to corruptly influence him.
Since the announcement, crypto investors around the world have raced to expand their holdings of $TRUMP — a digital currency called a memecoin, which is typically treated more as a novelty investment than an actual currency.
Certain buyers, in interviews and statements, have said they bought the coins or entered the dinner contest with the intention of securing an action by Mr. Trump to affect United States policy.
This leads to my Question of the Day. What happened to ethics in the Office of the President?
Please call your members of Congress today. The U.S. Capitol switchboard is 202-224-3121. Tell the operator where you’re from and the operator will connect you to your representatives and senators. I tested this out today. It is very simple. They will ask for the congress member you want to contact. They will then switch you to that office.
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Tarik Skubal
On Friday, Skubal flirted with immortality as he retired the first 15 Texas Ranger batters he faced. The first batter in the sixth inning broke the perfect game with a single to left on a 0-2 pitch. After hitting the next batter and allowing another single, Skubal, finished by striking out 5 of the next 6 batters. Skubal allowed one run on two hits with zero walks and 12 strikeouts across seven innings, throwing 96 pitches. It was one of Skubal’s most dominant outings of his outstanding career. It should not have been a surprise.
Skubal didn't make history in the way he hoped, but he still made it. He became the first pitcher in MLB history to record at least 50 strikeouts, no more than one walk and an ERA below 1.00 over a stretch of six consecutive starts.
To put this stretch into perspective, last year (2024) Skubal was the unanimous Cy Young Award Winner when he achieved the triple crown of pitching, leading the American League in Wins, Strikeouts and ERA. In 2024 Skubal had a league leading 228 strikeouts and 35 walks. A ratio of 6.5 strikeouts to walks.
In his last six games, Skubal’s strikeout to walk ratio is 50 to 1, an unheard-of number in MLB history.
Tarik Skubal gets my Orchid of the Day
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Quote of the Day: "I thought I had a chance of doing something special tonight," Skubal continued. "Obviously, those things are really special, and you need a lot of things to go right. Maybe one day."
Orchid of the Day: Tarik Skubal-See above story
Onion of the Day: Ethics in the White House. It has become an oxymoron.
Lyrics of the Day: It's getting near dawn When lights close their tired eyes.
I'll soon be with you, my love. Give you my dawn surprise.
I'll be with you, darling, soon. I'll be with you when the stars start falling.
Answer to Lyrics of the Day for May 7, 2025: I need a Hero by Bonnie Tyler from Footloose
Question of the Day: What happened to ethics in the Office of the President?
Video of the Day: The Beatles - Let It Be
Paul McCartney’s tribute to his mother, Mary, who died when he was ten. She came to him in a dream when he was troubled by the potential break-up of the Beatles. The result was this song which appeared in an album of the same name, in 1970. It was published one month after the official breakup of the Fab Four.
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