#us trade

[thelandofbritain]

Just like the ignorant idiots who voted for Brexit in Britain...

...British imports and exports all cost us more, raising our cost of living overnight.

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

the fact that shakespeare was a playwright is sometimes so funny to me. just the concept of the "greatest writer of the English language" being a random 450-year-old entertainer, a 16th cent pop cultural sensation (thanks in large part to puns & dirty jokes & verbiage & a long-running appeal to commoners). and his work was made to be watched not read, but in the classroom teachers just hand us his scripts and say "that's literature"

just...imagine it's 2450 A.D. and English Lit students are regularly going into 100k debt writing postdoc theses on The Simpsons screenplays. the original animation hasn't even been preserved, it's literally just scripts and the occasional SDH subtitles.txt. they've been republished more times than the Bible

[hyolks]

al's the kinda guy to wear sweater vests and oxfords <3

[reasonsforhope]

Federal regulators on Tuesday [April 23, 2024] enacted a nationwide ban on new noncompete agreements, which keep millions of Americans — from minimum-wage earners to CEOs — from switching jobs within their industries.

The Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday afternoon voted 3-to-2 to approve the new rule, which will ban noncompetes for all workers when the regulations take effect in 120 days [So, the ban starts in early September, 2024!]. For senior executives, existing noncompetes can remain in force. For all other employees, existing noncompetes are not enforceable.

[That's right: if you're currently under a noncompete agreement, it's completely invalid as of September 2024! You're free!!]

The antitrust and consumer protection agency heard from thousands of people who said they had been harmed by noncompetes, illustrating how the agreements are "robbing people of their economic liberty," FTC Chair Lina Khan said. 

The FTC commissioners voted along party lines, with its two Republicans arguing the agency lacked the jurisdiction to enact the rule and that such moves should be made in Congress...

Why it matters

The new rule could impact tens of millions of workers, said Heidi Shierholz, a labor economist and president of the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank. 

"For nonunion workers, the only leverage they have is their ability to quit their job," Shierholz told CBS MoneyWatch. "Noncompetes don't just stop you from taking a job — they stop you from starting your own business."

Since proposing the new rule, the FTC has received more than 26,000 public comments on the regulations. The final rule adopted "would generally prevent most employers from using noncompete clauses," the FTC said in a statement.

The agency's action comes more than two years after President Biden directed the agency to "curtail the unfair use" of noncompetes, under which employees effectively sign away future work opportunities in their industry as a condition of keeping their current job. The president's executive order urged the FTC to target such labor restrictions and others that improperly constrain employees from seeking work.

"The freedom to change jobs is core to economic liberty and to a competitive, thriving economy," Khan said in a statement making the case for axing noncompetes. "Noncompetes block workers from freely switching jobs, depriving them of higher wages and better working conditions, and depriving businesses of a talent pool that they need to build and expand."

Real-life consequences

In laying out its rationale for banishing noncompetes from the labor landscape, the FTC offered real-life examples of how the agreements can hurt workers.

In one case, a single father earned about $11 an hour as a security guard for a Florida firm, but resigned a few weeks after taking the job when his child care fell through. Months later, he took a job as a security guard at a bank, making nearly $15 an hour. But the bank terminated his employment after receiving a letter from the man's prior employer stating he had signed a two-year noncompete.

In another example, a factory manager at a textile company saw his paycheck dry up after the 2008 financial crisis. A rival textile company offered him a better job and a big raise, but his noncompete blocked him from taking it, according to the FTC. A subsequent legal battle took three years, wiping out his savings. 

-via CBS Moneywatch, April 24, 2024

--

Note:

A lot of people think that noncompete agreements are only a white-collar issue, but they absolutely affect blue-collar workers too, as you can see from the security guard anecdote.

In fact, one in six food and service workers are bound by noncompete agreements. That's right - one in six food workers can't leave Burger King to work for Wendy's [hypothetical example], in the name of "trade secrets." (x, x, x)

Noncompete agreements also restrict workers in industries from tech and video games to neighborhood yoga studios. "The White House estimates that tens of millions of workers are subject to noncompete agreements, even in states like California where they're banned." (x, x, x)

The FTC estimates that the ban will lead to "the creation of 8,500 new businesses annually, an average annual pay increase of $524 for workers, lower health care costs, and as many as 29,000 more patents each year for the next decade." (x)

Clearer explanation of noncompete agreements below the cut.

Noncompete agreements can restrict workers from leaving for a better job or starting their own business.

Noncompetes often effectively coerce workers into staying in jobs they want to leave, and even force them to leave a profession or relocate.

Noncompetes can prevent workers from accepting higher-paying jobs, and even curtail the pay of workers not subject to them directly.

Of the more than 26,000 comments received by the FTC, more than 25,000 supported banning noncompetes. 

[axioscreditbank]

As per the recent news, US trade officials have visited Taiwan to start off four days of negotiations over a proposed trade arrangement that has drawn resistance from the People’s Republic of China.

The meeting which is scheduled between US and Taiwanese negotiators in Taipei marks the first formal discussion over a text of a trade agreement after a beginning round of meetings in November. The discussion will be focused on proposed deals covering anti-corruption standards, trade by SMEs, administrative practices, and trade assistance.

As the U.S. and Taiwan agree in some of these areas, the two sides may declare independent arrangements regarding those subjects for what Taiwanese authorities called an “early harvest” as momentum works towards an extensive trade agreement. These two areas that have demonstrated more challenges between the US and Taiwan are - agriculture & digital trade which are likely to take longer to discuss.

The potential trade agreement between Taiwan and the US has disturbed Chinese authorities, a representative for the Chinese Embassy blamed Americans for “wrongdoings” by even arranging the deal, as per reported.

“China is consistently against any nation arranging economic and trade accords of sovereign implication or official nature with China’s Taiwan region.” as per the representative.

The PRC (People's Republic of China) considers Taiwan as a rebel, breakaway territory, irrespective of the fact that it has never ruled the democratic, self-governing island country since the Chinese Communist Party held onto control of the mainland in 1949 following a 22-year civil war. Chinese leader Xi Jinping and other senior CCP authorities have repeatedly declined to rule out the use of power to bring about Taiwan’s “reunification” with the PRC.

Originally published at https://www.axioscreditbank.com

[careydraws]

a piece of wisdom that I am genuinely embarrassed by how long it took me to pick up on but also, it's funny,

this is from Just the Good Bits, a collection of selected journal comics from 2023! you can sign up for my mailing list to be notified when my webstore opens to snag one.

YES I KNOW ABOUT SHIFT CLICK; this is good for when you need some pressure input/ line weight variation in your straight lines. both are useful!!

[uncharted-constellations]

These two have such a funny vibe, had to take Zelda out of half their games because you know she’d just be telepathically negging him the whole time. Theyre besties, theyre potentially related, she’s mentally whispering ‘Sandwich’ in his ear whenever he’s trying to focus.

Edit: Added funny page in celebration of me not having to rework these designs for the new game

[cyanide-sippy-cup]

Wayne Family Adventures literally had 2 entire seasons worth of healthy dad Bruce who sits down and talks with his kids. He brought Jason down from a nervous breakdown. He got Damian a dog. He told Tim that it's Batman who looks out for Robin. He felt incredible guilt over missing even one of Cass' recitals. He plays with the kids, he takes care of them, he talks with them about family and what they mean to him. He puts in the work.

And yet we still have people coming out of the woodworks to claim that being an asshole is "integral to his character" the one time he says fuckshit to the kids.

Look I came from from multiple abusive households (yeah that's right I'm pulling this card). I know what that looks like. This ain't it. What Bruce said is fucked up, no doubt about it. But this is after potentially years of kindness and heartfelt discussions. Saying something fucked after all that healthy behavior isn't abuse, it's a call for help. And that's what the kids are trying to do. He's scared. He even admitted to Damian that none of it matters as long as they're safe.

This arc isn't to point and go "oh look at how horrible Batman is and how he treats his family". It's showing how grief and trauma can twist the people you love into something that hurts, and the effort and pain needed on both sides to fix that (like in the Jason episode, how he lost control and almost hurt Dick and then told them to take care of Bruce). Keeping this idea that violence and abuse is integral to Batman and his relationships is the same mentality that has kept main timeline Bruce in that behavior for the last god-knows-how-long.

[wombywoo]

🤍🩵

[jeeaark]

Lae'zel just wasn't ready to sort out those feelings yet.

Anyway, I lied! I had to make one more shenanigan to this dang incident after double checking and learning a thing. Involving full rests and the Astral Sea.

Apparently, full rest don't mean you gotta sleep????? It can also refer to.... downtime. Chill time. Non-adventuring time. Hang out with your squid friend for 8 hours time.

And even if you never need to sleep, eat, or drink in the Astral Sea, you can still sleep, eat, N' drink if you want to. As well as just chill to recover a certain planeshift ability.

Is cool, Lae'zel and I can both learn new fun facts at the same time~

[candyheartedchy]

“Will I ever get married?”

“Maybe someday.”

[axioscreditbank]

US To Hold Trade Talks with Taiwan In A Move Blasted By China

As per the recent news, US trade officials have visited Taiwan to start off four days of negotiations over a proposed trade arrangement that has drawn resistance from the People’s Republic of China.

The meeting which is scheduled between US and Taiwanese negotiators in Taipei marks the first formal discussion over a text of a trade agreement after a beginning round of meetings in November. The discussion will be focused on proposed deals covering anti-corruption standards, trade by SMEs, administrative practices, and trade assistance.

As the U.S. and Taiwan agree in some of these areas, the two sides may declare independent arrangements regarding those subjects for what Taiwanese authorities called an “early harvest” as momentum works towards an extensive trade agreement. These two areas that have demonstrated more challenges between the US and Taiwan are - agriculture & digital trade which are likely to take longer to discuss.

The potential trade agreement between Taiwan and the US has disturbed Chinese authorities, a representative for the Chinese Embassy blamed Americans for “wrongdoings” by even arranging the deal, as per reported.

Read more: https://www.axioscreditbank.com/blogs/us-to-hold-trade-talks-with-taiwan-in-a-move-blasted-by-china

[destielmemenews]

"Trump Media's stock price fell sharply in morning trade on Wednesday, sliding $2.79, or 15%, to $15.84 — its lowest level since the shares made their public market debut in March. The stock is down 76% from its closing high of $66.22 on March 27, a day after it listed on the Nasdaq Composite index."

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[turtleblogatlast]

Something I love about Leo is that, canonically, he IS capable of cooking, he’s just completely incapable of using a toaster. He’s banned from the kitchen not out of an inability to make edible food, but because being within six feet of a toaster causes the poor appliance to spontaneously combust.

[uncharted-constellations]

Four swords adventure gang

This link has one of the bigger depatures from both sprite and game art, but i'll explain in the tags

Also no funny page but cooler pose so~

[scuderiakarts]

Certain sections of F1 media literally can’t breathe without denigrating Susie Wolff. When she got appointed managing director of F1A - it’s because of Toto. When F1A has success - it’s because she’s married to Toto and he’s influenced the other teams. When Toto is accused of something unethical - “did you know his wife works with the FIA?” [even though she’s not involved in this at all and is not accused of having leaked information]

Susie Wolff is a racing driver in her own right. She’s been a successful Team Principal in Formula E, and CEO of a racing team (one that was in direct competition with Mercedes might I add). She was a Formula 1 development driver and the first woman to drive in a Grand Prix weekend for more than 20 years.

She has a career that she’s earned on her own, completely separate from who she chose to marry, and the reduction of her to just “Toto’s wife” - including by other F1 Team Principals - is such blatant, ugly sexism.

“Imagine if Geri Horner was working in F2?” If Geri Horner had Susie’s resume I would love for her to be working in motorsports because we need more women in motorsports at all levels, including at the top?