Latest news with #TheEmperor'sNewClothes
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Nebraska governor touts ‘historically conservative budget,' wins
Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen, center, greets State Sen. Dave Murman of Glenvil on the final day of the 2025 legislative session. June 2, 2025. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner) LINCOLN — Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen, in his end of session speech to state lawmakers, called the state budget 'historically conservative.' Pillen portrayed the session as 'positive,' highlighting the passage of some of his priorities this session, including limiting high school and college sports participation to sex at birth, banning lab-grown meat, prohibiting cell phones in schools and a merger of the state's agencies in charge of overseeing water quality and quantity. He also praised a budget with a two-year average general fund spending growth of 1% a year. 'I believe we are setting the Cornhusker State up for success, and when we commit to strong fiscal conservatism and reduce the tax burden for Nebraska families, the potential of this place for generations to come is beyond our understanding,' Pillen said. Pillen said he and state lawmakers worked together to pass a 'budget package that said no when we needed to say no' and put the state's 'idle pillowcase money to work.' Nebraska lawmakers balanced the budget mostly by using the state 'rainy day' cash reserve fund and a series of cash transfers and spending cuts to fill budget holes. Democratic lawmakers have compared the budget to 'The Emperor's New Clothes,' a fairy tale where the ruler is naked but his subjects pretend he has extravagant clothing. Pillen tried and then withdrew his intended $14.5 million in general fund line-item vetoes to the budget. Property tax relief, a top Pillen priority, was dealt a blow when the Legislature's last shot at meeting his pledge to keep property taxes flat this year fell short last month, Nebraska's 'One Big Beautiful Bill' that would have shifted sales taxes toward property tax relief. That bill became the third property tax package in the past year to propose and lack support for broadening the sales tax base to lower property taxes. Pillen's push for 'Winner-Take-All' failed, as grabbing too few votes to overcome a filibuster. The governor, whose family owns a major hog operation based in Columbus, alluded to addressing property taxes in future sessions. 'We can decrease spending and actually fix our tax system — and we have to fix it because it is badly broken,' he said. Pillen achieved some of his culture war-related goal issues, including the school sports law, a law against foreign agents, age verification for future social media accounts and the ban on lab-grown meat. Pillen didn't directly address some of the session's controversies, among them several heated debates as the GOP-majority Legislature pushed back against a handful of ballot measures passed by Nebraska voters, including new laws requiring paid sick leave, raising the minimum wage, repealing school vouchers, and legalizing medical marijuana. He said he would continue to work with lawmakers to serve the people of Nebraska — and this time made no mention of a possible special session. 'I'm really proud to have partnered with you all on many of these initiatives,' Pillen said, 'So good news in just seven or so months, we all get to do it over again.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trans ideology still has a dangerous grip on our elites – and here's the shocking proof
After the Supreme Court revealed to an astonished nation that women are female, a reader emailed me to say that we seem to be living though a 21st-century re-enactment of The Emperor's New Clothes. The parallels are certainly close. But I would say there is a crucial difference between the original fairy tale and our bold modern retelling. In the old version, after the little child has pointed out that the emperor is naked, all the grown-ups immediately accept that the child is right. In our re-enactment, however, quite a lot of little children spent years pointing out that the emperor was naked – only for lots of furious grown-ups to cancel them, while continuing to reassure the emperor that he was fully clothed, and that his lovely pink frock suited him down to the ground. But there's more. Because even now, after the Supreme Court's historic ruling, all too many grown-ups are still defiantly gushing over the emperor's finery. And, incredibly, some of them are doctors. Yes, that's right. Doctors. Baffling though it may seem, our hospitals are apparently staffed by people who, despite holding degrees in medicine, refuse to accept the most rudimentary facts about human biology. Or so I conclude from the staggering statement issued last week by a group of 'resident doctors' (formerly known as junior doctors) from the medical trade union the BMA (British Medical Association). In the statement, these doctors condemned the Supreme Court's ruling as 'scientifically illiterate' and 'biologically nonsensical' – because, according to them, it 'has no basis in science or medicine while being actively harmful to transgender and gender-diverse people'. Amazing. All I can say is, I hope that this sort of thinking – for want of a better word – is not endemic throughout the medical profession. Otherwise, the next time I need to call my local surgery, I might ask for an appointment with a Supreme Court judge rather than a GP, because at least the former can be relied on to know the difference between a man and a woman. Which is something that tends to be rather important, in medical matters. After all, if I go in complaining of stomach pains, I don't want a doctor to tell me I must be going through the menopause, or book me in for a hysterectomy. Well, you can't rule it out. Three years ago, this newspaper reported that an NHS trust had taken to asking men awaiting MRI scans whether they might be pregnant. At the time, though, I assumed that this approach had been instigated by some trendy twit in HR. I didn't think that actual doctors went in for such nonsense. Anyway, even if the BMA statement is drivel, we need to realise that it's also highly significant. After the Supreme Court's ruling, many ordinary people will have breathed a sigh of relief, and told themselves that the toxic gender wars are finally over. But they're not. Far from it. Because, regardless of what the law says, large numbers of people in influential roles remain fervent adherents of gender identity doctrine. You'll find them throughout universities, the BBC, publishing, the arts, politics, the Civil Service – and even high-street cosmetics chains. (Staff at Lush, it was reported this week, slipped booklets promoting 'trans allyship' into party bags for seven-year-old children – so that they too could learn about the joys of being 'gender-queer, gender-fluid, agender, nongender, third gender, bi-gender…'.) All of this is troubling enough. But when you see doctors – people who are supposed to be grounded in rationality and fact – promoting such fantastical beliefs, and claiming that any disagreement is 'scientifically illiterate', you know we're really in trouble. The truth is, trans ideology still has a dangerous grip on our elites – and this is the shocking proof. On the upside, though, perhaps I can turn it to my financial advantage. We keep being told that Britain is suffering from a terrible shortage of doctors. So I'm going to throw on a white coat, sling a stethoscope round my neck – and look forward to collecting my fabulous NHS pension. Admittedly I don't have any medical qualifications, but I don't see why that should stop me. If I say I'm a doctor, that means I am a doctor. And if anyone from the BMA disagrees, I'll call them scientifically illiterate bigots. Besides, I'll be able to tell which patients are women. So if anything, I'll be over-qualified. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
01-05-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Trans ideology still has a dangerous grip on our elites – and here's the shocking proof
After the Supreme Court revealed to an astonished nation that women are female, a reader emailed me to say that we seem to be living though a 21st-century re-enactment of The Emperor's New Clothes. The parallels are certainly close. But I would say there is a crucial difference between the original fairy tale and our bold modern retelling. In the old version, after the little child has pointed out that the emperor is naked, all the grown-ups immediately accept that the child is right. In our re-enactment, however, quite a lot of little children spent years pointing out that the emperor was naked – only for lots of furious grown-ups to cancel them, while continuing to reassure the emperor that he was fully clothed, and that his lovely pink frock suited him down to the ground. But there's more. Because even now, after the Supreme Court's historic ruling, all too many grown-ups are still defiantly gushing over the emperor's finery. And, incredibly, some of them are doctors. Yes, that's right. Doctors. Baffling though it may seem, our hospitals are apparently staffed by people who, despite holding degrees in medicine, refuse to accept the most rudimentary facts about human biology. Or so I conclude from the staggering statement issued last week by a group of 'resident doctors' (formerly known as junior doctors) from the medical trade union the BMA (British Medical Association). In the statement, these doctors condemned the Supreme Court's ruling as 'scientifically illiterate' and 'biologically nonsensical' – because, according to them, it 'has no basis in science or medicine while being actively harmful to transgender and gender-diverse people'. Amazing. All I can say is, I hope that this sort of thinking – for want of a better word – is not endemic throughout the medical profession. Otherwise, the next time I need to call my local surgery, I might ask for an appointment with a Supreme Court judge rather than a GP, because at least the former can be relied on to know the difference between a man and a woman. Which is something that tends to be rather important, in medical matters. After all, if I go in complaining of stomach pains, I don't want a doctor to tell me I must be going through the menopause, or book me in for a hysterectomy. Well, you can't rule it out. Three years ago, this newspaper reported that an NHS trust had taken to asking men awaiting MRI scans whether they might be pregnant. At the time, though, I assumed that this approach had been instigated by some trendy twit in HR. I didn't think that actual doctors went in for such nonsense. Anyway, even if the BMA statement is drivel, we need to realise that it's also highly significant. After the Supreme Court's ruling, many ordinary people will have breathed a sigh of relief, and told themselves that the toxic gender wars are finally over. But they're not. Far from it. Because, regardless of what the law says, large numbers of people in influential roles remain fervent adherents of gender identity doctrine. You'll find them throughout universities, the BBC, publishing, the arts, politics, the Civil Service – and even high-street cosmetics chains. (Staff at Lush, it was reported this week, slipped booklets promoting 'trans allyship' into party bags for seven-year-old children – so that they too could learn about the joys of being 'gender-queer, gender-fluid, agender, nongender, third gender, bi-gender…'.) All of this is troubling enough. But when you see doctors – people who are supposed to be grounded in rationality and fact – promoting such fantastical beliefs, and claiming that any disagreement is 'scientifically illiterate', you know we're really in trouble. The truth is, trans ideology still has a dangerous grip on our elites – and this is the shocking proof. On the upside, though, perhaps I can turn it to my financial advantage. We keep being told that Britain is suffering from a terrible shortage of doctors. So I'm going to throw on a white coat, sling a stethoscope round my neck – and look forward to collecting my fabulous NHS pension. Admittedly I don't have any medical qualifications, but I don't see why that should stop me. If I say I'm a doctor, that means I am a doctor. And if anyone from the BMA disagrees, I'll call them scientifically illiterate bigots.
Morocco World
14-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Morocco World
Prada, Chanel, Hermès, and More: China Exposes Western Luxury Amid Tariff War
The famous 19th-century folktale, 'The Emperor's New Clothes,' gets a modern twist as Chinese manufacturers expose what many have speculated for years–that luxury clothing items are not synonymous with quality. Instead, these items are sold at astronomical prices to signal status and feed a craving for validation and societal dominance. In the folktale, two con men deceive a vain emperor obsessed with luxury clothing, convincing him they've made invisible garments that only the incompetent or stupid cannot see. Similarly, Chinese manufacturers and influencers are now using social media to reveal that many high-end brands are made in Chinese factories at minimal costs, only to be shipped to Europe where they receive a label from a prestigious-sounding country and are sold to consumers at ridiculous prices. The label 'Made in China' has long been associated with cheap, hastily made products in factories with poor working conditions, and it's well-known that fast fashion relies on these low-cost manufacturing processes to boost profit margins. However, highlighting that even luxury goods are produced under similar conditions undermines the illusion of exclusivity and quality that wealthy consumers and status seekers rely on. 'I'll tell you 30 luxury brands made in China: Ralph Lauren, Armani, Nike, Dior, Lululemon, Apple, Michael Kors, Coach, Prada, and more,' says a widely circulated clip featuring a Chinese consulting CEO, revealing that the production cost of many luxury items is only a tenth of their selling price. Luxury unstitched: One TikTok creator questioned , 'How can they charge $500 for a bag that costs $30 to make here?' Manufacturers have even taken to social media to show behind-the-scenes footage of the factories where these luxury items are made, encouraging customers to buy directly from the source for a fraction of the price. A supplier who manufactures Birkin bags noted that models sold for $34,000 actually cost as little as $1,400 to produce, with bag makers receiving very little profit compared to the high margins kept by the luxury brands. TikTok users outside China have also embraced this trend, applauding China's efforts to expose the true nature of Western luxury brands. One influencer commented that luxury goods are a major source of soft power for the West, enhancing the desirability of countries like the US, and positioning luxury brands as the 'gold standard of quality.' However, with revelations that up to 80% of these luxury items, spanning names like Gucci, Fendi, Prada, Chanel, Hermès and Birkins, are made in China and then labeled as products of France or Italy, it's like pulling back the curtain in 'The Wizard of Oz,' exposing the truth behind the illusion. Tariffs go up, but 'the sky won't fall' This trend gained momentum after US President Donald Trump announced tariffs under his 'Liberation Day' policy, imposing a baseline 10% tariff on all imports, with much higher rates aimed at Chinese goods. Initially, the tariffs on Chinese imports were set at 10% in February 2025, later raised to 20% in March. By April, a further 34% reciprocal tariff was added, bringing the total to 54%. Amid a stock market meltdown, Trump paused the tariffs for 90 days, but excluded China, increasing the total tariff on Chinese goods to 145%. While Trump promised to pressure China into submission with these tariffs, China responded by imposing a 125% tariff on US goods. Chinese officials, including customs spokesman Lyu Daliang, expressed confidence in China's economic resilience, stating that 'the sky won't fall,' while President Xi Jinping condemned the tariffs during a visit to Vietnam, warning that trade wars have no winners, as China is Simultaneously seeking alliances with other nations affected by US policies. Meanwhile, US Customs and Border Protection issued a notice on April 11 stating that electronics are exempted from Trump's tariffs including those subject to the steep 125% levies imposed on Chinese imports. However, Trump later declared that Chinese-made smartphones and electronics would still face high tariffs, simply moving into a different levy category. With China effectively peeling back the layers of Western luxury and exposing the flaws in Western leadership, these fluctuating tariffs and their confusion have led many Americans to question whether there is any genius behind Trump's policy or if it's just reactionary. In the same way the emperor was tricked into believing he was wearing magnificent clothes, many are now realizing that the luxury and power of Western brands—just like the supposed economic genius behind Trump's policies—are mere illusions, and the truth is finally being revealed. China, much like the children in the tale, is pulling back the curtain, exposing the cracks in Western leadership and dismantling the fa ç ade of both luxury and political strategy. Tags: Chinaluxury brandsTikTok TrendsTrump tariffs
The Guardian
31-03-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Vance's posturing in Greenland was not just morally wrong. It was strategically disastrous
No one would allow that he could not see these much-admired clothes; because, in doing so, he would have declared himself either a simpleton or unfit of his office.' – Hans Christian Andersen, The Emperor's New Clothes Elon Musk and Donald Trump inherited a state with unprecedented power and functionality, and are taking it apart. They also inherited a set of alliances and relationships that underpinned the largest economy in world history. This too they are breaking. The American vice-president, JD Vance, visited a US base in Greenland for three hours on Friday, along with his wife. National security adviser Mike Waltz and his wife also went along. Fresh from using an unsafe social media platform to carry out an entirely unnecessary group chat in which they leaked sensitive data about an ongoing military attack to a reporter, and thereby allegedly breaking the law, Waltz and Vance perhaps hoped to change the subject by tagging along on a trip that was initially billed as Vance's wife watching a dogsled race. The overall context was Trump's persistent claim that America must take Greenland, which is an autonomous region of Denmark. The original plan had been that Usha Vance would visit Greenlanders, apparently on the logic that the second lady would be an effective animatrice of colonial subjection; but none of them wanted to see her, and Greenland's businesses refused to serve as a backdrop to photo ops or even to serve the uninvited Americans. So, instead, the US couples made a very quick visit to Pituffik space base. (Pete Hegseth, another group chatter, stayed home; but his wife was in the news as well, as an unorthodox participant in sensitive military discussions.) At the base, in the far north of the island, the US visitors had pictures taken of themselves and ate lunch with servicemen and women. They treated the base as the backdrop to a press conference where they could say things they already thought; nothing was experienced, nothing was learned, nothing sensible was said. Vance, who never left the base, and has never before visited Greenland, was quite sure how Greenlanders should live. He made a political appeal to Greenlanders, none of whom was present, or anywhere near him. He claimed that Denmark was not protecting the security of Greenlanders in the Arctic, and that the US would. Greenland should therefore join the US. It takes some patience to unwind all of the nonsense here. The base at Pituffik (formerly Thule) only exists because Denmark permitted the US to build it at a sensitive time. It has served for decades as a central part of the US's nuclear armoury and then as an early-warning system against Soviet and then Russian nuclear attack. When Vance says that Denmark is not protecting Greenland and the base, he is wishing away generations of cooperation, as well as the Nato alliance itself. Denmark was a founding member of Nato, and it is already the US's job to defend Denmark and Greenland, just as it is Denmark's job (as with other members) to defend them in return. Americans might chuckle at that idea, but such arrogance is unwarranted. We are the only ones ever to have invoked article 5, the mutual defence obligation of the Nato treaty, after 9/11; and our European allies did respond. Per capita, almost as many Danish soldiers were killed in the Afghan war as were American soldiers. Do we remember them? Thank them? The threat in the Arctic invoked by Vance is Russia; and of course defending against a Russian attack is the Nato mission. But right now the US is supporting Russia in its war against Ukraine. No one is doing more to contain the Russian threat than Ukraine. Indeed, Ukraine is in effect fulfilling the entire Nato mission, right now, by absorbing a huge Russian attack. But Vance opposes helping Ukraine, spreads Russian propaganda about Ukraine, and is best known for yelling at Ukraine's president in the Oval Office. On the base, Vance blamed the killing in Ukraine on Joe Biden rather than on Vladimir Putin, which is grotesque. Vance claimed that there is now an energy ceasefire in place between Russia and Ukraine; in fact, Russia violated it immediately. Russia is now preparing a massive spring offensive against Ukraine; the response of Musk-Trump has been to ignore this larger reality completely while allowing Biden-era aid to Ukraine to come to an end. Denmark, meanwhile, has given more than four times as much aid to Ukraine, per capita, than the US. Greenland, Denmark and the US have been enmeshed in complex and effective security arrangements, touching on the gravest scenarios, for the better part of a century. Arctic security, an issue discovered by Trump and Vance very recently, was a preoccuption for decades during and after the cold war. There are fewer than 200 Americans at Pituffik now, where once there were 10,000; there is only that one US base on the island where once there were a dozen; but that is American policy, not Denmark's fault. We really do have a problem taking responsibility. The US has fallen well behind its allies and its rivals in the Arctic, in part because members of Vance's political party denied for decades the reality of global warming, which has made it hard for the US navy to persuade Congress of the need to commission icebreaker ships. The US only has two functional Arctic icebreakers; the Biden administration was intending to cooperate with Canada, which has some, and with Finland, which builds lots, in order to compete with Russia, which has the most. That common plan would have allowed the US to surpass Russia in icebreaking capacity. This is one of countless examples of how cooperation with Nato allies benefits the US. It is not clear what will happen with that arrangement now that Trump and Vance define Canada, like Denmark, as a rival or even as an enemy. Presumably it will break down, leaving Russia dominant. As with everything Musk-Trump does, however, the cui bono question about imperialism in Greenland is easy to answer: Russia benefits. Putin cannot contain his delight with US imperialism over Greenland. In generating artificial crises in relations with both Denmark and Canada, America's two closest allies these last 80 years, the Trump people cut America loose from security gains and create a chaos in which Russia benefits. The American imperialism directed towards Denmark and Canada is not just morally wrong. It is strategically disastrous. The US has nothing to gain from it, and much to lose. There is nothing that Americans cannot get from Denmark or Canada through alliance. The very existence of the base at Pituffik shows that. Within the atmosphere of friendship that has prevailed the last 80 years, all of the mineral resources of Canada and Greenland can be traded for on good terms, or for that matter explored by American companies. The only way to put all of this easy access in doubt was to follow the course that Musk-Trump have chosen: trade wars with Canada and Europe, and the threat of actual wars and annexations. Musk and Trump are creating the bloodily moronic situation in which the US will have to fight wars to get the things that, just a few weeks ago, were there for the asking. And, of course, wars rarely turn out the way one expects. Much effort is spent trying to extract a doctrine from all this. But there is none. It is just senselessness that benefits America's enemies. Hans Christian Andersen told the unforgettable tale of the naked emperor. In Greenland, what we saw was American imperialism with no clothes. Naked and vain. As a parting shot, Vance told Greenlanders that life with the US would be better than with Denmark. Danish officials have been too diplomatic to answer directly the insults directed at them from their own territory during an uninvited visit by imperialist hotheads. Let me though just note a few possible replies, off the top of my head. The comparison between life in the US and life in Denmark is not just polemical. Musk-Trump treat Europe as though it were some decadent abyss, and propose that alliances with dictatorships would somehow be better. But Europe is not only home to our traditional allies; it is an enviable zone of democracy, wealth and prosperity with which it benefits us to have good relations, and from which we can sometimes learn. So consider. The US is 24th in the world in the happiness rankings. Not bad. But Denmark is No 2 (after Finland). On a scale of 1 to 100, Freedom House ranks Denmark 97 and the US 84 on freedom – and the US will drop a great deal this year. An American is about 10 times more likely to be incarcerated than a Dane. Danes have access to universal and essentially free healthcare; Americans spend a huge amount of money to be sick more often and to be treated worse when they are. Danes on average live four years longer than Americans. In Denmark, university education is free; the average balance owed by the tens of millions of Americans who hold student debt in the US is about $40,000. Danish parents share a year of paid parental leave. In the US, one parent might get 12 weeks of unpaid leave. Denmark has children's story writer Hans Christian Andersen. The US has children's story writer JD Vance. American children are about twice as likely as Danish children to die before the age of five. Timothy Snyder is the Richard C Levin professor of history at Yale University, and the chair in modern European history supported by the Temerty endowment for Ukrainian studies at the University of Toronto. His latest book is On Freedom. This post originally appeared on his Substack, Thinking About
