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THE GARDA SÍOCHÁNA are remaining tight-lipped on reports that the Garda Ombudsman ordered a sweep for bugs after a senior garda let slip that he knew of the contents of a confidential report.
Today’s Sunday Times reports that the knowledge held by a senior member of the force was found to be “disconcerting” for staff in the Ombudsman’s office.
The paper says that the discussion related to text that had been discussed at GSOC HQ, but did not make it into a report.
However, the Garda Press Office told TheJournal.ie that they would not be making a comment this morning.
A spokesperson said that any statement would come from the Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan, but that the decision to make a statement would rest with him alone.
Elsewhere, The Sunday World newspaper has revealed that they have made a complaint to the Ombudsman relating to one of their journalists.
The paper claims that gardaí have requested the phone records of investigations editor Nicola Tallant.
Like or dislike Trump, he’s right about China not playing fair on the world market. And the trade imbalance would seem to favour the US. The EU should join the US but won’t. One reason may be the messenger.
@Toomasu Sumitsu: first of, nobody wins in a trade war. Previous US presidents have learned that.
Second of, the USA is hardly one to claim what China does is unfair. They’ve been using extremely unfair tactics including illegal invasions etc to get what they’ve wanted since the country was founded.
@Toomasu Sumitsu: the one good thing trump did for citizens of the EU was torpedo TTIP and after seeing the mooted thoughts of the horrific trade deal the UK will get with the US post brexit theres no reqson we should join the US, even under a democratic president as TTIP was developed under Obamas watch
@Toomasu Sumitsu: If the US don’t have a reason then they will invent one.
@Toomasu Sumitsu: Completely agree. The US have a strong hand to play and China has too much of a stranglehold on the world economy for too long.
@Barry Somers: “nobody wins in a trade war”. It’s not about winning the trade war but using the leverage the US has, the massive trade deficit, to get the Chinese to the table and engage seriously. The trade imbalance means it’ll hurt China more than it’ll hurt the US.
@Toomasu Sumitsu: You might want to educate yourself with a little global history, and read about China’s 100 Years of Shame, the Opium Wars, the Nanking Masssacre, etc. I’d start a book called The Silk Roads by Peter Frakopan. The West has been plundering other nations for hundreds of years, keeping them from developing and evolving.
@Toomasu Sumitsu: the Chinese and Germans largely provided the capital that fuelled the American economic growth. If the Chinese decide to recall all the gold that they are owed by the USA(far more than exists on the planet), the American (and probably the worlds) economy would tank.
Trump is playing with fire here.
@Toomasu Sumitsu: If the US don’t have a reason then they’ll invent one. They have a good proven record in that.
@Toomasu Sumitsu: Leverage? Over (unelected) President for Life Xi? You’re having a laugh lad. Firstly the Chinese hold over $1 Trillion in US Treasury Bonds. If they are willing to take a hit there they can force the Fed to increase interest rates again, which Trump hates.
Secondly the Balance of Trade swings both ways in this scenario. While China has more goods to which tariffs can be applied that simply means that American business and people have to pay tariffs on more stuff than Chinese people do.
Thirdly they can stop buying US Agri Imports since the only reason they ever bothered with them in the first place was as part previous deals to artificially reduce the trade imbalance. There is no need whatsoever for them to import American Soybeans half way across the world, for example. So they can stop entirely, which will bankrupt certain farmers, who tend to be Trump loyalists.
The examples go on and on. Xi can hurt Trump badly in a political sense by targeting their actions against his base, Trump has no way to answer that. All he can do is charge his own people more for buying Chinese stuff. It’s a dumb strategy, devoid of any nuance or ability to apply any actual strategic pressure.
@Fin: “The west has been plundering other nations for hundreds of years”. And how is this relevant? I’m aware China has a chip on their shoulder due to the 100 Years of Shame but they’re still rational actors who will act in their best interest. And the Rape of Nanjing was carried out by the Japanese. A few trade concessions is hardly equivalent to any of this.
@John: Some fair points. The vulnerability of a democracy compared to essentially a dictatorship is worrying. Russia know this too. Instead of making broad actions against a country they can make targeted ones that target a leader’s base and harm them politically. It would be ironic if Trump lost the next election due to the Chinese. However, the fact the Chinese are buying something they don’t need as part of a previous deal shows they’re willing to look at the bigger picture. I’m not entirely sure how holding US bonds gives the Chinese leverage, can you explain that further? Americans do need to pay more for Chinese goods, which does have a feedback into their economy. But of course this is in the context of US manufacturing being decimated by outsourcing. The status quo can’t continue.
@Toomasu Sumitsu: widespread use of Indonesia as a middle man for importation of Chinese steel to USA. Tarrifs like this simply don’t work, as history attests too. Its simply more ill thoughtout populace rhetoric- id take the “bureaucrats” in Brussels managing our trade any day
@Toomasu Sumitsu: I think what he meant was for you to have some basic understanding of how Chinese people think and what they have been through that made them think such way. From so you might understand better why China retaliate when there are huge tariffs dropped on their heads
@Fin: True but many Chinese companies especially in the tech space do not play fair and were largely started off the back of stolen intellectual property from mainly US companies, for example stolen code. These companies are protected and in many cases directly supported by the Chinese government making it very unfair and difficult for companies in other international markets to compete. The Chinese do need to be taken down a peg or two in this regard.
Trump seems to think China are paying the tariffs, not the end user ie Americans.
@James Wallace: he thinks a lot of things, all of it BS.
America’s Farmers are feeling the pressure . These tarrifs are crippling them.
@Daithi Ó Raghallaigh: it is the American citizen that pays the tariff…the Chinese company will sell less but the American purchaser pays more…but the public don’t seem to get it
Trump must believe he is king of the world. He is indeed a wrecking ball.
All The Chinese have to do is sell off the trillion in US bonds they own and the US economy will crash.
@An bhearna: and also crash their own manufacturing base at the same time. Why would they do this?
Just shows the extent of Trump’s lies and how they brainwash people. “Yo Trump! Go get them?”. Yes, it brings a lot more money into USA treasury to compensate for his fat cat friends tax cuts, but the USA people pay the extra as a hidden tax to buy the goods.
It’s a covert VAT … we already have this in Europe.
@WoodlandBard: sadly, the average American Trump voter has no understanding of international trade and tariffs. They believe that somehow China is paying money into the US treasury, as Trump claims, but of course that’s just another lie, though they might have a change of heart when the stuff they buy at Walmart shoots up in price.
Trump doesn’t know much but he does know his base voter – he understands that they are too lazy or willfully ignorant or stupid to actually challenge his constant lies.
its like two haven’t had puberty hit school boys having a wizzing contest between them Trump and Xi, except its the citizens of both countries that are the wall they are wizzing against and stinking the place up
The # in the picture says it all #Tit for Tat
Does he not know how much American debt,
China holds,
Tiny dick swinging competition between Trump and Xi
Like in fairness is he tbat delusional if China wanted to close America dowm it could they owe China 23 trillion.. Americans in fairness r dumb.
@Mahuna: You call Americans dumb, but precede that statement by saying that the totality of all US debt is owed to China and China only. Interesting viewpoint. Maybe you should check your sources.
@Shane Dignam: nowhere in his comment does he say the totality of us debt is owed only to china, he just said they owe chine 23trillion, or is there more text in his comment that is only visible to you?
My guess is that Trump is on a loser taking on China in a trade war, on the basis that the Chinese state can control the moves on the chessboard absolutely, whereas the US is responsive to capital interests & forces within.
Once the pain strikes home, the business interests will scream, & Trumpy will do a deal to get off the hook, claiming that he has tamed the dragon.
So only america can invade countries only america can send their troops to a country “incase of an attack” only america can retaliate against attacks and now only america can add tarrifs on exports, they think they are the world power but actually they are just bullies that attack when they dont get their way
have your say