THE OTHER SIDE. THERE IS ONE,YOU KNOW.
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From a thoughtful memo reader:
Dick,
Welcome back!
Come Saturday evening, I realized how difficult it was to get through the day without a daily dose of
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Dr. Shelby Steele, the brilliant and thoughtful Hoover Fellow, recently was interviewed and responded: 'whites need to get their courage back and start fighting and disregard the calumny and slurs from the radical left.' This is the only way we can recapture our nation.
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In today’s polarizing society there’s often regurgitating—or outright screaming—of mainstream talking points rather than thoughtful and productive political discussion. In this Unapologetic Special, Amala hits the streets of Los Angeles to see if it’s possible to have civil conversations with complete strangers about racism in America.
In today’s polarizing society there’s often regurgitating—or outright screaming—of mainstream talking points rather than thoughtful and productive political discussion. In this Unapologetic Special, Amala hits the streets of Los Angeles to see if it’s possible to have civil conversations with complete strangers about racism in America. |
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ This is a catch up memo: +++ .jpg) And what about TACO First Lady? .jpg)   .jpg) .jpg) .jpg) .jpg)  .jpg) +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ When I, and many others, warned about Merkel , we were laughed at because ,at that time, she was being compared to Britain's Iron Lady, MaggieThatcher. +++ This is an EXCELLENT article about Angela and her obsession with green energy, it is well written and mirrors exactly what Biden is doing to the USA. Germany is in an awful state (again ....) - crappy economy, insufficient energy to run it's factories, euro in freefall. ++++++++++++++++++++++++ Larry Summers says the Fed ‘let us down quite badly,’ is wrong about economy By Thomas Barrabi The Federal Reserve “lost its way” last year as inflation gripped American households and still isn’t being realistic about the impact it will have on the economy, ex-Treasury Secretary Larry Summers warned on Friday. Summers, who was far ahead of the Fed in predicting price surges over the last year, stepped up his criticism of the central bank after federal data showed inflation spiked to a new peak of 9.1% in June. “In 2021, our central bank let us down quite badly,” Summers told Bloomberg. “As a consequence, they find themselves in a very, very difficult position, not least because they don’t have the credibility that they once enjoyed given their repeated poor forecasting record.” “I have to say that it’s not something that’s been fully fixed,” Summers added. Summers said the Fed’s “dot plot” projecting inflation would return to its 2% target and 4.1% for unemployment by 2024 was “highly implausible” and suggestive of “highly problematic groupthink” at the central bank. Jerome PowellJerome Powell has pledged an “unconditional” Fed fight against inflation.AP Summers, a former top adviser to Democratic Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, has argued that higher unemployment is an unavoidable consequence of the policy tightening the Fed must enact to address inflation – meaning millions of Americans are likely to lose their jobs. As of June, the national unemployment rate was just 3.6% in what remained a historically tight labor market. Investors are now betting that the Fed will implement a massive full-point interest rate hike later this month – its largest increase in decades – as it scrambles to tamp down prices. The drastic action would exacerbate fears that the central bank won’t be able to engineer a “soft landing” for the economy and avoid a recession. Larry SummersLarry Summers predicted inflation’s alarming rise months before the Fed acknowledged it.Getty Images Summers added that he felt the Fed lost focus last year, ignoring its core mission of maintaining price stability in favor of other projects that weren’t central to its responsibilities. “It was talking about the environment, it was talking about social justice in a range of things, it was confidently dismissing concerns about inflation as transitory and it made mistakes in the core function of a central bank, including leaning into highly expansive fiscal policies rather than accommodating them,” Summers said. After last month’s Fed meeting, Chairman Jerome Powell said the bank was laser-focused on the fight against inflation – even as he warned that further “surprises” were possible. Powell has also noted the Fed’s commitment to bring down prices is now “unconditional.” Earlier this week, Fed Governor Christopher Waller indicated he supports a three-quarter-percentage-point hike at the next meeting – though he didn’t rule out the possibility of a full-point hike. Waller also described the June inflation data as a “major league disappointment.” ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Erdman's Good New Israel (Unedited) +++ Our planet features prominently in this week's positive Israel newsletter. From the earth, Israelis are growing life-enhancing algae, herbs, and vertical farms. They are building hospitals from the ground up, in Morocco and sports facilities for Arab-Israelis. Israel's global ground-breaking developments include a new molecule to balance the immune system, bacteria to make better fuels, bio-degradable plastic, life-saving tele-health devices, and vegan super-foods. Israel is providing medical aid to Moldovia and rescuing endangered sea turtles. Examples of global cooperation include the reopening a trade office with Turkiye (Turkey), joint US-Israeli research projects, business partnerships with the US State of Michigan, and an eye-opening visit for young European Muslim leaders. Finally, what on earth is the connection between the US President's visit to Israel and a global event 46 years ago? In the 17th July 22 edition of Israel’s good news, the highlights include:
ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS Chronic disease breakthrough. Researchers from Haifa’s Bnai Zion Medical Center and Israel’s Technion Institute have developed semaphorin 3A - a molecule that maintains the balance of the immune system. It can help treat autoimmune or inflammatory diseases like lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, MS, and IBD. https://www.jpost.com/health- https://www.gov.il/he/ Bionic bacteria. Scientists at Israel’s Technion Institute have engineered nano-sized hybrid biological components at room temperature. These fast-growing proteins, enzymes, and other biological compounds can be used to develop new, safer medicines and improved fuels that do not exist in nature. https://www.technion.ac.il/en/ https://onlinelibrary.wiley. How do the astronauts feel? Another experiment conducted by astronauts on the Axiom One Rakia mission to the International Space Station was the helmet of Israel’s Brain.Space (see here previously). Here is a detailed description of the experiment and the implications for future space travel. https://nocamels.com/2022/07/ https://www.youtube.com/watch? Early warning of patient problems. Israel’s Sheba Medical Center has just completed a clinical study of patients using the wearable vital signs monitor from Israel’s BioBeat (see here previously). It shows that the telehealth device can detect patient deterioration 38 hours before clinical deterioration, in 75% of patients. https://www. An alternative to psychiatric hospitals. An interesting report and separate analysis of the performance of three of Israel’s 13 Soteria Houses for psychiatric patients. Their compassion and supportive environments contrast with alternative psychiatric hospitals that focus on anti-psychotic drugs and more invasive therapies. https://www.psychologytoday. Superfood is even better than mother’s milk. Israel’s Maolac (see here previously) has progressed from just producing an alternative to mother’s milk for babies. It is now using one ingredient for an anti-inflammatory product to help athletes recover after exercise. And another, to make a probiotic that reduces stress in the gut. https://nocamels.com/2022/07/ The future is in HealthTech. "The Future is in HealthTech” was one of a new series of meetings sponsored by Calcalist and Start-Up Nation Central. It highlighted the pandemic-induced rise of telemedicine, Zoom meetings, and virtual reality. https://www.calcalistech.com/ https://newmedia.calcalist.co. More medical innovation partners. RISE is the innovation arm of Assuta – Israel’s leading private chain of hospitals. RISE already partners with 30 Israeli startups and has just added five more. Ibex Medical, Senseera, Theator, Magentiq Eye and MaveriQx – the only startup not previously reported in this newsletter. https://www.calcalistech.com/ Paralyzed man is now back on his feet. A mystery illness caused 41-year-old Nir’s muscles to deteriorate and eventually Nir collapsed, paralyzed. At Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital, Nir was quickly diagnosed with an autoimmune disease called Guillain-Barre syndrome. A transfusion and plasma replacement restored Nir’s life. https://www. ISRAEL IS INCLUSIVE AND GLOBAL Building sports facilities in Jerusalem for Arabs & Jews. Construction has begun on eastern Jerusalem’s first-ever public sports and swimming pool complex. Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion said the center was “only the beginning of the process of closing the gaps between the various parts of the city.” https://www.jns.org/ Vietnamese refugees in Israel. From 1977 to 1979, Israel gave refuge to some 360 of the so-called Vietnamese “boat people,” in the aftermath of the Communist takeover of the Southeast Asian nation. 45 years later, over 150 have remained in Israel, and are grateful for “the opportunity to rebuild our lives here”. https://www.jns.org/35-years- Murder victims warn against violence. Israel’s D-ID (see here previously) has used its avatar technology to support the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. D-ID has brought the victims “back to life” to publicize the dangers of violent husbands and actions women can take to save their lives. https://www.reuters.com/world/ Rescued sea turtles released back into the wild. (TY Hazel) 17 endangered sea turtles (15 loggerheads and two green sea turtles) that were rescued by Israel after suffering major injuries were released last week back into the Mediterranean after months of rehabilitation at Israel’s Sea Turtle Rescue Center. https://www.usnews.com/news/ Israel and Brazil. Nice video (TY I24 News) showing the close relationship between Brazil and the Jewish State. Brazil was instrumental in the UN vote for Partition in 1947 which led to the founding of the modern Jewish State. Israel is known as the Promised Land and Brazil is known as the Land of Promise. https://www.youtube.com/watch? Building hospitals in Morocco. (TY Hazel) The Israeli-founded IMS International Medical Services is to invest $497 million to construct several hospitals in Morocco. The Memorandum of Understanding was signed in Rabat by IMS co-founder Ms. Yardena Ovadia (also IMS’s President) and Morocco’s Ministry of Health. https://www.moroccoworldnews. Medical equipment for Moldovia. (TY Hazel) Israel has donated a consignment of medical equipment worth $700,000 to Moldova It will be delivered to medical institutions for diagnosis and hospital surgery rooms, benefiting both Moldova’s citizens and refugees from the war in adjacent Ukraine. https://www.moldpres.md/en/ SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY Engineering courses to fill hi-tech vacancies. Israel’s Afeka College (see here previously) in Tel Aviv has produced some 7,500 hi-tech graduates since 2014 and its 450-strong faculty is currently training 3,300 more. It aims to develop skills in math, physics, engineering, personal skills, English, Hebrew, programming, and ethics. https://www.calcalistech.com/ The world’s most advanced digital mirror. Walmart is acquiring Israeli-founded Memomi, which has developed technology to enhance virtual optical try-on experiences, helping customers virtually “try on” eyewear in real-time. The technology is already used at 2,800 Walmart Vision Centers and 550 Sam’s Clubs. https://www.calcalistech.com/ https://www.youtube.com/watch? Eco-friendly light and shade. More about Israel’s Anai Green and her LumiWeave (see here previously) solar powered shade and lighting system. If Tel Aviv trials are successful, it can be rolled out to cafes and swimming pools and more. Besides cost benefits, by focusing the light downwards, it minimizes light pollution in cities. https://www.jpost.com/ Biodegradable plastic from waste and algae. (TY UWI & I24 News) Researchers at Tel Aviv University have produced plastic that degrades in nature within six months. They extracted bacteria from algae and fed it sugars from agricultural waste to produce plastics. https://www.youtube.com/watch? The wonders of microalgae. Israel’s BarAlgae in Kibbutz Gan Shmuel near Hadera is the only Israeli company to grow seven species of microalgae. Its corporate clients use this to make into animal (mainly fish) nutrition, cosmetics, and supplements. BarAlgae’s self-built automated production system is amazing. https://www.baralgae.com/ Supplements from Israeli herbs. On a visit to Israeli startup Bara Herbs in Yoknean, its CEO described the health products produced from Israeli and internationally grown herbs. Also, some great tasty teas, dried fruits, and cosmetics. https://bara.co.il/ “Outside of the box” food tech. See how Israel’s Vertical Farms grows fresh vegetables in a container in a supermarket car park. Also, the CEO of Israeli VC fund Millenium Food-Tech, which invests in innovative Israeli food technology companies. He highlights Israel’s Aleph Farms and its cultured meat technology. https://www.youtube.com/watch? The spirit of innovation. Another recent visit was to Israel’s Legends whiskey distillery (see here previously). Their unique Kentucky whiskey is sourced from corn, wheat, barley, yeast, and limestone-filtered Israeli water. https://www.youtube.com/watch? Chickpea alternative to dairy barista coffee. Israel’s ChickP (see here previously) has now customized its chickpea plant-based protein as a non-dairy alternative creamer for barista-style coffee drinks. The product has a smooth consistency, naturally foaming, with no bitter taste, no added sugar, or unnecessary added ingredients. https://www.prnewswire.com/il/ A “Wonderland” of drone navigation. Israel’s Wonder Robotics (see here previously) is to provide its Wonderland precise autonomous landings solution to Spright – the new drone division of US air medical services company Air Methods. https://www.calcalistech.com/ Teen innovators. Four groups of Israeli high school “teenpreneurs” recently pitched to investors. Their products included Moosh - an AI search engine to find the perfect gift. ALTZ - an app to help dementia patients and families. STARYEAM, a VR driving simulator and Pro-Look - AI to reduce electric scooter accidents. https://nocamels.com/2022/07/ Israeli innovations are changing our lives. This whistle-stop video of Israeli tech features Mobileye, WaterGen, Israeli desalination, drip irrigation, GreenEye, Autonomous Robots, Tevel Aerobotics, PillCam, Re-Walk, and SniffPhone (all reported here previously), Don’t blink or you will miss something big. https://www.youtube.com/watch? ECONOMY & BUSINESS Israeli hi-tech is still booming. Numbers of employees in Israeli growth companies increases by 30% every year and there are now over 33,000 hi-tech job vacancies. Meanwhile, despite the downturn, Israeli startups raised almost $10 billion in the 1st half of 2022. https://www.calcalistech.com/ https://www.calcalistech.com/ The world’s leading innovation authority. 3-min video of one of Israel’s most important institutions. The Israel Innovation Authority supports Israeli innovators from least to most experienced. From inception to long-term, high-risk R&D projects. For every shekel it invests, over 5 shekels are returned to the Israeli economy. https://www.youtube.com/watch? Israel reopens economic office in Turkiye. Israel is to reopen its economic office in Istanbul, Turkiye (a.k.a. Turkey), on 1st Aug. It will benefit some 1,540 Israeli companies currently exporting to the Turkish market and help strengthen their business operations. 2021 bi-lateral trade was $7.7 billion, 30% more than in 2020. https://www.jns.org/israel-to- An $8 billion market. On-line games have made a significant impact on modern day culture, entertainment, education, rehabilitation training and technological advancement. Israel’s 190 digital games companies employ 14,000 people, earning a total of $8.6 billion in 2021 - 800% more than in 2017, and 5% of the global market. https://www.calcalistech.com/ $7.9 million for 9 joint US projects. The US-Israel BIRD Foundation has approved $7.9 million funding for nine new joint projects. Israeli organizations are Compentex NurseSpace, Extreme Simulations, FlyWorks, Highlander, Overwolf, Innosphere, Sourasky Ichilov hospital, Wavelength (SEQENS), and ZutaCore. https://www.calcalistech.com/ NIS 2 million donation to train entrepreneurs. Israeli serial hi-tech entrepreneur Dr. Ori Allon has donated two million shekels to Tel Aviv University's Entrepreneurship Center. In addition to boosting TAU’s multi-disciplinary courses, it will also fund an annual hackathon challenge and TAU’s entrepreneurship for women. https://www.calcalistech.com/ https://english.tau.ac.il/ Advising and investing in Israeli AI. Israel’s Opteamizer has built AI supplication models for several Israeli startups and provided training and consultancy to 90+ Israeli R&D centers. Now it plans to invest in 10 early-stage Israeli startups, join their board and streamline the entire development lifecycle of their AI applications. https://www.calcalistech.com/ https://www.youtube.com/watch? Israeli innovation for Michigan. The Michigan delegation visiting Tel Aviv’s EcoMotion was focused on Israel’s autonomous, electric, shared, and connected technology with startups such as Electreon and ZOOZ Power, but the State wants Israeli solutions for security, consumer goods, water, agriculture, and smart cities. https://www.israel21c.org/why- https://www.youtube.com/watch? Takeovers and mergers to 17/7/22. US-based Clearhaven Partners acquired Israel’s SundaySky for $100 million. Israel’s IronSource is merging with Denmark’s Unity Software. Israel’s Optimove has acquired UK’s Graphyte for $40 million. Investment in Israeli startups to 17/7/22: Cathworks received $75 million from Medtronic; AI21 Labs raised $64 million; Aurora Labs raised $63 million; Edge raised $30 million; Deci raised $25 million; Uncaged Studios raised $24 million; Gigantic (Clawee) raised $7 million; Wonder Robotics raised $4 million; CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT & SPORT` More activities for children in Israel. Check out some of the activities for kids in Israel at this site. Make candy, paint pottery, transform tree bark into paper, learn about biblical animals, make bread as they did in Temple times, have fun in Maale Adumim, and more. https://www.loveloveisrael. Nefesh b’Nefesh Calendar. Events on the NbN calendar for July include an oasis hike, magic at Center Stage, an Orchestral concert, a guided tour of design art, and a nocturnal hike in the Carmel Forest. https://www.nbn.org.il/israel- https://www.dmh.org.il/en/ https://www.nbn.org.il/events/ Mental magic. (TY UWI and ILTV). 17-year-old Nevo Abutbul is one of the world’s youngest professional mentalists. He has already performed on US TV. He is about to be drafted into the army as the IDF’s first mentalist. Israel’s enemies should surrender now! https://www.youtube.com/watch? Those Israeli walking seeds. Tour guide Pamela Levene remembers the pranks Israeli children played with the Israeli seeds featured in last week’s newsletter. Placed on the trouser leg, the seed, stimulated by sweat, would then "walk" upwards, causing great discomfort. The victims had to drop their trousers to remove them! https://www.youtube.com/watch? Spanish gold for Israeli dancers. (TY JNS) Israel’s 23-member team “Chopskick” from Modi’in won a gold medal in the 62-nation, 120,000-competitors, Dance World Cup in San Sebastian, Spain. Their performance “Zombieland” won the Hip-hop Commercial Mega Crew category. Israeli teams won 18 medals at the event. https://www.jpost.com/israeli- Israeli gold at World Games. 50 Israeli athletes are competing in the World Games in Birmingham Alabama. 16-year-old Daria Atamanov scooped two golds and a silver in the rhythmic gymnastics, as Israel finished top of the table in the event. Meanwhile Israeli kickboxer Shir Cohen is in the final of the under-52kg category. https://www.jns.org/israel- https://www.timesofisrael.com/ https://www.youtube.com/watch? 10,000 compete in Maccabiah Games. The 21st “Jewish Olympics” began with 10,000 athletes from 80 countries who will be competing in 42 events all over Israel. In Netanya we met a team from Chile and a member of the over-55’s US tennis team. US President Joe Biden was a special guest at the opening ceremony. https://www. https://www.youtube.com/watch? THE JEWISH STATE Aleppo synagogue reconstructed. An exhibit at Jerusalem’s Israel Museum uses Virtual Reality (VR) to “rebuild” the Aleppo synagogue, destroyed by the Syrians. The exhibit was only possible thanks to the 50 photos smuggled out by Sarah Shammah, a young Syrian Jew, on the last plane to Israel from Beirut in 1947. https://www.jpost.com/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Building monumental buildings in Jerusalem. Designing new buildings in Jerusalem is unlike building in any other city in the world. This article describes the new entrance pavilion at the Tower of David Museum, the Davidson Museum at the Western Wall, and the National Memorial Hall for Fallen Soldiers on Mount Herzl. https://www.jns.org/a-hat- Delegation of European Muslims visit Israel. A 40-member delegation of young Muslim community leaders from France and Belgium visited Israel recently. They were led by French Imam Hassen Chalghoumi. The participants said they saw real Israelis and not the stereotypes they had been told about back home. https://www.israelhayom.com/ US President’s security advisor. Accompanying US President Biden on his Israel trip is Anne Neuberger. She is an orthodox Jew from Brooklyn New York. Granddaughter of Shoah survivors, she speaks Hebrew, Arabic, and Yiddish (and English!). Her parents were rescued by Israelis at Entebbe in 1976 – the year she was born! https://www. https://www.npr.org/sections/ A Nation Reborn. David Harris’s potted history of the Jewish State is simply earth-shattering. https://blogs.timesofisrael. A lasting recipe. When Israel’s Ida Kleinman passed away in 2010, aged 91, she was determined not to take her famous recipe for nut cake to the grave. She gave instructions to have it engraved on her tombstone. Now visitors to Rehovot Cemetery can view it anytime, or alternatively at these on-line sites. https://www.findagrave.com/ https://www.nytimes.com/2022/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Ronald, warned us, He was right to do so and correct in what he said. We failed to listen and now we are fighting the hidden enemy from within who has taken over our institutions and sold the next generation a bill of goods, ie. Socialism and Communism are what America needs. America's black population includes many dangerous malcontents and criminals who are in the forefront of this plague as well as white elites who seek to retain power. Franklin, also warned us what we had was great if we could keep it and we have allowed it to slip through our hands. Dr. Steele (see above) also told us the same thing. We must reject BLM, CRT, ESG and all the other progressive threats and "ism's." It is the white population that must begin to speak out and fight. Pogo was right when he said: The Enemy Is Us." +++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Israel does what it must and response to terrorism should not surprise. +++ BRIEF / Lapid: Israel’s retaliation for rocket attacks took Hamas by surprise JNS IAF strikes “significant” Hamas facilities following rocket attacks from Gaza ++++++++++++++++++++++++++ If this is so, and Biden's handlers can enact it, we are finished and if you think I am kidding who controls the currency is critical in a free society +++ Editor’s Note: When we see offers from other publishers that might interest you, we pass them along. Below you’ll find one from our friends at Paradigm Press. Please note that their opinions may differ from what you read in Behind the Markets. Profit from Dollar Replacement Panic? Thanks to President Biden's Executive Order 14067... ...I predict the 3rd Great Dollar Earthquake has started. These currency upheavals happen about every 40 years. The first was Roosevelt confiscating private gold in 1934... The second was Nixon abandoning the gold standard in 1971... Now, Biden's plan could pave the way for "retiring" the US dollar... And replacing it with THIS. Amid the turmoil, there will be many losers. Jim Rickards +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Ross Rants: +++ Inflation is now far worse than I had expected, and if you look at m/m, which is what is currently happening, the CPI rate is 15.6% annualized. Core is up 8.4% annualized which is dreadful. The real impact of inflation if you just take food, gas, and rent is 32%. That is the number that really matters. Rents average are up 13.7% y/y in June, although the rate of increase is now slowing a little. Vacancy in most markets is minimal. We now have historic runaway hyper-inflation. Now PPI, m/m came in at 13.2% annualized. That means elevated inflation is here to stay for months longer. Real wages are shrinking fast. Now it is not mainly energy, but it is across the board. The biggest driver was rents, and they may be understated due to the way they calculate it. You will now see the recession accelerate as inflation was already causing problems at small business. There is no possible way small companies can raise wages sufficiently and stay in business where prices paid by consumers are already causing major shifts in buying patterns and volumes. Buckle up, this is really bad. This is worse than the seventies. I expect the Fed to raise 100 BP in the July meeting since they really need to convince the markets and consumers they will stop inflation. I think there is a chance the Fed will make an interim emergency raise of another 100 BP in August. I am now pretty sure the July inflation print will be lower as we know oil, and commodities, are down 20%+, and big box retail is now running sales to move excess inventory, but the number will still be very high. Don't get mislead by talking heads on TV when July inflation comes in lower. It is temporary. The high June PPI assures high inflation in the CPI going forward. It is now very unlikely that inflation will get below 5% consistently until 2025. What is unclear is how long oil prices stay down as supply remains very constrained even in a recession and even with a little more Saudi oil, and rents were just raised in what is the normal seasonal turnover time, so they will not likely be coming down. There is a shortage of units, and now with the high price of homes and mortgage rates, there are suddenly many more renters. Manhattan average rents are $5,000. We are still producing 1 million barrels a day less oil than before, and the White House is not allowing production to increase the way it could. Unemployment claims are now rising, factory production is slowing, and that is likely going to accelerate each month. The reason there is low unemployment in the start of the recession is, jobs are a lagging data point. Don't be mislead by reports of job growth which may not even be accurate given the household survey is reporting a decline in jobs. There is no major shock like Lehman in 2008, so this time, recession will be slow to evolve. The White House is already saying ignore the numbers because it is old news. Another ridiculous spin. The average worker is getting heavily taxed by inflation caused by bad policies by the same people who say they will never tax lower income people. A substantial portion of the families of lower and middle income are now having to forgo things, and that means economic slowdown, and job losses to happen by September. It means travel will be curtailed later this summer. Hotels better be cutting costs now, or they will find they will get cash squeezed by winter. Same for restaurants. Rents might be nearing a peak now. Mortgage rates will stay up. The rest of the world will now be in trouble as inflation and recession hit everywhere. Look for more Sri Lanka type revolts. And all you hear from the White House is, June already happened so ignore it, and we need to raise taxes. The retail sales number is not adjusted for inflation so if we take the last two months m/m inflation average of 1.15%, or 13.8% annualized, then the June retail increase of 1.0% adjusted is likely a negative number as to SKUs. The market is over reacting to the number believing it is much better than it really is. However we will take good news by the market if they want to believe that. The big market bounce on Friday was more likely due to Manchin seemingly killing the new spend tax bill. What is amazing is the stock market essentially blew right past the inflation print. The SPX is dancing right around my 3750 forecast market low number. If the inflation numbers did not freak out the market, I am not sure what will, and that might mean we are at my bottom of around 3750. We will see what the GDP print brings toward the end of the month. Don't rush in. There are a lot of black swans circling that could cause a further drop. The only way they are going to get inflation down is by raising rates much more, and speeding up the reduction of the Fed balance sheet which will squeeze liquidity. Rates need to go much higher. The Dems must be in total panic mode now. Recession, plus historic inflation, with job losses about to ramp up. Unemployment may hit 5% by November, and if not yet there, it will be on the way there. The only way Republicans fail to have major control of the Senate is if some of Trump's weak picks, like Walker, lose, which is very possible in five states, even in these extraordinary times. If his candidates talk about 2020 instead of inflation and recession, they will lose, as they might convince voters it is rigged, and so they don't vote . Oil demand may have declined, but supply has not really materially increased, and added Saudi oil will not fix the problem of limits on US production by Biden. The cost of pipe, and sand, and other basic materials needed for production are at very high prices now, so the cost to produce a barrel is now way up. This is not going to get better for a long time. The cost of windmills and solar is way up, and now a lot of towns are saying no windmills. The White House is adding major new regs that have real costs on oil production. Low cost oil might not happen again. We will have to see, but if it remains at the current lower cost it will be because the economy is in the tank. Once the economy recovers and China recovers, oil demand will push the price back up well over $100. China growth was just .4% last quarter. That is ultra-slow and suggests that the economy in China is having real issues. Real estate is way down, exports are going to struggle with the world headed to recession, and Covid continues to create issues for them. Slow Chinese growth does not help many international US companies. Where have all the workers gone. 3 million retired in the pandemic. Immigration of 1 million legal skilled people a year dried up in the pandemic. There was a lot of cash handed out in the massive spending packages, so it is likely there are an unknown number of people who are working off the books and living off the free money, free medical care, cheap rent, food banks, and food stamps. The last issue is demographics. The growth of the potential labor force is declining for years. For a while, women came into the labor force by the millions, but that surge is now over and has stabilized. They made up for a decline in men in the workforce. Now there is no similar growth source. Yet the economy has expanded as personal wealth grew, and as more products and services were demanded. Reality is, worldwide the labor force is not keeping pace with the growth of economies. In addition, cheap Chinese labor is over, and now the other Asian nations have not geared up to the same level to provide new sources of cheap labor in sufficient numbers. This means inflation will likely stay higher from here on, not return to the very low levels of the past two decades. On Thursday, on CNBC, Tom Cotton gave one of the most stunning interviews I have ever heard. He threatened CEO's and Larry Fink with jail for what he calls the climate cartel conspiracy to destroy the fossil fuel industry. He said when the R's get control he will lead an all-out attack on the climate cartel and Larry Fink and Blackrock to end the efforts of those people trying to cut off of capital to the oil industry. He made the point that China produces the solar panels and windmills, and they are promoting our shift away from fossil knowing we cannot maintain a strong economy without a strong oil industry. At the same time we are pushing this shift, they are building more coal fired power plants than ever, as is India. I have attacked Fink and Blackrock consistently, and it is now good to hear a powerful senator threaten to go after them. This is the start of a major political war. Manchin has just seemingly made it very unclear if there will be a new spending bill that Schumer has been pushing. Manchin says no new spending or taxes, then says well let's see the July numbers. At least that pushes it to September, and makes it too late to get an affirmative vote. He seems to bounce back and forth. I am left wondering how the Dems can really be so stupid as to even think about passing such destructive legislation. And they all just go along like following the Pied Piper over the cliff. Tax revenue in Q2 was the highest ever as a result of the tax cuts by Republicans which served to enhance economic growth out of the pandemic shutdown. We are now going into recession due to all of the terrible polices from the White House and the squad. The polls are very clear that the voters are saying, no more. It makes you ask who are voters sending to DC, a bunch of hand puppets. Is it now so corrupt that voters no longer matter. How do we resurrect the days of Clinton/Gingrich where some very good things were able to get done, and the voice of the people mattered. The losses in crypto just keep mounting into the tens of billions. Some crypto industry companies are going out of business. A couple appear to have been scams. Unbeknownst to many, the crypto world was highly leveraged, with poor risk management, and many of the crypto companies are intertwined. All the same mistakes made in the regular capital markets in 2008 happened in crypto. This has accelerated the crypto crash and crypto market contagion, but luckily it is a relatively small portion of the overall capital markets, so it is not causing contagion outside the crypto world. There will be more losses and consolidation. It is very possible Bitcoin and the other name brands will drop even more. At least now everyone should recognize that the whole thing has been a pure very high risk speculative bubble based on nothing, not unlike other bubble manias over history. It is worth only what the next fool will pay for magic money. While some early investors made a lot of money. Now the losses exceed $2 trillion and it is not over. Someone did research on the resumes of many of the top people in the Biden administration. 65 have zero time working in private industry. They are academics, activists, or government bureaucrats. They have no understanding of what is involved in meeting a payroll, keeping costs low, nor hiring based solely on skill and merit. They are ideologues who have no common sense, nor ability to see the ramifications of their actions. The speculation about Musk and Twitter is getting the usual uninformed hyper babble from talking heads. We all need to wait to see what the real facts are, what rights each side had in the agreement, and what his due dili uncovered, and if he had good cause to walk. If he loses there will not be specific performance ordered because the court will not be able to make it stick in his case. They will maybe order he pay the $1 billion, but that may be all. Or he may win if he can prove the bot number is material. SPACs are dead. They were a classic Wall St flavor of the week that made a bunch of investment bankers and stock brokers a lot of money, but in the end it was mostly just another way for Wall St to do more deals where they had no risk invested. The final nail came this past week when Bill Ackman returned the $4 billion he had raised for the largest SPAC. He is one of the smartest guys in the business, and he was honest enough to tell investors he was returning all their money because he did not find a deal that made good sense. Unfortunately most others did a deal that ended in failure, or that will never be worth it. To old Wall St people like me, SPACs was just the latest game that made no sense. It is over. The EU just proved to Putin that they do not have the stomach for extended confrontation thanks to Germany who led a EU agreement to let Russia restart shipments to Kaliningrad despite Lithuania shutting it down. The move by the EU was pushed by the former defense secretary under Merkel. Germany has not shipped Ukraine all of the heavy weapons it had promised. They and France learned nothing from Munich in 1938. The world is rapidly approaching the tipping point with Iran which has accelerated its nuclear program. Israel has been holding massive military exercises in preparation for an attack on Iran to stop the nukes. Biden just signed a resolution with Israel stating that Iran can never be allowed to have a nuke. Sometime in the next year we could possibly have another major black swan event of major war in the Mideast. Be prepared for next year to be a world crisis of wars, food shortages, inflation and revolts in developing countries over food and gas prices. In 18 months, Biden and the squad have ended the good times The first car was 1871, the initial power plants in early 1900's, the Model T was 1908. The massive Glaciers covering the northern US and parts of Europe were long gone thousands of years prior. Do you think something in nature was going on that made the glaciers melt before all these carbon emitting man made things appeared. ++++++++++++++++++++++ In life, timing is everything and in the market only more so. Idle capital is a loss. It may sound perverse for me to say Biden and the Green Crowd will eventually prove correct regarding the significance of the EV. Yes, eventually, these cars will eat their way into our car ownership levels and will ultimately replace the gas engine car. Technology will improve the battery so it will be safe, a single charge will carry you much further than currently and take a few seconds to work, the cost of replacement will come down considerably and the actual cost of an EV will be competitive. So what's the problem? Biden accelerated the Green Charge way too soon, shut down our existing energy independence and ipso facto everything collapsed as inflation soared. We know, from a former White House Doctor, Biden is deteriorating and incapable of performing his presidential duties. We also know someone else is running the White House. We also know Obama's people have been hired by Biden and the most dangerous, Susan Rice, sits at the top of the pole. Finally, we know Obama had the weakest staff when it came to those with business experience. Even Obama was an incompetent and his resume was so thin you could see through it without light. Our government is full of ideologues and total incompetents. Kamala was selected because she was black and a woman. No thought was given to Biden's health. The Democrat's goal was to replace Trump at any cost even if it meant a man who, for 50 years, was never right on major issues. How many times have I said Democrats want to retain power first and America comes second or even lower now that we haveTACOS' to contend with. +++ .jpg) .jpg) .jpg) .jpg) .jpg) .jpg) .png) .jpg) .jpg) Report: Hunter Biden Laptop Details Dozens of 'Business' Meetings With VP Dad Joe By Charles Kim | f Materials harvested from Hunter Biden's infamous laptop reveal dozens of meetings between President Joe Biden and his son regarding business dealings, despite denials that the two never discussed Hunter's business activities, the New York Post reported Saturday. According to the report, materials gleaned from Hunter Biden’s laptop show more than 30 meetings between then-Vice President Biden and his son, Hunter, from 2008 to 2016, usually taking place shortly after Hunter returned from traveling abroad on business. "Hardly a day goes by without another revelation about how intimately involved Joe Biden was with his son Hunter Biden's corrupt foreign business dealings," House GOP Conference Chair Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N. Y., told the Post. "The fact that Joe was in meetings with senior foreign leaders on behalf of Hunter and his business associates while vice president further proves that Joe has been lying to the American people." Information contained in the laptop consisting of personal calendar entries detail Hunter relaying information to his dad relating to meetings with foreign clients his son was involved with at the time, in stark contrast to President Biden's claim that he "never" discussed business with his son while serving as former President Barack Obama's vice president. The list of those meeting with the younger Biden includes Cote d’lvoire Prime Minister Daniel Kablan Duncan in Washington on April 15, 2016, dinner with Russian oligarchs between Feb. 15-18, 2012, and Romanian Ambassador George Major, according to the Post. Those meetings often were followed by Hunter meeting or communicating with his father, the report said. While the laptop's authenticity was initially disputed, called Russian disinformation when it became public shortly before the 2020 election, it has since been labeled as authentic by several media sources, the Washington Examiner reported earlier this month. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, however, would not comment on the flood of information contained in the once abandoned computer, when asked earlier this month during a press briefing. "From this podium, I'm not going to talk about alleged materials from the laptop. I'm not going to talk about alleged materials on the laptop. It's not happening," Jean-Pierre said. One of the voicemails retrieved from the device appears to have Biden telling his son that he was "clear" following a New York Times story covering Hunter Biden's business with the Chinese energy company CEFC "Hey, pal, it's Dad. It's 8:15 on Wednesday night. If you get a chance, just give me a call. Nothing urgent. I just wanted to talk with you," Joe Biden said in the voicemail pulled from the device. "I thought the article released online, it's going to be printed tomorrow in The Times, was good. I think you're clear. And anyway, if you get a chance, give me a call. I love you." +++++++++++++ .jpg)   .jpg) .jpg) .jpg) .png) .jpg) .png) .jpg) +++++++++++++++++++++++ Biden has proposed a new deal to meet Iranian objectives without consulting with Congress. Talk about arrogance and possibly another act worthy of an additional impeachment.+++ Biden is the emperor with no clothes or power. Republicans have troubles, but those of the Democrats are far worse Charles Lipson July 11, 2022 The emperor is naked. The public knows it, and they’re finally beginning to speak the obvious truth. The emperor, in this case, is the president. He took office with high hopes from voters and a promise to bring the country together. Those aspirations are dead. The public has lost confidence in Joe Biden — lost confidence that he can do the job, and lost confidence that he is even minimally competent. They certainly don’t think he has brought the country together (though they think Republicans share the blame for that). This sour mood hurts more than the president. It hurts his entire party, and will be extremely hard to reverse. Some decline in popularity is inevitable after a new president takes office. For Biden, however, the losses have been huge. They began as voters evaluated the president’s abrupt, incompetent withdrawal from Afghanistan. They grew worse as inflation rose, and the president’s answer was to spend even more. The public never bought Biden’s attempt to blame these problems on Vladimir Putin, even though the Russian leader does bear some blame for higher gas prices: some blame, but not all. Inflation stretches well beyond the gas pump in any case, and fuel prices had begun rising well before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The sharp rise in gas prices is particularly damaging politically, for two reasons. First, the higher costs are passed through to other goods, which require transport. Second, consumers can see the shocking prices advertised every day on every street corner. They feel the pain directly when they fill up. About half the rise in gas prices is attributable to Russia. The other half was a deliberate policy choice, supported by all national Democrats except Joe Manchin. The administration’s goal was to accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels by making them more expensive. The administration’s problem — and the country’s — is that, once Putin invaded Ukraine, fuel prices jumped far beyond the administration’s targets. The obvious response would be to unleash US energy production, distribution and refining, which Trump had done but Biden reversed as soon as he took office. Biden had promised those restrictions as candidate, and he delivered them as president. But circumstances have changed. Why didn’t Biden adapt? Because he is unwilling to confront his party’s powerful environmental activists. He would rather go begging to Venezuela, Iran and Saudi Arabia. Those humiliating initiatives haven’t worked; they’ve merely shown how rigid and incoherent the administration’s energy program is. Biden’s problems don’t end at the gas pump. They have been mounting on multiple fronts, led by the worst inflation since the 1970s and some of the most troubling violent crime since the 1990s. Once again, Biden hasn’t been able to solve them or shift the blame. The result is that voters not only think the country is on the “wrong track,” they think Biden is responsible and cannot get it back on the right one. That judgment is catastrophic for the party in power. Their only hope would be much better economic performance, including higher real incomes. Democrats now recognize Biden’s serious defects Mistrust of the Biden administration is now almost universal among Republicans and independents. What’s new is its spread to prominent Democrats. They read the dismal polls and fear the electoral consequences. Some of the shrewdest Democrats, such as David Axelrod, openly say Biden no longer appears to be “in command.” Elected officials are quietly saying the same thing, anonymously, to friendly reporters. The Democrats’ dismay is grounded in practical politics, not ideology. Unpopular presidents drag down the whole ticket. This is why Democrats expect big losses this November. Barring some enormous shock, they will likely lose the House and could well lose the Senate. Democrats begin talking about successors Another signal of Biden’s failures is that potential successors are now being discussed within his own party. The most visible name is California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, who recently ran ads in Florida touting his home state. Actually, the ads were only nominally about the Golden State. They were really Newsom’s signal to activist Democrats that he is eager to take the fight to Republicans. It didn’t hurt him when Florida Governor Ron DeSantis punched back, hard and with humor. (The actual ad buy was tiny; the point was to get the media to publicize it, which they did.) Why should Democratic contenders signal they are ready to fight? Because the party base doesn’t think Biden wants to or does so effectively. When he tries to rev up the base, he just yells at them. Even his scripted performances are filled with embarrassing glitches. The bully pulpit seems to be bullying him. It’s more than a “communications problem” White House aides know these problems all too well. They do everything they can to prevent Biden from answering questions extemporaneously. That strategy worked well during the 2020 campaign, but it’s much harder to pull off in the White House. Still, his aides are trying. They almost never let him visit the press room or sit for interviews. Most days, they put a lid on public events by mid-afternoon. They’ve convinced him not to speak to reporters as he enters or leaves events. He just reads from the teleprompter and walks away. Those may be the best communications strategies for an aging, bumbling president, but they don’t entirely eliminate major gaffes, which leave the staff with the unpleasant duty of cleaning up. White House insiders now tell reporters that Biden screams at them because he knows these clean-up sessions show his weakness — or worse. Markers of failure The clearest indicators of Biden’s naked failures are (1) his dreadful poll numbers — the worst in modern history; (2) the overwhelming number of people who think the country is on the wrong track; and (3) the behavior of sophisticated politicians, who don’t want Biden anywhere near them on the campaign trail. (Republicans in purple states have faced the same problem with Trump since his loss. They need to keep Trump’s voters without alienating moderate voters by appearing too close to Trump himself. Solving that dilemma was a key to Glenn Youngkin winning Virginia’s governorship in 2021.) The latest example of Democrats edging away from Biden comes from Ohio, where Nan Whaley is running for governor and Representative Tim Ryan is running for an open Senate seat. When the president visited the state last week, both Whaley and Ryan couldn’t appear with Biden because of “scheduling conflicts.” Expect lots more excuses like that across the country. They are the political equivalent of being turned down for a prom date because “I have to wash my hair that night.” When the president is as unpopular as Biden is, you might expect the vice president to step up. But Kamala Harris is just as weak politically. She is simply not very well prepared, sharp or articulate. She has no policy accomplishments and has failed in the vice president’s principal duty: defending her boss effectively and aggressively. They rarely give her that task anymore. Time after time, her off-the-cuff talks and Q&A sessions have proved banal, confusing and embarrassing. She checks all the demographic boxes but not the one for competence. The political consequences of failure The administration’s failures have painful political repercussions: Democrats are in deep trouble for the midterms. They do have some good news to share: unemployment is near record lows. The bad news is that inflation disturbs voters, wage gains haven’t kept up with inflation, and polls show people are now disheartened about their own circumstances. Biden is a feeble candidate for reelection. He says he’s running, but no one knows whether to believe him. That’s because he would eviscerate his power the moment he says he’s bowing out. Whether or not Biden runs, his low poll numbers mean he is likely to face a primary contest. These internal battles are always damaging. The good news for Democrats is that the Republicans face their own primary contest. In normal circumstances, the sitting vice president is the heir apparent. Not this time. Although Kamala Harris might run (if Biden doesn’t), she faces strong headwinds. Those were already apparent in 2019, when her polling numbers were so low she dropped out before the first votes in Iowa. Her problems haven’t gone away. Democrats’ troubles do not mean Republicans are certain to win the Senate this year or the presidency in 2024. The GOP has weak Senate candidates in at least two key states, Georgia and Pennsylvania, and the presidential contest is a long way off. Trump is anathema to many independents and has lost some support within his own party. Still, top-tier Republicans are reluctant to take on the former president. They know he would target them with savage, personal attacks. And they know that, if they made it to the general election, they would need those Trump voters to win. The basic message is that Republicans have troubles, but those of Biden and the Democrats are worse. To paraphrase Biden’s clueless effort to read his teleprompter last week: “End of statement. Repeat.” Surmounting these troubles will be extremely difficult for the president. It will be even harder now that the public thinks he is simply not up to the job. More and more, they see Joe Biden as a confused, angry, incompetent politician, unable to solve the country’s mounting problems. He has been stripped bare in the public arena, like the naked emperor. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The Acute Danger of Iran’s Belligerence By Catherine Perez-Shakdam “Our collective inability to push back against such a hateful worldview by holding Tehran accountable for the terror it is has funded and weaponized could soon prove to be a costly mistake.” The Islamic Republic of Iran has seldom hid its desire to see Israel fall or, as its Leadership has put it, “annihilated.” But Tehran’s attitude toward its Jewish neighbor has grown significantly more heated as of late. It is a sign, no doubt, that due to its inability to revive the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and see the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) rebranded as a legitimate apparatus, Iran may consider more radical actions. Although Tehran has hidden behind its proxies for decades, and many have argued that it would never directly engage Israel militarily, we should not discount its newfound confidence as it believes to have Israel surrounded. Iran’s military strategy toward Israel was summarized in 2019 by Major General Yaakov Amidror, the former head of the Research Division of Israeli Military Intelligence, as “the ring of fire.” The term refers to Iran’s efforts to expand its precision guided missile project throughout the Middle East to encircle Israel and overwhelm its defenses. For decades now, the Islamic Republic has architected a narrative around anti-Zionism, advocating not only for the destruction of Israel but also for the expulsion of its people, the Jews, from the region altogether–painting its motive as an act of grand liberation. Our collective inability to push back against such a hateful worldview by holding Tehran accountable for the terror it is has funded and weaponized could soon prove to be a costly mistake However one may feel about Israel–and, more to the point, Israel’s right to defend its territorial integrity against terrorism–any such challenge not only sets a dangerous precedent under international law but also erodes the very concept of national sovereignty and statehood. Should we fail to read the proverbial “writing on the wall,” we may give rise to proto-states and indirectly normalize the actions of groups such as the Islamic State, who, on the basis of their religious ideology, have attempted to present themselves as states. This threatens the very fabric of our world order by reinventing statehood as iterated in the 1648 Peace at Westphalia, which established the basis of modern international law. To pay lip service to Iran’s claims against Israel is to allow for the dissolution of the very foundation of our sovereign rights: a dangerous exercise if we consider Tehran’s ambition to lay waste to Western democracies. Furthermore, under the rule of the Ayatollahs, Iran has become a danger to the West, well beyond its nuclear ambitions–ambitions which are fast materializing. On May 31st, the United Nations Atomic Agency affirmed, proof in hand, that Iran had accumulated enough enriched uranium to build a nuclear bomb: “Iran has now accumulated enough enriched uranium to be able to quickly produce more than a significant quantity of HEU (highly enriched uranium) for one bomb,” said Daryl Kimball of the Arms Control Association in a May interview with NBC News. Kimball went on to warn that, “The time it would take them to do that can now be measured in days, not months or weeks.” Unburdened by any meaningful oversight, Iran has amped up its belligerence, so much so that it has actively advertised its intentions to do harm, both against Israel and the West. In the wake of IRGC Colonel Hassan Sayyad Khodaei’s assassination in the streets of Tehran this May, the Islamic Republic issued a stern warning to Israel by advertising its intent to target Israeli “assets” in the Turkish media. On May 30th, the Iranian Fars News Agency published a list of five Israelis it assigned for “liquidation,” adding that Israeli officials and aforementioned targets, “should be worried, even when asleep in their beds.” After a condolence visit to Khodai’s family, IRGC Commander Hossein Salami promised, “We will make the enemy regret this, and none of the enemy’s evil actions will go unanswered.” Greece, a NATO member, also faces increased pressure from the Islamic Republic, as two of its oil tankers have fallen prey to IRGC attacks. On May 27th, news broke that Tehran unlawfully seized control of the vessels as they entered the Persian Gulf. Footage released by the Iranian media revealed armed Revolutionary Guards landing on the Greek-flagged ship Delta Poseidon, which was sailing through international waters 22 nautical miles off the coast of Iran. Athens indicated that seizure was “tantamount to acts of piracy.” A thorn in the sides of secular democracies, Tehran has proven time and time again that it cannot act as a legitimate partner in peace-building. Infuriated by the United States’ refusal to remove the IRGC from its Terror List, Iran’s leadership is now openly playing war games in the region, an escalation in belligerence that could precipitate tensions to the point of no return. Acutely aware of the mounting danger against both its security and territorial integrity, Israel, an important NATO partner for over 20 years, rolled out a series of maneuvers simulating military strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities. According to a statement by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), dozens of fighter jets conducted a drill that included, “long-range flight, aerial refueling, and striking distant targets,” over the Mediterranean Sea this May. The Times of Israel reported that the drill would simulate a large-scale strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities. This exercise is part of the military’s major Chariots of Fire drills, which involves nearly all branches of the IDF. The report reads, “In addition to having to find ways to strike Iranian facilities that are buried deep underground, requiring specialized munitions and tactics, the IAF will have to deal with increasingly sophisticated Iranian air defenses in order to conduct such a strike. The air force will also have to prepare for an expected retaliation against Israel by Iran and its allies throughout the region.” If we consider that Iran is currently locked in a battle of wills with its people over demands for an end to the rule of the Ayatollahs, it would be fair to assume–in the light of Iran’s recent belligerence–that the regime’s ambition is to start a war. They are hoping to defuse tensions at home by fanning national sentiments against the so-called “Jewish threat”. Catherine Perez-Shakdam is a research fellow at the Henry Jackson Society and a journalist who has extensively covered Iran. +++++++++++++++++++  ++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Supreme Court Ready To End Democrat Election Schem (RoyalPatriot.com )- The Supreme Court has agreed to hear an election case later in the year revolved around what’s known as the “independent state legislative theory.” Last week, the high court announced they would take up the case that concerns whether lawmakers at the state level have sole control over how elections proceed and how re-districting takes place. The fact that the Supreme Court has even agreed to hear the case is a big win for conservative groups that have fought against the addition of ballot drop boxes and mail-in ballots from the last election cycle. As Jason Snead of the Honest Election Project commented for The Washington Free Beacon recently: “Dark money-fueled left-wing lawyers have misused the courts to manipulate election laws and undermine commonsense voting safeguards for political gain. The Supreme Court now has the chance to uphold the Constitution and ensure that future elections have safeguards that make it easier to vote and harder to cheat.” During the last presidential election in 2020, there was a lot of controversy over liberal states instituting different approaches to elections than they ever had before. Many of these changes were done at the last minute, as liberals said they were necessary due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Lawyers for Republicans argue that state legislatures have the final decision on all election rules, which includes absentee ballots and laws regarding voter ID. In addition, they believe that the re-districting process, which happens every 10 years, is also under the singular purview of state governments. Conservative lawyers argue that state agencies and state courts don’t have the ability to interfere in those decisions. They refer to a section of the Constitution that says the “time, place and manner” of all elections shall be “prescribed in each state by the legislature thereof.” The case in question originated in North Carolina. The state Supreme Court there decided not to adopt a new congressional map that the state legislature created, opting instead to impose one that it created. Republicans have argued that the court-imposed map is much friendlier to liberals in the state. As such, the Republicans appealed to the nation’s Supreme Court for direction on the matter. As the petition that the North Carolina Republican Party filed reads: “The question presented in this case, at root, is who is vested with the power to decide the when, what, where and how of the American people’s exercise of self-government.” Democrats must be worried that the now conservative Supreme Court is going to rule in the GOP’s favor, which could severely limit the ability of liberal-leaning state agencies and courts to make election rules without the approval of their state legislature. Back in March, when the North Carolina GOP sought an emergency order to reinstate the district lines that were drawn by the legislature, Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch issued a ruling that was in the conservatives’ favor. They wrote: “If the language of the Elections Clause is taken seriously, there must be some limit on the authority of state courts to countermand actions taken by state legislatures when they are prescribing rules for the conduct of federal elections.” ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ America's next generation have been inoculated with the Socialist and Communist Virus because we allowed our universities to be taken over by their kind. Now these same radicals are working at the grade level. Note the cartoon above.Intellectuals are drawn to these complex methods of governing because they are bright and this gives them power and status over the common man who is vulnerable or student's whose minds are unformed and thus, impregnable. +++ Good morning. Today we explain how college-educated workers are driving a spike in union organizing. By Ian Prasad Philbrick A labor resurgence After decades of declining union membership, organized labor may be on the verge of a resurgence in the U.S. Employees seeking better working conditions and higher pay have recently organized unions at Starbucks, Amazon, Apple and elsewhere. Applications for union elections this year are on pace to approach their highest level in a decade. I asked Noam Scheiber, who covers workers and labor issues for The Times, what’s behind the latest flurry of union activity. Ian: You recently profiled Jaz Brisack, a Rhodes scholar and barista who helped organize a union at a Starbucks in Buffalo that was the first at a company-owned store in decades. Why did she want to work there? Noam: Jaz comes out of a tradition. We saw it during the Depression; people with radical politics taking jobs with the explicit intention of organizing workers. The term for this is “salting,” like the seasoning. The practice has had some limited success in recent decades, but we’re seeing a broader revival of it, and Jaz is part of that. Several salts got jobs at Amazon and helped organize a facility on Staten Island. Academics like Barry Eidlin and Mie Inouye have written extensively about this. Jaz is very public about her beliefs. She wore a Karl Marx sweatshirt at Oxford University and once pressed the University of Mississippi’s chancellor — during a reception in Jaz’s honor — to remove a Confederate monument from campus. She’s idealistic and ambitious, but being a social creature hasn’t always come naturally to her. She told me that when she first got to college, she was “incredibly socially awkward,” partly because she’d been home-schooled. Yet she would kind of will herself to do things that required interacting with strangers in order to advance the cause, like passing out fliers to promote a union campaign at a nearby Nissan plant. Employees at nearly 200 other Starbucks have organized since Jaz’s store unionized in December. Did they follow her lead? After their union won, Jaz and the other organizers got inquiries from Starbucks workers all over the country. They would go on Zoom calls and tell them how to get started. I was with the Buffalo organizers on the day the union won at a Starbucks in Mesa, Ariz., the first outside Buffalo during the campaign. One worker at Jaz’s store, Michelle Eisen, had been in close contact with the Mesa workers. I went to dinner with her and some of the other Buffalo organizers that night, and they were giddy. They took pride in what they’d set in motion. So these things catch on. Whenever I cover a union campaign these days, I ask, “Have you been paying attention to what’s going on at Starbucks? At Amazon?” Invariably the answer is not just yes, but, “We were inspired by it, we were motivated by it, it showed us it could be done.” That was the case when I interviewed Trader Joe’s and Apple workers. And, historically, unionization tends to happen in spurts. College graduates seem to be driving this spurt. A key part of the story is the radicalization of the college-educated worker. You had a grinding recovery from the Great Recession followed by the pandemic. Being college-educated doesn’t necessarily mean being on board. But whether it’s Starbucks, Amazon or REI, college-educated workers have been heavily involved. As a group, college-educated Americans are becoming more liberal than working-class Americans. Has that been a barrier to organizing workers without degrees? College-educated workers often get the ball rolling, but they’re pretty skilled at bringing together a diverse group. I talked to Brima Sylla, a Liberian immigrant who helped organize his co-workers at the Staten Island Amazon facility. He’s got a Ph.D. in public policy and speaks several languages. He helped sign up hundreds of people, a lot of them fellow African or Asian immigrants. Another organizer was Pasquale Cioffi. He’s a former longshoreman and has a more traditional working-class background. He was good at talking to noncollege folks and Trump supporters. Having a coalition that put Brima and Pat together helped the union win. You compared today’s organizing to the 1930s. What parallels do you see? The Great Depression was obviously a traumatic moment. The financial system was breaking down. The economy was collapsing. Unemployment was at 25 percent. But by 1936, things were substantially better, though still not great. That’s been true during the pandemic, too. A lot of people lost their jobs in 2020, but by 2021, the labor market was tight, and workers felt empowered. That one-two punch — a traumatic event, and then things improving — is a recipe for successful organizing. Your profile of Jaz reads differently from many Times stories. You talk about yourself — like her, you were a Rhodes scholar and interviewed your former classmates, contrasting their business-friendly outlook of the late 1990s with her skepticism. Why did you write it that way? Once I understood Jaz’s background and role in the Starbucks campaign, my first thought was, “Wow, this probably wouldn’t have happened among my cohort of Rhodes scholars.” My reflex was to compare it to my group and marvel at the differences. It seemed more honest, authentic and compelling to just own that. More about Noam: He joined The Times in 2015 after almost 15 years at The New Republic and lives near Chicago. After a bad experience involving a late-night cup of coffee, his college humor magazine and an 8 a.m. math class, he avoids caffeine. President Vladimir Putin is making sweeping changes to school curriculums to shape the views of young Russians. Europe is at a fragile moment: It is confronting tests of its democracies, a plunging currency and the war in Ukraine... +++++++++++++++++++++++ There are no free coffee's. It does not take long for dry rot to set in, in formerly thriving downtown areas. +++ Starbucks CEO: Progressive Cities ‘Have Abdicated Their Responsibility in Fighting Crime’ By Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz Howard Schultz, the CEO of Starbucks, suggested Wednesday that major U.S. cities and those managing their governments are neglecting the crime issue to the detriment of commerce and community safety. “I must say, in my view at the local, state and federal level, these governments across the country and leaders, mayors and governors, city councils have abdicated their responsibility in fighting crime and addressing mental health,” Schultz reportedly said at an internal meeting, according to a video posted on Twitter. The business leader’s remarks came after his company announced plans to permanently close 16 locations in five progressive U.S. cities, including six in Seattle, six in Los Angeles, two in Portland, one in Philadelphia, and one in Washington, D.C., by the end of the month due to repeated security disturbances. Such incidents included customers and other members of the public using drugs in the stores. “I don’t have to spend too much time on what’s going on in the country and how America is becoming unsafe, but you all read the press release over the last couple of days that we are beginning to close stores that are not unprofitable,” Schultz lamented. “It has shocked me that one of the primary concerns that our retail partners have is their own personal safety.” To help address the growing problem, Starbucks said it would help train baristas to handle active shooter situations and conflict deescalation at work, according to the Wall Street Journal. Store managers will also be authorized to close bathrooms, limit seating, or reduce operations. In his speech, Schultz noted that Starbucks’ struggle to keep its store doors open in increasingly violent and volatile neighborhoods and metropolitan areas is a reflection of the national experience with the decline of law and order in recent years. If the crime rate continues to climb, Schultz implied that he will be forced to shut down more stores in more areas. “Starbucks is a window into America, we have stores in every community, and we are facing things which the stores were not built for. . . . We’re listening to our people and closing stores, and this is just the beginning. There are going to be many more,” he said Wednesday. President Biden and the Democratic Party have presided over an era of record crime that has been partly responsible large migrations out of progressive-dominated states such as California and New York into redder, Sunbelt states such as Florida and Texas. +++++++++++++++++++++++++ |
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