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JULY 13,  2022

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE:

WHAT A BUNCH OF DOPES:   From Fox:  The U.K. climate group whose members deflated tires on an estimated 40 vehicles in New York City last month recently announced similar actions in cities nationwide.  The Tyre Extinguishers, which encourages activists to deflate tires of parked sports utility vehicles (SUV) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, said it has already spread to Chicago and the San Francisco area this month. Individuals affiliated with the group have deflated the tires of 20 SUVs in Chicago, another 20 SUVs in Scranton, Pa., and 12 SUVs near San Francisco this month, according to the group.  "It can happen anywhere, anytime," a spokesperson for the group told Fox News Digital in an email. "If you're reading this and you own an SUV, scrap it before we get to it."  The spokesperson previously told Fox News Digital that the group expected to "expand massively" across the U.S. in the coming weeks.  The group explained that it aims to take SUVs out of service because they are a "disaster for our health, our public safety and our climate."  "Bigger and bigger cars are dominating our towns and cities, and all so a privileged few can flaunt their wealth," the Tyre Extinguishers' website states. "Because governments and politicians have failed to protect us from this danger, we must protect ourselves."  On the site, the group provides tips for activists to quickly deflate tires and a leaflet that can be printed and left on targeted vehicles windshields. The document asks the victim to not "take it personally" that their tires were deflated.  Of course not.  I'd never take it personally.  Why, I'd thank these brave activists for saving me from the end of the world.  Everyone knows that SUVs were sent by Satan.  I saw it on MSNBC.

July 13, 2022       Permalink

THE INFLATION BALLOON:  The new inflation statistics are out, and they aren't good for the country, or the administration.  From CNBC:

Shoppers paid sharply higher prices for a variety of goods in June as inflation kept its hold on a slowing U.S. economy, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday.

The consumer price index, a broad measure of everyday goods and services related to the cost of living, soared 9.1% from a year ago, above the 8.8% Dow Jones estimate. That marked the fastest pace for inflation going back to November 1981.

Excluding volatile food and energy prices, so-called core CPI increased 5.9%, compared with the 5.7% estimate. Core inflation peaked at 6.5% in March and has been nudging down since.

On a monthly basis, headline CPI rose 1.3% and core CPI was up 0.7%, compared to respective estimates of 1.1% and 0.5%.

Taken together, the numbers seemed to counter the narrative that inflation may be peaking, as the gains were based across a variety of categories.

"CPI delivered another shock, and as painful as June's higher number is, equally as bad is the broadening sources of inflation," said Robert Frick, corporate economist at Navy Federal Credit Union. "Though CPI's spike is led by energy and food prices, which are largely global problems, prices continue to mount for domestic goods and services, from shelter to autos to apparel."

The inflation reading could push the Federal Reserve into an even more aggressive position.
Traders upped their bets on the pace of interest rate increases ahead. For the July 26-27 meeting, a full percentage point move now has a better than even chance of happening, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool as of 10:40 a.m. ET.

"U.S. inflation is above 9%, but it is the breadth of the price pressures that is really concerning for the Federal Reserve." said James Knightley, ING's chief international economist. "With supply conditions showing little sign of improvement the onus is the on the Fed to hit the brakes via higher rates to allow demand to better match supply conditions. The recession threat is rising."

Energy prices surged 7.5% on the month and were up 41.6% on a 12-month basis. The food index increased 1%, while shelter costs, which make up about one-third of the CPI rose 0.6% for the month and were up 5.6% annually. This was the sixth straight month that food at home rose at least 1%.

Rental costs rose 0.8% in June, the largest monthly increase since April 1986, according to the BLS.

Stocks mostly slumped following the data while government bond yields surged.
Much of the inflation rise came from gasoline prices, which increased 11.2% on the month and just shy of 60% for the 12-month period. Electricity costs rose 1.7% and 13.7%, respectively. New and used vehicle prices posted respective monthly gains of 0.7% and 1.6%.

Medical-care costs climbed 0.7% on the month, propelled by a 1.9% increase in dental services, the largest monthly rise ever recorded for that sector in data that goes back to 1995.

COMMENT:  Read the rest for the full picture.  Americans are going through increasingly tough times.  Will their pain be reflected in the November midterms?  Yes, but it's hard to predict by how much.  The Republican Party is not, right now, coming out with great ideas.  It is spending its time sniping at the president.  It will take more than that to create the Republican windstorm that our side is dreaming about for November.  We need a new contract with America, a list of exactly what Republicans plan to do for the people if elected in the midterms.  We can't just be naysayers.

July 13, 2022       Permalink

JULY 12,  2022

HOW LOW DOES THE LEFT INTEND TO GO?  JUST ASK LIZZIE WARREN BECAUSE, LIKE THE PSEUDO INDIAN CHIEF SHE IS, SHE'S LEADIN' THE WAY.   FROM FOX: 

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., was criticized on Tuesday after attacking crisis pregnancy centers in the wake of the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Warren spoke with reporters about abortion and soon turned the conversation towards crisis pregnancy centers and their numbers in the country. She then suggested that Congress needs to work to shut them down.

"In Massachusetts right now, those crisis pregnancy centers that are there to fool people who are looking for pregnancy termination help outnumber true abortion clinics by 3 to 1. We need to shut them down here in Massachusetts, and we need to shut them down all around the country. You should not be able to torture a pregnant person like that," Warren said.

Multiple Twitter users called out Warren for demonizing crisis pregnancy centers as well as encouraging unconstitutional action.

"Not gonna sugar coat this. It’s evil. If I knew nothing about Elizabeth Warren but the lies she tells about pregnancy centers I’d know enough," Koch Institute senior fellow Casey Mattox tweeted.

Washington Post columnist Megan McArdle wrote, "Elizabeth Warren has a lot of unconstitutional ideas."

Washington Examiner reporter Jeremiah Poff joked, "New talking point is helping a pregnant women take care of herself and her baby is ‘torture.’"

"Now THIS is harmful disinformation," Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon tweeted.

"This is, at its most basic foundation, simply none of the government's business," conservative writer Chad Felix Greene wrote.

Since the announcement of the Supreme Court's Dobbs decision on abortion, crisis pregnancy centers across the country have suffered from waves of attacks by pro-choice activists. On Tuesday, one director revealed that she has since hired a 24-hour security detail to protect her clinic.

Elizabeth Warren has been one of many Democrat figures who have openly criticized the Supreme Court for its decision. She, along with Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., have called on the White House to use federal lands such as national parks to allow abortions to occur despite state laws.

COMMENT:  Warren is considered a real prospect for the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination should Biden and Harris evacuate the field.  She would fit today's Democratic Party well.  She's an extremist, she's shallow, she's less than intelligent, and she regards herself as a mental superpower.  She's also thoroughly obnoxious, which is a party requirement. 

July 12, 2022       Permalink