Tuesday, November 18
Headlines
Saudi crown prince to visit the White House today. Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will be in DC today for his first trip to the US since the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. MBS and President Trump are expected to discuss deepening ties on commerce, AI, and possibly nuclear energy. Trump is hoping to move forward with the $600 billion investment pledge Saudi Arabia made when he was there in May, while MBS is looking for security guarantees. In advance of the visit, Trump announced yesterday that the US would sell stealthy F-35 jets to Saudi Arabia. But the Wall Street Journal points out that with oil prices down and big commitments to domestic projects, MBS may have less money to spend on “checkbook diplomacy.” Still, many CEOs are expected at the dinner honoring him tonight.
Sinclair buys stake in Scripps, hoping for local TV consolidation. The two broadcast station owners don’t have a merger deal yet, but Sinclair, which owns 178 affiliate stations, revealed in a regulatory filing yesterday that they’ve had “constructive” talks and that it has taken an 8% stake in Scripps, which owns ~60 stations. Investors like the idea: Scripps stock soared 40%. The effort to purchase Scripps comes after Sinclair began a strategic review to consider potential sales and acquisitions. Its push to get even bigger also follows the company pressing the FCC to relax rules that ban a broadcaster from owning stations that reach more than 39% of the country—and FCC Chair Brendan Carr has said he agrees.
Trump says he would sign the bill to release Epstein files if it passes. With the House poised to vote on a bill to force the Justice Department to release its files on the late sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein this week, President Trump told reporters yesterday he’d sign it, though he also said, “The whole thing is a hoax.” The president had opposed such a release for months and had urged lawmakers to reject the bill, but on Sunday, he abruptly shifted his position, saying on Truth Social that Republicans should support it. Trump’s change of heart led more Republicans to publicly support the bipartisan measure yesterday, according to Politico. Meanwhile, former Treasury Secretary and former Harvard President Larry Summers is stepping back from his public commitments after his emails with Epstein were made public.—AR
Robert Reich
Friends,
The likelihood that dozens of House Republicans will vote in favor of compelling the Justice Department to release the Epstein files has caused Trump to reverse his objections and urge House Republicans to back such a measure.
But this raises two questions that are the subjects of today’s Office Hours discussion.
First: Is Trump sincere about wishing to release the Epstein files?
Some say yes. He didn’t count on how strongly the MAGA base wanted the files released, and therefore how much opposition he’d run into from House Republicans. Trump’s announcement avoids a potential embarrassment for him. Now he just wants to get the Epstein matter behind him.
Others say no, he doesn’t really want them released. Calling for their release is just another Trump ruse to make it look as if he’s innocent.
At A Glance
Ancient ideas that tried to explain the northern lights.
Time magazine's 100 must-read books of the year.
Ultrawealthy pay top dollar to build secluded worlds.
Japan tops list of most desirable countries to visit.
Teen boys are more likely to want marriage than teen girls.
... and a record number of young women want to leave the US.
Psychologists identify 100 most-dreaded life decisions.
Chefs share the unique dishes on their Thanksgiving tables.
Clickbait: Thai police seize meth and 81 monkeys.
Historybook: Disney's "Steamboat Willie," first cartoon with synchronized sound, premieres (1928); Poet and novelist Margaret Atwood born (1939); 918 people die in a mass murder-suicide in Jonestown, Guyana (1978); Massachusetts court ruling makes the state the first to recognize same-sex marriage (2003).
1440 Trivia: Grains made up what percent of ancient Romans' diets? Check back tomorrow for the answer (or dig for it here).
In The NEWS
Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
> Americana folk singer-songwriter Todd Snider dies at age 59 after being hospitalized with pneumonia (More) | Seattle Seahawks safety and Pro Football Hall of Famer Kenny Easley dies at age 66 (More)
> Italy's Jannik Sinner tops Spain's Carlos Alcaraz to win ATP Finals title in Turin for second straight year, earning $5M prize (More)
> "Now You See Me 3" leads the box office, grossing $75.5M globally in its weekend debut, outpacing “The Running Man” (More)
Science & Technology
> NASA to launch Sentinel-6B, the next satellite in a multidecade effort to measure sea level rise across roughly 90% of Earth's oceans; launch window began around 12 am ET (More)
> Mouse study suggests hypertension can cause premature aging in certain brain cells much earlier than expected; may explain link between high blood pressure and increased risk of cognitive impairment (More)
> Researchers use world's fastest supercomputer, "El Capitan" at Livermore National Lab, to create database of 41 million protein folding structures in record-breaking time (More)
Business & Markets
> US stock markets close mixed Friday (S&P 500 -0.1%, Dow -0.7%, Nasdaq +0.1%), with the tech-heavy Nasdaq ending a three-day losing streak (More)
> Former Federal Reserve official Adriana Kugler stepped down in August following an ethics probe into trading violations, new report reveals; senior Fed officials are prohibited from trading individual stocks (More)
> Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway reports building a $4.9B stake in Google parent company Alphabet (More) | Everything we've learned about Warren Buffett (1440 Topics)
Politics & World Affairs
> US designates Venezuela's Cartel de los Soles as a foreign terrorist organization while its most advanced aircraft carrier arrives in the Caribbean Sea; US military strikes another alleged drug trafficking boat (More)
> Chilean presidential election heads to a Dec. 14 runoff as the two candidates—communist Jeannette Jara and conservative José Antonio Kast—fail to secure more than 50% of the vote (More)
> Democratic Republic of the Congo and M23 rebels sign new peace deal framework in Qatar after earlier deal collapses this year (More)
SOURCE: 1440 NEWS
Satisfaction
.jpg)
When I'm driving in my car
And the man comes on the radio
And he's tellin' me more and more
'Bout some useless information
Supposed to fire my imagination
I can't get no satisfaction
I can't get no satisfaction
Gonna I try and I try and I try and I try
I can't get no -
I can't get no -
When I'm watchin' my TV
And a man comes on to tell me
How white my shirts should be
But he can't be a man 'cause he doesn't smoke
The same cigarettes as me
These lyrics inspire the imagination or they did in 1965, as just one more tool to hold against THE MAN who controlled our lives by telling us what we should be, how we should be, and when we should be.
THE MAN... pissed a lot of us off, to say the least.
Today...
at 78 years of age...
I find that I am satisfied...
because:
- I own my own home - no mortgage
- I have no debt
- I have all the clothes I need
- I have all the tools I need
- I have a reliable car
- No funeral expenses - giving my body to UT Medical
- Have enough money to pay my expenses for the next 25 years
- Have a smart phone, laptop, and WIFE
- Go out to eat whenever I want
- Take two weeklong vacations each year
- Being cared for by competent doctors
- Have a perfectly supportive wife and partner
- Have acceptable neighbors
- Have all the friends I need
- Enjoy the simplicity of life
- Have a low cost of living
- Have low taxes
- WOKE/DEI don't influence me
- Political parties don't influence me
- Experience minimal stress and/or anxiety
- No longer kiss ass - except my wife's
- Eat a healthy diet each day
- Pursue my hobby of writing each day
The simple lifestyle and no debt are the two items that really underscore my life. Being influenced by the opinions of others as to who I am no longer registers in my mind, if it ever did. I have no regrets, even though I have made mistakes along the way. No regrets because given those set of circumstances again, I would have done similarly whether I later found out, it was right or wrong. I learn from my mistakes.
50 years after the Edmund Fitzgerald
Nov. 10 is the 50th anniversary of one of the most tragic and well-known shipwrecks on the Great Lakes, the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald.
The tragedy particularly resonates locally, with Superior being the ship’s last port of call, and “the wives and the sons and the daughters” of many of its crew still living in the area.
It is known far beyond that, however, thanks to the haunting ballad by the late Gordon Lightfoot.
“I’m highly criticized at my lectures because I pick on Gordon,” said Ric Mixter, a documentarian and author of several works about the wreck, including his latest, “Tattletale Sounds, the Edmund Fitzgerald Investigations.”
Monday, November 17
Robert Reich
And 10 things Democrats should pledge to do about it when they’re back in power
Friends,
Trump claimed last week on social media that “Our economy is BOOMING, and Costs are coming way down,” and that “grocery prices are way down.
Rubbish.
How do I know he’s lying? Official government statistics haven’t been issued during the shutdown — presumably to Trump’s relief (the White House said Wednesday that the October jobs and Consumer Price Index reports may never come out).
But we can get good estimates of where the economy is now, based on where the economy was heading before the shutdown and recent reports by private data firms.
First, I want to tell you what we know about Trump’s truly sh*tty economy. Then I’ll suggest 10 things that Democrats should pledge to do about it.
1. Prices continue to rise as real wages fall
While the cost of living isn’t going up as fast as it did in 2022, consumer prices are still up 27 percent since the onset of the pandemic. Wages haven’t kept up.
At A Glance
See the delicate phenomenon known as frost flowers.
New York City extends lease for 12,000-resident Roosevelt Island.
Peek inside Colonna Palace, Rome's most exclusive tourist site.
Inside the Cold War plan to nuke the moon.
... and one company hoping to harvest resources from the moon.
Charting the rising cost of beef, bananas, and coffee.
Why are most people right-handed?
See this year's winners from the so-called Oscars of watchmaking.
Clickbait: Will "41" become the next "6-7"?
Historybook: Suez Canal opens (1869); Actor Danny DeVito born (1944); Former US national security adviser Susan Rice born (1964); Arnold Schwarzenegger sworn in as governor of California (2003); First known case of COVID-19 traced to man who visited Wuhan, China (2019).
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)