1. One state has avoided MAGA madness:
A pair of moderate Utah Republicans won primary elections Tuesday for U.S. Senate and governor over far-right candidates who are loyalists to former President Donald Trump, the latest example of how Utah is a rare Republican stronghold that doesn’t fully embrace the MAGA-led GOP.
U.S. Rep. John Curtis, who won the Utah GOP primary for Mitt Romney’s open U.S. Senate seat, and Gov. Spencer Cox still support Trump and many of his policies but have shown a willingness to stake out different positions on issues where they don’t agree.
Curtis and Cox both defeated candidates who beat them at the state party convention earlier this year among delegates who lean far right. But in Tuesday’s primary, when Utah’s more muted GOP electorate gets its say, they easily scored victories.
2. Not too many people are paying attention, but Guyana is about to become very rich.
More broadly, Western Hemisphere production is likely to keep oil prices low in the late 2020s (offshore Brazil, Canada tar sands, fracking in the US and Argentina, etc.)
Venezuelan invasion? As Clint would say, “Go ahead punk, make my day.”
3. It’s weird. I see lots of discussion of Taiwan, but very little comment on the Republic of China:
My point isn’t that the PROC actions in the South China Sea are justified (they clearly are not.) Rather, that’s there is lots of history here that people seem unaware of. Both the ROC and the PROC claim these islands. The ROC occupies the largest one.
4. I really like Taiwan, and hope they come to their senses:
5. The following tweet is referencing the lunatic that GOP voters in Colorado picked as their nominee:
6. According to the FT, money printing in Japan may create supply side inflation:
Next week, Japan will introduce three new banknotes for the first time in 20 years . . . But this is no straightforward or low-cost switch.
It was never going to be in a country that has 3.9mn cash-ingesting vending and ticketing machines, acute labour shortages and government targets for pushing the country towards cashlessness. . . .
With parts and labour costs rising, recalibrating even a small machine can cost anywhere from $1,000 to $3,000. Buying a new one can run at anything up to about $14,000 — enough to put real pressure on the economics of the type of small restaurants on which Japan depends.
The only option, restaurant owners have now taken to telling Japanese media, is to raise the prices charged to customers.
7. Biden supporters gave me a hard time when I suggested that Biden was a senile old man:
8. The Brits would know how to handle this problem. But then Great Britain is not a banana republic, is it? The likely Biden loss in November is certainly “overdetermined”. The following (from the FT) is a pretty minor factor, but emblematic of what happens in banana republics:
A case in point: back in 2020, when Trump’s White House distributed stimulus checks to offset the Covid slump, Trump insisted they carried his signature. These branded the handouts with his name in an easy-to-remember manner for voters. When Biden’s White House delivered its own largesse to consumers, he did not follow suit. Big mistake.
Never underestimate the stupidity of voters. Many believe Biden ended Roe v. Wade. Lots believe crime rose under Biden (even though it fell sharply after soaring higher under Trump.) The Democrats don’t seem to understand how to do politics in a banana republic.
9. Disastrously bad? Not by banana republic standards. Trump’s performance would be quite acceptable in Guatemala or the Philippines:
10. Didn’t Newsweek used to be a respectable magazine? It seems like the internet has killed off much of the journalism that I grew up reading. They have a new article claiming that Taylor Swift is not a role model because she is single at age 34. Maybe that’s why you don’t hear much from The Onion any more. Almost all of US journalism is becoming a parody of itself.
At 34, Swift remains unmarried and childless, a fact that some might argue is irrelevant to her status as a role model. But, I suggest, it’s crucial to consider what kind of example this sets for young girls. A role model, by definition, is someone worthy of imitation. While Swift’s musical talent and business acumen are certainly admirable, even laudable, we must ask if her personal life choices are ones we want our sisters and daughters to emulate. This might sound like pearl-clutching preaching, but it’s a concern rooted in sound reasoning.
That seems like something written by a high school student.
Have a nice 21st century!