FLORIDA MAN FRIDAY [VIP]: Run, Run, Run ‘Til the Cops Took the Motorcycle Away. “It’s time for your much-needed break from the serious news, and this week we have the kidnapping without a kidnapper, the “WILL RUN” guy who did run, and Nebraska Woman’s short-lived plan for beating the high price of gas.”
Archive for 2024
March 15, 2024
CHANGE: The 6% commission on buying or selling a home is gone after Realtors association agrees to seismic settlement. “The agreement effectively will destroy the current homebuying and selling business model, in which sellers pay both their broker and a buyer’s broker, which critics say have driven housing prices artificially higher.”
MORE SUPPORT FOR THE “IT’S A BAD FLU” THEORY: Long COVID ‘indistinguishable’ from other post-viral syndromes a year after infection, researchers find.
Related: Long Covid: even faker than you thought. “The term ‘long Covid’ should be dropped from use, because Covid has no more aftereffects than the flu or other mild respiratory illnesses, according to a major new study from Australia released yesterday. The study showed that only 3 percent of people who had Covid had ‘moderate-to-severe’ aftereffects a year later – numerically fewer than those infected with influenza or other mild respiratory diseases.”
INFAMOUS SHIRKER WANTS TO MAKE SHIRKING MANDATORY: Bernie Sanders to Propose a Mandated 32-Hour Workweek.
NOTHING TO SEE HERE, MOVE ALONG: Air Force general reveals ‘alarming’ number of drones crossing into US airspace at southern border: ‘Over 1,000 a month.’
MARK JUDGE: Peter Thiel Needs to Write Me a Check. “The right’s refusal to support artists leads many people to abandon conservative politics—or to not join.”
MATT MARGOLIS: Joe Biden Promotes Fake News About Nonbinary Teen Nex Benedict’s Suicide.
The story is actually much worse than the headline implies but is perfectly in keeping with the character of a man who for decades falsely accused the truck driver involved in his first wife’s deadly car crash of having been drunk.
READER FAVORITE: TROND 2-in-1 Detachable Flat Extension Cord 5ft #CommissionEarned
MAYBE HE JUST GOT CONFUSED WITH AN EPISODE OF “MATLOCK”: Biden Claims He Got A Standing Ovation At Law School, Critics Call BS.
REINING IN HIGHER ED: New Indiana higher ed law mandates intellectual diversity, enacts post-tenure review.
RAYMOND IBRAHIM: How Atrocities, Beheadings, and Carnage ‘Heal Muslim Hearts.’ “Such claims are actually derived from Islam’s most sacred text.”
WHY IS MIT SUCH A CESSPIT OF ANTISEMITISM? Pro-Hamas statement quietly scrubbed from MIT website as school faces congressional investigation: The statement was deleted around the same time that the House Committee on Education and the Workforce asked on March 8 for documents from MIT relating to anti-Semitism on campus.
HMM: The economy was just hit with a one-two punch of bad data.
The second straight weak retail sales report, which included a downward revision of January’s sales data, has sparked concerns that consumers are finally showing signs of wear and tear after powering through price increases and rising borrowing costs for roughly two years. “While last month’s retail sales miss was chalked up to weather, this month’s weakness suggests that perhaps the consumer is not as healthy as expected,” Damian McIntyre, portfolio manager at Federated Hermes, told Fortune in emailed comments.
At the same time, producer price inflation, which tends to lead consumer price inflation, also came in above Wall Street’s expectations for the second straight month on Thursday. It’s another piece of data that could put investors’ dreams of swift, economy-boosting interest rate cuts on hold, particularly with Fed officials being very clear that they don’t plan on cutting rates until inflation is well under control. As Quincy Krosby, chief global strategist for LPL Financial, put it: “For the data dependent Fed, this report isn’t helpful.”
The latest retail sales and producer price inflation reports aren’t dire news for the economy in their own right—retail sales are far from outright collapsing, and producer price inflation isn’t soaring—but the new trends seen in them are concerning. If businesses continue to see price hikes, they’ll likely pass those on to already inflation-weary consumers. That could put a stopper on consumers’ aggressive spending, which has helped prevent a U.S. recession so far.
Credit card debt is way up, savings are down, and incomes still haven’t fully caught up with inflation. Something has to give.
JOHN JUDIS & RUY TEIXEIRA: The Democrats and the Rise of Racial Radicalism: How racial radicalism has undermined the Democrats’ appeal. Nobody supports that stuff except grifters, commies, and loser academics.
KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: TGIF Twofer — Dem Election Meddling and Biden Should’ve Taken a Nap. “The Democrats have been caterwauling about election interference since 2016. In theory, they’re against it. In practice, they’ve been working earnestly to keep the Republican nominee off of the ballot.”
THEY KEEP TELLING ME THE ECONOMY IS BOOMING BUT I KEEP READING STORIES LIKE THIS ONE: McDonald’s prices are up, so lower-income consumers are eating at home. “Inflation’s sting has pushed Americans to cut back on small luxuries. That includes their spending on food at restaurants such as McDonald’s, fast-food restaurants that historically prize value and affordability as core business values.”
PAUL BEDARD: CIA played key Jan. 6 roles, texts reveal.
JOE BIDEN SAYS A LOT OF THINGS: Joe Biden Says His Fellow Syracuse 1Ls Gave Him A Standing Ovation In Their First Torts Class.