Author Archive: Stephen Green

CHANGE: Eric Adams suddenly finds ‘overwhelming support’ from NYC’s desperate business elites.

Some of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s biggest backers hinted in fluid, panicked conversations Wednesday that they’ll put their money behind Adams, who was elected in 2021 as a tough-but-fair ex-cop, and now, after a federal corruption indictment and the removal of his inner circle, is running on his policy successes and frankly fun personality.

Adams’ popularity stood at an all-time low of 20% in a poll last month. The business community was largely neutral on Adams, who they saw as a welcome if occasionally tiring return to moderation after the left-leaning, rich-baiting de Blasio era; they remain nostalgic for Mike Bloomberg’s three terms.

“There is going to be overwhelming support in the business community to rally around Adams,” said Richard Farley, a partner at Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP who said he’s organizing a fundraiser for the mayor and has been speaking with some of Cuomo’s biggest donors. “This will be a street fight all the way to November.”

Adams’ path is “narrow,” acknowledged one adviser.

“There’s always a choice!,” the wise man wrote. “This one is a choice between ‘bad’ and ‘worse,’ which is a difference much more poignant than that between ‘good’ and ‘better.’”

WELL, THEY SHOULD: Wall Street Panics Over Prospect of a Socialist Running New York City.

“I can’t believe I even need to say this, but socialism doesn’t work,” said Anthony Pompliano, CEO of Professional Capital Management, a bitcoin-focused financial services company. “It has failed in every American city it was tried.”

There were renewed questions about whether Wall Street executives would stay in New York or if Mamdani’s plans for the city would send more financiers to states such as Florida and Texas. Some executives cited concerns about taxes and crime under a potential Mamdani administration as well as fears of rising antisemitism.

Sander Gerber, chief executive of investment firm Hudson Bay Capital, said he fielded texts from some of his 170 employees who said they were “thinking of leaving.”

Some developers and landlords said they are already making plans to exit New York and focus on more business-friendly markets like Miami, Dallas or Nashville.

“I’m depressed and sad,” said Ricky Sandler, who runs Eminence Capital, a Midtown Manhattan hedge fund, which employs 55 people. “If Mamdani becomes mayor, I will likely move my business and family out of New York.”

If Mamdani wins, how long before NYSE becomes FLASE?

GOOD LORD:

Good stuff as always from Salena Zito.

DEI MUST BE RIPPED OUT, ROOT AND BRANCH: In fourth undercover video, group highlights ‘sneaky’ DEI at UNC Wilmington.

The two-minute edited video released by Accuracy in Media, a conservative activism group, shows two employees discussing how there’s been some shuffling of staff and the use of different terminology in the wake of the ban.

“They’re trying to be a little bit sneaky, I feel like, with certain things in the plan. We didn’t have to fire anybody or lay off anybody, as they were really reassigned,” said Asher Persin, center coordinator for the Mohin-Scholz LGBTQIA+ Resource Center at UNCW, in the video.

When asked about “antiracism” efforts, Persin said it’s a word that is not going to be part of the “verbaige” during trainings anymore. “It will have to be renamed,” asks the undercover AIM journalist, who sounds like a female in their 20s. “Yes,” Persin responded.

Persin, who uses they/them pronouns, according to their online bio, made the comments despite the University of North Carolina Board of Governors banning DEI offices and programs systemwide in May 2024.
…
In the undercover video, Ashlee Fleming, coordinator of the Upperman African American Cultural Center, said that positions were eliminated, but really “newish positions” were created.

Funny, they don’t look newish.

IT WOULD BE NICE TO LEARN HOW GOOD CHINESE GEAR REALLY IS:

The view from Beijing during Operation Rising Lion must have been at least a little frustrating.

THIS IS CNN: Trump calls for firing of CNN reporter over Iran nuclear damage report.

“Natasha Bertrand should be FIRED from CNN! I watched her for three days doing Fake News. She should be IMMEDIATELY reprimanded, and then thrown out “like a dog,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Bertrand, the president argued, was “attempting to destroy our Patriot Pilots by making them look bad.”

Trump earlier on Wednesday said that the preliminary classified U.S. report wasn’t complete while members of his administration vowed to investigate the leaked assessment, which was also reported on by the New York Times, Washington Post and others.

But the president took particular issue with Bertrand’s reporting, writing in his social media post that “she should not be allowed to work at Fake News CNN.”

“It’s people like her who destroyed the reputation of a once great Network,” he continued. “Her slant was so obviously negative, besides, she doesn’t have what it takes to be an on camera correspondent, not even close. FIRE NATASHA!”

Heh.

But of course there’s no way CNN would fire Bertrand for doing exactly what the network wanted her to do.

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: Anti-ICE Dem Officials Could Use Some Quality Gulag Time. “It’s easy and convenient for a lot of people to look at how far the Dems have gone off the rails and attribute it all to their unhinged, nine-year-long reaction to the political ascendance of President Trump. I would posit that the signs of them getting to this point have been there for a very long time. The signs started really becoming apparent after the 2000 election. They were going to get here eventually, Trump Derangement Syndrome merely sped up the process.”

END THE FED (CHAIRMAN): Trump says he has ‘3 or 4′ picks in mind to replace Fed’s Powell.

“I know within three or four people who I’m going to pick,” Trump said during a press conference at the Hague following a NATO summit. “I mean he goes out pretty soon, fortunately, because I think he’s terrible.”

Trump did not elaborate on potential picks to replace Powell, whose term as Fed chair ends in May 2026. He appointed Powell to the post during his first administration.
The Supreme Court last month said the relationship between the president and the Fed is different from that of other independent agencies, signaling that Powell is safe from an attempted removal by Trump.

The president considered firing the Fed chief in his first term but backed off after an adverse market reaction. This time around, Trump has repeatedly called on the Fed to cut borrowing costs but has said he has “no intention” of firing Powell before his term ends.

The markets might react differently this time, with rates much higher than they were during Trump 45.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK: Zohran Mamdani: ‘Working-Class’ Mayor for Upper Class Voters.

Yes, the mayoral hopeful’s campaign has masterfully mobilized an energetic base. But the “unprecedented coalition” in question are not made up of the paycheck-to-paycheck New Yorkers that he wants us to believe.

The electoral map doesn’t just fail to reflect his working-class coalition – it flips it. It shows a victory carried by the very neighborhoods his story skips over.

New Yorkers in areas where the median income is above $117,600 backed Mr. Mamdani by 13 points. Middle-income precincts followed right behind. Lower-income New Yorkers? They broke just as hard for Cuomo instead.

Whiter, wealthier, more ideologically driven New Yorkers are certainly overrepresented in this primary. Take Flatbush and East Flatbush – two neighborhoods situated together with comparable populations. Gentrified Flatbush opted for Mamdani by 16 points, versus the Caribbean-dominated East Flatbush, which preferred Cuomo by 37 points.

The difference? About 5,000 more Flatbush voters participated in the primary. Mr. Mamdani’s win simply reflects a truism about primaries: Affluent ideologues appear in droves until the general election resets the balance.

He’s the well-to-do fool’s idea of a populist.

UPDATE (FROM GLENN):

Plus:

WHITE PROGRESSIVES RUIN EVERYTHING FOR EVERYBODY:

YOU’RE GONNA NEED A BIGGER BLOG: Counting Up Texas Gun Rights Wins. “It’s easy to get black pilled and feel that elections don’t matter, but there are few areas where the difference between electing Republicans over Democrats is as pronounced as that of gun rights. The Supreme Court victories in Heller and Bruen don’t happen without Republican nominees on the Supreme Court. Likewise, though Texas Republicans have real gripes about the cabal thwarting conservative legislation, Dwight sent over a Texas State Rifle Association piece on Second Amendment wins during the 89th Legislature’s regular session.”

SARA PEQUEÑO: Mamdani wins NYC mayoral primary as Cuomo concedes. Will Democrats listen now? “On my Instagram, everyone was talking about Mamdani – friends, enemies, politicians and celebrities are coming out of the woodwork to voice their support for the democratic socialist. People in my circle are excited about the prospect of a true progressive running New York City – and it seems there’s a lot the Democratic Party could learn from that.”

The hard way, you can be sure.

PHYSICS: Theory Proposing Three-Dimensional Time as the “Primary Fabric of Everything” Could Unify Quantum Physics and Gravity.

A University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) scientist has proposed a “three-dimensional time” theory that replaces the traditional model of one dimension of time and three physical dimensions as the primary fabric of everything.

Unlike previously proposed, purely mathematical ‘3D time’ constructs where space emerges as a secondary manifestation, Professor Gunther Kletetschka at the UAF Geophysical Institute says his theory of everything, which could unify quantum physics and gravity, is testable and verifiable.

“Earlier 3D time proposals were primarily mathematical constructs without these concrete experimental connections,” Professor Kletetschka explained. “My work transforms the concept from an interesting mathematical possibility into a physically testable theory with multiple independent verification channels.”

Heinlein proposed something like this in The Number of the Beast, but there’s no word yet whether Kletetschka’s physical tests involve a sentient spaceship.