THE SHOW NOTES: Silence of the Lemmings, Christian Persecution in America, & Ohio's Issue 1
Welcome! The winning ticket to the $1.58 billion lottery was purchased at a Publix in Florida.
BREAKING: American nurse and daughter released after being kidnapped in Haiti.
NEW: Ron DeSantis just suspended a Soros-back Florida prosecutor.
DEBT: US Credit card debt reaches $1 trillion as late payments surge.
HEADLINE: S&P drops ESG scale from its debt ratings - Washington Examiner
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Hunter’s Cash Grab
A newly released memo from House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer alleges that Hunter Biden and his business partners were paid upwards of $20 million from shady overseas business ventures while Joe Biden was vice president.
Details: The bank statements in Comer’s 19-page memo assert that payments primarily came from Russian oligarchs and a Ukrainian energy company that was regularly in communication with Joe Biden through his son. Previous memos pointed to additional payments coming from business partners in China and Romania.
Perspective: John Ellis points out that Sue Wagner, a founding partner and director of BlackRock, was paid $100,000 per year to serve on the board of Apple. The compensation is significant but is the market value for a leading industry expert to sit on the board of a trillion-dollar company like Apple. Conversely, Hunter Biden, a man with no expertise in the energy sector, was paid $600,000 cash to sit on the board of Ukraine’s natural gas giant Bursima while Joe Biden was vice president and Barack Obama’s point person in Ukraine.
Cocaine: The infamous White House cocaine allegedly belonged to someone in the “Biden family orbit” and President Biden knows who it is according to sources reporting to The New York Post. While the story has not been independently verified, three security sources claim authorities were able to piece enough information together to give President Biden the name of the perpetrator.
Related: Joe Biden’s treatment of gold star families is under fresh scrutiny after the mother of a fallen soldier recounted a cold conversation with President Biden less than 24 hours after her son died in Afghanistan. Biden falsely claimed his son died while in service and said her son died immediately when others on the ground said he "lived for a little while." A different mother of a fallen Marine said, "When our leaders, including the secretary of defense and our commander in chief, called this evacuation a success, as if there should be celebration, it is like a knife in the heart for our families and for the people [who] came back… I live [every] single day knowing that these deaths were preventable. My daughter could be with us today."
Ohio
Voters in Ohio voted down an amendment that would make it harder to amend the state constitution in a purported blow to pro-life activists.
Details: While Issue 1 did not specifically mention abortion rights, the measure was widely seen as a first step for the state to prevent pro-life activists from adding ballot measures that would amend the state’s constitution to ban abortion. Issue 1 failed by 57.01% to 42.99%.
Debate Rules
Fox News and the RNC have set rules for the first GOP presidential debate on August 23rd. The format will eliminate opening statements and will allow candidates up to 1 minute to answer questions, 30 seconds for rebuttals, and 45 seconds for a closing statement.
Who’s qualified: So far Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Mike Pence, Doug Burgum, Tim Scott, Chris Christie, and Vivek Ramaswamy have met the qualification requirements.
Chaos in DC
After years of defunding police and defending criminals, the D.C. City Council is now begging the National Guard to come in and crack down on a violent crime surge spreading across the city. A D.C. City Councilman on Fox News said that the National Guard was being considered because “police alone is not getting it done.”
Penn Gives Barstool Back To Portnoy
Penn Entertainment bought Barstool Sports from founder Dave Portnoy in early 2020 for $551 million. Yesterday, Penn (basically) gave the company back to Portnoy so it could enter a $2 billion partnership with ESPN. The well-known Barstool Sportsbook app will be rebranded as ESPN Bet later this year.
What’s the big deal: Portnoy agreed to purchase Barstool back from PENN for no cash upfront and 50% of future gross proceeds if he were to sell the company. The move means Portnoy gets to pocket the $551 million and gets his company back. Wow.
Trending news:
Massachusetts bans faithful Catholics from adopting children - Becket
Dianne Feinstein hospitalized after fall in San Francisco home - NY Post
Kari Lake prepares to enter Arizona Senate race - Axios
Fox Business to host second GOP primary debate - Politico
Ron DeSantis Knows the Time: It’s 2023, Not 2020 - National Review
Maui Wildfire Is Moving Fast, Leaving Residents in ‘Turmoil, Heartbreak,’ Social Media Posts Reveal - The Messenger
iPhone users will soon have to adjust to this small but significant change - CNN
Trump says a protective order would violate his First Amendment rights: 'I will talk' - NBC
Tampa mayor’s big catch on Keys fishing trip? 70 pounds of cocaine. - Tampa Bay Times
Major Progressive PAC Hit With Large Round of Layoffs - The Messenger
At Center of Niger’s Coup Is One of America’s Favorite Generals - WSJ (paywall)
China Slips Into Deflation in Warning Sign for World Economy - WSJ (paywall)
Another Biden Speech in Need of Clarification - WSJ (paywall)
China is responsible for the production of about 90 percent of the world’s rare earth elements - FT (paywall)
Market snapshot:
After watching the morning news programs (not Fox) and then reading Erick’s newsletter, I am convinced I am living in a parallel universe.
"Major Progressive PAC Hit With Large Round of Layoffs"
The explanation given is interesting and telling. DJT provided the enthusiasm to drive donations, but since Joe Biden is going big on the progressive agenda, the donations have fallen.
Just put a bit of thought into that premise and it is disturbing. It says that anger and hate of a political opponent generates more campaign donations and election enthusiasm than does satisfaction or dissatisfaction for existing political leadership. It also explains why the American political establishment has gone so dirty, long and deep in the shallow Trump witch hunt to keep up those flames of anger and hate.
In the end it is the voters that are the real problem here. They allow hate to enter their hearts from repeated media conditioning. They allow strong negative emotions to rule their political opinions, rather than cool objective reasoning. They allow themselves to be manipulated just like members of a cult getting a repeated sermon from a charismatic source. Of course they will deny it and proclaim that their position is justified... after all that man is an immoral, p-grabbing crook that cheated on his wives and tried to overthrow our democratic system! Half the nation have been molded into Rob Reiner... otherwise educated and intelligent people duped into being seething and blathering disciples of the church of anti-Trump... or anti anyone that dares to oppose the American ruling political establishment and their corporate overloads.
I always found it sickeningly ironic that the "We Will Resist" movement after the 2016 election was basically a populist uprising of people that did not resist the political establishment media brainwashing injecting Trump hate.
The fact that this approach works so well confirms my opinion that modern humans are no more psychologically sophisticated than were our more primitive ancestors, and are probably less so as their high education attainment served to stunt their psychological development. It seems that the average American is still stuck in high school. Sad.