the DON JONES INDEX…

 

GAINS POSTED in GREEN

LOSSES POSTED in RED

 

    8/19/24...     14,809.94

    8/12/24...     14,807.37

     6/27/13…    15,000.00

 

(THE DOW JONES INDEX:  8/19/24... 40,659.76; 8/12/24... 39,475.54; 6/27/13… 15,000.00)

 

LESSON for AUGUST NINETEENTH, 2024

“MILWAUKEE un die BELAGERUNG von CHICAGO”

 

Miami and the Siege of Chicago: An Informal History of the Republican and Democratic Conventions of 1968 was a non-fiction novel written by Norman Mailer.

The movements of Hippies and Yippies, the staid Wikipedia noted (Attachment One) “were prominent” in the Democratic Convention: On one Sunday afternoon the yippies handed out flyers that signified immediate change if Mailer "Pig was voted in" voting would warrant change like the immediate end to the way in Vietnam, Legalization of Marijuana, and the freeing of Huey Newton and the other black panther party members.

The Chicago police “were given free reign to use their clubs and take off their badges," Craig Sautter, who protested in 1968, told ABC News (August 12th, Attachment Two).

ABC also interviewed Don Rose, press spokesman for the National Mobilization Committee to End the War, the main group organizing the protests. He coined the phrase "the whole world is watching" as the law-and-order Daley unleashed Chicago police on the protesters.

But even with pro-Palestinian protests planned next week during the 2024 DNC, Sautter and Rose said the circumstances are far too different to expect any type of 1968 repeat.

"The police are much more disciplined and better trained," Rose said.

Sautter also spoke to the BBC (Attachment Three)  and pointed out that the 1968 Convention occurred not only at the height of Vietnam, but in the aftermath of the RFK (Senior) and Martin Luther King assassinations as well as a surprising change of guard amongst Democratic leadership. “In 1968, President Lyndon Johnson announced he would not seek re-election months before the convention, while this time, President Biden pulled out of the race with merely weeks to go.”

But to many Arab and Islamic-Americans (as well as foreign actors from foreign places unknown), “...(t)his is the Vietnam War of our era," Hatem Abudayyah, a spokesman for the Coalition to March on the DNC, told the BBC.

Beyond Muslims and a contingent of kind-hearted wealthy college students from elite universities anguished over the MidEast war which (the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry contends) has killed some 40,000 civilians, however, a repetition of the carnage and chaos of 1968 does not seem in the cards.

"Other than the fact that they're in Chicago, there are none," long-time Democratic National Committee member and DNC delegate Elaine Kamarck told the BBC. "This is not even close."

Rose, also interviewd by the ABC, BBC (and, for all we know the Canadian BC) differentiated the two conventions.

In Vietnam, unlike the Gaza war, saw tens of thousands of Americans drafted, many of whom were killed or wounded overseas.

"The country was far more divided on the Vietnam War at that time. The protests expanded greatly because of the draft," said Mr Rose, now 93.

Looking back, Mr Sautter also believes that the protests of 1968 had an impact on the US that could never be replicated in 2024.  "A whole generation, whether they were there or not, were marked by it."

 

A broadside by the Marshall Project (August 14th, Attachment Four) cites the Walker Report. LBJ’s controversial assessment (some on the left still say whitewash; other Republicans of the time deemed it  “scandalous” and “anti-police propaganda”) of police violence in 1968. 

Also interviewing survivors of the police riot, the Marshall Project, after recapitulating history, now contends that, while the nation is once again at a crossroads: “another sitting Democratic President — Joe Biden — has dropped out of the race, and the possibility of a controversial Republican president in the White House looms large,” Chicago’s mayor and police chief are now Black, “and the rhetoric of “shoot to kill” isn’t being repeated this time around.”

Marshall attributes this to the police being under a federal consent decree due to widespread police abuse and misconduct. “As a result, the actions of the department are now closely monitored.”

To the actual Palestinians and other Islamists among the pro-Palestinian demonstrations, the Detroit Free Press (noting that the Detroit area has the largest Arab-American population in the USA) interviewed several of the organizations (many umbrella-ific, a few rogue) coming to Chicago. 

The Uncommitted National Movement, which grew out of efforts in southeastern Michigan's Arab American and Muslim communities to elect delegates to the convention who withheld their support of President Joe Biden in protest of his administration's support of Israel, said Tuesday it's organizing "Not Another Bomb" events in 25 states between Friday and Sunday before the Convention.

And, aside from the Palestinians, other protesters with a variety of issues will be coming to Chicago to be heard, perhaps, by the Harris/Walz Democrats – with Democrats within and without the Convention center contending that an “aggressively populist” agenda is necessary to beat former President Donald Trump, according to Rachyl Jones in Semafor (Aug 16, 2024, Attachment Six)... fpr example, a ban on grocery price gouging endorsed by Harris, but feared by Republicans, conservative Democrats and budget watchers - and dismissed as “aspirational” by professional pollsters.

“Some prominent center-left economic policy bloggers agreed that a price gouging ban is more of a populist idea than a substantive policy. “Price controls on food are a terrible idea,” Noah Smith wrote in his Noahpinion Substack, arguing that they could cause food shortages and worsen inflation and political instability. However, Josh Barro argued in his Very Serious newsletter that while it was a “dumb” idea, it was the kind of popular one that helps win elections.”

Moreover, other Harris’ proposals... including a $6,000 tax credit for families with newborns during the first year of the baby’s life and reinstituting a pandemic-era tax credit that raised the benefit for families from $2,000 per child to $3,000 could cost $1.2 trillion over 10 years, Marc Goldwein of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget told The Washington Post. “America is on a fiscally unsustainable path, and if we’re going to embark on some of the more ambitious programs she’d like to pursue we need more revenue,” tax policy expert Daniel Hemel told the Post.

Perhaps secure that their personal safety has been secured by time, distance and the police, delegates on the eve of tonight’s Conventional opening seem ready to party.

That certainly wasn’t the case a month ago.

“Then, as Donald Trump wrapped up the final night of the Republican National Convention with a long-winded speech that detailed the assassination attempt on his life just days earlier, the conventional wisdom was that it was his race to lose.”  (Deadline, yesterday, Attachment Seven)

Confidence in the Chicago police (and assorted State and Federal agencies) rendering the DNC a safe, sane and chaos-free multi-million dollar bash, Deadline, like many other media has turned to covering the potential coverage, celebrity pop-ups and good vibrations emanating out into the Windy City.

“Some events have been announced: Julia Louis-Dreyfus will headline a panel for the Democratic Governors Association on Wednesday. John Legend is scheduled to perform at an event hosted by Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D-IL) on Tuesday evening...” and the network, cable and streamer screamers will be vying to outdo one another with Comedy Central’s The Daily Show and CBS’ The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (tonight’s guest Dreyfus, upstaging Hillary Clinton!) “based in Chicago throughout the week.”

The Daily Show also is scheduling some public events, “including The Daily Show Presents: InDogCision 2024, a partnership with HeadCount and PAWS Chicago that combines voter registration and dog adoption,” while SNL has been auditioning present and former castmembers and some wildcards for its upcoming season of high (they hope) comedy.  (See attachment 39, below)

The liberal Washingto Post, for its part, nominated wannabee Veep Vance as flagman for low comedy, choosing three anti-Harris tirades they dismissed as “silly, false claims” and submitting them to their fact-checkers.  (August 13, Attachment Eight)

 

CHILDREN and CLIMATE CHANGE

“(Harris) has said things like, ‘it’s reasonable not to have children over climate change.’ I think that’s the exact opposite message we should be sending to our young families.”

— Vance, interview with CNN’s Dana Bash, Aug. 11

Fact Checkers:

This is false. Vance made this comment as he tried to explain 2021 remarks that Harris was one of those “childless cat ladies who are miserable in their own lives and they want to make the rest of country miserable, too.” (Harris has two stepchildren.)  And Don Junior edited a KamSpeech saying it calls climate anxiety ‘the fear of the future and the unknown of whether it makes sense for you to even think about having children.’”  (See Attachment for Harris original text)

 

GAS STOVES

“She wants to take away your gas stoves.”

— Vance, remarks in Atlanta, Aug. 3

Fact Checkers

“This is false. Harris has never advocated taking away gas stoves and in fact has tweeted photos of herself cooking with a gas stove.”

Richard Trumka (!) Jr. of the Consumer Product Safety Commission said that gas stoves were a “hidden hazard” because of their pollutants.  Trumka said any regulations would apply to “new products”.  On Jan. 11, 2023, CPSC chair Alexander Hoehn-Saric issued a statement: “To be clear, I am not looking to ban gas stoves and the CPSC has no proceeding to do so.”

Harris never remarked on the issue.

 

RED MEAT

“She even wants to take away your ability to eat red meat. That’s how out there she is. That’s real. The fake news will fact-check it. They will fact-check it true. She actually said that.”

— Vance, remarks in Atlanta, Aug. 3

Fact Check

“Sorry,” the Posties ghost, we fact-check this as false. (We should note that Donald Trump also makes this claim, often adding that she wants “to get rid of cows.”)

Harris has never said anything like this.  During a 2019 climate-change forum on CNN, one participant noted that climate change had been linked to consumption of red meat, to which Harris said there have to be “incentives” for eating in a “healthy way”, but she voiced “no requirement for Americans to follow dietary guidelines — so people can eat as much red meat as they want” and even admitted (as a very bad Hindu if Hindu at all) that, like Djonald UnKosher she “loved cheeseburgers.” 

 

The Washington Times (August 14th, Attachment Nine) took Kamala’s alleged Satanic verses a verse further, doubling down on one of “the most flummoxing and embarrassing moments in modern politics (which) unfolded at the 2012 Democratic National Convention after God was axed from the party platform...” specifically, by supporting Tel Aviv, and not Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

With the draft of the 2024 Democratic Party Platform offering no mentions of “God,” “Lord” or “Almighty” penned the WashTimes, citing abortion and transgenders, the “latest banishment of God from the Democratic blueprint should come as no surprise, as American culture and the progressive megaplex are increasingly focusing on the whims of the self.”

And another Times (this one in secular Los Angeles) also addressed the issue of God as applicable to Gaza, the West Ban, Israel and Islam (August 18th, Attachment Ten), and leading into the primal and existential issue of the war, the victims, the Islamic terrorists and domestic neo-Nazis and whether the disputed territory should comprise one, two or three states.

Timeserver Ron Busby Junior posted a recommendation gleaned from his term as an intern to then – Veep Biden in 2014: “Pick the fights worth losing...” Joe’s point was that regardless of an outcome, “the most existential threats to our society demand our opposition.”

Almost a decade after I had that exchange with Biden, I was invited to attend a reception at the home of Vice President Harris — just days before Biden dropped out of the presidential race and Harris became the leading candidate for the Democratic nomination.

Regardless of those wins, I declined the invitation. I knew I couldn’t comfortably celebrate with the vice president while the administration she serves continues to send more weapons to Israel than humanitarian aid to Gaza.  The horror of Oct. 7 cannot justify the heinous war Israel is conducting, which includes acts and policies the International Court of Justice and a U.S. federal court have ruled may plausibly amount to genocide.

As I have in each election with her name on the ballot, I will support Kamala Harris for president. But I know too many people who will not. This genocidal war demands more than gestures.

Whether in 1968 or 2024, the young, the Left (with a few odd Nazis seasoning the mix) and the ethnics have been marching off to march against the wars... whether Vietnam or the MidEast.  (Ukraine... you’re on your own, albeit with a plentiful supply of toys from Uncle Sam.  And they still don’t trust the Democrats.

A week ago, WBEZ – Chicago offered a road map by and for the various protest groups, which has also been of interest to others... like the police and some delegates.

The largest of the planned demonstrations, the marches on the DNC, are scheduled to start at noon Aug. 19, and 5 p.m. Aug. 22, with rallies at Union Park on the Near West Side.  City officials having denied permits, mass arrests and (perhaps) some 1968 style head-cracking remains on the table, although Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling has promised to protect the right to protest.  He also said, however, that peaceful protests aren’t always legal, indicating the police might go after demonstrations that block streets or occupy buildings without permission.

WBEZ had, as of the 12th, identified more than 150 groups nationwide, who have joined the Coalition to March on the DNC.  While many are Palestinian or Islamic, there will also be Biden, now Harris-haters focusing on housing, education, immigration, policing, health care and LGBTQ+ rights and the military in general... from Generals to soldiers to contractors.  In fact, the co-ordinator of one of the principal planers... the Chicago-based U.S. Palestinian Community Network advocacy group... is one Hatem Abudayyeh, who opined that “I think that there are organizations and individuals who will be here who have historically been supporters of the Democratic Party and said, ‘I can’t do this any longer.’”

But while turnout might be depressed by fear that flogging the donkey will result in the election of elephants from the White House to the State Houses to the county coroner, Jae Yates, 31, an organizer with the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice, a Minnesota group pushing for community control of policing, said that the Democratic Party has been promising people for years to do so many things that they’ve never delivered on ... “I think people are exhausted and sick of the runaround from the Democrats.”

And, after all, electing Nixon in 1968 did not prove to be the end-all for democracy in America, such as it is, because it fed into the elephantine arrogance of the President, Vice President Agnew and so many of their supporters and staffers that they wound up essentially committing suicide as, for example, the neo-Nazi right has immolated much of its support against immigrants through their violent attacks, which include stabbing children.

They’ve even opened a wormhole for Taylor Swift to sink their cause, over there and over here.

Fox News still contends that “anti-Israel agitators” will frighten Americans into electing Ol’ 45.

When ne of Harris' recent rallies was interrupted by anti-Israel protesters, the vice president told them the Biden administration was working hard to get a cease-fire deal and to get the hostages home. 

"You know what? If you want Donald Trump to win, then say that. Otherwise, I’m speaking," she said, addressing the protesters directly. 

 

They’re saying that.  “We’re still anticipating that there will be tens of thousands of people in the streets," promised Hatem (above) after anti-Israel agitators both gladdened and saddened the heart of MAGA by shutting down NASCAR’s Chicago Street Race motivating a supporter to tell the WashPost that “I think people really need to see it as the equivalent of the 1968 DNC in Chicago.”

Israelis are still buzzing about the Veep’s Veep choice... even resulting in mixed reactions within the influential Jerusalem Post, whose August 13th editorial declared: “TIME FOR US JEWS TO EMBRACE THE REPUBLICAN PARTY”.

For American Jews still faithful to the Democratic Party, charged Michael Freund (Attachment Thirteen), “the writing is on the wall, and it has increasingly begun to look like antisemitic graffiti.”

For their own sake and for the sake of America and for Israel, American Jews need to embrace the Republican Party and make it their new political home.

The transformation that the Democratic Party has undergone was on full display a week ago when Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, who, as of this writing, is considered a possible running mate for Kamala Harris, had to apologize for a 1993 college essay he penned that some deemed to be “too pro-Israel,” whatever that means, for writing that “peace is not possible” in the Middle East due to the Palestinian leadership and that the Palestinians were “too battle-minded to be able to establish a peaceful homeland of their own.”

In other words, the JP told the truth, “and it is as true today as it was decades ago,” Freund, a former deputy communications director under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, shut the door on the peace process, the pitiful Blinken, the rejoicing Harris and the Democratic party – proof positive being the scuttling of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro as her choice of running mate.

But wait – another JP editorial, this by one Amy Neustein (identified as an academic) contends that none other than Trump Himself killed any chance of a Shapiro appointment by circulating memes and themes like “any Jew who votes for the Democratic ticket needs to get ‘their head examined,’” or, as noted by an article in The Bulwark, promoted a “whisper campaign” aimed at creating “more noise and discontent.” 

Shapiro’s more or less centrist views – support for school voucher programs, opposition to a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, and so forth – risked pulling votes away from the Trump/Vance ticket. So, wrote Neustein, “Trump used cunning to preempt Shapiro from getting on the ticket in the first place.”  (Attachment Fourteen)

What a “Machiavellian game” Trump played!

First, listed Neustein, “he incited the progressives to eschew Shapiro – wreaking havoc in the Democratic Party and posing a serious threat to unity among the Democratic voters.” Then, after Harris had to make the best decision to hold the party together, Trump railed against the Harris campaign as cowering to “antisemites” on the progressive Left.

All things considered, “because Trump’s campaign saw Shapiro as a potential threat to its electoral victory in November, Trump arrogantly derailed the fate of a potential Jewish candidate on the Democratic ticket.

“In our 250-year history as a nation, a Jew has still never served as president or vice president. I know for certain, I was deeply wounded as a member of the Jewish community last week. And for that reason alone, I cannot forgive Trump,” Neustein flaunted her retribution and revenge, concluding: “(a)nd how can any other Jew?”

 

The JP itself had split the difference in its own editorial, a week earlier (Attachment Fifteen), deeming the choice of Walz an anti-Semitic message – blaming CNN’s political correspondent John King for saying that Shapiro could be a liability because of his faith. 

“(T)he radical progressives would not have protested had anti-Israel Sen. Bernie Sanders, also a Jew, been selected,” the JP editors surmised.  Rather, they revolted because Shapiro was Jewish and unapologetically pro-Israel – “a combination that will not fly with certain progressive elements inside the party, and certainly not with many Arab Americans whose votes Harris is courting.”

The “good” news for Jews came when St. Louis voters showed two-term Congresswoman Cori Bush the door. Representing Missouri, Bush, a member of the radical left-wing “Squad” in Congress, was one of the most anti-Israel lawmakers on the Hill, the JP declaimed, and subsequently, after New York voters rejected the re-election of fellow Squadster Jamal Bowman, the New York Post gloated that Bowman was “begging cash” and blaming his defeat on the Jewish donor lobby AIPAC.

Perhaps aggrieved that two of their putative heroes had been pole-axed at the polls, “Chicago activists” celebrated (in the face of Harrisite nomination celebrations) Iran’s drone attacks on Israel.  (April 14th, Attachment Sixteen)

Ubiquitous Jew-hater Hatem (above) told his cheering supporters: “So it begins.”

After Abudayyeh finished speaking, protesters began to spontaneously chant “hands off Iran” and what appeared to be a call of “glory to the martyrs.”

After they finished chanting, a conference organizer led them in a chant in Arabic, “From the water to the water, Palestine is Arab.”

She hesitantly translated the slogan into English and explained that it demanded the liberation of the “colonized Arab land” from the Jordan to the ocean... in other words, the destruction of Israel and extermination of Jews.

While perhaps not going so far as to wipe Israel off the map, the liberals at Huffington Post called on Democratic leaders to resist the pro-Israel group AIPAC’s influence in party primaries, following two stinging progressive defeats (above).

“Few issues have riven the party like U.S. support for Israel and its deadly war in Gaza, which has killed more than 40,000 civilians, according to figures released Thursday by Gaza’s Health Ministry,” opined the Huffers (August 16th, Attachment Seventeen).

When AIPAC has taken a stance in contested primaries, Huffpost alleges, “the group has almost always targeted progressive members of Congress who are not only critics of Israel but who have also led calls for wealth taxes, Medicare for All, and student debt cancellation ― all policies despised on the right.”

AIPAC and its super PAC, United Democracy Project, reply that they have “always maintained they support or oppose candidates based solely on their stance on Israel.”

Taking the Israel/Palestine war a step further, the liberal New Republic called the “slander” of comparing Gaza protesters to Neo-Nazis “despicable”.

NR correspondent Zach Roberts, declaring himself a “survivor” of the white supremacist terror attack in Charlottesville and a counterprotester at the neo-Nazi torch light ralley at the University of Virginia, declared that “(a)s a survivor, I thoroughly reject any and all attempts to evoke my experience or the events of Charlottesville to demonize the movement across American college campuses to divest from the Israeli occupation.” (Yesterday, Attachment Eighteen)

Specifically charging pro-Israel Democrats like Sen. John Fetterman (and. by extension) team Biden/Harris “disgraceful”, Roberts accuses critics’ comments of being “designed to intimidate and frighten critics of the Israeli assault in Gaza into submission. Their invocation of the Unite the Right rally downplays and deflects from the moral outrage at the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.”

Listing Israeli atrocities in the ruined territories, Roberts condemns the “sensationalized media panic” and congratulates the DNC protestors whose tactics, “modeled after the successful campaign to end apartheid in South Africa, are legitimate, democratic, and explicitly nonviolent.”

This raises a dilemma for the demonstrators, inasmuch as the NR also shows little sympathy for GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson, who “smeared students” and reiterated Netanyahu’s genocidal language that this is a conflict between “good and evil, light and darkness, civilization and barbarism.”

However, the war is not partisan but, rather, global (and clearly religious)... the weaponry of the enemy, students and protesters say, is “the financial support of powerful alumni, trustees, and donors who harbor racist and reactionary views of the Palestinian people and cause.”

Despite the fact that these students have been censored, arrested, slandered, assaulted, and harassed—“and through it all demonized by journalists and politicians on a national level for their principled stance—the campus movement to divest from Israeli apartheid is only growing stronger. Solidarity and divestment encampments are popping up at universities across the country.”

“The moral propriety of the Civil Rights Movement, the antiwar protests against Vietnam and Iraq, and the Anti-Apartheid Movement all seem so obvious and clear now.”

Doubling down on the “2024 is 1968” theme, the NR cites “...(d)emands to bring in the National Guard to quell campus encampments, intentionally or not, evoke the dark shadow of the Kent State massacre, where three out of the four antiwar protesters killed were Jewish. These demands for forceful repression against nonviolent protests reveal the incoherent definition of public safety that some politicians and administrators hold.”

Also denying demonstrator anti-Semitism and supporting the War on Democrats, Dan Dinello of “Informed Comment” channels Berkeley Free Speech icon Mario Savio in lauding the pro-Palestine protest encampments on American campuses, where “students risk their futures and physical safety by putting their bodies on the line, demonstrating against their Universities fueling the Israeli war machine. Administrators have responded with consequences not imposed en masse for decades: suspensions, expulsions and arrests.”

IC lists the campus protests against contractors supplying weaponry to Israel... RTX, Northrop Grumman (the Dow Chrmical of Modern Times) and decries the vilification of protesters, as exemplified by Columbia University president Minouche Shafik who appeared before Congress in mid-April. Currying favor with the House committee led by MAGA stalwart Elise Stefanik — who has been known to float antisemitic conspiracy theories, Shafik defamed protesting students and two faculty as antisemitic for using chants like “From the river to sea, Palestine will be free,” which means... uh... the eradication of Israel and, presumably, the Jews.

IC seems to equate survival of Israel as being the “transparently phony outrage of Republicans”, part of a tactic “to reinforce their decades-old racist attack on higher education with campaigns against critical race theory and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, education itself and a grab bag of causes promulgated by “woke” universities.

But, fluffering and ruffling their PINO (Palestinian-in-name-only) feathers, IC, looking backward, recalls memories of anti-Vietnam war protests as pure and untainted. “Our memories elide some of the extreme tactics. During Vietnam era protests, some people broke windows, carried North Vietnamese flags, and voiced support for the National Liberation Front (NLF) insurgency that America wanted to destroy, chanting ‘Ho Ho Ho Chi Minh, the NLF is gonna win.’ Used to stigmatize war protestors, this sentiment did not represent the peace movement.”

It did, however, recognize reality.

Likewise... at least in the rhetoric of the IC... “a tiny handful of Pro-Palestinian protesters, full of outrage at decades of brutal occupation, defend Hamas’s brutal October 7 attack against civilians,” including a Christian outlet which “breathlessly” reported hearing pro-Hamas chants: “Burn Tel Aviv to the ground” and “Hamas, we love you. We support your rockets too.” As during the Vietnam era, such unrepresentative chants (like ‘from the river to the sea?’) cannot be used to smear the vast protest movement.

While berating the protests as threatening to Jews, the media and American officials ignore the fact that white supremacists, not Hamas, ISIS, Hezbollah etc. are the biggest threat facing the Jewish community, as reported by the ADL.

Meanwhile, IC contends, “pundits and politicians want to make the wave of protests fodder for grinding various culture-war axes about privileged Ivy League students — ignoring all the protests at non-elite campuses — or “wokeness,” or some brand-new form of left-wing insanity. Others mock these protestors as privileged students cosplaying as resistance fighters, while camping out in expensive North Face tents. One pundit worries, “These proud anti-fascists are agitating against a country on another continent and abominating the only alternative to the fascist Trump.”

“Amid these dark times, what is happening across U.S. campuses fills me with inspiration and hope,” said Palestinian law student Ahmad Ibsais. “This is what a Palestinian future can look like: Jews performing Passover rituals along with Muslims praying Maghrib; people of all backgrounds taking part in collective liberation – a Palestine that existed before the British Mandate.” The encampments imagine and rehearse a peaceful future for Palestinians and Jews.

“The Biden campaign seems to believe that it can simply wait the protesters out, that passions will eventually fade and that Democratic voters will fall in line when we get closer to Election Day and the choice between Biden and Donald Trump becomes more stark. That is a reckless gamble. Many believe that a president they supported is abetting a genocide. Their position will not easily be altered.

“Like Vietnam in the 1960s, Palestine is the human rights issue of our time.”

 

“We’re not going to do anything different said double hater Hatem (above) after Joe said “no” to November (NBC August 15th, Attachment Twenty). We’re going to mobilize,” Abudayyeh said. “Harris represents the administration; she represents Biden.”

He also said he fears an escalation is unfolding in the region.

"The movement is saying not only are we needing to stop the genocide, but we need to stop the possibility that this thing is going to be a regional war," Hatem said.

Say it three times – and it appears.  ISIS, Hamas and Hezbollah.  And the common denominator... Iran.

Pro-Palestinian groups have already pivoted.  They have already added “Killer Kamala” to “Genocide Joe” in protests, including Sunday outside a fundraiser in San Francisco – inciting Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi to say: “(The DNC is) the highest security designation that the United States can give to anything.  We’re going to work hand in glove to make sure that the DNC is safe and that Chicago is safe.” 

Robert Grant, the former FBI special agent in charge in Chicago, warned that aside from those who attend to peacefully protest, there are often bad actors who try to take advantage of large-scale events.  

“It’s summer. It’s Chicago. There’s always knuckleheads that come into town,” Grant said. “You could be a Republican, you could be a Democrat, you could be a Libertarian or independent, they’re there to cause chaos. That’s all they care about.”

Indeed!  There will be Libertarians, bashing police with their Ayn Rand books!  And RFK Junior, poisoning the DNC buffet with brain worms... just like the “unknown” but agreeably bad actors who broke into a DNC hotel and "began placing unknown objects onto tables containing food".

The “unknown objects” turned out to be maggots.  There has been no comment as to whether Bobby Two has been hauled in by the Chicago police for DNA testing.

And, perhaps in response Hatem and against the main body of protesters for a peaceful, if visible, week, some of the Pro-Palestinian activists clapped and danced after it was announced at a conference in Chicago on Saturday that Iran had launched drones at Israel.  (The Jerusalem Post, April 14th, Attachment Twenty One)

“Twelve days ago, Israel brazenly hit an Iranian embassy compound in Syria, violating international law again,” said Abudayyeh... “Iran has just responded around thirty minutes ago.”

The mob cheered and clapped when the announcement was made and renewed celebration when it was reported that Yemeni and Iraqi factions may have also joined in the attack. 

After they finished chanting, a conference organizer led them in their favorite chant in Arabic, “From the water to the water, Palestine is Arab.” 

  وداعًا إسرائيل

 

What were Iranians themselves... that is, the police, the military, the government – being that other people are too frightened of beheading to speak up against the regime... saying about the war and the struggle with Israel, America and the infidels of the world?

We’ve discovered a nice little blog which is even on the light, or white Web... an Iranian outlet for its most frenzied supporters called MEMRI.TV.

With years of jihadist commentary and plenty of URLs for the uninitiated as well as semi-legal advocates like Mr. Hatem, MEMRI depicts what the Iranian oligarchy thinks of Israel, America, the West (they show a guarded respect for Putin and Xi) and the infidels.  (Attachment Twenty Two)

The selected selection deals with the DNC, Mister Hatem and the jihadists of the world (even the elite, effete University students of America).

 

See attachment for a semi-daily upgrade and many, many URLs that will curl your toes and hair – such as that of July 31st... “Israelis Are The Enemies Of Yesterday, Today, And Tomorrow; Even Breathing The Same Air As Them Is A Crime” or an appeal from August 2nd: “Bring Me Netanyahu's Entrails”!

A sort of mash up of Sam Peckinpah and Hannibal Lecter?

The conservative Washington Examiner sent a spy into and amongst the protest people – including CODEPINK, Palestinian Feminist Collective, Students for Justice in Palestine Chicago, American Muslims for Palestine Chicago, and other pro-Palestinian groups active across the United States.  The WashXaminer (Attachment Twenty Three) further stated that the dark money supporting these and many, many other groups – such as the Tides Center and its affiliated Tides Foundation, as well as the WESPAC Foundation, are fueled by Democratic megadonors such as... you guessed it!... George Soros and Bill Gates.

Back in April, MEMRI expanded and expounded on its coverage of the DNC after the first wave of Iranian rocket attacks on Israel - with Mister Hatem declaiming that “...it now becomes important for all of us to do what we are professionals at doing.”

The mob, comprised of the more non-non-violent sponsors of the March on the DNC two months later, cheered at the news and shouted “Shame” at the Jews.

 

 

After the Biden-Harris administration called for “de-escalation” in the Middle East as Iran and its terrorist proxies attacked Israel, and the WashXaminer prophecied that the same network that orchestrated and funded the mobs chanting ‘intifada now’ on university campuses and in major cities “will be harassing and intimidating DNC delegates and participants in Chicago,” Gerald Steinberg, founder and president of the watchdog group NGO Monitor, said, MEMRI

 

 

Inside Chicago’s United Center, Fatima Iqbal-Zubair, chair of the California Democratic Party’s Progressive Caucus, dealt the race card - criticizing establishment party leaders over the weekend for prioritizing lives based on skin color, accusing them of showing more concern for the plight of white Jews over that of brown Palestinians.

“It shouldn’t be a one-sided thing. Really, be empathetic toward all lives,” she added as, according to a POLITICO-Morning Consult poll published before the Iranian strike on Israel, fully one-third of Democratic voters felt Biden was “not tough enough on Israel.” Twenty-two percent of Democrats said they’re more sympathetic toward Palestinians in the conflict than Israelis.  (Attachment Twenty Five)

Shortly after the attack, Westchester County executive George Latimer (who would overthrow “Squad” member Jamal Bowman) joined several other moderate lawmakers in the Gotham region — Gov. Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Eric Adams among them — who issued messages of unequivocal support for Israel.

New York State Democratic Party Chair Jay Jacobs waffled, however, downplaying the fissure during an interview on Sunday, saying that the party’s positions are more aligned with Biden and others in leadership.

“Both parties have their more extreme factions, and those factions, I believe, don’t dictate the overall governing policy of, at least, the Democratic Party,” he said.

And Republicans too... as Sen. “Little” Marco Rubio (R-Fl) attempted to restore his celebrity on CNN, calling demonstrators who were cheering Iran’s attack over the weekend antisemitic, anti-Israel, and pro-terrorist.

“They are not peace activists. Peace activists do not cheer massive attacks against other countries, which is what they were doing yesterday.”

As the DNC neared, the main body of protesters referred to the Jewish state as “the USA’s landed aircraft carrier in the Middle East,” used “to control the region — with its huge oil reserves — for the profits of US corporations” according to the Times of Israel (Attachment Twenty Six) with Arab-American again taking the leading roles.

Abandon Biden, a pro-Palestinian campaign founded to mobilize voters against Biden, believes Harris bears responsibility for Gaza’s humanitarian crisis but is not yet launching an “Abandon Harris” campaign, spokesperson Hudhayfah Ahmad said and, while most protesters envision a “family friendly” march on Unity Denter, some worry that the combination of a heavy police presence, throngs of protesters and potential ill-intentioned agitators could “combust.”

“It’s going to be a mess in Chicago starting Sunday,” said Emad Salem, a Harris delegate from Texas and part of a group called “Delegates Against Genocide” that is urging the DNC to call for a ceasefire and an arms embargo against Israel.

 

It’s been a week ripe for exploitation by Team Trump but, instead, the MAGAmen have been suffering through the campaign’s “worst month of 2024.”  (GUK, last Monday, Attachment Twenty Seven)

As Harris and the asses face the threat of pro-Palestinian protesters, Trump’s advisers are squabbling with one another.

In a statement referring to the campaign chiefs Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita, a Trump spokesperson said: “As President Trump said, he thinks Ms Wiles and Mr LaCivita are doing a phenomenal job and any rumors to the contrary are false and not rooted in reality.

“This campaign is focused on winning, and anyone not focused on electing President Trump and defeating Kamala Harris is doing nothing but hurting every American. Detractors and lobbyists are waging a destructive battle of rumor and innuendo, and they are well known (as the anonymous “spokesman” maintains) and will be remembered.”

One of these “detractors” might be Trump’s 2016 campaign chair Kellyanne Conway, who has been having a few words with current chair Lara Trump.  Others are wary of other Trump family (by marriage)... Jared Kushner has proposed to allow Israel to annex the occupied West Bank and to develop “Gaza’s waterfront property...” – and there are even rumors and innuendos concerning the potential return of now-imprisoned Steve Bannon (remotely, via his attorneys).

Some solace might be quantified in that about thirty Demdelegates remain “uncommitted” and vow to resist Harris, even if it helps The Donald.  As of a week ago Saturday “the delegates are still planning to make their presence at the proceedings known, threatening the overwhelming display of unity that Democrats hope to project heading into the fall campaign.”  (New York Times, Attachment Twenty Eight)

The Trump campaign has also deployed emissaries to the Arab American community in Michigan and the Republican Jewish Coalition has issued a challenge to speakers at the Democratic convention seemingly designed to stoke division: Praise Israel from the podium, and the group will plant 1,800 trees in the Jewish state. And the Green Party candidate, Jill Stein, is considering naming a Palestinian American activist as her running mate.

Abbas Alawieh and Layla Elabed, two of Michigan’s Uncommitted delegates have asked Harris for for a private meeting to discuss an immediate arms embargo. Ms. Elabed described breaking down in tears, holding Ms. Harris’s arm while the vice president held hers.

“I said, Michigan voters want to support you, but our families are dying,” said Ms. Elabed. The vice president, she said, responded sympathetically, “Yes, it’s horrific,” and motioned to aides to set up the meeting.

It never happened, although there have been whispers of an Uncommitted speaking slot during the proceedings.  But, said Ms. Elabed, “(w)e can’t exchange the lives of Palestinians for speaking time.”

The Chicago Sun Times published a tentative list of speaking times, permitted protests and other data on Friday, August 12th (Attachment Tenty Nine)  Four days later, the august Council on Foreign Relations, while noting the Democrats’ “upbeat mood”, predicted that her Thursday night discourse would “define her own narrative and to present her vision for the country.”  (Attachment Thirty)  She won’t have another unchallenged opportunity to define herself at any other point during the campaign, the CFR noted, because the advertising has already begun.

The CFR also summarized...

Tim Walz’s acceptance of a debate with Vance on October first...

Both campaigns have been hacked, presumably by “bad actors”, perhaps from or servicing Iran...

Trump attorneys have been pressuring Judge Juan Marchan’s plan to sentence the convicted Trump on Septemer 18th in the Stormy sex imbroglio - warning that it would invalidate the election...

More states are adding pro- and or anti-abortion  referenda to their ballots...

And Trump’s conversation with Elon Musk not only was delayed by technical glitches, it also raised further questions on climate change...

Trump’s terming Medal of Freedom winner (and big donor) Miriam Adelson better than the soldiers who won Medals of Honor because the latter are either “in very bad shape because they’ve been hit so many times by bullets or they’re dead.”

 

Fox News (Attachment Thirty One) reported that a federal judge in Chicago denied permits to four anti-Israel protest groups... rejecting their claim that the city's preferred protest route violates their First Amendment rights.

"We are going to basically never see a protester or rioters, period," one source said before the court fight. "The convention sites are completely cordoned off. There will be nobody that is not authorized."

Or there will be a big, big fight.

Before the Republican convention, (NBC, Attachment Thirty Two) another federal judge in Wisconsin had also ruled against protestors in a court case regarding their access to the areas around the RNC but this led to the city initiating negotiations and eventually cutting a deal where protestors agreed on a route “within sight and sound” of the convention.

“Mayor Cavalier Johnson has said the protesters want to be on the stage at Fiserv Forum, and the Republicans want the protesters to be on the moon,” said Jeff Fleming, Milwaukee’s director of communications. “What we’re trying to do is strike a balance that gives people a full opportunity to express First Amendment speech, to exercise their rights, and at the same time conform with the security concerns that exist.” 

The deal forestalled most violence, the Republicans nominated their God and the merchers sold plenty of merch. 

In Chicago, a sort-of deal was reached last Tuesday but, said protest organizers, the City refused to provide “port-a-potties, a stage, and a sound system,” potentially leadint to a somewhat shitty city for residents to have to smell and walk through.  (Semafor, Attachment Thirty Three)

This has prompted the more extremist protesters, such as the Behind Enemy Lines coalition which then issued promotional material telling participants to prepare for clashes with law enforcement: “Make bruises from Chicago police batons the 2024 back to school Fall fashion!”

Still better than the dirty clothes that the denialist judge wants them to have to endure.

After a New York Harris rally was soiled by bad actors, podcaster Megyn Kelly said: “They’re not going to get away with a drama-free convention,”

“The problem for Democrats – and the benefit for Kelly and other commentators – is that protests make for good footage,” wrote Semafor’s David Weigel. Protests that devolve into clashes make for even better footage. The RNC protest drew just a fifth as many people as organizers had predicted, but there were more than 200 reporters there, at least a few wearing protective vests, ready for a career-making drama that never happened.”

“Protesting and rioting are two different things,” said a somewhat anticipatory Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling (despite all the media fluff about Constitutional rights and de-escalation). “When people become comfortable committing acts of violence and vandalism, that’s when it turns into a riot.”

 

Also looking forward with anticipation is Behind Enemy Lines (above) whose spokesperson (who asked not to be named for fear of being targeted by law enforcement and the potential professional stigma of being associated with the protests) said that: “We’re not calling for violence or planning on anything illegal (wink, blink, nod), but we think that there’s ways for people to protest that do go beyond business as usual,” said the spokesperson,.

He added, “Civil disobedience is certainly one form of protest that’s important and valid, and I hope to see lots of it in this coming week... and if there’s violence, that will come not from us, but from the police.”  (WBEZ, Attachment Thirty Four)

Organized neo-Nazis have been quiet, so far, but other supporters of former President and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump plan to be in Chicago to engage in protests of their own during the DNC.  These includes Mike Lindell, the MyPillow founder and pro-Trump conspiracy theorist, who announced Thursday he would be in the city, at an unspecified place “outside the DNC,” while hosting a live-streamed “election summit” throughout the convention.

 

It’s unlikely that Lindell will try suffocating Harris with one of his pillows, but the Chicago police... both mindful of and grateful for the notoriety that 1968 conferred are anticipating an active week.

So are the FBI, the Homeland Security monitors and, perhaps, even the Illinois National Guard... but if there is one safety and security agency especially on the firing line after events this campaign season, it would have to be the Secret Service.

Are they ready to wipe the stain of Butler off their badges?

“I’m confident our plan will provide a safe and secure environment during the DNC,” Derek Mayer, the special agent in charge of the U.S. Secret Service which is handling security for the convention, told WGN-TV – the Chicago-based network that is broadcast to local  broadcast and cable feeds nationwide – a week before the start of the main event.

Even the medical community has been brought into the event planning.  The United Center sits just across the Eisenhower Expressway from one of the city’s busiest hospitals: Rush University Medical Center.

“We are on the driveway of the United Center,” said Dr. Nicholas Cozzi, the medical director of Rush University Medical Center’s EMS and Disaster Medicine departments. “We’re preparing for anything whether it’s a mass casualty attack, whether it’s a stabbing, an explosion, we want to be prepared for everything.”  (WGN, Attachment Thirty Five)

Since May, Cozzi has led 18 full-scale disaster drills at Rush to be ready for a catastrophe.

In the case of a large-scale terrorist attack, Cozzi told the network that Rush has practiced scenarios for a “code triage” in which the walking wounded would be separated from the gravely injured, and hospital beds would be wheeled into open spaces like the lobby.

“A code triage is Rush’s designation that a mass casualty incident has occurred,” Cozzi said. “It mobilizes staff to the emergency department, and it allows us to expand the emergency department to have alternative areas available to activate and to evaluate patients.”

CPD Supt. Larry Snelling said that the cops have been working with four hospitals, the fire department and... in case the maggot distributors (above) sprinkle something more lethal in DNC buffets or banquets... the Department of Public Health – all of whom have to be prepared to be identified as enemies of humanity once the convention begins

“They’ll have insults thrown at them, and at some point human nature kicks in and the possibility or likelihood of making a mistake becomes greater,” said Snelling. “This is why we have line relief to bring in a fresh batch of officers who can deal with the situation a lot better.”’

The Chicago Police Department is assigning 2,500 officers to the DNC.  An additional 500 officers from departments across Illinois — and double downers from Milwaukee, Wisconsin — will assist.

They’ll be facing about 50,000 convention goers (ten percent of whom are delegates or alternates... the rest being peaceful protesters, tourists and the media) deemed mostly peaceful if not too riled up by the liquor that will undoubtedly flow like rivers during the week... and an estimated hard core of several hundred or thousands.  Of particular concern to the medicos on hand will be the likelihood of police using pepper spray or tear gas on the crowd, while the more determined protesters might use... other means.

Gassed or sprayed patients “might have burning eyes, they might have difficulty breathing and we have to have the ability to quickly remove that substance from their body,” Cozzi said.  Should a mass decontamination scenario manifest, nurses in protective gear will “use soap and water to decontaminate those who have been exposed to (any) chemical agent – all of the water (going) to a special tank, so it doesn’t contaminate the city’s system.”

The use of outside law enforcement agencies in Milwaukee came under fierce scrutiny, however, after Ohio police fatally shot a man armed with a knife at a park not far from the convention. Also, police arrested a man carrying a backpack that contained an AK-47-style pistol outside the convention perimeter.  Officers from Milwaukee will be among the outside “calmitators” on the scene. (AP News, Attachment Thirty Six)

Snelling declined to discuss specific examples of changes the department would make because of Milwaukee, but he said people trying to bring weapons to the site was among the issues addressed in the officers’ training.

 

In the months leading up to DNC 2024, Chicago ‘68 has been repeatedly conjured as the epitome of disaster like the sinking of the Titanic, or the stock market crash of ‘29. Organizers of various protests planned for this year have invoked the memory in promoting their own current plans. But if some saw dark clouds gathering over the Windy City again this August, the forecast may have brightened in recent weeks. Attempts will surely be made to protest the Biden administration's support for Israel or its struggle to deal with immigration. But there is nothing in the current political climate to compare to that of 1968 and its all-encompassing anxiety over Vietnam.  (NPR Attachment Thirty Seven)

One eerie similarity between the two conventions was that both involved an incumbent President choosing to step aside... LBJ because of the war, the political climate engendering the subsequent assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy Senior and primary victories that were more like defeats.  Joe Biden has committed only a few thousand boots on the ground in and around the MidEast but, in his case, it was age and the perception of poor health that compelled even supporters to plead with him to retire with peace and dignity.

Another was the top-down coronation of “happy warrior” Hubert Horatio Humphrey (who never entered a primary).

But, so far, the Palestinian protests have failed to ignite any charismatic leaders to carry the torch for Gaza.  Hatem hates, but lacks the PR savvy of the old Chicago Eight, whose adventures, trial and legacy were covered by NPR and who eventually won hearts and minds, but not elections.

“If the ultimate test of a party is electoral success, the Democrats had more success when their nominating process was less democratic. In the 10 presidential election cycles ended in 1968, Democratic nominees had won seven times.

“In the next 10 cycles ended in 2008, Democrats would win just four times.” 

 

Foreign media have been observing the Chicago convention with interest, but not the obsession that billowed up over 1968. 

Some of the coverage has been amusing.  Wednesday’s Hindustan Times scooped the other English-language media by reporting that Meghan Markle will not attend the DNC after intimations that she would be part of the “really big show.”  (Attachment Thirty Eight)

Having previously called Trump “misogynistic” and “divisive” Markle had been expected to be one of the stars at the DNC but pollsters and pundits soon reported that the Duchess's influence within the Democratic Party has reached “rock bottom” and that “her presence at the event could be more harmful than beneficial.”

Instead, tabloid tots and tykes are turning to the speculations over which celebrities might be tapped by Saturday Night Live to portray the principles.

The dream-casting of Harris and Trump is apparently settled, according to New York Times scrivener Dave Itzkoff (Attachment Thirty Nine) with Maya Rudolph already secure in the Democratic role, based on her ten appearances as Veep and the endorsement of Kamala herself and SNL novice James Austin Johnson having “arguably the definitive Donald J. Trump impression”.

Other SNL roles... Walz, Vance, RFK Junior and potential first spouses (Melania and Emhoff)... all seem up for grabs.

Perhaps some of the roles can be filled by any of the multitude of actors, celebrities and musicians that will migrate from Hollywood to Chicago.

Democrats, and their allied organizations are hosting more than 100 events, noted the uncharacteristically starstruck far-right Moonie Washington Times, featuring a lineup of confirmed “Hollywood headliners” including talk-show host Jon Stewart, actor and singer Billy Porter, musician Joan Jett; Octavia Spencer, who won an Academy Award for her performance in “The Help” and celebrating the real Vice poised to step up to the top job, “Veep” actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

See Attachment Forty for a larger listing.

And the DNC, like RNC merhers, are pitching their warez for fanboys and girls to grab, but the asses are further lining their pockets by charging the media to cover the proceedings.

“As thousands of journalists come to Chicago next week to cover the Democratic National Convention, many of their newsrooms will be forking over a large chunk of money to gain a certain level of access, internet speed, and even seating inside the United Center,” revealed WBEZ (Attachment Forty One)

For an assigned chair at a table with access to an electrical outlet at the DNC, “that will cost a newsroom $751. Missed the advance rate? That will now be $911.”  Small local news outlets report sticker shock over the price of setting up workspaces at and around the United Center.

“I took a deep breath and I rolled my eyes,” said Erika Hobbs, who oversees the Austin Weekly News (not the American-Statesman of Texas, but rather a black neighborhood paper serving a community poor in advertising lucre but rich in voters) when she saw the price. “The cost was way too high.”

In comparison, a similar setup at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee cost $100.

“There’s no way small media can participate if they don’t have some kind of special pricing,” said Hermene Hartman, founder of N’DIGO Magazine.

“They can charge ABC and NBC and CBS thousands of dollars, because they get it back in … advertising,” she said. “These politicians pay millions of dollars to advertise on major media. We don’t get that money. We should, but we don’t. I’ll be damned if I would pay them to cover them.”

What these small town outlets do have is influence within their own communities... and if undecided voters start reading retibutory and revengeful coverage and commentary... well this might be the straw that broke the donkey’s back, and sent Djonald UnGouged back to the White House!

Print media are also bitter at the gouging... the Chicago Sun Times, (Attachment Forty Two) is, of course, well able to pay the donkey’s fee, but Hobbs, again, accused the Democrats of disrespecting her readers.

“If we’re talking about healthy democracies, if we’re talking about things like healthy civic discourse, then all voices need to be included in that…” Hobbs told the ginormous Sun-Times.

The DNC declined to answer questions about how rates were set and whether tiered pricing was considered for small, hyperlocal outlets.

“Democrats value the freedom of the press, and our convention will be a reflection of that,” a Democratic National Convention spokesperson blathered in a statement that just might... might... kill Kamala in November.

 

 

 

Our Lesson: August Twelfth through Eighteenth, 2024

 

Monday, August 12, 2024

Dow:  39,489.59

The 2024 Paris Olympics wrap up with Tom Cruise skydiving into the void (Los Angeles, 2028), plenty of heroes and she-roes, some controversy, no terror worth mentioning.  The United States and China tie on the golds at forty each, but America holds a substantial lead upon total metal medals over the rest of the world.  The bad – it seems that the IOC hss decided to kiss off young people and the wokesters by throwing break dancing (or “breaking”) off the roster, but there’s plenty of time to apply pressure.

   Next up, the Paralympics beginning August 28th also in Paris.  Will royalty be present?

   The DJI has tried to maintain nonpartisanship (more often through double hating), but if the retiring President Joe has secured his legacy, he just may have done so over the weekend.  No... he did not ban telemarketing, but he ddi the next best thing: proposing that corporations of a certain size and a certain mien be required to include a “Push Me!” button during their AI spiels that will enable customers to speak to A HUMAN BEING!!!  (Not necessarily an American, but one who at least, speakes passable English... or, in some cases, Spanish.)  It’s aspirational so far, but could be his parting gift to Kamala... a kill-shot issue.

   Harris, lest we forget, is being damned by Djonald for using AI to increase the size of her crowds and stealing HIS plan to cut taxes on tips for low-income service workers.  He submits to/wallows in an interview with Elon Musk where he further repeats some old pledges (like deporting illegal aliens while flaunting his friendship with Mad Vlad and NoKo Kim and introduces some new promises (like calling Hiroshima “not scary”).

   In post-Olympian sports, NASCAR driver Austin Dillon runs two competitors off the track, into the wall and into the hospital in Richmond, saying: “I hated to do it, but I had to do it,” (which is also what Hannibal Lecter said about his suppers.

 

Tuesday, August 13, 2024

Dow:  39.765.64

More TrumpSpeak with the MuskRat... calling his economic plan “the path to prosperity.”  It’s... well... complicated.  Partisans in all corners are holding their breath, waiting for the latest numbers on inflation.

   Americans and (especially) Israelis are also holding their brath waiting for Iran’s “ferocious” retaliation for the killing of Hamas honcho Ismail Haniyeh  and Hezbollah hippie Fuad Shukr; an attack that has been coming “any day now” as the days stretch into weeks, the diplomats dither and chatter and cease fire/hostage talks flit from Iraq to Turkey to Cairo.  Not waiting... Ukraine, which keeps marching into Russia, seizing land and surrendering soldiers.  100,000 Russians evacutate (some pleased to emigrate into Ukraine) in the biggest Soviet/Putinesque debacle since World War II.

   Debby disapperates, but Ernesto now socks some Caribbean islands as it heads towards Puerto Rico before (as the weatherpeople assure is) veering out to sea with maybe a strike on Bermuda. While Djonald UnSettled tells Elon that climate change is a myth, the wildfires continue burning, smoky skies delight Denver eyes with pretty sunsets (but ravage their lungs with toxic fumes) and fire breaks out at a Georgia nuke plant (but is quenched before meltdown). 

   DNC officials firming up plans for Chicago (see above).  President Joe will speak on Monday, with Obama and both Clintons on the roster at times TBC before Kamala and Walz have their scripted moment in the spotlight and the police prepare for a beatdown of protesters who, as opposed to 1968, few really like.  In advance of (or maybe response to) the convention, a Chicago lunch lady is busted for stealing $1.5 million in chicken wings.

 

Wednesday, August 14, 2024

Dow:  40.408.19

 It’s the 90th anniversary of Esquire, the Men’s Magazine, and publishers try to broaden their image by putting Zoe Kravitz on the cover. 

   Victorious Olympians returning home to applause and merching proposals.  The Biles, Chiles, Lyles trinity is still broken between COVID and the IOC, but Simone shows off ther precious metal medals and “Golden” Gabby Thomas announces that she plans to walk the dog and eat pizza pie and tells the fanpeople to “go home and focus on your journey.”

   Journey... the corporate rock group that made millions in the 20th century... has now split up with members suing each others for bigger slices of that multi-million dollar pie.  Bandleaders Neal Schon and Jonathan Cain now hate each other so much that they even cancelled a lucrative 50th anniversary tour for the corporate rock boomers to focus on their court dates.

   The Vices turn vicious as J. D. Vance calls Walz a coward because he served 24 years in the National Guard and never even saw combat, althougj, as Tim responds, he did “carry a weapon” round and around on his rounds.  He also lets drop that he is an expert sharpshooter, if J.D. wants to escalate matters.  Instead, both agree to a debate on October first.  (Presumably no weapons allowed.)

   Walz and Harris (and President Joe) are rising in the polls and get even more good news... inflation finally drops below 3.0 to 2.9%.  Cars, airfares and housing are all cheaper, but insurance has risen by 52% over the last four years.  Flo hates Joe?

   And the Big “O” likes 136 songs for 2024, including Shaboozey’s Bar Song, Bad Bunny’s “Perro Negro” and that old standard, “Satisfaction”.  See the list and hear here.

 

Thursday, August 15, 2024

Dow:  40,563.76

It’s Dog Chip Afternoon... friends of Fido (and the childless cat ladies too) are being urged to bring their pets in to stations where they’ll be chipped, clipped and registered with the Government. (Now if only the Dept. of Prisons and Paroles could do that to those early-release robbers, rapists and killers that Kamala is allegedly responsible for!)

   Wouldn’t this something that the Russians would beat us to?  No sooner are five prisoner/hostages released than Bad Vlad locks up a stupid Amercian for assaulting a policeman and a ballerina for contributing $50 to a Ukrainian relief fund.  In other crime news five Ecstacy dealers are arrested in the Matthew Perry overdose case, three of them rat out the other two – a Dr. Feelgood and the alleged Ecstasy Queen of L.A.

   Doctors warn that new, improved strains of M-Pox are developing in Africa – mostly infecting teenagers who have unprotected sex.  (Don’t say “monkey”... mention of those critters is racist, even if it is Africa).  A Swedish tourist gets it, too.

   British teens (and some tourists and creepy old folks, too) enjoy Taylor Swift’s first concert in Wembley with special guest star Ed Sheeran.  No terror manifests.  Bruno Mars and Lady Gaga debut a duet: “Die With a Smile” (which Perry probably did in his Jacuzzi).

 

Friday, August 9, 2024

Dow:  40,659.76

Looking forward to Monday’s DNC convention (above), Kamala Harris unfurls, or maybe unleashes her Econoic Agenda – which she calls her Opportunity Economics.  It proposes repetitively middle-class handouts and benefits – more child tax credits, more homebuyer tax credits.  For the rich, no tax breaks and, for the poor... more prisons.  (But there will be lots of jobs opening up as border guards.)  Despite this all, Donald Trump claims that we are already in a recession and Harris will push us into a Great Depression.

   Depressed people include Jordan Chiles, after the IOC orders her to give her bronze medal back to the lady from Romania.  Also, the escaped convict in North Carolina who killed a random one year old and still found a girlfriend to help him gain two days of freedom.  Now they’re both locked up.  Also depressed, Palestinians and Ukrainians and many vocal Israelis and silent Russians.

   There’s another medal war brewing in Washington, as Veep wnnabees debate the merits of medals in advance of their official debate, now set for October first.  J. D. Vance says that the Congressional Medal of Honor for civilians (like one of his big donors) is better than the military honors, angering veterans.  Stay tuned for more – it’ll be on CBS November 1st.

 

Saturday, August 3, 2024

Dow:  Closed

Ernesto strikes Bermuda as a Cat. 2 hurricane, dropping off to Cat. 1 but lashing the island, dropping power for over half the population while raising tides as high as eight feet, washing away homes on N. Carolina’s outer banks.

   Washing money and defrauding banks was also the reason George Santos was indicted and now prepares to plead guilty to fraud.  The women who nearly got away with embezzling Graceland was also caught, due to a sharp-eyed and nosy notary.  Both headed to court and then, most likely, jail.

   Also caught and facing the law... a Michigan pervert who snatched up children but was finally brought to justice by Good Samaritans, a school stabber in Alabama and “Multiple” suspects shoot up Lackland Air Force base in Texas, but fail to kill anybody and are now on the run.

 

Sunday, August 4, 2024

Dow: Closed

Talking heads talk DNC.  ABC holds not one but two roundtables... one nearer a half blue (for Democratic) moon with just perennial RNC chair Reince Priebus (agreeing with nonpartisans that November will be close... a “field goal”... decided by Trump’s extension of the “middle finger”) while former DNC chair Donna Brazile lists three Harris imperatives: define herself, define her “vision” thing and defend Walz.

   The full round finds This Weekers Chris Christie telling Djonald to take anger management classes, John Karl citing the dangers of debate inasmuch as Harris “brings out the worst” in Djonald while Rachel Scott  says American unity is “out the window”.  

   On CBS’ “The Week” former NSAdviser Gen. McMaster has written a book alleging that Ol’ 45 could be “nasty” and spins an old saw, saying that while history doesn’t repeat itself, sometimes “it rhymes.”  Trump himself doubles down on Musk conversation where he says Medal of Freedom winners are better than the Medal of Honorees and adds that he is better looking than Kamala, whose former paramour Willie Brown is suing the Donald.

   Off the topic of elections, author Carl Hiaasen’s “Bad Monkey” will be a streaming show on Apple.

   And a man is also headed to court to sue a hospital that “stole his skull.”

 

A solid bump in the Dow (as a consequence of inflation, still rising but less than usual) and the prospect of lower interest rates (which, like peace in the MidEast remains just around the corner) slightly overpowered many minor annoyances like bad Venezuelans, nuke-loving and ballerina hating Russians and Ernesto to rise by a smidgen as politicians made ready for the DNC.  Democrats were happy that Old Sick Joe gave way to younger Bladk (or Indian) Kamala; Republicans are confused and fearful of what Trump might say next.

 

 

 

THE DON JONES INDEX

 

CHART of CATEGORIES w/VALUE ADDED to EQUAL BASELINE of 15,000

(REFLECTING… approximately… DOW JONES INDEX of June 27, 2013)

 

Gains in indices as improved are noted in GREEN.  Negative/harmful indices in RED as are their designation.  (Note – some of the indices where the total went up created a realm where their value went down... and vice versa.) See a further explanation of categories here…

 

ECONOMIC INDICES 

 

(60%)

 

CATEGORY

VALUE

BASE

RESULTS by PERCENTAGE

SCORE

OUR SOURCES and COMMENTS

 

INCOME

(24%)

6/17/13 revised 1/1/22

LAST

CHANGE

NEXT

LAST WEEK

THIS WEEK

THE WEEK’S CLOSING STATS...

 

Wages (hrly. Per cap)

9%

1350 points

7/24

  +0.50%

9/24

1,527.74

1,527.74

https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/wages   29.99 30.14

 

Median Inc. (yearly)

4%

600

8/12/24

  +0.02%

8/26/24

673.22

673.39

http://www.usdebtclock.org/   39,645 654 664

 

Unempl. (BLS – in mi)

4%

600

7/24

   -4,65%

8/24

530.50

530.50

http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS14000000/    4.3

 

Official (DC – in mi)

2%

300

8/12/24

   +0.19%

8/26/24

231.08

230.65

http://www.usdebtclock.org/      6,895 909 922

 

Unofficl. (DC – in mi)

2%

300

8/12/24

   +0.16%

8/26/24

243.95

243.56

http://www.usdebtclock.org/      13,066 086 107

 

Workforce Participation

   Number

   Percent

2%

300

8/12/24

 

   +0.002%

   -0.004%

8/26/24

299.45

299.44

In 161,219 222 226  Out 100,494 504 515 Total: 261,726 41

http://www.usdebtclock.org/   61.6014  61.5975

 

WP %  (ycharts)*

1%

150

7/24

  +0.16%

8/24

151.43

151.43

https://ycharts.com/indicators/labor_force_participation_rate  62.70

 

OUTGO

(15%)

 

Total Inflation

7%

1050

8/24

 +0.2%

9/24

960.54

958.62

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm     +0.2

 

Food

2%

300

8/24

 +0.2%

9/24

272.98

272.43

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm     +0.2

 

Gasoline

2%

300

8/24

 +0.1%

9/24

238.06

237.82

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm     +0.1

 

Medical Costs

2%

300

8/24

 -0.3%

9/24

287.88

288.74

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm      -0.3

 

Shelter

2%

300

8/24

+0.4%

9/24

262.08

261.03

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm     +0.4

 

WEALTH

 

Dow Jones Index

2%

300

8/12/24

  +3.00%

8/26/24

319.92

329.52

https://www.wsj.com/market-data/quotes/index/   40,659.76

 

Home (Sales)

(Valuation)

1%

1%

150

150

8/12/24

 -5.35%                 +1.81%

8/24

125.92

299.65

125.92

299.65

https://www.nar.realtor/research-and-statistics

Sales (M):  3.89 Valuations (K):  426.9

 

Debt (Personal)

2%

300

8/12/24

 +0.035%

8/26/24

263.40

263.31

http://www.usdebtclock.org/    76,127 153 180

 

GOVERNMENT

(10%)

 

Revenue (trilns.)

2%

300

8/12/24

  +0.20%

8/26/24

424.92

425.77

debtclock.org/       4,978 988 999

 

Expenditures (tr.)

2%

300

8/12/24

  +0.19%

8/26/24

300.30

299.73

debtclock.org/       6,848 862 875

 

National Debt tr.)

3%

450

8/12/24

  +0.044%

8/26/24

382.56

382.39

http://www.usdebtclock.org/    35,136 153 169

 

Aggregate Debt (tr.)

3%

450

8/12/24

  +0.09%

8/26/24

389.86

389.59

http://www.usdebtclock.org/    101,432 526 619