The Fed rate hike machinations: https://www.wsj.com/economy/central-banking/why-central-bankers-are-unsure-whether-theyve-raised-rates-enough-aa57c648 . So here the central bankers reject the ridiculous idea of raising inflation targets and declaring victory. But the question is whether or not to raise rates again this year (under current data, they should). There is general agreement that rates should remain high well into next year (I concur).
WSJ: Utilities’ “dilemma”: How stupid should we be?: https://www.wsj.com/us-news/climate-environment/utilities-face-a-growing-dilemma-shut-off-power-or-risk-wildfires-b244243a . So the Journal’s lack of knowledge now includes common sense. There is no dilemma here. Every power utility must write a shutoff plan yesterday. They must then share it publicly, and set up a comment process which they use to rewrite their policy. This way, customers know under what circumstances their utility will consider shutting off power. It is then up to the customer to determine what steps they need to take to protect themselves if shutoff occurs.
This is the only sensible course of action given the now well-known risks. It is not only necessary business risk management, it promotes safety and conversation with customers. The costs of this approach will be folded into their rates by regulators, so it is reimbursed. The Journal has no real knowledge of business, and they need to admit it.
Russian officials confirm Prigozhin’s death from genetic analysis: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/wagner-chief-prigozhin-confirmed-dead-genetic-analysis-plane-crash-rcna102004 . Uh-huh. So where did they get DNA samples for the 10 people on board? Additional reading disclosed that The Wagner Group was named after Prigozhin’s Number 2, Dmitry Utkin. Utkin was a neo-Nazi, choosing for himself the alias Wagner, who was Hitler’s favorite composer: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dmitry_Utkin . Utkin was born in Asbest, which is the site of the world’s largest asbestos mine: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asbest . WSJ: More: https://www.wsj.com/world/russia/russia-confirms-death-of-wagner-chief-yevgeny-prigozhin-d6935540 .
Federal removal of Georgia election fraud case goes to court Monday: https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/4171719-georgia-courtroom-battles-begin-monday-in-next-stage-of-trump-case/ . As readers know, there is no basis for removal here. It will be helpful for a federal judge to affirm that. The article notes that a group of federal prosecutors and officials, all Republicans, filed an amicus brief arguing against removal. Apparently the same federal judge will hear all the removal cases, so the right answer in the Meadows case will pretty much doom the efforts of the other defendants. This is a time-waster by a group of increasingly desperate defendants.
Chris Christie says nominating Orange Julius means 4 more years of Joe Biden: https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4173424-christie-says-trump-as-2024-gop-nominee-means-four-more-years-of-biden/ . Christie is likely correct, assuming the health of both candidates holds and there is no third-party candidate. Therefore, expect efforts to put forward third party candidates, whether it’s No Labels or some other ridiculous group, because that is OJ’s best chance. Again, America works best as a two-party system. A viable third party not only is a danger to democracy in this election, it is a long-term danger to the country unless it quickly replaces one of the two existing parties.
More conflicts of interest for the Supreme Court: https://www.aol.com/news/us-thinktank-linked-billionaires-behind-103006151.html . The Court should do everything to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest. There are real ones here.