Who’s Up For More Rate Hikes?

By William Teach August 7, 2023 – 7:00 am

They can talk all they want about all the people who came back to work post-COVID, but, what are they to do with the money if rates keep going up and the cost of living is going up? Of course, that’s one of the things they say is heating up the economy, all the people back to work buying. But, buying what? Big ticket items are still limited, be it housing, autos, boats, or motorcycles. I could understand if there was a glut of these, but, there aren’t

Fed’s Bowman says more US rate hikes likely will be needed

Biden Brain SuckerThe U.S. Federal Reserve will likely need to raise interest rates further to bring down inflation, Governor Michelle Bowman said on Saturday.

Bowman said she supported the Fed’s quarter-point increase in interest rates last month, given still-high inflation, strong consumer spending, a rebound in the housing market and a labor market that is helping to feed higher prices.

“I also expect that additional rate increases will likely be needed to get inflation on a path down to the FOMC’s 2 percent target,” she said in remarks prepared for delivery to the Kansas Bankers Association, referring to the Fed’s rate-setting panel, the Federal Open Market Committee.

Monetary policy is not on a “preset course,” she also said, and data will drive future decisions.

“We should remain willing to raise the federal funds rate at a future meeting if the incoming data indicate that progress on inflation has stalled.”

Certainly, the higher rates combined with very high costs of houses and autos have stifled economic activity, along with a dearth of inventory. In fairness, many started opting out of purchasing a used vehicle at a much higher interest rate (consider the gold standard around Raleigh was SECU, which had been at 3.75 with autopay just a year ago, and now is at least 2 points higher, usually around 6.25) combined with the higher cost of used cars (which were ridiculously high) and those costs did come down, but, only so much, because inventory is still limited.

Bowman’s use of the plural “rate increases” in her remarks on Saturday indicates she thinks the Fed will need to go higher than that.

After the most recent rate hike, Fed Chair Jerome Powell left the door open to another increase in September, but also signaled that cooler data could allow a pause.

Bowman noted some progress on inflation, which by the widely followed consumer price index slowed to a 3% annual rate in June, down from 9% in the middle of last year.

Not sure that Americans are really noticing things getting better

Back-to-school shopping hit by inflation, higher prices

Back-to-school shoppers can’t escape inflation as they prepare for the 2023-2024 school year.

State of play: Higher prices and demand for electronics are taking a bigger bite out of consumer budgets — and driving record spending — according to the National Retail Federation’s annual survey. (snip)

Families with children in elementary through high school plan to spend an average of $890.07 on back-to-school items about $25 more than last year’s record, per NRF’s survey of 7,843 consumers.

And Biden and the Democrats have done what to help this? Oh, right, made it worse.

Inflation Is Cooling. Food Inflation Could Get Worse.

nflation has cooled in many countries, but in most of them, food inflation remains rampant and there are reasons to fear it may accelerate.

A combination of disrupted exports, unusually hot weather and Russia’s continuing pounding of Ukraine, one of the world’s largest grain producers, is likely to add fresh momentum to the main source of global inflation.

U.K. food prices rose 17.4% in the year through June, while Japanese prices were up 8.9% and French prices were up 14.3%. While food inflation has slowed slightly in the U.K. and France, it has picked up in Japan. In each country, food prices are rising much more quickly than prices of other goods and services.

The U.S. has fared better, with food prices up 4.6% from a year earlier in June, more than double the rate of inflation targeted by the Federal Reserve but well down on the August 2022 peak of 13.5%.

Doing better, because the U.S. doesn’t really depend on food products exports from Russia or Ukraine, but, still, way higher than it was when Biden took office. I was walking in the aisle with soup Sunday, and Progresso and Campbell’s non-condensed were up around 50 cents from a few years ago. Breyer’s Ice Cream is about a dollar more. And with Biden causing fuels and energy to stay high those prices will continue to go up.

Read: Who’s Up For More Rate Hikes? »

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If All You See…

By William Teach August 6, 2023 – 1:48 pm

…is a tree that looks like it’s dying from too much carbon pollution, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Blazing Cat Fur, with a post laughing at Megan Rapinoe.

It’s Asian ladies week.

Read: If All You See… »

Posted in If All You See | 14 Comments | Trackback URL

Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup

By William Teach August 6, 2023 – 9:14 am

Patriotic Pinup

Happy Sunday! Another fantastic day in the Once And Future Nation Of America. The Sun is shining, the birds are singing, and the squirrels are drinking from the hummingbird feeder. This pinup is by Baron von Lind, with a wee bit of help.

What is happening in Ye Olde Blogosphere? The Fine 15

  1. Geller Report covers a riot in NYC over a giveaway
  2. IOTW Report discusses Jack Smith prosecutorial misconduct
  3. Irons In The Fire notes Democrats wanting to change the rules when they don’t win
  4. Legal Insurrection highlights DeSantis saying Trump is running in 2024 to do things he promised to do in 2016
  5. Moonbattery covers Germans pushing back against “refugee” camps
  6. Outside The Beltway notes unenthusiastic voters not donating
  7. Pacific Pundit shows NASCAR suspending a driver over a St. George Floyd meme
  8. Powerline says the case against Biden is pretty darned straight forward
  9. Sultan Knish highlights an inconvenient study on guns
  10. The First Street Journal wonders why a hardcore criminal was out on the streets in the first place
  11. The Gateway Pundit discusses the cost of crime and homelessness in Portland, Oregon
  12. The Lid notes Democratic hypocrisy, as they refused to accept the 2016 election
  13. The O.K. Corral covers the best Father’s Day evah!
  14. The Other McCain discusses the consequences of constantly indicting Trump
  15. And last, but, not least, The Right Scoop notes DeSantis hitting back at the NBA

As always, the full set of pinups can be seen in the Patriotic Pinup category, or over at my Gallery page (nope, that’s gone, the newest Apache killed access, and the program hasn’t been upgraded since 2014). While we are on pinups, since it is that time of year, have you gotten your Pinups for Vets calendar yet? And don’t forget to check out what I declare to be our War on Women Rule 5 and linky luv posts and things that interest me. I’ve also mostly alphabetized them, makes it easier scrolling the feedreader

Don’t forget to check out all the other great material all the linked blogs have!

Anyone else have a link or hotty-fest going on? Let me know so I can add you to the list. And do you have a favorite blog you can recommend be added to the feedreader?

Two great sites for getting news links are Liberty Daily and Whatafinger.

Read: Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup »

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Good Grief: Democrats Push 1,000% Tax On “Assault Rifles” And Large Capacity Magazines

By William Teach August 6, 2023 – 7:00 am

I suggest we start with introducing and forcing a vote on taking all the scary looking rifles and magazines that hold more than 10 rounds away from everyone who is tasked with protecting members of Congress, their buildings, POTUS, the VP, the White House, all the places they go, and all federal agencies. They’d surely be fine with that?

Democrats demand 1,000% excise tax on ‘assault weapons,’ high-capacity magazines

More than two dozen House Democrats put forward legislation Friday that would slap “assault weapons” and high-capacity magazines with a 1,000% excise tax, a change that would raise the price of a $500 weapon to $5,000 in a bid to reduce access to guns across the country.

Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., and 24 other House Democrats introduced the legislation Friday. It’s the second time Democrats have put forward the idea.

Beyer and 37 Democrats proposed the same idea last year when Democrats controlled the House, but it never moved.

The text of Beyer’s new bill was not out as of the weekend, and it was unclear if any changes were made from his 2022 version. His bill from last year imposed the tax on any magazine or related device that can accept more than 10 rounds of ammunition.

The same 1,000% tax would be imposed on any “semiautomatic assault weapon,” which last year’s bill defined as a semiautomatic rifle or pistol with a fixed magazine of 10 rounds or more or that have other various features.

Under that rule, a weapon that normally costs $2,000 would force customers to pay more than $20,000, a change Beyer argued last year could help “curb the epidemic of gun violence.“

Would it? Doubtful, but, they know this, and the idea is to make it more difficult for law abiding citizens. If the issue was so bad they would suggest restricting government from having them, as well. I wonder what the statistics say on how many government owned firearms are stolen?

This would be shot down by courts, especially the Supreme Court, but, Democrats do not care. It’s essentially a poll tax on a Constitutional right, meant to price law abiding citizens out of their Right.

Read: Good Grief: Democrats Push 1,000% Tax On “Assault Rifles” And Large Capacity Magazines »

Posted in 2nd Amendment | 12 Comments | Trackback URL

Bidenflation Driving Away Some Papa John’s Customers

By William Teach August 5, 2023 – 3:00 pm

I’d assume this is happening to most of the pizza places, regardless of whether they delivery or not

Papa Johns’ prices are driving some customers away

Consumers are pulling back on discretionary spending, and Papa Johns is taking a hit.

Sales at North American locations open at least a year fell 1% in the quarter ending on June 25, compared to the same period last year, dragged down by high prices at the chain’s franchise locations.

“Some of the pricing … had gotten out in front of where the consumer was willing to spend,” said Papa Johns (PZZA) CEO Rob Lynch during a Thursday analyst call discussing the quarterly results. “April was the worst month that we’ve had since I’ve been at Papa Johns (PZZA),” in terms of sales at locations open at least a year, he said. Lynch joined Papa Johns (PZZA) in 2019.

Franchise operators have over the past year “been increasing their prices at a faster rate than our company-owned restaurants” to preserve profit margins as inflation has surged, Lynch said. Inflation has been cooling in recent months, but hit a 40-year high in June of last year. “As a result, they have experienced a larger decline in transactions relative to our company-owned restaurants this past quarter,” he said.

The vast majority, roughly 2,900 out of about 3,400 total North American Papa Johns restaurants, are franchised, according to the company. In general, franchise operators are able to set menu prices themselves, though the company may set a cap on pricing for certain promotions.

At company-owned restaurants open at least a year, sales grew in the quarter, but not enough to offset declines in franchised spots. The chain’s total sales were down 2% year over year in the second quarter.

The Democrat leaning meaning and the Biden admin can yammer all they want about inflation declining, but, the very fact is that prices are still up way above what they were pre-COVID, and even during 2020. It’s really that the rate of price increase has slowed. If I raise your price on a pizza $.50 a month for a year, but, now I’m only going to raise it $.10 this month, well, it’s still going up, just not as much.

Over the past few years (since Biden took office), companies have been hiking prices to promote or protect their own margins as their own costs have gone up. For a while, they said, many shoppers were surprisingly resilient, still buying despite the high prices.

But now, they’re pushing back – and not just at Papa Johns.

Prices of products made by Kraft Heinz (KHC), which include Lunchables, Capri Sun, Philadelphia cream cheese, Oscar Mayer, Kraft Mac and Cheese, Velveeta and other brands, are up about 11% this year.

It means fewer purchases, though the gross profit may look higher due to the inflated prices, the net profit is the same, so the net profit will decrease.

In fairness, you can’t blame this all on Biden: the root cause was China screwing around with Coronaviruses, and letting one out, by accident or intentionally. Then you blame mostly liberals for their lockdowns and such, and some Republicans, including Trump, share some blame. Then Biden comes into office, sees what’s starting to happen, and does, at best, nothing. But, many policies made this all worse, just like in other countries run by Leftists. Certainly, the higher cost of energy, especially fuel, constributes.

Also, all those extra fees will drive consumers away from delivery. If I order a pizza I expect it to be the price of the pizza and tax, maybe a small delivery fee. Then I’ll tip the driver. But, all these extras are put on, so, no. The only time I’ve ordered delivery in at least a decade was when I sick and waiting for the results of my COVID test, not wanting to expose people. That said, remember, the media would 100% be blaming this all on Trump and the Republicans if he was in the White House.

Read: Bidenflation Driving Away Some Papa John’s Customers »

Posted in Economy, Food and Drink, Joe Biden | 2 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach August 5, 2023 – 1:00 pm

…is an area flooded due to extreme weather, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Flopping Aces, with a post on the evidence of Biden’s corruption.

Doubleshot below the fold, check out Gates Of Vienna, with a post on Islam’s “sensitivity” scam.

Read More »

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Democrats Lose Minds After Trump Threat To Come After Them

By William Teach August 5, 2023 – 10:30 am

See, it’s perfectly OK that elected Democrats threaten Republicans, especially Donald Trump. It’s OK that prosecutors and the DOJ threaten to come after Trump, and do come after him. They’ve all made it clear since before he won in 2016 that they were going to come after him

‘I’m coming after you:’ Donald Trump responds to latest arraignment with new threats

As Donald Trump made more threats against opponents in the wake of a third indictment, special counsel Jack Smith asked a judge late Friday for a protective order against the ex-president, seeking to prevent him from publicizing evidence from witnesses.

“All the proposed order seeks to prevent is the improper dissemination or use of discovery materials, including to the public,” Smith said in a late-night court motion, essentially arguing that Trump’s rantings could have a chilling effect on witnesses in the case.

The prosecutor cited an all-caps threat that Trump posted earlier in the day on Truth Social: “IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I’M COMING AFTER YOU.”

Lefties in the media and all sorts of elected Democrats really did lose their minds. They forget that they’ve been doing this to Trump themselves the whole time. And that the response has been the American spirit since the beginning: we’re fine until you mess with us, then we’re coming after you. It’s baked into the writings and sayings of our Founding Fathers, the Federalist papers, and our Declaration of Independence.

I wonder, did any of these same people freak out, or even show mild concern, over Obama saying “If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun.” Have any bothered with all the threats that Biden has made to average citizens?

Read: Democrats Lose Minds After Trump Threat To Come After Them »

Posted in Current Affairs, Donald Trump | 12 Comments | Trackback URL

World Economic Forum Has Ideas On How The World Can Cope With Heatwaves

By William Teach August 5, 2023 – 7:15 am

I’m pretty sure that Humanity has dealt with heatwaves all on it’s own without the input and guidance of Elites laying down the law

Climate change is making heatwaves more intense – here are 7 ways the world can cope

July 2023 is set to be the world’s hottest month ever recorded, with the mean global temperature predicted to be at least 0.2°C above the previous warmest month of July 2019.

Across the globe, temperatures have been breaking records. The mercury in Sanbao township, in China’s dry northwest, broke the national record when it hit 52.2°C. In the Mediterranean, firefighters have been battling wildfires from the Greek island of Rhodes to the coast of Algeria.

“The era of global boiling has arrived,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres has warned. “Climate change is here. It is terrifying. And it is just the beginning.”

Yeah, data only going back to 1979. Let’s see those ideas

Urban greening

Shade standards

Cool places

Strange, it’s hotter in urban areas

Traditional architecture

In the Persian Gulf, a study has found traditional architecture – including narrow alleyways that maximize shadows, internal courtyards and moisture-absorbing, reflective building materials like limestone – can help to cool urban areas. Cape Town and Buenos Aires are putting in place light-coloured and other cooling roofs on public housing.

Passive cooling

A US study found strategies like shading and natural ventilation could reduce pressure on air conditioning by up to 80%. Simulations using weather data from 2021 found these techniques kept temperatures in apartments out of the ‘danger zone’, even without using aircon. It’s thought the findings could be used to establish building codes around operable windows and working shades, to protect renters.

I wonder who’s going to force this?

Appointing Chief Heat Officers

Jane Gilbert became the world’s first Chief Heat Officer in May 2021, and as global temperatures rise it’s becoming an increasingly widespread and important role.

In an interview with the Forum, she says the main priority areas to address are: urban heat island mitigation (vegetative cover, cool pavements and roofs), protecting homes (which includes building safer homes and shelters), plus public education.

Ah, more government Authority to force citizens to do things, especially in the urban areas which get hot. Weird, right?

The uber rich folks in the WEF, who are constantly taking lots of private jets all over the world, also want to name heatwaves. Always have to pimp the scaremongering.

Read: World Economic Forum Has Ideas On How The World Can Cope With Heatwaves »

Posted in AGW Socialism, Global Warming | 2 Comments | Trackback URL

Hot Take: Sec State Tells Russia It’s Bad To Jail The Opposition

By William Teach August 5, 2023 – 7:00 am

The irony detector just exploded

No, really

double standards(AP) A Russian court convicted imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny on charges of extremism and sentenced him to 19 years in prison on Friday. Navalny is already serving a nine-year term on a variety of charges that he says were politically motivated.

The new charges are related to the activities of Navalny’s anti-corruption foundation and statements by his top associates. It was his fifth criminal conviction and his third and longest prison term — all of which his supporters see as a deliberate Kremlin strategy to silence its most ardent opponent. (snip)

It took the judge less than 10 minutes to announce the verdict and the sentence — something that in Russia usually takes hours and even days. The hearing was broadcast to reporters in a separate room, but the judge’s speech was barely audible.

Navalny commented on the sentence in a social media post, presumably relayed through his team, saying that “the number doesn’t matter.”

“I understand perfectly that, as many political prisoners, I’m serving a life sentence, which is measured by the length of my life or the length of life of this regime,” Navalny said, urging his supporters “not to lose the will to resist” in the wake of his sentence.

I wonder how Democrats will respond when Biden is out of office and a Republican prosecutor, or a DOJ run by a Republican president, comes after him? I really would like them to not go after Biden, no matter how shady and criminal he’s been, but, Democrats have set the stage.

Read: Hot Take: Sec State Tells Russia It’s Bad To Jail The Opposition »

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Taylor Swift Concerts Are Now A Concern Of The Climate Cult

By William Teach August 4, 2023 – 3:00 pm

Even though this piece by Nives Dolsak and Aseem Prakash at Forbes is taken from the Warmist point of view, and is rather silly, it actually makes an interesting point

Taylor Swift And Climate Change: Is The Youth “Shaking Off” Or Embracing Carbon-Intensive Lifestyles?

Climate change has emerged as an important issue for the younger generation—that is, Gen Z (born between 1997 and 2012) and Millennials (born between 1981 and 1996). Public opinion polls suggest that these cohorts are more worried about climate change and more supportive of climate policies.

Youth groups have been active in the Friday for Future demonstrations. Across the world, young plaintiffs are suing governments for what they perceive as relative lethargy on climate issues. Young activists are disturbing sporting events, stopping traffic at major highways and vandalizing museums—all with the objective of focusing media attention on climate issues. (snip)

Swift has embarked on a world tour that includes 131 shows across five continents. Tickets to her concerts are (very) expensive, with substantial resale markets. Along with concert tickets and records, Swift sells a range of merchandise on her website from clothing to jewelry.

“It’s simple Taylornomics,” the Wall Street Journal reported. “When Taylor Swift comes to town, Swifties go on a spending spree.” Her fans fill hotels, pack restaurants and crowd local bars.

“Fans who did get tickets spent hundreds of dollars on outfits for the show, hiring designers to recreate looks Swift wore on the red carpet or in music videos,” the WSJ’s Joseph Pisani wrote. “At the concerts, they traded beaded friendship bracelets that spelled out song titles.”

So, basically mass economic activity. The youts take fossil fueled trips to see Taylor, who uses vast amounts of fossil fuels and energy to travel and put on the shows. The kiddies spend lots of money on Fast Fashion, and contribute to capitalism, which they say they despise

We are delighted that the younger generation is having fun. After depressing Covid-19 lockdowns, this is a welcome change. But much of the entertainment seems carbon-intensive, and we find this “consumption as salvation” approach to be disturbing (apart from the moral issue surrounding conspicuous consumption, who can really afford to purchase Swift concert tickets and paraphernalia, especially in Seattle with burgeoning homeless population?).

Bummer.

This raises questions such as whether the climate ethic of the younger generation is any different from that of boomers. Instead of OK-Boomers type of performative environmentalism, it is time to ask the tough question: how to confront our carbon-intensive lifestyles.

Remember, lots of these cult youts complain that it was the older folks, boomers, their parents, their grandparents, Gen X, who brought on the era of global boiling. So, if the kiddies are doing their own thing…how much energy and gas is used so they can travel somewhere to take selfies and do their TikToks in fossil fueled vehicles?…but it’s the same, what of their responsibility? Fast fashion, immense streaming, constantly ordering delivery food, etc?

Some might claim that climate problems are structural and suggest any talk about personal responsibility constitutes “soft denial.” We beg to differ. Individuals have a choice when it comes to entertainment. Why is the younger generation gravitating toward celebrities with very high carbon footprints who flaunt their consumption-oriented lifestyle? Consumption divas such as Kylie Jenner and Kim Kardashian have among the highest number of Instagram followers (397 million and 363 million respectively). Greta Thunberg, in contrast, has only 15 million followers. What does this reveal about the climate priorities of the younger generation?

But, the article just misses, in that they’re trying to call out the Elites, like Swift, who have massive carbon footprints. But, fails to ask why the followers are not practicing what they preach? The article mentions that Seattle stores ran out of plastic beads to make bracelets as Swift came to town. They want Swift to talk about how bad this is, but, what of the kids buying them? They yammer about plastic pollution (which is an environmental issue, unfortunately taken over by the Climate Cult) but are more than will to engage in it.

Read: Taylor Swift Concerts Are Now A Concern Of The Climate Cult »

Posted in Climahypocrites, Global Warming | 2 Comments | Trackback URL
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