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In 87 percent of earnings calls this season, CEOs used the word "uncertainty" to describe the economic outlook. Is there any finance trend we can be sure of in this age of on again off again tariffs and off the cuff economic strategies? Yes. Grift. Kids may not find as many dolls under the tree this holiday season, but every day is Christmas for the Trumps. "While American kids surrender their dolls, Trump is charging $20 million a pop for people to have dinner with him. One international trucking logistics firm is spending as much as that on Trump coins (it’s issuing debt to buy the crypto), because it believes that 'the addition of the Official Trump tokens' will help it 'advocate for fair, balanced, and free trade between Mexico and the US' At the same time, an investment firm in the United Arab Emirates announced that it is making a $2 billion investment using Trump’s stablecoins, another crypto scheme the president’s family is running ... While other American kids face a pencil quota, Don Jr. must provide for his children with billions from the Persian Gulf — which Trump reportedly plans to rename the 'Arabian Gulf' at the request of his sponsors. Trump and his family aren’t the only ones exploiting his presidency for personal profit. As the Post has reported, government messages from the State Department and U.S. embassies have pushed foreign countries to approve Starlink, the satellite business of the world’s wealthiest man, Trump sidekick Elon Musk, who also gets to pressure leaders in private meetings." Dana Milbank in WaPo(Gift Article): As the world goes to hell, Trump is living his best life. (It's good to be the king.)
+ Frank Bruni in the NYT (Gift Article): Five Pencils for You. Infinite Luxuries for the Trumps. "Around the same time last week that President Trump decreed two dolls to be plenty for a child in our tariff-turvy country, his son Eric was many time zones away, supping at the trough of excess. In gilded Dubai, he celebrated plans for a $1 billion, 80-story Trump International Hotel and Tower there. That characteristically understated edifice — with what Eric called “the tallest swimming pool in the world” — will undoubtedly make the Trump patriarch and the Trump progeny shine richer than ever. As will so much else that the gluttonous Gotrocks are up to, frenziedly capitalizing on their political capital. Five pencils may be adequate for an American pupil — that was the allotment that President Trump advised, given the wages of his trade wars — but no number of billions is enough for him and his avaricious brood." (There's actually a pretty obvious win-win here. We just need to put a tariff on avariciousness.)
+ It turns out that these kind of cash conflicts are an area where many cabinet member thrive. WSJ (Gift Article): How RFK Jr. Is Boosting ‘Food Babe’ and Other MAHA Acolytes. "HHS secretary elevates lightly regulated wellness companies and allows advisers to keep investments, after vowing to end conflicts." You might laugh at MAHA, but MAHA is laughing all the way to the bank.
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Thirst Trap
"Each time you ask an AI chatbot to summarize a lengthy legal document or conjure up a cartoon squirrel wearing glasses, it sends a request to a data center and strains an increasingly scarce resource: water." To make matters worse, it almost seems like the people building the data centers used AI to find the locations where that water was already the most scarce. Bloomberg (Gift Article): AI Is DrainingWater From Areas That Need It Most. "As tech firms have pushed to develop new data centers to support cutting-edge AI systems, they’ve increasingly turned to states and countries with ample energy resources and favorable regulations, according to experts. What those places often lack, however, is an abundant supply of water."
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Apostles, Disciples, and Followers
On social media, Pope Leo XIV has shared criticism of Trump and Vance over policies. As Tina Nguyen reports in The Verge, "Leo XIV is the first pope with an online footprint, and it’s already defining his papacy… which is weird." Why am I internet-stalking the pope?
+ Social media use isn't the only way the new pontiff is an everyman. Pope Leo Watched Conclave and Played Wordle Before Being Elected Pontiff.
+ Many observers are expressing relief that the Church went with a more reform-minded selection. Not everyone is happy. Clergy molestation survivors concerned and insulted by election of Pope Leo XIV. There's black smoke. There's white smoke. But there's always this smokescreen. (On this topic, the Church and the White House seem aligned: Trump Justice Dept. sides with Catholic Church to fight law requiring priests to report abuse.)
+ One of the odd things about having an American Pope from Chicago, is that people get to talk about things like which baseball team he roots for. WSJ (Gift Article): The Real Mystery Surrounding Pope Leo: Cubs Disciple or White Sox Believer? (The new pope is a White Sox fan. So you know he cares for the wretched and believes all are redeemable.)
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Weekend Whats
What to Mark: Conan O'Brien received the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor right after Trump took over The Kennedy Center. That made for some weird timing, and some remarkable humor. Sarah Silverman, David Letterman, John Mulaney, and especially Conan himself, were ready to meet the moment. On Netflix: Conan O'Brien: The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.
+ What to Watch: Tina Fey, Steve Carell, Colman Domingo and others turned Alan Alda's movie, The Four Seasons, into a bingeable, 8 episode series on Netflix. The Four Seasons.
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Extra, Extra
Dimming Israelight? "I have no doubt that, generally speaking, the Israeli people continue to see themselves as steadfast allies of the American people — and vice versa. But this ultranationalist, messianic Israeli government is not America’s ally. Because this is the first government in Israel’s history whose priority is not peace with more of its Arab neighbors and the benefits that greater security and coexistence would bring. Its priority is the annexation of the West Bank, the expulsion of the Palestinians of Gaza and the re-establishment there of Israeli settlements." Tom Friedman in NYT (Gift Article): This Israeli Government Is Not Our Ally. (Friedman gives a lot of credit for standing up to Bibi to the guy who repeatedly suggested clearing Gaza and developing a new real estate project there.) Gershom Gorenberg in The Atlantic (Gift Article): Israel Plunges Into Darkness.
+ White (Inbound) Flight: "Although the president halted virtually all other refugee admissions shortly after he took office in January, his administration hastily put together a program to allow in white South Africans, who he claims have been the victims of racial persecution in their home country." (Give this administration points for transparent clarity.) Related: Trump Administration Fires Librarian of Congress. "Dr. Carla D. Hayden was the first African American and the first woman to serve as the head of the Library of Congress."
+ The Brink: Residents stockpile food, rush to bunkers as conflict rattles India and Pakistan.
+ Pirromaniac: Jan 6 and Nazi sympathizer fan Ed Martin was dropped from consideration to be the US Attorney in DC. Instead, Trump Named Fox News’ Jeanine Pirro Acting US Attorney General. (Martin will "join the Department of Justice in another capacity as Associate Deputy Attorney General and pardon attorney.")
+ Dread the Spread: "The increase ... stems from continued exposures and transmission among individuals who have not been immunized." Hey, we found some common ground with Canada. Ontario reports 200 new measles cases as province struggles to contain outbreak.
+ Souter: "David H. Souter, a New Hampshire Republican who was named to the Supreme Court by President George H.W. Bush and who over 19 years on that bench became a mainstay of the court’s shrinking liberal wing, died on Thursday at his home in New Hampshire. He was 85."
+ Tarheel Thyself: "The University of North Carolina issued a statement Friday saying Bill Belichick's girlfriend is a welcome guest at football facilities after reports claimed she had been banned by the school." (This situation is going to get a lot weirder and a lot worse. And you can bet, before long, a certain someone is going to chime in on Truth Social.)
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Feel Good Friday
"The Food and Drug Administration approved the United States’ first at-home cervical cancer screening tool on Friday, a decision that stands to give women an accessible alternative to Pap smears, which many find painful or traumatic."
+ Kenya More Than Doubled Electricity Access Over A Decade.
+ Daughter says mom ‘gave me life twice’