Bill Owens

A truly intriguing article in the Wall Street Journal led with the caption “Mob Suffers Management Troubles”. The story attempts to depict the mob as a business organization that has classic issues with its succession planning, recruitment, and work ethic. It was hard to tell if this was a sarcastic spoof, or serious reporting. Nonetheless, worth the read.

Japan has determined that due to its aging population that it will now identify anyone under 75 as pre-old, a gentle designation. I have informed my friends and family that at 72, I would like to be addressed as pre-old, as well, and I am hoping that that phrase will catch on.

The debate regarding the US debt limit heats up with Republicans led by Mitch McConnell saying that they will not agree to an increase in the debt limit without spending cuts. Democrats are saying this must be a clean bill.

The new Texas anti-abortion law is certainly a travesty for women and those who support choice. But it does pose an interesting potential counter-punch.

There have been a number of recent stories regarding the GOPs increasingly hostile position relative to Afghan refugees. Initially, many GOP members who were bullish on the war and wanted to keep fighting, were clamoring to protect those Afghan’s who had assisted U.S. Troops during this 20-year period. It seems now that the reality is upon them with tens of thousands of refugees coming to the United States, that they are having second thoughts and reverting to Trumpian anti refugee rhetoric.

It appears with the FDA approval of the vaccines that there has been some initial indication that more people are willing to get vaccinated. This was a big stumbling block for many and hopefully vaccinations will increase.

The Census Bureau recently announced that the percentage of white Americans was less than the percentage of non-white Americans for the first time in our history. The impact of this change will be sweeping over time and could well be the beginning of the evolution of American politics. It has long-been my belief that the key to a more democratic America is not through term limits, or even the elimination of gerrymandering, but rather, it will be through the natural progression of what one can hope will turn into virtually every Congressional and State legislative district becoming purple.

The inflation report this week reflected the CPI for July showed a jump of 5.4% in line with expectations of 5.3%. Core prices rose 4.3%. Mr. Powell is continuing to say these increases are post COVID events that would slow down.