“A common complaint about Germany is that it lacks a ‘dare to fail’ culture for innovation. On Monday, German politicians helped counter that perception. The country’s unpopular leader, Olaf Scholz, gladly led a vote in parliament to dissolve his government. One reason for the downfall of his three-party coalition: The world’s fourth-largest economy has lost its competitive edge in manufacturing, reflected in Europe’s biggest carmaker, Volkswagen, planning its first factory closures in its 87-year history. A snap election is expected Feb. 23. The campaign will provide a window on how a country struggles to make a mental shift to become more creative and more open to taking risks and developing new ideas as it addresses a new fear: deindustrialization. Often enough, Germany’s 84 million people have heard promises on the many ways to speed up innovation, from lessening red tape to improving universities.” (12/16/24)
“The establishment is up in arms because Donald Trump nominated Tulsi Gabbard to be Director of National Intelligence, and I must admit something – I probably don’t agree with some of the things Tulsi allegedly thinks. I’m generally more hawkish, and she’s generally more dovish. Now, we have to put things in perspective, because what regime media says about Tulsi Gabbard and her beliefs probably has nothing to do with Tulsi Gabbard or her beliefs. But let’s suspend disbelief for a moment – and that’s going to take a lot of suspending – and assume that the regime media is being honest and that she has a quirky foreign policy perspective that rejects the mainstream consensus about dictators like Vladimir Putin and former dictators/rogue ophthalmologists like Bashar al-Assad. If true, that is a good thing.” (12/16/24)
“A tornado touched down in Santa Cruz County on Saturday, downing trees and flipping over cars, the National Weather Service’s Bay Area office confirmed after surveying the scene. At 1:39 p.m. on Saturday, the tornado touched down at the intersection of Mount Hermon Road and Lockewood Lane in Scotts Valley, a town about an hour south of San Francisco. It continued southeast for .31 miles, ripping branches from trees, downing power lines and overturning several cars, with maximum wind speeds of 90 mph. It petered out around Kings Village Road after five minutes, the weather service estimated. In the aftermath of the stunning weather event, both Scotts Valley police and California Highway Patrol issued traffic alerts, initially believing a multi-vehicle crash had taken place at the Scotts Valley Square Shopping Center. Those alerts were later corrected to note the cause of the flipped cars was a tornado.” (12/15/24)
“Democrats are still reeling from the shock of losing to Donald Trump for the second time in the past three elections. There’s quite a bit of finger-pointing and soul-searching taking place, with both journalists and activists writing ‘autopsies’ to understand both the reasons for the defeat and what lessons can be learned moving forward. I would be more supportive and less skeptical about the merits of some of these exercises were it not for two reasons. In the first place, most of these autopsies will be focused too narrowly on this election, as if the problems we are facing just emerged this year. Secondly, if past is prologue, these ‘studies’ will most likely be read by a few, then shelved and forgotten.” (12/16/24)
“The late Richard J. Daley famously declared that ‘we as Democrats have no apologies to make to anyone.’ That doctrine seems still to be alive and well with many in the party when it comes to President-elect Trump. After ABC News and its anchor George Stephanopoulos apologized to Trump last week to settle a defamation lawsuit, many Democrats were apoplectic. Marc Elias, the controversial lawyer involved in the funding of the infamous Steele dossier by the Clinton campaign, denounced ABC News for bending a knee to Trump. He then trolled for contributions for his own organization as ‘unapologetically pro-democracy.’ Of course, ABC was not apologizing for advancing democracy but for alleged defamation.” (12/16/24)
“Mexico’s anti-monopoly regulators on Monday imposed special conditions for a period of 10 years on Walmart’s Mexico subsidiary for allegedly pressuring suppliers. The decision follows a related $4.6 million fine handed down by the regulators, known as the Federal Competition Commission, for alleged monopolistic practices. Walmart de Mexico said last week it plans to appeal the fine. The company did not immediately comment on Monday’s announcement. The Federal Competition Commission said Walmart must refrain from pressuring suppliers to grant it any discounts offered to competitors, among other things. ‘For 13 years, Walmart used its market power to impose abusive conditions on its suppliers, gaining illegal advantages over its competitors,’ the commission wrote in a statement.” (12/16/24)
“Our richest have in 2024 enjoyed their best year ever. No other nation’s deepest pockets have watched their fortunes grow as large or as fast. Elon Musk, of course, perfectly embodies this unprecedented surge in the personal wealth of America’s wealthiest. Musk has entered 2024’s last two weeks with a net worth spilling past $450 billion, nearly half a trillion dollars. Over the last 12 months, the Bloomberg Billionaires Index neatly notes, Musk’s wealth has doubled. But Musk’s good fortune hardly rates as unique. Amazon’s Jeff Bezos is sitting on a quarter-trillion personal fortune, and the Facebook-driven net worth of Mark Zuckerburg has jumped comfortably over $200 billion as well. Of the world’s 15 largest personal fortunes, 14 currently belong to Americans. All these 14 will be stepping into 2025 with at least $100 billion in personal assets.” (12/16/24)
“Good riddance to FBI Director Chris Wray. A pretty boy who perfected the art of stonewalling at congressional oversight hearings and treated the FBI airplane like his luxury private jet, he has presided over some of the worst injustices in the bureau’s history. He sapped public trust and brought the mighty bureau to its knees. Now he has bowed to the inevitable, announcing last week that he will be stepping down two years and nine months shy of his 10-year term. He’s getting out before the arrival of Kash Patel, the tough-minded 44-year-old Deep State warrior chosen by Donald Trump to reform the world’s most powerful law enforcement agency, pending Senate approval. Of course, Wray, 57, was criticized by the likes of disgraced ex-CIA Director John Brennan for resigning early. They wanted him to force a showdown with Trump that would give new ammunition for resistance media.” (12/15/24)
“Iran’s National Security Council has paused the implementation of the controversial ‘hijab and chastity law,’ which had been due to come into force on Friday. President Massoud Pezeshkian called the legislation ‘ambiguous and in need of reform,’ signalling his intention to reassess its measures. The proposed new law — which would introduce harsher punishments for women and girls for exposing their hair, forearms or lower legs — had been heavily criticised by rights activists. The strict dress codes imposed on women and girls, which have been treated as a national security priority by the rulers of the Islamic Republic of Iran for decades, have previously triggered protests. Under the new law, repeat offenders and anyone who mocked the rules would face heavier fines and longer prison sentences of up to 15 years in jail. It would also mandate that businesses report anyone who violates the rules.” (12/16/24)
“Paraguayan authorities arrested 26 people in a crackdown on suspected illegal deforestation along the country’s border with Brazil and Argentina, Interpol announced Monday. Fourteen different agencies collaborated in the mid-October sweep, which relied on border inspections, waterway surveillance and aerial monitoring of forests. Some 1,000 logs were seized, including some quebracho wood, prized for its density and high tannin content, Interpol said. Interpol said 12 companies were involved in the alleged deforestation and trafficking of native tree species, and that it identified two criminal networks. A spokesman said alleged crimes include illegal logging of various tree species, illicit trafficking of timber, use of fake documents to traffic in illegal wood, and various acts of deforestation. He said the delay in announcing the arrests was in part to allow for follow-up investigation.” (12/16/24)
