May 8, 2024

NO, THEY’RE JUST ON THE OTHER SIDE: THE CAMPUS INTIFADAS ARE NOT ANTI-WAR PROTESTS.

Related:

Also: Hezbollah Leader Praises Campus protesters.

And: Why Are Pro-Palestine Protesters Heckling Holocaust Survivors? “The question answers itself, no? This isn’t about a two-state solution or some formula for mutual accommodation. These protesters want Israel annihilated. They aren’t pro-Palestinian, they are pro-Hamas. And that’s precisely what they should be called too, especially when targeting Jews like this.”

Plus:

Unconditional surrender is the only way.

Posted at 12:00 pm by Glenn Reynolds

DECOUPLING: US revokes some export licenses for China’s Huawei.

The move comes after the release last month of Huawei’s first AI-enabled laptop, the MateBook X Pro powered by Intel’s (INTC.O), opens new tab new Core Ultra 9 processor.

The laptop launch drew fire from Republican lawmakers, who suggested the Commerce Department had given the green light to Intel to sell the chip to Huawei.

The revocations come after a years-long review of the U.S. policy on what U.S. goods and technology could be shipped to Huawei, a flagship Chinese company viewed as a national security threat.

They could hamper Huawei’s recently resurgent revenue, and also hurt U.S. suppliers that have been allowed to do business with the company.

Nobody ever said decoupling would be easy, cheap, or fun.

Posted at 11:42 am by Stephen Green

SOMEBODY GETS IT:

The funny part is that Code Pink made and posted this video as if it’s some kind of burn on Mast.

Posted at 10:40 am by Stephen Green

BUT THEY’RE FROM THE GOVERNMENT AND THEY WERE HERE TO HELP: Chemicals in car interiors may cause cancer — and they’re required by US law.

Approximately 124 million Americans commute each day, spending an average of an hour in their cars.

By federal law, the interior of these vehicles are required to contain flame retardants, or chemicals that make it harder for them to combust in a crash.
These chemicals have been a legally mandated part of modern cars since the 1970s, when the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) passed a law requiring their use.

It’s arguable how effective this protection is.

Patrick Morrison, of the International Association of Firefighters, said in a statement on the study that these chemicals do little to prevent blazes — but instead simply make them “smokier and more toxic.”

What the study conclusively demonstrates is that any such protection comes at a price… All three chemicals are linked to reproductive and neurological problems — particularly because they don’t stay in the fabrics they’re woven into.

“There are no solutions. There are only trade-offs,” the wise man once wrote. The problem with the government’s heavy hand is that it mandates simple solutions while ignoring complex trade-offs.

Posted at 9:38 am by Stephen Green

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: Stormy Weather — Merchan No Longer Biggest Sleazebag in His Courtroom. “I can assure you that tawdry isn’t a regular part of my vocabulary. In fact, I don’t think it’s ever even popped into my head unless I’ve just read it somewhere. These perverters of justice who are going after Trump are some major league scumbags, though.”

Posted at 9:07 am by Stephen Green

HMM: Warren Buffett’s $56 Billion Silent Warning to Wall Street May Portend Trouble for Stocks.

Although Warren Buffett has consistently shied away from offering negative takes on the U.S. economy and/or stock market during his nearly six-decade tenure as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, $56 billion of net-equity security sales over an 18-month stretch speaks volumes without the Oracle of Omaha having to say a word.

The culprit for this consistent net-selling activity looks to be a historically pricey stock market and the irrational behavior of some of its participants.

In Buffett’s annual letter to shareholders that was released in February, he had this to say about the “casino-like behavior” he wants no part of:

“Though the stock market is massively larger than it was in our early years, today’s active participants are neither more emotionally stable nor better taught than I was in school. For whatever reasons, markets now exhibit far more casino-like behaviors than they did when I was young. The casino now resides in many homes and daily tempts the occupants.”

At the end of the day, Warren Buffett and his team want a fair deal on a great business, and they aren’t willing to waiver from this ideal. As the S&P 500’s Shiller price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio shows, there simply aren’t many good deals at the moment.

There’s nothing wrong with buying into a bubble, provided you know when to get out. Buffett has exited to the tune of $56 billion.

Posted at 8:36 am by Stephen Green

FINALLY, THE TRUTH CAN BE TOLD!

Posted at 8:35 am by Ed Driscoll