Today presents yet another example of lunacy from the political left as Democrat Senator Corey Booker declares he is Spartacus; except he isn’t – not even a little bit.
Using his best dramatic voice Booker said he would “knowingly” violate Senate rules to release emails marked “committee confidential” showing that nominee Brett Kavanaugh discussed racial profiling as a White House lawyer in 2002.
Playing to the television audience Booker declared his bravery and referred to his actions as an act of “civil disobedience”.  Saying: “This is about the closest I’ll probably ever have in my life to an, ‘I am Spartacus’ moment.”  ::Dun-Dun-Duh:::

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Except, what dramatic Booker failed to mention was the super-secret Kavanaugh emails he was bravely releasing were, well,… already cleared for release.
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President Trump, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and House Speaker Paul Ryan have teamed up this summer to do something that hasn’t happened in two decades — write and pass department spending bills instead of lumping everything into a massive package. … [W]hile Congress has taken the votes, many on Capitol Hill are giving Trump and his team the credit for breaking the 20-year log jam. They cite his refusal to sign another massive “omnibus” spending bill that ignored his priorities, even if it means shutting down the government.
“This is all driven by the president,” said a key congressional insider. “It’s a win for the president. For 20 years this system has been busted.” (source)

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[Transcript] 3:35 P.M. EDT – THE PRESIDENT: So thank you very much. I want to thank members of the House and Senate leadership for joining us today to discuss the September legislative agenda, including how we can responsibly fund the government, protect American taxpayers, and defend American security.
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This is epic.  Must Watch.  Missouri Republican Representative Billy Long falls back on his prior job skills to shut down a disrupting protester.  Then comes the best part:

“I yield back”…

Some days ya just gotta laugh. Thank you Mr. Long, that moment will be long remembered.

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From a pure economic/financial perspective this Nike  branding campaign doesn’t make sense…. unless, you realize a much bigger picture. A hidden bigger picture.

On its face, it just seems absurd. Why would any major corporation intentionally stake out a branding position that is adverse to their financial interests?
I’ve spoken to some very excellent business actuaries on this late today; and one specific conversation finally helped to make it all make sense.  During that conversation a good ally shared: “a multinational corporation would never make a branding decision adverse to their financial interests. Unless there is a hidden risk unrelated to what is visible on the surface.” ….BINGO, there it is, the lightbulb went on.
A hidden risk that likely has nothing whatsoever to do with Colin Kaepernick.
The bigger risk to Nike has nothing to do with Black Lives Matter, U.S. Consumers, or Antifa-like political advocacy. The bigger financial risk to the Nike Corporation has everything to do with geopolitics and a reset of international trade agreements.
Here’s the hidden aspect with research to back it up.  Nike Inc. has hitched its massive corporate existence to a 10-year business plan that is dependent on the continuance of recently negotiated manufacturing contracts.
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During the senate confirmation hearing today the full antics of the Democrat political apparatus were on display.  One of their choreographed and manufactured moments happened when a man named Fred Guttenberg was staged to shake the hand of Judge Kavanaugh during one of the recess breaks.  SEE VIDEO:

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Fred Guttenberg is one of the parents from the February Parkland High School shooting, a Democrat and a gun control proponent.  Judge Brett Kavanaugh, like most of America, had no idea who the guy was who was trying to grab him.  It was an entirely staged event put on by Senator Dianne Feinstein, the Democrat party, and coordinated with prior notification to media to anticipate the moment.
Here’s how it was scripted.
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From the first moment the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing began to confirm Supreme Court Nominee Brett Kavanaugh, the insane influence of the far-left political apparatus was obvious.  As screaming protesters responded to the cues of Democrats on the committee the coordination and optics were transparent. Creating chaos and crisis is a typical Alinsky political strategy to advance left-wing causes.
The childish antics, visible rage and unhinged behavior will backfire in a significant manner.  Don’t look away; these crazy ideologues are the people who are trying to win the 2018 election.  Imagine if they ever had political power again.

Unfortunately, when the hecklers in the audience began screaming out of control, it became unsafe for Judge Kavenaugh’s children to remain in the Senate Chamber.  His two young daughters, Margaret (13) and Liza (10), were rushed from the hearing room under armed guard for their safety and protection.  “It was very unpleasant for young children,” said one insider.  More than 22 people have been arrested so far.
This is the modern Democrat party.
Do not look away.  This is their authentic nature.
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Arizona Senator Jon Kyl retired in 2013.  Today he was appointed by Arizona Governor Doug Ducey to fill-in the absent Arizona Senate Seat formerly occupied by John McCain. Kyl has accepted the interim Senate seat only through this congressional session ending in January 2019.
Due to party political considerations; due to the overall corrupt ideology of the Arizona GOPe political apparatus; and due the customary illusion of choice; Arizona is not holding an election for a permanent replacement until 2020. Without Kyl agreeing to an extension, that means Arizona will have another interim Senator appointed for the next congressional year, beginning January 2019.
Now things make sense. This plan has obviously been in place for a while. Senator Jon Kyl was the Republican whip for a number of years in the senate, and also served as Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s guide taking Kavanaugh through the confirmation meetings with current senators.
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U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer has submitted a regulatory 90-day notification to congress outlining the intent to modify the U.S. trade deal with Mexico according to mutually agreed terms.
However, the Canadian trade priorities; including retention of protectionist tariffs (dairy) and non-regulatory barriers (telecom/banking); in combination with subsidies (lumber/aeronautics), make Canada joining the deal almost impossible.

Canada is scheduled to meet with Lighthizer again on Wednesday, but it seems very doubtful the political needs for Justin Trudeau would allow any three-way agreement.
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Well this is troubling on many levels.  According to a responsive filing from the FISA Court (full pdf below), there wasn’t any hearing on the sketchy FISA application submitted by the DOJ/FBI to conduct FISA Title-1 surveillance on Carter Page.
Even more disturbing, according to the secret court, it is customary to just accept and review the FISA applications as presented without judicial inquiry into the content.

(link to pdf)

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch today announced that in response to a Judicial Watch Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit, the Justice Department (DOJ) admitted in a court filing last night that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court held no hearings on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) spy warrant applications targeting Carter Page, a former Trump campaign part-time advisor who was the subject of four controversial FISA warrants.  (read more)

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The financial media is all a flutter based on a Bloomberg report that President Trump is likely to apply tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods.  DUH !  Why do they think U.S.T.R. Lighthizer has been conducting open section 301 tariff hearings for the past week?  Of course President Trump is considering tariffs on $200 billion in trade goods; this approach is not exactly a secret.
Then again, most of the financial media are clueless about the larger economic strategy and how China ties into the negotiations with North Korea.  I digress.

The proposed tariffs are a supplemental action in response to China’s unfair trade practices related to technology transfer, intellectual property, and innovation, based on the findings in USTR’s investigation of China under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. Tariffs on $34 billion in goods from China are currently in effect, and tariffs on an additional $16 billion took effect on August 23rd, 2018.
The issue is not *if* President Trump will apply the 301-tariffs, the question is *how* and *when*?
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