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Saturday, October 4, 2025

BFFs

 


Friends, this week's Newsmakers show looks back on my trip to England and all I learned there.  Trump's triumphant visit to Windsor while I was "in country" solidified the "special relationship" we have with the U.K., and of course as an Anglo-American I couldn't be happier.  Meanwhile, Britain itself is undergoing a political transformation, as the two traditional leading parties, Labour and the Conservatives, are in their death throes, and a rising new populist force, Reform, looks set to shine the light of Trumpism on all things British.  Oh boy!  Check out this week's show, and brace yourself for profundity!

 

https://wysl.podbean.com/e/newsmakers-10-4-25/ 

 

The big piece of news this weekend is apparent progress in ending the war in Gaza -- the key word being "apparent", because we've seen this pantomime before.  It usually ends with an apartment building exploding and dissolving into a cloud of dust.  There is quite a bit of exhaustion on both sides, however, so maybe this time will be different?

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c15k199j1x3o 

Wednesday, October 1, 2025

What, Me Worry???

 


Friends, the mainstream media would have you believe -- pretty much all the time, albeit for various and sundry reasons -- that the sky is falling and Depression 2.0 is here!!!  Their latest cause for anxiety is the government shutdown, which has lasted almost 24 hours, as I write this, and not a single world has come to an end.  Hundreds of thousands of federal employees may get the axe, but, if they do, you probably won't notice, because few of them do anything resembling work.  Okay, yes, there are mild inconveniences that start to pile up, if a shutdown becomes protracted, but there may also be benefits, as the federal government gets off our collective back.  Bottom line: the markets, which generally demonstrate a lot more wisdom than politicians and reporters, tend to be unimpressed by, and unconcerned about, government shutdowns.  Today all the major indices went up, not down.  So, if you were to ask whether I'm worried, I would say: heck no!  When the dust settles, and some backroom deal ends this fiscal standoff, my guess is that the economic fallout will be minimal, and virtually no one will have had his mind changed about Trump, Republicans, Democrats, or anything else.  Meanwhile, enjoy the queasy looks on the faces of Beltway bureaucrats.  Anything that gives them angst can't be all bad!

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8xrwdny8p1o 

 

https://www.breitbart.com/economy/2025/10/01/breitbart-business-digest-why-wall-street-and-the-real-economy-yawn-at-shutdowns/