The Schloss-Blog has been watching tariffs, their impact, threats of tariffs and their impact, trade negotiations and their (lack of) impact and has concluded that the impact is, will be, higher prices and definitely a lack of consumer confidence in the economy (inflation) and in the president's approval rating.
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But we start with best thing I saw on social media this week: NYU Professor Scott Galloway; "I guess Melania’s dream of a Ph.D. in Applied Physics from Harvard is off the table."
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Now then, back to the abnormal: a Mexican Navy ship, in a training sail, hit the Brooklyn Bridge.
The freakin' Brooklyn Bridge.
What up, Mexico? One of your tall, training ships is in New York, doing training sails. What is up with that?
I mean, do U.S. tall training ships sail out of Mexican ports? Which ones?
But still, the ARM Cuauhtémoc hit the Brooklyn Bridge in the night on a training voyage that left two Mexican sailors dead.
And what is up with dangerous transportation in the U.S. these days? Newark Liberty Airport can't keep the lights on, so to speak, with air traffic controllers losing power - twice - leaving them virtually blind for 90 seconds at a time and leaving pilots in the air the same. It got so bad that some air traffic controllers, overwhelmed in anxiety, had to step away from their posts, too distraught to continue.
Why is all this happening during the current administration? Because the administration is cutting every budget it can find, leaving U.S. government agencies that are supposed to help people unable to do just that.
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Trump is threatening more tariffs, against Apple (25%), unless they start building more iPhones in the U.S., and against the EU (50%), because they're not very nice.
No, jk - the trade negotiations with the EU are going nowhere, which means the president isn't getting the terms he wants to balance out the U.S. trade imbalance with the EU.
And he likely never will, as the EU is saying that any "deal" must be based on "respect, not tariffs."
As for Apple, experts caution that it would take as much as a decade to build up the manufacturing capacity necessary to hit the landmarks in production that the president wants.
Ain't gonna' happen.
Apple isn't afraid of the tariffs and knows its loyal customers will be happy to absorb any price increase tariffs cause rather than having to invest the overwhelming amounts necessary to build manufacturing facilities.
Looks like those Truth Social posts will be coming on a Samsung from now on.
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Liam Hendricks, a Boston Red Sox pitcher, has been receiving death threats, he reports, againt himself and even his wife, mostly over recent performances that fans see as beyond disappointing.
Maybe they should stop losing so much money on fantasy baseball and other gambling avenues on what has been a mediocre Red Sox team so far this season.
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In Arizona, four fifth-graders, 10- and 11-year olds, have been charged with plotting murder against another student, including a detailed plot to kill him, wipe the murder weapon clean and draft a note that would've made it look like a suicide.
At Legacy Traditional School West Surprise (Surprise, AZ), a Phoenix suburb, the alleged would-be murder suspects planned to lure the intended victim to an "outside" bathroom and commit the act.
Trump has said he will issue pardons for these poor, misguided kids whose parents, he notes, have done a great job raising them.
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If that astounds you, in New York City, a crypto investor from Italy was kidnapped and tortured for weeks in a Manhattan townhouse in an elite neighborhood by other crypto traders who were trying to get his password to gain access to his crypto account.
No, really.
The man eventually escaped and actually ran down a New York City traffic officer, who helped alert police and his kidnapping abusers have been arrested.
They were charged, among other things, with being stupid.
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**A 14th arrest since last July was made on gun-related charges in the parking lot of a Top Golf location in Naperville, Illinois. What is up with that?
**Speaking of, "What's up?" George Wendt passed away this week. He'll be missed. Chicago native. R.I.P. Known for his roles in Bears fans sketches and of course on "Cheers."
**NFL players in the Olympics in 2028, playing flag football. Justin Jefferson. Ja'marr Chase. Lamar Jackson. Who's going to beat them? NFL football and flag football are different animals, so be careful, NFL athletes. You can be beaten.
**Caitlin Clark is a great player who has changed how women's basketball is played and viewed. However, she does not get fouled on every time she misses a shot, as she would have fans and refs believe.
**R.I.P. to the Israel embassy staffers killed at a reception in Washington, D.C, in an ambush. We live in a crazy country in a crazy world. Crazy. Violence breaks out anywhere. Antisemitism is rampant.
We start with best thing I saw on social media this week: NYU Professor Scott Galloway, after Trump declared he would block international students from enrolling at Harvard: "I guess Melania’s dream of a Ph.D. in Applied Physics from Harvard is off the table."
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Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, George Wendt.
More Sunday night on my Radio Free Phoenix rock 'n' roll show.
