NATIONAL FINANCIAL AWARENESS DAY UPDATES

Count Your Pennies and Remember the Magic Words "Compound Interest!"

-The massive Zoom calls for the Harris-Walz campaign continued yesterday, as over 60,000 logged on to a Republicans for Harris call to hear from Never Trumpers and others who are now working to defeat MAGA Republican nominee Old Weird Convicted Felon Ex-President Trump (R-apist). That stacks on to the tens of thousands of people that have logged on for organizing and fundraising since Harris replaced Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee - all of which have gone on without a technological hitch.

-Pop culture will be the next wave of Harris calls, with one scheduled call set up for Deadheads for Harris (Al Franken will be a featured guest on that one), a second featuring Jewish Women for Kamala (Barbara Streisand being rumored to be on that call), and one that is likely to be slightly larger than both of those combined, Swifties for Harris (no word on if Taylor will make that one, though it is scheduled after her final European tour performances).

-The technological issue came up because of the train wreck that was Trump's "appearance" on the denigrated social media site formerly known as Twitter helmed by their CEO, the kinda-dangerous weirdo Elon Musk. As mentioned yesterday, the call took more than 40 minutes to get online and then was mostly known for Trump's voice - a lispy, slurring, stumbling mess, which (depending on your cultural reference) made him sound like Sylvester the Cat, Foster Brooks, Rudy Giuliani, or your grandfather waking up in the morning before he gets his full upper denture plate in. Trump, of course, claimed it was a "RECORD audience" and uploaded a cleaned-up version of the two-hour yapfest if anyone wants to hear it.

-Trump also continues to cocoon rather than campaign. He only has one scheduled event in the next two weeks - an appearance in the suddenly-swing-state of North Carolina this week - in contrast to 2016 where Trump would barnstorm from rally to rally, often two a day in the summer and fall. That is in addition to his ranting and clear anger over the crowds Harris is drawing at her rallies, going so far as to charge Harris used CGI special effects to create a non-existent overflow rally crowd in Eau Clair, WI last week. (I personally know at least two people who were at that rally and can confirm neither of them are digital avatars, nor were the others who they saw at that rally).

-That the mainstream news media are not chaining these events together to at least ask whether Trump has maybe one or two of the kinds of aging issues they used to help drive Biden out of the race makes it imperative to mention them whenever possible even as Big Mo remains on the side of Harris and Walz.

-This morning's inflation numbers also appear to be good news for the final weeks of the campaign, as the 2.9% rate (lowest since 2021!) will play well with pressure on the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates, which in turn should allow for unfreezing of the housing market for the first time in several months. That news has, of course, triggered more discussion in the mainstream media about potential recession fears, though no recession will hit before Election Day and none of the leading economic indicators are actually moving down - just "fears" that said indicators "now could" start going down.

-That momentum also appeared to continue through another wave of primaries last night, particularly up there in WI, in which two ballot issues pushed by the MAGA GOP that would have gutted the power of Governors, especially if said Governors were Democratic, were overwhelmingly rejected. Elsewhere, Squad Rep. Ilhan Omar easily beat a primary challenge in her district of WI, and abortion rights ballot initiatives were approved for the swing state of AZ and the state of MO, where carpetbagging cowardly fisting insurrectionist Josh Hawley (lives in VA, uses his sister's address to campaign in MO) is facing a well-funded challenge from Democrat Lucas Kunce.

-Add to that continued strong polling for Harris Walz in every named swing state (noting that, y'know, polling), news of aggressive ad purchases for Harris Walz while MAGAGOP's spending is being cut back on some Senate races (in particular OH, where incumbent Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown was a primary target) and rumblings that both FL (with abortion rights and legal marijuana on the ballot) and OH (where Trump VP JD Vance is immensely unpopular and a ballot initiative that could end the severe MAGAGOP gerrymandering in that state) may be in play, and, well, KEEP WORKING to register, protect the ballot, protect the count, and VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE!!

-Or, as Tim Walz described it yesterday at a speech in front of AFSCME, "Hope is a great word and a beautiful name, but it's not a damn plan. We can't hope that we can win to defeat Donald Trump. You don't hope to win. You plan, prepare, and work to win!"

-Meanwhile, the surprise offensive by Ukraine into Russia continues this morning. Another 10 km of territory has been taken, and international news outlets confirm reports from Ukraine that Russian forces are being removed from positions inside Ukraine to be repositioned to try to potentially retake territory around the city of Kursk. This morning, video shows airfields where Russian missiles have been launched to attack Ukrainian cities are now being attacked by Ukrainian drones, and some Ukrainian sources confirm that one potential goal of the counteroffensive is to have Russian territory ready to swap should peace negotiations begin in the next several months (to say nothing of new vulnerabilities in the front lines). Whether Ukraine has the manpower to exploit any openings remains to be seen, as well as any possible political fallout in Russia where Vladimir Putin's image of being the protector of the motherland is now exposed as literally untrue ...

-SLAVA UKRAINI!

-To wrap, we give you what was apparently supposed to be a threat from fading Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell ... "Let's assume our worst nightmare - the Democrats get the White House, the House, the Senate. The first thing they'll do is get rid of the filibuster, and you'll have two new states: DC, Puerto Rico. That's four new Democratic senators in perpetuity."

-Good dream, right? Then finish this Update and GET TO WORK!

-On this date in 1900, the Boxer Rebellion was crushed by an international force in China. On this date in 1941, Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt issued the Atlantic Charter, building an allyship that would help win World War II in Europe. On this date in 1945, Japan surrendered, ending World War II. On this date in 1980, dock workers in Gdansk, Poland, went on strike, starting the Solidarity movement. On this date in 1985, Michael Jackson purchased publishing rights of the songs of The Beatles. And on this date in 2003, a blackout triggered by a power plant failure in northern Ohio swept across the Eastern seaboard.

-Debuts on this date: A book issued by a printing press (1457), Social Security (1935), Pakistan (1947), A PLACE IN THS SUN (1951), WHO'S NEXT (1971). Stiff Records (1976), a new purple color named after Prince (2017).

-Happy Birthday to Doc Holliday, Ernest Thayer, John Ringling, Wellington Mara, Alice Ghostley, Russell Baker, Buddy Greco, Lina Wertmuller, Louise Slaughter, Thomas Meehan, Earl Weaver, Trevor Bannister, Dash Crofts, Tom Eyen, David Crosby, Ben Sidran, Steve Martin, Wim Wenders, Antonio Fargas, Larry Graham Jr., Susan Saint James, Danielle Steel, Bruce Thomas, Bob Backlund, Gary Larson, James Horner, Mark Fidrych, Rusty Wallace, Jackee Haray, Magic Johnson, Marcia Gay Harden, Sarah Brightman, Susan Olson, Lady Bunny, Halle Berry, Catherine Bell, Evan Pilgrim, Mike Vrabel, Mila Kunis, and Tim Tebow.

-Rest in Peace/Rest in Power to Admiral David Farragut, Bertolt Brecht, Big Bill Broonzy, Clifford Odets, Johnny Burnette, Oscar Levant, Dorothy Stratten, Patrick Magee, Enzo Ferrari, John Sirica, Pee Wee Reese, Lane Kirkland, Earl Anthony, Czeslaw Milosz, Bruno Kirby, Ron Palillo, Fyvush Finkel, Frank Broyles, and James R. Thompson

-William Randolph Hearst died on this date. You decide if he Rests in Power of if he Feeds the Worms.