Too early to put it all in the Decoder Ring? 50-Cents and a boxtop  to Battle Creek not working?

• Consumer Price Index is just out.  (Impacts)
• Trump Talks Too Much – Ray Rocks Russia Sanctions
• I’ve been head-down in my new book about coming Science-Based Religions. Which previews  Ai Theomachines in tomorrow’s Peoplenomics.

Toss in a crumpet, asymmetric pricing to keep a lid on solar and that, brothers and sisters is about what really matters in the woods of East Texas.  While what was once the Hill Country has become Noah Country.

CPI – CP Owed

Just in from Labor:

“The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis in June, after rising 0.1 percent in May, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the last 12 months, the all items index increased 2.7 percent before seasonal adjustment.

The index for shelter rose 0.2 percent in June and was the primary factor in the all items monthly increase. The energy index rose 0.9 percent in June as the gasoline index increased 1.0 percent over the month. The index for food increased 0.3 percent as the index for food at home rose 0.3 percent and the index for food away from home rose 0.4 percent in June.

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.2 percent in June, following a 0.1-percent increase in May. Indexes that increased over the month include household furnishings and operations, medical care, recreation, apparel, and personal care. The indexes for used cars and trucks, new vehicles, and airline fares were among the major indexes that decreased in June.

The line that matters is All Items Less Food and Energy.  Annual change Year-On-Year (YoY) is? 2.9 percent.  Any last-minute prayer sessions at rates coming down will likely remain on hold. After the number gold turned positive…

Tomorrow, the Fed’s Beige Book will be along.  While the market has been drifting higher, forecasts of the S&P hitting 7,500 still seem a bit remote.  As of the pre-opening prices, futures had the paper-chase up at the bottom of long-term trend.

Which has us twiddling and pondering the odds of a Turn-Around Tuesday. Still, gold and silver weren’t impressive in the pre-open, so a really scary (dust bunny visit) bout of inflation seemed unlikely early.

4RS  (Reader Ray Rocks Russia Sanctions)

The nice thing about UrbanSurvival is that most of the people here are smarter than me.  And they are kind enough to share it in our Comments section after each morning post.  This morning’s from Reader Ray totally makes the point:

“Oh, woe is me. That $300 Swarovski pendant is gonna cost a thousand now. How will I ever survive the hit?

You’re a military dude. Stop and think. Exactly what does Russia export, that we can tariff? The uranium Hillary gave them control of? The titanium we make paint and airplanes out of? Maybe the triticale and semolina — what little we don’t import from Northern Italy, Croatia, and Slovenia?

The Congresscritter is FOS. There is no tariff with which we can hit Russia directly. Trump is not going to pooch the China T&T deal he’s working, nor fuck India, by slamming Russia’s trading partners with tariffs. There is no sledgehammer. That’s utter balderdash, and wouldn’t fly in a freshman-level course on diplomacy (if there were such a thing.)

Remember what Russia wants:

1. Its warm-water port. This is non-negotiable.
2. A neutral buffer between the Euroweenies and Russia.
3. The guaranteed safety of the ethnic Russians who make up most of the population in the eastern 1/3 of Ukraine.

What Trump CAN do is threaten to sponsor Ukraine for NATO and send so much materiel to Ukraine that the Duma forces Putin to check out of the casino while they’re still ahead. The Russians aren’t afraid of Patriot batteries. Putin can build or buy drones for $250 that’ll carry a hand grenade worth of antipersonnel misery

(I still remember my Dad grousing because McNamara was spending ~100,000 1970 dollars for each VC we killed. One way drones that cost a thousand (or so) each is a rare bargain advancement in modern warfare. We’re not going to shoot down glorified quadcopters with Patriot missiles, but a swarm of a dozen flying grenades can take out a Patriot battery, and keep it out of action for days. What Putin IS afraid of is a war without purpose or end. Trump, who’s an actual fighter, threatening to prop up Ukraine indefinitely would give Mr. Putin an ulcer which I’d bet he hasn’t the stomach for.)

This is what’s going on.

Trump doesn’t want to send materiel to Ureup. THREATENING to do so is the best gambit he has right now.

Y’know, Zelensky is a billionaire? He did it all on the President’s $16,000/yr salary, too. That’s the other side of the coin. Biden sent Volod SO MUCH MONEY that he now believes he’s something special. Trump has to either inject some sense into Zelensky, or wait for the Russians to do so. This means, once Trump has Putin, he’ll have to go get Zelensky again. Slavs are a PITA to try and negotiate with…”

And since Ray penned that?  Trump announces weapons for Ukraine after he allegedly asked Zelenskyy whether they can hit Moscow.  Well, ain’t that just dandy?

“So what’s 3TM?”  

Oh.  Shorthand for Trump Talks Too Much. More Star Wars, less Jaw Wars.

A Quarter in the Distract-O-Mat

Little doubt to us that if this report is correct, the Supreme Court will have to decide the issue: ICE declares millions of undocumented immigrants ineligible for bond hearings – The Washington Post.

Yes, wholesale deportations will impact prices: Elite Economist Admits: Trump’s Deportations Push up Citizens’ Wages.

Will he be on tenure track?  California professor Jonathan Anthony Caravello arrested for allegedly tossing tear gas canister at ICE agents during raid on marijuana farm

Down to just weeks before new tariffs, watch who’s saying what:  Trade Chief Issues Trump Tariff Warning: ‘Almost Impossible’ | Miami Herald

While Bongino-Bondi simmers, Rand Paul steps up: Rand Paul will be re-issuing his CRIMINAL REFERRAL to the DOJ for Anthony Fauci, after his “pardon” was confirmed to be issued by a late-night autopen …

Elsewhere on the hill, keep tabs on Democrat Rep Demands All Epstein Files Made ‘Publicly Available,’ Calls for Congressional Vote.

Our Changing Times

Our consigliere checked in Monday – just back from a camping trip in the Upper Penninsula (MI) area.  He was shocked at the number of Starlink antennas.  They were literally all over the place.

“Don’t get me wrong,” he began. “it makes total sense for people who are mobile and want to watch an odd movie, need a hot-spot for their phone, and need email even on vacation….”  He even spied a Starlink outside a tent.

After explaining how Canada’s telecom giants had put up cell towers on the southern-most part of inhabited Canadian soil. There are two cell phone towers on Pelee island: one for Bell and Telus (on the west side) and one for Rogers (on the northeast side).  Apparently to harvest big international roaming charges from UP vacationers – he continued musing about the future of digital intrusion into recreational domains.

“I don’t know where this really leaves us…the numbers of places people can go to be really REMOTE are nearly gone.”

Nearly?

I didn’t want to break it to him:  When son G2 goes snow-camping in the winter along the Pacific Crest Trail, he regularly checks in via satphone – has for years.  If you want “remote” anymore, lots of luck.

Try Mars. No constellations there.  Yet.

At the Ranch:  Hydro Time and Slo-Mo-Shun’s

How up are you on your archaic  hydroplane racing history? 

Back in my news-chasing days, about this time of Summer, I’d be at the hydro pits in Seattle for the Seafair hydro races.  A quick immersion study on Stan Sayres, Ted Jones, and Anchor Jensen is found at The Slo-mo-shun Saga – Hydroplane and Raceboat Museum,  But, if you’re a real fan, see Apollo Mechanical Cup Hydroplane Races 2025 – Seafair which will begin 17 days from now. Though Lake Washington will be churned up with testing probably starting next week.

We’re going to be “domain jumping” this morning – into that topic we touched-on in Monday’s column.  The one about domains.  Because this is the time of year when old-school reporters remember early morning drizzle on many race days, where we learned much about the time domain.

Goes like this:  When Slo-Mo-Shun IV was churning down the back stretch west of Mercer Island, the telephoto 600 mm lenses on the old tube type video cameras made it seem like like the boats were going slow.  In fact, they could be edging toward 200 MPH.

That’s how media distorts time.  Here in early World War 3 (the one that began with the bio-weapon drop in 2019) it’s useful to remember media changes the apparent speed of things.  Telephoto lenses then and social media now. There’s a continuum to be studied there.

Waiting for the clock to tick up to high noon race time?  Oh my God, this is when you conserve “time freeze” first-hand.

Summer nostalgia?  Yeah, a bit, sure.  Who could forget Mike Fitzsimmon’s calling the race or “riding bareback” on the fuel tank of an Outboard Performance Craft (OPC) tunnel boat hanging  to a planing bronco just behind the driver over 100 on Lake Washington?

There’s a useful thing about perspective in some of my “crazy adventure-seeking” back in the day.  Things that at the time seemed full-on crazy are now (coming up on 77) the Tabasco sauce of life.

As much crazy shit as all of our children (combined) have done, we reflect now and then at 4 o’clock “wine time” about how the crazy flat-out nutty things we did in youth are what add enjoyment to the far end of Life.

Thinking about doing something really crazy?  Think again—then do it.

Twice.

With reckless abandon and pass the sauce.

Write when you get rich,

[email protected]