Jeffrey Rose
Vegas Muse
Life in the time of trash talk…
Las Vegas & Philadelphia
July 13, 2025
Flooding is the new normal:
No longer ignoring the 21st century, I'm trying to use ChatGPT for due diligence. Asking the right, highly specific questions is hard. It looks promising. Stay tuned. Preparing for my trip to Philadelphia, I noted that there was a garbage strike that needs to be watched. As Amazon Prime days open, I'm told that there are actual bargains. I don't need any of them, so I won't buy anything. It seems to me that post-tariff deals aren't as good as before. The PHL garbage strike was settled Wednesday, so I hoped the garbage piled on the streets would be removed before I showed up. It was, mostly. I actually bought something during Prime Day, a set of packing cubes. They are already helping me when living out of a duffle bag. American Airlines wouldn't let me check in online for my flight to Philadelphia, telling me that I needed to see an agent at the airport. After several tries on my computer and on my phone app, I called the airline. The first agent said everything looked correct and painfully switched me to technical support. She couldn't find anything wrong, but managed to email me my boarding passes. The PHL weather predicts a high of about 87 and rain for seven days in a row. Saturday I was up before 5am, in an Uber by 5:20, through security in three minutes, and at the gate 43 minutes before boarding, definite overkill. Five days of economy parking cost approximately what Uber/Lyft would cost, plus on Saturday morning the economy lot may have been full. We got to Charlotte early, and I had a modest lunch in the Admirals Club. AA did not fail to disappoint me as we took off for Philadelphia an hour late. My seatmates missed their flight to Amsterdam. I paid $7.50 for a 22-minute train ride to downtown with a three minute walk to my hotel. On my way to a local Irish pub, I met a friend checking in who wanted seafood. We first went to a nearby Mexican place called El Vez that had a 45-minute wait so we walked across the street to a Thai sort of place (no visible Asians working there) and had small plates at the bar. The restaurants and streets were packed. I bought us upscale ice cream for dessert ($20 for three scoops). Humidity sucks. Eighty-five degrees with 80% humidity really sucks. Somehow, a list of companies that send me emails popped up on Gmail. I canceled subscriptions of more than a dozen of them that I had never gotten around to ditching.
As the world warms, warmer air holds more water. That's science. There may be an argument on why the climate is changing, but denying that it is changing is foolhardy. We have to prepare for the worst, not hide and hope it goes away. Why would a country want to strike a trade deal with the US that could only last a matter of weeks? Just to avoid tariffs? Fear? We no longer deserve trust. The president's $5 million gold credit card (instant green card) should require an act of congress, so don't hold your breath. He doesn't just want a Nobel Peace Prize. He also wants to stage a UFC fight on White House grounds. The press secretary said, “It's going to be EPIC!” The secret service must be happy. Republicans giving the president unlimited power better be certain that there will never be another Democratic president. Are they planning that? One wonders why is Camp Mystic always referred to as a “Christian” summer camp? No Christian he, Netanyahu told the president hat he has nominated him for a Nobel Peace Prize, I guess for supporting Netanyahu's wars that are keeping the latter in power and out of jail. I can't see how anyone could say that they are uncomfortable around people protesting the killing of children. We get that AI will displace human workers, but which jobs? Where will the displaced workers go? It's pretty obvious that the US will suffer more and more natural disasters. We need a bigger and better FEMA as well as better disaster preparedness. Why don't more people notice that we have 100-year floods and storms every ten years or less? Note that Texas prides itself as being low-tax and business friendly. Low tax means low services...like preventing disasters. It's ironic that Texas may be responsible for showing the president the value of FEMA. Scientific advances? That's so last year. Evidently red tape at the IRS is bad. Red tape at Medicaid is good. Musk's Grok chatbot seems to be more antisemitic than Harvard. Shouldn't X be investigated by the justice department like Harvard was? Yes, Mr. President, English is Liberia's official language as the country was colonized by freed slaves from the US. Mr. President, you can't take away Rosie O'Donnell's citizenship, even if you do call her a “threat to humanity.” He still wants his DOJ and FBI to investigate his loss in the 2020 election. One person changing tariffs on a whim... How does that fit into a democracy with a Constitution?
Government by retribution:
He told Japan and South Korea, two of our best allies in Asia, and 12 (or more) other countries that their tariff rates would be at least 25%, starting August 1. He's pledging 50% tariffs against Brazil, starting a trade war, for having the gall to put Bolsonaro on trial for attempting a coup. Coffee prices shot up. Tariffs are now a tool for retribution and whim.
The week before last, the defense secretary, who has no chief of staff to talk to the White House, stopped sending weapons to Ukraine because of low US stockpiles. Last week the president, who seems to have no idea what his secretary of defense is doing, pledged to send more weapons to Ukraine. Though the attorney general said on camera that the Epstein client list was on her desk for review, her justice department now says that there is no client list. Little Marco sanctioned the UN official tasked with investigating human rights abuses in Palestinian territories. I guess exposing war crimes is against the national interest. The state department is firing around 1,300 of its workers by email, I guess for efficiency. The president only needs a few diplomats as he makes all the decisions. The FBI is using polygraph tests asking some senior officials if they had ever said anything negative against the director. If ICE has warrants to enter private property, the masked agents don't seem to be showing them (or their law enforcement identification). ICE has become the secret police in an authoritarian country, except for contracting their victims out of the country for torture. The IRS says that churches can endorse political candidates from the pulpit, giving churches a legal political disguise. Another IRS policy change will reduce audits of the wealthiest households. Six prominent medical groups have sued RFK Jr. and HHS for limiting access to vaccines. The secretaries of health and human services and of agriculture have proposed letting bird flu spread through US poultry farms to identify the birds that are immune, opening the potential for a human pandemic. All FEMA expenses over $100,000 have to be pre-approved by homeland security secretary Noem, including deployment of search and rescue teams. That will slow emergency response time. Veterans Affairs said it will not make deeper service job cuts (30,000 instead of previously promised 83,000) because the lack of services would reflect badly on the president. The NY Times reports that the TSA will drop requirements for passengers to remove their shoes at certain US airports. We've been taking our shoes off at airports for over 20 years because one man failed at making a bomb out of a shoes in 2001. It's not the federal reserve's job to provide cheap funds for administration overspending. That's why it is supposed to be independent. US adults want more affordable childcare and better healthcare for mothers and children rather than having more babies to beef up our workforce. A recent Gallop poll found that 79% of Americans say that immigration is “a good thing”.
Want to avoid sanctions? Move to Dubai:
Dozens of federal officers and 90 National Guardsmen, all in full tactical gear, 17 Humvees, four tactical vehicles, and two ambulances raided LA's McArthur Park in an area with a large immigrant population. Defense officials said it wasn't a military exercise. An Arizona man died of the pneumonic plague (Black Death). There is no vaccine available in the US. A wildfire is burning on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, initially displacing 500 tourists. Flash flooding in southern New Mexico have killed at least three people. Texas flooding deaths are over 129 by Saturday day with at least 160 still missing. Texas blamed the National Weather Service. The local offices of the NWS had key posts unfilled, including the warning coordination meteorologist. County officials were pointedly ignoring that none of them sent out flood warnings that came in from the federal meteorologists and first responders. “Flash flood alley” has no flash flood warning system because local residents wouldn't (or couldn't) pay for one. The high death toll is confirmed to be someone else's fault. Camp Mystic apparently got FEMA to remove many of its buildings from flood zone maps over the years. Flood insurance, already high in Texas, is sure to go up. The wife of Texas attorney general Paxton filed for divorce on Biblical grounds, though not explaining the term. What took her so long? At least 27 people have been hospitalized, seven in critical condition, in West Baltimore for suspected drug overdoses. A group of wealth New Yorkers have pledged $20 million to defeat Zohran Mamdani for NYC mayor. Chantal, downgraded to a tropical depression, dropped as much as 10 inches of rain on North Carolina with widespread flooding. Seniorly named Florida the worst state in the US to age in place with high housing costs and low availability of home health aides.
The mayor of Rio de Janeiro decreed regulations of vendors, music, and the aesthetics of its beaches. Vendors must obtain licenses. El Salvador told the UN that it has no legal responsibility for the prisoners it accepted from the US. Legal responsibility and jurisdiction lie exclusively with the US. In order to diversify its exports, Canada has begun shipping natural gas to Asia. A submerged turbine has been generating electricity for six years off the coast of Scotland, proving up the concept for commercial tidal energy production. Forecast temperatures of 107 F caused Greek authorities to temporarily close the Acropolis. Elected in May, the new Pope is already starting a six-week vacation in a hillside town outside of Rome to get away from the heat. A man died at a Milan Bergamo Airport after being sucked into a jet engine. He was said to be neither an employee or a passenger. The day after the River Seine opened for swimming, it closed for pollution caused by rain. An attack of bees in the French town of Aurillac left 24 people injured. Wildfires are burning outside of Marseilles. A man fell 25 feet into a crevasse on a Swiss glacier. He was found after his Chihuahua was seen patrolling the edge of the crevasse. The Russian economy seems to be losing the strength caused by its wartime economy. Americans relocating to Russia looking for traditional conservative values will get a rude surprise. The newly fired Russian minister of transportation was found dead in his car with a gunshot wound to his head. The European Court of Human Rights found Russia guilty in four cases of atrocities in Ukraine over the past 10 years. There are reports that over 50% of Russian munitions are being supplied by North Korea. Drones are from Iran. Controller chips are from China.
Wildfires are burning in Syria. The preliminary finding of why the Air India 787 crashed is that fuel to both engines was manually cut off. An Indian school principal and her assistant were arrested on allegations of strip searching naked girl students to check whether they were menstruating. Monsoon rains and flash floods have killed at least 72 in Pakistan. A new eruption of Indonesia's Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki sent a cloud of ash eleven miles high. Piracy attempts in the Singapore Straits is up 50% over last year with a 95% boarding success rate. While the US is making it harder for international tourists to enter, China is making it much easier, now with visa-free entry from 74 countries. Eight adults have been arrested in China after decorating food for for children in a private kindergarten with inedible lead paint, poisoning 233. Chinese businesses mining rare earth in Myanmar, are poisoning rivers flowing into Thailand. China has standards...low ones.
My chatbot is a Nazi, but it's not woke:
The price of a bitcoin has gone from $244 to over $106,000 in ten years. The federal minimum wage has remained $7.25. The tariff deadline has moved again, though copper tariffs moved up to 50%. One hopes the president is bluffing (or blustering). Copper is used in homes, autos, data centers, high-tech devices, and the power grid. OPEC+ will raise its oil output by 548,000 barrels per day in August. This year's college graduates are heading into a terrible job market. The foreign-born workforce in the US declined in June for the third straight month. Will those jobs be replaced by prison guards and ICE agents? About 27% of homes sold in the US in the first quarter were bought by investors. Nvidia became the most valuable company in the world on Wednesday when its value broke $4 trillion. An AI company is buying a crypto miner that has data centers and electricity for $9 billion in stock. Linda Yaccarino resigned after two years as CEO of X, just as its new AI chatbot started spouting antisemitic commentary and praise of Hitler. In Austin, a Tesla robocab drove into a parked car. That and Elon going back into politics isn't helping Tesla stock (down around 7% Monday). Tesla seems to be ignoring, without explanation, a Texas law that requires a stockholders meeting by July 13. The VW autonomous van, designed from scratch, seems to be working better than Tesla's robocab. Want a great electric car? Too bad. It's made in China. Wallethub says that Florida is the best state for retirement and Kentucky the worst. Nevada is in the middle (43rd in healthcare). Mississippi has lowest quality of life. Wyoming is the least expensive. West Virginia is worst for healthcare. Southwest Airlines is no longer any different from the big three US airlines. Disney has closed Tom Sawyer Island and river ride in Florida. Just like in the real America, the Rivers of America will be replaced by two attractions related to “Cars”. Mattel's newest Barbie doll will have type 1 diabetes. There is a Ritz Cracker recall. Italy's Ferrero will buy Kellogg for $3.1 billion. Business keeps chugging along.
To beat AI and keep your job, you need curiosity, connecting dots across different genres. Listen to people and build genuine relationships. Jane Birkin's original Hermes handbag sold at auction for $10.1 million. A Hengot $1,299 Sirius robot dog is available for preorder. It's best for flat, indoor spaces. Thieves stole $113,000 worth of Pokemon cards from a collectibles shop in Massachusetts. The rare cards weren't priced so the burglars knew what they were doing. Prada has rubber flip flops for only $750. Mexico won its second consecutive Gold Cup (championship of the Americas) by defeating the US 2-1.
“It's Superman!”...and his flying dog:
If a restaurant steak is delivered with a goopy sauce, the chef is hiding something. Ozzy Osbourne, 76 with a host of physical problems, performed his last set with Black Sabbath last Saturday. Diddy got a standing ovation from his fellow inmates when he was returned to jail. Since his eight lawyers beat the government, maybe they should have gotten the ovation. Political insider David Gergen, advising in the Nixon, Ford, Reagan, and Clinton administrations, has died at age 83.
It's important to understand that you should enjoy food, but don't abuse it. Face it, grilled meat is linked to cancer. Hydrate like it's your job. US measles cases have hit a 33-year high with 1,277 confirmed cases of the disease that was officially eradicated in 2000. Aircraft and anti-vaxxers could be the reason. A new study published in JAMA indicates that the health of US children has materially deteriorated in the years from 2007 to 2023. A Pew survey found that 51% of US teens between 15-17 say they use the Internet “almost constantly”. In data that goes back to 1910, nine of the top 10 extreme one-day precipitation events have occurred since 1995, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.