"The Month That Was - July 2018"

Sydney M. Williams

swstotd.blogspot.com

The Month That Was – July 2018

August 1, 2018

“No other date on the calendar more potently symbolizes

what our nation stands for than the fourth of July.”

                                                                                    William “Mac” Thornberry (1958-)

                                                                                    U.S. House of Representatives (R-TX)

Liberty has special reverence for July. On July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was signed, or, at least, that is the date we celebrate its signing. It gave birth to the greatest nation and the freest people the world had ever known, which in subsequent years has become larger and freer. On July 14, 1789, the Bastille, a military fortress and prison, was stormed and the prison gates opened, a turning point in the French Revolution. And, on July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the Moon – a manifestation of the power of freedom and capitalism and a giant step in technology, science and courage.

Three news items during the month deserve special notice – the miraculous recovery of twelve boys and their coach from two and half miles into a water-clogged cave in northern Thailand; the truce on trade wars agreed to between Mr. Trump and European Commission President Jean-Clade Juncker, and the poor performance by Mr. Trump in Helsinki and the even worse reaction on the part of his critics.

Let me tackle the latter first. There is an advantage in having an outsider in Washington – the absence of political ties that prevent fresh looks at long-persistent problems, formed, in part, by long associations. Perhaps voters felt, given the soiled nature of relationship politics, that a fresh face would be a reminder of Lord Palmerston’s admonition that a nation’s interests have more permanence than its friends?

There are, though, disadvantages: Washington works differently than business; there are three co-equal branches of government, making collaboration imperative and executive orders undemocratic. In politics, grey is more common than black or white. Also, while ultimate power is vested in the people, administrators and bureaucrats, through knowledge of how things work, do hold power – which needs to be recognized by the occupant of the oval office. The Presidency is unlike any other job in the world. It comes without training wheels. Thus, beginner mistakes are made. Nevertheless, the President sets the tone. As an outsider, Mr. Trump, in his quest to fulfill campaign promises, has run afoul of mainstream media and establishment insiders. Why, for example, at his joint news conference with Mr. Putin, did Mr. Trump state that he trusted the words of the Russian President over revelations of the intelligence community?  Why did Mr. Trump’s attempt to correct that error – a claim that it was the use of a double negative – remind us of President Clinton when he said it depends on your definition of “is?” Why did he appear on the cusp of offering up former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul and progenitor of the Magnitsky Act Bill Browder for questioning by Vladimir Putin, in exchange for Robert Mueller being given the right to interview a dozen indicted Russians for allegedly hacking into the Democrat National Committee’s computers?

The answer, in part, lies in the visceral responses by Mr. Trump to the unprecedented attacks on him from mainstream media, the establishment and what from passes for so-called cultural parts of our society: the entertainment industry, university professors and administrators, and television talk-show hosts. Their attacks are vulgar, violent and disquieting. Voters in 2016 did not elect an angel or a saint. They elected a 70-year-old white man who had for decades been involved in the murky world of commercial real estate. They voted for a man who had been twice divorced and whose extra-curricular activities had been well-documented. But he was also a man who reflected their inner fears and concerns – that elites in politics, business, finance, universities and the media, with a focus on plastic straws, transgenders and multiculturalism, had ignored the more pressing needs of stagnating incomes, jobs and respect.

The press, Democrats and many Republican “never-Trumpers” deliberately conflate two distinct words – meddling and colluding – as they apply to the alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election. The first is a “dog bites man story;” the second is a “man bites dog story,” and is worthy of investigation and, if true, punishment. President Trump’s animus toward the press is well known, and understandable given its ferocity toward him. His reactions, therefore, are unsurprising. As well, people see through the obvious bias of those doing the investigating. The release of the heavily redacted FISA application for a warrant against former Trump campaign aide Carter Page confirmed that the FBI relied on the Steele dossier without acknowledgement, a dossier funded by the DNC and the Clinton campaign. Even so, many of us would prefer Mr. Trump use humor to deflect the slings and arrows flung at him, rather than nasty Tweets.

Mr. Trump is the Constitutionally-elected President and a certain level of respect should be shown him and the office he represents. Mr. Trump was wrong to criticize his own intelligence officers and to suggest that Mr. Putin might be correct when he denied interference in the 2016 election. But the hyperbolic reaction of those who dislike him works to their disadvantage: John King, CNN commentator, said the President had “surrendered” to the Russians. Jill Wine-Bank, on MSNBC compared the President’s performance in Helsinki to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor or Kristallnacht, Former CIA Director John Brennan claimed that Mr. Trump’s joint press conference with Mr. Putin was “nothing short of treasonous.” Mr. Trump is fortunate in receiving such diabolical diatribes and in having political opponents like Elizabeth Warren and Nancy Pelosi. Whenever they speak, they make him look good.

The meeting in Washington between Mr. Juncker and Mr. Trump was big news. Tensions have been high between the European establishment elite, represented by Mr. Juncker and the American elephant in the china shop, Mr. Trump. The latter has been concerned with a mounting trade deficit between the U.S. and Europe and unequal tariffs that, for example, favored European auto manufacturers over their American counterparts. When the two men announced an alliance against third parties’ “unfair trading practices” they didn’t have to explain the reference was to China. Tellingly, the day following the meeting CBS Radio made no mention of the agreement on its 6:00AM news. The New York Timespublished a front-page report of the meeting next day, but under a misleading headline: “Truce on Trade Follows Route Obama Paved.” Both sides – Europe and the U.S. – would like to declare victory, which means that only time will expose the details. Regardless, the fact of the meeting was big news, and it was good news. 

The saving of the boys in Thailand was a miracle, only marred by inappropriate comments from Elon Musk. The feat combined what best characterizes our species: faith, meditation, perseverance, courage, audacity, patience, intelligence, and the technology we have developed. The world waited and watched as SEAL-teams from a dozen countries assisted Royal Thai SEAL-team members in rescuing the boys and their coach, from a narrowly-accessed, water-filled cave. Time was of the essence, because the onset of the Monsoon season would have meant a possible delay of another three or four months. A colossal human tragedy was averted. Most news reported is tragic or bad, for that’s what sells. This rescue provided daylight for the boys as they emerged, but the story also shone sunlight on the world.

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President Trump visited NATO and Great Britain, before meeting with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki. At NATO, he repeated his demand that Europe pay more for its defense needs, which is gradually, but reluctantly, being done. While he still has misgivings about the seriousness of EU members regarding defense, he reiterated his support for NATO. He did, however, question the wisdom of invoking Article 5, should Montenegro, NATO’s newest member and a nation of 630,000, be attacked. His is a position that Lord Palmerston would have understood, even as his opponents did not. In England, in an interview with the British tabloid The Sun, Mr. Trump belittled Theresa May’s handling of Brexit but the next day defended her, in an amusing and friendly joint press conference. Tea with the Queen followed. Protestors, with their “Baby Trump” blimp, were visible on network and cable TV, but small-town Brits were ignored when they expressed solidarity with Mr. Trump, like the mayor of Ramsgate Trevor Shonk who said the President was moving things in the right direction, globally.

Foreign Minister Boris Johnson and Brexit Secretary David Davis resigned from Mrs. May’s cabinet over the slow and bumbled walk toward Brexit. A few days later, Brussels rejected Theresa May’s Brexit plan for City access to the EU market. Israel and Hamas agreed to a cease-fire in Gaza brokered by Egypt. Syrian government forces re-took the city of Deraa, seen as the cradle of the revolution against Bashar al-Assad, which began in 2011. (It was Russian military intervention into Syria in 2015 – ironically, invited in by former Secretary of State John Kerry – that turned the civil war in Mr. Assad’s favor.) A Syrian jet fighter was shot down by Israeli forces when it entered her airspace. Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan, having won re-election in June, appointed his son-in-law to head the newly formed treasury and finance ministry, replacing market savvy persons who had held the position in Mr. Erdogan’s previous government. Turkish stocks and the Lira fell. Robert Mueller indicted a dozen Russian intelligence officers for engaging in a “sustained effort to hack into the computer networks of the DNC and DCCC(Democrat Congressional Campaign Committee)” – a provocative gesture, as it immediately preceded the Helsinki talks, and empty, as Mr. Mueller knows the accused will never stand trial.  

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It is becoming difficult for Democrats to continue the pretense that the tax bill signed last December was a sop to the wealthy. Connecticut, a “Blue” state with one of the highest disparities in income, joined a lawsuit filed by Maryland, New Jersey and New York contesting new limits on the state and municipal tax payments that filers can deduct on their federal returns. (The tax bill capped deductions at $10,000, which has no effect on those earning $100,000 or less. Median household income in Connecticut, for example, is $73,400.) Unstated is the fact that the suits, all supported by the states’ respective Democrat governors, are designed to help their wealthiest citizens. Scott Pruitt resigned as head of the EPA, but, fortunately for the economy, only after he had undone many of the restrictive rules implemented during the previous Administration. Peter Strzok’s disingenuous and disrespectful testimony before the House was a vivid manifestation of the arrogance and condescension that characterize progressive, professional bureaucrats. 

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Preliminary Second Quarter GDP growth was reported at + 4.1 percent, the strongest in four years. China continued to weaken the Yuan, to offset the effect of tariffs on exported goods. But devaluing one’s currency starts a country down a slippery slope, as it serves to scare away foreign investors. The price of a Bitcoin continued volatile, up 28% for the month, back to where it was in May. In U.S. equity markets, volatility remained muted, as the DJIA moved up 4.7 percent. The yield curve continued to flatten, with the spread between the Ten-year Treasury Bonds and the Two-year Treasury Note narrowing to 16 basis points, (from 32 basis points a month earlier). What gets economists concerned is that every recession in the past sixty years has been preceded by an inverted yield curve – short rates higher than long rates. But, as The Wall Street Journaleditorialized on July 23, “…it’s hard to know what this means given the Fed’s continuing dominant role in the long-bond market.” Following the 2008 credit crisis, the Fed took unprecedented steps to keep short rates at extraordinary low levels and their quantitative easing programs did the same for long rates. The lifting of Fed Funds’ rates, which began in the fourth quarter of 2015, has taken that rate from 25 Basis Points, where it had been for seven years, to 200 Basis Points today. (In the 1990s, when inflation was about the same as today’s 2.3%, Fed Funds averaged around 550 Basis Points.) The unwinding of the Fed’s long-bond purchase program ended in October 2014, but these rates, too, are historically low. In other words, both short and long rates remain uncommonly low. Mr. Trump is wrong to try to talk rates down. 

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In sports, France and Croatia played for the World Cup, with France winning 4-2. The U.S. did not even qualify for the tournament. The New York Timesreported that the number of players in the U.S. aged 6-12 has declined 14% over the past three years. Germany’s Angelique Kerber beat Serena Williams at Wimbledon, while Serbia’s Novak Djokovic defeated Kevin Anderson for the men’s title. Australia’s Georgina Hope Rinehart National Training Center took both men’s and women’s championship at Henley, winning the Grand Challenge Cup and the Remenham Challenge Cup respectively. The British Open was won by Italy’s Francesco Molinari. The Tour de France was won by Welshman Geraint Thomas. Baseball’s All-Star game was won by the American League 8-6, its 13^thvictory in the past sixteen years. LeBron James signed a four-year, $154 million contract with the Los Angeles Lakers.

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A still-raging California wildfire has killed eight, burned over 100,000 acres and destroyed more than seven hundred homes near the city of Redding. Missouri’s Democrat Senator Claire McCaskill, seeking sympathy and preparing for a possible loss, has already blamed Russia for meddling in her re-election bid. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a 28-year-old avowed Socialist defeated longtime Democrat Representative Joe Crowley in New York’s 14^thCongressional District. Joe “Jaws” Chestnut, the perennial winner of Nathan’s Fourth of July hot dog eating contest on Coney Island, downed 74 hot dogs in ten minutes to win his 11^thvictory. A duck boat, an amphibious craft, sank in Missouri’s Table Rock Lake, during a sudden squall. Seventeen of the thirty-one passengers died, nine from one family. A steam pipe exploded in New York’s Flatiron district, dislodging about 500 people for a number of days. Twisters, with no warning, struck several Iowa towns, leaving seventeen injured. New York City subway ridership is down, so Democrats did what Democrats do – blamed Uber and proposed fare hikes. Stormy Daniels’ husband filed for divorce on grounds of adultery! Who would have suspected? In good news, Japanese-based Eisai and Biogen disclosed results from a mid-stage study that appear positive for their Alzheimer drug, BAN2401. Republicans should be heartened, as the disgraced James Comey said he would support Democrat candidates in this fall’s election. 

Redoine Faid, France’s most recognized and notorious gangster, made a daring and dramatic escape by helicopter from the Sud-Francillien Prison in Réau, about 35 miles south of Paris. Israel’s Mossad agents made a daring raid on a Tehran warehouse where they grabbed Iranian nuclear archives, which included warhead designs and production schedules. Russian hackers gained access to the networks of several U.S. utilities. One hundred and thirty-two died in Pakistan, during a troubled election in which Imran Khan, a former cricketeer and anti-American politician, was elected Prime Minister. Maria Butina, a red-haired Russian agent who offered sex in exchange for information, was charged with acting as a foreign agent. Wild fires near Athens, Greece killed at least a hundred. Four people were hospitalized during Pamplona’s annual running of the bulls. Russia announced its intent to raise the retirement age to 65 from 60 for men and to 63 from 55 for women. Life expectancy in the former Communist country is 66.5. A shooting in the Greek district of Toronto left two dead and twelve wounded. The shooter, Faisal Hussein, was killed by police. In a case of perverted priorities, some of the press and many Democrats were upset when President Trump did not bow to Queen Elizabeth, but they were okay when President Obama did bow to Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah in 2009. It is fascinating how retirement can turn a hard-left partisan into a statesman. But that is what Barack Obama showed in an hour and eighteen-minute speech in South Africa celebrating the one hundredth anniversary of Nelson Mandela’s birth. He spoke of the importance of borders, citizenship and listening to those with whom one disagrees, concepts he ignored as President.  

In a sign that sanctions are biting, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani warned: “Mr. Trump, don’t play with the lion’s tail. This would only lead to regret…” The American President naturally responded on Twitter: NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN…” Pundits and mainstream media immediately suggested Mr. Trump – not Mr. Rouhani – was war-mongering. But, how should he have responded? Turned the other cheek? A few days later, the mercurial but pragmatic Mr. Trump said he would be willing to meet with Mr. Rouhani about the nuclear issue. 

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Lord Carrington died at 99. He was born Peter Alexander Rupert Carrington and served in the governments of Winston Churchill, Harold MacMillan, Sir Alec Douglas-Home, Edward Heath and Margaret Thatcher. As well, he had been secretary general of NATO, and he had been a member of the House of Lords for 78 years. Sergio Marchionne, the man who revived Fiat and Chrysler, died at 66. Nancy Sinatra, the first of Frank Sinatra’s four wives and the mother of his three children, died at 101.

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The month ended amidst heat and humidity, at least here in Connecticut, just payment for the below-average, cooler spring we experienced. August will bring primaries in fifteen states, including my state of Connecticut, so politics, if not the weather, will remain intemperate. As Caroline and I will be on the Jersey shore, we have already voted. I urge everyone to get to the polls and exercise your right, which is truly a privilege. A country is best served when its representatives most fully reflect all its citizens.

                                                                                    

                                                                                                

The Month That Was - July 2017

Sydney M. Williams

The Month That Was – July 2017

August 1, 2017

“The summer looks out from her brazen tower,

Through the flashing bars of July.”

Francis Thompson (1859-1907)

“A Corymbus for Autumn”

The Poems of Francis Thompson – 1909

The month began with celebrations on the birth of our nation and ended with the death of little Charlie Gard. July 4, 1776 began a revolution that led to a Republic of a free and independent people. Charlie Gard became a metaphor for an intrusive state where life and death decisions are made by courts, not parents. The question was never would Charlie survive, but where and when would he die? While it was the English court system that determined how and when his death would come, we in the U.S. are moving inexorably in the same, leftward direction. This is a debate that will not, and should not, go away.

The last day of the month marked the centennial of the start of the 100-day battle at Passchendaele (the Third Battle of Ypres), which became a grim symbol of war’s folly. A half million soldiers became casualties over those weeks on Flanders Field. When the battle was over, the front lines had barely budged. “I died in hell – (They called it Passchendaele),” wrote Siegfried Sassoon, in his poem “Memorial Tablet.”[1]

Like every month, much happened during July. Chancellor Angela Merkel hosted the G20 in Hamburg, a gathering that brings together world leaders, hopefully to ease tensions. After thirty-seven months of ISIS control, the city of Mosul was re-taken by Iraqi forces. In the meantime, ISIS terrorists established a new beachhead in the Philippines by laying siege to Marawi, a city of 200,000. North Korea launched two more ICBMs, showing the U.S. may not be safe, should Kim Jong Un decide to attach a nuclear warhead to an ICBM. Is he testing the Trump Administration, or is he testing the West? Mr. Trump replaced his chief of staff, Reince Priebus with John Kelly, a necessary step given persistent leaks and a lack of discipline in the White House. Mr. Priebus had been Chair of the Republican National Committee, while Mr. Kelly had been Secretary for Homeland Security and before that a four-star Marine Corps General. The attempt to repeal and replace ObamaCare failed, demonstrating that an entitlement, once granted, is almost impossible to take away – at least until Washington runs out of “other people’s money.”

Republicans failed to pass health reform; their efforts resembled an uncoordinated, undisciplined Newfoundland puppy chasing his tail in an open field. But Republicans should not lose sight of what has been accomplished. In his first 100 days, Mr. Trump signed 13 Congressional Review Acts, nullifying unnecessary regulations and preventing agencies from reissuing them. He signed 30 Executive Orders, reducing powers of the Executive. Congress enacted 28 new laws.

The biggest news from my perspective – and one whose effects are nebulous, but may be long lasting – is the continuing attempt to destroy the Trump Presidency. Debate is integral to democracy, but when disagreements descend into venality chaos ensues, and nihilism results. We have even seen public calls for Mr. Trump’s assassination. While there is no question that Mr. Trump can be his own worst enemy, the forces aligned against him are as ruthless as they are relentless. Mr. Trump’s habit of spontaneous tweeting does not serve him, though his desire to speak directly to the American people is understandable. It has become difficult to separate real news from fake news. Will Attorney General Sessions and Secretary of State Tillerson resign, or is that simply a wish on the part of those who would disrupt the Presidency? What, for example, was the role of Fusion GPS, a Washington-based opposition research firm, in the Russian allegations? Who hired Glenn Simpson, its founder, to put together a “hit-job” on Mr. Trump? Why did Democrats in Congress retreat from demanding Donald Trump and Paul Manafort testify in a public forum, when they learned Mr. Simpson would be required to do so as well?

There is no denying the importance of much of the month’s news – the fate of health care; Syria and Iran; the balloon-like nature of ISIS to be squeezed in one location, only to reappear in another; the on-going bickering with Putin who, after having been cajoled for a decade and a half, has become public enemy number one; and an unpredictable leader (Kim Jung Un) who has the capability to destroy the world. But the nastiness of the attacks on Trump represent a new and different threat. Our democracy is the crucible from which liberalism flows. Trump is not the problem. He may have an ego the size of a house. He may be inept as chief executive of our Republic (though that I don’t believe). He may be coarse. He may be antiestablishment. But we have survived worst, including Presidents who attempted to amass power. If his Administration is rendered ineffectual because of personal hatred; if he is tossed from office because of personal animosity, a dangerous precedent will have been set.

The problem is not Trump. It is politicians who place demands of special interests above needs of citizens. It is political correctness that permeates our society and erodes our soul. It is the subversion of historical truths for fear of offending in our universities. It is a culture that celebrates fame, no matter how attained, and which undermines our values. It is those who seek power under the guise of doing good.

But, back to the news: Twice during the month, North Korea launched ICBMs capable of reaching the U.S. After the first launch, Nikki Haley called an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council. Nothing happened. After the second, Beijing issued a statement condemning Pyongyang’s, and Mr. Trump, in a show of military strength, sent two B-1 bombers over the Korean Peninsula. Will it be enough? Indicative of rising tensions between the U.S. and Russia, the House (419-3) and the Senate (98-2) passed new sanctions on Russia for meddling in last year’s election.  The bill now sits on the President’s desk where it is expected to be signed. In retaliation, Russia seized two U.S. properties and demanded the U.S. reduce staff at their Embassy and Consulates. In a second incident, the USS Stethem, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, sailed within twelve nautical miles of Triton Island, a disputed island in the South China Sea, claimed by China, Taiwan and Vietnam. Venezuela held a sham election, giving President Nicolás Maduro increased powers. Several people were killed, including two teenagers and one candidate for the Assembly.   

Anthony Scaramucci, the foul-mouthed, linguistically challenged Wall Streeter was appointed and then fired as White House Communication Director. Imran Awan, formerly Debby Wasserman-Schultz’s director of IT, was stopped as he attempted to flee the U.S. for Pakistan. He was arrested for bank fraud, but the bigger crime was his accessing of e-mails and electronic files of the House’s Intelligence and Foreign Affairs Committee. His wife and brothers, who were in on the caper, had been fired in February and were already back in Pakistan. According to reports, Mr. Awan was paid almost four times the average salary for a staff worker. Why? This is a story which the media should explore.

While volatility has become the norm in the hyperbolic halls of Washington, Wall Street, in terms of the VIX, is experiencing its least volatile year since 1965, according to one report I read. “Stability,” Hyman Minsky (an American economist who died in 1996) used to say, “leads to instability.” In a dynamic world, things change. The UK banking regulator announced that LIBOR (London Interbank Offered Rate) would be phased out over the next five years. As a benchmark, LIBOR is responsible for the pricing of trillions of dollars in loans worldwide. But it is prone to manipulation, as the rate is determined by banks volunteering how much it would “theoretically” cost to borrow money from other banks. Bankers became skillful at gaming the system – getting LIBOR to move in directions favorable to themselves. After the financial crisis, more than a dozen banks paid roughly $10 billion in penalties for fraudulent LIBOR activities. While all markets have done well this year, tech stocks, especially the biggest ones, have led the way. The S&P 500 is up 10.4% year-to-date, while the NASDAQ 100 is up 21.5%. Five tech companies – Apple, Alphabet (Google), Microsoft, Facebook and Amazon – now account for $3 trillion in market capitalization, or about 16% of the S&P 500. An article this month in The Financial Times on changes in the retail industry noted that 8,640 stores could close this year, with the loss of over 100,000 jobs. The culprit – in a word, Amazon. Retail is experiencing the realization of Joseph Schumpeter’s theory regarding creative destruction. Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, announced, and NPR reported, that he had “received verbal government approval…to build an underground NY-Phil-Balt-DC Hyperloop,” which would provide New York to Washington, DC travel in “29 minutes!” That government support for new industries is critical was seen in Tesla’s announcement of sales in Hong Kong for April – when authorities slashed a tax break for electric vehicles, not a single Tesla model was sold that month. In March, 2,939 vehicles were sold.

Elsewhere, Mark Zuckerberg claimed that Facebook is “the new church.” As strange and disconcerting as it seems, he may be right. A survey last year in The Atlantic reported: “about one fifth of Americans now go to religious services a few times a year…,” while another article last year in the same magazine stated that 53% of Americans use Facebook every day. A chunk of ice the size of Connecticut broke off from the Antarctic Peninsula, creating one of the largest icebergs ever. It came from an area that had experienced warming toward the end of the 20^th Century, but since had been cooling. Fusion GPS (mentioned above) was accused by David Browder of launching a smear campaign against him. Browder is the founder of Hermitage Capital, the man behind the Magnitsky Act, a Putin nemesis and author of “Red Notice.” The NASA spacecraft Juno, circling Jupiter, revealed the largest storm in the solar system. It flew 5,600 miles above that planet’s Great Red Spot, a monster cyclone that has been churning for 350 years. The storm is 10,000 miles wide – big enough to swallow Earth. Is nature more powerful than man? It would seem so. Police in Australia disrupted a plot by Islamic terrorists to bring down an airplane.

Flash floods killed ten in Arizona. Sean Spicer left the White House. OJ Simpson was paroled. Representative Steve Scalise was released from the hospital six weeks after being shot. Senator John McCain was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Ten migrants died in a tractor trailer in San Antonio, Texas. It was disclosed that the military spends $41.6 million on Viagra, and that New York City spent $2 million on a bathroom with four stalls and four sinks in a City park. Is there waste in government? Silly question. Fact-checking site Snopes, a determiner of fake news for Facebook, is on the verge of collapse, with its founder David Mikkelson accused of fraud and lies. Omar Khadr, a Canadian terrorist who killed an American soldier, was awarded $8 million by the Canadian government for alleged mistreatment while being held at Guantanamo Bay. Joey Chestnut won his 10^th title at Nathan’s Famous July 4^th hotdog eating contest on Coney Island, gobbling 72 dogs and buns in ten minutes!

The American League won the 88^th All-Star Game. Each league has won 43 times, and twice they have tied. Twenty-three-year-old Garbiñe Murguruza Blanco won Wimbledon, beating Venus Williams, while thirty-five-year-old Roger Federer beat Marin Cilic, to win his eighth Wimbledon title. Chris Froome of the UK won the Tour de France, and American Jordan Spieth won the British Open.

Death carried away Chinese Nobel laureate Liu Xiabo, who was awarded the Peace Prize in absentia in 2010, as Chinese officials would not release him from prison for the ceremony. He died of liver cancer. I lost three friends: Alex Bass, a childhood friend I had not seen for years. Peter O’Hara, a friend from the Hillsboro Club, and a long-time friend and fellow New York Drone, Charles Gould. May they rest in peace.

On to August.

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[1] While wounded at Passchendaele, Siegfried Sassoon survived the war, dying in 1967 at age 81.