The Wins Keep Coming . . . And The Film That Will Get You Back Into The Theater July 12, 2023July 11, 2023 It’s a big deal that Joe Biden has led NATO’s reinvigoration and expansion to include Finland and now, it seems, Sweden. It should be heartening to anyone, Republican or Democrat, who wants to live in a peaceful, largely democratic world. And did you notice that unemployment has been under 4% for 17 months now — the longest stretch in more than 50 years? Or that inflation has fallen for 11 months in a row — back to where it was after 8 years of Ronald Reagan’s presidency — and is getting ever closer to where it needs to be? Used car prices fell 4% last month alone, down 10% year over year. DNC Treasurer Virginia McGregor: While the GOP is running across the country taking credit for legislation they didn’t support when it was up for a vote and hoping people will be distracted by the micro issues they keep trying to bring to the forefront, Democrats are focused on the macro issues. Inflation is down, job creation is up, and our country is getting back on track. Oppenheimer — the film that will get you back into the theater: July 21. And speaking of movie theaters, APE ($1.91) — the intrinsically ever so slightly more valuable twin of AMC ($4.39) — will almost surely be converted into AMC shares fairly soon, at which point there will be just one set of shares — AMC — and one stock price. Just where that price will settle, and then move over time, will be interesting to watch. Having bought our APE last November at around $1.05, I’m comfortable hanging on for a while to see what happens. (Famous last words?) Either way, I’m going to see Oppenheimer. Why liberals protesting cluster munitions for Ukraine are wrong. Executive summary: The reason so many countries ban them is that the unexploded ones can later kill or maim civilians — in this case, Ukrainians — long after the war is over. Max Boot argues that if, knowing this, the Ukrainians have decided they must use them anyway, despite the risk to their own people, it is their decision to make, not ours. The blame for their use, really, falls not on us, or even on the Ukrainians, but on Putin for launching his invasion, committing countless war crimes, and firing his own cluster munitions (which are leaving far more “duds” unexploded on Ukrainian soil than ours will). Biden acknowledged it was a difficult decision, but I think made the right one.