Monthly Archives: August 2022

Sometimes headlines about legislation garner more attention than is warranted, when the resulting impacts are measured. Occasionally government officials from across the political spectrum (such as Bernie Sanders and Ron Paul) hold similar views about the shortcomings of a particular bill or legislative accomplishment. Today we could say this about the Inflation Reduction Act that recently passed. Critics from both sides of the aisle acknowledge that despite the catchy name, the legislation likely does little to curb the impacts of inflation on the average American family. This in and of itself hints at the positive future potential for gold and silver. Today we will take a look at the potential effects of this legislation, combined with technical signals currently flashing strong support for higher precious metals prices in the 3-12 month timeframe, and beyond.

This report from Bloomberg provides a concise summary of winners and losers from the Inflation Reduction Act, and also discusses what is not included in the final bill compared to the promises implied to the public when initially discussed. Despite an extra $80 billion dedicated to the IRS, none of the proposals to increase taxes on the wealthiest Americans made it into the final bill. This implies that the 87,000 new IRS agents due to be hired as a result of this legislation will likely spend the bulk of their time combing the finances of Americans not deemed to be among the most wealthy. A CBS report from 2019 revealed that the highest rate of tax audits have routinely occurred in the poorest areas of the country. 8 of the 10 most-audited counties are in Mississippi, one of the poorest states.

A long-time gold and silver advocate, retired Texas Congressman Ron Paul released the following as part of his recent Liberty Report. The laughably-named Inflation Reduction Act will double the size of the IRS - making it larger than the Pentagon, State Department, FBI, and Border Patrol...combined! And that will save money?, he quipped. This seems like a good time to remind everyone that there are no requirements to report precious metals holdings from year to year on your tax return. This makes gold and silver one of the last bastions of financial privacy available to save/invest in today. (One notable exception would be gold or silver held inside an IRA, as all IRAs have similar annual reporting requirements). But whether in an IRA or outside an IRA, gold and silver appear set to outperform in the inflationary environment this legislation does little to address.

A recent report from the World Gold Council reveals that as of August 4, gold coin sales in the United States are expected to total nearly 2 million ounces for 2022. This would be the highest amount of gold demand and sales from the US Government Mint since 1999, indicating a strong appetite for sound money among the American public. Given we are experiencing the highest inflation rates in 40 years, it makes sense why Americans are more interested in gold and silver. But there other more specific reasons that suggest now may be an opportune time to increase our personal holdings of precious metals.

Sometimes we think professional money managers should know something the rest of us dont, about where to allocate capital. Perhaps sometimes that is true. But other times, we would do well to go in the opposite direction. Often they can be wrong over half the time, leaving an unhappy trail in the wake of their recommendations. What if we could identify what types of positioning they typically get wrong, and do the opposite? When it comes to the future price of gold, we can often do exactly that. Since 2006, there have been only 5 times when money managers were net short on gold futures contracts. This means they were positioned to make money if gold went down in price. They were wrong most every time. They went net short again in mid-July, which indicates a rally is probably likely.

Analyzing previous net short data, we can see that gold moved higher within 3 months, 88% of the time. It was higher in 6-months 95% of the time, and showed positive returns in 1-year, 100% of the time after money managers took a net short position (expecting the price to drop), sometimes growing over 18% in price (see chart). There are other indicators worthy of our attention as well.

When we look at long term average gold positioning among money managers, and note when they dip below their long-term exposure by a factor of 2, we find 13 instances in the last 15 years. Gold moved higher from there over the next 3-12 months, 81-90% of the time (see graph). We find ourselves here again, currently. But it is not only the sentiment of money managers regarding gold we can look to, to find historical support for a rise in future gold prices. We can also take a look at how they are positioned in the dollar, and in 10-yr US Treasury securities.

It turns out that when money managers are net long exposure to the dollar, while simultaneously net short exposure to 10-yr treasuries, it has historically prefaced a rise in the gold price 80-97% of the time over the next 3-12 months. This has happened 17 times in the last 15 years, most recently right now. So if history is any guide, there is an 80-88% probability gold moves higher within 3 months, and a 90-100% probability it is higher within a year, depending upon which data set we track from here, with gains of up to 18%.

When we view the technical analysis in the graphs above provided by the World Gold Council, combined with a record inflationary environment not tempered by the latest anti-inflation legislation, we can expect higher gold and silver prices in the near-to-intermediate term. When we factor in the recessionary conditions beginning to develop, it correlates to an environment known as stagflation. Stagflationary conditions typically preface much higher metals prices longer term, looking out 2-5 years from now. With bright prospects from 3-months to 5 years from now, it will take more than legislation with a catchy name to slow down this gold and silver train, which continues to build momentum.

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The Inflation Reduction Act vs. Gold & Silver - United States Gold Bureau

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Today in history, Agu. 20, 2022 | | gjsentinel.com - The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel

Republicans attending CPAC on Saturday in Dallas sent a clear message to their partys one-time presidential nominee: we dont want you anymore.

According to Fox News, Utah Sen. Mitt Romney was one of the candidates listed on this years CPAC Texas straw poll ballot, but when the results were read on Saturday from the Hilton Anatole in Dallas, Romney didnt secure any recorded support in the influential Poll. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump led the field with 69 percent of the vote of attendees, followed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis at 20 percent. While Romney has established himself as an opponent of Trump and has feuded with conservative lawmakers and leaders in recent years, the result on Saturday still marks a stark contrast from Romneys former popularity among conservatives.

Prior to Romneys victory in the 2012 Republican presidential primary, the former Massachusetts Governor-turned-Utah Senator won the CPAC Straw Poll in 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2012. He also finished second in the straw poll in 2010 and 2011, behind former Texas Congressman Ron Paul. At his peak in the poll, Romney claimed the support of 38 percent of CPAC attendees.

Now, without any support in the poll, it is clear that conservatives have moved on from Romney. It marks one of the most incredible declines for a politician within their own movement in decades.

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CPAC Poll Analysis: Republicans Have Officially Moved on From Romney The Amarillo Pioneer - The Amarillo Pioneer

Yet, on the cusp of another potential run, some of the same questions and dynamics surround Trump as the first time around, including whether he will actually make the plunge or is just teasing, and how strong and enduring his apparent support is.

These doubts are perhaps another sign of wishful thinking on the part of people hoping Trump will fail to launch or go away, just like when he was about to descend the famous escalator. It is certainly the case, though, that Trump is now in his weakest position since 2015 or the first part of 2016 when, of course, he won the nomination, although it wasnt quite as inevitable as it came to look in retrospect.

First, theres the threshold question of whether Trump will run. In 2015, there was much doubt that he would. Hed talked about it so much before. And would he really want to go through the paces of disclosing his finances? This time around, there are fewer doubters. Still, theres a school of thought that believes he hasnt truly decided whether to run and could pull up short if conditions dont look propitious or he doesnt feel up to it for some other reason.

Trump still draws big crowds. In 2015, when the Trump rally first became a thing, some commentators dismissed the size of his events. Candidates who were huge draws before think Ron Paul in 2008 and 2012 didnt amount to much in the end. In 2015 and 2016, these pundits thought people might be showing up for the entertainment, or to see what the fuss was about. Their attendance, that thinking went, didnt mean theyd caucus or vote for Trump when push came to shove.

This, we now know, was flagrantly wrong. The Trump rallies showed a passion and commitment on the part of his supporters that no other candidate could come close to matching and was extremely important. As much as anything, the rallies were a metonymy for the larger Trump phenomenon.

Then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally on Nov. 9, 2015, in Springfield, Ill.|Seth Perlman/AP Photo

How about now? Well, theres doubt about the rallies again. Are they the redoubt of die-hards who show up in considerable numbers but are also a relatively small number of Republican voters? Are they an echo of the past rather than a sign of future vitality? The right-wing and now vociferously anti-Trump pundit Ann Coulter discounts the events on grounds that Sarah Palin could still draw a crowd even as her influence ebbed after the 2008 defeat to Barack Obama: In case you dont remember, for three years following that loss, Palin was packing stadiums with tens of thousands of Trump-like fans.

Trumps polling also looks strong, although there should be some skepticism about that, too. When he first popped up to the top of the polls in 2015, it was easy to believe he was another one of those unserious Republican candidates who momentarily catch the imagination of voters before fading back into the pack.

This, again, proved completely wrongheaded. What about the polling now?

Trump has had monstrous 30- or 40-point leads in the national polling over potential competitors, but a recent USA TODAY/Suffolk poll had him at just 9 points over Ron DeSantis nationally. The Florida governor isnt exactly closing the gap in the average Trump is up 2-1, 50 to 24 percent but a national survey that has Trump up by less than 10 points is a blast from the past.

Almost exactly seven years ago, in early August 2015, Trump led the field by about a 2-1 margin, 24 percent for Trump to 13 percent for Jeb Bush. Most individual polls had him up by double digits nationally in that time period, but some had him only up by single digits. This would remain true until he got the nomination in the spring of 2016.

Or consider Florida. A couple of polls conducted the last couple of weeks have DeSantis beating Trump in Florida. Needless to say, its very favorable terrain for the home-state governor. But it is still a notable result. According to the RealClearPolitics run-down of primary polls from Florida in the 2016 race, Trump hasnt been losing to another Republican in the Sunshine State since July 2015, way back when another native son, Jeb Bush, was leading in Florida.

Maybe the softening in Trumps numbers is part of an inexorable trend. Perhaps its only a minor downdraft that will quickly reverse if he announces for president. Who can know?

There are other echoes of 2015. Theres derision directed at Trumps extremely small team of loyalists that would form the nucleus of his campaign just like the first time around.

Theres a very strong possibility that if Trump ran for the nomination and lost hed try to poison the chalice the reason for the Reince Priebus-orchestrated loyalty pledge back in 2015.

Trump benefited during his first run from a multi-candidate field that divided his opposition. At the same time, no one quite knew how to handle him, and many candidates spent time ducking and covering. The same could well be true in 2024.

The biggest difference with Trumps first run is that now hes been president of the United States. Hes shown he can win a presidential race (as well as, it must be added, lose one).

Rather than an outsider who has to be grateful for every small crumb of support from Republican officialdom, Trump owns the RNC, has elected officials he endorsed from governor to dogcatcher scattered all over the landscape, has a government in waiting in the form of various America First entities, and is lavishly funded. This time around, Trump will have his own establishment a MAGA establishment that he and his loyalists have fashioned in recent yearsat his back.

This will make him, in effect, the establishment frontrunner in the race assuming he really does run.

Thats a formidable position to be in, although history shows its not necessarily impregnable.

If people are fundamentally looking for something else, all the name ID, the money and support from elected officials will mean nothing. Trump will also have trouble seeming as fresh as he did out of the gate as he nears a decade at the top of national politics. And his obsession with 2020 inevitably means a backward-looking focus. These are the kinds of pitfalls that can drag down front-running campaigns.

In short, 2015 means Trump 3.0 is not to be trifled with or lightly dismissed. It also means, once again, there are potential chinks in his armor.

Read more:
Opinion | With Trump, It's 2015 All Over Again - POLITICO

Republican Trump allies on Monday called to "defund" or dismantle the FBI after agents executed a search warrant at former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence.

The FBI searched executed a search warrant at Trump's Palm Beach resort, even opening the former president's office safe, according to Trump and media reports. The search was related to 15 boxes of White House materials, some of which were classified, that were seized from Mar-a-Lago earlier this year, according to news reports.

Trump on Monday described Mar-a-Lago as "under siege, raided, and occupied" by federal law enforcement, alleging "prosecutorial misconduct, the weaponization of the justice system and an attack by radical left Democrats."

The White House was not notified about the raid, according to CNN, and the Justice Department would have had to convince a federal judge that there was evidence of a likely crime in order to obtain the warrant before the unprecedented raid. Despite Trump's rhetoric blaming "radical left Democrats," the FBI is led by lifelong Republican Christopher Wray, who was appointed by Trump five years ago.

Nevertheless, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., accused the DOJ of an "intolerable state of weaponized politicization" and vowed to investigate Attorney General Merrick Garland if Republicans win back control of the House in November.

Other Trump allies, many of whom echoed and cheered his "lock her up" calls aimed at Hillary Clinton while touting their support for law enforcement, went even further, calling to destroy the FBI entirely.

"DEFUND THE FBI!" Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., declared on Twitter.

"This is the rogue behavior of communist countries, NOT the United States of America!!!" Greene wrote. "These are the type of things that happen in countries during civil war. The political persecution MUST STOP!!!"

Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., another close Trump ally, called for the "complete dismantling and elimination of the democrat brown shirts known as the FBI."

"We must destroy the FBI," he wrote in a subsequent tweet.

Some lesser-known Trump supporters went even further than that. Florida state Rep. Anthony Sabatini called for his state to "sever all ties with DOJ immediately."

"Any FBI agent conducting law enforcement functions outside the purview of our State should be arrested upon sight," he tweeted.

Former Trump aide Russ Vought told Fox News' Laura Ingraham that Republicans in Congress should "defund the FBI" and "dismantle the FBI into a thousand bits."

Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course.

Trump's allies in the media also called for the FBI to be destroyed.

"The FBI must be legally and formally dissolved," demanded right-wing pundit Candace Owens.

Other Republicans who have assailed Democrats as the party of "defund the police" activists, similarly attacked the FBI despite widespread consensus that Trump likely violated laws requiring the preservation of documents.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis alleged a "weaponization of federal agencies against the Regime's political opponents," calling it a "Banana Republic."

Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., echoed the "banana republic" talking point, calling for the GOP to create a special committee to "investigate the FBI's politically-motivated raid on Mar-a-Lago and on ALL the fraudulent persecution of President Trump from our government."

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, called on Garland and Wray to testify before the House Judiciary Committee this week.

"What were you really doing? What were you looking for? Why not talk to President Trump and have him give the information you're after?" Jordan ranted. "This is unbelievable!"

Despite the Republican complaints, legal experts say the feds would have had to amass a huge amount of evidence to conduct the raid.

"I cannot imagine the amount of probable cause set forth in a search warrant's supporting FBI affidavit of Trump's Florida home," former federal prosecutor Gene Rossi told Insider, adding that the number of "review levels" for the warrant application "must have been enormous, including by Trump's FBI appointee Christopher Wray."

"Trump is in deep legal trouble," Rossi said.

Former U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade said that the search suggests the DOJ is zeroing in on Trump.

"Search warrants," she told the outlet, "usually come toward the end of an investigation because they require a showing of probable cause and because they tend to tip off the suspect that they are under investigation."

Former federal prosecutor Andrew Weissman, who served on special counsel Bob Mueller's team, also predicted that Trump faces serious legal peril.

"If I were Donald Trump's lawyer right now, thank God I'm not," he told MSNBC, "I would be advising my client to be telling [their] family, 'I am looking at jail time, and we should make plans accordingly.'"

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about Trump and the FBI

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Defund the FBI!: Republicans' pro-police rhetoric goes out the window after feds raid Trump - Salon

Right-wing media figures are arguing that a key part of new legislation meant to increase federal tax revenue from high-earners and corporations is secretly designed to militarize the IRS and unleash the agency on conservatives. In fact, the new bill, known as the Inflation Reduction Act, provides the agency with $80 billion in new funding to counteract decadeslong conservative efforts to reduce the IRS capacity to enforce tax compliance, and to modernize the agencys technology.

Although the IRS in the past has spent a relatively small amount of their funding on ammunition, only agents from the IRS-Criminal Investigation division are allowed to carry weapons. There is no evidence to support the claims that the agency is targeting conservatives, and the suggestion is clearly a red herring designed to obfuscate the real purpose of the new legislation.

The right-wing medias response leading up to the bills passage has been to resurrect a debunked conspiracy theory that the bill will turn the IRS into a militarized police force and will increase the agencys audits of working- and middle-class families while ignoring billionaires.

On August 4, Fox News marquee star Tucker Carlson warned that the IRS was being used as a military agency.

In 2018, the Government Accountability Office reported that more than 2,000 IRS enforcement agents have more than 4,000 weapons. Guns -- that kill people, remember? Carlson added. The IRS is also stockpiling more than 5 million rounds of ammunition.

Carlsons guest that night, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), argued that the Biden administration is raising taxes and disarming Americans. So, of course, they are arming up the IRS like theyre preparing to take Fallujah. Gaetz was on the show to talk about a bill he introduced called the Disarm the IRS Act in July; the bill is co-sponsored by Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Paul Gosar (R-AZ), two of the most extreme members of the House Republican caucus.

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Right-wing media's conspiracy theory of a militarized IRS is really about protecting wealthy donors and sponsors from paying higher taxes - Media...

Ron Howards Thirteen Lives, a feat of endurance about the 18-day effort to rescue a youth soccer team from Thailands Tham Luang cave in 2018, gazes in awe at two unassuming men: Rick Stanton and John Volanthen, whom the actors Viggo Mortensen and Colin Farrell play with their magnetism dialed down until these charismatic movie stars resemble spit wads left to air-dry. The two rumpled and graying Brits dont look or act notably heroic. I dont even like kids, Rick says thankfully not in front of the press, whose flashbulbs both men recoil from like photosensitive bats.

Yet, Rick and John are among the few cave divers with the physical and mental stamina to bear a six-hour scuba-suited spelunking through narrow crannies in next to no visibility as fanged stalactites scrape against their air tanks. No wonder neither they nor William Nicholsons script, based on a story by him and Don MacPherson, have time for nonsense. This is a pragmatic recounting of a nigh-impossible mission: first, to find the trapped boys, and harder still, to swim them out.

Howard doesnt waste energy seeding doubt about the outcome. (The operation succeeds, with two casualties.) Hes gripped by the mechanics of how the divers pulled it off, a feat that needs very little goosing from the composer Benjamin Wallfischs rattling cymbals to play like a thriller. Watching Rick and Johns team (which expands to include parts played by Joel Edgerton, Tom Bateman and Paul Gleeson) swim back and forth towing the boys packages, Rick calls them is exhausting. The audience spends an hour of the running time experiencing the primal terror of being underground, underwater, and in a detail left out of initial news reports under sedation. Meanwhile, the sound designer Michael Fentum cannily ups the agony with every scrape of helmet on rock and panicked squeak of a cylinder running low on oxygen.

Its a race against water, which thunders down into sinkholes that flood the cave and kick up dangerous currents. The cinematographer Sayombhu Mukdeeprom uses rain the way film noir uses shadows, creating a gloom that washes over the cast. A radio broadcast that monsoon season has hit the region ahead of schedule plays like that horror trope where doomed teenagers hear of a serial killers escape from prison.

The films villain, Howard implies, is climate change. As for its heroes, the real divers already publicly rejected that role, a demurral that dovetails with the movies chariness about reducing an event that involved 5,000 helpers from 17 countries into a white savior story. For balance, Howard includes the local governor (Sahajak Boonthanakit) pressed to make risky decisions, the irrigation engineer (Gerwin Widjaja) organizing a volunteer sandbag squadron, and a group of farmers led by Neungruthai Bungngern-Wynne who agree to destroy their crop for a dicey plan. This display of international unity feels like a thesis Howard doesnt want to blurt: Wouldnt it be swell if the planet teamed up to prevent environmental crises before more lives were in peril?

Focusing on the rescuers leaves scant time for the rescued. All we learn of the boys struggle is that their coach (Pattrakorn Tungsupakul), a former Buddhist monk, taught them meditation to conquer their fears. Naturally, one starts expecting their Zen practice to factor into the plot, for a child to wake up underwater and calm himself down. It doesnt, and its uncertain if Howard left in that point as a dangling factoid or as a hint that the kids deserved more credit for their own survival.

Thirteen LivesRated PG-13 for coarse language and creepy images. Running time: 2 hours 27 minutes. Watch on Amazon Prime.

Excerpt from:
Thirteen Lives Review: Dramatizing the Near Impossible - The New York Times

My teenage son, Michael, returned from staying at his fathers house in mid-March 2020. He was standing on the stairs when I returned home from work. We had plans to go to my mothers house, his grandmothers, for dinner. I went to hug him like I always did when I returned. He recoiled, and stepped back. His face had changed.

Whats wrong, Michael? I said. He could not say anything. I told him we were going to Nanas for dinner. He said he wasnt going. He was afraid of the virus, of spreading it to others though he was not sick. I tried everything I could think of to reassure him, but nothing worked.

He said maybe he would feel safer if he went back to his fathers house.

Michael asked his father to return and pick him up.

I called Michaels father to try to make sense of this. He said that since our son had been on an orchestra trip with his high school string orchestra a few weeks before, and based on mainstream media broadcasts on Covid and cruise ships, my sons father said that he feared contracting Covid from our son. Michael was healthy with no symptoms of illness.

When our son was at his house for the previous week, the shutdowns began. Then, his father made Michael, aged 16, stay six feet away from him inside his house. He had worn a face mask in our sons presence and asked our son to wear a mask in the house. He had talked to our son about virus asymptomatic spread, that strange and horrible and now widely disproven phenomenon. He told Michael that he could unknowingly infect him with Covid, even if Michael had no symptoms of illness. His father was gripped with fear and had spread it to our son.

My son was not home, the home I had made for him, for his brother, and for the family, where he had grown up and where he still lived most of the time and returned to after frequent stays with his father. We had divorced several years ago. Fear messages bombarded us; confusion was swimming around us. I was trying to learn as much as I could about this virus and about what was happening in the world. Michael returned to the house some after the mid-March crisis, but he was never the same after fear changed his eyes. I felt wild to protect him.

My older son, Alan, had called me the Mominator when they were growing up. I even had a license plate made, one that Alan had suggested and had helped craft. The characters were MOMN8R. For a period, all things zombie captivated Alan. He made a joke about me being the mom who would intercept the zombie as it tried to break into her childs bedroom, would grab it by the throat, kill it instantly with her bare hands. That mayve been one of the ways he saw me. He always made us laugh.

Alan was a strong reader, reading series after series. He was also curious about the classics. He read 1984. I, of course, knew the many cultural references to the book but had discontinued reading it when it disturbed me too deeply. When he was in high school, Alan recounted the end of the novel to me when Orwell describes Winston, completely taken over. He loved Big Brother, Orwell writes.

In these past two and a half years of confusion and fear and harm, of gate after gate clanging shut, locking behind us, I told Michael that the virus fear may be distorted, and we may want to keep questioning and seeking different perspectives. I told him that I was trying not to be ruled by fear, that my main instinct was to protect him from fear and harm, harms that I didnt think were coming from a virus. I tried to reassure him. I tried humor and hyperbole, saying that I would travel to the middle of any war zone to retrieve him if I had to; I would slog through fields of infected people, into pestilence, disease, disaster to drag him to safety if that were required of me.

So, you know more than the CDC and all the experts, Mom? he asked.

Im not sure, Michael. I could be wrong. I just always question things, you know that, I said. I cant help it. Especially something as serious as shutting down the schools and making us stay isolated. The people who deliver the Amazon boxes arent staying home.

I had always been an outsider, I reminded him; both my sons knew this. They had attended national protests with me against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, against Obamas drone assassination program, and local protests against chemical additives in our county drinking water, among others. I am the daughter of a Vietnam combat veteran. I am a Quaker.

In Quaker Meeting and at camp, my sons learned about Quakers who had risked their lives and their families lives to shelter escaping slaves as part of the Underground Railroad. I shared with my sons my readings of Quakers who had traveled to the middle of war zones to feed starving families and children, including Nazi children, in the build-up to WWII and Quakers who worked with all sides in conflict zones to try to prevent harms and quell violence.

I had been the Mominator, helping my sons handle bullies and negotiate problems with difficult teachers. I always had chewable Tylenol in my bag to hand to them for headaches wherever we were, cared for them when they were sick, prayed over them as they boarded the school bus with no seat belts when they started kindergarten.

I had invented lullabies to calm fears and prayed for their protection as they fell asleep; made them practice piano and strings and fussed at them to keep up their grades; paid attention to who their friends were and made sure I knew their friends parents. Through the years, they would turn to me, ask me questions about a confusing world. And they mostly had listened to me and believed me. But this was over my head. I was wild to fix this; I could not fix it.

I called loved ones to ask for help with what to say to Michael. One family member tried reassuring him by advising him to follow the CDC website. Another advised him to not be afraid while media everywhere proclaimed fear-inducing messages. Michaels school closed in the spring of his sophomore year. The school where I taught in another district also closed. Viscerally, I felt closing schools was deeply harmful and not necessary.

So, you dont care if teachers die? my son snapped.

Of course, I care about teachers, Michael, I said. I am a teacher. Many of my friends are teachers. I added that I thought children and teens should be in school for their health and well-being, and that the virus posed almost no risk to children and young people for serious illness or death, I had read. Hearing my son parrot the circulating propaganda about killing teachers alarmed me. I had also read that the virus affected mostly old people or people with seriously poor health and that the average age of death from it was in the 80s. Most people survived the illness with early treatments that were emerging each day. I kept praying for guidance and clarity, reading, asking, listening, thinking, searching.

Early in the shutdowns, Ron Paul was one of the only public figures to immediately question the dominant narrative on Covid policies. Though I disagree with Paul strongly on some important issues, I thought his comments on Covid policies made sense. I shared a couple of his articles with both my sons mainly to offer alternative opinions, to stimulate their critical thinking and perhaps alleviate some of the spreading terror. I said I was trying to find my way through and was not sure if Paul was right either.

After that, Michael called me from his fathers house to question me. He was nervous and was not coming home this time to see me. He had heard that Libertarians like Paul were right wing or Republican. He acted as though he feared that I was more infectious, more of a virus danger, more reckless, if I was one of those. I reminded him that I was an Independent, not registered with any political party, the same as I had been for many years. He was somewhat reassured when he read online that Libertarians could be left or right politically. I again told him I considered myself neither left nor right. I saw Michael through the summer and fall of 2020 but less frequently.

I took him on long hikes as often as he would go. We planted a garden and listened to a lot of music. He was not getting together with his friends. I went to my boyfriends, now husbands, farm to help with chores and food production. I asked Michael to go, but he wouldnt.

Why not? I asked.

We have to say home, he answered. I told him I was going to work at the farm sometimes during the day and hoped he didnt mind. He said he would have to ask his father if it was okay for me to leave the house. Michaels father and his partner often sent Michael text messages when he was with me, telling him to wear the mask, reminding him that we were to stay home, and instructing him that I should be staying home as well.

Maybe he knows more than me, Michael said. I did not seem to have any influence.

At his high school as a ninth and tenth grader, Michael attended the Dungeons and Dragons (D and D) Club, the largest club in the school. D and D is an in-person fantasy and story-telling game, promoting imagination and group problem-solving. The club met every Friday after school and into the evening, filling two large joined classrooms. Michaels close friends also attended every Friday night. In addition, Michael joined three or more friends Sunday afternoons at one of their houses to play the game. These activities with friends were very important to him after he had lost contact with his older brother Alan when he became addicted to computer games.

Michael played in the school string orchestra. Orchestra class met every morning with Mrs. Findman, who had been his teacher since sixth grade. Mrs. Findman, a violinist and cellist, had also taught his older brother. She was like family to my sons, looking after them in class and on orchestra trips. These activities protected Michaels spirit when he had to travel between two households, especially in the absence of Alan, who had left him too soon. In spring 2020, Michaels tenth grade year, the D and D club ended and did not resume while he was in school.

When we went on hikes in the nearby Shenandoah National Park or other hiking trails, many people wore masks outside on the trails in spring and summer of 2020, stepped away from each other, or turned their faces away from each other on the hiking trail. Something terrible was descending all around us, taking my beloved, ebullient, creative Michael with it Michael, who had fearlessly climbed walls and hills when we took walks, bounded on and across stone walls with his brother on the University of Virginia grounds as we walked there when they were younger. He had a mischievous, defiant smile, climbed on his brothers back when they watched TV, belly-laughed at his brothers jokes, and loved Garfield comic books and MythBusters on Netflix.

Once I stopped at Walmart to buy a few things before I drove Michael to his fathers one evening in 2020. He used to like going to the store with me. I was trying to choose a cookie jar for our kitchen because I thought it would make him happy. I let the mask drop below my nose, so I could get more oxygen to be able to think and make a decision. Michael became angry and ordered me several times to pull up the mask over my nose. I said I was doing the best I could but could not breathe well. I tried walking away from him but he followed me and ordered me to put up the mask.

His eyes darted with fear, looking around at the other people. I think he believed that he could somehow take Covid to his fathers house after we went to Walmart, or perhaps by my letting the mask slip below my nose, I would pass it to him and then he could pass it to his father though neither one of us had any illness symptoms for many months. This terrifying magical thinking was also reflected by a family friend, who shared that his four-year old came home and said, I have to wear the mask, so I dont kill people.

In fall 2020, in his junior year, all Michaels classes were on Zoom. They were difficult classes, including AP courses and string orchestra. How was string orchestra possible on the computer? My school district required teachers to drive to the school building to teach while students were at home. I taught at my desk in my empty classroom. In my classroom, I could remove the face mask; when I got up to walk to the bathroom or to my mailbox down the hall, we were required to put on the mask, even if no one was around. We were prohibited from gathering in classrooms to eat together. I drove to the building every day.

Michael was at home, struggling. Assignments accumulated, and he could not complete them. I was still driving him to his fathers house, as I was required to. I wished then that we could have moved away to my partners farm or to some other safe and normal and open place, away from this descending doom. At my partners farm and other places surrounding it, life went on mostly normally. Animals had to be fed, cows had to be milked, equipment had to be repaired. Hay had to be harvested. We worked with a neighbor and friends to process a steer and filled freezers with meat. To socialize and share ideas, we attended a local farm tour event outside on a beautiful day in October 2020. No one wore a mask. Before spring of 2020, Michael loved exploring the fields and woods and riding the 4-wheeler at the farm. He had invited his friends to come too.

I asked Michael to come to my school building with me to work in my classroom, just to get out of the house, but he wouldnt. He became paler and more withdrawn. When he returned from his fathers one afternoon, a bottle of caffeine pills sat on his desk. He told me his father had given them to him when he complained of not being able to complete his school work. I said that I did not think the pills were good for him and to please not take them. Getting outside, drinking water, socializing with friends, playing music, exercising, and getting fresh air were better and may help, I said. I told Michaels father that I was worried about his health and asked if he would help me encourage him to get together with his friends.

I dont want him to get together with his friends until the vaccine comes out I told him that, he said. I contacted Michaels brother, Alan, and said that Michael was struggling and needed to see him in this challenging time. Michael couldnt drive yet, so his father had to take him to a restaurant to see his brother. Michaels father madeAlan, and his girlfriend sit at a separate table from Michael, his father, and his fathers partner. This may have been when the government and media told people to stay away from others from different households.

I tried to make things normal, tried hard to stay cheerful, and kept talking. I felt like I was desperately trying to ward off despair, but nothing worked. I was losing. I took Michael to our favorite nearby restaurant where we had gone for years, with Alan too, and where we played games while waiting for our food Set, Blink or Scrabble, the Scribble Drawing Game, and others. Early in the shutdowns, the restaurant handed out sheets, instructing customers to wear the mask while seated at the table, while waiting for food. If the waiter saw people maskless, he would pass by the table, the sheet said. That is your clue to don the mask, the sheet said. We believe that every minute wearing the mask helps keep others safe, it read. It was one of the strangest documents I have ever read. Another time, the hostess made me wait outside in the rain, waiting for a call on my cell phone when the food was ready. I was heartbroken that fear and repression ruined a favorite restaurant.

Weeks later, I decided to try going to the restaurant again. They had stopped handing out instruction sheets. Michael was reluctant to go but did. We sat outside. I took off the mask when I sat down; Michael did too. Michaels eyes darted with fear around the restaurant. At a nearby table, a middle-aged couple sat with their son, who appeared college-aged. The couple did not have masks on; the young man did. Mike saw the young man with a mask on, then put one back on his own face.

I thought being honest might help. I told Michael that I wished children and teens did not have to wear a mask, that I didnt like it myself, and that I found it very hard to breathe with it on.

I dont mind it, he said. I can breathe fine with a mask on.

In late fall of 2020, Michaels father wrote me an email saying that CDC guidance instructed us to minimize travel between households, so he thought it best that Michael only see me every two or three weeks or less. Michael agreed, his father said, because he cares about not infecting others, about not infecting us.

Marilyn and I think of the virus differently than you and Ryan (my partner) do, Michaels father wrote to me in an email. He told me he was not driving Michael to stay with me. The CDC has said that the virus can spread even when you have no symptoms. We hardly ever leave the house, which we think is safer. You and Ryan seem to have different opinions about the virus. Were very cautious and careful and think its best to rarely go outside the house. Michael agreed to do this to protect us. I was wild with grief. My partner tried reassuring Michael that I was not afraid of Covid, so maybe if Michaels father was afraid of getting it, then why not just stay with me? None of this worked.

When Michael did come home rarely, he stopped going places with me. When I asked him when he would go out to do things with me again or see his friends, he said, When the pandemics over. All over the internet and TV, messages were inescapable that the pandemic may never be over.

Michael did not join his grandmother, uncles, and cousins and me and my partner for Thanksgiving or Christmas in 2020 and stopped coming at all to the house where he grew up.

Because he could not get his assignments done on the computer, Michael thought something was wrong with him. He told his father he thought he had attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Michael was healthy and had no disorder, I told him, but this was an extraordinarily difficult time for everyone, especially children and young people. I worked with special needs public school students, many with ADHD diagnoses, I reminded him. I said I could help him get through the school work, we could do it together, and this time would pass.

As a soccer player, a cellist, a piano player, and a gymnast, Michael had excellent attention. I had sat with him during years of piano lessons in parent-child classes. His father and I attended years of recitals, soccer games and tournaments, and string orchestra performances. Michael mastered the Hula Hoop, the Pogo stick, and juggling almost instantly. He was physically gifted, lovely to behold. We had played hours of frisbee; his focus was extraordinary. I reminded his father of this. None of it mattered.

His father took him to a clinician, who diagnosed Michael, on Zoom, with ADHD and prescribed Adderall. The clinician said that his anxiety was so strong at first that the Adderall would not work, so she also prescribed an antidepressant. There was nothing I could do. I told Michael that I didnt think he needed the ADHD drug but that maybe the low dose antidepressant could be helpful. I told him to stop taking the drugs if he didnt like the way they made him feel. When he stopped taking them once because he did not like the side effects, his father told him to resume taking them.

When I saw Michael in spring 2021, his affect had flattened, his skin had paled. His eyes were weaker and darted over the mask. A close family member was very ill that spring, with a non-Covid-related illness that could have been fatal, and his uncles and I asked Michael to go see her, but he declined. It was as though something had dropped out of him. He was a son who had volunteered to accompany me when I had to have our dog euthanized when she suffered from an extremely painful cancerous tumor on her spine. He cried with me when a giant oak tree fell on our house in a storm and put a hole in the roof, destroying the dogwoods he had loved to climb. Over the years, he had helped me take care of underweight puppies and kittens from the ASPCA. He had cried for his older brother, saying, He doesnt miss me the way I miss him. This was my Michael.

In January of senior year, the face mask mandates in schools were lifted in our state, but Michael said that there was peer pressure at his school to continue wearing the mask. He had dropped string orchestra at the end of his junior year. There was no D and D club. He was staying inside most of the time. He had dropped down to taking only three classes and attending school two days per week. Before the shutdowns, he had been in all advanced classes, was doing well and was set to earn an Advanced Diploma. He decided his senior year to get a Standard one.

Michael lost more than two years of high school, his junior and senior years. Classes were conducted on Zoom, then later, two days per week in person, masked, and the other days on the computer. When school resumed in person, five days per week, students were masked and prohibited from sitting together at lunch and socializing normally. Fear infused every aspect of school.

In my district as well as Michaels, in fall 2021 and spring of 2022, long bureaucratic government documents regularly appeared in emails when someone tested positive for Covid. They included repetitive, boilerplate language with detailed instructions to closely monitor our health, wash our hands, monitor ourselves for symptoms, and check our temperatures regularly. Michaels district distributed notices that students participating in theater and sports were required to show proof of vaccine or submit to weekly PCR tests because these activities involved more breathing than other activities. Children in my school district were regularly disappeared for required quarantine when they tested positive. We received notices that the child would be absent for a week or two, and we were to send computer assignments. Other students were left to fear and wonder if the child would return.

Over this period, Michaels father had him receive three Covid shots. He did not consult me. His father received four shots. In spring of 2022, a few weeks before his high school graduation ceremony, Michaels father notified me by email that Michael had tested positive for Covid. His father kept at-home test kits and subjected him to regular testing.

Michaels high school graduation ceremony in spring 2022 was held in a large arena. Masks and vaccine requirements had been dropped. Most students and audience members were unmasked. The crowd was raucous as though relieved that some of the repression had lifted. Michael wore a large face mask over his beautiful young face. When the family met after the ceremony to take pictures, Michael turned to his father for permission when he could take off the mask.

Hannah Grace is a pen name for a mom and writer whose heart was broken many times over during the covid crisis.

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The Cult That Took My Michael - Brownstone Institute

With heavy hearts, we are sharing that Ronald Patrick Read Jr. Esq, a loving son, brother, and uncle. has unexpectedly passed away. He was 31 years of age.

Born on September 25th, 1990, Ron was originally from Weirton, WV. and was currently residing in Pittsburgh, PA.

Growing up in Weirton, he attended Weir High School, where he was a Cross Country Champion and always enjoyed running.

After high school. he graduated Summa Cum laude from WVU in Political Science, where he was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society. Ron then continued his education graduating with a law degree from the University of Pittsburgh.

Presently, he was an attorney in Pittsburgh, PA, and well-known social activist.

He was recently featured on the local news for winning his case for his clients that were in support of the environment. Ron was always fighting for the underdog and planned on being a defense attorney.

He also enjoyed spending time volunteering at The Big Idea Bookstore. He met many of his friend there and went by the nickname, Jack.

He had a book published early in age titled Delete Me; An Argument Against Facebook and was about to publish a book titled None of the Above. He had a lifelong passion for reading and writing books. Ronnie always had an amazing joy for learning. Self-taught guitar player, C++ programming, Russian, and Religion to name a few.

He also excelled in many different forms of martial arts and loved boxing.

Most of all he will be remembered for being very intelligent, hardworking, kind, humble, and a selfless man. He was always willing to help a friend or a great cause.

Ronnie nourished his faith at St. Joseph the Worker Roman Catholic Church in Weirton.

He had a bright future ahead and would have continued to do so much good for this world. Ronnie was healthy and full of life but currently was battling Covid-19. An autopsy will try to answer questions.

We find comfort knowing he is with his dad, Ron, in Heaven. Both taken from us way too soon. Please send prayers for our family while we manage through this devastating time.

In addition to both sets of grandparents, Ronnie was preceded in death by his father, Ronald P. Read in February of 2005.

He will be remembered with love by his mother, Pamela Bailey Read; his sisters, Kelly Read Plubell (Paul) and Shaunna Read; many aunts, uncles, cousins and nieces and nephews including his niece and nephew, Joni, and Colby Plubell.

Visitation will be Thursday from 3 PM until 7 PM at the Greco Hertnick Funeral Home, 3219 Main Street Weirton, WV. With respect of Covid-19, masks and an awareness of social distancing is encouraged. Masks will be provided.

A Liturgy of the Word Service will be held privately with his family on Friday.

Ronnie will be laid to rest next to his father at Saint Pauls Cemetery in Weirton, WV.

Please share stories of Ronnie Jack at http://www.grecohertnick.com

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Ronald Read, Jr. | News, Sports, Jobs - The Daily Times

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Editor's Note: This story originally appeared on The Penny Hoarder.

Navigating finances in a relationship can be tricky.

You may think everything is progressing smoothly, but your budget and savings account say otherwise.

Talking about money and budgeting with your partner isnt the most romantic way to spend time together, but it can actually make your relationship stronger.

Whether you use a budgeting app, an Excel spreadsheet or a pen and notebook, its important to discuss with your partner where the money is going without it devolving into icy silence or a screaming match.

Take a little time at the beginning or end of each month to close out your budget as a couple. This is your time to reflect on joint spending and saving, then determine whether you need to make any adjustments for the month ahead.

Here are some budgeting questions to get you started.

Before we get started, its helpful to understand how to budget as a couple.

Youll want to see where your money has been going to get an idea of where it needs to go in the future.

Make sure to account for:

Once you have all the numbers in front of you, its time to ask a few important questions.

Here are four budgeting questions to ask your partner to help strengthen your wallet and your relationship.

This is the most obvious question you and your partner should consider as you both reflect on spending from the past month.

Its helpful to compare how your actual spending matches up with your planned budget. Look at each spending category, such as food, entertainment and transportation.

Where did you overspend? Where did you spend less than anticipated? Where do you want to spend more or less?

If you spent more money than you anticipated, analyze what factors contributed to the overspending. Talk to each other about what you can do differently next month.

You should also adjust your spending limits if youre consistently coming in over or under budget in a particular category. Its better to be practical than stick to a number that doesnt work for you.

For example, if you budget $350 a month for groceries but keep coming in around $450 despite efforts to cut food costs, consider making an adjustment to a more realistic level.

The reverse is true, too. If you put $100 a month in your budget for car maintenance and only spend $25, what do you want to do with the extra $75? Do you want to reallocate that money or roll it over to save for more expensive maintenance?

Paying your bills on time and having enough money to cover daily necessities is great but dont neglect your big-picture goals as a couple.

When money is left over at the end of the month, are you both in agreement with where it should go?

For example, maybe you want to save up for a house down payment but he wants to put extra money toward a trip to Europe next summer. Or maybe you both have a significant amount of student loan debt you want to eliminate in the next five years.

You may not have enough money to save for multiple goals, which is why you should align your financial priorities as a couple.

There may be smaller goals you want to save for as a couple, such as buying furniture and home decor after moving into a new apartment.

You can create a sinking fund by putting a specific amount of money away into a separate account each week or month. A sinking fund is a pool of money you regularly contribute to so you spread out the cost of an upcoming expense over time.

When you have clearly defined financial goals youre working toward as a couple each month, it can make it easier to stick to a budget.

Youll both have personal things you want to spend money on or individual savings goals. You may spend $80 on your hair each month, for example, while your partner spends $80 on video games.

One way to avoid conflict is to create a no-questions-asked allowance for each of you.

Whether you can afford $10 each per month or $300 each per month, everyone needs a little money to spend, save or invest however they choose without being accountable to the other person. Just make sure you both agree on the personal allowance amount in your budget.

Or if youre not comfortable combining your finances, you can take a more hybrid approach.

You can create a joint account for household expenses and other shared goals (like vacations or a wedding). Each partner contributes to the joint account but keeps the rest of their accounts separate.

After sitting down and creating a budget as a couple, start identifying ways to save money each month and potentially even make money.

This is especially important if youre saving up for a big goal and the numbers in your budget make it unrealistic to reach that goal in the time you want.

Youll have more wiggle room in your budget if you can eliminate unnecessary spending, like subscriptions you dont use anymore.

Dont just focus on your discretionary spending either. Look through your essential expenses and identify one way you can cut costs.

For example, you can call your internet provider and ask for a better rate, or ask if theyd match a competitors quote. Or you can try lowering your utility bills by reducing your water and electricity usage.

If youre both already super frugal, it may be time to discuss ways to bring in extra income.

You can increase your income in a number of ways. At work, you could ask to take on more hours, work overtime or negotiate a raise.

You could supplement your regular job with a side hustle or a stream of passive income. You can also increase your cash flow by selling items you have around your house.

Its important not to point fingers or emphasize income inequalities during these discussions. You may live in a one-income household because one partner is taking time off work to care for the kids and thats OK.

It never hurts to brainstorm ways to generate income, even if its just an additional $200 to $500 a month.

Disclosure: The information you read here is always objective. However, we sometimes receive compensation when you click links within our stories.

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4 Money Conversations to Have With Your Partner When You Budget - Money Talks News