Weekend Buzz

The Economy

• A Fast-Food Problem: Where Have All the Teenagers Gone?  I don't see "Raising the Pay" in the list of "everything he can think of"

"Mr. Kaplow has tried everything he can think of to find workers, placing Craigslist ads, asking other franchisees for referrals, seeking to hire people from Subways that have closed."

• Homes sales are hot around here, well, at least on the edge's of the big cities, mostly because rental prices of clean, modern apartments in those areas have shot through the roof. Still, there are zillions of dilapidated, 1900's, two-story properties setting empty far from those booming economies, in the crime and drug ridden areas of every small town around me.   Gimme shelter Q1 2018 update: rents and house prices all at or near new extremes. 

You can't Believe Anyone

• Actors were paid to support Entergy’s power plant at New Orleans City Council meetings. I'm guessing we'll see a lot more of this over the next few years. 

Big Business

• Electric meters being assigned to the wrong account happen occasionally. This is a good one. Man finds out he pays Ohio River bridge's electric bill

• Tech, Disruptors, and Market Power.

Slanting the News.

• The NYT doing it's best to make this look like a fair fight:  Flaming Kites From Gaza Thwarted by Winds.  

Too bad those winds can't thwart some Israeli-fired bullets.  On sixth Friday of Gaza protests, Israeli snipers shoot 70, but kill none.

"Since the first protest March 30, 44 Palestinians have been killed and more than 1,700 injured by Israeli fire. Friday marked the first weekly protest in which no Palestinian were reported killed by sunset."

As far as I know, no one has been injured by flaming kites. 

Just a reminder..... The people of Gaza are basically prisoners in their own land. Israel controls the borders and the coast, restricts imports and exports, occasionally cuts their electricity or bombs the shit out of them.  Yep, the Palestinians are flying or trying to fly flaming kites over the border but that's about the only way they have to respond. This is a prison riot and the Israeli military is shooting at the prisoners.

• I don't see this gaining any traction in the US media. Revealed: Trump team hired spy firm for ‘dirty ops’ on Iran arms deal:  Israeli agency told to find incriminating material on Obama diplomats who negotiated deal with Tehran. Also here: Trump Unleashing His Inner Nixon

Close Call

• What about wearing your headphones while your phone is charging? Don’t charge your brain implant during thunderstorms, docs warn after incident: Doctors report a close call of a woman with an implant that treats her tremor