Broke, Woke & Trending Folk 8/5: Global economy shaken, dark money Democrat group, future college protests coming, hurricane update, and much more

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Here is a collection of stories happening across the country, displaying the state of the economy, the heartbeat of American culture, and the craziness of modern-day politics…

1) Japanese yen surges to 7-month high as U.S. economy worries mount

From Reuters: Japan’s yen hit its highest levels against the dollar since January on Monday, as markets extended moves triggered last week by weak U.S. labour data that stoked recession worries and expectations of deeper rate cuts by the Federal Reserve. Friday’s jobs data, coming on top of a string of weak earnings reports from large technology firms and heightened concerns over the Chinese economy, drove a global sell-off in stock markets, oil and high-yielding currencies as investors sought the safety of cash.

The selling continued on Monday, with U.S. Treasury yields falling further, stock indexes in the red, bitcoin dumped and the dollar losing ground, mainly to the yen.

 

2) Goldman Sachs economists raise ‘limited’ risk of US recession to 25% chance

From Fox Business: Economists at Goldman Sachs raised the likelihood of the U.S. economy slipping into a recession within the next 12 months from 15% to 25% while continuing to view the risk of recession as limited, according to a report. Goldman economists led by Jan Hatzius, the firm’s chief economist and head of global investment research, wrote that they “continue to see recession risk as limited” in a report to clients on Sunday that was reviewed by Bloomberg.

They said the U.S. economy appears to be “fine overall” and noted the Federal Reserve has ample room to cut interest rates if needed and can do so rapidly if upcoming data releases show signs that economic conditions are worsening amid worries the Fed has waited too long to lower rates.

Last week, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its latest jobs report that showed U.S. job growth slowed to 114,000 in July, less than the 175,000 gain forecast by London Stock Exchange Group economists. The unemployment rate also rose unexpectedly from 4.1% to 4.3%, the highest level since October 2021.

 

3) Kamala Harris Spent Her Entire Senate Career Opposing Border Security

From Daily Caller: Vice President Kamala Harris spent years in the Senate opposing immigration enforcement measures before she ascended to the White House, a review of her record shows.

The Harris campaign has quickly attempted to moderate the newly-minted Democratic presidential candidate’s image on border security, with allies emphatically distancing the vice president from her “border czar” appointment. Her campaign chief has suggested she would keep in place a Biden-era executive order cracking down on illegal border crossings and she launched a campaign ad that casts her as more of a champion of Border Patrol than President Donald Trump.

But as a U.S. senator from California, Harris actively opposed border enforcement proposals, and immigration enforcement advocates have identified her Senate career as far-left.

“No good vote for her. Everything is a zero and an F,” Eric Ruark, research director for NumbersUSA, said about Harris’ Senate voting record to the Daily Caller News Foundation.

 

4) Vance: ‘Weird’ Label ‘Projection’ from People Who Want to Give Transgender Hormones to 9-Year-Old Kids

From Breitbart: On this week’s broadcast of FNC’s “Sunday Morning Futures,” Sen. JD Vance (R-OH), the Republican vice-presidential nominee, said those attempting to label him as “weird” were engaging in projection, given their own “weird” views.

“What do you say about this new strategy to call you weird from the Democrats?” Maria Bartiromo asked.

“I think that it’s a lot of projection, frankly, Maria, from people who want to give transgender hormones to 9-year-old kids and want biological males to play in women’s sports,” Vance replied. “Look, I’m a husband, I’m a father, I’m happily married, and I love my life. And I’m doing this because I want to be a good public servant who fixes the problems of the Democrats. They can call me whatever they want to. The middle school taunts don’t bother me. What bothers me and what offends me is what Kamala Harris has done to this country over 3.5 years. She’s opened up the American southern border. She cast a deciding vote on things that caused skyrocketing inflation, an affordability crisis.”

“I mean, I was in Georgia yesterday,” he continued. “They have a terrible housing affordability problem in the state of Georgia, Maria, because Kamala Harris shot interest rates through the roof, and then she welcomed in millions of illegal aliens to compete with Americans for scarce homes. So I don’t care what they call me. I just wish they would stop screwing up the country. And because I don’t think they’re able to do that themselves, President Trump and I are going to beat them in November.”

 

5) Democratic dark money fuels ‘nonpartisan’ climate group behind swing state ads

From Washington Examiner: In its own telling, Science Moms is a “nonpartisan group of scientists” working to fight climate change. Science Moms is spending $2.5 million on a new advertising campaign about “unnatural disasters” in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Arizona, and other swing states until Sept. 30 in the lead-up to the November elections.

“If you knew this was your last, best chance to protect all the places you love, what would you do?” says a narrator in the ad, which is called “Climate change is taking the places we love.”

But while Science Moms appears to position itself as apolitical and grassroots, it actually shares a connection to Arabella Advisors, a consulting firm that doubles as the largest Democratic-aligned dark money network in the United States. Science Moms is not a stand-alone entity. Rather, it’s an initiative of the Potential Energy Coalition, a former project of an Arabella-managed dark money group called the Windward Fund, tax records show. The Windward Fund, which finances the Potential Energy Coalition, is bankrolled by the likes of George Soros, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, and other billionaires.

The relationship between the Windward Fund in Washington, D.C., and Science Moms illustrates how complex tax laws serve to obscure where nonprofit organizations often derive their assets. Arabella has long argued that it merely provides administrative, human resources, and accounting services to independently run groups, though its billion-dollar network is, in many ways, unique due to its scope and sprawling usage of fiscal sponsorship. This legal arrangement allows Arabella-linked projects to shield their backers from the IRS, which does not require sponsored projects to submit separate financial disclosures.

 

6) Students gearing up for round 2 of pro-Palestinian protests: ‘We’ve been working all this summer’

From The Hill: The pro-Palestinian activists who disrupted campuses across the nation are plotting their return for the new academic year.

Demonstrators say all forms of protest are still on the table, despite the more than 2,000 arrests so far, as students try to figure out a new strategy to demand their schools divest from Israel, among other goals.

“What we will see [is] the students will continue their activism, will continue doing what they’ve done in conventional and unconventional ways. So not only protests, not only encampments, kind of any — any available means necessary to push Columbia to divest from from Israel,” said Mahmoud Khalil, student negotiator on behalf of Columbia University Apartheid Divest.

“And we’ve been working all this summer on our plans, on what’s next to pressure Columbia to listen to the students and to decide to be on the right side of history,” Khalil added.

 

7) Chinese-made humanoid robots raise alarms in Congress: ‘Stealth army on our land’

From New York Post: Advanced Chinese-made robots with eerily lifelike capabilities are poised to enter the global market — and some US lawmakers are already demanding that they be banned in the US, The Post has learned.

While not yet widely publicized, various Chinese companies have begun producing humanoid robots that are capable of carrying boxes, moving at high speeds and even replicating human facial expressions.

One leading Chinese firm, Unitree Robotics, has developed a $90,000 robot capable of running at speeds of up to 11 mph. A cheaper $16,000 version can absorb punches and kicks and twirl a baton. Many other firms have similar products under development.

Jacob Helberg — a top Washington lobbyist who played a key role convincing Congress to pass a law this spring to force a sale or ban of TikTok — is one of the loudest voices warning Congress that it risks disaster if it allows the sale of robots made by firms beholden to Beijing.

Helberg said advancements in humanoid technology have occurred “mind-bogglingly fast.”

 

8) The Vatican Decries ‘Offense Done’ By Opening Ceremony Of Paris Olympics

From Daily Wire: The Vatican has joined a growing list of those expressing disapproval of the opening ceremony of this year’s Summer Olympics in Paris because it featured a controversial drag show parody evoking “The Last Supper” with Jesus Christ and his apostles.

“The Holy See was saddened by certain scenes at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games and cannot but join the voices raised in recent days to deplore the offense done to many Christians and believers of other religions,” the Vatican said in a press release, per Deadline.

“At a prestigious event where the whole world comes together to share common values, there should be no allusions ridiculing the religious convictions of many people,” it added. “The freedom of expression, which is clearly not called into question here, is limited by respect for others.”

Those who lashed out in response to the performance include the French Bishops’ Conference, Bishop Robert Barron, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), NFL kicker Harrison Butker, and C Spire — a U.S. tech company that said it would be removing ads from the Olympics.

 

9) Algerian boxer at center of controversy makes 4-word declaration on gender after latest Olympic win

From Fox News: After clinching a medal in the women’s 66kg division, Algerian boxer Imane Khelif, who has failed gender tests, gave a brief message to the naysayers.

Khelif is fighting in the women’s category nearly a year after the IBA said a gender test revealed the boxer had XY chromosomes. However, Khelif remains in the women’s competition, the boxer feels, for one reason: “I am a woman.”

Khelif made that sentiment after defeating Hungarian boxer Anna Luca Hamori. Khelif advanced to the semifinals with that victory, and since boxing doesn’t have semifinal matches, Khelif is guaranteed, at worst, a bronze medal.

IOC President Thomas Bach earlier Saturday defended Khelif and fellow boxer Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan. Khelif and Lin were disqualified in the middle of last year’s world championships by the IBA, the former governing body of Olympic boxing, after what it claimed were failed eligibility tests.

 

10) Hurricane Debby makes landfall in Florida with life-threatening storm surge, flooding rain

From Fox Weather: Hurricane Debby made landfall early Monday morning along Florida’s Big Bend, blasting the state with flooding rain, damaging winds and life-threatening storm surge.

The Category 1 storm hit near Steinhatchee about 7 a.m. ET with winds topping 80 mph.

By midweek, the storm is expected to dump extreme amounts of nearly 2 feet of rain on parts of Georgia and South Carolina.

 

11. UK erupts in riots over migrant invasion

From The Stark Naked Brief via X/Twitter: There’s a lot of horrific footage circulating of riots and protests from last night. Political hacks are selectively using specific clips to push their narratives. Here’s an attempted honest summary of events, which they and the mainstream are unlikely to provide.

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