Monday, July 6, 2026
Severe weather leaves trail of damage in NY, NJ
A line of thunderstorms tore through New York and New Jersey Friday night, downing trees, knocking out power and delivering wind gusts up to 71 miles per hour — and the region could see a repeat Saturday evening.
New York City bounced back quickly from the wild storms with fewer than a thousand Con Ed customers out by Saturday afternoon — down from about 10,000 at the peak of the storm.
But northern and central New Jersey were still reeling Saturday from the damage of the powerful storm amid an historic heat wave. State officials said 19 people have died from suspected heat-related illnesses; more than 140,000 residents were still without power Saturday and some of NJ Transit's lines will be down even into next week.
"Unfortunately, we're not out of the woods yet," Gov. Mikie Sherrill told reporters Saturday afternoon. "We're gonna keep seeing high temperatures and potentially severe thunderstorms tonight and over the rest of the holiday weekend."
The storms moved fast enough to spare the metro area of serious flooding, according to meteorologist Alexa Maines, but tree damage tied up infrastructure throughout the region. By Saturday morning, New York’s Downed Tree Taskforce was patrolling the city to clear roads of any debris, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said on X.
Kris Kolluri, the head of NJ Transit, said downed trees were the biggest culprit tying up train service.
"On the [Morris and Essex] line alone, we lost sixty trees, catenaries and signal systems," he said Saturday afternoon. "That weather was so severe last night — in a span of twenty to thirty minutes, it's caused extraordinary damage."
Con Edison said late Friday that it had restored power to more than 93,000 customers who had lost access due to the storms and extreme heat. The city opened overnight cooling centers for New Yorkers who had lost power, the mayor said.
PSE&G, which mostly serves North Jersey, reported just over a thousand “active” outages Saturday morning, after a peak of about 24,000 outages through the night. JCP&L, which serves the western and central parts of the state, still had roughly 140,000 customers still without power in the baking heat Saturday. As of 11 p.m. Friday the state had roughly 250,000 power outages. State officials said outages in western and central New Jersey could last days.
Round two of the wild weather is more likely to land between 5 and 11 p.m., meaning storms could overlap with the city's fireworks display set to begin at 9:25 p.m., according to forecasts.
“Any storms could produce another round of damaging wind gusts and heavy rainfall,” Maines said. “If people are outside, they want to be aware if there's lightning nearby, because if there is, they should seek shelter.”
Temperatures will reach mid-to-high 90s Saturday and an “extreme heat warning” in effect until 9 p.m..
Visits to emergency rooms have been steadily creeping up in New York City through the week. The city health department said Saturday there were 145 heat-related visits to city emergency rooms Friday, up from 99 the day before and 43 Wednesday. The city has not put out official numbers for any heat-related deaths.
In New Jersey, health officials suspect 19 people have died due to heat-related issues and they emphasized it's not just afflicting the elderly. People have found younger adults outside, at home without air conditioning or trapped in a car.
https://gothamist.com/news/lightning-showers-expected-during-nycs-july-fourth-fireworks
When A Toll Isn't A Toll
By Benjamin Picton, senior market strategist at Rabobank
When A Toll Isn't A Toll
Yields on 10-year Treasuries finished last week up 11bps to 4.48% while yields on 10-year Bunds rose 8.5bps to 2.93%. Those higher borrowing costs came despite signs of weakening in the US jobs market, a weaker-than-expected prices paid figure on the ISM manufacturing index, and a surprisingly weak Eurozone CPI inflation report that follows in the wake of lower than expected inflation readings in the UK.
Market-based expectations of the future path of the Fed Funds rate finished the week a little lower than it started, with pricing of a future rate hike pushed out from October to December. 2-year Treasury yields fell by almost 4bps on Thursday after the payrolls report confirmed hiring in June was little better than half the expected figure.
This was still enough for the unemployment rate to tick down to 4.2% as a lower participation rate saw the labor force contract. Nevertheless, 2-year yields were higher across the week as sovereign curves bear-steepened.
Brent crude posted its first weekly gain in almost a month last week to see the front contract close up 0.18% at $72.12/bbl. The gains appear to have been short-lived as news of continued tanker flows through the Strait of Hormuz and a decision by OPEC+ over the weekend to ease production restrictions by 188,000 barrels/day from August steer the price action lower this morning. Announcements of increased production are all well and good, but when much of that production is occurring in the Persian Gulf or in Russia (where Ukrainian strikes against oil infrastructure are ongoing) the ability to actually ship the product to market will remain the critical limiting factor.
On that note, official figures show that Hormuz traffic is back to approximately 30% of pre-war levels, though this likely understates the true picture as many vessels are transiting dark (i.e. without their tracking systems on) to avoid the attentions of Iran’s IRGC. Bloomberg reports that six vessels transited the route closest to the Omani coastline under US auspices on Sunday without incident. That follows reports of up to eight vessels performing u-turns (with some later being redirected through the Iranian route) after attempting to transit close to Oman on Friday and Saturday.
Updated data from Kpler and Vortexa shows that crude exports from the UAE surged in June to exceed pre-war levels and approach record highs. The UAE’s recent decision to leave OPEC and OPEC+ is considered bearish over the longer term for energy prices as a diminished share of potential production is subject to non-market constraints.
On the other hand, Iran again indicated over the weekend that it will be instituting “service fees” on vessels transiting Hormuz through its territorial waters once the 60-day negotiating period kicked-off by the signing of the Iran-US memorandum of understanding expires. According to Iran’s ambassador to China a new fee regime is being designed in consultation with Oman and will include “special considerations” for China and other friendly nations in determining the level and type of fee applied. According to the ambassador, this is not a toll. This might prove be a convenient fiction for all parties given President Trump’s unyielding view that a permanent toll regime would not be acceptable after the 60-day negotiating period expires.
Critically, what this little titbit sets up is exactly the type of scenario we have been pointing towards for some time: the ‘oil market’ splitting into ‘oil markets’ with terms over pricing and access being determined by which geopolitical camp you happen to sit in, and a series of quid pro quos informing the deal that each party gets.
The prime movers here are the United States and China, with Iran having clearly chosen China and the UAE hitching its wagon to the US of A. An easy tell that this scenario is playing out will be pressure from Iran to have other Gulf producers accept a toll that isn’t a toll, and/or have their cargoes priced in CNY rather than USD. The USA, similarly, will pressure Gulf allies to price in Dollars and normalize relations with Israel to expand the Abraham Accords and have oil flow from east to west to cut out Iran entirely and demonstrate to China that Uncle Sam can step on the hose whenever he likes.
Europe and the balance of Asia are likely to be reduced to the role of spectators in these affairs. Highlighting the weakness of Europe’s current position in the Great Game, the Wall Street Journal carried a story last week on how the German Mittelstand is being decimated by state-backed Chinese competition, with the most energy-exposed sectors of the manufacturing economy faring particularly badly.
To a certain extent, the hollowing out of German industry at the hands of China mirrors the hollowing-out of British finance at the hands of the United States as more and more firms choose to list in New York in pursuit of higher multiples or are bought-up as value picks. This has elicited a response from the British Government in the form of the Mansion House compact aimed at encouraging pension funds to hold more British assets. If that fails, will the discussion then turn to capital controls under an Andy Burnham premiership?
Similarly, the rapid decline of the German Mittelstand will almost certainly elicit further protectionist measures from officials in Brussels who have just spent the last 18 months and more criticizing Washington for taking similar steps to protect American industry. In the absence of a hold-your-nose peace accord with Russia to reduce energy costs that will almost certainly not happen, what is Europe’s grand macro strategy to avoid being de-industrialised by China and vassalized by US energy and finance?
Sunday, July 5, 2026
For Mamdani, America's 'greatness' comes from its money
by Monica Showalter
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani made a speech yesterday expressing his loathing for America on its 250th anniversary, defining the greatest democracy on the planet as a string of racism problems, and worse still, only rich and powerful because of its money.
We are told that America is exceptional because we are richer, stronger, more powerful than everyone else.
Which is exactly the sort of thing a confused and resentful third-worlder might say. That kind of talk goes on in those places and I've heard it myself.
I don't know anyone raised in America who has ever been taught that, let alone believes that. We are the land of the free, the country that rewards success and shuns an intellectual overlord class, allowing people to be left alone. The exceptionalism comes with the longevity of the idea. The prosperity comes of living the life.
But then, there's this view, coming from a third worlder who never did shed the old ways to become American like Americans. The ingrained hate was too deep:
NYC Mayor Mamdani on American exceptionalism: "We are told that America is exceptional because we are richer, stronger, more powerful than everyone else... The truth, my friends is that America is exceptional because here, nothing is fixed into place." pic.twitter.com/FAiPfcPvB3
— CSPAN (@cspan) July 3, 2026
After a very negative public response, Mamdani tried to backtrack a little, but only a little, and not successfully:
Who loves America more than those who have sacrificed to make it free? Happy Fourth of July. pic.twitter.com/yI0H6rG1Ts
— Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@NYCMayor) July 5, 2026
It's a sorry, grotesque view, the view not of America, but of a Marxist;s view of America, the philosophy of which is explicitly based on materialism -- not trust, civic engagement, industry, and communities working together, which is what Alexis De Tocqueville described and wrote of in his 1835 Democracy in America.
Mamdani then goes on to describe a typical third world oligarchy as 'America,' with an intellectual elite, such as you might find in Pakistan, or Syria, where his wife hails from, or any other place people leave:
The powerful have always known their answer. America, in their view, is an arena of supremacy, where only a select few are allowed freedom, where not all are created equal.
Why would anyone move to such a place? Mamdani doesn't say -- but one can surmise based on what he said earlier -- because money.
Material money again, the materialism of Marx speaking.
And somehow, that money just floated it from nowhere, or came from the government printing press, it was never the result of industry, of taking risks, innovating, investing and saving, which are the tools of creating wealth. It's just money that sits there in a pile, waiting for a socialist to harvest.
Somehow, the money, the tech, the greatness, were just sitting there for no particular reason.
It reminds me of this passage from V.S. Naipaul's 1981 Among the Believers:An Islamic Journey about the confusion and resentment of the post-colonial nascent Islamist world.
The patron saint of the Islamic fundamentalists in Pakistan was Maulana Maudoodi… At the end of his long and cantankerous life the maulana had gone against all his high principles. He had gone to a Boston hospital to look for health; he had at the very end entrusted himself to the skill and science of the civilization he had tried to shield his followers from. He had sought, as someone said to me (not all Pakistanis are fundamentalists), to reap where he had not wanted his people to sow. Of the maulana it might be said that he had gone to his well-deserved place in heaven by way of Boston; and that he went at least part of the way by Boeing.
Grok comments:
Naipaul uses this anecdote to highlight what he sees as a central contradiction in the Islamic revivalist/fundamentalist movement: its ideological rejection of Western civilization while depending on its technology, medicine, and expertise (here, modern air travel on a Boeing and advanced medical care in Boston). It fits the book’s broader theme of observing the tensions between traditional Islamic ideals and modern realities in post-revolutionary Iran, Pakistan, Malaysia, and Indonesia.
It certainly fits Mamdani, too.. He sees the outer shell of America, which is its prosperity, and then arrogantly believes he knows the whole story. And worse still, like any third world intellectual, he feels quite comfortable about lecturing the rest of us about what it means to be an American.
No wonder that speech went down so poorly. Such a sorry picture and even as he thinks he knows us, we recognize his type well.
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2026/07/for-mamdani-america-s-greatness-comes-from-its-money/
JNIM Takes Aim at Illegal Chinese Miners in Mali
Illegal Chinese miners in Mali have increasingly come under attack from Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), a powerful coalition of Sahelian terrorist groups affiliated with al-Qaida.
Adama Koné, a Sikasso-based radio analyst on politics and security, said the terror group is using the money it makes from kidnapping and extortion to finance its war against Mali’s ruling military junta.
“The group does not seek to control the mines,” he told The Africa Report for a May 28 article. “It needs only to tax the informal mining sector and to control the chokepoints through which gold must pass.”
Several deadly attacks and kidnappings prompted the Chinese embassy in Mali to issue a statement demanding that Chinese nationals, some employed by Chinese companies, evacuate and cease any engagement in illegal artisanal and small-scale gold mining operations.
“Security measures in China’s illegal gold mining areas are weak, leaving them with no protection when attacked,” the embassy wrote on December 4, 2025. “Terrorist attacks have occurred in Kenneba, Buguni, Kangaba, Narena, Furu, Kuremale and Yamfila, areas where illegal gold miners congregate, resulting in the kidnapping and even deaths of several Chinese nationals involved in the gold mining industry.”
Chinese workers suffered the majority of foreign abductions in Africa, according to 2025 data compiled by conflict monitor ACLED. About 70% of kidnapping cases tracked by BBC Monitoring across the continent were in Mali and neighboring Niger. Of 89 foreigners abducted in 2025, 38 had Chinese passports. Most were working in Mali’s gold-rich southwestern regions of Kayes, Koulikoro and Sikasso, where Chinese companies have expanded operations while international gold prices have soared.
Analysts with the Institute for Economics and Peace think tank estimate that ransoms could contribute as much as 40% of JNIM’s annual revenue. Another organization, Insight Threat Intelligence, assessed JNIM’s economic activities at about $100 million a year across the Sahel.
“Ransom is an obvious incentive for the group,” ACLED West Africa senior analyst Héni Nsaibia told the BBC for a March 2026 article. “But I think it fits more into broader economic warfare, and it has had direct ramifications for bilateral relations.”
Nsaibia believes that kidnapping is one of several ways that JNIM is putting pressure on Mali’s economy in hopes of undermining and deposing the military government. Chinese workers are an obvious target, he said, both to deprive the regime of resources and to weaken its ties with China.
“The Chinese are heavily involved in co-operation with Malian state,” he said. “They run mining sites, industry, construction.”
With the violent threat of JNIM fighters looming over illegal Chinese miners who have refused to evacuate or have returned after initially leaving, their embassy’s statement was another reminder that Mali’s junta also is targeting their operations.
“Those who ignore these warnings and continue illegal gold mining will face severe penalties, including equipment seizure, hefty fines, deportation or imprisonment,” the embassy said. “Malian and relevant domestic authorities will hold those responsible for the egregious consequences of illegal gold mining accountable.”
https://adf-magazine.com/2026/06/jnim-takes-aim-at-illegal-chinese-miners-in-mali/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)