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Having completed a review of numerous academic periodicals that feature thought-provoking articles and scantily-clad models, Adam and Jeff offer their insights as to how best to end the war in Ukraine. Jeff points out that the so-called security guarantees being bandied about by England and France are not necessarily cast in stone but are "situational" and can disappear when a new government is elected or the existing government simply weasels out of its obligations by claiming that the guarantee does not apply to a particular situation. Adam and Jeff discuss the 1994 Budapest Memorandum in which Russia, among others, agreed not to use military force against Ukraine "except in matters of self defense." Fast forward to 2014 and Russia apparently concluded that invading Crimea did not constitute a violation of the Memorandum because the Kremlin really wanted to have a port on the Black Sea. More recently, President Putin decided in 2022 that he really wanted the rest of Ukraine so he went ahead and launched an all-out invasion that has since bogged down and become a war of attrition--which has caused Russia itself to suffer more than a million military casualties. Jeff believes that the only likely outcome is a sort of "frozen peace" in which a permanent ceasefire occurs--possibly without a recognition of changed borders. As far as security guarantees are concerned, both Adam and Jeff feel that Ukraine is the only actor that can ensure its own security.

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Kamala Harris' recent announcement that she would not be seeking to become the next governor of California was not a total surprise given the shellacking she suffered in the 2024 presidential election coupled with the squandering of a $1 billion campaign fund in 3-months. Many anonymous donors have said that they do not view her as a viable candidate for future presidential runs but acknowledge that she would be the leading candidate for governor in California due to her name recognition and the fact that she is unburdened by what has been and what will be. Adam and Jeff, noted experts in career opportunities for ex-presidents, suggest that she might be better suited for a university position as a linguistics professor or perhaps a name partner at a leading law firm if she could be locked into a sound proofed corner office without access to a phone or email. Turning to Gavin Newsom, the Omaha Bugle correspondents both concede that whoever is the head of the Democratic Party in California is virtually immune from challenge because policy results simply don't matter very much. Adam and Jeff believe that Newsom's disastrous record would not play well at the national level but they do acknowledge that his hair will not move even in hurricane-force winds.

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Would-be Fed governor applicants Adam and Jeff consider whether the incessant demands by American presidents that the Fed lower interest rates really makes any difference. Jeff points out that the historical interest rates for the past century or so have averaged around 6% to 8% with a few outliers in which rates were extraordinarily high or low. Politicians want lower rates because it reduces the costs of borrowing which theoretically causes people to borrow more money to build homes and factories and improve productivity. Or maybe it does nothing at all in the end. Adam, who is very accurate on occasion, suggests that the Fed funds rate has very little to do with the actual interest rates that banks charge their customers. However, Jeff argues that the Fed acts as a signal-caller for the national economy and that its actions carry tremendous psychological weight when lenders are deciding whether to raise or lower the rates for credit cards, for example, from a comparatively low 28% to a lofty 33% rate. Both Adam and Jeff feel that the fact that the dollar, like every other modern currency, is not tied to any actual tangible asset such as gold, creates enormous potential for banker mischief--which has resulted in a 96% reduction of purchasing power in the dollar in the past century.

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In the wake of the American bombing of Iran's nuclear facilities, Adam and Jeff discuss the apparent lack of response by either Russia or China to the attack. Adam believes that the lack of response is due to the reluctance of both countries to call attention to themselves due to their failure to respond in any meaningful way. Jeff suggests that neither Russia or China have any type of mutual defense treaty obligations with Iran, because they would both be concerned that Tehran would pull them into a war with Israel and the United States. Indeed, any patronage by Russia and China of Iran may be nothing more than a coldhearted calculation of influence buying in the Middle East. Iran could be seen by both Russia and China as a foothold whereby they can challenge the hegemony of the United States in the Middle East without getting their hands too dirty. Jeff suggests the muted responses of both China and Russia to the bombings reflects the increasingly poor prospects facing both countries due to declining economic growth rates, declining populations, and a generally deteriorating geostrategic position in the international system.

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Adam and Jeff turn their attention to a recent report that the United Nations has lowered their predictions that the global population in the year 2100 will be at least a billion less than past estimates. Adam and Jeff return to a recurring theme that demographers, like everyone else, get caught up in the trends and forget to question the long-term viability of those very same trends. Jeff points out that many demographers take a bird's eye view of population trends whereas others ask individuals about their preferences and draw their own conclusions. In short, it appears that most women do not want to have 6 or 7 children and sit in a grass hut all day long, instead preferring to pursue careers and other opportunities that were not always available to them in the past. This mystifying trends appears to have surprised most demographers who have had to drastically revise downward their predictions about the world's population in the coming decades. In the spirit of efficiency, Jeff predicts that there will be 7 billion people in the world in the year 2100, pointing out that he did not waste any time hiring an expensive, credentialed staff that was going to get the prediction wrong anyways.

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In an attempt to reach listeners who are not necessarily interested in the pseudo-fact news stories that are typically featured on the Omaha Bugle, Adam and Jeff talk about Jeff's recent trip to Iceland. Jeff provides an account of some of the "touristy" things that he and his family did while roaming through southern Iceland including venturing into warm mineral springs baths, shopping and dining in the capital city of Reykjavik (where absolutely no bargains are to be had), and roaming around the countryside. Although Iceland is about the size of the state of Kentucky, it has only about 400,000 people--all of whom are legally required to be blonde. Jeff did attend the Independence Day parade in Reykjavik where he saw exactly two floats go down the main thoroughfare. However, he was disappointed that there were no balloons floating overhead. Jeff also talks about the cuisine of Iceland, much of which is sea food--including delicacies such as fermented shark--which is so appalling in taste, texture and odor that some masochists find it oddly alluring. Other delicacies for the more adventurous types include ram's testicles. Jeff also admits to some frustration with driving in Iceland because the top speed is only 90 kilometers per hour--which is around 55 miles per hour.

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Noted trade experts Adam and Jeff discuss the new American trade policy of greatly increasing tariffs on most foreign imports.
They debate whether across-the-board increases in tariffs on imported goods is a strategic action or simply a blunt instrument approach to cutting down America’s enormous trade deficits. Jeff points out that the current policy is prompted by the desire to reshore industries and rebuild our domestic supply chains. Adam sees the increases in tariffs as a strategy to force other countries to build their products in the United States so that they do not get shut out of the American market by higher tariffs as the Japanese car industry chose to do when its auto exports were limited to the United States in the 1980s. Both see tariffs as a way to force other countries to the table now as opposed to waiting a decade or more to possibly work something out at the WTO.

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Anxious to display their recently acquired knowledge about all things Greenland, Adam and Jeff address whether the United States should take over Greenland and the means by which it should do so. They talk about the fact that Greenland is heavily subsidized by Denmark and that if the United States should take it over, it will inherit that same open-ended obligation to keep the Greenlandic economy, afloat for years and years to come. They also talk about past efforts by the United States to buy Greenland outright from Denmark for cash. However, Jeff points out that this approach (which has been rejected repeatedly by Denmark) does not have any appeal to the Greenlanders themselves because the money would be going to the Danish government.. Adam and Jeff discuss a more innovative approach whereby the United States would bribe every man, woman and child in Greenland with large sums of cash to persuade them to switch sides and join the United States. They even offer to oversee the money transfers in person by taking trunks full of cash to the various Greenlandic settlements and obtaining proxy votes in favor of joining the United States.