| By Derek Caney (@stax920)
"How far do you want us to go?” was the question on the lips of U.S. special forces to their commanders, while in the middle of a firefight to retake the Afghan city of Kunduz last year. They got no answer. That lack of clarity may ultimately compromise the mission to stabilize Afghanistan.
Bob Dylan once said, "There’s an old saying, ‘If you want to defeat your enemy, sing his song.’" And Donald Trump seems to be taking that tack, behaving almost like a Democrat in the Sunday morning talk shows:
Taxing the wealthy "I am willing to pay more. And you know what? The wealthy are willing to pay more." Minimum wage "I don't know how people make it on $7.25 an hour. I would like to see an increase of some magnitude. But I'd rather leave it to the states. Let the states decide."
It won't make him many friends in the Republican establishment, but it doesn't appear that he cares. The question is: Will he make friends among moderate Democrats who are uninspired by Hillary Clinton?
Meanwhile, Clinton and her allies are putting resources into industrial states such as Ohio and Pennsylvania to try to block Trump from making inroads with working-class voters there. 184 days and counting…
The golden age of the $2.9 trillion hedge fund industry may be on the wane. Once able to command hefty fees by routinely beating Wall Street, hedge funds are now facing a storm of unsatisfied clients who are demanding either steep discounts or withdrawing their funds entirely, leaving some in the industry wondering whether the pain is just beginning.
Around Wall Street - Bangladesh's central bank became more vulnerable to hackers when technicians connected a new bank transaction system to SWIFT, the global financial messaging service. The change was made three months before an $81 million cyber heist, according to Bangladeshi police and a bank official. SWIFT declined to comment.
- The trial over the mental competence of billionaire Sumner Redstone, who once sat atop the Viacom media empire, could end as early as today. A California judge is expected to decide whether he will throw out a lawsuit from the 92-year-old's former girlfriend, who is challenging Redstone's mental state when he removed her as his designated healthcare agent.
Digits of the day: $200 a vote
Uber and Lyft suffered an embarrassing defeat over the weekend, as voters in Austin, Texas, backed a measure requiring fingerprint background checks for drivers. The two companies spent more than $8 million to repeal the city ordinance, or $200 per vote.
Around the world - He's challenging the establishment with tough talk on crime and corruption. He's adopting a populist tone that defies political tradition. Rival candidates are warning of disaster if he's elected. No, not that guy. It's the frontrunner in the elections for president of the Philippines. His name is Rodrigo Duterte, or "Duterte Harry," as his supporters call him.
Smoke and flames from the wildfires erupt behind a car on the highway near Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada, May 7, 2016. REUTERS/Mark Blinch
- "This is great firefighting weather, we can really get in here and get a handle on this fire, and really get a death grip on it," Alberta fire official Chad Morrison said of the forest fire that leveled whole neighborhoods in Fort McMurray. The wildfire scorching through Canada's oil sands region in northeast Alberta had been expected to double in size on Sunday, but light rains and cooler temperatures helped hold it back. Still, much of Alberta is tinder-box dry after a mild winter and warm spring.
- New Zealand is the focus of the latest Panama Papers leak, which indicates that wealthy Latin Americans are using secretive, tax-free New Zealand shelf companies and trusts to help channel funds around the world. And pressure is mounting on Prime Minister John Key to take action.
Around the country - North Carolina officials say they will respond today to the government's challenge to a controversial law on public restroom access for transgender people, but it was unclear if the state would defy Washington and risk a legal battle. If the state does not pull back from implementing the first-of-its-kind statute, it could face a federal lawsuit.
- A top U.S. envoy began a two-day trip to Vietnam to gauge its progress in human rights, two weeks ahead of a visit by President Barack Obama in what will be the first by a U.S. leader in a decade. Tom Malinowski, assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor, is expected to press Vietnam to release unconditionally political prisoners and reform its laws to comply with its international commitments.
- The president of Penn State defended the university's late football coach Joe Paterno, who is the subject of new allegations that he knew about child sex abuse by his assistant coach as far back as the mid-1970s. "I am appalled by the rumor, innuendo and rush to judgment that have accompanied the media stories surrounding these allegations," said Eric Barron, president of Pennsylvania State University. Paterno was fired in 2011 after disclosures that he knew about Jerry Sandusky's abuse of a young boy in 2002, but failed to report it to the police.
Today's reason to live Bob Dylan – High Water (for Charley Patton) |
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