America's Largest Private Coal Producer Warns Of Massive Cuts -- July 2, 2016

The law requires a 60-day notice of large cuts. Murray Energy Corp has just provided that notice.

In a notice sent to workers this week, Murray said it could lay off as many as 4,400 employees, or about 80% of its workforce, because of weak coal markets. The company said it anticipates “massive workforce reductions in September.”

The company specifically cites President Obama's war on coal.  Just in time for the November election.

And, of course, folks need to remember that Hillary Clinton says she will do the same to the oil industry with her "war on fracking." And so it goes.

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Turkey Asks For US Help

From The Wall Street Journal:

Turkey has asked the U.S. to help track down a prominent Chechen combatant for Islamic State in the belief that he organized the deadly attack on Istanbul’s airport.

The operative, Akhmed Chatayev, is well-known to U.S. and Russian intelligence officials as the one-time leader of a Syrian-based unit of Russian-speaking fighters for the extremist group. Moscow has been seeking him for more than a decade for his role in a separatist insurrection in the Russian republic of Chechnya. Last year the U.S. Treasury put him on a terrorist watch list.

The U.S. official said early U.S. intelligence tracks with Turkish intelligence that Mr. Chatayev was behind the triple suicide bombing Tuesday that killed 44 people at Istanbul Atatürk Airport. Turkey has said all three bombers were from the former Soviet Union.

This would be the same country that consistently decries US spying operations.

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The JV Team

Fathomless ignorance. From The Wall Street Journal:

When assailants armed with guns and explosives stormed an upscale cafe in the Bangladeshi capital Friday, shouting “Allahu akbar,” it marked a sharp escalation by extremist followers of Islamic State in South Asia, a region where the terror group had previously gained little traction.

Those pictures were the latest sign that South Asian militants are communicating with Islamic State fighters in the group’s strongholds in Syria and Iraq and that the organization’s calls for jihad have found at least some sympathizers in a part of the Muslim world where radicalization has been relatively uncommon.

Earlier this week, Indian authorities detained 11 men they said had been receiving instructions from an ISIS handler abroad. India’s National Investigation Agency said they were planning to attack Hindu religious sites with improvised explosive devices.

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Getting Closer

The Wall Street Journal is reporting:

Egyptian officials on Saturday said repairs were successfully carried out on EgyptAir Flight 804’s cockpit voice recorder, bringing investigators closer to being able to determine what onboard problems pilots were battling before the plane crashed.

Data analyzed from the other black box, the flight data recorder, and wreckage from the Airbus Group SE jetliner that crashed May 19 suggest a fire had broken out on board.

Soot was found on wreckage of the front of the plane that had been recovered.

French air accident investigators repaired parts of the cockpit voice recorder and determined the crucial memory unit was intact, Egyptian authorities said. The repairs allowed the memory unit to be read, the Egyptian officials said, though a more thorough examination would take place only once the device is returned to Cairo.

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Get Over It

Headline over at The Los Angeles Times: thousands march in London to protest "Brexit" vote.

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This Is Pretty Funny

Everyone now agrees that we're experiencing or will experience a "protracted solar minimum" which means a drop in energy reaching the earth.

But a German science institute says the effects of that "solar minimum" will only be regional and won't have any effect on "global warming."

I can't make this stuff up.

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Less Than 200 Days

Once the new work week begins, the president will have less than 200 days left in office.  And the US debt will be near/over the $20 trillion mark.

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Heads Should Roll

American Express lost its partnership with Costco. I have no dog in the fight. I don't care one bit with whom Costco partners, but now I will have a Citi Visa in my wallet rather than an AMEX card. And, no, I won't be applying for a new AMEX card. Whoever is responsible for this debacle at AMEX needs to be held accountable.

I was reminded of that when I received a note that USAA will be switching from Mastercard to Visa. Again, I don't have a dog in that fight. I don't care one bit with whom USAA partners. I obviously don't need two Visa cards in my wallet and one of the accounts will be discontinued. I won't say which one I will discontinue, but I will say that I will keep my Costco membership.

This appears to have been a very, very good year for Visa. Costco shoppers and USAA members are among the most-sought-after customers out there.

My favorite piece of plastic: Firestone.

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Short Order Cook

In our new apartment we have an incredibly nice stove/oven. The stove top is one of those Corningware glass tops which look incredibly awesome. The only problem is that they are incredibly hard to clean. But I have the solution. I no longer use the stove top. I have a Hamilton Beach electric grill. It doesn’t get hot enough to bring a pot of water to a boil so yesterday I bought a Proctor Silex “Fifth Burner.” This is really, really incredible. So, now I don’t need the stove top at all: I have a grill and a 5th burner. I have had so much fun with the Hamilton Beach grill I will probably get a George Foreman grill. Pretty soon I can open a Waffle House — LOL. My granddaughters got me a Mickey Mouse waffle maker for my birthday.