Important Takeaways:
- The new research (Talker Research) showed that 49 percent of Gen Z respondents agreed that in-laws should provide financial support to their child and their child’s partner.
- By comparison, 37 percent of millennials born between 1981 and 1996 and 30 percent of Gen X respondents born from 1965 to 1980 also agreed that in-laws should be chipping in.
- These findings highlight a growing trend among Gen Z, who are grappling with economic challenges such as student debt, housing costs and an increasingly uncertain job market.
- For many, turning to in-laws for financial help has become a reasonable expectation, particularly because the research also revealed that 46 percent of Gen Z agreed their in-laws were better off financially than they were.
- “In general, Gen Z has grown up feeling like the financial cards are stacked against them, making prosperity woefully out of reach,” Levine said. He added that they have a closer relationship with their parents than previous generations, and therefore feel comfortable asking for help.
- “For example, in the U.S., the percentage of American Gen Zers who can afford to buy a house without parental assistance is less than 20 percent, which is abysmally low. Add to that student loan debt and the general high cost of living, and it’s no surprise that many members of this generation still look to their parents to help with their own families,” the trends expert said.
- Levine added that the influence of social media doesn’t reflect an accurate representation of real life, leading many Gen Zers to live beyond their means.
- “Part of the reason that many young adults rely on their parents more than in the past is because more parents are fostering dependency with their children that lasts into adulthood,” Levine said.
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Important Takeaways:
- China recently launched a not-so-secret submarine to spy on the US, and now they’ve launched cloud-seeding missiles to help combat a heatwave.
- The human intervention into the persistent dry weather resulted in gusts of 76mph blasting residents’ laundry from their balconies in what has been humorously referred to as “the 9/2 Chongqing underwear crisis,” reports Daily Star.
- Zhang Yixuan, the deputy director of the Chongqing Weather Modification Office, insisted that the wind was a natural occurrence and not a result of the cloud seeding.
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Important Takeaways:
- The head of the U.S. Indo-Pacific command, in the first direct communications in years with a senior Chinese general in charge of regional forces, warned Beijing was engaged in “dangerous” incidents in the South China Sea, U.S. officials said Tuesday.
- Sam Paparo held the video teleconference with Gen. Wu Yanan, commander of the People’s Liberation Army southern command, on Monday and urged his forces to abide by international law in the South China Sea. China has made expansive sovereignty claims to the strategic waterway that are rejected by the U.S. and smaller countries around the region.
- Monday’s meeting was the first time in more than two years that a regional PLA commander spoke to a commander of the Hawaii-based command, despite repeated efforts to resume direct communications the American side believes will reduce tensions.
- The Pentagon, under Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, has been pressing the command to resume regular talks with Chinese regional military leaders to “clarify intent” and reduce the risk of a U.S.-China military exchange. The talks between the two commanders were described as “constructive and respectful.”
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Important Takeaways:
- One month ago, when multiple discount retailers were lamenting the sudden collapse in US consumer purchasing power, we observed the reason this unexpected hit to US consumption: as the US personal savings rate had collapsed, the growth in consumer credit was slowing, and in July, credit card debt growth posted its first decline since the covid crash, just in time for another month of record high credit card rates.
- But fast forwarding just one month later, when in a stunning reversal, July consumer credit growth unexpectedly reversed the dramatic June slowdown, and soared more than $25 billion, to a new record high of $5.093 trillion.
- Sure enough, the sudden surge in credit card debt was a big surprise because according to the Fed, the average rate on interest-bearing credit card accounts just hit a new record high of 22.76%, which is a vivid reminder that while banks are happy to hike credit card rates, they rarely if ever cut them.
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Important Takeaways:
- Political extremists have attempted a number of attacks on electrical infrastructure and substations in recent years, with a goal of sowing chaos and civil conflict.
- The plots have repeatedly failed, however, and sociologists say that even if they do succeed, the kind of disasters they seek to create rarely result in members of the population turning on one another — though they could prove costly, and deadly.
- In July, two former Marines, both active in an online neo-Nazi community, were sentenced to prison for a plot in which they stole military equipment from Camp Lejeune as part of an intended attack on a power substation in the Pacific Northwest. Attorney General Merrick Garland said the plotters, Liam Collins and Paul Kryscuk, “conspired, prepared, and trained to attack America’s power grid in order to advance their violent white supremacist ideology.”
- The year before, officials said they foiled another, similar plot, this one targeting the grid in Baltimore. The two alleged plotters, Sarah Beth Clendaniel and Brandon Russell, were described by the FBI as “racially- or ethnically-motivated extremists,” and officials said they targeted Baltimore in large part because of its status as a majority-Black city.
- Many plots of this kind are specifically motivated by accelerationism, the belief that creating conflict and unrest will hasten a broader societal clash, said Molly Conger, a researcher based in Charlottesville, Va., who covered the Collins-Kryscuk plot on her podcast, “Weird Little Guys.”
- “What they think will happen is that, if there’s a crisis, it will provide cover for violence, but it will also force normal people to engage in violence. And that’s not what will happen,” Conger said.
- Instead, she said, “All that will happen is old people who need their oxygen machines will die, and it will cost the energy company a billion dollars.”
- If plots like the above had been enacted successfully, they could potentially have caused even more damage simply because they sought to inflict deliberate sabotage.
- The theory that sowing this kind of chaos could make the population turn on each other has recurred often in American culture.
- Charles Manson, for instance, believed the murders committed by his followers would spur “Helter Skelter,” a race war from which they would emerge to take control.
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Important Takeaways:
- Ruben Brekelmans, the defense minister of The Netherlands, just gave Zelensky the approval to use their weapons to wage war on Russia and even attack Moscow. Brekelmans claimed that international law “is not limited by distance.” He added, “The right to self-defense does not end 100 kilometers from the border.” He has now placed The Netherlands in the crosshairs, being the first to authorize Ukraine to start killing civilians in Russia.
- As I have said, my fear is that they know what they are doing, and Putin has shown tremendous restraint. They want him to be overthrown by Russian Neocons, and they will not hesitate to use nuclear weapons.
- Brekelmans declared: “We have not placed any operational restrictions on Ukraine regarding distance.”
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Important Takeaways:
- Twenty-three years ago today, the world stood still as we witnessed the horrific events of September 11, 2001. Nearly 3,000 people died, but, as the ashes settled, the people of America rose up, forsaking political and ideological allegiances, and choosing to love their neighbors as themselves.
- Memorial services are being held across America today, marking the anniversary of those 9/11 terrorist attacks.
- Both Vice President Harris and former President Trump are attending observances at the World Trade Center site in New York and the Flight 93 National Memorial in Pennsylvania. It isn’t clear if their paths will cross.
- A flag was already unfurled at the Pentagon which was also one of the targets on that terrible day. First responders on the scene saluted the flag.
- Memorials throughout the country will also be observed in a variety of locations from city halls to parks to gymnasiums and more, to remember those who lost their lives.
- On this solemn occasion, CBN News honors the lives lost and a country forever changed with the following video that commemorates the tragedy with a timeline of events from that tragic day.
Read the original article and watch the video by clicking here.
Important Takeaways:
- China is communist North Korea’s closest ally, but has refrained from major displays of support towards the Kim regime in the past year, particularly after Pyongyang published an excoriating screed against Beijing in May for backing a statement vaguely supporting the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. North Korean diplomacy has since trended towards Russia, signing a mutual defense treaty with Moscow in July during strongman Vladimir Putin’s first visit to North Korea in decades.
- China and North Korea nonetheless rely on each other significantly for ideological and economic support. Xi’s message hoping to “strengthen communication” with Kim arrives as North Korea escalates belligerent behavior against South Korea, flooding the country with a wave of trash-filled balloons over the weekend. China, in turn, faces growing economic challenges and resistance to its geopolitical agenda from the West.
- The South Korean news agency Yonhap described Beijing and Pyongyang as “relatively estranged” in the context of the founding anniversary message and the upcoming anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries. South Korean sources have reportedly not seen any indication that the two countries will plan any “grand celebrations” together to mark the occasion.
- While still close allies, North Korea and China have kept a diplomatic distance this year compared to those prior, which appeared to expand following China participating in a summit in Seoul alongside the governments of that country and Japan in May. The trilateral summit, the ninth of its kind in modern history, united the conservative governments of South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio with the Communist Party and resulted in a joint statement that outraged North Korea.
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Important Takeaways:
- Ukraine unleashed more than 140 drones on Russia overnight, officials said Tuesday, killing a woman near Moscow, grounding flights and setting off air defenses in several parts of the country.
- Russia’s ministry of defense said in a statement it had shot down 144 Ukrainian drones overnight – ’72 UAVs over Bryansk region, 20 over Moscow region, 14 over Kursk region, 13 over Tula region’, and 25 more over five other parts of the country.
- Moscow regional governor Andrey Vorobyov said in a Telegram post that a 46-year-old woman had been killed and several people wounded when a UAV damaged at least two high-rise apartment building in the Ramenskoye district of Moscow region, some 30 miles southeast of the Kremlin.
- The latest wave of drones came just a week after Ukraine suffered one of its darkest days after two ballistic missiles killed at least 51 people and injured 219 on September 3.
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Important Takeaways:
- Tropical Storm Francine is expected to become a hurricane Tuesday in the Gulf of Mexico and will threaten the U.S. Gulf Coast with flooding rain, a life-threatening storm surge and damaging winds.
- The current National Hurricane Center (NHC) forecast calls for a dangerous Category 2 hurricane landfall in Louisiana on Wednesday evening. Mandatory evacuation orders have been issued for people in multiple parishes as state and local leaders have urged people to prepare for the storm’s fury.
- “Now is the time for Louisianans to prepare for impacts from Tropical Storm Francine, which is expected to become a hurricane … so get your game plan in place, monitor the news, and take advice from local officials,” said Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry issuing a state of emergency allowing parishes statewide to have the resources needed to help protect the lives of residents.
- In Baton Rouge, Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome said she has been in constant contact with the National Weather Service, along with local and state officials, as preparations are made for Francine’s landfall.
- “This storm is expected to bring threats of heavy rain, gusty to damaging winds and possibly a few tornadoes,” she said. “I want to encourage everyone to make preparations now.”
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