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From cheap gyms to secondhand kit: how to get fit in the UK without breaking the bank 2023-07-31 - Exercise at home Invest in some simple gym equipment, such as dumbbells and resistance bands, and you can do pretty decent exercise sessions at home. There are a range of offerings online providing on-demand access to a library of workouts. For example, GRNDHOUSE, set up by five London-based instructors, includes upper and lower body sessions you can do in your living room. To subscribe costs £25 a month, or £16 a month if you sign up for the year. You can take a free trial first to decide whether you like it. If you want something more tailored, a lot of personal trainers offer online coaching packages, where they set you workouts to do and then have catchups with you regularly to track your progress. These can be tailored to your specific goals and mean you are kept accountable by someone. They also offer meal plans and can help you track your macronutrients, or macros – how much protein, carbohydrate and fat you get from every meal. Getting an online coach can cost anywhere between £100 and £160 a month but it will vary depending on what is on offer and the trainer’s experience. Nik Naidoo, a co-founder and trainer at GRNDHOUSE, says online coaching is a great way to “develop well-rounded lifestyles”. He says: “Many people focus on the one hour in the gym but it’s about learning about the other 23 hours outside of it, and this is the value a coach brings. The price bracket, like anything, varies depending on the offer (group coaching, 1-2-1, and also what is included). Do your research and make sure you can trust, and gel with, the coach.” Buy multifunctional equipment If you are buying items for a home gym, make sure you choose equipment you can use for a variety of different exercises. For example, dumbbells can be used for deadlifts, bent-over rows and push presses. A resistance band set with multiple resistance levels can provide a full-body workout. Dumbbells and barbells are “simple” and “accessible”, Naidoo says. “You can do basic-strength work and also create some mean conditioning workouts with both bits of equipment.” Dumbbells can be used for a variety of exercises. Photograph: Grace Cary/Getty Images But don’t forget you can always start by just using your own body. “I’d say the best place to start is your body weight, and it costs nothing,” Naidoo says. “People underestimate the power of body weight training with all the latest trends.” Find secondhand kit on marketplaces As well as equipment, you can get secondhand leggings and sports bras from apps such as Depop and Vinted. It’s not only good for your wallet but also good for the planet. For example, Lululemon Align leggings are typically selling for half-price on Depop – recently one seller was offering a practically unworn pair for £45 when they retail for £108. Other top brands that can be found on secondhand sites include Nike, and the athleisure brand Adanola. If you are feeling inspired, you could even set up your own swap shop locally with neighbours on your street via WhatsApp, as it is always a good way of getting rid of unwanted items and finding new gems. Gym equipment can also be found cheaply via garage sales, online marketplaces and local fitness stores that sell used equipment. You can find anything and everything, from treadmills to static bikes and beyond. The personal trainer and athlete Aileen McCann says she would shop at wholesalers for new gym equipment. “Facebook Marketplace and Gumtree are also good calls, as a lot of people may have bought kit over lockdown and now have gone back to gym routines,” she says. Use your environment As cliched as it sounds: the world is your gym. You can always go for a run in a park for free. One great event to try is parkrun, which hosts a free weekly 5km run on Saturday mornings at lots of parks in the UK and beyond. There is also a 2km junior parkrun for children aged four to 14 on Sunday mornings. Many parks have outdoor gyms and, often, each piece of equipment has instructions on it to guide you If you want to start with walking, the Ramblers has details of hundreds of free routes across the country, and also hosts free wellbeing walks. Visit its website, put in your postcode, and it will provide details of local walks. Another thing to try out is a local park gym. These typically include various basic equipment such as pull-up bars. Many parks have outdoor gyms and, often, each piece of equipment has instructions on it to guide you. If you live or work in south London, for example, then check out Brixton Street Gym. This isn’t a completely outdoor gym because there are also indoor spaces where people can work out, but it is low-cost. Memberships are capped at £20 a month, with classes priced from £3 to £8. Anyone under 18 or experiencing financial difficulty can drop in for free. It has a strong community feel. Cheaper gym memberships McCann says commercial gyms such as the Gym Group, PureGym, easyGym and Buzz Gym are the cheapest options. PureGym, for example, costs as little as £16 a month, with no contract. Buzz Gym is similarly reasonable, with monthly prices from £18.99. Commercial gyms can offer deals for under £20 a month. Photograph: Paula Solloway/Alamy Vitality, a UK-based company specialising in private medical insurance, offers 50% off gym membership to its policyholders. Health insurance with Vitality starts from £1.25 a day, varying depending on your age and other factors. The insurer also offers up to 40% off devices, such as Garmin watches and trackers, that monitor physical activity. Katie Tryon, the director of health strategy for Vitality, says: “We basically pay you for them [the kit or device] if you use them … so if you engage with lots of activity, which includes walking as well, we will pay for the Apple watch, for example.”

The death of hobbies 2023-07-31 - Tommy Wylde has always enjoyed teaching other people about wildlife. When he wasn't at his office job, Wylde would use his love and knowledge of nature to lead groups on bird-watching and wildlife-spotting expeditions. When he suddenly found himself with a bit more free time during the pandemic, he decided to put this passion to good use and generate a little cash while he was at it. Wylde used his previous experience building websites to launch a wildlife information website called Floofmania in November 2020. He started writing and commissioning articles about various North American animals — detailing the difference between opossums and raccoons, telling people the best way to repel mountain lions from your property, and answering the question about what groundhogs eat. Wylde's burgeoning site started to find an audience. He quickly published close to 500 articles and the readership was growing, approaching 700 to 800 daily visitors by March 2021. The site also provided him with a bit of extra cash — around $400 to $500 a month in ad revenue. The success led Wylde to pour more of his time into producing articles for the site, but he also shifted his focus away from topics that fascinated him to topics that he thought would drive traffic. The work was exciting, but it soon became stressful. Wylde would spend a couple of hours each morning writing articles before starting his day job, and then continue working on the site into the evening after work. He invested everything he earned on it back into the website. But after two years, the number of people coming to his site began to tank. His daily visitors fell to around 200 in 2022, and Wylde suspects it's because of an update to Google's algorithm. "I've tried tons of different strategies to get the site back on track, and while it has improved, it's nowhere near the growth that it saw in the start," Wylde said. Today, the site earns about $50 a month and Wylde has cut almost all costs. "In a way, I regret putting so much time and effort and money into building my website, given how little traffic the site gets today," he said. Beyond the loss of income the site provided, the changing fortunes of his side hustle also sapped the joy from what had once been a source of excitement for Wylde. "When the graph started moving in the wrong direction, I found it hard to get back to just enjoying the wildlife part of it," he told me. A hobby, by definition, is an activity done regularly in one's leisure time for pleasure. But in recent years, expectations have shifted: The fun activities we used to do to fill our spare time should be productive, even profitable. With platforms like Etsy and Instagram, every hobby can become a side hustle. Do you have a penchant for vintage fashion? Why not sell your finds on eBay? Are you a keen photographer? Did you know you can make money from that? In the US, 49% of people under 35 claim to have a side hustle alongside their full-time job. That means that after a 40-hour workweek, rather than knitting a scarf or relaxing with a book for the fun of it, almost half of young people are turning those activities into income. But Wylde — and many others like him — experienced an all-too-common downside that can come with trying to turn a hobby or personal interest into a side hustle: Monetization can be hard work, and starting a business doesn't always work out. A hobby is no longer a hobby when deadlines are imposed and it requires you to file your own taxes — that's a job. In the post-nine-to-five economy, hobbies have been killed off and milked for cash — but in the rush to turn a passion into a profitable enterprise, the fire a person has for that activity can be snuffed out. Financial precarity "Traditionally, the hobby category is defined by what it's not," Erik Baker, a historian, author, and Harvard lecturer, told me. "The category means something done for fun, that's very much not work." Doing things just for the fun of it is proven to have a positive impact on both our psychological and physical well-being. Audrey Tang, a psychologist and an author, told me that "some of our key 'feel good' hormones and neurotransmitters can be stimulated through passion projects." Research has found that hobbies can reduce stress, result in less severe disease outcomes, and even lead to a longer life. But in a time of high inflation and pessimism about the economy, seeking a way to bring in a bit of extra cash makes sense for a lot of people. The shifting landscape of the job market has resulted in a significant number of young people finding themselves in the gig economy. With a reliance on juggling multiple jobs to make a living, more people are taking advantage of every opportunity to earn some money. But even those with full-time jobs are converting their hobbies to side hustles. When the graph started moving in the wrong direction, I found it hard to get back to just enjoying the wildlife part of it Nearly 40% of Americans have a side hustle, a May survey from Bankrate found, including 50% of millennials and 53% of Gen Zers. Baker sees this as an "insurance policy," allowing workers "a certain kind of self-sufficiency" in case their full-time job doesn't work out. And side hustles can be a boon: People with a side business brought in an average of $810 a month, the Bankate survey said, and 15% reported making more than $1,000 a month. The amount was highest among younger generations: Millennials reported making $1,022 on average from their secondary gigs, and Gen Zers brought in an average of $753 a month, compared to $670 and $646 a month for Gen Xers and boomers, respectively. "This is typically associated with times of economic crisis," Baker told me. "During the Great Depression, there was a great emphasis on people augmenting their income with odd jobs." And there's definitely a sense of economic uncertainty in today's side-hustle boom: One-in-three US adults with a side hustle say they need the money for regular living expenses, while 27% use it for discretionary spending. "A lot of these features of the economy that are often praised as evidence of dynamism and innovativeness, a lot of workers experience that as precarity," Baker said. But while side hustles have long been a feature of an uncertain economy, Baker added that the real shift is "the way that it's considered quite normal, including for people who are doing pretty well, economically" to have a side hustle. In other words, he said, "what has changed is that it's no longer considered a last resort." Breakdown of traditional work Grace Jicha Torres, 24, loved taking photographs since she was a kid messing around with an old point-and-shoot camera in her backyard. She got her first DSLR camera in 2012 and started taking people's senior portraits and "sweet 16" photos for a little extra money when she was in high school. While studying journalism and graphic design in college, she began photographing people's weddings for a living. Six months after she graduated, it was her full-time job. "In the beginning, it was just like a love for aesthetics, a love for pretty things," Torres told me. "Something to do that felt productive that wasn't sitting on the couch watching TV." When she started charging for her photography, Torres never thought it would end up as her full-time job. "It's not like I was reaching to necessarily become a full-time photographer," she said. "I always saw it as a side thing, but I did see that there was an option to make money off of it and I was like, OK, why not?" Social media and the internet made starting a business significantly easier, pushing more people to ask the same question: Why not? "The idea that the internet was a tool that would enable people to do work that they cared about was a very pervasive feature of the culture of Silicon Valley," Baker explained. "You have these platforms that enable you with just a couple of clicks to set up a business for yourself and sell the stuff that you've been making." If you're already on all the time, then why not try to get some money from that hobby The idea gained momentum during the pandemic. According to a 2022 research paper by the Bank of England, new business registrations in the UK surged by 8% one year into the pandemic, compared 2018 to 2019. In the US, new business applications spiked 60% in 2020 and have remained high ever since. Baker believes that the replacement of hobbies with hustles stems from the way work changed when the pandemic sent everyone home. "If you're supposed to be on 24/7, then the boundary between work and life becomes more porous, and the idea that there's this category called hobbies that's insulated from working life no longer really makes sense." Smartphones and Slack meant employees were, in theory, always available, and remote work eroded those boundaries even further. "If you're already on all the time, then why not try to get some money from that hobby," Baker said. 'If you love what you do, you'll never work a day in your life' So is something lost by turning every hobby into a side hustle? "It's still something that I really, truly enjoy despite monetizing it," Torres said. "It comes with different pressures, but I feel like a lot of that comes from the business aspect of it. The photography itself I still love just as much as I always have." As with any job, there are stressors. For Torres, those are taxes and bookkeeping. But she still makes sure to find time to shoot just for fun, bringing a small film camera that she keeps solely for personal use with her when she travels. "When people say, 'If you love what you do, you'll never work a day in your life,' it's not exactly true, and I think everybody knows that now," Torres said. "But it doesn't always feel like work if you intentionally create space and create boundaries so that your work can still feel like a passion and fulfilling." But, she added, "One con is that you just don't have hobbies anymore because you've monetized them." And once you throw money in the mix, it can be hard to go back. By turning a hobby into a hustle, Tang, the psychologist, said that you risk all the pleasure and wellness benefits the hobby once provided. And studies show that without hobbies, people are more likely to feel burned out and more stressed. Hobbies are crucial in shaping well-rounded and interesting human beings, but those once restorative activities are now falling victim to the vice grip of productivity. People are starting to feel the effects of the constant grind culture. "A characteristic complaint of today, if you can generalize like that, is that people are tired," Baker said. When the alternative is economic precarity and a revolving door of unstable jobs, it's easy to see why many would gladly take the cash — but the push to scrape out a few extra dollars comes with its own set of risks. For Wylde, he's been trying to find a better balance between fostering his love of nature and keeping the site going. He still enjoys writing and researching the articles, so he doesn't see the time and money invested into the site as a complete waste, but he's more focused on writing about what he loves rather than chasing web traffic. He's keeping his hobby alive and feeling hopeful for the future. Eve Upton-Clark is a features writer covering culture and society.

How Russia is evading sanctions to keep $10 billion worth of seized Boeing and Airbus planes flying 2023-07-31 - Russia seized some 500 leased Boeing and Airbus airliners after invading Ukraine. But it's hard to keep the planes flying with little access to parts because of sanctions. It's survived by smuggling parts, buying from the black market, and "cannibalizing" other jets. Morning Brew Insider recommends waking up with, a daily newsletter. Loading Something is loading. Thanks for signing up! Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. download the app Email address By clicking “Sign Up,” you also agree to marketing emails from both Insider and Morning Brew; and you accept Insider’s Terms and Privacy Policy Click here for Morning Brew’s privacy policy. Western sanctions against Russia have taken a toll on the country's aviation sector — forcing the country to get creative to keep its planes flying. Quickly after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, western countries enacted heavy sanctions against Russia to punish Vladimir Putin. This included closing US, EU, and other allied airspace, preventing planemakers like Boeing and Airbus from sending spare parts to Russia, and stopping countries like Turkey from refueling Russian planes. The goal was to cut Russia off from the rest of the world. In response, the Kremlin countered with its own sanctions. It even went as far as to seize some 500 leased western-built airliners — which are worth an estimated $10 billion, according to Reuters. Despite many allied nations' attempts to reclaim the Russian-seized aircraft, most lessors have had no choice but to forfeit their planes to Russia due to airspace restrictions and pushback from its government and airlines. And, the volatile nation continues to prove it's more bulletproof than expected. In 2022, Russia received over $14 million worth western-made parts thanks to underground shipments. But, the illegal import schemes are not the only methods keeping Russia's airlines alive. Creating a 'Frankenstein fleet' An Aeroflot engine being checked by maintenance in Russia. Denis Kabelev/Shutterstock Once countries stopped sending parts to Russian carriers like Aeroflot and S7 Airlines, the companies were forced to find new suppliers. Some bought second-hand from places like Iran and China, while others "cannibalized" existing jets. However, robbing spare parts could make the resulting "Frankenstein fleet" worthless outside of Russia's borders, and lessors have since written off the aircraft without much hope they'll ever see them again. Moreover, the potentially un-airworthy parts could create unnecessary safety risks. Not to mention, once airline inventory gets low, some carrier could encourage pilots and mechanics to purposely overlook certain repairs — similar to what Aeroflot reportedly did earlier this year. Buying off seized jets using rainy-day money An Aeroflot Boeing 777-300ER parked at the gate at Los Angeles International Airport before the war. Fabrizio Gandolfo/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images Since Russia seized hundreds of planes, airplane leasing companies have filed multi-billion dollar insurance claims to recoup lost money — though many are being denied by insurers. Nevertheless, some lessors may actually get a check directly from the Kremlin. Last week, Russian media outlet TASS reported the government has allotted 300 billion rubles (about $4 billion) from Russia's National Wealth Fund — essentially its rainy day money — to buy off 80-90 of the foreign-made aircraft it seized from lessors. Leasing companies in the EU are able to accept the payment thanks to a sanction amendment that says aircraft ownership can be transferred to Russian airlines if a lease agreement was signed prior to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and only after all of the lease payments have been made. Airlines including Aeroflot, S7, Ural Airlines, RusLine, and iFly have finalizing agreements, Aerotime Hub reported, but are still waiting on their NWF funds. Russian flag carrier Aeroflot has already received a portion of the money for 10 Boeing 777-300ERs. According to TASS, Russia's deputy minister of transport Igor Chalik said he is uncertain of when exactly airlines will receive the federal funds, but noted "our task is to complete this program in any case by the end of September." As of July 1, Russia's NWF stood at $145.6 billion — down from $153.1 billion on June 1, according to country's Ministry of Finance.

China just unleashed broad stimulus measures to fire up the economy — but analysts think these have failed to live up to expectations 2023-07-31 - On Monday, China released a series of plans to boost household consumption. But analysts don't think the measures will be enough to turbo-charge its growth. China has been reversing major policies to boost its flagging economy. Get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in business, from Wall Street to Silicon Valley — delivered daily. Loading Something is loading. Thanks for signing up! Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. download the app Email address By clicking ‘Sign up’, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider as well as other partner offers and accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy After hinting at stimulus measures last week, China rolled out a series of plans to boost local consumption to charge its flagging economy — but these may not be enough, say analysts. On Monday, the country released a plan targeting the automobile, real estate, and services sectors that aim to "give full play to the fundamental role of consumption in economic development," according to Insider's translation of an official statement from the country's top planning agency. The measures to boost demand include improving electric vehicle infrastructure, expanding the supply of affordable rental housing, and getting local governments to cut admission fees at attractions. No further details about the measures were available as of press time. However, the stimulus measures have failed to live up to expectations, said Citi analyst Wenyu Yao, Australian Financial Review reported Monday. Another analyst said the lack of direct support for households could keep demand muted. "It's difficult to stimulate the demand side with policies," Bruce Pang, the head of research and chief economist for Greater China at Jones Lang LaSalle told Bloomberg on Monday."When residents are generally unwilling to spend, and the government is unwilling to handout subsidies to increase the consumption tendency, policymakers can only adjust the supply for consumer goods and services to better meet the demand. The state planner's strategy followed a meeting of the country's top leaders last week during which they pledged to boost stimulus measures as the economy faces a "tortuous" recovery, according to Insider's translation of the official readout. The readout excluded a key phrase that cited President Xi Jinping saying: "Houses are for living in, not for speculation," sparking hopes of an easing in property market curbs that have sent the sector into a crisis in 2021. The omission of the phrase is an important barometer because it's been a fixture since 2016 when Beijing was seeking to cool the then red-hot real-estate market, per Bloomberg. Over the weekend, China's largest cities — including Beijing and Shenzhen — said they would implement measures to meet the needs of homebuyers, hoping this would support the property sector, per Reuters. However, "the steps have been timid, and the roadmap is still not quite clear" so far, Nomura economists wrote in a Monday note seen by Insider. "While the recent moves by Beijing should be encouraged, markets need to curb their enthusiasm regarding the scale and impact of these easing measures." Analysts have been warning for weeks that China is unlikely to unleash a massive economic stimulus package, but that hasn't stopped investors from hoping, sending Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index up 6% in July. Meanwhile, the Shanghai Composite gained 3% in the same period. Beijing's subdued moves to boost China's growth came as recent economic indicators from China have been disappointing. The purchasing managers index, or PMI, for gauging manufacturing activity, came in at 49.3 in July — marking the fourth straight month the index has fallen below the 50 mark, according to official statistics released Monday. A reading above 50 indicates expansion while one below indicates contraction. The Shanghai Composite closed 0.5% higher at 3,291.04 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index closed 0.7% higher at 20,045.15. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, which tracks tech stocks listed in Hong Kong, closed 1.1% higher at 6,886.09.

Here's what Tesla owners wish new EV buyers understood 2023-07-31 - Don't park next to someone at Supercharger unless you absolutely have to. Tesla owners recommend you leave a space open between chargers whenever possible to avoid slowing the speed of the charge. Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images "Just like anything, there is basic etiquette," said Nelson Jackson, a Model S owner. "Tesla etiquette is: Don't park next to someone else at a Supercharger because if you're sharing a stall, you just slowed down their charge." Tesla charging stations have stalls that are labelled with a number and the letters "A" and "B." If two drivers are plugged into a stall with the same number (for example, 1A and 1B), it will cut the charging speed in half since both EVs will be taking from the same power source, according to Clean Technica. The more chargers at a location, even if they're spaced out, the slower the overall charge will be as well. Tesla owners say they often use the company's internal navigation system to find charging sites with less traffic to avoid slower chargers.

Airbus' A321XLR aircraft is set to fly in 2024. Take a look at the new plane and see what new routes it opens — coming soon to carriers like American and United. 2023-07-31 - Airbus said its highly-anticipated A321XLR is still on track to enter commercial service in 2024. The XLR will fly 800 miles farther than its A321LR predecessor — and carry more people. The plane has been purchased by more than 25 airlines and is expected to open new narrowbody routes. Morning Brew Insider recommends waking up with, a daily newsletter. Loading Something is loading. Thanks for signing up! Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. download the app Email address By clicking “Sign Up,” you also agree to marketing emails from both Insider and Morning Brew; and you accept Insider’s Terms and Privacy Policy Click here for Morning Brew’s privacy policy. Airlines worldwide are placing multi-million dollar bets on Airbus' newest narrowbody aircraft — and the planemaker is on track to deliver despite some regulatory hiccups. Airbus said recently in its second-quarter earnings call that its upcoming A321XLR (extra-long-range) variant is still expected to enter the market in Q2 2024. The far-flying plane is unique because it can journey up to 5,400 miles nonstop thanks to an additional fuel tank added onboard. It hasn't been a perfectly easily road, however. European regulators have voiced concerns over fire-safety risks relating to the extra fuel tank — a roadblock that Airbus has since resolved, Reuters reported. Though it may not be the best outcome. Sources told Reuters that the tank redesign could slash a few hundred miles of range, potentially affecting the route options available to operators. Nevertheless, Airbus is still hoping for a late 2023 certification as the company rushes to fill a market gap. Here's a closer look at the single-aisle A321XLR:

How to build a 7-figure business in a year: Start with selling your time and level up to selling a product 2023-07-31 - Personal-finance writer Tim Denning says it's possible to build a successful business in a year. Get started by selling your time as a freelancer, contractor, or coach to build a community. Once you have people in your corner, start with a free product and graduate to a paid product. Get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in business, from Wall Street to Silicon Valley — delivered daily. Loading Something is loading. Thanks for signing up! Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. download the app Email address By clicking ‘Sign up’, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider as well as other partner offers and accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy Seven figures may sound like hyperbole, so let's be honest about that. But it's not a fake dream when you're in my odd situation. I'm surrounded by people who make six and seven figures online, including Dan Koe, Dan Go, Matt Grey, Todd Brison, Zach Progob, and Dakota Robertson. I chat with them frequently. After a while, you begin to see patterns, no matter your intelligence level. I'd have to be stupid after nine years to not know something about this topic, given I've achieved the goal (admittedly, it took me longer than a year). 365 days is a goalpost to aim for. For some of you, it will take longer, and some of you will do it faster. The point of this article is to be a rough blueprint, not an exact science. Why? Everyone's journey online will be different. How dare I tell you what yours will be like? Who am I … an internet Jesus? No. The key here is to have an open mind. Consider that I might be right and experiment for yourself. Race your way to 6 figures with this strategy I'm going to piss off every finance bro that ever lived with this one. Sell your time. Wait, what!? In the beginning, the fastest way to make money online is to sell your time in the form of freelancing, contracting, or coaching. That's what I did in the early days. It's more about the mindset shift than the money you'll earn. Once you make money outside of a traditional job, everything changes. New levels of life get unlocked. The other reason to start by selling your time is you only need three to five people a month paying you $3,000 to hit six figures in a year. That means you don't need heaps of leads or millions of followers on social media. The best way to attract these customers is with beginner-level content you post on social media tied to a topic you know about. If you can't think of a topic, write about the skills or industry attached to your job. Chances are you know that better than most. By-the-hour customers have a superpower I'm telling you to start with a handful of customers for a reason. When I started out I was a social-media coach. I knew it wasn't what I wanted to do long term — early mornings, pain-in-the-ass customers, homework, long Zoom calls. But these early coaching-client guinea pigs helped me understand my target market's psychology and learn what problems they faced. Once I knew that, it was easier to transition to the next step. Modern online businesses are education companies in disguise Businesses that sell courses or information products are often, wrongly, labeled scammy. "They're selling the dream, I tell ya." What these skeptics get wrong is that the modern business is an education company in disguise. It started with websites. Businesses created websites full of, you guessed it, information. They had to educate potential customers on what they sold and why they did it. Then social media came along and upended the entire game. Suddenly businesses had to publish daily "content." Now AI has come along and smacked us in the butts again. Soon businesses will need human-like chatbots to educate their target markets. There's no escaping the information age. The tangible takeaway here for you is you'll need to get on social media — either under your own name or using a nickname. Start with free and don't worry if you need to pee When good-hearted, normal people seek to make money online they make one big mistake. They say, "What's my product? What do I have to sell?" This way of thinking never works. At the start, you have nothing to sell. Other than offering a service on the back end to get to six figures, what you want to do is offer a free product instead. Free products scale faster, and they have infinite distribution that a paywall can't mess with. Now, here's where I tell you I'm a dum-dum. I've offered free products for years. What I've never done is create an email course. After watching people like Nicolas Cole and Ali Abdaal build seven- and eight-figure businesses off the back of email courses, I've realized I missed this opportunity and am working to fix it. Don't you miss it, too. To make things worse, my business partner recently bought a popular ConvertKit course. Many seven-figure creators say it helped them get to where they are. The whole course is basically a blueprint for how to create an email course. An email course is a series of free emails you send people to help them with a problem. It's more detailed than a tweet or an article. It may even be customized based on an individual's goals. Offering a free product may make you feel like you want to pee your pants. That fear is normal. But what you need to do is get over it and offer a free product, which will be the foundation for a paid product later. No data, no paycheck It's time to scream this one from the hills — stop guessing. An email course gives you data on what people actually want, not what you think they want. In my last article on this topic, a few critics said, "But I keep getting stuck online!" If you follow the data, you won't get stuck. And, it's best not to be a lone wolf. If you get stuck, pay for coaching from someone online who's smarter than you and has social proof. Or join a community of smart people with a similar online goal as you and crowdsource strategies. Whatever you do, just don't sit there alone saying you're stuck or it's hard. It's supposed to be. Be resourceful. The path to 7 figures in 365 days With data and a community of people around you, it's time to build a product and launch it. Products are what get you to seven figures. The most vital clue to a great product is: What one piece of content that you published online became your most successful? That piece of content will hopefully have comments. Read them. See what people are saying. Get a feel for a solution you could offer to a common problem. The product doesn't have to be a course or a book, either. It could be a physical product, a live event, a membership platform, or a piece of software. The type of product doesn't matter so much. What matters is you launch something. The scrappy way to launch a product This is going to sound wild. When I launch a product, I don't have a product. All I have is a landing page with a summary of what the product is. Then I drive traffic to the page to see if anyone is interested. When someone buys whatever it is, I have two options: Deliver the product Issue a refund If enough sales come through the door then I launch. If they don't, I issue refunds. My first online-education company failed spectacularly. I built a product that taught people how to get published in online publications. Only three people bought it. I just refunded the money, but I learned many important lessons that I implemented on the next product. I followed this formula two more times (because I'm dumb as a plank of wood) and eventually landed on the online business I have now. See the power of launching? It teaches you what you don't know. Sitting there saying "I don't know" and having a cry does nothing (I've tried that). Building communities is more important than building products Another mind-bender: Seven-figure businesses are attached to communities. Read that again. There isn't a single seven-figure creator I know who doesn't run a community. That's not a coincidence. In the old days, we had minimum-viable products. In the new world, we have minimum-viable communities. Your ability to lead people or get them into the same online space is more powerful than your ability to market or sell. That's a huge opportunity for many of you — especially those of you who hate selling and think it's evil. What do you sell to a community? Whatever they want. How do you find out? Ask them through emails, surveys, one-on-one Zoom calls. This stuff is child's play. Another common objection is, "Where do I host my community?" Who cares? Anywhere — Facebook, Slack, Discord. The tool you use matters a lot less than the soft and hard skills you possess. A winner with the right mindset will find a way and not let the name of an app keep them from their online goal. An existing audience is a helper, not a necessity "Shut up, Tim, you've got a massive audience." That's another pushback I've had — the idea that you need millions of followers or an email list bigger than Tim Ferriss is a myth, especially now in the world of newsletter recommendations. You can literally use ConvertKit, Beehiiv, or Substack to buy other people's email subscribers. Or you can use the free approach and partner with similar people to you to recommend each other's email lists. For example, Doreen has an email list about medicine. You have an email list about cancer survivors. You can send Doreen an email or direct message and ask her if she'd be willing to recommend your newsletter in return for you recommending hers. Then every time someone joins her email list, they get a small notification at the end for them to join your email list. This one technique has made the goal of making seven figures online attainable for so many more people. How I left thousands of dollars on the table If you do some or all of what I've suggested, it'll get you far. One dumb thing I missed is I only offered products for sale at low price points. Not long ago, I launched a product for $10,000. I thought nobody would be interested. Turns out I was dead wrong. The lesson here is to always make sure you have products for sale at different price points. Wealthy people often see low price points as a sign the product is low value. I wish I had known this earlier. I suggest experimenting with these price points: $50 to $100 $500 to $1,000 $5,000 $10,000 If you have nothing to sell at a particular price, some people have nothing to buy from you. Final thought What you've just read is a rough guide. More than exact steps, it's full of powerful ideas I've learned. Take some or all of these ideas and go experiment with them. Start with a service to get some money flowing, then dare to progress to products to upgrade from six to seven figures. If you want to do products and services together, you can. Just remember a service sells your time, so it does limit your freedom. Tim Denning is an Australian blogger and a writer for CNBC and Insider. His goal is to inspire the world through personal development and entrepreneurship.

I drove the $70,000 Genesis GV60: See inside the futuristic Tesla rival that has facial recognition and a crystal ball 2023-07-31 - I drove the Genesis GV60, a new electric SUV from Hyundai's luxury brand. It impressed me with its comfy interior, flashy tech, and super-fast charging speeds. The GV60 Performance I tested costs around $70,000. Morning Brew Insider recommends waking up with, a daily newsletter. Loading Something is loading. Thanks for signing up! Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. download the app Email address By clicking “Sign Up,” you also agree to marketing emails from both Insider and Morning Brew; and you accept Insider’s Terms and Privacy Policy Click here for Morning Brew’s privacy policy. I got to spend a few days this month testing one of the most exciting new Tesla rivals out there: the Genesis GV60. The small electric SUV from Hyundai's luxury offshoot packs quirky styling, a comfy interior, and all the tech you could ask for. Plus, the Performance model I drove — stickered at right around $70,000 — packed a serious punch whenever I floored it. I got up close and personal with the GV60 so you don't have to. Let me take you on a photo tour of the sleek new electric vehicle and give you an overview of its best features.

Stocks making the biggest moves after hours: Yum China, Western Digital, ZoomInfo and more 2023-07-31 - Check out the companies making headlines in extended trading. Yum China — The restaurant franchiser's shares fell 3.4% following its mixed second-quarter results. The company announced 47 cents in adjusted earnings per share on $2.65 billion in revenue. Analysts polled by Refinitiv had expected 46 cents earnings per share on $2.68 billion in revenue. Management noted that same-store sales across its restaurants still remained below pre-pandemic levels. ZoomInfo Technologies – Shares shed 17% in extended trading after the company posted a weak outlook for third-quarter revenue. The data company anticipates $309 million to $312 million in revenue, while analysts called for $326 million, according to Refinitiv. ZoomInfo's revenue in the latest quarter also missed expectations, coming in at $309 million, while analysts estimated $311 million. Western Digital — The data storage company's stock gained 2% after a better-than-expected fiscal fourth quarter earnings report. Western Digital posted a loss of $1.98 per share on $2.67 billion in revenue. Analysts had estimated a loss of $2.01 per share on $2.53 billion in revenue, according to Refinitiv. Arista Networks — Shares rose more than 11% after the company's quarterly earnings topped analysts' expectations. Arista reported adjusted earnings of $1.58 per share, versus consensus analyst estimates of $1.44 per share, according to Refinitiv. Revenue also came in higher than expected at $1.46 billion, compared to analyst expectations of $1.38 billion. Lattice Semiconductor — The stock declined 2.6% after management noted that the company "is not immune to macroeconomic challenges" impacting the chip sector. Lattice reported second-quarter earnings of 52 cents per share, adjusted, on revenue of $190.1 million, while analysts polled by FactSet called for 51 cents in earnings per share on revenue of $188.2 million. Rambus — The stock tumbled more than 8% after the release of its second-quarter earnings. Rambus posted $120 million in revenue, versus analysts' forecast for $133 million, according to Refinitiv. Licensing billings and product revenue also declined year over year. Monolithic Power Systems — Shares lost 3.8% Monday in extended trading. The lower end of the semiconductor company's revenue guidance for the third quarter came in below analysts' estimates. Monolithic forecasts revenue of $464 million to $484 million for the third quarter, while analysts called for $473.4 million, per FactSet. SBA Communications — Shares of the real estate investment trust added more than 4%. The wireless infrastructure company reported second-quarter revenue of $678.5 million, while analysts called for $676.9 million. SBA also announced a newly signed master lease agreement with AT&T.

Eurozone returns to economic growth as inflation falls 2023-07-31 - The eurozone’s economy has returned to growth after a long period of stagnation as inflation in the 20-member currency area continues to fall from last year’s peak. Activity expanded by 0.3% in the second quarter, while the inflation rate declined from 5.5% to 5.3% in July, said the EU statistics agency Eurostat. There was also an improvement to previous gross domestic product (GDP) data, revealing that a recession announced in June based on previous estimates had in fact been narrowly avoided. The earlier release had said the economy shrank in the last quarter of 2022 and in the first of this year, but the revised figures showed 0% growth in January to March instead of a contraction. Financial markets rose on the back of the positive figures, which showed the eurozone’s consumers and firms had been more resilient in dealing with rising interest rates than many policymakers had forecast. The German stock market continued a streak of gains that pushed values to an all-time high, while Italy’s FTSE MIB added 0.5% to touch fresh 15-year highs, lifted by the state-controlled defence and aerospace group Leonardo. However, analysts warned that the better-than-expected recovery across the single currency bloc meant the European Central Bank (ECB) was likely to increase interest rates further in the autumn. Claus Vistesen, the chief eurozone economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said: “This won’t be welcome news in Frankfurt, and will help the hawks’ cause. “Coupled with scary-looking second-quarter wage data, we still think that the ECB hawks will successfully push for one final hike in September, before the data turn decisively against them. This is a close call.” The ECB has sought to calm economic growth and reduce inflation with a series of interest rate rises, following in the footsteps of the US Federal Reserve and Bank of England. Last week, the ECB governor, Christine Lagarde, said further increases were possible after she announced a further 0.25 percentage point increase, adding that the central bank would be “data dependent” as it considered its next policy move. Pushpin Singh, a senior economist at the consultancy CEBR, said: “An upward revision to past data means that the eurozone avoided a technical recession across the final quarter of 2022 and first quarter of 2023.” skip past newsletter promotion Sign up to Business Today Free daily newsletter Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy . We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. after newsletter promotion He added that a big bounce in growth was unlikely, while the currency bloc “continues to be affected by elevated inflation and the ECB’s response of higher interest rates” which would “drag on growth in the near-term”, he said, forecasting a modest expansion in eurozone GDP this year of 0.8%, down from 3.5% in 2022. Marc de Muizon, a senior European analyst at Deutsche Bank Research, said the underlying picture was less rosy and the ECB was likely to be more circumspect before raising borrowing costs again. Bert Colijn, a senior economist at ING, said the differences between countries were large in terms of performance, adding to the difficulties for the ECB. “The German and Italian economies continue to suffer, in part because their manufacturing sectors are larger and demand for goods remains in contraction. Germany saw flat GDP growth quarter on quarter after two quarters of negative growth, while Italy dipped back to -0.3%,” Colijn said. “On the other hand, France and Spain continued to perform well. French GDP growth accelerated from 0.1 to 0.5%. Spain saw growth decelerate from 0.5 to 0.4%.”

How major US stock indexes fared Monday, 7/31/2023 2023-07-31 - Wall Street is closing out its latest winning month with another lift. The S&P 500 rose 0.1% Monday to cap its fifth straight month of gains. It’s at a 16-month high after rallying on hopes cooling inflation will mean the economy can avoid a long-predicted recession. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq composite also finished higher. Critics have said the rally has come too quickly. Several reports this week could back them up, including updates on the job market and profits at the market’s most influential companies. On Monday: The S&P 500 rose 6.73 points, or 0.1%, to 4,588.96. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 100.24 points, or 0.3%, to 35,559.53. The Nasdaq composite rose 29.37 points, or 0.2%, to 14,346.02. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 21.64 points, or 1.1%, to 2,003.18. For the year: The S&P 500 is up 749.46 points, or 19.5%. The Dow is up 2,412.28 points, or 7.3%. The Nasdaq is up 3,879.54 points, or 37.1%. The Russell 2000 is up 241.93 points, or 13.1%.

Cramer sours on Johnson & Johnson as lawsuits pile up 2023-07-31 - CNBC's Jim Cramer on Monday explained his decision to cut Johnson & Johnson from the Investing Club Charitable Trust. The company has faced thousands of lawsuits in recent years, many alleging that its talc baby powder and other talc-based products cause cancer. Last Friday, the company's second attempt to resolve its lawsuits through bankruptcy failed. Cramer admitted he had misjudged the severity of the litigation. "I simply can't have a position that's precarious because of litigation, not because of the fundamentals," Cramer said. "This business is hard enough without playing lawsuit roulette with jackpot justice." Cramer said he originally thought J&J would be able to reach a settlement with plaintiffs, and was optimistic about the company's performance aside from its lawsuits. But Cramer said he's realized that he hasn't taken the plaintiffs' side seriously enough, adding he can't now hedge his bets on the outcome of any one lawsuit. "The charitable trust was betting on litigation, and that's not a game you want to play. In retrospect, I was far too sanguine about J&J's ability to get a settlement that would protect their shareholders from unlimited losses through a novel use of the bankruptcy code," Cramer said. "In the end, I didn't think the ultimate upside — a series of wins by J&J or perhaps a Supreme Court victory down the road — was worth hoping for. Hope should never be a part of the investing equation." Johnson & Johnson did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

To Keep TV Shows Afloat, Some Networks Are Cutting Actors’ Pay 2023-07-31 - Starring on the CBS sitcom “Bob Hearts Abishola” has been good for Bayo Akinfemi. Being a regular cast member for four years has given him financial security and made him a star in his native Nigeria, where the show is wildly popular. It even helped him branch out from acting, when producers gave him the opportunity to direct an episode. But Mr. Akinfemi and 10 of his castmates were told this year that the only way the half-hour show was going to get a fifth season was if budgets were cut. How the actors were paid was going to change. No longer would they be guaranteed pay for all 22 episodes of a season. Instead, Mr. Akinfemi and his castmates would be reclassified as recurring cast members. They would be paid the same amount per episode, but unlike regular cast members, they would be paid only for the episodes in which they appeared and would be guaranteed only five of those in a truncated 13-episode season, once the actors’ strike was over and performers returned to work. (Only Billy Gardell, who plays the white middle-aged businessman Bob, and Folake Olowofoyeku, who plays Abishola, the Nigerian nurse he loves, will remain series regulars.) “It was a bit surprising, for all of 10 seconds,” Mr. Akinfemi said in an interview before SAG-AFTRA, the actors’ union, went on strike. “We are disappointed, but we also understand at the end of the day it’s a business.”

A New Worry for Mexicans in the U.S.: The Strong Peso 2023-07-31 - Most of the money that Antonio Solis makes delivering food on his motorcycle in New York City will eventually make its way to Monterrey, Mexico, where it will pay for his family’s mortgage, his daughter’s college tuition and daily expenses like groceries. But covering those costs is getting harder. Mr. Solis, who earns about $3,500 a month delivering for apps like DoorDash, used to send about $1,500 monthly. Since the spring, he has had to send more than $2,000 to cover the same expenses, something he does by working longer days. The culprit is a sharp appreciation of the Mexican peso over the past year, a product of high interest rates and foreign investments in Mexico, among other factors. That means each dollar Mr. Solis sends covers less of the budget back home. He, like hundreds of thousands of other Mexicans abroad, has contributed to the billions of U.S. dollars that flood into Mexico each year — money that families there rely on to make ends meet. Mexico is the second-biggest receiver of remittances behind India. In 2022, those working abroad, primarily in the United States, sent more than $61 billion to Mexico. The largest portion of that money goes to food and clothes, followed by health care, according to the Wilson Center, a Washington research organization.

British Government Signals Support for Oil and Gas Industry 2023-07-31 - The British government said Monday that it would issue “hundreds” of new licenses for oil and natural gas exploration in the North Sea, as concerns about energy security and jobs at least momentarily outweigh efforts to address climate change. “It’s vital that we bolster our energy security and capitalize on that independence,” Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said in a statement. At the same time, the government announced that it would support two major plans for capturing carbon dioxide emissions from power plants and factories, and injecting the gas into depleted reservoirs under the North Sea. Such “carbon capture” projects tend to be mostly led by energy companies and make use of their expertise and infrastructure. The announcements were an indication that the North Sea oil and gas industry is becoming an important battleground for Britain’s next general election, in 2024. The governing Conservative Party appears to have decided that protecting the industry could be a vote-winner over the opposition Labour Party, which has threatened to halt new drilling permits if it wins next year.

Europe’s Economy Expanded in Spring, and Inflation Has Eased 2023-07-31 - Economic Growth: The euro area expands, but the gains are uneven. Gross domestic product in the eurozone grew 0.3 percent in the second quarter of 2023, a stronger result than economists predicted. But the recovery, after zero growth in the first quarter, was not consistent across countries. Germany, Europe’s largest economy, stagnated in the second quarter, and prospects for a recovery throughout the year remain low, as many of the country’s heavy industries rely on energy and have suffered from the price increases triggered by the war in Ukraine. “The main cause for concern is the industrial sector, where despite dwindling supply chain problems, production continues to tread water and we see a downward trend on the intake of new orders,” said Fritzi Köhler-Geib, the chief economist with KfW, Germany’s state-owned investment bank. Output in Italy, Austria and Latvia fell in the second quarter. But growth in Spain, where domestic demand was strong, and France, which saw an 11.2 percent jump in exports of transport equipment (in particular the delivery of a cruise ship), helped to lift the eurozone’s numbers. Inflation: Well above 2 percent target, but cooling. Inflation across the eurozone dipped to an annual rate of 5.3 percent in July, down from 5.5 percent the previous month. The European Central Bank has increased interest rates at every meeting this year, as it tries to bring inflation down to its 2 percent target. Last week, the bank pushed the deposit rate up a quarter of a point, to 3.75 percent, the highest since late 2000. Over the weekend, Christine Lagarde, the central bank’s president, told the French daily Le Figaro that “monetary policy has clearly begun to have an impact on lowering inflation.” Some policymakers have pointed to the persistence of so-called core inflation, which strips out food and energy prices, as an indication that the eurozone is not out of the woods yet. Core inflation held steady at a 5.5 percent annual rate in July. What’s Next: Another rate increase? Ms. Lagarde has kept her options open ahead of the E.C.B.’s next meeting, in September. Monetary policy tends to work slowly, and policymakers will receive a lot of fresh data before then. Although energy prices, which were a main driver of inflation over the past year, have eased and Europe is on track to make it through a second winter without significant amounts of fossil fuels from Russia, the war in Ukraine continues to be a drag on Europe’s economy. And past rate increases have led to tighter lending conditions and declining demand for loans, which have driven down consumer spending across much of the eurozone. These trends have raised concerns among economists, with some warning that Europe remains at a risk of stagnation or even recession. “On the whole, the eurozone economy recorded another underwhelming quarter,” said Ricardo Amaro, a senior economist at Oxford Economics. He noted that “the second half of the year is likely to be as underwhelming, if not more than the first half, with the eurozone economy risking stagnation or worse.”

Trump loses bid to kick Fani Willis off case as Georgia indictment looms 2023-07-31 - It’s all coming together for a possible Georgia indictment of Donald Trump for alleged 2020 election interference in the state. He just lost a motion to kill the case before it starts, as we enter the time in which Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has signaled Trump and others could be indicted in the Peach State. Willis gave local law enforcement a heads-up in April to be on alert from July 11 to Sept. 1. More recently, she told the chief judge in Fulton County and other local officials, including the county's police chief and head of public safety, that she plans to have some of her staff work remotely in between July 31 and Aug. 18. Monday is the first of those dates that kick off the intensified watch for grand jury activity. As for that latest motion Trump lost, the former president, joined by one of Georgia's so-called fake electors, wanted to kick Willis off the case, quash the special grand jury's report and stop prosecutors from using evidence that came from it. (Remember, the special grand jury was an investigative body, not one that could vote out charges — that’s the grand jury that’s getting underway now.) Indeed, reading Judge Robert McBurney’s ruling on Monday, it wasn’t a close call that Trump should lose the motion. When it came to challenging the case before even being charged, McBurney said it was premature, and that Trump and fake elector Cathleen Latham lacked legal standing. The judge noted that “no court ever has held” that being the subject or target of a criminal investigation “provides basis for the courts to interfere with or halt the investigation.” The judge likewise made quick work of the attempt to kick Willis off the case, calling it a “bold request.” To succeed, there would need to be a conflict of interest or “forensic misconduct.” An example of true conflict would have been the prosecutor previously representing a defendant regarding the alleged crimes at issue. Forensic misconduct could entail improperly expressing a personal belief in the defendant’s guilt. “None of that has happened — yet,” McBurney wrote, underscoring the losing motion's premature nature. To be sure, if Trump's arguments are premature, then he could raise them if he's charged, though the tenor of McBurney’s opinion suggested skepticism of these arguments ever prevailing — at the very least, it’s a higher bar to win them than Trump has mustered so far. At any rate, Willis has for now cleared yet another roadblock on her way to obtaining an indictment against Trump as her signaled timeline to obtain that indictment escalates. Meanwhile, Trump awaits another likely indictment from special counsel Jack Smith.

Georgia governor slams Giuliani over 2020 election falsehoods 2023-07-31 - Last week, Rudy Giuliani essentially set one of Donald Trump’s 2020 election lies on fire when he admitted, in a court filing, that he had made false statements about two Black election workers in Georgia. Many Republicans — including several Georgia lawmakers who invited Giuliani to spread those falsehoods in legislative hearings — have not been quick to talk about Giuliani’s admission. But there’s one Republican who has at least broached the topic: Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp. The governor gave remarks to a local outlet, WSB Radio, that were critical of Giuliani. As The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported: ‘There’s a lot of people, including me, that were under a lot of pressure then from legislators and other people because of supposedly false statements that he had made,’ Kemp said of Giuliani. ‘Which is really troubling when you’re trying to have secure, accessible, fair elections in the state,’ the governor said, adding: ‘For somebody to manipulate that process to me is very troubling.’ Late last year, Kemp testified before the Fulton County special grand jury that weighed whether to recommend criminal charges in District Attorney Fani Willis’ 2020 election interference probe. And if Kemp told grand jurors what he just told WSB Radio, that obviously wouldn’t be great news for Giuliani. But I’d argue that Kemp’s recent remarks reflect poorly on him as well. But I’d argue that Kemp’s recent remarks reflect poorly on him as well. Perhaps this is what counts for introspection in the governor’s eyes, but what we don’t get in these quotes is a full reckoning with the ways he has effectively acted on Giuliani and Trump’s election lies. Sure, Kemp publicly disagreed with the two men as they pushed conspiracy theories about Georgia’s 2020 election results. But he gave oxygen — and teeth — to those very lies when he later supported and signed a draconian voter suppression law that was backed by Georgia election deniers. “After the November election last year, I knew, like so many of you, that significant reforms to our state elections were needed,” he said at the time. Kemp seems to want it both ways. He apparently wants Trumpism and the illiberalism that comes with it — but his remarks about Giuliani suggest he also wants a veil of deniability. But any denunciation of Giuliani rings hollow unless he also denounces the ensuing legislative assault on democracy. And as governor, he gave that assault his blessing.

Why the target letter to an uncharged Mar-a-Lago employee matters 2023-07-31 - You’d be forgiven if you had forgotten about it — or simply missed it in the first place. But on July 14, just days before former President Donald Trump got his second target letter from special counsel Jack Smith’s team, The New York Times reported that an unnamed “low-level employee of the Trump Organization” received a target letter of their own. According to the Times, that person received the letter sometime “in the past few weeks after appearing in May” before a federal grand jury in Washington, D.C. Smith’s team was reportedly “scrutinizing whether the employee’s grand jury testimony was truthful.” The only other detail about the employee was really about someone else: Stanley Woodward, who represents Trump’s body man and initial co-defendant in the classified documents case, Walt Nauta, as well as a host of other Trump world figures. Woodward was named as the lawyer for the unnamed employee in the Times’ report. I’ve long wondered if that unnamed employee was Yuscil Taveras, the Mar-a-Lago IT director identified as Trump Employee 4 in last week’s superseding indictment. And ever since the superseding indictment was issued, I’ve also suspected Taveras ultimately avoided the fate of Trump’s newest co-defendant, Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira, by ultimately coming clean with prosecutors. Last night, CNN reported that Taveras was indeed the employee who received that target letter. Here’s why that seemed likely to me before CNN’s reporting. First, as with the description of the unnamed employee who received the target letter, Taveras reportedly testified before a D.C. grand jury in mid-May. But it’s more than that. The superseding indictment is chock full of details that could have come only from a live witness, as opposed to a seized phone or security footage. In particular, prosecutors alleged De Oliveira insisted on June 27, 2022, that “‘the boss’ wanted the server [storing security footage] deleted” and when Taveras objected, De Oliveira both reiterated the demand and asked, “‘What are we going to do?’” It seems likely Smith’s team learned of this alleged conversation via Taveras himself. More significantly, it appears Taveras spoke to investigators sometime after June 8, when Trump and Nauta were first indicted. According to a Washington Post report on Saturday, it was only in the wake of that indictment that “Taveras decided he had more he wanted to tell the authorities about his conversations with De Oliveira.” Moreover, the second wave of discovery produced to Trump and Nauta earlier this month includes the “memorialization of witness interviews conducted between May 12, 2023, and June 23, 2023.” A witness who testified before the grand jury in mid-May, received a target letter based on perceived falsehoods in their testimony in the weeks thereafter, and then decided to provide new information after the initial indictment easily could have been interviewed sometime last month. And then there’s the question of whether Woodward, who was the reported target letter recipient’s lawyer as of two weeks ago, still represents Taveras. Reached by NBC News last Friday, Woodward declined to comment. Last night, however, the Post revealed that after Taveras “offered information implicating all three defendants in an alleged conspiracy to cover up evidence,” a judge was consulted on whether Woodward could simultaneously represent Nauta and Taveras consistent with attorney ethics rules. While the Post does not say how the judge reacted, it does report that a different lawyer “not paid by [Trump’s] PAC” advised Taveras before he spoke to investigators. It remains unclear who represents Taveras and who is paying for that representation. NBC News has not confirmed whether Taveras is considered a cooperating witness or whether he provided new information in exchange for any deal with prosecutors. According to the Times, Taveras still works at Mar-a-Lago. But, based on everything we've seen, it appears he chose liberty over loyalty. Will others, including Trump’s co-defendants Walt Nauta and De Oliveira, ultimately choose a path similar to that of Taveras? Have the people identified as Trump Employees 3 and 5 in the superseding indictment already done so? I am trying to fit puzzle pieces together, and we may not know the posture of various witnesses, much less their identities, for some time. But watch this space.

Potential Trump pardons have become a key issue in the 2024 race 2023-07-31 - Ordinarily, candidates for the nation’s highest office don’t have to deal with questions about whether they’d issue pardons for one of their rivals. That’s generally because, as a rule, those charged with multiple felonies don’t seek the presidency. And yet, the race for the Republican Party’s 2024 presidential nomination is already proving to be rather odd. On CBS’s “Face the Nation,” former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson became the latest GOP contender to address the issue, as host Margaret Brennan asked him whether Trump should be pardoned “for the good of the country.” After noting that the former president hasn’t yet been convicted of anything, making the line of inquiry premature, Hutchinson added, “I think that anybody who promises pardons during the presidential campaign is not serving our system of justice well and it’s inappropriate.” His assessment was accurate, but that doesn't mean it's been widely embraced by others in the crowded Republican field. The Washington Post reported on the latest rhetoric from Vivek Ramaswamy, which came at roughly the same time as Hutchinson’s comments. Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said that if elected, he would still pardon Donald Trump despite a new indictment charging the former president with additional crimes related to his alleged hoarding and hiding of classified documents. “I would pardon him,” Ramaswamy, a technology entrepreneur, said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.” As part of the same CNN interview, Ramaswamy downplayed the importance of alleged destruction of evidence — the candidate called it a “process crime” — before claiming that pardoning Trump would be a way to “put the grievances of the past behind us.” As for the rest of the Republican field, there are nearly as many positions as there are competitive candidates. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has now said more than once that he’s prepared to pardon Trump, claiming such a move could help Americans “come together.” On a related note, there is no reason whatsoever to think freeing an unpopular suspected felon of any kind of legal accountability would help Americans “come together.” Former Ambassador Nikki Haley is clearly open to a Trump pardon, though true to form, she’s struggled to give an explicit answer. “What I’ve said is if he is found guilty, that is certainly showing that it was dangerous to our national security,” the South Carolina Republican also said on “Face the Nation.” Haley added, “But I’ll take you back to Nixon and Ford. I mean, I think that one of the things we have to look at is not what’s in the best interest of, you know, the president, but what’s in the best interests of the country. ... We have to move forward. We’ve got to quit living in the past. And I don’t want there to be all of this division over the fact that we have a president serving years in jail over a documents trial. I want all of this to go away.” Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said earlier this month that he “can’t imagine“ pardoning Trump. Former Rep. Will Hurd of Texas has been the most categorical of all the GOP contenders, declaring, “No, I would not pardon him.” Former Vice President Mike Pence and Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina have both balked at questions they described as “hypotheticals.” Similarly, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum said last month, “Would you pardon them in 2025? As a governor, I would never make that commitment. I wouldn’t make that commitment right now. Because it just it wouldn’t make any sense.” As for Trump himself, it’s all but certain that the former president, if he were to return to the White House, would be eager to exonerate himself. Looking ahead, it seems likely these questions will persist, especially as the former president’s legal difficulties intensify. What none of these candidates have addressed, however, is what they might try to do about state charges, which can’t be addressed through the pardon power.