"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free." - President Ronald Reagan
The week in review with Bill Katz, the editor of Urgent Agenda.....Trump and Ukraine, Europe and Ukraine, The State of the Union coming up this week...click to listen:
Indiana wants me: Did you hear that Indiana has a new employer? It is coming and bringing some economic development. Let's look at the story:
Honda opens new tab has decided to produce its next-generation Civic hybrid in the U.S. state of Indiana……
Did you hear that Indiana has a new employer? It is coming and bringing some economic development. Let’s look at the story:
Honda opens new tab has decided to produce its next-generation Civic hybrid in the U.S. state of Indiana, instead of Mexico, to avoid potential tariffs on one of its top-selling car models, according to three people familiar with the matter.
The change underscores how manufacturers are scrambling to adapt to U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposed 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada. While several automakers have expressed concerns about the levies, Honda’s move is the first concrete measure by a major Japanese car company.
Japan’s second-largest automaker had initially planned to manufacture the next-generation Civic in Guanajuato, Mexico, according to the three people. Production was slated to start from November 2027, according to one of the people.
Mexico was chosen because rising costs were making it tough to produce the car in Indiana and Canada, one of them said.
It now plans to build the new Civic model in Indiana from May 2028 with an expected annual production of around 210,000, one of the people said. Honda would look to import from nations not hit by tariffs if production in Indiana falls short of demand, one of them said.
This is very significant and I think it goes beyond tariffs. I’ve heard from foreign businessmen that Mexico is no longer the cheap labor option that it used to be. Have you tried renting an apartment in Mexico City or Monterrey?
And I wouldn’t be surprised if the overall security situation was a factor here too. In other words, many of these executives move to Mexico with their families and some of their wives may not be thrilled with all the violence around them. We just learned that Guanajuato is called “Mexico’s most violent state, according to official homicide statistics.” My guess is that Indiana does not have that problem.
So maybe it’s all a coincidence and not related to the tariffs or the violence. Time will tell. In the meantime, don’t be surprised if you favorite oldies stations plays a song called “Indiana Wants Me.” It was not about cars but rather love and someone running away from the law.
In the 1930’s, Winston Churchill warned the UK and the world about Hitler’s Germany. After World War II, he warned us about the USSR and communist expansion.
On this day in 1946, former PM Winston Churchill of the UK spoke to the American people about the Soviet threat. It turned out to be one of the great speeches of the 20th century. This is one of the most remarkable lines:
From what I have seen of our Russian friends and Allies during the war, I am convinced that there is nothing they admire so much as strength, and there is nothing for which they have less respect than for weakness, especially military weakness.
Mr. Churchill, who was a private citizen because of his defeat in 1945, did not speak to a joint session of Congress. Nevertheless, the impact of “The Iron Curtain” speech was awesome.
From that day forward, Churchill’s words about the Soviet threat were quoted by every president and Western leader. They inspired a new generation of leaders to contain the communist threat.
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Andy Gibb was born on this day in 1958. His career started in 1977 and then rode the Bee Gees' wave in the late 1970s.
Andy's hit songs were written and produced by Barry Gibb, his older brother. His first 3 singles were all # 1 in the US. Andy faded in the early 1980s and eventually died in 1988 at the very young age of 30. His music brings back a lot of memories from the late 1970's.
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