ChuckGregory

Life comes at you one bite at a time.

[ChuckGregory @TheChuckGregory]

@KingJames @thefootballgirl How about persuading Nike to make your sneakers in the USA instead of relying on inhumane labor overseas?

[Jordan Schachtel @JordanSchachtel]

This is one of the coolest sporting events of all time. Flawless execution. Heck of a way to celebrate America’s 250th. POTUS and Dana White pulling off an absolute masterclass.

[Joel Pollak @joelpollak]

Between the NBA championship, the World Cup, the White House UFC fight, the Stanley Cup finals, and good ol' baseball, this might be one of the best weekends for sports in the history of the United States

[Spencer Pratt @spencerpratt]

Saving LA - Phase III

[Hugh Laurie @hughlaurie]

Thanks for your critique, Janet. We actually tried a couple of episodes where House (Hugh Laurie) (please put the brackets in the right place) gets it right first time, but they were only 6 minutes long. NBC weren’t happy. Then we tried some where House never gets it right and the patient dies. The audience wasn’t happy.

One could apply your trenchant analysis to other art forms: JS Bach wrote 30 Goldberg variations on the same chord structure; Frida Kahlo painted 50 portraits of herself; Henry Moore, what??

The point is, or was, variations on a theme; if all you see is hospital, medical blah blah, then it wasn’t meant for you.

Nonetheless, I look forward to your first novel!

[F.A. United States Attorney Bill Essayli @USAttyEssayli]

California Is Blocking a Federal Audit of Its Voter Rolls

California allows first-time voters to register using forms of ID that most Americans would find surprising, including:

-Gym membership card
-Employer ID card
-Credit or debit card
-Prescription drug label
-Insurance card (California provides free health coverage to undocumented immigrants)

Full list: https://t.co/BvfviJsYG8

This is permitted when a voter fails to provide a Social Security number or driver’s license at registration. Our office believes this policy deserves a closer look.

We also have serious concerns about how California maintains its voter rolls. There are open questions about whether the state is promptly removing deceased voters, people who have moved, and individuals convicted of disqualifying felonies.

On top of that, California allows third parties to collect and turn in ballots on voters’ behalf (a practice known as ballot harvesting) with few restrictions. This makes it difficult to track who actually received, completed, and submitted each ballot.

For over a year, the Department of Justice has been trying to audit California’s voter rolls. Federal law gives the Attorney General the authority to review state voter files and confirm that only eligible U.S. citizens are voting in federal elections.

@AAGDhillon sent California a letter explaining our legal authority. California refused to comply, claiming state privacy laws block the review, an argument that does not hold up because those laws don’t apply to the federal government in this context. We’ve sued California in federal court, and the case is before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

If California genuinely wants voters to trust its elections, it should open its records, not fight to keep them closed.

What are they afraid of?

[Jim Geraghty @jimgeraghty]

Where’s all the money in the Los Angeles city budget going? In some cases, exceptionally well-paid city employees. In 2024, a fire battalion chief was paid $905,060, including $650,510 in overtime pay on a base salary of $135,306. Now, we all love firefighters, but that is more than quite a few players on the Los Angeles Rams football team will make this season.

[California Post @californiapost]

Gulliver's Restaurant in Orange County to close after 56 years https://t.co/rpTMQVNtzB

[Matt Braynard @MattBraynard]

We're so back.

An entrepreneur is restoring Pizza Huts to their former glory.

[Spencer Pratt @spencerpratt]

After CBS embarrassed Karen Bass by fact-checking her debate lies about the Palisades Fire, they clearly got the call. CBS filmed with me on my burned out lot for over an hour, and they turned it over to Karen Bass’ PR team to edit it into a comical 5 minute hit piece with clips from the Hills. They can’t beat my ideas, they can’t beat me in the debates, so they gotta try to turn my campaign into a sideshow. People are done with these skeezy political tricks, and I’m done with CBS. They’ll never get a word from me for my next 8 years as mayor. Adios! What outlet should I have in their absence?

[ChuckGregory @TheChuckGregory]

@RubinReport @megynkelly @Mediaite Dave, this is very petty and getting weird.

[California Post @californiapost]

Outrage as San Diego prepares to kill historic Christmas tradition amid staggering budget cuts https://t.co/6mWucsLJfh

[Lance Gooden @Lancegooden]

Los Angeles spent $250,000 in tax dollars on 450 “No ICE” signs.

That’s more than $550 per sign.

A standard city-style aluminum sign typically costs between $15 and $40.

So where did the money go?

[Meghan McCain @MeghanMcCain]

This is not hyperbole - @spencerpratt is the blueprint for how my generation of older millennials needs to communicate and present their ideas and campaign messaging when running for office.

He is 10/10 no notes. Absolute raw talent. Killed the debate.

[California Post @californiapost]

Today's cover: Two gas stations two miles apart expose how we’re being fleeced by Gavin Newsom. https://t.co/URGQQEv1aP

Subscribe for home delivery: https://t.co/okw0bmjl2k

[Andrew D. Huberman, Ph.D. @hubermanlab]

Also a lot of military and ex-military live in and around SD. Never saw gyms so full at 5am as when I lived in SD. Habits…

[San Diego Padres @Padres]

From Cla 🥹

[Senator Eric Schmitt @SenEricSchmitt]

NYT frames this as if USAID employees had a quasi-property right to high-paying, taxpayer-funded jobs.

In reality, this tells a darker story—we spent half-a-century debt-financing a managerial class of Leftists whose only qualifications were ideological.

[Felix Prehn 🐶 @felixprehn]

Texas just admitted it needs $174 billion for water.

Not for roads. Not for schools. Not for energy. Water. The stuff that comes out of your faucet.

The Texas Water Development Board released the numbers last week. $174 billion over the next 50 years to prevent the state from running out of water. Double the last estimate from 2022.

Texas is adding 17 million people by 2080. A 53% increase. Water supply is dropping 10% over the same period from depleting aquifers. Without action, shortages could cause $177 billion in economic losses by 2030 alone. More than the cost of fixing it.

And it's not just population growth draining the system.

Tesla's Giga Texas factory uses 556 million gallons of water per year. A single factory. Data centers are consuming 0.4% of the state's entire water supply and growing fast. In Austin, data centers and industrial demand are straining a water system built for residential use.

This isn't a Texas problem. It's a global one.

The World Bank just launched a program called Water Forward targeting water security for 1 billion people by 2030. 14 countries signed on. They're calling it one of the defining infrastructure crises of the century.

Water is the only commodity on earth with no substitute. Oil has renewables. Gold has Bitcoin (if you believe that). Copper has aluminum for some applications. Water has nothing. You need it or you die. Every person, every farm, every factory, every data center.

And it's running out faster than any government projected.

Where this creates an investment thesis almost nobody is talking about:

Xylem (XYL). The largest pure-play water technology company in the world. Builds the infrastructure that treats, tests, transports, and analyzes water. Revenue above $8 billion. Every dollar of that $174 billion Texas plan flows through companies like Xylem.

American Water Works (AWK). Largest publicly traded water utility. Serves 14 million people across 24 states. Water utilities are natural monopolies. You can't build a second pipe to someone's house. The customer can't switch providers. Pricing power is absolute and demand is non-negotiable.

Veolia (VEOEY). Global leader in water treatment and waste management. Operates on every continent. When countries need to build water infrastructure from scratch, Veolia gets the call.

Essential Utilities (WTRG). Growing through acquisitions of small water systems. Rural water infrastructure across America is crumbling. Most small systems are municipally owned with no budget to upgrade. Essential buys them, upgrades them, and charges the regulated rate.

Mueller Water Products (MWA). Builds the valves, hydrants, and pipes that make up the physical water distribution network. Every infrastructure dollar spent on water flows through components these companies manufacture.

The Invesco Water Resources ETF (PHO) gives you diversified exposure to the entire water infrastructure chain. When governments start writing $174 billion checks for water, every company in this ETF benefits.

Water infrastructure is the most boring and most inevitable investment thesis on earth. Nobody talks about it because it's not AI and it doesn't have a ticker on CNBC's bottom scroll. That's why it's still cheap.

every week i cover where the money is actually going before it makes headlines. former banker.

https://t.co/1j7Dmb4qHR

(texas just said it needs $174 billion for water. double the last estimate. the state is adding 17 million people while aquifers are depleting. tesla's single factory uses 556 million gallons a year. data centers are draining supply in austin. the world bank just launched an emergency water security initiative for 1 billion people. water is the only commodity on earth with zero substitute. nobody on financial TV is covering this. $174 billion has to go somewhere.)

[Bill Melugin @BillMelugin_]

Steyer’s hedge fund previously invested almost $90 million in a private company that operates ICE detention facilities (CoreCivic), including California’s largest ICE detention facility in Kern County.

He now calls ICE a criminal enterprise.