Yes, there is an international angle regarding minimum wage mandates that we want to get to, but let’s update American issues first. At the federal level, the National Urban League, which is an advocacy organization for urban communities across the country, released its annual State of Black America Report earlier this week. The report, which purports to measure “economics, health, education, social justice and civic engagement” for ethnic minorities relative to whites, advocates adoption of a federal minimum wage of $15 an hour as part of its “Main Street Marshall Plan”. The report was silent on how to pay for such a dramatic increase. Elsewhere, Boulder Colorado, which last year adopted a “living wage” for city employees of $15.67 per hour, moved closer to expanding it. This week, the City Council considered expanding the universe of affected employees to include “seasonal” and “nonstandard” employees – they didn’t yet, but are still deliberating it. Currently, that minimum only applies to municipal employees, but how long will they wait before extending it to private sector employees? More to come on this, we’re sure! Last week, we advised that the St. Louis minimum wage battle was effectively over when the Supreme Court refused to hear the case. Yesterday, the final hurdle was cleared when a circuit court judge lifted the injunction on the 2015 ordinance. The St. Louis minimum rises to $10 today and will go to $11 next January. And in the state of Maine, some legislators are pushing hard to eliminate a surcharge of 3 percent on incomes over $200,000 that was approved by the voters last November. With the encouragement of Governor Paul LePage, republican legislative leaders announced last week that they would not approve a state budget that includes the surcharge. The Senate is controlled by Republicans, the House by Democrats, so the budget needs bipartisan support to get to the Governor. Finally, back to the international front, the news has covered much of the current unrest in Venezuela against the policies of Socialist President Nicolas Maduro. Amid the shambles that is the Venezuelan economy, we noted that Maduro increased the minimum wage by 60% this week to be effective Monday. It is the 3^rd increase this year and the 15^th since Maduro assumed office in 2013. How does he think that’s working out?